Shillong Apr 23 PTI The picturesque north-eastern state of Meghalaya has drawn up big plans to bring in casinos and on-line gambling and gaming for tourists to rake in much needed revenues top officials said Taxation Minister James PK Sangma said the state government has come up with the Gaming Act following which the Gaming Rules 2021 will facilitate issuing of licenses to operators to conduct games of skill and chance both in online and offline version As we have seen in many states this venture has positive impacts not just in terms of GST revenues but also in terms of generating a lot of employment opportunities from the vibrant tourism industry Sangma told PTI The move to get into gaming in a big way comes some forty years after archery-based betting was first legalized in Meghalaya raking in big revenue to the states exchequer The Khasi Hills Archery Sport Association conducts the well-known Shillong Teer an archery-based lottery A group of 12 archery clubs are part of the association where every day 50 archers shoot 30 arrows each at 345 pm and 20 arrows in the second round at 445 pm Bettors predict the last two digits of the total number of arrows that hit the target and they can place their bets in 1500 legalised teer counters across the state An official of the taxation department said legal betting through Shillong Teer generated Rs 11 crore revenue during 2014-15 and nearly 2 crore in 2018-19 However this time round the state will allow only tourists and visitors to participate in these gaming and betting counters after providing valid proofs of being travellers from other states or countries While Meghalaya was one of the first states to legalize archery-based gambling it will now become the third state in the northeast to legalize gambling - both online and off-line Sikkim and Nagaland have also allowed regulated gaming and betting businesses Discussions on how to make Shillong Teer more profitable and widely accepted globally have taken place since 2012-13 onwards but the final push came when the Taxation Minister met representatives of the UK India Business Council and other business houses to discuss the possibilities The UKIBC in its report to the state government said the state is the most gaming-friendly state in India and concluded that lottery poker rummy casino and fantasy sports would do well here The new rules on gaming and betting however did not go well with everyone in the state Newly formed political outfit the Voice of the People said that most Meghalayans have always considered any form of gambling as a social evil and protested the move to allow opening up of casinos and gaming bars Former legislator and VPP president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit said The aim of the state government to open casinos in the state and make the state famous for its gambling cannot be accepted as we all know the Meghalaya people have never accepted such games of chance Basaiawmoit instead suggested the state look at encouraging start-ups Possibly to stem opposition from conservatives in the state the state government has decreed that the rules will allow only tourists to play big in the casinos it hopes to attract to the state PTI JOP JRC JRC

Shillong Apr 20 PTI The Meghalaya High Court on Wednesday granted three weeks time for the state government to introduce a roster system for implementation of the job reservation policy officials said Hearing a public interest litigation on the matter the two-member bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee said The State seeks some time to introduce the roster system Accordingly let the matter stand over for three weeks The court also reminded the state government that the roster system is relevant only for entry-level posts unless reservation is also provided for promotions Further to ascertain what categories of persons would be next recruited it is necessary to formulate a roster and apply the roster to all entry-level posts since the time the reservation policy came into effect including cadres that were born after the reservation policy came into effect it said Upon ascertaining the position in respect of each entry-level post will it be possible to assess how the discrepancies if any may be addressed by inviting more applications in future recruitments from categories which have been under-represented so that at a given point of time there is no further discrepancy the court added Acknowledging that it is no doubt an enormous task for the exercise to be conducted for every entry-level post across Government offices including other Government organisations where the reservation policy applies the court said that the same exercise has to be completed as far as the High Court and the District judiciary are concerned within a fortnight from date The next hearing will be held on May 11 PTI JOP JRC JRC

Shillong Mar 30 PTI The Meghalaya government has released Rs 53 crore in 2021-2022 for paying ASHA workers thus clearing backlogs due till March 2021 an official release here statedThe government said that it was highest-ever amount that has been released at one go under the National Health Mission NHMDue to lack of release of funds in 2018-2019 financial year NHM Meghalaya could not make regular payments to the ASHA workers the statement saidThe state government has sanctioned funds under Meghalaya ASHA Benefit Scheme MABS for clearing backlogs up to March 2021 it saidThe sanction letter has been forwarded to deputy commissioners of all the districts with copies sent to the district medical and health officers for their information and necessary action it saidWith support from NHM the Meghalaya government has also introduced a mobile application for facilitating payments to the ASHA workers the statement notedThe application has been developed to ease the payment process and ensure timely disbursement of the same it added PTI JOP RMS RMS

Shillong Feb 23 PTI Meghalaya on Wednesday reported 25 new COVID-19 cases taking the tally to 93371 a health official saidThere are 250 active cases in the state at present he saidThe toll remained at 1573 with no new death reported in the last 24 hours the official saidEight of the new cases were detected in East Khasi Hills four in West Garo Hills District and three each in East Jaintia Hills and Ri BhoiIn the last 24 hours 66 people recovered taking the total recoveries to 91548 the official said PTI JOP SOM SOM

Shillong Feb 23 PTI The Meghalaya High Court Wednesday directed state chief secretary and director general of police to file an independent report into the alleged illegal coal mining in the state The HC took cognizance of reports and the complaint filed by the traditional village chief of Nengchigen in Garo Hills against certain persons including the police alleging widespread illegal mining of coal within the clan lands It also threatened to appoint a special investigation team SIT to probe the alleged illegal coal racket in the state The division bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W Diengdoh said in the order the independent report should be filed by the chief secretary R V Suchiang and the special director general of police I Nongrang when the matter is taken up in court a week later preferably after visiting the areas concerned Meghalaya is yet to appoint a full director general of police following the retirement of the former incumbent R Ramachandran It is made clear that the matter complained of needs to be looked into without any political interference or else the Court may be constrained to appoint a fact-finding committee or even put a special investigation team in place or take the assistance of some agency so that the matter is appropriately and thoroughly investigated in accordance with law and the persons involved are brought to book the order said The next date of hearing has been fixed on March 2 On Tuesday Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had said that a process is required to be followed for setting up a CBI inquiry into the alleged illegal coal trade in the state He said that an FIR filed in connection with the alleged illegal coal mining and transportation in West Khasi Hills will be looked into and that police will hold the necessary inquiry PTI JOP KK KK KK

Shillong Jan 30 PTI A low-intensity blast in Shillongs busy Khydailad area triggered panic on Sunday evening police saidNo casualties were reported in the blast that happened around 615 pm in the commercial hub of the state they saidThe front portions of a mobile store and a wine shop were damaged due to the blast police saidIt is suspected to be an improvised explosive device IED blast a senior police officer told PTIBomb squad personnel were at the spot and the matter is being investigated he said PTI JOP SOM SOM

Shillong Jan 27 PTI Meghalayas COVID-19 tally rose to 89839 on Thursday as 288 more people tested positive for the infection 104 less than the previous day a senior health official said Six more patients succumbed to the infection pushing the northeastern states coronavirus death toll to 1509 Health Services Director Dr Aman War said East Khasi Hills district under which Shillong falls recorded the highest number of 197 new cases followed by 38 in West Garo Hills and 13 in Ri-Bhoi The state now has 2415 active cases while 85915 people have recovered from the disease so far including 361 in the last 24 hours The administration has thus far tested over 1312 lakh samples for COVID-19A total of 2268 lakh people have been inoculated to date of whom 927 lakh have been fully vaccinated PTI JOP ACD ACD

Shillong Jan 25 PTI The number of voters in Meghalaya has increased by 54712 in a year Chief Electoral Officer CEO FR Kharkongor said on TuesdayThe total number of electorate in the North-eastern state now is 2081570 There are 1028395 male voters while female enrolment is slightly higher at 1053173 Kharkongor saidTwo trans-genders were also enrolled - one in Pynthorumkhrah assembly constituency in East Khasi Hills district and the other in Rajabala constituency in West Garo Hills he saidDuring the special summary revision the total number of newly enrolled voters is 54712Of these new electors 35980 are in the age group 18-19 years which accounts for 65 per cent of the total additions the CEO saidThe number of service electors is 3822The final electoral roll was published on January 14 PTI JOP NN NN

Shillong Oct 31 PTI Eastern Air Command chief Air Marshal DK Patnaik visited the Indian Air Force IAF stations at Bagdogra and Bhuttabari in West Bengal and reviewed the operational preparedness a defence spokesperson said here on SundayThe air officer commanding in-chief visited the stations from October 28 to October 30During his maiden visit to the stations he reviewed the current operational preparedness of the base the spokesperson said in a statementHe also interacted with the personnel and urged them to train well and be prepared to undertake tasks assigned in a professional manner it added PTI JOP SOM SOM

Shillong Oct 30 PTI Voting was underway for the by-elections in three assembly constituencies in Meghalaya amid tight securityChief Election Officer FR Kharkongor said polling began at 7 am in all the polling stations in Mawryngkneng Mawphlang and Rajabala assembly constituenciesThe initial hour saw brisk polling he addedThe by-elections were necessitated following the demise of the sitting MLAs of the three seatsA total of 13 candidates are in the fray for the bypolls to the three seats Five candidates each are contesting from Mawryngkneng and Rajabala constituencies while three are in the fray in Mawphlang constituencyOver 1 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the bypollsMawryngkneng with 60 polling stations has 36751 voters while Mawphlang with 50 polling stations has 33194 voters and Rajabala with 58 polling stations has 32750 votersThe votes will be counted on November 2 PTI JOP SOM SOM