Feature
‘Appropriate response’ to Uri: Modi under pressure to act
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Monday conferring with senior ministers, security and military advisers and other experts as his government sought to craft an “appropriate response” to Sunday’s terror assault on the Uri army garrison in Jammu and Kashmir.
The attack, one of the biggest targeting the Indian Army in recent years, and quickly blamed on Pakistan, resulted in the deaths of 17 soldiers and substantial damage to military property just a few kilometres from the Line of Control with Pakistan.
With calls mounting from inside the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that India should “teach a lesson” to Pakistan — with one senior party strategist Ram Madhav demanding “for one tooth, a complete jaw” — Modi is under pressure to live up to his 2014 election campaign rhetoric of showing Pakistan that India is not a “soft power” and would give a “befitting reply” to any attacks on the country.
Expectations of appropriate action were raised when Modi himself said soon after the attack that “I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished”, while the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological fountainhead of the party, said that “terrorists, their masters and their supporters should be dealt with firmly and conclusively”.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar also said he had asked Army Chief, Gen. Dalbir Singh, to take action against “those responsible for the attack”.
There were arguments for and against a retaliatory military action, even a “punitive counter attack”, as many military analysts are demanding. There were various war scenarios being drawn out in South Block’s board rooms with one former general suggesting on TV that India should not be seen “pussyfooting” anymore as it had “conventional superiority” and could deal with military exigencies.
With the world watching anxiously, and foreign embassies monitoring the “flashpoint situation” closely, Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s statement that Pakistan will not hesitate to use “tactical nuclear weapons” if the need arose and that “horses should be ready” for action has led to a building up of a tense situation in the subcontinent with unpredictable consequences.
After the spate of high-level visits on Sunday, including by the Defence Minister and the Army Chief, Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi was flying to Srinagar on Monday to review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir with the top police and civil officials in the state government, an official source said here.
The valley has been restive since the July 8 killing of militant commander Burhan Wani, with the almost unending protests resulting in close to 90 deaths, including that of three policemen, and over 11,000 injuries.
Mehrishi will be also call on the state Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Governor N.N. Vohra. Mehrishi is expected to attend a series of meetings with officials of the state government, army, police and paramilitary forces, the source added.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
Foodman Vishal Singh Honored for Hunger Free World Mission in Bangkok
Dr. Abhishek Verma Dedicates a Shelter in Memory of His Mother, Veena Verma, at KGMU; Inaugurated by Daughter Nicolle Verma
Cheers and Cheers: Barzilla’s Joyful Ode to Inclusivity and Celebration
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
IPL 20202 UPDATE: KXIP vs MI IPL Dream11 Team Prediction for Today Match, Update Point Table of all Team.
In a Live debate AAP leader Syed Asad Abbas hurls abuses to BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
‘India’s Most Wanted’ trailer out Arjun Kapoor on hunt of Osama-Bin-Laden
Time to move on: Sonakshi on Shatrughan’s joining Congress
