Feature
World most secure suit is booked for PM Narendra Modi in Israel
Jerusalem: PM Narendra Modi is on his three day tour to Israel where he was welcomed warmly by Israel PM Netanyahu. But interesting part of this is that PM Modi has been kept in the most secure suite in the entire planet. “His suite is secured against bomb attacks, chemical attacks, everything,” said Sheldon Ritz to media.
Ritz is the director of operations in King David Hotel and has been in charge of the entire PM’s visit. “If the entire hotel is bombed, PM’s suite will be untouched, will come down in a pod. He added they have cleared out 110 rooms of the hotel to accommodate Modi and his delegation.
“We have hosted every US president in this century, from Clinton, Bush, Obama and, three weeks ago, Trump. And now we are hosting Mr Modi .” In respect to Modi’s “vegan” food habits, the hotel made sure the cookies in his suite are eggless and sugarless. Even the flowers are what the Indian delegation wants.
Modi’s suite has its own kitchen just in case his valet is asked to rustle up something for him at the last minute. “I believe he is eating Gujarati food,” Sheldon Ritz said. “We got a list of food ingredients necessary to cook Indian food for the Prime Minister. The ingredients are all kosher, because in this hotel all food has to be kosher.” They got almost all the stuff except just a few items which were probably not kosher.
The kitchens are being ruled by Rina Pushkarna, who is cooking dishes that are suitable for Modi’s palate. “It’s all very spicy,” Ritz said, “Our hotel has been filled with the aroma of spices these last few days. Wonderful,” he breathed. PM Modi gifts two sets of relics from Kerala to Netanyahu.
Ritz himself has been downing Indian food, remembering his childhood in Durban, where he went to an Indian-run hotel management school. Sheldon Ritz said there is very good reason for the King David hotel suite to be so secure.
We Israelis hope this visit by Modi will strengthen our relationship further. Hindus and Jews have so much in common, and it’s about time we unite to fight Islamic terrorism.
“Our hotel is part of Dan Hotels, and one of the owners is Michael Federmann, whose company, Elbit Systems makes the drones and the avionics. We are the best,” he said with evident pride. The first Dan Hotels in India is coming up in Bangalore, though probably not nearly as secure.
Entertainment
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
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.