Feature
Five year old girl and a soldier killed in Pak firing in Jammu
Jammu: A five-year-old girl and a soldier were killed in heavy Pakistan firing along the line of control in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, forcing India to warn the neighbouring country it reserved the right to hit back.
The intense shelling of Indian posts and villages in Rajouri and Poonch districts also left a soldier and woman battling for life as the director generals of military operations (DGMOs) of the two countries spoke over the phone.
The Indian Army reserved the right to retaliate as all ceasefire violations were initiated by Pakistan, Lt Gen AK Bhat told his Pakistani counterpart.
The two DGMOs usually speak on Tuesdays but this unscheduled conversation took place on the request of the Pakistani side in face of increased ceasefire violations, sources said.
Naik Muddasar Ahmed was grievously injured when mortar shells landed on his bunker in Bhimber Gali sector, the army said in a statement. He was taken to a hospital but couldn’t be saved.
The Bhimber Gali sector runs along Rajouri and Poonch districts. The 37-year-old was from Tral in Pulwama in southern Kashmir and was with the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKI).
“The nation will always remain indebted to him for the supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty,” the army said. Ahmed is survived by his wife and two children. Another JAKI jawan, Naik Firdous, was severely injured, sources said.
Five-year-old Saida Kafeel Kouser was killed in Poonch’s Balakote while Shah Bi suffered shrapnel injuries in Rajouri. The Pakistani side started firing indiscriminately at around 7.30am, targeting the Bhimber Gali sector, defence spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta said, adding the Indian side was retaliating strongly.
The firing was so intense that the Rajouri administration closed all the schools near the de facto border. This summer, there has been a heavy exchange of fire along the LoC that has left many soldiers and civilians dead on both sides.
On July 12, two Indian soldiers were killed in Kupwara sector. The two countries had in November 2003 agreed to hold fire along the LoC but violations have intensified since 2016 as relations have nosedived.
Five Pakistani soldiers were killed when their vehicle fell into a river in the Neelum Valley after it was “targeted by the Indian Army”.
The vehicle carrying five soldiers fell into the Neelum river on Sunday, ISPR, the publicity wing of the Pakistani army, posted on its website. Body of one of the soldiers was found and a search was on for others, it said.
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.
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