Feature
We are not hyphenated Americans, but Americans, says Bobby Jindal
Washington: Louisiana’s Indian-American governor Piyush “Bobby”Jindal launched a historic bid for the US presidency recalling his parents’ journey to the land of “real opportunities” yet seeking to distance himself from his heritage.
His dad, who “grew up in a house without electricity or running water” and “was the only person in his family to get past the 5th grade” and “mom came to Louisiana because they believed in America,” said Jindal Wednesday announcing his bid for Republican nomination.
“And when they got here they found that the legend was true,” said Jindal, 44, who became America’s youngest governor when elected to his first term in 2007, standing before a before a giant American flag at an event centre in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner as supporters waved “Geaux Bobby” ( Go in French) signs.
“And they found that America is indeed the land of the free and home of the brave,” he said painting himself as a doer among a crowd of talkers as he became the first Indian-American and the 13th Republican to join the 2016 White House race.
“The guy in the White House today is a great talker, and we have a bunch of great talkers running for President,” said Jindal referring to President Barack Obama and his rivals. “We’ve had enough of talkers, it’s time for a doer. I’m not running for president to be somebody, I’m running for President to do something.”
But even as he talked about his immigrant parents from Punjab “coming to an idea…and that idea is America,” he set himself against immigrants.
“We cannot allow people to immigrate to this country so that they can use our freedoms to undermine our freedoms.”
“That’s exactly what has happened in Europe, where they have 2nd and 3rd generations of immigrants who refuse to embrace the values and culture of the countries they have moved into,” Jindal said. “We must not let that happen here.”
And accusing Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton of “already trying to divide us by ethnicity, by gender, and by economic status,” Jindal said: “As for me, I’m sick and tired of people dividing Americans.”
“And I’m done with all this talk about hyphenated Americans. We are not Indian-Americans, Irish-Americans, African-Americans, rich Americans, or poor Americans – we are all Americans,” he said returning to a now familiar campaign theme.
Jindal’s pronouncement came as no surprise to the over three million strong Indian-American community, which gave enthusiastic support to his Congressional and gubernatorial campaigns, but now feels alienated with such talk.
As Pearson Cross, a political science professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette who is writing a book on him told the Washington Post: “There’s not much Indian left in Bobby Jindal.”
Once considered a rising star of the Republican party, he has lost support within his own party too which he once chided to stop being the “stupid party.
In his announcement, he also took a swipe at Jeb Bush suggesting that the Republican frontrunner was “saying that we need to hide our conservative ideals. But the truth is, if we go down that road again, we will lose again.”
Jindal’s entry into the race came two days after a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found him sharing the bottom of a list of 16 candidates with zero percent of Republican primary voters picking him as their top choice against Jeb Bush’s 22 percent.
So much so that he faces the danger of being eliminated from presidential primary debates starting August six as Fox News and CNN are limiting the first two major debates to the top 10.
Time magazine suggested Jindal faced an “uphill climb to the nomination”, the New York said “his bid appears to be a long shot”, while the Washington Post in an editorial said Jindal had “lost his way” and Republican primary voters seeking a winner would be “more interested in a governor with a stronger record.”
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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