Feature
Cameron offers support to Gandhi statue in London
London: British Prime Minister David Cameron today appreciated and showed his support to install a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at London’s prestigious Parliament Square.
The prime minister told Asian Lite newspaper that the decision to install a statue of India’s Father of the nation at Parliament Square along with Winston Churchill and Nelosn Mandela is wise and timely.
“Lots of reasons for the Gandhi statue to be installed at the British Parliament,” Cameron said.
“One is the importance of Gandhi to Indian history and the importance of Gandhi’s teachings of non-violence and peaceful protests. I always remember Gandhi’s message to journalists: ‘If you to find yourself, you should lose yourself in the service of others and you should be the change that you want to see in the world’.”
The prime minister said, through the initiative, Britain is cementing its historical connection with India.
“A statue of Mahatma Gandhi standing alongside Churchill and Mandela at Parliament Square is highly appropriate and I am highly delighted that we have have done this relatively quickly as sometimes the statues take a long time to be commissioned,” Cameron added.
The British prime minister said the teachings of Gandhi are relevant to anyone who wants to try to build a bigger and stronger society alongside a prosperous economy.
The prime minister also lauded the contribution of British-Asians to the socio-economic sectors of the country.
“Looking at Britain’s history, the Asian community plays an absolutely key part in Britain’s economy,” the prime minister said.
“It is going to be that SMEs are going to create more jobs in future. People like Dr. Rami Ranger are role models for the younger generation to emulate. His story is extraordinary. An educated young-man coming to England with lots of principles and ambitions but nothing in the pocket.
“He became a successful businessman winning five Queens Award for Enterprise. He is serving the community long with his family. His daughter is a local councillor. I believe our country is an opportunity democracy where you can be successful from nothing to something. We unveiled several business schemes (and) the BME (black and minority ethnic) communities are one of the best beneficiaries. Twenty five percent of the start-up loans have gone to the BME communities, (and that ) shows entrepreneurship in this community.”
Cameron said his government will create more economic ties with India if he is getting a second term in office in the May elections.
“India is one of the rising powers of the world, we should really try to work together,” the prime minister said.
“The Relationship with India is much stronger now. India invests more into Britain than anywhere in Europe and there is a rise of five billion pounds (over $7.5 billion) since I became the prime minister. Britain is the number one European investor into India and I am sure we can do better in trade.”
“The new government will cement and create more economic ties with India especially in the fields of infrastructure, smart cities, corridors for enterprising economic development,” Cameron said. “Britain and India also should work towards a common foreign policy to challenges of our time like terrorism and climate change.”
The prime minister said he is looking forward to meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Britain.
“I hope it wouldn’t be too long,” he added. “I think the next stage would be very exciting.”
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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