Feature
Pak PM Imran Khan asks armed forces, citizens to ‘prepare for all eventualities’
Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday directed Pakistan’s armed forces and citizens to “remain prepared for all eventualities” after the Indian Air Force (IAF) jets hit the Jaish-e-Mohammed’s (JeM) biggest training camp in Balakot in Pakistan.
A high-level meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) chaired by Khan also “strongly rejected Indian claim of targeting an alleged terrorist camp near Balakot as well as the claim of heavy casualties”, Dawn online reported.
Khan, as per a statement issued after the meeting, “directed that elements of national power, including the armed forces and the people of Pakistan, remain prepared for all eventualities” and summoned a special meeting of the National Command Authority on Wednesday.
“Once again Indian government has resorted to a self-serving, reckless and fictitious claim. This action has been done for domestic consumption being in election environment, putting regional peace and stability at grave risk,” said the statement.
The NSC meeting was attended by the civil and military leadership, including Army Chief General Qamar Jawed Bajwa and the Ministers of Defence and Foreign Affairs.
“The claimed area of strike is open for the world to see the facts on ground. For this domestic and international media is being taken to the impact site. Forum (meeting) concluded that India has committed uncalled for aggression to which Pakistan shall respond at the time and place of its choosing,” the statement read.
The Prime Minister decided to engage with global leadership to expose the “irresponsible” Indian policy in the region and said the LoC violation will be raised with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), UN and friendly countries, it added.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi will raise the issue at international forums.
The meeting decided that a joint session will be called to take Parliament into confidence.
Imran Khan directs armed forces, citizens to ‘remain prepared for all eventualities’:
Ahead of the meeting, Qureshi chaired an emergency consultative meeting at the Foreign Office where he said that Pakistan holds the “right to self-defence” and a “befitting response” to India.
“We kept on telling the world that this could happen… they (India) carried out aggression against Pakistan today,” he told the media.
“India violated the LoC. Pakistan holds the right to self-defence and a befitting response.”
He said that “India was bent on disturbing peace in the region” and that “the entire region stands with the Pakistan Army”.
Pakistan Army spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor said earlier that the Indian intrusion in Muzaffarabad sector happened within “AJK” (Azad Jammu Kashmir), 3-4 miles from the LoC that divides Kashmir between the two countries.
“Under forced hasty withdrawal the aircraft released payload which had free fall in an open area. No infrastructure got hit, no casualties,” he said following an uproar in Pakistan about Indian jets flying deep into its territory.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif urged India to refrain from plunging the region into war.
He asked the Indian leadership to “rethink its war strategy” and warned that if India initiated a war, then Pakistan would hoist its flag in New Delhi, Geo News reported.
Tuesday’s attack came after a JeM suicide bomber killed 40 CRPF troopers in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14. It was the worst attack on the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir at one go since militancy erupted in 1989.
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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