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158 dead as terrorists unleash mayhem in Paris

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Paris: No less than 158 people have been  killed in the French capital after terrorists carried out a bloody Mumbai-style multiple terror attacks, stunning France and drawing global condemnation, media reports said.

“This is for Syria!” screamed one of the attackers as he sprayed gunfire on Friday night at one of the six sites in Paris, in an obvious reference to France’s combat role against the Islamic State.

The audacious terrorists — all eight of whom were later reported killed — also chose to target a football stadium where President Francois Hollande was viewing a France-Germany match. He was quickly evacuated.

One witness said the killers didn’t wear masks and looked young.

The most horrific of the near simultaneous attacks took place at the Bataclan theatre where the terrorists burst in, opened fire, reloading their automatics at least thrice, took people hostages and, as security forces stormed it, exploded themselves, killing over 100 civilians.

A shaken Hollande declared a state of emergency across the country.

Later, he visited the concert hall and vowed revenge. The terrorists, he announced, would be fought “without mercy”, BBC and French media reported.

On Saturday morning, French security forces announced that all the attackers were dead but a hunt was on for possible accomplices. Residents in Paris were told to stay indoors. The city was swarming with soldiers.

All schools and universities were ordered closed on Saturday. It was the worst incident of violence to rock Paris after World War II.

US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon led the international community in denouncing the mindless violence, which left at least 200 people injured including 80 critically.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, now in Britain, described the attack as “anguishing and dreadful” and said New Delhi stood with the people of France at this tragic hour.

President Pranab Mukherjee added: “Strongly condemn terrorist attacks in Paris. India stands firmly with France, my heart goes out to its people.”

The series of attacks not far from the Place de la Republique and Place de la Bastille struck at the heart of the capital at Friday night when cafes, bars and restaurants were doing peak business, BBC said.

Customers were singled out at a pizza restaurant, a Cambodian restaurant, a bar and a McDonlads outlet.

Another target was the Stade de France, on the northern fringe of Paris, where President Hollande was among the 80,000 people watching a friendly tie between France and Germany.

The worst carnage took place on the 1,500-capacity Bataclan concert hall where gunmen opened fire on people watching US rock group The Eagles of Death Metal.

BBC quoted Julien Pierce, a journalist who was at the concert, as saying: “Several armed men came in. Two or three men, not wearing masks, had what looked like Kalashnikovs and fired blindly on the crowd.

“It lasted between 10 to 15 minutes. It was extremely violent and there was panic. The attackers had enough time to reload at least three times. They were very young… There were bodies everywhere.”

At the football stadium, people heard outside two big bangs in the first half of the match and a smaller explosion in the second half. No one died.

The carnage came as France, a member of the US-led coalition combating the Islamic State, struck the group’s strategic targets this week.

Entertainment

Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists

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PureWin Online Betting

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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