Feature
Obama surprises ‘brother’ Biden with Presidential Medal of Freedom
Washington: Outgoing US President Barack Obama surprised Vice President Joe Biden by presenting him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honour, and called him his “brother” and “the best Vice President America has ever had”. Having called Biden and his wife, Jill, to the White House on Thursday for a private farewell, the President instead brought him into a room filled with his friends, family and colleagues to present him the honour, the New York Times reported. For the first time, Obama awarded the medal with distinction, an added level of veneration that previous Presidents had reserved for recipients like Pope John Paul II and Colin L. Powell, the former Secretary of State.
“To know Joe Biden is to know love without pretense, service without self-regard, and to live life fully,” Obama said during the televised ceremony, as Biden wiped tears from his eyes and dabbed at his nose with a handkerchief. “Ricchetti, you’re fired,” Biden joked to his Chief of Staff, Steve Ricchetti. “I had no inkling.” Addressing Obama, Biden said he had never met anyone who had “the integrity and the decency and the sense of other people’s needs like you do”.
The ceremony was an emotional conclusion to an improbable partnership that began in 2008 when Obama asked his former presidential rival to be his running mate. The two men became close during eight years in the White House. “Mr President, you got right the part about my leaning on Jill,” Biden said, referring to the President’s remarks about the couple’s love. “But I’ve also leaned on you and a lot of people in this room.”
Obama spoke emotionally about the relationship between his own family and the extended Biden clan, many of whom had gathered for the ceremony. “My family is so proud to call ourselves honorary Bidens,” he said. Biden sought to return the compliment. He noted that the Constitution did not grant the Vice President any inherent powers — “for good reason,” he said.
But he said that Obama had made good on a pledge to make sure that Biden had a job that mattered. “You have more than kept your commitment to me by saying you wanted me to help govern,” Biden said, adding that he hoped the history books would record that he was an asterisk in Obama’s historic presidency. “I can say I was part of a journey of a remarkable man who did remarkable things for this country,” Biden 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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