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Macklemore slams Donald Trump at Vh1 Supersonic
Pune: Grammy winning American hip-hop artiste Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, who goes by the stage name Macklemore, slammed US President Donald Trump for his executive order on immigration, during his performance at the Vh1 Supersonic music festival.After warming up the crowd with his popular numbers like “Thrift Store”, Macklemore took a few moments to slam Trump followed by a rap song, criticising the President, here on Saturday night.
“In India, I don’t know how things are at the moment but in America we have this person named Donald Trump who is dividing human beings. America is this beautiful melting pot of culture and diversity and people from all over the world. It is what makes America incredible, it’s what makes it interesting,” Macklemore, who was the headliner at one of the fest’s stages, said in a speech.”America is a country of immigrants. My great grandparents migrated from Ireland. What he is trying to do right now is divide people by the good that they believe in. Divide people by invisible man-made lines. Divide people by who they choose to love.
“I believe that this division of human race is bigger than the division that we put on itself. I believe that we can pray to different gods, live in different places still have harmony and unity on this great Earth. I believe in love over hatred,” he added followed by a number on peace and harmony between people and communities, which also addressed the gay community.
He also rapped a special song “F**k Donald Trump”, criticising the US President, which had the Indian crowd cheering in unity for the artiste’s courage to stand up against what he feels is wrong, publicly.With Macklemore stealing the show on Day 2 of the three-day music festival, Indian artiste Arjun Vaghale also headlined another stage at the venue.Besides enthralling music enthusiasts present here at Laxmi Lawns, the fest also had food options galore including food trucks offering different cuisines.Other artistes who kept the crowd cheering and asking for more included Ash Roy, Aly & Fila, Browncoat, Henrik Schwarz and BOGL.The festival will end on Sunday with Zedd as one of the headliners.
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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