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Britain rejects UN working group ruling on WikiLeaks founder
London: Britain on Friday rejected a UN working group’s ruling which calls for an end to the “arbitrary detention” of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) announced on Friday that Assange has been “arbitrarily detained” by Sweden and Britain since his arrest in London in 2010, and he should be afforded the right to compensation, Xinhua reported.
Speaking from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he has been taking refuge, Assange said: “How sweet it is. This is a victory that cannot be denied.”
“It is a victory of historical importance, not just for me, for my family, for my children, but for the independence of the UN system,” he added.
Holding a copy of the UN ruling, he continued: “What right do the governments of the US, UK or Sweden have to deny my children their father for five and a half years?”
However, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond described the ruling as “a ridiculous finding” by the working group, and accused Assange of “hiding from justice.”
“Assange is a fugitive from justice, voluntarily hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy. I reject the report from UNWGAD,” Hammond tweeted.
Hitting back at Hammond, Assange accused the foreign secretary’ s comments of “insulting the UN.”
“I found those comments to be beneath the stature that a foreign secretary should express in this situation,” The 44-year-old Australian said.
Edward Snowden, a US intelligence contractor-turned-whistleblower who has fled the US and taken refugee in Russia, criticised Britain’s rejection to abide by the UN ruling.
“This writes a pass for every dictatorship to reject UN rulings. Dangerous precedent for UK and Sweden to set,” he said on his twitter account.
British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) denied that Assange has been arbitrarily detained by Britain, and threatened to formally contest the opinion of the UN Working Group.
“This changes nothing. We completely reject any claim that Julian Assange is a victim of arbitrary detention. The UK has already made clear to the UN that we will formally contest the working group’s opinion,” an FCO spokesperson said.
The spokesperson noted that an allegation of rape against Assange is still outstanding with a European Arrest Warrant in place, and Britain “continues to have a legal obligation to extradite him to Sweden.”
Assange has infuriated several governments, including the US authorities, by disclosing hundreds of thousands of secret files concerning Iraq, Afghanistan and diplomatic cables from US embassies around the world.
In June, 2012, Assange fled to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and was granted political asylum by Ecuador two months later.
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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