Feature
Clinton, Sanders clash in Democratic debate
Washington: A day after Bernie Sanders’ upset win over Hillary Clinton in a Democratic presidential primary, the two clashed over issues ranging from immigration reform to Sanders’ proposals for free college tuition and universal health care.
“This is a marathon and a marathon that can only be carried out by the type of inclusive campaign I’m running,” the former secretary of state said downplaying the Michigan loss and pointing to her big win in Mississippi.
But Sanders argued during the CNN debate Wednesday night that he’s the one with the momentum, calling his win in Michigan “one of the major political upsets in modern presidential history”.
“And I believe that our message of the need for people to stand up and tell corporate America and Wall Street that they cannot have it all is resonating across this country,” he said.
Clinton was also pressed on who gave her permission to use a private email server while at the State Department and if she would drop out of the race if she gets indicted.
“It wasn’t the best choice. I made a mistake. It was not prohibited. It was not in any way disallowed,” Clinton argued.
She maintained that no emails she sent at the time were marked classified and had instead been retroactively classified in a rash of “overclassification”.
Pressed again about what would happen if she were indicted by the FBI, an exasperated Clinton said, “Oh for goodness that isn’t going to happen.”
“I’m not even answering that question on dropping out if indicted.”
Sanders, who famously in the first debate said people were sick and tired of her “damn emails”, said he’d rather focus on income inequality, climate change and other issues as a process underway takes its course.
The two rivals again did not directly answer a question whether the Republican front-runner Donald Trump was a racist because of his controversial comments about Hispanics, women, blacks and other groups.
“Others are also joining in making clear that his rhetoric, his demagoguery, his trafficking in prejudice and paranoia has no place in our political system,” Clinton said.
“You don’t make America great by getting rid of everything that made America great,” she said, describing Trump’s call to ban Muslims temporarily and his other proposals as “un-American”.
Sanders, too criticised Trump’s rhetoric, but said he believed that logic would win out with voters – and noted he performs better against Trump in general election hypothetical match-ups.
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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