Feature
Bangladesh celebrates Independence Day
Dhaka:Bangladesh will celebrate its 45th Independence Day on Saturday, the day it emerged as a sovereign nation, breaking the shackles of suppression of Pakistan.
Bengalis will pay tribute to the martyrs of the Liberation War, bdnews24.com reported.
Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will place wreaths at National Memorial in Savar as a mark of respect to the martyrs.
Hamid, greeting Bengalis living in the country and abroad, said: “Nevertheless, we have to go a long way for achieving the desired goals of independence.
“Communal harmony is our tradition. The people of our country do not support any form of violence including militancy and terrorism.”
“Therefore, we have to maintain patience and self-restraint and show respect to others’ opinion in a democratic pluralism,” Hamid said.
Hasina, in her message, paid homage to the three million martyrs and 200,000 women who were violated during the war.
“The independence earned through supreme sacrifices of millions of people is the greatest achievement of Bangali nation,” said Hasina.
“To ensure that this achievement remains meaningful, all should know the history of our great Liberation War and retain the spirit of independence. The history should be passed down from generation to generation,” she said.
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee has also extended greetings and felicitations to the government and people of Bangladesh on its National Day.
In a message to his Bangladesh counterpart Hamid, Mukherjee on Friday said: “On behalf of the government, the people of India and on my own behalf, it gives me immense pleasure to extend warm felicitations and best wishes to you and to the people of Bangladesh on the occasion of your National Day.”
“The bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh have grown tremendously over the past few years. I am confident that this relationship between our two countries will continue to expand and that our interaction and cooperation will scale new heights,” Mukherjee said.
The Pakistan Army swooped down on Bengalis on the night of March 25, 1971 to subjugate their struggle for freedom.
They carried out genocide in the first hours of that night in Dhaka, describing the attack as ‘Operation Searchlight’.
Bengalis put up a valiant resistance and got freedom on December 16 after nine months of Liberation War.
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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