Feature
Raging wildfire spreads to more areas in west Canada
Ottawa:The wildfire in western Canada, which ballooned to 85,000 hectares in Fort McMurray overnight, is now billowing across a wide front south of the city, a senior official said on Thursday.
The fire, which broke out early this week, has forced a massive evacuation of 88,000 people, Xinhua quoted Alberta Premier Rachel Notley as saying.
Supercharged by winds of up to 70 km/h, the Fort McMurray wildfire has grown eight times larger on Wednesday night and is expected to continue to burn out of control on Thursday as more than 1,110 firefighters, 145 helicopters and 22 air tankers are fighting to protect homes and critical infrastructure across the oil sands gateway.
No firm estimates are yet available on number of structures that burned overnight but officials said on Wednesday that at least 1,600 homes and buildings have been destroyed. Up to 90 percent of structures were burnt down in some outskirts neighbourhoods.
On Wednesday afternoon, Alberta declared a province-wide state of emergency to provide full support and better coordinate resources.
Officials said one major task on Thursday will be to re-evacuate up to 25,000 people now sheltering in oil sands work camps north of the city. The province hopes to transport many of those people, who fled Fort McMurray two days ago, by aircraft to Edmonton, the provincial capital and the closest major city 435 km to the south.
Fire officials said a total of 47 wildfires are burning across the province with seven considered out of control. Amazingly, as of Thursday morning, there have been no serious injuries or deaths yet reported.
Three more communities including an evacuation centre were put under evacuation orders late on Wednesday as the unstoppable fire pushed further south away from Fort McMurray. Firefighters said they need help from cooler wetter weather to contain fire.
The local airport, which has already been shut down to all commercial flights, suffered minor damages but will remain open to emergency services. Anxious and exhausted people boarded buses for the long trip down Highway 63.
Fire crews on the ground expect to receive reinforcements soon from other parts of Canada. Ontario will send 100 fighters Friday and Quebec has dispatched four air tankers.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Thursday morning that the federal government will match all individual charitable donations to Red Cross relief efforts for Fort McMurray. Alberta has also pledged to match donations to the Red Cross.
Insurance companies are setting up temporary claims hubs and sending additional staff to Alberta as wildfires in Fort McMurray destroyed property in what could become one of the costliest natural disasters in Canadian history.
The damage could reach nine billion Canadian dollars (about $7 billion) for insurers if it gets to the point that the town has to be rebuilt, an analyst at Bank of Montreal said on Thursday.
Officials were still investigating the cause of the latest fire, being it lightning strike or human cause but meteorologist said the wildfire has a clear link to climate change.
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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