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Solar aircraft expected by midnight in Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad: A solar powered aircraft — Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) — on a global flight has entered Indian airspace and is expected to land here before midnight, officials said.
It has been built not just to fly around the world without an iota of fuel, but also carry a message demonstrating effectiveness of clean technologies and importance of sustainability.
Powered only by the Sun’s rays, the aircraft took off from Muscat (Oman) on Monday and flew over Pakistan before entering Indian airspace over the Arabian Sea towards Gujarat, an official of the Aditya Birla Group, which is hosting the flight here, said.
“It is flying at a speed of around 60 kmph — or roughly equivalent to a scooter — under different weather conditions. We expect it to land anytime before midnight,” the official, requesting anonymity, told IANS here.
The Si2 is the brainchild of founders Bertrand Piccard — a psychiatrist who flew around the world in a hot-air balloon in 1999 — and former Swiss fighter pilot Andre Borschberg — also an experienced flight design engineer — who are alternating at the aircraft controls.
“Si2 fits in with our strategy of creativity, innovation and drive and it drives the message of synergising growth with responsibility. We are delighted to be the India host on its ground-breaking flight around the world,” said Aditya Birla Grop chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla.
The revolutionary single-seater aircraft is made of carbon fiber, with the 72-metre wingspan, larger than a Boeing 747 but weighing 2,300 kgs, or as much as a family car.
Its 17,248 solar cells and four lithium batteries, weighing 633 kgs, supply the electric motors with enough renewable energy for a 24×7 flight, up to an altitude of 8,500 metres — less than the height of Mount Everest which stands at 8,848 metres.
The ambitious project is supported by Prince Albert of Monaco, the United Arab Emirate’s Minister of State and Chairman of Masdar Sultan bin Ahmed Sultan Al Jaber, British businessman Richard Branson and former US vice president Al Gore.
The project is part of the #FutureIsClean initiative that has been launched to raise awareness about clean technologies.
It is also supported by main partners Solvay, Omega, Schindler, ABB, and Official Partners Google, Altran, Bayer Material Science, Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, Swisscom and Moet Hennessy, the official said.
The Si2 is an airborne laboratory, genuinely made from technological solutions developed by a multi-disciplinary team of 80 specialists and more than a 100 partners and consultants.
They worked for over a decade to bring Si2 from the drawing board to a flight of reality taking into consideration aspects of delicate balance between maximum efficiency, least possible weight and extreme reliability of its photovoltaic cells.
Besides an overnight stopover in Ahmedabad, Si2 is also expected to halt in Varanasi even as millions of fans worldwide follow its solar-powered flight via social media and live updates, with the founders and sponsors hoping it will change aviation history.
Its predecessor, the Si1 which flew in 2010 holds eight world records.
The Si2’s Round-The-World flight took off from Abu Dhabi in UAE last week and will have stops at Muscat in Oman, Ahmedabad and Varanasi in India, Mandalay in Myanmar, Chongqing and Nanjing cities in China.
Then it will cross the Pacific Ocean via Hawaii Islands and fly across the US with stops in Phoenix city in the Midwest and New York.
From there it will cross the Atlantic Ocean and the final leg would include a stopover in southern Europe or north Africa before returning to the starting point in Abu Dhabi by late July.
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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