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India to help build infrastructure in Central Asia: Modi
Ufa (Russia): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India will help develop infrastructure in the Central Asian region.
“Our ties with Central Asia are very old,” Modi said while addressing the 15th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit here.
“India will be pleased to contribute to the development of infrastructure in the region,” he said.
The prime minister noted that India has been “actively participating in SCO activities that are open to observers”.
“Our membership of SCO is a natural extension of these relationships and mirrors the region’s place in India’s future,” he said.
SCO leaders are set to pass a resolution on starting the procedures to grant India and Pakistan full membership of the organisation.
Founded in 2001, the SCO has China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as its full members.
Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan are observers while Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka are dialogue partners.
Modi said India would “support efforts to create an environment that eases barriers and facilitates trade and investments in the region”.
Observing that the SCO region is characterised by a rich diversity of cultures, Modi said: “ Our association with SCO will seek to advance our shared vision to reconnect and integrate Eurasia’s different regions.”
He also called for promoting deeper understanding and exchanges, saying that these, “especially among our youth, will promote greater unity in the region and beyond”.
“The future of prosperity rests on the foundation of peace. India will contribute to advancing peace and friendship in the region,” the prime minister said.
He said India would join SCO in the fight against terrorism.
“We will work with SCO to combat terrorism and extremism.”
Assuring India’s full cooperation to the SCO, Modi said: “For the past few centuries, we have all looked away from the centre of this great landmass, towards the sea and other regions. The time has come reach out to each other across the region.”
He said India looked forward to lending its support to “building infrastructure, easing barriers of trade, expanding connectivity”.
The prime minister said India would deepen its engagement with SCO member-states in human resource development, information and communication technology, pharmaceuticals and health, banking and capital markets, micro- small and medium enterprises (MSME), micro-finance and food security.
“SCO is an important part of our vision. I assure you of India’s full cooperation to SCO,” Modi said in his speech.
In the course of his speech, he also congratulated Pakistan for joining the SCO.
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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