Feature
Sushma on two-day visit to Maldives
Male/New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday arrived in the Maldives on a two-day visit to attend a Joint Commission Meeting with her counterpart.
Sushma Swaraj, who was accompanied by Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, was received at the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in Male by her Maldivian counterpart Dunya Maumoon.
“Memorable Maldives! EAM @SushmaSwaraj is received by FM Dunya Maumoon at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport, Male,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.
Sushma Swaraj’s visit to the Maldives comes amid rising international calls demanding the release of jailed former president Mohamed Nasheed.
On Thursday, India’s external affairs ministry had said Sushma Swaraj will discuss defence and security ties apart from cooperation in a range of areas including energy.
On the jailing of Nasheed, the ministry spokesperson said: “We hope that the outcome will be seen by everybody as fair. The outcome must be seen to be fair.”
Former Maldivian vice president Mohamed Jameel Ahmed tweeted on Saturday: “I call upon Prez Yameen to release Prez Nasheed & all other political prisoners & obey international legal obligations.”
“Prez Yameen must allow democracy to function in the Maldives, stop arrest & detention of politicians,” he posted.
Amnesty India tweeted: “During #Maldives visit, @SushmaSwaraj should call for immediate release of former Pres #Nasheed who was arrested after grossly unfair trial.”
“#Maldives should heed recent call of UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to immediately release former President #Nasheed @SushmaSwaraj,” the rights group said.
The Twitter handle of the Maldivian Democratic Party tweeted pictures of thousands of Maldivians rallying on the streets of Male to demand Nasheed’s release.
“Thousands of Maldivians join international calls to free imprisoned ex-Pres Nasheed. Pray for his safety,” the twitter handle posted.
Richard Branson, British billionaire and founder of the Virgin Group, has renewed calls for the release of Nasheed in the wake of a UN rights panel declaring his imprisonment arbitrary and illegal.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has ruled that Nasheed’s conviction on a terrorism charge in March was politically motivated and violated international law.
But the government last week called the judgment “flawed and premature” and said it “will not be made to act on the basis of a non-binding opinion”.
Writing on the Virgin website, Branson noted that the government was refusing to abide by the UN judgment despite engaging in the process.
The Maldives on Thursday rejected the UN WGAD ruling on Nasheed’s arrest.
Nasheed had filed a case claiming that his detention was unlawful. A five-member independent panel called for his immediate release.
But Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon has said the government would only follow the country’s constitution, domestic laws and verdicts issued by local courts.
The government would abide by any ruling issued by the Supreme Court in appeal of Nasheed’s prison sentence, she said.
Nasheed has served six months of a 13-year sentence after a court found him guilty of terrorism for ordering the arrest of a senior judge when he was president three years ago.
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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