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Will deepen defence cooperation with Malaysia: Modi
Kuala Lumpur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that India will deepen its defence cooperation with Malaysia.
“I am particularly grateful to you for our security cooperation,” Modi said at a joint press conference with his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak after bilateral talks between the two sides.
“It underlines our shared commitment to deal with our security challenges. We will continue to deepen our cooperation in this area,” he said on the third day of his visit to Malaysia that marked the beginning of the bilateral phase.
Modi attended the 13th Asean (Association of SoutheastAsian Nations)-India Summit on Saturday and the 10th East Asia Summit on Sunday here.
He said the recent spate of attacks in different countries, apart from the “ceaseless terrorist attempts against India and Afghanistan”, were a reminder of the global nature of this threat.
“We will also make our defence cooperation stronger, including for advancing maritime security and strengthening disaster response in our region,” the Indian prime minister said.
Modi complimented Razak for providing leadership in combating extremism and radicalisation, rejecting any link between terrorism and religion, and in highlighting the real values of Islam.
He also said that the agreement to cooperate in cyber-security between the two countries was very important.
“As our lives get more networked, this is emerging as one of the most serious concerns of our age,” he stated.
The Indian prime minister also called for scaling up trade and investment relations with Malaysia.
“We intend to exploit the full potential of our bilateral agreements and the India-Asean agreements,” he said, adding that he hoped for an early conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
“Malaysian competence in infrastructure is well known. Malaysia has completed several important projects, including in the road sector, in India,” Modi said.
“I expressed our desire to see enhanced Malaysian participation in areas such as expansion and upgrading of infrastructure, ‘Make in India’, and smart cities projects.”
Noting that Indian companies have a strong presence in Malaysia, Modi said: “Ircon is contributing to development of rail infrastructure here. We want to raise the level of Indian presence in the Malaysian economy.”
He said that both he and Razak were “determined to explore steps to show concrete and early results”.
Modi also said that India and Malaysia would expand cooperation in public administration and governance.
“We will place special emphasis on cultural and people-to-people ties,” he added.
In an address to the Indian diaspora here on Sunday, Modi lavished praise on the accomplishments across various fields by Malay-Indians.
Of Malaysia’s total population of 30 million , around two million are people of Indian origin.
Earlier on Monday, Modi was accorded a ceremonial welcome and guard of honour at Putrajaya, the federal administrative centre of Malaysia, where he was greeted with a hug by Razak.
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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