Feature
India calls for Security Council action against terrorist outfits
United Nations: India has called upon the UN Security Council to act decisively against the widening arc of terrorism that has struck Paris, Beirut and Syria while the links between the Islamic State and extremists in Afghanistan and elsewhere are tightening.
“We urge the Security Council to act against this threat to international peace and security with a sense of urgency and within a defined time-frame,” India’s Permanent Representative Asoke Kumar Mukerji told the UN General Assembly Monday during a debate on the situation in Afghanistan.
“The first step the Council should undertake is to strengthen the Council’s Sanctions Regime structure, in order to effectively impose and implement the restrictions placed on the listed terrorist organisations, so as to deny them sanctuaries and safe haven,” he said.
The Security Council’s failure to act against Pakistan for providing a sanctuary for anti-India terrorists and for releasing on bail Lashkar-e-Taiba’s 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi has been a sore point for India.
The growing violence in Afghanistan between the Taliban and the Islamic State along with its affiliates was an “alarming” development, he said, citing Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s report on the situation in that nation.
In particular he drew attention to Ban’s report that most of the Islamic State-affiliated fighters in Afghanistan are made up mostly of “disaffected former members of the Afghan Taliban, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or groups previously associated with Al-Qaeda.”
In view of these developments and the rising tide of terrorist violence around the world, the international community should rethink the time table for troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, Mukerji said.
In a reversal of policy, President Barack Obama announced in October that the United States will keep its troop strength at 9,800 through next year, but will reduce it to about 5,500 by the time he leaves office in January 2017.
Calling India “Afghanistan’s first strategic partner”, Mukerji spoke of the close bilateral ties between the two nations and expressed regret over restrictions on transit.
“Afghanistan will be able to achieve its optimal economic potential only if it is allowed freedom of transit to major markets in South Asia,” he said. Without naming Pakistan, he added, “We regret that this freedom continues to be denied to Afghanistan.” Islamabad has blocked direct access to India for trucks bringing Afghanistan’s exports.
“India has opened its markets to all Afghan exports, and is willing to receive Afghan trucks on its territory,” Mukerji said. “India remains committed to greater regional integration, and is open to join and support all such regional initiatives, including the expansion of the Afghan Pakistan Trade and Transit Agreement.”
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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