Feature
US Is Preparing to sell eight F-16 Fighter Jets To Pakistan
Washington:Despite of Indian efforts to block the delivery,The Obama-led administration is committed to supply eigt new F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan.Senior American officials said, the proposal is intended to support a small partnership despite persistent concerns about Islamabad’s ties to elements of the Taliban.
State Department Spokesperson Mark C. Toner Thursday declined to confirm whether Secretary of State John Kerry had received a letter from Senate Foreign Relations committee Chairman Bob Corker regarding subsidised sale of up to eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan.
“As a matter of policy, though, we don’t comment on proposed arms sales or transfers or even our preliminary consultations with the Hill, with Capitol Hill, prior to any formal congressional notification,” he said.
But “we are committed to working with Congress to deliver security assistance to our partners and our allies that we believe furthers US foreign policy interests by building the capacity to meet shared security challenges,” he said.
Citing Islamabad’s relationship with the Haqqani network, an extremist group that has a history of destabilizing Afghanistan, Corker in a Feb 9 letter to Kerry notified the Obama administration of his intention to block the F-16 sale.
“After years of pressuring the Pakistanis on this point, the Haqqani terrorists still enjoy freedom of movement, and possibly even support from the Pakistani government,” he wrote.
“This is highly problematic given the Haqqani’s clear involvement in killing the very Afghan army and police we have worked for years to train,” Corker added.
Asked about Corker’s charges, Toner said: “We believe US security assistance to Pakistan actually contributes to their counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations.”
“These operations reduce the ability of militants to use Pakistani territory as a safe haven to carry out terrorist attacks and as a base of support for the insurgency in Afghanistan,” he said.
“So we believe these operations are in the interests of both Pakistan and the United States and in the interests of the region more broadly,” Toner said.
Asked how many fewer US personnel had been killed inside Afghanistan by terrorist groups because of US assistance to Pakistani forces, Toner said he did not have the figures “in front of me.”
“But no country in the region has been more touched by terrorism than Pakistan,” he claimed. “We believe it’s in our vital national security interests to support Pakistan in carrying out its efforts to destroy these terrorist networks.”
Describing Pakistan as “an important partner in the region in achieving a stable and secure Afghanistan,” the spokesperson said, the US “would welcome Pakistan’s efforts to support Afghan-led reconciliation talks, for example.”
Pakistan, he said, had carried out “multiple operations against some of these terrorist networks that are operating on their soil.
“We believe that destroying, eliminating those networks is in our national security interests, as well as the security interests of the region,” Toner said.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani Embassy in Washington Thursday denied Corker’s charge and criticised it as unfounded and ill-advised.
“Insinuations of facilitating the destabilizing role of Haqqani network in Afghanistan in any way are indeed unfortunate,” embassy spokesman Nadeem Hotiana told Foreign Policy magazine.
Corker, following a recent trip to Afghanistan, said he would shelve the funding needed to finance the F-16 deal. However, he pledged to lift his hold on the sale of the warplanes itself.
“If they wish to purchase this military equipment, they will do so without a subsidy from the American taxpayer,” Corker was quoted as saying in the letter by FP.
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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