Feature
Political stability behind India’s growth:Modi
Riyadh:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that political stability is behind the economic growth story of India.
”The reason for India’s growth is political stability,” Modi, who arrived here earlier in the day on a two-day bilateral visit to Saudi Arabia on the third leg of his three-nation trip, said while addressing a gathering of members of the Indian community.
“In a very short span of time, India has once again given rise to new expectations at the world stage,” he said in a short speech made in a conference hall, a break from the large-scale diaspora events he is known for while visiting countries with a large Indian diaspora population.
Stating that the world’s attention towards India was due to its economic progress, he said the country could contribute a lot to the world.
Modi said that youth was India’s strength.
“The world needs a workforce that is talented and well-versed in technology,” he said.
The prime minister also said that India was making rapid strides in agriculture, industry and the services sector.
After his speech, Modi interacted with the people present and posed for photographs. There are nearly three million expatriate Indians in Saudi Arabia, making them the largest expatriate community in the Gulf kingdom and one of the largest in any country.
Apart from a large number of blue collar workers, Indian doctors, teachers, engineers and managers have made immense contributions to Saudi Arabia’s development, something that has been appreciated by the country’s rulers on numerous occasions.
Indians in Saudi Arabia make an important contribution to their homeland sending around $10 billion in remittances every year
Earlier on Saturday, Modi was received at the King Khalid International Airport by Governor of Riyadh Prince Faisal Bin Bandar Al Saud.
This is the first prime ministerial visit from India to the oil-rich Gulf kingdom since the visit of then prime minister Manmohan Singh in 2010.
In the afternoon, Modi visited the historic Masmak Fortress in the Saudi capital.
Located on Al Imam Turky Ibn Abdullah Ibn Muhammed street in Ad-Dira, Riyadh, the Masmak Fortress is one of the main attractions for visitors.
After the community event, Modi is scheduled to visit the L&T workers’ residential complex.
L&T is doing around $2 billion worth of work of the $600-billion Riyadh Metro Project.
Modi will be accorded a ceremonial welcome on Sunday afternoon at the Royal Court here by Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
King Salman will also host a lunch in honour of the visiting prime minister.
This will be followed by delegation-level talks and the signing of agreements.
During Modi’s visit, ties between India and Saudi Arabia are expected to be further elevated from the current strategic partnership to a more broad-based one.
Modi will leave for India late Sunday afternoon.
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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