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Modi in Mexico: India, Mexico to elevate ties to strategic partnership
Photo: Ani
Mexico City: India and Mexico have agreed to elevate their ‘Privileged Partnership’ into a strategic one during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto here during which Mexico also extended support for India’s NSG bid.
Mexico has also extended support to India’s International Solar Alliance initiative, which was launched at the Paris climate talks last year.
Modi, in a press statement after holding talks with Nieto, thanked him for his country’s support to India’s NSG membership and for the Solar Alliance.
“I thank President Pena Nieto for Mexico’s positive and constructive support for India’s membership of the NSG,” he said.
“We have agreed to work and develop a roadmap of concrete outcomes to upgrade our ties to a Strategic Partnership,” Modi said.
Both sides discussed ways to boost trade and investment. Modi was in Mexico City on a five-hour working visit.
Modi said the Central American country is an important partner for India’s energy security.
“We are now looking to move beyond a buyer-seller relationship, and into a long-term partnership.”
“There is potential to expand our commercial and investment, and Science and Technology partnerships in new areas,” Modi said, adding that both sides agreed to find ways to deepen cooperation in Space, and science and technology.
“We will also prioritise concrete projects in areas of agricultural research; bio-technology; waste management; disaster warning and management, and solar energy. I would like to particularly thank President Pena Nieto for his support to the International Solar Alliance. It will transform the global canvas for solar technology, especially for developing and Small Island Developing countries,” he said.
According to a joint statement, both sides underscored the increasing importance of diversifying the economic exchanges to promote trade and investment to a level corresponding to their true potential.
Both sides stressed the necessity of developing a greater connectivity between the two countries and encouraging cooperation in the infrastructure sector, among small and medium enterprises, in pharmaceutical products, in energy, in the automobile sector, in Information and Communication Technology, in agriculture, in food processing and in other related sectors.
Both sides agreed to explore ways and means to boost the objectives of the International Solar Alliance.
The two countries also welcomed collaboration in space science, earth observation, climate and environmental studies, and the efficient use of space-related resources available in India as well as in Mexico for remote sensing, advance warning for disaster prevention and launch of satellites between the Mexican Space Agency (AEM) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the joint statement said.
It pledged to continue promoting the shared goals of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation as solutions with multilateral perspective, as well as to continue promoting cooperation on international security issues.
The countries also reiterated their strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
Both countries also reaffirmed the importance to have an effective multilateral system, with the United Nations at its core, and agreed on the importance of continuing supporting the progress in the process of comprehensive reforms of the United Nations Security Council.
Both sides committed to ratify the Paris Agreement as soon as possible, as well as to develop new and renewable sources of energy to meet the developmental challenges of their respective countries.
President Nieto invited the Modi to visit Mexico again on a State visit in the near future, and Modi to invited him to pay a State visit to India.
Later, President Nieto took Modi out for a flavour of Mexican vegetarian fare and, in a special gesture, personally drove him to a restaurant.
Mexico was the final stop in Modi’s five-nation tour.
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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