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Sushma meets Aung San Suu Kyi
Nay Pyi Taw : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday met Myanmar’s State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi here.
“An old friend of India, a new partner in progress. EAM meets Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor & FM of Myanmar,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted along with pictures of the two leaders.
This is the first high-level visit from India to Myanmar after Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) assumed power earlier this year.
After arriving in Nay Pyi Taw earlier on Monday, Sushma Swaraj first met Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw.
“Enhancing linkages with Myanmar’s new Govwernment. EAM @SushmaSwaraj calls on President U Htin Kyaw in 1st engagement,” Swarup said in another tweet.
Sushma Swaraj is being accompanied by Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and other senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs.
During the 15th round of Foreign Office Consultations in New Delhi earlier this month, India and Myanmar reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral issues, including high-level visits, security and defence-related issues, boundary matters and border management, trade and commerce, development cooperation, connectivity, cultural and consular matters.
They also exchanged views on issues of mutual interest at regional and multilateral forums.
The consultations are of special significance as these were the first institutionalised exchanges between India and Myanmar after the swearing-in of the new NLD government in Myanmar on March 30 this year.
In the intervening period, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on June 16 visited Myanmar as a special envoy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman earlier led a high-level business delegation to the eastern neighbour for the India-Myanmar Business Conclave on May 18-20.
Last month, in a meeting with Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Laos, Suu Kyi said that she looked forward to visiting India.
As her country’s constitution bars her from becoming President, the Nobel Peace laureate serves as the State Counsellor and Foreign Minister.
Suu Kyi made her first visit in her current capacity to China last week.
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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