Feature
No word yet from Pakistan on NSA talks
New Delhi/Islamabad: With Islamabad yet to confirm the dates for the NSA level talks, a Pakistani minister called upon India not to play the “old blame game”.
Islamabad has still not confirmed the Aug 23-24 dates for the India-Pakistan National Security Advisor (NSA)-level talks to be held in New Delhi, sources told.
Last week, Pakistani sources said that they were deliberating on the dates — in an indication that they were amenable to the schedule. However, they have so far not got back to India.
In Pakistan, Defence Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif asked India to “end blame game” and come forward with a fresh mind for peace talks.
Asif said “the old blame game had been started against Pakistan after movements of separation were growing rapidly in India”, Dawn online reported.
He said India should show sincerity in peace talks and end the old tactics of levelling false allegations against Pakistan.
Tensions between the two neighbours have increased ever since the July 10 landmark Ufa talks in Russia between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.
Both sides had then agreed to have their NSAs – India’s Ajit Doval and Pakistan’s Sartaj Aziz – meet in New Delhi to discuss issues related to terrorism.
However, there has been a big question mark on the talks ever since.
The Gurdaspur and Udhampur terror attacks by suspected Pakistani terrorists have added to the heightened tension, which last week got worse with India deciding to boycott a Commonwealth parliamentary meeting in Islamabad in protest against the Jammu and Kashmir assembly speaker not being given an invite.
Pakistan has invited the speakers of all the Indian states barring Jammu and Kashmir, citing it as disputed territory.
Pakistan has denied any hand in the July 27 Gurdaspur attack in which three armed terrorists sneaked across the border and killed seven people and also laid siege to the Dinanagar police station. The three terrorists were killed after an 11-hour gunfight.
On Aug 5, a Pakistani terrorist was killed and another caught alive after the two ambushed a Border Security Force vehicle in Udhampur in Jammu region and killed two security personnel. Pakistani authorities have denied that the nabbed man, Usman, is from their country.
There have also been several instances of cross-border firing.
These tense developments come in the midst of the heartwarming tale of Geeta, a hearing and speech impaired young women who strayed into Pakistan 15 years ago as a small girl and has been sheltered there and is living with a charity in Karachi. India is arranging to bring back the young woman.
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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