Feature
Google CEO Pichai symbolises new India: IT industry
Bengaluru/New Delhi: The Indian IT industry is upbeat over the appointment of Indian-born Sundarajan Pichai, 43, as chief executive of the world’s largest search engine Google Inc in the US.
Elated over the meteoric rise of Pichai in Google, who will succeed its co-founder Larry Page a decade after joining the Silicon Valley behemoth in 2004, a top industry executive said on Tuesday that the IIT graduate symbolized new India, representing talent, technology, innovation and managerial acumen.
“It is not a surprise that another Indian techie has made it to the top a year after Satya Nadella became Microsoft’s chief executive. They both with many others represent the best of talent, creativity and managerial ability to run global corporations,” Nasscom president R. Chandrashekhar told IANS.
In a sudden announcement at Palo Alto where Google is headquartered, Page said that former Chrome and Android head Pichai would be the new executive as he was moving out to head a new umbrella company Alphabet.
Google’s other co-founder Sergey Brin will be the president of Alphabet, floated to run its other subsidiaries such as Life Sciences and Calico.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first to greet Pichai for heading one of the most valued technology firms in the world.
“Congratulations Sundar Pichai. My best wishes for the new role at Google,” Modi tweeted.
Modi is likely to meet Pichai during his visit to the Silicon Valley in September to address the Indian Diaspora, especially hundreds of Indian-born techies and entrepreneurs working in global IT firms and start-ups in the Bay area.
“We are planning to have an inter-active session between Modi and our Diaspora in the Silicon Valley where he will meet Pichai, Nadella and other Indian-born and Indian American honchos to seek their expertise in fast tracking the ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India’ programmes,” Chandrashekhar said.
Nadella also tweeted: “Congrats sundarpichai well deserved!”
Besides strengthening Indian and American tech partnership, elevation of Pichai and Nadella to top posts underscored the fact that India has become a storehouse of global talent in technology and management.
“Pichai, Nadella and scores of other Indians who went on to build IT products demonstrate the maturity of our IT industry, which has come of age to catch up with global peers and move up the value chain to innovation from software services and back office operations,” said Chandrashekhar.
Echoing the industry body’s view, former Infosys director and Manipal Global Education T.V. Mohandas Pai said Pichai’s rise to the top in Google was a testimony to the great global talent India had and the globalisation of Indian economy.
“With a more open economy, Indians are working at senior levels across global enterprises and are beginning to head global corporations, particularly in technology,” Pai told IANS here.
Representing the $150-billion Indian IT industry, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) plans to invite Pichai to India for building an ecosystem in the country to replicate its success in software services in products for serving domestic and global markets.
“It is a matter of pride to have many Indians like Pichai in top positions in the tech world, and it would be an honour to have their expertise in speeding up product development, innovation and creating new devices for global market,” Chandrashekhar added.
Lauding Pichai for becoming a chief executive of a global firm at a young age, former Infosys director and angel investor V. Balakrishnan said it was wonderful to see many Indians occupy the top posts in global corporations.
“Google is one of the most innovative organisations in the world, and Pichai is one of the most respected persons in the technology industry. His elevation to the chief executive post in Google validates once again the quality and depth of managerial talent India has,” Balakrishnan told IANS here.
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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