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Modi, Merkel will talk technology in Bengaluru
Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss here on Tuesday the role of technology and innovation in manufacturing and IT services for the NDA government’s ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ initiatives.
While Merkel’s trip to this tech hub from Monday night has been on cards as part of her three-day official visit to India since Sunday, Modi is joining her for first hand view of the 50-billion euro German auto major Bosch facility and learn how other German firms in the country will contribute to the make in India and digitise India projects.
“Modi and Merkel will be apprised of our key innovation projects and commitments to skill development that can help the country become a manufacturing hub and a back office of the world,” a Bosh India official told ahead of their visit.
After viewing presentations on Bosch engineering and business solutions and vocational centre, both leaders will walk through its facilities and interact with its executives.
“Bengaluru is the city where you can see how German firms like Bosch, Siemens, SAP, BASF and Mercedes-Benz innovate and make in India products and solutions for its development,” German Consul General Jorn Rohde said.
German President Joachim Gauck visited Bengaluru a year ago on a similar mission, as the city is host to about 200 leading German firms in diverse sectors.
“The visit of heads of the state to Bengaluru signifies the growing collaboration between the two countries in research and development, smart manufacturing and convergence of information and communication technologies (ICT),” Rohde noted.
Modi and Merkel will also participate at an ICT event in a star hotel, where they will interact with who’s who of the IT industry, including Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayan Murthy and Wipro czar Azim Premji and German software major SAP India executives.
“A large visiting German delegation, including ministers and business heads, will be present on the occasion to exchange views on entrepreneurship and start-ups to fuel our ICT products and services for domestic and global markets,” a top Nasscom official told IANS.
Organised by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the apex organisation of IT firms in India, and the German Fraunhofer Institute, the luncheon meeting is a fallow-up of Modi’s participation at a similar event on start-ups during his visit to the Silicon Valley at San Jose in California, US, on September 27.
“Modi has addressed at the ‘India-US Start-Up Konnect 2015’ event we organised in partnership with The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) to showcase the strength of our start-up ecosystem, which attracted $2-billion venture funds in 2014,” the official added.
According to German Ambassador Martin Ney, both the leaders will focus on business ties between the two countries in the city.
“Merkel will meet with representatives of German firms present in the city, employing hundreds of young Indians and contributing to ‘Make in India’ as well as ‘Digital India’,” Ney told reporters in New Delhi on October 3.
The meeting between Modi and Merkel comes days after they met in New York on September 26 at a high-powered summit of India, Brazil, Germany and Japan (G-4 group), which the Indian prime minister hosted, as all the four countries are bidding for a permanent seat in the United Nation’s restructured Security Council.
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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