Feature
Obama to meet Modi at Paris climate talks
Washington: US President Barack Obama will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the first day of the Paris climate talks on Nov 30 to “generate momentum toward the successful outcome.”
Obama’s meetings with Indian, Chinese and French leaders were intended to “send a clear signal” that “he is going to be working with the key players to try to get this done,” White House Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said Tuesday.
Starting his day with a meeting with Xi, Obama will hold a bilateral meeting with Modi after a lunch hosted by French President Francois Hollande for the leaders attending the Nov 30-Dec 11 UN climate summit attended by 140 nations.
“We’ve been engaging with India throughout the year in determining how they can contribute constructively to a successful outcome in Paris,” Rhodes said.
They did so first during Obama’s trip to India in January, then most recently, in a bilateral meeting in New York at the UN General Assembly as also in the discussions they had on the margins of the recent summits that he and Modi both attended, he said.
Obama’s meeting with XI “at the beginning of this process, as the two largest emitters, sends a strong message to the world about their shared commitment to combat climate change and to achieve an ambitious agreement,” Rhodes said.
Paul Bodnar, senior director for energy and climate change at the White House National Security Council, said Obama’s meetings with Xi and Modi are not meant to make announcements but to consult on key negotiations issues.
“The purpose of these meetings is to make sure that leaders are on the same page about our objectives and strategy going into these final two weeks of negotiation, not to make announcements, per se.”
“These two countries are two of our most important partners in dealing with global climate change,” Bodnar said noting Obama has had a number of engagements with the two leaders over the course of this year.
“We’ve built an important partnership with China over the last couple of years on climate, and the President has worked closely with Prime Minister Modi, as well,” he said.
“So the purpose of these meetings is not to make announcements, but to have a chance to consult, consider the issues that will be negotiated in those two weeks, and coordinate to ensure that we reach our goal of a successful agreement,” Bodnar said.
Rhodes noted that Obama has recently “talked to all of our key European allies about Paris. He’s talked to the leaders of not just China and India, but also South Africa and others about these efforts.”
“So part of this is also what are we doing on a bilateral basis with these countries, but also how can we make sure that everybody is conveying the same sense of urgency and sending the same messages to other parties of the negotiation that now is the time to make tough decisions and get things done.”
“It’s not simply a question of the United States coming to the table, it’s a question of whether China and India and Brazil and other major emitters are a part of this framework,” he said.
Bodnar said the fact that over 170 countries have put forward targets and strategies to curb their greenhouse gas emissions post-2020 shows “unprecedented progress” that will “significantly bend down the global emissions curve.”
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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