Feature
China is today our largest partner in trade and goods: Sushma Swaraj
Beijing: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today stated that India and China have mutual confidence and will take economic ties with China to “a qualitatively new level”.
Addressing the launch of the Second India-China Media Forum, Sushma Swaraj also said that the Narendra Modi government was committed to exploring an early settlement to the Sino-Indian boundary row.
“China is today our largest partner in trade and goods,” the minister said. “The two economies are moving to invest in each other.
“Serious discussions on enhancing connectivity have been initiated. On that foundation, we are now seeking to take our economic cooperation to a qualitatively new level,” she said.
Sushma Swaraj said that as both countries play a larger international role, “our contacts and dialogues must commensurately grow. As the two major civilizational powers of Asia, we should have confidence in each other, to build on our shared interests”.
She said that a particularly significant new area of bilateral collaboration was in railways. This included heavy haulage, boosting speed and station development besides capacity building.
“Another major thrust is in establishing industrial parks in two Indian states that would contribute to the ‘Make in India’ initiative,” she said.
“We will make it easier for Chinese companies to do business in India and expect that similar encouragement would be given to our companies to expand their business in China.”
Sushma Swaraj also appreciated China’s decision to open an additional route through Nathula for the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra.
“Our relationship today has reached a level where we have interactions in fields that could not have been imagined some years ago.
“We have made considerable progress in establishing and expanding defence contacts and exchanges, including across our border.
“They contribute to the maintenance of peace and tranquility there, a pre-requisite for the further development of our relationship.”
The minister underlined that India had a new government “with a decisive mandate propelled by the aspirations of a young, vibrant and enterprising generation.
“Even in the last eight months, it is evident that drastic transformations are underway in my country that will accelerate our journey to modernity.
“A number of key initiatives addressing a wide range of ambitious goals are unfolding. They provide new opportunities for cooperation insofar as our key international partners are concerned.
“Where China is concerned, this is very evident in the frequency of our high-level exchanges and the widening of our already substantive bilateral agenda.”
She recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had three successful meetings with President Xi Jinping, who visited India in September 2014. Modi, she said, had also interacted with Primier Li Keqiang.
“We expect that the momentum that has been set in the last few months would not only be kept up but accelerated event further at various levels.”
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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