Feature
China slams US for declaring Masood Azhar as global terrorist at United Nations
Beijing: China on Thursday indicated that it won’t support the unilateral draft resolution circulated by the US to the UN Security Council (UNSC) to declare Masood Azhar, chief of the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), as an international terrorist and slammed Washington for its move.
Beijing also accused Washington of “bypassing” the UN 1267 Committee and eroding its authority.
Last month, China for the fourth time put on hold the resolution seeking a UN ban on Azhar, a terrorist wanted in India for plotting several deadly attacks including the February 14 Pulwama suicide bombing that killed 40 CRPF troopers in Kashmir.
China’s repeated blocking of such requests by India, the US and the UK and others have frustrated these countries.
The latest technical hold on the resolution by Beijing prompted the US to turn directly to the Security Council and unilaterally circulate a draft of such a request to declare Azhar an international terrorist.
“The US has bypassed the 1267 Committee and directly filed the draft of the resolution to the Security Council. This is not in line with the resolution of the issue through dialogue and negotiations,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said.
He was responding to a question about the US circulating a draft banning Azhar in the UNSC outside the 1267 committee framework.
China indicates it won’t support US for declaring Masood Azhar as international terrorist:
“This has reduced the authority of the committee as the main anti-terrorism body of the Security Council. This is not conducive to the solidarity and will only complicate the issue. We urge the US to act cautiously and avoid forcefully moving forward this resolution draft,” Geng added.
“I shall say that China has never denied such a draft… We just put a technical hold.”
While putting a hold on the resolution, which was proposed by the UK, US, and France, China sought time to explain the rationale behind the move. Its time runs out this week.
Beijing shields its ally Pakistan where it has billions of dollars of investments as part of its massive Belt and Road project.
“The relevant country filed an application to list Masood at the committee 1267. Since China needs more time to conduct an in-depth and comprehensive review, we put forward a technical hold on the listing on March 13. This is in line with the rule of procedure of the committee and there are some precedent cases of such technical holds,” Geng said.
“The listing of Masood involves a series of complex factors and China has also been working seek a proper solution through dialogue.
“Under the current circumstances, the Security Council should act in a prudential way to play a constructive role and create necessary time and space for the relevant parties to conduct dialogue and negotiations,” Geng added.
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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