Feature
Rupee falls to two-year low, recovers
Mumbai: The Indian rupee dipped in the early hours of trade on Friday to its lowest level against the US dollar in over two years, mainly on account of the gaining strength of the American currency, but recovered somewhat on likely sales by the central bank.
The Indian currency was at 66.88 to a dollar at 9.15 a.m., falling nearly 40 paise in two days on account of selling by foreign funds. But some dollar sales by public sector banks, ostensibly at the behest of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), cushioned the losses, analysts said.
A spike of over 150 points or 0.57 percent in a key Indian equity market index — the sensitive index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) — also helped the rupee to harden a bit. The currency was quoting at around 66.74 to a dollar around 11.45 a.m.
After quoting at the lowest levels since September 2013 in early trade, the rupee was hovering around 66.77 to a US dollar at 2.30 p.m.
Analysts said the accumulated dollar buying owing to two consecutive holidays for outright purchases coupled with the usual month-end demand for greenbacks from foreign banks and oil importers put pressure on the rupee value.
The Indian spot markets were closed on Nov 25, followed by the US markets on Nov 26.
“Positive domestic equities and suspected selling has led the rupee to recover from the day’s high,” Hiren Sharma, senior vice president, currency advisory at Anand Rathi Financial Services, told IANS
According to Sharma, the markets would remain choppy ahead of US Federal Reserves’ (US Fed) December meeting, the critically watched Syrian conflict and recent terror attacks.
“Rupee will continue to be on a weaker side. It may hold in a range of 67.20 to 66.20 before US Fed’s meeting,” Sharma added.
Recent US economic data and signs from the US Fed has indicated an imminent rate hike in the US from December.
A rate hike in the US could potentially lead to massive amounts of pull-back of foreign funds from emerging economies like India.
Furthermore, the US dollar will strengthen against emerging market currencies, gold and other assest classes.
Anindya Banerjee, associate vice president for currency derivatives with Kotak Securities, told IANS that the rupee’s position can change drastically — if parliament is able to pass the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill.
“The trend of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) off-loading stocks due to the upcoming US FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) and the expected rate hike in the US has impacted the rupee value,” Banerjee said.
“It is speculated that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) entered the markets and sold dollars to arrest the rupee’s fall. The RBI will get a big help if the GST is passed.”
The government needs to pass the GST bill in this session to meet the April 1, 2016, roll-out deadline.
In addition, the FII’s have been jittery owing to the Syria conflict, the Paris terror attacks and concerns about possible terror threats worldwide.
On Thursday, FIIs sold stocks worth Rs.398.1 crore in the Indian equity markets.
The FIIs have taken out Rs.23,352 crore during the August-September period.
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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