Feature
Japan PM Shinzo Abe to visit Russia, neglects US call
Tokyo: Ignoring the Unites States request of avoiding the visit to Russia, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be visiting the country, a top government official said today.
According to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Abe’s top spokesperson, the prime minister will make an unofficial visit to Russia to discuss a long-standing territorial dispute between Tokyo and Moscow, as per reported.
“Prime Minister Abe is planning an unofficial visit to Russia at an appropriate time before Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Japan,” Suga told a press briefing.
The Russian president is expected to visit Japan at some point later this year.
The media quoting diplomatic sources said, however, that US President Barack Obama, in talks on the telephone on February 9, had pressed Abe to refrain from making the trip to Sochi in May, due to the US’s stance over Russia’s actions in Ukraine and Syria.
The sources were also quoted as saying that Washington feels that Tokyo is overly cozying up to Moscow as it seeks to resolve the territorial spat.
To this end, Suga said that communications between Japan and its main ally the US would continue as well as its special cooperation, and through the Group of Seven countries’ mechanisms, Japan would jointly stand up to the challenges facing the international community.
“We will closely cooperate and communicate with the United States and Japan will appropriately respond to challenges facing the international community such as the situation in Ukraine through cooperation with the Group of Seven countries,” said Suga.
Economic sanctions have been slapped on Russia following incidents pertaining to the Ukraine in 2014, by the US, Japan and other countries, and Russia’s membership of the Group of Eight highly industrialised nations.
The nations in G8 are France, Germany, Italy, Britain, Japan, the US, Canada, and Russia.
Despite imposing sanctions on Russia, which has delayed the process, including hopes for an earlier visit by Putin to Japan, Tokyo has been keen to resolve its territorial dispute with Moscow over islands located north of Hokkaido, despite some angst from the US over Abe’s eagerness to woo Putin.
The islands in question are Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai rocks, which are believed by Japan to be a part of the Nemuro subprefecture of Hokkaido prefecture and are referred to by Japan as the Northern Territories.
Russia, however, maintains that the islands that they refer to as the Southern Kurils are Russian territory and were recaptured by the Soviet Union after World War II.
The territorial dispute has prevented both sides from inking a peace treaty after the war.
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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