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The Hindu
12 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Sensex gains 213 points led by IT shares
Benchmark BSE Sensex closed higher by 213 points on Wednesday (August 20, 2025), extending its rally to the fifth consecutive day on heavy buying in IT shares. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 213.45 points or 0.26 per cent to settle at 81,857.84. During the day, it jumped 341.23 points or 0.41 per cent to 81,985.62. The 50-share NSE Nifty edged higher by 69.90 points or 0.28 per cent to 25,050.55. Among Sensex firms, Infosys surged the most by 3.88 per cent, followed by Tata Consultancy Services, which climbed 2.69 per cent. Hindustan Unilever, NTPC, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Eternal and HCL Tech were also among the gainers. However, Bharat Electronics, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors and Trent were among the laggards. In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei 225 index settled lower while Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended higher. Markets in Europe were trading on a mixed note. The U.S. markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday (August 19). Investors turned their attention towards U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's forthcoming statements at the Jackson Hole Symposium and minutes from the Fed's recent meeting.
Economic Times
12 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Gaming Bill promotes e-sports while putting curbs on real money betting games: S Krishnan, MeitY Secretary
S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology S Krishnan, MeitY Secretary, says the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 aims to differentiate between e-sports and online betting for money. The Bill aims to position India as a global hub for game development, promoting creativity and supporting creators through clear regulations and promotional initiatives. On the other hand, it seeks to limit high-stakes betting games, recognizing that around 450 million people in India participate in online money games, often incurring significant losses. Importantly, the Bill does not criminalize playing the game; individuals who download it will not face legal consequences. Instead, it targets game providers and criminalizes advertising and financial transactions related to these games, making it a progressive approach that does not penalize players. What could be the implication of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha today? There are a lot of companies in real time gaming which do not involve money but these are crucial to the entire gaming ecosystem which by itself is a large industry. What could be the impact here? S Krishnan: The real impact of this particular bill is in two parts. The first part is explicitly recognising what exactly the industry is about, which is that there is a large game developer community, considerable technological skill and creative intent behind gaming as a profession. The government wants to provide an impetus to this particular segment and there is a huge promotional intent behind this. For the promotional intent to work, it is very important that a clear distinction is drawn and there's clarity in the distinction between those segments of the gaming industry which require promotion, which are creative, which are positive, and which have an overall positive impact. Also, those segments of the gaming industry where there are issues clearly, that is the distinction which has been drawn. The industry has been repeatedly requesting the government to make such categorization and such distinction clear so that there could be promotion of the segments which require to be promoted and there could be a way in which necessary restrictions could be imposed on the segment which is undesirable. This is a clear segmentation that the bill has enabled. The government has established authority to enable this segmentation and also to formulate schemes and policies which will promote the segments which are permissible, which are basically e-sports and online social games which include both recreational and educational games where subscriptions can be paid but there is no expectation of any return. So, this is the segmentation which has been drawn, definitions have been clearly worked out in the Bill which make the segmentation clear and a very large part of the online gaming industry is really belongs to this part and that will be promoted and not just by MeitY but by other ministries including the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting which is establishing the national institute for creative technology in Mumbai, the department of sports under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports which will promote e-sports. So, both MeitY and various other ministries of the government of India will work together to promote those segments of the online gaming industry. The other part of the industry is really about online money gaming. Now, as far as online money gaming is concerned, a great deal of concern has been expressed by a number of people including the media about the problems with addiction, the problems with the financial distress caused by addictive playing of these games, and across various parliamentary committees, members cutting across different parties have repeatedly emphasized to MeitY and to other ministries to act on these issues and to decisively act and take action. Various state governments have also attempted to act on those particular aspects and really the impact would be to protect livelihoods and lives of large segments of the population of India which plays online money games and is somehow or the other families which are distressed by that. We understand those numbers could be almost 450 million people and there is now protection available to those 450 million people from games which can be addictive, from games which can be predatory on them and that is the key impact which we see with the bill and that is what is being attempted at. We must also remember that playing these games has not been criminalised. It is a very progressive step. In the old days, when betting and gambling were banded under various state laws, the first people who would be caught would be the small-time people who would be gambling by the roadside or sitting on a pavement and doing that kind of activity. Today if you download an online money game on your phone or on your laptop, you are not going to be affected. It is the providers of these games, it is the people who advertise these games, it is the people who facilitate the transfer of money from you into these games which are banned who are going to be pursued in law. I think this is the key impact of this bill. You were pointing out earlier that this bill actually promotes e-sports while laying some curb on real money games. Help us understand how the government aims to strike a balance between innovation and security and how is that going to play out going ahead? E-sports is also being promoted at different levels. Help us understand how this balance between e-sports and real money gaming is going to be done? S Krishnan: The description of both is very clear in the Act. The definitions have been laid down very clearly as to what is an e-sport and how will an e-sport be recognized and also as to what is an online money game and the distinction is very clearly drawn. The Act and the relevant sections draw out this distinction very clearly. I can read out the relevant section to help you understand how that distinction is drawn. For instance, in the case of e-sport, it means an online game which is played as a part of multi-sports events, involves organized competitive events between individuals or teams conducted in multi-player formats governed by predefined rules, is duly recognized under the National Sports Governance Act 2025 and registered with the authority in accordance with section 3, that is under this act, has outcomes determined solely by factors such as physical dexterity, mental agility, strategic thinking, or other similar skills of users as players. It may include payment of registration or participation fees solely for the purpose of entering the competition or covering administrative costs and may include performance-based prize money for the player. So, there is a clear definition of what e-sports is. In the case of online money game, it means an online game irrespective of whether such game is based on skill, chance or both played by a user by paying fees, depositing money or other stakes in expectation of winning which entails monetary and other enrichment in return of money or other stakes but shall not include any e-sports. So, the requirements of an e-sport and the requirement of an online money game have been clearly distinguished and an online casual game or an online social game as it is called which basically covers education, recreation, and so on has also been clearly drawn. In terms of investment that the gaming sector sees, India is one of the fastest growing hubs for online gaming and now that this sector is going to be heavily regulated, it is a positive in terms of protection for the players who are logging onto these games. How is this going to affect investment flows coming in from overseas? Do you believe that now e-sports could see a bigger thrust in terms of investments coming from overseas? S Krishnan: The point that you need to note here is that the industry itself has been asking us for this clarity and they have also been asking that there needs to be a specific authority which is under a legislation, a statutory authority to help regulate. So, clearly, with this kind of regulation and with the measures which have been proposed in the Bill, we should see the legitimate segment of this business really growing. I do not see any difficulty there. One of the objectives of the Bill is to promote India as a global capital of game development and creation of this game. So, creativity and allowing creators to grow is a significant objective of this Bill and that will be served by both the regulation which makes it clear and draws that distinction clearly and by the promotional measures which are planned. What it protects against is the other types of games where people make a lot of stakes and wages. We understand nearly 450 million people across the country play different kinds of online money games and tend to lose a lot of money in the process every year. That is the segment which is being restricted now. I just like to add one point which is a very progressive element of this Bill. This bill does not criminalise the playing of the game. If there is an individual who downloads the game onto his phone or onto a laptop, they are not liable. There is no criminal liability on that account. It only criminalises the providers of the game, those who sort of make available this game on platforms and so on. It criminalises advertising for such games. It criminalises the transaction, that is, people who provide the facility to transact the funds or to move the funds in such games. So, in that sense it is very progressive and does not criminalise the actual players of this game in any way so that is another progressive element of the way that the bill has been formulated. Just on that note, this would be a near-term measure because once the ban is effective, these games would no longer be available to be downloaded from app stores. Is that understanding correct? S Krishnan: That is right. But then the point is that even if you do have or if you have uploaded downloaded earlier, you are not under any risk of anybody coming and knocking on your door and saying let me check your phone to see if there is… (12:01) I think to that extent it will not lead to any harassment of any individual.
Time of India
42 minutes ago
- Time of India
Market Wrap: Sensex rises 213 points, Nifty tops 25,000 in 5-day winning run ahead of US Fed symposium
Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty extended their winning streak to a fifth session Wednesday, lifted by IT shares, as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium later this week. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty extended their winning streak to a fifth session Wednesday, lifted by IT shares, as investors looked ahead to the US Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium later this S&P BSE Sensex advanced 213.45 points, or 0.26%, to 81,857.84, while the NSE Nifty 50 gained 69.90 points, or 0.28%, closing above the 25,000 mark at 25,050.55 after trimming early losses.
