The Hindu Business Line : The business of betting on Net

And, certainly, no dearth of big names here too - ranging from the US President, Mr George W. Bush, to the former Iraq dictator, Saddam Hussein, and from Pope John Paul II to Osama Bin Laden.

However, participation in such a betting exercise is prohibited by law for Indian citizens, though loopholes do exist. Some of the popular betting contracts currently available on the Internet are about the country of origin of the next Pope at the Vatican, whether the Iraqi court would sentence Saddam Hussein to death or would the US be able to catch Osama during the presidential tenure of Mr Bush?

Just a quick search on the Net and you are led to the US-based world exchange for news (Wonex) - www.us.newsfutures.com - where one can buy or sell contracts on future news events. The Wonex is like a stock market of news events. But instead of investing in securities, players trade on outcomes of the hottest issues of the day. What will happen next in sports, politics, business, ... What will be tomorrow's news?

While the outcome of contracts regarding the death sentence of Saddam Hussein or the arrest of Bin Laden may not be exactly time bound events, the election of the next Pope is and as such generating substantial betting response. While the contracts open low, the prices fluctuate heavily as the event approaches. You can buy or sell a contract just like you deal in shares on the bourses.

However, your responses should either affirm the bet or vote against it, for which there is a separate rate. For instance, whether the US would catch Osama Bin Laden during the presidential tenure of Mr Bush has already attracted 3,918 contracts. For an affirmative contract the last traded price was $47 with minimum sell offer and maximum buy offer being at $48 and $46, respectively.

Interestingly, a negative response contract was quoting higher at $53, with the lowest selling offer and highest buying orders being pegged at $54 and $52, respectively.

The election of the new Pope has generated widespread betting. The total number of contracts on Thursday on whether the next Pope would be of Italian origin stood at 11,268 with a last traded price of $39.

One can even bet on the fate of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein or Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet apart from betting on the numerous sporting events that attract reasonable good response. However, the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) currently restricts participation by Indian nationals in these global betting events that are carried out mostly through global credit cards issued by multinational banks.

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