Aires Rodrigues: With the former Attorney General of India Soli Sorabjee tipped to be the next Governor of Karnataka, it may be more ?Ache Din? for the nefarious Casino lobby. Soli Sorabjee is the father-in-law of business tycoon Jaydev Mody who leads the Casino business. Soli Sorabjee would do Goa and Goans a service by moving his son-in-laws Casinos into the Karnataka waters to save Goa from all those ill effects and side effects of Casinos.
GL responds: I live in a county of upstate NY of 100,000 residents. We have two casinos and once horse race track with betting. The two of them are by far the largest employer in the county. These two entities also generate a lot of side-bussiness for others that supply the casinos with goods and services. These include musicians, other entertainers, taxi cabs etc etc. Yes, there is a risk of the locals getting addicted to gambling. One solution is to legally deny (or restrict to one day) gambling for locals. Now some Goenkars are going to scream about the restriction. But this is not new. In Monaco (gambling capital of the world), this law applies. Even the king of Monaco cannot gamble in his local casinos. Goans (and legal experts) have to be innovative instead of throwing the baby out with the bath-water. Regards, GL
