Q63Comprehension2 Marks31 Aug 2025
Passage
Read the following journalistic passage and fill in the blanks with appropriate quantitative or descriptive terms:
Banned betting sites are piggybacking on popular platforms again, as India's taxmen and regulators play whack-a-mole with shady operators from distant shores. Betting ads have popped up on grocery app Zepto and on taxis operated by an Uber fleet provider, while items branded 1xBet, a minor name for betting app 1xBet, sell on Amazon. India has banned and blocked [i] _________ of offshore gambling platforms, but many of them still operate through so-called mirror sites—replicas of the original with a near-identical URL and hosted on a different server. Meanwhile, [ii] _________ celebrities endorse and keep the betting platforms in public view, while tax authorities stare at lost revenue. Everest Fleet, Uber's [iii] _________ cab-provider, said it became aware of the ads recently and takes the matter seriously. In September, Uber had invested [iv] _________ in the company. The Zepto app has displayed ads for Parimatch, a banned betting platform. Amazon displays sports goods branded 1xBet, a close imitation of 1xBet. Despite the government's blocking them, Cyprus-based 1xBet and Parimatch and Curacao-based Fairplay remain [v] _________ visible through digital advertising, while escaping the tax payments that local gaming companies are subjected to.
Excerpted from: Sadagopan, Sakshi. "Betting Ads Mushroom in India's Regulatory Grey Zone." Mint, Mumbai, vol. 8, no. 91, 15 Apr 2025, p. 1.
Fill in blank [i] with the most appropriate option.