Entertainment
Priyanka Chopra calls Sikkim ‘insurgency troubled’, draws ire
Toronto, Sep 14 (IANS) Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, who has produced a Sikkimese film “Pahuna”, has ruffled feathers in the hilly state by calling it an insurgency-troubled land. Netizens have slammed her for ignorance and for being “politically illiterate”.
The National Award winning actress spoke about Sikkim in an interview to ET Canada at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) while discussing her production “Pahuna: The Little Visitors”, which premiered at the gala.
“This is a Sikkimese film. Sikkim is a small state in the Northeast of India which never had a film industry or anyone who made films from there. And this is the first film ever that’s come out of that region because it’s very troubled with insurgency and troubling situations,” Priyanka said in the interview.
The remark was immediately slammed.
“Sikkim is one of the most peaceful states, dear Priyanka. We don’t have any insurgency here. Please comment responsibly,” tweeted one Santosh Subban from Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim.
One Tawqeer Hussain tweeted: “In fact it is foolish to create controversy on Priyanka Chopra’s statement over Sikkim as celebs like her are ‘politically illiterate’. Earlier, we have witnessed that many celebs don’t know the name of the President of India, so don’t expect them to be politically correct.”
Biswatosh Sinha, a scriptwriter from Assam, wrote: “Dear Priyanka Chopra, Sikkim is a peaceful place and #Pahuna is not the first film from the region. Plz get the facts right about Northeast.”
Incidentally, Priyanka is the tourism ambassador of Assam, one of the sister states in Northeast India.
“Pahuna…”, directed by first timer Paakhi A. Tyrewala, was launched as an association between Priyanka and her mother Madhu Chopra’s banner Purple Pebble Pictures and Ministry of Tourism Sikkim.
“This is a film about two kids and the refugee crisis they face…,” Priyanka described the movie.
–IANS
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Entertainment
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.
Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.
The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.
Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile
The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.
The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.
“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.
Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings
Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).
Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.
The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.
Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.
Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities
The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.
On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.
Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.
“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.
The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.
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