Entertainment
Film industry speaks up on national anthem issue
Mumbai, Oct 25 (IANS) Don’t test anyone’s patriotism by making it mandatory for cinema halls to play the national anthem, say film fraternity members who feel respect for the “Jana gana mana” should be natural.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to take a call on the playing of the national anthem in public places, including cinema halls.
The wording of a November 2016 order on the issue might be modified so that cinema halls “may” — instead of “shall” — play the national anthem before the start of movies.
This sparked a debate, leading film fraternity members like Kamal Haasan, Javed Akhtar and Raj Nayak, to express their opinion.
Here’s what they had tweeted:
Javed Akhtar: Something is seriously wrong with those Indians who don’t get touched and don’t feel any reverence when they hear the national anthem. It really pains me that some people are trying to undermine the dignity of our national anthem.
Kamal Haasan: Singapore plays its national anthem every midnight. Likewise, do so on DD. Do not force or test my patriotism at various random places.
Arvind Swami: I will always stand up for our national anthem and sing along, which I do with great pride. Never understood why it was mandatory and cinema halls only.
Adnan Sami: Hey, it’s the national anthem; GET UP… PERIOD! Go argue about something else! ‘Where’ the national anthem should play is another matter; but whenever or wherever it is played, get up and respect it. From the heart — Not sleeve!
Vivek Agnihotri: If I remember correctly, in the 1970s and even in the 1980s, national anthem played at the end of the movie and everyone stood without questioning it. Today, we question everything even if it’s not disputable.
Ananth Mahadevan: The 60s: All stood respectfully for the national anthem played after the movie. No discussion. Today: everything has to be an issue!
Raj Nayak: Before this order, I used to find people willingly standing up for the national anthem and singing happily. Making it mandatory ruined it.
Raghu Ram: I stand up for the national anthem because I give it the love and respect that it is due. Not because some government forces me to.
–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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