Entertainment
Chittorgarh observes bandh over release of ‘Padmavati’
JAIPUR: Controversy over the portrayal of a 13th-14th century CE queen of Chittor in the film “Padmavati”, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, erupted again with the fort town of Chittorgarh observing a bandh to protest against the film’s scheduled release on December 1.
The bandh was called by the Jauhar Smriti Sansthan (JSS), a research and social group formed in 1950 with the aim of reviving pride in Mewar’s rulers.
The bandh call was circulated on social media a few days ago and received instant support from various groups, including the Karni Sena, a self-proclaimed body of Rajputs in Rajasthan. The Sansthan’s formal bandh announcement a day ago was obeyed by schools, colleges, markets and cinema halls. Rajput women even participated in large numbers in a protest march while holding placards that read “Respect Women”.
The march concluded at the Chittorgarh collectorate where effigies of Bhansali and other cast and crew of the film were burned.
“We had called for Chittorgarh bandh today, and we got support from everyone. It was a complete bandh in Chittorgarh today,” said Mahipal Singh Makrana, state president of Sri Rajput Karni said.
Rani Padmini or Padmavati was queen of Chittorgarh.
He said before releasing posters and trailer of the film it should have been shown to the historians and intellectuals, but inspite of the promise made by Bhansali’s team a few months back nothing was done.
“We are now going to Gujarat to hold a press conference there and also hold a rally in Gandhinagar on November 12 against the movie,” he said.
In January, activists of a Rajput organisation, Shi Rajput Karni Sena had protested, manhandled and misbehaved with the crew of “Padmavati” claiming that Bhansali was distorting historical facts in the movie.
They had also damaged some cameras and other equipments. Bhansali had to stop shooting.
“We will not allow distorted facts to be shown in the film at any cost,” Makrana said.
Karni Sena claims that they have got a big library and that in no book is it written that Alauddin Khilji fell in love with Padmavati or that he was her lover.
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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