Entertainment
Law, movie world should put stop to usury: Kamal Haasan
Chennai, Nov 23 (IANS) With political voices raised over his silence on the suicide of movie co-producer Ashok Kumar due to pressure from a loan shark, actor Kamal Haasan on Thursday said the law and movie industry has to put a stop to usury.
In his tweet Kamal said usury affects poor farmers and also people in the movie world who are considered rich.
He also said there should be no repeat of deaths like Kumar’s.
On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu BJP President Tamilisai Soundararajan took a pot shot at the “Twitter politicians” from the movie world for their silence with regard to the suicide of Kumar.
In her tweet Soundararajan wondered: “Where are the sudden Twitter politicians? We have to search for them.”
Without mentioning any names Soundararajan said there is a deafening silence about the sad event in the sector that uplifted them and there is no sharing of grief.
Though Soundararajan did not mention any names in her tweet it was clear she was targeting Kamal who has been busy tweeting on various issues.
Soundararajan said the suicide of Kumar due to usury pressure was saddening.
She said steps should be taken to find a solution to the problems afflicting the movie industry.
On Tuesday, Kumar, nephew of actor-director Sasikumar, committed suicide, leaving a note blaming the pressure brought on him by a loan shark who finances movie production.
According to police, Kumar had mentioned the name of Anbu Chezhian as the financier from whom he had borrowed money and had been paying interest on the loan for the past seven years.
Kumar, in his note, had alleged that the financier had threatened his family members.
Tamil Film Producers Council President and actor Vishal in a statement urged the movie producers to stay united, work towards mutual welfare and put an end to financiers who harass film producers.
Actor Jayam Ravi tweeted: “Another precious life succumbed to pressure. We must live to fight our battles. Condolences to Sasikumar sir and his family. RIP Ashok Kumar.”
Actor Ashok Selvan wrote: “Disturbed by the death of producer Ashok Kumar. Justice should be served. My heart goes to director Sasikumar and family.”
Meanwhile police are on the look out for financier Chezhian.
–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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