Entertainment
‘Tourism-oriented’ state Goa may ban ‘Padmavati’
Panaji, Dec 7 (IANS) Stating that a tourism-oriented state like Goa cannot afford law and order problems, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said he will “look into” the demand of the BJP state women’s wing to ban the screening of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film ‘Padmavati’.
Parrikar was speaking to reporters in Panaji after a delegation of the Goa Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Mahila Morcha led by its president Sulakshana Sawant met him at his official residence to demand a ban on the film’s screening in Goa.
The delegation also claimed that it was portraying distorted history.
“The other issue about this controversy is a law and order problem, which Goa can’t afford in the tourist season. A touristic state has to be peaceful. So we will look into both aspects of it.
“As of now, the censor board’s certificate is not granted, so will take a call after it is granted…whether they take into consideration all these aspects and edit the film accordingly,” Parrikar told reporters after accepting the memorandum submitted by Sawant.
The Chief Minister also said the issues raised by the delegation, including wrong portrayal of queen Padmavati, was also justifiable.
“This is the country’s history, where we believe that she committed ‘johar’ to protect herself. Anyway I will not go into what is there actually in the film. That is for the censor board to look into,” he said, complimenting the Morcha’s members for raising a “right issue”.
“My personal opinion is straight that history should be portrayed correctly. If history is portrayed in a wrong way, then people’s sentiments might be hurt,” Parrikar said.
In their memorandum, the Morcha’s members said the film “distorts history” and “wrongly links adored queen Padmavati with Muslim ruler Allaudin Khilji, who was an aggressor”.
“It has been a habit of filmmakers to distort Hindi(u) icons and traditions in the guise of creativity. History has depicted ‘Padmavati’ as having committed johar to escape dishonour. Large sections of the Indian people adore queen Padmavati for her valour and chivalry,” the memorandum read.
“The release of the controversial film is likely to hurt the sentiments of a large section of society creating unrest in peaceful Goa. The sentiments of women have also been hurt by the wrongful portrayal of queen Padmavati in poor light and association with Khilji is unacceptable,” it added.
–IANS
maya/nir/bg
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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