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Women should have free access to sanitary napkins: Akshay

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Mumbai, Jan 4 (IANS) National Award-winning actor Akshay Kumar, who is addressing the issue of menstrual hygiene in his forthcoming film “Pad Man”, says women should get sanitary napkins for free as it is a basic necessity for them.

Asked if the “Toilet: Ek Prem Katha” actor wants to reach out to the government to cut down on GST rate of sanitary napkins, Akshay told media here on Thursday: “Why just cut down on GST? I think women should have free access to sanitary napkins. This is their basic necessity. It is about menstrual hygiene and not luxury.”

“It is unfortunate and I am ashamed to say that 82 per cent women in this country have no access to sanitary pads and they are mistreated during those five days of their menstruation period. This is unfortunate,” he added.

“Pad Man” is a biopic on Arunachalam Muruganantham, the inventor of a low-cost sanitary pad making machine in India. The subject of “Pad Man” is considered a taboo or a sensitive issue. So what are the elements that he has kept in mind while promoting the film?

“Firstly, do not call it a sensitive issue. It is a natural process of a human body. It is time to get rid of those taboos attached to it. It is time to treat the issue maturely. Also from the women’s end, they should not shy away from talking about the issue, and certainly should not whisper about it,” he said.

He feels that the way festivals like Holi and Diwali are celebrated, people should also “celebrate when a girl meets with her puberty”.

“When you celebrate it, the girl who is already going through a physical and hormonal transition, will feel confident and secure. But we excluded our women from the normalcy of life during those five days. So from the first experience, women feel that period is something they should hide. So you know where we should start from,” he added.

Produced by Akshay’s wife Twinkle Khanna and directed by R. Balki, “Pad Man” is slated to release on January 26.

–IANS
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Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones

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CasinoDays India

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.

CasinoDays India

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.

 

CasinoDays India

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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