Entertainment
Will look into making film on exam pressure in future: Shoojit Sircar
New Delhi, Feb 9 (IANS) Filmmaker Shoojit Sircar, who has made films like “Vicky Donor”, “Madras Cafe” and “Piku”, says he is open to the idea of making a film on exam pressure as he feels it is a problem that is rampant in society.
“Yes, I will definitely look into this in the future,” Sircar, who is associated with the second edition of the ‘Release The Pressure’ campaign, told IANS.
Commenting on education stress, he said one of the key reasons is the tendency to make comparisons, which causes depression among children.
“It disturbs them mentally and lowers their confidence… (Yet) it is rampant in society, and parents do these things (without) realising how it affects the children,” said the filmmaker.
For the second edition of ‘Release The Pressure’ campaign, Sircar has created a digital film that tells the story of the exam pressure that youths suffer because of parents.
In 2017, Mirinda, the orange flavoured drink from PepsiCo, came up with the first edition of the digital film, drawing attention to the issue of education stress for the first time. In the second edition, the focus is on the constant comparisons made by parents.
It also pegs it as a cause of depression and suicidal tendencies among students.
“The Mirinda ‘Release The Pressure’ campaign started last year, when we asked students to write whatever they wanted to their parents,” said Sircar. And it emerged that the pressure they faced from parents during exams was a big problem.
“So this year, the campaign is more specific — it is focused on comparisons; why do you have to compare? Comparison leads to low self-esteem and low confidence,” he said.
–IANS
nv/sac
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.
Content provided by Adverloom