Entertainment
MEE TOO! Alok Nath gets six-month non-cooperation directive by FWICE
The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) has issued a six-month non-cooperation directive to actor Alok Nath, who has been accused of rape by writer-director Vinta Nanda.
The Indian Film & Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA) – the mother body of FWICE – made the announcement after he refused to show up for a POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) inquiry.
“We have seriously taken the sexual harassment of our member director Vinta Nanda and shared it with the POSH committee, which investigated the complaint in the spirit of POSH Act and in compliance of principles of natural justice, equity and fair play,” Ashoke Pandit, President of IFTDA, said in a statement.
“The committee in exercise of its power under POSH to summon a person for investigation had called Alok Nath. However, he refused to participate in the POSH inquiry despite three opportunities.
“Alok has blatantly challenged the ICC (Internal Complaints Committee) and defied the summons to attend before the ICC. Therefore, he has refused to co-operate with the mandate of IFTDA to provide secure work place for women. On recommendations of IFTDA’s POSH Committee to mother body, FWICE has issued six months non-cooperation directive to the actor,” he added.
Last year, the actor, known for his ‘sanskaari’ image on the big screen, was also expelled by the Cine and Television Artistes Association (CINTAA) in view of the various allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct.
Talking about the recent move, Pandit said: “Our endeavour is to have zero tolerance to incidents of sexual harassment and value every single person and promote work environment in which persons of both sexes work and complement each other as equal and encourage gender-neutral policy.”
Vinta had accused Alok Nath of allegedly raping her nearly 19 years ago when they worked together, which made for several such claims about his behaviour on the set. He denied all the allegations levelled by the victim and lodged a defamation case demanding Re 1 as damages and a written apology from her.
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