Entertainment
Female infanticide more in cities than villages: ‘Kajarya’ filmmaker
By Kishori Sud
New Delhi: Filmmaker Madhureeta Anand, who made a deep study of female infanticide in the country in her film “Kajarya”, says she was surprised that the practice is more rampant in cities than in villages.
“Sex selective abortions happen more in the cities now than in the villages. The sex ratios are dropping much faster in Delhi and Mumbai than in the villages. It is very worrying. I don’t think it is a phenomenon which is just rural,” Anand told.
For years, the issue of female infanticide has plagued society, but of late, whether it’s television shows, social campaigns, activists, actors or films, voices have been raised against it. Anand, whose first film was “Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye”, is herself happy that women are no longer reticent to talk about issues as grave as infanticide.
“The women really have a lot to say, but building trust (within them) is a part and parcel of the job. I think when people face this problem, they know it is a problem. They do not deny it. They might say that you are exaggerating it, but they won’t deny it because it is an issue in their faces,” the 42-year-old said.
To spread awareness about female infanticide, Anand even hosted special screenings of “Kajarya” in a few villages across north India. She wanted her 125-minutes- long movie to be watched by screenings for women who have been privy to the social evil.
In fact, Anand also tied up with NGOs like One Billion Rising, Sangat and Action Aid to spread the message in villages particularly. She said that it was a way to “use the film as a tool for emancipation and social change”.
The movie tells the story of two women from different backgrounds, wherein one lives in a village and has the job of killing the baby, while the other is an opportunistic journalist from New Delhi. Actress Meena Hooda plays the former role, while Ridhima Sud is cast as a journalist.
“Kajarya” was premiered at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2013, and travelled to several other movie extravaganzas, evoking strong reactions.
Asked about the importance of international film festivals as many Indian films have taken to premiering at such platforms — be it “Masaan” , “The Lunchbox”, “Margarita With A Straw”, “Dhanak” or “Titli” — Anand shared that it is “a sad reality, but in India we like the stamp of foreigners”.
“With films also, we somehow don’t trust our own judgement. So, that stamp of quality helps, but the second really good reason to take ‘Kajarya’ abroad and what really helped me was that I showed it to so many audiences, and I got feedback for it,” she said.
The film will be up for judgement by the Indian audience on December 4.
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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