Entertainment
PIL against ‘Shorgul’ dismissed, film to release on June 24
New Delhi/Lucknow: A PIL filed by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Milan Som against the film “Shorgul” has been dismissed by the Allahabad High Court bench in Lucknow, a representative of the movie’s makers said.
Milan Som had filed a public interest litigation against the film’s makers on June 2, alleging that it featured characters inspired by BJP legislator Sangeet Som, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and state cabinet minister Azam Khan.
The allegations were dismissed by the court on June 6, read a statement shared by the representative of the film’s makers.
“Shorgul”, co-directed by Jitendra Tiwari and P. Singh, is set against the backdrop of Uttar Pradesh. It touches upon intolerance and the cacophony created by religious, social, political and economic prejudices.
The division bench of Justice Narain Shukla and Justice Rakesh Srivastva passed the order that the petitioner may move the competent authority to examine the matter further.
The court said it had gone through the relevant provisions of the Cinematograph Act and found that the central government was vested with the power to suspend exhibition of a film in certain cases on being satisfied with the terms and conditions laid down therein. Thereafter, it passed the order dismissing the PIL.
“The court has declined the petition, refusing to give a stay on the film and stated that the decision of the censor board on the matter shall be final. We welcome the court’s decision and are going ahead with our release as planned on June 24.”
“The censor board has already cleared the film with a U/A certification, and we respect their judgment,” said Swatantra Vijay Singh, producer of “Shorgul”.
“Shorgul” features actors Jimmy Sheirgill, Ashutosh Rana, Sanjay Suri, Hiten Tejwani and Eijaz Khan.
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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