Entertainment
Priyanka slammed over Sikkim ‘insurgency’ comment, apologizes (Lead)
Toronto/Gangtok, Sep 14 (IANS) Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, who has produced a Sikkimese film, came under attack after calling the hill state insurgency-troubled. She has apologized to the Sikkim government, which wants another apology in more “clear-cut terms”.
Netizens on Thursday slammed and trolled Priyanka for being “politically illiterate” after she spoke of Sikkim in an interview to ET Canada, on the sidelines of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). She was discussing “Pahuna: The Little Visitors”, her Sikkimese production which premiered at the gala.
Sikkim Tourism Secretary C. Zangpo Bhutia told IANS: “We have received an apology note from Priyanka Chopra for her comments, where she has written ‘I tender an apology’. But we are not satisfied. We have asked her to send us another letter in more clear-cut terms.”
Asked what the Sikkim government felt about Priyanka’s comments, he said: “Whatever she said is totally unacceptable. This has tarnished the image of our state. So we asked her to take back her statement and apologize to us. But as we are not satisfied with her first letter. We are waiting for a fresh note from her.”
Priyanka, who now divides her time in the US and India, is yet to issue an official statement.
Her film “Pahuna…” is about three Nepalese children who get separated from their parents, escape the Maoists in Nepal and flee to Sikkim.
Talking about the movie to ET Canada, Priyanka said: “This is a Sikkimese film. Sikkim is a small state in the northeast of India which never had a film industry or anyone who made films from there. And this is the first film ever that’s come out of that region because it’s very troubled with insurgency and troubling situations.”
This remark was widely slammed.
“Sikkim is one of the most peaceful states, dear Priyanka. We don’t have any insurgency here. Please comment responsibly,” tweeted Santosh Subban from Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim.
Tawqeer Hussain added: “Celebs like her are ‘politically illiterate’. Earlier, many celebs (didn’t) know the name of the President of India. So don’t expect them to be politically correct.”
Biswatosh Sinha, a scriptwriter from Assam, wrote: “Dear Priyanka Chopra, Sikkim is a peaceful place and Pahuna is not the first film from the region. Plz get the facts right.”
Incidentally, Priyanka is the tourism ambassador of BJP-ruled Assam.
Directed by first-timer Paakhi A. Tyrewala, the “Pahuna…” was launched as an association between Priyanka and her mother Madhu Chopra’s banner Purple Pebble Pictures and Ministry of Tourism Sikkim.
The National Award winning actress, a former Miss World, is a known face globally courtesy American television show “Quantico”.
–IANS
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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.
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Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile
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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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