Entertainment
Amid ‘Padmavati’ row, man found hanging in Jaipur (Roundup)
Jaipur/New Delhi, Nov 24 (IANS) The body of a man was found hanging at Jaipur’s Nahargarh Fort on Friday with messages denouncing “Padmavati” scribbled on rocks nearby even as passions for and against the controversial film continued to rage.
While National Award winning actor Prosenjit Chatterjee and actress Rani Mukerji voiced distress over the violent rant against the film’s producer-director and actors, some people in New Delhi burnt filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s effigy outside a metro station.
However, there was some much-needed relief for Bhansali and Viacom18 Motion Pictures.
The Delhi High Court dismissed a PIL seeking an expert committee of historians and social activists to examine “Padmavati” to ensure there were no “distortions”, saying such “hopeless and misconceived” pleas were “encouraging” those agitating against the film.
Also, West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee became the first Chief Minister to say she was ready to welcome the film and its crew — at a time when Chief Ministers of at least four other states have opposed the movie’s release.
Hindu groups backed by the BJP are up in arms against the movie over conjectures that it distorts history about Rajput queen Padmavati and Rajput culture.
Police in Jaipur said they were finding out whether the 40-year-old man’s death — his body was found on the outer walls of the Nahargarh Fort — had anything to do with the “Padmavati” row.
The message, scrawled on rocks nearby, read, “Hum putle nahin jalate… latkate hain” (We don’t burn effigies, we hang them).
“‘Padmavati’ ka virodh karne walon… Hum main hai dum.” (Those protesting against ‘Padmavati’ … We have guts)
Deputy Commissioner of Police Satyendra Singh told IANS that the dead man had been identified as Chetan Saini, a resident of Jaipur’s Shastri Nagar who ran a jewellery and handicrafts business.
Singh said it was not clear if it was murder or suicide and that it would be too early to relate the messages on the rocks to “Padmavati”.
The Rajput Karni Sena, which is most vocal against the movie, denied any involvement in the case.
“We express complete disapproval of it and deny our involvement in any manner,” Vivek Singh Shekhawat, the Rajasthan General Secretary of the group said.
The release of the Hindi film, earlier scheduled for December 1, has been deferred.
Bhansali continued to get the support of the film fraternity.
Prosenjit Chatterjee said “directors will stop doing historical films the way it has been handled”. Rani Mukerji said she stood by Bhansali: “He knows that I back him, love him. He is my darling and Sanjay truly believes how much I love him and he knows how I stand by him.”
–IANS
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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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