Entertainment
Everyone has social responsibility, not just politicians: Manushi Chhillar
New Delhi, Feb 6 (IANS) Miss World 2017 Manushi Chhillar, who is on a humanitarian world tour on menstrual hygiene, on Tuesday said the onus doesn’t lie on the politicians alone to drive change.
Manushi said while there’s a lot that can happen if all political parties prioritise menstrual hygiene in their manifestos, but it’s not about “just politicians”.
“Every individual has a social responsibilty. That can push for change in the society,” Manushi told the media.
Se reminded how when she visited her home state Haryana after her victory at the beauty pageant, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had announced to arrange for free supply of sanitary napkins to girls in state schools.
However, Manushi feels these are short-term arrangements. Her vision is to be able to develop a “sustainable system” of manufacturing, selling and buying.
A cause close to her heart, creating awareness on menstrual hygiene was a social project presented by Manushi at the Miss World contest. It also won her the Beauty with a Purpose title.
Taking it forward globally, Manushi is moving city-to-city and country-to-country spreading the message that ‘Freedom From Shame’ of menstruation is essential for healthy and happier women.
She was accompanied by Julia Morley, Chairman and CEO, Miss World, former Miss World Stephanie Del Valle and six Miss World Continental winners — from England, Mexico, Kenya, Korea, Jamaica and New Zealand — here.
Also on the dias was Jaydeep Mandal, Founder Director, Aakar Innovations, which produces affordable, iodegradable and compostable sanitary napkins.
Mandal wants the government to reconsider the 12 per cent tax imposed on sanitary napkins.
“It is double the tax which was there earlier… At least for compostable and green products there should be no tax. This is something unique we are doing,” he said.
Mandal’s company is also fighting to destigmatise menstruation in rural India. He said they try and educate men about the importance of menstruation as many of them are not even aware of its role in family planning.
But as Valle, the Miss World 2016, put it: “Feminine hygiene is very important as not will it eventually create life, but also make women happier and healthier.”
Beauty queens from Kenya, Korea and Jamaica said the stigma around menstruation is a global problem, and they are confident that initiatives such as the world tour will bring about a change.
–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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