Entertainment
I&B Ministry yet to respond on CFSI resignation: Mukesh Khanna
Mumbai, Feb 7 (IANS) Veteran actor Mukesh Khanna, who has submitted his resignation as Chairperson of the Children’s Film Society India (CFSI) just months short of the end of his three-year term, says he is yet to receive a response from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Mukesh, known for his performance in shows like “Shaktimaan” and “Mahabharat”, resigned citing issues in the working process at CFSI, a nodal government organisation that produces children’s films and television shows in various languages.
Khanna told IANS: “So far, I have not received any response from their end. The authority has maintained a silence. I am waiting for their decision. However, I want that before I leave, at least people should know what is the problem that CSFI is going through, so that in the near future, it could get resolved.”
The actor’s tenure as CFSI chief is to end in April 2018.
About the issues he faced, Khanna said: “A our film ‘Tennis Buddies’ was ready to release and some distributors (were willing to) invest money for a theatrical release, I came across these problems. They advised me to make the film popular by showing it on Doordarshan.
“I questioned, ‘Who will go to the theatre to watch the film later after watching it on TV? I got no answer to this.
“Though there are distributors who are ready to invest in children’s films, the process of getting approval from the Information and Broadcasting Minister is too long and time-consuming. It takes months. Not only that, there is a tender system which is also creating a problem about bringing investors.”
He said it is tough to convince investors for the theatrical release of children’s films.
“Due to the tender process, distributors take a step back. When I appealed to have some joint venture where CSFI and other companies can join hands for a film’s release, I was told such concepts work in National Film Development Corporation and not here (at CFSI).
“It took three consecutive meetings for me to establish the fact that CSFI has a clause for joint ventures. But by the time they agreed, the funds got exhausted. So I had to inform the distributors to hold the thought. Who works like this? This is unfair to children’s films and their entertainment,” Khanna said.
He hopes the future is bright for movie content for the younger lot.
“So far, whatever films we made, travelled to film festivals and won awards and most of them are not commercially released. If I look closely at the matter, most of those films are not entertaining enough to hold the attention of children. So I want to make films that have enough entertainment value to get a theatrical release, because the prime audience of those films is children.”
Did he speak to the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Smriti Irani?
“Well, since she is a former television actress and knows the entertainment industry closely, I had expected her to address the issue. In the last four months, though I wrote a letter to her seeking an appointment, I did not receive any response from her end. This is also one of the reasons why I felt really upset,” Khanna said.
–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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