Entertainment
OMG: This crazy Kolkata fangirl Agnimitra Paul joins BJP just for Narendra Modi
Kolkata: For Kolkata-based fashion designer Agnimitra Paul, joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is a fangirl moment, an opportunity to work under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and fulfill her plans for West Bengal’s development.
“It is because of Narendra Modi that I joined the party. I admire him; I am a big fan and would be happy to work under his leadership. I have joined BJP for him, nobody else and nothing more. I like his speeches, policies and the kind of work that he has done for the country. Because of his international policies, India is in a very strong position,” Paul told journalists in an interview.
“I have been doing a lot of social work though. But I will be able to do it on a bigger scale, give my service to many more people”.
She has been working on social causes like acid attack survivors, visually challenged and the like.
Paul, known for designing costumes for Bollywood films like “Koi Mere Dil Se Pooche” and “Via Darjeeling”, never had political inclinations even a month-and-a-half ago, when she approached the BJP. No other political party had approached her till then.
“In the last 23 years of my career as a designer, I have been completely apolitical. I have never been to a political gathering, function or any kind of morcha,” she said.
A Jadavpur University alumnus, she acknowledges development work undertaken in terms of beautification of Kolkata, but feels much more needs to be done in the areas of employment generation, health services and education.
“As far as beautification is concerned, a lot of work has been done. The city looks clean and beautiful.
“But I think employment generation has to be there, as it is the core of problems like criminal activities. A middle-class man or a woman wants a good job, health services and education for the children. These three things are important for them and much has not been done in all of these,” she said.
Shocking: Kolkata’s fashion designer Agnimitra Paul just joins BJP for Narendra Modi
She is engaged in a project named ‘Agnita’ with underprivileged women in the Sunderbans. She is teaching them to stitch and they are learning and earning at the same time.
Paul wants to set up a workshop for women to manufacture sanitary napkins for distributing them in the villages at a very nominal cost.
“I want to set up a textile hub where I will develop the fabric and there will be gradual value additions. I have big plans like energy conservation projects.”
Asked about BJP’s prospects in the state and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s “Delhi Chalo” dream, she said: “I am very new so I am a student giving my exams in politics and she is also giving her exams. The public will be answering and I am nobody to comment.”
“As a woman, I appreciate her (Banerjee), her struggles and the position she has attained”.
On her possible candidature for Lok Sabha elections, Paul said: “It completely depends on the party. If they think I am capable, I am ready for it. If not I would be happy with other opportunities to work for the people.”
On social media trolls and questions aimed at new candidates like Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan, she said: “I think it is very wrong, as youth should be given a chance. We should be judged as novices and be given a chance to learn”.
“In 1997, when I joined designing I knew nothing about it and today I am well-known, so who knows whether I will be a good politician? It only depends on how honest and dedicated a person is in his/her work”, she added.
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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