Entertainment
Mika Singh ban and boycott from AICWA Indian film industry
New Delhi: All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) and Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) have issued a statement condemning playback singer Mika Singh, following his performance in Karachi, Pakistan. Mika and his troupe’s performance at the wedding of former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf’s cousin’s daughter had caused controversy earlier.
AICWA’s statement read, “AICWA bans and boycott Singer Mika Singh from the Indian Film Industry for performing at a high profile event in Karachi dated 8th August 2019. The event was held in Karachi at the behest of a close relative of former military dictator of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf. AICWA takes a tough stand of immediately boycotting all his association with movie production houses and music companies & online music content providers. AICWA president Suresh Gupta in his statement today has put an unconditional ban on Mika Singh and he is to be boycotted from all the movies and music contracts with entertainment companies.”
Mika, reportedly, performed on August 8 in Karachi and his presence became widely known after pictures and videos of his performance appeared on social media sites.
“AICWA workers will make sure that no one in INDIA works with Mika Singh and if anyone does, they will face legal consequences in the court of law. When the tension between both the countries are at the peak, Mika Singh puts money above the NATION. AICWA requested Information and broadcasting ministry to intervene and act legally on the singer. It is unfortunate that singers like Mika Singh put the profession above NATION PRIDE, Pulwana attack and Pathankot attack and performs in Karachi. NATION FIRST, ONE NATION, ONE DREAM,” AICWA’s statement continued.
Later, on Wednesday, Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) also banned the singer and his crew from performing in India. A statement issued by the organisation read, “We at FWICE, mother body of all the 24 crafts of film making have zero tolerance for such acts and unanimously condemn it as anti-national and totally ban Mika Singh and the 14 crew members who participated in the presentation from any performance, recording, playback, singing, acting in India.”
The latest round of tensions between India and Pakistan arose after India diluted the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and divided it into two union territories. Pakistan responded by suspending diplomatic ties and trade relations with India.
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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