Entertainment
“I was just joking”: Actress Ananya Pandey on alleged drug chats with Aryan Khan
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Friday questioned actor Ananya Pandey for more than four hours over the alleged drug chats with Aryan Khan on WhatsApp. She has been called again on Monday. “There are certain things [in the chats] that she is not able to explain and further questioning is required,” an NCB officer said. According to sources, the chats show she and Aryan discussed a certain drug, and when questioned, she said, “I was just joking.”
According to sources, the NCB is questioning Ananya about one specific drug, about which Ananya and Aryan had allegedly talked about in WhatsApp chats. She told the investigating officers that she has never consumed any kind of drug, and I was just joking with Aryan in the chats. However, the officers were not convinced, and hence have called her again for further clarity, sources said.
Actor Ananya Pandey on her way to the city office of the Narcotics Control Bureau at Ballard Estate in south Mumbai, on Friday. She was again accompanied by her father Chunky Pandey. Pic/Suresh Karkera
Sources said that the two talked about the specific drug on various occasions and in one chat, they even discussed procurement.
Ananya was first quizzed on Thursday for more than two hours and was called again on Friday at 11 am. Accompanied by her father, actor Chunky Pandey, Ananya arrived at the NCB office at Ballard Estate in south Mumbai at 2.30pm, as the agency had postponed the questioning by a few hours. They left around 6.30 pm.
“She has been called again on Monday for further questioning,” said Mutha Ashok Jain, Deputy Director General, South West Region, NCB.
Sources said the agency has found certain WhatsApp chats that are incriminating and that they require a deep analysis. Her electronic gadgets have been sent to the forensics for the retrieval of chats, if anything was deleted, said officers. The NCB, with the help of cyber experts, got some details of the chats and she was questioned about that.
When asked about the possibility of her arrest, officers refused to comment.
Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court will on Tuesday hear Aryan’s bail plea, along with that of co-accused Arbaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha. The NCB plans to oppose the pleas on the basis of the investigation it has done so far. The agency is going to submit a detailed report on their investigation to the HC.
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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