Entertainment
Actor Kalabhavan Mani’s death: Police find insecticide bottle
Chalakkudy (Kerala): A day after chemical tests revealed the presence of an insecticide in the body of actor-singer Kalabhavan Mani, Kerala Police on Saturday searched his 30-acre farmhouse near Chalakkudy in Thrissur district and found a few bottles — one of which is believed to be that of the toxic material.
Mani, 45, who acted in 200 films in Malayalam and other languages, was admitted to a hospital in Kochi on March 4. Said to be suffering from a liver ailment, he died two days later.
After his death, hospital authorities reported the presence of a chemical in the body, leading to speculation that he may not have died a natural death.
Mani allegedly consumed liquor in the company of some friends in his outhouse near Chalakkudy in Thrissur district where he took ill.
Police had then registered a case of unnatural death and sealed his outhouse.
Officials on Friday said the chemical test revealed the presence of the insecticide ‘Chlorpyrifos’.
The probe, after the new development, is now being headed by Inspector General of Police M.R. Ajithkumar.
The team has taken statements from numerous people as well as actors like Sabumon and Jaffer Idukki who was with Mani, the day he fell ill on March 4. Sabumon and Jaffer Idukki had earlier said they left the farmhouse quite early.
On Saturday morning Deputy Superintendent of Police K. Sudarshan, who is entrusted with the investigation, arrived with his team of officials accompanied by an excise department team to the farmhouse.
The police team searched the entire farmhouse — that comprises a farm of nutmeg trees — and left around 3.30 p.m.
Police searched the septic tank of the house, and at the end of the day said they found a bottle believed to be that of a pesticide. They also took a few other bottles.
“We got a few bottles… We will know what they contained only after scientific tests,” Sudarshan told the waiting media, before leaving the farmhouse.
Police have also been able to locate the person believed to have prepared the illicit brew and also the man who brought it to the farmhouse that day.
Police have questioned several of the actor’s friends who used to be visitors to the farmhouse, where there used to be regular parties.
Manikantan, who lives near the farmhouse, said he met the actor on the morning of March 4 and he was “in his usual jovial self”.
“The next morning, I was surprised to find three of the actor’s close aides arrive on a motorcycle and they were cleaning the outhouse. They told me Mani has gone on a foreign trip. They left the place carrying bags,” Manikandan told the media on Saturday.
The late actor’s manager Jobi told reporters on Saturday that he was surprised to hear reports of the presence of pesticide in the actor’s body.
“The only agriculture crop in the farmhouse is nutmeg and to my knowledge, there has been no application of any chemical fertilizers,” said Jobi.
Meanwhile, the late actor’s family members expressed happiness over the probe. His younger brother R.L.V. Ramakrishnan was also present on Saturday at the farmhouse.
Mani’s wife Nimmi, a veterinary surgeon, has categorically said her husband was a strong willed person and would have never committed suicide.
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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