Top News
Sebi wants Sahara properties’ auction to be put on hold
New Delhi:Market regulator Sebi has told the Supreme Court that no useful purpose would be served by proceeding with the auction of Sahara properties in the second phase as most of them were in provisional attachment of Income Tax department.
Seeking the hearing on its 2015 application for the appointment of a receiver for taking over the control of Sahara properties, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has sought court’s permission to issue certificates of sale of five properties to the successful bidder who have already paid the entire amount.
These five properties were sold in the first phase of auction held in July.
The Sebi has, in its application that was mentioned on Thursday, said that in the first phase it had put up 58 properties for auction but could sell only seven properties for a total consideration of Rs 177.86 crore.
It told the court that initially it had considered putting to auction 67 properties but because of certain hitches, it could put only 58 properties to auction. Of this only seven could be actually sold.
The market regulator has said since the properties that were to be put to auction were being large parcels of land, it had engaged services of HDFC Realty and SBI Capital Markets for assisting it in the sales.
The application that will come up for hearing on Friday says that after the conclusion of auctions in the first phase, it received on July 29 a letter dated July 21 from the Income Tax Department stating that 63 out of 67 properties of Sahara group stood provisionally attached on account of assessed dues of Sahara City Homes for the assessment Year 2012-13.
The market regulator says in its application that five properties out of the seven properties for which auctions were completed in Phase I and sold, were also found to be provisionally attached by the department.
These 5 properties, situated in Ajmer, Trichy, Vellore, Ujjain and Firozabad, with a total reserve price of Rs 88.29 crore have been auctioned for Rs 116.42 crore, it said in its application.
These properties are being put to auction to recover the money that Sahara’s two companies – Sahara India Real Estate Corp Ltd (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Finance Corp Ltd (SHICL) were asked in 2012 to pay Rs. 17,600 cores with 15 per cent interest to 3.3 crore investors from whom it had raised through optionally fully convertible debentures (OFCDs) in 2008 and 2009.
The Sebi says that this amount today stands at about Rs 36,000 crore.
The court will also hear on Friday an application by Sahara seeking the extension of parole to Sahara chief Subrata Roy and two other directors.
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.
Content provided by Adverloom
Cheers and Cheers: Barzilla’s Joyful Ode to Inclusivity and Celebration
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
Lockdowns in China Force Urban Communities to Defy Censorship and Vent Frustration Online
What monkey fled with a bag containing evidence in it: Read full story
IPL 20202 UPDATE: KXIP vs MI IPL Dream11 Team Prediction for Today Match, Update Point Table of all Team.
In a Live debate AAP leader Syed Asad Abbas hurls abuses to BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
‘India’s Most Wanted’ trailer out Arjun Kapoor on hunt of Osama-Bin-Laden
Time to move on: Sonakshi on Shatrughan’s joining Congress
