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Pakistan’s NAB okays new graft reference against Sharif brothers

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Islamabad, Dec 28 (IANS) Pakistan’s anti-corruption body, the National Accountability Bureau, has approved the filing of a new reference against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif over misuse of public money in a road construction project for their home in Lahore.

The board okayed the corruption reference against the Sharif brothers on Wednesday for constructing a two-lane road from Raiwind to their family residence at Jati Umra, which allegedly caused a loss of over Rs 125 million to the national exchequer, the News International reported.

Three corruption references are already pending before an accountability court against the ousted Premier.

The NAB also authorised investigations against two former Prime Ministers — Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Yousuf Raza Gilani — belonging to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

Ashraf will face an investigation regarding a Rs 113 billion loss to the national exchequer caused by the delay in the execution of the Nandipur Power Project and Gilani for misuse of authority in appointments in Saindak Metal Limited.

Balochistan’s former Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani, former Communication Minister Arbab Alamgir and his spouse Asma and senior leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Babar Awan also came under the lens of NAB with the initiation of investigations against them.

Raisani is accused of receiving compensation of over Rs 1,817 million from the Balochistan government, which he allegedly distributed among his relatives.

Alamgir and his wife were accused of having assets beyond their known sources of income. Both had accumulated assets of over Rs 2.486 billion.

The NAB Executive Board’s meeting chaired by Justice Javed Iqbal (retd) also decided to launch investigations and filing of references against former Law Ministry secretary Masood Chisti, former secretary Water and Power Ministry Shahid Rafi and former director Ijaz Bashir for allegedly delaying the Nandipur Hydel Power Project that caused a loss of over Rs 113 billion.

A reference against a former chairman of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, Syed Asif Akhtar Hashmi, was also approved.

–IANS
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Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones

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CasinoDays India

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.

CasinoDays India

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.

 

CasinoDays India

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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