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Sushma Swaraj to visit Russia next week
New Delhi, Sep 8 (IANS) Even as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Syria next week has been postponed in view of the prevailing situation in that war-torn nation, it was announced on Saturday that she will be visiting Russia on September 13-14 to attend an inter-governmental meeting.
“External Affairs Minister will visit Moscow on September 13-14 to hold the meeting of the 23rd India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Technical and Economic Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) which is co-chaired by her and Yuri Borisov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation,” the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
“IRIGC-TEC is a standing body which annually meets and reviews ongoing activities of bilateral cooperation in the fields of bilateral trade and investment, science and technology, culture and other issues of mutual interest,” it stated.
“The Commission, after taking stock of bilateral cooperation in various fields, will provide policy recommendations and directions in the concerned fields.”
Sushma Swaraj’s programme in Russia comes close on the heels of the first ever India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue here in which she, along with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Jim Mattis participated.
India and the US signed the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) after the 2+2 Dialogue which gives India access to high-end US defence technology.
However, speculation has been rife about the fate of India’s plan to buy five Russian-made S-400 Triumf advanced air defence systems with the Trump administration’s Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) coming into effect in January 2018.
CAATSA targets countries doing business with Russian, Iranian and North Korean defence companies and with India being a major defence partner of Russia, the S-400 deal has become a matter of concern since it is close to be concluded.
However, the US Senate last month passed a bill that gives India a partial waiver relief from sanctions against Russian firms and oligarchs, allowing it to keep buying Russia-made weapons in a landmark decision that is seen as a big diplomatic win for New Delhi.
Following the 2+2 Dialogue here on Thursday, Pompeo told the media that no decision has been made regarding the S-400 deal.
“We are working to impose CAATSA Section 231 in a way that is appropriate and lawful and to exercise that waiver authority only where it makes sense,” he said.
“And we as a team, the national security team, will work on that, and as we continue to have these conversations with India about that, I think come to an outcome that makes sense for each of our two countries.”
Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Moscow comes ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to ndia next month for the annual bilateral summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Earlier on Saturday, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Syria, scheduled for next week, has been postponed.
“EAM’s visit to Syria has been deferred due to the prevailing situation in that country,” Kumar said in response to a query.
“Fresh dates will be decided in mutual consultation with the Syrian side,” Kumar said.
This would have been the first high-level visit from India to Syria since civil war broke out in that West Asia nation in 2011.
–IANS
ab/prs
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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