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Bengal reduces fuel tax by Re 1 per litre (Lead)

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Kolkata, Sep 11 (IANS) Urging the Centre to reduce the cess on fuel prices, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced that her government will reduce the state tax on petrol and diesel by Re 1 per litre.

“We demand that the Central government reduce the cess on petrol and diesel. The price of crude oil has gone down internationally, but they (Centre) are increasing the prices and also the cess. Both cannot happen simultaneously. The state government does not get any percentage from the cess.

“In this situation, our government has decided to reduce the tax so as to bring down the prices of petrol and diesel by one rupee per litre,” she said at the state Secretariat Nabanna.

The cess imposed by Central government has been increased and no attempts are being made to stabilise fuel prices, Banerjee alleged.

“In January 2016, petrol price was Rs 65.12 whereas in September 2018 it is Rs 81.5 per litre. So the petrol price has gone up by Rs 16.48 per litre. Diesel price was Rs 48.80 in 2016 but now it is Rs 73.26, a hike of Rs 24.46,” she said.

The Andhra Pradesh government had earlier reduced Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre while Rajasthan slashed tax on fuel by four per cent.

“Our government has not increased sale tax or excise duty on petrol or diesel in these years so that the common people do not get disturbed,” Banerjee said.

Expressing concern over rising fuel prices, Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Ramesh Agarwal said that the reduced price of fuel in West Bengal will provide relief to the people and business community.

–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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