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EC defers Assembly polls in J&K, appoints three special observers

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New Delhi, March 10 (IANS) The Election Commission (EC) has formed a committee comprising three “eminent” members to assess the situation on the ground in Jammu and Kashmir before it takes a decision about holding the Assembly elections in the troubled state, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said on Sunday.

The three members of the committee who will function as the Special Observers are retired IAS officers Noor Mohammed (1977 batch) and Vinod Zutshi (1982 batch) besides A.S. Gill, a retired IPS officer of 1972 batch.

Noor Mohammad has been working in the area of election management for more than a decade and has been international expert and consultant to Afghanistan for many years. He is currently working as senior consultant in the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM).

Zutshi, who has served as Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Rajasthan and Deputy Election Commissioner for many years, has long experience in the field of election management and has been contributing to the Commission as national and international trainer.

Gill, a decorated officer, has served as the Inspector General and later as Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Jammu and Kashmir. He is working in the field of security management.

There were speculations that Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which is under the President’s Rule, could be held along with the Lok Sabha polls. But the EC has decided against it as of now.

The state Assembly was suddenly dissolved in November last year by Governor Satya Pal Malik after keeping it in suspended animation for over five months.

About holding simultaneous elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Arora said: “The Commission has been continuously assessing the prevailing situation in the state, requirement of central forces and other logistics for elections, requirement of the security for the candidates and preparedness of the state for the election on key factors.”

He said the poll panel had conducted several rounds of review meetings with Union Home Ministry and the state administration. The Union Home Secretary had sent detailed and specific inputs to the Commission regarding holding elections in the state.

“Based on the specific inputs and recommendation from the state government and Union Home Secretary, inputs from the political parties and other stakeholders, constraints of availability of central forces and other logistics, requirement of security forces for security of candidates in wake of incidents of violence in recent past and keeping other challenges in mind, the Commission has decided to announce only schedule of the parliament elections in the Jammu and Kashmir,” Arora said.

He said the Commission will be “regularly and on real time basis” monitoring the situation in the state and the decision of holding Assembly elections “will be taken soon”.

–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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