Connect with us

Top News

Controversy over Akbar’s ‘Navratnas’ installation in heritage site

Published

on

Agra: A controversy has erupted over divisional commissioner Pradip Bhatnagar’s decision to install the statues of Mughal emperor Akbar’s “Navratnas” (nine jewels) in Fatehpur Sikri, a World Heritage site.

Akbar’s passion for knowledge and interest in learning from great minds led him to attract men of genius to his court. His personal favourites were collectively known as the nine gems or “Navratnas”.

Bhatnagar, using funds from the Agra Development Authority, ordered the statues of the nine jewels to be put up at the site.

But now historians are asking him to present historical evidence that Akbar had appointed or released officially a list of nine jewels in his court, to counsel him and provide him with informed company.

Eminent Mughal historian R. Nath told IANS: “To my knowledge there is no authentic list of nine jewels in any work of a contemporary historian. Its part of the popular folklore though.”

“The Archaeological Survey of India should strictly follow the manuals and the 1958 Ancient Monuments Act, which does not permit addition or deletion of any new structures,” Nath added.

The nine jewels, according to popular belief are: Abul Fazl, Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana, Birbal, Mulla Do-Piyaza, Faizi, Raja Man Singh, Raja Todar Mal, Faqir Azio Din and Tansen.

Bhatnagar, who is also the chairman of the Agra Development Authority, initiated a project to get statues made of all the nine jewels and put them on show at the Fatehpur Sikri complex. But the Archaeological Survey of India has refused permission. The statues will now be installed in the Uttar Pradesh tourism facilitation centre outside the complex.

Historian Raj Kishore Raje told IANS: “Commissioner Bhatnagar is distorting history. I have written to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister advising him to restrain the commissioner from proceeding in this matter.”

Raje said there is no mention in any of the books of the period. Abul Fazal’s “Ain-e-Akbari”, Farishta’s “Tareekh-e-Farishta”, Innyatullah’s “Taqmeel-e-Akbarnama”, say nothing about the nine jewels of Akbar.

“Even the books of Sir Jadu Nath Sarker or Ashirwadi Lal Srivastav make no mention of them. Akbar never said he had capable hands to help him in administration. Therefore, if the commissioner goes ahead with his statue project, it would be a travesty of truth and misrepresentation of history.”

Entertainment

Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones

Published

on

By

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.

 

Content provided by Adverloom

Continue Reading

Trending