Top News
Mining companies should start operations soon: Goa CM
Panaji: Mining companies in Goa should resume operations as soon as possible, failing which they would be compelled to commence mining, Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said on Monday.
“My appeal to mine owners is that they should start mining business from this year itself. The government will give full support. If they still fail, I will order them to do so, if needed,” Parsekar said at a function organised by Vedanta Resources to mark resumption of the company’s mining operations at the Codli lease, around 50 km from Panaji.
Mining in Goa was stopped both by the state government as well as the central government in 2012 following a Rs.35,000 crore illegal mining scam which was unearthed by a judicial commission appointed by the union mines ministry, before the Supreme Court eventually banned all mining activity in the same year and instituted a probe by its own Empowered Committee.
The ban was eventually lifted last year, but mining still could not be restarted because of pending green clearances.
From the 80-plus mining leases, which have been renewed by the state government since the ban, Vedanta Resource’s Sesa Iron ore mining company is the first outfit to restart mining operations.
Resumption of mining in Goa, Parsekar said, was akin to the arrival of the ‘Achche Din’ or ‘Good Days’ promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2014 Lok Sabha poll campaign.
“I feel achche din have started. After the ban, mining activities were stopped for nearly three years in Goa.
“The government tried to give some relief to truck owners by giving the (financial) packages and also mediated with banks to give some relief as far as loans were concerned. But it was not a permanent solution. Mining should start now,” Parsekar said.
“We have done all what we could to restart mining and will continue to do whatever is required. I had given a date of October to restart mining and Vedanta has surprised me by reopening two months earlier,” he said.
“I know prices of iron ore have decreased in international market and as a result the government has reduced export duty from 30 percent to 10 percent. But a businessman never stops running a business even if margin is reduced.”
Chief executive officer of Sesa Iron Ore R. Kishor Kumar, who was present at the function, said: “Due to a fall in iron ore prices in international market, doubts were raised whether mining will resume in Goa or not. We want to put end to these doubts.”
“The resumption of mining will resume employment for many mining-dependent people, the government will benefit from increased revenues and communities will be empowered,” Kumar said.
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.
Content provided by Adverloom
Cheers and Cheers: Barzilla’s Joyful Ode to Inclusivity and Celebration
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
Lockdowns in China Force Urban Communities to Defy Censorship and Vent Frustration Online
What monkey fled with a bag containing evidence in it: Read full story
IPL 20202 UPDATE: KXIP vs MI IPL Dream11 Team Prediction for Today Match, Update Point Table of all Team.
In a Live debate AAP leader Syed Asad Abbas hurls abuses to BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
‘India’s Most Wanted’ trailer out Arjun Kapoor on hunt of Osama-Bin-Laden
Time to move on: Sonakshi on Shatrughan’s joining Congress
