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Brisk voting in Jammu and Kashmir as weather improves
Jammu/Srinagar: Enthusiastic voters lined up outside polling stations in Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday as a weak winter sun peeped through the clouds.
Long queues of men and women appeared at polling stations in Kangan, Ganderbal, Sonawari and Gurez assembly constituencies of the Kashmir Valley after polling started on a dull note in the morning at 8 a.m. because of the intense cold.
Election authorities have said no untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the state where first two hours of polling passed off peacefully.
“Polling started peacefully at all the 1,787 polling stations spread over seven districts,” an official said.
Over a million voters will get to decide the political fate of 123 candidates who are in the fray in the first phase of the five-phase election.
In Banihal, Ramban, Kishtwar, Inderwal, Doda and Bhaderwah constituencies, brisk polling started after a dull start in the morning.
Reports from Leh, Kargil, Zanskar and Nubra constituencies of the Ladakh region said both Muslim and Buddhist voters turned out wearing traditional dresses to exercise their franchise.
Women outnumbered male voters at some polling stations of Ladakh region.
Enthusiasm was palpable in Lar town of Ganderbal assembly constituency as both the National Conference (NC) and the PDP candidates, Sheikh Ashfaq Jabbar and Qazi Muhammad Afzal, belong to this town.
In the polling station set up inside the block development office in Lar town, presiding officer Sheikh Bashir Ahmad had a tough time convincing two candidates’ supporters who had turned up in large numbers to remain peaceful and allow polling to proceed.
Out of 1,200 votes at this polling station, 180 were cast in the first two hours and voter queues continued to swell.
“We have decided to participate in the elections to vote for change,” said Nisar, 24, who was voting for the first time.
Long queues were also seen in Sumbal town of Sonawari constituency and in Bandipora town of Bandipora constituency.
Both Sonawari and Bandipora are witnessing a close contest between the NC, PDP and the Congress.
In Ganderbal polling station established in Ganderbal Higher Secondary School, because of the poll boycott in the town, out of 878 votes, only 65 votes were cast in the Lok Sabha election. In Tuesday’s voting, during the first two hours more than 250 voters have already exercised their franchise.
Voting started on a slow note in the 15 assembly constituencies due to the freezing temperature and foggy weather.
In Nubra, Leh, Kargil and Zanskar constituencies of Ladakh region, the morning temperature was several notches below the freezing point. In Gurez border constituency, only one or two voters turned up at the start of ballotting.
The morning cold also affected the early voter turnout in Doda, Bhaderwah, Kishtwar, Inderwal, Ramban and Banihal constituencies in the Jammu region.
Young voters queued up at the Hariganimen polling booth of the Kangan constituency in Ganderbal district. Dressed in traditional Kashmiri attire, most of them probably were first-time voters.
The total number of registered voters at this booth is 642 – 335 males and 307 females – of whom around 50 votes were cast by 8.30 a.m.
Mamina, a 20-year-old student, told IANS: “I will vote for somebody who will work for development of this backward area.”
Two districts in the Kashmir Valley, two in the Ladakh region, and three in Jammu region vote Tuesday.
Besides 225 micro observers, the Election Commission has arranged webcasting at 159 polling stations.
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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