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Bill for merger of schemes for overseas Indians soon

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New Delhi: A draft bill that will enable the merging of two schemes for overseas Indians is expected to be brought before the cabinet for approval soon, an official statement said Tuesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a number of announcements for PIOs (Person of Indian Origin) and OCIs (Overseas Citizenship of India).

“…a draft Bill for amending the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which will enable merger of the PIO and OCI schemes, is expected to be brought to the Cabinet for approval shortly,” a Prime Minister’s Office communique said.

It added that visa-on-arrival and electronic travel authorisation in respect of 43 countries is expected to be inaugurated Nov 27.

The countries include the US, Australia, Fiji and Pacific islands.

“The government has already announced fulfilment of the following announcements made by the prime minister: Granting visa for life to PIO card holders, exemption for PIOs staying in India for long term from police reporting and issuance of long-term (10 year) visas to US nationals on reciprocal basis,” the communique said.

Modi, during his address at the Madison Square Garden in New York Sep 28, while talking about consular and visa issues said that the government will join the PIO and OCI schemes for the diaspora and a new scheme would soon be announced.

He also announced visa-on-arrival facilities during his recent 10-day visit to Myanmar, Australia and Fiji.

“There was immense glee on the faces of our diaspora when I announced the visa-on-arrival facilities and the OCI and PIO merger in Australia and Fiji,” Modi wrote in his blog a day after ending his three-nation visit.

“It is our aim to make the diaspora an integral part of our development journey and since the last few months we have channelized our efforts in this regard,” the prime minister added.

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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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