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Right to Education Act remarkable achievement: Ansari

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Hamid-AnsariNew Delhi:  The Right to Education Act was a “remarkable achievement” despite its shortcomings, Vice President Hamid Ansari said on Monday, even as he lamented that government financing for education was insufficient.

“Despite the shortcomings in its implementation, the Right to Education Act remains a remarkable achievement,” Ansari said addressing the National Stocktaking Convention organised by the Right to Education Forum.

“While concerns regarding privatisation of education remain, the Act offers a first step towards an educational system in India that provides access, equity and inclusion for all children,” he said.

He also expressed concern over the decline in state funding of education.

“The decline in state funding in the key social sector programmes, including education, is of particular concern. Public services like education are the key to nurture participatory growth. Financing for Right to Education remains inadequate,” Ansari said.

“Total public expenditure for education, at less than 3.5 percent of GDP, is well below the 6 percent commitment made in the National Education Policies,” he said.

Ansari said that at 52 percent, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) received more than half the money under school education allocation in the latest budget, but over the last five years, the SSA budget has declined by 6 percent, from Rs.23,873 crore ($4.4 billion) in 2012-13 to Rs.22,500 crore ($3.3 billion) for 2016-17.

He also pointed out that large gaps remain in implementing the scheme.

“Critical appraisal of the functioning of the Right to Education reveals that large gaps exist in its implementation.

“Even with the increasing primary enrolment rates, India has the largest number of out-of-school children in the world which is more than the out-of-school children in whole of sub-Saharan Africa.

“There is a huge disparity between the urban and rural education and rich and poor children have radically different schooling experiences,” he said.

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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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