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Thousands take dip as Godavari pushkaralu begins
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Khammam/Vijayawada: Thousands of pilgrims took holy dip in Godavari river on Tuesday as Godavari maha pushkaralu, the once in 144-year event, began in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
About eight crore people are expected to participate in the 12-day event, termed as maha kumbh mela of the south, in both the Telugu states.
The event began on a tragic note in Andhra Pradesh as 22 pilgrims were killed and many others injured in a stampede at one of bathing ghats at Rajahmundry in East Godavari district.
Though pushkaralu, dedicated to worshipping rivers, take place once in 12 years, this time it is considered very auspicious from the astrological point of view. Priests say such an event comes once in 144 years.
The chief ministers of the two states along with their family members took the holy dip around 6.20 a.m., the auspicious time, to formally launch the festival.
While Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao took the dip at historic temple town of Dharampuri in Karimnagar district, his Andhra counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu performed the rituals at Rajahmundry.
Both the states have made elaborate arrangements for the peaceful and smooth conduct of the mega event, which is expected to attract pilgrims from different parts of the country.
While Telangana has constructed 106 bathing ghats in five districts, Andhra has made elaborate arrangements for the pilgrims at 280 ghats in East and West Godavari districts.
The authorities in both the states have deployed expert swimmers and kept rescue boats ready to meet any contingency. They have also set up control rooms and to monitor the event
With the river almost drying up at many points along its 600 km long course in Telangana, the state government released water from three irrigation projects. While 4,000 cusecs each was released from Sriramsagar and Kadem projects, 1,000 cusecs was let out from Yellampalli reservoir.
Though Telangana had requested neighbouring Maharashtra to release water upstream, it has not received any positive response.
The water level is very low at temple town of Basar in Adilabad district. Sri Tridandi Srimannarayana Chinna Jeyar Swamy took holy dip at 6.26 a.m. in the temple town of Bhadrachalam in Khammam district of Telangana to formally launch the river festival.
Large number of pilgrims thronged Bhadrachalam, the abode of Lord Sitaramachandra Swamy, located on the banks of the river.
As this is the first pushkaram after formation of separate Telangana state, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government is making all efforts to ensure its grand success. The chief minister said that celebrating maha pushkaram, which comes once in 144 years, in the first year of statehood is a good omen for the state.
Special buses and trains were being operated in both the states to ferry pilgrims. Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) ran 2,270 special buses.
Large number of policemen have been deployed at bathing ghats as part of massive security arrangements. Surveillance cameras were also installed to keep a tab on the movements of suspects.
The police have banned photography and videography at the bathing ghats and appealed to people to respect others’ privacy.
Entertainment
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
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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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