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Kolkata MSOs asked not to switch off any TV channel till panchayat polls are over
NEW DELHI: The West Bengal government has directed multi-system operators to maintain status quo with regard to charges relating to digital access system (DAS) till the upcoming panchayat elections in the state, which should come to an end by 15 July.
The state municipal affairs and urban development minister Firhad Hakkim directed MSOs not to switch off any channel during this period, without consulting the cable operators.
The minister said this during a meeting yesterday evening with a delegation of the cable operators sangram committe and chief executive officer Soumen Roy Chowdhary and Surendra Agarwal of Indian Cable Net Company Ltd, a unit of Siti Cable.
Ratan Jaiswal who represents the sangram committee of the LCOs told indiantelevision.com that this follows an agitation against the MSOs for failing to set proper rates and bouquets for the consumer.
He said the MSOs were charging Rs 70 apart from service tax and other charges amounting to another Rs 20 for every set top box installed, which the LCOs feel is illegal as there is no provision by the telecom regulatory authority of India in this connection. In any case, such a charge can only be levied on the consumer.
Even though the revenue share between the LCO s and MSOs is not clear and the packages being offered to the consumers are vague with no agreements having been signed, the LCOs say that Siti Cable and Indian Cable Network Company Ltd have sought help from the police which has imposed Section 144 for restricting entry of LCOs.
While the number of digital STBs installed at present is around 90 per cent in Kolkata, less than forty per cent of agreements relating to billing etc have been signed.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
