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Govt firm on Phase 2 deadline, claims 60% digitisation in 38 cities
MUMBAI: The Information & Broadcasting secretary Uday Kumar Varma has asserted that the government is firm on 31 March deadline.
Giving a keynote at the Valedictory session of Ficci Frames, Varma said that the second phase of digitisation is on track with 60 per cent of households already going digital.
"Digitisation is happening smoothly. We have achieved 60 per cent digitisation in the second phase. Subsequent to 31 March, the process will be irreversible," Varma said.
Out of the 38 cities that are going digital in the second phase, as many as 10 cities have achieved 75 per cent digitisation.
Four cities have been slow in implementing digitisation, Varma added. These include Ranchi, Srinagar and one in Tamil Nadu, where the state government is vehemently opposed to digitisation.
"Out of 16 million STBs that are to be installed, 10 million have already been installed while six million are yet to be installed. However, we are confident that these will be installed within the deadline period," Varma asserted.
Varma also said that the industry needs to keep the spirit of alignment to take the digitisation to its logical conclusion. However, he hastened to add that digitisation is still an incomplete task as even in phase 1 only set-top box (STB) has been installed and other aspects like Subscriber Management System (SMS) and billing are yet to be put in place.
Digitisation, Varma said, will correct the aberrations of business model in the broadcasting industry and usher in an era of transparency.
He also said that the role of state government is important for effective implementation of digitisation.
He reiterated that the government can step in to provide guidelines for an independent television audience measurement system should the industry ask for it.
"We need a robust and healthy ratings measurement agency," he said.
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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.
