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Govt rules out relaxation in digitisation deadline in 4 metros
NEW DELHI: Ruling out any further shift in digitisation deadline, the Government has told local cable operators (LCOs) that there will be no relaxation in the sunset date for shutting off analogue and switching on to digital access systems by 1 November 2012 in the four metros.
Information and Broadcasting Ministry Joint Secretary (Broadcasting) Supriya Sahu also told the LCOs that all issues that they still had should be sorted out with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).
Sahu said that arrangements had been made for seeding a sufficient number of digital set top boxes in the metros, and said there was no reason for LCOs to protest the digitisation mandate.
She also said that problems related to registration in local post offices could be sorted out locally and need not be brought to the Ministry. The LCOs were complaining that registration was being given for only up to one year and there was no guarantee that it would be extended.
Later in a meeting with Trai chairman Dr Khuller, the LCOs were told there could be no change of Rs 45 in the share of the LCOs in the subscriber fee as this had been cleared by Parliament.
The cable operators who had come from different parts of the country and were led by A S Kohli of Delhi sought to plead with Trai that the rate could be not be lower than the one they were already getting, and also reiterated that the entire work of maintenance and bill collection was being done by them and not the multi-system operators.
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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.
