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Need to develop new broadcast technologies at rocket pace: Jatua
NEW DELHI: Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting CM Jatua urged for development of new broadcasting technologies ‘at rocket pace’ to keep up with the developments all over the world.
Jatua was speaking at the BES Expo organised by the Broadcast Engineering Society.
Veteran media person B G Verghese added in a special address at the valedictory session that there was dire need for setting up a separate autonomous body for broadcast transmission if the country had to ensure it kept pace with developments all over the world. He said this recommendation had been made when he was member of the first Board of Prasar Bharati after it was notified in 1997. It had also been stated at that time that the Government should only function as a trustee.
He also said that it was important that discussions held in meets such as the three-day Expo should not just remain in record books and should be taken up by the Government for implementation.
Verghese was presented an Honorary Fellowship of the BES by the Minister on the occasion. Two former engineering-in-chief executives of Doordarshan, BK Dey and RK Gupta, received Lifetime Achievement awards. Six other awards were presented on the occasion for excellence in broadcast engineering.
BES President Ashok Lakhanpal said an important subject taken up during the discussions was the role of broadcasting in disaster management.
Around 50 personalities from India and overseas took part in the various sessions held during the Expo which was on the theme of Broadcasting through Multiple Platforms. Other subjects taken up included ‘Digital TV Broadcasting Technologies’, content management, digital radio transmission, and community radio.
Stalls on broadcasting technologies were put up by over a 100 exhibitors from India and overseas. They included Prasar Bharati and Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd.
Speaking at the inauguration on 11 February, MoS for I&B S Jagathrakhskan had said that nations which miss out on the information revolution would be treated as backward nations. He said convergence communication and information technologies were driving new products. Digitisation was expected to bring in major gains for the broadcasting sector and the viewers would get a tool to balance their viewing affordability. This will ensure a level playing field.
I& B Secretary Uday Kumar Varma who had also attended the inauguration said that technological changes were taken place very fast but consumer education was missing about this, and the BES could play a major role in this direction.
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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.
