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Worldwide Web opens office in India
NEW DELHI: India needs to ensure that all her officially recognised 22 languages can be adequately represented to make Web accessible in Indian languages a reality. In view of this, the role of India becomes prominent especially in the area of internationalisation, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Sachin Pilot said.
Speaking at a two-day Conference on World-Wide-Web: Technology, Standards and Internationalisation, which coincided with the opening of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) India Office, the Minister said this would go a long way in accelerating the growth of Web in Indian Languages. India is committed to the goal of ‘Internet for All’, and the Government in close co-operation with other stakeholders has taken several steps in this direction, the Minister added.
Emphasizing the need for taking the benefit of Information Communication Technology (ICT) to masses, the Ministers said that engagement with W3C in building all the required standards will facilitate information access on World Wide Web regardless of languages, location, ability, generation, age and income. Besides facilitating wider access of web by common men, it will also equip them to provide locally relevant content on the internet. Such initiative will play a great role in reducing poverty, improving health care, education, spreading good governance and addressing all local challenges in the global context.
Department of Information Technology Secretary R Chandrashekhar, Joint Secretary N Ravishankar, and Swaran Lata who is Country Manager W3C India Office and head of the TDIL programme were also present.
W3C India Office has been set up at DIT under the aegis of Human Centered Computing Division. The Division is implementing the programme ‘Technology Development for Indian Languages’ (TDIL). TDIL Programme is engaging itself actively since 2006 with all the stakeholders in the country to work towards internationalization of W3C Recommendations.
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international Standards Body which develops Standards / Best Practices / recommendations to ensure seamless web access to all. The Vision of W3C is to achieve “Web for Everyone and Web on Everything.” W3C works in tandem with others standards making bodies such as UNICODE, IETF, ICANN and ISO at the international level. W3C has so far published about 183 standards for web technology and working in the future web standards. Recommendations evolved by W3C run across many technical domains.
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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.
