Applications
3G auction: Bids slow down, price touches Rs 89.14 billion
NEW DELHI: The bid for 3G spectrum is entering the final stages with the price at the pan-India level touching Rs 89.14 billion.
The bid for Mumbai stands at Rs 13.83 million, ahead of Delhi‘s Rs 13.49 billion stretch at the end of 94 rounds on day 16.
The rest of Maharashtra closed at Rs 8.74 billion, with Tamil Nadu at Rs 8.09 billion. Karnataka closed at Rs 7.49 billion, while Andhra Pradesh had a bid of Rs 7.72 billion, and Gujarat closed at Rs 6.91 billion. Kerala rose marginally to Rs 2.72 billion, while Kolkata clocked Rs 2.64 billion.
The bids for most states are expected to rise very little. These include Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, West and East Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Assam, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and the North-East.
While West Uttar Pradesh clocked Rs 3.58 billion, Haryana rose marginally to Rs 2.2 billion.
The bids for some states remained unchanged: the North-East at Rs 309 million, Rajasthan at Rs 2.59 billion, Punjab at Rs 1.49 billion, Bihar at Rs 3.51 billion, East Uttar Pradesh at Rs 2.60 billion, Assam and Orissa at Rs 309 million, Madhya Pradesh at Rs 2.36 billion, West Bengal at Rs 1.24 million, and Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh service areas at Rs 300 million each.
The telecom operators in the race are Aircel, Bharti Airtel, Etisalat DB Telecom, Idea Cellular, Reliance, S Tel, Tata Teleservices, Videocon Telecommunications and Vodafone Essar.
The successful bidders would be allowed to start commercial 3G operations from 1 September.
Applications
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.
