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3G auction: Delhi crosses Rs 8 billion mark
NEW DELHI: After the completion of 64 rounds on the eleventh day today, Delhi continued to top the bidding with Rs 8.50 billion, with Mumbai almost Rs 1 billion behind at Rs 7.52 billion.
Tamil Nadu peaked at Rs 7.11 billion, and Gujarat closed at 5.83 billion. There are no applications of price increment for these states for the rounds beginning Friday.
The rest of Maharashtra had a bid of Rs 6.97 billion, while Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh closed at Rs 6.38 billion and Rs 6.26 billion respectively. Kerala and Kolkata clocked Rs 2.39 billion and Rs 2.18 billion respectively.
With no applications for price increment for Friday’s bidding, there is little likelihood for any more bids for Western Uttar Pradesh, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Assam, Orissa, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, the North-East, and Bihar. However, telecom sources said this assumption has proved wrong in some cases and fresh bidders may come in any time before the bidding closes.
While east Uttar Pradesh closed with a bid of Rs 2.50 billion, west Uttar Pradesh clocked Rs 2.67 billion. Punjab stopped at Rs 1.41 billion and Haryana closed at Rs 2.14 billion. Madhya Pradesh and Bihar rose marginally to Rs 2.29 billion and Rs 3.34 billion respectively. Rajasthan rose to Rs 2.43 billion.
The bids for some states remained unchanged: West Bengal at Rs 1.23 billion, Assam, Orissa and Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh service areas at Rs 300 million each, and the north-east at Rs 303 million.
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.
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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.
