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3G auction: Bid up 63% to Rs 57 billion
NEW DELHI: After the end of the seventh day, a total of 40 rounds were completed in the 3G auction. The All-India price had reached Rs 57.10 billion, or 63 per cent up from the base price of Rs 35 billion.
Even as the bid for Delhi circle took a major leap rising from Rs 5.13 billion to Rs 6.26 billion, the bid for Gujarat slowed down and rose to Rs 5.33 billion at the end today.
The bids for Tamil Nadu and the rest of Maharashtra rose to Rs 5.49 billion and Rs 5.33 billion respectively. Mumbai also saw a steep rise to Rs 5.99 billion, while the bids for Andhra Pradesh, which had leveled with Mumbai yesterday, halted at Rs 4.93 billion.
Kolkata received a bid of Rs 1.74 billion, rising marginally over the bid of Rs 1.67 billion yesterday.
Meanwhile, Karnataka with Rs 5.08 billion remained the only other state to cross the figure of Rs 5 billion.
While east Uttar Pradesh closed with a bid of Rs 2.29 billion, west Uttar Pradesh clocked Rs 2.26 billion. Rajasthan clocked Rs 2.21 billion while Madhya Pradesh had a bid of Rs 2.18 billion.
The bids for some states remained unchanged: Assam, Orissa and Jammu & Kashmir service areas and Himachal Pradesh at Rs 300 million each, and of the north-east at Rs 303 million for the second day today, while Bihar rose marginally to Rs 327.6 million from Rs 324.4 million yesterday.
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.
