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DD’s DTH to carry 200 channels: Soni
NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said today that she has asked Prasar Bharati to work towards offering at least 200 television channels on the country’s only free-to-air direct-to-home (DTH) platform, DD Direct Plus.
‘‘We are discussing the matter with the Prasar Bharati people, and I have asked them to try to increase the number of FTA channels to about 200,‘‘ Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters here after releasing the annual India 2010 and Bharat 2010 reference manual brought out by the Publications Division and the Research and Reference Division of her Ministry.
Currently, DD Direct Plus carries 57 channels, apart from 21 channels of All India Radio. The TV channels include 21 Doordarshan channels.
Soni said the decision to increase the number of channels on DD DTH was in consonance with the objectives of the Ministry to make the public broadcaster of maximum use to the public.
Earlier this year, Soni had denied in Parliament that any television channels had withdrawn from DD Direct Plus. She said DD Direct Plus signals were available in the entire country except the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
DD sources told indiantelevision.com that it may be possible to increase the number of channels on the platform as the annual carriage fee that broadcasters have to pay has been lowered. The carriage fee for all private FTA channels has been brought down from Rs 10 million to Rs 2.5 million along with a service tax of Rs 300,000. However, foreign broadcasters have to pay a carriage fee of Rs 5 million.
Earlier releasing the INDIA 2010 and BHARAT 2010 publications, Soni said the aim should be to sell at least 100,000 copies and this could only be done by approaching all state governments and educational institutions to buy copies.
Soni was reacting to the remark earlier made by the Director General in charge of the Reference, Research and Training Division of the Ministry, SM Khan. She said that unless information about Government schemes reaches every citizen, the work of the media units of the Ministry remains unfinished. The Minister advised that proper translation in all constitutional languages should be made available in educational institutions.
Additional Director General (In-charge) of Publications Division K S Dhatwalia assured the Minister that all efforts to increase sales of books by Publications Division would be undertaken in earnest. Ministry Secretary Raghu Menon was also present on the occasion.
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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.
