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Trai extends last date for comments on consultation paper on ‘Quality of Cable TV services’
NEW DELHI: Even as the Government turned down its request for enlarging the scope of the existing district level monitoring committees to monitor the proposed Quality of Service (QoS) Regulations, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) today extended the last date for comments from stakeholders on its consultation paper on “Quality of Service issues for Cable TV Services in non-Cas areas and for DTH Services” until 10 January. Prior to this extension, stakeholders were supposed to submit their feedback by 31 December 2008. Earlier on 1 December 2008, Trai had issued the consultation paper on ‘Quality of service issues for Cable TV services in non-Cas areas and for DTH services.‘ |
For direct-to-home (DTH) services, Trai had sought opinion on QoS issues pertaining to dropping of channels by the service providers, maintenance and visiting charges, and protection to subscribers regarding their tariff plans. In the paper, Trai had also written to various state governments for effective monitoring and enforcement of quality of service parameters, once the regulations are issued for non-Cas areas, noting that the enforcement of the proposed regulations is a challenging task. Meanwhile, information and broadcasting ministry sources confirmed to indiantelevision.com that Trai, which had made the recommendation in a letter sent late last month, was informed in a reply that the committees had been set up for a certain purpose and could not take up the work of monitoring QoS of operators. |
In a letter to Trai chairman Nripendra Misra, Ministry secretary Sushma Singh said the monitoring committees were constituted “with a view to monitor the content shown on private TV channels,” and it would not be advisable “to enlarge the scope of the committees.” “Even if the scope of the district monitoring committees were to be enlarged to receive complaints as suggested by you, there is nothng much which n authorised officer of the committee can do by way of penalising a cable operator if he does not redress the grievance or comply with the regulations,” Singh has told Misra. |
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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.
