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Mauj Telecom appoints Manoj Dawane as CEO
MUMBAI: Mauj Telecom, mobile value added services company has announced the appointment of Manoj Dawane as chief executive officer. In his new role, Dawane will run the day to day business affairs of Mauj Telecom and will work with Anupam Mittal and the senior management team to keep the company on its aggressive growth path while expanding into international markets, informs an official release. |
People Group CMD Anupam Mittal said, “Within a short span Mauj Telecom has carved a significant niche for itself in India in the mobile value added services industry and as we scale to the next level – operational excellence, disruptive innovation, and an unflinching focus on discovering customer needs is what we will need to distinguish ourselves. Manoj’s vast experience in the telecom and software industries in senior marketing and operational roles will be a key asset in this strategy. I look forward to working with him.” Prior to joining Mauj, Dawane led the Western U.P. and Uttranchal circles for Airtel. He has also held the chief marketing officer position for Airtel’s Mumbai circle previously and brings with him a total of 15 years of telecom and software industry experience. |
Mauj Telecom is part of People Group, which also owns Internet businesses (Shaadi.com, Fropper.com and Astrolife.com,) as well as entertainment businesses under People Interactive and People Entertainment. Founded in 2003 by Anupam Mittal, Mauj Telecom works closely with Telecom operators in India and is focussed on developing products and services that enable mobile music, mobile gaming, mobile commerce and mobile marketing. Mauj Telecom develops services on platforms including J2ME, Smartphone, BREW, Symbian, SS7 and I-Mode. |
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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.
