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DAS stay extended in Madhya Pradesh to 15 May
NEW DELHI: The Madhya Pradesh high court today extended till 15 May the stay on switch-off of analogue signals in the cities of Indore, Bhopal and Jabalpur covered in Phase II of digitisation.
The extension came after the Jabalpur bench of the court noted that some of the respondents (mostly multi-system operators) had not filed their replies to the notice issued in the last hearing, and counsel Greesham Jain for one of the petitioners said he had received the replies in some cases just yesterday and wanted more time to file his counter-affidavit.
The court is hearing five petitions – including a public interest litigation by a lawyer, a consumer body, one LCO including Rashmi Dubey, and one by an MSO run by Nilesh Rawal linked to Digicable – citing shortage of set top boxes, billing issues and some other problems linked to digital addressable system.
As on 21 April, the status of seeding in Madhya Pradesh was 86.32 per cent in Bhopal, 103.04.per cent in Indore, and 45.84 per cent in Jabalpur.
Meanwhile the stay in the Andhra Pradesh for the cities of Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam was extended to 4 June. Stay also continues to be in force in Chennai, which was part of Phase I.
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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.
