I&B Ministry
Day 13: FM Phase III bids cross Rs 1000 crore mark; no bids for 13 cities yet
NEW DELHI: The thirteenth day of the e-auction for the first batch of FM Phase III cities saw the cumulative provisional winning price cross the Rs 1000 crore mark, though the progress showed only mild signs of rise at the end of the 52nd round.
A total of 87 channels in 56 cities became provisional winning channels with cumulative provisional winning price of Rs 1005 crore against their aggregate reserve price of about Rs 425 crore. Thus the summation of provisional winning prices surpassed the cumulative reserve price of the corresponding 87 channels by Rs 580.23 crore or 136.5 per cent.
Overall, cumulative provisional winning price exceeded the total reserve price of the first batch of 135 FM channels in 69 existing cities of Rs 550.18 crore by Rs 455.08 crore or 82.7 per cent, which is three per cent above yesterday.
The Auction Activity Requirement continued to remain at 90 per cent, raised after the 37th round on 7 August.
The 13 cities for which bids have still not come are Asansol, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Mysore, Puducherry, Rajahmundry, Siliguri, Tiruchy, Tirunveli, Tirupati, Tuticorin, Vijaywada and Warangal.
The demand over the price in most cities fell by up to three per cent and four per cent below the excess demand at the price in 52nd round in Hyderabad.
The Percentage Price Increment (in INR) applicable for the Next Clock Round rose to just one per cent in Amritsar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Hisar, Mumbai and Pune.
The highest Provisional winning price was in Delhi at Rs 162.56 crore (for just one channel), followed by Mumbai at Rs 98.95 crore, both showing marginal increase as compared to yesterday.
Among cities recording more than Rs 10 crore, it rose sizeably in Chennai at Rs 47.89 crore and Pune at Rs 39.59 crore and marginally in Jaipur at Rs 27.24 crore; Chandigarh at Rs 18.30 crore and Cochin at Rs 12.84 crore.
Thus Mumbai is the only other city inching towards the Rs 100 crore figure.
Bengaluru at Rs 106.04 crore; Ahmedabad at Rs 42.68 crore, Hyderabad at Rs 18 crore, Patna at Rs 17.89 crore, Lucknow at Rs 14 crore and Nasik at Rs 10.30 crore remained static.
I&B Ministry
MeitY & Reliance Foundation launch e-SafeHER cyber training for Women
Programme aims to train one million rural women in cyber safety over three years
NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has partnered with Reliance Foundation and C-DAC Hyderabad to launch ‘e-SafeHER’, a nationwide cyber security awareness programme aimed at empowering one million women across rural India.
Anchored under the Information Security Education and Awareness Programme, the initiative will focus on building digital confidence and safe online practices among women who are increasingly using digital platforms for financial transactions, livelihoods and essential services.
The programme will be rolled out through a community-led model, with training delivered via women’s self-help groups and grassroots networks. C-DAC Hyderabad will develop and localise training content, while Reliance Foundation will drive on-ground implementation using its rural outreach platforms.
Speaking on the launch, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology secretary S Krishnan said, “e-SafeHER is an exciting opportunity to bring together knowledge and collaboration to build a cyber secure Bharat. Through this initiative, women from even the remotest regions will be empowered to participate safely in the digital ecosystem.”
Echoing this, Reliance Foundation director Isha Ambani said the initiative aims to equip women with the skills needed to navigate the online world safely. She added that the goal is to enable one million “Cyber Sakhis” who can confidently adopt digital tools to improve their lives and livelihoods.
The programme will begin with pilot training in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, before scaling nationwide through a phased approach. It will use multilingual content, audio-visual modules and blended learning formats to ensure accessibility and engagement.
Designed for long-term impact, e-SafeHER will be integrated into existing digital literacy and women’s empowerment programmes, avoiding the need for parallel infrastructure. The initiative also aims to drive measurable behavioural change, from improved awareness of cyber risks to safer digital transactions.
By combining policy, technology and grassroots reach, the programme looks to bridge not just the digital divide, but the digital safety gap, ensuring that inclusion goes hand in hand with security.
