I&B Ministry
Day 3: FM Phase III sees over Rs 170 crore increase in provisional winning price
NEW DELHI: The third day of the e-auction for FM Radio channels in Phase III picked up marginally but there were no bids in as many as 14 cities and the provisional winning price was lower than the Clock round Price in some cases.
In all, 12 rounds of e-auction have been completed including four today for all the 135 FM channels in all the existing 69 cities of the first stage being opened.
At the close of third day of bidding, 80 channels in 55 cities became provisionally winning channels with cumulative provisional winning price of around Rs 549 crore against their aggregate reserve price of about Rs 377 crore.
The Auction began today with Auction Activity Requirement set at 80 per cent.
The demand over the price in many cities fell by up to three per cent below the aggregate demand.
The Percentage Price Increment (in INR) applicable for the Next Clock Round was five in the metros of Mumbai and Chennai, and in Bhubaneswar, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Rourkela, Jodhpur, and Pune and went up to eight per cent in Dehi.
The highest Provisional winning price – the same as the Clock round price at the start of the eighth round – was in Mumbai – Rs 67.38 crore followed closely by Delhi – Rs 65.45 crore, with both showing sizeable increase compared to the first two days.
Hyderabad and Lucknow remained static at Rs 18 crore and Rs 14 crore respectively. Among cities recording more than Rs 10 crore, it rose sizeably in Bengaluru – Rs 36.94 crore; and marginally higher in Chennai – Rs 20.98 crore; Pune – Rs 23.95 crore; and Ahmedabad – Rs 20.53 crore. In Cochin at Rs 10.21 crore and Chandigarh at Rs 15.61 crore, it fell just marginally below the clock round price.
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.
