I&B Ministry
Day 6: FM Phase III price crosses Rs 779 crore for 82 channels in 56 cities
NEW DELHI: A total of 82 channels in 56 Indian cities became provisionally winning channels with cumulative provisional winning price of approximately Rs 779 crore against their aggregate reserve price of Rs 395 crore at the end of the sixth day of bidding for FM Phase III.
Even as 24 rounds of the e-auction ended with four more rounds today (3 August), the provisional winning prices exceeded the total reserve price of the first batch by about Rs 228.68 crore or 41.56 per cent. The total reserve price of the first batch of 135 FM Channels in 69 existing cities of Phase III was Rs 550.18 crore.
The Auction Activity Requirement of 80 per cent set at the beginning of the auction continued to remain the same on the sixth day.
The sixth day was hectic but there were still no bids in as many as 13 cities though the provisional winning price steadied at the Clock round Price in the other cases.
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 per cent in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Guwahati, Rourkela, Jaipur, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Nasik, Patna, and Rajkot and eight per cent in Bhubaneswar.
The highest Provisional winning price – the same as the Clock round price at the start of the 24th round – was in Delhi – Rs 118.35 crore, followed by Mumbai – Rs 86.08 crore with both showing sizeable increase compared to the first three days.
Among cities recording more than Rs 10 crore, it rose sizeably in Bengaluru – Rs 66.34 crore, Ahmedabad – Rs 36.87 crore; Pune – Rs 32.45 crore, and Chennai – Rs 33.54 crore, Jaipur – Rs 11.52 crore and marginally in Chandigarh at Rs 15.92 crore.
Hyderabad at Rs 18 crore, Lucknow at Rs 14 crore and Cochin at Rs 10.21 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.
