I&B Ministry
Day 9: FM Phase III price touches Rs 900 crore; demand slows
NEW DELHI: Even as the cumulative provisional winning price touched Rs 900 crore against their aggregate reserve price of about Rs 407 crore at the end of 36 rounds on the ninth day of bidding for FM Phase III, the percentage price increment (in INR) applicable for the Next Clock Round was almost nil in most cities.
A total of 85 channels in 56 cities became provisionally winning channels after four more rounds today (6 August). Thus the summation of provisional winning prices surpassed the cumulative reserve price of the 85 channels by Rs 493.19 crore or 121.2 per cent.
The cumulative provisional winning price exceeded the total reserve price of the first batch by Rs 349.89 crore or 63.6 per cent. The total reserve price of the first batch of 135 FM channels in 69 existing cities is 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 ninth day.
As was previously reported by Indiantelevision.com, the 13 cities for which no bids have come are Asansol, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Mysore, Puducherry, Rajahmundry, Siliguri, Tiruchy, Tirunveli, Tirupati, Tuticorin, Vijaywada and Warangal.
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 Jaipur and a mere one per cent in Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Mumbai, Nasik, Patiala and Pune.
The highest Provisional winning price – the same as the Clock round price at the start of the twenty-eighth round – was in Delhi at Rs 138.64 crore followed by Mumbai at Rs 91.38 crore with both showing marginal increase compared to yesterday.
Among cities recording more than Rs 10 crore, the number rose sizeably in Jaipur at Rs 19.15 crore and marginally in Chennai at Rs 40.84 crore, Pune at Rs 33.77 crore, Patna at Rs 17.!5
89,83,876;, Chandigarh at Rs 16,90,34,565, and Cochin – Rs 10,95,52,597.
Thus Bengaluru and Mumbai are the only cities which may soon cross the Rs 100 crore figure, besides Delhi which did so early in the e-auctions.
Bengaluru – Rs 98,02,16,503, Ahmedabad – Rs 42,68,76,267, Hyderabad at Rs 18,00,00,000, and Lucknow – Rs 14,00,55,000 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.
