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Justice Janarthanaraja recuses himself from Chennai digitisation case
MUMBAI: The Madras High Court has adjourned the hearing of Chennai cable operators petition for extension of digitisation deadline to Wednesday due to recusal of Justice P.P.S. Janarthanaraja from the case.
Justice Janarthanaraja recused himself from the case citing possible conflict of interest since his son works for Sun TV, whose lawyer is representing one of the respondents in the case.
Janarthanaraja along with Justice Paul Vasanthakumar formed the two-member bench that would have decided the fate of the petition filed by cable operators.
The case was expected to come up for hearing today after it got adjourned on Monday.
The court had on 9 November extended the stay on digitisation in Chennai till 19 November seeking details of the number of digital set top boxes available and seeded.
The petition by Chennai Metro Cable Operators Association (CMCOA) through its general secretary M R Srinivasan is seeking extension of digitisation deadline by three months.
Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar, who was hearing the petition filed by CMCOA, said the matter should be heard by a division bench since it involved a larger public interest.
The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry had told the Madras High Court that it was prepared to give an extension for implementation of digitisation in Chennai till 31 December provided the stakeholders gave affidavits that they will implement it by then and not seek further extension.
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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.
