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TN CM alleges central govt favouring Maran family
MUMBAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday accused the central government of deliberately not issuing Digital Addressable System (DAS) licence to Arasu Cable TV Corporation in order to benefit Maran family-owned cable TV network.
Talking at the 57th National Development Council meeting in New Delhi, Jayalalitha lashed out at the Manmohan Singh-led government for its in-different attitude to Tamil Nadu.
"Every single legitimate request of our State has been turned down or ignored and every initiative stymied," she said during her speech at the meeting.
She pointed out how the government is yet to grant a licence to Arasu five months after applying for the same.
"Even a simple request from a State PSU for a Digital Addressable System (DAS) License for Chennai City has not been granted on totally extraneous considerations," Jayalalitha added.
Despite repeated representations to the Prime Minister and the concerned Union Minister, the DAS licence is yet to be given to the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation.
While asserting that Arasu Cable caters to the poor and the middle class by providing cable TV service at nominal costs, without naming anyone she said that the government was "facilitating" the business interests of Sun Group, which also owns Sumangali Cablevision, a multi-system operator competing with Arasu.
"The deliberate non-issuance of DAS licence to the state government-owned Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation is only to facilitate the business interests of a particular family which forms part of the ruling coalition at the Centre," she alleged.
"This vindictive and discriminative act of the Government of India is highly condemnable and is yet another example of subverting the interest of the common people and the ruling dispensation‘s perpetual pandering to allies to ensure the survival of the Central Government."
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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.
