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3G auction: Overall bids up 139% of base price
NEW DELHI: The value of 3G auction has gone up to over Rs 83.82 billion, a 139.4 per cent rise over the floor price of Rs 35 billion fixed by the government.
As anticipated, the bid for Mumbai has overtaken that of Delhi, and stands at Rs 12.52 billion with the bid for the national capital service region at Rs 12.10 billion at the end of 82 rounds on day 14 today.
The rest of Maharashtra peaked at Rs 8.24 billion, with Tamil Nadu at Rs 7.69 billion. Karnataka closed at Rs 7.12 billion, while Andhra Pradesh had a bid of Rs 7.20 billion, and Gujarat closed at Rs 6.51 billion. Kerala rose marginally to Rs 2.64 billion, while Kolkata clocked Rs 2.48 billion respectively.
The bids for some states are expected to rise very little, with no applications for price increment for tomorrow’s round. These include Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, West and East Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and the North-East.
While West Uttar Pradesh clocked Rs 3.10 billion, East Uttar Pradesh had a bid of Rs 2.60 billion, and Punjab stopped at Rs 1.46 billion. Bihar rose marginally to Rs 347.5 million and Rajasthan rose to Rs 2.50 billion.
The bids for some states remained unchanged: Assam and Orissa at Rs 309 million, Madhya Pradesh at Rs 2.36 billion, Haryana at Rs 2.18 billion, West Bengal at Rs 1.24 billion, the North-East at Rs 306 million, and Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh service areas at Rs 300 million each.
The telecom operators in the race are Aircel, Bharti Airtel, Etisalat DB Telecom, Idea Cellular, Reliance, S Tel, Tata Teleservices, Videocon Telecommunications and Vodafone Essar.
The successful bidders would be allowed to start commercial 3G operations from 1 September.
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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.
