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3G auction: pan-India price crosses Rs 120 billion mark
NEW DELHI: Bids for the 3G auction showed a steep rise to close at Rs 120.7 billion after 137 rounds on the end of 24th day today.
Applications for price increment for the 138th round tomorrow ranged up to Rs 400 million for some centres.
The bids for both Mumbai and Delhi crossed the Rs 20 billion mark, at Rs 21.29 billion and Rs 20.81 billion respectively.
Karnataka closed at Rs 12.16 billion, with the rest of Maharashtra at 11.05 billion, Tamil Nadu at Rs 10.46 billion, and Andhra Pradesh at Rs 10.29 billion. Gujarat closed at Rs 9.94 billion, and West Uttar Pradesh went up to Rs 3.52 billion. Kolkata clocked Rs 3.31 billion, East Uttar Pradesh rose to Rs 2.68 billion, Madhya Pradesh was at Rs 2.51 billion, Punjab rose to Rs 1.66 billion, Bihar rose sharply to Rs 516.3 million, and Orissa went up to Rs 337.5 million.
With no applications for price increment for tomorrow, the bids for some service centres are expected to slow down. These include Kerala, Haryana, East Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and the North East.
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.
