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3G spectrum price auction doubles from floor price
NEW DELHI: The value of 3G auction has touched Rs 75.99 billion, a rise of Rs 6.31 billion over the previous day, as it more than doubles the floor price fixed by the government at Rs 35 billion.
At the end of the twelfth day of auction, the price of spectrum in Delhi has shot to Rs 10.31 billion, up from the previous day’s Rs 8.50 billion.
Even the bid for Mumbai rose to Rs 9.89 billion from Thursday’s Rs 7.52 billion.
The rest of Maharashtra peaked at Rs 7.46 billion and Tamil Nadu at Rs 7.32 billion. Karnataka closed at Rs 6.71 billion, while Andhra Pradesh had a bid of Rs 6.52 billion, and Gujarat closed at Rs 6.13 billion. There are no applications of price increment for Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra for the next rounds.
Kerala and Kolkata clocked Rs 2.49 billion and Rs 2.34 billion respectively.
The bids for some states are expected to rise very little, with no applications for price increment for the next round. These include Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and the North-East.
While east Uttar Pradesh closed with a bid of Rs 2.57 billion, west Uttar Pradesh clocked Rs 2.78 billion. Punjab stopped at Rs 1.4 billion and Haryana closed at Rs 2.16 bmillion. Madhya Pradesh and Bihar rose marginally to Rs 2.34 billion and Rs 337.4 million respectively. Rajasthan rose to Rs 2.45 billion. The north-east bid rose to Rs 306 million and that of Assam and Orissa to Rs 303 million.
The bids for some states remained unchanged: West Bengal at Rs 1.24 billion, 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.
