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Bengal wants Cas extension, governments of Delhi & Mumbai mum
NEW DELHI: West Bengal seems to be pushing for extension of conditional access system (Cas) while the governments of Delhi and Maharashtra have stayed mum on the issue, sources tell Indiantelevision.com. The West Bengal government has actually sent a reminder to the centre for ‘immediate‘ extension to the rest of Kolkata. “It has not only written for the immediate extension of Cas in Phases 2 and 4 (entire North and South Kolkata), but already sent a reminder. Local cable operators (LCOs), in fact, have actually started pushing set-top boxes (STBs) in non-Cas areas as well in anticipation of any announcement,” says an industry source. The nodal officer in West Bengal government contradicted a newspaper report which said that the three governments have written that due to low satisfaction among most customers they are not willing to extend Cas. “We have written nothing of the sort,” A Sanyal tells Indiantelevision.com. The Delhi government wants a survey done on customer satisfaction. Sources also say that the Maharashtra government has not yet written to the Information & Broadcasting ministry. Trai officials admit there are problems in Cas implementation, but say that most of them are matter-of-course issues and they are being set right. Trai says that one of the main problems is that itemised billing is not happening uniformly in Delhi. But apart from that, quality of service complaints are not large in volume. Trai has issued a tender notice asking for survey agencies to send their bids for surveys on service related issues and the tender has not been finalised. The question, thus, of Delhi government stating it does not want Cas due to customer dissatisfaction is wrong, industry sources say.
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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.
