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Cable ops switch off Colors in Mumbai
MUMBAI: Upping the ante against the participation of Pakistani contestants Veena Malik and Begum Nawazish Ali in Bigg Boss, cable operators have decided to black out Colors in Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan on request of Hindu activist party Shiv Sena.
Colors has already been switched off in many pockets of Mumbai, several cable operators said. The others will follow suit before the controversial reality show goes on air at 9 pm today.
“All cable operators are switching off the channel in Mumbai as per Shiv Sena‘s request,” CODA president and Scod18 director Ganesh Naidu told indiantelevision.com.
Digicable has decided to switch off the signals in the whole of Maharashtra, said a senior executive.
What has irked the operators is the participation of Abbas Kazmi, lawyer of Azmal Kasab, the terrorist who attacked Mumbai.
Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab said, “Bala Saheb (Thackeray) is opposing the participation of Pakistani players in the show since the beginning. The channel has not paid any heed. So now we have appealed to all the cable operators, who have agreed to our request to switch off the channel from tonight. Starting with Mumbai, the signals will be shut in whole of Maharashtra.”
When contacted, Colors’ officials refused to comment.
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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.
