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Delhi power cos ordered not to cut cables of LCOs, MSOs
NEW DELHI: The warring cable TV operators and the power companies of Delhi have been forced into a temporary truce on the wire cutting issue, with Delhi principal secretary (Power) ordering the companies today to rent a pole at Rs 500 per year (in the interim) and then approach the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Authority (DERC) for finalising the tariff. The multi-system operators (MSOs) and local cable operators (LCOs) have heaved a sigh of relief as the rampant cutting of their cables across Delhi will come to an end. They would also not have to pay the ‘astronomical’ figure of Rs 1,600 per pole per year as demanded by the companies. The Delhi power companies are owned by the Tata (NDPL) and Reliance (BSES) groups. The Power ministry has also assured the LCOs and MSOs, stated All India Cable Operators’ Association president Roop Sharma president, that it would write to both the Trai and the DERC to solve the issue at an early date. The MSO Alliance had written to the state power ministry that the power companies have been rampantly cutting the wires of the cable industry, which have been there for the past 15 years or so, and when they were approached they asked for exorbitant amounts. The letter says: “Recently the electricity companies have written to various MSOs as well as LCOs, asking them to remove their cables within 21 days. When the representatives met the officials of these companies, they demanded exorbitant and arbitrary charges as high as Rs 1,600 per cable per year.” The Alliance had written that this hurts the subscribers and now that the cable industry has grown to the status of an essential service, the government should protect it. To good measure, the Alliance letter points out that the Tdsat, in a recent case (SET Discovery Pvt Ltd Vs Trai), had said that “television viewing has almost attained the status of an essential service in this country.” Till the time of filing the report, senior representatives of the two companies could not be contacted, and officials who did respond at the offices said they were not authorised to comment. The MSOs had said that the local authorities should grant right of way on reasonable terms and conditions in public interest and the power companies should not look upon this as a major revenue generation source. Sharma said: “These companies had been doing this off and on, and in 1997, there was a case in which the court said that the right of way charges should be fixed. Now they have again done this, and the target is clearly the cable industry.”
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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.
