Applications
Digitisation will create more equitable and transparent system: Patil
NEW DELHI: President Pratibha Devisingh Patil said today that digitisation would “create a more equitable and transparent system” and provide “better viewing experience at affordable cost”.
In her last address to the joint sitting of Parliament, on the opening day of the budget session, she said the Government had undertaken a time-bound programme to convert the entire analogue cable television system to digital by December 2014.
She said, “In order to extend FM radio services to millions living in small towns and remote areas, the Government had taken a significant decision to e-auction 839 FM Radio Channels in 245 cities across the country including in border areas of Jammu and Kashmir and the North East.”
She said the Government was working on new policies on Telecom, Information Technology and Electronics. A National Optical Fibre Network was being created at a cost of Rs 200 billion for providing broadband connectivity to all panchayats. Suitable measures were being put in place to facilitate the domestic manufacture of IT hardware.
She said efficient and automated delivery of public services with minimum human intervention is one of the keys to reducing corruption. More than 97,000 Common Service Centres had been established across the country for making public services conveniently available to citizens under the National e-Governance programme. Increasingly, public services under all e-Governance projects will be delivered through Internet and mobile phones.
Applications
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.
