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Dish TV’s Rs 7.5 billion preference issue on hold due to regulatory issues
MUMBAI: Dish TV will have to wait for infusing further capital to fund its aggressive growth plans. The issue up to Rs 7.5 billion worth of preference shares to the promoters has been put on hold due to regulatory issues. “Consequent to recent amendments in regulatory guidelines relating to issue of preference shares, it has been decided to keep in abeyance the decision relating to issue of preference shares,” Dish TV has told the Bombay Stock Exchange. The board had earlier approved issue of non-cumulative, non-convertible redeemable preference shares of Rs 100 each up to Rs 7.5 billion on a private placement basis to the promoter group. |
However, the government‘s norms for preference shares as laid down on 30 April states that foreign investment through non-convertible shares would be treated as debt or external commercial borrowings. Reserve Bank of India had already said foreign investors will not be allowed to purchase additional shares in Dish TV India on account of FII shareholding reaching 49 per cent limit of the company‘s paid up capital, according to a PTI report. |
Dish TV has also informed the BSE that the authorization proposed to be sought from its shareholders through the extraordinary general meeting, scheduled for 25 May, has been deferred. The DTH business, however, has a dose of funding available as the promoters recently had offloaded nine per cent stake in the company to a few institutional investors to raise Rs 4.45 billion. The capital raised would be used to fund the expansion plans of the demerged distribution companies, Dish TV and Zee‘s cable company Wire & Wireless India Ltd. |
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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.
