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Gujarat HC directs DTH firms to pay tax
MUMBAI: The Gujarat High Court has directed all the direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV service providers in the state to pay up entertainment tax for the July-September 2010 quarter with the state government.
In its directions, the bench comprising Chief Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya and Justice Akil Kureshi directed Tata Sky, Dish TV India, Bharat Business Channel (d2h) and Bharti Telemedia (Airtel digital TV) to deposit the tax due for the said quarter before 17 January.
The Court is hearing a case related to the question whether or not the DTH providers can be held liable to pay entertainment tax to the state government.
The Court has also been requested to decide on whether or not the companies fall in the category of entertainment providers. The petitioner companies approached the HC challenging an amendment to the entertainment tax provisions that enabled the government to levy tax on them for broadcast of entertainment channels.
The matter would come up for final hearing on 14 February.
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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.
