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Insat-4B to be commissioned 8 June
BANGALORE: The Indian Space Research Organisation‘s (Isro) communication satellite Insat-4B, which became fully operational in April, will be dedicated to the nation on 8 June by president APJ Abdul Kalam in Hassan, Karnataka, says Isro chairman G Madhavan Nair. Insat-4B was successfully launched by Ariane-5 ECA on 12 March from Kourou, French Guiana. |
Additionally, Insat-4CR, the replacement for Insat-4C, which crashed into the Bay of Bengal a short while after lift-off in July 2006, is likely to be put into orbit by the second half of this year, Nair has stated. The tentative launch period for Insat-4CR is September, Madhavan says. |
Madhavan further said that the current scheduled launches of the INSAT series was sufficient to meet with the present requirements of television companies. Madhavan was at Raj Bhavan, Bangalore for the inauguration of VTU‘s interactive VSAT channel (VTU‘s second channel, the first one being DTH on the same satellite) by the Karnataka governor today on Isro‘s education dedicated satellite – Edusat. Insat-4B was successfully launched by Ariane-5 ECA on 12 March from Kourou, French Guiana. The first critical orbit raising maneuver was completed on 13 March when the satellite was placed into intermediate orbit. The third and the final orbit raising was conducted on 16 March. After placing INSAT-4B in near-geosynchronous orbit, the deployment of its two solar panels and two antennas was successfully completed. The two solar arrays of INSAT-4B together generate 5,860 W of electrical power. The two antennas are used for various transmit and receive functions. INSAT-4B drifted towards its final orbital position of 93.5 deg E. where it is co-located with INSAT-3A. The Sun group has seven Ku band transponders, while Prasar Bharati‘s FTA DD Direct Plus has five on the same satellite. |
Madhavan also revealed that the assembly work on Chadrayan-1, ISRO‘s ambitious moon mission, had commenced and the launch was expected in 2008. An agreement for including European instruments was signed with the European Space Agency on June 25, 2005 and an MoU was signed with the NASA on inclusion of two US scientific instruments, the mini SAR and M3.
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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.
