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Isro plans satellite launches to boost transponder space
NEW DELHI: A new Indian satellite will be launched by the end of the year to augment the C-Band capability, according to Antrix business development director R Parameswaran.
Parameswaran said this will increase the transponder capacity and help the Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) programme.
He expected more satellites to be launched in the first and second quarter of next year and said this would vastly increase transponder availability by 2011-12.
In a conversation with indiantelevision.com founder and CEO Anil Wanvari in the concluding session of the India Digital Networks Summit, Parameswaran said Antrix was conscious that there was huge demand for transponder space with DTH and broadband on the rise.
He said new technologies were also being tried out to augment capacity. Antrix was also trying to get into the international market and already had around 35 satisfied parties for whom launch vehicles and satellites had been built.
Answering a question, he said policy issues did not fall within the ambit of Antrix but he would convey to the Government the anxieties of the television industry that there were delays because the media was not represented on any telecom body.
As the commercial & marketing arm of Indian Space Research Organization (Isro), Antrix is engaged in providing space products & services to international customers worldwide.
Antrix, which is a Rs 9.5 billion company, got the “Mini-ratna” status by the Central Government in 2008.
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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.
