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Kolkata government to send report on Cas extension next week
NEW DELHI: The report from the state government of West Bengal on the extension of Cas to the remaining parts of Kolkata will be sent to the ministry of Information & Broadcasting early next week, recommending to first extend it to Zone 2 and Zone 4, sources tell Indiantelevision.com. “We are going to send the report very soon now, may be latest within a week,” a senior government official says. This would remove one of the more serious worries of the ministry, which is holding back on the announcement of the next phase of extension of mandatory Cas in the three metros, as Kolkata had been the weakest in implementing the Cas regime. Reportedly, the ministry had been awaiting the Kolkata report to see how much the eastern metropolis would be able to cope with and how fast, and now the decision for the overall announcement would become easier with Kolkata sending the report, sources felt Kolkata has had a 20 per cent penetration of set-top boxes (STBs) in the Cas market. This is due to several factors, including the fact that the area chosen (Behala and adjoining areas) are where the people in any case watch the FTA Bengali channels. The extension in Kolkata would be in Zone 2 and Zone 4, which includes the entire North and South Kolkata neighbourhoods, a vast stretch with roughly eight lakh additional cable TV homes, as per the household data from the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation database, which is the closest one can estimate more or less scientifically, a source says. The Kolkata-based Indian Cable Net, which was acquired by the Zee Group, is more comfortable with the Phase 2 and 4 going first. The multi-system operator feels that would be too much on the plate, and could mess up thing. Thus, while Zone 1 (Behala and surroundings) has happened, Zone 2 and 4 would set the pace for Zone 3 (parts of the KMDA across the river Hooghly, which is in Howrah district). For the implementation of Cas in the other pockets of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata, the government is expected to give a six-month gap after announcement so that all cable operators are given an opportunity to build in the Cas solutions. The LCO-based Sristi Cable TV Network Ltd seems buoyant about the future of Cas. “We expect to seed a huge number of boxes in our areas and would order more from the day Cas extension is announced,” says Sristi director Raj Kumar Mitra.
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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.
