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Ministry denies poor families will be deprived in Cas regime
NEW DELHI: While denying that millions of poor families would be deprived of entertainment as a result of implementation of the Conditional Access System, the Government has informed Parliament that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has been asked to give its comments on extension of Cas to Zone II areas in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Claiming that the implementation in selected areas in the three metros had been a success, Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi told Parliament in reply to a series of questions that no decision had been taken yet to increase Cas in more areas or other cities. |
He said the Cas scheme had been implemented vide notifications of 31 July last year after due consultation with stakeholders including broadcasters, multi-system operators, cable operators, and Trai. |
The minister clarified that while the charges under Cas were notified by Trai in its Tariff Order issued from time to time and were dependent on the number of pay channels a subscriber opted to receive, the charges in non-Cas areas were notified on 26 December, 2003 with provisions of a 7 per cent enhancement. However, this would also depend on whether service providers opted to telecast additional pay channels after December 2003. |
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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.
