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Reuters in tie up with Airtel to offer commodity price service
MUMBAI: Reuters and mobile operator Airtel are working jointly on a pilot project to provide commodity prices through text messaging service.
Aimed at the farmer community, subscribers can receive quick updates on the commodity market.
The pilot project is slated to kick off in August for the Maharashtra region, Reuters South Asia managing director Samir Shah said on the sidelines of a press conference.
The messaging service will be provided in the Marathi language. The farmers will have access to real-time information on commodity prices. This will enable them to make informed choices about when and where to sell their produce.
“The aim is to link farmers and traders and also provide them reports on commodity prices from all major markets. By using the mobile messaging service, the farmers can obtain the market updates. They can also be informed about the international prices in their own language,” Shah said.
Reuters is targeting early next year to launch this service on a national scale by tieing up with various mobile operators.
Earlier addressing the press conference, Shah said Yes Bank has chosen to make prices on Reuters Trading for Foreign Exchange (RTFX).
The bank has also signed up for Reuters leading edge pricing engine technology, Reuters Electronic Trading for Automated Dealing (RETAD), to automate its FX transactions in a real time environment over the bank‘s intranet.
Recently, Reuters had signed in Union Bank of India, the first public sector bank in India to become a market maker on Reuters Trading for Foreign Exchange (RTFX) and Reuters Trading for Bullion.
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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.
