Monkeys pay females for sex: Scientists

Male macaque monkeys 'pay' for sex with females by grooming them, a new research has found. The availability of females even affects the 'price'.
Where there are fewer females, males must groom their partners for up to twice as long before they are able to have sex, the research found.
The male use grooming as a form of currency to buy sex from the female, the study conducted by Michael Gumert of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, found.
Sexual activity among a 50-strong group of long-tailed macaques in Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia, increased after bouts of male-to-female groom, according to findings published in Animal Behaviour Journal and reported in New Scientist.
On average, females had sex 1.5 times an hour. This increased to 3.5 times an hour immediately after the female was groomed by the male.
Gumert said unlike examples of 'reciprocal altruism' — in which one organism provides a service to another in return for getting something back at a later date — the value of sex fluctuated.
When there were several females in the area, the male monkeys would have to do only eight minutes of grooming before being able to mate. If there were fewer females than males around, a male would have to groom its partner for up to 16 minutes before sex, the research found.
The macques' behaviour is an example of a 'biological market', a theory developed by Ronald Noe of Strasbourg University, France and Peter Hammerstein of Humboldt University, Berlin.
"There is a very well-known mix of economic and mating markets in the human species. There are many examples of rich old men getting young attractive ladies," Prof Noe said.

'I don't want to see my face on TV'

On December 31 night, as the world partied away to usher in the new year, two NRI women were molested by a group of nearly 60 men near Mumbai’s Juhu beach.
While one of the victims spoke with CNN-IBN on condition of anonymity, the other spoke with a Mumbai tabloid on Thursday. Recounting the horror she described how the hooligans assaulted her.
In an interview to a city tabloid, she said, "I just want to get over the horror. I want to stop seeing my face on TV. When we came out of the hotel (early) on January 1, I did not sense any trouble. But when we were walking, the crowd just kept getting closer."
"They touched my butt and pinched me. They also began grabbing my sister-in-law. People just watched as my husband tried to protect me," PTI quoted her as telling the newspaper.
The victim’s husband, too, recounted the sequence of events. "We are the victims. We were at J W Mariott from 9 PM on December 31 and at around 2 AM we (he, his wife and two cousins) decided to leave (the hotel) and take a rickshaw back to hotel Royal Gardens,”
"Just as we stepped out, we saw a group heading towards us. They reached us and immediately began grabbing my wife. Since we were walking against the crowd it was difficult to move ahead. But then it got worse. It seemed like the whole crowd was on my wife and my cousin," he recalled.
"Then somebody pushed all of us on the ground. It seemed like they were 50 people around .... all trying to get at my wife and cousin."
The victim's husband said he and his brother tried to fight the crowd but they were too many people.
“That's when some photographers started clicking us. All of a sudden from the crowd, there emerged a man wearing a red T-shirt who tried to help us and started shouting for the police. The cops arrived in a few minutes and the crowd thinned out," he said.
Explaining the reason for not filing a police complaint, the victim's husband said, "We could not identify any of the molesters as it happened too fast. For the record neither the police nor the J W Mariott hotel should be blamed. We are all based in California and I got married just a day before this horrible incident. I have been coming to Mumbai for the last five years, but this experience on New Year has changed my perception about Mumbai," he was quoted as PTI as saying.

'Post-9/11' in list of 2008's banned words

Resist the urge to say you will "wordsmith" your list of New Year's resolutions rather than write one. And don't utter, "It is what it is" when you fail to meet your first goal.
Those are two of the 19 words or phrases that appear in Lake Superior State University's annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness. The school in Michigan's Upper Peninsula released its 33rd list Monday, selecting from about 2,000 nominations.
Heading the 2008 list of banished words and phrases is "post-9/11", which has been to put to sleep for its overuse.
Among this year's picks are "surge," the term for the troop buildup in Iraq. "Give me the old days, when it referenced storms and electrical power," Michael Raczko of Swanton, Ohio, said in nominating the word.
The list also included "waterboarding," "perfect storm," "under the bus" and "organic." Also: "It is what it is," which Jeffrey Skrenes of St. Paul, Minn., said "accomplishes the dual feat of adding nothing to the conversation while also being phonetically and thematically redundant."
Sadly for grammar's guardians, the lighthearted list isn't binding, as evidenced by the continued use of past banned words and phrases such as "erectile dysfunction," "i-anything" and "awesome."
Still, university spokesman Tom Pink, part of a committee that evaluates submissions, takes his syntactic success where he can find it.
His office once received a letter from an Arizona Supreme Court justice who said he posted that year's list on a bulletin board and prohibited all attorneys from using those words.

Tech 2008: A platter full of hi-tech gadgets

It is party time for all the tech buffs as there are a heap of things that one can look forward to this New Year.
We live in a scientific age, an age that leads to a future of advanced technology. However, as the year ends, let us speculate on some of the many new technologies the future holds, especially, the year 2008.
Necessity is the mother of invention. And for 2008, Tata's Rs one lakh car might be the innovation in transport. Despite the simplistic design and minimal features, Tata's brainchild zooms ahead with its competitive pricing and economic engine, even as 40 more models get set to enter the market.
Besides a small car revolution, one might just be able to pay for ones car with a wireless telephone, which will be called a mobile phone in the future.
The year 2008 will see the convergence of another technology. Gone are the days when your credit card could be stolen or skimmed. Your cell phone can now make your credit transactions safe and risk free.
As on the cell phone front, Apple’s iphone and the google phone get set to land on Indian shores, the cell phone wars will escalate to announce one clear winner for 2008, which is the customer.
While online social networks plan to interlink, allowing you to jump from one community to another, individuals and large companies spend an increasing part of their days on virtual worlds, like second life.
As the common man looks to a virtual world, the country's scientists look to the skies, as they prepare to launch the moon rover Chandrayaan - 1, the first Indian spacecraft to land on the moon.
Little wonder then that the technology of the future, is history in the making.

Amazing e-spy on the hunt

The defence counsel in Pravin Mahajan's case had to look high and low for a software expert, but the next there is a report of a cyber crime, help is just a phone call away. Thanks to an institute called e-Forensics.
This software expert group was instrumental in Pravin Mahajan's trial. e-Forensics demonstrated to a sessions court in Mumbai that it is possible to tamper an mobile text message.
If Pramod Mahajan's cell phone had been put in evidence collector bag by the police, the controversy about the SMS being tampered with simply would not have arisen for the bag completely blocks the signals coming into the mobile.
National Institute of e-Forensics (NIEF) in Mumbai uses many state-of-the-art tools to investigate cyber crimes. Much of these high-end equipments will be used to help people who call on the institutes's toll free number with their electronic grievances.
Though the service has just been started, the institute has been flooded with work requesting investigations into all kinds of cyber crimes —from credit card fraud to women getting obscene calls.

Amazing 7 medical myths busted, use your brains

London: Reading in dim light won’t damage your eyes, you don’t need eight glasses of water a day to stay healthy and shaving your legs won’t make the hair grow back faster.
These well-worn theories are among seven "medical myths" exposed in a paper published on Friday in the British Medical Journal, which traditionally carries light-hearted features in its Christmas edition. Two US researchers took seven common beliefs and searched the archives for evidence to support them.
Despite frequent mentions in the popular press of the need to drink eight glasses of water, they found no scientific basis for the claim.
The other six "myths" are:
Reading in dim light ruins eyesight : The majority of experts believe it is unlikely to do any permanent damage, but it may make you squint and blink more
Shaving makes hair grow back faster or coarser: It has no effect on the thickness or rate of hair regrowth, studies say.
Eating turkey makes you drowsy: It does contain an amino acid called tryptophan that is involved in sleep and mood control. But turkey has no more of the acid than chicken or minced beef.
We use only 10% of our brains: This myth arose as early as 1907 but imaging shows no area of the brain is silent or completely inactive.
Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death: This idea may stem from ghoulish novels. The researchers said the skin dries out and retracts after death, giving the appearance of longer hair or nails.
Mobile phones are dangerous in hospitals: Despite widespread concerns, studies have found minimal interference with medical equipment.

Amitabh Bachchan's mother Teji passes away

Actor Amitabh Bachchan's 93-year-old mother Teji Bachchan passed away on Friday due to ill-health.
She had been in and out of Lilavati Hospital over the past one year for various ailments.
On November 7, Teji Bachchan was shifted to the intensive care unit of Lilavati Hospital. Her condition was reported to be critical and a spokesperson for the hospital said her health had suddenly worsened.
Amitabh Bachchan's son Abhishek's high-profile wedding to actor and former beauty queen Aishwarya Rai in February this year had been kept low key due to Teji Bachchan's

Paes ready to join Bhupathi for Beijing Olympics

Leading tennis player Leander Paes is ready to team up with Mahesh Bhupathi to bid for a doubles medal at next year's Beijing Olympics.
The duo have had a stormy relationship and criticised each other following their successful defence of the Asian Games doubles title last December.
"The obvious choice is for Mahesh and myself to play. I am looking forward to that," multiple grand slam winner Paes told reporters on Wednesday.
Bhupathi, who is recovering from a back surgery, has already expressed his interest in a reunion.
The pair, nicknamed "Indian Express", who won three men's doubles grand slam titles together, split on the tour after a high of reaching the final of all grand slams in 1999, winning two of them.

Beijing is considered the final chance for the two to claim Olympic glory after they lost the bronze medal playoff at Athens in 2004. Paes, 34, said he would partner Australian Paul Hanley in the new ATP season.

Zoo tigress attacks visitor, severs hand

A man's excursion to the zoo here along with his family turned into a tragedy when he was killed by a tigress after crossing the barrier and went near the animal's enclosure this afternoon to take photographs.
Zoo divisional forest officer Narayan Mahanta said 50-year-old Jai Prakash Bezbarua, who had gone to the zoo with his family, had crossed the line outside the enclosure for tigers from where visitors see the animals at Assam State Zoo.
He gave a slip to the guards on duty, who had stopped him from venturing near the barrier, and crossed to reach the last level from where the iron grills start to take photographs of tigers basking in the sun, he said.
As soon as the man put his hand inside the iron grill with his camera, the tigress, named 'Divya', caught it and was immediately joined by another tiger 'Gobardhan'.
Together, they severed Bezbarua's hand from his shoulder within a few seconds. Bezbaruah was rushed to Guwahati Medical College Hospital

Green dream bust? Delhi chokes on CNG

The green colour on autorickshaws is perhaps an indicator that Delhi is the only city to have introduced the CNG and made it mandatory on public transport .
But Delhi is more polluted today than it was five years ago when the CNG was introduced. A latest analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) finds that pollution levels are on the upswing again after a few years of control.
In 2002, when CNG programme was initiated, RSPM or respirable suspended matter stood at 143 microgram per cubic metre. In 2005, they dropped to 115 microgram per cubic metre
In 2006, the levels of RSPM in winters were as high as 350 microgram per cubic metre - which means, more than double.
So what has offset the benefits of CNG? Delhi has more than four million registered vehicles and adds about 1,000 vehicles to its roads every day. Cars fueled by petrol and diesel- fossil fuels that emit toxic gases in Delhi's air.

So what's the solution?
“We need to do something to restrict the number of personal cars. It is really ironical that the public transport meets 60-70 per cent of the transport demand. Our policies are not encouraging public transport. In fact the tax burden on a person traveling in a bus is much higher than one traveling in a car. We are building flyovers for car owners and are not thinking about moving people but moving cars,” says Anumita Roy Chowdhary of CSE.
The automobile industry continues to add flashy models on the roads each day with little thought to how much carbon they emit. Until the government considers a tax for polluting vehicles, Delhi will continue choke in this toxic gas chamber.

India eyes 10 pc growth by 2012, US spoiler a risk

India's economy could be growing by 10 per cent a year by 2012 with the right set of policies, but the US subprime crisis might trim exports and capital flows, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday.
Annual growth dipped to 8.9 per cent in the September quarter, falling below 9 per cent for the first time in three quarters, as industrial output slowed due to monetary tightening designed to trim inflation.
Top officials are confident they can maintain growth momentum despite a surge in the value of the rupee against the dollar this year, which is hurting exporters, and high interest rates.
"It is possible that with the correct set of policies... we will not only be able to maintain this momentum of high growth into the near future but may be able to raise it to 10 per cent," Manmohan Singh told top policy makers.
India, the world's fastest-growing major economy after China, grew 9.4 per cent in the last fiscal year, its strongest in 18 years.
Its surging expansion has attracted global investors, fuelling a stock market boom and pushing firms to expand capacity.
"This high growth rate has become possible because of the historically high savings and investment rates which we are witnessing," Singh said at a meeting of the National Development Council set to approve a policies for the 5 years to 2012.
"Our savings rate after stagnating for almost two decades has touched 34 percent of GDP and the investment rate has crossed 35 per cent. These high rates... are likely to go up in future because of our young population profile."
Trade Minister Kamal Nath said on Tuesday expansion in the 2007/08 fiscal year to March 31 would be in excess of 9 per cent, and analysts say the central bank's forecast of 8.5 per cent should be met in Asia's third-largest economy.
The PM said global credit worries would not completely skirt India's economy, despite it being largely driven by domestic demand. "There are some clouds on global financial markets following the subprime lending crisis. There are worries that the growth of the US and other leading economies may slow down and some may even go into a recession," he said.
"This may impact both our exports as well as capital flows."
Such concerns mean India must redouble efforts to maintain domestic drivers of growth, the Prime Minister said. The government is discussing ways to minimise the impact of the rupee's appreciation on exporters, who have seen their margins squeezed by a 12 per cent rise in the currency this year.
The Reserve Bank of India, keen to cool price pressures and stop the economy from overheating, raised interest rates five times between mid-2006 and March this year, but has since held them steady.
Many economists now expect the next move to be down.

Britney Spear's sister Jamie is pregnant at 16

Britney Spears' 16-year-old sister, who stars as a schoolgirl in Nickelodeon's popular TV show Zoey 101, is pregnant.
The cable channel confirmed a report in the forthcoming edition of celebrity gossip magazine OK! that Jamie Lynn Spears is expecting a child.
"We respect Jamie Lynn's decision to take responsibility in this sensitive and personal situation. We know this is a very difficult time for her and her family, and our primary concern right now is for Jamie Lynn's well being," Nickelodeon said in a statement e-mailed to Reuters.
A high school student who lives in Louisiana, Jamie Lynn Spears reportedly met the father, Casey Aldridge, the son of a Tennessee papermill worker, at church.
Jamie Lynn Spears' personal publicist was not available for comment.
Her big sister, Britney Spears, may not be the best source of parenting advice.
The 26-year-old pop star lost primary custody of her two sons, aged 2 and 1, to ex-husband Kevin Federline after their divorce last year and is engaged in a bitter custody battle that has shone a harsh spotlight on her maternal shortcomings.
Zoey 101, which wrapped production on its fourth and final season in September, revolves around a headstrong student at a co-ed boarding school in California.
Fresh episodes will air through 2008, a spokeswoman for the Viacom Inc-owned network said.

Amazing Body scanner that sizes you up for perfect fit

Amazing Technology plays an integral part in fashion, right from the sketching board to your closet — clothes that glow and sparkle and designs that change with your touch. That is the latest technology from Philips.
Philips has developed a glass chamber called the Intellifit Body Scanner. It works just like your neighborhood tailor, except it sizes you up with radio waves instead of a measuring tape. That means, perfect fitting clothes every time. And this is coming soon to a mall near you.
The best part is Intellifit issues a smart card that stores all your measurements so it can be used every time you shop. Or if you want your boyfriend or someone else to shop for you online, just give them your user name and password to access your size details.
For the problem of the stores that don't stock your size, this is the perfect solution. Shop floor arguments will soon be history with a radio frequency chip, with everything there is to know about a piece of garment recorded inside the chip. Tagged to every garment, the salesperson will know immediately if they have your size and where exactly in the store to find it.
CEO Avaana Software Bimal Sareen, says “RFID will allow the shopkeeper to recognize the clothes you take into the changing room, and flash matching accessories on the mirror for you that have been matched by a designer.”
Of course, fashion and technology are much deeply intertwined. What once took hours of sketching is today achieved in minutes on a designer's desktop.
Fashion Designer JJ Valaya,says, “Software like Photoshop and CorelDraw allow us to see many versions of a drawing with we couldn't do earlier. It now helps us to produce much faster.”
Once a design is completed, it’s uploaded onto the web through software like WFX. After global partners approve it, it’s then sent to the factory floor, where the smallest of details like, cut, color, measurements are faithfully reproduced. Thus, every garment that reaches the shop floor ends up exactly the way the designer wanted it.
Director, WFX, Jatin Paul, adds, “It is not uncommon for large brands like Nike or Gap to cancel million dollars worth of Shipments because a sleeve is too long or a pocket manufactured is crooked. Technology like WFX stops this from happening. “
Who knew so much technology was involved in helping one select the perfect outfit.

Diana was against marrying Dodi

Princess Diana denied any intention of marrying Dodi Fayed in a conversation just a few days before the couple died, a friend testified on Monday.
Lady Annabel Goldsmith, testifying at the British inquest into the couple's deaths, said Diana had remarked that she needed another marriage "like a rash on my face."
Goldsmith, 73, said she would never forget those words because they were the last she had heard from Diana.
Fayed's father, Mohamed Al Fayed, has claimed the couple was the target of a plot directed by Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip -- partly motivated, he alleges, by a desire to prevent Diana from marrying a Muslim.
Al Fayed says Diana and his son were on the brink of announcing their engagement when they died on August 31, 1997.
French and British police blamed the accident on their driver, Henri Paul, based on evidence that he was over the legal alcohol limit and was speeding through a tunnel at more than 60 mph when the car slammed into a concrete pillar. Paul also died in the crash.
Goldsmith said Monday that Diana clearly was having a "wonderful" time with Fayed, reporting that she had "never been so spoiled."
Reflecting on Diana's comment about a rash, Goldsmith testified: "I took it to mean that she was not serious about marriage to Dodi. She might have been having a wonderful time with him, I'm sure, but I thought her remark that she needed marriage like a rash meant that she was not serious about it."
Other witnesses have questioned whether the romance had developed to the stage of an intention to marry.
Diana's friend Rosa Monckton last week testified that it was "difficult to judge" the intensity of Diana's romance with Fayed, but Monckton said "it was clear to me that she was really missing Hasnat" Khan, a heart surgeon with whom she had had an affair.
Monckton testified that Diana said nothing of an engagement during a telephone conversation on August 27.
"She would have called me if she was going to do that," Monckton said.
Monckton also disputed Al Fayed's claim that Diana was pregnant. She said Diana had had her period during a holiday the two women shared in Greece 10 days before the princess died.
Goldsmith also rejected the pregnancy claim. "I would say 'impossible.' There was a reason for that (belief)," she said.
"I'm confident, on the face of it, that she would not have been" pregnant, Goldsmith said.
Diana's stepmother, Raine, Countess Spencer, testified that she also doubted the couple were engaged but thought it "highly likely" that the relationship could have progressed to marriage.
The countess also doubted that Diana, who "was brought up in quite an old-fashioned way," was pregnant.
"It would have been out of the question for her," she said.

Amazing Brand Bangalore gets bigger, IT will get only better

Brand Bangalore has not lost its sheen yet - that's what the Information Technology Department has to say. While the state government has cleared the path for investments worth Rs 60,000 crore in August, September and October had over 40 projects worth over Rs 38,000 crore cleared.
The state IT secretary Vidyashankar says the numbers for November and December will be just as encouraging and proves that Bangalore has not suffered because of the state's political instability.
"We are seeing, on the contrary, an increase in participation not only from IT but also from telecom, biotech and nano industries. Bangalore is acting more,” he says.
The reason? Brand Bangalore is still synonymous with outsourcing, making it easier to market to client overseas.
"Bangalore is a global entity and is top of the mind recall for it honchos all over the world. If the country is going to continue to grow, Bangalore will grow as well,” says Vidyashankar.
Other senior government officials tell CNN-IBN that the absence of an elected government may have made the state more business friendly. This is because the governor's executive committee is not making decisions that are purely based on merit and there is very little room for vested interests.
The city's infrastructure continues to be the bone of contention. But officials say changes are being made.
"The kind of initiatives we are putting in will take care of infrastructure for the next 20 years. Be it water, roads or metro, it's all being taken care of," says Vidyashankar.
While the city exported Rs 49,000 crore worth software in 2006-07, its nearest competitor Chennai managed just about Rs 21,000 crore. This year, the exports are estimated to touch a record Rs 70,000 crore.
The I-T secretary says the target of Rs 100,000 crore in exports for the year 2010-11 is more than achievable

India's Hollywood man finds gay role challenging

Actor Irrfan Khan, who is tasting rare success in Hollywood, says playing a homosexual man in his latest film was a challenge.
"For a heterosexual role I need no preparation," Khan, who won a Spirit Award nomination for best supporting actor in The Namesake, told the Times of India in an interview published on Friday. "It's always more challenging to do something untried."
Known to experiment with roles, Khan plays a homosexual in a short film about AIDS by Mira Nair, a character most Bollywood heroes would avoid lest their romantic or macho images suffer.
In Migration, Khan does not portray the homosexual character as effeminate, breaking away from the stereotype in most Indian films.
"That would have been the easy and boring way," said the actor, adding that he was inspired by similar roles played by Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Khan has been acclaimed for his role in The Namesake as an Indian immigrant in the United States.
He has also starred alongside Angelina Jolie in A Mighty Heart, a film on American journalist Daniel Pearl who was killed in Pakistan.

Spice girls sizzle in London after 9 years

Still on their much-hyped world tour, the Spice Girls have made their UK comeback in London.
This was their first appearance as a group on their home turf, in nine years.
It was huge crowd that welcomed the pop stars, many of whom dressed up as the Spice Girls.
The all-girl group made it big in the late 1990s. The Spice Girls kicked off the reunion tour in Vancouver, Canada earlier this month.

Diwali in jail was saddest moment of my life: Dutt

Sanjay Dutt, in his first one-to-one interview after being released from Pune's Yerwada Jail has spoken out candidly about his experience in jail. Spending Diwali in jail, he says, was one of the saddest moments of his life.
“Diwali was a really sad moment of my life, that I couldn't be with the family and I was locked up and I could see crackers bursting. I prayed and I meditated. I thought of Dad and I thought of Mom,” Dutt recounted.
“Freedom is something everyone takes for granted. But it’s something which you can't buy, as much of money as you may have. So it’s great to be free,” he said.
On being in jail, he said it’s not a good place to be in, but if one looks at the positive side, that’s the only connection with God that is direct.
“When I first went there, you know you don’t feel hungry and they sat there and said 'You got to eat', and I said 'Is it because I am an actor?' They said, 'No, we do it with all the prisoners, everybody is the same here.' It really made me feel good,” he said.
“There is a good part and there is a bad part. The bad part is that you have to be locked up at a certain hour, so I mean you are locked up at 6 whether it is Diwali or Independence day - that time you are locked up at 3 in the afternoon till the next day. I mean I used to wonder 'It’s Independence Day, why have you locked us up, I'm an Indian you know’,” Dutt said.

Amazing thing to feel woman Beautifull

The next time you want to make your woman feel beautiful, give her that perfect lover’s kiss, says a new poll.
The poll, conducted to determine as to what makes a woman feel beautiful, has revealed that a simple smooch from their man puts a spring in a girl’s step better more than anything else.
According to the survey of more than 1,000 British women aged over 18, a kiss from their man was preferable than lingerie, a shopping splurge and even sex.
Perfumes, jewellery and beauty treatments did not even feature in the top ten.
In the survey, more than 60 per cent women reported that a smacker on the lips from their man made them feel more attractive.
Second on the list was new underwear, followed by having sex.
Receiving a wolf whistle came fourth, followed by having a long soak in a bubble bath, going on a shopping spree and buying a new pair of shoes.
At number eight was applying a splash of colourful lipstick and next was a fat-burning gym workout, with a chocolate fix at tenth place.
The survey was carried out for cosmetic company Blistex.
“This research allows us a peek into what boosts women’s confidence,” The Sun quoted Nick Lang, Blistex spokesman, as saying.
"Little did we know something as simple as a passionate kiss could be enough to make women feel so beautiful,” Lang added.