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Can Bill Gates stop hurricanes? Scientists doubt it (CNN) -- Hurricane experts are throwing cold water on an idea backed by billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates aimed at controlling the weather. Gates and a dozen other scientists have raised eyebrows by submitting patent applications for a technology to reduce the danger of approaching hurricanes by cooling ocean temperatures.

It's a noble idea, given the horrible memories from Hurricane Katrina, which slammed into the Gulf Coast four years ago this week.

The storm, which rated a frightening Category 3 when it made landfall in Louisiana, was blamed for $81 billion in damaged and destroyed property and the deaths of more than 1,800 men, women and children.

Skeptics applaud the motive of the concept but question its feasibility.

"The enormity of it, in order to do something effective, we'd have to do something at a scale that humans have never really done before," said Gabriel Vecchi, a research scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

How exactly would this hurricane-zapping technology work? Hurricanes are fueled by warm water, and cooling the waters surrounding a storm would slow a storm's momentum.

According to the patents, many tub-like barges would be placed directly in the path of an oncoming storm. Each barge would have two conduits, each 500 feet long.

One conduit would push the warm water from the ocean's surface down. The other would bring up cold water where it lies deep undersea.

World reknowned hurricane expert William Gray, who's been studying and predicting the storms for a half-century, also doubts whether the proposal would work.

"The problem is the storms come up so rapidly," said Gray, a professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University. "You only get two to three days warning. It's very difficult to bring up enough cold water in two to three days to have much effect."

The idea itself isn't groundbreaking, according to Gray, who said it could only be feasible if the barges were put into place at the beginning of hurricane season with the idea that storms will come.

"But you might do all that, and perhaps no storms would come. That's an economic problem," Gray said.

Even if the technology does work, Gray said it won't completely halt a hurricane.

"There is no way to stop it. The storm might weaken in the center, but the outer areas wouldn't be affected much."

And flooding and storm surges are determined by these outer winds, Gray said.

When word of Gates' five patent applications first made headlines in July, alarmed bloggers lit up the Internet, expressing fears that playing with ocean temperatures could lead to catastrophe, possibly forcing a storm in a different direction.

That's not likely, said Kerry Emanuel, a professor in atmospheric sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"You're doing something to the ocean that the hurricane would have done anyway," Emanuel said.

Cold water that churns up during a storm slows down a hurricane naturally. But the coldest water is usually at the rear of the storm, so sometimes it's too late to weaken [the storm], Emanuel said.

"The key is doing it a little sooner than the storm itself does it and make [the hurricane] weaker than it would have been," he said. "There are enough experiments to find out whether hurricanes' natural cooling could steer the storm in a different location, and the answer is no, or it's a very small chance."

While Emanuel believes the physics are conceivable, he says the cost of implementing the system shouldn't outweigh the benefit.

"This would only be practical if the amount [of money] you spend doing this would be less than the damage caused by the hurricane," Emanuel said.

Gates and scientist Ken Caldeira, both listed as inventors on the patents, did not respond to CNN's requests to comment about their venture.

The patents, which were only made public last month by the U.S. Patent and Trade Office, were filed in January by Searete LLC. The company is a subsidiary of Intellectual Ventures, an invention firm run by Microsoft's former chief technology officer Nathan Myhrvold.

A spokeswoman for Intellectual Ventures, which holds about 27,000 technology patents, didn't elaborate on the cost associated with the patent.

"At this point, there are no plans for deployment, so there is no talk of funding," she said, adding that it could take up to 18 months for the patent application to be approved.

Regardless, inventors say that this technology is not something they'll be rushing to use anytime soon.

"This type of technology is not something humankind would use as a 'Plan A' or 'Plan B,'" Paul "Pablos" Holman, an inventor in the Intellectual Ventures laboratory, wrote on the company blog.

"These inventions are a 'Plan C,' where humans decide that we've exhausted all our behavior changing and alternative energy options and need to rely on mitigation technologies. If our planet is in this severe situation, then our belief is that we should not be starting from scratch at investigating mitigation options."

Hurricane expert Gray agrees.

"I don't think this is anything that's going to be done in the next few decades in a practical sense, but maybe further down the line," Gray said. "I would love to see Bill Gates, with all his money, use some of it to experiment."

Source:iDiva

Nepal's Hindi war leads to Terai shutdown KATHMANDU: Nepal's Hindi belt, the Terai plains along the Indo-Nepal border, erupted in fresh violence on Saturday as protesters called a 48-hour
general strike in support of embattled Vice-President Paramanada Jha, who has been ordered by the Supreme Court to take his oath of office and secrecy once again by Sunday or be removed.

Sunsari, Siraha, Dhanusha and Nawalparasi districts were hard-hit by the bandh spearheaded by the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum party with cadres clashing with police. Janakpur, a major pilgrim destination in Nepal famed for its Janaki temple, remained tense as protesters pelted police with stones and were baton-charged. More than a dozen people were hurt with police reportedly arrested two demonstrators from hospital.

The violence came after an obscure armed group exploded a bomb near Jha's residence on Friday night, injuring a woman. The Kirat Janabadi Workers' Party, an underground organisation that is demanding a Kirat state in eastern Nepal, said it had engineered the attack and warned more would follow if Jha refused to take his oath of office and secrecy in Nepali.

Alarmed at the simmering violence from both the pro- and anti-Hindi groups, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on Saturday rushed to Jha's residence to condemn the bomb attack and promise stern action against the perpetrators. Nepal has also been urging Jha to end the row – that began last year when the latter took his oath in Hindi – by being sworn in again in Nepali.

So far, Jha has refused to toe the line and on Friday, filed two petitions against the controversial Supreme Court verdict that has slapped the ultimatum on him, calling it biased and unconstitutional.

The three-month-old Nepal government is in its worst dilemma over the language row. On Sunday, it faces the option of either removing Jha and facing the wrath of the Hindi belt or continuing with status quo and angering the anti-Hindi hill community.

Jha however says neither the court nor the government has the power to sack him. According to him, the interim constitution authorises his impeachment only if two-third of Nepal's 601-member parliament vote for the motion.

Holding of major events before CWG annoys Gill NEW DELHI: Sports Minister MS Gill, on Saturday, lashed out at national Federations for overburdening the government by hosting mega events, suchas hockey World Cup and shooting World Cup ahead of next year's Commonwealth Games
.

"We are hosting the hockey World Cup, the shooting World Cup, a four-nation hockey tournament early next year before the Commonwealth Games but these events could have been avoided till the Games," Gill said at a function to mark hockey legend Major Dhyanchand's birthday, celebrated as National Sports Day.

"I am not against test events but the Commonwealth Games is a huge burden and bringing more world events into the country is not sensible.

"I have seen all over the world the test events hardly have any significance. These are just to check whether the doors, timers of the stadiums are working. I am little disappointed with the Federations because they could have avoided bringing these events to the country before the Commonwealth Games," he said.

"It has put additional pressure on all the concerned authorities associated with the Games because now we have to complete the infrastructure of some of the stadiums by December-January," he added.

The organizers of the Commonwealth Games, scheduled from October 3 to 14 next year, are running against time and are facing a tough challenge to complete all the infrastructure required for the Games within the deadline.

Even the construction work of the National Stadium, the main venue for hockey during the Commonwealth Games, was far from over and the World Cup scheduled to be held there from February 28-March 13 and the four-nation test event in January has further compounded the problem.

The capital is also scheduled to host the shooting test event -- the Commonwealth championship from February 17 followed by the World Cup in rifle and pistol competitions in March but the contruction work at the venue -- Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range -- was way behind schedule.

Last month, the Wrestling Federation of India was forced to move the December-slated Commonwealth Wrestling event out of the capital to Jalandhar because of the delay in construction of the venue.

Even though construction work at most of the venues were running behind schedule, the Sports Minister assured that everything will be completed in time and the Games will be an overwhelming success.

"We are constantly working to ensure the smooth conduct of the Games and we will do whatever it takes to make it a success," Gill said.

Gill also said he would ensure that from now onwards all other athletes representing India apart from the Asian Games and Olympic-bound athletes were provided with daily allowance during international tournaments.

"After I took up the position, I felt embarrassed to see that government doesn't give daily allowance to other athletes who represent India apart from those who participate in Asian Games and in Olympics.

"It is disgusting. I am going to take up the matter with the government in a day or two and ensure that they get $20-25 as daily allowance," he said.

On reports about Indian Weightlifting Federation threatening to close down the training camp for lifters preparing for the 2010 Commonwealth Games if the Sports Authority of India failed to provide enough barbells, Gill said, "He will look into the matter and ensure that such a situation never arises."

H1N1 vaccine ready, India napping NEW DELHI: The first batches of swine flu vaccine rolled out from Baxter Inc labs on Friday but there’s little to cheer for India. While the
first supplies from Baxter went to the British health network, subsequent batches from Baxter and other pharma companies have been booked by countries such as US and UK which are stockpiling the vaccine to ward off a harsher bout of swine flu.

While huge quantities — 195 million and 90 million doses respectively are going to the US and UK — India is still miles from getting vaccines because the government has not entered into any pre-booking contracts with Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline or any others. India also may not have its indigenous vaccine ready before May 2010.

China has 20-odd companies racing to make the vaccine, with Sinovac Biotech perhaps the first company worldwide to complete clinical trials for swine flu vaccine.

WHO said recently that countries in the northern hemisphere had ordered more than a billion doses, sparking warnings about shortages.

Developing a vaccine is the only way to protect people from the disease, which may become severe with the onset of winter and the dire possibility of the H1N1 virus mutating.

Despite the swine flu toll touching 90, Indian health authorities have failed to move fast enough.

The government has also not placed any orders with domestic manufacturers — Serum Institute, Panacea Biotec and Bharat Biotec which are developing the vaccine. (Cadila Pharma is also developing a vaccine in collaboration with US company Novavax).

Serum Institute executive director SS Jadhav told TOI, ‘‘No talks have been held with procurement agencies regarding their plans of stockpiling the vaccine, including the quantity required and target group of population.’’

As a result, companies aren’t sure about the quantities of vaccine they must produce.

When contacted, Dr VM Katoch DG, ICMR, said, ‘‘We have asked global companies like Novartis to include Indians in their clinical trials to test efficacy of the vaccine on our population. We are waiting for their reply.’’

Chandrayaan-1: ISRO loses contact, claims mission 'over' BANGALORE: Ten months after it was launched, India's maiden moon mission the ambitious Chandrayaan-1 came to an abrupt end on Saturday after ISRO
lost communication with the spacecraft, cutting short the dream odyssey that was expected to last two years.

"The mission is definitely over. We have lost contact with the spacecraft," Project Director of the Chandrayaan-1 mission M Annadurai said.

However, he said: "It (Chandrayaan-1) has done its job technically...100 per cent. Scientifically also, it has done almost 90-95 percent of its job".

The two-year mission, launched on October 22 last year with much fanfare, was abandoned early today after the after radio contact with the mooncraft was abruptly lost at 0130 hours.

The Deep Space Network at Byalalu near here received the data from the 1,380 kg Chandrayaan-1, which carried 11 instruments on board, including six from overseas, during the previous orbit up to 0025 hours.

ISRO is conducting detailed review of the telemetry data from the spacecraft. "We will analyse as to what happened," Annadurai said.

Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, launched by homegrown PSLV-C11 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, has completed 312 days in orbit, making more than 3,400 orbits around the moon.

It has provided large volume of data from sophisticated sensors such as terrain mapping camera, hyper-spectral imager and moon mineralogy mapper, meeting most of the scientific objectives of the mission.

ISRO said last month Chandrayaan-1 had sent more than 70,000 images of the lunar surface which provide breathtaking views of lunar mountains and craters, especially craters in the permanently shadowed areas of the Moon's polar region.

Chandrayaan-1 was also collecting valuable data pertaining to the chemical and mineral content of the Moon, ISRO said on July 17.

Significantly, on August 21, ISRO and NASA performed a unique joint experiment that the Indian space agency said could yield additional information on the possibility of existence of ice in a permanently shadowed crater near the North Pole of the moon.

The end to the Chandrayaan-1 mission comes just over four months after the onboard star sensor for determining the orientation of the spacecraft started malfunctioning on April 26, and one of the bus management units failed.

Source: TOI

Sania to meet Govortsova in US Open round 1

Struggling to advance beyond second rounds of Grand Slam events all season, Sania Mirza opens her US Open campaign against world number 64 Olga Govortsova of Belarus as the last Grand Slam tennis Major of the year begins on Monday.

The one-to-one record between the world number 71 Sania and her Belarussian rival is tied 1-1.

Sania had beaten Govortsova in a qualifying event in 2007 and the Belarussian settled the score with a win in Doha next year.

If Sania clears the first hurdle, she may run into 10th seed Italian Flavia Pennetta in the second round.

Sania has not done well in the singles events of the Grand Slams this year, reaching the second rounds of the Australian Open and Wimbledon and falling at the very first hurdle in the French Open.

Although she has tasted some success in the doubles events, becoming the first-ever female player of the country to win the mixed doubles title of the Australian Open along with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi.

Key witness in the 26/11 case goes ‘missing’

A key witness in the 26/11 attacks case who had deposed against accused Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed at the trial failed to appear before the court on Friday with the prosecution saying that he was “missing.”

The witness, Nurudin Shaikh, on Thursday told the court that the accused — Faheem and Sabauddin — had met him in Nepal and in his presence they discussed about the maps of some locations in Mumbai, which were later targeted by militants during the November 26 attacks last year.

The court had called the witness on Friday for cross-examination at 11 am but he failed to turn up.

Special public prosecutor Ujjawal Nikam told the court that crime branch officials had gone to the Goregaon residence of the witness to fetch him but his wife had said that Mr. Shaikh had left home early morning, saying that he has to go to the court.

“This is a serious matter,” judge M.L. Tahaliyani observed and said he would decide later on what steps the court should take in the matter.

Mr. Nikam also said that the identity of the witness had been kept secret earlier and was disclosed to the defence lawyer only on Thursday for cross-examination.

According to crime branch, the witness is a childhood friend of Faheem and is staying in the same locality where Faheem stayed in the city.

Faheem and Sabauddin, both Indian nationals, are facing trial along with Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab.

Mr. Shaikh on Thursday had told the court that maps of some locations in Mumbai were made by the duo at the instance of wanted accused Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.

Source: The Hindu (PTI)

Pakistan court lifts restrictions on A.Q. Khan

In an interim ruling on a petition from A.Q. Khan, the Lahore High Court ruled on Friday that no restrictions should be placed on the movements of the top scientist who was freed from a five-year long house arrest earlier this year.

The development is likely to send ripples of worry across the international community which remains concerned about the “A.Q. Khan proliferation network”. Chief among the fears is that Al Qaeda should not be able to lay its hands on any nuclear bomb know-how.

But the internationally disgraced Khan is widely revered in Pakistan for giving the country its nuclear bomb.

In February 2009, acting on a petition from him, the Islamabad High Court declared him a “free citizen”, ending a house arrest that began in February 2004 with his nationally televised confession of selling nuclear secrets abroad.

However, the court’s order also made clear it was subject to “terms and conditions” that had been “voluntarily accepted” by the scientist in a “secret agreement” with the government.

Although the terms of the deal remain outside the public realm, it was apparent that many of the restrictions on Mr. Khan continued, including a massive presence of government security personnel around his house. Though his house arrest ended, the terms of his “freedom” entailed that he had to give advance information about all his movement.

On Thursday, the scientist appealed to the Lahore High Court that the “official protocol” provided to him be removed as it was restricting his movements.

In an interim order, Lahore High Court judge Ejaz Ahmed ruled that there should be “no limitations” on Khan’s movement. The next hearing is on September 4.

The government was quiet about the ruling, but it is highly doubtful if Pakistan, which is under a constant international scanner, can give the disgraced scientist the freedom he seeks.

Reacting to the court’s ruling, Khan told reporters at his home in Islamabad’s plush E-7 sector that if the government did not remove the restrictions on him even after this, he would move the Supreme Court to obtain his freedom.

“I was living life as a prisoner under the official protocol,” he said. “I do not need it. I want to go freely.”

The scientist said he wanted to go to Karachi to visit his brother, who is unwell.

He told Geo News that if he continued to be treated badly by the government, he would reveal “sensitive secrets”.

Khan gave no interviews after his brief interaction with the press following the February 2009 court verdict, possibly under the terms of his restricted freedom. His only visible activity is a weekly column in The News, but even this has not been entirely free of controversy.

A letter-writer to the daily, a Phd student at Carnegie Mellon, pointed out earlier this week that large chunks of his recent column on computer education were lifted paragraph for paragraph from the undergraduate prospectus of the University of Sussex, the website of London’s Imperial College and the University of Cambridge.

There have been no reactions to the accusation of plagiarism, and the newspaper published the second part of the column titled Science of Computer this week.

Source:The Hindu

By: Nirupama Subramanian

SC defers hearing on Ambani gas row to October 20

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday deferred hearing on petition filed in regard to the Ambani gas dispute to October 20.

A bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan decided to pose the matter for October after Reliance Industries counsel suggested the matter be heard on the 20th of that month.

Anil Ambani group counsel Mukul Rohtagi said he had no objection.

The cross appeals filed by Mukesh and Anil Ambani group firm on the petition filed by the government was to come up for hearing on September 1, but would have had to be postponed because the Chief Justice was to head the bench on the case was supposed to lead a constitutional bench on that very day.

Sensex shies away from 16k level; rises by over 140 pts

MUMBAI: Extending gains for the seventh straight session on Friday, the Bombay Stock Exchange barometer Sensex rose by over 140 points as fund houses picked up stocks following strong global cues.

The 30-share index, which gained 6.5% in the last six trading sessions, added another 141.27 points to close at 15,922.34 points. The index touched the day's high of 15,957.67 points.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 44.15 points to 4,732.35 points.

The market was supported by reports of firm Asian cues and better opening of European stock markets on increased optimism about the global economic recovery.

Stocks of realty, auto, capital goods, bank, metal and refinery sectors registered notable gains as investors rushed to buy fundamentally strong blue-chips.

swine flu, death toll in India mounts to 89

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The swine flu pandemic showed no let up and claimed the life of a 39-year-old man in Mumbai, pushing the toll to 89 while 123 fresh cases of infection were detected across the country.

M Shaikh, who had tested positive for the virus, had undergone treatment at MGM Hospital in Navi Mumbai for ten days and was shifted to D Y Patil Hospital, also in the same area, yesterday, Navi Mumbai Chief Health Officer Deepak Paropkari said.

Shaikh died on Friday night, he said. With this death, the nationwide flu toll climbed to 89.

Maharashtra now accounts for 47 fatalities — 25 in Pune, ten in Mumbai, seven in Nashik, two in Aurangabad and one each in Dhule and Latur.

20 people have died in Karnataka, seven in Gujarat, three each in Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Delhi, two in Uttarakhand and one each in Kerala, Goa, Rajasthan and Haryana.

The flu spurt continued across the country with 123 fresh cases of the viral disease being detected yesterday, bringing the total number of those who had been infected to 3,396, Health Ministry officials said in Delhi.

The ministry said that the virus was affecting people in the 14 to 44 age bracket more and late reporting for treatment was the reason for most of the deaths.

Director General of Health Services R K Srivastava, quoting a survey by the ministry, said on Thursday that instances of death occurred when people infected by the virus reported for proper treatment five days or more after the symptoms surfaced.

Why can't Womens buy condoms..?

Why can't we buy condoms? I never thought I'd be asking this question. But I have been compelled to after a particularly appalling incident and several more narrated by my gal pals.

So here's what happened:

I walked myself to the "most popular" chemist in my area to buy a pack of condoms! And yes it was the first time I had ventured to do the same… Considerate that I am, I thought I'd let my partner off the hook and take responsibility this time around.

Considered one of the most advanced and biggest medical shops in the area, I was hoping to flit in and flit out in a breeze. Boy, was I wrong!

Condom please!

After I managed to catch the attention of a female shop assistant and asked her for my partner's choice of brand [I was getting the male condom!], the fiasco began.

Apparently flabbergasted by what I wanted to buy, she asked me to repeat my request. I nonchalantly did the same - only to be told to wait. She scurried off to a corner and whispered something in the ear of a fellow shop assistant and both the girls giggled and glared at me!

Pretending to be busy, the twosome then sent another assistant to ask me what I wanted. This one deserved the Oscar for playing the "I'm-hard-of-hearing-nitwit-shop-assistant" and asked me to repeat my request for the third time.

Enraged by the petty arrogance of these excuses-for-chemists, I repeated loudly the brand for the last and final time (or so I thought!). All the shop assistants - and there were around 7 of them - froze. I was "exhibit A" and all eyes were on me, including those of the other patrons. The young boy who had come for cough medicine blushed, the aunty cursed me under her breath and an uncouth looking man gave me a dirty smile.

The news that I was there for the "rubber" spread like wild fire!

I was finally handed very reluctantly the pack by the male shop assistant who was waiting for an explanation or an excuse. They weren't going to get any.

The fact that I was getting it for my husband was none of their business. And this very regressive attitude is what has stopped many others like me from doing the right thing - protecting ourselves.

Pharmacy: Humiliation hot-spot

In a recent survey, one out of 10 men said they have had unprotected sex because they were too embarrassed to buy condoms from a pharmacy. What's more, the results confirmed that the high street pharmacy was a 'humiliation hot-spot' for people.

So if the men were toe-curlingly embarrassed by the same, women obviously couldn't be left behind! What's worse was that almost 50 per cent of the population had suffered a health problem like thrush in silence rather than facing the embarrassment of seeking medical attention according to the online pharmacy mastersdirect.com.

Most simply walked out of a pharmacies because they were too embarrassed to ask for a particular health product, revealed the survey.

"The men will get it"

Most women depend on their male partners and trust them blindly to protect them against any sexually transmitted disease. A friend of mine got her partner to get a year's supply of condoms just so that he doesn't make excuses and she is not forced to go to a chemist.

While there are a handful few who do take the initiative like 30-year-old Priyasha Seth who always carries a pack and makes a point to buy it herself, even she has had to contend with embarrassing situations at the chemist.

It's all in the mind!

Most male friends of mine don't have any qualms walking up to a chemist and picking a condom. In fact, one of them "feels proud doing it, and especially likes discussing the different flavours, sizes, types at the chemist.... it freaks the shop assistants out completely".

29 year old Ad executive says, "All you need to do is head to a supermarket and dunk a pack or two with your groceries. Who's to know?!"

Make condoms accessible

Sociologist Nandini Sardesai says, "NGOs and the government have done enough. It's the attitude of the people that needs to change." "There is a need to introduce new and novel ways of making condoms more accessible. For eg: Thailand's 'Condom King', Mechai Viravaidya - so-called due to his extensive work promoting accessible contraceptives - introduced the concept of giving condoms out instead of candy when you pay your bills."

All said and done, wouldn't you rather be safe than sorry? So, don't let chemists make you regret doing the right thing.

Have you been through embarrassing situations at the chemist? Leave us a comment and let us know.

Source: idiva

Long work hours ruin teens' sexual health

If teens are allowed to work for long hours in the wrong environment, it could take a toll on their sexual health, claims a The discovery is just one of the key findings in a University of Michigan study of youth on what predicts age of sex partners.

Jose Bauermeister, one of the study authors, said that age difference of sex partners is important, because a larger age difference is associated with riskier sexual behaviour and STDs, including HIV.

He further said that the study found that a youth's self esteem and alcohol use also play a role in the age difference between sex partners.

In the study, Bauermeister pointed out that overall, adolescents, who work part-time benefit in almost all areas over those who don't have jobs.

But he said that those benefits come with caveats.

For the study, the researchers followed youths in Flint, Mich. as they transitioned from adolescence to young adulthood (ages 14 thru 25), to see what factors predicted sex partner age difference.

It was found that many factors can lead to age differences in sex partners, with girls usually dating older than boys and young men.

Bauermeister said that working too many hours in an adult atmosphere without adequate supervision can lead to exposure to adults and eventually sexual activity with older partners, especially for young girls.

Age and number of work hours matter in adolescents, but any negative impact is not apparent after age 18 or 19, the study found.

"It's OK to let kids work. We want to make sure they are spending time in an environment where it's safe to work. Parents must ask the right questions and make sure it's a safe place for their children," said Bauermeister.

He said that high self esteem and low use of alcohol offset the negative effects of working too many hours. Those factors also protect youths overall from engaging in riskier sexual behaviour.

The study also found that girls tend to date older from age 14 on, as do high school dropouts and teens who use alcohol.

Boys at age 14 date their own age until they reach age 18, when they start dating younger women, said Bauermeister.

The study found that sex education programs and other efforts to reduce young sex partners'' age differences should aim to enhance self-acceptance and academic achievement and decrease alcohol

Interpol warrants for Pakistani militants

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Interpol has issued alerts for at least two Pakistani Islamists wanted by India for last year's terror strikes in Mumbai that killed more than 160 people.

The red notice for Hafiz Saab Sayed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba militant group that India blames for the 2008 attacks, has been posted on the Web site of the international police agency.

A similar alert has been issued for Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, also linked to the same organization, which was designated by the United States as a terrorist group with ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

The notices came in the wake of an Indian court issuing arrest warrants in June for 22 Pakistanis, including Sayed and Lakhvi, in connection with the siege that began November 26, 2008, in India's financial capital.

The warrants were handed down because of a motion by Indian prosecutors in the trial of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman among the 10 men who launched the attack.

In all, there are 35 suspects wanted in the case, including other members of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, according to Indian authorities.

The three-day rampage started with attackers targeting 10 sites and taking over three five-star hotels and a Jewish center.

Both Sayed and Lakhvi are accused of "terrorism incitement" among other offenses, the Interpol notices said.

The Interpol red notices are not international arrest warrants, but a tool to help identify and locate wanted people.

"These red notices allow the warrant to be circulated worldwide with the request that the wanted person be arrested with a view to extradition," the agency explains.

Somdev clears first round, Prakash loses in US Open qualifiers

NEW YORK: India's Somdev Devvarman won his first round in his bid for a place in the US Open tennis main draw, beating American Alex Bogomolov Jr 6-3, 6-3, but Prakash Amritraj lost to Colombian Alejandro Falla 6-7 (5), 6-4, 3-6 at Flushing Meadows.

Somdev, ranked 161, beat the 133rd ranked American of Russian origin for the second time in a month Tuesday, having beaten him to qualify for the LA Open late last month, also in straight sets.

Prakash's fight-back against Falla, who is ranked 31st for the qualifiers, was of no avail as he lost a tight first-set tie-break, won the second but could not carry the momentum into the third.

Somdev's victory is an upset of sorts as Bogomolov was seeded 16th in the qualifiers. The Indian will now play Dutchman Igor Sijsling who moved into the second round as his opponent Joshua Goodall of Britain retired trailing 2-4 in the third set after losing the first 6-7 (7) and winning the second 6-2.

Somdev, who is yet to play in a Grand Slam event, having lost in the second round of the qualifiers at the Australian Open, third at Roland Garros and in the first round at Wimbledon, has to win two more rounds to qualify for the main draw at the US Open.

The Indian should beat Sijsling, who is ranked 305, to take on the winner of the match between 229th ranked Jerzy Janowic of Poland and 153rd ranked Frenchman Alexandre, seeded 26.

Swine flu claims 25th victim in Pune

PUNE: Swine flu toll in the city rose to 25 with a middle-aged woman succumbing to the viral infection here on Wednesday. The victim -- Shabana Shaikh -- had been put on ventilator since her admission to the government-run Sassoon Hospital on August 22, hospital sources said.

Meanwhile, attendance at schools and colleges, which reopened on August 24 after a gap of a fortnight, remained affected by the swine flu scare among parents and students.

The district administration has issued an appeal to people to get on with their activities without frequenting crowded places even as Ganesh festival enthusiasts in some parts thronged pandals to have glimpses of tableaux depicting scenes that underlined vigilance to curb spread of the deadly virus.

Circumcision doesn't protect gays from AIDS

Circumcision, which has helped prevent AIDS among heterosexual men in Africa, doesn't help protect gay men from the virus, according to the largest U.S. study to look at the question.

The research, presented at a conference Tuesday, is expected to influence the government's first guidance on circumcision.

Circumcision ``is not considered beneficial'' in stopping the spread of HIV through gay sex, said Dr. Peter Kilmarx, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, the CDC is still considering recommending it for other groups, including baby boys and high-risk heterosexual men.

UNAIDS and other international health organizations promote circumcision, the cutting away of the foreskin, as an important strategy for reducing the spread of the AIDS virus. There hasn't been the same kind of push for circumcision in the United States.

For one thing, nearly 80 percent of American men are already circumcised _ a much higher proportion than most other countries. Worldwide, the male circumcision rate is estimated at about 30 percent.

Also, while HIV spreads primarily through heterosexual sex in Africa and some other parts of the world, in the United States it has mainly infected gay men. Only about 4 percent of U.S. men are gay, according to preliminary CDC estimates released at the conference this week. But they account for more than half of the new HIV infections each year.

Previous research has suggested circumcision doesn't make a difference when anal sex is involved. The latest study, by CDC researchers, looked at nearly 4,900 men who had anal sex with an HIV-infected partner and found the infection rate, about 3.5 percent, was approximately the same whether the men were circumcised or not.

Government recommendations on circumcision are still being written and may not be final until next year, following public comment. CDC doctors and many experts believe there is a good argument for recommending that baby boys and heterosexual men at a higher risk for HIV be circumcised.

The definition of ``high risk'' is still being discussed, said Kilmarx, chief of the epidemiology branch in the CDC's HIV division.

Circumcision is a sensitive issue laden with cultural and religious meaning, particularly when babies are involved, Kilmarx acknowledged.

``It's seen by many as more than just as medical procedure,'' he said. It's possible the government would just recommend better education for doctors and parents about the procedure's benefits and risks, he added.

The prospect of the government promoting circumcision of infants has already drawn fire from an advocacy group called Intact America. The organization, based in Tarrytown, New York, parked a motorized billboard this week outside the hotel hosting the HIV conference, displaying the message: ``Tell the CDC that circumcising babies doesn't prevent HIV.''

``It's removing healthy, functioning, sexual and protective tissue from a person who cannot consent. You're mutilating a child,'' said Georgeanne Chapin, the group's executive director.

Microsoft apologises for racism

LOS ANGELES: Software giant Microsoft Corp is apologising for altering a photo on its website to change the race of one of the people shown in the picture.

A photo on the Seattle-based company's US website shows two men, one Asian and one black, and a white woman seated at a conference room table.

But on the website of Microsoft's Polish business unit, the black man's head has been replaced with that of a white man. The colour of his hand remains unchanged.

The photo editing sparked criticism online. Some bloggers said Poland's ethnic homogeneity may have played a role in changing the photo.

“We are looking into the details of this situation,” Microsoft spokesperson Lou Gellos said in a statement. “We apologise and are in the process of pulling down the image.”

Govt not looking at hiking fuel prices

NEW DELHI: India is not considering raising retail fuel prices despite an uptrend in global crude oil prices, the oil secretary said on Wednesday.

"Global prices are not comfortable. But there is no proposal to revise the price," R S Pandey told reporters.

The country sets retail fuel prices below the market costs to protect customers, and it partially subsidises oil marketing firms for their losses caused by this.

Separately, Indian Oil Corp's chairman Sarthak Behuria said his company was currently losing Rs 2.30 per litre of diesel sold and Rs 4.20 per litre on petrol.

India to unveil its foreign trade policy tomorrow

NEW DELHI: India will on Thursday unveil its foreign trade policy that is expected to eliminate or refund taxes and offer cheaper bank credit to recession-battered exporters, besides encouraging them to look beyond the US and European markets.

The policy will outline the government's priorities over the next five years for resurrecting the sector that contracted by over 31% in the April-June quarter.

Job-intensive segments such as textiles, handicrafts, leather and gems and jewellery will receive special attention by way of zero taxes or tax refunds and subsidised credit.

"Tomorrow's FTA may satisfy many... (but) may not satisfy everyone. It will be forward looking, taking on board the concerns of the industry, particularly the labour-intensive sectors. They will get special attention," commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma said.

Exporting units employ 150 million people and their jobs were the first to be put to risk following the demand slump in traditional export markets such as the US and Europe.

Sharma, who would be presenting his first FTP, said that he would like exporters to diversify their portfolio beyond North America and western Europe. As much as 54-55% of India's $168 billion exports land US and European ports.

Africa and Latin America remain the least priority for the exporters while full potential with south east Asian economies has not been realised. "I have directed my team to prepare a strategy paper for Africa and Latin America," Sharma said.

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