Budget: PC may give push to green products today

NEW DELHI: How green will finance minister P Chidambaram's Budget 2008 be? On the FM's table, there are ambitious proposals that may find their way into the Budget. Consumers buying green products could end up paying less for white goods like refrigerators and microwave ovens, if one such proposal finds favour with the finance minister. Incentives may also be on the cards for manufacturers entering what promises to be a lucrative green-technology market. A 'green venture fund', which could provide seed capital to municipalities ready to undertake citywide energy efficiency along with private partners, is also under consideration. For consumers, the government has a scheme to rate some electrical consumer products on their energy efficiency. The Budget could provide excise relief to products with better ratings, reducing the retail price of such products. The incentives for energy-efficient appliances and products could get extended to vehicles when there is a rating scheme for the automobile sector. An excise duty reduction on buses has also been recommended to the FM as part of a larger policy to decongest city roads and reduce the carbon footprint of India's burgeoning automobile fleet. At present cars and other modes of personal transport attract lower excise rates than buses. The urban development ministry has sought this correction in the duty regime to raise a greener fleet of urban public transport. The government, as mentioned in the Economic Survey released on Thursday, has indicated that the challenge of going green using relatively costlier clean technologies has to be woven into larger development goals. This is a sign that while some fiscal carrots could surely be offered, radical measures would wait. The odds favour caution on part of Chidambaram because of a string of state polls this year leading to general elections next year. Also, with a national strategy document on climate change expected soon, the Budget might look at offering incentives to industry for adaptation to cleaner technology. Such technology is not cheap, and so five-year tax breaks can be considered for industries which commit a certain level of investment to green measures, felt government sources involved in drafting the climate change strategy. The finance minister can also signal the government's recognition of the threat of worsening climate with measures to encourage development of homegrown green R&D. This could be done by hiking the budgets for research projects aimed at seeding green technology and providing incentives to industries willing to be proactive in this field. The new and renewable energy ministry is hoping that the FM will give his nod to subsidies for generation of solar power with plants contributing up to 5MW to the main grid. After many false starts, the government looks at a 50MW target during the 11th Plan period as realistic. A plan for duty restructuring to allow cheaper imports of windmill components is also said to be in the works. So far, duty concessions are available only on import of complete kits. A depreciation incentive has also been suggested for those wishing to enter the wind energy market. Apart from the finance ministry's steps, the ministries of oil, coal and power are expected to step up their energy efficiency as mandated under the 11th Plan. ONGC, for instance, is developing a carbon capture and storage system to minimize emissions during exploration while industry as a whole has invested Rs 70,000 crore in projects which can earn carbon credits. Coal India is going back to underground mining, a measure that would bring down emissions. The framework for a fairly comprehensive climate change strategy is already in place. The Prime Minister's council on climate change is close to finalizing a national action plan. The question is how far the FM will go to show that his heart beats for the environment as he says it does for the kisan and the aam admi . Here, the government's pre-occupation with social sector schemes, under the flagship programme, might hog his attention. The Plan outlay for the environment and forest ministry might only increase slightly. From last year's allocation of Rs 1,351 crore, it could be around Rs 1,500 crore. This is less than the Rs 1,750-1,800 crore the ministry was earlier expecting. But this would not mean more than a stumble if the government announces measures to encourage green initiatives by the private sector. "Over 85% of the work and investment on renewable energy is done in the private sector," a ministry official said. Of the forest and wildlife conservation projects, tiger conservation has already found adequate fiscal support this year with the cabinet clearing a special package for relocation of villages from tiger reserves as well as their management. However, other key programmes under the ministry might need more money.

Shah Rukh feels cricket is commercially viable

PUNE: Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan has explained that the chance to make money from cricket and channelling it to other sports was the main reason for him to get involved with the Cricket Board-promoted Indian Premier League.
"Commerce and business are very important in today's world. Cricket is commercially viable and we need to make money from this sport," said the actor, who has bought the Kolkata franchise of the IPL, in Pune on Wednesday night. Shah Rukh said this in the presence of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President and MP Suresh Kalmadi who, in turn, appealed to the superstar to share his celeb status with other sports also. "I am very happy with Chak de India and the work you did for hockey. But I'm disappointed you went back to cricket. I want you to be made the ambassador of the Commonwealth Games and Olympic sports in India," said Kalmadi at the inauguration of the Abhijit Kadam Memorial Football Cup. "There are around 10 nations playing cricket at the moment and over 200 countries competing in Olympic sports. Cricket has many fathers and I would love to have you as the brand ambassador for the Commonwealth Games," he added. However, the comments did not go well with the actor, who took a jibe at the IOA President. "Please don't feel bad that I am backing only one sport. Sports should be part of our second nature and I am a sportsperson by heart," he said. "(My) next step would be to take it (money earned in IPL) to hockey, football, kho kho, also kabaddi and gulli danda," he remarked.

Most BPOs clueless about driver info

GURGAON: Under fire for not being able to provide safe transport for employees, particularly women, at night, BPOs in their defence have claimed that they are following emerging best practices. However, security experts feel the greatest threat to employee safety is from the drivers themselves. In most cases, the credentials of the drivers are not known to the transport vendors since they subcontract the work to smaller players. Industry insiders said about 90 per cent of the BPOs depend on such vendors, who don’t have enough cabs to meet the demand. "They start attaching the service of those who own only a couple of cabs. Until this is done away with, there would not be much improvement," said a major transport vendor, who did not wish to be named. Infrastructure managers of some major Gurgaon-based BPOs said they were following best practices to improve safety of employees. Thousands of women report to work at BPOs at night. And going by track record, most of the crimes against women were committed when a lone woman employee had either been picked up first by the driver or had been the last to be dropped. "People in the organisation should be held accountable in case they are responsible for negligence resulting in any loss to employees. Those heading the organisations and looking after the operations are not just there to take the bonus home," said Raman Roy, CEO of Quatrro. However, he added that the state government and police must also be held responsible for their negligence. "Safety and security of all of us is a state subject. The government issues licenses to drivers and even to vehicles. There has to be an all-inclusive effort to achieve safety and security of everyone," he added. However, industry players insisted that they were adhering to the best norms. "The focus is more to put a process in place which will make women more secure from the time they are picked up from their homes and till they are dropped back home. Driver verification has been made compulsory. There is 100 per cent compliance to the installation of GPS and speed governors in cabs," said the infrastructure head of a BPO. Some of the BPOs have even started calling up women employees who are dropped at night to ensure they reach home safely. "Since it’s not just drivers who get drunk, we have started breath analyser tests for housekeepers and security guards. But the biggest challenge is to get the right kind of drivers," a BPO source said. Meanwhile, all this has put the onus on transport vendors. Major cab fleet owner Manav Bahri said his company has started keeping photographs of drivers and recording fingerprints to track them down in case they committed any crime. "We even keep the contact numbers of their family members and relatives," he added. Bahri also pointed out though most of the BPOs were deploying security guards in cabs to ensure the last woman employee was dropped safe, it was desirable that the last person to be dropped should be a male employee.

Shooting down of satellite doesn't worry space station crew

HOUSTON, Texas -- Military plans to shoot down a damaged U.S. spy satellite carrying toxic fuel will not concern the crew aboard the international space station, commander Peggy Whitson said Saturday.
The military hopes to smash the satellite as soon as next week -- just before it enters Earth's atmosphere -- with a missile fired from a Navy cruiser in the northern Pacific Ocean.
It was unclear how close the satellite will be to the space station when it is shot down. NASA referred questions to the Defense Department, which did not immediately return a message seeking clarification.
Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and French astronaut Leopold Eyharts will still be in orbit 215 miles above Earth when the satellite is targeted. The satellite will be about 150 miles up when the shot is fired. Watch how the Navy plans to blast the satellite »
Whitson said NASA and the Department of Defense "love the station crew" and would not put them in harm's way.
"So, no, we're not worried about it," she said in a news conference with the 10-person shuttle-station crew.
Atlantis and its seven astronauts will be safely back on Earth before the Pentagon takes aim. NASA plans to open up the backup landing site in California to increase chances of an on-time landing next Wednesday even if weather is a problem in Florida.
Left alone, the satellite would be expected to hit Earth during the first week of March. About half of the 5,000-pound spacecraft would be expected to survive its blazing descent through the atmosphere and would scatter debris over several hundred miles.

UK men would swap sex for 50-inch plasma TV

London: Nearly half of British men surveyed would give up sex for six months in return for a 50-inch plasma TV, a survey, perhaps unsurprisingly carried out for a firm selling televisions, said on Friday.
Electrical retailer Comet surveyed 2,000 Britons, asking them what they would give up for a large television, one of the latest consumer "must-haves".
The firm found 47 percent of men would give up sex for half a year, compared to just over a third of women.
"It seems that size really does matter more for men than women," the firm said.
A quarter of people said they would give up smoking, with roughly the same proportion willing to give up chocolate.

Canadian cops on kidney doc's trail

PATIALA: The hunt for Dr Amit Kumar, the alleged kingpin of a multi-crore kidney racket, has spread to a quiet neighbourhood in Brampton in Canada after it was discovered that he had bought a $6,10,000 home there last year. A woman believed to be his wife and two young children live there now, neighbours told Toronto Star this weekend. According to the report, the Peel Region police have acknowledged that they were involved in the hunt for Kumar, as were other GTA forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Pali Drive residents, who once viewed Kumar as a friend, were shocked to discover that a man dubbed 'Dr Horror' lived among them. Some first heard the allegations while watching a TV broadcast from India last week. "I was shocked, blown away," a neighbour was quoted as saying. "We used to joke at parties that he must be loaded to get such a beautiful wife, but nothing prepared us for this." Added another: "It's very unusual for someone to come here from India and buy a big house like this and a Lexus. Doctors in India just don't make that kind of money." Kumar's house, number 14, is situated in Castlemore. According to Jagdish Grewal, a scribe in Toronto, houses 12 and 16 are occupied by Punjabi immigrants. "Kumar bought the house on February 2 last year through a local Indian real-estate agent. Usually, agents charge 2% of the total cost of property as commission, but he paid nearly 10%," said sources. Kumar apparently never mentioned "anything about kidney" to his neighbours. As Baltej Pannu, a scribe, said: "Kumar had told his neighbours that he was a cardiovascular surgeon in India and that he planned to open a hotel in Canada upon his return and was going to live and work here permanently." Documents obtained by the paper show that the couple bought the four-bedroom home on Pali Drive in April 2007 for $610,000. His wife Poonam Ameet, and their two boys, aged five and four, moved into the area last April and the children attend a local private school. Poonam, 28, had told friends on the street that her marriage to Kumar was arranged when she was 18. Kumar had also confided that his first wife left him after his arrest in 1994 on suspicion of running a kidney racket in Mumbai. With the Canadian police keeping an eye on his property, the phone installed in his house has reportedly been blocked, while his wife and children remain barricaded behind security doors at their Brampton home. No one came to Kumar's door when a Toronto Star reporter knocked this weekend, but "children could be seen peeking through the closed blinds". A glass security door was locked and a taped phone message said service "is temporarily disconnected". A Lexus SUV remained parked in the double garage. A neighbour was quoted as saying that Kumar was last seen there before Christmas when he drove around in a leased $65,000 Lexus 350 SUV. His cellular phone records also indicate that he returned to Gurgaon from Brampton on January 1. E-mails on computers seized in the raids suggest Kumar was getting transplant inquiries from Canada.

'But I didn’t cheat on my husband'

Ruchi* (names changed on request) and Prateet had nothing in common: She came from a middle-class background, he was a diplomat’s son, she was 27, him 19, she a housewife, him a student. They had met at a salsa class: Her husband – a high-profile life insurance agent didn’t have the luxury of time and definitely not for dancing – and Prateet’s NBA type friends would much rather be dead than caught dancing. The result was them joining alone and being “partnered” with each other.
It all started pretty simply… He joked and called her “aunty,” she scoffed and declared he had much growing up to do. Their conversations were mostly about that day’s practice, the next lessons and who was the best dancer in class. Till one day the class ended earlier and they ended up having coffee and talking other things. He discussed his drug rehab stint, she spoke about missing her parents, he spoke about peer pressure and what professional college to join, she spoke about wanting a job…
From being dancing partners by chance, the two became friends. He felt she was “very cool for her age”, she felt protective about a “youngster in the big, bad world.” Her husband was out of town most of the time and wasn’t around much when he was in town either. They started having more coffees together even on days there was no class, watching movies together, even going shopping. Soon they were calling each other on the phone and talking too. No one had touched the other and no one had tried either, it was just camaraderie. The more Ruchi shared with Prateet, the lesser she felt her husband’s absence.
Their friendship progressed harmlessly, except that the husband noticed she was on the phone a lot and steadily grew suspicious. Then she fell ill for a week and didn’t turn up at the dance class. One night – as she lay sedated – her phone beeped and the husband read the message. It said, “I miss you Ruchi, all our talks, dancing with you… Get well soon. Miss our time together.Prateet.” All hell broke loose.
Next morning the husband accused Ruchi of having an affair. Ruchi denied it, cried there was nothing physical and insisted she was “just friends”. The husband however insisted that an “emotional attachment” with another man was as good as cheating on him…
Ruchi was shattered: She had don’t nothing wrong and yet her husband felt cheated and said she had betrayed him. "But I didn't cheat on my husband... How was it an affair?" was all she could say. She didn’t know what to do.

Google logs on to Yahoo fray to thwart MSN deal

New York: Online search giant Google has come out openly against Microsoft's $45-billion takeover bid for Yahoo, terming the deal as a threat to openness of the Internet.
Google's Chief Legal Officer and Senior Vice-President (Corporate Development) David Drummond said in a statement that "openness of the Internet is what made Google — and Yahoo! — possible."
But, Microsoft's Yahoo bid raises 'troubling questions' in relation to the preservance of openness and innovation — two underlying principles of the Internet, Drummond said in a statement posted on the official blog of Google.
Meanwhile, Wall Street Journal reported that Google CEO Eric Schmidt has called on Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang to offer his company's help in an effort to thwart Microsoft's bid.
Drummond said Microsoft had often tried to establish proprietary monopolies and questioning whether it would seek to exert same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC.
Reacting to it, Microsoft's General Counsel Brad Smith said, "Microsoft is committed to openness, innovation, and the protection of privacy on the Internet. We believe that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! will advance these goals."
Microsoft-Yahoo combination would create a more competitive market by establishing a compelling number-two for Internet search and online advertising and alternate scenarios only lead to less competition, he added.
The Microsoft official said that Google, the dominant search engine and advertising company on the web, has amassed about 75 per cent of paid search revenues worldwide and its share continues to grow.
"According to published reports, Google currently has more than 65 per cent search query share in the US and more than 85 per cent in Europe. Microsoft and Yahoo! on the other hand have roughly 30 per cent combined in the US and approximately 10 per cent combined in Europe," Smith said.

Office romances: From boardroom to bedroom

New Delhi: They are young, energetic and tend to put in long hours at work. But all this comes at a price for Gen X. Married or not, some of them tend to fall prey to the cupid at the workplace.
A survey by India's largest staffing company Teamlease Services titled, ‘Romance at Workplace’ says about 16 per cent of those polled have been romantically involved with a colleague at one point or another.
And just because a colleague is married, it does not mean that they are off limits. In fact, a third of the respondents felt that there was no harm in romancing married colleagues.
And married and ready to mingle was not only inethical revealation in the survey. The poll revealed that 44 per cent of executives used office romances as a way to climb up the corporate ladder.
From the boardroom to the bedroom is not something unusual for those who nurse greater ambitions. These people feel that romantic link-ups with the boss are the quickest way to get promotions and salary hikes.
And men and women were equal partners in office romances, with 59 per cent of those polled saying that women initiated affairs.
Long work schedules and proximity to colleagues may lead to romantic involvements, but the survey says at least 56 per cent of the respondents feel that such romances lead to a negative impact on the quality ad speed of work.
However, 56 per cent of the respondents said that despite all the negativity surrounding the survey, the office administration should not interfere in a romantic link up.
The survey comprised respondents belonging to top 500 companies in India. The questionnaires were administered to employees in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Pune, Chandigarh and Hyderabad.
Among cities, Delhi scored the highest in office romances with 28%.
The survey was conducted by global research firm Synovate for TeamLease Services.

Between the sheets: Sex Surveys 2007

A whole lot of what will happen in 2008 is gleaned from what we were told in 2007. Before we all get into the humdrum of the new year, here’s a look at that they say happened, sexually, in 2007.
Sex! We're loving it, say urban Indians
New Delhi: Urban Indians have one of the most exciting sex lives in the world and are also the most open lovers in the world when it comes to talking to partners about sex, says a new global survey.
Almost three-quarters (74 per cent) of Indians surveyed are comfortable with telling their partners what they like in bed way above the global average of 58 per cent and the UK with just 49 per cent, says the Durex ‘Sexual Wellbeing Global Survey’.
The survey further points out that two-third of Indians (68 per cent) think their love lives are exciting, a sharp contrast with 38 per cent for English lovers and 36 per cent for famed lovers in France. Moreover, 63 per cent of Indians say they have enough variety, compared with 47 per cent in the UK and just 9 per cent in Japan.
The Greeks (76 per cent) and Mexicans (80 per cent) are the only two countries to have a more exciting sex life than Indians. The survey covered more than 26,000 people online across 26 countries talking about every aspect of their sex lives.
The survey throws up interesting trends showing that Indians do not shy away from trying out new things and style in the bedroom.
”Indian bedrooms are the scenes of a range of antics for some, with sensual massage (55 per cent), sexual fantasies (58 per cent) and looking at erotic materials (55 per cent) at the top of the menu. More than a third of Indians also love to include role play (37 per cent) and wearing sexy underwear (34 per cent).”
The survey results also point to Indians increasingly becoming open to using sex toys to spice up their sex lives.
“Almost six in 10 (57 per cent) Indians think it is acceptable for products aimed at improving sex lives to be available in mainstream stores. Currently just 9 per cent of Indians use vibrators compared to 21 per cent globally although 13 per cent of Indians are interested to have a try,” the survey said.
The survey said Indians are using more of lubricants to make sex more enjoyable with 33 per cent of Indians using them more as a part of their sex lives which is similar to the global figure of 34 per cent.
Compared to most other nations, Indians seem a little reluctant to experiment. While 22 per cent of them would like to try massage oils, only 9 per cent are interested in an orgasm enhancing gel and just 7 per cent would consider aphrodisiacs or pheromones.
However, 57 per cent Indians believe that people will become more experimental in their sex lives over the next decade, boosted by information available on the Internet.
Fidelity is still something that Indians are proud of, shows the survey which said that Indians have had fewer sexual partners than most other countries. Indian men have averaged six lovers and women have averaged two, while in the UK the figures are 16 and 10 respectively. Globally men, on average, have 13 partners and women have seven.
When asked what would improve sex lives, Indians said that more romance (47 per cent), more fun (46 per cent) and being able to spend more time with their partners (44 per cent) would be among the top priorities, with 45 per cent of surveyed Indians wanting to increase their knowledge so as to make things better for their partner.
What makes a woman feel beautiful? Lips don't lie
London: 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.
Like pop? You're surely promiscuous
New Delhi: What kind of music do you like? Think twice before you answer. For, your taste for music is found to define your lifestyle, sexual behaviour and even financial status.
A research done at the University of Leicester has given new insights about linkages between one's taste in music and their various behaviours like sexual promiscuity, criminality and drug use.
The research shows followers of hiphop and dance music are more likely to have had multiple sex partners over the last five years and were among the biggest drug-takers. The people that like club music are also found to take drugs. On the other hand, people who prefer adult-pop and classical music are more likely to pay off their credit card bills on time.
"It comes out in the study that, in these types of music, fans score worse in various behaviours, such as criminality, sexual promiscuity and drug use," BBC quoted Dr Adrian North, the man who led the research, as saying.
The researchers interviewed about 2,500 people in this study. They answered questions on their living arrangements, political beliefs, education, work and pastimes. The researchers, however, acknowledge that some of these findings are related to age and social class.
It shows fans of every style of music are prone to taking drugs, with those who preferred DJ-based club music topping the list. Blues buffs are the most likely to have received a driving penalty.
Fans of musicals come out as the most mild-mannered group, with the lowest level of drug-taking and criminal acts. They also drink less regularly than other music fans, and are among the most likely to do charity work. As many as 34 per cent of fans of musicals like Grease do regular charity work.
The study also revealed strong links between one's educational qualifications and musical preferences. People with a PhD or Masters are more likely to enjoy opera, jazz, blues or classical music. Hip-hop fans were the most likely to have attended a fee-paying school.
In terms of financial status, fans of adult pop and classical music were found to be the most well-off. They are even more likely to pay off their credit card bills each month than the less solvent fans of hip-hop, rap, dance and club music.
Indians among oldest in the world to lose virginity
New Delhi: The Austrians taste it as early as at 17.3 years and the Americans at 18 years. But the people in Asian countries lose their virginity at a much older age. While the average age is 22.1 years for the Chinese and 23 years for Malaysians, the Indians go for it at an average age of 22.9 years.
These were the findings of a worldwide study of sexual behaviour and contraceptive use — called the 2007 Face of Global Sex report — which was published by Durex Network on Tuesday.
The report also states that teenagers are becoming more and more aware about possible repercussions of unsafe sex and are using contraception even during their first sexual encounter. In fact, the use of contraception in first sexual encounter has increased eight fold among today's teenagers as compared to those who are now aged 65 years or above.
The survey, which covered some 26,000 people in 26 countries, also says that about half of all women (just under 50 per cent) either regret or did not have happy memories of their first intercourse and compared to around a third (32 per cent) of men.
The survey says Malaysians were the oldest to lose their virginity at 23.0 years old, followed by Indians (22.9) Singaporeans (22.8), Chinese (22.1), Thais (20.5), Hong Kongers (20.2), Nigerians (19.7) and Japanese (19.4).
Austrians were the first to lose their virginity at 17.3 years old, followed by Brazilians (17.4), Germans (17.6), New Zealanders (17.8), Australians (17.9) and Americans (18.0). On the average, the age for first having sex was 19.25 years, the study says.
But despite waiting longer, Malaysians came top among those who said they were the most ready for sex (41.5 per cent), followed by the Dutch, Greeks, Americans and Australians.
In contrast, Japanese, Nigerians, Thais and Hong Kongers said were the least ready for first sexual experience, with less than 13 per cent saying they were comfortable with losing their virginity when they did.
Meanwhile, more than a third of Nigerians (37.5 percent) said they felt pressured into losing their virginity — by far the highest percentage.
The research also found that people who discuss about sex and sexual health with their parents and partner are more likely to use contraception. Moreover, women are 25 per cent more likely than men to take precautions when they lose their virginity.
Live-in relationships more likely to go nowhere
Melbourne: According to an Australian family researcher, men and women who start living together while still in the early stages of their relationship risk ending up single.
Ruth Weston, the principal research fellow at the Australian Institute of Family Studies, said that young people think the living together before marriage is "a fun thing to do", and believe in taking "each day as it comes".
However, she warns that this often results in hanging on for years in an unsuitable relationship.
As a result when they eventually break off, it might take them a long time to find a new partner. And, as far as women are concerned, it might also mean that they may have lost their chance of having children.
"In the old days people might go 'steady' but there was still opportunity to meet others. Now once you are living with someone you are cheating if you see someone else. When you cohabit it adds a sense of commitment to a relationship that might be going nowhere," Weston said.
The researchers analysed 2006 census data, which revealed that 35 per cent of women, and 41 percent of men aged 30 to 34, are single.
Among women aged 35-39, it is 31 per cent and for men 35 per cent.
"This is a lot of people in their mid- and late 30s without a partner, although some would have once had a partner," Weston said.
Analysis wherein it was found that marriage rates have been falling for decades while the cohabitation rate has risen for all age groups is published in Family Relationships Quarterly.
Weston said that since the last census, the divorce rate appears to have reached a plateau, or even fallen and living together has become more unstable. More people were splitting before they married.
She also said that the fragility of live-in relationships had contributed to a 15-year decline in partnering rates - the proportion of men and women in there 30s who had neither a spouse nor live-in partner. The fall in partnering rates was precipitous between 1996 and 2001 and had since slowed down but not reversed.
"The rate is still high in relation to what we know young people want," Weston said.
"They enter prematurely but can linger on and waste their time," she said.
The results of the analysis reveals that for the first time that almost as many men in their late 20s who have a partner are living with them rather than being married to them.
46 per cent of the partnered men aged 25-29 were cohabitors, up from 38 per cent in 2001. For partnered men in there early 20s, about 75 per cent were cohabitors.
Another researcher, Professor Janeen Baxter, of the University of Queensland, has shown that cohabitors may have at least one advantage over married couples - men do more housework than women.
She said there was "more equality in cohabiting relationships.
On wife beating and how women love it
On wife beating and how women love it
And it’s not to be confused with spanking. Two separate stories on how 37 per cent women in India face domestic violence and then strangely enough, 54 per cent women ok with wife beating too. And to top it, 66 per cent women enjoy their sex lives. Something just does not feel right here.
Love is a loser: lust tops people's reasons for sex
Washington: After exhaustively compiling a list of the 237 reasons why people have sex, researchers found that young men and women get intimate for mostly the same motivations.
It is more about lust in the body than a love connection in the heart.
US college-aged men and women agree on their top reasons for having sex: they were attracted to the person, they wanted to experience physical pleasure and “it feels good,” according to a peer-reviewed study in the August edition of Archives of Sexual Behavior. Twenty of the top 25 reasons given for having sex were the same for men and women.
Expressing love and showing affection were in the top 10 for both men and women, but they did take a back seat to the clear No. 1: ''I was attracted to the person.''
Researchers at the University of Texas spent five years and their own money to study the overlooked ''why'' behind sex while others were spending their time on the ''how.''
''It's refuted a lot of gender stereotypes ... that men only want sex for the physical pleasure and women want love,'' said University of Texas clinical psychology professor Cindy Meston, the study's co-author. ''That's not what I came up with in my findings.''
''The more we look, the more we find similarity,'' said Dr Irwin Goldstein, director of sexual medicine at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego. Goldstein, who was not part of Meston's study, said the Texas research made a lot of sense and adds to growing evidence that the vaunted differences in the genders may only be among people with sexual problems.
Meston and colleague David Buss first questioned 444 men and women–ranging in age from 17 to 52–to come up with a list of 237 distinct reasons people have sex.
Special: Can adultery save marriages?
Why get married? For human beings, marriage is such an unnatural state. If you want monogamy, it has been said, you should marry a swan. - Quentin Crisp, The Art of Celibacy
Mars-Venus, testosterone-estrogen, work husbands and wives, your space or mine… the War of the Sexes (they call it mating games) gets further convoluted as researchers come up with yet another, well, study.
Florida Atlantic University researchers Todd K Shackelford and Aaron T Goetz confirm what women knew for quite some time: human beings are not naturally monogamous, particularly if the being is a male.
After studying mating rituals like feather display and antler-butting techniques (in humans?), Shackelford and Goetz have come to the conclusion that males apparently compete with each other to deliver their sperm more effectively to females with multiple partners. Basically, it means that even after a male has selected his preferred partner, he will still go around and sleep with others.
All would have been fine if, like other animals, humans were a freely fornicating species too. However, while animals just ‘mate’, humans ‘marry’, and when you try polygamy while in a marriage, it is termed adultery. So far, polygamy seems to work for the other species. Can polygamy adultery, therefore, work for us too? Are our marriages and relationships breaking up because we are trying to force ourselves into a monogamous situation while our instincts are towards mating many? Can adultery - a little 'fun' on the side, 'excitement outside marriage' or whatever - save marriages and relationships?
Cheat for pleasure, repent in leisure?
We asked one of our relationship experts for his take on the entire humans-are-polygamous issue. "Such ideas that polygamy promotes a happy marriage should be immediately rubbished. To say adultery would make a marriage better is far-fetched. If someone is into adultery, then emotionally and physically you are involved with someone else; and it is not possible that your partner will be okay with this. Hiding it from your partner and doing it clandestinely takes all energies away that you should be putting into working out the differences in your marriage," says Dr Samir Parikh, psychiatrist, Max Health Care, N.Delhi.
However, all people are not that quick in dismissing the idea. For married-and-looking-for-fun blogger 'Shady Man', "Adultery in moderation can save a marriage." Ask him exactly how does one moderate 'cheating' on your partner and he says, "Moderation, when talking adultery, is when you sleep with another person but don't wake up together… Basically sex minus the intimacy can be good."
His fellow-female blogger, 'Serendipity' — 24-year-old, single, self-proclaimed Miss Promiscuous — agrees but with a twist, "If you are stuck in a loveless relationship, then adultery can bring back the passion. But I am not sure how it can save a marriage. See, adultery brings back the passion in your life — the passion you are incidentally not sharing with your partner — so it is good for you, but not necessarily for the other. At the end of the day, if you feel lust for someone else, you are not into your partner. People who say that an affair saved their relationship are just saying they are bored with their lives and looking for excuses. Personally speaking, I got bored, I felt passion for someone else and I left the relationship immediately."
Feeling itchy-scratchy?
Does the same apply to marriages: when you feel the itch, you scratch it and save yourself a divorce?
"Sleeping around is any day better than walking out on a relationship or marriage," adds Shady Man, "Marriage is a lot more than just sex… food, laughter…"
"Why not?" asks short-film director and married man, Uddhav Ghosh. "In our country, the family value system holds a premium. In many cases, the couple might outgrow each other but stick close only for the sake of either appearances or kids and other things. In such cases, sometimes, an affair can save the 'farce' of this marriage. And hey, if we were 'supposed' to be polygamous, where's the debate? That would be the rule then."
Recently married Anita* agrees with the adultery-can't-work-in-India angle. "If one were outside, perhaps adultery or having another partner or a diversion can be considered as an option to save your marriage. However, here you have to think of a thousand other things even if you think about doing something like this: there are parents, their friends, relatives, your friends, your maid… almost everyone else but the two people involved."