(AP, Newsday) BEIJING -- China will have 30 million more men of marriageable age than women in less than 15 years as a gender imbalance resulting in part from the country's tough one-child policy becomes more pronounced, state media reported Friday. Traditional preferences for sons has led to the widespread - but illegal - practice of women aborting babies if an early term sonogram shows it is a girl. The tens of millions of men who will not be able to find a wife could also lead to social instability problems, the China Daily said in a front-page report. China imposed strict population controls in the 1970s to limit growth of its huge population, but one side effect has been a jump in gender selection of babies. "Discrimination against the female sex remains the primary cause of China's growing gender imbalance," Liu Bohong, vice director of the women studies institute under the All-China Women's Federation, was quoted as saying in a report from the State Population and Family Planning Commission.  More...

Once again women are forced to bare the brunt of the disease, from the prostitutes who get the disease from their clients, to the wives who get it from their husbands, to the daughters who care for their dying parents or relatives. . . . .  More...

Discipline in schools is welcome. But a headmistress here may have gone a little too far when she took a pair of scissors and snipped out the hair of over 100 students. On Thursday when these students of Paraswanath English Medium School here walked into school, little did they know they would be punished for sporting long hair. But when their headmistress Manjula Dhani advanced towards them with a pair of scissors, they realised they had erred in flouting the school's advice of trimming their favourite Dhoni haircut. Noticing that even after a month's notice, the students hadn't heeded the instruction, the headmistress decided to take the the matter into her hands.  More...

China has expressed guarded support to India's quest for civil nuclear energy and rejected perceptions that the growing relations between New Delhi and the US were aimed at containing it. "Every country has the right to develop energy in any form, including nuclear form, to meet its development needs," Chinese Ambassador Sun Yuxi said in an interview ahead of the maiden India visit by President Hu Jintao beginning on Monday. Sun, however, said that objectives of non-proliferation should also be maintained and strengthened. When referred to India's contention that it abides by all non-proliferation rules although it has not signed NPT, he said "anything which can strengthen non-proliferation effort should be welcomed by the international community. " .  More...

NEW DELHI/BANGALORE: Major airports in the country have been put on high security alert after the US intelligence agency FBI told Indian authorities that US-bound planes from India could be hijacked. In a message, conveyed through diplomatic channels, FBI referred to an email originating from India and received in US on Saturday evening. Indian agencies immediately forwarded the text of the email to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, which, in turn, alerted airports in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. All US-bound flights are being closely monitored at these airports. A senior home ministry official said on Sunday: "Airports across the country are already on high alert after an anonymous letter was received in Trichy last week, threatening Al-Qaida attacks on south Indian airports.  More...

In a further tightening of immigration rules, Britain on Tuesday announced the latest of several changes this year that have affected highly skilled migrants from India and other non-European Union countries. The changes have drawn considerable criticism from Indians and others who are already in Britain under various employment categories. Several of them say the changes make them feel unwelcome and will force them to consider moving elsewhere. . .  More...

India grounds hostesses who are 'too fat to fly'National carrier faces legal backlash from cabin crew suspended for being overweight. (Guardian Unlimited). . . .  More...

According to Amnesty International, the human rights organization, in 2005 China executed an estimated 1,700 people and sentenced nearly 4,000 people to death. This editor had no idea that China led the world in death penalty cases. Non-violent crimes such as tax fraud are punishable by execution. China's Chief Justice on the new law, "It will give defendants in death sentence cases one more chance to have their opinions heard. " One would hope so, Mr.  More...

Women in India are to be given protection and compensation from domestic abuse under a groundbreaking new law, officials say. ("view source" for more) . . . .  More...

From BBN Editors. . . . .  More...