Are Indians happy with the action in their bedrooms? According to the Kamasutra Sex Survey 2003, most of them have sex once every four days on average and 69 per cent were satisfied with their current frequency.

It is the married couples that seem to be dissatisfied with their sex lives, with almost 31 per cent wanting to have more. Only 13 per cent prefer mornings for sex and use it more as a "stress buster" than a form of intimacy. While nights are still the preferred time for weekdays, some indulge in sex during afternoons over the weekends.

TIED UP IN KNOTS: Couples use sex as a stress buster

Conducted online in association with Cross Tab, the survey points out what Indians have known for a while: breasts are the topmost sexual arousal point for men followed by overall looks and buttocks. For women it is the overall looks, eyes and physique, in that order. What is startling is that as many as 66 per cent of the 5,000 people surveyed have had premarital sex. While 26 per cent had it before they were 21 years old, 60 per cent had two or more partners. However, only 35 per cent find premarital sex "cool".

The numbers have not changed drastically from last year's, but Indian women are now playing a far more active role in sexual encounters, and in coital sex in particular, the figures hint. Today, almost 71 per cent of them are happy to initiate sexual intimacy with their partners.

Also, while homosexuality is still taboo for 78 per cent, 17 per cent admitted attraction to people of the same sex-and some of them consider it "normal".

-Nidhi Taparia

The Top Agent

OFFICIAL TRACKER: Lakshmanan helped frame Verma

You could call him Top Cop. Last week Vellaisamy Lakshmanan, a Chennai-based CBI investigator, was given the award of Best Detective Constable "for outstanding work" by Union Cabinet Secretary Kamal Pande. His forte: tracking down corrupt customs and income-tax officials.

Lakshmanan's crack intelligence input led to the arrest of former CBEC chairman B.P. Verma and the busting of a racket for recruiting constables in CRPF. These are the more prominent cases, but Lakshmanan's resume lists numerous top officials as victims.

Considering that the bulk of CBI's 4,000-strong staff is made up of constables and head constables, the award was like a lifetime achievement recognition for Lakshmanan. In his 15 years of service, six of them in the CBI's Special Unit, Lakshmanan has received 34 cash awards for his excellent performance. Modesty, however, remains his hallmark. "I am forever grateful to the CBI for recognising my services," he says.

-Sayantan Chakravarty

Austere Show

Himachal Pradesh is setting an example in austerity. First, it was Himachal PCC chief and cabinet minister Vidya Stokes declaring she would take only Re 1 as token salary. Then her arch rival Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh followed suit. This competitive austerity drive is not just a pr exercise. It is an effort to pre-empt their MLAs from demanding the Punjab pattern of pay and perks recently announced by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. Greed, they say, begins at your neighbour's home.

APPOINTED: Romila Thapar, historian, to the newly established Kluge Chair in Countries and Cultures of the South, at the Library of Congress in Washington.

AWARDED: Delhi, the first Clean Cities International Partner of the year award, by the US Department of Energy.

DIED: Balwant Gargi, 87, Punjabi author and dramatists, in Mumbai.

SELECTED: Cricketer Virender Sehwag, Delhi's Metro chief E. Sreedharan and an NGO that helped Gujarat's riot victims, as Time magazine's annual Asian heroes.

CHOSEN: Bholu, an elephant holding a signal lamp, as the mascot of Indian Railways.

DIED: Ustad Latif Khan, 76, sarangi maestro and grandfather of Sarwar Hussain, in Bhopal.

REJECTED: by the Pakistan Gurdwara Pra- bandhak Committee, the SGPC's demand to hand over to it the management of gurdwaras in Pakistan.

RENAMED: Tara Moorie Mail, as Jallianwala Bagh Mail, by the Raliways.

ARRESTED: Pawan Kumar Sharma, 42, for making 1,627 obscene calls to women on toll-free numbers, in Delhi.