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Losing your sign of youth, power and virility may be your biggest scare. It's time you come to terms with the bald truth.

Stress causes dandruff, leading to hair loss
If it's starting to snow over your shoulders, then you're working too hard. "The fungus which causes dandruff is present on all scalps," says Dr Rakesh Sood, a New Delhi-based trichologist.

"But the problem is exacerbated when your immune system is weakened." An American Academy of Dermatology research confirms that stress is a key reason for low immune function. Can't drop out of the rat race just yet? The study suggests using tea tree oil-based shampoos to root out the worst of the dandruff situations.

Wearing hats causes hair loss
For that to happen, the hat would have to be so tight as to cut off circulation to the follicles. If that were the case, the hat would likely be much too tight for you to wear comfortably...so it's not likely. Wearing a tight hat can, however, cause hair breakage and damage.

Dermatologists say that a hat can cause damage to the scalp by blocking proper air circulation. Without a well-ventilated headgear, sweat can clog up the pores in the scalp. Go for a hat with a brim to shield your face from sun.

Regular haircuts make hair grow faster and thicker
Getting frequent haircuts is a good way to keep existing hair healthy by removing damaged, split ends. But a regular cut has no effect on your hair's growth rate or its thickness, says hair stylist Vidya Tikari.

This common misconception comes from the fact that hair is thicker at the base than it is at the tip, so it appears thicker at first. Cutting your hair does not affect hair growth at all; it will grow about half an inch each month no matter what.

Hair loss can be prevented by frequent hair brushing or standing on your head
Some people have maintained that constant brushing increases scalp circulation and thus boosts hair growth. However, because alopecia is primarily caused by the presence of dihydrotestosterone and your genetic predisposition rather than blood flow, hair brushing will have no positive effect on hair growth. Similarly, standing on your head might give you a head rush from the increased blood flow, but it won't have any effect on your hair.

Growing hair longer will hide baldness
Actually, in almost every circumstance, growing hair longer makes the thinning and baldness appear much more noticeable. When the sides and back are worn fuller, it makes the top appear thinner.

"If you can see scalp on the top, cut the sides short enough so you can see an equal amount of scalp," says Tikari. This will give an overall uniform appearance and take the emphasis off the thinning areas. Guys, you are only fooling yourselves with the comb-over!

Chennai Super Kings are the Manchester United of IPL, for more reasons than one. It’s not just a superlative record across the five years that the league has been in existence for that fosters favorable comparisons. There is also the small matter of the undisguised hate that their success has spawned.

Wherever one goes, people – rabid followers, casual viewers, disinterested passersby – are dismissive, even openly venomous, of the consistency that has been Chennai's hallmark since 2008, the year the IPL was unleashed upon the Indian consciousness.

In a format that thrives on unpredictability, in which regular success is illusory and reliability rare, the Super Kings have made four finals and a semifinal in five seasons. They have lifted the IPL trophy twice, in succession, and a hat-trick of wins may well have resulted on Sunday night were it not for Manvinder Bisla’s freakish knock and the unfortunate no-ball that Ben Hilfenhaus bowled.

In contrast, there are at least three franchises that have never reached the final in five seasons and would consider even a last-four finish – were it to somehow materialize - as commendable. It comes as a surprise then that a record as unimpeachable as Chennai’s is not given its due by most and is met with frank illogic from detractors.

Those who do not swear by the march-marigold yellow that unites Super Kings’ legion of fans usually recourse to hackneyed responses, which allude to a doctoring of results in the IPL. By virtue of being owned by the Big Daddy of Indian cricket – N. Srinivasan – Chennai, they also claim, is assisted by predetermined outcomes, favorable scheduling and basically favoritism in all things IPL.

This season too, after being only barely in the reckoning to make the play-offs, Super Kings were lent a hand by a succession of results in matches that didn’t involve them but that required a specific consequence for them to progress. As it happened, all three games went the way Super Kings stood to benefit most from, and once again tongues started to wag.

What this perpetually acerbic lot did not realize was that the 17 points and superior run-rate (speaking relatively to Royal Challengers Bangalore’s) that Chennai found themselves with at the end of their league matches was all gained on their own steam. On at least two occasions they won close games that would have gone the other way were it not for a blinding performance down the order – again, outcomes that can be straightaway attributed to ‘fixing’ so far as critics are concerned.

But really, despite the ‘sting’ operation by the honorable India TV (a channel that has earlier ‘broken’ stories such as the existence of a ‘Stairway to heaven’ and ‘Alien attacks in the Middle East’) is fixing matches involving a plethora of international and national stars really feasible? Even, for a moment, accepting the heinous possibility that matches were and are tampered with, what prevents other dollar-heavy franchises to follow suit and bend results their way? Would not the league benefit most if wins and losses were equally disbursed to further the image of a highly competitive event?

It doesn’t help that the subliminal hardwiring and structures of power that provide the IPL its sustenance are too mangled and intertwined to allow for any transparent process of assessment to be put in place. That apart, besmirching what Chennai has done over the past five years appears to be a case of sour grapes. It’s common knowledge that the team is the only one which has retained its core since the inaugural season. Yes, they have been lucky, but no more than any other team; you cannot really blame an outfit for peaking at the right time, which Super Kings have made a habit of.

In this edition too, the damage that Chennai’s batting inflicted upon the opposition in their last few matches – after being patchy for the most of the initial stages – was astounding. Was it all engineered by Srinivasan, pre-decided by the IPL council in a boardroom, or chanced upon by a draw of lots? I think not. So, vicious disbeliever, pause for a moment and give credit where it’s due – doff your hat to Super Kings, the IPL monsters who refused to relent until KKR beat them at their own game on Sunday night.

Bollywood star and Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan apologised for his misbehaviour. At the Wankhede stadium he had allegedly misbehaved with security guards and cricket officials at the ground.

Shah Rukh was overwhelmed after KKR won it's final match and apologised for his behaviour in Mumbai, "I want to apologise to all my children that I misbehaved at the MCA. I am sorry. And I am sorry to all my viewers that I subjected you to a side of me which is not nice. So please forgive me. Forgive me because, you know, we have not won for a long time. Come on! You can give this much to me. I am sorry for misbehaving. If you make me win every year, I will not misbehave. So please allow me to win."

Roger Federer netted a record-equalling 233rd Grand Slam victory when he beat German Tobias Kamke 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of the French Open on Monday.

The third-seeded Swiss matched Jimmy Connors's professional era (since 1968) mark despite hitting some wayward shots against the World No. 78 on Court Suzanne Lenglen .


It was also Federer's 50th singles match win at Roland Garros .

Federer, looking to secure a record-breaking 17th Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, cantered through the first set and broke decisively in the 11th game of the second, wrapping it up with a forehand winner in less than two hours.

Next up for the former World No. 1 is either Argentine David Nalbandian or Adrian Ungur of Romania.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic showed great composure to beat Italian Potito Starace 7-6, 6-3, 6-1 and reach the second round.


The Serbian was dragged into a first-set tiebreak, which he won 7-3, before gradually outpacing the world number 97 as he bids to become the first man in 43 years to hold all four Grand Slams simultaneously.

Starace put up a decent fight in the opening set and was only broken in the fifth game of the second before Djokovic, who did not face a single break point throughout, found his stride on a sundrenched Court Philippe Chatrier and raced home in just over two hours.

Djokovic next faces Blaz Kavcic after the Slovenian knocked out former world number one Lleyton Hewitt of Australia .


Li starts title defence with easy win

Li Na began the defence of her French Open title with an easy win on Monday, defeating Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-1 in 58 minutes.


China's Li, who became the first player from an Asian nation to take a grand slam singles title when she won at Roland Garros last year, was never challenged by the 43rd-ranked Cirstea.


In front of stands that were barely half-full on Philippe Chatrier Court  Li, who played with her right knee strapped up, allowed the Romanian few chances and few points.


Li said she was still upset about losing to Russian Maria Sharapova in a dramatic and rain-interrupted Italian Open final eight days ago.


"After that final I told everyone: 'Don't talk to me about tennis for three days'," the World No. 7 said.


Azarenka has narrow escape in first round


Victoria Azarenka narrowly escaped becoming the first women's top seed to lose in the first round of the French Open when she recovered from losing the opening set to beat Italian Alberta Brianti 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 on Monday.


Azarenka, 10 years younger and 104 ranking places higher than her opponent, was in patchy form, giving away breaks with double faults and errors and screaming in anguish at her own mistakes.


After losing the first-set tiebreak 6-8, the Belarussian World No. 1 found herself five points from defeat as she was 0-4 and break point down in the second set.


However, just when it seemed that Brianti was on the verge of winning her first match at Roland Garros in five appearances, Azarenka put the Italian under pressure in a long fifth game.


The Australian Open champion clawed her way back, then broke to love in the eighth game of the third set to take victory in two hours 16 minutes.

Washington, May 25 : Pornographic websites have ceased to be the 'most dangerous' places on web for picking up viruses.

The Internet Security Threat report for 2011, released by security Software Company Symantec (SYMC) ranks pornographic sites at 9th as the riskiest to visit.

One of the most fascinating part of the report is in the review of malicious code trends, which lists the 10 most dangerous categories of Websites.

These categories of sites don't reflect the total number of infected sites; rather, they represent the kind of sites that tend to be the most infected as per URL.

The list of sites in order of danger is:

Blogs and Web communications

Hosting and personal hosted sites

Business and economy

Education and reference

Technology

Entertainment and music

Automotive

Health and medicine

Porn

According to Symantec, 20 percent of all blog and Web communication sites are infected with malicious code, 15 percent of hosting sites are infected, and 10 percent of business and economy sites.

Surprisingly, only 2 percent of pornographic sites are infected.

Conventional wisdom would flip that list upside-down.

Symantec's list is a reminder that Macs are no longer immune to security worries.

"The first known Mac-based bot network emerged in 2009 and 2011 saw a number of new threats emerge for Mac OS X, including trojans like MacDefender, a fake anti-virus program," the CBS News quoted Symantec as saying.

"Mac users are exposed to sites that push trojans by means of SEO poisoning and social networking. In May 2011, Symantec found a malware kit for Mac (Weyland-Yutani BOT) -- the first of its kind to attack the Mac OS X platform.

"In addition, many attack tools have become cross-platform, exploiting Java exploits whether they are on Macs or Windows PCs," the company added.

Nay Pyi Taw, May 28  With Myanmar opening up to democratic transformation, India and the Southeast Asian state Monday decided to forge links between their think-tanks.

The need for building academic linkages was underscored in two pacts signed after wide-ranging talks between the leaders of the two countries in the Myanmarese capital.

A memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies and the Indian Council of World Affairs and another MoU to establish linakges between the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies and the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses were among a dozen pacts that were signed.

"The two leaders also welcomed the formalization of contacts between Indian and Myanmar think tanks and academic institutions and urged scholars to participate actively and exchange views in academic events being held in either country," a joint statement said.

The academic and scholarly links will go a long way in bridging the knowledge gap between India, the world's largest democracy, and Myanmar, which has shed decades of isolation to embrace democratic reforms in an incremental fashion.

CANNES, France  - Critics lauded the Cannes film festival jury on Monday for awarding director Michael Haneke's "Love" (Amour) the coveted Palme d'Or for best picture, justifying its status as favourite going into Sunday night's awards ceremony.

 The Austrian has now won the top prize at the world's biggest cinema showcase twice, joining a small elite of multiple winners and cementing his place as a master of film making.

 Slow and understated, Love's portrayal of an elderly French couple facing the last stages of life had audiences in tears and critics rushing off to write five-star reviews virtually across the board.

 Its victory was particularly welcome in France, with the stars of the movie, both in their 80s, highly respected names in French cinema.

 "The names of Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant ... will play in the public eye like a French victory," said Le Parisien newspaper.

 Conspicuous in their absence from the awards ceremony that wrapped up the 12-day festival on the French Riviera were U.S. productions, five of which made it into the main competition of 22 entries.

 Not even the acting talent of A-listers Nicole Kidman and Brad Pitt, alongside hot emerging Hollywood names like Jessica Chastain, Tom Hardy and Zac Efron, was enough to win over the judges led by Italian director Nanni Moretti.

 Turn the clock back a year, and U.S. director Terrence Malick was winning the Palme d'Or for "The Tree of Life" and Kirsten Dunst scooped the actress award for her role in Lars Von Trier's apocalyptic epic "Melancholia".

 "FEELING LET DOWN"

 Cannes critics were cool towards most U.S. productions, although New Zealand-born Andrew Dominik's "Killing Them Softly", starring Pitt as a mob enforcer in a recession-hit U.S. city, was reasonably popular.

 "None set the town on fire and clearly can't count upon widespread critical support down the line," said The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy, in reaction to the awards.

 "The feeling of letdown about these films running from vague to severe created the feeling of a mixed-bag festival."

 What the strong North American presence did do, however, was put stars on the red carpet, a key ingredient to success at a film festival which thrives not only on high-brow cinema but also on glamour, fame and celebrity buzz.

 The other big loser on the night was French-born director Leos Carax's "Holy Motors", an audacious and surreal film about a man, played by Denis Lavant, who adopts 10 alternative lives in a single day.

 Featuring Kylie Minogue and Eva Mendes in cameo roles, as well as a character who is married to a monkey, an aroused man-monster and stretch limousines which talk at night, the movie was the main talking point of the festival as it sharply divided opinion.

 In addition to Haneke, two other former Cannes winners were awarded -- Briton Ken Loach won third prize for Scottish comedy caper "The Angels' Share" and Romanian Cristian Mungiu won best screenplay for exorcism drama "Beyond the Hills".

 The movie's two young stars, Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan, were surprise dual winners of the actress prize, while Danish star Mads Mikkelsen scooped the best actor prize for his portrayal of a man wrongly accused of child abuse in the harrowing drama "The Hunt".

 Mexico's Carlos Reygadas won the best director category for "Post Tenebras Lux", a dreamlike exploration of the undercurrent of menace within Mexican society today.

LONDON  - Britain's first Muslim woman to hold a cabinet post fought back on Monday against allegations she had made improper expense claims, the latest in a series of public relations disasters to hit her political patron, Prime Minister David Cameron.

Sayeeda Warsi, a lawyer of South Asian origin who describes herself as a "Northern, working-class roots, urban, working mum", cuts an unusual figure in Cameron's Conservative Party, whose leadership is dominated by privileged white men from the affluent south.

 Cameron elevated Warsi in 2007 to the House of Lords, giving her the title of Baroness, and when he took office in 2010 he made her party chairman and gave her a seat at the cabinet table. Her rise was widely interpreted as part of Cameron's drive to rebrand the Conservatives and broaden their appeal.

 But the strategy risked backfiring after Warsi was accused on Sunday of claiming taxpayers' money for overnight stays in London during visits on House of Lords business in 2008 when she was in fact staying for free with a party colleague.

 "I take these allegations very seriously," Warsi said on Monday in Malaysia, where she was on an official visit. "It's why I said right at the outset that I would fully cooperate with any investigation," she told the television channel ITV, denying that she had done anything wrong.

 The slightest whiff of scandal related to expenses is political poison in Britain since a huge scandal over hundreds of dubious claims filed by lawmakers from both main parties dominated the news agenda for much of 2009.

 "It stretches credulity that after all the expenses scandals, and all the transparency pledges by David Cameron, someone so senior should get into such a mess," said the popular Sun newspaper in a Monday editorial.

 "APPROPRIATE PAYMENTS"

 The Warsi expenses row comes at a terrible time for Cameron, whose reputation has been battered over the past two months by an unpopular tax cut for high earners, a scandal over big party donors gaining access to him and endless embarrassing details about his party's courting of Rupert Murdoch's media empire.

 Warsi has referred the allegations against her to the House of Lords commissioner for standards, who will consider whether an investigation is necessary.

 The man making the allegations, medical doctor Wafik Moustafa, was reported by several newspapers to have a grievance against the Conservatives. The papers said he was angry over the party's refusal to recognise a group he had founded, the Conservative Arab Network.

 Moustafa says he let Naweed Khan, a Conservative member of staff who later became Warsi's special adviser, stay at his London house for free for a period. Warsi says she stayed at the house, as a guest of Khan, about 12 times in early 2008.

 Warsi says Khan was paying rent to Moustafa and that she had made "appropriate payments" to Khan which she had then legitimately claimed back on expenses. Khan backs her up. But Moustafa said he received no money from either Khan or Warsi.

 Separately, Warsi has said she failed to declare rental income on an apartment she owns in the Register of Lords' Interests, as the rules required. Warsi said she took full responsibility for the "oversight" and had now put things right.

 Whether or not Warsi is eventually vindicated, she is likely to be lastingly damaged by the bad publicity.

 Warsi has ruffled many feathers during her career, repeatedly causing controversy with comments on religious and racial topics.