A Mystery Solved

Doctors in the Indian city of Varanasi have finally discovered the reason for a surge in the popularity of the free condoms they have been dishing out for family planning.

Weavers in the holy Hindu city, also known for its silk industry, have been using government-distributed condoms to help in producing hand-woven silk sarees.

Weavers rub the condoms on bobbins to speed up the weaving and stop yarn from snapping.

"It is the fine quality lubricant on the condom that does the wonder trick of speeding up the spin of the bobbin while preventing frequent snapping of the yarn," said weaver Mahfooz Alam.

It takes 14 condoms to produce one Benarasi saree. There are more than 100,000 weavers in the city.

Doctors say that there has been an unusual surge in the number of condoms distributed at government-run hospitals and health centres, and they had long had a sneaking suspicion they were not all being used for family planning.