• Meira Kumar to be India's first woman speaker Ms Kumar, who has been elected to parliament five times, is the daughter of the late Babu Jagjivan Ram, a prominent Dalit leader and former deputy prime minister of India. (BBC World News, 2 June 2009)

• Stripped Assam woman in poll bid A tribal woman who was stripped and assaulted in India's north-eastern state of Assam is to contest the parliamentary elections. (BBC World News, 10 Mar 2009)

• Widows: the world's forgotten women Widows are mistreated around the world and have little protection. (NewsBlaze, 4 Feb 2009)

• Pakistan's girl band creates a stir The Lahore-based Zeb and Haniya are Pathans who write their own music which is influenced by American folk, swing, jazz and blues, Bollywood, Turkish and Lebanese music and the homegrown qawwali and ghazal. (Listen to their music online at http://www.zebandhaniya.com) (BBC News, 22 Dec 2008)

• Bhutanese take divorce in their stride Bhutan differs from its neighbours India, Nepal and Bangladesh in that divorce and love marriages are common. (BBC News, 24 Dec 2008)

• Pizza Grannies Two women in their 70s run a flourishing pizza business in Bangalore. (Women's Feature Service, )

• Daughters in the Parent Trap Madhu Kishwar writes about their experiences with abused women who are encouraged to return to their husbands. (Women's Feature Service, )

• Afghanistan's top policewoman shot dead Lt-Col Malalai Kakar, head of Kandahar's department of crimes against women, was shot in her car as she was about to leave for work. (BBC World News, 28 Sep 2008)

• Nepal’s ASMITA Brings Women Powerful Advocacy ASMITA was the first-ever public media presence to give voice to Nepalese women’s human rights. Surprisingly, ASMITA was able to launch its media presence because women’s rights in Nepal at the time were silenced and forgotten. Asmita website. (Women News Network, 10 Jan 2008)

• Wealthy New Yorker jailed for keeping slaves Varsha Sabhnani, 46, was convicted with her husband, Mahender Sabhnani, in December of forced labour, peonage, harbouring aliens, document servitude and conspiracy. She was sentenced to 11 years in prison for keeping two Indonesian women as slaves, forcing them to work up to 20 hours a day for years after confiscating their passports. (Sydney Morning Herald, 27 June 2008)

• A Nation's Lowest Women Work Under Severe Degradation In spite of the modernization of many parts of India, the age old custom of using dry -- non-flush -- toilets have exposed many bio-hazards to women in India who work as manual scavengers. (Women News Network, 12 May 2008)

• Fahmida Mirza elected first woman speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly The former doctor was elected by 249 out of 342 votes. She is a veteran politician from Sindh and a loyalist of Benazir Bhutto's PPP party. (Dawn, 19 Mar 2008)

• Taslima Nasrin "exiled again" Protests by Muslim groups forced her into hiding in Nov 2007. After months of confinement she has decided to move to Europe. (BBC World News, 19 Mar 2008)

• The story of the £9 jeans Fred Pearce tracks the origins of his jeans to a group of sweatshop seamstresses in Dhaka, who work long hours producing clothes that are sold in Wal-Mart and Gap, H&M and M&S, Sears and Asda. But they also gain a measure of financial independence. (Independent, UK, 28 Feb 2008)

• 160 refugee Sri Lankan women workers return Sri Lankan women who were working in the Middle East sought refuge in embassies, citing citing harassment, non payment of wages, abuse by employers and agents and the like. At least 160 will return to Sri Lanka. (Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka., 28 Feb 2008)

• Pakistan's women's cricket team qualifies for the World Cup The group of largely unknown young women have defied the odds to beat Zimbabwe, Ireland, Scotland and Netherlands to set up a final date with South Africa. (Rediff, 23 Feb 2008)

• Wedding sleuths find their niche Wedding detectives who check out prospective grooms are being hired in increasing number in India. (Washington Post, 23 Feb 2008)

• Tackling a Society's Boundaries, on TV and in a Family India's newest Tamil talk-show, Ippadikku Rose, is hosted by the transgender Rose. (NY Times, 20 Feb 2008)

• Indian politician expelled from tribe for taking father's name The Khasis are matrilineal, and Mr. Kyndiah broke their legal code by taking his father's surname. (BBC World News, 5 Feb 2008)

• Qurratulain Hyder dies at 80. The noted Urdu writer dies after a long illness. (multiple sources, 21 Aug 2007)

A random selection of previous news items..

• Today's South Asian women writers fill bookstore shelves Champa Bilwakesh (India New England, Feb 2004)

• Women hold Pakistan's software flag aloft While the big boys of Indian IT are, well, boys, the leading lights of Pakistani software are women. (Telegraph, Feb 2004)

• Bharati Mukherjee on Mother Teresa as part of Time's 100 Most Important People of the Century. (Time, Dec 1999)

• The Indian Foreign Service now allows women to "man" its posts. (Outlook, Mar 2004)

• Was it me or was it my sari? Shobha Narayan writes about wearing a sari for a month in Manhattan. (Newsweek, Mar 2000)

• Sex-selective abortion in India. A lengthy analysis summarizing a mailing list discussion on the topic, which highlights the responses to this issue in the Indian-American community. Beloo Mehra (Sulekha, Apr 2004)

• Pani puri funds Infosys dreams The wife of a pani puri vendor has become a software engineer in Infosys, thanks to her husband's support. (Deccan Herald, 24 May 2007)

• NRI lesbians denied marriage license. (Rediff, Mar 2004)

• Women lead rural India's internet rush (BBC News, July 2004)

• A mirage, in the guise of a law India's Domestic Violence Act is notable, but imperfect, says Shoma Chatterji. Indira Jaisingh says that it restores equality. (indiatogether.org, Dec 2006)