• Working to Stop Violence Against Women Two activists spoke with India Real Time about violence against women and what people can do to help fight the problem and change attitudes. (India Real Time, May 13, 2013)

• Identity and Home in Meira Chand's novels Anu Kumar writes about Meira Chand's body of work, from her first novel in the 1970s to her most recent. (for Sawnet, Jul 2011)

• 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)

A random selection of previous news items..

• Greetings, Aunt Flo! Aravinda Pillalamarri writes about the comfort and practicality of menstrual cups. (Manushi and IndiaTogether, Nov 2005)

• The Myth of Matriliny. Empowerment still eludes Meghalaya's women. (indiatogether.org, Apr 2002)

• The woman killed for pop music Shaima Rezayee, a television presenter for Kabul TV, is shot dead. (Times, UK, May 2005)

• The God of Literary Trends "Wanted: South Asian beauties to pen delicious tales of kitchen squabbles and sparkly saris, imbued with quirky, food-based exoticism." (Noy Thrupkaew writes about literature, exoticism, and the new South Asian writers, in Alternet., Jun 2002)

• The Great Indian Rape-Trick Arundhati Roy's pair of articles about Shekhar Kapoor's movie, Bandit Queen. This controversial article led to a court case, after which she retired (temporarily) to write her book, The God of Small Things. August, 1994)

• Women, Sex and Marriage: Restraint as a feminine strategy Madhu Kishwar writes about the power of celibacy and restrained sexuality. (Manushi. Reproduced here with permission, 1997)

• 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)

• Frail ties unite us Anders Sjobohm writes a moving essay about being the adoptive father of a Sri Lankan boy. Jan 2001)

• Women in the Indian Paramilitary Heading for Liberia to assist in UN operations (Telegu Portal, Sep 2006)

• In India, risk of domestic violence rises with women's education (Swapna Mazumdar, Women's e-news, Nov 2003)