India

The Nationalist Congress Party is the only political party in the country to have separate wing for young women that was formerly launched by Rajya Sabha member Supriya Sule. "This is a great opportunity for young women to make their presence felt in politics.

Despite 50 per cent reservation in panchayat bodies, most of the elected woman representatives still get a raw deal, whether it is at the hands of their 'powerful' colleagues, or government officials.

Women civil servants in India have expressed shock at new appraisal rules which require them to reveal details of their menstrual cycles.
For more information, please visit BBC News

For 20-year-old Pooja of Panelli village in Gujarat, life would have been different had she the freedom to choose the way she wanted to live.

With a population of 170 million, Uttar Pradesh is India's largest state and the world's seventh largest political entity. It now has a government led by Mayawati (51), herself a Dalit and a single woman.

Popular television actress Vani Tripathi has taken to politics seriously and has become the national secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) youth wing. The TV star believes she had the 'courage' to join the political system instead of just being a critic.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajnath Singh today criticised the UPA Government for its failure to re-introduce a bill in Parliament to give 33 percent reservation to women in politics.

UPA-Left nominee Pratibha Patil won the presidential election to become India's first woman president in a bitterly contested poll that saw some cross voting from the BJP.Patil won by a huge three lakh margin defeating NDA-backed independent candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.