The upper house of India’s parliament is voting on a bill to reserve a third of all seats in the national parliament and state legislatures for women.

India’s Vice President called a "voice vote" of MPs in the house and ruled the bill had passed. Now he has called for an official division of votes.

The bill was introduced on Monday amid uproar from opponents, resulting in the suspension of seven MPs on Tuesday.

First proposed in 1996, the bill now has support from India’s main parties.

At present women make up just 10% of the lower house of parliament, and significantly less in state assemblies.

Sonia Gandhi, Congress party president, has said she attaches the "highest importance" to the proposals and passing them would be a "gift to the women of India". </p

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Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has said efforts are being made to free a Kent couple held hostage by pirates at the "earliest possible date".

Paul and Rachel Chandler, 60 and 56, were kidnapped four months ago while sailing in the Indian Ocean.

Speaking through a translator, the president said his government was trying to find a "peaceful resolution".

He confirmed that Prime Minister Gordon Brown had urged him, during talks, to "redouble" release efforts.

‘Not in danger’

President Ahmed said: "Our efforts are geared towards winning their release at the earliest possible date but discussing this in the media is not going to help the case.

"Obviously, when someone is in captivity that is not a good situation at all.

"The Prime Minister asked that we redouble our efforts in winning their release. We have been doing that and will continue.

"We understand there is no danger. They are not in danger."

He added: "First of all, I am sorry about the fact that the Chandlers are being held captive, as I am about the other ships that are captured on the coast of Somalia.

"These young men [the pirates] are not thinking about what is right. Piracy is part of a larger problem that we face in Somalia and the government is actively working on finding a peaceful resolution to this issue."

On Monday, a doctor who treated the couple claimed they had been temporarily reunited.

The Chandlers have been held at different locations since January, the longest they have been apart during their 29-year marriage.

‘Couple together’

The Foreign Office refused to comment on the reunion, but a BBC source in Mogadishu confirmed the reports.

Dr Mohamed Helmi Hangul, who was filmed with the Chandlers last month, told the Associated Press agency he had urged the pirates to reunite the couple, who had been held in separate locations, because they had become anxious about their separation.

He said the pirates had told him the couple were now together.

In an interview in February, Mrs Chandler told a Somali reporter she was "very tormented and very, very lonely and worried".

Mr Chandler described the separation as "torture".

The Chandlers were captured while sailing from the Seychelles towards Tanzania in October last year.

They are among more than 130 sailors being held captive in Somalia.</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.