India gets first woman speaker

India's Parliament yesterday elected its first woman speaker, Meira Kumar, who is also a member of the low-caste "untouchable" Dalit community.

Kumar, 64, was elected unopposed by a voice vote in India's 543-seat lower house of parliament.

A five-term MP, Kumar was a career diplomat who entered politics in 1985.

In the April-May national polls, she was elected to Parliament from the impoverished eastern state of Bihar.

Kumar had described her nomination as India's first woman speaker as a "historic moment" for the country and an "overwhelming moment" for herself.