News in Brief-(2023-09-23)

Indian parliament sets aside
33pc of seats for women
NEW DELHI, Sept 22: Lawmakers in India's upper house of Parliament on Thursday gave final consent to a bill to reserve 33 per cent seats in the lower house and state assemblies for women a day after the landmark legislation was approved by the lower house. After 11 hours of debate, over 200 MPs in the upper house voted in favour of the bill aimed at improving gender equality in the corridors of power. It guarantees 33 per cent reservation to women lawmakers in the lower house and state assemblies. — Reuters
Armenia slams UN Security Council for
failure to prevent Azerbaijan 'invasion'
NEW YORK, Sept 22: Armenia's foreign minister has condemned the UN Security Council for failing to prevent what he described as the beginning of ethnic cleansing of Armenian populations by Azerbaijani forces in the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region. Ararat Mirzoyan's comments came on Thursday as he addressed a special session of the Security Council, on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, two days after Azerbaijan launched a military offensive in the region that its Defence Ministry described as an "antiterrorist" operation. — Arab News
Russia says Crimea naval HQ
hit in missile attack
MOSCOW, Sept 22: A Ukrainian missile attack Friday struck the headquarters of Moscow's Black Sea fleet in annexed Crimea, killing at least one and sparking a fire in Kyiv's latest assault by on the peninsula. Ukraine has targeted Crimea throughout Russia's offensive but attacks on military installations there have recently intensified as Kyiv vows to recapture the peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014. — AFP