don't. mean to do. this is d. w. news asia coming up on the program what will it take for india to finally see more women in parliament as the country enters the fourth phase of its massive election we have a special report from west bengal where a leading political candidate is trying to break through the glass ceiling plus. the end of an era japan and currently he told prepares to step down from his royal

duties and hand over his ceremonial robe. i'm melissa chan welcome to news asia it's good to have you with us indians have voted in the fourth phase of polling in the country's month long general elections voters will elect a new parliament and prime minister narendra modi from the ruling hindu b j p party is seeking a second term is main challenger is leader of the opposition congress party raul gandhi the election is the world's biggest with nine hundred million people eligible to vote they will let five hundred forty three m.p.'s to the lower house of parliament called the lok sabha polling has been spread out across the country in seven phases to. they voters went to the polls across nine states this includes

parts of the state of west bengal where one political party is fielding a significant number of female candidates at forty one percent that's the highest number from any party this election correspondent sonja sally car travels to west bengal to meet. of the trinamool congress. in. its early morning in west bengal it's not their district politics here is a festive affair. it's dominated by the ruling t.m.c. orthonormal congress party. and the start of the show here is the party's. she quit a prestigious job as president of j.p. morgan in london in two thousand and eight. return to india and plunged into politics fulfilling a long held dream. when i was a kid if you asked me what i wanted to become i never said. that i was i want to be

the i want to be want to be. more throws been doing that as an elected local lawmaker for the last four years. she's now i have a seat in the national parliament there's little doubt about who's in charge here she's angry about. the former investment banker is a race site indian politics still largely a boys' club she draws curious crowds mainly women in these parts but the forty two year old who's also a national spokesperson for her party dismisses any questions about agenda and politics. as a politician. i think very few women's issues if you're fighting such basic grassroots politics that you've got a bad road it's a bad road that a woman walks on that it's a bad road that up a man walks on so i don't think that i can make a road that only women will walk on so i think most issues here are issues that are generic for everybody you know poverty infrastructure drinking water. through

attributes hope political rise to hard work and passion it's a part she believes is open to any woman willing to take. her own party to the t.m.c. is heavily promoting women candidates the push has come from the very top western wall it's currently the only state in india that's led by a woman chief minister of the she is often described as the firebrand leader and is the book the prime minister of rainfall and in this election he's fielding women in a record forty one percent in the field of party it's interesting if. it's the highest number in this election but that doesn't mask the fact that india has one of the world's lowest rates of female lawmakers in parliament at just eleven percent who i mean the experts the parties need to do much more to change that and also all political parties have set up separately and that's necessary but the

question is how many of them are there a decision making provision in. general. of the other big. issue is how to make the environment more suitable for women who are comfortable for women to actually enjoy. this mystery now on their own accord. back on the campaign trail. mix a quick stop to meet voters she's treated like a rock star. but she has little time she plans to cover hundreds of polling stations in the next days. that means many more like this one every handshake and car and it's she faces a tough challenge from prime minister nuri in the movies hindu nationalist beach. which is ready for it this election is unlike any election we that's an independent india it is in the next for the idea of india we are fighting to remove more the we are fighting to save the very idea of india that i'm going to win one hundred

percent of the question of how large my victory margin will be temperatures have already soared to more than thirty five degrees but there's no way. it's going to get a deal any time soon. so there are more and more female candidates hoping to change india's political landscape but what do young women think about their representation in parliament we hit the streets of delhi to find out i wouldn't like you work for a woman just because i fear that if there are murdered i'm one of the men in the parliament then. i mean the media members it won't be dominating as such and the only issue is equal equal and then i think any shoe would be strived in a better way in a society like india of a women have we long oppressed i think it's really important that women are step up and come into avenues they use you see more evan you should be created for women or they should step in the corporate public administration we need of women the

remainder presented in politics are from are. from the privileged background and only those kind of the men i represented just because of the. the could be have some kind of. but i want. joining us now is angelica riba the former general secretary of the national students' union of india she writes about politics and gender anjelica it's interesting in that earlier report the candidate was pretty adamant she didn't want to be referred to as a female candidate now identity politics is tricky what do you think is going on there is she afraid she's going to lose votes from men. generally you know that is one of the reasons i believe because the fact that the woman has to distance herself from agenda is the best i'm one of the identity politics is very crucial because generally even when you look at the u.s. elections hillary clinton how do we do distance ourselves more often and present

herself as a strong and capable leader similarly in india we have this all just. ensures that women do not you know women candidates are often not vote that is very seen as a woman because of the student dives where they are seen as we and in capital but if different then and if they try to fit in as a male candidate when more often than not there's water to devour the thing is even when when you go and ask a male candidate whether he is seen as a kind of if they win even it's not even a question of gender there but for a woman candidate gender becomes a primary factor. now there are some shining examples in indian history for example indira gandhi having been elected prime minister in the one nine hundred sixty s. you have the current defense and foreign ministers who are women but in parliament the percentage is still dismal why do you think that is give us a couple of the main reasons. indian

society is very patriarchal and it has been sold to currently we have just eleven point eight percent of women in our. assemblies and parliament the reason is because of political parties we don't still have a. system even there is no voluntary gender equality in the political parties as well and because of which politics parties do not have the ball because who will. become candidates or to feel women as candidates so that's one of the means or reasons apart from that we have guns of sexism and misogyny that is inherent within the system which ensures that women in general you steve. of politics i see a lot of young women you know entering into the system with a lot of patients a day longer means so for a long time because politics is also not a job that pays you so they have to sustain themselves and it becomes very difficult in terms of family pressure financial rasher and societal pressure so women tend to stay out of it more often than not. now i really want to follow up on

what you said about the gender quota is that what's necessary do you think that's the main change that's going to get us to gender parity. indeed in india we absolutely need to at this point in time because we have just eleven point eight percent in of argument and if we're back in one thousand nine hundred three when the constitution amendment was brought in. for a reservation in the local governments it brought the revolutionary change where women's participation change from three percent to four percent to forty two percent so that is what is required at the higher rungs of government as well right now angelica thank you we head to japan now where in error is ending this week emperor akihito abdicates tomorrow after three decades on the throne the eighty five year old will hand over official duties to his fifty nine year old son hito now the royal plant family plays no part

in governance or politics in the country their roles are ceremonial and symbolic when prince not a he took becomes emperor he will put on some very special robes representing the prominence of a royal house that stretches back some fourteen hundred years. emperor akihito paying his respects to shinto shrine it's one of his last shot him and he says japan's head of state for the second world war japan's emperor was treated like a gold to dig he has a more done to. as a symbolic figure head. but the tradition of the emperor is carried in the garments he wears during his coronation. well the little the motif of the chinese phoenix on the emperor's kimono symbolizes the peace that takes hold with the enthronement of a new solver and. the golden brown color only the emperor is allowed to wear it refers

to the sun that the earth. the japanese royal family are said to be descendants of a sudden god dess called. when the new emperor nero he too and his wife awada are introduced to the public the robes the wear symbolize the physical weight of responsibility on their shoulders. and. all the layers of previous robes weighed more than twelve kilograms together and gills and . now he chews coronation represents the culmination of tradition spawning some one hundred twenty five generations. you can find more on this and other stories on our website that dot com forward slash asia and check us out on facebook as well we'll leave you with pictures from hong kong where tens of thousands of residents protested. against a proposed extradition law it would make it possible for people to be sent to

mainland china for a trial that's a move many fear will put the city's freedoms at risk the next time. what secrets lie behind these. find him and most of experience and explore a fascinating cultural heritage sites. d.w. world heritage three sixty you feel. you're

going to unofficial estimates more than one point two million venezuelans live in colombia legally and illegally. video was returned to vast whaler. visiting friends i don't think i'd ever go back there to live you know when i lived there again i don't know so i'm not sure. bearing witness global news that matters. made for mines. is global market stability at stake iranian officials say u.s. sanctions against their oil industry are a danger to the world. japan is said to lose an emperor but could it also lose its position as the world's third largest economy. and what the human eye can see using

the latest old truck high definition cameras to ensure our roads a safe. i've been fizzling let's do business if donald trump has his way a radiant oil exports will cease next month ramped up sanctions will hit hard international monetary fund expects a ruds recession to deepen saying the economy could for tracked by six percent. here in teheran people are exchanging reales as fast as they can faith in the iranian currency has fallen dramatically it now takes a stack of them one hundred forty four thousand at the moment to purchase a single dollar and most people fear the u.s. sanctions will drive the rio down even further. of course the country's revenues are going to drop the real value will drop as well and the endo the pressure that they're putting on is pressure on the people. some.