New speaker for Indian parliament

A senior official of the right-wing Indian Shiv Sena party is set to become the new speaker of the Lok Sabha - the lower house of parliament.

The governing National Democratic Alliance has named Manohar Joshi, the federal Minister for Heavy Industry and a former chief minister of Maharashtra state, for the post.

Mr Joshi emerged as a consensus candidate in discussions between the government coalition and opposition parties and his name has gone forward unopposed.

Correspondents say in India, the position of Lok Sabha speaker is an influential one; the Hindu-nationalist Shiv Sena party is a key ally in the BJP-led governing coalition.

The post of speaker became vacant after GMC Balayogi died in a helicopter crash in March.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service