NEW DELHI (AP) -- India got its first female president Saturday in a victory hailed as a special moment in a country where discrimination against women is often deep-rooted and widespread.

Pratibha Patil, 72, won 65.82 percent of the votes cast by national lawmakers and state legislators, said P.D.T. Achary, the secretary general of Parliament. She had the support of the governing Congress party and its political allies, and had been widely expected to win. ""It is a special moment for us women, and men of course, in our country because for the first time we have a woman being elected president of India,"" said Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, who hand-picked Patil and was one of the first to congratulate her. @H= Italian minister defends Hijab @T= TEHRAN (PRESS TV) -- Italian Minister of the Interior, Giuliano Amato has defended the dress code of Muslim women, known as 'Hijab', saying the Islamic law 'protects them.' Speaking at a ceremony titled ""Women and Society"", Giuliano Amato added that the practice of Hijab encourages respect toward women. He pointed to the positive effects that ""accrue to women from adherence to the Islamic dress code"" and said ""It's a shame that Italy is turning into a country where a woman is either a nice image to look at or worth nothing."" @H= Government to toughen law on Sati @T= NEW DELHI (Reuters) -- The government plans to tighten laws against Sati, the ancient custom of widows burning themselves alive, by holding entire communities responsible and increasing penalties to up to life imprisonment, officials said on Tuesday. Sati -- where widows jump onto their husband's funeral pyres -- was first banned by Britain's colonial rulers in 1829 and laws strengthened most recently in 1987 but rare cases still occur in parts of India. A ministerial panel is proposing amendments to the Sati Prevention Act 1987 to ensure the practice is wiped out completely. @H= American women supportive but skeptical of Clinton @T= NEW YORK (Herald Tribune) -- Women view Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton more favorably than men do, but she still faces skepticism among some women, especially those who are older and those who are married, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. Women hold more positive views than men of all the leading Democratic candidates. But winning the support of women, who made up 54 percent of voters in the last presidential election, is especially important to Clinton, who has sought to rally them behind her quest to become the nation's first female president. The poll found that over all, women tend to agree with her on the issues and see her as a strong leader and as a positive role model. @H= Low calcium to cause dry mouth in menopausal women @T= TEHRAN (Press TV) -- Findings show dry mouth can be alliviated in menopausal women. According to a study at Tehran University of medical science, dryness in mouth for menopausal women is caused by Low level of Calcium. A case-control study which was carried out in menopausal women aged 52 to 73 was implemented in clinic of Oral Medicine from November 2004 to March 2005 and published in Oral Disease magazine in May 2007. New findings show that salivary calcium concentration may be higher in menopausal women with oral dry feeling