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LUCKNOW: The BJP’s march for bagging the centre of power under the leadership of Narendra Modi and Rajnath Singh will face major challenges in Uttar Pradesh from BSP supremo Mayawati, SP national president Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi of Congress (I).

The serial bomb blasts at Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya may not have damaged the world known shrine, but it has dented the image of Nitish Kumar and he has suffered irreparable damage to his image of a strong administrator. Nitish Kumar is an image conscious politician and he has acquired his present status in the national politics because of his image of a clean and able administrator. Despite being a leader of a small regional party, if he was considered to be a prospective Prime Minister of India, it was only because of his good image.

Global economy’s “growing pains” in 2013 has forced IMF to slash its earlier projections for all economies - advanced, emerging and other developing - so that global growth this year would be no better than 3.1 per cent as in 2012. For India, it is marginal reduction for fiscal 2014 from 5.7 to 5.6 per cent.

Had the United Progressive Alliance intended to court unpopularity ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections, it couldn’t have done so more effectively than by dithering on progressive measures like the food security Act, land acquisition Bill, universal healthcare, and social security for unorganised workers. The UPA finally passed a food security ordinance—but only after greatly diluting the universal food provision recommended by the National Advisory Council.

The desperate hurry with which the Manmohan Singh government pushed through the food security ordinance showed that the Congress had realised that it had nothing to show for its last four and a half years in office. The economy has slumped, inflation has risen and foreign investments have dried up. To deepen the mood of doom and gloom, the prime minister has become even more tongue-tied while the finance minister’s occasional attempts to talk up the economy impress no one.

New Delhi: Following the serial bomb blasts at Bodhgaya, India has assured Myanmar that the sacred Buddhist pilgrim site would remain to be peaceful in future and the safety of foreign pilgrims would be assured.

Politically, Pakistan’s democratic transition has been commendable but the new Government headed by Nawaz Sharif has inherited an economy in such desperate straits, with crippling power shortages on top, that it has had to agree, within a month of assuming office, for a new three-year IMF credit of 5.3 billion dollars. But the formal approval by IMF Board is expected only in September.

In politics there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies – there are only permanent interests. The saying’s validity has again been proved by the on-going efforts of the Congress and the BJP to retain their present allies and seek new ones. The developments of the past few weeks show that the tainted Congress-led UPA is scoring over the BJP-led NDA. The party has announced an electoral pact with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. It is now trying to find friends among other parties including Nitish Kumar’s JD(U).

New Delhi: India and Albania have signed an Agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion relating to Taxes on Income and on capital.

BHOPAL: Two recent happenings may cause serious difficulty and embarrassment for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh. One incident relates to the resignation of Raghavji Bhai, the state's Finance Minister, in the wake of serious allegations of sexually exploiting his male servant.