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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Has the political tide turned decisively against the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Government?

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is lending $150 million towards a $500 million project that will build a hydropower plant with a 140-megawatt capacity.

''On a day this February when newspapers front-paged Afzal Guru family's lament over being denied his remains for burial, the sports pages had a story on off-spinner Pervez Rasool, a cricketing sensation from Kashmir, who staked claim to a Test match with a spell that tore through the Australian batting in Chennai recently.

There is considerable disquiet in Dhaka political circles over recent reports suggesting that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or other US agencies would set up a regional operating centre in Bangladesh. The proposed move comes in the wake of several visits made by US officials.

Whatever critics of Justice Markandey Katju may say, the fact remains that he has put some life in the virtually dead Press Council of India. The PCI had lost whatever moral authority it had and offending newspapers and TV channels had started ignoring it. They had started throwing the council’s summons in wastebasket and not appearing before the enquiry committees formed by the PCI.

KOLKATA: It seems India has made little progress in implementing its proposed infrastructure-related projects in Myanmar, despite the initial euphoria generated over the opening up of the country’s economy.

Over 90 mines in Goa, all exporting iron ore mostly of low quality, are closed for months. The number of closed or under-performing iron ore mines elsewhere in the country is several times more. A large number of berths in some half-a-dozen seaports – large, medium and small – handling ore carriers are lying idle. So are thousands of trucks, earthmovers, dumpers, tipplers and pay-loaders, which are engaged in mining and transportation of ore in normal times, rendering lakhs of people jobless.

Finance Minister Mr P Chidambaram has fewer options to bring about a dramatic turnaround for an economy facing formidable challenges, and his efforts through the forthcoming Budget would mainly focus on moderating fearsome deficits, fiscal and current, to secure greater investor confidence and on providing some incentives to reverse the growth downtrend.