Of late we have not heard of any public opinion poll results concerning President George W. Bush. But his friend and ally at No 10, Downing Street, seems to be on the verge of being mauled by his countrymen.
Four years after the US-led invasion, Iraq still dwarfs all other issues in Britain as Prime Minister Tony Blair prepares to announce his resignation next week.
“An exclusive poll reveals 69 per cent of Britons believe that, when he leaves office, his enduring legacy will be the bloody conflict in Iraq,” says Andrew Grice in The Independent.
“Seven out of 10 people believe that Iraq will prove to be Tony Blair’s most enduring legacy, according to an opinion poll for The Independent to mark the 10th anniversary today of the election victory that brought him to power.
“As the Prime Minister prepares to announce his resignation next week, Blair’s next highest ‘legacy rating’ – just 9 per cent – is for his relationship with the American President, George Bush.”
And here’s about Tony Blair’s political legacy and other issues…please click here…
The Earth Times says: “Blair’s…legacy of the last 10 years will be simply ‘war and waste’, a reflection of the public opinion about Blair’s decision to go to war in Iraq as well as a 160 percent rise in personal debt to 1.3 trillion pounds.
“Blair is expected to announce the schedule for his stepping down soon after the results of the May 3 local elections in England, Wales and Scotland are announced. Labour leaders believe the announcement will trigger a leadership contest – which Chancellor Gordon Brown is widely expected to win.
“Blair is expected to formally step down in June and hand over the keys to 10, Downing Street to Brown. Potential rivals to Brown such as Environment Secretary David Miliband and Home Secretary John Reid have made it known that they would not contest the leadership election.”
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.