Washington, Nov. 3 : It''s hard to find a political pro who really believes John McCain can turn the presidential vote around on November 4, 2008.

Though the numbers are tightening in the battleground states, a pragmatic senior McCain strategist gave his boss only a 15 percent chance of pulling it off.

The New York Daily News quoted GOP guru Karl Rove, the architect of President Bush’s 2000 and 2004 victories, as saying that McCain faced a “very, very steep, uphill climb”.

Dhaka - A high-level Bangladesh delegation is scheduled to fly to Myanmar Wednesday to hold talks aimed at resolving a dispute over oil and gas exploration in the Bay of Bengal, a top foreign ministry official said Monday.

Bangladesh's foreign secretary Md. Touhid Hossain will lead the delegation at the dialogue with his Myanmar counterpart and other high ranking officials to "defuse the situation" over the exploration, the official said.

New Delhi, Nov 3 : A day after a landmine blasted Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s security vehicle in the Maoist-infested West Midnapore in West Bengal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today assured him of enhanced security.

The Prime Minister had a word with Paswan and told him that he will direct the ministry concerned to enhance his security.

“The Prime Minister has assured me to do the needful to enhance security for me,” Paswan said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee also ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident.

Nevada (US), Nov.

Palatana (Tripura), Nov. 3 : Union Minister of State for Power and Commerce Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said that he would take up with the Bangladesh government the grant of transit permission for consignments for the 726.6 MW gas-based power project, from Haldia port in Kolkata to the project site here via Ashuganj in Bangladesh and Akhura Land Custom Station on the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura.

Ramesh, however, told The Hindu at the project site that he was not hopeful of Bangladesh giving consent. He said Dhaka said ‘no’ to an earlier proposal.

New Delhi, Nov 3 : Polish Defence Minister Bogdan Klich arrives here on Tuesday on a three-day visit to India to explore possibilities of tie-ups with Public Sector Undertakings for joint production as New Delhi looks for partners in the realm of military hardware.

Besides a delegation level meeting with Defence Minister AK Antony, Klich will hold talks with the chairmen of top Defence Public Sector Undertakings including HAL, BEL, BEML and Ordnance Factories Board (OFB).