Silicon Valley, Dec 08: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, US President George W Bush and Russian leader Vladimir Putin stand head and shoulders above many of their international counterparts in personal popularity, according to a major study of public opinion in 44 nations. Three-quarters of Indians gave Prime Minister Vajpayee good marks, according to the study released this week by the Washington-based Pew Research Center for the people and the press.
The Pew global attitudes survey, which interviewed more than 38,000 people, showed that 71 per cent Americans believed Bush was having a good influence on how things were going in the country and 85 per cent of Russians felt the same way about President Putin.

By comparison 62 per cent of the French held a positive view of their President Jacques Chirac, while 54 per cent of the British believed Prime Minister Tony Blair was a positive influence on the country. With just 38 per cent, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had the least support among the G-8 leaders.
The report, titled what the world thinks in 2002, said that people in countries with authoritarian regimes gave their leaders, such as Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan (76 per cent approval), the high marks that might be expected for heads of governments that brook little opposition. Bureau Report