N A T I O N

India abstains as UN adopts resolution against Lanka
New Delhi, March 27
India today abstained from voting on an anti-Sri Lanka resolution at the United Nations Human Right Council (UNHRC) meeting in Geneva. The council adopted the resolution which called for an international inquiry mechanism into human rights violations during the armed conflict in the island.

Congress manifesto a ‘bundle of lies’: Modi
Gumla (Jharkhand)/Gaya (Bihar), March 27
BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi today tore into the Congress manifesto, calling it a "bundle of lies".
Sushma could be next Dy PM: MP minister

Narendra Modi at an election rally in Gaya on Thursday. PTI

CBI registers 2 fresh cases in coal scam
New Delhi, March 27
The CBI today registered two fresh cases for alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks and conducted raids in Nagpur, Mumbai and Chhattisgarh to seize incriminating documents to support the allegation made against the accused.

BJP may field big guns against Sonia, Rahul
New Delhi, March 27
Every constituency matters and what matters more is the message that the contest sends across. Keeping this in mind, the BJP is seriously considering fielding big guns against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi.

India is polio-free
New Delhi, March 27
WHO South-East Asia region, home to a quarter of the world’s population, was today certified polio-free by an independent commission under the WHO certification process.

India abstains as UN adopts resolution against Lanka
Ashok Tuteja
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 27
India today abstained from voting on an anti-Sri Lanka resolution at the United Nations Human Right Council (UNHRC) meeting in Geneva. The council adopted the resolution which called for an international inquiry mechanism into human rights violations during the armed conflict in the island.

The resolution, sponsored by the US, the UK, Montenegro, Macedonia and Mauritius, was passed with 23 votes in favour, 12 against and as many abstentions.

Apart from India, Japan, South Africa and Indonesia were among key countries that abstained from voting. China, Pakistan, Russia and Saudi Arabia were among the countries that voted against the resolution, while France, Germany, Italy and South Korea were among those who backed it.

New Delhi’s decision to abstain is in sharp contrast to the stand it had taken in 2009, 2012 and 2013 when it had supported the resolution on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Lanka in keeping with the overwhelming sentiments against the island nation in Tamil Nadu.

This time around too, there was intense pressure on the UPA government from political outfits in Tamil Nadu to vote against Lanka but New Delhi decided to abstain in view of reservations it had with regard to certain provisions of the resolution. There were also fears that another vote against Lanka would further alienate Colombo and move it even closer to Beijing and Islamabad.

Explaining the reason for India’s abstention, official sources said New Delhi’s approach to human rights had been that the promotion and protection of human rights was the primary responsibility of the state. From this perspective, however, there were several elements that were new in the resolution in comparison with earlier resolution on Lanka at the UNHRC. The resolution was much more intrusive and sought to erode national sovereignty. The thrust of the resolution was to impose an OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner for Human rights)-led open ended international investigation into a sovereign member state.

Rights violation to be probed

• The United Nations Human Right Council's resolution calls for an international inquiry mechanism into human rights violations during the armed conflict in Sri Lanka
• The resolution, sponsored by the US, the UK, Montenegro, Macedonia and Mauritius, was passed with 23 votes in favour, 12 against and as many abstentions

Congress manifesto a ‘bundle of lies’: Modi

Gumla (Jharkhand)/Gaya (Bihar), March 27
BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi today tore into the Congress manifesto, calling it a "bundle of lies". He also accused the Nitish Kumar government of "nurturing and abetting" terrorism for "vote-bank" politics.

Modi, who addressed two rallies in Bihar and one in Jharkhand, also revived the "Jayanthi tax" barb aimed at former Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan to hit out at the UPA government over alleged corruption in clearing power projects.

"The Congress released its manifesto yesterday which is a bundle of lies. They had made the same promises in their 2004 and 2009 manifestoes," he said.

"For any political party, a manifesto is like the Gita, the Bible and the Koran and should not be a document to hoodwink the people," he said. He accused the Congress of not fulfilling its past promises such as controlling prices or ensuring a job to a member of each family.

"I can assure you that corruption can be curbed. But a leader should have guts, a clean conscience and a clear policy," he said. The Gujarat Chief Minister targeted his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar at the rallies in Sasaram and Gaya.

"Log mare to mare unko chinta thi apni kursi ki apne vote bank ki (let the people die he was more concerned for his chair and vote-bank politics)," he said.

The holy city of Bodh Gaya, he said, was rocked by serial bomb blasts triggered by terrorists in July last year, but the state government did little to prevent it.

Chaos broke out at the venue of Modi's rally in Gaya shortly before he was due to address it prompting the police to resort to a mild lathicharge to restore order. A section of the crowd broke the wooden barricades and barged into the media enclosure while some threw bottles and chappals at the police. The rally, however, continued.

Ahead of Modi's rallies in Bihar, Maoists blew up two mobile towers in Gaya district. — PTI

Sushma could be next Dy PM: MP minister

BHOPAL: In a remark that could ruffle some feathers in the BJP ahead of the General Election, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Minister Surendra Patwa said Sushma Swaraj could be the future Deputy Prime Minister if the BJP was voted to power at the Centre.

CBI registers 2 fresh cases in coal scam
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 27
The CBI today registered two fresh cases for alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks and conducted raids in Nagpur, Mumbai and Chhattisgarh to seize incriminating documents to support the allegation made against the accused.

The fresh cases were registered against Central Colliery and Prakash Industries.

GD Daga, promoter of Central Colliery; Ved Prakash, promoter of Prakash Industries; and some unknown government officials were named in the FIR, sources said.

Meanwhile, the CBI on Thursday filed its second chargesheet in the coal scam before a Delhi court naming Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Darda, his son Devendra, Nagpur-based AMR Iron and Steel Pvt Ltd and others as accused for fraudulently acquiring coal blocks by concealing the fact that its group companies had previously been allocated five coal blocks.

(With PTI inputs)

BJP may field big guns against Sonia, Rahul
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 27
Every constituency matters and what matters more is the message that the contest sends across. Keeping this in mind, the BJP is seriously considering fielding big guns against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi.

Sources say the party may field firebrand leader Uma Bharti against Sonia Gandhi in Rae Barelli and Rajya Sabha member Smriti Irani against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi.

Smriti’s proven track record in putting up a spirited defence in favour of her party will add oomph to the Amethi contest, the BJP believes.

As far as Uma Bharti is concerned, though she has started her campaign from Jhansi, sources say that there is a possibility that she may be moved as yoga guru Ramdev has extended support to her. Uma Bharti too seems keen to shift to Rae Barelli. By merely participating in the high-profile contest against Sonia Gandhi, she will gain prominence.

India is polio-free
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 27
WHO South-East Asia region, home to a quarter of the world’s population, was today certified polio-free by an independent commission under the WHO certification process.

The certification to the region was driven by India’s polio-free status considering India was the only country among 11 in the South East Asia region which was not polio-free until recently.

This is the fourth of six WHO regions to be certified polio-free marking an important step towards global polio eradication. With this step, 80 per cent of the world’s population lives in polio-free regions now.

An independent panel of 11 experts in public health, epidemiology, virology, clinical medicine and related specialities constituting the South-East Asia Regional Certification Commission for Polio Eradication (SEA-RCCPE) met for two days to review evidence from countries before reaching the decision that all 11 countries of the Region are now polio-free and have met the requirements for certification. WHO’s South-East Asia Region comprises 11 member states.