North Korea to boycott UN rights council: Foreign minister

North Korea to boycott UN rights council: Foreign minister

'We shall no longer participate in international sessions singling out the human rights situation of (North Korea) for mere political attack,' Ri said.North Korea will boycott the UN Human Rights Council, Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong said on Tuesday deploring the “politicisation” of the body.
“We shall no longer participate in international sessions singling out the human rights situation of (North Korea) for mere political attack,” Ri told the council, charging it was plagued by “politicisation, selectivity and double standards.”
The UN’s top rights body has repeatedly slammed the situation in North Korea, with a massive 2014 report charging the country and its leadership were guilty of a wide range of crimes against humanity.

But Ri insisted Tuesday that the United States and others who have long yearned for the “elimination of the DPRK” (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) were using false allegations of human rights abuses to boost their cause.
He charged they were driving a “human rights racket” against the country.
They were offering more than $5,000 (4,600 euros) to “so-called North Korean defectors” to get them to “fabricate” shocking testimony about the situation in the country, Ri said.
He also claimed that Pyongyang’s enemies were dangling promises of economic aid to entice UN member countries to adopt resolutions on human rights in North Korea.
“In other words, the voting process at the international human rights mechanisms is being commercialised,” Ri said.
North Korea would no longer take part in the process, he said, stressing that from now on, “whether or not such resolutions are to be put to a vote will be none of our business and we will never be bound by them.”
Later Tuesday, the UN Security Council in New York is due to vote on a US-drafted resolution imposing a raft of new sanctions on North Korea following its recent nuclear test and rocket launch.

Cross stations of jesus

PM Narendra Modi remains the most powerful Indian, Rahul Gandhi at ninth spot

Power List, which ranks the 100 most powerful Indians, for the year 2016 is out.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who led his party the BJP to a landslide victory in the 2014 national elections, remains the most powerful Indian. Despite a slew of controversies around him, his popularity is unchallenged.

“…Despite the storm around him — the intolerance debate, the defeat in Bihar, the Rohith Vemula suicide, the JNU crisis — he remains the unchallenged No 1. Under Modi, the PMO has become the epicentre of all important, and some not-so-important, decisions, with the ministries often being bypassed,” the list says.

The impromptu decision the Prime Minister took to stop-over in Lahore on his way home from Afghanistan to meet Nawaz Sharif was considered a clever diplomatic move and surprised geopolitical scientists. The visit also opened a new channel of communication between the two countries.

Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the RSS (the ideological fountainhead of the BJP), holds the second spot, very much an indicator of the influence of his organization on the present government.

“While Narendra Modi is seen to have complete Sangh backing, Bhagwat has ensured that the RSS maintains its distinct and larger identity as a flagbearer of Hindu pride,” the poll says.

While BJP chief Amit Shah occupies the third spot, Finance Minister Arun Jaitleyand Congress President Sonia Gandhi covet the fourth and fifth spots.

Amit Shah, Sonia Gandhi among the list

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is at a distant ninth, although he has climbed up two spots. Although the Congress was washed out in Delhi by the Aam Aadmi Party in March, come October, the party successfully piggy-backed on the popularity of Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav to reap dividends in the state. In 2015, the Congress vice president was also seen to be much more active than previous years, leading agitations and protest marches and launching attacks against the government.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has not lost a single opportunity to attack the Centre, is at 8th spot and Mehbooba Mufti, the PDP chairperson who could go on to become Jammu and Kashmir’s first woman chief minister, has made it into the list.

Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan make it to the list

Among sportspersons, Virat Kohli, the vice captain of the Indian cricket team, is at 42nd spot. Badminton player Saina Nehwal is at 84th spot and tennis star Sania Mirza is at 85th spot.

Among Bollywood actors, Salman Khan, who has had a troubled 2015 with the hearings in the 2002 hit-and-run case, is ranked 83rd. Actor Deepika Padukone is at 93rd spot and Priyanka Chopra at 98th spot.