India pledges $5 million for Palestinian refugees
United Nations, June 26 : India has pledged $5 million for the UN agency that helps Palestinian refugees during a campaign to make up for the shortfall in its funding after the US cut its contributions.
The offer of the contribution to the organisation known as UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) was made on Monday at a pledging conference here, the UN said.
The agency faces a shortfall of $250 million, according to the UN.
US President Donald Trump announced in January that the US would cut its contributions to UNRWA. The agency said that the actual shortfall for its budget would be $300 million as it had been expecting $365 million from Washington but has received only $65 million.
In March, India had announced at a conference in Rome that it was raising its annual contributions from $1.25 million per year to $5 million for the next three years.
Besides India, 19 countries made pledges for UNRWA on Monday. The agency serves about 5.3 million refugees scattered around the Middle East.
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Niqab incident: Nitish Kumar perhaps revealing his true colours, says J-K CM
Srinagar (PTI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday criticised his Bihar counterpart over the niqab incident and said that Nitish Kumar might be slowly revealing his true nature.
"Nitish Kumar, who was once considered a secular leader, may be slowly showing his true colours," Abdullah told reporters here on the sidelines of a function.
Abdullah said Kumar removing the face veil of a Muslim woman doctor was wrong and cannot be justified by any means.
"We have seen this kind of incident here several years ago. Have you forgotten how Mehbooba Mufti removed the burqa of a legitimate voter inside a polling station? That act was wrong, and this act (of Kumar) is also wrong.
"If the (Bihar) chief minister did not want to hand over the order to her (Muslim woman), they could have kept her aside. However, to humiliate her like this is totally wrong," the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said.
Kumar stirred a huge controversy after he removed the face veil of a Muslim woman at a function earlier this week.
