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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Nine of family killed as car falls into well in Nashik district
Nashik (PTI): Nine members of a family, including six children, were killed after their car fell into a well in Maharashtra's Nashik district, police said on Saturday.
The accident occurred in the Shivaji Nagar area of Dindori town around 10 pm on Friday, an official said.
The victims were heading home after attending a function at a banquet hall in the area when their car fell into a well near the venue, he said.
Personnel from the local police and emergency services arrived at the scene and retrieved the car and its occupants with the help of two cranes and swimmers around midnight.
The victims were members of the Dargude family from Indore village in Dindori taluka, the official said.
According to the police, the deceased were identified as Sunil Dattu Dargude (32), his wife Reshma, Asha Anil Dargude (32), and six children from the family, five girls in the age group of seven to 14 years and an 11-year-old boy.
Their bodies were brought to the government hospital in Dindori, the official said, adding that a case has been registered and a probe is underway to ascertain the cause of the accident.
