US to cut $200 mn aid to Gaza and West Bank
Washington, Aug 25 : US President Donald Trump has ordered more than $200 million in economic aid which was to be allocated to Gaza and the West Bank be redirected elsewhere.
A State Department official said the decision was made after a review "to ensure these funds are spent in accordance with US national interests", BBC reported on Friday.
It has already withheld $65 million from the UN relief agency for the Palestinians. Relations between the Palestinians and the US have been difficult since Trump took power.
They hit a low point after the US recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017. As a result, the Palestinians said the US was unable to continue its mediation role in the peace process and suspended contact.
The US administration, meanwhile, suspended aid to the Palestinians pending a review in the light of the Taylor Force Act back in June. The act aimed to force the Palestinian Authority to cease paying stipends to families of individuals convicted of terrorism against Israel.
On Friday, a State Department spokesman said the decision to "redirect" the funds to other "high-priority projects" was made as a result of the review, but did not say where the money would now go.
Both the Palestinians and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency warned cutting funding would make everyday life harder for the territories' citizens
However, the US official said the decision took into account "the challenges the international community faces in providing assistance in Gaza, where Hamas control endangers the lives of Gaza's citizens and degrades an already dire humanitarian and economic situation".
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Odisha: Medical College expels 5 MBBS students from hostel for ragging juniors
Berhampur (Odisha), Nov 2: Five MBBS fourth-year students of government-run MKCG Medical College here were expelled from the hostel for allegedly ragging juniors, an official said on Saturday.
Earlier the five students have been rusticated from the campus for six months. The punishment was imposed as per the decision of the anti-ragging committee meeting held on Wednesday, the official said.
"The anti-ragging committee has taken such a hard decision to arrest further occurrence of ragging incidents in the medical college campus," said SP (Berhampur) Sarvan Vivek M, who is one of the members of the anti-ragging committee of the college.
Suchitra Dash, in-charge Dean of the college, however, declined to comment on the development.
The SP said they were also investigating separately against these students based on the FIR lodged. The statement of the students have been recorded by the police on Friday, he said.
While one second-year MBBS student has given a written complaint to the college authorities alleging ragging by senior students, three other complaints of ragging were lodged by parents of the students with the National Medical Council (NMC).
The NMC had directed the college authorities to inquire into the allegations and take action against the students.
After receiving the complaints from the NMC, the anti-ragging committee of the medical college inquired into the matter.
In February this year, the medical college authorities had suspended two fourth-year MBBS students for two months for ragging a second-year student.
