Britain, Italy and Finland became the latest countries to pause funding for the United Nations’ refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), following allegations its staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

Set up to help refugees of the 1948 war at Israel’s founding, UNRWA provides education, health and aid services to Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. It helps about two thirds of Gaza’s 2.3 million population and has played a pivotal aid role during the current war.

The United States, Australia and Canada had already paused funding to the aid agency after Israel said 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the cross-border attack. The agency has opened an investigation into several employees severed ties with them.

Source – https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/

Gel CLAT 2025 Coaching!

Passage 2

Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar took oath as Bihar Chief Minister for a record ninth time on Sunday, returning to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance just 18 months after he left it, in his fifth switch in political loyalties since 2015. Six Ministers and two Deputy Chief Ministers, both from the BJP, were also sworn in with him.
Mr. Kumar said his latest switch was “in the interest of Bihar”. The BJP said that its renewed “alliance with the JD(U) happened for the development of Bihar”. The Rashtriya Janata Dal, which Mr. Kumar has broken up with again, said, “The game is not over yet”, predicting the JD(U)‘s demise as a party.
Since November 2005, Mr. Kumar has been making repeated political turnarounds to remain the CM of Bihar, apart from a brief hiatus after his party’s poor performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

Source- https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/

29th JAN 2024

First Name

Passage 1

1. United Nations Relief and Works Agency was established by the General Assembly in which year?

A. 1949

B. 1954

C. 1958

D. 1961

2. UNRWA’s mission is to help Palestine refugees in which of this country?

A. Gaza Strip and West Bank

B. East Jerusalem

C. Jordan, Lebanon, Syria

D. All of these

3. Which of this country became the latest to announce that their governments would no longer fund the agency Saturday night?

A. Scotland and Germany

B. Germany and France

C. France and India

D. India and Japan

4. Which two countries make up the agency’s two largest donors, providing around half of the $1.1 billion the agency collected in 2022?

A. US and UK

B. US and Germany

C. UK and Canada

D. US and Canada

5. Which of this is incorrect with respect to India and UNRWA?

A. India has contributed US $5 million to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in 2019.

B. India has voted in favour of a decision introduced by Israel in the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) that objected to granting consultative status to a Palestinian non-governmental organization.

C. India had voted in favour of Palestine on the UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution to investigate an indiscriminate force usage by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians.

D. India had not criticised the United States vote for recognising Jerusalem as the Israeli capital at the UNGA vote.

Passage 2

6. Who is the current Governor of the State of Bihar?

A. Prashant Kishor

B. Fagu Chauhan

C. Vishwanath Arlekar

D. Anandiben Patel

7. On August 9, 2022, after the split of Janata Dal United from the National Democratic Alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, Nitish Kumar was unanimously elected the leader of the Grand Alliance in a joint meeting, which did not included which of this party?

A. RJD

B. Congress

C. Hindustani Awam Morcha

D. JD(M)

8. The two deputy CMs taking oath along with Nitish Kumar are?

A. Tejashvi Yadav and Samrat Choudhary

B. Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha

C. Samrat Choudhary and Bijendra Prasad Yadav

D. Bijendra Yadav and Vijay Sinha

9. Which of this is not a party in NDA Block in the new Bihar government?

A. Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)

B. Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal