CM announces Rs 5 lakh ex gratia for victims after families perish in Uttara Kannada landslide

London: There will be no normalization of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel until an independent Palestinian state is established, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the former head of the Kingdom’s intelligence services, has warned. 

During a talk at London-based think tank Chatham House, the former Saudi ambassador to the US also discussed Washington’s role in the peace process as the Gaza war approaches its first anniversary, and how talks before the outbreak of hostilities had been broadly positive.

He said the US is keen on the resumption of talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia to strengthen regional security and to forge economic ties, but Riyadh’s position is that “if there’s a Palestinian state that Israel accepts to come (into) existence, then we can talk about normalization with Israel.”

The prince added: “Before Oct. 7 … talks not only progressed along those lines, but also the Kingdom invited a Palestinian delegation to come and talk directly to the Americans about what it is that might bring about a Palestinian state.

“I’m not privy to those talks so I don’t know what happened between the Palestinians and the Americans, but the Kingdom’s position has always been we won’t speak for the Palestinians. They have to do it for themselves. Unfortunately, of course, the Oct. 7 (Hamas attack against Israel) put an end to those talks.”

Prince Turki said the establishment of a Palestinian state is not only crucial for Israeli ties with Saudi Arabia but with the rest of the Muslim world as well.

“A Palestinian state is a primary condition for Saudi Arabia to have normalization with Israel, but … on the Israeli side, the whole government is saying no Palestinian state,” he added.

Prince Turki said for Saudi Arabia, an independent Palestine would encapsulate the 1967 borders, including East Jerusalem.

He added that the Kingdom has led the way in trying to achieve a peaceful resolution to the conflict, citing the 1981 King Fahd Peace Plan and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative proposed by King Abdullah.

During the current Gaza war, “the Kingdom led the Muslim world, and not only summits with the Arabs but with the (rest of the) Muslim world, and also … the diplomatic missions that have been taking place to convince the world that there must be an end to the fighting, led by the Saudi foreign minister,” Prince Turki said.

“The Kingdom has been in the forefront of condemning the Israeli onslaught on the Palestinians, not just in Gaza but equally in the West Bank.”

He criticized the US and other Western nations for not applying more pressure on Israel to end the war, citing how the UK had only recently begun to suspend certain arms export licenses to Israel following the election of a new government in July.

“I’d like to see more done by the UK,” he said. “I think, for example, the UK … should recognize the state of Palestine. It’s long overdue.”

Prince Turki said the US could apply direct pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the actions of his government and military, and should address funding and lobbying by groups and individuals sympathetic to Israel.

“I think the US has enormous tools to affect Israel which it isn’t using, not just simply … denial of supply of weapons and material to the Israelis,” the prince added.

“A lot of financial help goes to Israel from the US. If some of the privileges that (the) Israeli lobby, for example, in America, enjoys — of tax-free contributions to Israel — can be withdrawn from those Israeli lobbyists, that will (put) great pressure on Israel.”

In the US, “you have to register as a lobbyist for a specific country, or be prosecuted, if you want to talk for that country, but a lot of organizations in America do that for Israel and still enjoy a tax-free status because they’re considered not representing Israel per se, but simply as philanthropic or humanitarian groupings,” he said.

“There are many tools that are available to the US, not simply harsh talk, which seems to have gotten us nowhere. But is America ready to do that? As I said, I’m not too optimistic about that.”

In a shocking development, a doctor, who worked for the mobile medical services of the Isha Foundation in Coimbatore district, has been arrested by the Coimbatore District Police on charges of sexually assaulting many girl students of a government school during a medical camp. 

The incident came to light during a meeting between education officers and the students, held following orders from Chief Secretary N Muruganandam. The meeting was part of a larger investigation after four staff members of a government college in Valparai were recently arrested for sexually harassing students.

The arrested doctor, identified as 33-year-old S Saravanamoorthy, was a native of Tirupattur district and was part of a mobile medical units team, operated by the Isha Foundation of Jaggi Vasudev alias Sadhguru.

These units have reportedly been conducting free medical camps for school students and general public across Coimbatore under their ‘Action for Rural Rejuvenation’ programme. 

During the meeting with the education officers on Wednesday, September 4, around 12 girl students belonging to classes 6 to 10, raised complaints about how they were touched inappropriately by Saravanamoorthy during these camps.

Immediately after this, the school management reached out to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), who followed an inquiry with the students. Following this, the Perur All Women police were alerted.

The police officials visited the school and inquired with each of the survivors personally. After recording their statements, they registered a case against the doctor under Section 9(e) (whoever being on the management or staff of a hospital, whether government or private, commits sexual assault on a child in that hospital) read with 10 (punishment for aggravated sexual assault) of Pocso Act. The doctor was later arrested and has been remanded to judicial custody. 

The Isha Foundation, meanwhile, has put out a statement stating that they are fully cooperating with the investigation and that they have a zero tolerance policy for crimes against women and children. 

“It has been brought to our notice that a case has been registered against an employee who is a doctor with our outreach mobile medical services in the rural areas of Coimbatore. Isha holds a Zero Tolerance Policy for any crimes against women and children. We are cooperating with the ongoing police investigation and will take necessary actions by the legal,” read the statement.

Starting in the 2025-26 academic year, private universities in Karnataka offering professional courses will no longer conduct separate entrance exams. This decision follows a directive from the state’s Higher Education Department, prompting private universities to form an association and agree to this significant change.

In a recent meeting with Higher Education Minister Dr. M. C. Sudhakar, representatives from 17 private universities confirmed their decision to discontinue individual entrance tests. Of the 27 private universities in the state, 17 offer professional courses, and they have collectively agreed to accept scores from existing national or state-level entrance exams.

“Some universities will consider JEE scores, others will rely on KCET, and a few are inclined towards COMEDK,” Dr. Sudhakar stated, leaving the choice of examination to the universities themselves. However, the department has also suggested that the universities consider a unified entrance test for admissions.

Looking ahead, Dr. Sudhakar hinted that the government may introduce a common entrance test for general degree courses at private universities as well. "As government colleges and universities currently don’t require entrance exams for general degree courses, we haven’t made any decisions on this yet," he explained.

The meeting also addressed concerns over the high fees charged by private universities. To regulate this, the universities were instructed to establish fee fixation committees, headed by retired judges, as required by law. These committees will be responsible for determining tuition fees. Additionally, the government will continue to regulate fees for 40% of seats in professional courses that are filled through KCET.

In an effort to bring greater uniformity among private institutions, the government is considering enacting a common law for all private universities, which would replace the individual acts currently governing each university. This would place all private universities under a single regulatory framework.

This move is expected to streamline the admissions process and create a more standardized system for both professional and general degree programs across Karnataka's private universities.