We are working towards Female Foeticide free Dakshina Kannada: DHO Ramakrishna
Mangaluru: “The district administration is committed towards cleaning the district off female foeticide” Dakshina Kannada District Health Officer (DHO) Dr. Ramakrishna said in a press conference on Wednesday.
Addressing the press conference here at the Mangaluru Press Club, Dr. Ramakrishna, along with his team elaborated about the various schemes and programs, the district health administration is offering to the people of the district.
Dr. Ramakrishna said that his team is primarily focusing on the well being of girl child, and hence their main aim is to make the district female foeticide free, and also to make sure that the pregnant women in the district gets proper treatment.
Elaborating more on the schemes and programs for child welfare, District’s Surveillance officer Dr. Rajesh, added that several ‘Nagu Magu’ Ambulances have been deputed in the district which are only for pregnant patients, in addition with the 29 108 ambulances, making the average reaching time of ambulances only 20 minutes.
“The Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHC) have also been opened in the district while two bike ambulances are operating, to reach out to people in remote locations or in distress” Dr. Rajesh added.
Dr. Ramakrishna also added that a special Malaria control programme has been put in place, which led by Dr. Arun Kumar, who is thriving to make the district Malaria free.
Speaking of the stress management and suicide prevention programme for schools and college students, the DHO informed that a team of Psychologists and Psychiatrists have been formed who are visiting schools and colleges and conducting workshops and seminar on ‘how to face exams’ and ‘stress management’, while a helpline for the schools have also been opened for such cases.
“Schools or students can contact the helpline, in case students are undergoing depression, and we will immediately counseling for them” he added.
Mangalore THO, Dr. Naveen Chandra Kulal, Dr. Arun Kumar, Dr. Ratnakar and other officials were present during the press conference.
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Explosive device kills 13, injures 38 on bus in southwestern Colombia as violence persists
Bogota (Colombia) (PTI): An explosive device killed 13 people travelling on a bus in southwestern Colombia on Saturday, an attack the country's army chief described as a “terrorist act" that also left at least 38 injured as violence linked to drug trafficking in the region escalates.
Octavio Guzman, the governor of the region of Cauca, said on X that the device was set off while the bus was travelling along the Panamerican Highway in the municipality of Cajibio. Five children were among the injured, Cauca Health Secretary Carolina Camargo told Noticias Caracol, a TV news program.
Gen. Hugo Lopez, commander of Colombia's Armed Forces, told a news conference that it was a “terrorist act" and blamed the network of a man known as “Ivan Mordisco” — one of Colombia's most wanted figures — and the Jaime Martínez faction. Both are dissidents of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that operate in the region.
Neither Ivan Mordisco nor the Jaime Martínez faction abide by the peace agreement signed with the state in 2016.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned the attack on X.
“Those who carried out the attack and killed seven civilians — and wounded 17 others — in Cajibío — many of them Indigenous people — are terrorists, fascists, and drug traffickers,” he wrote.
The attack is the latest in a spate of explosions that have attempted to target public infrastructure. At least 26 incidents have taken place in the past two days in southwestern Colombia, which Lopez said have only affected civilians.
They included a shooting at a police station in the rural area of Jamundi, and an attack on a Civil Aviation radar facility in El Tambo, where authorities took down three explosives-laden drones earlier on Saturday. No one was hurt.
On Friday, two vehicles rigged with explosives were detonated near military units in Cali and Palmira, causing material damage.
The escalation of violence in that region — a territory contested by illegal armed groups linked to drug trafficking — prompted the mobilisation of high-ranking officials on Saturday. Led by Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez, the delegation that includes regional governors and local authorities, was meeting in Palmira when the deadly explosion occurred.
“These criminals seek to instil fear, but we will respond with firmness,” Sanchez said on X.
Meanwhile, Francisca Toro, governor of Valle del Cauca, has called upon the national government to provide “immediate support.” In a message on X, Toro called for a reinforcement of public security forces, enhanced intelligence operations and “decisive actions” against crime in the face of a “terrorist-level escalation.”
According to authorities, Cauca and Valle del Cauca serve as a critical hub for illicit activities of illegal armed groups vying for control over sea and river access routes leading to the port of Buenaventura — a key transit point used to traffic drugs to Central America and Europe.
The government has also offered a reward of more than 1 million dollars for information leading to the capture of “Marlon,” who is identified as the leader of the region's dissident group. On Friday, local authorities offered more than USD 14,000 for information leading to the identification and location of those behind the attacks in Cali and Palmira.
