Mangaluru(PTI): A campaign to make Dakshina Kannada district free from drug abuse was launched at a function held at St Aloysius College here on Saturday. Inaugurating the drive, Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Mullai Mugilan sought the cooperation of officials, teachers, students and the public in making the drive a success.

Stressing the need for a comprehensive approach to tackle the menace, he said the anti-drug cells of educational institutions of the district must come out with concrete steps.

He said the district administration has already held several meetings with officials on the issue. The district administration and the police department will lend all support to the efforts for ending the menace.

If the parents fail to identify their wards using drugs, teachers can make an effort to save the life of the youth. Getting addicted to drugs is a psychological disorder and it should be treated at the right time, the DC said.

District health officer Dr Kishore Kumar, Probationary IAS officer Mukul Jain, senior psychiatrists Dr Ravish Tunga, Dr Sunil Kumar, DCP Dinesh Kumar, Lydia Lobo of Link de-addiction centre and Dr Sadashiv Shanbogh of Wenlock hospital were among those present.

 

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Dubai (PTI): US President Donald Trump said he told his top envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner not to travel to Pakistan to negotiate with Iran, stating on Fox News that "they can call us any time they want”.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country won't negotiate while the United States imposes a blockade on its ports. Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a phone call Saturday night that the US “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade,” to allow a new round of negotiations, according to the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies in Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Pakistan on Saturday evening, two Pakistani officials told The Associated Press. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Araghchi is expected back in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Sunday.

Trump said Thursday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks after talks at the White House. The meeting was the second high-level negotiation between the two countries this month. The initial 10-day ceasefire had been due to expire Monday.

The Trump administration is placing economic sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and roughly 40 shipping companies and tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil.

The move announced Friday is part of the administration's threat to impose secondary sanctions on entities doing business with Iran in an effort to cut off Iran's oil exports, which are a key source of its revenue.

Airlines worldwide have begun cancelling flights as the war in the Middle East strains jet fuel supplies and pushes up prices. Experts have offered information to travelers about what to do if a flight is cancelled. 

Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country won't negotiate while the United States imposes a blockade on its ports, according to Iranian media.

Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a phone call Saturday night that the US “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade”, to allow a new round of negotiations, the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies reported.

The Pakistani premier described the call as a “warm and constructive discussion”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi concluded a one-day trip to Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Saturday after meeting with Pakistani military and government officials.

The trip did not produce a breakthrough in efforts to relaunch negotiations after US President Donald Trump canceled a planned trip by his envoys to Islamabad.

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will return to Pakistan after his current visit to Oman on his way to visiting Russia.

The report said he was expected to be back in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Sunday and would join other members of his delegation who had gone to Tehran for consultations and “instructions on the topics related to the end of the war.”