Mangaluru Press Club distributes health cards to reporters
Mangaluru: Mangaluru Press Club and Dakshin Kannada Working Journalist Association, on Tuesday distributed health cards among its reporters at the Mangaluru Press Club office, here.
The health cards were distributed by President and Chancellor of NITTE (Deemed to be university) N. Vinay Hegde. The Mangaluru Press Club, came up with the scheme of distributing health cards, in association with the NITTE’s Justice KS Hegde Hospital, Mangaluru.
Under the scheme, the holders of the card will be eligible for a family health insurance scheme that will cover four members of a family, between the age of 3 months to 70 years.
A maximum coverage of Rs. 30,000/- will be offered which will be given in three installments. The in-patients can avail upto Rs. 9000/- per admission, while the consultations at the OPD will be free for the holders of the card.
The services and benefits of the card can be availed at NITTE’s Justice KS Hegde Hospital, at Deralakatte in Mangaluru.
Initially 97 cards will be distributed out of 246 reporters registered with Mangaluru press club. Off the 97 cards, those present during the event, were handed their respective healthcards.
Speaking at the event, Vinay Hegde, assured the officials of Press Club and working journalist association that the hospital will extend maximum support to the card holders from the press club while also adding that “The services covered under the card’s scheme will be made available easily, but in-case there is something we can do, that is not covered in the card, we will also try and arrange exceptions, looking at the seriousness of the case”.
Vinay Hegde further added “The media persons are the backbone of the democracy, and plays an important role in the development of any democracy. I take this as a pleasure, to serve media people. Them being healthy is very important for the health of our country”.
Hemanth Shetty, PRO of NITTE, also spoke at the event and explained the benefits of the card, while also urging the holders of the cards to effectively use it.
He added “We charge the BPL card holders a sum of Rs 150 and APL card holders Rs. 250 for the membership of the cards. When press club and working journalist association approached us with the proposal, we immediately approved their request and also told them that we will give these cards for free. It has cost us over Rs 24,000/- which has been credited from our charitable foundation”.
Officials of Mangaluru Press Club and Dakshin Kannada Working Journalist Association, thanked Vinay Hegde and Hemanth Shetty for their constant support throughout the project. Vinay Hegde was also felicitated by Press club towards the conclusion of the event to acknowledge his contributions in the field of education in Dakshina Kannada.
Mangaluru Press Club President, Anu Mangaluru, Working Journalist Association Dakshina Kannada, President Shrinivas Indaje, General Secretary Ibrahim Adkasthala and Patrika Bhava Trust President Anand Shetty were present on diaz during the event.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
