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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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.