The Beautiful Life

The State Government’s decision allow government and private medical colleges in the state to issue the specific learning disabilities (SLD) certificate, will make it easy for students from the remote rural areas to obtain this crucial document.  Currently, these students spend considerable time and money on acquiring the certificate, as only a few centres in Mumbai offer the certificate. With rising awareness, demand for the SLD certificate has increased putting pressure on the few institutions in Mumbai that offer the certificate.  Dr Ashish Deshpande, President, Bombay Psychiatric Society, did his graduation and post graduation in Psychological Medicine from King Edward Memorial Hospital and Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College, Parel, Mumbai.  Dr Ashish Deshpande  spoke on the incidence of specific learning disability among children and the available remedies.  Edited excerpts.  Q What are the common learning problems found among scho...

Recently a Class I student had injured his right eye severely after a fight with a classmate. He may have to undergo retinal transplant surgery. This violent incident has again shifted the focus on increase in the rate of juvenile crimes in the city. Increasing violence among teenagers is becoming an inalienable problem. Escalating aggression among the new generation is extremely harmful to the society as a whole, Dr Samir H. Dalwai spoke on find out the reasons behind this trend. Dr Dalwai is a developmental and behavioural paediatrician and is the recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Manav Sewa Award for service to children by the Government of India. What are the reasons for rise in crimes committed by children? There are three reasons for it: i) Unrestricted, unsupervised exposure to media, especially violent sadistic animation and destructive games and little time or inclination left for real life experiences, ii) desire to achieve and acquire whatever one wants (‘instant gratificati...

Pankaja Munde belongs to a prominent political family of Maharashtra. She is the daughter of the late Gopinath Munde. As a state Cabinet Minister handling ministry of Rural Development, Women & Child Welfare and Water Conservation, Pankaja has made a name for herself as a mass leader and now she has taken over her father’s political mantle. She spoke on various issues like malnutrition, woman empowerment and gender equality. What measures is the government taking to control malnutrition deaths in the state? The real challenge lies in implementing the government policies effectively at the ground level, which should reach the people. Instead of making a political statement on this issue which will please people, it is important to concentrate on ensuring that the malnourished children should be provided with the required nourishment. We are trying to implement policies of the Central and the State government. Since last 15 years the focus was not on the diet. Can you ela...