“A nation’s strength ultimately consists in what it can do on its own, and not in what it can borrow from others.”
Indira Gandhi
“एक देश की शक्ति अंततः इस में निहित है कि वह स्वयं क्या कर सकता है, इसमें नहीं कि वह दूसरों से क्या उधार ले सकता है।”
इंदिरा गांधी
Recently, India joined the world and Light Up Qutub Minar as a sign of unity to combat the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NDT).
It is an awareness day that addresses the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). World NTD Day was celebrated on January 20, 2020 for the first time. The date, January 30, marks the anniversary of the 2012 London Declaration on NTDs. The London declaration had unified the partners across sectors, countries and disease communities for a greater cooperation, investment and action on NTDs.
The Scientists from the International Space Station (ISS) have observed a bright-blue lightning bolt that is shooting upward from the thunderclouds. Such blue jets are hard to observe from the ground because the electrical discharges emerge from the tops of thunderclouds. But from space, one can easily observe the phenomenon.
It is also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm. It is characterized by the presence of lightning and the acoustic effect on the Earth’s atmosphere that is thunder. This phenomenon is usually taking place in the cumulonimbus cloud, the thunderstorm is also accompanied by strong winds and heavy rain. It could also lead to snow, sleet, or hail.
It is a dense and towering vertical cloud. This cloud is formed by the water vapor which is carried by the powerful upward air currents.
President Ram Nath Kovind on January 30, 2021 launched the countrywide Pulse Polio Programme for 2021 by administering polio drops to children less than five years old at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. The Polio National Immunization Day (NID), also known as the “Polio Ravivar”, was observed on January 31.
The 73rd death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi was observed as Martyrs’ Day on January 30, 2021. He was assassinated on this day in 1948.
ISRO Chief K. Sivan inaugurated a private satellite, developed by a group of 12 students of Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology in Coimbatore at the cost of Rs 2.5 crore. The academic satellite will be launched on February 28 from Sriharikota Range by PSLV C-15. The satellite will study Internet of Things (IoT) among other subjects.
A meeting of the Investment Board Nepal (IBN), whose Chair is Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, decided to award the 679-Megawatt Lower Arun Hydropower Project to Indian public sector company Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) under the build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) delivery method.
The government has decided to include 14 new minor forest produce (MFP) items under the mechanism for marketing of minor forest produce through minimum support price (MSP) scheme to provide remunerative and fair prices to tribal gatherers of forest produces. Newly included items are Tasar Coccoon, elephant apple dry, bamboo shoot, Malkangani seed and wild dry mushroom among others.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and the U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken have spoken over phone recently during which the two leaders discussed issues of mutual concern, including COVID-19 vaccination efforts, regional developments and next steps in expanding bilateral ties.
The U.N. counterterrorism chief is urging countries to repatriate the 27,000 children stranded in a massive camp in northeastern Syria, many of them sons and daughters of Islamic State extremists who once controlled large swathes of Iraq and Syria. Vladimir Voronkov told an informal meeting of the U.N. Security Council on January 29, 2021 that “the horrific situation of the children in Al Hol (camp) is one of the most pressing issues in the world today.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Guterres, 71, received the first dose of the Moderna vaccine at a New York City public school on January 28, 2021.
The third batch of Rohingya refugees living in camps at Cox’s Bazar district sailed for relocation at the newly developed facility at the Bhashan Char island in Bangladesh on January 29, 2021. Rohingya are living in refugee camps in Bangladesh after fleeing the military crackdown in the Rakhine province of Myanmar in August 2017.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on January 29, 2021 signed a bill into law ratifying a five-year extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with the US. The validity period of the New START will be extended by five years to February 5, 2026.
Dutch chemist Paul Crutzen, who warned of ozone hole and was awarded the 1995 Nobel Chemistry Prize, died at the age of 87 on January 28, 2021. Crutzen’s science clearly drove political action. A 1987 treaty, known as the Montreal Protocol, led to a worldwide phase-out of ozone-eating chemicals, including the chlorofluorocarbons used in refrigeration and other applications.
In Kargil Ladakh, the first ever Zanskar Winter Sports and Youth Festival, 2021 concluded at Munskit Chumik Zanskar on January 30, 2021. The Festival featured various cultural and sports activities like ice hockey, snow skiing, horse riding, yak riding, ice climbing, snow sculpture, archery matches.
Seema is six years old and in class 1. Her parents consulted me because despite knowing her classwork and answering everything orally in class, her teacher found that she could not copy from the board, had incomplete written work and had alphabets and number reversals. This is an example of Learning Disability (LD), a challenge that occupational therapists often need to work with.
LD is a diagnosis that encompasses difficulties in processing information, manifested as problems with the 3Rs: reading (dyslexia), writing (dysgraphia) and arithmetic (dyscalculia). In addition to having one or more types of learning difficulties, children with LD also present with some other coexisting diagnoses like attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety disorders, depression and tics. Though not intellectually challenged, as reflected in a normal IQ, children with LD have difficulties with academic performance. Studies suggest that 5-15 percent of children in India have a type of learning disability.
Occupational Therapy is a branch of medicine that helps individuals optimise their performances in meaningful activities that occupy their time. For children, this would comprise school, play, and social interaction with friends. Children with LD have difficulties in each of these areas and an occupational therapist helps improve sensory processing skills (understanding, registering and responding to sensory information), fine motor skills (required for writing), attention (by improving sitting tolerance), and social behaviour (interacting with peers). Occupational therapists work on rewiring the brain to enhance such behaviour. This is achieved through meaningful activities that are motivating and fun to children, helping them practice a skill and retain it. For example, an OT session could include sensory based play using swings, monkey bars and obstacle courses, fine motor activities through board games and adaptive aides like the iPad to enhance time management and visual attention.
Sensory processing is the ability of the brain to receive information from sense organs such as the eyes, ears, joints, and skin, process it, and help the body give an appropriate response. Examples would be responding to the teacher, reading something, standing in line for assembly, writing something down or sitting straight. OT works on improving sensory processing using sensory play and goal-directed interventions. Fine motor skills are also targeted through various games used to build muscles and strengthen small hands, helping them hold pencils longer and write faster. OTs today employ visual schedules and timers as aides to help make the concept of time more concrete for children who have difficulty paying attention or are disorganised. Technology is also being used as a tool to help children with LD.
OT is a big proponent of early intervention where the motto is “the younger the child, the better the outcome.” This being said, it is important to remember that the brain can constantly rewire itself and therapy will continue to work at any age as long as the child is presented with innovative challenges that keep her/him engaged.
By Dr Franzina Coutinho
Source: Indian Express, 15/01/21
“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”
Michael Jordan
“मैं अपने जीवन में बार-बार असफल हुआ हूं और इसीलिए मैं सफल होता हूं।”
माइकल जॉर्डन