What’s New

Blind can vote without help at the polls

It is aimed at giving the blind voters dignity and secrecy. For the first time, Braille-facilitated electronic voting machines (EVMs) are being introduced on a large scale for the 15th Lok Sabha polls.

"A total of 1.05 million EVMs are being used, of which 4,50,000 are Braille-enabled. These EVMs are spread across the country in many states," an Election Commission official told IANS.

He said earlier the rule was that one person would accompany the blind voters. "Now, the blind persons can cast their vote without any help."

Visually impaired candidate hopes to make a difference

At first look, 52-year-old Khairul Bashar would pass off as any another candidate trying his luck in the Lok Sabha polls.

But there is something special about this candidate which makes him different from others in the rat race.

Bashar, who is making a debut in electoral politics by contesting as an independent from Azamgarh parliamentary constituency, is visually challenged and physically impaired.

Implantable telescope for the eye

A miniature telescope implanted into the eye could soon help people with vision loss from end-stage macular degeneration. Last week, an advisory panel for the Food and Drug Administration unanimously recommended that the agency approve the implant. Clinical trials of the device, which is about the size of a pencil eraser, suggest it can improve vision by about three and a half lines on an eye chart.

Ballot by braille in polling booths in Bhopal

Elections in India are all about inclusion, the right to vote for all citizens of a certain age.

And this means that people with disabilities, including those who are visually impaired cannot be left out.

A training session in Bhopal has a huge turnout. And why not? For the first time ever, our polling booths will have ballot papers in Braille.
Voters are being trained in advance, so that on the D-Day they need no assistance.

North X Blind Wellfare and Educational Society

National Federation of the Blind

Soon, sat nav that directs guide dogs for blind people

A British boffin has invented a revolutionary sat nav that directs guide dogs for blind people.

The 500-pound gizmo, which will be launched this summer, clips on to the dog's harness and vibrates on the left or right side to tell the handler which direction to go in.

The blind user announces their destination into a sat nav microphone. The vibrating receiver then indicates how to "steer" the dog.

Product design student Jason Perkins developed Peepo after working with the Cardiff Institute for the Blind for a year, reports The Sun.

Himachal school Board to provide free text books in Braille

Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education has decided to provide free text books in Braille to all visually impaired students in the state. This was disclosed by Prof. CL Gupta, chairman of the Board while presiding over a seminar on “Rights of the Disabled: Role of Society”, organized by Shimla Study Circle of Panchnad Research Institute in Himachal Pradesh University. Journalist-turned professor and prominent disability rights activist Ajai Srivastava was the main speaker on this occasion.

Three blind men clear civil services examinations

In the UPSC Civil Services results declared recently, so far we have come to know of three visually impaired persons who have successfully cleared this examination.

Topping the list is Ajit Kumar (Roll number 219116) who ranked 208th. At 32, Kumar is a lecturer of Political Science in Shyamlal College of Delhi. Now totally blind, he lost his vision at the age of four or five for unknown reasons, where, according to him, he woke up one day to find that he couldn't see any more. A married man, he prepared for these examinations using talking books, readers, and computers.

Hon. President of ICAI writes to the government for empowering visually challenged chartered accountants

In his letter dated May 18, 2009, the Hon. President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) writes to the government for empowering visually challenged chartered accountants. This letter, addressed to the Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, is considered to be a great gesture by visually impaired persons. The letter, in its entirety, is produced below:

No.1-CA(RepCom)/2009
May 18, 2009

National Institute For The Visually Handicapped, Chennai

Nothing can stop Nasser Khan

When you don’t have any other option, you’ve got to find some way to survive,” says this 35-year-old originally from Kanpur, who refuses to romanticise his life story.

Visually impaired shows the way to politicians

Rambhai Patel does not wear khadi. He has no political connection and has never contested an election. But, on May 16, Rambhai, a visually impaired retired telephone operator in Valsad achieved something that is the envy of seasoned politicians - he polled 27,429 votes as an Independent in the Lok Sabha elections.

Come, feel the stars in the ‘dark’ museum

The Birla Industrial & Technological Meseum (BITM) has recently inaugurated a special gallery in Kolkata for the visually-impaired to make them aware about the heavenly bodies.

“A world of darkness” — as the name suggests, the gallery provides a detailed description of the cosmos, including the solar system, the Milky Way, the pole stars, the Andromeda, Cassiopeia and Ursa Major and also the 12 zodiac signs.

Portable OCR for the visually disabled soon

Imagine a visually challenged person walking into a restaurant and reading the content of the menu using his mobile phone?

That may not be entirely uncommon for some people, who can afford Rs 80,000 investment to buy a five mega pixel camera mobile phone and install the portable Optical Character Reader software in it. But, if the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) efforts succeed, such a system could be available for free to hundreds of blind persons in India.

Mission to the Blind

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96.7%: city boy shows vision more important than sight

Anuj Goel’s eyes hurt. But he kept pushing himself, trying to prove that he could do it. It wasn’t easy sitting in the front row for the visually impaired student — he strained his eyes to make out the letters on the blackboard, peering through his thick glasses.

Friday’s CBSE results showed all his pains were worth the effort: Goel not only stood first among 1,034 disabled students who took the examinations, he was also the topper among government school students.

His score: 96.7 per cent.

Stem cells restore sight, almost miraculously

Stem cells cultured by researchers on a simple contact lens miraculously restored sight to sufferers of blinding corneal disease.

The simple and inexpensive procedure, considered a breakthrough, requires a minimal hospital stay and significantly improves vision within weeks.

University of New South Wales (UNSW) researchers from its School of Medical Sciences harvested stem cells from patients' own eyes to rehabilitate the damaged cornea.