A few months ago, when Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar handed over a certificate of participation to a visually impaired student on a study visit to Parliament, she faced an innocent but important question: “But how will I read this certificate?”

Kumar, a former Union minister for social justice and empowerment, took note of the situation.

It's time for the visually impaired to prove their navigating skills when Foresight - Car Rally for the Blind 2012 gets under way on Sunday.
The Time Speed Distance rally, organised by the Bangalore Knight Round Table (BKRT), in association with Round Table India (RTI), will be flagged off from Palace grounds and finishes at the same point, covering a distance of 45 km in two hours and 30 minutes with an average speed of 45 kph.

When a computer-generated voice read out the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) results to Rahul Bajaj, 17, from the board website on Friday, the significance of securing 94.83% didn't sink in immediately.
 
Bajaj, who suffers from 90% visual impairment, not only topped the commerce stream at the Dr Ambedkar College, Nagpur, but also scored possibly the highest marks obtained by a visually impaired student in HSC.
 
 
"We have not come across a vision-impaired student who has scored such high marks," said CR Borkar, chairman, Nagpur divisional board.

The blind in the state can now get replies to their queries under the Right to Information (RTI) Act in Braille, thanks to an initiative of the state information commission with the help of the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped.
State information commissioner K S Sripathi said the programme, being done for the first timein the country, "Is expected to help more than seven lakh visually challenged people in the state." He said, "We have taken up the initiative following various requests from visually challenged persons across the state."

"If you had asked me three years ago if training alone was possible while being blind I would have said no," Mr Wheatcroft told FOXNews.com. "Now I do it and ... I realize perhaps a lot of things are possible."
The RunKeeper app uses the GPS tracker in the iPhone to track your runs, including duration, distance, pace, calories burned, and path traveled on a map. The app reads your current stats over your headphones as you run, and the virtual coach warns if you are ahead or behind pace.

 “Sir, vanakkam sir….. Madam, vanakkam madam….,” the hall reverberates with voices of young men and women at this BPO run by visually challenged people.
Located on the premises of the Indian Association for the Blind (IAB) in Sundararajanpatti village, 10 km north of Madurai, the TATA-IAB Call Centre is being hailed as one of the most successful ventures of Tata Teleservices in the country.

“We are limited, not by our abilities, but by our vision.”–Helen Keller
A trauma counsellor, corporate trainer, writer, aerobics trainer, public speaker and director of Silver Linings Human Resource Solution Private Limited — all rolled into one, Preeti Monga’s achievements are inspirational for any youngster. Interestingly, that she lost her vision early in life could not deter Ms. Monga from living up to her dreams.

 Persons with disabilities would now be given preference in allotment of industrial housing units, sheds and plots in Delhi as a policy in this regard has come into force with immediate effect.
This has become possible as the Delhi Government has adopted the policy for preferential allotment and concessions to persons with disability as recommended in the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Right and Full Participation) Act, 1995, for disposal of industrial plots, housing flats and built-up sheds.