The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that there are over 1.3 billion visually impaired people, of which more than 36 million are blind. Home to the world’s second largest population, blindness is no stranger to India. According to a report by Centre for Sight, one of every three blind people is an Indian. The country is home to over 30 per cent of the world’s blind population—an estimated 12 million.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday told the Bombay High Court that it is in the process of making a mobile application to aid visually impaired persons to identify Indian currency notes.
Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice N M Jamdar were hearing a petition filed by the National Association of the Blind (NAB), seeking directions to include distinctive features in new coins and notes for easier identification by the visually impaired.
Remember going to the exam hall? The butterflies in your stomach, sweaty palms, and feverish prayers that the questions be easy – then the post exam stress of how well you’d score!
Most of us write our exams out of compulsion and, well, because we don’t really have a choice. Now think of someone who has braved the exam stress over 10 years, writing a whopping 681 exams, and all of it willingly. That is NM Pushpa Preeya for you - an exam scribe from Bengaluru, who was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar this year.
Facing safety challenges, visually impaired women across the state are forced to carry folding knives and safety pins. A survey on the condition of working women with visual impairment conducted by Karnataka State Government Employee's Association for the Blind also stated that the government has not trained them in navigation and smart mobility technology such as the smartphone app Eye-D, electronic canes, Google Map and other navigational aids.
Hubballi: The Dharwad district administration intends to provide differently-abled persons free pick-up and drop to and from polling booths. This initiative is aimed at iincreasing polling percentage and at helping the differently abled vote.
The Kochi MuzirisBiennale, which iscentered around the theme of inclusivity, has launched 25 braille guides.
BENGALURU: Election Commission in the state has received registrations of four lakh physically disabled voters and has left no stone unturned to ensure their voting process is hassle-free.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka, Sanjeev Kumar told The New Indian Express that visually impaired voters will be provided with Braille-enabled voter slips and voter guides. The visually impaired and blind voters will also be provided with the candidate list, that will be written in Braille. They will also have candidate symbols in braille.
Ahead of the new academic year, the government has released a fresh set of guidelines for schools keeping in mind the safety of children. A government notification lays down guidelines on the structural and functional aspects of educational institutions. The norms range from specifications of the area in which schools ought to be constructed to what children are to be taught. Schools will be mandated to introduce gender sensitivity to students from class 1 to 12.
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