Manufactured thousands of miles away in South Africa, a 3D-printed yellowish-brown model of planet Venus was among the handful of tactile objects — globes, maps, grids and a dome — that were introduced for the first time at the IUCAA.

Offering a first-of-its-kind opportunity to 50 visually challenged students, the Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) marked National Science Day on Thursday by, among other events, taking them on a journey across the mountains, craters and other features on the inundated surface of planet Venus.

For the first time in India, the researchers and scientists of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-D) Delhi, has developed a ‘DotBook’- the country’s first Braille Laptop for the blind students and the community.  This laptop which is exclusively created for the differently abled will be afforadable and have refreshable Braille display.

The chief electoral office (CEO) in Jharkhand on Tuesday announced a series of measures to ensure hassle-free participation of voters with disabilities in the Lok Sabha elections.

State’s CEO, L Khiyangate said that visually impaired voters would be provided with Braille enabled voter slips and pick and drop facility would be given to the physically challenged persons in coming parliamentary elections. Khiyangate said that the initiatives were taken as part of Election Commission of India’s (ECI) strategy framework for ‘accessible election.’

Does cataract affect youngsters too?

For a long time, cataract was considered a condition that only affected people aged 55 years and above. In recent years, however, we have seen more and more cases of cataract in people as young as 35-40 years! While it is true that cataract is more cases of cataract in people as young as 35-40 years! While it is true that cataract is more commonly seen in the elderly, many people with certain ‘risk factors’ are developing it at an early age.

CHENNAI: Five people with disabilities were honoured for their achievements and contributions to the disabled community, at the 17th edition of the CavinKare Ability Awards function on Saturday. 
The prestigious Ability Mastery Award went to para-athletic champion Venkatachalam M  from  Gudiyatham for his trail-blazing show in the International Para Games in Thailand in 2018. Venkatachalam was left with a severe disability after a road accident and worked in a mobile recharge shop but went on to win gold and silver at the games.