General

‘Respect, empathy for the visually impaired main requisites for a scribe’

Chitralekha Vanamamalai
For volunteer-scribe Padmini, service is for pure soul satisfaction and nothing else in this world can give her that satisfaction.

A resident of Virugambakkam, Chennai, for the last two decades, she has been helping many visually challenged persons pass examinations.

Speaking to News Today, Padmini said the job of a volunteer scribe does not end with writing the exam for them but many a time it is more than that.

BARRIERBREAK AND SAMAAGE PARTNER TO DELIVER MOBILITY AND INDEPENDENT LIVING SOLUTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT

New partnership aims to deliver a comprehensive solution, set to enable blind and visually impaired people to travel, work, and live independently

Shortage of writers poses a problem for blind students

Ludhiana: With exams looming ahead, there are some visually impaired students who are trying their best to write exams and score well like normal children, but they are unable to find writers who can write their class 12 examination. TOI spoke to two of them.

Supreme Court has let down India’s disability rights movement

Earlier this year, I opened my Foundation’s quarterly newsletter by quoting the question I am most often asked at interactions, “What would you have been if you weren’t disabled?” I have always believed that it is unrealistic for someone with a locomotor disability like mine to aspire to run like P.T. Usha (I loved cricket as a child and, upon realising I could never play the mainstream game, wanted to be a commentator).

Shining bright in dark

India's first blind athlete to participate in Paralympic Games and winner of three medals in 2014 Incheon Para Asian Games, Ankur Dhama's life story is all about achieving success even when there are thousand and one hurdles blocking your path.

The 24-year-old Dhama, who hails from a small village in Uttar Pradesh fight against all odds to become the first totally blind Indian athlete in 2018 to win the prestigious Arjuna Award for his outstanding contribution in the field of para-athletics.

Develop currency-identifying app for visually challenged: HC to RBI

Mumbai, February 5

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked the Reserve Bank of India to think about developing a mobile phone application that could help visually-challenged persons identify the denomination of various currency notes in India.

A bench of Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice NM Jamdar also directed RBI to expedite its ongoing project to develop a hardware-driven device that will help the blind identify Indian currency denominations.

Naa Mein Naa Hai, No Means No - Guest Column by Nidhi Goyal, Disabled activist & comedian

This week's guest columnist is Nidhi Goyal, the well-known activist and comedian working on disability rights and gender justice. Nidhi is the founder-director of Rising Flame, a Mumbai- based non-profit working on rights of persons with disabilities with a focus on women and youth. Her work spans research, writing, training, advocacy and art. You can follow her work @saysnidhigoyal.

Cane and able: Blindness doesn’t stop Sydney senior from living active life

SYDNEY, N.S. —

At 70, Louise Gillis is more active than many people half her age.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, she curls in a house league at the Sydney Curling Club. She also volunteers with the Special Olympics, enjoys hiking, and paddles during the summer as a member of the Sydney Harbour Dragon Boat Club.

And she does all this despite the fact she is almost totally blind

Class 7 student’s smart duster can vacuum-clean blackboard

BENGALURU: Inspired by a vacuum cleaner, class 7 student Maanya Ramesh from Air Force School, Hebbal has solved the chalk dust pollution affecting teachers and students in classroom for ages. Her mini smart duster absorbs all the chalk dust while erasing the blackboard.

Visually impaired, blind voters to get braille voter slips in Lok Sabha polls

Visually impaired and blind voters will be provided with braille voter slips in the Lok Sabha elections due this summer.

Braille is a script with raised dots that can be read with the fingers by people who are blind or who have low vision.

It is a tactile reading and writing system used by blind and visually impaired people who cannot access print material.