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.

In our special month-long coverage around Valentine's Day, we bring you the story of newlyweds Shilpa Kashyap and Danish Mahajan.

It was her simplicity that struck Danish Mahajan when he met Shilpa Kashyap for the first time over a year ago. Shilpa was a volunteer with an NGO in Delhi, where she was based, and Danish met her during one of his visits from Pathankot, where he lives.

Many government websites, both of the states and the Centre, remain inaccessible to people with disabilities. This is an issue that the disabled community and experts have raised time and again.

To raise voice for people with physical disabilities and to create a disabled friendly/accessible Kerala, Jyothirgamaya Foundation, an organisation working towards the empowerment of visually-challenged people, in association with Yagna Dhruva ’19, the inter-collegiate techno-cultural fest hosted by LBS Institute of Technology for Women, and Sahridhaya are conducting an accessible walk and a flash mob on Friday. The event is aimed to bring differently abled people out and shed light on their urgent need for inclusion and accessibility in all respects.

This woman shows grit is all it takes to surmount odds

Lack of eyesight has never been a worry for me all my life, probably because I do not know what it is like to have eyesight, says S. Pavunthai, the Headmistress of Indian Association of Blind Higher Secondary School at Sundararajanpatti near Alagarkoil in Madurai. The woman, who was instrumental in starting the school, goes on rounds, teaches English, History and Economics. Speaking to Sanjana Ganesh, Ms. Pavunthai says she has little time to unwind.