AMAR Latif plunged into unchartered territory when he started Traveleyes, the only holiday company whose trips open up new worlds for travellers by pairing those who can’t see with those who can.

Yet since 2005 thousands of blind and visually impaired people have seized the chance of its sensory and sociable trips to discover places where once access for them was off limits.

Now thanks to entrepreneur Latif if they fancy rambling along the spiralling paths of Machu Picchu, the Inca citadel high among the Peruvian Andes, they can.

A cab, a meal, a new outfit, bank transactions are just a few screen taps away with smartphones. But navigating the digital world can be slow and cumbersome for a visually-impaired person.

Identifying this problem, entrepreneur and engineer Vijay Raghav Varada has developed a Braille keypad called 'Tipo’ which can be attached to smartphones to improve accessibility.

Vijay has been interested in making devices accessible to the blind since 2014 and it was while working on a project on Braille laptops for keyboards that he learnt of the smartphone problem.

Experts say that celebrating Diwali with care can prevent accidents such as visual impairment, hearing loss, breathing problems among others.

“The spark from fireworks can damage eyelids and eyebrows. The eye may also lose its moisture due to the smoke emitted by crackers,” said Dr Shashidhar, ophthalmologist, Minto Eye Hospital.

He added that an eye specialist should be consulted whenever there is an injury instead of attempting self-medication.

“Children under the age of 15 years should not be allowed to play with crackers that may cause injuries,” he added.

Lahore: Visually-impaired protesters from different parts of the province once again took to the streets on Monday to demand regular jobs and payment of salaries.

A large number gathered in front of the Lahore Press Club (LPC) and shouted slogans against the government. They blocked the main road in front of the LPC and this caused a traffic situation on Davis Road, Durand Road, Empress Road, Egerton Road and adjoining areas.

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 15

Saksham Punjab, an NGO, dedicated to visually-impaired children, in collaboration with HMV College, organised a fund-raiser musical evening by eminent Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans today.

Deepika Sood, general secretary, of the NGO,said the objective of the programme was to raise funds for the production of accessible digital talking books of under graduation level of Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar.