General

Visually impaired pupils seek help for tuition, accommodation

Some visually impaired pupils in Lagos, who sat and passed the last Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, have called on well-meaning Nigerians to assist them in settling their admission bills.

The pupils, who are under care and training at the Bethesda Home for the Blind, Surulere, Lagos, also said that they needed funds to purchase some equipment that would aid their studies.

They spoke at an event organised by the Bethesda Home to mark the International Day for People Living with Disabilities and to celebrate Christmas in Lagos.

HC seeks RBI reply on plea by the blind

The Bombay High Court has asked the Reserve Bank of India to file within six weeks its response to a public interest litigation (PIL) petition highlighting the difficulty faced by blind persons in identifying currency notes and coins in recent years.

A Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Manjula Chellur, hearing a plea by the National Association for the Blind (NAB) on Monday, asked the central bank to submit its response and allowed the petitioner to file a rejoinder within two weeks of the RBI filing its reply.

A walk to support cricket for the visually impaired

Bengaluru: Come Saturday, around 15,000 people will walk for 3.5km to support sports talents with visual impairment. In the run-up to the second T-20 World Cup Cricket for the Blind, slated to be held in January, the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled is organizing a walkathon from Kittur Rani Chennamma Stadium in Jayanagar.

The Indian team will take on visually challenged players from nine other countries; they will play with metal stumps and jingle ball

International Day of Persons with Disabilities: PM Modi Salutes the Spirit of 'Divyangs'

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hailed the determination of the disabled people on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

"I salute determination of our Divyang sisters and brothers and convey my best wishes to them," Modi tweeted.

"Let us continue our ongoing efforts with renewed vigour and create a nation where both accessibility and equality prevail," he said.

Sfa Club Unites Visually Impaired for Holiday Season

SFA’s Braille and Cane Club will host its seventh annual Christmas party from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday in the BPSC Regents Suite B.

“We refer to the event as the Braille and Cane Club Christmas Party,” Laura Kiefer, club president, said.

According to Michael Munro, program director, members invite visually impaired or blind public school students as well as their teachers and parents from the surrounding area to attend.

NERUDA’S POEMS IN BENGALI BRAILLE

The Embassy of Chile in India, Instituto Cervantes in New Delhi and Blind Persons’ Association of Kolkata are going to present “Ode to Things”, containing selected poems of the Chilean Nobel Prize Laureate Pablo Neruda), translated into Bangla by Shri Aparajit Chattopadhyay and printed for the first time in South Asia into Braille characters for the visually impaired readers. The book presentation ceremony will be held on Thursday, 1st December 2016, 7 PM at the Auditorium of Instituto Cervantes, 48 Hanuman Road, New Delhi.

City releases dignity anthem

BENGALURU: People often fail to see the differently abled as equals, with a right to a life with dignity. What better way to communicate this to them, than with a triumphant song?
The famous Bollywood singer Shanker Mahadevan launched a special song titled ‘Garv Se Jiyenge’ on Sunday which he described as “special”, “beautiful” and “important”.

They overcome their limitations to help others

“I may not be able to fly an aircraft, but I can certainly find my way home,” says Pratik Rajiv Jindal, who has not let his visual impairment deter him from dreaming big.

He is one of the recipients of this year’s Helen Keller awards for disability which would be presented on December 3 to mark World Disability Day.

The 29-year-old from Bengaluru suffers from Retinitis Pigmentosa, a genetic disorder where one loses vision over a period of time. It was at the age of 20 when Jindal was staring at a loss of vision.

Disability will be loved, the change will come’

International accessibility leader Haben Girma talks about innovation, tech and laws in disability.Being the first deaf-blind graduate from Harvard Law School, she believes that disability is an asset.

Festival lends a helping hand to the visually impaired

PANAJI: The 47th edition of the international film festival of India (Iffi) has become the first film festival in India to screen movies for the visually impaired.