First rounds games to begin today

The International Braille Chess Association (IBCA) Asian Chess Championship for the Visually Challenged-2017 was inaugurated here on Wednesday. The first round games will begin on Thursday as teams from Yemen and the Philippines are to yet arrive, while teams from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are already here. The championship, hosted by Manipal University, is being organised by the All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB) under the aegis of IBCA and All India Chess Federation.

For visually impaired people it is not easy to find out who and what is around them. A walking stick is the only support which can boost their morale and help them escape all the hurdles.

According to the WHO’s report, 285 million people are estimated to be visually impaired worldwide in which 39 million are blind and 246 million have low vision. 82 per cent people living with blindness are aged 50 and above.

Scientists have developed a new eye implant, using arrays of silicon nanowires that sense light and electrically stimulate the retina, which may help restore vision in millions of people worldwide.

The advance brings us a step closer to restoring the ability of neurons in the retina to respond to light.

The researchers from University of California San Diego and US-based startup Nanovision Biosciences showed response to light in a rat retina interfacing with a prototype of the device in vitro.

Born sighted like any other person, she grew in a good health until 1955 when she lost her sight in a way that she branded as a ‘mysterious termite bite’ while sleeping in her aunt’s house.

Estere Chunga Malula, 72, is an inspirer and a mentor of many. She challenges all obstacles to her success, proving humankind wrong on thinking that the visually impaired cannot execute household chores or engage in other manual work.

BENGALURU: With India home to the maximum number of visually impaired individuals in the world and Karnataka possessing a higher percentage of blind people than the national average, it is fitting that the second visually-impaired friendly railway station in the country now figures in the state. Mysuru attained this distinction on November 3, 2015.

On Tuesday various facilities to aid the blind were unveiled at the Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna (Bengaluru City) railway station.