General

1,500 visually impaired yet to get cornea transplantation at PGI

At present, above 1,500 visually impaired people are waiting for their turn for cornea transplantation at the Advanced Eye Centre(AEC), PGI. There is a glaring gap between the number of donors and recipients in the city, the common reason behind which is little awareness about eye donation. As many as 1,525 corneal blind patients are in the waiting list of AEC. Per year about 350 eye donations take place, however, the required number should be at least 1,000 donations per year.

A Braille soldier: Lifestyle magazine for visually-challenged

Twenty-six-year-old Upasana Makati’s Pinterest profile reads: “An Indian classical music lover, a dreamer, a Canadian by heart, an emotional fool with a passion to live LIFE to the fullest.” She believes there couldn’t have been a more apt description of how she feels today. Even as she’s most defined by her literary venture White Print, a Braille magazine, Upasana, a student of Jai Hind College, Mumbai, knows that it is an association she’d be happy to have for a lifetime.

A bank that is blind friendly

At a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is aiming at financial inclusion of all sections and the word Braille got a mention for the first time in Union Budget, students of Cept University have designed a bank-cum-cafeteria for people with visual disabilities.

‘45 million visually-challenged people are still from India’

“Compared to one for every 15,000 population in the US, India has only one ophthalmologist for a population of 2,15,000 when every third blind person in the world is an Indian,” said S S Badrinath, world-famous ophthalmologist and founder of iconic Sankara Nethralaya of Chennai, adding: “We have done a lot to eradicate blindness in the country but that’s apparently not enough.”
Badrinath, awarded Padma Bhushan for his life-time work in the field of eye health, was in Nagpur on Saturday to inaugurate an eye hospital run by one of his disciples Prashant Bawankule.

St. Stephen’s students’ union president is a gardener’s son

Probably for the first time in the history of St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, a student coming from a Hindi medium background has been elected the president of its students’ union. Rohit Kumar Yadav, the newly-elected president, comes from a humble background -- he is the son of a gardener employed with the college.

UPSC exam: Visually impaired candidates to get 40 minutes extra time per paper

-Visually impaired candidates appearing for civil services preliminary examination will get 40 minutes extra time per paper, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said today."All the visually impaired category candidates appearing in the civil services preliminary

Visually-challenged minor molested

A minor visually-challenged girl was allegedly molested by her landlord's son in Katwaria Saria, South Delhi.
A case in this regard has been registered at Vasant Vihar police station. The accused fled after the incident and is yet to be arrested.

The incident was reported to the police on Thursday evening when the victim's family approached Vasant Vihar police station to file a complaint against the accused.

According to police, the 14-year-old victim was alone at her rented accommodation at the time of the incident.

A risky road for blind students in Rohini

Students at the All India Confederation of Blinds in Rohini often get knocked by cars while finding their way to the school premises. Drivers backing without warning or looking around had left three of the girls bruised earlier. The students have a tough time weaving through the vehicles parked haphazardly.
A slip road between Rajeev Gandhi Cancer Hospital, on Bhagwan Mahavir Marg, and a zonal office of North Corporation leads to the school.

Seven from state selected to play World Cup in Cape Town

Seven players from Gujarat have been selected as part of the Indian Cricket team for Blind for the World Cup Tournament 2014 in South Africa to be held in November. Gujarat has the largest representation in the Indian team of 17.

‘I don’t have both eyes, but Siddaramaiah does’

As the protest by gazetted probationers of the KPSC 2011 batch intensified on Saturday, 32-year-old Kempahonnaiah showed no signs of fatigue.

Selected on his second attempt at the exam, the visually-impaired candidate was to become a tahsildar. But the Cabinet decision put paid to that dream. “I wanted to set an example to other blind people that they can also achieve success in life,” said a dejected Kempahonnaiah.