As a part of its social commitment to make the Railways more friendly towards specially abled passengers, Indian Railways has decided to provide Braille stickers in coaches to facilitate visually impaired passengers.

Presently coaches are provided with signage, instructions and seat numbers . which are mostly in the form of vinyl stickers/metallic plates and have no Braille characters and cannot be read by visually impaired passengers. Now it is planned to use stickers with metallic base with printed characters embedded into it.

Civic infrastructure in major Indian cities still fails to provide for the needs of people with disabilities.Every year, the monsoon brings with it an outpouring of angst against the poor state of our civic infrastructure. This is completely justified. But spare a thought for a category of people for whom accessing infrastructure is a daily struggle, no matter what the season. According to the WHO and World Bank report on disability, 2011, approximately 15 per cent of the world's population lives with a disability.

Today press Conference held at press club to announce the induction of next Disability Commissioner. The conference was organized by Helen Keller handicapped Association. The meeting was chaired by Mr. S.S.Vydhyanath, Advocate, Managing Trustee of Vikala Vikasa, working for the definitely abled persons and Member of Helen Keller, Prahlad Desai President Helen Keller, S.P. Nagesh, President, Cricket Association for Blind in India and Prabhu Secretary Helen Keller.

Eight interns from Carnegie Mellon are currently in Bangalore to research and develop new learning modes for their Braille Writing Tutor, which include local languages.

Much of the technology today lacks what is actually necessary for the user, says Shree Lakshmi Rao, a recent graduate from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), US, who is in Bangalore as part of an eight-member team working with Mathru School for the Blind. They are here to evaluate the effectiveness of a new electronic Braille writing device, called Braille Writing Tutor.

The gap between the number of organ donors and recipients is increasing in the city. With people reluctant to donate organs, about 8,000 patients are waiting for corneal transplant, while 500 are waiting for kidney transplants at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER).
At PGIMER, transplantations of kidney, cornea, bone marrow, liver and the heart are conducted. According to an official, PGI is planning to include other organs like pancreas, lungs and skin for transplantation as well.

To help India’s blind become financially independent, a vocational training course in therapeutic massage will soon be launched in several cities including Delhi, officials said. The first two institutes will be set up in Ahmedabad and Dehradun by January 2014 followed by Delhi. The massage, developed in Japan over several centuries, helps cure stiffness, joint pains and poor blood circulation, among others. In the joint effort between the National Association for the Blind (NAB), National Institute for Visually Handicapped (NIVH) and Tokyo-based Special Needs School, the students would rec

India's visually impaired cricketers after they won the T20 world cup in December seek recognition for their efforts, but the BCCI, the richest cricket board, refuses to help these champions. The team has been fighting for affiliation with the BCCI and so far their pleas have gone unheard. The BCCI has cited rule book for ignoring the achievements of these cricketers, says an affiliation can be granted if they are associated with local state body.

Source: The Times of India - Times Now