Tarak Luhar, visually impaired since birth, was the first to withdraw money from the country’s first ‘Talking ATM’ installed by the Union Bank of India on Wednesday at the Blind People’s Association (BPA) premise in Vastrapur. The machine did the talking through the head phones and he would just run his fingers on the Braille keypad on the machine.

Bank chairman and managing director D Sarkar inaugurated the disabled-friendly machine with a view to assist the visually and physically challenged.

Aditya is excited. He has finished his six-month training course in medical transcription in just four months and will be joining his new job soon. There are many more like him waiting to finish the training course and join the job.

What began as a goodwill gesture has left the IT-enabled services BPO company Transtek, stunned at the skills of the young men of Ramkrishna Mission Blind Boys' Academy, Narendrapur. A few months ago, Transtek, which does medical transcription work for doctors in the US, approached the Narendrapur academy to train some of its students.

Eye Surgeon Dr. Amar Agarwal operated on a cataract through a 700-micron incision at the B.B. Eye Foundation in Kolkata. The incision was as wide as the tip of a .5 mm ballpoint pen, the thinnest ever used in phaco-surgery in any part of the world, so far.

Within minutes of the tele-conversation, her customers are convinced into buying a mobile or a landline connection. Her enticing voice has listeners hooked on. So much so, that “some continue to talk, to just listen to my voice, wasting my time and theirs! I cut the calls when they do this,” says Alisha (not her real name).

“The Caribbean island is mad keen on cricket and I know the idea of the game being played by blind and visually impaired players really grips people's imaginations”, said England blind cricket coach Andy Sellins.

West Indies cricket team have always enthralled cricket lovers all over world with their talent. Now, their blind cricket team will do the same. The England blind cricket team and former stars Desmond Haynes and Devon Malcolm assisted by the London Community Cricket Association will coach the West Indies’ first blind cricket team.

If you use eye drops frequently and that too without any medical advice; take care. Frequent use of eye drops could damage eyes and might even cause complete loss of vision, warned the Hong Kong Association of Private Eye Surgeons (HKAPES).

According to HKAPES, most eye drops contain preservatives that are potentially harmful to eyes. If they are used frequently – more than six times a day; preservative residues could accumulate, causing chronic irritation and even infection of the cornea. In severe cases it could lead to permanent loss of vision.

Thirty-year-old Abdul Jamal Ahmed, a jari-worker from Malihabad, was unable to do detailed work because of corneal blindness. But things changed for the better after he underwent a corneal transplant at the Lucknow Eye Bank. The corneal transplant transformed his vision and his life. Now, he can do intricate jari work and much more. Jamal, was sharing his experience at a public awareness programme organised by the Lucknow Eye Bank Association, recently.

Researchers led by Gabriel Travis, a University of California (Los Angeles), biochemist, said that scientists previously were unable to explain the chemistry behind the known link between a gene known as Rpe65 and Leber.

“This suggests that replacement of Rpe65 by gene therapy should correct the blindness in these children, as was observed in mice and dogs with Rpe65 mutations,” said Travis.

A special Friendship Day car rally for the blind was organised at Bangalore on August 7, 2005. The visually challenged acted as navigators to sighted drivers. They were given a predetermined route map, printed in Braille. The route had 44 curves which were noted on the map.

The rally covered a 70-km route from Bangalore Central to Nandi Hills.