Talks’ software installed in Nokia phones for visually impaired users
http://www.strategiy.com/inews.asp?id=20050512104729; May 12, 2005
What’s New
Star Trek inspires products for blind people
Vicki Smith; The Associated Press; May 29, 2005
Jay Leventhal, who is blind, still fumbles with the tiny controls on his iPod but has given up on the kiosk in his New York office building that lists all the tenants. For him, even laundry has become a task requiring the help of a sighted person. The washers he uses now take smart cards instead of quarters, issuing instructions on a digital screen that he can't read.
New audio chat site for visually impaired netizens
www.vipconduit.com; June 30, 2005
VIP Conduit Inc. has created a new audio chat site for blind and visually impaired users, as well their friends and family.
Film on the blind, by the blind
Paul John, Times News Network, Vadodra; June 1, 2005
In a soon-to-be-produced Gujarati film, the first of its kind in Gollywood, visually impaired experts will produce, act and sing in what is their very "own film".
Blind Pakistani girl to sing paeans of India
Prashant K. Nanda; (http://www.musicindiaonline.com/n/i/hindustani/48/ (Indo-Asian News Service); June 18, 2005
She was born in the United Arab Emirates, brought up in Pakistan and has been living with a family of Hindu singers in India for over three years – for the love of Dhrupad classical music.
Indore based N.G.O. holds match-making meet for visually impaired persons
ANI; Indore; May 30, 2005
Empowering people in the North-east
http://mahaanbharat.tripod.com/share3.html (originally published in Outlook India)
Kishor Bhattacharyya is at the forefront of an effort to secure a rightful place for visually challenged people in the Northeast.
Kolkata eye doctor adds new stream to philately
Subhra Priyadarshini; PTI; May 19, 2005
As a tribute to legends who overcame their visual impairment to make a mark in history, a Kolkata-based doctor has put together a unique collection of stamps of famous blind people, adding a new stream, ‘ophthaphilately’, to the age old hobby, according to a PTI report.
From stamps of John Milton to Galileo and J. Pulitzer to Helen Keller, Stevie Wonder, Marconi and Theodore Roosevelt, Samar K. Basak's collection is a who's who of famous blind and visually impaired personalities.
Madhya Pradesh textbooks to have a chapter on disability
Natasha Chopra; Times News Network; May 2, 2005
Madhya Pradesh has become probably the first state in the country to incorporate a chapter on disability in school textbooks in all government schools. Isn’t that an example that the rest of the country should follow?
"Absolutely," says Akhil Paul, Director, SENSE International. Paul feels incorporating awareness and learning about disability at an early age is essential, "as anything in the inclusive mode has to happen early to leave an impression".
Mumbai hospital to develop artificial retina
Shardul Nautiyal; http://www.expresspharmapulse.com/20050428/healthnews02.shtml; April 2005
Healthcare B.P.O. to start training blind boys
Sangita Sultania G. Roy; http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050416/asp/calcutta/story_4616862.asp
Transtek, a leading healthcare B.P.O. organisation in the Eastern region, is starting a medical transcription training programme for students of the Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys’ Academy, Narendrapur, according to news reports.
IGNOU developing programmes for care-givers of disabled children
PTI; New Delhi; May 1, 2005
For millions of parents of disabled children looking for advice on bringing them up and integrate them into society, help is at hand from the country’s largest Open University.
First-ever National Blind Football Tournament organised in Delhi
The Blind Relief Association, Delhi; June 25, 2005
The first-ever national-level Football Tournament in the country came to a close on June 25. It was inaugurated on June 22 and saw the participation of six teams -- two each from West Bengal and Delhi and one each from Gujarat and Rajasthan.
India now has school for guide dogs for the blind
Eyeway News Service; June 17, 2005
There is good news for people with blindness and visual impairments. Nitin Sule, a veteran psychologist with 10 years of working in the field of HIV and two years in the field of visual impairment, has started ‘Drushti Guide Dog School for Blind’. Supported by an able staff, Mr Sule can train up to 20 dogs at a time. The recipients are selected from a list of registrants. Over the next one year, Sule plans to expand his infrastructure so that 60 dogs can be trained at a time.
Climb every mountain
Mountaineer, Girl Guide, lawyer, social counsellor, negotiator, research scholar and human rights activist. Anjali Sen Gupta uncovers the many facets of Kanchan Gaba, who has been blind since childhood.
Disability sports loses a champion in Sunil Dutt
Actor-filmmaker-activist-politician Sunil Dutt’s demise a week short of his 76th birthday has robbed the nation's cinema, public life and disability sports of a stellar personality.
In his death, disability sports has lost one of its most committed promoters. He was one of the first Ministers in India to take concrete steps for mainstreaming disability sports, even initiating dialogues with various organisations in his effort to see that gets disability sports its due. His absence is a major loss for disability, as also blind, sport in India.
Job Reservations for the blind
It’s a tricky issue. Do job reservations compensate for the discrimination that people with visual impairments face in the working world? Or do they simply lead to complacence and non-performance? Are incentives the way to go, or do they just promote a ‘charity culture’? Are visually impaired people not capable of succeeding on their own merits? Anu Bhambhani explores the many facets of this complex issue.
By George
A person’s capability to work is not dependant on his ability to see. If he cannot see, it does not automatically follow that he cannot excel at what he does.
Take Ved Mehta, for instance, or David Blunkett. The former is a successful Indian author; the latter was England’s Home Secretary. Both are visually impaired. It is important for us to note that it is the mind that drives a person to higher levels of performance.
Two films, two lives, two worlds
Gurpreet Sidhu recently saw Black and Ray, two films in which the main character is blind. That was all that was similar about them, she says.
Saw two films recently, Black and Ray, where the main character is visually impaired. That was all that was similar about them.
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