A team led by New York’s Columbia University, is hopeful that their work could help aid the development of the new treatment for Age-related Macular Degeneration (A.M.D.).
According to a research, nearly three-quarters of cases of one of the world’s most common causes of blindness are linked to just two genes. Previous work had shown that several variants of a gene called Factor H significantly increase the risk of A.M.D.
Gujarat won the 13th ‘National Cricket Tournament for the Blind’ defeating Haryana in the finals at the Chinaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on March 5, 2006.
The tournament also became a platform to select best players for the national squad that will play the forthcoming cricket World Cup for the Blind to be held in South Africa in December, 2006.
The five-day tournament saw players in high spirit. In a game where seeing the ball well is considered so important, the cricketers demonstrated the importance of mind over matter.
"Reading means the world to me and I can’t imagine what it would be like, to be denied this pleasure,” said children’s laureate Jacqueline Wilson. She is urging fellow writers to make their work more accessible to visually impaired persons.
At the National Judo Championship held between February 25 –26, 2006 in Mumbai, 30 students of ‘Happy Home and School for the Blind’, Mumbai demonstrated that judo wasn’t something, which they took up just for kicks.
A state-of-the-art eye care centre that would house facilities; equipment and expertise related to eye care under one roof has been inaugurated at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh.
The centre has 100 beds and eight operation theatres. In extension to the already existing department of ophthalmology, which started working in 1962, the advanced eye care centre would work as a tertiary centre with special focus on prevention and control of blindness.
The 2006 IFDS (International Foundation of Disabled Sailors) Blind Sailing World Championship will be held from September 20 to 27, 2006 in Newport, Rhode Island,hosted by the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) with the assistance of Sail Newport. More than a dozen nations are expected to send teams for the championship.
El Alma en Las Manos or ‘The Soul in the Hands’, a tactile exhibition by contemporary Mexican sculptors opened on March 9, 2006 at Zerum museum at San Francisco, U.S.A.
The exhibition seek to bring blind children closer to the world of visual art had 22 pieces of tactile sculpture from Mexico.
The exhibition was organised in collaboration with Consulate General of Mexico, the Mexican National Council for Culture and Arts, ‘Zerum’- a multimedia arts and technology museum, and non-profit organisation ‘LightHouse for the blind and visually impaired people’, U.S.A.
Almost every subject has diagrams, charts and graphics, or artwork and these graphics and diagrams are largely inaccessible to a visually impaired learner and totally inaccessible to a blind student.
That may not be the case any more. Herefordshire's Royal National College for the Blind, U.K. (RNC) has created a new talk and touch system to help students use maps, charts and diagrams.
International Computer Driving License (I.C.D.L.) curricula will be available in an accessible format to visually impaired persons in United Arab Emirates by the end of year 2006.
The world's first Arabic Braille I.C.D.L. courseware has been developed by I.T. Education Project (I.T.E.P.) and ‘Tamkeen’- the training centre for visually impaired people.
"When I was small and studied in a blind school I came across a number of girls who couldn't pursue their dreams due to poverty. I decided that very time that I will do something for such blind girls.”
The result is ‘Pragna Chakshu Mahila Sevakunj’. An organisation run by Muktaben Dagli and her husband Pankajbhai, both being visually impaired.
‘Pragna Chakshu Mahila Sevakunj’ started ten years ago in a tiny room as a project to help visually impaired girls become self-sufficient. Today, it takes care of 125 girls in nine tenements in Surendranagar, Saurashtra.
Its compact, portable and ergonomic design makes it extremely user-friendly. The newly designed wireless Braille keyboard incorporates bluetooth technology along with infra-red wireless technology. It enables visually impaired people to use the communication interface with a number of current appliances and devices, such as personal computers, P.D.A.s, pocket P.C. or mobile cell phones.
The wireless Braille keyboard has been designed by ‘Robotiker-Tecnalia’ (Spain) for O.N.C.E. (the Spanish National Association for the Blind).
The device will be on sale shortly.
Blind visitors are now able to feel the magic of history, thanks to a special new gallery which will let them discover by touch the historic treasures.
Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mr Zahi Hawass said that a group of blind and sighted people participated in the project. Braille facilitates blind visitors to explore the antique pieces. He emphasised that the project received local and international praise.
Penny Hall's sensitive fingers are her eyes. As a massage therapist, she uses those fingers to good advantage. "I thoroughly enjoy my work," says Hall, 63, who has been in the field since 1998.
Hall is blind but that’s no disability for her. In fact, some of her clients are thankful that she's blind because they are self-conscious about their bodies, she said. But regardless of the shape of the person on the massage table, Hall's first concern is comfort.
At present, a student in the general category pays Rs. 300 (as a draft) as application fee, while SC/STs pay Rs 100. The proposal seeks to bring the application fee for the blind on par with SC/STs.
However, the waiver can be availed only for those courses for which applications are still open.
‘‘The proposal is as good as passed. We are just waiting for a formal notification,’’ Vij says.
The book gives readers a glimpse into the lives of some extraordinary teenagers who share their perspectives on issues related to growing up with visual impairment.
The twelve authors are aged between 13 to 19 years. Their book is a compilation of introspective writings. It speaks about concerns that they feel are most important to them. These are, namely, independence, inclusion, intelligence, inspiration, idealism and imagination.
The eighth National ‘A’ Chess Championship for blind people was held at Sangli from Febuary 20 to 27 2006.
All India Chess Federation for the Blind, organisers of the tournament said: the tournament was played on round robin basis, with two rounds played every day according to FIDE and International Braille Chess Association rules.
In addition to the top ranking players, competitors included the top 16 men and eight women from the National ‘B’ tournament.
Warren Logan’s hands skim the 15-century marble bust, tracing the lifeless eyes, the slightly agape mouth, the precisely chiselled fur.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s (Kansas City, U.S.A.) new touch tour is among programmes at more than 100 museums in the country that attempt to do what once was thought impossible - making art accessible and even visible to visually impaired people.
U.S., scientists have unveiled their vision for a bionic man, where biology is merged with electronics to make limbs, organs and senses ‘better, stronger, faster’.
Blind sailor Alison Gunn successfully completed her solo voyage around the Isle of Wight (U.K.). Alison, 39, undertook her challenge on a 17 feet trimaran to raise money for Lymington Sailability, a U.K. based voluntary organisation that gives disabled people the chance to sail. Her husband Keith and friends were in a support boat to guide and encourage her.
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