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.

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 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.

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’.

This is for the first time that a state's cricket team of visually impaired players is going abroad to play a one-day series.

Before leaving for Pakistan, the captain of the Punjab team Gurpreet Singh Machhiwara said that all members of his team are very confident of winning the series, “We will do our best to beat them.''

The team members include: Parminder Singh, Gurbir Singh Dehlon, Salinder Singh, Sandeep Kumar Trivedi, Gurpreet Singh Machhiwara, Balwinder Singh, Rajinder Singh Cheema, Murari Lal, Satinder Kumar, Harjinder Singh and Manwinder Singh.

The Art Institute of Chicago (U.S.) offered the blind and vision-impaired people the opportunity to ‘see’ by touching replicas of a few of its most popular works.

The museum re-created a handful of its art on tactiles. The technology involves making replicas of artwork on portable, machine-etched plastic that enable visually impaired people touch and feel them.

The Islamabad Cricket Association of the Blind had a five wicket win over team Punjab(India) on 24th April. This is the home team’s second consecutive win in the series.
Zeeshan Abbasi (102) and Anees Javed (86) starred for Islamabad as they overhauled Punjab's score of 320 in the 21st over. The visitors made 320 for seven in the stipulated 35 overs. Garpreet Singh and Maninder Singh scored 96 and 90 runs, respectively.
Now the hosts lead the series 2-0. In the first match, they defeated Punjab(India) by eight wickets.

For more than 50 years, both visually impaired and sighted people have found friendship and a helping hand in the ‘Friendly Circle for the Blind’. But the group’s monthly gatherings could soon become thing of the past as it has only 10 members now.

Based in the U.S., the group was found in 1953 to offer blind people an outlet to get out of the house and meet people. It had nearly 100 members then.

British Computer Society charity Ability Net and the Royal National Institute of the Blind, have launched a scheme that accredits websites accessible to people with disabilities.

The See it Right with UseAbility scheme will involve human testers with a variety of disabilities rather than just automated testing. Organisations that act on all the recommendations from the assessment can display an accessibility logo.