It's time for the visually impaired to prove their navigating skills when Foresight - Car Rally for the Blind 2012 gets under way on Sunday.
The Time Speed Distance rally, organised by the Bangalore Knight Round Table (BKRT), in association with Round Table India (RTI), will be flagged off from Palace grounds and finishes at the same point, covering a distance of 45 km in two hours and 30 minutes with an average speed of 45 kph.
She lost one of her eyes as an infant due to cancer and another one at the age of 14, but Bhakti Ghatole kept true to her name and never lost faith. Today Bhakti, who is from Mount Carmel (Ajni branch) has topped the city in the visually handicapped category with 93.45%, a score which would rival even the best in the general category.
When a computer-generated voice read out the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) results to Rahul Bajaj, 17, from the board website on Friday, the significance of securing 94.83% didn't sink in immediately.
Bajaj, who suffers from 90% visual impairment, not only topped the commerce stream at the Dr Ambedkar College, Nagpur, but also scored possibly the highest marks obtained by a visually impaired student in HSC.
"We have not come across a vision-impaired student who has scored such high marks," said CR Borkar, chairman, Nagpur divisional board.
The blind in the state can now get replies to their queries under the Right to Information (RTI) Act in Braille, thanks to an initiative of the state information commission with the help of the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped.
State information commissioner K S Sripathi said the programme, being done for the first timein the country, "Is expected to help more than seven lakh visually challenged people in the state." He said, "We have taken up the initiative following various requests from visually challenged persons across the state."
The National Advisory Council's suggestions for strengthening the draft law on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities (PWD) is a potentially far-reaching intervention. The step is in sync with the recent notification of a separate Department for Disabilities in the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which was announced in the President's 2012 address to Parliament. Ever since India ratified the United Nations Convention on the rights of PWDs in 2007, the formulation of a comprehensive law became imperative and these two developments suggest things are finally moving ahead.
"If you had asked me three years ago if training alone was possible while being blind I would have said no," Mr Wheatcroft told FOXNews.com. "Now I do it and ... I realize perhaps a lot of things are possible."
The RunKeeper app uses the GPS tracker in the iPhone to track your runs, including duration, distance, pace, calories burned, and path traveled on a map. The app reads your current stats over your headphones as you run, and the virtual coach warns if you are ahead or behind pace.
The National Advisory Council (NAC), chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, has recommended giving tax benefits to private employers of disabled persons, in a set of measures to enable their greater participation in the workforce.
Giving its suggestions on the draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill (RPDB), the NAC has also suggested extending subsidies and financial incentives for starting small-scale income generation activities by household of persons with disabilities (PWD).
“Sir, vanakkam sir….. Madam, vanakkam madam….,” the hall reverberates with voices of young men and women at this BPO run by visually challenged people.
Located on the premises of the Indian Association for the Blind (IAB) in Sundararajanpatti village, 10 km north of Madurai, the TATA-IAB Call Centre is being hailed as one of the most successful ventures of Tata Teleservices in the country.
“We are limited, not by our abilities, but by our vision.”–Helen Keller
A trauma counsellor, corporate trainer, writer, aerobics trainer, public speaker and director of Silver Linings Human Resource Solution Private Limited — all rolled into one, Preeti Monga’s achievements are inspirational for any youngster. Interestingly, that she lost her vision early in life could not deter Ms. Monga from living up to her dreams.
Persons with disabilities would now be given preference in allotment of industrial housing units, sheds and plots in Delhi as a policy in this regard has come into force with immediate effect.
This has become possible as the Delhi Government has adopted the policy for preferential allotment and concessions to persons with disability as recommended in the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Right and Full Participation) Act, 1995, for disposal of industrial plots, housing flats and built-up sheds.
Sonam Dikki Bhutia, a visually impaired English honours student at Delhi University's Daulat Ram College has learnt to draw on her inner reserves of strength to get to class every morning.
She negotiates potholes outside her hostel in Burari village on her way to the university more than 10 km away, a tough journey for her - with no help from the university. It has become a way of life for her.
Fleksy, an upcoming text input app, is about to make iOS more accessible.
As it is, iOS already has an impressive suite of accessibility solutions that cater to users with disabilities. Foremost among these is VoiceOver. VoiceOver aids visually impaired users by speaking items on the screen. In addition, it provides alternative selection and scrolling gestures.
A self-defence workshop for the visually impaired was held at H K College, Oshiwara, on Sunday. At least 24 visually challenged persons participated in the workshop conducted by Voice Vision, a computer training institute. Martial arts expert Pawan Sharma, along with five trainers and two doctors, taught the participants defence techniques that are a mix of karate, judo and aikido.
A 40-year-old person suffering from night blindness was murdered in the city on Tuesday night when he tried to intervene in a scuffle near his house.
According to police, the deceased has been identified as Bharat Vishodiya, a resident of Bhagwatipara area. At around 10 pm on Tuesday, Vishodiya came out of his home after hearing about a fight. He thought his younger brother Dinesh was involved in the ruckus and went to inquire about it.
To provide education to all children in the state, irrespective of their physical and mental health, the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan has implemented a new programme for differently-able children.
From this academic year, resource teachers have been appointed to provide home-based education for children with multiple and severe disabilities under the age of 18. The programme is being implemented as part of the Right to Education Act.
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