‘Nethrodaya’, a Chennai-based non-governmental organisation, has launched a new scheme to provide livelihood for visually impaired people in the villages of Tamil Nadu. Under the scheme, beneficiaries are provided with a Jersey cow each, so that they can earn their living. The animals will be insured.

Nethrodaya has invited a professor from ‘Madras Veterinary College’ who helps the beneficiaries identify good cows. Students of ‘Madras School of Social Work’, as part of their course work, help them deal with any problems.

In U.S., twelve visually impaired high school students got an opportunity to explore careers in rocketry as part of a partnership between N.A.S.A. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and the National Federation of the Blind.

The students were part of a weeklong rocket science camp, from July 14-22, 2006, at the federation's Jernigan Institute in Baltimore and N.A.S.A.'s Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia.

Nance Eldridge Coffaro focuses the camera on the wig, watches the monitor, and begins to work out the style. Once that's done, "I can do a lot of it by feel," she opined, "I'm amazed by how much I do by feel.”

Coffaro had been styling hair since she was a teenager. But was forced to give up salon work due to her blindness. She was diagnosed with a genetic disorder that causes the optic nerve to atrophy.

She is able to make out light and shadows within a few feet.

The first batch of 156 people in Beijing have completed an online training and pass

In an era of increased corporate responsibility, more and more businesses are keen to see their workplaces reflect the diversity of their employee base. In the past, blind people were left out, but things are slowly changing.

"Employers are definitely becoming more interested in diversity and they are paying to come to our assessment days, because they want to see how they can adapt their (recruitment) tests," said Genevieve Herga of ‘Blind in Business’ (U.K.).