Three children from Malappuram have been selected for the Ujjwala Ballyam 2020 awards instituted by the Woman and Child Development Department. In the differently abled category, Alveena, a nine-year-old visually challenged student from Manjeri, won the award. A Class IV student of Kerala School for the Blind, Vallikkapatta, Alveena is excellent at playing the keyboard. She speaks seven languages — English, Spanish, Japanese, French, Chinese, Arabic and Hindi. Her talent in mimicry and general knowledge also helped her achieve the award.

Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi's (IIT Delhi) Neilom Award for the year was conferred on Monday on Richa Gupta and Girish Yadav for their work in developing assistive technologies for the disabled. The honour, which is an annual affair rewards graduates from IIT Delhi with a cash prize of Rupees 1 lakh. 

Visually challenged Sanjeev Gohil, recently climbed Mount Friendship at an altitude of 17,346 feet above sea level in Himachal Pradesh.

The 43-year-old has always been passionate about forests, wildlife conservation and mountaineering. However, in 2001, the resident of Vadodara, Gujarat, was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive vision disorder.

Now, Gohil has lost his vision completely. However, that has not deterred him from following his passion for mountaineering.

Mumbai : Ajay Lalwani, a visually impaired cyclist, is embarking on a 7,500 kms journey across India to raise awareness about road safety and the need for adequate lighting on our country’s roads. He will begin his journey from Gateway of India, Mumbai, and will travel twice across the length of the country to Srinagar, Kanyakumari and back to Mumbai, cycling through 12 states over a course of 45 days. His mission is supported by Signify (Previously known as Philips Lighting), the global leader in lighting.