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Disability News India (DNI)

Disability News India (DNI), is a disability News service dedicated to providing a quality up-to-date information to the Indian Disability. DNI's news section is updated two times a week, though we also add breaking stories as and when they occur.




Disability News India – January 2009 Issue



Mobile court for disabled people organised

RAJKOT: A three-day long mobile court for redressal of grievances of disabled persons was inaugurated at the collectorate building on Monday.

As many as 88 complaints from eight districts of Saurashtra Kutch region were registered on the first day. In the next two days, officials in charge would try to redress these grievances. The complaints would be heard in person after consultation with officers of the concerned department and finally necessary directions would be issued on the spot for implementation within a fixed time.

Chief commissioner for persons with disabilities Manoj Kumar said since November 2006, as many as 19 mobile courts in 13 states have been successfully organised and the outcome has been positive.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

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Pollution making people deaf in city

Kolkota, 21 Jan: In what may not be music to the ears of Kolkatans, a study conducted by ENT specialists has said around 60 per cent of them suffer from deafness to varying degrees caused by noise pollution. The study used a sample of 450 people.

Experts also claimed that research in Mexico City, whose pollution is 25 percent less than Kolkata, saw human brain affected by exposure to pollution. Again in Denmark where 10 volunteers were kept for 30 minutes in diesel fume–filled room (which is 60 percent of what is recorded in Kolkata on winter evenings) showed signs of brain cell disorder.

The findings were discussed at a function organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on pollution and its effects on human life. The participants were unanimous that environment should be accorded priority.

"Unless the government takes up the issue of implementing stricter measures, it is impossible to come up with a solution based only on research and development in the medical field. When a pollution removal procedure is started, it becomes a political

Source: http://www.tehrantimes.com/

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For disabled people, race is a victory of the spirit

MUMBAI, 19 Jan: It was difficult to miss Ketna Mehta, 46, as she sped down the 2. 5km stretch of road at CST during the wheelchair race for the Mumbai Marathon, especially since the man pushing her chair was actor Arjun Rampal. Mehta is the chairperson of Nina Foundation, which helps rehabilitate people with spinal cord injuries. Rampal and his wife Mehr Jessia, pushed a wheelchair each for the foundation.

"I think Rampal's a real athlete. He managed to race down the road while pushing my chair, even with my nephew sitting on my lap,'' grinned Mehta. Over a decade ago, she suffered a spinal injury after a paragliding accident that left her paralysed.

Around 30 people with spinal cord injuries from the foundation participated in the race. One of them, Subramanium, 40, was paralysed after a car accident in Saudi Arabia eight years ago, where he had recently got a job in a refinery. He remained housebound for several years. The marathon proved to be the turning point in his life.

The first time he stepped out of the house was for the wheelchair race during the marathon three years ago. Not only has he participated in the race ever since, but he now goes out of the house regularly. He got to know of the event through the foundation, which arranged a vehicle for him. On Sunday, he was flanked by his wife Mahalaxmi and 10–year–old daughter Kritika. "My daughter was running with me initially, but now she's running with Arjun Rampal,'' joked her dad.

For some, the vehicle they used to travel in was the same one they used for the race. Like Anil Kumar, 29, a paanwala without any legs who has set shop outside CST station. His paan shop consists of a tricycle with a box attached to it, which helps him get from one place to another. It's this same tricycle, decorated with balloons, that he used during the marathon. He has been in the race the past three years.

Delhi–based Rajiv Virat, 27, was participating in the event for the second year. He represented the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society of India and won the first bronze medal for India in the lawn–tennis–on– wheelchair event at the Malaysian Open in October.

"I refused to let the disability break my spirit,'' says Virat.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

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Opportunity calls disabled persons

CHANDIGARH: Care is a word that must be used with care and sensitivity when it comes to disabled persons. For, they want to be self– reliant and not need looking after.

In what seems to be an effort to drive home that point, a government–run training institute for disabled persons here is going to start a customer care call centre that would staff 45 of its students. It would provide the service to a telecom company.

Sources said Asha Kiran Institute of Vocational Training, Sector 46, has about 80 candidates who qualify for the call centre jobs.

The institute is close to finalizing a deal with the telecom company. Apart from manpower, the centre will also provide infrastructure needed to run the customer care services.

A separate hall, which has facilities for 45 persons is ready for the purpose. The candidates for the jobs also include visually impaired persons.

"A specially designed software, which converts visual signals to audio ones, will help visually impaired individuals to operate telephones and other equipment," said software trainer Kirti Singla, who herself cannot see.

Learning the software can take one to six months depending on the learner's capability, she added.

Human resources head of the telecom company Paramjeet Sodhi said, "Our Hyderabad corporate office is looking into the project before giving it the go ahead. We are very confident that it will be a reality soon. There are around eight differently abled individuals working at the customer care branch of our call centre based in Mohali. We call them bravehearts."

The institute's honorary secretary, Vinod Chadha, said, "More than 200 people have registered for the centre's courses within the first month of its operation. Single window service is also being offered here for providing disability certificates, registration with employment exchange, pensions, scholarships, unemployment allowances, subsidized loans, aids and appliances to disabled persons."

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

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Blind Japanese makes a marathon effort

MUMBAI, 16 Jan: However cruel a handicap may be, it leaves you with choices. It can limit, but it can also liberate. There are those like 43–year–old Yuichi Takahashi who dig deep into their reserves to mock their disabilities.

A visually impaired athlete from Japan, Takahashi, who looks like Jackie Chan with goggles on, is in the city to run the Standard Chartered Mumbai marathon. The ready smile that springs to his face belies the years of struggle he has seen.

Life in Tokyo was beautiful until one day in 1996 when Takahashi suddenly couldn't see. "I was so devastated with what had happened that suicide seemed liberating. I realised that there would be many things that I couldn't do any more, including running, something I loved to do even as a child," he recalls.

But a chance hearing about the paralympic games on a television show put him on the path to redemption. "I decided to trade suicidal equipment for a pair of shoes. I took part in competitions, won a few and gained confidence," says the gold medallist of the T12 marathon at the paralympic games in Athens in 2004.

Race followed race and standing on podiums across the globe became a habit. And then something even more special happened. In 2002, at a local sports club he met Yoshiko, a pretty co–member who would end up running life's race with him. Yoshiko was a pharmacist who specialised in eye medication, apart from being a sports enthusiast. "The connect was instant," he smiles.

"My wife and my running shoes are the two things that make living my life worthwhile. The walking stick that people use with so much despair is in fact an object that has given me so much respect everywhere. That stick has no race, creed or class and I love the fact," he says.

This is Takahashi's first trip to Mumbai. "I hope to do the run in two hours and 30 minutes. And when I run at the paralympic games in London in 2012, I would love to run beside a visually impaired competitor from this city," he says. During this marathon, his wife will double as Takahashi's guide for the second half of his 42 km run (a 27–yearold friend of Takahashi will be his guide in the first half). The interview with TOI over, Takahashi bows to say goodbye?the traditional Japanese movement suggesting that life can bend you, but whether you break or not is up to you.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

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RBI enlightens deaf students on forged notes

KANPUR, 15 Jan: RBI in its continuing series of imparting knowledge on financial inclusion/literacy on Wednesday explored a new horizon by inviting deaf boys and girls in the workshop for knowledge dissemination and imparting wisdom on identification of forged notes to save them from being duped by this menace.

At least 29 students of high–school and intermediate levels turned up with their interpreters and helpers who explained everything clearly for them in the sign language of gestures.

The event was directed by regional director for UP and Uttarakhand, JB Bhoria.

The regional director exhorted the students to clarify all their doubts from the experts, taking benefit of this rare event.

They got amused with the view of coin vending machines running therein, falling briquettes through disposal of soiled notes in SBS functioning and processing of notes by CVPS machines, though from a distance, due to security reasons. The students got visibly pleased with this rare chance as was evident by their amused looks and this experience proved innovative for them.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

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Disabled people seek quota in Legislative Houses

NEW DELHI, Jan 4: To help the disabled get private jobs, the government initiated in 2008 a scheme to pay employees provident fund (EPF) and employees state insurance (ESI) contributions of such employees, with monthly wages up to Rs 25,000, for the first three years of their service.

Strangely, so far, there are only 33 and 21 beneficiaries respectively of the schemes in the country. The notification for the social justice and empowerment ministry–conceived scheme was issued by the labour ministry on 31 March, 2008, and the EPF Organisation and the ESI Corporation issued the guidelines in May.

The social justice ministry sanctioned an advance amount of Rs 1 crore and Rs 50 lakh to EPFO and ESIC, respectively, to enable them to make the payments immediately. Not only did the minister write letters to all state chief ministers a few months later, employers' bodies like Ficci, CII, Nasscom, Assocham and PHDCCI were sent communications, requesting wide publicity.

Officials said there have been advertisements about the scheme in newspapers at regular intervals. Twenty past recipients of National Award for Best Employers of Persons with Disabilities were individually requested in September 2008 to employ more persons with disabilities and publicise the scheme.

The government unveiled its policy for upliftment of the disabled in 2006 and it included giving incentives to the private sector for employing physically challenged persons. The government committed support for the creation of about 1,00,000 jobs every year for these persons through the EPF and ESI contribution scheme.

In another big initiative of the year to help disabled population, any complaint relating to infringement of their rights, or non– implementation of law, rules, by–laws and regulation can be registered with the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities on–line. The facility has been provided at a website www.ccdisabilities.nic.in. The complainant also gets an acknowledgement number for future correspondence reference and follow up of the case.

The complainants can get the latest status of their complaints through Internet, the e–status module through Internet has features like advance search which allows people to search for case details, even if they do not remember the case number. Simple instructions have also been provided to operate the module and get the status of the case. Interim and final orders passed from 1 December 2008 will be available on the website by January 2009.

For the development of Scheduled Castes and OBCs, the ministry provided Rs 1815.50 crore in its Annual Plan 2008–09 under various schemes.

Source: http://www.thestatesman.net

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Teachers to get training to help disabled people

CHENNAI, 13 Jan: Government school teachers will receive training to develop and use teaching–learning materials to aid the mainstreaming of children with disabilities under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

Under SSA's inclusive education of disabled children component, 1.5 lakh primary and upper primary teachers from government schools across the state will be educated about disabilities and how to teach disabled children. SSA allows for two special educators in each block and 42 to 45 schools. About 20 schools in each block have children with disabilities.

The special educators have to work with children enrolled in schools as well as those unable to attend class and requiring home schooling.

"When the inclusive education component was introduced, teachers were reluctant to admit children with disabilities in regular schools. Now, with training and awareness programmes, teachers are looking at how to help these children," said A Lawrence, director, Ecomwell Orthopaedic Centre, a special education and rehabilitation centre for disabled people in Salem. Lawrence was one of the resource persons at a three–day state– level master training programme on innovative approaches to inclusive education that ended on Sunday.

Two special educators and a district co–ordinator from each of the 30 districts attended the programme. They will train special educators and teachers in their district by the month–end. Those who have undergone this training will conduct block–level programmes for teachers of classes I to VIII in government schools. The programme included modules on conditions of disabilities, causes and prevention, strategies for inclusive education and creation of a barrier–free environment, and the role of special educators and teachers.

Spastics Society of Tamil Nadu and Vidya Sagar handled the training session for physically challenged students, International Human Resource Development Centre prepared the module for the visually impaired, Vijay Human Service the session on mental retardation, Clark School for the Deaf handled hearing impaired and multiple disability, and Ecomwell looked at rights of disabled people.

"We learnt how to use teaching–learning materials from activity–based learning for children with disabilities," said C Gunalan, district co– ordinator, Tiruchi.

"There is a need to sensitise all teachers so that they understand the disability and also help the child progress by knowing about state and central government schemes that benefit them," said M Jeeva Azhakannan,

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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Platform car at Chennai Central for elderly, disabled people

CHENNAI, 8 Jan: The platform at Chennai Central appeared to have been stretching to eternity for 60–year–old Rashida Ahmed of Sowcarpet. She was walking with calipers and the thought of reaching the other end to board the train made her almost quit the idea of travelling last week. With much difficulty, she got a wheel–chair and made it to the compartment.

Catching a train from Chennai Central would be much easier for Ahmed the next time, as she could book a battery–operated car to take her to the compartment. Minister of state for railways R Velu launched the facility that would benefit the elderly and the physically challenged. This will be the second battery–operated car at the station, and the first one to have an advanced booking facility.

Deserving passengers could call the helpline 9940356789 to book the car and inform about their arrival time and train name. On reaching the station, they can approach the passenger inquiry centre and avail the service.

"It is a four seater car with enough luggage space. Once charged, it can travel 40 km and since the length of each platform is 0.6 km, one car can make several trips. The existing car, which does not take reservations, has a demand of 25 to 30 trips daily. The cars are noise– free and pollution–free and donated by a company called Shristi communications," said Velu.

He said the drivers are experienced persons who can easily manoeuvre between parcels and luggage kept on the platform. Each car costs about Rs 5.5 lakh.

The minister later drove the car, taking four disabled students along with him. He went for nearly 300 yards and returned to the starting point.

Later, addressing a press meet, the minister said that a Chennai– Tiruchendur express train would be operational by April. "The flyovers are nearing completion. Other ongoing railway projects in the state can be completed soon if the State government helps with funding," he said. The minister added that steps are being taken to meet the Pongal rush.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

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Himachal State Disability Policy to be released soon

Sunder Nagar: Himachal Pradesh state policy for persons with disabilities is almost ready and it will be released very shortly. The state government's performance in implementing Persons with Disabilities Act– 1995 has got appreciation from the ministry for social justice and empowerment, government of India. This was disclosed by Sarveen Chaudhary, minister for social justice and empowerment, in a state level function to mark the 200th birth anniversary of Louis Braille. She was speaking as chief guest in the programme.

According to Chaudhary, a State Disability Policy has been prepared by the department and it will be released very soon. She praised Ajai Srivastava, chairman of Society for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies (SDRS), HP Chapter for pressing on the government to evolve the state disability policy in Himachal Pradesh for the last so many years. "When BJP came to power in the state, he convinced us in this regard and we finally decided to have the policy for the persons with disabilities," she said.

A function was organised here on the campus of Government Girls' School for the Deaf and Blind on January 4, 2009. The blind and deaf girls of the school, presented a colourful cultural programme on this occasion. Chaudhary gave away prizes to the students for their achievements in various fields and honoured Manju Gupta, a Braille teacher who herself is blind for her commendable services. Sarveen Chaudhary giving away prizes to blind students. Ajai Srivastava and Roop Singh Thakur are also seen in the picture. (Pic by: Rakesh Pandit)

Former minister and local MLA, Roop Singh Thakur presided over the function. Rashima Gupta and Prabha Rajiv, principal secretary and joint director of social justice and empowerment respectively, Ajai Srivastava, and Manjit Singh Saini, officer in–charge of composite regional centre also spoke in due course of the programme.

Chaudhary paid rich tribute to Louis Braille who had invented the Braille script for the blind in 19th century. She said the BJP government in the state is committed to provide equal opportunities and full participation to the persons with disabilities and an integrated scheme for this section has been launched recently.

She informed that in the last one year, 924 posts for persons with disabilities have been filled and the process to recruit disabled people on other 1,699 posts is going on.

In his address, Srivastava said the efforts of the government were commendable but still much was needed to be done for the empowerment of disabled people in this hill state. He said SDRS has been trying hard to create a strong disability rights movement in the state and the results of these efforts are very much encouraging.

"The help received from media in his endeavour has expedited the whole process. Now disability issues are in the agenda of the government and disabled people can not be ignored any more," he said.

Source: http://www.himvani.com

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Schemes for disabled people fail to take off

HYDERABAD, 14 Jan: The Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Disabled people has urged President Pratibha Patil, who is camping in Hyderabad, to take steps for provision of reservation to them in the Legislative Houses and Panchayat Raj institutions.

In a memorandum submitted to her, JAC president G Satyanarayana Reddy and general secretary Nanduri Ramesh wanted reservations for them before the next elections and bringing forth a legislation against atrocities on disabled persons which they contended would act as social security to them.

The delegation also wanted a commission constituted for physically disabled persons to look after their needs.

Source: http://www.expressbuzz.com

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