Amruta Bhople is 21 years old, a gold medalist graduate in English literature who has overcome the obstacles of bias and doubt that so often limit the capabilities of visually impaired people.

With an immense interest and determination, she applied for an audition and screen test, organised by BCN, a local news channel in Nagpur. Right from the first test onwards she realised that she could not only make it to the top but be better than the most. Such was her confidence.

N.L.B., based in Stockport(U.K.), is the main provider of leisure reading material for blind and partially sighted people.

It is also one of the few organisations dedicated towards producing books in formats of Braille, audio and giant print, for people with visual impairments.

The Audio Journal is a radio reading service based at Central Massachusetts (U.S.) that reads out printed information to blind, visually impaired or print-disabled people.

With 150 volunteers, Audio Journal broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They read out wide range of publications such as The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, U.S.A. Today, The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal etc. Job opportunities, T.V. listings and obituaries are read as well.

A former soldier in U.K. nicknamed ‘The Cannonball’ has set his second blind speed ski record.

Kevin Alderton, hurtled down an indoor slope in Landgraaf in the Netherlands, at 56.36 miles per hour. Alderton (35) skis with the aid of a guide who sends him commands via a radio link.

This November, at the ‘Johannesburg (South Africa) Art Gallery’, visually impaired people were given an opportunity to discover the world of art.

The workshop saw participants explore alphabets in Braille, artist Willem Boshoff's sculptural pieces among other things. The event also had participants create original art piece in clay based on their experience and imagination.

Twenty-year-old Ekta Rangani walked down the ramp in a designer saree, swaying to the beat of a pop tune and giving no indication of her visual disability.

Ekta and 30 other participants from across Gujarat participated in the country's first beauty and fashion show for visually impaired held recently in Surendranagar town, 112 kilometres from Ahmedabad.

All U.S. dollar banknotes currently printed by its government, from US1 (approximately Rupees 45) bill up to a US100 note, are exactly the same size and colour.

The American Council of the Blind, which brought a lawsuit against the government, said this makes it impossible for blind Americans to identify the currency notes.