Miss Deaf India Deshna Jain Has Something Important to Tell You

Meet Deshna Jain, the twenty-year-old model from Madhya Pradesh who will represent India at the 8th Mr and Miss Deaf International in Taiwan in July.

Deshna claimed her right to represent India after being crowned Miss Deaf India 2018 earlier this year.

Deshna discovered her drive for modelling when she was named first runner-up at Miss Antriksh, a beauty pageant in Indore where, unlike her, the contestants were not hearing impaired.

I could see the crowd erupt in cheers for me. I couldn’t hear them clap, but I saw the applause with my eyes. That was a very special moment for me.
Deshna Jain

What put her off was the lack of opportunities for her after the contest. Compared to her, she could see other girls getting advertising and modelling jobs. But she didn’t let it pull her down, and only strengthened her resolve to strive for her dreams.

Dance is BAE

Deshna’s hearing impairment began at birth — she doesn’t know what music sounds like. That hasn’t stopped her from being a passionate dancer. In fact, if she was not a model, she would consider becoming a professional dancer instead.

I can copy steps from my dance trainer. I also practice cool dance moves by watching YouTube tutorials. In a group performance, I use my fellow dancers as reference to stay in sync. Above all, I can feel dancing!
Deshna Jain

“Girls Need to Complete Their Education”

Deshna is a strong advocate for girls’ education, especially girls who have a hearing or any other kind of impairment. She feels that for people like her, education can lead to much needed empowerment.

I know many deaf girls who are married off early, after studying till 8th, 10th or 12th only. I am strongly against it. I want them to complete their education, get a job, earn for themselves and then maybe settle in a happy married life. Many of the deaf girls I know are victims of abuse... beaten at home. They aren’t educated enough, strong enough, to defend themselves.
Deshna Jain

If Deshna’s story inspires you, then don’t forget to share this video with your friends.

Lend an ear

28.06.2018
Technological advancements have made life much easier for the hearing impaired

At first glance, Ananya Nakra is a normal 16-year-old. She pays attention and speaks with confidence. “I want to be part of the UN and help people,” says Ananya. Nothing about her betrays her disability—hearing impairment. If she can dream big today, she has mainly the cochlear implant to thank; it enables her to listen clearly and differentiate sounds. It also makes it possible for her to talk on the phone and watch television.

“Ananya was a healthy child and she was achieving all her milestones early. Once when she was one and a half, a balloon burst and she did not react at all. We then rushed to the paediatrician and a few tests later, it was identified that she had severe to profound bilateral hearing loss,” reminisces Ritu, Ananya’s mother. It meant that both her ears were affected. Ananya got a cochlear implant when she was two and nine months old. She then underwent therapy for a year and a half. “While in the start I had to wear the device on a backpack and lug it around, now I wear a small, light device on my ear. Sounds are also a lot clearer now,” she says.

Many like Ananya have benefitted from advanced cochlear implants and are able to lead normal lives. But sadly there are many more who do not get help on time and live on with the disability. According to a national survey, four out of every 1,000 children are born deaf in India, with about 25,000 babies born deaf every year. A very small percentage of them get implants, say experts.

Getting help

Hearing loss affects both children and adults. Depending on the kind and extent of the impairment, a person is advised hearing aids or cochlear implants. “For hearing loss less than 70db, hearing aids can help, but for loss of more than 70db, severe to profound hearing loss, cochlear implants are needed,” explains Dr Shalabh Sharma, senior ENT consultant surgeon, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi.

In cases of severe to profound hearing loss, cochlear implant is necessary to hear and understand speech. “A cochlear implant is an electronic medical device that does the work of damaged parts of the inner ear (cochlea) to provide sound signals to the brain. It bypasses the damaged cochlea,” explains Dr George Kuruvilla, senior consultant paediatric ENT surgeon and head of ENT department, Lourdes Hospital, Kochi.

A cochlear implant has two units. “The implant or inner unit sits behind the ear, under the skin. An electrode reaches the inner ear and stimulates the nerve, sending electrical signals to the brain,” explains Shalabh. The electrodes can stimulate different parts of the cochlea. “The outer unit has a microphone that catches the sound and processes the sound. This unit is called a speech processor. It sends electrical impulses to the inner unit in the form of FM radio waves,” he adds.

For hearing aids to be useful, a person must have some residual hearing. “What hearing aids do is amplify the sound. If a hearing aid is not helping then an implant may be needed,” George points out.

Better technology

Both hearing aids and implants have technologically improved in the last few years. Shalabh recalls that 15 years ago, the processors were large and could get damaged by physical trauma. “People had to wear them on the body and carry them around. Now they are small and a lot more robust, made of bioinert material,” he says. Breakthrough in bioinert material has been one of the greatest advancements in this technology, says Dr Mohammad Naushad, director, Dr Naushad’s ENT Hospital and Research Centre, Kochi. “Silicone and titanium, materials which are compatible with the body, have made implants a lot better,” he says. Also, increase in the number of electrodes has made sounds clearer, says George.

The outer processor has undergone remarkable improvement over the years. “Earlier, you had to switch the programme manually based on where you are and how much noise there is. Now the processor reads the sounds and automatically chooses the programme best suited,” explains Shalabh.

The processor also has better speech discrimination, points out Dr Shankar Medikeri, who heads Medikeri’s Super Speciality ENT Center in Bengaluru. “It also has better wireless accessories,” he says. “The TV steamer can be coupled with the implant, so can a phone. There are also aqua accessories that can be used in water.” The processor has Bluetoothlike technology that connects to different devices. “In a classroom, a lapel mic can be given to the teacher which is directly connected to the implant so that the child can hear clearly,” adds Shalabh.

Kanso from Cochlear Ltd Australia is the latest in cochlear implants. “It is light, smaller and is a single external unit that sits way behind the ear,” says Shalabh. This external piece, which does not really look like a hearing accessory, can easily be covered by hair.

Not only implants, but hearing aids also are getting smaller. “Hearing aids are getting miniaturised. They can completely sit in the ear canal,” says Shalabh. Advanced hearing aids offer better sound clarity and reduction of background noise.

Two held for raping minors

27.06.2018
Baripada: Betnati police of Mayurbhanj have apprehended a 15-year-old boy for allegedly raping his hearing-and-speech impaired nine-year-old cousin.

The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon when they were alone in the house. The girl has suffered external and internal injuries.

The incident came to fore after the doctor of a local community health care centre called the police after seeing bleeding and injury marks in the private parts of the girl.

The girl was brought to the heath care centre by a relative. She was later shifted to PRM Medical College and Hospital, Baripada, as her condition deteriorated.

Inspector in charge of Betnati police station Gobinda Chandra Behera said: "The accused committed the offence when there was no one else in the house. The accused has confessed to committing the crime. A case has been registered under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act following the information from the hospital doctor."

The accused will be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board.

In another incident, Badasahi police arrested a 24-year-old youth for allegedly raping his 15-year-old sister-in-law.

The accused was forwarded to court. He had married the sister of the rape survivor about six months ago. The girl's father lodged a police complaint upon coming to know about the incident.

Investigating officer of Badasahi police station Jay Narayan Khandei said: "The accused was forwarded to court after being booked under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act."

Speech & hearing disabilities don’t deter these petrol pump attendants in Gurgaon

27.06.2018

The Janta Filling Station on MG Road, next to the Guru Dronacharya Metro Station, is like any other petrol pump in the city at first glance. However, when attendants communicate with commuters through signboards, instead of speaking, the commuters realise that something is different here. Six of the attendants at the pump, all from south Delhi and Gurgaon, are hearing and speech impaired. Abhishek Gupta, the owner of the pump, claims this is probably the only petrol pump in the country to have such attendants. “My father is associated with the Haryana Deaf & Dumb Welfare Association, which is how we came in contact with them. I thought we should find meaningful employment for them as that would make them self-sufficient,” he says.

‘They grasped the work quickly and learned everything in three days’

The six differently-abled attendants – Akash, Irfan, Vikas, Shakil, Anoop, and Sunil – started working at the pump in the end of May. “At first, we thought they would need to be trained for 15-20 days before they could start working. But they surprised us all by comprehending their work in just three days. We first got them to marshall the cars and gradually moved them to refuelling duties,” Abhishek tells us. The attendants have been given special signboards that instruct commuters to signal what fuel they want and how much. They also wear a card around their neck that tells people they can’t hear or speak and need to be communicated to through signs. They undertake all tasks, from talking to the customers to filling petrol and monetary transactions, mostly without assistance from other attendants. “Shuru mein yeh log humse thodi help lete thay, par ab pakke ho gaye hain. Sab khud kar lete hain,” an attendant at the pump tells us. Talking to us through interpreters, the hearing and speech impaired attendants say that the work is actually quite fun. “It helps when people are accommodative once they realise we can’t hear or talk,” adds Anoop.

‘The idea of earning our livelihood ourselves was frightening, yet exciting’
They were nervous at first, but also excited at the prospect of earning their livelihood themselves. Sunil tells us in sign language, “It was scary at first, coming to the pump and watching all the other attendants work so casually. But we were determined to catch up with them as soon as we could. The most important thing is that we are getting a chance to earn and not get money through charity.” The attendants hope that if they can successfully work at the pump, it can inspire other deaf-mute individuals to work in places which are generally considered ‘too dangerous’ for them. 

They are doing a great job: customers
Customers at the pump say they are pleasantly surprised to see these attendants go on about their work. Abhinav, a Sushant Lok resident, says, “When I first saw these guys, I was a little taken aback, and even wondered if they could work. But over time, I have seen them get more confident and they are doing great.” Customers say that they have noticed these attendants are more polite than other attendants they have seen. Sakshi Gupta, a Gurgaon resident, says, “It was very nice to see them work here and I did not have any trouble conversing with them. In fact, they were more polite and courteous than the other petrol pump attendants I have come across. They try to make you feel welcome. Their disability is in no way a hindrance to their work.”

‘We want to show that we’re just as efficient as other attendants’
The only thing that concerns the attendants is that they are able to show people that they are efficient. “We want to show people we are just as hardworking and efficient as other attendants,” Anoop tells us through an interpreter. The pump owners say that if the attendants work well, they plan to hire more differently-abled attendants for their other service stations in Gurgaon.

In Video: Speech & hearing disabilities don’t deter these petrol pump attendants in Gurgaon

Watch as a 1-year-old who is deaf hears for first time

Ayla Esler, a 1-year-old who was born deaf, was recently fitted with a cochlear implant to help her hear. When the device was turned on, Ayla’s mother was overcome with emotion.

150 deaf & speech impaired introduce self to find their soulmate

23.06.2018, Indore: As many as 150 deaf and speech-impaired youths from across the state introduced themselves with sign language to find a suitable match for them at the two-day ‘Parichay Sammelan’ on the premises of Parasrampuria School in Rajmohalla on Saturday.
Rendering help to the candidates, experts spoke out about details of their bio-data, including education, work-profile and family status, for the brides and grooms and their family members, who were sitting in the audience.

“On the first day of the event the candidates introduced themselves from the stage. On the second day, talk between the candidates and their family members will continue. Over 50 more participants are expected to turn-up during the day,” Indore Deaf Bilingual Academy president Murlidhar Dhamani told TOI. The academy is run by Mook Badhir Sansthan.

Dhamani said that some candidates with leg and hand disabilities and a couple of candidates with no disability also participated in the event to find a suitable match for them. “Those candidates, who are not deaf and speech-impaired, have been advised to learn Indian sign-language to establish a communication with their life partner,” Dhamani said.

He said that Parichay Sammelan was a medium for people with disability to gather at a place and meet youths for marriage. They are further free and responsible to investigate about the participants, whom they select, to take the decision about their marriage.

The hearing and speech-impaired girl, Geeta, is expected to participate in the event and meet the candidates on Sunday.

“We have already obtained permission from the ministry of external affairs, but, it will totally depend on Geeta to introduce herself from the stage and meet the candidates,” Dhamani said.

Geeta had recently shortlisted 15 candidates out of 60 applications received against a ‘matrimonial ad’ posted on Facebook. Of them, six candidates had turned up in a Swayamwar, a sort of meeting, held on June 7 and 8. She had expressed wish to meet some more candidates before taking the important decision. Therefore, the local administration is making efforts to fix a meeting of her with the remaining candidates.

Manu wishes to pursue a professional course

22.06.2018, Manu was born deaf and mute. But that did not stop him from becoming the ace striker of FC Kayilamcode.When the chips are down, the chant for ‘Messi, Messi’ would fire him up. “It is as if he can hear what the crowd wants. He will not stop till he finds the net of the opposite team,” says Sovin Mathew, another team member.Now, Manu wants to pursue higher education. He almost gave up because of his limitation and poverty, Mathew says. “But we are not ready to give up on him,” he says.

He is good at studies, says his father Karunakaran. He passed class 10 with first class from Jyothi Bhavan School for Hearing Impaired at Chayoth near Nileshwaram. He did his Plus-II from Mar Thoma School for the Deaf, Kasargod, and scored 70 per cent. The certificates he won on the field are kept safely, wrapped in a plastic bag. Even his house is wrapped in tarpaulin.

His friends say that Manu wants to pursue a professional course. 

“He is good with tools and machines,” says Vijeesh, who used to play for the district team.

“What we are saving from flex boards and flags will be just the initial fund. We are raising the fund from the people and have opened an account in SBI in Vellarikundu branch for the cause,” he says.

FIFA World Cup 2018: Achilles the deaf cat backs Brazil to beat Costa Rica

22.06.2017
Brazil might have made a slow start to their World Cup campaign but things are looking up, with feline fortune-teller Achilles predicting a win against Costa Rica hours before kick off in St Petersburg on Friday.

Five-times champions Brazil have struggled to get out of the blocks and were held 1-1 by Switzerland in their opening Group E match last week. However, coach Tite can look forward to the team celebrating their first win - if Achilles is to be believed.

Offered a choice of two bowls of food, the clairvoyant cat chose the one with the Brazilian flag. A safe choice, perhaps, given his fellow psychic Timon the meerkat incorrectly predicted that Denmark would beat Australia on Thursday. That game ended 1-1.

Achilles lives in St Petersburg's Hermitage museum and is deaf, which according to his caretakers, helps him go about making predictions without distractions.

"We're sure he has a special gift, because he is deaf we think if he has nothing, then he (must have) something he has received more (of). And this is his gift," said Maria Haltunen, the press secretary of the historical museum.

The white feline is one of many animals trying their hand at predictions, including hippos Milya and Glyasik in Kaliningrad, Spartak the lemur in Yekaterinburg and Harry the otter in Sochi.

Asked who Achilles would back for the title, Haltunen said: "Russia, he is a patriot. Therefore the games where the Russian team was playing were extraordinarily important for us. Our director told us that the most important predictions he has already made."

Gurugram wrestler roars at world event, bags bronze

23.06.2018
GURUGRAM: Seventeen-year-old Ritik Umeed is among the three mute wrestlers from Haryana who won one gold and two bronze medals at the 5th World Deaf Wrestling Championship, held in Russia from June 11-19.

While Gurugram lad Ritik and Ajay Kumar, from Sonipat, bagged a bronze medal in 65kg freestyle and 51kg freestyle in cadet category, respectively, Amit Krishan (19), also from Sonipat, won gold in 70kg junior category.

All the three wrestlers are alumni of Haryana Welfare Society for Persons with Speech and Hearing Impairment, a government-aided NGO, which has eight centres across Haryana. Ritik is a student at the Welfare Centre for Persons with Speech and Hearing Impairment, Gurugram. He took up wrestling as a recreational sport, but soon found himself competing in this sport.

SPS Gill, teacher at Haryana Welfare Society for Persons with Speech and Hearing Impairment, said, “Ritik was selected for this international tournament after competing in the open category for the Deaf and Dumb Wrestling Championship held in Delhi this May.”

He comes from a modest family in Jhajjar, and has nine other siblings. His mother and a sister are also mute. “His father is a farmer and can barely make both ends meet. He came to the centre when he was 7-year-old, and today at 17, he is studying in class VIII and has learnt sign language to communicate,” added Gill.

During Ritik’s matches, there are no whistles to signal the end of a play or a point. Mute wrestlers are given a slight nudge by the referees instead. “Mute wrestlers take extra time to understand the rules of the game. I always told him to look towards me during the match, so that I can tell him through sign language what to do next,” said Maha Gill, chief coach, deaf and dumb wrestling in India.

“Before this championship, he has taken part in 50 ‘dangals’ out of which he has won 30,” said Jai Veer, who runs the akhara where Ritik trains at Bupania in Jhajjar. “This was the first international event Ritik has participated in. He took up wrestling only two years back but I knew of his potential,” said Veer.

“Ritik is always full of life. Since he was a kid, sports was part of his life. He initially participated in athletics and judo before taking up wrestling,” said Raj Kumar, Ritik’s elder brother.

The Haryana government has officially recognised mute athletes and it will be part of the government programme to back them at every stage of their career. The players participated in the tournament with the efforts of Haryana Sports Council of the Deaf, affiliated to All India Sports Council of the Deaf, which, in turn, is affiliated to the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf.

Haryana Guv congratulates winners of 5th World Deaf Wrestling Championship

Chandigarh, 22 June- Haryana Governor, Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki has congratulated winners of fifth World Deaf Wrestling Championship today.

Prof Solanki said that these players have made the country and the state proud of their achievement. Amit Krishna of Haryana won gold in 70 kg weight category, Ritik won bronze in 51 kg and Ajay Kumar won bronze in 65 kg weigh category, in the fifth World Deaf Wrestling Competition held from June 11-19, 2018. 

It is for the first time that any player from India won medal in World Deaf Wrestling Competition. These players are the students of Haryana Vaani and Sharawan Nishajktijan Kalyan organization which have eight centers in state.

காதுகேளாத வாய்பேசாதவரான கீதாவுக்கு மீண்டும் மரபணு பரிசோதனை

விருதுநகர் மாவட்ட காது கேளாதோர் நலச்சங்கம் சார்பில் குறை தீர் கூட்டம்

20.06.2018

சிவகாசி, சிவகாசியில் விருதுநகர் மாவட்ட காது கேளாதோர் நலச்சங்கம் சார்பில் குறைதீர்வு நாள் கூட்டம் நடந்தது. சங்க உறுப்பினர்கள் 50 பேர் பங்கேற்றனர். சங்கத் தலைவர் தனமுத்து தலைமை வகித்தார். செயலாளர் பழனிமுருகன் முன்னிலை வகித்தார். காதுகேளாதோருக்கு வழங் கப்படும் உதவித்தொகையை தடையில்லாமல் வழங்கிட வேண்டும். சிறுதொழில் செய்ய கடன்தொகை வழங்க வேண்டும் போன்ற தீர்மானங்கள் நிறைவேற்றப்பட்டன. ஏற்பாடுகளை மக்கள் தொடர்பு அலுவலர் அலெக்ஸ் சுந்தர்சிங் செய்தார்.

Iran crowned champion at World Deaf Freestyle Wrestling C’ships

TEHRAN, Jun. 18 (MNA) – Gaining 5 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals and a total point of 193, Iran was crowned champion at the 5th World Deaf Senior Freestyle Wrestling Championships held in Vladimir, Russia.

18.06.2018
Mohammad Siavoshi (57kg), Hossein Nouri (70kg), Hossein Darikvand (74kg), Mohsen Manouchehri (86kg) and Mohammad-Rasoul Qamarpour (92kg) each snatched a gold medal at the competitions while Keivan Rostamabadi (61kg) won the only silver medal for Iran.

Also, Saied Younesi (79kg) and Akbar Saberi (97kg) were the Bronze-winners of the Iranian squad.

Turkey also gained 193 points but thanks to Iran’s 5 gold medals compared to Turkey’s 4 gold, Iran ranked first and Turkey stood second. The host Russia finished third with 180 points.

The tournament started in both Greco-Roman and Freestyle on June 11 and will end on June 19. The competitions are in both junior and senior levels.

On June 15, Iranian deaf Greco Roman wrestlers took the third place in the competitions by winning four silver and three bronze medals.

Remember Geeta? Girl who returned from Pakistan to undergo fresh DNA test

20.06.2018
Geeta, the deaf and mute woman who returned from Pakistan in 2015 after accidentally landing in that country when she was a child, would be undergoing a fresh DNA test at the behest of the Ministry of External Affairs, an official said today.

Her DNA test had been conducted earlier after she arrived in India.

Geeta was found by Pakistan Rangers onboard the Samjhauta Express in Lahore when she was seven or eight years old. She lived in Pakistan till she was brought back to India in October 2015.

"Her blood sample has been sent to the Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Hyderabad for DNA test following a directive of MEA," a Madhya Pradesh government official said on the condition of anonymity.

He did not reveal why she was undergoing the DNA test again.

More than ten families have so far claimed that Geeta is their long-lost daughter, but failed to establish the claim. Geeta didn't recognise any of them as her parents.

The officer said that blood samples of these couples had been sent to Delhi for DNA profile matching with Geeta, and the results in all cases were negative. Geeta's DNA sample has been preserved at a laboratory in Delhi.

Geeta is living in an institution run an NGO in Indore. The Madhya Pradesh government's Social Justice Department is her caretaker.

Earlier, twenty men, including a priest and a `writer', had responded to a Facebook advert seeking a match for Geeta.

Delhi Teen Invents Glasses That Could Revolutionise How the Deaf Communicate!

CLICK HERE ⬇⬇

Delhi Teen Invents Glasses That Could Revolutionise How the Deaf Communicate!

Speech therapy unit lying defunct

19.06.2018
CUTTACK: THE newly constructed modern speech therapy unit set up on premises of Swami Vivekananda National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research (SVNIRTAR) under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment at Olatpur has been lying defunct since the beginning. As a result, hundreds of speech and hearing impaired patients coming from different parts of the State to the premier institute of India have been deprived of necessary treatment.

The unit was constructed through Central Public Works Department (CPWD) at a cost of `10 lakh in July 2107 to provide treatment to speech and hearing impaired patients. But, from the day of operation, fungus spread in the building due to constructional defects damaging the costly speech therapy machines and equipment. Moreover, the soundproof doors of the unit are not functioning properly. Besides, the three air condition systems installed inside the unit have been lying defunct for the last several months. In spite of repeated complaints by the institute, the authorities of CPWD are not rectifying the defects to make the unit functional.

Sources said the authority of SVNIRTAR had made last intimation to CPWD in this connection on April 27, 2018. Acting on the letter, though the CPWD engineers visited the institute, inspected the unit, took photographs of the defects and assured to take up necessary work for rectification of the defects at the earliest, no action has yet been initiated for the same. Director, SVNIRTAR, Dr Shakti Prasad Das said on receipt of repeated complaints from Dr Jaysankar Panda, Head of Speech and Hearing Therapy Department, he has been pursuing with CPWD for rectifying the defects on urgent basis. The authorities of CPWD were not available for comment.

Ex-deaf cricket team captain gets permanent pitch for food stall

19.06.2018
VADODARA: Last year, his roadside stall was vacated by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) during an anti-encroachment drive. Deaf and mute cricketer Imran Sheikh is now back to selling healthy food again.

The civic body has allotted Sheikh a space to run his food stall near M S University's fine arts faculty. On Saturday evening, he has also relaunched the famous 'moong chaat', a delicacy that was a favourite among many citizens.

"When I started selling moong chaat on the Old Padra Road in 2015, the business was good as those preferring healthy food thronged my stall. I had to shut down the stall as the main roads were cleared of all the roadside eateries. Later, we had to make a temporary base near Sayajibaug where we sold salad, boiled moong and beans. Now, we have got a permanent place to run our food stall. It is a big relief," Sheikh told TOI in sign language. He has to pay Rs 50 per day as rent to the civic body.

Sheikh, the former captain of the Indian deaf cricketteam, plans to offer more healthy delicacies at his stall. "I won't sell oily and unhealthy dishes. My stall will offer only healthy food," Sheikh said. He coaches both normal and deaf and mute cricketers at his cricket club by the day A school in Bhayali area has offered him space to coach the budding cricketers.

"In evening, I will be at our stall along with my wife Roza," he added. Sheikh played a pivotal role with bat when India won the deaf and mute cricket world cup in 2005 by defeating England. His consistent performance also catapulted him to the captaincy of the team in 2012. Imran has since then led the deaf cricket team several times.

Youth held on rape charge

18.06.2018
Bhubaneswar: Police on Monday arrested a 35-year-old man, identified as Khudia Tudu of Mahinsamunda village, on charge of raping a 19-year-old differently-abled girl.

The police said Tudu would be produced in court after completion of his medical examination.

The girl, who is deaf and dumb, came to Mahinsamunda village to attend a social function of her relative on Friday. The accused, who happened to be the neighbour of her relative, managed to take her away to a secluded place alluring her to give some eatables on Saturday afternoon. On that night, he raped her and fled the scene.

Family members and the neighbours started frantically searching for her, when she was not found in her relative's house.Later, she was spotted lying in a field subconscious. The girl had both external and internal injuries in her private parts. She was admitted to local hospital at Jaleswar.

The local people, who had seen the accused with the girl, had suspected him to be the culprit. When he was confronted, the girl identified Tudu as the culprit. The villagers then handed over the accused to the police. During interrogation, he confessed to have committed the crime.Jaleswar police station inspector-in-charge Chandan Kumar Ghadai said the accused had been booked under Section 376 of the IPC.

In another case of rape and murder, the body of a nine-year-old girl of Betnati was found on Saturday. Local people demanded death penalty for the 35-year-old accused in a silent candle procession on Sunday evening.

செவித்திறன் பரிசோதனை

16.06.2018

திருமங்கலம், திருமங்கலம் அரசு மருத்துவமனையில் ஒவ்வொரு செவ்வாய்க்கிழமையும் செவித்திறன் பரிசோதனை நடக்கிறது.தலைமை டாக்டர் பூமிநாதன் கூறியதாவது: இம்மருத்துவமனையில் காது, மூக்கு, தொண்டை சிகிச்சைக்கு தனி டாக்டர் நியமிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளார். இதனால் செவ்வாய் தோறும் செவித்திறன் பரிசோதனை நடத்தப்படுகிறது. செவித்திறன் குறைந்தவர்களுக்கு அரசு காப்பீட்டு திட்டத்தில் சிகிச்சையும், செவித்திறன் கருவியும் வழங்கப்படுகிறது. இதுவரை 200 பேருக்கு கருவிகள் வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளன. சைனஸ் பிரச்னை உள்ளவர்களுக்கு எண்டோஸ்கோபி மூலம் சிகிச்சையும், டான்சில் பிரச்னை உள்ளவர்களுக்கு இலவச அறுவை சிகிச்சையும் செய்யப்படுகிறது, என்றார்.

சென்னை ரயில் விபத்தில் காதுகேளாத சிறுமி பலி

16.06.2018

சென்னை, தாம்பரம் அடுத்த ஊரப்பாக்கத்தைச் சேர்ந்தவர், கோபால் மகள் துர்கா, 13; காது கேளாத குறைபா-டுள்ள இவர், எட்டாம் வகுப்பு படித்து வந்தார்.நேற்று காலை, கடைக்கு சென்ற சிறுமி, கூடுவாஞ்சேரி - ஊரப்பாக்கம் இடையே உள்ள தண்டவாளத்தை கடந்தார். அப்போது, அவ்வழியே சென்ற ரயிலில் அடிபட்டு, துர்கா பரிதாபமாக பலியானார்.தாம்பரம் ரயில்வே போலீசார், சிறுமியின் சடலத்தை மீட்டு, பிரேத பரிசோதனைக்காக குரோம்பேட்டை அரசு மருத்துவமனைக்கு அனுப்பினர். வழக்குப் பதிந்த தாம்பரம் ரயில்வே போலீசார், விசாரித்து வருகின்றனர்.

Humanitarian entrepreneurs

Janhavi Joshi and Nupura Kirloskar

16.06.2018
Janhavi Joshi and Nupura Kirloskar’s entrepreneurial and humanitarian journey recently landed them in the Forbes’ 30 under 30 list. The founders of Bleetech Innovations — a startup that works for the deaf community by providing technological and design-based support — talk about their journey, the challenges and future plans. The duo met in college and graduated together in 2015. “We both pursued product designing and in our third year, we had a course on designs for specially-abled people. Janhavi is a Kathak dancer. She learnt it in Pune. So, we went for one of the shows there and saw a performance by a group of deaf dancers. They were continuously looking for cues and there was a disconnect between the dancers and the audience. The experience seemed incomplete, which is why we started researching on this subject,” says Nupura.

Hearing is an essential part of learning languages, explains Janhavi, “For the hearing impaired, there is sign language but in India not much is available in the Indian sign language.”

The young women then took up the project for their college assignment and were encouraged by the college to pursue the same project as their final graduation project as well. “We worked with the same group of dancers and it really worked out. The feedback was very positive,” says Nupura. Janhavi, who has been learning Kathak since she was 8, says, “When I went to design school, most of my projects were related to dance. I was aware of all the problems related to it and wanted to provide solutions using design. When we saw the deaf girls dance, we thought that it would be incredible to work on solving this problem.” Since it was two youngsters venturing into a business model for the first time, the challenges they had to overcome were massive. “For us it was just a project and we knew nothing about managing a business. It was a new territory for us. We are also not from a technical background and we outsourced technology initially. We didn’t even have an investment. Our first employee was hired in January 2016 and we were scared, as now we were responsible for someone’s salary,” says Nupura.

The duo then started taking design assignments to sustain themselves. “We didn’t even know how to delegate tasks. That is something we learnt slowly,” she adds. Before working on this project, the duo had never tried their products on people and were apprehensive. Janhavi says, “The reactions of the dancers were very important to us. Thankfully, their reactions were incredible. It also meant so much to them that someone was working exclusively to solve this problem and paying attention to their needs. It made us feel special and encouraged us to go ahead with the project and make it into a company.” Having overcome their initial fears, their team expanded quickly afterwards. Till now they have designed around 30 different products.

Talking about their first product, Nupura says, “It’s a smart watch with a sound detection mechanism in it. It listens for you. Once the sound is saved, whenever it is played again, the watch will hear it, detect it and guide you. The watch vibrates in a specific way or a notification pops up. For songs, it works on a beat pattern.” The two have also designed a web portal called AskBlee where they answer various questions in sign language. “AskBlee started as marketing initiative for our first project. We were answering questions related to the products in the sign language but it steadily grew and today, we have around 5,000 people on the platform,” Janhavi explains. Talking about her equation with Nupura, Janhavi says, “We have been roommates forever and becoming co-founders was a very natural process. We complement each other in terms of our strengths and weaknesses and it has always been advantageous for us to be together.”

பாளையங்கோட்டை பிளாரன்ஸ் சுவைன்சன் காதுகேளாதோர் பள்ளியில் உலக சுற்றுச்சூழல் தின விழா

Think Being Deaf-Blind Hinders Learning? Ahmedabad-NGO Will Prove You Wrong!

CLICK HERE ⬇⬇⬇

Think Being Deaf-Blind Hinders Learning? Ahmedabad-NGO Will Prove You Wrong!

Ulfa-I starts FB journey

Members of the Assam Association of the Deaf protest in 

Guwahati on Friday, demanding justice for the recent killings

15.06.2018
Guwahati: Amid the "intensified cyber patrol" by Assam police, Ulfa (Independent) on Friday announced it had created a Facebook account to make the social media a part of its "revolutionary journey as an experiment".

An email sent to media organisations on Friday morning shared a link of the Facebook account, named Ulfa Swadhin. The page, with a logo of the outfit, has a background photograph of its leaders, including "chief of staff" Paresh Barua and chairman Abhizeet Asom, sitting in chairs and cadres standing behind at an undisclosed location.

A statement posted on the profile wall says the publicity wing of the outfit decided to make Facebook part of its "revolutionary journey" in view of demand of "time and from many well-wishers".

"Use of Facebook, however, will be limited. Our comments and statements will be posted in the Facebook also, apart from the other means of communication. In a word it will be a sort of experiment," the statement said.

The wall has two more photographs showing the Ulfa (I) chairman addressing cadres in front of a bamboo thatched hut and a group of heavily armed cadres relaxing in an undisclosed location.

Ulfa (I) is against peace talks without discussion on its core demand for a "sovereign Asom". The outfit is believed to have its camps in the jungles along the Myanmar-China border.

Additional director-general of police (security), Harmeet Singh, said action had been initiated into the development but did not mention what action was being taken.

Singh was tasked to work out an action plan to check the use of social media to spread "anti-national and disturbing" posts, following the lynching of two youths in Karbi Anglong last week. Nilotpal Das and Abhijit Nath, hailing from Guwahati, were killed after a local youth informed villagers that they were child lifters. The duo had gone to visit a waterfall near Kanthilanso last Friday. Police said the villagers trusted the youth as "fake news" was swirling on social media about hopadhora (child-lifters) on the prowl in Karbi Anglong.

The incident and subsequent anger against the incident and people from Karbi Anglong prompted Assam police to open a social media centre at its special branch headquarters here and intensify cyber patrol to check misuse of social media. Nearly 36 youths have been arrested for the alleged misuse of social media.

The Ulfa (I) statement also said peaceful protests and agitation carried out by several organisations would not move the Indian government. It said the historic Assam Agitation (1979-1985), which led to "sacrifices" of 855 people, was also a failure. "Otherwise, why are our organisations still resorting to agitations on the streets for full implementation of the Assam Accord?" it asked.

Ulfa was formed in 1979 by a section who were unhappy with the movement.

After slogging for years, professor develops a unique software

12.06.2018
The software converts English texts to sign language grammer

Jalandhar, June 8
After toiling for around four years, a city-based professor has finally staked claim to his self-designed software for the convenience of hearing impaired persons. Dr Lalit Goyal was busy designing the software that translates English texts to Indian Sign language (ISL) synthetic animations. He recently got a copyright of it.

The software developed is capable of converting simple English sentences to Indian sign language (used by the hearing impaired) with more than 85 per cent accuracy. He claims that the software is the first and the only working model in India which can convert the English text to ISL in real time.

The system uses the computer generated animations which increases the speed of the system to manifolds. According to Dr Lalit Goyal, the software has been clubbed with a bilingual dictionary (English word to ISL animation gloss) of more than 2,400 words that were created using the videos made by an institute for the deaf and dumb at Coimbatore.

Goyal said, “Sign language was the natural language used by hearing impaired people and they use their hand shapes, hand orientation, hand locations, hand movement, face expressions and body movements in three dimensional space for communication with others. Therefore, this computer generated animation would make the communication process easier by converting the text into the sign language grammar.”

The software, “Translator for english text to ISL synthetic animations for simple sentences” was prepared under the guidance of Dr Vishal Goyal from the Department of Computer Science, Punjabi University Patiala.

The software was also demonstrated at the deaf and dumb school Saifdipur, Patiala on World Disability Day where it was appreciated hugely. Col Kulwinder Singh, principal of the school said, the software was essentially useful for the school going children and after improvement, it would become more useful for normal people as well while communicating with deaf and dumb children.

Dr Lalit Goyal also said, “The research work has not stopped and we were going to improve the system to deal with complex English sentences which would further improve the efficiency of the system. Also, we are involved in many other projects which could be useful for the differently-abled persons.”

He also said, “In this context, the team was in contact with Indian Singh Language Research and Training centre (ISLRTC) to get an MOU so that with the guidance and expertise of the professional sign language interpreters, they could improve the existing system and start new projects.”

Currently, Dr Vishal Goyal and Dr Lalit Goyal are also working upon converting railway announcement into signs for the hearing impaired people.

யார் வெல்வார் என குறி சொல்லும் ரஷிய காது கேளாத பூனை

மாஸ்கோ, ஜூன் 10: உலகக் கோப்பை கால்பந்து போட்டியில் எந்த அணி வெல்லும் என ரஷ்யாவைச் சேர்ந்த காது கேளாத அச்சிலீஸ் என்ற பெயர் கொண்ட பூனை குறி சொல்ல அதிகாரப்பூர்வமாக தேர்வு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது.

ஒவ்வொரு உலகக் கோப்பை கால்பந்து போட்டிகளின் போதும் விலங்குகளைக் கொண்டு பட்டம் வெல்லும் அணி எது என முன்கூட்டியே கணித்து கூறுவது வாடிக்கை.

இதன்படி கடந்த 2010-ம் ஆண்டு தென்னாப்பிரிக்காவில் நடந்த உலகக் கோப்பை போட்டியில் பால் என்ற பெயர் கொண்ட ஆக்டோபஸ் குறி சொல்லியது. ஸ்பெயின் அணி சாம்பியன் பட்டம் வெல்லும் என சரியாக கணித்தது.

அதற்கடுத்து 2014 பிரேசில் கால்பந்து போட்டியின் போது ஐக்கிய அரபு நாட்டில் பாலைவனத்தில் இருந்த ஷாகின் என்ற ஓட்டகம் எந்த அணி வெல்லும் என குறி சொல்லியது. அதன் முன்பு கால்பந்து ஒன்றையும், இரு அணிகளின் கொடிகளையும் வைத்து அது தனது பல்லால் எந்த அணி என கணித்து கூறியது.

அதே போல் தற்போது ரஷிய உலகக் கோப்பை போட்டிக்கும் காது கேளாத அச்சிலீஸ் பூனை அதிகாரப்பூர்வ குறி கூறும் பூனையாக தேர்வு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது. அச்சிலீஸ் பூனை முன்பு இரு அணிகளின் கொடிகள் அடங்கிய கிண்ணம் வைக்கப்பட்டு எந்த அணி வெல்லும் என அது குறிப்பிடும்.

Federation's high-handedness put paid to Goonga Pahalwan's world championship hopes

11.06.2018
NEW DELHI: Federation politics and its high handedness has let another world champion down - the 'Goonga Pahalwan'. Legendary deaf and mute wrestler and three-time Deaflympics medallist, Virender Singh's hopes of representing the country at another world championship has cruelly been crushed after his national federation - All India Sports Council of the Deaf (AISCD) - kept him in the dark about the last date of sending entries for the tournament in Vladimir, Russia from June 11-19.

Virender, who has been punished for speaking out against the alleged irregularities committed by the AISCD, is crest-fallen. The 33-year-old winner of seven international medals, including three gold from Deaflympics and one gold from the Deaf Worlds, has indicated through his supporters that he would be protesting outside the Shastri Bhawan - the building which houses the sports ministry - against the injustice meted out to him and his community by the federation.

The issue relates to Virender's accusing the federation of not paying him and other participating athletes their 'pocket allowance' due for the 2017 Samsun Deaflympics. This led to AISCD suspending him in March this year.

In the recent developments, AISCD kept on insisting that Virender should first apologise for making false allegations. However, none from the federation bothered to inform either the Sports Authority of India (SAI) or Virender that the official deadline for sending entries was May 1, 2018.

TOI is in possession of two mails from the organising committee of the World Deaf Senior Greco-Roman & Freestyle wrestling championship in Vladimir which clearly state May 1 as the last date for sending entries. "We have to inform you that the official deadline for providing all necessary documents for issuing the official letter of invitation has passed on May 1, 2018. Due to lack of time, we are not able to provide you the official letter of invitation," read one of the mails.

Even during the federation officials' meeting with one of the joint secretaries of the sports ministry on May 23, they didn't inform the ministry official about the expiration of the deadline. The joint secretary had, in a letter dated May 25, categorically told the AISCD to immediately revoke Virender's suspension and make arrangements for his trip to Russia.

Despite the ministry's diktat, AISCD kept on asking for apology from Virender. Even after the wrestler apologising on two occasions - June 1 and June 4 - the federation is yet to revoke his suspension. Also, the federation didn't even make efforts for arranging Virender's late entry to the organisers.

TOI wrote a mail to AISCD secretary general Walter Fernandez asking for the letter where it has revoked his suspension, but no reply has come till date. Even the wrestler and his team of supporters are yet to receive any such communication from the federation.

First deaf & mute women cricket tournament held

11.06.2018
VADODARA: The city hosted its first ever cricket tournament for deaf-and-mute girls on Sunday. Girls from five different districts from the state participated in the tennis ball cricket tournament that was organized at Vadodara Cricket Academy on Bhayli Road. Imran Sheikh, who is one of the members of the Indian Deaf Cricket team, had organized the tournament.

“The idea was to encourage more women to participate in the sport. There is a lot of talent in our state but they don’t get enough opportunities. We will keep organizing such tourneys to motivate more deaf-and-mute women for taking up cricket as a sport,” said Sheikh, who runs Deaf Cricket Club of Baroda. The five districts that participated in the tourney include Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Himmatnagar, Nadiad and Palanpur.

Ahmedabad girls beat Palanpur to pick up the champions trophy. Vadodara MP, Ranjan Bhatt, attended the event and gave the awards. Sheikh has been making efforts to promote deaf-and-mute cricket in the city over the last few years. He has been the skipper of the Indian Deaf Cricket team and Gujarat team as well.

Achilles the Cat, Russia's deaf but highly gifted World Cup soothsayer

Achilles the cat, one of the State Hermitage Museum mice hunters, is pictured 

outside the museum in Saint Petersburg on June 7, 2018

Saint Petersburg, June 9
A deaf, white cat named Achilles is soon to begin his work as Russia's official soothsayer for the World Cup, following in the tentacle-prints of Paul the Octopus who became a star in 2010.

Paul predicted winners for that years' World Cup by choosing one out of two boxes containing food, while Achilles will be presented with bowls marked with teams' flags.

"We went for Achilles because he is beautiful, first of all, but also because-like all white cats with blue eyes-he is deaf, so he has a great deal of intuition, he sees with his heart," said Anna Kasatkina, a vet who oversees guard-cats at Saint Petersburg's Hermitage museum.

For the World Cup, Achilles will move out of his lifelong home of the basements of the Hermitage, where he works with a team of dozens of other cats to keep the world-famous museum free of rodents.

Instead he will live at the "Cat Republic" cafe nearby.

"He's going to live here for the duration of the tournament to keep him 'on form', since he has more opportunity to move and also meet guests," Kasatkina told AFP.

The cat is not the first animal to be positioned as successor to the celebrated Paul, who became the world's most famous mollusc when he correctly predicted all the matches of the German team during the South African World Cup. He went on to predict the victory of Spain in the final.

Swiss guinea pig Madame Shiva made a play for the crown in 2014, as did British Piranha Pele, but neither quite had Paul's foresight.