‘Goonga Pehelwan’ Virender Singh axed, wrestlers revolt

• Singh has been punished for speaking out against the alleged “irregularities” committed by the All India Sports Council of the Deaf (AISCD)
• The celebrated grappler has been dropped from the World Deaf Senior Greco-Roman & Freestyle wrestling championship
• In solidarity, other participating wrestlers have revolted against the federation and has threatened to boycott the Worlds

NEW DELHI: Legendary deaf and mute wrestler Virender Singh, famously known as ‘Goonga Pehelwan’, has been punished for speaking out against the alleged “irregularities” committed by the national federation – All India Sports Council of the Deaf (AISCD).

The celebrated grappler has been dropped from the World Deaf Senior Greco-Roman & Freestyle wrestling championship to be held in Vladimir, Russia from June 11-19, leaving his supporters and the wrestling community stunned.

In solidarity, other participating wrestlers have revolted against the federation and has threatened to boycott the Worlds. Nine of the participating wrestlers have written to the SAI that none of them will go to the Worlds if Virender’s suspension wasn’t revoked and his name included in the team.

Virender may not be a household name, but the Arjuna awardee is revered in the same breath as two-time Olympics medallist Sushil Kumar. Virender has seven international medals – including three gold from the Deaflympics (Olympic Games for deaf athletes) and one gold from the Deaf Worlds.

In the latest case, Virender hasn’t been selected for the Worlds after he alleged that the federation has not paid him and other participating athletes their ‘pocket allowance’ due for the 2017 Samsun Deaflympics.

As a result of his tirade, he was show-caused and later suspended by the federation in March this year. Recently, the sports ministry wrote to the AISCD to revoke Virender’s suspension immediately, but the federation’s interpreter and project officer, Ketan Shah, is insisting that Virender should first ‘apologise’ to the AISCD for making false allegations.

Now, persons with hearing impairment can drive in state

03.06.2018
PATNA: The state transport department has decided to issue driving licences to persons with hearing impairment in the state – both for two-wheelers and four-wheelers. “An order in this regard will be issued on Monday. The first such driving licence will be issued on Tuesday,” secretary of transport department Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said.
“Members of the Bihar Sports Council of the Deaf had recently requested me not to deny driving licences to hearing-impaired people,” Agarwal said, adding a hearing-impaired person can drive by taking necessary precautions.

Agarwal said although the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 does not restrict a hearing-impaired person from driving or acquiring licence, they were earlier refused licences as they failed in the medical tests.

A PIL had been filed in the Bombay high court in 2013, seeking issuance of driving licences to hearing-impaired persons. Later, a meeting was held between the complainant and joint secretary of the Maharashtra state transport department to discuss the issue. An opinion had been sought from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-New Delhi in this regard. In its report, the country’s premier hospital said a deaf driver with proper hearing aid did not pose a threat to fellow drivers. In 2016, the Centre circulated a letter to all state governments.

“If a person rehabilitated with hearing amplifications can hear reasonably with the same, there seems little reason to deprive him or her of a driving licence,” the letter stated. The Bombay high court had also passed its judgment in favour of the PIL. Agarwal said the decision of the Bombay high court was also followed by the central government.

“We will introduce a logo or sign to signify that the driver is hearing impaired. Such drivers will undergo a separate driving test before getting licences,” Agarwal added.

General secretary of Bihar Sports Council of the Deaf Athar Ali has welcomed the decision of the state transport department. “Hearing-impaired people are capable enough to drive. The number plates of vehicles driven by hearing-impaired people should be marked with HI followed by BR for Bihar,” Ali said.

Agarwal said people with hearing disabilities can drive smoothly. “They are cautious and drive safely,” he said, adding the initiative to issue driving licences to hearing-impaired persons was aimed at empowering the differently-abled people in the state.

பார்வையற்றோர், காதுகேளாதோர் பள்ளியில் சேர மாணவ-மாணவிகள் விண்ணப்பிக்கலாம் கலெக்டர் தகவல்

02.06.2018, தஞ்சாவூர்

தஞ்சை மேம்பாலம் மருத்துவகல்லூரி சாலையில் அமைந்துள்ள பார்வைத்திறன் குறைவுடையோருக்கான அரசு மேல்நிலைப்பள்ளி மற்றும் செவித்திறன் குறைவுடையோருக்கான அரசு மேல்நிலைப்பள்ளி உள்ளது. இந்த பள்ளியில் முன்பருவப்பள்ளி முதல் 12-ம் வகுப்பு வரை இருபாலர்களுக்கும் உண்டு, உறைவிடப்பள்ளியாக செயல்பட்டு வருகிறது.

இந்த பள்ளியில் அரசு வழங்கும் அனைத்து கற்றல் உபகரணங்கள், பாடப்புத்தகங்கள் மற்றும் சீருடைகள் வழங்கப்படுகின்றன. மேலும் மாணவர்களுக்கு சிறப்பாசிரியர்களை கொண்டு சீரியமுறையில் பாடங்கள் கற்பிக்கப்படுகின்றன.

இந்த பள்ளிகளில் சேர விரும்புபவர்கள் தங்களது மாற்றுத்திறனாளிகளுக்கான தேசிய அடையாள அட்டையின் நகல், கல்விச்சான்று, மதிப்பெண் சான்று, மாற்றுச்சான்றிதழ், பாஸ்போர்ட் அளவு புகைப்படம் ஆகியவற்றுடன் விண்ணப்பிக்க வேண்டும். பார்வைதிறன் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட மாணவ-மாணவிகளாக இருந்தால் தலைமை ஆசிரியை, பார்வைத்திறன் குறைவுடையோருக்கான மேல்நிலைப்பள்ளி, மேம்பாலம் என்ற முகவரியில் விண்ணப்பிக்கலாம். செவித்திறன் மற்றும் வாய்பேச முடியாத மாணவ-மாணவிகளாக இருந்தால் தலைமை ஆசிரியர், செவித்திறன் குறைவுடையோருக்கான மேல்நிலைப்பள்ளி, மேம்பாலம், தஞ்சாவூர் என்ற முகவரியிலும் நேரில் சென்று விண்ணப்பிக்கலாம். மேலும் விவரங்களுக்கு தஞ்சை புதிய கலெக்டர் அலுவலக வளாகத்தில் உள்ள மாவட்ட மாற்றுத்திறனாளிகள் நல அலுவலகத்தை நேரிலோ அல்லது 04362-236791 என்ற எண்ணிலோ தொடர்பு கொள்ளலாம்.

இவ்வாறு அதில் கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது.

Facebook post helps 8-year-old hear again

The loss of hearing left Sanal struggling to get on in school, and his classmates bullied him for his disability. Mr. Basheer got in touch with the boy’s father, who was in Dubai at the time, before he posted the matter on Facebook. As the boy was eight years, he could not be included in the government’s scheme for free cochlear implants. When Basheer Kanjangad put out a Facebook post on how his eight-year-old son’s classmate Sanal Raj had lost his hearing to a mumps infection, many came forward to help the boy get a cochlear implant. Sanalwas discharged on Friday after the surgery, and his speech therapy will begin after two weeks.

Special courses for, of differently-abled

02.06.2018
Chennai: There are people with special needs as also people who need to understand these special needs. Tamilnadu has a couple of education institutions that have courses that specialises in these areas.

TO MAKE SPECIAL PEOPLE MORE SPECIAL

Persons with multiple disabilities have equal rights to lead a better quality of life. This may be enabled by committed professionalism, accessible environment, equal opportunities, positive attitude and appropriate, affordable, acceptable and available technological interventions.

To provide need-based comprehensive rehabilitation through team approach facilitating inclusion, ensuring empowerment of persons with multiple disabilities and their families, the National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD) was established by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India, at Muttukadu, near Chennai.

The 15.22 acre institute provides services to people with multiple disabilities, long-term and short-term training programmes and R&D activities. It offers special education degrees and diploma in cerebral palsy, ASD, deaf blindness and multiple disabilities.

The institute also offers Bachelors in Audiology & Speech Language Pathology, a four-year degree. Speaking to News Today, an official from the institute said, “This degree mainly promotes understanding about the development of communication, language, and hearing in normal people and persons with disabilities. Likewise, a speech therapist degree holder can avail of employment in hospitals, community, national institutes, schools, and have private practice.”

There are only a few takers for these courses. ‘They are basically admitted through a common entrance test.’ For details, log on to https://niepmd.tn.nic.in/

The institute also has an extension campus at Anna Nagar. The course covers four academic years (six semesters of course work; two semesters of internship).

SHORT-TERM COURSES FOR DIFFERENTLY-ABLED

The Centre for Differently-Abled Persons of Bharathidasan University(BDU), Tiruchy, has courses meant for specially-abled people. The centre will ensure that a student with special needs chooses the right course according to his/her academic background, aptitude and skill-set.

M Prabavathy, head, Centre for Differently-Abled Persons (CDAP) said, “As an obligation towards developing the skill needed for economic independence of the specially-abled population from the rural areas, CDAP of BDU has entered into a new facet of skill development.”

The heterogeneity of courses will be the highlight of this centre, Prabavathy said, and added that the centre will conduct training programme on various spheres that will start from tailoring, screen printing, handmade greeting cards, plastic recycle unit, photography, communication skill and personality development, basic academics, work place behaviour and employability skills, sex education and self-advocacy training, basic computers fundamentals, desktop publishing, and multimedia training.

MAINSTREAM DEGREE

A bachelors degree programme in computer application for speech and hearing impaired persons which would be equivalent to the regular BCA is offered. ‘This is the first time in the State, a university has come up with a degree programme that is going to be conducted exclusively for people with disability,’ Prabavathy said.

“In a regular UG degree, students with disabilities will have an extra burden, compared to normal students, as they will have to understand the content only through their own efforts. Here the programme will be for them and so the instructor will be handling classes in their mode of communication, sign language,” she added.

The course will comprise almost everything that the curriculum of a regular BCA degree would have. “Nowadays most corporate firms working in the IT sector are recruiting differently-abled persons in application building verticals and so we are sure that our students would get into that easily,” she said.

As the degree is equivalent to normal BCA, students can also take up PG after completing the programme. Similarly, the centre is also planning to help them launch their own startups to make them entrepreneurs and lead economically independent lives.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BCA DEGREE PROGRAMME OF BDU

100 per cent concession in miscellaneous fee

50 per cent concession in hostel and mess fee

Special syllabus structured to suit impairment of the students

Instructors and teachers will be teaching through sign language

Can take up MCA in BDU itself after completing this three-year programme

Special skills like mobile apps development and accounts application handling is in syllabus.

Bengaluru: Hearing impaired woman covers 8,300km on bike

02.06.2018
BENGALURU: She may be hearing impaired but that hasn’t stopped her from being adventurous. Archana Timmaraju, 33, is back in the city after completing a 8,300km bike ride to Ladakh.

Hailing from Andhra Pradesh, Archana studied in St John’s School, Bengaluru, and later did her masters in metal sculpting from Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath. Other than sculpting, Archana also teaches art at Mallya Aditi International School.

“I started riding at 21 and haven’t looked back since. The aim of this tour — Journey to Inspire — was to motivate the hearing impaired and encourage more women to ride bikes,” she said.

Archana was accompanied by her friend and colleague Daniel Sundaram, a geography teacher, on the journey that began on April 29 and culminated at Freedom Parkon May29. She rode a Royal Enfield, while Daniel was on a KTM bike.

When asked about Archana’s feat, her mother Sita Mahalakshmi said: “We were not scared at all.Archana made video calls to us every day and shared her location live so we knew where she was. I am extremely proud of her.”

Born with 40% hearing ability, Archana has been facing difficulties and disabilities in her speech. She can hear to a certain extent with help of an aid. Archana, with Daniel, has also founded a community, Silent Expedition, for bikers,withspecialemphasison those with disabilities.

Alia Bhatt organises a special screening of Raazi for deaf and mute students – view pics

02.06.2018

Alia Bhatt is on cloud nine after the success of her film Raazi. The movie has earned Rs 110 crore at the domestic box office and it is a feat. Not all women-centric movies in India get that kind of response. Surely, there will be awards galore for Alia this year. Well, the latest display of affection from some very special kids should be no less than an award for the actress. She organised a screening of Raazi for some deaf and mute students of an NGO, who enjoyed it with subtitles. Present at this special screening with the students and Alia were Mahesh Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal. The pictures shared below will melt your heart.

Right now, Raazi is the third highest grosser of 2018, beating movies like Raid, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. Considering that the movie has a niche subject and has released in only 2000 screens, Raazi has performed very well. In fact, it is also the first niche, women-centric film to earn such a huge amount of money. So quite clearly, Raazi is a winner at the box office. Not just the moolah but the appreciation that the movie is receiving from all over is a testament to what brilliant piece of cinema this is. With heart-rendering performances, crisp storyline and flawless direction, Raazi is sure one of the best produces by the Indian cinema.

BollywoodLife’s Ankita Chaurasia wrote in her review, “Alia Bhatt is the soul of Raazi and there are no two ways about it. Her turn from an innocent, naive student to a seasoned, ruthless spy is the stuff legends are made of. She has her hand on the pulse of the audience and holds them by the throat as she takes one risk after the other. You find yourself holding your breath and heaving a sigh of relief, along with Sehmat. By the time the film ends, you want to do three things – hold Sehmat close and assure her that everything will be all right, remind yourself that Sehmat is only Alia Bhatt, handover the best actress award of the year to her already.”

Legendary Goonga Pehelwan banned from World championships for revolting against Deaf Wrestling Federation

02.06.2018
Legendary deaf and mute wrestler Virender Singh also known as 'Goonga Pehelwan' has been banned from taking part in the World Championships in Russia this month after he spoke against the All India Sports Council of the Deaf for allegedly not paying the due amount to the athletes. Singh had revolted against the Federation after he and his team-mates were not paid the promised amount after the Deaflympics in 2017.

There have been only a few Indian wrestlers as successful and dedicated as the legendary Virender Singh or 'Goonga Pehelwan'. The deaf and mute wrestler is one of the most celebrated athletes in his category and has won several accolades for the country at the international level. However, his dreams of adding to his medal tally in the upcoming World Deaf Senior Greco-Roman & Freestyle wrestling championship was handed a blow when the national federation – All India Sports Council of the Deaf (AISCD) banned him from participating in the coveted event for speaking against the alleged unfair treatment by the federation.

Goonga Pehelwan, who is one of India's leading medal contenders for the World Deaf wrestling championship scheduled to be staged in Vladimir Russia from June 11, was barred from participating resulting in a huge uproar in the training camp with his teammates standing in his support.

As per a TOI report, Virender raised his voice against the Federation for not paying the athletes their due amount after the Deaflympics in 2017 which led to his sidelining from the upcoming championships. AISCD first issued a show cause notice against the grappler for alleged false allegations before suspending him.

The Sports Ministry headed by Rajya Vardhan Singh Rathore had asked AISCD to uplift the ban on Goonga Pehelwan after his teammates wrote to SAI (Sports Authority of India), that none of them will go to the championships without Virender whose ban was 'unfair.' However, the federation insisted they wanted Gunga Pehelwan to apologise for the allegations.

Arjuna awardee Vijender Singh hails from India's wrestling capital of Haryana and is counted in the same league as top wrestlers Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt. In total, the deaf and mute wrestler has won seven international medals including three Gold medals at the Deaflympics in 2005, 2013 and 2017.

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