Fact Check: Wife divorced husband for faking as deaf and dumb is a fictitious story

A story that says that a man faked being deaf and dumb for 62 years to avoid listening to his wife has gained a lot of traction on social media. Many users have shared it on Facebook, referring to an article published by a website called 'World News Daily Report'.

The article says "a man from Waterbury in Connecticut faces divorce after his wife found out that he was not actually deaf and had been faking it for more than 62 years to avoid having to listen to her."

India Today Anti Fake News War room (AFWA) has found this news to be completely false. 'World News Daily Report' is a Canadian website notorious for publishing fictitious stories.

As per the report published on the website 'World News Daily Report' 84-year-old Barry Dawson never spoke a single word in front of his 80-year-old wife Dorothy during the decades they lived together because she was "annoyingly chatty". Ms Dawson caught him lying and filed for divorce as she found a YouTube video of her husband singing during a karaoke night in a bar.

We found the website full of such gossip articles and weird stories. But scrolling down the webpage we found a disclaimer given at the bottom of the page. The disclaimer reads, "World News Daily Report assumes all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content. All characters appearing in the articles in this website - even those based on real people - are entirely fictional and any resemblance between them and any person, living, dead or undead, is purely a miracle."

Fact Check website Snopes had also reported about this fictitious article. According to this report, website World News Daily Report used "photos of an actual Florida couple, married 67 years, whose 2017 divorce filing was newsworthy because of the vast real estate holdings to be divided up by the court." This news was published in an American daily from Florida, The Palm Beach Post on 2018.

காதுகேளாத வாய்பேச முடியாத பெண் பலாத்காரம்: இளைஞர் கைது

Coming soon, the 1st T20 cricket tournament for deaf women in April 2019

01.03.2019
Another moment in history is set to be created by the Deaf Cricket Society (DCS). After hosting the first Deaf-ICC T20 World Cup in 2018, it is now planning another first.

In partnership with Deaf Cricket Club of Baroda, DCS will host the first T20 hearing impaired women’s premier league tournament called National Cricket Championship for Deaf 2019. The league will be held from 19 to 22 April.

The teams will fight it out for the prized National Championship Trophy in Vadodara, Gujarat.

The Deaf Cricket Society took a leap of faith to bring the first Deaf-ICC T20 World Cup to India. This tournament garnered a lot of support from public, the cricketing world and put India on the global map. The DCS is grateful to Star Sports who were the title sponsor and all the corporate sponsors, partners and foundations who supported this cause. We leveraged new media & technology which gave the World Cup a lot of exposure worldwide and the matches went live on digital. - Roma Balwani, Advisor & Member, Organising Committee, Deaf Cricket Society

Much credit for building the ground support for deaf cricket goes to Sumit Jain, says Balwani. Jain is the General Secretary of Deaf Cricket Society. “Jain and the committee members have worked hard to mainstream and create awareness of deaf cricket both in India and globally and this is commendable”.

The 2018 tournament was a successful one which saw teams from five countries participating. Now it’s time to bring women to the forefront of deaf cricket, says Jain. “There are eight teams to whom invitations have gone out - Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Hyderabad, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Four have confirmed, so it will be some exciting and tough competition".

Balwani hopes this will become a defining moment for women cricket for the hearing Impaired. “This is timely, as there is so much focus on gender equality in all spheres of community. And we have seen interest of many states coming forward to promote the teams of hearing impaired women and give them the opportunity to compete and be proud of their talent despite their disability. It’s truly a worthy cause and we urge the central and state ministries of sports, cricketing associations, corporates and foundations to come forward and support these women of substance”.

So get set to enjoy a momentous sporting event that must be supported in every way by corporates, the public and the media.

Applications invited for NISH courses

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) has invited applications for two courses conducted to equip teachers as part of its activities to rehabilitate differently-abled children. The National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH), Thiruvananthapuramis conducting the courses.

A one-year diploma course in Early Childhood Special Education (HI) for training hearing impaired children up to the age of six and to elevate them to the level of normal children of their age is the first course. Those who have a minimum of 50 per cent marks in Class XII can apply for this course. Priority will be given to parents or close relatives of children who have difficulty in hearing, and graduates.
On successful completion of the course, the candidates can work as language trainers of children with hearing disability in Early Intervention Centres and other educational institutions.

The two-year diploma in Indian Sign Language Interpreting (DISLI) course is for translating sign language into speech-language and vice versa. Those who have passed Class XII with a minimum of 50 per cent marks can apply.Admissions to the courses will be conducted through the All India online aptitude examination conducted by RCI. For more details, visit: www.nish.ac.in and http//www.rehabcouncil.nic.in/default.aspx.

8 teams in Deaf India Premier League

Ludhiana, February 25
Eight teams will be seen in action during the Deaf India Premier Cricket League to be held here from February 26 to 28.

Kamal Sharma, former president of the state unit of the BJP, released the jerseys and the trophies for the league at a function held here at Guru Nanak Dev Bhawan on Monday.

Teams namely Chenab XI, Ravi XI, Beas XI, Jhelum XI, Satluj XI, Aicad XI, Silent Heroes XI and Deaf Lions XI will be vying for top honours in the league during which matches will be played at the PAU cricket ground and at the cricket stadium of Duleh village near Alamgir.

Padam Passi, chief organiser, said the event was being conducted by the Deaf Cricket Federation, Punjab, under the aegis of the All-India Cricket Association of the Deaf.

The main sponsors are the ONGC, Indian Oil and National Skill Development Corporation, he said. The final will be played at PAU on February 28.

மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகளுக்கான விளையாட்டு போட்டி

03.03.2019

புதுச்சேரியில் மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகளுக்கான விளையாட்டு போட்டிகள் நடைபெற்றன. காது கேளாதோர் மற்றும் வாய் பேச முடியாதவர்களை ஊக்குவிக்கும் வகையில், உப்பளம் விளையாட்டு மைதானத்தில் இந்த போட்டிகள் நடைபெற்றன.கபடி, மியூசிகல் சேர், கயிறு இழுத்தல், கோகோ உள்ளிட்ட பல்வேறு போட்டிகள் நடத்தப்பட்டன.இதில், புதுச்சேரி மட்டுமின்றி தமிழக பகுதிகளான கடலூர், விழுப்புரம், திண்டிவனத்தில் இருந்தும் 100க்கும் மேற்பட்ட காது கேளாதேர் மற்றும் வாய் பேச முடியாதவர்கள் ஆர்வமுடன் கலந்து கொண்டனர்.

Hearing impaired demand official recognition to Indian Sign Language

01.03.2019

Recently, in Delhi, the second edition of the dictionary of the 'Indian Sign Language' (ISL) with 6000 words was released. Indian hearing impaired people under auspices of the National Association the Deaf (NAD), took the opportunity to press for the demand that ISL to be recognized as an official language. The government's response was that the 'matter is under consideration'.

"Thaawarchand Gehlot, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment launched the '2nd Edition of Indian Sign Language (ISL) Dictionary' brought out by 'Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC)' under Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), M/o Social Justice & Empowerment at a function here today. The first edition of the dictionary with 3000 words was launched on 23rd March 2018. With the second edition, dictionary includes total 6000 words under the categories of academic, legal, medical, technical and everyday terms," stated an official release.

Indian sign Language now has been standardized and has come of age. It is being commonly used as language among Deaf people in the country. Moreover, the National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH) have started offering 6-week online course on the ISL. Some noteworthy work has also been done by Indian Sign Language Research and Training Center (ISLRTC) for R&D in sign language including the ISL dictionary.

It has been reported that as per 2011 census, there were around 51L deaf people in the country and around 20L with speech difficulties. Among the deaf and speech-impaired children, the universal early learning could be up to a few percent due to lack of inclusive education. The dropout rate of deaf children is high since even in the deaf schools attempt early intervention with hearing aids which are unaffordable to most deaf population.

There is a need to popularize ISL and recognize it as an official language as well as medium of instruction in special schools so as bring most deaf children to the fold of elementary education.

Since ISL has not been officially recognized as a language, the Census of India does not list sign languages as the mother of the hearing impaired. Earlier, the ISL was in rudimentary stage of its development. But, now even after its standardization and a dictionary becoming available, NAD and All India Federation of Deaf (AIFD) are still struggling for ISL to gain even the status of a minority language.

The ISL has not been taken seriously by the special schools even after the National Curricular Framework (NCF-2005) gave importance to sign language education and had recommended it an optional third language choice for hearing students to create healthy attitudes towards the differently abled children. But, unfortunately there were no takers

Not enough sign language interpreters are unavailable despite the efforts of the associations like Association of Sign Language Interpreters (ASLI) and Indian Sign Language Interpreters Association (ISLIA). Only a few hundred active sign language interpreters are available in such a vast country.

Jaipur-based NGO Disha, at its research unit under Dr Lalit Kishore and Dr Alka Awasthi, have developed some mini-poems to be rendered with gestures of sign language and a functional vocabulary course which require trialing for validation and fine-tuning to become the part of education therapy for children with specific learning needs.

The demand to make Indian Sign Language official rises as the second edition of the ISL Dictionary is launched.

04.03.2019
India has 122 major languages and more than 1500 other languages. This means that sign language will vary from region to region making communication challenging.

The recent launch of the second edition of the Indian Sign Language dictionary in New Delhi saw the rise in demand for making sign language official. The Minister for Social Justice and empowerment, Thawar Chand Gehlot considered the matter to be under examination. Such a step would require the backing of adequate interpreters and trainers to make it a widely used medium of communication. Therefore the government has no immediate plan to act on it.

AS Narayan, the President of National Association of Deaf has repeatedly stated that the social justice ministry must work towards making sign language official for better education and employment opportunities in order to give a chance to the disabled to run alongside regular people.

There are 50, 71,007 deaf people and 19, 98,535 with speech disability in India, as per the census in 2011. However, data shows that now there are only 325 interpreters listed with the government’s Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) out of which only 263 people are active interpreters.

The release of the second edition of the Indian Sign Language Dictionary is also seen as a step to expand the reach of the language and its functional use. The first edition released in March 2018 consisted of 3000 words.

Developed by the ISLRTC, the second edition of the Dictionary consists of 3000 additional words which capture a more diverse range of users across various categories ranging from everyday terms, legal, academic to medical and technical terms along with graphic representation.

“Lack of knowledge of sign language in our country has meant that deaf people drop out of the education system rapidly, and despite quotas in government jobs, they are unable to benefit from them,” said Avnish Kumar Awasthi, in an article on BBC. A senior bureaucrat at the Ministry of Social Welfare, Mr Awasthi wants to make sign language training compulsory in order for teachers to ensure that deaf students can study alongside other children in regular school.

The sign language is being developed in both print and video format. Around 1000 videos have already been uploaded on the ISLRTC’s YouTube Channel.

Internationally, sign language has been given utmost importance as we advance through the years. Airlines have ASL interpretations on flights to ensure safety measures are inferred by everyone aboard. Movies like ‘Wonder’ and ‘Ice Age: Continental Drift’ consist of American Sign Language interpretation, making it possible for people with disabilities to have an enjoyable experience. Prototypes of devices are being made for translating American Sign Language into English by Michigan State University researchers. The road to the future is already being paved internationally, and India isn’t far from bridging the communication gap between differently abled people anymore.

60-years-old Hearing impaired Man Builds "e-bikes" By Recycling E-waste

21.02.2019
A differently-abed man from Gujarat has stunned the automobile engineers with his inventions. Using e-waste like discarded vehicle parts, TV remotes, mobiles and laptops, the 60-year old man has built battery-operated bikes and three-wheeler vehicles.

Vishnu Patel from Surat was born with impaired hearing. After his retirement, he wanted to do something for the differently-abled community.

With no prior training in electrical engineering or funds, he claims that he has built seven battery operated vehicles - which include two-wheeler and three-wheeler. He calls them "e-bikes".

"People throw away waste but I am making bikes out of it. I want to make three-wheelers for the differently-abled community, using which, they can give their families a ride too," he said.

Since these vehicles are battery operated, there are no emissions and hence they are eco-friendly too, he said. He aspires to make customised vehicles for the differently-abled.

"If Rs. 20 lakh loan is granted to me, I can make a vehicle which will bring laurels to India," Mr Patel said.

Similarly, a couple in Pune facilitates public hygiene solution for women, giving it a hint of aesthetics by converting scrapped old buses into toilets.

Pushing the initiative under 'Ti for Toilet', the duo Rajeev Khera and Ulka Sadalkar in collaboration with the Pune Municipal Corporation are giving an edge to women sanitation in the busiest areas of Pune city for a higher footfall.

Hoping to beat the menace where even the available toilets are still unkempt and stinky, making it harder for pregnant and menstruating women to use the toilets, this initiative is revamping the basic sanitation. The buses although could be mobile, are deliberately kept stationed at a peculiar place so women are aware of their location in case of need.

These exquisite public toilets include a shower, western and Indian toilets, washbasins, drinking water, diaper changing station and sanitary napkins for sale. These buses turned into toilets run on solar energy, have TV screens installed that run videos of women sanitation. Every bus has an attendant and technician to keep timely checks on the functioning. The bus charges Rs. 5 for their services.