Year-long celebrations to mark Braille's birth ann

Mumbai, Dec 29: The 200th birth anniversary of Louis Braille, inventor of Braille script for the blind, will be celebrated with year-long programmes starting from January 4, National Association for the Blind (NAB) said here.

Speaking to mediapersons yesterday, NAB honorary secretary Praveen Dardia said, ''We will hold Braille reading and writing competition, awareness drives, literacy promotion among the visually impaired, advocacy with the Union Government and will also set up the Braille Forum of India.'' He announced that the Central Government plans to release a postal stamp, commemorative coin and a documentary film to mark the occasion.

The celebrations will begin from January 4, 2008 and continue till January 4, 2009.

Louis Braille (1809-1852) was born on January 4, in a small town of Coupvray near Paris and had lost his eyesight at the age of five.

He published the first-ever Braille book in 1829, which has been used as the universal script for the blind.

UNI