"Our timeline, how we approached this was based upon our thorough review of the science and data," Hahn said.
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Sunday, December 13, 2020
U.S. begins shipping Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine
Trucks carrying the first doses of the vaccine, authorized by the FDA late Friday night, started rolling out of Pfizer's manufacturing plant in Kalamazoo, Mich.
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Bangalore Lit Fest panellists discuss how India cinema went beyond art
Padmavathi Rao, Vidyashankar N and Raghavendra M K with Samantak Bhadra were discussing how cinema has evolved over the years at the Bangalore Literature Festival.
Bangalore Literature Fest Gallery
"Cinema has always been political. Political statements were being made in Indian cinema, although subtly. But political leaders saw cinema as an evil and shunned it. So, movies were about the cultural and artistic expression at one point," said Vidyashankar, N, founder member and artistic director of Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes). “For example, the idea of ‘evil’ underwent a great deal of change post the 70s. With films like Ardh Satya (1983), villains changed from goons and dacoits to politicians, bureaucrats and those in power,” he said, explaining how disdain from early politicians prevented Indian cinema from taking a political stand. He was among the panellists who discussed how cinema shapes political and gender discourse and it's not just about art or masala movies, at the ongoing Bangalore Literature Festival. Padmavathi Rao, an actor, writer, director and poet, and film critic Raghavendra MK were the other panellists at the online session. The panellists pointed out that politics and gender narrative played a crucial role in movies According to Padmavathi Rao, Indian cinema at large wasn’t political because post-independence, people wanted an escape from their reality. “However, regional cinema, especially Marathi movies, had started assuming a stronger sense of the political events in the 50s-70s and displayed it onscreen,” she added. When moderator Samantak Bhadra, a poet and marketing professional, broached the topic of how cinema has affected the gender narrative, the three agreed that women were indeed victimized for a long time onscreen. “As seen in English Vinglish, Sridevi’s character is patronised for the food she cooks as if it is the only job. A woman needs to feel grateful if a man ‘allows’ her to follow something. It has been my personal experience, too. Thappad is about a slap. A woman refuses to take it and even an educated person would want to take a stand. Women are confronting the system,” said Padmavathi. Coveted film critic Raghavendra added that it is these strictly categorised boundaries created by the filmmakers that keep people from marginalised communities within those boundaries. Vidyashankar added, “It just doesn’t end onscreen; it extends to real life, too. Women and marginalised communities like Dalits have had to encounter multiple glass ceilings.”
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Karnataka Legislative Council reconvened on Tuesday, anti-cow slaughter bill to be tabled
BJP petitioned Governor Vajubhai Vala to direct Council Chairman Prathap Chandra Shetty to reconvene the winter session on Tuesday.
The Karnataka Legislative Council is scheduled to convene on December 15, Tuesday, when the state government will attempt to pass pending bills, including the controversial anti-cow slaughter amendment bill, an official said on Sunday. "The state legislative secretariat issued an order on late Saturday convening the Council session on Tuesday to discuss and pass pending bills," the official told IANS. The ruling BJP on Friday petitioned state Governor Vajubhai Vala to direct Council Chairman Prathap Chandra Shetty to reconvene the winter session, which he abruptly adjourned 'sine die' on December 12, taking the treasury benches by surprise. The state Legislative Assembly passed the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill, 2020, on December 9, without a debate after members from the opposition parties, Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), walked out in protest against it. Read: Karnataka govt defers presenting anti-cattle slaughter bill in Legislative Council Though the week-long winter session of the state legislature was to be held from December 7-15, Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Kageri Hegde adjourned the lower House on December 10 at the behest of the members, who wanted to be in their constituencies ahead of the local body elections on December 22-27. Read: Karnataka cabinet to re-promulgate controversial land, labour ordinances The Council is also expected to take up the no-confidence motion the BJP has moved against Shetty, a Congress legislator, as the ruling party commands a majority in the 75-member Upper House. BJP's leader in the Council Kota Srinivas Poojary requested Shetty to move the motion against him on December 11. Instead, Shetty adjourned the House on December 10 after declining to allow the motion, as it required a 14-day prior notice. "In our view, as the Council chairman (Shetty) does not enjoy the confidence of the House, he cannot adjourn the session abruptly when a motion against him and important bills have to be passed," said Poojary. The ruling BJP also claimed that a no-confidence motion against the Chairman was given on November 11, which meets the 14-day notice period. Hence, he (Shetty) was bound to allow it (motion) to be tabled in the House during its winter session. Read: Karnataka Congress questions why BJP is selective in implementing beef ban Shetty was elected Chairman of the Council in November 2018 during the 14-month JD(S)-Congress coalition government. With the BJP winning all the four Council seats in the October 30 biennial elections to three Graduates' and one Teachers' constituencies, the ruling party has 31, Congress 28, JD(S) 14, an independent and Chairman in the 75-member Upper House. Though the BJP succeeded in passing the controversial Land Reforms Bill with the support of the JD(S) in the Council on December 8, it remains to be seen if it would be able to get the latter's support for passing the anti-cow slaughter bill on Tuesday by voting along with it or abstaining from voting. Read: There is no 'too much democracy', Karnataka govt’s bulldozing of beef Bill is proof
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Japan sets new daily coronavirus record
South Korea also established a new daily Covid mark.
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Countering hatred with love: Two couples talk about their life after interfaith marriage
The couple spoke at the online session of Bangalore Lit Festival, moderated by India Love Project's Samar Halarnkar
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Sadaf and Yatin got married in February 2018, when the “ghar waapsi” (homecoming) and “love jihad” propagandas were being used in many states of India. “Both families were apprehensive about losing their child to another faith. However, they understood us and we got married in a court, without changing our religions. We live with Yatin’s parents because I want them to see me beyond my identity of being a Muslim,” said Sadaf as she opened up about her interfaith marriage, at the Bangalore Literary Festival on Saturday. “We received a lot of support, but it was not a rosy path,” she admits. The online panel discussion of Bangalore Lit Fest also featured another interfaith couple — Natasha and Afzal. “When my brother was going abroad, my father warned him that he could marry anyone but a Muslim. Then, I met Afzal. Sometimes, he jokes that I married him to rebel against my father. But, today, our families are closer than ever and it was because of their support that we could make our marriage work,” recalled 49-year-old Natasha at the session, which was moderated by Samar Halarnkar, the co-founder of India Love Project, an initiative that celebrates stories of love and marriage outside the bounds of faith, caste, ethnicity and gender. India Love Project at Bangalore Literature Festival The recent controversy over Tanshiq’s ad on an interfaith marriage prompted three journalists — Samar, Priya Ramani and Niloufer Venkatraman — to start this initiative on the microblogging site of Instagram. The couples — Natasha-Afzal and Sadaf-Yatin — shared their stories of interfaith love through the India Love Project. And many couples today connect with such stories of interfaith love and marriage as the bogey of ‘love jihad’ has picked up the pace in India and snowballed into legislations that threaten the union of two adult individuals who are in love with each other. ’Love jihad’ is neither a constitutionally or legally defined term. It is a term coined by Hindu groups in India, over unproven fears that Muslim men are converting women from the Hindu community by marriage. Over the past several years, Muslim men have been accused of harbouring insidious and ulterior motive of converting a Hindu woman by means of courtship and then marriage. Today, several BJP-ruled states are on the cusp of framing laws to ‘fight love jihad’ in the garb of preventing “unlawful” religious conversion of women. While states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana are pressing forward with such discussions, the Uttar Pradesh government passed the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religious Act, 2020, which essentially weaponises Hindu groups to beleaguer interfaith couples. The law, which was promulgated on November 28, prohibits conversion from one religion to another either through “misrepresentation, force, fraud, undue influence, coercion, allurement or marriage”. Such marriages will be deemed null and void, along with imprisonment for upto 10 years, if found guilty. While the police intervened in some interfaith marriages based on “tip-off”, seven people have already been arrested. How 'love jihad', hostility affect interfaith couples In her book titled My Daughter’s Mum, 49-year-old Natasha recalled they had not discussed their interfaith marriage with their children until the latter approached them with questions. “My younger daughter returned from school one day, and asked if we were Pakistanis. She did not realise that Muslims in India are referred to as Pakistanis in a derogatory sense,” Natasha said. Afzal blamed the media for propagating the agenda of religious animosity by the current regime. “I have also heard ridiculous rumours about myself and my community. Those are stereotypes, and upon interaction, I realised their shallowness. In today’s political climate, having that interaction itself has become a sin,” he said. Both the couples were met with questions of conversion at several junctures of their lives. Afzal and Natasha resolved to not pay heed to it and closed their doors to prying eyes. Sadaf and Yatin, however, said, “If performing a pooja or observing one-day fast makes our parents happy, we will do that.” Of course, they, too, like any other interfaith couples have had their faced shocking statements. Yatin recounted an incident when the couple visited a friend during Ramzan. Sadaf was observing roza (fasting) at the time and refused any food or beverages. “Our friend assumed that Sadaf had converted to Hinduism after the wedding. What surprised us more was that, this friend had attended our wedding at the court,” said Yatin. Assisting interfaith couples India Love Project has been a dream project for Samar, Priya Ramani and Niloufer. The increasing hatred due to the current political climate and the broadcasting of propaganda through the mouth-pieces of the current regime prompted the three to start the project. The account’s Instagram description reads, “Love and marriage outside the shackles of faith, caste, ethnicity and gender.” They started the account on a very personal note. Niiloufer Venkatraman shared the story of her parents’ interfaith marriage. They received an overwhelming response from people. More couples reached out to them. “The second step of this project is to assist couples in availing counselling and getting married. Due to the opposition against interfaith or inter-caste unions, we received umpteen such requests from couples and have already begun connecting them with lawyers, activists and others who could help them get married,” said Samar.
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Discussing desire in regional literature with authors Rheea Mukherjee and Vasudhendra
The authors were speaking at the Bangalore Literature Festival on the theme 'Body and Soul'.
Rheea Mukherjee and Vasudhendra
In 2019, Bengaluru-based author Rheea Mukherjee burst onto the scene with her debut novel 'The Body Myth' and the body was the backbone of a story of three characters Mira, Sara, and Rahil. So it was little surprise that the author was at the Bangalore Literature Festival talking about 'Body and Soul'. "My body posture while walking on the road tended to cover the chest because the chest is objectified in a certain way...There is a rigidity that comes with people growing up in a certain way and we have patriarchy on top of this. Society forces you to behave in a particular way," Rheea said, speaking about the theme of the conversation. Alongside her was Vasudhendra, a noted Kannada writer and author of 'Mohanaswamy' which discusses the life of a gay person in contemporary India. The book was inspired by his own life experiences and speaking at the Bangalore Literature Festival, Vasudhendra once again drew experiences from his life and from regional and English literature spanning centuries to discuss the importance of body and soul. "I used to train my eyes not to look at a boy and artificially look at a girl, and find her attractive. People from the LGBTQIA+ community are good actors because they are so often having to act in a certain way," he said. He cited the example of a poem 'Radhika Santwanam' written in the 18th century by the Telugu-speaking poet and devadasi Muddupalani. "The subject of the book is about expressing the desires of a woman and what she likes and what she doesn't. It was well received at the time," Vasudhendra said. "But the real challenge came in the early 20th century when Bengaluru Nagarathnamma, another politician, decided to re-edit and publish it. There was hue and cry over this and it was banned by the British and the publisher was sent to jail. It was then translated to english and people realised it was not vulgar at all," Vasudhendra explained. He also mentioned a book written in the 1930s which explores the life of a woman who married three men. "On her deathbed, she says that she married three men for different reasons - the first was handsome, the second was intellectual and the third was wealthy. She says she tried to search all three in one person but she did not find anyone like that," Vasudhendra said. Rheea alluded to similar literature, including in regional languages, which talked about the deviant desires of women and which was read by a subculture of girls and mothers. "It subverted their restrictive role-based everyday life," said Rheea. Her novel 'The Body Myth' also discussed polyamory as an idea. Rheea is not only a successful author but she also runs Write Leela Write, a design and content laboratory in Bengaluru. Vasudhendra runs Chanda Pustaka, a publication house that encourages young writers. The duo also discussed the nuances of a writer reaching audiences of regional languages, something that Vasudhendra has experienced. "I was a voracious reader of Kannada books. Reading about gay characters, even if it was written not in a celebratory way, was a big deal for me at one point. When I wrote about a gay character in a celebratory way, I got calls and visits from people across Karnataka," he said. "It is a paradox that there are many truths and cultures but only some are highlighted and remembered," Rheea added.
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