The organisers of Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) are not giving up on the possibility of hosting the 2020 edition amidst the coronovirus pandemic as they are mulling about taking the film gala online. The pandemic has forced cancellations of a number of film festivals all over the world and cast a shadow on those held in Cannes, Venice and Berlin as well as Toronto, which is held in late September every year. In a new interview with Variety, TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey said it’s “full steam ahead” for the event.
An ordinance that makes acts of violence against healthcare personnel or damage to property during an epidemic a cognizable and non-bailable offence has come into effect. The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 amends the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and provides for compensation for injury to healthcare service personnel or for causing damage or loss to property. The President had given his assent for promulgation of the ordinance on Wednesday hours after the Union Cabinet approved it. The ordinance was issued on Wednesday night and came into force “at once”. According to the ordinance, commission or abetment of such acts of violence is punishable with an imprisonment for a term of three months to five years, and with fine of Rs 50,000 to Rs 2,00,000. In case of causing grievous hurt, imprisonment shall be for a term six months to seven years and with fine of Rs 1,00,000 to Rs 5,00,000. In addition, the offender will also be liable to pay compensation to the victim and twice the fair market value for damage of property as determined by the court.
“Periods don’t stop for pandemics,” says 12-year-old Shweta Kumari who is short of sanitary napkins because the distribution from her school has either stopped or delayed due to the ongoing lockdown to combat coronavirus. Kumari is not alone in this, several girl students of classes 6 to 12 who are studying in government schools across the country, narrate similar ordeal. They are given sanitary napkins every month under the central government’s Kishori Shakti Yojna. However, distribution of sanitary pads has been disrupted in various states these days as schools are shut due to the lockdown, adding to the woes of students, a majority of who come from lower income group families.
Kumari, who studies at a government school in Haryana’s Kurkshetra, said, “The entire focus has been shifted to distribution of masks and sanitiser and nobody is talking about these basics. It is important to save ourselves from the deadly virus but periods don’t stop for pandemics.” Geeta, a class 7 student from Alwar in Rajasthan, said, “Even if we get the money to buy it, it is so difficult to step out for women, especially during the lockdown to buy a sanitary napkin. There is door-to-door distribution of masks happening in my locality but no clue about sanitary napkins.” Rani Devi, a domestic help in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareily, who had switched to using sanitary pads two years ago because of her daughter, has to face the similar situation again.
Australia’s limited-overs captain Aaron Finch feels the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic might lead to a postponement of this year’s T20 World Cup by up to three months. The T20 World Cup is scheduled in Australia from October 18 to November 15. Finch doesn’t see that holding up given the current health crises affecting lakhs of people worldwide. “I think we might have to get our heads around a T20 World Cup that might be postponed for a month, two months, three months, whatever it has to be,” Finch told ‘SEN Radio’. Finch said he wouldn’t mind seeing the game resuming without fans once the pandemic is brought under control. “But as long as we can get live sport up and running. Whether that’s with crowds or not, I don’t think that makes any difference to the players. “We played one ODI against New Zealand with no crowd (and it) was really strange for first four or five overs, but then you got into your work,” he said.
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday dissolved a judge’s temporary restraining order that allowed surgical abortions to continue after the Arkansas Department of Health told the state’s only surgical abortion clinic to stop performing the procedure unless it was needed to protect the life or health of the mother. The appeals court’s ruling said the Health Department’s “directive is a legally valid response to the circumstances confronted by the Governor and state health officials.” The state said Little Rock Family Planning Services violated an order requiring health providers to reschedule elective procedures that could be safely postponed. Other states have used similar orders to restrict abortions during the pandemic. Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson on Wednesday said the state would ease its limits on elective surgeries starting Monday, though it was not immediately clear whether the move would allow surgical abortions to resume at the clinic.
