Shabana Azmi in a still from “The Black Prince”. Photo: Reuters
As Shabana Azmi turned 70 barely four months ago on September 18, 2020, she saw her glorious 45-plus year long career bookended by roles as diverse as they can get.
Her first film, the 1974 classic by Shyam Benegal had her play Lakshmi, a village woman trapped in India’s oppressive caste-ridden society compounded by chronic poverty. Her latest project is as far from that stifling milieu as it can ever get. She plays Admiral Margaret Orlenda Parangosky in the live action science fiction series HALO based on the video game franchise being executive produced by Steven Spielberg.
Filipinos will continue to grow in numbers in 2021 - although at a slower pace - as their number is projected to reach 110,881,756 next year, according to the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM).
Despite the rise in absolute numbers, the population grew gradually to 1.31% by the start of 2021 - an increase from the previous 109,480,590 at the onset of 2020. From a 1.68% population growth rate in 2016, it was at 1.45% between 2019 and 2020.
With effects of the COVID-19 pandemic such as service delivery disruptions on family planning factored-in, the figure is estimated to swell at 111.1 million, affecting mainly the under-1 age group due to increased unplanned pregnancies.
The Philippines is expected to record a slower population growth rate of 1.31% by the end of 2021, the government said Wednesday, noting that Filipinos opting for smaller families may be causing the decline. But experts said the impact of the coronavirus pandemic may slightly alter demographic trends.