48 bull-tamers injured in Palamedu jallikattu
Madurai, Jan 16: At least 48 competitors were injured, 14 of them seriously, in the bull-taming sport 'jallikattu' held at Palamedu near here as part of the Pongal festivities Wednesday, officials said.
The 14 bull tamers had been hospitalised while the others with minor injuries were treated at the medical centre at the venue itself, they said.
Palamedu is one of the famous venues for jallikattu in the district and more than 500 tamers took part in the event held in seven rounds and closely monitored by officials.
Though 602 bulls were chosen to take part in the sport, 125 bulls were not allowed to participate for different reasons.
There were prizes to the tamers and the bulls as well, officials said.
The first prize - a car - went to a bull owned by Prabhu as it could not be tamed by anyone.
Prabhakaran got the first prize for taming the maximum number of bulls while Ajay and Karthik won the second and third prize respectively.
For the first time, the government has introduced the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana insurance scheme for the bull-tamers at the event with a death cover of Rs two lakh each at a premium of Rs 12 each.
District Collector S Natarajan has said the spectators too would be covered and they could insure themselves.
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College student killed as branch of tree uprooted by elephant falls on motorbike in Kerala
Kochi(PTI): A female engineering student was killed and a youth sustained injuries when a huge palm tree branch fell on their motorcycle near Kothamangalam on Saturday.
Ann Mary C V (21), a native of Thrissur, was riding pillion on the bike driven by her college mate Altaf Aboobacker (21) around 6 pm at Chembankuzhy near the Nagarampara forest office, and the branch of the tree uprooted by the elephant, fell on them, police said.
Local forest officials who arrived at the scene rushed the duo to a private hospital in Kothamangalam.
According to Forest officials, the area often experiences frequent wild elephant intrusions.
