Bulls steal the show at Alanganallur Jallikattu, TN CM announces govt job for best tamer
Madurai (Tamil Nadu) (PTI): The spirit of the traditional bull taming sport came to the fore at the renowned Jallikattu event at Alanganallur here on Saturday with scores of ferocious bulls freezing the tamers by displaying their might.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin,
who witnessed the popular sport at close quarters, announced a government job in the Animal Husbandry department to the best tamer who embraced the maximum number of bulls at the Jallikattu event, indicating that this effort could go a long way in patronising Jallikattu.
Also, a sophisticated Jallikattu training and treatment centre will be established in Alanganallur at a cost of Rs 2 crore, he said.
“The Madurai soil is known for bravery. We become valorous by witnessing the world-famous Jallikattu. The strong bulls are the pride of Tamil Nadu,” the chief minister said.
“I hope this will make you happy,” Stalin said after giving away gold rings to the tamers for displaying their valour and to bull owners whose animals defied the tamers with their ferocity and exited the arena without being subdued.
At least 14 people were injured during the event, and among them, 4 were admitted to the hospital for treatment.
Earlier, a bull ran amok, causing panic among the crowd that had gathered to welcome the chief minister at the airport here. However, it was tied with a rope and taken away by its owners.
At the event, as the bulls shook their heads and stood firm, the tamers, mostly youth, circled around hoping to embrace the hump but couldn't advance, eventually leading to the bulls declared as winners.
A bull fell on a dauntless tamer who leapt on the bull and clashed its hump. For a few minutes the animal struggled to stand on its legs. Tamers who were around the bull shoved the animal from behind, enabling it to get up and run out of the Jallikattu arena. The man escaped without getting injured.
A bull belonging to AIADMK’s former state minister C Vijayabhaskar, another owned by actor Soori and Sri Lankan politician Senthil Thondaiman were among those that were unstoppable. They earned a gold coin each for their respective owners.
As many as 465 tamers are participating in the final event for the Pongal 2026 season at Alanganallur, where nearly 825 bulls will be unleashed from the 'Vaadi Vaasal' (entry point) into the arena.
State Commercial Taxes and Registration Minister P Moorthi inaugurated the sport in the presence of Madurai District Collector Pravin Kumar and other senior officials.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
