Pawan Kalyan releases 'Agnyaathavaasi' at midnight

 

The much-awaited movie 'Agnyaathavaasi' of leading Telugu actor Pawan Kalyan was released on Wednesday at 1 am.

 

Hundreds of his fans danced on the roads outside the movies halls in excitement.

 

The film will have seven shows in cinema theatres here in Andhra Pradesh and five in Telangana.

 

While the Andhra Pradesh government granted permission to the cinema halls to screen three special shows from 1 am to 10 am, in addition to four regular shows between 10 am to midnight, the Telangana government on Tuesday allowed theatres to screen a special show from 8 am.

 

The star's fans and cinema enthusiasts in both the Telugu states are expected to enjoy 'Sankranthi' holidays as both the states have relaxed the rules for screening the movie between January 10 and January 17.

 

Telugu is leaving no stone unturned to cash in on the craze and make 'Agnyaathavaasi' a big hit at the US box office.

 

They are promoting the movie heaving and as a part of its publicity, they have also distributed over 1,500 hoodies to fans to woo them to theatres.

 

The distributors have made plans for a massive release of 'Agnyaathavaasi' across North America as well.

 

They have already booked 576 screens and are still finding more to add to it.

 

This number is three times bigger than the screen count of Kalyan's previous releases. It is also two times bigger than the screen count of 'Baahubali the Beginning' and 'Khaidi No. 150'.

 

Directed by Trivikram Srinivas, 'Agnyaathavaasi' is the most awaited movie of Tollywood and the advance booking for the tickets has already received a huge response.

Modi govt's new restrictions on cattle slaughter will hurt farmers the most

The government’s move will lead to an explosion in the number of ‘stray’ cattle

Gazette No. 396, issued by the Government of India on May 23 and titled the ‘Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017’, promises to be the final death knell of cattle and buffaloes in India, and along with them, the destruction of what little remains of a dignified life and livelihood for farmers.

This completely innocuous sounding amendment, issued under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act – a Central law – imposes in section 22 a set of ‘Restrictions on sale of cattle’. These require the owner of cattle being brought to the market for sale, in other words the farmer, to produce and submit to the Animal Market Committee a written declaration stating that “the cattle has not been brought to the market for sale for slaughter”. In turn, the buyer of the animal has to undertake “that the animal is being bought for agriculture purposes and not slaughter”

The committee will further keep records of the sale of animals to ensure they are not resold within six months of purchase. They will also keep ID records of the buyer, seller and animal.

The rules defines ‘cattle’ to mean “cow, calf, bull, bullock, buffalo, heifer, steer and camel”.

By equating ‘slaughter’ with cruelty and criminalising the trade and transportation of animals for slaughter at animal markets as an act of cruelty, the Central government has effectively enforced a country-wide ban on the slaughter of buffaloes and cattle, and the consumption of beef, despite statements of denial from the environment minister.

Animal markets are crucial nuclei of the production cycle of animals, through which animals pass from farmers to others and vice-versa. These new rules effectively choke the free movement of animals via the market space and, more critically, completely undermine the freedom and rights of farmers, traders and all others whose livelihoods are linked to this production cycle, which ultimately is what sustains cattle and buffaloes of this country.

The right of farmers to life and livelihood is at stake: their dairy livelihoods and bullock-based agricultural livelihoods stand to be completely destroyed with this cruel law – cruel for farmers and cruel for animals.| READ MORE….