HYDERABAD  SUNDAY  JANUARY 24, 2021  `8.00  PAGES 26  LATE CITY EDITION LARRY KING, LEGEND OF U.S. TV TALK SHOW, PASSES AWAY AT 87 Staple of US television for decades, King lost his battle with Covid at Cedars-Sinai Med Centre in Los Angeles on Saturday CELEBRITIES, LEADERS JUST A CALL AWAY SANG WITH SINATRA, KISSED BRANDO The Larry King Show ran from 1978 until 1994, winning King a coveted Peabody Award in 1982. He started Larry King Live on CNN in 1985, a show that covered a wide range of topics. In 1995 he presided over a Middle East peace summit. His show featured everyone from Dalai Lama to Elizabeth Taylor, from Mikhail Gorbachev to Barack Obama, Bill Gates to Lady Gaga ■ ■ Frank Sinatra, who rarely gave interviews, appeared in King’s show in 1988 in what would be the singer’s last major TV appearance More elusive than Sinatra was Marlon Brando, but the latter appeared in King’s show in 1994. They hit it off so famously that they ended their talk with a song and an on-the-mouth kiss 50,000 ON-AIR INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED BY KING IN HIS FIVE-DECADE CAREER CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI KTR wants Budget to fulfil TS demands EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad Mamata Banerjee participates in foot march to mark Netaji’s 125th birth anniversary, in Kolkata on Saturday | PTI Strong India following in Netaji footsteps: PM Bitter political fight to appropriate Subhas Chandra Bose’s legacy; Didi cancels speech after slogans of Jai Shri Ram E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Kolkata PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday sought to draw a parallel between Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s vision and his government’s action at an event to mark the legendary freedom fighter’s 125th birth anniversary in Kolkata. Modi said Netaji would have been proud to see that the country has become strong and is following in his footsteps from the Line of Control (LoC) to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with Pakistan and China, respectively . “Netaji had dreamt of a strong India, from LAC to LoC. We are following in his footsteps. Whenever our sovereignty was challenged, we have given a befitting reply he said at ,” a programme held in the Victoria Memorial Hall here. “Netaji wanted to build an Atmanirbhar Bharat. Today, India is heading towards the same goal,” said Modi. The PM’s visit assumed significance ahead of the Assembly polls in West Bengal. Apart from recalling Netaji’s contribution, Modi’s speech projected the Bengal icon as the leading light of India’s Independence whose dreams the present government is trying to realise. He also likened his party’s Sonar Bangla slogan with Netaji’s dream. The ‘Sonar Bangla’ slogan has become a political tool of the BJP to attack Mamata’s “poor” governance. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who also attended the event, was visibly angry as a section of the crowd chanted Jai Shri Ram when her turn came to speak. Announcing her decision not to deliver her address, she said: “I think the government’s programme should have dignity This is not a politi. cal programme.... It (slogan) doesn’t suit you to insult an invitee. In protest, I will not speak anything,’’ Mamata said and returned to her seat on the dais next to Modi. The awkward moment came when the event moderator announced her name as the next Why not four national capitals, asks Mamata E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Kolkata AS West Bengal politics heated up ahead of the makeor-break Assembly elections later this year, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee set the cat among the pigeons on Saturday demanding four separate capitals , in the country with four parliament sessions in these cities on rotation. Speaking at an event to mark Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birth anniversary hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Kolkata to participate in another Netaji function, Banerjee asked: “The British ruled the entire country from Kolkata. Why should there be only one capital in our country why , not four national capitals in North, South, East and West?” She went on to ask: “Why can’t four parliament sessions be held on a rotational basis?” Earlier, Banerjee took part in a road show stretching 5.5 kms. She inaugurated Netaji’s birthday celebration by blowing conch shells and visited the Netaji Bhavan, the late Indian National Army leader’s home in the city Taking a dig at the Centre’s unilateral deci. sion to mark January 23 as Parakram Diwas (day of valour), Banerjee said: “We celebrate Netaji’s birthday every year, we don’t celebrate it only in the year of elections.” The contrasting moods of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Victoria Memorial Hall event | TWITTER speaker, but some people in the audience chanted Jai Shri Ram and said they would not like to listen to her. Before coming to Victoria Memorial, Modi went to Netaji’s residence and visited his museum. Senior BJP leaders, including Kailash Vijayvargiya and Swapan Dasgupta, wanted to accompany him, but were not allowed by the Netaji Research Bureau. What is Parakram Diwas (day of valour)? How could they unilaterally decide to mark January 23 as Parakram Diwas without consulting the state government? We have called it Desh Nayak Diwas Mamata Banerjee, CM Nod to tractor rally after R-Day parade H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh IN the end, it seems both sides have had their way Agitating farm. ers will hold a tractor rally in Delhi on Republic Day following permission given by Delhi Police. But, budging from their demand that the rally will be held on Outer Ring Road, the farmers are likely to opt out of it. Over one lakh tractors are expected to be part of the rally . Sources said the parade will have five routes over a stretch of more than 100 km. The farmers are likely to take the inner roads of the Capital instead of Outer Ring Road. Delhi Police have agreed to remove barricades from Singhu and Tikri borders to allow the tractors to enter Delhi. The tractor parade is likely to take place after the official Republic Day parade. “In a breakthrough after talks with Police officials of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, farmers leaders were able to finalise routes for the Kisan Republic Day Parade,” Samyukt Kisan Morcha said. CONTINUED ON P9 The tractors will sport the national flag alongside the banner of respective farmer unions. Tractors with posters proclaiming Kisan Ekta Zindabad, No Farmer, No Food and Kaale Kanoon Radd Karo are on their way to Delhi Yogendra Yadav, Swaraj India DISSATISFIED with the Centre’s silence on the Telangana government’s various infrastructural and industrial demands, IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Saturday hoped that the upcoming Union Budget 2021 gives a boost to the State’s longpending demands. Speaking at the FTCCI’s Excellence Awards, Rama Rao said, “I hope that when the Budget is announced, there is a good stimulus package through which the economy can get back on track, and the country’s GDP, which has I hope that when the Budget is announced, there is a good stimulus package through which the economy can get back on track — KTR, IT Minister been slipping for the last 12 quarters, can improve.” He also hoped that the Centre ‘boosts’ the various demands the State government has been making in the form of representations made by him for the last few years. Rama Rao said he has written numerous letters to the Centre regarding the need for industrial corridors (between HyderabadNagpur, Hyderabad-Warangal and Hyderabad-Ramagundam), among other matters. he wishes to hear some announcement in this regard. The Minister’s ire towards the Central government did not stop Telangana cops save the day, bust Muthoot dacoity gang KCR wants PRLIS ready by this year-end Hyderabad: Chief Minister KCR directed officials to complete the PRLIS by this year-end. He also told them to complete the Dindi project in the next six months | P4 SSC Class X exam from May 17-26 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Krishnagiri/Hyderabad Hyderabad: The SSC Class X exam will be held from May 17 to May 26, according to TS School Education Dept’s timetable for 2020-2021 | P3 WITH THIS ISSUE TRENDS FOR THE YEAR PLUS 12 PAGES ACHING FOR WELLNESS Garbage strewn across the Bhagwandas Bagh Baoli in Karwan, Hyderabad, has turned the age-old stepwell into an eyesore. The TS govt has started restoring it, along with many others across the State | P2 Immunising pvt healthcare workers likely to be major challenge for TS 1,10,248 people D O N I TA J O S E @ Hyderabad NEARLY two lakh private healthcare workers are set to be vaccinated for Covid-19 in the coming week, which poses a far bigger challenge for Telangana as compared to immunising those in its public health system. The challenges mainly lie with correctly identifying the beneficiaries and rolling out the vaccination programme at private facilities. However, the main hurdles would be of logistics and coordination between the vaccinators and beneficiaries. Currently, the State has decided to hold the immunisation drive for small nursing homes and clinics at the Primary Health Centre (PHC) nearest to them. In case CONTINUED ON P3 HOSUR HEIST EXPRESS READ TECH 21 there — he shifted focus towards the Phar ma City and the Warangal Textile Park, for which he has sought support. “The whole world is talking about how the manufacturing processes will shift from China. If India is to become a manufacturing destination, we have to focus on scale. The Pharma City will be built on 19,000 acres, it will be the biggest in the world and we will be able to compete with China. Similarly, Warangal has the country’s biggest textile park. Unfortunately, the Government of India does not support either the Pharma City nor the textile park,” he said. immunised against Covid-19 in TS so far. In the coming week, nearly two lakh private healthcare workers will be vaccinated the number of beneficiaries at a facility is over 100, the vaccination team will function out of the private facility itself. There are thousands of private hospitals, clinics and nursing homes in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits and its neighbouring districts. “We have decided to start off with the big hospitals where there will be over 100 beneficiaries. Once the vaccination drive is completed there, a plan for the smaller clinics and nursing homes will be chalked out,” Dr K Swarajya Laksmhi, District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) of Rangareddy district, said. There are 617 private healthcare facilities in the district. “The vaccinators and data entry staff are all from the public healthcare system, who will have to be transported to private hospitals. We have to ensure that these hospitals have AEFI (adverse event following immunisation) management,” a senior official from the Public Health Department said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 A day after the day-light robbery at a finance firm rocked Hosur town in Tamil Nadu, seven people were arrested early on Saturday in Telangana, in a joint effort by the State and Tamil Nadu police. The gang was nabbed within a span of 18 hours since the time of the crime and 25-kg gold, seven firearms, 97 live rounds, a container, a car and 13 mobile phones were seized from them. The accused have been identified as Rup Singh Baghal alias B Rup Singh (22), his brother Shankar Singh Baghal (36), J Pavan Kumar Vishkarma (22), J Bhupendhar Majhi (24) and R Vivek Mandal (32), D Teak Ram (55) and P Rajiv Kumar (35). One more accused, Amith a l i a s R Vive k S h u k l a , i s absconding. The Cyberabad Police, in a joint operation with their Tamil Nadu counterparts, busted the gang which had looted the Muthoot Finance branch in Krishnagiri district on Friday. The Hyderabad and Rachakonda police were also part of the joint operation. According to sources, last October, the same interstate gang, in an attempt to loot a Muthoot Finance branch at Ludhiana in Punjab, opened fire and killed a civilian. Three of their members were arrested back then. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7