bhubaneswar l sunday l january 24, 2021 l `8.00 l PAGES 24 l 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 Strong India following in Netaji footsteps: PM modi Bitter political fight to appropriate Netaji’s legacy; Didi cancels speech after slogans of Jai Shri Ram E x p r ess Ne 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, In- The contrasting moods of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Victoria Memorial Hall event | twitter dia 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 gov- ernment 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 Nod to tractor rally after R-Day parade H a r p r ee t B a j w a @ Chandigarh It seems the talks between the Centre and the farmer unions have hit a dead end. After marathon meetings on Saturday, the farmer leaders said they were firm on their demand for repeal of the agri laws. Farmer union leaders said that the issue did not even come up for discussion at the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) meeting. “In the meeting of the Samkyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of around 40 farmer organisations, the only discussion was on what happened in the meeting of farmer leaders with Delhi Police earlier in the day . The far mer leaders were briefed about that and the route for the tractor rally was discussed,” said a union leader after the SKM meeting. Earlier, after the meeting between Delhi Police and 32 unions, the farmer leaders claimed they had received the permission for the tractor parade on Republic Day. Budging from their demand that the rally will be held on Outer Ring Road, the farmers are likely to opt out of it. An estimated one lakh tractors will be part of the rally . Sources said the parade will have five routes over a stretch 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 W I TH TH I S I SS U E Tech 21 Trends for the year PLUS 12 PAGES of over 100 km. The farmers are likely to confine their parade to the inner roads of the Capital. Delhi Police agreed to remove barricades from Singhu and Tikri borders to allow tractors to enter Delhi, for the rally that is likely to take place after the official Republic Day parade. During the 11th round of talks on Friday, the Centre had asked the farmer leaders to reconsider its proposal to put the laws on hold for 18-24 months and set up a panel to consider amendments to the law, an offer the unions had already rejected a day earlier. The Centre told them this was its ‘final’ proposal and asked them to reconsider it and come with better offer, if they had any, barring the repeal of the laws, on January 22. 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 gover nment’s prog ramme should have dignity This is not . a political 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 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, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee participates in a foot march to mark Netaji’s 125th birth anniversary, in Kolkata on Saturday | PTI Why not 4 national capitals, asks Didi E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ Kolkata As West Bengal politics heated up ahead of the make-or-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 E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar As the Covid-19 pandemic has ruined a whole academic year, the State government is planning to promote students of elementary schools without holding examinations for 2020-21 session. A notification in this regard may come soon owing to uncertainty over physical mode classes for students of Class I to IX in the State. Even as schools have reopened from January 8, classes A notification in this regard may come soon owing to uncertainty over physical mode classes for students of Class I to IX in the State Sources have been restricted to Class X and XII students who are scheduled to appear their Board exams this year. The decision on reopening schools for students of Class I to IX has not been finalised yet, though it is expected to be announced soon after review of the situation. Sources in School and Mass Beat Covid blues rush sets room prices racing D i a n a S a h u @ Bhubaneswar For the upcoming holiday on January 26, Republic Day a luxury villa of a hotel on , the Puri-Konark Marine drive is priced at a whopping `19,000 per night, while another in Bhubaneswar is even costlier at `22,000 per night. The astronomical rates, notwithstanding, both the properties have 100 per cent (pc) occupancy on the day and the weekend thereafter. If one goes by the occupancy charts of online travel and booking sites, the trend isn’t any different for mid-range and budget hotels or those offering bread and breakfast in the State. Although prices of hotel rooms, both luxury and budget, have risen significantly post Covid-19, the travellers aren’t complaining. After months of lockdown and ‘stay at home’ regime, the general mood seems to be to break free with a veng eance. The price attached is inconsequential. Holiday destinations like Puri, Chilika, Gopalpur and Bhubaneswar are now witnessing 80 pc to 100 pc occupancy during weekends and 50 to 60 pc on weekdays with travellers mostly from within the State. “In fact, we have also seen people of Bhubaneswar booking hotels in the city itself to take a break from the 10-month-long lockdown life”, said JK Mohanty, Chairman, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Odisha (HRAO). According to the stakeholders in tourism and hospitality sectors, there has been a 30 pc to 40 pc hike in price of rooms in comparison to what hotels used to charge prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. “With Covid-19 restrictions eased, people are now stepping out largely for leisure travel. Hence, hotels of all categories are witnessing a spike in weekend bookings mostly from local travellers. So, even if a room in a luxury hotel is priced two times higher during the weekend, people who can afford it are going for it”, said Mohanty, who is also the CMD of Swosti CONTINUED ON: P5 Group. Education department said in such a situation, it is very difficult to complete the syllabus and conduct the examinations on time. A decision may be taken for promotion of all the students at elementary level, from Class I to VIII, to their next class without holding exams, they conceded. The gover nment has reopened schools partially only for Class X and XII students to enable classroom teaching for at least 100 days before their exams. After outbreak of the pan- demic in March last year, the government had scrapped exams for students of Class I to VIII for the 2019-20 academic session and had promoted them all to the next class. Promotion of Class IX students to X, however, was made at the schoollevel on the basis of their internal academic performances. It is, however, still uncertain on whether the government would follow the similar path for the Class IX students this academic session or will go for the test after completion of the HSC exams. express read Land ownership certificates will ensure swabhiman of people: PM Guwahati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the lives of lakhs of people in Assam would be better as they were allotted land ‘pattas’ (certificates). “The land ownership certificates (pattas) will guarantee their ‘Swabhiman’ (pride), Swadheenta (freedom) and Suraksha (protection),” the Prime Minister asserted. Over 2.5 lakh others were allotted certificates earlier | P7 Healthcare workers shouldn’t fear jabs breaking free 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 decision to mark January 23 as Parakram Diwas (day of valour), Banerjee said: “We celebrate Netaji’s birthday every year, we don’t celebrate i t o n l y i n t h e ye a r o f elections.” Govt mulls promoting Class I-VIII students Interview Vaccines, which have been approved for restricted use are safe, Dr Samiran Panda, Head, Division of Epidemiology & Communicable Diseases (ICMR), said | P7 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 Two killed in group clash, several injured March past SOG commandos rehearse for the Republic Day parade at Mahatma Gandhi Marg in Bhubaneswar on Saturday | irfana Balangir: Two persons were killed and several others feared injured in a clash between two groups over past enmity in a village under Deogaon police limits on Saturday. Sources said, the conflict started after one Dhanmat Rout of Jarasingha village suffered heavy losses as his shop was destroyed in fire a few days back. Following the incident, Dhanmat attacked Karna Suna and Sripati Bhesara of Harijanapada suspecting their involvement | P4