21 JULY 2024 www.thestatesman.com Twitter.com/TheStatesmanLtd Facebook.com/thestatesman THE STATESMAN’S COVERAGE OF 21 JULY 1993 PAGE 15 WHAT HAPPENED ON 21 JULY PAGE 13 NAYAR & DOESCHATE LIKELY TO JOIN INDIAN TEAM AS ASSISTANT COACHES PAGE 12 India’s National Newspaper since 1818 PAGES 16 | `5.00 | LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR Martyrs’ Day: TMC may unveil national strategy CM Mamata Banerjee recalls brutal killings ahead of Ma-Mati-Manush Divas SUBHENDU MAITI KOLKATA, 20 JULY he Trinamul Congress, a major partner of the national opposition alliance INDIA bloc, may outline its political strategy for the national stage during its Martyrs’ Day rally at Esplanade on Sunday. The ruling party in Bengal, bagging a lion’s share of 29 Lok Sabha seats out of 42 in the state, is now rejuvenated and all set to establish itself a crucial partner in the INDIA bloc. The BJP managed to win only 12 LS seats, six down from its performance in the 2019 elections when it had won 18 seats. According to Trinamul Congress sources, the party leadership, led by the chief minister Mamata Banerjee, aims to strengthen the unity in the national opposition bloc. AkhileshYadav, former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and president of the Samajwadi Party, one of the major partners of the INDIA bloc, is expected to attend tomor- T row’s rally. Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of theTrinamul Congress, who has returned after his eye treatment in the USA, will also attend the annual mega show of the party. Earlier, Miss Banerjee had announced that her party would dedicate its thumping victory in the LS polls and byelections in six Assembly seats to the people on the Martyrs’ Day rally on 21 July. “ Tomorrow marks another 21st July! This day holds deep significance in Bengal's history. On this day in 1993, the repressive CPI(M) regime brutally took the lives of 13 of our comrades. It remains a poignant milestone for us, celebrated annually as part of Bengal's public ethos. We honour these martyrs with love and respect, along with all who sacrificed their lives for our nation and humanity,” the Trinamul Congress chairperson posted on X on Saturday. “We also observe this day as ‘Ma-Mati-Manush Divas,’ dedicating our democratic victories to the people of West Bengal. I invite all Bengalis to join us at Esplanade tomorrow for this Martyrs' Day-cum'Ma-Mati-Manush Divas' event. Your participation will enrich our collective homage to the martyrs,” Miss Banerjee added. Several BJP leaders, including two newly elected Members of Parliament, are likely to join the TMC during the rally, according to party sources. Sovan Chatterjee, former TMC MLA and Kolkata mayor, along with his companion Baisakhi Bandopadhyay may also join the ruling party in the state on Sunday. Both of them had joined BJP more than five years ago and left the saffron camp in 2021 over some differences with the party leadership. During tomorrow’s rally, all eyes will be on Miss Banerjee, who is expected to outline the party’s strategy for the national stage to intensify the movement against the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. The TMC observes Martyrs' Day on 21 July to commemorate the killing of 13 people in police firing during aYouth Congress rally against the Left Front government in 1993, when Miss Banerjee was the state'sYouth Congress president. (PHOTO-MOUL MONDAL) M (More reports on Page 2) UPSC chairman Manoj Soni resigns citing ‘personal reasons’ 5 years before term ends NEET-UG exam: NTA publishes centre-wise data AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 20 JULY NEW DELHI, 20 JULY In a surprising turn of events, UPSC chairman Manoj Soni (photo) has put in his papers, citing "personal reasons" nearly five years before the end of his tenure. Sources at the Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) told ANI news agency that his resignation has not yet been accepted. Mr Soni's term was originally set to conclude in 2029. “UPSC chairman Manoj Soni has put in his papers due to personal reasons. His resignation has not been accepted yet. It is a long procedure,” sources at DOPT told ANI over the phone. ANI attempt- Reports of excess mortality during 2020 misleading: Health Ministry STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 20 JULY The Union Health Ministry on Saturday said the media reports highlighting the findings from a paper published in an academic journal claiming excess mortality in 2020 is misleading. In a statement, the Ministry said: “Some media reports have highlighted the findings from a paper published today in an academic journal Science Advances on life expectancy during the Covid in India in 2020.” These are based on untenable and unacceptable estimates.” While the authors claim to follow standard methodology of analysing National Family Health Survey, there are critical flaws in methodology, it said. “The most important flaw is that the authors have taken a subset of households included in the NFHS survey between January and April 2021, compared mortality in these households in 2020 with 2019, and extrapolated the results to the entire country,” the Ministry said. Stating that the NFHS sample is representative of the country only when it is considered as a whole, it said: “The 23 per cent of households included in this analysis from part of 14 states cannot be considered representative of the country. “The other critical flaw is related to possible selection and reporting biases in the included sample due to the time in which these data were collected, at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.” ed to contact Manoj Soni, but he did not respond to calls or texts. Mr Soni, who began working with the UPSC as a member in 2017, was sworn in as the chairperson of the commission on 16 May 2023. His tenure was supposed to end in 2029.The sources emphasised that Mr Soni's decision to step down is not related to the recent controversy involv- ing an UPSC candidate accused of submitting fraudulent certificates to secure placement in the Indian Administrative Service. According to the sources, he submitted his resignation "long back".The UPSC has been embroiled in controversy following allegations against trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar, who allegedly forged identity papers to gain entry into the civil service. Before joining UPSC, Mr Soni served two terms as ViceChancellor of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University from August 2009 to July 2015, and one term as Vice-Chancellor of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda from April 2005 to April 2008. The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday published the state-wise and centre-wise data of the results of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 on the official website. This is in line with a directive from the Supreme Court, issued by a bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, asking the beleaguered testing agency to publish the NEET-UG 2024 results separately, city-wide and centre-wise, by 12 noon AGENCIES on Saturday.