www.thestatesman.com India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | | FOLLOW US: Pages 16 | @TheStatesmanLtd ` 5.00 | @thestatesmanltd KOLKATA 8th Day | People’s Parliament, Always in Session thestatesman1875 NEW DELHI | MUMBAI | BHUBANESWAR Evolve LUCKNOW | SILIGURI | 21 June 2026 S P O RT S A mentor to the stars From Indus whistles to algorithmic beats | Cunha stars in Brazil win Page 16 Prez, PM emphasise tribal development, launch projects worth ₹47,600 cr ‘Syama Prasad saved Bengal from being cut off from India’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Tarakeswar, 20 June P STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Rairangpur, 20 June Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday reaffirmed the Centre’s commitment to tribal empowerment while inaugurating and laying the foundation stone for development projects worth over Rs 47,600 crore in Odisha, with a strong focus on education, healthcare, infrastructure and livelihood opportunities for tribal communities. Addressing a gathering in Rairangpur, the PM said the development of tribal society remains a top priority of his government. He emphasised that tribal youth are being connected with education and employment opportunities to ensure inclusive growth and participation in the nation’s development. Highlighting educational initiatives, the PM said nearly 500 Eklavya Model Residential Schools have been established across the country, while around 750 schools have been sanctioned. He also announced approval for a new Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Mayurbhanj district. More than 1.5 crore tribal students have received pre-matric and post-matric scholarships worth hundreds of crores of rupees, he added. rime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that the observance of Paschimbanga Diwas on 20 June was not merely a ceremonial event but a reminder of a decisive chapter in history when efforts were made to separate the whole of Bengal from India and merge it with Pakistan. Addressing the first official Paschimbanga Diwas celebration in this temple town in Hooghly district after the change of government in West Bengal, Mr Modi credited Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee for leading the movement that ensured a part of Bengal remained within India and called for greater awareness among younger generations about the events that shaped the state's future. The Prime Minister claimed India to host BRICS NSAs meet next week STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 20 June India will host the BRICS National Security Advisers’ Meeting on 22-23 June that will discuss key global strategic issues, including the rapidly evolving nature of national security challenges and the role of new technologies in emerging security threats. The meeting will be chaired by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. During the meeting, the NSAs/Heads of Delegation of BRICS member countries will exchange views on the theme ‘Non-traditional security challenges confronting the world today’. The participants will also review the outcomes of the recently held BRICS Joint Working Groups on CounterTerrorism, and on Security in the use of Information and Communication Technologies. China will be represented at the meeting by its Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, who also functions as the NSA. His visit will take place amid efforts by the two sides to normalise bilateral ties. Mr Wang and Mr Doval are also expected to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the BRICS meet. The Chinese leader is also expected to hold talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. BRICS is an intergovernmental organisation comprising 11 major emerging markets: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia. It serves as a geopolitical and economic forum to foster multilateral cooperation, reshape global financial architecture, and amplify the voices of the Global South. that during the period leading up to Independence, there had been attempts by political forces to separate Bengal from India and that even Congress had eventually accepted those plans. Mr Modi said Syama Prasad Mookerjee emerged as the key figure who resisted such efforts and launched a movement for a separate homeland for Bengali Hindus within India. “The youth should know this. When there was a plan NTA denies NEET-UG centre mix-up: New Delhi: Amid a controversy over a NEETUG candidate from Nagpur being allotted Abu Dhabi as his centre for Sunday’s NEET-UG retest, the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday said that the candidate’s examination centre preference had been changed to Abu Dhabi by the candidate himself through the agency’s centre-modification portal. Records showed the candidate’s examination city preference was changed three times to Abu Dhabi using the candidate’s login credentials, the agency said. PM Modi to lead International Day of Yoga celebrations from Kolkata on Sunday ASHOK TUTEJA Kolkata, 20 June In a strong reaffirmation of his philosophy of “Healthy Body, Healthy Mind,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the national celebrations for the 12th International Day of Yoga (IDY) from Kolkata’s historic Red Road on Sunday. The main gathering in the “City of Joy” will commence in early in the morning, with mass demonstrations of the Common Yoga Protocol (CYP) featuring thousands of attendees, including top dignitaries and citizens. The Centre’s decision to organise the main event in Kolkata is significant because it closely follows the BJP's landslide victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections. Top Central ministers and BJP leaders have given clear indications that the state, where the saffron party dislodged the Trinamul Congress from power, will be the focus of attention for the Modi government in the coming months and years. “Funds will not come in a way of speedy development of the state which has been poorly managed over the years,” a senior BJP leader said. One should also not lose sight of the significance of the Centre choosing Red Road as the venue for the main event. As one of the metropolis's most happening public spaces, it symbolises civil gatherings, military history and ecological innovations. The organisers of IDY expect a record turnout at the event tomorrow. Ahead of the 12th IDY, Kolkata witnessed enthusiastic participation in “Daud Se Dhyan 2026 - From Movement to Stillness,” a unique initiative organised under the Swachhata Se Swagat Programme, bringing together the core values of health, cleanliness, civic responsibility and overall well-being. The mega event on Sunday with the theme ‘’Yoga for Healthy Ageing’’ is being organised by the Ministry of Ayush which has rolled out an extensive programme aimed at promoting yoga as a tool for overall well-being. Around 2,500 organised events are taking place worldwide, with participation across 211 Indian missions abroad. The Ministry’s Yoga Sangam Portal has achieved a major milestone with organisational registrations touching the 600,000-mark, reflecting unprecedented enthusiasm among institutions and communities across the country. The milestone highlights the massive scale of collective participation, with registered organisations set to mobilise participants at their respective locations to join the nationwide Yoga Sangam movement and practice yoga simultaneously with the PM. According to Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ayush and Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav, this year’s theme, “Yoga for Healthy Ageing,” highlights the need to ensure that longer life expectancy translates into healthier, more active and meaningful lives. “Across the world, people are living longer than ever before. The real challenge is to ensure that these added years are healthy, active, independent and meaningful. Yoga offers a time-tested and holistic pathway towards healthy ageing by strengthening physical health, promoting mental well-being and enhancing overall quality of life,” he said. to annex Bengal to Pakistan, Congress was giving in to their plan. Then Syama Prasad Mookerjee stood against it and he made a resolution and so the Bengali Hindu Homeland movement started,” he said. The Prime Minister said several prominent personalities like Meghnad Saha, RC Majumdar and Suniti Kumar Chattopadhyay and industrialists like G D Birla joined the movement initiated by Mookerjee. According to Mr Modi, the movement eventually forced those favouring the inclusion of the whole of Bengal in Pakistan to reconsider their position. “This mass movement forced anti-Indian people to think that the entire Bengal cannot be cut off from the country,” he said. Tracing the historical significance of the date, Mr Modi referred to 20 June 1947, when Bengal's Legislative Assembly voted in favour of partitioning undivided Bengal, leading to the creation of West Bengal within the Indian Union while eastern Bengal became part of Pakistan. Political supporters of the observance argue that the decision preserved a section of Bengal within India at a time marked by communal unrest and uncertainty. BJP leaders maintain that Mookerjee played a central role in shaping the political movement that led to the creation of West Bengal. CJP protesters refuse to budge from Jantar Mantar despite police warning: New Delhi: Members of the Cockroach Janta Party on Saturday continued their second protest at Jantar Mantar over alleged examination irregularities and repeated paper leaks into the evening, even though Delhi Police denied them permission to extend the protest. As the movement’s founder Abhijeet Dipke asserted that he will not move from the site until the Education Minister resigns, the protest continued under mobile phone lights. Police have asked CJP supporters to vacate the site where a large number of students and others have been demonstrating over alleged examination irregularities, paper leaks and demanding accountability from the government.