The Union Cabinet held its first meeting on Tuesday at PM Narendra Modi’s new office, Seva Tirtha. Projects worth a total of ₹12,236 crore were approved. The Cabinet took a total of eight decisions, including three railway projects in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand. The meeting included policy decisions on power sector reforms and approved the Kerala government’s proposal to change the state’s name to Keralam. Kerala is likely to hold assembly elections in April-May. The Cabinet approved three new railway projects: the doubling of the Gondia-Jabalpur railway line, the third and fourth railway lines between Gamharia-Chandil and Punarkh-Kiul, a new airport terminal in Srinagar, and the extension of Phase 2B of the Ahmedabad Metro. The proposal will be sent to the Kerala Legislative Assembly. Following Cabinet approval, the President will now refer the “Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026” to the Kerala Legislative Assembly for its opinion under Article 3 of the Constitution. After receiving the Assembly’s opinion, the government will introduce the bill in Parliament. If passed by Parliament, the state’s name will officially become Keralam. The Kerala Assembly passed a resolution on June 24, 2024. According to this resolution, Kerala’s original name in Malayalam is Keralam. It is called Kerala in Hindi and other languages. The purpose of the name change is to promote the state’s identity, language, culture, and development. Shashi Tharoor said, “What will we call Keralites in English?” Congress MP Shashi Tharoor wrote on X that the name change is fine, but there is a small linguistic question for English speakers. He asked what will happen to the words “Keralite” and “Kerallan.” He jokingly remarked that “Keralamite” sounds like a microbe, and “Keralamanian” sounds like a mineral. Tagging the Chief Minister’s Office, he suggested a competition could be held to coin a new word. Previously, two states were renamed. On February 13th, the PMO was moved to Seva Tirtha. The last cabinet meeting was held on February 13th at the PMO’s South Block office. Following this, the PMO was shifted to the new office. The Prime Minister’s office has been located in South Block since 1947. This building has been the seat of power in the country for nearly 78 years. The Seva Tirtha Complex comprises three buildings: Seva Tirtha-1, Seva Tirtha-2, and Seva Tirtha-3. Seva Tirtha-1 houses the Prime Minister’s Office, Seva Tirtha-2 houses the Cabinet Secretariat, and Seva Tirtha-3 houses the NSCS and the office of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. These offices were previously located in different locations. —————————————- Read this news too… Civil judges from West Bengal, Odisha, and Jharkhand will assist in SIR verification; Supreme Court says Election Commission should bear the expenses. The Supreme Court has granted permission to deploy civil judges from two states to settle the 80 lakh claims arising from the SIR process in West Bengal. The court ordered that the Calcutta High Court can seek the assistance of civil judges from Jharkhand and Odisha to expedite the voter list SIR process in West Bengal. Read the full news…
