The name of Orissa state has changed to Odisha & West Bengal to be renamed Paschimbanga

As the state formally changed its anglicised name of Orissa to Odisha, people distributed sweets, burst firecrackers and went about altering their letterheads and signboards on Saturday. Some, though, shrugged it off with that old line: "What's in a name"! A few simply went on a weekend vacation to mark the occasion.

"We are happy. The name of our state will now onwards be spelt properly," Raghunath Mohanty, a retired schoolteacher in Bhubaneswar, said.

Mohanty woke up early and went to a painter to correct the signboard of his school. Like him, owners of shops and other commercial establishments made corrections to their letterheads and hoardings.

However, for journalist and social activist Rabi Das, such celebrations have no meaning. "It won't make any difference. Nobody has taken this change seriously. I don't understand why the government is celebrating," he said.

Schools, colleges, banks and government offices remained closed across the state as Saturday was declared a state holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act to mark the historic occasion.

The celebrations started on Friday night itself after news spread that President Pratibha Patil had given her assent to the Bill to change the name and an amendment in the constitution to rename Oriya language as Odia.

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Kolkata: A consensus to rename West Bengal as Paschimbanga was reached at an all-party meeting on Friday.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee suggested the new name and unanimity was reached on it, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee told reporters after the meeting in the state Assembly.

"It has been unanimously decided that state's new name will be Paschimbanga from now in all languages," he said.

"We wanted a change in the name of the state to get the administrative advantage," he said.

The Chief Minister presided over the meeting attended by Trinamool Congress, besides ally Congress and Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) [SUCI(C)], Left Front constituents CPM, CPI, RSP, Forward Bloc as also GJM, among other parties.

Banerjee had earlier empowered Chatterjee