23 Aug 2011

India's West Bengal to change name

8:35 pm on 23 August 2011

One of India's most populous states has announced it is going to change its name.

More than 90 million people live in West Bengal - but officials say a new name is needed to ensure it is higher up in the alphabetical list of Indian states. Currently, it's at the bottom.

A BBC correspondent in the state's capital, Kolkatta, says there are 28 other states in India and when West Bengal's MPs speak in Parliament most of their fellow MPs have already left or are asleep.

But the correspondent says many residents are unhappy the new name will begin with a "P" in Bengali, so the state will not move up the list by much.