MY MONOGRAM IS PM, and the M could rightfully be Mumbaikar. It could also be Maximum, as a tribute to the metropolis where I was born. So, when Chief of Bureau (Mumbai) Dnyanesh V. Jathar told us all about the Third Mumbai proposal, the article instantly had my vote. After Navi Mumbai, this will be the biggest infrastructural push.
In an interview, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told Dnyanesh that Third Mumbai will “initially attract investment worth Rs15 lakh crore”. The city will cover 575sqkm, making it larger than Pune. Fadnavis also left a teaser that there will be a Fourth Mumbai linked to Vadhavan Port.
Travel in Mumbai has always been a challenge, and journalist Anil Singh calls it an “extreme sport” which requires the “guts of a gladiator and the nimbleness of a gymnast”. I think Singh is being mellow! CIDCO Managing Director Vijay Singhal told Dnyanesh that Third Mumbai will outsize Maximum City as it stands.
The original Mumbai itself has changed beyond my wildest dreams, and it barely resembles the city I knew as a child. Third Mumbai will come up in a region known to us as the Kolaba district, later renamed Raigad district in the 1980s. Though I moved out of Mumbai half a century ago, the city has stayed with me as a quiet presence in every official document. And like every other Mumbaikar, I have always wished it well.
With Third Mumbai set to host multiple Global Capability Centres, we should expect the AI era of tech to be in full flow there. Our coverage of the India AI Impact Summit continues with Senior Assistant Editor K. Sunil Thomas taking stock of the event. Sunil also interviewed Anne Neuberger, former US deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology.
AI is a strong thread running through Chief of Bureau (Delhi) Namrata Biji Ahuja’s interview with Richard Rossow, a senior adviser at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. Interestingly, there is more AI in Special Correspondent K. Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy’s article on how Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams are harnessing the technology for pilgrim welfare.
An article by Senior Correspondent Shubhangi Shah looks at the Delhi state government’s promise of a cleaner Yamuna. She feels that there is a mismatch between promises and performance.
For the closing note, I am heading home. Kerala is soon set to become Keralam, after the Union Cabinet cleared the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026. President Droupadi Murmu will now send it to the state assembly for its views.
Last week, I closed with a Shashi Tharoor quote. Yesterday, he made a wisecrack about the renaming of Kerala. What will the residents be called now, he wonders. Keralamites? He said that sounds odd. Keralamans? Well, that sounds too skewed to one sex. Malayalis should do, shouldn’t it, Shashi?