Utkal Dibas:
The Prime Minister of India greeted the people on Utkal Dibasa.
- The modern state of Odisha was established on 1 April 1936 at Kanika Palace, Cuttack, as a province in India, and consists predominantly of Odia speakers.1 April is therefore celebrated as Utkal Divas (Odisha Day).
- The British had occupied the Northern Circars, comprising the southern coast of Odisha, as a result of the Second Carnatic War by 1760, and incorporated them into the Madras Presidency gradually.
- In 1803, the British ousted the Marathas from the Puri-Cuttack region of Odisha during the Second Anglo-Maratha War. The northern and western districts of Odisha were incorporated into the Bengal Presidency.
- In 1903, the Utkal Sammilani organisation was founded to demand the unification of Odia-speaking regions into one state.
- On 1 April 1912, the Bihar and Orissa Province was formed and on 1 April 1936, Bihar and Orissa were split into separate provinces.
