Parliament passes bill to change Orissa's name

The Rajya Sabha Thursday passed a bill to change the name of Orissa to 'Odisha' and an amendment in the constitution to rename Oriya language as 'Odiya'.

"The name of the state specified as Orissa in the First Schedule of the Constitution be changed as Odisha," Home Minister P. Chidambaram said while introducing the bill in the Rajya Sabha. 

The Orissa (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2010, and the Constitution (113th Amendment) Bill, 2010, for the change of the name of the language were moved by Chidambaram on the basis of resolutions passed by the Orissa assembly.

Both bills were passed by the Lok Sabha in November 2010