By Buizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, December 17, 2018: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Odisha on December 24 during which he will inaugurate a new campus of IIT-Bhubaneswar and launch a host of other projects, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said here.

Modi also will lay the foundation stone for IISER, Berhampur and inaugurate several other development projects in Odisha, the Petroleum and Natural Gas minister said in a tweet.

The Union Minister said he visited the venue of Modi’s programme near the historic Barunei Hills in Khurda and took stock of the preparedness along with the district administration.

Noting that the Central Government is celebrating bicentenary of the historic Paika Rebellion, Pradhan said the prime minister will release the commemorative coin, stamp and inaugurate the Chair at Utkal University in memory of the rebellion. The Paika Rebellion, also called the Paika Bidroha, was an armed rebellion against British East India Company’s rule in Odisha in 1817.

The Paikas were the traditional militia of Odisha who served as warriors.