Ajay Kumar Bhalla sworn in as Manipur governor

Hari Babu Kambhampati took oath as the 27th governor of Odisha at a ceremony in Bhubaneswar.

Bhalla, a 1984-batch Indian Administrative Service officer, was the Union home secretary between August 22, 2019, and August 22, 2024.

Appointed as the governor of Manipur by President Droupadi Murmu in December, Bhalla arrived in Imphal on Thursday and was welcomed at Raj Bhavan by Chief Minister N Biren Singh.

Manipur had not had a full-time governor since July 31, even as the state continued to be gripped by violence. Lakshman Prasad Acharya had held the additional charge of Manipur since becoming the Assam governor in July.