President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday appointed Lt. Gen (Retd) Gurmit Singh as the governor of Uttarakhand after Baby Rani Maurya resigned two years before completing her tenure. According to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique, President Ram Nath Kovind accepted the resignation of Maurya and appointed Singh as the governor of the state.A highly-decorated officer, Lt Gen Singh superannuated from the Army in February 2016 after nearly four decades of service, during which he held prestigious appointments of deputy chief of Army Staff, adjutant general and corps commander of strategic XV Corps that overlooks the Line of Control in Kashmir.He was also handling China operational and military strategic issues as additional director general of Military Operations. During his stint in the Army, he was part of numerous expert groups, joint working groups, annual dialogues and China study group meetings for over a decade.Lt Gen Singh visited China seven times for important military diplomatic and border or Line of Actual Control meetings.A graduate from the Defence Services Staff Course and National Defence College, Lt Gen Singh has done two M. Phils from Chennai and Indore universities besides being a research scholar on India-China Boundary Issue in the Institute of Chinese Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, during his study leave from the Indian Army.The President also appointed Banwarilal Purohit, currently the Governor of Tamil Nadu, as the Governor of Punjab. R.N.Ravi, presently the Governor of Nagaland, has been made the Governor of Tamil Nadu. Professor Jagdish Mukhi, Governor of Assam is appointed to discharge the functions of the Governor of Nagaland in addition to his own duties until regular arrangements are made.The President’s office, in an official release, mentioned that the new appointments will take effect from the dates they assume charge of their respective offices.
