4 Dec : Deepak Sandhu, Principal Information Officer (PIO), will be the new Media Adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Wednesday approved the appointment of Sandhu, which will be on co-terminus basis at the level of Secretary to the Government of India.
She will take charge of the new assignment on Thursday.A 1971 batch Indian Information Service officer, Sandhu will fill the slot vacated by Sanjaya Baru.She has held a number of senior positions like Director General, News, All India Radio and Head of News in the Doordarshan. She was to retire as PIB chief this month-end.
Uma Kant Mishra, at present Director General at the Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity (DAVP), will take over from Sandhu as head of PIB.Baru, who was picked up by Singh soon after the UPA came to power in 2004, resigned from the post earlier this year to take up a teaching job in Singapore.