MUMBAI: Chief editor of The Financial Express Sanjaya Baru has been appointed media adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Baru, who started his stint in journalism with the Times Group, joined The FE in August 2000 as editor. He was promoted to chief editor in 2003.

Baru takes over from Sudheendra Kulkarni, who was media adviser to the previous government. Baru is, however, unlikely to have the kind of clout Kulkarni enjoyed, who thanks to his proximity to former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, had an influence on policy matters that was far disproportionate to his ranking in the government hierarchy.

Which is not a bad thing all things considered. It will certainly make for a refreshing change from the previous dispensation.

As far as Baru's professional profile is concerned, he was an academic first till the journalistic bug bit him when he joined the editorial page of The Times of India and became the associate editor of The Economic Times.

According to a report in the Indian Express , after his stint with the Times Group Baru went back to academics joining the Research and Information System for the Non-Aligned and other Developing countries (RIS). He also became professor at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) and finally joined FE .

Baru has served as a consultant to UNDP and was member of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), has also been a member of the CII-Aspen Institute group on India-US relations for the last three years.

Baru is a PhD in economics from the Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is also a Watumull Fellow at the East West Centre in Hawaii.