Deepak Sandhu to be first woman Media Adviser to the PM (Lead:Deepak Sandhu)

New Delhi, Dec.3 (ANI): Deepak Sandhu, the Principal Director General of the Press Information Bureau (PIB), is to be the new media advisor to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, will have an unique distinction of being the first woman to hold this post.

A source in the Prime Minister'' Office (PMO) said that a formal order on her appointment as the next media adviser is expected by this evening.

Mrs Sandhu will succeed Dr. Sanjay Baru, who left the PMO four months ago to join the academic world in Singapore.

An officer of the Indian Information Service (IIS), Mrs.Sandhu has held challenging appointments like the Director General of the News Services of All India Radio, headed the Doordarshan News Service and the Directorate of Film Festivals.

She was spokesman for the Ministries of Finance and Human Resources Development when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was in office.

Sandhu, who was due to retire in two months, has sought voluntary retirement to take up this important assignment.

Sources said that she faces the challenging task of providing credible information from the PMO,a fact that the media had said was missing ever since the exit of Dr. Baru.

andhu is expected to be succeeded at the PIB by Mr. Umakant Mishra, the present Director General of the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP). (ANI)