MUMBAI: BBC World Service has announced the appointment of Amit Baruah, a leading Indian print journalist, as the Head of BBC Hindi. Amit will be based in New Delhi and will be responsible for BBC Hindi service's multimedia output  He also will be BBC World Service's lead Editor for India.

Amit Baruah, who has been working as the Foreign Editor Hindustan Times, brings to the BBC 23 years' experience in international reporting  A foreign correspondent for nearly a decade, Amit has reported from Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South-East Asia.

He has travelled and reported extensively from the troubled areas of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, filing from there for India's national daily, The Hindu, and its weekly magazine, Frontline. Amit is the author of Dateline Islamabad, a unique take on living and reporting from Pakistan, with a close look at the country's contemporary history.

Amit has interviewed international political leaders including Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, former Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse. He was presented with the Prem Bhatia Award in 2000 for his coverage of Pakistan.

Behrouz Afagh, Head of Asia Pacific Region, BBC World Service, says, Amit joins BBC Hindi at a time of big changes with fresh ideas and energy, and will play a key role in shaping the future of the BBC in India....