The Cornell University professor Kaushik Basu on Tuesday took over as the Chief Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry in place of Arvind Virmani.<br/><br/>Mr Virmani has joined the International Monetary Fund as an Executive Director. Prior to this appointment, the 57-year-old Basu was the chairman of the department of economics in the Cornell University.<br/><br/>He had also served as Professor for the Centre for Analytic Economics and Programme on Comparative Economic Development earlier. Prof Basu, who did his PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics in 1974-76, assumes the charge of the Economic Advisor at a time when the economy is clearly showing signs of recovery but facing challenge of rising food inflation. <br/><br/>A visiting professor at MIT, Harvard and Princeton, Mr Basu is also a recipient of Padma Bhushan in 2008.<br/>