MAM
Asics teams up with Joshna Chinappa to inspire young athletes
Mumbai: Sports equipment company Asics has announced Indian squash player Joshna Chinappa as its new brand athlete. This partnership would further strengthen the company’s commitment, spread awareness about the diverse offerings and magnify the reach of the brand, it said.
“Our beliefs and efforts have always focused on empowering youth in India and making a positive change. We at Asics also believe that as the leading sports brand in India it is important to encourage girls to take up sport,” said Asics India and South Asia MD Rajat Khurana. “Over the last couple of years, Joshna and many other Indian women have emerged as torchbearers with their outstanding performances. Asics is very keen to support India’s youth and to build a stronger sporting spirit and ambition in them.”
Currently ranked as number 10 worldwide, Chinappa is a two-time Asian Championship gold medalist. In 2014, she was the first Indian to win a gold medal in doubles at the Commonwealth Game. Chinappa has inscribed her name at the British US Open and national championships.
“Asics has an incredible track record for helping athletes across sports and enabling them to reach the peak of their sport. With them, I hope to take my performances to the next level on the field, and also help create change off it,” said Chinappa on the association. “Our aim together is to improve participation of Indian youth in sports and women empowerment and I am confident of creating the change with Asics.”
Asics has been working with young and fresh athletic talents across various genres of sports including Indian athletes Manika Batra, Bajrang Punia, Ravindra Jadeja, Sakshi Malik, along with international athletes like Novak Djokovic
Brands
YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
