MAM
Bengali daily ‘Ekdin’ downs shutters, 120 out of jobs
KOLKATA: Eastern India has seen many a print publication being put to sleep over the past two years, courtesy the growing influence of the internet, and the concurrent, economic slump. Now, the Siliguri-based Darpan Press has joined the ranks of those who have cut the lifeline to a newspaper. It bought Bengali daily ‘Ekdin’ from the Chakra Group late last year, and around three months later it has chosen to wind up the broadsheet, leaving close to 120 employees including journalists and technical staff jobless.
“On January 14, at around 3.05 pm, we heard that the RNI registration had been transferred in the name of Darpan Press from the Chakra Group. And at 5.05 pm, the owner called a meeting and said he had decided to close down the daily newspaper,” recalls a senior journalist from Ekdin. “We are shocked. How can a newspaper close in a day’s notice? Again on Wednesday, that is, January 15, there was a meeting between the employees and the management, and the latter confirmed its decision of not continuing with the newspaper,” he adds.
Founded by veteran journalist Suman Chattopadhyay, who was also the first editor of Ekdin, the newspaper was sold off to the Chakra Group after Chattopadhyay joined Eyi Shomoy, The Times Group’s Bengali daily. The Chakra Group later sold Ekdin to Darpan, which has owned the daily since 1 October, 2013.
That Darpan had promised that Ekdin would never shut shop and its more than 100 employees would never lose their jobs at the time of taking over the newspaper, indiantelevision.com had reported earlier.
Another journalist from Ekdin recounts that while there were salary payment issues under the Chakra Group, he was sure they wouldn’t have closed down the daily in such an unprofessional manner. “There is a story behind the closure of the newspaper, and it needs to be explored further,” he says, pointing out that though Darpan is supposed to pay Ekdin employees till March 2014, the staff has been paid only for the period up to14 February 2014. Many are keeping their fingers crossed that their cheques will get cleared.
On his part, Darpan Press chief executive officer and director Sandip Choudhary says: “We have closed the paper temporarily and plan to come back in a big way in the next three to four months or so at the earliest. The earlier management did not do much to run the newspaper smoothly. We are trying to address such issues.”
However, the senior journalist from Ekdin recalls that within minutes of the closure announcement, he started getting phone calls from fellow journalists and so did his colleagues. However, the management requested them all not to reveal any of this to outsiders or simply say the closure was temporary. “Why should I lie and become the cause for my own doom,” he rues. “If the closure is a temporary phase, why did the management pay us for one and a half month and hint that we look for other options?” he questions.
According to the distribution department of Ekdin, which was published from Siliguri, Durgapur and Kolkata, while the newspaper’s circulation was around one lakh, the last few months had seen a dip in this figure to just 40,000.
Readers of the Bengali daily feel that while the content was first-rate and encompassed all areas, sometimes, the paper covered too much of state political news for the administration to be comfortable about it.
A media analyst reasons that Darpan Press, with its two newspapers – Bharat Darpan (Hindi daily) and Himalayan Darpan – has expertise mainly in printing and machines. So much so, when the group launched the Kolkata edition of Bharat Darpan, it had to close it down within three months as it could not make a mark. “Again after acquiring Ekdin, it closed down after three months. Only the coming days will tell if there is a story behind the closure of Ekdin as the employees are claiming, or the management is truly planning to revive it in a big way,” he says.
Another media analyst has a different take on the matter. He feels it is unwise to close down the newspaper before the Lok Sabha elections as most newspapers, however small, will be flooded with advertisements of different political campaigns.
A third media analyst reasons it was no longer financially viable for Darpan to carry on with Ekdin which is why shutters were downed. While we can only speculate as to why Ekdin shut shop, there’s a piece of news that might point in the right direction. At the time of the acquisition of Ekdin by Darpan, Chakra had filed an FIR against the former for not receiving the promised payment….
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.
