Brands
Combiflam tablet launches pain education campaign for rural marke
MUMBAI: Sanofi India – makers of the Combiflam pain relief tablets along with Bollywood actor Soha Ali Khan has launched its first initiative under its pain education campaign – Pain Clinics.
This phase comprises a series of doctor and pain expert videos on a dedicated YouTube channel to generate awareness and educate people, so that they can understand and treat pain in an informed and responsible manner.
The subsequent phases of the campaign will include multi-channel awareness drives and data-driven insights rolled out across the country to help people understand and manage pain effectively.
According to a survey conducted by IPSOS in India, every person admitted to suffering from some kind of pain in the last 12 months, and 43 per cent of the pain occasions were treated with an available painkiller at home. This shows the need for an initiative that brings national pain management experts and doctors on board, to provide tips and advice on how pain can be better managed.
Sanofi GM of consumer healthcare, India and South Asia Nikhilesh Kalra says, “Combiflam tablet is India’s most prescribed pain relief brand and relieves over 1.8 billion pain incidences in a year4. It is the trusted household name for millions of people and healthcare practitioners. It is common for people to seek health related information on internet. However, not all information one finds on the web is credible, and hence, we felt the need to launch a credible source of information.”
“Uttar Pradesh has some of the highest pain incidences in the country, and an average of 15 lakh incidences of pain are resolved by the Combiflam every day. This is why Uttar Pradesh is a very important State for us, and a social initiative such as this one will be of great value. We are launching this initiative in Uttar Pradesh and plan to scale it across the country”, adds Kalra.
Arthroscopy and sports injury specialist Dr. Moazzam Jah adds, “It is common for people to trust the internet for information and solutions, for their pain. This is dangerous and misleading, and we as doctors, strongly advocate that patients speak to us or ensure they consume information that is not only validated, but also medically correct. Combiflam® tablet has also been a victim of some misleading social media messages in the past that have questioned its safety and efficacy.”
Sanofi India Ltd. is launching this social initiative in seven cities of Uttar Pradesh – Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Moradabad, Varanasi and Bareilly.
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.
