MAM
Goafest Creative Abby jury chairs announced for Print, Radio and Brand Activation
MUMBAI: The Goafest Creative Abbys, the highly coveted advertising awards that recognize the best in advertising and marketing has announced the second set of jury for the coveted awards. The Awards Governing Council of Goafest 2016 has declared the jury chairs for print, radio/radio craft advertising and brand activation verticals. While Publicis Communications managing director & chief creative officer Bobby Pawar will chair the print communication jury of Creative Abby, Contract Advertising national creative director Ashish Chakravarty will chair the radio/ radio craft jury and Scarecrow Communications director and founder Manish Bhatt will chair the jury for brand activation vertical.
Jury chair of the print category Bobby Pawar is reckoned amongst peers as one of the most influential professsionals in advertising. Before joining Publicis, he was the CCO at JWT, where he curated some iconic campaigns. Prior to that he spent 4 years as the chief creative officer of the DDB Mudra Group. He was instrumental in transforming the agency into a top rated creative solution destinations in the country. Bobby was earlier creative director at Ogilvy, New York and group creative director at BBDO, Chicago.
Ashish Chakravarty with over 2 decades of experience has created some of the biggest brands in the country and is recognized as amongst the top 10 creative directors in India and amongst the top 50 creative Ddrectors in the world, according to a latest global ranking. Ashish’s work has won him several metals across the biggest creative fests across the world including Cannes and D&AD. He is credited with winning more than 200 national and international awards across categories and brands.
Manish Bhatt started his career as a Civil Engineer at Gujarat State Fertilizer Corporation. But, soon he decided to enter the world of advertising and went on create one of India’s most sought after independent ad agencies Scarecrow. He has worked in Ad World for more than 15 years and has been associated with agencies like Contract, Ogilvy & Mather (Delhi, Mumbai & Malaysia), Ambience Publicis and McCann Erickson. Bhatt has received recognition for his creative work across platforms like Cannes Lions, D&AD London, The One Show, Clios and the Abbys.
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.
