MAM
IIFA Charity Cricket Match to be held in South Africa
MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television’s (SET) obsession with cricket continues. SET had acquired the exclusive rights to air the Samsung IIFA awards. The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) has announced that as a precursor to the much awaited Samsung IIFA Awards 2003, an IIFA Charity Cricket Match will be held on 15 May 2003 from 4.00 pm at The Centurion Cricket Ground, Johannesburg, South Africa.
The match is being held to provide aid to the behind-the-scenes staff of Indian cinema. These would include technicians, light boys, assistants and the likes, states an official release. Part of the proceeds from the match in Johannesburg will also go towards South Africa’s ‘Northern Cricket Union Development Programme’ .
The match would see a total of 40 players with three teams playing in the round robin format in matches consisting of eight overs each. The winners will be awarded medals. Professional commentators along with actors from Indian cinema will provide commentary for the match, the release adds.
“Cricket and cinema in India can be best described as a passion in this country. Being the ‘official sponsor of digital passion’, it is but natural for us to be associated with both of these. We will be leveraging both these associations in the coming months to reach out to more and more of our consumers all over the country,” Samsung India director R Zutshi is quoted as saying in the release.
Conceptualised by Wizcraft International Entertainment, the charity match will see Team Samsung – Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Mohammad Kaif, Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble join hands with Kapil Dev, Ajay Jadeja, Mohammed Azharuddin and Bollywood stars like Suniel Shetty, Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Rahul Khanna, Zayed Khan, Fardeen Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Sanjay Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Shilpa Shetty and others; South African sport stars including Lance Klusener and South African celebrities too will pit their talents on the cricket field. It is interesting to note that Azharuddin and Jadeja will be playing together outside the country for the first time after the BCCI ban.
According to the release, Suniel Shetty, Anubhav Agarwal from RNA Mirage Builders; Samsung India, Mehul Choksi from Gili; Sony Entertainment Television and B V Rao from Venky’s Chicken have been instrumental in helping put the IIFA Charity Cricket Match together.
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.
