MAM
Industry leaders share excitement about return of Goafest 2020
MUMBAI: Indian advertising and marketing folks don’t need an excuse to hit the sun-kissed sands of Goa’s beaches. A whole lot of them are hence likely to head to the holiday paradise come 2 April 2020 courtesy the Ad Club and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) which are putting together the sixteenth edition of Goafest.
Ad veteran Nakul Chopra has been re-appointed as chairperson of the jamboree with Jaideep Gandhi being named as the co-chair of Goafest 2020 organising committee. Well, the ever so ebullient IPG Media Brands CEO and treasurer The Ad Club Shashi Sinha, has the onerous responsibility of chairing the Awards Governing Council (AGC) of the celebrated ABBY awards 2020 once again.
“Year-on-year, it is our endeavor to make Goafest the most sought after gathering of the Indian advertising & media industry both in terms of knowledge sharing and raising the bar for creativity. Goafest has been consistently putting India on the global map of a creative powerhouse and as we put together this edition as well, our endeavour is to bring the best of speakers, workshops and experiences to boost the next-gen of advertisers,” says AAAI president Ashish Bhasin.” “Nakul as an industry veteran has been adeptly handling Goafest and his vision for the industry is sure to translate into an engaging and inclusive festival experience for all."
Adds Chopra: “Goafest is the only premiere festival that is a holistic representation of the Indian advertising and media industry. Our focus continues to remain on driving up the ante of scale, inclusivity knowledge sharing. The 2020 edition of Goafest will also focus on creating an experience that is immersive, transformational and continues to contribute to enrich the ecosystem..”
Explains The Advertising Club president Partho Dasgupta: “The purpose of Goafest is to bring forth a platform that encourages India’s A&M industry to engage, innovate and share cohesively. The three days of Goafest sees the entire media and advertising fraternity breaking the barriers of organisation and come together to share common achievements, failures and learnings. ABBYs have always been recognized as a gold standard in creative awards and with Shashi at the helm, we are sure that the awards will continue to follow the highest standards of quality and due diligence.”
“With the ABBY Awards, every year we try to widen the horizon and be more inclusive. Our belief has been to let works of excellence do the talking and this year too we will continue to look for campaigns that inspire change, make a difference and become an inspiration for the industry,” highlights Sinha explaining his vision for the metal competition this year.
The ABBY AGC includes: Shashi Sinha, Ashish Bhasin, Nakul Chopra, Jaya Advertising Director Jaideep Gandhi, Publicis CEO India Anupriya Acharya, Havas Group India group CEO Rana Barua, Aditya Birla Capital Limited chief marketing officer Ajay Kakar, McCann Worldgroup vice chairman and MD Partha Sinha, MullenLowe Lintas Group CEO Virat Tandon Group, Percept Limited director Ajay Chandwani, and House of Cheer founder and media Veteran Raj Nayak.
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.
