MAM
Mudra South nominated for Times Asia Pacific Advertising Awards and New York Festivals
MUMBAI: Mudra South has been nominated for the Times Asia Pacific Advertising Awards and also the New York Festivals.
Interestingly, Times Asia Pacific Advertising Awards short-listed only three entries from India and interestingly all the three are from Mudra South.
The 16th Times Asia Pacific Advertising Awards to be held in Taiwan early next year received 345 entries this year. The Mudra South campaigns short-listed are Nutrine Kokanaka (Coconut) and Blossoms (House of Used Books), in print and Monster (Get out!) in television.
At the New York festivals’ 2006, the agency has been shortlisted in the Television, Cinema and Radio Advertising Awards competition. The short listed entry was for Monster (Get out!) campaign for two categories- Business Services/Equipment and E-Commerce Service.
Mudra CEO and managing director Madhukar Kamath said, “Jagdish and Radha (S Radhakrishnan) have placed great emphasis on good work for Mudra South and the results are evident. It’s nice to know that the work is being recognized by the international advertising community.”
Mudra South executive creative director Jagdish Acharya said, “I am delighted to know that Mudra was the only agency from India to get short listed at the Times Asia-Pacific award. Moreover, in New York Festivals, our entry is the only one to have actually got nominated in the respective categories. We have been doing good work across brands and it is certainly nice to see some of these pick up awards as well.”
Times Asia Pacific Advertising Awards short-listed entries from various countries such as Taiwan (168), Japan (60), China (55), Hong Kong (26), Korea (18), Indonesia (10), India (3), Malaysia (2), Philippines (2) and Thailand (1).
The Times Asia-Pacific Advertising Awards was first held in 1990 by the China Times Group and was aimed at broadening Taiwan’s ad horizons and fulfilling a corporate vision while encouraging professional exchanges within the Asia-Pacific region.
The New York Festivals awards ceremony will be held on 26 January, 2006 in the Millennium Broadway Hotel in Manhattan.
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.
