MAM
The Advertising Club elects Rana Barua as president
Mumbai: The advertising, marketing and media industry’s apex body – The Advertising Club has announced the managing committee for the current fiscal, i.e., F.Y. 2023-2024, at its 69th Annual General Meeting. Havas India Group CEO Rana Barua has been elected to lead the body.
Partha Sinha will continue as a member of the managing committee as the immediate past president for the ensuing year.
Speaking about the appointment, The Advertising Club president Rana Barua said, “It’s an honour to serve as the President at The Ad Club, a nearly 70-year-old venerable institution, whose legacy is deeply rooted in its unwavering commitment to excellence and is a beacon of inspiration for our industry. Our mission extends beyond accolades; it’s about actively shaping belonging and how we engage and influence the larger fraternity and the newer generation. Our new management team, a mosaic of diverse leaders across sectors, embark on a journey of limitless possibilities and opportunities. Together, we commit meaningful initiatives that will enable us to attract fresh talent into the industry, championing women empowerment, nurturing future leaders, advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, and fostering progressive alliances and conversations.”
The below members were elected unopposed. The Office Bearers of The Advertising Club for 2023-2024 are –
- Rana Barua – president
- Dheeraj Sinha – vice president
- Dr Bhaskar Das – secretary
- Shashi Sinha – jt. secretary
- Mitrajit Bhattacharya – treasurer
Managing Committee Members include the below industry leaders who will play a decisive role in driving synergies and ensuring the success of all The Advertising Club initiatives:
- Avinash Kaul
- Malcolm Raphael
- Prasanth Kumar
- Punitha Arumugam
- Shubhranshu Singh
- Sonia Huria
- Subramanyeswar Samayam
In addition, given below is the list of co-opted industry professionals:
- Ajay Kakar
- Pradeep Dwivedi
- Vikram Sakhuja
The below list of leaders are special invitees and bring immense value to The Advertising Club through their expertise and deep understanding of the respective industry segments:
- Ajay Chandwani
- Alok Lall
- Anusha Shetty
- Lulu Raghavan
- Mansha Tandon
- Nisha Narayanan
- Raj Nayak
- Satyanarayan Raghavan
- Vikas Khanchandani
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.
