The Centre has given a year extension to Arundhati Bhattacharya as the Chairman of State Bank of India, first time in the history of the country's largest lender. In a filing to BSE yesterday, the SBI said that the Government in a notification extended the tenure of Arundhati Bhattacharya as the SBI Chairman for a period of one year with effect from October 7 this year. She joined the bank in September 1977 as a probationary officer at the age 22. Ms Bhattacharya has held several positions during her 36-year career with the bank, including working in foreign exchange, treasury, retail operations, human resources and investment banking. AIR correspondent reports that the extension will help in smooth transition at a time when SBI's consolidation with its associate banks is underway.