The global economic downturn made 2008 a forgettable year. It had its usual share of ups and downs for India Inc. Here’s a look at some of the events that shaped the year:
10 Jan: Sensex hits its all time high of
21,206.77 points. ‘Nano´ is born. The world’s cheapest car costing Rs100,000
unveiled at 9th Auto Expo in Delhi by Ratan Tata.
15 Jan: India’s largest IPO by Reliance Power to raise Rs11,000 crore opens. The issue closed on 18 January but was hammered in the market on debut. The company issued bonus shares to retain investor confidence.
21 Jan : The Sensex saw its highest ever loss of 1,408 points at the end of the session.
26 Mar: Tata Motors announces agreement with Ford Motor to acquire Jaguar Land Rover for $2.3 billion.
11 June: Japanese drug firm Daiichi Sankyo acquires control of Ranbaxy for over Rs22,000 crore - essays biggest Indian pharma industry deal.
25 June: Idea Cellular acquires 40.8% stake in a smaller rival Spice Communications for about Rs2700 crore.
8 Aug: South Korean steel giant Posco gets approval from Supreme Court to go ahead with its Rs51,000 crore steel project in Orissa after getting environmental clearance.
11 Aug: Low-cost airline Spicejet secures $100 million investment from Goldman Sachs and WL Ross.
16 Sep: US Foods and Drug Administration bans 30 drugs manufactured by Ranbaxy Laboratories at its two facilities in Dewas and Poanta Sahib.
26 Sep: HCL Technologies makes a cash offer of 650 pence a share for acquiring UK-based SAP consulting firm Axon Group.
3 Oct: Tata Motors pulls out of Singur, where it planned to set up the mother plant for Nano at an investment of Rs1,500 crore.
7 Oct: Tata Motors announces new Nano plant will come up at Sanand in Gujarat at an investment of Rs2000 crore.
Oct 8: TCS acquires 96.3% stake in Citigroup Global Services Ltd, the BPO outfit of the American bank, for $505 million.
13 Oct: Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines form operational alliance to cut costs.
15 Oct: Jet Airways lays off 1900 of its employees in various work profiles. Two days later, company Chairman Naresh Goyal orders reinstatement of all the sacked employees.
21 Nov: Dabur India acquires 72.15% stake in women’s skin-care company Fem Care Pharma (FCPL) for Rs203.7 crore.
16 Dec: India’s fourth largest IT firm Satyam Computer announces acquisition of Maytas Properties and Mytas Infra for $1.6 billion dollars.
17 Dec: Satyam calls off acquisition after angry shareholders response. Since then, four of the company’s independent directors have quit.
23 Dec: Country’s third-largest software services provider Wipro agrees to buy Citi Technology Services Ltd from Citigroup for about $127 million.
25 Dec: World Bank says Satyam barred from doing business with it for eight years; Reliance Petroleum commissions its 580,000 barrels per day refinery ar Jamnagar.
31 Dec: Stock market benchmark Sensex closes trading for the year down 69 points at 9,647.31. It had peaked to 21,206.77 points in January.
IT sector:· The sector, which has been charting a growth of over 30%, had to settle for a growth rate of 20%, as the global slowdown plunged the industry into unpredictable times.
· The Indian firms and employees continue to struggle with the ‘pink slip’ showing more every day.Satyam recently announced they will be laying off 400 people (
Satyam fires 400 people), Wipro let go of under 2000 people for non performance (
Wipro to remove staff for non-performance), other IT vendors including Patni (
Patni hands pink slips to non performers), Convergys (
Convergsys shuts down Mumbai facility) have been laying off people under the non performance umbrella.
· In the year filled with economic disasters, the failed attempt of country’s fourth largest software exporter Satyam to botch up two family-promoted firms for $1.6 billion not only resulted in loss of face but also hit the reputation nurtured by the Indian IT sector over the years.
· HCL pipped rival country’s second largest IT giant Infosys to bag UK-based SAP consulting firm Axon for $658 million.
Currency Values: Dollar was broadly higher while oil fell below $39 a barrel, a 60% loss for the year. · The euro has fallen by around 3.4% against the dollar over the year. However, it recovered towards the end of the year, jumping by over 10% during December.
U.S:Job unemployment rates are highest ever in the US. Here are some harsh facts for the US markets:
• 84,000 jobs lost in August 2008
• Unemployment rate a five-year peak of 6.1%
• 2.2 million Americans lost their jobs in the past 12 months
• Firms laid of 605, 000 workers in 2008 with an average of 76,000 a month
Global Meltdown:· Scientists have long agreed that climate change could have a profound impact on the planet; from melting ice sheets and withering rainforests, to flash floods and droughts.
· The most likely rise, of 4C by the end of the century, would cause droughts across Africa, and a fall in harvests of 15% to 35%. Globally, crop yields would fall 10%.
· Sea levels would rise by up to 59cm, with Bangladesh and Vietnam among the worst hit, along with coastal cities such as New York, London, Tokyo, Kolkata and Karachi.
Doesn’t this advertisement share resemblence with that of Lux, featuring Priyanka Chopra, where all those who pass by pause to admire her? The same sort of idea has been adopted by Fiat Linea, where we see a kid stopping at everything he looks at, his dad having to pull him away on each occasion. But then we see that his dad stops at the display of Fiat Linea and this time its the kid who drags his dad away. In the ad, the person is attracted to the looks of the linea but what factors have influenced this attraction has not been implied. The world’s most overused and unimaginative idea—“good-looking”. People don’t just prefer looks, and its definitely not the reason for a purchase decision. The features and the points of difference are important.
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