The A to Z of 2008

A - Automobile is stated to be the wheels of the economy and these wheels had started slowing down since the beginning of the current fiscal itself. Earlier plagued by issues of high raw material costs and interest rates, now it is further stumped due to fall in demand and pile up of huge inventory, forcing companies to shut down factories.

B - Bailout could probably be the word of the year. Never did this word ever have such deep resonating depth. The US Senate passed a $ 700 billion financial market rescue package to buy troubled assets from financial institutions rocked by record home foreclosures.

C - Crude oil has been on a roller coaster ride in 2008. The price of crude soared as high as $147 a barrel in July before crashing to $33 this month. The dawning of a global recession drove demand lower in major economies and today it rules around $40 per barrel levels. Chandrayan is one moment of pride for all Indians and 2008 was a witness to that.

D - Falling stock markets, crash of realty and with no real avenue for investments, in these uncertain times, debt has a resurged as a safer haven for investment. Fixed deposits and short-term commercial papers were the flavours of the season.

E - Govt relaxed norms for External Commerical Borrowings (ECBs) for infrastructure projects. Yet, data compiled till October this year shows a 35% y-o-y drop in ECBs by domestic companies. In the case of FCCBs issued by India Inc during the same period, the drop is much sharper, at 88%.

F - RBI allowed companies to prematurely buy back their Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs). A good move by RBI, makes perfect economical sense, with R-Com taking the initiative.

G - If 2007 was about growth, 2008 was mostly about controlling inflation and with the global economies falling into recession, India's growth rate also slowed down. GDP, which in 2007 for 2008 was projected at levels of 9% now stands at 7-7.5%.

H – Housing sector literally collapsed through the floor this year. The boom of 2007 punctured the bubble and high interest costs, higher raw material costs and low demand pushed the sector to the brink.

I - Inflation which, threatened to touch 14% has been the single largest economic concern and through efforts of the Govt has now been reined in at levels of 6%. This has been the worst year for IPOs. T he number of public issues dropped about 63% to just 38, the lowest in four years, of which 22 were worth less than Rs.100 crore.

J - The meltdown in the global arena, is still seeing a huge unemployment in India. The number of jobless has gone up, especially in textiles, gems and jewellery, IT and in financial services.

K - For the first time in decades, the election in Kashmir saw record voting and though the result was a hung Govt, with the National Congress forming a coalition with Congress, for some time, separatism politics took a back seat.
L – Liquidity crunch is one point probably common with all the people around the world. The tight money situation has aggravated the slowdown and in some cases led to recession.

M - Ex-Nasdaq Chairman, Bernard Madoff admitted running a giant Ponzi scheme and swindled people off $50 billion. The full impact of the scam is just about tumbling out of the cupboard.

N - Tata Motors and its small car Nano which, has put India on the global map was shunted out of Singur and was given shelter in Gujarat. History was also made when India got an entry into the nuclear club .

O - Obama became the 44th President of USA is an African American, with a middle name of "Hussein" and elected by a hugely white population, breaking the racial barrier forever.

P - PSU stocks have gained popularity this year, especially PSU banking stocks. They have outperformed their private sector peers across sectors.

Q – Quality became a questionable commodity in China and the traces of melamine in baby milk have probably made the world rethink about the 'Made in China' tag.

R - Ranbaxy Laboratories , an Indian MNC has become a subsidiary of Japanese drug major Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd., a R&D major. News of fraud wrenched the reputation of the company, putting the Daiichi deal under a question mark. The death knell for the IPO during the year was undoubtedly Reliance Power , the losses from which investors are yet to recover, despite the bonus issue made to soothe the wounds.

S - Satyam means the truth. And Satyam Computers has defied the very name that it stands for. The exodus of independent directors and the dilution of promoters stake now points at a complete change of guard. We will await the Board Meeting of 10 th Jan to know the price Raju has paid for flouting rules of corporate governance.

T - Terror struck Mumbai, probably the worst terror attack to be ever witnessed by India. The war of words with Pakistan continues and the horror lives on.

U - The world is still reeling under the US financial crisis – huge stock market losses; plummeting home prices and a surge of foreclosures; desperate times for US automakers. Bear Stearns, Lehman, Merrill, Morgan, AIG and many more were just the tip of the iceberg.

V - Vedanta Resources plc decided not to pursue the proposed group restructuring as it was found to be detrimental to the interests of the minority shareholders.

W - Wall Street showed the biggest drop due to the ongoing recession and global economic shock. Dow Jones industrial average slumped 36.2%, which is the biggest drop since 1931 when the Great Depression sent stocks reeling 40.6%.

X – Xian became more than a word, the Chinese Olympics bedazzled the world and showed what it is capable of.

Y - Youngistan is what India is all about with 64% of the population in the age group of 15-64 years, making it one of the most productive populations in the world.

Z - Zero is the word today – Zero tolerance to terror and zero faith in the politicians of India.