YEAR-END SPECIAL: 2008 rewind

JANUARY 1

RBI allows foreign institutional investors to short-sell equity shares in Indian companies. Short-selling was banned in 2001.

January 3

State Bank of India raises deposit rates 25-175 basis points.

January 4

Mahindra & Mahindra pulls out of the tripartite joint venture with Renault and Nissan, barely a year after the parties announced plans to set up a Rs 4,000-crore car manufacture plant.

January 8

Bear Stearns CEO Jimmy Cayne steps down following the Wall Street bank’s heavy losses in the credit market turmoil.

January 10

Tata Motors unveils the world’s cheapest car, the Rs 1-lakh Nano, at the ninth Auto Expo in Delhi.

January 13

Reliance Communications floats an order for 80 million to 100 million lines for GSM, the country’s largest order for telecom equipment.

January 14

The European Commission opens two new probes on alleged anti-competitive behaviour by Microsoft Corporation.

January 17

Reliance Power Ltd IPO issue sets a new record in India for total number of applications at about 3 million. The company expected to raise nearly $3 billion from the public offering.

January 23

 

Société Générale, France’s second-biggest bank, said it would write down ¤2.05 billion ($3 billion) in assets stemming from the subprime market. It also said it had uncovered a massive fraud by a single rogue trader, Jerome Kerveil, that would cost it ¤4.9 billion.

January 30

Government eases limits on foreign direct investment (FDI) in six industries, including commodity exchanges, credit-information firms, oil refining, titanium mining and aviation.

Government raises FDI cap in air cargo from 49 per cent to 74 per cent.

FEBRUARY 1

Microsoft launches an unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo! on hopes of gaining a larger share of the online advertising market.

February 6

RBI bars banks from selling exotic foreign exchange derivatives.

February 8

Emaar MGF scraps IPO because of waning investor interest. The company had planned to sell 102.6 million shares in India’s second-biggest IPO by a real estate company.

February 11

Anil Ambani’s Reliance Power, India’s biggest IPO, closed at a discount of 17 per cent on debut as markets tank on global meltdown.

SBI cuts prime lending rate 25 basis points to 12.5 per cent to stoke demand for credit.

February 14

Government raises prices of petrol by Rs 2 and diesel by Rs 1.

February 15

George Bush signs a $168 billion economic stimulus package.

February 23

HDFC Bank and Centurion Bank of Punjab approve merger of the two banks.

February 25

Government scraps eight special economic zone proposals in Goa.

February 29

Union Budget announces the biggest-ever loan waiver for farmers in Indian fiscal history at Rs 60,000 crore. About 30 million small and marginal farmers to benefit.

Budget raises minimum taxable income from Rs 1.1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh.

MARCH 5

Jet Airways postpones its $400 million rights issue for the third time.

Real estate major Unitech puts on hold a $1.5 billion qualified institutional placement issue because of market instability and the global credit crunch.

March 16

JP Morgan Chase bails out Bear Stearns, preventing it from filing for bankruptcy. The deal values the firm at $236 million.

March 19

Court allows Cipla to market disputed lung cancer drug for Swiss firm Roche.

Visa, the world’s largest credit card network, sets a record for US IPOs raising $17.9 billion.

March 24

Sixth Pay Commission recommends an across-the-board 28 per cent salary hike for central government employees.

March 26

Tata Motors buy Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motors for $2.3 billion in cash, the largest acquisition by an Indian company in the automobile business.

March 31

Government provides duty relief to counter inflation — scraps import duty on all imported crude edible oil forms, cuts duty on refined edible oils to 7.5 per cent.

150 life-saving drugs to become cheaper after duty cuts on key imported raw materials .

APRIL 1

Videocon expresses interest in buying Motorola’s handset business.

IITs seek government approval to double fees from June.

April 3

IIM Ahmedabad announces 100 per cent fee waiver for students whose family income is Rs 1 lakh.

April 4

Investors abandon a $2.6 billion plan to restructure bankrupt US auto parts maker, Delphi.

April 7

Yahoo! rejects Microsoft’s buyout bid.

April 10

Supreme Court clears 27 per cent quota for OBCs in government-funded institutions (like IITs, IIMs, AIIMS).

April 18

UK-based Marks & Spencer takes a 51 per cent stake in a new retail joint venture with Reliance.

Indian Premier League cricket begins.

April 22

DoT tightens telecom merger norms by imposing a three-year lock-in period.

April 25

Sebi allows domestic asset management companies to invest in real estate.

MAY 2

ONGC Videsh bags 23 per cent stake in Russia’s Sakhalin III.

MindTree buys 32.5 per cent stake in Aztecsoft.

May 5

Bharti initiates talks to buy stake in South African telecom major MTN.

May 7

Steel producers agree to steep price cuts of Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000 a tonne.

May 13

60 killed as terrorists strike in Jaipur.

Supreme Court upholds acquisition of land in Singur for Tata Motors Nano project.

Sebi eases refund mode for new share applications & rights issues; applicants allowed to keep money in bank account till allotment is finalised.

May 19

SBI puts temporary ban on farm equipment loans.

May 21

SBI scraps decision to freeze loans on farm equipment.

May 22

First flight from new Bangalore international airport leaves for Singapore.

May 23

Communications minister A Raja says foreign firms can participate in auctions for 3G spectrum.

May 24

Bharti ends takeover talks with South Africa’s MTN following differences over control.

May 26

Reliance Communications and South Africa’s MTN signed a 45-day exclusivity agreement to “discuss potential combination of businesses”.

May 28

Tata Motors board approves plan to raise Rs 7,200 crore through three rights issues to part-finance Jaguar-Land Rover buy.

Taro calls off merger with Sun Pharma following differences over the merger share price & Taro’s turnaround.

May 29

Govt allows infrastructure companies to borrow up to $100 million abroad for rupee expenditure under the approval route; also raises overseas borrowing limits for Indian companies to $50 billion from $20 billion under the approval route.

May 30

Pay Commission for central government-owned companies recommends 57 per cent to 379 per cent increase in compensation.

RBI opens special window for oil companies to buy foreign exchange at market rate.

May 31

Sterlite buys US-based mining, smelting and refining company Asarco for $6.2 billion subject to approval of US bankruptcy court.

Hospitals, hospitality and software businesses allowed to borrow $100 million for capital goods. imports under the approval route

Unit Scheme 64, India’s first mutual fund scheme, comes to an end after 43 years and 10 months.

JUNE 2

Tata Motors completes acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford for $2.3 billion.

June 3

Govt raise petrol prices by Rs 5 a litre, diesel by Rs 3 and cooking gas by Rs 50 a cylinder.

June 11

The promoters of Ranbaxy, the Singh family, agreed to sell their stake to Daiichi Sankyo. All-cash deal valued at $4.6 billion.

June 12

Jet Airways backs out of talks to acquire stake in SpiceJet.

June 13

Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Ltd sends a letter to South African telecom giant MTN saying it has first right of refusal in buying a controlling stake in Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Communications.

Govt raises export duty on iron ore and long steel products; flat steel producers allowed duty-free exports; raises duties on large cars.

June 14

US steel-maker accepts Essar Steel’s takeover bid; rejects bid from Russian metals firm OAO Severstal .

June 18

Ranbaxy, Pfizer announce out-of-court settlement of dispute over Lipitor, the world’s biggest selling drug, in 12 countries, including the US.

June 20

Hindalco announces Rs 5,000 crore rights issue.

Israel drug company Taro sues Sun Pharma in an Israel court for thwarting attempts to sell an Irish subsidiary.

June 25

Idea Cellular agrees to buy B K Modi’s 40.8 per cent stake in Spice Cellular for Rs 2,700 crore, an all-cash deal that includes non-compete fees.

Independent arbitrator in the US sets aside Essar’s bid for steel-maker Esmark on grounds that the target company did not inform its unions sufficiently in advance.

June 27

Sun Pharma launches hostile bid for controlling stake in Israeli firm Taro, invoking a 2007 agreement; sues Taro in the US

Essar loses Esmark race to OAO Severstal, after the Russian company upped its offer 13 per cent.

JULY 1

DoT allows international telecom companies to enter the 3G services market. New policy allows global players with experience in this area to bid for licence.

July 2

Samajwadi Party ready to join the Congress-led UPA government, demands ministerships for its support.

July 8

Left parties withdraw support to the Congress-led UPA government following differences over the Indo-US nuclear deal, trust vote becomes inevitable.

July 9

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group promoted Reliance Communications offers a deal under which the promoters led by Anil Ambani will pick up 51 per cent in South African telecom company MTN group through a cash and share swap.

July 10

DLF makes India’s second-biggest share buyback offer at Rs 600 a share.

July 12

US government sues Ranbaxy for concealing and forging crucial data to get favourable judgement on an investigation into sale of sub-standard drugs.

July 13

Yahoo! rejects proposal to sell its search business to Microsoft and the remainder to activist investor Carl Icahn.

July 15

Cash-strapped budget carrier SpiceJet gets $80 million it needed to stay afloat and meet aircraft acquisition commitments.

July 18

Reliance Communications-MTN deal, which was clouded by a bitter dispute between the Ambani siblings, called off.

JuLY 22

UPA government wins the vote of confidence, with 275 MPs voting in support of the government (269 votes are needed to form a simple majority) and 256 voting against the motion.

July 25

Serial blasts rocks Bangalore. A total of nine low-intensity blasts at seven different places kill two people and injure over a dozen in Bangalore.

July 26

15 bomb blasts in Ahmedabad kill over 10 people and injure many.

July 30

Mahindra & Mahindra buys loss-making scooter maker Kinetic Motor for Rs 110 crore to enter the two-wheeler market.

July 31

ICICI Bank and HDFC announce a 75 basis point increase in lending rates following RBI’s increase in repo rate by 50 basis points. Borrowing costs for home, personal and corporate loans go up.

AUGUST 1

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) approves nuclear safeguards agreement with India.

General Motors reports a second-quarter loss of $15.5 billion, the third biggest in its 100-year history, because of a drop in US sales.

August 7

Andhra Pradesh government approves Satyam group’s winning bid to build a 71-km metro in Hyderabad without any cost for the state or the Central government.

BSNL rejects an employee stock option offer by Communications Minister A Raja.

August 10

Talks fail between the Dhoots of Videocon and Mahendra Nahata of Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd to buy out the latter’s 36 per cent stake in all-India mobile licence-holder Datacom Solutions.

August 11

SBI, the country largest lender, raises its benchmark prime lending rate by 100 basis points.

US private equity investors Wilbur Ross and Goldman Sachs invest $100 million in budget carrier SpiceJet.

Car sales dip for the first time in three years.

August 12

Tesco, UK’s largest retailer, enters the cash-and-carry segment in India, two years after it ended its joint venture talks with the Bharti group.

August 14

Government tweaks the sixth Central Pay Commission report, decides to give its 4.6 million employees a pay raise of between 28 and 40 per cent over their existing basic pay. Employees to start receiving their higher salaries and allowances with effect from September 2008.

August 15

Government decides to grant full pension benefits to all government employees who leave after 20 years of service, against the earlier 33 years.

August 19

Balaji Teleflims decides to buyback Star TV’s 25.99 per cent stake in the company.

Anil Ambani rolls out Big TV direct-to-home venture.

August 20

ONGC gets approval for a $3-billion bid for Imperial Energy Corp, a UK-based oil exploration and production company.

Tata Motors decides to prune its Rs 7,200-crore rights issue.

August 21

Delhi airport unveils 4,430 metre runway — the longest in India — which nearly doubles the airport’s aircraft handling capacity.

Trinamool Congress controlled gram panchayat in Singur says it will not grant water use and environmental licences to Tata Motors plant.

August 22

Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata threatens to pull out the Nano car project from West Bengal following the disruptions from Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress over land acquisition for the project at Singur.

Apple launches iPhone in India.

August 23

Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh invites Tata Motors to take the Nano small car project to his state.

August 24

Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee begins blockade of Singur asks for 500 acres of land to be earmarked for farmers opposite the controversial Tata Motors.

General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler seek $50 billion in government-backed loans.

August 25

Infosys acquires UK-based Axon Group, a SAP consulting company, for Rs 3,300 crore.

Mamata Banerjee rejects West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee invitation for talks to break the deadlock over Tata Motors’ plant at Singur.

July sees the highest ever addition of mobile users at 9.22 million.

US auto sales plunge to a 16-year-low in July, led by 27 per cent drop at General Motors.

August 26

ONGC Videsh acquires 15 per cent stake in the UK-listed Imperial Energy and launches a takeover bid for the company at $2.6 billion.

August 29

Union Cabinet approves the introduction of Companies Bill 2008 to replace the Companies Act 1956.

Tata Motors stops work at Singur site, asks its employees not to report till the company considers the situation safe for resumption of work.

August 30

Industrialist KK Birla dies at 90.

August 31

Mamata Banerjee of Trinamool Congress sends delegation to West Bengal Governor Gopal Gandhi to mediate on Singur.

SEPTEMBER 1

Finance Secretary Duvvuri Subbarao takes over as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

September 2

Left announces special compensation package for land-losers to Tata Motors car factory in Singur.

September 6

45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group approves Indo-US civil nuclear deal.

September 7

Mamata Banerjee agrees to end the two-week blockade of Singur after Left Front agrees to compensate land losers with land.

September 11

JetLite, Jet Airways’ low-cost carrier, said it will cut staff by a third.

September 13

Japan’s NTT DoCoMo announces deal to buy 25 per cent in Tata Teleservices for Rs 6,700 crore.

September 15

Lehman Brothers said it will file for bankruptcy after announcing its biggest quarterly loss in its 158-year history.

Merril Lynch agrees to sell itself to Bank of America for $50 billion.

AIG seeks a $40 billion bailout as it faces downgrades from rating agencies

BSE Sensex falls 850 points.

September 16

Barclays emerges as potential buyers of some Lehman assets.

S&P, Moody’s downgrade AIG

September 17

US government takes control of AIG with a $85 billion bail-out

Barclays buys Lehman’s North American business of $ 1.75 billion.

London-base Lloyds TBS buys home lender HBOS Plc.

September 20

US Federal Reserve Chief Henry Paulson announces $700 billion financial rescue plan under which Treasury will buy illiquid mortgage-related debt.

Court clears sale of Lehman’s North America businesses to Barclays.

Farmers reject West Bengal government’s special incentive package at Singur.

September 22

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley give up investment bank status.

External commercial borrowing norms eased for infrastructure from $100 million to $500 million.

September 23

Etisalat buys 45 per cent in new telecom licence holder Swan for $900 million.

Japan’s Nomura buys Lehman’s Europe operations.

September 24

Vedanta scraps mega restructuring plan following shareholder objections.

September 26

HCL counters Infosys bid for Axon, raises offer 8.3 per cent.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya countermands Forward Bloc’s rejection of Metro’s cash-and-carry licence.

J P Morgan acquires Washington Mutual for $1.9 billion.

September 29

US House of Representatives votes against $700 billion bail-out; Dow plunges most since 1987; in India, 1000 stocks hit 52-week lows.

Citi to buy Wachovia assets.

September 30

India and France sign pact on civil nuclear cooperation.

OCTOBER 2

US Senate approves Indo-US civil nuclear deal, paving way for its implementation.

UK-based SAP consulting company, Axon Group, favours HCL Technologies acquisition bid over that of Infosys Technologies.

October 3

Tata Motors pulls out the Rs 1-lakh Nano project of Singur. Tells West Bengal CM that the situation at factory site in Singur not suitable for further work, owing to the agitation led by Trinamool Congress leader, Mamata Banerjee and her allies.

US Congress approves a $700-billion financial market bailout plan.

Anil Ambani’s Reliance Entertainment to create a motion picture studio with Hollywood producer Steven Speilberg and former Universal Pictures CEO Stacy Snider.

Mukesh Ambani raises his stake in Reliance Industries from 44.8 per cent to 54.9 per cent.

Wells Fargo buys Wachovia Corporation for $15.1 billion.

October 4

India and the US unable to ink the civil nuclear deal as India says it would do so only when President George W Bush signs it into a law.

October 5

India says no to trade agreement with Mauritius, unless it finds a solution to the misuse of double tax treaty.

October 6

Black Monday: Regulators step in as the Sensex plunged to its lowest in two years as the financial crisis deepens in the US. Sebi lifts curbs on FIIs imposed a year ago; RBI cuts cash-reserve ratio by 50 basis points.

October 7

Tata Motors relocates the Nano project to Gujarat. Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata signs agreement with Gujarat CM Narendra Modi to set up the Nano car manufacturing plant in Sanand, 30 km from Ahmedabad.

October 8

Markets crash again, but recover on after heavy buying by domestic institutional investors and a bailout package in the UK.

UK government rolls out bailout package — banks to get £250 billion in loan guarantees.

October 9

President George W Bush signs the Indo-US nuclear cooperation agreement it into a law.

Private airlines in India demand a Rs 4,700-crore bailout.

October 11

The Indo-US nuclear deal signed in Washington after three years of negotiation.

First train service in Kashmir flagged off.

October 14

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announces plan to use $250 billion of taxpayers fund to buy stake in thousands of financial firms to half credit freeze.

Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways form alliance to cut costs, invites Air India to join it.

Jet Airways lays off 800 employees.

October 15

RBI cuts CRR by another 100 basis points to release Rs 40,000 crore.

Jet Airways lays off another 1,100 employees. Jet employees protest, seek support of Raj Thackeray, who warns that no Jet flights would be allowed to take off from Mumbai.

October 16

Jet Airways caves in under pressure from political parties and announces reinstating all employees who were retrenched.

October 24

Sensex plunges 11 per cent, the most in 16 years to close at 8,710 points, down 1.070 points.

OPEC cuts oil production targets for the first time in two years.

October 26

Forty-one per cent Indian companies registered a drop in their net profits in second quarter.

October 29

Norway’s Telenor buys Unitech’s telecom firm Unitech Wireless for Rs 6,120 crore.

US Federal Reserve cuts its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to 1 per cent, a half-century low, to avert US economic downturn.

October 31

Union Cabinet approves Bill for amendment of insurance laws, including a proposal to raise FDI in insurance from 26-49 per cent.

NOVEMBER 2

Steel companies cut prices by up to Rs 6,000 a tonne on low demand, to ward off threat of cheaper imports from China and Ukraine.

November 4

Barack Obama, 47, elected the 44th president of the United States becoming the first African-American to hold the post.

State-owned banks agree to cut prime lending rate 0.75 per cent to stoke growth.

Reliance Industries closes five of its seven polyester and petrochemical units at Patalanga.

November 6

SBI reduces prime lending rate by 75 basis points.

November 8

Indian maiden unmanned moon mission, Chandrayaan-I, enters the lunar orbit.

General Motors says it may run out of cash to keep operating in 2008. GM’s available cash fell to $16.2 billion in September compared to $21 billion in June, with the company reporting $4.2 third quarter losses.

November 9

China approves $568-billion stimulus package through 2010 to boost domestic demand.

November 11

Jet Airways gets Rs 1,000 crore from Abu Dhabi investment firm Mubadala Development company.

November 12

Japanese telecom major NTT DoCoMo to buy 26 per cent stake in Tata Teleservices for $2.7 billion.

November 13

US jobless claims hit a 25-year high. The number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose by a 32,000 a week earlier to 516,000.

German economy enters worst recession in 12 years.

November 14

Chandrayaan lands on the moon. India becomes the fourth nation to mark its presence on the lunar surface.

European economy falls into its first recession in 15 years in third quarter.

November 15

World Bank announces $3 billion a year loan for India for the next three years.

RBI raises interest rates on foreign-currency deposits 75 basis points to meet liquidity requirements of mutual funds and non-banking finance companies.

November 17

Japanese economy enters its recession, its first since 2001.

Citigroup plans to cut 52,000 jobs by early next year.

November 18

Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang steps down.

November 19

Maruti Suzuki rolls out A-Star small car.

November 20

Union Cabinet approves an average 67 per cent rise in wages of 1.6 million employees of public sector companies.

November 25

US Federal Reserve announces plan to pump $800 billion into distressed credit markets to revive the financial system.

DoT restricts the number of players offering 3G services to five per circle, including state-owned BSNL and MTNL, departing from the announcement in August to have 5-10 players in every circle.

November 26

In a series of co-ordinated attacks in Mumbai, Pakistani terrorists armed with machine-guns and grenades kill scores of civilians and took a number of hostages. Eight of the attacks occurred in South Mumbai, including at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, luxury hotels the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower and the Oberoi Trident, and the Orthodox Jewish-owned Nariman House.

China cuts its key lending rate 108 basis points, the most in 11 years, to support growth.

EU proposes a $259-billion stimulus to limit the impact of the financial crisis.

AIG gets a $40-billion bailout.

November 28

National Security Guard (NSG) commandos take control of the Oberoi-Trident complex and Nariman House. The NSG frees 138 people trapped inside the Oberoi-Trident complex. All five hostages at Nariman House killed.

November 29

NSG commandos secure the Taj Mahal & Tower hotel from terrorist after a three-day battle. At least 183 people were killed and at least 308 were injured in the three-day attacks.

November 30

Shivraj Patil resigns as home minister, P Chidbambaram takes over his portfolio. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assumes charge of the finance ministry.

DECEMBER 1

Indian exports dip for the first time in seven years. Exports in October dropped 12.1 per cent to $12.82 billion against a 50.93 per cent jump in the same month the last year.

December 5

Government reduces petrol prices by 10 per cent and diesel by 6 per cent — petrol cheaper by Rs 5 a litre, diesel by Rs 2.

December 6

RBI reduces the repo and reverse repo rate by 100 basis points each, signalling a further reduction in interest rates.

December 7

Government announces stimulus package to boost the economy: Slashes Central value added tax by four percentage points across the board to raise demand and announces Rs 20,000 crore additional non-plan expenditure.

December 12

Bernard Madoff, a Wall Street veteran, arrested and charged with allegedly running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme in what may rank among the biggest fraud cases ever.

December 15

State-owned banks lower interest rates on new home loans.

December 17

Satyam Computer Services under fire from institutional investors after it announced its $1.6 billion acquisition of Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra, companies controlled and run by the promoter’s family.

December 19

India Inc donated millions to the Clinton Foundation, reveals a list of donors released by the foundation.

President George Bush approves a $17.4 billion auto bailout, with $13.4 billion in emergency loans to prevent the collapse of GM and Chrysler and another $4 billion to be handed out in February.

ICICI Bank joint-MD and CFO Chanda Kochhar appointed the bank’s managing director and CEO to replace KV Kamath.

December 21

The Taj Mahal & Tower hotel and the Oberoi-Trident reopen after November 26 terror strikes.

December 22

Bajaj family agrees to a settlement under which Rahul Bajaj, family patriarch and chairman of Bajaj Auto said he would buy 29.20 per cent of Bajaj Hindustan at the market price on December 30 from the family and group investment firms and transfer them to his cousin Shishir Bajaj who, in turn, would do the same with Bajaj Auto shares.

December 23

World Bank bars Satyam Computer Services from doing any business with it for eight years for alleged malpractices, including bribery.

Sebi finds no violation by Satyam of norms relating to takeover and corporate governance in the Maytas acquisition deal.

Essar group withdraws plan to build a 1,125 hectare SEZ in Jamnagar because of adverse economic situation.

Wipro Technologies buys Citigroup’s IT services and solutions centre Citi Technology Services for $127 million.

December 25

The World Bank rejects Satyam Computers’ demand to withdraw a statement by which an eight-year ban was imposed on any business with the IT major. Satyam demands apology from the World Bank for “certain inappropriate” statements made by its representatives.

Satyam independent director Mangalam Srinivasan resigns owning moral responsibility for the fiasco.

Reliance Petroleum commissions a second refinery in Jamnagar.

December 26

Pension regulator opens up the sector seeking proposals for setting up six pension funds.

December 27

Satyam postpones board meeting, scheduled for December 29, to January 10.

December 29

Three more Satyam independent directors resign — Vinod Dham, Krishna G Palepu and M Rammohan Rao; IL&FS Trustee Company and other institutions sell promoter stake pledged with them to make good margin calls.