As the year 2018 is coming to an end, we look back at some of the major events that have taken place throughout the year.
Here’s a recap of ten biggest and most talked about news stories of the year in numbers.February
The benchmark index Sensex witnessed steepest single-day fall in more than a year on February 2, 2018. The index plunged 840 points, or 2.3 percent to close at 35,067 in the post-budget sell-off as the announcement of the long-term capital gains tax on equities and 10 percent tax on distributed income from equity-oriented mutual funds hit investor sentiments.
Diamantaire Nirav Modi along with his uncle Mehul Choksi was booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 5 in connection with a fraud worth Rs 264 crore was committed by some employees of Punjab National Bank’s Brady House Branch and Nirav Modi. A few days later, it was reported that quantum of the fraud has swollen to Rs 11,400 crore. Nirav Modi, who was ranked 57 in the Forbes list of India's billionaires in 2017, is a luxury diamond jewellery designer. He is the founder and creative director of Nirav Modi chain of diamond jewellery retail stores and is the chairman of Firestar International, the parent company of Nirav Modi chain of stores. Choksi is maternal uncle of Modi and owns Gitanjali Gems.
The year 2018 saw two Indian companies listed on BSE crossing the $100 billion market capitalisation mark. On April 23, the tech giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) crossed the $100 billion mark by hitting an all-time high of $103 billion (around Rs 6.8 lakh crore). Reliance Industries also joined the $100 billion club on July 12, 2018, and became the second Indian company to achieve the milestone.
The poster boy of Indian startup ecosystem Flipkart was acquired by US retail giant Walmart Inc., in May. Walmart picked up 77 percent stake in the Indian ecommerce giant for around $16 billion valuing the company at $22 billion, making Flipkart, India’s most valued startup.
Kerala was hit with an unprecedented heavy rainfall during the monsoon season. The state received more than 900 percent rainfall which triggered devastating floods in the state. It was the worst floods that the state had faced in nearly 100 years. More than 250 people lost their lives and around 165,000 people became homeless and were shifted to relief camps.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled out the centre's flagship Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM) in Jharkhand. The scheme is estimated to cost about Rs 12,000 crore annually. The ambitious scheme, which was renamed the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan (PMJAY), aims to provide a coverage of Rs five lakh per family annually, benefiting more than 10 crore poor families. Billed as the world’s largest government healthcare programme, it will be funded with 60 percent contribution coming from the centre and remaining from the states.
India now holds the record of being home to the tallest statue in the world. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated an imposing 182-metre statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The statue, dedicated to 'Iron Man of India' Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, is situated on an island near the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Kevadiya, a town in Narmada district, has been built at a cost of around Rs 3,000 crore. The iconic statue is taller than the 153 metre Spring Temple Buddha in China and almost twice the height of the world-famous Statue of Liberty in New York.
The Indian rupee touched an all-time low of 74.5 against Dollar on October 11, 2018. The consistent dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners also kept the rupee under pressure in the latter half of the year. However, the domestic currency recovered a bit and is currently trading at 69.96.
The recently concluded assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh were the closest so far in the country. The Congress, which was locked in a tantalising see-saw battle with the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, has emerged as the single-largest party with 114 seats, five seats ahead of BJP. The election results were also unusual in terms of the vote shares as the party with 0.1 percent lower vote share getting to form the government.
Edu-tech startup Byju's is now the world's most valued education technology firm. Byju’s recently raised $400 million in a fresh round led by Naspers Ventures, valuing the company at about $3.8 billion. Byju’s had joined the Unicorn Club just nine months back, managed to increase its valuation by almost four times during this period.
Disclosure: Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com, is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary
First Published: Dec 20, 2018 5:57 PM IST
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