Reform School Guide

1996

Jan 8
Maharashtra govt clears Enron Dabhol power project at a tariff of Rs 1.86per unit

Jan 30
Mob ransacks KFC outlet in Bangalore

Feb 1
Gold price hits all-time record of Rs 5,600

Feb 28
Manmohan Singh presents interim budget for 1996-97, with Rs 5,000 croredeficit

May 23
Monetised deficit for 1995-96 touches new high at Rs 19,855 cr

Jun 1
UF government headed by Deve Gowda sworn in. CMP announced.

Jul 1
RBI cuts CRR to 12%; 25-30% hike in petro product prices

Jul 18
Finance Ministry gives final clearance to the Enron project in terms ofcounter-guarantees

Jul 22
Chidambaram budget slaps MAT

Jul 26
SC asks Harshad Mehta to pay Rs 217 crore to I-T department

Oct 30
$100 million scam in ITC unearthed, biggest ever FERA violation case

Dec 10
SC bans child labour in hazardous industries

1997

Jan 23
GDP growth at 7.1% during ’95-96

Jan 30
SCICI merged with ICICI

Feb 8
In major liberalisation, import of 69 consumer goods shifts from restrictedto SIL, 92 items freed

Feb 13
UTI floats 3 asset management firms to manage its 69 schemes, including Rs15,000 cr US-64

Feb 20
Disinvestment Commission selects Modern Food, GAIL and ITDC fordisinvestment in first report

Feb 28
Chidambaram "dream" budget. Tax rates cut, VDIS announced.

Mar 25
India joins WTO Information Technology Agreement for phased cuts in importtariffs on IT products

Apr 1
India is world’s fifth largest economy (PPP) at $318 trillion

May 14
Bajaj Auto announces 100% dividend

Jun 25
RBI cuts bank rate to 10 per cent

Sep 27
Inflation, 3.78 per cent, at 11-year low

Aug 4
Sensex crosses 4400 points

Oct 30
Ordinance amends Prasar Bharati Act,1990, to make functioning of DD and AIRtruly autonomous

1998

Jan 4
VDIS nets Rs 10,500 cr; Rs 33,000 cr black money disclosed

Feb 4
Growth at 7.5 per cent in 1996-97

Feb 15
HLL-Pond’s India merger

Mar 19
Vajpayee govt sworn in

Apr 2
Bank rate cut to 10 per cent

May 11
India explodes three nuclear devices at Pokhran. Trishul, the short-rangetriple role missile, test-fired.

Jun 1
Yashwant Sinha budget raises I-T exemption limit to Rs 50,000, scraps gifttax, opens up insurance

Jun 7
India is World Bank’s single largest borrower with cumulative loans of $44bn

Aug 24
Resurgent India bonds get over $4 bn

Sep 1
Tatas withdraw Rs 1,475-crore airline proposal, after three years of waitingfor approval

Oct 8
Onion prices around Rs 50 per kg in Delhi.Export banned;13,000 tonnesimported.

Oct 14
Amartya Sen wins the Nobel for contributions to welfare economics. DoTissues Internet licences to 19 pvt companies.

1999

Jan 1
Government cuts small savings rates to 9 per cent

Feb 24
Survey says industrial growth is a poor 3.5% in ’98

Feb 27
Sinha budget: new taxes of Rs 9,334 cr

Mar 1
RBI cuts bank rate to 8 per cent, PLR to 12 per cent

Mar 26
New telecom policy permits DoT/MTNL to operate cellular services

Mar 31
Exim Policy launches PIO card

Jun 21
Wipro Chairman Azim Premji is richest Indian at $2.8 bn

Jul 1
Lowest ever IA fare for Delhi-Mumbai: Rs 3,800 (earlier Rs 5,110)

Jun 30
GDP growth in ’98-99 at 6 per cent

Jul 2
UTI to pay 13.5 per cent dividend on US-64, lowest in 16 years

Jul 5
Ranbaxy’s Parvinder Singh dies

Jul 16
Market value of Bill Gates hits $507 bn, first time a firm (MS) passes halftrillion level. India’s GDP is less.

Sep 6
NSE introduces 3-day settlement cycle

Oct 8
Sensex hits 5000 for first time

Oct 19
Satyam Infoway becomes second Indian firm to trade on Nasdaq

Nov 19
SBI launches gold deposit scheme

Dec 17
US lifts economic sanctions against India

2000

Jan 19
Firms allowed to access ADRs/GDRs market freely

Feb 8
Narayana Murthy gets first national award for Excellence in CorporateGovernance

Feb 15
Rs 8,454 revival package for SAIL

Feb 28
Sinha’s Y2K budget

Apr 1
Savings rate cut to 4 per cent

May 11
Population crosses one billion

June 12
Automatic 10 per cent FDI in power, refining and e-commerce

Sept 13
Bill Gates arrives, promises $50 million investment

Oct 18
Entertainment sector, including films, notified as industry

Oct 23
Six licences issued to insurance joint ventures with 26 per cent foreignequity

Nov 2
Cabinet okays direct-to-home (DTH) service with 49 per cent foreign stakeceiling

Nov 16
Government holding in nationalised banks to go down to 33 per cent

2001

Feb 21
51 per cent Balco equity to be sold to Sterlite for Rs 551.5 crore

Feb 28
Sinha budget to tax foreign TV channels, cut 10 per cent govt jobs

Mar 1
Bank rate cut to 7 per cent

Apr 29
India becomes fourth largest economy (PPP) after the US, China and Japan

Jun 28
Birla-Tata-AT&T and BPL Communications announce joint venture, largestmerger in mobile sector

Jul 2
UTI suspends sale, purchase of US-64 for six months; Rs 500 crore bailoutpackage

Aug 10
Stock broker Ketan Parekh arrested

Aug 17
Bill hiking salaries of MPs by nearly three times, raises other perks andallowances

Aug 27
Communication Convergence Bill 2001 approved

Oct 5
Tata Sons to buy 51 per cent in CMC

Oct 16
Share buyback up to 10 per cent allowed

Dec 31
Harshad Mehta dead

2002

Jan 17
Infosys Technologies to open an office in Shanghai

Jan 19
ICICI merges with ICICI Bank

Jan 27
Inflation plunges to two-decade low of 1.57 per cent

Feb 5
Tatas get VSNL for Rs 1,439 cr, IOC gets IBP for Rs 1153. 68 cr. VRS forpermanent central govt
staff approved.

Feb 15
Online trading in gilts begins

Feb 28
Budget slaps Rs 12,700 cr extra taxes, Sensex plunges 143 points

Mar 26
Govt allows commercial cultivation of Bt Cotton—the first GM crop.

Mar 30
Small savings rate reduced to 9 per cent

Apr 1
Petrol and diesel prices to become market-determined

May 3
ICICI Bank becomes largest private bank with balance-sheet of Rs 1,04,000 cr

May 30
Maruti privatised, Suzuki buys majority stake for Rs 1,000 cr; VSNL told torevoke investment decision in Tata Teleservices; FEMA replaces FERA

Jun 7
RBI raises promoters’ stake in private banks to 49 per cent

Jun 25
26 per cent FDI in news and current affairs publications

Jun 30
Current account in surplus for the first time in 23 years

Jul 6
Reliance patriarch Dhirubhai Ambani dies

Jul 19
VSNL cuts international long-distance tariffs up to 40 per cent

Jul 24
Worst drought in 10-12 years

Oct 16
Punjab government stops supply of free power to farmers

Nov 1
Resident Indians allowed to open, hold and maintain a foreign currencyaccount in India

Dec 3
First mid-year review of economy presented

2003

Jan 15
UTI to split into two from February 1

Feb 4
Government approves a diluted Fiscal Responsibility and Budget ManagementBill, aimed at better financial management

Feb 24
Govt prepays $1.3 billion ADB loan

Feb 28
Jaswant Singh budget raises standard deduction; IT relief on education ofchildren, 5 per cent surcharge off for income less than Rs 6.8 lakh

Apr 15
Air India, Indian Airlines put off disinvestment

Apr 29
RBI cuts bank rate to 6 per cent, lowest since 1971

May 5
Electricity Bill approved

June 10
K.J. Udeshi, first ever woman RBI deputy governor

Aug 5
CSE finds high pesticide residues in Pepsico and Coca-Cola products

Oct 31
Unified telecom licence approved. Fixed-line operators free to chargetariff.

Dec 20
Forex reserves cross $100 bn

2004

Jan 2
Sensex crosses 6000 for first time since inception in 1986

Jan 15
All FDI caps in petroleum sector activities goes; in private banks FDI capshiked to
74 per cent

Jan 16
Wipro, with Rs 24,471 cr, is biggest wealth creator between 1998 and 2003

Jan 21
Fitch Ratings upgrades India’s long term foreign currency rating to BB+from BB, Moody’s follows (Baa3)

Mar 5
India’s biggest public offer opens as ONGC begins selling 14 crore shares(Rs 10,000 cr).Offer snapped up in minutes.

Mar 25
PC sales for year projected to exceed 30 lakh units, PC penetration up to 11per 10,000 population

Mar 29
Tata Motors takes over Daewoo’s commercial vehicle division

Apr 13
Infosys Technologies is a billion-dollar company; Wipro follows

Apr 29
Reliance Industries becomes first Indian private company to cross $1 bn netprofit

May 10
Auto exports cross $1 bn in value

May 19
Sonia Gandhi to be chairperson of CPP, Manmohan is PM.

May 24
Disinvestment ministry scrapped; new ministry for NRIs

Jun 21
NSDL is appointed by IT department as a service provider for PAN

Jun 29
Government withdraws IIM fee cut order

Jun 30
GDP surges 8.2 per cent in ’03-04

Jul 8
UPA budget scraps capital gains tax: 2 per cent education cess; 10% service tax;
share transaction tax.

Jul 15
India No. 127 in human development among 177 countries

July 20
R.S. Lodha chairs Birla Corporation meeting, first public appearance sincePriyamvada ‘will’ was made public.

July 26
GTB to be merged with Oriental Bank of Commerce

July 28
Rs 5,000-cr Tata Consultancy IPO is largest offer by a private company

Aug 1
Azim Premji, Mukesh Ambani, Nandan Nilekani among Fortune’s 25 most powerfulpeople.

Aug 25
Deccan Airlines flies Bangalore-Delhi for Rs 500 per passenger

Sep 9
Mahindra Industrial Park, Chennai, is India’s first Special Economic Zone

Sep 30
Planning Commission dismantles 19 consultative groups, after controversy overforeign experts

Oct 17
IIM, Ahmedabad is ranked 64 among world’s top 100 management schools by TheEconomist

Oct 20
FDI cap in aviation hiked to 49 per cent

Nov 18
Mukesh Ambani admits there are "ownership issues" in Reliance

Dec 11
Industry records 10% growth—an 8-year high

2005

Jan 25
Excise rules set to get Rs 800-cr dues

Feb 2
FDI in telecom raised to 74.7%

Feb 28
FM raises IT limits, cuts depreciation, taxes fringe benefit

Mar 12
Steelmaker L.N. Mittal is third richest in world with $25 bn

Mar 20
Mallya buys Shaw Wallace