THE A,B,C, D.......Z OF 2016

By Ruma Dubey

As 2016 hobbles its way to the exit door, one cannot help but heave a sigh of relief. This was a tumultuous year all around the year, what with India reeling under demonetization, Parliament logjam, Brexit, Trump and some blatant acts of terrorism like the one in Nice and recently in Berlin. The killing of the Turkish ambassador left everyone numb while movies like Dangal instilled a sense of hope.

We step into 2017 with some trepidation as major changes are expected in USA and elections across Europe. As we get ready to sit back and reminiscence about the year gone by, let us do the ritual of taking a quick look at the year that was. Its back to basics - an A,B,C,D... of 2016.

A – Agribuisness across the globe witnessed some of the biggest M&A announcements – this was led by Bayer’s $66bn approach to Monsanto, ChemChina’s $43bn proposal for Syngenta was the biggest overseas bid yet by a Chinese firm.

B – Brexit. This was most certainly the shocker of the year. We still do not know for sure if this is going to happen or not as Supreme Court ruling is expected in January after which Theresa May might be able to evoke Article 50. Let’s see where this where this very bitter divorce heads.

C – Cyrus Mistry was most certainly the man in the news as his stinging letter and now long drawn battle against the Tata empire, considered to be the bastion of corporate governance and more personally on Ratan Tata, shook India Inc.

D – Demonetization. No doubts about this, it was the event of the year and we are still dealing with it. Right now, the very objective of the note ban remains under a cloud and hopefully once all the numbers come in we will know for sure. Modi is expected to address the nation on New Year’s Eve; let’s see what that brings forth.

E – Ease of Doing Business. The latest report for 2017 shows that India’s overall raking has moved up by only one notch to 130 and this was on the back of betterment in four indicators – getting electricity, enforcing contracts, trading across borders and registering property.

F – Fastest growing economy in Asia. India did pretty well in 2016 and With a GDP growth forecast of over 7%, India is expected to maintain its position, despite the effects of demonetization.

G –GST. The country’s biggest tax reform since Independence, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) finally got the approval and hopefully in 2017, will replace at least 17 state and federal taxes and bring them under one unified tax structure.

H – Hats off to our 18 brave soldiers who lost their lives in the deadly Uri attacks in September and also to our ‘Surgical Attack.’ Hats off also to the efforts made by Dipa Karmarkar during the Olympics at Rio, badminton star PV Sindhu and wrestler Sakshi Malik from Haryana.

I – ISRO. Indian Space Research Organisation had a fantastic 2016 with 34 satellite launches. In September, ISRO launched 20 satellites into orbit on a single rocket, the highest number it has ever sent at a single time.

J – Jayalaitha. Her death brought her more glory than what she got her life time. To hold her steed in a predominantly masculine world is no small feat. Though she got the advantage of a great beginning in films (her mother was a well-known character actress) and in politics (her mentor was MGR), full credit to her that she could stay there and climb up further.

K – Kharif output. The first advance estimates from the Ministry of Agriculture suggests a bumper harvest as kharif output is expected to be higher by 9% (YoY) but the joy of this translating into moolah for companies will be hampered due to demonetization.

L – Lafarge. For a change it was not Lafarge which was buying off a company in India but a thorough bred desi company, Nirma, which bought Lafarge’s 11 mtpa cement unit for a jaw dropping $11 billion. Many knew only then that Nirma was also making cement!

M – Monetary Policy Committee. The MPC presented the first RBI policy on 4^th Oct and even brought in the rate cut of 0.25%; the last one for 2016.

N– Nuclear prowess to the fore. On Dec. 26, India’s nuclear prowess was displayed when it conducted the fourth test launch of the Agni-V missile, a nuclear-capable, intercontinental ballistic missile.

O – Oil. OPEC and non-OPEC countries agreeing to a production cut to reign in the falling price of crude. As part of the deal, non-OPEC producers would scale back output by 558,000 bpd and this is over and above the 1.2 million bpd by OPEC; both will begin by January.

P – Parliament logjam. We have grandiose plans and great ideas with even greater slogans but what is the point of it all if there is no legislation? The Winter Session saw the worst performance of the Parliament in 15 years.

Q – QIP of Yes Bank. Entire fiasco of Yes Bank withdrawing its Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) has left a really bad taste. Many said the crux of the issue was that Yes Bank was in a hurry to get the issue going, wanted to stick to its aggressive pricing.

R – Raghuram Rajan. He was undoubtedly the rockstar Governor which RBI never had seen and might never see again! His unceremonious non-extension of second tenure hurt the sentiments and made one wonder about the intentions about the Govt.

S – Sikkim. It became became India’s first organic state, producing crops such as maize, paddy and cardamom that are free from harmful pesticides and fertilizers.

 T – Trump. The victory of Trump despite all his utterances and histrionics left the world bewildered, wondering where America is now headed. After Brexit, this was probably the most shocking event of the year.

U – Urjit Patel took charge as the new RBI Governor and till date, his performance has been rated as below par. His complete silence during the entire demonetization early days, left one wondering whether RBI remained the autonomous institution that it once was.

V – Verizon took over the iconic Yahoo and that too for just $5 billion. We say, “ just” because that’s a huge drop from the earlier price tag of $125 billion… $120 billion wiped off just like that!  Even in 2005, Microsoft was eyeing Yahoo and pursued it for three years, making a final offer at $44.6 billion. At that time, Yahoo said it was being “undervalued.” You can only sometimes wonder at the folly of mankind… greed.

W – World’s largest solar plant went on stream in September i   in Tamil Nadu. The project took eight months to complete and can produce 648 mw of power.

X – Xenophobia. This is supposed to be a dislike for people of other countries. But in India, we witnessed this feeling for our countrymen. Scarily, it is only increasing….

Y – Yellen was very much the woman of the year! The much anticipated 25 bps or 0.25% rate hike finally came in and the Fed said that the rate hike decision was unanimous. Fed forecasts three rates hikes in 2017, up from two mentioned in September.  

Z – Zero. It is zero tolerance to the word, “intolerance”. It was the most abused and used word of 2016, creating huge controversies and needless debates when there are really more issues at the core leading to this intolerance.