Movers and Shakers in Business from 2014

From change in political leadership at the Centre to India's second largest services firm Infosys appointing a non-founder CEO, 2014 brought many changes for India Inc. Here is a look at some of the newsmakers of 2014:

• Vishal Sikka: Infosys handed over reins to the first non-founder CEO Vishal Sikka, after three decades of its inception. However, this also marked the end of an era for the company, with departure of all its founders including Narayana Murthy. A former executive at German software company SAP, Mr Sikka has a host of challenges before him to bring back on track a former bellwether of the IT industry.
• Satya Nadella: After a five-month rigorous selection process, Microsoft appointed India-born Satya Nadella as its CEO in February. Mr Nadella, who led the creation of Microsoft's internet-based services or 'cloud' computing, is only Microsoft's third CEO in 39 years.
• Raghuram Rajan: Ever since his appointment as RBI Governor in 2013, Dr Raghuram Rajan has been in the headlines. The former IMF (International Monetary Fund) chief economist had taken over the reins of the RBI when the rupee was hitting fresh lows every day and the country was going through its worst economic crisis since 1990-91. Not only did Dr Rajan stem the rupee fall, but also brought down inflation by maintaining a firm stance on the monetary front and registered calls for lowering rates.
• Arun Jaitley: After the BJP's spectacular win in Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed Arun Jaitley as India's Finance Minister. His appointment was welcomed by India Inc, which had hopes of reforms from the new government. Though the first budget by the new Finance Minister was found to be lacking in addressing key issues, Mr Jaitley later made up for it by introducing a slew of reforms on the GST, insurance and defence equipment production fronts.
• Arvind Subramanian: US-based economist Arvind Subramanian was appointed as the government's chief economic adviser in October. Mr Subramanian, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, was informally recommended to the post by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Mr Subramanian after his appointment suggested government increase public spending to boost economic growth in the medium term.
• Dilip Sanghvi: Dilip Sanghvi had founded Sun Pharma in 1983 with five psychiatry products and a marketing team of just two people. The company grew manifold over the years to become a leader in the Indian pharma sector. However, the company and its founder garnered major attention last year after it acquired troubled Indian drug maker Ranbaxy in a $4-billion deal. The merger between the two companies will create India's largest pharmaceutical company and the world's fifth largest generics company.
• Uday Kotak: A self-made billionaire, Uday Kotak was last year applauded for his dexterity in bringing about the Kotak Manhindra Bank-ING Vysya deal. In largest ever deal in Indian banking industry, Kotak Mahindra agreed to buy ING Vysya in November. This $2.4-billion all-share deal will make the merged entity India's fourth largest private bank.
• Subrata Roy: The 65-year-old chairman of the Sahara conglomerate was jailed in March over his group's alleged failure to refund lakhs of small investors in two outlawed bonds scheme. Mr Roy, one of India's most enigmatic corporate personalities, is mired in a long-running legal battle between his group and the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
• Vijay Mallya: Year 2014 didn't offer any relief to Vijay Mallya, who has been facing turbulent times ever since Kingfisher Airlines was grounded in 2012. State-run United Bank of India declared the debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines and its promoter Vijay Mallya as wilful defaulters. But his troubles did not end there as government annulled his reappointment as managing director of Kingfisher Airlines, while he also had to quit from board of another group company Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd.
• Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal: E-commerce had a blockbuster year with India's biggest e-commerce giant Flipkart nearly raising $2 billion investment. Founded by IIT alumni Sachin and Binny Bansal in 2007 with an investment of Rs 4 lakh, the Flipkart is now estimated to be valued at over $10 billion.