Business-related controversies that made headlines in 2011

Ignominious exits, irreparable losses and avoidable controversies pushed the likes of Radias, Jobs and Murdochs hitting headlines this year, while succession plans saw Mistrys and Jains hogging the limelight.

At least four India-origin executives -- Deutsche Bank's Anshu Jain, S&P's Deven Sharma, Berkshire Hathaway's Ajit Jain and former McKinsey honcho Rajat Gupta -- were in the news for either right or wrong reasons.

The year also saw news becoming bigger than newsmakers, when terms like 'Policy Paralysis' within the country and 'Occupy' movements across the world grabbed headlines.

In contrast, the collapse of entities like US-based MF Global and Europe's banking major Dexia did not create much flutters, but added to the global economic jitters.

Not just the corporate world, but the policymakers too sometimes found themselves to be subjects of criticism.

Bringing an end to the country's long-awaited succession story, Tatas chose Cyrus Mistry as the new group chief after incumbent Ratan Tata hangs his boots in December, 2012.

Technocrat NR Narayana Murthy, a key personality in carving out the Indian IT industry, stepped down as Infosys Chairman in August. The chairmanship is now with veteran and well known banker KV Kamath.

Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank has zeroed in on Anshu Jain -- presently the Head of the Corporate & Investment Bank -- to be the next Co-CEO of the German banking major.

Warren Buffett's maiden India visit boosted speculations that his close India-origin executive Ajit Jain could take over the reins of sprawling conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway after the retirement of the billionaire investor.

On the other hand, India-origin president of Standard & Poor's Deven Sharma put in his papers in August, just weeks after the agency under his leadership stripped the American economy of its coveted 'AAA' rating.

Meanwhile, controversial lobbyist Niira Radia, the promoter of Vaishnavi Group which had the mandate from Tatas and Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance group, exited the business.

In a shocking development for corporate America, former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta was in October charged by authorities for his alleged role in insider trading scandal.

A massive phone hacking scandal rocked the empire of Rupert Murdoch. Faced with a barrage of complaints, allegations and resignations, the media tycoon shut down his popular British tabloid 'News of the World'.

In India, the poster boy and founder of SKS Microfinance Vikram Akula was shown the door amid slumping business fortunes and widespread discontent.

The 'King of Good Times' Vijay Mallya attracted bad press with Kingfisher Airlines flying into bad weather due to huge debts. Massive unexpected flight cancellations and fuel supply issues further dented Kingfisher's image.

Probably the biggest loss for the technology world this year was the untimely death of Apple's iconic co-founder Steve Jobs, who succumbed to cancer in October after a painful fight. His demise came less than two months after he quit the company.

A touching message from US President Barack Obama reflected Jobs' contribution to the world.

"The world has lost a visionary. And there maybe no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented," Obama had said.

Earlier in the year, Dominique Straus-Kahn -- the high profile chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- made a hasty exit amid sexual assault allegations. Kahn, who was also instrumental in co-ordinating efforts to firefight global meltdown in 2008 -- has been replaced by former French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde.