Year 2001 will be remembered by marketmen for all the wrong reasons: the Ketan Parekh scam, the UTI meltdown and the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US.

Immediately after the then Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha announced the Budget, the Sensex soared 177 points to close at 4,247. But on March 2, there was bloodbath on the bourse as the Sensex crashed 176 points to 4,095 as tech stocks tumbled.

On March 5, the Sensex closed below 4,000 points and panic gripped the market.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India began a probe into the Sensex crash and role of certain brokers -- Credit Suisse First Boston, Morgan Stanley, C Mackertich, Radhakishan Damani, Nirmal Bang and First Global -- came under the lens.

On March 8, the BSE governing board accepted the resignation of the then BSE president Anand Rathi, following allegations of his involvement in seeking market-sensitive information on the bear-hammering at the markets. BSE vice-president Dina Mehta was appointed interim president till March 31, when Rathi's term was slated to end. She became the first woman to hold that office.

By the end of the month the Sensex touched a low of 3,604.

The day after the terrorist attacks on World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the BSE Sensex opened nearly 200 points lower at 2,950 points. It closed the day 118 points down at 3,033.

(Brokers working at their trading terminals).