and the award goes to.....

SHERYL DIXIT lists movers and shakers, losers and weepers of the past year

Crisis of the Year

No prizes for guessing, it’s the global economic crisis, which dogged us through the year, bringing recession, unemployment and uncertainty in its wake. But we survived, so hurrah for 2010 and let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself.

2009! Boy, will we be glad to celebrate its passing! We rang in the New Year to the toll of doom as the global economic crisis got worse, but now that the year is at its end, there’s a definite air of festivity going around the globe. Let’s look at some of the issues that affected us this year, as Australians, as Indians and as citizens of the world.

Sickness of the Year

The Swine Flu epidemic took the world by storm, but the facemask manufacturing industry hit new highs

Demise of the Year

Michael Jackson’s unexpected and untimely death rocked the world. But didn’t prevent bad jokes from doing rounds on the internet.

India-Oz Relationship Award

Goes to Kevin Rudd, whose visit to India in November made absolutely no impact on either country. Yet another case of all talk, no action.

Losers of the Year (Sport)

For Australia it was dust to dust, as England triumphantly carried off the Ashes series. Of course, the Series is now history for Australia. Ashes? What Ashes?

Inconsistent Performance Award

Naturally goes to India’s cricket team with its few wins but way more losses. Watch out Team India, fans of cricket in India are seriously beginning to find soccer more interesting!

Movie of the Year

Political Win of the Year

It was the Year of the Congress, as they were voted into power once again. Make no mistake, it’s the power of the Man!

It couldn’t be anything but Slumdog Millionaire, bagging the Globes and BAFTA Awards, and finally the crème de la crème, the Academy Awards. What a coup!

2009 Hall of Shame

Tiger Woods and the list of his alleged affairs threaten to become as long as a kid’s list to Santa. Poor Tiger, apparently he couldn’t see the trees for the woods!

of the Year

The Victorian bushfires raged unabated, destroying lives, land, livestock and livelihoods. We salute

Controversy of the Year

The attack on Indian students and its mushroom effect which exposed spurious immigration and educational institution scams, and which incited the students into near-violence. The Australian Government is now paying serious obeisance to its cash cows.

Humanitarian Disaster of the Year

In an attempt to flush out rebels, the Sri Lankan government literally went to war against the insurgents, displacing thousands of innocent Tamils in the process, who suffered untold miseries as they struggled to survive the carnage.

white-collar crime, Bernard Madoff was sentenced to a combined maximum sentence of 150 years. A $65 billion Ponzi scheme saw him convicted on 11 charges, including securities fraud, money laundering and perjury.

Innovative Idiotbox Award

MasterChef Australia show, which revived audience already bored of Big Brother, Idol, etc. Aussies love their food and with the variety on offer, so MasterChef is likely to be around for a long time, delighting our tastebuds and waistlines

Biggest Corporate Scandal of the Year

B Ramalinga Raju, founder of Satyam Computer Services was arrested for falsely inflating the company’s profits for years. The IT world is still reeling from the shock.

Square Peg in a Round Hole Award

Sanjay Dutt for entering politics –and messing it all up for himself, just as expected

Creative Fiction Award

Collectively goes to the Indian media, for their gigantic and often irrelevant coverage on the students’ issue in Australia. The unwanted media blitz put the students’ issue

Musical Chairs Award

A tie between Turnbull-Abbott and Rees-Keneally. Now all we need to do is wait for the next shuffle in a

Accessory of the Year

No, not an iPhone, but a blog. Yes, we’re all into blogging, from the Big B to minor political leaders in Australia. Have internet, will blog! And it doesn’t matter if you have an agency writing your blog; the important thing is having one!

detained for questioning at Newark International Airport in the USA. Naturally, the media and his fans had a lot to say about the incident.

Letdown of the Year

In light of the Indian students’ issue, Amitabh Bachchan refused to come to Australia to accept an honorary doctorate from a Brisbane Uni. The trip here would have shown solidarity and support for the students and possibly helped in easing the situation. Don’t you think so, Mr. Bachchan?

in a helicopter crash, bringing on uncontrolled outpourings of grief from his distrait followers.

Gaffe of the Year

How did they do it? Michaele and Tareq Salahi managed to gatecrash Obama’s state dinner for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Once again, US Security ends up with egg on its face!

Scientist of the Year

Joint Nobel Prize winner for Chemistry, Prof Venkataraman Ramakrishnan found himself on top

Trend of the Year

Are you on Twitter? Do you tweet? If you want to join the internet’s elite, this is the site for you. Facebook’s now becoming en passé for internet snobs, after all, even Ashton Kutcher’s on Twitter!

Man of the Year

Undoubtedly, Manmohan Singh. On his historic Tour de France, he became the first foreign leader to be chief guest at the country’s national day parade. And his reception at the White House clearly indicates the regard President Obama has for this

Progressive Action Award

Surprisingly, goes to the Indian Government for finally decriminalising homosexuality, and stepping into modern times. Gays in India can now safely step out of the closet.

Controversial Decision of the Year

Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram announced the process of separating the region of Telangana in Andhra Pradesh, to form a separate state. Pro and anti demonstrations are still continuing in full swing.

Global Issue of the Year

Climategate. Thousands of emails relating to research on climate change were hacked into and the resulting discussion on whether humans are responsible for global warming or not, has become an unresolved debate. It’s only going to get bigger, so watch this space!