2 SENSATIONAL SPORTS

• Ah, the Socceroos! The FIFA World Cup saw Spain as the victor, but our boys exited in style with an awe-inspiring victory over Serbia. After their crushing defeat by Germany, it was a fitting finale as our boys came home with their heads held high and their pride intact.

• And of course, there was the IPL with its fanfare, glory, talent, cricketing greats and cheerleaders. The Chennai Super Kings carried away the 2010 crown, beating the Mumbai Indians by 22 runs.

• But although soccer and cricket had their moments of fame, all accolades go to the Delhi Commonwealth Games from October 3-10 which provided a competitive and balanced environment for athletes from all over the world. India is still smirking over this triumph, in the face of heavy global criticism prior to the Games.

3 In The Limelight

• Au Sang Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace prize winner and Burmese politician opposed to the military junta was finally released from house arrest after 15 years, on November 13.

• Australia got is very first saint in Mary MacKillop

• Indian writer Chetan Bhagat, author of novels One Night @ the Call Centre and Five Point Someone was listed in Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. However, his squabbles with the Three Idiots team (and his last minute noshow at the Melbourne Travel Writers’ festival in end-October) disappointed fans and patrons alike. So much for fame!

• Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, unveiled a new invention, a tablet PC called the iPad, and sold 3 million of the devices in 80 days.

• The World Health Organization declared the H1N1 influenza pandemic over, claiming that worldwide flu activity has returned to typical seasonal patterns.

• Researchers at CERN trapped 38 antihydrogen atoms for a sixth of a second, marking the first time in history that humans have trapped antimatter.

4 Finance 5

• The Aussie dollar briefly reached parity with the US greenback and continued to remain strong thereafter.

• Greece and Ireland plunged into financial crisis, only to be rescued by an EU-IMF and Eurozone bailouts respectively.

• Jyoti Basu, longest serving Chief Minister of West Bengal and legendary Communist politician passed away on January 17, amidst public mourning on an unprecedented scale.

• In Australia, we bid farewell to opera singer Dame Joan Sutherland