Happy Republic Day!

With just a few hours left to go for our Republic Day, it's time to review the biggest events of last year. There were quite a few highs and lows but the three most influential events which affected us made for breaking news.

Abhinav Bindra's path breaking achievement in the Olympics truly made it a memorable sporting year for us. We finally broke the deadlock in getting an individual gold medal at the biggest international sporting event. Post this, we can look forward to seeing some medals coming our way in future Olympics. We could rank it as the third most impactful event for us in 2008.

However, the signing of the Nuclear agreement stole the limelight from everthing else. This was a phenomenal achievement which put us right up there in the top league of the most powerful nations in the world. Dr Manmohan Singh comprehensively proved his critics and detractors wrong by being resilient on his decision. The Nuke agreement will open the doors of nuclear trade thereby ensuring prosperity for us. This would rank as the second most influential event for India in the year 2008.

However, the biggest event was the one which sends shivers down our spine even today. The Mumbai terror attacks shocked not only us but the entire world. The gory and gruesome scenes are simply unforgettable and whatever we do, we will never be able to erase the dark memories.

There's nothing really left for us to comment on but we can take heart from the fact that our politicians are atleast persisting in keeping the pressure on Pakistan. India looks at people like Dr Manmohan Singh, Mr Pranab Mukherjee and Mr A K Anthony with optimism. While the damage is simply irreparable, the pain will subside only if action is taken and justice done. Let's hope that Mr Obama converts those words spoken against Pakistan into concrete actions.

Jai Hind!

Oscar glory for India

After the much hyped controversy surrounding the fiasco at Satyam Computers, it's time for we Indians to celebrate. Following his achievement of winning the Golden Globe for Slumdog Millionaire, A R Rehman created history by becoming the first Indian to receive more than one nomination for this year's Oscars.

Rehman has truly demonstrated the power of Indian music by taking it to the international level. He has been setting milestones with his melodies since the mid 90s and finally it's time he got his due.Bhanu Athaiya and Satyajit Ray have been the only Indians to have won at the Academy Awards and we hope to see Rehman making us proud by receiving an Oscar this year.

Rehman's achievement and Vikas Swarup's contribution have been overshadowed by the criticism coming from all quarters for Slumdog's brutal depiction of the poverty ridden and crime infested India. While the world has definitely woken up to recognize A R's talent, it's time we acknowledge Vikas Swarup's efforts in coming up with such a fantastic work of fiction.

Let's hail the genius of A R Rehman!

Mukesh hoists the Indian flag...

With India becoming only the 20th country in the world to scale the 20000 mark with the Sensex in terms of the stock index, there's more good news to follow. With such a fantastic economy and the Indian market continuing with the bull run, Mukesh's rise to fame seems like the icing on the cake. Mukesh recently became the world's fourth richest man when his total net worth crossed $20bn. Today on the 29th Oct, we have the world's richest man from India with a total net worth from Reliance Industries being $63.2bn. Definitely a proud moment in Indian economy. Mukesh has surpassed MS chairman Bill Gates, Mexican business tycoon Carlos Slim Helu and the investment guru Warren Buffet in terms of holdings. Hail India!!!!!!!!!!!!

Indian economy

The indian economy continues to boom with the rupee continuing to score against the dollar and expected to go upto 35 vis a vis the dollar next year. With the inflation rate falling to sub 4% and the sensex at a stable 19K plus, India is surely on it's way to emerging as one of the developed nations in the world. What remains to be seen is whether this stability can be sustained in the long run. With revenues continuing to pour in from service industries in India such as IT, BPO/ KPO and ITes, this is turning out to be one of the best phases in the tenure of Independent India. The Indians definitely have a lot to cheer about. Well done Mr Manmohan Singh!!