Like most other things that are over-hyped, the Copenhagen summit went down as the biggest failure of governments across the world. The finger pointing that has ensued has put the blame on Denmark, China, and the US. India, to some extent, has not been spared either. What would one expect, when Jairam Ramesh returns and says, “I didn’t go to Copenhagen with the mandate of saving the world or humanity. My mandate was to defend India’s right to develop at a faster rate.”

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Popularity: 13% [?]

At some point in time, Central Banks can be expected to increase interest rates, the question of course being – When?

Popularity: 2% [?]

Google recently gave its employees a unique Christmas present – a small, hand held, slab of  electronics and microprocessors: The Nexus One, A.K.A, The Google Phone. Very little is known about it, and yet, everything is expected of it. After all, it has some difficult benchmarks to cross, one set by a company which has made half eaten fruits look very good, Apple.

The question is - Will the G-Phone win against the iPhone?

Popularity: 11% [?]

Dubai shocked investors on November 25, 2009 by asking investors for a debt standstill (including Nakheel’s USD 3.5 billion bond maturing on December 14, 2009) for a period of six months at Dubai World – the holding company of Nakheel (Dubai’s major real-estate developer), DP World etc.  The move has shocked investors who were witnessing signs of a recovery in the economy. The news came in when two Abu Dhabi Government-controlled banks, National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC and Islamic lender, Al Hilal Bank bought USD 5.0 billion of bonds from Dubai Government.  The bond yields reacted negatively with the Nakheel Dec 2009 bond dropping to 70.0 cents in one day from 110 cents. Moody’s cut ratings on some government-related entities to junk status; while S&P cut ratings on some entities to one level above junk on the same day.   

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Popularity: 7% [?]