As we enter the last fortnight of the year, Christmas fever has set in. For many, an eagerly awaited holiday season is fast approaching. Shopping Streets are more busier than usual. Online shopping sites are busy wooing the customers with attractive offers, and spammers may well be busy designing ways to dupe people. For retail and hospitality industry, Christmas season is the gala time of the year, though brewing recession is playing the spoilsport as shoppers across Europe are trimming their spending plans. Whether people prefer to be austere or are in a spending spree, the focus is definitely towards family, home and holidays. Egyptians are finally voting for a new Parliament. Violence and clashes still continue. However, after a year full of revolutions and protests, it’s time for peace and tranquility. Hopefully, something positive will emerge out of the current crisis. The countdown has begun for the next Presidential elections in the United States (U.S). Iraq gears up for a new era as United States (U.S) troops return home. Peace and political stability are crucial for the country, which faces grave challenges ahead. Germany holds the center-stage in Europe as economic crisis deepens. The country was the quickest among the European countries to recover from the last recession and is increasingly gaining influence in the region. Positive developments in Myanmar augurs well for South and South-East Asia. With the government fine-tuning the Lokpal bill and team Anna holding public rallies, lots happening here in India and media will have no dearth of stories, even as the year draws to a close.