Test cricket’s top spot: Australia’s dominance is at an end. And, in the first week of the New Year, we will know if they lose the number one ranking in Tests to a resurgent South Africa. Even if Australia manage a draw in the third match of the series, will they be able to hold it over the year? Test cricket will be more competitive than ever before.

Corporate governance: In India, the promoter is king. That can’t last in a mature financial economy, and the Satyam fiasco showed that minority shareholders are finally waking up to how easily they can be exploited. Look for the debate on how to protect their rights move on from merely discussing independent directors.

Gay rights: This could potentially be the year that homosexual activity is decriminalised in India, as the Delhi High Court judgment on Article 377 is expected early in the year.

TV news in check: Now that the Indian News Broadcasters’ Association has sketched out guidelines to moderate media coverage, we might finally get to watch more restrained, responsible television.

German elections: Germany’s parliamentary contest in September will pit Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union against her foreign minister in the ‘grand coalition’, Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s Social Democratic Party. But much hinges on the Left Party, which has been steadily rising, and opposes NATO and independence of the European central bank. New leadership in Europe’s largest component would change a lot of how the EU handles big issues.

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