It is the time of the year when pundits look for a theme that unites the year and, as far as India is concerned, 2010 was, more than anything else, a year of scams (with the caveat that the word has been overused, sometimes entirely out of context, by India’s hyperactive 24x7 media).
The previous year, 2009, was overshadowed by the elections and 2008 by the terror attacks in Mumbai. But this year, which will end in two weeks, has been marked by disclosures of corruption in, among other things, the organizing of the Commonwealth Games; the allotment in Mumbai of flats in an apartment building meant for war heroes and war widows to politicians and senior defence officers; and the allotment of spectrum and licences to telcos (in 2008).
There have been other scams —indeed, Mint’s political bureau insists there is or has been one in every state in the country and a large one for almost every month of the year—as well, ensuring that newspapers, magazines, and television channels were never at a loss for a sensational subject through the year. Ironically, one of these, relating indirectly to the allotment of telecom licences, came back to bite the media late in the year, when it was revealed that several worthies from the profession had been indiscreet at best and dishonest at worst in conversations with a powerful lobbyist.
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