From scams and inflation to recession and a spectacular delay in reopening of colleges for the new academic year, find out what affected young India most.
2010 could have well been the Year of Scams with the Commonwealth Games, 2G spectrum and the Adarsh Society scandals making Harshad Mehta look like a babe in the woods.
Earlier this year, a bomb exploded at Pune's German Bakery, a fire tore through a prominent building in Kolkata, Naxalites struck terror, Ajmal Kasab was found guilty of the 26/11 massacre, an Air India Express flight overshot the runway in Mangalore killing 158, flash floods in Ladakh cost hundreds of lives and the Panama-flagged MSC Chitra overturned causing one of the biggest oil spills along the Indian coast.
On the brighter side, the overall employment scene improved and despite the CWG administrative fiasco our athletes gave us a lot to cheer there and later at the Asian games; some of the top brass from international politics came calling -- British Prime Minister David Cameron in July, followed by Barack Obama in November, Nicolas Sarkozy, Wen Jiabao and Dmitri Mededev in December.
We spoke with young Indians in Mumbai to find out what was the one thing that affected their life the most.
Recession: Elton Mathais, 28, Unemployed
Everyone says that the recession is over. It may apply to majority of the sectors across the world but things have been quite tough in the oil industry.
I have been out of work for the last eight months because the American company I worked for shut shop in April.
As a production testing engineer my job is specialised -- I test for natural gas. In India there is little or no scope for me.
If I need to join a government company I have to pass written tests, which is fine but these companies are also often bound by caste reservation rules.
I am planning to change my line of work entirely but it isn't easy. People look for prior experience and I've always been in the oil industry. So moving industries is difficult.
Beggars cannot be choosers, so I wouldn't mind taking up any job right now.
The Radia tapes: Aditi Prabhu, 17, Student
They exposed the dark side of the Indian political system.
We finally came to know how a government really runs. It doesn't matter who we vote for because it looks like the capitalists run this country and not the people.
Will I vote when I turn 18? Yes I will! Because someday I hope that things will change.
Inflation: Surjit Kumar Gupta, 24, Fruit vendor
I am not the only Indian who has been affected by inflation. Everyone has. Because prices of fruits have gone up, people are buying less of them.
As it is, fruits are not a must-have in people's list of things (like grains or vegetables like onions and potatoes).
When prices go up, people in businesses like mine are affected immediately!
The prices of fruits have risen drastically. A single sweet lime, for instance, would cost Rs 2 this time last year. Today it costs Rs 5 (a rise of 150 per cent).
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