New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: The year 2021 is about to end. However, just like 2020, several events took place across 2021 that sparked massive controversies and stunned people across the globe. As the year is about to end, we at English Jagran bring you the top three controversies of the year that stunned everyone:

1. COVID lab leak theory:

Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, claims have been made that COVID-19 might have originated in a lab in China. Though the theory has been widely rejected by most of the experts, the origins of COVID-19 continue to be a debate. Recently, a Canadian molecular biologist had told the British Parliament that a leak from a laboratory in the Wuhan region of China is now the "more likely" origin of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Dr Alina Chan, specialising in gene therapy and cell engineering and co-author of 'Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19', told the Parliament panel's evidence session on scientific research that the pandemic was being caused by the unique feature of the coronavirus called "furin cleavage site", which has been linked to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Asked by the panel about the probability of a lab leak as the origin of the pandemic, Chan said a "lab origin is more likely than natural origin at this point". "We all agree that there was a critical event at the Huanan Seafood Market, that was a super spreader event caused by humans. There is no evidence pointing to a natural animal origin of the virus at that market," she noted.

2. Pandora Papers:

Just like the COVID-19 lab leak theory, the Pandora Papers had created a massive row across the world. Dubbed as 'Pandora Papers', millions of documents were leaked in October this year by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which involved the BBC and 'The Guardian' newspaper from the UK, 'The Indian Express' from India and 150 other media outlets.

The Pandora Papers uncovered the financial secrets of several world leaders, sports personalities and celebrities, including cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. The documents also exposed the offshore dealings of presidents of Ukraine, Kenya and Ecuador, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and King Jordan.

"The findings by ICIJ and its media partners spotlight how deeply secretive finance has infiltrated global politics – and offer insights into why governments and global organisations have made little headway in ending offshore financial abuses," the documents read.

3. Pegasus:

Pegasus snooping charges also rocked the world this year and created a massive controversy, especially in India. Reports had emerged and have claimed that the Centre had allegedly used Pegasus to spy on politicians, celebrities, think tanks and others. However, the Centre had refuted the claims, saying the government is committed to ensuring the right to privacy to all its citizens.

"In India, there is a well-established procedure through which lawful interception of electronic communication is carried out in order for the purpose of national security, particularly on the occurrence of any public emergency or the interest of public safety, by agencies at the Centre and States," the Centre had said in response.

However, the charges continued to haunt the Centre with opposition parties demanding a debate over it in the Parliament. The matter was also taken to the Supreme Court which has constituted a technical expert committee to probe the charges.