Vol. 2019No. 079Connected India
The India you were born into
Wednesday20 March2019
A time-capsule view of 20 March 2019: cinema-going becomes the doorway into a year when a national election, security developments and constitutional changes dominated the political landscape.
Change dateThe Front Page
India in a decade of transformation
Politics, technology and aspiration shape the national debate
India was undergoing rapid digital, economic and political change across a diverse and growing society.
India in Numbers
A snapshot of India when you were born.
In march 2019, a litre of petrol cost Loading… and a local phone call cost Loading….
Interpolated placeholder between benchmark years; replace with annual UN WPP estimate before publication. Not a census count. Source: current India population working dataset.
Prices from the month you were born, listed the way the kirana shop would have written them.
- The Hindu archive
- National archival records
- Press and public memory
04 · Sport
India on the field in 2019
Moment of the year · Badminton
P. V. Sindhu becomes India's first badminton world champion
Sindhu won the women's singles world title.
201905 · Cinema & music
What India was watching and humming
The film everyone queued for that month, and the song that played from every cassette player that year.
WAR
Year 2019
Film of the year · 2019
War
Also in theatresKabir Singh · Uri: The Surgical Strike · Bharat · Good Newwz · Housefull 4 · Mission Mangal
Song of the year · 2019
"Apna Time Aayega"
Also on the radio"Bekhayali" · "Tujhe Kitna Chahne Lage" · "Ve Maahi"
$ cat science-and-technology-2019
Apps, UPI and digital public infrastructure
What science and technology looked like in India in 2019.
UPI crosses one billion monthly transactions
NPCI recorded more than one billion UPI transactions in October 2019.
Technology moves closer to daily life
Computing, communication and consumer electronics were gradually moving from specialist institutions toward ordinary homes, offices and public life.
Faces of 2019
Abhinandan Varthaman
Wing Commander who shot down an enemy aircraft during an aerial dogfight before being captured and subsequently released.
K. Sivan
Chairman of ISRO during the Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission.
Rohit Sharma
Scored 5 centuries in a single ICC Cricket World Cup, setting a tournament record.
P. V. Sindhu
Became the first Indian to win gold at the BWF World Championships in Basel.
Gita Gopinath
Appointed Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Narendra Modi
Led the BJP to a larger majority in the 2019 general election and began a second consecutive term as Prime Minister.
09 · BEYOND INDIA
Beyond India
Before the internet put the world in our pockets, news from abroad arrived through telegrams, radios, television sets and eventually phones.
First black hole image is revealed
10 APR
The Event Horizon Telescope collaboration publishes the first image of a black hole.
2019, circled in red
The year India turned 72.