Vol. 2008No. 337Millennium turn
The India you were born into
Tuesday2 December2008
Read 2 December 2008 from the ground up: start with the national mood, then place it inside a year when the global financial crisis arrived as India celebrated major achievements in space and technology.
Change dateThe Front Page
India in a connected century
Growth, security and technology shape the national story
India was adapting to a more connected economy and society while facing significant questions of security and development.
India in Numbers
A snapshot of India when you were born.
In december 2008, 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 2008
Moment of the year · Shooting
Abhinav Bindra wins India's first individual Olympic gold
Bindra won men's 10m air rifle at Beijing.
200805 · 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.
GHAJINI
Year 2008
Film of the year · 2008
Ghajini
Also in theatresRab Ne Bana Di Jodi · Singh Is Kinng · Race · Jodhaa Akbar · Dostana · A Wednesday!
Song of the year · 2008
"Khuda Jaane"
Also on the radio"Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai" · "Aankhon Mein Teri" · "Pehli Nazar Mein"
$ cat science-and-technology-2008
The mobile internet arrives
What science and technology looked like in India in 2008.
Chandrayaan-1 launches
India's first lunar mission launched on 22 October 2008.
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 2008
Abhinav Bindra
Won India's first-ever individual Olympic Gold medal in the 10m Air Rifle event at the Beijing Olympics.
Lalit Modi
Founded and launched the Indian Premier League (IPL), transforming global cricket commerce.
G. Madhavan Nair
Chairman of ISRO during the launch of Chandrayaan-1, India's first lunar probe, which discovered water molecules on the Moon.
Ratan Tata
Unveiled the ₹1 lakh Tata Nano car and acquired luxury auto brands Jaguar Land Rover.
Manmohan Singh
Survived a parliamentary confidence vote over the US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement.
Hemant Karkare
Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad chief who was killed while leading the response to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
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.
Lehman Brothers collapses
15 SEP
The investment bank files for bankruptcy, becoming a defining moment of the global financial crisis.
2008, circled in red
The year India turned 61.