Vol. 1990No. 243The nineties edition
The India you were born into
Friday31 August1990
A time-capsule view of 31 August 1990: festivals and calendars becomes the doorway into a year when coalition politics, social movements and economic pressures were reshaping India's political landscape.
Change dateThe Front Page
India enters a new decade
Technology, society and political change reshape public life
India was experiencing rapid change in communications, public policy and national politics.
Parliament unanimously passes Prasar Bharati Bill.
Parliament unanimously passes Prasar Bharati Bill.
India in Numbers
A snapshot of India when you were born.
In august 1990, 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 1990
Moment of the year · Hockey
India wins Asian Games hockey silver
India finished second in Beijing.
199005 · 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.
AASHIQUI
Year 1990
Film of the year · 1990
Aashiqui
Also in theatresDil · Ghayal · Agneepath · Kishen Kanhaiya · Swarg · Thappad
Song of the year · 1990
"Nazar Ke Samne"
Also on the radio"Dheere Dheere Se Meri Zindagi Mein Aana" · "Mera Dil Bhi Kitna Pagal Hai" · "Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai"
$ cat science-and-technology-1990
Computerisation and telecom modernisation
What science and technology looked like in India in 1990.
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 1990
V. P. Singh
Announced the implementation of the Mandal Commission report, providing 27% quotas for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
L. K. Advani
Launched the Ram Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya, reshaping the country's political landscape.
Chandra Shekhar
Sworn in as Prime Minister in November after splitting the Janata Dal with Congress support.
Rajiv Goswami
Became one of the most visible faces of the student protests against implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations.
Sachin Tendulkar
Scored his first Test century at Old Trafford against England at age 17.
B. R. Ambedkar (Posthumous)
Awarded India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna.
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.
German reunification
3 OCT
East and West Germany reunify, marking a major transformation of post-Cold War Europe.
1990, circled in red
The year India turned 43.