Vol. 1998No. 132The nineties edition
The India you were born into
Tuesday12 May1998
One way into 12 May 1998: the decade in transition. Behind that everyday lens sits a year in which nuclear tests, political change and economic reform placed India in a new strategic era.
Change dateThe Front Page
India’s economy opens further
Reform and global integration reshape the country
India was living through an era of economic liberalisation, new markets and fast-changing public life.
Yeltsin feels let down by Indian nuclear tests but says that Indo-Russian ties will not be hit.
Yeltsin feels let down by Indian nuclear tests but says that Indo-Russian ties will not be hit.
India in Numbers
A snapshot of India when you were born.
In may 1998, 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 1998
Moment of the year · Chess
Viswanathan Anand wins the FIDE world championship knockout event
Anand won the 1998 FIDE world championship knockout tournament.
199805 · 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.
KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI
Year 1998
Film of the year · 1998
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Also in theatresSatya · Dil Se.. · Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya · Ghulam · Soldier · Bade Miyan Chote Miyan
Song of the year · 1998
"Kuch Kuch Hota Hai"
Also on the radio"Koi Mil Gaya" · "Chaiyya Chaiyya" · "Dil Se Re"
$ cat science-and-technology-1998
Internet, mobile phones and the software boom
What science and technology looked like in India in 1998.
Private ISPs enter
The government opened Internet services to private providers, ending VSNL’s earlier monopoly.
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 1998
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Sworn in as Prime Minister and authorized the Pokhran-II nuclear tests ('Operation Shakti') in May.
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Co-directed the Pokhran-II tests alongside R. Chidambaram, establishing India as a declared nuclear-weapon state.
Amartya Sen
Awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work in welfare economics.
Sachin Tendulkar
Played iconic back-to-back ODI innings against Australia in Sharjah ('Desert Storm').
Sonia Gandhi
Assumed the office of Congress President to rebuild the party.
L. K. Advani
Appointed Union Home Minister in the NDA cabinet.
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.
U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa
7 AUG
Bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam kill hundreds and draw worldwide attention to al-Qaeda.
1998, circled in red
The year India turned 51.