Vol. 2016No. 194Connected India
The India you were born into
Tuesday12 July2016
The archive's lens for 12 July 2016 is children's culture — a useful counterpoint to the larger story that digital payments, economic reform and rapid technology adoption transformed everyday routines.
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 july 2016, 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 2016
Moment of the year · Badminton
P. V. Sindhu wins Olympic silver
Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win Olympic silver.
201605 · 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.
DANGAL
Year 2016
Film of the year · 2016
Dangal
Also in theatresSultan · MS Dhoni: The Untold Story · Airlift · Rustom · Baaghi · Neerja
Song of the year · 2016
"Channa Mereya"
Also on the radio"Kala Chashma" · "Nashe Si Chadh Gayi" · "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil"
$ cat science-and-technology-2016
Apps, UPI and digital public infrastructure
What science and technology looked like in India in 2016.
UPI launches
NPCI launched UPI in April 2016; UPI-enabled apps began appearing on Google Play from August.
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 2016
Mukesh Ambani
Launched Reliance Jio commercially on 5 September, offering free 4G data and calls that transformed India's digital economy.
P. V. Sindhu
Won the silver medal in women's singles badminton at the Rio Olympics.
Sakshi Malik
Won a bronze medal in wrestling at the Rio Olympics, becoming India's first female Olympic wrestling medalist.
Dipa Karmakar
Finished 4th in the Produnova vault at the Rio Olympics, becoming India's first female gymnast to reach an Olympic final.
Virat Kohli
Scored 973 runs in a single IPL season for Royal Challengers Bangalore, setting an all-time record.
Narendra Modi
Announced the demonetisation of ₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes on 8 November as a major move against unaccounted cash and counterfeit currency.
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.
United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union
23 JUN
The UK referendum produces a majority for leaving the EU.
2016, circled in red
The year India turned 69.