ONTHATDAY.IN

Travelling to

20 April 1995

Preparing your journey through India as it was that day.

Calibrating the date

Vol. 1995No. 110The nineties edition

The India you were born into

Thursday

The texture of 20 April 1995 sits in courts and law; the surrounding year was shaped by the fact that satellite television, telecommunications and the Internet were beginning to change how India connected to the world.

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Prime MinisterP. V. Narasimha RaoThe person in office on the selected date
PresidentShankar Dayal SharmaHead of the Republic
WeatherSUMMERHot, dry summer season
Vol. XLIX · No. 110ARCHIVE EDITION
02 · OnThatDay.in

The Front Page

48 years after IndependencePM · P. V. Narasimha Rao
INDIA IN CONTEXT

India’s economy opens further

Reform and global integration reshape the country

The nineties edition
The nineties edition. Era photograph, not taken on this date.OnThatDay archive

India was living through an era of economic liberalisation, new markets and fast-changing public life.

Date
20 APR 1995
Category
Economy
Source
Editorial historical context
Around this date

Gopala Ramanujam,Goa Governor, takes up additional charge of Kerala.

Gopala Ramanujam,Goa Governor, takes up additional charge of Kerala.

19 APR 1995Politics

The year in context

199548 years after Independence
Public internet service launches in India. Economic liberalisation, coalition politics and major social conflicts reshaped the republic.

Economic liberalisation, coalition politics and major social conflicts reshaped the republic.

Composed from the OnThatDay archive: India chronology, world news, people, cinema & music, sport, technology and Everyday India records for The Year in Context.

02 · India in Numbers

India in Numbers

A snapshot of India when you were born.

In april 1995, a litre of petrol cost Loading… and a local phone call cost Loading….

Population · 1995
91.93 crore
Annual population estimate

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.

Sources
  • The Hindu archive
  • National archival records
  • Press and public memory
Rate List
New Delhi · 20 April 1995
Petrol1 L
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Rice1 kg
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Cinematicket
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Trainfare
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Phonecall
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Gold10 g
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Figures are averages for the monthThank you. Visit again.
APRIL
1995

04 · Sport

India on the field in 1995

CHESS · 1995 ·CHESS1995HIGHLIGHT

Moment of the year · Chess

Viswanathan Anand reaches the world championship final cycle

Anand remained among the world's leading players.

1995

05 · 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.

Film of the year · 1995

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge

A standout release from the year’s cinema calendar.

Also in theatresKaran Arjun · Rangeela · Coolie No. 1 · Raja · Sabse Bada Khiladi · Akele Hum Akele Tum

AC-60 · 1995Tujhe Dekha Toarchive cutArchive artistsHover to play the reels

Song of the year · 1995

"Tujhe Dekha To"

A standout track from the year’s radio rotation.

Also on the radio"Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna" · "Mera Piya Ghar Aaya" · "Pardesi Pardesi"

archive://india/1995/technology.log02 entries

$ cat science-and-technology-1995

Internet, mobile phones and the software boom

What science and technology looked like in India in 1995.

Public Internet service launches

VSNL launched Internet services in India on 15 August 1995.

Technology moves closer to daily life

Computing, communication and consumer electronics were gradually moving from specialist institutions toward ordinary homes, offices and public life.

08 · THE PEOPLE OF THE YEAR

Faces of 1995

NO. 11995
Politics

Shah Rukh Khan

Starred in 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' (DDLJ), which became an unprecedented cultural landmark in Indian cinema.

NO. 21995
Nation

Aditya Chopra

Made his directorial debut with 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'.

NO. 31995
Economy

P. V. Narasimha Rao

Completed four years of economic reforms while confronting internal party rebellion.

NO. 41995
Cricket

Bal Thackeray

Led the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance to win power in Maharashtra for the first time.

NO. 51995
Literature

Jyoti Basu

Attracted industrial investments to West Bengal through the state's new industrial policy.

NO. 61995
Service

Sachin Tendulkar

Signed a historic ₹30-crore endorsement deal with WorldTel, revolutionizing sports commercialization in India.

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.

WORLD NEWS · 1995

World Trade Organization begins work

1 JAN

The World Trade Organization formally begins operations, replacing the GATT framework with a broader global trade institution.

WORLD NEWS ARCHIVE
11 · THE YEAR AT A GLANCE

1995, circled in red

The year India turned 48.

1995
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge becomes a defining Bollywood release
1995
India's cricket culture becomes increasingly commercial
1995
Mobile phone services begin expanding in Indian cities
1995
Satellite television reshapes Indian entertainment
20 APR
You arrive!
15 AUG
Commercial Internet access begins in India
12 · The archive

Images from an India in transition.