Vol. 2024No. 087Contemporary India
The India you were born into
Wednesday27 March2024
For 27 March 2024, the useful question is not only what made headlines, but how agriculture and the monsoon felt in an India where elections, economic growth, sport and major institutional changes shaped India's public life.
Change dateThe Front Page
India in the 2020s
Recovery, technology and national ambition shape the era
India was navigating pandemic recovery, technological growth, public investment and a changing role in the world.
India in Numbers
A snapshot of India when you were born.
In march 2024, 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 2024
Moment of the year · Shooting
Manu Bhaker wins two Olympic medals in Paris
Bhaker became the first Indian athlete to win two medals at a single post-independence Olympic Games.
202405 · 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.
STREE 2
Year 2024
Film of the year · 2024
Stree 2
Also in theatresKalki 2898 AD · Pushpa 2: The Rule · Fighter · Singham Again · Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 · Aranmanai 4
Song of the year · 2024
"Aaj Ki Raat"
Also on the radio"Tauba Tauba" · "Aayi Nai" · "Akhiyaan Gulaab"
$ cat science-and-technology-2024
5G, AI and a digitally native India
What science and technology looked like in India in 2024.
AI moves into products and workplaces
Generative AI tools increasingly appeared across software, education, business and consumer products.
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 2024
Rohit Sharma
Captained India to victory in the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup in Barbados.
Virat Kohli
Named Player of the Match in the 2024 T20 World Cup final with a match-winning 76 runs.
Jasprit Bumrah
Named Player of the Tournament at the 2024 T20 World Cup for his economy and wickets.
Neeraj Chopra
Won the silver medal in men's javelin throw at the Paris Olympics.
Manu Bhaker
Became the first Indian in post-independence history to win two medals at a single Olympics (Paris 2024).
Narendra Modi
Began a third consecutive term as Prime Minister after the 2024 general election and formed the new Union government in June.
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.
Total solar eclipse crosses North America
8 APR
A total solar eclipse crosses Mexico, the United States and Canada, drawing millions of observers and major scientific and public attention.
2024, circled in red
The year India turned 77.