Vol. 1994No. 160The nineties edition
The India you were born into
Thursday9 June1994
Read 9 June 1994 from the ground up: start with the newspaper front page, then place it inside a year when liberalisation was changing Indian business, media and consumer culture as the decade moved forward.
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.
Army successfully test-fires short range surface-to-surface missile, 'Prithvi'.
Army successfully test-fires short range surface-to-surface missile, 'Prithvi'.
India in Numbers
A snapshot of India when you were born.
In june 1994, 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 1994
Moment of the year · Hockey
India wins Asian Games hockey silver
India finished runner-up at Hiroshima.
199405 · 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.
HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN..!
Year 1994
Film of the year · 1994
Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!
Also in theatresMohra · Andaz Apna Apna · Krantiveer · 1942: A Love Story · Main Khiladi Tu Anari · Laadla
Song of the year · 1994
"Pehla Nasha"
Also on the radio"Tip Tip Barsa Paani" · "Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast" · "Didi Tera Devar Deewana"
$ cat science-and-technology-1994
Computerisation and telecom modernisation
What science and technology looked like in India in 1994.
National Telecom Policy 1994
The policy set ambitious goals for expanding telephone access and modernising telecom services.
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 1994
Sushmita Sen
Won the Miss Universe title, becoming the first Indian woman to do so.
Aishwarya Rai
Won the Miss World crown in South Africa, earning global visibility.
Kiran Bedi
Awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for prison reform initiatives as Inspector General of Tihar Jail.
Sachin Tendulkar
Promoted to open in ODIs at Auckland, scoring 82 off 49 balls and transforming his ODI career.
P. V. Narasimha Rao
Visited the United States to address a joint session of Congress on economic ties.
N. R. Narayana Murthy
Expanded Infosys operations into Western enterprise software markets.
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.
South Africa holds first multiracial election
27 APR
Millions vote in South Africa's first democratic election, ending apartheid rule.
1994, circled in red
The year India turned 47.