It was August 1995 and metro towns in India were dotted with hoardings showcasing the latest innovation: boxy mobile handsets, resembling the expensive cordless phones sold in grey markets. The country had just celebrated its 48th Independence Day and non-commercial mobile telephony services had been launched in New Delhi. A historic moment had been recorded weeks earlier on July 31 when West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu made India's first mobile call using a Nokia handset through Modi Telstra's MobileNet service. The news of the call between Basu in Kolkata and Union telecom minister Sukh Ram at New Delhi's Sanchar Bhawan was splashed across the front pages of leading dailies. The new service, though, came with a hefty price tag: Rs 4,900 for a pre-paid SIM and Rs 17 per minute for calls, incoming or outgoing. Yet, the buzz it created was enough to fire up drawing-room discussions.
It was a decade earlier, in mid-1984, that then prime minister Indira Gandhi asked the US-based technologist Sam Pitroda, known for his innovations in hand-held computing, to return to India and help modernise the telecommunication system. And thus was born C-DOT (Centre for Development of Telematics), an autonomous body that spawned cost-effective rural exchanges for fixed-line communication across India, expanding telecom connectivity to underserved areas.
Denne historien er fra December 30, 2024-utgaven av India Today.
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Denne historien er fra December 30, 2024-utgaven av India Today.
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He gave the beat to the world
He would pick up the rhythms of each experience of mobility and weave them into his taals. Thus it was that he reflected joy and laughter in rhythmic cycles...such was the magic of Zakir's fingersText and photographs by Raghu Rai
KERALA TOURISM CAMPAIGN, 1989 - TICKETS TO PARADISE
All it took was a catchy tagline-'God's Own Country'-for the world to discover Kerala's wealth of natural beauty. It remains among the best tourism ad campaigns, earning the state a place among top 10 international destinations
SPIRITUALITY - THE GURUS OF COOL
Among the cult Indian gurus, no one had a bigger hold on western minds than 'Osho' Rajneesh. He's also perhaps the role model for the enterprise-building gurus of today
RETAIL SHOPPING - THE MALL MANIA
Shopping malls, a 1990s innovation in India, changed the way the Indian middle class shops. Their success now lies in being 'shoppertainment' destinations, offering something for everyone
CULINARY RENAISSANCE, 1978 - TANDOORI NIGHTS
ITC's Bukhara and Dum Pukht turned the world to tandoori cuisine and had an enormous impact on the F&B industry. Decades on, they are still a pit-stop for celebrities and heads of state visiting Delhi
INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH - REVENGE OF THE NATIVE
Rushdie lit the way but Indian writing in English has taken a life of its own in the past few decades, with translated Indian fiction most recently having its moment in the sun
INDIAN ART - A BRUSH WITH GOLD DUST
The 1990s economic liberalisation came as oxygen, lighting up the Indian art scene. Today, artworks by established masters routinely go for astronomical amounts
FESTIVAL OF INDIA, 1982 - CULTURE CAPITAL
The Festival of India grew into a symbol of our 'soft power', introducing our art and aesthetics to a global audience while also helping rebrand our domestic products
THE INDIPOP TREND - DISCO GOES DESI
For ages, the film song ruled. Nothing else was audible. Then came Nazia, charioteered by Biddu, and Indian ears went into a pleasant madness. Literally, Disco Deewane. A whole genre was born
SHOLAY 1975 - THE BIRTH OF THE FANDEMIC
India had seen hits before. But Sholay seared into its collective psyche like a badland bullet. The effect was on a scale never seen before- one film creating a new mass folk culture. And a trail of monster blockbusters that still continues
