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India Today
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
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
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
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
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
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
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
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
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
4 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
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
3 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
THE TELESERIALS - WHEN SMALL TURNS BIG
In the Eighties, Indian television went from a dull grey box to the full colours of immersive storytelling. The multichannel revolution was waiting to explode on the other side
3 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE - INDIA AS CRICKET CENTRAL
Sixers arriving on a flying carousel, Bollystars and Big Biz dancing in the aisles, power czars and pompom girls—IPL turned the gentleman's game into a rave party. Everyone won.
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
ABHINAV BINDRA: FIRST SOLO OLYMPIC GOLD, 2008 - The Golden Trendsetter
The calm of a yogi, the eye of a hunter. Abhinav Bindra needed that. For, he was about to shoot down demons of the collective Indian mind
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
PRAKASH PADUKONE: ALL ENGLAND, 1980 - OF GUTS AND GLORY
It was equal to the Wimbledon. And Padukone's win was a seminal event. Indian parents saw a new path to glory opening up for their children–and the young ones leapt up for the smash
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
VISWANATHAN ANAND: FIVE-TIME WORLD CHAMPION - THE CHESS ROYALTY
He came out of the blue to conquer the world. India's encore in 2024, with Gukesh, is part of his legacy
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
SUNIL GAVASKAR'S RECORDS - THE LEGEND AND THE LEGACY
He was the one they wrote a calypso for. Like his spiritual son Sachin, he could rock too...if he wanted, very rarely. Mostly, he was classical. Sublime, perfect.
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
CRICKET WORLD CUP, 1983 - THE IDEA THAT WE CAN WIN
Yes, even that was not there when Kapil Dev, himself only 24, led a bunch of devil-may-care no-hopers right up to the summit of world cricket. For India, it was the equivalent of the Moon Landing-except unplanned and unimagined. What changed after that? Everything.
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
SWACHH BHARAT MISSION, 2014 - THE CLEAN CRUSADE
From collective shame to national pride, India's journey toward eliminating open defecation is a story of strong political will and leadership, grand scale and ambition, and community, corporate and celebrity participation
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
PULSE POLIO CAMPAIGN, 1994 - A COUNTRY VERSUS A VIRUS
From being the epicentre of a dreaded disease that left children with permanent disability, India achieved the impossible task of eradicating polio through a sustained, concerted effort by the government, NGOs and members of the local communities
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
CHIPKO MOVEMENT - THE GREEN SAVIOURS
The simple, collective act of hugging trees saved the remaining forests in the Himalayas and serves as a beacon to both policy-making and environmental activism in India and beyond
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
SILENT VALLEY MOVEMENT - WHEN SILENCE BECAME A ROAR
Environmentalists, poets and journalists generated mass opinion against a hydroelectric project and saved Kerala's Silent Valley, one of India's last remaining tropical rainforests
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
GOODS AND SERVICES TAX, 2017 - Good, Streamlined Tax
GST marked a pivotal shift in taxation, simplifying the process, improving compliance, boosting revenues and fostering economic integration
3 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
AADHAAR ROLLOUT, 2009 - Giving Citizens an Identity
The world's largest biometric ID system, Aadhaar has streamlined welfare delivery, leading to financial inclusion and security
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT, 2005 - Breaching the Babu Barrier
Born from grassroots resilience, this landmark legislation put the might of information in the hands of millions while making the powers that be accountable
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
PM JAN DHAN YOJANA, 2014 - Banking the Unbanked
Ten years of PMJDY have transformed financial access for millions, empowering them to save, invest and access credit, while driving economic and social change
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
PANCHAYATI RAJ, 1992 - POWER TO THE PEOPLE
Empowering grassroots governance, the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Indian Constitution redefined democracy, ushering in local self-rule and inclusivity
3 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
CHANDRAYAAN-1, 2008 - THE MOONSHOT AND BEYOND
Rakesh Sharma, India's first astronaut, whetted our appetite for space. Chandrayaan-1 made that a reality, and spawned a series of spectacular successes
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
NUCLEAR BOMB TESTS, 1998 - ATOMIC INTENT TO REALITY
India declared itself a nuclear weapons state with Operation Shakti, a series of nuclear tests at Pokhran in 1998. It set off a chain reaction—the emergence of strategic forces, a nuclear submarine and civilian nuclear deals
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
OPERATION MEGHDOOT, 1984 - ICE STATION SIACHEN
The daring sally on the Siachen Glacier in 1984 is a landmark achievement of the Indian military. It instilled an ethos of readiness in securing national interests- seen in the 1999 Kargil War, the 2016 surgical strikes and the Balakot air strike
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
SATELLITE LAUNCH VEHICLE SLV-3, 1980 - JOINING THE SPACE LEAGUE
When the SLV-3 lifted off successfully in 1980, it marked the beginning of the process of making India self-sufficient in launch vehicles and satellite technology for development
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
INS ARIHANT, 2016 - THIRD ARM OF THE TRIAD
A triumph of indigenous mastery of complex military technology, INS Arihant completes India's nuclear triad and bolsters India's maritime security at a time of aggressive Chinese naval expansion
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
INDO-US NUCLEAR DEAL, 2008 - Ending India's Nuclear Pariah Status
The Indo-US nuclear deal saw the US break ranks with the gatekeepers of nuclear technology to admit India into the global nuclear trade. It led to closer strategic ties with Washington
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
AGNI-I, 1989 - BALLISTIC MUSCLE
In 1989, the launch of its first intermediate-range ballistic missile, Agni, elevated India into an elite club. Agni-l laid the foundation of the country's emergence as a regional superpower
2 min |
December 30, 2024
India Today
PRE-NATAL SEX DETERMINATION BAN, 1994 - SAVING THE UNBORN DAUGHTER
By banning pre-natal sex determination, India took the first step towards preventing the murder of a girl child in the womb. From that has flowed other latter-day battles-like the one for her right to education
2 min |