Replies

The "demonitization" should have been a lot bigger news. It was an incredible Big Government move to basically withdraw almost all cash from the economy. It's had terrible consequences for ordinary Indians. Banks can only accept a small amount of cash from clients, basically in one fell swoop they have confiscated a huge amount of wealth from their citizens.

It is as classic an example of the Government serving itself at the expense of the people, and treating supposed citizens like subjects.

Here is a better article that gives the background:

Corporate Elite, Financial Tech Industry the Big Winners of Modi’s Demonetisation Shock Therapy

Getting rid of cash is a goal of bankers and big government lovers. It's been floated by various think-tanks off and on for decades now. Recently there has been a push to get rid of large bills.

Of course because a huge percent of Americans use some sort of credit or debit (or EBT) card already it would have had a much smaller impact here.

Modi is the same sort of earthquake to Indian politics that Trump is to American. He displace the long time ruling party. Here's a bit about his election:

During the campaign, Modi focused on the corruption scandals under the previous INC government, and played on his image as a politician who had created a high rate of GDP growth in Gujarat.[173][178] Modi projected himself as a person who could bring about "development," without focus on any specific policies.[173] His message found support among young Indians and among middle-class citizens.[178]
The BJP under Modi was able to downplay concerns about the protection of religious minorities and Modi's commitment to secularism, areas in which he had previously received criticism.[178] Prior to the election Modi's image in the media had centered around his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots, but during the campaign the BJP was able to shift this to a focus on Modi's neoliberal ideology and the Gujarat model of development.[180] Although the BJP avoided issues of Hindu nationalism to an extent, Hindutva remained a significant part of its campaign.[173][181][184] Through the campaign, the BJP received significantly more positive media coverage than its competitors, particularly in the northern and western parts of the country. Commentators attributed this to Modi's influence in the area.[185]
The campaign also made extensive use of advertising in vernacular media sources, portraying Modi as the victim of a "news media conspiracy" among the English language sources.[180] However, the BJP's campaign was assisted by its wide influence in the media.[186] Modi's campaign blitz cost approximately INR 5000 crores ($830 million),[178] and received extensive financial support from corporate donors.[186] In addition to more conventional campaign methods, such as rallies and the use of print media, Modi also made extensive use of social media,[173][178] and addressed more than 1000 rallies via hologram appearances.[184] The election was described as "India's first social media election.[187]
The BJP won 31% of the vote,[188] and more than doubled its tally in the Lok Sabha to 282, and became the first party to win a majority of seats on its own since 1984.[180][181] The results were described as a pro-Modi "wave."[178][181] Voter unhappiness with the INC, as well as with regional parties in North India, was another reason for the success of the BJP.[181] The support network of the RSS played a role in Modi's success.[173] Scholars studying the election also stated that Modi had an ability to attract supporters who would campaign for him, thus strengthening his position as a candidate but making the party's victory relatively fragile.[173][175] In states such as Uttar Pradesh in which the BJP performed well, it drew exceptionally high support from upper-caste Hindus.[181] It won only 10 percent of the Muslim vote, which was nonetheless more than it had won before.[181] It performed particularly well in parts of the country that had recently experienced violence between Hindus and Muslims.[181]
The magnitude of the BJP's victory led many commentators to say that the election constituted a political realignment away from progressive parties and towards the right-wing BJP.[178][181][189][190] Modi's tweet announcing his victory in the election was the most re-tweeted in India,[191] and was described as being emblematic of the political realignment away from a Nehruvian secular, socialist state towards capitalism and Hindu cultural nationalism.[191]