India is in tumult after the government passed reforms that cut certain subsidies and loosened up controls on foreign investment entering the country, paving the way for big multi-brand retail chains like Walmart entering the market. Allies have threatened to abandon Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s ruling coalition, while opposition parties and activists took part in a nationwide strike against the reforms on Sept. 20 that saw protests and arrests in many of India’s major metropolises.
Nationwide Strike Hits India’s Teeming Cities
Bikas Das / AP
A man crosses a deserted road during a strike in Kolkata, India, Sept. 20, 2012. Angry opposition supporters disrupted trains in India on Thursday but had only limited success in enforcing a national strike to protest a government decision to cut fuel subsidies and open the country's huge retail market to foreign companies.
