Indian traders strike against retail reform

Shopkeepers and traders in India went on a one-day strike Thursday as the main opposition party stepped up protests against plans to open the country's retail sector to foreign chains. The right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) backed the shutdown, which closed commercial areas in the capital New Delhi and in other major cities but was only partially effective across the whole country.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government has been faced with widespread fury over its decision last week to allow supermarket giants such as Wal-Mart to own 51-percent of large "multi-brand" stores.