
For example, the Soweto community brings the money circulating on the Malls premises however, the money does not remain in the Soweto region for the benefit of the Soweto community.Their research findings show the number of foreign brands that used to be unpopular or unknown that have gained their introductory phase from the informal market (Township Spazashops) and havecontinuously evolved to brands that we now see and consume in the formal retail setting. In this book, the authors show the economic trends that often open doors to foreign producers and leave out township producers in the township economy. Nationwide protests followed.Why is it possible that many foreign brands that enter our township economy outsell many of our prominent locally-produced brands? Could it be quality? If so, why are we witnessing the triumph of shopping complexes, such as Small Street and China Malls, where there is high consumption of low-quality foreign-produced brands?It can be a difficult question to simply give your opinion right away, but worry not. “It is being debated whether social media, flash mobs, new ways of organisation, migration and employment and how things are happening are to be looked in a different light now,” said Jitin Prasada, a junior minister close to Rahul Gandhi.Īngry, issue-led protests are on the rise in India, organised by tech-savvy citizens, not by political parties, and amplified by social media.Ī 23-year-old physiotherapy student died last month two weeks after being raped on a moving bus in New Delhi, then thrown bleeding onto the street. The delegates came armed with ideas on how the party should embrace social media, which the government has at times tried to contain. But a scandal-plagued four years of wobbly economic performance may have cost much of that support. High economic growth helped the Congress party do well in urban areas and win a second term in the last general election. Modi, chief minister of Gujarat for the Bharatiya Janata Party, is perhaps the politician who has best tapped into this trend, but his association with religious riots a decade ago make him unpalatable to many. But he will likely have to contend with Narendra Modi, an opposition leader whose reputation for clean governance and economic growth along with a slick modern media strategy have won admiration. Rahul Gandhi, often criticized for his low public profile, has so far given few clues to his own policies. The government has to create an environment for employment which will come through economic reforms,” Ganguly said. Political analyst Amulya Ganguly said it was good the party had “suddenly discovered” the youth and urban middle class, but said more economic reform was needed, as was a clean-up of the police and bureaucracy, widely seen as corrupt. Singh’s government is already seeking to win over the middle class with reforms aimed at boosting economic growth, such as subsidy cuts that have been backed by Gandhi, despite initial misgivings they would hurt the poor.

“We cannot allow our growing educated and middle classes to be disillusioned and alienated from the political process.” “We have to recognise the new changing India, an India increasingly peopled by a younger, more aspirational, more demanding and better educated generation,” Gandhi told party leaders.

His mother, who in the past has promoted welfare programmes for the rural poor, gave a speech that placed uncharacteristic emphasis on urban job creation for the young middle class in one of the world’s fastest growing major economies. As the scion of a dynasty stretching back to India’s independence from Britain in 1947, the party wants him to be prime minister if it wins the elections. Gandhi’s son, Rahul, 42, was anointed party vice-president at the meeting. The meeting, the first of its kind in a decade, was the party’s attempt to adapt to fast-changing demographics as it prepares to contest for a third consecutive term. Looking weary after nine years in coalition government, the Congress leadership is widely seen as aloof and out of touch. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, 80, and Sonia Gandhi, the 66-year-old leader of the ruling Congress party, grappled with terms like “flash mob” and “Twitter” at a brainstorming meeting this weekend that focused on the new generation and growing social media.Ībout two thirds of India’s 1.2 billion people are under 35 and the population is shifting to cities, eroding political parties’ traditional dependence on the rural poor. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (in blue turban) prepares to sit as chief of ruling Congress party Sonia Gandhi (3rd R) watches after paying respect at the memorial of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on the occasion of Rajiv's 68th birth anniversary in New Delhi August 20, 2012.
