Modi's Midterm Blues Eased By Crackdown on India's Corruption

It was difficult for observers to argue at the start of the month, with his term as Indian prime minister approaching the half-way mark, that Narendra Modi had exceeded expectations with policy reforms.

Then he took his biggest step yet. With a sudden move against tax evasion and graft, he invalidated more than three-quarters of the value of banknotes in circulation. That’s helped to -- once again -- resuscitate a reform narrative that’s periodically faded as Modi retreated from initial plans. At the mid-term point this week, it all leaves a record perceived very much as mixed.