General strike in India?

The Times reported on this yesterday, saying that a general strike involving tens of millions of small shopkeepers was the first wave of protest against cuts to fuel subsidies, and against the opening of foreign supermarkets.
Are there any more strikes planned? Bit concerned as the report said "Trains stopped, buses halted......in Delhi markets closed and roads emptied"
My husband said he'd be waving a banner with them if it stopped the spread of Tesco metros
Going to Delhi in a week and would like to be aware of any possible problems,

If there's a strike, just get out of the way. One of my trains was delayed for about 15 hours because of a strike in Andhra Pradesh ... just be sure to carry food and water with you.

"General strike" implies something ongoing. Presently, at least, it was one day. There may be more, it may escalate, but as things stand at the moment, don't imagine that India has ground to a halt: it hasn't.

No I know it hasn't "ground to a halt" Nick, was just wondering if there is any information out there on any impending one day strikers that we should be aware of

Funny, we just got one of their stores in a badly hit area and were quite happy to have an alternative to the lower class Vons nearby..

Is that what the expression implies in British English? It means something else in India. The following definition (American English) from the Cambridge Dictionary captures the Indian meaning quite accurately:


A strike until demands are met (or an assurance given) is called an Indefinite Strike in India.
.

It was a general strike- but only for one day as has been made clear. Usually the political parties give enough prior information about such a strike and there is normally a reason for the strike. Exceptions are there, including the arrest of a leader of a political party, when the strike can be a sort of extempore, can I say. No body exactly knows whether such a strike serves any purpose other than a warning to the ruling parties. Such warnings in a way becomes necessary when political parties go against the interest of the people or sometimes when the striking parties think so. So one cannot accept or reject this idea as a whole. This strike was necessary in the opinion of the majority of people as the govt. was making a decision without understanding the impact of the same fully.

In British English, it tends to be associated with something that went on for far longer than a day! Of course, there may be general strikes and The General Strike, but, even to those of us born a whole generation or three later, the words invoke that event in history, even if, like me at this moment, we can't quite even remember what it was about! .

In today's India, I guess these things are just part and parcel of what goes on. Asking the older Indian members: is it happening more than it used to? Perhaps the reply might depend on location, Kerala is a great place for these events.