India leapfrogs out of poverty

IN a recent MSNBC interview, I described US President Donald Trump as a "brain-eating disease". I did so because his indecent behaviour and nonstop outrageous tweets and actions force you, as a commentator, into a terrible choice: either ignore it all and risk normalising Mr Trump's excesses or write about him constantly and risk not having the time to learn and report about the big trends now reshaping the world - trends that one day will surprise your readers and leave them asking, "Why didn't I know this?"

To inoculate myself against Mr Trump eating my brain, I occasionally get as far away as I can. This time, it was to India - where I learnt a ton that I did not know: I found India trying to leapfrog out of poverty and catch up to China by engaging in a rapid digitisation of its entire economy and power grid.

Yes, while the US president has been busy playing golf, tweeting about LaVar Ball and pushing an anything-that-will-pass tax plan, China has been busy creating a cashless society, where people can pay for so many things now with just a swipe of their cellphones - including donations to beggars - or even buy stuff at vending machines with just facial recognition, and India is trying to follow suit.