Many people think of North Indians as the de-facto "business" class in India, but Kerala's long history of international trade has given its posterity a rich history of merchant knowledge. My parents started a technology company in Kerala and have seen the Communist party swing from traditional land and educational reforms to private market support. This in large part due to remittances from the Middle East fueling the state economy.
The ecological risks from climate change (e.x. the mass flooding that occurred in the past several years) is a real risk that claimed the lives of several employees at my parent's company. Kerala is posed to become the biggest success story out of India, but it needs to remain vigilant in investing in private markets and infrastructure projects to address these risks and maintain sustainable growth.
It's not "North Indians" that people think of but rather "West Indians". Virtually all of the states along the western coast of India can claim to be merchant class because they were trading with places like Europe, Central Asia and the MIddle East.
The majority of trade with East Asia seems to have been done by those on the east coast, notably Telegu, Tamils and the Sri Lankans. There are mountains in the way for substanial land-based trade between Myanmar and China, but I assume that Nepalis/Myanmar/Tibetans also had a role in connecting India and East Asia. Interestingly India has much for cultural and social synergy with East Asia despite this.
The answer is Keralites moved out of the state for work and sent back most of their earnings. What is useful is if Kerala is able to encourage home built businesses that brought in the money while keeping the Keralites inside.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padmanabhaswamy_Temple_treasur...
People have a really hard time understanding inflation and time, but, anything that's lasted this long is going to be wealthy.
Kerala is in the grip of a rapidly growing drug crisis. The state’s High Court issued a stark warning about the ‘poisonous fangs of the drug mafia’. And the State Assembly even paused regular business to debate the issue.
Kerala now leads the country in drug-related cases, far ahead of states like Punjab and Maharashtra. The numbers are also far too high to be explained by good policing alone.
- 2011: HDI in India rises by 21%: Kerala leads, Gujarat far behind - https://www.firstpost.com/india/hdi-in-india-rises-by-21-ker...
- 2011: Malnutrition mars Gujarat's growth story: HDI Report - https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/malnutrit...
- 2017: Gujarat lags behind developed states if HDI parameters are compared: P Chidambaram - https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/gujarat-lags-beh...
- 2021: If Gujarat is a model, then the real toppers in development indicators, like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, must be supermodels - https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-gujarat-middle/ar...
- 2021: HDI: How States Fare in Human Development - https://ceda.ashoka.edu.in/hdi-how-states-fare-in-human-deve...
From what I see from the article the major gains were from investment in health and education which should be a no brainer.
As to why the article is on the front page on HN? Probably because the state has a large diaspora in the Middle East.
Maybe because a lot of Malayalis read HN? We are everywhere.
The bias in much of western media is largely driven by White-Muslim politics in places like Europe, which in turn is driven by corruption from the far-left in various forms (including politicians from places like South Asia and Palestine, and I am not saying that there aren't right wing corruption as well). And yes, a lot of those left-wing politcians who claim to be representiving disadvantaged people are corrupt and creating tension for political gain.
The fact is that much of the progressive politics in South Asia just doesn't fit the narratives being built up by the left-wing in the western world.