With conventional sources of electricity likely to get scarcer and more expensive in the coming years, the Delhi government is weighing the option of generating more solar power in the near future.

Narayanappa Maranna, 40, owns five acres of farm land in Mallenamadagu village on the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border, about 155 km away from Bangalore. Till 2006, Maranna was cultivating groundnut, paddy and ragi (finger millets).

At Cherlopalem village in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, an interesting sight awaits any visitor

Two years ago, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) had a leaking water supply system and defunct meters. It decided to launch a pilot project in the Dharampeth area, and put in new pipes and meters. Today, over 6,000 connections there have water round the clock— and are happy to pay for this privilege.

Mahatma Gandhi's words that India lives in its villages are still a truism. But the accelerating pace of urbanisation suggests that, much before the close of this century, India will indeed live in its cities. Going by current trends, 40 per cent of India's population will be living in urban areas by 2030.

It cost Rs 1,171 crore, took 16 long years to build and was projected to carry six lakh people a day. Chennai's Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) covers a distance of about 20 km and passes through (mostly as an elevated structure) some of the most congested localities in the city.

To achieve his target of building 20 km of national highways per day, Highways Minister Kamal Nath seems to have it all figured out

"Our days have become longer. Earlier, we slept soon after sunset. Now, we remain awake till 10.30 p.m."

Business ideas for the bottom of the pyramid come in unlikely situations. Four years after running a purified, bottled water business, Kammili Satyanarayana Raju, an alum of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, decided it was logical to make machinery that purifies water.

It's a damning statistic Shining India will cringe at. Over 1,000 children under five die of diarrhoea every day in India. Every day. In effect, a number greater than every child you know. Think about it.