MUMBAI: BBC World News‘ Country Direct series, which looks to go behind the headlines to explore everyday life in one country, is focusing on India this month.

‘India Direct‘ on BBC World News features a series of reports and programming focusing on the country, including the World Debate from the World Economic Forum in Mumbai.

The India Direct season explores a range of issues and topics, from the economy and the challenges facing the local workforce to standards of living for people at every level of society.

Programming highlights include:

‘World Debate - Can India Beat Corruption?‘ This airs on 19 November at 9:10 am, 10:10 pm and on 20 November at 3:10 pm. India is struggling with corruption at all levels of society, from petty bribery to multi-billion dollar scandals touching the highest levels of government. After a summer of protests India is faced with challenging this critical issue head on. But can India beat corruption? That‘s the question the BBC World Debate asks a panel including Minister of State for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs Ashwani Kumar; social activist, India Against Corruption Kiran Bedi; Godrej Group chairman and Confederation of Indian Industry president designate Adi Godrej; and Transparency International chair Hugette Labelle. The debate is presented by Nik Gowing and filmed at the World Economic Forum in Mumbai.

One Square Mile will air on 19 November at 8:30: am and 20 November at 2:30 pm and 10:30 pm. It will explore one square mile of Mumbai as BBC‘s Sanjoy Majumder explores a concentrated area of the city and speaks to locals to find out more about their neighbourhood.

Talking Movies will have a special edition on 26 November at 8:30 pm and 27 November at 7:30 am. The show‘s anchor Tom Brook hears from some of the biggest names in Indian film - including Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Runbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, to those at the cutting edge of independent cinema. He also goes behind the scenes at a big Bollywood studio and explores how Indians consume their movies whether it be from video streaming to an old-fashioned single screen cinema.

India Business Report - Bangalore Special airs on 20 November. This special edition of India Business Report is in Bangalore to examine how India‘s rapidly growing IT industry has transformed the city over the past decade into a major economic hub. The programme will look at the impact of the global financial crisis on India‘s ‘Silicon Valley‘ and what that means for jobs and the wider economy. From industry leaders to young start-ups, the team speaks to India‘s successful innovators.

The programme will also report on other challenges facing Bangalore. Economic transformation has come hand in hand with rapid population growth. BBC explores the pressures on the city‘s infrastructure and services, and how Bangalore is addressing the issue of congestion, with a newly opened Metro, and plans to pilot a bicycle scheme following similar schemes in London and Paris.

MUMBAI: After the Indian Premier League (IPL) Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan has turned his attention to motorsports.

Along with the Kolkata knight Riders (KKR) partners, the Mehta Group, he has become the Mumbai franchise owners for the all new motorsport racing league i1 Super Series, an initiative by Machdar Motorsports. SRK?s involvement with the i1 Super Series is a boost for the championship that will commence early January 2012.

The i1 Super Series, charted on the city based franchisee format, will have nine teams representing nine different cities from across the country with each team having an Indian and an International driver per car marking a new dimension to Indian Motorsports.

Machdar Motorsports director Anjana Reddy said, "We are absolutely thrilled to welcome the Indian icon and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to the i1 Super Series as the franchisee holder for Mumbai. This announcement marks a momentous occasion for motorsports in India with one of the biggest stars in the country aligning with the highly anticipated i1 Super Series. Shah Rukh loved the concept and our vision to establish the i1 Super Series as a landmark in Indian Motorsports. i1 Super Series is going through a very exciting phase, the countdown to our first race has begun and we have lots more exciting news coming up shortly."

Khan is convinced that the series will be one of the biggest sporting events in the country. "The i1 Super Series is a very interesting concept as it gets racing drivers from across the globe to partner with young Indian talent. After the inaugural Indian GP it is clear that motorsports is hugely popular in India and I strongly believe that this series will be a success with its one-of-a-kind concept. I have always tried to develop sports in the country in any way possible and we have recently taken a very professional approach to expanding our interests in various sports entertainment categories. The concept is similar to the IPL and I am confident that in the years to come this can become one of the biggest motorsport events in the world," Khan said.

KKR CEO, MD Venky Mysore added, "This initiative is consistent with the vision of our shareholders to expand our business in the area of sports entertainment."