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: Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor has reportedly signed a Rs 1 billion deal with 20th Century Fox to remake the popular US crime thriller series 24.

Kapoor, who also starred in the last season of the show, will make the show for Indian audiences, playing the lead role of anti terrorist cell (ATC) agent Jack Bauer.

In the original series, the role of Bauer is played by Kiefer Sutherland and every season (day) of the show depicts 24 hours in the life of the agent. Every episode of the show is the story of one hour of the day and it is shown realtime, with the clock never stopping.

The Indian version of the show will see Kapoor making entry on the small screen as his Film Company will be producing it for the Indian market.

"It will be a great honour for me to play Jack Bauer. Kiefer has created an iconic character which has inspired me to bring the franchise to India. This will be my first foray to Indian television and I look forward to duplicating the standard of excellence Fox has so successfully created," Kapoor said in a statement.

Fox International president Marion Edwards added, "Anil?s passion for the series goes back to his time as a guest star on the show, and we?re excited to enable him to realise his vision of creating a new version of the series for his native India. We think this could pave the way for many more iterations of this brilliant series in other international territories down the road."