Land of extremes

The bad

- Corruption

The country regularly shows up as one of the most corrupt in many international rankings. It scored only 3.1 in 2011 on the Consumer Perceptions Index of Transparency International. New Zealand, the least corrupt in the index, scored 9.5. Overall, 94 countries fare better than India.

- Filthy cities and towns

The Indian EXPRESS columnist Tavleen Singh once wrote, she had travelled to some of the poorest African nations but nowhere did she find as much filth as Indians have to encounter every day. Roads full of pot holes; kitchen waste, faeces and animals on street are common features of a typical Indian town.