BBC & Newsweek declares the list of finalist for 'World Challenge 10'

Indian power venture, Husk Power Systems, has been selected as a finalist in World Challenge 10. The competition brought to you by BBC World News and Newsweek, in association with Shell, aims to identify and reward people and businesses bringing economic, social and environmental benefits to local communities through innovation and enterprise at a grassroots level.

An estimated 50,000 villagers in the state of Bihar in India are lighting up with bio power. Husk Power Systems provides the financially sustainable and environmentally friendly power using an innovative technology that uses discarded rice husks to deliver electricity- a by-product that is plentiful in villages and would otherwise be thrown away and release harmful methane into the atmosphere as it rotted.

The off-grid mini power stations fired by rice husks enable the villagers to benefit from a clean, safe and efficient power source. Mobile phones are charged quickly and cheaply, improving communications for villagers, while lighting is both improving businesses and delighting families.

BBC World News will broadcast six 30-minute programmes profiling each of the World Challenge 10 finalists, showing how their projects and businesses are changing lives and local communities. In addition, the finalists will be profiled in Newsweek magazine. The audience and readers are then invited to vote online on theworldchallenge.co.uk- for their favourite project or business from Monday 27 September 2010. Voting closes on Friday 12 November 2010.

The winner of World Challenge 2010 will be announced at an awards ceremony in Amsterdam on Tuesday 30 November 2010. The winner will receive a US$20,000 grant from Shell to invest in their project, while the two runners-up will each receive US$10,000.