News Summary: India swelters after power fails

Published July 30, 2012 4:53pm ET



POWERLESS: Northern India’s power grid crashed Monday, halting trains, forcing hospitals and airports onto backup power and providing a dark reminder of the nation’s inability to feed a growing hunger for energy.

HOT UNDER THE COLLAR: The outage left millions sweltering in the summer heat. It hit 370 million people, more than the population of the U.S. and Canada combined.

NO SHOCK: The Impact was softened by Indians’ familiarity with almost daily blackouts. Hospitals and major businesses have backup generators that kick in during power cuts, and upscale homes are hooked to backup systems powered by truck batteries.