Congress on Sunday ridiculed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assurances to the farmers.

The elements are all aligned to make India a global powerhouse, says IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde.

'If policy-makers hold the lives of animals to be more significant than the welfare of a human populace, I can't believe that they're likely to do anything progressive for India.'

The Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil, came together on Thursday to raise the issue of stalled projects plaguing India Inc and implored the Maharashtra government and the Centre to make Mumbai, India's financial capital, an easier place for business and investments. "Several projects are stuck for many years in Mumbai and we would like to know how the government intends to improve the financing and execution of projects, including those relating to infrastructure and education which have been in limbo for long and are affecting the growth of the city," Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani told Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Seated on the same table was his brother, apart from Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry and State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya. Jaitley was addressing the Mumbai Next MMR Transformation conclave, organised by the Maharashtra government and Mumbai First here, through video conference. In his reply, Jaitley said the government was exploring several options of infrastructure financing in India and that a number of international bodies were ready to fund infrastructure development projects. He added the government was keenly considering these funding sources. While praising Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for honesty, Jaitley also had a word of advice. Apart from being honest, the government had to be decisive, he said. On his part, Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani told the chief minister about his experience of decisions being delayed due to an indecisive bureaucracy and the need to protect officials who wanted to take quick decisions. "Through the past many years, we have faced a number of obstacles in decision-making," he said, adding he was speaking as someone who had lived and invested in Mumbai. Fadnavis responded by saying he would bring about a transparent process to ring-fence officials. Both the Ambani brothers have announced a number of infrastructure projects in and around Mumbai, including a world-class convention centre in Bandra Kurla Complex by RIL, but very few have actually fructified. RIL's special economic zone project failed to take off due to land acquisition problems in Raigarh, while a second SEZ near Mumbai is stuck due to lack of clarity in SEZ norms. The first phase of the Mumbai Metro, set up by Anil Ambani's Reliance Infrastructure, was marred by cost overruns and run-ins with the government over fares. Subsequently, the company withdrew from the second and larger phase, citing inordinate delay. Anil Ambani also withdrew from Mumbai's sea link project on the same grounds. The brothers had also bid for a trans-harbour sea link between Navi Mumbai and Mumbai under the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government, but their bid was rejected. Reliance Infrastructure is also the power supplier to more than half of this city. Participating in the conclave, some of India Inc's leading bankers said making Mumbai a financial hub would take at least a decade. SBI's Bhattacharya said the Indian currency should be made fully convertible and facilities should be created for it. "However, for this, the economy needs to look up and that will happen only in the next 7-10 years, not immediately," she added. Sunil Kaushal, Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered, India, pitched for strong infrastructure to support development. "We will take a long time to develop into a global financial centre. We need to solve transport bottlenecks in Mumbai and have lifestyle facilities for people working in and around these areas," he said.

S J Surya's Isai is definitely worth a watch.

Full transcript of President Obama's speech at the Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi.

Indian Space Research Organisation on Tuesday paid tributes to iconic cartoonist R K Laxman by posting online his cartoon 'common man' reaching Mars, the last of his works, which he had sent to the space agency after the success of the historic Mars Mission.

In his penultimate State of the Union address, Barack Obama said that the economy is improving.

'Non Resident Indians know that India's problems are the combination of many factors over the centuries, including foreign rule, lack of resources and the ever-growing population, among other things. Yet, India has achieved many things and even looks at Mars as a neighbour.'

'India today has to fight many a battle, all of which cry out for innovation. This is where the experience of the Diaspora could be the most productive well-spring.'

How will the return of a majority government at the Centre, the new India-US friendship and the Mangalyaan triumph change India?

2015 will be a real test for Modi govt.

The newly appointed CMD at Coal India has a tough road ahead.

As India celebrated its success in testing an unmanned space crew module on Thursday, over 1.7 lakh Indians had another reason to be happy as a similar National Aeronautics and Space Administration spacecraft carrying a microchip containing their names was brought back safely to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United States, on the same day after a space odyssey.

The year 2014 has been an eventful one for India. The country got a new government and a new state, broke new frontiers in various fields and of course its share of controversies.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Mars rover Curiosity has made the first definitive detection of organic molecules, the building blocks of all known forms of terrestrial life, on the surface of the Red Planet.

At 17, Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai became the youngest Nobel laureate. She was conferred the joint Peace Prize along with India's Kailash Satyarthi at Oslo on Wednesday. Here is the full transcript of her speech.

Led by a team of scientists of Indian-origin, NASA's Curiosity rover has found new evidence of water on Mars, indicating that the planet most like Earth in the solar system was suitable for microbial life.

After landslide victories in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections, the BJP is hoping to crest the tide in Jammu and Kashmir, confident of both Hindu and Muslim votes

It has already tasted success with the moon mission and Mangalyaan. Is man in space the next frontier for ISRO?

The Philae lander on Wednesday separated from the Rosetta orbiter and became the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on a comet.

Rediff.com lists the footballers who died while playing, in the last decade.

The success of the government will depend substantially on the quality of its team of key ministers, officials and advisors

Bezos wears it on his sleeve, Nadella keeps it quiet

India's Mars orbiter has sent a picture of regional dust storm activities over the northern hemisphere of the red planet, Indian Space Research Organisation said on Monday.

Here are some interesting quotes from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to a sell-out crowd at the Madison Square Garden in New York

A day after India successfully launched the Mars Orbiter in the Red Planet on its first attempt, it tweeted the first image it took and captioned it, 'the view is nice up here'.

As US businessmen and investors await Prime Minister Narendra Modi's US visit, the investor community and the industry leaders said the success of 'Mangalyaan' goes on to prove India's growth story based on 'frugal innovations'.

So here we are, reproducing our own feature from some time back, which was created, now it may seem, in anticipation of the big event.

Tanmaya Nanda provides a quick guide to questions about the Mars mission you always wanted to ask but were afraid to

India successfully placed its spacecraft in orbit around Mars, becoming the first country in the world to succeed in such an inter-planetary mission in the maiden attempt itself.

Rediff.com takes a look at spacecraft that have successfully made it to Mars.

This is truly historic!

On Monday, ISRO scientists will run a test of the Mars orbiter satellite's main engine and make a small course correction. This is crucial because the engine has been idle for nearly 10 months. T E Narasimhan reports

Amount more than twice the size of Sahara's; collective investment scheme operator has 3 months to return money and wind up.

Silicon Valley can be replicated, but this will only be achieved so long as fresh talent is welcomed by both our countries - a move that will surely spark a billion ideas and discoveries.

The Telangana government's decision to organise its first Independence Day celebrations at Golconda Fort instead of the Secunderabad Parade Grounds has sparked off a political controversy with opposition parties questioning the motive behind the move.

If this headline sounds absolutely ridiculous to you, you absolutely MUST read this article. :-)

The 32-year-old all-rounder acknowledged the unpredictability of the Twenty20-over format but insists there are enough players in his side who can single-handedly change the course of any match.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are on course for a King's Cup final showdown after Spain's two dominant teams recorded convincing home wins in their semi-final first legs on Wednesday.