Godrej and some other firms are frustrated at what they say is the slow execution of projects and lack of government support, which are hampering India's efforts to compete with China and Russia as a cheaper option for launching satellites.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday gave away Gandhi Peace Prize 2014 to ISRO in recognition of its services in transforming India through the use of space technology.
The space agency launched 104 satellites, breaking the previous record of 37 by Russia.
Modi highlighted the importance of assimilating technology with governance to ensure equitable growth and prosperity for all.
'Ever since this election concluded, aspirations have risen... political stability in itself is a big message. By deciding for stability, the people of India have laid the foundation for development.'
'It is a blessing in disguise that they could find the glitch before the launch.' 'If this was not found, the entire mission would have been lost.'
India is set to operationalise its own navigational system with the successful launch of IRNSS-1D, the fourth in the series of seven navigational satellites, onboard PSLV-C27 from Sriharikota on Saturday.
'The ultimate satisfaction of helping in the country's space programme is the bigger achievement attracting women to space research -- and they are so good at it!'
And what happens next?
'In our textbooks, we never had chapters where a woman does something. We had one Rani Laxmibai chapter, the rest only the men did. We have been trained like that but, now, things have to change.'
In fact, a $1-million initial fund has been announced to help developers build apps and new services, including for more local-language content, and a contest has been launched, too.
As for his interest in space, Amazon founded Blue Origin, a privately funded aerospace company.
Rediff.com takes a look at spacecraft that have successfully made it to Mars.
Wielding the broom, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched the country's biggest-ever cleanliness drive that is expected to cost over Rs 62,000 crore, asserting that the "Swachh Bharat" mission is "beyond politics" and inspired by patriotism.
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
'In May 2014, India got its Donald Trump equivalent as prime minister in the form of Narendra Modi. Come 2016, we will know if America too gets its own version of Modi by electing Trump,' says Shehzad Poonawalla.
'I will say all this happened because of ignorance coupled with arrogance,' says G Madhavan Nair.
The Mars mission is overwhelmingly irrelevant to space science and won't advance the frontiers of knowledge. It will divert attention from the real technological challenges facing the Indian space programme, and will further distort our science and technology priorities, says Praful Bidwai.
It has already tasted success with the moon mission and Mangalyaan. Is man in space the next frontier for ISRO?
'The unique achievements have been made by engineers from small towns who have had a non elite upbringing and who have grown with the programme,' says R Aravamudan, one of the pioneers of the Indian space programme.
This is the joint statement issued by the ministry of external affairs on the visit of US President Barack Obama to India.
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