This visa issue had gotten so embarrassing that former Defence Secretary William Cohen, now a member of the US-India Business Council's board of directors, who was presiding along with Ambassador Nirupama Rao at the launch, had to prevail upon Secretary of State John F Kerry and get the visas okayed.
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last week, in 16 images.
Compliance costs and legal scrutiny could rise.
The 42-year-old Leander Paes's dream of appearing in a record seventh Olympics may remain just that if Rohan Bopanna decides to play with a player ranked lower than the world No 46.
'If the Indian economy formalises, industrialises, urbanises and develops human capital, 10 lakh youngsters will join the labour force every month in the next 10 years.' 'It's not a bulb that will go off; it is a sunrise.'
'Now with many itchy-fingered ex-bosses being raked through the mud, their marriages ruined, their careers trashed, their finances hit, the inclination of many male hiring managers will be to hire fewer women,' believes Rajeev Srinivasan.
The remarkable story of Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian in space, will be seen in a film featuring Aamir Khan.
'Sometimes, we forget that the most important thing is to smile.'
Aseem Chhabra looks at the year's best Non-Hindi Indian movies.
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday ordered an urgent investigation into a decision by Margaret Thatcher's government to send an SAS officer to India in 1984 to advise Indira Gandhi in planning Operation Bluestar to flush out militants holed up in the Golden Temple.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs William Hague and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osbourne, heading the largest business and ministerial delegation ever, arrived in Mumbai, their first port of call, during a two-day visit to the country.
In our special series on A Day in the Life of India, Ashok Kumar Mondol, a Kolkata tram driver, speaks about the joys of driving a city institution.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
'Even apart from the Bengal famine, there was a great deal more bloodshed and deceit than I was prepared for.' 'Almost every one of the acquisitions was won by extreme extortionate methods and what came out was that these relatively honest officers found themselves doing very dishonest things.'
Five brothers playing first class cricket, including four appearing in Test matches as well, reads like a fairy tale. But it is true. Indeed, cricket historians and statisticians have never been tired of recounting how Hanif Mohammad, who passed into the ages on August 11, and his three brothers dominated Pakistan cricket in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Apart from Hanif, eldest Wazir Mohammad and younger ones Mushtaq Mohammad and Sadiq Mohammad represented Pakistan in the top division of cricket.
Academicians Lloyd and Susanne Rudolph, who were on Monday presented with Padma Bhushan award, predict significant changes in Indian politics if Aam Aadmi Party performs well in the Lok Sabha elections.
It emerges that not only does the CIDR project fails the test of fairness, justness and reasonableness besides the test of not being fanciful, oppressive or arbitrary; it also fails the test of Arthashastra, Hadith and the Bible.
The power to cause societal pain, at least to some segments of society, is intrinsic to the nature of technological innovation.
Everton have been handed the dubious distinction of being the 'dirtiest' Premier League team after a study on the all-time cards and fouls by www.dirtyteams.co.uk.
'Why assail the Tibetan leader at a time when many in China realise that the Buddhist monk is the best bet if Beijing is seriously trying to find a solution to the Tibetan issue?' asks Claude Arpi.
Then chief minister Jyoti Basu once told an industrialist that capitalists were class enemies and he should expect no sympathy.
'It is vital that objects such as the Harihara -- and collections from South Asia generally -- remain here,' the British Museum tells Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
Ajit Balakrishnan rewinds to a decade when mobile phones were unheard of and when an IIM degree had a different purpose and value.
Donald Trump, Hardik Patel, Kangana Ranuat... The year 2017 wouldn't have been the same if it weren't for these personalities and many more. As we herald in 2018, here's a look at the faces and stories which left an indelible mark on us.
Rediff.com lists 10 athletes who died way before time.
Bernard Tomic is set to sit out the Australian Open after Tennis Australia (TA) decided not to award him a wildcard to the main draw, the organisers said on Thursday.
Raja Chari is in training to go to space in 2019. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel presents the story of his journey from Cedar Falls, Iowa, to NASA. A Rediff.com Exclusive!
Dani Alves has blamed the media for Brazil's unsuccessful World Cup campaign but conceded that the team did not prepare properly ahead of the humiliating 7-1 defeat by Germany in the semi-final.
Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi wrote a personal letter to her British counterpart Margaret Thatcher soon after the 1984 Operation Bluestar in an attempt to justify her decision to send army to flush out militants from the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh shrine.
'The summer of 1857 saw violence, perpetrated by the Indians and the Britons, on an unprecedented scale.' 'Never before and never after in the history of British rule in India was there violence at the level that 1857 witnessed.'
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Privatising public sector companies would have encountered significant opposition from their managers as well as from strong unions.
'So what if the enemies take us as prisoners of war? So what of they kill us? I would feel proud that I could sacrifice my life for the country,' say these proud lady officers of the Indian Navy.
'The Naga Hills region, Nagaland and Manipur, have had the most uncaring and corrupt state governments with little to show on the ground despite the nation's highest per capita development expenditure,' says Mohan Guruswamy.
'His popularity is still high; respect for his intellect and integrity is still discernible; but his long night may just be beginning,' says Ambassador B S Prakash.
'I can tell you the case that hurts me the most is the one in which the little boy is forced to sign the Kohinoor over.' 'You take a mother away from a child, you surround him with grown ups speaking a different language, you tell him he must sign this over or else...'
'It is a great misfortune that the Nehruvian Stalinists of India have colluded with the grand project of demeaning and destroying Sanskrit. Today, the number of Sanskritists in India is low, and falling,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
A top official of the United States-based firm AdvanFort that owns the ship that has been detained off the coast of Tamil Nadu has claimed that all arms and ammunition on board are licensed and were meant for anti-piracy mission.
Aadhaar-related schemes and the Aadhaar Act exist on the assumption that Right to Privacy is not a Fundamental Right.
Looking at some of Bollywood's coldest film locations.
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