Fixing the Indian Railways won't be easy. It connects the entire country through 68,525 km of route track (in 2014), 12,961 passenger trains, and 8,637 freight trains. It also runs 125 hospitals, 586 polyclinics, 102 schools and sundry other initiatives.

The agency had warned it may act after inconclusive elections over the weekend suggested the next government would have a hard time getting reforms through to law.

Irani's departure from the Human Resource Development Ministry comes during a crucial time when the New Education Policy is underway.

Below are some key interview highlights and important takeaways on issues ranging from his political past to upcoming elections and Goods and Services Tax (GST) to India's foreign policy

To anyone who has looked at microfinance and livelihood promotion in India, he or she would have, at some stage or the other, either heard or crossed paths with Vijay Mahajan - the social entrepreneur who founded BASIX.

Medium-term growth prospect of the Indian economy is improving, and with the GST Bill likely to be passed later in the year, it will only improve further, says an HSBC report.

Underlining the scale of his ambition, PM Modi has told power officials he wants to announce that every village has been electrified at his next Budget in early 2017, 18 months ahead of the original target, a senior official told Reuters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to need a big rise in economic growth and a run of good weather to have a chance of fulfilling his promise to double farmers' incomes by 2022.

\"Spending on my son's education and medicine for the family has gone up sharply,\" said Sambuddha Banerjee, a 47-year-old IT professional, who works for local government in Kolkata.

Growing discontent in rural India bodes ill for Modi as he tries to bounce back from a heavy defeat in a state election last year in Bihar and build a support base to keep power in the 2019 general election.

The Union Budget for FY 2016-17 presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Jayant Sinha, the Minister of State for Finance, spoke at length on government's economic vision, and the initiatives it has taken on various fronts, including reforms in the social sector and financial sector, among others. Anilesh S. Mahajan reports.

Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha assured that the government is on track to push reforms.

The biggest drawback, say experts, is lack of disincentives for states that go back on their promises. The only deterrent is that they may have to forfeit their claim on funds under IPDS.

While the role of drones in civilian life is bound to increase, the DGCA's hesitation in endorsing them also has some basis. Key questions of safety and security are involved.

The NDA government is bringing a plan to clean the mess in distribution companies, but a history of failures raises more apprehension than confidence.

Business Today does a reality check of the claims and counter claims in the fight between the JD(U) and the BJP for voter mind space ahead of elections.

Time to debate whether Rajya Sabha should have power to veto bills passed by Lok Sabha.

If the Congress party wants to bring itself back as a credible alternative in the next general elections, it will have to reinvent its working style. Else, another defeat in 2019 might prove fatal for this grand old party.

Recent utterances from both PM and the finance minister have made it clear that the upcoming budget will be a marked departure from the business-as-usual version of July 2014.