[3.6] Backport README.rst changes (GH-294)

(cherry picked from commit b3f1f59cf451d4a25b204e7a24f7be4c95e40be8)
(cherry picked from commit 1b3d88eb33085e90af729c4c2f78b5ba1b942b1e)
(cherry picked from commit c0866855d54bbbe7bcac299c4af45389efacce0b)
(cherry picked from commit e32ec9334b35f897ace8a05128838f92c5e0b2fb)
(cherry picked from commit 6329aea78e3627d250009aa5aaaf47cd11587f4d)
5 files changed