Foreign Affairs is axing a $5-million program that funds Canadian studies abroad...The "Understanding Canada" initiative, which began in the 1970s, was a $5-million expenditure that gave grants to foreign scholars to teach courses or hold special academic events about Canada in foreign countries.

The festival, now in its second year, is a joint production of the Indian Embassy in Israel and Teamwork Productions, an event management and entertainment company with offices in Delhi, Hong Kong, Singapore and London. In its sophomore year, the festival is marking a special milestone: 20 years of diplomatic relations between India and Israel. With events in art, culture, music, film and food, the festival’s producers hope to nurture the two nations’ evolving friendship, aiding the Indian Embassy in Israel in what Ila Gupta of Teamwork calls “soft diplomacy.”