Carleton University marked the launch of the Year of India in Canada by celebrating a major investment in its Canada-India Centre for Excellence in Science, Technology, Trade and Policy.

The Jaipur Literature Festival, which wrapped up Tuesday, is India at its best, and occasionally not-so-best, proving that the proud emerging nation can easily trounce China in at least this category: the soft-power world of ideas, debate, criticism and a willingness to question authority.

China's campaign to use the soft power of culture to present an appealing face to the world seems to have found an official mascot: Confucius. The 2,500-year-old Chinese theorist, who preached devotion to tradition, has become the first non-revolutionary figure to be honored in Tiananmen Square with a new monumental statue...

"This year, the Islamic Republic of Iran will be the showcase's special guest and is given a great chance to introduce its culture and publication to the world. Former guests of the book fair were the US, France and Turkey," said [Qatari Culture Minister Mohammad Ibn Abdolaziz] Alkavari.

Kutch may be Gujarat's most barren region, but it has given birth to people with the most fertile imagination. Films, music, literature... Kutchis have left their imprint on everything creative.

Just under the wire, this note from Nicholas Charles Bouloukos, a jazz pianist and conductor now working in China, is too interesting not to share while the Hu Jintao visit is still more or less newsworthy. Bouloukos explains how the White House choice of a jazz-centric music program for last week's State Dinner matches developments in China itself.

In early March, celebrations dedicated to the Russian Maslenitsa Festival, or the Pancake Week, will be held in the city of Rome as part of the Russia-Italy cross-cultural exchange year. The traditional farewell-to-winter carnival will take place under the auspices of the governments of St. Petersburg and Rome.

Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Barack Obama's hometown of Chicago Thursday, under the auspices of furthering cultural exchanges between the two countries. Hu is scheduled to visit a local Confucius institute today before attending a ceremony of business-contract signings.