A dancer, choreographer, art administrator, organiser of Delhi Art International Festival and a writer with a mission, Pratibha Prahlad, was honoured with Padma Shri this year. In conversation with Geeta Sahai, she talks about the importance of cultural diplomacy, managing cultural scenario and encouraging the promotion of arts and art forms. 

“Our U.S. government can’t be everywhere at every moment,” said Jennifer Clinton, president of Global Ties U.S. “We must continue to find ways to leverage the citizenry to build the bridges that lead to increased security, economic development, economic ties and cultural ties.”

Based on a recent agreement signed between Mexican cultural officials and officials from Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization, over 250 artifacts dating from the time of the Mayan Empire to recent eras will be on display, Kargar said. 

This month, President Obama is in Africa reaching out to the approximately 200 million people on the continent between the ages of 15 and 24. The United States is strengthening ties with this dynamic and fast-growing region, embracing what the President has described as “a new era of engagement, based on mutual interests and mutual respect…to advance the common security and prosperity of all people.”

As part of the State Department’s ongoing efforts to counter violent extremism, 11 high-level government representatives from Counter-ISIL Coalition countries will begin a U.S. exchange program this week aimed at discrediting and de-legitimizing ISIL’s brand of violent extremism. 

This year, the YES alumni in Pakistan are working to help over 1,000 Pakistani people in 10 different cities over the course of a month. The alumni are working to provide these 1,000 people with ration packages for the month. This event is taking place over the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and is divided into three phases. The first phase is fund raising and distribution, the second phase is to work with orphanages and slums, and the third phase is the distribution of Eid gifts to sick children in hospitals in Pakistan.

Since its creation in the summer of 1946, the Fulbright program has become the “flagship international educational exchange program” of the US government. Over the past 67 years, almost 320,000 students, scholars and teachers have traveled internationally as part of the program’s vast effort to improve mutual understanding between nations. Understandably, given the profound effect these experiences have had on the lives of grant recipients, the Fulbright is often seen as among the most liberal, generous, and benevolent international programs of the US state.