It has taken well over sixty years, but after a traumatic divorce that unraveled an empire, India and Britain now seem to be having some kind of cultural honeymoon. The landmark exhibition “Mummy: The Inside Story,” which opens on Nov. 21 at the biggest museum in Mumbai, the CSMVS, is the result of a new collaboration between the British Museum, whose collection forms the display, and the CSMVS.

The Celtic Connection, one of the Scotland’s biggest roots music and arts festival supported by the government Scottish Arts Council, yesterday signed an agreement with the Rajasthan International Folk Festival (RIFF) to promote exchanges between roots musicians of Rajasthan and the Celtic regions of Britain.

"The four month long Oz Fest will celebrate and promote these expanding links and foster a better understanding of culture," says Strahan. Incidentally, food has become the gastronomical tactic for cultural diplomacy, India's rise as a preferred destination for Australians could also be one of the reasons for unveiling this mega fest, that reportedly has a budget of three million dollars.

Recently, the Indian National Security Council Secretariat released recommendations by a joint public-private working group on cybersecurity that aimed to strengthen India’s capability to combat the rising threat from cyberspace.

During their visit, the delegation will call on senior Chinese Government leaders and discuss on new areas for collaboration for enhancing trade and investment between the two countries. In 2011, bilateral trade stood at around $74 billion and the leaders from both the countries have set a trade target of $100 billion by 2015.

India’s government used strategies such as state-wide polio campaigns to tackle specific challenges. They also used massive public awareness campaigns, utilising the star power of India’s Bollywood and sports personalities.

A report in this paper that the total water storage capacity of the country has gone down by 29 percent in part due to dwindling storage of large dams is quite chilling. The big dams including Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma have greatly lost their storage capacity due to silting. There are limitations in removing the silt. Thus, it is obvious that new reservoirs like Kalabagh must be built.

AS JULIA GILLARD has proved again, when it comes to the relationship between Australia and the subcontinent, there's no diplomatic tool more powerful than cricket. The Prime Minister was in India last week to talk trade and cultural ties but what hogged the headlines was her announcement that the Indian cricket great, Sachin Tendulkar, would be awarded membership of the Order of Australia.