India is aiming to unleash a reel-world charm offensive to turn its superpower dreams into reality and the first act will be set in the resort town of Cannes on the French Riviera. Sources say the Narendra Modi government would unveil its strategy on the red carpet at the upcoming 70th edition of the annual Festival de Cannes next month. 

Amid spiralling Indo-Pak tensions, eminent Urdu poets believe cultural exchange between the two countries and visits of artists must be kept away from the purview of politics. Many Urdu poets expressed this desire on the sidelines of the 'Jashn-e-Bahar Mushaira' here last evening. A galaxy of poets, including Javed Akhtar, recited their poetry at the symposium to a packed house. In its 19th edition, this was the first time the Urdu poetry symposium had no representation from Pakistan.

“Bollywood is no longer Hollywood’s poor cousin. Bollywood is no longer just a convenient nomenclature devised by unimaginative folks. Bollywood cinema is one of the strongest global cultural ambassadors of a new India. And India is on its way to becoming a global soft power to reckon with,” Swaminathan contends in the book.

To challenge the "anti-India" narrative in foreign media and to report events from the country's perspective to global audiences, public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has set its eyes on a high-tech digital platform. [...] According to the report of the panel, the new platform would aim to have global opinion-makers, global influencers, Indian diaspora, global academia and think tanks among its audience.

Non-resident Indians (NRIs) used to be looked at with skepticism once upon a time, but today India embraces their success, Ambassador of India to UAE Navdeep Singh Suri has said. Speaking at the 35th conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India - Dubai Chapter, Suri said the changing mindsets of diplomats and increasing social media use have aided in showcasing the hard work of NRIs and of diplomatic missions.

Days after attacks on African students in Greater Noida, a group of Indian and African students came together for a friendly football match on Friday at Sharda University. The 90-minute match was played between two teams, Chancellor's 11 and Embassy 11, which had the same composition - four students from Africa, one each from Nepal, Bhutan, Vietnam and Afghanistan, and three from India.

The league, launched by India's ambassador to Japan Sujan Chinoy in the presence of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, will be headed by Hakubun Shimomura, former minister for education, culture, sports, and science and technology [...] Chinoy said that the establishment of the league comes at an opportune moment. "India and Japan have a special strategic and global partnership based on our shared values of democracy, rule of law, tolerance and transparency..." he said.