Month: March 2021

China has quietly changed the name of Confucius Institutes Headquarters to the Center for Language Education and Cooperation in an attempt to alter the perception that the organisation serves as China’s ideological marketing machine, according to a report in Fox News.

The move comes after the US Senate approved a bill last week to tighten controls on China-funded Confucius Institutes, which are China-funded cultural centers that operate on university campuses in the USA.
Confucius Institutes are public educational partnerships between colleges and universities in China and colleges and universities in other countries.

The headquarters also developed a non-governmental organization (NGO) called the Chinese International Education Foundation, which now controls local Confucius Institutes, National Association of Scholars (NAS) researcher Rachelle Peterson told Fox News.

“This is a situation we don’t fully understand yet,” Peterson said, noting that while some US schools are dropping Confucius Institutes as a PR stunt because of the institute’s reputation, schools are adopting new Chinese learning programs that use the same textbooks, courses, staff and even funding from the Hanban.

According to Peterson, as of March 17, there were 51 Confucius Institutes with partnerships at US schools, including seven that are preparing to close at Stony Brook University, Portland State University, Central Connecticut State University, Colorado State University, University of New Hampshire, Tufts University and Emory University.

More than 40 US schools have terminated their partnerships since China launched the initiative in 2004, but Peterson suggests that terminating these partnerships doesn’t completely solve the issue because similar programs are appearing under new names, reported Fox News.

More than 100 Confucius Institutes serving K-12 schools, for example, have rebranded as the Asia Society Chinese Language Partner Network. It works with the 65-year-old US-based Asia Society and receives funding from the Hanban, a new white paper from the America Security Institute shows.

“That sounds like a pretty straightforward name change,” Peterson said, but she added that instances of other schools’ decisions to drop Confucius Institutes completely are “more complicated” because they are “replacing them with other organisations that retain a lot of Confucius Institutes’ program.”

The Confucius Act was passed twice in the Senate during the previous administration, but the House never voted on the bill despite its bipartisan introduction by Republican Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio, and former Republican Donna Shalala, D-Fla., in July 2020.

William Burns, former State Department diplomat to Russia and US President Joe Biden’s nominee for director of the CIA, also recently voiced concerns with the program.

“I think what the Confucius Institutes do, and I’m no expert on them, is to promote a narrative of Xi Jinping’s China, which is designed to build sympathy for what is, in my view, a quite aggressive leadership, which is engaged in conduct and conducted an adversarial approach to relations with the United States,” he told the Senate Intelligence Committee in February. (ANI)

Saudi Arabia has prohibited its men from marrying women from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Chad and Myanmar, Dawn reported citing a report in Saudi media.

According to unofficial figures, there are about 500,000 women from these four countries currently residing in the kingdom. Saudi men wishing to marry foreigners now face tougher regulations, says a report in Makkah daily quoting Makkah Police Director Major General Assaf Al-Qurashi.

The move is aimed at discouraging Saudi men from marrying foreigners and additional formalities have been placed before issuing permission for marriage with foreigners, the Dawn reported.

Those wanting to marry foreign women should first obtain the consent of the government and submit marriage applications through official channels, Qurashi was quoted as saying.

Qurashi said divorced men would not be allowed to apply within six months of their divorce.

The official said applicants should be over 25 and attach identification documents signed by the local district mayor as well as all other identity papers, including a copy of his family card.

“If the applicant is already married, he should attach a report from a hospital proving that his wife is either disabled, suffering from a chronic disease or is sterile,” he said. (ANI)

Bollywood actor Janhvi Kapoor on Friday announced the wrap-up of her upcoming movie ‘Good Luck jerry’, for which she had been shooting in Punjab.

The ‘Roohi’ actor took to her Instagram handle and announced the same by sharing pictures from the sets and thanking her team. She captioned the post as “I can’t believe it’s a film wrap. So many things have happened, changed, evolved, been learnt and unlearnt during the course of and because of this shoot.”

She added, “But through all of it I used to be so excited to come to set and see all these faces and trouble them and laugh with them and work tirelessly and unitedly to create something that was exciting all of us. I’ll miss all of you – is a massive understatement. And thank you for everything.”

The pictures, which were shared by Janhvi, included the movie’s director Siddharth Sengupta and the entire crew of ‘Good Luck Jerry’ could be seen posing. The film has been shot in Punjab and will be helmed by Aanad L Rai.

Meanwhile, Janhvi was recently seen in ‘Roohi’, which was produced by Dinesh Vijan and Mrighdeep Singh Lamba. The film marked the first-ever collaboration of Rajkummar and Janhvi. The horror-comedy also became the first film to arrive in theatres after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting allowed cinema halls nationwide to operate at full capacity from February 1 with COVID-19 safety protocols put in place. (ANI)

If Congress comes to power in Assam, then it will do away with the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), party leader Rahul Gandhi said on Friday in the poll-bound state.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who arrived in the state on a two-day campaign began with an interaction with students at a college in Lahowal in Dibrugarh and met tea garden workers at Dinjoy tea estate in Dibrugarh.
Addressing tea workers, Gandhi said: “BJP promised Rs 365, but gives Rs 167 to Assam tea workers. I’m not Narendra Modi, I don’t lie. Today, we give you five guarantees; Rs 365 for tea workers, we’ll stand against CAA, 5 lakh jobs, 200 units free electricity and Rs 2000 for housewives.”

The Wayanad MP was seen in a shirt that sported a crossed-out CAA in big letters.

The Congress leader will be releasing the party’s manifesto tomorrow when he is scheduled to address two more election rallies.

During his interaction with students in Dibrugarh earlier, the Wayanad MP also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that the latter visited the state only during election time.

“During flood, you cannot give him anything so he does not come but during elections, you can give him votes, so he comes,” Gandhi said.

Further he attacked the BJP at the Centre for “unemployment amongst youth, the declining democracy and the farm law protest.

Gandhi said, “Democracy is declining. Youth are unemployed, farmers are protesting, CAA is there. We can’t ask the people of Assam to forget their culture, language if they come to Delhi. People from different cultures, languages, religions make up India. One force, born in Nagpur, trying to control the whole country. If the country’s future (students) cannot openly talk to the Prime Minister, then there is no doubt that something somewhere is wrong.”

He further emphasised that there is no democracy without students and advised them to actively participate in politics.

“Democracy means-voice of Assam should control Assam. If we don’t include students then there can be no democracy. Youth should actively participate in politics and fight for Assam when they feel the state is being robbed. You’ll have to fight with love, not with stones, lathis,” said the Congress MP.

Questioning the condition of the tea gardens in Assam, the Congress leader claimed that his party had come up with a policy for investment which was cancelled by the current BJP government in the state.

“Look at the condition of the tea gardens. During our government, we gave a policy in Assam so that investment could be done, but this government cancelled it,” he said.

The Congress would be contesting the Assembly polls in alliance with the minority-based All India United Democratic Front and four other parties.

Assembly elections in Assam for 126 seats will be held in three phases starting on March 27. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. (ANI)

US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin III arrived in New Delhi on Friday on a three-day visit to India.

Austin is set to meet Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during the visit. In the evening today, India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Austin are also likely to discuss China and important regional security issues including Afghanistan during the first visit by a top Biden administration official to India.
The discussions between the American Defence Secretary and the NSA would be the first major interaction between the two sides during the visit.

The American Defence Secretary is also expected to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

He is expected to meet the External Affairs Minister in the second half on Saturday.

Austin is visiting India from March 19 to 21 and is scheduled to meet the top political and military leadership of the country.

India and the US have been working closely with each other after the Chinese attempts to change the status quo in the eastern Ladakh area in April-May last year.

The US side also helped by providing timely defence hardware supplies during the conflict apart from sharing important satellite feed and inputs.

Indo-Pacific region is largely viewed as an area comprising the Indian Ocean and the western and central Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea. China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and its efforts to advance into the Indian Ocean are seen to have challenged the established rules-based system. Moreover, China has criticised the framework as an Asian version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation seeking to undermine its legitimate rise.

The Indian defence ministry said that Austin’s visit to India as part of his first overseas travel emphasises the strength of the India-US strategic partnership. (ANI)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will release the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) manifesto for the West Bengal Assembly elections in Kolkata during his day-long visit to the poll-bound state on March 21.

According to a statement issued by the BJP, Shah will hold a public meeting at Pallighai Scholl ground in Egra in Purba Medinipur district on March 21 (Sunday noon). Later, he will hold a meeting with district and divisional office bearers of the party at Mecheda.
In the evening, the Union Home Minister will release BJP’s manifesto for the West Bengal Assembly elections at Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre in Salt Lake, Kolkata.

The top leadership of the BJP has been holding public meetings and roadshows across the state in recent months.

Elections to the 294-member state assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. (ANI)

As many as 39,726 new COVID-19 cases and 20,654 recoveries were reported in India in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry informed on Friday.

With the addition of fresh infections, the total cases in the country reached 1,15,14,331, including 2,71,282 active cases and 1,10,83,679 recoveries.
The death toll stands at 1,59,370 including 154 fatalities recorded in the last 24 hours.

Maharashtra reported 13,601 new COVID-19 cases and 12,174 recoveries in the last 24 hours on Friday as per the Union Health Ministry. The state also reported 58 deaths in this period

While Delhi recorded 225 of 2,927 fresh cases of the deadly virus with 381 people have been discharged in the last 24 hours, out of 6,31,756 recoveries.

Punjab witnessed a total of 14,366 cases of coronavirus with 1,046 new cases in the last 24 hours today. As many as 1,84,848 people have been recovered from the virus and 1,291 discharged in the last 24 hours.

As many as 3,93,39,817 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the country so far.

As per the India Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 23,13,70,546 samples up to Thursday had been tested for the coronavirus. 10,57,383 samples were tested yesterday. (ANI).

West Indies batsman Chris Gayle thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for helping Jamaica by providing COVID-19 vaccines under the Vaccine Maitri initiative.

As part of the Vaccine Maitri initiative aimed to assist countries in their fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the Made-in-India vaccines reached Jamaica last week.

“Honourable Prime Minister Modi, people of India and Government of India, I want to thank you for the donation of vaccine to Jamaica. We appreciate it, thank you so much. India I will be seeing you soon and thanks once again,” Gayle said in a video posted on Friday by the official Twitter handle of India in Jamaica.

Earlier this week, West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell expressed gratitude towards PM Modi for sending coronavirus vaccines to Jamaica.

Jamaica had also thanked India for sending 50,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines. In a tweet, Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness had said, ” I am extremely pleased to report that yesterday afternoon, we received our first shipment of 50,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine donated by the Government of India. We express our deep appreciation to the Government and people of India for this very much-needed support.”

Last week, former West Indies cricketers Vivian Richards, Richie Richardson, Jimmy Adams, and Ramnaresh Sarwan had thanked PM Modi for helping the Caribbean countries by providing Covid-19 vaccines under the Vaccine Maitri initiative.

In March, Antigua and Barbuda received 1,75,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines out of which 40,000 were donated to the country under the ‘Vaccine Maitri’ initiative. (ANI)

Bollywood star Rani Mukerji is turning a year older this Sunday. This year, she wants to bring in her birthday with her fans before she celebrates it with her family and here’s how!

Rani, who has decided to stay away from social media, will be talking to her fans through Yash Raj Films’ Instagram handle.

Rani revealed, “Since I’m not on social media, I look forward to spending time with my fans and people, who have been a constant support system for me over the years, through this annual social media interaction.”

The ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ actor added, “I’m looking forward to bringing in my birthday with my fans first, even before I celebrate it with my family. Their love and relentless support has motivated me and validated all my film choices. So, this is my way of thanking them for being there and watching my back at every step of my journey in cinema so far.”

Reportedly, Rani can also announce the details of her much-anticipated crime-thriller movie ‘Mardaani 3’ on her birthday.

The actor will be next seen in ‘Bunty Aur Babli 2’, co-starring Saif Ali Khan and Siddhant Chaturvedi. The cast also includes debutante Sharvari. ‘Bunty Aur Babli 2’ is a sequel to the 2005 hit film ‘Bunty Aur Babli’, starring Rani alongside Abhishek Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan. (ANI)