Source: tibet.net, 11-04-2011

GENEVA: The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances last Friday expressed its concern on the recent waves of arrest made in China including the case of Panchen Lama.

Highlighting the case of Panchen Lama, the UN press statement said, “A case going back 16 years is that concerning Gedhun Choekyi Nyima known as the 11th Panchen Lama. He disappeared in 1995 when he was six years old. While the Chinese authorities have admitted taking him, they have continually refused to divulge any information about him or his whereabouts, making his case an enforced disappearance. A number of human rights mechanisms including the UN Committee Against Torture, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, as well as Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, have all called for his whereabouts to be revealed, to no avail.”

Source: tibet.net, 11-04-2011

DHARAMSHALA: The committee appointed to make draft amendments to the Charter of Tibetans in exile on the devolution of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's political authority presented its report to the Parliamentary Secretary General today.

Kalon Tripa Prof Samdhong, member of the drafting committee, (2nd left) presents to the Parliamentary Secretary General (1st left) the draft amendments to the Charter on the devolution of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's political authority to the elected leadership, in Dharamsala on 11 April 2011. Photo by Tenzin Gyaltsen/TPiE

"The Committee completed its task to draft amendments to the Charter in accordance with the resolution passed by the Parliament to implement the devolution of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's formal authority to the elected leadership," Kalon Tripa Prof Samdhong Rinpoche, who is a member of the drafting committee, told reporters after submitting the draft.

Source: phayul.com

Dharamsala, April 9: The European Parliament (EP) on Thursday passed a resolution asking the government of Nepal to allow Tibetan refugees living in the country to enjoy their basic fundamental rights and freedoms.

Members of the European Parliament also reportedly expressed their concern and condemned the growing influence of China in the internal affairs of Nepal and urged the Chinese Government and its representatives in Nepal to refrain from exerting any further pressure on the Nepalese authorities.

The resolution came in the wake of Nepal forcibly banning Tibetan refugees from taking part in an election to elect the new leaders of their "government-in-exile" based in India.

Source : tibet.net, 06-04-2011

NEW YORK: Tenzin Seldon, a junior at Stanford University and a first generation Tibetan American, has been announced as one of the winners of the prestigious Truman Scholarship.

The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation announced that 60 students from 54 US colleges and universities were selected as 2011 Truman Scholars. The 60 Scholars were selected from among 602 candidates nominated by 264 colleges and universities. Each Scholarship provides up to $30,000 for graduate study.

Recipients must be US citizens, have outstanding leadership potential and communication skills, be in the top quarter of their class, and be committed to careers in government or the not-for-profit sector.

Dharamsala, April 4 - Students from various schools here sat on a ‘Fast for Freedom’ Sunday in solidarity with the Tibetan students of the Ngaba Prefecture Upper Middle School who have been reportedly sitting on fast since March 17 in protest against the Chinese government following a Tibetan monk’s self immolation and its handling by the Chinese police. 

Organized by the Students for a Free Tibet, fasts by students were also organized in various other places in India, US, Canada and England.

Source: tibet.net

NEW DELHI: With centuries of tradition behind them, Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama believes young Indians should be playing a more active role in preserving their ethos of non-violence and propagating it to the outside world.

Praising India's democratic traditions, His Holiness said it was India which introduced him to the true meaning of democracy and young Indians should do everything to keep alive their rich traditions developed over thousands of years through overlapping of cultures.
"On non-violence and spirituality I have nothing to say to Indians, you already know these things for at least the last 2000 modern years," he told a gathering here at a discussion on 'non-violence and spirituality in India' as part of a series of events at the Nehru Memorial Museum to mark the birth centenary of former president R Venkataraman.