LOSAR LA TASHI DELEK

Losar means Tibetan New year. It is the most significant festival celebrated by Tibetan all over the world.

This year 2011, Tibetan New Year will  be celebrated on 5th march. It is a 15-day festival while the first three days are the main part of the festival observance. These three days are celebrated with lots of customary traditions. For instance, on the first day of Losar 2011, Early in the morning, they wish each other saying, Tashi Delek and offer Tea, Dre Sil , scarfs to His Holiness photo. On that day, they prepare Changkol which is normlly made of special beverage, a kind of Tibetan beer. It is prepared with rice beer boiled with nuts, dry grapes, butter, sugar and dry cheese.

Source : tibet.net

[Monday, 28 February 2011]

DHARAMSHALA: Sangay Gyatso, who was among the leading peaceful protesters during the widespread protests in Tibet in 2008, succumbed to his physical and mental trauma suffered during a year-long escape in the hills to evade government persecution, according to a report received by the Central Tibetan Administration.

Sangay Gyatso (1st left) speaking to foreign journalists about repression of human rights by the Chinese government during a peaceful protest in Labrang in Amdo Province in northeastern Tibet on 9 April 2008

Sangay took leading role in the peaceful protests that occurred in Labrang in Tibet's northeastern Amdo Province in 2008. Defying intense restriction by the Chinese government on 4 April 2008, he and his colleagues from Labrang Monastery spoke to a group of visiting foreign journalists about the "suppression of fundamental human rights in Tibet by the Chinese government".

Source: tibet.net

[Monday, 28 February 2011]

DHARAMSHALA: The Newark Museum will invite His Holiness the Dalai Lama to grace the centennial celebration of its foremost holdings of both secular and religious Tibetan art in the world.  

The Newark Museum displayed its first 150 Tibetan objects in 1911. Today the collection numbers over 5,500 objects that range from the eleventh to the twenty-first century and is the largest and most important repository for Tibetan art in the Americas.

ZURICH: Kalon Tripa Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche arrived in Zurich, Switzerland on 18 February evening. The Tibetan Swiss Friendship Association and the Tibetan Community in Liechtenstein and Switzerland invited Kalon Tripa.

On 19 February morning, the council members of the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe called on Kalon Tripa at the hotel. They thanked Kalon Tripa for his many years of dedicated service to the Tibetan issue. They briefed him of their activities in creating awareness about the Tibetan elections, Tibetan language classes for their own members and other political activities.

“You all are doing tremendous work for the Tibetan issue. I appreciate your great motivation and determination,” he said.

In the afternoon, Kalon Tripa addressed Tibetan Swiss Friendship Association’s Annual General Body meeting in Zurich.

“I take this opportunity to express our gratitude on behalf of 6 million people of Tibet to all of you and through you to the international community in general and people of Switzerland in particular,” said Kalon Tripa. “Switzerland was the first Western country to invite a large number of Tibetan refugees for resettlement and these settlers have been the happiest among the Tibetan Diaspora... We will never forget the kindness of Swiss people and government for their help offered when we were badly in need of it.”

Source : BBC news, 21-02-2011

According to BBC news, China's official in charge of the state security apparatus has warned of the need to find new ways to defuse unrest.

Zhou Yongkang urged senior officials to improve "social management" and "detect conflicts and problems early on", the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

He was speaking at a weekend seminar which took place as an internet campaign tried to provoke a "jasmine revolution" in China.

On Sunday, police dispersed a meeting of people who had answered the call.

Source: phayul.com

By Kalsang Rinchen

Dharamsala, February 18 – A nine-member delegation of Buddhist leaders and monks from Sikkim, Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh met with India’s home secretary G.K. Pillai on Wednesday in New Delhi to express their disappointment over the “unfounded” allegations against 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinlay Dorjee by sections of the Indian media.