Dharamshala: The Deputy Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, Mrs Dolma Gyari, presided over a meeting held on January 15 at the Parliamentary Secretariat, regarding the implementation of the First Tibetan General Meeting's final recommendations, approved by the Parliament during its 10th session.

The 12-point recommendation consisted of matters relating to the political situation in Tibet, sustenance of Tibetan settlements in exile, economy and education and the advocacy of the Tibetan cause.


It is the result of extensive parliamentary disscusions between 16-18 December, during which time the Parliament's Standing Committee finalised its implimentation. 12 of these final recommendations were presented and discussed with the Kashag during the January 15 meeting.

London: During an address to a crowd of hundreds in Sarnath, yesterday, His Holiness said, "all people should be more compassionate towards all."

His Holiness the Dalai Lama's statement came during an opening ceremony for a new academic building at the Central University of Tibetan Studies in Sarnath. The event was attended by hundreds of Buddhist monks and fellow Tibetans, in which His Holiness said that to achieve ‘bodhi' you must remove the sorrows of others. During his address the congregation he also said that all living beings in the world feel pain and sorrow, but only humans can feel the pain and sorrow of others.

"Among all living beings, humans have wisdom, hence they should apply their wisdom purposefully and in the right direction," he said.

London: A recent update by Apple on Monday (22nd November) for all of its mobile devices included the capability of using the Tibetan language. The latest update for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, iOS 4.2, fully supports display of Unicode Tibetan and a Tibetan input method for virtually all applications.

In 2005, Lobsang Monlam, a monk from Sera Monastery, developed the unicode Tibet font Monlam Bod-yig that is now included in an update downloaded by millions of people worldwide. At the time of creation he said, "until today, we write Tibetan in a Word document and then attach the file with our email. Now people can chat and write emails in Tibetan language directly."

The recent Apple update has been greatly received by Tibetan's support groups "a small step for Ven. Monlam, a giant leap for Tibetan language," said Tendor Dorjee, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet.

Dharamshala: A presentation by Mr Gabriel Lafitte, an Australian academic and development policy consultant to the Environment and Development Desk (EDD) of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile was held in Dharamsala, northern India, on  Monday (Nov 22). Entitled China's innermost Secret Fears, the talk was organised by the Tibetan Women's Association and attended by 30 Tibetans and foreign tourists, who took part in a question-and-answer session.

Gabriel Lafitte is an Australian born and development policy consultant to the environment & development desk of the Tibetan government- in-exile. His talk was held in the Tibetan Welfare Office Hall at 3pm and talk about a range of aspects of China's occupation of Tibet and what the current political regulations really say about China's view on Tibet.

During the presentation Gabriel discussed the recent religious reforms brought in by Chinese officals saying, "Why do China's leaders insist they must oppress Tibet? There are many obvious answers to this most basic of questions, yet none of the usual answers get to the heart of China's fear and loathing of Tibetan culture, especially its' leaders hatred of Tibetan religion. People say it is because the Chinese are communists and communist hate religion, as if nothing in China has changed since Mao told Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1954 that religion is poison."

"China's greatest fear is that modernity is skin deep, and is easily lost. The gleaming modernity of the glass towers is just a skin, covering what lies behind: a vast sea of seething irrationality, superstition, ignorance and mutual obligation; which modern China left behind only yesterday, which could reassert itself at any time. Modern China fears that its grip on modernity, and on the hearts of the masses who are yet to benefit much from modernity, is fragile, and could easily be shaken," he added.

Gabriel went into vast detail during the talk given exclusively to Tibetans, covering historical, political, religious, environmental and technological reasons for China's upkeep in oppression on the Tibetan people inside Tibet.

He will continue his series of three talks on Friday (26th November).

New Delhi: Jamia Millia, the India's Islamia National Islamic University based in the Indian capital, New Delhi will confer an honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) degree to Tibet's political and spiritual leader His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Tuesday, 23rd November.

'The University will confer the Degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) on His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet,' a statement by the university said Monday.

According to a report on Monday by IANS, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal will be the chief guest of the annual convocation. A total of 3,529 degrees and diplomas, apart from 147 gold medals, will be awarded.

In last month, Jamia officials were also expressing surprise that the China factor should influence such decisions. "Should we be so scared of China as to forget about our own country?" an official asked.

New Delhi: For the past 20 years, intentionally or unintentionally, some kind of cultural genocide is taking place in Tibet, Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama said Friday (19 November). "I have heard that many monasteries in Tibet are becoming more like museums and monks just caretakers. For the last 20 years, I have been hearing that intentionally or unintentionally, some kind of cultural genocide is taking place in Tibet," the Dalai Lama told journalist Karan Thapar in an interview, according to a post on the website of the Central Tibetan Administration.

But the Nobel laureate said: "We need more research work to confirm this." On promotion of Mandarin as a medium of instruction in schools in Tibet, the Dalai Lama said some Tibetans told him that some kind of 'semi-cultural revolution' is taking place in Tibet and Tibetan language might well get wiped out soon.

On being asked what Tibetans were doing to fight the threats posed to their language and culture, he said: "By asking for genuine autonomy in People's Republic of China."

Delhi: Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the 14th the Dalai Lama Thursday (18 November) received an award in honour of his commitments to human values, fostering inter-religious dialogue, and the welfare of the Tibetan people.

At a glittering ceremony Thursday at the Hotel Taj Palace, Indian capital, the 75 year old Tibetan Nobel Luarte honoured with the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice from bollywood actress Rani Mukherjee and sisters of the Missionaries of Charity in New Delhi, India.

The Nobel Laureate also spoke on positive action for peace of mind and happiness. Friday morning, His Holiness delivered the inaugural address on "The Art of Happiness in Troubled Times" at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2010 at the Taj Palace Hotel Friday. This afternoon, the Tibetan leader will also deliver the Silver Jubilee Lecture on "Human Approach to World Peace" for the Institute for Social Sciences at their premises.

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