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A news wrap-up concerning Buddhism, the Dalai Lama, Tibet, India, etc.
U.S. Senate committee approves provision for 5000 visas to Tibetans in immigration bill
The Senate on Monday approved a provision of granting 5,000 visas to Tibetan refugees to enter the U.S. over a three-year period. The Tibetan visa provision will come into effect only after the wider immigration bill is passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives and becomes a law.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, who introduced the Tibet amendment, cited "terrible" and increasing oppression by Chinese authorities against Tibetans. (May 21)
After fighting over mountains, India and China lock horns in the Indian Ocean
While the Indian and Chinese governments have grown accustomed to managing a conflict frozen on the roof of the world, a whole new terrain of contest is emerging far away from the Himalayas: the Indian Ocean. An Indian Defense Ministry report published last month warned of the "grave threat" posed by an emboldened Chinese navy in India's maritime backyard. China's rapidly expanding submarine fleet - it counts 45 such vessels to India's 14 - has widened its orbit of patrols beyond Chinese territorial waters. (May 21)
India: Men pose with toilets to woo brides
Single Indian men are posting pictures of themselves alongside toilets to show prospective brides that they can safely use the bathroom. (May 20)
Tibetans denied permission to protest as Chinese Premier Li lands in India
In the run up to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's maiden visit to India, security presence around Tibetan residential areas in New Delhi has been drastically increased and local authorities have rejected a request for public protest by Tibetan NGOs. (May 20)
Organic rice farmer in India yields over 22 tons of crop on only two acres, proving the fraud of GMOs and Big Ag
Despite all the claims made by industry-funded sources that genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) and other industrial agricultural methods are necessary for the future of humanity, Natural News reports that it is the traditional growing methods that continue to shine through as the real sustainers of life. (May 20)
Bumpy road for trophy cars in India
A new willingness to spend among the growing affluent class has lured high-end automakers to India. But driving supercars there can be a challenge. (May 14)
India: Protesters decry verdict in 1984 Sikh massacre
The gatherings are to decry the exoneration of former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, accused of playing a major role in the 1984 riots that saw the massacre of around 3,000 Sikhs nationwide. (May 14)
Yoga guru Bikram Choudhury accused of rape in two new lawsuits
Former students file lawsuits in California charging Bikram yoga founder with sexual assault and human trafficking. (May 13)
Should India provide direct military aid to Afghanistan?
Over the past decade, India has invested heavily in Afghanistan's reconstruction. Recognizing India's significant economic and development contributions, the United States has called on New Delhi to play an important role in the new Silk Road initiative aimed at transforming Afghanistan into a regional trade hub. (May 13)
Dinosaur skeleton to be returned to Mongolia
After a little detour through the American criminal justice system, Mongolia's celebrity dinosaur, Tyrannosaurus bataar, is heading home, the most recent stage in a journey spanning some 70 million years. (May 6)
China commits billions in aid to Africa as part of charm offensive
A database reveals the Chinese government has backed more than 1,700 projects on the African continent since 2000 in an apparent attempt to win favor. (May 6)
Stressed Chinese leave cities, head for countryside
Fed up with choking smog, traffic jams, unsafe food, stress and the general toxicity of life in urban China, a growing number of affluent Chinese are deserting big cities such as Beijing and Shenzhen and settling in remote regions. (May 6)
Pakistan's women face battle for the right to vote
Fears over the safety of women voting in next week's elections in Pakistan are rising after letters have been circulated in regions of the country warning men not to allow their wives, sisters and daughters out to the polling stations. (April 30)
Mount Everest fight raises questions about Sherpas
The Sherpas play a complex, evolving role on the increasingly popular peak. (April 30)
Senior Nepalese leader to Xi: Will repress Tibetan refugees
A senior Nepalese leader has promised China's President Xi Jinping that the Himalayan country will "repress" Tibetan refugees living in Nepal who are involved in free Tibet activities. (April 30)
Burma sectarian clashes
Brick-wielding gangs smash mosque windows and loot shops as unrest between Muslims and Buddhists intensifies in Burma. (April 30)
Everest climbers abandon ascent after attack by scores of angry Sherpas
A British climber and two companions confronted on Everest by what they describe as an angry mob are returning home after deciding they no longer feel safe enough to stay on the mountain. (April 30)
[Thai] Buddhists up in arms about Jesus, Buddha-inspired cartoon
Thailand's conservative Buddhists and fans of Japanese manga are standing firm on opposite sides of a debate about whether a cartoon series, 'Saint Young Men', portrays Buddha, one of its two main characters, in an inappropriate manner. (April 30)
Fast, cheap, dead: Shopping and the Bangladesh factory collapse
The collapse of a factory building near Dhaka, Bangladesh, which killed at least 362 people, is almost certainly the worst accident in the history of the garment industry. The clothes that the doomed workers in Dhaka were laboring over when their factory collapsed include some Western brands, like Primark and Joe Fresh. Is there anything we as clothing consumers can or should do about these deaths?. (April 23)
Guinness record holder dies performing stunt over Indian river
Year after year, stunt after stunt, Indians have had their names imprinted in the Guinness Book of World Records, that official chronicler of human achievement that is often the gatekeeper of the eclectic and the bizarre. (One Indian man has the world's longest mustache, while another was once lauded for the world's longest fingernails.) That drive to outdo and maintain a claim to fame took a tragic turn this weekend when Sailendra Nath Roy, celebrated for pulling a train with his ponytail, died while performing a rope stunt over the turbulent Teesta River in West Bengal. (April 29)
HHDL retutning to Emory in October for a series of public and campus events
Emory University is pleased to announce that His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, Presidential Distinguished Professor at Emory University, will return to Atlanta October 8-10, 2013 for a series of public and campus events including programs on responsible citizenship, ethics and education.
Two events -- a public talk titled The Pillars of Responsible Citizenship in the 21st Century Global Village, and an afternoon panel session on Secular Ethics in Education -- are scheduled for Tuesday, October 8, 2013 at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia. Admission to both (or either) events is included with each ticket purchased. Tickets go on sale this Friday, April 26 at 10:00 a.m. EDT at http://www.gwinnettcenter.com, in-person at the box office at The Arena at Gwinnett Center, or by phone at 1-888-9-AXS-TIX.
(April 24)
China earthquake: experience could not save those too slow or too small
Sichuan quake leaves 200 people dead or missing, 11,800 injured and an estimated 100,000 homeless as clean up begins. (April 23)
China's Nepalese friendship road leads to the heart of India's market
Beijing is investing millions in the Araniko highway from Tibet to Kathmandu, as India looks on with concern. (April 23)
More child rapes being reported in Delhi, police say
The case of a five-year old girl in East Delhi who was raped this month, sparking protests across the city, is the fifth reported case of sexual abuse of a minor in the city in just one week in April, according to police records. A public relations officer with the Delhi Police said that it was not necessarily the number of crimes that had increased in the city, but the number of reported cases. (April 23)
Severe repression in Tibet says U.S. Human Rights report
The U.S. Department of State has released a Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012 in which it says China's respect for and protection of human rights in Tibet "deteriorated markedly." "The [Chinese] government engaged in the severe repression of Tibet's unique religious, cultural, and linguistic heritage by, among other means, strictly curtailing the civil rights of China's ethnic Tibetan population, including the freedoms of speech, religion, association, and movement," the report says. (April 15)
Swiss government backs away from HHDL
The Dalai Lama will meet members of Swiss parliament for the first time during a visit to Switzerland starting on Saturday but members of the seven-person federal cabinet will not be receiving the Tibetan spiritual leader. (April 15)
Burma launches four private dailies
Four of 16 groups in Burma which won licenses to publish dailies under the reformist government launched their maiden editions Monday - the first time privately run daily newspapers hit the streets in nearly 50 years. Copies of the four newspapers - The Voice, The Golden Fresh Land, The Union Daily and The Standard Time - quickly sold out due to high demand, publishers said. (April 14)
Investigation of 1984 Sikh massacre continues in India
Laying blame for the 1984 massacre of thousands of Sikhs in India has taken center stage in Delhi again after a court reopened an investigation against the Indian National Congress Party politician Jagdish Tytler. (April 14)
Uproar over Tibetan self-immolator's secret cremation in Nepal
Authorities in Nepal have secretly cremated a Tibetan Buddhist monk who self-immolated in the country's capital Kathmandu in a protest calling for freedom from Chinese rule for Tibet, Tibetan advocacy and rights groups said, suggesting Beijing had pressured the Nepal government. (April 14)
Apple bars China app for "illegal" content, including Tibet
Apple has removed at least one online application from the China App Store because it provides access to books that are banned by the Chinese government, according to the developer of the app. (April 14)
HHDL leaves for Europe
The Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Monday left his exile hometown of Dharamsala for a ten-day European tour during which he is scheduled to give a series of public talks, teachings and discussions in Italy, Switzerland and England. (April 9)
Does China love pork too much?
The thousands of pig carcasses dumped in a Chinese river appear to be a symptom of the rush to satisfy the demand for pig meat. (April 8)
Tibetan woman self-immolates over encroachment
A Tibetan woman has set herself on fire in in Amdo Province to protest against the demolition of her home. Citing sources in the region, the US-based Radio Free Asia said the protest occurred last week when a Chinese wrecking crew arrived to destroy her house. "Because of the eviction [of Tibetans] from their homes and the confiscation of people's farmland, a Tibetan woman self-immolated about a week ago" RFA quoted a Tibetan man as saying. (April 7)
'Kissinger Cables' offer window into Indian politics of the 1970s
The "Kissinger Cables," a collection of U.S. diplomatic cables released on Monday by WikiLeaks, contain some fascinating revelations about the political scenario in India in the 1970s. . (April 7)
Peng Liyuan: China's first lady steals limelight on overseas tour
The new first lady emerges as a trendy contrast to her predecessors during Xi Jinping's first trip abroad since becoming president. (April 7)
8 killed as Myanmar Buddhists, Muslims clash in Indonesia
In a testament to just how deep tensions are running, Buddhist fishermen and Muslim asylum seekers who fled Myanmar hoping for a better life brawled with rocks and knives at an immigration detention center in Indonesia, leaving eight dead and another 15 injured, police said. (April 5)
Low-cost drugs in poor nations get a lift in Indian court
People in developing countries worldwide will continue to have access to low-cost copycat versions of drugs for diseases like H.I.V. and cancer, at least for a while. Production of the generic drugs in India, the world's biggest provider of cheap medicines, was ensured on Monday in a ruling by the Indian Supreme Court. (April 1)
China expands list of activities forbidden to Tibetans
Chinese authorities are circulating a new list of 13 "unlawful" behaviors in a protest-hit Tibetan county in China's northwestern Qinghai province, warning Tibetans against involvement in self-immolation protests and a range of other activities deemed supportive of challenges to Chinese rule. (April 1)
Anti-rape law means India needs more female cops
"Who will rape such an old woman?" asked a senior police officer in Uttar Pradesh last month, responding to a rape complaint by a 35-year-old mother of four. (March 28)
In Burma, satellite images show extent of religious violence
The scale of devastation wreaked by last month's communal riots in central Burma has been revealed by new satellite images. The remains of hundreds of smoldering homes scar three once-thriving Muslim neighborhoods. Human Rights Watch (HRW) claims 828 buildings were obliterated across some 24 hectares. Most shocking has been the leading role the Buddhist clergy played in the bloodshed, creating a tinderbox atmosphere across the country that shows little sign of dissipating. (March 28)
China plots more sea burials; faces grave space limitation
On April 4 Chinese everywhere will honor their deceased loved ones by packing up bags of gifts, flowers and fare to take to their graves as part of Qingming festival, or Tomb Sweeping Day, a national holiday of adulation for Chinese ancestors. But the more than 2,500-year-old ancient tradition underscores a crippling theme in much of the now-urbanized China: there's no room. (March 27)
HHDL talks about self-immolations
Speaking about the on-going self-immolation protests in Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama said that "the ultimate factor is their (self-immolators) individual motivation." (March 27)
Second self-immolation in 24 hours
Another another Tibetan has set himself on fire in an apparent protest against China's continuing occupation of Tibet. (March 25)
Code of conduct for Nepal's Hindu priests soon
For Hindu priests who carry out various rites and rituals at their own discretion, a code of conduct is on the cards to bring uniformity in the their practice. Initiated by Rastriya Dharmasabha Nepal, the code of conduct will detail what the priests can and cannot do. (March 25)
A tainted tradition
Natpurwa is an Indian village where women have been forced into prostitution for centuries. And one of them is determined to help the others break free. (March 25)
India's "rotten diplomacy" in Sri Lanka breeds loathing
As a rule, living in Sri Lanka means encountering some of the friendliest people on earth. But since the civil war ended in 2009, there is a startlingly consistent loathing for India, and a doubled such loathing for Tamils from India. (March 25)
Miracle on the rock face
In Sri Lanka is the Rambadagalla Monaragala temple. After a climb of a few hundred yards from the road, without being aware of what is on offer, the traveller, the pilgrim, the devotee or whoever it may be, is suddenly faced with a magnificent creation -- a massive white granite statue of the Buddha, a miracle of the modern world, a beauty beyond belief. (March 25)
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