An interesting page can be found on this address. It is based on the CIA world fact book and is updated daily. There are almost 6.7 billion of us on this planet. One can see that the daily increase of the world population is about 212,000, i.e. the size of a small country... While the European Union, Russia and some other Western Nations have a negative or a small positive tendency, South and Latin America have a moderate growth while some areas in Asia and Africa have a huge annual population growth. Of course, India has the highest population growth, having every day almost 50,000 more citizens than in the previous day. China is the second, with a daily increase of almost 23,000 people while Russia owns the negative record, with a daily DECREASE of over 1,800 people.
Sonam Wangmo comes from a little village in northern Tibet and sings mainly traditional Tibetan music. Her voice is a real wonder, with an incredible flexibility, and it makes the young Tibetan one of the most impressive singers in the world. And, like most of the contemporary singers, she is also very beautiful.
Chongshol Dolma is a new voice on the sky of contemporary Tibetan music. Her single "Out of the Himalaya" becake quickly famous not only in Tibet and China, but also internationally. My only regret is that she's singing it in Chinese, and not in Tibetan. An interesting detail: the image of the Potala Palace in the clip is from the 40's, before the Chinese occupation.
Taken from http://www.tchrd.org: On 22 March 2008, around hundreds of Tibetans carried out a peaceful protest in Markhul-thang Township, consisted of four villages, which is located in Chentsa County, Malho "TAP", Qinghai Province in north-eastern Tibet according to information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).
The Tibetans in Markhul-thang Township were carrying out special religious ceremony for a prosperous bounty harvest for this year. Shortly after the end of ritual ceremony, several hundreds of Tibetans erupted into a peaceful protest by proceeding to the County headquarter chanting slogans.
According to sources, the peaceful Tibetan protestors were proceeding to the County Headquarter carrying a portrait of the Dalai Lama and the missing eleventh Panchen Lama Gedun Choekyi Nyima. In addition to that, the peaceful Tibetan protestors were carrying the banned Tibetan National flag and were shouting slogans "Long Live the Dalai Lama", "The Dalai Lama to return to Tibet", "Release the eleventh Panchen Lama Erdeni Gedun Choekyi Nyima" and "Freedom for Tibetan people".
However, when the peaceful Tibetan protestors came near the County headquarter, prominent local religious leaders requested the peaceful protestors intervened and turn away from continuing their demonstration to avoid bloodshed and loosing human lives. The demonstrators were later sent back to their respective places. Sources say that hundreds of Chinese security forces were expecting the peaceful protestors at the County headquarter in full combat kit to quell and disperse the peaceful protestors.
On 22 March 2008, many monks of Makur Namgyaling Monastery erupted into peaceful protest but were stopped by the Chinese security forces.
According to the latest development in the area, at least three Tibetan protestors were arrested by the Chinese security forces on the morning of 23 March 2008. The arrestees were Sherab, aged 40, Tabo aged 40 and Kunbo aged 20. The arrest of six other Tibetans by the Chinese security forces on two separate raids has not been identified at the moment.
On 23 March 2008, around eight hundred Tibetans from Lha village, Nyarong Monastery, Lowa village and Meru village erupted into protest demonstrations. However the Chinese security forces stopped the peaceful Tibetan protestors when they were at a place called Lokog.
A large mobilization of Chinese paramilitary troops from Chinese city of Seling (Ch: Xining) to Chentsa County is on a full swing to quell the Tibetan protestors when the report last came in. The heavy security blanket is maintaining a close vigil on the protestors as well as patrolling the streets. The situation on the ground is said to be tense and volatile. To finish in a more optimistic manner, I invite you to watch the trailer of a great documentary made in 2006:
The title is "Vajra Sky over Tibet". Vajraiana is the name of the Tibetan branch of Bhudism. The authors witnessed a powerful spiritual revival in Tibet, in spite of the increasing number of the Chinese people in the area. For all who look for a spiritual experience, I warmly recommend it. Tibetan mini dictionary: Protest (manifestation) = Rnam ston 'khrom skor
Nobody knows what is happening now in Tibet, while the army and police continue to arrest the manifestats and rioters. A list with 21 most-wanted people has been made public already. We can only hope for better days ahead for the "Roof of the World". So, let's enjoy some pop music in the Tibetan language:
The name of the group: Acha Tsendep. Title of the song: Makey Ama ("Her Mother"). I hope you like it. Kaley-peh! (Good bye!)
A protest started peacefully in Lhasa, on the 10th of March, degenerated. for an unknown reason, into a violent confrontation with the police. Today, Lhasa and Tibet are offlimits for both foreign journalists and tourists.
Dharamsala - Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, wants to discuss the crisis in Tibet with the Chinese government. He has asked the international community to urge Beijing not to use violence against protesters. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says that Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has hinted that he might be willing to meet the Dalai Lama under certain conditions. Mr Brown made his remarks following a telephone conversation with the Chinese leader. The British prime minister also said that he will have an official meeting with the Dalai Lama when he visits the UK in May. The Chinese government has threatened that such a meeting would not remain without consequences. China accuses the Dalai Lama of inciting the recent violent protests in Tibet. Earlier, the Tibetan spiritual leader met with radical Tibetans in exile, who criticised his approach. They accused him of being too cautious.
