Buddhist monks offer prayers for victims of Air France Flight 447

September 30th, 2009 Buddhists: Police, mob force monks from monasteryHANOI, Vietnam — Followers of a world-famous Buddhist teacher say Vietnamese police and an angry mob have forced 150 monks from a monastery in Vietnam's Central Highlands that has been the center of a monthslong standoff. The Buddhists say an angry mob descended on the site Sunday morning, smashing windows and knocking down doors in an effort to evict followers of Thich Nhat Hanh, an exiled Vietnam-born monk who has sold more than 1 million books in the West and now lives in southern France.

September 24th, 2009 SAMDRUPTSE - Hundreds of Buddhist monks and devotees have converged at the altar of Guru Padmasambhava at Samdruptse in Sikkim to offer mass collective prayers for universal peace during the ongoing 12-day long spiritual event. The Vajra Guru Dhungrup (recitation of 12 crore vajra guru mantra) began on Tuesday at Samdruptse, around four kilometres in Namchi district, where 135 feet tall statue of Lord Padmasambhava, believed to be the biggest of its kind in the world, is located.

September 16th, 2009 DHARAMSALA - Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama gave sermons on Buddhism here on Tuesday. Dalai Lama began the three-day sermons on Buddhist teachings at the Main Tibetan Temple (Tsuglagkhang) at the request of a Korean group, which he referred to as 'our Korean Dharma friends'.

September 3rd, 2009 GANGTOK - An art school is preserving the oldest form of traditional and religious art of statue making, influenced by Buddhist teaching in Sikkim. The Traditional Arts School for Thangka Painting at 5th mile, a half an hour drive from state capital Gangtok, is under the supervision of Ecclesiastical Affairs Department, Government of Sikkim.

August 4th, 2009 Vietnam says booting Buddhist monks not repressionHANOI, Vietnam — Monks following a world-famous Buddhist teacher are being evicted from a Vietnamese monastery for failing to clear their activities with the government, an official said Tuesday, but he denied the dispute was about religious freedom. Followers of Thich Nhat Hanh, who has sold more than 1 million books in the West, say the government is punishing them because their France-based leader suggested that his native Vietnam's communist government should abolish its control of religion.

August 3rd, 2009 KULLU - A 500 hundred-year old mummy has taken the centre stage at Gieue village in Himachal Pradesh. The mummy is still sitting pretty at the place where it was stumbled upon 33 years ago.

July 1st, 2009 21 more victims of Air France crash identifiedRIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian officials say they've identified the remains of 21 more people who were aboard an Air France jet when it plunged into the Atlantic Ocean last month. Authorities say 17 newly identified victims were foreign and four were Brazilian.

June 30th, 2009 KINNAUR - Buddhist monks, nuns and civilians assembled at the Drugtharpa Choeiling Buddhist monastery in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur District and prayed for the long life of Yulgyula Rinpoche, a revered Buddhist monk. 71-year-old Rinpoche is the head of the Drugtharpa Choeiling Buddhist monastery, situated at Tashigang in Kinnaur district.

June 7th, 2009 Obama pledges support on Air France probeCAEN, France — President Barack Obama says the United States has authorized all of the government's resources to investigate an Air France plane that disappeared off the coast of South America. Obama told French President Nicholas Sarkozy on Saturday that Americans offer their thoughts and their prayers to the French, particularly those who lost family members in the suspected crash.

May 9th, 2009 LEH - Thousands of enthusiastic Buddhism devotees converged at Leh in Ladakh region of Kashmir to celebrate Buddha Jayanti or, the birth anniversary of Lord Buddha on Saturday. The festival was celebrated with great religious fervour and gaiety at several monasteries located in Ladakh and also in Kargil.

April 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Election Commission has provided special electronic voting machines (EVMs) at all polling stations in Sikkim to enable Buddhist monks and nuns to vote from anywhere, Deputy Election Commissioner J.P. Prakash said here Tuesday.

April 25th, 2009 DHARAMSALA - On the occasion of the 20th birth anniversary of the 11th Panchen Lama, which falls on April 25, Tibetans from all walks of life have demanded that China to free him immediately. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, also known as the 11th Panchen Lama, is said to be under captivity of the Chinese authorities for the last 13 years.

April 20th, 2009 VARANASI - Buddhist monks and other religious leaders from all across the country gathered here for an all-faith meeting. The one-day conference on Sunday mainly deliberated on the similarities between Buddhist and Vedic cultures.

March 12th, 2009 DHARAMSHALA - Hundreds of Tibetans, including monks, nuns and officials of the Tibetan Government-in-exile, gathered at the main Tsuglagkhang Buddhist temple in Dharamshala to offer prayers for the long life of their spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Monday. This congregation of Tibetans assembled just a day prior to the 50th anniversary of Chinese occupation of their homeland.

March 8th, 2009 DHARAMSALA - Hundreds of monks in red robes and with shaven heads converged alongwith scores of other Tibetans at the Tsuglagkhang main temple early Sunday to join the Dalai Lama at his abode-in-exile at Mcleodganj near here to offer prayers for the Tibetans killed in Chinese crackdowns, including the latest one a year ago. The Dalai Lama led the prayers that were attended by the entire top brass of the Tibetan religious and political leadership apart from the monks and other Tibetans.