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It is unlikely that the Chinese will allow the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet as the leader of Free Tibet. According to Xiao Bai, deputy mayor of Lhasa, the Dalai Lama may only return to his homeland if he renounces aspirations for Tibetan independence.

Jack McConnell's autumn trade visit to China has become embroiled in controversy after Tibetan officials close to the Dalai Lama demanded he use his trip to rebuke the Communist regime.

Promoting a message of independence through non-violence, the International Tibet Independence Movement (ITIM) is once again coordinating a "March for Tibet’s Independence."

The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) and a number of other Tibetan support groups have regretted the withdrawal of two films on Tibet from the eight-day Asian Film festival in Mumbai, allegedly under Chinese pressure.

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, former Prime Ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Chander Shekhar have confirmed their participation in the quadricentennial celebrations of the installation of Guru Granth Sahib to be held at Amritsar on September 1.

China has not banned pictures of the Dalai Lama in Tibet, but the people of the Himalayan region themselves have chosen not to put them on display, a senior Chinese official said yesterday.

Tibetan activists in India claimed that five films on Tibet have been dropped from the upcoming Asian Film Festival in Bombay under pressure from the Chinese embassy in India.

The prestigious Venice film festival will screen National Award winner Goutam Ghose's film on the Dalai Lama in its digital section. The September 7 screening doubles as the film's international premiere.

Chinese authorities have detained a prominent, U.S.-based Buddhist leader in connection with his plans to reopen an ancient temple complex in Inner Mongolia province and have forced dozens of his American followers to leave the region, local officials said Wednesday.

A highly-publicized visit earlier this year by Tibetan Buddhism's leader, the Dalai Lama, to Pasadena, Calif., and three major Canadian cities motivated some Christians to pray and raised others' awareness of the growing presence of a previously ignored religion.