Saturday, August 31, 2013
Friday, August 30, 2013
US fixed mortgage rates fall
WASHINGTON, AUG 30 -
US fixed mortgage rates fell for the first time in five weeks on speculation that the US Federal Reserve may delay scaling back its bond purchases, according to the Primary Mortgage Market Survey released by Freddie Mac.
The US mortgage giant Thursday said the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) fell to 4.51 percent in the week ending Aug 29, after hitting a two-year high of 4.58 percent in the previous week, Xinhua reported.
The 15-year FRM, a popular choice for those looking to refinance, edged down to 3.54 percent this week after rising to the highest level since July 2011 in the previous week.
Meanwhile, the five-year treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) edged up to 3.24 percent, and the one-year treasury-indexed ARM fell to 2.64 percent.
"The Fed is monitoring the housing market closely after the run up in mortgage rates over the past few months," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.
"The 13.4 percent drop in new home sales in July led financial markets to speculate whether the Fed might delay reducing its bond purchases and allow long-term bond yields and fixed mortgage rates to decline over the week," he added.
Nearly 40 percent of 220 economists believed the Federal Reserve would not begin to wind down its stimulus programme until the fourth quarter of this year, according to a survey released Monday by the National Association of Business Economists.
US fixed mortgage rates fell for the first time in five weeks on speculation that the US Federal Reserve may delay scaling back its bond purchases, according to the Primary Mortgage Market Survey released by Freddie Mac.
The US mortgage giant Thursday said the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) fell to 4.51 percent in the week ending Aug 29, after hitting a two-year high of 4.58 percent in the previous week, Xinhua reported.
The 15-year FRM, a popular choice for those looking to refinance, edged down to 3.54 percent this week after rising to the highest level since July 2011 in the previous week.
Meanwhile, the five-year treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) edged up to 3.24 percent, and the one-year treasury-indexed ARM fell to 2.64 percent.
"The Fed is monitoring the housing market closely after the run up in mortgage rates over the past few months," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.
"The 13.4 percent drop in new home sales in July led financial markets to speculate whether the Fed might delay reducing its bond purchases and allow long-term bond yields and fixed mortgage rates to decline over the week," he added.
Nearly 40 percent of 220 economists believed the Federal Reserve would not begin to wind down its stimulus programme until the fourth quarter of this year, according to a survey released Monday by the National Association of Business Economists.
Confident Nepal ready to defy history books
Nepal have alway been considered a ‘dark-horse’ of South Asian football , capable of any kind of results--giving a fright to heavyweights in one match and going down meekly against weaker opponents in another. Nepal’s journey in the SAFF Championship—the region’s showpiece event in football —has so far been a bumpy one.
With expectant home crowd rooting for them to the hilt, Nepal have a perfect opportunity to put behind heartbreaks of the past and assert their supremacy in the region. But that also means huge pressure both on Nepal’s national football team and its governing body, Anfa.
Beginning their official SAFF journey in Kathmandu in 1997, Nepal have failed to even reach the final. Eliminated from the group stage in the first edition at Dasharath Stadium, the biggest success achieved by Nepal so far has been reaching the semi-finals twice—in 1999 in Goa and in 2011 in New Delhi.
Nepal have faced the exit door from the group stage on four occasions—in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth editions in Bangladesh (2002), Pakistan (2005), Maldives and Sri Lanka (2008) and again in Bangladesh (2009).
As Nepal have been pooled alongside five time champions India and former champions Bangladesh and Pakistan in the ‘group of death,’ it will certainly be the daunting task for the home team to surpass the group stage when the championship will kick-off on Saturday.
But this should not be the horrendous factor as they have had a successful preparation campaign and are running high on confidence, as per the national coach Jack Stefanowski and skipper Sagar Thapa.
India are certainly the powerhouse of regional football while Bangladesh are also considered stronger than Nepal, boasting player like Ali Ashfak, who was nominated for the Asian POY in 2009. The recent result against Pakistan was also not in the favour of Nepal as they had gone down 1-0 in the friendly last year.
The only consolations Nepal had derived in previous editions were the appraisals from their opponents. This time also, opponents have already begun to highlight the strong possibility of Nepal becoming the champions.
Maldives coach Mohummad Yusuf Kargar had said that Nepal, India and Bangladesh will be their strongest opponents. Best player of the last edition, Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri, also the highest goal scorer, had already confessed that Nepal will be the toughest hurdle in their title defence.
Bangladeshi Dutch coach, Lodebchich De Cyruff have pitted India as the heavyweights to defend their title, proclaiming they face a stern challenge from Nepal, previleged by the support of home fans.
Nepal cannot afford to be bemused with the appraisal coming from every direction this time as they are in different situation than previous years.
Long preparation, home ground and altered reputation from the last edition will definitely put the squad under pressure when they will kick-off the campaign against Bangladesh.
Nepal began their three-week preparation campaign from the first week of August, playing five friendlies against the U-25 team of Kuwait and Bahrain, victorious in four and losing one.
Nepal conceded five goals while score 14 during that tour with Anil Gurung and Bimal Ghartimagar scoring four and three goals respectively. Santosh Shahukhala and Tek Bahadur Budathoki scored two while Jumanu Gurung, Nirajan Khadka and Bijay Gurung scored a goal each.
Nepal’s technical director, Krishna Thapa, believes that the home team have different foregrounds to excel and impress. He hails the team being perfectly fit as never and asserts his claim towards the sharpness of the strikers, who have been scoring goals—the most derailing aspect of Nepal till date.
Highlighting the noteworthy and successful 21-day preparation campaign in Bahrain and Kuwait, Thapa believes that Nepal is well prepared to keep the title home.
The home fans cannot wait!
KATHMANDU, AUG 30 - Nepal have alway been considered a ‘dark-horse’ of South Asian football , capable of any kind of results--giving a fright to heavyweights in one match and going down meekly against weaker opponents in another. Nepal’s journey in the SAFF Championship—the region’s showpiece event in football —has so far been a bumpy one. With expectant home crowd rooting for them to the hilt, Nepal have a perfect opportunity to put behind heartbreaks of the past and assert their supremacy in the region. But that also means huge pressure both on Nepal’s national football team and its governing body, Anfa. Beginning their official SAFF journey in Kathmandu in 1997, Nepal have failed to even reach the final. Eliminated from the group stage in the first edition at Dasharath Stadium, the biggest success achieved by Nepal so far has been reaching the semi-finals twice—in 1999 in Goa and in 2011 in New Delhi. Nepal have faced the exit door from the group stage on four occasions—in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth editions in Bangladesh (2002), Pakistan (2005), Maldives and Sri Lanka (2008) and again in Bangladesh (2009). As Nepal have been pooled alongside five time champions India and former champions Bangladesh and Pakistan in the ‘group of death,’ it will certainly be the daunting task for the home team to surpass the group stage when the championship will kick-off on Saturday. But this should not be the horrendous factor as they have had a successful preparation campaign and are running high on confidence, as per the national coach Jack Stefanowski and skipper Sagar Thapa. India are certainly the powerhouse of regional football while Bangladesh are also considered stronger than Nepal, boasting player like Ali Ashfak, who was nominated for the Asian POY in 2009. The recent result against Pakistan was also not in the favour of Nepal as they had gone down 1-0 in the friendly last year. The only consolations Nepal had derived in previous editions were the appraisals from their opponents. This time also, opponents have already begun to highlight the strong possibility of Nepal becoming the champions. Maldives coach Mohummad Yusuf Kargar had said that Nepal, India and Bangladesh will be their strongest opponents. Best player of the last edition, Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri, also the highest goal scorer, had already confessed that Nepal will be the toughest hurdle in their title defence. Bangladeshi Dutch coach, Lodebchich De Cyruff have pitted India as the heavyweights to defend their title, proclaiming they face a stern challenge from Nepal, previleged by the support of home fans. Nepal cannot afford to be bemused with the appraisal coming from every direction this time as they are in different situation than previous years. Long preparation, home ground and altered reputation from the last edition will definitely put the squad under pressure when they will kick-off the campaign against Bangladesh. Nepal began their three-week preparation campaign from the first week of August, playing five friendlies against the U-25 team of Kuwait and Bahrain, victorious in four and losing one. Nepal conceded five goals while score 14 during that tour with Anil Gurung and Bimal Ghartimagar scoring four and three goals respectively. Santosh Shahukhala and Tek Bahadur Budathoki scored two while Jumanu Gurung, Nirajan Khadka and Bijay Gurung scored a goal each. Nepal’s technical director, Krishna Thapa, believes that the home team have different foregrounds to excel and impress. He hails the team being perfectly fit as never and asserts his claim towards the sharpness of the strikers, who have been scoring goals—the most derailing aspect of Nepal till date. Highlighting the noteworthy and successful 21-day preparation campaign in Bahrain and Kuwait, Thapa believes that Nepal is well prepared to keep the title home. The home fans cannot wait!
KATHMANDU, AUG 30 -
Nepal have alway been considered a ‘dark-horse’ of South Asian football , capable of any kind of results--giving a fright to heavyweights in one match and going down meekly against weaker opponents in another. Nepal’s journey in the SAFF Championship—the region’s showpiece event in football —has so far been a bumpy one.
With expectant home crowd rooting for them to the hilt, Nepal have a perfect opportunity to put behind heartbreaks of the past and assert their supremacy in the region. But that also means huge pressure both on Nepal’s national football team and its governing body, Anfa.
Beginning their official SAFF journey in Kathmandu in 1997, Nepal have failed to even reach the final. Eliminated from the group stage in the first edition at Dasharath Stadium, the biggest success achieved by Nepal so far has been reaching the semi-finals twice—in 1999 in Goa and in 2011 in New Delhi.
Nepal have faced the exit door from the group stage on four occasions—in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth editions in Bangladesh (2002), Pakistan (2005), Maldives and Sri Lanka (2008) and again in Bangladesh (2009).
As Nepal have been pooled alongside five time champions India and former champions Bangladesh and Pakistan in the ‘group of death,’ it will certainly be the daunting task for the home team to surpass the group stage when the championship will kick-off on Saturday.
But this should not be the horrendous factor as they have had a successful preparation campaign and are running high on confidence, as per the national coach Jack Stefanowski and skipper Sagar Thapa.
India are certainly the powerhouse of regional football while Bangladesh are also considered stronger than Nepal, boasting player like Ali Ashfak, who was nominated for the Asian POY in 2009. The recent result against Pakistan was also not in the favour of Nepal as they had gone down 1-0 in the friendly last year.
The only consolations Nepal had derived in previous editions were the appraisals from their opponents. This time also, opponents have already begun to highlight the strong possibility of Nepal becoming the champions.
Maldives coach Mohummad Yusuf Kargar had said that Nepal, India and Bangladesh will be their strongest opponents. Best player of the last edition, Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri, also the highest goal scorer, had already confessed that Nepal will be the toughest hurdle in their title defence.
Bangladeshi Dutch coach, Lodebchich De Cyruff have pitted India as the heavyweights to defend their title, proclaiming they face a stern challenge from Nepal, previleged by the support of home fans.
Nepal cannot afford to be bemused with the appraisal coming from every direction this time as they are in different situation than previous years.
Long preparation, home ground and altered reputation from the last edition will definitely put the squad under pressure when they will kick-off the campaign against Bangladesh.
Nepal began their three-week preparation campaign from the first week of August, playing five friendlies against the U-25 team of Kuwait and Bahrain, victorious in four and losing one.
Nepal conceded five goals while score 14 during that tour with Anil Gurung and Bimal Ghartimagar scoring four and three goals respectively. Santosh Shahukhala and Tek Bahadur Budathoki scored two while Jumanu Gurung, Nirajan Khadka and Bijay Gurung scored a goal each.
Nepal’s technical director, Krishna Thapa, believes that the home team have different foregrounds to excel and impress. He hails the team being perfectly fit as never and asserts his claim towards the sharpness of the strikers, who have been scoring goals—the most derailing aspect of Nepal till date.
Highlighting the noteworthy and successful 21-day preparation campaign in Bahrain and Kuwait, Thapa believes that Nepal is well prepared to keep the title home.
The home fans cannot wait!
Nepal have alway been considered a ‘dark-horse’ of South Asian football , capable of any kind of results--giving a fright to heavyweights in one match and going down meekly against weaker opponents in another. Nepal’s journey in the SAFF Championship—the region’s showpiece event in football —has so far been a bumpy one.
With expectant home crowd rooting for them to the hilt, Nepal have a perfect opportunity to put behind heartbreaks of the past and assert their supremacy in the region. But that also means huge pressure both on Nepal’s national football team and its governing body, Anfa.
Beginning their official SAFF journey in Kathmandu in 1997, Nepal have failed to even reach the final. Eliminated from the group stage in the first edition at Dasharath Stadium, the biggest success achieved by Nepal so far has been reaching the semi-finals twice—in 1999 in Goa and in 2011 in New Delhi.
Nepal have faced the exit door from the group stage on four occasions—in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth editions in Bangladesh (2002), Pakistan (2005), Maldives and Sri Lanka (2008) and again in Bangladesh (2009).
As Nepal have been pooled alongside five time champions India and former champions Bangladesh and Pakistan in the ‘group of death,’ it will certainly be the daunting task for the home team to surpass the group stage when the championship will kick-off on Saturday.
But this should not be the horrendous factor as they have had a successful preparation campaign and are running high on confidence, as per the national coach Jack Stefanowski and skipper Sagar Thapa.
India are certainly the powerhouse of regional football while Bangladesh are also considered stronger than Nepal, boasting player like Ali Ashfak, who was nominated for the Asian POY in 2009. The recent result against Pakistan was also not in the favour of Nepal as they had gone down 1-0 in the friendly last year.
The only consolations Nepal had derived in previous editions were the appraisals from their opponents. This time also, opponents have already begun to highlight the strong possibility of Nepal becoming the champions.
Maldives coach Mohummad Yusuf Kargar had said that Nepal, India and Bangladesh will be their strongest opponents. Best player of the last edition, Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri, also the highest goal scorer, had already confessed that Nepal will be the toughest hurdle in their title defence.
Bangladeshi Dutch coach, Lodebchich De Cyruff have pitted India as the heavyweights to defend their title, proclaiming they face a stern challenge from Nepal, previleged by the support of home fans.
Nepal cannot afford to be bemused with the appraisal coming from every direction this time as they are in different situation than previous years.
Long preparation, home ground and altered reputation from the last edition will definitely put the squad under pressure when they will kick-off the campaign against Bangladesh.
Nepal began their three-week preparation campaign from the first week of August, playing five friendlies against the U-25 team of Kuwait and Bahrain, victorious in four and losing one.
Nepal conceded five goals while score 14 during that tour with Anil Gurung and Bimal Ghartimagar scoring four and three goals respectively. Santosh Shahukhala and Tek Bahadur Budathoki scored two while Jumanu Gurung, Nirajan Khadka and Bijay Gurung scored a goal each.
Nepal’s technical director, Krishna Thapa, believes that the home team have different foregrounds to excel and impress. He hails the team being perfectly fit as never and asserts his claim towards the sharpness of the strikers, who have been scoring goals—the most derailing aspect of Nepal till date.
Highlighting the noteworthy and successful 21-day preparation campaign in Bahrain and Kuwait, Thapa believes that Nepal is well prepared to keep the title home.
The home fans cannot wait!
KATHMANDU, AUG 28 - The ongoing internal feud within Nepal Student Union (NSU) is likely to postpone the general convention of the Nepal Congress’ sister union scheduled for next month. Even as time is tickling for the convention, the union is yet to hold regional, district and campus gatherings in most of the places. The union had announced that it would complete gatherings in all the colleges and districts by September 2. As of now meetings have been held only in 18 districts and around two dozen colleges. The district convention in Dang and Bara scheduled for Tuesday could not take place owing to differences between the two factions close to the establishment faction led by NC President Sushil Koirala and the another group loyal to Sher Bahadur Deuba. “Preparations are very sluggish. We think that the union president wants to extend his tenure by delaying the convention,” said Jit Jung Basnet, former NSU general secretary. NSU President Ranjeet Karna, however, claimed that he is committed to hold the convention on time. “We will complete district and campus gatherings by extending the deadline without hampering the convention date,” he said. The convention is scheduled to take place for three days starting September 14. The jamboree, which should have held every two years, has not been held for the last five years due to disputes between the two factions. Meanwhile, around a dozen NSU leaders are ready to throw their hat into the ring for the post of president. Former NSU general secretaries Manoj Mani Acharya, Kundan Kafle and Bhupendra Jung Shahi from the establishment faction and former vice-chairman Nain Singh Mahar and former general secretaries Basnet and Deepak Bhattarai from the Deuba faction have intensified their election campaigns across the country. NSU insiders say despite many hopefuls, Acharya from the establishment faction and Mahar from the Deuba group stand a chance of securing tickets for the top NSU post. Posted on: 2013-08-28 08:32 Post Your Comment Please note that all the fields marked * are mandatory. * Full Name * Address * Email Address * Comment * Captcha Get another CAPTCHA code Note: Comments containing abusive words or slander shall not be published. Most » Zen Travels Travel de society Travel USA otelint Radio Kantipur British College Rakshya Travel Publication : © Copyright 2000-2013 Kantipur Publications Pvt. Ltd. All Rights Reserved Powered by Yómarí Our Publication Kantipur The Kathmandu Post Nepal Saptahik Nari Kantipur Qatar Yes Kantipur Subscribe in a click
KATHMANDU, AUG 28 -
The ongoing internal feud within Nepal Student Union (NSU) is likely to postpone the general convention of the Nepal Congress’ sister union scheduled for next month.
Even as time is tickling for the convention, the union is yet to hold regional, district and campus gatherings in most of the places. The union had announced that it would complete gatherings in all the colleges and districts by September 2. As of now meetings have been held only in 18 districts and around two dozen colleges.
The district convention in Dang and Bara scheduled for Tuesday could not take place owing to differences between the two factions close to the establishment faction led by NC President Sushil Koirala and the another group loyal to Sher Bahadur Deuba. “Preparations are very sluggish. We think that the union president wants to extend his tenure by delaying the convention,” said Jit Jung Basnet, former NSU general secretary.
NSU President Ranjeet Karna, however, claimed that he is committed to hold the convention on time. “We will complete district and campus gatherings by extending the deadline without hampering the convention date,” he said. The convention is scheduled to take place for three days starting September 14. The jamboree, which should have held every two years, has not been held for the last five years due to disputes between the two factions.
Meanwhile, around a dozen NSU leaders are ready to throw their hat into the ring for the post of president. Former NSU general secretaries Manoj Mani Acharya, Kundan Kafle and Bhupendra Jung Shahi from the establishment faction and former vice-chairman Nain Singh Mahar and former general secretaries Basnet and Deepak Bhattarai from the Deuba faction have intensified their election campaigns across the country.
NSU insiders say despite many hopefuls, Acharya from the establishment faction and Mahar from the Deuba group stand a chance of securing tickets for the top NSU post.
Posted on: 2013-08-28 08:32
The ongoing internal feud within Nepal Student Union (NSU) is likely to postpone the general convention of the Nepal Congress’ sister union scheduled for next month.
Even as time is tickling for the convention, the union is yet to hold regional, district and campus gatherings in most of the places. The union had announced that it would complete gatherings in all the colleges and districts by September 2. As of now meetings have been held only in 18 districts and around two dozen colleges.
The district convention in Dang and Bara scheduled for Tuesday could not take place owing to differences between the two factions close to the establishment faction led by NC President Sushil Koirala and the another group loyal to Sher Bahadur Deuba. “Preparations are very sluggish. We think that the union president wants to extend his tenure by delaying the convention,” said Jit Jung Basnet, former NSU general secretary.
NSU President Ranjeet Karna, however, claimed that he is committed to hold the convention on time. “We will complete district and campus gatherings by extending the deadline without hampering the convention date,” he said. The convention is scheduled to take place for three days starting September 14. The jamboree, which should have held every two years, has not been held for the last five years due to disputes between the two factions.
Meanwhile, around a dozen NSU leaders are ready to throw their hat into the ring for the post of president. Former NSU general secretaries Manoj Mani Acharya, Kundan Kafle and Bhupendra Jung Shahi from the establishment faction and former vice-chairman Nain Singh Mahar and former general secretaries Basnet and Deepak Bhattarai from the Deuba faction have intensified their election campaigns across the country.
NSU insiders say despite many hopefuls, Acharya from the establishment faction and Mahar from the Deuba group stand a chance of securing tickets for the top NSU post.
Posted on: 2013-08-28 08:32
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AUG 26 - The Chinese town where the Dalai Lama was born is undergoing huge redevelopment, and behind a mountain the exiled spiritual leader's family home has received a makeover of its own, with a three-metre wall and security cameras installed. The building in Hongai village, at the summit of a towering peak, is the only place in China dedicated to the man Beijing considers a violent separatist and a "wolf in monk's robes". But the house has become a symbol of China 's bitterly divisive policy in Tibetan regions following its 2.5 million yuan ($400,000) refurbishment, amid concern from international rights groups over the scale and speed of Tibetan housing and relocation programmes. "This is not modernisation but Sinofication," Tibetan poet and activist Tsering Woeser told AFP. Hongai, known to Tibetans as Taktser, is in an area that has been culturally Tibetan for centuries but lies deep in the western Chinese province of Qinghai, several hundred kilometres (miles) outside the boundaries of the Special Administrative Region itself. For Tibetans the building's transformation is a sign of lost traditions, unrecognisable from the simple farmer's dwelling found by a search party of Buddhists who identified toddler Lhamo Dhondup as the Dalai Lama 's reincarnation in the 1930s. Authorities who funded what appears to be a total rebuild, however, view it as a goodwill gesture to visiting pilgrims and part of a 1.5 billion yuan ($244 million) local regeneration drive. A typically poor outpost in China 's vast and sparsely populated west, the area is beginning to share in the country's economic explosion, with several overseas companies setting up, according to state media. "Today, the once bleak, underdeveloped county is closer to a boom town," local official Sun Xiuzong told the official news agency Xinhua. But near the Dalai Lama 's house, there is little sign of opening up. "You are not allowed in," said a neighbour on a narrow, leafy street in the eerily quiet village. "No foreigners are allowed in. It is because of the police," he added, as dogs -- kept in many Tibetan households as protection -- barked in the distance. Local authorities declined a formal request to enter the property. "We don't want to offer the Dalai Lama any publicity," an official told AFP. The future Nobel laureate was taken to Tibet from Hongai and enthroned before he turned four. He was formally recognised as the 14th Dalai Lama in 1950, at the age of 15, but was forced to flee Tibet nine years later following a failed uprising against Chinese rule. He later founded the government in exile in Dharamshala after being offered refuge by India, and has campaigned for the preservation of Tibetan culture on the world stage ever since. Back in Hongai, his house was reportedly destroyed by Red Guards during the decade-long Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 70s, but rebuilt in the 1980s. It is currently being maintained by Gonpo Tashi, a nephew of the 78-year-old Dalai Lama and former local official, who is understood to live next door. "The refurbished compound has retained its original look, but the ground is newly paved, beams have been reinforced and murals were repainted," according to Xinhua, who officials said were the only media allowed inside since the works. There was no response from either the Dalai Lama 's house or the neighbouring property when AFP visited. Locals say devotees are often allowed in to worship. The top of a large prayer flag pole and a gold temple could be seen from outside, while security cameras and modern waste bins had been installed along the perimeter. Rudy Kong, a Canadian writer who lived in China for many years and visited the house in 2000 -- one of the few foreigners to do so -- was sceptical about the refurbishment. "The main building looks totally different, as it was quite open, but now it is filled in, and the roof was not as steep," he said after viewing AFP images. "It looks like a total rebuild -- and I certainly don't remember a grey three-metre wall surrounding the entire site," he added. Tibetans fear the destruction of their culture through urbanisation and China 's relentless drive to modernise -- while Beijing says its investments have significantly raised living standards. Sophie Richardson, China director for US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch said in June: "The scale and speed at which the Tibetan rural population is being remodelled by mass rehousing and relocation policies are unprecedented in the post-Mao era." Hongai is a remote village of about 70 houses perched above a wide, green valley. At the end of a sharply descending narrow road snaking between freshwater creeks and jagged, stony cliffs, the verdant landscape gives way to a large, dusty building site peppered with dozens of cranes and the skeletons of huge tower blocks awaiting completion. Many of China 's Han ethnic majority have moved into the area as it develops, and Woeser said the local culture had been diluted over the years. "When I last visited Taktser in 2007 a relative told me only 40 of the households were Tibetan," Woeser said. "The relative also told me Tibetans have adopted Han ways and they don't speak good Tibetan." Beijing may be using the house as "bait" to convince senior monks to choose the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama within China 's borders, she added. "Their words are very sweet, but the real situation is very sad, and they are playing games with it.
AUG 26 -
The Chinese town where the Dalai Lama was born is undergoing huge redevelopment, and behind a mountain the exiled spiritual leader's family home has received a makeover of its own, with a three-metre wall and security cameras installed.
The building in Hongai village, at the summit of a towering peak, is the only place in China dedicated to the man Beijing considers a violent separatist and a "wolf in monk's robes".
But the house has become a symbol of China 's bitterly divisive policy in Tibetan regions following its 2.5 million yuan ($400,000) refurbishment, amid concern from international rights groups over the scale and speed of Tibetan housing and relocation programmes.
"This is not modernisation but Sinofication," Tibetan poet and activist Tsering Woeser told AFP.
Hongai, known to Tibetans as Taktser, is in an area that has been culturally Tibetan for centuries but lies deep in the western Chinese province of Qinghai, several hundred kilometres (miles) outside the boundaries of the Special Administrative Region itself.
For Tibetans the building's transformation is a sign of lost traditions, unrecognisable from the simple farmer's dwelling found by a search party of Buddhists who identified toddler Lhamo Dhondup as the Dalai Lama 's reincarnation in the 1930s.
Authorities who funded what appears to be a total rebuild, however, view it as a goodwill gesture to visiting pilgrims and part of a 1.5 billion yuan ($244 million) local regeneration drive.
A typically poor outpost in China 's vast and sparsely populated west, the area is beginning to share in the country's economic explosion, with several overseas companies setting up, according to state media.
"Today, the once bleak, underdeveloped county is closer to a boom town," local official Sun Xiuzong told the official news agency Xinhua.
But near the Dalai Lama 's house, there is little sign of opening up. "You are not allowed in," said a neighbour on a narrow, leafy street in the eerily quiet village.
"No foreigners are allowed in. It is because of the police," he added, as dogs -- kept in many Tibetan households as protection -- barked in the distance.
Local authorities declined a formal request to enter the property. "We don't want to offer the Dalai Lama any publicity," an official told AFP.
The future Nobel laureate was taken to Tibet from Hongai and enthroned before he turned four. He was formally recognised as the 14th Dalai Lama in 1950, at the age of 15, but was forced to flee Tibet nine years later following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
He later founded the government in exile in Dharamshala after being offered refuge by India, and has campaigned for the preservation of Tibetan culture on the world stage ever since.
Back in Hongai, his house was reportedly destroyed by Red Guards during the decade-long Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 70s, but rebuilt in the 1980s.
It is currently being maintained by Gonpo Tashi, a nephew of the 78-year-old Dalai Lama and former local official, who is understood to live next door.
"The refurbished compound has retained its original look, but the ground is newly paved, beams have been reinforced and murals were repainted," according to Xinhua, who officials said were the only media allowed inside since the works.
There was no response from either the Dalai Lama 's house or the neighbouring property when AFP visited.
Locals say devotees are often allowed in to worship. The top of a large prayer flag pole and a gold temple could be seen from outside, while security cameras and modern waste bins had been installed along the perimeter.
Rudy Kong, a Canadian writer who lived in China for many years and visited the house in 2000 -- one of the few foreigners to do so -- was sceptical about the refurbishment.
"The main building looks totally different, as it was quite open, but now it is filled in, and the roof was not as steep," he said after viewing AFP images.
"It looks like a total rebuild -- and I certainly don't remember a grey three-metre wall surrounding the entire site," he added.
Tibetans fear the destruction of their culture through urbanisation and China 's relentless drive to modernise -- while Beijing says its investments have significantly raised living standards.
Sophie Richardson, China director for US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch said in June: "The scale and speed at which the Tibetan rural population is being remodelled by mass rehousing and relocation policies are unprecedented in the post-Mao era."
Hongai is a remote village of about 70 houses perched above a wide, green valley.
At the end of a sharply descending narrow road snaking between freshwater creeks and jagged, stony cliffs, the verdant landscape gives way to a large, dusty building site peppered with dozens of cranes and the skeletons of huge tower blocks awaiting completion.
Many of China 's Han ethnic majority have moved into the area as it develops, and Woeser said the local culture had been diluted over the years.
"When I last visited Taktser in 2007 a relative told me only 40 of the households were Tibetan," Woeser said. "The relative also told me Tibetans have adopted Han ways and they don't speak good Tibetan."
Beijing may be using the house as "bait" to convince senior monks to choose the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama within China 's borders, she added.
"Their words are very sweet, but the real situation is very sad, and they are playing games with it.
The Chinese town where the Dalai Lama was born is undergoing huge redevelopment, and behind a mountain the exiled spiritual leader's family home has received a makeover of its own, with a three-metre wall and security cameras installed.
The building in Hongai village, at the summit of a towering peak, is the only place in China dedicated to the man Beijing considers a violent separatist and a "wolf in monk's robes".
But the house has become a symbol of China 's bitterly divisive policy in Tibetan regions following its 2.5 million yuan ($400,000) refurbishment, amid concern from international rights groups over the scale and speed of Tibetan housing and relocation programmes.
"This is not modernisation but Sinofication," Tibetan poet and activist Tsering Woeser told AFP.
Hongai, known to Tibetans as Taktser, is in an area that has been culturally Tibetan for centuries but lies deep in the western Chinese province of Qinghai, several hundred kilometres (miles) outside the boundaries of the Special Administrative Region itself.
For Tibetans the building's transformation is a sign of lost traditions, unrecognisable from the simple farmer's dwelling found by a search party of Buddhists who identified toddler Lhamo Dhondup as the Dalai Lama 's reincarnation in the 1930s.
Authorities who funded what appears to be a total rebuild, however, view it as a goodwill gesture to visiting pilgrims and part of a 1.5 billion yuan ($244 million) local regeneration drive.
A typically poor outpost in China 's vast and sparsely populated west, the area is beginning to share in the country's economic explosion, with several overseas companies setting up, according to state media.
"Today, the once bleak, underdeveloped county is closer to a boom town," local official Sun Xiuzong told the official news agency Xinhua.
But near the Dalai Lama 's house, there is little sign of opening up. "You are not allowed in," said a neighbour on a narrow, leafy street in the eerily quiet village.
"No foreigners are allowed in. It is because of the police," he added, as dogs -- kept in many Tibetan households as protection -- barked in the distance.
Local authorities declined a formal request to enter the property. "We don't want to offer the Dalai Lama any publicity," an official told AFP.
The future Nobel laureate was taken to Tibet from Hongai and enthroned before he turned four. He was formally recognised as the 14th Dalai Lama in 1950, at the age of 15, but was forced to flee Tibet nine years later following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
He later founded the government in exile in Dharamshala after being offered refuge by India, and has campaigned for the preservation of Tibetan culture on the world stage ever since.
Back in Hongai, his house was reportedly destroyed by Red Guards during the decade-long Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 70s, but rebuilt in the 1980s.
It is currently being maintained by Gonpo Tashi, a nephew of the 78-year-old Dalai Lama and former local official, who is understood to live next door.
"The refurbished compound has retained its original look, but the ground is newly paved, beams have been reinforced and murals were repainted," according to Xinhua, who officials said were the only media allowed inside since the works.
There was no response from either the Dalai Lama 's house or the neighbouring property when AFP visited.
Locals say devotees are often allowed in to worship. The top of a large prayer flag pole and a gold temple could be seen from outside, while security cameras and modern waste bins had been installed along the perimeter.
Rudy Kong, a Canadian writer who lived in China for many years and visited the house in 2000 -- one of the few foreigners to do so -- was sceptical about the refurbishment.
"The main building looks totally different, as it was quite open, but now it is filled in, and the roof was not as steep," he said after viewing AFP images.
"It looks like a total rebuild -- and I certainly don't remember a grey three-metre wall surrounding the entire site," he added.
Tibetans fear the destruction of their culture through urbanisation and China 's relentless drive to modernise -- while Beijing says its investments have significantly raised living standards.
Sophie Richardson, China director for US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch said in June: "The scale and speed at which the Tibetan rural population is being remodelled by mass rehousing and relocation policies are unprecedented in the post-Mao era."
Hongai is a remote village of about 70 houses perched above a wide, green valley.
At the end of a sharply descending narrow road snaking between freshwater creeks and jagged, stony cliffs, the verdant landscape gives way to a large, dusty building site peppered with dozens of cranes and the skeletons of huge tower blocks awaiting completion.
Many of China 's Han ethnic majority have moved into the area as it develops, and Woeser said the local culture had been diluted over the years.
"When I last visited Taktser in 2007 a relative told me only 40 of the households were Tibetan," Woeser said. "The relative also told me Tibetans have adopted Han ways and they don't speak good Tibetan."
Beijing may be using the house as "bait" to convince senior monks to choose the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama within China 's borders, she added.
"Their words are very sweet, but the real situation is very sad, and they are playing games with it.
AUG 26 - The Chinese town where the Dalai Lama was born is undergoing huge redevelopment, and behind a mountain the exiled spiritual leader's family home has received a makeover of its own, with a three-metre wall and security cameras installed. The building in Hongai village, at the summit of a towering peak, is the only place in China dedicated to the man Beijing considers a violent separatist and a "wolf in monk's robes". But the house has become a symbol of China 's bitterly divisive policy in Tibetan regions following its 2.5 million yuan ($400,000) refurbishment, amid concern from international rights groups over the scale and speed of Tibetan housing and relocation programmes. "This is not modernisation but Sinofication," Tibetan poet and activist Tsering Woeser told AFP. Hongai, known to Tibetans as Taktser, is in an area that has been culturally Tibetan for centuries but lies deep in the western Chinese province of Qinghai, several hundred kilometres (miles) outside the boundaries of the Special Administrative Region itself. For Tibetans the building's transformation is a sign of lost traditions, unrecognisable from the simple farmer's dwelling found by a search party of Buddhists who identified toddler Lhamo Dhondup as the Dalai Lama 's reincarnation in the 1930s. Authorities who funded what appears to be a total rebuild, however, view it as a goodwill gesture to visiting pilgrims and part of a 1.5 billion yuan ($244 million) local regeneration drive. A typically poor outpost in China 's vast and sparsely populated west, the area is beginning to share in the country's economic explosion, with several overseas companies setting up, according to state media. "Today, the once bleak, underdeveloped county is closer to a boom town," local official Sun Xiuzong told the official news agency Xinhua. But near the Dalai Lama 's house, there is little sign of opening up. "You are not allowed in," said a neighbour on a narrow, leafy street in the eerily quiet village. "No foreigners are allowed in. It is because of the police," he added, as dogs -- kept in many Tibetan households as protection -- barked in the distance. Local authorities declined a formal request to enter the property. "We don't want to offer the Dalai Lama any publicity," an official told AFP. The future Nobel laureate was taken to Tibet from Hongai and enthroned before he turned four. He was formally recognised as the 14th Dalai Lama in 1950, at the age of 15, but was forced to flee Tibet nine years later following a failed uprising against Chinese rule. He later founded the government in exile in Dharamshala after being offered refuge by India, and has campaigned for the preservation of Tibetan culture on the world stage ever since. Back in Hongai, his house was reportedly destroyed by Red Guards during the decade-long Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 70s, but rebuilt in the 1980s. It is currently being maintained by Gonpo Tashi, a nephew of the 78-year-old Dalai Lama and former local official, who is understood to live next door. "The refurbished compound has retained its original look, but the ground is newly paved, beams have been reinforced and murals were repainted," according to Xinhua, who officials said were the only media allowed inside since the works. There was no response from either the Dalai Lama 's house or the neighbouring property when AFP visited. Locals say devotees are often allowed in to worship. The top of a large prayer flag pole and a gold temple could be seen from outside, while security cameras and modern waste bins had been installed along the perimeter. Rudy Kong, a Canadian writer who lived in China for many years and visited the house in 2000 -- one of the few foreigners to do so -- was sceptical about the refurbishment. "The main building looks totally different, as it was quite open, but now it is filled in, and the roof was not as steep," he said after viewing AFP images. "It looks like a total rebuild -- and I certainly don't remember a grey three-metre wall surrounding the entire site," he added. Tibetans fear the destruction of their culture through urbanisation and China 's relentless drive to modernise -- while Beijing says its investments have significantly raised living standards. Sophie Richardson, China director for US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch said in June: "The scale and speed at which the Tibetan rural population is being remodelled by mass rehousing and relocation policies are unprecedented in the post-Mao era." Hongai is a remote village of about 70 houses perched above a wide, green valley. At the end of a sharply descending narrow road snaking between freshwater creeks and jagged, stony cliffs, the verdant landscape gives way to a large, dusty building site peppered with dozens of cranes and the skeletons of huge tower blocks awaiting completion. Many of China 's Han ethnic majority have moved into the area as it develops, and Woeser said the local culture had been diluted over the years. "When I last visited Taktser in 2007 a relative told me only 40 of the households were Tibetan," Woeser said. "The relative also told me Tibetans have adopted Han ways and they don't speak good Tibetan." Beijing may be using the house as "bait" to convince senior monks to choose the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama within China 's borders, she added. "Their words are very sweet, but the real situation is very sad, and they are playing games with it.
AUG 26 -
The Chinese town where the Dalai Lama was born is undergoing huge redevelopment, and behind a mountain the exiled spiritual leader's family home has received a makeover of its own, with a three-metre wall and security cameras installed.
The building in Hongai village, at the summit of a towering peak, is the only place in China dedicated to the man Beijing considers a violent separatist and a "wolf in monk's robes".
But the house has become a symbol of China 's bitterly divisive policy in Tibetan regions following its 2.5 million yuan ($400,000) refurbishment, amid concern from international rights groups over the scale and speed of Tibetan housing and relocation programmes.
"This is not modernisation but Sinofication," Tibetan poet and activist Tsering Woeser told AFP.
Hongai, known to Tibetans as Taktser, is in an area that has been culturally Tibetan for centuries but lies deep in the western Chinese province of Qinghai, several hundred kilometres (miles) outside the boundaries of the Special Administrative Region itself.
For Tibetans the building's transformation is a sign of lost traditions, unrecognisable from the simple farmer's dwelling found by a search party of Buddhists who identified toddler Lhamo Dhondup as the Dalai Lama 's reincarnation in the 1930s.
Authorities who funded what appears to be a total rebuild, however, view it as a goodwill gesture to visiting pilgrims and part of a 1.5 billion yuan ($244 million) local regeneration drive.
A typically poor outpost in China 's vast and sparsely populated west, the area is beginning to share in the country's economic explosion, with several overseas companies setting up, according to state media.
"Today, the once bleak, underdeveloped county is closer to a boom town," local official Sun Xiuzong told the official news agency Xinhua.
But near the Dalai Lama 's house, there is little sign of opening up. "You are not allowed in," said a neighbour on a narrow, leafy street in the eerily quiet village.
"No foreigners are allowed in. It is because of the police," he added, as dogs -- kept in many Tibetan households as protection -- barked in the distance.
Local authorities declined a formal request to enter the property. "We don't want to offer the Dalai Lama any publicity," an official told AFP.
The future Nobel laureate was taken to Tibet from Hongai and enthroned before he turned four. He was formally recognised as the 14th Dalai Lama in 1950, at the age of 15, but was forced to flee Tibet nine years later following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
He later founded the government in exile in Dharamshala after being offered refuge by India, and has campaigned for the preservation of Tibetan culture on the world stage ever since.
Back in Hongai, his house was reportedly destroyed by Red Guards during the decade-long Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 70s, but rebuilt in the 1980s.
It is currently being maintained by Gonpo Tashi, a nephew of the 78-year-old Dalai Lama and former local official, who is understood to live next door.
"The refurbished compound has retained its original look, but the ground is newly paved, beams have been reinforced and murals were repainted," according to Xinhua, who officials said were the only media allowed inside since the works.
There was no response from either the Dalai Lama 's house or the neighbouring property when AFP visited.
Locals say devotees are often allowed in to worship. The top of a large prayer flag pole and a gold temple could be seen from outside, while security cameras and modern waste bins had been installed along the perimeter.
Rudy Kong, a Canadian writer who lived in China for many years and visited the house in 2000 -- one of the few foreigners to do so -- was sceptical about the refurbishment.
"The main building looks totally different, as it was quite open, but now it is filled in, and the roof was not as steep," he said after viewing AFP images.
"It looks like a total rebuild -- and I certainly don't remember a grey three-metre wall surrounding the entire site," he added.
Tibetans fear the destruction of their culture through urbanisation and China 's relentless drive to modernise -- while Beijing says its investments have significantly raised living standards.
Sophie Richardson, China director for US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch said in June: "The scale and speed at which the Tibetan rural population is being remodelled by mass rehousing and relocation policies are unprecedented in the post-Mao era."
Hongai is a remote village of about 70 houses perched above a wide, green valley.
At the end of a sharply descending narrow road snaking between freshwater creeks and jagged, stony cliffs, the verdant landscape gives way to a large, dusty building site peppered with dozens of cranes and the skeletons of huge tower blocks awaiting completion.
Many of China 's Han ethnic majority have moved into the area as it develops, and Woeser said the local culture had been diluted over the years.
"When I last visited Taktser in 2007 a relative told me only 40 of the households were Tibetan," Woeser said. "The relative also told me Tibetans have adopted Han ways and they don't speak good Tibetan."
Beijing may be using the house as "bait" to convince senior monks to choose the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama within China 's borders, she added.
"Their words are very sweet, but the real situation is very sad, and they are playing games with it.
The Chinese town where the Dalai Lama was born is undergoing huge redevelopment, and behind a mountain the exiled spiritual leader's family home has received a makeover of its own, with a three-metre wall and security cameras installed.
The building in Hongai village, at the summit of a towering peak, is the only place in China dedicated to the man Beijing considers a violent separatist and a "wolf in monk's robes".
But the house has become a symbol of China 's bitterly divisive policy in Tibetan regions following its 2.5 million yuan ($400,000) refurbishment, amid concern from international rights groups over the scale and speed of Tibetan housing and relocation programmes.
"This is not modernisation but Sinofication," Tibetan poet and activist Tsering Woeser told AFP.
Hongai, known to Tibetans as Taktser, is in an area that has been culturally Tibetan for centuries but lies deep in the western Chinese province of Qinghai, several hundred kilometres (miles) outside the boundaries of the Special Administrative Region itself.
For Tibetans the building's transformation is a sign of lost traditions, unrecognisable from the simple farmer's dwelling found by a search party of Buddhists who identified toddler Lhamo Dhondup as the Dalai Lama 's reincarnation in the 1930s.
Authorities who funded what appears to be a total rebuild, however, view it as a goodwill gesture to visiting pilgrims and part of a 1.5 billion yuan ($244 million) local regeneration drive.
A typically poor outpost in China 's vast and sparsely populated west, the area is beginning to share in the country's economic explosion, with several overseas companies setting up, according to state media.
"Today, the once bleak, underdeveloped county is closer to a boom town," local official Sun Xiuzong told the official news agency Xinhua.
But near the Dalai Lama 's house, there is little sign of opening up. "You are not allowed in," said a neighbour on a narrow, leafy street in the eerily quiet village.
"No foreigners are allowed in. It is because of the police," he added, as dogs -- kept in many Tibetan households as protection -- barked in the distance.
Local authorities declined a formal request to enter the property. "We don't want to offer the Dalai Lama any publicity," an official told AFP.
The future Nobel laureate was taken to Tibet from Hongai and enthroned before he turned four. He was formally recognised as the 14th Dalai Lama in 1950, at the age of 15, but was forced to flee Tibet nine years later following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
He later founded the government in exile in Dharamshala after being offered refuge by India, and has campaigned for the preservation of Tibetan culture on the world stage ever since.
Back in Hongai, his house was reportedly destroyed by Red Guards during the decade-long Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 70s, but rebuilt in the 1980s.
It is currently being maintained by Gonpo Tashi, a nephew of the 78-year-old Dalai Lama and former local official, who is understood to live next door.
"The refurbished compound has retained its original look, but the ground is newly paved, beams have been reinforced and murals were repainted," according to Xinhua, who officials said were the only media allowed inside since the works.
There was no response from either the Dalai Lama 's house or the neighbouring property when AFP visited.
Locals say devotees are often allowed in to worship. The top of a large prayer flag pole and a gold temple could be seen from outside, while security cameras and modern waste bins had been installed along the perimeter.
Rudy Kong, a Canadian writer who lived in China for many years and visited the house in 2000 -- one of the few foreigners to do so -- was sceptical about the refurbishment.
"The main building looks totally different, as it was quite open, but now it is filled in, and the roof was not as steep," he said after viewing AFP images.
"It looks like a total rebuild -- and I certainly don't remember a grey three-metre wall surrounding the entire site," he added.
Tibetans fear the destruction of their culture through urbanisation and China 's relentless drive to modernise -- while Beijing says its investments have significantly raised living standards.
Sophie Richardson, China director for US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch said in June: "The scale and speed at which the Tibetan rural population is being remodelled by mass rehousing and relocation policies are unprecedented in the post-Mao era."
Hongai is a remote village of about 70 houses perched above a wide, green valley.
At the end of a sharply descending narrow road snaking between freshwater creeks and jagged, stony cliffs, the verdant landscape gives way to a large, dusty building site peppered with dozens of cranes and the skeletons of huge tower blocks awaiting completion.
Many of China 's Han ethnic majority have moved into the area as it develops, and Woeser said the local culture had been diluted over the years.
"When I last visited Taktser in 2007 a relative told me only 40 of the households were Tibetan," Woeser said. "The relative also told me Tibetans have adopted Han ways and they don't speak good Tibetan."
Beijing may be using the house as "bait" to convince senior monks to choose the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama within China 's borders, she added.
"Their words are very sweet, but the real situation is very sad, and they are playing games with it.
AUG 26 - The Chinese town where the Dalai Lama was born is undergoing huge redevelopment, and behind a mountain the exiled spiritual leader's family home has received a makeover of its own, with a three-metre wall and security cameras installed. The building in Hongai village, at the summit of a towering peak, is the only place in China dedicated to the man Beijing considers a violent separatist and a "wolf in monk's robes". But the house has become a symbol of China 's bitterly divisive policy in Tibetan regions following its 2.5 million yuan ($400,000) refurbishment, amid concern from international rights groups over the scale and speed of Tibetan housing and relocation programmes. "This is not modernisation but Sinofication," Tibetan poet and activist Tsering Woeser told AFP. Hongai, known to Tibetans as Taktser, is in an area that has been culturally Tibetan for centuries but lies deep in the western Chinese province of Qinghai, several hundred kilometres (miles) outside the boundaries of the Special Administrative Region itself. For Tibetans the building's transformation is a sign of lost traditions, unrecognisable from the simple farmer's dwelling found by a search party of Buddhists who identified toddler Lhamo Dhondup as the Dalai Lama 's reincarnation in the 1930s. Authorities who funded what appears to be a total rebuild, however, view it as a goodwill gesture to visiting pilgrims and part of a 1.5 billion yuan ($244 million) local regeneration drive. A typically poor outpost in China 's vast and sparsely populated west, the area is beginning to share in the country's economic explosion, with several overseas companies setting up, according to state media. "Today, the once bleak, underdeveloped county is closer to a boom town," local official Sun Xiuzong told the official news agency Xinhua. But near the Dalai Lama 's house, there is little sign of opening up. "You are not allowed in," said a neighbour on a narrow, leafy street in the eerily quiet village. "No foreigners are allowed in. It is because of the police," he added, as dogs -- kept in many Tibetan households as protection -- barked in the distance. Local authorities declined a formal request to enter the property. "We don't want to offer the Dalai Lama any publicity," an official told AFP. The future Nobel laureate was taken to Tibet from Hongai and enthroned before he turned four. He was formally recognised as the 14th Dalai Lama in 1950, at the age of 15, but was forced to flee Tibet nine years later following a failed uprising against Chinese rule. He later founded the government in exile in Dharamshala after being offered refuge by India, and has campaigned for the preservation of Tibetan culture on the world stage ever since. Back in Hongai, his house was reportedly destroyed by Red Guards during the decade-long Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 70s, but rebuilt in the 1980s. It is currently being maintained by Gonpo Tashi, a nephew of the 78-year-old Dalai Lama and former local official, who is understood to live next door. "The refurbished compound has retained its original look, but the ground is newly paved, beams have been reinforced and murals were repainted," according to Xinhua, who officials said were the only media allowed inside since the works. There was no response from either the Dalai Lama 's house or the neighbouring property when AFP visited. Locals say devotees are often allowed in to worship. The top of a large prayer flag pole and a gold temple could be seen from outside, while security cameras and modern waste bins had been installed along the perimeter. Rudy Kong, a Canadian writer who lived in China for many years and visited the house in 2000 -- one of the few foreigners to do so -- was sceptical about the refurbishment. "The main building looks totally different, as it was quite open, but now it is filled in, and the roof was not as steep," he said after viewing AFP images. "It looks like a total rebuild -- and I certainly don't remember a grey three-metre wall surrounding the entire site," he added. Tibetans fear the destruction of their culture through urbanisation and China 's relentless drive to modernise -- while Beijing says its investments have significantly raised living standards. Sophie Richardson, China director for US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch said in June: "The scale and speed at which the Tibetan rural population is being remodelled by mass rehousing and relocation policies are unprecedented in the post-Mao era." Hongai is a remote village of about 70 houses perched above a wide, green valley. At the end of a sharply descending narrow road snaking between freshwater creeks and jagged, stony cliffs, the verdant landscape gives way to a large, dusty building site peppered with dozens of cranes and the skeletons of huge tower blocks awaiting completion. Many of China 's Han ethnic majority have moved into the area as it develops, and Woeser said the local culture had been diluted over the years. "When I last visited Taktser in 2007 a relative told me only 40 of the households were Tibetan," Woeser said. "The relative also told me Tibetans have adopted Han ways and they don't speak good Tibetan." Beijing may be using the house as "bait" to convince senior monks to choose the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama within China 's borders, she added. "Their words are very sweet, but the real situation is very sad, and they are playing games with it.
AUG 26 -
The Chinese town where the Dalai Lama was born is undergoing huge redevelopment, and behind a mountain the exiled spiritual leader's family home has received a makeover of its own, with a three-metre wall and security cameras installed.
The building in Hongai village, at the summit of a towering peak, is the only place in China dedicated to the man Beijing considers a violent separatist and a "wolf in monk's robes".
But the house has become a symbol of China 's bitterly divisive policy in Tibetan regions following its 2.5 million yuan ($400,000) refurbishment, amid concern from international rights groups over the scale and speed of Tibetan housing and relocation programmes.
"This is not modernisation but Sinofication," Tibetan poet and activist Tsering Woeser told AFP.
Hongai, known to Tibetans as Taktser, is in an area that has been culturally Tibetan for centuries but lies deep in the western Chinese province of Qinghai, several hundred kilometres (miles) outside the boundaries of the Special Administrative Region itself.
For Tibetans the building's transformation is a sign of lost traditions, unrecognisable from the simple farmer's dwelling found by a search party of Buddhists who identified toddler Lhamo Dhondup as the Dalai Lama 's reincarnation in the 1930s.
Authorities who funded what appears to be a total rebuild, however, view it as a goodwill gesture to visiting pilgrims and part of a 1.5 billion yuan ($244 million) local regeneration drive.
A typically poor outpost in China 's vast and sparsely populated west, the area is beginning to share in the country's economic explosion, with several overseas companies setting up, according to state media.
"Today, the once bleak, underdeveloped county is closer to a boom town," local official Sun Xiuzong told the official news agency Xinhua.
But near the Dalai Lama 's house, there is little sign of opening up. "You are not allowed in," said a neighbour on a narrow, leafy street in the eerily quiet village.
"No foreigners are allowed in. It is because of the police," he added, as dogs -- kept in many Tibetan households as protection -- barked in the distance.
Local authorities declined a formal request to enter the property. "We don't want to offer the Dalai Lama any publicity," an official told AFP.
The future Nobel laureate was taken to Tibet from Hongai and enthroned before he turned four. He was formally recognised as the 14th Dalai Lama in 1950, at the age of 15, but was forced to flee Tibet nine years later following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
He later founded the government in exile in Dharamshala after being offered refuge by India, and has campaigned for the preservation of Tibetan culture on the world stage ever since.
Back in Hongai, his house was reportedly destroyed by Red Guards during the decade-long Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 70s, but rebuilt in the 1980s.
It is currently being maintained by Gonpo Tashi, a nephew of the 78-year-old Dalai Lama and former local official, who is understood to live next door.
"The refurbished compound has retained its original look, but the ground is newly paved, beams have been reinforced and murals were repainted," according to Xinhua, who officials said were the only media allowed inside since the works.
There was no response from either the Dalai Lama 's house or the neighbouring property when AFP visited.
Locals say devotees are often allowed in to worship. The top of a large prayer flag pole and a gold temple could be seen from outside, while security cameras and modern waste bins had been installed along the perimeter.
Rudy Kong, a Canadian writer who lived in China for many years and visited the house in 2000 -- one of the few foreigners to do so -- was sceptical about the refurbishment.
"The main building looks totally different, as it was quite open, but now it is filled in, and the roof was not as steep," he said after viewing AFP images.
"It looks like a total rebuild -- and I certainly don't remember a grey three-metre wall surrounding the entire site," he added.
Tibetans fear the destruction of their culture through urbanisation and China 's relentless drive to modernise -- while Beijing says its investments have significantly raised living standards.
Sophie Richardson, China director for US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch said in June: "The scale and speed at which the Tibetan rural population is being remodelled by mass rehousing and relocation policies are unprecedented in the post-Mao era."
Hongai is a remote village of about 70 houses perched above a wide, green valley.
At the end of a sharply descending narrow road snaking between freshwater creeks and jagged, stony cliffs, the verdant landscape gives way to a large, dusty building site peppered with dozens of cranes and the skeletons of huge tower blocks awaiting completion.
Many of China 's Han ethnic majority have moved into the area as it develops, and Woeser said the local culture had been diluted over the years.
"When I last visited Taktser in 2007 a relative told me only 40 of the households were Tibetan," Woeser said. "The relative also told me Tibetans have adopted Han ways and they don't speak good Tibetan."
Beijing may be using the house as "bait" to convince senior monks to choose the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama within China 's borders, she added.
"Their words are very sweet, but the real situation is very sad, and they are playing games with it.
The Chinese town where the Dalai Lama was born is undergoing huge redevelopment, and behind a mountain the exiled spiritual leader's family home has received a makeover of its own, with a three-metre wall and security cameras installed.
The building in Hongai village, at the summit of a towering peak, is the only place in China dedicated to the man Beijing considers a violent separatist and a "wolf in monk's robes".
But the house has become a symbol of China 's bitterly divisive policy in Tibetan regions following its 2.5 million yuan ($400,000) refurbishment, amid concern from international rights groups over the scale and speed of Tibetan housing and relocation programmes.
"This is not modernisation but Sinofication," Tibetan poet and activist Tsering Woeser told AFP.
Hongai, known to Tibetans as Taktser, is in an area that has been culturally Tibetan for centuries but lies deep in the western Chinese province of Qinghai, several hundred kilometres (miles) outside the boundaries of the Special Administrative Region itself.
For Tibetans the building's transformation is a sign of lost traditions, unrecognisable from the simple farmer's dwelling found by a search party of Buddhists who identified toddler Lhamo Dhondup as the Dalai Lama 's reincarnation in the 1930s.
Authorities who funded what appears to be a total rebuild, however, view it as a goodwill gesture to visiting pilgrims and part of a 1.5 billion yuan ($244 million) local regeneration drive.
A typically poor outpost in China 's vast and sparsely populated west, the area is beginning to share in the country's economic explosion, with several overseas companies setting up, according to state media.
"Today, the once bleak, underdeveloped county is closer to a boom town," local official Sun Xiuzong told the official news agency Xinhua.
But near the Dalai Lama 's house, there is little sign of opening up. "You are not allowed in," said a neighbour on a narrow, leafy street in the eerily quiet village.
"No foreigners are allowed in. It is because of the police," he added, as dogs -- kept in many Tibetan households as protection -- barked in the distance.
Local authorities declined a formal request to enter the property. "We don't want to offer the Dalai Lama any publicity," an official told AFP.
The future Nobel laureate was taken to Tibet from Hongai and enthroned before he turned four. He was formally recognised as the 14th Dalai Lama in 1950, at the age of 15, but was forced to flee Tibet nine years later following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
He later founded the government in exile in Dharamshala after being offered refuge by India, and has campaigned for the preservation of Tibetan culture on the world stage ever since.
Back in Hongai, his house was reportedly destroyed by Red Guards during the decade-long Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 70s, but rebuilt in the 1980s.
It is currently being maintained by Gonpo Tashi, a nephew of the 78-year-old Dalai Lama and former local official, who is understood to live next door.
"The refurbished compound has retained its original look, but the ground is newly paved, beams have been reinforced and murals were repainted," according to Xinhua, who officials said were the only media allowed inside since the works.
There was no response from either the Dalai Lama 's house or the neighbouring property when AFP visited.
Locals say devotees are often allowed in to worship. The top of a large prayer flag pole and a gold temple could be seen from outside, while security cameras and modern waste bins had been installed along the perimeter.
Rudy Kong, a Canadian writer who lived in China for many years and visited the house in 2000 -- one of the few foreigners to do so -- was sceptical about the refurbishment.
"The main building looks totally different, as it was quite open, but now it is filled in, and the roof was not as steep," he said after viewing AFP images.
"It looks like a total rebuild -- and I certainly don't remember a grey three-metre wall surrounding the entire site," he added.
Tibetans fear the destruction of their culture through urbanisation and China 's relentless drive to modernise -- while Beijing says its investments have significantly raised living standards.
Sophie Richardson, China director for US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch said in June: "The scale and speed at which the Tibetan rural population is being remodelled by mass rehousing and relocation policies are unprecedented in the post-Mao era."
Hongai is a remote village of about 70 houses perched above a wide, green valley.
At the end of a sharply descending narrow road snaking between freshwater creeks and jagged, stony cliffs, the verdant landscape gives way to a large, dusty building site peppered with dozens of cranes and the skeletons of huge tower blocks awaiting completion.
Many of China 's Han ethnic majority have moved into the area as it develops, and Woeser said the local culture had been diluted over the years.
"When I last visited Taktser in 2007 a relative told me only 40 of the households were Tibetan," Woeser said. "The relative also told me Tibetans have adopted Han ways and they don't speak good Tibetan."
Beijing may be using the house as "bait" to convince senior monks to choose the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama within China 's borders, she added.
"Their words are very sweet, but the real situation is very sad, and they are playing games with it.
KATHMANDU, AUG 28 - The ongoing internal feud within Nepal Student Union (NSU) is likely to postpone the general convention of the Nepal Congress’ sister union scheduled for next month. Even as time is tickling for the convention, the union is yet to hold regional, district and campus gatherings in most of the places. The union had announced that it would complete gatherings in all the colleges and districts by September 2. As of now meetings have been held only in 18 districts and around two dozen colleges. The district convention in Dang and Bara scheduled for Tuesday could not take place owing to differences between the two factions close to the establishment faction led by NC President Sushil Koirala and the another group loyal to Sher Bahadur Deuba. “Preparations are very sluggish. We think that the union president wants to extend his tenure by delaying the convention,” said Jit Jung Basnet, former NSU general secretary. NSU President Ranjeet Karna, however, claimed that he is committed to hold the convention on time. “We will complete district and campus gatherings by extending the deadline without hampering the convention date,” he said. The convention is scheduled to take place for three days starting September 14. The jamboree, which should have held every two years, has not been held for the last five years due to disputes between the two factions. Meanwhile, around a dozen NSU leaders are ready to throw their hat into the ring for the post of president. Former NSU general secretaries Manoj Mani Acharya, Kundan Kafle and Bhupendra Jung Shahi from the establishment faction and former vice-chairman Nain Singh Mahar and former general secretaries Basnet and Deepak Bhattarai from the Deuba faction have intensified their election campaigns across the country. NSU insiders say despite many hopefuls, Acharya from the establishment faction and Mahar from the Deuba group stand a chance of securing tickets for the top NSU post. Posted on: 2013-08-28 08:32 Post Your Comment Please note that all the fields marked * are mandatory. * Full Name * Address * Email Address * Comment * Captcha Get another CAPTCHA code Note: Comments containing abusive words or slander shall not be published. Most » Zen Travels Travel de society Travel USA otelint Radio Kantipur British College Rakshya Travel Publication : © Copyright 2000-2013 Kantipur Publications Pvt. Ltd. All Rights Reserved Powered by Yómarí Our Publication Kantipur The Kathmandu Post Nepal Saptahik Nari Kantipur Qatar Yes Kantipur Subscribe in a click
KATHMANDU, AUG 28 -
The ongoing internal feud within Nepal Student Union (NSU) is likely to postpone the general convention of the Nepal Congress’ sister union scheduled for next month.
Even as time is tickling for the convention, the union is yet to hold regional, district and campus gatherings in most of the places. The union had announced that it would complete gatherings in all the colleges and districts by September 2. As of now meetings have been held only in 18 districts and around two dozen colleges.
The district convention in Dang and Bara scheduled for Tuesday could not take place owing to differences between the two factions close to the establishment faction led by NC President Sushil Koirala and the another group loyal to Sher Bahadur Deuba. “Preparations are very sluggish. We think that the union president wants to extend his tenure by delaying the convention,” said Jit Jung Basnet, former NSU general secretary.
NSU President Ranjeet Karna, however, claimed that he is committed to hold the convention on time. “We will complete district and campus gatherings by extending the deadline without hampering the convention date,” he said. The convention is scheduled to take place for three days starting September 14. The jamboree, which should have held every two years, has not been held for the last five years due to disputes between the two factions.
Meanwhile, around a dozen NSU leaders are ready to throw their hat into the ring for the post of president. Former NSU general secretaries Manoj Mani Acharya, Kundan Kafle and Bhupendra Jung Shahi from the establishment faction and former vice-chairman Nain Singh Mahar and former general secretaries Basnet and Deepak Bhattarai from the Deuba faction have intensified their election campaigns across the country.
NSU insiders say despite many hopefuls, Acharya from the establishment faction and Mahar from the Deuba group stand a chance of securing tickets for the top NSU post.
Posted on: 2013-08-28 08:32
The ongoing internal feud within Nepal Student Union (NSU) is likely to postpone the general convention of the Nepal Congress’ sister union scheduled for next month.
Even as time is tickling for the convention, the union is yet to hold regional, district and campus gatherings in most of the places. The union had announced that it would complete gatherings in all the colleges and districts by September 2. As of now meetings have been held only in 18 districts and around two dozen colleges.
The district convention in Dang and Bara scheduled for Tuesday could not take place owing to differences between the two factions close to the establishment faction led by NC President Sushil Koirala and the another group loyal to Sher Bahadur Deuba. “Preparations are very sluggish. We think that the union president wants to extend his tenure by delaying the convention,” said Jit Jung Basnet, former NSU general secretary.
NSU President Ranjeet Karna, however, claimed that he is committed to hold the convention on time. “We will complete district and campus gatherings by extending the deadline without hampering the convention date,” he said. The convention is scheduled to take place for three days starting September 14. The jamboree, which should have held every two years, has not been held for the last five years due to disputes between the two factions.
Meanwhile, around a dozen NSU leaders are ready to throw their hat into the ring for the post of president. Former NSU general secretaries Manoj Mani Acharya, Kundan Kafle and Bhupendra Jung Shahi from the establishment faction and former vice-chairman Nain Singh Mahar and former general secretaries Basnet and Deepak Bhattarai from the Deuba faction have intensified their election campaigns across the country.
NSU insiders say despite many hopefuls, Acharya from the establishment faction and Mahar from the Deuba group stand a chance of securing tickets for the top NSU post.
Posted on: 2013-08-28 08:32
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KATHMANDU, AUG 28 - The ongoing internal feud within Nepal Student Union (NSU) is likely to postpone the general convention of the Nepal Congress’ sister union scheduled for next month. Even as time is tickling for the convention, the union is yet to hold regional, district and campus gatherings in most of the places. The union had announced that it would complete gatherings in all the colleges and districts by September 2. As of now meetings have been held only in 18 districts and around two dozen colleges. The district convention in Dang and Bara scheduled for Tuesday could not take place owing to differences between the two factions close to the establishment faction led by NC President Sushil Koirala and the another group loyal to Sher Bahadur Deuba. “Preparations are very sluggish. We think that the union president wants to extend his tenure by delaying the convention,” said Jit Jung Basnet, former NSU general secretary. NSU President Ranjeet Karna, however, claimed that he is committed to hold the convention on time. “We will complete district and campus gatherings by extending the deadline without hampering the convention date,” he said. The convention is scheduled to take place for three days starting September 14. The jamboree, which should have held every two years, has not been held for the last five years due to disputes between the two factions. Meanwhile, around a dozen NSU leaders are ready to throw their hat into the ring for the post of president. Former NSU general secretaries Manoj Mani Acharya, Kundan Kafle and Bhupendra Jung Shahi from the establishment faction and former vice-chairman Nain Singh Mahar and former general secretaries Basnet and Deepak Bhattarai from the Deuba faction have intensified their election campaigns across the country. NSU insiders say despite many hopefuls, Acharya from the establishment faction and Mahar from the Deuba group stand a chance of securing tickets for the top NSU post. Posted on: 2013-08-28 08:32 Post Your Comment Please note that all the fields marked * are mandatory. * Full Name * Address * Email Address * Comment * Captcha Get another CAPTCHA code Note: Comments containing abusive words or slander shall not be published. Most » Zen Travels Travel de society Travel USA otelint Radio Kantipur British College Rakshya Travel Publication : © Copyright 2000-2013 Kantipur Publications Pvt. Ltd. All Rights Reserved Powered by Yómarí Our Publication Kantipur The Kathmandu Post Nepal Saptahik Nari Kantipur Qatar Yes Kantipur Subscribe in a click
KATHMANDU, AUG 28 -
The ongoing internal feud within Nepal Student Union (NSU) is likely to postpone the general convention of the Nepal Congress’ sister union scheduled for next month.
Even as time is tickling for the convention, the union is yet to hold regional, district and campus gatherings in most of the places. The union had announced that it would complete gatherings in all the colleges and districts by September 2. As of now meetings have been held only in 18 districts and around two dozen colleges.
The district convention in Dang and Bara scheduled for Tuesday could not take place owing to differences between the two factions close to the establishment faction led by NC President Sushil Koirala and the another group loyal to Sher Bahadur Deuba. “Preparations are very sluggish. We think that the union president wants to extend his tenure by delaying the convention,” said Jit Jung Basnet, former NSU general secretary.
NSU President Ranjeet Karna, however, claimed that he is committed to hold the convention on time. “We will complete district and campus gatherings by extending the deadline without hampering the convention date,” he said. The convention is scheduled to take place for three days starting September 14. The jamboree, which should have held every two years, has not been held for the last five years due to disputes between the two factions.
Meanwhile, around a dozen NSU leaders are ready to throw their hat into the ring for the post of president. Former NSU general secretaries Manoj Mani Acharya, Kundan Kafle and Bhupendra Jung Shahi from the establishment faction and former vice-chairman Nain Singh Mahar and former general secretaries Basnet and Deepak Bhattarai from the Deuba faction have intensified their election campaigns across the country.
NSU insiders say despite many hopefuls, Acharya from the establishment faction and Mahar from the Deuba group stand a chance of securing tickets for the top NSU post.
Posted on: 2013-08-28 08:32
The ongoing internal feud within Nepal Student Union (NSU) is likely to postpone the general convention of the Nepal Congress’ sister union scheduled for next month.
Even as time is tickling for the convention, the union is yet to hold regional, district and campus gatherings in most of the places. The union had announced that it would complete gatherings in all the colleges and districts by September 2. As of now meetings have been held only in 18 districts and around two dozen colleges.
The district convention in Dang and Bara scheduled for Tuesday could not take place owing to differences between the two factions close to the establishment faction led by NC President Sushil Koirala and the another group loyal to Sher Bahadur Deuba. “Preparations are very sluggish. We think that the union president wants to extend his tenure by delaying the convention,” said Jit Jung Basnet, former NSU general secretary.
NSU President Ranjeet Karna, however, claimed that he is committed to hold the convention on time. “We will complete district and campus gatherings by extending the deadline without hampering the convention date,” he said. The convention is scheduled to take place for three days starting September 14. The jamboree, which should have held every two years, has not been held for the last five years due to disputes between the two factions.
Meanwhile, around a dozen NSU leaders are ready to throw their hat into the ring for the post of president. Former NSU general secretaries Manoj Mani Acharya, Kundan Kafle and Bhupendra Jung Shahi from the establishment faction and former vice-chairman Nain Singh Mahar and former general secretaries Basnet and Deepak Bhattarai from the Deuba faction have intensified their election campaigns across the country.
NSU insiders say despite many hopefuls, Acharya from the establishment faction and Mahar from the Deuba group stand a chance of securing tickets for the top NSU post.
Posted on: 2013-08-28 08:32
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