Dharamshala – The last session of the Tibetan Parliaments began on Monday, March 21st. Speaker of Parliament and Sikyong candidate Penpa Tsering urged members of the session to refrain from the previous day's election and instead focus on the budget for financial year 2016-17.

The first day of the session, the parliament passed a resolution mourning the deaths of Kyabjé Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche, the two teen self-immolators Kalsang Wangdu and Dorjee Tsering, and Mr. Karma Choephel, an MP.

The Finance Minister, Tsering Dhundup, then presented the proposed budget of 2238 million Indian rupees and the Budget Committee Secretary Karma Yeshi broke down the budget, explaining, "compared to last year's approved budget of 2018 million rupees, it has increased this year due to implementation of new programs and policies including Tibetan Medicare System, Increment of CTA staff salary and new programs of different departments."

This final session of the current parliament will discuss and approve the budget of the Central Tibetan Administration by April 1, the final day of the session.

Chennai — Since the second week of November, a downpour has continued to shower Chennai, India's 4th largest city, which is located in the hot climate state of Tamil Nadu.

The worst rainfall in the past century has caused severe damage and taken a toll on human life. Flooding in the southern part of the city has blocked transportation routes and entered housing located in low lying areas.

Tibetan college students living and studying in Chennai report leaking roofs, food scarcity, and other housing issues that had led to major adjustments in their living situations. The students are shut indoors while colleges and schools are closed and the semester examination of several colleges are postponed. The government in Chennai is under an extreme amount of pressure to provide better services and assistance to all the people living in the area.

Tenzin Chime is a final year student on BA Journalism at Madras Christian College. He currently interns at the Tibet Post International.

Dharamshala — The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) has organised a environment awareness event for Tibetan students of the CST school in Phendeling Tibetan settlement in Mainpat, Surguja district in Chhattisgarh, India, from November 27-28, 2015.

As part of the CTA's COP21 campaign for 'Tibet – Climate Action on the roof of the world', the settlement office organised the event, including talks and a drawing competition on the theme of "Tibetan environment",a CTA media report said, adding that "students from class 1-5 took part in the event."

The presentation include the importance of Tibet's environment to the world and the rapid environmental degradation taking place inside Tibet under Beijing's policies. Students whose drawings were selected as the winners were also awarded.

Dharamshala — The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) said it had postponed the Kalachakra Initiation in Bodhgaya for one year, originally scheduled for January 2016. The announcement came during a press conference held by Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, accompanied by two ministers at the headquarters of the CTA Monday morning.

In light of the busy year His Holiness has endured, including the 80th birthday celebrations and an intensive travelling schedule this fall including a week-long visit to England in September; a three-week visit to the US in October; teaching programs and visits in India in November and a three-week teaching program in South India in December, the CTA has announced that Kalachakra will be postponed for one year.

The preparation for Kalachakra requires longer time than other rituals to be performed by His Holiness, and are highly strenuous. Due to concerns from the general Tibetan population, the CTA has requested His Holiness to reduce his schedule to which he has kindly agreed.

Dharamshala -- The Department of Health organized a Health Information System workshop training for the healthcare workers and nurses of 12 settlements of Nepal, including the remote Tibetan settlements of Nepal, from the 14th until the 17th of July at the Hotel Tibet in Dharamshala.

The objective of the training was to build efficient capacity of health care workers and staffs of the health clinics of Tibetan settlements in Nepal to build a robust, reliable and efficient health information system for health data collection. The processes taught were how to collect health information on paper forms as well as on the health information system software developed by the department.

The opening and the closing ceremony were graced by the presence of the honorable Health Kalon and the Health Secretary who talked in detail about the importance of health data collection and analyses for formulation of important health policies at the administrative level. The training was given by the department's Health Information System and Public Health Program Coordinator Tenzin Tseyang and Dr Lobsang Tsering.

Dharamshala -- The Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile based in Dharamshala expressed its condolences and solidarity with Tulku Tenzin Delek Rinpoche who died in a Chinese prison on Sunday, 12 July.

"We are deeply saddened by the untimely death of Tulku Tenzin Delek Rinpoche. The Chinese government has repeatedly violated all universal human rights in Tibet," the Parliament said in a statement.

The Parliament also urged the Chinese government to return the body of Tulku Tenzin Delek Rinpoche to his family members and disciples, to allow them to arrange for his last rites according to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.