By Tenzin Lhaksam,
Phayul Reporter
Dharamsala, 10 December – The hill-town head quarters of the exile Tibetan government today swayed in joy amid a chorus of Indian and Tibetan traditional music as the celebrations to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the conferment of Nobel Peace Prize on His Holiness the Dalai Lama opened here.
The day began with a series of award and felicitations to people who have made remarkable contributions to society and students excelling in academics.
Major Vijay Singh Mankotia, the minister of Tourism, Himachal state government, attended the festive gathering as the chief guest. Talking to the crowd, which was a mixture of Tibetan, Indian and foreigners the Minister promised to allocate 30 lakh Rupees to build a conference Hall which would be of international standard. The other dignitaries of the festival include Mr. Namgyal Tsering and Lobsang Khedup, Tibetan Justice Commissioners, Dolma Gyari, Vice Chairperson of the ATPD, Mr. Thupten Lungrik, Minister for Education and Religion, Mr. Lobsang Nyandak, Minister for Health and Finance.
Mr. Mankotia later inaugurated a photo exhibition a Peace Pilgrim, a visual biography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Tibet Museum of the Department of Information and International Relations.
Meanwhile, the Press Club of Tibet launched its website (www.presscluboftibet.org which was inaugurated by Gyari Dolma.
Around 4 p.m the 9th International Himalayan festival was kicked off at Hotel Bhagsu, which was organized by Indo-Tibetan Friendship Society, and sponsored by Himachal Tourism Department and the Tibetan exile government. . Cultural troupes from various parts of Himachal Pradesh and local Tibetan community, including Tibetan Institute of performing Arts, took part in the entertainment programme. The Carnival will go on for the next two days.
