Obituary: Central Tibetan Administration Mourns the Demise of Ven Norbu Dhondhen.

Dharamshala: The leadership and staff of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) held a prayer service this afternoon to mourn the demise of former Secretary of the Department of Religion and Culture, Ven. Norbu Dhonden, who sadly passed away yesterday at 11:30 p.m.

During the prayer ceremony, Cabinet Secretary Tsegyal Chukya Dranyi read a brief biography of the late Secretary before the gathering.

Brief Biography: Ven. Norbu Dhonden joined the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) on 1 September 1986, joining as a Senior Clerk in the Private Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, then affiliated with the CTA. He was later promoted to Under Secretary in August 1992, and again to Deputy Secretary in November 1993. On 29 January 1999, he was promoted to Joint Secretary. On 1 August 2006, he was transferred to the Department of Information and International Relations, from where he was again transferred to the Department of Religion and Culture in April 2007. In June 2007, he was promoted to Additional Secretary at the same department. He continued to serve in this role, briefly taking on the responsibilities of Acting Secretary in April 2010 and was formally promoted to Secretary in 2012. Later, he was transferred to the History Documentation and Interim Placement Section under the Kashag Secretariat in March 2012. After a one-year extension of service, he retired form the civil service on 1 July 2014.