International Sources

Biz Buzz: Pursue your happiness the Bhutanese way - Newark Star-Ledger
If you’re looking for some “pursuit of happiness” sparkle this Fourth of July, consider taking a cue from the former king of Bhutan. Jigme Singye Wangchuck ruled the tiny Himalayan Buddhist kingdom wedged between India and China for 34 years before …

Hopes for Bhutan - Boston Globe
SEEN-IT-ALL Washingtonians saw something new last week: a Bhutanese temple rising on the Mall amid fluttering prayer flags near the Washington Monument. The Bhutanese are in town for the Smithsonian’s Folklife Festival. With a population of just 600 …

Bhutan MPs in computer game ban - BBC News
“I have seen many of our lawmakers playing computer games when others are debating serious issues,” Mr Tshering said. MPs rejected the allegations. The tiny Himalayan country is slowly joining the modern world and held its first democratic elections …

Helvetas renews relationship - Kuensel Online
3 July, 2008 - One of Bhutan’s oldest and closest development partners, Helvetas or Swiss association for international cooperation, has signed a new general cooperation agreement, that will be valid for a period of five years or till the end of …

S Asia climate ‘crisis’ talks due - BBC South-Asia
All coastal areas along with Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and the heavily populated states of north India are likely to be badly affected by the melting glaciers. India has unveiled an action plan to fight climate threats On Monday, India …

Going to the Mall - Spectator.org
Between now and July 6, this year’s Folklife Festival will be a fine distraction for the hordes of tourists in D.C. Beginning in 1967 with an emphasis on American Indian cultures, these days Folklife introduces audiences to “diverse” and remote …

The Thunder Dragon and Hydropower - Kuensel Online
With a hydro policy on the table and eight projects earmarked, the government will now have to quickly identify interested agencies, both in the government and private, make funding arrangements, allow DPR studies, provide quick clearances and start …

International migration office bombed in Nepal - Washington Post
Resize Text KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Three bombs exploded at an office of the International Organization of Migration (IOM) in east Nepal that helps Bhutanese refugees to settle in third countries, police and government officials said on Tuesday. It was …

Time to protect the Thunder Dragon - Sify
Though he is above 80, Lt Gen. Jack Frederick Ralph Jacob, a hero of the 1971 war with Pakistan, remains a keen student of strategic warfare. “I’ve learned from every campaign since Alexander the Great and Napoleon,” he explains. Jacob, who also …

Ask AP: Car buying incentives, European gas prices - Associated Press
Gas prices have long been sky-high in Europe. So given what’s happened to prices at the pump in America recently, has a gallon of gas in Paris or Rome gone from expensive to ridiculous? Curiosity about European gas prices inspired one of three …

Kuensel - Bhutan’s National Newspaper

The Thunder Dragon and Hydropower
A checklist for effective exploitation

3 July, 2008 - The DPT government’s target of 10,019 MW by 2020 will have to avoid past mistakes of long delays and increased costs and also be well prepared for the implications of such massive projects. The projects, if carried out well and in time, will change the socio economic face of Bhutan and create rapid development opportunities.

Bumthang honey makes a comeback

Processing and packaging at the beekeeper’s association plant

3 July, 2008 - The bee keeping association at Jalikhar in Bumthang began harvesting honey yesterday, which means that the bottled Bumthang product should soon be back on shop shelves.

Will Langthel gewog give tomatoes a go?

3 July, 2008 - Tomato could become the next income-generating cash crop for Trongsa’s Langthel gewog.

District agricultural officials are cultivating four varieties of tomato - Roma, an egg-shaped tomato, Indian rare, Ratan, which is round in shape, and Cherry, the small local tomatoes - at the agriculture extension office in Langthel. Trials are being conducted on six beds, three inside poly-tunnels and three in the open.

Bhutan Observer

You ask, We answer
The Opposition Leader on party, politics and policies
Q. Well into the first session, what is your opinion of how the ruling party perceives you?
A. I don’t dwell on how the ruling party perceives me. Instead, I am more concerned about doing my job well and serving the tsa-wa-sum meaningfully.
Q. Is every issue deliberated keeping the interest of the […]

Campus of the distinguished(Lyonpo Zangley Dukpa, Minister of Health)
Alma Mater
Yurung Junior Secondary School, Yurung, Pemagatshel Teachers’ Training Institute, Samtse

Higher Education: National Institute of Education, Singapore Moray House College of Education, Edinburgh, Scotland University of Bristol, England

Memories of Campus Life: Three different institutes in three different countries and different cultural settings as well as learning environment gave me a holistic campus life experience. In […]

Is civil service being compromised?
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

It’s not broken, but we still got to ‘fix’ it

Briefly
As part of the celebration of the Centenary of Monarchy, the consecration of the National Memorial Choeten Restoration will take place on June 28.

The Bhutan Narcotic Control Agency observed the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking yesterday at the Yangchenphug HSS.
The Punakha district court has sentenced six men between 19 and 28 years […]

“Bhutan – 100 Years of Wangchuck Vision”
“Bhutan – 100 Years of Wangchuck Vision” by Maj. Gen. (Retd) Shubi Sood was launched at the Royal Bhutanese Embassy, New Delhi on 17 June 2008 by Lyonpo Dago Tshering, Ambassador of Bhutan to India.

Surprise – you got early retirement
When the RCSC issued a press release on BBS on June 19 about the premature retirement of senior civil servants, it’s impact was no different from the ‘shock and awe’ approach taken in Iraq by President George W Bush. That is the complete surprise in which the release was received by the senior civil servants […]

Is civil service being compromised?
The establishment of 14 parliament committees with chairpersons and vice chairpersons has ignited a debate among civil servants that the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa is compromising the independence of the executive from the legislative body.
The big question making the rounds is ‘how can the government maintain the system of checks and balances by having the MPs […]

10 killed in accident
Phuntsholing: In an accident, at around 3 pm on June 25, that circumvented every existing traffic regulation, 10 people were killed and seven injured with severe head injuries and fractures.
A Maruti van jam-packed with 17 passengers went off the road and plunged about 40 ft below in between Pasakha and Paktsina in Phuentsholing because the […]

Special interest in land pooling?
Land pooling is a must for the delivery of necessary services and land owners have reluctantly accepted the relocation of plots away from the Babesa expressway. Some landowners have, however, become skeptical after finding that there are constructions coming up on their earlier plots.
The relocation of land from commercial areas, the clubbing of plots and […]

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