International Sources

Climate change threatens South Asia food supplies - Boston Globe
DHAKA, Bangladesh— Melting Himalayan glaciers, rising sea levels and depleting fresh water sources as a result of global climate change are posing grave threats to food production and economic development in the populous South Asia region, experts …    [read more]

A bad dancer shows what Web does best - Seattle Times
Admit it: You want to be Matt Harding. I want to be Matt Harding. Hell, everybody wants to be Matt Harding. The guy is an international Internet sensation who almost literally stumbled into his dream job. The makers of Stride gum paid him to travel …    [read more]

A Spontaneous Eco-Wander Through Germany - Slate
While zooming by a field of wind turbines, traveling on a train from Amsterdam to Bremen at 200 kilometers per hour, I suddenly realized that I was experiencing turbine envy. My own country, the United States, seems to be stuck in a co-dependent …    [read more]

Nepal reassures India over ties with China - NDTV
Nepal on Monday said India should not worry about Prime Minister Prachanda’s recent visit to China as it will pursue a policy of “equi-distance” with its two neighbouring countries. “India does not need to worry about Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal …    [read more]

Bhutan: ‘toilet revolution’ has not led to high use - IRC
Despite a national campaign in Bhutan to provide public latrines, which provided almost 100% coverage by 2000, people tend not to use them and continue to defecate in the open. The toilets often fall into disrepair or are used for other purposes. The …    [read more]

India builds military air bases close to Tibet - United Press International
HONG KONG, Aug. 25 (UPI) — In the strategic direction of Bhutan and central Nepal, the Indian air force has built three major military airports, sufficient to provide deterrence over the central part of Tibet. These airports include the Bagdogra …    [read more]

PUNJAB NAT’L BANK TO START BHUTAN OPS BY MARCH 2009 - TradingMarkets.com
“We have recently signed an MoU with the a prominent local business house and are in the process of obtaining regulatory approval from the Bhutan for the operation,” Punjab National Bank General Manager Ranjan Dhawan said. The bank already has got …    [read more]

Refugee kids practice for school - Seattle Post Intelligencer
TUKWILA — Saimon Lay, 7, pressed against the window of the Samara Apartments cabana, gazing at the pool filled with flipping children. Swimming is one of his favorite new activities since arriving here from a refugee camp, where there were no …    [read more]

Liberalised norms for NRI investors - Economic Times
The government has liberalised investment norms for NRIs to invest in real estate in India. At the same time there is a need of adhering to ground realities before plunging into investment. We provide some of the frequently answered questions …    [read more]

Humanitas: Images of India by Fredric Roberts - Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
Roberts pictures various people from India, Myanmar, Cambodia, Bhutan, Thailand, and China as they go about their lives selling water or herding camels. Simultaneously, this exhibition illuminates the quiet corners that often don’t have witnesses …    [read more]

Kuensel - Bhutan’s National Newspaper

How to get there from here
Locating places in the capital may need a GPS

23 August, 2008 - “It’s a white building beside Norling. Near the main traffic.”
“It’s that huge white building opposite the Centre mall.”
“Centre mall?

“Yes, in front of the Lugar theatre. You can’t miss it!
Could you figure out where the above directions lead?    [read more]

Fire kills three in Trashigang tragedy

The bereaved - Kencho Tshering and the surviving members of his family

23 August, 2008 - A 72-year-old man and his two grand daughters, aged seven and five, were burned to death when their bamboo thatched house was reduced to ashes by a fire on Friday morning at around 2 am in Shingchen Goenpa, Yonphula, Trashigang.    [read more]

Readers galore, yet readers get none
Lack of transparency in selection and publication of Dzongkha text books

23 August, 2008 - The Ministry of Education has been transforming the Dzongkha curriculum for schools to improve the teaching of the language. As part of this initiative, the ministry’s curriculum and professional support division (CAPDS) last year selected about 50 additional reading books in Dzongkha, aside from the main textbooks, for Classes IV to VIII.    [read more]

Highway hold-up

THE ROAD LESS USED - Not many tread the middle path

23 August, 2008 - Motorists plying between Thimphu and Paro yesterday evening were taken aback when they were suddenly stopped at Paro Shaba and made to pay toll tax by two old men.    [read more]

Moonlighting with moonshine
Ara raids raise a hornet’s nest

On the boil - Surprise raids spark off simmering resentment

22 August, 2008 - The midday heat doesn’t bother Angay Tsering (name changed on request) as she sits by a fire burning on a traditional wood-fed stove. On the oven sit three layers of pots.    [read more]

The ‘holy’ boulder that won’t be budged
Locals attribute accidents to attempts to dislodge rock

ROAD BLOCK - Bearing the footprints of Terton Tenzin Drukda’s horse, it’s said

22 August, 2008 - An eight-foot, cone-shaped boulder, located five kilometres from Tsatsilakha, has become the centre of attraction for commuters along the Thimphu-Phuentsholing highway.    [read more]

Bhutan Observer

The price of doing drugs
Getting high on drugs might seem like another part of the world with all that excitement initially, but when this fun turns to fear, one might as well wish for a time machine to go back and erase the past. Pushkar Chhetri reports.

Tenzin (name changed), 28 has been doing drugs since he was 14. He […]    [read more]

Beyond Druk, Datsi, Tashi and Sonfy
For a diminutive speck on the map of the world Bhutan really does have a few bolts from the blue up its sleeve. But then, we saw last week that size does not really matter. The adventure continues and the surprises still abound:
That I have run into so many people from the east, that Thimphu […]    [read more]

Monsoon Cup in Gelephu reaches quarterfinals
The third Gelephu Sports Association (GSA) Monsoon Cup Football Tournament, the greatest sporting event in Gelephu, has reached its quarterfinals. Everyday, it is drawing about three thousand spectators. The crowds brave wet weather and footballers battle it out on a water-logged pitch.
Almost half of a total of 17 teams, including four from Assam, have been […]    [read more]

Managing solid waste in Thimphu has become a overwhelming task as urban areas have grown messily
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.
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“Make haste or be buried in waste,” Dasho Benji
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If you love my curves I’ve many
I’ve just about had it with the roads. I’m exasperated! Come on people, let’s all be civil. This is not Bangkok nor is it the streets of New York. This is our capital and we all run into each other sooner or later. So stop honking me when all you are going to do today […]    [read more]

Donation & religion
Sir It is becoming a common sight - people collecting donation in the name of renovation/ construction of religious monuments and other religious activities. But we are unaware of any Rules/Acts regarding the collections and contribution of such donations.
It is observed that almost all classes of citizens donate for the religious purpose but do hesitate […]    [read more]

Pay revision & division
Sir,
Looking at the history of civil servants’ salaries, the pay of a civil servant is revised on a percentage-wise basis. From higher percent and higher grades to lower rates and grades, benefitting the people holding higher posts. This makes the lower income group in our society struggle. We learn from advertisements in newspapers that the […]    [read more]

Lhabsang Thruesel ceremony at the Paro airport and other stories
The Prime Minister, Lyonchen Jigmi Y. Thinley, in a sombre mood during the closing ceremony of the three-day National Conference on Solid Waste Management held at RIM, Semtokha, Thimphu
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His Holiness the Je Khenpo Trulku Jigme Choeda performed a Lhabsang Thruesel ceremony at the Paro International Airport.
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Internet users are getting back the bandwidth they were denied […]    [read more]

Child rape
Yesterday, Thimphu dzongkhag court’s Bench II had its first preliminary hearing on the case of a 14-year-old who was raped and impregnated by her 45 year-old step father along with battery charges.
The case was charge sheeted on Monday by the Women and Child Protection Unit, RBP.
The case has been registered under Section 183 on the […]    [read more]

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