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Bhutan News archive for 30 September 2009

September 30, 2009 - From

International Sources

MoH merits poor RAA report card – Kuensel Online
30 September, 2009 – A performance audit on the health ministry (MoH), conducted by the royal audit authority (RAA), has pointed out that the ministry has achieved only three of the 13 health indicator targets set for the 9th Plan. The ministry has …    [read more]

Nursery on the highway – Kuensel Online
He spends his days playing with mud and stones alongside the busy and dusty Gedu-Phuentsholing highway, close to the worksite where his parents work. He wakes up as early as his parents and braves the sun, rain and cold as his parents do. Arman is …    [read more]

Residents flee tsunami after quake hits Samoas – Miami Herald
7.9 quake hits South Pacific, tsunami alert issued The U.S. Geological Survey says a powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake has struck in the South Pacific between Samoa and American Samoa. A tsunami alert has been issued for the region. The temblor hit …    [read more]

Research based on Himalayan ecosystem is inadequate: Ramesh – Financial Express
Updated: Wednesday, Sep 30, 2009 at 2343 hrs IST New Delhi: Minister for environment and forest, Jairam Ramesh, on Tuesday said the country’s research, based on the Himalayan ecosystem, is ‘inadequate’. The minister was speaking at the release …    [read more]

‘Climate change antithetical to sustainable development’ – New Kerala
Foreign Minister Lyonpo Ugyen Tshering of Bhutan underscored that while climate change’s ‘adverse effects will spare none,’ small developing countries will suffer disproportionately. His country, he said, has a fragile mountain ecology and global …    [read more]

Managing water resources regionally – New Nation
ACCORDING to one assessment, the waters received by Bangladesh in the wet season from rivers, some 51 per cent of this water is delivered by the Brahmaputra and its tributaries. From Ganges and its tributaries, Bangladesh gets about 28 per cent of …    [read more]

Taj becomes hotel partner to join Etihad Guest loyalty prog – New Kerala
Mumbai, Sept 29 : Etihad Guest, the award-winning loyalty programme from Etihad Airways, has announced its latest exciting new hotel partner to boost the extensive benefits already available to its 650,000-plus members-the Indian Hotels Company. The …    [read more]

TIPA begins 50th Anniversary Tour in Netherlands – Phayul
Geneva, Sept 28: According to the International Performing Arts in the Netherlands, artistes of Dharamsala-based Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) began a “50th Anniversary Tour” in the country with a premier performance in Arnhem on 24 …    [read more]

Anger management – Bangkok Post
Dharma can help manage anger. Usually we study about human resource management, risk management, time management and financial management, which are all concerned with external elements. But anger management concerns our inner self. When anger arises …    [read more]

Book News of the Day – Seattle Post Intelligencer
Colophons will be swollen and printer slugs tumescent when Bruce Whiteman, Head Librarian at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library of U.C.L.A. in Los Angeles, presents an address to The Colophon Club of San Francisco on October 13, 2009 titled …    [read more]

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

Bhutan flag back from space
Bhutan flag flying inside the International Space Station with astronaut Danny Olivas

30 September, 2009 – As Bhutanese students across the country observe this year as the “Year of Science and Technology”, Bhutan’s national flag has travelled to the International Space Station and returned.
   [read more]

Day 3

Picture story:
30 September, 2009 – The Tendrel thang tsechu ground was packed yesterday with thousands of devotees coming to witness the Raksha Mangcham (dance of the rakshas and judgement of the dead)    [read more]

Windstorm causes extensive roof damage
A damaged house in Changmey under Shongphu gewog.

30 September, 2009 – The evening windstorm that hit Trashigang on Monday blew away roofs of 30 houses in seven gewogs in the dzongkhag. In all, 114 houses were affected by the storm that hit the dzongkhag, recovering from the September 21 earthquake, around 5:30 pm.

   [read more]

MoH merits poor RAA report card
Reducing population growth and extending infant immunisation get good marks

30 September, 2009 – A performance audit on the health ministry (MoH), conducted by the royal audit authority (RAA), has pointed out that the ministry has achieved only three of the 13 health indicator targets set for the 9th Plan. The ministry has partially achieved two targets. Seven targets were not achieved at all.

   [read more]

Picture story

30 September, 2009 – The National Boxing Championship 2009 organized by the Bhutan Olympic Committee is underway at Changlimithang, Thimphu with eight to 10 bouts everyday. The finals is scheduled for October 10.

   [read more]

Cornea transplant returns sight to six
Dr Geoffrey Craig Tobin with Bhutanese eye specialists conduct eye surgery camp

Dr Geoffrey Craig Tabin

30 September, 2009 – This week, six people got back their vision after struggling in the darkness for decades.
   [read more]

Radhipas revert to old dish over DTH
Big is in

30 September, 2009 – The once popular but big and awkward satellite dish TV, which was replaaced by the smaller DTH TV (direct to home TV), has regained its popularity in Radhi, Trashigang. The reason for this overturn is the preference for BBS TV received only by the old dish TV.
   [read more]

Eastern rice bowl out of reach
The price of this staple has risen beyond what most pockets can afford

30 September, 2009 – The terraced paddy fields in Radhi and Phongmey have turned yellow with paddy stalks bent under the weight of a fruitful promise. Stretches of paddy sway in the evening breeze giving off a rich aroma.
   [read more]

Nursery on the highway
Arman and his father on the highway

30 September, 2009 – For six-year-old Arman, life is literally a highway.    [read more]

School dropout arrested
30 September, 2009 – Police in Phuentsholing has arrested a class 12 dropout student from the Phuentsholing gate carrying banned illegal substances.    [read more]

Bhutan Observer

Grand facade, filthy inside
The building houses the city and the narcotic control offices. Ironically, it is dirty and frequented by drug abusers. Tandin Pem finds out how the NPPF building in Thimphu is in a mess
The big, white building looks grand by the Bhutanese standards and it is spacious inside. But as one enters the building, the first [...]    [read more]

Possible eviction worries Narphung shopkeepers
A recent media report on the possible eviction of shops alongside the Trashigang-Samdrup Jongkhar highway at Narphung has worried shopkeepers. Many of them are making plans to make adjustments and petition the agency concerned.
Eighty-two-year-old Khotsa, one of the first business people in Narphung, which is about 60 km from Samdrup Jongkhar towards Trashigang, said the [...]    [read more]

Juggling childcare and career
With the hunt for babysitters becoming increasingly futile, working mothers in Thimphu are torn between filial obligation and career demands. Kinzang Choden reports
Her day starts early in the morning. She rushes to her husband’s car after dropping her five-month-old baby at her in-laws’ house. It is already nine am, and she is already late for [...]    [read more]

New stadium for Phuentsholing
Sports enthusiasts in Phuentsholing are awaiting a facelift of the Phuentsholing Sports Association (PSA) ground into a grand stadium. The stadium will benefit not only Phuentsholing but also the nearby southern dzongkhags.
The Phuentsholing City Corporation initiated the project with Nu 9.8 million assistance from the Asian Development Bank. According to Bikash Pradhan, the PSA Secretary [...]    [read more]

Strengthening media for democracy
To identify key characteristics of the media environment in which freedom of expression, independence, and pluralism of the media can flourish, a meeting was held between Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC), Bhutanese media representatives and UNESCO experts at the MoIC hall last week.
The participants considered various means by which the media could bridge government- [...]    [read more]

Festival sales
Everyone in Thimphu is in festive mood these days. With Thimphu tshechu underway and dashain around the corner, tailors and garment shops in Thimphu had a busy week. Tailors worked till mid night to deliver orders on time.
Both tshechu and dashain are occasions when people wear best of their clothes. Many sew new clothes while [...]    [read more]

A model in the making
Modelling was not her dream. Never did she think that she would walk the ramps and promoting some well-known brands. But she is living the dream she never dreamt. From a timid girl, Samphelmo Sherpa has become a promising model at the age of 24.
I t all started when she was a freshman at Garden [...]    [read more]

Word grilling
‘Word’ when s-prefixed becomes ‘sword’. And ‘s’ stands for ‘severe’. No wonder, my daughter dreaded the so-called ‘conselling’ by her school-counsellors in India. She said it was not ‘counselling’; rather, it was ‘grilling’. I would use Jug Suraiya’s statement, “‘Word’ is a four-letter word” to apply to such grilling sessions. And, she preferred corporal punishment [...]    [read more]

Shingkhar specialties in Thimphu
Food lovers in the capital have something to look forward to this Sunday. Shingkhar Village Food festival 2009 will be held at Rabten apartments. O rganized by Shingkhar Dechenling Phenday Tshogpa, the food festival will be held between 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm.
On the menu will be traditional food items from the village of Shingkhar [...]    [read more]

Reviving Daga Shindre Tshogpa
After operating in loss for few years, Daga Shingdre Tshogpa (DST), a farmer’s group in Dagana, is expected to spring back to life with renewed help from its stakeholders and SNV Bhutan. SNV (Netherlands Development Organisation) is working to help DST become a functional farmers’ group and a viable business entity. It is supporting the [...]    [read more]

Bhutan News archive for 29 September 2009

September 29, 2009 - From

International Sources

Anger management – Bangkok Post
Dharma can help manage anger. Usually we study about human resource management, risk management, time management and financial management, which are all concerned with external elements. But anger management concerns our inner self. When anger arises …    [read more]

Family jewel Tradition near defunct – Kuensel Online
29 September, 2009 – As a young girl in Punakha, Peday loved wearing traditional ornaments to embellish her outfit for all kinds of celebrations in her village. She has a collection of ornaments like turquoise (yue), corals (bjuru) and pearls (muti …    [read more]

Dashain – A homecoming festival – Kuensel Online
In this festival to commemorate the victory of good over evil, family members, wherever they are, make it a point to come home to apply tika, made of uncooked rice and curd, on the forehead and receive blessings for a good and long life from their …    [read more]

Climate change brings natural disasters and disease – On Line Opinion
Climate change has set in, with global temperatures projected to rise up to 4C by 2100. Tropical cyclones will likely become more frequent and more intense, rainfall will increase and sea levels may rise by up to nearly a metre as tropical sea …    [read more]

Climate change antithetical to sustainable development, nations tell … – UN News Centre
28 September 2009 – With countries least responsible for climate change bearing the brunt of the man-made phenomenon, sustainable development is being jeopardized by climate change, nations said at the General Assembly today. Foreign Minister …    [read more]

Chandigarh/Ambala, September 28 – Tribune
The MC is finding it hard to execute its own biomedical waste policy for hospitals across the city. As per information, most hospitals are flouting norms formulated for the purpose and are mixing biomedical waste with regular garbage and throwing it …    [read more]

Book News of the Day – Seattle Post Intelligencer
Colophons will be swollen and printer slugs tumescent when Bruce Whiteman, Head Librarian at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library of U.C.L.A. in Los Angeles, presents an address to The Colophon Club of San Francisco on October 13, 2009 titled …    [read more]

New Indicators for Success – eMaxHealth.com
In mid-September, French President Nicholas Sarkozy proposed an overhaul to the way we gauge economic success, telling his national statistics agency to go beyond GDP by taking “quality of life” factors into account. The request came after Nobel …    [read more]

Study says China quake a once in 4,000 years event – Miami Herald
Geologists say a major quake could strike at any time in Utah, with new research showing the last large temblor along the Wasatch Front was more recent than previously thought. The Utah Geological Survey and U.S. Geological Survey said in a study …    [read more]

At least 8 dead as quake rocks Bhutan – CNN
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) — A strong earthquake rocked Bhutan on Monday, blocking access roads in the mountainous Asian kingdom and killing at least eight people, the country’s home minister told CNN. Rescue teams are en route to the quake-stricken …    [read more]

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

Damages worse than appeared
Update: September 21 Earthquake29 September, 2009 –

At least 2,800 families in eastern Bhutan were still spending the nights outside in shelters and in sheds as of yesterday evening, with their homes having either crumbled or become unsafe to live in, according to dzongkhag officials.
   [read more]

Buy Back System to manage waste
The burgeoning garbage problem needs both immediate and long term solutions

29 September, 2009 – In an effort to curb the mounting garbage problem and complement the segregation of solid waste at source, an introduction of a “buy back system” (BBS) for manufacturers and dealers of local products will be proposed to the government.    [read more]

Family jewel Tradition near defunct
Like so many other customs, the ornaments of old don’t catch the young’s fancy

The young prefers the trendy to the bulky but expensive bjurus

29 September, 2009 – As a young girl in Punakha, Peday loved wearing traditional ornaments to embellish her outfit for all kinds of celebrations in her village.    [read more]

Post-quake fear keeps folks outdoors
A week after the earthquake, some people have not returned home

Cheten Zangpo (centre) and his 84-year-old grandmother outside the shelter used to guard their crops from wild animals on the evening of September 25.

29 September, 2009 – Before dusk falls, Tshomo and her children sup and get ready to leave their home. She dresses them in warm clothes – old sweaters over old ghos – as a thin fog begins to hover just above the feeder road winding up to Drametse.    [read more]

Dashain – A homecoming festival
A religious occasion for a family get-together

Nar Bahadur’s family

29 September, 2009 – It’s the time of Dashain and so a time for Lhotsampa communities to get together.
   [read more]

Menlha lung at Mongar hospital
Spiritual healing at Mongar hospital

29 September, 2009 – The Mongar regional referral hospital organised the ninth teaching of chapdro (seeking refuge) and initiation of menlha lung (medicinal oral transmission) for patients and staff of the hospital on September 26, coinciding with the auspicious day of the medicinal Buddha.    [read more]

Double blow for house of bamboo
Phub Lham and family in their kitchen

29 September, 2009 – August 18 was the last date Phub Lham and her five children slept in their one-storey bamboo hut in Patala, a remote village in Tsirang.
   [read more]

Picture Story:
29 September, 2009 – Winners: Punakha HSS won the IMTRAT 2009 inter school quiz competition on September 26 that was held in Thimphu. Chukha HS stood second and Kelki HS third. Ten schools participated.

   [read more]

Human-wildlife conflict losers
29 September, 2009 – For centuries, Layaps had depended on livestock, their main source of livelihood. Owing to their location, high up in the mountains, they have also always lost their cattle to tigers, leopards and bears.
   [read more]

Picture Story

28 September, 2009 – A scene from the Shawa Shachi dance (Dance of the Stag and the hounds) during the first day of the Thimphu tshechu yesterday. The tshechu began yesterday although government offices, institutions and schools will be closed for tshechu break only from today.    [read more]

Bhutan Observer

New stadium for Phuentsholing
Sports enthusiasts in Phuentsholing are awaiting a facelift of the Phuentsholing Sports Association (PSA) ground into a grand stadium. The stadium will benefit not only Phuentsholing but also the nearby southern dzongkhags.
The Phuentsholing City Corporation initiated the project with Nu 9.8 million assistance from the Asian Development Bank. According to Bikash Pradhan, the PSA Secretary [...]    [read more]

Strengthening media for democracy
To identify key characteristics of the media environment in which freedom of expression, independence, and pluralism of the media can flourish, a meeting was held between Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC), Bhutanese media representatives and UNESCO experts at the MoIC hall last week.
The participants considered various means by which the media could bridge government- [...]    [read more]

Festival sales
Everyone in Thimphu is in festive mood these days. With Thimphu tshechu underway and dashain around the corner, tailors and garment shops in Thimphu had a busy week. Tailors worked till mid night to deliver orders on time.
Both tshechu and dashain are occasions when people wear best of their clothes. Many sew new clothes while [...]    [read more]

A model in the making
Modelling was not her dream. Never did she think that she would walk the ramps and promoting some well-known brands. But she is living the dream she never dreamt. From a timid girl, Samphelmo Sherpa has become a promising model at the age of 24.
I t all started when she was a freshman at Garden [...]    [read more]

Word grilling
‘Word’ when s-prefixed becomes ‘sword’. And ‘s’ stands for ‘severe’. No wonder, my daughter dreaded the so-called ‘conselling’ by her school-counsellors in India. She said it was not ‘counselling’; rather, it was ‘grilling’. I would use Jug Suraiya’s statement, “‘Word’ is a four-letter word” to apply to such grilling sessions. And, she preferred corporal punishment [...]    [read more]

Shingkhar specialties in Thimphu
Food lovers in the capital have something to look forward to this Sunday. Shingkhar Village Food festival 2009 will be held at Rabten apartments. O rganized by Shingkhar Dechenling Phenday Tshogpa, the food festival will be held between 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm.
On the menu will be traditional food items from the village of Shingkhar [...]    [read more]

Reviving Daga Shindre Tshogpa
After operating in loss for few years, Daga Shingdre Tshogpa (DST), a farmer’s group in Dagana, is expected to spring back to life with renewed help from its stakeholders and SNV Bhutan. SNV (Netherlands Development Organisation) is working to help DST become a functional farmers’ group and a viable business entity. It is supporting the [...]    [read more]

Dzongkha, Our National Language: Some considerations in relation to language change in a global context
On a global scale, language shift, language loss and language deaths are a staring reality. The sobering fact about the world’s minority languages – especially the oral ones with only a few thousand users (in most cases elderly members of the tribe or community), is that they are easily sucked or displaced by the more [...]    [read more]

Polytechnic wins rolling trophy
Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic in Dewathang emerged winners of the HIV/ AIDS awareness football rolling trophy in Samdrup Jongkhar after beating Pepsi FC on September 22.
They defeated Pepsi FC by three goals to nil. The winners took home the rolling trophy, a token cup and cash prize worth Nu 10,001 and the runners-up walked away with [...]    [read more]

Ap Tsara speaks…
Wai! They say it’s easier to find a husband or a wife than an apartment in Thimphu. Soon they will say that it’s easier to buy a car than finding a parking space. Times have changed, and Thimphu is running short of space – first for people, then for their cars.
Thimphu’s construction boom hasn’t kept [...]    [read more]

Bhutan News archive for 28 September 2009

September 28, 2009 - From

International Sources

Layaps livid with leopards – Kuensel Online
A trio of tamzees is attacking livestock at will with no fear of consequence 28 September, 2009 – The Layaps are paying what they call the “price of the government’s conservation effort” as their cattle fall prey to wild animals. This time, it …    [read more]

Oberoi sued by Chhundu – Kuensel Online
28 September, 2009 – Oberoi groups ltd, a leading hotel luxury brand based in India, is being sued by its local Bhutanese counterpart, Chhundu travels and tours, for allegedly withdrawing from their decision to jointly build two luxury hotels in …    [read more]

At least 8 dead as quake rocks Bhutan – CNN
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) — A strong earthquake rocked Bhutan on Monday, blocking access roads in the mountainous Asian kingdom and killing at least eight people, the country’s home minister told CNN. Rescue teams are en route to the quake-stricken …    [read more]

Ten killed as big earthquake strikes Bhutan – Reuters
THIMPHU, Sept 21 (Reuters) – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Bhutan on Monday, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens, officials and the state-run Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) said. The quake was centred about 160 km (100 miles) east …    [read more]

New wave from Bhutan settles in – Burlington Free Press
Westerners for years have romanticized their homeland as a version of Shangri-La, lauding it as the only country in the world where promoting happiness is a formal goal of public policy. Yet this is also a country that reportedly expelled a large …    [read more]

Quake kills at least 11 in Bhutan, shakes India – NPR News
A 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook the remote mountain nation of Bhutan on Monday, killing at least 11 people, damaging an ancient monastery and forcing hundreds to flee, officials said. At least 15 people were also injured. The afternoon earthquake …    [read more]

6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes Bhutan – Reuters
WASHINGTON, Sept 21 (Reuters) – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Bhutan on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The strong quake was centered 104 miles (168 km) east of Thimphu, Bhutan, at a depth of 4.5 miles (7.2 km), USGS said. There were no …    [read more]

Deadly quake shakes India, remote Bhutan – MSNBC
GAUHATI, India – A 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook the remote mountain nation of Bhutan on Monday, killing at least seven people when their houses collapsed and damaging buildings across the region, officials said. The afternoon earthquake was …    [read more]

Quake shakes Bhutan, India’s remote northeast – San Francisco Chronicle
The Monday afternoon earthquake left cracks in some buildings in Gauhati, the capital of Assam state, but it was centered in a little-populated eastern region of the tiny, mountainous nation of Bhutan. The quake briefly shook Thimphu, Bhutan’s …    [read more]

Bhutan: Quake Kills at Least 11 – New York Times
A 6.3-magnitude earthquake killed at least 11 people on Monday, damaging an ancient monastery and forcing hundreds to flee, officials said. Much of Bhutan is sparsely populated and lacking modern transportation or communications, so officials were …    [read more]

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

Picture Story

28 September, 2009 – A scene from the Shawa Shachi dance (Dance of the Stag and the hounds) during the first day of the Thimphu tshechu yesterday. The tshechu began yesterday although government offices, institutions and schools will be closed for tshechu break only from today.    [read more]

Oberoi sued by Chhundu
28 September, 2009 – Oberoi groups ltd, a leading hotel luxury brand based in India, is being sued by its local Bhutanese counterpart, Chhundu travels and tours, for allegedly withdrawing from their decision to jointly build two luxury hotels in Bhutan at a cost of Nu 1.17 billion (USD 25 million).
   [read more]

Layaps livid with leopards
A trio of tamzees is attacking livestock at will with no fear of consequence

28 September, 2009 – The Layaps are paying what they call the “price of the government’s conservation effort” as their cattle fall prey to wild animals. This time, it’s the tamzee (leopard) that is killing domestic animals.
   [read more]

Arrow kills one
28 September, 2009 – A 43-year old farmer died in the Mongar referral hospital on September 22 from an arrow that pierced his head during an archery match.

   [read more]

241-year-old thongdroel unfurled after 47 years
Gyalwa Jampa thongdroel in Phajoding. Picture by Karma Nima, Kuensel

28 September, 2009 – A 241-year old Gyalwa Jampa thongdroel (giant thangka) of the Buddha Maitreya, or the future Buddha, was unfurled at the Phajoding monastery in Thimphu yesterday, after 47 years.
   [read more]

Picture Story

28 September, 2009 – Dorji Lopon Kinley and Gyalwa Shacha Trulku along with 40 monks consecrated the renovated Thujedrak temple in Phajoding on September 25. The renovation work for the temple, which was founded by Phojo Drukgom Zhigpo as Tshamkhang, meditation house, in the 13th century, was started in 2002.
Picture by Karma Nima, Kuensel
   [read more]

Bhutan put five past Swiss
Exhibition Match28 September, 2009 –

The air is thinner up there

Switzerland and Bhutan may share similar geographical features, but the visiting football team from Switzerland, BCC Zweite Halbzeit gasped for air as they struggled to play the national team at 2,300 m above seal level at Changlimithang and lost 0-5 in a friendly.
   [read more]

Drukstar are the champions
Club championship 200928 September, 2009 –

Drukstar FC will represent Bhutan in the AFC president’s Cup this winter as the club champions of Bhutan.    [read more]

“I know Bhutan pretty well”

28 September, 2009 – Mark LaPrairie, 44, has been appointed as the first representative to the World Bank’s country office in Bhutan, which will start functioning in December.
Mark LaPrairie is no stranger to Bhutan. He first came in the late ‘80s as a volunteer teacher under the Canadian volunteer program and taught for three years in eastern Bhutan. He was back in 1997 with UNICEF as the education program officer.
Kinga Dema talked to Mark LaPrairie about his role and why the World Bank was opening a country office now
   [read more]

Tradition
b>28 September, 2009 – Like children the world over, nine-year-old Sonam has a weakness for flickering screens. He spends hours watching Walt Disney cartoons. But Sonam also enjoys bedtime stories from his grandmother. His granny, a bustling rural-Hejo woman, is a talented narrator and she regales Sonam with popular Bhutanese folklores and ancient tales steeped in mythology and legend every night.
   [read more]

Bhutan Observer

Festival sales
Everyone in Thimphu is in festive mood these days. With Thimphu tshechu underway and dashain around the corner, tailors and garment shops in Thimphu had a busy week. Tailors worked till mid night to deliver orders on time.
Both tshechu and dashain are occasions when people wear best of their clothes. Many sew new clothes while [...]    [read more]

A model in the making
Modelling was not her dream. Never did she think that she would walk the ramps and promoting some well-known brands. But she is living the dream she never dreamt. From a timid girl, Samphelmo Sherpa has become a promising model at the age of 24.
I t all started when she was a freshman at Garden [...]    [read more]

Word grilling
‘Word’ when s-prefixed becomes ‘sword’. And ‘s’ stands for ‘severe’. No wonder, my daughter dreaded the so-called ‘conselling’ by her school-counsellors in India. She said it was not ‘counselling’; rather, it was ‘grilling’. I would use Jug Suraiya’s statement, “‘Word’ is a four-letter word” to apply to such grilling sessions. And, she preferred corporal punishment [...]    [read more]

Shingkhar specialties in Thimphu
Food lovers in the capital have something to look forward to this Sunday. Shingkhar Village Food festival 2009 will be held at Rabten apartments. O rganized by Shingkhar Dechenling Phenday Tshogpa, the food festival will be held between 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm.
On the menu will be traditional food items from the village of Shingkhar [...]    [read more]

Reviving Daga Shindre Tshogpa
After operating in loss for few years, Daga Shingdre Tshogpa (DST), a farmer’s group in Dagana, is expected to spring back to life with renewed help from its stakeholders and SNV Bhutan. SNV (Netherlands Development Organisation) is working to help DST become a functional farmers’ group and a viable business entity. It is supporting the [...]    [read more]

Dzongkha, Our National Language: Some considerations in relation to language change in a global context
On a global scale, language shift, language loss and language deaths are a staring reality. The sobering fact about the world’s minority languages – especially the oral ones with only a few thousand users (in most cases elderly members of the tribe or community), is that they are easily sucked or displaced by the more [...]    [read more]

Polytechnic wins rolling trophy
Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic in Dewathang emerged winners of the HIV/ AIDS awareness football rolling trophy in Samdrup Jongkhar after beating Pepsi FC on September 22.
They defeated Pepsi FC by three goals to nil. The winners took home the rolling trophy, a token cup and cash prize worth Nu 10,001 and the runners-up walked away with [...]    [read more]

Ap Tsara speaks…
Wai! They say it’s easier to find a husband or a wife than an apartment in Thimphu. Soon they will say that it’s easier to buy a car than finding a parking space. Times have changed, and Thimphu is running short of space – first for people, then for their cars.
Thimphu’s construction boom hasn’t kept [...]    [read more]

Women’s team bring home silver medal
The Women’s archery team brought home a silver medal from the 4th Asian Grand Prix competition. Dorji Dolma, Sherab Zam and Wangchuk Dema emerged runners-up losing to India in the finals. The Bhutanese team scored 191 points against Indian team’s 207 points.
Sherab Zam, who scored the maximum points, said they tried for the gold but [...]    [read more]

Under-12 tennis begins
The 4th inter-school mini tennis competition is all set to kick off today at the Changlingmithang, lawn tennis court.
Two girls and two boys each under the age of 12 from 15 selected primary and lower secondary schools of Thimphu will take part in the two-day competition.
The schools are under the School Tennis Initiative (STI) Programme. [...]    [read more]

Bhutan News archive for 27 September 2009

September 27, 2009 - From

International Sources

Gordon Buchanan: the camera loves him – Times Online
For a man who expected to spend his career behind the lens, Gordon Buchanan is having to get used to a lot of attention in front of it. The quietly spoken wildlife cameraman from Mull has become an overnight celebrity thanks to the astonishing …    [read more]

Accident at new hot spot – Kuensel Online
27 September, – 2009 – A 23-year-old woman is recovering from 17 stitches on her head after the santro, she and a friend were travelling in, fell about 38 feet below the road at a bend in Kuenselphodrang on September 23. The couple told traffic …    [read more]

Memories of China’s founding still vivid for some – Khaleej Times
Sixty years ago, 19-year-old Geng Zhifeng looked up in elation as revolutionary leader Mao Zedong stood on the Tiananmen rostrum and proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It is a moment seared forever into Geng’s memory, and …    [read more]

Get ready to segregate your waste – Kuensel Online
27 September, – 2009 – By next year, Thimphu residents will have to segregate their garbage before handing it over to the Thimphu city corporation (TCC). A pilot project is being implemented today towards this eventuality. TCC expects to complete the …    [read more]

GPJA – What’s On In Auckland – Scoop
Saturday 26th September, 1pm, The Gus Fisher Gallery, The Kenneth Myers Centre, 74 Shortland Street, Auckland Award-winning director and producer Annie Goldson is screening her early documentaries Framing the Panthers (in Black and White …    [read more]

Handmade Prints: At the Edge Center Gallery in October – Grand Rapids Herald-Review
Printing surrounds us in daily life, from images on ballpoint pens and t-shirts to our own printing on computers. So what’s different about printmaking in art? The Northern Printmakers Alliance, a group of Arrowhead region printmakers based in …    [read more]

Sense prevails – Statesman
THE beginning of talks between Union Home ministry officials and leaders of the National Democratic Front of Boroland is welcome for the simple reason that the former rebels have now pinned their hopes on the democratic process to achieve their …    [read more]

Wireless, high speed data transmission ‘critical’ for North and East – Sri Lanka Sunday Times
A conference to be held in Colombo in October will promote wireless broadband (high speed data transmission) technologies, such as WiMax and LTE, as ‘critical infrastructure’ for the improvement of the North and the East. In fact, according to Dr …    [read more]

New wave from Bhutan settles in – Burlington Free Press
Westerners for years have romanticized their homeland as a version of Shangri-La, lauding it as the only country in the world where promoting happiness is a formal goal of public policy. Yet this is also a country that reportedly expelled a large …    [read more]

At least 8 dead as quake rocks Bhutan – CNN
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) — A strong earthquake rocked Bhutan on Monday, blocking access roads in the mountainous Asian kingdom and killing at least eight people, the country’s home minister told CNN. Rescue teams are en route to the quake-stricken …    [read more]

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

Get ready to segregate your waste
27 September, – 2009 – By next year, Thimphu residents will have to segregate their garbage before handing it over to the Thimphu city corporation (TCC). A pilot project is being implemented today towards this eventuality.    [read more]

Celebrating the traditional Bhutanese woman

Book Review 27 September, – 2009 – Taking inspiration from the lives of ordinary women in rural Bhutan and from her own experiences, Kunzang Choden’s latest book, Tales in Colour and Other Stories, provides us stimulating tales about Bhutanese women, who, in the face of changing and often difficult circumstances, manage to negotiate or find a way through it and over it all.    [read more]

Road accidents cause most youth deaths
WHO- The Lancet Study27 September, – 2009 – Road accidents are the number one cause of death among people between 10-24 years worldwide, according to a recent WHO study by one of the world’s leading medical journals, The Lancet, also the first ever study done on the causes of deaths in young people.    [read more]

Only after an old man dies …
27 September, – 2009 – Three months after completion, Tsirang’s new cremation ground, located in Tsholingkhar, about six kilometres away from Damphu, is lying idle.    [read more]

Accident at new hot spot
Litter bug lane: The road to Buddha point is beginning to look like a garbage dump

27 September, – 2009 – A 23-year-old woman is recovering from 17 stitches on her head after the santro, she and a friend were travelling in, fell about 38 feet below the road at a bend in Kuenselphodrang on September 23.    [read more]

Damage doubles
Pelden’s house extensively damaged in Drametse town, Mongar.
Photo Tshering Pelden

September 21 Earthquake26 September, 2009 – The number of homes, schools, historical monuments and government infrastructure damaged by the September 21 earthquake has almost doubled from earlier figures, according to dzongkhag officials and local leaders, who are deep in the villages assessing the extent of the aftermath.    [read more]

The power of the rumour mill
26 September, 2009 – As relief work gets underway in the affected areas of the eastern dzongkhags, the aftermath of the September 21 earthquake is slowly beginning to emerge.    [read more]

Like in a sanctified land
A blessed occasion in an atmosphere of purity and expiation

Thimphu Tsechu26 September, 2009 – Autumn is not only the time ‘to reap gold by the handful,’ it is also the season of celebration and spirituality, as people in western Bhutan come together to honour Guru Rimpoche, the saint who brought Buddhism to Bhutan in the seventh century.    [read more]

5th paper’s launch today
Business Bhutan26 September, 2009 – The country’s fifth newspaper, Business Bhutan, hits the newsstands today.

Bhutan’s first financial paper is a 40-page weekly, tabloid size, 252 by 355 mm, costing Nu 15, and will be published every Saturday.    [read more]

Tradition takes centrestage
Thimphu dressed in its best, will be on parade at Tashichhodzong


26 September, 2009 – Traditional is in, once again. As the capital’s most popular festival, the Thimphu tshechu, gets set to begin, both old and new expensive Bhutanese weaves are coming out of the closets.
   [read more]

Bhutan Observer

Word grilling
‘Word’ when s-prefixed becomes ‘sword’. And ‘s’ stands for ‘severe’. No wonder, my daughter dreaded the so-called ‘conselling’ by her school-counsellors in India. She said it was not ‘counselling’; rather, it was ‘grilling’. I would use Jug Suraiya’s statement, “‘Word’ is a four-letter word” to apply to such grilling sessions. And, she preferred corporal punishment [...]    [read more]

Shingkhar specialties in Thimphu
Food lovers in the capital have something to look forward to this Sunday. Shingkhar Village Food festival 2009 will be held at Rabten apartments. O rganized by Shingkhar Dechenling Phenday Tshogpa, the food festival will be held between 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm.
On the menu will be traditional food items from the village of Shingkhar [...]    [read more]

Reviving Daga Shindre Tshogpa
After operating in loss for few years, Daga Shingdre Tshogpa (DST), a farmer’s group in Dagana, is expected to spring back to life with renewed help from its stakeholders and SNV Bhutan. SNV (Netherlands Development Organisation) is working to help DST become a functional farmers’ group and a viable business entity. It is supporting the [...]    [read more]

Dzongkha, Our National Language: Some considerations in relation to language change in a global context
On a global scale, language shift, language loss and language deaths are a staring reality. The sobering fact about the world’s minority languages – especially the oral ones with only a few thousand users (in most cases elderly members of the tribe or community), is that they are easily sucked or displaced by the more [...]    [read more]

Polytechnic wins rolling trophy
Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic in Dewathang emerged winners of the HIV/ AIDS awareness football rolling trophy in Samdrup Jongkhar after beating Pepsi FC on September 22.
They defeated Pepsi FC by three goals to nil. The winners took home the rolling trophy, a token cup and cash prize worth Nu 10,001 and the runners-up walked away with [...]    [read more]

Ap Tsara speaks…
Wai! They say it’s easier to find a husband or a wife than an apartment in Thimphu. Soon they will say that it’s easier to buy a car than finding a parking space. Times have changed, and Thimphu is running short of space – first for people, then for their cars.
Thimphu’s construction boom hasn’t kept [...]    [read more]

Women’s team bring home silver medal
The Women’s archery team brought home a silver medal from the 4th Asian Grand Prix competition. Dorji Dolma, Sherab Zam and Wangchuk Dema emerged runners-up losing to India in the finals. The Bhutanese team scored 191 points against Indian team’s 207 points.
Sherab Zam, who scored the maximum points, said they tried for the gold but [...]    [read more]

Under-12 tennis begins
The 4th inter-school mini tennis competition is all set to kick off today at the Changlingmithang, lawn tennis court.
Two girls and two boys each under the age of 12 from 15 selected primary and lower secondary schools of Thimphu will take part in the two-day competition.
The schools are under the School Tennis Initiative (STI) Programme. [...]    [read more]

Club Championship final today
The Thimphu club football championship has reached the semi-final stage. In the first semi-final Drukstar FC played against Drukpol FC and Yeedzin FC against Chhoden FC.
C lub Championship final tomorrow Seven teams from A division and seven teams from B division are participating in the championship.
The final will be played tomorrow at Changjiji ground. Dipen, [...]    [read more]

The aftermath of the earthquake
Three days after Monday’s earthquake, the people across the country are still panicky. Many of them are still sleeping in the open in fear of aftershocks. The fear has been kindled by the government’s timely cautionary announcements and fuelled by rumours.
In a religious country like ours, rumours are kept fed by predictions of aftershocks by [...]    [read more]

Bhutan News archive for 26 September 2009

September 26, 2009 - From

International Sources

Refugees resettled from Asia to gather – Columbus Dispatch
Bhutan is a small, isolated country between China and India at the eastern end of the Himalaya Mountains. It is a constitutional monarchy that resisted development for decades and now relies on tourism, agriculture, forestry and the sale of …    [read more]

Donati ready for Milan reunion – TEAMtalk
Giampero Ventura’s side have had a solid start to the Serie A season following their return to the top flight, with a win and three draws in their opening four fixtures. That unbeaten run was ended with a 1-0 reverse at the hands of Cagliari in …    [read more]

India’s Taj Joins Etihad Guest Loyalty Programme – Zawya.com
ABU DHABI — Etihad Airways has announced that Taj Hotels, a leading Indian hospitality group, has become a partner of ‘Etihad Guest’ loyalty programme. ‘Etihad Guest’, which was launched in August 2006, now boasts more than 650,000 members. The …    [read more]

New wave from Bhutan settles in – Burlington Free Press
WINOOSKI — Every refugee who resettles in Vermont brings a story of hardship, but those from the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, dozens of whom have been arriving during the past two years, have endured one of the longest, strangest ordeals of all …    [read more]

Bhutan Refugees Find a Toehold in the Bronx – New York Times
Nearly every immigrant group in New York City has a neighborhood, or at least a street, to call its own. But for refugees from the tiny South Asian nation of Bhutan , the closest thing to a home base is a single building in the Bronx — a red-brick …    [read more]

At least 8 dead as quake rocks Bhutan – CNN
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) — A strong earthquake rocked Bhutan on Monday, blocking access roads in the mountainous Asian kingdom and killing at least eight people, the country’s home minister told CNN. Rescue teams are en route to the quake-stricken …    [read more]

Quake kills at least 11 in Bhutan, shakes India – NPR News
A 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook the remote mountain nation of Bhutan on Monday, killing at least 11 people, damaging an ancient monastery and forcing hundreds to flee, officials said. At least 15 people were also injured. The afternoon earthquake …    [read more]

Ten killed as big earthquake strikes Bhutan – Reuters
THIMPHU, Sept 21 (Reuters) – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Bhutan on Monday, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens, officials and the state-run Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) said. The quake was centred about 160 km (100 miles) east …    [read more]

Deadly quake shakes India, remote Bhutan – MSNBC
GAUHATI, India – A 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook the remote mountain nation of Bhutan on Monday, killing at least seven people when their houses collapsed and damaging buildings across the region, officials said. The afternoon earthquake was …    [read more]

6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes Bhutan – Reuters
WASHINGTON, Sept 21 (Reuters) – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Bhutan on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The strong quake was centered 104 miles (168 km) east of Thimphu, Bhutan, at a depth of 4.5 miles (7.2 km), USGS said. There were no …    [read more]

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

Damage doubles
Pelden’s house extensively damaged in Drametse town, Mongar.
Photo Tshering Pelden

September 21 Earthquake26 September, 2009 – The number of homes, schools, historical monuments and government infrastructure damaged by the September 21 earthquake has almost doubled from earlier figures, according to dzongkhag officials and local leaders, who are deep in the villages assessing the extent of the aftermath.    [read more]

The power of the rumour mill
26 September, 2009 – As relief work gets underway in the affected areas of the eastern dzongkhags, the aftermath of the September 21 earthquake is slowly beginning to emerge.    [read more]

Like in a sanctified land
A blessed occasion in an atmosphere of purity and expiation

Thimphu Tsechu26 September, 2009 – Autumn is not only the time ‘to reap gold by the handful,’ it is also the season of celebration and spirituality, as people in western Bhutan come together to honour Guru Rimpoche, the saint who brought Buddhism to Bhutan in the seventh century.    [read more]

5th paper’s launch today
Business Bhutan26 September, 2009 – The country’s fifth newspaper, Business Bhutan, hits the newsstands today.

Bhutan’s first financial paper is a 40-page weekly, tabloid size, 252 by 355 mm, costing Nu 15, and will be published every Saturday.    [read more]

Tradition takes centrestage
Thimphu dressed in its best, will be on parade at Tashichhodzong


26 September, 2009 – Traditional is in, once again. As the capital’s most popular festival, the Thimphu tshechu, gets set to begin, both old and new expensive Bhutanese weaves are coming out of the closets.
   [read more]

Ask Mr Thimphu

25 September, 2009 –

Hi,

I am 5”5 and have a really thin frame. I’ve tea and bread for breakfast, a simple lunch and light dinner. I am a vegetarian so which vegetables would be suitable for me to eat so that I can gain wait? Is there also any other means to gain weight?

Sasom Chuki
   [read more]

Tshering Jurmey – Guitar Playing Hoopster

25 September, 2009 – He would either be a good basketball player or a guitarist. But Tshering Jurmey is good at both and has chances to excel in either! One of the tallest in his school, Tshering Jurmey’s skill in basketball doesn’t go unnoticed.
   [read more]

You are not alone
Lyonchhoen consoles a villager in Narang gewog who lost her home to the quake

PM assures victims of national solidarity with their plight

25 September, 2009 – Lyonchhoen Jigmi Y Thinley, with officials from the Gyalpoi Zimpon’s office and MPs of the eastern dzongkhags, walked for more than six hours yesterday visiting Drametse, Narang and Yangneer gewogs in Mongar and Trashigang dzongkhags, the areas most affected by the September 21 earthquake.
   [read more]

Picture Story
25 September, 2009 – Thousands of people witnessed the sacred Lham Tsomo dance, a highlight of the Lhamoi Drubchhen, which was performed in the courtyard of Taschichhodzong yesterday.

   [read more]

Layaps at high risk
25 September, 2009 – The small Layap community, with a population of about 1,500 people, is at enormous risk of contacting sexually transmitted diseases and hepatitis (HbsAg), according to a study carried out by the health assistant.
   [read more]

Bhutan Observer

Reviving Daga Shindre Tshogpa
After operating in loss for few years, Daga Shingdre Tshogpa (DST), a farmer’s group in Dagana, is expected to spring back to life with renewed help from its stakeholders and SNV Bhutan. SNV (Netherlands Development Organisation) is working to help DST become a functional farmers’ group and a viable business entity. It is supporting the [...]    [read more]

Dzongkha, Our National Language: Some considerations in relation to language change in a global context
On a global scale, language shift, language loss and language deaths are a staring reality. The sobering fact about the world’s minority languages – especially the oral ones with only a few thousand users (in most cases elderly members of the tribe or community), is that they are easily sucked or displaced by the more [...]    [read more]

Polytechnic wins rolling trophy
Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic in Dewathang emerged winners of the HIV/ AIDS awareness football rolling trophy in Samdrup Jongkhar after beating Pepsi FC on September 22.
They defeated Pepsi FC by three goals to nil. The winners took home the rolling trophy, a token cup and cash prize worth Nu 10,001 and the runners-up walked away with [...]    [read more]

Ap Tsara speaks…
Wai! They say it’s easier to find a husband or a wife than an apartment in Thimphu. Soon they will say that it’s easier to buy a car than finding a parking space. Times have changed, and Thimphu is running short of space – first for people, then for their cars.
Thimphu’s construction boom hasn’t kept [...]    [read more]

Women’s team bring home silver medal
The Women’s archery team brought home a silver medal from the 4th Asian Grand Prix competition. Dorji Dolma, Sherab Zam and Wangchuk Dema emerged runners-up losing to India in the finals. The Bhutanese team scored 191 points against Indian team’s 207 points.
Sherab Zam, who scored the maximum points, said they tried for the gold but [...]    [read more]

Under-12 tennis begins
The 4th inter-school mini tennis competition is all set to kick off today at the Changlingmithang, lawn tennis court.
Two girls and two boys each under the age of 12 from 15 selected primary and lower secondary schools of Thimphu will take part in the two-day competition.
The schools are under the School Tennis Initiative (STI) Programme. [...]    [read more]

Club Championship final today
The Thimphu club football championship has reached the semi-final stage. In the first semi-final Drukstar FC played against Drukpol FC and Yeedzin FC against Chhoden FC.
C lub Championship final tomorrow Seven teams from A division and seven teams from B division are participating in the championship.
The final will be played tomorrow at Changjiji ground. Dipen, [...]    [read more]

The aftermath of the earthquake
Three days after Monday’s earthquake, the people across the country are still panicky. Many of them are still sleeping in the open in fear of aftershocks. The fear has been kindled by the government’s timely cautionary announcements and fuelled by rumours.
In a religious country like ours, rumours are kept fed by predictions of aftershocks by [...]    [read more]

Are you waking up?
   [read more]

Quake damage toll rises
The earthquake damage toll in the country, especially in the eastern dzongkhags, has risen. The death toll in Mongar, Trashigang, Trashiyangtse, Lhuentse and Samdrup Jongkhar has increased to 13.
Reports from the east say many people are moving to safer places out in the open. The details of damages are sketchy owing to large affected areas [...]    [read more]

Bhutan News archive for 25 September 2009

September 25, 2009 - From

International Sources

FACE TO FACE/O’NEILL: Canada’s liberal policies in action – Abbotsford News
Tri-City residents are getting some first-hand experience with Canada’s refugee system this fall as government agencies start settling the first few dozen of several hundred Bhutanese refugees destined for the area. And from what I can gather …    [read more]

UTEP convocation lauds growth, achievements – El Paso Times
EL PASO — The University of Texas at El Paso celebrated its achievements and recognized outstanding faculty and longtime employees during its Fall Convocation on Thursday at Magoffin Auditorium. UTEP President Diana Natalicio talked about the state …    [read more]

You are not alone – Kuensel Online
PM assures victims of national solidarity with their plight 25 September, 2009 – Lyonchhoen Jigmi Y Thinley, with officials from the Gyalpoi Zimpon’s office and MPs of the eastern dzongkhags, walked for more than six hours yesterday visiting …    [read more]

Drukstar in the finals – Kuensel Online
25 September, 2009 – Drukpol FC scored a stoppage time goal to push the first semifinals between them and Drukstar FC to a penalty shot out. But a wide penalty shot by Drukpol’s Tandin Tshering (9), sent the boys in blue back to their royal Bhutan …    [read more]

New wave from Bhutan settles in – Burlington Free Press
Westerners for years have romanticized their homeland as a version of Shangri-La, lauding it as the only country in the world where promoting happiness is a formal goal of public policy. Yet this is also a country that reportedly expelled a large …    [read more]

Friday to Friday – Corvallis Gazette-Times
“All My Sons,” Artists Repertory Theatre, 7:30 p.m., runs through Oct. 11, Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 S.W. Morrison, Portland. Admission: $20-$47. Information: www.artistsrep.org . “Becky’s New Car,” Artists Repertory Theatre, 7:30 p.m., runs …    [read more]

(Page 2 of 2) – New York Times
On the sidewalks of the Bronx, the refugees move comfortably and without much trepidation. Slender, short and unassuming, they are easily absorbed into the commotion. Yet with each week, they are learning facts about urban life, and their other …    [read more]

Bhutan Refugees Find a Toehold in the Bronx – New York Times
Nearly every immigrant group in New York City has a neighborhood, or at least a street, to call its own. But for refugees from the tiny South Asian nation of Bhutan , the closest thing to a home base is a single building in the Bronx — a red-brick …    [read more]

‘Abductors extorted Rs32 lakh from slain FCI executive’s family’ – Daily News and Analysis
New Delhi: The family of PC Ram, the FCI executive who was abducted by Ulfa and NDFB militants and subsequently killed during a police operation in July 2007, paid a ransom of Rs32 lakh to his abductors. The CBI has revealed this in its charge sheet …    [read more]

6.3-magnitude earthquake kills at least 11, hurts 15 in mountainous … – Boston Globe
GAUHATI, India – A 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook the remote mountain nation of Bhutan yesterday, killing at least 11 people, damaging an ancient monastery, and forcing hundreds to flee, officials said. At least 15 people were also injured. The …    [read more]

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

Ask Mr Thimphu

25 September, 2009 –

Hi,

I am 5”5 and have a really thin frame. I’ve tea and bread for breakfast, a simple lunch and light dinner. I am a vegetarian so which vegetables would be suitable for me to eat so that I can gain wait? Is there also any other means to gain weight?

Sasom Chuki
   [read more]

Tshering Jurmey – Guitar Playing Hoopster

25 September, 2009 – He would either be a good basketball player or a guitarist. But Tshering Jurmey is good at both and has chances to excel in either! One of the tallest in his school, Tshering Jurmey’s skill in basketball doesn’t go unnoticed.
   [read more]

You are not alone
Lyonchhoen consoles a villager in Narang gewog who lost her home to the quake

PM assures victims of national solidarity with their plight

25 September, 2009 – Lyonchhoen Jigmi Y Thinley, with officials from the Gyalpoi Zimpon’s office and MPs of the eastern dzongkhags, walked for more than six hours yesterday visiting Drametse, Narang and Yangneer gewogs in Mongar and Trashigang dzongkhags, the areas most affected by the September 21 earthquake.
   [read more]

Picture Story
25 September, 2009 – Thousands of people witnessed the sacred Lham Tsomo dance, a highlight of the Lhamoi Drubchhen, which was performed in the courtyard of Taschichhodzong yesterday.

   [read more]

Layaps at high risk
25 September, 2009 – The small Layap community, with a population of about 1,500 people, is at enormous risk of contacting sexually transmitted diseases and hepatitis (HbsAg), according to a study carried out by the health assistant.
   [read more]

Learning to be a better person

Mind and Mindfulness Education 25 September, 2009 –

Positive thinking, meditation, regulating one’s own mind for peace and happiness, moral values and compassion, working selflessly for other beings are what students across the country will learn through the ‘Mind and Mindfulness Education’ programme.
   [read more]

Yeedzin beats Choden 3 in a row
Will play Drukstar in the finals on Saturday

Club Championship 2009
25 September, 2009 –

Yeedzin FC proved a big obstacle to Bhutan’s U-19 national team playing as Choden FC before they play any international team.
   [read more]

Drukstar in the finals
25 September, 2009 – Drukpol FC scored a stoppage time goal to push the first semifinals between them and Drukstar FC to a penalty shot out. But a wide penalty shot by Drukpol’s Tandin Tshering (9), sent the boys in blue back to their royal Bhutan police head quarters and Drukstar into the finals.

   [read more]

Electric ‘scarecrow’ debuts in Dunglagang
Forestry officials installing the device in Lhamoilum

25 September, 2009 – Thirty-year-old Eva Gurung of Lhamoilum in Tsirang remembers spending sleepless nights guarding his paddy every autumn.

   [read more]

For a refined picture of rural poverty
The methodology will optimise utilisation of resources spent on poverty alleviation

25 September, 2009 – The national statistical bureau and the World Bank (WB) have concluded a poverty mapping exercise that gives a more refined picture of rural poverty in Bhutan right down to the gewog level.
   [read more]

Bhutan Observer

Ap Tsara speaks…
Wai! They say it’s easier to find a husband or a wife than an apartment in Thimphu. Soon they will say that it’s easier to buy a car than finding a parking space. Times have changed, and Thimphu is running short of space – first for people, then for their cars.
Thimphu’s construction boom hasn’t kept [...]    [read more]

Women’s team bring home silver medal
The Women’s archery team brought home a silver medal from the 4th Asian Grand Prix competition. Dorji Dolma, Sherab Zam and Wangchuk Dema emerged runners-up losing to India in the finals. The Bhutanese team scored 191 points against Indian team’s 207 points.
Sherab Zam, who scored the maximum points, said they tried for the gold but [...]    [read more]

Under-12 tennis begins
The 4th inter-school mini tennis competition is all set to kick off today at the Changlingmithang, lawn tennis court.
Two girls and two boys each under the age of 12 from 15 selected primary and lower secondary schools of Thimphu will take part in the two-day competition.
The schools are under the School Tennis Initiative (STI) Programme. [...]    [read more]

Club Championship final today
The Thimphu club football championship has reached the semi-final stage. In the first semi-final Drukstar FC played against Drukpol FC and Yeedzin FC against Chhoden FC.
C lub Championship final tomorrow Seven teams from A division and seven teams from B division are participating in the championship.
The final will be played tomorrow at Changjiji ground. Dipen, [...]    [read more]

The aftermath of the earthquake
Three days after Monday’s earthquake, the people across the country are still panicky. Many of them are still sleeping in the open in fear of aftershocks. The fear has been kindled by the government’s timely cautionary announcements and fuelled by rumours.
In a religious country like ours, rumours are kept fed by predictions of aftershocks by [...]    [read more]

Are you waking up?
   [read more]

Quake damage toll rises
The earthquake damage toll in the country, especially in the eastern dzongkhags, has risen. The death toll in Mongar, Trashigang, Trashiyangtse, Lhuentse and Samdrup Jongkhar has increased to 13.
Reports from the east say many people are moving to safer places out in the open. The details of damages are sketchy owing to large affected areas [...]    [read more]

Thimphu Lhamoi Domchoe
Thousands of devotees gathered on the Tashichhodzong courtyard yesterday to witness the annual Lhamoi Domchoe . Lhamo Tsomoi Kunchham, a dance dedicated to one of the protecting deities of Bhutan, Pelden Lhamo, was performed.
   [read more]

Hindu community mourns quake victims
To mourn the earthquake victims, the Durga Puja Committee decided not to have a grand celebration on the final day of Navarati. Instead, seven pundits and three purohits (priest) conducted a day-long prayer for the earthquake victims at the Hindu Mandhir (temple) in the capital yesterday.
In the afternoon, cabinet ministers, members of the parliament, civil [...]    [read more]

Quake damages in Pemagatshel
The earthquake of September 21 spared the lives of people in Pemagatshel but injured three and left a trail of destruction to homes, schools, lhakhangs, chortens and other public properties in the dzongkhag. Nanong Gewog was hit hardest by the quake. Three lhakhangs, two schools and 11 houses were damaged beyond repair.
In Zobel Gewog, three [...]    [read more]

Bhutan News archive for 24 September 2009

September 24, 2009 - From

International Sources

New wave from Bhutan settles in – Burlington Free Press
Westerners for years have romanticized their homeland as a version of Shangri-La, lauding it as the only country in the world where promoting happiness is a formal goal of public policy. Yet this is also a country that reportedly expelled a large …    [read more]

From Bhutan to the Bronx: Sticking Together and Forging a Life – New York Times
Nearly every immigrant group in New York City has a neighborhood, or at least a street, to call its own. But for refugees from the tiny South Asian nation of Bhutan , the closest thing to a home base is a single building in the Bronx — a red-brick …    [read more]

En Route Travel Celebrates 25 Years in a Tough Field – Palisadian-Post
In an August 4 business piece, the New York Times cited a report by Forrester Research which claimed that a number of travel-minded customers, frustrated by complex Web sites, have abandoned online booking and re-embraced the services offered by …    [read more]

Buddhist monks offer prayer for universal peace in Sikkim – New Kerala
Samdruptse (Sikkim), Sep 24 : Hundreds of Buddhist monks and devotees have converged at the altar of Guru Padmasambhava at Samdruptse in Sikkim to offer mass collective prayers for universal peace during the ongoing 12-day long spiritual event. The …    [read more]

Bhutan’s seismic hazard status – Kuensel Online
24 September, 2009 – The Indian institute of technology in Rourkee, India, has done a seismic hazard map of Bhutan showing, for the first time, hazard zones in the event of an earthquake. According to the map (see image), Thimphu, Paro, Punakha …    [read more]

Prime accused acquitted – Kuensel Online
Involuntary Manslaughter Case 24 September, 2009 – Last August, when a group of private school students in Thimphu set out for a ride, little did they know that it would have a lasting impact on them. The group of five, including a girl, went for a …    [read more]

Beverage industry in India – Meri News
ALTHOUGH THE beverage industry has been in existence for quite some time now, yet it is still at an infant stage considering its size and place in the market. India stands at third number in the consumption of beverage, behind United States and China …    [read more]

Bangladesh in danger! – Global Politician
While a very powerful earthquake struck Himalayan region, causing at least 20 deaths and destruction in the small mountaneous nation of Bhutan, for two days, there had been several earthquakes in Bangladesh, while meteorologists are giving warning of …    [read more]

Rutland tips MAU, remains unbeaten – Rutland Herald
It was a battle of two Division I field hockey powerhouses — featuring teams with a combined 10-1 record — and the game lived up to its expectations. After a 2-2 halftime score, Taylor Kresconko knocked in the game-winner with 12:15 remaining as …    [read more]

At least 8 dead as quake rocks Bhutan – CNN
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) — A strong earthquake rocked Bhutan on Monday, blocking access roads in the mountainous Asian kingdom and killing at least eight people, the country’s home minister told CNN. Rescue teams are en route to the quake-stricken …    [read more]

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

His Majesty meets graduates

His Majesty the King with the graduates at the Lingkana palace grounds

24 September, 2009 – “Your marathon begins here. Life after college is not going to be stress free or work free. Strive harder to face the challenge,” His Majesty the King yesterday told 1,330 graduates as he informally interacted with them at the Lingkana palace grounds.

   [read more]

Bhutan’s seismic hazard status
24 September, 2009 – The Indian institute of technology in Rourkee, India, has done a seismic hazard map of Bhutan showing, for the first time, hazard zones in the event of an earthquake.    [read more]

Thimphu Domchhoe today
24 September, 2009 – Government offices, schools and institutions in Thimphu dzongkhag will be closed today to observe Thimphu Domchhoe. The Lham Tsom dance, dedicated to Palden Lhamo (goddess Mahakali) will be performed in the courtyard of Tashichhodzong today.    [read more]

Prime accused acquitted
Involuntary Manslaughter Case24 September, 2009 – Last August, when a group of private school students in Thimphu set out for a ride, little did they know that it would have a lasting impact on them.    [read more]

Being prepared
24 September, 2009 – On September 21, a potent earthquake rocked Eastern Bhutan, rippling towards the rest of the country like a rug being flicked.    [read more]

8-man Ngangpa get 12; Yeedzin in semis
Club Championship 200924 September, 2009 – Ngangpa FC ensured their own annihilation and exit from the club championship by showing up with only eight players. They were massacred 12-0 by Yeedzin FC at the quarterfinals yesterday.
   [read more]

Octogenarian and on her own

A REAL SURVIVOR – ‘Anim’ Sangay Wangmo has been alone since her son’s murder at Chimi lhakhang

24 September, 2009 – Resting on a roadside pavement in Hesothangkha, Wangduephodrang, is 80-year-old Sangay Wangmo from Gaselo. She supports her frail body with a stick held firmly in her hand and carries a worn bag filled with pumpkins on her bent back.

   [read more]

Satellite clinic in Changjiji

Photo HEALTH AT HAND – Around 4,600 people are expected to benefit from the clinic

24 September, 2009 – With a new satellite clinic near the Changjiji housing complex, tenants and people residing nearby no longer have to come to the national referral hospital for basic ailments like cough and cold.    [read more]

Plastic ban ineffective
Likely to last a thousand years, plastics poison the soil, water and air

Photo:NECESSARY EVIL Is there anything that can be done about litter or are we to drown in it?

24 September, 2009 – Dorji’s small grocery and eatery in Changzamtog, Thimphu, is a snapshot of the country’s growing plastic waste.    [read more]

Brazil-Bhutan diplomatic ties

Photo:Foreign ministry Lyonpo Ugyen Tshering and Brazil’s minister of external relations, Celso Amorim

24 September, 2009 – Brazil became the first South American country to formally establish diplomatic ties with Bhutan.    [read more]

Bhutan Observer

Grooming future gomchens
Eighteen-year old Shacha Tenzin from Wangphu Gewog was a cowboy a month ago. Similarly, Jigme Choeda, 13, and Jigme Namgyal, 16, were students in Gomdar School. But today, the three boys have joined 12 others in pursuit of spirituality in the new Dujom Chhoekhang Gomdey in Narphung on the Trashigang-Samdrup Jongkhar Highway.
The gomdey was established [...]    [read more]

Indigenous repellent device successful
The indigenous repellent device to keep wild animals at bay from crops has proved suitable as a short term crop protection measure against wild animals, according to its performance evaluation report.
The indigenous repellent has overcome the disadvantages experienced by other wild animals control measures like poisoning, the report states.
Developed by National Post Harvest Center (NPHC), [...]    [read more]

Natural forest richer than plantation forest
Artificial plantation and human disturbances has reduced species variety and habitats of animals including the rare Rufous necked hornbill in the cool humid evergreen broadleaf forest of Gedu-Darla in Chhukha, according to the Quantitative Vegetation and Soil Survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture.
The study was carried out to see the changes in forest species [...]    [read more]

Jabana comes of modern age
Once poor, cattle farming people of Jabana are increasingly turning to commercial farming and are getting better off. Rabi C Dahal reports from Jabana.

During summer, when the slopes turn green with potatoes, cabbage and other vegetables, every farmer is busy. But during winter, when every family follows cattle to warmer climes, the village is left [...]    [read more]

Masters of bricks and mortar
They are a silent force behind the towering structures of Bhutan. They are the bulwark of construction industry in Bhutan. Eshori Gurung reports
Behind Bhutan’s construction boom and huge infrastructural development is a silent group of labourers from India. This year, there are 37,000 of them working with bricks and mortar, come rain or shine.
For many [...]    [read more]

Climate change, a real threat
The participants of the Climate Change Symposium, organised by the National Environment Commission (NEC), in Thimphu came to a consensus that climate change is no more a myth in Bhutan but a reality.
According to the Deputy Minister of National Environment Commission, Dasho Nado Rinchen, flood, storm, less snowfall and growing of rice in Bumthang are [...]    [read more]

Bhutanese students panic
The increasing death toll due to H1N1 flu in Pune, India has created panic amongst Bhutanese students studying there. Till yesterday, 44 people were reported to have died due to the flu in Pune.
The Pune Bhutanese Student association had written to the Department of Adult and Higher Education explaining the situation and requesting the department [...]    [read more]

Keeping a dying practice alive
In an effort to preserve the declining practice of Dorling, a sect of Nyingmapa Buddhism propounded by Tertoen Dorji Lingpa (1346-1405), forty five rare texts of the sect have been collected, compiled and translated into Dzongkha by Kuenga Gyeltshen, a monk from Tango Shedra, Thimphu.
Out of the forty five texts, Kuenga has printed ten and [...]    [read more]

Earthquake hits Bhutan, kills 10
A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Bhutan on Monday afternoon, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens.
The quake was centred about 160 km east of the capital, Thimphu, at a depth of 7.2 km, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
At least five people were killed in Mongar dzongkhag, the epicentre of the quake, while the [...]    [read more]

Dance competition cancelled
I t was a big disappointment for 14-year old Ugyen Tenzin and some 900 children, who had registered to participate in the Norling dance competition in Thimphu, to hear that the competition was cancelled.
A s soon as they heard about the competition Ugyen and his friends formed a group of ten and started practising.
“We have [...]    [read more]

Bhutan News archive for 23 September 2009

September 23, 2009 - From

International Sources

EVMs are tamper-proof: CEC – New Kerala
Jaipur, Sep 23 : Amid demand for re-introdution of ballot papers instead of EVMs, for the impending Assembly polls in Haryana, Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla today dismissed doubts raised over the efficiency and accuracy of the machines …    [read more]

Nalin Surie takes over as Indian High Commissioner in UK – Hindustan Times
Nalin Surie, an Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1973 batch, has taken over as India’s high commissioner here following the retirement of his predecessor Shiv Shankar Mukherjee. Surie is expected to present his Letters of Credence to Queen …    [read more]

Bhutan PM laments quake disaster – BBC South-Asia
The prime minister of Bhutan has described an earthquake which hit the Himalayan kingdom on Monday as “one of the biggest disasters in recent times”. The prime minister and home minister are now visiting the affected areas. Officials say more than 1 …    [read more]

Nalin Surie takes over as Indian high commissioner to Britain – Thaindian.com
London, Sep 23 (IANS) Nalin Surie, a senior career diplomat, has taken over as the Indian high commissioner to Britain following the retirement of his predecessor Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, the High Commission announced. A diplomat of wide experience …    [read more]

Determining destiny – The Chronicle Herald
Bhutanese lama and Buddhist instructor to Halifax filmmaker Gesar Mukpo, provides much of the commentary in Tulku from a clear-eyed view of the function of Buddhism in the modern world to some skepticism about the nature of tulkus, reincarnated Budd …    [read more]

Safe, not secure – Worcester Telegram & Gazette
The refugees are fleeing war in Iraq, a restrictive regime in Myanmar and ethnic cleansing in Bhutan, as well as civil war in countries such as the Central African Republic and Sudan. “These people are victims of torture; they have experienced …    [read more]

Bhutan quake death toll climbs to 12 – Nation – Thailand
Thousands of people in the eastern districts of Bhutan spent the night out in the open after a powerful earthquake killed at least 12 people as of 9:30 pm on Tuesday night. The first tremor of the earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale, with …    [read more]

Indexing happiness – Jerusalem Post
Overworked, underappreciated? No time for family? No time to stop and smell the flowers? Worried about the intellectual capacity of politicians of all stripes and questioning the effectiveness of public policy? Exasperated by the UN’s lack of …    [read more]

Rescuers Search For Survivors In Bhutan Quake – CBS News
(AP) Rescue workers fanned out across eastern Bhutan on Tuesday, one day after an earthquake shook the tiny, isolated Himalayan nation and killed at least 12 people, officials and a state-run daily said. The 6.3-magnitude afternoon earthquake damaged …    [read more]

6.3-magnitude earthquake kills at least 11, hurts 15 in mountainous … – Boston Globe
GAUHATI, India – A 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook the remote mountain nation of Bhutan yesterday, killing at least 11 people, damaging an ancient monastery, and forcing hundreds to flee, officials said. At least 15 people were also injured. The …    [read more]

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

1,100 homes damaged
The cabinet offered butter lamps for the victims of the quake before meeting for a special session

Update

Photo: Safety first: Out in the open in Trashigang
23 September, 2009 –
More than 1,100 homes have been damaged in the six eastern dzongkhags by the September 21 earthquake, according to latest reports, compelling thousands of people to spend another night out in the open.
   [read more]

Tales of the tremor
Trashigang quake survivors share their experiences

Photo:Kanjur recovering at the Trashigang hospital
23 September, 2009 – It was a warm sunny day in Trashigang on Monday. Like most afternoons, 63-year-old Tashi, sitting by the window in Udzorong, was picking lice from her granddaughter’s head. Lost in search, Tashi did not realise that a massive earthquake had hit her home until the ground beneath her shook with a loud noise.
   [read more]

Monks to learn Computer Science, Accounts
Monk body initiates reform to adapt to changing times

Photo:Change – Monks will learn computer and English besides memorising scriptures
23 September, 2009 – Bhutanese monks will learn English, computer science and accounts, as part of reforms being initiated by the dratshang lhentshog, in cooperation with the central monastic body, to help monks adapt to a changing and modernising Bhutanese society.

   [read more]

Drukpol sail into semis
One Drukstar down, one more to go, for police to reach finals

Club Championship 2009

23 September, 2009 –
The A team of Drukstar FC will be looking to exact some revenge after Drukpol FC decimated its B team, 5-0, yesterday. Drukpol FC will meet Drukstar ‘A’ in the first match of the semifinals of the club championship 2009.
   [read more]

‘Radhi’ lhakhang to be restored
One of the original 108 lhakhangs built by Gongsar Ugyen Wangchuck to be renovated at private initiative

23 September, 2009 – The more than 100 years old Namdrol Choeling lhakhang, commonly known as the Radhi lhakhang, will undergo major renovation, according to hi eminence Garab Rinpoche.
   [read more]

Man dies enroute to hospital
23 September, 2009 – A 29-year old man, who was seriously injured when the maruti van he was driving plunged 250 feet below the road on September 17, died before he could be reached to the Gedu General hospital.

   [read more]

Automating the process to speed up the system
23 September, 2009 – The audit clearance procedure for civil servants will be the next government process to be offered as an e-service shortly. Audit clearances are required before civil servants can apply for promotion, training and further studies.    [read more]

Picture story

23 September, 2009 – For love and peace – Thimphu students perform songs during the International Day of Peace observed on September 21. The event was organized by the department of youth and sports.    [read more]

Reinstated Thrue relished

Photo:Two children wash their head in a bowl of water soaked with flower petals. The bowl was set the night before to receive the thrue chu (blessed water)    [read more]

Shaken and stirred
23 September, 2009 – For several years now experts warned that Bhutan, which lies in a seismically active region, could any time soon be hit by a major earthquake.

   [read more]

Bhutan Observer

Climate change, a real threat
The participants of the Climate Change Symposium, organised by the National Environment Commission (NEC), in Thimphu came to a consensus that climate change is no more a myth in Bhutan but a reality.
According to the Deputy Minister of National Environment Commission, Dasho Nado Rinchen, flood, storm, less snowfall and growing of rice in Bumthang are [...]    [read more]

Bhutanese students panic
The increasing death toll due to H1N1 flu in Pune, India has created panic amongst Bhutanese students studying there. Till yesterday, 44 people were reported to have died due to the flu in Pune.
The Pune Bhutanese Student association had written to the Department of Adult and Higher Education explaining the situation and requesting the department [...]    [read more]

Keeping a dying practice alive
In an effort to preserve the declining practice of Dorling, a sect of Nyingmapa Buddhism propounded by Tertoen Dorji Lingpa (1346-1405), forty five rare texts of the sect have been collected, compiled and translated into Dzongkha by Kuenga Gyeltshen, a monk from Tango Shedra, Thimphu.
Out of the forty five texts, Kuenga has printed ten and [...]    [read more]

Earthquake hits Bhutan, kills 10
A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Bhutan on Monday afternoon, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens.
The quake was centred about 160 km east of the capital, Thimphu, at a depth of 7.2 km, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
At least five people were killed in Mongar dzongkhag, the epicentre of the quake, while the [...]    [read more]

Dance competition cancelled
I t was a big disappointment for 14-year old Ugyen Tenzin and some 900 children, who had registered to participate in the Norling dance competition in Thimphu, to hear that the competition was cancelled.
A s soon as they heard about the competition Ugyen and his friends formed a group of ten and started practising.
“We have [...]    [read more]

Protect the ozone, protect the earth
A few months from now Bhutan will completely phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which cause depletion of atmospheric ozone, said Dasho Nado Rinchen, Deputy Minister of National Environment Commission, at the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer on September 16.
To achieve this, he said that the NEC has updated and approved the regulation [...]    [read more]

The other side of graduate orientation
Fall is here and Thimphu is ablaze with colours. The golden hue of autumn is complimented by the 775 male and 491 female graduates decked out in colourful dresses.
Thimphu city looks younger in the evenings with fresh graduates filling the streets, restaurants, shops, bars and clubs.
The two-week National Graduate Orientation Programme is not only a [...]    [read more]

Festivals likely to become expensive
The escalating sugar price along with the rise in price of rice, milk powder, tea leaves, pulses, edible oil and clothes will make Dashain and Tihar festivals more expensive this year.
Triggered by the Indian market, sugar prices in Bhutan have been swelling for the last several weeks. In the towns, the retail price for a [...]    [read more]

Cycling expidition
A four-member team from Kewkradong, a youth based organisation in Bangladesh, started a cycling expedition from Thimphu to Trashigang yesterday.
The theme of the expedition is “Friendship-Cross Country Bhutan on Bicycle.”
They arrived in the country on September 15 with the aim to establish people-to-people contact and cement the existing bilateral relationship between Bhutan and Bangladesh The [...]    [read more]

Veterans back in action
With the veteran’s football league underway at the RBP football ground, football lovers above 35 years are once again back in the field.
Organised by BOC, one match is played on week days and two matches on weekends. Today, Sherig Vet. will play against KDS. Tomorrow BOC will take over Clock Tower in the morning and [...]    [read more]

Bhutan News archive for 22 September 2009

September 22, 2009 - From

International Sources

Mason makes ‘Skins debut – Gazette
Sept. 16 was a typical afternoon at Redskins Park for Potomac native Marcus Mason, for better or worse. During the first hour of the team’s practice session, he took handoffs with fellow running backs Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts, albeit fewer …    [read more]

Bhutan’s quake affects 3,000 people, damages houses in Tibet – Reliefweb.int
LHASA, Sep 22, 2009 (Xinhua via COMTEX) — More than 3,000 people in southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous region were affected by a strong earthquake that jolted neighboring Bhutan Monday afternoon. The quake has left 11 people dead in Bhutan. The 6.3 …    [read more]

Expansion of Taekwondo Peace Corps encourages developing countries – Around Rings
Lausanne, Switzerland, 22 September, 2009 –As the popularity of taekwondo increases worldwide, a record number of about 140 nations will take part in the 2009 WTF World Taekwondo Championships in three weeks’ time. The sport is growing …    [read more]

Earthquake death toll rises in Bhutan – United Press International
THIMPU, Bhutan, Sept. 22 (UPI) — The death toll from Bhutan’s 6.1-magnitude earthquake has risen to 11, including four road workers crushed by boulders, authorities said Tuesday. The workers died Monday when rocks fell from a hillside during the …    [read more]

Rescuers search for survivors in Bhutan quake – WSVN-TV
GAUHATI, India (AP) — Rescue workers fanned out across eastern Bhutan on Tuesday, one day after an earthquake shook the tiny, isolated Himalayan nation and killed at least 12 people, officials and a state-run daily said. The 6.3-magnitude afternoon …    [read more]

Serie A Preview: Bari – Cagliari – Goal.com
Bari aren’t going down without a fight, that’s for sure. Newly promoted to Serie A this season, the Galletti were expected by many to be struggling for points but so far it’s been a different story. Giampiero Ventura’s side have yet to lose a game in …    [read more]

Death toll rises to 11 in Bhutan quake – CNN
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) — The death toll from Monday’s 6.1-magnitude earthquake in Bhutan rose to 11, the country’s home minister said Tuesday. Among the dead were four Indian road laborers who were crushed when boulders from hillsides rained down on …    [read more]

US wants Turkmenistan to lead energy security? – New Kerala
The Secretary met with the Turkmen president this afternoon. Both sides agreed that we have good relations between our two countries, but that we want to do more to seize some opportunities. The Secretary described a new process that we’re putting in …    [read more]

Another tremor jolts northeast, Monday’s quake toll 11 – MSN India
Guwahati: Another earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale shook India’s northeast and adjoining Myanmar early Tuesday. The death toll from the Monday’s tremor in Bhutan rose to 11, officials said. According to the Indian Meteorological …    [read more]

Bhutanese refugees get fresh start in Cleveland – WKYC
CLEVELAND — Refugees from Bhutan in southern Asia have found a way to put their Old World skills to work in urban Ohio. They’re tilling the earth outside of Cleveland and making it bloom. And to the astonishment of many, they are using the old ways …    [read more]

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

Making religion relevant
22 September, 2009 – The students of Changzamtog raised some pertinent questions that many young Bhutanese have in mind when they got an opportunity to meet and question Jangtrul Yangsed Rinpoche.
   [read more]

Death toll mounts to 12
News from the east reports major and widespread damage by the 6.3 tremor on the Richter scale

22 September, 2009 – Thousands of people in the eastern dzongkhags spent the night out in the open after a powerful earthquake, which hit yesterday afternoon, damaged homes, government offices, historical monuments, blocked roads and reportedly killed at least 12 people as of 9:30 pm last night.

   [read more]

“We’re trying to change our attitude”

22 September, 2009 – His Majesty the King yesterday promoted the chief of police, Kipchu Namgyel, to the rank of Brigadier. He is the first police officer to reach this rank.

Brigadier Kipchu Namgyel, 54, from Tsento, Paro, joined the royal Bhutan police in 1980 after completing his police training from Jigmeling training centre, Sarpang. A recipient of the Drakpoi Thugsey medal, he was promoted to the rank of colonel in 2006 and appointed the chief of police in April 2008.    [read more]

ACC suspends MoH officials
22 September, 2009 – The anti corruption commission (ACC) has suspended the chief administrative officer (deputy secretary), Nado Dukpa, and the chief procurement officer and head of drug vaccine and equipment division (DVED), Nawang Dorji of the ministry of health on September 14.    [read more]

Duo caught smuggling drugs
22 September, 2009 – Thimphu police have caught two men trying to smuggle drugs into the city last Sunday on September 20.
   [read more]

Damphu’s crowded classrooms

22 September, 2009 – Fifty-six students are crammed into a one-storey 14 by 10 feet classroom. Five students share a table. The room is so crowded that there is no space on the floor.    [read more]

South Asia: Disunity Hovers over a Region Battling Climate Change
ENVIRONMENT22 September, 2009 – As the Copenhagen Conference on climate change draws nearer, South Asia, which appears poised for severe threats from the impacts of climate change, faces a stiff challenge on two fronts.    [read more]

Ambassador presents credentials
22 September, 2009 – Bhutan’s ambassador to the Commonwealth of Australia, Tshering Dorji, presented his credentials to the Governor General Mrs Quentin Alice Louise Bryce on Thursday, September 17.    [read more]

Earthquake kills three
Breaking News 21 September, 2009 : At least three people are confirmed killed in Mongar by the earthquake, measuring 6.3 on the richter scale, which hit Bhutan around 3pm today. Damages to properties including chortens and lhakhangs, are reported in eastern dzongkhags.

   [read more]

Dzongkha lopons at a premium
The language problem begins with a shortage of teachers in primary schools

21 September, 2009 – Even as the Dzongkha development commission conference drew up a number of recommendations last week to promote and simplify learning of Dzongkha, hundreds of schools around the country are without trained language teachers at the primary level.
   [read more]

Bhutan Observer

Bhutanese students panic
The increasing death toll due to H1N1 flu in Pune, India has created panic amongst Bhutanese students studying there. Till yesterday, 44 people were reported to have died due to the flu in Pune.
The Pune Bhutanese Student association had written to the Department of Adult and Higher Education explaining the situation and requesting the department [...]    [read more]

Keeping a dying practice alive
In an effort to preserve the declining practice of Dorling, a sect of Nyingmapa Buddhism propounded by Tertoen Dorji Lingpa (1346-1405), forty five rare texts of the sect have been collected, compiled and translated into Dzongkha by Kuenga Gyeltshen, a monk from Tango Shedra, Thimphu.
Out of the forty five texts, Kuenga has printed ten and [...]    [read more]

Earthquake hits Bhutan, kills 10
A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Bhutan on Monday afternoon, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens.
The quake was centred about 160 km east of the capital, Thimphu, at a depth of 7.2 km, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
At least five people were killed in Mongar dzongkhag, the epicentre of the quake, while the [...]    [read more]

Dance competition cancelled
I t was a big disappointment for 14-year old Ugyen Tenzin and some 900 children, who had registered to participate in the Norling dance competition in Thimphu, to hear that the competition was cancelled.
A s soon as they heard about the competition Ugyen and his friends formed a group of ten and started practising.
“We have [...]    [read more]

Protect the ozone, protect the earth
A few months from now Bhutan will completely phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which cause depletion of atmospheric ozone, said Dasho Nado Rinchen, Deputy Minister of National Environment Commission, at the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer on September 16.
To achieve this, he said that the NEC has updated and approved the regulation [...]    [read more]

The other side of graduate orientation
Fall is here and Thimphu is ablaze with colours. The golden hue of autumn is complimented by the 775 male and 491 female graduates decked out in colourful dresses.
Thimphu city looks younger in the evenings with fresh graduates filling the streets, restaurants, shops, bars and clubs.
The two-week National Graduate Orientation Programme is not only a [...]    [read more]

Festivals likely to become expensive
The escalating sugar price along with the rise in price of rice, milk powder, tea leaves, pulses, edible oil and clothes will make Dashain and Tihar festivals more expensive this year.
Triggered by the Indian market, sugar prices in Bhutan have been swelling for the last several weeks. In the towns, the retail price for a [...]    [read more]

Cycling expidition
A four-member team from Kewkradong, a youth based organisation in Bangladesh, started a cycling expedition from Thimphu to Trashigang yesterday.
The theme of the expedition is “Friendship-Cross Country Bhutan on Bicycle.”
They arrived in the country on September 15 with the aim to establish people-to-people contact and cement the existing bilateral relationship between Bhutan and Bangladesh The [...]    [read more]

Veterans back in action
With the veteran’s football league underway at the RBP football ground, football lovers above 35 years are once again back in the field.
Organised by BOC, one match is played on week days and two matches on weekends. Today, Sherig Vet. will play against KDS. Tomorrow BOC will take over Clock Tower in the morning and [...]    [read more]

The dungkhang sans bank
Sir,
Nanglam was created as a dungkhag in 1960. The present location was selected in 1976 as part of the fourth Druk Gyalpo’s plan to enhance socio-economic development in the area. Prior to this, the dungkhag was administered from Dechenling.
Today, the ninth dungpa is in charge of the dungkhag. The dungkhag today has a forest range [...]    [read more]

Bhutan News archive for 21 September 2009

September 21, 2009 - From

International Sources

At least 8 dead as quake rocks Bhutan – CNN
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) — A strong earthquake rocked Bhutan on Monday, blocking access roads in the mountainous Asian kingdom and killing at least eight people, the country’s home minister told CNN. Rescue teams are en route to the quake-stricken …    [read more]

Quake kills seven in Bhutan: official – Raw Story
A strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck the remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan on Monday, killing seven people and damaging monasteries and other buildings, officials and reports said. The seven died after buildings collapsed in two regions east of …    [read more]

Deadly quake shakes India, remote Bhutan – MSNBC
GAUHATI, India – A 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook the remote mountain nation of Bhutan on Monday, killing at least seven people when their houses collapsed and damaging buildings across the region, officials said. The afternoon earthquake was …    [read more]

World Digest – HometownAnnapolis.com
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba – The self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks is expected to return to the Guantanamo war crimes court, possibly for the last time. A military judge has scheduled a hearing today at the U.S. base in Cuba to …    [read more]

Quake Shakes Himalayas Causing Deaths, Destruction in Bhutan – Voice of America
USGS shake map shows quake centered in sparsely populated area of Bhutan with initial assessment with ‘very strong’ perceived shaking at epicenter A powerful earthquake has struck the Himalayan region, causing at least five deaths and destruction in …    [read more]

6.3-Magnitude Quake Kills 7 in Bhutan, Shakes India – FOX News
GAUHATI, India — A 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook the remote mountain nation of Bhutan on Monday, killing at least seven people when their houses collapsed and damaging buildings across the region, officials said. The afternoon earthquake was …    [read more]

High magnitude quake rocks Bhutan, India’s northeast (Evening Lead) – Thaindian.com
Guwahati/Thimpu, Sep 21 (IANS) A high magnitude earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale Monday killed at least seven people in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan and wounded three others, while reports indicated damages to buildings in India’s …    [read more]

Ten killed as big earthquake strikes Bhutan – Reuters
THIMPHU, Sept 21 (Reuters) – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Bhutan on Monday, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens, officials and the state-run Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) said. The quake was centred about 160 km (100 miles) east …    [read more]

Earthquake kills five in Bhutan – United Press International
NEW DELHI, Sept. 21 (UPI) — A strong earthquake shook the Asian kingdom of Bhutan Monday, killing at least five people and sending rocks onto highways, the country’s home minister said. The quake initially was measured at 6.3 in magnitude, but the U …    [read more]

Seven dead as quake rocks Bhutan, India and Tibet (Roundup) – Monsters and Critics
New Delhi – A strong earthquake rocked Bhutan on Monday, killing at least seven people and damaging property even as it shook India’s north-eastern states and Tibet, sending people running on to streets, officials said. The temblor, measuring 6.1 on …    [read more]

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

Earthquake kills three
Breaking News 21 September, 2009 : At least three people are confirmed killed in Mongar by the earthquake, measuring 6.3 on the richter scale, which hit Bhutan around 3pm today. Damages to properties including chortens and lhakhangs, are reported in eastern dzongkhags.

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Dzongkha lopons at a premium
The language problem begins with a shortage of teachers in primary schools

21 September, 2009 – Even as the Dzongkha development commission conference drew up a number of recommendations last week to promote and simplify learning of Dzongkha, hundreds of schools around the country are without trained language teachers at the primary level.
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Knowledge is the way to contentment

Jangtrul Yangsed Rinpoche tells students of Changzamtog LSS during an interaction

21 September, 2009 – In an effort to bridge the gap between Bhutanese youth and the understanding of Buddhism, a prominent Rinpoche interacted with school students at a talk in Thimphu yesterday and answered an unexpectedly long list of questions on Buddhism.

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Roofing fund for 64 families

21 September, 2009 – Unable to provide the collateral for obtaining rural micro credit loans, or even qualifying for any government social services, 64 households in Bhutan’s poorest dzongkhag, Zhemgang, faced this year’s monsoon without adequate shelter.
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Picture story

Secretary General of Bhutan-India Friendship Association, Kolkatta Chapter, Jay Prakash Majumdar met Prime Minister, Lyonchhoen Jigme Y Thinley on Thursday.
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Druk Star shines over Motithang

In a one-sided game ending 9-1 even the keeper got to score

2009 Club Championship 21 September, 2009 – National league champions, Druk Star outshone Motithang United in style and scored nine goals to book a berth in the semifinals of the 2009 club championship.

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Caddie wins IMTRAT golf

21 September, 2009 – After numerous years of carrying golf bags at the Thimphu Golf Course, former caddie Tanka surprised golfers by winning the COAS open golf tournament 2009, (open category) played at the RBG course in Dechenchholing.
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Sudden death
21 September, 2009 – An employee of the Bhutan Power Corporation Limited in Tsirang, who had called his office on the morning of September 18 to say he would be late for work, was found dead that evening in his apartment.
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Murdered man’s family destitute

For those left behind, grief is only the beginning of their problems

21 September, 2009 – Eight-year-old Ugyen and his younger sister, Tashi Choden, have just about begun their schooling days but they might be already reaching its end.

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Autumn
21 September, 2009 – Tomorrow is holy Thrue Bab and as most people take their yearly crack at purifying themselves of their past sins and future bad karmas by forcing their bodies under a chilly-before-dawn shower, the day is also celebrated as the end of farming season and the start of harvesting period. It also means that summer’s gone and winter’s round the bend. It also means, more pleasantly, that autumn is here.    [read more]

Bhutan Observer

Earthquake hits Bhutan, kills 10
A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Bhutan on Monday afternoon, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens.
The quake was centred about 160 km east of the capital, Thimphu, at a depth of 7.2 km, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
At least five people were killed in Mongar dzongkhag, the epicentre of the quake, while the [...]    [read more]

Dance competition cancelled
I t was a big disappointment for 14-year old Ugyen Tenzin and some 900 children, who had registered to participate in the Norling dance competition in Thimphu, to hear that the competition was cancelled.
A s soon as they heard about the competition Ugyen and his friends formed a group of ten and started practising.
“We have [...]    [read more]

Protect the ozone, protect the earth
A few months from now Bhutan will completely phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which cause depletion of atmospheric ozone, said Dasho Nado Rinchen, Deputy Minister of National Environment Commission, at the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer on September 16.
To achieve this, he said that the NEC has updated and approved the regulation [...]    [read more]

The other side of graduate orientation
Fall is here and Thimphu is ablaze with colours. The golden hue of autumn is complimented by the 775 male and 491 female graduates decked out in colourful dresses.
Thimphu city looks younger in the evenings with fresh graduates filling the streets, restaurants, shops, bars and clubs.
The two-week National Graduate Orientation Programme is not only a [...]    [read more]

Festivals likely to become expensive
The escalating sugar price along with the rise in price of rice, milk powder, tea leaves, pulses, edible oil and clothes will make Dashain and Tihar festivals more expensive this year.
Triggered by the Indian market, sugar prices in Bhutan have been swelling for the last several weeks. In the towns, the retail price for a [...]    [read more]

Cycling expidition
A four-member team from Kewkradong, a youth based organisation in Bangladesh, started a cycling expedition from Thimphu to Trashigang yesterday.
The theme of the expedition is “Friendship-Cross Country Bhutan on Bicycle.”
They arrived in the country on September 15 with the aim to establish people-to-people contact and cement the existing bilateral relationship between Bhutan and Bangladesh The [...]    [read more]

Veterans back in action
With the veteran’s football league underway at the RBP football ground, football lovers above 35 years are once again back in the field.
Organised by BOC, one match is played on week days and two matches on weekends. Today, Sherig Vet. will play against KDS. Tomorrow BOC will take over Clock Tower in the morning and [...]    [read more]

The dungkhang sans bank
Sir,
Nanglam was created as a dungkhag in 1960. The present location was selected in 1976 as part of the fourth Druk Gyalpo’s plan to enhance socio-economic development in the area. Prior to this, the dungkhag was administered from Dechenling.
Today, the ninth dungpa is in charge of the dungkhag. The dungkhag today has a forest range [...]    [read more]

Education system and its heartaches
Our nation sits weeping. We haven’t yet been able to wipe her tears. The national pain of slow convalescence is a sorrow we all pine on and share. It’s our collective tyranny to our beloved country. When education fails, nothing can find a foothold.
“Our nation’s vision can only be fulfilled if the scope of our [...]    [read more]

Lawn tennis semi-finals
The lawn tennis open youth championship tournament which is under way at the Changlimithang lawn tennis court in Thimphu has reached the semi finals stage.
The semi finals of men’s doubles, under 18 for both girls and boys, under 14 and lucky mixed doubles will be played today. The final is scheduled for September 20.
The tournament [...]    [read more]