International Sources

Making Bhutan business friendly - Kuensel Online
“These incentives, though not yet approved, have the objective to encourage domestic and external investment and make business competitive,” said the economic affairs secretary, Dasho Sonam Tshering. The financial incentives come under the …    [read more]

Swiss/Austrian grant for judiciary - Kuensel Online
15 July, 2009 - To support the goal of building an independent and decentralised judiciary in Bhutan, the Austrian and Swiss development cooperations have committed Nu 172m to the Bhutanese judiciary. The Swiss government, through the Swiss …    [read more]

NEPAL: Heartache for wives of Bhutanese refugees - IRIN
Many Nepali women whose husbands are Bhutanese refugees feel left out of the third country resettlement programme DAMAK, 2 July 2009 (IRIN) - More than a thousand Nepalese women married to Bhutanese refugees fear they may be left out of the third …    [read more]

Attacks build fear among refugees in Syracuse - Syracuse Post-Standard
Mike Greenlar / The Post-Standard Bhutanese refugee Hari Rizal, 23, stands at the intersection where he was beaten Nov. 3, 2008 near the corner of Park and John streets on Syracuse’s North Side. Behind him, two Bhutanese refugee women walk down John …    [read more]

HCC bags Rupees 387.50-crore order for Bhutan power plant - New Kerala
Mumbai, July 10 : Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), India’s leading engineering and construction company, has bagged Rupees 387.50 crore order for Lot one of the 114MW Dagacchu Hydro Power Project in Bhutan. The Dagacchu Hydro Power Plant is …    [read more]

NEW on the block: UTEP area across from the Don Haskins to get … - El Paso Times
The Sinbad Restaurant is still open, but a recent fire damaged some stores at Baltimore Avenue and N. Mesa Street. The property will be rebuilt by G.E.M. Real Estate Investments to match the Bhutanese-style architecture used at The Shops at Glory …    [read more]

Seeking help in the Promised Land: Refugees struggle to start lives in … - Twin Falls Times-News
Before arriving in Twin Falls, Som Subedi lived the life of a Bhutanese refugee in a bamboo hut. It had a dirt floor, with no electricity - only a kerosene lamp. The roof was made of plastic woven among the bamboo. Such was a life he lived for about …    [read more]

Blame the refugee system - Globe and Mail
I n 1996, there was a surge of phony refugee claimants to Canada from the Chilean port of Valparaiso. Word had got around in a poor neighbourhood that Canada was an easy mark. These obviously economic migrants were told: Apply for refugee status in …    [read more]

Health Care - Yahoo News
Handicrafts products are displayed for sale at a shop in Thimphu July 12, 2009. Five decades ago, Bhutan was a feudal, medieval place with no roads, proper schools or hospitals and scarcely any contact with the outside world. Today education and …    [read more]

Joanna Rothkopf’s blog - Foreign Policy Blogs
Forget Aladdin’s friendly blue sidekick –a Saudi family has actually sued a genie for theft and harassment. After living in the same house for 15 years, the family recently became aware of the intruder: The lawsuit filed in Shariah court accuses the …    [read more]

Kuensel - Bhutan’s National Newspaper

BCCI’s eastern fact finding tour
15 July, 2009 - Getting loans without collateral was a common problem for most small and medium businesses, say Bhutan chamber of commerce and industry (BCCI) officials, who are touring the central and eastern districts to learn about their problems and educate the business community on new opportunities.
Picture: SOUNDING BOARD - BCCI president Tobgyal Dorji and officials interact with the business community of Bumthang
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Bhutan Observer

Picture story
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Of kidney and money
When he was diagnosed with typhoid, 55-year-old Pema Wangdi didn’t know that he had a kidney problem. It was in September, 2008, when he learnt that his kidneys stopped functioning.
Today after eight months of dialysis and kidney transplant, he is healthy and strong. He carries with him the experiences of having a kidney transplant and […]    [read more]

NA adopts civil service bill
After deliberating for five days, for about 30 hours, the National Assembly yesterday adopted the Civil Service bill 2009.
Adopting the bill, Speaker Jigme Tshulthrim said the house had given due importance to the three branches of the government. The adoption of the bill, he said, would help the constitutional post holders and civil servants tackle […]    [read more]

Allow tobacco sale, NC
Yesterday, the National Council resolved to allow the sale of tobacco products, which was banned on December 17, 2004.
After reviewing the Tobacco Control Bill for two days, the NC decided to do away with section 11 (c) under chapter three of the bill which says, “No person shall sell tobacco and tobacco products.” Pema Lhamo, […]    [read more]

The happy little home
For a family of seven, the shadowy place they call home is a dingy public toilet. It’s a happy home, nonetheless. Metho Dema reports.
For Pooja, nine, and Aarti, eight, there is nothing extraordinary about their home even when they have around 20 to 30 visitors in a day.
They are like any ordinary children except that […]    [read more]

T he village boy and Thimphu
Eating a piece of cake for the first time in his life made Jamba Gyeltshen, a 17-year-old student from Tangmachu village in Lhuentse, wish to stay a little longer in Thimphu. “The flavour is too tempting – it’s as though someone has put a spell on me,” he said. “If I were given a chance […]    [read more]

Parties must be rescued
One of the thorny issues we are currently debating is the public funding of the political parties. Given the grim financial situation that threatens the very survival of our political parties, this issue calls for debate and deliberation that go a little easier on the nitty-gritty of laws. If this issue gets caught up in […]    [read more]

In Summary
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Lozeys up against rigsar music
Today, a battle between the old and the new, the traditional and the modern, is being played out in the music market. It is lozey against rigsar songs.
Norbui Thro Zang, Khathen (verbal message to my beloved) and Yar Mah Song are some of the lozey audio cassettes available in the market. But the business is […]    [read more]

Metrosexual or just fashionable?
I f you think that it is only women who spend more time in front of a mirror, think again. Today, there are men, who are obsessed with their appearance and spend freely to improve it.
They are men who go to a mall, buy magazines and spend a substantial amount of time and money on […]    [read more]

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