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Bhutan News archive for 31 July 2010

July 31, 2010 - From

International Sources

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

Picture story

31 July, 2010 – His Majesty the King with the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Mr Haruhiko Kuroda yesterday    [read more]

Wait a little longer
Performance Compacts 31 July, 2010 – Reducing waiting time for patients visiting the Thimphu referral hospital, which was to be a reality starting today, is postponed.    [read more]

A changing of the old guard
The young generation has rejected the hard high-altitude life
Enroute to Wangdue: Langtoe herders transporting yaks from Ura

Ura Gewog 31 July, 2010 – The air escaping between the gaps of his missing tooth cannot produce enough whistles to alert the beast. Sonamla climbs down a steep slope, his hands searching for support on the short but sturdy grass. As he bends to pick up his leather whip, the loose rubber shoes expose his cracked heels – a sign of years of running after the yaks.    [read more]

H1N1 in Thimphu
With T/phu, six districts have reported the flu outbreak

H1N1 Influenza A 31 July, 2010 – After surfacing first in the east and infecting hundreds of students as it moved south, the H1N1 flu has now hit the capital.    [read more]

Last date deferred
UN agency to be involved in evaluation and identification of proposals

Domestic Air Service 31 July, 2010 – In a recent development in the revised domestic air service contract or commercial air contract, individual and companies from India, Thailand and South Korea have expressed interest in the services, according to the department of civil aviation (DCA).    [read more]

Cabinet sits on decision
No cushion for high voltage users for much longer

Subsidy Level 31 July, 2010 – The government has not yet decided anything on the level of subsidy and power tariff for local consumers and industries recommended by Bhutan electricity authority (BEA).    [read more]

The helping hand at home
31 July, 2010 – In absence of their parents living with them, the need for maids has become a growing necessity for young working parents, much like their desire for new fancy cars.    [read more]

An end to extreme poverty by 2025
Bhutan chances to achieve this goal are good, says Jeffrey David Sachs
Jeffrey David Sachs

31 July, 2010 – Bhutan’s prospects for ending extreme poverty by 2025 are quite good, according to well known American economist, Jeffrey David Sachs, who is in the country to meet government officials and get to know the country better.    [read more]

Fraudster found guilty
An elaborate con ends up in the can

31 July, 2010 – A man was found guilty of forging airline tickets and visas, and of conning a local taxi driver out of Nu 520,000 by the Paro dzongkhag court last week.    [read more]

Long awaited new lam
Warm welcome: Villagers offering khadhar to their new lam

Drepong, Mongar 31 July, 2010 – To many it would sound an ordinary event. A village lam was appointed in a simple ceremony. But for the people of Drepong, one of the remotest gewog in Mongar, it was a special event.    [read more]

Bhutan Observer

Exams can’t find good teachers
Sir, The education ministry’s effort to get quality teachers by testing teacher graduates’ “commitment” and “compe­tency” through an RCSC exam is yet another attempt to bring a radical change in the teaching profession, though knowing one’s “commitment” and “competency” may not be effective and result-oriented as that of “knowledge”. Sincere practice of love for knowledge [...]    [read more]

Irrigation channel brings relief to Radhi
 With the construc­tion of an irriga­tion channel in the pipeline, Radhi Gewog in Trashigang is breathing a sigh of relief. Pipes worth Nu 800,000 have been procured for the construction of the channel, which will begin by 2011. Radhi Gup Samdrup said the irrigation channel should be ready for the next paddy cultivation. Radhi, which [...]    [read more]

DHI companies sign compact for 2010
With Druk Green Power Corporation signing its per­formance compact with Druk Holding and Investments (DHI) this week, DHI has com­pleted signing performance compacts with its six compa­nies for 2010. All the companies have committed to improve work­ing conditions, customer satisfaction, and exploring and establishing more areas of business. However, three compa­nies have not predicted good [...]    [read more]

Archery and its associates
Since its advent in the country in the early 1990s, compound bows or pulleys, as locals commonly call them, have given the traditional bamboo bows the back seat. Compound bows became an instant hit and revolution­ized archery in the country. With more accuracy and reli­ability advantages, compound bows have captured archers’ imagination and entertained spectators. [...]    [read more]

Auditors under strict instructions
Auditors will now be guided by the Auditor Gen­eral’s Standing Instructions launched last week by the Royal Audit Authority. The instructions outline what auditors should and should not do while discharging their duty. According to the instruc­tions, an audit team in the field will have to make its own arrangements for transport, accommodation and food. [...]    [read more]

Contractors want BSR scrapped
The Construction Association of Bhutan (CAB), during its 12th annual general meeting in Thimphu this week, said Bhutan Schedule Rates (BSR) did not reflect the actual market rates. This, they said, caused problems not only to contractors but also to the government. Bhutan shedule rates are the rates for construction ma­terials formulated by Standard and [...]    [read more]

NRDCL prioritises stone production
Natural Resources Develop­ment Corporation Limited (NRDCL) is planning to set up three stone crushing plants by the end of this year. The stone crushing plants will be set up in Dolkhola be­tween Sarpang and Gelephu, Gyalpoizhing in Mongar, and Chimithangka in Thimphu. NRDCL has plans to set up a stone crushing plant in Chen­debji, Paro [...]    [read more]

Heavy rains hamper road widening work
Heavy rains have disrupted the road widening progress of the Samdrup Jongkhar-Trashigang highway. Works and Human Settlement Minister Yeshey Zimba said the government is concerned about the work progress as it will cause problems to commuters. “I have asked DANTAK to make up for the delayed work during the dry season, but at the moment, [...]    [read more]

Air-conditioned market shed for farmers
A new air-conditioned farmers’ market is under construction in Trashigang town at the old market shed on the banks of Mithimdrang. It is expected to meet the increasing demand for farmers’ sales counters. The need for a better market shed with improved storage facilities was felt due to the increasing volume of farm produce from [...]    [read more]


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Bhutan News archive for 30 July 2010

July 30, 2010 - From

International Sources

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

First package to be floated
The 57 km Manitar-Raidak-Lhamoizingkha highway will be the first to go under the hammer
One of the main slides along the Manitar-Raidak stretch: DoR officials investigate the slide from a temporary footbridge

National Highway Construction 30 July, 2010 – Bhutanese contractors are looking high and low, and nervously so, for partners in India, as the first of the seven USD 55M-national highway construction package nears tender submission.    [read more]

Young monk dies on old trail
Two gelongs left Gangtey for Wangdue; only one made it alive

30 July, 2010 – A 15-year old monk, studying in Gangtey shedra in Wangduephodrang, was found dead on July 28 near a stream in the thick forest of Woolakha hill, along an old trail from the shedra to Wangduephodrang.    [read more]

Fingers at quarry
Namseling, Mewang 30 July, 2010 – The torrential rain on the night of July 28 set off a flashflood that washed away culverts and damaged crops and houses along the stream flowing beneath the sharp bend near a small automobile workshop in Namseling.    [read more]

To deal with children of special needs
Four American specialists share their know how

Special Education Workshop 30 July, 2010 – With an ever-increasing student population in classrooms across the country far stripping the teacher population, staying up to speed with lessons in crowded classrooms is a problem.    [read more]

Picture Story

30 July, 2010 – The President of the Asian Development Bank, Haruhiko Kuroda, with prime minister Lyonchhoen Jigmi Y Thinley yesterday in Thimphu    [read more]

The labour problem
30 July, 2010 – The labour and immigration offices appear to be tightening the screws, when it comes to employing foreign workers.

Nationalising all jobs in the country is not a new development. It began a long time ago, ever since the country began generating young professionals, who had gone to school and college and were ready to do the work that was being filled by foreign workers.    [read more]

Four temporary ponds by October
Version 2 will be more user-friendly
Soaking Up: Winter visitors can look forward to renew old acquaintances.
Photo: Gasa Dzongda

Gasa Tsachu 30 July, 2010 – Before the onset of winter, Gasa tsachu (hot spring) will be rehabilitated and opened for public with improved amenities. Four temporary ponds with wooden flooring and walls, and roofs will be completed by October, according to the Gasa dzongda, Sonam Jigme, who presented an update on the tsachu, which was washed away by the May 26 flood last year. The size of the ponds will depend on the source of the spring water.    [read more]

Reviving an old dress code
Uniforms for patients help primarily to control spread of infection
Not Just For Show: The light green uniforms serve a medical purpose

Thimphu Referral Hospital 30 July, 2010 – A few have already started. But many patients, who are admitted at the Thimphu referral hospital, are still coming to terms with the system of wearing uniforms, hospital authorities said.    [read more]

Scope for high-end Indian tourists
30 July, 2010 – Bhutan could be a high-end tourist destination for Indian tourists, according to the secretary general of the India-Bhutan friendship association (IBFA), RN Anil, and the vice president, Harish Chopra.    [read more]

Drukstar down Nagpa 2-0 in waterlogged game
From Pool To Field Ground staff do their best to drain off water from Wednesday night’s downpour

National ‘A’ League 30 July, 2010 – The heavy rain on Wednesday night came as a helping hand to Nangpa FC, as the water logged Changlimithang ground assisted them when playing Drukstar FC yesterday.    [read more]

Bhutan Observer

Auditors under strict instructions
Auditors will now be guided by the Auditor Gen­eral’s Standing Instructions launched last week by the Royal Audit Authority. The instructions outline what auditors should and should not do while discharging their duty. According to the instruc­tions, an audit team in the field will have to make its own arrangements for transport, accommodation and food. [...]    [read more]

Contractors want BSR scrapped
The Construction Association of Bhutan (CAB), during its 12th annual general meeting in Thimphu this week, said Bhutan Schedule Rates (BSR) did not reflect the actual market rates. This, they said, caused problems not only to contractors but also to the government. Bhutan shedule rates are the rates for construction ma­terials formulated by Standard and [...]    [read more]

NRDCL prioritises stone production
Natural Resources Develop­ment Corporation Limited (NRDCL) is planning to set up three stone crushing plants by the end of this year. The stone crushing plants will be set up in Dolkhola be­tween Sarpang and Gelephu, Gyalpoizhing in Mongar, and Chimithangka in Thimphu. NRDCL has plans to set up a stone crushing plant in Chen­debji, Paro [...]    [read more]

Heavy rains hamper road widening work
Heavy rains have disrupted the road widening progress of the Samdrup Jongkhar-Trashigang highway. Works and Human Settlement Minister Yeshey Zimba said the government is concerned about the work progress as it will cause problems to commuters. “I have asked DANTAK to make up for the delayed work during the dry season, but at the moment, [...]    [read more]

Air-conditioned market shed for farmers
A new air-conditioned farmers’ market is under construction in Trashigang town at the old market shed on the banks of Mithimdrang. It is expected to meet the increasing demand for farmers’ sales counters. The need for a better market shed with improved storage facilities was felt due to the increasing volume of farm produce from [...]    [read more]


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The message from the streets
The sound of prayer wheels turning gives a certain kind of peace in your mind. You feel that noth­ing can ever go wrong in this GNH country. You foolishly try to ignore the fact that there are some things which can really touch you and make you want to cry your heart out. Yes, I [...]    [read more]

Cabinet approves auditing board
 The 69th session of the Lhengye Zhungtshog ap­proved the Accounting and Auditing Standards Board of Bhutan (AASBB) to strength­en accounting and auditing practices in Bhutan. The board has nine mem­bers from various stakehold­ers, including representations from private, corporate, edu­cation and government sec­tors with the Auditor General of Bhutan as the chairperson. Ugyen Tshewang, the audi­tor [...]    [read more]

(Re)solution for heritage preservation
The practice of raising funds for renovation of lhakhangs and goendeys through lotteries and charitable donations is certainly exploitative and corruptible, if not corrupt. Today, anywhere in the country, one is obliged to donate a certain amount or buy a lottery ticket towards renovating a certain lhakhang. Unquestioning believers are cornered by omnipresent government-approved donation [...]    [read more]

Tertiary education policy launched
 The tertiary education policy, which was launched this week, will guide and help in setting up of facilities, selec­tion of programmes, and certification and allied issues in tertiary education by creat­ing an enabling environment to make Bhutan a knowledge hub. The policy will serve as a road map, a guide and a vision for the [...]    [read more]

Bhutan News archive for 29 July 2010

July 29, 2010 - From

International Sources

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

Picture story

29 July, 2010 – Cut off- A swollen tributary of the Mochu, after heavy rains in the last three days washed away a bridge cutting off Laya from Gasa. Photo Gyem Thinley, Laya    [read more]

Overtime clause crosses RCSC hurdle
Specialists may earn up to Nu 12,000 a month

Special Clinical Service 29 July, 2010 – Specialists could be paid up to Nu 12,000 and general duties medical officers (GDMO), Nu 8,000 a month, if the proposal for providing medical care and services after 3:00 pm at the Thimphu referral hospital is approved.    [read more]

Permits mandatory in border towns
Nine enterprises listed where foreign workers may be used

Migrant Workers 29 July, 2010 – In keeping with the labour and employment act of 2007, foreign workers in the border towns will require a work permit, starting from October this year.    [read more]

Lhuentse schools laid low
H1N1 Influenza A 29 July, 2010 – Three schools in Lhuentse were closed for a week, starting Tuesday, after about 230 students reported to the hospital with suspected H1N1 symptoms.
   [read more]

Delegation on a 3-day visit
Asian Development Bank 29 July, 2010 – The president of the Asian development bank (ADB), Mr Haruhiko Kuroda, is scheduled to arrive today on a three-day visit to the country.    [read more]

President elected for third straight term
Despite Ugen Tsechup Dorji’s disinclination, he was voted in again

Construction Association Of Bhutan 29 July, 2010 – Bhutanese contractors from various parts of the country who were in the capital yesterday for their annual general meeting voted Ugen Tsechup Dorji their president for the third three-year term.    [read more]

4-man ring busted in Paro
Construction Material Theft 29 July, 2010 – With construction work in Paro increasing, police in the dzongkhag have been also dealing with a rise in theft of construction material. In what they hope is not a precedent, Paro police recently bagged their first major catch by busting a four-man ring.    [read more]

The anachronistic eve teaser
29 July, 2010 – Some taxi drivers in Thimphu and Paro are feeling singled out for so-called eve teasing. They argue that, because they are illiterate and easy to pick on, they are always blamed.    [read more]

Nu 2.2B environmental bill
Where the Bunakha dam will come up

Bunakha Hydropower Project 29 July, 2010 – The 180 MW Bunakha hydropower project that will be come up along the Wangchu would have to spend about Nu 2.2B on environment management, according to estimates made by the Indian council of forestry research and education (ICFRE).    [read more]

Back in action after 10-day break
Yeedzin score late goal to seal 2-1 win over Choden

National ‘A’ League 29 July, 2010 – Striker Tshering Wangdi of Yeedzin FC made the best out of a blunder made by Choden FC goalie in the 85th minute, gifting Yeedzin the winning goal yesterday, after holding the league leaders to a 1-1 draw until the goal.    [read more]

Bhutan Observer

Cheat me twice, shame on me
 Sir, Is our government really serious about bans on several commodities including plastic and tobacco? The recent ban on the sale of tobacco has caused uproar in the market, and the tobacco price has really shot up. The intention is always good but the follow up is not at all taken care of. The one [...]    [read more]

Thai school shows the GNH way
Bhutanese educators go to Thailand and come back with experiences Bhutan is aching for. Pushkar Chhetri reports on how a school in Thailand is perfect destination for GNH teachers  A prayer followed by an hour of moral story-telling and meditation. That is how students start their day at Sathya Sai School in Thailand. They attend [...]    [read more]

Uncertain Dream
 Rigden was a Class X dropout student of Gyelpozhing Higher Secondary School. His ambition in life was to become a doctor. But after the death of his father in a tragic car accident, he had to leave school and help his poor mother and two little sisters. One of his chores was to take the [...]    [read more]

From muddy pools to care centre
  Thirty-two children from rural Radhi are receiving special care. They are among 43 children enlisted in the country’s first early childhood care and development centre (EC­CDC), which recently opened in Radhi Gewog, Trashigang, to provide early childhood parenting care in rural com­munities. The opening of the EC­CDC in rural communities is expected to bridge [...]    [read more]

Lest children grow without dreams
  This is a narrative of hope and prospects, of desire and decisions – the very things that construct a breathing world. What good is a society that is gasping and groping and groaning, slowly to the abysmal inferno? There must be a will, a resolve to straighten the warped, give it a shape, a sight [...]    [read more]

Improved fuel promises lesser pollution
 The Euro III standard fuel introduced in the country in May this year is expected to curb pollution by reducing the emission of carbon monoxide and other harmful particu­lates. According to the product specification, Euro III fuel has lower sulphur content than Euro II standard fuel. Sulphur is a major pollutant component released into the [...]    [read more]

Who gives sense of direction?
Not long back, Bhuta­nese ate bongkharang in our schools. Teach­ers served us every meal. Those who served us more would become our favourite teachers, not those who taught better. The teacher’s an­nouncement of ‘second share’ would lead to a near-stam­pede in the dining hall. Every Saturday, we would be led to a nearby stream in [...]    [read more]

Pelden Group of Companies win their second match
In the first match of group B of the ongoing Yangphel archery tournament on July 22, Pelden Group of Companies over­came Young Bones and New Star to win six points. Pelden Group of Compa­nies hit 44 kareys to set the highest karey record till date, while Young Bones hit 25 kar­eys and New Star 14 [...]    [read more]

Seven Missed Calls: A review
Grudge and revenge is the subject of the latest action flick Seven Missed Calls, which is drawing a good number of audiences at the Lugar The­atre in Thimphu. The film revolves around the central theme of how people can get trapped in a vicious cycle of grudge. The chain never breaks as one person keeps [...]    [read more]

RICB opens its first micro office
Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan Limited (RICB) opened its first micro office in Trongsa last week. The office will provide services like life insurance, general insurance, credit and investment, reinsurance, group insurance and saving scheme, private provident fund and customer service. The services will be provided online. The micro office will be manned by one [...]    [read more]

Bhutan News archive for 28 July 2010

July 28, 2010 - From

International Sources

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

Book worms doth turn the pages

28 July, 2010 – The dormitory lights were dim, yet Sonam kept reading. When the warden put off the lights, she lit a candle. She couldn’t stop.
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1 out of 3 Dagaps to be affected
However, the 4,060 MW project has more positives than negatives, as per report
The Sankosh Multipurpose Project dam site near Kerabari, that would generate 4060 MW of power by 2020/b>

Sankosh Project 28 July, 2010 – When work starts on the country’s biggest hydropower project on the banks of the Sankosh river, one-third of Dagana’s population (9,356 people out of about 25,070) living in eight gewogs will be affected, says a study on the impact of the project by the Indian council of forestry research and education (ICFRE).    [read more]

Where it’s one calamity after another
Besides road blocks, the dzongkhag faces erratic power supply, slow internet connection and H1N1 outbreak
A few metres of road on certain stretches in Dagana washed away by incessant rain File photo

28 July, 2010 – The one place travellers and residents alike recoil from being in at this time of the year is Dagana.

Apart from being cut off from the rest of the country for the last two weeks with the incessant rain washing away roads at many places, Dagana residents are faced with erratic power supply, slow internet connection and H1N1 outbreak.    [read more]

No more free power for employees
After almost a decade of this incentive, it has been dispensed with

Bhutan Power Corporation 28 July, 2010 – While many government and corporate organisations are exploring ways to introduce fringe benefits for their employees, Bhutan power corporation has done away with theirs.    [read more]

Parking spaced out
28 July, 2010 – The problems associated with rapid urbanisation are beginning to overwhelm. One of them is the lack of space for vehicle parking in the larger urban centres of Thimphu and Phuentsholing.    [read more]

Bringing cabbies up to speed
Taxi drivers updated on rules and penalties

28 July, 2010 – “The young girl you’re dropping to Drugyel is wearing shorts and, as you go to change your gear, you touch her legs, she protests, and you say ‘Uncle is just joking’, well, you better remember uncle can get up to five years in prison for that joke,” said Paro SP (superintendent of police) Tshering Penjor.    [read more]

HINI outbreak in Damphu
28 July, 2010 – The Damphu lower secondary school in Tsirang remained closed, starting yesterday, after a HINI outbreak.    [read more]

Raising the bar
Bringing Bhutanese standards in line with international ones

Accounting & Auditing Standards Board 28 July, 2010 – In a move to strengthen accounting and auditing system in the country, the lhengye zhungtshog (cabinet) has approved the formation of an accounting and auditing standards board of Bhutan (AASBB), which was formally launched on Monday, July 26.    [read more]

The Top 20 twist
A tournament within a tournament for the best archer

Yangphel Tournament 28 July, 2010 – The charm of the Yangphel archery this year is that there is no peace of mind even if an archer has hit the highest number of kareys so far in the league.    [read more]

One of a Kind

27 July, 2010 – I
t takes patience and determination to get what one wants, or so Pema Norbu, the winner of the three-day long 2008 CICCC open dance competition, believes.    [read more]

Bhutan Observer

Cheat me twice, shame on me
 Sir, Is our government really serious about bans on several commodities including plastic and tobacco? The recent ban on the sale of tobacco has caused uproar in the market, and the tobacco price has really shot up. The intention is always good but the follow up is not at all taken care of. The one [...]    [read more]

Thai school shows the GNH way
Bhutanese educators go to Thailand and come back with experiences Bhutan is aching for. Pushkar Chhetri reports on how a school in Thailand is perfect destination for GNH teachers  A prayer followed by an hour of moral story-telling and meditation. That is how students start their day at Sathya Sai School in Thailand. They attend [...]    [read more]

Uncertain Dream
 Rigden was a Class X dropout student of Gyelpozhing Higher Secondary School. His ambition in life was to become a doctor. But after the death of his father in a tragic car accident, he had to leave school and help his poor mother and two little sisters. One of his chores was to take the [...]    [read more]

From muddy pools to care centre
  Thirty-two children from rural Radhi are receiving special care. They are among 43 children enlisted in the country’s first early childhood care and development centre (EC­CDC), which recently opened in Radhi Gewog, Trashigang, to provide early childhood parenting care in rural com­munities. The opening of the EC­CDC in rural communities is expected to bridge [...]    [read more]

Lest children grow without dreams
  This is a narrative of hope and prospects, of desire and decisions – the very things that construct a breathing world. What good is a society that is gasping and groping and groaning, slowly to the abysmal inferno? There must be a will, a resolve to straighten the warped, give it a shape, a sight [...]    [read more]

Improved fuel promises lesser pollution
 The Euro III standard fuel introduced in the country in May this year is expected to curb pollution by reducing the emission of carbon monoxide and other harmful particu­lates. According to the product specification, Euro III fuel has lower sulphur content than Euro II standard fuel. Sulphur is a major pollutant component released into the [...]    [read more]

Who gives sense of direction?
Not long back, Bhuta­nese ate bongkharang in our schools. Teach­ers served us every meal. Those who served us more would become our favourite teachers, not those who taught better. The teacher’s an­nouncement of ‘second share’ would lead to a near-stam­pede in the dining hall. Every Saturday, we would be led to a nearby stream in [...]    [read more]

Pelden Group of Companies win their second match
In the first match of group B of the ongoing Yangphel archery tournament on July 22, Pelden Group of Companies over­came Young Bones and New Star to win six points. Pelden Group of Compa­nies hit 44 kareys to set the highest karey record till date, while Young Bones hit 25 kar­eys and New Star 14 [...]    [read more]

Seven Missed Calls: A review
Grudge and revenge is the subject of the latest action flick Seven Missed Calls, which is drawing a good number of audiences at the Lugar The­atre in Thimphu. The film revolves around the central theme of how people can get trapped in a vicious cycle of grudge. The chain never breaks as one person keeps [...]    [read more]

RICB opens its first micro office
Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan Limited (RICB) opened its first micro office in Trongsa last week. The office will provide services like life insurance, general insurance, credit and investment, reinsurance, group insurance and saving scheme, private provident fund and customer service. The services will be provided online. The micro office will be manned by one [...]    [read more]

Bhutan News archive for 27 July 2010

July 27, 2010 - From

International Sources

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

Founding a knowledge-society
A road map for the development and expansion of tertiary education in the country
The Prime Minister with the education minister at the launch Photo: BO

Tertiary Education Policy 27 July, 2010 – The foundation to internationalise Bhutan’s education system is now laid.
   [read more]

One parking space per flat
Making it mandatory for every residential building to have a parking area

New Parking Rules 27 July, 2010 – In an effort to decongest public roads from parked vehicles, the government is seriously considering to increase the standard of parking rules in the country.    [read more]

Chamkhar town rep. found guilty
27 July, 2010 – The Bumthang dzongkhag tshogdu has found the Chamkhar town representative guilty of misuse of public fund.    [read more]

Falling boulder kills one on bus
A truck on the same route is believed to have plunged into the river

Wangdue-Tsirang Highway 27 July, 2010 – A 55-year old woman succumbed to injuries she was being treated for at Kamichu health unit in Wangduephodrang yesterday afternoon.    [read more]

PICTURE STORY

27 July, 2010 – Last lap – Royal Privy Council chairperson, Chenkyab Dorji opening the Dragon’s Gift exhibition at the Museum Rietberg, Zurich, Switzerland earlier this month.    [read more]

Grappling with the ‘pool’ problem
27 July, 2010 – The government is yet again attempting to get a grip on pool vehicle issue. Many attempts had been made in the past given the cost implications of the pool vehicles, but not much has changed. Pool vehicle is a complex and a controversial issue.    [read more]

Farmers switch to horticulture in Trashigang
Choden’s fallow land turned orange orchard

27 July, 2010 – Farmers in Trashigang are making a switch from their age-old tradition of subsistence farming to growing fruits in bulk.

More farmers have begun registering for the same.
   [read more]

Files, not missing but misplaced
RICBL securities will have to pay app. Nu 300,000 as compensation to the hapless 818 investors

Druk PNB 27 July, 2010 – The two files containing the applications of 818 investors that got left out of the allotment of Druk PNB shares did not go missing, but was misplaced, say officials of the RICBL securities limited.    [read more]

The zoo nobody goes to
Unlike the popular croc farm, the deer and peafowl here see no visitors
The peafowl were brought at first from India

27 July, 2010 – While the crocodile farm in Phuentsholing draws frequent visitors, its other zoo with peafowl and deer remains literally unheard of even today.

In its more than ten decades of existence, very little is known about the zoo.    [read more]

Availing of service in droves
The Mongar branch office has, so far, released Nu 25.97M to 216 clients

GE Loan Scheme 27 July, 2010 – Barely six months since its introduction, farmers, businessmen, civil servants and other private and corporate employees continue to rush to Mongar’s Bhutan development finance corporation branch office to apply for government employee loans.    [read more]

Bhutan Observer

From muddy pools to care centre
  Thirty-two children from rural Radhi are receiving special care. They are among 43 children enlisted in the country’s first early childhood care and development centre (EC­CDC), which recently opened in Radhi Gewog, Trashigang, to provide early childhood parenting care in rural com­munities. The opening of the EC­CDC in rural communities is expected to bridge [...]    [read more]

Lest children grow without dreams
  This is a narrative of hope and prospects, of desire and decisions – the very things that construct a breathing world. What good is a society that is gasping and groping and groaning, slowly to the abysmal inferno? There must be a will, a resolve to straighten the warped, give it a shape, a sight [...]    [read more]

Improved fuel promises lesser pollution
 The Euro III standard fuel introduced in the country in May this year is expected to curb pollution by reducing the emission of carbon monoxide and other harmful particu­lates. According to the product specification, Euro III fuel has lower sulphur content than Euro II standard fuel. Sulphur is a major pollutant component released into the [...]    [read more]

Who gives sense of direction?
Not long back, Bhuta­nese ate bongkharang in our schools. Teach­ers served us every meal. Those who served us more would become our favourite teachers, not those who taught better. The teacher’s an­nouncement of ‘second share’ would lead to a near-stam­pede in the dining hall. Every Saturday, we would be led to a nearby stream in [...]    [read more]

Pelden Group of Companies win their second match
In the first match of group B of the ongoing Yangphel archery tournament on July 22, Pelden Group of Companies over­came Young Bones and New Star to win six points. Pelden Group of Compa­nies hit 44 kareys to set the highest karey record till date, while Young Bones hit 25 kar­eys and New Star 14 [...]    [read more]

Seven Missed Calls: A review
Grudge and revenge is the subject of the latest action flick Seven Missed Calls, which is drawing a good number of audiences at the Lugar The­atre in Thimphu. The film revolves around the central theme of how people can get trapped in a vicious cycle of grudge. The chain never breaks as one person keeps [...]    [read more]

RICB opens its first micro office
Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan Limited (RICB) opened its first micro office in Trongsa last week. The office will provide services like life insurance, general insurance, credit and investment, reinsurance, group insurance and saving scheme, private provident fund and customer service. The services will be provided online. The micro office will be manned by one [...]    [read more]

Traditional maize varieties under threat
  Maize is the mainstay of the majority of Bhutanese farmers  An outbreak of gray leaf spot (GLS) and turcicum leaf blight (TLB) in the eastern Bhutan could threaten some of the 38 traditional maize varieties in the country, according to a study conducted by National Biodiversity and Renewable Natural Resource Research Centre in Wengkhar, [...]    [read more]

Doksum’s rush for Kholongchu
Doksum’s business community calls for faster relocation to Chitang The promise of 486-MW Kho­longchu hydropower project in Trashiyangtse is creating a sense of urgency among the business people of Doksum to move to Chitang, the new location identified for them. Chitang, which is only two km from the project site, is expected to see an [...]    [read more]

Audit service privatisation
Royal Audit Authority (RAA) has set up an accounting and auditing standards board to look into possibilities of privatizing audit services in the country. The need to privatize audit services was felt due to the increasing number of agen­cies to be audited, RRA said at its 13th annual conference in Thimphu yesterday. There are over [...]    [read more]

Bhutan News archive for 26 July 2010

July 26, 2010 - From

International Sources

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

Cabinet to decide subsidy level
Which in turn will determine by how much it will be dearer

Electricity Tariff 26 July, 2010 – How much more households and industries might have to pay for electricity is to be finalised tomorrow, when the cabinet meets to discuss the recommendations submitted by the Bhutan electricity authority (BEA), and decide the level of subsidy.    [read more]

Second case set for court
Involving forgery, deceptive practices and embezzlement of more than Nu 1M

Health Liaison Officer 26 July, 2010 – The anti-corruption commission (ACC) has forwarded its second case against a health liaison officer to the office of the attorney general (OAG) for prosecution.    [read more]

Dzomyu (third eye) installed
The external part of the giant statue is expected to finish by next year
All eyes: The home
minister (seated), Lyonpo Minjur Dorji, senior government officials and members of menjong chhothuen tshogpa observe the installation process

Buddha Dorderma Statue 26 July, 2010 – A dzomyu, worth approximately USD 5M (about Nu 230M) was installed on the brow of the giant Buddha Dorderma statue at the Kuenselphodrang yesterday.    [read more]

The price of rice
26 July, 2010 – You can expect to pay about Nu 75 a kilogramme of rice to achieve the country’s rice self-sufficiency goal, says the results of a recently published study on food security.    [read more]

The price of power
26 July, 2010 – The government will be taking another important decision this week that will impact most Bhutanese – how electricity tariff will change in the next three years.    [read more]

Tsirang outbreak confirmed
Results of tests on blood samples point finger at the virus

Influenza A (H1N1) 26 July, 2010 – Medical tests at the public health laboratory in Thimphu have confirmed the outbreak of H1N1 in Tsirang.    [read more]

Picture story

26 July, 2010 – Signs of the time: The board speaks for itself    [read more]

Work in progress review
MoWHS minister and TCC officials visit extended city area to check on developments
Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba and TCC officials visited the extended city area to review its progress

Local Area Plan 26 July, 2010 – That land is scarce and valuable and needs to be developed was the message when the works and human settlement minister and Thimphu city corporation (TCC) officials met with landowners of south Thimphu on Friday.    [read more]

All’s fare in love and war
Competition to Drukair to cut prices

Buddha Air 26 July, 2010 – In a move to wean away passengers from the national airline, Drukair, Buddha Air is currently deciding how low its air fare can drop for Bhutanese travellers.    [read more]

A shot at the ring for the young
A YDF organised tournament youth look forward to

U-25 Championship 26 July, 2010 – Unlike the usual basketball tournaments so far, which rarely allowed young basketball enthusiasts to heave to the top, the under 25 (U-25) championship opened just that prospect.    [read more]

Bhutan Observer

Lest children grow without dreams
  This is a narrative of hope and prospects, of desire and decisions – the very things that construct a breathing world. What good is a society that is gasping and groping and groaning, slowly to the abysmal inferno? There must be a will, a resolve to straighten the warped, give it a shape, a sight [...]    [read more]

Improved fuel promises lesser pollution
 The Euro III standard fuel introduced in the country in May this year is expected to curb pollution by reducing the emission of carbon monoxide and other harmful particu­lates. According to the product specification, Euro III fuel has lower sulphur content than Euro II standard fuel. Sulphur is a major pollutant component released into the [...]    [read more]

Who gives sense of direction?
Not long back, Bhuta­nese ate bongkharang in our schools. Teach­ers served us every meal. Those who served us more would become our favourite teachers, not those who taught better. The teacher’s an­nouncement of ‘second share’ would lead to a near-stam­pede in the dining hall. Every Saturday, we would be led to a nearby stream in [...]    [read more]

Pelden Group of Companies win their second match
In the first match of group B of the ongoing Yangphel archery tournament on July 22, Pelden Group of Companies over­came Young Bones and New Star to win six points. Pelden Group of Compa­nies hit 44 kareys to set the highest karey record till date, while Young Bones hit 25 kar­eys and New Star 14 [...]    [read more]

Seven Missed Calls: A review
Grudge and revenge is the subject of the latest action flick Seven Missed Calls, which is drawing a good number of audiences at the Lugar The­atre in Thimphu. The film revolves around the central theme of how people can get trapped in a vicious cycle of grudge. The chain never breaks as one person keeps [...]    [read more]

RICB opens its first micro office
Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan Limited (RICB) opened its first micro office in Trongsa last week. The office will provide services like life insurance, general insurance, credit and investment, reinsurance, group insurance and saving scheme, private provident fund and customer service. The services will be provided online. The micro office will be manned by one [...]    [read more]

Traditional maize varieties under threat
  Maize is the mainstay of the majority of Bhutanese farmers  An outbreak of gray leaf spot (GLS) and turcicum leaf blight (TLB) in the eastern Bhutan could threaten some of the 38 traditional maize varieties in the country, according to a study conducted by National Biodiversity and Renewable Natural Resource Research Centre in Wengkhar, [...]    [read more]

Doksum’s rush for Kholongchu
Doksum’s business community calls for faster relocation to Chitang The promise of 486-MW Kho­longchu hydropower project in Trashiyangtse is creating a sense of urgency among the business people of Doksum to move to Chitang, the new location identified for them. Chitang, which is only two km from the project site, is expected to see an [...]    [read more]

Audit service privatisation
Royal Audit Authority (RAA) has set up an accounting and auditing standards board to look into possibilities of privatizing audit services in the country. The need to privatize audit services was felt due to the increasing number of agen­cies to be audited, RRA said at its 13th annual conference in Thimphu yesterday. There are over [...]    [read more]

Buddha said it all
Workshop finds links between Buddhist principles and human rights concepts Lord Buddha had the concept of natural rights, rights be­longing to a person by nature, because he was a human be­ing. He treasured right to life and denounced destruction of it, the Chief Justice of the Su­preme Court, Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye, said. He was speaking [...]    [read more]

Bhutan News archive for 25 July 2010

July 25, 2010 - From

International Sources

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

All Thimphu crashes on expressway
More accidents on those six kilometres than the next three top places put together

January-June 2010 25 July, 2010 – As always, Thimphu has recorded a higher number of vehicle accidents than any other dzongkhag across the nation so far this year.

Records with the traffic division of police showed 49 vehicle accidents from January till date, all of which occurred along the six-kilometre notorious expressway.    [read more]

Towards rice self sufficiency
Either by the increase of tariff or yield (or both)
Farmers of Babesa last cultivated their land in 2006

Q & A 24 July, 2010 – With the government targeting a 65 percent or even more rice self-sufficiency level by 2012, Kuensel talked to Nicholas Minot, a senior researcher of the international food policy research institute (IFPRI), on the costs and impact of such a food security policy. Nicholas Minot, in collaboration with Bhutanese researchers, recently published a research paper on the issue.    [read more]

Fingers of blame pointed both ways
Labour ministry officials meet with contractors and agents to resolve disputes

Foreign Workers Recruitment Agencies 25 July, 2010 – Four years after foreign workers recruitment agencies (FWRA) were started in Bhutan, numerous complaints and issues on their operation and functioning have been reported, mainly from the construction sector, according to regional labour and employment officials.    [read more]

To harness the wind
Pilot projects at Tshimasham, Chelela and Rubesa to test feasibility
In action: A wind mast being erected at Tsimasham
Photo: Nar Bahadur

Renewal Energy Division 25 July, 2010 – If the morning wind in Tshimasham is like blowing from a fan, Wangduephodrang is called Windy Phodrang because of the strong winds, which many believe come from a “wind hole” behind the dzong.    [read more]

Taxi-drivers top list, say women
However not a single woman has lodged a police complaint

EVE TEASING 25 July, 2010 – It might seem a little outlandish to find women, especially in Thimphu, carrying chili powder or tiny Swiss knives with their cosmetics in their handbags these days.    [read more]

The Chagpori Healers
The first king’s personal physician Gyeltshen Rinzin Gyamtsho Photo: RGS

Part I 25 July, 2010 – “He was quite a character, and posed himself for this picture with his human thigh-bone trumpet and skull drum.” This is how John Claude White (1853-1918)1 described the traditional healer (shown in the photo) of the first king of Bhutan, Druk Gyalpo Ugyen Wangchuck (1862-1926).    [read more]

Slow progress
Mired in one delay after another

24 July, 2010 – It takes only about six minutes to reach Thimphu city from the start of the 6.2 km Babesa-Thimphu expressway. But creating the fastest drive through the double lane road went through the slowest process of road making in modern Bhutanese history, averaging one km a year. Delayed by more than three years, one of the contractors was slapped with a penalty of Nu 2.5M.    [read more]

The missing files
818 applicants left out of reckoning due to snafu

Druk PNB Shares 24 July, 2010 – When a 45-year old businessman in Phuentsholing went to the RICBL office yesterday afternoon to claim his refund on the excess investment made for Druk PNB shares, his name was not the list.    [read more]

Consecration & Embedment

24 July, 2010 – HH the Je Khenpo will conduct the ceremonies tomorrow at Kuenselphodrang    [read more]

Blockages – left, right and centre
About 4,000 road workers deployed across the country to clear roadblocks
By Rain And Gravity: A scene on the Samdrupjongkhar-Trashigang that’s replicated across the country

24 July, 2010 – Massive landslides triggered by continuous heavy rains has cut off Trashigang, Sarpang, Zhemgang and Phuentsholing from the rest of the country for about three days, show records with the department of roads (DoR).    [read more]

Bhutan Observer

Improved fuel promises lesser pollution
 The Euro III standard fuel introduced in the country in May this year is expected to curb pollution by reducing the emission of carbon monoxide and other harmful particu­lates. According to the product specification, Euro III fuel has lower sulphur content than Euro II standard fuel. Sulphur is a major pollutant component released into the [...]    [read more]

Who gives sense of direction?
Not long back, Bhuta­nese ate bongkharang in our schools. Teach­ers served us every meal. Those who served us more would become our favourite teachers, not those who taught better. The teacher’s an­nouncement of ‘second share’ would lead to a near-stam­pede in the dining hall. Every Saturday, we would be led to a nearby stream in [...]    [read more]

Pelden Group of Companies win their second match
In the first match of group B of the ongoing Yangphel archery tournament on July 22, Pelden Group of Companies over­came Young Bones and New Star to win six points. Pelden Group of Compa­nies hit 44 kareys to set the highest karey record till date, while Young Bones hit 25 kar­eys and New Star 14 [...]    [read more]

Seven Missed Calls: A review
Grudge and revenge is the subject of the latest action flick Seven Missed Calls, which is drawing a good number of audiences at the Lugar The­atre in Thimphu. The film revolves around the central theme of how people can get trapped in a vicious cycle of grudge. The chain never breaks as one person keeps [...]    [read more]

RICB opens its first micro office
Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan Limited (RICB) opened its first micro office in Trongsa last week. The office will provide services like life insurance, general insurance, credit and investment, reinsurance, group insurance and saving scheme, private provident fund and customer service. The services will be provided online. The micro office will be manned by one [...]    [read more]

Traditional maize varieties under threat
  Maize is the mainstay of the majority of Bhutanese farmers  An outbreak of gray leaf spot (GLS) and turcicum leaf blight (TLB) in the eastern Bhutan could threaten some of the 38 traditional maize varieties in the country, according to a study conducted by National Biodiversity and Renewable Natural Resource Research Centre in Wengkhar, [...]    [read more]

Doksum’s rush for Kholongchu
Doksum’s business community calls for faster relocation to Chitang The promise of 486-MW Kho­longchu hydropower project in Trashiyangtse is creating a sense of urgency among the business people of Doksum to move to Chitang, the new location identified for them. Chitang, which is only two km from the project site, is expected to see an [...]    [read more]

Audit service privatisation
Royal Audit Authority (RAA) has set up an accounting and auditing standards board to look into possibilities of privatizing audit services in the country. The need to privatize audit services was felt due to the increasing number of agen­cies to be audited, RRA said at its 13th annual conference in Thimphu yesterday. There are over [...]    [read more]

Buddha said it all
Workshop finds links between Buddhist principles and human rights concepts Lord Buddha had the concept of natural rights, rights be­longing to a person by nature, because he was a human be­ing. He treasured right to life and denounced destruction of it, the Chief Justice of the Su­preme Court, Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye, said. He was speaking [...]    [read more]

Need to eat our own
Forty-five-year-old Minjur from Mongar prefers working at a road construction site to cultivating his land. It pays him cash. A month’s work by the road gives him enough to buy rice, vegetable oil and other essentials to last his family of four for several months. He frequently goes out of his farm to look for [...]    [read more]

Bhutan News archive for 24 July 2010

July 24, 2010 - From

International Sources

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

Slow progress
Mired in one delay after another

24 July, 2010 – It takes only about six minutes to reach Thimphu city from the start of the 6.2 km Babesa-Thimphu expressway. But creating the fastest drive through the double lane road went through the slowest process of road making in modern Bhutanese history, averaging one km a year. Delayed by more than three years, one of the contractors was slapped with a penalty of Nu 2.5M.    [read more]

The missing files
818 applicants left out of reckoning due to snafu

Druk PNB Shares 24 July, 2010 – When a 45-year old businessman in Phuentsholing went to the RICBL office yesterday afternoon to claim his refund on the excess investment made for Druk PNB shares, his name was not the list.    [read more]

Consecration & Embedment

24 July, 2010 – HH the Je Khenpo will conduct the ceremonies tomorrow at Kuenselphodrang    [read more]

Blockages – left, right and centre
About 4,000 road workers deployed across the country to clear roadblocks

24 July, 2010 – Massive landslides triggered by continuous heavy rains has cut off Trashigang, Sarpang, Zhemgang and Phuentsholing from the rest of the country for about three days, show records with the department of roads (DoR).    [read more]

Time to upgrade
24 July, 2010 – There’s a large group of frustrated investors out there. They put in money to buy Druk PNB shares but were left out of the allotment for no fault of theirs. And they are hopping mad.    [read more]

Ramtoktok collision kills two
24 July, 2010 – Two men died on the spot and one was critically injured, when their Starlet car rammed into a tipper truck at Ramtoktok last evening.    [read more]

Hope is in the pipeline
24-hour uninterrupted water supply by next April, if all goes according to 10th Plan
A Perennial Problem: Dry as a bone especially in the midst of monsoon

Samdrupjongkhar’s Shortage 24 July, 2010 – The rain that brings cool relief from the summer sultriness to the residents of Samdrupjongkhar town is also a cause for despair, as it washes away or blocks their water supply channels.    [read more]

Kurichu – Favourite whipping boy
PERSPECTIVES 24 July, 2010 – Every summer, especially during the monsoon, flooding due to incessant rain throwing normal life out of gear provides a rich seam of subject matter for newspapers across the border. They flash stories of the monsoon spell wreaking havoc, with lives lost and homes washed away. Nothing wrong with that. Such accounts indeed help people understand and come to terms with the two-month long spell. But how, amidst all this, do some baseless allegations help, especially when an innocuous hydropower plant easily becomes a plump target for putting the blame on for nature’s fury?
   [read more]

One coincidence too many?
Questions continue to dog controversial immunisation program

ANALYSIS: Pentavalent Vaccine 24 July, 2010 – The word coincidence has been used often in the past eight months, especially with regard to the pentavalent vaccine.    [read more]

Flu-like outbreak
Schools close down after students show a rash of symptoms
Vacation From Virus: Daga HSS got an unexpected weeklong break

South-Central Bhutan 24 July, 2010 – The H1N1 virus is now suspected to have surfaced in southern central part of the country, with two schools closed for a week in Tsirang and Dagana.    [read more]

Bhutan Observer

RICB opens its first micro office
Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan Limited (RICB) opened its first micro office in Trongsa last week. The office will provide services like life insurance, general insurance, credit and investment, reinsurance, group insurance and saving scheme, private provident fund and customer service. The services will be provided online. The micro office will be manned by one [...]    [read more]

Traditional maize varieties under threat
  Maize is the mainstay of the majority of Bhutanese farmers  An outbreak of gray leaf spot (GLS) and turcicum leaf blight (TLB) in the eastern Bhutan could threaten some of the 38 traditional maize varieties in the country, according to a study conducted by National Biodiversity and Renewable Natural Resource Research Centre in Wengkhar, [...]    [read more]

Doksum’s rush for Kholongchu
Doksum’s business community calls for faster relocation to Chitang The promise of 486-MW Kho­longchu hydropower project in Trashiyangtse is creating a sense of urgency among the business people of Doksum to move to Chitang, the new location identified for them. Chitang, which is only two km from the project site, is expected to see an [...]    [read more]

Audit service privatisation
Royal Audit Authority (RAA) has set up an accounting and auditing standards board to look into possibilities of privatizing audit services in the country. The need to privatize audit services was felt due to the increasing number of agen­cies to be audited, RRA said at its 13th annual conference in Thimphu yesterday. There are over [...]    [read more]

Buddha said it all
Workshop finds links between Buddhist principles and human rights concepts Lord Buddha had the concept of natural rights, rights be­longing to a person by nature, because he was a human be­ing. He treasured right to life and denounced destruction of it, the Chief Justice of the Su­preme Court, Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye, said. He was speaking [...]    [read more]

Need to eat our own
Forty-five-year-old Minjur from Mongar prefers working at a road construction site to cultivating his land. It pays him cash. A month’s work by the road gives him enough to buy rice, vegetable oil and other essentials to last his family of four for several months. He frequently goes out of his farm to look for [...]    [read more]

Towards promoting responsible tourism
A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MOAF) and the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB) to promote responsible and sustainable tourism in the protected areas and government reserve forests lands. The TCB and MoAF came into an agreement, appreciating the need to diversify and promote sustainable tourism development. Both [...]    [read more]

Electricity bill payment goes online
Bhutan Power Corporation launched the online payment system for electricity bill using Bank of Bhutan’s internet payment system to facilitate easy and convenient mode of payment to the customers during the BPC Day held this month.    [read more]

“I must be worth those gracious smiles”
　The Golden Youth of 2010 shares his thoughts Golden Youth Award Camp, 2010, is the most memorable expe­rience of my life. I have never seen and experienced such a well-organized camp in my life. I would say that the camp was a model of peace, coop­eration and harmony. The camp gave a platform to gain [...]    [read more]

Graduates re-learn Dzongkha for RCSC exams
  Tashi Chozom, 22, a 2008 graduate of Sherubtse Col­lege, struggles to make sense of red-lined corrections in her recent Dzongkha assignment. She had last learnt Dzongkha as part of school curriculum four years back. Today, she is trying to pick up basic Dzongkha writing skills, most of which she has lost. Tashi is one [...]    [read more]

Bhutan News archive for 23 July 2010

July 23, 2010 - From

International Sources

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

To make teachers a class act
New policy puts the teaching career on a professional track
Loco Parentis : Teachers will be expected to serve three of their first ten years in a rural posting

Human Resource Policy 23 July, 2010 – All teachers will have to teach in a rural school for at least three years during the first ten years of their teaching career.    [read more]

Ministry of labour resolves dispute
Drivers accuse officials of taking company’s side

Hindustan Construction Company 23 July, 2010 – Labour officials, who came to resolve the dispute between truck and light vehicle drivers and machine operators and the Hindustan construction company (HCC) favoured the company, according to drivers, who talked to Kuensel.    [read more]

A ‘robbery’ that backfired
23 July, 2010 – Two Indian national were detained on July 20 after they tried to hoodwink police and their employer by providing false information, saying that they were attacked by armed robbers, comprising about nine people.    [read more]

Annual rate up to 6.14 percent
Inflation 23 July, 2010 – Annual inflation, as reflected by the consumer price index, rose to 6.14 percent for the quarter ending June 30; up from 5.70 percent in the previous quarter. Mainly because of an increase in prices of both food and non food items, according to data maintained by the national statistical bureau (NSB).    [read more]

Not off, but not taking off either
Lack of funds holds up construction ten years after approval
The model: National secretariat complex

National Secretariat Complex 23 July, 2010 – Almost 10 years after the decision was approved, urban development and engineering services (DUDES) is still waiting for money to start the construction of the national secretariat complex behind the Tashichodzong.    [read more]

Being accountable to clients
23 July, 2010 – A part from speedy and friendly services most television commercials about banks carry, the core message they convey is of trust.    [read more]

20,000 plus to get refunds
An amount of Nu 395M to be returned
Money Back: 2,500 investors had their extra investment returned on Tuesday at the RICBL building

Druk PNB 23 July, 2010 – Of the 24,071 applications received for Druk PNB shares, 20,553 will get back cash refunds, with the stock exchange’s allotment system giving a maximum of 34 shares an applicant, irrespective of the amount invested.    [read more]

Official team visit affected areas
Insurance firms are in the process of collecting data from the industries at Pasakha
A River Of Mud: Poor drainage put the industrial estate at risk

Pasakha & Sampheling 23 July, 2010 – A team of officials from the dzongkhag, dungkhag and insurance companies are visiting villages and the industrial estate affected by the July 22 rainfall and landslides in Pasakha, Phuentsholing, and Sampheling gewogs.    [read more]

Three lives lost to fury of rain
Pasakha factories under threat from flood waters
The old Pasakha bailey bridge came down last night. But connectivity continues via the 100 m long and nine metre wide permanent bridge that opened in May this year

Monsoon: Chukha Dzongkhag 22 July, 2010 – Three people have been killed and five others injured in Pasakha and Phuentsholing by landslides and heavy rains, which also damaged a bailey bridge and flooded some areas of the industrial estate.    [read more]

Company takes BoB to high court
Bank is being charged with charging higher interest than agreed

22 July, 2010 – A private construction company is dragging the nation’s oldest financial institution, bank of Bhutan, to the high court.

The owner of Druk Chhogley construction, Rinchen Dorji, said the bank had charged higher interest rate than agreed against his loan amount, and froze several of his loan accounts in Phuentsholing and Thimphu.    [read more]

Bhutan Observer

Doksum’s rush for Kholongchu
Doksum’s business community calls for faster relocation to Chitang The promise of 486-MW Kho­longchu hydropower project in Trashiyangtse is creating a sense of urgency among the business people of Doksum to move to Chitang, the new location identified for them. Chitang, which is only two km from the project site, is expected to see an [...]    [read more]

Audit service privatisation
Royal Audit Authority (RAA) has set up an accounting and auditing standards board to look into possibilities of privatizing audit services in the country. The need to privatize audit services was felt due to the increasing number of agen­cies to be audited, RRA said at its 13th annual conference in Thimphu yesterday. There are over [...]    [read more]

Buddha said it all
Workshop finds links between Buddhist principles and human rights concepts Lord Buddha had the concept of natural rights, rights be­longing to a person by nature, because he was a human be­ing. He treasured right to life and denounced destruction of it, the Chief Justice of the Su­preme Court, Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye, said. He was speaking [...]    [read more]

Need to eat our own
Forty-five-year-old Minjur from Mongar prefers working at a road construction site to cultivating his land. It pays him cash. A month’s work by the road gives him enough to buy rice, vegetable oil and other essentials to last his family of four for several months. He frequently goes out of his farm to look for [...]    [read more]

Towards promoting responsible tourism
A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MOAF) and the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB) to promote responsible and sustainable tourism in the protected areas and government reserve forests lands. The TCB and MoAF came into an agreement, appreciating the need to diversify and promote sustainable tourism development. Both [...]    [read more]

Electricity bill payment goes online
Bhutan Power Corporation launched the online payment system for electricity bill using Bank of Bhutan’s internet payment system to facilitate easy and convenient mode of payment to the customers during the BPC Day held this month.    [read more]

“I must be worth those gracious smiles”
　The Golden Youth of 2010 shares his thoughts Golden Youth Award Camp, 2010, is the most memorable expe­rience of my life. I have never seen and experienced such a well-organized camp in my life. I would say that the camp was a model of peace, coop­eration and harmony. The camp gave a platform to gain [...]    [read more]

Graduates re-learn Dzongkha for RCSC exams
  Tashi Chozom, 22, a 2008 graduate of Sherubtse Col­lege, struggles to make sense of red-lined corrections in her recent Dzongkha assignment. She had last learnt Dzongkha as part of school curriculum four years back. Today, she is trying to pick up basic Dzongkha writing skills, most of which she has lost. Tashi is one [...]    [read more]

Agriculture master plan addresses market and access challenges
 With the finalisation of the agricultural master plan this week, the farmers in the country can look forward to a better market access for their produce. This is expected to be achieved through con­struction of more farm roads, formation of groups and co­operatives, building of market infrastructure, capacity build­ing, and farming contracts. The master plan [...]    [read more]


A team from Bhutan is participating in the Week of Happiness in the city of Schomberg in Germany. The event is organized to inspire the local population and visitors by luck, happiness and Bhutan. The team is performing cultural activities and showcasing several promotional events like distribution of information booklet on Bhutan. The event will [...]    [read more]

Bhutan News archive for 22 July 2010

July 22, 2010 - From

International Sources

Kuensel – Bhutan’s National Newspaper

Three lives lost to fury of rain
Pasakha factories under threat from flood waters
The old Pasakha bailey bridge came down last night. But connectivity continues via the 100 m long and nine metre wide permanent bridge that opened in May this year

Monsoon: Chukha Dzongkhag 22 July, 2010 – Three people have been killed and five others injured in Pasakha and Phuentsholing by landslides and heavy rains, which also damaged a bailey bridge and flooded some areas of the industrial estate.    [read more]

Company takes BoB to high court
Bank is being charged with charging higher interest than agreed

22 July, 2010 – A private construction company is dragging the nation’s oldest financial institution, bank of Bhutan, to the high court.

The owner of Druk Chhogley construction, Rinchen Dorji, said the bank had charged higher interest rate than agreed against his loan amount, and froze several of his loan accounts in Phuentsholing and Thimphu.    [read more]

No truth in Telegraph report: KHPC
Log flushing exercise was routine and did not contribute to flood in lower reaches of India
Kurichu dam

Kurichu Hydro Power Corporation 22 July, 2010 – Kurichu hydro power corporation (KHPC) officials say that the power plant is not responsible for the floods in the neighbouring Indian state of Assam, as reported by some Indian media.    [read more]

Extending the policy
To cover houses built on government land
Most of the 15 houses damaged by a fire in Wamrong last October were uninsured File picture

Royal Insurance Corporation Of Bhutan 22 July, 2010 – The royal insurance corporation of Bhutan limited (RICBL) has started accepting insurance scheme for houses built on government land in Pemagatshel dzongkhag, unlike in the past.
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The new risk-based approach
A methodology that will maximise scarce resources

13th Annual Audit Conference 22 July, 2010 – In a departure from current practice auditors will now focus only on specific areas, instead of checking on large volumes of transactions and account balances.    [read more]

The last bastion of the big cat
22 July, 2010 – The tigers roaming the forests of Bhutan are more than mere wildlife. From the legends and paintings of the animal on the walls of old monasteries, it is evident that tigers were associated with Bhutan even before the world recognised the so-called wildlife.    [read more]

Cashing in on a demand
Business knows a good deal when it sees one, even if it’s a bit of a racket

Legal Stamps 22 July, 2010 – With land survey in full swing in several parts of Bumthang, farmers are being exposed to a thriving business of legal stamps and shortages at the post office.    [read more]

Man mugged near Thai temple
Attacked from the back, he has no idea by whom

22 July, 2010 – A 23-year old man, who is recovering at the Thimphu referral hospital from a broken forearm and a long cut on his forehead, has no clue as to who beat him up on the night of July 13.    [read more]

‘Red eye’ outbreak
Phuentsholing 22 July, 2010 – Phuentsholing has been hit by conjunctivitis, commonly called “red-eye”.

In a day, around 35 cases are recorded; with a majority of them being students; followed by adults. According to health officials, conjunctivitis cases were reported since May, with a majority being reported this month.    [read more]

3 more organisations recognised
Number of religious bodies now 16
The home minister, Lyonpo Minjur Dorji with the three recipient heads

Chodey Lhengtshog 22 July, 2010 – The chodey lhengtshog (religious commission) has issued registration certificates to three religious organisations on July 20, taking the registered religious organisations in the country to 16.    [read more]

Bhutan Observer

Co-ops short of marketing sheds
 The increasing number of farmers’ dairy cooperatives in Trashigang is not matched by enough market outlets. Our Trashigang correspondent Tempa Wangdi reports. Trashigang is becoming the eastern hub of dairy products. Thanks to the dzongkhag’s initiatives, the many farmers’ dairy cooperatives across the dzongkhag are churning out dairy products worth millions of ngultrums each year. [...]    [read more]

Passion makes dream prophetic
As a school kid, little Thujee Yonten would always say he wanted to be a music compos­er when his teachers asked him his ambition, in stark contrast to his friends who wanted to become teachers, doctors and engineers. And he was prophetic about his future. At 24 today, Thujee, a class XII dropout, is living [...]    [read more]

Urban development receives US$12 million
 Bhutan will receive an Inter­national Development As­sociation (IDA) credit of US$ 12 million under the second Urban Development Project (SUDP) from the World Bank. The financing agreement for the project was signed be­tween Country Director of the World Bank, Nicholas Kraft, and Finance Secretary Lam Dorji in Thimphu on July 13. The project will support [...]    [read more]

His Majesty the King attended a prayer ceremony at the National Memorial Chorten today to mark the 38th death anniversary of the third Druk Gyalpo.
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Poor turnout at Miss Bhutan auditions
 The much-awaited Miss Bhutan contest is seeing poor participation at the auditions. The auditions for Miss Bhutan 2010 in Thimphu and Paro attracted only 15 and seven contestants respectively. However, Karma Tsher­ing, the organiser, has not lost hope. He expects more participants at the regional auditions. In order to encourage more girls to participate, the [...]    [read more]

Police say their public image has improved
This year, out of 100 constable slots in Royal Bhutan Police (RBP), 96 were readily taken up. This, the police called, is a success story, which showed improvement in public per­ception of the police force. Last year, only 57 of the 130 slots were filled. According to RBP, the improving public image and resulting interest [...]    [read more]

Ministries try frugal stationery use
 Following the finance min­istry’s notification to reduce stationery costs in govern­ment offices by 50 percent for the 2010-2011 financial year, ministries and agencies have started working out various cost-cutting measures to re­duce the use of stationery. Karchung Tshering, chief administrative officer of the education ministry, said the ministry has decided not to buy items such [...]    [read more]

Why national dress?
Most Bhutanese prefer to wear western dress over our national dress. Reasons could vary from person to person, but in my view, more than any other factors, one is driven by sheer force of westernization. The penchant for western dress stems from the desire to be modern, superior, stylish, trendy, and chic and in vogue, [...]    [read more]

Road brings big hope to fertile Jomtsang
 The controversial Jomtsang farm road in Trashigang is expected to be a boon to the villagers. The construction of the road is in full swing. The 10-km road from Khangma Yonphu Pam to Jomtsang, which is under con­struction, will benefit close to 80 households of Jomtsang as well as lower and upper Yonphu Pam. The [...]    [read more]

He still loves you
 Choezang was pretty, gentle, good mannered and a popular girl in Sarpang. She was good in all fields. All the boys proposed to her but she was not interested in so called infatuation. All the teachers and students liked her. In 2008 when a new boy came to school with an eastern accent, she began [...]    [read more]