Low production in the plains is raising the cost of the nut By Kinley Yonten If chewing doma (areca nut) is a dirty habit, it is now an expensive habit too. Price of doma is shooting through the roof with Nu 10 fetching only tow khamtos (two ready-made doma). That is the money that fetched a backload of doma from …

Dial 112 for emergencies By Kinley Yonten The three digits, 112, could save lives, says Dr Charles Haviland Mize, a resuscitation specialist at the Thimphu national referral hospital. Dr Charles heads the Bhutan Emergency Aero Retrieval (BEAR) and says that not many are aware of the toll free number. Dr Charles team has teamed up with the Royal Bhutan Helicopter …

By Tshering Motorist using the expressway, be careful! There is a trap waiting for you near the Changbandu flyover. The trap is a huge pothole, about two meters in diameter and 20 centimeter in depth. It can easily damage a car coming at full speed or cause an accident anytime soon. It is a distraction, traffic slower and an accident …

The last few weeks had been about going electronic. We launched the Point of Sale and the government is piloting the e-procurement systems in four agencies. The developments are a sign of Bhutan moving forward. If we can, why not, we should. But there are problems and we see that it is not going to be a smooth sailing. The …

By Tshering Gyeltshen, 65, is a lost man. A bucket, a LPG cylinder and a shovel were all he could save from the fire that razed his hut to the ground at Changzamtog on Thursday. The lhakhang caretaker was at Kuenselphodrang School when he heard the news. Gyeltshen is physically impaired and stays alone with no means of earning either. …

16-year-old detained for alleged murder By Tshering Thimphu police arrested an 11-year-old boy and other 43 people in last three weeks for alleged substance abuse, illegal sale of insolvents and illicit trafficking of controlled substances. Out of the 43 arrested, 32 were detained for substance abuse, two for illegal sale of insolvents, and six for illicit trafficking, two for tobacco …

By Tshering It was a tense moment for Dechencholing Nazheon and Ugyen Academy to qualify for the first ever Women’s T20 Club Championship final to be played tomorrow at Pelkhil School ground. The second runner up was to be decided between Dechencholing Nazheon and Ugyen Academy in the last “do or die” game. As the table showed Ugyen Academy was …

Dechen Wangmo, a 19 year-old from Chummey, Bumthang is a women’s national football team goalkeeper. She graduated from Pelkil and will study in Royal Thimphu College under the scholarship from Bhutan Olympic Committee. Dechen started playing football since she was 10. She played in various tournaments, (SAFF) Pakistan on 2014 and 2016 (SAFF) championship held at Silguri. Currently she is …

Authority claims figure is far less than reported By Kinley Yonten Bhutanese should not be alarmed with the findings of the World Health Organisation (WHO) report, which found that Bhutan has the highest number of adolescent tobacco users in the South-East Asia, according to Bhutan Narcotics Control Authority (BNCA) officials. Officials said that the report is based on incidents of …

By Tshering The heavy rain in the past two weeks has damaged irrigation channels, washed away bridges and caused havoc to numerous roads in the country. While most of the roadblocks were cleared, an assessment by the Department of Disaster Management show that heavy monsoon rains caused major roadblocks around the country affecting the transportation system in all the dzongkhags. …