By Staff Reporter After almost a week-long tour of eastern Bhutan where His Majesty trekked from Merak in the north to Jomotshangkha in the south, His Majesty arrived in Thimphu on Friday and entered quarantine as per COVID protocol. His Majesty was accompanied on the Royal tour by His Royal Highness Gyaltshab Jigme Dorji and the Prime Minister, Lyonchen Dasho …

OAG’s 9-page sedition charges against Penjore dismissed within 9 minutes by the Court, displaying that the judiciary is willing to protect citizens’ rights and assert its independence By Tashi Namgyal In what could be a landmark case involving freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of media, the dismissal of the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) sedition charges …

By Phurpa Wangmo The dreaded covid-19 variant “Delta” has finally entered the country with the Health Ministry cautioning the public to be at their highest alert. Following extensive test results, the Ministry of Health Friday announced that the most prevalent variant causing a series of outbreak in the country is due to the presence of the COVID delta variant. From …

Increasing national debt and fiscal deficit prompts the question whether Bhutan is a spendthrift nation By Tashi Namgyal In what could be a crippling effect, the government will only have around Nu 1.3 Million at their disposal in the form of capital expenditure during this fiscal year. This is attributed to mounting expenditures as against the income over the last …

By Sonam Choki There is good news for around 3,700 consolidated contract employees across the country who will now receive better service benefits and social security. The Member from the Maenbi-Tsaenkhar constituency, Choki Gyeltshen, moved the motion to review and regularize consolidated contract employees to regular contract employees today. Choki Gyeltshen said that even though the consolidated contract employees were …

By Chimi Wangmo The Chairperson of the National Council’s Good Governance Committee (GGC), MP Sangay Dorji, presented the interim review report on the quality of roads in the ongoing parliament this week. The main objective of the review is to assess the current situation of the farm road, identify challenges, and issues faced in the construction and maintenance of quality …

By Tandin Wangchuk The Social and Cultural Affairs Committee of the National Council reported that a review was undertaken to assess the situation of suicide and mental health issues in Bhutan and determine their root causes. This was also done to strengthen preventive and treatment programs while presenting the Interim Review of Suicide and Mental Health Issues in Bhutan to …

By Sonam Choki The Good Governance Committee of the National Assembly tabled the review report on Annual Anti-corruption Commission Report 2019 in the ongoing Parliament. The report mainly consists of the salient aspects of ACC‟s annual report and the NA committee‟s recommendations. The review reveals that in the 2019 the Anti-Corruption Commission saw greater impetus for concerted and collective effort …

A WFP study reveals 11.4 percent of Bhutanese obese and 33.5 percent overweight By Tandin Wangchuk Over the years, the health and nutritional status of children in the country has improved with wasting and underweight prevalence reduced to 4 and 9 percent respectively. However, a study conducted by WFP Bhutan reveals that stunting is persistent at 21 percent while overweight/obesity …

Multidimensional Vulnerability Index for Bhutan reveals senior citizens (above 60) and children (below 10) are the most vulnerable to covid-19 Chimi Wangmo It is clear that the nature of the pandemic has had a differentiated effect in different population groups, and it is also evident now that the potential adverse effects of the pandemic are unevenly distributed across the country …