The Weekly Editorial The celebration of the Hindu festival Dassai, or the festival of the good over evil, has become an integral part of our culture in recent times, and the government has even declared the day a national holiday. While Bhutan is considered largely dominated by Mahayana sect of Buddhists, our constitution has mandated to protect all religions and …

This project will benefit over 10,000 households with 30 percent of the beneficiaries being women By Tashi Namgyal The World Bank has developed a Resettlement Framework (RF) for the 8 million dollar Food Security and Agriculture Productivity Project (FSAPP) which was launched in 2017 in Bhutan. The RF will cover implementation modalities for Additional Financing (AF) to the Project with …

WFP study on the impact and plan of action for potential earthquakes is the first ever model in Bhutan for humanitarian planning By Tashi Namgyal The Himalayan region has amongst the highest earthquake risk globally, with recent moderate-sized events resulting in tens of thousands of casualties. Despite this, understanding of earthquake risk in the region is limited, particularly in Bhutan, …

By Chimi Wangmo The Royal Monetary Authority (RMA), in the 2nd quarter of 2021, recorded a total of 35.81 million transactions worth Nu.177.23 billion which were made through the digital channels. This is an increase of 12.19% and 6.12% by volume and value respectively compared to the previous quarter. Further, a significant increase of 175.72% was observed in the Payment …

Increasing national debt and fiscal deficit prompts the question whether Bhutan is a spendthrift By Tashi Namgyal The government will only have around Nu 1.3 million at their disposal in the form of capital expenditure during this fiscal year. Attributed to mounting expenditures as against the income over the last couple of years, the fiscal year 2021-22 has projected the …

Staff Reporter To commemorate the birth anniversary of the Third Druk Gyalpo this year, the Embassy of India organized an India@75 Art Competition in collaboration with Sherubtse College, Royal University of Bhutan. The Indian Embasy in Bhutan stated ‘the Third DrukGyalpo, known as the ‘Father of Modern Bhutan’, was also the founder of Sherubtse College, Bhutan’s first tertiary educational institution, …

By Chimi Wangmo On October 12, His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen graced the formal inauguration of the A5-JKW Drukair Aircraft at Paro Airport. The Aircraft, named in honour of His Majesty The King, was purchased in March 2020 before the pandemic began. Their Majesties also toured the airport, where a major facelift has been completed. A …

By Rinchen Dorji Ten years ago, on October 13, 2011, Bhutan witnessed one of the most historic milestones in our modern history –His Majesty The King wed commoner Jetsun Pema – the fairytale had begun then. The union of these two souls permeates even more significance in our historical perspective as it would ensure the continuity of the Wangchuck lineage, …

By Tashi Namgyal Thimphu The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) received as many as 1060 cases in general in 2020, witnessing a marginal increase of 120 cases compared with the previous year. The OAG radiated positivity simultaneously as the number of crimes against womenalso dropped significantly. The Office received five case reports involving thirteen individuals from the Anti-Corruption Commission …