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…𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒔 By Kinzang LhamoParents in the capital are facing uncertainty following the Ministry of Education and Skills Development’s decision to raise the minimum age for Pre-Primary school admission to six years for the 2026 academic session. While the ministry has announced a one-time flexibility for children who are at …

…𝒅𝒖𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑵𝒖. 0.202 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝑵𝒖. 0.100 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑵𝒖. 4.164 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒈𝒂𝒑𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒔 By Yeshi DolmaA disturbing pattern of procurement irregularities has emerged from the Annual Audit Report 2024-25, with double payments to contractors representing a significant and recurring vulnerability in Bhutan’s public financial management system. These findings expose systemic weaknesses in …

Tashi Penjor, Paro The steady rise in both food and non-food prices across the nation is no longer an abstract statistic- it is a pressing reality that affects every household. Inflation, when predictable and moderate, can be managed. But when the cost of staples, services, and everyday goods continues to climb steadily, it strains household budgets and exposes the nation’s …

…𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒚, 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒅𝒛𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒌𝒉𝒂𝒈𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑬2𝑩10𝑿 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 By Tashi Tshewang A total of 520 newly recruited officers officially joined Bhutan’s civil service on December 31, 2025, after taking their oath of allegiance at Tashichhodzong. The ceremony marked a significant milestone in the nation’s public service journey following the Bhutan Civil Service …

…𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒅𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒔 By Kinzang Lhamo Inflation in the nation rose to 3.55 percent in November 2025, driven by continued increases in both food and non-food prices, the National Statistics Bureau (NSB) reported. The average inflation from January through November stood at 3.53 percent, signaling persistent price pressures across the country. “Prices rose …

…𝑹𝑨𝑨 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 By Yeshi Dolma While the Annual Audit Report 2024–25 reveals substantial financial irregularities that have raised concerns about governance standards across Bhutan’s public sector, the document also presents a more encouraging story of institutional effectiveness. The Royal Audit Authority (RAA) facilitated total recoveries of Nu. …

…𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒓 2024-25 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝑷𝑯𝑷𝑨-𝑰𝑰 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒚𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒋𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒂𝒑𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 By Yeshi DolmaIn one of the most comprehensive assessments of Bhutan’s public financial governance in recent years, the Royal Audit Authority (RAA) has reported a sharp increase in financial irregularities, raising serious questions about systemic weaknesses in public financial management. …

…𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒂𝒙, 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏 By Leki Chungdon  Gewog officials in Gakiling Gewog, Haa, have been conducting door to door visits across allchiwogs to deliver essential public services directly to households, ensuring timely and inclusiveaccess, particularly for residents living in remote areas. During the visits, officials processed land tax …

…𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒑 𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒚 By Kezang Choden The Samdrup Jongkhar Dzongkhag Administration, in collaboration with the Department of Tourism (DoT) under the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Employment, will conduct a Tourism Sector Sensitization and Capacity Building Workshop in Samdrup Jongkhar to strengthen preparedness among local tourism stakeholders amid …

…𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝑴𝒂𝒋𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒚’𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 By Sonam Choden From its inception, the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) volunteer initiative has emerged as one of the country’s most inspiring national movements, bringing together citizens across generations, professions, and regions in service to His Majesty the King’s vision for a mindful …