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…𝑼𝒏𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒔- 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔-𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 In the interconnected economies of Phuentsholing and Jaigaon, a complex web of monetary exchanges has emerged, blurring the lines between convenience and illegality. The rise of ‘Mule Accounts’ and ‘Money Mules’ highlights the shadowy underbelly of this intricate financial ecosystem, posing significant threats to the integrity of both …

…𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔-𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔 Krishna Kumar Sanyasi The interdependence between this locality in Bhutan, Phuentsholing and its Indian counterpart, Jaigaon, has led to the emergence of a complex network of monetary exchanges operating in a grey area between convenience and illegality. A ‘Mule Account’ is described as a bank account owned by a …

Sonam Dorji, the captain of the Bhutan National Football team under-16, embarked on his football journey at the tender age of 10, initially competing at the Dzongkhag level. His prodigious talent swiftly garnered attention, leading to his rapid selection for the prestigious Bhutan National Football team. With remarkable dedication and remarkable skills, Sonam has become a beacon of hope for …

…𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒍𝒆-𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚. By Susmika Subba Passengers using public bus transportation are grappling with a recurring issue of bus seat reservations, resulting in double issuances of tickets for the same seat. This inconvenience affects both passengers who rely on …

By Ngawang Jamphel In response to escalating demand for banking credit and economic activities, the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) has implemented a series of strategic interventions to maintain liquidity in the banking sector. While facing complexities of a pegged exchange rate with the Indian Rupee and Bhutan’s import- driven economy, the RMA remains committed to achieving and sustaining price stability. …

…𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 4.75 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒅𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒚 By Susmika Subba In December 2023, Bhutan’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) reported a noteworthy year-on-year increase of 4.99 percent, indicative of a measured uptick in the cost of living from the preceding …

…𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒓𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒚 By Ngawang Jamphel The yearly ritual unfolds as tens of thousands of calendars, adorned with Royal and religious portraits, are printed. As the pages of time turn and these calendars fulfill their primary function of marking dates, it prompts a reflection on the destiny of …

…𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒚 15 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑩𝒉𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒏’𝒔 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏-𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒅 𝒂 𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 By Sonam DekiGyalsung, which translates to “service to the nation,” is designed to tap into the latent potential of Bhutanese youth, enabling them to contribute meaningfully to the Tsawa-Sum- the King, Country, and People. By engaging in this …

…𝑮𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒖𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅: 𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒚 28 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝑩𝒉𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒔 Sonam Choki Transparency International (TI) released the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) on January 30, 2024. The index ranks 180 countries and territories based on their perceived public sector corruption levels, measured on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). …

…𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒗𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝒖𝒑𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒔, 𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 Sonam Deki In an unprecedented move, the newly elected Prime Minister wasted no time in setting the government’s reform agenda into motion on the very first day in office. A high-level meeting with Cabinet Ministers resulted in the issuance of four executive orders and ten …