Article

…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 …

…𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 Susmika Subba In Kharungla, under Trashigang dzongkhag, an artistic nature camp known as the “Winter Youth Tragopans Illustration and Story Writing Programme” took place. The camp, organized by Sonam Dorji, aimed to foster a deep understanding of the environmental, natural, and cultural significance of Tragopans, locally known as Bramlapos, in the …

…𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒃𝒖𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍, 𝒕𝒂𝒙𝒊 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔 Krishna Kumar Sanyasi In a recent collaboration between Thimphu Thromde, the City Bus Service, Thimphu Traffic Division (Royal Bhutan Police), and the Bhutan Construction and Transport Authority (BCTA), a pilot Bus Priority Lane project was launched, which became operational last week. This initiative has evoked a range of …

As Bhutan stands at the threshold of a new political era, the collective anticipation for an economic renaissance is palpable. The dawn of a fresh government brings with it the opportunity to chart a course of strategic resurgence, steering the nation towards an economic revival through proactive governance. In this opinion piece, we delve into the imperative initiatives that the …

…𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒖𝒅, 𝒏𝒐𝒏-𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒑𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝒀 2022-23 𝑨𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒕 Sonam DekiIn a review of financial accountability, the Royal Audit Authority (RAA) has published 456 audit reports for the fiscal year 2022-23. Among them, 17 reports garnered qualified opinions, while the remaining 439 received unqualified opinions. Notably, the Annual Audit Report 2022-23, a compilation of 379 audit reports …

…𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒖𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆, 𝒂𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒗𝒆𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏’𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒔. Sonam Deki A group of housewives in Thimphu are carving out a niche for themselves, supporting their families by braiding the side fringes of the kira, kabney, and rachu. The kira, the traditional …