National News

Empowering Citizens for the Digital Age-Digital Literacy

… 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕’𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑩𝒉𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒏’𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏’𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. Sonam DekiDigital literacy entails more than just mere knowledge of technology; it encompasses the ability to navigate and communicate across diverse digital environments. With the widespread adoption of …

Read More »

Two incumbents win NC seat; 18 new faces elected

… 10 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒍 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 Sonam Deki On April 20, 2023, the Fourth National Council elections of Bhutan took place, and it marked an unprecedented level of voter participation with the highest turnout in the country’s history. Out of the 485,811 registered voters, a significant number of 254,982 individuals exercised their right to vote, resulting …

Read More »

“We’ll make every hour count to fortify Bhutan for now and the future”: Lyonchhen

… 𝑮𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 Sonam ChokiIn a recent message to the public, the Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering emphasized the importance of clear communication and transparency in government decision-making. To that end, the government has launched a new series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to help citizens better understand some of the major policy decisions …

Read More »

YELP at hold until next financial year

… 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 Sonam DekiThe Youth Employment and Livelihood Program (YELP) will be kept on hold. Due to budget constraint YELP will not employ any youth for some time until the release of next financial budget. The next financial year (FY) is expected to start from July, 2023. The …

Read More »

Bhutan elects lone woman representative in National Council

Phurpa WangmoBhutan voted for a lone woman to represent in the fourth National Council from 20 seats. In a historic win, Tshering Tshomo has emerged as the only female candidate to win the seat to the National Council 2023 from Zhemgang, the remaining 19 seats were all male elects. Among the five candidates who contested in Zhemgang, Tshering Tshomo secured …

Read More »

Social Media Obsession: Effects on Children

…𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝑩𝒉𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 163 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 145 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒔 Tenzin Lhaden With the first portable cell phone initiated in 1973 by Motorola, cell phones became popular during the cellular revolution which started in the 90s and by 1990; the number of mobile users was around 11 million. By 2020, this number …

Read More »

Two bridges in Kana and Tshephel expected to complete by June

…..𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑲𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝑩𝒉𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒏 Sonam DekiA modular steel bridge using innovative technology has been newly designed to support two-way traffic and has started construction in Kana and Tshephel, Uesu gewog in Haa. The bridges are on two rivers at Kana and Tshephel connecting Chuzom …

Read More »

Female child more vulnerable to violence, abuse and exploitation: Child safety paramount

…𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 Tenzin LhadenAccording to the data from the National Commission for Women and Children (NCWC) reports that since the lockdown began, there has been an increase in child violence. “We have four major steps of violence in general, i.e. sexual, neglect, …

Read More »

Residents exasperated by dust and mud from incomplete Chuzom-Haa Highway

…𝒖𝒏𝒑𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒅, 𝒎𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒚 𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒔. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 Sonam DekiThe widening of Chuzom (Bitekha) to Haa highway began in the mid of 2019 with cutting and formation of road. It has been four years since cutting and formation of road widening work was carried out without further progress. With only formation …

Read More »

𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐞-𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐞-𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐲?

…𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙝𝙪𝙩𝙖𝙣 𝙁𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘿𝙧𝙪𝙜 𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮’𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨, 𝙨𝙢𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙪𝙗𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 Tenzin LhadenThe consumption of tobacco is not altogether prohibited in Bhutan, though it is largely banned in public places. Smoking tobacco and tobacco products in public places is a violation. The organizations/entities and public outlets are asked to declare their own …

Read More »