National News

Infrastructure expansion is often regarded as a cornerstone of national development, yet it brings complex challenges when it intersects with private property. High-voltage transmission networks, critical for ensuring reliable electricity supply, inevitably traverse landscapes that are privately owned. While these projects serve the collective good, they also impose restrictions, limit land use, and sometimes diminish property values. The tension between …

…𝒆𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑶𝑯𝑺 𝑹𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒃𝒚 2026 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒚 By Sonam Choden The country’s construction sector is preparing for a major shift as the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Employment moves to strictly enforce Occupational Health and Safety regulations beginning January 2026. The recent notification requires all enterprises employing more than twenty workers …

…𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝑰𝑻 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 By Sonam Choden Rural connectivity remains the backbone of the country’s local economy, linking farms, schools and markets to the national development vision. Yet as many gewogs struggle with deteriorating roads, the issue of sustainability and quality assurance in rural infrastructure resurfaced in Parliament. During the …

…𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝑫𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 2025, 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑵𝒖. 30,000 𝒕𝒐 𝑵𝒖. 150,000 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒗𝒖𝒍𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒔 By Kinzang Lhamo The government’s review of the Rural Life Insurance Scheme (RLIS) is entering a critical stage, with the Finance Ministry expected to finalize its recommendations by the end of December 2025, as mandated by …

…𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 By Sonam Choden As Bhutan approaches 2026, a new vision of safety is unfolding- one that extends beyond traditional policing to encompass health, digital literacy, and community protection. The Ministry of Home Affairs, in its Action Taken Report on Crime Prevention and Reduction presented …

…𝒍𝒂𝒘𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒔 By Yeshi Dolma When the National Assembly convened for the fourth session of the fourth Parliament, one issue dominated conversations inside and outside the chamber: the rising tide of alcohol misuse. What began months earlier as a concern raised by the Member from Shompangkha …

…𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝑵𝒈𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒎 𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔-𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒚. By Kinzang LhamoBhutanese vehicles traveling on Assam and West Bengal highways continue to face double toll fees and an additional 50% surcharge when paying in Ngultrum, a burden that is straining both the transport sector and …

…𝒍𝒂𝒘𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 By Yeshi DolmaIn a significant policy decision expected to influence urban development nationwide, the National Assembly has endorsed increasing building height limits from three to five storeys in all Dzongkhag Yenlag Throms (Satellite Town). The resolution, adopted on December 10, 2025 during the Fourth Session of Parliament, responds to …

…𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒅𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒆 By Tashi TshewangBhutan’s headline inflation rose to 3.99 percent in October 2025, driven by broad increases in both food and non food prices across the country. Food inflation climbed to 5.65 percent, while non food inflation reached 2.63 percent, pushing national month on month inflation to 0.58 percent. The Capital …

…𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒇 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 By Yeshi DolmaFor years, families across the country have lived beneath humming transmission lines that pass over rooftops, orchards and farmland. The presence of these lines has been a quiet burden carried as the national grid expanded. That silence has now …