Top 10 News

By Tandin Dhendup The recent Annual Audit Report published by the Royal Audit Authority (RAA) has revealed some glaring incidences of corruption and misappropriation of funds in the country. While close to Nu 4 Billion were reported in irregularities in 2020, the RAA report revealed glaring loopholes especially in the road and construction sector where significant anomalies were cited in …

By Chimi Wangmo Samtse, one of the worst coronavirus-hit districts in the country, is seeing a glimmer of hope in the past few days. With no positive cases from the community since Thursday last week, the lockdown in Samtse Throm has been relaxed from Friday this week. The district has been under lockdown since Monday last week after a woman …

Prime Minister responds in equal measures By Tandin Wangchuk In the wake of the government proposing a ‘mix-and-match’ vaccine approach for the second jab, the Opposition Party, Druk Phuensum Tshogpa, has asked the government to clarify on this approach given that the WHO has still not approved of this method of inoculation. DPT said the Government should clarify the doubts …

Staff Reporter In a worrying development with the onset of the summer monsoons, a 45-year-old official from the Department of Forestry died after falling into the Phochhu while he was patrolling the river in a boat in Punakha. Police said the incident occurred at around noon on Friday below Tsekha village under Toedwang Gewog in Punakha. Sources said the deceased …

By Phurpa Wangmo In 2020, UNICEF together with its partners and donors continued to accelerate its efforts to sustain the progress made thus far and support the Government’s preparedness and response to COVID-19 to ensure that no child gets left behind in the country’s response efforts. By November last year, 9,258 babies were delivered at health facilities and 10,396 pregnant …

In Bhutan, SNV’s efforts to support women masons reveal that they are faced multiple challenges over the past decade By Tandin Wangchuk It is often stated that well-intentioned approaches to promote rural women’s entrepreneurship in the WASH sector can inadvertently marginalise them if these fail to recognise and act on gendered barriers to women’s economic empowerment. SNV and partners are …

By Chimi Wangmo One of the strong areas of co-operation in the Bhutan-India friendship chapter is undeniably providing quality healthcare. From entirely funding Bhutan’s first five year plan to building the first roads and hospitals in the country, the government of India has always been a steadfast development partner for Bhutan’s socio-economic growth and one area that has received particular …

By Sonam Choki The Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan (RMA) and the National Payments Corporation of India rolled out the third phase of the project on the cross-border interoperable QR code payment linkage between Bhutan and India this week. The project is in continuation to the announcement made during the launch of RuPay in 2019 by the Prime Minister of …

The government is doing everything possible in order to fill the gaping holes in the economy By Tashi Namgyal The country’s expenditure continues to rise while its resources increase just at a snail’s pace or at the least,remains stagnant. The current budget for this Financial Year (FY) has increased by 8 percent compared with the last FY. The parliament just …

While the government is yet to make a formal selection among the serving MPs, speculations are rife in favour of MP Dawa in the pecking order By Tashi Namgyal Bhutanese electorates are rooting for their respective Member of Parliament (MP) to be appointed as the new Home Minister, with different people from different constituencies across the country rigorously trying to …