…𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝑫𝑭 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕, 𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 Tenzin Lhaden Regional tourists and business personals who visit Bhutan prefer to stay across the border hotels owing to Sustainable Development Fee (SDF) of Nu. 1200 per night which they have to pay if they stayed in Bhutan. With opening …

….A group of determined women trying to bring change through STEM initiatives Sonam Deki The Women in STEM group (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is a voluntary collaboration of Bhutanese women working in STEM-related fields in the nation’s various government and non-governmental organizations. The main objective of STEM Group is to promote girls and women in STEM fields and empower …

…𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 Sonam Deki After three-month hiatus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has resumed the issuance of ordinary passports to the public. However people were found to be frustrated and confused by the notification, which stated that first come, first served.People rushed to the passport office because they believed it was first …

….𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒆𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓; 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 Tenzin Lhaden A nominal user fee of Nu 10 per individual (Bhutanese and foreigners) entering and exiting through the Pedestrian Terminal in Phuntsholing started levying from November 1, 2022 amidst skepticism and reluctance from netizins. However, pedestrian terminal users have …

…..𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 6.5 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆 Tenzin Lhaden October 29 is marked as ‘World Stroke Day’ and theme this year for the day is ‘Precious Time’.The Bhutan Stroke Foundation observed the World Stroke Day. The main mission to celebrate this day was to facilitate and create better stroke care toward fulfilling Gross National Happiness and to formulate and …

…𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 Sonam Deki Wild boars are destroying farms at an alarming rate, said the residents of Yumdang, Panbang Dungkhang, Zhemgang Dzongkhag. They are weary with wild boars destroying their crops on a regular basis. “Wild boars have been a concern for the villagers every year. Unlike previous years, this year saw widespread …

…𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆/𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 By Tenzin Lhaden1841 tourists visited Bhutan paying USD 200 per night via the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB) system. Among 1841 tourist, the first one to visit Bhutan paying USD 200 per night was from Switzerland who entered the country on July 13, 2022 and went back on July 18, …

𝑩𝒉𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝑺𝒆𝒘𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒂 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒕𝒂 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑳𝒂𝒖𝒓𝒊 𝑮𝒆𝒘𝒐𝒈, 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒑 𝑱𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒌𝒉𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒍 𝑷𝒖𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒎𝒔 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒆, 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆. Sonam Choki The SUBLIMAGE L’EXTRAIT, a Chanel product using an active ingredient from Swertia chirayita grown in the remote parts of Lauri Gewog under Samdrup Jongkhar Dzongkag has been launched by Chanel Parfums Beaute (Chanel PB) based in France in October 2022. The plant Swertia chirayita is …

Tenzin LhadenWith business being on hold for more than two months, some of crusher plant owners in Sarpang are unhappy with the current precarious situation. Crusher owners purchase stone boulders along the allotted riverbed from Natural Resources Development Corporation Limited (NRDCL) and pay royalty to Department of Forests and Park Services (DoFPS) before 2 months when the business was in …

Tenzin LhadenCommunity Engagement Platform(CEP), the initiative that focused to bring change in the attitudes of people for the wellbeing of the community. CEP was launched in August 2015, but until 2018, there were no signs of any development, so it was temporarily stopped. Then, in 2018 it was resumed and hence, it functioned smoothly.According to the bylaws, collectively formulated by …