National News

…𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒗𝒆𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 By Lhendup WangmoThe Kaja Throm, a central farmers market in Thimphu, is increasingly becoming a vital platform for Bhutanese farmers and producers. Recent data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MoAL) reveals that 80 percent of vegetables and 84 percent of …

…𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔, 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 2025 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒎𝒆 By Yeshi DolmaIn a move aimed at positioning Bhutan as a competitive investment destination in the region, the government has launched the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Rules and Regulations 2025. The reforms, effective from July 18, 2025, mark a shift towards a more transparent, efficient, …

By Leki Chungdon Residents of Metakha Gewog in Chhukha sprang into action to restore a critical farm road soon after heavy monsoon rains receded this week, highlighting the community’s resilience and cooperation. The unpaved road, which connects five chiwogs to the main gewog center, had been severely damaged by continuous rainfall over the past month. Sections were washed away, while …

…𝑻𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝑭𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒈𝒆𝒘𝒐𝒈𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 By Tashi Tshewang Over 60 households in Tshogoenpa village, Lumang Gewog, Trashigang, now have access to clean and reliable drinking water thanks to a gravity-fed water system implemented under the Eco-Himal Water Management Initiative. The project was led by the Tarayana Foundation and supported by the Swiss-funded …

…𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒔 By Tashi Tshewang A regional milestone in infrastructure planning was reached on August 2 with the inauguration of the Regional Office of Infrastructure Development (RoID), established to serve Samdrup Jongkhar and Pemagatshel Dzongkhags. The launch was attended by the Dzongdag of Samdrup Jongkhar, Pemagatshel’s Dzongrab, …

…𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒑 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 By Kinzang Lhamo & Tashi Tshewang Two newly constructed agricultural warehouses at Jewphu and Bondey farms were officially handed over to the National Seed Centre (NSC) in Paro under the Integrated Temperate Fruit Crops Promotion Project on August 1, 2025. Funded by the Japan International …

…𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒐𝒐 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒆𝒘𝒐𝒈 By Tashi Tshewang The Norbuchoeling Community Forest in Barshong Gewog took a significant step towards sustainable land and forest management with the inauguration of a 10-hectare bamboo plantation on July 11. The plantation features Bambusabalcooa, a fast-growing and commercially valuable bamboo …

…𝑫𝑵𝑨 𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕-𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 By Sonam Choden The National Mushroom Center (NMC), with financial support of Nu. 7,095,964 from the Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation (BTFEC), has launched a project aimed at domesticating high-value wild edible mushrooms in the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) area. Scheduled to run from July 2025 to June …

…𝒆𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒐𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 By Sonam Choden The Wheelchair Centre of Hope and Joy, located in Nemjo, Paro, is a community-based initiative established on May 1, 2023, to improve mobility, independence, and dignity for persons with physical disabilities. It was founded to address a critical gap in the availability of suitable and customized mobility …

…𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒏𝒖 60.73 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒔 By Kezang Choden The Food Corporation of Bhutan Limited (FCBL) has recorded a significant financial turnaround in 2024, according to its latest annual report. After enduring six consecutive years of losses between 2017 and 2022, with the largest loss of Nu 112.04 million registered in 2020 …