A proper irrigation channel featured top on the list of agendas discussed for the 11th Five Year Plan. A 10.95-km farm road from Horong to the gewog centre was completed after works commenced in 2009 but some more farmroads remain to be constructed.

More than 300 households in Khoma gewog will be benefitted by four new farm roads to their villages  planned for the  10th Five Year Plan. The road which stretches from Khoma to Tshikhang was funded by Japan government.Other roads would be constructed till Khoma, Gangtakhem, Kangkhar and Goenpa. Till now, …

Now, all local packaged foods will be certified by a food testing lab, the first of its kind in Bhutan which is at the last stage of accreditation. The process to certify the lab which is located at Yusipang has come a long way since its initiation in 2008. It  …

Twenty-seven second – hand CGI sheets, 50 kilograms of rice, three bed sheets, one school bag and a Tiffin-box. This was the cost of 14-year-old Sunil Limbu from Tendruk gewog, Samtse whose mother  allowed 40-year old Phub Nidup originally from Haa but  now resettled in Samtse to  hire her son. …

Raising taxes on alcohol sale only leads to fronting, selling and leasing of already existing licenses at higher prices. This was discussed in the seminar on Alcohol Use and Abuse in Bhutan last week where data presented showed that despite raising taxes on the sale, alcohol consumption remains the same. …

“Nepotism” is a word much talked about in Bhutanese circles. I have never experienced it myself though I have heard about it and seen a few cases myself. To share an incident which I witnessed, I had gone to the hospital with a friend of mine to meet her grandmother …

While fitness experts advise health zealots to have a “balanced diet,” the Bhutanese traditional medicine system (soba rigpa) redefines what a healthy diet and lifestyle entails. In soba rigpa, the fundamental healing philosophy revolves around the concept of three somatic humors (basic types of energy or functional principles): lung ( …

After the Orong incident in Samdrup Jongkhar which resulted in the death of two students, this time a 42- year old prisoner, Karma Gyeltshen from Lungzor jail, Trashigang has been referred to Thimphu Hospital with “peripheral neuropathy” (nerve damage) reportedly due to nutritional deficiency. ‘Peripheral Neuropathy’, according to a health …

Is Bhutan ready for a woman Prime Minister? This remains a question as less than 14% of women represent Parliament, and with the first ever local government elections held in June, 2011, less than 5% of the newly elected local leaders are women. To encourage women in active participation in …

Unlike the Braille education for visually impaired children in Khaling, Trashigang, the form of teaching meted out to the 73 students of Deaf Education Unit in Drugyal Lower Secondary School, Paro, does not meet international standards. The students are taught local sign language. According to the officiating Vice Principal of …