1.5 bn approved by cabinet for the Tourism Flagship program Until recently, the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB) aimed to get in 500,000 tourists by 2023 as part of the tourism flagship program. This is up from the 274,097 tourists that came into Bhutan in 2018. However, the TCB, after …

As per the OAG’s Constitutional interpretation the Cabinet can reject or alter the report In a strategic and deliberate move the Cabinet, on the evening of 9th April, released the Fourth Pay Commission report on the Cabinet website along with a facebook post and tweet from the Prime Minister’s official …

The Hike  The Cabinet released the fourth pay commission report which recommends a 14% to 29% pay hike. For civil servants the pay hike recommendation is 14% to 21% hike. It has a higher hike of 21% for O4 to O1 level, 18% for S5 to S1 level, 16% for …

A seven-year study on Bhutan’s geo-dynamics from 2011 to 2018 by a combination of internal and Bhutanese experts showed that Bhutan is due for a big quake of 7.5 to 8 magnitude since the last quake of that size was seen only in 1714 and so pressure has been building …

Many new provisions in the bill are aimed at resolving the current issues in the mining sector There have been three main debates around the mining industry in the last few years. One has been on state versus private ownership, the second has been on lack of adequate regulation and …

The agreement for the 2560 MW Sunkosh project, by all indications, was supposed to be signed last year as part of the 50 years of diplomatic relations. Bhutan’s Foreign Ministry listed it as one of the highlights of the celebrations and the former Prime Minister said that the project would …

After the idea came under a lot of flak the PM says it will not happen if the civil servants don’t want it On 15th February, the Prime Minister in a press conference announced that the government had asked the 4th Pay Commission to come up with a performance based …

DHI and private companies tussle over mine ownership and strategic minerals worth billions Bill likely to come up in the summer session and if not then by the winter session this year The mining industry has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons in the last one decade. A …

In a major departure from how civil servants are paid, the Prime Minister Lyonchhen (Dr) Lotay Tshering said that he has asked the 4th Pay Commission to come up with a performance based pay hike for civil servants. “I said (to the Pay Commission) that I will not be happy …

Three private radio stations and two news magazines have also folded In a reflection of the long standing and ongoing sustainability crisis in the private media, the Druk Neytshul newspaper, a private weekly Dzongkha newspaper shut down this month. The owner of the paper, Namgay Wangdi, said, “The main reason …