A senior government official, on the condition of anonymity, told this paper that the government had no plans for a slaughterhouse as was being widely discussed. Weather this final stance is due to modification of plans or a simple rectification of a major miscommunication is expected to be officially clarified …

In a first ever, Bhutan will be attempting to break a very green Guinness World Record as part of the 60th birth anniversary celebrations of His Majesty the Fourth King. The record attempt which will be held on 2nd June 2015 will involve planting at least 40,886 trees by 100 …

157 cancellations within just 20 days Ever since the major earthquake in Nepal on 25th April 2015 around 20 days ago the Tourism Council of Bhutan has seen 157 cancellations from 31 tour companies almost all from the Kathmandu sector. Given that the tariff is USD 250 per tourist and …

PM acknowledges Bhutanese people are not necessarily the happiest people on earth   July 2011 saw a major diplomatic coup for Bhutan when a Bhutan sponsored resolution on measuring and using happiness to guide government policies was passed by the UN General Assembly. Bhutan’s reputation as a ‘happy country’ which …

If Bhutan’s average ranking on the World Happiness Report burst our happiness bubble, another ranking, this time in global tourism shows the several shortcomings of Bhutan’s tourism sector. Bhutan is ranked 87th out of a 141 countries. The report titled ‘The Travel and Tourism Report 2015’ is published by the …

The 68th cabinet meeting on 6th April 2010 decided that the Natural Resources Development Corporation (NRDCL) should establish and set up stone quarries and crushing units to provide high quality stone chips at affordable prices to the construction industry. Subsequently the Ministry of Finance on 12th April 2010 wrote to …

Role of Media   The Role of Media in South Asian diplomacy is not very different from the role of media in any country when it comes to national issues. When it comes to foreign policy issues, the South Asian media can become very partisan, jingoistic and even prone to …

In what will be an important period of transition for Bhutan’s Constitutional bodies the heads and commissioners of three constitutional bodies will be finishing their term around August 2015. The constitutional bodies in question are the Chairperson and two commissioners of Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), the Chief Election Commissioner and …

A Parliamentary joint session in 2014, to the visible shock of the Finance Minister and the government, amended the National Assembly Act allowing a budget committee comprising of National Assembly MPs to review the Budget and suggest changes to the Finance Minister. Now, in keeping with that law the National …

The untimely release of grants and also seasonal revenue collection has ensured that the government has to constantly take short term loans to meet its expenditure. The Royal Audit Authority (RAA) in its annual audit of the ‘Annual Financial Statement of the Government till the fiscal year of 30th June …