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 …

In most cases the royalty rates are being doubled   The Department of Geology and Mines (DGM) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA) has proposed a significant increase in the mining royalty and mineral rent saying that a revision is long overdue and would have a good impact on …

With the Indian army’s ongoing operations against NDFB(S) the RBA is intensively patrolling the Bhutan-Assam border to prevent entry of militants   Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, in an interview with The Bhutanese, said that the main reason for putting on hold the 68.3 km Nanglam-Dewathang highway and cancelling the 98 …

A request of around Nu 16 mn is being put up to the government   After two historical wins against Sri Lanka, Bhutan’s national football team is now in the second round of the FIFA World Cup where it will end up playing around eight matches of which around four …