Our road crossing culture is a chaotic most of the time! And in the absence of traffic lights it is difficult for the pedestrians to know when exactly to cross a road, be it in the town or at certain sections of our roads. Sadly, zebra crossing is a highly …

I n 2010 more than the umbrella Economic Development Policy business houses showed interest in the Fiscal Incentives or tax exemptions that accompanied it. This was rightly so as this was where the main meat and intent of the document lay. However, four years later it is disappointing to find …

The Cabinet in a meeting held earlier this year turned down the Druk Holdings and Investment’s (DHI) proposal to do away with what DHI said was double taxation of its earnings. According to a senior government official the cabinet turned down DHI’s proposal as the cabinet felt that if the …

For all our claims of happiness and ambitious goals it is clear that Bhutan is struggling to even get its basics right. In every society the basic ability to provide food on the table is followed by the ability to have the means to cook it. However, the government, helped …

Bhutan is known for many of rich and colorful festivals. Every Dzongkhag has its own Tshechu to celebrate and rejoice. And of course many tourists come to watch and experience many of these festivals. Today, in urban Bhutan, we perform mask dances to entertain tourists; I am not sure if …

A few days ago I witnessed a disheartening incident at the Changlam square in Thimphu. There was a group of high school girls who hurriedly gathered along the pavement, craned their necks across the road and began laughing at something seemingly very funny. I got curious and walked a few …

This paper, in this issue, has covered four different types of stories which reveal a lot about the quality of infrastructure, equipment, food and services in Bhutan. In terms of infrastructure we saw overnight swimming pools forming on roads in Thimphu and across Bhutan with the advent of the monsoon …

As I type these lines, I am watching a Bhutanese singing show: Drinchen Amai Sungkoed, the voice of Bhutanese mothers. Unlike the earlier Bhutanese reality shows, the current show engages Bhutanese women and is specifically aimed at developing their voice and personality. In Bhutan, the concept of women empowerment is …

I have had the pleasure of meeting this person of high repute and since then I have been closely following him with great admiration and respect. And one day I run into another person. We happened to casually chitchat when he suddenly mentioned this. I was told that because I …

The land scam in Trongsa which happened between 2002 and 2006 with the active support and guidance of the former Trongsa Dzongda is another stark reminder of the challenges of corruption. The blatant way, in which the former Dzongda helped his wife, a local school principal, to buy land at …