As the monthly income support scheme and the 50 percent interest waiver drew to a close in March many wondered what would happen in the coming months. However, in an unprecedented move His Majesty The King extended the Kidu for another 15 months this time pouring in precious funds painstakingly …

Let me begin by making it clear that no individual or organization should feel offended by this post, as it is only intended to start a practical conversation and actions to solve this perennial water problem in our capital city. The people in my neighbourhood and my family went to …

Finally, what our leaders and health authorities have been warning about for weeks have come true with a third outbreak from the community in Phuentsholing, with a student and mother testing positive followed by five more cases. This is in addition to four frontline workers on quarantine duty in Phuentsholing …

LONDON – “Nobody is safe until everyone is safe” is the defining mantra of the COVID-19 era. It captures a fundamental truth. Faced with a virus that recognizes no borders, no country is an island – and there is no substitute for international solidarity. The June G7 summit in the …

In this time of pandemic, everyone from His Majesty The King granting various Kidus to ordinary citizens coming forward with donations, were all aimed at lightening the enormous economic impact of COVID-19 on our society and people. However, at such a time Thimphu Thromde and its elected representatives decided to …

LONDON – As preparations for this year’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow intensify, attention is focused on efforts to prevent a future catastrophe. But real-time climate catastrophes already are playing out in the lives of millions of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. What will COP26 offer them? Stick …

By Linda Leaming Our house is in an apple orchard above Thimphu, and like so many people we have dogs who have adopted us. Last winter a brown short haired dog with long legs came around. She was wild, afraid of people, and lingered near the house. By February she …

Bhutan’s national vaccination campaign is going well with large numbers of people getting vaccinated within a week to the extent that Bhutan is number two in the world when it comes to the share of people getting the first dose. Our health workers and the public must be congratulated for …

CHICAGO – Digital payments are attracting growing interest, and eye-popping numbers abound, as demonstrated by the US payment processor Stripe’s recent $95 billion valuation. Why all the excitement, and why now? At one level, the reason is straightforward: digital payments allow buyers to pay sellers without physical currency changing hands. Though the …

When Bhutan had the first case followed by imported cases in quarantine and the first local transmission outbreak in Phuentsholing we all desperately prayed for a vaccine. The situation became even more dire during our second outbreak in December 2020 as we saw how quickly the virus could come in …