Two developments should give us cause for concern. One is that scientists have found that COVID-19 is airborne and thus can spread through even small particles, especially in a poorly ventilated setting where people are not wearing masks. The other issue is neighboring India reaching the third highest number of …

Virginia, USA—A few months after my year-end 2019 trip to Bhutan to visit friends, I found myself on a plane from Bangkok to Tokyo and then on to the United States this past February. I was en route from Southeast Asia — where I am based with the Milken Institute — …

His Majesty’s Kidu relief of nine months’ interest waiver, extension of the Druk Gyalpo Relief Kidu by another three months coupled with a 12-month loan deferment has come as a huge relief for an embattled private sector and the larger economy. His Majesty has given us important time at two …

NEW YORK – In his opening address to the European Council on Foreign Relations’ (ECFR) annual meeting, German Foreign Affairs Minister Heiko Maas claimed that regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election this November, Europeans “will have to think about how to better contain the conflicts in Europe’s vicinity, even …

There are two parties to blame for the issues in the mining industry. One is the mine owner and how the owner or owners run the mine with a short-term view but the bigger flaw lies with the Department of Geology and Mines and their poor monitoring system that allows …

For those under a rock in the last few weeks, COVID-19 is knocking hard on our border gates with a number of cases and outbreaks right across the border. If one looks at a Bhutan, we are virtually surrounded by various states impacted by COVID-19 with the two main ones …

LONDON/MONROVIA/KIGALI – No country has been spared the impact of COVID-19. But some – the world’s most “fragile states” – face a particularly difficult set of challenges. Before the pandemic arrived, Yemen, Sudan, Haiti, Sierra Leone, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Venezuela, and other struggling countries were already beset by poverty, conflict, corruption, …

Public memory is short in Bhutan. The now profitable Gypsum mines of SMCL was operated very unprofitably and at a loss by the government until 1980, after which private owners took over and turned it around. The NRDCL a few years ago invested Nu 400 mn in stone quarries all …

WASHINGTON, DC – It is no surprise that journalists would go out to the streets to cover the largest and most widespread protests the United States has experienced in more than 50 years. What has been surprising is that journalists would meet with violence and retaliation at the hands of …

A notification issued by the Department of Immigration has put contractors in a dilemma on whether to bring in the skilled foreign laborers or not. But they are pressed hard to bring in the laborers as they are under pressure by procuring agencies to complete the projects. The contractors are …