Before the 111th National Day celebrations in Samtse in 2018 the current government had said it would listen to the address ‘line by line, word by word and also in between the lines and would follow it for the coming year.’ How the government followed through on this pledge is …

A LOT has been said, is being said, about how Buddhists perceive LGBTQ and smoking. The debate was reignited after Bhutan temporarily lifted its infamous smoke ban during the Covid-19 national lockdown. With Bhutan becoming the newest country to decriminalize homosexuality, the debate has expanded. The conclusion from the Western …

Bhutan has been undergoing a strong stress test at various levels since the advent of COVID-19 in March 2020. This pandemic came not only with grave health implications, but also brought a never before seen economic impact as all activities either froze or slowed down with the tourism industry the …

Economy This year the economy is projected to nosedive to between negative 2 to 6 percent growth rate. It makes the worst performance in our economic history. The shrinking fiscal space because of a hefty ‘debt burden’ of Nu.28 billion in the last two years will be a stumbling block …

It comes as a matter of shock and befuddlement that our Parliament since 2010 has failed to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) placing Bhutan in an ignoble list of 10 countries not doing so. On the other side are 182 countries who have …

LONDON – Recent announcements of demonstrated efficacy in COVID-19 vaccine trials have brought hope that a return to normality is in sight. The preliminary data for Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna’s novel mRNA vaccines are highly encouraging, suggesting that their approval for emergency use is forthcoming. And more recent news of effectiveness (albeit …

The COVID-19 pandemic impact is widely seen as an opportunity to rebuild our economy in a new and more effective way. However, an economy is not just setting up a few factories or companies, but a really deep, effective and equitable economy is usually one of the results of long …

MELBOURNE – COVID-19 continues to have a devastating impact on public health and to rattle the global economy with structural shocks. The pandemic has now killed more than one million people, while the International Monetary Fund estimates that global GDP will shrink by 4.4% in 2020. But, strange as it may seem, the current …

The DNT candidate won the Chhoekhor-Tang seat by a landslide against his DPT opponent. The loss of the seat of the former Opposition Leader will come as a blow to the Opposition party especially since it was considered to be a stronghold seat since 2008. However, this result is in …

NEW DELHI – The American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech have announced that the COVID-19 vaccine they are jointly developing was more than 90% effective in early clinical trials. The news raised hopes around the world that life may soon return to pre-pandemic normal. Those hopes may not last long. The …