Many countries around the world celebrate ‘Independence Day,’ but Bhutan is one of the very few that has the fortune of not having to celebrate one. Instead, we have our National Day where we as one country and one people celebrate our sovereignty and remember our leaders who kept us …

CAMBRIDGE – In little more than a generation, the Internet has become a vital substrate for economic, social, and political interactions, and it has unlocked enormous gains. Along with greater interdependence, however, come vulnerability and conflict. Attacks by states and non-state actors have increased, threatening the stability of cyberspace. In …

As Bhutan approaches the 112th National Day it is time to take a national and long term view of our current problems. One of the biggest current issues is an economic slowdown with banks going slow on credit and the private sector in the doldrums. If we think about it …

The civil service and public servants have had four pay hikes since 2009, but Bhutan’s weak private sector could not keep up and this has now created a parallel economy. One is for the public servants and the other is for the private sector and farmers. After the last pay …

Though the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) initiated the project on electric vehicle (EV) with the intent to provide safe, reliable, accessible and affordable transportation system, however, the ministry received several criticisms, from the public, dealers and taxi drivers as the project encountered problems in the very beginning of …

The Ministry of Education (MoE) will introduce ICT classes from PP onwards, and ensure an ICT enabling infrastructure is setup in all the primary schools in the country. Due to the rapid change and revolution in technology, a student or a graduate would still feel illiterate if they are not …

NEW YORK – It was an extraordinary spectacle: Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, a US military officer in full dress uniform decorated with a Purple Heart, testifying in the House Intelligence Committee’s impeachment hearings on November 19. Knowing that his testimony might well wreck his military career, Vindman believed it was …

A gush of gratitude, “Thank you Lonely Planet!”, and a rush of responsibility, “We need to make sure we are able to live up to the now sky-high expectations of visitors to our country!”, are the two emotions that reigned me when I first heard about this recognition. As a …

The advent of democracy in 2008 led to the creation or strengthening of many democratic institutions and most of these are identified in the form of Constitutional bodies or other autonomous agencies. However, other less tangible but still important institutions like the monthly ‘Meet-the-Press’ was created. Meet-the-Press was a creation …

NEW DELHI – The dangers of environmental pollution receive a lot of attention nowadays, particularly in the developing world, and with good reason. Air quality indices are dismal and worsening in many places, with India, in particular, facing an acute public-health emergency. But as serious as the pollution problem is, it must …