The defamation suit filed by Sonam Phuntsho (Ap SP) against former BBS anchor Namgay Zam and Dr. Shacha Wangmo entered the evidential phase yesterday. Ap SP submitted that since the defendants had claimed he does not have a good relation with anybody including his relatives, they should prove the truth …

On Wednesday, 16 November 2016, the High Court passed its verdict on the 7 kg Chinese gold smuggling case, altering the charges and sentences awarded by the Chukha District Court in September. Chundu Wangchuk and Rinchen Dorji were found guilty of smuggling and sentenced to five non-compoundable years in prison. …

Having immediately asserted itself as the primary, and most lucrative, source of income in the highlands since harvest legalization in 2004, Cordyceps (Ophiocordycepssinensis)has since been on the decline but the steepness of the recent plunge in yield has become serious cause for concern to both highlanders and the government as …

Anti-Corruption agencies from 23 Asia-Pacific member countries and 93 representatives from across the world met at the 14th Asia-Pacific regional seminar of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) Anti-Corruption initiative in Thimphu. Themed “Development with Values: Social Fence Against Corruption,” the three day seminar …

Laya lies just meters below the tree-line and it’s no surprise that Layaps until recently have been relying on very expensive week old vegetables from Gasa and Punakha, a necessity enforced by the harsh conditions of the highlands across the country. While Laya has grown prosperous (helicopter chartering is quite …

Laya from 16th to 18th October was a celebration. The Royal Highlander Festival, the 53km Snowman run, World Food Day and Laya’s own Auley saw the entire population of the mountain village troop up some 200m to their celebration grounds at 4000m from sea. The festival came at a time …

When one thinks poems one dreads obscure sesquipedality. Sonam Choden Dorji has refreshingly avoided that in her ‘History in a Pebble,’  “Sometimes you need to stop searching, for appropriate words, for elaborate construction,” that naked thoughts suggest. Written mostly in free verse, the collection of poems is a tranquil conversation …

Unless you have a postpaid number, a visit to the eload shop has become an integral part of life and unless you are from the 80s you need data renewal for the internet. Eload is environmentally friendly and cheaper but most subscribers fail to take advantage of that last bit …

In a happy coincidence, Shakespeare is making a double comeback in Bhutan. Removed from the curriculum nine years ago Shakespearean plays will be reintroduced in secondary schools from 2017. Former Kuensel editor Kencho Wangdi now turned filmmaker had found the exclusion inexplicable and a loss to literary culture in the …

At the third hearing of the defamation suit against Namgay Zam and Dr. Shacha another packed courtroom heard Ap SP submitting his 25 point grievances at Bench 1 on Wednesday. After his submission was read out Ap Sonam Phuntsho, who had had his longish speeches cut short by the judge …