EDITORIAL

The National Land Commission’s decision to not allot land to the Bhutan Education City project, over the legality of the land and the Cabinet’s subsequent decision to not get involved in anything illegal, has triggered a lot of discussion on the issue. The Opposition party and its various supporters have …

The nation and people are once again united in their expression of love, respect and appreciation, as we celebrate the 34th birthday of His Majesty the King. The elated atmosphere at the Changlimethang ground and the ebullient enthusiasm of ordinary people across the country gives a measure of the popularity …

The National Council’s amendment that require candidates to have a 10-year experience before contesting for NC elections, in addition to the existing 25-year age bar condition, has generated strong debates on the issue. The National Council’s decision has been made based on some flawed assumptions and desktop research with little …

I n Bhutan, ministers, senior bureaucrats and constitutional post holders often get the official and media limelight – given their nature of work and responsibility. Members of Parliament (MPs) have not figured much, so far, leading some to ask the question if our MPs are doing any real work at …

With the emergence of the Rupee and Credit Crises since late 2011, both the former and current governments carried out strong austerity measures. This has been coupled with the central bank bringing out new financial requirements that have choked the credit supply or supply of money in the economy. Many …

When a nation faces a crisis, it calls for self-introspection and also self-criticism to find out where we are going wrong, and also how we can improve. The ongoing economic crisis has generated a lot of debate and also a lot of plausible economic reasons on why we are at …

If one reads the State of the Nation Reports in the last couple of years then one would get a feeling that everything was going on very well and the ‘untrustworthy media’ except for a ‘credible few’ was blowing everything out of proportion. Even when the rupee and credit crisis …

The 2013 Elections, was equivalent to the ‘Bhutan Spring’ – where a powerful and increasingly autocratic political structure fell down to put the world’s smallest Opposition party in power. There were several factors like- the state of the economy and unemployment, but the critical voices and stories that surfaced in …

The Royal Audit Authority Report on the procurement of consultancy services by the government from 2007-2008 to 2011-2012 raises several issues, challenges, and questions on the procurement of such services and their effectiveness. Consultancy, unlike procurement of other things like cars or tables, is very significant because the advice or …

The hottest topics of discussion these days, especially in government offices, are the proposed pay hike and house rent allowance for the civil servants. Even in the recent past, when civil service pay hikes was being considered, there was a strong and enthusiastic interest shown by civil servants on the …