With the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) completing the assessment of 62 executives at the Secretary and Director General level, and finding 50 percent of them not meeting expectations, the next lot of executives who will be assessed will be 59 Directors in the 10 ministries and various autonomous agencies …
Read More »“No one should have a horrible death like my wife,” says husband who lost his wife in an isolation hotel in Thimphu and blames health authorities
A grief-stricken 43-year-old man, Krishna Gurung, who lost his 34-year-old wife, Sostika Gurung, in an isolation hotel on 27 January in Thimphu, said his wife would have been alive, if only the health team had responded to his SOS calls. Sostika Gurung was a kidney patient who was undergoing dialysis …
Read More »No Board Exams for class X if COVID-19 situation deteriorates
If the COVID-19 situation deteriorates and prolongs in more than 50 percent of schools in the country by 14 March 2022, then the Bhutan Council for School Examinations and Assessment (BCSEA) will conduct examination only for class XII, based on the rescheduled examinations timetable. For class X, the Continue Formative …
Read More »‘Enagic’: A Rapidly growing Pyramid digital business scheme selling water ionizers in Bhutan shows dreams but empties out pockets
Nobody really knows the numbers, but popular social media sites in Bhutan, like Facebook and Instagram, are seeing the increasing presence of hundreds of mainly women, and even some men, declaring themselves as ‘Digital Business Owners,’ with their own personal websites through which you can register to “Run a Digital …
Read More »Enagic’s ‘Kangen water’ at the heart of the Pyramid scheme in Bhutan makes many medical claims not supported by science or medicine
The problem with the Japan based Enagic company and its expensive water ionizing machines which produce ‘Kangen water’ is not only the Multi Level Marketing Pyramid Scheme (see main story) in Bhutan and the financial risks for its members, but its distributors across the world and in Bhutan have made …
Read More »How COVID positive foreign workers, a more infectious variant and laxity caused the Wangdue outbreak
The big question of the month is, how did the recent second outbreak in ‘low risk’ Wangduephodrang occur? There is no official explanation for the outbreak yet, but it was caused due to a combination of pressure factors, like getting on with hydro project works, and situational issues, like laxity …
Read More »Outbreaks in Phuentsholing, Gelephu and SJ coincide with surge of Omicron across the border, foreign workers and heavier use of quarantine facilities
Apart from the biggest outbreak in Wangduephodrang, the border towns of Phuentsholing, Gelephu and Samdrupjongkhar have also seen outbreaks with community cases. Phuentsholing Phuentsholing, till 24th January has 173 active cases. It all started on 6 January 2022, with a 37-year-old expatriate woman testing positive for Omicron from Lucky Restaurant …
Read More »Virus somehow leaked out from Rurichu quarantine: TAG member
With major need for foreign laborers at Punatsangchu, the private contractors there had put up a proposal stating that they wish to import their own foreign workers and manage their own quarantine. With all the approvals, the National COVID-19 Task Force (NC19TF) and the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) visited the …
Read More »Opening of lockdown to depend on how compliant people are with protocols: PM
The Prime Minister Dasho (Dr) Lotay Tshering said that how long the lockdown will last will hinge on two factors. One is if the lockdown is designed for flattening the curve or elimination of the virus and for Bhutan the latter is the aim. He said the other factor will …
Read More »From 247 active cases to 513 active cases in 3 days: COVID’s spread into both high risk and low risk areas
Day 1 (Sunday) It all started at around 2 am on Sunday morning on 16th January as a notification from the PMO on facebook announced a blackout in 14 Dzongkhags. It said there is a “24 hours’ blackout” in Thimphu, Wangduephodrang, Punakha, Paro, Gasa, Haa, Chukha, Trongsa, Bumthang, Dagana, Sarpang, …
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