The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) recently took a decision to drop its case against the current Foreign Minister Lyonpo Damcho Dorji in his capacity as the Mongar Drangpon in 2002. This was after the ACC investigated the case for six months based on an anonymous letter alleging that the Drangpon …
Read More »Man arrested for rape and murder of 19 year old
Gomtu police have arrested a 23-year-old man in connection with the rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman on March 1, 2017. An employee of Penden Cement in Gomtu, Sukman Gurung from Phuntshopelri, was arrested on March 10. The deceased was a temporary employee in a private company. The mother …
Read More »ACC complaint filed against National Film Awards
The 16th National Film Awards has come in for high controversy with a film director Karma Lhatrul Rinpoche, filing a complaint of corruption and collusion against the Bhutan Film Association (BFA) with the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC). The controversy centers on the selection of the best films category, whose top …
Read More »EDP says yes to Pvt Practice but MoH says only if majority can pay
The government’s Economic Development Policy (EDP) 2017 says selective services in the health sector will be opened to private practices with the government regulating quality of health services and human resources. However, the health ministry says it cannot allow private practices unhesitatingly because they need to look at financial incentives …
Read More »Telecom liberalization promised in EDP but no word from Govt on 3rd operator
Licensing for mobile service providers and Internet Service providers will be liberalized according to the recently launched Economic Development Policy (EDP) of 2017. However, while lip service has been paid to Telecom liberalization in EDP, there is no word yet on allowing a third operator. The government in 2016 said …
Read More »Punatsangchu I to be delayed to Dec 2022 and Punatsangchu II till Sept 2019
In a development that would cause the government to revise revenue estimates and recalculate its expenditure for the next five years, both the 1,200 MW Punatsangchu I (P I) and 1,020 MW Punatsangchu II (P II) projects are expected to undergo huge additional delays. A government official, on the condition …
Read More »Hydro delays to hit revenue and surplus of 12th plan
If all went to plan on the hydropower front, Bhutan would have come closer to becoming a self sufficient economy during the course of the 12th five year plan (FYP) period. But this has all gone ‘topsy turvy’ after the government received a recent report in February 2017 where of …
Read More »Big LG boost in 12th FYP as budget doubled to Nu 50 bn
A big change in the 12th Five Year Plan (FYP) is the fact that the preliminary capital expenditure to the local government has been doubled from Nu 25 bn in the 11th FYP to Nu 50 bn in the 12th FYP. Of the Nu 300 bn 12th FYP the capital …
Read More »DNP sets 30th March as auction day for 9 units of Dr Shacha’s building
Dr Shacha Wangmo and her mother Tandin Bidha will be losing nine of their apartments in their building on March 30th 2017. This is because the building is jointly owned by Tandin Bidha’s other daughter Sonam Wangmo who Ap SP alleged took money from him and won a case in …
Read More »EDP 2017 comes with game changing reforms for Bhutan’s Economy
The 2010 Economic Development Policy (EDP) had a lot of grand aims but except for a few areas it failed to achieve most of its targets. The 2017 EDP document learning from the failures of the 2010 EDP has come up with a number of game changing and bold reforms …
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