Lately, the country has seen an increase in the number of diplomatic passport holders which could lead to high chances of misuse of the document in the absence of stern rules and regulations in place. One of the concerns raised is that the value of the diplomatic passport would be …
Read More »Draft Economic Stimulus Plan calls for a Nu 5 bn injection into the Economy
The Cabinet sets up a national level task force to finalize the ESP within a week The latest draft Economic Stimulus Plan (ESP) of the PDP government has recommended a Nu 5 bn stimulus plan up from the earlier Nu 3bn ESP pledged by PDP during the campaign process. …
Read More »A closer look at why the RAA declared McKinsey a flop
In 2009, when the government unveiled its decision to hire McKinsey for USD 9.1 mn or Nu 443 mn with the aim of accelerating socio-economic development in Bhutan, there were many critics of the move. Four years later, a Royal Audit Authority (RAA) Report on procurement of consultancy services has …
Read More »A Japanese woman, moved by the Royal visit, leaves more than USD 150,000 in her last will
The fund has been used to set up the Abe Scholarship that will fund two new college students every year Bhutan saw a sharp rise in the number of tourist arrivals in 2012, and the Japanese tourists more than doubled in numbers replacing American tourists as the largest tourist nationality …
Read More »RAA finds deficiencies in Consultancy Services for Hydro projects
The RAA, in its performance report on procurement of consultancy services by the government has pointed out some deficiencies and shortfalls in consultancy services for Hydro projects, which are impacting the construction of Hydro projects. During the period 2007-08 to 2011-12, a total of Nu. 1,804.350 million was spent on …
Read More »Cabinet gives the green signal to Performance Management System
The cabinet in a recent meeting has approved the Performance Management System (PMS) which is expected to roll out in a pilot phase by June 2014 to July 2015 in all government ministries and agencies. It is then expected to be implemented in full from July 2015 till 2018 to …
Read More »Poachers galore
MoAF to come up with stern laws and levy heavy penalties on culprits Poaching in the country, like in many other nations, is fast becoming rampant with reports of confiscation and clandestine incidents happening frequently. Recently, the police in Gasa and officials of Jigme Dorji National Park (JDNP) arrested a …
Read More »Crime against women, a serious concern
The top three common crimes against women, according to police, are battery, sexual harassment, and assault. There is increasing concerns over especially increasing sexual crimes against women. A total of 1,339 cases of different crimes against women were reported to police across the country including anything from battery to sexual …
Read More »Performance Management System aims to reward hard work and pull up slackers
A perennial grouse within the civil service is that irrespective of whether civil servants are hard working or lazy they all get the same treatment when promotions are around the corner. This, civil servants say has lead to a system where some people shoulder the majority of the work load …
Read More »Opposition claims only 21.4% of 100-Day Pledges actually fulfilled
The Opposition party Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) has issued a review of the government’s report on its first 100 days in office. This comes six days after the government claimed of having achieved 74 % of its pledges to be delivered at a press conference on November 9. Save for …
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