Monthly Archives: December, 0

With the onset of the summer season, the people of Kangpar Gewog are worried. An area along their Gewog connectivity road is prone to landslides and it has been leaving the gewog cut-off from the rest of the district. The landslide area is located at Peydoong, around 13 kilometres away from the gewog centre. 

Small and Cottage Industries in the country fear that reduction of customs duty to 10 per cent on goods imported from third countries will affect the already struggling local businesses.

Farmers of Zhemgang struggle to sell green chillies despite slashing the price by almost 70 per cent compared to the initial price of Nu 300 per kilogram. Chilli is one of the main sources of income for the farmers of Zhemgang.

The National Assembly adopted the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill 2021 along with ten recommendations from the National Council. The NC's recommendations were all in line with the National Assembly's amendment adopted on the Bill. The National Council found that some sections related to the responsibilities of implementing agencies and enforcement measures need to be removed. 

Following the detection of a COVID-19 positive case yesterday, the Samtse district COVID-19 Task Force announced a 72-hour blackout in Tashichhoeling Gewog today. The movement of vehicles and people within the gewog will be restricted until contact tracing is complete. All schools, offices, and institutions also remain closed.

The National Council adopted the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill 2021 today. The bill will now enable selling, buying and distributing tobacco and tobacco products legally in the country. The National Assembly declared the bill as an Urgent Bill following continuous smuggling of tobacco products through the country's porous southern border and associated threats of importing coronavirus into the country. 

To the government's proposal of introducing a flat 10 per cent Customs Duty on goods imported from third countries, economists say it's a smart move. They say when more goods and services are available in the market, the price would fall. And this would help reduce inflation and provide consumers with the choice to have affordable quality products. 

With the poll day just a day away, Monggar and Nganglam constituencies are all set to elect their new National Assembly representatives. Campaigns have closed and polling officials have been deployed to all the polling stations.

The third Bhutan-India Development cooperation talk for the 12th Five Year Plan was held virtually today. Both the governments reviewed the progress of the projects supported by the Indian government under the 12th Five Year Plan. 

Re-deliberating on the Customs Duty (Amendment) Bill 2021, the National Assembly supported the National Council's recommendation to retain the Customs Duty on import of betel nuts at 50 per cent and to reduce the Customs Duty on electric fence energizers at zero per cent. The NA passed the Customs Duty Amendment Bill 2021 through a majority show of hands today.