Monthly Archives: December, 0

Business at Gola town in Tashichhoeling gewog of Samtse has been sluggish for a few years now. Courtesy of township development, new concrete buildings are now changing the landscape of Gola town. But this is at the expense of business growth. The number of customers is at an all-time low and business people attribute this to decreasing cardamom production and offices moving out of Gola town. 

Residents of Serzhong, Tareythang, Umling and Chhuzanggang Gewogs in Sarpang are worried about the damaged bridge over Barshong river. They are concerned with the danger posed by the damaged wing wall of the bridge.

Aja Nye, a sacred site in Monggar, is now made easily accessible for the people. Iron ladders have been installed at various sites for pilgrims who walk almost two days to reach the site. Boomdeling Wildlife Sanctuary installed the ladders with support from Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conversation in 2018.

Harsh climate, rough terrain, poor soils, and short growing seasons often lead to low agricultural productivity and food deficits in 8 Hindu-Kush Himalayan countries. Looking at the need to understand and promote organic agriculture and develop market for organic products, a symposium on organic agriculture was held in Paro for two days.

A little over a year since it came into being, the traditional medicine unit at Mendrelgang BHU in Tsirang has been seeing an increasing number of patients. So far the unit has seen more than 3000 patients with different ailments.

Bhutan is situated in the young Himalayan range which is considered as one of the world's most active seismic zones. Thus Bhutan is prone to earthquakes and building earthquake-resilient structure is therefore crucial. To test the resilience of traditional Bhutanese structures to earthquakes, the Department of Culture and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) conducted shake table test exercise yesterday. 

The Phongmey Gup of Trashigang died when the gewog's bolero he was travelling in was hit by a falling boulder at Phimsong yesterday.

More than 700 scouts from schools in Samtse took part in a five-day winter camp for Nachung and Nazhoen scouts in Tashichhoeling. The camp, which ended today, was an opportunity for young scouts to engage and learn from each other while exchanging ideas.

Farmers are now working towards adding value to their crops. A group of women in Menchu village under Norboogang Gewog in Pema Gatshel is one such example, they have started producing Banana chips a few months ago.

Geographically, Bhutan is vulnerable to natural disasters like earthquakes and glacier floods. Technologically, Bhutan is not yet well equipped to live through such disasters. Agreeing that telecommunications play a vital role during natural calamities, a two-day workshop on emergency telecommunications is underway to prepare technologically.