Monthly Archives: December, 0

Waste management continues to be a problem in the country. In Tingtibi town under Zhemgang district, residents complain of an improper dumping yard that is left without proper monitoring and management for over a decade. The wastes piled up in the dumping yard has become an eye sore for the residents and motorists.

It’s only a matter of months before Monggar has all of its gewog connectivity roads blacktopped. The blacktopping works for only two gewogs, Silambi and Gongdue, are left to complete. And both the roads are expected to be complete by June next year.

By this weekend, Bhutan would have fully vaccinated almost 80 per cent of its population against COVID-19. The health ministry started administering the second dose of vaccination for children between 12 and 17 years in some 15 districts on 26th October. The campaign will also vaccinate adults who had their first dose of vaccination in July. 

Building up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference or COP26 scheduled to be held in Scotland from Sunday, the UNDP country office’s final segment of the Climate Series started yesterday. The week-long event intends to create awareness of climate change and promote local solutions to fight the impacts of climate change.

The National Immunization Technical Advisory Group is urging all eligible Bhutanese who are yet to receive the first dose of the COVID vaccines to get the jab before the end of this month. According to Dr Sonam Wangchuk, the majority of the people in this group would be pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers. He said there is enough evidence that the vaccines are safe for them.

The sixth session of the third parliament will begin on the 24th of next month. During the session, the National Assembly will deliberate on six Bills including the Forest and Nature Conservation Bill of Bhutan 2021, Customs Duty (Amendment) Bill, Tax Amendment Bill and Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, among others. A press release from the National Assembly states that the Prime Minister may deliver the Annual Report on the State of the Nation. 

Football lovers in Samdrup Jongkhar are waiting for the thromde to install floodlights at the public football ground. The ground remains empty most of the time during the day because of the scorching heat. The public ground was laid with artificial turf in 2018.  

If we save money today, the money will save us tomorrow. But simply saying it will not help. To create a healthy saving culture and improve financial well-being, officials from RENEW in collaboration with the agriculture ministry are training students in eight districts. It is part of international savings day, which is celebrated every year on 31st October. More than 600 students will be trained.

If approved, the first more than 300,000 tourists visiting Bhutan hereafter won’t have to pay the Sustainable Development Fee (SDF). As a post-COVID recovery measure, the Tourism Association is proposing the government for the SDF waiver. To this effect, they have submitted a proposal to the Economic and Finance Committee of the National Assembly, requesting deliberation during the upcoming session of the parliament.

The Norgaygang Gup in Samtse filed a case against the Home Secretary, the Dzongkhag Tshogdu Chairperson and the planning officer today for alleged administrative lapses. The case is related to training for Tshogpas held in Phuentshogling in May 2019 when the secretary was the Dzongda there.