Monthly Archives: December, 0

Bhutan today mostly depends on a single trade route like Phuentshogling to import goods. During the deliberation on the Preferential Trade Agreement in the National Council today, members expressed concerns over the country’s overly dependence on a single trade route. However, going by the economic affairs minister, Bhutan could have inland waterways to Bangladesh via Sunkosh in Dagana. 

Abuse of function by the public servants continues to be the major corruption offence. Out of more than 450 complaints the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) received between 2020 and June 2021, 160 were on abuse of function. The Good Governance Committee of the National Council presented this today while deliberating on the ACC review report 2020-2021.

The South Thimphu Police arrested three men on Tuesday for allegedly stealing Nu 50 M worth of Apple devices from an Apple store, iDesire, in Thimphu. The suspects are aged between 20 to 25 years and are all private employees.

Giving nutritious food to cattle during winter is a challenge for most farmers across the country. Although some farmers store fodder, it lacks nutrition due to poor storage methods. But farmers of Nangkor village in Pema Gatshel will not have to worry about this anymore. Training on how to stock fodder using plastic bags was recently conducted in the village.

If the current enrollment of the children living with disabilities in schools is any indication, then parents and the education ministry have a long way to go until everyone goes to school. Of over 1,600 children living with disabilities in the country today, only about 750 of them go to school. This was discussed during the National Conference on Disability in Thimphu today.

The Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) penalised the former Dumtoed Gup in Samtse for recharging a talk time voucher to a voter. Two gup candidates from the same chiwog filed a complaint with the commission alleging the former Gup on four different charges of corrupt practices.

Suppose police personnel fail to obey unlawful written and verbal orders of the superiors, it won’t be considered a service offence anymore. During the third reading of the Royal Bhutan Police Amendment Bill 2021 today, the National Assembly unanimously agreed that disobeying only lawful orders of the superiors would be considered an offence. Failing to obey such orders, written or verbal were considered a service offence in accordance with the Royal Bhutan Police Act 2009.

The National Council adopted the Natural Resources and Environment Committee’s recommendation on the need for the government to reform the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in the country. The committee recommended strengthening the existing SOEs and privatizing them. The House, however, did not approve the other four recommendations.

The southern part of the country is likely to receive rainfall during the weekends due to a cyclone over the Andaman sea. The Andaman sea is near the Gulf of Thailand and the Myanmar region. The National Centre for Hydrology and Meteorology (NCHM) said that although the cyclone is expected to result in light to moderate rainfall, the impact could either be lighter than predicted or much worse.

The Social and Cultural Committee's recommendation for a new clause in the Police Amendment Bill 2021 was rejected by the National Assembly today. The committee recommended adding a clause that bars investigators to interrogate a witness in the presence of the suspect even with consent. Most of the members said that existing clauses will suffice to protect witnesses and victims.