Monthly Archives: December, 0

The health ministry is reviewing and reassessing its decision to relocate the National Traditional Medicine Hospital at Kawajangsa to the national referral hospital premise. However, the ministry has not yet taken any policy decision on the matter. The health minister said this in response to a news release the Opposition Party issued earlier today accusing the government of policy blunder.

The tourism industry is going through a change. While the change is for a better and sustainable industry, some stakeholders feel the process is unfair. This time, it is the owners of non-star hotels or the 'budget hotels'. A notification from the Tourism Council of Bhutan states that only certified hotels would be allowed to cater to tourists, and the assessment will be done only for 3-star and above hotels. This came as a cause of concern for the non-star hoteliers as they will not be qualified for assessment and certification.

Women empowerment is still a far-fetched dream in some corners of the country. They are held back from succeeding in business by responsibilities at home. In Pemathang Gewog of Samdrup Jongkhar, a women's group cut their losses after the business went downhill because the members could not dedicate themselves fully to the business. They were into manufacturing plates from areca nut leaves. The gewog is now planning to hand over the plant to another group. 

To reduce human-elephant conflict in the community, the Gelephu Gewog administration has decided not to accept online land tax payments hereafter. This was discussed during the recent consultation meeting. Today, most landowners pay land tax through an online payment system which increases the risk of land remaining unattended. And this, the residents say has increased incidences of elephant attacks.

For years, some 40 households of Drubchhugang chiwog at Tsholingkhar gewog in Tsirang have been struggling to get reliable drinking water. Residents say the present water source is not enough with the increasing population in the chiwog. The current water source is two decades old.

Waste is a global problem and it needs global participation to address it. Despite being dubbed a carbon-negative country, Bhutan has its share of the waste problem. Various cleaning campaigns are conducted regularly across the country every year. However, the issue keeps surfacing. In a bid to motivate Bhutanese in keeping the country clean, a group of foreigners out of sheer love for Bhutan and nature joined a youth group to clean up Chamkhar town in Bumthang, on Wednesday.

In what might come as an odd case of human-wildlife conflict, farmers in Zhemgang are losing paddy saplings to a rat infestation. The rodents have started infesting around five acres of paddy fields belonging to three households in Grasphay village of Trong Gewog. According to the villagers, unlike other cases of human-wildlife conflict, it is challenging to guard the fields against rats as they cannot be kept away by interventions such as fencing. 

The country will go to the poll early next year for the 4th National Council elections. Preparing for this, the Election Commission of Bhutan will soon be conducting a seminar to brief aspiring candidates. This is also to get a general idea of how many will contest the elections. In the past elections, a few districts without any candidates forced the commission to conduct the election on different dates. 

In an effort to develop Bhutan’s human resource capital, Japan has been giving scholarships to Bhutanese civil servants. So far about 2,400 Bhutanese were trained under short-term and long-term training in Japan. And seven more civil servants will be leaving for Japan this month. They will be studying disaster management, urban planning and energy policy among others.

The Ambassador of Thailand to Bhutan, Makawadee Sumitmor initiated a cleaning campaign at the Bhutan-Thailand Friendship Park in Thimphu. It was part of the Royal Volunteer Project initiated by the King of Thailand as a tribute to his parents today.