He Married him, She Married her

9 March: Picture ourselves looking for a needle amidst a stack of hay and finding not one, but scores of them. We will be baffled. And baffled we are, learning that there are several gays, lesbians and heterosexuals amidst us. It is the diffusion of western life, which Globalization ferried to Bhutan. This is what most of us would say. Others would construe that homosexuals have always been a part of our communities, which is now raising its head. You can take either of the two, the truth remains... Read more

Bhutanese gay and lesbian

9 March: Behind the curtains of conventions, homosex­uality is fast rearing its controversial head. Though gay and lesbian relationships are considered a taboo in Bhutan, there is an increasing number of them, thriving behind closed doors. “I want to be free” says Sengkey, a young man with a normal career and friends. He has the same interests as any other young man except that he is exclusively gay. “I am not at all shy and embar­rassed to be gay, because that is what god has made me and... Read more

Bhutanese Fashion Theme

8 March: Bhutanese textiles wowed the crowd at the Lakme Fashion Week 2010. Inspired by her recent visit to Bhutan, Indian designer Babita Malkani showcased a variety of Bhutanese textiles at the Summer Resort 2010 – Lakme Fashion Week. Keeping Bhutan as her theme, Babita Malkani’s Boho Chic line was an ode to the monasteries and architecture of the country. “During my travel to Bhutan, I decided to create a line of garments which will represent the happiest country of the world,” ex­plained... Read more

Standardising tourist hotels starts

March 5: A six-member team led by TCB started a countrywide hotel standardization and classification assessment yes­terday. The assessment is in line with the government’s decision which requires all hotels catering to tourists to be upgraded to a minimum of three star category. The month-long exercise will assesses tourist hotels and accommodations reg­istered with the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB). The hotels have been given two years to upgrade themselves. The past grading system, which... Read more

Indian cabinet secretary in Bhutan

5 March – The cabinet secretary of the government of India, Mr K.M Chandrasekhar is on a three-day visit to the country starting today. Tomorrow, the Mr Chandrasekhar will deliver a talk on “Functions of Cabinet, Committee of Secretaries and Relationship between Bureaucracy and Politicians” at the Tarayana conference hall at Chubachu, Thimphu. While in the country, Mr Chandrasekhar will receive an audience with His majesty the King and His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo. He will also call... Read more

BUS RUNS AMOK DAMAGES 13 CARS

March 3, 2010: A brand new Chinese man­ufactured bus lost control at the Debum Lam in Hon­gkong market yesterday and crashed unto motor vehicles parked by the roadside, leaving behind a trail of damaged cars. The accident that took place around 2.15 pm left altogether 13 vehicles damaged, of which an alto taxi, a Maruti 800 car and a Prado car were severely damaged. The bus howev­er suffered minor damage on the front side. The bus is owned by a private com­pany in Thimphu. Three people injured... Read more

Cabinet approves 1,000-acre land

February 18 – The cabinet on Tuesday approved a grant of about 1,000 acres of land to Druk holding and investments (DHI) to be used as an equity in the proposal to build a knowledge city in Bhutan by the Indian-based company, Infinity techno parks. The land will enable DHI to partner in the project, the cost of which is expected to run into billions of ngultrums. Cabinet ministers agreed that Bhutan must do its best to attract outside investment by creating a conducive environment within the... Read more

Education, Labour checklists

February 18 – The education and labour ministries signed performance compacts with the prime minister yesterday on 17 key initiatives to be undertaken by 2013, which will bind them to their targets. The education ministry committed to raise the percentage of teachers satisfied with the profession from 24 in 2009 to 70 percent in 2013 through changes in compensation, career tracks and promotion systems. With the initiative geared towards a Bhutanese learning system focused on GNH principles,... Read more

Intel donates 200 laptops to Bhutanese schools

February 13 – Intel, the multinational corporation that manufactures central processing units (CPU) or microprocessors, will donate 200 laptops for Bhutanese schools. Known as ‘Classmate PC’, the laptops or rather netbooks are Intel’s response to the one laptop per child (OLPC) XO computer, also known as the US$ 100 laptop. The donation comes four months after the government received 220 XO laptops from OLPC (Asia Pacific) and the international telecommunications union (ITU), reflecting... Read more

Indian tour operators interested in Bhutan

February 13 – In what is known to be India’s largest tourism fair network, Bhutan was among the more than 50 countries participating in the fair held in Mumbai, which drew 186,000 visitors from February 6-8. The annual event offered opportunity for tourism destinations and companies around the world to exhibit their products to travel industries and major outbound markets in India. The tourism council of Bhutan (TCB), comprising 13 tour operators and hoteliers, including Druk Air, received... Read more

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