Bhutan’s GNH challenge

American economist, Professor Jeffrey D Sachs of Columbia University, gave a talk yesterday in Thimphu on “The Challenges of Sustainable Development in Bhutan: Challenges and Questions based on global experience”. An excerpt from the talk August, 4 – Bhutan remains a low income country although it is a country that is growing rapidly. We know from the absolute essence of the whole purpose of GNH, that equating income levels and happiness are two very different things; but I think that... Read more

100 ATMs across Bhutan by 2013

August, 4 – Clients of the country’s oldest financial institution, bank of Bhutan (BoB), will be able to withdraw money with ease from automated teller machines (ATM) across the country. To ensure that, the bank has ordered 35 additional ATM, which will be planted in various places across the 20 dzongkhags. The plan is to install 100 ATMs throughout the country by 2013. The bank’s chief of research and monitoring, Dil Bahadur, said that, with ATMs, they are trying to provide an alternative... Read more

H1N1 Outbreak in Tsirang

July, 26 – Medical tests at the public health laboratory in Thimphu have confirmed the outbreak of H1N1 in Tsirang. Three blood samples from the dzongkhag were sent to Thimphu for test on July 23, the results of which, the Tsirang district medical officer Dr Chabilal Adhikari said, were returned the next day over the telephone. “All three had tested positive,” he said. “We’re giving symptomatic treatment and anti-viral medication to patients.” The first case of H1N1 was reported on... Read more

To harness the wind

July 25 - If the morning wind in Tshimasham is like blowing from a fan, Wangduephodrang is called Windy Phodrang because of the strong winds, which many believe come from a “wind hole” behind the dzong. But speed alone is not enough, if Bhutan is to harness wind energy, an alternate source, to enhance the country’s energy security. Officials from the renewal energy division of the energy department have erected a wind mast in Tsimasham and two more will be erected at the Chelela pass (between... Read more

Poor response for pageant

July, 19 – If numbers mean anything, then the Miss Bhutan 2010 is not attracting enough. From the auditions held in three districts of Thimphu, Paro for Haa, Punakha for Gasa and Wangduephodrang and Gelephu for Tsirang and Dagana, the audition team listed only about 30 names. The audition kicked off in Thimphu on June 25. “I don’t know why the turnout isn’t very good,” the beauty pageant’s organiser and the director of MPC Bhutan entertainment, Karma Tshering, said. “Maybe it’s... Read more

The man who connected Bhutan

July, 19 – “I see website and email addresses on the signboards of shops now, back then it was just the telephone numbers,” said Philip Smith. “I’m happy to have been a part of this.” In 1999, Bhutan went online. The man who connected Bhutan was Philip Smith. Some time in March of 1999, Philip, a computer engineer, received a phone call. He was to connect Bhutan to the world by June 2, less than three months away. Philip downplayed his role. “There was already a project underway,”... Read more

34-share ceiling an applicant

July, 19 – Investors in Druk PNB’s initial public offering (IPO) will receive a maximum of 34 shares an application, say officials of the royal securities exchange of Bhutan (RSEB), with the float over subscribed by more than six times. The allotment begins today. A total of 24,074 people from all across the country invested Nu 470M (USD 8.8M) for the bank’s offer of 750,000 Nu 100 shares to raise Nu 75M. This means Nu 395M will be refunded to investors received in over subscriptions. That... Read more

USD 55M project open to bidding

2 July – Bhutanese contractors have about a month to tie up with their counterparts abroad, should they wish to participate in building the 190-km road, split between east and west, along sections of the southern foothills. Following the feasibility study of four national highways, including a feeder road, the roads department under works and human settlement ministry will soon float tenders worth USD 55M as per the approved Asian development bank (ADB) grant. The four highways comprise the... Read more

synthetic athletic track

2 July – The country’s first and only synthetic athletic track, which is being laid at the Yangchenphug school riverside ground in the capital, could end up in the Thimchu if an embankment wall is not built immediately. The heavy rains on June 27 that caused the river to swell has reduced the area between the ground on which the athletic track stands and the river to less than five metres, according to the general secretary of Bhutan amateur athletic federation (BAAF), Dorji Tenzin. Loose... Read more

Cycling for Climate Change

July, 2 – A group of 16 Sherubtse students are cycling from Kanglung to Thimphu, a distance of about 570 km, to create awareness on climate change and its impact. “We want to explain in every way possible to people we meet on the way that the global climate crisis has implications on our environment and we should do our best to preserve what we have,” said a participant. The group is equipped with banners and audiovisual equipment. Ten bicycles have been provided by Dasho Jigyel Ugyen... Read more

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