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 July 22, when 26 students from Damphu higher secondary school reported sick with flu like symptoms.

On the advice of the health officials, the school was closed for a week since July 22, with all affected patients kept in isolation.

An additional 34 Damphu residents reported to the hospital with minor symptoms. Dr Chabilal Adhikari said people were given some basic precautionary advice, such as covering their mouth and nose while sneezing and coughing, frequently washing their hands, avoiding crowded places and taking ample rest.

“People should take a collective responsibility to prevent the disease,” the district medical officer said, adding those suffering from flu like symptoms should immediately visit the nearest health centres.

Meanwhile, in Dagana, about 11 students of Daga higher secondary school were given tamiflu, and about 40 students were isolated from the rest to prevent the spread of the disease, although they have yet to confirm if the students were suffering from H1N1 or some other flu.

The district health officer (DHO), Gunja Raj Gurung, said they could not send the blood samples of the patients to Thimphu for confirmation because of roadblock.

He said health officials had assumed there was an H1N1 outbreak since a 40-year old man, who visited the school to attend to his sick son, tested positive for influenza A in Drujeygang.

About 175 students from the school reported to the Dagana health unit, suffering from fever, headache and throat ache since July 18.

Dagana dzongda Tashi Gyaltsen said that, in the absence of proper equipment to test if students were indeed suffering from the influenza, they were given paracetamol and some antibiotics.

Influenza A (H1N1) is a highly contagious disease and can turn severe in people suffering from diabetes, heart diseases, and chronic smokers’ diseases like bronchitis and lung diseases, and in pregnant women, said doctors.

source: kuensel

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 Ha and Paro), and in Rubesa, Wangduephodrang, to see if Bhutan’s wind could be tapped to produce electricity.

The 20-metre long wind mast, with wind sensors and other equipment to measure humidity, solar radiation, pressure and temperature, will be erected soon, according to engineer Nar Bahadur from the renewal energy division. The data will be recorded every 10 minutes and saved to a data logger; and downloaded every three months for analysis.

But it is not soon before any conclusion could be drawn on the alternative energy source. Nar Bahadur said that at least two years’ data is required for feasibility and development study. “Ideally, at least 10 years’ data is required to forecast the potential of wind energy,” he said.

The department has earlier studied wind speed in six places across the country – Bhur, Damphu, Bajo, Semtokha, Tsimasham and near the power substation at Charkilo, near Chuzom. But the data couldn’t be analysed because of the lack of a data analyser. The department, however, is purchasing a data analyser.

Nar Bahadur said that, of the six sites, Damphu in Tsirang revealed some potential. “But we are still hunting for better sites. We’re yet to come up with a actual generation capacity,” he said. Actual generation capacity depends on the velocity of the wind.

Although Wangduephodrang is strong, Nar Bahadur said that through his own observation, it was too gusty and not constant. “There’s a lot of fluctuation throughout the day. Too strong winds are also not good for the windmills,” he said.

The engineer said that studying wind profile in Bhutan is difficult because of the topography. “We need steady wind for wind power generation, but our wind path is different,” he said. “Winds in Bhutan have a funneling effect, it is only in the valleys.” While the ideal terrain should not be less than 10-degree slope, our terrains are complicated, said the engineer.

There are other challenges in tapping this free source of energy. Even if there is enough wind to rotate the turbines, bringing in windmill equipment is another identified challenge. “Our roads are too narrow, and there are too many bends, making it difficult for transporting windmills, especially the blades,” said Nar Bahadur.

At least a 10-metre long blade is needed for a 180 kW wind turbine, which is enough to light 90 rural households. “Bigger is better,” said Nar Bahadur, explaining that, if the blades are bigger, the generation is bigger too. A 330kW wind turbine would need blades measuring not less than 16 m. Another impediment is the grid connectivity, said Nar Bahadur. “Connecting the power to transmission lines would be expensive and mightn’t be economically viable,” he said.

A minimum wind speed of 3 m/s is required to generate power. Although preliminary studies indicate that the Wangdue and Tsirang winds fulfil the speed condition, it is not constant. “It’s windy only for a few hours a day,” said Nar Bahadur. “To get constant power generated from wind, the wind speed should be at least 12 m/s and should be continuous.”

source: kuensel

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 because many around the country aren’t aware about it, since we didn’t show the first Miss Bhutan live on television.”

The audition team of around ten people, including two judges, cameramen and reporters, was yesterday travelling from Bumthang to Mongar for the next audition in a bus and a truck, said the organiser.

But, despite the poor turnout, Karma Tshering said that there is “quality” this time. “They’re very good, almost everyone is a graduate and very talented,” he said, an observation he made when the team was auditioning in Paro. “They’re not only beautiful to look at, but vocal as well, which is good.”

Besides being “beautiful,” the minimum qualification required to participate in the beauty pageant is class X, and they should stand 5 feet four inches tall.

The team is however optimistic that Phuentsholing, where the last audition would be held on July 20, would have a higher number of contestants.

In case, the total number of short-listed candidates adds up to less than 60, they plan to have a second round of audition for Thimphu. “We received several calls from girls in Thimphu, who said they weren’t aware about the audition,” Karma Tshering said. “But if we get more than 60, then there won’t be a second round for Thimphu.”

After the audition team reaches Thimphu, the candidates would be short-listed and then informed by mid August. “Then the real Miss Bhutan contest begins, with training and grooming sessions,” said the organiser.

Since the core sponsors for the contest are yet to be confirmed, Karma Tshering said the theme for this year’s beauty pageant is still undecided. “The main sponsor will decide the theme,” he said. “It of course has to be related to women.”

source: kuensel

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,” he said, and the necessary equipment like servers and routers already in place. He simply made sure the people handling the equipment knew what they were doing, so that a connection could be established and maintained to the web, allowing Bhutanese access to the world.

Although establishing internet connections for service providers like Bhutan Telecom (BT) was nothing new to Philip, he said, “but it was the first time I was bringing a country online.”

From a technical point of view, it was nothing different, he said. But from a personal perspective, he said he was happy to facilitate a new form of communication that would allow the Bhutanese to show the world their unique culture.

Eleven years after he introduced the internet to Bhutan, Philip, who has been returning periodically ever since, said that “progress has been amazing.”

Currently involved in a five-day program with Bhutanese information communications technology operators in Paro, he observed that Bhutanese operators were “hungry” for the more sophisticated aspects of networking. “Ten years ago, I was only teaching the basic functions,” he said.

But Philip wants to know more about how the internet has impacted Bhutanese society. “There are a lot of implications, on how people’s perceptions change,” he said, “it’s a shame no one has done a study.”

On why, he himself had not done a study, especially with his personal connection to Bhutan, he replied, “no time.” Philip said he usually has around 300 emails he has to read through almost on a daily basis. Such a task would be better suited for a sociologist, he said.

Until such a study, Philip will have to do with only seeing the changes on the surface of an internet connected Bhutanese society, that he helped create.

source: kuensel

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 is what most investors are eagerly waiting for after coming to know in the past few weeks that the bank’s shares had been hugely oversubscribed, and maximum holdings would be less than 50 shares an applicant.

The bank’s brokers, RICBL securities limited, were also overwhelmed by the number of subscriptions, and extended the allotment date from June 28 to July 19, because data entry of investors into the exchange system could not be punched in with the given time.

Some buyers are already contemplating selling off what they will get allotted, as they find the holdings too little to make it a worthy investment.

Some investors, speculating a rush for shares, had accordingly lined up relatives and friends to buy shares, when the offer went public from April 25 to May 26. Private firms also had their employees buying shares, to be later transferred to their boss or proprietor.

The bank’s prospectus indicated that it might make some money only from its third year of operations, even though it saw good investment opportunities, considering that the existing banks had been expanding at 30 percent a year.

Its projected financial results for its first three years of operation puts the first year at a loss of Nu 23.96M, and a modest profit in the second year that rises to Nu 24.87M in the third year.

As risk factors, the prospectus had listed inflation, defaulters and competition from new banks and existing ones.

The Nu 300M Druk PNB is the first FDI bank in the country; with PNB, India, holding 51 percent stake and 19 percent held by local promoters. It still has five percent shares worth Nu 15M that will be allotted on private placement.

The bank, which began commercial operations in Thimphu in January this year, will elect a fifth director from the public shareholders, after the IPO is completed. At present, it has four directors, three nominated by the Punjab national bank (PNB), including the CEO, and one director from the local promoters.

The other private bank, T-Bank, which opened in February, will also be making a public offering; and the government’s bank, Bhutan of Bhutan, will be required to float 25 percent of its holdings to the public according to the royal monetary authority.

source: kuensel

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 37 km Manitar-Raidak road under Chukha dzongkhag, 20 km between Raidak and Lhamoizingkha under Dagana, 55 km between Pangbang and Nganglam, and 21 km Samdrupcholing-Samrang road. The 57 km feeder road will connect Tsebar and Mikuri.

The highway constructions also include spanning four major bridges and 25 small and medium ones. The longest, between Manitar and Raidak will be about 150 m long.

The project team leader and consultant Kim Howard said the projects would be thrown to international competitive bidding, and not just confined to local contractors.

“The ideal arrangement will be for local contractors associating with the international firms,” he said, adding that, while Bhutanese would have the local knowledge and experience for foreign investors coming to work in an entirely different topography and system, they in turn could gain much from expertise and new equipment foreign firms would bring.

Kim Howard also said the bidding process was only about 45 days away, within which time, local contractors had to call, email and discuss with their foreign partners to reach an agreement. “The bids for the five roads will begin sometime in August or September, one at a time,” Howard said.

Track records, human resources, capital and equipment of both foreign and local contractors would be scrutinised in the bid evaluation.

The highway linking Lhamoizingkha is a particularly crucial one, as it is in the government’s program to tap into the Kerabari river and turn it into one of world’s biggest hydro power projects. “That’s one reason to fast-track this road,” Howard said.

So far Bhutanese had to travel for hours along bordering Indian roads and back into the national highway to reach Lhamoizingkha.

Although the road to Lhamoizingha was built some 22 years ago, it was blocked just as soon by heavy mudslides and it continues to remain blocked.

Howard said cars could travel only up 16 km before hitting a dead-end.

He said people did not know about drainages and slides then, which today served as a lesson for international consultants with limited budget, to use good designs and standard materials, if similar calamities were to be avoided.

Deflecting from the usual norm of contractors procuring their own materials for the roads and bridges, the consultant said they were going to do most of the procurement works through international tender.

“We’ll place specific orders on most steel materials of international quality,” Howard said. Clubbed under one big project, he said, companies from South Africa, Canada, India and the USA were showing interest already.

“That way, we’ll have one standard and uniformity,” he said.

The works on roads, which will begin this coming dry season, have three years each for completion.

“If we lose this dry season, we’ll be entering the next monsoon,” he said, adding that most roads would be trafficable before full completion.

New construction materials and innovative techniques, he said, would be used to fast track works, which was crucial given the immense social, commercial and national benefits.

Social benefits, Kim Howard said, in terms of shortened walking distances for farmers from the market and commercial from the hydro-power project that is in the pipeline and through tourism which Lhamoizingkha had to offer in plenty in terms of the wildlife attraction.

“Above all, the nation would gain in terms of infrastructure,” he said, adding the highway construction along the southern foothills, both from the east and the west would ease the government’s intentions to build a national east-west route within the nation’s boundary.

source: kuensel

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 soil of the artificially expanded athletic ground kept sliding into the swelling Thimchu on the rainy afternoon of June 27.

“BAAF has approached and submitted a detailed budget and map to the department of budget under ministry of finance and we’re awaiting a quick response,” said Dorji Tenzin.

Meanwhile, the Thimphu city corporation was also asked by the government to do the necessary work at the riverbank, since the citizen initiative centenary coronation celebration ground (CICCC) falls under the city corporation. “It was unilaterally decided that the river embankment work will be done along with the coronation park,” said Dorji Tenzin, adding that, while the coronation park was taken up seriously, the river embankment for the CICCC ground was not given due importance.

“BAAF members have spent sleepless nights after the June 27 downpour,” said Dorji Tenzin. He said that the big stones in the river, pushed aside to the bank with the help of excavators, had helped in preventing the river from eating more of the bank.

“Almost all of the money has been poured in for the athletic track and it would be a huge loss if it is washed away before the people can use it,” said Dorji Tenzin, adding that, except for the laying of the rubber, almost all the work for the athletic track had been completed.

The most expensive component of the track is the synthetic rubber material, which costs USD 260,000 (Nu 11.4M). This is being met with funding from the international association of athletic federation (IAAF), which is providing USD 160,000 and USD 100,000 from the olympic council of Asia (OCA). The Bhutan olympic committee has a budget of Nu 7M for the sub base construction work.

The entire sporting arena, with the sitting galleries and mesh fencing and flood lighting, is estimated to cost Nu 70M.

source: kuensel

“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 Wangchuck from the Bhutan olympic committee and five sets are on gratis loan from Bhutan mountain biking club and contributions from various other agencies and organisations (WWF, Bhutan trust fund, NEC, DGPC).

En route, they will distribute about 300 fluorescent bulbs to the villagers. “This is to show them how to use energy economically,” said the coordinator, Loday Dorji, a final semester student from Sherubtse college said.

Participants also said that they are looking forward to learn about the flora and fauna on the way. “Crossing Thrumshingla on bicycle would be an achievement,” said a participant.

They halted at Sherichu yesterday.

source: kuensel

2 July, 2010 – 300 Govt. services to be rationalised and streamlined

8 Bills under consideration by Parliament

12 Bills drafted by relevant ministers and agencies

16 Bills enacted

8 Regional and international conventions ratified

16,536 Households will be connected to the national grid by June 2011

20 Dzongkhags including several gewogs will be provided with broadband connectivity

497 Remaining villages will be connected to the cellular phone by June

15,841 Children admitted in PP this year alone

320,900 Are now employed

3.3% Unemployment rate

Transportation & Communication

Length of roads – 5.982.3

No. of motorable bridges – 265

No. of internet connections – 7,686

No. of mobile phone subscribers – 327,053

source: kuensel

The conference also unanimously welcomed Bhutan’s offer to host the fourth meeting of SAARC home ministers during the term of its chairmanship of the association. Dates of the meeting were not disclosed.

“Bhutan is privileged to enjoy a peaceful situation. But we are by no means complacent, and recognise our existing vulnerabilities, largely arising from resource and infrastructure constraints,” said the home minister, Lyonpo Minjur Dorji, who attended the meeting.

“As non traditional security threats continue to grow in complexity, the primacy of dialogue and cooperation for an effective regional approach becomes more imperative,” said Lyonpo Minjur Dorji. “South Asia must renew its efforts to form a coherent and collaborative response to the region’s complex security risks.”

The six SAARC conventions, he said, were a demonstration of the collective political will of the governments to address common challenges in resolute fashion through genuine partnership.

While in Islamabad, Lyonpo Minjur Dorji called on the Pakistan president, Asif Ali Zardari, and prime minister, Syed Yousaf Reza Gilani. Lyonpo also held discussions with the home ministers of other SAARC member states.

source: Kuensel