Editorial

Bhutan’s elections are full of surprises. We have seen in the past and on Saturday, the electorate pulled another big surprise. Before the poll day, many have written off the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) and thought that the People’s Democratic Party and Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa would go on to the general round. PDP was beaten and DPT, the arch rival, …

The Office of the Media Arbitrator had found that the former National Council Chairperson, Dasho Sonam Kinga (Phd) had violated social media rules and that he had posted his article on Social media at an inappropriate time. Electoral laws prohibits social media user from conveying such communication over social media during the period of election. The case is now referred …

These days, National Council live debate of all the aspirant candidates is the most talked subject and the most watched telecast. Every Bhutanese are glued to the television set to watch the candidates from their Dzongkhags to make up their mind to cast their franchise for the right aspiring candidates who would make difference to their communities and the country …

Land is scarce and precious. Those who don’t own a plot are suffering. Those who own are making a fortune. Land is granted as Kidu only By His Majesty The King. It is the prerogative of the Druk Gyalpo. Other than that, any ownership unless inherited or bought legally is illegal. With a lot of controversies of land acquisition in …

The economic affairs ministry has warned traders to not consider GST benefits as profit and asking them to pass down the benefits to consumers. The warning comes at the right time when Bhutanese have started feeling the impact of the GST regime in India. Bhutan imports almost everything from India and there will be direct impact on Bhutan from the …

The launching of three courses at the Jigme Wangchuk Power Training Institute is a good initiative and should be welcomed and lauded. There are not many programmes that seem realistic than those launched at Gelephu. In just more than a year, we will Bhutanese who will be able to fix or lay underground cable, transmission lines and maintain transformers. There …

If you throw a stone from a building in Thimphu, it probably would hit a university graduate! This is not because of the presence of the thousands of graduates in the capital attending the National Graduate Orientation Programme, but because of the sheer number of young people finishing college. Given our free education system, most young people tend to complete …

The recent incidents of river level increasing, and exceeding the alert threshold is an indication of the nature’s fury. Located in a fragile ecosystem, Bhutan is prone to natural disasters, especially flash floods, soil erosion, land and mudslides. Glacial lake outburst flood is worst, but not impossible. We have already experienced several in the recent past. There is not much …

The Royal Monetary Authority had reduced the amount of money people can borrow from the banks to buy a car. Now they can avail only 30 percent of the total cost. The decision of the central bank is received with mixed feeling. The rich are laughing at the decision, the poor are thinking why and many are thinking why now. …

Far away from the madding crowd of the capital, at Memelakha, there is much more than the dumped waste that is rotting. The stench is an indication that after decades of planning, we are still grappling with the same problem. Call it a policy failure or implementation, solid waste management, although recognized long ago, is still haunting us. It be …