National News

…𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒗𝒖𝒍𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒂𝒘 𝒆𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔 By Kezang ChodenThe Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) has reported an alarming surge in the trafficking of hard drugs, particularly brown sugar and heroin, with 20 cases recorded this year alone. The rise in cases has led to the arrest of 25 individuals from Thimphu, Paro, Phuentsholing, …

…𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑨𝑫𝑩 𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔. By Zhenphen chokdenWith the launch of the National Adaptation Plan (NAP 2023), Bhutan has set an ambitious target to mobilize USD 14 billion to address climate change impacts across seven key priority sectors: water, agriculture …

…𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒗𝒖𝒍𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒈𝒂𝒑𝒔 By Lhendup Wangmo Edith Cowan University (ECU) has reinforced its commitment to supporting Bhutan’s educational and professional development with the introduction of the Gyalyum Sangay Choden Wangchuck Scholarship. Established in partnership with RENEW (Respect, Educate, Nurture, and Empower Women) and ECU’s School of …

By Kinzang Lhamo A once-abandoned family home in Shabra, eight kilometers from Tashiyangtse town, is being revitalized into an art retreat, offering young people a platform for creative expression. The initiative, led by Tshewang Rinzin, aims to create an “art valley” where artists, photographers, and nature lovers can find inspiration and hone their skills. Built nearly 30 years ago by …

…𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈-𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 By Zhenphen Chokden What started as a hobby for many young Bhutanese is rapidly turning into a lucrative, yet unpredictable, career path. Digital content creation, once dismissed as a pastime, is evolving into a serious pursuit as influencers in the country gain traction, blending storytelling, branding, and digital entrepreneurship. …

…𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒃 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕. By Tashi TshewangWith unemployment among fresh graduates rising, concerns are growing as the Ministry of Education and Skills Development (MoESD) prioritizes the re-employment of resigned teachers. In an effort to address teacher shortages caused by retirements, resignations, and increasing student enrollment, …

…𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒗𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔 By Kezang ChodenChorten and lhakhang vandalism continue to pose a significant threat to nation’s cultural and spiritual heritage. According to data from the Royal Bhutan Police (RBP), a total of 772 cases of vandalism against these sacred structures have been recorded across the country between 2015 and 2025. The …

Bhutan has long been a champion of environmental conservation, and in this era of climate change and pollution, it is high time the nation takes a bold step towards a more sustainable future. One such step is the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the country’s transport system. This includes replacing all tourist and city buses with EVs, a …

…𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑵𝒖. 405 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝑨𝑨’𝒔 𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 The Royal Audit Authority (RAA) has reinforced its role in ensuring financial accountability, as outlined in the Annual Performance Report: 2023-2024. The report highlights the recovery of Nu. 405 million from financial irregularities, improvements in public financial management (PFM) systems, and …

…𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔, 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 By Lhendup WangmoA recent review of the Gewog Development Grant (GDG) has revealed significant disparities in resource allocation across key result areas, raising concerns about financial planning, oversight, and prioritization in developmental activities. The findings highlight a strong inclination toward infrastructure projects, particularly farm road and Lhakhang development, …