National News

…𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒌𝒆𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆, 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍-𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 2024-2025 𝒇𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 By Lhendup Wangmo In a significant move to enhance the country’s public service infrastructure, the government of Bhutan has allocated Nu. 16,721.932 million to the General Public Service Sector for the fiscal year 2024-2025. This allocation …

…𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 1,118, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 By Lhendup Wangmo The annual report released by the Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) reveals a slight increase in the number of motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) nationwide, along with mixed trends in fatalities and injuries across the country’s divisions. In 2023, there were 1,062 accidents, resulting in 104 fatalities …

…𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 3.1%, 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 By Lhendup Wangmo The third-quarter 2024 Labour Force Survey provides a nuanced view of Bhutan’s labor market, showing a slight decrease in the overall unemployment rate to 3.1% from 3.7% in the previous quarter. While this reduction suggests some …

…𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕’𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒃𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈-𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 By Kezang ChodenThe government’s budget for the fiscal year (FY) 2024-2025, totaling Nu 97,654.829 million, outlines a financial plan aimed at addressing immediate service delivery needs while setting the stage for long-term development. However, economists are raising concerns that …

…𝑷𝒉𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝑵𝒖. 35 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 By Lhendup WangmoThe growing demand for healthcare services in Pasakha, Phuentsholing, has made the establishment of a hospital in the area increasingly essential. Recognizing this pressing need, Phuentsholing Thromde has allocated Nu. 35 million in the 13th Five-Year Plan to fund the construction of …

…𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒃𝒚 33% 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 134 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 6 𝒕𝒐 13 By Lhendup WangmoThe Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) has reported a troubling increase in missing person cases in 2024 compared to the previous year. The total number of missing persons in 2024 reached 134, a significant rise from the 101 cases recorded in 2023, representing …

…𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒂 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒔𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒘 By Kezang ChodenThe Royal Bhutan Police (RBP), through its Department of Crime and Operations, has released the official crime statistics for 2023 and 2024, offering an in-depth look at the country’s criminal scene. While …

…𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊-𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒕𝒉, 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒁𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒈’𝒔 𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓. By Lhendup Wangmo A Multi-Stakeholder Platform (MSP) meeting was held in Zhemgang on December 26, 2024, aiming to boost the local coffee business ecosystem. The event brought together coffee growers and buyers to foster collaboration and strengthen the coffee value chain under the dzongkhag. Key …

…𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐬𝐢 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐡𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞-𝐢𝐧-𝐛𝐡𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬. By Lhendup Wangmo A new Cottage and Small Industry (CSI) Market has opened in Samdrup Jongkhar, marking the third such outlet in Bhutan after those in Thimphu and Paro. The market is designed to promote locally made products both within Bhutan …

…𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝑮𝑴𝑪 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒚𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒄, 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒉𝒖𝒃 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆, 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑩𝒉𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒏’𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔 A historic chapter in the governance of Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) was written on Decmber 26, 2024 with the formal granting of GMC Law No. 1 of 2024, also known as the Application of Laws Act 2024. …