National News

…𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒍𝒂𝒘𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝑴𝑷𝒔 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔’ 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒔 By Tshering Yangden Member of Parliament (MP), Naiten Wangchuk of Economic and Finance Committee (EFC) highlight Pay Structure Reform Act (Amendment) Bill during the ongoing winter session of EFC member, MP Naiten Wangchuk pointed out issues in the current laws that affect parliamentary …

…𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 4,710 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔, 𝑴𝑷𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒔 By Kezang Choden & Lalit Gurung The Good Governance Committee (GCC) of the National Assembly tabled a motion on calling for the enactment of a Pension Act to address critical challenges faced by the National Pension and Provident Fund (NPPF). The …

…𝑨 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚-𝑫𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝑨𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝑹𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆 By Kezang Choden Gakiling and Sangbay Gewogs in Haa Dzongkhag are accelerating efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in winter vegetable production. As part of this initiative, 25 farmers from the two gewogs have been identified to cultivate nine priority vegetable varieties across 20 acres of land. The program aims to reduce reliance …

…𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒊𝒙 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 100 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 By Lalit Gurung What began as a humble effort supporting six students in terms of educational materials, groceries, and pocket money in 2019 has now blossomed into a wider, collaborative community movement. A small but impactful initiative, “Little from the Heart,” founded …

…𝑭𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝑳𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝑻𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝑳𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒔 By Tshering Yangden Dagala, one of the remotest Gewog under Thimphu Dzongkhag gets Bmobile network service early this month with the installtiopn five network towers. It is expected to benefit 280 residents settled across five chiwogs namely Chamgang Toey, Chamgang Maey, Wangdrog, Doondrog, and Gyaltala with 95 percent network coverage. Of the …

…𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝑺𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒐𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒏 2025 By Yeshey Lhadon Mountain Hazelnuts (MH) reported a total yield of 10.4 tonnes, nearly double the 5.5 tonnes harvested in 2023 marking a significant milestone in the country’s hazelnut cultivation efforts, which continue to expand and thrive across various regions. Among the leading dzongkhags, Lhuentse emerged as the top supplier for the first time, …

…𝑪𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒕 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝑶𝒖𝒕𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 By Kezang ChodenThree cabinet ministers presented the Action Taken Reports (ATR) on resolutions from the First Session of the National Assembly. The reports focused on key issues, including the establishment of a Crop and Livestock Compensation Trust Fund, enhancement of healthcare services, and the necessity of a Priority Development Fund. Lyonpo Younten …

…𝑵𝑨 𝒖𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊-𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒖𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔 By Lhendup WangmoMembers of Parliament (MPs) in the National Assembly (NA) called for reforms aimed at providing compensation and rehabilitation for individuals acquitted in corruption cases or whose cases are dismissed, during the review of the 2023-2024 Annual Report of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). The ACC’s report for the …

…𝑳𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝑩𝒉𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒏 Historically, women’s health has been significantly sidelined, with various aspects under-researched and underfunded. Despite women making up half of the global population, their specific health needs have often been overlooked in medical research and healthcare delivery. This neglect has led to substantial gaps in care, …

…𝑳𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝑰𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑷𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑽𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔 By Kezang ChodenEvery Saturday, around 60 to 70 vegetable sellers gather at the local market in Norbugang Gewog in Samtse Dzongkhag. . But with only two small sheds, many are left without proper shelter. Thus, vendors construct temporary stalls, leaving them and their produce vulnerable to the natural elements,particularly during the summer …