National News

The global environment is facing an unprecedented crisis, with air pollution and climate change emerging as major threats. Bhutan, despite its small size, cannot remain indifferent to the escalating risks posed by air pollution. The degradation of air quality, driven by industrialization, deforestation, and harmful gas emissions, is already affecting public health, ecosystems, and the global climate. Bhutan must take …

…𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒉-𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒅𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈-𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆. By Lhendup WangmoBhutanese drivers are encountering several challenges while using the FASTag system on India’s Assam Highway, including double toll charges and restrictions forcing cash-only payments. These issues have created significant hurdles for road users and raised concerns …

By Sonam ChodenA devastating forest fire broke out in Damchu on January 23, 2025, destroying seven homes and leaving the community reeling from the swift destruction. Despite the heroic efforts of local authorities, volunteers, and residents, the blaze, fueled by strong winds, tore through miles of land, rapidly spreading across approximately nine kilometers toward Tsamdrag and Pagga Chiwog, displacing families …

…𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒔, 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚. By Kezang ChodenYeezang De Thapa, the Minister of Education and Skills Development, emphasized that the concept of central schools has been a key component of Bhutan’s education policy since the introduction of the first …

…𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒄𝒌 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒚 By Kezang Choden In a significant effort to promote large-scale livestock farming and enhance economic opportunities for local farmers, the Trashigang Dzongkhag Livestock Sector recently organized a Cattle Rally Program in Bikhar and Samkhar Gewog. The event, which celebrated excellence in dairy breeding, brought …

…𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑 𝒐𝒇 12 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒁𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝑫𝒛𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒌𝒉𝒂𝒈 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚. By Lhendup Wangmo Since 2012, a group of 12 women in Soobdrang Chiwog, Trong Gewog under Zhemgang Dzongkhag, have made significant progress in agricultural development by forming a cooperative aimed at cultivating cardamom. The cooperative has not only …

…𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑾𝒂𝒎𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑲𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔. By Kezang Choden The Trashigang Dzongkhag Divisional Forest Office has made significant strides in promoting tourism and youth employment by constructing roadside amenities at Wamrong Town in Lumang Gewog and Kharungla Brekha Junction in Khaling Gewog. These facilities, which include cafeterias and gender-inclusive …

…𝑯𝒂𝒂 𝑫𝒛𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒌𝒉𝒂𝒈 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒗𝒆-𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝑫𝒛𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒌𝒉𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔. By Kezang ChodenLocal Government (LG) members from Haa Dzongkhag recently completed a five-day training program aimed at enhancing official correspondence and Dzongkha Unicode skills. The training, which took place from January 27 to February 1, was the first of its kind and …

…𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒑𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔, 𝒂 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑨𝑰 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝑩𝒉𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑨𝑰 𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. By Lalit GurungStarting with the 2018 Information, Communication, and Media (ICM) Act, Bhutan has made significant strides in laying the groundwork for Artificial Intelligence (AI) development. The country is enhancing its infrastructure with plans for …

…𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒕 𝑹𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒍 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒔 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 By Kezang ChodenIn a significant move for wildlife conservation, Bhutan has initiated its first-ever study on pangolin ecology. The landmark project kicked off with a pioneering training session at Royal Manas National Park, aimed at addressing knowledge gaps about these elusive and …