BHUTAN TODAY The New Perspective

Staff Reporter The SAARC Development Fund (SDF) today handed over the USD 1 million (Nu 73.31 million) to the Ministry of Health as COVID-19 emergency grant. Officer-in-Charge of SDF, Mr. Anuj Goel, presented a cheque of USD 0.5 million (Nu 36.66 million), the first tranche/50 percent of the grant amount, to Health Secretary Dr. Pandup Tshering. The remaining amount would …

By Sonam Choki In a recent change of stance against the much-debated uses of the weed, Foreign Affairs minister Dr Tandi Dorji said the government is exploring ways to legalise marijuana for medicinal use in the country. The Foreign Affairs Minister said this when the Member of Parliament (MP) from Dramedtse-Ngatshang constituency quizzed him as to when the Narcotic Drugs, …

By Chimi Wangmo The Ministry of Health (MoH) in partnership with UNDP and JICA, and fund support from the Government of Japan, launched mobile cardiotocography devices, or iCTG this week. The introduction of mobile iCTG is a part of the Health Ministry’s initiative, “Reaching every pregnant woman with quality gynaecological and obstetric services”, which is a gift and blessing from …

The Economic and Finance Committee calls for a balance in the pendulum swing By Tashi Namgyal The much touted National Credit Guarantee Scheme (NCGS) has invited criticism from the lower house of the parliament, with members widely pointing out the imbalance in the distribution of NCGS projects across the country. From a total of 81 business projects which were approved …

By Sonam Choki In an unsavory development in the ongoing parliament, t he Agriculture and Forests Minister Yeshey Penjor revealed that the Food Corporation of Bhutan Limited (FCBL) had incurred losses of more than Nu 100 M from farm shops across the country in the last four years. While presenting the Review Report on Farm Shops at the National Assembly, …