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That the political will to improve connectivity across the border could catalyze the country’s endeavor of moving from “aid to trade” was the crust of a policy dialogue on regional connectivity among stakeholders in Bhutan.  Improved transport and transit infrastructure would ensure better connectivity with free and secure movement of …

Bhutan observed the World Health Day on April 7 in Gasa with pap smear screening and treatment for three days. Over 250 women from Khatoed, Khamaed, and Laya gewogs in Gasa received pap smear screening and treatment since April 4. To read more, please subscribe by registering at www.ekuensel.com

Ugyen Tshethar is a well to do farmer. He lives by rearing cattle with the dairy produce being his main income. Of late, he is worried. On Wednesday, he lost his heifer to a tiger. It was the third cow allegedly killed by tigers in the last two months. Two …

To improve the image of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutes in the country and produce an employable workforce, the labour ministry is planning to get at least two technical training institutes accredited. The Asia Pacific Accreditation and Certification Commission (APACC) would accredit the institutions by the end of …

It is 10 in the morning. The Norzin Lam in Thimphu has woken to a new day, but the city’s only library—Jigme Dorji Wangchuck Public Library (JDWPL)—is sleeping, curtain drawn and rusty latch locked. The officiating librarian, Tshering Phuntsho, opens the library. It is 12.30 p.m. Anyway, visitors come in …

Apa Boktong has made things easy for many workers in Thangrong, Mongar. The community contract workers use Apa Boktong, a wooden concrete mixer, to cast slabs in constructions.It is used to mix concrete and carry premix concrete. To read more, please subscribe by registering at www.ekuensel.com

Notwithstanding the substantial reduction in prevalence of poverty in the country, income inequality has remained the same for more than a decade. The country’s richest 20 percent of the population has been consuming 7 times more than the poorest 20 percent since 2007, according to poverty analysis reports of the past four years.

Increasing hospitality and entertainment (HE) expense is a burden on current expenditure, sometimes causing resource gaps, as it is met from domestic revenue. Figures from finance ministry’s annual financial statement indicate that more than Nu 140M was spent every year on HE. In 2016-17, the expenditure on HE was Nu …

The health ministry will submit the concept paper on delinking the three-referral hospitals from the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) after the third commission takes office. Health minister Dechen Wangmo said that after submitting the proposal to the commission, the ministry would assess how to go about the process. “What …

While the health ministry has initially planned to start the programme, Accelerating Mother and Child Health – 1,000 Day Plus in August, health minister Dechen Wangmo at the Friday Meet yesterday said that the project would start as soon as they avail budget for it. With the programme, she said, …

You complete five years in office as the chairperson of the RCSC. What do you leave behind?  I leave behind many civil servant colleagues who are competent and capable of the journey we have begun to take our civil service from “good to great.” I leave with a sense of …

This little Thursday market outside Bhutan Gate in Gelephu is shoppers’ paradise of a sort. All manner of goods is sold here – flowers, garments, fabrics, jewelry, utensils, household tools, construction materials, vegetables, fruits, meat, fish…You can also find copies of famous brands. Fancy a pair of adidas sneakers? There …

If you are hungry in Samdrupjongkhar and have a good appetite, the best place to visit is hotel Pholang Katang. Pholang Katang in tshangla is big stomach. If the serving is not generous, you could have mistaken the name for the owner, a short man with a round tummy. To …