May 3, 2013
A busy year in the offing for basketball enthusiasts (File picture)Basketball fanatics in the capital are in for a treat with a chain of basketball championships in the offing, if all goes as planned.
Bhutan basketball federation (BBF) general secretary Tokey Dorji said, following this weekend’s final of the first basketball club championship, they would organise Thimphu thromde schools basketball tournament from May 6 to 10 at swimming pool complex indoor court.
From May 11 onwards, the popular and much awaited tournament conducted every year, Coronation Cup, [... Read More]
May 3, 2013
The final match of Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Traditional Archery Tournament will continued today at Changlimithang range between Chari Tshen and Eastern United.
Chari Tshen completed the first set of 25 points while Eastern United managed 17 points. In the second game, Eastern United scored 22 while Chari Tshen managed only 8 points before end of the day. If Eastern United wins the second [... Read More]
May 2, 2013
It is not just the political parties, who are burning midnight lamps gearing for the assembly elections, the process for which has begun.
Officials with the royal university of Bhutan (RUB) had been working beyond office hours, battling paperwork candidates of the five political parties had submitted, seeking “attestation” of their university certificate.
While the election commission of Bhutan (ECB) has announced May 5 as the deadline for political parties to submit the “letter of intent” to [... Read More]
May 2, 2013
Did Bhutan really half the poverty rate in the past five years? It did, according to a senior World Bank economist.
“The reports are valid,” Srinivasan G. Thirumalai, a senior economist with the World Bank, said. “Economists have a way to look at poverty reduction rates and whether it is consistent with growth,” Mr Thirumalai said yesterday at a workshop on the Bhutan Living standard Survey 2012 and the Poverty Analysis Report 2012 in Thimphu.
He said [... Read More]
May 2, 2013
As a precautionary measure to save depletion of convertible currency resources
While the restrictions on ATM rupee withdrawals, which is a maximum of Nu 15,000 a month, remains, the central bank has imposed another restriction on USD withdrawals through credit cards outside the country.
According to the restrictions imposed a week ago, Bhutanese travelling abroad can now only withdraw USD 1,000 a year, instead of the earlier limit of USD 3,000 a year.
As of today, only two [... Read More]
May 2, 2013
Rammed earth buildings crack and give away because of the rammed block’s poor quality, according to a damage assessment of rammed earth buildings by the department of culture’s division for conservation of heritage sites.
This is because, unlike stone masonry walls, where the strength and stability of the wall is based on the connection between one stone to the other, the strength and stability of rammed earth walls is based on the solidness and strength of [... Read More]
May 2, 2013
Moving out: Dismantled and vacant homes in Tasa villageThis highland settlement bears testimony to the trend of rural to urban migration
Not many years ago, the highland village of Tasa in Wangdue, a three-hour walk from the nearest road point, used to be a clustered settlement with more than 130 inhabitants that reared livestock and collected cordyceps, the highly valued medicinal fungus.
Today, less than two-dozen people live in the village and, of its 17 traditional houses, three are completely dismantled and eight vacant. Only [... Read More]
May 2, 2013
The Poverty Analysis Report 2012 has been one document that many people have been waiting for.
This is the document that would indicate whether the DPT government has met the central goal of the 10th plan – to reduce poverty from 23 percent to 15 percent during its five year term that just concluded.
The report says that (income) poverty has come down to an estimated 12 percent, or that its prevalence has been almost halved in [... Read More]
May 2, 2013
With their latest eight candidates, the party is now just seven short of the magic number
Just as the deadline closes in for political parties to produce their list of 47 candidates to the election commission while filing in the letter of intent, Druk Chirwang tshogpa has made official eight more candidates.
Of the eight, three are replacing candidates who were initially launched by the party. They were unable to avail their degree certificates on time and [... Read More]
May 2, 2013
His Majesty the third Druk Gyalpo
Photo: Tshering’s archivesIn 1971, about 10 million Bangladeshi fled their country and lived in India as refugees.i For their care and upkeep, Bhutan made a contribution of Rs 700,000.
The third king took the initiative to raise this money. His Majesty and his family members wore Bangladesh Refugee Relief Fund badges and went from door to door to collect donations from the residents in Thimphu.
The king also organized a weeklong cultural show. Because, the royal family members and [... Read More]
