All political parties who intend to take part in the 2013 National Assembly elections submitted their letter of intent to the Election Commission of Bhutan on May 5. The first party to submit its letter of intent was Druk Nyamprup Tshogpa, followed by Druk Phuensum Tshogpa, Bhutan Kuen-Ngyam Party, People’s Democratic Party and Druk Chirwang...Read More
The monthly consumption expenditure per person has almost doubled in the past five years, according to the Bhutan Living Standards Survey 2012. In 2007, the monthly expenditure of each Bhutanese was about Nu. 2,700. Now it has increased to Nu. 4,000. Read More
Poverty rate has been halved in Bhutan during the past five years, according to a senior World Bank economist who presented the finding in the Bhutan Living standard Survey 2012 and the Poverty Analysis Report 2012 in Thimphu. He said the country’s poverty reduction rate is consistent with growth rate estimated by the World Bank which is...Read More
Eighty-seven bikers took part in the 100-km Dantak bike race along the Thimphu-Paro highway on April 27. The race was held as part of Dantak’s 52nd raising day celebrations. Read More
Bhutan will go to the polls again for its first-time primary round of the National Assembly elections on May 31 following which general elections polling will be held on July 13. The dates were announced through a royal decree issued by His Majesty on April 28, 2013.Read More
Two new rhododendron species were discovered in Bhutan by officials of the royal botanical park at Lamperi – R. khochii and princenamgiae. The flowers were found at Dochula between 2,600m to 3,600m The royal botanical park at Lamperi alone has 29 species of rhododendron. The country has now a total of 48 rhododendron species.Read More
Bhutan elected 20 National Council Members on April 23. However, most former council members and women candidates lost. This was the country’s second National Council elections. 171,564 of the 379,819 registered voters voted for their candidates. Out of the total, 23,967 votes were cast as postal ballot and the rest voted in their respective polling...Read More
Bhutan and Thailand have entered into negotiations towards formalising a bilateral trade agreement between the countries. It is hoped that the agreement can be finalised by the end of the year. In 2012 bilateral trade totalled $15 million but it is believed that there is much potential for multiplying this amount. The Thai market has...Read More
National airline Drukair is launching a a new route connecting Kolkata, India to Dhaka, Bangladesh. There are presently very few flights between the two cities, but Drukair believes there is ample potential traffic to justify the routing, and the move will increase the utility of the airline’s planes. Discussions are also underway to extend...Read More
National Council elections are scheduled in Bhutan for April 23. The election commission has accepted the nomination of 67 candidates. They represent a variety of backgrounds. Some are university graduates, teachers, actors, doctors and corporate employees. They rang e in age between 25 and 58, and five are women. The candidates will be entitled to a fund...Read More
