CDC says few people in U.S. over 50 hit by new flu
The new H1N1 flu virus appears to be fairly widespread in the United States and seems to be hitting mostly younger people, with very few cases reported in people over 50, U.S. health officials said on Sunday.
"We think very few of the cases we have confirmed are in people over 50," the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Dr Anne Schuchat told reporters in a telephone briefing. "Whether this will pan out over the weeks ahead we don’t know."
The CDC reported 226 cases of the new H1N1 swine flu virus and one death in 30 states. The CDC previously had confirmed 160 cases in 21 states.
Shawl bags only Bhutanese award
Karma Yangchen’s natural dyed cotton shawl proved a worthy symbol of Bhutanese craftsmanship. The shawl was among the 13 handicrafts Bhutan had submitted in the South Asia UNESCO award of excellence for handicrafts in September in Chennai, India this year.
‘Handicrafts’ here is defined as products that are produced either completely by hand or with the help of tools.
A total of 167 entries from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal were judged by an international panel of experts on the products’ excellence of quality, authenticity of cultural expressions, innovation in design and marketability at the international level.
Bhutan bows out
Bhutan thrashed Kuwait by 53 runs in their final league match of the ACC U-19 women’s championship on December 19, yet failed to qualify for the quarter-finals because of a low net run-rate.
Bhutan’s Anju Gurung was named woman of the match for her four wickets for three runs.
So far in the tournament, Bhutan defeated China, Singapore and Kuwait and lost to Malaysia and Nepal.
India grants Bhutan, Maldives Rs 13.7 bn additional aid
NEW DELHI: India has granted Bhutan and the Maldives Rs 1,370 crore (Rs.13.7 billion) as additional aid, it was announced here on Friday.
Of this, Rs 900 crore (Rs 9 billion) will go to Bhutan in two tranches, while Rs 470 crore (Rs 4.7 billion) has been earmarked for the Maldives, Home Minister P Chidambaram said after a cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Bells and chants launch Bhutan’s first daily newspaper
THIMPHU, Bhutan (Reuters) – Buddhist monks prayed for the success of Bhutan’s first daily newspaper, which was launched Thursday but could take a week to reach remote areas of the tiny Himalayan nation carried on ponies and on foot.
Bhutan Today, an eight-page morning paper, is part of Bhutan’s attempt to build a free press after its former monarch and fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, forced his largely unwilling subjects to accept democracy earlier this year.
Delivering copies of Bhutan Today will be a chore in a country with few passable roads, meaning newsagents will have to carry it to far-flung districts on foot and on horseback.
Bhutan Star on New Year’s Eve
The TV remote control has competition. From the electronic slab, that occupies our palms day and night. Never before did mobile phones dictate control over television content. But, then again, never before did we have a reality show.
For months, the contestants of Bhutan Star danced to the tune of the judges and sang their hearts out to impress them and the audience. What finally prevails, however, say observers, is the nimble touch of a few buttons on mobiles and landlines.
Immunising Bhutan – with Japan’s help
The government of Japan will continue to support the expanded programme on immunisation (EPI) in Bhutan for the next three years.
The health secretary, Dasho Dr Gado Tshering, the resident representative of JICA, Tetsuo Yabe, and head of development cooperation division of the GNH commission, Thinley Namgyel, signed a project agreement on Monday.
Bhutan bans import of poultry from Assam, West Bengal
Thimphu: Bhutan has banned the import of poultry and its products including poultry feeds from neighbouring Assam and West Bengal in the wake of outbreak of avian influenza in these states.
According to the country’s ministry of agriculture, the transport of poultry and poultry products via Assam and West Bengal will also not be allowed.
However, import of poultry and its products from designated farms or processing plants in unaffected states of India will be allowed only by air.
Bhutanese take divorce in their stride
It may sound like a comment from Scandinavia – but this is Bhutan and the speaker is a young artist, Barun Gurung. His own parents divorced 10 years ago, when he was 13 and his brother a little older.
“I think during their marriage they used to have small fights which, you know, used to have bad impact on us,” he told the BBC.
“They used to fight and you know my father used to put hands on my mother. So it was quite bad to see that.”
We meet in the studio where Barun works – a collective of artists in the Bhutanese capital, Thimphu, its walls plastered with brightly coloured pictures.
Bhutanese monk to spend weekend at Tibetan museum
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Venerable Lama Karma Namgyel, a Bhutanese Buddhist monk, will be at the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art Jan. 3-4 for a weekend of special blessings, teachings, a fire ceremony and dance.
Lama Karma is the founder, spiritual director, and teacher at the Drukpa Mila Center in Boulder, Colo. The center fosters religious exchange between Bhutan and the West. From the age of 7, Lama Karma grew up in the monasteries of Bhutan where he became a chant and dance master and studied for nine years to attain his Buddhist Philosophy degree. He performs rituals and ceremonies from the sacred traditions of the Drukpa Kagyu Buddhist lineage, which have remained in Bhutan, with few outsiders having the opportunity to experience them.