Category Archives: News

Shawl bags only Bhutanese award

Posted on by
Reply

Karma Yangchen 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.

Continue reading →

Incoming search terms:

  • bhutan bags

Bhutan bows out

Posted on by
Reply

Anju Gurung 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.

Continue reading →

India grants Bhutan, Maldives Rs 13.7 bn additional aid

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Continue reading →

Bells and chants launch Bhutan’s first daily newspaper

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Continue reading →

Bhutan Star on New Year’s Eve

Posted on by
Reply

btdstar 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.

Continue reading →

Incoming search terms:

  • bhutan star

Immunising Bhutan – with Japan’s help

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Continue reading →

Bhutan bans import of poultry from Assam, West Bengal

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Continue reading →

Bhutanese take divorce in their stride

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Continue reading →

Bhutanese monk to spend weekend at Tibetan museum

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Continue reading →

Recession hits Bhutan’s tourism industry

Posted on by
Reply

THIMPHU: Global meltdown has hit Bhutan’s all-important tourism sector and tour operators have sought special measures from the government to deal with the crisis.

The Association of Bhutanese Tour Operators (ABTO) has said that over 1,500 tourists have cancelled their proposed trip to the country in 2009 following the financial crunch.

Continue reading →