‘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.

India bagged the highest number of awards, 27. Pakistan took five, Sri Lanka three, Nepal two and the other countries one each.

The mission of the award program is to give recognition to quality craft products that combine excellence of traditional skills, design innovation and aesthetics, thereby raising the quality standard of craft products to facilitate international market access.

On a score of five, the cotton shawl scored 4.68 points, according to the jury, for its “very appealing colour, motif and good pricing.” The shawl was priced at USD 40, about Nu 1,900.

“When they saw the shawl, everyone went for it and it scored the most in quality and authenticity,” said the UNESCO’s programme specialist for culture Moe Chiba. “This award means a recognition more to the craft than the person,” she added.

Among the other products presented for the award, the jury felt that the wild silk’s texture was too coarse for scarves, colours were not to the taste of contemporary market and the products too costly.

However, the general observation for Bhutanese products included excellence in quality/techniques and authenticity of tradition but weak in innovation, market appeal, pricing, finishing, sizing and packaging.

Meanwhile Karma Yangchen, 53, from Dungkar, Kurtoe said that she is very happy and proud to win the award. “ It means so much to the handicrafts association of Bhutan (HAB) and to me.”

The mother of three has also won other prizes within the country. Her designs and colour combination won her the top three prizes during the recent textile festival. She has also designed the kira for Druk Air stewardesses’ uniforms.

“I get my inspiration from flowers and GNH. When it comes to innovation, I change the old designs slightly,” said Karma Yangchen.

She learnt weaving from the age of 15 but gave up after she had children. The handicrafts shop she opened after her children grew up and the trainings she received from the UN and the ministry of economic affairs renewed her interest in textiles.

More than weaving, today she designs the colours and patterns for her 12 weavers. “Besides the award, I’m very happy that the Druk Gyalpo kept three of the four ghos I designed for the coronation and centenary celebrations.”

Kuensel Newspaper – Shawl bags only Bhutanese award

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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.

Playing for the 6th and 7th position on December 21, Qatar beat Bhutan by 38 runs on December 22 at Prem center ground, Chiangmai.

Coach Damber S Gurung emailed to say that it was a remarkable experience for the girls and that they had done a pretty good job by nailing three wins in their first ever international tournament. “I’m sure they’ve learned a lot and will play better cricket here on,” he said.

Nepal defeated the Malaysians in the finals by seven wickets yesterday at Prem Oval center, Chiangmai.

Bhutan bows out

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.

“Bhutan will get an assistance package of Rs.600 crore (Rs 6 billion) and a standby facility of Rs.300 crore (Rs.3 billion). This is over and above the Rs.4,587 crore (Rs 45.87 billion) already committed to Bhutan,” the minister said.

“The Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion) is exclusively for the government of India’s project tied assistance to Bhutan,” Chidambaram added.

The cabinet also decided to give a standby facility of Rs470 crore (Rs.4.7 billion) to the Maldives.

“Of this, half will be for the import of essential items and the remaining half will be as budgetary support as the Maldives is facing difficulties,” Chidambaram said.

The Economic Times

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.

The paper has a cover price of five ngultrum, or about 10 cents.

Monks chanted prayers and rang bells and drums were banged as the newspaper’s first copies rolled off the presses at an auspicious hour chosen by astrologers.

Bhutan’s only newspaper until 2006 was a bi-weekly, state-run venture. Two privately owned papers entered the market later — the bi-weekly Bhutan Times and the weekly Bhutan Observer.

There is fierce competition for the small advertising revenue generated in the country of about 700,000 people. There are virtually no private advertisers and only government agencies offer advertisements.

In its first editorial, Bhutan Today complained of unfair competition.

“They asked the Ministry of Information and Communications to deny us a license to operate,” it read.

But Tenzin Dorji, the newspaper’s 32-year-old managing director, said they would overcome teething problems.

“I am confident,” Dorji told Reuters, adding that the novelty of being Bhutan’s first daily could win it more advertisements.

Bhutan’s literacy rate is about 60 percent but newspapers estimate a total readership of only about 12,000 people. Bhutan Today has an optimistic print run of 18,000 copies.

It is written in English but Bhutanese law means it must soon be printed in the local language.

The newspaper launch comes days before the coronation of the new king, 27-year-old Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, on November 6.

His father and predecessor abdicated in favor of his Oxford-educated son in 2006.

Bhutan held its first general election in March and parliament endorsed the country’s first constitution four months later, formally turning the absolute monarchy into a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy.

Bells and chants launch Bhutan’s first daily newspaper

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.

The quest for the country’s first star did not quite start on a good note, at least moneywise. The first attempt to collect funds through a concert by Indian Idol Prashant Tamang failed in terms of generating both revenue and crowd. And the organiser complaining about a lack of sponsors resulted into little or no attention on the contestants.

The concept, being tried for the first time in the country, was in itself hardly new. Neither was the process of income generation. Nor the manner of presentation.

To declare the names of contestants, who scored the least votes, something that should not take a minute, the host instead held back tantalisingly, building suspense and playing with the already frayed contestants’ emotions.

This is much a part of many reality shows (especially those that flood our homes through Indian reality show channels), but, as much as it shows and polishes the host’s oratory skills, the audience does not find this act of creating suspense appealing. Most said they preferred the results being declared without any drama.

Today, as the four-month old drama comes to an end, what’s new is the winding-up process of the star hunt. And since drama always translates into votes and votes into revenue, the organisers have decided to keep voting lines open, unlike other shows and contests, for ten days after the grand finale. This, according to organiser Nguldrup Dorjikss, is for the public to make a better judgment. (The results will be declared on December 31)

Another new aspect was the grand finale, which was on ticket system and not telecast live on television. To collect fund for prizes, said Nguldrup Dorjikss. Even the tickets sold during the finals were the unsold ones from Prashant Tamang’s concert with the date overwritten. Audiences in other districts were later remembered and the finals rebroadcast.

The priority, we realise, is far from a hunt for talent or a search for the country’s best voice. The priority is money.

Voting through SMS (short message service) may be democratic but, observers say, also flawed and biased, because one number can vote unlimited times. The contestants can vote for themselves and this, many feel, can overshadow real talent.

Authority rationalise by calling it a “commercial” activity. But the question going around is – should talent be compromised for commercialism?

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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.

Under the project, the Japanese government will supply vaccines and vaccine storage equipment, also called cold chain equipment. Japanese technical advisers will also train Bhutanese health workers. Japan has supported the health sector through EPI by supplying traditional vaccines like oral polio vaccines, measles and rubella, tetanus toxoid, diptheria tetanus, bacilli calmette guerin and related injection equipment since 1995.

The health secretary said that, since 1995, Bhutan’s health record indicated less number of people suffering from diseases such as polio, measles and tetanus and others.

“This was made possible with the Japanese government’s assistance to regular expanded program on immunisation,” he said. “The agreement will go a long way in supporting the Bhutanese by keeping them healthy, happy and also in achieving the goal of poverty reduction.”

Resident representative, Tetsuo Yabe, said that the Japanese government would continue their support to Bhutan in achieving the 10th plan goal of poverty alleviation.

However, import of poultry and its products from designated farms or processing plants in unaffected states of India will be allowed only by air.

The ministry has also banned the import of poultry feeds from Samrat feed mills in Siliguri with immediate effect.
It said transport of animal and poultry feeds manufactured in Bhutan via West Bengal and Assam will be allowed only if all the feed bags are fully covered and sealed at the place of origin in presence of Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority (Bafra) officials.

The seal will again have to be verified and opened in the presence of BAFRA officials at the entry point of the destination.

Earlier in the month Bhutan had banned the import of eggs and frozen chicken from Assam and West Bengal.

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“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.

At least one of his colleagues joins in the conversation saying he, too, comes from a family affected by divorce. Marriage break-ups are common in this tiny kingdom. So, too, are love marriages, not arranged by one’s family.

Pregnant

In both these ways Bhutan differs from its neighbours like India, Bangladesh and Nepal; this is a region where divorce is rare and carries a stigma.

A few blocks away Tshering does a completely different job. Now in her late 20s, she says she got divorced after a three-year marriage, having got pregnant while in college.

“To have a baby without a father is not very acceptable in Bhutan,” she says. “We got married and we tried to compromise and we tried to make it work. [But] we kept fighting for small little things.

“At the same time we barely spoke to each other. So it wasn’t a very healthy environment for a child to grow up in. So we talked it over and we just had a very clean and peaceful divorce – it wasn’t ugly at all.”

Thimphu is an attractive, orderly city set in a valley of pine forests. By world standards it is a very small capital. A recent press article on social trends said, however, that the town had nearly 700 divorce cases in its courts over a four-year period.

Many causes were cited, including alcoholism, infidelity, domestic violence – and plain incompatibility. There were many more cases that did not come to court. And the divorce rate is rising.

It is the kind of trend many would associate with urbanisation – but Bhutan is urbanising less quickly than its neighbours.

Barun Gurung relates it to the fact that people here “are quite easy-going and a little laid-back” and that, compared with, say, India, women here are treated more on a par with men.

But the attitude to marriage itself is also unusual.

In this Buddhist-dominated society, in both rural and urban settings, many people tie the nuptial knot in a more casual, less ceremonial way, than elsewhere. There is also a long tradition of people starting to live together and, once they are clearly committed, being regarded as married.

Passang Dorji, a senior reporter at the Bhutan Times, cites his own situation.

“In Bhutan basically marriage is very mutual and practical,” he says. “It basically depends on a couple’s mutual consensus.”

He met his own wife – a teacher – in their primary school days. Later “she used to work in a very remote place and I used to go there and live with her. So basically our marriage didn’t have any ceremonies.

“So far our married life has been very good. We are parents of two and she is also a working mother.”

‘Puppy love’

It is a far cry from the lavish, sometimes cripplingly expensive, weddings common in the region.

Given that marriage is more low-key, and more often tied to romantic love than to parental choice, that might be a reason why it has become easier to leave it. And, says Passang, neither the man nor the woman is likely to be disdained.

“Her friends, her relatives, her parents would be there to help and sympathise with her,” he says.

“If by stigma someone is forced to live with the person she or he doesn’t like, I think it is not a meaningful life… Our system basically gives liberty for a person to practise a lifestyle that she or he prefers.”

But some think the tide should turn; that some young people are too careless and get married for reasons of “puppy love”.

Sangay Zam, a member of parliament, stresses that many Bhutanese do still revere and value the marriage institution. She feels that marriage break-ups are usually initiated by men and are too easy.

“If the men get the opportunity to pull the strings and have their say, they would naturally have divorces. And divorces are not so expensive, if you look at the law of the country.

“So I think some of the parliamentarians are taking it up to say that divorces shouldn’t be so cheap – there should be some cost factor so that people think twice before they think about divorces.”

Barun, the artist, now has both a stepmother and a stepfather – both his parents have remarried. He gets on well with both. But he too says divorce should be a last resort.

“If the relationship is not working out, I think it is better to get divorced. But if the relationship is working out and it’s just that you have a feeling for another girl or woman, it’s really bad.”

It is striking that this generally poor country seems, in some areas of life, to be following a path more akin to Western countries than its neighbours.

Tshering is glad that as a divorced mother she is not ostracised. But she is not in a hurry to marry again.

“I need a lot of time – to bring up my son, to focus on my career – so marriage is the last thing right now,” she says, laughing.

BBC NEWS

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.

On Jan. 3 at 1 p.m. he will conduct a Buddha of Compassion Fire Ceremony and Dance of Vajrapani. During this special ceremony, certain offerings of food and herb medicines are given to the fire while Lama Karma chants and recites special prayers. Attendees will have the opportunity to offer individual prayers during the ceremony.

The Fire Ceremony offers healing to all types of diseases and imbalances and purifies obstacles and negativity. For Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike, the power and inspiration of the ceremony is dedicated to world peace and to the spiritual advancement and benefit of all beings.

Following a reception, Lama Karma will perform the Consecration Dance of Vajrapani. In this dance, the monk visualizes the wrathful emanation of the wisdom deity Vajrapani. He performs wearing a ritual mask and a costume that represents tiger skins while holding a flaming piece of wood in each hand. The monk invites Vajrapani to destroy negativity, protect, and heal the area where the dance is performed.

This dance will act as a consecration for the museum and its objects.

At 2 p.m. Jan. 4, Lama Karma will present a teaching on “The Value of Compassion.” In celebration of the New Year, Lama Karma will discuss compassion as a solution to difficulty in our lives and in the world. He will speak about the law of karma as it relates to our choice of actions and will also include the subjects of interconnectedness and an acceptance of humanity to develop a positive focus for the well-being of our planet and all living things.

The Tibetan Museum is located at 338 Lighthouse Ave. For information, call 718-987-3500, or visit www.tibetanmuseum.org.

Bhutanese monk to spend weekend at Tibetan museum – SILive.com

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.

“More bad news may be in store. Even the ones coming in do not or will not stay long,” ABTO General Secretary Sonam Dorji said. ABTO is requesting “interim measures,” such as deferment of the planned tariff revision in 2009 from $200 to $250 till thin gs normalise, and concession on the royalty amount and national carrier Druk Air tickets. It also wants hotels to keep a lid on their annual tariff increase. Observers, however, think differently.

“Tourism is not an intensive investment business, not for the operators anyway. It is a more superior revenue-generating business than most, from comparably less investment,” an observer said. “Our tourism industry has had it good for a long time, they should be able to ride this storm, which too will pass,” the observer added.

According to the official records, over 30,000 foreign tourists visited Bhutan last year. In 2008, it generated $40 million royalty to the government. The country, with a population of under 750,000, has slowly eased up the rules for foreign tourists. E arlier, not many tourists were allowed to visit the country annually. – PTI

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