Jewel of books

Posted inCulture, Monarchy
Twenty months ago the Tarayana Foundation invited Bhutanese to compose poems celebrating His Majesty the Fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck. Of the more than two hundred entries, 25 poems were selected and compiled into the book “Jewel of Men”. These poems express the deep feelings – of love, affection and reverence – that all Bhutanese hold for our beloved monarch.“Jewel of Men” was launched yesterday by Her Majesty the Queen Mother, Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, in a warm ceremony commemorating our Fourth King. Present were HRH Ashi Sonam Dechen Wangchuck, who delivered an eloquent welcome, and HRH Dasho Jigyel…

A matter of power

Posted inGovernment1 Comment
The Indian minister for power, Sushil Kumar Shinde, was in Bhutan from 4 to 7 December. His visit was busy: His Majesty the King granted an audience; he met the Prime Minister, and the MEA Minister, Secretary and DG; he visited the Tala dam site and Chukha power plant; he visited Dochula; and I called on him.His visit was successful: a protocol agreement to develop 10,000 MW by 2020 is ready and will be formally signed later this month. An “empowered group” will then be formed to identify and accelerate the implementation of hydropower projects. Both governments are visibly…

Lucky Sonam

Posted inPeople
Sonam Tshering beat 135 participants to win the India House Golf Tournament on 30 November. For his efforts, he received the keys to a brand new Maruti Zen Estilo during the tournament’s prize distribution ceremony this evening.Not bad considering that Sonam, who is only 17 years and in Class VIII in Zilukha LSS, is currently doing his Common Examinations.Coach Karma Lam introduced him to golf barely four years ago. While he enjoyed playing the game, he quickly discovered that there was pocket money to be made by working as a caddy. (Incidentally, last year’s winner was Karma Wangchuk, 20…

More pay hike talk

Posted inGovernment, Media
Kuensel's Tenzing Lamsang is amazing. He’s done it again. He’s written yet another story almost entirely based on government “sources”. And he is thorough – his account is packed with names, dates, places, amounts and important quotes. He seems to know too many details about the confidential debate that the government has been having on the pay hike issue.Our government is amazing. They’ve done it again. They’ve allowed classified government information to leak, including details of discussions in our highest decision making body, the Cabinet. Is classified information being leaked purposely? Or are they being stolen? If it’s the…

A second chance…

Posted inEmployment, Government
During the Nasscom annual strategy meeting held in Thimphu last week, Narayana Murthy, Infosys Chairman, announced that he would train 100 Bhutanese in his company. The offer is timely and, if used well, would be the first significant step towards creating the knowledge and skills base required to develop a viable ICT industry in Bhutan.A similar offer was made by Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's PM, during his visit to Bhutan in June 2005. The visiting PM "…commended the Bhutanese's versatility with the English language…" and publicly announced that he would be prepared to employ many Bhutanese as English teachers in…

Unconstitutional elections? – 2

Posted inDemocracy
Yesterday the ECB responded to my concerns regarding the legality of the forthcoming Local Government elections. (see my blog on 29 November) The ECB explained that the Local Government elections should go ahead, as an “interim measure”, in accordance with MOHCA’s order to elect Gups where the tenure of the incumbents has expired. I will object to the elections for several reasons: First and foremost the elections will be unconstitutional. The Constitution puts the responsibility of conducting elections (NA, NC, Local Government and National Referendum) squarely on ECB. Allowing MOHCA to order elections, for whatever reason, is a constitutional…

Happy International Disabilities Day

Posted inMiscellaneous
Today is International Disabilities Day. Our people with disabilities, especially the youth, received the perfect gift –a special audience with His Majesty the King who also presented them with individual tashi khadars, and a three-storied cake to enjoy during their celebrations.I gate crashed the celebrations. More than a hundred people with disabilities had gathered at the RBP mess to commemorate this important day and to enjoy His Majesty’s special soelra. The students with disabilities put on quite a show, from “singing” our national anthem in sign language to performing traditional songs and dances.The festivities reminded me of the significant…

The National Council’s banquet hall

Posted inGovernment
The offices of the Honourable MPs of the National Council were inaugurated yesterday. Their offices are now located on the second floor of the recently built Royal Banquet Hall.The second floor is actually the attic of the Royal Banquet Hall. But the offices are quite comfortable and the MPs, including the two who have no windows in their offices, are not complaining.Viewed from the outside the Royal Banquet Hall doesn’t look too bad. I was horrified when the original, historic banquet hall was razed to make way for this new building. And was initially appalled at how ugly the…

An overqualified sweeper?

Posted inEmployment, People
Meet Sonam Choden. She’s 20 years old. She completed Class X from Motithang High School in 2005. A year later, she did a six month certificate course in IT at RIIT.She's employed as a sweeper in the National Assembly.Unemployment is real. It's serious. And it's growing.

Running vegetable vendors

Posted inEconomy
The other day I bumped into a vegetable vendor along Norzin Lam. She carried a basket of fresh saag and was obviously in a hurry. She wouldn’t sell me any. But I convinced her to stop for a while, and discovered that she was actually running away from City Corporation officials. These officials, she told me, would seize her basket and fine her Nu 500 for selling vegetables illegally.Today I met another group of vendors. They are from Wangduephodrang, and travel to Thimphu two to three times a week by taxi to sell fresh farm vegetables. The vegetables are…