Really important business

Posted inEconomy6 Comments
Doing business in Bhutan is already difficult. But it’s getting even more difficult. Each year, the World Bank publishes a “Doing Business” report in which they rank countries according to the “ease of doing business” in those countries. Here’s how our country has fared in their report over the last few years. In 2008, Bhutan was ranked 119 out of the 178 countries that the project studied. In 2009, we fell to 124 out of 181 countries. In 2010, we were placed at 126 out of 186 countries. In 2011, we plummeted to 146 out of 183 countries And…

When loss is gain

Posted inMiscellaneous17 Comments
Her Majesty the Queen Mother, Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, launched When Loss is Gain yesterday, at the closing session of Mountain Echoes 2012, a literary festival that keeps getting bigger and more successful each year. When Loss is Gain is written by H.E Pavan K. Varma, India’s ambassador to Bhutan, and a prolific writer who has already authored no less than 16 other books. This, however, is his first work of fiction, and one that you will most probably read continuously, in one sitting, from cover to very enjoyable cover. The story, set mostly in Bhutan, is about the…

The plague

Posted inGovernment16 Comments
Kuensel featured this advertisement yesterday. Read it, and see what's wrong. I, like the friend who showed me this notification, found it funny that RITH would invite bids to produce the plague. But we all know that what RITH really wants is a plaque to commemorate the inauguration of the institute. Funny. And no harm done. But look at the notification again. Look at it closely. To be awarded the work, one must be a registered license holder and pay Nu 200 for a set of bidding documents. The bidding documents will be sold from 17th May to 31st…

But nat!

Posted inGovernment40 Comments
At school, we, like all children, all over the world, loved playing pranks. Our arsenal boasted an impressive range of innovative pranks. But the simplest and the most popular of them by far was the very versatile but nat! prank. This is how it was administered: We’d go up to a fellow student and excitedly declare, “I found your wallet!” And then, very slowly, add, “But nat!” Or we’d tell him, “Our math test is postponed … but nat!” Or, “She says she likes you too … but nat!” The but nat! was meant to negate whatever news had…

Thank you Ama

Posted inWomen15 Comments
We don't celebrate Mother's Day in Bhutan. But 160 countries do. And 79 of them celebrate it today, the second Sunday of May. I think we should celebrate Mother's Day too. Like the rest of the world, we should dedicate a day to thank our mothers for their love and affection, and to acknowledge them for the huge influence they've had on our lives. Bringing up children is a difficult job at the best of times. But my mother raised six of us - all boys! She did so single-handedly. And she did so on a shoestring. That meant…

Country roads

Posted inVillages6 Comments
I am in Dorikha. I got here this evening having walked up from Dorithasa. My ancestors did this journey every year, at this time of the year, over the course of many centuries. They migrated to escape the oppressive summer heat of Dorithasa in favor of the much cooler Dorikha. And in the winter, they moved right back to Dorithasa to enjoy the mild weather there. Most of my relatives no longer migrate between two farms. They now live, throughout the year, in one of the two villages. But the two villages are closely related. So our people still…

Nima Dorji

Posted inYouth34 Comments
One of the Youth Development Fund's most active programs is its young volunteers in action, better known as Y-VIA. The volunteers are typically young students still going to high school. Last week, in Changjiji, Y-VIA put on a delightful show to launch UNICEF's state of the world's children report. They sang, danced, acted and joked for their President, Her Majesty the Queen Mother, Ashi Tshering Pem Wangchuck, and other guests from the civil service, education system, international organizations, and the local community. But the Y-VIA volunteers also used the occasion to launch their own report, based on three case…

Not so fast

Posted inEducation20 Comments
What do you make of this? The cabinet has reportedly “further ratified” the Education City project bid, and awarded the bid to a consortium of bidders (infinity Infotech Parks Ltd., and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd.) It appears that a contract agreement will be signed this month following which work on a detailed project report will begin. Good? I don’t know. I still have serious misgivings about the size and feasibility of the project. True, education is a viable business, and we must harness its potential to service both local and foreign demand. But planting a bunch of…

Insurance claims

Posted inGovernment23 Comments
It's been seven whole months since the 18th September earthquake. But many of the earthquake victims, including all the victims in my constituency, have still not receive their insurance claims in spite of the Home Minister's assurances during the eighth session of the Parliament. So I felt compelled to send this letter yesterday.  

More essential stuff

Posted inEconomy, Legislature21 Comments
In my previous post I had proposed that, “the government is getting ready to sell even more foreign currency from our reserves.” What if I am correct? What if the government is, indeed, preparing to sell foreign currency to alleviate the rupee crunch? If so, what is the procedure? Last year, four months ago, the government sold US$ 200 million of our foreign currency reserves. At that time, US$ 200 million worked out to Nu 10.3 billion, which in turn worked out to 14% of our GDP. That was, and is, a lot of money. But no one questioned…

Essential stuff

Posted inGovernment27 Comments
Article 14 Section 7 of the Constitution requires that, “A minimum foreign currency reserve that is adequate to meet the cost of not less than one year’s essential import must be maintained.” But what constitutes essential import? Salt, shoes, sicnidizole – surely they are “essential”. But what about construction material, like, say, CGI? And raw material for industries? Are they essential? And how about arms and ammunition? I think they are essential, very essential. It’s important to have a proper definition of what, in our context, constitutes essential import. It’s important because that definition will determine the “minimum foreign…

Stop the bleeding

Posted inEconomy19 Comments
During their interview with BBS TV last week, Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba and Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu went to great lengths to inform us that the so-called rupee crunch wasn’t a crisis. They told us that the situation was normal; that they’d been aware of it for a long time; and that they were in full control of it. They told us that we should not be worried, that we should not panic. And they warned us that any talk about a crisis “could be deliberate attempts to discredit the government.” I’m not one to worry needlessly. But I’m not reckless…

Prayers for our fighters

Posted inSecurity19 Comments
Whenever we hear of forest fires, no matter where and no matter when, we hear of our armed forces fighting those fires. We've become used to seeing them arrive first on the scene, and leave last, only after containing the wild fires. Indeed, many of our forests have been saved thanks mainly to the bravery of our men in uniform. And so it was this afternoon, when a fire broke out in the forests above YHS. Our armed forces mobilized themselves in no time, and rushed to contain the fire that, fanned by the early afternoon winds, was spreading…

Thank you

Posted inEconomy, Government23 Comments
A couple of late meetings prevented me from watching TV last night. So I watched BBS TV’s rebroadcast this morning. In particular, I watched Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba, the officiating prime minister, and Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu, the finance minister, talk about the current economic situation. I thank the government for going on national TV to explain the ongoing currency situation to the public at large. The two ministers are our most experienced financial experts. The two of them have served as finance ministers for a combined total of 14 years, and as finance secretaries for more than 10 years. So…

Rupee statement

Posted inEconomy30 Comments
Some friends have suggested that I should use my YouTube account to incorporate a bit more audio-visual in this blog. I agree. Here is the statement I recently made on BBS TV urging the government to inform the people about the rupee situation. I'm happy to report that, according to BBS, the acting prime minister and finance minister will appear on TV tomorrow, Tuesday, 3 April. I've posted the English transcript of my statement after the video.   Our economy is in a crisis. Just last year, the government was forced to sell US$ 200 million from the country’s…