Bhutan Tours and Treks

The global financial crisis has not affected the donor countries which assist Bhutan. The Finance Ministry says no donor country has shown indication of reducing their grant commitments. However, the Finance Minister said Bhutan may face difficulties seeking new partners for new projects.
So far no donor country or agency has shown indication of reducing their grant commitments. This, the Finance Minister Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu said is because most of the programmes with the leading lending and grant agencies and countries are ongoing. Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu also said that this could also be because Bhutan is ranked among the top performers by most of the partners.
However, the Finance Minister said Bhutan may face difficulties in finding new grants for new projects.
Donor counties still continue to support Bhutan. This, the Finance Ministry said is evident from the ongoing grants Bhutan’s donors are making.
Today, one of Bhutan’s major lending institution- the World Bank granted a little over US$ 20 million- US$ 9 million as grant and US$ 11 million as credit.
The Ministry of Finance says the money will be used to promote good governance, and public financial management, foster dynamic labour markets and generate employment opportunities in the country. It will also be used to expand access to infrastructure in an environmentally sustainable manner.
An agreement to this effect was signed between the Finance Minister Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu and the World Bank Country Director for South Asia Nicholas Kraft.

  A class six school boy of Loseling Lower Secondary School at Changjiji has been washed away by Olorongchu stream. He was crossing a small bridge over the stream with two other friends when the incident occurred. His two friends managed to cross the bridge to the other side but as he was crossing it, the swollen stream washed away the bridge along with the boy.
The swollen stream also washed away a few huts.
People living in the area desperately tried to save their belongings. Most of the automobile workshops remained closed. Some of the mechanical workshops were flooded by water. Several cars were submerged under water.
The Works and Human Settlement Minister Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba and and the Foreign Affairs Minister Lyonpo Ugyen Tshering visited the site at around 11:30 am.
According to residents, this is the second such incident to take place on Olorongchu. The first one took place about 20 years ago.

Two German Doctors, Dr. Oliver and Dr Saskia visited Bhutan from the 11th May till 24th May and enroute Jomolhari Lingshi Trek had a full day of Treatment at the Lingshi BHU assisted by the the health Assistant. There was a lot of  health issues like gastral, eye infections and anemia for the female patients etc. The two Doctors inspite of the hard trek the previous day sacrificed their rest day to treat some eighty or more patients from, in and around Lingshi. We saw a lot of happy faces at the end of the day as some of the patients were very elderly and weak to travel to Thimphu or Paro which is about four days walk.  These virtous deed appeased the mountain gods and we had very beautiful and successful trek.

         Dr Oliver Opitz and Dr Sakia Thiel in Lingshi.

The world witnessed a historical phenomenon on November 6 when the fourth Druk Gyalpo, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, offered the Raven Crown to His Majesty the King, Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck. For the Bhutanese people it was an overwhelming moment when the past, present, and future merged.
The sacred moment took place in the chamber of the Golden Throne in Tashichhodzong, witnessed by several generations of the Bhutanese royal family, leaders of all branches of the government and security forces, and special guests that included Indian President, Pratibha Devi Singh Patil, the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, and her son and daughter, Rahul and Priyanka.
The crowning ceremony included the offerings of the symbols of body, speech, and mind by the clergy, government, judiciary, legislature, and the military. His Holiness the Je Khenpo also offered to His Majesty the empowerment of the Universal Emperor – the symbols of dharma, fortitude, swiftness, fulfillment, devotion, wisdom, and valour. Read the rest of this entry »

Her Royal Highness Ashi Kesang Wangmo Wangchuck has been presented the 2008 Mandala Award for Arts and Humanitarian Achievement by the Rubin Museum of Art (RMA) in New York.
According to a press release from RMA, Ashi Kesang Wangmo Wangchuck was honoured for her charitable activities in the health sector in Bhutan. The award ceremony was held on October 7.
RMA said: “In Bhutan, she has created clinics for leprosy and cancer patients and maternity and pediatric wards, and has worked on behalf of disabled children for UNICEF in Cambodia and AIDS patients in India.”
In the early eighties, Ashi Kesang Wangmo Wangchuck, 47, left the University of California to pursue fieldwork in the leprosy control programme.

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When Bhutan adopted Gross National Happiness as its development philosophy, it had thrown down the gauntlet at itself.
And today the challenge is staring straight and square at the country’s soul.
With the economy yet to gain strength and stabilize at a self-assuring digit, Bhutan’s immediate challenge, some economists say, is to remain unscathed by the inevitable forces of the global trade integration.
But, to do so Bhutan must strengthen its economy - a Catch-22, for the time being.
The test doesn’t end here, either.
There is a weightier challenge, because Gross National Happiness demands more than a tangible economic development. Read the rest of this entry »

The Prime Minister Lyonchhen Jigmi Y Thinley and the members of the delegation including the Foreign Minister, Cabinet Secretary, GNH Commission Secretary and the National Assembly member Karma Rangdol met with Bhutanese community in New York at a lunch reception hosted by the Bhutan Mission on Sunday.

A news release from the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Bhutan to the United Nations says over a hundred Bhutanese were in attendance. Read the rest of this entry »

The Bhutanese delegation arrived in Colombo in Sri Lanka for the 15th SAARC Summit early yesterday morning. The delegation is led by the Prime Minister Lyonchen Jigmi Y. Thinley.
Upon arrival at the airport, they were received by the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka Rohitha Bogollogama and other ministers from the host country. Read the rest of this entry »

Wild elephants continue to ravage crops, damage homes and threaten human lives in villages in Samtse.
last week, an elephant damaged a house in Shivalaya village under Sipsu geog.
The owner of the house, Aap Sonam Tshering said at around 3 am on July 23 an elephant attacked his house.
He said the elephant literally thrust its head through the wall of his house. The elephant then ate his maize that was stored in the room.
His four children were in the house when the elephant attacked. Two of them were sleeping in the room that the elephant broke into. They were woken up by the noise and when broken parts of the wall fell a few feet from where they were sleeping. All managed to escape unhurt. Read the rest of this entry »

100 billion pledged by the government of India for the next five years of Bhutan’s development will be spent on developing hydropower, aiming to produce 10,000 MW by 2020, a railway from Hashimara to Phuentsholing, the 10th Plan programmes, and other new projects.Prime Minister Lyonchhen Jigmi Y Thinley said that his government was surprised and very happy with this astronomical sum. It would cover the government’s two project-tied assistance programmes, planned for the five-year period, as well as the those of the 10th Plan and the DPT manifesto, enabling the government to fulfill the high expectations of the people.Bhutanese officials are hoping to go into detailed Plan talks immediately. They hope to update the 10th FYP and to break down the Nu 100 billion into general developmental activities, specific project tied grants, and mega project financing. According to the foreign ministry, the Indian government has already been requested a discussion on the new developments. “The Indian delegation promised to get back as soon as possible, once they reached New Delhi to work out mutually convenient dates to discuss the Nu 100 billion package,” said an official. Meanwhile, the GNH commission has also already communicated to the foreign ministry and embassy in Delhi that it is ready for talks at any time.

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