One in three Bhutanese overweight, finds study
The increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on health facilities demands greater multi-sectoral actions for the implementation of NCD prevention activities. NCDs are a major public
Kuensel (Bhutan)
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S/J suffers water shortage
With the mercury ever on the rise, Samdrup Jongkhar is a place where life cannot be imagined without water. But this was exactly what residents of the busy town had been enduring for the past few days - living without water. In scorching heat, people carrying jerry cans in their cars and driving kilometres to fetch water has become a common sight these days. "It's a hot place and we need to take a bath every now and then, but there is no water,' said Kunzang, a private employee. "Forget about baths, we don't have water to drink and cook food.'
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New pricing policy pinches saw-millers
With saw-millers not willing to supply timber at the new commercial rate fixed by the government in January, Trashigang is facing a timber shortage. Saw-millers in the dzongkhag Kuensel spoke to said they had stopped supplying timber as they had been losing money in the business. They said that business had become erratic ever since the government's new timber pricing policy came into effect. Ever since the new rule came into force, not many saw-millers have attended the logging auctions held once a month in Mongar. Most sawmills are out of logs.
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Putting the onus of sanitation on the people
Most Bhutanese villages are connected with piped water and pit latrines, yet illness from water-borne diseases is high, according to health officials. This, according to the chief engineer of the public health engineering division, Ugyen Rinzin, was because of continued poor hygiene and the sorry state of latrines and associated facilities.
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Investigation team visits windswept villages
A total of 249 houses were damaged by the windstorm that struck lower Trashigang dzongkhag on April 12, according to an investigation team that visited all the affected gewogs. Lumang gewog was the worst hit with 148 households affected, followed by 41 in Kangpara, 39 in Khaling and 21 in Thrimshing.
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9 college students return with TB
In the past three months nine Bhutanese college students in Bangkok and India have been diagnosed with tuberculosis after they checked themselves at the national referral hospital in Thimphu. The latest case was that of a student from Bangkok diagnosed with the disease yesterday. According to doctors, all the cases, except for one, are thought to be contagious through sputum. Three of the students study in Bangalore, one in Shillong, two in Sikkim and three in Bangkok. All the students are also between the age group of 20 to 25.
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Kaba crop flattened by hailstorm
Wheat and barley cultivation in Kaba village, Trongsa, has taken a pelting in recent weeks, with hailstorms destroying several acres of the area's two important spring crops. According to villagers, a 6.2 acre area of wheat and barley cultivation was flattened by hailstones to such an extent that it can hardly be harvested at all. "It's essential for barley to be in a standing position for it to be harvested,' said 52-year-old Ugyen from Kaba village, whose one-acre barley cultivation was affected. "I'll be able to harvest only about one-third of the yield.
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Foresters and farmers fight fire
Thirteen forest officials and 85 farmers of Phungshing, Baging and Shadang villages in Dremetse, Mongar, spent two whole days battling flames of a forest fire, which burnt more than 500 acres of lemon grass and pine forests near the Sherichhu-Dremetse highway. The fire, which started somewhere near Phungshing village in Dremetse gewog at around 6.30pm on April 21, was brought under control by the morning of April 24.
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Bhutan bags 21 new birds
Besides being home to some of the world's endangered bird species, Bhutan has recorded 21 new additional species, adding to its high floral and faunal diversity, according to officials of the nature conservation division. With the additional species, the country has now recorded a total of 677 types of birds as of April 25.
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Assessment of LPG supplies on
The ministry of economic affairs is assessing the demand trend of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the country to see whether there is a need to increase the annual quota import from India. "If there's a need to increase the quota, it will be done,' said a trade official. "At the moment, we're still compiling figures to assess demand in all the regions.'
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Book of Bhutanese birds
Bhutan is an ornithologist