This Report of the Standing Committee on Water Resources (2021-22) deals with the action taken by the Government on the Observations/Recommendations contained in their Twelfth Report (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) on ‘Flood Management in the Country including International Water Treaties in the field of Water Resource Management with particular Reference to …
lankan labour: The Wages Board of the Sri Lankan labour department is promoting child labour, if a government notice published in Sri Lankan newspaper is to be believed. The notice, which relates the wages of labourers who come under the Wages Board Act, was taken out under the name of …
the Assam government has sounded a health alert across the state following an outbreak of malaria that has claimed at least 35 lives and affected more than 20,000 people over the past month. Unofficial estimates put the toll at around 80. Behind the outbreak is the laxity of the administration …
The government is worried that malaria might spread among the Indian troops deployed along the India-Bhutan border. It has started providing soldiers with insecticide-treated mosquito nets and mosquito repellents. During the past five years, at least 50 army and paramilitary troopers have died of malaria in Assam. Mosquitoes have also …
what a waste: For the past two months, 11-year-old Tsheten Dorji is being treated for third-degree burns he received from chemical waste dumped by factories in Balujhora in Bhutan's Pasakha town. The town residents complain that factories dumped waste very near residential areas. "Children are always playing about the site. …
Reviving SACEP: At the Ninth Governing Council meeting of the South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme (SACEP) on August 26, 2005, in Thimpu, Bhutan, environment ministers of India, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka discussed past roadblocks and future targets. Pakistan and Nepal did not attend the meet. Agreeing upon …
Which is richer, the us or Bhutan? Well, that would be determined by whether you're looking at Gross National Product (gnp) or Gross National Happiness (gnh ) as indicator. Some experts regard the latter as a more evolved appraisal that integrates the values held by a country with how developed …
Cruel punishment: The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Refugee Coordination Unit (RCU) recently stopped food distribution to 3,142 refugees in Bhutans' Jhapa refugee camps. The reason cited was violation of UNHCR rules. Nirmal Raj Khanal, head of RCU's statistics department, pointed out that the refugees had …
Bhutan will soon become the world's first country to ban tobacco sales completely. Bhutanese trade and industry ministry has asked shops, hotels, restaurants and bars to dispose off their tobacco stocks by December 17, 2004, after which the ban will be enforced. The fine to be imposed on anyone caught …
With dengue fever spreading in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, the World Health Organisation (who) has issued a warning to all neighbouring countries. Around 658 people have died in Indonesia, 59 in Sri Lanka and three in Bangladesh. There are around 68,000 suspected cases of the disease. Bhutan, which …
seeking to strike a balance between the surging demand for timber and sustainable development methods, Bhutan adopted a forest management code on January 15. The comprehensive document is entitled the Code of Best Practices (cbp). It lays down the roadmap for the country's national forest policy and would be binding …
Bhutan is moving to regulate the use of its natural resources. A new law, introduced in the revised Forest and Nature Conservation Rules, requires individuals and companies to procure a licence to collect and sell sand, soil, gravel, rocks and peat from government land. The licence would be awarded through …
FEEDING THE HERDS: IMPROVING FODDER RESOURCES IN BHUTAN . Walter Roder, Kinzang Wangdi, Pema Gyamtsho and Karma Dorji . International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development . Kathmandu . 2001 The transition of rural Bhutanese society from subsistence to a market economy has been one of the bigger challenges this mountainous …
The number of HIV cases is on the rise in Bhutan. A total of 13 people tested positive in 2002, and in all 38 are now infected with the virus in the Himalayan country. The first HIV positive case was diagnosed in 1993. Among those infected are seven housewives, three …
The foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a recurring menace for the people of Chhukha dzongkhag (district) in Bhutan. Fed up with the frequent outbreaks, Chhukha has embarked upon a mass immunisation programme that would shield its entire livestock. The district has a livestock population of 1,53,348, and has encountered …
In an attempt to bridge the digital divide, Bhutan's planning commission secretariat is establishing an information network in all its 20 administrative districts (dzongkhags). The project
Solar power is getting a major boost in Bhutan. More schools, health units and monasteries in remote areas will get solar energy now. The officials of the department of power in Bhutan have distributed 50 solar panels and trained 60 technicians in solar power usage. These technicians were given tips …
Most protected areas in Bhutan are threatened. A major risk is being posed by poaching and fire. The poachers mainly prey on musk deer, blood pheasant and black bear. Musk pod, musk skin, bear bile, rhino horn and snow leopard skin have huge markets in Nepal and India, states a …
In an effort to check the growing incidence of forest fires, foresters in Trashigang in Bhutan are involving farmers of the area to combat the havoc. About 190 villagers in Samkhar and 135 in Kanglung have been imparted training in this connection. According to the forest range officer, Dorji Dukpa, …
