The Department of Law and Order will freeze accounts of online gambling operators

Thinley Namgay

The Department of Law and Order (DLO) has uncovered 65 online gambling groups with nearly 17,000 participants in the past eight months. The department is now intensifying efforts to combat this growing issue by partnering with the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) to freeze the accounts linked to these illicit operations.

These groups, predominantly hosted on Telegram, vary in size. Most groups have members between 200 and 500, with some groups like ‘Unlimited Luck’ boasting up to 1,200 members.

The DLO estimates the actual number of groups to be much higher. However, not every individual in these groups may be actively participating in gambling activities.

The DLO gathered the data through online monitoring of platforms and information collected from sources and relevant agencies.

Some of the other popular gambling and betting groups are Lotus, Peday’s Group, Yangchenma, and Win Your Luck, among others.  Dice and teer are popular online games, according to the DLO.

The modus operandi—the coordinator or admin of each gambling group manages bets and fees through personal accounts. Members have to transfer the bet or fee to the coordinators’ accounts to play the game.

DLO Chief Karma Dorji said that the department is now collaborating with the RMA to freeze the accounts associated with these online gambling operations. “Both organisers and participants are subject to legal action as per the law.”

He warned that online gambling has become rampant in the country just as it was in 2022 when it reached troubling proportions.

Online gambling occurs when an individual or entity engages in the business of accepting, placing, receiving or otherwise knowingly transmitting a bet or wager by any means which involves the use, at least in part, of the internet. It also includes online businesses offering sports betting, online poker or other games of chance. 

As per the DLO’s context, gambling is a game of chance which is luck based, where a person’s effort and talent is not required. “If you play archery, your talent is involved, which is called the game of skills. Gambling provides a platform for the people to bet or wager where one does not have the control to win or lose,” Karma Dorji said.

The DLO clarified that gambling, which relies on luck rather than skill, can lead to significant financial and familial issues, undermining financial discipline.

He cautioned the public not to misunderstand why the government is concerned about gambling. “Those account holders are making money at the cost of somebody’s financial and family problems.”

Amid this development, a key point of contention is the Bhutan Lottery. 

While the DLO accepts Bhutan Lottery as a form of gambling, it clarified that it is a state recognised game based on section 395 of the Penal Code of Bhutan 2004, distinguishing it from illegal gambling activities.

According to DLO, the state makes sure that the Bhutan Lottery does not cost damage to the society, and a system is in place to ensure that people are not hugely affected. “There is transparency in the Bhutan lottery.”

Only state-owned enterprises are allowed to start gambling businesses, according to DLO.

Under Section 393 of the Penal Code, engaging in gambling activities—where bets are placed on outcomes beyond one’s control—is considered an offense. It is classified as a petty misdemeanor under Section 394.

The Royal Bhutan Police have reported minor cases related to online gambling at some stations.

The public has also raised concerns about online giveaway platforms and gambling activities during cultural events like tshechus.

The DLO issued a formal notice on August 28 urging the public to avoid engaging in illegal gambling activities, and reinforcing the prohibition.

༉ ནང་སྲིད་ལྷན་ཁག་གིས་ འཕྲལ་ཁམས་ཅིག་ཁར་ ལྷན་ཁག་གི་ གསལ་བསྒྲགས་ལུ་མ་གནས་པར་ ཞལ་འདེབས་བསྡུ་བླངས་འབད་མི་ གནད་དོན་ཁག་༩ ངོས་འཛིན་འབད་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
སྤྱི་ལོ་༢༠༢༤ ཟླ་༨ པའི་ཚེས་༢༡ ལུ་ ལྷན་ཁག་གིས་ གསལ་བསྒྲགས་ཅིག་འབད་མི་དེ་ཡང་ ལྷན་ཁག་ལས་གནང་བ་མེད་པར་ ཞལ་འདེབས་བསྡུ་བླངས་ཀྱི་རིགས་ ག་ཅི་ར་འབད་རུང་ མི་སྡེ་བརྡ་བརྒྱུད་ ཕེས་བུག་དང་ ཊིག་ཊོག་ དེ་ལས་ གཞན་དང་གཞན་ཡང་ འདི་དང་འབྲེལ་བ་ཡོད་མི་ཚུ་ནང་ འབད་མ་ཆོགཔ་སྦེ་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
ད་ལྟོ་ འདི་བཟུམ་གྱི་ གནང་བ་མེད་པར་ ཞལ་འདེབས་བསྡུ་བླངས་འབད་མི་ཚུ་ལུ་ ཉེན་བརྡ་ཚུ་བྱིན་ནི་ཨིན་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
རེས་གཟའ་སྤེན་པའི་ བརྡ་བརྒྱུད་ཞལ་འཛོམས་ནང་ ནང་སྲིད་བློན་པོ་ཚེ་རིང་གིས་ བཤད་མིའི་ནང་ ད་ལྟོའི་ཁྱབ་བསྒྲགས་དེ་ཡང་ སྤྱི་ལོ་༢༠༢༡ དང་༢༠༢༣ ལུ་ གསལ་བསྒྲགས་འབད་མི་དང་ ཅོག་འཐདཔ་སྦེ་ ཨིན་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
བློན་པོ་གིས་ འབད་བ་ཅིན་ ཞལ་འདེབས་བསྡུ་བླངས་འབད་ནི་དེ་ སྒྲིག་གཞི་དང་འཁྲིལ་ཏེ་ འགན་འཁྲི་དང་ དྭངས་གསལ་ཅན་གྱི་ཞལ་འདེབས་ དགོས་མཁོ་ཡོདཔ་ངེས་བདེན་ཨིན་ན་མེན་ན་ ཚུལ་མཐུན་ལག་ལེན་འཐབ་ནི་དང་ ཚུལ་མིན་བཀག་ཐབས་འབད་ནི་ བྱ་ལས་ངན་པ་འབད་ནི་ལས་ བཀག་ཐབས་འབད་ནི་ལ་སོགས་པ་ཚུ་ཨིན་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
གསལ་བསྒྲགས་འབད་བའི་ཤུལ་ལུ་ཡང་ གནང་བ་མེད་པའི་ ཞལ་འདེབས་བསྡུ་བླངས་ཀྱི་བྱ་རིམ་ཚུ་ འཕྲོ་མཐུད་དེ་ར་འབད་དེ་འདུག་ཟེར་ཨིནམ་ད་ མི་ཚུ་གིས་ ཨ་ལོ་སྨན་ཁང་ནང་ ནདཔ་སྦེ་ཡོད་པའི་ པར་བཏབ་ཞིནམ་ལས་ ཞལ་འདེབས་བསྡུ་ལེན་འབད་དོ་ཡོདཔ་ད་ ཞིབ་དཔྱད་ལྟར་དུ་འབད་བ་ཅིན་ ཞལ་འདེབས་ཚུ་ ངོ་རྐྱང་གི་ཁེ་ཕན་ལུ་དམིགས་ཏེ་ ཨིན་མས་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
ཁྱབ་བསྒྲགས་འབད་མིའི་ནང་ ངོ་རྐྱང་ཚུ་གིས་འབད་རུང་ ཞལ་འདེབས་འབདཝ་ད་ གནང་བ་མེད་མི་དང་ གཞུང་འབྲེལ་མེན་མི་ལུ་ ཞལ་འདེབས་མ་བྱིན་ནི་དང་ བྱ་རིམ་འགྲིགས་མི་ཚུ་གིས་ ལག་ལེན་དེ་འཛེམ་དགོཔ་སྦེ་ཨིནམ་བཞིན་དུ་ གལ་སྲིད་ འདི་བཟུམ་གྱི་ བྱ་ལས་ངན་པ་འབད་སར་ བདའ་ཟུན་པ་ཅིན་ བསྡུ་ལེན་འབད་མི་མ་དངུལ་ཚུ་ གཞུང་བཞེས་བཏང་ནི་དང་ འབྲུག་གི་ཁྲིམས་དང་འཁྲིལ་ མི་ངོམ་དེ་ལུ་ ཁྲིམས་ཀྱི་ངོས་ལེན་འབད་ནི་ཨིན་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
བློན་པོ་གིས་ བཤད་མིའི་ནང་ གནང་བ་མེད་པའི་བསྒང་ལས་ གནད་དོན་དེ་ ངེས་བདེན་ཨིན་མིན་ དབྱེ་ཞིབ་འབད་ནི་ལུ་ ལཱ་ཁག་འདུག་ཟེར་ཨིནམ་ད་ གནད་དོན་ཚུ་ ཁྲིམས་མཐུན་ཨིན་རུང་ ཚོད་རྩིས་འབོར་ཚད་ཚུ་ དེ་ཅིག་ཨིན་ཟེར་བའི་ ངེས་བརྟན་མིན་ནུག་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
ཁྱབ་བསྒྲགས་ལུ་མ་གནས་པར་ ཚུལ་མིན་འབདཝ་འདྲཝ་འབད་བ་ཅིན་ འབྲུག་གི་ཉེས་འགེལ་ཁྲིམས་དེབ་དང་བསྟུན་ བསྟར་སྤྱོད་འབད་ནི་ཨིནམ་མ་ཚད་ ལྷག་པར་དུ་ ཁྲིམས་འགལ་གྱི་ཉེས་རྒྱ་ཚུ་ ཕོག་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
འབྲུག་གི་ཉེས་འགེལ་ཁྲིམས་དེབ་ཀྱི་ དོན་ཚན་༢༡ པ་དང་འཁྲིལཝ་ད་ གཡོ་བསྒུལ་འབད་མི་དེ་ མི་གཞན་ལུ་མགུ་སྐོར་རྐྱབ་པའི་ གྲངས་སུ་ཚུད་ནི་ཨིནམ་ལས་ ཁྲིམས་མཐུན་མཚམས་འཛིན་ འབད་དགོཔ་ཡོད་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
ད་ལྟོ་དེ་ སྒྲིག་གཞི་ཚུ་ གཡུས་སྒོ་དང་ མི་སྡེའི་གནས་རིམ་ནང་ དམིགས་བསལ་ཅན་གྱི་རིམ་གྲོ་དང་ དུས་རྒྱུན་གྱི་ ལྷ་གསོལ་བོན་གསོལ་དོན་ལུ་ བསྡུ་བླངས་འབད་མི་ཚུ་ལུ་ བསྟར་སྤྱོད་མ་འབད་རུང་ དེ་མིན་པའི་ གཞན་གྱི་རིགས་ཚུ་ནང་ གནང་བ་མེད་པའི་ ཐབས་བྱུས་རེ་འགྲིགས་པ་ཅིན་ རྩ་ལས་ར་མི་ཆོག་ཟེར་ ཁྱབ་བསྒྲགས་འབད་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
བློན་པོ་གིས་འབད་བ་ཅིན་ འདི་བཟུམ་གྱི་ དྭངས་གསལ་བཟོ་མི་དེ་ མི་སྡེ་ཞབས་ཏོག་ལུ་ མ་ཆོགཔ་བཟོཝ་མེན་པར་ ལག་ལེན་དང་ ལམ་ལུགས་ཚུ་ ག་ཅི་ར་འབད་རུང་ དྭངས་གསལ་ཅན་དང་ འགན་འཁྲི་ཅན་ དེ་ལས་ ཞལ་འདེབས་ཕུལ་མི་དང་ བསྡུ་བླངས་འབད་མི་གཉིས་ཆ་རའི་ ཉེན་སྲུང་དོན་ལུ་ཨིན་ཟེར་ ཨིན་པའི་གནས་ཚུལ།

ཚེ་རིང་དབང་འདུས།

༉ བང་ལ་དེཤི་ལུ་ འདས་པའི་ཟླཝ་ཅིག་གི་རིང་ སྲིད་འབྲེལ་གནས་སྟངས་ལེགས་ཤོམ་མེད་མི་དེ་ ད་རེས་ ལེགས་བཅོས་འགྱོ་མི་དང་བསྟུན་ འབྲུག་པའི་སློབ་ཕྲུག་ཚུ་གིས་ ཁོང་རའི་ དཔེ་ཆ་འཕྲོ་མཐུད་ལྷབ་ནིའི་དོན་ལུ་ ལོག་འགྱོ་ནི་ འགོ་བཙུགས་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
ཕྱི་འབྲེལ་དང་ཕྱིར་ཚོང་ལྷན་ཁག་དང་འཁྲིལཝ་ད་ བང་ལ་དེཤི་ལུ་ དཔེ་ཆ་ལྷབ་མི་ འབྲུག་པའི་སློབ་ཕྲུག་༢༣༧ ཡོད་པའི་གྲས་ལས་ ༢༣༠ གིས་ སྲིད་འབྲེལ་ཟིང་འཁྲུགས་སྐབས་ རྒྱལ་ཁབ་ནང་ ལོག་འོང་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
བང་ལ་དེཤི་ལུ་ ཤེས་རིག་སློབ་སྡེ་ཚུ་ སྤྱི་ཟླ་༧ པའི་ཚེས་༡༧ ལས་ གནས་སྐབས་སྒོ་བསྡམས་ཡོདཔ་ད་ དེ་ཡང་ གཙོ་བོ་ར་ འཕྲལ་ཁམས་ཅིག་ཁར་ ལཱ་གཡོག་ཐོབ་སྐལ་ལམ་ལུགས་ གཞི་བསྒྱུར་འབད་དགོ་པའི་ མཁོ་འདོད་བཀོད་པའི་སྐབས་ ཟིང་འཁྲུགས་ལངམ་ད་ སློབ་ཕྲུག་ཚུ་ལུ་ ཉེན་སྲུང་བཟོ་ཐབས་ཀྱི་དོན་ལུ་ཨིན་པས།
སྤྱི་ཟླ་༨ པའི་ཚེས་༣༡ ལུ་ གནས་ཚུལ་ཞལ་འཛོམས་ཐེངས་༧ པ་ འཚོགས་པའི་སྐབས་ ཕྱི་འབྲེལ་དང་ཕྱིར་ཚོང་ལྷན་ཁག་གི་ བློན་པོ་ཌི་ཨེན་ དུང་གེལ་གྱིས་ སླབ་མིའི་ནང་ བང་ལ་དེཤི་ལུ་ གནས་སྐབས་གཞུང་འཚོགས་ནི་དེ་གིས་ གནས་སྟངས་ལེགས་བཅོས་སོང་ནུག་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
ད་རེས་ སློབ་ཕྲུག་མང་ཤོས་ཅིག་ར་ ཁོང་རའི་ གཙུག་ལག་སློབ་སྡེ་ཚུ་ནང་ ལོག་ལྷོད་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་རུང་ བདུན་མཐའ་འདི་གི་ནང་འཁོད་ ཌ་ཀ་ལུ་ འབྲུག་གི་ གཞུང་ཚབ་ལས་ཁང་ལས་ དུས་མཐུན་གྱངས་ཁ་ལྷོདཔ་ཅིག་ ལྷན་ཁག་གིས་ སྙན་ཞུ་འབད་འོང་ཟེར་ བློན་པོ་གིས་ བཤདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
བློན་པོ་གིས་འབད་བ་ཅིན་ ཌ་ཀ་ལུ་ འབྲུག་གི་ གཞུང་ཚབ་ལས་ཁང་གིས་ སློབ་ཕྲུག་ཚུ་ལུ་ ཉེན་སྲུང་བཟོ་ནིའི་དོན་ལས་ འབྲེལ་ཡོད་ངོ་ཚབ་དང་ འགོ་དཔོན་ཚུ་དང་གཅིག་ཁར་ འབྲེལ་བ་འཐབ་སྟེ་ཡོད་ཟེར་ཨིནམ་ད་ བྲེལ་ཟིང་སྐབས་ བང་ལ་དེཤི་ལུ་ར་སྡོད་མི་ འབྲུག་པའི་སློབ་ཕྲུག་ཚུ་ ཉེན་སྲུང་དང་ལྡནམ་སྦེ་ཡོད་པའི་ཁར་ སློབ་སྟོན་འགོ་བཙུགས་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
བང་ལ་དེཤི་ལུ་ ཤེས་རིག་ལྷན་ཁག་གིས་ སྤྱི་ཟླ་༨ པའི་ཚེས་༡༥ ལུ་ སློབ་སྡེ་ཚུ་ཆ་མཉམ་ར་ ལོག་སྒོ་ཕྱེ་དགོ་པའི་ བཀོད་རྒྱ་གནང་མི་དང་བསྟུན་ སྤྱི་ཟླ་༨ པའི་ཚེས་༡༨ ལུ་ གཙུག་ལག་སློབ་སྡེ་ཚུ་གིས་གཙོས་པའི་ ཤེས་རིག་སློབ་ཁང་དང་ འབྲིང་རིམ་སློབ་གྲྭ་ དེ་ལས་ མཐོ་རིམ་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་ ལོག་སྒོ་ཕྱེས་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
བང་ལ་དེཤི་ལུ་ སྲིད་འབྲེལ་གྱི་ ཉེན་འཚུབས་བྱུང་སྟེ་འབད་རུང་ བང་ལ་དེཤི་དང་གཅིག་ཁར་ འབྲུག་གི་ཚོང་འབྲེལ་འཐབ་མི་ཚུ་ལུ་ ཐོ་མ་ཕོག་པར་ གནས་བཞིན་ཡོད་པའི་གནས་ཚུལ།

བཙན་སྐྱོགས་དབང་འདུས།

༉ ཧེ་མ་ རྒྱལ་ཁབ་ནང་འཁོད་ཀྱི་ སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་ ཤེས་རིག་གི་ ལས་སྡེ་ཚུ་གི་གྲས་ལས་ ཡར་དྲག་འགྱོ་མི་ ལས་སྡེ་ཅིག་ཨིན་རུང་ ད་རེས་ སྲིད་བྱུས་བསྒྱུར་བཅོས་འབད་མི་ལུ་བརྟེན་ གནས་མ་ཚུགས་པའི་ དཀའ་ངལ་དང་ གདོང་ལེན་བྱུང་སྟེ་ ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
འདས་པའི་གཞུང་གིས་ མཐུན་སྒྲིག་མེད་པའི་སྲིད་བྱུས་ཚུ་ བསྒྱུར་བཅོས་འབད་མི་དེ་གིས་ སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་ རྒྱུན་བརྟན་མེདཔ་བཟོ་ཡོདཔ་བཞིན་དུ་ དེ་གིས་ སློབ་གྲྭ་མང་ཤོས་ཅིག་ སྒོ་བསྡམས་དགོཔ་བྱུང་བའི་ཁར་ ལྷག་པར་དུ་ ཚོང་འབྲེལ་འཐབ་ནང་ ལཱ་ཁག་ཅན་ཅིག་སྦེ་ བཟོ་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
རྒྱལ་ཁབ་ནང་ སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཡོངས་བསྡོམས་༢༡ ཡོད་མི་དེ་ ད་རེས་ སློབ་གྲྭ་༤ ལུ་ ལྷོད་དེ་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
དམིགས་བསལ་དུ་ འབྲུག་མཉམ་རུབ་ཚོགས་པའི་གཞུང་གིས་ སྤྱི་ལོ་༢༠༡༩ ལུ་ སློབ་རིམ་༡༠ པ་ལས་ སྐུགས་ཚད་མེདཔ་སྦེ་ བཟོ་མི་དེ་གིས་ སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་ལུ་ ཐོ་སྦོམ་སྦེ་ར་ཕོག་ཡོདཔ་ད་ ཨིན་རུང་ སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭའི་འཐུས་ཚབ་ཚུ་གིས་ བཀོད་མིའི་ནང་ འབྲུག་མཉམ་རུབ་ཚོགསཔའི་ སྲིད་བྱུས་རྐྱངམ་གཅིག་མེན་པར་ གནད་དོན་གཞན་ཚུ་གིས་ཡང་ གདོན་ལེ་བྱུང་ཡི་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
ཁོང་གིས་འབད་བ་ཅིན་ འདས་པའི་གཞུང་གིས་ སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་ སྣང་མེད་སྦེ་བཞག་ཡོདཔ་མ་ཚད་ ཁོང་གི་ གནས་སྐབས་ཚུ་དང་ཡང་ དོ་འགྲན་འབད་ཡོདཔ་ལས་ ཡུན་བརྟན་གནས་ནི་ལུ་ ལྷག་པར་དུ་ གདོང་ལེན་ཅན་སྦེ་ བཟོ་ད་ཡི་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་གིས་ སླབ་མིའི་ནང་ གཞུང་༢ པ་གིས་ སློབ་གྲྭ་ལྟེ་བ་ གཞི་བཙུགས་འབད་བའི་སྐབས་ སློབ་གྲྭ་ནང་ སློབ་ཕྲུག་འཛུལ་ཞུགས་དེ་ སློབ་ཕྲུག་༡༠,༠༠༠ ལས་༥,༠༠༠ ལུ་ མར་བབས་སོང་ཡི་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
དེ་ལས་ འབྲུག་མཉམ་རུབ་ཚོགས་པ་གིས་ གཞུང་སྐྱོང་བའི་སྐབས་ སྤྱི་ལོ་༢༠༢༢ ལུ་ སློབ་ཕྲུག་༥,༠༠༠ གིས་ འཇམ་ཏོང་ཏོ་སྦེ་ གཞུང་གི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་ནང་ འཛུལ་ཞུགས་འབད་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
སྲིད་བྱུས་བསྒྱུར་བཅོས་འབད་མི་གིས་ སློབ་གྲྭ་ལེ་ཤ་ཅིག་ར་ སྒོ་བསྡམས་ཡོདཔ་ད་ ལ་ལོ་ཅིག་གིས་ ཡུན་བརྟན་གནས་ཐབས་ལུ་ སློབ་གྲྭ་ཆུང་བ་བཟོ་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭའི་ ངོ་ཚབ་ཚུ་གིས་ སླབ་མིའི་ནང་ སློབ་རིམ་༡༠ པའི་ནང་ སྐུགས་ཚད་མེདཔ་སྦེ་ བཟོ་མི་དེ་གིས་ ཤེས་རིག་གི་ སྤུས་ཚད་མར་འབབ་འགྱོ་ནི་ལུ་ ལྷན་ཐབས་འབད་ཡོདཔ་ད་ སྐུགས་ཚད་༣༥ ཐོབ་མི་གིས་ ཤེས་ཡོན་གྱི་ རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་ག་ནི་ཡང་མེདཔ་ལས་ གཞུང་གི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་ནང་ སློབ་ཕྲུག་ལེ་ཤ་སྤུངས་འཛོམས་འབད་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
སློབ་ཕྲུག་མ་ཤོང་པའི་ དཀའ་ངལ་དེ་ དམིགས་བསལ་དུ་ ཁྲོམ་སྡེ་ཚུ་ནང་ཡོདཔ་ད་ དཔེར་ན་ ཐིམ་ཕུག་ བདེ་ཆེན་ཆོས་གླིང་འབྲིང་རིམ་སློབ་གྲྭ་གོང་མའི་ནང་ སློབ་ཕྲུག་༢,༠༠༠ དེ་ཅིག་ཡོདཔ་ད་ གཞུང་གིས་ གནས་སྟངས་ལེགས་ཤོམ་སྦེ་ བཟོ་དགོ་པ་ཅིན་ ཟད་འགྲོ་ལེ་ཤ་གཏང་སྟེ་ སློབ་གྲྭ་གསརཔ་ ལེ་ཤ་རྐྱབ་དགོ་པའི་ཁར་ སློབ་དཔོན་ཚུ་ཡང་ གསར་བཙུགས་འབད་དགོཔ་འོང་ཟེར་ ངོ་ཚབ་ཚུ་གིས་ བཤདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
གདོང་ལེན་དེ་ཚུ་ སེལ་ཐབས་དོན་ལུ་ སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་གིས་ སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་ནང་ འཛུལ་ཞུགས་འབད་མི་ སློབ་ཕྲུག་ཚུ་གི་དོན་ལུ་ གཞུང་ལས་ རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་གནང་ནིའི་དོན་ལས་ རྩིས་ཤོག་ལམ་ལུགས་ཀྱི་ གྲོས་འཆར་བཀོད་དེ་ཡོདཔ་ད་ དེ་གིས་ གཞུང་གི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་ནང་ སློབ་ཕྲུག་མ་ཤོང་པའི་ དཀའ་ངལ་ཚུ་ སེལ་ཐབས་འབད་ཚུགས་ཟེར་ ངོ་ཚབ་ཚུ་གིས་ བཤདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་ནང་ རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་མེན་པར་ གཞུང་གིས་ བཟོ་སྐྲུན་གསརཔ་ཚུ་ལུ་ རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་འབད་དེ་ཡོདཔ་ད་ གཞུང་གིས་ དོན་མེད་ཀྱི་ བཟོ་སྐྲུན་ནང་ ཟད་འགྲོ་དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ས་ཡ་༡༠༠ བཏང་མི་ལས་ སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་ནང་ མ་རྩ་གཞི་བཙུགས་ དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ས་ཡ་༡༠ འབད་བ་ཅིན་ དྲག་འོང་ཟེར་ ངོ་ཚབ་ཚུ་གིས་ བཤདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
དེ་ལས་ གཞུང་གིས་ སློབ་གྲྭ་ལྟེ་བ་ཚུ་ གོང་འཕེལ་གཏང་པ་ཅིན་ སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭའི་ སློབ་ཕྲུག་ཚུ་ གཞུང་གི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ནང་ འགྱོ་ནིའི་ཚ་གྱང་ལང་སྟེ་ ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭའི་ ངོ་ཚབ་ཚུ་གིས་ སླབ་མིའི་ནང་ སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་གིས་ ཐད་ཀར་དུ་ གཞུང་གི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་ནང་ དོ་འགྲན་འབད་མི་འོང་ནི་དང་ དེ་བ་ གཞན་དང་མ་འདྲ་བའི་ལས་རིམ་ སྙན་ཆ་དང་ རྩེད་རིགས་ དེ་ལས་ རིས་མོ་ཚུ་ནང་ གཙོ་རིམ་བཟུང་དགོ་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་ གཞུང་གིས་ དམིགས་བསལ་གྱི་ སློབ་གྲྭ་གཞི་བཙུགས་ནི་སྦེ་ འཆར་གཞི་ཡོད་མི་ལུ་ སེམས་དང་མ་ལྡན་པར་ཡོདཔ་བཞིན་དུ་ དེ་ཡང་ སྒེར་སྡེ་ཚུ་ལུ་བཞག་པ་ཅིན་ ལེགས་ཤོམ་འོང་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
ངོ་ཚབ་ཚུ་གིས་ བཤད་མིའི་ནང་ སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་གིས་ འདས་པའི་གཞུང་དང་ མཉམ་འབྲེལ་འབད་ནིའི་ དཔའ་བཅམ་ཡོད་རུང་ མཐར་འཁྱོལ་འབྱུང་མ་ཚུགས་པའི་ཁར་ གཞུང་གིས་ ཁོང་རའི་ཁས་བླངས་དེ་ འགྲུབ་ནི་ལུ་ གཙོ་རིམ་བཟུང་ཡོདཔ་ད་ དེ་གིས་ སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭ་དང་ ཤེས་ཡོན་ལམ་ལུགས་༢ ཆ་ར་ལུ་ ཐོ་ཕོག་ཅི་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
གནམ་བྱཱར་གྱི་སྤྱི་ཚོགས་ནང་ འཐུས་མི་ལ་ལོ་ཅིག་གིས་ ནང་རིག་གི་མཐོ་རི་སློབ་གྲྭ་སྦེ་ བཟོ་ནི་ལུ་ གཞུང་གིས་ སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཚུ་ ཉོ་དགོཔ་སྦེ་ གྲོས་འདེབས་བཀོད་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
ཤེས་རིག་གི་ རྒྱལ་ཡོངས་ཚོགས་སྡེའི་དམིགས་བསལ་གྱི་ ཚོགས་ཆུང་གིས་ཡང་ འཐུས་གཞི་བཀོད་དང་ ལག་ལེན་ཚ་གྱང་གི་ གནད་དོན་ཚུ་ སེལ་ཐབས་ལུ་ གཞུང་གི་ སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭའི་ལམ་སྟོན་དེ་ བསྐྱར་ཞིབ་འབད་དགོཔ་སྦེ་ གྲོས་འཆར་བཀོད་དེ་ ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
ད་ལྟོའི་གཞུང་གིས་ སྒེར་གྱི་སློབ་གྲྭའི་ ཁ་གསལ་འཆར་གཞི་ཚུ་ མ་བལྟ་བར་ཡོདཔ་ད་ ཨིན་རུང་ འཛིན་སྐྱོང་དང་ རྩ་གཞུང་བཟོ་བཀོད་ དེ་ལས་ ཕྱིའི་སློབ་དཔོན་ གསར་བཙུགས་འབད་ནི་ཚུ་ རང་དབང་བཟོ་སྟེ་ ཤེས་རིག་ལམ་ལུགས་ནང་ རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་འབད་ནི་སྦེ་ ཁས་བླངས་འབད་ཡོད་པའི་གནས་ཚུལ།

ཨོ་རྒྱན་རྡོ་རྗེ།

ཁ་ཙ་ ཆུ་ཁ་བཀྲིས་དགའ་ཚལ་ལུ་ རྒས་ཤོས་ཀྱི་ བདེ་སྲུང་སྦྱོང་བརྡར་ལས་རིམ་ ཤོ་ཐེངས་༦༦ པ་ འགོ་བཙུགས་ཡོདཔ་ད་ སྡེ་ཚན་འདི་ནང་ སྐྱེས་ལོ་༦༥ ལས་༧༥ འི་བར་ན་འབད་མི་ སྦྱོང་བརྡར་བ་༩༧ ཡོད་པའི་གྲས་ལས་ ཕོ་སྐྱེས་༨༤ དང་ ཨམ་སྲུ་༡༣ ཡོདཔ་ད་ ཉིན་གྲངས་༡༠འབད་མི་ སྦྱོང་བརྡར་ལས་ལིམ་དེ་ མགྱོགས་ཚད་བདེ་སྲུང་སྦྱོང་བརྡར་ལས་རིམ་ ཤོ་ཐེངས་༦༥ པ་དང་གཅིག་ཁར་ སྤྱི་ཟླ་༩ པའི་ཚེས་༡༠ལུ་ མཇུག་བསྡུ་ནི་ཨིན་པའི་གནས་ཚུལ།

He is the first Bhutanese to win the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award

Thinley Namgay 

The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF) has announced that Dr Karma Phuntsho (PhD), a Bhutanese thought leader and founder of the Loden Foundation, will be honored with the Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2024.

The award ceremony is set to take place on November 16 in the Philippines.

Karma Phuntsho from Bumthang is the first Bhutanese to receive this prestigious award. 

Karma Phuntsho is being recognised for his exceptional leadership in integrating Bhutanese traditions with modern needs through education, social entrepreneurship, and cultural preservation. His efforts have significantly uplifted the lives of many Bhutanese.

Speaking to Kuensel, Karma Phuntsho said that it is both deeply humbling and encouraging to be selected to receive the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay award. “To be honest, I was totally taken aback to hear that I have been chosen as an awardee. I wish I am more deserving of such an honour which epitomises the indomitable spirit of compassionate service and wise leadership.”

The Ramon Magsaysay Award, often referred to as Asia’s Nobel Prize, celebrates transformative leadership and outstanding contributions in various fields, including public service, community leadership, journalism, and cultural preservation, literature and creative communication arts, peaceand international understanding, and emergent leadership.

“To me, if anything, the award is a recognition of team work and good wishes and support of all those involved in Loden’s projects. It is a tribute to everyone who has joined me in this journey of making a positive difference to society,” he added.

Karma Phuntsho said that their efforts and achievements are diminutive compared to what is happening in bigger countries. “Yet, it is a great privilege to be associated with Asia’s champions of greatness of spirit and transformative leadership,” he said. “I hope their qualities of courage, compassion and wisdom will rub off on us more, and I pray that Asia continues to remain a source of such inspiration and influence.”

The 2024 awardees also include popular filmmaker Miyazaki Hayao from Japan, the Rural Doctors Movement from Thailand, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong from Vietnam, and Farwiza Farhan from Indonesia.

Since its inception in 1958, the Ramon Magsaysay Award has honored 348 exceptional individuals and organisations, including notable figures such as the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa.

The RMAF highlighted Karma Phuntsho’s substantial contributions through the Loden Foundation, established in 1999, committed to promoting education, nurturing social entrepreneurship, and documenting Bhutan’s cultural heritage and traditions

“Loden prioritises social value and ethical business practices to promote a caring economy, funding 295 entrepreneurs including 97 women, creating 860 jobs, and training 5,750 aspiring entrepreneurs since 2008,” stated the RMAF. 

The RMAF also mentioned that Loden has documented 3,348 hours of intangible culture, digitised 4.55 million pages of texts, captured 150,000 images of art and artifacts, and supported 61 cultural projects to preserve Bhutan’s cultural traditions.

“The RMAF board of trustees recognises his invaluable and enduring contributions towards harmonising the richness of his country’s past with the diverse predicaments and prospects of its present, inspiring young Bhutanese to be proud of their heritage and confident in their future,” said the RMAF.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay’s example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. 

Ramon Magsaysay served as the seventh President of the Philippines from December 30, 1953, until his death in an aircraft disaster on March 17, 1957.

Neten Dorji

Trashiyangtse—Residents of the new Doksum town in Trashiyangtse are frustrated over the protracted delays in the construction of the sewage network—a long-standing issue that has seen little improvement despite repeated complaints.

Initially slated for completion by June 2023, the project, which also encompasses road improvements, sewage connection, and parking facilities, has missed its deadline and is now projected to be finished by September 2024.

Despite this extension, there has been little progress, leading to dissatisfaction among the local community.

Many residents feel that the dzongkhag administration has failed to address the situation.

Frustrated local business owners said that both the contractor and the dzongkhag officials have ignored the problems for a long time.

“Without a sewerage network connection to the building, we have to request other building owners to use their toilets,” building owner, Sangay Choda, said.  “With staff from the Kholongchu project expected to rent houses in the area, the timely construction of the sewage chamber is critical.”

The sewage issue in Doksum is further compounded by the lack of a proper drainage system.

Another resident, Jigme, said that he allowed two owners of buildings to temporarily connect their sewage to his building—a situation that he fears could lead to future problems.

“The lack of a proper sewage connection has led to misunderstandings among the building owners,” he explained. “The planners did not leave enough space between each plot for building drains and sewage, which has caused these issues.”

Another business owner, Ugyen Sonam, emphasised the importance of connecting sewage from buildings to pipes leading to the treatment plant. “We are not required to build septic tanks,” he said, noting that the treatment plant would be useless if it cannot be properly utilised.

Residents are also questioning why the contractor has taken so long to construct the sewage chambers. And some business owners suggested that the contractor should be terminated for failing to complete the work on time.

“This delay is an unnecessary burden on the government and residents. We want quality work, delivered on time,” said one businessman, attributing the delays to a lack of proper monitoring from the dzongkhag.

The contractor’s failure to meet the deadline was discussed at the Dzongkhag Tender Committee meeting.

Site Engineer Nima Tshering said that the committee is closely monitoring the situation and following up with the contractor.

“With only the installation of the sewage chamber remaining, the committee decided not to terminate the contract since 95 percent of the work is already completed,” he said, adding if the work is further delayed, they are going to terminate the contract.

It has been learnt that the project is currently in the liquidated damages period, with the laying of the sewage pipeline completed as planned. The sewage chamber is on its way from Samdrupjongkhar and is expected to be installed soon.

A budget of Nu 7.90 million was allocated for the improvement of roads, drainage, sewerage network connection, and vehicle parking development in Doksum Town.

Dzongkhag officials said that the public also should take initiative in maintaining already developed infrastructure, such as drains, roads, and surrounding areas.

“When the government supports them, it is also important for residents to take ownership of already developed infrastructure,” said one official.

Sherab Lhamo

The Ministry of Home Affairs recently reported nine cases of unauthorised donations, leading to the issuance of a notification warning against such activities.

On August 21, 2024, the ministry issued a notification prohibiting the unauthorised solicitation of donations through social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and others without prior approval.

Those involved in such unauthorised donation drives are currently receiving warning notices.

During the Meet-the-Press on Friday, Home Minister Tshering said that this notification was a continuation of similar directives issued in 2021 and 2023.

The minister said that the regulation of donations was enforced to uphold accountability and transparency, ensure that donations are genuine and used for legitimate purposes, and to prevent scams, deception, and unethical practices.

Despite these notifications, unauthorised donations continue to occur, according to the minister. He cited an incident where individuals posted pictures of a sick child in the hospital to solicit donations. Upon investigation, the ministry discovered that the funds were intended for personal gain.

The notification advises individuals to refrain from engaging in or contributing to unauthorised donation drives without official approval. If found participating in such activities, the involved account will be frozen and legal actions will be pursued according to relevant laws.

The minister explained that without authorisation, it is difficult to verify whether the solicitation is for a genuine purpose. Even if the cause is legitimate, there is no assurance that the requested amount is accurate.

The authorised donation framework requires a detailed estimate, and approval is granted only for the appropriate amount.

Going forward, individuals involved in unauthorised donations will face consequences under the relevant provisions of the Penal Code of Bhutan, particularly those related to deceptive practices and larceny by deception.

According to Chapter 21 of the Penal Code of Bhutan, under the subtopic of deceptive practices, a defendant is guilty of an offense if they defraud another person or facilitate fraud by making or altering an object or item to appear original and genuine.

Currently, the regulation does not apply to funds raised at the village and community levels for specific purposes such as rimdro (religious rituals) and customary practices. However, all other individuals and informal groups are prohibited from conducting or engaging in unauthorised donations.

The minister clarified that these measures are not intended to discourage charitable work but to ensure that such activities are carried out transparently and accountably, protecting the interests of both donors and beneficiaries.

In a world increasingly marked by the unpredictability of nature, disaster preparedness is an absolute necessity. The recent spate of extreme weather events—ranging from flash floods to landslides—has starkly reminded us of our vulnerability. These incidents have not only caused immense physical damage but have also exposed the cracks in our national readiness to face such calamities. With our fragile mountain ecosystems and climate-sensitive geography, we stand particularly at risk.

Our geography, while breathtaking, also predisposes us to a unique set of challenges. Being in the Himalayas, we are susceptible to a range of natural disasters—earthquakes, glacial lake outburst floods, landslides, and flash floods. These are not hypothetical scenarios but real threats that have already claimed lives and livelihoods. The question is not whether another disaster will strike, but when. And when it does, will we be ready?

The National Centre for Hydrology and Meteorology has already forecasted above-normal rainfall for the remainder of this monsoon season, with a heightened potential for extreme weather events. This is an urgent call for action. Yet, despite warnings, the pace of our preparedness efforts has been alarmingly slow. The lack of adequate infrastructure, insufficient synoptic-standard meteorological stations, and the absence of global atmospheric watch stations are just a few of the gaps in our disaster management framework. These shortcomings are compounded by weak internet connectivity at critical locations, which hampers real-time data collection and dissemination—essential components of effective disaster response.

Preparedness is not just about having a plan on paper; it is about being able to execute that plan under pressure, when lives are on the line. It is about ensuring that our first responders have the training, resources, and equipment they need to act swiftly and effectively. It is about educating our citizens on how to protect themselves and their communities when disaster strikes. And it is about building resilient infrastructure that can withstand the forces of nature, rather than crumble in their wake.

We must also recognise that disaster preparedness is not solely the responsibility of the government or specialised agencies. It is a collective responsibility that involves every citizen, community, and organisation. Public awareness campaigns, community-based disaster risk management programmes, and regular drills are essential in cultivating a culture of preparedness. When every individual knows their role in a crisis, the chances of mitigating the impact of a disaster increase exponentially.

Our disaster preparedness strategy must also be underpinned by robust scientific research and technological innovation. Investments in early warning systems, climate-resilient infrastructure, and emergency response technology will pay dividends in the form of saved lives and reduced economic losses. We must also enhance our coordination with international disaster response networks to ensure that we can access the necessary support when needed.

The risks we face are too great, and the potential consequences too dire. It is time we prioritised disaster preparedness at every level—from national policy to individual action.

South-South Cooperation (SSC) has increasingly been recognized as one of the most efficient and effective means of exchanging technical know-how and experiences between countries of Asia and the Pacific.

Unlike the traditional “donor country – beneficiary country” relationships, South-South Cooperation is more like a collaboration between countries and has significantly evolved as a proven method for one country in Asia and the Pacific to learn from another that has overcome similar developmental challenges in its own recent history.  Indeed, the United Nations and other multilateral development partners have increased their focus on SSC as an important complementary modality to bridge the technological gap in support of sustainable development and eradicating poverty, inequalities and, most notably, hunger.

SSC is underpinned by several principles which make it a highly desirable form of technical cooperation. These include Mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty; Mutual non-aggression; Mutual non-interference; Equality and mutual benefit; and Peaceful co-existence.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recognizes SSC as based on solidarity among partner countries for mutual benefits, whereby FAO plays a catalytic role in facilitating cooperation among countries and institutions that have proven development solutions to share with countries in need of such solutions. Given its competitive advantage, FAO has provided a framework for such cooperation, reflecting its international experience in SSC initiatives, particularly to help drive an agrifood systems transformation for the benefit of all people in the Asia-Pacific region, and worldwide.

SSC is a partnership – not a replacement for financial development assistance

It is important to emphasize the fact that SSC is not a replacement for North-South cooperation, which is highly significant and beneficial in and of itself, but rather complementary in its approaches. The main difference is SSC provides know-how, training, and knowledge exchange, rather than providing development assistance in the form of monetary grants. In any case, both are important.

The Asia-Pacific region is home to some of the world’s most cutting-edge technologies that have significantly contributed to poverty alleviation and reducing hunger. However, at the same time, the region is home to the world’s largest concentration of extremely poor and malnourished people. This anomaly is also reflected in the technologies among different countries in the region. Some have developed highly sophisticated technologies across value chains, while others are struggling with very basic and primitive technologies in the same region. Less developed countries have historically been more interested in learning from countries who had faced similar challenges not long ago.

Given this developed/underdeveloped mix of countries, the SSC approach is a logical neighbour-to-neighbour initiative in Asia and the Pacific. But given that the region has accumulated a rich and diverse set of experiences in strategies and policies related to rural poverty, agricultural development, prices, trade and institutional development, it can and does share its know-how with countries in other parts of the world. Other counties within and outside the region are quite keen to know such recipes for success, adopt and adapt them, and build on successful experiences.

Ultimately, SSC allows countries, not only to understand the results of successful experiences and effective technical know-how, but also the processes and mechanisms involved in their development, implementation and institutionalization.

While the middle-income countries in Asia and the Pacific have accumulated significant experiences and technical know-how in their own agrifood systems, some may not have access to the required financial means to facilitate the exchange with other countries. In this regard, FAO has been approaching other development partners to participate in envisaged technical cooperation. This is referred to as South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC), where a third party provides financial resources to facilitate the exchange.

At the end of the day – or more to the point at the end of this decade – there is much work to be done to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). On 12 September’s International Day for South-South Cooperation, let’s remember that SSC and North-South assistance can both help this region – and the world – achieve those goals.

Contributed by Jong-Jin Kim,

FAO’s Assistant Director-General/Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific

Scheduled for September 19-23, 2024, the Kingdom of Bhutan International Film Festival (KBIFF) promises to be a landmark event in Bhutan’s film landscape. Kuensel sat down with the Festival Director Tshering Phuntsho to learn more about the festival.

What inspired the creation of the Kingdom of Bhutan International Film Festival (KBIFF), and how did the idea come to fruition?

The inception of the Kingdom of Bhutan International Film Festival (KBIFF) was deeply rooted in a desire to give back to our country while also celebrating global cinema. The idea emerged during conversations among our Co-founders–Sybille, Mel, and Chencho Dorji, who were reflecting on ways to contribute meaningfully to Bhutan’s film, the arts and the cultural landscape. They envisioned a platform that would not only highlight Bhutanese stories but also bring international films to our beautiful country.

This vision led to the creation of Bhutan’s first international film festival—a unique space for filmmakers from around the world to converge. Our goal is to forge connections between Bhutanese filmmakers and international counterparts, creating a fertile ground for collaboration. By showcasing both global and Bhutanese films, we hope to support our local talents in reaching new heights and ultimately produce world-class cinema that resonates on a global scale.

Can you describe the vision and key objectives of this festival?

The KBIFF is more than just a cinematic event. It is a celebration of storytelling and cultural exchange set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Himalayas. Bhutan is known for its unique philosophy of Gross National Happiness and this noble wisdom inspires us to approach this festival with the same spirit of joy and connection.

Our vision is to create a space where diverse narratives from around the world meet Bhutanese cultural richness. Through a curated selection of films, we aim to foster a deeper understanding of the human experience and bridge cultural divides. The festival will offer a convergence of world cinema and Bhutanese heritage, celebrating the art of filmmaking in an environment that promotes happiness and enlightenment. We want participants to leave with a sense of wonder and a new appreciation for the power of film.

What unique features set KBIFF apart from other international film festivals?

KBIFF’s most distinctive feature is undoubtedly its location. Bhutan’s unparalleled natural beauty and warm hospitality provide an extraordinary backdrop for the festival. This is a unique opportunity for international guests to experience the country’s stunning landscapes and rich cultural heritage firsthand.

Moreover, the festival is designed to be an immersive experience. Beyond film screenings, we offer our visitors a chance to explore Bhutan’s cultural and natural wonders. This holistic approach makes KBIFF stand out, as it combines the excitement of cinema with the adventure of travel, giving our guests a memorable and multifaceted experience.

What can we expect from the inaugural edition of the festival scheduled in September?

The inaugural edition of KBIFF will be a blend of cinema and exploration. International participants and guests can look forward to a range of activities that showcase Bhutanese tourism and culture. Our festival itinerary includes not only film screenings but also guided tours and cultural experiences that highlight Bhutan’s unique charm.

Additionally, we are committed to making the festival as inclusive as possible for our local audience. All screenings and masterclasses will be free for Bhutanese attendees, reflecting our goal to maximise our impact and ensure that our activities are accessible to everyone. We hope this approach will foster a strong connection between the local community and the international film industry.

Can you share details about the film lineup? Are there any standout films or notable

premieres that will be showcased?

Our inaugural film lineup is both diverse and exciting. We will be showcasing a variety of films including Boe Garp, Aum Pejor, The Monk and the Gun, Lift, Don’t Sleep, and In Full Bloom. We are particularly thrilled to present Don’t Sleep, directed by Lee Thongkham, as a world premiere. This selection reflects our commitment to presenting a broad spectrum of stories, from established international films to groundbreaking new works.

Beyond the film screenings, what other events and activities are planned as part of the festival, such as workshops, panel discussions, or networking opportunities?

KBIFF is designed to be a comprehensive festival experience. In addition to film screenings, we will host various events aimed at fostering dialogue and collaboration. Each film will be accompanied by cast and crew members who will engage in discussions about their work and answer questions from the audience. We are also excited to offer masterclasses led by prominent figures such as Charles Steel and Shantanu Moitra. These sessions will provide valuable insights into the filmmaking process and creative industry. Our opening and closing ceremonies will feature local Bhutanese talent alongside international guests, setting the stage for meaningful connections and new friendships.

Are there any prominent international filmmakers, actors, or industry figures expected to attend the festival?

We are honoured to welcome several distinguished guests to KBIFF. BAFTA winner Charles Steel, renowned composer Shantanu Moitra, filmmaker Onir and Japanese actor Yusuke Ogasawara are among the notable figures who will be attending. We are also in the process of confirming additional international attendees and look forward to announcing them in the coming days. Their presence will undoubtedly add a layer of prestige and excitement to our festival.

How does KBIFF plan to engage with the local film industry to promote Bhutanese cinema?

KBIFF is deeply committed to integrating Bhutanese cinema into the international film discourse. By showcasing local films alongside global entries, we aim to elevate Bhutanese talent and provide our filmmakers with opportunities to shine on the world stage.

The festival’s networking events and masterclasses are designed to create connections between Bhutanese and international industry professionals. We hope these interactions will lead to new collaborations and help Bhutanese filmmakers gain broader recognition. Our ultimate goal is to support and promote Bhutanese cinema, helping it to reach new audiences and achieve international acclaim.

YK Poudel

With the political situation in Bangladesh improving after a month of unrest, Bhutanese students are beginning to return for their studies.

The violence that gripped the neighbouring country from early July to mid-August has subsided and the situation is returning to normalcy.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade (MoFAET), about 237 Bhutanese are studying in Bangladesh, of which 230 had returned to the country during the political turmoil.

Educational institutions in Bangladesh were closed indefinitely from July 17 to ensure the safety of students in the wake of clashes that erupted during the recent movement demanding reform of the job quota system.

During the seventh Meet-the-Press on August 31, MoFAET     D N Dhungyel said that with the interim government in place, the situation has improved in Bangladesh.

“A majority of the students have returned to their universities. The exact count will be updated once the ministry gets an update from the Royal Bhutanese Embassy in Dhaka by this weekend,” he said.

Lyonpo said that the Royal Bhutanese Embassy in Dhaka was proactively getting in touch with the relevant agencies, officials and students to ensure their safety. “Bhutanese students who stayed back during the turmoil are all safe and have started their sessions.”

The Ministry of Education in Bangladesh issued a directive to reopen all the institutions under its jurisdiction on August 15, following which, all the educational institutions, including universities, secondary schools, and colleges were reopened on August 18.

The MoFAET and Royal Bhutanese Embassy are  regularly assessing the situation to evaluate the potential impact of the situation in Bangladesh on Bhutanese students and bilateral trade. 

Despite the political instability, Bhutan’s trade with Bangladesh has remained robust.

Lyonpo Dhungyel reported that Bhutan maintained a positive trade balance with Bangladesh, exporting goods worth Nu 5.03 billion and importing only Nu 0.08 billion in the previous year.

Bhutan’s exports to Bangladesh exceeded Nu 5 billion in 2021, touched Nu 4 billion in 2022, and again picked up to more than Nu 5 billion in 2023. As of mid this year, the export has already exceeded Nu 3 billion, and it is projected to reach Nu 6 billion by end of the financial year.

“While there had been minor disruptions like Bhutanese trucks being stranded at the Indo-Bangladesh borders, the overall trade flow has remained constructive through diplomatic intervention this year,” Lyonpo said.

Currently, Bangladesh is facing severe flooding due to heavy rains, affecting 11 out of 64 districts. The Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief of Bangladesh has reported that around 190,000 people are in emergency relief shelters.

ཨོ་རྒྱན་རྡོ་རྗེ།

༉ དབང་འདུས་ཕོ་བྲང་ སྲས་ཕུག་གི་ ཉི་དྲོད་གློག་མེ་འཕྲུལ་ཁང་གི་ ནུས་ཤུགས་དེ་ ཧེ་མ་མེ་ག་ཝཊི་༡༧.༣༨ ཡོད་མི་ལས་ མེ་ག་ཝཊི་༢༢.༣༨ ལུ་ ཡར་སེང་འབད་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
ལས་འགུལ་དེ་ དབྱེ་ཁག་༢ སྦེ་བཟོ་སྟེ་ཡོདཔ་ད་ དབྱེ་ཁག་དང་པའི་ནང་ གློག་མེ་མེ་ག་ཝཊི་༡༧.༣༨ རྐྱབ་ནི་ཨིནམ་བཞིན་དུ་ ལཱ་དེ་ཡང་ སང་ཕོད་ སྤྱི་ཟླ་༣ པའི་ནང་ མཇུག་བསྡུ་ནི་ཨིན་པས།
ད་རུང་ ཉི་དྲོད་ནུས་ཤུགས་ མེ་ག་ཝཊི་༥ འབད་མི་དེ་ དབྱེ་ཁག་༢ པའི་ནང་ རྐྱབ་ནི་ཨིནམ་ད་ ལཱ་དེ་ཡང་ སང་ཕོད་ སྤྱི་ཟླ་༩ པའི་ནང་ མཇུག་བསྡུ་ནི་གི་ ལས་རིམ་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
ཉི་དྲོད་གློག་མེ་འཕྲུལ་ཁང་ལས་ ཐོན་སྐྱེད་འབད་མི་ ནུས་ཤུགས་ག་ར་ རྒྱལ་ཡོངས་གློག་རྒྱུན་ལམ་དང་ འབྲེལ་མཐུན་འབད་ནི་ཨིན་པས།
མ་གཞི་ ལས་འགུལ་གྱིས་ ཡོངས་ཀྲུ་གཡུས་ཚན་གྱི་ ས་ཆ་ཨེ་ཀར་༦༥ རྐྱངམ་གཅིག་ ལག་ལེན་འཐབ་ནི་སྦེ་ཡོད་རུང་ ནུས་ཤུགས་སྦོམ་གྱི་ ཉི་གློག་ལེན་ཆས་ མཁོ་སྒྲུབ་འབད་ཚུགས་ཡོདཔ་ལས་ ཟད་འགྲོ་དང་ ས་ཆ་དགོས་མཁོ་ཡོད་མི་ཚུ་ཡང་ མར་ཕབ་འབད་ཚུགས་ཏེ་ཡོད་ཟེར་ ས་ཁོངས་བཟོ་རིག་འགོ་དཔོན་ ཀི་ཤབ་ཌ་ཀཱལ་གྱིས་ བཤདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
ང་བཅས་ལུ་ ཏི་རུ་དང་ ས་ཆ་ཐེབས་ལུས་ཡོདཔ་ལས་ ད་རུང་ ཁ་སྐོང་མེ་ག་ཝཊི་༥ རྐྱབ་དོ་ཟེར་ བཟོ་རིག་འགོ་དཔོན་གྱིས་ བཤདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
ལས་འགུལ་དེ་ཡང་ ཧེ་མ་ ཡོངས་ཀྲུ་དང་ ཀློང་སྨད་གཡུས་ཚན་གྱི་ མི་སེར་ཚུ་གིས་ རྩྭ་འབྲོག་སྦེ་ ལག་ལེན་འཐབ་མི་ གཞུང་གི་ས་ཆ་ནང་ རྐྱབ་དོ་ཡོདཔ་ད་ ལས་འགུལ་འགོ་བཙུགས་པའི་སྐབས་ ལས་འགུལ་གྱི་དོན་ལུ་ ས་ཆ་ཨེ་ཀར་༦༥ ངོས་འཛིན་འབད་ཡོད་རུང་ ད་རེས་ ལཱ་གི་དབྱེ་ཁག་དང་པའི་དོན་ལུ་ ཨེ་ཀར་༤༤ དང་ དབྱེ་ཁག་༢ པའི་དོན་ལུ་ ཨེ་ཀར་༡༩ ནང་ རྐྱབ་ཚུགས་ནི་ཨིན་པས།
ལས་འགུལ་དེ་ ཨེ་ཤི་ཡཱན་གོང་འཕེལ་དངུལ་ཁང་གིས་ སྐྱིན་འགྲུལ་ཡུ་ཨེསི་ཌོ་ལར་ས་ཡ་༡༠ དང་ ཡུ་ཨེསི་ཌོ་ལར་ས་ཡ་༨.༢༦ དེ་ གནང་བྱིན་ཐོག་ལས་ རྐྱབ་དོ་ཡོདཔ་བཞིན་དུ་ གཞུང་གིས་ ཡུ་ཨེསི་ཌོ་ལར་ས་ཡ་༠.༩༩ གཏང་དོ་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
ཉི་དྲོད་ནུས་ཤུགས་འཕྲུལ་ཁང་ལས་ ཐོན་སྐྱེད་འབད་མི་ ནུས་ཤུགས་ཚུ་ཡང་ གནམ་དགུན་གྱི་སྐབས་ ལག་ལེན་འཐབ་སྟེ་ རྒྱ་གར་ལས་ གློག་མེ་ནང་འདྲེན་ མར་ཕབ་འབད་ནི་ལུ་ ལྷན་ཐབས་འབྱུང་ཚུགས་ཟེར་ ཨེ་ཤི་ཡཱན་གོང་འཕལ་དངུལ་ཁང་གི་ ལས་འགུལ་འགོ་དཔོན་ བསོད་ནམས་བཟངམ་གིས་ བཤདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
མོ་གིས་འབད་བ་ཅིན་ རྒྱལ་ཁབ་ནང་ ཉི་དྲོད་ནུས་ཤུགས་ གཞི་བཙུགས་འབད་ནི་ འོས་འབབ་སྦོམ་ཡོདཔ་བཞིན་དུ་ ད་རེས་ཀྱི་ ཉི་དྲོད་ནུས་ཤུགས་འཕྲུལ་ཁང་དེ་ ནུས་ཤུགས་ཐོན་ཁུངས་སྣ་མང་བཟོ་ནི་ལུ་ ཐབས་ཤེས་དང་པ་ཅིག་ ཨིན་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
འབྲུག་གི་ནུས་ཤུགས་གཙོ་བོ་ར་ གློག་མེ་ཨིན་རུང་ རྒྱལ་ཁབ་ནང་ གནམ་དགུན་གྱི་སྐབས་ གློག་མེ་ཚུ་ རྒྱ་གར་ལས་ ནང་འདྲེན་འཐབ་དགོཔ་བྱུང་དོ་ཡོདཔ་བཞིན་དུ་ སྤྱི་ལོ་༢༠༢༣ ཟླ་༡༢ པ་ལས་ དུས་ཅི་ སྤྱི་ཟླ་༣ པའི་ཚེས་༡༣ གྱི་ནང་འཁོད་ལུ་ དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ཐེར་འབུམ་༦.༠༧ གནས་པའི་ གློག་མེ་ནང་འདྲེན་ འབད་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
དེ་ཡང་ འདས་པའི་ལོ་དང་ཕྱདཔ་ད་ དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ཐེར་འབུམ་༡.༧༥ དེ་ཅིག་ ཡར་སེང་སོང་ཡོདཔ་ད་ ཨིན་རུང་ གློག་མེ་ཕྱིར་ཚོང་དེ་ སྤྱི་ལོ་༢༠༢༡ ལུ་ དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ཐེར་འབུམ་༢༤.༢ ལས་ ན་ཧིང་ དངུལ་ཀྲམ་ཐེར་འབུམ་༡༦.༦༧ ལུ་ མར་བབས་སོང་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
གཞུང་གིས་ སྤྱི་ལོ་༢༠༢༥ གི་ནང་འཁོད་ལུ་ ཉི་དྲོད་ནུས་ཤུགས་ མེ་ག་ཝཊི་༥༠༠ དང་ སྤྱི་ལོ་༢༠༣༠ གི་ནང་འཁོད་ལུ་ ཉི་དྲོད་ནུས་ཤུགས་ མེ་ག་ཝཊི་༡,༠༠༠ བཟོ་ནི་གི་ དམིགས་གཏད་བསྐྱེད་དེ་ ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
རང་བཞིན་ནུས་ཤུགས་འཛིན་སྐྱོང་འཆར་གཞི་ཨམ་༢༠༡༦ ཅན་མ་དང་འཁྲིལ་བ་ཅིན་ འབྲུག་ལུ་ ཉི་དྲོད་ནུས་ཤུགས་ མེ་ག་ཝཊི་༡༢ དང་ རླུང་གི་ནུས་ཤུགས་ མེ་ག་ཝཊི་༧༦༠ ཐོན་སྐྱེད་འབད་ནི་གི་ འོས་འབབ་ཡོདཔ་སྦེ་ བཀོད་དེ་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
སྲས་ཕུག་ནུས་ཤུགས་འཕྲུལ་ཁང་གི་ ལས་འགུལ་དབྱེ་ཁག་དང་པ་གིས་ ནུས་ཤུགས་ཡུ་ནིཊི་ས་ཡ་༢༥ ཐོན་སྐྱེད་འབད་ནི་ རེ་བ་ཡོདཔ་བཞིན་དུ་ དེ་གིས་ གུང་པ་༣,༤༧༦ ལུ་ ཁེ་ཕན་ཐོབ་ཚུགསཔ་ད་ ཁྲོམ་སྡེའི་གུང་པ་ཚུ་གིས་ཡང་ ཀི་ལོ་ཝཊི་༥ སྤྱོད་ཚུགས་ནི་ཨིན་པས།
དེ་མ་ཚད་ དབྱེ་ཁག་དེ་གིས་ གལ་སྲིད་ ནུས་ཤུགས་དེ་ ཕྱིར་ཚོང་འཐབ་པ་ཅིན་ ནག་རླུང་ ཀར་བཱན་ཌི་ཨོག་སི་ཇཱན་ ཊཱོན་༢༤,༤༩༤.༥ མར་ཕབ་འབད་ཚུགས་ནི་ཨིན་པས།
ཀི་ཤབ་ཌ་ཀཱལ་གྱིས་ སླབ་མིའི་ནང་ ད་རེས་ ཉི་དྲོད་ནུས་ཤུགས་ མེ་ག་ཝཊི་༥ གི་ ཉི་དྲོད་ནུས་ཤུགས་ཐོན་སྐྱེད་དང་ ནག་རླུང་མར་ཕབ་ཀྱི་ ལཱ་ཚུ་འབད་བའི་བསྒང་ ཡོད་ཟེར་ཨིན་པས།
ཁོ་གིས་འབད་བ་ཅིན་ ལས་འགུལ་ལུ་བརྟེན་ ཡོངས་ཀྲུ་དང་ ཀློང་སྨད་གཡུས་ཚན་གྱི་ གུང་པ་༢༢ ལུ་ ཐོ་ཕོག་མི་ཚུ་ལུ་ ལས་འགུལ་གྱི་ ཀི་ལོ་མི་ཊར་༢ འབད་མི་ སོ་ནམ་ཞིང་ལམ་ལུ་ རྩི་ནག་བཏང་བྱིན་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་པས།
ད་རེས་ མི་སྡེ་ནང་ དགོས་མཁོ་ག་ཅི་ཡོདཔ་ཨིན་ན་ ཧ་གོ་ནི་ལུ་ འབྲེལ་འཛིན་འབད་བའི་བསྒང་ཡོདཔ་ད་ ས་གནས་ཀྱི་ མི་སེར་ཚུ་ལུ་ ལས་འགུལ་ལུ་བརྟེན་ ཐོ་ཕོག་ནི་ལས་ བཀག་ཐབས་ལུ་ ལེགས་ཤོམ་སྦེ་ བདེ་སྒྲིག་འབད་དོ་ཟེར་ ཨིན་པའི་གནས་ཚུལ།

…inconsistent policies over several years have pushed private schools to the brink of closure

KP Sharma

What was once a vibrant sector, the private schools in the country now teeter on the brink of closure—thanks to a whirlwind of policy changes.

Inconsistent policies introduced by successives governments have undermined the stability of private schools, leading to closure of many schools and creating an increasingly more challenging business environment for those surviving.

The number of private higher secondary schools has plummeted from 21 to just four in the recent years.

Private schools took a major hit particularly when the previous Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) government removed the class X cut-off point in 2019. But private school representatives argue that DNT’s policy was the proverbial last nail on the coffin but not the sole factor leading to their current crisis. 

They point out that the problem is much deeper, with the successive governments not only ignoring private schools but also competing with their ideas—making sustainability even more challenging.

The private school’s trouble hieghtened when the second government introduced the central school programme, which halved private school enrollment from 10,000 to 5,000 students.

And by the time DNT came to power, it could easily absorb the remaining 5,000 students in public schools by 2022.

These policy shifts have triggered  closure of several private schools while others have pivoted to offering primary classes to survive.

Private school representatives claim that the removal of cut-off points has also contributed to a decline in educational standards, with students scoring as low as 35 percent now admitted into overcrowded government schools without adequate academic support.

The overcrowding is particularly severe in urban areas. For example, Decencholing HSS in Thimphu Thromde now accommodates about 2,000 students. “For the government to improve the situation, it would have to build dozens of new schools at a high cost and recruit more teachers, who are already in short supply,” the representative said.

To mitigate these challenges, private schools had proposed a voucher system, which would allow students to receive government subsidies for attending private schools. This, they said, could alleviate the overcrowding in public schools.

Despite this, there has been little progress on this front, with significant government spending directed toward new constructions rather than supporting the private schools. “The government would rather spend Nu 100 million on wasteful construction than invest even Nu 10 million in the private sector,” the representative said.

Private schools also worry that strengthening central schools could draw more students away from private schools due to their large capacities and boarding facilities.

The representative suggested that private schools need not compete directly with government schools and could instead focus on offering unique programmes like music, sports, or arts.

The private schools are also dissatisfied with the government’s plans to open specialised schools, which they believe should have been left to private entities.

The representative said that private schools tried to collaborate with the previous government but failed, as it was focused on fulfilling its political pledges, which the representative claimed harmed both private schools and the education system.

During the summer parliamentary session, some Members of Parliament (MPs) proposed that the government purchase closed private school buildings to repurpose them into colleges for arts and humanities, addressing a gap left by existing institutions.

In addition, the National Council’s special committee for education has also recommended that the government revisit the 2012 Guidelines for Private Schools of Bhutan to address issues like fee structures and operational concerns.

The current government has yet to reveal detailed plans for private schools but has pledged to support their role in the education system by granting greater autonomy in management, curriculum design, and recruitment of foreign teachers.

Some closed schools have been acquired by the government for various purposes while others still remain unsold. Some owners are struggling to find buyers. Despite appeals to the government to purchase their schools in the past, they have not received a positive response.

KP Sharma

This week, both the government and political parties have been actively addressing the recent surge in car prices, responding to widespread public concern.

The government has now concluded its investigation into the matter, revealing more information about the underlying causes of the price hike.

Finance Minister Lekey Dorji, during a Meet-the-Press session yesterday, announced that a multi-sectoral committee had determined there were no tax increases on vehicles with a capacity of 1,000 cc or less.

However, for vehicles with a capacity of up to 1,200 cc, prices have soared from Nu 57,000 to Nu 200,000.

According to Lyonpo Dorji, this significant price increase cannot be solely attributed to changes in tax policy.

The minister clarified that even if the government were to reduce taxes, it might not lead to a decrease in vehicle prices due to other influencing factors. These include shipping charges, environmental standards, currency fluctuations, and model specifications.

Former Finance Minister Namgay Tshering and former DNT Member of Parliament Kinley Wangchuk have echoed similar views on social media.

Namgay Tshering said that although the government did raise taxes on certain vehicles, this did not apply to those with engines between 1,000 and 1,200 cc. He said that taxes on utility vehicles like Boleros and pickups, which are widely used by the public, were not increased.

Kinley Wangchuk added that tax increases implemented by the previous government were aimed at vehicles with engines over 1,200 cc, targeting higher-income individuals. In contrast, taxes on vehicles intended for low- and middle-income groups remained unchanged.

In 2022, the previous government kept the tax rates for vehicles with cylinder capacities between 1,000 and 1,200 cc unchanged, at 45 percent for Customs Duty (CD) and Sales Tax (ST), and 10 percent for Green Tax (GT). However, taxes on vehicles with cylinder capacities between 1,200 and 1,500 cc were increased. The CD rose from 45 to 50 percent, ST from 45 to 60 percent, and GT from 10 to 20 percent.

Kinley Wangchuk suggested that the recent price increase might be attributed to rising costs from the source, as identified by the multi-sectoral committee, as well as the profit margins of domestic car dealers.

In line with this, the Druk Thuendrel Tshogpa (DTT) also highlighted the role of dealers in driving up prices, although dealers themselves refute this claim, attributing the higher costs to increased expenses at the source.

The DTT proposed a solution allowing individuals to purchase vehicles directly from manufacturers after paying the applicable taxes, aiming to reduce costs and provide more transparency in the pricing process.

A former parliamentarian has attributed the recent rise in vehicle prices to a disruption in vehicle supply caused by a moratorium, which led to higher demand once it was lifted.

He suggested that dealers might have capitalised on this situation to maximize their profits, especially following difficulties experienced during the moratorium.

Inflation affecting raw material and production costs was also highlighted as a potential factor influencing vehicle prices in Bhutan, even in the absence of local tax changes.

The government, in consultation with the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan, decided to lift the moratorium on vehicles. Finance Minister Lekey Dorji explained that, despite limited foreign exchange reserves, this decision aims to stimulate economic activity.

He assured that any further decisions would be based on economic analysis rather than political motivations.

In response to calls from the opposition to review taxes in the winter parliamentary session, the minister indicated that such a revision would depend on a reassessment of macroeconomic conditions.

Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay emphasised that previous tax increases were implemented after careful parliamentary discussion and assured that the government would review the justification for these taxes before considering any changes in future sessions.