Bhutan: 60th Birth Anniversary Celebrations of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo, celebrating from November 9 till 11

The entire country will observe three days of celebrations and festivities beginning November 9 and culminating on the 11th for the 60th Birth Anniversary Celebrations of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo, it was announced at a press conference on Thursday.
The conceptual guidelines for the three days of celebrations was presented by special coordinator Dasho Sonam Tenzin.
While celebrations and festivities will be occurring, Dasho Sonam Tenzin pointed out that His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo has made it clear to the organizers that the emphasis should be on “nation building” as commanded by His Majesty The King, rather than a birthday party, Dasho Sonam Tenzin said.
In line with this over arching theme, the focus of the celebrations will be on reflecting the achievements of the Fourth Druk Gyalpo, taking stock of the current status of initiatives and achievements, and to plan for the future based on the vision, wisdom, and direction of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo.
“Everything we have is because of what He has done,” Dasho Sonam Tenzin said.
His Majesty The King will be addressing the nation on November 11.
While prayers are already being conducted for the occasion, the Zhung Dratshang on November 7, will hold a Goempoi Tongtshog Kurim by 100 monks at Tashichhodzong and a public Nyen-ney Yenlag Gye-Pai Dompa by the Dorji Lopen at Tendrel Thang. On November 8, three thongdrols will be unfurled at Tashichhodzong and other rites conducted.
The activities, which will commence on the 9th, are divided into three categories: paying tribute and gratitude, the offering of collective prayers, and celebrating the occasion of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo’s 60th Birth Anniversary.
Some of the highlights during the three day celebrations include His Majesty The King presenting one statue of Chenrizig to each of the 205 gewogs enabling the people to pay homage to His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo. Each statue is to be placed in a temple that is mutually agreed upon by the people of the gewog. However, if there is disagreement, throw of dice will determine which temple is chosen.
The Queen’s Project Office in collaboration with the 60th Birth Anniversary Celebration Coordination Unit will launch 60 different products from various dzongkhags under the One Gewog, One Product programme. The products shall be displayed in tents and sold to the public.
While deferred to after the celebrations, a Druk Gi Norbui Kachen to pay tribute to His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo’s extraordinary qualities of Ku-Sung-Thug-Yonten-Thinley will be built. The monument will be made out of solid stone and be 30 feet high. “The presentation of the monument will be simple but striking with profound significance as the Asoka pillar,” it was pointed out.
The monument will eventually be replicated in all dzongkhags.
The celebrations have been organized into four themes.
The first theme is the offering of kurims and longevity prayers for His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo. Nationwide kurims in all dzongs, monasteries, temples, gomdeys, and shedras will be held. A collective recitation of Kanjur by various shedras will also take place. Soelkha will occur in all goenkhangs nationwide and Baza Guru, mani, tshedo, and tshedrub, will be recited jointly by the dratshang, rabdeys, chhodeys, drubdeys, and the public.
The second theme is to create a special event and environment for people to express their gratitude, love, devotion, and loyalty to the His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo.
An elaborate chipdrel seldrang will be staged for the final day of celebrations. A guard of honour by 1,000 army personnel, will be presented three times to His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo. The Zhung Dratshang, rabdey, chhodey, civil service, dakhagsum, and public, will offer a Mendrel Ku-Sum-Thugten or Mandala.
A zhabten for His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo, described by Dasho Sonam Tenzin as perhaps the highlight of the programme, will also be offered collectively by the 1,000 representatives of the Dratshang and Chhodey, and representatives from various other sections of society.
Dzongs, boulevards, institutional buildings, and streets will be decorated with flowers, trees, the respectable display of pictures of the monarchs, and illuminations.
The third theme is to stage for the highest quality entertainment programmes that legitimises the event philosophically, ritually, and ceremonially. All schools will be provided with the opportunity of coming up with exceptional programmes and the best ones screened in their respective dzongkhags.
The Dratshang shall display the Zhing-Sheg Pem Chham by 100 monks at Changlimithang.
Senior citizens, above the age of 70, both male and female, will perform a traditional dance for His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo.
Thousands of colourful bio-degradable balloons will be released.
The fourth theme includes parallel entertainment programmes to be organized at different places at different timings in Thimphu city by private entertainment associations.
Shows will be organized at the Centenary park, Dechenchholing, Changjiji, Clock Tower square, Mothithang park, and on Norzin lam.
A treasure hunt is planned for November 9 to be held at Mothithang, Dechencholing, and Nazhoen Pelri.
On November 10, a marathon for the elderly, above age 60, will begin and end at the Clock Tower square, besides various other entertainment programmes.
On November 11, a cake cutting ceremony will be held in three locations.
Separate avenues may be created to stage all traditional sports of Bhutan.
All 205 gewogs will observe and celebrate the occasion.

Druk Chirwang Tshogpa

Selecting competent and right candidates have become a race of sorts with four new political parties aspiring to contest in the 2013 elections. Druk Chirwang Tshogpa said even though identifying candidates is a challenge, they have 30 candidates confirmed.

The party’s spokesperson, Tandin Tshering, said out of the confirmed 30, nine candidates are women. He said they are still looking to fill the vacant constituencies. “Roping in candidates has been very challenging,” he said, “In fact it is difficult for all the parties, even for the ruling government. After the government dissolves you never know if all the candidates will be with the party.”

He also said they have identified two people as the possible party president. “One of them is a woman,” said Tandin Tshering. He said both of them are civil servants and they will be resigning soon.

Tandin Tshering said they will be registering their party with the Election Commission of Bhutan by next month. At the moment, the party has 300 members.

The spokesperson said their manifesto and charter are in advanced draft stage.

Source: BBS

Druk Air: Bhutan and Singapore will establish an air services agreement

Bhutan and Singapore will establish an air services agreement (ASA) next week, according to the department of civil aviation (DCA).

The agreement will allow national airline, Drukair and upcoming private airline, Tashi Air, the rights to fly to Singapore. A civil aviation team from Singapore will arrive in the country today to work out technical details of the ASA, prior to a final agreement on Wednesday.

Drukair plans to operate to Singapore twice a week from March next year, according to the airline’s commercial manager, Tshering Penjor. But he said that this would also depend on when Drukair is able to acquire a third airbus jet. Drukair will also have the rights to operate to Singapore through Kolkata, India and Dhaka, Bangladesh.

A representative for Tashi Air said that its international destinations will only be worked out once the airline’s domestic obligations are fulfilled. The private airline’s aircraft is expected to arrive in the first week of October.

DCA director general, Phala Dorji, pointed out that an added benefit to an ASA with Singapore would be obtaining training opportunities for Bhutanese aviation officials.

The aviation sector is a key component of the Singaporean economy, and its civil aviation authority is also major provider of training for international aviation management personnel. Bhutanese airlines will also be able to use Singapore for its high level of aircraft maintenance and repair services. “This will go a long way in terms of benefits,” said Phala Dorji. The director general also pointed out that Singapore had initiated the ASA.

Bhutan now has ASAs with seven countries: Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and now, Singapore. Phala Dorji said that DCA is under instructions to establish as many ASAs as possible. He said that DCA is currently focused on establishing ASAs with all SAARC countries. Bhutan does not have ASAs with Pakistan and Afghanistan. He added that Qatar had recently expressed interest in establishing an ASA with Bhutan.

While ASAs can be established, it is up to airlines whether a route will be formed and operated. Drukair does not operate to the Maldives and has discontinued its Myanmar stopovers. Drukair is currently focused on expanding its services to and within India, where domestic passenger traffic is growing at a rapid pace. Passenger traffic between Paro and India increased 26 percent in 2010. The international air transport association (IATA) ranked India’s domestic passenger traffic growth second (14 percent) globally for the month of June. Drukair is considering establishing routes to the cities of Bangalore and Mumbai.

The national airline is also looking at establishing a Hong Kong, China route.

Source: Kuenselonline

Bhutan national airline’s ATR 42-500 aircraft grounded of technical problems

Despite conducting a three-day rimdro or prayer ceremony for its aircraft last week, the national airline’s ATR aircraft is once again grounded as a result of technical problems.

The 48-seater twin turbo propellor ATR 42-500 aircraft has been grounded since Wednesday and is expected to remain grounded until Sunday. The airline’s officiating CEO, Rinzin Dorji said that the date for the aircraft’s reintroduction into scheduled services is “tentative”.

Drukair general manager, engineering section, Thrimchong Wangdi, explained that the de-icing boot on one of the aircraft’s wing was “ruptured” and non-functioning. The de-icing boot is a rubber device located on the front surface edge of the ATR’s wings to allow for mechanical de-icing. The front surface edge of an aircraft’s wing is one area most likely to accumulate ice during flight. Ice on an aircraft’s wing can cause disruptions in airflow, leading to loss of lift or control.

According to a source, the non-functioning de-icing boot was discovered mid-air while the aircraft was flying from Kathmandu to Paro.

Drukair management and engineering downplayed the risks of such an incident.

Thrimchong Wangdi pointed out that the ATR is equipped with “2-3” redundancy measures or back up systems, in case a de-icing boot fails. “From that perspective, it’s not a very serious concern.”

This is at least the fourth grounding of the ATR aircraft since it joined the Drukair fleet in June. The induction itself was delayed by about two weeks. Two groundings were required to prevent the aircraft’s only two pilots from exceeding the accepted number of flight hours in July. A damaged wheel bearing, which required the entire landing gear assembly to be shipped to and repaired in Singapore, grounded it early this month for about two weeks.

On why Drukair has hired only two pilots, Rinzin Dorji attributed costs.

“It’s very, very expensive,” he said, on hiring pilots from abroad. Two international pilots, and two engineers have been hired with the aircraft.

The captain’s salary is about USD 10,000/month, according to Rinzin Dorji, while the engineers are paid about USD 7000/month. He pointed out that Bhutanese pilots are in the “pipeline”.

The technical problems have caused some observers to raise safety concerns with regard to the aircraft’s age. The department of civil aviation only last week said it had no concerns regarding the safety of the ATR. Drukair officiating CEO also emphasised that the ATR is in “good condition” and that thorough examinations of the aircraft had carried out before leasing it.

The ATR, which has been leased for one year, with a purchase option at the end of the term, is nine years old. It was previously operated by the French Polynesian government as a VIP aircraft, and by a domestic airline, Air Tahiti.

During its service there, the aircraft did not experience any major technical issues, according to sources. The French Polynesian government sold the aircraft for financial purposes, not because of technical problems, according to the chief of staff at the French Polynesia vice-presidency, Moetai Brotherson. “It has gone through a thorough technical expertise,” he said in an email interview. A member of the Polynesian press confirmed this.

The French Polynesian government sold the ATR to an aircraft maintenance company, Mk Tek Europe for USD 8.6 M. Drukair then leased/purchased the ATR from this company for about USD 9.8M, according to Rinzin Dorji. He pointed out that this amount was an estimation as he did not have the figures immediately.

Meanwhile, spare parts for the ATR had to be ordered from Copenhagen, Denmark, and are due to arrive today.

Source: Kuenselonline

Bhutan: article that is believed to be the first news report on GNH

John Elliot is one of three foreign journalists to have interviewed the fourth Druk Gyalpo. The interview, which took place in 1987, resulted in an article that is believed to be the first news report on GNH. John was recently in the country for the Mountain Echoes literary festival. Currently, he is the India contributor for Fortune magazine.

As a journalist, you’ve had the rare privilege of interviewing the fourth Druk Gyalpo. What did you talk about?
I didn’t realise until I came back to Bhutan a few days ago for the first time since 1987, that the interview that I had was so unusual. I knew at the time that I had a scoop. I knew that I had a very rare privilege of an interview as a foreign correspondent based in Delhi with the fourth King. But I didn’t realise at the time how few interviews His Majesty had given during his reign. And GNH was the story to be talked about then.

His Majesty’s concerns were about tourism. That was the big issue then, just like the issue now might be the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, and TV programs changing the culture of Bhutan. The issue then was tourism because you had just started letting tourists in and the Tiger’s nest had just been closed because of too many people going there. And the tops of the mountains had just been closed because of people thinking that their traditions were being spoilt. There had been a lot of theft, I believe, of various treasures.

And GNH, it was pegged, as I mentioned in the article, mostly to Nepal. Bhutan didn’t want to become like Nepal. Now remember, Nepal at that time had a stable monarchy. It was simply in reference to the way Nepal had opened its doors to tourism, backpackers, and all the other problems that come with it.

His Majesty was thinking about how to look after this great inheritance that he had received. How to steer Bhutan into the modern world, while at the same time maintaining traditions. The same issue that is an issue now, but then, I felt when I sat with him that I was listening to a young man, who was really puzzled, or maybe he wasn’t puzzled, but he was thinking his way into the problem, of how to manage the conflicting pressures of inevitably having to open up but at the same time, being determined to keep the country with its traditions as much as possible.

How were you able to set up the interview? Anything specific you were looking for?
I met your foreign minister at a SAARC conference at Bangalore, and I said that I was a Financial Times correspondent in New Delhi, and that I would like to come to Bhutan, and write about development and life in Bhutan. I mentioned that I would like to, if possible, interview the king, as well other senior ministers and officials. I brought my family because it was a rare chance. So I brought my wife and two sons, we took them out of school because they may never get the chance again.

So we came and the foreign minister was very helpful. And Kinley Dorji had just launched Kuensel. He was helpful and I learnt as I went. Like a reporter, I don’t think I had any books to read at the time on Bhutan. I may have had a world bank report or something like that but I think I came in, which is often as a reporter the best way to do something, is just to come in and follow the story and see what you find.

You found GNH. Will it work?
The instinctive view of an outsider has to be that there’s little chance because of all the outside pressures. The pressures of the young, the youth, who haven’t got the traditions, who in their teens have not been brought up in the traditions, even guys in their late 20s or 30s, who haven’t got their base. On top of that, the pressures of democracy and political parties, that will need to be more policy oriented and different and have to prove themselves every five years. The pressures of growing consumerism and wealth. The growing pressures of business, and business is not totally honest in any country, not many anyway. With all these pressures how could you possibly, the instinctive reaction of the outsider, think that it could last.

On the other hand, I keep on hearing stories as I’ve heard from your prime minister and other people about how the young are interested in traditions. How there is a strong base and despite all the things that I’ve just said, and all I’ve said is what I’ve heard from other people, there is a strong enough belief in Bhutan for the thing to survive.

Since your last visit what changes have you noticed?
Thimphu - I didn’t recognise. The only place I recognised in Thimphu was when I stood outside the Taj hotel and looked up the hill and thought, “Ah that’s where I stayed, in that hotel.” I couldn’t remember the name of it, so I asked Kinley Dorji and he said, “That’s my office, it’s the ministry of information and that used to be the Bhutan hotel.”

The way the buildings are spreading along the hillsides, along the valley, is in a way awful because it’s a sign of what’s happened to the hill stations in India. I think the thing that I’ve been struck by is this great debate of what you do to this place to keep it as it is, and will the young generation who may be rebelling against it now, and wanting all the benefits of the consumer society, be converted, as they get older to the benefits of Bhutan. I think that’s the main issue. What strikes me is the westernisation, the consumerism, but alongside that, this continuing debate. And it’s fantastic to have a country, which is debating this. I’ve lived in India for many years and there, things are just allowed to happen. There’s no planning, as one has seen with all sorts of things, it all just happens. But here, you’re trying to plan, here you are really thinking of the future, there is a debate, I sense everyone’s involved.

Your impressions of the fourth Druk Gyalpo in 1987?
A very quiet, thoughtful man. I walked into the room in the palace, and it was quite dark, big windows, and I couldn’t see him, I couldn’t see where he was, and I turned around and there he was standing in a window, and I said, “Oh, there you are”, which I guess is not the way to address His Majesty when you first meet him. Then I sat down with him and he was informal, discursive, interested and concerned. I need to go back to my notebook, now I’ve realised how important that interview is in the history of Bhutan...

Source: Kuenselonline

Bhutan: Dzongkha readers now have three newspapers to choose

Dzongkha readers now have three newspapers to choose from. The third newspaper was launched by the Secretary of the Dzongkha Development Commission, Dasho Sherab Gyeltshen on Sunday.

The Druk Gyalyong Sharshok, a weekly, will be available every Sunday.

An editor from the newspaper said the paper will help increase readership and help promote the national language.

Bhutanese look forward to weekends: Druk Star

Weekends are always looked forward to as a time to relax. But these days, Bhutanese look forward to weekends for a special reason. And the reason is Druk Star. Ever since the show began, almost all Bhutanese in Phuentsholing have been spending their weekend home watching the show.

Seventy three-year-old Angay Mindu is among the many ardent Druk Star fans in Phuentsholing. Angay Mindu makes it a point to be home every weekend to watch the show.

“I always watch the show leaving behind everything. I eat my lunch quickly before the show begins so that I can watch it uninterrupted. The show is very interesting and I like it very much,” said Angay Mindu.

Her heart broke when her favourite contestant Gyem Dorji got voted out. But now that he is back into the show through the wildcard entry, angay Mindu is determined to keep him in. She even learned how to vote.

“I voted for Gyem Dorji all the time. When he was voted out last time, I felt very sad. I want to vote for him again. I like the boy very much. He is young and has a very good voice,” Angay Mindu said.

Her husband is also a great fan of the show. He never misses the show.

“Wherever I am, I rush home to catch the show. If I can’t make it, I watch from where ever possible,” said Dendup Rinchen.

Every time he watches the show, the talent of the contestants leaves him mesmerized and amazed.

“It is not easy to sing Zhungdra. But the Druk Star contestants sing very well. To be able to sing Zhungdra at such young age is really commendable,” Dendup Rinchen said.

Their daughter Kinley is even a greater fan of Druk Star. Kinley lives in Samtse but the place she stays in has no cable connection. So every weekend she makes a trip to Phuentsholing to watch the show.

“Friday after office I drive to Phuentsholing and go back on Sunday after the show ends. For the result, I call my family to find out, “Kinley said.

Like them, most Bhutanese families stay glued to BBS TV watching the show on weekends. When Druk Star came to Phuentsholing early this week, fans rushed to watch their favourite contestants perform LIVE.

The Norgay cinema hall, where the show was performed, was packed with people. The contestants performed amidst cheers and applause.