The second day of the festival was held at Tarayana Hall

The second day of Mountain Echoes in Thimphu yesterday started with an engaging and frank conversation between Her Majesty the Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck and Indian ambassador Pavan Varma. They discussed various aspects about the country starting from the rootedness of Bhutanese culture to rural empowerment, women as conduits for social change, the existential dilemmas faced by today’s generation, the relevance of Buddhism in daily life, and the future of the country’s unique concept of Gross National Happiness.

The Queen Mother spoke of all the efforts being made by the Tarayana Foundation towards the welfare of the Bhutanese people and said that as a nation they want the youth to inculcate the spirit of compassion and volunteerism. She thanked Pavan Varma for introducing Mountain Echoes to Bhutan because it encouraged the youngsters to read more, appreciate the authors and develop an interest in writing themselves.

This was followed by a session with Kunzang Choden, Swati Chopra on spirituality and writing the spirit. Swati Chopra started with discussing the meaning of the spirit, the complications that come from expressing a quest that is deeply internal and how she envisions her books to become spiritual companions of her readers.

Kunzang Choden followed up on the subject of the youth and the Bhutanese spirit. The younger generation, according to her, is walking the razor’s edge and it is important for the elders to help them find the true Bhutanese spirit. She talked of how in her book, The Circle of Karma, the woman protagonist tried to find herself and her spirit in the changes that are happening around her. They spoke of the need to question traditions and their relevance in present times, particularly with reference to the position of women in spirituality. They discussed the questioning of patriarchal norms for seekers of enlightenment and the traditional prayer for a woman to ask to be reborn as a man in order to attain nirvana.

The third session of the day was an extremely interesting conversation about Vikram Seth’s latest novel, Rivered Earth, introduced by Ali Sethi. Vikram Seth talked about how the book came into being over a course of time bringing together different traditions from the poetry of an Anglican priest, to the Braj Bhasha of Surdas and 8^th Century Chinese poetry within one book. He spoke of how he found inspiration in one of his favorite poets, George Herbet’s house in a village outside London and showed calligraphy representing the essence of the book, which is the elements of nature and rounded up the session with a dramatic reading of his poem on fire.

Then came the first Bhutanese session of the day with Kuenga Tenzin and Karma Singye Dorji, who is the writer of the book Dreaming of Prayer Flags. He spoke of how the book has stories that were told by his grandparents, and while it falls under the category of nonfiction in Bhutan you don’t know where fact ends and fiction begins. But most Bhutanese people comfortably inhabit this ambiguous space between the real and the imagined. He also spoke of the perspective that one gains after moving out of one’s own country and how he realized how precious his culture was after he left it.

After lunch, directors Namita Gokhale and Pramod KG launched Mishi Saran’s book, The Other Side of Light.

This was followed by readings from authors from four different nations. Noa Jones read a piece about a near death experience in a Bhutanese bus from We are all going, Mishi Saran read from her new book, Ashok Ferrey read a true and moving short story about the Tsunami in Sri Lanka, Last Man Standing and Kuenga Tenzin read from his second novel, about a Bhutanese super hero Kuenden the Valiant Son.

This gave way to another Bhutanese session where Kishwar Desai introduced authors Tshering Cigay Dorji, an engineer turned writer, and Karma Tenzin ‘Yongba’ who was heading the Bhutanese Crime Branch of the Royal Bhutan Police. Both of them talked of where they found inspiration for writing their stories.  Karma Tenzin ‘Yongba’ said that as a crime officer he got the opportunity to interact with a diverse set of people and found stories from real life situations and characters. Tshering Cigay Dorji spoke of how stories formed an important part of his childhood as he was growing up in a remote village. He spoke of the importance of folk tales that get transferred from generation to generation and how even after studying electrical engineering he was always interested in stories around him.

After this, Bollywood personalities filled the stage as Tisca Chopra moderated a session with Vishal Bhardwaj, Arshad Warsi, Shakun Batra and Mushtaq Shiekh. They discussed where they find their stories, how they look for ideas, the life of a script, the creative processes and the economic interests that drive a film’s journey. A debate that guided the session was the objective of a film as Arshad Warsi said that the basic idea of cinema should be inclusive entertainment no matter what genre you take up and Vishal Bhardwaj argued that the director should stick to his creative vision. The members of the audience also picked up this subject as Sharmila Tagore questioned the value of privileging commerce over art and Pavan Varma spoke of the middle path where the filmmaker must keep the interest of the audience in mind while not compromising his or her own aesthetics and ethics.

The last session of the day was a fascinating presentation by William Dalrymple about his latest book, Return of a King, which chronicles the First Anglo-Afghan War that was fought between 1839 and 1842. He pointed out the uncanny parallels between this catastrophe that was a great defeat for the British and the present situation in Afghanistan. The British Empire, which was at its peak lost an entire army as only one soldier returned from the war to give the news. He said how the same kind of a battle is being played out in the same place, with the same kind of overconfidence and is bound to see a similar result.

He spoke of his experience of writing and researching the book over four years, traveling to Afghanistan to see the places where the war took place, talking to the descendants of the warriors that he is writing about, the feeling of watching history repeat itself and few lessons being learnt from the past.

As these sessions were on at Tarayana, another set of fascinating sessions were unfolding at Taj Tashi. The day there began with a session titled, Thimpu Dialogues with Ashok Ferrey, Kuenga Tenzin and Kelly Dorji in discussion and was followed by a session on the genre of photo fiction conducted by Dayanita Singh and Aveek Sen. They spoke of how a photographer tells a story through his or her pictures. The next session was a delightful hour about travel poetry by Gulzar who spoke of the metaphor of the journey in his work. The last session for the venue was a delicious rendering of hill recipes by Sarla Razdan and Kunzang Choden, introduced by Mita Kapur.

The Nehru Wangchuck Center, in the meanwhile, screened two fascinating films on music followed by a discussion between Navdeep Suri and Neela Venkataraman about the representation of India in the world through its music.

The evening then moved to the Clock Tower as the Delhi band Eka performed for an enthusiastic Bhutanese crowd cheering them song after song. They made the audience tap to their tunes with songs from popular Bollywood films and western albums.

The day concluded at Taj Tashi with Her Majesty the Queen Mother Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck launching Pramod KG’s book, Posing for Posterity: Royal Indian Portraits. 

Belinda Goldsmith takes a practical lesson

The media were hungry, noisy, and pushy during the parliamentary election in 2008, the chief election commissioner, Dasho Kunzang Wangdi, this week told a group of reporters, who are undergoing training on election reporting in Thimphu.  But they were a necessary agent.

Dasho Kunzang Wangdi was a guest speaker at the training programme on Tuesday.

At the approach of the second parliamentary election next year, the Bhutanese media houses are preparing for more professional election coverage. Fifteen reporters are being trained in election reporting by a veteran journalist and trainer from Thomson Reuters Foundation, Belinda Goldsmith, who has covered elections in 12 countries.

Starting from the role of the media in democratic elections and news writing tips, Belinda acquainted the reporters with the key elements of free and fair elections with practical lessons. The reporters also learnt practical lessons on headline and lead writing and interview skills.

The five-day training, the first phase of which ends today, also covered constitutional aspects of the electoral process, legal protection of journalists, and the role of new media in elections. It is expected to give the reporters a good grounding in ethical and legal issues in election coverage. They are expected to identify and understand legal and critical issues that arise during election coverage.

The training features different guest speakers. MP Ugyen Dorji, a member of media and ICT committee of the National Assembly, spoke to the reporters on Wednesday. He said that during the 2008 parliamentary election, there were some claims and accusations that a few media houses were biased. He added that the media’s coverage of the 2013 election would be more professional because there are more media houses today and they have undergone training in election coverage.

Three newspapers – Kuensel, Bhutan Times, Bhutan Observer – BBS TV and radio, and two FM radios covered the 2008 election. Some members of the public complained that the media were more divisive than helpful to the communities during the election.

“This training will provide Bhutanese reporters with critical skills to cover elections in a fair and balanced manner,” said Belinda Goldsmith.

Organised by Bhutan Media Institute and funded by Journalists’ Association of Bhutan, the second phase of the training will begin from May 21 and end on May 25.

How the media covered 2008 election

According to the report of the European Union Election Observation Mission, in the 2008 election, BBS TV and BBS radio were the main source of information for the Bhutanese, reaching almost 80 percent of the population.

Many journalists then lacked professionalism and training. Both BBS TV and radio, in their special election programmes (debates and interviews), gave equal access to all the candidates in a strictly regulated manner, the report says.

It says apart from the BBS and Kuensel, the two private newspapers, – Bhutan Times and Bhutan Observer – also reported extensively on election.

In the run up to the election, in the electronic media, BBS radio devoted almost 49 percent of its political time to Druk Phensum Tshogpa (DPT), while 51 percent was dedicated to the coverage of Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).

Contrary to the general view that the media’s coverage of election was mostly negative, the report says the tone of the coverage was largely positive. A comparable pattern has been observed for BBS TV, where DPT was given roughly 47 percent of the coverage and PDP about 53 percent.

In the print media, the trend of coverage was almost the same. Kuensel devoted almost 52 percent of its political space to PDP and 48 percent to DPT.

Bhutan Observer gave 54 percent of its political space to PDP and 46 percent to DPT. Bhutan Times, on the other hand, devoted 58 percent of the political coverage to DPT, and 42 percent to PDP. There was critical coverage of both parties by all forms of media.

Besides the mainstream news media, Kuzoo and Radio Valley also covered the election. The report says the radios played a crucial role in the overage of election. Kuzoo reached almost 60 percent of population while Radio Valley covered Thimphu and some other towns. Centennial Radio also covered Thimphu area. These radios covered elections in its news bulletins and with interviews with the candidates.

Although only four percent of population had access to internet then, electronic media had considerable impact on educated voters. The online news websites included kuenselonline.com, bbs.com.bt, bhutanobserver.bt and bhutantimes.bt.

More than 107 international journalists from 63 news agencies covered the election.

By Pema Tenzin

Women of Chhimung village set out to work. People of Chhimung are renovating their old drinking water supply system in anticipation of water shortage

It is just six in the morning but the sprawling Chhimung village has already come to life with farmers going out to work, which seems aplenty these days. Bumchu Wangdi, a sturdy-looking pot-bellied and balding man in his fifties makes his way, with a register in hand, towards a group of elderly farmers waiting for his instructions. He hastily calls out names from the register and instructs the group to carry on collecting quarry sand for a few more days.

The villagers are carrying out maintenance work on their water supply system in anticipation of water shortage.

“We have just begun the maintenance work on our water supply, which seems to be dwindling by the day,” said Bumchu Wangdi. “I don’t know how long it will take but the urgency of the issue makes it a top priority for the entire village whose existence depends solely on just this one source.”

Gup Sonam Tshewang said water has become a critical issue for the people of Chhimung. He said that, since the only source is located more than six kilometres away on Yurung-Chhimung border, timely maintenance by the caretakers has become extremely difficult causing further shortage of water in the village due to leaks and blockages from time to time.

The gup said the village is going to build additional tanks both at the source and at the distribution points to enhance adequate storage. “Once this maintenance is complete, we intend to re-appoint new caretakers who will be paid subsistence wages by the beneficiaries to enable them to discharge their duty adequately,” he said.

Since the water source at Sangfrangma on the Chhimung-Yurung border remains the only source available around, it provides water to 67 households in Chhimung. It also provided water to four households and the community lhakhang in Pangthang in the recent past.

Now, a primary school, an RNR centre, a BHU and the gewog office depend on the same water source adding further pressure on it. People say although there is enough water for everyone through judicious use, the shortage is imminent.

Some of these government institutions are understood to have their water supply budget used for the improvement of the existing supply lines because of non-existence of other sources. The principal of the school, Phurpa, said since water is scarce, the school is proposing pumping water from a place called Awashing, which lies a few kilometres below the village. This, he said, will depend on how sustainable the school will be in the long run in terms of its enrolment.

Pangthang village, located right above Chhimung village with 24 households, has a separate water source. And that again is the only water source for the village.

Pema Tenzin, a prominent figure from Pangthang, said the location of the water source makes it difficult for them to monitor human activities in the area. A year ago, a few trees on the catchment area had been felled under dubious circumstances damaging the source and intake tank. Subsequently, the village raised the issue on the need to safeguard the interest of people.

He added that the people of Pangthang have now realized the importance of water for their very survival. He said that if the only source dries up because of human encroachment, the village has no alternative but to relocate elsewhere.

Chhimung tshogpa Sangay Dorji said the village has little alternative if it fails to protect its only water source. He said, “It is our only lifeline and we need to utilize it efficiently. We have been doing that by alternating supply between the two parts of the villages each day. If that fails, then we must resort to pumping water which could be expensive.”

The gewog administrative officer of Chhimung agreed that the only alternative water source is below the village from where water needs to be pumped up. For the moment though, he said preliminary reports on potential use of that water for irrigating the fertile Awashing area has been submitted to the agriculture sector.

However, some residents say even that water source has been damaged by recent human activity. The water in that catchment area is also said to be drying up because of the removal of trees for local construction. “It is painful to see those trees, which were considered sacrosanct for the community, cleared for short-term gain by our own people,” said Bumchu Wangdi.

Elsewhere in Chhimung Gewog, Nyaskhar, which has 24 households, also faces an acute shortage of water with no water source that can be piped because of the its location, according to the gup. “All we can do is protect those small ponds located below the village from drying up,” he said.

By Gyembo Namgyal

A traffic jam on Norzin Lam in Thimphu. In order to curb the import of vehicles and fuels, the rupee taskforce report has recommended green tax

Many Bhutanese are concerned about the rupee taskforce’s recommendation for a green tax on imports of vehicles and fuel.

The taskforce recommended a 40 percent green tax on vehicle import and a five percent green tax on fuel import.

Although import of cars has been suspended indefinitely, automobile dealers say there is a rush to buy cars before a possible tax increase. The manager of a Thimphu automobile company said there is no shortage of customers although the company does not have any car in stock. He said customers want to book cars before the green tax comes into effect.

Some aspiring car buyers say it would be unfair for the government to raise tax on car import another time. Pema Tshering, a private sector employee, who wants to buy a car, said, “There are people who own more than four cars, and the government should look into those.”

If the government decides to go with the recommendation of a 40 percent green tax on vehicle import, it would increase vehicle costs substantially. For instance, currently a standard model Maruti Suzuki Alto costs around Nu 297,000 (inclusive of 20 percent sales tax). With a 40 percent green tax, the cost will increase to Nu 415,800.

If a five percent green tax is imposed on fuel import, the price of petrol will increase from Nu 60.26 per litre to around Nu 63.27 and that of diesel will increase from Nu 40.61 per litre to Nu 42.64 litre.

The taskforce report reasons that despite a five percent tax on Indian vehicle import levied recently, assessment of the past six months showed that the tax and duty revision had ‘little impact’ on the imports.

The report recommends that Ministry of Finance consider shifting the levy of Sales Tax on vehicles from Point of Entry to the Point of Sale.

The taskforce report also recommends that, since the import of heavy earth-moving equipment is one of the factors that contribute to rupee outflow, it be brought under the tax bracket.

But some believe that this recommendation does not make a good economic sense. The managing director of State Trading Corporation Limited, Dorji Namgay, said although a green tax would be good for environmental reasons, it could have a negative impact on upcoming projects.

He said a green tax on commercial heavy vehicles like trippers, which are mostly used for hydropower projects, could escalate the cost of power projects. “We have not yet been able to harness 10,000 MW of hydropower, and there are many projects to be completed,” he said. Currently, the import of commercial vehicles like trippers are tax-free.

According to the taskforce report, in 2011, 81.35 percent of the vehicles was imported from India. Out of the 6,893 vehicles imported from India, 4,254 were imported after the tax revision, which came into effect from June 20, 2011.

The report has asked Department of Revenue and Customs to identify and propose new taxes and to rationalize existing tax rates.

The total value of vehicle import as a share of total imports from India increased to 10 percent in 2011 from 3.1 percent in the previous year. The total number of vehicles imported from India was 1,103 worth Nu 309.83 million in 2002, which increased to 6,893 amounting to Nu 3.6 billion in 2011.

Around 83 percent of the total vehicle imports between 2002 and 2011 was from India. During that period, rupee outflow due to vehicle import was Nu 7.90 billion as compared to convertible currency outflow of US$ 0.11 billion for vehicle import from countries other than India. The high volume of vehicle imports from India, the report points out, was driven by easy access to credit and lower tax.

The import of heavy earth moving equipment increased from four in 2002 to 331 in 2011, mainly driven by the boom in the construction sector. Last year, earth moving equipment import from India resulted in an outflow of Nu 1.38 billion. Between 2002 and 2011, Bhutan imported 598 earth moving equipment worth Nu 1.7 billion.

The import of fuel (petrol and diesel) increased from 42.76 million litres (worth Nu 720.89 million) in 2002 to 111 million litres (worth Nu 4.25 billion) in 2011. From 2002 to 2011, a total of Nu 21.84 billion was spent on import of fuel.

The taskforce report, meanwhile, states that 40 percent tax rate is the minimum rate for the smallest category vehicles. Even with this tax, Bhutan’s vehicle import tax will still be among the least in the world.

By Pushkar Chhetri

Internal wiring being done at the Chhimung gewog office

Work is underway to light Pemagatshel’s last unlit gewogs, Chhimung and Dungmin.

But the people say the work is progressing at a snail’s pace.

In Chhimung, transmission lines are in place and electricity could be provided at any time. But with the exception of a few households and government offices which are undertaking house wiring, most houses are waiting for the contractor to start the work. They are waiting for the contractor to fulfill his part of the bargain now that transmission lines have been completed with their labour contribution.

According to the villagers, the contractor is behind schedule by months. It was agreed that the villagers would help the contractor transport and erect poles and lay transmission lines and the contractor would do internal wiring for the villagers. But months after the transmission lines were completed, the villagers are still waiting for the contractor to do internal wiring for them.

The gup said at least two agreements had been drawn up with the contractor on exchanging the villagers’ labour with house wiring service but the contractor has not fulfilled his obligation.

“The gewog has notified the contractor to fulfill his part of the bargain and do house wiring as soon as possible. This is in addition to agreement the contractor himself drew up with the people at the onset of the work without the involvement of the gewog administration,” the gup said.

Acting on the complaints from the people, Chhimung gewog administration has taken up the issue with the dzongkhag administration.

Meanwhile, the farmers say they are confused about the delay in work. They believe that since some works are still under progress, they would get their houses electrified only after the completion of the whole work.

“I am a little worried whether he will ever electrify our houses because it has been months since we worked for him. We cannot arbitrarily start internal house wiring on our own because we have entered into an agreement, and it will  tantamount to breach of the agreement,” said a frustrated farmer.

The gup said the gewog administration has asked the contractor to report to the gewog to settle the issue but the contractor has not responded yet.

The contractor, in the meanwhile, assured that he is committed to doing his work. “I have already procured electrical items. House wiring will begin as soon as laying of transmission lines in other parts of the gewogs is complete,” he said over phone from Nganglam.

The contractor said, once begun, the work can be completed in less than a month. He clarified that he has no commitment to electrify all the houses in Chhimung but entered into an agreement with about 30 households.

Internal wiring for these houses, he said, can be finished between 10 and 15 days. “Despite all the difficulties and challenges of working in demanding situations, I m committed to everything I said,” he assured.

The gewog officials said without people contributing their labour, the work on transmission lines would not have progressed at this pace. They expect a similar gesture from the contractor – to speed up his part of work.

In Dungmin too, the rural electrification work in Laniri village is ‘painfully slow’, according to the gup. “I have been following up on the matter with the contractor but he cannot be reached. Labour has never been a problem here but the people need to be paid timely,” said Gup Ugyen Tshering. A different contractor is undertaking the work in Dungmin.

Officiating manager of BPC’s Pemagatshel office said the work in both the gewogs is months behind schedule but it is expected to be complete in another few months. “We are expecting both the contractors to wind up the work by then,” he said.

By Gyembo Namgyal

Economic research draws its power from its mathematical and empirical approach to knowledge. It uses advanced mathematical and econometric models and does not rely on mere assumptions about what might be effective. Policies are contextual depending on the situation of a particular country or region. Therefore, simply guessing or generalizing a policy may affect an economy negatively. Economic policies driven by empirical and mathematical research are by and large effective in achieving desired goals.

The diversity of economic domains has widened the scope of research on issues such as poverty, inequality, vulnerability, education, migration, environment, climate change, and trade. In this context, the existence of effective institutional set-ups is a prerequisite for quality research, which in turn guides the formulation of sound economic policies. The importance of economic research notwithstanding, investment in research-led policy framing, particularly in developing countries, presents a different reality. Conversely, developed countries, including emerging economies like Brazil, India and China, are now more inclined towards research informed policies. For example, institutions such as the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), DIW Berlin, ESRC UK, ICRIER India, IEG, are all working towards research informed economic policies.

Opportunities exist for economists with background in mathematics and econometrics in the field of finance, trade, development, and so on. Research economists can work in universities, research centres, think tanks, and international organizations. Additionally, banks and industries also hire economists with research background. But getting hired demands a lot of perseverance, hard work and passion to pursue a career in economic research. Good economists are not only grounded in the real world but they are also continually engaged in the generation of knowledge. They publish in quality research journals with high impact factor. Again getting published is demanding and it takes a research economist much intellectual labour before he or she can get published in a good journal.

My own experience as a research economist in several international research institutions has been equally challenging and joyous.

By Dr Dil Bahadur Rahut

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Development Economics, South Asian University, New Delhi

Lam Namkhai Nyingpo Rinpoche blesses devotees

The age-old annual Tshokhor of Rigzhung was held on April 21 at Taktse, the new campus of the Rigzhung Institute. Organized by the final year students of the institute before their graduation, the Tshokhor was conducted by His Eminence Namkhai Nyingpo Rinpoche and 15 monks from Kharchu Dratshang in Bumthang.

Besides the Rigzhung family, hundreds of devotees from Drakteng Gewog, nearby schools, nuns from Kuenga Rabten nunnery and employees of Mangdechhu Hydropower Project attended the Tshokhor.

On the Tshokhor day, the organisers served lunch to the entire gathering and three meals to the staff, contractors and consultants of the ongoing construction projects on the campus.

The villagers offered a variety of domestic products for the Tshokhor.

Towards the evening, Lam Namkhai Nyingpo Rinpoche blessed the institute and the devotees with Tacha Chung Sum Wang. His Eminence offered Tashi Khadar to the organizers personally to acknowledge their contribution.

His Eminence said that he was very happy to be at the institute of which his master, His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, was the first principal in the 1960s. He expressed his wish to visit the institute in the future.

At the end of the day, Rinpoche blessed the institute by planting a Jangchub Shing on the campus. The institute staged a cultural programme for His Eminence in the evening.

It was first time that Taktse saw a grand Tshokhor presided over by Namkhai Nyingpo Rinpoche.

By Kuenzang Pem (2nd Year, BA Language and Culture Studies)

ILCS, Taktse

The ICT lab at Paro College of Education is the most vibrant place on the campus

Every edge and corner of the country is on the verge of being touched by the world-beater human innovation called Information and Communication Technology (ICT). It indicates that Bhutan is no more in an isolated island of unawareness but on the express highway of the age of digitalization.

In a fascinating round of short interviews at Paro College of Education, many students agreed that the college’s computer lab was the most frequently visited place throughout the academic year.

Asked which internet contents students mostly browse, Sonam Dema, a second year student, said, “It is the main source of information for me but it is a tell-tale sign that learners are going for shortcuts for readymade  information, which is not always authentic like those found in books.”

Another student, Singye Namgyel, said the majority of internet users in the college visit the lab to prepare presentations and assignments but news, games and social networking sites are also used at a high rate.

Sonam Tobgay, a second year student, said, “The lab is very advantageous as the references from the internet are important for the assignments and other academic works. Downstairs or upstairs, the room is always over-crowded, which means the lab is actually used optimally.”

The centre of learning in the college – the ICT Lab – is open from 6 am to 10 pm. Wi-Fi connectivity is available 24/7 on the college campus.

By Tandin Wangdi (2nd Year, B.Ed Primary)

Paro College of Education, Paro