Crushing stone...

Earlier this year, in “Mining our business”, I’d explained why it would be unlawful for the government to permit L&T, Gammon and HCC to operate stone quarries for the Punatshangchhu hydropower project.
I don’t know for sure, but it looks like L&T, Gammon and HCC are now not operating the stone quarries. That is very good.
But [...]

Good job...

The prime minister, in his State of the Nation address, on employment:
I am pleased to report to the Hon’ble Members that a total of 320,900 are now employed. This shows that 96.69% of our workforce is employed leaving an unemployment rate of 3.3%, marking a downward movement for the first time in recent years. This [...]

Foreign trips...

The prime minister, in his State of the Nation address, reporting to the Parliament on foreign relations:
My trips to India, Japan and Italy this year were also very useful in deepening our relations with these countries.
I agree. But, the prime minister understated his international travel account. The following, in fact, is a record of his [...]

State of the Nation...

The projected order of business for the Fifth Session of the First Parliament for Bhutan had, among many others, the following two entries:
Thursday, July 1:
Presentation of the Annual Report on the State of the Nation, including Legislative Plans and the Annual Plans and Priorities of the Government, to the Druk Gyalpo and to the Joint [...]

Polling McKinsey...

During question hour today, I asked the prime minister to explain what work McKinsey were doing that couldn’t be done by our own civil servants. And in my leader to the question, I’d reported that the civil servants I’d spoken with had confided that they were not impressed with the work that McKinsey had done [...]

Favouring foreigners over locals...

The National Assembly passed the Financial Services Bill last week. I voted against it. I did so because the Bill seems to favour foreign investors over our own people and companies.
Section 50, on restrictions on ownership of financial institution and investments by financial institutions, reads:
No person shall hold more than the following percentage of interest [...]

Advocating champions...

The prime minster, an advocate of cycling and walking to work, referred to a certain setback in his State of the Nation address:
I would also like to report that the government has not given up on its dream to make Thimphu a bicycle and pedestrian city despite the initial setback.
What is that “initial setback” that [...]

Taxing explanation...

The prime minister devoted a substantial part of his State of the Nation address to justify the government’s recent tax hikes. And to discredit the “vocal few” who challenged the government’s ill-conceived tax policies. The prime minister:
Much has been said of the fiscal incentives and tax increases in certain areas. It has been alleged that [...]

Working with NC...

The prime minister, in his State of the Nation address, on differences between the National Council and National Assembly:
Already several issues have arisen between the National Council and this House which inevitably raised the question of seeking the guidance of the Supreme Court even before it was established. Now with its establishment, the wisdom of [...]

Carbon neutral?...

Dorji, commenting on my last post, GNH vs GDP:
… what is surprising is that OL seem to have been engrossed in counting the repetition of GNH instead of the substance of the address itself.
Dorji is right. We should pay attention to, and analyze, the substantive parts of the PM’s address. So that’s exactly what we’ll [...]

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