Bhutan gays celebrate after homosexuality decriminalized

CNA – AFP, 8 June 2019

Bhutan's LGBT community celebrated Saturday after the tiny Himalayan kingdom's parliament became the world's latest to decriminalise homosexuality.

Bhutan's National Council will vote on Monday to pass the bill following the move
by the lower house of parliament to decriminalise homosexuality AFP/Arun SANKAR

THIMPU: Bhutan's LGBT community celebrated Saturday (Jun 8) after the tiny Himalayan kingdom's parliament became the world's latest to decriminalise homosexuality.

The lower house overwhelmingly voted late Friday to repeal two sections of the 2004 criminal code which made "unnatural sex" illegal.

"A lot of us cried," said Tashi Tsheten of Rainbow Bhutan that represents the country's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

"We are a small and marginalised community and when our rights are discussed in parliament, it makes us extremely happy," Tashi said.

The law had never been used, but Finance Minister Namgay Tshering, who submitted the recommendation to repeal sections 213 and 214 of the penal code, said they had become "a stain" on the country's reputation.

Namgay Tshering said the sections had become redundant since Bhutan became a constitutional monarchy in 2008. "There is a high degree of acceptability of the LGBT community in our society," he said.

The minister added that he was optimistic that the code sections would be definitively scrapped when the upper house in the country of 750,000 people votes on Monday.

Tashi said some ministers had been social workers with contacts in the LGBT community and Prime Minister Lotay Tshering is a surgeon. "So we had lot of hopes in this government."

There is no annual Gay Pride rally or other public display in Bhutan.

And while Tashi said there was a general acceptance of transgenders, especially in rural areas, they still face much discrimination, especially in schools.

"There are lots of barriers and our education system does not understand LGBT," Tashi said, adding that most LGBT youths drop out of school.

Once the bill is passed by the National Council, the upper chamber, it will be sent for royal assent.

Xi stresses Marxist approach to deepening reforms

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-01-25

Chinese President Xi Jinping. (File photo/Xinhua)

Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed dialectical materialism as a way to deepen reform.

Xi, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks while presiding over a meeting attended by members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Friday.

Xi recalled that in 2013, the bureau convened for a meeting on historical materialism, and said "studying dialectical materialism and historical materialism will help CPC members get better understanding of Marxist philosophy."

Xi reiterated that China will remain at the primary stage of socialism for a long time to come. Through 30 years of reform and opening up, China has made historic breakthroughs in productivity, comprehensive national strength and people's living standards, but the situation and challenges both domestically and abroad are changing.

"We should grasp new traits in new phases of development, and stipulate guidelines in accordance with reality," Xi said, adding ideology should be the heart of the Party.

All CPC members, Xi said, should value ideological work and promote "core socialist values," taking a direct and positive attitude toward contradictions in development.

China should not be judged by GDP alone, said the president. China should be judged by its transition in economic development, restructuring, dissolution of overcapacity and by the strength of the nation's commitment to an ecological society.

In a complicated situation with many heavy tasks, the CPC should take a holistic view, completing construction of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, ruling the country by law and running the Party strictly.

Dialectical methods can deal with complex problems, and make strategic decisions by avoiding disadvantages. "Experience is the best teacher," Xi said.

Related Articles:

China's Silk Road strategy 'draws interest from over 50 countries'

Xi Dangles $1.25 Trillion as China Counters US Refocus to Asia

Eurozone boost of €1.1tn in ‘shock and awe’ plan by Central Bank

"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013. They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader. Remember where you heard it... in a strange, esoteric meeting with a guy in a chair pretending to channel. [Kryon being factious... Kryon humor] Then when you hear it, you'll know better, won't you? "Maybe there was something really there," you'll say. "Maybe it was real," you'll say. Perhaps you can skip all the drama of the years to come and consider that now? [Kryon humor again]

These leaders are going to fall over. You'll have a slow developing leadership coming to you all over the earth where there is a new energy of caring about the public. "That's just too much to ask for in politics, Kryon." Watch for it. That's just the beginning of this last phase. So many things are coming. The next one is related to this, for a country in survival with sickness cannot sustain a leadership of high consciousness. There is just too much opportunity for power and greed. But when a continent is healed, everything changes. .."

".. Many years ago, the prevailing thought was that nobody should consider China as a viable player on the economic stage. They were backward, filled with a system that would never be westernized, and had no wish to become joined with the rest of the world's economic systems. Look what has happened in only 30 years. Now, look at Africa differently …”

"The Time Capsule of Gaia" – Feb 9, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“…  Tesla the Man

There was a point in time when humanity almost stumbled, by the way. You were having a hard time with electricity. So a man came along who was way ahead of his time and was available and his name was Nikola Tesla. He gave you a principle that today you call alternating current. Dear ones, I challenge you to understand this principle. Most of you can't, because it is not in 3D. The attributes are still considered "genius-level thinking" to this day. The whole idea of the kind of electricity you use today comes from this man's quantum mind.

That was all he was allowed to do. Tesla himself was a kind of time capsule, delivered at the right time. He had more, but alternating current was all that was allowed to be given to the planet at that time. Oh, he tried to give you more. He knew there were other things, but nothing was able to be developed. If I told you what else he had discovered, you might not be aware of it at all, since it was never allowed to get out of the box. Earth was not ready for it.

Tesla discovered massless objects. He could alter the mass of atomic structure using designer magnetics, but he never could control it. He had objects fly off his workbench and hit the ceiling, but he couldn't duplicate or control it. It just wasn't time yet. Do you know what else he was known for? It was seemingly the failure of the transmission of electricity. However, he didn't fail at all.

There are pictures of his tower, but every time a Human Being sees a tower, there is a biased assumption that something is going to be broadcast through the air. But in the case of Tesla, he had figured out how to broadcast electricity through the ground. You need towers for that because they have to pick up the magnetics within the ground in a certain way to broadcast them and then collect them again from the nodes of the planet's magnetic grid system. We talked about this before. He was utilizing the grid of the planet that is in the earth itself! He was on the edge of showing that you could use the whole grid of the planet magnetically to broadcast electricity and pick it up where you need it, safely, with no wires. But the earth was not ready for it.

Tesla died a broken man, filled with ideas that would have brought peace to planet Earth, but he was simply not allowed to give any of them to you.

Now I'll tell you why he was stopped, dear ones, and it's the first time we have ever told you – because these inventions were too easy to weaponize. Humanity just isn't ready for it. You're not ready for massless objects, either, for the principles are too easy to weaponize.

"So," you might say, "when will we be ready for it?" I think you already know the answer, don't you? At the time when Human consciousness reaches a point where that which is most important is unification and not separation, it will happen. A point where conquering and power are not desirable ideas or assets. A point where humanity will measure the strength of its population by how healthy they are and not by economic growth. A point where coming together with your neighbor is the main objective to social consciousness, and not conquering them or eliminating them. That's coming, dear ones. It's a ways away, but it's coming. Look around the planet at the moment. The old energy leaders are obvious, are they not? It's like they are relics in a world of thinking that is passing them by.  ….”

Gross national happiness in Bhutan: the big idea from a tiny state that could change the world

Russian Physicists Launch Campaign to Rebuild Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower and Power the World

India’s Modi Visits Bhutan on First Step of Bid to Reassert Regional Sway

Jakarta Globe, Sanjeev Miglani, Jun 15, 2014

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi
comes out of a meeting room to receive
his Bhutanese counterpart Tshering
Tobgay before the start of their bilateral
meeting in New Delhi on May 27, 2014.
Modi made his first trip as premier by
visiting the Himalayan kingdom
 Bhutan on June 15. (Reuters Photo)

Thimphu, Bhutan. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday kicked off his first visit abroad since taking office, arriving in Bhutan to launch a drive to reassert Indian influence in the region, offering financial and technical help and the lure of a huge market.

The tiny Buddhist nation wedged in the Himalayas between India and China is the closest India has to an ally in South Asia, a region of bristling rivalry where China is making inroads.

While India has been struggling recently with policy paralysis and a slowing economy, China has been building ports in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and its “all-weather ally”, Pakistan. China overtook India as the biggest foreign investor in Nepal in the first six months of this year.

Modi’s Hindu nationalist party has vowed to end the neglect of neighbors and in an unprecedented gesture, he invited all regional leaders to his inauguration last month.

The choice of a visit to Bhutan to build on the inaugural outreach shows an astute sense of the region’s critical importance to India’s economic dynamism and strategic strength, said Alyssa Ayres, a South Asia expert at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations.

“Of course, India is also closely watching China’s border talks with Bhutan and China’s recent efforts to establish stronger ties with Thimphu,” she said on the think tank’s Asia Unbound blog.

On Sunday, hundreds of school children dressed in traditional red and green tunics lined the route from the airport to wave the Indian flag as Modi’s motorcade arrived in Bhutan’s capital of Thimphu, nestled among mountains and for centuries closed to outsiders.

At the airport, Modi was welcomed with a ceremonial white scarf by Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and cabinet members, wearing the national costume of ankle-length red robe.

During the trip, Modi will lay the foundation of a 600-megawatt hydroelectric power station and inaugurate a parliament building also constructed by India.

“Bhutan and India share a very special relationship that has stood the test of time,” Modi said before he left New Delhi. “Thus, Bhutan was a natural choice for my first visit abroad.”

In the longer term, Modi’s government aims to make India the dominant foreign investor across South Asia as well as the main provider of infrastructure loans, in the same way China has done in much of the rest of Asia and in Africa.

Consolidating ties with difficult neighbors like Pakistan and Bangladesh could reduce poverty and transform regional security relationships, Indian officials say.

“Although India would like to have a greater say in South Asian matters beyond trade, so far we have not been able to exercise substantial political clout,” said P.D. Rai, a lawmaker from the state of Sikkim, which shares a border with Bhutan. “Modi’s first visit to Bhutan will have to be looked at in this light.”

He is accompanied by Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj as well as National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval, credited with helping craft the neighbors-first policy.

Enthusiastic response

India’s neighbors have responded enthusiastically to Modi’s overtures. His Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, overcame resistance at home to attend the inauguration even though political ties remain fragile and marked by deep distrust.

On Sunday, giant portraits of Modi and his Bhutanese counterpart, Tobgay, were strung up along the highway Modi took from the airport. Prayer flags tied high on poles fluttered in the wind in the deeply religious country.

Bhutan, the size of Switzerland and with a population of 750,000, has only recently emerged from centuries of isolation.

Its first road was built in 1962 and television and the Internet arrived in 1999.

It is the first country to monitor gross national happiness, an alternative to gross domestic product, to balance a tentative embrace of modernity with an effort to preserve traditions.

But Bhutan, which made the transition from absolute monarchy to parliamentary democracy in 2008, is struggling with high unemployment and a growing national debt.

The government that took power in 2012 says it wants to focus on obstacles to happiness.

“It is good that we are being connected to the world, we are all on Facebook,” said schoolgirl Tenzin Lamsang, as she and a group of friends prepared to greet the Indian leader.

Reuters

Related Articles:

Gross national happiness in Bhutan: the big idea from a tiny state that could change the world


"The Time Capsule of Gaia" – Feb 9, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“…  Tesla the Man

There was a point in time when humanity almost stumbled, by the way. You were having a hard time with electricity. So a man came along who was way ahead of his time and was available and his name was Nikola Tesla. He gave you a principle that today you call alternating current. Dear ones, I challenge you to understand this principle. Most of you can't, because it is not in 3D. The attributes are still considered "genius-level thinking" to this day. The whole idea of the kind of electricity you use today comes from this man's quantum mind.

That was all he was allowed to do. Tesla himself was a kind of time capsule, delivered at the right time. He had more, but alternating current was all that was allowed to be given to the planet at that time. Oh, he tried to give you more. He knew there were other things, but nothing was able to be developed. If I told you what else he had discovered, you might not be aware of it at all, since it was never allowed to get out of the box. Earth was not ready for it.

Tesla discovered massless objects. He could alter the mass of atomic structure using designer magnetics, but he never could control it. He had objects fly off his workbench and hit the ceiling, but he couldn't duplicate or control it. It just wasn't time yet. Do you know what else he was known for? It was seemingly the failure of the transmission of electricity. However, he didn't fail at all.

There are pictures of his tower, but every time a Human Being sees a tower, there is a biased assumption that something is going to be broadcast through the air. But in the case of Tesla, he had figured out how to broadcast electricity through the ground. You need towers for that because they have to pick up the magnetics within the ground in a certain way to broadcast them and then collect them again from the nodes of the planet's magnetic grid system. We talked about this before. He was utilizing the grid of the planet that is in the earth itself! He was on the edge of showing that you could use the whole grid of the planet magnetically to broadcast electricity and pick it up where you need it, safely, with no wires. But the earth was not ready for it.

Tesla died a broken man, filled with ideas that would have brought peace to planet Earth, but he was simply not allowed to give any of them to you.

Now I'll tell you why he was stopped, dear ones, and it's the first time we have ever told you – because these inventions were too easy to weaponize. Humanity just isn't ready for it. You're not ready for massless objects, either, for the principles are too easy to weaponize.

"So," you might say, "when will we be ready for it?" I think you already know the answer, don't you? At the time when Human consciousness reaches a point where that which is most important is unification and not separation, it will happen. A point where conquering and power are not desirable ideas or assets. A point where humanity will measure the strength of its population by how healthy they are and not by economic growth. A point where coming together with your neighbor is the main objective to social consciousness, and not conquering them or eliminating them. That's coming, dear ones. It's a ways away, but it's coming. Look around the planet at the moment. The old energy leaders are obvious, are they not? It's like they are relics in a world of thinking that is passing them by.  ….”

Russian Physicists Launch Campaign to Rebuild Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower and Power the World - New

Bhutan to become green car showcase in deal with Nissan

Google – AFP, Patrice Novotny (AFP), 21 February 2014

Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn (right) and Bhutanese Prime Minister

 Tshering Tobgay shake hands after unveiling the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle in

Thimphu on February 21, 2014 (AFP, Dibyangshu Sarkar)

Thimphu — The remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan signed a deal with Japanese auto giant Nissan Friday to become the ultimate showcase for electric cars, taking advantage of its abundance of hydropower.

The announcement was made during a visit by Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn to Thimphu, the picturesque capital of Bhutan.

Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay said electric vehicles would help meet a target of zero emissions.

Bhutanese students participate in

 celebrations at the National stadium in 

Thimphu on February 21, 2014 to mark

 King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck's

34th birthday (AFP, Dibyangshu Sarkar)

"An important part of that plan will be sustainable and environmentally-friendly zero emission transport," he added at a joint press conference with Ghosn.

"We don't want to rely on and we don't want to buy fossil fuel," he added.

To mark the announcement which came on the birthday of Bhutan's revered king, Nissan said it was donating two of its Leaf electric vehicles to the government.

It will also supply Bhutan's pool of government cars and fleet of taxis with the same model for an undisclosed price.

Nissan plans to set up a network of charging stations across Thimphu, which industry experts see as vital in persuading motorists to shell out for an electric vehicle.

Wedged between India and China, the 'Land of the Thunder Dragon' is famed for its Gross National Happiness development model that specifically takes into account the environment as well as psychological well-being.

Landlocked and mountainous, Bhutan is teeming with rivers and waterfalls that enable it to operate four hydroelectric plants with a combined capacity of 1,400 megawatts -- equivalent to a powerful nuclear reactor.

Most of the electricity is sold on to India but Bhutan also has to import traditional fossil fuels to meet the needs of its motorists.

"(Electric vehicles) will help Bhutan to reduce the use of fossile fuels and the need to import foreign oil," said Ghosn in the press conference.

Ghosn said the deal would make Bhutan an environmental role model, predicting that the government investment would encourage consumers.

"What we are talking about is the very initial step. Because of this vision that we see for Bhutan, you can expect hundreds or hopefully thousands of Leafs (to be) sold in Bhutan," added Ghosn.

- Self-sufficiency -

Tobgay, who came to power after winning Bhutan's second ever elections last July, sees electric cars as a way of becoming more self-sufficient and of demonstrating the rapid development of a nation that only introduced television in 1999.

The prime minister acknowledged that the high price -- the Leaf costs around $20,000 in the United States -- could scare off motorists but said he was hoping for outside help.

"If we can get international agencies and individuals to support us to subsidize one third of that price, it becomes very affordable," he said.

Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay (2nd left), watched by Nissan chief

 executive Carlos Ghosn (left), plugs in a receptacle to charge the Nissan

Leaf electric vehicle in Thimphu on February 21, 2014 (AFP, Dibyangshu Sarkar)

While other capitals in South Asia are often cloaked in pollution, the residents of Thimpu enjoy a largely pristine climate.

As all vehicles have to be imported and are heavily taxed, car ownership is relatively small and taxis are widely used.

Nissan has emerged as the world leader in the electric car market having invested four billion euros with its French partner Renault, which owns more than 40 percent of the Japanese company.

Launched in 2010, the Nissan Leaf is now the best-selling electric car in history after becoming the first model to pass the 100,000 mark for worldwide sales at the end of last year.

One of the Leaf's chief attractions is its special fast charger which can be fired up in just half an hour, a vast improvement on the eight hours that it takes to recharge batteries linked up to the mains electricity.

It can reach speeds of up to 150 kilometres (93 miles) per hour and has a range of 200 kilometres.

The limited range of most green cars and their relatively high prices have proved major hurdles to a growth in sales.

But while the market remains tiny, industry experts expect demand to grow sharply in the next few years as emissions standards across the world are toughened.

2012 Nissan Leaf Taxi in Sao Paulo

Related Articles:

Bhutan, world's last TV holdout, now at tech vanguard: PM

Bhutan Mulls Turning All Taxis Into Nissan Leaf Electric Cars

Bhutan Banks on ‘White Gold’ Hydropower

Japan digs deep for alternative energy

Bhutan Mulls Turning All Taxis Into Nissan Leaf Electric Cars

Green Cars Report, Stephen Edelstein, 7 December 2013

2012 Nissan Leaf Taxi in Sao Paulo

Several cities are considering using Nissan Leaf electric cars as taxis, but no place has yet replaced every single taxi with the battery-electric hatchback.

Soon, that may be the case in the small Asian nation of Bhutan, where Leafs could become more common (proportionally) than anywhere else in the world.

According to the Financial Times (via Indian Autos Blog), the Bhutanese government is considering replacing the country's entire fleet of taxis and government vehicles with Leaf plug-ins.

Bhutanese prime minister Tshering Tobgay has reportedly discussed the importation of electric cars and charging stations with Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn.

A handful of Leafs will replace some government vehicles in March, with more to follow.

An aggressive electric-car policy makes sense for Bhutan, because the country's main export is electricity from hydroelectric plants, which is sent to India.

Tobgay told the Financial Times that most of the money from electricity sales currently goes to importing fossil fuels for transportation; he hopes to reduce the country's oil imports by 70 percent.

2013 Nissan Leaf electric car tested as
taxi in New York City, April 2013

Bhutan's small size also makes it ideal for electriccars, because most journeys are relatively short.

Most residents of the capital city of Thimpu primarily rely on a fleet of roughly 3,500 taxis for transportation, making the electrification of the fleet more significant than in other countries where more vehicles are privately owned, the Bhutanese government believes.

Personal-car imports are currently banned, but legislation will be introduced to create an exemption for electric cars.

In addition to Nissan, the Bhutanese government has been in talks with other automakers, including Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA]. Tobgay hopes Thimpu will eventually become a center for electric-car research and development.

Nissan Leaf electric cars have already been introduced to taxi fleets in other world cities.

Leaf taxis already operate in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Osaka, Japan, although some Osaka cabbies are not happy with the battery-range degradation they've experienced after racking up tens of thousands of miles in a short period.

A handful of Leaf taxis are also prowling the streets of New York City.

In this photograph taken on May 29, 2013, a Buddhist temple sits near
 an electricity grid main of the Chukha hydro power station in south-eastern
Bhutan. (AFP Photo/Roberto Schmidt)

Related Article:

Bhutan Banks on ‘White Gold’ Hydropower

Bhutan PDP opposition party wins election

BBC News, 13 July 2013

Voters in Bhutan's capital, Thimpu, 13 July 2013. Turnout was high,
at an estimated 80%

Related Stories

• Bhutan votes in key elections
• Bhutan profile - Key facts
• Profile: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

The opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) has won the second-ever parliamentary election in Bhutan.

The PDP beat the ruling Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) party, which has strong links to the king.

The turnout was high at about 80%, said officials. The kingdom's struggling economy and ties with neighbouring India were key issues in the campaign.

The country has been a democracy since 2008, when the king voluntarily relinquished his absolute power.

The PDP won 32 of the country's 47 parliamentary seats, according to results posted on the official website of Bhutan's Election Commission.

The DPT, which won the last election in 2008, only secured 15 seats in Saturday's poll.

PDP leader Tshering Tobgay is likely to be named prime minister of the new government, the Associated Press news agency reports.

The PDP has criticised the government for a recent deterioration of ties with India, a key ally.

For decades, Bhutan has relied on its giant southern neighbour for much of its trade and foreign policy.

India's recent massive reduction of oil and gas subsidies for Bhutan has sparked speculation that this may be because of the Himalayan country's improving relations with China.

Related Article:

Bhutan to Begin Voting on Second Ever Government

Bhutan Banks on ‘White Gold’ Hydropower

Jakarta Globe – AFP,  July 7, 2013

In this photograph taken on May 29, 2013, a Buddhist temple sits near
 an electricity grid main of the Chukha hydro power station in south-eastern
Bhutan. (AFP Photo/Roberto Schmidt)

Chukha, Bhutan. Home to meditating monks and Himalayan nomads, the sleepy kingdom of Bhutan has set its sights on becoming an unlikely energy powerhouse thanks to its abundant winding rivers.

Hydropower plants have already harnessed the country’s water flows to light up nearly every Bhutanese home, generating electricity that is sent to remote villages by cables strung through rugged mountain terrain.

It is a rapid transformation for the long isolated nation, where less than a quarter of households had electricity in 1999 – the same year Bhutan became the last country to introduce television.

But the kingdom now has much greater ambitions for renewable hydropower – already its biggest export – which it hopes will provide more than half of its gross domestic product by the end of the decade.

“It is the white gold for Bhutan today,” said Chhewang Rinzin, managing director of state-owned Druk Green Power Corporation, which runs the country’s hydropower sector.

Bhutan’s first megaproject, opened in the southwestern Chukha district in the 1980s, is now one of four major plants which between them have almost 1,500 megawatt capacity – at peak output roughly equivalent to a large nuclear power station, and only five percent of Bhutan’s hydropower potential.

Already going far beyond domestic needs in summer months, when monsoon rains fill up the rivers, most of the electric power is sold to India, Bhutan’s giant energy-hungry neighbor.

In cooperation with the Indian government, and funded by its grants and loans, the kingdom is now aiming to reach capacity of 10,000 megawatts by 2020 through the building of 10 new plants.

In contrast, politically deadlocked and once war-wracked Nepal has just 700 megawatts of installed capacity, despite being among the top potential hydropower producers in the world according to the World Bank.

“India we see as a market that cannot be satisfied,” Rinzin said of the demand for Bhutan’s natural resource, which is driving economic growth estimated by the Asian Development Bank at 8.6 percent this year.

While hydropower is hailed as the country’s ticket to self-sufficiency after years of depending on donors, there are reservations about the speed and scale of its development while other sectors of the economy lag behind.

One of the first new plants being built, the Punatsangchhu I project, is projected to cost about two billion dollars – more than Bhutan’s total gross domestic product. And there are nine more projects to complete.

“While no one disputes that harnessing hydropower energy is the way to go, there is concern that Bhutan is trying to do too much, too soon,” said an April editorial in the national Kuensel newspaper, titled “Drowning in hydropower”.

At the Chukha plant, colourful murals depicting the Buddha’s life-cycle contrast with the whirring machinery but hint at the country’s unique development model of pursuing “Gross National Happiness” (GNH).

Retaining Bhutan’s Buddhist cultural identity and protecting the environment are key parts of the GNH philosophy, which aims to balance the financial advancement of the nation with spiritual well-being.

The existing hydropower schemes are all “run of the river” sorts that depend on natural water supplies rather than large reservoirs, designed to cause less disruption to their surroundings.

But three reservoir dams have been proposed among the upcoming projects to ensure plentiful water in the rain-free and freezing winter months, when power output currently drops by about three-quarters.

Rinzin says Bhutan’s steep and sparsely-populated valleys will suffer much less impact than areas affected by big Indian or Chinese reservoirs – the number of households displaced is in the hundreds rather than thousands.

But Samir Mehta, South Asia program director at US-based watchdog International Rivers, expressed concern at a lack of transparency around the proposals and their impact. “The level of public engagement is not known,” he said.

He warned that hydropower plants also face serious threats from climate change, given Bhutan’s susceptibility to floods from lakes formed high in the mountains by melting glaciers.

In the capital Thimphu, people have other concerns on their mind about hydropower’s rise, sometimes described as “jobless growth”.

Despite its dominance in Bhutan, Druk Green has a staff of only 1,800, expected to rise to no more than 6,000, in a country where unemployment is a growing worry among its youthful population of 736,000.

The construction phase is more labor-intensive, but only 10 to 15 percent of these jobs are going to the Bhutanese by Rinzin’s calculation, as most of the building work is carried out and overseen by Indians.

“It’s money in and money out,” said Tenzing Lamsang, editor of The Bhutanese newspaper. “Your own companies are not making the money that they should.”

The kingdom, which is holding its second parliamentary elections after shifting to democracy in 2008, is already hugely dependent on India for imports and soaring demand led it to run out of Indian rupee supplies last year.

Many think the flurry in hydropower development, and subsequent demand for costly imported equipment and machinery, exacerbated the crisis.

While he believes in hydropower’s long-term benefits for Bhutan, Lamsang says the financial and environmental concerns show that it should not be relied upon to the cost of other industries.

“The danger here is that we put all our eggs in one basket. If the basket does fall or something happens to the basket, then we’re in for a lot of trouble.”

Agence France-Presse

Bhutan to Begin Voting on Second Ever Government

Jakarta Globe – AFP, May 29, 2013

A Royal Bhutan Army soldier stands vigil as Bhutanese in traditional costume

 stand in queues to cast their votes for the nation's second parliamentary election

 outside a polling station at Rikhey, Bhutan, on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. 

FILE PHOTO: AP

Thimpu. Voters in the isolated Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan will begin electing their second ever government this week, five years after the country’s Buddhist “dragon kings” gave way to democracy.

The electorate of less than 400,000 people will choose from four parties on Friday when the primary round of voting for the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, commences.

The two most popular parties will then contest a run-off round on July 13 to form the next government.

Bhutan, which is landlocked by Asian giants India to the south and China to the north, held its first election in 2008 after the monarchy ceded absolute power and actively led the move to a parliamentary democracy.

In the 2008 vote, the center-right Druk Phuensum Tshogpa, drawn from the country’s traditional elite, won a huge landslide and secured 45 of 47 seats available against the People’s Democratic Party.

This time two new center-left parties, both led by women, are joining the contest, but the well-established DPT is generally expected to win by a small margin — although opinion polls are banned.

A rule that allows only graduates to stand for office has created difficulties for the new parties in their search for recruits, with a fifth party disqualified over its lack of candidates.

“I think the DPT will get through because of the [pro-]incumbency factor,” a political analyst in the capital Thimphu told AFP, declining to be named.

He said Bhutan’s huge development under the DPT, especially the building of roads and provision of electricity to rural areas, made the party popular in a nation where more than 40 percent of people depend on agriculture and forestry.

Jigmi Y. Thinley, the incumbent prime minister, is also the only leading candidate who can speak in Bhutan’s many local dialects, which could help him win more support in remote corners of the country.

The DPT is unlikely to repeat its 2008 landslide win, analysts say, as it faces more competition amid concerns over corruption, youth unemployment and a rupee liquidity crunch under the party’s watch.

Bhutan is heavily dependent on India for aid, investment and the majority of its imports, leading supplies of the Indian rupee to run out last year due to too much demand. Bhutan’s ngultrum currency is also pegged to the rupee.

Political science lecturer Karma Tenzin, 27, said he wanted a new government that would promote more long-term self-sufficiency.

“Dependency on foreign aid is not sustainable,” he said.

The economy grew by 7.5 percent in the fiscal year to June 2012, down from 10 percent a year earlier, but is expected to rise to 8.6 percent this year fueled by hydropower and high-end tourism, according to the Asian Development Bank.

The country is better known for measuring “Gross National Happiness,” a unique yardstick that prioritizes citizens’ well-being and environment-friendly policies.

In April, Bhutan voted for 20 elected seats in the National Council, the upper house of parliament whose members have no party affiliation and monitor the government’s actions, review legislation and advise the king.

Turnout was just 45 percent, down from 53 percent in the last election, but greater interest is expected in the vote on Friday, which has been declared a public holiday.

Party leaders kicked off the election season in early May with a televised debate. Bhutan was the last country in the world to introduce TV in 1999 and it remains fiercely protective of its national identity and culture.

Agence France-Presse

Bhutan set to plough lone furrow as world's first wholly organic country

By shunning all but organic farming techniques, the Himalayan state will cement its status as a paradigm of sustainability

The Guardian, John Vidal and Annie Kelly, 11 February 2013

Stooping to conquer … Already an overwhelmingly agrarian state, Bhutan is aiming
to become the world's first completely organic country. Photograph: Alamy

Bhutan plans to become the first country in the world to turn its agriculture completely organic, banning the sales of pesticides and herbicides and relying on its own animals and farm waste for fertilisers.

But rather than accept that this will mean farmers of the small Himalayan kingdom of 1.2 million people will be able to grow less food, the government expects them to be able to grow more – and to export increasing amounts of high quality niche foods to neighbouring India, China and other countries.

The decision to go organic was both practical and philosophical, said Pema Gyamtsho, Bhutan's minister of agriculture and forests, in Delhi for the annual sustainable development conference last week.

"Ours is a mountainous terrain. When we use chemicals they don't stay where we use them, they impact the water and plants. We say that we need to consider all the environment. Most of our farm practices are traditional farming, so we are largely organic anyway.

"But we are Buddhists, too, and we believe in living in harmony with nature. Animals have the right to live, we like to to see plants happy and insects happy," he said.

Gyamtsho, like most members of the cabinet, is a farmer himself, coming from Bumthang in central Bhutan but studying western farming methods in New Zealand and Switzerland.

"Going organic will take time," he said. "We have set no deadline. We cannot do it tomorrow. Instead we will achieve it region by region and crop by crop."

The overwhelmingly agrarian nation, which really only opened its doors to world influences 30 years ago, is now facing many of the development pangs being felt everywhere in rapidly emerging countries. Young people reluctant to live just by farming are migrating to India and elsewhere, there is a population explosion, and there is inevitable pressure for consumerism and cultural change.

But, says Gyamtsho, Bhutan's future depends largely on how it responds to interlinked development challenges like climate change, and food and energy security. "We would already be self-sufficient in food if we only ate what we produced. But we import rice. Rice eating is now very common, but traditionally it was very hard to get. Only the rich and the elite had it. Rice conferred status. Now the trend is reversing. People are becoming more health-conscious and are eating grains like buckwheat and wheat."

In the west, organic food growing is widely thought to reduce the size of crops because they become more susceptible to pests. But this is being challenged in Bhutan and some regions of Asia, where smallholders are developing new techniques to grow more and are not losing soil quality.

Systems like "sustainable root intensification" (SRI), which carefully regulate the amount of water that crops need and the age at which seedlings are planted out, have shown that organic crop yields can be doubled with no synthetic chemicals.

"We are experimenting with different methods of growing crops like SRI but we are also going to increase the amount of irrigated land and use traditional varieties of crops which do not require inputs and have pest resistance," says Gyamtsho.

However, a run of exceptionally warm years and erratic weather has left many farmers doubtful they can do without chemicals.

In Paro, a largely farming district in south-west Bhutan, farmers are already struggling to grow enough to feed their families and local government officials say they are having to distribute fertiliser and pesticides in larger quantities to help people grow more.

"I have heard of the plan to turn everything organic. But we are facing serious problems just getting people to grow enough", said Rinzen Wangchuk, district farm officer.

"Most people here are smallholder farmers. The last few years we have had problems with the crops. The weather has been very erratic. It's been warmer than normal and all the chilli crops are full of pests. We are having to rely on fertilisers more than we have ever had to in the past and even these are not working as well as they initially did."

Dawa Tshering, who depends on his two acres of rice paddy and a vegetable garden, says that for decades his farming was chemical free.

"But its harder now because all our children are either in the capital or studying. Nobody wants to stay, which means we have to work harder. It's just my wife an myself here. We cannot grow enough to feed ourselves and take crops to the market, so we have to use chemicals for the first time. We would like to go back to farming how we used to, where we just used what nature provided."

But in a world looking for new ideas, Bhutan is already called the poster child of sustainable development. More than 95% of the population has clean water and electricity, 80% of the country is forested and, to the envy of many countries, it is carbon neutral and food secure.

In addition, it is now basing its economic development on the pursuit of collective happiness.

"We have no fossil fuels or nuclear. But we are blessed with rivers which give us the potential of over 30,000megawatts of electricity. So far we only exploit 2,000 megawatts. We exploit enough now to export to India and in the pipeline we have 10,000 megawatts more. The biggest threat we face is cars. The number is increasing every day. Everyone wants to buy cars and that means we must import fuel. That is why we must develop our energy."

Agriculture minister Gyamtsho remains optimistic. "Hopefully we can provide solutions. What is at stake is the future. We need governments who can make bold decisions now rather than later."

Related Article:

Gross national happiness in Bhutan: the big idea from a tiny state that could change the world