The grant to road network project (RNP-II) will be used to upgrade and build segments of the highway and a feeder road, which together total a length of 183 km. The total cost of the project is USD 54.32m, with the government to contribute USD 15.56m.

Specifically, the project will upgrade the 37 km Manitar-Raidak highway, construct new highways between Raidak-Lhamoidzingkha (Kalikhola) (25 km), Panbang-Nganglam (36 km), Samdubchheoing (Bangtar)-Samrang (23 km) and also build a 62-km feeder road from Tsebar via Mikuri to Durungi in Pemagatshel dzongkhag.

The Raidak-Lhamoidzingkha and Panbang-Nganglam roads will be two-lane national highways, which means it will be slighter broader than the existing Trashigang-Dewathang highway.

“Detailed studies on the new highways are still being done,” said the officiating director general of roads, Tshering Wangdi. “So we haven’t fixed any dates on when the work will start.”

At the signing of the project agreement yesterday in Thimphu by the finance minister, Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu, and the ADB director general (South Asian department), Mr Kunio Senga, it was announced that the project would be completed by 2014.

When the project is completed Phuentsholing will be connected to Lhamoizingkha (Kalikhola), but it will require building another 50 km to connect to Phipsoo and another 14 km to connect to the Sarpang-Gelephu highway. “These will hopefully be done in future projects,” said a road official.

With 150 km already existing in bits and pieces along the southern corridor, the project will take the total length of the highway to 333 km or little more than a third of what is required to connect Sipsoo with Daifam.

Sipsoo is already connected with Samtse and an ongoing government project is building a road between Samtse and Phuentsholing.

All construction work will be contracted out to private contractors, road officials said. According to their estimates, it costs about Nu 16.5m to build a kilometre of black-topped road. “This is just an average and could move up or down, depending on the terrain in which the road is being built,” said the officiating director general, Tshering Wangdi.

The project, which is expected to facilitate industrial development in the southern region and provide an alternative to the existing east-west lateral highway, also has a provision to build capacity on quality control, survey and design and vehicle emissions.

ADB is one of Bhutan’s major multilateral development partners. Since 1983 it has financed 24 projects and disbursed more than USD 122m and signed new commitments of up to USD 151m. It’s investment grant to Bhutan totals USD 79m.

source: kuensel

The book ‘Climate Change and the Urban Poor’ was released by the international institute for environment and development (IIED), an international research organisation based in the United Kingdom.

The 15 cities in 15 different countries — three in Asia and the rest in Africa — are all least developed countries (LDCs) with low gross national income, weak human assets and high level of economic vulnerability. But they account for only 3.2 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The cities are Thimphu in Bhutan, Khulna in Bangladesh and Kathmandu in Nepal in Asia and the capital cities of Benin, Mozambique, Mali, Mauritania, Malawi, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mombasa in Kenya and Diourbel in Senegal in Africa.

The book says Thimphu, located at high altitude, will be affected by climate change predominantly as a result of changing patterns of precipitation. In most cases, climate change has already affected inland and high altitude cities with decrease in rainfall, resulting in rain becoming more concentrated into fewer and heavier storms. The study shows minor floods that affect people’s lives and livelihoods take place more frequently than major disasters.

It also says that heavy rainfalls, which may become frequent as a result of climate change, is also linked to an increased incidence of landslides in Thimphu and, besides, the city being on steep slopes could easily give way to the vulnerable effects of climate change. A slope greater than 30 percent is considered to be a landslide high-risk zone, according to the study.

One of the key factors, which affects Thimphu city, is the lack of sufficient drainage, leaving people vulnerable to flooding after heavy rains, says the report. The same is the case with Kathmandu, with 25 percent of households, totalling a million, vulnerable to floods because of inadequate drainage.

The countries’ poor infrastructure, lack of expertise and manpower and simultaneously having to deal with issues of poverty, and environmental degradation make them particularly vulnerable, says the report.

The biggest threat for coastal cities is a rise in sea level and they often suffer from flooding and coastal erosion. Many coastal cities in LDCs are found in tropical areas, with hot and humid climates and low-lying land, both of which heighten their vulnerability. The report says only two percent of the world’s land is in the low elevation coastal zone – the area adjacent to the coast that is less than ten metres above sea level – but this zone is home to 10 percent of the world’s population, 60 percent of whom live in urban areas.

Often this group experience flooding, coastal erosion, high temperature and storm, violent wind, drought, landslide, water scarcity and wildfire. In dry-land cities, where rainfall has always been low, drought is the issue most likely to be accentuated by climate change. Studies have shown the children in Africa, born in a drought year, are significantly most likely to be malnourished.

Information provided in this report was gathered and analysed by capacity strengthening in the least developed countries for adaptation to climate change (CLACC) programme. CLACC is a multi-year project involved in 15 countries in Asia and Africa under the coordination of IIED. CLACC did research in each CLACC country on key issues related to vulnerability and adaptation to climate change. It focuses on the particular challenges facing urban areas that contain half the world’s population, says the report.

source: kuensel

The project, by far the largest FDI investment proposal, aims to bring in the branches of around 15 to 30 top universities, along with 40,000 foreign students, into a 1000-acre education city.

The Infinity groups representative in Bhutan, Palden Tshering, the head of Chundu enterprises said, “The FDI project should provide employment for around 100,000 people, most of whom will be Bhutanese and eventually generate up to 500 million dollars a year in foreign exchange.”

“The education city, apart from universities, will have high quality schools for faculty members, labs, hotels, health care, cultural and entertainment centres, sport centres, libraries, stationery, cafes and others to service the student population, which will all vitalise the local economy and allow Bhutanese to invest in,” said Palden Tshering. He said even IT companies and corporations that would want to hire this talent pool could set up offices in the city.

The group so far has looked at five locations, the first being a hillock just before Chuzom and the others in Punakha, Wangduephodrang and Paro. Most are government land. “What Infinity wants is 1,000 acres on lease or for sale, where 60 percent of the area can be built on,” said Palden.

Palden said that the idea first came up in December 2008 in a discussion in Kolkata with the Infinity group chairman, Ravindra Chamaria. Infinity is a Rs 10b net worth company, with joint venture from the West Bengal government, and specialises in developing information technology parks and office spaces in Kolkata.

Infinity first formally brought up the proposal to the government in a meeting in June 2009 with the ministry of economic affairs (MoEA) and later the ministry of education.

MoEA minister Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk said, “Two firms from India had expressed interest in establishing a education/knowledge city in Bhutan and, so far, the Infinity group has recently submitted its expression of interest, however, RGoB is still waiting for similar expressions of interest from other firms.” He also said, “As the project to establish such a city requires substantial commitments from RGoB, a committee, comprising MoEA, MoE, MoF, land commission, royal education council and DHI, is being formed under the chairmanship of the MoEA secretary to develop the framework for establishing such cities and for soliciting interest from firms.”

The minister said that establishing such cities was part of the manifesto of DPT and government policy for accelerated economic development.

MoEA secretary Dasho Sonam Tshering said, “Since the investment proposal is of such a size and land intensive, the government will have too discuss, see what we want and do a feasibility study.”

On the financing part, the Infinity group itself will be putting in around Rs 1 billion and will aim to raise the rest through floating shares. The revenue for the project will come in through developing and leasing various educational facilities to the universities or companies.

Palden said that Bhutan would be a good location for the project due to its pristine environment, political stability and because it can provide the same quality of education being charged at 50,000 to 60,000 dollars annually abroad at around 15,000 dollars in Bhutan. He said that Infinity was in discussion with many ivy-league universities in the U.S. and other countries and some of them had expressed interest.

The royal education council had come up with a similar idea last year, but it remained as such and was not taken up with the government or the present council.

Palden Tshering is being assisted by his employee and cousin Dasho Palden Thinley.

Palden Tshering clarified, “I interviewed 17 graduates and Palden Thinley was the best candidate. I’m not using him for contacts since I have my own contacts as a former Kuensel reporter, a current businessman and education consultant.”

He also clarified that Infinity was looking at a 100 percent FDI investment and he himself was not investing any money, but would be associated with the project on a long-term basis.

source: kuensel

An excerpt from an interview with the professor:

Critical and analytical thinking repeatedly came up at the workshop. What is it?
Critical thinking is a way of becoming more self-aware. Young people have to be taught to squint once and listen to the meaning of the word or a message carefully. Then they have to learn to squint again and understand the form of an argument in which the entire advertisement, Internet and television messages or a political speech is being given.

Logical thinking and analytical thinking is often called critical thinking but, for a lot of people, critical thinking is often criticising, questioning or challenging but it’s not just that. Thinking logically or critically can also be in support of the government, a teacher or a principal.

Critical and analytical thinking means not accepting everything at face value, it’s actually examining the form and the content of what’s being said. You may agree with everything the government or a teacher says. To read critically is not to reject.

How can students gain the ability to learn, understand and reason clearly or logically?
When I visited a school in Thimphu on December 7, I was a bit disappointed to hear a number of students agree that their least favourite subject was mathematics. That is too bad. Mathematics can be beautiful and intellectually challenging.

A much better way of entering mathematics, however, is through the vehicle of logic. To a lot of people, logic is scary and most logics are taught in a very boring way.

But once you study and look at an argument, for instance, if all “As” are “Bs” and all “Bs” are “Cs,” then all “As” must be “Cs”. It becomes easier to teach and learn Math. A good logic teacher will not only show you that all As are Cs, but also show you why it must be so. All these things are put into a form of puzzles to solve and children love puzzles more than adults do.

Another simple example is that ‘all John’s children are asleep’. What must be true for this sentence to be true is that John must have children. Young people developing that skill at an early age can be important.

The more proficient you become in the study of logic, the more you’ll be able to look critically at what every Bhutanese is increasingly becoming bombarded with, from the internet, television, any advertising and also political speeches in a young democracy.

How is critical/analytical thinking linked to GNH?
A better immunisation against materialism, consumer orientation, selfishness of capitalism, which are all against the principles of GNH, is by learning how to read the media correctly and to read it accurately.

Nothing helps that better than learning how to think logically.

With Bhutanese being subject to a bombardment of materialist and consumerist messages of the internet, television and other media, the government has two choices: either begin massive censorship, which is probably impossible, extraordinarily difficult and expensive, or they see to it that young people are trained in a way to learn how to read and understand the messages being told.

Can culture stifle critical and analytical thinking?
Respecting the elders and teachers as part of culture is something that you must do. However, it must be ensured that analytical thinking is not stifled while respecting elders and lead to not asking them questions. You must follow the elders and teachers but, if they are wrong or make mistakes, you should very politely correct them.

It will be a better classroom where you teach students to feel free. Young people should be respectful of their teachers. If your teacher asks you to read a book, you can also ask the teacher why you should read it.

A government or a teacher, who has no one to remonstrate with, to tell him or her where he or she might be going wrong, can’t govern or teach well. They have to have critics.

Some participants during the workshop said that Bhutanese children do rote memorisation and that isn’t good. But I think rote memorisation is important and is a strong mental exercise.

What is your definition of GNH?
GNH to me means that people come before things. You must look to the quality of life rather than the quantity of things owned and consumed. The more we put our stock on material and consumer things, the more miserable we’re going to be when those things fall apart. There are far too many people, who put their goals on consumption and ownership of material things.

What to you is an ideal education system?
My ideal education system is one in which the education system reflects the culture and the society which is paying for it. A system where teachers have a good deal of say and control over the curriculum and the pedagogy. I’ve heard a lot here about how teachers in Bhutan aren’t motivated enough, but you have to be in control of your work in order to be a happy worker.

I would also encourage teachers to give students as much responsibility at the earliest possible. To know what philosophy is, you need to do philosophy.

The most important thing that I would like to see inculcated in students is that they see themselves as inter-related human beings and not as individuals. They see themselves as a student of this teacher, a citizen of this country, son or daughter of this parent, a grandchild and see their interconnectedness with each other. An ethical system and moral philosophy that is grounded in the idea of interrelatedness is fully in keeping with the principles of GNH.

Why is critical thinking referred to as the backbone of civilised behaviour and the foundation of democracy?
Critical thinking is important for democracy and Bhutan is a small country just beginning with democracy. I suspect that the political parties don’t disagree fundamentally. There wouldn’t be much disagreement. But when you hear political speeches, you have to understand what the person is assuming and not saying. Analytical thinking means examining the usage and form of arguments in political and everyday situations. You accept the message because it’s logical and believe in it, and not because a figure of authority has said it beautifully.

To vote, people have to take some responsibility for the well being of the country. You can’t simply say I’m a Bhutanese and therefore, I should vote. But for democracy to be deep rooted in Bhutan, it must be practised. For instance, teachers should be given some significant role in decisions that directly affect them while developing curriculum and pedagogy. Also children, as quickly as possible, should be allowed to participate in decisions that directly affect them. That is the only way democracy can take root, a genuine democracy.

source: kuensel

The presentation of a letter of credentials was accompanied by zhugdrel and marchang ceremonies.

The World Bank will open a country office in Bhutan early 2010. The office will support implementation of WB-financed activities and development of the next ‘country assistance strategy’ for the period 2011-2014. The international finance corporation (IFC), the private sector wing of the World Bank group, will also establish a country office, headed by David Martz, IFC coordinator for Bhutan. The World Bank and IFC offices will be located at UN House in Thimphu.

Mark LaPrairie first came to Bhutan in 1988 under a Canadian volunteer teacher programme. He taught in primary and junior high schools for three years in Trashigang and Pemagatshel dzongkhags. He returned to Bhutan in 1997 as education officer for the United Nations children’s fund (UNICEF) in Thimphu.

Mark F LaPrairie joined the World Bank as an education specialist in 1999. Prior to his appointment as representative to Bhutan, he served as country operations officer and local representative in Maldives. Mark LaPrairie also serves as task team leader for the education development project, the largest Bank-financed project in Bhutan.

Current financing committed to ongoing activities to support implementation of the tenth five-year plan is USD 73m, with a three-year international development association (IDA) allocation of approximately USD 41m. A similar level of financial support is anticipated during the next three-year IDA round from FY12-14. The Bank is currently exploring the possibility of additional financing to Bhutan following the recent earthquake, which caused an estimated USD 46m in damage.

Bhutan joined the World Bank in 1981. The World Bank’s assistance to Bhutan has supported forestry, education, health, transport, infrastructure, agriculture, macro-economic planning and fiduciary functioning through both financial resources and advisory services.

source: kuensel

Some 68 international educators and experts, and more than 95 national participants are taking part in the six day workshop.

Speaking at the opening last evening, the Prime Minister Lyonchhen Jigmi Y.Thinley said greed, materialism and consumerist fallacy have turned us into mindless economic animals and are destroying the planet. To address this, we need a change of consciousness and lifestyle.

He said for the world and for all living beings, as much as for ourselves, we have no choice but to demonstrate that we are worthy of the scrutiny to which we are subjected, by practicing what we preach.

According to the education minister, the long term goal is to ensure that Bhutanese youth grow up to care deeply about nature, to think and see reality clearly, to act wisely, so that they can be a symbol of hope and replica of well-being, sanity and balanced development in a troubled world facing extraordinary environmental and social changes.

source: bbs

The world looks to Copenhagen “to witness what I believe will be an historic turning point in the fight against climate change,” says Yvo de Boer of the UN, which is organising the conference.

Under the grand roof of Copenhagen’s modern Bella Centre, delegates will also deal with the technicalities of protecting forests, measuring emissions, setting rules for “carbon credits,” enforcing an eventual treaty, and other concerns.

Underlining Copenhagen’s importance, at least 100 national leaders, led by President Barack Obama, will converge on the Danish capital to offer high-level backing to the talks. On Friday, the White House announced that Obama would come to Copenhagen on December 18, the conference’s last scheduled day.

Global temperatures are rising by 0.19 degrees C (0.34 degrees F) a decade, and twice as fast in the far north, melting Arctic sea ice at record rates. In the Copenhagen talks’ final days, the world meteorological organisation is expected to confirm this was the warmest decade on record.

Oceans are rising faster than predicted. The world’s power plants, automobiles, burning forests and other sources are producing 29 percent more carbon dioxide than in 2000. Not in 2 million years has so much CO2 built up in the atmosphere, says the global carbon project, an international research group.

From the Arctic, from threatened Pacific islands, from industrial capitals, it’s that fear that’s bringing 15,000 delegates, environmentalists, business lobbyists, scientists, journalists and others to this quiet grey city of parks and bicycling commuters.

It will also draw hundreds of police reinforcements and protesters, activists demanding “climate justice.” Wary of confrontation, authorities have sealed off the conference site with massive concrete blocks topped by 6-foot-high metal fences.

The emissions cuts offered this time around, to follow Kyoto reductions expiring in 2012, have disappointed scientists and poorer nations facing damaging climate change. They say greenhouse gases, by 2020, must be reduced by 25 to 40 percent below 1990 output. That would keep temperatures in the less dangerous range of 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) above pre-industrial levels, they say.

The developing world, for the first time, is offering its own actions – not straight reductions, but clean energy projects and other steps to slow the growth of their emissions.

An analysis by European research organisations found the industrialised nations’ targets together amount to only 8 to 12 percent below 1990 levels, far short of what scientists urge. This track would produce global warming of well over 3 degrees C (5.4 degrees F) by 2100, it said.

In Copenhagen, rich and poor will argue over the legal structure of an eventual deal, as poorer nations resist any effort to bind them legally, and subject them to close scrutiny, as they pursue greener economies. They cite the 1992 treaty, which distinguished between two worlds, recognising an obligation by the rich to undo the climate damage they’ve done, and by the poor to raise their peoples from poverty.

source: kuensel

The singing was broadcast live in London, where singers in each of the 196 countries were seen and heard simultaneously on multiple screens.

The event, organised by the Happy Valley Youth Group, pulled in about 36 local artists at the Taj Tashi to sing the song. Sangay Rinchen, one of the founders of the Happy Youth Valley Group, said, “We’re showing our unity and concern by participating in it.”

Love Is The Cure: The Happy Youth Valley Group participates in the global sing-in campaign against AIDS.

source: kuensel

Yesterday, on the occasion of strengthening cooperation between the sister organisations, the society Switzerland-Bhutan (SSB) and Bhutan-Swiss friendship association, the SSB, through the support of private Swiss donors, donated 500 copies of the book to the education ministry.

The book describes the ties between Switzerland and Bhutan, covering many joint endeavours in projects like bridge building, health, education, entrepreneurship and renewal natural resource management, and provides a clear insight into the start and growth of joint engagement in Bhutan.

“This book is valuable record that will be beneficial for the next generation to understand the unfolding of more than five decades of hard work, mutual respect and close partnership that defines the Swiss-Bhutan relationship,” stated a press release from SSB.

Each secondary school in the country will receive two copies of the book, one for each primary school, according to education officials. Switzerland and Bhutan shares a close relationship since the time of the Third Druk Gyalpo. It was initiated by a personal relationship with Fritz von Schulthess, a Swiss businessman.

SSB aims to further strengthen and deepen the traditional friendship, exchange of knowledge and experience through its function as a communication and information forum. SSB, in co-oporation with BSFA, is planning to support people’s initiatives and strengthen enterprising groups and communities to further make their relation strong.

source: kuensel

BhutanInfo, which is available in both desktop and online version at www.bhutanInfo.gov.bt, is a customised version of DevInfo (development information), a tool to monitor millennium development goals (MDGs) adopted by the UN systems. DevInfo organises, stores and presents data in a uniform way to facilitate data sharing among government agencies, international and other development partners.

“The system will give easy access to data and ensure that quality data is available in the public domain,” said the UN system focal person for BhutanInfo, Kinley Penjor.

He said that data today is fragmented and getting information for research can be time consuming and inconvenient as one needs to visit different sectors. “All information and data is to be collected in this single system,” he said. “And anyone, who wants to do a general analysis, will have access to all the information.”

BhutanInfo, previously called DrukInfo, has some 3000 data values at the national level and about 13,000 at the district levels. A data value is a numerical value against an indicator for a certain period. “For example, if the literacy rate is 50 percent in 2000 for Thimphu, that 50 percent is the data value,” explained Kinley Penjor. The name was changed to BhutanInfo because he said that the word Bhutan was easier to search for than Druk.

With MDGs at the core of the information system, the current database also has framework for the 10th Plan, the UN development assistance framework (UNDAF), SAARC development goals (SDGs) and Vision 2020. There are currently 620 indicators for the national development goals available, which are further disaggregated to 1626.

The project, which started in early 2000, will help in promoting evidence-based decision-making, said Kinley Penjor. “In short, it’ll promote evidence-based decision-making and monitoring to report against the intended results or targets,” he said.

BhutanInfo also increases the accessibility to data information, helping those who are in search of multisectoral data. The system will also help advocate and create awareness on MDGs and other actions that Bhutan has planned.

Another facility, the one-stop place for information has, is that it can export and import data from other information service centres maintained by various sectors. “But in BhutanInfo, we have an additional facility of generating tables and graphs, based on the individual’s preference, which may not be available in other systems,” said Kinley Penjor.

While the software can be used by referring the user’s guide, Kinley Penjor said trainings would be conducted for users and those responsible for maintaining the database.

The online version, however, may be slow and difficult to access in remote areas, because of limited IT infrastructure, said Kinley Penjor. They can instead use the desktop version by installing it in their computers. “Any updated data can either be sent to them in a CD or a thumbstick,” he said.

Implementing the system in other sectors for easy sharing of data, capacity of NSB to maintain the database and financial resources are some of the challenges the system may face, said Kinley Penjor.

“It’s going to be a dynamic system, which will be kept updated,” said Kinley Penjor. “One can use it at any level, global, national, organisation, and even at the household level. It’s all a matter of defining your indicators.”

source: kuensel