Asset Declaration....

 

http://www.bhutanobserver.bt/2010/bhutan-news

Few things are just out of our control...

Summer Residence -Zhung Dratshang

His Majesty the King and Jetsun Pema welcomes His Holiness the Je Khenpo and the Zhung Dratshang to Thimphu yesterday. The Zhung Dratshang has now moved to its summer residence at the Tashichhodzong.

A monastic wedding

The Bride and the Groom

Monks of the Dechenphodrang monastic school yesterday morning had to adjust their morning routine and attend to a ceremony that never happened at the school in the past.
An American couple had not only chosen Bhutan to tie the knot, but chose to do it in the Bhutanese way, entailing rituals and blessings of the protecting deities. Dressed smartly in gho and kira, the couple, Justin Koller, 37 and Shannon Kishel, 32 from Colorado, United States, silently acknowledged the thruesel ceremony administered to them and received the khadar (ceremonial scarf) that united them as husband and wife at around 8 am in a simple, but spiritual, ceremony.
The couple said they chose Bhutan for their wedding, because they wanted to have a spiritual retreat for their honeymoon. “The pujas and music performed were soothing and much appreciated. It was very powerful,” said the groom, Justin Koller, who is an engineer.
Buddhism is not new to the couple. Justin Koller is a Zen Buddhist and Shannon Kishel, a Buddhist enthusiast. The bride Shannon said, “Besides deciding to have a Buddhist wedding and learning more about the Buddhist philosophy, we were also interested in Bhutan’s development philosophy of Gross National Happiness.”
The wedding was long planned. Both wearing versions of mentse mathra, the couple said they had consulted astrologers in Bhutan through their travel agent, Sakteng tours. “The astrologer chose what colour we should wear and said that their elements blended so perfectly,” said Shannon, whose red mentse mathra took three weavers three months to weave.
The couple will leave for the United States after a week.
They will be having an additional wedding ceremony in August in the United States, which their family and friends will attend. Since the couple is writing the proceedings for their own ceremony, it will be a blend of Christian, Buddhist and Native American wedding practices.
By Dechen Yangzom
http://www.kuenselonline.com/2010/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=19619 

The case of the fugitive father

Left alone in this world

The same old sorry story of exploitation and desertion...
Nineteen-year-old Sithar Lhazom was contributing woola (compulsory labour) for some gewog developmental work when she met Jigme, a machine operator.
They met in Barkhue, Zhemgang, where he worked for the construction of Buli-Barkhue farm road in Shingkhar. She used to ferry cement from Buli to the gewog centre.
For the class two drop out, Jigme’s proposal to marry her meant an escape from the harsh village life she endures everyday and she was more than happy to accept the proposal.
Sithar Lhazom conceived and was six months pregnant when her ‘husband’ went to Reutala in Trongsa to work. “But he promised that he’d come back and take me with him,” she said.
That was in 2010.
Today, Sithar has a five-month old baby, whose census she could not register, because she does not have a marriage certificate and an identity card photocopy of the father.
Jigme, Sithar said, instead of coming back to take her, changed his mobile number and told people that he was not the father of her child.
Carrying her one-month old child, Sithar Lhazom walked for two days till Buli, and then hitched a ride to Reutala to meet him. “But when I reached there, he refused to even look at my daughter,” she said.
Sithar Lhazom returned home and her parents asked the gewog gup to mediate. In February this year, Jigme came with a few bottles of beer and Nu 500 to settle the case mutually.
When her family asked him to settle the child’s provisions, he said he didn’t have the money, but told the family that he owned a Maruti van in Wangduephodrang and that the family could keep that.
He left once again to get the maruti van and never returned.
Sithar and her family filed the case in Zhemgang dzongkhag court in February, but the court could not proceed with the case since they could not summon Jigme. “We couldn’t locate him with the address she gave us,” Zhemgang drangpon, Sonam Dorji, said.
The drangpon also said that, since it was a civil case, the court could not seek police intervention. “Even if we seek their help, they need a proper address, which is lacking in the case,” he said.
The court has decided to ask Sithar Lhazom to find Jigme’s whereabouts herself.
Meanwhile, Sithar and her family, whose two-storied house was razed to ground by fire on the night of May 21, said they needed his identity card photocopy to have the child’s census with them.
“I’m worried about the future of our granddaughter,” Sithar Lhazom’s father, Sonam Zangpo, 56, said. “Without the father’s details, we won’t be able to register her.”
Sithar’s neighbour said Jigme is from Chema village of Yalang gewog in Trashiyangtse, but he could not trace him. “Court and police should help to find him to bring justice to the mother and child,” the neighbour said.
By Tashi Dema

ACC names and shames: A who’s who of society is to be found on the list of offenders

http://www.kuenselonline.com/2010/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=19612

Anti Corruption Commission officials have posted online the list of officials, along with their names, who have failed to declare their assets, including those that did after the deadline of March 31 (see table).

Commission officials, in an earlier interview, had said late declaration of assets was as good as not declaring them.If the commission was to go by the Act, commission officials said, the penalty was either impeachment or removal from office.

As one member of Parliament observed, to which some commission officials also agreed, the penalty was disproportionate.

Therefore, for the time being, a letter was written to the ethics committee of each agency to act against, or reprimand their employees, who failed to file in their asset declaration, or did so after the deadline.

“The anti corruption bill, which specifies a penalty and monetary fine such defaulters are liable for, is being revised at the Parliament,” a commission official said.

In an earlier interview, commission officials had said they received intimation letters from authorities concerned, on actions they took against employees, who failed to declare their assets.

The purpose of emphasising on asset declaration, commission officials said, was because it demanded greater public accountability from public servants, the custodians of public resources.

As of 31 March 2011, 327 of 471 schedule I public servants declared their assets on time, bringing the compliance rate to 69.43% as against 86.86% for the year 2009.

The commission’s annual report, 2010, stated the trend of asset declaration was still poor, because of non-existence of asset declaration administrators in most agencies.

Besides, it was also because of weak management of agencies and the commission’s non-enforcement of asset declaration rules that demand impeachment or removal of non-declarants from their office.

As of April 2011, 13,955 non-schedule I public servants have declared their assets online, as compared with 4,644 in 2009.

By Samten Wangchuk

Gross National Happiness !!!

 We say Gross National Happiness (GNH). Did you really look into what GNH actuals means?
Can somebody define in one line? I don't think most of us can't. Some will say, 'one's happiness', some says 'Country's happiness'. Our Fourth King has introduced GNH but did anyone asked a layman what it means to him/her? There have been lots of seminars, meetings and as well as many country knows Bhutan by 'The Country of Gross National Happiness'.
                               We receive lots of tourists and i'm sure they have a Question mark on GNH. Did the tourists asked any of you what does 'GNH' means? or Did you been able to answer the tourists?
                              I heard someone say, "GNH to him/her is, if s/he wants something & gets it, then thats GNH to her/him". Do you really think that is? For me, i have heard about GNH, GNH..... but really didn't understood it. I even studied the book on Gross National Happiness and the four pillars.

I have put this topic here so that everyone can share your views on it and we can learn more on Gross National Happiness and we can be able to share with people around the Global wherever we go.
Please do comment in your own words.... Palden Drukpa Gyalo.

P.S: I have an article on GNH on my blog. Writer Unknown.