His Majesty graces the 19th National Judiciary Conference

June 11: The 19th National Judiciary Conference ended today. The occasion was graced by His Majesty the King.

In His Majesty's address, His Majesty reiterated the importance of a strong and sound judicial system.

His Majesty was received by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye and the Drangpons.

His Majesty said a lot has been achieved but a lot remains to be done.

His Majesty said it is important to further strengthen awareness among the people.

His Majesty said now that the Supreme Court has been established, the justices of the court have the duty of establishing its presence as the guardian of the constitution and the apex of an independent arm of the government.

His Majesty also urged the justices to set the right precedent and to ensure that in Bhutan, the people's faith in the judiciary shall be complete and unquestioning.

The 11 daylong conferences saw discussions on issues ranging from matrimony and appeal system to land and court management.

The conference closed amid prayers and a group photograph session

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PM arrives in Trento, Italy

5 June, 2010 - Prime Minister Lyonchhen Jigmi Y Thinley participated in the opening ceremony of the Festival of Economics shortly after arriving in Trento province, a three-hour drive from the Italian city of Milan, on June 3.

After the inaugural, he attended a talk by Prof Robert D Putnam on the challenges and potential of immigration and ethnicity – the social capital – based on a survey conducted in the United States in 2000.

On June 4, the prime minister met the mayor of Trento, Dr Alessandro Andreatta at the town hall, and visited the university of Trento, a co-host of the festival. This was followed by a press conference at the palace of the province of Trento, and a preparatory meeting with the interpreters for the debate on GNH, scheduled to be held today.

The prime minister and his entourage return to Bhutan on June 8.

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Bhutan : His Majesty grants audience to ARSP delegates

June 4: His Majesty the King granted an audience to a five-member delegation from Antra Rashtriya Sahyog Parishad (ARSP) in India at the Tashichhodzong yesterday.

They are in the country for a weeklong goodwill visit.

The delegation is led by JC Sharma, former Secretary of Policy and Planning, Ministry of External Affairs of India and Vijay Jolly, a senior BJP leader.

Officials from the ARSP have been visiting Bhutan annually since 1990 to further strengthen people-to people contact.

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Tournament marred by ‘incidents’

12th Coronation Silver Jubilee Trophy 1 June, 2010 - That archery is not a gentleman’s game and that sometimes excitement can overshadow reasoning was proven on May 27 when a Paro Utd archer flashed his undergarments in full view during the 12th coronation silver jubilee trophy tournament at Changlimithang and used abusive words while playing against Karma TMT.

Officials of the Bhutan archery federation (BAF) described the match between Paro United team and Karma TMT as the most embarrassing and unfriendly game in recent years.

Another archer from the same team, while playing against Destroyer on May 19, burned chilis at the ground, which, according to BAF, is prohibited. BAF rules prohibits archers from burning anything that emits smoke. Archers from Destroyer reported the matter to the tournament director, after which the culprit was warned. Officials said that the chili burner was also seen showing abusive signs with his fingers in the last round of the game against spectators, who were in favour of Karma TMT. “Spectators were infuriated with his behaviour,” said an official from BAF, adding that he was lucky that it was the last round of the game.

Assistant secretary general of BAF, Jurmin Wangdi, said that most of the players were half intoxicated, which resulted in the misconduct. The federation has not penalised the archers however. “We didn’t take any action, but warned them, because such kind of incident happens very occasionally,” said Jurmin Wangdi, adding that archery is a very tense and challenging game, and it was in the tradition to try and distract the opponent from hitting the target without touching him.

The assistant secretary general did not blame only alcohol for the bad behaviour and said that archery is a physical as well as mental game, where both teams try to pull each others’ legs. However, Jurmin Wangdi said that, if archers got physical, they would be suspended from the tournament for three years. He said that a meeting would be organised with the team leaders for feedback on formulating new rules.

BAF tournament director Pema Tshering said that generally the players were professional and followed the rules accordingly. “It was only a handful of them that did not comply with the rules,” he said.

By Kuenga Tendar

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