After a few exciting days in Nepal, a land of alluring stupas, Rediff.com's Rajesh Karkera, on a tri-nation drive, heads east via India into mysterious Bhutan.
The average value of retail digital payments dropped 48 per cent from Rs 8,769 in March 2021 to Rs 4,560 in March 2024 due to a growing preference to use digital modes of transactions for small value payments, according to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) report on the trend and progress of banking in India.
She provided no evidence for the claim, which is at the complete variance with Bhutan's stated position.
Getahead reader Jyotika visited Bhutan last year with her husband Rohit Gupta. She shares with us her experiences.
India on Friday said Bhutan and its security is "intricately interlinked" and it is important for the two neighbours to be sensitive to each other's concerns, as President Pranab Mukherjee held wide-ranging talks with the Bhutanese leadership.
The Galwan clash occurred six months after the Doklam disengagement and two high-profile meetings. India should not be caught by surprise once again, asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
Wondeful shots of African women and giraffes roaming Kenyan grasslands were judged the most outstanding photographs of the year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk and the two discussed an entire gamut of ties to cement the "unique and special" bilateral relationship.
The visit by Gen Rawat, Ajit Doval and Vijay Gokhale was the first such high-level trip from India to Bhutan after the Doklam standoff.
A post written in Hindi on the handle "RaGa4India" at 9.52 am on September 8 stated that the statue "can fall anytime as cracks have started appearing on it".
'The Chinese forces in the narrow Chumbi Valley are currently in the line of sight and fire of Indian forces poised on the ridges along the Sikkim-Tibet border.' 'Aware of this vulnerability, the Chinese have been eyeing the Doklam plateau,' explains national security expert Nitin A Gokhale.
He said this in response to a query during a press interaction held at his residence in New Delhi on what Germany was willing to do bring over three-year-old Ariha back and whether her issue will be raised at the "highest level".
China, which is building numerous villages in Tibet close to its borders with India and Bhutan, has held several celebratory events to mark its takeover of Tibet in the new border villages with a mix of border troops and the local population, the official media in Beijing reported.
Addressing the students of the Royal University of Bhutan in Thimphu, Modi asked them to work hard and take the Himalayan nation to great heights.
Claude Arpi, who spent 10 days in the Land of the Dragon, tells us how Bhutan is different from the rest of the world.
Claude Arpi, who spent 10 days in the Land of the Dragon, tells us how Bhutan is different from the rest of the world.
The previous democratically-elected government in Bhutan sought to get cosy with China. Will the new Tshering Tobgay dispensation mend the fences with India? Shubha Singh examines
A group of 100 men entered the Guinness Record by planting around 50,000 tree saplings in flat one hour
The mortal remains of former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh were consigned to flames at the Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi on Saturday amid the chanting of religious hymns. The funeral pyre was lit by his eldest daughter Upinder Singh.
Terming his just-concluded state visit to Bhutan as very successful and his "most memorable", President Pranab Mukherjee hoped that bilateral relations between the two countries would continue to grow from strength to strength.
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India conveyed its decision to exempt Bhutan from any ban or quantitative restrictions on export of food items.
Buddhist Lamas from Bhutan perform the Zhanag or Black Hat dance, one of the sacred cham dances which is done without a mask, during the annual puja at the Bhutan temple in Bodhgaya.
Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth are set to be invited to Modi's swearing-in ceremony.
'When democracy first came to Bhutan people had no idea and they were like 'What is that?' Oh it's that thing they have in India where the leaders are always fighting and arguing.' When I screened the film to Bhutan's film committee, they thought my film was good but they were concerned about that line. They wanted me to change that line. They said, 'We don't want to offend India.' I tried to tell them that Indians have a great ability to laugh at themselves but they insisted I change it.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made Bhutan the destination of his first foreign visit. Now two weeks later, the foreign minister of the Himalayan kingdom, Rinzin Dorje, is in Beijing discussing the China-Bhutan border issue. The move poses a serious challenge to New Delhi because any negotiation on China-Bhutan border dispute is bound to affect India's border negotiations with China. Bhutan and China share 470 kilometres of border, which is also close to India's 'chicken's neck' -- the narrow Siliguri corridor which links the northeast.
Engagement with neighbours is a strategic imperative, and not an option, asserts Rup Narayan Das.
India has managed to move a smaller share of its working-age population away from farm-related work than many of its neighbours. Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Nepal managed to shift a bigger share of jobs to non-agricultural work than India, shows data from the year 2000 to 2023 the compiled from the World Bank's April South Asia Development Update report. Only Pakistan and the Maldives show a lower shift among South Asian peers.
According to the CJI, once someone has a sense of faith in his/her intentions and abilities, it is easier not to obsess over outcomes but to value the process and the journey towards those outcomes.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returned home on Saturday after a two-day visit to Bhutan.
Dr Pinakin Shah visited the Land of the Thunder Dragon and returned mesmerized.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has congratulated Bhutan's People's Democratic Party leader Tshering Tobgay, who is set to be the country's next premier, and promised "steadfast" and "unflinching" support of India while remaining sensitive to its interest.
The long road to Russia 2018 kicks off in the outposts of Asia on Thursday with the world's worst international team, Bhutan, making their World Cup qualifying debut and eyeing a first win of any sorts since 2008.
Pointing out that bilateral ties were based on shared strategic perceptions, President Pranab Mukherjee has assured Bhutan that India will continue to support capacity-building efforts in the neighbouring country.
India has so far set up three projects - Tala, Chukha and Kurichu - in Bhutan under the Inter-governmental Agreement model.
The fundamental construct of India's neighbourhood policy still needs to be what Vajpayee postulated, Manmohan Singh embraced, and Modi energised. It's just that we need to junk domestic politics and excessive religiosity, while acquiring much humility and a renewed respectfulness towards our neighbours, recommends Shekhar Gupta.
A five-time Olympic shooter, Randhir Singh was the lone eligible candidate for the OCA president's post.
In an effort to boost economic ties, India and Bhutan have decided to establish a rail link between the two countries and will ink agreement setting up joint power projects in the Himalayan Kingdom.
Withdrawing a blanket ban on overseas shipments of non-basmati white rice, the government on Saturday imposed a floor price of $490 per tonne and exempted the commodity from export duty. Exports of non-basmati white rice have been banned since July 20, 2023 to boost domestic supply. "The export policy for non-basmati white rice (semi-milled or wholly milled rice, whether or not polished or gazed) ...is amended from prohibited to free, subject to MEP (minimum export price) of $490 per tonne with immediate effect and until further orders," the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
Harnoor Channi-Tiwary visited Bhutan and returned with a bagful of memories. Read on!
Ali Shiham finished with a hat-trick in a 6-0 victory in the South Asian Football Federation tournament match.
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