Sengor | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 27°22′N91°1′E / 27.367°N 91.017°E | |
Country | Bhutan |
District | Mongar District |
Time zone | UTC+6 (BTT) |
Sengor is a town in Mongar District in northeastern Bhutan. [1]
The Government of Bhutan has been a constitutional monarchy since 18 July 2008. The King of Bhutan is the head of state. The executive power is exercised by the Lhengye Zhungtshog, or council of ministers, headed by the Prime Minister. Legislative power is vested in the bicameral Parliament, both the upper house, National Council, and the lower house, National Assembly. A royal edict issued on April 22, 2007 lifted the previous ban on political parties in anticipation of the National Assembly elections in the following year. In 2008, Bhutan adopted its first modern Constitution, codifying the institutions of government and the legal framework for a democratic multi-party system.
Bhutan has diplomatic relations with 56 of 193 member states of the United Nations and the European Union. Bhutan's limited number of such relations, including the absence of formal relations with any of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, is part of a deliberate isolationist policy of limiting foreign influence in the state. This stance has been safeguarded by close relations with India, of which Bhutan has previously been considered a protected state.
"Druk Tsenden" is the national anthem of Bhutan. Adopted in 1953, the lyrics were written by Dolop Droep Namgay and possibly translated into English by Dasho Gyaldun Thinley. The accompanying music was composed by Aku Tongmi.
Gasa District is one of the 20 dzongkhags (districts) comprising Bhutan. The capital of Gasa District is Gasa Dzong near Gasa. It is located in the far north of the county and spans the Middle and High regions of the Tibetan Himalayas. The dominant language of the district is Dzongkha, which is the national language. Related languages, Layakha and Lunanakha, are spoken by semi-nomadic communities in the north of the district. The People's Republic of China claims the northern part of Gasa District.
Lhuntse District is one of the 20 dzongkhag (districts) comprising Bhutan. It consists of 2506 households. Located in the northeast, Lhuentse is one of the least developed dzhongkhags of Bhutan. There are few roads, the first gas station was opened in September 2005, electricity is not well distributed, and the difficult terrain makes distribution of social welfare problematic. Despite its favorable climate, farming is hindered by the lack of infrastructure.
Gross National Happiness, sometimes called Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH), is a philosophy that guides the government of Bhutan. It includes an index which is used to measure the collective happiness and well-being of a population. Gross National Happiness Index is instituted as the goal of the government of Bhutan in the Constitution of Bhutan, enacted on 18 July 2008.
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia situated in the Eastern Himalayas between China in the north and India in the south, with the Indian state of Sikkim separating it from neighbouring Nepal. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of 38,394 square kilometres (14,824 sq mi), Bhutan ranks 133rd in land area and 160th in population. Bhutan is a constitutional monarchy with a Druk Gyalpo (king) as the head of state and a prime minister as the head of government. The Je Khenpo is the head of the state religion, Vajrayana Buddhism.
A gewog, in the past also spelled as geog, is a group of villages in Bhutan. The head of a gewog is called a gup. Gewogs form a geographic administrative unit below dzongkhag districts, and above Dzongkhag Thromde class B and Yenlag Thromde municipalities. Dzongkhag Thromde class A municipalities have their own independent local government body.
Law enforcement in Bhutan is the collective purview of several divisions of Bhutan's Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs. Namely, the Ministry's Bureau of Law and Order, Department of Immigration, and Department of Local Governance are responsible for law enforcement in Bhutan. The Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs is itself a part of the Bhutanese Lhengye Zhungtshog, or Council of Ministers. Generally, law enforcement in Bhutan is the responsibility of executive agencies. As a means of enforcement, police and immigration authorities prosecute cases in the judicial system through the Attorney General of Bhutan.
A dungkhag is a sub-district of a dzongkhag (district) of Bhutan. The head of a dungkhag is a Dungpa. As of 2007, nine of the twenty dzongkhags had from one to three dungkhags, with sixteen dungkhags in total.
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is the King of Bhutan. His reign began in 2006 after his father Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicated the throne. A public coronation ceremony was held on 6 November 2008, a year that marked 100 years of monarchy in Bhutan.
The Parliament of Bhutan consists of the King of Bhutan together with a bicameral parliament. This bicameral parliament is made up of an upper house, the National Council and a lower house, the National Assembly. The current parliamentary framework replaced the unicameral Tshogdu in 2007, with the first members taking seats in 2008.
Health in Bhutan is one of the government's highest priorities in its scheme of development and modernization. Health and related issues are overseen by the Ministry of Health, itself represented on the executive Lhengye Zhungtshog (cabinet) by the Minister of Health. As a component of Gross National Happiness, affordable and accessible health care is central to the public policy of Bhutan.
The King of Bhutan, officially the Druk Gyalpo, is the constitutional monarch and head of state of the Kingdom of Bhutan. In the Dzongkha language, Bhutan is known as Drukyul which translates as "The Land of the Thunder Dragon". Thus, while kings of Bhutan are known as Druk Gyalpo, the Bhutanese people call themselves the Drukpa, meaning "people of Druk (Bhutan)".
Chiwogs of Bhutan or chios refer to the 1044 basic electoral precincts of Bhutan. Chiwogs are also former third-level administrative divisions of Bhutan below gewogs. Until 2009, they were the equivalent of municipalities or parishes, containing clusters of villages and hamlets. There are generally 5 or 6 chios in each geo, and in turn several geos in each dzongkha (district). To illustrate, there are 50 chios in Paro District alone. The majority of chios are small rural communities; more densely populated areas tend to be separate thromdes, or municipalities. A Chiwog Disaster Management Plan (CDMP) exists in some chios to form an effective responsive to any local disasters. Often, participants in the CDMP are also trained at a geo level for better coordination.
Capital punishment in Bhutan was abolished on March 20, 2004 and is prohibited under the 2008 Constitution. The prohibition appears among a number of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution; while some fundamental rights—such as voting, land ownership, and equal pay—extend only to Bhutanese citizens, the prohibition on capital punishment applies to all people within the kingdom.
A Thromde is a second-level administrative division in Bhutan. The legal administrative status of thromdes was most recently codified under the Local Government Act of 2009, and the role of thromdes in elections in Bhutan was defined in the Election Act of 2008.
Taxation in Bhutan is conducted by the national government and by its subsidiary local governments. All taxation is ultimately overseen by the Bhutan Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue and Customs, which is part of the executive Lhengye Zhungtshog (cabinet). The modern legal basis for taxation in Bhutan derives from legislation. Several acts provide for taxation and enforcement only germane to their subject matter and at various levels of government, while a smaller number provide more comprehensive substantive tax law. As a result, the tax scheme of Bhutan is highly decentralized.
HIV/AIDS in Bhutan remains a relatively rare disease among its population. It has, however, grown into an issue of national concern since Bhutan's first reported case in 1993. Despite preemptive education and counseling efforts, the number of reported HIV/AIDS cases has climbed since the early 1990s. This prompted increased government efforts to confront the spread of the disease through mainstreaming sexually transmitted disease (STD) and HIV prevention, grassroots education, and the personal involvement of the Bhutanese royal family in the person of Queen Mother Sangay Choden.
The cinema of Bhutan is a small but emerging industry, having started in the mid-1990s. It has since been supported by government officials and different businesses.