...bout [pic] [pic] Welcome to Bhutan – the Land of the Thunder Dragon one of the most sought after travel destinations today. The land of the thunder dragon kingdom is a trekker’s paradise and an environmentalist’s dream. With 72 percent of the country under forest cover, Bhutan’s pristine ecology is home to rare and endangered flora and fauna. This spiritual land is the last bastion of the Vajrayana school of Mahayana Buddhism which provides the essence of a unique identity for the 750,000 people. Bhutan is a unique blend of the old and new. Here is a country that is slowly opening up to the modern world in a fine balance with its ancient traditions. Those fortunate enough to visit Bhutan describe it as a unique, deeply spiritual and mystical experience. This kingdom is an adventure like no other. Facts and Figures Land area: 38,394 square kilometres Forest area: 72.5 % Altitude: between 240metres and 7541metres above sea level Inhabitants: 634,982 Language: official language “Dzongkha”, English widely spoken Religion: Vajrayana stream of Mahayana Buddhism (Also known as Tantric Buddhism) Currency: Ngultrum (equal to Indian Rupee) Capital: Thimphu National Tree: Cypress (Cupressus torolusa) Its capacity to survive on rugged harsh terrain is compared to bravery and simplicity. National Bird: Raven: It ornaments the royal crown. Raven represents the deity Gonpo Jarodongchen (raven headed Mahakala), one of...
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...Bhutan’s Role in the Modern World The Kingdom of Bhutan may be a small and remote country, but it does play a considerable role in the modern world due to its hydroelectricity, national happiness, and their preservation of their land and culture. According to CIA World Factbook, Bhutan ranks 6th in the world from generating electricity with hydroelectric plants. Karma Tshewang, chief engineer of Bhutan’s Department of Hydropower said, “As a small country with a small population, we don’t have many resources. Hydropower is a strategic resource that can take care of the country’s future in terms of sustainable development.” As stated in International Finance Cooperation, Bhutan’s Tala Hydropower Power Plant transferred energy to India’s power grid in Bhutan with an understanding that most of the power produced would go to India to meet their needs, but it would also benefit the Bhutanese government’s income. This is very advantageous because India is one of many manufacturers in the world, so even though Bhutan is a small country they are leaving their mark on the world through another country. On the contrary, according to BBC News, Bhutan’s citizen’s are being considered as the happiest in the world. The article says, “The country measures the quality of life of its people by their happiness, widely known as Gross National Happiness (GNH), rather than by its Gross National Product (GNP), striking a balance between the spiritual and material.” According to Gross National...
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...Bhutan (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་ཡུལ་; Wylie transliteration: ʼbrug-yul "Druk Yul"), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asialocated at the eastern end of the Himalayas. It is bordered to the north by China and to the south, east and west by the Republic of India. Further west, it is separated from Nepal by the Indian state of Sikkim, while further south it is separated from Bangladesh by the Indian states of Assam andWest Bengal. Bhutan's capital and largest city is Thimphu. Bhutan existed as a patchwork of minor warring fiefdoms until the early 17th century, when the lama and military leader Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, fleeing religious persecution in Tibet, unified the area and cultivated a distinct Bhutanese identity. Later, in the early 20th century, Bhutan came into contact with the British Empire and retained strong bilateral relations with India upon its independence. In 2006, based on a global survey,Business Week rated Bhutan the happiest country in Asia and the eighth-happiest in the world.[9] Bhutan's landscape ranges from subtropical plains in the south to the sub-alpine Himalayan heights in the north, where some peaks exceed7,000 metres (23,000 ft). Its total area was reported as approximately 46,500 km2 (18,000 sq mi) in 1997[10] and 38,394 square kilometres (14,824 sq mi) in 2002.[1][2] Bhutan's state religion is Vajrayana Buddhism and the population, now (as of 2012/2013) estimated to be nearly three-quarters of a million,[3] is predominantly Buddhist...
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...John Gonzalez When I started reading this article of Bhutan I was amazed that it took the people of this country so long to get television. Mainly because the King of Bhutan finally welcomed the arrival of modern communications technology to his Buddhist kingdom in June 1999. They were the last country in the world to legalize television. The reason for that is their religion, they believe that don’t need technology. Bhutan is an interior country in South Asia at the eastern end of the Himalayas. It is surrounded to the north by China and to the south, east and west by India. To the west, it is separated from Nepal by the Indian state of Sikkim, while farther south it is separated from Bangladesh by the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal. Bhutan's capital and largest city is Thimphu. It’s a small country that no one dares to bother mainly because they’re so distant from everyone. Alexis Bloom is a journalist and documentary filmmaker and has been traveling. When she heard about that television was coming to Bhutan she was eager to go there and make a documentary about it. For centuries, Bhutan followed a policy of self-imposed separation and organized change, with a specific effort on the protection of its unique olden culture and paid little to no attention to the world around it. So far, Bhutan has been a country that numbers more monks than soldiers, and that cares more for general happiness than the national merchandise. But things could change quickly change. The almost...
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...SAARC Ministerial Declaration on Cooperation in Combating Terrorism ***** We, the Foreign Ministers of Member States of SAARC, are deeply concerned about the continuing scourge of terrorism afflicting the region which has caused extensive social disharmony, loss of human life, destruction and damage to property. Terrorism poses a serious threat to peace and cooperation, and friendly and good neighbourly relations. It jeopardises the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of States, while constituting a serious violation of fundamental human rights. We renew our commitment to strengthening comprehensive region-wide cooperation among SAARC Member States to combat and eliminate all forms and manifestations of terrorism and in this context affirm the need to reinforce further the regional legal regime and instituting pragmatic cooperation to address this issue effectively. We also recognise that our cooperation shall proceed on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual respect and the principles of non-intervention and non-interference in the internal affairs of Member States consistent with the SAARC Charter. As we meet in Colombo, at the Thirty-first Session of the Council of Ministers, we solemnly declare and agree to undertake the following measures of cooperation: 1. We reiterate our commitment to implement measures against organising, instigating, facilitating, financing, fund raising, encouraging, tolerating and providing training for or otherwise...
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...«Majestic» Bhutan – Key Figures • Druk Yul» : Land of Thunder Dragons • Habited since BC 2000 • Independent through history • 38.000 km2 (1/20 of Turkey) • 700.000 Inhabitants (less than 1% of Turkey) • Buddhism since 7th Century AD • Bhutan was under 1974 a Shangri-La (politically and geographically isolated from the West) • GPD per capita : 2.100 US$ (1/5 of Turkey) • In this Shangri-La wealth wasn’t measured in GDP but GNH–Gross National Happiness • Absolute monarchy until 2008 • Since 2008 constitutional monarchy Bhutan – History & Culture & Tourism • Bhutan until 1974 Shangri-La, (geographically and politically isolated) • In 1974, tourism started with 287 tourists • First telephone in 1974 , first TV in 1999. • • • • • • • 2.850 Tourist in 1992, 7.158 in 1999, 64.000 in 2011 "High Value, Low Impact Tourism" Min. impact on unique society Tourists (except Indians) pay per day $200 (low season) and $250 (high season) McKinsey survey result Scrap $250/day, you will reach one million tourists Answer of the dragon king I want to protect my buddist culture Enterpreneur – Mr. Dasho Ugen Dorji • • • • All Kings of Bhutan since 1952 Members of Dorji Family Tashi Group of Companies founded in 1959 by Late Dasho Ugen Dorji (cousin of the king) Chairman of the Group Dasho Topgyal Dorji (Son of founder) Dorji was dispatched to India for boarding school. • From age 5 he studied at the Jesuit St. Joseph’s School in Darjeeling, • High school and college...
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...The Rupee shortage has emerged as a major issue due to the recent increase in demand for Indian Rupees to meet transactions related to trade in goods, services and capital and financial transactions. This is not surprising since Bhutan imports most of what it consumes from India, including construction workers. There is also a huge outflow of Rupees annually on education, health, pilgrimage and other travel related expenses as well as remittances out of the country. To meet the increasing demand for Rupee, the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) had to resort to purchase of Rupee through the sale of 200 million US dollars from international reserves in December 2011 and as the INR became acute again, by July 2012 Bhutan’s borrowing stood at INR 11.6 which includes INR3.6M from State Bank of India, INR 6M from Government of India and 2M from Druk Punjab Bank. The present Rupee shortage in the country can be attributed to two main factors (i) rise in aggregate demand; and (ii) limited supply. The increase in aggregate demand has led to surge (increase) in imports as the domestic production capacity is unable to support the demand. On the supply front, the earnings from electricity exports to India remain Bhutan’s single largest export item, followed by exports of processed minerals like ferrosilicon, calcium carbide, cement, etc. Demand factors Major imports Major imports include fuel, vehicles, heavy earthmoving equipment, industrial raw materials, food items and other...
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...Introduction about Druk Air Corporation Limited Drukair Corporation Limited operating as Drukair — Royal Bhutan Airlines is the national airline of the Kingdom of Bhutan. Its headquarters are in the western districts of Paro. Founded in 1981, ten years after the third king Jigme Dorji Wangchuck gradually began to open up the kingdom from self-imposed isolation, and seven years after welcoming its first foreign visitors, the airline commenced operations in 1983 with flights from Calcutta to Paro. A switch to BAe 146-100 equipment occurred in November 1988, and in order to meet increased demand, those aircraft were replaced in 2004 with two Airbus A319s. Drukair operates a modest scheduled flight network within the South Asian region from its base at Paro Airport and currently consists of eight destinations in five countries. Bhutan has drawn a Vision 2020 Plan, as part of its Five Year Development Plans targeting several sectors for development, which includes improved external air links by 2017 that would enable increase in income from tourism from 100% (by 2012) to 150% (2017) coupled with completion of second National Highway by 2017. It has also signed several memoranda of understanding with the government of India, not only to enhance air traffic facilities and operations but also to help Bhutan during emergency situations of floods and earthquake affecting the Paro Airport. Today, Drukair is a professional corporate entity under the aegis of the Druk Holdings Investment...
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...not proper place to sleep, not good water to drink. In the miserable situation of the refugee camp, it was very strenuous to find any kind of job. My parents were not well educated to have a decent paying job to send me to private school. My father usually muddled through minimum wage jobs to fulfill our wants. In the camp, every house and school had unfinished flat roofs. I can still remember in winter, we could the feel thunder storm outside of the house sitting in the kitchen in front of a burning fire. Water would not stop dropping from every house because of unfinished flat roofs. Every year many people died from various diseases like asthma, cancer, tuberculosis, diabetes, and pneumonia. I grew up in a unexperienced society where culture, religion and family tradition were valued more than the education. Hopelessness and despair had abounded me and every other young teenager who wanted to study. It was very difficult to get education with limited access. In the strenuous situation of the Bhutanese refugee camp, I endured to read and write my own language...
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...Summary: The Bhutan country was an emerging market. They strived to instill innovative leaders who wanted to open up to foreign markets. The main industrial strive to increase its growing tourism business was in the form of Royal Bhutan Airlines. They experienced industry growth. This caused them to rethink their strategy of high value low volume. This was due to wanting to preserve the culture and geography of the small nation of under 700 thousand people. Royal Bhutan Airlines was contemplating how to increase size and lower costs by online booking, increased domestic travel, and alliance partnerships. Issues: The major issues that interfered with growth was corporate culture, tariffs, seasonal traffic, and logistical burdens. For starters, Royal Bhutan Airlines was a direct extension from the government since it was designed as a taxi service for Indian officials. They were set on preserving the pristine nature of the Bhutan culture, religious and geographically. Hence why they set small limits on tourists coming in and out of the country. Tariffs caused higher prices on people traveling to the country due to having to go through specific travel agents. Season trends were a large portion of the problem for Royal Bhutan Airlines. To solve this problem, consider buying smaller more economical planes that are only used during slower seasons. It would help with the load percentage. During peak seasons bring out the larger aircrafts. This would also reduce wear...
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...arbitration for sharing. Also it will analyze the problem of managing the river transboundary in the South East Asia. INTRODUCTION RE EMERGENCE OF WATER DISPUTE IN SOUTH ASIA The presence of water has been an important element in the development of any civilization. The practice of transporting and managing ground water has led to the development of agrarian lifestyle making a shift from itinerant lifestyle of hunting and gathering. In fact it let to the development of invention of hydraulic engineering leading to a huge number of urban settlements in the Harrapan civilization . There has been evidence of water harvesting and management since the ancient times in this region. But there has been a serious decline in the advance in the culture in this region in later period. During the British rule it brought over a more serious challenge, the introduction of supply of water through pipelines has led to a better distribution of water but this led to the ignorance among the people about its importance of conservation. This led to the use of water without realizing about the need for sustainable use water without polluting the ecology of the region. It is also because of the easy access of water supply which has led to the pollution of primary water sources like Ganga, Yamuna and Brahmaputra and so much so has it been polluted that it becomes like a waste carrying drainage. To understand the reasons behind the re emergence of water dispute in this region there is a need to look...
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...different cultures, what implications might such findings have for the nature - nurture issue? Human development is a cultural process. We use both cultural and biological heritage to learn how to speak, how to behave, and how to learn from each other. Seeing development similarities in very different cultures, nativists might argue that these similarities can be only explained by certain skills and abilities being "hard-wired" in human brain from the birth. So, at the first sight, heredity might be the best explanation for this phenomenon, especially if the cultures are extremely different, and geographically distant from each other. What else can lead to the similar development, if not the biological, hereditary similarities of all humans? In reality, even two extremely different cultures over the centuries can come up with the same inventions and decisions for the problems. This is cultural parallelism - independent (parallel) development of cultural characteristics and norms in two very different cultures. For example, all western, eastern and remote, isolated tribal societies developed respect for parents as a cultural norm. We also have to take into consideration such thing as culture fission, a process when historically developed society broke apart into few different units. Maybe, not so historically remote but still valid example is Hindustan. It got separated into distinctive regions - India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Bhutan. Even if...
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...Cross Cultural Awareness and Communication INTRODUCTION Communicating across cultures can be a difficult experience. All successful communication results from one person understanding the meaning and intention of what another person has said. The skills associated with effective and rewarding cross-cultural communication can seem elusive to many people who lack experience of this form of interaction. The information contained in this fact sheet is designed to initiate and/or guide your cross-cultural experiences. The resources and contacts listed are intended as a starting point for further learning. WHO ARE CALD STUDENTS? Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) students are not international students – they are citizens or permanent residents of Australia. Some are voluntary migrants, while others have entered Australia on a Humanitarian Visa after being a refugee. CALD students come from many countries and represent many cultures and languages. The University of Tasmania currently has significant numbers of students enrolled who come from Chile, China, Korea, Iraq, India, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Sudan, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Burma, Bhutan, Nepal, Zimbabwe as well as small numbers of students from other countries. These students bring with them a vast array of life experiences and useful perspectives on the world around us. Many have fled violent civil wars, religious or political persecution or natural disasters like famine and drought. Many...
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...International Conference November 19-23, 2005, New Delhi EFFECTS OF GLOBALISATION ON EDUCATION AND CULTURE S. Chinnammai University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India rdhakshinamoorthy@hotmail.com Abstract Education is undergoing constant changes under the effects of globalisation. The effects of globalisation on education bring rapid developments in technology and communications are foreseeing changes within learning systems across the world as ideas, values and knowledge, changing the roles of students and teachers, and producing a shift in society from industrialisation towards an information-based society. It reflects the effect on culture and brings about a new form of cultural imperialism. The rise of new cultural imperialism is shaping children, the future citizens of the world into ‘global citizens’, intelligent people with a broad range of skills and knowledge to apply to a competitive, information based society. Globalisation and technological advancements are delivering and increasing access to the world and subsequently subjects should reflect this global outlook. The internationalisation of higher education can be linked to various internal and external changes in the international system. Externally, there have been changes in the labour market, which have resulted in calls for more knowledge and skilled workers, and workers with deeper understandings of languages, cultures and business methods all over the world. Education is becoming more invaluable to individuals...
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...about: 1. The challenge of crossing cultural boundaries 2. The meaning of culture: foundation concepts 3. Why culture matters in international business 4. National, professional, and corporate culture 5. Interpretations of culture 6. Key dimensions of culture 7. Language as a key dimension of culture 8. Culture and contemporary issues 9. Managerial guidelines for crosscultural success > American Football . . . in Europe? There are few things more representative of U.S. culture than American football. It is an extravaganza, complete with exciting halftime shows and peppy cheerleaders. The game exemplifies national pride. The national anthem is played, flags are unfurled, and uniformed players charge up and down the field like an army in the throes of often violent conflict. The teams’ huddles divide the game into small planning sessions for the next play. In the United States, the National Football League (NFL) oversees the sport and, like any successful business, wants to score in new markets. The NFL first tackled Europe in 1991, with plans to establish American football there. After years of failed attempts, NFL Europe emerged as six teams, five of which were based in Germany (such as the Berlin Thunder, the Cologne Centurions, and the Hamburg Sea Devils). Earlier teams established in Spain had failed. Why did American football triumph in Germany but fail in Spain? An excellent metaphor for Spanish culture is the bullfight, an ancient pursuit. In tradition-bound Spain, bullfights...
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