8 September 2026
Bhutan was among the countries honoured for public health achievements at the Seventy-ninth Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia. The session was held in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste, and WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus handed the awards to health ministers and heads of delegation. Bhutan was recognised for eliminating dog-mediated human rabies as a public health problem, the first country in the region and the second in the world after Mexico. It was also honoured for continuing its newborn and child survival work after already meeting the Sustainable Development Goal targets for neonatal and under-five mortality. A third citation noted that Bhutan went past its 2025 national target by putting more than 70,700 people on protocol-based management for high blood pressure and diabetes. Timor-Leste was honoured for eliminating trachoma and Thailand for rubella elimination at the same session. The Regional Committee is the governing body of WHO's South-East Asia Region and meets every year.
Session:
Seventy-ninth Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia
Venue:
Dili, Timor-Leste
Awards presented by:
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Bhutan on protocol-based NCD care:
More than 70,700 people
Why it matters for exams: Bhutan was honoured at the Seventy-ninth Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia, held in Dili, for rabies elimination, child survival and putting more than 70,700 people on protocol-based care for hypertension and diabetes.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Regional Committee WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia — The yearly governing meeting of WHO's South-East Asia Region, where member countries set regional health policy.
13 October 2026
India has handed over cheques worth Nu 2.90 billion, or about Rs 290 crore, to Bhutan's Ministry of Finance for projects under Bhutan's Thirteenth Five Year Plan. The money was given at the nineteenth Monthly Coordination Meeting on the Government of India's support for the plan, held in Thimphu. Part of it goes to college infrastructure at the Royal University of Bhutan, to skilling programmes and to exchanges for teachers and students. A second phase of chain-link fencing to protect crops and the redevelopment of the Phuentsholing Sports Association ground are also funded. The rest covers a National Weather and Flood Warning Centre in Thimphu, teaching technology at eight Royal University of Bhutan colleges and a Digital Skilling Programme of Rs 8.83 crore under Digital Drukyul. Infrastructure at the Royal Institute of Management, a district court in Thimphu and the renovation of Gelephu General Hospital were covered as well. India is the largest external partner for Bhutan's five year plans, and the Thirteenth Five Year Plan is the country's current plan period. Bhutan builds its development planning around Gross National Happiness rather than counting output alone.
Meeting:
Nineteenth Monthly Coordination Meeting, Thimphu
Amount handed over:
Nu 2.90 billion (about Rs 290 crore)
Plan:
Bhutan's Thirteenth Five Year Plan
Partner:
Government of India
Digital programme funded:
Digital Skilling Programme under Digital Drukyul (Rs 8.83 crore)
Why it matters for exams: India handed over Nu 2.90 billion for Bhutan's Thirteenth Five Year Plan at the nineteenth Monthly Coordination Meeting in Thimphu; India is the largest external partner for Bhutan's five year plans and Bhutan plans around Gross National Happiness.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Gross National Happiness Bhutan's measure of national progress — Bhutan judges development by Gross National Happiness rather than by economic output alone.
4 September 2026
Bhutan has been validated by the World Health Organization for ending dog-transmitted rabies as a threat to public health. No other country in WHO's South-East Asia Region has reached that mark, and worldwide only Mexico got there earlier. WHO says the country has recorded zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies since June 2023. A WHO field mission visited Bhutan from 17 to 22 August 2026 to check the claim before the validation was granted. Bhutan offers free post-exposure prophylaxis, known as PEP, in all 20 Dzongkhags, the country's districts. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and the WHO Representative to Bhutan, Dr Bhupinder Kaur Aulakh, both welcomed the result. Rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms begin, which makes dog vaccination and quick treatment after a bite the only real defence.
Validating body:
World Health Organization
Rank in WHO South-East Asia Region:
First
Rank in the world:
Second, after Mexico
Zero human deaths since:
June 2023
WHO field mission:
17 to 22 August 2026
Districts with free PEP:
All 20 Dzongkhags
Why it matters for exams: Bhutan is now the first country in the WHO South-East Asia Region, and the second after Mexico worldwide, validated by the World Health Organization for eliminating dog-transmitted human rabies.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
PEP Post-exposure prophylaxis — The course of wound washing, vaccine and sometimes immunoglobulin given after a suspected rabies exposure.
Dzongkhag District of Bhutan — Bhutan is divided into 20 Dzongkhags, its administrative districts.
24 October 2026
A temporary immigration post at Dadgari, Hatisar, in Assam started working on 24 October, giving international visitors a direct crossing into Gelephu in Bhutan. India's Ministry of Home Affairs designated it so that Bhutanese and third-country nationals with valid travel documents can travel for Project 108 at Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC). The post also accepts e-visas and is to stay open until 7 November. Project 108 is the raising on 1 November of 108 Jangchub Chortens (Buddhist stupas), 15 metres high each, spread over 12 kilometres beside the Mau Chhu River. GMC lies in Bhutan's Sarpang district, which borders Assam. Without such a post, foreign visitors had to enter Bhutan at Samdrup Jongkhar or Phuentsholing and then travel on to Gelephu. India has also reaffirmed its commitment to set up an Immigration Check Post at Hatisar, first announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to Bhutan in November 2025.
Post opened:
24 October 2026
Location:
Dadgari, Hatisar (Assam)
Open until:
7 November 2026
Designated by:
Ministry of Home Affairs
Project 108:
108 Jangchub Chortens, 15 metres each, 12-kilometre stretch
Why it matters for exams: Gelephu Mindfulness City in Sarpang district, the Assam border crossing at Hatisar and the Ministry of Home Affairs' power to designate immigration posts are durable geography and India–Bhutan connectivity facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
GMC Gelephu Mindfulness City — A special administrative region being built in Bhutan's Sarpang district on the Assam border.
MHA Ministry of Home Affairs — The Union ministry in charge of immigration and internal security.
Jangchub Chorten Stupa of Enlightenment — A Buddhist stupa marking the Buddha's enlightenment.
Immigration Check Post — An authorised point where travellers' entry into and exit from India are cleared.
23 October 2026
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has cleared $17.42 million for Bhutan to cushion poor families against the higher food and fuel prices caused by the Middle East conflict. The money backs the government's $267.88 million Anti-Crisis Action Plan through ADB's Enhancing Resilience with Countercyclical Expenditures Program. It combines a $13.45 million grant from the Asian Development Fund with a $3.97 million loan from ADB's ordinary capital resources. Women in eligible large families will receive up to 10,000 ngultrum a month, and household energy bills in rural areas will be subsidised. School meals will be widened, tax exemptions on basic foods such as rice, butter, salt and refined oil widened, and 45 electric buses bought. ADB President Masato Kanda said the poorest households feel the rise in fuel prices most. Bhutan is exposed because it imports much of its food and fuel and has few domestic revenue sources.
ADB approval:
$17.42 million
Asian Development Fund grant:
$13.45 million
Ordinary capital resources loan:
$3.97 million
Anti-Crisis Action Plan:
$267.88 million
Monthly support cap:
10,000 ngultrum
Why it matters for exams: The ADB — its headquarters in Manila, its founding in 1966, its President and its Asian Development Fund — and Bhutan's currency, the ngultrum, are standard economy and international-organisation questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ADB Asian Development Bank — Regional development bank founded in 1966 and headquartered in Manila.
Asian Development Fund — ADB's multi-donor-financed fund that supports the member countries most in need, mainly through grants.
Countercyclical expenditure — Government spending raised during a downturn to soften its impact.
Ngultrum — Bhutan's currency, pegged at par to the Indian rupee.
5 October 2026
Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC), Bhutan's state-owned power generation company, and India's Adani Power have signed a shareholders' agreement for the 770 MW Chamkharchhu-I Hydroelectric Project. The peaking run-of-river plant will be built on the Chamkharchhu river in Zhemgang district of central Bhutan. It will follow the Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) model, with a 51:49 equity split between DGPC and Adani Power. The concession lasts 30 years from the commercial operation date. Work is expected to start in the first half of 2027, and the plant is to be commissioned six years after groundbreaking. This is the pair's second project after the 570 MW Wangchhu agreement of September 2025, and part of a 5,000 MW hydropower MoU signed in May 2025. Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay attended the signing; the plant is meant to meet Bhutan's winter peak demand and send surplus summer power to India.
Capacity:
770 MW
District:
Zhemgang
Equity (DGPC : Adani Power):
51:49
Concession:
30 years from COD
Earlier joint project:
570 MW Wangchhu
Why it matters for exams: India–Bhutan hydropower cooperation is a recurring topic: aspirants are asked about DGPC, the BOOT model, and the capacity and location of Bhutan's projects such as the 770 MW Chamkharchhu-I in Zhemgang.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
DGPC Druk Green Power Corporation — Bhutan's state-owned hydropower generation company.
BOOT Build, Own, Operate and Transfer — A model in which a developer builds and runs a project for a set period before handing it over.
Run-of-river — A hydro plant that uses the river's natural flow with little or no large reservoir.
COD Commercial operation date — The date a power plant starts selling electricity commercially.
29 September 2026
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2026 on 29 September, ranking 139 economies.
Bhutan is placed 74th.
WIPO lists Bhutan among the 21 economies doing better than expected for their level of development.
Its profile is led by fairly strong institutions, where Bhutan ranks 36th, along with digital upgrading and sustainability.
In Central and Southern Asia, Bhutan comes after India, the regional leader at 38th, and Kazakhstan.
Switzerland tops the GII for a 16th year in a row, ahead of Sweden and the United States.
Bhutan's rank:
74th of 139
Published by:
WIPO
Released:
29 September 2026
Top three:
Switzerland, Sweden, United States
India's rank:
38th
Bhutan, institutions pillar:
36th
Why it matters for exams: The GII is published by WIPO; questions ask who publishes it, who topped it (Switzerland) and the ranks of India (38th) and neighbours such as Bhutan (74th of 139).
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
GII Global Innovation Index — Annual ranking of economies by innovation performance, published by WIPO; the 2026 edition covers 139 economies.
WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization — The United Nations agency for intellectual property, headquartered in Geneva.
23 October 2026
The King of Bhutan launched the Himalayan Yak Herders' Network on 23 October at the 9th Royal Highland Festival in Laya, in Gasa district.
It is the first regional platform for yak-herding communities in the Himalaya, bringing together herders from Bhutan, India and Nepal.
Its members are the Bhutan Yak Federation, the Yak Federation of India and the Yak and Chauri Farmers Federation Nepal.
The network is to be owned and led by the herders themselves, and Bhutan will host its secretariat.
It was set up with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), whose Kangchenjunga Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative first raised the idea in 2016.
The festival's theme, "Rangelands for Life: Empowering Herders", marked the UN-declared International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026.
The King also named 23 October National Yak Day; Bhutan has 29,432 yaks kept by 746 households.
Launched:
23 October 2026
Venue:
9th Royal Highland Festival, Laya, Gasa
Member countries:
Bhutan, India, Nepal
Secretariat:
Bhutan
Partner:
ICIMOD
Bhutan's yaks:
29,432 (746 households)
Why it matters for exams: A first regional herders' platform with its secretariat in Bhutan, ICIMOD as partner, National Yak Day on 23 October and the UN International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026 are all quiz-ready environment facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ICIMOD International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development — Intergovernmental knowledge centre for the Hindu Kush Himalaya, based in Kathmandu; a partner in the new network.
Royal Highland Festival Highland festival at Laya, Gasa district — Celebrates Bhutan's highland culture and yak-herding livelihoods; the 2026 edition was the 9th.
National Yak Day 23 October, Bhutan — Declared by the King of Bhutan at the 2026 festival to honour yaks and herders.
19 October 2026
FIFA President Gianni Infantino began a two-day visit to Bhutan on 19 October and met King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay.
Over the next four years the Bhutan Football Federation (BFF) is to receive USD 25 million from FIFA, mainly for infrastructure, youth football and the women's game.
Infantino toured the Changlimithang Football Stadium and the BFF headquarters, known as the "Home of Happiness".
He also met Prince Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck, President of the Bhutan Olympic Committee, and BFF President Dasho Ugen Tsechup.
FIFA Forward funds have already paid for the BFF headquarters, a training centre, artificial pitches, floodlights and the National Women's League.
FIFA Arena mini-pitches have opened at two schools, the first steps towards BFF President Ugen Tsechup's goal of 100 such facilities nationwide.
Bhutan's under-15 boys are preparing for the first FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival in Azerbaijan, where they play in Group Q.
FIFA commitment:
USD 25 million over four years
Visit began:
19 October 2026
FIFA President:
Gianni Infantino
BFF President:
Dasho Ugen Tsechup
Mini-pitch target:
100
Why it matters for exams: Sports questions ask who heads FIFA (Gianni Infantino), where FIFA is based, Bhutan's national stadium (Changlimithang), FIFA's Forward programme and who leads the Bhutan Olympic Committee; the new U-15 World Cup and its host Azerbaijan are fresh facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
FIFA Fédération Internationale de Football Association — World football's governing body, headquartered in Zurich; its President is Gianni Infantino.
BFF Bhutan Football Federation — Governs football in Bhutan; President Dasho Ugen Tsechup.
FIFA Forward FIFA's development funding programme — Funds infrastructure and competitions in member associations; paid for the BFF's headquarters and training centre.
15 October 2026
Bhutan and China held the 16th Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on their boundary issues in Thimphu from 13 to 15 October.
Letho T. Tangbi, Secretary of the International Boundaries of Bhutan, led Bhutan's side.
China's team was led by Hou Yanqi, Director-General of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs in China's foreign ministry.
The two sides looked at recent progress and talked about putting into effect their MoU on the Three-Step Roadmap for speeding up the boundary talks.
They agreed to build on the positive momentum and to meet again at a date convenient to both.
Alongside, the Joint Technical Team on Delimitation and Demarcation held its 4th meeting and reached positive understandings on the next phase.
Bhutan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade and China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a joint press release.
Round:
16th Expert Group Meeting
Dates:
13 to 15 October 2026
Venue:
Thimphu
Bhutan's lead:
Letho T. Tangbi
China's lead:
Hou Yanqi
Technical team:
4th meeting of the Joint Technical Team
Why it matters for exams: Bhutan-China boundary negotiations are a standard UPSC international-relations topic; the Expert Group Meeting, the MoU on the Three-Step Roadmap and the Joint Technical Team on Delimitation and Demarcation are the mechanisms to know.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
EGM Expert Group Meeting — An expert-level mechanism in the Bhutan-China boundary negotiations; the 16th meeting was held in Thimphu.
Three-Step Roadmap MoU on the Three-Step Roadmap for Expediting the Bhutan-China Boundary Negotiations — The agreed framework guiding the two countries' boundary negotiations.
Delimitation and demarcation Fixing a boundary on the map, then marking it on the ground — A Joint Technical Team handles this for the Bhutan-China boundary; it held its 4th meeting.
Background
Bhutan's validation by the World Health Organization for ending dog-transmitted human rabies rests on a system built over more than a decade, and that system is the lasting lesson. The work was led by the Ministry of Health along with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, both under the Royal Government of Bhutan. Dog vaccination and dog population management were carried out through the Nationwide Accelerated Dog Population Management and Rabies Control Programme. Bhutan keeps free post-exposure prophylaxis available to everyone in all 20 Dzongkhags, which are the country's districts. The method is called One Health, which treats human health, animal health and the environment as a single problem instead of three separate ones. An Inter-Ministerial Committee on One Health ties the departments together. WHO credits the result to Bhutan's long investment in the One Health approach and in universal health coverage.
Programme:
Nationwide Accelerated Dog Population Management and Rabies Control Programme
Ministries leading it:
Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock
Free PEP coverage:
All 20 Dzongkhags
Approach:
One Health
Coordinating body:
Inter-Ministerial Committee on One Health
Why it matters for exams: Bhutan's rabies work runs through the Nationwide Accelerated Dog Population Management and Rabies Control Programme, led by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, with free post-exposure prophylaxis in all 20 Dzongkhags under a One Health approach.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
One Health One Health approach — A way of working that handles human health, animal health and environmental health together.
Dzongkhag District of Bhutan — Bhutan is divided into 20 Dzongkhags, which are its administrative districts.
Background
Bhutan was honoured for its public health gains at the Seventy-ninth Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia in Dili, so the region itself is worth knowing. The World Health Organization runs its work through six regions, and this is the one Bhutan sits in. Ten countries make up this Region. Bhutan shares it with India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Myanmar, Thailand, Timor-Leste and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Its Regional Office is based in New Delhi, India. The Regional Committee is the governing meeting of the Region and sits once a year, which is where the awards to Bhutan were handed over.
Member States:
10 Member States
Regional Office:
New Delhi, India
Regional Director:
Saima Wazed
In office since:
1 February 2024, for a five-year term
Governing body:
WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia
Why it matters for exams: The WHO South-East Asia Region has 10 Member States including Bhutan and India, its Regional Office is in New Delhi, and Saima Wazed is the WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
SEARO WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia — The New Delhi office through which WHO runs its health work in the South-East Asia Region.
Background
The honour given to Bhutan at the World Health Organization South-East Asia Regional Committee meeting in Dili belongs to a country that has written care of its land into its highest law. The World Bank notes that Bhutan's Constitution mandates that at least 60 percent forest cover be maintained in perpetuity. The United Nations Development Programme calls Bhutan the only country in the world whose constitution protects its forests. In practice the country stays well above that floor, with over 71 percent of its territory under forest cover. Those woodlands work as a natural store that pulls carbon out of the air. The World Bank describes Bhutan as the only carbon negative country in the world. That means more greenhouse gas is taken in each year than the country gives out. Holding that balance shapes how Bhutan plans its roads, its farming and its power.
Forest cover required by the Constitution:
At least 60 percent, in perpetuity
Forest cover at present:
Over 71 percent of the territory
Carbon status:
The only carbon negative country in the world
Why it matters for exams: Bhutan's Constitution mandates at least 60 percent forest cover in perpetuity, over 71 percent of the territory is under forest, and the World Bank calls Bhutan the only carbon negative country in the world.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Carbon negative Carbon negative — A country that takes in more greenhouse gas than it releases.
Background
The World Health Organization validation of Bhutan for eliminating dog-transmitted human rabies has drawn fresh attention to how the country measures its own progress. Gross National Happiness was coined by Bhutan's Fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in the 1970s. It treats the well-being of people, and not output alone, as the test of development. Four broad areas carry the idea: environmental conservation, cultural preservation, sustainable socio-economic development and good governance. From these it is worked out into nine domains. The domains cover living standards, health, education, community vitality, psychological wellbeing, time use, cultural diversity and resilience, ecological diversity and resilience, and good governance. The GNH Index is a composite measure drawing on 33 indicators spread across those nine domains. It is computed with the Alkire-Foster method, a multidimensional way of combining many measures into one.
Coined by:
Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the Fourth King of Bhutan, in the 1970s
Four broad areas:
Good governance; sustainable socio-economic development; cultural preservation; environmental conservation
Domains in the GNH Index:
Nine
Indicators in the GNH Index:
33
Method of computation:
Alkire-Foster method
Why it matters for exams: Gross National Happiness was coined by Bhutan's Fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuck in the 1970s; its four broad areas open into nine domains, and the GNH Index uses 33 indicators computed by the Alkire-Foster method.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
GNH Gross National Happiness — Bhutan's measure of development, which weighs people's well-being rather than output alone.
Background
Bhutan was validated this year for eliminating dog-transmitted human rabies, and the global target it was measured against is itself exam material. Its official title is long — Global Strategic Plan to End Human Deaths from Dog-Mediated Rabies by 2030 — and it is usually called Zero by 30. Three bodies run it jointly: the World Health Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. They work on it with the Global Alliance for Rabies Control. The plan is built on the One Health framework, which treats human, animal and environmental health as one problem. The treatment at the centre of it is post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP: washing the wound thoroughly, a course of human rabies vaccine, and rabies immunoglobulins where these are indicated.
Short name of the global plan:
Zero by 30
Agencies running it:
WHO, WOAH and FAO
Why it matters for exams: Zero by 30 and the three agencies behind it, and the meaning of PEP, are standing facts a health and international-organisations question asks directly.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
PEP Post-exposure prophylaxis — The treatment given after a possible rabies exposure: wound washing, rabies vaccine and, where indicated, rabies immunoglobulins.
WOAH World Organisation for Animal Health — The intergovernmental body for animal health, and one of the three agencies behind Zero by 30.
One Health — An approach that treats human, animal and environmental health as a single connected problem.