While suicide rate in the country is concerning, it is not the highest in the world, Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay said.

He said this in response to Nanong-Shumar Member of Parliament (MP), Dechen Zangmo’s question on the government’s plan and policies to reduce suicide cases in the country.

She said that in 2016, 96 suicide cases were reported, which indicates that seven people committed suicide every month.

Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay said that the rate of suicide for every 100,000 Bhutanese is 12 a year. Citing examples, he said that in Sri Lanka, 34 people commit suicide for every 100,000 people, while it is 24 in Korea, 15 in Japan, 16 in India, 12.6 in Thailand, 7.2 in Nepal, 7.6 in Singapore and 12.6 in America. The suicide rate in Bhutan, he said is in the medium.”

He also claimed that suicide cases are not increasing every year.

“In 2009, 72 people committed suicide, 81 in 2012, 96 in 2013, 92 in 2016 and 89 people as of November 2017.”

Lyonchhen said Bhutan is different from other countries, in the sense that it is a blessed country with Gross National Happiness as a philosophy.

“If there is one country that is exemplary to others with happiness as a policy, it is Bhutan.”

He said there is no reason for people in the country to commit suicide, as people do not have problems.

“The main problem for people is to educate children and education is free here. There is also kidu.”

The government has initiated central schools where students get everything for free, including mattress and blankets, plates and mugs, he said.

“Parents shouldn’t worry about anything.”

The other concern is sickness and in Bhutan, health facility is free, Lyonchhen said.

“When there is an emergency, there is helicopter service.”

He said people should not worry about land and disasters, as everyone knows there is kidu in place.

“For aged citizens, who do not have anyone to look after, kidu is provided every month.”

He said that to meet the expenses of rituals in times of death, the insurance scheme is increased by double this year.

Lyonchhen said that the government, worried about the suicide trend, conducted a nationwide suicide study and established a national suicide prevention programme (NSPP) for 2015 – 2018.

Panbang MP Dorji Wangdi, however, asked the Prime Minister to provide the plans and policies on suicide prevention and not on the central schools and helicopter services.

Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay said that he had to cite the examples to show that Bhutanese do not have problems like people in other countries.

“We have law and religion.”

He said that the cabinet has directed the establishment of a taskforce for relevant organisations to prevent suicide.

“Committees are formed in the dzongkhags and we have trained counsellors in schools. We also provided training to police to respond in suicide cases and also to establish an office.”

Lyonchhen said that people commit suicide because of mental health problems from drugs and alcohol.

“We have, therefore, amended the Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Substance Abuse Act and deliberated on it.”

He said that to curb alcohol consumption, the cabinet framed a policy in 2015.

“We are also working with RENEW and trained 150 volunteers and 12 clinical counsellors.

“We are also expanding mental health projects at the Jigme Dorji Wangchuk National Referral Hospital. In villages, schools and thromdes, people can seek counselling and help by calling toll free number 112.”

HONG KONG – Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific said Monday that one of its air crews spotted what they believed to be the missile fired by North Korea last week, as they flew between the southern Chinese city and the United States.

The North fired an intercontinental ballistic missile believed capable of hitting the US mainland last Wednesday.

A statement from Cathay said a flight crew had that day sighted “what is suspected to be the re-entry of the recent DPRK test missile”.

Cathay did not give the location of the flight at the time of the sighting, but said the crew of the CX893 flight between Hong Kong and San Francisco had notified Japanese air traffic control “according to procedures”.

Operations had continued as normal, the statement added.

Pyongyang said the missile reached an altitude of 4,475 kilometres (2,800 miles) and splashed down 950 kilometres from its launch site. It also claimed the Hwasong-15 missile fired Wednesday can be tipped with a “super-large heavy warhead” capable of striking the whole US mainland.

Cathay said there is no current plan to change air routes, describing the flight as being “far from the event location”.

“We remain alert and review the situation as it evolves,” the statement said.

In a message shared with staff, Cathay general manager Mark Hoey said the crew had described seeing the missile “blow up and fall apart”, the South China Morning Post reported.

Hoey said that another plane, CX096 which is a freight service between Hong Kong and Mexico, was only a few hundred miles away and could have been closer than the San Francisco flight, according to the report.

Analysts remain unconvinced that North Korea has mastered the advanced technology to allow the rocket to survive re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere.

The months-long nuclear standoff between North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un and US president Donald Trump has fuelled concerns of another conflict, after the 1950-53 Korean War left much of the peninsula in ruin.

National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia cancelled a flight from Singapore Changi Airport to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Sunday due to a lack of available pilots. The plane was scheduled to depart at 10 p.m. Singapore time.

Garuda spokesman Ikhsan Rosan said the pilots who were meant to fly that evening had flown for nine hours on Sunday – the maximum number of hours a pilot is permitted to fly in one day.

“The pilots should fly for a maximum of nine hours a day after having flown five times but, due to delays, the pilots had reached the flying limit,” Ikhsan told The Jakarta Post on Sunday night, adding that the pilots were not immediately replaced as all available ones were in Jakarta.

As a result, hundreds of passengers were forced to reschedule their flights on Monday as all Sunday flights were fully booked.

One of the passengers, Rudy Bani, 39, said he was frustrated with the airlines because he had a meeting on Monday afternoon.

“I am a frequent flyer of Garuda and this kind of thing had never happened before. This is the worst,” Rudy said.

Passengers trying to book morning and afternoon flights on Monday reportedly had a difficult time finding available seats.