Buddhist Kingdom Lifts Ban on TV

Bhutan is ending its ban on television and starting its own network, finally lowering its guard against outside influence in the remote Buddhist kingdom. Broadcasting will begin June 2 but initially only in the capital, Thimphu, a city of 40,000 residents, said the Kuensel weekly, Bhutan’s only newspaper. Isolated in the Himalayas, Bhutan has sought to preserve its culture. Men and women are required to wear traditional robelike dress. Satellite dishes are outlawed, although the rule is widely breached. A spokesman for the Bhutan Broadcasting Service was quoted as saying that the television broadcast would be a public service channel showing educational and informational programs, and traditional Bhutanese arts.