Hanoi inaugurates biggest flyover

The flyover at the Nguyen Chi Thanh-Kim Ma intersection, one of the most crowded streets in Hanoi, was open to traffic on October 5, helping reduce traffic jams in the route from the inner city to the west.

The four-lane steel frame flyover, which is 484m in length and 16m in width, has a span of 60m, making it the largest of the kind so far in Ha Noi . It was completed after eight months of construction, one month ahead of schedule.

This is one project under the city's target programme to reduce traffic jams and ensure urban order for the 2012-2015 period.

At the inauguration ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai praised efforts of workers, contractors and Hanoi authorities in implementing the project, the seventh of its kind in the city, which is of great importance to improve traffic in the western area of the city.

Hanoi also plans to complete several key transport projects within this year and next year, including the O Cho Dua-Hoang Cau and the O Dong Mac-Nguyen Khoai sections of the belt road No.1.

Nation unites to support victims of Storm Wutip

The country has rallied together to raise funds in support of victims of Storm Wutip which hit the central region early this week.

The Party Central Committee on Thursday held a fund raising campaign for the storm victims attended by President Truong Tan Sang, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung and other members of the Politburo and Party Secretariat.

At the event, Le Hong Anh, Politburo member and permanent member of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee (CPVCC) Secretariat, said the storm had caused great losses in terms of both human life and property after sweeping across the central region.

Relevant ministries and agencies had been instructed to continue helping victims to overcome the consequences of the storm, he said.

On the same day, staff at the Ministry of Defence, the Presidential State Office, the Government Office, the National Assembly Office, the Inspection Commission of the Communist Party of Viet Nam's Central Committee and the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee donated at least one day's salary each to help those affected by the storm.

Party committees of central agencies have raised VND23 billion (US$1.09 million) for storm victims, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has raised a total of VND226 million ($10,400).

The Central Highlands province of Lam Dong has mobilised VND1.2 billion ($56,800) to support residents in Quang Binh, Ha Tinh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue.

Storm Wutip, the strongest storm to hit Viet Nam in six years, killed at least 12 people and injured around 225 after slamming into the central region early this week, according to the latest report from the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control.

It was estimated to cause losses of over VND4.9 trillion ($234 million) in the six central provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue.

Wary parents to scrutinise additional school charges

A pilot project proposed by the Ha Noi Education and Psychology Association aims to prevent schools from illegally collecting extra fees.

Under the project, a council within each school will decide whether to charge for materials from water to exam papers, as well as fee amounts.

Each council will have seven to nine members, all parents or representatives from local social organisations such as veterans and the elderly.

"Normally, all fees are set by schools. But under this project, schools will need signatures from this council if they want to use the money contributed by parents, and this council must take responsibility if they overspend," said Nguyen Tung Lam, the association chairman.

Vu Thi Ly, whose child attends Tan Mai primary school in Hoang Mai District, said the project was "such a good idea" and hoped it would "reduce the financial burden carried by parents every school year."

The programme deserves public support because it will help parents know whether fees are spent correctly, said Le Ngoc Quang, vice director of the city's Department of Education and Training.

The project is scheduled to be piloted at five public schools in Hoang Mai District starting this month before it is implemented citywide next year.

Nguyen Thi Hue, director of the Hoang Mai Center for Continuing Education, one of the institutes chosen to pilot the project, told Dan tri online newspaper that it was necessary to make school administrators understand that the council establishment would be a source of assistance rather than trouble.

"The council will help schools reach agreements with parents and provide financial transparency as well as a better quality education," she said.

Fish lunch poisons more than 200 workers

More than 200 workers were rushed to hospital this morning with food poisoning after eating lunch yesterday at the Korean Wondo Vina Company in Long Binh Dien Town, Tien Giang Province.

Many were unconscious and others were doubled up with pain, vomiting and suffering from diarrhoea after eating a meal of fried and braised fish.

They were all taken to Tien Giang Central General Hospital and My Tho medical Centre.

Authorities are investigating the poisoning cause.

Free legal advice given on VN Lawyers' Day

Lawyers will offer free legal advice at over 3,000 law offices nationwide for the first time to celebrate Vietnamese Lawyers' Day on October 10.

The campaign, which is expected to be held annually, will finish at the end of this month.

Vice President of the Viet Nam Bar Federation Do Ngoc Thinh said that it was a part of a series of activities to celebrate the Lawyers' Day after the event was approved earlier this year by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

An artistic performance with the attendance of the PM will also be aired on VTV1 on October 16 to mark the day.

Viet Nam has over 8,000 lawyers working for 63 law offices.

Traffic accident kills two in Ninh Thuan

Two people were killed in a motorbike accident yesterday on a stretch of National Highway 1A through Thuan Nam District in the central province of Ninh Thuan.

According to witnesses, the motorbike collided with a truck travelling in the same direction after the truck driver lost control of his vehicle.

Thirty thousand students receive rice

More than 4,100 tonnes of rice from State reserves will be given to 30,600 students in disadvantaged areas in northern Dien Bien Province this school year.

The move is to encourage students to attend school by reducing their difficulties.

Each day-boarder will receive 15 kilos of rice a month for nine months, the province's Education and Training Department director, Le Van Quy said.

Dien Bien is one of the poorest provinces in Viet Nam. It has poor infrastructure and is located in mountainous terrain. Students often have to travel long distances to school.

Ongoing construction might violate traditional architectural style

Ha Noi's Department of Planning and Architecture will inspect the plans of a new building under construction within the campus of Viet Nam National University (VNU).

The planning department will consider the construction plans of a new science facility to determine whether it is breaking with the typical Indochinese architectural style of the campus on Le Thanh Tong Street, Hoan Kiem District.

The department's deputy director Duong Duc Tuan told Thanh Nien (The Youth) newspaper that the university, built before 1954, was a prime example of the city's Indochinese colonial architecture.

"It is a valuable piece. The university is already included in the municipal People's Committee proposed list of French colonial buildings which are in need of preservation," he said.

Tuan said that his department was not involved in granting the construction licence to the new building – Jica-VNU Biomass laboratory centre – which is intended to service the university's science department, adding that the licence was provided to the project's investor, VNU, by Hoan Kiem District's People's Committee.

Deputy Chairman of the Hoan Kiem District People's Committee Nguyen Quoc Tuan said that the project was granted a licence nearly one year ago and the construction had commenced just recently.

The Jica-VNU Biomass laboratory centre was designed as a three-floor building covering an area of more than 200 square metres and the setting of the building's foundations has already begun. The construction is expected to be completed by year end.

However, according to architect Doan Bac, the new construction was threatening to break with the Indochinese architectural style, the university is a prime example of the French colonial style of architecture in Ha Noi.

An expert in heritage preservation said that the university unquestionably deserved to be recognised as a cultural and historical monument.

President of the Association of Historical Sciences Phan Huy Le said that the implementation of the new building within the campus must be given some reconsideration.

The landmark building was designed by famous French architect Ernest Hebrard.

The Ha Noi People's Committee also suspended the construction of Ho Tay International Building on 16A Thuy Khue Street, due to neighbouring residents' claims about the project's safety.

The committee then ordered that meetings be held at the district's people's committee, where an evaluation of the potential danger posed to the adjacent neighbourhood can be carried out with residents and investors present.

The committee stated that residents under threat must be relocated and the investor must make provision for the affected communities.

The project's investor was also asked to make further reports about the preparations made for the implementation of the development.

Construction on the 20-floor building, designed for residential and commercial lease or sale covering an area of 1,196 square meters, commenced in July last year.

Vietnamese Embassy in US holds charity art programme

The Embassy of Vietnam in the US, working with the Saigon Nguyen Duong Company, organised an October 4 art programme in Washington DC to raise funds for poor children in Nghe An central province.

The event featured all Embassy staff and 200 invitees drawn from Washington’s expatriate Vietnamese community and American authorities, businesses, and friends.

The Vietnamese Ambassador to the US welcomed famous Vietnamese and a selection of their work was displayed before all were successfully auctioned, raising approximately US$5,000.  The money will be donated to Nghe An province’s Spring Centre.

The ambassador hopes the funding will help disabled, disadvantaged, and orphaned children in Vietnam.

The Embassy will conduct its next charity art programme in Maryland State and New York City in 2014.

Red Cross aids Quang Binh flood victims

A Vietnam Red Cross (VNRC) delegation led by Vice Chairman Nguyen Huu Hong has donated  VND1.5 billion in cash and goods to local victims of recent floods.

Deputy Provincial People’s Committee Chairman Tran Tien Dung briefed the delegation which paid an October 5 visit to Quang Binh province, on the damages caused by storm Wutip, adding that the province is currently focused on housing reconstruction.

He called on domestic and international charitable organisations to lend tropical storm victims a helping hand.

Hong passed on his condolences to the flood victims and encouraged the community to unite and overcome the storm’s repercussions. He hoped the distributed support can help the recovery and stabilise local lives.

The VNRC has already provided those most in need with 200 boxes of essential commodities, including blankets, pans, and water kettles, worth VND100 million.

VUFO meeting honours India-ASEAN Council Chairman

The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) hosted an October 4 get-together in Hanoi to honour of ASSOCHAM India-Asean Business Promotion Council Chairman Shantanu Srivastava’s 30-year friendship with Vietnam.

VUFO Chairman Vu Xuan Hong expressed his sincere thanks to the Indian businessman for his extensive contributions to the amiable and cooperative ties between the two countries.

Shantanu Srivastava first came to Vietnam as a diplomat, and after ending his tenure, decided to pursue business opportunities that would allow him to remain close to his self-described “second homeland”. In his role as Managing Director and CEO of Ishan International Pvt. Ltd, Srivastava played an important role in the Indian Chamber of Commerce’s (INCHAM) establishment in Vietnam.

The Indian businessman has also actively involved himself in social activities during his 30 years in Vietnam. He has raised funds to build 20 houses for the disadvantaged citizens in Ho Chi Minh City ’s Can Gio district and presented a number of scholarships to local students in need.

He has assisted the development of Vietnam’s railway, textile, and tea industries by supplying machinery and commissioning the construction of a textile dyeing laboratory.

He recently sponsored the establishment of Vietnam Houses in the Indian capital New Delhi and the west coast city of Mumbai.

Srivastava, who was awarded the Friendship Order of Vietnam in 2003 and the insignia For Peace and Friendship among Nations in 2006, said he has additional ideas for bilateral cooperation he intends to pursue with the VUFO.

His suggestions include a programme encouraging Vietnamese companies to open representative offices in India, joint traditional Indian medical research, opening of Hindu training courses in Vietnam and Vietnamese language training courses in India, and education and healthcare access schemes assisting poor Vietnamese children.

Experts share experience from sanitation projects

Experts shared experience from clean water and sanitation projects sponsored by ChildFund Australia and other non-governmental organisations at a seminar in Hanoi on October 4.

At the event, ChildFund Chief Representative in Vietnam Deborah Leaver said that the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is an innovative way of mobilising communities to completely eliminate open defecation. It focuses on the behavioural change needed to ensure real and sustainable improvements.

According to Nguyen Huy Nga, head of the Environmental Management Department under the Ministry of Health, the pilot implementation of the model shows that it is a good approach and may be applied widely in the communities, especially those in remote areas.

The CLTS programme has been piloted in Dien Bien, Lao Cai, Lai Chau, Kon Tum, Ninh Thuan, An Giang and Dong Thap provinces.

Foreign NGOs meet in Quang Ngai

Quang Ngai provincial authorities have appreciated foreign non-governmental organisations’ projects, helping improve local living conditions and fulfill socio-economic development targets.

Since 2012, 28 NGOs have pledged VND128 billion to 78 projects underway in Quang Ngai province.

At an annual meeting with NGOs on October 4, Provincial People’s Committee Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Loan spoke highly of foreign NGOs’ involvement in provincial poverty reduction, stressing their projects help strengthen friendship between Quang Ngai and the international community.

Foreign NGO-funded projects—such as school construction, water supply infrastructure upgrades, technical support, and plant and animal cultivation expertise—have modernised agricultural production and provided better social services, said said.

The regular meeting offers foreign NGO representatives a chance to review the results of their efforts, highlight any hindrances to success, and learn where the province could use the most assistance, Loan said.

In 2014, Quang Ngai aims to use around VND70 billion worth of foreign NGO aid in prioritised fields, including agricultural and rural development; socio-economic development; vocational training; microcredit services; welfare for disabled people, Agent Orange victims, and orphans; healthcare; communal education; natural disaster prevention; climate change adaption; clean water supply; and environmental sanitation.

The majority of the funding will be allocated to disadvantaged areas primarily Ly Son island district, the province’s six mountainous districts, and districts especially vulnerable to natural disasters.

Warning about dengue fever in Khanh Hoa

The central province of Khanh Hoa has warned although dengue fever is showing signs of waning, the epidemic is likely to last until December 2013.

After reaching its peak in July with 862 cases confirmed, the number of infections dropped to 801 in August and 633 in September.

Overall, the provincial preventative medicine centre reports about 5,600 cases have been detected in Khanh Hoa since the beginning of this year, including three fatalities.

Khanh Hoa has one of Vietnam’s highest rates of dengue fever infection. Local authorities warn that the falls in frequency over the past two months are not guaranteed to extend until the end of the rainy season in December. Local communities should maintain their preventative measures.

The province urged residents to cooperate with medical authorities on eradicating mosquito larvae and monitoring mosquito populations.

Sharing sustainable poverty reduction experience

Domestic and international experts gathered at a sustainable poverty reduction seminar in Haiphong on October 4, part of a broad-based initiative funded by the UNDP and the Irish Embassy.

They reviewed a project realizing the Government’s Resolution 80/NQ-CP on sustainable poverty reduction (2011–2020) and the “National Targeted Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction (2012–2016)", now called PRPP project.

The seminar encourages international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and poverty reduction management agencies to share their experiences in the field and lay down plans for future cooperation.

Participants summarised recent successful projects such as bamboo shoot planting in Yen Bai province, rabbit husbandry in Vinh Phuc and Bac Giang provinces, and concurrent rice cultivation and fish farming in a number of northern mountainous provinces.

Participating agencies want to expand these successful projects into other areas over the 2012–2015 period to help disadvantaged local residents access the market economy advice and resources they need to secure stable employment, increase incomes, and fuel rapid and sustainable poverty reduction.

The PRPP project is estimated to raise the incomes of participating poor households by 15–20%annually, reduce poverty rates by 10%, and create jobs for at least 25% of poor labourers.

Around 500,000 poor labourers will benefit from the project and all poor people who join the project will receive training in modern production and transferred technology.

Luong Van Manh, Deputy Head of the Ministry of National Defence’s Economic Department, said the PRPP project has overcome its limitations to significantly contribute to improving poverty reduction program efficiency in disadvantaged areas.

“Memorial Day” evokes post-war torments and pain

American war veteran Brian Delate, who is also an actor and author of the play “Memorial Day”, said the play has many details from his real life and stories he has been told by other American soldiers about their pain and torment.

The Voice of Vietnam (VOV) accompanied Delate to a meeting with the play’s Vietnamese audience.

The play delivers to the Vietnamese audience a perspective on the inner world of Brest Westmoreland, an American war veteran who fought in Vietnam and is struggling with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a mental disease suffered by many American veterans.

The play’s main character echoes the author’s own life, a draftee infantry sergeant in the Vietnam War. He was stationed in the central province of Quang Ngai from 1969 to 1970.

“Well, when I first came home as I described in the play, it was a mess. There was a lot of violence, a lot of fear. I didn’t know who to trust, where my life was going. And I could not reclaim what I had left, it was gone. The memories were put way for a long time. On September 11, I witnessed a plane going into the trade center. It basically brought it all back to the surface,” he said.

The story takes place in the night before Memorial Day in a small apartment in New York. Brian plays the role of veteran Brest Westmoreland, who is in the room, preparing to kill himself.

Rapid-fire, haunting and intimidating memories drive the character to the verge of suicide, just shoot of pulling the trigger. He thinks of acquaintances he met in Vietnam, and the horrific scenes of troops scurrying on the ground, of helicopters, burning, destroying, chasing, and shooting.

People’s artist Le Khanh plays a ghost who witnesses the characters’ inner struggle. “Brian, the author and main character, has recreated on the stage what he had to experience in life. The spiritual issues made a strong impact on me. We tried to reach deep spiritual elements, hoping that the audience will understand what we are doing, bringing an absolute sacred feeling to them”.

Besides the frightening memories, there are some pleasant moments when the character recalls letters from his relatives, sharing and missing his family and life in the United States. The soldier longs for the day he can come home.

The Vietnam-US Society, SHI organization and the Youth Theater sponsored the “Memorial Day” project to raise funds for Vietnamese Agent Orange/dioxin victims. It is part of cultural exchange activities to boost reconciliation and mutual understanding between Vietnam and the United States.

After the performance, Brian said that he wrote “Memorial Day” to make those who haven’t experienced war understand how some people have endured post-war torments and pain.

Paper plates, glasses contaminated with lead and arsenic

Following widespread concern about paper plates and glasses being contaminated with lead and arsenic substances, the Vietnam Food Administration under the Ministry of Health did a random test of such products from Hom, Dong Xuan and Nguyen Cao Markets in Hanoi.

Test results of six samples, including four local-made and two Chinese-made products showed four were contaminated with lead and three of them with arsenic.

Long-term exposure to arsenic, mainly through drinking of contaminated water, eating of food prepared with this water, and eating food with arsenic-laced water, can lead to chronic poisoning. Skin lesions and skin cancer are the most characteristic effects. In addition to skin cancer, long-term exposure to arsenic may also cause cancers of the bladder and lungs.

In other health related news, the Ministry of Health has asked chairpersons of municipal and provincial people’s committees and departments of health to enhance supervision of the ‘pink-eye’ disease, as a large population nationwide has contracted the disease.

Health workers have been asked to provide timely treatment and implement preventative measures in preschools, educational facilities, factories and community. Hospitals should prepare full medication for treatment and the health authorities have issued strict prohibition on price increase of necessary drugs.

New education model applied in primary schools

The Department of Education and Training in Ho Chi Minh City on October 4 held a seminar on ‘Implementation of New Education Model in Primary Schools in City’ at the Tan Thong Primary School in Cu Chi District.

After one year of implementation of the New Education Model with student-centered methodology, the new method has proved effective.

It has helped students to be self-confident and active in seeking knowledge; and the class atmosphere is more friendly and happier.

Teachers deliver lectures in class, give students’ clues for solving puzzles and parents help in assessments at homes.

Seminar participants remarked that teachers’ lesson plans are stereotyped resulting in no teacher creativeness, difficult application for big class and students’ not having equal knowledge.

For the next academic year, the new model would be multiplied in five primary schools in outlying districts of Binh Chanh, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi, Can Gio and Nha Be.

120 headmasters of primary schools and heads of education bureaus from 24 districts were present at the seminar.

HCM City students take cough medicine to get high

Many students in HCM City have been taking Recotus cough medicine over the past two years as a recreational drug. Some kids  just took it out of curiosity and others because it gave them symptoms that were similar to illness so they could skip school.

Recently, dozens of girl students from Tang Bat Ho Secondary School in District 4 have taken this kind of medicine. A number of parents said that someone came to the school to force their children use the medicine, if they refused to do this, they would be beaten.

Speaking with a DTiNews reporter, Le Ngoc Hai, Headmaster of the school, admitted the problem, disclosing that on September 30 many parents and students informed the school that the medicine was being used by students.

After that, the teachers found seven students from Class 7A1 to have used the medicine and they confiscated 20 tablets at that time.. Among the users are four girl students who take it frequently. They admitted distributing the medicine to their friends. These girls get mostly medium study results, except for one girl who is a good student.

Hai said some students are not aware of the medicine’s bad effects and just use it out of curiosity and because it made them feel relaxed.

The students said their usual dose was from one to four tablets, taken outside or at school.

After the inspection, the school  indentified the person who come to the school to force the students to take the medicine, Hai said, adding that it is a former girl student who left the school.

The headmaster said it is a headache, but the school cannot control students outside the school. The school is cooperating with local authorities to deal with the situation.

According to him, most of the medicine users face family problems such as parental divorce. Up to half out of the total number of 1,300 students suffer from family difficulties.

Meanwhile, Recotus is sold popularly at drugstores so it's quite difficult to control  student use.

VietnamNet reported that, last year, 20 students of a secondary school in District 2, Ho Chi Minh City, took the medicine in class. Four of them were hospitalized in a state of anxiety, drowsiness and were also suffering from trembling limbs.

Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri