Photo of boy warned for theft shocks public

Recently a photo was posted on Facebook showing a boy crying and in a panic, with a bunch of fruit he is said to have stolen hung around his neck, raising public concern.

The boy is 10 years old, and looks thin and pale in the photo. Almost immediately after its posting, there was a public outcry concerning the treatment of the boy and children in general. Although it was removed by the account holder quickly, the image was re-posted and circulated on the internet.

Reaction to the image was prompt and critical. Most comments involving this picture did not lay much blame on the child for his petty theft, but on the heavy-handed treatment by the store-owner who had caught him and decided to humiliate him publicly. Many went so far as to say that such treatment can cause real psychological damage to a child.

A similar case occurred in Gia Lai Province, which also stirred public concern recently. A photo of a secondary school student in Gia Lai was taken with her hands tied after she was accused of having stolen a book from a supermarket. The photo was taken and posted by security staff at the store. The image showed her wearing a sign that read: "I am a thief".

Women charged for selling baby

One of the defendants is Nguyen Thi Thanh Trang (L), 37, who was in charge of caring for the children, while the other is Pham Thi Nguyet, 35, from Ninh Binh Province.— Photo giaothongvantai

The investigation into allegations that a baby was sold from a pagoda in Ha Noi has moved forward today after police announced they had submitted evidence to authorities for consideration.

Two women were arrested last Sunday for allegedly selling a nine-month-old baby from Bo De Pagoda, a home for orphaned and abandoned children in Long Bien District.

One of the defendants is Nguyen Thi Thanh Trang, 37, who was in charge of caring for the children, while the other is Pham Thi Nguyet, 35, from Ninh Binh Province.

Preliminary investigations show that Trang and Nguyet sold the boy for VND35 million ($1,650).

The women are charged with "trading in, fraudulently exchanging or appropriating children", and could spend the rest of their lives in prison under the Criminal Code.

Facebook accounts locked in Vietnam

On August 12, Facebook suddenly locked the accounts of many users in Vietnam for security reasons.

The move was a surprise to many account-holders, who were sent a message saying that there was suspicious activity detected. "It's likely that your account was compromised as a result of entering your password on a website designed to look like Facebook," read the message.

Those who received the message had to re-enter their private information and create a new password in order to access their accounts.

One user stated, "I'm surprised. I don't know if this was caused by a hacker or not, but I feel uncomfortable divulging my personal information a second time. I haven't violated any law or the terms and conditions of Facebook, yet my account has been locked."

Another user commented that dozens of her co-workers faced the same problem. Many see it as a glitch, but the actual reasons are unclear at this point. Under normal circumstances a Facebook account can be locked if a particular user has been reported of violating the site's terms, but a blanket closing of accounts appears to many as something more than a minor glitch.

Reporters are still trying to get in touch with representatives of the firm for an official statement.

Dengue fever increases remarkably in HCMC

Since the beginning of this year, the city’s hospitals and medical centers have admitted nearly 4,500 people infected with dengue fever and the number of dengue positive cases in July doubled that of June, according to statistics from the HCMC Preventive Medicine Department.

The city has around 70-100 cases dengue fever admitted to hospitals every week, but the figure jumped to 143 cases a week from the end of July till now with Hoc Mon District accounting for the highest number of patients.

At the HCMC Hospital for Tropical Diseases, there are a rising number of people from surrounding provinces hospitalized due to dengue fever with many of them under critical conditions.

In HCMC alone, nearly 2,500 people have been infected with dengue fever since the beginning of this year and among them are 900 children. Last week, a five-year-old child from Long An Province died of the disease while another child from Binh Phuoc Province is being treated at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases because of multiple organ failures and blood clotting.

September will be a high season for many diseases such as dengue fever, hand-foot-mouth disease and respiratory illness. When the new school year begins later this month, the disease could spread more quickly as children will gather together and the epidemic usually peaks in the end of the rainy season, doctors said.

According to medical specialists, this year’s dengue fever is more serious.

Warnings of flashfloods in northern region

The national weather center has given warnings about flashfloods and landslides in northern upland areas including Bac Can, Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Tuyen Quang, Yen Bai, Lai Chau and Dien Bien provinces.

The warnings came out when flash floods triggered by downpours killed six people and injured four in Tam Duong District, Lai Chau Province on August 12. Flash floods also damaged houses and infrastructure in the northern province.

The national weather center has forecast that these northern provinces would face torrential rains and thunderstorms between Tuesday and Thursday this week.

The forecaster also issued flood warnings for localities in the Red and Thai Binh rivers from Wednesday to Friday. The flood can cause the rivers to surge by two to three meters in the upstream and one to two meters in the downstream.

Water flows into Son La Hydropower’s reservoir can reach 8,500 cubic meters a second. Water levels in the Thao River in Yen Bai Province and the Lo River in Tuyen Quang Province may swell above warning level 1.

In specifics, regions given flashflood warnings in the northern upland includes Pac Nam, Ba Be, Bach Thong districts and Bac Can Town in Bac Can Province; Hoang Su Phi, Xin Man, Vi Xuyen, Yen Minh, Bac Me districts and Ha Giang City in Ha Giang Province; Na Hang, Lam Binh and Chiem Hoa districts in Tuyen Quang Province.

Risks of flashfloods and landslides are also forecast to happen in some places in the northwest including Bac Ha, Bat Xat, Muong Khuong, Van Ban and Sa Pa districts in Lao Cai Province; Mu Cang Chai, Van Chan, Yen Binh, Luc Yen districts and Yen Bai City in Yen Bai Province; Muong Te, Phong Tho, Sin Ho and Tam Duong districts in Lai Chau Province; and Muong Lay and Muong Cha districts in Dien Bien Province.

Downpours and floods triggered in July by Typhoon Rammasun left 24 people dead in the north, with three killed by floods in Ha Giang and three by lightning in Lao Cai.

Landslides and floods last month also inundated and destroyed over 7,200 houses, 4,300 hectares of crops, 130 hectares of aquaculture areas and nearly 1.7 kilometers of roads. The total damage was estimated at over VND650 billion.

Lao Cai donates rice to Chinese quake victims

 The northern border province of Lao Cai on August 12 decided to provide 100 tonnes of rice as emergency aid to help earthquake-hit people in China’s Yunnan province overcome the consequences of the disaster.

A 6.5 magnitude earthquake jolted Ludian county, Zhaotung city of Yunnan province on August 3, killing more than 600 people and leaving thousands homeless.

Vietnamese Party and State leaders sent their condolences to Chinese leaders over heavy losses in property and human lives caused by the powerful earthquake.

Vietnam to train Cambodian commercial pilots

The Viet Flight Training Joint Stock Company (VFT) on July 12 signed a deal in Phnom Penh to start training commercial pilots for Cambodian national flag carrier Cambodia Angkor Air (CAA).

At the signing ceremony, CAA's President Tek Rethsamrach said the deal would greatly contribute to developing qualified pilots for Cambodia's civil aviation.

The flight training programme has received US$3 million of funding from the Vietnamese Government.

Established in 2008, VFT comprises stakeholders from Vietnam Airlines, Vietnam Helicopter of the Vietnam Ministry of National Defence, Vietnam Aircraft ISC, ESMA Aviation Academy of France and HIPT Group.

With a wealth of experience in pilot training, VFT director Nguyen Nam Lien expressed his belief the company will be able to train professional pilots for CAA.

Bomb explosion kills two in Phu Yen

Two men were killed sawing open a bomb yesterday afternoon in coastal central Phu Yen Province's Son Hoa District.

The men found the bomb in Da Chat Forest and sawed into it to obtain explosive powder from inside.

The bodies of the victims were sent to their families to bury.

While employment demand has been up in Vietnam for the last months of 2014, many firms remain hesitant about hiring new university graduates, according to one study.

The site, Jobstreet.vn announced the results of 630 Vietnamese companies concerning the country’s human resource market in the third quarter of this year. The results showed that employment demand increased compared to the same period last year, evidence of economic improvement.

Of the companies surveyed, over 59% reported to have a higher human resources demand, while 78% plan to recruit new staff in the second half of this year. The figure is up 6% compared to the same period.

Hiring demand among employers increased in the third quarter to just over 63% from about 58% last year. But the hiring of new graduates fell by almost 8.9%.

According to the same survey, about 22% of university graduates questioned said they were paid between VND2 million and VND3 million, while around 29% reported having been paid between VND3 million and VND4 million. Only 18% were paid VND4 million to VND5 million.

Even with the low pay, employers were still hesitant to hire new graduates, as almost 44% of employers questioned said that young graduates lacked experience and the skills required for jobs.

In addition, 33% of surveyed enterprises worried about instability in young employees and said that they were not confident in the English skills of young employers.

The most surprising news, perhaps, was that a large minority of university graduates failed to find a job involving their major.

Australia aids small-scale humanitarian projects

The Australian Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City on August 13 formally launched a Direct Aid Programme (DAP) for projects in the central and southern provinces of Vietnam.

DAP provides funds for small-scale development projects with a view to addressing humanitarian hardship and advancing developmental outcomes for disadvantaged communities.

The average grant to each project will approximate US$10,000.

The deadline to apply for the programme is October 10.

For information about the DAP programme visit the link www.hcmc.vietnam.embassy.gov.au

DAP is a part of the Australian Government’s larger non-refundable aid programme in Vietnam, which will provide an estimated AUD141.3 million in fiscal year 2014-2015.

In the 2013-2014 fiscal year, the programme provided AUD130, 000 to 11 projects in the fields of health care, education and small-scale infrastructure projects.

Market watchdog seizes medical equipment

The Ha Noi Market Management Department seized 12 allegedly substandard items of medical equipment from three private health clinics in Ha Dong District's Phung Hung Street yesterday.

The seized equipment included X-ray, ultrasound and ECG machines.

The owners of the first two clinics could not produce any documents to show the place of manufacture of the machines. In the last clinic, the market management department found an ECG machine being used without any quality verification done by authorised agencies.

The case is under investigation.

Hydro-plants leave Phu Yen residents without resources

Construction works on the Ba Ha River and Hinh River hydro-electricity plants have changed the Ba River's flow and had negative impacts on the lives of local residents, local authorities have said.

Pham Dinh Phung, deputy chairman of the Son Hoa District People's Committee, said that the district had lost more than 1,500ha of cultivated land to make way for the Ba Ha River Hydroelectricity Plant. Meanwhile, the Song Hinh District had lost more than 1,600ha of land to the Hinh River Hydroelectricity Plant.

Nearly 300 households in the districts had to be resettled to accommodate the two plants.

Reports from the Son Hoa and Song Hinh districts people's committees in the central province of Phu Yen showed that the plants had discharged water during the rainy season, submerging nearby crops. In sunny season, plants reserved water, causing residents in the lowlands lacking water to irrigate their fields.

Meanwhile, land surrounding the resettlements was not suitable for cultivating crops, said Phung.

While the plants are currently operational, construction efforts to build irrigation channels for resettled residents was lagging behind schedule, said officials.

While the pumping station in Son Hoa District's Krong Pa Commune was expected to be used across 300ha of rice and farm land, current levels suggest there is only enough water for 43ha. Similarly, another pumping station in Suoi Trai Commune designed to water more than 100ha of rice, would only be able to service around 30ha.

In Song Hinh District, resettlement quarters in Bau and Hoc villages were also in need of small irrigational channels to support agricultural production. Even more seriously, local residents are desperate for clean water to prepare their food and to drink.

A majority of the wells in the resettlement quarters had deteriorated and were yet to be repaired despite multiple requests to district authorities, said Phung.

Local authorities have failed to deliver policies to provide vocational training and help residents transition into new jobs, exacerbating skills shortages and increasing the risk of poverty.

As many as 99.7 per cent of households in resettlement quarters in the province are surviving on low incomes.

Dang Thi Kim Chi, deputy head of the National Assembly delegation from Phu Yen Province, said that hydroelectric enterprises and local authorities needed to take their responsibilities to residents seriously, particularly in relation to ethnic minority groups.

Local authorities should have policies for job transitions, crop cultivation and animal husbandry so that residents can build stable incomes for themselves, she said.

Enterprises profiting from the hydroelectricity plants also needed to pay closer attention to the deteriorated water, road and irrigation infrastructure in resettlement quarters, she said.

Local authorities needed to support residents with arable land and adopt a "each office helps a poor commune, each state worker helps a poor household" approach approved by the provincial authorities to reduce household poverty rates, said Chi.

Photonics forum held in central city

As many as 260 international professors, scientists and researchers gathered at the 8th International Conference on Photonics and Applications and the National Spectroscopy conference at the central city of Da Nang's Duy Tan University yesterday.

Scientists from France, Germany, the US, Japan, South Korea, Belarus and Viet Nam will present 150 reports on photonics and spectroscopic studies at the four-day event.

The conference is also a rendezvous for scientists exchanging experience in studies of quantum photonics, optics, lasers and nano-physics and applications.

The two-year time conference will help local scientists and researchers to approach new innovations and boost co-operation between Viet Nam and advanced scientific studies.

Binh Duong needy students receive scholarships

The National Fund for Vietnamese Children (NFVC) on August 13 granted 600 scholarships to outstanding students from needy in southern Binh Duong province.

The scholarships were presented by Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan who is also chairwoman of the NFVC Sponsorship Council.

Of the beneficiaries, 550 were awarded scholarships worth VND3 million, while the remaining 50, each got VND5 million.

Over the past two decades, the NFVC has awarded 10,000 scholarships worth VND30 billion to help needy students in 58 provinces and cities across the country.

VPDF hosts South-South solidarity conference

A two-day South-South People’s Solidarity Network (SSPSN) conference opened in Hanoi on August 13 hosted by the Vietnam Peace and Development Foundation (VPDF).

Invited guests and representatives of social movements and people’s organizations from the “South-South Countries” comprised of 23 African, Asian and Latin American countries are attending the conference.

Participants are discussing and analyzing the current world situation and the impact of economic globalisation of Countries from the South. They are also addressing issues pertaining to the lesson learnt by the countries and the experience of regions, particularly those in Latin America and ASEAN and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

Speaking at the opening ceremony, former Vice State President Nguyen Thi Binh emphasised that the conference follows the format for previous conferences held at a world social forum in Tunisia in March 2013 and Algeria conference last September.

“It aims to realise challenges and opportunities for countries from the South in the globalisation process in order to propose timely solutions to protect their independence, self-control and sustainable development,” Binh said.

Binh said that 2015 marks the 60th anniversary of Bandung conference with the spirit of Bandung which is considered a symbol of solidarity and cooperation among countries from the South.

Next year also marks formation of the ASEAN Community with the aim of enhancing cooperation among ASEAN countries for the sake of peace, stability and development in the region.

Head of the German Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Nadja Charaby pointed out challenges for South-South countries to overcome in the current period and essential support for efforts to enhance solidarity, develop green growth projects, maintain traditional connectivity and learn development experience from countries from the North and the South.

OVs - an indispensable part of the Vietnamese nation

A Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) delegation led by Central Committee Secretary Ha Thi Khiet is visiting three European countries, aiming to promote solidarity among Overseas Vietnamese (OVs).

During the eight-day visit to Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic from August 11-18, Khiet will also work with parties of the three countries and discuss alternative measures of boosting cooperation with the CPV.

At a meeting with OVs in Hungary on August 12, Khiet spoke highly of their activities and emphasised the Party and State’s consistent policy of considering them an indispensable part of the Vietnamese nation.

Khiet said OVs in Hungary have always stood united with the homeland. When China illegally placed its Haiyang Shiyou-981drilling rig in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf, they immediately demonstrated and raised a strong voice against the illegal act.

At the meeting all of the OVs expressed their delight at the national development , displaying a strong determination to make greater contributions to to the homeland.

Vu Quy Duong, President of the OVs Association in Hungary, said currently roughly 5,000-6,000 Vietnamese people reside in Hungary.

Phan Bich Thien, Chairwoman of the Fund for Hungary-Vietnam Relationship, said OVs in Hungary not only conduct many activities toward the homeland but also focus on elevating the image of Vietnamese in the country.

During their stay in Hungary, the Vietnamese delegation will also meet with Vice President of the Hungary Socialist Party Gogos Zoltan.  They will exchange information about the two countries’ development and measures to increase cooperation among the two parties for mutual benefit.

Vietnamese celebrate Buddhist festival in Laos

Overseas Vietnamese (OVs) in Laos staged a grand ceremony at Phat Tich pagoda in Vientiane on August 10, marking the Vu Lan festival - a Buddhist ritual.

Vu Lan ceremony is observed on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month to pay debt of gratitude towards their parents.

Speaking at the event, Most Venerable Thich Minh Quang thanked OVs for preserving the noble moral values of Vietnamese people.

During the festival, the OVs community in Laos extended their deep gratitude to parents as well as to Vietnamese and Lao soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the battlefields for national independence and freedom.

This year’s event was attended by many senior Vietnamese and Laos senior officials. Dragon dance performances and poetry programmes were held to highlight parents’ merit and the spirit of filial devotion of Vietnamese children.

Social insurance for seasonal workers

It was necessary for seasonal labourers or those with labour contracts lasting from one to three months to join compulsory social insurance, members of National Assembly's Standing Committee agreed yesterday.

Examining the draft revisions of Law on Social Insurance yesterday, lawmakers said that the move would help to expand the number of those benefiting from social insurance and ensure coverage for workers in the event they lost the ability to work.

Once joining compulsory social insurance, seasonal labourers and those with contracts lasting from one to three months could have their premium co-paid by themselves and their employers. As a result, they will become eligible for pensions in the event of retirement, death, sickness, pregnancy, work accidents and occupational diseases.

Chairwoman of NA Committee for Social Affairs, Truong Thi Mai, said that employers used labour contracts with terms of less than three months to avoid the obligation to pay social insurance for employees.

It was estimated that there are about 16 million labourers signing labour contracts but only about 10.8 million had joined compulsory social insurance.

Most of the remaining number had labour contracts lasting from one to three months and had not bought social insurance.

Part-time officers at communal and ward People's Committees, including those working for local social associations of women, the elderly, farmers or the Red Cross would be proposed to buy social insurance.

At present, there are about 229,600 part-time commune officers. They are not paid as State employees but only given allowance subject to local socio-economic development and local budgets.

According to the Government's proposal, part-time commune officers should join voluntary social insurance, implying that they would decide premium rates and terms of payment. The Government would subsidise the premium.

Mai from the NA Committee for Social Affairs said that if the revised law required part-time commune officers to buy voluntary social insurance, it would need to regulate premium rates and Government support would be less than 10 per cent.

She noted that 23 localities nationwide had supported part-time commune officers in joining voluntary social insurance.

However, according to the NA Committee for Social Affairs, which is in charge of assessing proposed revisions to the law, part-time commune officers should be subject to compulsory social insurance, at least for two categories of retirement and death.

The compulsory social insurance fee is for 22 per cent of the basic salary (VND1,150,000) and is used as a co-efficient to calculate salaries and allowances for State-employees.

Part-time commune officers would have 14 per cent of their basic salary paid by the State-budget and the other 8 per cent paid by them if they joined compulsory social insurance.

Mai added that since 2005, HCM City and central Da Nang City had applied compulsory social insurance to part-time commune officers.

Chairman of NA Legal Committee, Phan Trung Ly, said that it was difficult to calculate pensions for them in the case of sickness, pregnancy or occupational diseases because they worked part-time at ward/commune People's Committee and had other business to do outside.

Chairman of the Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour, Dang Ngoc Tung said that the expansion in the scope of social insurance had had positive effects.

He agreed with the proposal about voluntary social insurance for part-time commune officers.

"The premium should be based on their productivity, their paid allowance," he said.

Members of NA Standing Committee yesterday also discussed content relating to pension policies, timelines for paying social insurance and the inspection role of agencies over social insurance payments by people, organisations and enterprises.

According to the bill, the general director of Viet Nam Social Security and directors of its branches at the provincial level and head of its inspection teams would be able to decide fines for violators including those that delay or evade paying social insurance.

In the afternoon, the committee discussed the proposed veterinary law. The ordinance was approved by the National Assembly in 2004.

Deputies said it was an important legal basis for the prevention and control of animal diseases and epidemics, animal quarantine and slaughtering as well as state control of veterinary medicines and veterinary jobs.

However, they said the ordinance had some shortcomings regarding practical applications and long-term vision.

Members of the NA Standing Committee agreed that it was necessary to have a veterinary law. One aspect of the law project under discussion was the competence to announce the existence of epidemics.

Chairman of the NA Economics Committee, Nguyen Van Giau, said a law regulation that the chairman of the commune where the epidemic exists can declare an epidemic was not rational.

Giau said one of the conditions for announcing an epidemic was the availability of a diagnosis by a competent authority identifying the cause of the disease. Thus, appointing the commune's chairman to announce an epidemic was improper.

Chairman of the NA Office Nguyen Hanh Phuc suggested the responsibility be assigned to chairman of the province where the epidemic existed.

Deputies said that in the diagnosis and investigation of an epidemic, the project law did not regulate the responsibility of individuals and organisations deal with sick animals to inform veterinary agencies.

Deputies also discussed other contents of the law including veterinary jobs, compulsory slaughtering and culling sick animals.

Fire destroys wood making factory, house

A fire destroyed a wood manufacturing factory and a house in the central highland province of Buon Ma Thuot City's Ama Khe street early this morning.

No injuries or casualties have been reported.

Some residents said they heard a loud explosion that woke them up from their sleep.

Parked vehicles on the small alley prevented the fire engines from being driven in, and fire-fighters found it difficult to get closer to the burning buildings.

The fire was extinguished by 6 a.m.

The police is investigating the cause of the fire, and will release a report on the estimated damage soon.

Locals break construction regulations

More than 1,000 building violations were reported in Ha Noi in the first half of this year.

Nearly 20 per cent of the illegal or improper work had to be demolished.

After inspecting more than 7,000 buildings, authorities found a total of 1,162 offences. More than half of them related to work that had not been approved.

Inspectors decided to suspend the construction of 814 buildings and impose financial penalties on the owners of another 213.

A total of 194 projects were ordered to be demolished.

"The buildings, mostly on the outskirts of Ha Noi in the districts of Chuong My, Gia Lam, Me Linh and Thanh Oai, were built without official permits," said the chief inspector of Ha Noi Construction Department, Phan Van Bao.

He added that this was because district people's committees had not issued specific regulations about securing permits for construction in residential areas.

Bao added that amid growing urbanisation, rural people were constantly migrating to the big cities and were not fully aware of urban construction regulations. They were often used to building homes without official permission.

Building projects that violated their permits were mostly located in inner Ha Noi, where building owners make the most of living space to maximise profits.

Ha Noi Construction Department will submit to the People's Committee a proposal that double financial penalties be imposed on construction violations to address spontaneous urban development.

Damaged roads under repair

Four out of seven road work projects have completed repairs of subsided highways that required fixing shortly after being opened.

The remaining work would be completed by next Wednesday, head of the Department for Management of Traffic Work Construction and Quality Tran Xuan Sanh said.

At a meeting on Monday, Sanh said that repairs to four roads; the section of National Highway No1A from Ben Thuy Bridge to Ha Tinh Province, the section of National Highway No2 from Ha Noi to Thai Nguyen Province, the National Highway No5 and the 35-km long route avoiding Thua Thien Hue Province, had finished.

Three other projects; the Uong Bi-Ha Long section of National Highway No18, the route avoiding Vinh City, and the enlargement of National Highway No1A passing Ninh Binh Province, were currently in progress.

"The department will have a report on the cause of the subsidence on these routes," he said.

To ensure the quality of repaired roads, Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang required the department to work with the Viet Nam Road Administration to re-examine repair jobs on these projects and the Gie Bridge-Ninh Binh, Ha Noi-Lao Cai Highway and Thang Long Boulevard projects.

The department would have to issue the time of maintenance for these routes by the end of this month, he said.

In June, a 14-member inspection team, led by Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong, was set up to examine why many sections of new roads and highways had subsided so quickly after a short time of opening.

The team would study and propose solutions to address subsided roads and ask experts from scientific institutions and related agencies to help.

International experts have discussed the problem of subsidence and cracks on transport projects, citing temperature changes, overloaded vehicles, construction methods and building material quality for the collapse of construction works.

Numerous measures have been taken to fight the problem, including strict oversight over heavily-loaded vehicles, asphalt quality and designing and building processes.

VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/ND