Hanoi authorities seize 20 iPhone 6

The Market Management Unit No 1 under Ha Noi's Market Management Department yesterday seized 20 iPhone 6 smartphones from a man living in Dai Kim commune of Hoang Mai district.

The man, named Hoang Ba Thuc, did not have any papers to prove legal possession of the 20 smartphones, which are worth a total of VND 500 million.

Thuc admitted that he had bought the phones from HCM City via express service in order to sell them illegally.

Captain of the Market Management Unit No 1 Nguyen Dang Khoa said that his unit was making further investigations in the case.

More trees to be cut down in HCMC

Many trees along Ton Duc Thang Street in HCMC’s District 1 will be felled or moved to other places to make room for construction of Thu Thiem 2 Bridge.

Nguyen Khac Dung, head of the Greenery and Public Park Office under the Department of Transport, told the Daily that the city will chop down 84 big trees and relocate 37 others but will keep 151 out of a total 272 trees in the construction site.

Most of the trees that need to be cut down would lie along the bridge and near the piers, each measuring over 80 centimeters in diameter. Therefore, the relocation of those trees is quite unlikely due to the huge costs, Dung said.

However, more trees will be re-planted along Thu Thiem 2 Bridge when its construction is complete, Dung added.

In addition, Urban Traffic Management Unit No. 2 under the transport department proposed chopping down as many as 215 trees to expand Nguyen Van Huong Street in District 2.

Furthermore, 57 trees in September 23 Park will be also uprooted to facilitate the construction of Ben Thanh underground central station as part of Metro Line No.1 connecting Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and Suoi Tien Theme Park in District 9.

Earlier in July, 41 trees in front of the City Opera House were felled to make room for the metro line.

The Transport Department has mulled a number of measures and solutions in an effort to minimize the number of trees being cut down or relocated, Dung noted.

The department is now preparing a plan for developing the city’s greenery and parks by 2020 with a vision toward 2025. The zoning plan is expected to be ready at the end of this year.

Vietnam Air to sell tickets for Tet flights next month

Vietnam Airlines will start selling air tickets for its services during the Lunar New Year holiday, or Tet, from early October.

The national flag carrier said in a statement that it would offer tickets for Tet flights five months ahead of the holiday to enable passengers to plan their travels and bookings beforehand.

Tet tickets will be available for booking at its website on www.vietnamairlines.com, and ticketing offices and authorized agents of the airline nationwide.

The carrier calls for passengers to make bookings as soon as possible to find an appropriate flight as tickets could hardly be found in the lead up to the biggest and longest public holiday. As usual, demand for air travels always runs high before and during the holiday.

In the middle of this month, no-frills carrier VietJetAir began selling 360,000 tickets for Tet flights. The carrier sells air tickets for Tet flights on www.vietjetair.com, via its call center at 19001886, and at its ticketing offices and authorized agents nationwide.

Another low-cost carrier, Jetstar Pacific, has launched the sale of tickets for its flights during Tet, which will fall early next year.

Around 12,500 children in the northwestern mountainous province of Son La are at risk of contracting HIV, according to the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Most of the children come from families with one or both parents or other relatives having HIV or using drug.

The province authorities currently monitor and provide free treatment for 156 children infected with HIV. However, many children of high risk are living in remote mountain areas and experience great difficulties in accessing health care services.

Dam Van Huong, Director of Son La Prevention HIV/AIDS Centre, said around 400 new HIV-infected cases are reported in the province each year, posing serious challenges for the provincial medical management and health care services.

According to the centre, in December 2013, the province had 8,782 HIV carriers, of whom 3,000 had developed full-blown AIDS. It ranks second in the country in terms of HIV infection rate, just after Ho Chi Minh City.

Son La also has over 15,000 heroin addicts, who are at high risk of contracting HIV.

Flood-proof housing plan benefits 50,000 families

Dong Thap Province still has 13,000 families living in flood-prone areas that need to be relocated as part of a state-run programme that has been carried out since 2001, according to the province's Department of Construction.

More than 50,000 families in the province have already been relocated into flood-proof residential clusters over the last 13 years.

With their new houses, residents have been protected during the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta's flood season, which usually lasts about four months.

This year, the flood season began in July, one month earlier than normal.

Dang Van Tuan, who lives in a flood-proof residential area in Tan Hong District, said in the past he had to stay up many nights to check rising water levels to move his family out in time.

Tuan and his family, who once lived in a makeshift house in Tan Hong's Binh Phu Commune, moved to the cluster in 2012.

"Now it is fine. My house is solid and the roads are good. I can now focus on work to provide for my family," he said.

Tuan said he had finished harvesting his rice and was now catching fish and shrimp brought by rising water levels in his rice fields.

Located upstream and in a low-lying area in the Mekong Delta, Dong Thap has the largest number of flood-proof residential clusters of any site in the country.

The state-run programme completed its first phase in 2007 and is now in its second phase.

Dinh Xuan Hoang, deputy director of the province's Department of Construction, said the province had built 53 flood-proof residential clusters in the second phase.

Fifty of those have been completed and the remaining three are expected to be completed this month.

The province has approved new flood-proof housing for 12,444 families, or 87 per cent of families targeted under the second phase. Of those families, more than 7,800 families have already moved to the residential clusters.

In the provinces' Thap Muoi District, local authorities have relocated more than 96 per cent of families into flood-proof residential clusters.

Dinh Minh Dung, deputy chairman of the Thap Muoi People's Committee, said the district had built flood-proof residential clusters in areas near markets and urban areas with suitable locations.

Le Minh Hoan, secretary of the province's Party Committee, said the housing situation had been solved but jobs must be created in the areas where residents have relocated.

Over the past years, Dong Thap's districts have begun several programmes to create jobs in and near flood-proof residential clusters. These included agricultural cooperatives and classes in handicraft-making.

Families in flood-proof residential clusters have also been provided soft loans to do business.

Illegal loggers fight forest guards

Once wary of local authorities and forest guards, loggers in the southern provinces of Lam Dong and Binh Thuan are growing increasingly defiant.

Driving in groups, they bring large trucks to the forests near Di Linh and Bac Binh communes, where they illegally chop down trees and drive away with the valuable wood. Many bring weapons in order to protect their hauls.

Nguyen Van Tap, an official at the Di Linh forest guard station, recalled an incident in which the forest guards caught illegal loggers red-handed and confiscated the wood.

"On the way out of the forest, about a hundred men, among them local thugs, caught up with us and reclaimed the wood. Some even attempted to disarm us," he said.

Tam Hiep Forestry One Member Company Limited, a company charged with taking care of parts of the forest in Di Linh commune, also experienced hostility, including blackmail and threats, while dealing with illegal loggers.

Director Tran Anh Tuan said the police couldn't be of much help due to the lack of evidence. Some loggers were charged with minor offenses, but this failed to deter them from future provocations.

Forest guards find it particularly difficult to monitor illegal loggers' movements in the overlapping area between the two provinces. The Lam Dong Forest Guard carried out a dozen campaigns in 2014 and confiscated equipment, vehicles and illegal wood, but loggers simply moved from one province to the other.

The area is under-populated, which further complicates the fight against loggers, as their operations usually go unnoticed. Using terrain to their advantage, loggers exploit tricky mountain paths to enter protected forest areas. Once discovered, they quickly move to alternative paths.

Local authorities have seen some results by setting up checkpoints, forcing loggers to relocate their rendezvous points. Two more checkpoints are to be set up along key routes by the two provinces' authorities.

One dead, one injured in barbershop fire

One person died and another was injured after a barbershop caught fire in Binh Duong province's Thuan An town yesterday.

Tran Van Co was found dead upstairs whilst the female owner, Tran Thi Hai, was found unconscious and injured near the door.

Officials and residens heard calls from inside but could not break into the house because of heavy smoke and fire.

The local authority is investigating the situation.

Tay Ninh firm fined for pollution

Tay Ninh's People's Committee yesterday issued a fine of VND300 million (US$14,000) to Tay Ninh Industrial Park Infrastructure Development Joint Company (JSC PTHT Tay Ninh Industrial Zones) for a problem in the wastewater treatment system of Trang Bang Industrial Park.

The wastewater sample collected from the Industrial Park showed an amount of suspended solids and true color units that was 4.6 times higher than the standard.

JSC PTHT Tay Ninh explained that wastewater produced by Tran Hiep Thanh Textile Company was the major reason for the incident.

The company overloaded the system by producing around 1,000 cubic metres of wastewater per day, leading to the discharge of untreated wastewater.

JSC PTHT Tay Ninh Industrial Zones has fixed the problem and the wastewater now meets standards.

Vietnamese labor quality not improved much

Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong from the Institute of Labor Science and Social Affairs said, at the ongoing 2013 Autumn Economic Forum in the northern province of Ninh Binh on September 27, that Vietnamese labor quality has not been improved drastically.

According to her study, more than 22,000 unskilled laborers without degree or qualification nationwide are assuming jobs which require training and skills. On the opposite side, around one million university degree and post-graduate diploma candidates are assuming non-skilled jobs.

Accordingly, there has been a drastic disparity in Vietnamese laborers’ monthly average salary. By statistics, in the second quarter of 2014, month average income of workers in agriculture-forestry and fisheries sector is lowest with VND3 million (US$ 141.509); of workers in industry and construction is VND4.3 million (US$ 202.830) and those working in service sector is VND5.2 million (US$ 245.283).

Lotte Center Hanoi’s lift sliding terrifies seven

A lift slided down last week from the 63rd floor in the newly-opened Lotte Center Hanoi before coming to a stop at the 29th floor, terrifying seven passengers inside.

At 65 storeys, the Lotte Center Hanoi is the capital city’s second tallest building after Keangnam Landmark 72.

A group of people entered the elevator on the 65th floor, the highest floor of the building, and after moving down to the 63rd floor, the lift suddenly halted for a short moment and then began to freely slided down at a high speed.

The lift stopped at the 29th floor and would not open its door to let the occupants out.

Some of them phoned the building’s management staffs and other concerned agencies for help. It was not until 40 minutes later that the passengers were able to get out of the lift with the assistance of the building’s staff.

The investor, Lotte Coralis Vietnam, accepted the incident in a release, claiming that as the censor recognised an abnormal fluctuation of the elevator, its safety device MOSIS was turned on to slow down the elevator before stopping at 29th floor.

The owner expressed regret for the problem and apologised the passengers.

New section of major road opened to traffic

A 1.4-km section near Hoa Ca Crocodile Farm of Pham Van Dong Street in HCMC’s Thu Duc District was opened to traffic on September 28 by the HCMC Department of Transport, helping ease congestion on nearby Kha Van Can Street.

Traffic congestion had been severe over the past years at this section, forcing local people to arrange small wooden or iron bridges over the median strip to help motorcyclists get out of jams at a fee of VND2,000.

As this road section has come into use, Kha Van Can Street is closed for an upgrade project.

At present, six kilometers of Pham Van Dong Street is now in use, reducing traffic congestion on Kha Van Can Street and National Road No. 13.

Another five-kilometer section from Linh Dong Street to Linh Xuan intersection in Thu Duc District is also scheduled for opening by the city Department of Transport before the traditional Lunar New Year 2015.

Meanwhile, a 500-meter road section near Go Dua Bridge in the same district will be opened to traffic before National Day next year (April 30), which enables travelers to move on Pham Van Dong Street from the Nguyen Kiem-Nguyen Thai Son intersection to National Highway No. 1A smoothly.

Pham Van Dong Street, formerly known as Tan Son Nhat-Binh Loi-Outer Beltway road, has six to 12 lanes and 13.7 kilometers in length.

This road starts from Truong Son Street near the Tan Son Nhat International Airport to Nguyen Thai Son Roundabout and ends at Linh Xuan intersection in Thu Duc District before connecting to National Highway 1A.

Soc Trang: Work starts on breakwater and roads for rescue work

Construction commenced on a breakwater and roads serving rescue work and national security in Tran De district, in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang on September 27.

The 20.5km project, including 10 bridges, is invested by the provincial Transport Department at a total of over VND979 billion (US$46 million). It is expected to be put into operation by 2018.

According to Tran Anh Viet, head of the Soc Trang provincial Transport Department, the project, running through Soc Trang city, Long Phu district, and Tran De was of importance to local socio-economic development. It was also connected with arterial roads such as Southern Hau River National Highway, National Highway No. 1A, No. 60 and provincial-level roads No.933, 933C, and 934.

Once completed, the project not only served to prevent salinity, protect production and enhance national security and disaster mitigation in Tran De, but also played an important role in the transport of passengers and goods and was a driving force for maritime economic development in Soc Trang, said Nguyen Trung Hieu, Chairman of Soc Trang provincial People’s Committee.

At the ceremony, construction units granted VND90 million for construction of three charity houses in three localities within the project area.

Jetstar Pacific Airlines offers ‘zero fare’ tickets

Budget airline Jetstar Pacific announced on September 27 a special promotion, offering direct 250 ‘zero fare’ return tickets (excluding tax and other additional fees) for local peoples in Hanoi, Hai Phong, Buon Ma Thuot, Vinh and Da Nang.

Passengers will enter a raffle for promotion tickets at the airline's ticket offices in Hai Phong on September 27, Hanoi on September 28, Buon Ma Thuot on October 5, Vinh on October 12 and Da Nang on October 19.

Earlier, the same programme was also organised in Ho Chi Minh City, Hue and Thanh Hoa province.

The promotion gives priority to passengers who are disadvantaged people.

Additionally, the airline will launch a promotion programme from 12a.m on September 26 to 12:59pm on September 28, with a one-way ticket selling for VND199,000 on international routes and VND 230,000 on domestic routes.

The tickets (excluding tax and other additional fees) are available on the airline’s website at www.jetstar.com or www.mobile.jetstar.com, as well as through hotline 1900 1550 and the airline's ticket offices.

Hanoi seminar tackles climate change impact

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) co-hosted a seminar in Hanoi on September 29, discussing measures to reduce greenhouse gases in agriculture.

Speaking at the seminar, MARD Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh underscored the point that agriculture, and in particular rice production, not only contributes to global warming, but is detrimentally affected by it.

“Agriculture accounts for 43.1% of total national greenhouse gas emissions, of which rice production makes up 57.3%,” Doanh said.

Doan also announced that a project to enhance Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) will be implemented in Vietnam at a cost of US$770,000. To finance the cost, US$700,000 will come from the UN One Plan and the remainder from the governmental corresponding capital

John Habe, FAO representative, in turn said success in reducing greenhouse gas emission requires close coordination and joint efforts of ministries and leaders at all levels and they must be reduced if the country is to achieve sustainable agriculture.

A NAMA working group on agriculture has been established and tasked with identifying priorities to food production and integrated energy, social and environmental sustainability, and potential for greenhouse gas emission reduction.

Internet project connects Long An’s remote localities

The project “Bringing the Internet to villages” by the Vietnam Internet Fund (VNIF) was launched in Moc Hoa district, the Mekong Delta province of Long An on September 29.

Accordingly, 40 computers, worth nearly VND400 million (US$18,900), were handed over to Tan Thanh Primary School in the district, the district People’s Committee and 12 border guard posts in the province.

Moc Hoa is a remote, disadvantaged district located in the Plain of Reed, bordering Cambodia.

The Moc Hoa project is the fourth of its kind undertaken by VNIF, which is managed by VNG Joint Stock Company. It will allow easier Internet access and greater networking benefit for underprivileged people, particularly children living in remote areas.

The programme has previously launched in Huu Lung district in the northern mountainous province of Lang Son, Dak Song district in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong and Yen Thanh district in the northern central province of Nghe An, with a total investment of VND800 million (over US$37,700).

Life-long learning week launched nationwide

A life-long learning week was launched in localities across the country on September 29 launched to raise public awareness of building a learning society.

A wide range of activities such as seminars, workshops and book-reading festivals are being held in response to the event.

Many young learners are keen on upholding book-reading culture

The Departments of Education and Training have opened vocational training courses for rural workers and helped learners sharpen their social skills and get updated on modern technology, in a joint effort to reduce poverty.

All sectors have also worked hard to promote life-long learning activities at libraries, museums and cultural houses.

In 2005, the Government adopted the life-long learning society strategy until 2010, which aims to create equal opportunities for people from all walks of life to pursue studying.

The National Committee for HIV/AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution Prevention and Control (NCHDPPC) and major national media agencies on September 29 signed an agreement to carry out a national public-service campaign aimed at stemming the spread of HIV/AIDS.

The joint communication programme, which lasts through to 2020, will be joined by the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Radio the Voice of Vietnam and Vietnam Television (VTV).

Under the agreement, the press agencies will serve as a conduit for scores of HIV/AIDS prevention messages and actively popularise key concepts pertaining to HIV/AIDS and prevention methods.

They will, in addition, regularly disseminate the NCHDPPC’s activities and publicise to the general populace the importance of society in assisting HIV/AIDS patients, drug users and prostitutes in reintegrating into the community.

Japan grants 30 management scholarships to officials

Japan will provide non-refundable aid for Vietnam to implement the Japan Human Resource Development Scholarships (JDS) project in 2015-2016.

Thirty candidates will be selected in 2015 for master’s degree courses in English in Japan.

Subjects vary from market economy management (public economy, public administration), urban and rural development, and environmental protection (climate change and disaster prevention), to legislation and public administration capacity enhancement.

For further information, candidates can access the website http://jds-scholarship.org.

JDS office has introduced the scholarship programme in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, Danang, and Hue.

Vietnam vows multi-sectoral efforts in outbreak fighting

Vietnam will launch multi-sectoral efforts in combating epidemic diseases and join with countries worldwide in this endeavour, Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien told the Global Health Security Conference in Washington DC, the US, on September 26.

She said Vietnam vows to fight epidemics in humans transmitted by animals and adopt the model of Emergency Operations Centre for epidemics control and public health care.

US President Barack Obama and Director General of the World Health Organisation Margaret Chan, in their speeches, underscored the challenges of global epidemic outbreaks, including Ebola in western African countries.

Attendees urged more accelerated efforts towards the goal of effective prevention, early detection and rapid response.

Canada, Finland, Germany, Japan and the Republic of Korea promised financial and technical assistance in laboratory tests and drug-resistance prevention.

The conference will become an annual event with the next to be held in the Republic of Korea in 2015.

During their stay in the US , the Vietnamese delegation held working sessions with Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell, former Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear who is now Defence Secretary Assistant, and Coordinator of the US Global AIDS Office Deborah Brix.

The hosts and other international organisations pledged help to Vietnam in the US’s Global Health Security Program in terms of technical transfer and financing in the next five years.

Vietnam is one of the first two countries chosen to pilot the programme following the working visit in 2013 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

The US committed over US$400,000 to Vietnam in October, and the sum may be higher in the next coming years.

Tighter control over foreign language education

The Ministry of Education and Training has just issued instructions to tighten control over the training and issuing of certificates to foreign language learners.

The tighter control would be applied to the printing, issuance and use of foreign language certificates throughout the education system.

As a result, the ministry is asking for collaboration with a prestigious foreign accreditation organisation to apply advanced solutions in testing and competence assessment for both learners and teachers.

The design of management systems, inspections and independent supervision over operations of educational organisations would be also allowed.

In recent years, foreign language education has been somewhat of a lightening rod, drawing strong but varying opinions, especially after the ministry decided to make learning a foreign language compulsory in high schools beginning 2015.

According to the regulation, students who already have standard foreign language certification would be exempt from the subject on the graduation exam.

The ministry is scrutinising the foreign language certification process nationwide.

Vietnam wins IAEA awards in plant mutation breeding

Vietnam won three out of 23 awards presented by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for its achievements in releasing mutant plant varieties and contributions to increased food security and sustainable development.

The o utstanding achievement award was granted to the Vietnam Agricultural Genetics Institute, which has worked with IAEA and domestic research institutions to create a number of flood-proof and high-yield rice varieties since the 80s.

T he Institute of Agricultural Science for Southern Vietnam and the Centre for Nuclear Techniques in Ho Chi Minh City secured an achievement award in mutation breeding.

Meanwhile, Ho Cong Cua and Tran Tan Phuong from the Soc Trang Department of Science and Technology also received the same accolade.

The one-off awards were to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Joint Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture.

They were announced d uring the 58th regular session of the IAEA General Conference, which concluded in Vienna, Austria, on September 26.

Young teacher finishes Hanoi-HCMC walk

Vo Manh Tuan, who is a young teacher with a Master’s degree at Kon Tum Vocational School, reached his final destination at the Reunification

Palace in HCMC last week after walking 2,000 kilometers from Hanoi within two months.

The people welcoming Tuan at the finish line included his family members, friends and members of Quang Tri Province’s Former Students and Students Club. They said it was amazing to see a young Quang Tri Province-born man strive to keep moving forward and complete his north-south walk despite hash weather conditions which made him tanned and thinner.

“This trans-Vietnam walk is aimed to raise funds to support poor children in coastal regions and help them go to school”, Tuan said.

Tuan said he will be back to work and continue efforts for new fund-raising projects to support community programs after the journey.

Scholarships benefit 200 poor school children in central VN

The HCMC Party Committee’s Information and Education Commission last week awarded 200 scholarships worth VND500,000 to poor yet hard-working school children in central Vietnam.

The commission last Saturday presented 100 of the 200 scholarships to school children in Dien Ban District of Quang Nam Province during a central coast tour the commission arranged for HCMC-based news organizations, particularly those with journalists winning the 2014 journalism awards.

A day earlier the commission granted another 100 scholarships plus 100 radio receivers to school children on Ly Son Island off mainland Quang Ngai Province.

Lawrence S. Ting Memorial Fund donates VND9.1 billion

Phu My Hung Corporation and The Lawrence S. Ting Memorial Fund have offered scholarships and charitable aid with a total value of over VND9.1 billion as part of their 2015 program.

The Lawrence S. Ting Memorial Fund awards 473 scholarships, worth a combined VND4.12 billion, to excellent students from 34 high and tertiary schools nationwide. Each selected high school student will get a VND4.5 million scholarship in every school academic year while college and university students will receive a VND10 million scholarship each. Moreover, the Lawrence S. Ting Memorial Fund also sponsors local charitable funds and associations with a total value of VND5.06 billion this year.

Besides, the Lawrence S. Ting Memorial Fund donates educational equipment for IT teaching and learning in Vietnam in a program entitled “Tien buoc cung cong nghe thong tin” (Moving forward with IT) as well. In the past eight years, this program has  sponsored more than 122 computer-equipped rooms worth over VND37 billion in total at 96 schools nationwide.

After nine years of operations, the Lawrence S. Ting Memorial Fund has given more than VND192 billion to social and charitable activities, especially in health and education.

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