New bridge opens in Da Nang
After 18-months’ work, a three-level rail and road flyover was opened yesterday at Da Nang’s busiest roundabout, Hue Junction, to alleviate congestion.
The VND2 trillion (US$95 million) project was built at a level crossing where 30 trains, 5,000 cars and trucks, 10,000 motorbikes and 80,000 bicycles cross path every day.
Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang said the project, which was completed on time would ease traffic and reduce the number accidents.
He told the inauguration ceremony that the flyover would become one of the city’s attractions.
The bridge features designs of the Hindu Yoni (female) and Linga (male) emblems from the ancient Cham Kingdom in the central region in the 13th century.
The bridge’s 65m-high main tower is designed to withstand earthquakes. It also has an earthquake alarm system.
Unusual floods kill 3 in central Vietnam
Several floods triggered by unusual heavy rains over the last few days have claimed three lives in central Vietnam, authorities say.
Two people in Quang Ngai and one in neighboring Quang Nam drowned as rainfall totals from March 24-28 in some areas hit more than 500 mm, the highest in March since 1965, Hoang Duc Cuong, director of the Central Meteorological Forecast Center, said on March 28.
Cuong called the heavy rains “unusual” as they occurred during the dry season. The flooding season in central Vietnam usually starts in July and lasts until December.
Floods over the last several days annihilated about 2,700 hectares of rice and other crops in Quang Ngai, local authorities said.
“We often fear droughts in March, which may reduce our crop yields. But this year major floods came, submerging our crops,” said Doan Nam Dat, a 61-year-old farmer in Quang Ngai’s Hanh Minh Commune.
Floods also damaged large areas of crops in Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue provinces.
Australia assists Vietnam in improving water quality
Australia will continue to work with Vietnam to share experiences in dealing with integrated water management, including water quality control, and assist Vietnam to address challenges it faces in the sector, according to Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Hugh Borrowman.
Hugh Borrowman and Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam on March 26 co-chaired a seminar on water quality control to discuss the status of water quality control in Vietnam and assessed the barriers and constraints to effective water quality control, including issues concerning institutional, financial and human resources.
At the seminar, Deputy Prime Minister Dam stressed the Vietnamese Government’s commitment to improving water quality and emphasized the need to raise public awareness, enhance effective regulatory regimes and improve market-oriented incentives.
“Australia has been an active partner for Vietnam in the water sector since 1993, and provided AUD122 million, including budget and technical support, through the National Target Program for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation from 2006 to 2015,” Borrowman said.
Australia has provided water quality testing laboratories for 15 provinces, assisted the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in developing and rolling out a water quality control action plan, and assisted Vinh Phuc, Tuyen Quang, An Giang and Tra Vinh provinces in developing a strategy to address rural household water quality issues.
In the coming time, Australian experts will continue helping Vietnam in promoting water quality treatment technologies, enhancing governance in this area, and promoting private sector participation in providing water services to rural people.
Vietnam’s access to hygienic water sources increased from 57% in 1990 to 84.5% last year and sanitation access also jumped from 37% to 62.5% in the period.
Traffic banned on Pasteur and Le Duan Streets
All vehicles have been banned from entering the Pasteur and Le Duan Streets in HCM City from today, the HCM City Department of Transport said.
This has been done as part of the preparations for the 40th anniversary of the National Reunification Day (April 30).
Vehicles would not be allowed to enter the Pasteur Street portion, stretching from Han Thuyen Street to the Alexandre de Rhodes Street, and on a part of the Le Duan Street between the Pham Ngoc Thach Street and Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street.
Residents have been advised to use alternative routes, such as the Pasteur–Ly Tu Trong–Hai Ba Trung–Le Duan–Pham Ngoc Thach or Le Duan–Pham Ngoc Thach–Alexandre de Rhodes–Nam Ky Khoi Nghia route.
Meanwhile, a portion of the Han Thuyen Street, which runs from the Pasteur to Cong xa Paris Street, will be restricted to a one-way street during the duration of the preparations.
Parking on Han Thuyen and Alexandre de Rhodes has also been banned.
The bans will be lifted on May 6.
Three die in separate train accidents
Two men died after being hit by a fast approaching south-north SE2 train, while they were trying to cross the rail line yesterday afternoon in the central Thua Thien-Hue Province.
The accident took place in the province’s Loc Thuy Commune in Phu Loc District. Eyewitnesses said the men, who were on a motorbike, were attempting to cross the rail line to go to a hamlet, even as others had stopped to let the train pass.
This was the second instance of a train collision at the same site during the last month and a half. No barrier has been placed at the railway crossing.
Earlier in the day, a woman was killed after being a hit by local train in the central Quang Binh Province. The train was going from the local Dong Hoi Township to Vinh City in Nghe An Province.
An Giang residents run for charity
More than 2,000 government officials, soldiers, workers, students and local residents came together in Long Xuyen City to take part in a public marathon today.
They gathered in the Ton Duc Thang Square of the city located in the southern An Giang province.
The event entitled, “Olympic Run for Public Health” is aimed at promoting awareness among the local residents about protecting their health.
Organised by the Viet Nam Father Front Committee in co-operation with the An Giang Province’s Department of Culture, Tourism and Sports, the race will also raise funds to support the “Fund for the Poor.”
On the first day of the movement today, more than VND57 billion (US$2.5 million) was raised for the poor.
Donors included people from social organisations and businesses. The provincial Hoa Hao Buddhist Executive Committee donated VND5 billion (US$240,000), while the Co To stone exploiting and processing enterprise contributed VND3.5 billion.
The Vice Chairman of the province’s People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Binh stressed that the event was held to manifest the tradition of national unity among the local residents and to help implement the country’s poverty eradication programme.
Most modern equipped cancer hospital inaugurated in Northeast area
A VND336 billion (US$15.6 million) cancer center which is a branch of Vietnam-Thuy Dien (Vietnam-Sweden) Cancer Hospital was inaugurated yesterday in the northern province of Quang Ninh , aiming to enhance treatment quality and meet demand of treating cancer for people in the Northeast area.
The 200 bed center was invested by the Government and well-equipped with modern machines for cancer treatment. It also has a dormitory for physicians and a library.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said that investment in the center was a part in the target of completing cancer treatment system nationwide in the future.
Moreover, the Vietnam-Thuy Dien (Vietnam-Sweden) Cancer Hospital will become general hospital to improve healthcare mission in the North, she said.
Ms. Kim Tien added that the center was also aimed at reducing the overloading in hospitals in Hanoi.
Hospital director Dr. Tran Viet Tiep said that there were more and more people suffering cancer, heart problems and endocrine.
According to annual statistics, the rate of new cancer patients per year account for 0.16 percent of the whole country population and the hospital receives from 1,500 to 2,000 fresh cancer people a year, he said.
As treatment demand has increased dramatically, especially cancer disease, in 2009, the Ministry approved the national cancer prevention development planning with the vision to 2020, in which the Vietnam-Sweden would be expanded with over 1,100 beds and three new cancer centers.
Vietnam has around 150,000 cancer patients annually, of which 75,000 succumbed to the disease. The number is expected to hit 200,000 by 2020.
JFE Holdings presents scholarships to Danang students
Financial assistance to help the University of Danang recruit and educate even more top science and technology students was the focus of VND50 million gifts from Japan based JFE Steel Corporation.
On March 27, scholarships were awarded to 10 students based on academic excellence and their ability to speak fluent Japanese who are studying at the university as a way to invest in the future advancement of relations between Vietnam and Japan.
Each awardee received a watch and VND5 million to be used for tuition or other educational fees.
At the event, representatives of JFE and the University of Danang committed to further coordinating to present similar awards in the future.
JFE Holdings, Inc. is a large multinational organization that engages in the steel and engineering businesses. The company was founded on September 27, 2002 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
Vietnam mulls higher visa fees for foreigners, OVs
The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance is drafting a new visa rule that will maintain the fees for Vietnamese citizens but increase those for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese.
A single-entry visa for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese is proposed to be US$45, instead of the current US$25, according to the draft decree.
The fees to get a multi-entry visa vary depending on the time of validity, the ministry said.
A six-month multi-entry visa currently costs US$50, but the finance ministry wants it to be US$65.
As for the multi-entry visa with a validity of more than six months, which can now be applied for US$100, the new fee could be a maximum US$255.
In good news for holidaymakers, the fee set for their visa will remain US$5 per person according to the ministry’s proposition.
The fee for tourists was increased drastically to US$45 per person earlier this year, along with a more complicated and time-consuming application procedure, but was cut back to US$5 following an intervention by the Prime Minister.
Jail terms against trio for selling Vietnamese women
The Supreme People’s Court has upheld jail terms ranging between three and eight years against three people of a human trafficking ring that sold seven Vietnamese women to Chinese men.
At a trial in Ho Chi Minh City on March 26, the Supreme Court rejected all the appeals by Pham Thi Ngoc Tuyet, 42, Duong Van Chanh, 65, and his son Duong Quoc Nghia, 30.
They were sentenced by a court in the southern province last December. Other members of the ring, Ka Thuy Linh and her Chinese husband Dai Chang Sheng were sentenced to three years each. Six of their accomplices received jail terms of between two and seven years.
Only Tuyet, Chanh and Nghia appealed last year’s ruling, saying they committed the crime due to limited legal knowledge.
The case was busted on June 4, 2014 when police caught Linh and Sheng at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport attempting to send three Vietnamese women to China.
The couple’s confessions led to the arrests of Tuyet, the ring leader, and her accomplices.
Investigators found that Tuyet had asked Linh and her husband to bring Chinese men over to pick Vietnamese wives since 2013.
Linh, Sheng and another Chinese man, who is still at large, charged their Chinese clients 40,000 yuan (US$6,434) each. They paid Tuyet and her accomplices in Vietnam VND110 million (US$5,112) per client.
They successfully sent seven women abroad.
Outstanding youth hounoured for significant achievements in 2014
The 2014 Outstanding Vietnamese Youth Awards ceremony was held in Hanoi on March 28 to honour ten prominent youngsters who gained significant achievements in 2014 in various fields.
Co-organised by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCMCYU) Central Committee and the Vietnam Young Talent Support Fund, the awards aim to honour young Vietnamese individuals living at home or abroad who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of academics, scientific research, labour and production, national defence and security, arts and culture, sports and social activities.
In 2014, the organising board received 141 nominations from 43 units, from which 20 outstanding individuals were selected to receive awards. The remaining ten of the final 20 also received the ‘Young promising faces of the year’ award at the ceremony.
Speaking at the event, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, Nguyen Thien Nhan, praised the outstanding achievements of the ten award winners, while urging them to continue to improve themselves so that they may contribute further to the national construction and defence.
The leader also asked HCMCYU and Vietnam Young Talent Support Fund to expand the awards ceremony to honour more prominent individuals in order to motivate Vietnamese youth at home and abroad to actively participate in patriotic movements and gain more outstanding achievements.
At the ceremony, the winners shared with the audience their ambitions and experiences on the path to realising their dreams.
Drunk Russian causes motorbike crash, 1 Vietnamese dead
A Russian man, allegedly drunk, has caused a traffic accident in the central province of Phan Thiet, killing a local who was riding home from his late shift.
Olegs Kabcob, 40, was rushed to a hospital in the early hours on March 25 with severe injuries, police said, adding that the man is still in critical condition.
The Russian just left a late party at a restaurant in the resort town of Mui Ne and was on his way back to his hotel.
He had not been granted any driving license in Vietnam, police said.
Initial investigations at the scene showed that Kabcob’s motorbike had veered to the wrong side of the road, crashing into the motorbike of Nguyen Trung Trieu.
Trieu, a 22-year-old worker, was coming home from his late shift.
Both of the vehicles were badly damaged.
Doctors, nurse get prison for causing deaths of 3 newborns
Two doctors and a nurse were sentenced to 3-5 years on March 27 for mistaking Hep-B vaccine with a muscle relaxant when giving the shots to three new-born babies, leading to their deaths in 2013.
Quang Tri People’s Court handed down the highest jail terms to Nguyen Thi Thuan, the nurse that directly gave the injections to the babies at the Huong Hoa District General Hospital in the central province.
The hospital deputy director, Doctor Nguyen Van Thien, 55, was sentenced to three years, and Doctor Le Huynh Son, 40, who was in charge of the operation room, got four years’ imprisonment for charges of “lack of responsibilities causing serious consequences.”
Tran Thi Hai Van, 35, a nurse in charge of the examination ward, was sentenced to three years’ probation on the same charges.
The hospital was ordered to compensate VND77 million (US$3,580) each to the families of the three babies.
At the trial, Thuan said it was her biggest mistake during her 20 years working as a nurse and that she would be regretful for the rest of her life.
Son also admitted that he was the one who put the muscle relaxant Esmeron into the fridge that stores Hep-B vaccines. He did, however, left a note that said “poisonous drug” on the bottle.
Meanwhile, Van was in charge of managing vaccines stored in the fridge.
According to the verdict, on July 20, 2013, Thuan was ordered to inject Hep-B vaccine to three new born babies.
There was a power blackout at that time, so Thuan used the flashlight of her mobile phone to find the vaccine in the fridge and mistaken the Hep-B vaccine with the muscle relaxant.
The three babies turned pale about half an hour after taking the shots and died soon later at the hospital’s emergency ward.
Thuan then recognized that she made the fatal mistake. She tried to destroy the evidence by secretly replacing the three empty bottles of the muscle relaxant in the trash bin with three other bottles of Hep-B vaccine.
She told the court she was so frightened by the babies’ deaths that she couldn’t think straight.
Ministry launches online services for cosmetics importers
The Drug Administration of Viet Nam (DAVN) under the health ministry today launched online public services level 4 to help cosmetics importers promote their products in the country’s market.
The online registration service level 4 will allow people, businesses and management units to perform administrative formalities, submit required forms, handle documents and payments and receive results using only a computer connected to the Internet.
Service level 4, the highest of the four administrative service levels in the country, is expected to ease the registration process for enterprises in the healthcare sector.
DAVN director Truong Quoc Cuong said, “The application of online service level 4 in the pharmaceutical field will create favourable conditions for enterprises, especially in terms of reducing expenses and time, and increasing transparency and publicity in health administration management.”
Cuong said people and enterprises could submit documents, pay fees, check the progress of document processing and receive results through the online facility from the beginning of April.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Viet Tien said the application of information technology in health administration management was one of the health sector’s efforts to implement the government’s administrative reform policies.
Last year, the ministry launched the level 4 online public service in the hygiene and food safety management field. The service is scheduled to be extended to medical equipment management in 2015.
Levels of public service registration
Level 1: Procedures to fill in the required forms and information about time and service cost are available online.
Level 2: The service allows the user to download the required forms to be printed out and filled in later.
Level 3: The applicant can fill in and submit the forms online.
Level 4: Service payments can be settled online. Transaction results are available either online or by post, upon request.
The online registration service level 4 will allow people, businesses and management units to perform administrative formalities, submit required forms, handle documents and payments and receive results using only a computer connected to the Internet.
Overloaded trucks threaten Ha Noi dykes
The illegal movement of overloaded trucks on Ha Noi’s dykes are seriously threatening the structures, an official from the capital city’s Dyke Management Office (DMO) said.
Deputy Director of DMO, under Ha Noi’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nguyen Xuan Hai said despite all efforts by the DMO in co-operation with local police, transport authorities and other social organisations in the city to prevent those trucks from travelling on the dykes, the violations were increasing to a worrying level.
Hai said a large section of the dykes, particularly those in the Dong Anh and Tu Liem Districts, had been destroyed by trucks with a capacity of carrying more 15 tonnes of load.
Most of the trucks seized by traffic policemen were found transporting sand illegally mined from the Hong River.
Hai said several of the seized trucks had transportation capacity of 15 tonnes, but often carried much more than that.
The official appealed for more action and participation by local authorities to tackle the situation, and highlighted the role of mass media as a key fighter against the violations.
He also urged traffic policemen to impose stricter punishment on the violators.
The DMO would join hands with mass media to wipe out all violations,Hai said.
“We will send people to guard the dykes every day, film or take photographs of the violators, and then send them to the police as proof for punishment,” Hai said.
A report from the Tu Liem District’s police revealed the district traffic policemen seized 412 trucks overloaded with sand and travelling on the Tu Liem Dyke last year. The trucks were fined a total amount of VND570 million (US$21,000).
Illegal sand mining from Hong River has reportedly been damaging the capital city’s dyke system for a long time. The illegal practice has changed the flow of the Hong (Red), Duong and Da Rivers, seriously affecting waterway traffic and causing landslides.
Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam presents 600 gifts to poor
The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha on March 27 presented 600 gift packages to impoverished people in the mountainous northern province of Dien Bien.
The packages, worth between 500,000 VND and 300,000 VND each, were delivered to the underprivileged in five districts – Dien Bien, Dien Bien Dong, Tuan Giao, Nam Po and Muong Nhe.
Those gifts are intended to share hardships with the impoverished and encourage them to make efforts to escape from poverty.
Gift delivery is part of the Buddhist Festival in the Ban flower season held in Dien Bien by the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, its Dien Bien chapter, and the provincial Department of Internal Affairs.
The festival, from March 27-29, also includes a workshop on religious activities of ethnic minorities in mountainous regions and a requiem for martyrs’ soul.
Son La announces Na San airport plan
The northern mountainous province of Son La and the Ministry of Transportation (MoT) have announced an upgrade plan for Na San airport which had experiences several closures since it was built in 1950.
According to a preliminary draft project through 2020, the commercial terminal will be built across 6,750 square meters with a capacity of 450 passengers during its peak hours, or 900,000 passengers a year.
By 2030, the terminal will be expanded an additional 9,000 square meters with a capacity of 600 passengers during peak hour, or 1.5 million passengers a year.
The MoT is also scheduled to build runways, loading areas, administrative areas, flight control decks and roads across a total of 498 hectares by 2030.
In addition to meeting civilian demand, the airport will also play a critical role in military affairs by controlling the northwest airspace.
The airport was built in 1950 by the French, 300 kilometers northwest of Hanoi. During the resistance war against French colonialists, the airport was used as an entrenched fortification of the French army.
In the 1960s, the airport was renovated to serve travel demand in the northwest region but was closed thereafter. It was re-opened for a decade, since 1994 before remaining idle until these current construction initiatives.-
Scholarship presented to ethnic students in Ca Mau
Forty disadvantaged ethnic students with outstanding academic achievements in the southernmost province of Ca Mau received scholarships from the Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund on March 26.
Each primary student was presented with a scholarship worth 800,000 VND (37.5 USD) while secondary and high school students received a scholarship worth 1 million VND (47 USD).
Addressing the award ceremony, former Vice President and Chairwoman of the Fund Truong My Hoa praised the efforts and achievements of the local education sector in meeting the needs of the 6,000 ethnic students in the province.
Established in 1999, the Fund has provided over 60,000 scholarships to students from poor ethnic minority groups nationwide.
In recent years, it also raised funds to care for the children of soldiers protecting Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos.
Rice stockpiling nears national target
Enterprises and localities nationwide have fulfilled more than 71 percent of the government’s plan to purchase and stockpile one million tonnes of rice from the winter-spring crop 2014-2015, according to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA).
VFA Deputy Chairman Huynh The Nang said the work has been conducted more effectively this year thanks to the improved connection among the Mekong Delta provinces and cities.
He noted there were about ten businesses that failed to meet their purchase quota of 60,000 tonnes of rice, due to difficulties in accessing bank loans.
Official statistics show that as of March 18, the Mekong Delta region cultivated rice crops on 1.557 out of 1.565 million hectares of allotted plantation land. The region expects to harvest 940,000 hectares with a yield of 6.34 million tonnes of rice.
Son La calls for investment in tourism
The People’s Committee of the northern mountainous province of Son La has devised a number of incentives to attract investment in tourism development.
The efforts will focus on improving its investment climate, administrative procedures and infrastructure facilities and fostering promotion activities.
“The approved master plan for the development of the Moc Chau National Tourism Zone is a crucial legal framework for the province to mobilise long-term and comprehensive investment” Deputy Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Pham Van Thuy said, highlighting strong potential for tourism, particularly resorts and ecotourism.
The locality should build on its advantages and develop specific plans to boost the sector, he added.
Dinh Hong Phuc, Deputy Director of the Pha Luong tourist agency, said the company will work closely with local residents to improve facilities and service quality, further strengthen homestay tourism and draw tourists to the locality.
The Moc Chau National Tourism Zone, covering more than 206,000 hectares in Moc Chau and Van Ho districts, features diversified and unique products, natural landscapes and ethnic cultural identities, such as the Ban Flower Festival, Nao Song Festival, New Crop Festival, and Miss Cow festival.
Traffic experts discuss responsible drinking
Responsible drinking was at the centre of a conference held in Hanoi on March 27 by the Vietnam’s National Traffic Safety Committee (VNTSC) and t he International Centre for Alcohol Polices ( ICAP ).
The conference reviewed the implementation of the “Global Action to Prevent Alcohol Abuse” programme in Vietnam from 2010 to 2014, which is part of the “Global Action on Harmful Drinking” campaign.
It gave participants the chance to learn about the successes and challenges from running, managing and operating projects from central to local levels; the final results and impacts of the project; and the upcoming action plans within the “Global Action” programme in Vietnam.
The programme carried out activities in three initiatives: alcohol, beer and driving; regulations on responsibility in promoting and marketing alcohol products; and non-commercial alcohol and beer in 18 low and middle income countries.
Addressing the conference, Vice Chairman of Vietnam’s National Traffic Safety Committee Khuat Viet Hung said the practice and experience from the project carried out in Hai Chau and Lien Chieu districts of Da Nang city had been applied to the entire city and to Thanh Hoa and Nghe An from 2013-2014.
Hung appreciated the programme’s effectiveness, sustainability and societal involvement in the implementation process.
The Committee is willing to expand cooperation with the ICAP and now the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD) to carry out programmes on responsible drinking, contributing to preventing drinking and driving in Vietnam, Hung said.
Brett Bivans, Senior Vice President of ICAP/IARD, took the occasion to thank Vietnamese ministries and governmental agencies for their effective cooperation during the programme.
Programme projects were carried out effectively, laying a strong foundation for the next steps towards promoting ‘responsible drinking’ in Vietnam, Bivans said.
The IARD will continue working with partners to reduce drinking and driving in Vietnam, he added.
Da Nang city celebrates 40 years of liberation
Central Da Nang city marked the 40th anniversary of its liberation (March 29, 1975) with a ceremony held in Tien Son Sports Palace on March 28.
In his speech, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Tran Tho reminded local people of Da Nang liberation day and its 40-year journey of development thereafter.
March 29, 1975 will be embedded in history as the most glorious chapter of the city, constituting the power and bravery of its people as well as Vietnam’s patriotism and revolutionary heroism in the US war, Tho hailed.
The city has been oriented towards a comprehensive and sustainable growth to become a socio-economic centre of the central region, he noted.
Lauding the city’s achievements, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, however, asked Da Nang to exert more effort to boost its economic development by promoting the use of advanced technology and improving productivity.
The Deputy PM suggested the locality to keep up its goal as the country’s biggest centre for the fishing industry with an upgraded infrastructure for aquaculture and seafood processing.
He also asked for more attentions to be given to urban planning and civilized community formation.
A firework display will be launched late on the day at four locations to celebrate the occasion.-
VNA/VNS/VOV/SGGP/Dantri/TT/TN
Đăng ký: VietNam News