Hot Hanoi flocks to lakes, rivers for escape

Hanoi is in the grip of a heat wave, with temperatures holding in the high 30s and low 40s for days on end, and city folk are flocking to rivers and lakes for relief.

At Linh Dam Lake in Hoang Mai District, crowds gathered under the trees in the evening hours of May 29 to escape the heat and children took to the water, ignoring a ban on swimming.

The same scene was reflected on the beaches of the Red River, where the water is cleaner and cooler.

Pathways around Hanoi's lakes, many of which have dropped more a metre in the absence of rain and beginning to smell, are dotted with large umbrellas, under which groups of neighbours cluster on low plastic seats during the daytime, sipping cold fruit drinks or hot tea, and narrow shop fronts in the crowded Old Quarter blast electric fans cooled by frozen water to stir the still air.

The city hums with air conditioners, causing brief localised blackouts due to heavy demand on Hanoi's power grid. Windows are flung open to catch any passing breeze.

It is already the hottest May in some provinces in 44 years, worsening the already severe drought in the central provinces of Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan and Quang Tri, where the red fire flag has been hoisted as hundreds of hectares of forest burn.

Temperatures in major cities Hanoi, Hue and Da Nang will remain high in the coming days, with the mercury hovering around 39-43C, the centre said.

Increase tobacco taxes to reduce smoking rate: Health Ministry

Ministry of Health organized on May 30 the meeting in response to World No Tobacco Day and the national non smoking week (from May 25 to 31) in HCMC. Health deputy minister Nguyen Thi Xuyen said the long term national strategy for Tobacco Harm Prevention to 2020 is to increase tobacco taxes, aiming to decrease the country’s smoking rate.

Since 2014 to date, Vietnam has implemented many taxation changes on tobacco from 55 percent to up to 65 percent. By January 1, 2016 special consumption tax on cigarettes will increase up to 70 percent and it is expected to rise to 75 percent in 2019.

According to tobacco harm prevention program, Vietnam targets to reduce the smoking rate among adult males to 47.4 percent down 39 percent by 2020.

HCM City student wins 2015 National Dynamic Competition

Nguyen Mau Hoang, a student of the Ho Chi Minh University of Economics won the first prize at the 12th National Dynamic Competition for Students - The Future Entrepreneurs 2015 which ended at the Ho Chi Minh University of Economics on May 30.

The winner received a cash prize of VND30 million and a scholarship for an MBA Degree worth VND300 million awarded by the University of Western Sydney.

Student Dinh Thi Nho of the National Economics University took the second prize. Two third places belonged to Dang Ngoc Huong of DaNang University of Economics and Le Huy Hoang of the Foreign Trade University.

They will receive full scholarship of Master of Business (ISB.MBus) program of University of Economic Ho Chi Minh City valued VND105 million each.

The winners will also have a trip to Japan for visiting Suntory factory and take part in social activities; and receive a scholarship of the English for Professionals Program worth VND84 million each from the English Language Institute (ELI) of Victoria University.

Launched in 1996, the competition has attracted more than 30,000 students from universities across the country. The annual event is a useful playing field for students.

The competition is co-organized by the Ho Chi Minh University of Economics and PepsiCo Viet Nam.

Ha Nam native caught with 2kg of meth

The border police of Ta Lung International Border Gate in Phuc Hoa District, Cao Bang, on Saturday detained a man with 2kg of methamphetamine.

The man, identified as Dang The Hiep (born 1981), was from Thanh Liem District in Ha Nam Province. According to Hiep, a Chinese national had hired him to transport the methamphetamine for selling it in Cao Bang.

Hiep said he was paid around VND30-40 million (US$1,500-$2,000) for the job, adding that it was the third time he was transporting drugs to Cao Bang.

Further investigation is ongoing.

Man caught with 15,000 illegal chicks,

Customs officers at Quang Ninh Province on Saturday seized more than 15,000 Chinese breeding chickens that were being smuggled into the country.

Be Van Quy, a resident of Quang Dien Commune of Hai Ha District, who was transporting the chickens, said he bought them from several individuals in Mong Cai city and was planning to sell them at various markets in Thai Binh Province.

The case is being further investigated.

Students learn how to avoid catching dengue

The Agency of Health Environment under the Ministry of Health on May 30 held an event at Hung Loi 2 Primary School in Ninh Kieu district, Can Tho City, to spread knowledge about dengue fever and how to void it.

Under the motto ‘No mosquitoes no dengue fever’, the agency provided knowledge about how to repel mosquitoes in daily life for students aged from 6-10 through physical games.

Doctor Nguyen Thi Lien Huong, the agency’s Vice Director, said dengue fever is one of communicable diseases having the highest number of people contracted in the world, approximately 390 million people catching it each year.

There is no vaccine against dengue, so prevention is extremely vital, she added.

At the event, the Indonesian group Enesis presented 500,000 mosquito-repellent products Soffell to distribute to nearly 200 hospitals nationwide, mostly in the South where is vulnerable to the disease.-

Vietnam seizes record cocaine haul shipped from South America

Customs and police forces have busted a major ring that smuggled drug from South America into Vietnam, seizing a total of 43 kilograms of cocaine.

The case was first detected on May 15 when Ho Chi Minh City customs officers found 31.6 kg of cocaine in a container at the Cat Lai Port.

The drug was hidden inside 10 pallets that support the declared consignment of floor wooding imported from South America.

160 cocaine bars were hidden in 40 pieces of wood in the pallets, investigators said.

Subsequent investigation led to the seizure of more than 10 kg of cocaine in a consignment of a company in Hanoi, carefully hidden in welded iron tubes.

Cocaine has been hidden in wooden pallets in a container shipped from South America to Vietnam. Photo: Dam Huy

Total weight of cocaine busted in two cases is 43 kg, with market price estimated to be more than VND100 billion (US$4.58 million), police said.

Investigators only said they have arrested “several” suspects for investigation and that they have provided information for Hong Kong police, which led to the seizure of another 19.3 kg of cocaine there.

4th Russian-built submarine set to arrive in Vietnam next month

The fourth of the six Kilo-class submarines that Vietnam has contracted to buy from Russia is scheduled to arrive in Vietnam next month.

The submarine codenamed HQ-185 Danang is currently carried by the Dutch-registered cargo ship Rolldock Storm which is on its way to Vietnam.

It is docking at a port in the Canary Islands off the southern coast of Morocco for fuel filling.

The submarine is scheduled to be delivered to Cam Ranh Port in late June.

The location of cargo ship Rolldock Storm, which is carrying the fourth submarine codenamed HQ-185 Da Nang, at 6:20 p.m. on May 28. Photo credit: Marine Traffic

Meanwhile, the fifth submarine codenamed HQ-186 Khanh Hoa completed a two-week trial run and returned to Svetly Shipyard (Kaliningrad) on May 28, according to Russian media.

The first three submarines named after Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Haiphong, arrived in Vietnam in 2014 and early 2015.

The delivery of the sixth and last one, HQ-187 Ba Ria-Vung Tau, is scheduled for next year.

The six submarines are built under a US$2-billion deal signed during a Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's visit to Russia in 2009.

Russia will deliver all by 2016, train Vietnamese crews, and supply necessary spare parts.

Police are expanding investigation into the case.

Deputy prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has praised relevant forces and instructed to reward them for the largest cocaine smuggling case being busted in Vietnam.

He also instructed the Ministry of Public Security to coordinate with relevant countries to thorough bust the transnational drug smuggling ring.

Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. According to its Penal Code, those convicted of smuggling 100 grams of heroin or cocaine or 300 grams of other drugs can be sentenced to death.

Experts calls for medical training upgrade

The quality of training as well as personnel qualification in the health sector falls short of actual requirements, experts said at a meeting held recently in Hanoi.

Attending the meeting on May 29 were Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, officials of the ministries of Education and Training (MOET) and Health (MOH), and representatives of several medical schools.

Concerns were expressed that some of the recently opened medical schools were not offering quality education with their students unable to receive proper training and practice. As a result, the students were also finding it difficult to apply for jobs.

After discussing the current education model and comparing it with other countries, meeting participants agreed that medical training would have to be upgraded in order to improve workforce quality and meet actual needs of the health sector in protecting and taking care of residents' health.

Vo Tan Son, former principal of the HCM City Medicine and Pharmacy University, said that to improve workforce quality in the health sector, medical students should begin studies in their specialties as soon as they finish the regular six-year course in general medicine.

Practice should happen alongside the study of special subjects and a system should be set up that can accurately assess the graduate's abilities, he said.

Deputy PM Dam said medical training requirements should be set out in detail and international models accessed in order to come up with a proper training model here.

He asked the MOET and MOH to define knowledge requirements for each level in the medical training system, including undergraduate, master and doctorate degrees. They should also determine the proper training period for each level, he said.

The Deputy PM also said the two ministries should issue circulars and documents to strengthen training quality in the health sector.

He emphasised the need for hospitals to partner medical schools so that the latter gets to know real demands and provides students with needed practice.-

The monument in commemoration of the Vietnam-Laos special fighting alliance in Laos’ southern province of Champasak was inaugurated on May 29 after a year-long upgrade.

Funded by the Vietnamese Government, work began in August last year to give a facelift to the monument which covers an area of more than 4 hectares. The memorial site comprises two towers, each of which is 11m high and 13m in diameter, a 4.5m high and 9m wide bas relief along with a showroom for exhibits, and support facilities.

Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Thanh Cung thanked the Lao Party, State, Army and people for their support during Vietnam’s struggle for independence as well as its ongoing national construction and defence efforts.

He affirmed that the monument in Champasak, together with similar works built in memory of the Vietnam-Laos special fighting alliance in Udomxay, Xiengkhuoang, and Attapeu provinces of Laos are symbols of the solidarity between the two countries .

Lao Deputy Defence Minister Chansamon Chanyalath highlighted the significance of the monument in helping the two people gain insights into the Laos-Vietnam special relations, as well as remembering the dedication of their people and soldiers to the two countries’ struggles for independence and freedom.

On the occasion, delegates laid down a wreath at the monument and planted a commemorative tree.

Children health gets attention on Children Day

Some events have been held around the country on Children’s Day June 1 this year in an attempt to call on the community to better protect and care for children health.

The Ministry of Labour, Veterans and Social Affairs held an event on May 30 in northern Hai Duong province’s Hai Duong city as a kick-off to the Month of Action for Children with the motto ‘Let’s Hear Children.’

Attending the event, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam called on people to listen to children to understand and have proper advice or timely actions, helping children to grow better.

Worrying about the number of 1.5 million disadvantaged children and around 2.5 million children at risk of becoming disadvantaged ones, the Deputy PM urged adults to translate mottos into actions to better care for children.

According to Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen, over the past years, many measures has been implemented at all levels to protect, care for and educate children, partly limiting negative impacts and risks caused by economic recession, climate change and environmental pollution on children.

Many policies and programmes for children continue being maintained such as the National Action Programme for Children, the National Programme for Protecting Children and Free Medical Examinations for Children aged under six and many others.

Vietnam approved the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child 25 years ago to ensure children to be under the protection of four groups of basic rights – the right of survival, the right of development, the right of being protected and the right of children’s participation, Chuyen said.

But she said more efforts needed to be done.

At the event, the Vietnam Children Sponsor Fund received 20 billion VND (920,000 USD) in donation from organisations, individuals to implement programmes and projects for impoverished and disabled children.

The Fund also sponsored 30 impoverished students who have good performance in study, each 2 million VND, and presented 700 gift packages, worth 200,000 each, to impoverished children.

The same day in HCM City at September 23 Park, the HCM City’s Health Department in collaboration with the city’s Community Health Association organised the third Care for Children Health Festival, which is expected to draw 10,000 children during May 30-31.

During festive days, children are offered free medical examinations and advice by specialised doctors on backbone, eye and teeth. They are supplied Vitamin A for free as well.

In addition, parents are equipped with basic and practical knowledge of caring for children health like how to prevent dangerous disease or how to handle accidents and injuries in summer days.

The event is expected to raise awareness of the importance of caring for children health and call on organistions and individuals to contribute to the cause.

Charity concert honours outstanding children

The 7th edition of the charity concert “Nhung Trai Tim Dong Cam” (Sympathy Hearts) took place at the Hanoi Opera House on May 30, with the aim of raising funds for children with disabilities.

The event highlighted the examples of two children-11-year-old piano talent Quach Hoang Nhi who has a brother suffering from cerebral palsy and eighth grader Tran Viet Hoang who lost vision due to retinopathy.

Nhi started playing piano at the age of four and has grabbed tens of medals at local and international music competitions, including a gold medal at the 2012 Asia International Piano Academy Festival and Competition in the Republic of Korea, the first prize at the 3rd Mozart International Piano Competition in Thailand in 2013, the first prize at the 17th Val Tidone International Music Competitions and the second prize at the Piano Talents International Competition for Young Pianist held in Italy last year.

Tran Viet Hoang from central Ha Tinh province was born in a poor family. He managed to learn Braille writing system himself and earned Academic Excellence titles for eight consecutive years.

This year’s concert raised over 1 billion VND (45,800 USD) to provide free surgeries for eight children with congenital heart diseases, present saving books of 5-20 million VND (230 – 917 USD) to 100 children with serious illness together with scholarships and gift packages to impoverished children across the country.

The event has raised more than 20 billion VND (917,000 USD) for charitable purposes over the past seven years.

According to Minister of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen, Vietnam has more than 6.7 million people with disabilities, including 1.2 million children, over 330,000 orphans and nearly 25,000 Orange/Dioxin victim children.

Appeal for greater women’s role in creating smoke-free homes

A meeting was held in Hanoi on May 31 to deliver the message on the role of women in creating a smoke-free home towards a smoke-free environment.

The event was organised by the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU), the Ministry of Health and the Fund for Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms as part of activities to mark the World No Tobacco Day (May 31) and the 2015 National Week of No Tobacco.

It was intended to promote the rights of women and children to live in a healthy smoke-free environment and pave the way for a social campaign in which women play a vital role in helping family members quit smoking.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam urged every community member, both males and females, to have greater responsibility for their own and others’ health and work together to reduce tobacco harms to the society.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Vietnam is currently one of the 15 countries with the highest smoker numbers. Smoking rate among the country’s adult males is as high as 47.7 percent or 16 million people.

Tobacco causes about 40,000 premature deaths, and health care costs and productivity loss due to tobacco use are estimated at more than 1 billion USD per year in Vietnam.-

As many as 151 Vietnamese nurses and orderlies are joining the two-month Japanese language training programme that opened on May 29 at the Makuhari International Training Centre in Japan’s eastern prefecture of Chiba.

This is the second group of Vietnamese nurses and orderlies to learn technical terms and essential conversation skills at the ARC Academy – a Japanese language school from June 1 to July 25.

As part of the economic partnership agreements (EPA) between Vietnam and Japan, the programme has opened up the two countries’ cooperation in taking care of patients and the elderly at hospitals and sanatoriums in Japan, said Councellor of labour department at the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan Nguyen Gia Liem.

After that, the Japan International Corporation of Welfare Services (JICWELS) will provide the trainees with professional knowledge before starting work at Japanese health facilities from August 6.

Before arriving in Japan, all the Vietnamese trainees already had certificates and participated in the two-year Japanese language course at home.

Takashi Tsunoda, a representative from the JICWELS, said the trainees will be provided with how to use computers and medical equipment in preparation for the national certificates exam – which ensures their stay in Japan in the long run.

According to Shigemi Ando from the Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Department under the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the training and hosting of Vietnamese nurses and orderlies are very important due to Japan’s rapidly aging population.

It is estimated that Japan will need up to 600,000 nurses and orderlies to take care of its elderly in ten years.

Vietnam is the third country to cooperate with Japan in this field, after the Philippines and Indonesia.

Last year, 138 Vietnamese nurses and caregivers received similar training in Japan.

The promotion of non-fired brick production and utilisation project in Vietnam is expected to help the country realise specific targets of the green growth strategy such as reducing environmental pollution, rehabilitating contaminated areas, improving the local livelihood, and mitigating the depletion of natural resources.

The five-year project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) hopes to reduce the greenhouse gas emission by at least 383,000 tonnes within the project lifetime, heard a workshop in Hanoi on May 29.

It aims to help Vietnam reduce CO2 emissions by gradually cutting down on the use of fossil fuels and soil for brick making, while increasing the production, sales and utilisation of non-fired brick, said deputy head of the Department of Science and Technology Nguyen Dinh Hau.

The main inputs are industrial waste materials, and the production process is environmentally more sound.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Van Tung said while the domestic financial sources are limited, the appeal to international support and experience is of necessity.

The ministry pledges to give full assistance for local authorities to realise the aforesaid targets and implement successfully the Government’s non-fired brick development programme, he added.

According to UNDP Director Vietnam Louise Chamberlain, the construction sector in the Southeast Asian country records an average growth of 8 percent per year, noting that the demand for building bricks is increasing but up to 80 percent of which are fired clay bricks that have harmful impacts on natural resources and environment.

Participants heard that the Vietnamese Government has put forth a number of policies to reduce environmental contamination.

The implementation of the non-fired brick project is hoped to make significant contributions to the country’s green growth strategy and development of involved businesses.-

More enterprises hire employees with disabilities

More companies in Ho Chi Minh City and southern provinces are hiring employees with disabilities because of their high productivity and diligence, according to HCM City-based Disability Research and Capacity Development Centre.

Le Huu Thuong, the centre's jobs consultant, said that an average of 40 enterprises each year over the last five years had sent orders to the centre to hire people with disabilities.

Thuong said that manual workers were needed in the field of textiles and craft, and skilled employees in the fields of IT, accountancy and design.

"Most skilled employees with disabilities are hired by foreign-invested companies," Thuong added.

The Enablecode Software Company, a subsidiary of the Hoang Anh Consulting and Services Co. Ltd, in District 3 gives priority to hire programmers with disabilities.

"They can work at home," said Nguyen Minh Hao, the company's project manager.

The Dong Nai-based Fashion Garment Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of the Hirdaramani Group in Sri Lanka and Lolly Togs Apparel USA, is known as one of the companies that have hired employees with disabilities.

The company has 85 employees with disabilities, said Nguyen Tran Quynh Anh, who is in charge of personnel.

"They are diligent and loyal," Anh said, adding that many of them had worked with the company for about six years.

Silva G.A. Dineshk, the company's production plant manager, said that workers were provided training and appropriate facilities.

People with disabilities can develop their career as long as they are strong enough to overcome challenges, he said.

Phan Thanh Tam, head of Fagi Co. Ltd, which manufactures products for children in District 12, said that people with disabilities who graduate from universities or colleges were able to find jobs more easily.

Tam, who has a physical disability, for example, was hired right after graduating from the HCM City University of Fine Arts.

Now, she has her own company which gives priority to hire people with disabilities, she said.

According to the Vietnam Federation on Disability, the country has 6.7 million people with disabilities, including more than 4 million people of working age.

However, only 30 percent of them have jobs.

Tran Quynh Trang, who is in charge of a project on promoting rights and opportunities for people with disabilities for the International Labour Organisation, said that people with disabilities were an untapped resource of skills and talent.

They not only have both technical job skills and transferable problem-solving skills developed in daily life, but represent an overlooked and multibillion-dollar market segment composed of themselves, their families and friends.

As the population ages, so does the incidence of disability. Trang said it made sense to have employees who know first-hand about the product and service needs of this consumer segment.

According to a University of Massachusetts survey, 92 percent of the American public view companies that hire people with disabilities more favourably than those that do not.-

Ha Tinh: 25 million USD donated for new-style rural buildings

Over the last four years, the central province of Ha Tinh mobilised over 560 billion VND (25.7 million USD) from social organisations, enterprises and individuals for its new-style rural building programmes.

Donors actively worked with communal authorities to develop plans and roadmaps on completing the necessary requirements in order to be recognised as new rural development communes .

Meetings were held regularly to review the use of financial resources and the implementation of programmes.

According to Tran Huy Oanh, deputy chief of the coordination secretariat of Ha Tinh’s National Target Programme on New Rural Development, the locality is home to numerous communes that meet the 19 criteria for new-style rural development due to support from donors and sponsoring agencies.

The National Target Programme on New Rural Development, launched in 2010, sets out 19 criteria for new-style rural areas, covering infrastructure, production, living standards, income and culture, among others.

Yen Bai: Anti-human trafficking programme fruitful

The End Trafficking in Persons programme (ETIP) implemented by northern mountainous Yen Bai province and the World Vision International – Vietnam (WVV) has proved fruitful over the past years.

Reports at a recent workshop in Yen Bai said the ETIP, carried out under a cooperation agreement inked by the province and the WVV in 2012, has opened six training courses to equip local officials and trafficked victims with anti-human trafficking knowledge.

Communication campaigns to raise public awareness about human trafficking were organised with more than 1,000 participants.

The programme has also offered assistance to help victims stabilise their life. Notably, 12 people have received financial aids worth nearly 140 million VND (6,500 USD) in total.

A focus of the workshop was training for the programme’s local partners in how to maintain related activities after WVV experts concluded their work in the programme.

Yen Bai is a hot spot of cross-border human trafficking. It has recorded 45 trafficking cases involving 87 traffickers and 71 victims since 2011.

The World Vision’s ETIP is implemented in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, which comprises six countries connected by the Mekong River, namely China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Social welfare programmes to be continued in Northwestern region

The Northwest Steering Committee and the Vietnam Red Cross have pledged to maintain the social welfare programmes in the region following a review meeting of their joint programme for 2013-2015.

The Northwest region includes Dien Bien, Hoa Binh, Lai Chau, Son La, Lao Cai and Yen Bai provinces. The region is home to many ethnic minorities and its socio-economic development lags behind other regions.

A report presented during the review session in Yen Bai province on May 29 states that the Northwest received 770 billion VND (35.3 million USD) in assistance from a range of agencies, economic groups, enterprises and individuals in and outside the country.

Many programmes have been implemented effectively, including building new-style rural areas in ethnic minority communities in border communes, providing support to disadvantaged households and victims of Agent Orange over Tet (Lunar New Year) festival, or offering free medical examinations and medication.

Participants in the meeting highlighted a number of challenges that need to be overcome in upcoming time.

The two agencies said they would call upon organisations, enterprises and individuals to make more donations.

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri