All communes in Central Highlands access national power grid

All the communes in the Central Highlands have been linked with the national power grid, according to the Steering Committee for the Central Highlands.

The steering committee said the region, comprises Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dak Nong and Lam Dong provinces, has continually recorded new areas that need electricity supply due to its wide area, complex terrain, scattered population, and especially unplanned migration.

Over the past years, the State has invested tens of trillions of VND in building medium- and low-voltage lines and transformer stations to bring electricity to all communes and hamlets, thus serving local ethnics’ daily life and economic activities and ensuring security and defence.

State agencies have also given financial support to disadvantaged, ethnic minority and rural families to install electrical equipment.

Notably, the Dak Lak Power Company has mobilised more than 800 billion VND (35.2 million USD) from various resources since 2011 for upgrading and constructing the power network, particularly in remote and ethnic minority areas.

That has helped reduce poverty and improve residents’ material and spiritual life, the steering committee noted.

Dak Lak province is currently managing and operating over 4,000km of medium-voltage lines, 4,620km of low-voltage lines, and 4,130 transformer stations.

Meanwhile, Dak Nong province plans to spend nearly 2.24 trillion VND from now to 2025 on building 650km of medium-voltage lines, 1,400km of low-voltage lines and 1,000 transformer stations, and installing 55,000 electricity meters for local ethnic households.

Vietnamese pagoda’s charity meal for poor patients in Vientiane

A charity programme “Vietnam – Laos hearty meal” for poor patients took place in Laos’ Medical Hospital 103, Vientiane on August 14, as part of activities celebrating the Year of Vietnam-Laos Solidarity and Friendship. 

The first large-scale event, co-hosted by Bang Long pagoda, monks and nuns and Blue Star group, was also meant to respond to the Action Month for the Poor launched by the Central Committee of the Lao Front for National Construction. 

Over 1,000 free food servings and 100 bed covers were offered to patients under treatment. 

Bang Long pagoda, part of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, was built by Most Venerable Thich To Lien and Vietnamese monks and nuns in Laos in 1942. It is one of the two largest Vietnamese pagodas in Vientiane where religious and cultural activities are held by Vietnamese Buddhist followers living in Vientiane.

Requiem for martyrs, flood victims held in Yen Bai

The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha and its Yen Bai chapter held a requiem on August 15 for heroes and martyrs and for the victims of the recent historic flood which claimed the lives of at least 30 people in Yen Bai province and other northern mountainous localities.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Duong Van Tien said that the requiem, organised in Tung Lam Ngoc Am pagoda, was a meaningful activity to pay respect to heroes and martyrs who rendered service to the nation.

Venerable Thich Thanh Nhieu, Standing Vice President of the Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha said the Council called on monks, nuns and followers nationwide to lend a helping hand to flash flood-hit people in the north immediately after learning about the disasters.

At the event, a charitable fund of the VinGroup presented 1.3 billion VND (57,200 USD) to Yen Bai province to help build schools for students in mountainous areas.

Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh meets AIA Chief Executive

Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh hailed AIA Group’s performance in Vietnam since 2000 and the first half this year during a reception in Hanoi on August 15 for its Chief Executive cum President Ng Keng Hooi. 

Thinh thanked AIA Group for serving as one of the main sponsors of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in the central city of Da Nang this November and standing side-by-side with the National Fund for Vietnamese Children (NFVC) with increasing aid over years. Since 2012, the group has provided NFVC with an aid of nearly 8.4 billion VND (365,000 USD). 

Established more than 20 years ago, NFVC has offered a helping hand to over 30 million Vietnamese children, the effort that has been enthusiastically participated by AIA Group through the offering of scholarships, insurances and bicycles. 

Thinh, who is also Chairwoman of the NFVC Council, expressed her wish that AIA Group would continue assisting Vietnamese children in the future. 

Ng Keng Hooi, for his part, thanked the Vietnamese Party and State, and insurance State management agencies, for providing support for AIA over the past years. 

He pledged that AIA would continue with projects in support of children living in disadvantaged circumstances and in ethnic, remote and mountainous, and disaster-hit areas, and those suffering from Agent Orange and congenital heart disease. 

The guest expressed his belief that Vietnam will prosper in the future and reaffirmed commitment to the country’s long-term development.

Vietnam congratulates India on Independence Day

President Tran Dai Quang sent a congratulatory message to Indian President Ram Nath Kovind on the 70th anniversary of India’s Independence Day (August 15, 1947).

On the occasion, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc extended his congratulations to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh also cabled a message of congratulations to India’s Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj.

Vietnam and India established diplomatic relations in 1972. 

The establishment of the bilateral strategic partnership in 2007 and then comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016 have shown the strong political trust between the two countries. This has created an important framework for the two countries to strengthen bilateral collaboration in all areas, especially in politics-external affairs, defense-security, economics-trade, science-technology, culture, and education.

Pilgrims flock to La Vang Pilgrimage Festival

The 31st La Vang Pilgrimage Festival took place in Hai Phu commune, Hai Lang district, the central province of Quang Tri from August 13-15, drawing the participation of about 100,000 parishioners, along with domestic and foreign visitors. 

The event featured a range of religious activities and Catholic services, including prayers and a ritual procession. 

According to the festival’s organising board, Quang Tri province mobilised competent forces at venues which hosted activities of the festival to ensure safety for the participants. 

La Vang parish also coordinated with parishes from Dong Ha city of Quang Tri province to Lang Co parish in central Thua Thien-Hue province to guarantee security, safety and environmental hygiene of the festival. 

The annual festival is held to commemorate a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary seen by several Vietnamese Catholics.

Thanh Hoa’s Sam Son city set to become first-tier urban area by 2025

Sam Son city in the north central province of Thanh Hoa is set to become a second-tier urban area by 2025 and the first-tier coastal tourist urban area of world class by 2040 under the province’s master plan. 

The city is also expected to become an economic, cultural, scientific-technological, administrative, education-training, tourism, services, and transport centre and fuel socio-economic development of Thanh Hoa and the region in general. 

The province hired Korean consultants to devise a planning for Sam Son city which is set to be divided into 11 key administrative functional areas, including an administrative and political hub, public spaces, urban parks and tourist areas, handicraft clusters, and land for national defence, religious affairs and cultivation, among others. 

The master plan also considers linking Sam Son with Thanh Hoa city, major local economic and tourist areas such as Hai Tien, Hai Hoa and local relic sites. 

It covers the entire Sam Son city with eight wards and three communes on a site of nearly 4,500ha. It is home to 250,000 population and roughly 3,908ha for urban construction.

Vietnamese, Cuban youths pledge to tighten ties

Leaders of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCMCYU) and the Young Communist League of Cuba (UJC) have pledged to work harder to tighten the loyal and pure relations between Vietnam and Cuba. 

Alternate member of the Party Central Committee and HCMCYU First Secretary Le Quoc Phong, who is in Cuba from August 11-15, expressed his pride of visiting Cuba on the occasion of the 91st birth anniversary of Leader Fidel Castro. 

Meanwhile, Susely Morfa González, First Secretary of the UJC National Committee, expressed her belief that Vietnamese and Cuban youths would continue standing side by side together to fight for a better world. 

During talks, both sides reaffirmed determination to educate young generations on the achievements that the two peoples have reaped. 

On the occasion, the host presented the insignia of the UJC’s 55th founding anniversary to the HCMCYU representative. 

Phong, for his part, also presented a rice painting depicting the two communist youth forces, 100 canvases and 1,000 hammocks to the UJC. 

During their stay, the Vietnamese delegation paid floral tribute to Jose Marti and Ho Chi Minh at their statues and met leaders of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.

Hanoi marks 70 years of India’s Independence Day

The Embassy of India in Vietnam held a ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of India’s Independence Day (August 15, 1947) in Hanoi on August 15.

Speaking to his guests, who included Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan, Indian Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish affirmed the close relations between the two countries.

The bilateral cooperation is growing in various fields such as defense-security, economics, science-technology, human resources and training, and culture, he noted.

He said 2017 is the year of friendship between Vietnam and India since the two countries are celebrating the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, the 10th anniversary of strategic partnership, and the 25th anniversary of ASEAN-India dialogue partnership.

VN, Mongolia news agencies ink deal

The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and the Montsame News Agency of Mongolia signed a new cooperation agreement yesterday to tighten their pro­fessional links in the digital era.

Accordingly, the two agencies will maintain the exchange of text news and photos with captions in English and increase the sharing of news videos, especially documentaries on the land and people of Việt Nam and Mongolia and investment and business opportunities in each nation.

They pledged to maintain annual exchanges of reporters and continue to support each other at regional and international press forums, particularly within the framework of the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA).

Speaking at the talks in Hà Nội, VNA General Director Nguyễn Đức Lợi noted the agencies’ implementation of the 2001 protocol on specialised cooperation, which, as he said, had yet to tap bilateral cooperation potential, urging the two sides to strengthen their ties.

Regarding APEC Việt Nam 2017, he said VNA would be ready to provide information about this event for Montsame, and it hoped that the Mongolian news agency would step up the promotion of this event on its communication channels.

Congratulating the VNA on its recent achievements, Montsame General Director Ganchimeg Badamdorj also expressed her wish to reinforce cooperation between the two sides.

Founded in 1921, the Montsame News Agency is one of the oldest communications organisations of Mongolia. It has 108 staff members, reporters and editors, 20 bureaus across Mongolia, and bureaus in  Moscow and Beijing. The VNA boasts a network of 63 bureaus in all the cities and provinces nationwide and 30 overseas bureaus across five continents.

With more than 60 media products by more than 1,000 reporters and editors out of its 2,400-strong staff, the VNA is now the media office with the largest number of products in the country: bulletins, photos, television programmes, dailies, weeklies, monthlies, magazines, pictorials, books, TV channel, e-newspapers and information programmes on mobile platforms.

The agency also delivers news in the largest number of languages. In addition to official Vietnamese-language news provided for domestic and foreign media outlets, stories for foreign service are written in English, Chinese, French and Spanish, not to mention print and e-newspapers in four other languages, namely Lao, Korean, Japanese and Russian.

Healthcare project to be implemented in HCM City

HCM City’s People’s Committee has approved a project aiming to improve the quality of healthcare regarding infectious diseases and HIV/AIDS.

It aims to enhance and maintain the capacity of preventing, diagnosing and responding to contagious diseases and providing healthcare service for HIV treatment in 2017.

The project, with funding of VNĐ35 billion provided by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, provides preventive healthcare service for HIV/AIDS in a sustainable and effective way, contributing to national HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.

It offers in-person service for patients, as well as improving the techniques and capacity of medical units.

The project will be implemented from this month until April next year at the municipal Health Department, some health centres and hospitals in the city such as HIV/AIDS preventive centre, Phạm Ngọc Thạch Hospital, Tropical Disease Hospital, pediatrics hospitals No.1 and No.2 Pasteur Institute.

Desriac wins fourth stage of Mekong Delta event

Loic Desriac won the fourth stage of the Mekong Delta Cycling Tournament, the Hạt Ngọc Trời Rice Cup, yesterday.

Desriac of Bike Life Đồng Nai won the 155km race from Hà Tiên to Vị Thanh City of Hậu Giang Province with a time of 3:41.33 and an average speed of 41.977 kmh.

Lê Văn Duẩn of VUS-HCM City and Đỗ Tuấn Anh of Domesco Pharmacy Đồng Tháp were the runners-up.

After four stages, Lê Ngọc Sơn of Gạo Hạt Ngọc Trời An Giang took the yellow jersey award with the overall best time of 13:17.20, followed by Phạm Quốc Cường of Calytos Đồng Tháp and Desriac.

The green jersey award as the best sprinter belonged to Anh with 61 points. While Nguyễn Tuấn Vũ of Calytos Đồng Tháp won the white jersey award as the best young cyclist.

In the team rankings, Calytos Đồng Tháp took the lead with a time of 39:55.16. Gạo Hạt Ngọc Trời An Giang and Bike Life Đồng Nai were the runners-up.

Today, cyclists will compete in the fifth stage from Vị Thanh to Cà Mau City, lasting 107 km.

Conferences focus on children stomach disorders

The latest diagnostic criteria for infant and toddler functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) were updated for paediatricians at conferences held in HCM City and Hà Nội on August 12 and 13.

These are designed to help paediatricians diagnose the disorders without tests and improve children’s digestive systems, according to experts.

Prof Dr Nguyễn Gia Khánh, chairman of the Việt Nam Paediatric Association, told the conferences that FGIDs do not seriously affect infants and toddlers’ growth or cause serious complications, but reduce the quality of their life.

Prof Marc Benninga, pediatric gastroenterologist at Emma Children’s Hospital in the Netherlands, said infant and toddler FGIDs include a variable combination of often age-dependent, chronic or recurrent symptoms not explained by structural or bio-chemical abnormalities.

Functional symptoms during childhood sometimes accompany normal development – for example, infant regurgitation -- and could arise from maladaptive behavioural responses to internal or external stimuli like retention of feces in the rectum, which often results from an experience with painful def­ecation, he said.

Childhood FGIDs are not dangerous when the symptoms and caregiver’s concerns are addressed and contained, he said.

“Con­versely, failed diagnosis and inappropriate treatments of functional symptoms may be the cause of needless physical and emotional suffering.”

In 2006 a consensus on FGIDs in infants and toddlers was arrived at. But at that time little evidence regarding epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnostic work-up, treatment strategies and follow-up was available. 

Consequently, the criteria for the clinical entities were more experience than evidence based. In the past decade new insights have been gained into various FGIDs in these age groups. Based on those, further revisions have been made to the criteria.

Benninga said when infants and toddlers get constipation, which is considered one of the symptoms of FGIDs, parents should not change their formula milk.

Khánh of the Việt Nam Paediatrics Association said many studies showed that the digestive tract cannot adapt to frequent changes in milk, affecting infants and toddlers’ growth.

Benninga advised that infants and toddlers with constipation should not eat high-fibre food or drink a lot of fluids.

It is best to visit doctors and take medicines that induce bowel movements or soften or loosen up the stool, he said.

Moreover, parents are often stressed, angry and worried when infants and toddlers with FGIDs cry a lot, and they usually forcefully and violently shake the child to try and stop it from crying, he said.

Such shaking can affect babies’ development, he warned.

Parents should take their children to doctors when they cry for many days, he said.

The causes of digestive disorders in infants and toddlers were discussed at the conferences.

Paediatricians said that changes in the structure of proteins in milk are to blame for the disorders.

High temperatures while processing milk causes the changes, and the changed proteins are indigestible for babies, leading to dyspepsia, abdominal pain and constipation, they said.

Parents should choose naturally high protein food to help their children digest easily, they said.

Children aged more than two need a lot of proteins for developing muscles, skin, hair, nervous and immunity systems and others, they added.

The conferences on ROME IV - new criteria in diagnosis and treatment of infants and toddlers’ FGIDs were held by the Việt Nam Paediatric Association in co-operation with FrieslandCampina Việt Nam’s Friso brand.

LockNutri­TM technology, which best protects the structure of natural proteins in milk and is used to produce the Friso brand of milk, was referred to at the conference.

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