Google gets its translate on in Vietnam

After a successful 18 March launch in HCMC of the new Google Translate Community, the U.S. Embassy’s American Center in Hanoi, in cooperation with Google, will host “Love Your Language” translate-a-thon on March 21.  

At this event, Google invites Vietnamese to participate in this collaborative effort to improve the Vietnamese language on the web and help make useful information more accessible to users in Vietnam, and abroad.  

While Google Translate has been available in Vietnamese for some time, there is a lot that Vietnamese speakers can do to help improve the quality of Vietnamese translations online.

Two go missing after boat capsizes in reservoir

Two persons were missing after a boat capsized in a reservoir in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang on Monday, authorities said.

The two missing persons were identified as a couple from Xuan Hoa Village in Quang Binh District's Tien Nguyen Commune.

The couple was travelling in the boat in the reservoir of the Chung River Hydropower Plant after attending a wedding in Yen Binh Township's Tan Tien Village, when the boat capsized on Monday evening.

Quang Binh District's Police Department has co-ordinated with local authorities in searching for the two missing persons. However, as of Wednesday evening, the rescue forces had not located the victims as the reservoir was too deep.

Quang Ninh launches complaints hotline on work ethics

Quang Ninh has launched hotlines for members of the public to report officials who drink liquor during working hours and work breaks.

The online newspaper Vnexpress reported that on Wednesday, the Quang Ninh People's Committee sent out a communiqué to provincial  departments and agencies, in which it announced the hotline numbers 090.4706369, 0913.355638 and 090.4357524, belonging to the  department of internal affairs, which will receive complaints about violations of discipline and work ethics by government employees and  agencies, especially undesirable behaviour such as consumption of liquor at work.

In the dispatch, Committee Chairman Nguyen Van Doc requested the heads of departments and agencies and sub-provincial governments to  intensify inspections, supervision and to strictly handle the cases of violation of regulations.

The internal affairs department was told to carry out regular and random inspections to check proper enforcement of the order.

The department can request agencies to punish employees who violate this by-law, and ask the provincial People's Committee to deal with the  violating agency.

Driver escapes unhurt as truck plunges off mountain

A tanker truck with failed brakes plunged down a mountain into a deep valley in Bac Ha District, Lao Cai Province, at noon on Wednesday.

However, the driver managed to jump out unhurt before the truck fell.

The head of the Lao Cai Province Traffic Safety Board told the online newspaper Vnexpress the tanker truck, belonging to Petrolimex Ha Noi Transportation and Trading Joint-Stock Company, was returning to Lao Cai City after unloading cargo in Bac Ha – Si Ma Cai area, when its brakes failed. The truck crashed through the road fencing and fell 100m into the valley.

Online photos showed that the truck's broken parts were lying scattered over a wide area.

The concerned agencies are working to retrieve the wreckage of the truck.

Thanh Hoa reports virulent bird flu outbreak

Nearly 300 birds of a farm in Thanh Hoa Province are reportedly infected with the type A/H5N6 avian flu, a virulent virus strain.

This virus strain can reportedly be transmitted to humans and cause deaths.

The online newspaper Vnexpress today said the concerned agencies detected the outbreak in mid-March in the household of Le Dang Nhat in Hai Linh Commune, Tinh Gia District, where 293 of his poultry, including 190 ducks and 103 chickens, were found to be infected.

Samples of the infected birds came back positive in tests conducted by the Veterinary Agency for Region III.

The newspaper quoted concerned agencies as saying it was the first time this virus strain had been discovered in the province.

They also said the provincial poultry had not been vaccinated against diseases yet, even though the prolonged rain in the area was conducive to helping the transmission of disease over a wide area.

On Wednesday, the Thanh Hoa Province People's Committee reported that the provincial head had sent an urgent note to the chairman of Tinh Gia District People's Committee, requesting the district authorities to sent specialists to Hai Linh Commune, where the outbreak was detected, and the neighbouring communes to guide people on containing and stamping out the flu and take precautionary measures.

The note said the transport of poultry from the disease-hit area would be prohibited, and that the chairman of the Tinh Gia People's Committee would be held responsible if the outbreak spread to other areas.

Ha Tinh to destroy war-era bombs

A thorough exercise to destroy bombs and other war-era explosive devices will be conducted in three districts of the central Ha Tinh Province, following a recent government approval.

The exercise will be conducted in the districts of Ky Anh, Huong Son and Can Loc, where war-era explosive devices are lying scattered over 2,550ha of land in 12 communes.

It will take two years for the programme, which will use US$3.9 million from the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund, to investigate and remove the devices from the field sites. But the commencement date and implementing agency of the programme have not yet been decided.

The country has 800,000 tonnes of war-era bombs and explosive devices in many localities, with the maximum being in central provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh and Quang Tri, as well as Thua Thien– Hue, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai.

An estimate by the labour, invalids and social affairs ministry said it would take the country 300 years to destroy all the remaining devices.

Two held for carrying arms, sexual stimulants

The Thanh Hoa City Police detained two youths for allegedly possessing a considerable amount of arms and sexual stimulants near the Big C supermarket in Thanh Hoa City on Tuesday.

The two persons, who had planned to sell the goods, were travelling in a taxi when they were detained.

When the police searched the taxi, they allegedly found Dong Van Phong (the mastermind) and Pham Ngoc Tuan-- both 24 years old and of Phu Tho Province -- carrying 13 ball-bearing (BB) guns with silencers, 13 electric shock batons, eight pepper spay bottles, as well as eight bottles of liquid sexual stimulants, all packaged with foreign-made tags.

The two youths allegedly said they had bought the banned goods at the Lao Cai border crossing with China and were taking them to Thanh Hoa for sale.

The guns have reportedly been sent to the public security ministry for tests.

The case is being investigated further.

Thanh Hoa department seizes 650kg of contaminated pork

The transport police, in co-ordination with the market management department in the northern province Thanh Hoa, have seized a truck carrying 650kg of contaminated pork.

The truck, with the number plate 18N-154, was on Tuesday reportedly transporting the meat without valid papers to southern provinces.

The owner of the cargo was identified as Pham Van Cuong, who lives in Hai Tay Commune in Nam Dinh Province's Hai Hau District.

The relevant agencies have filed a report, and have fined the owner of the cargo VND24 million (US$1,120).

The meat was later destroyed by the market management department.

MoT okays sea sand for bridge work

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Cong gave Civil Engineering Construction Corporation No 4 the green light to try using sea sand instead of river sand when building the Tan Vu – Lach Huyen Sea Bridge in Hai Phong.

The move came after the company had trouble collecting the 50,000 cubic metres of river sand it needed to build the roadbed of the bridge's approach before March 30, as scheduled.

Using sea sand from Hai Nam and Dinh Vu mines, which were close to the construction site, would also help reduce time and transport expenses, said Hoang Van Dao, the company's deputy director.

The project would first need to test the sea sand, to see if it could be used successfully instead of river sand. If it worked, it could be used more widely in the construction sector, he said.

However, sea sand gave way easier than river sand when vehicles drove over it, said Deputy Minister Cong. He told the company to prepare an alternative, in case its plan failed.

Civil Engineering Construction Corporation No. 4 needed to send its two detailed plans to authorised agencies by March 28, Cong said.

Tan Vu – Lach Huyen is the country's longest sea bridge. Construction started last February, with a completion date set for 2017.

The 15.6km sea bridge is a key national project that will connect eastern areas of the city to Lach Huyen Port, Dinh Vu Industrial Park and the Ha Noi – Hai Phong Expressway.

The construction of the bridge is being funded with more than VND10 trillion (US$466 million) in Official Development Assistance from Japan and VND1.8 trillion ($83.8 million) from the Vietnamese Government.

VN included in Asia Property Awards

The Asia Property Awards will include Viet Nam from this year, helping showcase the country's best properties on the regional stage.

Started in Thailand in 2006 by Ensign Media, the publisher of Property Report magazine, the awards honoured developments, consultants, architects and designers in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and China until last year, and has been expanded this year to include Myanmar and Indonesia besides Viet Nam.

The 2015 Viet Nam Property Awards were open to nominations from the real estate industry and general public, Terry Blackburn, CEO of Ensign Media, said.

Entries would close on March 27 and the final winners would be honoured at a gala dinner in HCM City on June 25, he said.

In all 32 awards will be given away to the most exceptional projects, designers and developers covering residential, commercial, office, hospitality, villa, and green development.

Special recognition will also be given to the company exhibiting excellence in corporate social responsibility.

Winners will go on to compete in the grand finale in Singapore in October.

All award categories would be assessed and judged under the supervision of BDO International, one of the world's largest accountancy networks, Blackburn said.

After remaining frozen for a few years, Viet Nam's real estate market had bounced back strongly this year, he added.

Police in Ho Chi Minh City have proposed the municipal authorities increase fees for registering vehicles for the first time, with the new fee for under-10-seat cars to be over five times higher than the current rate, a senior official has said.

Under the proposal, the fee for first-time registration for under-10-seat cars in the city will be raised to VND11 million (US$513) from the current rate of VND2 million ($93), Senior Lieutenant Colonel Tran Van Thuong, from the Police Department, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Tuesday.

The new rate has been put forward on the basis of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular 127, which stipulates that the fee for first-time registration in Zone 1 for under-10-seat automobiles that are not used for passenger transportation shall be from VND2 million to VND20 million ($932), Thuong said, adding that Zone 1 covers Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

The VND11 million charge is the average number between the lowest and highest rates specified in the circular, the official explained.

This rate serves the policy on limiting the use of personal vehicles and is suitable for the living conditions of Ho Chi Minh City residents, he said.

“As for vehicles used for public transportation, the city police have proposed the lowest fee rate be applied to them as an encouragement for the development of such vehicles,” Thuong said.

City police have also suggested hiking fees for first-time registration for motorbikes, explaining that additional proceeds from the hikes will be used to sponsor activities that help improve road safety.

The city police coordinated with other agencies to draft the proposal, which has been passed by the local Finance Department and is under consideration by the Justice Department before being submitted to the People’s Council for approval, Sr. Lt. Col. Thuong said.

Traffic accidents kill 138 in Ho Chi Minh City in Jan-Feb

The number of traffic accidents and the resulting deaths and injuries in Ho Chi Minh City all recorded a year-on-year increase in the first two months of this year, the city’s Traffic Safety Board has announced.

Specifically, 759 traffic accidents happened in the period, killing 138 people and wounding 686 others, Nguyen Ngoc Tuong, deputy head of the board, said at a meeting with the Legislation Board under the local People’s Council and the Department of Transport on Tuesday.

Compared to the same period last year, the number of accidents in the two-month span was higher by four, while the death toll and the number of injured people were also higher by six and eight respectively.

The board also warned that congestion triggered by road accidents often occurs in 39 locations in 14 districts.

In 2014, 4,321 road accidents took place in the city, killing 723 people and injuring 4,028 others, according to the municipal police department.

Compared to one year earlier, the number of road accidents dropped by 766, while the resulting numbers of dead and injured people also plummeted by 41 and 599 respectively, the police said.

Police officers have warned that the city now has 10 accident-prone hot spots, including nine on roads and one on a waterway.

Of the road hot spots, two are located on Vo Van Kiet Avenue in Co Giang and Cau Kho Wards in District 1.

Another hot spot is at the An Suong crossroads in District 12, where drivers often speed or chang direction in violation of regulations.

Other hot spots include the My Thuy roundabout in District 2; the intersection between Dong Van Cong Street and the East Belt in Thanh My Loi Ward, District 2; and another spot only 30 meters from that intersection.  

Two other hot spots are located at the foot of the bridge at the Cay Go roundabout on Hong Bang Street in District 11 and at the intersection of Hong Bang and Hoang Le Kha Streets.

The last of the nine road hot spots is at the Thu Duc intersection between Thu Duc District and District 9.

Meanwhile, the only waterway hot spot is at the Binh Loi Bridge in Binh Thanh District, police officers said.

The police department has directed traffic police units to set up a plan of action to eliminate such hot spots as soon as they can.

One of the most important duties is that traffic police must tighten patrols and inspections in the areas under their jurisdiction to detect and rule out the causes that have contributed to increased accidents.

MoT sets deadline for completion of bridges

The Ministry of Transport set the start of this year's rainy season as the deadline for completing the national goal of building 186 suspension bridges in mountainous provinces across the country.

At a conference reviewing suspension bridge construction plans on Tuesday, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong said the 186 bridges must be operational by the end of this June to serve the travel needs of students and residents.

Truong said he expects to see reports on the bridges' construction designs and quotations by April 15.

Ultimately, more than 295 suspension bridges, with an investment capital of VND1.3 trillion (US$60.5 million), will be constructed and be put to use by the end of June, 2016 he said.

Nguyen Trung Sy, head of the Directorate for Roads of Viet Nam, said as many as 183 bridges designs are finished and are at least partly under construction.

However, he said, some construction units were moving too slow, namely Thanh Long JSC and Construction No3 JSC. The directorate said he would consider changing to other construction units to quicken the pace.

Pham Quang Vinh, deputy head of the directorate, said a plan to tackle the remaining four bridges is under way, however these bridges might remain behind schedule.

He said local authorities were slow at clearing bridge sites; some sites showing no progress at all.

At the conference, experts raised their doubts about the technical designs of some of the suspension bridges and proposed that the ministry hire just one design unit to manage the construction of the nearly 300 bridges.

Deputy Minister Truong said the proposal would be considered.

He asked local authorities to quicken the pace of site clearance. He also asked the directorate to make a list of bridges which still need to attract more investors to meet funding needs and to build a software program to monitor the many bridge projects.

Figures from the Ministry of Transport indicate that, of the 1,950 suspension bridges in Viet Nam, only 810 are operational, and roughly 40 per cent show signs of erosion and rust.

Almost 94 per cent of these bridges are located on roads connecting small villages and communes.

Scaffolding collapses, injures 4 workers in Phu Yen

Four workers were injured when a scaffold collapsed at the northern gate of Co Ma Tunnel in the central coast province of Phu Yen.

The injured workers, who are employed by Truong Phat Investment Trading joint stock company, were sent to Phu Yen General Hospital for treatment.

One of them was seriously injured, with six ribs broken.

Ho Minh Hoang, chairman of the Management Board, and Deo Ca Joint Stock Company spoke with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, confirming the accident.

Hoang said the company would request project contractors to take safety precautions during their work.

Nguyen Van Bang, head of the construction team, said the accident occurred at 7pm on Tuesday when workers were standing on an iron frame scaffolding, which was some 9m high and 6m wide, to reinforce it against leakage.

Co Ma tunnel is 500m long, with two parallel tunnels running alongside it, 30m apart.

Construction of the tunnel cost some VND576 billion (US$26.8 million) and was implemented under a BT (build-transfer) agreement.

Co Ma tunnel is part of the Ca Pass tunnel project on Highway 1 in the provinces of Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa, with Deo Ca joint stock company as the main investor.

Co Ma tunnel was technically open in November last year, but it is now under maintenance and is expected to open to traffic in September this year.

Cervical cancer killing 9 Vietnamese women daily: Report

At a conference held in Ha Noi today to raise awareness about cervical cancer, it was revealed that nine women are dying every day in Viet Nam because of the disease.

Reports at the conference, which was co-organised by the Institute for Reproductive and Family Health and the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation, also revealed that 20 out of every 100,000 Vietnamese women have the disease, and 11 of them could end up dying.

One of the main reasons for the growing incidence of the disease is a lack of regular health check-ups. Besides, women living in remote areas tend to ignore the importance of this matter and do not even get vaccinated against the disease, which is largely lacking across Viet Nam.

"Cervical cancer is a disease that has stolen the lives of many Vietnamese women," said Nguyen Viet Tien, Deputy Minister of Health.

Le Duc Tho, a doctor working at the German Agency for International Co-operation, said the agency has been implementing a programme on fostering local medical units in five provinces of Viet Nam from 2009 until 2017. The programme, besides providing health care services, will also provide screening for cervical cancer for women in these five provinces.

Conference to focus on improving grassroots medical services

The improvement of primary healthcare services for achieving universal healthcare will be the key topic of an international conference in the central Hue City on March 24.

More than 300 health experts and policy makers, including 50 international experts, will attend the two-day event that will be jointly organised by the health ministry, the World Health Organisation, the World Bank and the European Union.

Deputy minister of health Pham Le Tuan said at a press conference today, "The medical service system at the grassroots level has played an important role in achieving the goal of universal healthcare, because it is the nearest available system that ensures all people get access to basic healthcare at the lowest cost, and contributes to maintaining social equity."

"The international conference aims to assess the role of medical services at the grassroots level, including all communal medical stations, hospitals and medical centres of districts and towns, in delivering primary healthcare and implementing universal healthcare in Viet Nam," Tuan said.

He said the medical service system at the grassroots level had met about 70 per cent of the healthcare demands in the country. The system has played an important role in successfully implementing primary healthcare programmes, as well as the targets of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals in the health field in Viet Nam.

However, he added that the country's medical system, including the grassroots system, faced several challenges posed by the increasing demands of people, changing disease models, newly emerging diseases and an ageing population.

He said stronger political commitment from the Party, the Government and further investment in health services at the grassroots level would be important foundations for improving the healthcare delivery system in Viet Nam in the future.

The health ministry's statistics show that the country currently has 622 district hospitals with nearly 69,000 beds, more than 11,100 communal medical stations and 651 regional health clinics. The health insurance coverage rate of the population is 71.6 per cent.

District orders inspection of underground commercial areas

Nam Tu Lien's People's Committee on Tuesday ordered thorough checking of all underground commercial premises in the district, especially their ventilation systems.

The order came after 19 people were rushed to the hospital last Saturday after they inhaled excessive motorbike exhaust fumes, while waiting to leave a supermarket's basement parking lot at the Big C supermarket in The Garden building.

Nguyen Trong Luong, deputy chairman of the district's People's Committee, said the presence of an unusually large number of people, who had gathered for a concert on Sunday night, was the main cause of the incident.

After the concert, hundreds of people on motorbikes were trying to get out at the same time. The running engines produced a large amount of carbon dioxide that wafted up to the supermarket through the staircases.

Ho Quoc Nguyen, director of the supermarket's public relations department, said a technical malfunction of the building's ventilation system could be the main culprit.

Deputy Chief of district police Ha Quang Thai said the police had set up a task force to investigate the incident.

Applying vehicle tracking devices and technology is an effective solution to ensure traffic safety and order, ease congestion and reduce environmental pollution, affirmed Deputy Head of the National Traffic Safety Committee Khuat Viet Hung at a conference held in Hanoi on March 18.

Hung added the committee has coordinated with the Vietnam Military Telecommunications Group (Viettel) in studying GPS-based vehicle tracking technologies.

Viettel has also worked with the Vietnam Transport Development and Strategy Institute and German partners in using data analysis techniques from vehicle tracking devices to successfully design an online traffic monitoring solution and improve urban planning.

At the event, experiences in monitoring and managing transport were shared with the intent to explore methods to reduce traffic congestion and environmental pollution.

An international conference will be held in Hanoi on March 24 by the Ministry of Health in conjunction with the World Health Organisation, the World Bank and the European Union, with the aim to seek ways to improve primary healthcare at local-level health establishments.

Speaking at a press conference in Hanoi on March 18, Deputy Health Minister Pham Le Tuan said the event will present an opportunity for participants to exchange and share experiences in improving healthcare at the grassroots level.

It will also review Vietnam’s recent efforts to provide universal healthcare coverage.

Vietnamese and foreign experts and managers will focus on assessing the role of local-level healthcare institutions.

International experience in the development of local-level medical networks, universal healthcare coverage and the provision of primary healthcare services will be shared at the conference, among other relevant issues.

Challenges and orientations for improving the capacity of local-level health systems for primary healthcare were also on the agenda.

The Party and State have recently implemented policies on financial investment in the field and the national health network has also improved, satisfying 70 percent of the healthcare demand at the local level.

Gia Lai celebrates 40th anniversary of liberation

The Central Highlands province of Gia Lai held a ceremony in Pleiku city on March 17 to celebrate the 40 th anniversary of the locality’s liberation.

Thousands of locals at the event recalled the days of struggle 40 years ago, as well as the great achievements that Gia Lai has gained in the past years thanks to the solidarity between the government and community.

The living conditions of residents in the province, most of whom are from ethnic minority groups, have been significantly improved since 1975. Almost all local households now have access to electricity, radio and television.

Gia Lai has focused on ensuring social welfare for locals, especially for women whose children fell down for national independence.

Earlier, participants in the ceremony offered incense to former President Ho Chi Minh in Pleiku’s Great Solidarity Square.

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri