$67 million for demining in Quang Tri in 20 years

More than 67 million USD has been poured into the central province of Quang Tri to help it clear bombs and mines left from the war over the past two decades.

The information was released at a conference held by the provincial People’s Committee on September 23 to review international cooperation in the work during the 2006-2016 period. 

Quang Tri is among localities suffering the most from war aftermath, with more than 390,000 hectares of land, or 82 percent of the province’s total area, are polluted with unexploded ordnance (UXO). 

According to the Ministry of Defence, since 1975, bomb and mine accidents have killed and injured 8,526 people, 27 percent of whom were children. 

With over 80 percent of locals living on agriculture and forestry, Quang Tri’s socio-economic development and poverty reduction will be affected by the bomb and mine pollution in the long run. 

The pollution will also cause heavy impact on the lives and assets of people as well as security, social order and safety, environment and sustainable development in the province. 

Over the past 20 years, demining projects in Quang Tri have cleared 116 million sq.m of seriously polluted areas, safely handling nearly 593,000 bombs, mines and other UXO. 

UXO risks have been popularised among local community, especially children. More than 360,000 locals have been taught on safe production in the polluted environment thanks to prgorammes sponsored by non-governmental organisations. 

Activities supporting bomb and mine victims have also been diversified, aiming to ease difficulties facing them and their families, and improve their living conditions. 

In the coming time, the province will focus on raising the responsibility of the whole political system in overcoming bomb and mine consequences, while implementing a demining quality check process and post-demining risk management, as well as a procedure to test the quality of awareness education programmes in the locality. 

Meanwhile, Quang Tri will also call for investment from international organisations in building a mine action centre, and upgrade infrastructure and equipment for emergency aids for UXO victims.

Nghe An: Conference raises awareness of rabies’ danger

A conference was held in the central province of Nghe An on September 23 in response to World Rabies Day 2016 (September 28). 

The event, held by the Central Institute of Epidemic Prevention’s Department of Preventive Medicine and the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, saw representatives from the World Health Organisation (WHO), international organisations in Vietnam and provincial and municipal authorities nationwide.

At the event, participants discussed issues relating to vaccines, dog management and personnel training and measures on how to prevent and treat rabies, with the aim of reducing deaths caused by rabies and eliminating the disease by 2020.

The conference also emphasised the need to raise public awareness of the danger of the disease, improve the ability of the medical workers, and strictly implement vaccination against rabies.

Since the beginning of this year, rabies has claimed 49 lives , higher than that of the same period last year.

Cao Dai sect holds the religion’s 90th founding anniversary

The 90th founding anniversary of the Cao Dai religion was celebrated in Ho Chi Minh City on September 23. 

Attending the event were representatives from the Government Committee on Religious Affairs, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee in the southern region, local authorities and other religious organisations in the city. 

Nguyen Huu Nhon, Head of the management board of the Nam Thanh Oratory, which hosted the celebration, called on Cao Dai dignitaries and followers to do more for the national great unity and the nation construction and safeguarding. 

Over the past years, Cao Dai followers of the Nam Thanh Oratory have actively participated in patriotic emulation movements and humanitarian programmes such as free health check-ups and provision of medicines for poor people. 

Cao Dai, which was founded in 1926, is one of the major religions in Vietnam, with 10,000 dignitaries, along with about 2.5 million followers in Vietnam and 30,000 living overseas. The religion has 1,300 places of worship in 37 provinces and cities nationwide. 

The founding of the religion is celebrated on the 15 th day of the 10 th lunar month by most of the dignitaries and followers. 

However, several sects, including the Nam Thanh Oratory, consider the 23 rd day of the eighth lunar month (September 23) as the day when the religion was founded.

Vocational training important to cut poverty in northwest

Vocational training has been considered one of the important measures to reduce poverty in the northwestern region, heard a conference in Tuyen Quang province. 

The network of vocational training establishments in the northwest has expanded in recent years. At the moment, the region has 451 vocational training facilities, including 22 colleges, 32 immediate schools and 202 regular education centres. 

From 2010 to 2015, 14 provinces in the region provided vocational training for 573,000 rural labourers and 332,000 ethnic minorities, and 79 percent of them have jobs after training. 

The conference agreed on solutions to improve the quality and effectiveness of vocational training. Accordingly, localities need to build action plans for the 2016-2020 period. 

Vocational training should be closely associated with market’s demand, new-style rural planning. The work also needs the involvement of the whole society. 

The northwest, which includes 14 northern mountainous provinces and western districts of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces, is the least developed region in Vietnam with a poverty rate of 15 percent. It is home to 45 out of 63 poorest districts in the country.

Vinh Long: Vietnam – RoK friendship village aids poor people

The Vietnam - Republic of Korea (RoK) friendship village in Vung Liem town, Vung Liem district, Vinh Long province has become a venue accommodating local disadvantaged people and helping them secure stable livelihoods.

The project is co-funded by the Consulate General of the RoK in HCM City, the Asia Cultural Exchange foundation and the RoK insurance company of Hanwha Life. The project has operated since 2013 in the provinces of Vinh Long, Tra Vinh and Kien Giang. 

It targets households without residential land or living in landslide-prone areas, helping them settle in and lead a stable life. 

So far, 117 households in Vinh Long were allocated with land in the village, with 77 building concrete houses with funding from the project. 

In addition to that, the villagers were helped to take part in vocational training classes that enabled them to increase their incomes. The training was co-held by the People’s Committee of Vung Liem Town and the Vung Liem district vocational training centre.

They have also accessed loans to develop trading and production, provided by the Vung Liem district branch of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies.

Nguyen Thi Ngoi, a resident living in the village said she used to live in Thanh Binh Commune, an area radically affected by landslides. Therefore, she had had to live off her sister for nearly 20 years. 

After receiving 30 million VND (1,344 USD) funded by the project to build a house in the village, she is now opening a small store at home and capable of doing skinning cashew nuts to raise incomes.

Handicapped, orphans receive wheelchairs, scholarships

The Sponsoring Association for the Disabled and Orphans of southern Binh Thuan province has teamed up with the HCM City Sponsoring Association for Poor Patients to support the handicapped of Binh Thuan province. 

At a ceremony on September 22, the organisations gave 50 wheelchairs to people with disabilities and victims of Agent Orange/dioxin helping them struggle against hardships.

About 20,000 people with disabilities live in Binh Thuan.

Over the years, the Binh Thuan Sponsoring Association for the Disabled and Orphans has conducted various activities to help handicapped people, including issuing health insurance cards, providing transport and helping disabled people look for jobs.

In the southern province of Binh Duong, the provincial Sponsoring Association for the Disabled and Orphans presented 154 scholarships, 90 bicycles and 65 wheelchairs to people with disabilities, orphans and Agent Orange victims. Orphans also received notebooks and meals.

Photo exhibition to feature Ho Chi Minh Road in Laos

A photo exhibition on the legendary Ho Chi Minh Trail from 1961 to 1975 will be held in Laos to mark the 55 th anniversary of the Tay Truong Son (West Truong Son) road. 

The Vietnamese Embassy in Laos and the Lao defence ministry announced at a press brief on September 23 that the 10-day event will open at the Lao Military History Museum in Vientiane on September 26. After the exhibition, all the photos will be presented to the museum. 

Addressing the event, Director of the Department of Propaganda and Training under the Lao Ministry of National Defence Saisamone Salapseng said the legendary Ho Chi Minh Trail is a symbol of the Vietnam – Laos fighting alliance, which played a significant role in the national liberation cause of the three Indochinese countries as well as the liberation and reunification of Vietnam. 

The exhibition, jointly organised by the Vietnamese Embassy of Vietnam in Laos and the host Ministry of National Defence, is the first of a series of activities to mark the 60th anniversary of the Tay Truong Son road in 2021. 

Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Manh Hung said that nearly 100 photos will be put on show, which vividly reflect the hardship and fierce struggle of soldiers and civilians of both Vietnam and Laos in building and protecting the road. 

The road is a monument to the great sacrifice and support the Lao people has provided for Vietnam in its cause of national liberation and defence, Hung reaffirmed. 

The ambassador expressed thanks to the General Political Departments of the two countries’ armies, the High Command of Truong Son Division, the Ho Chi Minh Road Museum, the Association of Truong Son War Veterans, and the Vietnam News Agency for their support in organising the exhibition.

Northwestern steering committee, health ministry sign agreement

Permanent deputy head of the Steering Committee for the Northwestern Region Hau A Lenh and Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien signed a cooperation agreement in Hanoi on September 23, with a view to improving health care and preventive medicine in the region between now and 2020. 

The two sides will also cooperate in devising medical worker training policies for the region, especially at the grassroots level. 

The agreement targets having 75 percent of regional communes meet national standards on medical care by 2020, and 80 percent of communal medical stations have at least a doctor, while high-quality medical centres will be built in the northern provinces of Phu Tho and Lao Cai. 

The two sides will work together to bring HIV infection rate in the region down to below 0.3 percent by 2020. 

Both sides agreed to build a testing centre for medicines, cosmetics and food in Lang Son, implement the provincial disease control centre model in accordance with the national medical development master plan, and build a model of district-level medical centre specialised in preventive medicine and functional rehabilitation. 

The steering committee and the health ministry will also conduct joint research to recommend policies on health care to the Party and State.

White sand overexploitation challenges garlic farming

The overexploitation of white sand resource in Quảng Ngãi Province’s Lý Sơn island district – as known as Cù Lao Ré – has led to a shortage of white sand.

This has thwarted the garlic farming activities of local residents.

White sand, or coral sand, has been used for years by Lý Sơn farmers to grow garlic. They cover the soil on which the garlic is planted with a 5cm layer of white sand and replace the layer with a new one every garlic growing season.

Decades ago, when white sand resource was easily available, farmers could walk out to the shore and get the sand from there. The easy accessibility made them unaware of how to judiciously use and preserve the resource.

Nowadays, with the quantity of white sand reducing, those who get it, sell it at high prices.

“They take rafts out to the ocean, some 7-8km away from the shore, mine the sand from there, then sell it to us at VNĐ500,000 (US$22.4) per cart,” Lê Văn Bé, a resident of An Vĩnh Commune, told VOV. “If we want them to deliver the sand to our farming area, we have to pay them double.”

The sand is sold at VNĐ140,000–150,000 ($6.3-6.7) per cubic metre (excluding transportation fee), higher than the previous years.

According to local farmers, each unit of the farming area (about 497sq.m) needs to be covered with 3-4cu.m of sand. With a total farming area of 300ha, each year Lý Sơn’s farmers need 1.800-2.400cu.m of sand to grow garlic. However, at present, sand miners can only meet 70 per cent of their requirement.

The district’s authority has collaborated with the province’s science and technology department and central research institutes to pilot a garlic farming project without using sand, Phạm Thị Hương, vice chairwoman of Lý Sơn District’s People’s Committee, said.

However, the project did not succeed.

“For now, we have proposed to the agricultural department to encourage farmers to extract sand from one area, instead of exhausting all sources,” she said. “The department has agreed, and will soon decide on the area and announce it to local farmers.”

Canal litter blocking HCM City water flow

The HCM City People’s Committee has ordered Bình Thạnh District to install cameras by the end of next month to monitor littering in canals.

Inspecting illegal encroachments in canals and drainage systems in the district this week, city deputy chairman Lê Văn Khoa said on Wednesday Bình Thạnh authorities should educate local residents about the damage caused by throwing rubbish into canals.

More than 10 canals and several drainage gates in the district have been illegally encroached on, resulting in flooding in many areas during rains, according to the Steering Centre of Urban Flood Control Programme.

Many streets such as Bạch Đằng, Ung Văn Khiêm, Nguyễn Xí and Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh are seriously inundated since the flow of the canals that drain them have been blocked.

Văn Thánh, Cầu Bông, Bến Bồi 1, Bến Bồi 2, Tam Vàm Tắc and Bùi Hữu Nghĩa canals, for instance, have narrowed because houses have been illegally built along them.

Bình Thạnh should build a pumping station to mitigate the flooding on Bạch Đằng Street, Khoa said.

The Steering Centre of Urban Flood Control Programme should increase the pumping capacity on Ung Văn Khiêm Street to 2,000cu.m per hour to reduce flooding on it, he said.

In the long term, however, its drainage system needs to be upgraded, he said.

The system was built before 1975.

The city would entrust the district with clearing rubbish from canals, a task now done by the centre, Khoa said. 

He also assigned the centre to upgrade and dredge Xuyên Tâm Canal, which will help prevent flooding in an area of 700ha in Bình Thạnh and Gò Vấp districts.

Airport flood prevention

On Wednesday the city Department of Transport proposed to the People’s Committee measures to tackle the flooding at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in Tân Bình District.

Short-term solutions include fixing a collapsed sewage section that crosses Phan Thúc Duyện Street and installing a pump to increase the drainage capacity of A41 Canal.

The Steering Centre of Urban Flood Control Programme should work with the Tân Bình People’s Committee to clear illegal encroachments along A41 Canal and dredge the canal, according to the proposals.

In the long term work to upgrade the canal from the airport to Cộng Hoà Street and Nhật Bản Canal to drain the airport and nearby residential areas should be speeded up.

The airport should make plans to build a reservoir to regulate water and collect opinions from relevant agencies this month.

The Steering Centre of Urban Flood Control Programme will draft a general plan to improve water drainage at the airport.

The airport is badly inundated at several places when there are heavy rains.

Việt Nam steps up fight against LSD

Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam, Chairman of the National Committee for AIDS, Drug and Prostitution Prevention of Việt Nam has requested relevant agencies implement measures to fight against illegal drugs.

The direction came as recent reports emerged about the increasing popularity of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), which has reportedly been sold near schools.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has asked the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Education and Training and other agencies and localities to devise measures to control the concerning development.

The plans should be reported to the PM by the end of October.

The Ministry of Public Security was assigned to direct police to enhance management areas around schools and impose strict punishment on anyone caught dealing drugs to students.

He also asked the Education and Training Ministry to boost education to students and parents on the impacts of drugs, especially LSD.

He stressed the importance of timely discovery and control of LSD in schools, regular checks, and guidance for drug control in schools and other areas.

Experts have warned that a growing number of young people are using LSD in Việt Nam.

The drug, often sold as a piece of blotting paper soaked in lysergic acid diethylamide, is known for its powerful hallucinogenic effects.

It can cause mental disorders if abused.

The drug has been present in Việt Nam for a few years and is now sold at low prices, from VNĐ150,000-VNĐ200,000 (US$6.7-$8.9) a stamp.

The small stamps are often sold through social networking sites like Facebook.

Recently the drug has been sold near schools, particularly in big cities, and has attracted many young people because it is easy to buy and carry, Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper reports.

According to Nguyễn Văn Tuấn, a Hà Nội Mental Hospital doctor, users can be under hallucinogenic effects for up to six hours after using it.

It can cause users to lose the ability to control their behaviour.

Many youths shared their experience of using LSD on Facebook, even posting where to buy the drug.

Trai Họ Hồ shared on Facebook that it made him feel relaxed.

Everything around him seemed to be slower, he said.                                  

Nguyễn Huy Hoàng, 24, another user, said on his Facebook that he felt like he had entered a different world and was unable to control his actions.

Tackling the drug would be a challenge for drug prevention work in Việt Nam as results had not been positive so far, Tuấn added.

Lê Bá Sâm, an official of the institute for psychological drug users, advised parents to pay more attention to their children. If they show signs of strange behaviour, such as rambling, screaming or panicking, parents should bring them to a hospital.

He also said students should not try drugs and should recognise drugs and drug users so they can avoid them.

Dengue fever cases on the rise

Abundant rainfall in HCM City has increased the mosquito population, resulting in a rising number of dengue cases beginning early this month, according to the city’s Preventive Medicine Centre.

Last week, there were a total of 536 hospitalised cases from dengue fever compared to 501 hospitalised cases in the first week of September.

More than 11,300 dengue cases in the city have been reported this year, an increase of 35 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Củ Chi District is the hottest spot for dengue infections besides Hóc Môn, Bình Chánh, Thủ Đức and Bình Thạnh districts.

Dengue infections are forecast to continue an upward trend in the next few weeks, said Nguyễn Trí Dũng, director of the centre.

The city’s surveillance system for dengue fever has found more than 10,900 at-risk sites for dengue infection, including 3,440 at-risk sites for mosquito breeding.

In Việt Nam, dengue infection peaks in June to October.

Reservoirs facilitate aquaculture

Recognising the disadvantages in soil conditions, Sơn La Province’s Mường La District’s authority has instructed local farmers to shift from agriculture to aquaculture by taking advantage of the district’s reservoirs, VOV reported.

Statistics show that, currently, the district has more than 200 fish farming cages in different reservoirs.

With an average output of three tonnes of fish per cage, farmers are earning VNĐ10-15 million (US$450-670) per cage per batch which is harvested once or twice a year.

“Two years ago, after conducting thorough research and studying the aquaculture methods and practices of Hải Dương and Hòa Bình Provinces, I installed 10 cages to raise tilapia, red tilapia, hemibagrus and carp,” Chu Thành Vương, a resident of Ít Ong town, said. “The practice currently yields a profit of some VNĐ100 million ($4.500) per year.” 

Amongst various hydropower constructions, Sơn La reservoir is the largest reservoir of the district with a total area of 242sq.km.

The reservoir’s size and the favourable weather conditions of the district have created opportunities for the growth of different types of fish, such as red snapper, carp and tilapia, as well as other fish species of high value, such as sturgeon, lentil and spine.

According to Phan Tiến Diện, vice chairman of the district’s People’s Committee, the district authority will continue to support local aquaculture practices with appropriate policies.

“For example, we will give farmers detailed instruction on how to protect the fish’s natural spawning grounds to preserve the marine animal resource in the reservoirs,” Diện said.

“We aim to reach 400 fish farming cages by 2020,” he said.

Experiences on training health sector human resources shared

Local and international health experts have shared experiences on training human resources for the healthcare sector at a conference held today in Hà Nội.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam asked the health sector to rapidly increase the number of doctors, pharmacists and health workers to meet the country’s demand for healthcare and protection.

Đam said Việt Nam should learn from international experiences relevant to the country’s current situation.

He also suggested that the health ministry work closely with the ministries of education and training and home affairs to develop appropriate mechanism and policies related to training human resources for the health sector with the aim to improve training quality and ensuring rights of the medical staff.

“Việt Nam has faced many shortcomings in training health sector human resources due to increasing demand of healthcare and treatment, changes in disease models, ageing population and pollution threats,” health minister Nguyễn Thị Kim Tiến said at the event.

“Việt Nam has signed several international agreements and commitments. Therefore, the health sector should reform its human resource training to conform to international laws and regulations,” she said.

“The current training models and curriculums of Việt Nam do not conform to international laws and regulations. The country hasn’t adhered to standards for medical teachers, while training curriculums have focused more on theory than on practical lessons,” Tiến added.

The minister said it was unfair that a medical university graduate who had completed a six-year study programme was at a similar wage level as graduates of a four-year study programme in other fields.

Tiến stressed that the training quality hasn’t met the country’s demand for healthcare and treatment, although the number of medical universities and colleges has increased during the past years.

“Việt Nam wants to learn from the successful models of universities and post-graduate medical training of other countries. Việt Nam will work with foreign partners to develop international cooperation programmes on health sector human resource training as part of efforts to meet the country’s demand for development and international integration,” she said.

At the event, participants discussed ways to improve training quality in medical schools, the organisation of a post-graduate training system, a physician’s licence and the financial mechanism for medical schools.

They also heard presentations based on global experiences in health sector professional training from international guests from the United States, Hong Kong and Thailand.

According to the health ministry’s statistics, Việt Nam currently has 24 medical universities nationwide. The number of doctors has increased from 7.2 per 10,000 people in 2010 to 8 per 10,000 people in 2015. The number of pharmacists was 2.2 per 10,000 people in 2015 compared with 1.76 per 10,000 in 2010.

Illegal loggers allegedly attack forest rangers

Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park in the central province of Quảng Bình said yesterday it was co-operating with related agencies to investigate an alleged attack on forest rangers by a group of loggers.

According to a report by the Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park Forest Ranger Unit, at around 3pm on Wednesday, Mobile Ranger Team No 2 and forces of the Hóa Sơn Ranger Station detected a suspicious 16-seater van travelling from Hóa Sơn Commune, Minh Hóa District to Hồ Chí Minh National Highway.

During a search, they found that the van, driven by Đinh Minh Tưởng, was transporting 20 boxes of wood, which was some 1.5cu.m.

Failing to prove the legality of the wood, Tưởng, a resident of Hóa Sơn Commune, and some people who had accompanied the van on motorbikes reportedly threatened to throw rocks on the rangers’ car. They then used a sword and an iron tube to attack the rangers, leaving Dương Quyết Thắng, deputy head of the Mobile Ranger Team, injured.

Another person drove the 16-seater van into the rangers’ car, following which the van plunged into a field on the side of the road.

The group of 15-20 people continued to attack the rangers and used motorbikes and another car in which they transferred the wood. They also managed to push the van back up to the road and escape.

The rangers could only seize four boxes of wood, which were brought to the Hóa Sơn Ranger Station.

Illegal logging is rampant across forest and mountainous areas in Việt Nam, with loggers becoming increasingly violent in recent times.

In August, an official was killed and two others were injured after being attacked by illegal loggers in the Central Highlands province of Lâm Đồng.

Early this month, a group of loggers, also in Lâm Đồng, was prosecuted for assaulting rangers with weapons in July.

According to estimates of Đắk Lắk Province’s Forest Ranger Unit, there were 14 cases in which illegal loggers fought against rangers and forest protection forces since the beginning of 2015 to July 2016 in the province alone. 

Police seize 350kg of electronic cigarettes, vape liquid

The Hà Nội Customs Department and the economic police yesterday checked four packages shipped from United States to Hà Nội in July and found some 350kg of electronic cigarettes and vape liquid.

The goods owners – Nguyễn Kim Th, 27, and Trần Việt Th, 22, both living in Hà Nội – failed to show police import permission and authorised papers from the Việt Nam National Tobacco Corporation for import of the goods.

They had also missed the deadline for submitting customs documents.

For such reasons, the goods are seized, sealed off whilst the owners were required to pay administrative fine.

Also yesterday, the Hà Nội Customs Department, economic and drug police found 82.5kg of khát leaves containing the stimulant cathinone – a drug banned in Việt Nam.

The leaves were hidden carefully in packages which were supposed to be shipped by air to the United States.

Initial investigation showed that the sender was a man named Phạm Văn Duy from northern Lào Cai Province.

Earlier, in July, Hà Nội’s customs and police seized 199 packages containing over 2.5 tonnes of Khát leaves sent by air from other countries to Hà Nội. Both the sender and the receiver were hired for transportation in Việt Nam.

Khát (Catha edulis), a flowering plant native to the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, contains a monoamine alkaloid called cathinone, an amphetamine-like stimulant, which is said to cause excitement, loss of appetite and euphoria.

In 1980, the World Health Organisation classified it as a drug of abuse that can produce mild to moderate psychological dependence, although the organisation did not consider khat to be seriously addictive.

Khat is illegal or used as a controlled substance in many countries, including Việt Nam, although its production, sale and consumption are legal in some African nations. 

Gov’t plans to honor Huỳnh Thúc Kháng’s 140th birthday

The celebration of patriotic scholar Huỳnh Thúc Kháng’s (1876-1947) 140th birthday anniversary will take place in the central province of Quảng Nam on October 1.

The celebration aims to honour Kháng’s contributions to the country and people of Việt Nam, as well as to nurture and inform the patriotism of Vietnam’s younger generations. 

A variety of activities will be organised, including a national scientific conference, a screening of a documentary about his life and career broadcast on national and provincial TV channels and a visit to his grave on Thiên Ân Mountain, Sơn Tịnh District. 

Huỳnh Thúc Kháng was born in 1876 in Thanh Bình Hamlet, Tiên Cảnh Commune in Quảng Nam Province. 

After the success of August 1945 Revolution, President Hồ Chí Minh invited him to participate in the government, and Kháng once acted as a standing-president of the Democratic Republic of Việt Nam for Hồ Chí Minh while Hồ was in France.

He also was the chief editor of Tiếng Dân (Voice of People), a newspaper operated by patriotic scholars in Thừa Thiên-Huế Province. He served as minister of the interior in the first independent Việt Nam government.

International cycling tourney held in Lào Cao

An international cycling tournament will kick off today in Lào Cai Province.

The two-day event has attracted nearly 500 athletes who will take part in three events -- 55km road race, 50km cross country terrain and 25km cross country for amateurs.

“This is the largest-ever tournament organised in the province with more and higher bonuses for the winners,” Nguyễn Văn Tiến, head of the organising committee, said.

“Several experienced cyclists will join the competitions. I hope they will make it a competitive and interesting event.”

Quảng Ninh’s Hùng asks Hà Nội T&T to pay debt

Coach Phan Thanh Hùng of Quảng Ninh Coal says he will not let Hà Nội T&T win the second trophy when the two teams meet today in the National Cup final’s first leg match.

Quảng Ninh Coal lost their first V.League title to Hà Nội T&T after losing 0-1 to their rivals during the 25th round match on September 11.

“Off of the field we can be brothers, but during competition we are on different sides,” says Hùng, who used to coach Hà Nội T&T for six years before moving to Quảng Ninh Coal for the 2016 season.

“We have our own admiration and are thirsty for titles. We will ask them to pay the debt of that defeat in tomorrow’s game. We will play with 200 per cent of our capacity.

“Missing the V.League cup made us regret. Now we will focus on the National Cup and we want glory,” Hùng added.

However, Hùng will not have his best players, as Văn Hiếu and Kizito have been sidelined due to yellow cards.

Their rivals, on the other hands, are filled with energy and are excited after winning their third national league title.

The match will be at Cẩm Phả Stadium in Quảng Ninh Province. The return leg match will be on September 29 at Hàng Đẫy Stadium in Hà Nội.

VBA: Wings defeat Saigon Heat in third meet

HCM City Wing defeated Saigon Heat 92-73 in their first meet at the Việt Nam Basketball Association League at the Hồ Xuân Hương Gymnasium on September 21.

Heat’s loss was attributed to the poor performance of key players such as Trần Đăng Khoa and Việt Arnold who played below expectations.

The Wings won the first set 26-19 with a perfect start, which pushed them to continue leading in the second set that ended 47-39.

The third set saw the Wings’ dominate as they extended the gap to 71-57, eventually winning 92-73.

In the last two meets, Saigon Heat won 74-71 and 94-77, respectively.

On October 1, Heat will host Hanoi Buffaloes on home turf, while the Wings travel to Cần Thơ Province where they will play Cantho Catfish.

Catfish on September 21 beat Danang Dragon 91-75.

Long An win to stay in V. League

National U23 team member Huỳnh Tấn Tài scored a billion-đồng goal to help Long An stay in the V. League next season.

Long An, which was ranked at the bottom of the national premier league yesterday beat Viettel, the First Division runner-up 1-0 in a play-off match at the Chi Lăng Stadium in Đà Nẵng City.

Both teams were careful during most of the game, which did not see many sharp attacks.

Long An, who was supported by former National Team Manager Henrique Calisto was invited to consult with the team, and they played better in the first half.

The experienced side created some opportunities, but their strikers failed to make the most of them.

The second half, however, witnessed Viettel’s youngsters’ domination. The team, in which most of the members are in their 20s set the pace for the game and tested goalkeeper Nguyễn Tiến Anh’s skills at least thrice.

However, none of the team members were successful and the match entered extra time.

Tài, who had to delay his wedding suddenly because of the match, showed up just four minutes after the restart.

Receiving a ball near the box, Tài passed it through a defender before sending the ball to the far high corner of goalie Ngô Xuân Sơn.

Viettel Coach Nguyễn Hải Biên pushed his players further and opened consecutive attacks. However, their attempts were not converted into goals.

The win brought Long An a bonus of VNĐ1 billion (US$44,500), while Viettel must wait at least another year to know if they could taste the atmosphere of the V. League.

2016 Fine Arts Awards presented

The 2016 Fine Arts Awards were presented to four most outstanding works at a ceremony in Hanoi on September 23. 

President of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association Tran Khanh Chuong said the 21 st regional fine arts exhibition, which took place in August in eight regions across the nation, displayed 1,407 works from 1,285 painters. 

As many as 26 out of 89 works honoured at the Regional Fine Arts Awards were nominated for the 2016 Fine Arts Awards.

There is no first prize. The second prize goes to the oil painting themed “Childhood” by Nguyen Van Bay from Hanoi.

The three third prize winners are “They – part of my life” by Vu Bach Lien from Hanoi, “Trade fair legendary” by Hoang Van Diem from Lang Son and “Hoi An in the past” by Nguyen Tuong Vinh from Da Nang.

Chuong hailed the innovation of the works, saying that most of them depict issues in the modern life. 

On the occasion, the association presented the “For the Cause of Fine Arts” insignia to seven units and 58 individuals for their outstanding contributions to the fine arts development.

Central Highlands aims to improve local Party cells’ quality

Central Highlands provinces are working hard to improve the quality of the operation of Party organisations in villages and hamlets, thus fulfilling socio-economic tasks and ensuring security and defence in the localities. 

According to the Steering Committee for Central Highlands Region (SCCHR), secretaries of local Party cells have closely followed directions and resolutions of the Party at all levels to build plans and contents for regular meetings. 

The meetings mostly focused on leading mass organisations and encouraging ethnic minority people to engage in building new-style rural areas, preventing diseases and fighting illegal religious activities. 

Currently, 7,798 out of 7,826 villages and hamlets in Central Highlands localities, or 99.74 percent, have a Party cell. The region is home to 200,223 Party members, 36,406 of whom are from ethnic minority groups, 6,061 are religious followers, 65,915 are women and 15, 625 are young people. 

However, 17 remote villages and hamlets inhabited by ethnic minorities have no local Party members. The SCCHR has sent Party members to these localities to help raise the quality of the Party cells’ operation and lead locals in agro-forestry production. 

Thanks to this, the poverty rate of these areas dropped nearly 4 percent annually while political security and social order and safety have been maintained.

Vietnam learns from int’l experiences in medical education

Vietnamese health experts and those from the World Health Organisation and universities in the US, China and Thailand shared experiences in medical education and training trends in the world at a workshop in Hanoi on September 23.

Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam highly appreciated experiences shared by foreign experts at the event, saying that Vietnam will selectively enquire international experiences to apply in the country.

He stressed the need to increase the number of doctors, pharmacists and nurses to meet the increasing demand on health care and improvement of the people’s health.

He urged the ministries of Education and Training, Health, and Home Affairs to work together to outline regulations relating to the training of human resources for the health sector, in order to both improve the training quality and ensure medical workers’ interests.

The renovation of personnel training for the health sector is a long-term process, requiring a common direction of management agencies such the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Health, and the active involvement of the whole education and medicine systems, he noted.

According to Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, the number of medical workers increased significantly over the last five years. The number of doctors was 8 per 10,000 people in 2015 compared to 7.2 in 2010, and the number of pharmacists was 2.2 per 10,000 people in 2015 compared to 1.76 in 2010.

However, she cited difficulties and challenges facing the sector in human resources training.

The health ministry has studied to propose a training model while adjusting post-graduate training progammes through learning from and applying training methods of other countries, she said.

Participants focused their discussions on how to manage the training quality at medical schools and ways to organise the postgraduate system of the health sector as well as financial mechanism in training.

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