Microsoft office specialist competition launched in Thai Nguyen

Nguyen Thi Gia Hien (second from right) wins bronze medal at MOSWC 2015. 

A conference was held in the northern province of Thai Nguyen on January 26 to launch the 2016 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship (MOSWC).

The event was organised by Thai Nguyen University of Information and Communication Technology, the Ministry of Education and Training, IIG Vietnam and the military-run telecom Viettel.

In addition to launching the competition in 63 education and training departments, universities and colleges nationwide, the organising board also encourages the involvement of other contestants from 13 to 22 years old. The competitors will compete in Microsoft Office software skills, including Word 2010 and 2013, Excel 2010 and 2010 and 2013, and PowerPoint 2010 and 2013.

The National Final is scheduled for May 15. The top six scorers at the national competition will represent the country in the World Finale in Orlando, Florida, in the US from August 7 to 10.

Candidates’ competence will be assessed through an online 50-minute test called Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS). Any examinee earning 700 out of 1,000 points on the test will receive a global MOS certificate granted by Microsoft.

For further information about the contest, students can go to www.mos.edu.vn.

The MOSWC is the world’s largest competition on Microsoft skills, spanning more than 100 countries and territories.

In the past six years, Vietnam has been in the competition’s top 10. Thai Nguyen province has had 219 examinees since 2010, 60 of whom received MOS certificates. Thirteen students earned berths in the national final and two others got top place in the national competition.-

HCM to announce int'l school tuition rates

The HCM City Department of Education and Training plans to publicise the tuition rates of all international schools operating in HCM City.

The department said that many parents assumed that all international schools have a high standard because of the high fees they charge. But not all of the schools meet standards for facility, teaching programs and other criteria.

Nguyen Van Hieu, deputy director of the department, said the information would include tuition, school name, principal, deputy head, licence, teaching program, international accreditation, teacher-student ratio, the number of teachers of each nationality, and number of Vietnamese and foreign students.

The information is expected to be available in March.

Party Congress documents promote technological innovation

Draft documents submitted to the 12th National Party Congress continue to lay stress on the development of science and technology as a priority and the most important driving force for economic growth, environmental protection and strengthened defence and security.

Discussing the content, Nguyen Viet Dung, Director of Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Science and Technology, underscored two new points compared to previous documents.

First of all, investment in technology development and application must go before everything else in all sectors and agencies. The other point is that all resources should be mobilised for the purpose apart from the State budget, thus it is necessary to have more policies to encourage social investment in the field.

Among measures put forth by the draft for promoting technology development and application, the official took note of the solution on building scientific-technological organisations using advanced models and suitable operation mechanisms, as well as boosting international cooperation, and completing relevant legal frameworks on innovation and start-up activities.

Hospital visits peak in winter

The record cold spell with temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius over the past four days led to an increase in hospitalisations among children and the elderly for respiratory-related sicknesses.

Nguyen Van Thuong, Head of the Paediatrics Ward under the Hanoi-based Saint Paul Hospital, said that the ward had been overcrowded since January 23.

The ward had 43 sick beds, but received 60 patients. The same situation was reported at other hospitals.

The Bach Mai Hospital's Paediatrics Ward has 60 beds, but received nearly 100 patients. Truong Van Quy, a doctor of the ward, said most of the patients were between 10 days old and six months old. Many of them suffered from serious pneumonia and needed medical ventilators.

The E Hospital's Respiration Ward has received about 70 patients per day. Most of them are elderly with diseases caused by cold weather including asthma, respiratory diseases and strokes.

The Hanoi Department of Health on January 25 checked on Duc Giang General Hospital's progress in giving health examinations and treatment. The check showed that the hospital had opened a new building for use with air conditioners, blankets and warming fans.

Nguyen Ngoc Hien, Deputy Director of Bach Mai Hospital, said all of the wards in the hospital had prepared enough warm blankets and heating equipment.

A hot water system was operating in all wards.

Blood and other necessary substances for transfusions were warmed before being given to the patients.

Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the Medical Services Administration under the Ministry of Health, said the administration asked hospitals to keep all health examination and treatment rooms warm and prepare enough blankets and heating tools for the patients.

Automatic wastewater monitoring system inaugurated in HCM City

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment in Ho Chi Minh City on January 26 inaugurated an automatic wastewater monitoring system in 16 local industrial parks and export processing zones.

The automatic wastewater monitoring stations will collect and store post-treatment wastewater samples from the industrial parks and export processing zones for further monitoring.

According to a programme on pollution reduction from 2016 to 2020 approved by the municipal People’s Committee, in 2016 all industrial parks and export processing zones in the locality will get concentrated wastewater treatment systems that meet national standards.

According to the HCM City Steering Centre of the Urban Flood Control Programme, treated wastewater now accounts for a low 13.2 percent of the total amount of wastewater discharged in the city.

The city is calling for investment in 12 plants to treat three million cubic metres of wastewater per day.

Tides bring difficulties for Phu Yen fishermen

Fishermen in southwestern Phu Yen Province are facing several difficulties after tides completely destroyed five fishing camps and engulfed a large vessel.

The fishing vessel owned by two brothers, Huynh Van Binh and Huynh Van Minh in Tuy Hoa's Phu Dong Ward, was salvaged yesterday by border guards and the local people after it sank in large waves the previous night.

The entire cabin, boat and machinery were damaged.

What worries Binh and Minh the most is that their vessel's insurance has expired, making it more difficult for them to recover their losses.

The tide also destroyed the coastal area in Phu Dong Ward, from the southern section of Da Dien to Vinashine company area, during the last two days.

Two sea mouths have been opened, making way for the waves to flow into the river.

However, five fishing vessels are yet to be pulled ashore.

Fishermen are looking for ways to cope with large waves and surges at midnight, which caused vessels to collapse.

Residents have also been affected. Pham Thi Hoa, whose home was completely destroyed by the waves, said, "Everything in my house was washed away into the sea. Whatever it takes, I will just run for myself."

Fishermen in Phu Yen Province will have to find places to keep their vessels safe from the grades six and seven winds, along with cold air.

Border Guards in Phu Yen Province have made contact with 164 fishing vessels with 1,596 workers, of which 16 ships with 154 workers are already in safe places.

As a consequence of the cold winds during the last two days, Phu Yen has seen billows of clouds, particularly in Phu Dong Ward, Tuy Hoa City. Large waves have washed away the property of local people and fishermen.

HCM City to ensure ATMs operate smoothly during Tet holiday

Last week, when Phan Cong Danh of HCM City went to a Vietcombank ATM on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street to withdraw cash, the machine had run out of money.

Another local resident, who declined to be named, had a similar problem when a bank machine showed an "out of service" message when she tried to make a withdrawal.

Problems such as these with ATMs have reportedly become more frequent in the run-up to Tet (Lunar New Year), especially at industrial parks and export processing zones, according to the Commercial Joint-Stock Company for Foreign Trade of Viet Nam (Vietcombank).

To prepare for better operation of ATMs during the holiday, the inspection and monitoring agency under the HCM City branch of the State Bank of Viet Nam said it would examine ATMs this week.

The inspections will focus on ATMs installed in industrial parks and export processing zones, where millions of workers are paid via cards. These machines often fall short of demand and regularly break down.

According to an official of the agency, the inspection team will make unannounced visits to the ATMs.

The agency will sanction any bank whose ATMs have problems such as running out of cash, inappropriate suspension of operation, and failure to maintain customer care service.

The agency has urged banks to ensure that all ATMs operate smoothly to have a sufficient supply of cash for their ATMs before, during and after Tet.

It also urged the banks to carry out timely repairs on ATMs as well as open new ATMs at busy spots.

The agency has asked the banks to ensure security for their customers by deploying guards at several "risky" locations and installing cameras in all booths.

Banks have also been asked to co-operate with local police to intensify patrols at ATM locations that are more vulnerable to theft and robbery.

Le Huynh Ha, manager of ATM customer service at Vietcombank in HCM City, said last week some businesses in industrial parks and export processing zones had advanced part of their salaries to workers, which had helped reduce the overload of payments made during the new year.

Many banks have recommended that enterprises begin to pay wages and bonuses now instead of making all payments before the lunar new year.

Ha said that many companies would begin paying wages and bonuses for workers 10 days before Tet.

Banks have prepared personnel and cash to ensure sufficient supply of cash and smooth operation of ATMs during the holiday.

It is recommended that customers withdraw cash at other banks instead of the bank that issued the card as ATMs of many banks are now connected.

When customers see an ATM with problems, they should try another ATM of the same bank or other banks, Ha said.

Customers have also been urged to pay via credit or debit card instead of making cash transactions at supermarkets or shopping malls in order to reduce the demand for cash withdrawals at ATMs. If the customer's card is "swallowed" by ATMs, customers are advised to bring ID cards to the bank for cash withdrawals if the bank is still open before Tet.

Nguyen Hong Minh, deputy director of the State Bank of Viet Nam in HCM City, said the city would install an additional 162 ATMs across the city, two-thirds of which would be in industrial parks and export processing zones.

Commercial banks in HCM City said they would have personnel to resolve simple problems arising during the holiday. Complicated issues must be resolved on the first working day after the holiday.

Hospital security concerns add tension to doctors' jobs

In addition to the pressure of having to save patients' lives, emergency ward doctors also frequently face threats from aggressive patients and their relatives.

Last October, at the emergency ward in Quang Ngai General Hospital in central Quang Ngai Province, gangsters ran into the ward in an attempt to kill patients. Doctors were panic-stricken, and some medical machines for emergency operations broke down.

The same situation was reported at Thong Nhat General Hospital in the southern Dong Nai Province.

While doctors were giving emergency aid to a patient with serious stab wounds, a group of four young men equipped with scimitars ran into the hospital and looked for the patient with a motive of murder. They also verbally threatened doctors. The doctors only felt safe and were able to continue their work when the police arrived.

Pham Van Dung, Director of Thong Nhat General Hospital, said the hospital was located near densely populated areas and rented rooms. Hospital doctors often witness fights among residents resulting from arguments, drunkenness or physical assaults. In some cases, doctors were chased and threatened with demands for preferential services, raising feelings of insecurity among doctors and patients. Thong Nhat General Hospital has signed a contract with a security company and set up a hotline with police to promptly respond to violent cases.

However, the authorised forces feel powerless to solve urgent cases as the number of gangsters is on the rise. In addition, security forces are equipped only with basic self-defence equipment, Dung said.

Accustomed to being beaten by gangsters while on-duty, Cao Duc Chinh from the emergency ward of the Ha Noi-based Ha Dong General Hospital said emergency doctors must be on high alert for aggressive patients' acquaintances.

A doctor who declined to be named told the Suc Khoe Doi Song (Health and Life) newspaper that medical workers face other types of violence. For example, some patients become belligerent and demand better treatment methods.

The doctor said that during special occasions like Tet (Lunar New Year), drunken people who were unable to control themselves often had arguments and fights with each other. He said that his fears of being chased and beaten increase when Tet approaches. In an effort to curb the situation, the Health Ministry had collaborated with the Public Security Ministry to ensure safety and order in the health sector, in addition to working with provincial police to train security forces at hospitals.

HCM City plans changes to 115 medical emergency hotline

Despite much effort by HCM City authorities, the 115 medical emergency service has not really become popular.

Three emergency centres exist at Trung Vuong, Binh Tan and Sai Gon hospitals that are allowed to take advantage of the "golden hour" to save patients, and three more are set to come up at Thu Duc, Hoc Mon and 7.

But not many are aware of the service, while even those who know are often reluctant to use it.

For instance, an 85-year-old man in District 11 became short of breath a month ago, but his children did not call 115 and took him by their own car instead to Cho Ray Hospital. There he was diagnosed with heart failure and severe pneumonia.

His daughter said: "I had no information about the 115 medical emergency service. In such an emergency situation, using our car is faster than the ambulances."

A 32-year-old woman in Tan Phu District whose infant son had shortness of breath also did not call the emergency centres because she had never heard of them, and took a taxi instead to the local district hospital.

Dr Tang Chi Thuong, deputy head of the city Department of Health, said the emergency service had failed to become popular with the public.

There was a shortage of doctors and nurses to man the ambulances now, he admitted, which meant ambulances could often not be dispatched immediately.

It was for this reason that his department planned to initiate a programme to improve the service, and the city People's Committee recently approved it, he said.

Under the project, paramedics would respond to and provide preliminary treatment in the ambulance to patients who call 115 before taking them to the nearest hospital, he said.

"It is expected more and more people will use the emergency services after [this]."

The department was due to set up paramedic teams which were not required to be doctors and to provide training for two years, he said.

Dr Rafi Kot, CEO of Family Medical Practice Viet Nam, a private medical facility, said every emergency system could be improved.

The city should invest more money in the system including for new vehicles with sufficient equipment, he said.

People could die if emergency care was not provided in time, he added.

In face of the local emergency system's current limitations, Family Medical has planned to set up an emergency medical dispatcher instruction system in hope that patients or their relatives can call for emergency medical advice as they wait for an ambulance.

Poor children receive 10,000 gifts for Tet

The Viet Nam Association for the Protection of Children's Rights, in co-operation with a media company, has distributed 10,000 gifts to poor and underprivileged children in remote and mountainous areas.

The delivery of gifts, conducted for the third time so far, was part of a programme to appeal for donations and support for poor children to give them a full Tet party.

Chairman of the association Do Duc Ngoc said the programme, titled "Tet with Love," was launched in December last year and helped collect gifts and finances worth more than VND3 billion (US$135,000) for the underprivileged people, particularly children.

Ngoc said the association has also organised various activities, including donation tours to many remote and poor areas and even hospitals to find needy children and provide them with gifts and cash.

Earlier, the association's organising board presented 450 gifts to children in three communes in Bat Xat District, Lao Cai Province, and provided free medical exams for 200 disadvantaged children in District 7 of HCM City.

From now until early February, the board is also scheduled to hold several supporting programmes and present gifts to poor children in the provinces and cities of Đà Nẵng, Thừa Thiên Huế, Bắc Giang, Quảng Nam and, particularly, Hồ Chi Minh City. These activities include award ceremonies for outstanding students from vocational schools and the delivery of gifts to child patients in general hospitals in those cities.

Co-hosted by VAPCR and the New Media Culture Limited Company, the programme will be celebrated at an event in Ha Noi on January 29, when it will also offer 100 gifts to underprivileged children from the Ha Noi, Thai Nguyen and Thanh Hoa provinces.

Charity programme launched for students in Quang Ngai

Twenty-seven professors and students from South Korea have joined a Corporate Society Responsibility (CSR) programme for primary school students and children with disabilities in the central Quang Ngai Province.

The faculty and students are from Chung Ang University (CAU) in Seoul, and they have joined the CSR programme to focus on the education of the children and the environment.

The programme includes calligraphy, crafts, painting, and cleaning environment, in addition to gardening activities and school tool donations in Binh Son, Tra Bong and Nghia Hanh districts.

The programme, which focusses on developing the students creative and motors skills through art, concludes this Friday.

Earlier, 2,500 residents in Binh Son and Minh Long districts received a free medical check-up, drugs and equipment from a medical programme that was jointly conducted by Chung Ang University and Korean Heavy industry Doosan Viet Nam Company.

Communication programme targets protection of langurs

Da Nang, in collaboration with the Centre of Biodiversity Conservation, GreenViet, has launched a programme to protect the red-shanked douc (Pygathrix nemaeus) in the Son Tra Nature Reserve here.

Some 55,000 li xi (lucky money) bags will be offered as part of the programme.

Biologist Bui Van Tuan from GreenViet said the programme has called for the local community in the city to boost communication on the issue of protecting the primate and biodiversity at the reserve.

The li xi bags, which bear the image of the red-shanked douc and a message on environmental protection, aim to raise awareness among the community, tourists and nature lovers, encouraging them to join hands in conserving the flora and fauna of the 2,500ha reserve.

Tuan said the lucky money bags will be distributed free to all residents. He hoped the wildlife protection message would spread among the community during the Tet (lunar New Year) holidays (from February 6-14).

The Son Tra Nature Reserve, 10km away from the city's centre, shelters nearly 300 red-shanked douc – a kind of langur that was declared endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2013.

GreenViet has co-operated with the Frankfurt Zoological Society of Germany, the San Diego Zoo Global in the United States and the IUCN to protect the red-shanked douc langur at the Son Tra Nature Reserve in Da Nang.

Earlier this year, the centre inked a Memorandum of Understanding with Son Tra–Ngu Hanh Son's Forest Protection sub-Department to improve patrols to protect the langur.

An Binh Islet switches to 24-hour power supply

Residents of An Binh Islet, 30km off the central Quang Ngai Province, switched to a 24-hour power supply last week.

Vice-Chairwoman of Ly Son Island's district people's committee Pham Thi Huong said the Electricity of Viet Nam Group (EVN) completed the installation of its diesel generator and grid line system on the islet last week.

She said these were the last few residents of the islet, located three nautical miles away from Ly Son Island, to get power supply.

Power was used only for a few hours in the evening due to limited funds for buying fuel for the diesel generator in the islet.

The islanders have been using fresh water supplied by a desalination station built in 2012, but the station did not often operate due to power and fuel shortage.

Last year, Ly Son Island connected to the national power grid system via a submarine cable installed by EVN.

Bad management causing degradation of new dyke road

Poor quality transport management is the main cause for the massive damage to the newly-built dyke road in northern Thanh Hoa Province's Hoang Phuc Commune.

The 1.4km-long dyke road from But Son Town to Hoang Phuc Commune, is part of the VND600 billion (US$27.2 million) Lach Truong River dredge project which the province's Transport Department has invested in.

Le Tuan Dung, deputy director of the Department's transport project management, on behalf of the investor, said it could not accept the poor quality of construction of the dyke road and had to ask the contractor to repair it.

The project started from 2010 and is now it is time to check it and take over the construction.

According to the project's design, the dyke road is 5 metres wide, with concrete at a depth of between 20cm and 24cm.

Le Duc Nguyen, a local resident said the road was damaged at various points. Many local residents saw the state of the road and approached the Hoang Phuc Commune and Hoang Hoa District authorities.

The road has three sand banks so trucks overloaded with sand regularly ran over it. Many residents complained that trucks were running on the road just 48 hours after it had been built.

The contractor said barriers had been placed at the beginning and end of the road by the commune's police force. However, numerous trucks knocked down the barriers in the evening when the police were absent.

Also, the dyke road runs between two communes, so the traffic density is high.

Investors also asked Thanh Hoa Province People's Committee for temporary stoppage to operations on the three sand banks.

Parents scramble for child-care places as Hanoi schools close in big chill

Child care services are in huge demand in Hanoi as kindergartens and primary schools close because the temperature has dropped below the safety measure of 10C in the big chill that has swept down from Siberia and China and engulfed half of Vietnam.

Pupils in secondary schools are unaffected unless the mean temperature falls below 7C, but young children must go home when it falls under 10C.

But with many families having both parents working to make a living, it is not easy for one to take time off with every change of the weather, and the burden falls on grandparents, other relatives, neighbours, or daycare centres, which costs VND200,000-300,000 a child.

Freezing temperatures were reported across the northern regions -- minus 0.4C in Tam Dao (Phu Tho Province), minus 0.2C in Dong Van (Ha Giang Province) and minus 4C in Mau Son Mountain (Lang Son Province).

In Hanoi, the temperature dropped below 5C, with snow reported at Ba Vi District, about 50km from the capital.

The cold snap is expected to last until at least January 27, although long-range international forecasts indicate further extreme cold weather ahead, especially during Tet, as temperatures drop to 60-year lows in China and Hong Kong.

HCM City to ban vehicles from Nguyen Hue Flower Street

HCM City will ban vehicles from entering Nguyen Hue Street from February 5-12 (December 27, 2015-January 5, 2016 Lunar Calendar) for the annual flower festival according to the local Department of Transport.

All kinds of vehicles will be banned from 7pm February 5 to 10pm February 12 when the festival is held.

Surrounding streets including Le Loi, Nguyen Thiep, Ton That Hiep, Mac Thi Buoi, Huynh Thuc Khang, Ngo Duc Ke, and Hai Trieu will also be party blocked to make way for the festival.

Decorations for the 720-metre flower street have started with the theme HCM City, Peace, Prosperity and Growth.

The street begins with a monkey family holding Tet specialties like Chung cakes, pork pie, fruits as good greetings to welcome the Year of the Monkey.

The typical images of the southwest region throughout coconut trees, colourful flower baskets as well as famous flowers from Da Lat city, the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, are also brought to decorate the street.

Ca Mau works to build more new-style rural areas

The southernmost province of Ca Mau will mobilise 50 billion VND (2.25 million USD) from local people as well as domestic and foreign investors for building new-style rural areas in 2016.

The province strives to have 20 communes recognised as new-style areas this year and aims to convert half of its communes into new-style rural areas by 2020.

According to the provincial report, Ca Mau spent about 24 trillion VND (1.1 billion USD) on new-style rural area construction and economic development from 2010-2015 . The provincial per capita income now stands at 1,700 USD. Significantly, there are no impoverished households in new-style rural communes.

After five years implementing the National Target Programme on New Rural Development, Ca Mau province has seen significant changes in its rural appearance. Investment was made to construct 2,000 kilometres of road and 1,800 bridges, facilitating travel in the locality.

By the end of 2015, each commune had met an average 12.4 criteria out of a list of 19, compared to 3.52 criteria in 2010. The National Target Programme on New Rural Development sets 19 criteria for new rural areas, covering infrastructure, production, living standards, income and culture, among others.

17 out of 82 communes in the province have been bestowed with new rural area status.

A commune must meet at least 75 percent of all the 19 criteria in order to receive the new-style rural area status.

Procuracy sector bolsters anti-corruption efforts

The Supreme People’s Procuracy of Vietnam (SPPV) has taken drastic actions and reaped encouraging outcomes in the implementation of the Law on Corruption Prevention and Control and the enhancement of the Party’s leadership in crime fight.

The SPPV held a teleconference in Hanoi on January 27 to review the realisation of the law, which was approved in 2005, and Directive No. 48-CT/TW, issued by the Politburo in 2010, on increasing the Party’s leadership in the fight against crime.

A report delivered at the function said that the procuracy sector has stepped up law dissemination, professional activities and coordination with investigation agencies and courts to enquire into, prosecute and bring to trial corruption cases.

Many major corruption cases have been brought to light and handled stringently, the report noted, adding that procuracies at all levels dealt with 2,910 cases involving 7,456 people, with 2,583 cases and 5,782 people prosecuted, during the past decade.

Meanwhile, efforts have also been made to carry out the Politburo directive. A number of provincial procuracies have advised local Party committees on crime prevention and combat, while employing various measures to fully and timely supervise courts’ verdicts and judgements.

All-level procuracies prosecuted 295,594 criminal cases with 529,663 defendants during the last five years. They also made 2,565 requests for investigation violation correction and 852 others for violation and crime prevention, statistics show.

At the conference, participants also pointed out obstacles to the execution of the anti-corruption law and the Politburo directive. They also suggested measures to fine-tune the law and better carry out the directive in the future.

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