Surgeons save newborn suffering from heart disease

Surgeons of Hà Nội’s Heart Hospital have performed a successful operation on a newborn baby, weighing 1.5kg, suffering from severe heart disease.

The baby was born at 37 weeks in the northern province of Hải Dương. Six days after the delivery, the infant was admitted to Hà Nội’s Heart Hospital for special surgery for complicated heart problems.

Vương Hoàng Dung, a doctor with the hospital’s Intensive Care Department, said the baby had been diagnosed with congenital heart defects, pale skin and jaundice.

The baby was at risk of heart failure.

The surgery, lasting an hour and a half, went well. The infant is in good condition and is still in the intensive care unit.

The baby will be discharged from hospital later this week, as scheduled.

Former local officials prosecuted for land management violations

The Investigation Police Agency under the Ministry of Public Security on July 3 commenced proceedings against three former officials of Vung Tau city of the southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, on the charge of deliberately violating legal regulations on economic management causing serious consequences.

Phan Hoa Binh and Truong Van Tri - former Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Vung Tau city People’s Committee, respectively, and Nguyen Thanh Son, former chief of the municipal Urban Management Department, violated principles relating to land management and conversion of the land use purpose.

According to initial information provided by the police, from December 17, 2010 to January 18, 2011, Binh and Tri signed a total of 71 decisions allowing the conversion of the land use purpose for a total area of 243,000 metres for three construction projects in Vung Tau city.

The projects included the Metropolitan project developed by An Khang real estate joint stock company, the Khang Gia Han luxury apartment-services complex, developed by Khang Gia Han investment joint stock company, and the Vuon Xuan project, invested by Dong Duong real estate joint stock company.

The Investigation Police Agency found many violations in those decisions.

Concerning violations at the Metropolitan project, the Investigation Police Agency for Corruption -related Crimes started legal proceedings against and detained Vu Quoc Tuan, chief of the municipal Natural Resources and Environment Department for deliberately violating legal regulations on economic management causing serious consequences , and Ngo Minh Phuong, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the An Khang JSC for swindling.

Numerous supports proposed for pollution-affected fishermen

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has actively advised the Government on policies to restore the environment in four central provinces affected by the recent environmental crisis and help local fishermen to change their livelihood to settle their lives in the long term.

According to MARD Deputy Minister Vu Van Tam, the ministry has proposed that owners of under 90CV fishing boats will be supported to upgrade their boats or build new ones as stated in decree 67/2014/ND-CP on aquaculture development policies as well as the decree on the amendments and supplementations to some articles of Decree 67.

It also suggested that the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs design policies on vocational trainings to fishermen, while assisting them to work abroad, he said.

In order to recover the environment, the ministry will propose a project to restore coral reefs as well as the ecosystems in the affected waters, he said, adding that the ministry will also advise the employment of local fishermen in the project.

At the same time, it also suggested the expansion of the rice support programme to six months for both fishermen and salt workers. Meanwhile, seafood stockpile policies will be prolonged by one month to last from May 5 to July 5, the deputy minister said.

The mass fish deaths along beaches in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue in early April, which caused by poison in untreated wastewater from Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Limited Company, seriously disturbed the fishing activities of locals.

According to the MARD, aquacultural farms reported 67 tonnes of dead fish while the volume of natural fish found dead was estimated at 100 tonnes.

Statistics showed that Ha Tinh’s total seafood output in the first six months of this year was down 16,000 tonnes year on year, while Quang Binh suffered a drop of 23,600 tonnes, Quang Tri 16,000 tonnes and Thua Thien-Hue 13,300 tonnes.

Electricity comes to over 5,300 ethnic families

More than 5,300 ethnic households in the mountainous province of Son La have joined the national grid as a result of a local power project that began in September 2015.

The beneficiaries come from the Mong, Thai, Kho Mu, Xinh Mun communities residing in mountainous border villages across five communes in Mai Son and Song Ma districts.

Under an investment of 153 billion VND (6.88 million USD) sourced from the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) and EVN Northern Power Corporation, the project completed on June 30, 2016.

It brings the proportion of residents in Son La having access to electricity to nearly 90 percent, with 87.8 percent of rural households now connected to the national grid.

Long An: About 840 households vulnerable to riverside erosion

Nearly 840 household living along banks of Vam Co River in Tan Tru district, in the Mekong Delta province of Long An have been suffering from severe riverside erosion.

The garden of a local resident, Truong Van Hai, in Binh Hoa hamlet, Tan Tru town was swept away by soil erosion and fell into Vam Co River in the middle of the night last month, causing land loss of more than 40 metres in length and 6-8 metres in width and washing away ten coconut trees and many other crops.

The soil erosion also created a 30-metre-long soil crack in the garden of Hai’s neighbour, Cao Van Dong, leaving it on the brink of sudden collapse.

Hai said his family has been living here for generations and has never seen such dangerous erosion before.

According to Tran Van Doc, Chairman of the district’s People’s Committee, the district has never recorded any riverside erosion.

But now, its seven communes, including An Nhut Tan, Binh Tinh, Binh Trinh Dong, Duc Tan, Lac Tan, My Binh, Nhut Ninh and Tan Tru, with about 4,200 people, or 840 families, are vulnerable to the disaster, Doc said.

An initial survey suggests that climate change, which might have affected the flow of the river, could be behind the issue, he noted.

The people’s committee has mobilised the locals to plant trees and stakes to temporarily reduce the erosion while a plan is being devised to evacuate affected households.

3 students drowned during charity trip in northern Vietnam

Three university students from Hanoi were drowned when crossing a flooded stream on July 2, during a charity trip to a mountainous area in the nearby Quang Ninh Province.

Bodies of the students, one 20 years old and the others both 19, were found early on Sunday morning. They were among a group of 21 students at the Hanoi-based Foreign Trade University (FTU) who joined the university's annual charity summer program in Quang Ninh's Binh Lieu District.

Representatives of the school said four of the students stopped by a stream to rest on Saturday afternoon and slipped. A male schoolmate in the area managed to save one of them while the rest were swept away.

Many universities in Vietnam organize annual Green Summer campaigns in which students register voluntary help in poor or remote communities, or with environment protection.

The Hanoi's FTU was having around 400 students doing such campaigns in the northern region, but has suspended all the activities following the incident.

Quang Ninh and Binh Lieu authorities have supported each victim’s family VND12 million (US$540).

Foreign woman falls to death from 8th floor in HCMC

A Filipino woman fell to her death from the 8th floor of an apartment building in Ho Chi Minh City on July 1 evening, local police have said.

The body of the woman, whose name was not revealed, was found at the entrance of the underground parking lot of the building in To Vinh Dien St., Thu Duc Dist.

Some witnesses said they saw the woman climbing over a safety fence on the apartment balcony at 7.30 p.m. She apparently was trying to drag a little girl, later identified as her daughter, with her too, they said.

A security guard tried to persuade her to climb back in, but she jumped and fell 20 meters to her death, the witnesses said.

"If the boy hadn't managed to pull the little girl back she could have fallen to the ground with her mom," a witness claimed, referring to the woman's son.

Some local media reports quoted authorities as saying that the woman arrived in Vietnam early last month and lived with her Filipino husband in the apartment.

Authorities found the victim's passport and other ID documents which had been burnt in the apartment, the reports said.

The police of HCMC are investigating further.

Three children drown in Ninh Thuận’s Dinh River

The local authority in the central province of Ninh Thuận’s Phước Thuận Commune has confirmed the deaths of three children who drowned in the Dinh River.

The incident occurred yesterday afternoon when five local children, aged 14-15, went swimming in the river, Nguyễn Đức Thuận, chairman of the communal People’s Committee, said.

Two of the children stayed on the bank to look after the clothes while three others went in and soon after slipped in a deep part of the river, some two metres from the bank, he said, adding that by the time the locals  reached the river to rescue the children, it was too late.

Locals said this section of the river was not so deep previously, so people could swim here in the summer. However, regular sand exploitation being carried out recently by enterprises on the river bank had caused dangerous and deep holes, they said.

The local authority has mobilised the residents and offered financial support of VNĐ2.5 million (about US$110) to each victim’s family.

Timely relief to affected people in environmental incident: report

The Government’s support for residents effected by the mass fish deaths in the four central provinces has been delivered in a timely manner and to the right people, the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee said.

The VFF Central Committee noted four supervisory teams were sent to the impacted central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue to monitor the settlement of the incident’s consequences from June 23 – 29.

The teams reported that 40,043 families there were given more than 4,309 tonnes of rice, while 8,111 ship owners whose marine activities were suspended received VND53 billion (US$2.38 million) in aid. Over VND9.8 billion (US$439,400) was also provided to help affected fish breeding farms.

Aside from the Government’s assistance, some provinces also offered their own support.

However, the handling of environmental consequences is still slow, inspectors noted.

People nationwide and abroad also supported Vietnam with over VND45 billion (over US$2 million) and 149 tonnes of rice through the VFF and its member organisations. All the rice aid and some VND42 billion have already been delivered to the targeted residents.

The supervisory teams pointed out problems that have arisen while implementing the support policies and have asked the Government for more assistance for fishing and fish farming activities.

Border guards help foster children from poor fishing families in central Vietnam

Border guards in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Nam have been using their meager salaries to help support children from poor families.

The Tam Thanh Border Guard Office, located in Tam Ky City, Quang Nam, is located just next to the small fishing village of Ha Thanh – a place where poverty forces young children to leave school so they can help their parents earn a living.

After hearing of the hardships faced by children in the village, the nearby border guard office knew that something had to be done to help ensure that local children were given the opportunity for a proper education and a stable future, according to Senior Lieutenant Colonel Tran Minh Tan, the unit’s political commissar.

Well aware of the difficult road that lay ahead of them, the board guards began saving money in 2014 in order to adopt and afford education for four young secondary school boys.

One of the adopted boys was forced to quit his studies and help support his family while his father was in the hospital and his mother eked by on a meager living as a fish porter, Tan said,.  Another boy they adopted was an orphan while a third boy’s parents had divorced.

The officers went to each of boy’s families to urge them to let the children live and study at the border guard office.

“We coordinated with local schools to provide the children with reduced tuition fees, while the offices often take turns helping them with their homework after class,” the political commissar stated.

He added that the border guards often pool money from their own earnings in order to offer assistance to other children with difficult living conditions in the locality.

Three of the boys have finished secondary school and have gone back to live with their parents, as it is considerably more convenient for their high school education.

Nguyen Chau Phi, 15, however, insisted on living with his ‘foster fathers’ till he finishes high school.

“I was about to quit school and find a job before being approached and encouraged by the border guards to come and live with them,” Phi said, adding that “life here is good.”

“My wife and I cannot afford sufficient education for Phi and he is so lucky to be adopted by the officers. We’re unbelievably grateful,” Nguyen Van Chau, Phi’s father, stated.

In 2016, the officers kick started a program that focuses on providing monthly financial support for two school girls, Bui Thi Than Tam, a second-grader, and Tran Thu Loc, a seventh grader.

Tam’s father is being hospitalized for a serious illness and her older brother suffers from mental disease.

Meanwhile, Loc and her two siblings have been living with their sick mother since their parents’ divorce.

Vietnam lifts controversial nudity ban

Cultural authorities in Vietnam have revoked a new rule that bans models and winners of beauty contests from taking nude photos and publishing them online.

The decision was made after many critics strongly opposed the rule, which was introduced a few weeks ago.

Soon after the ban took effect, Vu Khanh, chairman of the Vietnam Association of Photographers, criticized it, saying that the ban will cause many difficulties to artists.

“Nudity is not encouraged in Vietnam, but it has never been banned,” he said.

The controversial rule, which also goes as far as prohibiting "offensive clothes that expose sensitive body parts,” states that violators will face working ban and have their beauty titles stripped.

T’way Air starts new route to Danang from Seoul

Korean low-cost carrier T’way Air has announced it began serving the Danang International Airport on July 1 with roundtrip flights from the Incheon International Airport in Seoul operating Boeing 737 aircraft.

An airline spokesperson said the flights will depart Danang four times weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 4:55 pm local time with the return flight from Seoul lifting off at 1:15 pm local time.

Danang is the second city in Vietnam served by the airline, said the spokesperson, following the launch last year of direct flights connecting Seoul with the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.

We’re seeing increased traffic from both business and holiday travellers between the two cities and we believe we’re competitive enough to outperform other airlines currently servicing Danang, noted the spokesperson.

Carriers increase thousands flights for summer season

Vietnamese budget carrier VietJet Air is increasing more than 5,700 flights on domestic and international routes to meet high demand in summer vacation.

VietJet Air increases more than 5,700 flights on domestic and international routes to meet high demand in summer vacation. (Photo: KK)

The carrier will provide over 1,000,000 extra tickets on local routes, from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, Da Nang, Phu Quoc, Hai Phong, Hue, Vinh, Thanh Hoa, Chu Lai; from Hanoi to Da Nang, Cam Ranh, Phu Quoc, Da Lat and Quy Nhon.

International routes are HCM City- Taiwan’s Taipei (China)/ Bangkok/ Singapore.

The national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines is also offering a promotional program on flights from Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City to Yangon until August 1.

Accordingly, a return tickets for HCM City-Yangon route will be VND429,000 (US$19$); and Hanoi-Yangon at VND1,329,000 (59$). These special rates will be applicable for flights which will be departing from now until March 31, 2017.

Vietnam Airlines  has announced that passengers arrived/departed Myanmar’s Yangon International Airport will make all necessary procedures at the new terminal T1 which was put into use from June 28. The carrier will support passengers to move from the old terminal T2 to the new one.

VNSO’s Hanoi concerts in July

The Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra will present concerts featuring popular musical works to Hanoians in July.

A concert with the partipation of pianist Celimene Daudet and conductor Tran Vuong Thach will take place at Hanoi Opera House on July 3-4.

Meanwhile Beethoven’s works will be performed at Hanoi's French Cultural Centre L'Espace on July 6-7.

The concert will start with introduction & Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28 by French composer Camille Saint-Saens, and end withSymphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60, by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Beethoven is considered as a pioneer of Romanism. With his sonatas for violin, composed between 1797 and 1812, he was following his role model Mozart, who recognized the violin as an equal partner for the piano for the first time. Furthermore, Beethoven’s sonata are known for their unconventional modulations and rhythms, which first shocked the audience, but after a while it was seen as the own course of the great classic artist.

Patients exposed to lead freely treated

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and Environment under the Ministry of Health yesterday gave lead removing food to residents in at Dong Mai Village in Van Lam District in the northern province of Hung Yen, about 27 km (17 miles) East of Hanoi

This is Pectin complex made in Ukraine, that can help remove lead or heavy metal from body.

Earlier, health authorities have diagnosed 330 children and 120 adults in the village with lead poisoning. They received Pectin complex, a nutritional supplement made by Ukrainian scientists within two months. Pectin complex is the most effective for detoxification;accordingly it was allowed to circulate by Vietnamese Ministry of Health

Most of the batteries are recycled in villages. Dong Mai Village in Hung Yen Province is home to 400 households partaking in recycling batteries. Due to backward recycling technology and lack of environmental protection measures, the village is facing serious pollution from lead dust, fumes and leaking acid fluids. In 2015, blood test results showed that of 618 inhabitants in the village, 65 percent of children are heavily affected by the lead pollution at different levels.

Doctors save man who stabbed in heart by himself

Doctors of the General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City’s Thu Duc District yesterday saved a 23 year old man who was stabbed in heart.

The man was hospitalized when half-conscious with pale skin and shocked because of bleeding too much.

Realizing that he was in critical condition doctors decided to perform a cardiotomy to rescue the patient. Surgeons then drained 600 liters of blood occupying both his pleura and pericardium and sutured the wounds for the patient. After the surgery, his condition was stable; accordingly he will stop putting on ventilator and it is expected to discharge from the hospital soon.

Head of the Chest Surgery Ward Dr. Nguyen Kim Anh said that the man was saved thanks to the good cooperation between emergency team and other wards.

The man’s relative said that he stabbed himself after having a quarrel with his wife.

Used state cars to be auctioned

State agencies have been selling old cars and will auction more cars to recoup money from the excessive purchase of cars by state enterprises and agencies.  

According to the Public Asset Management Agency, state agencies sold 264 cars from January to June 17. The cars were sold for USD17,700 compared to their original price of USD3.6m. 20 cars were transferred to other agencies that were short of vehicles.

However eight out of 42 agencies and 18 out of 62 provinces and cities still haven't submitted their reports. Deputy head of the Public Asset Management Agency Ta Thanh Tu said they still hadn't had the exact number on the cars sold last year.

On July 2, Tu said they would auction off old cars. More information will be updated on the web portals of local agencies and authorities.

According to the Decision 32 on the management and use of state cars, state administrative agency is allowed to have a maximum of three cars. During a meeting, vice chairman of Hanoi Nguyen Doan Toan proposed to let all agencies in the city to have four cars because of their supposed huge workload. The authorities of Quang Nam Province also made the same proposition.

The reports came after agencies were criticised for wasting money on the excessive purchase of cars. State agencies bought 611 new cars valued at USD27m dollar value please in 2015 according to the Ministry of Finance, while 7,000 state-owned vehicles still remained unused. In addition, lots of money was also being wasted on idle drivers, yet many agencies have refused to sell older cars while asking to buy newer models.

Beneficiary sued for average academic ability

Danang People's Court has ordered a woman who was sponsored to study abroad to pay compensation for her average academic results.

Nguyen Truong Quynh Nhu was one of the beneficiaries of Project 922. The Danang Centre for Promotion of Human Resources Development’s programme sponsors and enrols selected candidates in undergraduate and graduate training programmes in Vietnam and abroad so that they will work for the city following graduation.

Nhu enrolled in France in 2011 to study law, economics and management. According to the contract, she needed to record good academic results however she only managed average results.

Taking into consideration Nhu's difficult background, the city people's committee agreed to let her continue her studies. However, when Nhu graduated in 2013, her academic ability was still average.

Nhu was asked to pay VND400m (USD18,000), or 50% of the sponsorship by November 2014, but she delayed payment for various reasons. On June 30, the case was officially brought to Danang People's Court.

Since the project was established in 2004, 629 people have benefited from the sponsorship. Danang Centre for Promotion of Human Resources Development said there have been many breaches of contract and 83 people had withdrawn. Thirteen individuals have been sued, recovering VND20bn.

Last year, the centre had sued 15 locals who accepted sponsorship to study abroad but refused to work for the local authority as agreed.

Memorial service to commemorate fallen soldiers in Len Ha cave

A memorial service, named ‘Hello, A69 here’ was held at Dong Le town, Tuyen Hoa district, Quang Binh province on July 3 for the 13 martyrs who died in Len Ha cave in 1972.

The memorial service was co-organised by Quang Binh provincial People's Committee, Ministry of Information and Communication and Vietnam Television, as an activity to mark the 68th anniversary of Vietnam's War Invalids and Martyrs' Day, 60th traditional day of the communications soldier and 44 years since the Len Ha event.

Many veterans and former officers and soldiers of the Information and Communication Arm burned incense and stood in memory of their comrades who died in the Len Ha cave.

Delivering his memorial speech, Major general Ngo Kim Dong from the army communications division said that the Party, State and army pay tribute to the heroic fallen martyrs and their sacrifice for national independence and liberation. We pledge to ensure seamless communications, accuracy and security in all circumstances.

Earlier, Quang Binh province held a requiem for martyrs and heroes who lost their lives in the Len Ha cave. The requiem was held to pay tribute to heroic martyrs and their contributions to the Fatherland, as well as to educate younger generations on the national tradition of building a country of peace, independence, territorial integrity, wealth, and democracy.

Environmental protection is compulsory requirement

Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung required that all factories located in the Nghi Son Economic Zone (EZ) in Thanh Hoa Province must ensure safety throughout construction and operation as well as environmental protection while he paid an inspection tour to the EZ on Saturday.

Established in 2006, the EZ, which covers an area of 18,611.8 ha in Tinh Gia District, was designed to become a multi-sector economic zone with a focus on heavy and fundamental industries such as oil refinery, petrochemical industry, advanced steel, ship-building, construction materials among others.

It is now home to 127 projects of local investors with total registered capital of over VND 96 trillion and nine foreign-funded projects capitalized at US 12 million. Large scale projects include Nghi Son refinery and petrochemical complex and the two thermal power plans with combined capacity of 3.000MW.

Right at the EZ, Deputy PM Dung inspected the design and construction of waste treatment system of the Nghi Son refinery and petrochemical complex-the second planned oil refinery in Viet Nam, and asked its management board to report on waste treatment plans.

At present, the EZ still lacks of a centralized wastewater treatment system which is estimated to cost some US$120 million. Local leaders said the province is calling on public-private investment for the construction of the system as this is a large scale EZ.

The second phase of a waste treatment factory is under construction to handle 500 tons of household garbage a day and 70,000 industrial waste per year.

Following the serious environmental breakdown in the central coast recently, Thanh Hoa Province ordered the Nghi Son refinery to temporarily stop discharging waste water until a final decision issued by the Environment Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Deputy PM Dung underlined that local leaders and the EZ must pay special care to environmental protection, adding that all treated waste must be tested before discharging to make sure that all regulations on environment and international practices are observed.

Each industrial zone must have a centralized waste water treatment plant and each factory must have a proper waste water system, he demanded.

Deputy PM Dung also tasked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to coordinate with Thanh Hoa Province to quickly install environment observation stations to supervise production facilities and these station must be connected to management agencies 24 hours a day.

All production facilities which fail to comply with environment regulations must be asked to stop production and strictly fined./.

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