Students return to school after Thanh Hoa flood

Over 10,000 students can finally resume their studies today in the central province of Thanh Hoa after a four day flood devastated the area.

The September 5-9 flood, caused by 300-400 mm of rainfall, not only, wrecked houses and crops, but also stopped the students from learning as the downpours turned their schools into remote islands.

According to the provincial department of Education and Training, floods have washed away over 1,000 students' books, mainly those from the communes of Quang Phu, Tho Lap and Xuan Chau where the dyke of Cau Chay River broke out.

To help the students get back on their feet, local youth union members cleaned the schools and classrooms while local health staff worked diligently to protect them by disinfecting the dirty water.

Le Van Nguon, head of the education and training department said schools have encouraged their students to share books, notebooks, school supplies with other students affected by the flood. He added the Ministry of Education and Training had gave VND100 million($5,000) to help buy textbooks, and other supplies for schools in the two districts of Lang Chanh and Thuong Xuan which were devastated by the flood.

As expected, the flood has wrecked a number of tables, chairs, school supplies and teaching equipment in the province causing nearly VND6 billion($300,000) worth of damage.

Improving child adoption management

The Prime Minister has approved a project on the implementation of the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption for the 2012-2015 period.

Under the project, the Ministry of Justice is assigned to build a database on child adoption in 2012.

Besides, the Ministry of Justice will coordinate with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Public Security and Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to develop a joint mechanism for monitoring the situation of Vietnamese children adopted overseas and protecting them when necessary.

Between 2013-2015, the Ministry of Justice will implement a pilot program to organise home visits for Vietnamese children adopted overseas.

Mekong Delta sees water levels fall

Water levels in Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta rivers since the beginning of this year's flooding season has been 0.3-0.8 metre lower than average, according to the Central Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Centre.

The water flow at upstream stretches of the Mekong River this year is 6-34 per cent lower than normal average levels because of less rainfall in the first three months of this year's rainy season.

Vo Thanh, director of An Giang Province's Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, said water levels in upstream areas of the Tien and Hau rivers, two major tributaries of the Mekong, are now about one metre lower than the same period last year.

Every year, the Tha La and Tra Su spillways release floodwaters from the end of August to September 5, but this year they have not done so because of the low water levels, according to the An Giang Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control.

At the Tien River in Tan Chau station in An Giang Province on Tuesday, the water level was 2.75 metres, 0.75 metre lower than the first warning level.

Water levels are rising and would reach their peak in mid October, according to the met office.

Many farmers in An Giang and Dong Thap, normally the hardest flood-hit provinces, said the quantity of fish and other aquatic species caught since the beginning of this year's flooding season was just 60 per cent of the same period last year because of low water levels.

In An Giang, the water level in paddy fields in Tinh Bien District and Chau Doc Town was about 0.5-1 metre high while it just topped the height of rice stubbles in downstream districts of Phu Tan and Chau Thanh.

The flooding season normally begins in September but came a month early this year and last year.

The flooding season is also a season for farmers in the Delta to raise fish and shrimp in paddy fields, grow lotuses and water chestnut, and make boats, tools and nets for fishing.

Vietnam, Finland discus scientific, technological partnership

Managers and experts both at home and abroad on September 12 gathered at a seminar in Hanoi to discuss the implementation of the Vietnam-Finland Innovation Partnership Programme (IPP).

The programme was launched in 2009 in eight cities and provinces of Hanoi, Haiphong, Danang, Hue, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, Lam Dong and An Giang.

The first phase of the project costs a total of nearly EUR7 million with 89 percent of the budget coming from the Finnish Government.

After three years of implementation, 56 sub-projects out of 61 ratified ones are getting underway.

At the seminar, Finnish Ambassador Kimmo Lahdevirta said the project has significantly contributed to encouraging innovation initiatives, raising effectiveness of cooperation between scientists and businesses, and boosting the scientific and technological partnership between the two countries.

Taking businesses as the centre, IPP has paid special attention to enterprises run by female leaders and those focusing on rural areas, the ambassador said.

He underlined the need for Vietnam to upgrade its information system to deal with issues regarding State management during the implementation of the project.

It is also necessary for the two sides to expand the project’s scale to maximise the effectiveness of innovation in Vietnam, the diplomat said.

The two sides agreed to continue their cooperation during the second phase of the project which will last from February to August next year.

The project aims to help Vietnam become an industrialised nation with the middle-income status, a knowledge-based economy and a national innovative system actively serving socio-economic development.

Ben Tre seeks $8m for landslides

Southern Ben Tre Province's Department of Rural Development has asked the Government for VND165 billion (US$8million) to prevent landslides from now until 2015.

The capital is needed for concrete embankments and to help endangered residents move to resettlement areas.

According to the provincial Flood and Storm Prevention Steering Committee, the province now has a total of 18 landslide areas.

It said that 3,500 families faced the risk of losing their homes or were seriously affected by landslides.

The department is also proposing to increase financial support from VND20 million ($950) to VND50 million ($2,380) for each household in endangered areas.

Lao Cai gets hospital upgrade treatment

Authorities in the northern mountain province of Lao Cai plan to establish three new hospitals with a total 700 bedsΠР40 per cent more than at present.

They will be a 500-bed general hospital, a 150-bed obstetric and paediatric hospital, and a 50-bed endocrinology hospital.

The hospitals, expected to come into operation in January 2013, are needed to meet demands from local and surrounding districts.

Flood-struck homes close to collapse

The start of the rainy season has sparked panic among hundreds of residents in Thu Dau Mot City's Phu Cuong Ward in southern Binh Duong Province, who fear their rickety houses are at risk of collapsing.

People are unable to repair their structurally unsound homes because of a heavily delayed building project in the area, and now worry that storms will place their houses in jeopardy.

Their concerns were heightened after a 48-year-old local was seriously injured early this week when his house suddenly collapsed.

Nguyen Van De, who required 20 stitches in his head, said, "At 2am, we had heavy rain and I could see the canvas roof of my house was weighed down with rainwater. After being shaken, it suddenly collapsed."

Since De's ordeal, Van Nguyet Anh, vice chairwoman of the ward's People's Committee said it has applied to the city for support for the victims.

De's house and around 370 houses are located on land that has been cleared in order to build a 21st century residential area in Phu Cuong Ward.

De added, "We could not repair or rebuild my house because my house is in the building project area."

Under a decision signed by the vice chairman of the provincial People's Committee Pham Hoang Ha, Tan Vu Minh Co Ltd was assigned to operate the project, which covers around 24 ha, after approval from the city People's Committee in 2008.

The project, worth about VND612 billion (US$29.4 million) was scheduled to finish in May 2012, but the company failed to meet this deadline.

Under a report released by the provincial People's Committee last week, only 26 per cent of the land has so far been cleared, while infrastructure building progress is only at 20 per cent.

A frozen real estate market and the company's lack of capital are major factors in the delay.

The provincial People's Committee plans to help the company by borrowing money from local banks to speed up the project's progress.

Free Da Nang hospital brings new hope for cancer patients

The central region's first oncology hospital will offer free treatment for indigent patients who have cancer when the facility in Da Nang opens next month.

Patients will no longer have to travel to Ha Noi and HCM City, and diagnoses will be made at earlier stages in the cancer, according to Nguyen Thi Van Lan, deputy chairwoman of Da Nang Association to Support Poor and Disadvantaged Women and Children, an investor in Da Nang Oncology Hospital.

Indigent patients in Da Nang and Quang Nam Province will initially be given priority and then patients from other central provinces.

Health insurance will cover some of the hospital costs, and the association will pay the remainder.

The relatives of patients treated overnight will be provided free meals at the charity canteen at the 500-bed hospital.
The hospital, which covers 15 ha, was built with total capital of VND1.3 trillion (US$61.9 million) from the city's budget, benefactors, enterprises, individuals and NGOs.

The Government helped fund the hospital to buy modern equipment, including a linear accelerator, computerised tomography scanner and others.

After receiving approval to build the hospital, its staff and doctors were sent for additional training to oncology hospitals in Ha Noi and HCM City.

Foreign cancer experts will be invited to work and conduct research at the hospital, according to Lan.

Doctors and nurses live in two nine-store buildings on the hospital campus.

To encourage medical staff to work for the hospital, doctors will receive their monthly regular salary as well as a bonus, which will be double the minimum monthly salary of a doctor at a state-funded hospital.

Because it is a non-public hospital, it has to be responsible for paying salaries for its staff and experts.

Lan said the association was continuing to seek funds from benefactors.

Guest workers struggle in S Korea

Just over 1,000 guest workers have been sent to the Republic of Korea from the five Central Highlands provinces of Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dak Lak, Dak Nong and Lam Dong since 2004.

Many local workers from the region are said to encounter various difficulties in finance and foreign language training before being sent abroad. Recently, only 24.5 per cent of trainees passed a Korean language exam.

In 2011, Lam Dong became the region's first locality to implement policy that supports Korean training to increase the quality of its labour force.

Storms require heavy spending on dykes

The province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will allocate VND72.5 billion (US$3.5 million) to repair and consolidate 24 sea dykes, in the hopes of coping with and reducing damage sustained during the flood and storm season.

The costal communes of Cau Ngang and Duyen Hai will have nine new sea dykes built and others repaired by the end of this month.

The provincial People's Committee has also requested the reconstruction of 15 dykes and jetties at Tra Cu, Cau Ke, Cang Long communes and Tra Vinh City by this November.

Hanoi to host international seminar on Vietnamese studies

More than 1,000 delegates from 25 countries and territories have registered to join the fourth International seminar on Vietnamese studies scheduled for late November in Hanoi.

The seminar entitled “Vietnam on the path to integration and sustainable development” is a forum for researchers working on Vietnam all over the world to present the results of their studies and exchange academic issues with their colleagues.

It will give the Vietnamese and international researchers the chance to discuss ways to promote Vietnamese studies projects.

The focus of the seminar will be on Vietnam’s history, culture, economy, nationality & religion, environment, legal system, language, literature & arts, social development management, rural development, urbanization and the country’s relations in the process of international integration and development.

Issues related to the East Sea, including the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos, will also be a major topic for discussion.

According to the organizing board, the seminar has captured the attention of many international researchers in Vietnamese studies coming from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, the Republic of Korea,  Thailand, Russia, the US and Australia.

Ass. Professor and Dr Tran Duc Cuong - a member of the organizing board- says he hopes the seminar will make recommendations on polices to speed up Vietnam’s renewal process.

Children taught about Vietnam’s sovereignty

School children in the central province of Quang Ngai will be taught about the history of the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos since the start of the 2012-2013 academic year.

The Director of the provincial Education and Training Department, Thai Van Dong, said on September 10 that the books are currently being printed.

The lessons confirm that Hoang Sa and Truong Sa are completely Vietnam belong to and that the Vietnamese people have established their sovereignty over the two archipelagoes since the Nguyen Dynasty.

The lessons will help educate them about the country’s tradition of national defence and make them realize that it is their responsibility to continue affirming Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa and protecting the nation’s territory, including islands.

VNN/VOV/VNS