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More than 3,000 people took part in a walk in Thu Duc district, HCM City, on May 13 in response to Traffic Safety Year 2012.
Participants followed a course of three kilometers, from Children’s House of Thu Duc district to Vo Van Ngan, Dang Van Bi and Dan Chu streets.
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| Photo: VOV |
Also on this occasion, the VFF Chapter and Great Eastern Life Assurance (Vietnam) Co. Ltd. presented VND50 million to 10 poor households whose relatives were injured or killed by traffic accidents, and handed over 300 helmets to students in Districts 2, 9 and Thu Duc.
Five female soldiers injured as army car overturns
Five female soldiers were injured as a service car by army corps No.15 under the Ministry of Defense overturned last Saturday in a road accident in Binh Duong province.
According to initial information, the 7-seater Mitsubishi car was going towards the Huynh Van Luy- Nguyen Van Linh crossroad in Thu Dau Mot town, Binh Duong province when it hit a 15-seater Ford Transit crossing the street.
Witnesses said they heard the cars’ screech in the street and then saw the two cars revolving after they had collided.
The army car overturned several times, slipped in a stretch of the street before stopping. It was deformed and many of its parts broke into pieces.
Five female soldiers stuck inside the army car and two passengers in the other car were taken to Binh Duong general hospital.
Captain Nguyen Dac Nguyen, who survived the accident, said their car was on the way from Ho Chi Minh to the central province of Dak Lak and all passengers on the car are soldiers of the army corps.
Poster competition promotes hygiene
A poster design competition on improving personal and environmental hygiene was launched last week by the Ministry of Health's Centre for Communications and Health Education.
The contest aims to strengthen people's health and disease prevention.
Vietnamese and foreign painters, photographers or reporters nationwide can participate in the competition by sending their works to the centre in Ha Noi, from now to June 20.
No pork samples contain additives
Pork and chicken samples on sale at markets in the Central Highland province ofLam Dong have been tested and found not to be contaminated with lean-meat additives, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Earlier in July last year, two out of 10 pork and chicken samples in the province that were tested proved to have the harmful additives.
Meanwhile, authorities in the northern port city of Hai Phong last week also announced that the illegal additive was also found to be absent from pork samples from markets in the city. The lean-meat additives can lead to cardiovascular complications in humans, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
More sua timber recovered from Quang Binh forest
Forest rangers arrested another 300kg of the valuable sua timber yesterday after seizing the first 366kg sua timber in protected Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park four days ago.
The newly-found timber was located in four blockages, which were allegedly to be from three trees cut down by lumberjacks in the park, Xuan Trach Commune, Bo Trach District, said Luu Minh Thanh, the park's director. The traffickers, like in the last case, had escaped, Thanh said.
The sua tree (Dalbergia tonkinensis Prain) has been listed as an endangered flora species in Viet Nam and is on the international red list. Sua timber is rare and valuable, and as per local myth, can be used for spiritual purposes and treatment of some diseases in China.
The director told Viet Nam News that it was possible "the lumberjacks had hidden the timbers in different places in the forest for easily trafficking."
"Thus, many local people get into the forest to seek the timber and it is very difficult to make them stop their search as the timber is much expensive," he said.
The amount of sua timber was estimated at more than VND10 billion(US$490,000) at market's price.
However, Thanh said the chaos was less now when rangers seized more timber.
Besides the park's 116 rangers, provincial rangers and police were ready to work in finding the timber, the director said.
250,000 families to move to safe areas
Around 250,000 households located in high risk areas, extreme geographical conditions, border and island areas, protective forests and specialised forest areas will be relocated between now until 2020 under a massive draft plan released on May 11 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Planning.
According to the draft plan, about 125,000 households would be relocated by 2015 and given support such as access to basic services like electricity, and stable housing.
According to Pham Khanh Ly, deputy director of the Ministry's Department of Co-operative and Rural Development, the sector would draw funding both from the state and local governments, with priorities given to those living at high risk of disasters and flooding, border areas and islands, and in extremely remote areas.
The Ministry estimated the project would cost 30 trillion VND (1.4 billion USD), with state funding accounting for 60 percent.
Among other support policies, funding would also be used to train labourers, especially those who have to relocate to areas without sufficient agricultural land, Ly said.
Between 2006-2010, Vietnam resettled more than 146,000 households under a similar plan.
Two men seized for transporting stimulants
Police in the northwestern border province of Lai Chau seized two men last Thursday as they attempted to transport about 760 pills of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) from Lai Chau to Lao Cai Province.
The first man was captured while transporting the drugs by motorbike on National Highway 4D past Son Binh Commune, Tam Duong District in Lai Chau Province. The subsequent interrogation led to the arrest of the second man. Both men are from Lao Cai.
11-storey Da Nang hospital opens
An Obstetrics and Paediatrics Hospital has been established in the central city of Da Nang following a decision by the city's People's Committee.
The 11-storey hospital can accommodate 550 patients and is equipped with advanced technology and facilities.
There are also plans to open the central region's first male medical clinic in the future.
Police seize illegal cargo
Viet Nam Marine Police on Saturday seized a ship for illegally transporting about 1,400 tonnes of coal dust.
The illegal cargo was spotted when the ship was inspected off the coast of northern Quang Ninh Province, in the Cua Doi area out at sea between Co To and Van Don districts.
The ship, owned by a 35-year-old man from northern Nam Dinh Province, was found to have no registration papers, technical safety certification or environment protection certificate.
In addition, the ship's captain failed to present a steering licence while its technical staff did not have any professional certificates. There was also no legal proof of origins for the goods onboard.
On the same day, marine police transferred the case to the authorities of Hai Phong City for further investigation.
The illegal trade of coal is currently rampant in Quang Ninh Province, an area rich in coal resources.
A recent report by the Ministry of Industry and Trade stated that the export of illegally mined minerals and coal was worsening and seriously depleting the country's natural resources.
Last year, over 124,000 tonnes of illegally mined ore and coal were confiscated, an increase of 25 per cent against 2010, according to another report by the Steering Committee for Smuggling, Counterfeit Goods Trading and Commercial Frauds Prevention.
Outdoor advertisments to be inspected
The HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will conduct comprehensive inspections over the granting of licences to install advertisement boards since 2005 at the request of the municipal People's Committee.
The department has been instructed not to grant any more licences to businesses that failed to meet safety standards. Additionally, advertisement boards that may affect road traffic safety will be removed.
The department was also asked to draft a plan for the management of advertising activities within the city for the 2012-15 period and submit the plan to the city's People's Committee in the third quarter of this year.
According to the municipal People's Committee, 60 per cent of open-air advertisement boards in the city were either posted without the authority's permission or failed to meet the standards required.
Man invents system to reduce petrol usage
A man from the southern province of Vinh Long has invented a system that economises petrol in motorbikes. Dang Hoang Son's system has been certified by the National Office of Intellectual Property of Viet Nam.
The system, costing VND200,000-220,000 (US$9.5-10), could help save 20-30 per cent of petrol, said Son.
Interested people can contact Son on 0927108113 for more information.
VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre
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