Drastic measures to curb pig disease

The HCM City People's Committee has ordered districts to step up efforts to check the spread of blue-ear disease among pigs.

According to the city Veterinary Department, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) – to give its medical name – is highly likely to spread to areas yet to be affected since many districts have not taken the drastic measures ordered by the Government to cope with it.

Under the new direction, the city government has told districts to intensify monitoring of the transport, trade and slaughter of pigs affected by the disease and impose strict penalties on violators.

The city also ordered them to inform the Department of Industry and Trade as well as slaughterhouses about the number of healthy pigs ready for slaughter.

Besides, they are required to continue educating farmers about ways to control the disease while breeding pigs, vaccinating their healthy pigs, and disinfecting breeding facilities.

The city has called on farmers to report outbreaks of the disease immediately so that authorities can take prompt measures to prevent its spread.

Some 20 provinces and cities, mostly in the south, have yet to wipe out the disease.

PRRS has become a threat in HCM City since the city has to buy pigs from other localities to meet demand for pork.

Authorities have, therefore, ordered checkpoints along the city's gateways to closely monitor the transport of pigs.

The demand for pork is expected to rise strongly during the upcoming festive season, especially Tet (lunar New Year) next February.

Alleged anti-State agitator prosecuted

A Ha Noi resident has been charged with illegal actions against the State and will be held in custody for four months pending further investigations.

He is Cu Huy Ha Vu, 53, of 24 Dien Bien Phu street, Ba Dinh District.

Vu was arrested on November 6 by the Ministry of Public Security Investigation Agency under a warrant issued by the Supreme People's Court.

He was charged with illegal actions against the State of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam under Article 88 of the Criminal Code.

The court transferred the investigation to Ha Noi police as part of their jurisdiction.

The Ha Noi People's Procuracy was instructed to supervise the inquiry.

Car plunged into field injuring 7 passengers

Seven of nine passengers were injured when a car on the way to pick up war martyr remains plunged into a field yesterday in Nghi Loc District in central Nghe An Province.

The accident was due to wet and slippery roads. The injured passengers were taken to the Vinh City's No 115 Hospital.

3 killed, 1 in coma after smoke poisoning

Three people were killed and another remains in a coma from smoke poisoning from a brick-kiln in Bac Son Commune in Ha Noi's Soc Son District yesterday.

The four victims are members of a local family that owns the kiln. Their four dogs and 16 hens also died from the same cause.

The case is under investigation.

Obstetrician to be prosecuted over death

The People's Procuracy of Can Tho City's Cai Rang District has decided to prosecute Nguyen Minh Quang, an obstetrician from Hoan My Cuu Long General Hospital whose violation of professional regulations led to the death of a pregnant patient.

Under the indictment, Quang, 57, of Ninh Kieu District in Can Tho City, conducted a surgery for Nguyen Ngoc Phuoc to help her give birth to a 3.1-kg baby on August 1, 2009. Apparently the patient suffered peritonitis, inflammation in the abdomen, after her small intestine was pierced during surgery.

Two days later Phuoc showed symptoms of tympanitis and her family requested to move her to Can Tho General Hospital but her doctors did not oblige.

After suffering a rapid decline in health one day later, the doctors concluded that Phuoc suffered from septicemia and agreed to move her to Can Tho Hospital. She died a few hours after the move.

Police discover heroin trafficking ring

The Quang Ninh Police have widened their investigation on a heroin trafficking ring, transporting the drug from foreign countries to Viet Nam.

The probe began in early September.

The provincial and Tay Ninh border guards said heroin was brought from China to Mong Cai City in Quang Ninh Province and then to Ha Noi, HCM City and finally to Cambodia.

Last Tuesday, the police caught two traffickers, Vu Van Chinh, 37, and Cambodian Koem Sokda, 30, illegally entering Viet Nam from China.

They had nearly 4kg of synthetic heroin powder in their possession.

Sokda admitted to being in cahoots with a group of Vietnamese people to traffic heroin since the beginning of November.

Seminar discusses ODA in 2011-2015

A seminar was held in Hanoi on November 16 by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) to give opinions on attracting, managing and applying ODA in the 2011-2015 period.

According to Ho Quang Vinh, Head of the MIP’s External Economics Department, Vietnam will continue to mobilise all outside resources, including ODA funding, to implement its five-year plan for socio-economic development (2011-2015).

Over the past two decades, ODA along with other capital inflows, have played an important role in boosting Vietnam’s socio-economic development.

In the near future, developing countries like Vietnam will face the fact that ODA funding will decrease while less preferential loans will increase, posing a huge challenge to Vietnam which the country and its partners must find ways to deal with.

According to international practice, ODA funding is provided for low-income countries, therefore, now that as a middle-income country, Vietnam’s ODA funding will be changed.

JICA Chief Representative in Vietnam, Tsuno Motonori highlighted Vietnam’s positive socio-economic achievements while saying that the country still faces a lot of challenges regarding high-quality human resources development, macro-economic stabilization and administrative reform.

However, Vietnam’s development partners have pledged to continue to provide ODA to the country after 2010, based on new changes in line with a middle-income country.

Press Awards for Great National Unity in HCM City

The Press Awards Ceremony for the Cause of Great National Unity was held in HCM City on November 16 by the HCM City Fatherland Front Committee and the city Journalist Association to mark the 80th anniversary of the Vietnam National United Front.

Front staff from Tan Thanh Dong commune, Cu Chi district, and Nguyen Truong Loc from Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper won first prizes, and two second prizes, three third prizes and several consolidation prizes were awarded to other contestants. 

This year’s Press Awards were launched in July and included the participation of all levels of the Fatherland Front and press agencies in HCM City. 

The organising board received more than 90 entries, most of them reflecting the role of the City Fatherland Front Committee in mobilizing national unity and other patriotic movements, as well as the campaign to help the poor.  

The entries also featured the people’s expectations and the promotion of the City Fatherland Committee.

Fifth national chemistry conference held

The Vietnam Chemistry Association organised its 5th national conference on Vietnam chemistry for sustainable development in Hanoi on November 16.

The event was attended by 400 scientists from institutes, businesses and universities nationwide, and representatives from Asian chemistry associations, Australia, Russia, Germany, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

At the conference, delegates focused on pollution, environmental protection, climate change, biotechnology, natural mix processing, new production technology and training human resources.

The national chemistry conference is held every five years to collect, select and popularise scientific projects in field of chemistry.

The event this year received over 400 scientific reports by nearly 1,500 authors from domestic and foreign research agencies, universities and businesses.

Laos donates US$100,000 to Vietnam’s flood victims

The Laotian Government has donated US$100,000 to aid the people in the central provinces of Vietnam, who are victims of the recent flood.

Laotian Deputy Foreign Minister, Hiem Phommachanh, on November 15 handed over the money to Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Ta Minh Chau.

The Vietnamese Ambassador Ta Minh Chau expressed his heartfelt thanks to the Laotian party, government and people for their precious and timely assistance to Vietnamese flood victims.

Vietnam leads SEA in student enrollments in US

Vietnam currently ranks first among countries in the Southeast Asia in the number of students in the United States.

The International Institute of Education (IIE) in Vietnam quoted its annual Open Door 2010 report as saying that the number of Vietnamese students enrolled at universities and colleges in the US during the 2009-2010 academic year increased slightly from 12,823 to 13,112, up 2.3 percent over the last year.

Also according to the report, the total number of international students in the US during the 2009-2010 academic year was 690,923. China now boasts the largest student enrollments in this country while Vietnam remains at the ninth place.

The Open Doors report is released by the IIE, the world’s leading non-profitable organisation in the exchange of culture and education.

Established in 1919, IIE is headquartered in New York and conducts annual surveys in the number of international students in the US, with support from the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs under the US Department of State.

Four dead, 12 injured in central region floods

Torrential rain and floods left at least four people dead and 12 injured, submerged many houses and blocked roads in Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue and Quang Ngai provinces on November 15, according to the provincial Committees for Flood and Storm Control.

In Quang Tri, the floods killed one person and water levels on Thach Han River reached the third alarm level. Thousands of houses are under water and most roads were completely also blocked. Local authorities have mobilized forces to evacuate people to safe areas in case of rising floods.

In Thua Thien Hue province, floods also swept over some areas and left a two-year old child dead and another person severely injured. Phong Dien district authorities bought 40 tonnes of rice to support residents in flood-hit areas and evacuated the elderly and children to safe areas.

According to a report from Quang Ngai provincial Committee for Flood and Storm Control, torrential rains left at least two dead and 11 injured. It is feared that the rising flood-tide will continue to threaten many coastal communes in the province.

The province mobilized more than 100 police, military officers and local militia to help fishermen in Phuoc Thien fishing village set up tents and dyke embankments to control the tides, however, difficulties in overcoming consequences of landslides still remain.

VNN/VOV/VNS