Central region to experience downpour, colder weather 

The central region is about to see medium to heavy or even torrential rains, as the  forecast for the weather is to turn much colder on Wednesday, the National Hydro Meteorological Forecasting Center has said. 

This has been caused by a cold front, which is moving south and northeasterly winds. The weather system has affected the northern region and is spreading to the central area.

The national weather bureau said that an extreme cold spell have caused wide spread showers in the northern region on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, after making landfall off the waters near Binh Thuan to Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces, the tropical depression has weakened into a low-pressure system.

It is moving westward into the mainland and has caused rains on vast area for the southern central and southeastern regions.

Bank official arrested for wrongdoings 

Ho Chi Minh City police on December 14 filed charges against a director of the Thanh Nien branch of the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. Pham Khac Dai Dien was arrested for allowing a businessperson to withdraw money from a joint account. 

According to investigators, Bui Thi Kien Ha, director of Ho Chi Minh City-based Dai Viet Bao Company Limited, the accused persuaded other fellow businesses to contribute VND30 billion (US$1.5 million) towards a joint bank account at the Thanh Nien branch of Agribank.

The fund is meant to mobilize capital for Dai Viet Bao Company and according to bank regulations, all transactions related to this joint account, must be signed by the co-signers to be legally effective.

However, Dien illegally allowed Ha to withdraw all the money, without the other four businesses acknowledging the transaction. Dien had signed various documents facilitating the fraud, without handing them over to the bank’s accounting section.

Until June 2010, Ha had withdrawn up to VND30 billion. The money has not yet been paid back.

On November 18, police arrested Ha for defrauding VND30 billion from his business partners.

First rural solar-power grid completed 

Schneider Electric Vietnam on December 13 announced that it has completed the first rural solar-power grid system in Vietnam after six months of work.

The solar-power station, which generates power with capacity of 11 Kw, is located at Ca Roong village, Thuong Trach commune, Bo Trach District, central province of Quang Binh.

It will provide electricity for over 35 households and border guards’ garrisons. The solar-power station is connected to an independent mini-grid system.

A representative of Schneider Electric Vietnam said that the project aims to bring green sustainable electricity to the remote rural areas of Vietnam.

Oliver Jacquer, General Director of Schneider Electric Vietnam said that price of 1 Kw is around US$1 and that the Quang Binh Province leaders have accepted this price.

It is expected to sell further solar power from the beginning of 2011 and will receive their capital investment after 15 years of operation.

Ca Roong village is between Vietnam and the border of Laos. It has over 200 Ma Coong people. The village is one the most disadvantaged villages in the commune and has yet to be connected to the national power grid.

Norway funds bio-security project in Vietnam 

The Norwegian Embassy has approved a two year non-refundable aid project of approximately US$1 million to enhance the control and management of bio- safety and bio-security in Vietnam.

Norway’s Ambassador Stale Torstein Risa and Mr. Nguyen Tran Hien, president of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) jointly signed the agreement in Hanoi on December 13.

The project targets at improving standards for the management of bio-safety and bio-security and to increase its management capacity in laboratories at NIHE, National Lung Hospital (NLH) in Hanoi and Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital (PNTH) in Ho Chi Minh City as well as capacity building for the NIHE on evaluation, assessment and monitoring of bio-safety laboratories in the country.

The two year project will be conducted at the three above mentioned locations.

Initiative aims to reduce blindness 

Vietnam is striving to reduce blindness to 0.3 percent by 2020 in an effort to complete its commitment to Vision 2020 – a global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness. 

"We have to control the main causes of blindness like cataracts, refractive error and glaucoma by providing surgery for at least 170,000 to 300,000 cataract cases each year and eliminating trachoma by 2013," said Director of the Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology (VNIO) Do Nhu Hon at the National Conference on Blindness Prevention 2010 on Dec. 11.

The VNIO said that Vietnam has around 370,000 blind people among nearly 2 million visually impaired people, about 0.59 percent of the population, and that around 700,000 cataract cases and 80,000 entropion cases across the country needed surgery as soon as possible.

"Our survey said that more than 30 percent of blind people in Vietnam do not realize that their illness can be treated and around one-third of the blind cannot afford treatment," stressed Hon.

Authorities will focus activities on establishing an eye care network for children in all key cities and regions of the country along with further strengthening medical facilities and techniques as well as a communication program to raise awareness in communities on eye care and eye disease prevention, according to Hon.

A rapid increase in the refractive error rate to 15 percent of the population in rural areas and 40 percent in urban areas along with a lack of financial resources and inadequate public knowledge are challenges for the ophthalmology sector in Vietnam.

Health sector statistics show that more than 130,000 cataract surgeries were performed during the 2009-10 period, of which 30,000 were carried out by private medical clinics. Vietnam has around 14.5 optometrists per 1 million people and, at the district level, there are only 202 for 692 districts nationwide.

Two jailed 25 years for smuggling fake notes in condoms

Hanoi People’s Court on Tuesday sentenced two men to a combined 25 years in jail for transporting counterfeit banknotes hidden in chickens’ stomachs.

Nguyen Van Huong and Ha Van Hoanh, both 21, of the northern Bac Giang Province were sentenced to 13 and 12 years respectively.

Hanoi police arrested them on April 8 at the Hanoi Rail Station after seizing a plastic bag with VND200 million (US$10,260) in it.

The two confessed they were hired by Nguyen Van Khanh, the owner of a karaoke bar in Lang Son Province, to bring 15,000 Chinese yuan to a night market in Lang Son to exchange for VND200 million in notes.

They met a woman at the market, and she gave them two chickens, adding the money could be found inside the chickens’ stomachs.

They found five taped bundles of money wrapped up in condoms inside each chicken’s gut, and was ordered by Khanh to handle the money to another woman at the Hanoi station.

They were about to exchange the money when police arrested the two men, but the woman fled the scene.

The police have issued a wanted warrant against Khanh.

Vietnam healthy life expectancy 66

Life expectancy in Vietnam remains 72.8 years but the incidence of congenital diseases in newborns is rising.

The General Department of Population and Family Planning blamed the increase in congenital diseases on worsening pollution and some backward customs in rural areas.

The Healthy Life Expectancy, or the average number of years that a newborn can expect to live in full health, is only 66, ranking Vietnam 116th out of 182 nations, it said.

It added that 7.8 percent of the Vietnamese population has disabilities.

Cancer-causing agent found in Hanoi chili sauce

Carcinogens have been detected in chili sauce made by the Hanoi-based Tuan Thanh Investment and Trade Joint Stock Company, local police said Monday.

Tests on products seized last month from the company found them containing Rhodamine B, a chemical compound used as a dye which local scientists said should not be used to color food or medicine.

It is meant only for dyeing plastic goods and textiles.

On November 18 the Hanoi environmental police raided the company and found chili sauce being made using ingredients of unclear origin.

The inspectors said the company, which produces 150 liters of chili sauce a day, also lacks a waste treatment system.

They said more tests will be done on the products to find the source of the Rhodamine B.

PV