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The Austrian Government will provide modern medical equipment worth 8.7 million euros for the Ninh Binh General Hospital to meet high-quality check-ups and treatment demands of people in the province and surrounding areas.
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Under the contract, Odelga Med GmbH Company will supply 61 medical machines using Austrian Government ODA to Ninh Binh General Hospital within five months, and complete the installation and testing of the equipment within 10 months.
Within a year, the company will also train the hospital’s physicians to use the machines.
Ninh Binh General Hospital is a second-class hospital which became operational in 2010 with 700 beds.
Germany helps Vietnam deal with soil pollution
German experts shared experience with Vietnam in combating soil pollution at a seminar in Hanoi on May 15.
They introduced a method to make soil pollution maps using digital technology that play an important role in building land use plans.
They said it is essential to create maps of suspected pollution areas and prepare financial sources and human resources to deal with the issue.
According to the General Department of Land Administration under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Vietnam’s key northern economic region, consisting of seven provinces and cities namely Hanoi, Haiphong, Quang Ninh, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Vinh Phuc and Bac Ninh, is currently facing severe environmental pollution.
Participants in the seminar stressed the need to evaluate the environmental situation in these localities and anticipate the possible impacts of socio-economic plans on the environment in order to take appropriate solutions for sustainable development of the whole region.
American multi-millionaires to visit Vietnam
Billionaire Mike Ryan from the Cayman Islands and Bob Livingston, the founder and chairman of Livingston Group LLC will visit Vietnam to seek out investment opportunities.
The Dau tu (Investment) newspaper cited Link World Unlimited Events LLC as saying that during their nine-day stay, the two investors will tour Hanoi, the central province of Ninh Thuan , Phu Quoc Island in the southern province of Kien Giang and Ho Chi Minh City.
The areas they are interested in include heavy industry, finance and banking, shipbuilding, the transport sector, ports and the construction of hotels and resorts.
They also plan to meet with a number of Vietnamese businesses during their visit.
Mike Ryan is the owner and developer of the Grand Cayman, the Ritz Carlton and the Four Seasons in the Cayman Islands . He also owns a number of international conference centres around the world, the Condominium Hotel chain and a string of exclusive resorts.
Bob Livingston, who is the 106 th Speaker of the US House of Representatives, is also an envoy for many world famous names, including Rolls-Royce, Lockheed Martin, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, the US Chamber of Commerce, Verizon, John Wickerman and the George Washington University.
Death sentence given to crossborder heroin trafficker
A woman in the southern province of Tay Ninh has been sentenced to death due to trafficking of heroin from Cambodia to Viet Nam.
According to an indictment made by the provincial People's Procuracy, Phan Thi Hue, from the HCM City's Binh Chanh District, was found to be trafficking 1.2kg of heroin last October when she was crossing Moc Bai International Bordergate. The drug was hidden in the sole of a pair of sandals in a brown bag.
Hue declared that when she was on a bus running from Cambodia to Viet Nam, a strange woman asked her to help bring a pair of sandals to the country. The woman would receive it after Hue crossed the border.
During the investigation time as well as at the court, Hue persistently pled not guilty and said she did not know about the woman as well as the sandals containing heroin. However, the investigation police had identified that the strange woman was Phan Thi Hang, from the Central province of Thua Thien – Hue, who had for many times contacted with Hue on her hand phone.
After Hue was arrested, her husband left his living area in Binh Chanh District without notifying to the local authorities.
Hang has run away. The police is still investigating the case.
HCMC woman gets prank calls after number announced on TV
Nguyen Minh Ha (27), who lives in Ho Chi Minh City’s Go Vap district, has received 7000 phone calls from strangers after her number was accidentally revealed on a TV series earlier this month.
In a TV series titled Vong Kim Long broadcast on SCTV14 on May 2, the main actress read a friend her phone number, which happened to be exactly the same as Ha’s number.
Ha was watching the show at that time, and was startled to hear her number, even though she did not know the actress in person.
Five minutes after that, her phone started to ring as calls and texts from strangers began to pour in.
“Some people called to flirt and ask me out for coffee. They complimented me on my acting as they mistook me for the actress,” Ha told a Tuoi Tre reporter.
Some called Ha’s phone while others texted her. When she turned it off and ignored incoming calls, they sent her messages accusing her of being arrogant, and even threatened to splash acid on her.
When Ha turned on her phone again on Monday, it showed 7000 incoming numbers.
“I don’t dare to use the old sim card anymore. I hope people will stop calling me,” she said.
Ha has asked her brother to contact Chao Vietnam Film, a company which produced the TV series Vong Kim Lang. Even though their representative promised to solve the problem, nothing has been done to stop the unwanted calls.
In a response given during a Tuoi Tre interview, Cao Thi Minh Huong, director at Chao Vietnam Film, said details in the show like the character’s names and numbers are fictional.
“If any detail happens to match with reality, it is just a coincidence,” affirmed Huong.
She said the phone number was left blank in the script. When it came to filming, the actress just said a random number.
“I can’t believe that within a few seconds people can remember a number and call to disturb Ha. We will find her and apologize if she requests it,” said the director.
According to lawyer Pham Van Thanh, of the city’s attorney association, the law states that contact information and personal privacy should be checked or approved by individuals before being announced to the public.
Thanh also said actors and actresses should act in accordance to the script and cannot just say a random number. Even though Ha’s number was read in the show by accident, her life has been greatly affected. The film crew has to apologize and publish a disclaimer in the media. They also need to compensate Ha when she requests and shows proofs of physical or mental damages.
Oncology hospital gets radiation machines
The HCM City Oncology Hospital yesterday put into use two new radiation therapy machines bought at a total cost of VND32 billion (US$1.53 million) that are expected to reduce the waiting time for the massive number of patients who come for treatment.
Le Hoang Minh, the hospital director, said the four accelerators and one cobalt machine could treat 600-650 patients every day.
In all, the hospital has five machines for external radiation therapy and three for internal radiation therapy, the highest in the country.
Three captured for carrying heroin bricks
Three people yesterday, May 15, were captured for carrying 16 heroin bars (350 grammes each) and a K59 gun with eight bullets by Bac Giang Police.
According to the province's police, the patrol team stopped a car with three people on Highway 1A because it exceeded the speed limit. During the inspection, the police discovered the heroin bars and the gun hidden in the car.
Sung A Xanh, Giang Thi Ria and Hang Thi Dua in northern Hoa Binh Province were arrested and will be investigated before being brought to court.
Bridge collapse kills two workers
Two workers were killed on Monday as a bridge under construction suddenly collapsed in Dinh Tri Commune in northeastern Bac Giang City.
The bridge was set up to construct a statue of the Goddess of Mercy for a pagoda in Thuyen Ward in Dinh Tri Commune. The workers were squashed under the concrete bridge pier and instantly killed.
Local authorities attributed the accident to the workers' failure to follow labour safety regulations.
Science and technology awards presented
Thirty-eight projects were honoured with the Scientific and Technological Innovation Award by the Viet Nam Fund for Supporting Scientific and Technological Creations (VIFOTEC) yesterday, May 15, in Ha Noi.
At the ceremony, six other projects received prizes from the World Intellectual Property Organisation and 11 enterprises were given the Golden Cup for Intellectual Property.
The awards were handed out to projects in various fields, including mechanics, electronics and telecommunications. Special emphasis was placed on biological and energy-saving technologies for their contributions to increasing efficiency, improving quality and reducing price.
New public buildings to provide disabled access
The central city of Da Nang is planning to make all public services fully accessible to the disabled by 2020, according to the municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.
Department deputy director Nguyen Hung Hiep said yesterday, May 15, that the city was the first locality in Viet Nam to introduce a comprehensive project for 16,000 disabled people in 2012-15 by which 50 per cent of newly constructed buildings, hospitals and public vehicles must be made user friendly to them.
All the disabled will receive a 50 per cent discount on public service including bus fares and entertainment fees.
The project will centre on various programmes of vocational training, housing, heath care, public traffic and entertainment.
"Priority policies will be adopted to help the handicapped find jobs because there are only seven enterprises in the city employing around 100 disabled persons," Hiep said, adding that the Viet Nam Business Process Outsourcing Company had recruited 30 disabled people.
"It's a challenge for the city in coming years when we have to settle life for a huge number of remaining people with disability."
According to the Da Nang Association of Disabled People, 30 disabled persons from the 500-member association found jobs last year.
"We have been struggling with unemployment with only six people recruited by businesses in the city so far this year," said association official Tran Dinh Hai.
"We have received only VND46 million (US$2,100) from donors – half the amount of last year's budget."
Hai added that the association had yet to build its own office in the city.
"The city has offered a priority policy to enterprises that employ the disabled in the coming years. We also seek sponsorship from international organisations in helping the disabled in the city," said Chairman Van Huu Chien.
UNDP releases human progress report
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released the Asia-Pacific Human Development Report 2012, entitled “A planet to share – Sustaining human progress in a changing climate” in Hanoi on May 15.
Addressing the launch event, UNDP Deputy Country Director Bakhodir Burkhanov said people in the Asia-Pacific, especially the poor, face a number of complex impacts from climate change, such as changing rainfall patterns, drought, flood and rising sea levels.
The report said Asia-Pacific countries should change their methods of production, especially seeking better ways to create and use energy in a more effective and greener manner for production, such as using more renewable energy, lower-carbon technology and less fossil fuel.
Also according to the report, as many as 543 Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises in five key industries are receiving technical and financial assistance from an energy preservation project. It helped them reduce carbon dioxide emission by 944,000 tonnes by the end of 2011, through using more modern kilns for producing brick and pottery products.
Regional countries are also asked to develop greener agriculture, including improving rice production through using water more effectively, boosting the development and usage of renewable energy and photo-electric technology in households, and protecting means of livelihood among the rural and urban poor, who are more vulnerable to shocks in case of natural disaster or flood.
At the event, Prof. Dao Xuan Hoc, Deputy Chairman of the National Committee on Climate Change said with an area of 3.9 million hectares and a population of almost 17.5 million people, the Mekong Delta will be one of areas hardest hit by climate change, with direct consequences such as broken sea and river dikes, prolonged flood in lower areas and tropical storms.
In an effort to overcome challenges facing the Mekong Delta, Vietnam has cooperated with many countries. In particular, the Netherlands chose the region as a model for a comprehensive plan against climate change.
VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA/Tuoi Tre
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