Belgian university delegation boosts co-operation

A delegation of rectors from a dozen of Belgian universities wrapped up their visit to Viet Nam this week, which was aimed to boost training and research co-operation between Belgian and Vietnamese institutions.

At a meeting with the delegation at the HCM City National University on Saturday, Belgian Ambassador to Viet Nam Hubert Cooreman called the visit an important step toward meeting Viet Nam's goal of training 20,000 PhDs.

Belgian universities had already benefited from the opportunity to promote the exchange of students and faculty and expand training programmes for students in the fields of marketing and business, Cooreman said.

Six new agreements on co-operation in higher education were signed during the visit, in such fields as agricultural research, environment and rural development, health, infrastructure and transportation, finance and tourism.

Higher education co-operation has been one of the foundations of development co-operation between Belgium and Viet Nam, accounting for 15 per cent of Belgian official development assistance to Viet Nam, equivalent to 2 million euros (US$2.8 million) per year.

Vocational training brightens lives of disadvantaged

The disabled law, which was officially promulgated in 2011, has marked a great advance in the development of the rights for the disabled.

The law recognised the important roles disabled people played in society, said Dang Huynh Mai, president of the Viet Nam Federation for People with Disabilities.

In accordance with the law, the disabled would enjoy several preferential polices, said Nguyen Ngoc Toan, head of the Department of Social Policies, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

With the regulations on education, vocational training and employment for people with disabilities, the disabled are provided with opportunities to support themselves.

The disabled people's enrolment in educational establishment would be given priority and they would be exempt from subjects or activities which they were not physically capable of participating in, he said.

They were also ensured the right to have free access to vocational training, he said.

The preferential polices aim to increase vocational opportunities for disabled people.

At the Viet Nam Federation for People with Disability's first conference, which concluded last week, Le Minh Hien, vice president of the Ha Noi Disabled Association and director of Vi Ngay Mai Centre of Vocational Training, said, "Only with knowledge, skills and employment can we overcome the unhappiness of fate and poverty".

Education eased disabled people's lack of confidence, said Tran Van Tuan from Thanh Hoa Province.

Education also provided chances for the disables to participate in all aspects of life, while eliminating existing prejudices and discrimination, said Tuan.

"My education completely changed my life," said Tran Manh Huy. "Now I work as an IT engineer."

However, increasing educational and vocational opportunities for the disabled was not an easy mission, said Hien.

The policy needed to be continually enforced and the links need to be worked out with an possible shortcomings that exist, she added.

In Viet Nam, 37 per cent of disabled people are living in poverty and 24 per cent living in temporary housing.

PM calls for better storm response plan

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked cities and provinces to act on their own initiative to relocate people to safer places when heavy storms hit.

He said if cities and provinces could not help their people resettle away from potentially vulnerable locations, then they must be prepared to relocate people when necessary.

The Prime Minister asked ministries, cities and provinces to review and learn from last year's floods as they draft plans for this year's monsoon season. Dung said officials should also take into account the effects of climate change as they draft their plans.

Cities and provinces must finish repairing dikes, stone embankments and sewers before the monsoon season.

Coastal provinces must also register fishing ships, transport vessels and tourism boats and work with coastal border guards to ensure that these vessels remain safe.

Mountainous and midland provinces, meanwhile, need to prepare for flash floods and landslides.

The Prime Minister said the Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control would be in charge of examining localities' plans, and they should pay close attention to the progress that's been made with completing and repairing dikes and dams.

Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Industry and Trade are authorised to preside over and co-ordinate with provinces having reservoirs and hydroelectricity plants to assess and improve the safety of each reservoir before the monsoon season begins.

Prime Minister Dung said standby generators need to be operational before the rains come.

He asked provincial officials not to store water in unsafe reservoirs during the rainy season.

The leader said cities and provinces needed to check and adjust programmes and projects in an attempt to prevent and mitigate the effects of natural calamities and climate change.

The Prime Minister said the public should be told more about natural calamities and how to prepare for the upcoming rainy season.

Radiation in the atmosphere sharply reduced in Vietnam

The levels of radiation have dropped in many places across the country, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Speaking to media on April 18, Dr. Trinh Van Giap, Head of the Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology, maintained that there would be no problem arising from Japan’s nuclear incidents as radiation in the country continued to decrease after being dispersed in the rain and air.

By 15:00 on April 17, after confirming the natural radioactive isotopes as Be-7, K-40, Th-232 and U-238, observing stations of the Nuclear Research Institute in the Central Highland city of Da Lat continued to discover another artificial radioactive isotope I-131 at a very low level. There have been no artificial radioactive isotopes Cs-134 and Cs-137 found in Da Lat.

Observing stations of the Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety & Control (VARANSAC) said that there was no increase in radiation levels on April 16 and 17.

On April 16, I-131, Cs-134 and Sc-137 were also recoded by observing stations of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute (VAEI) in Hanoi but the I-131 radioactive level quickly dropped.

Great bell casted to commemorate fallen soldiers

The first drops of melt bronze were poured into a mould to cast a 2.1 m high and 1.2 tonnes heavy bell at a Zen Monastery on April 17 before crowds of Buddhist monks, nuns and pilgrims from all parts of the country. 

The great bronze bell, known as Dai Hong Chung, designed to be 1.2m in diameter too, is erected to commemorate fallen soldiers and locals who died on Mount C4, Ham Rong mountain, where the Truc Lam Ham Rong Zen Monastery is located, to safeguard Ham Rong bridge, a traffic artery during the war for national salvation.
The event began with prayers where dozens of thousands of worshippers dropped gold and silver pieces and coins into the bronze-smelting kiln in a hope that the bell will ring in deep hollow notes, which will echo across the world.
The Zen Monastery itself has contributed to making Mount C4 a site of historic relics and tourist interest, thus turning the once war-torn north central province of Thanh Hoa into a spiritual tourist attraction soon.

RoK to fund Hue city’s planning

The central province of Thua Thien Hue and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has reached an agreement on a project to adjust Hue city’s general planning with a budget of US$3.5 million funded by the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s government.

According to Chairman of Hue People’s Committee Phan Trong Vinh, the two-year project, aims to review the city’s general plan, survey areas targeted for the city’s expansion and make any necessary adjustments to facilitate for economic-social development.

Apart from helping to improve local officials’ capacity in the field of urban planning and development, the project will also contribute to further strengthen cooperative relations in urban planning and development between Vietnam and the RoK through the exchange of experiences and knowledge.

Gov't salutes Khmer new year

The Dong Nai Ethnic Minorities Committee on Saturday handed over Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung's gifts and letter to ethnic Khmer people in the southeastern province of Dong Nai to congratulate them on their Chol Chnam Thmay new year festival.

Dong Nai Province is now home to more than 1,000 Khmer households with almost 4,600 people. The provincial authorities helped the community celebrate the festival, one of the Khmer's three largest annual festivals in their traditional calendar.

Thanks to Government Programme 134, more than 300 Khmer households in the province have been provided with housing, land for housing and production, and safe water.

Also on this occasion, Vice Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs Son Phuoc Hoan visited Ca Sang and Can Duoc pagodas in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Soc Trang to extend his best wishes to the almost 400,000 Khmer people who have been celebrating their three-day Chol Chnam Thmay since April 14.

Garment staff run to promote work safety

More than 3,000 garment workers ran yesterday morning at the Viet Nam-Singapore Industrial Park in southern Binh Duong Province as part of a safety campaign to mark the World Day for Safety and Health at Work.

International Labour Organisation Viet Nam Director Rie Vejs Kjeldgaard and representatives from the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the provincial office of the Federation of Labour attended the programme.

The campaign aims to raise awareness about occupational safety and health in the Vietnamese apparel industry.

$24,000 raised for disabled children

A gala dinner in Dong Ha City, the capital of central Quang Tri Province, raised US$24,000 to support children with disabilities on Saturday.

Entitled ‘Warm Nest', the event was held by the Medical Committee Netherlands-Viet Nam on Disability Day and was attended by provincial leaders and the Dutch Ambassador to Viet Nam, Joop Scheffers.

The cash was donated by more than 150 donors, including both Dutch and Vietnamese businesses.

The money will be used to upgrade playgrounds, dining rooms and dormitories and buy an audiometer for the province's School for Children with Disabilities, which houses and educates more than 100 children with disabilities.

The province, which was one of the main battlefields during the American War, still suffers from the aftermath of the conflict. Thousands of children have been disabled by land mines or suffer from birth defects that were caused by Agent Orange operational in the country during the war and was awarded three Friendship Medals by the Vietnamese government.

VNN/VOV/VNS