VUFO presents insignia to Korean reporter

Chairman of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations Vu Xuan Hong has presented an insignia for peace and friendship among nations to Kim Sun Han, Yonhap Agency correspondent in Vietnam.

At a ceremony in Hanoi on February 22, Hong praised Kim Sun Han’s valuable contributions to promoting the friendship, mutual understanding and cooperation between the two countries.

During his time in Vietnam, Han has written many articles on developments in the areas of mutual concern. In 2007, he published a book on Vietnam’s past, present and future that has become indispensable document for Korean people wishing to know more about Vietnam.

Hong expressed his hope that Han will continue to contribute to consolidating and strengthening the bilateral ties of friendship and cooperation.

Nissan Bluebird burnt

A four-seat car Nissan Bluebird suddenly caught fire at 6pm on February 22 while running on Huyen Tran Cong Chua Street in Ho Chi Minh City.

Photo: VNN

At the same time, a taxi driver used a mini fire-extinguisher to stamp out the fire, but, 15 minutes later, the car burst into flame.

Le Kim Khanh said she had bought petroleum at a station on Vo Thi Sau street a few days ago.

The incident is currently under investigation.

Child protection work promoted

About 24,000 children are expected to benefit from projects and activities to be implemented by the Vietnam Association for the Protection of Children’s Rights (VAPCR).

VAPCR Chairwoman Tran Thi Thanh Thanh told participants at a conference in Hanoi on February 22 that, to realize the objective, it is essential to increase the capability of officials and staff in all VAPCR agencies and to strengthen cooperation among organizations in Vietnam and abroad to mobilize resources in support of children.

Since its establishment four years ago, the VAPCR has called for assistance from international organizations to help children enjoy their fundamental rights.

The association has launched many charitable programs and provided consultation services to help ensure children’s rights. Last year, it mobilized VND9.5 billion to support 20,000 needy children nationwide.

Restaurants required to warn of high prices

Vung Tau City’s Thang Tam Ward has asked local eateries and restaurants on 2 major streets to hang a plate to warn tourists to check prices before using services.

The plate should read, “Please check prices and quality of products and services in advance. Feel free to contact the hotline: 0918581755 or 0913783809.”

Owners have to hang the plate at visible places so that everybody can see.

Tran Ba Viet, current provisional Chairman of Thang Tam Ward’s People’s Committee, said the regulation would apply to eateries, restaurants and hotels on Hoang Hoa Tham and Vo Thi Sau streets.

Viet said the ward was considering applying the regulation to other service providers on other major streets as well.

Austria helps build fire and rescue centres

The Fire Prevention and Control Police and Search and Rescue Department under the Ministry of Public Security and the Austrian company Frequentis signed in Hanoi on February 22 a project on construction of centres for management of firefighting and rescue.

The project, worth 9 million euro in ODA from the Austrian government, includes the construction of five control centres for information and firefighting management in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong and Danang cities and Binh Duong province.

Vietnam is vulnerable to fires and explosions as the country’s strong socio-economic development brings an increasing number of new urban areas, industrial zones, production establishments, trade and tourism centres.

It is necessary to build centres providing prompt, precise fire alarm signals and management of information and data system, as well as firefighting and rescue, helping improve efficiency and effectiveness in these activities.

Once completed, the control centres will help the projected localities become active in dealing with fires.

In 2011, 1,764 fires and 25 explosions took place nationwide, causing 84 deaths, 245 serious injuries and losses of nearly US$44 million. Fires also damaged 2,000 ha of forests.

Explosion injures four high school students

The explosion of a steel-pellet bomb in Chi Dam Commune, Doan Hung District, northern Phu Tho Province, left four students from the local Tien Phong Secondary School seriously injured yesterday.

The bomb, found by two other students of the same school by the Lo River, caused an explosion after another student threw it against a tree.

The four injured students, who stood nearby, were taken to hospital.

Local police investigations remain on-going.

WB finances HIV prevention project in Danang

The World Bank will provide more than VND2.2 billion in continued support for an anti-HIV/AIDS project in Danang, according to a conference held in the central coastal city on February 22.

This year, the project aims to keep the HIV infection rate in communities below 0.15 percent. Specifically, it will strive to raise the rate of condom use by female prostitutes to 85 percent, and the rate of drug addicts using clean syringes to 80 percent, in the first half of 2012 in target areas.

Project management has set forth a group of measures to achieve these goals, including updating information on prostitution and drug abuse, maintaining activities of peer groups, and ensuring the availability and accessibility of condoms and clean syringes in association with HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services.

The project has been executed since 2009 in the districts of Hai Chau, Thanh Khe, Lien Chieu, and Son Tra.

Man arrested for human trafficking

Police in Central Highlands Dak Lak Province have arrested a 30-year-old man for "selling" a young woman as a bride in China.

Quach Van Giang of Lam Dong Province was taken in on Tuesday after a man complained that Giang had trafficked his 22-year-old daughter, who called from China to say she had been sold there.

Giang had lured his daughter with a promise of a job in Ha Noi, the man told the police in Bong Krang commune in Lak District.

His family had spotted Giang in the commune on Sunday.

Giang allegedly admitted to the police that he took Vietnamese women and sold them as brides to Chinese men.

Woman arrested for abuse of adopted child

Police in central Quang Ngai Province's Nghia Hanh District on Tuesday temporarily seized Doan Thi Hong Yen, 50, on suspicion of the brutal treatment of her adopted 9-year-old child.

Earlier the police also seized her husband Nguyen Mui, 53, for mistreating the little girl.

On February 10, the couple locked the door and beat their adopted daughter Nguyen Thuc Phi for allegedly stealing their money. The girl was then taken to the Quang Ngai General Hospital and diagnosed with an abnormal psychological condition by which she starts screaming in fear when in contact with strange people.

Doctors confirmed that her condition was much improved and that she could be discharged from hospital, upon which she was placed in the care of the provincial social sponsoring centre.

Ben Tre lowers bar in civil servant test

To cope with a severe shortage of state employees, southern Ben Tre Province’s Home Department has raised the scores of 43 examinees who failed in the civil servant exam to qualify them.

Nguyen Van Hieu, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, told Tuoi Tre that he had neither known about the issue nor directed the department’s Civil Servant Examination Council to do so.

Although Ben Tre is short of civil servants, the council’s action was not acceptable, Hieu said.

“The council must not raise the scores of any failed examinees and those who failed in this exam should try harder so that they can pass the next exam.”

However, Hieu said he had ordered the council to re-grade the papers of those failed examinees to find out whether there was any mistake in the original grading.

Le Vinh Binh, Director of Ben Tre’s Home Department and Deputy Chairman of the Civil Servant Examination Council, told Tuoi Tre that the council had raised the scores of 43 examinees who had failed in one of the 5 subjects: English, computer science, general knowledge, professional knowledge and professional skills.

Their scores were under 50 on the scale of 100 and the council had raised them to 50 to make them qualified.

Binh said Ben Tre needed to recruit 307 civil servants but the total number of test takers was only 200.

Rice aids poor Dien Bien households

More than 15,000 poor households in Dien Bien Province, one of the poorest areas in Viet Nam, have received 2,382 tonnes of free rice drawn from the national reserve due to currently being in-between crops.

Over two days, the Dien Bien Phu People's Committee allocated nearly 3 tonnes of rice to poor people, said Pham Quang Hung, deputy head of the social affairs and policy department under the Labour, War- Invalids, and Social Affairs Agency.

Distribution will be carried out between February 20 and March 14 during which time each household will receive 30kg of rice. The total number of beneficiaries has been estimated at about 80,000 people, Hung added.

In January, the Vietnamese government decided to provide 22,800 tonnes of rice to 13 provinces including Yen Bai, Lai Chau, Kon Tum, Binh Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Phu Yen, Dak Lak, Cao Bang, Nghe An, Quang Ngai, Lao Cai and Ha Tinh to support the poor during the Lunar New Year festival.

Rescued Vietnamese fishermen in good condition

Nine Vietnamese fishermen who were rescued by the Philippine Coast Guard last week are in good health, the Vietnamese Embassy in the Philippines said on Feb. 22.

The nine fishermen aboard fishing vessel QNg 95712 from the central province of Quang Ngai , were bought to Puerto Princesa, the capital of Palawan island, by the Philippine Coast Guard. They are temporarily living in the coast guard’s headquarters, the sources said.

The embassy and authorised Philippine agencies are working together to complete necessary procedures to help the fishermen return home.

Earlier on the night of Feb. 17, the fishing vessel QNg 95712 was stranded near Balabac Strait in the Philippine waters while it was seeking a shelter to avoid tropical low pressure area on the East Sea. The Philippine Coast Guard promptly carried out rescue activities after receiving a diplomatic note calling for help from the Vietnamese Embassy in the Philippines.

WB backs HIV/AIDS project in Da Nang

The World Bank will continue its support by providing VND2.2 billion ($104,700) for the implementation of a HIV/AIDS prevention project in the central city of Da Nang.

This information was released at a meeting on Feb. 22 to launch the project’s activities in 2012.

To achieve its objective and keep the HIV/AIDS transmission rate among the community at less than 0.15 percent, the project aims to increase the percentage of female sex workers using condoms to 85 percent, and drug users using clean sterilized needles and syringes to 80 percent in the first half of the year at project sites.

To achieve that, the project management board will continue to update hotspots of sex workers and drug users; maintain and ensure the quality of the group peer educators and maintain the network of 31 drug stores that provide needles and syringes free of charge for drug users.

The WB-funded HIV/AIDS prevention project started in Da Nang’s Hai Chau, Thanh Khe, Lien Chieu and Son Tra districts in 2009.

HCMC children are least malnourished: report

The malnutrition rate among children in Ho Chi Minh City has been reduced remarkably over the years, according to a report released by the city’s Institute of Nutrition during a recent nutritional conference.

Accordingly, only 5.9 percent and 7.7 percent of the city’s children under five suffer from underweight and under-height problems respectively, the lowest in comparison to other cities and provinces.

Meanwhile, the underweight and under-height rates among Vietnamese children in general are 16.5 percent and 27.5 percent, respectively.

Understandably, the overweight and obesity rates among the city’s children and adults have been increasing at an alarming speed as the city dwellers often consume foods high in saturated fat, salt, sugar, and low-fiber foods.

According to local experts, parents should let their children play and sunbathe regularly and provide them with foods rich in sources of calcium Vitamin D such as milk, crab, fish and shellfish.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre