AO programmes to receive continued funding from US

The US has pledged to maintain funding for Agent Orange/dioxin treatment programmes in Viet Nam this year.

In 2012, the US provided US$44 million to treat AO-contaminated areas in central Da Nang.

The US has pledged to maintain funding for Agent Orange/dioxin treatment programmes in Viet Nam this year.— Illustrative image/Photo petrotime 

According to Ha Huy Thong, deputy head of the National Assembly's Committee for External Relations, the US had continued to display its support for Viet Nam in overcoming AO/dioxin.

Thong is also the chairman of the Viet Nam-US Dialogue Group on AO/dioxin.

He said US representatives showed their positive attitude towards the programmes to deal with the toxic chemicals used by their army during the war in Viet Nam. They admitted that this was a complicated and time-consuming issue that needed efforts from both sides.

AO hot spots in Viet Nam's southern city of Bien Hoa have also been scheduled for the treatment programme.

Viet Nam has provided the US with new statistical data on 29 AO hot spots across the country.

The Aspen Institute, a partner of the Viet Nam-US Dialogue Group on AO/Dioxin, estimates that Viet Nam needs around $410 million to deal with the consequences of the toxic dioxin in the 2012–17 period.

From 1961-71, US troops sprayed more than 80 million litres of toxin over a quarter of southern Viet Nam.

As a result, around 3.5–4 million Vietnamese people were exposed to AO/dioxin.

On April 18, Thong said his group met with US congressmen and representatives from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) as well as UN representatives and organisations helping to rid the country of AO.

Earlier on April 16, the Viet Nam-US Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin organised the first round-table conference on AO/dioxin in Washington DC since it was founded in 2007.

Sao Khue awards given to 66 IT products and services

Sixty-six information and technology (IT) products and services were honoured at the Sao Khue Awards 2013 in Hanoi on April 21.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the 10th anniversary of the award, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son praised the Sao Khue programme’s contribution to the development of the software and IT industry.

The new industry’s turnover increased from US$50 million in 2002 to more than US$2.3 billion in 2012 with hundreds of high-qualified staff contributing considerably to the national process of industrialisation and modernisation.

Son expressed his hope that the programme will encourage organisations and individuals to further develop the national software and IT industry to help Vietnam become a strong IT nation in the near future.

The Sao Khue awards 2013 marked a sharp increase in the provision of IT products and services for the medical and education sectors. Products using cloud-computing show that domestic businesses are making great effort to catch up with the international IT industry.

The healthcare social network, Yton.vn, was rated as the most outstanding software product, picking up the “Five Star Sao Khue” title.

Yton.vn aims to create a medical bridge between citizens, doctors and medical experts who wish to share medical information about kinds of diseases and online-treatment.

HCM City considers privately owned, electric bus fleet

Transport Department authorities in HCM City are considering several plans to improve bus services, including private electric-powered bus companies that would operate round-the-clock in the city centre.

The city is calling for investment in two kinds of 50 electric buses, one with four seats and the other with eight.

Under the plan, which has been submitted to the municipal People's Committee for approval, the bus companies would operate like private taxi companies.

The buses will be on-call like taxis, but will park in areas where tourists are located, including hotels and restaurants.

In a separate bus-services plan, the city is also considering managing a public electric-bus route along Vo Van Kiet Road that would link the city's downtown with Cho Lon Market and Mien Tay Bus Station.

Buses managed by the city end their routes no later than 9 pm.

Besides the new electric buses, the city has updated its public bus service with Compressed Natural Gas-powered (CNG) buses.

Currently, 28 CNG foreign made buses run from the city centre to western and northeastern areas of the city.

Last year, the People's Committee assigned Saigon Transportation Mechanical Corporation (Samco) to manufacture 300 CNG-powered buses, which are expected to be ready in April next year.

It has also assigned the Transportation Department to work with PetroVietnam to set up CNG retail stations in the city to supply fuel for the buses.

Fuel costs for CNG-powered buses are 20-25 per cent less than fossil-fuel powered buses. The CNG buses also emit less toxic fumes and are not as noisy as fossil-fuel powered buses.

The city has 2,869 buses that use an average of 30 million litres of petrol a year.

The city's Transportation Department has also submitted a plan to the People's Committee to replace 1,678 old buses with new ones that meet environmental protection standards.

Hanoi to invest VND13 trillion in clean water supply

The Hanoi People’s Committee has approved a US$619 million plan on clean water supply and rural environmental hygiene until 2020 with a vision to 2030.

Under the plan, by 2020, all rural households will be supplied with hygienic water, of which 80 percent will be clean water meeting the standard of the Ministry of Health (MoH).

All rural residents will have access to clean water under the MoH standard by 2030.

Regarding environmental hygiene, 100 percent of rural households will have hygienic outhouses and solid waste in all livestock farms will be treated.

50 percent of polluted craft villages will have waste treatment and 100 percent of rural markets will have hygienic outhouses.

Black box thieves arrested in Hai Phong

The northern city of Hai Phong yesterday, April 22, handed over three suspects, aged between from 26 and 35, accused of stealing the black box from a container truck in Nam Dinh Province to local police.

One of the robbers chopped off the left hand of a policeman while being chased.

Hai Phong police confiscated a knife, a gas holder, some pincers and some screwdrivers from the men, who admitted the theft.

Hundreds of bombs and mines disarmed

Quang Tri Province's mobile mine and bomb disposal force yesterday, April 22, deactivated 114 bombs and shells discovered near a dumping ground in Huong Hoa District.

The ordnances, half of which were unexploded, were used during the American War, according to local authorities.

The force has discovered and disarmed nearly 30,000 bombs and mines of all types in the district so far this year, handing over 35,000 square meters of clean land area to local residents.

Minh Ly sect holds its fifth congress

The Minh Ly sect under the Three-Religion Temple (Minh Ly Dao–Tam Tong Mieu) held its fifth congress in HCM City on Sunday.

During the congress, which was attended by over 200 followers as well as representatives of the Government's Committee for Religious Affairs, Fatherland Front and local authorities, the sect announced plans for the 2013-18 period as well as its new executive board.

Since the sect received the Government's permission to practise religious rites in 2008, it has implemented rules and rituals in harmony with national customs.

Dignitaries and followers of the sect raised over VND2 billion (US$95,000) for charitable activities, including opening a charitable clinic in HCM City's District 3.

Speaking at the ceremony, Duong Ngoc Tan, deputy head of the Government's Committee for Religious Affairs, praised the sect's contributions to humanitarian activities and local socio-economic development.

Founded in 1924, Minh Ly Dao-Tam Tong Mieu combines the faiths of three major Oriental religions and promotes the spirit of leniency, happiness and development. It operates mainly in HCM City and the southern provinces of Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Long An.

Vietnam makes progress in IVF techniques

The Embryo Technology Research Training Centre of the Military Medicine Academy has since 2002 helped with the successful birth of 1,500 children using in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) techniques.

The centre has, together with other facilities operating in the field, made Vietnam a front runner in the application of IVF techniques in Southeast Asia, since the country’s first three IVF babies were born on April 30, 1998.

In 2011 alone, the successful IVF cases in Vietnam numbered 7,500 while it was 5,000 in Thailand, 4,000 in Malaysia , and 3,000 in Singapore , it was reported at a seminar jointly held by the Vietnam Medicine Academy and the Vietnam Society for Reproductive Medicines (VSRM) on April 19-20.

The Embryo Technology Research Training Centre is the first in the army to perform IVF application.

First primary school built on Truong Sa

A new primary school has been opened on the Truong Sa Island of Khanh Hoa Province, making it the first built in Truong Sa Archipelago.

Construction of the school started last October with a total investment of over VND10.5 billion (US$500,000) provided by the Vu A Dinh scholarship fund.

The school includes two classrooms, a staff room, a library and a recreational area. It is equipped with five computers, one projector and more than 5,000 books. The school is expected to provide better learning conditions for young people living in the archipelago.

Vietnam to spend US$ 96 mln on training officials abroad

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a US$96 million plan to train officials and young talents abroad in the next seven years.

Under the plan, Vietnam aims to have 1,650 officials earn Master’s degrees and 150 others graduate from university abroad between 2013 and 2020.

Sixty percent of the MA trainees will be selected among college lecturers at higher education institutions while the remaining quota will be given to research institutions, government ministries and other state agencies.

The country will also send young people with special talents for science and other specialisation to undergraduate programmes in foreign countries.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA