Japanese farm products still imported


Viet Nam would continue to import farm products from Japan but would strengthen inspection on radiation safety, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced.


Housewives obsessed by radioactive-infected Japanese food

 

At a meeting last Friday, Minister Cao Duc Phat requested agencies to publish regulations on the permitted level of radioactivity for each specific type of food products.
The ministry would be responsible for inspecting raw products from Japan at the border gates while the Ministry of Health would inspect milk and canned products.

Viet Nam has already asked Japan to provide radiation safety certificates for each batch of farm products imported into Viet Nam.

The main farm products imported from Japan are fish, shrimp, squid, milk, apple and pumpkin but the import turnover was reported to be insignificant.


HCM City holds grand requiem for Japanese victims


The Executive Board of the Ho Chi Minh City Buddhist Church on March 27 held a requiem for the victims of the March 11 catastrophic quake and tsunami in Japan.

Most Venerable Thich Tri Quang, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha’s Executive Council called on all Buddhist monks and nuns across the country to extend deep sympathy to the Japanese people over their losses.

After the requiem, Buddhist representatives from districts and monasteries in HCM City raised nearly VND1.5 billion, JPY 21,000 and US$720 to help the Japanese people overcome the consequences of natural disasters.


Vietnamese youths in Japan help tsunami victims


The Vietnam Youth and Students Association (VYSA) in Japan has donated 500,000 yen (US$6,000) to victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in north-eastern Japan.

VYSA president Nguyen Ngoc Tu said the money was sent to the donation box at NHK Radio and Television Station in Tokyo on March 25. It aims to help Japanese victims as well as Vietnamese students who are suffering from the results of the disasters.

Tu said the association launched the fund raising programme on March 13 and received 531,000 yen from Vietnamese youth and students in Japan as well as VND50 million from the Vietnamese Students’ Association.

The association has already spent more than 100,000 yen to help Vietnamese students and trainees in Tokyo and Osaka evacuate from dangerous areas.

The remaining 126,000 yen raised in the first fund raising campaign will be sent along with additional money raised between March 15 and April 14.


City Red Cross donates $200,000 for Japan victims


The HCM City Red Cross on Friday handed over US$201,350 to Japanese Consul Harumitsu Hida for providing relief to earthquake and tsunami victims.

The money was donated by organisations, companies, offices, and individuals in HCM City.

The Red Cross had launched a one-month programme to raise donations along with the HCM City Union of Friendship Organisations on March 16, Nguyen Thi Hue, its chairwoman, said.

It would continue to receive donations until April 15, she added. By Thursday the Red Cross had raised more than VND20 billion ($959,000) around Viet Nam to support the victims.

Harumitsu Hida said he was grateful for Viet Nam's supports.

In the last few days, the Japanese consulate has received many City dignitaries, business people, and individuals who came to offer sympathies and donations.


Vietnam, Laos cooperate in publishing dictionary


Vietnam and Laos have cooperated in compiling and publishing the Vietnam-Laos and Laos-Vietnam dictionaries, helping the Vietnamese and Lao people to better use each other’s language.

The dictionary compiling project is part of the cooperation programme between the two countries’ Inter-Governmental Committees. It began in 2007 with the aim of compiling the Vietnam-Laos and Laos-Vietnam dictionaries based on the principle of lexicography.

The dictionaries include tens of thousands of phrases, fundamental words, common science and technology vocabulary, idioms and proverbs for the purpose of expanding and increasing mutual understanding among the two nations.

Based on the Laos-Vietnam dictionary, the project is expected to help Lao scientists to compile a set of Lao-language explanatory dictionaries in the principle of lexicography.

An appraisal ceremony for the project was held in Vientiane on March 27 by the two education ministries.

After the ceremony, the two dictionaries will be officially published, thus creating conditions for the efficiency of comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos.


VNN/VOV/VNS