Son Tinh leaves ten dead and missing

Storm Son Tinh has claimed four lives (three in Quang Ngai and one in Haiphong), and injured seven others in Haiphong when pounding central-northern coastal localities on October 28.

It also left six missing, with four in Haiphong and two in Quang Ninh province.

Initial figures on casualties were provided by the Office of the National Search and Rescue Committee on the morning of October 29.

Early on October 29, two helicopters were put on standby in Hai Phong for a search and rescue mission to oilrig GFS Key HAIWAI, about 14 nautical miles to the north of Bach Long Vi islands. The oilrig, with 35 workers, including 14 foreigners, garrisoned, was disconnected with its towboats on October 28 due to strong waves sparked by the storm.

In Quang Binh, waves broke up several parts of the dyke, causing up to VND30 billion worth of damage.

In Haiphong, border guards said they had managed to save 29 fishermen.

According to the National Search and Rescue Committee Office, as many as 1,365 officers and soldiers together with 15 boats were deployed to coordinate with local authorities in search and rescue work.

As well as wreaking havoc at sea, storm Son Tinh also prompted national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines to cancel 62 flights over the weekend.

Vice President highlights plight of poor students

Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan on Saturday, Oct 27, granted 700 scholarships worth VND2.1 billion (US$100,000) to poor pupils in the Central Highlands.

Speaking at the ceremony in Pleiku City, Doan said that local authorities should pay more attention to poor students because they were more likely to drop out of school.

The region should mobilise more funds to invest in education and training, and temporarily stop unnecessary construction work to build more schools and classrooms, she said.

Doan also asked local teachers to create good conditions for poor students to attend school, and find suitable teaching methods for their levels of ability. Teachers should stay in regular contact with parents, especially those from poor and ethnic minority backgrounds.

Earlier, Doan visited two poor children with innate heart disease in Ia Phin Commune, Gia Lai Province.

Authorities evict 11 households in Ha Noi

An old apartment block in Ba Dinh District was handed over to Gia Bao Housing Development JSC, the investor of a new construction project, after authorities evicted 11 households yesterday.

The new construction project is more than two years behind schedule after many families refused to move, saying the compensation on offer was insufficient. They asked Gia Bao to compensate around VND100 million (nearly US$5,000) per square metre, while the investor only agreed to pay VND60 million (nearly $3,000) per square metre.

Gia Bao has committed that the new 21-storey apartment will be completed and put into use in 30 months.

Police bust heroin smuggler on bus

Police have seized 0.7 kilo of heroin being transported in a passenger bus on Saturday in the area of Long Luong Village, Moc Chau District.

According to reports, Giang A Cua, 23, from Moc Chau, said he was paid VND 2million (US$95) to carry the drugs from Moc Chau to Ha Noi.

The case is under investigation.

JICA helps improve medical services

The Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) will help strengthen medical services in northwest provinces with a US$3.2 million project signed on Thursday in Ha Noi.

JICA has already helped Hoa Binh Province to establish a patient referral system between province and districts between December 2004 to December 2009. The system, called the "Hoa Binh model", has contributed to effective information sharing and periodical meetings between provincial and district hospitals.

During the four-year project, the Hoa Binh model will be used in Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Lao Cai and Yen Bai provinces from March next year.

Project official seized for alleged bribes

Police in the northern province of Quang Ninh arrested Nguyen Quoc Kien, 41, an official of the local Project Management Board for allegedly taking bribes worth VND155 million (US$7,440), according to the provincial People's Committee.

On Wednesday, the police detected Kien receiving a bribe from a local business at a restaurant in Cam Pha Town.
According to local reports, Kien was responsible for supervising construction projects in Cam Thuy and Cam Tay wards, run by Cam Pha City.

Foreign fishing boats fined for violations

Border guards from Hai Phong City's Naval Group 2 have inspected and seized, and later released, 32 foreign fishing boats with 243 crew members since April that violated Viet Nam's sovereignty.

Most of the cases involved illegal fishing and coal trafficking.

During a five-month crack-down on smuggling and trade fraud, the city's border guards seized 18 domestic ships, one of which was found to be illegally transporting 4,000 tonnes of iron ore to China.

World Bank backs green projects

The World Bank will lend Viet Nam US$50 million to build waste water treatment plants and improve environmental policies in industrial zones in four provinces of Viet Nam.

Under the project, at least eight waste water treatment systems are to be built in the provinces of Nam Dinh and Ha Nam in the north, and Dong Nai and Ba Ria Vung Tau in the south, the World Bank announced on Thursday.

The project would also support a comprehensive review of the legal and regulatory framework on pollution management, the bank said.

Funds for the project would come from the World Bank's International Development Association, which aimed to promote environmental sustainability.

Meanwhile, the French Agency for Development will help Viet Nam improve teaching and facilities at five vocational training colleges and schools through a loan worth 24.5 million euros ($31.6 million) and a grant of 0.5 million euros ($647,000). The Vietnamese Government will contribute $5.1 million to the project.

Under the agreements signed in Ha Noi yesterday, the programme would provide more than 3,000 people each year with courses in welding, telecommunications, automotive technology, metal cutting and electricity.

At present, Viet Nam has about 1,200 job training schools and centres. It wants to have 45 per cent of the forecast 60.8 million people of working age trained by 2015 and 55 per cent trained by 2020.

Vice President grants scholarships to poor children

State Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan has granted 700 scholarships worth a total of VND2.1 billion to poor pupils in the Central Highlands.

Speaking at the October 28 ceremony in Pleiku, Vice President Doan reaffirmed that the State and Party, as well as the local authorites, always pay due attention to education and training.

However  there remain problems in five Central Highland provinces, she said, adding that funds should be mobilised to build more schools for children in the region.

Although education and training in the Central Highlands have enjoyed considerable development, the number of pupils dropping out of school has increased sharply over the past two years.

In the 2010-2011 academic year alone, the number of primary pupils in the region dropped by 9 percent. Currently, 67 communes do not have kindergartens and only 11 percent of children attend kindergartens.

Indochina join hands in combating cross-border crime

The cross-border organised crime situation is getting more complicated and threatens to cause instability, says Chief Judges of Vietnam’s Supreme People’s Court Truong Hoa Binh.

Addressing an October 27-28 judicial conference between the Vietnamese, Lao, and Cambodian provinces that share a border, Binh said the border region has seen the increasing international crimes including drug and human trafficking.

The conference will be a chance for the three countries’ court sectors to review the result of their cooperation and develop measures to deal with the problem in the future.

The event, held in Siem Reap province, is designed to further enhance cooperation between border provinces on preventing and combating cross-border crimes.

Participants at the conference highlighted that inadequate and ineffective cooperation is one of the factors in contributing to the complexity of the border region’s situation and the rising crime rates.

Representatives of the three countries agreed to accelerate the completion of a legal framework and draft agreement on bilateral and multilateral cooperation in preventing and combating crimes.

The three countries will also establish a direct coordination mechanism to exchange related information and create crime fighting conditions with the maximum chance of success.

VNN/VOV/VNS