Alleged kidnappers to be prosecuted

Hai Phong City's Police have decided to prosecute eight men for the alleged kidnapping of Nguyen Tu Sinh and attempting to appropriate a ransom of VND260 million (US$13,300) from Sinh's family.

Sinh, 22, of Phu Luong District in the northern province of Thai Nguyen, was threatened and pushed into a car while leaving Noi Bai International Airport in Ha Noi on November 8 after his flight from the United Arab Emirates.

The kidnappers kept Sinh at the Cat Trong Pawnshop in Hai Phong City's An Duong District.

Four days later, the kidnappers were caught at the city's Niem Nghia Bus Station by local police while collecting their ransom.

The case is under investigation.

Innovators encouraged to combat corruption

The Government Inspectorate and the World Bank on Nov. 29 introduced the Vietnam Anti-Corruption Initiative (VACI) for 2011 aimed at fostering innovative ideas to raise public awareness of the enforcement of laws to prevent and combat corruption.

VACI 2011 will include a contest for the best initiatives to enhance public uprightness and law enforcement to make the fight against corruption effective. These ideas must have a high degree of creativity and feasibility.
There will also be a section for sharing knowledge on anti-corruption laws and experiences drawn from the enforcement of laws against the scourge.
Undertaken by the Government’s Inspectorate, VACI 2011 is sponsored by the World Bank, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the UK International Development Agency, the embassies of Sweden , Finland and Belgium , and others.
The same day, the Government Inspectorate and the WB jointly held a seminar reviewing Vietnam Innovation Day 2009 (VID 2009) which had the topic, “More accountability and transparency, less corruption”.
Twenty-five projects won VID 2009 prizes for 330,000 USD in total. As many as 152 projects were submitted.
Projects on raising ethnic minority students’ awareness of accountability and transparency in Vo Nhai, the northern province of Thai Nguyen and improving the quality and participation of the community in building, implementing and monitoring plans to reduce poor households in the central province of Ha Tinh were presented to the participants.
Deputy Inspector General Tran Duc Luong said VID 2009 reflected the community’s enthusiastic participation in preventing and combating corruption and it worked as an information channel to help people understand more about the fight against the menace and the Government’s policies in the field.
A WB representative noted that selected projects have figured out specific activities to coordinate the mass media and other partners in implementing and advertising the projects.
The representative said almost all VID 2009 projects showed high commitment and expectations of being maintained and then expanded so that they could seek hard evidence of their impact on the community and foster bigger ideas for the sake of the community’s development.

Ly Son Island fishermen rescued

Authorities from the central province of Quang Ngai yesterday sent workers to the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago area in an effort to rescue 14 fishermen on a sinking boat.

Fishing boat QNg 96020 from Quang Ngai Province's Ly Son Island District was left in difficulty after its pumping system broke last Friday.

The fishermen on board sent distress signals while bailing out seawater from the boat.

Local border police plan to either fix the boat or tow it home as soon as possible.

Foot-and-mouth and bird flu return

Bird flu and foot-and-mouth disease returned to the northern provinces of Nam Dinh and Yen Bai, reported the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Animal Health Department.

Over 1,600 poultry were infected with the A/H5N1 virus in the provinces of Nam Dinh and Nghe An.

Foot-and-mouth disease has struck Dak Lak, Son La, Quang Ngai, Khanh Hoa, Gia Lai, Phu Yen, Bac Ninh, Yen Bai and Nghe An.

HCM City chemical store destroyed in blaze

A blaze destroyed a 100-sq.m chemical store on Sunday afternoon in Tan Binh District, HCM City.

The blaze was put out after efforts by the city's fire-fighters. One fire-fighter lost consciousness after being exposed to the fumes released by the fire.

Local police are continuing to investigate the case.

Vietnamese-born student honoured in Australia

K’Chin, a 21-year-old Vietnamese student living in Australia, has been named Queensland’s International Student of the Year.

K’Chin was born in the central province of Lam Dong and when he was one month year old, his leg was seriously injured. In 2002, he was brought to Australia by the Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children (ROMAC).

He underwent 16 surgeries and he returned to Vietnam in 2006. However, due to side-effects, he went back to Australia for more treatment and started studying in Queensland.

He has overcome many challenges and been given title of Queensland’s International Student of the Year. 

K’Chin has also been nominated for the St James College’s captain next year by the school’s students.

Hanoi’s HIV-AIDS in Hanoi patients drop by over 48 percent

Hanoi currently has nearly 22,000 people infected with HIV/AIDS and more than 8,300 of them have developed full-blown AIDS.

These figures show a sharp decrease over last year, announced Le Nhan Tuan, Director of the Hanoi Centre for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control at a press briefing on November 29. 

To achieve this success, the city’s departments and related agencies have trained good staff to care for HIV/AIDS patients living in the community healthcare centres, said Mr.Tuan. 

Mass organisations including the Youth Union, the Women’s Union, and Trade Union are actively engaged in different activities to raise public awareness of the need to prevent and control the deadly disease. 

Hanoi will continue to disseminate information about HIV/AIDS through the media and promote other programmes on using condoms, and clean injection needles as well as international projects on HIV/AIDS prevention and control.

The Vietnam-RoK Association Friendship’s Hai Duong Chapter holds congress

The Hai Duong Chapter of the Vietnam-Republic of Korea (RoK) Friendship Association held its first congress for the 2010-1015 period on November 29.

Mai Duc Chon was elected as chairman of the association’s 11-member executive board. 

The RoK consul general to Vietnam, Oh Nak Young, spoke highly of the friendship between two nations and expressed his delight at the development of the Vietnam-RoK Friendship Association in Hai Duong province. 

The Vice Chairwoman of the Hai Duong Provincial People’s Committee, Dang Thi Bich Lien, said the new Chapter of the Vietnam-RoK Friendship Association will help promote the relationship between Hai Duong province and other localities in the RoK. 

Since 2004, Hai Duong and Suwon city in the RoK have exchanged many official visits to strengthen solidarity between the two localities. 

The RoK has 34 investment projects in Hai Duong with a total capitalization of US$246 million in the areas of garments and textiles, electronics and automobile component manufacturing which have created jobs for over 19,000 local workers.

Welsh photographer portrays AO victims

After traveling around 120 countries across the world, Philip Jones Griffiths has become well-known with his photos of the American war in Vietnam, which contributed to the anti-war movement in the US and the world as a whole. 

His collection of 47 pictures on the aftermath of Agent Orange in Vietnam has been handed over to the Museum of War Relics in HCM City. 
The Welsh photo journalist has devoted part of his career to Vietnam, from war era issues to the environmental recovery programme, which recently culminated in the inauguration of a fund for Agent Orange victims, named after him, in HCM City. 
First arriving in Vietnam in 1966, Philip finished six years covering the war as a correspondent for the Magnum News Agency and published a book on Vietnam in 1971. The book, which focused on the sufferings caused by the war to ordinary Vietnamese people, shocked the world and stirred up the anti-war movement in the US.
The book, called Vietnam Inc, contributed to the lobby in the US demanding an end to the “nonsensical” war. The book was republished in 2001 and has become a classic photographic book which is sought after today.
After Vietnam Inc, Philip published three other books of photos including Agent Orange, which told the world about the aftermath of the toxic chemicals sprayed by the US military on Vietnam and its people.
The other books are called Vietnam at Peace, a post-war book of Vietnam and Dark Odyssey, a collection of his best photos.
Philip Jones Griffiths was awarded the insignia “For Peace and Friendship between Nations” by the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations in 2008.

Osaka businesses to help build urban railways in Vietnam

The Vietnamese Government and some Japanese businesses in Osaka are considering the possibility of constructing urban railways in Vietnam with loans from official development assistance.

Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Vietnam is facing the thorny issue of traffic jams in large cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The country wants to build short range railways linking economic centres to eliminate the transport stagnation in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai and Binh Duong in the south and Hanoi, Hai Phong and Quang Ninh the north, he added

 Osaka is a prefecture with many high-tech businesses that have paid special attention to investing in small and medium sized Vietnamese enterprises. Therefore, they also concerned with infrastructure in Vietnam to provide the most convenient means of transport for their workers.
Shigetaka Sato, Chairman and CEO of Keihan Electric Railway Company and also Chairman of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that in addition to railways building, the prefecture wants to strengthen its economic cooperation with Vietnam.

Water supply projects for rural areas under discussion

A seminar on investment and the management of OBA projects which focus on clean water and hygiene in rural areas in the Mekong Delta region was held in Tien Giang province on November 29. 

At the seminar, the participants, including staff from water supply systems, officials from various ministries and agencies, donors and the representatives of non-government organisations, shared their experiences in putting into action water supply projects using a newly-applied model known as OBA (outcomes-based technical assistance) which was launched by the East Meets West (EMW) Foundation.
The participants also had the chance to explore Tieng Giang province’s regulations and policies on private investment and management in rural areas and held a discussion on OBA models in several provinces such as Dong Thap, Long An, Tien Giang and An Giang.
Environmental programmes were also put on the table for discussion at the meeting, thus helping improve the effectiveness of water supply projects. 

Vietnam opens second honorary consulate in Japan

Vietnam has opened its second honorary consulate in Kushiro , Hokkaido , northern Japan.

Taro Nakajima, President of the Kushiro Coal Company of Japan, was appointed as honorary consul of Vietnam in Japan.
On this occasion, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Phu Binh thanked the authorities of Kushiro city, Kushiro Coal Company, Taro Nakajima and his colleagues for helping train Vietnamese and transfer of technology for mining safety during past years.
He said that Vietnam and Hokkaido , particularly Kushiro, have large cooperation potential, especially in tourism and fishing.
For his part, Taro Nakajima pledged to continue helping train Vietnamese apprentices and boosting tourism cooperation between Vietnam and Kushiro.
Kushiro Mayor Ebina Hiroya affirmed the city’s support for Taro Nakajima to fulfill his task as an honorary consul.

VNN/VOV/VNS