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Police seized 47 cabs that failed to meet transport requirements during an inspection tour of the city this month, additionally finding 17 cab companies operating without licences.
Taxies were found illegally parked, running red lights, exceeding speed limits, or cheating passengers, the police said.
They reported that taxi operations contained potentially complex issues related to security, some companies having violated enterprise laws, thus necessitating interdisciplinary inspections. The teams include both police and transport inspectors.
According to statistics, Ha Noi has 114 cab companies with more than 17,000 vehicles. Police added that the rapid increase in the number of cabs in a short time with poor management has made operations confusing, caused traffic jams and troubled not only people, but also the authorities.
After half a month, the Ha Noi Transport Inspector has checked more than 17,000 cabs from 100 companies.
Poor driver returns missing property worth $48k
A poor taxi driver in the central province of Quang Tri has returned an unclaimed property and cash in a bag, the total value of which must be VND1 billion (US$48,000), to its holder.
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| Nguyen Van Dung teaching his daughter at home. (Photo: VNE) |
Dung noted the name and address of the taxpayer on the invoice, so he contacted the 1080 switchboard to ask for the payer’s phone number but failed. After, Dung continued to contact the HCMC Tax Bureau and was provided with the holder’s contact.
One day later, Viet and his wife, the missing assets’ owners, who hail from the city of Hue, arrived at Dung’s house to retrieve their lost property.
“I would never, honestly, have so much property even if I worked hard for my whole life,” Dung said.
“But when I thought of the troubles that the owner must be suffering, I became determined to give it back to him. After returning the bag, I felt happy and peaceful,” he added.
In a cramped house in Gio Linh District in Quang Tri, Dung said he has three children. Before switching to be a taxi driver, he had been a jack of all trades.
Dung has been awarded the title “Traffic Knight in March, 2012" by local authorities to honor his good deed.
Vietnamese AO victims to receive check-up in Korea
As many as 80 Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange will be given free medical check-ups at South Korea's Yonsei Hospital next week.
This is part of a 5-day programme starting from June 4 sponsored by the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO), the Korean Victims of Agent Orange Veterans Association (KAOVA) and Korean Television MBC in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Viet Nam- Korea diplomatic tie this year.
VUFO Vice President Don Tuan Phong said in a press release today that this was the first time that such a lot of Vietnamese AO victims received medical check-ups in a foreign hospital.
Moreover, the eligible would visit famous tourist attractions in South Korea and attend cultural exchange programmes with the Korean people, he said.
"Such activities were expected to let Korean people know more about Viet Nam and the consequences of AO in the country, then, join the fight for justice for AO victims," he said.
Vice President of the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxide Tran Xuan Thu said that it was expected that Korean experts could offer the victims proper medical treatment after check-ups to partly relieve their pain caused by Agent Orange.
So far, at least 17 diseases relating to AO have been claimed by Viet Nam and US health experts including nine kinds of cancers, Thu said, adding AO could affect most of the human body and especially reduce immune systems to make victims vulnerable to various infectious diseases.
About 4.8 million people in Viet Nam were reportedly exposed to AO and about three million currently suffer from AO-related diseases.
HCMC to build 4 large flyovers to ease congestion
The Ho Chi Minh City Transport Department has proposed the authorities to build 4 more large overhead bridges at a total cost of VND991 billion (US$47.6 million) to ease traffic congestion.
The proposal was presented to the city People’s Committee at a meeting on Monday, May 28.
Under the proposal, the first flyover will be located at Thu Duc Crossroads in District 9. The bridge, which will have 8 lanes, is estimated to cost VND550 billion (US$26.4 million).
Works on the flyover is expected to start in June 2012 and to be completed in February 2013.
The second flyover will be built in the Hang Xanh Intersection in Binh Thanh District at a cost of VND161 billion ($7.73 million). It will be 16 meters wide and have 4 lanes. The construction will begin in June and finish in November 2012.
The third facility, 300 meters long and 7 meters wide, will be situated in Cay Go Roundabout in District 11. It will be completed on December 31, 2012 after 6 months of construction at a cost of VND190 billion ($9.12 million).
The last, valued at VND90 billion ($4.32 million), will be built in Lang Cha Ca Roundabout in Tan Binh District under the same schedule as the third. It measures 250 meters in length and 7 meters in width.
City authorities have asked the department to submit the detailed designs and construction plans for these facilities for consideration.
Hot line for clean water established
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of southern Hau Giang Province has set up a hot line to solve problems related to the distribution of clean water to local people.
The director of the department will find solutions to problems reported to the hot line (0918932427).
Since the beginning of 2012, the department has projected VND8.4 billion (US$403,000) to be spent on repairing and maintenance of local water supply stations.
The province has 11 water supply projects for rural areas. These projects will be finished by 2014 and the stations will be connected to the water supply system of the province.
Three substandard drugs suspended
The Drug Administration of Viet Nam has suspended three substandard drugs from national distribution.
The suspended drugs include Hoan bo than am, produced by the Hai Phong Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company; Intermedic Ciprofloxacin 500mg produced by South Korean Intermedic Co Ltd and imported by the Central Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company No 2; and Mimosa sedative produced by ODC Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company.
The drugs failed to meet standards of bacterial contamination limit, dissolubility, and alkaloid content.
Heavy rainfall, floods turn deadly
Heavy rain and floods claimed eight lives in northern provinces last week, according to the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control.
Yen Bai Province reported three deaths, Cao Bang two and Quang Ninh, Son La and Thanh Hoa each had one.
The floods also killed several animals in the region and submerged a large area of rice and subsidiary crops.
Heavy rains are predicted to continue in the next few days due to a low-pressure area moving through north Viet Nam.
Burglars break into villa, shoot at maid
Police in Thu Duc district Tuesday said they are probing into a thieving case in which three burglars allegedly shot at a maid when they broke into a villa in Binh Chieu ward yesterday morning, May 29.
Eyewitnesses said they saw three 'tall fat' men sneaking into the house at 3am. The housemaid caught them drilling a cabinet to steal assets and shouted. Thus, one of them pressed a gun on his head and threatened: “Shut your mouth if you want to stay alive.”
One thief shot at the maid’s head when their acts were caught by two others. The man was rushed to hospital for emergency care.
The burglars left two pairs of sandals at the scene.
At the time of the thieving, the house owner was visiting his child in Canada.
Earlier on May 25, two strange men poisoned two dogs in the villa to death, according to local residents.
Initial investigations found that the burglars might use a tear-shell gun. However, Lai Van My, police chief of Binh Chieu Ward, told Tuoi Tre on the afternoon that investigation results showed they did not use a gun for the attack.
Illegal wildlife trader brought to justice
Police in the Bu Dop District of southern Binh Phuoc Province yesterday prosecuted Ho Van Huyen, 50, a resident of the area, for illegal wildlife trading.
According to authorities, eight Pygathrix nigripes (a type of rare and endangered monkey listed in group 1B of Viet Nam's red book) including a live one weighing nearly 38 kilos, were found in Huyen's house.
He admitted to buying the Pygathrix nigripes from two anonymous ethnic minority people at VND2,8 million (US$130).
The case is still under investigation.
Nation aims to cut HIV infection rate to 0.3%
Viet Nam has targeted an HIV infection rate of under 0.3 per cent by 2020, under a National Strategy for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control to 2020 with a vision to 2030 approved by the Prime Minister.
The strategy also targets a rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV to below 5 per cent by 2015 and below 2 per cent by 2020, while the percentage of people with HIV who receive antiretroviral drugs would increase to 80 per cent.
The country's current rate of new infections was stable at 0.3 per cent – the lowest rate in Asia, said Chu Quoc An, deputy director of the Ministry of Health's HIV/AIDS control administration.
"The target of reducing the rate over the next eight years is completely achievable since, in the past four years, the number of people living with HIV has decline year by year, thanks to the co-operation of authorities at all levels," he said.
In implementing the strategy, however, the country could still meet a number of obstacles, he added, including inadequate implementation of the strategy by various sectors, the Party and People's Committees at all levels.
The National HIV Strategy and intervention efforts have not yet met expectations due to a shortage of funding and direction by the local authorities at district and commune levels. In some localities, leaders at grassroots levels have paid little attention to HIV/AIDS issues, and some even continue to consider HIV as a kind of social evil. In other localities, HIV/AIDS prevention and control has been properly viewed as a public health issue but not effectively expanded to other social and community sectors.
To implement the strategy, the Ministry of Health's comprehensive measures include improved supervision by the Party, the National Assembly and People's Committees at all levels. The legal system on HIV/AIDS prevention and control will be completed, focusing on preventing discrimination against people with HIV and setting up supporting policies for them, said An.
Public education campaigns will be strengthened, especially in remote northern provinces such as Dien Bien, Son La and Thai Nguyen, where high rates of heroin addicts sharing needles and prostitutes engaging in unsafe sex.
Meanwhile, An said, State budget allocations for HIV/AIDS programmes had remained low, and the programmes continued to rely on external funding sources.
The State would also encourage localities, international and domestic organisations and individuals to invest in HIV/AIDS prevention and control. Relationships with other countries and international organisations would continue to take advantage of their financial, technical and administrative support.
Nearly 200,000 nationwide were infected with HIV by the end of March this year, according to the administration. Over 52,600 have died from the disease.
Cholera prevention takes priority
Viet Nam is taking measures to prevent and control cholera this summer, with only one case detected in the first quarter, head of Preventive Medicine Department Nguyen Van Binh told a workshop in Da Nang City yesterday, May 29.
The figure was 2 for the whole of last year and 606 cases in 2010.
The seminar, entitled "Epidemiology and measures for transboundary prevention of cholera in the Greater Mekong Sub-region", was aimed at raising awareness of the spread of the disease in the region.
"If we are well prepared to fight the disease to keep the ratio of deaths to under 1 per cent," Binh said, "we have to raise awareness among the community on food and water safety and the need to clean hands."
Speaking at the opening ceremony yesterday, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said: "Cholera is a serious disease which is being transmitted across borders throughout the world, including the Mekong region. It results from the trans-continental food trade."
Representatives of countries in the region focused their discussion on cholera prevention strategies at the workshop.
In the latest World Health Organisation survey, 39 per cent of more than 4,500 confirmed cases of cholera in Viet Nam were farmers.
WHO food safety officer Didier Tiberghien said the best prevention of cholera was improved sanitation, personal hygiene and sanitation behaviour.
A survey carried out in northern provinces showed that raw vegetables, shrimp paste and dog meat were major cholera suspects.
Hospital performs first heart surgeries
The Friendship General Hospital of central Nghe An Province has carried out its first open-heart surgeries for two children. With the help from the Ha Noi Heart Hospital doctors, surgeons successfully completed the surgeries after four hours.
"The success of the surgeries will bring hope to thousands of patients diagnosed with heart diseases, especially those in Nghe An and the surrounding areas," said Dr Nguyen Danh Linh, director of the hospital.
With technology transferred from the Ha Noi Heart Hospital, the hospital now has adequate equipment to perform open-heart surgeries.
VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre
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