Body of drowned teenager found

On Sunday local rescue workers discovered the body of a teenager who drowned while trying to save a classmate in central Quang Nam Province's Duy Xuyen District.

The body was found 200 metres away from the spot he tried to save his classmate.

The two teenagers were swept away while playing together with other classmates at the local beach last Friday. Rescuers will continue searching for the other missing body.

Overseas Vietnamese celebrate Tet in Paris

A scene of the get-together held by the Vietnamese Entrepreneurs Association in Paris on January 29.  (Photo: VNA)

Vietnamese Ambassador to France Duong Chi Dung briefed participants on remarkable socio-economic achievements recorded by Vietnam, with an economic growth of 5.6 percent, macro-economic stability and social welfare as well as the country’s efforts in international integration.

The diplomat affirmed that Overseas Vietnamese are an inseparable part of the nation, adding that they have contributed to national development and offered assistance to flood victims in Vietnam’s central provinces.

On the occasion, Ambassador Dung presented a certificate of merit to the association in recognition of its active contributions to Vietnamese Agent Orange/dioxin victims in 2011.

Tet was also celebrated by Vietnamese students and Overseas Vietnamese on the same day in the cities of Lyon and Bordeaux.

Businessman indicted for embezzling over 4,000 monitors

Police in Hanoi have prosecuted a deputy director of the Hanoi branch of the Telecommunications Industry Electronics Joint Stock Company (TIE), a distributor of foreign electronics and telecom products, for pocketing a large amount of money from his company.

33-year-old Phan Van Hoang, of Hanoi’s Thanh Tri District, and Nguyen Tuan Linh, 53, also of Hanoi, who assisted Hoang in his embezzlement, have been prosecuted for the crime, police said.

In 2010, TIE, an affiliate of the Saigon Trade Corporation, signed a contract-on-principle to sell a large number of monitors at competitive prices to Thuan An Electronic Informatics Co. Ltd, located in Nam Dinh Province.

In September 2010, Hoang asked Nguyen Van Thuan, director of Thuan An, with whom he had had a relationship, to make payments for the purchase to his personal account, although TIE had yet to issue any invoices to Thuan An.

Thuan agreed, and from October 2010 to January 2011 Hoang and Linh secretly delivered 4,050 monitors while Thuan paid them over VND9.2 billion (US$441,000).

To avoid detection, Hoang had asked Thuan to transfer VND2 billion to TIE’s account as a payment in advance for the contract.

Hoang was found to appropriate more than VND6.2 billion ($297,000) out of the payment from Thuan.

Hoang used the amount to repay his personal debts, including those due to illegal football betting, investigators said.

Hoang paid Linh just VND30 million ($1,440) as a reimbursement for his assistance in dealing with Thuan, investigators added.

Food inspections tightened in schools

Food and hygiene safety inspections will be tightened at universities, colleges and vocational training schools under an order from the Education and Training Ministry.

The move is part of the Action Month for Food Hygiene and Safety, which is scheduled to end on February 10. The schools are also ordered to take prompt actions to deal with violations.

New street name signs offering summarised biographies of national heroes and leaders have been installed on 10 streets in Ha Noi, including Le Thai To, Le Thach, Le Lai and Phan Boi Chau streets.

The new signs have attracted the attention of pedestrians, who stopped to look at the information provided.

Nguyen Quoc Hoa, deputy chairman of the Ha Noi People's Committee told Vnexpress online news website that the new biography street signs which were being piloted in these ten streets would be extended throughout the whole city if the aim of improving people's history knowledge was proved effective.

Buddhist ceremony prays for a peaceful nation

A grant ceremony was held on Jan. 30 in Huong Van Zen monastery in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue , to pray for a peaceful nation.

Superior Monk Thich Giac Dao of Thua Thien-Hue provincial Buddhist Sangha Congregation said that the event preceded activities of Huyen Tran Temple Festival 2012, with the aim to pray for a peaceful and prosperous nation, favourable weather and abundant crops.

The festival, which attracts thousands of local and international visitors annually, will officially open on Jan. 31 (Jan. 9 in the lunar calendar) at Huyen Tran Culture and Tourism Centre, with ritual and traditional activities.

Contest for young Vietnamese talents in France

The “Vietnamese Young Talents in France 2012” contest has taken place at Armande Bejart Theatre, Paris.

Addressing the biennial event, Vietnamese Ambassador to France Duong Chi Dung highlighted the initiative to organise such an event on the occasion of Vietnam ’s traditional lunar New Year (Tet), which, he said, is an ebullient activity of Vietnamese youth in France .

Ha My, Minh Anh and Hoang Long won the first prize their performance of Vietnamese songs in the acoustic style.

Ambassador Dung presented certificates of merit and prizes to Vietnamese students for excellent results in study.

Overseas Vietnamese welcome Lunar New Year

The Vietnamese Entrepreneurs Association in France held a get-together to celebrate the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival on January 29.

Present at the event were Vietnamese Ambassador to France Duong Chi Dung, Vice President of the General Union of Vietnamese in France Nguyen Thanh Tong and representatives of the Vietnamese community in France.

According to the Entrepreneurs Association General Secretary, Nguyen Quang Van, over the past year, the union has actively participated in charity activities in support of flood victims in central Vietnam and raised more than 3,000 EUR in total.

On the occasion, Ambassador Dung presented a certificate of merit to the Vietnamese Entrepreneurs Association in France for its active contribution to AO/dioxin victims in 2011.

On January 28, in Cork city, Ireland , the VietirishSupport Adoption Support Group (VIS) held a New Year ceremony for more than 400 Irish parents and their adopted Vietnamese children.

Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK and Ireland Vu Quang Minh thanked VIS and Irish families for their love and compassion towards Vietnamese children.

He expressed his wish that such children will act as a bridge for the fine relationship between Vietnam and Ireland.

Joining the New Year atmosphere of the whole nation, Vietnamese embassies in Greece, the Netherlands and New Zealand organised activities in celebration of the traditional festival.

VNN/VNS/VNA/Tuoi Tre