PM approves planning of Royal Citadel area

Prime Minister has recently approved a project for the planning of the Thang Long Royal Citadel area in Hanoi.

Under the project, functional construction works will be carefully evaluated before construction in order not to affect the overview of the archaeological site.

Archaeological relics will be preserved inside the area and some new functional sections will be built including a museum, and a show room for ancient artifacts.

The archaeological site Thang Long citadel is expected to become a historic and cultural park to attract more visitors in the future.

Buddhist followers give generous donation to charity

The Hanoi chapter of the Vietnam Buddhist Shangha donated VND16.3 billion to poor ethnic people, Agent Orange, flood victims, the elderly and orphans in 2010. 

The chapter Executive Council has maintained the operation of a centre for raising orphans, disabled and HIV infected children at the Bo De pagoda in Long Bien District, a centre for the HIV/AIDS carriers at Phap Van Pagoda in Hoang Mai district and a free medical clinic at Tram Gian pagoda in Chuong My district.
Also in 2010, the chapter collaborated with relevant agencies to organise exhibitions of artefacts, fine arts and photos to mark the city’s millennial anniversary.
The Hoa ethnic group’s Buddhist followers in Ho Chi Minh City have donated VND2.78 billion to poor patients and people in the city.
The remaining of the VND6.3 billion sum slated for charitable activities will be donated to disadvantaged Hoa people in the city, said Head of the Hoa Buddhist Followers’ Representative Board Venerable Thich Hue Cong.

Underground reservoir discovered in Ha Giang

The Northern Union for Planning and Investigating Water Resources has discovered an underground reservoir in Pa Vi Thuong hamlet in Meo Vac district's Pa Vi commune in the northern province of Ha Giang.

Dr Tong Ngoc Thanh, the head of the exploration team, said the discovery would guarantee local residents enough supply of water for daily use and production.

With the new reservoir, over 8,700 people from Meo Vac Town will each have access to 80 litres of safe fresh water every day.

The districts of Meo Vac and Dong Van have been suffering from a prolonged drought that the Centre of National Hydrometeorological Forecasting said could last until next April.

Work begins on Lang Son Hospital

Construction work has begun on the new Lang Son Hospital.

The hospital in Hoang Dong Commune of the mountainous northern province of Lang Son is to have 700 beds.

There will be examination, training and traditional medicine wards, and a medical waste treatment area.

The VND1.5 trillion (US$77 million) hospital is funded by the provincial Department of Health. The expected completion date is 2015.

"It is the biggest construction project in the province so far," said deputy director of the Lang Son Department of Health Trieu Cao Tan.

The old provincial hospital had about 400 beds, and was often overcrowded.

In the dengue fever season in June and July, two or three patients had to share one bed, and the hospital was forced to line corridors with canvas beds , he added.

"We hope that the new hospital will help reduce overcrowding by 50 per cent," he said.

Meanwhile, Hoang Van Hai, head of Pharmacy at Bac Kan Hospital said that the new Lang Son Hospital could provide medicines to Bac Kan Hospital .

"Our hospital often lack medicines, and many patients have to travel a long way to buy them," he said.

Moreover, the hospital did not have medical waste treatment facilities, and waste was discharged directly into the Ky Cung River.

Tan said, "The 400kg medical waste and 200 cu.m of wastewater we release each day seriously pollutes the lower section of Ky Cung River."

In 2002, the provincial health sector began construction work on a waste treatment system, but a lack of capital meant the work went unfinished.

Doctors remove 6kg tumour

Surgeons at Hung Vuong Hospital successfully removed a six-kilogramme right ovarian tumour from a 28-year-old woman from Tan Nhut Commune, Binh Chanh District on Tuesday.

Doctors said the woman was now recovering.

Workers strike for wages

Over 80 seasonal workers on Khang Gia apartment building in HCM City's Go Vap District went on strike on Tuesday hoping to get their pay.

Le Quang Xuan from Loc Tien Ltd Co hired the workers at rates of VND80,000 (US$4) to VND160,000($8) per day and without a labour contract. The workers haven't been paid for two months.

Xuan said that contractor Cotecin company should pay the workers because subcontractor Loc Tien was bankrupt.

Cotectin's representative said the company would not pay until construction quality was ensured.

Tet gifts head for archipelago

Three naval ships carrying 300 tonnes of Tet gifts are heading to Truong Sa Archipelagoes District of central Khanh Hoa Province.

The gifts, destined for the district's residents and soldiers, include dried food, vegetables, fruit and sports equipment.

Khanh Hoa's Military Command will also give soldiers and local households money for the Tet (lunar new year) festival.

Another cold front threatens north

Another cold spell is forecast to hit northern provinces from today, according to the Centre of National Hydrometeorological Forecasting.

The temperature in Ha Noi would drop to around 10-17 degrees Celsius, the Centre said.

Bitter cold with foggy and icy weather is predicted in northern mountain areas.

Rain is also forecast in some northern areas.

Rubber fire causes $50,000 damage

A fire in a foam rubber production workshop in HCM City's Binh Chanh District on Tuesday damaged 30 tonnes of plastic beads worth VND1 billion ($50,000).

The fire also destroyed three plastic bead-mixers, two gas compressors and two water filling machines. No one was injured.

On the same day, a fire at a cooking and oil recycling workshop in Thoi Tam Mon Commune's, Hoc Mon District caused the building's roof to collapse.

International support for central region flood victims

The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO)-based in Hanoi on December 30 offered assistance to flood victims in the central region to representatives of Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces.

Present at the event were representatives of several embassies in Vietnam, including Morocco, Panama, Sudan and Venezuela.

The VUFO and embassies gave VND50 million to each province and donated essential goods, including food, confectionary, sugar, and woolen blankets, to relief centre of Ha Tinh province.

Previously, the Vietnam Fatherland Front had received assistance from international organisations and embassies in Hanoi. A trip was organised to transport the aid, worth VND210 million, to flood victims in the central region.

HCM City to set off fireworks for Tet holiday

Ho Chi Minh City Municipal People’s Committee has instructed staff to co-ordinate the fireworks shows in two places at 12pm on December 31 to celebrate the New Year.

Those places are Caric Shipyard in Thu Thiem ward, District 2 and Dam Sen Cultural Park in District 11. Each fireworks performance will last 15 minutes.

Then, at Lunar New Year Festival, HCM City will set off fireworks in seven places: Caric Shipyard in Thu Thiem ward, District 2, Administrative Centre project in District 7, Go Vap Cultural Park project in Go Vap District, Nga Ba Giong Memorial area of Heroic Martyrs in Hoc Mon District, Ben Duoc Temple of Heroic Martyrs in Cu Chi District, Ethnic Culture historical park in District 9 and Dam Sen Cultural Park in District 11.   

Hoa Hao Buddhism founder’s birthday marked

The 91^st birth anniversary of the founder of Hoa Hao Buddhism, Prophet Huynh Phu So, took place at the Holy Land of the religion in An Hoa temple in Phu Tan district, the southern province of An Giang on December 30.

The event was attended by thousands of Hoa Hao Buddhists in and outside An Giang province, who in 2010 contributed VND50 billion to building and repairing houses for the poor and bridges to expand traffic to remote rural areas.

Addressing the ceremony, Tran Thanh Toc, Vice President of the An Giang provincial Fatherland Front, expressed his wishes that more than 2 million Hoa Hao Buddhists in 15 cities and provinces will join hands with the nation in making the country more prosperous while defending the purity of their religion.

New poverty criteria will double the poor

The number of the poor in Ha Noi will double, to about 700,000, when the new poverty standard becomes effective during the 2011-15 period.

According to the new standard, which was approved by the municipal People's Committee, poor households are categorised as those with an average income that is less than VND750,000 (US$38) per person per month in urban areas and VND550,000 ($28) in rural areas.

The new level is about VND200,000 ($10) higher than the current category.

Average income levels for households near the poverty line will be between $38.5 – 51 in urban areas and $28-38 in rural areas.

The municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs estimated that with the new standard the capital city would have more than 148,000 poor households and nearly 61,500 households living near the poverty line, which account for 3.98 per cent of the population.

Deputy chairman of the municipal People's Committee Phi Thai Binh said the city would need about VND5 trillion($256 million) for anti-poverty programmes in the next five years to bring the capital's poverty rate down to 2 per cent by 2015.

"An increasing amount of impoverished citizens would create many challenges, especially with financial resource in the future," said head of the city's Labour Department Nguyen Dinh Duc.

"We will have to mobilise resources from businesses and individuals to help reduce the capital's poverty rate by at least 1.8-2 per cent each year," said Duc.

With current regulations that were applied during the 2009-2013 period, 4.48 per cent of the city's population (nearly 7 million) are impoverished. 8.43 per cent of households in the capital were impoverished during the beginning of 2009.

Sailor rescued after two days at sea

A sailor was rescued from the shipwrecked Van Don No2 cargo ship in the southern area of the East Sea on Wednesday, Vung Tau Maritime Search and Rescue Co-ordination Centre reported.

Vu Van Tu was found exhausted, drifting at sea. The rescue team also found an unidentified body in the area of the sunken ship.

The cargo vessel, carrying 23 crew, sank on Monday due to high seas and gusting winds. Twelve crew members, who had been rescued previously, were said to be in good condition after treatment at HCM City's Cho Ray Hospital.

Collision leaves two dead, 13 injured

A head-on collision between a truck and a 35-seat-coach in Central Highland Dak Nong Province's Quang Tin Commune yesterday killed two passengers and injured 13 others.

The victims were hospitalised at the provincial general hospital for treatment. The coach driver ran away from the scene.

The reason of the collision is under investigation.

Unlicensed sand dredgers in custody

Five unlicensed sand dredgers were seized for illegally taking sand at Thi Tinh River in the southern province of Binh Duong, the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment said.

The dredgers belonged to Tien Thinh Trade and Service Co Ltd based in Long Tan Commune, Dau Tieng District. The company was found to lack an operational licence, had not completed an environmental impact assessment and were using agricultural land for industrial purposes.

Truck destroyed in gas canister fire

A truck carrying gas canisters and flammable materials burst into flames on Highway No1 in the southern province of Long An yesterday.

The fire was put out later.

The fire was thought to have occurred after the gas canisters collided, resulting in a gas leak. The case is under further investigation.

Giant pothole appears in Ho Chi Minh City

Workers from Ben Thanh Water Supply Company found a 15-sq.m pothole on Tran Hung Dao Street, District 1 on Wednesday morning after road subsidence was reported.

Local authorities took action to repair the hole the same day.

The city's Transport Department inspectors said that potholes had been reported in Districts 1,3 and 6 over the last few days.

Wild elephants disrupt households

Two wild elephants from Vu Quang National Park, in the central province of Ha Tinh destroyed the garden of a household in Huong Dien Commune, Vu Quang District early Wednesday morning.

The elephants left after destroying fences, trees and plants in the garden.

Park managers said the elephants had entered residential areas and had attacked people due to a shortage of food and shrinking habitat.

Blaze destroys hundreds of motorbikes

Fire destroyed hundreds of motorbikes at a warehouse in central Binh Thuan Province's Phan Thiet City on Wednesday afternoon.

Four fire engines were mobilised to deal with the blaze but it took about four hours to put out the fire because of the narrow entrance to the warehouse.

The fire is thought to have been caused by the diesel-run generator that was working at that time.

Underground surprise

The Northern Union for Planning and Investigating Water Resources has discovered an underground reservoir in Pa Vi Thuong hamlet in Meo Vac District's Pa Vi commune in the northern province of Ha Giang.

Dr Tong Ngoc Thanh, the head of the exploration team, said the discovery would guarantee local residents enough supply of water for daily use and production.

With the new reservoir, over 8,700 people from Meo Vac Town will each have access to 80 litres of safe fresh water every day.

The districts of Meo Vac and Dong Van have been suffering from a prolonged drought that the Centre of National Hydrometeorological Forecasting said could last until next April.

VNN/VOV/VNS