Ha Noi saved 60 million kWh of electricity in the first seven months of this year, according to Ha Noi Electricity (EVN Ha Noi).

Commercial and household consumption fell 20 million kWh, accounting for 33 per cent of the total saving, while 8 million kWh was saved on public lightning.

EVN Ha Noi plans to continue disseminating methods of power saving this month by sending out 170,000 leaflets to consumers.

Construction ministry to pay attention to social houses

There should be specific programmes to encourage investment in social houses, said the newly-elected Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung.

Mr. Dung emphasized this in reply to reporters’ question on the sidelines of the on-going session of the 13^th National Assembly.  He noted that the Party, State, and the Government have paid due attention to developing social houses by issuing favourable policies on the exemption or reduction of land-use fees and low interest rates.

Asked about the hot issues that need to be addressed in the coming tenure, the minister said it is necessary to complete the laws on investment and construction, make good use of natural resources, capital resources, and human resources and improve the effectiveness of using the capital to minimize losses and waste.

On the recent fluctuations in the real estate market, he said it is necessary to study the people’s demand carefully in order to maintain the balance between supply and demand.

The Minister attributed the gloomy housing market to different reasons, including price gauging that is still too high for customers. He stressed it is necessary to ensure the benefits of the entire people, the investors, and the community.

Regarding the master plan of the capital city, he said there should be specific programmes to realize it.

Mr. Dung also said his ministry will focus more on urban management to make it a driving force behind socio-economic development.

Viet embassy calls for registration for Malaysia amnesty

Malaysia has begun registering about 1.2 million illegal immigrant workers under its amnesty. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese embassy there has called on illegal Vietnamese workers to register with it to enjoy this new policy.
Illegal workers who make registration under the program will be repatriated without penalty or will be legalized to become legal workers in Malaysia.
Registration for repatriation or legalization is required to be carried out from August 1 till August 31.
From September 1, Malaysian authorities will proceed with procedures for amnesty and legalization.
Workers wants to be repatriated will be guided to carry out necessary procedures for repatriation.
Meanwhile, those who want to be legalized will be assisted in making passports, resident cards and employment visas, provided that they have good health and a lean police record during the time they have lived and worked in Malaysia.
From November 1 to 7, Malaysia’s Interior Ministry will coordinate with the Inland Security Ministry to inspect all enterprises that use foreign workers nationwide.
During the inspection, any illegal workers found will be detained pending an expulsion at their expenses. They may be given a pecuniary penalty or be banned from immigration into Malaysia afterwards.
Their employers will also be punished under the laws of Malaysia.
After the inspection is complete, a campaign to expel illegal workers to their home countries will be conducted in all Malaysian states.

Of the total 1.2 million illegal immigrant workers in Malaysia, about 5,000 are Vietnamese, including those who did not return to Vietnam after their labor contracts were over, those who broke their labor contracts to illegally work for other employers, and those who have illegally stayed over after their trips to Malaysia, Nguoi Lao Dong said.

Meanwhile, according to AFP and the Star Online, the total number of illegal foreign workers in Malaysian is higher, 1.8 million.
Most of the people are working in such sectors as construction, plantations, manufacturing and hospitality in Malaysia, AFP said.
Vietnamese can register with Embassy
The Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia has issued a notice calling on all Vietnamese people who are illegal immigrant workers in Malaysia to register for repatriation or legalization, to avoid being detained, penalized or expelled.
Registration can be made at 37 registration points designated by the Malaysian Immigration Department or at other points of employment agents allowed by the Malaysian Government.
The Embassy also said illegal Vietnamese workers can make registration at the Embassy at 4 Persiaran Stonor, 50450 Kuala Lumpur; telephone number: (03) 2141 1817.
Alternately, they can fill in a declaration form that can be obtained from http://vietnamembasy-malaysia.org/images/tailieu/MAU TK_laodongbathopphap.doc, and then return it to the Embassy at vnemb.my@mofa.gov.vn.

Medical staff lashed after kids poisoned

Medical staff from the southern province of Binh Duong's Thuan An District health station have been disciplined for negligence following the poisoning of 27 pre-school children with disinfectant fluid.

The incident occurred last Friday after a teacher at Hoa Binh Kindergarten accidentally put the disinfectant in food following a garbled conversation with a member of the health station staff.

All the children are now in stable condition, but the kindergarten has been suspended for having no work licence.

8 workers injured in Can Tho factory explosion

A steam boiler exploded at the Hau Giang Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company in Can Tho yesterday, Aug 3, injuring eight workers who were hit by flying glass shards as tools in the medicine drying workshop broke.
The injured -- Tran Dang Khoa, Le Thi Kim Ngoi, Van Thi Ngoc Lam, Tran Van Mao, Ly Van Nguyet, Nguyen Thanh Tu, Nguyen Thi Thu Nam, and Duong Van Hieu -- were taken to the Can Tho Central General Hospital for treatment.
Four of them, who were not seriously injured, were discharged, while the others, who had deep wounds and needed X-rays, were admitted, doctors said.
The police who came to the scene are coordinating with the company to investigate the cause of the explosion.

Disease prevention measures checked

The Ministry of Health is checking hand-foot-mouth and dengue fever control measures in major cities to ensure they are adequate to prevent a large-scale outbreak of the diseases in the coming wet season.

The Preventive Medicine Department said the number of hand-foot-mouth cases throughout the nation had quadrupled compared with the same period last year and was predicted to increase with the onset of the rainy season.

Cop beating traffic cop likely expelled

Ho Chi Minh City mobile police officer Tran Dai Phuc, who beat a traffic policeman on being stopped for riding a motorbike without helmet, will likely be fired from police branch, according to a police chief.

The mobile police regiment where Phuc is working for, suggested HCMC Police Department to fire him after holding a meeting Wednesday, said colonel Le Anh Tuan, office chief of the department.

The regiment also proposed the department to expel Phuc from Party membership, he added.

The fight between Phuc and traffic policeman Van Thanh Luan took place on July 28 on a street in Binh Thanh District.

The district’s police chief Phan Hong Khanh quoted witness Nguyen Duc Chanh, 33, residing in district 12, saying that the traffic cop beat Phuc on his shoulder after stopping him for wearing no helmet.

Then the traffic cop made an elbow attack on the head of Phuc.

Phuc asked him “Why did you beat me?” and gave Luan a slap on his face before grabbing an iron bar to counterattack the traffic cop.

No information on the punishment for the traffic policeman Luan for beating violator.

VN to grow genetically modified corn

Genetically modified corn is planned to be grown on large scale throughout the country next year, the Agricultural Genetics Institute has said.

Genetically modified corn is more resistant to insect pests and grass pesticides with crop yields 30-40 per cent higher than normal corn.

A trial cultivation of genetically modified corn in northern Vinh Phuc Province has so far shown no negative impacts on the environment and biological diversity.

Floating houses to be removed from unregulated anchorage

All floating houses parked in unregulated places on Ha Long Bay must be removed before August 15, according to the city People's Committee.

The committee's plan aims to tighten management on floating houses on the bay, and reduces losses caused by storm.

Floating houses that not follow the regulation will be dismounted and destroyed. Floating houses which do not register their inhabitation in Ha Long Bay must move to their registered places. Floating houses that have registered their inhabitation in the bay before January 1, 2005 but anchor in unregulated zones, must move to one of the seven regulated anchorage spots in the bay. The spots include Ba Hang, Hoa Cuong, Cua Van, Ba Ham, Cong Tau, Vong Vien and Cong Dam.

The Ha Long City's People's Committee also asked the Hung Thang Ward People's Committee to set up a plan of evacuation of residents in fishing villages to minimise losses during storms and strong winds.

Canteen food poisoning puts 113 in hospital

At least 113 workers were admitted to hospital in northern Phu Tho Province with food poisoning after dinner at a canteen at the Sung Woon International Viet Nam Co Ltd on Tuesday.

They were suffering from dizziness, vomiting and stomach ache, said Nguyen Huu Viet Dung, deputy director of the hospital. Food samples have been sent for analysis.

The company, owned by a South Korean packaging company, is located in Dong Lang Industrial Park in Phu Tho Province's Phu Ninh District.

Foreign man found dead at home

Ho Chi Minh City police are investigating the death of a foreign man whose body was found inside his house at 27 Nguyen Kiem Street, Go Vap District.
At 3 pm Tuesday afternoon, locals who live near the man’s house found his body on the first floor and reported this to the police.
The man, about 50 years old, was found lying on the floor with an artificial pacemaker next to him.
Some witnesses said the man was last seen at 12 am, when he went out of the house and bought some food nearby.
At 4 pm police carried the body from the house to An Binh Hospital for an autopsy.
The police are investigating the case and have yet to reveal the name of the deceased.

Husband, wife charged with $4.1m theft

The director and the chairman of Thai Bao JS Company have been charged with the theft of VND85 billion (US$4.1 million) in the central province of Quang Tri.

Director Nguyen Thi Lan Anh and her husband, chairman Cao Xuan Thien, were charged with stealing the money, borrowed from two banks, three private enterprises and many individuals, provincial police said on Monday.

Police are searching for the pair who appear to have absconded.

Ca Mau women trafficking gang busted

Ca Mau Province authorities said yesterday, Aug 3, they have arrested two women who trafficked women to Phu Quoc Island.
Following months of investigation after a tip-off from the public, they took in Pham Thi Hoang, 56, and Ly Ngoc Hoa, 40, of the province’s Tran Van Thoi District, who led a gang that trafficked eight girls between March 2010 and April 2011, Senior Lieutenant Colonel Luu Hoang Ha, deputy commander of the provincial Border Guard Force, said.
Hoang and Hoa confessed to luring the girls to the island by promising well-paid jobs and selling them to brothels there for VND500,000-VND2 million (US$24.3-US$97.3).

The girls had been forced to prostitute themselves before being rescued recently by the island police.
The Border Guard Force has handed Hoang and Hoa to the province police, who are trying to track down the rest of the gang.

Elders frightened into buying dubious supplements

Six self-claimed health experts have frightened many elderly people in Quang Nam province into buying dubious nutritional supplements after announcing they are suffering from incurable diseases.
More than 1,200 members of the Dien Phuoc Commune’s Elderly Association have recently received an invitation letter to a free consultant and medical check performed by a group of alleged doctors and consultant experts coming from Hanoi.
Many came to the meeting to be examined by Vu Manh Hung, who called himself a ‘health expert’ of the Southeast Asian Association for Scientific Research.
Then, a group of five ‘doctors’ without wearing white blouses and name tags performed a quick body scan over the elders within three minutes, and told them that they were suffering from incurable diseases like cancer and degenerative joints.
The ‘doctors’ went on to ask the patients to buy two jars of nutritional supplements, whose labels showed that they come from Hanoi-based Duc My Viet Company, for the treatment.
Many locals spent VND1.5 million (US$75) per person to buy the two bottles.
Fake doctors
Tuoi Tre finds out that the ‘doctors’ do not have any medical credentials and certificates.
One of them has even been identified as a driver.
Asked about these dubious doctors, Pham Phu Hoang, Communist Party Secretary of Dien Phuoc Commune, said he did not know of such a consultant meeting.
But he added later that “I hear they were licensed by the provincial Department of Health.”
For its part, Quang Nam Department of Health said inspectors are looking into dubious transactions by Duc My Viet Company, the distributor of the supplements.
Trang Quang Hien, the department’s chief inspector, told Tuoi Tre that his health department has never allowed Duc My Viet Company to organize such meetings to sell products.
Hien added that the ‘doctors’ would be fined since they are not allowed to perform medical checks.

Conmen dangle university admission to swindle

Many students and parents in Ho Chi Minh City are being conned by swindlers who claim they can get them admission to any university even without taking entrance exams.

Your correspondent met a man who called himself Nguyen Van Hung and claimed to be a geography lecturer at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) in District 1, asking to get his ‘brother’ admitted to USSH.

“I am 100 percent sure of getting students into schools like USSH, the University of Law, Nong Lam University, the University of Economics, and the Banking University,” Hung said.

He wanted VND60 million (US$2,900) which he claimed would be used to pay off academic affairs officers, faculty deans, and even school vice presidents and presidents.

Assuring he had “close connections” with those schools, he said he would refund the money if he failed to get admission.

He claimed to have got eight other students admitted to these schools.

They had advanced VND4 to 13 million ($190-630) “But I need an VND18 million deposit in your case,” he said.

When your correspondent said he had only VND500,000 ($24), Hung was agreeable and took the money.

There are several complaints about being taken for a rise by Hung.

P.X.B. of Binh Duong Province said Hung had promised to get his child admitted to USSH for a fee.

“I paid Hung VND4 million ($190) in advance but I did not find my child’s name in the school register. [Hung] is nowhere to be found now.”

H.T.C., a resident of the city’s Hoc Mon District, was also unable to trace Hung after her child failed to get admission to the same school.

“I paid him VND6 million ($290),” she said.

Dr Le Khac Cuong, head of USSH’s academic affairs office, said: “I have checked and can be sure that there is no lecturer called Nguyen Van Hung in the geography faculty.”

Many people also approach a person named Ha in Tan Phu District to get admission to university.

He claims he can get students who failed entrance exams into engineering and technical colleges.

His fees ranged between VND40 million ($1,940) and VND70 million ($3,400), depending on the major, Ha told your correspondent, and demanded a VND15 million ($730) advance to strike a deal.

N.T.T.L of Tan Phu failed to get into a university in District 9 despite assurances by Ha.

“I paid him the entire amount, but he has fled,” she said.

Khiem of District 12 also claims to get university admissions in the city.

“It costs VND35 million for admission to the finance-banking major at the Banking University,” he told your correspondent who approached him for admission for his ‘brother.’

“I need a VND10 million down payment,” he added.

Internet only behind TV in popularity: survey

The Internet has overtaken radio and newspaper to become Vietnam’s second-largest medium after television, a study commissioned by Yahoo! on internet trends has found.

Net Index 2011, released on Wednesday by market research company Kantar Media, polled 1,500 internet users aged between 15 and 54 in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Can Tho between May and July.

It found that 42 percent use the Internet while the numbers for newspapers and radio were 40 percent and 23 percent.

TV is way in front at 98 percent.

Of those going online, 60 percent and 73 percent use email and instant messaging, while 97 percent read news.

The number of users joining social networks has risen to 55 percent from 41 percent last year.

Reasonable internet charges and enhanced 3G infrastructure have boosted mobile internet access to 30 percent from 19 percent last year.

Internet usage at home climbed to 88 percent of all users from 75 percent, while access from internet cafés declined to 36 percent from 42 percent.

Yahoo!Inc said the research offered strategic insights for industry decision makers and tapped into the massive Internet opportunities available throughout Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

IT to help deal with 95% of tax returns

A plan to introduce IT into taxation management and to allow tax returns and payments to be completed online has been approved by the Ministry of Finance.

The reforms will provide transparency in tax administration.

The ministry aims to have IT used in 95 per cent of tax management functions and to have 80 per cent of companies making electronic tax declarations by 2015.

Residents moved from reservoir's flood-prone areas

After months of living with the threat floods from the Nuoc Trong Reservoir, a total of 90 out of 119 households in the basin were moved on Tuesday to a safe place in Tra Tho Commune, the central province of Quang Ngai's Tay Tra District.

The provincial authorities are surveying places to continue moving the remaining households, said Ho Van Canh, chairman of the Tay Tra People's Committee.

Local authorities would efficiently work on developing roads, houses and clean water system to help residents resettle, he said.

Earlier, nine households in Tre Village in Tra Tho Commune had to move to a mountain, as water increasingly rose in the reservoir.

They lived without electricity or clean water, and their life was in danger in the rainy season.

Dinh Thi Ba, living in the village, told Nguoi lao dong (The Labourer) newspaper that they had waited for some months, but no house was built in the resettlement areas.

"We lack everything, even clean water for drinking," she said.

Dinh Van Nhit, head of Tre Village, said local residents worried as the rainy season was coming because they lacked the proper facilities.

Kindergarten pupils did not even have schools to study, he said.

"When water rises in rainy weather, we have no way to escape," said Nhit.

The 119 households were among 465 households that live in the flooded areas of the reservoir. A total of 346 have been moving to safer places since last year.

"The 119 households were moved late because the weather changed regularly, creating obstacles for the building of roads, houses and other social welfare constructions," said Canh.

Nuoc Trong is the biggest irrigation and hydroelectricity project in Quang Ngai Province. The project's total funding is VND1.9 trillion (US$93 million) coming from the State's bond. As many as VND1.2 trillion ($58.5 million) was spent for the main construction while relocating the residents cost VND247 billion ($12 million).

After its completion, the Nuoc Trong project will supply water for more than 52,000ha of farm land, reduce flooding for the lowlands, supply water for the Dung Quat Economic Zone, Tinh Phong Industrial Zone, Quang Ngai City and seven plain districts in the province.

Construction work on the project started in 2005.

Province aid tipped for flood-proof housing

Fourteen central provinces from Thanh Hoa to Binh Thuan will be helped to build flood-proof houses under a project being drafted by the Ministry of Construction.

Households will be able to borrow money at low interest rate to build their houses to a level higher than the worst regional flood. Community flood-proof houses will also be built.

In the past five years, 1,500 lives have been lost and many homes destroyed in the 14 central provinces.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre