74-year-old recovers after liver transplant

Viet Duc Hospital has implemented successfully a liver transplant for a 74-year-old patient – the oldest among those who got liver transplant in Viet Nam to date.

Director Nguyen Tien Quyet of the Ha Noi-based hospital said that the patient health was in good recovery after a seven-hour operation on Sunday.

Liver donor was the patient's relative who was 40 years old.

The cost for an organ transplant in Viet Nam is VND200-230 million (US$10,000 - 11,000), about two or three times lower than other countries.

Statue of Tran Hung Dao unveiled on Truong Sa

A statue of General Tran Hung Dao, who is famous in Vietnamese history for fighting off Mongol invaders three times, was unveiled on May 6 on Song Tu Tay Island, part of the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.

Statue of General Tran Hung Dao in Song Tu Tay Island. (Source: VNA)

The statue was a gift from the authorities and people of the northern province of Nam Dinh to Truong Sa.

General Tran Hung Dao, whose real name was Tran Quoc Tuan, commanded the Dai Viet army that repelled the Mongol invasions in 1258, 1285 and 1288 under the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400).

He was also a man of letters whose “Hich tuong si” (Call for Soldiers” and “Binh thu yeu luoc” (Principles of Military Strategy) have become classics of Vietnamese literature.

Construction of Tran Phu-Kim Ma link to begin in October

Work on a 22-metre-wide and 450-metre-long road connecting Tran Phu and Kim Ma streets in Ha Noi will begin in October, with the link expected to be operational early next year.

The project, worth VND225 billion (US$10.8 million), will include a new road running from the Le Truc-Tran Phu-Ong Ich Khiem intersection to the Kim Ma-Nguyen Thai Hoc-Son Tay intersection.

Once completed, the road will help ease traffic congestion along the route.

Chairman of the city's People's Committee Nguyen The Thao ordered completion of land clearance for the works by September. Nearly 220 households in Kim Ma and Dien Bien wards must be relocated from the site.

The cost of land clearance accounts for 67 per cent of the project's total investment.

Vietnam able to make US-standard ballistic vests

Vietnamese military scientists have successfully produced bullet proof vests that are both cheap and lightweight but still meet safety requirements including the US’ NIJ0101.04 standard (able to protect against 7.62x54mm bullets).

The information was provided by Quan Doi Nhan Dan newswire, a news organ belonging to Vietnam's military forces.

The armors are made from Aluminum Oxide (Al2O3) reinforced by Nano-Zr¬O2 and dyneema composites that can achieve protection level 3.

This is a state-level project titled “Researching on bullet proof vests on the basis of Al2O3 reinforced by Nano-ZrO2” headed by Doctor Ta Van Khoa from the Institute of Technology under the Vietnamese Ministry of Defense’s General Department of Military Industry.

Accordingly, Doctor Khoa has successfully done research into technology that produces reinforced Al2O3 - a kind of refractory ceramic oxide - with evenly-spread ZrO2 nanoparticles, which enhances durability and toughness.

The scientist also succeeded in making durable dyneema plates that can withstand many bullets.

In all, the project enables Vietnam to manufacture by itself four types of bullet resistant vests including the aforementioned two made from Al2O3 reinforced by Nano-Zr¬O2 and dyneema composites (bullet protection level 3) under US’ NIJ0101.04 standard (able to protect against 7.62x54mm bullets).

The other two types are 100% made from dyneema composites that can withstand 7.62x39mm AK47 rifles at a distance of 15m under US’ standard NIJ0101.04. The vests weigh just around 3.4kg each so are suitable for mobile forces.

All the products have been tested and yielded positive results.

Currently, Vietnam has to import a large amount of bullet proof vests at high prices but their size and weight are not suitable with the Vietnamese.

This success could open up the possibility of Vietnam producing by itself the vests at high quality at affordable prices for those in need.

Companies fined for harmful additives

Two companies in Mekong Delta Tien Giang Province were recently fined VND35 million (over US$1,600) for producing animal food that contained harmful additives.

The two companies are the Long An - based Anovet Animal Nutrition Jointstock Company and HCM City - based Cao Long Animal Medicine and Seafood Co Ltd.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tien Giang Province also fined 10 other companies VND500,000 to VND12.5 million ($24-600) for producing substandard or unlabeled animal food products containing prohibited additives.

Swiss, Cuban people keen to learn about VN

The Switzerland – Cuba Association wants to learn about Vietnam ’s global economic integration process, including its poverty reduction, social welfare and foreign investment.

The association’s President, Prof. Federico Jauch made the statement at a meeting with Deputy Head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations Tran Dac Loi in Hanoi on May 7.

He said he was impressed by Vietnam ’s efforts in overcoming the war consequences and its socio-economic achievements during the 25-year renovation process.

The Switzerland-based association has hosted a number of activities to support development in Cuba , such as establishing voluntary worker forces and themed tours in the Latin American country.

The delegation is making a visit to Vietnam from May 6-19.

Mangrove forests face fire threat

Hot weather and tinder-dry conditions have put over 14,000ha of U Minh Ha Forest, in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta at a heightened risk of fires.

Since February of this year, 12 forest fires have occurred in southernmost Ca Mau Province which destroyed three hectares of forests.

Some of the cases were triggered by residents using fire to exploit bee's honey.

The local authorities have also completed 74 barrages for reserving water, and preventing forest fires.

Burial ceremony held for soliders' remains

A burial ceremony was held at Ba Thuoc District's cemetery, central Thanh Hoa Province yesterday, May 7, for 46 martyrs who laid down their lives in Laos in times of war.

Of them, 21 sets of remains were found to be buried in a collective grave.

DNA tests would be conducted to identify all the remains.

A seven-month search for the martyrs' remains in Laos' Huaphanh Province was carried out by the provincial Military Command starting in October 2011.

Vietnam attends 2012 Vesak Day at UN

Ambassador Pham Vinh Quang, deputy permanent representative of Vietnam at the UN, attended the 2012 Vesak Day celebrations at the organisation’s Headquarters in New York on May 7.

Addressing the event, Ambassador Quang said in the current global uncertainties, including multi-dimensional and complex challenges such as wars, regional conflicts, economic crises, climate change and the scarcity of food and energy, Buddha’s teachings on compassion, wisdom, harmony, peace, welfare and happiness and especially for coexistence for mutual growth are even more meaningful.

“Buddhism in Vietnam has existed for more than twenty centuries. It bears a vital spiritual power in the lives of the Vietnamese people. It has penetrated deeply in the soul of our people and our nation throughout the spans of history of thousands of years. The values and fundamental principles of Buddhism, which stand for non-violence, peaceful existence and tolerance, have been absorbed and become the common spiritual practice of the people of Viet Nam . The nation, the people and Buddhists of Viet Nam are always of one mind, joining efforts for national construction and preserving peace, national independence and unification.”

The diplomat confirmed the Vietnamese Government’s consistent policy of national unity, underpinning the unity of followers of different religions and ensuring tolerance between believers and non-believers.

Vietnam now has more than 12 million Buddhist followers, almost 15,000 places to worship Buddhist, more than 40,000 Buddhist monks and nuns, and 36 schools for religious studies.

On this occasion, the Vietnamese delegation to the UN introduced several traditional dishes to international friends.

Youths ‘connect the dots’ by cleaning up environment

Young people in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City last Saturday cleaned up the environment and hung posters as they took part in the “Connect the dots”-- a project organized by the international environmental group 350.Org.

In Ho Chi Minh City, more than 100 volunteers planted trees and collected garbage by the Can Gio beach.

Instructed by the management board at Can Gio mangrove forest, the young people, most of whom are college students, planted a hundred white-flowered mangroves and hung on these trees small papers with messages like “The sea level is rising” and “My city is sinking”.

They also used big plastic bags collected along the beach to make some art work reflecting climate change.

A round-shaped placard, symbolizing a dot marking 350.Org Vietnam, was made with several entry pictures from the photo competition “Raise our voice for our survival”. Each photo portrays a natural catastrophe like flood tides, drought or land degradation in different provinces in the country.

On the same day in Hanoi, volunteers carried out a program called “A journey to Red River - Connecting awareness” by making a documentary film on the impact of climate change on the Red River and the life of local residents.

Hoang Thi Minh Hong, a member of the 350.Org in Southeast Asia and a coordinator of the group in Vietnam, said this is a prelude to several upcoming campaigns in the country this year. Other projects include finding a substitute for Styrofoam boxes and brining eco-friendly technology to isolated areas that are directly affected by climate change.

The event, organized by 350.Org and supported by the Center for Support of Combating Climate change (SCC) and the Design and Art Media group DamTv, took place in Vietnam for the fourth time this year.

Fresh water for all this summer

Residents in central Ha Noi will have access to fresh water all summer long, says Nguyen Nhu Hai, general director of the Ha Noi Water Company Ltd.

An additional 50,000 cubic metres of water would be pumped from the Da River and another 10,000cu.m of water would be drawn from seven new wells every day beginning in May, he said.

The company promised to supply 634,000cu.m of water per day to satisfy the demand of the 210,000 households in the city.

More than 46,000 households in the outer districts of Thanh Tri, Tu Liem, Dong Anh, Gia Lam and Soc Son would also receive fresh water from the company this year.

Hai ensured that workers would be on duty at all hours of the day and night to monitor water pipelines and fix any problems of quality or access that might arise.

However, many people have already been suffering from a lack of water for several weeks this summer.

Thousands of households in Dong Da District's Thanh Cong Residential Quarter have been faced with a water shortage for nearly a month.

Tran Ngoc Hung, director of the Dong Da branch of the Ha Noi Water Company, said there were two main reasons for the shortage: first, this residential quarter was at the very end of the city's water pipelines and, second, the system was old and time-consuming to repair.

He said the company would ensure sufficient water supply for this residential quarter when it received more water from the Da River.

Pham Hung, a resident in the Thanh Cong Residential Quarter, said water cuts had taken place several times already this summer, so the problem seemed to be a lack of water and not broken pipelines.

In February, about 40,000 households in southwestern Ha Noi suffered a water shortage for several days due to a broken section of water pipe.

Hai said that the company would ameliorate this situation by improving its pipe system and the operations of its subsidiary companies.