Four teenagers drown in reservoir

Four eighth-graders from the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong drowned yesterday evening while at a party, mere hours before their participation in the provincial contest for gifted students.

The girls, aged 14 and 15, from the same class at Nguyen Chi Thanh Upper Secondary School in Gia Nghia Town, held a pre-celebration party on the bank of the reservoir contained by the Dak Kai Dam yesterday afternoon, according to their families.

Their bodies were found at around 8pm, about three hours after they fell into the water.

The case is under investigation.

Fire breaks out at market in Quang Ngai Province

A fire broke out at the Quang Ngai City Market, the largest one in the central province of Quang Ngai, at about 5am today, causing an initial estimate of hundreds of billion of Vietnamese dong in losses.

Ten fire engines and a full contingent of fire fighters were mobilised to the scene but they had difficulty reaching the blaze because the path to the market was blocked by hundreds of temporary stalls. They continued their fight until about 7am.

Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Huynh Chanh said that more than 500 small traders were running businesses at the market, some of them at temporary stalls because a portion of the market was under construction.

An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the fire and identify losses.

Man loses an eye in golf course accident

A 50-year-old golf player has lost his left eye after it was hit by a golf ball at a short distance in Dong Mo Golf Course in Ba Vi District in Hanoi.

The man, whose name has not been revealed, was taken to the National Institute of Ophthalmology.

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Anh, head of the Trauma Department, said the ball broke up the man’s eyeball and pushed all of the eye’s internal components out of their normal places.

Since the severely damaged eye could not be recovered, the doctors had performed a surgery on it for aesthetic purposes only, Anh said.

The man was discharged Monday after nearly a week of treatment. His left eye was totally blind while his right one was in normal conditions.

Ha Noi re-adjusts work hours

The Ha Noi People's Committee has decided to re-adjust work hour changes by ending classes at high schools at 6pm, one hour sooner than current hours.

The re-adjusted hours will begin next Monday. The decision was made in an urgent message to relevant authorities and sectors yesterday following public concerns over late school times that may prove to tiring for students and teachers.

After several days of implementing work hour changes, which required all students in high schools to start morning classes at 7am and end afternoon classes after 7pm, students and teachers reported that the new hours had caused chaos to their schedules.

Many schools failed to ensure enough teachers for the late classes, and many students couldn't join extracurricular activities because of the time adjustment.

The Ministry of Transport's initiative to adjust work hours during a two-week trial run began on February 2 with the aim of easing the city's worsening traffic congestion.

The municipal Department of Transport has also implemented a number of measures to curb traffic jams, including speeding up the construction of key traffic projects on belt roads and highways and building four fly-overs along the Thai Ha-Lang Ha, Chua Boc-Thai Ha, Le Van Luong-Lang and Lang-Nguyen Chi Thanh routes.

Ha Noi builds new air-traffic control centre

Construction on a VND750 billion (US$35.7 million) air traffic control centre kicked off yesterday in the capital city.

The new construction would replace the existing one which is technologically obsolete.

The project received investment from the Viet Nam Air Traffic Management Corporation and was implemented by Corporation 36 under the Ministry of National Defence, and the Airport Engineering Consultancy and Services Joint Stock Company will supervise the construction progress.

The 20,600sq.m centre in Long Bien District will include a three-floor administrative building and a three-floor air traffic control building.

The project, scheduled to be completed before May 2014, would provide new means of observation for Noi Bai Airport's approach control centre. It would also ensure the security and efficiency of the aviation activities and satisfy increasing requirements for the development of the sector.

Donation for Agent Orange children

Children at the Centre for Agent Orange victims on Tuesday received a donation worth VND40 million (US$2,000) from Duy Tan University's graduate students in the central city of Da Nang.

The donation included food, books and teaching facilities.

The centre has been home to 130 young AO victims since 2006.

US and Vietnam strengthen scientific and technological cooperation

Broader scientific and technological cooperation between Vietnam and the US is one of the best ways to promote the dynamism of Vietnamese economy and people.

This was emphasised by Doctor Rita Colwell, a scientific envoy of US President Barack Obama in South Asia and Southeast Asia at a round-table talk in Ho Chi Minh City on February 8.

Doctor Colwell said the US Government has set up its National Science Foundation which develops scientific support programmes for international researchers. So Vietnamese scientists will receive support from the foundation if they have research cooperation with the US.

Ms Colwell described scientific cooperation between the two countries as most effective and emphasised the need to encourage and support primary pupils’ creative ideas.

Le Thanh An, the US Consul General to HCM City said Vietnamese universities must play a leading role in the coming period of economic development.

Bui Van Quyen, head of the City Department of Science and Technology, said one of difficulties facing the tertiary training sector is most students and teachers are too focused on training and teaching that they lack time required for research.

Other participants said that in addition to creating favourable conditions for students, teachers and post-graduates, human resources training also play an important role.

Drunken person dies drinking pesticides

A 40-year-old man in southern An Giang Province died from mistakenly consuming pesticides after getting drunk at his home on Sunday.

The victim mistook the pesticide bottle for a soft drink. His mother found him and took him to the provincial hospital where he died.

HCMC turns Thu Thiem ferry into wharf

After stopping operation since January 1, the Thu Thiem ferry was reopened as a wharf yesterday.

HCMC Bridge and Ferry Works One-member Co Ltd. will set up a showroom at the wharf to display items showing the history of the facility as well as kiosks selling souvenirs to tourists.

The company will also improve the landscape of the area to make it an attractive venue for locals and foreigners while maintaining the traditional beauty of a ferry that has exited hundreds of years in the city.

In the future, the company will equip the Thu Thiem wharf with express canoes and hydrofoils to provide travelers with tours along the Saigon River.

A number of tourism companies in Dong Nai Province have said they will use the wharf as a transit place for travelers who want to take tours of the province.

Road accident claims two lives

A head-on collision between a motorbike and a coach killed two men at midnight last night in the Nui Thanh district of central province Quang Nam.

The accident occurred when the motorbike, driven by a  22-year-old man, crashed into the coach running on the opposite side of the road.

The accident also made the coach burst into flames and destroyed the luggage of the 57 passengers.

The passengers have received support from the provincial authorities to continue their journey.

The initial cause of the accident was attributed to the motorbike's speed, said head of local police department Colonel Nguyen Duc Tiep.

Laos, Vietnam signs MoU on TV cooperation

Vietnam Television (VTV) Director General Tran Binh Minh and Lao Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism (ICT) Bosengkham Vongdala on February 2 in Vientiane signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral cooperation in the 2012-2015 period.

Accordingly, the two sides will exchange news, reportages and TV programmes. The Lao Ministry of ICT will direct its TV stations to promote exchanges of news, and reportages about people’s life and other economic, cultural and social developments on a weekly basis with VTV, as well ass documents, music programmes, short dramas, and films in line with legal regulations, copyrights and intellectual property rights.

The Lao Ministry of ICT will continue to support VTV in building stations in some Lao localities.

Vietnam Television, for its part, will continue with a project on broadcasting in Lao language on VTV4, help train Lao human resources and invite Lao reporters, producers and technicians to attend training courses conducted by international experts in Vietnam.

VTV will also assist Laos to cover big international events, such as the 9^th ASEM summit later this year and to repair broadcasting stations.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre