April 7 was designated as the “All People’s Voluntary Blood Donation Day” 24 years ago and, ever since, the blood donation movement has attracted the participation of tens of thousands of people across the country.

Over the past time, the movement has drawn the due attention of Party and State leaders, as well as the active engagement of centrally-run agencies and localities.

In 2020, marking the 20th anniversary of the drive, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong sent a letter to residents and soldiers nationwide, praising blood donors for their good deed.

At a meeting with outstanding blood donors last year, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stressed that blood donation is the responsibility, the duty, and the "order" from heart of each person.

The movement has witnessed reforms and creativity in approaches and organisation methods. The use of technology, social media, and other media channels has helped attract widespread participation from the public. Blood donation events have been organised in an increasingly professional and creative manner, capturing the attention and involvement of a large number of people.

Many activities have been held and left strong ripple effect such as the blood donation campaign ahead of the Lunar New Year, the Red Spring Festival, the Summer Red Drops, and the Red Journey, or the events held on the occasion of the National Voluntary Blood Donation Day (April 7) and the World Blood Donor Day (June 14).

Last year, a total of 1.5 million blood units were collected, with 99% from voluntary donors.

However, Vietnam needs about 2 million blood units for emergency aid, medical treatment, and reserves for accidents, disasters, and epidemics, said Dr. Tran Ngoc Que, Director of the National Blood Centre under Vietnam's Central Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion.

Given this, he stressed the need to step up the communications work and roll out diverse blood donation programmes and events in order to attract more participants. /.

Quang Nam scrambles to control African swine fever outbreak

The central province of Quang Nam is taking prompt measures to wipe out African swine fever hotspots in five districts.

The disease has broken out in the districts of Dai Loc, Thang Binh, Que Son, Tien Phuoc and Dong Giang since early this year.

More than 500 pigs from 240 farming households have been infected with the African swine fever virus and have had to be culled.

Thang Binh was hardest hit district, with pigs raised in 220 farming households in 20 villages infected with the virus.

According to local veterinarians, most of the infected pigs were raised in small farms that did not fully implement disease prevention, control, hygiene, and disinfection measures.

Currently, veterinarians have culled infected pigs, disinfected high-risk areas, and strictly controlled the transportation and trading of pigs to prevent the disease further spreading across the community, said Nguyen Xuan Vu, deputy director of the Quang Nam provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Provinces urged to submit renewable energy projects on time

Seventeen localities are reminded to submit their delayed proposals for renewable energy projects, with the deadline on April 10, said Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyễn Hồng Diên.

The localities include Hà Nội and the provinces of Vĩnh Phúc, Quảng Ninh, Hải Dương, Hà Nam, Hưng Yên, Hà Giang, Thái Nguyên, Đồng Tháp, Hòa Bình, Sơn La, Quảng Trị, Quảng Nam, Bình Thuận, Gia Lai, Bình Dương and Long An.

Failure to submit, or submissions made after the deadline, will result in accountability to the Government and Prime Minister, the leader of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) said at a meeting to deploy the implementation plan of Power Development Plan VIII.

They will not be considered for adding or developing new power sources during the planning period aligned with allocated capacity for Prime Minister's approval.

At the meeting, Tô Xuân Bảo, Director of the Department of Electricity and Renewable Energy, reported that although Power Development Plan VIII has been detailed by the ministry, challenges persist in its execution.

The Prime Minister's Decision 262/QD-TTg has approved renewable energy projects for only 46 out of 63 provinces and cities, with some submissions arriving late, necessitating review and evaluation.

Many localities have failed to adhere to Deputy Prime Minister Trần Hồng Hà's directives on proposing projects suitable for their allocated capacity.

Overly ambitious project lists and unclear information have complicated the evaluation process, prompting the MoIT to request additional information for proper assessment.

'Understanding Autism' programme offers expert training for Việt Nam special educators

Special education teachers and educators who work with children with special needs are invited to join a training programme conducted by leading experts from the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS).

The ‘Understanding Autism’ programme is introduced for the first time in Việt Nam by the Special Em’s Education Group (SEEG), an organisation founded by Vietnamese educator Thanh Bùi to support children with special needs, in collaboration with the SUSS.

Developed by SUSS and its partner, Autism Resource Centre (ARC), an institution in Singapore dedicating to advancing awareness, advocacy and empowerment for individuals with autism, this professional training course aims to improve teaching staff’s professional skills based on international standards, enhance community awareness about children with special needs and provide better support for people with autism in Việt Nam.

Special education teachers and educators will improve their understanding and knowledge of autism spectrum disorders through five key points, including understanding the core characteristics of autism, and recognising some possible causes of autism. Other key points are to identify the prevalence of autism, recognise that autism exists on a spectrum, and recognise that every individual with autism is unique.

Upon course completion, participants will receive a certificate issued and certified by ARC and SUSS UniLearn.

Launched in August 2019, ‘Understanding Autism’ online course aims to nurture empathy towards individuals with autism and their families. By exploring real-life situations, the course prompts a shift in attitudes. Instead of reacting negatively, participants are urged to respond with understanding and compassion, fostering a more empathetic and inclusive society.

Associate Professor Gabriel Gervais, Director of Online Learning at SUSS, shared: “We are excited that the ‘Understanding Autism’ course has been introduced to the Vietnamese community. Besides extending SUSS’ reach to the region, this collaboration leverages Singapore’s robust expertise and leadership in autism awareness to provide enhanced support and improved life opportunities for individuals with autism and their families throughout Southeast Asia.”

Educator Thanh Bùi, founder of the Vietnamese International Clinic for Autism (VICA) and Special Em’s Education Centre (SEEC) for children with autism, said that his vision is to build a strong and empathetic community for Vietnamese autistic children.

“Education is essential for understanding and assisting children with special needs. By employing innovative, science-based methods taught by leading experts from developed countries, we can better support these children.

“This will empower and encourage many teachers and educators to work with children with special needs. Doing this also helps children who have autism spectrum disorders obtain more opportunities to progress, grow in their own ways, confidently integrate into our community to live happily,” he said. 

Kiên Giang expects tourism growth during upcoming holiday

The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Kiên Giang plans to boost tourism promotion at major markets to attract visitors during the upcoming holiday to celebrate National Reunification Day (April 30).

Bùi Quốc Thái, director of the province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that to prepare for the upcoming holiday and summer vacation season, the department is working with relevant agencies and tourism businesses to host tourism promotion events to lure local and international visitors.

The province plans to participate in the Việt Nam International Travel Mart in Hà Nội on April 11-14 to promote its image and tourism products. It also joined the HCM City Tourism Festival on April 4-7.

Trần Quốc Khánh, chairman of the province’s Tourism Association, said the association has sent its members to international tourism fairs at potential markets of South Korea, Japan and the Middle East to introduce the beauty and tourism experiences in Kiên Giang, particularly the Phú Quốc Islands.

Thái said the department is also cooperating with the association to encourage local tourism businesses to offer promotion programmes, which contribute to reducing the cost of tourism which is going up due to high airfare prices.

The department will set up an investigation team to check accommodation, service providers, and tourism agencies to ensure Kiên Giang becomes a safe and friendly tourist destination.

In addition, the province is preparing to launch a website and a mobile application to provide information about local tourism services and destinations.

Tourists can quickly access information on tourism sites, festivals, accommodations, food and beverage services, and entertainment and shopping places in Kiên Giang.

Itineraries of tours around the province and tickets for tourism sites are available on the website and app.

According to the department, Kiên Giang welcomed more than 2.75 million visitors in the first quarter of 2024, including 290,650 international tourists. The number is 22.1 per cent higher from the same period of 2023.

Total tourism revenue reached VNĐ7.27 trillion (US$290.8 million), a year-on-year increase of 35.6 per cent.

The province has attracted 317 investment projects in the tourism sector, covering a total area of 9,754 hectares and a total capital of VNĐ393 trillion ($15.7 billion).

Vietnamese track-and-field athletes to take part in Asian championship for U20

Việt Nam will send six athletes to compete at the 21st Asian U20 Athletics Championships in the UAE this month.

The nation's best sprinter Trần Thị Nhi Yến will compete in the women's 100m and 200m at the April 22-28 meet in Dubai.

Yến secured bronze in the 100m and silver in the 200m events at the 32nd SEA Games last May.

She placed sixth at the Asian Championships 2023's 100m and at the 2023 Asian Games she was eighth in 100m and seventh in 200m in her debut.

Yến is expected to bring home medals from the UAE.

In addition to Yến, Lê Thị Tuyết Mai is also a highlight for Việt Nam.

She is the national youth champion in 400m and won gold in relay events at the Southeast Asian Athletics Championship last December. 

Other athletes taking part are Lê Quốc Huy (400m), Vũ Thị Trà My (400m), Tạ Ngọc Tường (100m, 200m) and Phạm Xuân Tiến (long jump).

Tuấn Anh wins VGA Junior Tour’s second stage

Nguyễn Tuấn Anh won top place of the second stage of the VGA Junior Tour 2024 on Sunday in Long An Province.

Tuấn put in a stunning performance in the last day of the event with eight birdies and one bogey. He successfully secured his title with a 2-under 214 result after three rounds at the West Lakes Golf & Villas golf course.

It was his second win in the VGA Junior Tour series. Last year he won the third stage.

Nguyễn Đức Sơn who took a HIO award on Friday came second, followed by Anna Lê.

Sơn however was good enough to take top prize of the boys' U18 class. Anna placed first in the girls' U18 and she will become the next Vietnamese named in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Winners of other categories are Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng (boys' U15), Nguyễn Quốc Bảo Huy (boys' U13); Nguyễn Bảo Châu (girls' U13); Miao Hong Bo (U11) and Đỗ Đức Khải (U9). 

Freight train catches fire, no injuries reported

A freight train caught fire on April 6 in Nam Dinh province, northern Vietnam, with no injuries reported.

The incident happened at around 2pm when the train was travelling across Trinh Xuyen station en route to Nam Dinh city.

The fire suddenly erupted from the locomotive’s cockpit and crewmembers quickly separated the locomotive from the remainder of the train and managed to escape the fire.

In just several minutes, the fire quickly flared up in the cockpit with a column of smoke hundreds of meters high.

Hearing about the news, the police dispatched two fire engines and firefighters to the scene to extinguish the fire.

Forty-five minutes later, the flame was put out, but all equipment in the cockpit was burned down.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is getting underway.

Vietnamese business offers health services to disadvantaged people in Cambodia

The Vietnam-Cambodia Business Association (VCBA), Metfone under military-run telecom group Viettel and other units on April 7 offered medical check-ups, medicines and gifts to 600 Cambodians and those of Vietnamese origin in the neighbouring country’s Kampong Chhnang province.

The activities were carried out on the occasion of the Chol Chnam Thmay New Year, the biggest festival on the Khmer calendar, with the participation of 15 doctors from big hospitals in the two countries.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Nguyen Huy Tang said the programme demonstrates the traditional friendship and fine cooperation between the two countries, and expressed his hope that the VCBA will expand such activities to other Cambodian localities.

President of the Khmer-Vietnamese Association in Cambodia (KVA) Sim Chy affirmed that Vietnamese in Cambodia have significantly contributed to the solidarity and friendship between the two countries, as well as national construction and development in Cambodia.

Born Sophy, Deputy Governor of Kampong Chhnang province, thanked the Vietnamese side for the organisation of the programme, and called for joint efforts to preserve the time-honoured relationship./.

Lenin’s statue to be positioned in Nghe An

A statue of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin will be positioned at the intersection of V.I.Lenin Avenue and Nguyen Phong Sac street in Vinh city, the central province of Nghe An to commemorate the 154th anniversary of the late Russian leader's birthday (April 22).

Vinh city in Nghe An province – the homeland of late President Ho Chi Minh - is the second locality, after Hanoi, selected for the placement of Lenin’s statue.

The statue, which weighs 4.5 tonnes and measures 3.6 metres in height, was crafted from pure copper in Ulyanovsk as a gift from the Russian city to Nghe An.

Nghe An province and Ulyanovsk – the native land of Lenin – have boasted close relations since the 1990s. Ulyanovsk has named a square, an avenue and a school after President Ho Chi Minh.

The erection of the statue is expected to contribute to creating a highlight for the urban landscape of Vinh city as well as deepening the relationship between Nghe An and Ulianov in the fields of investment, trade, health, education-training and tourism.

Earlier in 2017, Ulyanovsk unveiled a 5m-tall bronze statue of President Ho Chi Minh in an area of 2,000 sq.m next to the Ho Chi Minh Boulevard in Zasniazhsky district./.

Vietnamese students raise fund for island residents, soldiers at home

The Union of Vietnam Students in France (UEVF) held a charity fair at the Vietnamese Cultural Centre in Paris on April 6 to raise fund for residents and soldiers on Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly).

The event attracted the participation of not only Vietnamese students, but also other representatives of the Vietnamese community in France.

Proceeds from the fair, to last until April 14, will be used to buy seawater filters and seedlings for the soldiers and residents, or presented directly to them, said UEVF President Nguyen Phan Bao Thuy, adding the event is expected to offer an opportunity for Vietnamese students and young people in France to contribute to national construction and defence.

Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang said the fair has helped strengthen solidarity among Vietnamese students and young people in the host country, and affirmed that the embassy always supports the union’s activities./.

Vietnam steps up mutual judicial assistance in civil matters with Laos

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang on April 6 signed a decision approving a plan on the implementation of the Vietnam-Laos agreement on mutual judicial assistance in civil matters.

Decision No. 285/QD-TTg aims to effectively materialise the agreement, facilitate the handling of civil cases involving foreign elements by competent agencies, and raise the efficiency of cooperation in the field between the two countries.

It stressed the need to ensure close coordination among competent Vietnamese agencies, and between them and their Lao counterparts.

Under the document, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Supreme People’s Court were given with specific tasks to accelerate the implementation work.
 
Notably, the Ministry of Justice will coordinate with the others to review the implementation of the agreement triennially in line with the document.  

The funding for the implementation of the plan comes from the state budget in accordance with the 2016 Law on International Treaties, the State Budget Law and other sources (if any).

The agreement was signed by Vietnamese Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long and his Lao counterpart Phayvy Siboualypha under the witness of the two Prime Ministers in Vientiane, Laos, on January 11, 2023, within the framework of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s visit to the neighbouring country on January 11-12./.

Day for Honouring Vietnamese Language 2024 launched in Japan

A ceremony was held on April 6 in Tokyo, the capital of Japan, to launch the Day for Honouring Vietnamese Language 2024.

Addressing the event, which aims to foster Vietnamese teaching and learning among the Vietnamese community in the country, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu affirmed that supporting and encouraging the community to maintain cultural identity and preserve the Vietnamese language are one of the key tasks of the embassy.

The embassy and its community affairs board always create favourable conditions for teachers and Vietnamese language centres to promote the preservation of the mother tongue for generations of Vietnamese children in Japan.

The ambassador asked the Vietnamese community in Japan to be more active in the Vietnamese language teaching and learning movement. He also hoped that more attention will be paid to researching and compiling a curriculum which is suitable for children living in the East Asia nation, adding that the Vietnamese language learning movement in Japan will develop strongly in the coming time, meeting the needs of the community.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang, who is also Chairwoman of the State Commission for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs (SCOVA), hailed associations in Japan for organising activities that help connect Vietnamese people at home and abroad and for their efforts to preserve the Vietnamese language.

Hang affirmed that the SCOVA will accompany the Vietnamese community in Japan through providing textbooks and organising training courses on Vietnamese language teaching skills for teachers and volunteers.

The same day, Deputy Minister Hang held working sessions with representatives of 10 Vietnamese associations in Japan during which they briefed about the outcome of their activities, including supporting each other to overcome difficulties, integrating into the host society, maintaining the Vietnamese language and national cultural identity as well as providing assistance to local residents who were affected by natural disasters.

The representatives also proposed to strengthen the teaching and learning of the Vietnamese language, connect with mass organisations in the home country, and promote communications work with the goal of building a united, strong community in Japan./.

Source: VNA/SGT/VNS/VOV/Dtinews/SGGP/VGP/Hanoitimes