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Social
News 3/10
An one hour heavy
rain shouldered in the area of
Floodwater unexpectedly
rise up and caused traffic jam and motorcycle engine failure during many
hours in main roads like Binh Thanh district’s Xo Viet Nghe Tinh, Ung Van
Khiem street; district 2’s Luong Dinh Cua, Tran Nao street; district 9’s Do
Xuan Hop and others.
Due to influence of
heavy rains, most of piped drainage systems were overloaded and the
construction projects stopped the flow, making rain water could not go down.
To cope with such
bad situation, city need to build nine drainage systems to prevent flood tide
pursuant to city’s flooding control project.
Hand-foot-mouth
disease kills one infant in HCMC
Hand-foot-mouth
outbreak in
The Children
Hospital No.2 receives around 20-30 infants with hand-foot-mouth a day while
the other children hospitals receive 30-40 babies infecting with the disease
daily.
Dr. Truong Huu
Khanh , head of the Infectious Division of the Children Hospital No.1 said
that hand-foot-mouth disease occurs year round and it is not a peak season.
However, the
Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health warned of a
possibility of re-occurrence of the disease in the beginning of the new
academic year because the country has over 10,000 cases of hand-foot-mouth so
far.
The Ministry of
Health issued prevention measures including regularly wash hand with soap or
sanitizer before meals and preparing food; before feeding children;
disinfecting toys and floors, isolating infected children from healthy peers
and always clean houses and schools.
52 people
from Ebola-hit areas under close surveillance
Around 52 people
from Ebola-hit areas are being tracked their health in the community as they
has not passed 21 days from the day they left the affected areas, reported at
a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on October 1.
Since August 11,
All people who are
being isolated at hospitals and monitored their health in the community
entered
The Department of
Preventive Medicines (DPM) said Ebola virus is likely to penetrate
Head of the DPM
Dang Quang Tan said those medical staffs who take care of Ebola patients are
easily exposed to the deadly virus if they are not protected.
People should not
go to affected areas, Tan advised.
At the seminar, the
Ministry of Public Security proposed a fine to passengers who give wrong
information which may cause difficulties to monitoring and management
activities. If the epidemic spreads on the community, the ministry will apply
isolation and coercive measures and limit travelling of all citizens from the
affected areas, he said.
Roadworks
on hold to celebrate holiday
Ha Noi will stop
granting licences to dig pavements and repairing roads and take down
construction fences so that public activities can commemorate the 60th
anniversary of the city's Liberation Day (October 10, 1954).
Deputy head of the
municipal Department of Transport Nguyen Xuan Tan said the department would
work with the police and local authorities to hasten construction projects.
These included the opening of Belt Road 2 from
The department
would also mobilise buses to meet increasing demand and strengthen
inspections of wharfs and tourism sites around West Lake, Thu Le Lake,
About 494,500 cars
and more than 4.8 million motorbikes are operating in Ha Noi. There are 89
bus routes serving five million passengers annually.
Since early this
year, 15,780 traffic violation cases were found and 301 vehicles were seized.
Total fines were estimated at VND17.4 billion (US$828,000).
PM orders
stop to tobacco smuggling
Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung issued a directive on Tuesday ordering ministries and
relevant agencies throughout the country to curb tobacco smuggling.
The practice has
increased in many localities, primarily Quang Tri, Tay Ninh, Long An, Dong
Thap,
Dung assigned the
Ministry of National Defence to order border soldiers to conduct more
patrols, while the Ministry of Finance was required to encourage people to
inform authorised agencies if they knew anything about smuggling cases. He
told the Ministry of Information and Communications to raise public awareness
about the negative impacts of smoking on human health.
The National
Steering Committee 389, which was set up to prevent and control smuggling,
trade fraud and fake commodities, was asked to send a report about tobacco
smuggling every three months to the Prime Minister.
The People's
Committee head of each locality would take responsibility if tobacco
smuggling was discovered in the locality, he said.
IT can help
climate change adaptation
Scientists and
government officials yesterday discussed how to apply IT in sustainable
agriculture and fishery development to adapt to climate change during a
seminar held yesterday on
Scientists shared
expertise on applying IT to weather forecasting systems and using GIS
(geographic information system) to determine areas vulnerable to climate
change and disaster alerts in the Mekong Delta region.
Professor Le Quang
Tri, director of the Research Institute for Climate Change under Can Tho
University, said the Delta was an important source of rice for the country
and using high-tech agriculture was needed to maintain quality of exports as
well as local products.
He said new
cultivation systems and strains that can adapt to the condition of climate
change were needed.
Besides IT, the
seminar also focused on environmental technology, biotechnology and other fields.
Ha Noi ward
lacks water for one week after supply cut
More than three
hundred households in Ha Noi's Ngoc Khanh Ward have had to live without
potable water for a week after the water supply company stopped its service
without notice.
Ward resident Pham
Xuan Diem said his family had suffered a shortage of fresh water for five
days.
"We have a
small water tank, which is enough for two days' use. Now it's dry and the
company has not supplied anything," he said.
Diem added it was
the longest period of water shortage he had experienced since 1976, when he
began living in the ward.
Nguyen Quoc Binh,
another resident, said that his family had a water tank with a capacity of
1.5 cubic metres, and thus was able to help out some neighbours for a few
days before the tank became empty.
Binh also said that
after three days of not receiving any fresh water, households made numerous
calls to the Ba Dinh Clean Water Trading Enterprise, only to be told that the
water pipeline was being upgraded and low pressure was interrupting water
supply. The company said they would resume supply as soon as possible.
Diep Tu Phuc,
Chairman of the ward's People's Committee said his administration had asked
the company to supply clean water by alternate means (delivering water in tankers)
until normal supply can be resumed.
WB supports
northern mountainous cities
The Ministry of
Construction and the World Bank (WB) launched a results-based national urban
development programme in the northern mountainous region on September 30.
The programme will
be carried out from 2015-2021 at a cost of US$250 million funded by a loan
from the WB’s International Development Association.
The project aims to
improve urban infrastructure, protect the environment, and enhance local
residents’ livelihoods in a bid to ensure sustainable socio-economic
development in the cities and townships of the northern mountainous provinces
of
The programme will
strengthen local authorities’ capacity for urban planning and management,
while helping ministries develop policy frameworks.
Minister of
Construction Trinh Dinh Dung said investment is needed not only in big
cities, but also in small ones, particularly in disadvantaged areas such as the
northern mountainous region.
He added that the
development of infrastructure in mountainous urban areas will release
traffic, health care and education pressures on central cities, thus creating
a more harmonious urban system.
Ha Noi
opens hotline for tax advice
The Ha Noi
Department of Tax has set up a hotline number, 04-38512436, at its office to
give advice to citizens and enterprises about tax policies and procedures.
Citizens can also
register complaints about the department staff's attitude through the
hotline.
Nguyen Cong Cuong,
one of the two employees in charge of the hotline, said that they have
received several calls since the department announced the setting up of the
hotline. The complaints were mostly about new tax regulations and procedures
to shorten the tax payment time of businesses.
The department has
asked 30 sub-departments of districts and wards to publicise the hotline
number to receive queries from people and enterprises.
Nguyen Thi Hai Yen,
head of the department's taxpayer support office, said that the department
has also organised 100 training courses on new tax regulations. It will help
shorten 200 hours of tax procedures as per the government's target.
Nguyen Thanh Hoc,
deputy head of Ha Noi's Party Committee's Department of Publicity and
Education, said that his department will work with the tax department to do a
survey of people's opinions about the advantages and disadvantages of the tax
procedures and the tax staff's attitude.
This will help
improve the efficiency of tax operations in the future, he said.
Vinh Phuc
provides health care help for disadvantaged
The
Beneficiaries
include members of poor households; ethnic minorities from the disadvantaged
communes of Yen Duong, Dao Tru and Bo Ly in Tam Dao district; social welfare
recipients; the homeless; people living in the province’s State-sponsored
social centres; and patients with terminal diseases from needy families.
Those who have
health insurance will receive subsidies ranging from 100,000 VND to 5 million
VND for medical check-up and treatment costs each time they visit hospital,
for a maximum of three times a year.
Meanwhile, those
without health insurance will receive financial assistance worth 30 percent
of their medical bills but not exceeding 10 million VND for each period of
treatment.
In addition,
patients will be given money for meals and fuel, covering their travel costs
to hospitals.
The money will be
provided by the Fund for Medical Care for the Poor of the province.
The province’s
health insurance system spends 69.1 billion VND (nearly 3.26 million USD) on
medical check-ups and treatment for around 80,000 disadvantaged and ethnic
minority people each year.-
The
Nam Dinh is one of
the ten Vietnamese provinces to benefit from the programme, which has been
jointly carried out by the Vietnam Red Cross, the Japanese Red Cross Society,
and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
since April 2011.
The province is one
of the localities most vulnerable to disasters during the flood season due to
its geographical features, which boost 91km of sea dykes and more than 300km
of river dykes.
The areas
surrounding the Red, Dao, Day, and Ninh Co Rivers, major riverine ecosystems,
are particularly prone to natural disasters.
Since the beginning
of 2014, the MP/DRR project has been implemented in 16 communes in the three
coastal districts of Giao Thuy, Hai Hau and Nghia Hung.
Apart from
providing the necessary equipment, the provincial Red Cross trained more than
91,000 people in courses on disaster risk mitigation, climate change
adaptation, and rescue and first-aid skills.
In Giao Thuy alone,
the Red Cross worked with the local People’s Committee to protect more than
625ha of forests in Giao An, Giao Xuan, Giao Lac and Giao Phong communes and
Quat Lam town.
It also built
bridges, implemented early warning systems, and constructed drainage systems
in many other localities.
At the same time,
two emergency response teams with more than 50 members were set up in Nghia
Hung’s Nghia Thang commune and Hai Hau’s Hai Chinh commune. They were trained
in rescue and first-aid skills and equipped with the necessary tools,
including lifebuoys, medical kits, and torches.
Vice Chairman of
the provincial Red Cross Pham Minh Phuong said the project’s management board
would soon complete and inaugurate disaster resilience infrastructure and
commence training courses on climate change risk prevention and mitigation
for teachers and primary school students in Nghia Thang commune and Rang Dong
town in Nghia Hung district.
In addition to the
MP/DRR project, Nam Dinh is also implementing the Forests and Deltas project,
funded by the US Agency for International Development and Winrock
International, on climate change adaptation in Giao Thuy, Hai Hau and Nghia
Hung districts.
Wildlife
still widely consumed in Vietnam
A recent report
shows that consumption of products made from wild species is on the rise
recently in
The Ministry of
Natural Resources and Environment has just released the results of the survey
on Vietnamese behaviour and attitudes toward the consumption of products made
from wild animals as well as a survey on current legislation to protect these
animals. The survey on people’s attitudes was conducted among people aged
from 20 to 69 in 10 districts of
The results
suggested that 69% of people said they have regularly used such food
products, 67% used them as medicines and 12% purchased jewelry made from wild
animals.
Snakes such as
pythons were the most consumed as food with 49% saying they ate it, 29% said
they ate wild deer. These were followed by pangolin, turtles and langurs.
Meanwhile, products
from bears and tigers were mostly used as medicine, with 49% of people
admitting to having consumed these products. Products made from elephants,
tigers, birds and crocodiles were used for jewelry and decorations.
More men than women
used products made with wild animals. Those between the ages of 20 and 34
consumed the most.
The majority of
consumers used these products as a result of a traditional belief that they
can treat certain ailments and improve health. Others view such dishes as
delicacies.
Conservationists
have pointed out the danger of viewing consuming these products as normal.
Around 19% of people questioned said they would continue to use these
products.
There are also
loopholes in the laws set up to protect at risk species. Some
researchers have proposed that the government amend current regulations in
order to more comprehensively protect the nation's wildlife.
Japan
unveils visa requirement relaxation for Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines
The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Japan on September 30 issued a new regulation on the
substantial relaxation of visa requirements for nationals of
According to the
announcement by the Japan Embassy in
Additionally, for
those applicants residing outside their country of origin, it will now become
possible to apply at the diplomatic mission which has jurisdiction over their
place of residence.
Also in November,
the application procedure for single tourism visas for participants of
package tours that are handled by registered travel agencies will be
simplified for these three countries.
Additionally, visa
exemptions based on a system of pre-registering e-passports at diplomatic
missions is scheduled to begin from December 1 for nationals of
These measures are
expected to contribute to
France
offers EUR20 million in preferential loans to assist climate change response
in Vietnam
An credit agreement
worth EUR20 million provided by the French Development Agency (AFD) has been
reached to support the fourth tranche of the Support Programme to Respond to
Climate Change (SP-RCC) in Vietnam.
The agreement was
signed in
This brings the
total contribution of AFD to the SPRCC programme up to EUR80 million.
In 2009, AFD and
Japanese International Co-operation Agency jointly initiated the SP-RCC
programme by proposing to the Vietnamese authorities tri-annual budgetary
support (2010-2012) to assist actions against climate change. Several
international donors have since joined the programme, including the World
Bank,
The SP-RCC aims to
support the implementation of the National Target Programme in Response to
Climate Change (NTP-RCC) approved in December 2008, the National Climate
Change Strategy approved in December 2011 and the National Green Growth
Strategy approved in September 2012.
The programme has
contributed to creating a platform of discussion between donors and the
Vietnamese Government around climate change issues, both in terms of
adaptation and mitigation. Budget support for SPRCC is endorsed by the
implementation of public policies and reforms, in order to efficiently
respond to climate change and to promote low carbon development.
AFD, the main
operator of
HCMC offers
free parking for student bus passengers
Two free motorbike
parking lots for passengers who are students will be opened tomorrow at two
bus stations in
Two free motorbike
parking lots for passengers who are students will be opened tomorrow at two
bus stations in
One of the lots is
located at the Saigon Bus Station in Zone B of 23/9 Park in District 1, and
the District 8 Bus Station on National Highway 50 in Ward 5, District 8, said
the HCMC Public Passenger Transportation Management and Operation Center.
From October 1 on,
passengers who are students can park their bikes for free at these facilities
before getting on a bus.
The parking time is
from 4:30 am till 10:30 pm everyday.
To be eligible to
use the free facilities, students are required to show student cards to the
parking staff when they park their bikes and a bus ticket when the take their
vehicles out, the center said.
If students use the
free parking service outside the above hours or they fail to show a bus
ticket, they are required to pay a fee in accordance with current
regulations.
In related news,
the city transport authorities are developing four underground parking
projects in Le Van Tam Park, Trong Dong Stage, Hoa Lu Stadium and Tao Dan
Park in District 1 to ease the overload of current parking lots in the city.
The U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC) and Vietnam’s Ministry of
Health (MOH) has entered into a new 5-year cooperative agreement to build a
stronger foundation for Vietnam to be better prepared to prevent, detect, and
respond to disease outbreaks. The cooperative agreement will enhance
collaboration between the
On Friday,
September 26, 2014, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien and her delegation
attended the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA)
The GHSA was
launched on February 13, 2014 to advance a world safe and secure from
infectious disease threats; to bring together nations from all over the world
to make new, concrete commitments; and to elevate global health security as a
national leaders-level priority. The cooperative agreement with
Jetstar
Pacific to open
The low-cost
carrier, Jetstar Pacific will offer a roundtrip flight per day between
The flight, coded
BL421, departs from Vinh at 9.25am, while the return flight, coded BL422,
leaves
Tickets for the new
route will be on sale from October 2 at the website www.jetstar.com and
ticket offices across the country.
On the occasion,
Jetstar Pacific will offer special discount programmes for tickets purchased
between 12am to 12.59pm on October 2. Accordingly, a two-way ticket will be
sold at VND450,000 per person for flights scheduled from October 27 to
December 11.
Several domestic
and international routes will also have their Jetstar flight tickets
discounted from 12am of October 2 to the end of October 6.
Jetstar Pacific
also plans to exploit the international routes from
The East Asian Seas
Congress 2015 and 5th Ministerial Forum will take place in central
Under the theme of
‘Global Targets, Local Benefits: Setting the Sustainable Development Agenda
for the Seas of East Asia beyond 2015’, the triennial event is co-organised
by Partnerships in the Environmental Management of the Seas of East Asia
(PEMSEA), Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands, and Da Nang municipal
People's Committee.
A range of
activities is scheduled for the event, including senior government officials'
meetings, EAS Partnership Council Meeting, East Asian Seas Youth Forum, an
international workshop on water resources, and a forum on sustainable
management of coastal and marine zones, as well as exhibitions of
international organisations and field trips.
On this occasion,
Since its launch in
2003, the triennial EAS Congress has been held alternately in PEMSEA member
countries, namely
So far,
The development of
support industries has also sharpened the city’s capacity to utilise advanced
technology to produce high-quality and reasonably priced goods.
Director of the
municipal Department of Industry and Trade, Le Hong Thang said the city aimed
to expand its production facilities to three high-tech parks, 24 industrial
parks and 154 craft villages from 2015-2020.
The northern
districts of Soc Son, Me Linh, Dong Anh, Long Bien, Gia Lam, and Tu Liem will
specialise in electronics, engineering, chemicals and garment-textiles, while
the southern and western districts of Thuong Tin, Phu Xuyen, Hoai Duc and
Chuong My will focus on biotechnology, agricultural production and support
industries.
Vietnamese,
Lao policy banks agree to share expertise
The Vietnam Bank
for Social Policies’ Da Nang branch and the Savannakhet branch of the Policy
Bank of Laos (NBB) have agreed to share experience and support each other in
exchanging professional skills and building cooperation documents.
A Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed in
In 2014 and 2015,
the two sides will share expertise in personnel training and debt management
and boost cooperation in realising the Core Banking programme.
Tran Thi Phuong
Lan, Director of the Da Nang branch, affirmed that the branch is committed
to implementing cooperation programmes reached between the two sides
while strengthening connection with the Lao counterpart.-
Rome
willing to share preservation experience with Hanoi
With its
long-standing experience in managing and preserving famous relics and
archaeological works and developing museum projects,
During the meeting,
representatives of the Rome Superintendence for Archaeology shared their
experience in using advanced technology in ancient relics, including light
effects and videos, to help visitors understand the historical and cultural
values of the sites as well as their architectural features and origins.
They also stressed
the importance of donations from individuals for preservation efforts as well
as the significant role of the city and its residents in managing and
organising the work.
The
Programme
launched to develop northern mountainous cities
The Ministry of
Construction and the World Bank (WB) launched a results-based national urban
development programme in the northern mountainous region on September 30.
The programme will
be carried out from 2015-2021, costing 250 million USD and funded by a loan
from the WB’s International Development Association.
The objective of
the project is to improve urban infrastructure, protect the environment, and
enhance local residents’ livelihoods in a bid to ensure sustainable
socio-economic development in the cities and townships of the northern
mountainous provinces of
The programme will
strengthen local authorities’ capacity for urban planning and management,
while helping ministries develop policy frameworks.
Minister of
Construction Trinh Dinh Dung said investment was needed not only in big
cities, but also in small ones, particularly in disadvantaged areas such as
the northern mountainous region.
He added that the
development of infrastructure in mountainous urban areas would release
traffic, health care and education pressures on central cities, thus creating
a more harmonious urban system.
Quang Ninh
commits to labour force development
The
The plant was
developed by Quang Ninh’s Department of Planning and Investment in
cooperation with the US-based Boston Consulting Group, a global management consulting
firm.
The 3,860 billion
VND (181 million USD) plan comprises 18 projects on human resources
development, with some of them being launched in 2015, such as a public
awareness campaign on vocational training, capacity development measures for
civil servants and incentives for skilled workers.
The plan will
contribute to the modernisation process and will transform the province’s
economy into a modern service and industrial economy with highly-developed
services, green production methods and advanced technologies by 2030
Furthermore, it
aims to support market orientation through the improvement of the workforce,
develop a suitable training base, and strengthen the quality of education.
The plan is to
boost the province’s labour force to 870,000 workers, with 89 percent being
highly trained. The workforce in the service and industry sector are expected
to increase to 44 percent, and 35 percent, respectively in the agricultural,
fisheries and forestry sector is expected to shrink to 21 percent in 2020.
The vision to 2030
foresees a total labour force of 990,000 workers for the province.
Productivity is expected to to rise from 110 million VND in 2013 (5.100 USD)
to 197 million (9.200 USD) in 2020.
Source: VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/ND
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Thứ Năm, 2 tháng 10, 2014
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