Social News 14/4 Colour Me Run Hanoi set for May 28   The trademarked Colour Run, also known as the Happiest 5k on the Planet, is a unique paint race that celebrates health, happiness and individuality in which runners get lambasted with colourful gels at stations throughout the course. The La Vie Colour Me Run in Vietnam, now in its third edition, is a not for profit event held to raise funds for charity that also promises an unforgettable racing experience, from the start to the finish line. Organizers have announced the third edition themed around the message that all things are possible will take off this upcoming May 28 at Vinhomes Riverside Ecological Urban Area in Hanoi's Long Bien District. No matter how old are you, where you come from or whatever your gender, the organizers have extended an invitation for you to participate in this year’s Colour Me Run Hanoi and be all that you can be. In north-central Vietnamese province, 50% of wartime bombs cleared Authorities in a province in north-central Vietnam have exerted much effort to clear landmines and other war remnants in recent times, leading to half of the wartime bombs there being defused. Officials in Ha Tinh Province said that they had neutralized 50% of bombs of many kinds left from the American war in Vietnam, mostly in Can Loc and Huong Son District, as part of a bomb deactivating campaign launched in early 2015, the Vietnam News Agency reported on April 3. Provincial sappers have demined 11 bombs weighing 250-750 pounds each, 100 submunitions, and other explosives, officials said, adding that Ky Anh District will be the next place for bomb removal. Nguyen Ba Phuc, a military division chief, said that critical areas like industrial parks, manufacturing zones, and farmlands had been given priority in the demining work. Ha Tinh was one of the regions in Vietnam heavily bombed by the USmilitary during wartime. Between 1964 and 1975, the US army struck the Ho Chi Minh Trail, whose parts stretched along the Truong Son Range, with over 2.2 million metric tons of bombs, the Vietnam News Agency said. At present, residents of many towns and villages in Ha Tinh are still threatened by landmines, ranging from Ha Linh Commune in Huong Khe District to Cam Nhuong Commune in Cam Xuyen District. People in Son Diem Commune, Huong Son District, once found a bomb when working in their farmlands, the news agency reported, adding that the explosive was eventually removed. With the current capacity of the government, it may take about 320 years to clear all landmines in the country, according to an official. DRD presents project to support disabled college students The Disability Resource and Development (DRD) center has presented a project to support college students with disabilities, sponsored by the Irish embassy in Vietnam. The HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities and the HCMC University of Pedagogy are major partners of the project. Called “Disability Access Route to Education” (DARE), the project aims at strengthening the abilities of disabled students so that they can have better access to education and development, and improving the knowledge and capacity of teaching staff on issues related to disabled students to develop appropriate strategies for supporting them. The DARE project will also help those students find places for internship and employment after graduation. Luu Thi Anh Loan, acting director of DRD, said college students with disabilities in Vietnam still face challenges at school due to unfriendly infrastructure, and complicated procedures for offering low tuition fees for disabled students. “By participating in this project, they can share those issues with friends and teachers and come up with solutions to deal with their difficulties,” she told the event to present the project in HCMC. According to results of the population and housing census conducted in 2009, Vietnam has nearly 6.1 million disabled people aged from five and above, making up 7.8% of the country’s population. The census revealed most Vietnamese people with disabilities have low academic levels with 41% of people aged from six being illiterate, 19.5% finishing secondary school, 93.4% over 16 having no vocational training, 2.75% finishing vocational and technical training, and less than 0.1% finishing college. Naula O’Brien, Deputy Ambassador of Ireland to Vietnam, said helping disabled people in Vietnam easily integrate into the community and realize their potential is an important target of Irish Aid, the Irish Government’s program for overseas development. Sài Gòn Railways to launch new trains Sài Gòn Railways JSC will launch new routes to connect the city’s outskirts with Biên Hòa City in the southern Đồng Nai Province from April 15. The new train routes are expected to meet the passengers’ demand for shorter routes, reducing the pressure on roads that are overcrowded. The advantages of the routes will include on-time arrival and departures, as well as various convenient schedules for the passengers to choose from. Accordingly, there will be 10 trains running each day, including two trains connecting Sóng Thần and Biên Hòa, four connecting Biên Hòa and Gò Vấp and four connecting Biên Hòa and Sài Gòn. The new railway routes will not be operated for profit, but for the residents’ needs. The train fares would be at par with bus fares on the same routes, Phạm Văn Sơn, president of the board of directors of Sài Gòn Railways JSC, said. The passengers will also be able to transport their bikes and motorbikes on the trains for free, he said. As the Ghềnh Bridge has collapsed, trains travelling from Sài Gòn to Biên Hòa Station will end their journey at Dĩ An Station and stop at Gò Vấp, Bình Triệu and Sóng Thần stations to pick up passengers. Thái Nguyên struggles with rabies cases The northern Thái Nguyên Province witnessed several cases of rabies during the first three months of this year, the provincial Preventive Medicine Centre said. Nearly 2,500 people in the province were bitten by suspected rabid dogs and were vaccinated against rabies at local medical stations. Three people died from rabies in Ðồng Hỷ and Võ Nhai districts and in Sông Công City. All three people did not get themselves vaccinated against rabies after being bitten by dogs. The youngest victim was eight years old and the oldest was 63. The risk of a rabies outbreak has increased in the province because of several incidents in which many dogs of unknown origin ran amok, biting people or biting each other, local medical workers said. Many people got their injuries treated by practitioners of Vietnamese traditional medicine, instead getting themselves vaccinated. Then they were instructed by medical workers to go to medical stations to get the vaccine. Only 40 to 65 per cent of the dogs in the province had been vaccinated against rabies, the Thái Nguyên Animal Health Department said. The provincial health sector distributed information leaflets about the disease among residents, and asked medical workers to educate the people more about the issue. Six people died from rabies in the province last year. More than 10,000 people were bitten by dogs and were vaccinated against rabies. Transnational drug trafficking ring smashed A transnational drug trafficking ring has just been smashed by the police of Việt Nam and Laos. Three Laotian gang leaders of the ring were caught in the act, while making transactions in the border province of Quảng Trị. The police seized 4kg of heroin, 42,000 ectasy pills, a car with Laotian registration plate and personal papers. The traffickers, who had travelled to Việt Nam as tourists several times, told the police the drugs had been bought in Vientiane and then brought to Việt Nam. According to the provincial police, this was the largest drug trafficking ring to be discovered in the border area. Hail storm destroys crops, houses in northern provinces Thousands of houses and several hectares of vegetable crops in the northern provinces of Tuyên Quang and Hà Giang were reportedly damaged by large hailstones last weekend. According to preliminary statistics from Hà Giang Province’s Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, the hailstones destroyed a house in Quản Bạ District, blew away the roofs of 21 houses and damaged 950 others. As many as 19 welfare projects such as schools, teachers’ residences and medical stations in Quản Bạ, Yên Minh and Mèo Vạc districts were severely damaged. The hail storm also seriously damaged nearly 140ha of vegetable crops, 50ha of medicinal crops of high economic value and nearly 900ha of corn crops. A thunderstorm that occurred during the hail storm killed five buffaloes in Hoàng Su Phì District, with the damage estimated to be worth more than VNĐ130 million (US$5,780). The total destruction to crops and property is estimated to be worth VNĐ15 billion ($667,000), the VietnamNews Agency reported. In Tuyên Quang Province’s Chiêm Hóa District, the five-minute hail storm, with stones having an average diameter of 5cm to 10cm and some being even 15cm-wide, seriously damaged more than 2,000 houses and destroyed 300ha of vegetable crops. Tân Thịnh Commune was the hardest hit. The authorities in these two localities are trying to help the residents to recover from the destruction. Nguyễn Minh Tiến, deputy chairman of the people’s committee of Hà Giang Province, said the committee ordered authorised departments and sectors to take measures to help the people recover from the hail storm’s destruction. Local authorities are preparing seed and fertiliser to help residents resume production. In addition, the province has stepped up efforts to warn local people about damage control in hail storms during the stormy season. Officers have been sent to hail storm-hit areas to help people repair their houses’ roofs. The funds for house repair would come from the standby state budget, Nguyễn Công Hàm, from Tuyên Quang Province’s Hà Giang Province’s Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, told the Voice of Việt Nam (VOV) radio station. Explosion at cassava plant injures five workers An explosion occurred at midday yesterday in a cassava starch processing plant in the central Nghệ An Province’s Nghĩa Đàn District, injuring five workers. Local residents said they heard a huge explosion, and then saw a lot of smoke rising from the plant owned by the Sơn Long Services Joint-stock Co-operative. Four workers are being treated at the provincial North-western Area Hospital. The fifth injured person, 27-year-old Hà Văn Hiếu, has been taken to Hà Nội to receive treatment for the serious injuries he has suffered. Vi Khắc Nhớ, one of the victims, said the explosion must have occurred in an oil pipe that was used to dry cassava. The cause of the explosion is being investigated. The Sơn Long Services Joint-stock Co-operative was founded in April 2004. It specialises in processing cassava starch for export and has a capacity of processing 40 tonnes a day. Japan Sakura Festival to return next week The Japan Sakura Festival 2016 will open at Imperial Citadel of Thang Long in Hanoi on April 16-17, the Vietnam – Japan Cultural Exchange Association announced. This year’s event is to mark the 10th year of the festival in Vietnam. According to the organising board, about 300 large branches of cherry blossoms will be transported by air from Japan to Hanoi for exhibition. The festival also features Japan’s cultural performances, such as Yosakoi dance, martial arts; and performance of the country’s girlgroup Parallel Dream. The Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival was first held in Hanoi in 2007, providing an outstanding cultural activity in Vietnam to introduce Japan’s cultural beauty to visitors. The earliest cherry blossoms come into bloom in late January in southern Okinawa prefecture and reach northern Hokkaido prefecture in early May. The flowers drop off about a week after they appear. Mekong Delta challenged to ensure water security: expert The Mekong Delta region is facing the challenges of ensuring water security, which is mainly caused by the uncontrolled exploitation of groundwater resources, said a hydrological expert. According to Doan Van Canh from the Vietnam Association of Hydrogeology, the region witnesses a fast exhaustion of groundwater reserves in rivers and reservoirs. He underlined the importance of groundwater for coastal localities, saying that this plays a crucial role in preventing saltwater from intruding into the mainland. It is necessary to alternately use sources of water, he said, stressing that campaigns should be promoted to raise public awareness, especially among farmers, of protecting sources of groundwater. Apart from climate change and hydrological conditions, excessive exploitation and wastefulness of water, socio-economic development, a population explosion and unplanned urbanisation have given rise to negative impacts on the quality and reserves of water, Canh noted. The exploitation and use of water in countries in the upper Mekong River, along with mass construction of hydropower plants in the main stream of the river, directly affect the Mekong Delta region. A study carried out by the association shows that, the region’s groundwater reserves dropped by 15 percent in 2015. Many regional localities are faced with water shortages in dry seasons due to not having yet devised appropriate plans and measures to store water during rainy seasons. In localities experiencing rapid urbanisation such as Long An, Can Tho an An Giang, waste water from industrial parks, trade villages and hospitals is directly discharged into rivers and canals, polluting and degrading clean water sources. When water sources are exhausted, it will bring about unforeseen corollaries, affecting the livelihoods of residents and sustainable development of the region, Canh stressed. The State needs to build a watertight legal system, impose strict penalties, and have regular inspections in the field in order to reduce violations, he noted. Renault helps environmental protection in Vietnam Renault Vietnam will sign an agreement on an environmental protection programme with the Hanoi People’s Committee and also a contract to provide 100 electric cars for the Mai Linh Taxi Company on April 8, according to the French Embassy in Vietnam. Specifically, the agreement will help establish a partnership between the committee and the embassy to enhance cooperation in sustainable urban development, particularly in the improvement of air quality in the capital city. The provision of 100 electric cars is part of a project between the French automobile manufacturer and the Vietnamese taxi company to establish a fleet of environmentally-friendly taxis in Vietnam’s major cities in order to reduce gas emissions. Renault is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. According to the International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, in 2013 Renault was the 11th biggest automaker in the world by production volume. Campaign on waterway traffic safety to be launched The Việt Nam Inland Waterways Administration (VIWA) has asked the waterway police departments in cities and provinces to start a campaign to check the safety of vehicles on their waterways. The campaign will take place later this month, deemed an action month for waterway traffic safety, following the request of Deputy Minister of Transport Lê Đình Thọ. Under the campaign, waterway traffic police will check and penalise drivers of unregistered waterway vehicles, overloaded vehicles and those that do not comply with technical safety specifications. Drivers who do not have the proper qualifications will also be fined. Inspections will be stepped up on vehicles transporting building materials including stones, sand and gravel. The VIWA asked the Traffic Police Department to stay in touch with and share information on violations with the local inland waterways administrations and registry departments for more efficient management. Hoàng Hồng Giang, director of the VIWA, said waterway traffic safety had recently shown significant results and waterway traffic accidents had reduced due to good co-ordination between the traffic police and inland waterways police. However, the results were not sustainable and risks of waterway accidents remain, Giang said. Three waterway accidents occurred last month, seriously affecting waterway, railway and road traffic and causing great losses for the State. On March 6, the Thành Luân 28 Ship, which was past its best use period, voluntarily left its port and crashed into An Thái Bridge on Kinh Thầy River in the northern province of Hải Dương. The crash seriously damaged the bridge. On March 12, an unregistered waterway vehicle crashed into Cơn Độ Bridge on Nhà Lê Cannal in the central province of Hà Tĩnh, causing it to collapse. On March 20, another ship that was past its best use period, crashed into the Ghềnh Bridge piles in Biên Hòa City in the southern province of Đồng Nai, and two of the piles collapsed. Reproductive health programme launched Marie Stopes International Việt Nam (MSIVN) in co-operation with the Việt Nam Centre for Reproductive Health last week kicked off the third phase of BlueStar network, the country’s first social franchising model for sexual and reproductive health and family planning services. The BlueStar network started in 2008 with a pilot of 32 franchisees using the global MSI BlueStar model to increase availability to quality sexual and reproductive health services in private clinics, said Nguyễn Thị Bích Hằng, country director of MSIVN. "Its target population is underserved, are usually low-income men and women of reproductive age," Hằng said. More than 200 private healthcare providers in Hà Nội, HCM City, Hải Phòng, and the provinces of Khánh Hòa, Bình Dương, Đồng Nai and An Giang have joined the franchising model. More than 1.7 million clients have received sexual and reproductive health services at BlueStar franchised clinics, with one-fourth of the clients under 24 years old. More than 70 per cent of clients were low-income men and women of reproductive age. BlueStar franchisees have provided more than 864,000 safe abortion cases. A lack of options and low awareness about contraceptives is considered an important reason for Việt Nam’s high abortion rates, which is 2.5 per women per lifetime, according to MISVN’s report. An estimated 20-30 per cent of all abortion cases are young, unmarried women, the report said. Franchisees receive training, on-site technical assistance, and help in branding and marketing to promote their practice. As part of the franchise agreement, providers must commit to membership standards, including regular quality assurance monitoring and reporting. Established in 1989, MSIVN was one of the first international non-government organisations to work in the field of sexual productive health and family planning. Marie Stopes International is a UK-based non-profit that delivers a range of services, including family planning, safe abortion and post-abortion care, and services for patients diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections. Đà Nẵng launches cost-cutting programme The Đà Nẵng People’s Committee today said it would start a programme to cut wastage of money. Under the programme, the city will cut down at least 12 per cent of the expenses for conferences, dialogues, meetings and festivals, besides office stationery. The city will not propose and approve scientific research of the same content and impossible to be conducted, and will give priority to necessary and effective projects. All projects that are not part of the city’s plan and have not been approved by competent organisations will be terminated. The quality of the projects’ checks and design will be improved to reduce the project costs by 10 to 15 per cent. The number and condition of automobiles in offices will be checked to avoid the purchase of an excessive number of new vehicles. The Đà Nẵng People’s Committee has asked companies and organisations to save electricity and clean water. Car accident kills three Three people riding a motorbike were killed instantly when their vehicle collided with a passenger car in the Central Highland province of Gia Lai yesterday. The head-on collision occurred at Km1655+100 of Hồ Chí Minh Highway in the province’s Chư Pưh District, while the two vehicles were travelling in opposite directions. According to the initial investigation, the passenger car’s driver, Nguyễn Văn Quang, 46, was driving in the wrong lane, causing the accident. The case is still under investigation. Chinese man held for smuggling automobile spare parts The Quảng Ninh Province Police on Saturday seized 55-year-old Chen Chunying, from China’s Fujian Province, for allegedly smuggling automobile spare parts. On March 30, the provincial police had found Nguyễn Đăng Khoa, 22, from Móng Cái City, to be driving a lorry carrying more than 180 automobile spare parts that did not have any papers about their place of origin. The goods were worth more than VNĐ2 billion (US$88,800). Khoa said he had been hired to transport the goods that were owned by Chen Chunying. Police are investigating the case further. Phước Tượng, Phú Gia tunnels to be widened Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng has approved a project for widening the Phước Tượng and Phú Gia tunnels in the central province from two lanes to four lanes, an official said. The project would be carried out with an investment of VNĐ1.3 trillion (US$57.8 million) under a BOT (build-operate-transfer) model, Hoàng Ngọc Khanh, chief of the Provincial People’s Committee Secretariat, said. Located on National Highway 1A, about 3km from Hải Vân Tunnel to the north, Phước Tượng and Phú Gia tunnels were built in 2013 with an investment of more than VNĐ1.7 trillion ($75.6 million) and opened to traffic in December last year. Phước Tượng Tunnel is 345m long, and its leading road stretches 3.46km, while Phú Gia Tunnel is 497m long, and its leading road’s length is about 2.47km. Both tunnels are 12m wide, allowing vehicles to travel at a maximum speed of 80km per hour. The tunnels are designed to withstand earthquakes of magnitude 6 on the Richter scale. Their leading roads were also built as per the standard of delta road level 3, with a speed limit of 80km per hour. The tunnels have practical effectiveness, contributing to reducing travel time and eliminating “black pots” of road accidents on old roads that cross the passes, Đinh Khắc Đính, head of the provincial transport safety department, said. However, the two-lane tunnels were not harmony with the four-lane National Highway 1A, and so it was necessary to widen the tunnels, he said. The project, likely to start in May 2016, is expected to reduce distance and also link the economic development of the central provinces. Vietnamese farmer builds Truong Sa (Spratly) monument in garden An elderly, semi-retired farmer has built a monument in his own garden in Hoi An City that expresses his full support for Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago. While many Vietnamese people choose to build rockeries in their gardens, Nguyen Chi, a 62-year-old farmer from Cam Ha Commune in Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, has adorned his home with a monument that evidences his love for the country. The central province of Quang Nam is home to the UNESCO-recognized Hoi An Ancient Town, a part of Hoi An City, and other tourist attractions including the Tra Que vegetable village. Chi, who only completed his education to a third grade level, has created a Vietnamese ‘map’ dotted with a lake suggestive of the East Vietnam Sea, and a Truong Sa memorial featuring a gun-wielding navy soldier. He has also erected a lean-to, where he usually sits and welcomes local students and passing tourists, including many foreigners. “Today’s youngsters tend to be oblivious to the majesty of their own country,” he explained. “Hopefully my structure will give them a better idea.” The idea of erecting the structure came to Chi in May 2014, when he was listening to news regarding China’s illegal deployment of an oil rig in Vietnamese waters. Baffled by a neighboring child’s questions about Truong Sa’s location, he was set on finding out more about the high-profile archipelago. The poorly-educated old man then meticulously noted down pages of archives which he found barely intelligible, and cut out newspaper articles on the topic. Gathering sufficient information on the archipelago, he set about erecting the memorial and the ‘sea’ himself. Chi has also marked the location of the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago on the ‘sea’ surface, but he cannot erect a similar memorial until he has gathered adequate information on the other well-known group of islands. “A country’s milestones are momentous and sacred, and must be re-created with great effort and utmost precision,” he stressed. Chi’s unique structure, expressing his profound patriotism, has aroused curiosity among passers-by and tourists, particularly foreigners, who stop for photos and listen to the old man’s stories and explanations of the two archipelagoes. Well known in the area, many years ago, Chi went to great lengths to reclaim wastelands and grow his own sweet potatoes. He also hoed a trail for students in the neighborhood to walk to school before the local government built a road in 2000. Phu Tho preserves Hung King worship rituals The northern mountainous province of Phu Tho aims to work closely with relevant ministries and sectors to accelerate the national programme on preserving and promoting the Hung Kings’ worship-related culture, according to the Provincial People’s Committee Vice Chairman Ha Ke San. Under the programme, the province has encouraged full participation from the community in conserving and upholding the spiritual heritage, while enhancing the capability of staff involved in the management of the traditional legacy, San said. A wide variety of tourism packages and routes have been developed in close link with the Hung Kings’ worship culture and sites across the nation. According to Director of the management board of the Hung Kings Temple Relic Site Luu Quang Huy, over the years, numerous measures have been deployed to ensure a safe and sound environment for the Hung Kings Temple festival. In 2004, the Prime Minister approved the Plan for Developing the Hung Kings Temple Relic Site in Phu Tho province through to 2015. Accordingly, upgrades were made to all temples, pagodas, towers, the Hung Kings tombs and forests over an area of of 32 hectares. Alongside this, the project also built numerous facilities including ritual practicing sites, halls and guest receiving zones; surrounding tourism areas were also developed, such as a Hung Kings cultural village, and ecotourism villages. Over the past six years, more than 700 billion VND (31.5 million USD) has been mobilised to building and maintain the facilities in the Complex. The amount was used to enlarge the Thuong (Upper), Trung (Middle) and Ha (Lower) Temples ’ courts, upgrade the road system to Nghia Linh Mountain , embellish Thien Quang Pagoda, and preserve and develop the Hung Kings Temple national park. Re-construction work has been carried out on the Temples dedicated to worshipping the nation's legendary father and mother, Lac Long Quan and Au Co. The Prime Minister has also recently approved a master plan on upgrading and embellishing the Hung Kings Temple complex till 2025. Hung Kings are the ancient Vietnamese rulers of Van Lang Kingdom in the Hong Bang period (2879–258 BC). According to Vietnamese legend, the 18 Hung Kings ruled during the first period of Vietnamese history, from 2879-258 BC. The Hung Kings Festival is held annually from the eighth to the eleventh days of the third lunar month. To honour their great history, a 1,030 hectare complex of temples dedicated to them was built on Nghia Linh Mountain , and the tenth day of the third lunar month serves as the national commemorative anniversary for the kings. There are 1,417 sites dedicated to worshipping the Hung Kings and the related figures in their era across the nation, including 326 sites in Phu Tho province. The worshipping ritual of the Hung Kings is closely related to the ancestor worshipping traditions in most Vietnamese families, which forms an important part of people's spiritual lives. It was recognised by UNESCO as part of the World Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2012. VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri