Social News 27/11 Poor harvest expected of off-season mangos Farmers who grow mangos in the off-season in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta are expecting a poor harvest as prolonged rains have affected fruit production.      Advanced techniques and chemicals have been used to induce mango trees to bloom so they can produce fruit for the Christmas and Tết (Lunar New Year) seasons.   In Hậu Giang Province, many farmers treated their Hoà Lộc mango trees to bloom in early September, but rains affected the flower production. Hoà Lộc mango is one of the delta’s specialty fruits which are in high demand, especially during major festivals. It takes about three months to harvest ripe mangos. Trần Văn Quang, who has 0.5ha of Hoà Lộc mango in Châu Thành A District’s Tân Hoà Commune in the province, said that 100 of his mango trees did not bear fruit after blooming because of prolonged rains. The trees would have yielded seven to eight tonnes of fruit. “We sprayed chemicals, but it did not work,” he said. Quang said he has spent more than VNĐ20 million (US$900) to buy chemicals to spray his mango trees. Đinh Văn Phương, who has 10ha of mango and has grown the fruit for 23 years in Châu Thành A’s Bảy Ngàn Town, said he had treated 800 mango trees to have off-season flowers that could be harvested at Christmas. However, the yield was low. Phương said his family would lose about 20 tonnes of mango, or about VNĐ400 million ($18,100), when the harvest comes.   Đặng Kiểm, head of the Châu Thành A Plant Protection Station, said in recent years mango farmers had grown off-season mangos to meet market demand and sell mangos at a high price for Christmas and Tết. “Mango orchard owners are expected a yield decline of 40-50 per cent in the off-season harvest,” he said. In previous years, farmers in the district harvested an average of five tonnes per ha of mango for Christmas, he said. This year, district farmers have treated about 145 ha of mangos to produce fruit to sell during Christmas. With an estimated yield loss of about 50 per cent, farmers will lose more than 350 tonnes of mango. In Đồng Tháp Province, which is the delta’s largest mango producer, prolonged rains and hoar frost caused off-season mango blooms to fail to bear fruit. In addition, many young off-season fruits withered and fell off the trees. Đồng Tháp’s mango supply for the coming Tết, which will fall in January, is estimated to be fall by 60-70 per cent compared to the last Tết, according to the province’s mango orchard owners. Đồng Tháp has more than 9,300ha of mango, with annual output of about 90,000 tonnes. Erosion hurts agriculture, livelihoods in Hà Tĩnh Severe erosion along the left bank of Ngàn Sâu River in central Hà Tĩnh Province has affected the lives and livelihoods of around 1,200 residents in the region. Nguyễn Văn Việt, deputy chairman of the province’s Hương Khê District, said there is severe erosion at 19 spots along the 20km river bank that runs through the district. Lê Quang Vinh from the district’s agriculture and rural development division said erosion has affected the lives of 1,200 people in the district as well as crops and farming in the region. While erosion began several years ago, it has become severe, akin to landslides, after the repeated floods in October and early November, Việt told local newspapers. Hương Thủy Commune is the most severely affected by the erosion. Here, water has come four metres inland, claiming the land and soil of 370 families. Lê Xuân Định, a commune official, said there are landslides daily and they seem to be increasing. In Lộc Yên Commune, strong currents swept away the bamboo fence, which served as a dyke and prevented soil erosion. Now, the commune’s main road has eroded and is only half its original width. Đặng Thị Tuyết, a local resident, said the water is coming closer and closer to her house. Similarly, every day, thousands of residents in Hà Linh Commune use a road that has become dangerous after more than half of it collapsed into the river. Locals have put up signboards warning people from falling as much as five metres down. Erosion has also weakened the pillars of a suspended bridge and residents said they feel unsafe on it. There have been landslides in other communes such as Hương Đô and Hương Trạch as well. Vinh said the district People’s Committee has proposed the construction of a dyke at the erosion spots. That, however, is just an emergency solution, he said. The long-term solution is for local authorities to stop the power plant located on upper Ngàn Sâu River from releasing huge volumes water at one go, he said, adding that their other important task is to stop the illegal dredging of sand and rocks from the riverbed.  Central city suspends illegal construction of trading project   Đà Nẵng’s Construction Department temporarily suspended construction of a 33-storey trading centre and apartment project in the city’s downtown area as the investor has not yet been given permission from the department. The department said in statement that the project, which was granted an investment licence in 2010, has been under the process of design assessment by the Ministry of Construction. Deputy director of the department, Nguyễn Văn Nam said the project’s owner, Vũ Châu Long Real Estate joint-stock company, intentionally started construction from September, and was given a fine of VNĐ40 million (US$1,800) from the department’s inspection division for illegal construction. However, the project did not stop construction after that, and it had completed three-storey buildings. No supervision actions were given by local inspection agencies or administration in curbing the on-going construction of the project, just 1km from the city’s administrative centre. Earlier this week, the city assigned the department and Hải Châu District’s People’s Committee to ban all vehicles and labourers from working on the project. The slow action in curbing the illegal construction of a big project in the city’s downtown area revealed poor management and supervision from the city’s grassroots and construction department. According to the city’s Planning and Investment Department, the project was registered with total investment of VNĐ2.5 trillion ($111 million). In 2015, the city revoked two delayed development projects – a public park and an underground car park – in the city’s downtown area. In a survey, the city listed 30 slow-moving projects. Chinese passengers caught stealing from luggage on flight A Chinese passenger was caught this morning after allegedly attempting to steal another passenger’s luggage on board a flight from Đà Nẵng to HCM City. According to the Southern Airports Authority, the Chinese passenger used a nail clipper to try to cut the lock of a luggage in the overhead compartment. He was thwarted by a flight attendant. The flight crew reported the incident with witnesses from other passengers on board. When the flight landed in Tân Sơn Nhất airport, he was handed over to the Southern Airport Authority. The luggage reportedly contained jewelry and money worth billions of đồng. Vietnam Airlines has warned its passengers to keep an eye on their luggage to prevent theft. Two police dismissed from duty for wrongful action The Đồng Nai Province Police have decided to dismiss two officers of the Nhơn Trạch District Police from their duties for the wrongful arrest of a local woman. Colonel Nguyễn Văn Thọ, head of the Advisor Division and spokesman of the provincial police, made the announcement today. The two police officers are Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Trương Quốc Hiếu, deputy head of the Nhơn Trạch District Police, and Major Nguyễn Văn Sơn, deputy head of the district police’s investigation police team. After receiving the notice of dismissal, Hiếu also received the decision on retirement. In April, Nguyễn Thị Ánh Ngọc, a resident of Phước An Commune, Nhơn Trạch District, reported to police that she and her family had been beaten by several forest managers. Ngọc was then temporarily seized for opposing the authorities on duty. However, investigations showed that this action was without justification. The Nhơn Trạch District People’s Procuracy made a formal public apology to Ngọc. Culture fest showcases best of Korea   Some of the best of Korean culture will be presented to the Vietnamese public from tonight until Saturday in Hà Nội on the occasion of the Korean Cultural Festival to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Korean Cultural Centre (KCC) in Việt Nam. “Our cultural centre will continue to be a bridge connecting peoples from the two countries, as it has done for the last 10 years, and will do for many years to come,” said Lee Dae Joong, KCC’s director. “I hope that this festival will help to further strengthen cultural exchange between the two countries,” he said. The event is expected to be an ideal occasion for the people-loving cultures of South Korea and Việt Nam to share their joy and love through art performances, and gastronomy. The festival, with the theme “Heart to heart” will feature performances by famous Korean artists. They include K-Tigers group, which is known for making dance cover videos of famous K-Pop songs and incorporating Taekwondo moves in the dances. Magician Kim Jong Soo will entertain the public with his magical tricks. The festival will also offer the public an opportunity to enjoy different kinds of Korean music, from Arirang (symphony orchestra music), to traditional music, and K-pop music (a modern form of South Korean pop music covering a range of styles including dance-pop, pop ballad, electro-pop, and hip hop). The opening ceremony of the festival will be for limited invitees. However, the festival on Saturday will open free of charge to the public from 1pm at the Cultural Friendship Palace located at 91 Trần Hưng Đạo Street in Hà Nội. The public can meet the Korean artists and visit interesting stands featuring Korean culture  such as hanbok (Korea traditional dress) and hanji (traditional Korean paper), and Korean gastronomy. In particular, the performance of Korean movie music star K-will with Vietnamese singers will close this festival at 6.30pm. The KCC in Việt Nam is the first Korean Cultural Centre, which is set up in Southeast Asia aiming to connect people of the two countries through exchange activities in the cultural sector, sport, and tourism. Over the last ten years, the two countries have had strong relations in all sectors. Korean culture has become popular to Vietnamese people through its gastronomic specialities and movies. Actually there are currently 150,000 Koreans living in Việt Nam. Đồng Sài dump affects lives of local residents Residents of Phù Lãng Commune in the northern province of Bắc Ninh’s Quế Võ District claimed that the heavy pollution from the Đồng Sài garbage dump has badly affected their life.  Trọng Ngọc, a local resident, said they have to suffer the stink emanating from the dump all year round. “Since the dump spread over 39ha was became operational in 2014, residents have to wear masks even inside their homes and need to keep their windows shut to avoid the polluted air,” he told the Lao động (Labour) newspaper. Runoff from the dump also polluted canals around the commune. To make matters worse, the dump has caught fire many times, releasing toxic gases with the smell lasting several days, he said. The three communes near the dump, Phù Lương, Ngọc Xá of Quế Võ District and Thắng Cương of Bắc Giang Province’s Yên Dũng District, also suffer from the severe air pollution. Nguyễn Thị Tâm, who lives in the Thắng Cương Commune, said their lives have been turned topsy turvy after the garbage dump came up. “We have not been able to sleep well or have a good meal as we are forever hounded by millions of annoying flies and the stink from the site,” she told the Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper. Data compiled by the commune’s healthcare office showed respiratory diseases have been on the increase in the past two years. A number of families have moved away to avoid the pollution. According to Nguyễn Ngọc Lân, the chairman of the Thắng Cương Commune’s People’s Committee, residents and local authorities have complained about the pollution caused by the dump many times but nothing has been done to improve the situation. National Judo Champs to open in Bắc Ninh The National Judo Championships will take place in the northern province of Bắc Ninh today. The tournament draws over 150 martial artists from many cities and provinces, including Hà Nội, HCM City, Hải Phòng and Thanh Hóa. Male martial artists will compete in eight categories including U55, U60, U73, U90, U100 and over 100kg. Female athletes will compete in eight divisions including U57, U63, U70. The event’s best atheletes will be selected to the national team to compete in upcoming tournaments. It will close on November 28. Quảng Bình to promote tourism on TripAdvisor   Quảng Bình authorities have unveiled plans to advertise the province’s tourism on TripAdvisor next year. Trần Tiến Dũng, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee, said last week that agreement had been reached with TripAdvisor for promoting the province’s tourist industry on the travel website. There has been little international advertising for Quảng Bình so far due to limited budgets, resulting in small numbers of international travellers, Dũng added.  Local artist unveils flooding season themed photo exhibition “An Giang in flooding season” is a photo exhibition by artist Huynh Phuc Hau currently on display at Tinh Te Café in HCMC’s District 3 until December 3. Hau has a strong desire in taking landscape photos and he aims to feature the unique beauty of Chau Doc and Tinh Bien areas in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang in the flooding season. The exhibition features 39 of Hau’s artworks which had been taken during the past 12 years, depicting the nature, people’s portraits and daily activities of people during the flooding season. Apart from the exhibition, the artist also publishes a landscape photo calendar to raise funds for poor patients at a general hospital of An Giang. Huynh Phuc Hau is an ultrasound-scan doctor in Chau Doc City in An Giang Province. He was named the photography artist of Vietnam in 2009. Tinh Te Café is located at 209 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street in District 3, HCMC. HCM City farmers provided loans, farming techniques More than 138,000 farmers in HCM City have been awarded the title of “Excellent farmers in production and doing business”, part of a programme that recognises their outstanding contributions to the agriculture sector over the past five years, according to the city’s Farmers Association. The programme has helped more than 9,700 farming households escape poverty. During the period, more than 90,000 farmers have also been provided loans worth a total of about VNĐ2.74 trillion (US$125 million) to develop their production and business. In addition, more than 2,200 training courses have been organised to provide advanced farming techniques for farmers. Under the programme, farmers have also donated more than 200 ha of land to build infrastructure and upgrade rural roads. Speaking at a meeting to review the programme for 2012-2016 held last Friday, Liều Vũ Điều, deputy chairman of the Standing Central Committee of the Việt Nam Farmers Association, told the city’s Farmers Association to continue renovating the content, form and organisation of the programme to promote it further.   The city’s Farmers Association should highlight exemplary individuals and groups of the programme to let other farmers learn from them, he said. Lê Thanh Liêm, deputy chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, said the city’s Farmers Association should continue co-operating with departments and agencies to develop agriculture and rural areas. Trần Thu Bích, head of the city’s Department of Science and Technology’s Science and Technology Management Division, said the department would carry out several programmes to transfer advanced technologies for the city’s agriculture sector in the future. Over the past five years, the department, in co-operation with the city’s Farmers Association, has provided training for nearly 2,000 farmers for trade mark registration, animal waste treatment, safe use of fertilisers and pesticides, advanced techniques in aquaculture and cow breeding.      Many effective agriculture production models, including breeding ornamental fishes and cows and growing mushrooms in houses, are expanding in the city. The city has established 83 excellent farmer clubs that help provide farming techniques, support breeding stocks and loans and find markets for farmers. In the 2016-2020 period, the city’s Farmers Association will continue working with banks and credit organisations to provide soft loans for farmers. The city’s agriculture production value has increased from VNĐ158.5 million ($7,200) per ha in 2010 to VNĐ375 million ($17,000) per ha last year, according to the city’s Farmers Association. Pepper fails to survive flooding Nearly two weeks have passed since the particularly devastating heavy downpour and the floods that followed in the Central Highlands. Hundreds of households in Đắk Lắk Province, however, still remain on edge since the floodwaters have put their pepper fields in jeopardy. Nguyễn Văn Sáu, a farmer in Quỳnh Ngọc 1 Village, Ea Na Commune, Krông Ana District, stared grimly at his 2.5ha fields, which consisted of some 1,800 pepper and 1,700 coffee plants.  “Though the water retreated days ago, the peppers are extremely sensitive and can stay just one day submerged in water, following which the roots and eventually the plants will die. There’s nothing I can do to salvage the situation,” he said worriedly. Another farmer, Trần Quốc Tuấn, in Ea Hu Village, Cư Kuin District, shared a similar plight. His 5ha field of peppers and coffee near the hydro-dam suffered tremendously; the plants’ leaves turned yellow and withered. “My family mortgaged our ‘red book’ (land use certificate) to the bank for a loan of VNĐ100 million (US$4,500) to invest in the pepper fields. Seeing that the price of pepper was steadily rising over the last few years, we decided to grow 500 pepper plants. This year, when we were just about to harvest the crop, the floods arrived and now the plants are slowly dying,” Tuấn said. His entire family’s living expenses, school fee for his children and bank payments all depended on the pepper fields. Now, with 200 dead plants and the rest likely to follow suit, his struggle to make ends meet will become even more difficult. Phạm Ngọc A, head of Village 1, Ea Hu Commune, said the floods have caused irreparable damage to people’s crops. Some 12ha of pepper and 5ha of rice are perishing, and this year’s yield from 5ha of coffee will reduce considerably. In addition, the rising water has washed away seven aquaculture farms that farmers intended to harvest and sell the produce in the upcoming Lunar New Year.  Like Tuấn, since most locals borrowed money from bank to invest in production, their future is becoming increasingly precarious. Phạm Thanh Hoằng, chairman of the Ea Hu Commune People’s Committee, claimed that commune-wide, 100ha of coffee, pepper, crops and aquaculture farms were impacted by the floods, with Village 1 and 2 being the most affected. Local authorities are preparing a detailed report of damage to submit to the higher-ups. District-wide, some 350 hectares of crops were reportedly damaged, plus 4km of irrigation canals and ditches and five dams were swept away in the floods, Nguyễn Năng Chung, chairman of Cư Kuin District, said. The district’s People’s Committee has allocated VNĐ300 million ($13,400) to support affected farming households and direct local authorities to step up information dissemination on choosing suitable crops to avoid preventable losses should floods occur in the near future, cautioning people not to get caught up in the pepper-growing frenzy. According to Đắk Lắk Province’s Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, 5,500ha of crop in Ea Kar District have been affected by the floods, of which only 520ha was used to grown rice, while the remaining majority was used to grow peppers, coffee and other types of crops. NA chairwoman honours humanitarian group National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân asked the Việt Nam Red Cross Society (VNRC) to continue its humanitarian activities, healthcare, emergency aid and disaster prevention and response programmes at a ceremony to celebrate its 70th anniversary on Saturday. Praising the efforts of VNRC members and volunteers in past years, Ngân said the country still faced many difficulties such as consequences of wars, natural disasters, climate change and diseases. “The society should focus on renewing its organisation and operation methods and strengthening human resources to better implement humanitarian programmes,” said Ngân. The NA chairwoman also suggested the society work closer with the Việt Nam Fatherland Front and expand co-operation with local and international organisations in humanitarian programmes. On the occasion, Ngân presented the Labour Order, second class, to the VNRC in recognition of its dedication to humanitarian causes. It was the second time the VNRC has been honoured with the distinction. Speaking at the event, VNRC Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Xuân Thu said that the VNRC was Việt Nam’s first professional humanitarian organisation. The society was founded on November 23, 1946 by President Hồ Chí Minh, who was also its honorary president until his death in 1969. On November 4, 1957, the VNRC was recognised as a member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross. During the renovation period, the organisation has ran large-scale humanitarian initiatives. Since 2008, it has raised nearly US$115 million for the needy. The campaign “New Year for the poor and Agent Orange victims” presents gifts worth VNĐ500 billion ($22.7 million) to 1.8 million needy people each year. The “cow bank” project, launched in 2010, has handed over around 20,000 cows to 20,000 households in 61 cities and provinces at a total cost of approximately $10 million. Over the past decade, VNRC’s chapters have raised nearly $225 million, given support to 22.2 million disaster victims and collected more than one million units of blood each year in blood donation campaigns.  Vietnam People’s Army presents information equipment to Laos Information equipment was presented to the Information Department under the General Staff of the Lao People’s Army at a ceremony held in Vientiane on November 19 as a gift from the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA).  The equipment presentation aimed to realise the protocol on Vietnam-Laos defence cooperation in 2015-2019 and the cooperation plan between the two countries’ defence ministries for 2016.  Addressing the ceremony, Colonel Pho Trieu Cuong, deputy chief representative of the Vietnamese Military AttacheOffice in Laos, reaffirmed the significant role of Vietnam-Laos solidarity in the revolutionary cause of each nation.  Over the past time, the VPA has given the highest support to Laos, Cuong said, adding that the gift is expected to help ensure a firm information system for the Lao Ministry of National Defence, thus serving Laos’ national building and protection.  Director of the Lao department Colonel Sayaphon Chanthavong thanked the VPA for its assistance for Laos during the struggle for liberation in the past as well as in the current national construction and defence.  The gift will help improving the capacity of the Lao People’s Army in communication, he affirmed.  He pledged that his department will effectively use the presented equipment to better fulfill its assigned tasks. Illegal sand mining boats seized Hà Nội police on Saturday morning seized 14 illegal sand mining boats on the Hồng (Red) river running through Tản Hồng Commune of Ba Vì District. Of the 14 boats, six are dredgers and eight are sand-carrying boats. Initial police investigations showed that dredgers and illegal sand-carrying boats gather on the Hồng River section that connects Hà Nội’s Ba Vì District and Việt Trì City of northern  Phú Thọ Province at midnight and early morning on weekends. People on the seized boats failed to present business operation licenses for transporting and extracting sand. Ba Vì District police, Hà Nội’s Environmental Crime Prevention and Fighting Police Department and the Waterway Traffic Police Department will investigate the case. Phạm Ngọc Tiến, deputy head of Hà Nội’ s Waterway Traffic Inspectorate, said “Sand dredging can cause banks to collapse and change the flow of the river during the rainy season, putting people at risk and damaging dykes and riverside structures.” Hà Nội has only 12 companies qualified for exploiting several parts of the Hồng River. Thirteen other firms have been permitted by the Việt Nam Domestic Waterway Department to dredge the riverbed and use the material collected.  Motorbike accident leaves five dead Five people were killed and one was severely injured in a motorbike accident on Saturday evening in Xuyên Mộc District of southern Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province. Four died on the spot while one succumbed to injuries while being rushed to hospital. The only survivor is currently in a coma. All six victims were reportedly on two motorbikes when they crashed into each other. According to Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province’s police, the victims are from Bình Châu Commune of Xuyên Mộc District. The identities of the two motorbikes’ owners have not been determined. They also have discovered whether the two motorbikes were running on the opposite or same direction when the accident occurred. The accident is under investigation. Culture in mountainous areas to be introduced in Hà Nội Festivals of ethnic people living in the northern mountainous region will soon be on show in Hà Nội. Entitled ‘Scent and Beauty of Mountainous Region’, the festival, organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, will take place on November 21-23 at the Exhibition Centre for Culture and Arts, 2 Hoa Lư Street. It will feature the culture of ethnic groups from northern mountainous provinces such as Hà Giang, Tuyên Quang, Thái Nguyên and Sơn La. The event aims to glorify the cultural heritage of ethnic minority groups in northern mountainous regions on the occasion of Cultural Heritage Day (November 23), according to Vương Duy Biên, vice minister of Culture. “It also raises people’s awareness of preserving and promoting traditional culture,” he said. Visitors will see cấp sắc (coming-of-age), the maturity ritual of the Sán Dìu from Vĩnh Phúc Province. All men must go through the ritual to be recognised by the community as mature enough to undertake communal positions. Other festivals featured include the wedding ceremony of the Dao from Tuyên Quang Province and lồng tồng (going-to-field) of the Tày from Bắc Kạn Province. During the three-day festival, ethnic people will perform traditional music, singing and dancing. An exhibition featuring the culture, landscape and local dishes of all provinces participating in the festival will be held. A traditional house with 24 pillars of the Tày from Thái Nguyên will be on display at the exhibition. The house belongs to a Tày family. On the occasion, they will attend the festival and speak with visitors, telling them about their life in the house. A Tày house has a nine-step staircase, nine being a lucky number to ensure the boys and girls of the family get married. The house’s owner greets guests at the foot of the stairs and walks behind guests on the stairs to protect them.  Central localities work together to preserve common heritage Authorities of two central localities have reached agreements on protection work and profiling to nominate a shared historical landmark as a national heritage site. Hải Vân Quan, a giant brick gate built on top of Hải Vân Mountain, lies on the border of Thừa Thiên - Huế Province and Đà Nẵng City. Built during the Trần era (1226-1400), the gate was rebuilt in 1826 under Emperor Minh Mạng (1820-1841). For years, the gate has been left unattended due to disagreements between Huế and Đà Nẵng over responsibility of managing the gate as it lies on their common border. Many parts of the gate, once praised as the country’s most magnificent gate, have fallen into ruin. Last week, the departments of culture and sports of Huế and Đà Nẵng agreed to work together to protect the gate. Following a memorandum of understanding signed by the two sides, a joint team of Huế’s Phú Lộc District and Đà Nẵng’s Liên Chiểu District will manage security, tidiness and tourism at the site. The two will work together to nominate the gate as a national heritage to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. According to Huỳnh Văn Hùng, director of Đà Nẵng’s Department of Culture and Sports, the work is expected to be completed in 2017. Hùng told local newspapers that authorities of the two localities would devise conservation methods for the gate. This is the second time that two localities submitted one application to the ministry to recognise one heritage site. Earlier, central Hà Tĩnh and Quảng Bình provinces did the same for Hoành Sơn Quan, a gate on the top of Ngang Pass separating the provinces. Hải Vân Quan lies beside a road going through the Hải Vân Pass connecting Huế and Đà Nẵng. It is a busy tourist site thanks to the spectacular view over the mountain and sea. US photographer launches Vietnam photo book A photo book titled “The Soul of Vietnam” by 73-year-old US photographer Lawrence D’Attilio was released on November 20. The book comprises 150 photos on Vietnam and its people from 2007-2015. The main topics of the book include Vietnamese landscapes, characters and moments, as well as the photographer’s view of the fast changing country.  The photo book, published in both Vietnamese and English, was also launched in the US at the same time. Vietnamese exchange culture in Hong Kong Overseas Vietnamese in Macau, China participated in the “Asia Ethnic Cultural Performances 2016” held in Hong Kong on November 20.  The event featured artists from 16 Asian countries and territories including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Japan, Nepal, Hong Kong and Macau.  This is an annual event hosted by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong, which aims to promote cultural integration, study culture of each country and territories anddiversify the arts of Asian countries and territories.  A representative of Hong Kong’s Leisure and Cultural Services Department said that the event aims to create a platform for Asian countries and territories to show their unique culture.  The event also strengthens solidarity, friendship and mutual understanding between people of Asian countries and territories.  An amateur Vietnamese troupe performed traditional dances such as “mua o” (dance with the umbrella) and “muanon” (dance with conical hats), along with folk songs. Free operations for people with cataracts in Ninh Thuan province About 150 patients with cataracts in the south central province of Ninh Thuan have received free surgeries provided by the Asia Prevention of Blindness Association (APBA) and the province’s eye hospital.  Hospital Director Pham Van Hai said most of the beneficiaries were low-income earners. All surgery and medicine costs, totaling 1.2 billion VND (53,300 USD), were funded by the APBA and his hospital.  The surgeries on November 18 and 19 were a boon to cataracts patients as eye surgery is expensive.  It was also a chance for local medical workers to gain more experience and learn about advanced techniques in cataracts treatment, Hai added.  The number of blind people over 50 years old in Vietnam has continued to drop, from 443,700 in 2000 to 329,300 in 2015. The total number of the blind is about 378,700.  Cataracts are the cause of blindness in 74 percent of cases, Director of the Central Eye Hospital Nguyen Xuan Hiep said at the national ophthalmological conference in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho last October. Tâm wins second stage of cycling Nguyễn Thành Tâm of An Giang won the second stage of the Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa Cycling Tournament yesterday. Tâm finished the 151km route from Trà Vinh Province to Sóc Trăng Province with a time of 3hr 32.57min. The win allowed him to earn the green jersey for best cyclist, with 25 points. Phan Hoàng Thái of Domesco Đồng Tháp came in second in this stage, while Mai Nguyễn Hưng of VUS HCM City was third. After two stages, Nguyễn Trường Tài of VUS HCM City still retains the yellow jersey, while Nguyễn Tấn Hoài of Domesco Đồng Tháp is in second position. In the team rankings, VUS HCM is on top, with An Giang and Domesco Đồng Tháp remaining behind. Minh, Trang win Best Players titles Nguyễn Tiến Minh and Vũ Thị Trang defended their titles at the National Best Badminton Players Tournament which came to a close in Bắc Giang Province on Saturday. Minh from HCM City won the men’s title after beating teammate Trương Thanh Long in the final match. Lê Đức Phát of Military and Trần Văn Trì from Quảng Trị came third. Trang from the host province beat Lê Thu Huyền of Hà Nội in the women’s final class. Nguyễn Thùy Linh of Đà Nẵng and Đinh Thị Phương Hồng from Thái Bình shared the third place.Trang had earlier earned a title in the women’s doubles, pairing with Nguyễn Thị Sen. Hà Nội’s Đỗ Tuấn Đức and Phạm Như Thảo took the mixed doubles title. Đức and Phạm Hồng Nam triumphed in the men’s doubles. Medical system set up to provide treatment to island locals, fishermen Vietnam National Institute of Maritime Medicine yesterday inaugurated a state-of-the-art Telemedicine system,  connecting medical facility in Bach Long Vy island of Hai Phong city, the institute and the Viet-Tiep Hospital. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Viet Tien lauded the institute’s efforts and relevant agencies that operate the state-of-the-art medical system to meet the treatment demand of inhabitants in Bach Long Vy island and fishermen offshore. The system also helps improve medical treatment for residents in northern island. With the system, island inhabitants and fishermen will receive medical check-up performed by leading medical workers. More Zika-affected people reported in HCMC The Ho Chi Minh City Preventive Medicine Center yesterday said that five more residents in the city are positive for the mosquito-borne virus, bringing the total cases to 57 in 15 districts since March, 2016. Most cases live in Binh Thanh with 11, district 2 with 10 affected cases, and districts 9, 12, Tan Phu with six cases for each. Because of the complicated development of the disease, Deputy Head of People’s Committee Nguyen thi Thu directly arrived at some districts to inspect prevention task, urging district administrations to do much attemp in clearing environment to eliminate places where mosquito can lay eggs. Head of the Department of Preventive Medicine Professor Tran Dac Phu said that the Ministry of Health has not issued warning to limit people from travelling to affected districts because the virus has circulated in the country. Only pregnant women must take precaution because the virus can cause Microcephaly in newly-born babies. Local entrepreneurs join forces for rhino protection Around 100 leading entrepreneurs signed a commitment for not using rhino horns or products from wild animals and pledge to contribute to the protection of wild animals in Vietnam at a large-scale campaign hosted by WildAid and CHANGE in Hanoi on Wednesday. A commitment to preserve wildlife and stop the use of rhino horns in Vietnam was kicked off a year ago when U.S.’s billionaire Richard Branson had a meeting with a group of entrepreneurs in the country during his visit to Vietnam. Since then, there have been 75 more business leaders and 250 senior staff of enterprises signing the pledge. Vietnam and China are the two major consuming markets of rhino horns that are illegally hunted in South Africa and other African countries. There have been 5,750 rhinos killed in South Africa since 2008. Some of the entrepreneurs signing the commitment include Tran Hung Huy, chairman of Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), David Do, managing director of Vietnam Investments Group, Truong Hue Van, chairwoman of WMC, Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh, CEO of REE, Dinh Thi Hoa, CEO of Thien Ngan, Bui Quang Ngoc, general director of FPT Group, Le Quoc Vinh, CEO of Le Media, and Hoang Khai, CEO of Khai Silk, among others. Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh said in a statement that by signing the commitment, she wished to both balance financial benefits and social values. “I understand my role and responsibilities towards social issues, especially the consumption of wild animal products, as many of them have almost neared extinction. I’m calling on my family, friends and business partners to join me in this campaign,” she added. In addition, these business leaders will be pioneers in building sustainable strategies and corporate social responsibility. “I highly evaluate the commitment of Vietnamese businesspeople. It shows a strong support of local entrepreneurs to strengthen the legal compliance with more effective preservation activities of wild animals,” said Peter Knights, executive director of WildAid, in a statement. The signing list will be published on some local newspapers and magazines, including Nhip Cau Dau Tu (Vietnam Investment Review), Doanh Nhan Sai Gon, The Thao Van Hoa va Dan Ong, and TravelLive, and will go online at http://camketvihoangda.org. CHANGE and WildAid are also making a short documentary, featuring interviews with entrepreneurs about the protection of rhinos. There are more roundtables for businessmen and marketing campaigns to spread the campaign to people in the community. VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri/VNE