SOCIETY IN BRIEF 22/7 One million people get jobs in one year One million Vietnamese people enter working age each year, according to the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL). More than 50.3 million people aged from 15-60 work in different economic sectors and 15 million are regular salary earners, including over 1.7 million working in the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector. Thousands of people are also working abroad under time-limit labour contracts. The numbers of people working in education, health care, services, industry, construction and the non-State owned economic sectors are on the rise while those working in agriculture, forestry and the State-owned economic sectors are showing a downtrend. In general, Vietnamese workers are young and able to access advanced science and technology thanks to their improved academic standard and professional. The number of skilled workers reached 42% and around 32% of workers had vocational training. The quality of labour forces in oil and gas, aviation, electricity, electronics, information technology, post and communications, bridge building, hydroelectricity and machinery assembly is higher than those in other fields. In recent years, State incentive policies and the national target program on job and vocation training have facilitated job creation with more than 1 million people getting jobs. However, the impact of financial crisis and global economic downturn as well as national economic difficulties have forced many businesses to declare bankrupt, dissolve and scale down their operations leading to a large unemployment rate. Deputy PMs pay visits to mark War Invalids and Martyrs' Day Deputy Prime Ministers Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Nguyen Thien Nhan on Saturday made separate visits to families of war invalids and martyrs in Bac Giang and Lam Dong provinces on the occasion of War Invalids and Martyrs' Day (July 27). Speaking to war invalids living at the Lang Giang care centre, Phuc said the Party and State always kept in mind the great contributions of war martyrs and invalids during the national construction and defence. He praised the centre staff for their efforts to take good care of the war invalids and commended the provincial Party Committee and authorities for their measures to improve the material and spiritual lives of war invalids and those who had made contributions to the nation. Phuc also visited Heroic Mother Nguyen Thi Kinh, whose husband and only son laid down their lives for the country, in Dinh Tri Commune. In Lam Dong, Nhan visited three families of war invalids and martyrs in Da Lat City. One of them was veteran Do Thi Nguu, who lived alone in a 12sq m room. He also visited the family of war martyr Phan Van Khuong, who died in 1980, and highly recognised Da Lat City's people committee for giving his family members land to build a home and stabilise their lives. Officials estimate there are about 1,1 million war martyrs and 600,000 veterans in Viet Nam. City moves to alleviate overcrowding in bus stations Recently, Ha Noi's Transport Department proposed that the municipal People's Committee transfers 400 buses by the middle of next month, from the city's busiest bus terminus, My Dinh, to other bus stations to reduce instances of overcrowding.   Overcrowding at the station, along with illegal parking and passengers being picked up in the surrounding area, has given the capital's authorities a serious problem to address. The first moves started last month, with 57 buses being relocated. Another 91 scheduled buses that run from the station to northern Hoa Binh Province and 76 buses that work the routes to Ha Nam, Ninh Binh, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa and Nghe An will also be transferred to Yen Nghia Station in Ha Dong Distict. Seventy buses that run to Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Quang Ninh and Phu Tho have also been cut due to insufficient numbers of passengers and 61 buses on the Ha Noi – northern Thai Nguyen Province route will be transferred to Nam Thang Long Station in the near future. The department also proposes transferring 376 buses to Phap Van Station, as construction work is expected to completed by next year. At present, over 1,600 buses operate from My Dinh Station with roughly 950 working daily, but at peak times, over 1,200 buses arrive and depart from the station. Overcrowding at the station, along with illegal parking and passengers being picked up in the surrounding area, has given the capital's authorities a serious problem to address. The move is also part of the city's plan to reorganise bus stations. Diplomatic, foreign vehicles under scrutiny Out of all the hundreds of cars that have diplomatic or foreign licence plates, 317 were still being used after their registration had either expired or been revoked, according to the latest inspection by the Ministry of Public Security's Department of Road and Railway Traffic Police. The inspection was part of a wider campaign that will run until the end of this year to tighten up the management of diplomatic and foreign registered vehicles in Ha Noi and HCM City. From now on, cars that have diplomatic or foreign licence plates will be subject to random checks by traffic police. The traffic police will also work closely with vehicle registration centres and parking centres to crack down on illegally plated vehicles. Australian war vets to hand over memorabilia A delegation of Australian war veterans will arrive in Vietnam in late July to present wartime objects back to their Vietnamese counterparts in Binh Dinh province. These memorabilia were collected by Australia and New Zealand war veterans during their engagement in the US-waged war in Vietnam between 1966 and 1971. Among the objects were 90 letters found on the Binh Dinh battlefield.   This is part of a project which has been launched by a group of Australian researchers and war veterans since 2010. Phan Nhu Hai, deputy director of Binh Dinh province’s Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, says the handover of the memorabilia is a noble deed of the Australian veterans as Vietnam is celebrating 66 years of War Invalids and Martyrs Day (July 27). Big C collects second-hand clothes for charity French retailer Big C yesterday, July 21, succeeded in collecting 12 tonnes of used clothes, equivalent to 40,000 pairs of shirts and trousers, under a charitable programme which aims to support children in need. These clothes, together with books and school supplies, will be given to poor students under the Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund, National University of Ha Noi, northern Ha Giang Province's Quan Ba District and northern Yen Bai Province. The programme also set the world record for "the biggest number of clothes collected within 24 hours", recognised by Guiness World Records. Households await dam resettlement Nineteen households in Son Dung and Son Long communes of Son Tay District have not been resettled as part of the Dakdrinh Hydro-power Plant, which is scheduled to start generating power on August 31. The project's 900-ha reservoir covers the communes of Son Long, Son Lien and Son Dung in Son Tay District of central Quang Ngai and also KongPlong district in Kon Tum province. Le Van Tung, deputy chairman of the Son Tay District People's Committee, said the hydro-power plant committee did not expect these households would be inundated once the plant's reservoir started filling up. Costs for resettlement were estimated at VND20 billion (US$970,000). While waiting for authorities and relevant agencies to act, Tung said these households would be temporarily relocated to makeshift houses to ensure safety. Korean doctors provide free surgery for disabled children Thirty-eight children with harelips and cleft palates in the central region have received free surgery provided by doctors from Hue Medicine and Pharmaceutical University and Chonbuk National University of the Republic of Korea (RoK). Professor Shin Hyo-Keun, vice rector of Chonbuk National University, said that during the visit to Vietnam from July 14 to 21, Korean doctors provided medical checks-up for 61 child patients, and 38 of them received free-of-charge operations. Chunbok National University has effectively cooperated with Hue University to train students and grant scholarships to outstanding graduates, to pursue their master and doctorate degrees in the RoK, he said. This is the eighth visit to Vietnam by Chonbuk National University doctors, who have actively taken part in charity programmes in Hue City and other central localities to give a helping hand to children with facial deformities. So far, Chonbuk National University has offered treatment to 284 local patients, and free surgeries to215 harelip and cleft palate children (worth US$150 each). Australia returns VN asylum seekers Fifteen Vietnamese asylum seekers had been returned home, according to the Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship. The group have departed from Australia's Manus Island regional processing centre. The decision was made following the Australian government's decision to expand regional processing arrangements to ensure unauthorised maritime arrivals are transferred to Papua New Guinea, where their protection claims will be assessed. The department emphasised that those who paid smugglers to help them enter Australia were throwing their money away and risking their lives in the process. HCM City outlines early treatment for HIV A programme to provide early anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment to people with HIV is likely to be piloted in HCM City next year, a city health official said. It will target people with a CD4 cell count (the number of white blood cells in a cubic millimetre of blood) of 350-500. Researchers have found that earlier intervention reduces the death rate among HIV patients as well as HIV transmission and the number of AIDS cases, Le Truong Giang, chairman of the city Public Health Association told Sai Gon Tiep Thi (Sai Gon Marketing) newspaper. Now HIV-positive patients only start treatment when the CD4 count falls to 350 except in certain cases like pregnant women and children, Giang said. While the treatment is now free, under the proposed programme patients have to pay around VND7,000 per day, he said. It will be submitted to the city People's Committee and the Ministry of Health for approval this year. If approved, implementation would begin early next year, Giang said. Over VND40 billion raised for fishermen in Truong Sa, Hoang Sa The program to call for support for fishermen in Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagoes has raised nearly VND40 billion over the past two years. Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL), Hoang Ngoc Thanh said that fishermen, depending on level of damage they suffer, can receive aid worth up to VND200 million to VND500 million to help them overcome their difficulties when they are in distress at sea. Nearly two years after its launch, the program has called on youth unions, labourers, businesses, organisations and millions of individuals nationwide to help hundreds of fishermen as a contribution to protecting the sovereignty of the nation’s sea and islands. Thanh said VGCL President Dang Ngoc Tung granted the sum to fishermen. In addition, VGCL has also sent delegations to pass on best wishes and provide timely support to help fishermen buy fishing tools or boats. Japan forum targets new trade Over 100 business players and top economic experts converged at the seventh Viet Nam-Japan Economic Dialogue in Tokyo on Thursday to seek business opportunities. Co-hosted by the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan and Japan's International Friendship Exchange Council, the event was part of activities to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Viet Nam-Japan diplomatic ties. Addressing the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Doan Xuan Hung declared that with steady effort, Viet Nam would become an attractive investment destination, especially for Japanese companies. He said that through official development assistance (ODA) and direct investment, the Japanese government and people had actively contributed to Viet Nam's development. However, the Ambassador noted that bilateral economic links had yet to meet each side's potential. He also admitted that snags remained in Viet Nam's investment environment, such as cumbersome administrative procedures. Etsuro Honda, special advisor to the Japanese Cabinet, stressed that economic policies named "Abenomics", advocated by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, were behind the closer ties between the two nations. He cited nursing care for the elderly as a potential co-operation field as Japan had a burgeoning demand for medical and nursing staff. He said Viet Nam was an investment "hotspot", adding that Japanese investors would enjoy gains from pouring money into Viet Nam, a country that boasted political and macro-economic stability. Director of the Viet Nam Institute of Economics Tran Dinh Thien said Viet Nam's investment environment has improved considerably over the past years. He also introduced Viet Nam's economic development strategy, which was recently adopted by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. The scheme highlighted priority fields that needed Japanese investment, such as electronics, car manufacturing, shipbuilding, energy, agro-forestry-fishery and environment. Pangolins rescued from ‘dinner table' Authorities in the northern province of Quang Ninh have caught red-handed two men trying to smuggle 137 rare and protected pangolins into China in two vehicles. The mammals, believed to be heading for the dinner table, weighed a total of more than 620 kilos. At noon on Thursday, police in Ha Long City stopped the first car as it travelled from Ha Long to Mong Cai District and found 75 pangolins without legal documents. The driver admitted he was taking them to China. A day before, police in Hai Ha District discovered another 62 pangolins also headed for China. HFM disease spreads in Dong Nai Province Virus EV71, which is the main cause of hand-foot-mouth disease, remains prevalent in southern Dong Nai Province, shown by a random test among a group of people in the community. The test was conducted on throat fluid of 10 people, including adults and children, by the provincial Preventive Medicine Centre in June. The province has reported 3,400 hand-foot-mouth cases since the beginning of this year, including one death. The number saw a year-on-year increase of 40 per cent. Tonnes of diatomite seized Authorities in the central province of Phu Yen have seized more than 7.4 tonnes of diatomite mined illegally in An Xuan Commune, Tuy An District. The substance is the remains of hard-shelled single-celled plants and can be used in toothpaste, for filtering beer, and as cat litter. The diatomite was packed in bags ready for sale. The authorities also discovered about 1,200cu.m of the mineral scattered in the fields of nearby residents. Earlier, the provincial People's Council checked on a shortage of clean water in two villages in the commune and found that the Diatomite Viet Nam Joint Stock Company drilled 40 different holes hunting for the mineral since the beginning of last year. This caused 15 wells in the villages to run dry, affecting the lives of 200 households containing 700 people. Illegal diatomite exploitation in An Xuan Commune has occurred off and on for the past 10 years. Diatomite was used to make filtering powder for liquor, beer and soft water manufacture, or used as an environmental purify substance in aqua culture. VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA