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Social
News Headlines 24/6
Vietnamese
nationality registration rescinded
Amendments to the
Law on Vietnamese Nationality approved on June 24 abolished the requirement
that expatriates residing abroad register to retain their Vietnamese
nationality.
The amendment comes
into effect immediately, however, is not retroactive.
All expatriates who
have not previously lost their nationality in accordance with prior law are
now exempt from the registration requirement and legally are entitled to
retain their Vietnamese nationality.
The law also
contains provisions for overseas Vietnamese to obtain documents to certify
their Vietnamese nationality for passport and other legal purposes.
These new changes
demonstrate the Party and State’s policy that considers OVs as an
indispensable part of the nation and creates the best possible conditions for
OVs to keep close attachment with the homeland.
The Hanoi-based
pilot project will have a total length of 14.7km, stretching from Yen Nghia
bus station to Kim Ma bus station.
It has an
investment capitalization of US$55 million sourced from World Bank loans, and
is due to be completed in the second quarter of 2015.
Four similar routes
will be built in Danang city at a total cost of US$50.2 million from the
World Bank. They will be put into operation in late 2017.
Meanwhile, the
first BRT lines in
The BRT system has
specialized designs, services and infrastructure to improve system quality,
and help cut down energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
24-storey
apartment building catches fire
Hundreds of
residents at Copac Square Apartment in
No injuries or
deaths were reported.
At 10 am, the fire
began to spread from the 22nd storey of the building on
Although the fire
was extinguished at 10:30 am, many people were afraid to return home, and
offices in the building were temporarily closed.
Police are
investigating the cause of fire.
MERS-Cov
likely to enter Vietnam
The deadly Middle
East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) may be on its way to
Head of the
Preventive Health Department under the Ministry of Health (MoH) Tran Dac Phu
issued the warning at an online meeting on prevention work in
Phu said although
no MERS-CoV cases have been detected in
The MoH announced
on June 20 that all passengers flying from the
MoH Minister Nguyen
Thi Kim Tien asked three international airports –
At the online
meeting, Phu also announced
He said the number
of cases infected with other contagious diseases declined compared to last
year’s figure, and no big outbreaks have been recorded so far this year.
MoH statistics show
since early this year, around 31,139 cases of hand-foot-mouth disease (HFM)
have been detected in 63 provinces and cities (down 7.6%), including two
deaths in Long An and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces.
Vietnam has also
confirmed 11,148 cases of dengue fever in 42 provinces and cities (down
45.2%), including 7 fatalities in Ho Chi Minh City (3), Binh Duong (1), Ca
Mau (1), Binh Phuoc (1) and Phu Yen (1).
There have also
been 319 cases of viral encephalitis, including four fatalities.
Phu said the
healthcare sector will coordinate with relevant agencies to complete
guidelines on dengue fever and Streptococcus suis prevention and carry out
Rubella vaccination campaign for children aged 1-14.
It will also apply
innovative software to monitor contagious diseases in 63 provinces and
cities.
The sector will
focus on disseminating information to raise public awareness of prevention
measures against the diseases via mass of media or workshops.
Rural
workers get easier access to vocational training
More than 5,000
rural workers have been provided employment and vocational training under a
government project targeting poor and ethnic minority households in the
2009-2020 period.
The announcement was
made on June 23 at a conference jointly held in
Under the project,
known as Project 1956, thousands of rural workers in poor districts have been
employed in overseas markets, MoLISA Deputy Minister Nguyen Trong Dam said.
Dam emphasised the
need to increase capacity for employment service centres by running training
courses for their staff and officers.
Dam called for
joint efforts by both MoLISA and the Youth Union to compile specific contents
for training courses, with a focus on soft skills and skills for career
options.
Many participants
at the conference suggested offering more incentive policies for young people
and students to help them borrow preferential credit loans and seize career
opportunities.
They also proposed
making zoning plans to build a network of employment service centres for
youth.
Proliferation
of restaurants around
Parts of
Currently, dozens
of floating restaurants are on
The management of
these businesses, however, has been lax, and the floating restaurants and
yachts often discharge waste and fuel directly into the lake. There are a
number of floating restaurants that have no waste water treatment systems.
While the pollution accrues around the area of these restaurants, it also
shows up on shore and effects the entire lake.
The Hanoi
Department of Transport has repeatedly requested that the floating
restaurants causing the most environmental harm to cease operations, however
the situation remains the same.
Kids to get
free heart surgeries
Poor children
suffering from congenital heart disease will receive free examinations and
operations from cardiologists and surgeons from
The programme,
which kicked off in
Under the
programme, mobile medical outreach clinics will provide free cardiac care to
100-500 children in each remote rural area.
Q-health
reaches out to central
Doctors and health
care management experts from
The programme,
starting next month, will provide health care for 2,500 people in Quang Ngai
province and take three children suffering from congenital heart disease to
Launched in 2012,
the five-year programme has received support from the Doosan Group, Doosan
Vina,
A Vietnam Energy
Bank team comprising Dang Huynh, Mai Anh and Nguyen Thi Thuy Duong from Ho
Chi Minh City-based Foreign Trade University, has won third prize in the Go
Green in the City contest in Paris.
The event was
hosted by Schneider Electric, a group working in energy management.
The 12 finalist
teams were from Egypt, Brazil, China, Vietnam, India, New Zealand, the US,
Russia, Turkey, Japan, Canada and France. They presented their ideas for
efficient energy management in smart cities.
EMG
replaces Cambridge for language study in HCM City
Recently, the
municipal Department of Education and Training announced that they would stop
enrollment under the
This news came as a
bit of a shock for parents, as the original deal was ended because EMG, a
Le Hong Son,
Director of the municipal Department of Education and Training, said that due
attention should be paid on improving the quality of education, and not so
much on the partner.
“EGM is a
prestigious international education group. We always take into account
quality when choosing partners,” Son commented.
Nguyen Phuong Lan,
EMG’s Vice Chairwoman, said, “During the time of with Cambridge International
Examinations (CIE), we were authorised to provide accreditations, as well as
distribute and implement the Cambridge programmes in Hanoi, HCM City and many
other localities across Vietnam. However, this was a short-term contract and
it would not be fair to say that CIE ended cooperation because of education
quality issues.”
According to Lan,
CIE’s criteria were too strict in formula and did not suit Vietnamese
students.
She added that EMG
also intended to stop cooperation CIE in order to focus finding new partners
for cooperation.
Poor
households to have flood-resilient housing
The Ministry of
Construction has submitted to the Government a proposal of building storm and
flood-resilient houses for 86,260 poor households in northern and central
coastal regions with State financial aid.
The three-year
proposal is scheduled to start this year, benefiting the first 20 percent of
the households.
According to the
ministry, the plan will cost over 2,315 billion VND (110.2 million USD),
including 621.6 billion VND coming from the State budget, close to 900
billion VND from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) and the
remaining to be contributed by the community.
According to
reports from localities, 37,447 households in 20 provinces and cities from
Quang Ninh to Ba Ria-Vung Tau are unable to afford houses or living in
dilapidated houses, while 48,813 others have their home vulnerable to storms.
The ministry has
proposed the State support one third of an average cost of a house,
equivalent to 16 million VND for each household or 19 million VND for those
living in remote, inaccessible areas.
They can also
borrow up to 16 million VND from the VBSP with a preferential interest of 3
percent per year in a 10-year period and a five-year extension.
Meanwhile, those
who are living in old houses vulnerable to storms can borrow 8 million VND
from the bank to repair and reinforce their houses with the same interest
rate, according to the proposal.
According to the
National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, about 10-12 storms and
tropical depressions may appear in the
The northern and
central coastal regions are frequently visited by storms and floods.
Former ACB
officials appeal against court verdict
The Hanoi People’s
Court on June 23 said it has received an appeal lodged by Nguyen Duc Kien,
former vice chairman of the founding council of the Asia Commercial Bank
(ACB), against the first instance verdict issued for him two weeks earlier.
Kien, who was born
in 1964 and resides in Quang An ward, Tay Ho district,
On June 9, the
court sentenced Kien to 30 years’ imprisonment for four offences – swindling
for the appropriation of assets, intentional violations of the State’s
economic management regulations causing serious consequences, tax evasion and
illegal trading.
Three others: ACB
former General Director Ly Xuan Hai, former ACB Vice Chairman Trinh Kim Quang
and the bank’s former board member Huynh Quang Tuan, have filed appeals
against their previous sentences in Kien’s case.
Hai was sentenced
to eight years in prison, while Quang and Tuan received four years and two
years behind bars, respectively, for the charge of intentionally violating
the State’s economic management regulations causing serious consequences.
According to the
law, June 24 is the deadline for appeals from four others in Kien’s case,
namely former ACB Vice Chairpersons Le Vu Ky and Pham Trung Cang, and Tran
Ngoc Thanh and Nguyen Thi Hai Yen, former Director and Chief Accountant of
Hanoi ACB Investment JSC.-
Overall
planning for
Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung has approved adjustments to an overall development planning
for the Mekong Delta through 2030, with a vision towards 2050.
The changes of the
2009 plan will be made across the whole region, which is constituted by Can
Tho city and other 12 provinces, and covers a combined area of nearly 40,605
square kilometres. The region had a population around 17.3 million in 2013.
The adjusted
planning is required to include analysis and assessment of the region’s
natural conditions and resources, ecological areas, national parks and
environmental preservation zones.
Impacts caused by
climate change, rising sea level and floods, along with socio-economic
development situation and infrastructure systems must be considered.
Forecasts for
regional development, physical structure and growth models and new national
and global developmental circumstances must be identified.
Meanwhile,
environmental changes resulting from socio-economic development and climate
change, and potential and momentums for regional development are to be
counted.
Regional growth
model should ensure the area is adapted to climate change and
Earlier, the
Ministry of Planning and Investment announced a master plan for the Mekong
Delta Economic Zone.
The zone,
consisting of Can Tho and the three provinces of Ca Mau, An Giang and Kien
Giang, will be developed into a large-scale tourism and service centre in
The Mekong delta is
known as
National
swimming tourney raises
The 41st national
long-distance swimming tournament last weekend raised over 23 million VND
(1,100 USD) in support of coast guards and fishermen working on and off the
coasts of the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes.
The tournament,
held in the central
They competed for
medals in four distances, ranging from 1km to 6km.
The
Rural
workers get easier access to vocational training
More than 5,000
rural workers have been provided employment and vocational training under a
government project targeting poor and ethnic minority households in the
2009-2020 period.
The announcement
was made on June 23 at a conference jointly held in
Under the project,
known as Project 1956, thousands of rural workers in poor districts have been
employed in overseas markets, MoLISA Deputy Minister Nguyen Trong Dam said.
Dam emphasised the
need to increase capacity for employment service centres by running training
courses for their staff and officers.
Dam called for
joint efforts by both MoLISA and the Youth Union to compile specific contents
for training courses, with a focus on soft skills and skills for career
options.
Many participants
at the conference suggested offering more incentive policies for young people
and students to help them borrow preferential credit loans and seize career
opportunities.
They also proposed
making zoning plans to build a network of employment service centres for
youth.
Degrees of foreign
education institutes must be certified by education authorities
The Ministry of
Education and Training has issued a document on recognition of foreign
education institutes’ qualifications in the country.
As per the
Ministry’s document, foreign education institutes’ qualifications is
recognized in Vietnam only if foreign education institutes are operational
legally and its quality is tested by Vietnamese education organization or a
foreign country.
Certificates of
degree of foreign education institutes that are certified by education
authorities of its own country will be accepted to use in
HCMC remits
tuition fee to poor students
The city's
Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has just sent its document
to related agencies directing tuition fee exemption to students from families
in poverty line and close to poverty line in the academic year 2014-2015.
Students enrolling
in evening classes at a local continuing education center and a state-run
school will be eligible for tuition fee exemptions.
Third child of poor
families or children of families whose economic condition is close to poverty
line will be exempted half of tuition fees.
In addition to
being exempted half of tuition fee, third child of families in poverty line
will receive financial support for studying expense of VND70,000 (US$ 3.28)
per student per month.
This amount will be
granted twice in nine months of an academic year.
More social
housing in Hanoi
Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung signed a directive to increase the number of social housing
projects in
Under his Decision
signed last week as part of a programme on housing development in
Accordingly, the
city will invest and build about 1.8 million sq.m of floor space by 2015,
which is equivalent to 20,000 apartments, to meet the housing demand of
retired civil servants, contributors to the country's revolutions and
development, as well as low-income residents. Another 2 million sq.m of floor
space will be built for workers and students to rent.
The number of
apartments for these groups is expected to rise to 32,000 by 2020.
However, the Prime
Minister's decision also puts a temporary end to new commercial housing
projects in the city's four downtown districts of Dong Da, Hoan Kiem, Ba
Dinh, Hai Ba Trung and part of the southern Tay Ho District.
It further sets a
target that, by 2015, the average housing area in the city will be 23.1 sq.m
per person, with a minimum area for one of 6.5 sq.m.
The investment for
the construction of social housing projects in this period will come from
city and State budgets at an estimated cost of more than VND6.7 trillion
(US$321 million).
It also requires an
increase in the coverage of concrete houses to 89.7%, along with a decrease
of cranky houses to just 0.05%.
The targets for
2020 will be an average housing area for one to be increased to 26.3 sq.m.
Concrete houses must make up 91.2% of the total and there will be no cranky
houses in the city by 2020.
The investment for
housing projects during this period is expected to reach VND6.9 trillion
(US$331 million) and will come from the city's budget.
By 2030, the number
of concrete houses in the city is set to reach 93.2%. The investment, coming
from the city's budget, is estimated at VND9.5 trillion (US$452 million).
The Prime Minister
asked
The document, to
replace a similar protocol signed in 2008, was penned after talks between
Vietnamese Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan and visiting
Under the 2008
protocol,
Every year
Since 2008
With the new
protocol, both sides will double the number of scholarships for their
students to 10 each as of 2014.
During his stay
from June 21-26, Minister Angusto Jone Luis visited several education
institutions in
Construction
starts on Vietnam-Korea vocational school
A groundbreaking
ceremony for the
The facility will
sit on 22,400 square metres with a total investment of over VND326 billion,
sourced from the
The project, to be
completed in June 2015, will be divided into two phases, with phase 1 costing
more than VND166 billion.
Once completed, the
college will train about 700-1,600 students per annum in 12 skills including
mechanics, electricity, food preservation, production of construction
materials, and tourism.
This is one of five
vocational colleges to be constructed under a cooperation project between the
governments of the two countries.
Four other similar
colleges are located in
Residents
struggle with sewage water
People in an old
apartment block in
People living on
the ground floor at the B5 apartment block on
"I'm 70 years
old. I'm getting weak and have arthritis so it's hard for me to move around.
I already reported the problem to authorities of Giang Vo Ward, but nothing
has been done so far," she said.
Chu Hoang Huy also
uses pump to suck out water to no avail. Unable to deal with the stench, he
has been forced to sleep at relative's homes. People from the second to the
fourth floor complain about the constant bad smell of the drainage system.
According to
residents, it all started on June 7, when the Delta Civil and Industrial
Construction Corporation began construction on the Sao Phuong Dong Hotel
Complex, just behind the apartment block. Neither the investors and
construction company have dealt with the problem. A project manager said,
"I heard about this. But it's still unclear whether the problem is
caused by our construction or something else. We only work within the project
boundary."
After receiving
reports from residents, authorities of Giang Vo Ward sent vacuum trucks to
clear the area on June 19. However, the sewer water quickly returned.
Residents said that they were sure the sewage system had been damaged by
hotel construction.
The sum will be
used to build nine clean water supply systems to benefit 4,600 households in
20 communes in the province.
So far, three such
plants have been completed, supplying clean water to 46 households in the
locality. Another six plants are in the preliminary phases of construction.
Part of the sum
will be used to build latrines with septic tanks in 15 communes.
However, the
continuous wet weather has hampered the progress of the work since June, but
is expected to get back on track as the weather is improving.
Tran Anh Tuan, vice
chairman of Ben Tre provincial People’s Committee, pledged to speed up the
project to ensure it will be completed on schedule.
An estimated 1,000
Overseas Vietnamese (OVs) joined hands with German friends on June 22 in a
peaceful march in Frankfurt, vociferously decrying
Marchers came from
cities throughout
The march provided
an opportune occasion for OVs in
They called on
peace lovers from around the globe to stand shoulder to shoulder in
opposition to Chinese aggression, including the inhumane acts towards
Vietnamese fishermen.
A German friend
Rocco Fritzchka said his conscience beckoned him to support
The organising
board distributed thousands of posters and placards condemning
This is the second
demonstration staged by OVs and international friends in Frankfurt in
opposition to
Reservoir
control to benefit millions
More than 1.7
million people and thousands of hectares of rice in the central
This follows a
Government decision to more efficiently operate existing reservoirs in the Vu
Gia-Thu Bon River basin.
The decision was
announced by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment in
Under the decision,
operations of the A Vuong, Dak Mi 4 and Song Tranh 2 reservoirs wil be
strictly controlled during the flood season between September and December.
This would require
co-operation between the ministries of Natural Resources and Environment,
Agriculture and Rural Development, and Industry and Trade.
Search and rescue
committees in
The decision also
calls for strong safety measures to be taken by the three hydropower plants
in the Vu Gia-Thu Bon river system to minimise losses caused by the discharge
of water from their reservoirs
Deputy Minister of
Natural Resources and Environment, Nguyen Thai Lai, said it was a timely
decision on balancing electricity production and ensuring the safety of
lowland populations and crops.
Deputy director of
the
However, Ngo Viet
Hai, general director of Power Plant Corporation No 2 said investors who
build and operate hydro-electricity plants could make losses if the water in
reservoirs was kept or released based on schedules made by ministries and
provinces instead of by plant operators.
"We would lose
VND645 billion (US$30.7 million) if we reduced the capacity of three
hydropower plants – Song Tranh 2, Dak Mi 4 and A Vuong in flood season,"
Hai said.
He requested
ministries and authorities in Quang
During the rainy
season, which occurs from September, the reservoirs release water for the
dam's safety, but this can cause unexpected floods in downstream areas.
Last year, the
central region experienced losses of VND28 trillion (US$1.3 billion) due to
flood and storms.
Source: VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/ND
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Thứ Ba, 24 tháng 6, 2014
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