Social News 21/7 People attack bee farms in Quang Ngai Dozens of local people have destroyed many honey bee farms over several days in Binh Son District in the central Quang Ngai Province. The people said the bees were killed as they were destroying paddy fields and vegetable gardens. Bui Thi An, the owner of a bee farm, told the Vnexpress.net that on Sunday she received many threatening phone calls, asking her to move the farm out of An Khuong Commune in Binh Son District. The callers threatened to set fire to the farm and spray chemicals to kill the bees. "About 20 young people had come to destroy the farm and spray chemicals to kill many bees the previous night," An said. Some persons even threatened to kill the owner and the workers of the farm. The farm of Le Van Toan also faced a similar situation. Many wooden bee containers, worth several million dong, were destroyed. The local government had allowed bee farms to be set up. But the local people thought the bees were destroying their paddy fields. Although the beekeepers explained that it was not so several times, the bee farms continued to be attacked. The local government has asked the police to investigate and take measures to control the situation, Vice-Chairman of Binh An Commune's People's Committee Le Quoc An said. This year, the number of bee farms has jumped to 11 from a handful last year, An said. The commune had never seen so many bees, so the local people were afraid the bees would harm their crops, An said. Last July, bee farms in Nghia Lam Commune in Tu Nghia District were destroyed. Dozens of young men attacked bee farm owners and asked them to give compensation for the loss of their paddy fields which, they thought, had been destroyed by bees. In fact, agricultural experts have said honey bees do not cause any harm to rice crops. Police catch hit-and-run culprit   The accident on Thuan Phuoc Bridge on Sunday night killed a woman and injured her husband. Police have successfully caught the hit-and-run culprit. — Photo vnepxress.net Hai Chau District's police have located the driver who fled the scene of an accident on Thuan Phuoc Bridge on Sunday night that killed a woman and injured her husband. The police had traced the fragments of the car, found at the accident site, to the driver, who was identified as Tran Duc Quoc Anh, 32, a resident of the district. Anh confessed at the district police's office that he had consumed alcohol, including beer, 30 minutes before hitting the motorbike with two people on it on the bridge on Sunday night. He said he was speeding and could not see clearly when his car collided with the motorbike, dragging it along the bridge for 60m. Anh said he fled the scene and left his car on Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, not far from the accident site. However, the covers of two of the indicator lights and the rim of a headlight on his car were found at the site, which helped police track him down. According to a report from the city's traffic police department, Huynh Dinh Sanh, 23, and his wife Pham Thi Huong, 22, were travelling from Son Tra Peninsula to the city's downtown area when a car coming from the opposite direction hit their bike and pulled it 60m along the road. Huong was found dead at the scene, while her husband is receiving treatment at the city's General Hospital. The bike was damaged beyond repair. According to a source with the city's traffic police, on the same night, a truck veered off the September 2nd (2/9) Street and collided with a taxi travelling in the opposite direction. The collision wounded six Chinese tourists, who were discharged from the city's General Hospital after receiving medical care. Last week, three people were killed and two children injured when their bikes were hit by a van in a head-on collision on the city's highest bridge. In March, five people were killed at the Ba Na-Suoi Mo junction when a bus hit a four-seater car. Dong Thap to upgrade broken wharf The Dong Thap Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will spend VND22 billion (US$1 million) from the provincial budget on upgrading the Tran Quoc Toan petrol base depot's main wharf. A part of the wharf, in Ward 11 in Cao Lanh City, broke on July 5, causing losses of more than VND12 billion ($550,000). Warning signs were installed in the area and local residents were moved to safer places. About 400m of the wharf has to be repaired. The upgrade work is expected to be completed in four months. The Dong Thap Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said after the upgrade work was completed, it would report to the provincial People's Committee and ask for the follow-up plan. The department will act as an investor, prepare design documents and choose the contractor for the project. Police rewarded for cracking family murder case Chairman of the Nghe An People's Committee Nguyen Xuan Duong today rewarded two police groups a total of VND200 million (US$9,500) for cracking a family murder case in the province. The policemen are from the public security ministry and the Nghe An Police. Last Sunday, the groups caught a resident of Phong Village in Tam Hop Commune, Vi Van Man, often called Vi Van Hai, for allegedly killing a couple, their eight-month-old son and their 70-year-old mother in the village. The murder case happened on July 2. Man told the police he had killed the four people over personal problems. Last Saturday, Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang asked the Police General Department and provincial police to conduct investigation on the case. Men sentenced to death for double murder The Gia Lai People's Court today sentenced a 23-year-old man to death for killing two members and injuring another two of the same family in Ia Kla Commune, Duc Co District. On January 20 this year, Nguyen Van Tien, who lived in the commune, brought with him at around 9pm a knife and a self-made electrical tool with the intention to steal dogs. While passing by the house of Nguyen Xuan Cuong, 56, Tien heard a dog barking, and decided to steal Cuong's dog. But when he tried to commit the crime, Cuong's got to know that Tien had entered his house. Tien stabbed Cuong with the knife, thus killing him. Cuong's wife Phan Thi Mao, 53, Cuong's daughter Nguyen Thi Thuy, 18, and Cuong's mother Luu Thi Ho, 90, heard strange sounds and ran towards the scene of the tragedy. Tien stabbed all the three women. While Thuy died, Mao was seriously injured and Ho sustained minor injuries. Tien absconded to Pleiku City. On January 23, he returned to Ia Kla Commune to gather information but was caught by the police, who were waiting there to ambush him. BOT deals to float waterway projects The Ministry of Transport has approved 45 build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects worth VND11 trillion (US$505.6 million) to upgrade waterway routes, estuaries and ports. The projects, to be implemented during the 2015-20 period, aim to provide a major boost for waterway transportation in the country, said Tran Van Tho, Deputy Head of the Viet Nam Inland Waterway Department. These are the first-ever BOT projects for the waterway transport sector, he added. Tho expressed confidence that the 45 projects would attract investors, given their genuine development potential. "Take the project on Tra Ly River in Thai Binh Province, for example. There are two big thermal power plants in the area that need nine million tonnes of coal every year. "The distance for transporting coal from Quang Ninh Province to the plants is 280km on the current Luoc River route. The BOT project will open a new coastal route will shorten the distance to 140km," he said. He said the new projects marked a growing recognition of the fact that waterways offer the cheapest transportation option. Several seminars have been held to identify and remove hurdles faced by waterway transport businesses, and the department has been providing support in terms of infrastructure facilities and easier administrative procedures, he said. The department has also asked relevant agencies to dredge rivers and canals and upgrade signal systems on all routes. So far, three master plans have been prepared for inland waterway transport development, including two detailed plans for waterway port systems in the North and South, have been formulated, said Tho. He said many projects on upgrading infrastructure facilities have been carried out on the 45 main routes. These include World Bank-funded projects in Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region, Ha Noi, Hai Phong City, as well as the northern provinces of Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa and Quang Ninh. However, Tho conceded that water transport safety was a cause for concern. In the first half of the year, there were 63 waterway accidents, 19 more than the same period last year. The main reasons for the accidents were traffic rule violations and drunken ship conductors. He said waterway management agencies in localities have been asked to review signal systems on all routes, and take measures to control overloaded vehicles and illegal wharfs. General Vietnamese Association in Laos convenes 2nd congress The General Vietnamese Association in Laos convened its 2nd congress in Vientiane on July 27. The event was attended by Vice Chairman of the Centre Committee of the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) Chanthavong Sengamatmonty, Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister and Head of the State Committee on Overseas Vietnamese Affairs (COVA) Vu Hong Nam, and representatives from the Vietnamese Embassy, Consulate Generals and the Vietnamese Association in Laos. Established in 2009, the General Association has 12 chapters in provinces and cities across Laos. It coordinates with the embassy to organise cultural, education and sports activities, significantly contributing to connecting the community and preserving Vietnam’s cultural characteristics. In his speech at the event, Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Vu Hong Nam hailed the organisation’s recent achievements and affirmed that its executive board plays a central role in the community. He hoped the association’s new executive board would successfully implement the set targets and its chapters would intensify and renew their activities, thus strengthening the association and enhancing solidarity within the Vietnamese community in Laos. In his interview granted to Vietnam News Agency correspondents in Laos, LFNC Vice Chairman Chanthavong Sengamatmonty spoke highly of the prominent attainments reaped by the General Association in the last tenure, especially in promoting solidarity among overseas Vietnamese in Laos and strengthening the Vietnam-Laos friendship and special solidarity. He affirmed that his agency will continue to work closely with the General Association. At the event, the congress elected a new 23-member executive board and adopted the congress’s resolution and the action plan of the General Association for the 2015-2019 tenure. On the occasion, Deputy Minister Vu Hong Nam and Ambassador Nguyen Manh Hung presented certificates of merit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the COVA to a number of organisations and individuals in recognition of their contributions to the community. Vietnam to hold candle tributes for martyrs nationwide Candle-lighting ceremonies in memory of fallen Vietnamese soldiers will take place nationwide between 19:30 and 21:00 on July 26 to mark the 68th Vietnam War Invalids and Martyrs Day (July 27, 1947). The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and local authorities will hold ceremonies to glorify the martyrs, in which flowers will be laid and candles lit at National Cemetery Highway No. 9 in central Quang Tri province and the Security Historical Relics Complex Zone 9 in U Minh Thuong district of southern Kien Giang province. Its chapter in Quang Tri will present gifts and houses and provide free health exams to Vietnamese Heroic Mothers, war veterans and invalids, and relatives of war martyrs. Local students will join together to clean up martyr cemeteries in the locality. Kien Giang province will raise local awareness of the day’s history and significance while highlighting the responsibility of younger generations to those who sacrificed their lives for national liberation and unity Summer camp for Vietnamese expat youth underway in HCM City As many as 60 young Vietnamese expats from the US, France, the Czech Republic, Singapore, Laos and Cambodia are joining the annual summer camp which kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City on July 20. The event, themed “Vietnam que huong toi” (Vietnam-my native land), will cover a raft of activities including paying tribute to Uncle Ho, learning about the nation’s heroic tradition during the struggle for independence and national reunification and visiting the Museum of Ho Chi Minh Campaign, among others. The campers will have chance to experience river life in the southwest region, visit Nguyen Thi Dinh Temple and conduct exchanges with local youth during their trip to Ben Tre province. Especially, the process of liberalising Saigon in the 1975 Spring Offensive will be brought to life through the acting of the campers. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh, Deputy Head of the municipal Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, said the summer camp is held every year to offer overseas Vietnamese a chance to understand the country, meet their peers in Ho Chi Minh City and participate in a number of meaningful activities. She added that the summer camp has welcomed over 600 people from numerous countries and territories worldwide through the years. This year’s event will run until July 23.- Lao Cai improves living standards in mountainous areas People in mountainous areas in northern Lao Cai province are enjoying a better life with improved customs and hygienic toilet facilities as the result of a local project carried out from 2011-2015. After five years of implementation, the project has proven effective in contributing to the recognition of nine communes as modern rural areas. Since 2011, the locality has seen a significant increase of certified marriages, accounting for nearly 96 percent of local marriages. Meanwhile, a remarkable reduction has been recorded in child marriages, from 233 couples in 2011 to 151 couples in 2014, or 3.2 percent. The majority are in Bac Ha district of Sa Pa town. The district also recorded fewer marriages among people of the same direct blood line or among relatives within three generations, only 0.08 percent. Thanks to the project, clean water supply has been ensured for 84.5 percent of local households. Roughly 77 percent of the local households have been equipped with hygienic toilet facilities, 56.5 percent of which are standardized. Giang Seo Thao, Head of the provincial Ethnic Minority Department, highlighted the contribution the project has made to improving the spiritual and material lives of local residents. Local children under six, the impoverished and ethnic minority people in disadvantaged areas have received health insurance coverage. The local poverty rate has also been halved since 2011, posting at 17.61 percent in 2014 thanks to practical assistance offered to local residents. Ha Giang to further extend national grid to far-flung areas The Ha Giang Electricity Company is working to develop local power networks and extend the national grid to far-flung areas in northernmost Ha Giang province, said Director Hoang Van Thien. The power company plans to build a 13.8/220-kilovolt transformer station with a designed capacity of 50 megavolt amperes and seven other 110-kilovolt stations with a combined capacity of 236 megavolt amperes while a 220/110-kilovolt transformer station and four other 110-kilovolt stations will be expanded, capable of producing an additional 260 megavolt amperes in total. The construction of a 9-kilometre 220-kilovolt power line and ten 110-kilovolt power lines totalling 58 kilometres in length are also slated for the period, benefiting Binh Vang and Nam Quang industrial parks, Thanh Thuy Border Gate Economic Zone and Tung Ba iron ore mine In addition, the firm is inviting investment for a number of electricity projects that serve the transmission of China-imported electricity and link several local hydropower plants to the national grid. This year, the Ha Giang Electricity Company will give priority to power projects that benefit tourism growth in Dong Van Karst Plateau and the resettlement of ethnic minority people from residential areas prone to landslides and flash flooding. The national grid has reached 1,615 out of 2,057 villages of the locality and about 78 percent of its population to date. Vietnam, Japan boost links in agriculture technology Vietnamese and Japanese scientists working in micro-electro-mechanical and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies gathered at a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on July 20 to discuss specific orientations for researching, designing, manufacturing and applying agricultural production technologies. Co-hosted by the the Ho Chi Minh City Hi-Tech Zone and the Japan Society for Precision Engineering (JSPE), the workshop heard in-depth scientific reports on wireless sensors applied to breeding and cultivation. Participants introduced latest results from studies on sensory and IoT technologies serving agricultural development while proposing cooperation projects between Vietnamese scientists and their Japanese partners in the field. They also discussed visions, development orientations and ways to forge links and develop cooperation programmes. At the workshop, representatives from the Ho Chi Minh City Hi-Tech Zone and the JSPE signed a cooperation agreement on research and training, exchanging experts and defining the application of micro-electro-mechanical products to form business cooperation models in the field. Regional seminar on country contributions to new climate change deal A regional seminar held in Hanoi on July 20 discussed preparations for intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) to the new climate change agreement to be concluded at the 21 st Conference of the Parties (COP 21) at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2015. During COP 20 in Lima, Peru last year, participants were urged to build and submit their own INDCs this year, ahead of COP 21 in Paris, said Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha. So far, 19 sets of INDCs have been submitted to the UNFCCC Secretariat. Vietnam’s draft INDCs document covers expected contributions to greenhouse gas emission reduction and climate change adaptation to be implemented in the country from 2021-2030. The plans have received feedback from research institutes, non-governmental and international organisations, and development partners. Representatives from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Vanuatu raised their voices to devise their own INDCs and discuss the possibility of cooperation in response to climate change within the Francophone community in the Asia-Pacific. The seminar was co-hosted by the International Organisation of La Francophonie, the Francophonie Institute for Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Lao Cai sees surge in number of tourist in Q1 The number of tourists to the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai from January-June surged by nearly 30 percent over the same period last year after the Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway opened in 2014. Hotels and farm produce in popular destinations such as Sa Pa town, Bac Ha market, and Lao Cai were quickly booked and sold out due to the rising volume of vacationers, according to Lu Van Khuyen, Head of the culture-information department in Sa Pa district. Bac Ha market, for example, saw a year-on-year increase of 20-30 percent in the number of visitors. Night markets are now open during weekends to meet tourist demand. The Bac Ha district also launched promotion programmes and developed ecological tourism along the Chay River. Chairman of the Sa Pa district’s People’s Committee Trinh Xuan Truong said the tourism sector had forecast the surge and mapped out plans to cope with the expansion, but they were too small and have yet to meet the increasing demand. Yet this is a good sign to promote the sale of local farm products, develop manufacturing and increase local incomes, he said. To take advantage of the expressway linking Hanoi capital with Lao Cai province, local authorities plan to improve infrastructure and services, expand areas for fruit cultivation and animal livestock, ensure food hygiene and safety and open packaging and souvenir stores. As an important component of the Kunming-Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong road corridor, the Noi Bai-Lao Cai highway is a key part of a cooperation programme between Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and China. Quang Ninh seeks tourism sector reforms The Ha Long Bay Management Board in the northeast province of Quang Ninh said it is going to increase cooperation with the private sector to implement tourism sector reforms. Pham Thuy Duong, Head of the board, said that the major goal in 2015 is to shake up all business activities in Ha Long Bay, one of the major tourist destinations in northern Vietnam. Given the scale of the task, Duong called on relevant departments and local governments to closely coordinate to seek effective measures, ensure a healthy business environment and develop tourism brands. The board, Duong said, will design plans to put farming and trading seafood, kayaking and man-powered boating services in the bay under management. At each tourist site, the board will use public-private partnerships to diversify tourism products and services. The board will also put manned-boating services out for competitive tender and called on investors to develop tourism products for the province. The public-private partnership model will apply to all tourism sites in the bay to diversify tourism products. Ha Long Bay is known for its emerald water and thousands of towering limestone islands topped by rainforests and welcome millions of local and international tourists each year. Workshop discusses NA role in implementing FTAs The role of the National Assembly in ratifying and implementing free trade agreements (FTAs) was the focus of a workshop held by the NA Committee for External Relations and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in central Thua Thien-Hue province on July 20. Participants – including NA deputies, economists and representatives of both domestic and foreign businesses – discussed the specific impacts of FTAs on Vietnam’s economy as well as challenges facing the country during the negotiation and signing process. They also shared opinions on legal issues to be revised or supplemented to increase the country’s trade competitiveness. In recent years, along with domestic reforms, Vietnam has actively participated in negotiations for bilateral and multilateral FTAs with numerous important partners. To date, Vietnam has signed 10 FTAs; those with the Republic of Korea and the Eurasian Economic Union were reached in 2015. Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri