Social News 9/11 Another Russian arrested in Nha Trang's ATM card fraud ring Police in the central province of Khanh Hoa have taken into custody the third Russian national who allegedly worked with another two in withdrawing over VND171 million (US$7,500) with fake bank cards in Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City. Yury Bondarenko, 29, now along with Kotets Viacheslav, 43, and Troian Aleksei, 32, are being investigated on charges of "using computers, telecommunication networks, Internet or digital devices to appropriate others' property," the province's news website quoted police as saying on November 6. Under Vietnam's existing laws, the crime is punishable by a jail term up to five years. Initial investigation found that the men entered Vietnam through Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat Airport on October 14 and 20. They brought with them two laptops, nine cell phones, one magnetic stripe reader, and hundreds of blank cards, police said.  Bondarenko was allegedly in charge of contacting their overseas accomplices who would provide him with stolen accounts' information so he could make the fake bank cards.  Yury Bondarenko, 29, has been arrested in the central resort town of Nha Trang for allegedly colluding with another two Russian nationals to withdraw money with fake ATM cards. Photo credit: Khanh Hoa police Once the cards were ready to use, he delivered them to another two men who stayed in different hotels around District 1. On October 22 and 23, they made 12 cash withdrawals, amounting to over VND38 million (US$1,600), at the BIDV bank's ATM booths, police said, adding they spent the money paying for hotels and meals. They traveled to Nha Trang the next day and again stayed in three different hotels. Police said the men targeted BIDV's ATM booths around the town, making 39 withdrawals and pocketing over VND133 million (US$5,800). This time, however, their "abnormal" transactions were flagged by the bank's Khanh Hoa branch, according to the news website. Aleksei and Viacheslav were caught red-handed at two different ATM booth on the night of October 27. A raid on the suspects' hotel rooms produced over VND247 million and nearly EUR49,000 in cash, or US$31,400 in total, and 250 magnetic stripe cards, police said. Investigation is ongoing. China public security ministry probes death of Vietnamese businesswoman The Chinese Ministry of Public Security has begun looking into a case in which a Vietnamese businesswoman died allegedly of poisoning in mainland China in September, authorities in the hometown of the deceased said on November 6. The ministry will take over the investigation from police in the Chinese province of Guangzhou, according to the Department of External Relations in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. The certificate of death of Ha Thuy Linh was also handed to the her family in Vietnam, 45 days after the 45-year-old was discovered dead in China, in order to finish necessary legal procedures for the investigation. The body of the deceased businesswoman cannot be repatriated as Chinese authorities will re-perform an autopsy, said Ha My Chau, the victim’s sister. It is still unclear when Linh’s body could be returned, Chau added. “Relevant authorities in China asked me many questions about the personal life of my sister, but I could not provide much information,” Chau said. The family has asked Chinese authorities to speed up the post-mortem examination and return the body to the family for funeral rituals, according to Chau. However, the request was refused as Chinese authorities consider the case to be complicated and require forensic consultation, meaning the repatriation cannot be approved as it will affect investigation. Ha Thuy Linh, who was director of Lam Dong-based Ha Linh O Long Tea Company, was found dead three days after she arrived in Guangzhou on September 19 on a business trip. The company is famous for its tea exports to Taiwan and mainland China, which accounts for 60% of its total output. Linh founded her firm in 2008 after she divorced her Taiwanese husband, who had established Haiyih Tea Company, where the woman was a vice director. On 2014, her ex-husband return to Vietnam and demanded the claim of the business brand ownership. The process to return the body of Vietnamese nationals who died overseas is quite simple, according to some major insurance companies. When an insured Vietnamese encounter an accident or suffer injuries or death, the repatriation of their body is usually covered within the shortest possible time, they told Tuoi Tre (Youth) Newspapers. In a similar case, the victim’s body was returned to Vietnam after 24 hours of the accident as the cause of death was quickly identified and was covered by their travel insurance. Depending on the family’s wishes, the body of the victims can be transported by air or cremated at the country of accident, and the ashes will be handed back to family members. Hanoi wants to share urban development experience with Jakarta Hanoi hopes to share urban management experience with Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, especially in implementing infrastructure projects, Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen The Thao said on November 6.  At a meeting with Governor of Jakarta Basuki Tjahaja Purnama during his visit to the Indonesian metropolis from November 5-7, Thao gave his host an overview of Hanoi, saying the more than 1,000-year-old city is the oldest among capitals of the Southeast Asian countries with a plenty of historical and cultural heritages.  It is now rising as an attractive destination in the region in terms of economy, politics, culture and tourism, he added.  Governor Purnama agreed, hoping that the two cities will cooperate in dealing with issues facing their development such as urban transportation, the environment, housing and administrative reforms.  Both sides said they are looking forward to a tighter partnership towards a modern and prosperous development in the future, thus contributing to the upcoming ASEAN Community.- Hanoi cabbie returns US$7,000 to foreign passenger A taxi driver in Hanoi returned on November 6 a huge amount of properties including US$7,000 worth of cash to a Greek passenger who left them on his cab last month. On October 31, Vu Van Kien, a Bac A taxi driver, found a small orange bag containing US$7,000 and KRW1,000 in cash, three savings books and other personal items, left on the side of the front seat after all passengers had left. The 28-year-old driver then reported the case to Bac A Taxi switchboard. The taxi operator then cooperated with police in Cau Dien Ward to look for the owner of the lost properties, and managed to find him, Vlassopoulos E.Lefteris, the following day. The 69-year-old Greek national works for the Marine Technical Bureau Co., Ltd., in the northern city of Haiphong. Lefteris said he had left the money behind shortly after withdrawing them from a bank to cover the company’s costs. The properties were considered lost as he could not remember the exact license plate or the name of the company which runs the service, he told officers. The Greek expressed both of his appreciation and surprise to police after receiving the assets back. Kien, the honest cab driver, was praised and awarded for his action by Bac A Taxi in front of the entire company staff on November 6. Hanoi leaders commemorate Russia’s October Revolution A delegation of the Party Committee, People’s Council, People’s Committee and Vietnam Fatherland Front’s Committee of Hanoi on November 7 laid a basket of flower at the statue of Vladimir Ilych Lenin in Ba Dinh district’s Chi Lang Parkto to mark the 98th anniversary of the Russian October Revolution (November 7, 1917).  The delegation was led by Vice Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee and Chairwoman of the municipal People’s Council Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc.  The city’s leaders also expressed their respect for Lenin for his great contributions to the world’s revolutionary cause.  Lenin is one of the leading political figures and revolutionary thinkers of the 20th century, who masterminded the Bolshevik take-over of power in Russia in 1917. He was the architect and first leader of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Russia’s October Revolution marked in HCM City A ceremony was held in Ho Chi Minh City on November 6 to mark the 98th anniversary of the Russian October Revolution (November 11, 1917- 2015). Addressing the function, Nguyen Huu Thanh, Chairman of the Vietnam-Russia Friendship Association’s Ho Chi Minh City chapter, said the October Revolution had a very special significance and a great influence on Vietnam’s revolution, laying a foundation for the precious traditional friendship between the two nations. He affirmed that together with the people nationwide, the Ho Chi Minh City people will do their best to preserving and developing the fine bilateral relationship. Alexey Popov, Russian Consul General to HCM City, said Russia’s development achievements cannot overlook the support and assistance of fraternal nations, including Vietnam. He expressed his belief that the Vietnam-Russia relationship will thrive in the future and the two countries will continue to cooperate and support each other in many fields.- OV students in Phnom Penh enter new school year The General Association of Vietnamese-Cambodians launched the 2015-2016 academic year at the Khmer-Vietnam Tan Tien friendship primary school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on November 6. Speaking at the launching ceremony, headmistress Thach Thi Lan affirmed that the school will do its utmost to help students preserve Vietnamese identities while attaining basic knowledge to integrate into the host community. During the 2015-2016 academic year, some 300 students will pursue their study in both Khmer and Vietnamese languages, making the school the largest Vietnamese and Khmer language education establishment of the Vietnamese-Cambodian community. On this occasion, representatives from the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia and the General Association of Vietnamese-Cambodians presented gifts to students with outstanding academic performance. The Khmer-Vietnam Tan Tien friendship primary school has welcomed thousands of students since its establishment seven years ago. It has designed curricula in Vietnamese and Khmer languages for students from the 1st to 5th grade. Russia, Vietnam hold cooperation meeting in Moscow The Russia-Vietnam Joint Committee on Education, Science and Technology Cooperation is determined to strengthen cooperation to meet the challenges posed by security, global growth, climate change and migration. This was the message that emerged from the committee’s first meeting convened in Moscow on November 5-6 whose participants included Vietnam Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Chu Anh Ngoc and Russia Deputy Minister of Education and Science Veniamin Kaganov. Both Ngoc and Kaganov underscored the importance of education, science and technology cooperation as the way forward to create a solid foundation to realize the overall goals of the committee. Ngoc noted in particular that past experience shows the majority of Vietnamese university students who studied in Russia have returned home to assume important positions in the public and private sectors. During the course of the meeting, participants discussed a wide array of measures to foster cooperation through the Vietnam-Russia Tropical Centre pertaining to tropical biology, medicine and environmental pollution. They also noted for the 2016-2017 academic year, Russian organizations have provided roughly 800-1,000 scholarships and grants for Vietnamese students to continue their tertiary education. 86 percent Vietnamese tighten spending, survey The latest report by Nielsen shows that Vietnamese consumers have continued cutting family spending because the economy has not completely recovered from crisis. Specifically, 86 percent of people under a survey said that they have changed spending habit to reduce costs for the last 12 months. Most of them have reduced spending on gas, electricity, phone bills, outside amusement activities and new clothes. According to the survey, Vietnam was in the lead of Southeast Asia with 78 percent consumers affirming priority to saving. It was followed by Indonesia with 74 percent, the Philippines with 67 percent, Singapore 66 percent, Thailand and Malaysia 64 percent. However, after paying necessary costs, 42 percent Vietnamese consumers were still willing to spend on tourism, 41 percent on house repair and 39 percent on new clothes. Investment lifts quality at VN public hospitals By utilising their budgets and borrowing funds, many hospitals improved their quality and raised confidence in domestic hospitals. Deputy director of Viet Duc Hospital, Nguyen Thi Bich Huong said the hospital borrowed from banks to operate a new department using advanced treatment techniques. "We decided to borrow money as the need for hospital upgrades and expansion was urgent while the budget was limited," said Huong. The new department had more than 300 beds, 25 modern operating rooms and covered a total of 2,400sqm. The department helped to ease overcrowding which was a burden to the once-900-bed hospital with thousands of patients every day, Huong said. The hospital invested a total of VND394 billion (US$18 million) with 61 per cent being lent by VDB at 9.6 per cent annual interest rate. A second branch of the National Endocrinology Hospital has been recently operated with 700 beds, 300 rooms and 15 specialised departments in use. With its second branch in use, the hospital successfully met the target of one person per bed. The hospital was once overcrowded with up to 1,700 patients every day and three patients to a bed. The hospital invested a total of VND497billion ($22 million) with 30 per cent coming from the hospital's budget and the rest lent by Viet Nam Development Bank (VDB), according to director of the hospital, Tran Ngoc Luong. In Ha Noi, there are 13 out of 41 public hospital and six health centres taking part in privatisation programmes and 48 co-operation schemes allowing investors to invest in health equipment. Leaders of hospitals are still concerned about the annual interest rate and their capability to repay loans. "The interest rate offered by the ADB is still high with some packages reaching up to 12 per cent annually and the repayment period being only 12 years," said director of Hue Central General Hospital, Bui Duc Phu. "The annual interest rate needs to be adjusted and preferential corportate income tax should be offered to facilitate public health centres in borrowing money to invest in infrastructure and to improve service quality," added Phu. The National Endocrinology Hospital also faced difficulties in repaying the borrowed money as the interest rate was high, said hospital director, Luong. A health ministry representative said when the health service increased prices soon, hospitals would have more money to cover debts. To reach the target of having an additional 9,000 beds by 2020, hospitals needed to attract more private investors to upgrade infrastructure and equipment, said Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien. In addition, the ministry signed a co-operation agreement in infrastructure and health equipment development between the ministry and VDB and Viettinbank. The Ministry has recently received a preferential credit package of VND30,000 billion ($1.3 billion) from Viettinbank.  House owners to benefit from HCM City proposal The HCM City people's committee has proposed that land-use certificates should be granted to people who bought houses without signing valid contracts between July 2004 and January 2008. About 40,000 house owners in the city will benefit if the proposal, sent to the government and the environment and natural resources ministry, is approved. In order to get the certificates, the house owners must fulfill their financial obligations to the government such as paying taxes and ensuring that the land/ house is not under dispute and facing any complaints. The move was expected to ensure the rights of the house owners, the city authorities said. More than 92 per cent of the 1.52 million house owners in the city have been granted land-use right certificates and house ownership certificates as of last year. More than 116,600 land and house owners have not received their certificates, with 23,000 of them not wanting the documents and the rest having failed to meet the requirements. Among those house owners who are not qualified to receive the certificates, 40 per cent bought houses after July 2004 without signing authorised contracts, 23 per cent had built houses against the city's housing plan and 0.4 per cent had violated land and construction laws. Quality human resources vital for Mekong economy Limited human resources for socio-economic development is a major challenge in the economic development of the Mekong Delta, which plays a strategic role in food exports and national food security, experts said at a seminar organised by Can Tho University and RMIT University. The quality of human resources in the Mekong Delta is the lowest compared with other regions in the country, according to research. Between 2006 and 2011, the number of labourers undergoing training increased roughly one per cent. Between 2005 and 2013, the number of high school students fell one per cent each year, a reflection of the aging population. Fifty per cent of the people in the region are employed in the agriculture sector. In some provinces such as Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, the rate is high as 65 to 70 per cent. Tourism is one of the sectors in the delta that requires well-trained human resources to fully exploit the tourism potential in the area. Huynh Truong Huy, of Can Tho University, said the shortage of qualified tourism staff had hindered tourism development. Associate Professor Le Viet Dung of Can Tho University, said that a survey conducted in 2014 showed that more than 80 per cent of staff working in the tourism sector in the region had no foreign language skills and not received formal training. Dung said that co-operation between tourism companies and tourism schools was needed to improve human resource training. Within ten years since 2005, Can Tho University has co-operated with other provinces in the region in a project to send 552 people to foreign countries for training.  Vietnam mother gives her all to help baby survive, combat disabilities A woman has adamantly refused to give up on her baby son, who was jerked back from the grip of death due to a less common illness, and persisted in his battle against multiple disabilities over the past one year. Since giving birth to her second child16 months ago, Ha Thi Quynh Nga, 37, who resides in Bac Tu Liem District in Hanoi, has tirelessly tended to the baby son for months on end at a go in hospital for his blood exchanges and physical therapy sessions. Her eldest daughter was born and grew up healthily. However, during Nga’s two following deliveries, her two newborns grew increasingly faint and suffered labored breathing before passing away only four to five after birth. Their deaths baffled the doctors, however. One day in early June last year, the mother’s worst fear was again materialized as her newborn, named Hai Dang, also suffered yellowing skin, faintness and much difficulty breathing shortly following birth just as his two deceased siblings did. Tests confirmed that the little boy, who has RH- a rare blood type, suffers blood contamination and needed transfusion. Dang was instantly rushed to the  Central Pediatrics Hospital, while his mother, who had just undergone a surgery, was in intensive care at the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology. There she kept a diary as a prayer for her little man’s survival and to soothe herself. “On June 7, 2014, you were lying there, with your cheeks reddened by constant contact with tubes. Your father and I remained hopeful that you can still breathe on your own and show no abnormal signs.   9:00 am on the second day following your birth, your father called and told me you need a transfusion. Luckily, I stumbled upon the phone number of Uncle Dung- vice chair of the Hanoi Rare Blood Type Club, who then contacted Uncle Minh for his blood. Bad news came again on the third day. The doctors said they have put you on a respiratory apparatus, and your blood pressure was unstable. Your father and I were devastated. Beyond our expectations, my brief plea for blood on Facebook was embraced with hundreds of phone calls during the two days. Some 100 potential donors also offered their blood to help save your help. “On the fourth day, the doctors still anticipated that your condition would worsen. Dr. Huyen Maika advised me to keep my composure as your chance of survival was a mere 50 percent. I told her that even though the chances dropped to only 10 percent, I would remain expectant that you would pull through. On the seventh day, my tireless insistence on seeing you, yet briefly, finally met with the doctors’ nod. Just be brave, my little man. The doctors warned as there are very few cases who undergo third blood exchanges like you did, you were highly likely to suffer blood contamination. I earnestly hoped that they made a wrong diagnosis. On the 9th day, your maternal grandmother and I burst into tears when I was summoned to provide care for you.     6:00pm on the 10th day, I finally had you in my arms.” After the 16-day hospitalization, Dang was discharged.   His family’s elation was short-lived as he soon got a high fever and was hospitalized again. Diagnoses revealed that the infant suffered anemia, overly high liver enzymes, yellowing skin and clogged galls as a result of toxin residue following the blood exchanges. Undaunted by the prospect that her son would suffer mental retardation later as many warned, Nga single-mindedly cared for her son in hospital for two months. The debilitating condition has left the little boy unable to sit properly. As her husband works far away from home, Nga cares for her baby on her own. She took Dang to a private center for physical therapy sessions six mornings a week, and accompanied him to the pediatrics hospital for more mobility exercise three afternoons each week. The devoted mother was always by her son’s side during X-rays, tests and treatment of his gall disease. “I’m convinced that I can help my baby combat his muscle feebleness thanks to constant therapy. What has concerned me most is that his hearing ability would be impaired,” Nga shared. Dang can hear now but he fails to tell one sound from another. She was told that in the worst case scenario, her baby son would need a cochlea surgery in his ears, which cost around US$50,000, excluding operation costs. “If necessary, I will sell my house for the money,” she said. Despite daunting hurdles, Nga remains hopeful that her son would walk more properly after two years of therapy and only need hearing aids instead of the costly surgery. She and her husband had named their son “Hai Dang,” or “lighthouse” in English, cherishing hopes that his will to live on and combat disabilities would never fade out. According to a doctor who treated Dang at the National Pediatrics Hospital, inconsistency between the mother’s and son’s blood is responsible for Dang’s yellowing skin and life-threatening blood condition. Electronic toll collection system effective on Noi Bai – Lao Cai Highway Electronic toll collection systems (ETCs) using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology will officially be put into operation at all toll booths located along Noi Bai – Lao Cai Highway from Saturday. This system, using new technology for which drivers will no longer have to stop their vehicles and pay fees as in the current practice, will be installed by the Viet Nam Expressway Operation and Maintenance Company (VEC O&M) and the Viet Nam Expressway Corporation (VEC). The ETCs is based on the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology which refers to a wireless system comprising two components: e-tags and readers. VEC O&M has to co-operate with the Vision Auto Corporation to installed ETCs using RFID technology by issuing electronic RFID tags to drivers at tollbooths along the Ha Noi – Lao Cai highway from Wednesday to today. During the period of trial, the model of manual toll collection has still been maintained, meaning that paper cards and paper tickets are still being sold. In order to pay a toll through ETCs, automobile owners will be issued an e-tag which is attached to the inside portion of the front windscreen of the vehicle. When the vehicle passes a toll collection lane, the RFID system installed at the toll station will activate a camera to photograph the vehicle's number plate while reading the RFID tags. ETCs using RFID technology has been put into use at toll booths across the Cau Gie – Ninh Binh highway. ETCs can save a lot of time for drivers, curb congestion when vehicles stop to pay the fees manually, strengthen the State's management and help avoid losses. Experts exchange experiences with students during career seminar Experts shared today their learning and working experiences with informatics students from the country's 12 northern universities. At the seminar, held in Ha Noi's Polytechnic University, experts affirmed that passion was the key to success for students wishing to pursue a career in  information security. They told the students it was very important for them to be able to learn on their own, to master the English language and to be honest. Information security studies are still quite new in Viet Nam and in some other countries. Ten years ago, the Academy of Cryptography Techniques of Viet Nam was the first university in the country to train students specialising in information security.   One thousand engineers have been trained over the last decade. Last year, the prime minister approved a national plan on the development of digital information security up to 2020. One of the key tasks of the project was the  training of information security engineers, as the field grows in importance. In 2014, four universities nationwide, the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology, Academy of Cryptography Techniques of Viet Nam, Thai  Nguyen University (Information Technology and Communications Department) and the HCM National University trained 838 students at the level of engineers  and offered bachelors programs specialising in information security. The annual seminar, "Viet Nam Information Security Day 2015," under the theme "Serious destruction trend in modern network attacks," will be held on  November 19 in HCM City and on December 1 in Ha Noi. This year's event is being organised by the Viet Nam Information Security Association, the Information Security Department and Ministry of Information and  Communications' Viet Nam Computer Emergency Response Team and the Information and Technology Department under the Ministry of Defence.  Exhibition on historical evidence of Hoang Sa, Truong Sa archipelagos held in Binh Duong A number of historical maps and documents affirming Vietnam’s sovereignty over Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagos are on display at an exhibition, which opened at the Fourth Corp in Binh Duong province on November 5. The exhibition, co-organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Fourth Corp, aims to introduce historical maps, documents and photographs proving Vietnam’s sovereignty over Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagos to the Fourth Corp’s officers and soldiers, as well as visitors. Entitled ‘Vietnam’s Hoang Sa and Truong Sa - Historical Evidence’, the exhibition showcases 100 maps, documents, publications, and artefacts gathered from the resources of researchers and scholars in the country as well as from sources abroad. The highlight of the exhibition is the display of four official atlasesand 30 maps published by the Chinese government, which show that the southern Chinese territory is limited to Hai Nan Island, without any mention of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes. According to Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Thanh Hung, the documents and artifacts at the exhibition were collected from Vietnam, various Western countries and China. The exhibition contributes to affirming Vietnam’s sacred and inviolable sovereignty over Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagoes. The event, runs until November 9, and offers an opportunity to raise the awareness, solidarity and responsibility of Vietnamese people, especially the youth, in the importance of protecting and affirming Vietnam’s sovereignty. The items on display were previously exhibited in other cities and provinces, attracting a large number of domestic and international visitors. VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri