Social News 18/8 Hanoi to pilot zany parking scheme   A multi-storey parking station in Hanoi Hà Nội’s Transport Department will pilot a project on Dã Tượng Street allowing vehicle parking on one side of streets in the city, instead of both sides used now, according to the city People’s Committee Chairman Nguyễn Đức Chung. Per the project, vehicle owners will be required to park on the side of the street with odd-numbered houses on odd numbered days and on the side of the street with even-numbered houses on even numbered days, according to the project. To handle the shortage of public parking spaces, Chairman Nguyễn Đức Chung said city authorities would discuss a scheme limiting personal vehicles and boosting public transport. Under the scheme, the city will build car parks and traffic signal systems amd restrict vehicles in the city centre at certain times.  Hà Nội authorities have hired a Japanese company to design underground parking stations at August Revolution Square, in Thống Nhất, Thủ Lệ and Thanh Nhàn parks and Quần Ngựa Stadium. Chung also said city authorities planned a daily time frame for environmental workers to collect rubbish from households, from 8pm to 10pm.   Each year the city spends about VNĐ3 trillion (US$134.52 million) on rubbish collection, transportation and disposal. The city is going to step up mechanisation to increase labour productivity and reduce costs for these works, according to the chairman. Local authorities had considered allowing rubbish collection from 5pm to 7pm.    But, after inspections municipal authorities realised that when people left out rubbish from 5pm to 7pm, scrap dealers came to take the rubbish. The city has designed a template for rubbish collection in public places, with shielding to ensure sanitation and urban beauty. Urban sanitation work will be organised with each environmental hygiene company responsible for one or several districts.  Pregnant woman killed in truck accident A pregnant woman was killed instantly when a container truck crashed into her motorbike from behind in Dĩ An town in Bình Dương Province yesterday morning. Lê Thị Quyên, 25, of Hà Tĩnh, who was in her seventh month of pregnancy, was on Sóng Thần Flyover when the giant vehicle hit her, according to witnesses. The truck driver fled the scene after the accident.   Since July there have been at least 10 traffic accidents involving container trucks in the province. A large number of container trucks go through Dĩ An to reach the numerous industrial zones in the highly industrialised province, causing many accidents in the town. According to Trần Thanh Liêm, vice chairman of the Bình Dương People’s Committee, the province contributes 12 percent of the country’s exports. It also accounts for 12 percent of all container trucks in the country. Filipina drug carrier escapes death sentence after reinvestigation An appeal court in Ho Chi Minh City on August 16 overturned the death sentence awarded to a Filipina drug runner and instead handed down a life sentence after new investigation found she had carried much less cocaine than previously thought. Donna Buena Mazon, 41, was arrested at Tan Son Nhat Airport in December 2013 with two bags of drug powder after arriving by a flight from Brazil. The Ho Chi Minh City police later identified the powder as nearly 1.5 kilograms of cocaine. She was sentenced to death but appealed, saying she had no idea there was cocaine inside. She said a man had hired her to carry the suitcase to Vietnam for a fee of US$3,000 and that, as a mother of four, she needed the money. But her appeal was rejected. She then filed another appeal for commuting the sentence, and the Supreme People’s Court ordered investigators to measure the quantity of drugs again. A fresh check found the bags contained less than 600 grams of cocaine. The Philippine foreign ministry had pleaded with the supreme court to reduce her sentence. Vietnam has some of the world’s toughest drug laws. Those convicted of smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or cocaine can face the death penalty. The production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics is also punishable by death. Woman confesses to strangling 3 children to death, police say A woman in northern Vietnam has been detained for allegedly killing her own three children in their home after a conflict with her husband, police said. Phan Mui May, 25, was arrested at 8 p.m. on August 16 in a forest in Ha Giang Province where she had been hiding for almost a day after killing them, Col Do Tien Dung, the province's chief investigator, said. May told investigators she had killed the children - two girls and a boy aged 5, 3 and 1 - out of anger at her husband, Trieu Menh Chan, 30. She said that despite her protest, Chan had left her and the children at home to take his mother to a party in a neighboring village in the afternoon of August 15. May said she at first attempted to killed herself and the children with pesticide, which did not work. Then at about 9 p.m. on August 15, she strangled the children to death with a plastic cord. She then left their bodies in bed and set the house on fire before running into the forest. Investigation is ongoing. Passenger fined for slapping Vietnam Airlines flight attendant A business-class passenger has been fined VND15 million (US$700) for slapping a flight attendant during a domestic Vietnam Airlines flight, authorities said on August 17. The incident happened at 8 p.m. on August 13 when the plane arrived in Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City after a flight from Hanoi, according to a report by the Southern Airports Authority. When the plane was taxiing, the passenger, identified as Mai Thanh B., 46, told flight attendant Chu Thi Tho that he had lost an iPhone 6 Plus. He said he had left it on the table before dozing off during the flight. He woke up when the plane was landing and saw his table had already been folded, and his phone gone, B. said. When Tho told him that she had folded the table but had not seen his phone, B. slapped Tho in her face. Other flight attendants later found the phone under the seat in front of B's. According to a report on the Phu Nu news website, the flight attendant said she could smell alcohol on B.'s breath. She said she had worked in business class for more than 10 years but never seen such a "brutal passenger."  The report quoted B. as saying that he had drunk before boarding the flight "but not so much as to lose control of myself." He said he slapped the flight attendant because he suspected that she had stolen the phone. Protecting citizens’ right to freedom of religion or belief On August 17, the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee hosted a meeting in Hanoi to collect opinions on the draft Law on Religion and Belief. protecting citizens’ right to freedom of religion or belief hinh 0 At the meeting, religious representatives and experts said the draft law has met the requirements after several periods of adjustments to reflect public feedback. Most Venerable Thich Duc Thien, Secretary General of Vietnam's Buddhist Sangha, said the bill demonstrates the protection of everybody’s right to freedom of religion or belief and ensure that religious organizations can freely practice their religion or belief.  “The words “propose” or “ask for permission” have been replaced by the word “inform” of religious activities under the religious charter and law. The draft law also stipulates that religions are a legal entity, which is entitled to participate in areas such as publishing, education, healthcare, social protection, and charity,” Most Venerable Thich Duc Thien said.  Participants proposed supplementing the Party and State viewpoints on religious policies. They said religious work should strengthen the national great unity, uphold the country’s strength, and support national industrialization, modernization, and defense.  Muslims’ livelihoods, religious practice facilitated in Vietnam The Islamic community has continually been assisted in seeking employment and religious practice by all-level authorities, Muslim dignitaries have said.  They represented the Islamic community from southern Ninh Thuan and Tay Ninh provinces and Ho Chi Minh City at a meeting in Hanoi on August 17 with Politburo member Truong Thi Mai, head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Mass Mobilisation.  With the help of the local administrations, Muslims’ livelihoods have been improved, the dignitaries said, adding that they will encourage Muslims to follow Islam’s genuine guidelines, abide by the State’s policies and laws, protect security and develop local socio-economic aspects.  Head of the Party commission Mai appreciated the Islamic community’s contribution to both local and national development, noting that the localities’ Muslim representative boards have done a good job of connecting Islamic followers with authorities and promoting social activities among the community.  She asked the boards to press on with communication to encourage Muslims to practise their religion in line with the Charter and Statutes approved by the State, as well as with legal regulations.  Meanwhile, Muslims should actively engage in patriotic emulation movements and enhance solidarity to promote their livelihoods and national development, she added.  Ninh Thuan, Tay Ninh and HCM City are home to large numbers of Muslims in Vietnam. There are more than 72,000 Islamic followers in the country at present, mostly the Cham ethnic people, according to the Government’s Committee for Religious Affairs.- VRC runs first-ever disaster response drill The Vietnam Red Cross (VRC) has conducted its first-ever all-level disaster response drill to better prepare for natural calamities in 2016. This formed part of a conference in Hanoi on August 17, with the participation of representatives from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), VRC’s international partners and relevant sectors. VRC Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu said the annual conference aims to update and review the organisation’s preparation for natural calamities and its emergency response capabilities. In the drill, a simulation scenario featured a storm as strong as the 2013 super-typhoon Haiyan, which made landfall in the central provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue, and Da Nang city, causing huge losses of life and property. The practice included updating information on damage and reporting to the central-level agencies, and launching the response mechanism at the central level before, during and after the hurricane. Other activities involved communication work to enhance public awareness of natural disasters and mobilising international and domestic resources for recovery. Previously on August 15-16, the VRC updated the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on the standardised skills on disaster prevention and response. Training courses on assessing damage and the community’s needs, recovery and rescue work as well as relevant international practices were also held. As a member of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, over the past year, the VRC has helped raise the awareness of natural disaster prevention and response among communities and schools. The organisation has also been active in planting mangrove forests to mitigate risks at shorelines and establishing disaster response teams at all levels, among others. Since early this year, it has organised activities to address extreme cold spells in the north as well as drought and saltwater intrusion in the Central, Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta regions. It has provided financial aid, water containers and Aquatab water purification tablets to nearly 42,500 households in 18 drought and salinity affected localities. Mass mobilisation in ethnic minority areas increased Ethnics are given a strategic priority in the national policy on national great unity and policies for them should keep abreast with reality in their areas, asserted Head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Mass Mobilisation Truong Thi Mai. She was speaking at a conference to examine a joint mass mobilisation programme conducted in 2011-2015 and outline the programme tasks in 2016-2020 between the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Mass Mobilisation and the Party delegation to the Committee for Ethnic Affairs in Hanoi on August 17. In the coming time, mechanisms and policies should be made to fit the reality of socio-economic and cultural life in areas inhabited by ethnic minority groups, especially the northwest, the Central Highlands, and the Southwest, Mai said. Education, human resources training, and the development of a contingent of competent ethnic officials should be prioritised, she told participants. The implementation of the Party and State guidelines and policies pertaining to ethnic affairs at all levels should be inspected constantly to fight against any racial discrimination that may arise and strictly deal with plots and activities targeted to undermine the national great unity bloc, the official stressed. Over the past five years, the two units have worked closely in developing policies together with implementation measures for ethnic minority groups and encouraging people to realise the Party and State guidelines and policies in the field to create a consensus in society. They have consulted relevant agencies in the training of key officials and intellectuals, who come from ethnic minority groups, promptly joined hands in handling problems emerging in ethnic minority-inhabited areas, and increased the exchange of information relating to mass mobilisation and ethnic and religious affairs at localities, among others. The Government’s progammes and projects have worked to spur socio-economic development, reduce poverty, improve the living conditions, maintain political security and social order, and strengthen the national unity bloc in ethnic minority-inhabited areas, thus solidifying ethnics’ trust in the Party and State. Localities have coordinated in executing the Party and State guidelines and policies on socio-economic development, contributing to reinforcing the political system, translating Party resolutions into life, developing rural mountainous areas positively, and reaffirming the correctness of the Party’s guidelines on the nation’s comprehensive reform. Books on Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore introduced A series of books on Singapore and its founding father Lee Kuan Yew were introduced in Ho Chi Minh City on August 17 to mark the 51th anniversary of Singapore. Published by the Youth Publishing House, the collection comprises three renowned books including: Lee Kuan Yew on Governance, Management, Life (author Janice Tay); My Singapore ( by Lee Wei Ling – daughter of Lee Kuan Yew); and Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew (author Tom Plate, eighth edition). The books recapture the life of the country’s late Prime Minister and Singapore’s establishment and development over the past five decades. Singapore is known for its extraordinary successes in many areas, including urban planning development, its education and training system and tourism, despite being small in size and poor in natural resources, thanks to the eminent leadership of late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, said Dr Nguyen Minh Hoa, deputy chairman of HCM City Association for Urban Planning and Development at the book introduction event. HCM City student wins comedy reality show Nguyễn Anh Tú from HCM City brought home a cash prize of VNĐ100 million (US$4,540) after winning the Vĩnh Long Television’s reality show Cười Xuyên Việt (TransViet Laugh) for amateur comic actors. Tú received 100 points from the judges, including People’s Artist Ngọc Giàu and Vietnamese–American comedy actress Kiều Oanh, for his performance in a short play about a mother’s love at the finale last Saturday. The 23-year-old student of the city’s University of Theatre and Cinematography said after winning the contest that he wanted to “gift my victory to my parents who devoted their life to raise three sons.” Tú was born in a poor family in HCM City. He had to quit school in the 10th grade and worked different jobs to help his family. One year later, he returned to school to finish study in high school, and then passed the exam to the university. He has taken part in plays at coffee lounges and small theatres in the city. Tú said: “The competition gave me a chance to learn from experienced artists like Huỳnh Lập, Nam Thư and Diệp Tiên, as well as from competitors across Việt Nam.” Lê Nguyễn Tuấn Dũng of the city became the competition’s runner-up. Dũng, 24, was born in a traditional family. His father worked for famous cải lương (reformed opera) troupes like Huỳnh Long and Minh Tơ. He began to perform in a cải lương video when he was four year old. He has played minor roles in several works by veteran artists. Launched last year, Cười Xuyên Việt has two versions, one for unknown actors and another for famous artists. It has had the highest ratings of Vĩnh Long Television’s programme. Exhibition showcases central artists A fine arts exhibition of works by artists in the central and Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) provinces opened on Tuesday in Quảng Ngãi Province. The exhibition was organised by the provincial People’s Committee and the Việt Nam Fine Arts Association to mark the 71st anniversary of August Revolution and National Day. It displayed 171 paintings and sculptures in various media, created by 162 artists from the provinces of Quảng Ngãi, Bình Định, Khánh Hòa, Đắc Lắc, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Quảng Nam, Phú Yên and Đà Nẵng. The works included selected topics, including islands and seas, landscapes, lifestyle, and traditional culture. Several prizes were awarded at the opening ceremony. The “A” prize went to Hội An Xưa (Ancient Hội An), a wood engraving by veteran artist Nguyễn Tường Vinh of Đà Nẵng, who has created engravings and lacquer works for traditional cultural festivals. The “B” prize was given for the sculpture Thủy Triều Đỏ (Red Tide) by Nguyễn Văn Huy of Quảng Nam, while sculptor Nguyễn Tài Đại of Quảng Ngải received the “C” prize for his work Đường Đời (Road of Life). The exhibition will be open until August 23 at the Quảng Ngãi City’s Labour Cultural House. Hoang Anh Gia Lai impresses host in V-League’s 21st round Hoàng Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) yesterday beat hosts Long An 3-1 in the 21st round of the V-League. HAGL came into yesterday’s match in Tân An stadium in good form, with wins over FLC Thanh Hóa and Becamex Bình Dương in their last two outings. Thai official Lan Teetichai Nualjan refereed the match on the invitation of the V-League. Long An forward Kisekka Henry opened the scoring but HAGL soon equalised through striker Masaaki Ideguchi. HAGL striker Văn Toàn grabbed a brace to secure the win. Long An’s misery was compounded with Henry and goalkeeper Tiến Anh both finishing the match with injuries. The same day, Sanna Khánh Hòa BVN beat Hải Phòng 3-0, Becamex Bình Dương beat Đồng Tháp 3-0, Sông Lam Nghệ An lost to Đà Nẵng 0-2; FLC Thanh Hóa drew with Sài Gòn FC 2-2; Hà Nội T&T lost to Cần Thơ 0-1 while Quảng Ninh Coal lost 0-2 to Quảng Nam. After 21 rounds, Hải Phòng top the table with 40 points, followed by SHB Đà Nẵng in second and Quảng Ninh Coal in third, both on 37 points. Đồng Tháp remain rooted to the bottom of the table on 7 points, with Long An second bottom on 11 points. Chess tournament at Saigon Outcast The Genius School of Chess in collaboration with Saigon Outcast will organise a chess tournament for non-professional Vietnamese and expatriate players on September 4. The competition will be divided into three age groups, including children aged 5-11, teenagers aged 12-17, and adults 18 and above. Prizes for children and teenagers will be trophies and chess scholarships at the school, while prizes for adults will be cash up to US$100 and trophies. Participants can register for the contest at the school, 20 Nguyễn Bá Huân Street in District 2, or through email at info@genichess.edu.vn and phone 0939161089 by September 1. The event will take place from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm at 188/1 Nguyễn Văn Hưởng Street in District 2. – VNS Saigon Ranger to host rock music party The rock music party “The Rangers at Ranger” will be held at Saigon Ranger on August 26. The show will feature the three-member Canadian band Los Borrachos, who have spent nearly a decade touring the world with their dirty rock and blues. The event will also feature resident bands comprising Vietnamese and international musicians like James and Van Der Beeks, Weed Elephant, The Lost Art and GEN, who will play post-hardcore, progressive punk, dance rock, classic rock and blues-rock. The performance will take place from 7 pm to 2 am at 5/7 Nguyễn Siêu Street in District 1. Entrance is VNĐ150,000. Live music night with international acts On Sunday, musicians from Nigeria, Jamaica, and Việt Nam of the Hà Nội-based band ZAMINA S.M.P. will present a live music night featuring Afrobeat, reggae, Ska punk, makossa, and Asian rhythms. ZAMINA S.M.P. is known for their sweaty, rhythmic, jam-packed live shows. The music night will take place at Rec Room on the 20th floor of the Hanoi Creative City, 1 Lương Yên Street, at 8pm. Tickets cost VNĐ80,000 on the door.  Incham to celebrate Bollywood music On Saturday, August 27, INCHAM Hanoi will host an Indian DJ musical night at the InterContinental Hanoi Westlake Hotel&Resort. Taking place from 7.30pm until midnight, the event will also showcase several Indian and international foods. Indian DJ Jeevan from Malaysia will ensure all party-goers are dancing to Bollywood tunes. DJ Jeevan, based in KL started DJing in 1995 and has spent over 20 years spinning at different clubs in KL. He is known for mixing songs from beat to beat to keep the dance floor moving. All are invited to test their dancing skills and enjoy Bollywood music with friends and family. Ticket cost VNĐ250,000 per adult and VNĐ100,000 for kids from 6-12 years old including one complimentary drink. For tickets, contact Ms. Lan Anh 0912849886 or info@inchamhanoi.vn Russian comedy films to be screened A free Russian film screening programme will be presented to local audiences by the Russian Centre of Science and Culture in Hà Nội. The screenings, which are part of the Year of Cinema in Russia 2016, will offer movie-goers a deeper understanding of Russian people, culture and cultural exchange between Việt Nam and Russia. The first screening of the comedy Prisoner of the Caucasus, or Shurik’s New Adventures will be held at 7pm tonight. Inspired by the famous story of writer Victor Ivanov, the film features a damsel in distess who is rescued by a knight on a donkey. The second movie, a comedy and romantic feature movie titled My Boyfriend is an Angel, will be presented on August 25. The Russian Centre of Science and Culture is located at 501 Kim Mã Street. US-VN cooperation in community-based services  The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) recently awarded a five-year grant to the Centre for Promotion of Quality of Life (LIFE), a Vietnamese organization, to strengthen community-led approaches to HIV prevention, care and treatment.  “Community-based organizations are critical partners as Vietnam strives to achieve its ambitious targets,” said USAID Vietnam Mission Director Michael Greene. “We expect that our partner, LIFE, will strengthen the capacity of community-based organizations and the HIV/AIDS services that they provide to support a sustainable HIV/AIDS response in Vietnam.”  The USAID Enhanced Community HIV Link - Southern project, implemented in Ho Chi Minh City, will deliver effective community-based HIV/AIDS services to men who have sex with men (MSM) and people living with HIV (PLHIV). In the first two years, the project will significantly contribute toward the fight against HIV in Vietnam by serving more than 18,000 MSM and 1,550 PLHIV. The overarching objective is to enhance the response of local community-based organizations to the HIV epidemic by strengthening their human, organizational and advocacy ability. The project will mobilize members of these local organizations to apply creative and effective approaches to detect new HIV cases and connect at-risk populations to health care.  The U.S.-funded grant will build on the success of the USAID Community HIV Link-Southern project, also implemented by LIFE from May 2014 to May 2016, which successfully delivered effective community-based HIV/AIDS services to 8,000 people who inject drugs, MSM and female sex workers and 2,000 PLHIV in Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho and An Giang provinces. The project also strengthened capacity for 23 community-based organizations working on HIV/AIDS in these provinces and facilitated coordination with key stakeholders in the HIV/AIDS sector at the provincial and national level. Since 2004, the United States through its President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program has partnered with Vietnam to transform HIV from a fatal diagnosis to a treatable illness.  Throughout the country more than 110,000 PLHIV have started anti-retroviral treatment and more begin treatment each day.  Through PEPFAR, the US government works closely with the Ministry of Health, Vietnam Social Security, the Global Fund and others to develop an enduring legacy that continues as Vietnam assumes more funding and responsibilities for HIV prevention, treatment and eradication.  New projects to reduce poverty in Cao Bang, Bac Kan The Prime Minister has approved project proposals on poverty reduction in the northern mountainous provinces of Cao Bang and Bac Kan.  The project targeting Bac Kan province will have a total investment of 37.5 million USD, of which 21.25 million USD in official development assistance comes from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).  It will be carried out in 37 communes in the districts of Ba Be, Pac Nam, Ngan Son, Nari and Bach Thong from 2017 to 2022.  A similar IFAD-funded project, worth 36.27 million USD will also be implemented in 35 communes in the districts of Ha Quang, Thong Nong, Nguyen Binh and Thach An in Cao Bang province. Of the sum, IFAD provides 21.25 million USD.  They aim to provide support to local poor and near-poor households, enhancing their incomes and mitigating their vulnerability to climate change. My Thuan – Can Tho Expressway awaits study A Ministry of Transport unit, the Thang Long Project Management Board, has asked the ministry to examine its feasibility study for the My Thuan-Can Tho Expressway’s first phase. The 23.5-km expressway will be built by a public-private-partnership in build-operate-transfer mode. It will have four lanes and a width of 17m, and pass through two Mekong Delta provinces, Dong Thap and Vinh Long. The expressway is expected to cost 6.15 trillion VND (276 million USD ) including land acquisition. To recoup the investment, Thang Long is seeking the right to collect toll of 1,500 VND (0.07 US cent) per kilometre on the expressway for 20 years and six months and on the HCM City-Trung Luong Expressway or four years and 11 months starting in 2030. If approved, construction will begin this year and be finished by mid-2019.- Mother kills three children following family dispute Three children have been killed by their mother who has just been arrested after a day fleeing into a forest in the northern province of Ha Giang. Colonel Do Tien Dung from the provincial Police Department said that they have detained Phan Mui May, 25, for allegedly killing her three children. The Dao ethnic woman set fire to her children while they were sleeping in their wooden house in Quang Minh Village, Xi Man District on August 15. She then fled into a nearby forest. Her two daughters aged five and three and 14-month old son were found dead the next morning. May was arrested at 8pm on August 16 while hiding in the forest. She has admitted killing her three children due to family dispute. Police is further investigating the case. 70 tonnes dead in Ma River Up to nearly 70 tonnes of fish raised in floating cages along the Ma River in the northern central province of Thanh Hoa have been found dead, causing major losses to local farmers. The People's Committee of Cam Thuy District said heavy rain has resulted in the flooding which affected fish breeding on the Ma River. More than 280 fish cages of local farmers with a total amount of 41.5 tonnes valued at VND4.8 billion were damaged.   Meanwhile, the fish dead in Ba Thuoc District reached 6.46 tonnes in 646 cages. Vinh Loc District suffered 12 tonnes of losses. Nguyen Van Dung from Ba Thuoc District People's Committee said the local authorities collected river water samples for being tested to find the causes. The result will be announced soon. According to Vu Dinh Hao from Ba Thuoc District's flood and storm control board, the reason for the floods may lie with problems at construction of hydropower plants upstream. Work on the Ba Thuoc 1 and Trung Son hydropower plants has been underway and the heavy rain might have swept much soil and mud away and then this flowed into the river, damaging the fish cages, Hao explained. Traffic accident, congestion increase in HCMC The number of traffic accidents, congestion is escalating in “hot spots” such as entrance to port , airport, city downtown and main streets in HCM City, said traffic officials at a meeting on traffic safety in the city yesterday. People can list several causes of traffic accidents and congestion yet no basic solution for the matter is feasible. Specifically, there were 2,598 traffic accidents in the first seven months of the year, killing 465 people and wounding 1,739 others, reported Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tuong, deputy head of the city’s Traffic Safety Board. Compared to the same period last year, the number of accidents increased by 50 or accounting for 2.8 percent, while the death toll soared by 53 with 15.45 percent and the number of injured people decreased by 52 people. Traffic related deaths reduced in seven districts out of 24 while number of dead people killed on the roadways surged in 15 of 24 districts. Mr.  Tuong added not only traffic accidents but also gridlock increased, especially since June during the rush hours in entrance into the city and entrance into Cat Lai Port and Tan Son Nhat Airport. The major cause is an increase of immigrant people and registered private vehicles with 180 cars and 850 motorbikes registering daily. Expansion of streets is limited. Control over vehicles in and out Cat Lai was very slow with an average of 5 - 10 minutes per vehicle. Worse, traffic accidents and sudden fires caused a long line of vehicle on streets At the meeting, Chairman of the city People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong  said that he wanted to hear resolution rather than causes of traffic accidents and congestion. Colonel Tran Duc Tai, deputy director of the city Police, proposed synchronous solutions to handle the risk of motorbike races of the young, curb congestion as soon as possible, handling partial roadblocks into Cat Lai Port and the central reservations on major streets where traffic jams usually happen. Mr. Tai also proposed to extend time for trucks to enter major districts to serve construction sites. Meeting participants pointed out many resolutions to deal with the matter, including awareness of knowledge on traffic law and behavior of traffic participants. Chairman Phong  concluded that traffic accidents and congestion are alarming with more deaths and injured people  in increasing fatal crashes. He asked district chairpersons to adopt measures to improve the problem. Mr. Phong strongly criticized authorities in districts with many traffic accidents and jams. He asked grass-roots governments where pavement and road encroachment to handle the problem because Illegal parking areas and street-side vendors are encroaching on pavement and roads in HCMC, causing traffic congestion, particularly on narrow streets. Photo exhibition of Vietnamese ethnic minorities opens in Can Tho A photo exhibition on Vietnamese ethnic minorities opened the southern city of Can Tho on August 17. On display are 120 photographs reflecting cultural features, habits and customs of ethnic minorities of 54 ethnic groups living in Vietnam. Through photos attached with interesting stories and conversations with ethnic minority people, visitors will have an opportunity to learn more about the cultural identities of Vietnamese ethnic minorities. On the occasion, a thematic exhibition featuring the art of Oriental tea culture was also held with 200 documents, photographs, and artefacts. Visitors will be able to experience old tea culture as well as learn more about the Vietnamese tea drinking culture. The exhibitions, scheduled to run until December this year are jointly held by the Can Tho Museum, the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History, and the Vietnam Ethnic Cultures Museum in Thai Nguyen. South-Central Coast and Central Highlands region fine art exhibition opens The 21st South-Central Coast and Central Highlands region Fine Art Exhibition was organised by the Vietnam Fine Arts Association (VFAA) and Quang Ngai provincial People’s Committee in Quang Ngai province on August 16. The exhibition runs until August 23, and showcases 171 paintings, graphic works, sculptures and installations by 162 artists, who are the members of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association (VFAA) and Literature and Arts Associations in the provinces of Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Quang Nam, Phu Yen and Da Nang. The works were created from June, 2015 to June, 2016. At the opening ceremony, the organising board presented the first prize to Nguyen Tuong Vinh from Da Nang with his sculpture work ‘Hoi An xưa’ (Hoi An in the past), second prize to Nguyen Van Huy from Quang Nam with his sculpture work ‘Thuy Trieu Do’ (Red tide) and third prize to Nguyen Tai Dat from Quang Ngai along with five consolation prizes. According to Painter Tran Thanh Chuong, Chairman of VFAA, the displays feature a new development step of fine arts in the South-Central Coast and Central Highlands region. The works showcase creativeness in style and matter. On the occasion, the VFAA handed over the exhibition’s flag to leaders of Binh Dinh province, who will host South-Central Coast and Central Highlands region Fine Art Exhibition in 2017. VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri/VNE