Japan to help improve Hanoi public transport

The Hanoi People’s Committee and Japan International Cooperation Agency signed an agreement Thursday to improve public transport in the country’s second most crowded city.

The three-year project will seek to improve the bus system and its management and raise people’s awareness of using public transport. It will receive a US$3-million grant from the Japanese side.

The city is plagued by accidents, traffic jams, and air pollution caused by a sharp increase in private vehicles.

JICA has promised to send experts to train managers and provide equipment.

The Agency has in the past helped Hanoi modernize its transport system by providing aid to improve infrastructure and enhance traffic safety.

It is also assisting with the urban railway and subway projects.

Porn traders arrested

Police in the southern Dong Nai Province have arrested two men for trading in DVDs and VCDs with pornographic content.

Nguyen Van Nam, 34, and Nguyen Van Phu, 39, of Trang Bom District are being detained for further investigations.

Last Saturday the police stormed into Nam’s rented apartment and found around 1,900 pornographic discs and 30,000 other discs of unknown origin.

Based on his testimony, they arrested Phu at his apartment where they found some 7,000 discs with pornographic and violent content.

The two men confessed they bought the discs in Ho Chi Minh City and then sold them to 30 street disc vendors in Dong Nai.

They themselves used to be street vendors.

Porn and prostitution is strictly banned in Vietnam.

Three murders occur within 10 hours in Hanoi

From late afternoon to 2:30 am today, three serious crimes happened in Hanoi, leaving three men dead, local police reported.

In one of the three cases, the murderer committed his crime with a military gun.

While enjoying a birthday party at a bar at 15 Dao Duy Tu St., Hoan Kiem district at 10:30 pm yesterday, a group of young men led by Nguyen Duc Hanh, 29, had a conflict with another group at the bar.

Some members of this group beat Hanh, seriously injuring him on his head.

After taking Hanh, a resident of Dong Da district, to the Viet-Duc Hospital, his friends returned to the bar to look for that group for revenge but they were broken up by emergency police 113.

They then came to dine at an eatery at 523 Au Co St., Nhat Tan Ward, Tay Ho district.

About 1 am, about 8 young men came to the eatery in a car and one of them used a gun to shoot at the head of Dang Viet Thang, 28, a member of the Hanh’s group.

The victim, a resident of Cau Giay district, later died on way to the same hospital.

Earlier, on 4:40 pm, while Le Si Tien, 30, a resident of Ba Dinh district, was having a drink with his friends at a café on Doi Can St. in the same district, he was suddenly stabbed by a man.

Tien died shortly afterwards.

Police are hunting for Tong Quang Tien, 31, also residing in the district, whom they suspect is the killer.

The third crime broke out at 2:30 am today at an eatery in the Cau quarter of Thanh Tri district.

The victim was Le Cao Cuong, 26, from northern Hai Duong province, who dined at the eatery.

During his meal, Cuong had a quarrel with the eatery’s owner named Hung, who later used a sharp knife to stab Cuong on his chest, killing him instantly.

Hung was arrested later by district police.

3,500 workers strike for salary raise amid inflation

More than 3,500 workers of a shoe company in the southern Binh Duong Province went on a strike to demand salary raise Wednesday.

The workers of the Sao Viet Joint Stock Company in Dong An Industrial Zone asked the director board to increase their monthly salary from VND1.75 million (US$90) to VND2.2 million ($112).

They also asked the company to improve the quality of meals and reduce Saturday’s extra hours.

The company has 4,200 workers, of which 500 have yet to get back to work after going home for the Lunar New Year holidays.

The same day, around 200 workers of Vina Hsinlung Company based in the same industrial zone entered the seventh day of strike, demanding salary raise.

Change in weather causes disease outbreaks in HCM city

For a month now, the two major pediatric hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City have been filled to capacity.

Nguyen Dac Tho of the Department of Preventive Medicine explained this by saying children will remain vulnerable to infections until the end of May as the weather turns sultry.

Their immune systems are more vulnerable than that of adults and the rising temperatures provide an ideal environment for harmful viruses, he added.

Pediatric Hospital 1 reported that the number of children admitted with chickenpox, scarlet fever, diarrhea, and rubella has risen by half since last month.

Its digestive department is getting 150 patients daily, 100 of them with diarrhea.

Dr Pham Ngoc Tuyet, head of the department, said besides viruses, rotten and unhygienic street cookings mainly cause the disease.

She advised parents to ensure their children’s hygiene and that they stayed away from unhealthy street food.

Pediatric Hospital 2 said there has been a 15 percent increase in cases of scarlet fever and mumps compared to the end of last year.

Doctors warned parents against treating their children at home, which could lead to serious complications.

Dr Truong Huu Khanh of Pediatric Hospital 1 said two patients with chicken pox last week developed severe blood poisoning.

To avoid these seasonal infections, parents should keep their children in hygienic conditions and ensure they have healthy diets that will strengthen their immune system, he said.

Strictly adhering to the vaccination schedule is also key to keeping them healthy, he added.

$1.4 for the poor amid record power price hike

As the electricity price is set to rise by more than 15% starting next month, the government has promised to grant US$1.4 in allowance for poor households per month.

The average electricity price for 2011 will be raised to VND1,242 (US$0.06) per kWh starting March 1, under a recent Prime Minister decision, which also stipulates this monthly allowance for poor households.

This rate, not including VAT, is VND165 (or 15.28 percent) higher than that of last year.

New power prices are to be applicable to manufacturing, administrative and business sectors, and households.

As for households, the power prices are divided into seven rates, with the first rate equal to 80 percent of the average price per kWh and the seventh being 159 percent of the average price.

Under the decision, the first price rate (for a 0-50 kWh consumption per month) is only applicable to households falling under the poverty line as stipulated by the government.

Every poor household will be granted VND30,000 per month as an allowance for their power consumption. The allowance is sourced from the sales of the Electric of Vietnam Group (EVN).

As for low-income households, if they each use no more than 50 kWh per month, they must register their power consumption with their local electricity provider for consideration.

If the total power consumption of such a household in three consecutive months does not exceed 150 kWh, they will be eligible to enjoy the first price rate.

Meanwhile, all other households will pay for their power consumption according to the prices ranging from the second rate (equal to 100% the average power price) to the seventh rate (159% the average power price).