Relocation obstacles for uprooted farmers

Almost 60,000 farming households in Ho Chi Minh City, who lost their land for development of urban and residential areas in 2008, are still struggling to find jobs or go back to farming in another area.

To help relocate farmers and find them jobs, the city carried out vocational training programs. The programs meant to provide vocational training to 40,000-50,000 farmers per year.

However, farmers have not been interested in the training. Nearly 60 percent are over the age of 30 and refuse to go to vocational training centers.

According to them, the training centers do not offer a variety of vocational skills.

Nguyen Van Dung, chairman of the Nha Be District Farmers Association, said the vocational training must be diversified and close to reality if the farmers are to be helped.

Driving, industrial garment manufacturing, bonsai and orchid cultivation classes have attracted hundreds of rural youth.

For middle-aged farmers, it has been difficult to adapt to vocational training.

Nguyen Van Hue city, Chairman of the Hoc Mon District Farmers Association, said the association has cooperated with the district’s vocational training center to offer driving, mechanical, computer, lathing and milling classes but not many farmers come to class.

The association also suggests providing farmers with funds and helping them to go abroad for work, which they refuse to do, he said.

Mr. Hue said his association has organized 10 vocational classes a year for nearly 300 farmers. Compared to 6,478 farming households in Hoc Mon District, the figure is still very low.

Vocational training must focus on professions that are stable and easily employable, he added.

Duong Van Nhan, vice chairman of the HCMC Farmers Association, said vocational training for farmers has faced obstacles not only in organizing but also in accessing the farmers’ psychology, who seem afraid to learn.

Farmers have been afraid of learning because they feel they are too old and feel they will find it difficult to find jobs in factories or elsewhere.

Tremors felt in Lao Cai Province

Strong tremors shook the Northern Province town of Lao Cai at 3am yesterday morning, according to Luu Minh Hai, deputy director of the provincial Hydro Meteorological Center.

Nguyen Thi Ai Dung, an official in the center, felt strong tremors that shook her bed at night. Fortunately, they lasted only 4-5 seconds.

Ly Gio Lu, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Y Ty Commune in Bat Xat District said that a 5-6 second tremor occurred in his commune at 3:30am on the same day.

In related news, two people died and three others injured when a heavy thunderstorm struck Duy Xuyen District in the central province of Quang Nam yesterday afternoon.

Nguyen Tan Thuan, 35, was struck by lightning while he was working in a field in Duy Hai Commune at about 4pm. The lightening also hit Dang Hung, 40, in Duy Phuoc Commune who died on his way to hospital.

The lighting seriously injured three others in the two communes while whirlwinds blew rooftops and endangered dozen of homes in Nam Phuoc town.

Meanwhile, a cold front is affecting the northern border provinces and may spread to the entire northern region and later move to the central region by today.

Temperatures will remain high in the southern and Central Highland regions and for the next one to two days, the weather will be very scorching.

In Ho Chi Minh City and the southern provinces, the mercury will rise to 33-34 degrees Celsius with occasional showers in the afternoons.

The National Hydro Meteorological Forecasting Center said that a typhoon named Songda has formed in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines.

The typhoon will move northwest and enter the East Sea within the next couple of days.

HCM City reduces investments in 95 projects

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Investment has proposed to the city People’s Committee to scale down investments on 95 projects in 2011, reducing the investment capital to about VND453 billion (US$21.57 million).

The proposal suggests 15 out of 95 projects to be suspended and the investment capital for them reduced by VND37.9 billion, the remaining 80 projects to be rescheduled and the capital reduced by VND415billion.

The city will use this surplus capital to speed the implementation of urgent projects like flood prevention and traffic projects.

The city is planning to boost natural disaster prevention projects by a further VND1,944 billion.

Drugs hike again in Vietnam

Around 70 percent of medications in the country have increased from 3-30 percent, according to the Vietnam Pharmaceutical Company Association’s recent statistics.

The association has conducted a survey over 4,000 drugs. Within a month, of 4,000 medicines, over 240 ones have leaped including imported and home-made drugs. Imported drugs have soared by 5-8 percent meanwhile local-made ones surged by 10-40 percent.

The pharmaceutical association warned materials to make drugs will rise in next months due to hike in electricity and petroleum.

Rubella causing 20 abortions a day

Doctors at the National Hospital for Obstetrics and Gynecology are daily advising a minimum of 20 pregnant women infected with rubella to abort their unborn child within the first three months of pregnancy.

Dr Tran Danh Cuong in the hospital said that since March, the hospital has received over 50 pregnant women infected with rubella every day, 20 of whom have been advised to abort their unborn babies.

Recently five babies infected by rubella were born blind, undernourished and with heart malformation.

Dr. Cuong said that rubella can be very contagious in the first few months of pregnancy or within the first 16 weeks.

Digital broadcasting workshop opens in Hanoi

An international workshop entitled “Strengthening Digital Broadcasting Experience” is being held in Hanoi on May 22-23 on the sidelines of the 8th Asia Media Summit.

The workshop is held jointly by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV).

Addressing the opening remarks, Luu Vu Hai, Director General of the Broadcasting and Electronic Information Authority under the Vietnam Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) said that although Vietnam has had a late start in communication and broadcasting technologies, the country is catching up with the new trends of digital broadcasting for public users.

The country also plans to achieve 100 percent digital broadcasting coverage by 2020, he stressed.

Participants at the workshop heard experiences of transferring from analog to DTTB in developing countries including Mongolia, Bhutan, Nepal and Vietnam.

They were introduced to various DTTB technologies such as Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial 1 and 2 in Germany, and Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting in Japan. They also learned about Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (T-DMB) and the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standards for digital television transmission over terrestrial, cable, and satellite networks in the Republic of Korea as well as China Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting (CMMB).

Speakers from Malaysia, France and Vietnam introduced a variety of innovations in set top boxes and digital receivers, their markets and opportunities for development.

On May 23, the participants will continue to discuss policies and regulations, technology and business possibilities for the introduction of mobile television in the Asia-Pacific region.

They will also focus on the future of broadcasting and how to enhance the capacity of broadcasters.

Vietnam joins Int’l Buddhist Museum in Sri Lanka

Vietnam is among 16 other Buddhist countries sending Buddhist art and ritual objects to the International Buddhist Museum in Sri Lanka’s ancient capital city of Kandy.

The International Buddhist Museum, the first of its kind in Sri Lanka, opened on May 20. Among those attending the opening ceremony were Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, dignitaries and diplomats from foreign countries.

The Museum is situated in campus of an ancient pagoda in Kandy. It provides visitors with knowledge about the Buddhist culture as well as the development and influence of Buddhism in the world.

Many countries showcased their objects on the historical value of Buddhism in separate chambers during the festival held by Sri Lanka from May 17-22 to mark the 2,600th anniversary of the enlightenment of Lord Buddha and his birthday.

Vietnamese business helps build school in Laos

The Long Thanh-Vientiane Golf Investment and Business Joint Stock Company has provided US$50,000 for building a primary school in Saysathan district, Sayaburi province of Laos.

The company’s Deputy General Director Le Huy Hoang handed over the cash to the Lao provincial authorities at a ceremony on May 21.

According to Sayaburi Governor Lien Thikeo, the donation was for the poor, which was set up two years ago to help eradicate illiteracy among children.

Lien Thikeo also called for Vietnamese investment in the development of local agricultural production.

Effective quality management techniques help improve media quality

A series of workshops on the sidelines of the eighth Asia Media Summit were held in Hanoi on May 23 including Broadcasting for all: Focusing on Gender Protection, Capacity Building & Training Strategies in the Digital Media Landscape, Fundamentals of Content Protection, A Platform Toward Better Content, Market Share and Revenues and Media Quality Management.

At the Media Quality Management workshop, Professor Louis Balme, Vice President of the International Standardization and Accreditation Services (ISAS) and Mr Yves Menestrier, Executive Director of the Media & Society Foundation introduced their organizations and discussed the current status of the media and the challenges it faces. Benefits of quality management and feedback from certified media were also presented along with the latest version of the ISA BCP 9001:2010 international standard, the “Quality Management Starter Kit”, and Click-N-Manage Management software and solutions to continuously monitor the quality of digital workflows.

Professor Louis Balmeemphasized that the media is now facing both economic and technological problems which can be solved by quality management techniques and the ISA BCP 9001: 2010 certification. He said that ISA BCP 9001: 2010 is an international management standard developed by the Media & Society Foundation in Geneva and considered the best practice management.

He added that public media like Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) will benefit significantly if it chooses to implement the ISA BCP 9001 certification including increased efficiency, better image, HR management, and cost control.

ISA BCP 9001 states the common, shared vision of the organization and provide written procedures for all critical activities, responses to problems and complaints and systematic follow-up and evaluation of corrective actions and better monitoring of performance through appropriate indicators. It is a culture of continual improvement, with benchmarking among broadcasters, identifying and exchanging of best practices and promoting better access to sources of information.

The same day, a workshop entitled “Capacity Building and Training Strategies in the Digital Media Landscape” was also held with the participation of representatives from more than 20 nations all over the world.

Natalie Labourdette, Head of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said that information technology offers a new channel for training reporters through online courses which helps reduce costs and facilitates their access to new technologies.

She emphasized that media environment today is mostly digital media and websites. This has put a lot of pressure on training reporters and created effective education channels. Therefore, reporters should become more dynamic and training activities should be diversified and interesting using digital technologies to attract learners.

Over 500 overseas Vietnamese in Thailand honoured

A delegation from the Vietnamese embassy in Thailand led by Ambassador Ngo Duc Thang recently visited Thai provinces to present medals, orders of the State President and certificates of merit of the Prime Minister to 500 overseas Vietnamese in Thailand, in recognition of their contributions to national construction and defense.

In his speech at the awards ceremony, Ambassador Thang praised the contributions overseas Vietnamese have made to Vietnam’s struggle for national independence and the Doi Moi (Renewal) process. He called on them to continue their great contributions to national development and to their countries of residence.

This was the second time this year overseas Vietnamese in Thailand were honoured with awards from the State President, the PM and the Foreign Minister.

The Vietnamese community in Thailand also had the great honour to receive the Order of Independence, first class, from the State President in 2007.

50 passengers avoid death as car burnt to bones

A car with 50 passengers on board unexpectedly caught fire in the central province of Phu Yen this afternoon, but no human casualties were reported.

The truck controlled by Tran Chi hailing from Binh Dinh province was heading to Ho Chi Minh City.

After being informed, police arrived on the scene to extinguish the fire. But it was too late when the vehicle had been burnt down to bare frames.

Police are investigating the cause of the fire.

Doctor arrested for stealing $12,500 from safe

A doctor at the Muong Te District health center in the northern Lai Chau Province has been arrested for allegedly stealing VND260 million (US$12,500) by breaking open a safe at the center.

Upon receiving a complaint from the center, the police’s suspicion turned towards Tong Van Khanh, 36.

After they interrogated him a few times, Khanh pleaded guilty to stealing the money.

He also told the police he was a drug addict and had financial problems.

On May 15, while getting his salary from the cashier office, Khanh saw a lot of money in the safe and hatched a plot to steal it.

At 11 pm that day he managed to break into the center, and used a crowbar to pry open the door of the cashier room. He then used the crowbar to prize open the safe and take away the money.

The police said they would file charges against him soon.

Hackers attack Vietnam government website

The website was successfully retrieved on Monday Unidentified hackers last week penetrated the security system of the Drug Administration of Vietnam’s website, www.dav.gov.vn, and deleted some data.

They left an image of a dancing skeleton on the homepage and the message “Congratulations – the website is hacked by Z@I-2 thzt0 ZXF, SSA.”

Technicians successfully retrieved the website Monday. The agency is run by the Ministry of Health.

HCMC cancels housing plan for nuclear center

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has canceled a staff’s housing project for the HCMC Nuclear Center of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission (VAEC) because of the latter’s fishy dealings.

Under the project, the municipal People’s Committee granted an area of 42,000 square meters in District 9’s Phuoc Long B Ward to the nuclear center to build apartments for its employees in 2004.

But the center failed to follow some basic procedures such as registering the project with the District 9 People’s Committee and submitting its design to the municipal Department of Construction for approval.

In addition, although only 35 members of the center’s employees were in need of housing, the center intended to build 110 apartments.

Other investors rather than the center’s employees were also involved in the project, showing the project wasn’t designed to meet employees’ needs.

The municipal committee has taken back the land and requested VAEC to discipline those involved.

Fishermen hit near oil field rescued

17 fishermen were rescued by the Vung Tau navy yesterday after their boat was hit by an unidentified boat near the Bach Ho Oil Field.

Pham Hien, director of the Maritime Search and Rescue Co-Ordination Centre III (Vung Tau MRCC), said the fishermen were hit when they were fishing near the Bach Ho Oil Field, which is 85 sea-miles away from Vung Tau.

After the fishermen called for help, Vung Tau MRCC coordinated with the workers and staffs of the DK15 oil rig to rescue them.

Wedding car hits truck, one dead

At 5.40 am this morning, a15 seated wedding car crashed a truck carrying vegetables going in opposite direction in National Road 1A in Tuy Hoa City, the coastal province of Phu Yen, causing one dead.

All passengers on the cars were injured and hospitalized to Phu Yen general hospital. Huynh Thi Huan, 70 years old, died and the other eleven are under treatment.

According to province police, the wedding car got stuck into the head of the truck and they had to detach two cars to rescue the driver and a passenger who had his leg broken.

Truck driver Nguyen Huu Nghi hailing from Tien Giang province said on seeing the wedding car reeling, he immediately turned to the left, moving to the middle of the road.

Unfortunately the wedding car suddenly changed its direction and hit right into his truck.

Police are investigating the case.

Safety rules make ships off limits to bay

About 90 out of the 130 cruise boats operating in Ha Long Bay are now banned as the new safety rules took effect last month.

Insiders said the new rules, which seek to raise safety standards for tourism ships, are a burden to cruise boat operators.

With the new rules, for a normal cruise boat worth VND10-15 billion and luxury cruise boat worth up to VND30-40 billion, it will take owners at least 10 years to start earning some profits, Dao Manh Luong, director of Ha Long-Bien Ngoc Co Ltd, told Phap Luat Newspaper.

According to the new rules, rooms in cruise ships must be at least 8 square meters and staffs must have health-related training certificates.

Doan Van Dung, head of Ha Long Yacht Association, said 70 percent of the ships and 80 percent of the staffs don’t meet these requirements.

Although Ha Log City have started to help cruise boat operators to upgrade their ships, which is scheduled to finish this August, and will offer training courses to cruise ship staffs by this July, cruise owners are asking for a delay in the implementation of the new rules.

“We’ll review the rules if necessary,” said Trinh Dang Thanh, deputy director of the Quang Ninh Province Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The new rules came after a cruise boat, Truong Hai 06 with 21 visitors on board, sank in Ha Long Bay waters this February, killing 11 foreign tourists.

Co.op Mart teller returns lost $11,000

A teller of My Tho Co.op Mart Supermarket in the southern province of Tien Giang has returned US$11,000 to a customer who accidentally left it on her counter last Thursday.

On the afternoon of May 19, Thi Nga found a wallet on her checkout counter and handed it over to the customer service staffs who found $11,000 in the wallet.

The supermarket then broadcast a notice of the lost item but no customer came forward.

Upon examining transactional records of the day, the supermarket fount out the owner is Nguyen Thi Le Tham from Cai Lay District.

36 tourists avoid death as car flips over

36 tourists on a passenger car narrowly escaped death after their vehicle overturned and fell into a rice field on National Highway 1A located in the central northern province of Nghe An Friday night.

The car was heading to Ho Chi Minh City from Hanoi.

The driver Vu Dang Dung, 38, hailing from Hanoi said when all passengers were sleeping, a 7-seat car in the opposite direction rushed into him, so he tried to swerve on the right side to avoid a collision.

The car then overturned and fell down to the rice field nearby.

Some passengers were reportedly injured.

‘Super thieves’ seized for 36 thefts

After months of investigation, central Da Nang City police yesterday seized two thieves who declared that they had carried out 36 thefts in the city.

Dang Ngoc Tan, alias Bac, 29, from Hanoi, and Nguyen Huu Phuoc, 28, a local, were arrested while breaking into a house in Hai Chau District.

The city police said they have launched an investigation about super thefts after receiving many reports about a series of thefts that have caused worry among the public since mid-2010, said Colonel Nguyen Dinh Chinh, deputy director of the city Police Department.

Tan and Phuoc declared that they usually targeted rich families in the city and would learn about daily activities of those families carefully before conducting thefts.

They said they had successfully conducted 36 thefts before their arrest.

The two also declared that they once stole VND500 million (US$24,500) and tens of taels of gold in just one theft.