Catholics Solidarity Committee celebrates Christmas; Vietnam, Canada boost educational cooperation; PM bans demolition of Hanoi old villas; Vietnam to punish spouses for sexual violence

Catholics Solidarity Committee celebrates Christmas

The Vietnam Committee for Solidarity of Catholics (VCSC) held a solemn ceremony in Hanoi on December 18 to mark the upcoming Christmas.

Priest Nguyen Cong Danh, VCSC President cum Vice President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee (VFFCC), said that 2009 is the first year the VCSC has implemented the renewal resolution set out in the fifth Congress of representatives of Vietnamese Catholics.

Over the past year, Vietnamese Catholics have actively and effectively participated in the nation’s movements, especially charitable activities, he said.

The VCSC has been working hard to raise funds for disabled children to help them overcome difficulties in their lives, he added.

VFFCC Vice President Nguyen Trong Kim urged the VCSC to continue contributing to the country’s movements and mobilise Catholics nationwide to well implement the Party and State’s policies and action plans set by the 7th VFF Congress.

Vietnam, Canada boost educational cooperation

The Government of Canada always considers Vietnam a priority in its educational cooperation, said Canadian Ambassador to Vietnam Deanna Horton.

Speaking at a seminar which opened in Ho Chi Minh City on December 8, Ms Horton said that Canada is Vietnam’s ideal partner in the educational sector.

To boost educational cooperation between the two countries, she said Canada has raised scholarships granted to Vietnam up to US$50,000 per year to attract Vietnamese students.

During 2007-2008, Canadian educational organizations launched many fact-finding tours to Vietnam and signed a number of educational programmes with the country, she said.

Canada plans to organize a large-scale exhibition with the participation of 57 educational organisations from four Canadian provinces in Vietnam in October 2010, which is expected to provide more study and research opportunities for Vietnamese students, she added.

According to the ambassador, Vietnam has made great progress in education, especially universalising primary education, thanks to the government’s positive educational policies.

However, the Vietnamese education has yet to develop as expected because of difficulties in budget and teaching staff, she said, adding that Canada may help Vietnam in educational programmes and training high-quality human resources.

Wartime shells unearthed in northern Vietnam

Authorities in the northern province of Dien Bien Phu safely moved 100 mortar and artillery shells out of a residential area on Friday after the weapons were dug up a day earlier.

Dozens of families were evacuated after the munitions, the origins of which are unknown, were found at an embankment two meters above National Road No. 279 in Him Lam Ward, Dien Bien Phu Town, during excavation work on a water sewage system project.

Also on Friday, workers from the central province of Nghe An’s Irrigation Works Company No.4 discovered an unexploded bomb.

Provincial sappers said the bomb, which was found six meters underground at Thuong Xa Dyke, was dropped by the US army during the Vietnam War.

Authorities said they had erected barriers around the area before moving the bomb.

It’s very likely that many other unexploded bombs are buried along the dyke, according to local experts.

PM bans demolition of Hanoi old villas

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked Hanoi to stop demolishing old villas and constructing high-rise buildings in the center of the capital city.

The city has been also ordered to create plans for restoring and preserving its old streets and villas that have historical value, according to a recent document issued by the government office.

Hanoi is mapping out a plan to modernize the city and build a new administration center. The plan is set to be submitted to the National Assembly in May 2010.

Dung said the capital city has to improve infrastructure but at the same time it must preserve cultural values in its rural areas. The balance between urban and rural development must be maintained, he stressed.

Students missing after fall into northern river

A group of Yen Bai seventh-graders went missing after falling into the Red River in the northern province on Sunday, a local official said.

The accident happened when nine students from Tran Yen District’s Co Phuc Town Primary School were playing on a sand bank, said Nguyen Khanh, vice chairman of Tran Yen People’s Committee.

One student then slipped and fell into the water, pulling four others along, said Khanh. The students were then swept away by strong currents, he said.

Others shouted for help, but it was too late and the water too deep and too strong, the official added.

District authorities commenced a rescue mission but they have yet to find the students. They are presumed dead.

A similar accident took place in Yen Bai’s Van Tien Commune last month, killing three eleventh-graders.

Vietnam to punish spouses for sexual violence

Spouses forcing their partner to have sex without the latter’s consent will be fined between VND500,000-1 million (US$27.4-54.7) under a recently issued decree by the government.

The new regulations to take effect from January 27, 2010 will also impose fines of between VND1.5 -2 million ($82-109) on those who force family members to read, watch or listen to illicit and violent cultural products.

The decree, which is part of the government’s efforts to deal with domestic violence, sets the fines for violations of domestic violence control regulations at between VND100,000 and VND30 million ($5.4-$1,624).

Northern reservoirs to release water on drought concerns

State-owned Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) has committed to releasing some two billion cubic meters of water from hydropower reservoirs to reduce the risk of critical drought in the northern region.

Dam Hoa Binh, deputy head of the agriculture ministry’s Irrigation Department, said on Tuesday (December 15) that under the plan starting next month, EVN will discharge water three times from the Hoa Binh, Tuyen Quang and Thac Ba reservoirs.

EVN guaranteed that the Red River’s water levels wouldn’t go lower than 2.2 meters so that localities can pump water from it easily for farming, Binh said.

Early this month the river’s water level was recorded at 1.3 meters and this was expected to decrease to between 0.7-0.8 meters in January, the lowest level in the 107 years since records began to be kept about the river.

A similar situation prevails at other local rivers and the water at their reservoirs has just reached between 40-80 percent of their capacity. With the region about to start a new crop in about one month, the drought situation could turn critical, experts have warned.

Dong Nai workers strike over poor working conditions

Some 750 workers of a Korean-owned company in the southern province of Dong Nai went on strike Wednesday as they were forced to work overtime yet not given proper care, including rights to use the bathroom freely.

The workers from MJ Apparel Ltd. Co. in Bien Hoa Town said under the company’s regulations, each worker was allowed to use the bathroom just two times per shift.

A report by the Bien Hoa Labor Union said that in each group of 50 people, only three people were allowed to go to the bathroom at a time, closely watched by security guards.

The report also said that the company was not paying the workers’ social and health insurance as regulated and the meals served were very poor in nutrition.

The town’s labor union on the same day asked the MJ Apparel comply with labor regulations, including removing restrictions on the workers’ bathroom use.

Long An residents jailed in old-for-new-notes scam

Two men from the Mekong Delta’s Long An Province were sentenced to 20 and 18 years in jail Thursday for using worn currency notes to commit fraud, exploiting the government’s offer of exchanging old notes for new ones.

According to the indictment filed at the Can Tho City People’s Court, Tran Van Lap, who was sentenced to 20 years in jail and Tran Van Tao in May 2006 collected tattered dong notes and cut five of them into six torn ones to exchange for new notes at banks.

The government was then revoking notes that were too torn for circulation and returning new notes to the owners.

Lap and Tao were successful many times at the Can Tho branch of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), where they directly dealt with Ca Thanh Binh, former director and Le Van Tan, former deputy head of the currency and budget department.

The defendants had managed to obtain more than VND2 billion (US$109,560) worth of new notes from banks in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai Province and Can Tho, police said.

They were caught in November 2006 when they were about to change more money at the Can Tho BIDV bank.

Dao Thi Ngoc Dao and Tran Van Linh who helped bring the fake notes for changing at banks were sentenced to 18 years in prison each at the Supreme People’s Court trial in HCMC last year, while Tan got three years and Binh received a three-year suspended sentence for lacking in responsibility.

Official warns of avian flu recurrence

Without strengthened preventive measures, it is very likely a bird flu epidemic would break out in the country again, a health official warned Thursday.

Hoang Van Nam, deputy head of the agriculture ministry’s Animal Health Department, attributed the high likelihood of recurrence to the cold weather and increasing demand for fowl during the upcoming Tet season.

The department has ordered localities to strengthen measures to control the flu, including immunizing fowls.

The provinces of Ca Mau in the south and Thai Nguyen in the north are currently suffering avian flu outbreaks. This has happened after the disease was absent for several months across the nation, Nam said.

The fifth avian flu death of the year was also recorded this month.

Tourists flock to Ninh Binh province

The northern province of Ninh Binh, which is famous for its beautiful scenery and historical relics, has attracted a sharply increased number of domestic and international tourists, earning VND245 billion in revenues, up 51 percent from the same period last year.

As many 2.4 million tourists arrived in the province in 2009, a 26 percent rise from last year. These included 600,000 foreigners, and 130,000 tourists who stayed in Ninh Binh for an extended time.

This tourism success is attributed to the province’s efforts to concentrate investment in the tourism sector and traffic-related infrastructure. Ninh Binh’s new restaurants and recreational areas have helped attract and sustain tourism.

The province has also paid great attention to the professional training of tour guides, receptionists and other staff in support services.

The tourists to this land of a former national capital have already surpassed the capacity of many hotels, inns and restaurants. Many tourists who wanted to taste goat meat - a Ninh Binh specialty - had to return because restaurants were already full of tourists.

The province is now taking measures to attract larger investment into its tourism and hospitality industry to meet increasing demands in the future.

PV