Appeals Court upholds sentences on three anti-State instigators; Vietnam’s Internet security recognized globally; Hanoi to control spread of HIV/AIDS; Buddhist Sangha convenes third meeting in HCM City

Defendant Pham Van Troi

The three defendants were Tran Duc Thach, born in 1952 in Nghe An province, Vu Van Hung, born in 1966 in Hanoi and Pham Van Troi, born in 1972 in Hanoi.

At the Instance Court trial, Troi was sentenced to 4 years in prison and another four years’ probation, while both Hung and Thach received three-year sentences and were placed on probation for another three years.

They were accused of illegally hanging slogans, writing and publishing stories on the Internet, taking part in interviews, and stockpiling and distributing materials that distort and falsify Party guidelines, State policies and Vietnam’s revolutionary cause, including the past struggle for national liberation and the current Renewal process.

The Court of Appeals ruled that their activities caused social instability and reduced the people’s trust in the Party and State, in an attempt to change the country’s political system.

The three defendants admitted that they had carried out such activities.

Saigontourist promotes MICE tourism

The Saigon Tourist Travel Agency (Saigontourist) has become a leading brand name for MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) tourism through its efforts to promote this new type of tourism.

A strong brand name, competitive prices and professionalism have helped the agency win many contracts to serve big MICE tourist groups.

Since the beginning of January, Saigontourist has received a large number of visitors including 420 guests from the International Insurance Corporation, 150 guests from Bayer Company and a group of 77 European visitors to Vietnam.

Saigontourist’s all-in-one service has been expanded to most of the countries and territories around the world.

In addition to its high-quality service, Saigontourist has a number of professional partners including hotels, and resorts across the country which offer competitive prices and free insurance.

Combating HIV/AIDS, drugs and prostitution

It is essential to promote education campaigns on the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS, drugs and prostitution, particularly among high-risk groups.

This was emphasised by Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong at a conference held by the National Committee for HIV/AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution Prevention and Control in Hanoi on January 19.

The event attracted a host of domestic and international delegates who praised Vietnam’s achievements in combating HIV/AIDS, drugs and prostitution in recent years.

Deputy PM Trong expressed his appreciation for the assistance of international organisations and donors. Joint efforts by domestic and foreign organisations and individuals have helped drug addicts, former prostitutes and people living with HIV/AIDS reintegrated into the community, he said.

Mr Trong called for more financial support and tougher measures to prevent discrimination. He also urged provinces and cities to use their budgets and donations by international organisations more effectively.

According to statistics from the National Committee for HIV/AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution Prevention and Control, at the end of 2009, Vietnam had 156,802 HIV patients, more than 146,700 drug addicts and 29,259 prostitutes.

Vietnam’s Internet security recognized globally

The next few years Vietnam should invest more in science and technology so the country can become the frontrunner in this field.

This is the view of Nguyen Tu Quang, director of the Bachkhoa Internet Security Centre (BKIS), who said Vietnam is enjoying an equal opportunity with other developing and developed countries around the world in developing information technology (IT). Moreover, Vietnamese people have a talent for developing Internet security.

He highlighted Vietnam’s achievements in the IT sector, which has been widely recognized globally. In February 2009, BKIS experts detected mistakes in the security networks of several big computer makers, including Toshiba, Lenovo and Asus. Vietnam was the sole Asian representatives recently at the world’s largest security seminar, he added.

Mr Quang revealed that Vietnamese IT experts were successful in uncovering the sources of attacks on websites in the US and the Republic of Korea. This success was praised by the worldwide media.

The record shows that Vietnam’s anti-virus software is high-quality, better than that of many foreign countries. BKIS supplied anti-virus software free of charge from 1995 to 2005. Since 2005, the centre has commercialized its products. At present, BKIS’ anti-virus software receives 110,000 hits per day and is available in 103 countries and territories around the world.

Hanoi to control spread of HIV/AIDS

In 2010, Hanoi will attempt to keep the rate of people with HIV/AIDS at below 0.3 percent and stem the growth of the virus over the next few years.

To achieve this, the city is paying more attention to providing information, education, care and HIV/AIDS treatments and interventions to offset the damaging effects of the virus.

In addition, Hanoi wants 85 percent of people living in the inner city and 70 percent of people living in the suburbs to understand and know how to prevent being infected with HIV/AIDS. The rate of HIV-infected pregnant women is planned to be kept below 0.4 percent.

The city has requested every district and department to introduce information campaigns to change people’s behaviour in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Buddhist Sangha convenes third meeting in HCM City

More than 500 representatives from provincial and municipal Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) chapters nationwide attended in its third meeting in Quang Duc Monastery in Ho Chi Minh City on January 18.

Addressing the event, Most Venerable Thich Tri Tinh, Chairman of the VBS’s Executive Council, encouraged monks, nuns and followers to preserve their confidence, based on understanding and Dharma, in the bright future of the nation and Vietnamese Buddhism, with the VBS acting as the sole representative inside and outside the country.

“The VBS should pay more attention to disadvantaged areas, rumors, disagreements and wrongful acts of a number of its members,” the Most Venerable said.

In 2010, the VBS will chair a number of important Buddhist activities, including the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi Buddhism and the sixth World Buddhist Summit in Hanoi.

It will also focus on educating and training monks and nuns, assisting the development of Therevada Khmer, finalising the compilation of Buddhist history and honouring those who have provided great service for Buddhism.

The VBS has set to concentrate on charitable and social affairs, particularly in rural, ethnic minority-inhabited areas, and developing HIV/AIDS counseling centres and programmes.

Last year, the VBS Central Committee and its municipal and provincial chapters raised more than VND550 billion for charitable and social activities, and maintained the operation of 60 Buddhist medical clinics and a chain of compassionate classrooms, vocational schools in 13 cities and provinces across the country.

The VBS also completed the establishment of a close and unified administrative system, helping facilitate Buddhist operations.

In his review of the VBS’s performance in 2009, the Vice Chairman of the VBS’s Executive Council, Thich Thien Nhon, attributed the VBS’s achievements to the close relationship between the VBS and administrations at all levels and to the immense assistance and support given by the State and local authorities.

Construction sector accelerates activities in 2010

The Ministry of Construction held a meeting in Hanoi on January 18 to review work in 2009 and devise tasks for 2010.

In 2009, the ministry completed the Law on Urban Planning, the law on the amendment and supplement to Article 126 of the Housing Law and Article 121 of the Land Law to submit to the 12th National Assembly for approval. It finished three region zoning projects: building the Vietnam-Cambodia border areas, south of Thanh Hoa and north of Nghe An and the Mekong Delta region and improved proportion of urban .

The ministry also verified 16 kinds of urban areas, implemented a number of water supply and environment improvement projects and raised the number of households having access to safe water to 73 percent. It developed public lighting systems and planted urban trees.

The Ministry worked with localities to build more than 88,000 houses for the poor, 86 housing projects for students and repaired nearly 4,000 houses for people who had contributed to the national revolution.

It also accelerated administrative reform in managing construction and investment. The number of projects which were granted construction licenses increased from 86.8 percent to 92 percent.

HCM City assists disadvantaged people to enjoy Tet

The Ho Chi Minh City Municipal People’s Committee has urged its administrative officials to pay due attention to policy beneficiaries and disadvantaged people and assist them to enjoy the traditional Lunar New Year Festival (Tet).

According to plan, every beneficiary will receive at least VND500,000 to VND1.2 million while poor people will get VND500,000 each and those aged over 85 will have VND400,000 each.

The Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing Zone Authority (Hepza), the Business Association and the Fund for the City’s Workers will offer 5,500 bus tickets for the poor workers to return home and hold spring fairs and cultural programmes at 13 economic zones. They will also present 2,000 tickets to the workers so they can visit various places of interest around the City.

Hepza will also oragnise teams to visit and give 1,500 presents worth VND300,000 each to the workers who cannot return home for Tet.

Car falls off northern bridge, two dead

A Ford Everest fished out of a river in Cao Bang Province Friday morning.

Two people were killed Thursday night last week when a car broke a bridge railing and fell into a river in the northern province of Cao Bang.

The driver and a passenger were killed as the Ford Everest fell 25 meters into the Bang Giang River in Cao Bang Town at around 10p. Around three meters of the concrete railing on Gia Cung Bridge also fell into the river.

Another man on the back seat managed to open the door and escape once the car hit the water.

Eyewitnesses said the car started from an alley 100 meters from the bridge and had speed up as the bridge is rather steep.

Then the car slid to the left and hit the bridge rail before the driver quickly turned right, smashing through the opposite railing and falling off the bridge, they said.

The bodies were fished out immediately while the car was pulled out the next morning.

Police are identifying the victims and investigating the cause of the accident.

Oil leak from Mongolian ship ‘under control’

A fuel oil leak from a Mongolian vessel in waters off the central province of Binh Dinh is now under control, the Binh Dinh Department of Natural Resources and Environment said January 18.

The leak sprung January 17 when the Mongolian Vitamin Gas vessel with 12 sailors aboard hit a reef while passing through the central province of Binh Dinh’s territorial waters, said the department.

The spill stretched 2km long and 800m wide, affecting shrimp-breeding areas of 32 households, around 15,000 lobsters, and more than 10,000 seed shrimp, worth a total of VND7 billion (US$368,400).

The department has now set up barriers stretching 500 meters to prevent more oil from spreading in the water.

The ship, which was carrying 800 tons of gasoline from the southern beach city of Vung Tau to the northern province of Quang Ninh, has been unable to move since it crashed into the reef. It now holds approximately 30 tons of diesel oil and 40 tons of fuel oil.

Technician decapitated by wire

A technician was killed in the central province of Quang Ngai Monday morning when an electric wire he was working on snapped and cut off his head.

The body of Mai Dinh Tuan, 26, was carried to his home in the south central province of Phu Yen Tuesday morning.

Tuan, a Phu Yen Power Company employee, was installing a 220-kilo-voltage wire in Nghia Hanh District of Quang Ngai when the wire suddenly snapped and broke through his neck.

Nghia Hanh police and officials from the district Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs arrived at the scene immediately to investigate the cause of the accident and transfer the body to his family.

India to help preserve national livestock gene resources

India will help Vietnam preserve its domesticated animal gene resources, especially endangered ones, Vietnamese researchers were told last week.

The Indian National Institute of Milk and Vietnam National Institute of Husbandry have agreed to cooperate and share experiences in protecting gene resources of domestic animals.

During a two-week visit to India that ended last Thursday, Vietnamese researchers met with officials from the milk institute and India National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources to discuss measures for preserving bred animal genes, including biotechnological and IT applications.

India is well known for its extensive experience in gene pool resource protection and effective practice in the field.

PV