Nation remembers Hung Kings; More than VND11 trillion ODA for university education; Giant blanket to help AO victims; Suspected murderers of Vietnamese businessman arrested in Russia; Labour export in full swing

Nation remembers Hung Kings

A national-level commemoration of the first rulers of Vietnam, the Hung Kings, will be held in ten days in the northern province of Phu Tho and in two days in other provinces and cities throughout the country this month.

An opening ceremony for the Hung Kings Temple festival will take place at Nghia Linh Mountain on April 14. The ceremony, entitled Original Holy Land, will be organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Around 1,000 artists will perform at the show including artists from theatres throughout the country, the Vietnam Circus Federation and the Vietnam Dance School.

On April 23, President Nguyen Minh Triet and other central and local leaders will join a worshipping ceremony at the site.

There will be various cultural activities like photography and book exhibitions, a swimming competition on the Lo River and other sports tournaments, a firework show, and a Banh Chung (glutinous-rice square cake) and Banh Day (glutinous-rice round cake) making competition.

The Hung Vuong Museum, which has been built on over 15,000sq.m, will also be inaugurated at the event with an exhibition of objects dating back to the era of the Hung Kings (approximately between 2897 BC and 1550 BC), the Ly dynasty (1009-1225) and the Tran dynasty (1225-1400) while the Culture and Sports Festival of north-eastern ethnic groups will be held in the locality.

According to Nguyen Doan Khanh, chairman of the Phu Tho Provincial People’s Committee, the local authorities have made preparations for a great festival.

The province has also spared VND30 billion for organising the festival this year.

Around 500,000 people are expected to visit the temple site per day during the festival. The same event last year attracted 4 million people in total.

According to legend, the Vietnamese nation, named Van Lang, was founded by Emperor Hung Vuong about 40 centuries ago. The 18-king dynasty led Vietnam to develop in peace.

To honour the founding fathers, the Hung Vuong holy site was built in 250BC in Phu Tho, and has since become one of the most popular sites in the country. The annual Hung Kings anniversary is held on the 10th day of the third lunar month.

More US veterans to receive allowances for AO-borne diseases

An additional 86,000 US veterans who were exposed to herbicides during the war in Vietnam or their spouses will be entitled to allowances paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The payment of allowances will be implemented after April 26, the effective date of a VA’s new regulation that adds leukemia, Parkinson and heart diseases into the list of health problems relating to Agent Orange (AO).

Earlier, the US government received petitions for compensation from 86,000 US war veterans in Vietnam who suffer from ischemic heart disease (IHD), Parkinson and B-cell blood cancers, also known as B-cell leukemia.

According to the VA’s new regulation, which was announced by Secretary Eric Shinseki on Oct. 13, 2009, US veterans who were exposed to AO during the war in Vietnam and were suffering from one of the above-mentioned diseases were considered for the government’s social welfares.

The decision was based on VA’s Institution of Medicine findings.

Accordingly, the categories of patients to enjoy allowances due to AO exposure will increase to 15.

The department also estimated that about 250,000 war veterans would apply for allowance in accordance with the new policy.

The policy’s most important point is the inclusion of IHD in the list of beneficiary diseases as the number of IHD sufferers accounts for 82 percent of the total war veteran patients.

According to the VA, of the total 86,000 new beneficiaries, nearly 70,000 are Vietnam-war veterans with an average age of 63. Among them, 62,200 are suffering from IHD, 5,400 from B-cell leukima and 2,300 from Parkinson.

Estimated allowances for those suffering from added diseases will reach US$13.6 billion in fiscal year 2010 and US$ 42.2 billion in the next 10 years.

More than VND11 trillion ODA for university education

The total value of signed official development assistance (ODA) agreements for education and training in the 1998-2009 period reached more than VND26 trillion, reports the Ministry of Education and Training.

More than 40 percent of the money will be invested in university education, equal to more than VND11 trillion. These will not include 4 foreign invested universities and colleges with an initial registered capital of about VND1.2 trillion.

The Government’s policy aimed at mobilising social investment in university education has also achieved some positive results. 29 private universities and 27 private colleges have been newly established and upgraded in this period with a total capitalisation of more than VND1.5 trillion.

EC helps enhance reproductive health care services’ capability

A project to enhance the capability of public and private reproductive health services in Vietnam was introduced at a seminar in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue city on April 5.

The implementation of the 36-month project under the sponsorship of the European Commission (EC) late last year began in January 2010 in a bid to contribute to alleviating poverty by reducing through reducing mothers’ fatality in rural and remote areas in Vietnam, which is part of the Millennium Development Goals.

The project is designed to increase the access to and quality of family planning and essential reproductive healthcare services and improve the public and private health establishments’ capacity for managing and monitoring reproductive healthcare and family planning services.

Speaking at the seminar, the chief representative of Marie Stopes International in Vietnam (MSIVN), Nguyen Bich Hang, said that her organisation will closely work with target localities to test the model of combining the state and private sectors in providing reproductive health care at grassroots level.

In addition, MSIVN will cooperate with relevant health services and agencies to issue service cards for medical payments on a trial basis to draw lessons for the Government’s plan aimed at extending health insurance to cover the whole population by 2014.

Giant blanket to help AO victims

Two giant halves of the world’s biggest woollen blanket, one made in France and the other in Vietnam, will be joined together in October, announced Anna Owhadi-Richarson, president of the friends of Da Lat association (AD@IY).

Anna said the blanket is not only to celebrate the Thang Long – Hanoi millennium anniversary, but also symbolises the solidarity between the two nations in general and the cooperation between the French city of Montpellier and Vietnam’s Da Lat and Hanoi.

The AD@IY initiative started up two years ago in order to make the best use of waste wool to make a present for AO victims and raise public awareness of environmental protection and condemn crimes against nature.

“It is humanitarian work that gives us the chance to work and talk together,” said Maguey and Rose who helped to knit part of the French half of the blanket from their Montpellier rest home.

The initiative soon received a response from the Montpellier authorities and public, UNICEF and other associations. Balls of wool were sent to AD@IY from everywhere and many volunteers took part in the campaign to collect wool for the blanket.

A similar half of the blanket is also being completed in Da Lat. After being joined, the blanket will come up for auction to raise money for AO victims. It will then be separated to send to child victims, as an evidence of international assistance in the fight against AO.

The blanket is current still being knitted, in an effort to be recognised by the Guiness book as the world’s biggest woollen blanket.

US-based charity helps Hue build community houses

The US-based charity organisation, the Friends of Hue Foundation (FHF), in coordination with the local authorities on April 5 put community houses into operation in Loi Nong street and other surrounding streets in Thuy Chau ward, Huong Thuy town, Hue City.

The project got underway in August 2009 with a total investment of over VND864 million.

The community houses include kindergartens and classrooms, which can accommodate 50 children and be used by people to avoid floods.

They can also be used to train farmers in new agricultural techniques and provide community healthcare services for local people.

At present, the FHF is sponsoring another project to bring up poor children in Xuan Phu in Hue.

New scholarship opportunities for Vietnamese students

The Institute of International Education (IIE) on April 5 announced the 2010 GE Foundation Scholar-Leaders programme for excellent students from leading universities across Vietnam.

This is the 4th consecutive year the programme has been rolled out in Vietnam. The students are in their first academic-year studying business, technology and natural sciences at the National Economics University, HCM City University of Economics, Hanoi University of Technology, Hanoi University of Foreign Trade, HCM City University of Foreign Trade, National University, Can Tho University, Da Nang University, Hue University and Nha Trang University.

The 10 candidates who have recorded the best results in their studies and leadership abilities will receive 3-year scholarships, each worth US$3,600.

Apart from receiving their tuition fees, books and subsistence expenses, they will have the chance to participate in seminars on developing leadership skills and community activities.

The programme is sponsored by the GE fund set up by the General Electric Group to improve the opportunities for talented students to study in Vietnam and other developing countries where the GE Group operates.

Operation Smile, AIA co-operate in project

Operation Smile Vietnam (OSV) and AIA (Vietnam) Life Insurance Co Ltd are funding free medical check-ups and surg+eries for children with hare lips, cleft palate and facial deformities.

Some 140 children from HCM City and southern provinces were provided with medical check-ups at the National Hospital of Odonto-Stomatology in HCM City on the first day of the mission, which lasts from April 5 to 9.

More than 100 children will be receiving treatment, with surgeries taking place from April 6 to 9 at HCM City’s My Thien Hospital.

The programme, the first mission that AIA Vietnam has cooperated with OSV, is part of AIA’s plan to mark its 10th year of presence in Vietnam.

A bird flu case detected in Bac Kan province

The Director of the Bac Kan provincial Health Department, Nong Quoc Chi, confirmed an A/H5N1-infected case on April 5.

The patient, Trung Van Hoa, 22, from Na Tao hamlet, Nhu Co commune, Cho Moi district, is currently in critical condition. He is being treated at the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

The patient got sick on March 30 with symptoms of high fever and cough. He was admitted to Bac Kan provincial hospital, and then sent to the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases on April 3 where he tested positive for the lethal strain of A/H5N1 virus.

At present, four other people in Nhu Co commune show similar symptoms of high fever and cough. They are under quarantine and being treated at Bac Kan provincial hospital.

Suspected murderers of Vietnamese businessman arrested in Russia

The Russian police on April 4 arrested two people suspected of murdering a Vietnamese businessman in Ufa, the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia.

The 29-year-old Vietnamese businessman, Do Van Kien, from Yen Nhan commune, Yen Mo district, Ninh Binh province, was murdered in his house on Maghistralnaya street the same day.

The two suspects, who also allegedly injured Kien’s pregnant wife before killing him, were local residents, said the police.

The police has prosecuted the two suspects and they may be sentenced to 20 years to life imprisonment.

Labour export in full swing

Over the past three months, nearly 17,000 workers have engaged in a labour export programme, according to the Overseas Labour Management Department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA).

Malaysia and Taiwan are the two major markets for the largest number of Vietnamese workers while other markets such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Libya also have a high demand for workers.

Currently, Taiwan is in need of workers in production, manufacturing and nursing and the Republic of Korea wants to employ around 12,500 Vietnamese workers.

MOLISA has set a labour export target of 85,000 in 2010 with a focus on sending workers from 62 poor districts in the country. After ten months of working towards the target, more than 5,300 workers from 43 districts in 16 provinces have registered to work abroad under time-limited contracts.

Blue-ear pig disease hits Hai Duong province

More than 300 pigs in Hai Duong have been infected with the blue-ear disease, resulting in nearly 40 pig deaths.

According to Dong Van Chuc, head of the Hai Duong provincial Veterinary Department, the blue-ear pig disease has spread to three communes namely Tien Duong, Quang Trung and Tay Ky in Ty Ky district and the four communes of Hong Khe, Nhan Quyen, Tan Viet and Thai Hoc in Binh Giang district.

The Hai Duong provincial Veterinary Department has introduced urgent measures to quarantine infected areas and sterilize breeding farms. The Department has also banned the transport and trading of sick pigs.

Binh Giang and Tu Ky districts have set up temporary checkpoints in communes hit by the disease to detect new outbreaks and prevent its spread as soon as possible.

PV