Blue-ear pig disease spreads to 13 provinces and cities
Blue-ear pig disease has spread to 13 provinces and cities nationwide, announced the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on May 9.
They are Hai Duong, Thai Binh, Thai Nguyen, Hung Yen, Bac Ninh, Hai Phong, Hanoi, Nam Dinh, Ha Nam, Lang Son, Nghe An, Quang Ninh and Bac Giang.
Bac Giang is the latest province having nearly 900 sick pigs and 115 that have died on 124 breeding farms in nine communes in Yen Dung district.
A new outbreak occurred in Nghe An province from May 3-7, with more than 500 pigs infected in seven communes in Nam Dan, Yen Thanh, Do Luong districts and Vinh city.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has asked the Veterinary Department to send animal health workers to help infected localities combat the epidemic.
All local authorities have been urged to strictly control the transport, slaughtering and trading of pigs in blue-ear epidemic-hit areas to prevent the deadly disease spreading further.
Longest trans-mountain tunnel in Vietnam completed
The longest trans-mountain tunnel in Vietnam with a total length of nearly 10km at the Nam Chien 1 Hydro-electric power Plant in Son La province has been completed.
Work on the Irrigation Tunnel Nam Chien 1, started in Ngoc Chien commune in 2007 and was finished in Chieng San commune, Muong La district on May 8.
The Nam Chien 1 Hydroelectric power Plant located about 40km from the Son La Hydroelectric power Plant costs a total of US$31.5 million to build. It is scheduled to generate power by the end of 2011 with a capacity of 200MW.
UN gives equipment for drug investigation
The UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) today will donate training equipment to the Ministry of Public Security’s Crime and Drug Investigative Police (PC17) Department in Ha Noi.
The donation of the equipment, which will be used in crime prevention, is part of a project to improve the capacity to collect information about crimes among relevant agencies on drug prevention in Viet Nam.
On the same day, UNODC in co-operation with PC17 will begin a six-day training course for staff of the PC17, Border Army’s Customs Department and Sea Police Department.
ASEAN Sub-Committee on Meteorology and Geophysics meets in Danang
Asian member countries, the ASEAN secretariat and representatives from the World Meteorological Organization and Japanese and Korean department of meteorology are attending the 32nd meeting of the ASEAN Sub-Committee on Meteorology and Geophysics, which opened in Danang on May 10.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Nguyen Van Duc said Southeast Asia has been seriously affected by natural disasters. Countries in the regions will have to deal with all forms of disasters.
Duc said since the establishment, the sub-committee has been carrying out a variety of projects and cooperative activities in order to improve the capacity of meteorology, hydrography and geophysics, especially in disaster observation, climate change, weather forecast and more precise early disaster warnings, all contributing to alleviating the disasters’ impacts and promoting socio-economic development in the region.
Duc said in the context that climate change has affected all aspects of social life and member countries’ millennial targets, the sub-committee will have more responsibilities.
This year’s meeting will review the implementation of projects and initiatives proposed at the 31st meeting in Thailand a year ago, with the sponsorship of ASEAN’s three partners: Japan, the Republic of Korea and China.
In addition, ASEAN members will discuss three important issues including earthquakes, tidal waves; low tropical pressures on the East Sea; and transborder smog.
The meeting will also provide ASEAN countries with a platform to exchange information and experiences in studying and warning of storms and low tropical pressures on the East Sea; dealing with smog and building an early warning centre for earthquakes and tidal waves, promoting the cooperation between ASEAN countries in the fields of meteorology and geographics.
The meeting will last until May 12.
Religious authorities need to promote party, state policy
The Tu An Hieu Nghia or “Four debts of gratitude” religion held its first congress for the 2010-2015 term at Tam Buu – Phi Lai pagoda, Tri Ton district of An Giang province from May 8-9.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Chief of the Government’s Committee for Religious Affairs Pham Huy Tho called on dignitaries and followers of the religion to step up communications in order to improve the understanding of the party’s policies and the state law among parishioners.
He said this would help the followers feel secured when practising the religion and encourage them to fulfill their citizen responsibilities, including contribution to the building of the great unity bloc.
As a locally-originated religion, Tu An Hieu Nghia was founded in 1867 by Ngo (Tu) Loi in Bay Nui region of the Mekong delta province of An Giang. The religion has so far attracted tens of thousands of followers, not only in Kien Giang but also from its neighbouring localities.
Its tenets are the combination of the principles of three religions – Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. The followers live and practice under the principle of learning from Buddhist to cultivate virtue and morals and paying four debts of gratitudes, to one’s parents, country, three refuges - Buddha, Dharma, Sangha – and fellow citizens and all mankind.
During its inception, the most of the followers were patriotic feudal intellectuals during the past resistance against the French colonialists. Later on, Bay Nui remained a revolutionary base of southern Vietnam during the US war for national reunification.
Ethnic minorities keep pace with the country
An exhibition on ethnic communities in Vietnam opened in Hanoi on May 9 as part of activities to welcome the first National Congress of Representatives of Minority Nationalities in Vietnam.
The opening ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung, the Chairman of the National Assembly’s Council for Ethnic Minorities, K’sor Phuoc, and the Head of the Government’s Committee for Ethnic Minorities, Giang Seo Phu.
The exhibition aims to honour and praise the merits and contributions of ethnic groups in national construction and defence as well as reflect their cultural, economic and social development during the process of renovation and integration.
The exhibition is organized to cover two topics: (1) attention and assistance the Party and State have given to ethnic minorities and their cultures, and (2) books, newspapers, magazines and other cultural products that serve ethnic minorities, and a display of their socio-economic achievements from 2005 to 2009.
Nguyen Dang Duy, a visitor to the exhibition, said the event will help people in lowland areas to understand more about the lives and cultures of mountainous people as well as the close connection between all Vietnamese ethnic groups.
Provinces asked to prepare for storms and floods
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has asked provinces to ensure the reservoirs before storm and flood season this year.
Accordingly, provinces and cities in the northern and Highland regions must be finished with repair and upgrading work before May 31.
Construction work in the Central Highlands should be accelerated to ensure timely protection against floods.
One man dies of sweltering weather in central region
A 64 year old man died of scorching weather in the northern central province of Quang Tri’s Tuyen Hoa District.
Tien Hoa Commune People’s Committee May 5 said that the victim named Le Van Binh, a retired military doctor, died of coronary thrombosis when he was harvesting rice during a parching mid-noon.
The commune People’s Committee chairman Tran Xuan Son said that during the same time there were two other people died of coronary in the area.
Over the last few days, temperatures in Tien Hoa raised up to 41 Celsius degrees.
In the neighboring province of Quang Tri, the condition was worse with temperatures peaking 47 degrees.
Meanwhile, the electricity was regularly cut off at residential areas from 1pm to 9pm daily, sending residents rush to buy power generators.
Quang Ngai Province General Hospital reported that the number of children hospitalized due to heat-related diseases has skyrocketed by 2-3 times over normal days.
The number of elderly hospitalized was also found doubled.
Le Van Cuong, deputy chairman of Pho Quang Commune People’s Committee in Duc Pho District said that over 50 percent of white leg shrimps bred in the commune’s 60 ponds have been ill due to hot and dry weather.
A commune resident named Huynh Minh Hung said that almost total 500,000 shrimps he bred in two ponds, 2,800 square meters, has died of scorching weather.
New educational program helps learners solve life challenges
To help all classes of the society improve their educational level, a new multi-leveled education program is in the works.
The Ministry of Education and Training is creating new education programs that aim to provide all segments of society with knowledge of law, environmental protection, physical fitness and business matters. Officials hope the program will be helpful for people to solve life’s challenges.
Flexibly designed, the program includes over 1,500 classes, addressing many important issues in society. Under the plan, individual provinces would be able to choose which programs address the needs of their particular communities.
The ministry will consider input from all segments of society while designing the new educational programs.
400 Vietnamese infected with tuberculosis daily: doctor
Tuberculosis patients treated in the National Tuberculosis Hospital
Vietnam has more 400 tuberculosis patients and 55 die from the disease a day, a health official said.
Dinh Ngoc Sy, director of the National Tuberculosis Hospital, said the country stands at 12 among 22 nations that have highest number of patients with the disease.
Around 1.67 per cent of the population is at risk of infecting the disease. Recent studies by the hospital have revealed that more young people are now suffering from the disease, said Dr. Sy, adding that unhealthy lifestyle of young generation or young men get HIV virus.
Health Ministry tightens oversight over hospital pharmacies
The Health Minister has ordered hospitals nationwide to ensure outside individuals are not allowed to manage pharmacies located in their premises.
In an instruction issued last Friday (May 7), the Ministry of Health ordered that pharmaceutical departments and finance department of a hospital will manage the pharmacies.
In inviting bids for supplying the hospital-based pharmacies with drugs, the bidders would haver to meet specific criteria relating to warehouse facilities, distribution license, quality certification, the instruction said.
The new instruction follows findings in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City that the prices of drugs were raised by up to four times in hospital pharmacies as a result of manipulation by drug suppliers and distributors.
Can Tho loses factory, four houses to two fires
The remains of a timber factory that caught fire in Can Tho last Saturday.
A timber factory in Can Tho that burned down early Saturday morning has reportedly caused losses worth more than VND10 billion (US$526,300).
The fire broke out at about 3a.m. and was put out after two and a half hours because the area has no water sources for firefighting hoses to plug in, the Bao Dat Viet (Viet land’s newspaper) reported.
A large amount of wood and machines were destroyed by the fire, but there were no human casualties, the report said.
The factory, owned by Nguyen Van Chien, had more than 200 cubic meters of wood in stock, half of which was precious and worth more than VND5 billion.
Four neighboring houses were slightly damaged by the fire.
Police are investigating the cause of the fire.
Also on Saturday, a fire caused by electrical leakage burnt down four houses in Can Tho, the Vietnam News Agency reported.
It started at one house at around 11:30 a.m. and quickly spread to others in the hot and dry weather. The fire caused damage worth hundreds of millions of dong, local reports said.
Expats to promote earth-friendly lifestyle
A group of concerned Hanoi residents, mostly expatriates, are hoping to promote an environmental-friendly lifestyle and create a space for like-minded individuals.
Hanoi Environmental Group (HEG), which will be officially launched at the end of this month, also aims to facilitate cooperation between foreign missions, NGOs and Vietnamese authorities on environmental issues.
Founder Benjamin Minot, an Italian filmmaker who came to Vietnam 10 months ago, said the idea was born out of complaints from expat residents about traffic pollution, recycling waste and difficulty in finding organic products.
“Instead of just talking about it, we might be able to put some of the ideas into effect,” he said. These include helping NGOs or organizations with pilot programs for organic farming or recycling materials, or assisting them with finding volunteers.
The group will meet next at 33 To Ngoc Van Street, Tay Ho District in Hanoi at 7:30 p.m. on May 12.
Minor fire sets off chaos in major city hospital
A fire truck arrives at the Cho Ray Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Sunday morning after a fire was discovered on the ninth floor of one of its blocks.
Ho Chi Minh City’s leading Cho Ray hospital was the site of pandemonium Sunday morning as frightened patients and others panicked and fled for their lives after a fire broke out in the ninth floor of one of its blocks.
The fire at the hospital on Nguyen Chi Thanh Street was put out in 15 minutes at around 7:30 a.m.
All the 27 patients on the floor were moved in time but the fire burnt a mattress, a chair and part of the ceiling in Room 16 where the smoke was noticed first.
Families of hundreds of patients being treated in Block B1, where the fire broke out, had to rush their relatives down the stairs.
The ninth floor treats patients who pay extra money to stay in special rooms that are more private, has air conditioners and attached toilets.
Patients staying here are either two weak or those who have passed critical moments and are in recovery.
Authorities are investigating the accident.
Three women drown as rough river sinks boat
Tran Thi Dan, one of two people who survived a boat accident that killed three women in Ha Tinh Province on Friday.
The rough waters of the La River claimed three lives in the central province of Ha Tinh Friday evening as the boat in which they were traveling capsized and sank just 10 meters from the shore.
The boat, reportedly made of concrete, sank at around 6pm in the section of the river that runs through Duc Chau Commune in Duc Tho District.
Three women - Bui Thi Lan, 42, Tran Thi Huyen, 34, and Tran Thi Khuong, 46 - were swept away. Their bodies were found Friday night and early Saturday morning.
Two survivors in the accident, one woman and a man, said the five of them had crossed the river to harvest peanuts for a farmer, Nguyen Van Son, for which they would be paid VND100,000 (US$5.26) a person per day. They had finished a day’s work and were on the way home.
“We were some 10 meters from the shore when there were strong waves, and water flowed into the boat. Everyone panicked and held on to each other. I could only thrash about with my arms for as long as I could and wait for help,” said 57-year-old Tran Thi Dan.
Residents on the banks who rushed out in their boats on hearing cries for help were also able to save Khuong’s husband, 42-year-old Tran Van Thanh.
Dao Xuan Yen, a commune official, said that section of the river was very dangerous and has sunk many boats. Four people were killed in a similar incident in 1994, Yen said.
PV
