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Vietnam moves up 16 places in quality of life
rankings
Vietnam has moved up from 77th in 2009 to 61st in
2010 in the quality of life rankings conducted by the London-based Legatum
Research Institute. The institute’s Prosperity Index
includes 110 nations (making up 90 percent of the world’s population). The index is built on 89 different
criteria and divided into eight fields including economics, business,
management, education, health, safety, private freedom and social capital. The
leading nations are those whose citizens are happy, healthy and free. According to the institute, almost
all the world’s most prosperous nations are located in Northern European. Norway
takes the lead in the rankings, followed by Denmark and the Netherlands. Singapore secures its 17th
place in the Asia-Pacific region, to be ahead of other countries.
HCM City to face labour shortage after Tet holiday
Labourer recruitment demand in HCM City increased
5.03 percent in January 2011 over the last year’s equivalent period, according
to the Centre for Labour Market Information and Human Resources Forecast. As a calculated figure, this demand
reached a shortage of about 20,000 workers. Sectors such as electronics sales,
civil products, fine arts, wooden works, beverage, cooking, marketing, package and
supermarket required a lot of seasonal workers in the month. A great number of new workers,
employees with university degrees and employees with vocational training, had
been urgently employed in 2011. In January, many businesses amended
their recruitment plan in 2011 for the labour shortage following the Lunar New
Year festival (Tet), when workers return home for the holiday and often do not
go back their workplaces, especially sectors such as textiles and garments,
leather shoes, electronics, telecommunications, mechanics, marketing and sales. In February 2011, HCM City’s labour
market will need to employ about 40,000 workers.
Poor children receive Tet gifts
The National Fund for Vietnamese Children will
present 35,000 gifts worth about VND16.5 billion to poor and orphaned children
to enjoy the Lunar New Year (Tet) Festival. The receivers include children in 19
provinces and cities, including Hanoi, Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh,
Thai Binh, Thai Nguyen, Tuyen Quang, Bac Kan, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang
Binh, Quang Tri, Quang Ngai, Quang Nam, Can Tho, Long An, Binh Duong and Ca Mau. The gift presentation was financed
by the Samaritan’s Purse (Canada), BAOVIET Life, Euro Window, Hanoi
International Women Club, Vietnam Pharmaceutical JSC, and Hai Ha Confectionary
JSC.
More rice delivered to needy people
An additional 3,730 tonnes of rice from the national
reserve will be provided to poor people in three provinces on the occasion of
the Lunar New Year (Tet) Festival and the period between crops, the hardest time
of the year for farmers.
Under decision No149/QD-TTg, signed by PM Nguyen Tan
Dung, the Government will provide needy people in the northern province of Yen
Bai and central province of Ninh Thuan with 1,000 tonnes of rice each, and the
northern province of Ninh Binh with 1,730 tonnes.
Mr.Dung asked the provincial People’s Committees to promptly deliver the food
aid and report their results to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of
Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.
Earlier on January 21, the PM decided to deliver nearly 34,000 tonnes of rice
from the national reserve to the needy people in 11 provinces, including Dien
Bien, Son La, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Thanh Hoa, Binh Dinh, Quang
Binh, Quang Nam and Quang Tri.
Two
sisters jailed for $115,000 fraud
The Ha Noi
People’s Court opened proceedings on Tuesday against sisters Dinh Thi Kim Oanh
and Dinh Thi Kim Anh for appropriation of property.
Oanh,
49, of Thinh Liet Ward in Hoang Mai District, was sentenced to 20 years in jail
and Anh, 52, of Phuong Liet Ward in Thanh Xuan District was sentenced to seven
years in jail.
According to the indictment, Oanh and Anh had pretended to have a close
relationship with senior Party and State leaders, saying that they could help
Nguyen Thi Bich, Oanh’s neighbour, to get a certificate of land-use rights.
They appropriated VND2.3 billion (US$115,000) from Bich between
December 2009 and May 2010.
Light
earthquake shakes Vung Tau
An
earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale occurred at 2.30pm on Wednesday off
the coast of Vung Tau City, according to the Institute of Geophysics.
The earthquake was felt across Vung Tau City, HCM City, Dong Nai
Province and Binh Thuan Province. No damage or injuries were reported.
Bird
flu and blue-ear diseases under control in Viet Nam
Epidemics of blue-ear
in pigs and bird flu are under control but foot-and-mouth disease was still a
problem, an official from the agricultural ministry said on Wednesday. Deputy Minister of
Agricultural and Rural Development Diep Kinh Tan told the National Steering
Committee on Livestock Disease Prevention that authorities of some provinces had
not yet implemented strict measures to prevent foot-and mouth disease and even
could not agree on what vaccine to use. Inspections had
revealed the northern Son La Province had not implemented strict controls on 50
per cent of its grazing cattle herd. The steering committee
said foot-and-mouth disease was occurring at two main regions of the northern
mountainous provinces and Central Highland. Points of origin for the disease had
been discovered in the two regions recently, which showed that the disease was
still spreading. The main reasons were
disease-affected cattle was still being sold and the cold weather had reduced
the cattle’s resistance to the disease. The steering committee
asked affected provinces and neighbouring regions for stronger inspections of
cattle farmers and slaughter-houses and detection of illegal cattle sales and
smuggling in border areas. The committee also
asked the agricultural ministry’s veterinary department to complete the draft of
the 2011-15 national programme on foot-and-mouth disease prevention for the
ministry’s approval. There are 14 provinces
which still have foot-and-mouth disease, including Son La, Quang Ninh, Lang Son,
Bac Kan, Cao Bang, Thanh Hoa, Dien Bien, Thai Nguyen, Ha Giang and Hoa Binh in
the north, Quang Ngai, Nghe An, Phu Yen in the centre, and Kon Tum in the
Central Highland.
Nine
hospitalised with food poisoning
Nine people from Bai Thom Commune’s Rach Tram Village were hospitalised on Wednesday, with food poisoning in the southern province of Kien Giang’s
Phu Quoc Island District after eating puffer fish. Eight
patients were discharged on the same day while the most serious case is
gradually recovering.
Warning given over fake train tickets
Passengers who bought tickets for the Thong Nhat train service for January 25 to
31 should check the validity of their purchases. If the
name on a passenger’s identity card was different from the name printed on the
ticket, the passenger would not be allowed to board, said deputy chief of Sai
Gon Station Nguyen Van Thanh.
HCM City plans fireworks for Tet
The HCM
City People’s Committee has added Vinh Loc Martyrs Memorial Park to the list of
venues set for a fireworks display to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Fireworks will be showcased at a total of nine places in HCM City, starting at
midnight on February 3 (January 1 of Lunar Calendar) and lasting for 15 minutes.
VNN/VOV/VNS
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