HCMC resident dies of flu A/H1N1

The Department of Health reported the death of a man in Ho Chi Minh City of swine flu A/H1N1 on March 7.

The 52 year old man was under treatment for fever and cough for the last few days but his condition was not showing any signs of improving. He was moved to the Tropical Diseases Hospital on February 28, as his condition deteriorated with pneumonia and respiratory problems.

Tests proved that he was positive for H1N1 virus. Medical workers tried to save him by giving antibiotics and Tamiflu, but their efforts proved futile and his condition worsened. He died after a day of treatment.

Medics have warned residents not to neglect any case of simple fever or cough as the epidemic conditions for H1N1 virus were prevalent in the city. People must immediately visit nearby medical clinics when they experienced fever and cough.

Construction begins on Co Chien Bridge

Construction of the Co Chien Bridge has begun in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh. The bridge will reduce the distance between the province and Ho Chi Minh City by 70 kilometers.

On Monday, the Ministry of Transport organized the ground breaking ceremony of the bridge in coordination with authorities from Ben Tre and Tra Vinh provinces, which are located on both sides of the Co Chien River.

Amongst those attending the ceremony at Binh Phu Commune in Cang Long District of Tra Vinh Province were Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung and Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong.

Presently the coastal provinces of Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang and Bac Lieu are using the 1A Highway route to commute.

According to Ho Nghia Dung, Minister of Transport, after the Co Chien Bridge is built it will connect Tra Vinh with Highway 60 in the Tien Giang Province, reducing the distance from Tra Vinh to HCMC by 70 kilometers.

This would ease the traffic on the 1A Highway and will be able to cope with the travel load when Dinh An Economic Zone in Tra Vinh province comes into operation.

The Co Chien Bridge will have a total length of 15.7 kilometers and will be ready at a total cost of nearly VND3.8 trillion (US$181 million). The 16m wide bridge will have four lanes and the height of the bridge from the water surface will be 25 meters.

Tran Hoang Kim, Chairman of the Tra Vinh Province People’s Committee said that construction of the Co Chien Bridge would be a valuable asset for the Tra Vinh residents.

At the ground breaking ceremony, permanent deputy Prime Minister, Nguyen Sinh Hung said the bridge was very significant to the Mekong Delta region and would greatly contribute to attracting more investments to the region and help provide better education, health and cultural facilities for residents here.

Mr. Hung ordered the Ministry of Transport, the administration of the two provinces, investors, contractors and supervisory units to ensure the construction be carried out with the highest level of safety, quality and competence in mind.

Besides the Co Chien Bridge, the Ministry of Transport is promoting the Dai Ngai Bridge project, linking Tra Vinh and the Soc Trang provinces.

The ministry will also launch other projects like a railway line from HCMC to Can Tho City, Kien Giang and the Ca Mau provinces; a highway linking Can Tho City with the Phnom Penh, the capital of Laos; several other bridges and upgrading of provincial highways at the border gate areas.

In recent years, the government has built the N1 road along the border; the Ho Chi Minh Highway from Binh Phuoc to Ca Mau provinces; the HCMC - Can Tho Highway and some large bridges like My Thuan, Rach Mieu and Can Tho. Other highways like 53, 54, 60 and 68 have also been upgraded.

Innovation Day focuses on social equity, sustainable growth

Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment and the World Bank here launched Monday the Vietnam Innovation Day 2011 with the theme “Innovation for Social Equity and Sustainable Growth”.

VID 2011 identifies and provides seed-funding for small and innovative development proposals that exhibit high potential of the community, especially of micro and small and medium size enterprises, social entrepreneurs to bring benefits to the poor and under-served communities, to bridge the economic and social disparities and contribute to the country’s sustainable development and quality of growth in Vietnam.

The program has two major parts – Innovation Competition and Knowledge Exchange.

The first is an open competition, juried process that awards start-up funds for implementation to enterprises and organizations who proposed the most innovative ideas addressing development issues within this year’s theme.

The second part includes knowledge exchange and open discussions on “Innovation for Social Equity and Sustainable Growth”.

The three sub-themes are energy efficiency, traditional herbal medicine, and agriculture based products and services.

This year’s program award size has increased to a maximum VND 600,000,000 per award for implementation (equivalent to USD 30,000 double the maximum number in previous year). This aims at providing maximum support and optimizing development impacts of the winning initiatives within the above mentioned theme. It is expected that at least 10 prizes will be awarded.

Potential candidates are encouraged to submit proposals to the Organizing Committee from now until 5:00 pm May 5th 2011. After the Launching Ceremony, four Introductory Workshops will be organized in different provinces from March 17th to March 23rd, 2011.

VID 2011, which is organized under the partnership of the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the World Bank, is an opportunity to bring to life innovative ideas that address local development challenges.

Its co-sponsors to date are Australian Agency for International Development, Department for International Development (U.K.), the Royal Embassy of Denmark, the Embassy of Finland and U.S. Agency for International Development.

Benefit card draws more to Dalat golf club

Dalat Palace Golf Club in the upland city of Dalat is gaining attraction from cost-conscious visitors due to its new benefit card scheme.

The card retails at $399 and is valid for a year, entitles its holder to 12 rounds at a layout rated the best in Vietnam.

The golf club, one of Vietnam’s top courses, introduced the Dalat Benefit Card in November 2010 and has seen more than 100 ones snapped up so far.

In addition to access to the course, cardholders pay less for accommodation as they are entitled to a 20% discount on rooms at the 5-star Dalat Palace Hotel and its nearby 4-star Dalat Hotel Du Parc.

The Dalat Palace Hotel is situated on a hill with an overview of Xuan Huong Lake – a symbol of the city, which is also called Petit Paris (Little Paris) of Vietnam. Meanwhile, the golf course is located on another hill on the other side of the lake.

Other advantages afforded to cardholders include a 10% discount on massage/spa at both hotels, 10% off cooking and beverage at the golf club, and a 10% discount on merchandise in the golf club pro shop.

It is more than 300 km for a road journey to Dalat from Ho Chi Minh City but the flight is just 30 minutes. Flying costs just US$50 each way, daily.

The golf course has history back in the late 1920s, when a 9-hole course was laid out at the behest of Bao Dai, the country’s last emperor and an avid golfer. It is completely renovated and expanded in 1995 to welcome golfers of new generations.

The current owner is the Ho Chi Minh City-based Vina Properties Group, which also possesses the Dalat Palace Hotel and Dalat Hotel du Parc.

Man fails to kill fellow gambler for money

Dak Lak police Tuesday detained Nguyen Duc Thanh, aka “Dung Buon Ho,” for threatening to kill a fellow gambler to get back his money lost in gambling.

Preliminary investigation shows Thanh, 41, from central Quang Ngai Province, played cards and lost VND4 million (US$193.58) to Nguyen Thi Bich, 57, on Sunday afternoon in Tan Lap Ward, Buon Me Thuot City.

He then pawned his motorbike for VND22 million ($1064.70) just to lose it all again in gambling with the woman.

He asked for his money back from Bich because he thought she was cheating him. Bich of course turned him down.

Thanh bought 2 knives the next day on his way to find Bich. On seeing her gambling in Tan Lap, Thanh again demanded his money just to receive the woman’s firm denial.

He violently grasped the female gambler, pointing the knives to her neck, and asking for the lost money.

Police arrived at the scene shortly afterwards. After two hours of persuasion, they succeeded in controlling Thanh who gave in and released the hostage unhurt.

Inflation hurts Vietnamese students abroad

Vietnamese studying in several foreign countries are struggling to cope with a sudden rise in prices.

Prices in Australia’s New South Wales have shot up since late 2010, Le Thi Hong Linh, a hospitality student in the state, said.

Housing rents are up nearly 14 percent after floods in nearby Queensland State in January, she said.

“I have cut down on shopping for clothes and other things.”

Ngoc Quynh, who has just completed an MBA in Melbourne, said she has to temporarily shelve plans to study for a TESOL course because of rising prices and find a job to survive instead.

Nguyen Ngoc Binh, an MA student in New Zealand, complained that his family has to provide financial support since his scholarships and salary from part-time jobs can only cover tuition and lodging.

Libraries have become a haunt for Vietnamese students in New Zealand because they can only afford books that are absolutely essential, he added.

With prices rising also in the US, Vietnamese students face the same plight here.

A room costing US$1,000 a month and normally housing two people now accommodates three or four as they have been forced to become thriftier.

Nguyen Quoc Dai, a banker in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 3, said he now sends his son who is studying in California, the US, $1,800-1,900 a month compared to $1,500 last year.

The inflation in the US is making things harder for his family in Vietnam, he complained.

War-time 500kg bomb, 400 shells dug up

The Ministry of Defense’s Lung Lo company Tuesday dug up an unexploded 500-kilogram bomb and 400 artillery shells when prospecting for landmines during their dredging works at Rach Tram – Go Cat – Hoc Luu canal in Song Binh Commune, Cho Gao District, Mekong Delta’s Tien Giang Province.

The bomb lies at the bottom of a canal near Nguyen Van To’s garden. To said it had been dropped by the U.S. Army in the early 1960s but the bomb did not explode.

Local people recently came across it but failed to fish the bomb out of the water.

It was made in the United States between 1954 and 1961, according to senior lieutenant colonel Tran Van Dong, deputy director of Lung Lo.

The bomb contains 270 kilos of explosive with cast iron alloy lining.

It will explode if triggered by mechanical forces and can cause damage or casualties within a 450-meter radius.

Lung Lo has collected tens of tonnes of bombs and landmines when the company carries out its projects in the Mekong Delta, Dong said.

Da Nang police smashes biggest-ever heroin gang

A heroin trafficker got nabbed by central Da Nang City police when he was carrying 180 grams of drugs to Da Nang from Hanoi.

A heroin trafficker got nabbed by central Da Nang City police when he was carrying 180 gram of drugs to Da Nang from Hanoi.

Chu Vu, 40, a resident of Hanoi’s Ba Dinh District, was caught by local police yesterday noon while he was hiding 5 bars of heroin in his clothes on Da Nang City’s Bach Dang Street.

Vu admitted that he bought the 180 gram heroin in Hanoi for VND130 million(US$6,230).

He said that these bars could be divided into 6,000 small packs for consumption, which could be sold for VND800 million ($38,300), meaning he would pocket VND670 million ($32,100) in price difference.

The local police took Vu to the Hoa Son Detention Center for interrogation. They found Vu is a drug addict.

The police also detained a local man, Sa Quoc Vuong, 31, suspected to be involved in the case.

This is the largest-ever heroin trafficking case detected in Da Nang, the police said.

Vietnam 9th among nations sending students to US

The number of Vietnamese students enrolling in U.S. colleges and universities has increased sixfold in the past decade, according to the US-based Institute of International Education, and they outnumber Southeast Asian peers in attending US universities.

With 13,112 students, Vietnam ranks ninth in the list of countries sending students to the US, the annual Open Doors 2010 report by the not-for-profit educational and cultural exchange organization shows.

The report is based on a survey of around 3,000 accredited US institutions.

The IIE has 13 offices worldwide, including in Vietnam.

This year it held education fairs in Ho Chi Minh City on March 1 and in Hanoi on March 4 enabling Vietnamese students and their parents to have direct exchanges with representatives from US universities.

Online credit card hackers indicted

For illustration purposes onlyFour hackers have been indicted for stealing credit card information online and using them to buy air tickets worth over VND1 billion (US$48,000).

Four hackers have been indicted for stealing credit card information online, including card numbers, and using them to buy air tickets worth over VND1 billion (US$48,000).

The Supreme People’s Court yesterday issued an indictment against Mach Huu Tai, 24, Tran Cao Vu, 21, Nguyen Tran Nhat Khuong, 28, and Le Ngoc Thai, 23. All four are residents of Ho Chi Minh City.

In late 2009, while checking in at HCM City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport, the four failed to show their credit cards to Vietnam Airlines staff although they had bought tickets through credit cards.

The Vietnam Airlines security force in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Security police examined Thai’s laptop and found a lot of information of credit card accounts owned by foreigners.

From this finding, relevant agencies tracked out a gang of hackers who specialized in stealing information of credit card accounts for appropriation of money from card holders.

The gang leader was Tai, who alone used the money in those accounts to buy 208 air tickets worth VND867 million ($41,500) from different airlines. Meanwhile, Vu used VND162 million ($7,760) to buy 36 tickets.

Tai’s gang resold most of these tickets to others.

Tai also used the money in those accounts to buy goods from overseas.

Street barriers up for metro project

Many stretches of Nam Ky Khoi Nghia and Nguyen Thai Binh in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 will be closed from now till early April to prepare for the city’s metro project.

According to HCMC Department of Transport, the street barriers are necessary for the relocation of a water pipeline to make room for the city’s first metro line connecting the landmark Ben Thanh Market in District 1 with Suoi Tien Park in District 9.

Parts of the two streets are off-limits to automobiles.

The 19.70-kilometer line was estimated to cost $1 billion. Last July, HCM City government asked the central government to increase the project budget to nearly $2.5 billion, citing inflation.

The metro line is scheduled to go into operation some time in 2015.

Under a plan to develop HCMC’s traffic and transport infrastructure through 2020, the city will build six metro rail lines, covering a total length of 109 km.

The city plans to dig up another 343 kilometers of streets this year, some of which as part of the flood prevention and urban traffic management projects in the city.

Burnt reporter case: mariticide Lieu cheated 7 yrs

Investigators concluded that Tran Thuy Lieu had an extramarital affair with a local official for 7 years before dousing her husband in petrol and setting him on fire.

Nguyen Van Tam, former head of a market management team in Long An province allegedly lent Lieu VND150 million (US$ 7,200) for gambling and accompanied her in her trips to Cambodian casinos, Thanh Nien reported.

According to Dan Tri, Lieu admitted she and Tam had an ‘intimate relationship’ which has lasted for several years now.

Police said they reached the conclusion based on evidence obtained from frequent visits to hotels and other secret spots made by the adulterous couple.

Lieu’s family told Thanh Nien their relationship has lasted for seven years and Tam frequently visited Lieu whenever her husband was not home, even on days prior to the cruel murder.

Nguyen Thi Nhiem, Tam’s sister – who is suspected of serving as a point of contact for the couple - was summoned by police yesterday.

Lieu’s daughter Le Hong Nhung stated firmly that her mother had her bring the love letters she wrote to Tam through his sister several days after Hung died of severe burns.

However, Nhiem said she did not know any of this.

Based on the letters, investigators now suspect that Tam knew of Lieu’s crime before she turned herself in two weeks ago but remained silent.

He continued to deny the affair with Lieu and any involvement with the letters written by Lieu to him.

After reading about Tam’s denials of their affair in the news, Lieu said she would tell it all in several days, Nguoi Lao Dong reported.

Seized white-cheeked gibbons to be released

Binh Duong province has decided to confiscate and send two rare white-cheeked gibbons to a preservation center.

Authorities will transfer two rare white-cheeked gibbons seized from a company in Binh Duong province to Ho Chi Minh City’s Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Station where they will be raised in their natural habitat.

The gibbons, with a scientific name as Nomascus (Hylobates), were seized during an inspection by the department and the local Environmental Police at Dai Hai Trade and Industrial Co., Ltd. on March 2.

The company’s owner, Le Trung Hieu, failed to prove the origin of the animals, one of which is male and weighs 3 kg. The other is a female, weighing 5 kg.

Domestically classified into Group 1B, such extremely rare and precious gibbons are protected against illegal capture, breeding, trading or hunting.

HAGL to open 1st first private hospital in Gia Lai

Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group and the Ho Chi Minh City University Medical Center have agreed to open Pleiku city’s first private hospital in the third quarter of this year.

The 200-bed, international-standard University Medical – Hoang Anh Gia Lai Hospital has been under construction in the Central Highlands city since 2008 on five-hectare site.

The locally-based firm is providing the funds and equipment for the hospital and the HCMC institution, the personnel and technology.

HAGL will invest around VND160 billion (US$ 8 million) in the first two years and VND40 billion in the next three.

The hospital will be expanded to 500 beds while a technology transfer center will be built next door.

The hospital is expected to serve not only local residents but also people from neighboring provinces as well as Laos and Cambodia.

The group’s 10,000 employees will also get their medical check and treatment there, general director Nguyen Van Su said.

Around 11,000 people came from Gia Lai to the HCMC University Medical Center for diagnosis and treatment last year.

Finnish couple jumped to death in HCMC

A Finnish national yesterday jumped down from the 7th floor of the Cantavil villa block in Ho Chi Minh City’s district 2 and died on the spot - just one day after his wife killed herself by jumping from that very floor.

The couple, both 29 and of Finnish nationality, is suspected of having a big argument, a police officer told Thanh Nien.

After the wife jumped on March 3 at 4pm, the man was questioned by the police yesterday and returned home in the afternoon.

He apparently killed himself at a little over 7 pm the same day.

The couple moved there in December last year.

According to Nguoi Lao Dong, the couple, both born in 1981, rented apartment No 702 and they did not have stable jobs in the city.

Police are investigating.

A worker dies for falling from third floor

A worker at the construction site of The Vista apartment building in Ho Chi Minh City’s district 2 died in hospital for serious head injuries after falling off a tubular scaffold system from the third floor.

Nguyen Thai An, 31, residing in Thu Duc district was immediately rushed to Gia Dinh hospital but died later.

Witnesses said he fell off while disassembling a system of scaffolds at the site and the accident happened after an iron bar broke off.

The victim got married and has two small children. His family mainly lives on his income.

The Vista apartment project is located on an area of 23,000 square meters in An Phu ward of district 2. It is invested by the CapitalLand – Vista limited liability company.

7 killed and injured on southern highway in a year

The Ho Chi Minh City – Trung Luong highway in the southern Vietnam has seen 4,200 vehicles having technical problems while running on it in the past year, 1,500 of which had tires punctured, according to a local road management unit.

Remaining cases were mechanical failures that forced vehicles to come to a sudden halt on the highway, said the My Thuan road project management board.

Seven people got injured or killed by the accidents, according to the report that has recently been released after a year the road was put into operation.

One of the main reasons was identified as overspeeding. Speed limit on the highway is 100 kph.

Besides, tire quality also counts as another problem as they can’t sustain high pressure while running on the only road in the southern Vietnam which permits that high speed limit.

Around 60,700 trucks and cars run on the highway every day.

The 62km-long highway, that has 8 lanes, connects Ho Chi Minh City and Trung Luong crossroad in Tien Giang province.

Tour guide commits murder fighting for clients

Hanoi police have detained a local tour guide for “intentional assault to kill people” after he used his motorbike key to stab and killed another tour guide while fighting for clients at the Huong pagoda festival in the city, police said Sunday.

After a quarrel on Saturday afternoon, Trinh Minh Hai, 45, a resident in My Duc district’s Huong Son commune attacked his colleague Trinh Van Huy living in the same village with the key.

The 43-year-old victim, Huy was killed, being seriously damaged on his braid artery, police quoted a preliminary autopsy report.

Police is conducting further investigation into the case.

So far, 11 tour guides have been detained for soliciting pilgrims at the Huong pagoda festival, that takes place from the sixth day of the first month till the end of the third month on lunar calendar.

Around 150,000 visitors have visited the location during the this year’s on-going festival, according to the relic’s management board chief Nguyen Chi Thanh.

Murder/rape suspect hangs self at school

Border guards in A Xing Commune of the central province of Quang Tri’s Huong Hoa District found on Sunday a male suspected of raping and killing a teen schoolgirl the previous day hanged dead in the village school.

The man was Ho Van Nghich, 21, resident of A Xing Commune’s A Mor Hamlet. His body was suspended on a tree in the yard of A Xing Primary School.

According to Phan Thanh Minh, chief of Tam Thanh Border Guard Station which is located in A Xing Commune, investigators saw Nghich appear in the area where a girl had been killed on the previous day.

He came on her black gray Waves motorbike without a name plate, then left it behind on the roadside and finally walked into the school.

Earlier, villagers in Tang Quan 2 Hamlet had also seen Nghich ride the girl’s motorbike from behind the school, stop to wash his legs and hands at the communal tap and head to Lia Provincial Road, Minh said.

The victim in the murder was Hoang Thi Lieu, 16, resident of the neighboring province of Quang Binh, who came to live and work in Tan Lap Commune. Her bloody body with a Thai knife by her side and her coat a bit farther was discovered near A Xing Primary School on Saturday afternoon.

The case was transferred to the provincial police for further negotiation, Minh said.

Hanoi schoolgirl jumps down fourth floor

A schoolgirl committed suicide by jumping to the ground from the fourth floor of the 6-storey building of her school in Hanoi this morning.

The attempted suicide occurred at 10:40 a.m. at the Press and Propaganda Institute, located at 36 Xuan Thuy Street, Cau Giay District.

The girl fell into a coma after the jump and was taken to the 19-8 Hospital for emergency aid.

The local police and the leaders of the institute came to the scene immediately after they were informed.

She brought neither personal papers nor mobile phone with her when she carried out the suicidal act, police said.

A student who was near the scene said, “While I was sitting on a bench, I heard a loud noise and then saw a girl lying lifeless on the ground. I cried out for others to come and we found her unconscious.”

According to some students, the girl is a fourth-year student of the institute.

The police and the institute are working together to identify the girl and investigate into the cause of the suicide.