Airport seizes daggers, swords from passenger

A Vietnamese man was caught carrying four swords and two poniards in his baggage while he was checking in at the Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City Thursday.

The man, named Son, 30, flied from Thailand’s Bangkok to HCM City on the VN850 flight.

He had not declared to the airport customs about the swords and poniards.

The baggage handling team made a report of the man’s violation, temporarily detained the weapons, and referred the case to the airport authorities.

This is not the first case in which a passenger was found illegally carrying weapons.

Most recently, in early December 2010, while checking out at the airport for the US862 flight to Hong Kong, a foreigner was found bringing four shotguns.

Water factory asleep over price row

A water plant built in southern Tien Giang Province has been inactive for more than six months following completion as local authorities are refusing to buy water at a rate agreed in a contract signed back in 2007.

The People’s Committee of Tien Giang signed on November 5, 2007 a build-own-operate contract with Dong Tam BOO Water Joint Stock Company (Dong Tam) to construct the water plant now costing VND1 trillion (US$48.4 million) in Binh Duc Commune, Chau Thanh District.

It is designed to supply 90,000 cubic meters of water a day.

The Committee accordingly committed itself to buying all of the water produced by the plant.

The two sides then signed a supplementary contract on September 25, 2008 that stipulates the province will consume 50,000 cubic meters a day at VND8,000 ($0.39) per cubic meter in the first year of operation planned to start September this year, 90,000 cubic meters at VND9,418 ($0.46) per cubic meter in the fifth year, and at VND16,000 ($0.77) per cubic meter in the 19th and 20th year.

But Tien Giang authorities have not agreed to receive its water so far.

Nguyen Van Khang, chairman of the local committee, explained the province have not taken the water from the plant because the contract signed in 2007 is ‘against the law’ and thus not valid.

Meanwhile, Dong Tam has submitted an appeal to the Prime Minister, claiming the contract is legally accepted.

Water prices should be the reason

Nguyen Mai Bao Tram, director of Dong Tam, said central to the issue is the water prices.

Thus, Dong Tam in October last year agreed to reduce the prices but Tien Giang authorities still turned it down, saying the contract and its addendum must be all abolished.

Tien Giang Province and Dong Tam will sit down for price negotiations while waiting for instructions from the Prime Minister, Khang told Tuoi Tre.

“Both sides will be hurt if this problem cannot be settled down right away because local people and firms are now in dire need of water when the dry season is coming.”

Commandos to catch sacred turtle in 2nd mission

A large rescue team comprising 50 workers from KAT Corporation and 20 commandos in Hanoi will participate in capturing the giant ailing turtle living in Hoan Kiem Lake for treatment for the second time after failure the first time, said official.

Nguyen Ngoc Khoi, general director of Kat Corp., an agency specialized in catching the turtle, Friday told VnExpress the rescue team will begin trapping the huge animal next week when the weather is 20 degrees Celsius.

According to Khoi, many local police will be mobilized to the lake to prevent local curiosity-seekers from approaching the turtle, adding that they couldn’t catch the turtle in the first attempt because the turtle was afraid of being surrounded by the crowd and tried to escape from the net.

Learning from first experience, KAT will make a rescue drill first.

This time, a new net imported from Japan will be used to capture the creature.

The net, measuring 200m long and 5m wide, is five times bigger than old one.

The old net was blamed for the failure with many saying it was cheap and of inferior quality.

Khoi believed he could locate the turtle’s position in case it does not show up.

On Monday, in Vietnam’s first-ever attempt to catch and cure the age-old turtle in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem (Sword) Lake, a net custom-made to trap the sacred animal ‘suddenly’ was torn, letting the animal swim away.

Vietnam, Laos join in ore mining, processing

Vietnam and Laos on March 10 signed a contract to cooperate in ore mining and processing in Houaphan province of Laos.

Attending the signing ceremony were Lao Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Thongmy Phomvisay and Vietnam’s Tien Hieu Minerals and Trade Joint Stock Company Chairman Bui Tien Em.

The 4 million USD contract will run until 2021.

Powerful Japan quake won’t affect Vietnam

The powerful quake that hit Japan’s northeastern Honshu island on March 11 will not affect Vietnam, said the Institute of Geophysics.

Le Huy Minh, Vice Director of the Vietnam Institute of Geophysics, said the earthquake’s farthest point of impact may be the Philippines, as its epicentre was located in Honshu island, 382 kilometres northeast of Tokyo, with a depth of 10 kilometres under the seabed.

Moreover, Vietnam is not included in the list of areas under the tsunami warning provided by the US Geological Survey, said Minh.

Xinhua news agency said the 8.8 magnitude killed at least 16 people and injuring numerous others. It cited local media reports, which said six people died in Ibaraki, Tochigi, Fukushima and Chiba prefectures and numerous others were injured in various areas such as Miyagi Prefecture and central Tokyo.

Kyodo News said at least 10 people were killed by the quake-triggered tsunami in Japan ’s Iwate Prefecture.

US organisation improves minority women’s health

The US Atlantic Philanthropies organisation has allocated US$2 million for improving health for ethnic minority women and children in Vietnam’s provinces of Dien Bien, Dak Lak and Yen Bai.

The sum will be channeled to the project, called “Improving health for ethnic minority mothers and children through behaviours good for health”, which will be carried out by the Vietnam Centre for Community Health Research and Development.

The project aims to reduce the number of minority women and children from disadvantaged groups from these provinces becoming infected with diseases and suffering fatalities. The beneficiaries are from Muong Cha, Dong Dien Bien, Iasup, Krong Bong, Luc Yen and Van Yen communes.

It also looks to train about 1,400 communications officials and community health workers on behaviour changes in care and treatment for mothers and children, and help 160,000 women gain more knowledge on mothering and care skills for children.

Besides, the project expects to assist 36 community groups, consisting of 1,800 members, in having access to information on safe mothering and child care.

Ministry to tighten controls on cosmetics

Dissatisfied customers can now denounce sellers and ask for compensation from cosmetics companies if the products they purchased were substandard.

This is one of the new regulations included in the Ministry of Health’s Circular 06/2011/TT-BYT, which will be put into effect at the beginning of next month in an effort to improve management of the cosmetics trade and ensure consumer rights.

The circular regulates that individuals and enterprises trading in cosmetics must ensure that their products are not harmful to human health and include clear information about ingredients and proper usage.

Cosmetics packaging must include manufacturing and expiry dates, especially for those that can only be used for a maximum of 30 months.

Individuals and enterprises which manufacture, trade and import cosmetics must take responsibility for the safety, effectiveness and quality of their products. They must ensure that the cosmetics circulating in the market meet regulations set by the ASEAN Cosmetics Directive.

The circular also regulates that cosmetics advertising in print media, on the internet, and on display panels must match the safety and quality documentation that comes with the product packaging.

If investigations find that cosmetics on the market do not meet the specifications listed in the documentation they will be removed from circulation, the circular says.

The Ministry of Health banned cosmetics companies from purposefully confusing customers with unclear product information.

Head of the Drug Administration’s Cosmetics Management Division Nguyen Van Loi said management of the cosmetics trade was currently not tight enough because there was a lack of strict regulations.

“The circular will help authorities tighten management,” he said.

However, the more important issue was how to get the circular effectively enforced, Loi said.

“I think we should have more inspectors to check the cosmetics market regularly and withdraw substandard products immediately,” he said.

Pham Thu Trang, an employee of an advertising company, said she always used cosmetics with well-known brand names, such as Avon or Shiseido, so she had never experienced any cosmetics-related allergies.

“But in any case, I feel more secure with the new circular,” she said.

Meanwhile, a cosmetics seller who wished to remain anonymous expressed her worries about the new circular.

“I often sell cosmetics imported from China, and I myself can not ensure their quality,” she said.

The woman added that she intended to switch to reliable brand names.

Fields medal winner meets gifted students

More than 1,000 students of the HCM City-based Viet Nam National University-HCM City and other schools for the gifted in the metropolis yesterday attended a talk by mathmatics Professor Ngo Bao Chau, the first Vietnamese awarded the Fields Medal.

In the opening speech yesterday, Chau, who won the 2010 Fields Medal for proving the Fundamental Lemma in the theory of automorphic forms, said he respected the roles that schools and teachers play in preparing students to do research.

It was very important for students to choose what suits them from the “infinite treasure” of knowledge and creatively apply it to turn their dream into reality, Chau said.

“In life as in research, everyone is faced with difficulties and failure. It is very important to know how to overcome them,” he said.

To be successful, students should not follow what everyone else is doing; they should do what they like and want, Chau advised.

As a teacher, Chau advised students who have a passion for maths to spend much time reading and studying besides focusing on doing a lot of maths exercises.

He said his dream was to teach maths at the postgraduate level and to support his students in their research.

Associate Professor and Doctor Huynh Thanh Dat, standing deputy head of the Viet Nam National University, said he hoped that the talk with the professor would encourage students and help them build a clearer picture for their future.

Chau and his employer, Robert J. Zimmer, president of University of Chicago, also discussed with the Viet Nam National University about co-operation in teaching, scientific research and exchanging lecturers and researchers.

On Chau and Zimmer’s Thursday visit to the city People’s Committee, Leâ Hoang Quan, chairman of the committee welcomed, co-operation with the Chicago- based university. Chau said he looked forward to returning to HCM City for research purposes.

Setting up the Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics would increase the research capacity for the domestic universities’ Mathematics Faculty, Chau said.

Quan also awarded the HCM City medal to Chau.

Germany to help with urban development

Vietnamese and German experts agreed on Wednesday that scientific education and research into sustainable urban development needed to be stepped up, especially in the context of climate change challenges.

Speaking at a workshop titled “Sustainable Urban Development in the Times of Climate Change,” they said trans-disciplinary teams from academic, research as well as administrative institutions of both nations should work together on developing effective adaptation strategies for HCM City.

The workshop marked a co-operation agreement reached between the Vietnamese-German University (VGU) Research Centre and the Megacity Research Project funded by Germany’s education ministry.

Under the agreement, the VGU will offer postgraduate programmes designed for students and professionals intending to work in sustainable urban development planning, said Prof.Dr Wolf Rieck, VGU rector.

Later, they would identify co-operation potentials for research under the Megacity Project that focuses on helping HCM City adapt to Climate Change and minimise its impacts, he said.

Rieck said the agreement would be a first step and strong link to the five-year Megacity Research Project.

Among several future research projects proposed by German experts are the production of biogas from biodegradable municipal waste, artificial recharging of groundwater, and rehabilitation of dumpsites, he added.

The VGU, a joint effort by Viet Nam and Germany to build a world class university in the country, was officially established in 2008. The autonomous university is supported by several German governmental agencies.

Malaysia gives $50,000 to central flood victims

The Government of Malaysia handed US$50,000 in humanitarian assistance to the Viet Nam Fatherland Front on Thursday to benefit flood victims in central Viet Nam.

The contribution was the second from Malaysia to assist people in central Viet Nam, which was badly affected by the destructive floods in October and November 2010

Tsunami alert system to be launched in July

A tsunami alert system in Da Nang installed by Viettel Group will come into operation in July.

The first two alert points (out of 10) will be completed by the end of this month.

The system will provide a warning whenever there is a possibility of a tsunami in the East Sea.

Two sailors’ bodies found after ship sinks

The bodies of two sailors from the Van Don No 2 ship, which sank off the coast of southern Kien Giang Province last December, were recovered on Thursday.

The bodies have not been officially identified due to decomposition and disfigurement.

The remaining nine sailors on board who are thought to have drowned have not been found but rescue efforts are still on going.

The vessel sank on the way to HCM City from Malaysia.

Policeman held over man’s death in custody

A Ha Noi policeman who allegedly beat a man to death has been detained after an arrest warrant was issued on Wednesday, according to city police.

Nguyen Van Ninh hit Trinh Xuan Tung in the neck with a baton in an argument that broke out after Ninh had stopped Tung for riding a motorbike without wearing a helmet on February 28.

Tung later died in hospital on March 8.

Nutritional project for children launched

The National Institute of Nutrition in collaboration with Dutch Lady Viet Nam kicked off a large-scale project on child nutrition with the aim of better understanding the nutritional wellbeing, needs and patterns of children in Viet Nam.

The 12-month project will involve 3,000 children under 12 years of age from across the country.

The study’s findings are expected to help policy-makers issue better nutrition policies and reduce malnutrition, which now affects 25 per cent of children under 5 years of age in Viet Nam.

Russian tourists flock to Viet Nam

The number of Russian tourists visiting Viet Nam last year was 68 per cent higher than the previous year, the Russian Tourism Union said.

Viet Nam was being increasingly favoured over Thailand in recent years, union press secretary Irina Tiurina said. Reasonable prices were one of the strong points of Viet Nam’s tours, she said.

Nha Trang Beach and Phan Thiet City in the central provinces of Khanh Hoa and Binh Thuan were the most favoured tours.

Beverage maker funds water supply

Around 1,100 people living in a remote commune in Ninh Thuan Province have begun to get clean water following the opening of a water fountain yesterday funded by beverage producer Diageo Viet Nam.

Before the US$78,000 fountain was built with assistance from charity East Meets West, residents of Bac Son Commune had to fetch water from communal wells or a stream 1km away. Now 75 per cent are expected to have access to clean water.

Thung Sa Pa, deputy chairman of the commune, said the fountain would help improve community health.

The company is planning another project in the province in the form of an ultra-violet water treatment system that will benefit 20,000 students.

Australia supports small-scale projects

Australian Consul General in HCM City Graeme Swift yesterday handed over VND300 million (US$14,000) to support two small-scale development projects in the Central Highland provinces of Gia Lai and Kon Tum.

Two-thirds of the funds will be used to build a new classroom and toilet in a primary school in Kon Tum City’s Dak La Commune. The remaining amount will procure stainless steel beds and cabinets for the social welfare centre in Gia Lai Province towards improving the quality of healthcare provided for poor people.

The funding is part of the Australian Government’s Direct Aid Programme that has supported more than 20 development projects in southern provinces since last year.