Heavy rain a boon for crops

A heavy downpour in many areas of the Central Highland province of Kon Tum on March 6 has proved to be a boon for the parched paddy crop, coffee trees and vegetables.

The rain has saved the rice crop and raised the water table for residents in Ngoc Hoi, Dac Ha and Kon Ray communes in Kon Tum City and greatly reduced the risk of forest fires in the province.

The Kon Tum Province Sub-Department of Irrigation and Flood-Storm Prevention had reported that up to now, there are more than 1,300 hectares of standing crops facing drought conditions, of which 700 hectares are rice crops and 600 hectares is vegetable area. They assess the damage caused by drought at nearly VND63 billion (US$3 million) for the winter-spring crop.

Gia Lai Province also received rain yesterday, helping the parched coffee plantation. The dry season has only just begun and drought conditions are already prevailing in the Central Highlands where thousands of hectares of crops were suffering from shortage of irrigation water.

Since the start of the dry season, Sa Thay District in Kon Tum Province had initiated the dredging of canals and repair of irrigation works. However, they seem to be unable to cope with the present drought conditions. Nearly 100 hectares of rice fields are lying vacant or abandoned or being cultivated with fast growing resistible and sturdy plants.

Similar conditions also occur in Chu Prong, Chu Pah and Chu Puh districts of Gia Lai Province and also in Pleiku town.

Former soccer star stabbed by girlfriend

As the injury wasn’t serious, the former star of the national U23 team didn’t file a suit.

Vuong’s girlfriend, who wanted to remain anonymous, said during his visit, the two got into a fight. Losing her temper, she seized a knife to stab him.

Vuong was one of the national stars found guilty of match-fixing during SEA Games 2005.

In 2008, after serving his term in prison, Vuong joined Xuan Thanh Ha Tinh Soccer Club for a multi-billion dong contract.

At present, he isn’t playing for any club.

Two guards found dead at HCMC villa

Two guards of a villa in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 2 found dead lying in a pool of blood by the owner and his driver on Saturday.

As soon as the two people arrived at the house at 6.30 pm, they got no response from the two guards, so the driver tried climbing into the house and found the two victims.

The police were investigating the case, so they refused to give Tuoi Tre any information.

The guards were hired to look after the villa since the owner is mostly away, said the locals, adding that they felt strange when they did not notice the two guards going out for meals during Saturday.

Tour operator suspended for Hạ Long boat disaster

Hanoi tourism authorities have prohibited Queen Tourism Service Co. Ltd from serving foreign tourists after one of its vessels sank in Ha Long Bay last month killing 12 tourists, 11 of them foreigners.

The city Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism wants the Department of Planning and Investment to revoke the company’s travel business license (both domestic and international) for an indefinite period.

It also fined the company VND15 million (US$ 750).

Though the company obtained a business license from the Department of Planning and Investment, it did not register with the Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism or obtain an international travel business license from the Vietnam Administration of Tourism.

The vessel Truong Hai 06, owned by Truong Hai Company, sank near Titov Island on February 17. An investigation into the cause of the incident found the crew members forgot closing the engine cooling system valves, allowing water to gush in.

After the disaster, authorities have thoroughly inspected all boats offering night services in Ha Long.

Government tightens public investment

Since Monday, 11 teams of the Ministry of Planning and Investment have been in consultation with provinces and economic groups to implement the government’s policy on tightening of public investments.

According to Cao Viet Sinh, deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, public investment reduction has been clearly determined.

Specifically, projects that have not yet received a license will not be permitted to break ground. Those that will take a longer time to build will face a complete halt in work so as to concentrate the capital expense on projects nearing completion in 2011 and 2012.

Investors will not be permitted to advance any capital until the following year. Under earlier regulations, they could advance 30 percent of the capital for the next year. Additionally, capital which is not used up will not be transferred to the following year.

It is predicted that the capital volume this year will greatly reduce, requiring investors to rearrange and restructure their projects.

Fog disrupts flights from Cat Bi Airport

Flights from the Cat Bi Airport in Hai Phong to Ho Chi Minh City were disrupted on March 6, due to bad weather and thick fog.

On March 6, two flights of Jet star Pacific on the Ho Chi Minh City – Hai Phong route, were unable to land at Cat Bi Airport and had to be diverted to Noi Bai International Airport instead.

Jet star Pacific arranged for buses to drive passengers from Noi Bai International Airport to Hai Phong on the same day.

Vietnam Airlines also had to cancel, delay or reschedule four domestic flights. Passengers missing their flights will be transported on March 7.

Cat Bi airport is five kilometres from the centre of Hai Phong City and 25kms from Do Son Beach. The total length of the runway for take-off and landing is 2,400 metres. The airport can hold 80 aircrafts and a minimum of three aircrafts can take off and land at the same time.

There are six flights arriving and departing from Ho Chi Minh City to Cat Bi Airport daily.

HCMC People’s Committee to support poor patients

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee and the Saigon Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Sapharco) met on March 4 to decide on assisting and supporting poor patients with medication and drugs.

As the medicine prices have risen dramatically, the People’s Committee has decided to set up a fund to give support for medication for needy patients. The fund will be effective by April.

Medicines and drugs have seen an average rise in the retail market of 20 percent for antibiotics, vitamins, pain killers and anti-inflammatory pills. Shop assistants in pharmacies in wholesale markets on Tan Dinh Street in district 1, Su Van Hanh Street in district 10, Thuan Kieu Street in district 5 and 3/2 in district 11, said they were informing all customers of the surge in drug prices.

Deep concern for Quang Nam hospitals

There is a deep public concern over the deaths of children in district hospitals in the central province of Quang Nam, due to negligence and lack of trained medical staff.

10 children between the ages 1-3 were admitted with bronchitis in the Tra Linh commune hospital, in the mountainous Nam Tra My district in the central province of Quang Nam. However, due to negligence and lack of good health care they died. Four more children died in the Tra Don commune in Nam Tra My district from the same disease, due to poor care by medical workers in the Tra Linh commune.

Initial statistics from the province showed that 405 babies under the age of six had died in 2010, including 132 kids from Nam Giang district and 117 kids from Dong Giang and Phuoc Son districts.

Dr. Nguyen Duc Tan, deputy director of the General Hospital in the province, said his hospital is responsible for examination and treatment of residents in the districts of Dien Ban, Hoi An, Duy Xuyen and Que Son. However, medical facilities are not adequate to fulfill the needs of all patients.

Though the government had spent VND6 billion in 2010, by selling government bonds to purchase medical equipment for the hospital, as it had no equipment the previous year, there was still an acute shortage of personnel. As a result, the hospital has to transfer the very serious cases to larger hospitals in the central province of Da Nang.

Dr. Nguyen Nhu Chinh, deputy head of the Department of Health, hoped that the situation would change for the better once the province received the US$11 million fund from the Asian Development Bank to purchase modern medical equipment.

Quang Ninh welcomes large numbers of tourists

Up to 885,200 tourists flocked to the northern province of Quang Ninh during February this year, representing a year-on-year increase of 8 percent.

In total, Quang Ninh received more than 1 million visitors in the first two months this year, earning over 500 billion VND.

In early March, over 2,400 tourists aboard the international cruise ships namely the Seabourn Sojourrne cruise liner of the US , the Amazara Quest (Pahamas) and the Costa Classica ( Italy ) arrived in the province’s Ha Long bay.

Quang Ninh is in a hurry to complete the Ha Long Tourism Festival 2011 programme, which will be kicked off in April this year to lure more visitors.

Health ministry checks on drug prices nationwide

After media reports of complaints by poor patients about the recent hike in medicine prices, Health Minister Nguyen Quoc Trieu ordered relevant agencies to check the prices within the country.

The Health Examination and Treatment Department, Drug Administration of Vietnam (DAV) and Department of Planning and Finance were asked to check the bidding procedures in hospitals. In addition, the DAV has been asked to review the retail prices of drugs in the market. Health inspectors will scrutinize drug prices in markets as well as medical clinics.

Nguyen Viet Cuong, Chief Inspector of the Hanoi Department of Health, said the department will establish three inspection teams to monitor prices of pharmaceutical companies, importers, wholesalers and retail stores and deal with violators. Since 20 pharmaceutical companies in the North Vietnam announced a hike on 240 medications from 3 percent to 30 percent, poor patients have been badly affected.

Vietnam’s top-ten bridge gets under way

Spanning 16 kilometer with an additional 14 kilometers of ramps on both ends, Co Chien is set to be one of Vietnam’s top ten biggest bridges.

Fetching a total VND 3,800 billion (US$ 182 million) in investment, the project by Ministry of Transportation kicked off today in Binh Phu commune of Tra Vinh province.

The cable-stayed bridge will comprise four traffic lanes, which total 16 meters in width.

Crossing over Co Chien River, the bridge will help shorten traveling distance between Ho Chi Minh City and Tra Vinh province by 80 kilometers and ease traffic burden on National Highway 1A.

The project will boost economic investment and promote socioeconomic development of the Mekong Delta province, said a senior official.

It is expected to complete in 2014.

Heavy off-season rain occurs in South

A 20-minute heavy off-season rain suddenly poured down in many areas in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday afternoon (March 4).

According to Nguyen Minh Giam – deputy director of Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecast in the southern region, the period of off-season rain is forecast to end in the next few days (3-5 days).

This kind of rain is likely to spread to some southwestern provinces, he added.

During the past days, the out-of-season rain scattered in some southern provinces.

According to Giam, the main cause of the phenomenon is due to a tropical low pressure on the East Sea plus a strengthening cold spell.

Meanwhile, according to the center, the tropical low pressure will slowly head in the southwest at a speed of 5-10km per hr.

The pressure will also cause strong winds on the East Sea, including Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands.

Besides, due to the cold wave, the north weather has dropped by 1 to 2 degrees Celsius.

Seas off Binh Thuan to Da Nang central provinces will also suffer from thunder and rain.

Man miraculously recovers from VN’s rare surgery

26-year-old male patient Tran Mau Duc has recovered well from a rare heart transplant performed by 100% Vietnamese doctors – the first in Vietnam, said Dr. Dang The Uyen of the cardiovascular center in the Hue city Central Hospital Firday afternoon.

Since yesterday afternoon, Duc’s organs have been functioning properly, said Uyen.

According to the hospital’s nurses, Duc himself could sit, drink three 375-ml bottles of milk each day, and eat soup during the past two days.

Uyen expressed her surprise after witnessing “his miraculous recovery”.

It’s expected Duc could walk by himself next week without assistance from nurses.

Earlier, Duc suffered from dilated cardiomyopathy and level-4 heart failure, putting his life at risk.

After 5-hour-long heart surgery on him Wednesday, Duc has regained consciousness and can talk.

President Nguyen Minh Triet personally congratulated the doctors.

According to Doctor Phu, this surgery was done with the participation of over 100 doctors and medical employees.

15 doctors were directly involved in the operation.

This is the first heart transplant operation 100% done by Vietnamese doctors in Vietnam.

It is also the second successful heart transplant case in general in the country after the first one at the Military Hospital 103 – which was helped by foreign experts.

“Holy hammer” healer to be punished

A rural man claims he can treat all diseases with only a small rock he calls a “holy hammer”. However, local authorities are cautious.

The man is Nguyen Phong, 54, called by locals as “Ca Phong,” a resident of Phu Thinh town, Phu Ninh district, central Quang Nam province.

Everyday hundreds of patients stand in line in front of his house waiting to be cured by Phong, whom they call a “magic doctor.”

Locals have recently spread a rumor that Ca Phong can cure every ailment by touching the “holy hammer” on the patient who also has to drink some water mixed with a strange powder grinded out from the hammer.

Phong told locals he saw an old man appear in a dream telling him to dig in front of his house to find the hammer and use it for the good of mankind.

He said he followed the mysterious man’s instruction and then obtained a small rock in shape of a hammer.

Blindly believing in his words, locals and people from elsewhere totaling 150-200 per day have flocked to Phong’s house everyday to seek treatment.

Most of them suffer from incurable diseases.

Phong’s treatment method was said to be very simple. He just asked the patient where he or she was hurt and then grinded the hammer against a plate filled with water.

After the patient drinks the water, he would rub the hammer on the diseased area five times.

Phu Ninh District People’s Committee chairman Huynh Tan Duc today morning ordered local relevant agencies to strictly punish Ca Phong for his illegal medical treatment.

Russia skinheads acquitted of slaying Vietnamese

Four Russian ultranationalists were sentenced to nine to 22 years imprisonment for hate crimes but they were announced not guilty in the death of a Vietnamese student two years ago.

Tang Quoc Binh, then a freshman at Moscow’s State Technical University-Madi from Hai Duong northern province, was stabbed many times to death on his way home by the skinheads.

According to Intar-Tass, the Moscow City Court Thursday sentenced Anton Vasilyev, the ringleader to 22 years in a maximum security prison on racial crime charges.

His partners — Konstantin Kucher, Andrei Gordeyev and Vladislav Polyakov who were all college students - got 13, ten and nine years in a general regime penitentiary respectively, the news agency reported.

The jury held them guilty of several bombings of trade centers, markets and fast cooking kiosks owned by non natives and putting extremist writings on the walls of an orthodox church.

Prosecutors also accused the defendants of four murders, eleven attempted murders and three robberies, which were acquited in the jury’s final verdict, said Intar-Tass.

Their victims included Vietnamese student Tang Quoc Binh, and other Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Korean nationalities.

Two Korean girls were beaten and soaked with petrol to burn on Moscow’s Volgin street January 2009.

The prosecutors also revealed Anton Vasilyev and Vladislav Polyakov first set up the group based on nationalist and religious ideas of national superiority in 2008.

I’m a victim of sex tape abuse: schoolgirl

The 22-year-old school-girl captured in the 10-minute sex clip featuring dirty dialogues and hardcore acts recently leaked onto the Internet told media she is just a victim.

The couple recorded the clip in the boy’s rented room in Hanoi in late 2009 but she doesn’t know who have spread out the clip onto the Internet, VnExpress reported.

The girl has just graduated from Hung Yen College and is attending higher education while her boyfriend is a senior student at a famous university in Hanoi. They have fallen in love since high school.

“We were shocked after witnessing our personal tape online leaked. We didn’t know why we could do such stupid thing at that time. We later intended to remove it… I’m just a victim,” she said.

The victim’s brother said that after watching the clip and recognizing his younger sister, he has asked somebody to remove the clip.

According to him, this tape was backed up in the male character’s laptop.

Last night, her boyfriend contacted with his former roommate, who admitted saving the clip on his computer but has yet to reveal the perpetrator spreading out the clip, according to the victim’s family.

“We have been anxious during the past days and we hope the authorities will identify the criminal soon,” they added.

After being removed from YouTube due to its explicit content, the clip has been backed up in many personal computers and cell phones.

It quickly spread to some forums on the Internet.

The clip’s setting took place at a rented room surrounded by bookshelf, table, and other furniture, in which the girl possibly aged 20 is wearing myopic glasses while the boy is holding a camera in his hand(s) to record their sweet moments.

Although the clip violates the country’s habits and customs, it’s very difficult to take criminal proceedings against them because it is a personal clip, said a local police.

However, those intentionally spreading it out can be criminally charged.