society

The coach accident scene in Kon Tum province(Photo: baodautu.vn) Hanoi (VNA) – Three people were killed and 15 other seriously injured when their coach fell off the road into a 20m deep abyss at Lo Xo mountain pass on Ho Chi Minh Road in the Central Highland province of Kon Tum on early June 16. The dead included two 10-year-old children. The coach carrying 44 people was on the way to the southern province of Binh Phuoc when the accident happened. The injured victims are being treated at Kon Tum hospital. According to Kon Tum’s traffic safety committee, the bus was operated by a company in the northern province of Hai Duong. It lost control and plunged into the abyss at around 2:15 am. By 6 am, rescue forces got all the victims out of the vehicle and took them to the local clinic for first aid. The victims with serious wounds were later transported to the Kon Tum hospital. Investigation into the accident’s cause is underway. Chairman of the National … [Read more...] about Three killed in coach accident in Kon Tum province

Illustrative photo (Photo: quyvuadinh.vn) HCM City (VNA) – The Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund presented scholarships to 15 outstanding ethnic students nationwide, who had excellent academic performance during 2017-2018 academic year, at a ceremony held in Ho Chi Minh City on June 16. The event was jointly organised by the management board of the scholarship fund and the Ho Chi Minh City Television. Lauding the fund’s activities, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Le Quoc Phong underlined that Vu A Dinh scholarships have helped impoverished ethnic students realise their dreams and become good citizens to the society. On the occasion, the Vu A Dinh awards were presented to nine organisations and 13 individuals, recognising their contributions to the development of the mountainous regions and ethnic minority groups. At the event, domestic and foreign businesses and benefactors donated nearly 55 billion VND (2.42 million USD) to … [Read more...] about Vu A Dinh scholarships presented to excellent ethnic students

A photo by Ronaldo Schemidt (Source: Organising board)   Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnamese Journalists’ Association (VJA) and the Dutch Embassy in Vietnam held a seminar themed “Photo journalism profession in contemporary world” in Hanoi on June 16, on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of Vietnam-Netherlands diplomatic ties. Speaking at the event, Dutch Ambassador to Vietnam Nienke Trooster said together with the World Press Photo Exhibition co-hosted by the embassy and the VJA, the seminar offers Vietnamese press photo correspondents a chance to meet and discuss issues in the field. As a judge of many world press photo competitions, Sophie Boshouwers from the World Press Photo (WPP) organisation delivered her presentations on the transformation of photography in the 21st century and ethics in press photo journalism. She also discussed ethical issues related to the use of technology to edit photos and the supply of fake information and photos on the … [Read more...] about Seminar talks photo journalism profession in Hanoi

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam at the event (Source: VNA)   Hanoi (VNA) – A meeting in response to the action month for drug control and prevention 2018 took place in Hanoi on June 16, gathering a large number of students. The event saw the attendance of representatives from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the Vietnam National Committee for Prevention and Control of AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution, and leaders of different ministries. Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, said the Government selected “protecting young generations against drug threats” as the theme of the action month this year. He requested ministries, sectors and localities focus on improving their anti-drug work and increasing communications campaigns targeting young people. Police should keep an eye on students with suspicious actions related to drugs to promptly inform their schools for early intervention, and clean up areas around schools and dormitories. The … [Read more...] about Meeting marks anti-drug action month

Decision to establish a trade union in the LG Display Vietnam-Hai Phong Co.,Ltd is announced on June 16. (Photo: laodong.vn) Hai Phong (VNA) – The Hai Phong Confederation of Labour and the trade union organisation of the Hai Phong Economic Zone on June 15 announced a decision to establish a trade union in the LG Display Vietnam-Hai Phong Co.,Ltd. The establishment aims to concretise the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL)’s project to set up trade union institutions for labourers at processing and industrial zones. Earlier, the executive board of LG Display’s trade union convened its first meeting to elect a three-member standing committee, Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, inspection committee, and head of the inspection committee. To date, 4,283 workers, or 91.2 percent of the company’s total labourers, have applied to join the union. VGLC Vice President Tran Van Ly said that he was impressed by LG Display’s achievement after one year of … [Read more...] about Trade union set up in LG Display Vietnam-Hai Phong

Thousands of containers containing recyclable and used materials are piling up at seaports in the localities of Hai Phong, HCM City and Ba Ria–Vung Tau, reducing the productivity and efficiency of ports’ operations and negatively affecting the import-export activities of Vietnamese enterprises. Containers are gathered at Dinh Vu Port in Hai Phong City. - VNA/VNS Photo Lam Khanh According to the report issued by the Viet Nam Maritime Administration, by the end of May, nearly 28,000 containers were stuck at seaports, including nearly 6,800 containers in Hai Phong City ports, 14,600 in HCM City and about 6,500 in Ba Ria–Vung Tau Province. The main causes, the administration supposes, are changes in international trade policies which create uncertainties in the market forecast. China, for example, announced to stop importing 24 types of used and recyclable materials from January, 2018. The huge amount of those goods has to find its own way to other Asian … [Read more...] about Thousands of containers lying at Vietnam’s seaports

Representatives attend the conference in which officially introduce the Emergent Literacy and Math toolkit to stakeholders. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - At least 4,000 ethnic minority children aged three to six have benefited from the pilot of the Emergent Literacy and Math (ELM) toolkit to build foundational reading and math skills. In addition, the capacity of 2,200 teachers and caregivers have been enhanced to support children in building early foundational skills to better equip them to enter the first grade. These are some of the achievements of the ELM toolkit announced at a conference in Hanoi on June 14. Hoang Duc Minh, Director of the Agency of Teacher and Education Administrators, said the ELM toolkit has proven effective throughout its three-year pilot programme. This is a useful toolkit to support teachers in their execution of the early childhood education programme, he added. An assessment of the toolkit’s three-year pilot using the method of International … [Read more...] about Literacy toolkit benefits 4,000 ethnic minority children

At the event (Source: Internet) Quang Tri (VNA) – Members of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in the central province of Quang Tri is carrying a volunteer campaign in Outhoumphone and Xaybuly districts of Savannakhet province of Laos from June 12–16. Volunteers from the Quang Tri young doctor club have offered free medical checkups and medicine for more than 4,000 people in Savannakhet and educate them on how to prevent tropical diseases. In addition, they have coordinated with Outhoumphone district’s hospital to provide free surgery for a local impoverished patient who has suffered a chest wall tumor for years. They have also transferred several advanced medical techniques for disadvantaged hospitals at district level. The volunteers donated one tonne of rice, 2,000 pair of shoes, 2,000 red scarves and 500 mosquito nets to local people and students and presented gifts to local poor families. Cultural and sport events have been held between the young … [Read more...] about Quang Tri’s youth union members carry out volunteer campaign in Laos

More farmers in Tien Giang Province’s Tan Phu Dong Islet have switched to soursop in coping with the adverse effects of climate change.  Soursop has become one of main key fruits in Tien Giang Province’s Tan Phu Dong District. - VNA/VNS Photo Minh Tri Tran Van Phuc, who has a 1ha soursop orchard in Tan Phu Commune, said it fruits regularly and fetches profits of VND50–70 million (US$2,200-3,000) annually. In the past, when he grew rice, he did not earn so much, he said. Tan Phu Dong Islet District, located in the Tien River, a tributary of the Mekong, is affected by saltwater intrusion and drought in the dry season, and only hardy plants can thrive there these days. The district’s agricultural restructuring plan to 2020 focuses on crops that can cope with climate change and offers high value, like soursop. The area under soursop in the district has increased from 600ha in 2015 to nearly 1,000ha now, with 650ha yielding fruits with an average … [Read more...] about Mekong Delta islet gives up rice, switches to soursop

Danang Fantasticity, one of Hekate’s chatbot products, helps to bring tourists closer to the city. (Photo: VNA) Da Nang (VNS/VNA) - Since November 2017, visitors to the central coastal city of Da Nang have been able to easily access to all tourism-related information via a smartphone-based app called Danang Fantasticity, which incorporates a smart chatbot. Danang Fantasticity was developed by Hekate, a technology start-up which grew out of the local business incubator named DNES. Its co-founders, Nguyen Minh Duc, 27, Pham Quoc Huy, 27 and Duong Phuoc Thien, 25, became close friends at university. Together they left their former jobs, which were considered stable, to pour their heart and soul into developing chatbot applications. A chatbot is an AI-based piece of software which is designed to simulate human’s conversational behaviour and is used for different purposes including customer service and information acquisition. It was only in 2016, at a conference for … [Read more...] about The three musketeers of Viet chatbots