Daily life of a buddhist monk

Coral is seriously damaged by crown-of-thorns starfish (Photo courtesy of Nguyen Van Gioi) Binh Thuan (VNS/VNA) - During a dive on a small island off the coast of Binh Thuan province, Nguyen Van Gioi and other tour guides were able to see hundreds of poisonous crown-of-thorns starfish , which are coral predators. “When diving to look at coral reefs on Hon Tranh isle, we saw crown-of-thorns starfish seriously devastate the coral reefs,” said Gioi, a tour guide on Phu Quy Island in the south-central coastal province. He and other tour guides on the larger island of Phu Quy decided to set up a team "to catch these poisonous crown-of-thorns starfish to save coral." According to the Australian Institute of Marine Science, crown-of-thorns starfish are marine invertebrates that feed on coral and occur naturally on reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific region, and when conditions are right, they can reach plague proportions and devastate hard coral communities. The institute’s … [Read more...] about Tour guides form team to save coral off coast of Binh Thuan

According to the Happy Planet Index (HPI) as announced by UK-headquartered New Economics Foundation (NEF), the country, which is home to an array of mountains and tropical forests, has a strikingly low Ecological Footprint and economic output per head, almost 24 times smaller than that of Hong Kong (China). Indeed, it is one of just three countries to mark the top 10 of the Happy Planet Index rankings with an Ecological Footprint that is small enough to be considered environmentally sustainable. The report also notes that, “While wellbeing in Vietnam is more modest than in other countries in the top 10 HPI rankings, its average wellbeing score is still higher than Hong Kong’s – despite the Vietnamese economy being significantly smaller and Vietnam’s Ecological Footprint being less than a fifth of the size of Hong Kong’s.” “Vietnam has an impressive average life expectancy. Both Vietnam and the Gambia have similar sized economies with similar levels of GDP per capita, yet on … [Read more...] about Vietnam in fifth place in happy planet index rankings

HCMC proposes developing five new railway lines The Saigon Times A train is seen running on a rail track. The government of HCMC is working on a plan to propose the development of five new railway lines – PHOTO: VNA HCMC – The government of HCMC is working on a plan to propose the development of five new railway lines, with a focus on high-speed train routes, to cope with a high freight growth rate in the city. These five railway lines include the HCMC-My Tho-Can Tho route; the HCMC-Tay Ninh route connected with the HCMC-My Tho-Can Tho route at the Tan Chanh Hiep Station in HCMC; the Thu Thiem-Long Thanh airport route; a high-speed railway on the north-south route, with sections with high demand such as HCMC-Nha Trang to be developed first. The fifth route is a double-track rail line connecting the national railway line to the Hiep Phuoc Port in HCMC and the Long An international terminal. This plan is part of a scheme, which was recently passed by the city’s … [Read more...] about HCMC proposes developing five new railway lines

Korean, German piloted as first foreign language subjects The Saigon Times Students learn English with a foreign teacher. The Ministry of Education and Training has added German and Korean as first foreign language subjects in the curriculum for students from grades three to 12 - PHOTO: VNA HCMC – The Ministry of Education and Training has added German and Korean as first foreign language subjects to the curriculum for students from grades three to 12, a decision that took effect from February 9. Thus, students will have more choices for first foreign languages, the local media reported. The pilot foreign language teaching program aims to help students improve their communication skills in the two languages through listening, speaking, reading and writing as well as language knowledge. A representative of the Ministry of Education and Training said the news that the two languages would be compulsory for graders three to 12 was inaccurate. According to the … [Read more...] about Korean, German piloted as first foreign language subjects