British Council holds activities to celebrate city’s birthday

The British Council is organising a wide range of events designed to celebrate the 1,000 th birthday of Thang Long-Hanoi and promote cultural links between the United Kingdom and Vietnam throughout October.

The activities include an exhibition entitled Long Bien “In a City”, which explores the fabric of society in the Long Bien area through innovative photography, film and story telling; an auction of some of the best Vietnamese visual arts to raise funds for young artists; a fashion and design show and a “Global citizens” competition for 65,000 school children across Vietnam.

An international competition will be also held in the Millennium month to honour young Vietnamese talent in production, distribution, journalism, marketing, promotion and artistic management.

British Council Country Director Robin Rickard expressed his hope that the events will contribute to delivering a message that while Hanoi is one of the most ancient capitals of Asia , it is also a modern city blessed with natural scenery and historical beauty nurtured by a splendid unique and enduring culture.

Operating in over 100 nations and territories, the British Council began its operation in the areas of education, English language and art in Vietnam in 1993./.

Related Articles

• Thousands await relocation
• No haste to abolish grassroots level legislatures: lawmakers
• PM lauds police for keeping public order
• Good response to reforms of People's Councils
• Most ice is unhygienic

Cham ethnic people celebrate Royal Festival

Cham ethnic people in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang are celebrating the Royal Festival after concluding their Ramadan month of fasting.

During the ten-day festival, Cham people hold parties, visit their relatives and attend recreational activities.

According to the Head of the Representative Board of the Islamic Cham Community, Musahaji, during the Ramadan 2010, Cham ethnic people in An Giang raised over 1 billion VND for social and charitable activities.

The Cham community in An Giang province was formed over 20 years ago.

There are 3,052 Cham households with 14,784 people, accounting for 0.66 percent of the province’s population, living in nine hamlets in the four districts of Chau Thanh, Chau Phu, Phu Tan and An Phu and Tan Chau Town .

Over the past years, the State has invested in transport infrastructure, education, and vocational training in the Cham area.

In 2010, An Giang province has spent over 5 billion VND sourced from the government’s Programmes 134 and 135 to open vocational training classes, build 10 transport works and upgrade schools for local Cham people./.

Related Articles

• British Council holds activities to celebrate city’s birthday
• Deputy PM receives ASEAN delegations
• PM lauds police for keeping public order
• Foreign sea leases deprive locals of living
• The birdnest caves of Yen Island

Huge Buddha statue inaugurated in Bac Ninh

Photo: Dan Tri news website

Thousands of Buddhist followers and pilgrims from all regions of the country gathered on Phat Tich Mountain in Bac Ninh province’s Tien Du district on Saturday to witness the inauguration of a giant Buddha statue located on the peak of the mountain.

The statue, which measures 27 meters high and weighs 3,000 tons, is one of the largest stone statues in Southeast Asia and the first of its kind in Vietnam.

The statue is shaped based on the model of Amitabha Buddha statue which was made of stone during the Ly dynasty.

It took three years to complete the work, which cost VND75 billion (US$3.8 million) sourced from the state budget and donations from organizations, individuals and Buddhist followers nationwide.

On Sunday a ceremony was also held in Tien Du district to name the Phat Tich Pagoda project celebrating the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The project to restore the Phat Tich Pagoda has a total investment of over VND50 billion. After two years of execution, the project has restored 82 iron wood compartments and upgraded 150 meters of stone jetty.

Phat Tich pagoda is a cultural and historical relic in Vietnam which contains cultural and sculptural values of the Ly dynasty.

Besides keeping the Amitabha Buddha stone statue dating back from the 10th-11th centuries, which is considered precious object, the pagoda is also a Buddhist cultural center and a place where the Buddhism rose up in Vietnam.

Related Articles

• Thousands attend Buddha statue unveiling at pagoda
• Northernmost Lung Cu flag tower inaugurated
• Greenback firmer on signs of rising demand
• Vietnam offers huge potential success: U.S. governor
• ADB backs State-owned enterprises reform

Vinh Tuy bridge opens to traffic

Photo: VnExpress

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai on Sunday cut the ribbon to put into operation the first phase of the Vinh Tuy bridge, which is connected with the National Highway No.5 and spans over the Red River.

The first phase of the 5.8 km bridge with a 3.7 km-river-spanning section and a cross-cut of 19.25 m was constructed at a cost of VND3.6 trillion (US$183.6 million).

In September 2009, the bridge partly opened to traffic after the construction of key parts completed, helping ease traffic jam in Chuong Duong bridge and other relating roads.

As one of the seven bridges spanning over the Red River in the master plan of the capital city by 2020, Vinh Tuy bridge has been recognized as a high-quality project to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai underlined the significance of the project in boosting socio-economic development, industrialization and modernization in Hanoi as well as the Red River Delta region.

This is also a project marking the development of the construction sector of Vietnam in general and the capital city in particular, he said.

Related Articles

• Light metro line project gets off ground in Hanoi
• PM lauds police for keeping public order
• HCM City plans to save old colonial French villas
• HCMC plans to save old colonial French villas
• Green cars begin world race

Checks of pre-paid subscribers planned

HA NOI - The Public Securities Ministry plans to check the personal information of pre-paid mobile phone subscribers who use Ha Noi- Police-issued identity cards.

Checks in HCM City and Da Nang will follow.

The checks were necessary because numerous violations were still occurring two years after regulations for the management of pre-paid subscriptions had been introduced, said the deputy director of the ministry's administration of social order department Nguyen Cong Son.

Many people pre-paid mobile phones to harass others; detonate explosives or illegally plug into other people's network, he told a workshop to review mobile services.

Pre-paid mobile phone users found to have registered incorrect personal information would be required to re-register or have their services denied, said deputy Information and Communications Minister El Nam Thang.

Information and communication ministry inspectors have found more than 26,000 customer registrations that included false information and 4,821 incomplete but authorised contracts during the past two years. - VNS

To be updated

Related Articles

• New decree hopes to protect holders of convertible bonds
• Saigon-Hanoi charity caravan heads north
• Good response to reforms of People's Councils
• No haste to abolish grassroots level legislatures: lawmakers
• ADB backs State-owned enterprises reform

US firm launches social networking site in Vietnam

The beta version of microblogging site PingGadget.com launched by US-based software company VietTech Corporation in Vietnam

US-based software company VietTech Corporation unveiled the beta version of a social networking and microblogging site PingGadget.com and a new version of MyWorldvn.com, an educational and community website, at a press conference in Ho Chi Minh City Friday.

PingGadget allows users to communicate with one another, stay connected to what is going on around them, and build custom groups specific to their location and interests.

The microblogging site has image and video uploading capacities of 1 MB and 8 MB.

It features jobs, classifieds, events, nightlife, music, and volunteering opportunities at various locations but does not have a platform to support blogs.

“We’re just getting started and this beta release formally kicks things off. We plan on working closely with our users over the next few months to gain valuable feedback and maintain a strong innovation schedule for the platform,” Nguyen Minh Tri, president and CEO of VietTech and co-founder of MyWorldvn and PingGadget, said.

“[Later] we will add some applications suitable for Vietnamese users.

“In Vietnam, social networks are becoming a daily habit. These sites help users connect with each other and share things easily anywhere and anytime.”

PingGadget launched in the US last month.

MyWorldvn.com is a popular social and educational networking site among high school and college students and young professionals in Vietnam that Tri launched in 2007.

It has 220,000 members and attracted more than 10 million hits.

MyWorldvn.com provides access to English learning, news sharing, information, blogs, images, music, and social clubs.

Both websites are free and in Vietnamese.

Related Articles

• Civil servants to enjoy State housing
• HCMC firm sues minister over import fines
• Thousands attend Buddha statue unveiling at pagoda
• Thousands await relocation
• Competition serves sustainable agenda

Workers lack HIV awareness: official

Workers at Tan Thuan Processing Zone in HCM City read leaflets on HIV/AIDS prevention. Workers and employers are still largely ignorant about the disease, officials say. — VNA/VNS Trang Duong

HCM CITY — Though HCM City has implemented many HIV-prevention programmes at workplaces, workers and employers still do not have much awareness about the disease, an AIDS Prevention Committee official said.

At a workshop last Friday, Nguyen Thi Hue, who is responsible for the implementation of programmes, said the programmes had been carried out since 2000.

These include HIV/AIDS prevention programmes for construction workers, employees of Nha Be Garment Company, and migrants in the districts of Tan Binh, Binh Tan, Nha Be, Hoc Mon, Binh Chanh, Thu Duc, and Cu Chi.

The Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been carrying out a two-year programme for workers at 12 companies.

Workers are taught how to prevent HIV infection and transmission and provided information on support programmes and care policies for people with HIV.

They receive free condoms, syringes, and anti-retroviral drugs and information about where they can get tested for HIV.

Drug users are provided methadone so that they can gradually kick the drug habit.

However, most programmes were implemented for a short while and were not well co-ordinated, leading to low effectiveness, especially among migrant workers, Hue admitted.

She called for setting up an agency to co-ordinate the various programmes.

Nguyen Ngoc Thach, head of the city Social Evils Prevention Division, said most migrant workers were ignorant of precautions required to prevent HIV/ AIDS while many employers do not have programmes to disseminate information about HIV/AIDS prevention.

In the first six months of this year 262 people died of the disease. — VNS

Related Articles

• Czech Republic – VN’s active ally in int’l arena
• Workshop calls for longer-term plans to audit State entities
• China sees Vietnam as gateway to free-trade ASEAN
• False diagnosis keeps blue ear around
• Greenback firmer on signs of rising demand