Airline adds flights for stranded travellers

HA NOI — National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has announced it would maintain regular flights from Noi Bai International Airport while putting on one more flight for customers delayed by foggy weather on the Ha Noi-Can Tho route and vice versa.

Last Saturday, due to thick fog in a number of northern localities, particularly Ha Noi, the carrier had to cancel, delay and change flight routes on 52 international and domestic flights from and to the airport.

Around 40 domestic and international flights departing from Noi Bai had to be delayed.

Football fans fly charter to Malaysia

HCM CITY — HCM City-based tour operator Vietravel has chartered two planes from Vietnam Airlines with a total of 360 seats to ferry football fans to Malaysia this week for the AFC Cup football semi-final against the hosts.

The flights will leave Ha Noi and HCM City for Kuala Lumpur for the December 15 match.

The tour is priced at VND8.9 million from HCM City and VND9.9 million from Ha Noi.

Vietravel will also organise two to four regular tours to Malaysia next week priced at over VND9 million that will take in the match.

Four killed in traffic accident in HCM City

HCM CITY — Four people were yesterday killed in a road accident when an out-of-control truck hit 10 motorbikes on Highway 1 in HCM City.

One man was killed on the spot while three others died on their way to hospital. Six people were injured in the crash in which the truck, which had faulty breaks, crashed into the motorbikes at a traffic light in Tan Binh District.

The police are hunting the truck driver who ran away from the scene.

The exact number of casualties has yet to be determined.

AmCham grants 40 scholarships

HCM CITY — The American Chamber of Commerce in Viet Nam (AmCham Vietnam) last Saturday granted scholarships valued at US$500 each and training vouchers valued at $380 to 40 students from city colleges.

Nearly 600 students from 10 universities in HCM City participated in the AmCham Scholarship 2010 Programme.

AmCham Vietnam has thus far awarded 348 scholarships to Vietnamese students, including 230 Amcham Scholars awards for the top students passing all four selection rounds and 118 Honorable Mention awards between 2001 and 2010. — VNS

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Flights from and to Hanoi resume operation

The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has announced that on Dec. 12 it would maintain its regular flights at the Noi Bai International Airport and increase one more flight for customers delayed by foggy weather on the Hanoi-CanTho route and vice versa.

Earlier, on Dec. 11, due to thick fog in a number of northern localities, particularly Hanoi, Vietnam Airlines had to cancel, delay and change the direction of 52 international and domestic flights from and to Noi Bai International Airport.

The carrier had to cancel six flights from Hanoi to central Vinh city, the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho and the northern province of Dien Bien. To avoid bad weather, three flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi had to change their direction to land at the Da Nang Airport (one flight) and Vientiane Airport of Laos (two flights).

One flight from Da Nang to Hanoi had to land at Vientiane Airport and two flights from Can Tho and Nha Trang had to land at Da Nang Airport.

Around 40 domestic and international flights departing from Noi Bai International Airport had to be delayed.

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New models for preventing domestic violence

Vietnam has successfully created models of intervention to prevent and control domestic violence which have helped to reduce the number of cases of domestic violence by almost 70 percent from July 2008.

This was announced by head of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Family Department Do Hoang Du during a conference to review the models of intervention in the northern province of Nam Dinh on December 10.

The models have been introduced to all 63 provinces and cities nationwide which focus on the establishment of family clubs and quick-response teams to deal with domestic violence. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has provided financial assistance to set up and develop five clubs and five teams in each province and city.

Over the past two years, these clubs have organised meetings to increase members’ awareness about cultural traditions and the new regulations on families, gender equality and domestic violence.

The quick-response teams have protected victims of domestic violence cases and motivated people to become involve in preventing and controlling domestic violence.

Du said many localities nationwide have increased the number of such clubs and groups and 44 out of 63 provinces and cities plan to invest 40 billion VND to expand these models between 2010-2015, he added.

Vietnam will also implement a national programme on domestic violence prevention in the 2010 - 2020 period as well as promote international cooperation and international and social organisations in this field.

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Deputy PM stresses need of human resource plan

It is necessary to build a plan for human resource development to ensure the feasibility of socio-economic development plan, said Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan.

Deputy PM Nhan gave the guidance while attending a conference on human development plan for the Red River Delta provinces in the 2011-2020 period held in the northern province of Nam Dinh on Dec. 11.

He said the lack of quality human resources has been noticed for many years, but there was so far no effective solution.

The Red River Delta region has better economic strengths in comparison with other regions in the country, coupled with favourable location and conditions for development.

At present, the region has a population of about 18.5 million people with 77 percent of them aged from 15 and above. However, the Red River Delta region also faces challenges from its small acreage and a high population density, low quality of labour and the largest rate of unemployment in the country.

The overall policy to develop human resources for the Red River Delta till 2020 aims to develop education as well as vocational training and get all economic sectors involve in training, so that the rate of trained labourers in the region will increase to 50 percent by 2015 and to 60 percent by 2020.

By 2020, the unemployment rate in the region is expected to be 3.5-4 percent in urban areas and the rate of real working time in rural areas will be raised to 90 percent.

The conference was jointly held by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Nam Dinh provincial People’s Committee with the participation of representatives from relevant ministries, sectors, agencies and 11 cities and provinces in the region (Hanoi, Hai Phong, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Ha Nam, Hai Duong, Hung Yen, Ninh Binh, Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh and Quang Ninh)./.

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Two remanded in police custody for baby smuggling

From left: Dang Quang Huy and Bui Thi Le Thuan

Photo: VnExpress

Hanoi's Hoan Kiem District police have prosecuted and remanded a man and a woman in four-month custody for allegedly smuggling newborn babies.

Dang Quang Hy, 66, and Bui Thi Le Thuan, 48, were arrested by the Hoan Kiem Police's Investigative Unit on November 24.

The police had earlier called Thuan in for questioning after discovering her bringing up a month-old girl.

Thuan admitted to police that she was caring for the baby for Hy and his wife until the baby was sold and would be paid VND100,000 (US$5) per day.

The police, after examining Thuan's house in Hoan Kiem District, found two handwritten documents by mothers volunteering to give up their babies to Hy. They also found similar documents at Hy's house in Thanh Luong ward in Hai Ba Trung District.

At the police station, Hy admitted he had collected five newborn babies aged between three days to a month old, and claimed four of the babies had been successfully sold for VND10-17 million ($510-867) each.

However, police investigations revealed that Hy had sold a baby for VND35 million ($1,785) to an adoptive parent in the northern province of Phu Tho.

The police took the baby that Thuan had been caring for and placed the infant in the Hanoi Center for Orphans and Malnourished Children.

"Further investigations are now underway," said Director of Hoan Kiem Police Hoang Quoc Dinh.

Under current regulations, child smugglers can be sentenced to between three years and life imprisonment depending on the level of infringement, purposes and consequences of smuggling, said Hanoi-based lawyer Nguyen Thai Hoa.

Violators would also be liable to administrative fines of between VND5-50 million ($255-2,550), he said.

Nearly 1,950 cases of woman and child trafficking cases have been discovered, involving more than 4,700 victims over the past six years, following the implementation of a national action program on women and children trafficking prevention and control, according to statistics from the Ministry of Public Security.

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Flawed justice: one-legged man drags upstairs, shooed by Court

63-year-old An Van Chau

Photo: Tuoi Tre

A 63-year-old, one-legged man had to abandon his wheelchair and dragged himself upstairs unassisted to submit papers to a Ho Chi Minh City court which, again, turned him down for the third time.

Tuoi Tre reporters happened to be at the District 4 People’s Court on Friday and interviewed him.

An Van Chau said he was turned down the first time when he had a friend submit the papers for him while he was waiting outside. An officer told his friend Chau must submit in person.

The second time, a female court officer came down to meet him but told him to come next time with additional documents.

On Friday, after he came, a security guard told him the officer who received him last time was absent and the others were too busy.

That’s why I climbed upstairs to directly meet them, Chau told Tuoi Tre.

“I’m a human. I don’t want to look that pathetic, but as they refused to come down, I have to go upstairs”.

But this time the court also rejected his papers. Chau said an officer named Minh told him to contact the City People’s Court as his court – the district one – did not have enough jurisdiction since a party involved is away in Canada.

Chau said he should have been told in the first place.

He ‘climbed’ down, politely declining reporters’ help and shaking his head from time to time.

When Tuoi Tre were interviewing Chau downstairs, a woman who introduced herself as deputy presiding judge of the district court told them to “go away.”

She spoke out loud that reporters were not allowed to do their job without court’s permission.

She also called security guards to send the reporters out.

According to lawyer Nguyen Huu The Trach of the HCMC Bar Association, it is unacceptable for the court to let a disabled person crawl on the stairs.

The officers should have gone downstairs to receive him and take the papers, he said, adding there are certain regulations requiring civil servants to privilege disabled persons.

Another Lawyer, Nguyen Minh Thuan said the officers in this case did not fulfill their duties.

Chau has been using the wheelchair for 30 years.
 

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Centre to promote hi-tech growth vital

HCM CITY — A centre that co-ordinates work between universities, research institutes and companies can speed up development of hi-tech products in the country, according to a workshop yesterday.

Dr Nguyen Thanh Nam of the Viet Nam National University, HCM City (VNU-HCM City), said the centre would be a place to conduct research as well as train human resources for companies producing hi-tech products. The centre could be a highly profitable venture, he said.

Through the centre, companies could help universities and research institutes know of their demand as well as invest in hi-tech research, he added.

Dr Dang Van Nghin, deputy head of the Viet Nam Mechatronic Association, presented other solutions to speed up development of hi-tech products in Viet Nam.

Universities, research institutes and companies should develop hi-tech products at many levels, he said. They should import highly sophisticated products and study them, he added.

Priority should be given to developing hi-tech that meet important socio-economic needs as well as enhance national security, he said.

The production of hi-tech products that were likely to have a large consumer base should also receive due attention, Nghin said, adding that constant attention needed to be paid to world developments in this field in order to adopt the latest technological advances.

With the State issuing regulations as well as incentive policies for developing the hi-tech industry in Viet Nam, it was a good time to invest in the field, he said.

Several workshop participants mentioned the need for developing hi-tech products such as robots to find and destroy unexploded ordnance (UXO) because more than 66,000sq.km of Viet Nam's land surface area was affected by it. It would take more than 300 years to locate and destroy rogue explosives in Viet Nam without producing these robots, said Dr. Bui Huu Phu of HCM City Natural Sciences University. — VNS

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