Social Issues - VietNam News

The massive blackout in 22 southern provinces and cities on Wednesday raised concerns over the security of the national power grid.

Norway offers hope to mountain village

Thanks to a pioneering project overseen by the Norwegian Red Cross, poor residents in Nghet Village of northern Tuyen Quang Province are being put on the path to prosperity through a raft of vital infrastructure interventions.

Gov't urged to provide credit fund support

The Government should enable people's credit funds to offer cheap credit services so that they can compete with commercial banks and develop sustainably, a conference heard on Thursday.

Reforms improve Da Nang's ranking

The central city has improved its ranking under the Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI).

Central region plans ahead with drought-resistant rice

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has instructed central provinces to plant rice varieties that are drought resistant and have shorter maturing periods in this year's summer-autumn crop.

VN needs more support to clear bombs, mines

Viet Nam is seeking further international support in its continued attempt to overcome the consequences of post-war bombs and mines that still litter the country. This is among the many actions to be taken under a national programme to deal with post-war ordnance from now until 2015.

Draft decree clamps down on imports of obsolete machinery

A draft decree prepared by the Ministry of Science and Technology seeks to tighten controls over the import of machinery, equipment and production lines by State-owned enterprises (SOEs).

Residents to drink filtered pond water

Authorities in Ha Noi plan to install water filters in 100 households in Quoc Oai suburban district who have been forced to use stagnant pond water for daily use due to a shortage of clean water.

Healthy meals to be promoted in HCM City

The "Com ngon cong dong (Good meals for the public)" programme was launched in HCM City yesterday with the aim to provide meals with essential nutrition at reasonable prices for local employees.

High-tech Chinese criminals prosecuted

Police in the northern port city of Hai Phong decided to prosecute a group of four Chinese people allegedly involved in using high-tech devices to illegally appropriate billions of dong on Thursday.

Students drown while swimming in lake

Two students drowned yesterday while swimming in Cay Cui Lake in Cam Thanh Commune, Cam Lo District in central Quang Tri Province.

Education

Swimming lessons protect children

The Ministry of Education and Training has asked schools to introduce swimming lessons to prevent students from drowning.

Health

Ministry to get tougher on immunisation malpractice

The Ministry of Health has told health departments and units under its supervision to improve their management of immunisation services after a number of violations were discovered recently.

Employment

Job market tough for new graduates

A flood of students will be graduating in June, but many of them will not be able to find jobs, according to HCM City's Centre for Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information.

Hightlight

Disabled speaker inspires audience

More than 2,500 people attended a talk by Nick Vujicic, an inspirational speaker without arms and legs, at the White Palace Conference Centre in HCM City's Tan Binh District yesterday.

Crane accident leads to major power cut

A two-hour power failure caused by an incident on the 500kV north-south transmission line hindered road traffic in many southern provinces and HCM City yesterday afternoon.

Spread of hand-foot-mouth disease concerns hospitals

Hand-Foot-Mouth disease (HFMD) is now at its peak, having infected a total of 796 children in HCM City in April, an increase of 127 per cent against the same period last year.

US steel producers make dumping claim

After welded steel pipes and steel wire garment hangers, now welded stainless pressure pipe from Viet Nam continue to face charges of dumping in the US.