Pink Spring festival to record the biggest blood donors on Sunday

More than 20,000 people are expected to turn out at the Pink Spring festival – the biggest blood donation event in 2012 – at My Dinh National Stadium on Sunday.

As of now, 10,000 people have already registered to participate.

Online registration is open at http://www.mau.vn/le-hoi-xuan-hong and http://www.facebook.com/le.hoi.xuan.hong.

The annual festival, organised by the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion and the Ha Noi Youth Blood Donation Mobilisation Association, aims to ease the blood shortage in the health sector after Tet (Lunar new year) holiday.

Last year, the event drew 5,600 units of blood.

Two female scientists to get Kovalevskaya Award

The award ceremony of the 2010 Kovalevskaya Award on March 8, 2010. (Photo: VAAS)

Fishing boat burst into fire in Han River

A fishing boat owned by Le Van Lo in Thanh Khe Dong ward, Thanh Khe district in Da Nang city, suddenly burst into flames when it was anchored in Han River on Tuesday afternoon.

The ship body and fishing equipment were all burned down completely.

Fishermen who anchored their ships nearby said they saw a flame erupting as Lo’s family was cooking on the ship.

Many people on the boats close by tried to help them put the fire out but gave up when the blaze started to get very strong.

Later, the border patrol forces arrived and, using a hose to spray upon the ship, brought the fire under control.

However, an oil tank on the ship started to leak, adding more fuel to the fire and helping it spread wider.

An hour later, firefighters from Da Nang fire department arrived and managed to extinguish the flame completely with their big-sized hoses.

According to some fishermen, Lo’s ship burned two hours after it got back from the morning’s Fish Praying Festival near Xuan Ha beach in Thanh Khe district.

The estimated damage is said to be around VND1 billion (US$48,000).

This is the first time a ship has been destroyed by fire on Han River.

Lao Cai Province reports outbreak of blue-ear pig disease

Blue-ear pig disease has broken out for the first time this year in the northern province of Lao Cai.

Lao Cai City's Animal Health Department said the six diseased pigs had been destroyed.

The department's vice head, Nguyen Van Thang, said prolonged cold weather had weakened animals' immune systems making them prone to disease.

Last month, authorities took steps to contain a suspected outbreak of blue-ear pig disease in Bao Yen District's Bao Ha Commune. Officials have also been spraying antiseptic in piggeries and tightened inspections in affected areas.

Air traffic control centre built in Ha Noi

Construction on a VND750 billion (US$35.7 million) air traffic control centre kicked off yesterday, Feb 7, in the capital city.

The new construction would replace the existing one which is technologically obsolete.

The project received investment from the Viet Nam Air Traffic Management Corporation and was implemented by Corporation 36 under the Ministry of National Defence and the Airport Engineering Consultancy and Services Joint Stock Company will supervise the construction progress.

The 20,600sq.m centre in Long Bien District will include a three-floor administrative building and a three-floor air traffic control building.

The project, scheduled to be completed before May 2014, would provide new means of observation for Noi Bai Airport's approach control centre. It would also ensure the security and efficiency of the aviation activities and satisfy increasing requirements for the development of the sector.

2012 Earth Hour to be observed in Vietnam

More than 4,600 enterprises from 30 provinces across the country will respond to the 2012 Earth Hour.

Under the motto “You and I act together”, the 2012 Earth Hour will be observed from 8.30 pm to 9h30 pm on March 31.

During the hour, lights and electrical equipment will be switched off.

In Hanoi’s key areas, including Ngoc Son Temple, The Huc bridge, Hanoi Opera House and Trang Tien Plaza, there all lights will go down to show local people’s earth-loving spirit.

Bike bursts into fire in Phu Yen

Ho Van Dung and his father from Tuy An Ward, Tuy An district, the central province of Phu Yen turned off the bike engine to do some cleaning when it suddenly burst into fire on Tuesday morning.

The two men were riding the bike when they decided to take a break at Quan Cau mountain pass in Tuy An district.

Dung and passersby tried to put out the fire.

However, the bike front and body were burned down completely within 20 minutes.

According to Dung, he bought this Chinese-made Chino model bike two years ago.

Previously, he filled up the bike tank at a gas station in Chi Thanh town, 10 km away from the scene.

This is the second bike burning case since Lunar New Year.

Vinalines officials prosecuted for embezzlement

The general director of Vinalines Shipyard Company Limited, Tran Hai Son, and a department head of the same company have been arrested and indicted for embezzlement of the State’s assets, the Ministry of Public Security reported.

In addition to Son and Tran Van Quang, head of the company’s Planning Department, the police also detained Tran Ba Hung, deputy head of a department of Hyundai Vinashin, and Pham Ba Giap, director of Nguyen An Co Ltd, for the same charge.

The arrests were made yesterday as part of the police’s on-going investigation of an embezzlement case in Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) in relation to the purchase and repair of a floating dock for a project to build a shipyard in the South of Vietnam.

In June 2007, Vinalines set up the US$185 million shipyard project in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. Four months later, the Vinalines management board chairman approved the purchase of a used floating dock that was manufactured abroad in 1965 at a total cost of $13.5 million, including $9 million as the buying price and the rest as the transport fee.

Vinalines later tasked the Vinalines Shipyard Company Limited to repair the dock. The company spent VND193 billion on the repair, including VND97 billion paid to Hyundai Vinashin Nha Trang and the rest to a number of other repairers.

The total repair cost in Vietnam was later found to be US$10 million higher than the total amount needed for buying, repairing and transporting the dock to Vietnam from abroad, investigators said.

The reason was that Son and Quang had required that Hung falsely increase the cost of welding steel in the account books by VND10,000 per kilogram compared to the actual price of the material.

They also colluded with each other to falsely increase the volume of welding steel in the books to appropriate the different amount.

To make the illegal scheme a success, Hung asked for help from Giap, who later prepared contracts and documents related to the purchase and payment of the welding steel.

With Giap’s help, Hung withdrew VND1.5 billion ($71,700) from a bank and then handed it to Quang. Hung also paid Giap VND50 million as reimbursement for his help.

The police are continuing with their investigation to determine how much the defendants had appropriated from the State budget.

Japanese funds step up investment in Vietnam

Japanese investment funds are paying more attention to Vietnamese companies, especially those operating in new growth fields such as medicine and information technology.

According to Japan’s leading economic and financial daily Nikkei, venture fund Dream Incubator Inc. and Orix Corp. are acquiring 31 percent of stake of the Japan-Vietnam Medical Instrument Co., a medical equipment wholesaler in Vietnam, through DI Asian Industrial Fund LP.

Another source said that their first investment in the business is worth 600-800 million yen (77-102 million USD).

DI Asian Industrial Fund LP will appoint a director to the Vietnamese wholesaler's board and help foster partnerships with Japanese medical equipment manufacturers.

Meanwhile, CyberAgent Ventures Inc., a venture capital fund affiliated with CyberAgent Inc., has purchased stock in NCT Corp., which operates Vietnam 's largest music-sharing site, with the aim of expanding its business using CyberAgent's network expertise and technology.

By soliciting additional funds, CyberAgent Ventures Inc. strives to increase its capital to 20 million USD, or around 1.6 billion yen, and step up investment in growing companies in Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam and Indonesia.

VNN/VOV/VNS/AFP/Tuoi Tre