4pm in 24 hour time

These days there is a huge kerfuffle in my hood in Da Lat as the ‘bung binh’ (roundabout or traffic circle) is being replaced by (wonder of all wonders): A functioning stoplight! The renovation site is a gargantuan mess with no noticeable emphasis on safety, with us locals literally crawling over, under, and around obstacles with the agility of mountain goats (that gem plagiarized from an alert reader comment, I confess), dodging diggers, dump trucks, holes, and trenches whilst traffic whizzes by as if nothing was going on. To add to the spirit of adventure, the configuration of gangplanks that span the various moats in front of my building changes constantly, so when I alight, what was there a few hours ago is absent, replaced by another such device in another location. Short crawl to the corner store I can’t wait to see what happens when the light is installed and functioning. I imagine an initial period of strict compliance, no doubt keenly monitored … [Read more...] about A jab in time saves lives

Streets along the iconic Hoai River in Hoi An Town, Quang Nam Province have been submerged 20-50 cm deep in floodwaters. Quang Nam has recorded rainfall of up to 305 mm since Saturday. Rainfall of 180 mm a day is considered heavy. Tran Van Binh, a resident in Hoi An Town’s Minh An Ward, takes his boat to shelter. "This is the second flooding of the year, and many streets are deep under water," Binh said. In the mountainous district of Phuoc Son, Quang Nam Province, rising water levels in rivers and streams has worsened the flooding. A road going through Phuoc Thanh Commune is under of 40 cm of water. Landslides have sent rained soil and rocks to a fence protecting the Phuoc Thanh Primary and Secondary School, and this threatens to spill into classrooms. The school has 422 students who have been allowed to stay home for the last few days. At 10 a.m. Sunday, the Dak Mi hydropower plant in Phuoc Son District recorded inflows of … [Read more...] about Torrential rains trigger flooding, disrupt life in central Vietnam

HCMC led the daily tally with 1,059 cases, followed by Binh Duong (537) and Dong Nai (517). The country conducted more than 107,000 tests over the past 24 hours. 63 deaths were recorded, with 38 cases in Ho Chi Minh City, 13 in Binh Duong, two each in Dong Nai, Kien Giang, Soc Trang and Dak Lak and one each in Quang Ngai, Bac Lieu, Binh Thuan and Dak Nong. The total coronavirus death toll so far is 21,194, accounting for around 2.4 percent of all infections. 1,340 Covid-19 patients were announced recovered, bringing the number of recoveries to 791,844. Of more than 51,000 patients under treatment, 3,413 are severe cases. Over 61.9 million have been vaccinated, with more than 17.8 million receiving two doses. As Vietnam has switched from the zero-Covid strategy to living with it, the country has issued a directive on evaluating the pandemic level in each locality that comprises two criteria: the proportion of people aged 18 and more getting vaccinated, and the number of new … [Read more...] about Vietnam records 3,175 new local Covid cases

A street blockdowned for COVID-19 prevetion and control in Vientiane capital, Laos, in September. Illustrative image (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - The Lao Ministry of Health said on October 17 that the country recorded 296 new infections of COVID-19 and two deaths in the past 24 hours. Thus, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Laos is currently 32,029, including 40 deaths. Of the new cases, 283 were detected in the community in 10 provinces and cities. The Ministry of Health said that although the number of new cases in Laos has decreased, it is still high, and the country is trying to ensure adequate care and treatment services for COVID-19 patients. The Lao Government has asked localities to promptly make their vaccination distribution plans and focus on vaccinations for target groups in a systematic and equal manner. It also called on high-risk groups to get vaccinated against COVID-19. In the Philippines , the number of new COVID-19 cases has fallen to … [Read more...] about Laos, Philippines see drop in COVID-19 infections

A study by the Iceland-based Association for Sustainability and Democracy (ALDA) and the British policy think-tank Autonomy concluded that Iceland's four-day workweek model has been a great success. The study was conducted in two phases, between 2015 and 2019, with 2,500 workers, about 1% of the working-age population in Iceland. In this program, participants were allowed to work four days/week without salary deduction. According to the research team, work productivity and service quality at the pilot workplaces remained the same or even improved somewhat compared to the six-day/week workplaces. In addition, workers' lives significantly improved in all respects, from feeling less stressed and exhausted, to better conditions of physical and mental health when they could balance work and rest. The results show that the idea of working less time but still ensuring efficiency can be realized, and it is being widely tested globally. Optimistic tests Iceland's 4-day … [Read more...] about New trend: working four days a week

TPBank was one of the many banks to have posted healthy profit in the first three quarters despite COVID-19 Accordingly, in the first nine months of 2021 Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) counted VND5.055 trillion ($219.8 million) in profit, reaching 82.5 per cent of its 2021 target of VND6.128 trillion ($266.43 million). With this, SHB reported return-on-asset (ROA) and return-on-equity (ROE) ratios of 1.5 and 25.6 per cent, respectively, following constant quarterly improvements. During the same period, National Citizen Bank (NCB) saw a 45 per cent jump in net profit from business activities, reaching VND531 billion ($23.1 million). As a result, the bank reaped more than VND206 billion ($8.96 million) in pre-tax profit, 7.2 times as much as last year. This year, NCB aims to reach around VND1 trillion ($43.5 million) in net profit. However, during the period, the bank has put nearly VND146 billion ($6.35 million) into its provisioning fund, a sharp jump compared … [Read more...] about Banks report healthy three-quarter profit picture