Cultural event

Themed ‘Sa Dec – Streets and Flowers’, the event features assorted activities to introduce visitors to the land, culture, cuisine and people of Dong Thap along with other Mekong river delta provinces in general.

An exhibition is being held to showcase tourist products, souvenirs, products selected from the local ‘One Commune – One Product’ programme in Sa Dec City and Dong Thap Province.

Visitors to the event can participate in exciting competitions on flower arrangement, fence decoration, and cake making, as well as colourful street art performances.

A seminar on reviewing the cooperation outcomes in boosting tourism link between Ho Chi Minh City and 13 cities and provinces in the Mekong River Delta region, and a conference on introducing new tourist products are also scheduled under the framework of the week.

According to Chairman of Dong Thap Provincial People’s Committee Doan Tan Buu, the event is expected to seek cooperation with tourism businesses and travel agencies in developing new tours for visitors to the locality.

More and more Vietnamese people are keen to practise Yoga (Photo:cand)

The 6th International Day of Yoga is celebrated by the Embassy under the theme “Yoga from Home”. Accordingly, the Embassy has been promoting yoga through online mode. In run up to the event, Swami Vivekanand Cultural Centre has been organizing online yoga related activities, including webinars on “yoga asanas” and “Ayurveda and best daily lifestyle practices”.

The video blogging contest ‘My Life My Yoga’ has also been launched. Participants from Vietnam performing yoga asanas from their respective places are required to upload their videos on the Embassy’s social media platforms.

The three best videos will receive attractive prizes given by the Embassy. These videos will also be considered for the global contest to be organized by the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy. The last date to send the entries is now extended up to June 21.

The Yoga event scheduled for June 21 at Quang Ninh’s UNESCO-recognised Ha Long Bay will be live streamed on the Embassy’s social media platforms to virtually encourage thousands of yoga enthusiasts to join the celebrations remotely.

For more information on the livestreaming, kindly visit the Embassy website – http://indembassyhanoi.gov.in – and its Facebook pages – www.facebook.com/IndiaInVietnam and Swami Vivekanand Culture Centre – https://www.facebook.com/IndianCultureInVietnam/.

The United Nations General Assembly declared June 21 as International Day of Yoga (IDY) in 2014. The declaration came after the call for the adoption of June 21 as International Day of Yoga by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address to UN General Assembly on September 27, 2014. VOV

The festival has been organised annually to mark the Liberation of South Vietnam and National Reunification Day.

This year’s event will include an incense offering to heroes and fallen soldiers on April 29, a flag-raising ceremony and a boat race on the Ben Hai river on April 30.

The festival will be followed with the launch of a sea tourism programme themed ‘Call of the Sea’ at Cua Viet tourist site.

Taking place from April 30 to May 5, the programme will feature art performances, a conference on Quang Tri province’s tourism development, a farm trip to cultural and historical sites in the province, booths showcasing local signature dishes, and a cooking contest.

Many exciting sporting events and folk games will also be held during the programme, such as a beach volleyball tournament, a stick pushing contest, and tug of war.

* The Kremlin said on Wednesday that a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden would be contingent on US behaviour after reportedly telling Washington to scrap a plan to impose new sanctions on Russia.

* Inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog visited Iran’s uranium enrichment site at Natanz on Wednesday, the agency said, without commenting on the extent of the damage caused by what Iran says was an act of sabotage.

* French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire reaffirmed the French economy should grow by 5% in 2021, and told BFM TV that financial aid measures should remain until the end of the pandemic.

* Vice President Kamala Harris said on Wednesday she is planning to visit Mexico and Guatemala soon and that the United States must figure out how to bring about economic development in the Northern Triangle countries to curb immigration.

* Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Wednesday he would step down from his post in the last ten days of April to clear the way for early parliamentary elections, the Interfax news agency reported.

* Haiti’s Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe announced his resignation on Wednesday amid worsening gang violence and political turmoil in the poorest country in the Americas.

* India’s new infections hit a record level on Wednesday with Mumbai set to be locked down at midnight, but hundreds of thousands of pilgrims still thronged to a religious festival in the north of the country.

* The euro zone economy is still standing on the “two crutches” of monetary and fiscal stimulus and these cannot be taken away until there is a full recovery, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday.

* The suspension of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine could delay efforts to inoculate most people in the European Union by more than two months, scientific information and analytics company Airfinity said.

* Global stock markets pushed to record highs on Wednesday as bond yields eased, after data showed US inflation was not rising too fast as the economy re-opens.

* Thailand reported 1,335 new cases, the biggest daily rise since the start of the pandemic and the third record rise this week.

* Denmark became the first country to stop using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine altogether, following news of its possible link to very rare blood clot cases, while Finland extended the pause in use of the vaccine for people under 65.

* Spain is confident it can maintain its current vaccination targets despite a US suspension of the Johnson & Johnson shot and delays to its European rollout.

* US federal health agencies have recommended pausing use of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine for at least a few days after six women under age 50 developed rare blood clots after receiving the shot.

* Brazil’s Senate on Tuesday launched an inquiry into President Jair Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic.

* With two vaccines now under scrutiny for possible links to very rare cases of blood clots in the brain, US government scientists are focusing on whether the specific technology behind the shots may be contributing to the risk.

* Irish unemployment will remain above pre-pandemic levels until at least 2025, reflecting some scarring from the crisis that will see national debt peak among the highest levels in the developed world.

* Hungary will allow restaurant terraces to re-open once 3.5 million people, about a third of the population, are inoculated against COVID-19, a target expected to be hit sometime next Wednesday or Thursday, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.

* The Swiss government announced further easing of its COVID-19 restrictions on Wednesday, allowing restaurants to reopen outdoor terraces from next week and sports events to take place with audiences.

* South Africa has agreed to onerous conditions like non-refundable downpayments to secure vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer, its health minister said, describing the terms vaccine manufacturers had demanded as “difficult and sometimes unreasonable”.

* The first study to directly compare immune reactions between Pfizer’s and AstraZeneca’s vaccines found strong and broadly similar antibody responses in over 80-year-olds after a first dose of either shot, scientists said.

The Hung Kings are commemorated each year on the 10th day of the third lunar month, which falls on April 21 this year, as an occasion for the nation to express gratitude to the ancestors.

As directed, the Phu Tho Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will be in charge of completing the overall plan and guiding communications work.

The management board of the Hung Kings Temple relic site in Viet Tri city – the venue of the event – will build the contents for related ritual ceremonies. It will also join the provincial Health Department in disinfecting the site before and during the festival and in conducting communications campaigns to raise public awareness on pandemic prevention.

In addition to ritual ceremonies, a few folk cultural activities, including a bonze drum beating event and banh chung (square, glutinous rice cake) and banh giay (round, glutinous rice cake) making contest, will be held at the upcoming festival due to COVID-19.

Among the traditional rites, incense and flower offering ceremonies are scheduled to take place on April 17 and 21 (the 6th and 10th days of the third lunar month).

Normally including myriad festive activities, the festival was cancelled last year due to the pandemic. It welcomed over 7 million visitors in 2019.

Legend has it that the eldest son of Lac Long Quan (son of Kinh Duong Vuong) and Au Co (the fairy daughter of De Lai) was made king. He named the country Van Lang and set up the capital in Phong Chau (modern-day Viet Tri city), beginning 18 dynasties of the Hung Kings.

The kings chose Nghia Linh Mountain, the highest in the region, to perform rituals devoted to the rice and sun deities to pray for healthy crops.

To honour their substantial contributions, a complex of temples dedicated to the kings was built on Nghia Linh Mountain, and the tenth day of the third lunar month serves as the national commemorative anniversary for the kings.

The worshipping rituals of the Hung Kings was recognised as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2012.