Farm produce

“In Her Voice” webinar aims at raising the call among men on providing women filmmakers’ specific needs to create networks and opportunities for them. Difficulties of female filmmakers in their journey to international film festivals and access to cinema support funds were high on the agenda of a webinar entitled “In Her Voice” held in Hanoi on Oct 19. The renowned Vietnamese couple of directors Thanh Van and Nhue Giang. Photo courtesy of UNESCO Office in Vietnam The webinar, attended by Vietnamese and international speakers, was jointly organized the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Embassy of Canada to Vietnam, and the Embassy of Switzerland in Vietnam on the occasion of the Vietnamese Women’s Day, which falls on Oct 20. It is part of the “E-MOTIONS” project - Mobilizing film professionals for regional cooperation- conducted by UNESCO and its partners, with the support from the Japanese Funds-in-Trusts. It … [Read more...] about Women filmmakers struggle to overcome gender prejudice

At a meeting about the Law on Cinema last week, Nguyen Quang Dong - director of the Institute for Policy Studies and Media Development, proposed to let the private sector participate in movie classification. According to him, with the current law, the classification process means to license each film, which is not feasible since the number of movies on the Internet is too large. The regulation creates a huge amount of work for authorities, and at the same time limits the development of online movies. If a movie was released overseas and cinema authorities have not watched and censored it yet, local businesses will be slow in releasing it to make revenues, while audiences may watch pirated movies. Dong said: "There is a similar model called the notary service. In the past, only state-owned agencies could notarize documents. But after that, private notary services were allowed and are now effective." He proposed to empower organizations and associations working in the field of … [Read more...] about Private sector should take charge of classifying online films: experts

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Tuesday launched Climate-Smart Maps and Adaptation Plans (CS-MAP). Photo courtesy of the ministry HÀ NỘI — To help farmers manage climate-related risks such as flooding, drought and saline intrusion, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development launched the Climate-Smart Maps and Adaption Plans (CS-MAP) on Tuesday. CS-MAP integrates local knowledge and science-based research to provide location-specific risk maps and adaptation plans for rice production. The project currently covers five ecological regions of Việt Nam and was developed by the Ministry’s Crops Production Department and CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security in Southeast Asia (CCAFS SEA). A conference for the launch of CS-MAPS was held in Hà Nội on Tuesday, organised by the Department of Crop Production (DCP) of CCAFS SEA. The socio-economic impact of the project at both a national and international level were discussed, as … [Read more...] about Climate-Smart Maps and Adaptation Plans (CS-MAP) launched

Major Nguyễn Trung Kiên (first, right) with Châu in a quarantined area in Tân Phú Ward, Thủ Đức City. Photo qdnd.vn HÀ NỘI — Major Nguyễn Trung Kiên, a military officer of Thủ Đức City’s Military Command, has adopted three children orphaned by COVID-19 in HCM City. Kiên said he felt extreme sorrow when the four-year-old girl welcomed him as he brought the ashes of her mother, who died of COVID-19, to the woman’s rented room in the city’s Tân Phú Ward on August 8. The four-year-old girl, named Phạm Thị Bảo Châu, was the only known relative of the woman, Kiên said. “I was very surprised and sadden that she was the only relative of the woman at that time,” Kiên said. “When I saw her naively touch her mother’s ash box, as a father of two children, it was a heartbreaking moment," he added. Kiên said he found Châu living alone in the rented room. Neighbours, who were also infected with COVID-19 and were self-monitoring at home, took care of Châu when her mother was being treated … [Read more...] about Soldier adopts three children orphaned by COVID-19

Tran Thi Ly in the northern province of Tuyen Quang has just had to cull nearly 150 pigs after they were found infected with African Swine Fever (ASF). She lost over VND400 million (USD 17,391). Taking samples from pigs for ASF testing Ly said that she has raised pigs for many years and had lots of experience but it proved helpless when it came to ASF. According to deputy head of the Tuyen Quang Provincial Department of Animal Health, Nguyen Dang Khoa, ASF outbreaks have hit many local farmers hard with some 4,000 infected pigs being culled recently. "After facing losses due to sharply falling pig prices, now farmers are being dealt another blow with ASF returning," he said. A report from head of the Vietnam Animal Health Department, Nguyen Van Dong, said that by October this year, as many as 1,834 ASF outbreaks had been detected in 53 out of 63 localities nationwide. The number of culled infected pigs reached 112,092 or 5,500 tonnes which doubled the … [Read more...] about Pig farmers face tough time as African Swine Fever returns

Vietnam has been among the world’s top three rice exporters, together with Thailand and India, for years, the MARD said in a report sent to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on October 19. According to the MARD, Vietnam Rice has become a Generic Trademark in 19 countries, including Indonesia, Russia and 17 member states of the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI). It has also been registered as a Certification Trademark in three countries, namely China, Brunei and Norway. The MARD holds the ownership of the trademark in these countries. It is important to heighten awareness of Vietnamese rice products among exporters, importers, distributors and consumers both at home and overseas, the ministry said. Protection of the trademark also lays a basis for Vietnamese rice to expand its market and increase added value and competitiveness globally, as well as preventing the faking of Vietnamese origin. Vietnam must also urgently grant the right to use the trademark to Vietnamese … [Read more...] about Trademark Vietnam Rice protected in 22 foreign countries: MARD