Hoang sa

General Staff delegation visits Truong Sa and DK1 platforms

April 15, 2021 by en.qdnd.vn

During the visit on April 13, the mission checked the task performance of military units stationed in the district and on the platforms.

Over the past time, these units have strictly embraced and carried out higher levels’ resolutions and directives while their troops have always been determined to complete all assigned missions.

The units’ chains of command have thoroughly grasped combat plans and effectively dealt with situations in the air and at sea so as to firmly defend national sovereignty over seas and islands.

On this occasion, General Thang applauded the troops for their efforts to overcome difficulties, stay united with each other, demonstrate high resolve in safeguarding national maritime sovereignty.

General Thang also spoke highly of the units’ creative and effective methods to complete their missions. He pointed out their shortcomings that should be fixed soon, and directed them to make thorough preparations for the election of deputies to the 15th National Assembly, and all-level People’s Councils in the 2021-2026 tenure in line with regulations.

On the occasion, the delegation offered incense and flowers in commemoration of Uncle Ho at the temple dedicated to him in Truong Sa town and other fallen troops in the district and presented gifts to islanders as well.

Translated by Mai Huong

Hanoi sparkles with nocturnal serenity

April 14, 2021 by e.vnexpress.net

Thanh Nien Street, located between West Lake and Truc Bach Lake , is brightly lit at dusk.

The street is renowned for its beauty, with the blackboard trees that line it providing ample shade and its ancient temples adding a sense of spiritual tranquility.

Tran Quoc Pagoda is seen at 7 p.m.

Located on a small peninsula on the east side of West Lake, Tran Quoc Pagoda, at nearly 1,500 years, is known as the oldest pagoda in the capital.

Adding to the architectural beauty and historical significance of the pagoda is a Bodhi tree said to be the “offspring” of the original tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment in India.

Long Bien Bridge, a symbolic Red River crossing, was designed and built by French firm Daydé-Pillié in September 1898. It opened to traffic in 1902, running more than 1,691 meters, with a rail track in the middle and road transportation on either side.

During the Vietnam War (1955-1975), the bridge had some of its parts damaged and even destroyed by enemy bombing. The Vietnamese government fixed the damage, building the spans still in use today.

Octagon House, built in 1901, used to host the French army’s trumpet shows. The structure lies inside the Ly Thai To flower garden area, encompassing the streets of Dinh Tien Hoang, Le Lai, Le Thach and Ngo Quyen.

Turtle Tower, an iconic symbol of Hanoi in the middle of Hoan Kiem (Sword) Lake, shines at night.

Hoan Kiem Lake, which spreads across 12 hectares (30 acres), is named for the legend of a golden turtle god showing up at the lake to take back a sword it had given King Le Loi in the 15th century to help fight Chinese invaders.

Hanoi’s St. Joseph Cathedral is located at 40 Nha Chung Street. Built between 1884 and 1888, it has been a place of worship for Catholics in the capital for more than a century.

The Chuong Duong Bridge interchange at night.

Connecting Hoan Kiem District and Long Bien District, Chuong Duong Bridge is 1,230 meters long with four two-way traffic lanes.

Built from 1983 to 1986, the bridge was the first in Vietnam designed and built without foreign technical assistance.

Hanoi Museum, part of Vietnam National Convention Center, is located on Pham Hung Street in Nam Tu Liem District. The building was completed in 2010 with an inverted pyramid design.

A view of Landmark 72 and other high-rise buildings amid the foggy cityscape.

Landmark 72 on Pham Hung Street is the country’s second highest building, after Landmark 81 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Nhat Tan Bridge, also known as Vietnam – Japan Friendship Bridge, was inaugurated in January 2015. It runs a length of 8.9 kilometers (5.5 miles) across Red River and has five spans representing the capital’s five ancient gates.

Photos by Nghiem Dinh Chinh

Leftovers: In Vietnam’s Hue, yesterday’s rice is today’s hot menu item

April 14, 2021 by vietnamlife.tuoitrenews.vn

Nowhere else in Vietnam serves up leftovers like Hue – the country’s ancient capital – where yesterday’s rice is the hottest item on the menu.

In Hue’s city center, where tourists abound, bun bo Hue – a beef and vermicelli soup famous in the ancient capital – may be the most popular dish at local street stalls.

But walk just a few minutes from the city’s famous and attractions and visitors will find themselves immersed in a culinary world centered around a rather peculiar ingredient: leftover rice, known in Vietnamese as com nguoi .

For day laborers, the leftover rice served with bun bo Hue is integral, giving them the extra energy they need to work from dawn till noon.

Arguably, Hue is a city which runs on yesterday’s rice.

An unknown version of bun bo Hue

Hue’s Gia Hoi Islet is a hotbed of bun bo stalls, with the area surrounding Bach Dang, Chi Lang, To Hien Thanh, Nguyen Du, and Chua Ong Streets doubling as the epicenter of the city’s traditional cooking styles.

The close observer will notice that most of the bun bo stalls there have a lunchbox sitting near the service area.

Inside the lunchbox is the stall owner’s leftover rice, an ingredient that many locals agree is necessary in order to enjoy bun bo in true Hue fashion.

Cultural researcher Tran Dinh Son said serving leftover rice with bun bo dates back to the 1950s and 1960s when vendors, after running out of fresh vermicelli, would wander around the city selling their leftover ingredients – chopped pig’s feet, cooked beef, pig blood curd, and meatballs – to those who would have them with leftover rice.

A bowl of bun bo broth and rice in Hue. Photo: Thai Loc / Tuoi Tre

Strange servings

Com va or ‘slurping rice’ is another traditional dish in Hue which has not yet made it on tourists’ radar screen.

This dish consists of large strings of vermicelli, julienned pork ham, banana flowers, herbs, and a spoonful of chicken broth.

Long ago, the people of Hue enjoyed leftover rice in a variety of ways, including by munching on it with shrimp paste and fresh chili, or topping it with fat, shrimp sauce, and hot pepper flakes.

Hue’s famous mam tom chua or sour fermented shrimp paste is made using cooked glutinous rice which adds a sweet taste and thickens the dish.

According to many mam tom chua enthusiasts, the dish must be prepared with leftover rice rather than glutinous rice in order to embody the true Hue spirit.

Worker’s food for royalty

It would not be right to talk about leftover rice without mentioning com hen or baby mussel rice.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Nga, the owner of an eatery at 17 Han Mac Tu, Hue City, says she cooks rice early in the morning and waits for it to cool down before making baby mussel rice. Photo: Thai Loc / Tuoi Tre

Hoang Tung De – a cousin of Vietnam’s last emperor Bao Dai – loved eating at street stalls outside of the citadel despite knowing it might ruin his royal status, according to cultural researcher Son.

When Bao Dai was asked about it, the emperor said he “would like to do the same thing but could not.”

There is no official record of whether com hen was served to royals, yet many former servants said the emperor often asked to have vendors cook the dish at the palace.

Leftover rice accounts for much of the food in com hen so it would have been carried along with the vendors in order to serve the royalty.

Later, when Emperor Bao Dai built his palace in Central Highlands city of Da Lat, to cook his favorite dish of com hen , servants released baby mussel breeds in several springs nearby.

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Hanoi public hospital’s executives arrested for price gouging of medical equipment

September 26, 2020 by tuoitrenews.vn

The Ministry of Public Security on Friday arrested and started legal proceedings against Nguyen Quoc Anh, former director of Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, and two of his subordinates at the infirmary for “abuse of position and authority” in the alleged price gouging of medical equipment.

The two subordinates are Nguyen Ngoc Hien, former vice director of Bach Mai Hospital, and Trinh Thi Thuan, former chief accountant at the infirmary.

Officers also inspected Anh and Hien’s residence on Friday evening.

While the two men were in office, Bach Mai Hospital purchased a robotic system from BMS Medical Technology Joint Stock Company.

The arrested inflated the purchase price of the system to VND39 billion (US$1.7 million) from its market price of VND7.4 billion ($319,000).

Consequently, patients had to pay VND23 million ($990) per instance of the machine’s use while the rate should have been VND4 million ($172) only.

It is estimated that the arrested appropriated VND10 billion ($430,800) from patients via more than 500 cases of the system’s use from 2017 to 2019.

Previously, the Ministry of Public Security also arrested and began legal proceedings against Pham Duc Tuan, chairman and director of BMS, Ngo Thi Thu Huyen, BMS deputy director, and Tran Le Hoang, an appraiser of VFS JSC — which had been hired by Bach Mai Hospital to appraise the robotic system, for their involvement in the case with the charge of “fraud and appropriation of property.”

Hoang is now under home arrest.

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SBV continues tightening control over property loans due to credit growth

April 14, 2021 by english.thesaigontimes.vn

SBV continues tightening control over property loans due to credit growth

The Saigon Times

An overall view of an online conference on credit on April 14. SBV pledged to continue to tighten control over property loans due to credit growth – PHOTO: VNA

HCMC – The central State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has pledged to tighten control over credit for some risky sectors, including property, it was announced at a teleconference on credit activities held by the central bank on April 14.

As of March, credit had grown by 2.93% against the end of 2020 and by 1.3% year-on-year. The demand for credit is expected to rise in the coming months, said Nguyen Tuan Anh, head of the Department of Credit Policies for Economic Sectors at SBV.

Between January and February, credit for the agro-forestry-fishery sector and the industry and construction sector amounted to VND777 trillion, up 0.16%, year-on-year, and VND2,615 trillion, up 1.13%, respectively.

As for risky sectors, as of February, loans for the real estate sector had reached 1,835 trillion, up 2.13% against 2020, while credit for the securities business dropped by 6.9%.

Apart from the tight control over credit for risky sectors, including property, securities and Build-Transfer transport projects, the central bank also continued to enhance the credit risk management of consumer loans and lending for personal needs to ensure the safety of banking operations, Anh said.

As of March 15, real estate outstanding loans growth at 2.13% was higher than the banking sector’s credit growth rate, so the central bank has monitored and issued warnings to credit institutions.

Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the central bank’s HCMC branch, said that since the beginning of 2021, credit for the property sector in HCMC had risen by 2%, with outstanding loans amounting to VND350 trillion, some 13.5% of the total outstanding loans.

Capital flows into the risky sector were controlled, the local media reported, citing Minh.

To enhance control over the risky sectors, risk management of BOT and BT transport projects and consumption, the central bank has adopted certain regulations, including applying the risk coefficient imposed on the real estate sector at 200% and on the securities business at 150% and revising up the risk coefficient on consumer loans worth VND4 billion or more.

HCM City ceremony marks traditional New Year of neighbouring countries

April 14, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn

Participants in the ceremony bathe the Buddha statue, a ritual of the traditional New Year festival of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – A ceremony was held at Pho Minh Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City on April 14 to celebrate the traditional New Year of Cambodia , Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.

Organised by the HCM City Union of Friendship Organisations (HUFO) and the city’s committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS), the ceremony saw the presence of representatives from the consulates-general of the four countries in HCM City, the municipal Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, the municipal Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, and the countries’ entrepreneurs and students.

The traditional New Year festival is known as Chol Chnam Thmay in Cambodia, Bunpimay in Laos, Thingyan in Myanmar , and Songkran in Thailand.

Addressing the celebrations, HUFO Vice Chairwoman Tran Hoang Khanh Van said the ceremony aims to further promote mutual understanding, cultural exchange, and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam, including HCM City, and the four neighbouring countries.

She noted that Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand are ASEAN members and have cooperated and assisted one another over many years. Their peoples have stood side-by-side in fighting for national independence, developing their countries, and building an ASEAN Community of peace, stability, cooperation, and prosperous development.

HCM City ceremony marks traditional New Year of neighbouring countries hinh anh 2

Most Venerable Thich Thien Tam addresses the ceremony held at Pho Minh Pagoda on April 14 (Photo: VNA)

Most Venerable Thich Thien Tam, Vice President of the Executive Council of the Central VBS Committee and deputy head of the HCM City VBS Committee’s executive board, said the traditional New Year of Cambodia, Laos , Myanmar, and Thailand reflects the similarities in culture and religious practices among the countries, adding that it is helpful in strengthening the five nations’ solidarity in their development efforts and in ASEAN Community building.

Echoing that view, Ratiwan Bonprakhong, Chief Representative of the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s HCM City Office, held that the ceremony helps bring the five countries’ people closer together and also demonstrates their solidarity and unity./.

VNA