Nguyen tan hieu

Military and public security units receive recruits

February 28, 2021 by en.qdnd.vn

Secretary of the Hanoi Municipal Party Committee Vuong Dinh Hue attended the handover ceremony in Dong Anh district and presented gifts to units that youths will serve in. This year, 239 youths in Dong Anh district will serve in military and public security forces. 19.2% of them hold university and college degrees while 57% of them graduated from high school. Attentively, 52% of the recruits volunteered to do the military service.

* Directing the ceremony in Thanh Hoa city to hand over more than 3,500 youths from 27 localities in Thanh Hoa province to units under the Ministries of National Defense and Public Security, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong, Deputy Defense Minister asked units to promptly receive the young recruits, arrange accommodations for them, and start military training programs. Among the recruits, nearly 1,000 youths come from ethnic minority groups.

* Deputy Defense Minister Senior Lieutenant General Le Huy Vinh attended a recruit handover ceremony in Da Nang city and encouraged youths to complete their military service. 18.3% of over 1,000 youths doing military services in this coastal city are university and college degree holders and 1.7% of them are local workers.

* Deputy Defense Minister Vice Admiral Pham Hoai Nam directed the handover ceremony in Hoai Nhon district, Binh Dinh province. This year, more than 2,300 youths from the province joined the military.

* Sr. Lt. Gen. Tran Quang Phuong, Deputy Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People’s Army, attended a ceremony in Duc Pho town, Quang Ngai province to hand over 2,450 youths to military units and 190 youths to public security units. 0.39% of the recruits are Party members.

* The recruit handover ceremony in Song Cong city, Thai Nguyen province, saw the presence of Lt. Gen. Nguyen Van Nghia, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army, and Lt. Gen. Nguyen Hong Thai, Commander of Military Region 1. This year, 1,800 youths in Thai Nguyen province are doing military service. The number of university and college graduates has increased by 1.3% against last year.

* Lt. Gen. Nguyen Trong Binh, Deputy Chief of the General Staff attended a ceremony in Hue city to hand over youths from Thua Thien-Hue province to military units.

* This year, 2,700 youths in Bac Giang province will serve in military units. Over 500 youths volunteered to do military service, and nearly 20% of the recruits are ethnic minority people. At the handover ceremony, local authorities presented gifts to the recruits.

* Among youths doing military service in Quang Binh province this year, two are female. Attentively, 65.05% of the recruits meet high school education and higher levels.

* The political awareness, health conditions, and knowledge of the 2,000 plus recruits in Khanh Hoa province this year are higher than those in previous years. Four are Party members.

* All 997 youths in Dak Nong province serving in military and public security units this year are Party members and youth union members.

* 628 of 2,578 youths in Gia Lai province doing military service this year volunteered to serve in military and public security units. 21 were admitted to the Party.

* In Dak Lak province, among 2,842 youths serving in military and public security units this year, two are female, 159 are graduates of universities and colleges, six are State officials and civil servants, and eight are Party members.

Translated by Mai Huong

Millionaire story of a “buffalo boy”

February 28, 2021 by vietnamnet.vn

A man from the southwestern region of Vietnam started his business with a female buffalo that was then extended to hundreds of buffaloes, earning him annual revenue of over a billion VND.

Though busy during the last days of the lunar year, Mr. Nguyen Hong Ngu, a resident of Long My district in Hau Giang province, spent time to tell us his “destiny”: becoming wealthy from buffaloes.

Resting on a meadow, he shared his childhood memory about buffaloes. When he grew up, he chose the buffalo to start his business.

“Twenty-seven years ago, Luong Nghia land was so heavily contaminated with alum that there was only one crop per annum. Only about 600 kilograms of grain per labor per crop were harvested. What frustrated me was thzt no buffalo was available for the crops.

Back then, I had just got married. I decided to take the money and gold received from the wedding to purchase a female buffalo for VND5 million. I just thought of using the buffalo for our own crop, not yet getting rich from it,” said Ngu.

The buffalo was not only used for his own farm. It was rented by his neighbors too. At the end of the harvest, Ngu bought nearly one tael of gold. A couple months later, the buffalo got pregnant. Ngu started to develop her breed. “So far, I have had a herd of hundreds of buffaloes. The first buffalo was dead after delivering 16 calves.”

His buffaloes are raised in different southern provinces, namely Hau Giang, An Giang, Dong Thap, etc. for trade convenience. Every day, the buffaloes are out in the grass field and soak in the water for about an hour. Then, they return to the stables for the lawn. “Cutting lawns is a hard job but does not cost much money as food does for pigs, chicken, and ducks,” said Ngu.

Ngu uses 20 acres of land for grass for the buffaloes. When there is no grass on the meadow, he has to buy rice roots from newly harvested fields. During these times, the buffaloes are well fed and chubby.

VND3 billion house from buffalo sale

Ngu bought cheap thin and weak buffaloes to nurture them. He sells them when they are healthy and meaty. Annually, he sells 500 buffaloes for meat, bringing him a profit of over VND500 million (nearly $25,000). He also sells the calves of 40 female buffaloes, earning about VND600 million.

Other strong and healthy male buffaloes are rented out for crops. “At the year end, those male buffaloes return to me. They don’t cost my energy or time but bring income.” Totally, he earns more than a billion per annum.

From his childhood experience, Ngu knows what buffaloes like and how to take care of them. Understanding them well, he can sell them at a better price than other people. “The good and healthy buffalo has small hips and big buttocks. Buffaloes are gentle when meeting humans,” said Ngu.

Nowadays, Ngu owns such a huge number of buffaloes that whenever tens of buffaloes are caught in the West, they probably belong to him. Whenever there is a good meadow, there are Ngu’s buffaloes. They are a great asset. Thanks to the business, he owns 200 acres of land.

The cost of a female buffalo is about VND50 million. A young female buffalo costs VND30-VND40 million. “I sold 110 young female buffaloes for over VND3 billion to build a house. My family has a better life from the buffalo business. Whenever I hear about land opportunity, I sell some buffaloes for land,” said Ngu.

Chuyện làm giàu của tỷ phú trâu ở miền Tây ai nghe cũng mê

Mr. Ngu and his buffaloes.

Thien Chi

Third wave of coronavirus in Vietnam likely to end by late March

February 28, 2021 by dtinews.vn

The latest wave of COVID-19 infections in Vietnam is likely to come to an end in late March, according to Professor and Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Delegation of National Assembly Deputies, Nguyen Thien Nhan.

Professor Nhan has written an article giving his assessment on the third wave of coronavirus in Vietnam. Nhan Dan Online introduces the full-text of the article as follows.

On January 27, the third wave of COVID-19 infections in Vietnam began, when two cases of community infection were found in the two northern neighbouring provinces of Hai Duong and Quang Ninh. On January 28, there were 91 more cases of community infection, and a day later, 61 more were found. Subsequently, local infections spread to 11 other provinces and cities and on February 17, the total number of COVID-19 infections being treated in hospitals was 710. After February 17, the number of infected cases began to decrease gradually, although it saw some fluctuation. Because the level of infection in Vietnam is very low globally speaking and from its experience in responding to the second wave of infections in Vietnam (from July 27 to September 23, 2020), when the number of patients treated in hospitals reached its peak, the infection trend will gradually decrease and this wave of the coronavirus will end in about 60 days. However, in order to predict the development of the third infection wave in Vietnam, it is necessary to analyse the evolution of COVID-19 in the provinces and cities with the largest number of community infection in Hai Duong, Quang Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

1. COVID-19 evolution in Hai Duong

The development of the COVID-19 infections in Hai Duong, relative to the number of infected cases being treated in hospitals, reflects two trends. One is infection in the community. As infections increase, the number of patients going to hospitals will increase as well as the number of people being treated, and vice versa. Second is the effectiveness of the treatment of infected cases in hospitals. If the treatment is highly effective, the number of patients discharged will be high, thus reducing the number of remaining individuals undergoing treatment. The risk of infection to the community will decrease and vice versa.

With a population of 1.9 million, Hai Duong’s safety threshold is 19 COVID-19 patients being treated in hospitals (equivalent to 10 infected per 1 million people). On the first day of the new outbreak, only five in Hai Duong were being treated, but by the second day, 77 more were being treated in hospitals, 8.5 times higher than the epidemic safety threshold. That means the level of community infection in Hai Duong on January 28 was far too high.

By February 18, the total number of infected cases being treated was 497, equal to 26 times the safe level and meaning the epidemic had peaked. After that, the number of patients tended to decrease. In the coming days, there may be new cases of infections in the community in Hai Duong. However, if Hai Duong drastically implements measures that help decrease the number of patients on a downward trend as at its current level, combined with adjustments until the number of patients being treated are at a lower level than the safety threshold (19 patients), it can be predicted that the COVID-19 outbreak in Hai Duong will end at the end of March.

Within 23 days, from January 27 to February 18 (the epidemic peak), the average increase of patients treated was 21.4 a day. In Da Nang, the epicentre of Vietnam’s second wave of COVID-19 infection last year, the average rate of increase was 14.6 per day. However, from these two figures, it is nonsense to conclude that the outbreak in Hai Duong is spreading more rapidly, 1.5 times faster (21.4 compared to 14.6) than Da Nang. The population of Hai Duong and Da Nang are different, so it is impossible to compare the average rate of increase in the number of COVID-19 patients being treated in the two localities.

To compare the rate of COVID-19 infection in two countries or two localities, it is necessary to refer to the infection rate per 1 million people. If taking the number of infections being treated in the US with a population of 331 million on December 27, 2020 at 7.68 million, compared with the figure in Belgium with a population of 11.5 million at 575,408, it is incorrect to say that the US has a higher rate of COVID-19 infection than Belgium. Per 1 million people, the US has 23,208 COVID-19 patients currently being treated, and the figure for Belgium is 49,778. That is, the intensity of the epidemic in Belgium is twice as high as that of the US.

Hai Duong’s population is 1.9 million, and per 1 million people, the average increase in the number of COVID-19 patients receiving treatment, from the start of the third wave to the time the epidemic reached its peaks, was 11.26 per day per 1 million people (21.4 infections per day from a total of 1.9 million people), that is, out of 1 million people in Hai Duong, on average there was 11.26 additional infections each day. Da Nang’s population is 1.14 million, so the average increase in the of COVID-19 patients receiving treatment was 12.8/day/1 million people (14.6/day/1.14 million) during the second wave, higher than Hai Duong (11.26/day/1 million people) in this third wave. If one does not include the number of recovered cases during the outbreak, the average infection per 1 million people per day in Hai Duong was 13.4 new cases, while in Da Nang it was 14.8 new cases a day. That means the rate of epidemic spread in Da Nang was higher than in Hai Duong.

2. Evolution of COVID-19 in Quang Ninh

On January 27, Quang Ninh had only one new case of community infection, but a day later, 12 more were confirmed, higher than the safety threshold of 11. That is, after only two days since the new outbreak began in the community, Quang Ninh was already considered an epidemic hotspot. On February 11, the epidemic reached its peak with 59 infected people being treated, 5.17 times higher than the safety level (compared to Hai Duong, the epidemic prevalence rate was much lower, because the number of people being treated in Hai Duong at the time of the new pandemic wave’s peak was at 497 people, 26 times more than the safety threshold). After February 11, the number of patients being treated in Quang Ninh tended to decrease gradually. If Quang Ninh continues to maintain its prevention measures, with adjustments as needed, until the number of patients being treated is lower than the epidemic safety threshold (11 patients receiving treatment), the outbreak in Quang Ninh should end in early March.

3. Infection evolution in Ho Chi Minh City

With a population of more than 9 million, Ho Chi Minh City’s pandemic safety threshold is 90 COVID-19 patients being treated in hospitals. According to statistics, this number increased sharply after February 7, when infections were discovered among the cargo handling staff at Tan Son Nhat Airport. However, the number of patients being treated never exceeded 50 and the outbreak peaked on February 13 with 48 patients being treated. That means, Ho Chi Minh City had no serious outbreak announced. The rate of patients receiving treatment per 1 million people when the outbreak reached its peak was 5.33, equal to 2% of Hai Duong’s level at the peak (261 patients per 1 million people). 12 days have passed (since February 11) and Ho Chi Minh City has not recorded any new cases of community infection. It is forecast that in the last week of February there will be more recovered patients discharged and by the end of February, the number of patients being treated will be at the same level as prior to February 7 (no more than 15).

4. Evolution of COVID-19 infection in Hanoi

Because of its position near Hai Duong, two days after the first infections detected in Hai Duong (January 27), Hanoi also recorded its first community infections and new cases increased gradually, peaking on February 15 with 36 patients undergoing treatment. Hanoi’s epidemic safety threshold is 80 COVID-19 patients, so there was no widespread transmission in the capital city. The percentage of patients being treated per 1 million people in Hanoi at this time is 4.5, lower than in Ho Chi Minh City (5.33) and equal to 1.7% of Hai Duong when the outbreak reached its peak (261 per 1 million people). It is forecast that in early March, the number of infections being treated in Hanoi will decrease to the level prior to January 29 (no more than 10 patients).

5. General assessment

Firstly, the third wave of COVID-19 infections in Vietnam originated from two localities with community infections, Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, discovered on January 27, then spread to 11 other provinces and cities. As of February 23, 811 cases of infection had been detected, of which 627 were in Hai Duong (accounting for 77.3% of the total), 61 in Quang Ninh (7.5%), 36 in Ho Chi Minh City (4.4%), 35 in Hanoi (4.3%), 27 in Gia Lai (3.3%), six in Binh Duong, five cases in Bac Ninh, Hai Phong with four, Dien Bien three, Hoa Binh with two, Bac Giang with two, Hung Yen with two and Ha Giang two. The two localities with the highest rates of infection per 1 million people were Hai Duong with 330 infections per 1 million people and Quang Ninh with 53.5 per 1 million people. They are also considered the two localities with widespread COVID-19. The rest, though recording infections at different rates were practically not seeing widespread transmission, as infections were always below epidemic safety levels in each respective locality (10 patients treated per 1 million people).

Hai Duong and Quang Ninh accounted for 84.8% of the total number of community infections as of February 23. Eight provinces and cities with the number of people infected at six or below have a total of 25 cases, equalling 3.08% of the whole country’s total infections. The remaining 50 provinces and cities have had no community infection, accounting for 79% of the total number of provinces and cities nationwide. Vietnam is experiencing its third wave of COVID-19 infections, but there is no large-scale epidemic prevalence, only the two provinces of Hai Duong and Quang Ninh have seen widespread outbreaks.

Secondly, with the efforts and determination of 13 provinces and cities, the active support of the health sector across the country, the clear and concise direction of the Government, and collective experience against outbreaks in the previous two waves, the third wave is likely to be terminated by the end of March, that is, after about 60 days (January 27 – March 27), like the two waves before (first wave: 58 days, second wave: 59 days).

It is expected that in Ho Chi Minh City, by the end of February, the situation will return to normal, and in Hanoi and Quang Ninh in early March, while Hai Duong should do so by the end of March. Exports, business operations, transport and entertainment activities can resume in a new normal state in accordance with the above forecasted timelines.

Thirdly, the risk of a new wave of COVID-19 infections still exists, if Vietnam does not promptly and strictly control entry into the country, including both official and illegal cases, to eliminate and minimise the risk of entries bringing infections into the community.

Viettel on the way to becoming a world leading defense industry group

February 28, 2021 by en.qdnd.vn

The 12th National Party Congress determined: “Promoting the development of the defense and security industry for both military and civilian purposes; increasing resources, creating modern material and technical foundations for the development of the People’s Army and the People’s Public Security Forces, meeting the requirements of protecting the Fatherland in the new situation.”

While inheriting that point of view, the political draft report at the 13th National Party Congress also gives new points: “Building and developing a modern dual-use defense and security industry, both satisfying the requirements of the task of protecting the Fatherland and making an important contribution to national socio-economic development.”

To clarify the new points in the political report at the 13th National Party Congress, reporters of the People’s Army Online Newspaper had an interview with Major General Hoang Son, Secretary of the Party Committee and Deputy General Director of Military Industry – Telecoms Group (Viettel).

Researching and developing high level technologies for national defense

Reporter: Mr. Deputy General Director, documents of the 13th National Party Congress mention the need to develop a number of key science and technology branches to solve urgent issues and apply scientific and technological advances to both economic and defense sectors. What do you think about this policy and what will Viettel do to successfully realize it?

Major General Hoang Son: The new contents articulated in the documents of the 13th National Party Congress on the issues are the developments of the Resolution of the 12th National Party Congress. These developments have reflected the flexibility and creativity of the Party in response to the new situation.

Regarding its development strategy, Viettel has so far established business, trade and investment ties with more than 120 partners from 35 countries. Thanks to our widespread business network, we can easily access advanced technologies, seek potential suppliers, build a network of experts and partners, and find high quality human resources. These advantages can help us save time and money when we conduct projects on researching, developing and producing high-quality and high-level technological products.

Over the past years, under the leadership and direction of the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of Defense, as well as Viettel Group’s leaders’ direction, engineers and workers of the Hi-tech Equipment and Weaponry Research and Production Division have researched and produced a number of high-quality defense products. After being commissioned, all Viettel-made equipment and weaponry systems are highly appreciated by military units. Feedback from the users say that Viettel-made equipment and weaponry systems are reliable and convenient for operation, and in accordance with combat conditions in Vietnam. This result has encouraged Viettel’s staff to research and develop more hi-tech defense products on one hand, and built up the confidence of military officers and soldiers in using equipment and weapons produced by Viettel on the other hand.

Reporter: Can you elaborate on the results of Viettel’s implementation of the Party Resolution on development of the defense industry?

Major General Hoang Son: Firstly, Viettel has made the Party, Government, and the Ministry of National Defense more confident that the Vietnamese are able to gradually research and produce hi-tech military equipment and weapons, contributing to protecting the country from afar. The “Made by Viettel” weapons being equipped in the military are the clearest evidence for that argument.

Secondly, in doing so, Viettel has created a new way in the development of hi-tech industry: instead of relying mainly on the State budget, it is possible to mobilize resources from enterprises. Facts also show that instead of waiting for directions and assignments from higher-level authorities, Viettel actively draws up tasks, mechanisms and policies for itself and proposes the higher-level authorities to approve them; instead of relying on technology transfer from foreign partners, Viettel itself invests in research, development and production of hi-tech products. In fact, it is exactly the way that large industrial groups in countries like the US, Russia, China, Israel, and European countries operate .

Thirdly, over the past years, Viettel has researched, developed and produced hi-tech military equipment and weaponry systems for the military, facilitating the modernization process of several military corps and services and contributing to improving national defense capabilities and combat abilities of the Vietnam People’s Army. The group’s efforts have also helped save the national defense budget.

Fourthly, Viettel has gradually built up modern and synchronous research and production infrastructure and strong resources for the development of hi-tech defense industry and national industry.

Fifthly, the group’s branch of hi-tech industry has gradually become a major part of its production and business plans, while significantly contributing to the State budget and the Ministry of Defense’s budget.

Building firm industrial structure

Reporter: What will Viettel do in the future to develop itself as a large group with technologies for civilian and defense purposes?

Major General Hoang Son: According to its future strategy, Viettel aims to become one of the world’s leading defense industry companies. To meet this end, it will continue to develop and produce new generations of military equipment, and smarter, more accurate and more reliable weapons based on the application of core technologies of Industry 4.0, particularly AI, big data and IoT.

Viettel will also develop technologies that can manufacture products for both civilian and military use. Further, it strives to conquer core technologies and have exclusive patents as well as to build a strong industrial infrastructure with modern lab systems and synchronous, professional and well-organized production facilities to meet dual-use production. It will also support the formation of the domestic support industry system.

Another focus of the group is to continuously develop high-quality human resources with specialized experts, highly-qualified engineers and skilled workers. The group’s investment in training personnel will help it successfully realize its development strategy on one hand, and contribute to the development of a well-trained workforce for the national defense industry and the domestic labor market as a whole.

Reporter: What policy does Viettel have to develop its workforce?

Major General Hoang Son: Viettel always focuses on building the capacity of its cadres and officers. It frequently organizes internal training and retraining courses for its staff and creates favorable conditions for young talented people to take higher responsibilities and get more work experience.

Over the past years, the group has pursued several policies to attract excellent personnel, to give privileges to talented, dedicated staff, and to support workers in need. Additionally, it tries to build a good working environment, and creates more career opportunities for young people.

Reporter: Can you name some major contributions of the group to the modernization of the military as well as to national socio-economic development?

Major General Hoang Son: The group has reached all production and business targets over the past years. It has grown fast in both production and business scales as well as in both revenue and profit, contributing 37 trillion dongs to the State’s budget.

In recent times, the group has contributed importantly to national digital transformation, digital government projects, smart city models, digital economy building and digital society building. Viettel also leads in applying Big Data and advanced technologies of Industry 4.0 as well as innovating modern management models and providing technological solutions and services for other enterprises.

Its overseas investment activities have been another success of Viettel over the past years. It gains annual growth in revenue and profit. Take 2020 as an example, while the revenues of its overseas investment projects grew by 19%, the profit increased 25%. Last year, the group brought home some US$ 333 million from the foreign markets it invests in.

To realize its commitment to the Party and State, since the beginning of 2021, it has tested 5G networks with Viettel-made equipment in a number of places in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Reporter: Thank you.

Translated by Thu Nguyen

Endangered doucs enjoy idyllic lives thanks to Covid-19

February 28, 2021 by e.vnexpress.net

Multiple red-shanked doucs could be spotted at Bach Ma National Park in north central Thua Thien-Hue Province at the start of spring.

Nguyen Vu Linh, director of the national park, said there are around 12 troops of doucs with over 128 individuals. Around six troops, amounting to over 85 doucs, reside in the Bach Ma mountain area inside the park.

“The troops of doucs only returned to the mountains three to four years ago. It means the ecosystem here has been protected well,” Linh said.

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, few visitors have toured the park recently, allowing the doucs to forage further afield.

A douc hangs from a tree branch.

The doucs instinctively seek out young leaves to feed on. A loud noise would cause the entire troop to flee the scene.

Many photographers take advantage of the quiet park for creative inspiration. Some even traversed jungles deep within the reserve, hoping to capture the daily lives of doucs.

Besides photographers, foreign researchers have also been visiting for months at a time to study the doucs and their behavior.

Spanning 37,500 hectares and covered by evergreen tropical and subtropical rainforests, Bach Ma National Park affords red-shanked doucs the ideal habitat within which to thrive.

Besides red-shanked doucs, the park is also home to several other endangered animal species. Researchers said the reserve harbors over 1,700 animal species, accounting for 7 percent of all species currently in Vietnam. A total 69 species are named in the Red List of Threatened Species, including dholes, leopards and saola. Fifteen species are endemic to Vietnam, mostly birds.

Hai Duong dissolves COVID-19 treatment hospital No.1

February 28, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn

The Chi Linh city’s medical centre in Hai Duong province (Photo: VNA)

Hai Duong (VNA) – Chairman of the Hai Duong provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Duong Thai, who is also head of the provincial Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, on February 27 decided to dissolve the hospital No.1 for COVID-19 treatment as the locality has basically kept the pandemic under control.

All the COVID-19 cases being treated at the hospital were transferred to the COVID-19 treatment hospital No.3 at Sao Do University in Chi Linh city, which is managed by the Hai Duong General Hospital.

The hospital No.1 was established on February 2 at Chi Linh city’s medical centre to serve treatment for COVID-19 patients after a new COVID-19 outbreak in the locality, with hundreds of infections were confirmed.

According to the provincial Centre for Disease Control, as of 4:00 pm on February 27, Hai Duong recorded a total of 653 coronavirus infections. The number of F1 cases is 16,385, of which 3,328 are quarantined in concentrated quarantine sites. The locality has so far collected over 400,000 samples for SARS-CoV-2 testing.

Vietnam reported no new COVID-19 case on February 28 morning, making the national count unchanged at 2,432, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

A total 1,844 COVID-19 patients have recovered so far, and the death toll remains at 35./.

VNA