Stampede in India kills 147 people

New Delhi (VNA) – At least 147 people were crushed to death in a stampede early September 30 in the Chamunda Devi temple in Rajasthan state, local media reported.

The stampede, caused by a rush of devotees in the temple in the 15th century Mehrangarh Fort on a hillock on the first day of Navaratri festival, also injured 55 others, the Press Trust of India (PTI) said.

According to local authorities, the rush took place after a wall leading to the temple fell down, killing some people. The number of casualties may rise, they said.

In a similar tragedy three years ago, 340 devotees were trampled to death during an annual pilgrimage at the Mandradevi temple in Maharashtra, according to PTI. –

Two Koreas agree to hold military talks

The Republic of Korea (RoK) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) have agreed to hold military talks on October 2, local media reported.

The talks, which will be held at truce village of Panmunjom, will be their first military dialogue in over eight months, according to the RoK’s Yonhap news agency.

The DPRK first proposed to hold the talks on September 30, but the RoK side offered to hold on October 2 and the DPRK had agreed, the news agency said.

The two Koreas held last military talks on January 25 of this year. –

Malaysia to hold 7th ASEAN Skills Competition

– Malaysia’s Works Ministry will organise the 7th ASEAN Skills Competition (ASC) at the Malaysian Construction Academy in Cheras from November 14-16, local media reported.

The competition was aimed at giving participants from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries a chance to demonstrate their talents and skills in the 19 categories, Bernama news agency said on September 29.

Among the categories were automobile technology, beauty therapy, bricklaying, cabinet making, graphic design technology, industrial electronics and dressmaking. This is the first time that all the 10 ASEAN countries would be taking part in the competition but only Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam would be competing in all categories, according to the ministry.

The winners would receive gold, silver, or bronze medals besides the excellence medal and the best country medal.-

Thai, Cambodian leaders to discuss temple row

– Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wangsawat will visit Cambodia on October 13 at the invitation of his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen, local media reported.

The disputes over Ta Muen Thom and Ta Kwai temples will be high on the agenda of PM Somchai Wongsawat during his Cambodia visit, according to the Bangkok Post.

Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat said that ASEAN foreign ministers, meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on September 29 in New York, were satisfied Thailand and Cambodia would be able to handle the problems through bilateral talks.

He added that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon agreed it was unnecessary for the two countries to bring the issues to the UN Security Council.-

Rush on hospitals after milk scare

HCM CITY — Hospitals are overloaded with parents who have brought their infants for kidney check-ups, fearing that they had drunk milk contaminated with the poisonous industrial chemical melamine.

Children’s Hospital 1 has seen more than 6,000 infants, an increase of 1,000 children over the previous week.

Local tests have shown that some imported Chinese milk contains melamine, which was added by dairy companies in China to enhance the protein level of the product.

Thousands of Chinese children have become ill from having drunk the milk, and some have developed kidney stones.

Dr Tran Thoai Lan, head of Children Hospital 1’s Kidney – Endocrine Department, said every day her division was answering dozens of questions from parents.

“I brought my son to the hospital for a check and to find out more about the disease,” a woman who lives in Binh Thanh District said.

A week-long nationwide inspection of imported milk products has resulted in officials having found a large quantity of unsafe food traded in Viet Nam’s markets.

The Health Ministry’s Health Examination and Treatment Management Department said no children had suffered kidney stones or other complications.

Doctor Ly Ngoc Kinh, head of the department, said hospitals were testing for kidney stones during routine medical check-ups.

Domestic suppliers of milk-based products are rushing to laboratories for melamine tests on their products.

The Health Ministry said around 500 milk samples were sent to four main testing centres in Ha Noi and HCM City for melamine detection, creating a serious burden at the centres.

Milk and diary product manufacturers must have their products tested at laboratories authorised by the ministry.

The ministry said results of 500 samples would be known within two weeks.

The Department of Food Safety and Hygiene Department under the Ministry of Health has tested 298 milk samples. Six of the samples that tested positive with melamine included Chinese brand YiLi products and a cream powder imported from China by the Best Choice Company.

The ministry published a list of 87 dairy products without melamine on Monday. —

New plan pulls health fees from the rich

by Thanh Hai

A medical worker takes care of children in the Thai Binh Paediatrics Hospital. About 8.5 to 9 per cent of the coming budget will be spent on prioritised people, which includes about 8.7 million under-six-year-old children. — VNA/VNS Photo Huu Oai

HA NOI — Well-off people are expected to have to pay more for health examination and treatment fees as part of a new health-care plan that the Ministry of Health is submitting for the Government’s approval.

At present, the State partially pays for the costs of examination and treatment indiscriminately.

The almost 38 million prioritised people – mainly the poor, invalids, ethnic minorities, the aged and children under six – will still receive 100 per cent health cover from the Government.

Under the plan, which is considered a breakthrough in organising the nation’s health system, the ministry will rejuvenate the nation’s health examination and treatment system.

It will also look at the way health finances work, including wages and health-service prices at State-owned units, so that quality and fairness can be improved.

“After 20 years of Doi moi and implementing a socialist-oriented market econo-my, many policies and mechanisms of the health sector – and many other sectors – have become outdated,” said Health Minister Nguyen Quoc Trieu.

“The health sector has been late in making policies and mechanisms (to adjust to the new economy). Now, we have to rejuvenate the operation of healthcare to meet demand.”

A total of about 8.5 to 9 per cent of the coming budget will be spent on prioritised people, which includes about 8.7 million children under the age of six and more than 10 million other people living near the poverty line. This compares to 6.9 per cent of the present budget.

Those near the poverty line will still be covered for 50 per cent of all health insurance card expenses while the other priority groups will receive 100 per cent support.

The total number of people receiving State support amounts to nearly 37.8 million people – or 43 per cent of the population.

According to the plan, management in State-owned hospitals and administrative units will be given self-control and full responsibility for improving medical services.

Central hospitals with ability, quality and prestige, will have the right to recruit and manage human resources and decide prices for medical services – with limits set by ministry regulations.

Other hospitals and administrative medical units will still receive partial or full support from the State budget.

The Government will also for the first time assist students buy health-insurance cards and increase the special job allowance to encourage health staff in the local, mountainous, difficult areas.

The plan basically aims to change the operation and financial mechanism of the health sector by creating conditions for State-owned medical units to develop in accordance with a socialist-oriented market economy.

It also aims to improve human resources and the quality of health services and create financial resources by giving medical centres and hospitals self-control rights.

This will enable them to determine health-treatment fees themselves and the size of their human resources. The system will enable hospitals to run more effectively and raise more funds from those who can afford it.

To solve hospital overload, medical staff at hospitals and training units will be required to look after patients in lower administrative levels. This means, for example, that doctors from central level or provincial levels will be sent to district or commune levels to improve the quality of examination and treatment quality for periods of at least three-months.

The Health Ministry will issue professional working licences to all medical staff throughout Viet Nam. At present, only medical staff working for private hospital need a licence.

The State budget will give more financial support to three areas – preventive medicine, population and family planning, and communal health.

At present, the three fields, which are totally funded by the State, lack human resources.

According to ministry statistics, Viet Nam has 1,062 state hospitals and 77 private hospitals with a total 145,000 beds. This means 18 beds for every 10,000 people.

In recent years, the health sector has carried out many measures to improve medical examinations and treatment quality- and to reduce hospital overload. These included strengthening human resources, improving the standards of diagnosis and treatment, increasing hospital beds and developing non-State medical units.

The Ministry of Health expects the new plan will be approved next month and be implemented early next year. —

Weaving path from poverty

A new anti-poverty plan will lead to the growth of craft co-operatives.

Ethnic girls learn to wave brocade in Dak Doa District in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. Local authorities will expand brocade weaving co-operatives in rural communes. — VNA/VNS Photo Sy Huynh

HCM CITY — Provincial authorities in Gia Lai will expand brocade weaving co-operatives and build infrastructural facilities in rural communes as part of their poverty alleviation efforts.

The move is a recognition of the potential that traditional skills have in generating income and preserving unique cultures and lifestyles, as also an attempt to prevent the loss of skills passed through generations.

The province has been offering retraining and development opportunities to its ethnic minority residents for many years now.

Brocade weaving classes are being held in Dac Doa District’s Gla Commune.

Participants are taught in detail the designs created traditionally by the Ba Na and Gia Lai communities. They learn how to cut and sew different dresses, and also to diversify their products.

M’lop, who attends the training classes, says that the commune holds exchange programmes with the other provinces such as Dac Lac to share experiences in designing in order to improve participants’ skills.

From 2006 until now, Gia Lai Province has invested VND6.5 billion (nearly US$394,000) in two projects aimed at improving the skills and providing career options to ethnic minority farmers and students.

Most of this capital has been invested in teaching traditional careers, especially brocade weaving.

Recently, the province also invested VND2.6 billion ($157,600) in building infrastructure facilities including factories, roads, and power supply systems for Gla Commune and Mang Yang District’s Kon Dong Town.

Provincial leaders have said that handicraft co-operatives, especially of brocade items, in many communes of Chu Prong and Mang Yang districts will be expanded.

A project to develop the brocade weaving villages of Nghe Lon and Nghe Nho has also been implemented at a cost of VND210 million.

In PlayKu City’s Bien Ho Commune a brocade weaving club with 53 members has been very active for the last four years.

Brocade weaving co-operatives in the Gla Commune have, over the decade, attracted hundreds of weavers who have produced many distinctive products that reflect the culture of Central Highlands provinces.

According to Huynh Huu Sam, deputy director of the province’s industry promotion centre, restoring and developing the traditional art of brocade weaving for ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands provinces is a vital task.

He is most concerned about the number of craftsmen who are very old, and whose skills will be lost forever if nothing is done in the next few years.

Vu Tien Ha, former secretary of Kong Chro District’s Youth Union, says that the restoring of traditional vocations like brocade weaving has not only created jobs and increased incomes for residents, but has also educated younger generations about honouring and conserving the beauty of Vietnamese culture.

Some experts say that linking the villages with traditional vocations, and increasing co-operation in the tourism sector would help stabilise local economies.

In a heartening sign, most people are enthusiastic about the task of restoring and developing the tradition of brocade weaving, so experts say that the time is right to maximise the potentials of this skill. —

Gloom pervades Ha Noi, HCM City bourses

HA NOI — Adding to the gloomy atmosphere pervading both bourses yesterday the electronic board went blank in the first session.

With no end in sight to the VN-Index’s downward trend following the US lawmakers’ decision yesterday to reject a US$700 billion bailout plan of the private banking sector, markets fell across the globe.

The VN-Index shed 22.30 points to close at 456.7. All listed stocks saw their values fall.

Even before the current global crisis the VN Index, which was above 1,100 points in March 2007, had been in turmoil since October.

Of the 164 listed shares and fund certificates, the southern bourse saw 163 losers and one unchanged.

IMP (Imexpharm) was the only one to close at its reference price of VND90,000 per share with a total volume of more than 55,000 shares changing hands.

Among the largest fallers were STB (Sacombank), which fell VND1,200 per share to close at VND23,800; PPC (Pha Lai Thermal Power Plant), which slid VND1,700 to end the day at VND33,400 per share; and SSI (Sai Gon Securities Inc), which slipped VND2,500 to 54,000 per share.

VNM (Viet Nam Dairy Products Company) was the most active stock on the HCM City Stock Exchange with 459,930 shares changing hands to close at VND90,500 per share.

DHG (Hau Giang Pharmaceuticals) and BMC (Binh Dinh Minerals) both plunged VND6,000 to VND132,000 and VND117,000 respectively.

Le Dinh Ngoc (Thang Long Securities) said Viet Nam was not immune to the global crisis and that investors should be aware of development outside and inside the country.

According to analysts at SME Securities, September was a hard time for the global economy, which is facing high inflation and unemployment and slow economic growth.

They predicted that the world economy would begin showing signs of recovery towards the end of next year.

They also said disbursement of foreign-direct investment would become sluggish and that foreign financial institutions would reduce their investment in new emerging markets such as Viet Nam.

Analysts at SME Securities warned investors to exercise caution when buying stock and that to minimise risks they should wait to see good business results for the third quarter.

Hoang Thach Lan from SME Securities in HCM City said there was little interaction between global markets and Viet Nam which was therefore shielded from the worst effects of the crisis.

However, he said Wall Street would continue to have an psychological impact on the VN-Index.

Lan added foreign investors still saw Viet Nam as a safe investment destination and that foreign investors would be unwilling to withdraw capital from the market.

The Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre’s HASTC-index fell 9.43 points to end the day at 148.55 points. More than 1.76 million shares were traded at a total cost of VND57 billion.

PetroVietnam Insurance (PVI) was the most active stock on the Ha Noi bourse with more than four million shares. —

City to stabilise prices of essential goods

HCM CITY — The Department of Industry and Trade (DoIT) and several relevant departments and businesses of HCM City have unveiled a plan to stabilise the prices of essential commodities for the 2008-2010 period and set the policy groundwork for the 2010-2015 period.

The plan is designed to tackle the speculation-based rise of certain essential goods prices, all the while developing retail networks to offer customers the most reasonable prices, according to DoIT.

Under the new guidelines, the city will pick businesses specialising in the production and trade of essential goods to collaborate with the city in planning the production, processing and purchasing of such goods to meet consumer demands and stabilise prices.

Businesses participating in the city’s price stabilisation programme will be eligible for interest-free loans to buy goods for reserve or promote production of daily essentials.

The municipal programme focuses on essential goods including rice, sugar, cooking oil, cattle and poultry meat, processed foods, eggs, and preventative and curative medicines.

Moreover, the city will also co-operate with various departments and enterprises to guarantee the supply and stable prices of 11 commodities deemed essential by the Central Government: gasoline, cement, construction steel, liquified gases, fertiliser, pesticides, veterinary medicines, salt, milk, railway transport and animal feed.

DoIT officials say the project will contribute to Government efforts to curb inflation, and demonstrates the State’s role in taking care of residents’ lives.

The People’s Committee of the city will review the plan sometime this month. —

Ha Noi expansion should help industry

Workers assemble flat-screen televisions at the Ha Noi Electronics Corporation (Hanel) in Sai Dong B Industrial Zone in the outskirts of Ha Noi. The industrial sector in Ha Noi must reform itself and further develop to attract investment. — VNA/VNS Photo Ha Thai

HA NOI — The expansion of Ha Noi has brought opportunities along with challenge in terms of the development of the industrial sector, according to the head of the Ha Noi Industry and Commerce Department.

The expanded Ha Noi is planning to call for selective investment into technological sectors and enterprises, to ensure stable development, said the department’s director Luu Tien Long.

To call for investment, the industrial sector in Ha Noi must reform itself, including expanding the high-tech region in Hoa Lac and the technological region in Tu Liem, Long said.

Industrial regions and complexes in the pre-expansion Ha Noi have already been occupied, making it difficult to attract large projects, Long said.

The expansion of Ha Noi should mean more opportunities to attract investment projects, especially in high-tech, clean technology and value added technology sectors, he added.

The larger city would create favourable conditions for industrial zones processing agricultural products and abattoirs with increasing demand for agricultural and clean foods, he said.

The expanded Ha Noi would also attract more large-scale enterprises, as companies have realised that if they are located in Ha Noi but do not invest in advanced technologies and produce high value products, they will not be viable.

Regarding key industrial products, Long said the department has chosen 33 products and recently submitted eight more products to the People’s Committee of Ha Noi.

Addressing export potential, he said that Ha Noi would focus on information technology and handicrafts, while the percentage of footwear and garments in the capital city’s export structure would likely decline.

Ha Noi has an advantage in housing many traditional craft villages, so the city plans to boost training in these villages, and improve the quality of training and export promotion.

He did address pollution stemming from traditional craft villages, including Bat Trang, Van Ha and Lien Ha, as a challenge that has yet to be solved absolutely, noting that in the future, authorities would pay special attention to the problem to ensure sustainable development of the industry. —