The Country in Numbers
114 Bus drivers and attendants were fined a combined of vnd58.6 million in 2019 for smoking. The statistics were announced by Ho Quy Vinh, from the Ho Chi Minh City Management Center of Public Transport, in a meeting to sum up what have been done this year in the campaign. Transport officials have clamped down on smoking at the Saigon Bus Station in District 1, which is the city’s CBD, and the Mien Tay (Western) Bus Station in Binh Tan District since January 2019, when the municipal People’s Committee issued a fiat asking them to launch the campaign, Vinh said. The management center has cooperated with relevant agencies to put up “No Smoking” signs on the buses at the two stations and 500 other bus stops across the city, he added. Smoking rooms have been built at many bus terminals and cameras have been installed there to detect smokers. Seventy percent of the fines will be submitted to the national treasury and the remaining 30 percent will be invested in public transport, Vinh said. Over 3,000 drivers, vehicle owners, street vendors, and passengers have been given warnings for smoking in no-smoking sites at the Mien Tay Bus Station since July this year, said Tran Van Phuong, deputy director of the station.
130 Kindergarten students in the north central vietnamese province of thanh hoa were hospitalized because of food poisoning last month. The incident happened at Vuon Mat Troi Kindergarten in Dong Ve Ward, Thanh Hoa City. Many of the young patients were in stable conditions as of the same evening and were allowed to leave the infirmary. Nguyen Ba Can, the deputy director of provincial Department of Health, said the agency had collected samples of the students’ school meals to conduct lab tests. The school cafeteria has been temporarily suspended until further notice. Vuon Mat Troi Kindergarten has a total of 650 students divided into 20 classes.
150,000 students to join google-backed free programming courses in vietnam. Google Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. held a ceremony last month to launch the second phase of the ‘Coding your future with Google’ project in Ho Chi Minh City. In the project’s first phase, which ran throughout the 2018-19 school year, nearly 1,300 students and 30 teachers in ten public elementary schools in the southern metropolis and the Mekong Delta provinces of Vinh Long and Tien Giang attended more than 10,000 hours of Scratch programming lessons. In its second phase, Google sets out to train 150,000 students and 350 teachers in 300 elementary and middle schools and vocational institutions in 15 cities and provinces across Vietnam, ten times the target of the project’s first phase. The course of the new phase began in September and is set to run until December 2020. The program has so far reached out to 80,000 students at 240 schools, including those in ethnic communities, Ha Lam Tu Quynh, said the director of communications and public relations at Google Asia Pacific.
2 tons of pangolin scales and ivory from africa were confiscated at customs. Trade in ivory and pangolin is illegal in Vietnam but wildlife trafficking remains widespread. Customs authorities in the northern port city of Hai Phong found 330kg of ivory and 1.7 tons of pangolin scales hidden in three containers of wood last month, the Customs Department’s Hai Quan newspaper reported.
The containers came from Nigeria, the newspaper said. Pangolins, known as scaly anteaters, are critically endangered. Some Vietnamese people believe that their scales, when grounded into powder, have health benefits but scientists say the scales are made of keratin, the same substance that fingernails are made of, and do nothing for health.
96,2 million is the total population of Vietnam as of April 1, 2019, with males accounting for 49.8 percent and females 50.2 percent, according to the population and housing census 2019. Up to 88 percent of the population are in the main working age from 25-59. The Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said Vietnam is in the period of a golden population structure but workforce quality remains limited with only 23.1 percent having qualifications and nearly 11.1 percent being highly skilled. In order to avoid middle-income trap, he suggested enhancing vocational training, renewing tertiary education in a way that could meet recruiters’ expectation. According to the General Statistics Office, skilled workforce made up 31.8 percent in the Red River Delta, 27.5 percent in the southeast, 22.7 percent in the north central and central coastal regions, and 13.6 percent in the Mekong Delta. Unemployment rate in the rural areas and urban areas stands at 1.64 percent and 2.93 percent, respectively. Most of jobless persons age 15-54, accounting for 91.7 percent. Meanwhile, those working in industry, forestry and fisheries dropped from 53.9 percent in 2009 to 46.3 percent in 2014 and 35.3 percent in 2019.
51 spring flower markets for Tet are set to be opened throughout Hanoi for the purpose of shopping, sightseeing and entertainment. Guests visiting the markets will be able to purchase a wide variety of different types of flowers, ornamental plants, fruit trees and handicraft products which are typical of the festive season. Markets are set to be held across the capital, with Hoan Kiem district hosting a flower market in Hang Ma ward while Hai Ba Trung district will have three flower markets in Mo market, Thong Nhat Park, and Tuoi Tre Park. Hoang Mai district is to have two markets located close to Den Lu market and Hoang Liet Street. More markets will be opened up in other districts around the city, with Bac Tu Liem district set to have five markets, seven markets in Tay Ho district, and nine markets in Ha Dong district, among others.
