Launched at a time when demand is very high, Vietnam’s video conferencing software products still cannot compete with foreign products in the home market. Teachers and students have become used to video conferencing software, but they still face problems during study. Students complain they sometimes are thrown out of class because of unstable internet connections. Most schools still use Zoom for online teaching, though experts have warned of security problems and limitations in free versions. Many online conferencing solutions have been developed by Vietnamese firms, including Zavi by VNG, CoMeet by CMC TS, NetNam, iWay, FDS and DQN, and TranS by Nam Viet. CoMeet is a made-in-Vietnam software product with no interruption during conferences thanks to 100 percent use of domestic bandwidth with high customization features, tailored to every business. However, despite the appearance of a series of Vietnam’s video conferencing platforms, many schools and businesses still use Zoom, while others prefer Microsoft Teams or Google Meet to Vietnamese products. The Zoom app ranks No 1 among the free apps on Play Store and App Store. Google Meet ranks second. Zoom remains the top choice, though Vietnam’s software products have outstanding features, high competitiveness and provide support in the Vietnamese language. Zoom faced criticism when it was found leaking personal information of hundreds of thousand of users, transferring data to Facebook. It has been prohibited by the US and UK government agencies because of security vulnerabilities. However, Zoom has been growing steadily with a record number of 300 million users daily compared with 10 million users before the pandemic. Explaining this, experts said other software products either have too many barriers or are too difficult to use and are less known than Zoom. For individual users, there are problems even more concerning than the security problem. The troubles students most complain about …
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VN agriculture ministry gears up for possible attack of desert locusts
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) is prompting preparations for the possibility of an invasion by desert locusts in the time ahead. The MARD said desert locusts have caused devastation in Pakistan and entered India’s northern and western areas in late May. They may continue migrating to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, or Yunnan and Guangxi provinces of China, and then Vietnam. If the locust swarms reach those regions, they will directly threaten agricultural production in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, the ministry noted, stressing the critical importance of keeping a close watch on the formation and migration directions of locust swarms in Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and especially Myanmar, China and Laos. Desert locusts are likely to follow southwest and west winds to continue migrating to South Asian countries like Pakistan and India in June and July, and then to Vietnam, the ministry said. Three warning levels will be issued and response measures taken according to locust movements: when the insects hit the south of India and Bangladesh; when they reach Myanmar, China’s Yunnan or Laos, which means they could swiftly spread to Vietnam; and when they enter the country. A national steering committee for desert locust prevention and control will be set up, and so will similar agencies in the provinces bordering China and Laos, or localities hit by the insects if the second and third scenarios happen. The agriculture sector will maximise every resource to fight against desert locusts and build plans to protect crops, assets and livelihoods in the affected areas, according to the MARD. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimated the desert locust population in East Africa at hundreds of millions, about 150 million individuals each swarm, that covered an area of about 2,400 sq.km. and moved among East African countries at a speed of some 13km per hour. They have destroyed crops and other food sources and seriously …
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Tour guides form team to save coral off coast of Binh Thuan Province
During a dive on a small island off the coast of Binh Thuan Province, Nguyen Van Gioi and other tour guides were able to see hundreds of poisonous crown-of-thorns starfish, which are coral predators. Coral is seriously damaged by crown-of-thorns starfish. — Photo provided by Nguyen Van Gioi “When diving to look at coral reefs on Hon Tranh isle, we saw crown-of-thorns starfish seriously devastate the coral reefs ,” said Gioi, a tour guide on Phu Quy Island in the south-central coastal province. He and other tour guides on the larger island of Phu Quy decided to set up a team "to catch these poisonous crown-of-thorns starfish to save coral." According to the Australian Institute of Marine Science, crown-of-thorns starfish are marine invertebrates that feed on coral and occur naturally on reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific region, and when conditions are right, they can reach plague proportions and devastate hard coral communities. The institute’s research has revealed that crown-of-thorns starfish are a major cause of coral loss on the Great Barrier Reef. These starfish can grow to over 50 centimetres in diametre, and one individual can consume over 13 square metres of coral reef per year, according to the New Heaven Reef Conservation Programme’s team in Thailand. When Gioi and other members of the team have free time, they go to Hon Tranh isle to catch crown-of-thorns starfish. “In one day, we can catch nearly 500-700 starfish. We often catch them in summer because the water is warm for diving,” Gioi said. A member of a tour guide team catches crown-of-thorns starfish. Photo provided by Nguyen Van Gioi Compared to the past, more and more crown-of-thorns starfish are appearing because of an imbalance in the marine ecosystem, he said, adding that starfish predators such as giant triton snail and sea urchins are overfished on the island to serve tourism. Sea urchins play a critical role in maintaining the balance between …
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