Ensuring good quality underlies all operational decisions

Heavy traffic is among factors impacting the city’s air quality. – VNA/VNS Photo Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI — The first week of July witnessed an improvement in Hà Nội’s air quality, according to the city’s Environment Protection Authority under the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. The air quality measured at monitoring stations around the city reached levels of ‘good’ and ‘average’. Significantly, the number of days with ‘good’ air quality rose in comparison with the previous week. Mai Trọng Thái, the authority head, told Hà Nội Mới (New Hà Nội) newspaper that the measured air quality index (AQI) fluctuated between 40 to 94 points which were equivalent to ‘average’ and ‘good’ levels. There was no day with air quality dropping to ‘bad’ level. Urban air monitoring stations of Trung Yên in Cầu … [Read more...] about Hà Nội air quality sees positive signs in July

Staff from the Hà Nội Green Trees JSC take care of trees in the capital city. Growing more trees is one of the measures to improve the city’s air quality. — VNA/VNS Photo Huy HùngViet Nam News HÀ NỘI — Air quality in Hà Nội has seen improvement in the first four months of the year, but not in all parts of the city. Good air quality was recorded at the end of April and the beginning of May at monitoring stations in the districts of Cầu Giấy, Đống Đa and Hoàng Mai, according to the Hà Nội Environmental Protection Agency. From 10 monitoring stations across the city, concentrations of harmful PM10 and PM2.5 matter decreased by 1.5 and 2 times respectively, compared to the period from November to December 2017. The air quality index (AQI), which measures daily air pollution, saw a drastic improvement during the Reunification Day (April 30) and Labour Day (May 1) holidays, as well as … [Read more...] about Hà Nội’s air quality improves

He was referring to the proposal by the city administration to designate exclusive lanes for bus as part of efforts to increase the rate of commuters using public transport to 25 percent by 2020. The current bus system was insufficient to meet the needs of its eight million population, but exclusive lanes for buses were just a small cog in urban planning, the lecturer from the university's Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies told VnExpress. "Hanoi is struggling to figure out what to do with the spaces reserved for public transportation. If someone asked me what would be the most optimal way to use [those spaces], I would not have an answer. What Hanoi needs right now is a strategic vision for traffic management." Traffic congestion was a common issue in most cities in the world, and people always opted for a vehicle that best met their needs. Chinh said two major factors needed to be considered to ensure a bus system was effective and determine the … [Read more...] about Hanoi should ensure exclusive bus lanes meet benchmarks before launch: expert

A liver transplant case for the lightest patient in Vietnam has been successfully performed at Vietnam National Children's Hospital. The patient monitored at the hospital Nguyen Pham Anh Hoa, head of the Department of Hepatology, said the patient was one year old, weighed 6.7kg and was diagnosed with cholestatic jaundice when he was only three months old. He didn't respond well to the treatment and was constantly admitted to the hospital because of liver failure. His family agreed to the liver transplant. Luckily, the livers of both parents are compatible with the patient. In the end, the father donated his liver to the patient. Even then, it needed skill and dedication from the doctors' to carry out the operation on a 6.7-kg child. Dr Pham Duy Hien said, "We only carried out the operation when we were sure that the success rate was high enough since two people would be operated on. This was a technical challenge to us." Dr Le Thanh Hai, director of Vietnam National Children's … [Read more...] about Successful liver transplant operation for smallest Vietnam patient yet

More than 71 percent of Vietnamese women are actively involved in the labor market, with the ratio of women with university degrees being 5 percentage points higher than men, according to data released at the recent Vietnam Business Forum.  Women account for 48 percent of the workforce in Vietnam. A McKinsey study has found that women play an equal role in the labor market, and will help global GDP increase by $28 trillion by 2025. However, like in many other countries, they are paid less than men in Vietnam, with an estimate putting their wages at 12 percent lower than their male counterparts. These data highlighted the fact that Vietnam is yet to achieve gender parity in the market place. Studies have found that gender inequality is counterproductive for businesses. In fact, promoting gender equality in the workplace will fetch Vietnamese businesses improve their performance and brand awareness, attract talent and become more competitive, experts say. At a workshop on … [Read more...] about Gender equality good for business, Vietnamese firms told