Vietnam Rubber Group to raise natural rubber output under its own brand A worker collects latex from a rubber tree (Illustrative photo: VNA) The rate is expected to hit 92 percent by 2022. The VRG has built a set of standards and introduced VRG-branded rubber products since 2018, bolstering consumption of its products along with Vietnam’s rubber brand in the international market. VRG-branded products reached 255,407 tonnes last year, accounting for 68 percent of the group's total output, from just 20,790 tonnes recorded in 2018. The VRG reported 21.17 trillion VND in revenue and 5.23 trillion VND in post-tax profit in 2020, year-on-year increases of 6.9 percent and 36.4 percent, respectively./. CPI in February highest in 8 years Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) in February was up 1.52 percent over the previous month and 0.7 percent year on year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). This is the highest February CPI growth recorded in the last eight years. However, the index in the first two months decreased 0.14 percent year-on-year. Compared to the previous month, an upturn was seen in the prices of ten out of 11 main groups of goods and services, with housing and construction materials taking the lead (4 percent). It was followed by food and catering services (1.61 percent); transport (1.55 percent); drinking and tobacco (0.9 percent); garment and textile, headwear and footwear (0.25 percent). The price of education services remained stable compared to the previous month. The GSO’s Price Statistics Department explained that the CPI in February saw a strong rise due to the higher demand for food and foodstuffs for the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival. The prices of medicine and medical supplies in January-February increased by 0.88 percent compared to the same period last year, the price of gas in the month climbed 3.05 percent year-on-year. There were a number of reasons for the decrease in CPI in the last …
Fewer things better
US, EU say vaccine programs on track as global deaths hit 2.5 mn
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 25: Lorraine Harvey, an in home care worker, receives her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from registered nurse Rudolfo Garcia at a clinic at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South Los Angeles on February 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. African Americans and Latinos comprise a majority of the South LA community and are dying of COVID-19 at a rate significantly higher than whites. Vaccine equity has also lagged in South Los Angeles relative to some more wealthy areas. (Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP) Brazil hit 250,000 fatalities -- the second-highest national death toll after the US -- while the worldwide vaccine campaign received the royal endorsement of Queen Elizabeth II, 94, who urged people not to be wary of the injection. President Joe Biden declared the US rollout is now "weeks ahead of schedule" as he celebrated 50 million vaccines administered since he took office on January 20, but he warned Americans to keep masking up. "We're moving in the right direction despite the mess we inherited," Biden said, referring to the program under his predecessor Donald Trump. The United States is the world's hardest-hit country, with coronavirus deaths crossing the 500,000 mark earlier this week. Biden said that there would be "enough supply" for all adult Americans by the end of July. The EU announced Thursday it expected to vaccinate 70 percent of adults by the end of the summer, after months of problems and friction. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said fully vaccinating just under three-quarters of adults by late summer was a "goal that we're confident with." But in Brazil, the grim quarter-million deaths milestone came one year after the first Covid-19 case was confirmed in the country, which is struggling with severe vaccine shortages and a devastating second wave. - Mass graves - The coronavirus has hit especially hard in Brazil's impoverished "favelas," among indigenous …
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Scrap collector, grocery owner and a second-rate vehicle: all used to help others in Covid hotspot
A man earning his living as scrap dealer in Cam Giang district has transported food and foodstuff to provide to thousands of people in the Covid-19 Hotspot on his old motorbike. Diem and Hai have been carrying dozens of rice bags to provide to people in the quarantine area The Highway 5 section which goes across Tan Truong commune in Cam Giang district was deserted on February 23 noon. There were only vehicles helping agencies’ fight against Covid-19 and trucks carrying goods from the vegetable granaries of Kim Thanh and Gia Loc. Hai Duong has been in lockdown since February 16. At a grocery in Ghe hamlet, Vu Thi Hai, 55, and her husband, Do Cong Son, could be seen classifying bags of vegetables and putting eggs into trays. This was donated food to be carried away to those who needed it. When they were about to finish the work, an old motorbike arrived. Three of them picked up the bags of classified food and put them on the motorbike. Not far from Hai’s grocery is a place where 50 individuals are in quarantine – the secondary school of Tan Truong commune. On the other side of the road is Trang Ky hamlet with nearly 2,000 residents and migrant workers, who have been staying there since pre-Tet days. These are two hamlets where Covid-19 positive cases have been found. The hamlets have been isolated with no entry and exit. The self-modified motorbike is owned by Do Van Diem, 64. It represents his livelihood, specializing in carrying the scrap he collects. A carriage attached to the motorbike contains scrap. “The motorbike is too old. However, there are still many things to be done with it. It is still helpful in carrying goods to the people in quarantine areas,” he said as he drove the motorbike to the quarantine station, stopping to get disinfected before entering Trang Ky hamlet. Hai said she received a message from Quynh in Trang Ky hamlet that he needed some eggs to prepare gruel for his daughter. His wife has been away from home since …
