Red Spring Festival expects to collect over 4,000 blood units Young people donate their blood In his opening remarks, Director of the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) Bach Quoc Khanh, who is head of the festival’s organizing board, said that the festival has been held annually since 2008 to address blood shortages after the lunar New Year holiday, and gradually changed public awareness of blood donation. After 13 editions, the festival has collected over 85,000 blood units and become the annual biggest blood donation event. Khanh took the occasion to express his gratitude for donators nationwide. The 14th edition is taking place from March 1-7 at the NIHBT headquarters, and three fixed places - 26 Luong Ngoc Quyen in Hoan Kiem district, 132 Quan Nhan in Thanh Xuan district, and Valley 122 of Lang Street in Dong Da district. The organizing board expects to receive over 4,000 blood units during this year’s festival, which then will be allocated to nearly 180 hospitals and medical establishments of 28 provinces and cities in the northern region. It has also made thorough preparations to welcome donors so as to ensure COVID-19 prevention and control as recommended by the World Health Organisation and the Health Ministry./. Fatal coach crash kills three, injures 4 in Dong Thap A serious traffic accident caused by a passenger coach took place on National Highway 54 in Tan Thanh Commune of Dong Thap Province’s Lai Vung District this morning, March 1, killing three and injuring four people. The passenger coach with plate number 51B-17273 driven by Tran Van Nam, aged 41, was heading from Vam Cong Bridge to Vinh Long Province when it plowed into a group of 10 bike riders and killed a rider, identified as Tran Van An, aged 59. The passenger coach continued slamming into two electric poles and a tree on the pavement, damaging the front of the coach. Local residents immediately took some injured passengers …
Human rights and environment
Pooling all efforts for the carbon market
What are the principles to build forest environment and CO2 indexes? Prof. Pham Van Dien, deputy director general of the Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST) The forest environment index would be a measure of the capacity to decrease CO2 emissions while simultaneously increasing absorption. A key part of this is forest carbon stock, the amount of carbon that has been sequestered from the atmosphere and is stored within the forest ecosystem. Comparing the forest environment index with actual emissions will help set payments for reducing emissions and establish a market for international emissions trading for sellers, buyers, and intermediaries alike. Regarding the CO2 index, I believe there are two theoretical avenues that can be taken. The index can either concern the carbon emissions of each facility separately, with the upper limit being the emissions quota allotted for them, or look at the net emissions of the entire market and carbon credit created by the decreases in emissions and increased absorption capacity achieved by managing the ecosystem. At the same time, the two indicators need to be built with a mind to ensure economic growth while promoting forest protection, benefiting buyers, sellers, and farmers alike. How will these indices promote carbon trading? They will be the basic building bricks to developing the domestic carbon market, making it possible to exchange carbon credit within the bounds of domestic regulations and international commitments. Reduction targets are forecast to drive carbon credit supply below demand, making the market more animated. The forest environment and CO2 indexes will motivate provinces to better manage their forests, while manufactures with net emissions will be encouraged to upgrade technology and switch to renewable energy to stay within their allotted quotas and avoid charges. What can Vietnam learn from the experience of other countries in managing carbon emission? …
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90 years of Vietnam Fatherland Front: National unity promoted
National unity promoted During its 90-year history, the Vietnam Fatherland Front has always exerted efforts to perform its role as the host of campaigns and activities to mobilise resources in all social strata to contribute to the country’s socio-economic growth and ensure national defence and security. Vice President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Ngo Sach Thuc says the Front has promoted patriotism, solidarity and creativity among people, which could be seen through effective implementation of its mobilisations on realising the country’s development goals and improving its people’s livelihood. He says: “The Front has become a bridge to converge people and promote national unity. It could be seen through warm responses of people to mobilisation campaigns targeting the poor, policy beneficiaries, the disadvantaged and fellow residents affected by floods, etc.” In the mobilisation campaign of ‘All people unite to build new-style rural areas and civilised urban areas’ in 2015, the Fatherland Front at all levels has coordinated with other agencies to call on people to donate land and strength to develop infrastructure, develop the economy, sustainably reduce poverty, protect the environment, adhere to the law, preserve and promote traditional cultural values towards building happy and civilised communities. Thuc says, “the mobilisation has managed to call on the whole political system and a majority of people to participate and achieved comprehensive results. 60% of communes nationwide have been recognised as new-style rural areas as of 2020”. Every year, the Fatherland Front cooperates with relevant ministries, agencies and organisations to implement the programme ‘Vietnamese people prioritise Vietnamese goods’. From 2015 to 2020, the Fatherland Front at all levels have raised a total fund of 19.7 trillion VND (over 850,000 USD) for social welfare programmes and over 4.6 trillion VND (over 200 million USD) particularly ‘For the poor’ …
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