Soon after clearing his wife’s debt, the father had to get his daughters adopted into two different families… The separation Mr. Le Dinh Keo (born in 1924, now deceased) spent time working on cargo ships in Sai Gon before he started his own family, which included daughters Le Thi Bong and Le Thi Nu. His wife one day incurred a huge debt and took the whole family to a temporary accommodation in the market as putting their house on sale was the only way to get the debt paid off. Mrs. Le Thi Nu Not long after marriage, Keo’s wife left. He and his daughters lived a vagabond existence, struggling just to keep their heads above water. In 1966, days of deliberation went by, Mr. Keo decided to put his daughters Le Thi Bong (13 years old), Le Thi Nu (5 years old) up for adoption to two families in District 4. Mrs. Phan Thi Ngoc (nearly 90 years old, living in Canada) as a loving old woman, adopted Le Thi Nu. "I wanted to take them both, but I didn’t have the capability." It was imprinted on Nu’s mind the first time she got sent home for a visit to her birth father. “I gave him some money from my piggy bank but he refused to take it and instead gifted me a roast duck and some bread before I got back to my foster parents’ home, saying 'enjoy them my daughter, there will be no next time visit’," Mrs. Nu recalled with tears streaming down her cheeks. Mrs . Le Thi Bong Those lengthy 53 years Mr. Keo departed in 1968. The sisters got a chance to mourn their father at his funeral after completely losing touch. In the following years, Mrs. Bong worked different jobs as a banana trader at the pier and a chef at restaurants in District 4, thinking that her younger sister had settled down in America leading a full life with good education. Mrs. Bong married at 20 and still lives in the Xom Chieu market area, district 4. As for Mrs. Nu, in 1975, she together with her adoptive parents moved from District 4 to Ba Diem commune …
Troubled 10 year old boot camp
Hanoi Old Quarter hotels up for sale due to Covid-19
Many hotels in Hanoi’s Old Quarter area are for sale due to big losses resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. An owner of a hotel chain in Hanoi’s Old Quarters area said that this was the biggest loss for his business to date. Since being affected by the pandemic, his firm has had to suffer losses of around VND10 billion (USD434,782). The room price discount of a hotel in Hanoi's Old Quarter. Room occupancy rates have plummeted due to Covid-19, in some cases to zero percent, compared to 70-90% previously, he added. At present, his hotel often receives a small number of visitors at weekends, he noted. Meanwhile, another hotel owner Le Xuan Vinh sold his entire eight-hotel chain, sacking 200 staff. He has to pay VND150 million (USD6,521) for each hotel per month in operating costs. So far this year, he has lost VND20 billion amid the tourism slump, Vinh said, noting if the situation does not improve, he would have to look at other business areas. One of his difficulties was getting banking loans. "We wanted to use our land use rights certificate as the collateral for the loans, but were refused as his business is in the tourism sector,” Vinh said. A 302-square metre hotel on Hang Bong Street which has 12 floors with 90 rooms is being put up for sale for VND510 billion (USD22.17 million); while a 200-square metre hotel on Hang Dau Street is being offered for sale at VND210 billion. Vu Van Thanh, head of the Hotel Management Department under the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) said that the room coverage of hotels in Hanoi’s Old Quarters is less than 10%, a record low. The VNAT has proposed measures to help ease difficulties for tourism service providers. In the first eight months of this year, Vietnam served only 3.8 million international visitors, down 66.6% on-year, the record low for many years. By August 31, up to 950 tourism accommodation facilities in Hanoi had suspended their operations, making 16,000 people …
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Modi takes home-grown vaccine as India widens immunisation drive
BHUBANESWAR -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was inoculated with the first dose of a home-grown coronavirus vaccine on Monday, kicking off an expansion of the country’s immunisation campaign as infections rise in some big states. People above 60, and those who are 45 or more and suffering from certain medical conditions, are now eligible for the vaccinations. But some inoculation centres reported issues with the government’s Co-Win portal used to coordinate the drive, which could slow its progress. India, which has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases after the United States, has so far vaccinated 12 million health and front-line workers since starting its immunisation programme in mid-January. It wants to cover 300 million of its 1.35 billion people by August. “I appeal to all those who are eligible to take the vaccine,” 70-year-old Modi said on Twitter, posting a picture of him getting the shot at a government hospital in New Delhi. “Together, let us make India COVID-19 free!” The government said last week it would let people choose their vaccination centres, effectively letting beneficiaries pick either the home-grown COVAXIN shot or the AstraZeneca vaccine, unlike earlier. The inoculation campaign has run slower than expected due to a reluctance of health and front-line workers to take COVAXIN, which was approved without late-stage efficacy data. Only about 11% of vaccinated people have opted for the product developed by Bharat Biotech and the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research. Bharat Biotech has said efficacy data from a late-stage trial on nearly 26,000 volunteers who took COVAXIN will be out soon. The company, along with India’s drug regulator, says COVAXIN is safe and effective, based on early and intermediate studies. “Inspired and humbled by Hon’ble PM’s remarkable commitment to build an Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” Bharat Biotech said in reply to Modi’s tweet, referring to his self-reliance pitch to back local products. …
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