Japan to construct plant for industrial waste in capital

Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Org-anisation (NEDO) will help fund and build an industrial waste treatment system in Ha Noi that will also be used to generate electricity.

The high-tech waste treatment system will be built on a 1-hectare area at the Nam Son waste treatment complex in the suburban district of Soc Son.

The project will include the construction of an incinerator with a daily capacity of 75 tonnes of waste, an exhaust fume treatment system and heat recovery system connected to a 1.2 MW electricity generator, according to NEDO Chairman Seiji Murata.

The pilot project, which may be expanded to other cities in Viet Nam and throughout South-East Asia, aims to treat waste in a way that’s environmentally-friendly while fostering sustainable development.

Work on the project, which has total investment of US$21 million, of which the Japanese side financed $17 million, will be carried out by NEDO in co-operation with Ha Noi authorities and relevant Vietnamese Government agencies.

The involved parties are expected to complete a feasibility study for the project by the end of November, review final assessments during December and sign an agreement by the end of this year.

Construction, production, installation, test runs and personnel training for the plant will be carried out in 2011 and 2012.

NEDO, under Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, specialises in advanced technologies relating to the environment, energy and industry.

Polluters in Tay Ninh face shutdown

Nearly 120 establishments and factories in southern Tay Ninh Province were told to resolve their environmental issues by the end of this year or face closure, the province’s Environment and Natural Resources Department said.

They were found violating environment regulations.

Waste treatment areas to be built in Delta

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a plan to build solid-waste treatment areas in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta’s key economic zone over the next 10 years.

Six solid-waste treatment areas will be located in Can Tho City and An Giang, Kien Giang and Ca Mau provinces.

The Delta’s key economic zone will give priorities to treating solid waste by recycling and limiting burying solid waste in order to avoid environmental pollution. The total amount of solid waste in the Delta’s key economic zone is estimated to reach 4,600 tonnes a day in 2015, and will increase to 7,550 tonnes a day in 2020.

Revised law to better preserve minerals

However, CODE deputy director, Tu, said it would be dangerous if we carry out auctions without clarifying the exact mineral amounts.

Source: VNS

VnnNews – UNESCO’s Director-General Irina Bokova has promised to consider Vietnam’s submission of the Thang Long Royal Citadel as a world heritage.

Historic Thang Long Citadel explored< />

Hanoi to open citadel relic site to public

She made the statement when receiving Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister and Chairman of Vietnam’s UNESCO Committee Nguyen Thanh Son in Paris on April 7 to attend the 184th session of UNESCO’s Executive Council.

Son expressed thanks to UNESCO for supporting Vietnam over the years and asked the UNESCO leader to back Vietnam’s submission. He stressed that if the Thang Long Royal citadel is recognised as a world heritage, it will be especially significant for Vietnam as Hanoi celebrates the capital city’s millennium anniversary in October this year.

He conveyed an invitation from Hanoi authorities to Director-General Bokova to attend the celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi which was accepted heartily by the UNESCO Director-General.

Bokova said that the International Council for Monuments and Historical Sites (ICOMOS) is evaluating Vietnam’s submission and the World Heritage Committee will give its decision at its 34th session, scheduled to be held in Brazil in August this year.

On the sidelines of the UNESCO Executive Council’s 184th session, the Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister met with representatives from World Heritage Committee member countries, to promote Vietnam’s sites that are being put forward to UNESCO for recognition.
 
Source: VOV

VnnNews – French designer Rebecca Bargas will introduce her first Vietnamese Spring-Summer Collection which features more than 100 items tomorrow, April 10, at the Hilton Hanoi Hotel.

French designer brings expertise to VN fashion

French designer: I am inspired by Vietnamese people, country

Local fashionistas trying on homegrown designer couture

Gallic flair: The Spring-Summer Collection 2010 by French designer Rebecca Bargas will be presented at Ha Noi’s Hilton Hotel tomorrow.

Her Metiss Age collection is a mix between French and Vietnamese culture and took eight months to come to fruition.

“The collection is for everyday wear, it is a simple fusion of Vietnamese fabrics and French style,” said Bargas.

“I hope the collection will provide a range of easy to match items highlighting the feminine glamour and chic of people here. These ready-to-wear items are ideal for the office or daily wear,” added the designer whose cosmopolitan background mixes French, Spanish, Asian and Caribbean ancestry.

Bargas spent almost a year preparing the collection, with her centrally involved in the design, choice of materials, and research into the Vietnamese market.

“My Vietnamese isn’t that good, so sometimes I had a few difficulties. However, I have been here for two years which has helped me adapt to working here and I have received great support from my team.

“We are a really good mixed team,” said the 30-year-old who is the lecturer at the Raffles fashion school in Ha Noi.

This Saturday, Bargas who previously worked as the collection manager for the Indigo brand, will present her favourite pieces including dresses, shirts, tops and trousers which are available in four s and a range of colours.

“All of my blouses, tunics and tops are made of cotton, silk and linen fabrics,” she said.

“My collection is really different to some of the other ranges I’ve produced, as I’ve focused on simplicity and glamour while retaining a natural sensuality combined with a Gallic touch.”

Bargas is now the key designer and artistic director of the Marie-Linh Couture line based in Ha Noi, which mainly focuses on introducing French style through Vietnamese materials.

The young designer previously worked in Paris before moving to Madagascar and then Viet Nam, a culture that has inspired her since a child.

She has worked in the fashion industry for a decade after studying at the Lissa School and learning to be artistic director for the Paris-based Greta de la Mode until two years ago.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

People’s Artist Thanh Hoa.

People’s Artist Thanh Hoa has started the new project to popularise Vietnamese music abroad.

After helping produce Ton That Son’s first album, Doc Thoai (Monologue), the veteran singer said she hoped the album would reach Vietnamese people living abroad through online distribution networks.

After finishing Son’s album, Hoa will continue to work on producing tracks for Viet Ha and Bui Le Man.

Display celebrates ASEAN culture

A display at My Dinh National Convention Centre in Ha Noi will offer a glimpse of the culture and people from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The event will be a sideline activity at the ASEAN Summit 16. The display will present photos about people and the country, as well as traditional female costumes from each country.

The images from Viet Nam are of Hoan Kiem (Returned Sword) Lake in Ha Noi and Ha Long Bay. Delegates also have a chance to observe a Vietnamese traditional ao dai, which is a pink dress with an embroidered lotus.

The ASEAN Summit 16 will take place in Ha Noi from April 8-9.

Play to honour traditional art forms

A play combining different Vietnamese traditional and contemporary art forms will debut in Hue in June.

The play will be debut during the Hue Festival 2010. The drama, Hoi Tho Cua Nuoc (The Water’s Breath), will honour traditional art forms, which have been recognised as World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. The art forms will include nha nhac (court music), ca tru (ceremonial music) and quan ho (love duets).

The play will also feature modern art elements, such as world music, contemporary dance and fireworks performances in order to supplement the play.

The play will be performed on a floating stage in Tinh Tam Lake on June 6, 9 and 11, and will be broadcast on VTV3 channel.

Buddhist altar renovation project begins

A ground breaking ceremony marking a construction project to renovate the Buddhist altar at the Dau Pagoda in the city’s Thuong Tin District was held on Sunday.

The project, worth VND12 billion (US$600,000), is expected to be completed by the end of January 2011.

The pagoda, which is home to two famous mummified statues of Zen Masters Vu Khac Minh and Vu Khac Truong, was damaged seriously during the first Indochina War.

The State spent around VND3 billion on six renovation projects at the pagoda since 1987.

Built in the 17th century under the Ly dynasty, the pagoda was formerly known as De Nhat Danh Lam (Number One Landscape).

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Thuy Van, a beauty queen and a promising actress.

The movie-television industry is recognized as a cultural field. Thanks to TV series, Asian countries like South Korea have promoted their image across the region. In Vietnam, more amateur actors have appeared and many are more successful than professional actors. Yet the movie industry lacks talented actors to make an obvious change.

Dang Thieu Ngan, an organizer of the first actor recruitment contest, remarked that Vietnam needs to have an annual national contest to find new talent, both trained and untrained, for the growing cinema industry.

The competition is supported by state-owned and private film studios and television stations throughout Vietnam.

The competition is open to Vietnamese citizens and overseas Vietnamese ages 15-30 for women and 16-35 for men, who hold at least a high school diploma. Contestants must have good voices, acting skill, and no disabilities.

Contestants must perform in front of cameras, act at the request of the jury, and sing or dance. The ten people who enter the final round will be trained through a short-term course for the finale. The winner will have the opportunity to meet famous directors and actors and join a TV series.

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VnnNews – Artist Nguyen Tan Cuong left Vietnam for Phukhet, Thailand in early April, to organize a personal painting exhibition (April 2 to May 31) before leading a sculptural and abstract painting exhibition at HCM City University of Arts in June 2010.

Saigon lacquer: harmony of tradition and contemporaneity

Vietnamese silk painting

Three Saigonees painters look for memories through “Marks”

D gallery in Phukhet, Thailand, has introduced paintings by many Vietnamese artists like Nguyen Lam, Le Quang Ha, Nguyen Xuan Tiep, Nguyen Thi Chau Giang, Nguyen Thanh Hoa, Le Quy Tong and Nguyen Quang Huy but Nguyen Tan Cuong is the first Vietnamese to hold a personal exhibition at this gallery.

Why did the Thai gallery choose you to organize a personal painting exhibition?

D gallery knows me through an introduction by a foreign collector. Early last year they expressed their willingness to organize a personal exhibition for me in Phuket. They said they wanted to build up my fame in Thailand. I was little surprised and I searched information about them. I know that D gallery is a contemporary gallery with leading artists in Thailand, so I accepted their invitation.

The prices of paintings can partially reveal the fame of artists, but, on the international market, prices for Vietnamese paintings are not high. Why?

We don’t have painting lovers with sufficient money and understanding who can pay a hundreds of thousand dollars to buy a painting by local artists like the Chinese, Indonesians and Singaporeans do. Moreover, we don’t have a market for paintings. If we had that market, valuing artists, their levels and their styles would be publicized. In Vietnam, the prices for paintings are offered by painters. In such an environment, we don’t have real prices for paintings.

Self portrait by Nguyen Tan Cuong.

In comparison with other Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, western arts came to Vietnam earlier, with the establishment of the Indochina Art School in Hanoi in 1925. Yet our painting arts have lagged behind in the region. Are you sad?

It is sad. Our painting art developed very strongly from 1990-2000. After that we suffered from faked paintings. Fake artworks were sold even at international auctions, so how can we save the prestige of Vietnamese arts? Fake paintings hit the Vietnamese market very hard. Moreover, the uniqueness of Vietnamese paintings in the world has ended.

I don’t want to be critical, but Vietnamese artists have showed signs of exhaustion, but young painters have not risen yet. I think our painting is at a standstill. 

Source: Tuoi Tre

This is an annual selection with 100 candidates for the title. They are the winners of pageants or contestants from the final rounds of the five largest international pageants, including: Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss Earth, Miss International and Miss Tourism Queen International.

Miss Grand Slam 2009 included names like Barbados’ Leah Marville (Sexiest Woman Alive 2009), Australia’s Rachel Finch – the third runner-up of Miss Universe 2009, Miss World 2009 Kaiane Aldorino and Miss Universe Stefania Fernandez. Last year this title was presented to Miss Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza.

Previously, Vietnam’s Huong Giang was polled as in the top three for “Sexiest Woman Alive” and in the top ten for “Face of the Year.” She is the only Vietnamese candidate for Miss Grand Slam 2009, compared to three each from South Korea, the Philippines and India, as well as two from China.

Last year Vietnamese model Truong Tri Truc Diem entered the top 50 of Miss Grand Slam 2008.

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Past masters: Thousands flock to the Hung Temple every year for the festival.

Around 1,000 artists will perform at the show including artists from theatres throughout the country, the Viet Nam Circus Federation and the Viet Nam Dance School.

On April 23, President Nguyen Minh Triet and other central and local leaders will join a worshipping ceremony at the site.

There will be various cultural activities like photography and book exhibitions, a swimming competition on the Lo River and other sports tournaments, firework show, and a banh chung (glutinous-rice square cake) and banh day (glutinous-rice round cake) making competition.

The Hung Vuong Museum, which has been built over15,000sq.m, will also be inaugurated at the event with an exhibition of objects dating back to the era of the Hung kings (approximately between 2897BC and 1550BC), the Ly dynasty (1009-1225) and the Tran dynasty (1225-1400) while the Culture and Sports Festival of north-eastern ethnic groups will be held in the locality.

According to Nguyen Doan Khanh, chairman of Phu Tho Province’s People’s Committee, the local authorities have made preparations for a great festival.

Following the Hung Temple’s recognition as a special national historic site at the end of last year, work on upgrading the site to serve the event this year was undertaken, he said.

The province has also spared VND30 billion (US$1,608,000) for organising the festival this year.

He also estimated around 500,000 people would visit the temple site per day during the festival. The same event last year attracted 4 million people in total.

“I believe that Phu Tho will soon catch up with other neighbouring provinces through tourism to the Hung kings cultural site, Xuan Son forest and the Thanh Thuy ecological site,” he added, “All of these sites have seen investment and are potentially attractive tourism sites.”

A dossier had been sent to UNESCO for its recognition of local hat xoan (ancestors’ worshipping songs) as a cultural intangible heritage.

Hat xoan is believed to have originated 500 years ago. It is popular in the villages of An Thai, Phu Duc, Kim Doi and Thet along the Lo River in Phu Tho. It is also popular in other localities in the midlands and northern regions.

Hat xoan has some similarities with the lullaby. Like quan ho (love duet singing), many of the songs in hat xoan are about love, but it originally were a form of worshipping, offering praise to village genies.

According to legend, the Vietnamese nation, named Van Lang, was founded by Emperor Hung Vuong about 40 centuries ago. The 18-king dynasty led Viet Nam to development and progress in peace.

To honour the founding fathers, the Hung Vuong holy site was built in 250BC in Phu Tho, and has since become one of the most popular sites in the country. The annual Hung kings anniversary is held on the 10th day of the third lunar month. This cultural practice has only been neglected during periods of foreign domination and wars.

The Hung kings also promoted diplomatic ties with ancient China in an effort to better ensure the independence of Van Lang.

The Hung kings’ outstanding achievements resulted not only in the founding of Viet Nam of yore as a nation but also in the establishment of well-defined institutions, administrative, social and economic which made up a civilisation of the Vietnamese people.

Many people believe that the origin of Hung kings largely remains the product of Vietnamese legend. However, vestiges of the Hong Bang Dynasty such as the Hung kings’ Temple in Phu Tho, the agricultural implements made of stone discovered in northern localities of Son Tay, Vinh Yen, Bac Giang and what was recorded in the Chinese Annals of the Bach Viet (100 principality) kingdom, South China are evidence to the fact that the Vietnamese of the prehistoric age did inaugurate a monarchical dynasty which started from the rule of the 18 Hung kings.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Photo: Xunhasaba Store

The exhibition, organised by Ton Duc Thang Museum, features more than 170 photos and exhibits showing how the president helped build the national unity during his lifetime.

The museum received 22 exhibits from Ho Chi Minh Museum, documentary photos from Ha Noi Museum, local organisations and collectors.

The Consulate General of Russia in HCM City also granted some documents and photos to the museum.

The exhibition commemorates the 30th anniversary of the death of the second president of the republic after Ho Chi Minh.

The exhibition is at the Ton Duc Thang Museum on 98 Ngo Tat To Street, Ward 19, Binh Thanh District.

VTV hosts dance competition

The first episode of the Vietnamese version of famous Dancing with the Stars contest in the US will be first aired live this Sunday on Viet Nam Television (VTV).

Buoc Nhay Hoan Vu (Beautiful Dances), based on the format of the British TV series Strictly Come Dancing distributed by BBC Worldwide, pairs eight celebrities with professional dancers, who each week compete by performing in eight shows.

The contest will feature Vietnamese celebrities including singers Siu Black, Doan Trang and Quang Vinh, singer and actress Ngo Thanh Van, actor Luong Manh Hai, comedian Minh Beo, Mr International Tien Doan, and Miss International Beauty 2009 Vu Hoang Diep and eight professional dancers from the US and Bulgaria.

All the shows will be broadcast every Sunday on VTV 3 at 8pm.

Da Nang fireworks display

Around 7,400 international tourists visited the city during the Da Nang International Fireworks Competition late last month, a 3.5 fold higher than last year, the city Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said.

Domestic visitor numbers were up 61 per cent at 93,350, it added.

The visitors also went to popular destinations around the city like Ba Na – Suoi Mo tourism complex, Ngu Hanh Son complex, Cham Sculpture Museum and Suoi Hoa Resort.

City cinema to show 3D movies

The Thien Ngan (Galaxy) Studio Joint Stock Company will launch two new 3D screens in HCM City this Friday.

The new 3D screens in the company’s facilities on Nguyen Du and Nguyen Trai streets is expected to meet rising demand of Vietnamese movie fans.

Phan To Hong Hai, the company’s Exhibition Division Director, said Galaxy Cinema hopes to have Vietnamese audiences enjoy the latest international 3D blockbusters in greater numbers.

Clash of the Titans, a Warner Bros production directed by Louis Leterrier will be the first film screened using the new facilities.

Road safety campaign kicks off

About 4,000 primary school students from 15 provinces and cities are expected to take part in a national traffic safety campaign today, April 6, in Ha Noi.

The two-day festival organised jointly by Toyota Viet Nam, the Ministry of Education and Training and the National Committee for Traffic Safety, is designed to promote road safely through activities such as painting poetry competitions. It will last until tomorrow at the Giang Vo Fair and Exhibition Centre. Admission is free.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News