Rice grains, supposed to date back to about 3,000 years ago at Den Citadel relic site in Hanoi’s Me Linh District, are in fact a current rice variety, scientists said at a seminar held by the Agricultural Genetics Institute on Tuesday.

A national demographic database will be set up and supervised by the Ministry of Public Security and local public security forces.

Under the newly-approved Decree 90/2010/NĐ-CP, dated on August 18, the establishment of a national population database targets to provide state competent agencies and individuals with accurate and updated demographic information which can serve socio-economic development requirements. 

The Mekong 1000 project to sponsor students in the Mekong Delta to pursue their graduate studies abroad has become stagnant due to candidates’ poor English language skills and disagreement between localities and the State Audit of Vietnam.

The project aims to promote the Mekong Delta’s industrialization and modernization process, and international integration through improving human resources for the region.

The government is making efforts to invite Ngo Bao Chau, a Hanoi-born mathematician whose research has won international acclaim, to help implement its 2010-2020 national math development program.

Chau, 38, is currently a French naturalized citizen.

Việt Nam’s IT market is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9% over the 2010-2014 period, reported Companiesandmarkets.com, a leading online business information aggregator.

Consumer retail spending reached recorded high in 2009 despite the economic slowdown, in part due to tariff reductions and aggressive price cutting. Government and business IT spending took a hit, but is expected to pick up in 2010.

Pictured is a small cluster testbed that houses the graphical processing units (GPUs) accelerator cards. HokieSpeed is being designed at Virginia Tech as a new heterogeneous supercomputing instrument based on a combination of central processing units (CPUs) and GPUs. Traditionally, only the CPU has served as the brains in computing instruments, and this new combination is expected to greatly improve a supercomputer’s problem solving capabilities. Credit: Virginia Tech Photo

HA NOI — The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has approved a proposal from military-run mobile phone service provider Viettel to reduce phone tariffs by 10-15 per cent, starting a new charge reduction race among providers.

The reduction will be applied to its post-paid subscribers with charges set for a basic package of VND890 per minute for internal-network and VND990 for internal-network calls, VND100 lower than previous levels.

This is an impression of the interaction between a superconducting electrical circuit and a microwave photon. Credit: Dr. A. Marx, Technische Universitaet Muenchen

This is a colorized micrograph of semiconductor nanowires grown at NIST in a precisely controlled array of sizes and locations. Credit: K. Bertness, NIST

NIST researchers grow nanowires made of semiconductors -- gallium nitride alloys -- by depositing atoms layer-by-layer on a silicon crystal under high vacuum. NIST has the unusual capability to produce these nanowires without using metal catalysts, thereby enhancing luminescence and reducing defects. NIST nanowires also have excellent mechanical quality factors.

The population of the Mekong giant catfish has plummeted 90 percent in just two decades and the species are at risk of extinction, says a new WWF report.

According to the report titled River of Giants: Giant Fish of the Mekong, the world's biggest freshwater fish and four out of the top 10 giant freshwater fish species can be found in the Mekong River, which flows through Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

But their existence has been threatened by a combination of infrastructure development, habitat destruction and overharvesting, the WWF said.

PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng has ordered the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) to complete, by the end of this month, the draft Project on converting Việt Nam into an ICT power by 2020.
Việt Nam targets to become one of the top 70 ITC members of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) by 2015, according to the project.

Vietnam’s “Little Chickens” group defeated 26 international teams to win first prize in its first time at the prestigious chipset design contest in Japan called “Large Scale Integrated” (LSI).  

Chairman of the southern province of Bac Lieu, Vo Van Dung, has approved a wind power project in Bac Lieu Town.

A Vietnamese delegation led by Minister of Science and Technology Hoang Van Phong attended the International Conference on Access to Civil Nuclear Energy in Paris on March 8-9.

Nation mulls plan to build nuclear power plants

Vietnam may have nuclear power by 2020

National Assembly deputies approve nuclear power project

Dr Phan Thi Tuoi, a computer scientist and former rector of the HCM City University of Technology, has been named for last year' + char(39)+ N's Kovalevskaya Prize for her lifetime achievement.

Vietnam to attend international programming contest

Hanoi University of Technology to join ACM/ICPC 2008 finals

Hybrid rice strain fetches 500,000 USD

Vietnam is capable of releasing immediate warnings of earthquakes and tsunamis to help minimise the consequences of these natural disasters, says a senior Vietnamese geophysicist.

Hanoi may have 8-grade earthquake

Vietnam to build more earthquake warning stations

VND80bil for tsunami and earthquake early warning system

The 7th international competition and exhibition on young scientific and technological creativeness will take place in Hanoi in late 2010.

Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Vietnam announced the Earth Hour 2010 programme in HCM City on March 3.

A TV channel on agriculture and the countryside will go on the air in April to serve 70 percent of Vietnam’s population.

Viet Nam is set to phase out small-scale agriculture through the introduction of new technologies to agriculture that are expected to result in higher yields and more competitive farm produce.

The BKZ team from the Da Nang Polytechnic University passed 28 teams from 14 universities to take first prize in a landmine-disarming robot contest on January 29-30 in HCM City.  

A list of 100 businesses to be granted the “top trade services award for 2009” was announced in Hanoi on January 19.

An annular solar eclipse, believed to be the longest in 1,000 years, will occur on January 15 and can be observed in parts of Vietnam, according to the Geophysics Institute of Vietnam’s Academy of Science and Technology.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved an investment project on Vietnam’s second telecommunications satellite (VINASAT-2), which is scheduled to be launched in 2012.

PM Dung authorized the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) as the chief investor in the project.

Nearly 500 representatives of scientific and technological organizations met on December 26 to review the role and contribution of scientific-technological organizations to the country’s development as well as to identify difficulties and barriers.

The Government aims to boost the effectiveness of management over the nation' + char(39)+ N's forest by establishing a forestry information network with the help of the Government of Finland and the Trust Fund for Forests (TFF).

The Vietnam Fund for Supporting Technological Creations (VIFOTEC) gave away prizes to 16 scientific projects displayed by Vietnamese at the fourth Students International Initiative Fund exhibition held from December 11 to 15  in the Republic of Korea.

PM Dung says people should know how rising temperatures will affect them

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday, December 7, asked ministries and sectors to continue updating climate forecasts and have an overall plan for irrigation, hydropower plants, transport and protective forests to cope with climate change.

VietNamNet Bridge - Up to half of the downpours in Vietnam are acid rains caused by air pollution, an environment research center said.

Duong Hong Son, director of the Environment Research Center under the Institute of Hydrometeorology, Science and Environment, cited data from observation centers that said 30-50 percent of rain in Vietnam every year are acid rains which have the pH levels lower than 5.6.

The government of Binh Thuan Province has decided to suspend the licensing of new wind power development projects because many of the potential areas for wind power development overlap on titanium mines, according to Binh Thuan’s Department of Industry and Trade.

The annual KOVA Awards were presented yesterday, November 22, to three groups, four individuals and five students, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to society in 2009.

On November 18, four samples of industrial robot "made in Vietnam" will hit the road to attend International Robot Exhibition (IREX 2009) - The world's largest exhibition on the robot held in the Exhibition Center Tokyo Big Sight (Japan) , on 25-28/11.

                                    A  new task force to protect and expand forests has been proposed in response to the illegal logging of more than 1,300 hectares of forests in the first half of 2009. 

The proposal submitted to the Government by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), said the taskforce should comprise a central committee, local agencies, park rangers, police and border guards.

The HCM City Pasteur Institute has successfully made the first A/H1N1 vaccine batch, according to the institute’s vice director, Dr. Cao Thi Bao Van on November 5.

Ho Chi Minh City"s first gas pipeline began pumping the fuel fro oilfields off the coast of Ba Ria Vung Tau Province last Thursday.

Vietnam’s Government is drafting a decree governing the safety of biotechnology-based foods, so the labeling of genetically modified foods is expected to start from 2015, according to the HCMC Biotechnology Center.

Scientists from the Ministry of Public Security’s Biochemical and Professional Document Institute have introduced a new invention – five-minute drug-testing stick.

UNESCO is to present its Kalinga Award for the Popularisation of Science 2009 to Vietnamese American professor of astronomy Trinh Xuan Thuan and Indian professor Yash Pal.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan is attending at the 47th session of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) General Assembly in Switzerland from September 22 to October 2.

Vu Van Thang, 19, from Thai Binh province has won one of the five top prizes at the National Creativeness Competition for Children and Youth 2009 for his robot made entirely from items found in the trash.

Today, September 9, all stores on Le Loi street, Hoi An ancient city in the central province of Quang nam, are using sedge and paper bags instead of plastic bags.

An organisation to protect intellectual property rights is expected to be set up in Viet Nam by the end of the year.

The “Internet city” project will be finalised in June 2011 in the HCM City Hi-tech Park, reported the park’s management board.

The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century will take place on July 22. From almost everywhere in Vietnam people will be able to see a partial eclipse. The best locations for observation are Ha Giang province, Hanoi, HCM City and Can Tho.

The Vaccine and Bio-medical Product Company 1 and the International Vaccine Institute have introduced a new kind of cholera vaccine with 90% efficacy. This product is being praised as the best of its kind in the world.

The Government has endorsed a new Hi-Tech Law to govern the activities of organisations, individuals, overseas Vietnamese and foreign organisations and individuals, who operate in Viet Nam' + char(39)+ N's hi-tech sector.

The 2005 Law on Intellectual Property (IP Law) took effect on July 1, 2006, opening a new chapter in the protection of intellectual property rights in Viet Nam.

The Government is defining a series of long-term but urgently needed solutions to effectively cope with global climate change.

VietNamNet Bridge – Science and Technology Deputy Minister Nguyen Quan spoke with Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Vietnam Economic Times) about regulating intellectual property in Viet Nam.

Vietnam’s first solar battery factory will start running on April 27 in Duc Hoa Ha Industrial Complex, in Binh Tien hamlet, Duc Hoa Ha commune, Duc Hoa district, the southern province of Long An.

Local scientists have successfully researched pre-implantation genetic diagnosis of human embryos, announced Secretary General of the HCM City Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Association (HOSREM), Ho Manh Tuong.

The Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and the State-run energy company Argentina ENARSA have agreed to boost cooperation regarding inshore and offshore oil and gas exploration, oil refinery operations and personnel training.

VietNamNet Bridge – The first telecom satellite of Vietnam, Vinasat 1, was launched last April. Vietnam entered its name on the space map with this satellite. In December 2008, the government approved a small satellite manufacturing project. The ambition to discover space and apply space and satellite technology is burning.

VietNamNet Bridge – As of 2009, HCM City will have an annual invention awards for highly practical inventions, announced the HCM City Department of Science and Technology.

Vietnam began to develop a model of e-government nearly a decade ago in an effort to streamline administrative procedures and establish a communications channel between the administration and its citizens. However, to increase the efficiency of the model requires a firmer resolve from all the State agencies.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Science and Technology is compiling a national technology renovation programme. However, renovation can take place whenever businesses want.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam’s biologists have succeeded in creating some kinds of genetically-modified (GM) crops. Hence, Vietnam determines to put GM crops into mass production at the latest in 2015 for better national food security.

VietNamNet Bridge - It’s predicted that between 12-20 magnetic storms will affect Vietnam during 2009, threatening the health of magnetism-sensitive people or heart disease patients, according to Dr Ha Duyen Chau, acting head of the Global Physics Institute.

Officials of the HCM City Department of Science and Technology and representatives of IDG Ventures Vietnam Fund discussed the establishment of a technology trading floor in HCM City on February 16.

VietNamNet Bridge – Organisations and individuals can now get information about laboratories in HCM City at the website www.labor.org.vn. This website currently contains data on around 400 laboratories.

VietNamNet Bridge – Telecommunications industry insiders predict that the third generation network (3G) technology will be introduced in Vietnam this year when the Ministry of Information and Communication organizes a competitive tender in the first quarter.

Afternoon, 01 February (7th of Lunar New Year), at Trung Vuong Park (Vungtau City), the Department of Culture - Sports and Tourism in collaboration with the Human Chess Club under the Ho Chi Minh City Chess Federation and Unicorn – Lion – Dragon Club Thanh Nghia Duong of Ho Chi Minh City performed human chess, unicorn – lion and dragon dance and inner force.

Attending the program “Echo of Beach City” with the leaders: Mr. Nguyen Tuan Minh, Member of the Central Committee of the Party, Provincial Party Committee Secretary, Chairman of the People’s Council of the province; Mr. Nguyen Van Cuong, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Protagonist of Members of National Assembly of Ba Ria – Vung Tau province; Mr. Tran Minh Sanh, Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee; Tran Hong Ha, Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee with leaders of Central and local departments, sectors; leaders of the Provincial Party Committee, People"s Committee, People’s Council, Vietnamese Fatherland Front of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province ...

In 2005, Baria-Vungtau province carried out a project for seaside anti-erosion treatment by “Stabiplage®” technology on Loc An zone, Dat Do distric. As a result, Stabiplage works has restricted the erosive phenomenon occurring in the protected area after 3 year operation. The successfulness has opend opportunities for applying a new technological solution to protecting coasts from erosion in not only Baria-Vungtau province but also other places across the country where have similar situations.

In the morning of 13 November 2008, in the conference room of the Provincial People’s Committee, the Department of Information and Communication organized to evaluate the solution of deploying Electronic Office (EOFFICE) in the years of 2007 and 2008, and approve the solution of deploying in the next time.

The first prize of the 4th Vietnam Talent Contest 2008, which closed last night, went to the Vietnam International Tourism and Entertainment Information Network (http://www.skydoor.net).

The fair of exhibition of the third Southern Agriculture and Rural 2008, which was organized in Ho Chi Minh City by Vietnamese Farmers Union co-operated with the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, has been just ended.

On the day of 23 October 2008, Representatives of Provincial Committee of the Party, the People’s Council of Dat Do District and some of relevant Departments and Sectors have had a meeting to hear the Science and Technology Department and Space Pur Company (French Republic) reporting of the project to handle and resist the washing away of the seaside by Stabiplage (R) Technology at the area of South Loc An (Loc An 2 & 3). The report has been presided over by Mr. Truong Thanh Cong, Director of the Science and Technology Department.   

Vietkings (Vietnam Records Book Center) are cooperating with the Provincial Tourism Promotion Center in order to carry out a book of “Records of Baria-Vungtau”.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Culture-Tourism Festival Ba Ria - Vung Tau 2009, scheduled from January 26 to February 4, will focus on cultural, tourist and daily life activities. 

VietNamNet Bridge – Around 120 companies will participate in the Can Tho Technology and Equipment Market 2008 (Techmart Can Tho), which will be held in the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho from November 27-31, 2008.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam is ready to make a decision to establish a nuclear power programme, following careful research, said Head of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute Vuong Huu Tan.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Vietnamese business community has significantly contributed to maintaining high economic growth and stability, generating jobs, reducing poverty and carrying out many other social policies, said State President Nguyen Minh Triet.

The General Department of Quality Measure Standards (The Ministry of Science and Technology) gave the information from 2009, ecological labels of the commodity products will be applied in a pilot scheme, and to 2011 it will be extended nationwide and in accordance with the route, 10% of export products, goods and 50% of consumer goods in the country will be granted ecological labels in 2020. The General Department of Environment Protection will issue ecological labels for commodity products.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has officially launched the Viet Nam Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Awards 2008 that will be announced in early 2009.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministries of Home Affairs and Science-Technology have issued a joint circular which says that each district must appoint 1-2 government officers in charge of science and technology.

VietNamNet Bridge - President Nguyen Minh Triet held bilateral meetings with leaders of various countries in Beijing on August 8 as they all gathered in China ’s capital city for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

VietNamNet Bridge - Registration for the Viet Nam Fund for Supporting Scientific and Technological Creations’ Creative Technology Awards will open on October 31, said a representative of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam marked its own characteristic at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) after seven months joining the UNSC, especially during one month chairing the council, a diplomat said.

VietNamNet Bridge – Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan has asked State officials and employees who participate in the fields of science and technology to make serious changes to their working styles, and to better understand their roles in the country' + char(39)+ N's development.

VietNamNet Bridge – Because of rain in most northern provinces, Vietnamese people will have little chance to see the solar eclipse this afternoon, August 1, according to the Northern Delta Hydrometeorology Forecast Station.

VietNamNet Bridge – The 39th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) opened this morning in Hanoi. 390 high school from 85 countries and territories join the competition.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Geophysics Institute is about to build the first two earthquake alert stations of the total 30 planned stations with total investment of VND70 billion (over $4.3 million).

VietNamNet Bridge - CMC Telecommunication Services Corporation (CMC Telecom) and three leading regional telecom and IT services providers today officially announced the formation of the Data Center Alliance (DCA) followed by the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony between the DCA and Intel to accelerate Green Data Center deployments in the region.

VietNamNet Bridge – In just a year Vietnamese farmers managed to help Sierra Leone double annual rice crops to two and quadruple per-ha rice yield to four tonnes, an unbelievable success that international experts had for long dreamt at.

VietNamNet Bridge – The two-horn rhino, tapir, grey ox (Kouprey), Vietnamese paphiopedium (orchid) are among the nine rare flora and fauna species listed in the Vietnam Red Book 1992-1996 that have become extinct in the wild of Vietnam, according to the newly released Vietnam Red Book.

VietNamNet Bridge – The 7th qualifier round of the World Cyber Games contest has been kicked off in Vietnam to choose the best gamers for the world final round in November 2008 in Cologne, Germany.

VietNamNet Bridge – According to scientists, a total solar eclipse will occur on August 1, 2008 and it can be witnessed from the entire territory of Vietnam.

Event though it is a rainy or sunny day , you hardly sense bad odor from sewers when walking on pavements or sitting in a side-walk coffees in Vung Tau as you do in other urban areas. It is the fact that Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu has pioneered the use of “Stemming bad odor from sewers technology” developed by engineer Hoàng Đức Thảo, who is also the director of the Baria-Vungtau Urban Sewerage And Drainage   Company (BUSADCO).