Day: March 27, 2022

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Are Americans ugly? | Daily FT

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Daily Financial Times

By Kawya Indrajith The political battlefield of Sri Lanka was heated by the statements expressed in the joint summit held by the alliance of seven political parties, who represent the Government. The parties oppose the most fistful policy decisions of the Government that are mistreating the interest of the avant-garde who had committed to bring the power to the present Government. The contrary statements raised in the meeting had provoked the dismissal of the ministerial portfolios of Minister Wimal Weerawansa and Minister Udaya Gammanpila. In this article, I will not go to explain this politi… Continue reading “Are Americans ugly? | Daily FT”

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Russian Commander Run Over By Own Rebellious Troops During Ukraine Invasion

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uInterview.com

Russian brigade commander, Colonel Yuri Medvedev, fighting in Ukraine, was run over and killed by his own rebellious forces. Western officials believe the commander was taken out after his 37th Motor Rifle Brigade suffered huge losses. Other reports said he had died of his injuries. One official said that the brigade commander was “killed by his own troops” as “a consequence of the scale of losses that had been taken by his brigade” in the bitter fighting. The original report of the mutiny was made on Wednesday through Facebook by a Ukrainian journalist, Roman Tsymbaliuk, who said that it occu… Continue reading “Russian Commander Run Over By Own Rebellious Troops During Ukraine Invasion”

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Liberal Jewish Newspaper Publisher Made His Mark in a Conservative Town

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San Diego Jewish World

*Schlepping and Schmoozing Along the Interstate 5, Chapter 13, Exit 8B (E Street): Star-News* Proceed east from E Street exit to 3rd Avenue, turn right, Star-News building, at 296 3rd Avenue, will be on the right, before F Street. CHULA VISTA — Lowell Blankfort, a liberal Jewish Democrat, became co-publisher and editor of the staid, very conservative Star-News in 1961, and immediately began to shake up the old order. In his very first editorial, he announced that the community newspaper no longer would run columns by U.S. Rep. James Utt. Blankfort explained that Utt’s “so-called ‘column’ from … Continue reading “Liberal Jewish Newspaper Publisher Made His Mark in a Conservative Town”

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Japanese experts to help Hoi An restore Cau Pagoda

Hoi An city in the central province of Quang Nam and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on March 26 signed an agreement on supporting the restoration of Cau (Bridge) Pagoda.

Under the agreement, JICA will support Hoi An by sending experts to the city to help restore the pagoda. The activity may be adjusted depending on COVID-19 situation in Vietnam and Hoi An. All arising issues will be settled by both sides.

Alongside, JICA will also help increase local capacity in preserving Hoi An Ancient Town’s areas by providing the city with technical support.

Addressing the signing ceremony, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Tran Van Tan highlighted the significance of the Japanese support in the restoration of the site. He proposed that the two sides promptly finalise necessary procedures to receive Japanese experts soon, so that restoration activities can start in mid-2022.

Cau Pagoda is situated right in Hoi An Ancient Town, connecting Tran Phu and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai roads.

Initially, the bridge was built by Japanese tradesmen possibly in the 17th century, thus it is also called the Japanese bridge.

It was not until 1653 that a tile-roofed structure was erected, connecting to the northern railings, protruding between the bridge, that’s why local people often call the covered bridge Chua Cau (Pagoda Bridge). The pagoda was renovated many times.

The current structure of Cau Pagoda was formed from renovations in the 18th and 19th centuries. Any visitors to the Hoi An Ancient Town are also impressed with the pagoda’s unique architectures: a tiled roof structure on top, a bridge below.

Although it is a pagoda, the pagoda is not worshipping the Buddha [like other typical pagodas in Vietnam], but a spirit that protects and brings happiness to the local people.

Cau Pagoda is not only tourism symbol of the ancient town but also a place that connects the soul of the earth and Hoi An people.

The same day, the People’s Committee of Hoi An held a ceremony to receive a certificate recognising Hoi An Community House (Dinh Ong Voi) as a provincial-level relic site./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

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Vietnam, Grenada boost cooperation in trade, investment

The Vietnamese Embassy in Venezuela and Grenada, in collaboration with the Grenada Investment Development Corporation (GIDC), recently held a seminar in both in-person and online formats to promote cooperation in investment between the two countries.

Speaking at the event, GIDC Vice President Royston Cumberbatch informed participants about the investment fields that the Grenadian Government wants to promote as well as its policies to attract foreign investors.

According to him, Grenada has many conditions for investors to tap into, not only in tourism but also in other potential fields such as agriculture, telecommunications, energy and education.

In addition to preferential policies, foreign investors can also enjoy the advantage of tax exemption when accessing the US and EU markets, he added.

He expressed his hope for more experienced Vietnamese investors to come to Grenada to seek investment opportunities in the near future.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Venezuela and Grenada Le Viet Duyen said that Vietnam has a lot of experience in agriculture and is currently the world’s leading exporter of many agricultural products such as rice, coffee, pepper, and cashew nuts.

Grenada businesses can find suppliers of quality food, foodstuffs and agricultural products from Vietnam, Duyen stated, adding that Vietnam also has many fast-growing and advantageous fields such as green economy, digital economy, electricity, electronics and electric cars.

Within his official visit to Grenada, Duyen had a meeting with Minister of Agriculture, Lands and Forestry Peter David, who showed his hope to cooperate with Vietnam in aquaculture, and agricultural machinery manufacturing./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

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Vietjet resumes first international service from Thailand to Da Nang

Budget carrier Vietjet on March 27 resumed the first international service to the central city Da Nang from Bangkok, Thailand, reaffirming its leading role as the largest flight capacity provider between the two countries while pioneering in boosting the post-pandemic recovery of tourism and trade connectivity across the region.

The flight departed from Bangkok to Da Nang, carrying over a hundred passengers, including representatives from numerous Thai travel agencies to visit Da Nang and Vietnam’s central region on a trip to reactivate the tourism exchange between the two markets, following the relaxation of travel restrictions.

The resumption of Da Nang – Bangkok route will once again provide Vietnamese travellers with a highly convenient and cost-saving travel option, especially for those in the central region looking to discover Thailand, one of the most popular international destinations for Vietnamese tourists.

Customers can now reserve a ticket to Bangkok with fares as low as 68,000 VND (3 USD), excluding taxes and fees, at www.vietjetair.com. In addition, Vietjet offers complimentary pre-flight RT-PCR test for its flyers on international services.

The Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi International Airport) – Da Nang route is operated by Thai Vietjet with three return flights per week (Wednesday, Friday and Sunday). The flight time is around 1 hour and 40 minutes per leg. From Thailand to Vietnam, the flight takes off from Bangkok at 10:50 in the morning and lands in Da Nang at 12:30. Coming the other way, the flight departs from Da Nang at 13:15 and arrives in Bangkok at 14:55. Nguyen Thi Thuy Binh, Vietjet Vice President, said: “Vietjet has always sought to be a pioneer and a bridge linking these two wonderful countries. The relaunch of Bangkok – Da Nang route today as well as the restoring of other routes will accelerate the tourism rehabilitation and trade promotion in Thailand and Vietnam and across the ASEAN and Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Vietjet has gradually resumed the majority of its international flight network connecting Vietnam with other countries in the APAC region. Meanwhile in Thailand, in addition to current domestic routes among major cities, the airline is boosting its flight map with connections between Thailand and Cambodia, Singapore, Taiwan (China), and other destinations, thus offering more transfer options for passengers with competitive fares and utilities.”

Providing the largest flight capacity of any airline operating between Vietnam and Thailand, Vietjet also operates five flights per week between Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok with the frequency to be increased to daily flight as of April 12, including the Hanoi – Bangkok route. For the Da Nang – Bangkok route, frequency will increase according to market demand. In Thailand, Vietjet currently operates an expansive domestic flight network, including flight services from Bangkok to the country’s leading business and travel destinations such as Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket, Krabi, and more. The airline will also re-launch direct flights from Vietnam to well-known Thai destinations such as Phuket and Chiang Mai in May.

From Vietnam, Vietjet has also resumed the majority of its pre-pandemic international services and even added more flight frequency to all of its existing international services to Southeast Asia (Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, etc.), Northeast Asia (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, etc.) and soon to India and beyond.

From April 1, foreign visitors to Thailand under the Test and Go scheme only have to take RT-PCR test upon arrival and apply COVID-19 insurance value of only 20,000 USD. International travellers arriving in Vietnam are required to take only 1 ATK/RT-PCR test, apply a COVID-19 insurance value of only 10,000 USD and complete a medical declaration prior to arrival at tokhaiyte.vn./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

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PM asks youths to make Vietnam strong in start-up

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has stressed the need to improve the start-up movement in both quantity and quality so as to soon make Vietnam become a strong country in this field.

This should be an important task of the whole political system, but not a single ministry, sector or locality, Chinh told the fourth National Start-up Festival for Students, which opened in the northern province of Vinh Phuc on March 26.

According to him, Vietnam ranked 44th out of 132 countries and economies in the Global Innovation Index 2021. The country kept its first position among the 34 lower-middle income economies in the index.

Currently, more than 1,000 organisations are capable of supporting start-ups, and 100 percent of training institutions have plans to support students in starting a business. The World Bank also assesses Vietnam as one of the few East Asian countries investing in innovation, with a higher number of patents and innovations than previously expected, he stated.

However, Vietnam is a country with a slower starting point in start-up, with the startup ecosystem still far from those of many countries in the world, and some shortcomings and obstacles in mechanisms and policies, noted Chinh.

The Government leader affirmed the interest and investment of the Party, State and he himself to the young generation and students, adding that the Government will create all conditions to have the most favourable innovative and start-up environment.

It is necessary to promote the start-up ecosystem of the educational sector, especially in universities and colleges, he emphasised, encouraging students to have new initiatives and new business models.

The PM also stressed the importance to bring education on start-up into schools, not only at undergraduate and postgraduate levels but all levels of education.

He requested the Ministry of Information and Communications coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training to promote the programme on digital transformation in education, in association with start-up activities./

Source: Vietnam News Agency

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Hotel market forecast to recover after tourism reopening

After a long hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam’s tourism is gradually reopening with the resumption of international flights, which is considered a positive factor helping recover the hotel market.

As the hotel market mainly relies on strong tourism needs in the country, the pilot programme to welcome foreign visitors in some localities is a good opportunity that contributes to promoting the quick recovery of the Vietnam tourism market, according to the CBRE Vietnam.

The company’s hotel market view for 2021 said that last year, Vietnam was impacted severely by the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The capital city of Hanoi also suffered from the increasing number of infections, which led to a social distancing period from July to September. Since COVID-19 caused disruptions to the construction of major projects, the 4-5 star hotel market in the city remained in the quiet status and welcomed only one 5-star hotel – Capella Hanoi with 47 rooms in the beginning of the year. As of late 2021, Hanoi had a total of 8,407 rooms from 38 projects.

Due to the prolonged epidemic throughout the year, there was a further decrease in the average daily rate (ADR) in 2021 to 95.5 USD, down 5.7 percent compared to 2020 and 19.7 percent compared to the pre-COVID level in 2019. In 2021, the hotel market in Hanoi continued to suffer a fall in occupancy rate which was 30.6 percent, down 4.5 percentage points against 2020 and 50.6 percentage points against 2019. This year, although the new supply is still limited due to the pandemic crisis delaying the construction process, the rapid vaccination rate, and the reopening of international passenger routes signal the recovery of Hanoi’s tourism market.

Construction on several international brand projects such as Four Seasons, Wink, Dusit và Fairmont is expected to be completed in late 2023, thus contributing to bringing a new supply for the market.

Meanwhile, CBRE experts predicts that 2022 would open a golden opportunity for Ho Chi Minh City’s 4-5-star hotel market, with encouraging progress in the first half and more accelerating growth in the second half.

The market is expected to welcome a new supply of 2,803 rooms from 13 projects, accompanied by the entrance of multiple high-class hotel brand names such as Ritz Carlton, Mandarin Oriental, Hotel Indigo and Avani./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency