Neil Armstrong, 1st man on the moon, dies at 82

 

Neil Armstrong was a soft-spoken engineer who became a global hero when as a steely-nerved pilot he made "one giant leap for mankind" with a small step onto the moon. The modest man, who had people on Earth entranced and awed from almost a quarter-million miles away, but credited others for the feat, died Saturday. He was 82.

Armstrong died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures, his family said in a statement. Armstrong had had a bypass operation this month, according to NASA. His family didn't say where he died; he had lived in suburban Cincinnati.

Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969, capping the most daring of the 20th century's scientific expeditions. His first words after becoming the first person to set foot on the surface are etched in history books and the memories of those who heard them in a live broadcast.

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," Armstrong said.

(Armstrong insisted later that he had said "a'' before man, but said he, too, couldn't hear it in the version that went to the world.)

In those first few moments on the moon, during the climax of a heated space race with the Soviet Union, Armstrong stopped in what he called "a tender moment" and left a patch to commemorate NASA astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts who had died in action.

"It was special and memorable but it was only instantaneous because there was work to do," Armstrong told an Australian television interviewer this year.

Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the lunar surface, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs.

"The sights were simply magnificent, beyond any visual experience that I had ever been exposed to," Armstrong once said.

The moonwalk marked America's victory in the Cold War space race that began Oct. 4, 1957, with the launch of the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1, a 184-pound satellite that sent shock waves around the world.

Although he had been a Navy fighter pilot, a test pilot for NASA's forerunner and an astronaut, Armstrong never allowed himself to be caught up in the celebrity and glamour of the space program.

"I am, and ever will be, a white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer," he said in 2000 in one of his rare public appearances. "And I take a substantial amount of pride in the accomplishments of my profession."

Fellow Ohioan and astronaut John Glenn, one of Armstrong's closest friends, recalled Saturday how Armstrong was down to the last 15 seconds to 35 seconds of fuel when he finally brought the Eagle down on the Sea of Tranquility.

"That showed a dedication to what he was doing that was admirable," Glenn said.

A man who kept away from cameras, Armstrong went public in 2010 with his concerns about President Barack Obama's space policy that shifted attention away from a return to the moon and emphasized private companies developing spaceships. He testified before Congress, and in an email to The Associated Press, Armstrong said he had "substantial reservations," and along with more than two dozen Apollo-era veterans, he signed a letter calling the plan a "misguided proposal that forces NASA out of human space operations for the foreseeable future."

Armstrong was among the greatest of American heroes, Obama said in a statement.

"When he and his fellow crew members lifted off aboard Apollo 11 in 1969, they carried with them the aspirations of an entire nation. They set out to show the world that the American spirit can see beyond what seems unimaginable — that with enough drive and ingenuity, anything is possible," Obama said.

Obama's Republican opponent Mitt Romney echoed those sentiments, calling Armstrong an American hero whose passion for space, science and discovery will inspire him for the rest of his life.

"With courage unmeasured and unbounded love for his country, he walked where man had never walked before. The moon will miss its first son of earth," Romney said.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden recalled Armstrong's grace and humility.

"As long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them, remembered for taking humankind's first small step on a world beyond our own," Bolden said in a statement.

Armstrong's modesty and self-effacing manner never faded.

When he appeared in Dayton in 2003 to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of powered flight, he bounded onto a stage before 10,000 people packed into a baseball stadium. But he spoke for only a few seconds, did not mention the moon, and quickly ducked out of the spotlight.

He later joined Glenn, by then a senator, to lay wreaths on the graves of Wilbur and Orville Wright. Glenn introduced Armstrong and noted it was 34 years to the day that Armstrong had walked on the moon.

"Thank you, John. Thirty-four years?" Armstrong quipped, as if he hadn't given it a thought.

At another joint appearance, the two embraced and Glenn commented: "To this day, he's the one person on earth I'm truly, truly envious of."

Armstrong's moonwalk capped a series of accomplishments that included piloting the X-15 rocket plane and making the first space docking during the Gemini 8 mission, which included a successful emergency splashdown.

In the years afterward, Armstrong retreated to the quiet of the classroom and his southwestern Ohio farm. Aldrin said in his book "Men from Earth" that Armstrong was one of the quietest, most private men he had ever met.

In the Australian interview, Armstrong acknowledged that "now and then I miss the excitement about being in the cockpit of an airplane and doing new things."

At the time of the flight's 40th anniversary, Armstrong again was low-key, telling a gathering that the space race was "the ultimate peaceful competition: USA versus U.S.S.R. It did allow both sides to take the high road with the objectives of science and learning and exploration."

Glenn, who went through jungle training in Panama with Armstrong as part of the astronaut program, described him as "exceptionally brilliant" with technical matters but "rather retiring, doesn't like to be thrust into the limelight much."

Derek Elliott, curator of the Smithsonian Institution's U.S. Air and Space Museum from 1982 to 1992, said the moonwalk probably marked the high point of space exploration.

The manned lunar landing was a boon to the prestige of the United States, which had been locked in a space race with the former Soviet Union, and re-established U.S. pre-eminence in science and technology, Elliott said.

"The fact that we were able to see it and be a part of it means that we are in our own way witnesses to history," he said.

The 1969 landing met an audacious deadline that President John F. Kennedy had set in May 1961, shortly after Alan Shepard became the first American in space with a 15-minute suborbital flight. (Soviet cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin had orbited the Earth and beaten the U.S. into space the previous month.)

"I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth," Kennedy had said. "No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important to the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."

The end-of-decade goal was met with more than five months to spare. "Houston: Tranquility Base here," Armstrong radioed after the spacecraft settled onto the moon. "The Eagle has landed."

"Roger, Tranquility," Apollo astronaut Charles Duke radioed back from Mission Control. "We copy you on the ground. You've got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot."

The third astronaut on the mission, Michael Collins, circled the moon in the mother ship Columbia 60 miles overhead while Armstrong and Aldrin went to the moon's surface.

Collins told NASA on Saturday that he will miss Armstrong terribly, spokesman Bob Jacobs tweeted.

In all, 12 American astronauts walked on the moon from 1969 to the last moon mission in 1972.

For Americans, reaching the moon provided uplift and respite from the Vietnam War, from strife in the Middle East, from the startling news just a few days earlier that a young woman had drowned in a car driven off a wooden bridge on Chappaquiddick Island by Sen. Edward Kennedy. The landing occurred as organizers were gearing up for Woodstock, the legendary three-day rock festival on a farm in the Catskills of New York.

Armstrong was born Aug. 5, 1930, on a farm near Wapakoneta in western Ohio. He took his first airplane ride at age 6 and developed a fascination with aviation that prompted him to build model airplanes and conduct experiments in a homemade wind tunnel.

As a boy, he worked at a pharmacy and took flying lessons. He was licensed to fly at 16, before he got his driver's license.

Armstrong enrolled in Purdue University to study aeronautical engineering but was called to duty with the U.S. Navy in 1949 and flew 78 combat missions in Korea.

After the war, Armstrong finished his degree from Purdue and later earned a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California. He became a test pilot with what evolved into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, flying more than 200 kinds of aircraft from gliders to jets.

Armstrong was accepted into NASA's second astronaut class in 1962 — the first, including Glenn, was chosen in 1959 — and commanded the Gemini 8 mission in 1966. After the first space docking, he brought the capsule back in an emergency landing in the Pacific Ocean when a wildly firing thruster kicked it out of orbit.

Armstrong was backup commander for the historic Apollo 8 mission at Christmastime in 1968. In that flight, Commander Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders circled the moon 10 times, paving the way for the lunar landing seven months later.

Aldrin said he and Armstrong were not prone to free exchanges of sentiment.

"But there was that moment on the moon, a brief moment, in which we sort of looked at each other and slapped each other on the shoulder ... and said, 'We made it. Good show,' or something like that," Aldrin said.

An estimated 600 million people — a fifth of the world's population — watched and listened to the landing, the largest audience for any single event in history.

Parents huddled with their children in front of the family television, mesmerized by what they were witnessing. Farmers abandoned their nightly milking duties, and motorists pulled off the highway and checked into motels just to see the moonwalk.

Television-less campers in California ran to their cars to catch the word on the radio. Boy Scouts at a camp in Michigan watched on a generator-powered television supplied by a parent.

Afterward, people walked out of their homes and gazed at the moon, in awe of what they had just seen. Others peeked through telescopes in hopes of spotting the astronauts.

In Wapakoneta, media and souvenir frenzy was swirling around the home of Armstrong's parents.

"You couldn't see the house for the news media," recalled John Zwez, former manager of the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum. "People were pulling grass out of their front yard."

Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins were given ticker tape parades in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles and later made a 22-nation world tour. A homecoming in Wapakoneta drew 50,000 people to the city of 9,000.

In 1970, Armstrong was appointed deputy associate administrator for aeronautics at NASA but left the following year to teach aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati.

He remained there until 1979 and during that time bought a 310-acre farm near Lebanon, where he raised cattle and corn. He stayed out of public view, accepting few requests for interviews or speeches.

"He didn't give interviews, but he wasn't a strange person or hard to talk to," said Ron Huston, a colleague at the University of Cincinnati. "He just didn't like being a novelty."

Those who knew him said he enjoyed golfing with friends, was active in the local YMCA and frequently ate lunch at the same restaurant in Lebanon.

In 2000, when he agreed to announce the top 20 engineering achievements of the 20th century as voted by the National Academy of Engineering, Armstrong said there was one disappointment relating to his moonwalk.

"I can honestly say — and it's a big surprise to me — that I have never had a dream about being on the moon," he said.

From 1982 to 1992, Armstrong was chairman of Charlottesville, Va.-based Computing Technologies for Aviation Inc., a company that supplies computer information management systems for business aircraft.

He then became chairman of AIL Systems Inc., an electronic systems company in Deer Park, N.Y.

Armstrong married Carol Knight in 1999, and the couple lived in Indian Hill, a Cincinnati suburb. He had two adult sons from a previous marriage.

Armstrong's is the second death in a month of one of NASA's most visible, history-making astronauts. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, died of pancreatic cancer on July 23 at age 61.

One of the NASA's closest astronaut friends was fellow Ohioan and Mercury astronaut Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth.

Just prior to the 50th anniversary of Glenn's orbital flight this past February, Armstrong offered high praise to the elder astronaut and said that Glenn had told him many times how he wished he, too, had flown to the moon on Apollo 11. Glenn said it was his only regret.

Noted Armstrong in an email: "I am hoping I will be 'in his shoes' and have as much success in longevity as he has demonstrated." Glenn is 91.

At the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles on Saturday, visitors held a minute of silence for Armstrong. For anyone else who wanted to remember him, his family's statement made a simple request:

"Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink."

Can Tho beauty crowned Miss Vietnam 2012

Dang Thu Thao, from the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho won the Miss Vietnam 2012 title in the final round of the beauty pageant held in the central city of Da Nang last night, August 25.

The 21-year-old beauty stands 1.73m tall with vital statistics 83-60-90cms and has already claimed the 2012 Beauty Queen title in the Mekong Delta. At present she is studying at Tay Do University in Can Tho City.

Second and third runners-up, Duong Tu Anh and Do Hoang Anh both hail from Hanoi.

Miss Vietnam 2012 received a cash prize of VND300 million (US$14,400), while the second and third runners-up received VND150 million and VND100 million each respectively.

In the final round of 39 beauty queens, the top five contestants were Do Hoang Anh, Phan Thi Mo, Duong Tu Anh, Dang Thu Thao and Vu Ngoc Anh.

The golden age for digital content firms coming

VietNamNet Bridge – Digital content service providers now gear up to implement a lot of investment projects to grab the golden opportunities to come in the “second Internet wave” in Vietnam.

Phan Sao Nam, President of VTC Online, in an interview given to Buu dien newspaper, mentioned the notion “second Internet wave,” saying that digital content firms need to prepare well for the wave which would last 3-5 years only.

Vietnam witnessed the first Internet wave in the 1997-2007, when the number of Internet users jumped from zero to 10 million. At that time, dotcoms developed very strongly by launching a lot of applications that can change the lives of people.

Nowadays, the appearance of 3G and smart mobile devices which can satisfy the digital convergence trend has led to the sharp increase of mobile Internet users. In the last three years, the number of people accessing Internet from their mobile phones has increased from zero to 13 million.

If the rapid growth rate continues, the number of Internet users would climb to 50 million in the next three or five years. By that time, the market would reach its peak of development, which would later go horizontally, thus making this a new habit for consumers.

According to Kinh te Vietnam newspaper, the government of Vietnam strives to have 60 percent of the population to use Internet services by 2020.

Technologically, a senior executive of VinaPhone, one of the three biggest mobile network operators, affirmed at a recent workshop on digital content services in HCM City that in the near future, 3G would be the main wireless network connection tool which would be by far superior to wifi technology.

“It is now the transitional period between the first and the second Internet waves, with the second wave nearly coming,” Nam said.

However, Nam said Vietnamese IT firms should hurry to prepare for the second Internet wave, or they would lose the opportunity, because the wave would not last for a long time.

There is not much more time to hesitate, because the golden opportunity would not come back again. When the Internet market breaks even, the positions of the service providers on the market would be disposed.

Meanwhile, according to Nam, only the enterprises in the top 3 in the Internet market would be able to survive and develop.

Nam compares Vietnamese digital content firms with “the excellent, but poor students.” Though the firms have a lot of good ideas, they cannot grow up because they lack capital. Therefore, they need the investors who can help them make the ideas realistic.

VTC Online has found an investor suitable for it. DWS, an investment fund from the global finance group Deutsche Bank has agreed to invest 10 million dollars in VTC Online, while the cash was remitted to VTC Online’s account in July 2012.

Analysts believe that in Vietnam, the Internet-service relating firms are now the top choice for foreign investment funds, which have realized that Vietnam is the country with the highest growth rate of Internet users, and that the digital content industry still has been developing well despite the big economic difficulties.

While the businesses in many business fields are facing big difficulties, going to bankrupted or undergoing restructure process, the enterprises in the digital content industry still have been developing strongly.

Le Hong Minh, General Director of VNG, said on Zing.news the corporation hopes to obtain the turnover of 4600 billion dong from games in 2012, adding that 15 million people play games every day.

Compiled by C. V

SBV issues rules to replenish gold supply

Deformed SJC gold bars and non-SJC gold bars meeting quality standards will be reprocessed into SJC gold under the supervision of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the central bank announced on Thursday.

Specifically, Saigon Jewelry Company (SJC) whose brand is now under the central bank’s jurisdiction will process gold for the central bank at a fee.

The central bank will also dictate when to process gold bars, the volume to be processed and the sources of materials, according to Decision 1623/QD-NHNN on gold bar production issued on Thursday.

To produce gold bars from material, the central bank will sign an outsourcing contract with SJC when there is a demand. The gold processing will be supervised by the central bank’s inspection team, and SJC will hand over gold bars produced to the central bank.

The new rule is seen a move by the central bank to replenish local supply as the buying demand is running high these days.

Earlier, SJC has repeatedly sought approval from the central bank to reprocess those gold bars of this brand that have become deformed or scratched, as the gold trader said it did not have enough money to buy back all such bars while the amount of disfigured gold bars in its stockpile has amounted to thousands of taels. A tael equals 1.2 troy ounces.

Those wanting to convert non-SJC into SJC gold bars will have to seek approval from the central bank which will be given 30 days after the proposal is sent, and SJC will then send a reprocessing plan to the central bank within two days after the proposal is approved.

Under the decision, the HCMC Branch of the central bank will be in charge of receiving, sealing and preserving gold molds after this decision takes effect.

A representative of the State Bank said the decision aims to monitor the use of gold materials and to avoid gold of unclear origins being produced into SJC gold. The new rule also enables the central bank to control the gold supply and easily regulate the market when necessary.

Given the decision, the local gold supply will increase substantially as SJC will be able to reprocess 7,000 taels of disfigured gold bars and gold of other brands.

In related news, the central bank on Thursday also issued a document amending Article 1 of Circular 11/2011/TT-NHNN to ensure safety for banking operations related to gold. The central bank governor will consider and decide on the borrowing and lending in gold among credit institutions.

Previously, Article 1 did not allow borrowing and lending in gold between credit institutions and with customers. It also disallowed deposits in gold, making investment and offering loans in gold.

The amendment will help any credit institutions with temporary liquidity shortage can borrow from other institutions. This is seen as a move of the central bank to support credit institutions after huge gold withdrawals at Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) in a short time have made the bank fail to mobilize enough gold to repay depositors.

Local gold prices surged to around VND45 million a tael on Thursday due to a rally on global markets and high domestic demand.

SJC at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday quoted the yellow metal at VND44.4 million and VND44.6 million a tael for buying and selling respectively, up by VND970,000 versus a day earlier. The price has edged up by over VND2 million a tael since early this week.

Nguyen Cong Tuong, deputy sales manager of SJC, said gold demand shot up strongly on Thursday. SJC sold 5,800 gold taels while buying 5,400 taels. The previous day saw the firm selling only over 3,000 taels.

Gold closed at US$1,653 an ounce on the New York market on the previous night, rising by US$16 from the opening level. At 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, it stood at US$1,661 an ounce on the website www.kitco.com, US$7.7 higher than the level of the New York market.

SGT

Gold market sees strong waves, exchange rate fluctuates, stocks tumble

VietNamNet Bridge – The gold market has become burning after some peaceful days. The dong/dollar exchange rate has been fluctuating. Meanwhile, the stock prices have fallen dramatically as investors have been running away from the market.

Gold market: the purchasing power abnormally increases

Hanoians were so surprised when seeing the SJC gold price quoted at 8 am of August 22 increasing by 520,000 dong per tael over the closing price of the day before.

Just 20 minutes later, the gold price was raised once again to 43.6-43.75 million dong per tael, the highest peak since April 2012.

After that, the gold price continuously went up and down, forcing gold companies’ officers to change the posted prices regularly. An executive of Doji Group said he could not do anything on the morning of August 22, except the changing of the posted prices.

According to Nguyen Cong Tuong, a senior executive of the Saigon Jewelry Company SJC said the purchasing power was very high: SJC sold 3100 tales and bought 2800 taels on the day.

Huong, a housewife in Hanoi, said she has withdrawn 100 million dong from bank deposits to buy gold after she heard the news about the arrest of Nguyen Duc Kien, a mogul in the banking sector.

Like Huong, many other people have also decided to buy gold instead of making bank deposits, since they believe that the Kien arrest would shake the banking system.

Ton The Vinh Quyen, Business Director of Sacombank-SBJ, has confirmed that people rush to buy gold these days, while the supply is limited. As a result, gold companies have to widen the gap between the sale and purchase prices, thus making the gold price increase more sharply.

In general, gold companies set up the margin of 100,000 dong per tael. Meanwhile, the gap climbed to 170,000 dong per tael on August 22.

In Asia, the gold price with spot deliveries on the morning of August 22 stood at 1640.3 dollars per oz, or 41.4 million dong per tael. As such, the SJC gold in the domestic market is now 2.2 million dong per tael higher than the world price.

Analysts believe that 1640 dollar per oz is an important resistance threshold, and if the gold price breaks the line, the gold price would increase sharply.

Stock market witnesses temporary panic

The electronic boards at securities companies all lit red on August 22, showing the continued downward trend of the stock prices. The VN Index dropped further by 6.61 points, while the HNX Index lost 2.3 points.

Ngo Thanh Phat, Analysis Director of the Vietnam International Securities Company, has noted that bank shares have seen the prices fall sharply because of the big sale offers.

HSC, in its bulletin, said investors have been trying to sell stocks away amid the information about the arrest of Kien, one of the most influential portraits in the finance sector. However, while predicting that bank shares would still be sold more in the next trading sessions, HSC believes that investors would return to buy back bank shares.

Fiachra Mac Cana, a senior executive of HSC believes that the Kien arrest has just caused a temporary panic. The stock prices have decreased because of the wild guesses about the fate of Kien and the banks where Kien invests, not because of the quality of the stocks. Therefore, the bank shares would be a favorite again in the time to come, especially when the State Bank has affirmed that the banking system is still in good conditions.

Source: Tien phong

Apple awarded over $1bn in Samsung patent infringement trial

Jury finds that critical features of smartphone and tablet design were copied and dismisses South Korean firm's counterclaims

Samsung have been ordered to pay Apple over $1bn in damages after a jury found it infringed patents on smartphones and tablets. Photograph: Ahn Young-Joon/AP

Apple has been awarded more than $1bn in damages after its rival smartphone and tablet manufacturer Samsung was found to have copied critical features of its iPhone and iPad.
The US jury stunned observers by returning a decision after just two and a half days' deliberation following four weeks of legal argument.
The jurors rejected every single one of the South Korean company's patent claims, and backed Apple's claim that Samsung had breached US antitrust laws by trying to keep its wireless patents as a monopoly.
The decision means that Apple has gained a major weapon in its fight against Samsung, which is the biggest maker of smartphones and mobile phones in the world, and the biggest of the Android handset makers.
The verdict will also be a key platform in Apple's ongoing court battles with other Android smartphone companies, including HTC and Motorola.
Samsung and Apple have been at war through the courts since April 2011, when Apple filed a suit in the US alleging that a number of Samsung smartphones and tablets used some of its patented technologies – such as the "rubber band" effect when scrolling a long list of items – and mimicked its "trade dress", the general cosmetic appearance of its iPhone and iPad, in a way that could confuse potential customers.
On Friday Samsung issued a statement saying: "Today's verdict should not be viewed as a win for Apple, but as a loss for the American consumer. It will lead to fewer choices, less innovation, and potentially higher prices. It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners, or technology that is being improved every day by Samsung and other companies.
"Consumers have the right to choices, and they know what they are buying when they purchase Samsung products. This is not the final word in this case or in battles being waged in courts and tribunals around the world, some of which have already rejected many of Apple's claims. Samsung will continue to innovate and offer choices for the consumer."
Apple's founder, Steve Jobs, kicked off the battle, telling his biographer Walter Isaacson that he would go "thermonuclear" in his battle against Android because he felt that it had copied elements of the iPhone's behaviour. That started with HTC's implementation in 2010 of Android.
"I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40bn in the bank, to right this wrong," Jobs told Isaacson. "I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this."
An attempted peace pact between Jobs and Eric Schmidt, then Google's chief executive, came to nothing. But Apple's war against Google has been indirect — targeting the handset makers that use Android rather than the search giant which writes the software itself.
Evidence of Jobs's antipathy to Android was excluded from the evidence heard in court.
Samsung, in this case, responded that Apple had used its patented technology for 3G wireless connectivity without permission, and that it used some of its patented methods, such as sending photos from a camera-equipped phone. Those claims were rejected by the jury.
Samsung had also insisted that Apple's technology patents were invalid because of previous inventions by rival firms, which it demonstrated in the court. It said that the "trade dress" claims were nonsensical, and that customers were not confused.
An area of relief for Samsung was that the jury decided its Galaxy tablets did not look so much like the iPad as to breach "trade dress". But they hit it with a billion-dollar damages decision for infringing Apple's "utility" patents on its behaviour.
Samsung is expected to appeal to a higher court. But the victory for Apple is a publicity coup as the battle for control of the smartphone and tablet market intensifies ahead of the Christmas period — during which Apple is expected to have a new iPhone on release, and possibly a new, smaller version of the iPad.
Apple and Samsung are suing each other in more than 30 cases around the world in Europe, Australia and the US. Apple, based in Cupertino — just 10 miles from the San Jose court where lawyers for the two sides made their case — is fighting multiple cases against rival smartphone makers which use Google's Android software, including Samsung, HTC and Motorola — the latter now owned by Google.
The decision is a critical blow in the smartphone wars now going on around the world between Apple and Samsung, and by proxy between Apple and other makers of smartphones using Google's Android software. Samsung is the biggest mobile, smartphone and Android mobile company — meaning that this decision will resound throughout the industry.
Reaching a decision had looked like a labyrinthine process. Judge Lucy Koh's instructions on how to decide ran to 109 pages and took over two hours to read out after the two companies had spent four weeks arguing in court.
The jury then had to negotiate a verdict paper consisting of 20 pages with 33 questions which offered, in total, about 700 options – although it all boiled down to four: were Apple's claimed patents infringed and if so how much was it owed? And: were Samsung's claimed patents infringed, and if so how much was it owed?
Yet they reached their verdict after barely two days' deliberation, surprising legal experts who had thought that the decision could take weeks. The jury for the high-profile trial in which Oracle sued Google alleging that the Android mobile operating system infringed its patents. The jury then took two weeks to reach a verdict that largely exonerated Google.
Apple brought a high-profile array of executives to testify including Phil Schiller, its longtime head of marketing, and Scott Forstall, who heads its iPhone and iPad software division. Apple also showed prototypes of the iPhone and iPad dating back to 2003, as well as an internal Samsung document comparing the iPhone's behaviour with that of Samsung's smartphone, which described the difference as "Heaven and Earth" and noted hundreds of items of difference where Samsung needed to improve.
The jury of seven men and two women, all from California, included four who have worked for technology companies including chipmaker Intel and phone business AT&T, and two engineers. One member owns multiple Apple and Samsung products, according to CNet. Five are over 50; three were born outside the US – one in India and two in the Philippines.
The result came just hours after a South Korean court had ruled against both Apple and Samsung, deciding that they had each infringed each others' patents. Both were fined and told to take some of their products off the shelves in that country.

 The guardian

Fed nets $17.7 bn profit from AIG bailout

The US Federal Reserve said it had sold the last of its investment in insurer AIG, turning a $17.7 billion profit for the public from its 2008 bailout.

The New York Fed's final sale of its American International Group-related assets made a net gain of about $6.6 billion, the central bank announced.

"The total net profit to taxpayers from the New York Fed's assistance to AIG and AIG-related facilities was $17.7 billion," it said in a statement.

"The completion of the sale of the Maiden Lane III portfolio marks the end of an important chapter -- our assistance to AIG -- that was undertaken to stabilize the financial system in the midst of the financial crisis," William Dudley, president of the New York Fed, said.

"I am pleased that we were able to achieve our principal goal, which was to protect the US economy from the potentially devastating effects of AIG's failure, while demonstrating sound stewardship of taxpayer interests."

AIG, once the world's largest insurance company, was closely involved in the risky derivatives at the center of the 2008-2009 financial crisis. The Fed and the US Treasury rescued it from bankruptcy with a record $182 billion bailout.

As part of the financial market bailout, the Fed took unprecedented actions, creating three limited liability companies known as Maiden Lane, to absorb toxic assets from AIG and other financial institutions at risk.

The first Maiden Lane was created to help the merger of JPMorgan Chase and Bear Stearns; the remaining two were aimed at easing capital and liquidity pressures on AIG, which was reeling under soured bets after the collapse of US housing market bubble.

Over time the Fed has recovered its loans to the Maiden Lane companies and also sold off the assets they held. Maiden Lane III repaid its loan, including interest, finally on June 14.

The final sale of Maiden Lane III assets Thursday closes the Fed's involvement in AIG.

The Treasury still holds a 53 percent stake in AIG's capital and plans to gradually sell its shares in an effort to recover the $24.2 billion remaining in its investment.

Given that AIG shares closed at $33.76 Thursday, up 47.1 percent from a year ago, the Treasury may be able to turn a profit on its rescue.

Under Fed rules, the central bank hands over the bulk of its profits to the Treasury.

dtinews.vn

S. Korea court says Samsung, Apple infringed patents

Apple and Samsung infringed on each other's patents on mobile devices, a Seoul court ruled Friday, awarding damages to both technology giants and imposing a partial ban on product sales in South Korea.

A man walks past signboards of Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S3 (R) and Apple's iPhone 4s (S) at a mobile phone shop in Seoul on August 24, 2012.

The ruling is part of a bitter international patents battle between the two rivals and comes ahead of a high-stakes US jury verdict expected to set the course of their tussle for supremacy in the smartphone and tablet market.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled Apple breached two of Samsung's technology patents, and ordered it to pay 40 million won ($35,242) in damages.

It also ordered Samsung to pay 25 million won for violating one of Apple's patents. Each company had sought damages of 100 million won from the other.

The judges said there was "no possibility" that consumers would confuse Samsung and Apple smartphones -- a key issue in the US trial -- and that Samsung's smartphone icons do not infringe Apple's patents.

But it said Samsung infringed Apple's patent for bounce-back technology. Apple's signature bounce-back design is the widely copied spring-back behaviour that occurs when a user reaches the edge of a document.

The court banned sales in South Korea of Apple's iPhone 4 and iPad 2, as well as Samsung's Galaxy S and Galaxy SII among other products.

But the banned products do not include the latest models from either firm such as the iPhone 4S and the Galaxy S3 smartphones.

Samsung launched the case in South Korea, along with several other countries, in its first response to an Apple lawsuit in a US court that started the legal battle in April 2011.

Apple says Samsung "slavishly" copied its smartphones and tablets and violated its design patents. Samsung says Apple is using some of its patented wireless communication technology.

Analysts said the split ruling was not expected to have an impact on the broader dispute, which involves legal action in nine countries.

"Samsung scored a partial victory over Apple in that the court rejected Apple's key allegations that Samsung copied its design," James Koo of Kyobo Securities told AFP.

Samsung said the ruling affirmed its position that "one single company cannot monopolise generic design features".

The court, however, accepted Apple's assertion that Samsung infringed its touchscreen "bounce-back" technology, Koo noted.

"However, this is unlikely to affect the impending verdict in California, Apple's home turf," he said.

Seo Won-Seok of Korea Investment and Securities said the sales ban was expected to have only a limited impact as it does not cover the latest models.

While the results so far have been mixed in courts in Europe and Australia, Samsung has much at stake in the US case in San Jose, which could result in large damages or injunctions against its products in the American market.

In the US court, Apple is seeking more than $2.5 billion after accusing Samsung of infringing designs and other patents. Samsung says Apple breached its patents for wireless communication.

Samsung extended its lead over Apple in the smartphone market in the second quarter despite slowing demand.

Samsung shipped 50.2 million smartphones globally in April-June, while Apple sold 26 million iPhones, according to a recent survey by research firm IDC.

AFP 

Phu Quoc airport to be operational this year

The first phase of construction of Phu Quoc International Airport in the southern province of Kien Giang is expected to be completed by mid-December this year, the provincial People’s Committee has announced.

The construction of the airport began in November, 2008, on a site of over 900 hectares in Duong To commune in Phuc Quoc district. It will cost a total of 16.2 trillion VND with half of which, between now and 2020, coming from the Southern Airports Corporation.

With a 3,000 metre runway, the airport, once completed, will provide services to Boeing 777 and Boeing 747-400 super jets, as well as similar aircraft.

It helps Phu Quoc make full use of its strong points and economic potential, especially in maritime and island tourism and trade and turn into a top eco-tourism area in the country and the region.

VNA

BUSINESS IN BRIEF 25/8

Real estate firms struggling due to lack of trained staff

Poor human resources and management were among the reasons why real estate companies were facing so many difficulties, Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam National Real Estate Association, said at a conference held earlier this month.

Investors at the Ecopark real estate trading floor in Ha Noi.

Viet Nam is facing a serious shortage of well-trained staff in the real estate sector.

His statement mirrored the same opinion held by Dr Nguyen Minh Ngoc, deputy head of the National Economics University (NEU)'s Real Estate and Resource Economics Faculty, who attributed failure in the real estate sector to low professionalism.

That was partly because the majority of people working in real estate did not receive proper training or any training at all, Ngoc said.

According to Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (VNEconomy) e-newspaper, a survey conducted by Ernst and Young revealed that 70 per cent of people working in the real estate sector said they struggled to do business and benefit from the industry.

The Viet Nam National Real Estate Association said Viet Nam currently had 446 colleges and universities, but only a few offered proper training in real estate.

The country, therefore, was facing a serious shortage of staff professionally trained in real estate, especially those who met international standards.

Ngoc said the NEU was currently the only university with a real estate faculty.

There were only several other universities in Ha Noi and HCM City that taught real estate related subjects, while training centres only offered short-term courses that lasted a few months.

Ngoc said that society as a whole, including policy makers, was not aware of the importance of training in real estate.
Many people, including business owners, thought they just needed money and some experience to invest in real estate.

Real estate investors, Ngoc pointed out, made investments either through real estate brokers or following their own ideas of the real estate market.

"Some people do not even consider taking short-term courses, let alone going to university to get a degree."

Nevertheless, there were dozens of thousands of people working in real estate or real estate-related sectors and there were about 10,000 operating real estate brokerage agencies.

Nguyen Thanh Nam, a former real estate agent in Ha Noi, said he had a major in banking, but did not receive any training in real estate before he was employed by his former company.

"Most of my former colleagues did not study real estate at college, although they did have degrees in business administration or banking," Nam said, adding that real estate companies often did not require their employees to have a degree in real estate.

Dr Ngoc said every economy was dependent on the development of the real estate industry.

He added that in many countries including Singapore and Japan, training in real estate was deemed very important, and most economics and technical universities either had a real estate department or offered courses in real estate.

In these countries, training in real estate was regarded as important as banking and finance, but there were only a few hundred people receiving university-level training in Viet Nam each year as opposed to 25-30,000 people pursuing a major in banking or finance, said Ngoc.

"Only two third of these graduates pursue real estate as a profession, while the rest pursue other areas."

In the past four years, around 50,000 people have received short-term training in real estate and obtained certificates.
Ngoc said it was important to raise social awareness about the importance of training in real estate.

He added policy makers in particular must be more aware.

The Viet Nam National Real Estate Association said it would organise training courses in the third and fourth quarters of this year. The programme is currently recruting learners.

But Ngoc of the National Economics University said that his university was not involved in these programmes.

He said there was a lack of co-operation among universities that offered training in real estate and between those universities and State management organisations.
British Telecom eyes Vietnam market

The British telecom giant is seeking business opportunities in Asian countries with high growth and large population, including Vietnam.

Channelnewsasia.com reported that BT regards those potential markets of Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia as key drivers of its expansion strategy in the near future.

The news wire quoted Tim Harris, CEO of British Telecom Southeast Asia, as saying BT plans to double its market share in Asia.

"We're very positive on Asia. We grew a double digit growth last year, and our intention is to grow twice the size at the market,” said Harris. “We'll be investing significantly further into the region. Because that's where we see our customers investing a lot at the moment."
BT said the Asian market for its services is growing strongly at 6 percent a year overall and 15 percent for managed services. It estimates that the Asian market for its services is worth 8 billion pounds (US$12.56 billion).

EWEC 2012 Fair attracts 30,000 visitors

The 2012 International East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) Trade and Tourism Fair in the central city of Danang has drawn 30,000 visitors and fetched more than VND3 billion. 

There were 300 stalls put up by nearly 200 domestic and foreign businesses, including those from Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, Finland, to showcase different kinds of products such as wood furniture, coffee, cosmetics, household commodities, electronic spare parts, and high-technology equipment.

The fair successfully closed on August 21, creating favourable conditions for domestic and foreign businesses to seek trade and investment opportunities and promote tourism services.

Global crisis under discussion in Hanoi

Forty scholars from Vietnam and abroad discussed the global financial crisis and assessed strategies from left-wing and progressive social movements throughout Southeast Asia.

The August 21-22 conference, held by the Vietnamese Peace and Development Foundation (VPDF) in coordination with the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (RLS) and the South-South People’s Solidarity Network, aimed to identify the impact of the current crisis and develop new solutions to it.

Addressing the event, Former Vice-State President Nguyen Thi Binh reviewed the world’s complicated socio-economic situation to date as well as the responses from various social movements in Southeast Asia over recent years.

The 2007-08 global financial crisis, compounded by the recent public debt problems in the eurozone, have led to serious consequences facing global prosperity, especially considering other challenges such as the environment, food security, climate change, and society, she said.

Binh, who is also VPDF President, highlighted the development of progressive social movements in Southeast Asia.

She also noted that social institutions have promoted the exchange of information and fostered cooperative partnerships, contributing to the establishment of an ASEAN community that ultimately aspires to world peace, economic development and political stability.

Binh then briefed participants on the socio-economic situation in Vietnam, saying that the Renewal Process has paid off well to make Vietnam become a middle-income nation.

It not only offers opportunities but also poses challenges for Vietnam given the global context, she said.

During the two-day event, participants reviewed the impact of the interlocking crises – ecological, debt, financial, food, energy and climate - which confronts everyone.

They said that measures taken by states and international institutions so far have not been able to get to the root of the problem, but have merely transferred the burden from financial institutions to the public as well as worsened the situation across economic, social, and political spheres.

Youth unemployment in the EU has increased 22.6 percent since 2008 with Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Italy having the highest rates at over 50 percent, they cited.

In Asia, more than 900 million people live in extreme poverty, 1.08 billion work in insecure employment and 600 million go hungry every day.

The conference also discussed the situation of people’s movements and the strategies of Southern countries in dealing with the crisis.

Denmark assists agricultural development in Dak Lak

More than VND30 billion out of the VND56.5 billion committed by Denmark for the Central Highland province of Dak Lak has been disbursed so far this year. 

Provincial leaders reported the figure at a working session with the Deputy Ambassador Lis Rosenholm in Dak Lak on August 22.

Dak Lak is one of the five provinces which benefit from the agricultural and rural development programme funded by the Danish Government.

This year, VND56.5 billion has been assigned to the province to develop rural areas, improve living standards for the poor, build irrigation works, increase competitiveness, expand markets and protect natural resources and the environment.

Nguyen Huu Chung, Vice-Director of the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the province has established steering boards to manage the funding, which will deliver numerous socio-economic benefits to local people.

At the working session, the provincial leaders also proposed that Demark provide additional aid of VND55 billion for the province to implement the support programme in 2013.

Ms Lis agreed with the proposal and said the aid will be announced in September.

Vietnam-China int’l roads open to public

An opening ceremony for new overland routes that link Hanoi to Nanning and Shenzhen took place at the Huu Nghi Border Gate in the northern province of Lang Son on August 22.

The event is a landmark in Vietnamese-Chinese economic and trade cooperation, deepening their comprehensive ties.

The roads will shorten waiting times, reduce transport costs and make it more convenient for people to travel and exchange trade between the two countries across their land borders.

They also testify to the close ties between Lang Son and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR) in recent years.

The two localities are working together to develop the Nanning-Lang Son-Hanoi-Haiphong economic corridor, in line with the agreement on “two corridors, one economic belt” signed by top Vietnamese and Chinese leaders.

The new corridor makes up part of the greater Nanning-Singapore economic corridor that has boosted relations between China, Vietnam and other ASEAN countries.

During the past year, Lang Son has endeavoured to create preferential conditions for transport activities from Vietnam to China and vice versa.

There are presently over 30,000 vehicles carrying goods and 40,000-50,000 taking people across the border region every year.

Hanoi, Hoi An listed in Asia’s top ten attractive destinations

The capital of Hanoi and the central ancient city of Hoi An have been listed in the 2012 top-ten attractive travel destinations in Asia.
  
The Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on August 22 that Hong Kong-based Smart Travel Asia, a leading online travel magazine, voted Hanoi as the 6th most attractive venue and Hoi An as 7th, successfully maintaining their positions from the previous year.

On the top of the list is Bali in Indonesia, followed by Phuket in Thailand, then Hong Kong.

The honour also means the capital will have new opportunities to promote its image and prestige to international tourism and business.

Rice prices tipped to remain high

The price of rice, especially the low-quality IR 50404, rose sharply this week, 10 days after the completion of a Government programme to buy 500,000 tonnes of the grain for reserve.

Yesterday farmers in the Mekong Delta sold undried IR 50404 paddy for VND4,800 to VND5,000 per kilogramme, and dried IR 50404 for VND5,600 - VND5,700.

Pham Thai Binh, director of Can Tho-based rice export firm Trung An Co, said rice prices increased by VND300-400 in the Mekong Delta provinces of An Giang, Dong Thap, and Tien Giang and Can Tho city in the past week.

Unpolished IR 50404 rice was sold for VND7,450-7,750, and long-grain rice for up to VND7,700. If polished, they fetched VND1,000 more.

Tran Ba Dai, a farmer in Vinh Hanh Commune in An Giang Province's Chau Thanh District, said these prices would fetch him profits of VND15 million per hectare.

"Farmers are very happy because they are selling paddy at the highest prices during this summer-autumn crop," Duong Nghia Quoc, director of the Dong Thap Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, told Viet Nam News yesterday.

At these prices, Dong Thap farmers can earn profits of 30 per cent as mandated by the Government, he said.

Tran Van Thom, a trader in An Giang Province's An Phu District, said it was the high demand for paddy from exporters and news about a new contract to sell 500,000 tonnes of rice to Indonesia that had helped push prices up.

The increasing volumes of rice bought by Cambodian traders across the border - for selling to Thailand — could push prices further up, he said.

Nguyen Trung Kien, general director of Gentraco Can Tho and deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Food Association, said rice export prices rose by US$5 per tonne from last week.

Now, 5 per cent broken rice fetched $430-440 per tonne, and 25 per cent broken rice, up to $415.

At a meeting held in Kien Giang in mid-August to collect opinions for drafting regulations on the rice reserve purchase, VFA chairman Truong Thanh Phong said paddy-rice prices would continue to rise for the rest of this year.

Binh Thuan halts new industrial parks

The People's Committee of the central province of Binh Thuan late last week asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade for approval to remove 13 industrial complexes with a combined area of over 430ha from its masterplan for 2015.

A decade ago, Binh Thuan mapped out a plan to develop more than 40 complexes with a total area of 1,628ha, but only 12 have been put into operation.

They have attracted 220 projects with total registered capital of VND513 billion (US$24.4 million), and generated 3,520 jobs for local residents.

The remaining complexes had been ratified by the province for investment development, but construction has been slow and some investors have gone out of business.

For instance, Hamico Binh Thuan Mineral JSC had registered to build infrastructure for the Ba Dang Shipbuilding Industrial Complex on an area of 50ha. However, the province decided to withdraw the project's investment certificate due to slow investment and construction.

Also under the original plan, six complexes were to be built in Duc Linh District covering a combined area of 260ha, but 10 years later, these complexes are covered by hundreds of low-tech brick kilns.

Provincial chairman Le Tien Phuong attributed the situation to the fact that the masterplan had not defined the practical demands of local enterprises, and was hence unfeasible.

According to the provincial People's Committee, slow construction at some key sites such as Ke Ga Port and the Dau Giay – Phan Thiet Highway; poor transport infrastructure; and limited water supplies and wastewater treatment systems had also hindered investment.

"The province has petitioned the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Government to issue preferential policies to create favourable conditions for localities and provinces to attract investment in infrastructure construction and complex development, especially in disadvantaged areas," he said.

Forum examines mobile marketing

The Mobile Marketing Association will host the MMA Forum for the first time in Viet Nam on October 25 in HCM City.

The forum, organised in cooperation with Goldsun Focus Media, will be an opportunity for brands, agencies and service providers to learn more about mobile marketing from a distinguished group of speakers representing global brands.

The day-long conference will discuss the unique market dynamics of Viet Nam and also share insights on global and regional mobile-marketing best practices.

The event is expected to attract 300 industry experts and marketers from Viet Nam and other countries.

Delegates will have the opportunity to meet and exchange experiences with outstanding speakers from Google, GroupM, Mobext, Cherrypick, Opera Software, Madhouse, TeliBrahma, Ford, Millennial Media, Amobee and Yoose, among others.

The event is designed to be helpful for agencies, technology innovators and publishers looking to chart an effective mobile-marketing strategy to woo customers by integrating mobile with other channels.

Viet Nam is a key mobile market in the APAC region with over 120 million mobile subscribers.

According to global market research firm Cimigo, mobile internet users make up 60 per cent of the total number of internet users in the country.

Boom expected in mobile management software

SAP, the German technology leader in business management software and solutions, plans to double its global income, from US$110 billion in 2010 to $230 billion by 2015.

The goal was announced yesterday in HCM City at SAP's biggest annual event, the SAP Forum Viet Nam to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the company.

More than 300 customers and partners attended the forum, which discussed the latest innovations in sales, services, marketing, human resources, procurement, finance, supply chain and IT.

Smartlink expands co-operation with banks

Smartlink Card JSC is offering inter-bank money transfer services via credit cards for cardholders of two local banks (Oceanbank and VietABank).

Accordingly, cardholders of the Ocean Bank and VietABank are able to perform their transactions in the inter-bank money transfer service or receive money to cardholders of both local or international banks such as Vietcombank, ACB, Sacombank and Eximbank, TienPhongBank, SHB, HDBank, MB, GP.Bank, VPBank and VIB.

Life insurers offer new intergrated products

Generali Life Vietnam, which came to the country around a year ago from Italy, has launched GVL-Link, a client portal for group insurance that integrates products, services, and healthcare services, and benefits both customers and medical partners.

The first software of its kind, it enables customers to have information at their fingertips about the benefits and progress of claim settlement. It also helps medical partners streamline paperwork for insured customers.

Fuji Xerox to set up plant this year in Hai Phong

Construction of the Fuji Xerox Hai Phong factory will begin in December this year, with the plant set to begin operations from November 2013.

The Fuji Xerox Hai Phong project will have a charter capital of US$36 million and total investment in this project is at $113.5 million.

The plant will manufacture components for devices such as printed wiring boards and drum cartridges.

The project, to cover 176,700sq.m in the Viet Nam- Singapore Industrial Park with 46,700sqm reserved for building the plant, will also manufacture digital multi-functional devices and small-sized light-emitting diode (LED).

Domestic airlines to increase aircraft fleets

Managing director of Air Mekong Luong Hoai Nam said the airline would lease two more Airbus 321 planes, bringing the firm's total fleet to six aircraft.

The two new planes would arrive Viet Nam in December this year.

In another development, a representative of JetStar Pacific said the airline would lease four more Airbus A320 planes from now to the end of this year. It is expected to receive the first two aircraft this month.

Firms overlook provisional funds in first-half reports

Many listed companies, in order to report profits for the first half of the year, have omitted provisions for risky financial investments in their required financial reports to the nation's two stock exchanges.

Many reports were given "qualified opinions" by auditors due to the decision to delay reporting these provisions until full-year reports are prepared. A qualified opinion suggests that the information reported was limited in scope and/or the report had not adhered to GAAP accounting principles.

Petrolimex International Trading Co (PIT) posted a net profit of almost VND97 billion (US$4.6 million) in the first six months of this year, but in the reviewed first-half report, auditing firm Deloitte noted that PIT had not made the required allowance of VND3.36 billion ($160,000) against a bad debt of Derya Ticaret Co Ltd totalling VND4.85 billion ($231,000).

American Auditing Co also noted that textile company Mirae (KMR) had not made an allowance for the bad debt of its major shareholder, Fiber Tech Co, totalling VND47.33 billion ($2.3 million). By delaying the provision to the end-of-year report, KMR was able to report a net profit of VND1.08 billion ($51,400) in the first half of the year.

Reports from Vinavico Investment Construction & Mining Co (CTM), Da Nang Construction Building Materials & Cement Co (DXV) and Thang Long Telecomunications Co (TLC) were also given "qualified opinions" for the failure to make provisions for bad debts, risky financial investments or foreign exchange losses.

Semiannual reports were provided for reference for investors and were not bound by strict accounting standards like audit reports, said the head of the financial investment department of HCM City University of Economics, Le Dat Chi, in remarks made to Thoi bao Kinh te Sai Gon (Saigon Economic Times) newspaper.

In fact, auditors would not verify accounts receivable, delayed payment, or bad debts of companies in the review reports, Chi said.

"Companies are forced to make provisions for inventory changes, bad debts and securities investments in the reporting period, but if they do not do this in the first six months, it will only be deemed missing but not a violation of the regulation on setting up provisional funds," Chi said.

Nevertheless, he said, qualified opinions in the six-month reports were notable as they reflected on the financial situation of businesses and could affect their profitability at the end of the year.

New 1,300km route boosts China trade

Trucks and coaches yesterday began using a new 1,300km route linking Ha Noi in Viet Nam with Shenzen in China.

The route, together with another between Ha Noi and Nanning, was inaugurated at Lang Son Province's Huu Nghi (Friendship) border gate in the presence of leaders and transport officials from the two countries.

Previously, transport operators were only allowed to travel up to 20km into each other's national territory.

"The new agreement will have a profound impact not only on bilateral trade and tourism, but also on Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) transport facilitation," said Yushu Feng, principal economist for regional co-operation at the Asian Development Bank, which backed the agreement.

The removal of restrictions is expected to reduce travelling costs and time, boosting two way trade and developing an economic corridor taking in Nanning, Lang Son, Ha Noi and Hai Phong.

Under the agreement, trucks and coaches are allowed to travel between major economic zones in China's Yunnan province, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Guangdong Province and six provinces in Viet Nam, including Lang Son, Quang Ninh and the cities of Ha Noi and Hai Phong.

Each country will be able to issue up to 15,100 permits for trucks and coaches for travel within the border province area, and each will be able to issue up to 500 permits for trucks and coaches to go to inland provincial areas.

Another significant route, connecting Kunming to Ha Noi and Hai Phong, was inaugurated in Kunming last Thursday.

BOT thermal plants make slow progress

Thermal power plants under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model are expected to significantly increase the power supply in Viet Nam once they are up and running. However, some projects have stalled due to problems with land clearance and capital allocation.

According to the National Power Grid Development Plan for the 2011-20 period with a vision to 2030, eight BOT thermal power plants should be completed, but progress at some sites has been slow.

Investors have asked the Government to make tax exemptions for imported materials, and said that developing infrastructure should be a common responsibility for all investors.

A representative from the Mong Duong 2 plant, which is 40 per cent completed, said that under the BOT contract, by December this year, infrastructure such as trainlines for the plant will have been completed, but progress had been slow.

Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) had said they would provide a 500KV transmission line to plants in Quang Ninh, but work is yet to start on these projects.

Nguyen Chien Thang, deputy director of the Viet Nam National Coal and Mineral Industries Corporation (Vinacomin), told online newspaper Cong Thuong (Industry and Trade) that his corporation was determined to supply coal to Mong Duong 2 Plant, and in the worst scenario, would transport coal by road.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) needed to deal with land clearance issues at the Vinh Tan 1 and 3 thermo-electric plants. Vinacomin had spent VND800 billion (US$38.4 million) on land clearance but they didn't know how they would make their money back, Thang said.

Dang Hoang An, deputy general director of EVN, said that they would complete the 25-km transmission line to connect the Mong Duong 2 Plant and Quang Ninh's Ha Long City.

The cost of land clearance would be covered by electricity prices. The main issue was where to source investment capital, An said.

Party members told to strive hard to increase production

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has called on 75,000 party members employed by corporations and banks to work harder to accomplish their objectives of business and production development.

Speaking at a meeting to review the last five years of the Party Committee of the Central Business Bloc in the capital yesterday, Trong was full of praise for the achievements gained by the Party Committee and its affiliates nationwide in the context of the global economic and financial crisis and difficulties and challenges that many state corporations had been coping with.

"Despite all this you have accomplished the tasks that the Party and Government assigned you. You have supplied essential commodities to the national economy and provided jobs for many people to ensure stable incomes," Trong said.

He said State corporations played a key role in helping the Party and Government regulate the market and stabilise the macroeconomy while promoting national economic development and defending the homeland.

In the past five years since April 2007 when the Party Committee of the Central Business Bloc was established, annually, State corporations and groups have contributed about 40 per cent of GDP – a key factor to ensure the success of social security programmes.

Trong said the bloc had made remarkable progress, particularly in the fields of personnel planning and training for future leaders.

However, he also criticised weaknesses in Party building work in many parent and affiliate companies.

"Production efficiency at many state corporations and banks has not met their potential given the amount of State investment and advantages they have been given. Many corporations have invested in non-core business activities causing huge losses to the State while undermining the reputation of State enterprises."

He asked all business party committees to pay more attention to the work of party building – a very important task laid down in Resolution 4 of the Party Central Committee.

"Strong party building work will ensure the effective implementation of political tasks assigned by the Party and Government, and promote business and production development," Trong said.

In his report, Bui Van Cuong, alternate member of the Party CC and Secretary of the Party Committee of the Central Business Bloc, said that at present the bloc had nearly 75,000 party members in 1,108 affiliate party committees and 4,798 party cells nationwide.

"We have realised our key role in national socio-economic development. We have successfully completed many projects, particularly in the northwestern and Central Highlands regions," Cuong said.

In the past five years, State corporations and groups have extended support of VND1,480 billion ($72.2 million) to 54 of the 62 poorest districts in the country, and contributed VND6 trillion ($292.7 million) to national social security programmes.

Urban railway contractor sacked

A contractor on the new Nhon-Ha Noi railway line route has been sacked for failing to meet construction deadlines.

State-owned Vinaconex 2 will be replaced after falling three months behind schedule.

The sacking was ordered by Ha Noi People's Committee Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Khoi.

The city's Urban Railway Management Board has been assigned to propose a contractor to replace Vinaconex 2, which is an offshoot of the Viet Nam Construction and Import-Export Corporation.

Work on the $865m section of railway, which includes 8.5km of aerial track, 4km of underground track and 12 stations, began in September 2010.

Vietnam’s small change could disappear for good: economist

Vietnamese notes and coins below VND5,000 (USD0.24) in value could die out in the market since price hikes make it hard for people to keep and use them in trading, an economist says.

Use of small change has fallen as prices increase

Goods now fetch high prices, so trading with small change has fallen, Vu Dinh Anh told VnExpress Tuesday.

The report quoted a woman called Ha as saying: “I find small change worth nothing in our daily life, so I don’t want to receive it.”

Chuong, a resident of the capital city, said, “I ask vendors to keep the change of VND500-1000 because I cannot buy anything with it.”

Small traders have been affected by this regular habit of denying small bills or coins. They have to accept late payment or lose customers since they do not have notes of low value and coins for a change.

Anh also attributed the sharp decrease in small change to a decision by the State Bank of Vietnam to limit the issue of small bills or coins.

Many supermarkets give customers candy or chewing gum due to this shortage, but some customers do not like this solution.

Tuan, another Hanoi resident, said: “I am annoyed when I get candy instead of change every time I go shopping. I don’t want candy so I refuse it, but they don’t have change and of course I lose my money.”

Pham Thi Huyen Trang, who works for the Tien Phong bank, said the typical minimum denomination for deposits or transfers was VND50,000. She added that the bank keeps some low-denomination currency, but there seems to be no demand for it.  

Vietnamese monetary system currently has small bills and coins in denominations of VND200, 500, 1,000, 2,000 and VND5,000. The highest denomination in Vietnamese currency is VND500,000.

Small change is now used often to fold origami figures or donate to pagodas and temples. Bills with special serial numbers are traded on the internet, according to VnExpress. 

In April last year, the central bank announced it has halted issuing coins.

Annual inflation in Vietnam has reached double figures in the last two years, surging from 6.8 percent in 2009 to 18.58 percent in 2011.

Government data showed a 5.35 percent inflation rate in July. It expects inflation to be contained at 7-8 percent in 2012.

Thanhniennews

Al-Qaeda front group claims 43 attacks in Iraq

Al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq claimed it carried out a series of attacks, mostly on security forces, in the western province of Anbar in June and July, a statement posted on jihadist forums said.

File picture shows an Iraqi soldier looking at the burning shell of a car, one of a series of car bombs targeting army and police patrols, July 23.

The 43 attacks purportedly carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) were largely in the form of bombings and shootings against Iraqi soldiers, police and anti-Qaeda militiamen known as the Sahwa, according to the statement, which was posted on Wednesday.

It comes after ISI declared a campaign last month to retake territory it had abandoned in the years since the peak of Iraq's sectarian bloodshed between 2006 and 2008.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq is regarded by Iraqi officials as significantly weaker than at the peak of its strength in 2006 and 2007, but it is still capable of spectacular mass-casualty attacks across the country.

The group claimed a wave of attacks on July 23 that killed 113 people nationwide, the deadliest violence to hit Iraq in more than two and a half years.

Norway killer is ruled sane and given 21 years in prison

Anders Behring Breivik awaited his sentencing in an Oslo court on Friday.

A court on Friday sentenced Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian extremist who admitted killing 77 people, to at least 21 years in prison after ruling that he was sane when he carried out his country’s worst peacetime atrocity. The sentence was the most severe permitted under Norwegian law, but it can be extended at a later date if he is still deemed to be a danger to society.

Mr. Breivik, 33, who had insisted that he was sane when he carried out the attacks last year as part of what he called a campaign against multiculturalism in Norway, smiled when the verdict was announced. As he arrived in court on Friday, lightly bearded and wearing a dark suit and tie, he flashed a right-wing salute with his right arm jutting from his body and his fist clenched.

His 10-week trial ended in June. Defense lawyers argued that Mr. Breivik was sane when he bombed buildings in downtown Oslo, killing eight people, before killing 69 people at a summer youth camp run by the Labour Party on Utoya island, and should therefore be sentenced to prison. Prosecutors said that he was mentally ill, was not criminally responsible, and should be hospitalized instead. It was not immediately clear whether prosecutors planned an appeal.

Experts said they were not aware of any previous case in Norwegian legal history in which prosecutors had called for an insanity verdict and defense lawyers had advocated conviction.

Judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen said on Friday that the decision reached by the five-member panel hearing the case had been unanimous. Reading from a 90-page judgment, she refuted Mr. Breivik’s assertion that he acted as part of a network called the Knights Templar, saying there was no evidence to prove its existence. Mr. Breivik has said he was present when it was founded in London in 2002.

Labour Party supporters in court on Friday hugged as the verdict was announced.Mr. Breivik is to be incarcerated in isolation at Ila prison on the outskirts of Oslo, news reports said, in a three-room cell with an exercise area, a television set and a laptop computer that is not connected to the Internet.

Some relatives of the dead welcomed the verdict. “Now we won’t hear about him for quite a while. Now we can have peace and quiet,” Per Balch Soerensen, whose daughter was among those killed in the shooting massacre, told Denmarks TV2, according to The Associated Press. “He doesn’t mean anything to me, he is just air.”

Mr. Breivik had never denied carrying out the killings and his trial revolved around the question of his sanity at the time of the attacks. The bombing and shooting spree convulsed Norway, and the country’s police chief was forced to resign this month after an independent commission found that the police could have averted or at least disrupted Mr. Breivik’s plot.

The inquest by the panel, the July 22 Commission, named after the date of the massacre in 2011, said the police had failed in their duty to protect the youth camp on Utoya Island. Most of the victim were teenagers..

The panel’s 500-page report also faulted the police in Oslo, where hours before the shooting spree, Mr. Breivik had parked a van packed with explosives near government buildings. He was seen in a getaway car, which he drove to the island, but police officers failed to share a description of the vehicle.

The report chronicled an array of errors and blunders at nearly every level of law enforcement in Norway, a country that was traumatized by the scale and audacity of the attacks. The trial offered a platform to a man whose views repulsed most Norwegians.

Mr. Breivik’s trial underscored the role of psychiatry in the country’s legal system and prompted calls for a review of the balance between insanity and guilt.

“It is a reverse situation, since they want him acquitted” by reason of insanity, Geir Lippestad, one of Mr. Breivik’s lawyers, said as the trial drew to a close in June, gesturing to the prosecutors on the opposite bench. “I say that their plea should not be accepted, and Anders Behring Breivik should be treated as leniently as possible.”

Under Norwegian law, if a defendant was psychotic at the time of his crime, he cannot be punished. Mr. Breivik has been the subject of two conflicting psychiatric reports, one saying that he was a psychotic paranoid schizophrenic, the second that he had narcissistic and antisocial personality disorders, but was legally competent.

On the final day of his trial in June, as Mr. Breivik gave a statement, around 20 survivors and family members filed out of the courtroom in protest.

In an hourlong, rambling warning about the evils of Norwegian multiculturalism, Mr. Breivik said: “I acted in the principle of necessity for my country, so I ask to be acquitted.”

Alf Petter Hogberg, a professor of public and international law at Oslo University, said before the verdict that he thought an appeal be made, with a hearing in the Norwegian Supreme Court likely as early as November. “If the judges decide he is sane then I am sure the prosecutors will appeal. If there is a 5 percent doubt, then he should be considered insane. So they should appeal,” he said.

By The New York Times | dtinews.vn