VNA Nation celebrates People's Army Day President Tran Duc Luong praised war veterans and invalids of the Hanoi Invalids' Music Club for their efforts to overcome their difficulties in daily life to live a good and productive life during a visit to the club to mark the People's Army Day (December 22). President Luong also expressed the deep gratitude of the Party, State and people to families of war martyrs, invalids and those having rendered great services to the struggle for national independence. All the club members joined in a choral welcome for the president, and promised to make further contributions to the country. On the occasion, President Luong urged the authorities at all levels of Hanoi and other localities to pay more care to families of war martyrs and wounded and sick soldiers, Vietnamese Heroic Mothers and families with great contributions to the country's revolutionary cause. Also to celebrate the 57th founding anniversary of the Vietnam People's Army and 12th anniversary of All People's National Defence Festival, many central agencies and ministries have come to congratulate the Ministry of Defence. The Defence Ministry, on December 21, hosted a reception for foreign ambassadors and their military attaches in Hanoi. A meeting was also held in Binh Duong province to mark the day. The State president posthumously bestowed Vietnamese Heroic Mother titles to 22 mothers of HaNam province. To date, 546 mothers in the province have been presented or posthumously bestowed with the title. Sixty-nine mothers are still alive and are given care by the local authorities. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lawmakers discuss revised Law� on Government Organisation Vietnamese lawmakers resumed their plenary meeting at the Ba Dinh Conference Hall in Hanoi on Friday, December 21, to discuss for approval of the Law on Organisation of the Government (revised). The law is amended and supplemented to make clear tasks and duties of the government and ministries as well as responsibilities of the government and its members. The amendments will lay the legal ground for streamlining the government, ministries and ministerial-level agencies as well as clarifying tasks and authority of local administrations in all aspects, especially budget, organisation, and staff. It will facilitate cancellation of the authority to issue legal documents by government agencies. Twenty-one of the 42 articles contained in the law are subject to revision. Article 31 concerning functions and duties of the heads of government agencies will be annulled and Article 40 which stipulates an independent budget for the government's operations will be supplemented. The whole revised law is expected to be passed by the National Assembly on December 24. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PM praises outstanding athletes Prime Minister Phan Van Khai received and presented gifts to outstanding athletes and trainers in Hanoi on December 21. Talking to the athletes and trainers, Prime Minister Khai praised the achievements of outstanding athletes, who won the top awards, which voted for by journalists nationwide. The prime minister said he believed the athletes would make further efforts in training to record more great achievements at the 22nd SEA Games in 2003, bringing honour to their homeland. He analysed advantages of Vietnamese athletes at the previous SEA Games while asking the sports and physical education sector to find and train more talents for the country. Mr Khai also as the sector to create favourable conditions for young athletes to study other subjects, like music and painting, while carrying on their training. Mr Khai praised disabled swimmer Tran Nguyen Thai, who broke the world record at the first South-east Asia Paragames in Malaysia. Also on this occasion, the national women�s football team, the 21st SEA Games gold medallist, and Nghe An province were hailed by the prime minister. Finally, Mr Khai said he hoped that training in sports would develop at provinces and cities, following the example of late President Ho Chi Minh. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ NA chairman hails the role of army paper National Assembly Chairman, Nguyen Van An spoke highly of the role of the army newspaper, Quan Doi Nhan Dan, in national defence and construction during his meeting with the newspaper's editorial staff in Hanoi on December 21. The meeting was held on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the national resistance war (December 19), the 57th founding anniversary of the Vietnam People's Army (VPA), and the All-people National Defence Day (December 22). NA Chairman An said that the paper has always been considered one of the country's leading newspapers in the struggle for protecting Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh Thought, the Party, the State and national independence and socialism. The paper has pointed out wrong viewpoints and is determined to fight the peace evolution scheme of hostile forces and their subversive activities, he stressed. The NA chairman urged the army paper to improve its quality and adhere to its political orientation as an information agency of the VPA and an ideological and cultural arm of the Party. The paper of the people's armed forces should encourage patriotism and heroic tradition, firmly fight foreign aggressors, and build the country, he said. Chairman An also asked the paper's staff to maintain their revolutionary political quality and continue to improve their professional skills. They should also fulfil their tasks and encourage the emulation movement, thus effectively carrying out the ninth Party congress's resolution, national industrialisation and modernisation, poverty reduction, as well as fighting corruption and wasteful spending. The NA chairman pointed out the need to train young qualified staff for the paper. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CPV senior official visits China Nguyen Khoa Diem, Politburo member, secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and head of its Commission for Ideology and Culture, met with Li Peng, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, in Beijing on December 20 during his current working visit to China. Mr Diem began his visit to China on December 18 at the invitation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. At the meeting, Li Peng affirmed that Vietnam and China should develop their bilateral relations under the motto of 'Friendly neighbourliness, comprehensive co-operation, long-term stability and looking towards the future,' which has been defined by the leaders of the two countries. He said that the two Parties always attach importance to ideological work so they can exchange experiences with each other in this field. Mr Diem spoke highly of the experiences and achievements of the CPC on the ideological front. He said that the CPV has studied the CPC's experiences in dissemination and theoretical work, thus helping strengthen Vietnamese Communists' confidence in the success of socialism. Party Secretary Diem assured Chairman Li Peng that the CPV would continue to concentrate efforts on consolidating and promoting the solidarity between the Parties and peoples of Vietnam and China. Earlier on December 19, Party Secretary Diem had a working session with Ding Guangen, CPC Politburo member, secretary of the Secretariat, and chairman of the CPC Central Committee's Propaganda Department. During his meetings with the CPC Central Committee's Propaganda Department and the International Liaison Department, Mr Diem and Chinese Party officials informed each other of the socio-economic situation in their respective countries and ongoing ideological and theoretical work. They also exchanged views on issues relating to the cause of reform, openness, and renovation with a socialist orientation. These meetings took place in frankness and mutual trust, contributing to consolidating friendship, co-operation and mutual understanding between the two Parties. On the afternoon of the same day, Party Secretary Diem and his entourage called at the 'People's Daily' editorial board and the Television station in Beijing. He is scheduled to visit Henan and Guangdong provinces. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics hold Christmas meeting The Committee for Solidarity of Vietnamese Catholics (CSVC) held a get-together with representatives of relevant agencies and services and the Catholic community in the capital on the occasion of Christmas. CSVC president, Priest Vuong Dinh Ai, and CSVC vice president and general secretary, Priest Phan Khac Tu, spoke about the achievements of the Catholics' patriotic movement in 2001. They said the Catholic people have participated actively in programmes on poverty reduction, social evils prevention, charity work and emulation movements of the entire people. The committee is preparing for the fourth Congress of Catholics taking part in national construction and defence in 2002. Among those present at the meeting were Le Quang Vinh, chief of the government Committee for Religious Affairs; Trinh Xuan Gioi, deputy head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Mass Mobilisation; and Le Truyen, member of the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front's Central Committee. On this occasion Priest Ai wished Catholics a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Tran Van Dang, general secretary of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, on December 21, visited the Bui Chu diocese and Kien Lao parish in Xuan Truong district, northern Nam Dinh province, on the occasion of Christmas. Mr Dang praised the achievements of the Catholics in their patriotic movement, and expressed his hope that they would continue to join the people in national construction and observe the law while practising their religion. He called on and presented gifts to Do Van Toan, a Catholic war invalid in Bui Chu village, Xuan Ngoc commune, Xuan Truong district. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Orders presented to drug fighters The Ministry of Public Security held a ceremony in Hanoi on December 21 to review the fight against the Nguyen Van Tam-led drug case called 998-C and received the medal for distinguished services of State president and the prime minister�s certificate of merit to individuals and units who made excellent achievements in fighting the crimes. The State president has decided to present the first, second and third class orders to 17 collectives and individuals of the General Department of Police, under the Ministry of Public Security and the medal for distinguished services, the second class, to the Department 2C, under the Supreme People�s Procuracy. The prime minister has presented certificates of merit to 12 units and individuals of the Ministry of Public Security and Nam Dinh province�s People�s Court. This drug case involves 140 people and operates in 15 provinces and cities for a long time. The first stage of the case in Nam Dinh province prosecuted 22, while the second stage 2 in Thanh Hoa, 24 defendants. The third stage of the case is under further investigation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vietnam welcomes Palestinian president's call for a halt to violence Vietnam welcomes Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's call for an end to violence and a return to peace negotiations, said a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, Ms Phan Thuy Thanh, in Hanoi on December 20. Responding to correspondents' questions about Vietnam's reaction to President Arafat's December 16 statement, Ms Thanh said: "Vietnam welcomes President Arafat's statement, considering it a positive action, which meets the goals of the international community and aims to restore the peace process in the Middle East." In her reply to correspondents' request for comments on Radio France International RFI quoting diplomats in Hanoi alleging that the number of Vietnamese crossing the border to Cambodia has doubled since August this year and that they do not intend to go to a third country, the spokesperson said that the statements are absolutely false. According to local officials, the number of people crossing the border to Cambodia has not increased recently and that there has not been any confiscation of local inhabitants' land by the administration as was reported, Ms Thanh added. She stressed that in central highlands Dak Lak province alone, almost 90% of ethnic minority people have been granted land use rights certificates. In addition, the administrations in many localities have been implementing a programme granting supplementary land to ethnic minority people to boost production, Ms Thanh said, noting that the programme has been approved by the government. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ International study on Vietnamese children launched A ceremony to launch the �International Study on Child Poverty� was held on December 12 in Hanoi by the Vietnam Union of Scientific and Technological Associations (VUSTA), the General Department of Statistics and the United Kingdom�s Save the Children. Vietnam has been chosen to be one of the four countries to take part in the project for children which lasts till 2015. Delegates to the ceremony spoke of the importance of study on child poverty and reviewed the poverty reduction work among children in Vietnam in the past ten years. They also discussed measures to fight HIV/AIDS, labour and sex abuse and malnutrition for children. They agreed to seek for methods and tools to study poverty in children and would apply in many developing countries. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Saigon river tunnel to be built A tunnel running under Saigon river in Ho Chi Minh City will be built to ease traffic congestion. The tunnel, part of the city's East-West highway project, will be 1.6 kilometres long, and 33.5 metres wide, linking the city with the newly-built Thu Thiem urban area. Construction of the tunnel will start in November next year, taking 38 months at a cost of more than US $74 million. The East-West highway project, designed with assistance from Pacifi _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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