December 14-20: Party Central Committee convenes 14th session

Nhan Dan Online reviews the notable events that made headlines over the past week.

A view of the 14th session of the 12th Party Central Committee that opened in Hanoi on December 14 (Photo: NDO/Dang Khoa)
A view of the 14th session of the 12th Party Central Committee that opened in Hanoi on December 14 (Photo: NDO/Dang Khoa)

Party Central Committee convenes 14th session

The 14th session of the 12th Party Central Committee opened in Hanoi on December 14 under the chair of Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong.

Participants introduced the candidates for the Politburo and the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat in the 13th tenure, and finalised the draft election regulations and working rules of the 13th National Party Congress, along with a number of other important matters.

The Party leader stressed the importance of personnel work at this session, noting that on November 20, the Politburo passed a decision approving the personnel planning for the Politburo and Party Central Committee’s Secretariat in the 13th tenure.

50 top Vietnamese brands honoured

At the awards ceremony (Photo: VNA)

Fifty leading brands of Vietnam in 2020 were honoured during a ceremony held in HCM City by Forbes Vietnam on December 17.

Most of the honoured firms have been in operation for at least a decade, including Minh Long I, Vinamilk, Viettel Group, The gioi di dong (Mobile World), VPBank, PNJ, Nutifood, and Saigontourist, among others.

Military Central Hospital 108 performs five successful liver transplants in a week

Over the past week, Prof. Dr. Mai Hong Bang, Director of Military Central Hospital 108, has directly instructed and coordinated the relevant units to perform five successful liver transplants, including two planned cases, two emergency cases and one extremely urgent emergency case.

Over the three years of implementing the liver transplant technique, as of early December 2020, Military Central Hospital 108 has successfully performed 60 such transplants. In particular, despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital has performed 40 successful liver transplants in 2020, including five over the past eight days.

First Vietnamese volunteers receive injections of "made-in-Vietnam" COVID-19 vaccine

December 14-20: Party Central Committee convenes 14th session ảnh 2

The first Vietnamese citizen is vaccinated with locally-made COVID-19 vaccine Nanocovax on December 17.

The first human trials of locally-made COVID-19 vaccine Nanocovax began on December 17 with the first three volunteers receiving their injections at the Vietnam Military Medical University.

The trio, including one man and two women aged 20-25, were selected randomly after screening in line with the set regulations.

The Nanocovax vaccine has been researched and manufactured by NANOGEN Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company, and has been put into clinical trial in a short time thanks to shortened procedures.

Vietnam listed in high human development category group: UNDP new report

Vietnam has broken into the group of countries with high human development, but this remarkable progress has been accompanied with relatively high pressures on the planet.

These are among the key findings of the 2020 Human Development Report “The next frontier – Human Development and the Anthropocene,” released on December 16 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam in cooperation with the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Vietnam’s (Human Development Index) HDI value for 2019 is 0.704, putting the country in the high human development category and positioning it at 117 out of 189 countries and territories. The country’s HDI value increased by almost 46% between 1990 - 2019, which is among the highest HDI growth rates in the world.

Temperature plunge as extreme cold spell hits northern region

December 14-20: Party Central Committee convenes 14th session ảnh 3

Scattered rains and low temperatures are expected to hit the capital city of Hanoi from this afternoon. (Photo: NDO)

A strong cold spell from the north has affected some parts of Northern Vietnam, with temperatures across the region expected to plunge to as low as 11-14C from Dec 15.

It got colder from December 16, marking the first extreme chill to hit the North since the beginning of winter, with the lowest temperatures ranging from 11-14C, even as low as 8-11C or below 5C combined with frost in the mountainous areas in provinces of Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang and Lao Cai.

Outstanding craftsmen honoured with ‘People’s Artisan’ title

As many as 77 outstanding craftsmen were honoured with ‘People’s Artisan’ and ‘Meritorious Artisan’ titles at a ceremony held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) in Hanoi on December 15.

The artisans have worked for a long time in many traditional crafts, including embroidery, pottery, jewellery, bronze casting, and wood sculpture.

The titles are given to honour craftspeople who have made significant contributions to safeguarding and promoting their ancestors’ traditional crafts and handing down the practices to younger generations.

Vietnam honours outstanding IT firms in 2020

December 14-20: Party Central Committee convenes 14th session ảnh 4

The ceremony to honour Vietnam's outstanding IT firms

The Vietnam Software and IT Services Association (Vinasa) held a ceremony on December 14 to announce and honour the most outstanding Vietnamese IT firms in 2020 as part of the Vietnam ICT Summit and Vietnam Digital Transformation Day 2020.

The awards cover various categories such as software export, business process outsourcing, financial technology, e-government solution provision, digital content, IoT, digital transformation platforms, digital infrastructure, security, digital transformation services and solutions, digital marketing, smart city solutions, IT services and solutions, IT training, and start-up businesses.

The export revenue of the top ten software exporters in 2019 was estimated at VND4,900 billion (US$211.4 million), accounting for 24% of Vietnam’s software export revenue.