Author: malaysiang

Hanoi: ‘Colours of Vietnamese ethnic groups’ cultures’ will be the main theme of activities to be held at the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism in the suburbs of Hanoi in April 2024.

As part of events to respond to the Vietnamese Ethnic Groups’ Culture Day (April 19), activities will contribute to promoting and upholding unique traditional cultural values of the ethnic communities, thus attracting tourists during national holidays.

Many special events aim to commemorate Hung Kings – the legendary founders of the nation, and mark National Reunification Day (April 30), and May Day (May 1).

The reenactment of a mountainous market of Cao Bang province will be the most attractive event. It will spotlight the cultural space of ethnic groups of Lo Lo, Mong, Tay, Nung and Dao, their traditional cuisine and specialties, traditional arts, and folk games.

The Mong people in Cao Bang will introduce melodies of Khen (panpine) art, which plays an important role in their cultural and spiritual life
.

Meanwhile, Dao (Dao Tien) and Nung ethnic groups will showcase their traditional handicrafts of beeswax batik printing on fabric, and incense-making, respectively.

A rain praying festival will be reenacted by 15 artisans from the Lo Lo ethnic group in Bao Lac district.

Visitors to the village at the weekend will also have a chance to watch art performances with traditional musical instruments by ethnic groups from the Central Highlands and Mekong Delta regions./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The Authority of Information Safety (AIS) under the Ministry of Information and Communications has asked information security units of agencies, organisations and businesses to roll out drastic measures to ensure safety for information systems under their management, with priorities on monitoring and early warnings.

The move was made after many information incidents have been reported recently, causing losses in property and harming the reputation of agencies, organisations and businesses as well as the national information security. According to the AIS, the trend of cyber attacks, especially ransomware, is increasing.

The authority asked information security units to complete examination and evaluation of information safety of their information system before April 15. If any loophole is detected, the units must immediately apply correcting measures, especially for information systems that store and process personal information and personal data, it asked.

The authority stressed the need for drasti
c implementation of tasks stated in Directive 09/CT-TTg issued by the Prime Minister on February 23, 2024 regarding strengthening information safety following different levels, ensuring that all operating information systems have their safety level approved within September, and all information security protection plans are fully implemented no later than December.

Along with applying the four-layer information safety model and maintaining connections and information sharing with the AIS’s National Cyber Security Centre, information safety units are requested to build plans to respond to incident and periodically back up systems and important data, the authority said, requesting them to periodically perform threat hunting and engage in the national network of cyber information security incident response as well.

Following alerts by the authority and relevant agencies, the units should regularly check and update information security patches for important systems, while using AIS-developed platforms such as I
RLab (Information Retrieval Lab) and DFLab (Digital Forensic Lab) platforms to receive early warnings and support in incident solving, the authority suggested./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Khanh Hoa: The Institute of Oceanography, in collaboration with the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, on April 1 organised training on technology transfer and improvement of monitoring capacity over coral reefs in Vietnam.

Specifically, Australia will support the use of world-class ReefScan technology (a blockchain discovery tool) to help Vietnam monitor and protect coral reefs against the impacts of climate change. This is a programme announced by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in March and also reflected in the Joint Statement on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of the two countries.

This year, Australia will have three training activities to transfer this technology to Vietnam, at the Institute of Oceanography in Khanh Hoa province, the Nui Chua Marine Reserve in Ninh Thuan province and the Cu Lao Cham Marine Reserve in Quang Nam province in the central region in July and August.

As a result, about 20 scientists and managers will be trained on how to use ReefScan and ReefCloud.

Australi
an Ambassador Andrew Goledzinowski presented ReefScan devices to the Institute of Oceanography.

ReefScan is a modular suite of automated marine monitoring systems that translate field data into comprehensive information about the state and health of critical marine ecosystems such as coral reefs.

Meanwhile, ReefCloud is a digital tool that uses machine learning and advanced analysis to rapidly extract and share data from images of coral reefs anywhere in the world./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

MANILA: The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has issued a circular setting the requirements for the Philippine Privacy Mark Certification Program (PPMCP) to boost personal data protection in the country.

In a statement on Monday, the NPC said Circular 2023-05 outlines the prerequisites for organizations and certification bodies participating in the PPMCP -an initiative that aims to assess public and private organizations to ensure the secure and protected processing of personal information.

Under the circular, personal information controllers (PIC) or personal information processors (PIP) seeking PPMCP certification must be certified with ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27701 standards for information security management systems (ISMS) and privacy information management system (PIMS), respectively.

‘Certification bodies must also meet these standards, along with ISO/IEC 17021-1 for accreditation,’ it said.

The policy took effect on March 15, it added.

Meanwhile, the NPC also announced the issuance of Circular
2023-06 or the ‘Security of Personal Data in the Government and Private Sector’ which updated the requirements for the security of personal data processed by a PIC or PIP.

It also sets provisions on the storage and access of personal data and requires PICs or PIPs to implement a business continuity plan to mitigate potentially disruptive events.

This provision took effect on March 30 and repeals NPC Circular No. 16-01, the privacy body said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Department of Education (DepEd) confirmed Monday the suspension of in-person classes from preschool to senior high school in some areas of the country due to sweltering temperatures.

In a Viber message, Assistant Secretary Francis Bringas said learners will shift to alternative delivery mode (ADM) amid the hot weather.

‘As of this hour (suspension of face-to-face classes in) Iloilo city was declared by LGU (local government unit) (for) April 1 and 2, automatic shift to ADM, and the municipality of Tantangan in South Cotabato, suspended for afternoon classes only,’ he said.

‘Please take note that only the in-person class modality is suspended,’ Bringas added.

Besides Iloilo City and Tantangan, South Cotabato, local government units in Bacolod City, Roxas, Capiz, Kabankalan in Negros Occidental, and E.B. Magalona in Negros Occidental also suspended face-to-face classes in private and public schools.

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Service Administration (PAGASA) warned that
several areas may experience ‘dangerous’ levels of heat, which may cause exhaustion and heat cramps, with the possibility of heat stroke for individuals with high and continued exposure.

Areas with the highest or more than 40 degrees Celsius heat index include Aparri, Cagayan; Pili, Camarines Sur; Catarman, Northern Samar and Zamboanga City in Zamboanga Del Sur.

Source: Philippines News Agency

DUMAGUETE CITY: Various police units in Negros Oriental received tactical equipment and weapons from the Philippine National Police headquarters Monday.

A total of 161 pieces of tactical vests, four units of auto-gated night vision devices, 42 units of field investigation crime scene kits, and 33 units of DSAR assault rifles were turned over to the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NOPPO) during the flag-raising ceremony at Camp Francisco Fernandez Jr. in Agan-an, Sibulan town.

Lt. Stephen Polinar, NOPPO spokesperson, said the tactical vests and field investigation crime kits will be divided among the 19 municipal police stations according to their requirements, while the night vision goggles are for the 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company (PMPC).

The 33 assault weapons will be for the PMFC and Bayawan City and Guihulngan City police stations.

Lt. Col. Marcial Yanguas, NOPPO deputy provincial director for administration, led the turnover to the police chiefs and commanders, representing Director C
ol. Ronan Claravall.

‘We are expecting an influx of foreign and domestic travelers during the summer break, especially because Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental have been tagged as among the safest places to visit in the country,’ Yanguas said.

During the Holy Week observance on March 25 to 31, Negros Oriental recorded just three traffic accidents and no drowning incidents, according to Polinar.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is set to issue a notice of violation against two private contractors of Globe Telecom Inc. (Globe) due to unfinished road works along the Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) during the Holy Week.

In a press conference at the MMDA headquarters in Pasig City on Monday, MMDA acting chair Romando Artes said HGC Global Communications (HGC) and RLink Corp. (RLink) failed to comply with the condition that road works should have been finished, cleared, and passable to all motorists by 5 a.m. on Monday.

This, after the MMDA allowed several government and private road projects to conduct round-the-clock road diggings over the Holy Week beginning 11 p.m. on March 27.

‘Out of 40 manholes, 24 were left uncovered. No traffic marshals were seen on the road to at least man the traffic. As a result, the public mistakenly thought that those were MMDA and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) projects because they used the traffic cones and barriers of th
e agency,’ Artes said.

The two firms will be slapped with a PHP50,000 fine per unfinished digging per day, with possible stiffer penalties being studied based on MMDA Regulation No. 23-001, series of 2023.

‘HGC and RLink have explained that they had a problem with logistics. The delivery of cement was delayed. However, their reason is unacceptable and unjustifiable,’ he said.

Despite the project remaining unfinished, he said the MMDA and the DPWH will pour cement on these open diggings to ensure the affected roads will be passable as soon as possible.

In addition to these penalties, he said future projects of the two contractors are in jeopardy — with HGC’s application for the second phase of the project already rejected.

‘Pinag-aaralan po namin na i-ban itong mga kompanyang ito from doing further diggings or for any application for permits na kanilang a-applyan (We’re studying on whether to ban this company from doing further diggings or from any application for permit),’ he said.

He also commended th
e DPWH and other project contractors who completed their projects within the timeframe given by the agency.

Of the 43 road works scheduled for completion on Monday, DPWH and private contractor AARCON Builders completed three, while HGC and Rlink completed 16 with 24 still unfinished or unpassable.

Source: Philippines News Agency