Society

HCM City’s pagodas celebrate Buddha's birthday

Pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City this week have lit seven lotus-shaped lanterns to celebrate the anniversary of Buddha's birth.
Pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City this week have lit seven lotus-shapedlanterns to celebrate the anniversary of Buddha's birth.

The lanterns, which have 24 petals arranged in three layers, will be kept lighting on the Nhieu Loc canal until May 25.

The 2,557 th birthday of Buddha falls on the 15 th day of the fourth lunar month.

City pagodas will also mark the 50th death anniversary of theVenerable Thich Quang Duc, who died of self-immolation in June in 1963to protest the then American-supported Saigon government's repression oflocal Buddhists, the HCM City's Buddhist Sangha said.

The event will be highlighted by an exhibition featuring Buddhismculture at the Pho Quang Pagoda in Tan Binh district. The exhibitionwill close on May 24.

Talks about the life of Buddhahave also been organised at pagodas where many followers are takingpart in incense offerings.

In addition, 32 flower-decorated floats joined in a parade on the city's main downtown streets on May 22.

Also, five boats decorated with flowers by pagodas and Buddhist followers sailed in a parade on the Sai Gon River.

Activitiesto celebrate Buddha’s birthday were also held in the Mekong deltaprovince of Hau Giang, the central coastal province of Ninh Thuan andthe central Da Nang city.-VNA
Follow VietnamPlus

See more

Some participants in the symposium held at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City on April 3 (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam, Belgium advance traffic safety initiatives

Belgium has been a crucial partner for the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam in general in education, research, and innovation, creating meaningful collaboration opportunities with not only the university but other leading educational institutions in Vietnam

Vietnamese team locates quake victims (Photo: VNA)

Vietnamese, Myanmar, UAE teams recover three quake victims in Myanmar

Supported by the UAE rescue team’s sniffer dogs and specialised equipment, the Vietnamese team overcame intense heat and challenging conditions to locate and retrieve three Myanmar victims buried under rubble. Their joint efforts resulted in the successful recovery of all three bodies by midday.

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium meet with children affected by Agent Orange/dioxin in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: VNA)

Belgian King, Queen visit HCM City

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium visited the War Remnants Museum and met with children affected by Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin in Ho Chi Minh City on April 3, as part of their ongoing state visit to Vietnam.

Truong My Lan (front, centre) and accomplices at the appeal trial that started on March 25, 2025. (Photo: VNA)

Prosecutors seek reduced life sentence for Truong My Lan in Van Thinh Phat case

At the ongoing appeal trial for the second phase of the high-profile case involving Van Thinh Phat Group and Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB, Truong My Lan is appealing the entire verdict, challenging her convictions for "fraudulent appropriation of assets" (embezzling nearly 30.08 trillion VND – from 35,824 secondary investors), "money laundering" (involving 445.75 trillion VND), and "illegal cross-border money transfers" (4.5 billion USD).

Officers of the Duong Dong Port Border Guard Station (Kien Giang province) carry out inspections of fishing vessels entering and exiting the Duong Dong River estuary in Phu Quoc city. (Photo: VNA)

Criminal cases initiated over IUU fishing violations

Authorities have pursued cases involving serious offenses such as illegal border crossings, fraud, document forgery, vessel monitoring system (VMS) tampering, and the unauthorised use of explosives for fishing.

At the meeting (Photo: VNA)

Binh Duong leads nation in online public services

Binh Duong is also developing a coordination framework between the provincial Public Administration Service Centre and such centres at the commune level to streamline administrative services.

Mineral resource discovery activities in the northwest region. (Photo: vietnamplus.vn)

40 gold mines discovered in northwest region

There are 40 gold mines with a total identified resource of 29.8 tonnes, and five copper mines with a total identified resource of over 13,000 tonnes in the northwest region.

Three staff members of the Department of Dyke Management and Disaster Prevention set off to join rescue efforts in Myanmar. (Photo: tienphong.vn)

Vietnam sends more personnel to rescue operations in Myanmar

This marks the first time that the staff members from the department have participated in the ASEAN-ERAT, demonstrating the spirit of “One ASEAN, One Response: ASEAN responding to disasters as one in the region” as affirmed in the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc at the working session with representatives from 21 US higher education institutions in Hanoi on March 31. (Photo: Ministry of Education and Training)

Vietnam, US strengthen higher education cooperation

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc highlighted the growing educational partnership between the two nations, with 30,000 out of 200,000 Vietnamese citizens studying abroad being in the US. In the 2022-2023 academic year, Vietnamese students ranked fifth globally in terms of numbers of international students in the US, rising by 5.7%.

The Vietnamese rescue forces have worked tirelessly to locate survivors. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam delivers 3 tonnes of aid supplies to Myanmar earthquake victims

The aid package includes antibiotics, digestive medications, cold and flu remedies, and basic healthcare equipment like blood pressure monitors, blood glucose metres, bandages, and disinfectants. The supplies also feature mosquito spray pumps and insecticides to prevent disease outbreaks in affected areas.