Knife hit record

Tran Van Thu, a local in Chau Thanh District’s Tien Long Commune, measured the salinity level in the Ba Lai and Ham Luong rivers last week. Both are tributaries of the Tien River, a branch of the Mekong River in Vietnam, which runs through Ben Tre and feeds much of the delta province’s fruit, vegetable and rice crops. Tran Van Thu holds a tool that read the salinity level in a river in Chau Thanh District, Ben Tre Province at 0.34 ppt, March 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Nam According to Thu, each of the two rivers that surround his 6,000-square-meter durian farm carried salinity levels of 0.34 (ppt). This was devastating news as his durians need fresh water with salinity levels of less than 0.2 ppt. "Every day, the river water only stays within the safe levels for about an hour, so I have to take every chance I can get [to get fresh water to the farm]." Thu’s family used to cultivate rambutan for a living, but after losing the entire farm to drought and salt … [Read more...] about Drought killing Mekong Delta durian with salt

The agreement surpasses the VND20 trillion ($850 million) acquisition of a 15% stake in BIDV from KEB Hana Bank (South Korea) in 2019, setting a new record in the banking industry. VPBank announced that it has completed the sale of a 15% equity interest to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. of Japan, a member of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, in a transaction valued at $1.5 billion. CEO of SMBC Masahiro Yoshimura and Chairman of the Board of Directors at VPBank Nguyen Chi Dung at the signing ceremony today. Photo: VPBank SMBC Group's latest deal with VPBank makes the former a new strategic investor in the latter. The agreement sets a new banking industry record, with a deal value of VND35.9 trillion ($1.5 billion), surpassing the VND20 trillion ($850 million) acquisition of a 15% stake in BIDV from South Korea's KEB Hana Bank in 2019. The investment is expected to increase VPBank's total capital from VND103.5 trillion ($4.4 billion) to around VND140 trillion … [Read more...] about Japan’s SMBC acquires 15% stake in VPBank for US$1.5 billion

The Vietnamese broke all three of his own youth world records when he finished 24kg clear of his nearest rival in the men’s 55kg category on March 26. K'Duong, who celebrated his 16th birthday three weeks ago, was the only current world record holder among the men’s entries in Durres. He has made only 11 attempts in his international weightlifting career and he has already set six world records. In the snatch event, he missed his first attempt at 107kg because of a press-out, but successfully managed it the second time to secure the first gold. He then went up 7kg to better his world best by 1kg at the Ramazan Njala Sport Complex. In the clean and jerk, his first attempt of 132kg gave him a sweep of gold. He then jumped 12kg, and just failed with the jerk. However, he came back to make the lift with his final attempt and scored his second record, also 1kg better than the previous one. In total, his combined weight of 258kg brought him the third gold and third record. Last … [Read more...] about Vietnamese lifter K’Duong triumphs at World Youth Weightlifting Championships

Visas, service quality, and technology were all part of discussions on a better-performing tourism sector Photo: Cuong Minh May’s National Assembly session is likely to help push ahead a revamp of the country’s rules on entry and exit for foreign visitors, after the Ministry of Public Security crafts amendments to the current law. The development will be an important basis for the issuance of new regulations related to the visa policy, removing difficulties for the tourism industry, and creating conditions to attract more international visitors this year, according to most observers. Dang Tuan Viet, deputy director of the Ministry of Public Secrutity’s (MoPS) Vietnam Immigration Department, said that the proposal emphasised two major areas related to unilateral visa exemption and electronic visa policy. The MoPS also proposes to expand the number of countries that can issue e-visas from 80 countries to the maximum. The MoPS will also ask to increase the temporary stay … [Read more...] about Visa upgrade at heart of fresh approach to tourism

Lan Ha Bay in the northern city of Haiphong is struggling with pollution, mostly caused by deteriorating styrofoam buoys. Pieces of styrofoam buoys have appeared on Lan Ha Bay since early this month in addition to rubbish that has also been discharged into the bay, worsening the pollution. The area which is adjacent to Ha Long Bay has been the hardest hit. Pieces of styrofoam buoys have worsened Lan Ha Bay's pollution The bay has also recently seen red-orange water areas. A person who specialises in raising groupers in Cat Ba Town said that he witnessed the phenomenon on March 23-24. According to some local fishermen, this would be the phenomenon of red tide, caused by the simultaneous blooming of marine algae, which occasionally appears in the waters of Cat Ba. Red tides can threaten fish. A representative from the Cat Ba Bay management board said that since early March, the pollution has had a bad impact on tourists. The board is focusing on rubbish … [Read more...] about Lan Ha Bay faces pollution

The meeting between President Vo Van Thuong and the Supreme People’s Court in Hanoi on March 27. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Politburo member and State President Vo Van Thuong had a meeting with the Party’s civil affairs board and leaders of the Supreme People’s Court in Hanoi on March 27. The number of cases handled by courts at all levels has increased about 6% annually while the quality of courts’ judging and settlement of cases has also recorded progress. The rate of the verdicts cancelled or amended due to subjective causes was low, under 1.5%, according to a report delivered at the meeting. The application of information technology to hold online trials has helped save a large amount of money for the state budget and also won high evaluation from the public, said Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court Nguyen Hoa Binh, who is also a Politburo member and Secretary of the Party Central Committee. Applauding the court sector’s achievements, President Thuong highlighted … [Read more...] about State leader requests courts to further improve judging quality

Logo of Vietcombank on its trading office in Tran Hung Dao Street, Ha Noi. The bank shares soared 2.25 per cent on Monday, led the market's bullish sentiment. — VNS Photo Ly Ly Cao Benchmark indices opened the week on a positive note, buoyed by the improvement of risk appetite. The VN-Index on the southern bourse Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) ended Monday at 1,052.25 points, a gain of 5.46 points, or 0.52 per cent. It logged a long rising streak of five days with the market's breadth inclining to the uptrend. Meanwhile, liquidity increased slightly, of which over VND9.7 trillion (US$413.2 million) worth, equivalent to nearly 557 million shares, was traded on HoSE. The VN30-Index also advanced 5.03 points, or 0.48 per cent, to close the trading day at 1,056.45 points. Twenty of the 30 biggest stocks in market capitalisation of the VN30 basket jumped, of which one hit the ceiling price. Eight stocks declined while two stayed flat. On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the … [Read more...] about VN-Index extends its long winning streak