Check out what is in the news today, August 31:

Politics

-- Visiting Vietnamese State President Tran Dai Quang delivered a notable speech on bolstering partnership for regional sustainable development at the 38th Singapore Lecture, held by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies – Yusof Ishak Institute, in Singapore on Tuesday.

-- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to visit Vietnam this weekend in his first-ever trip to a Southeast Asian nation in the past 15 years. A US$100-million agreement to build an express patrol ship is expected to be inked during the visit, Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Parvathaneni Harish told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper in an exclusive interview.

Society

-- The Vietnamese subsidiary of Taiwan's Formosa Plastics Group has paid off its damages for the fish death epidemic it causd in central Vietnam between April and May with the second installment of $250 million of the $500 million compensation Tuesday.

-- The administration of the north-central province of Quang Binh has established a Department of Tourism, to better promote its tourism, which prides itself on Son Doong, the world’s largest cave, nestled in the UNESCO-recognized Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park.

-- More than 30,000 households in the outlying district of Hoc Mon, mostly those residing in two communes, in Ho Chi Minh City has yet to gain access to clean running water, local leaders reported at a Tuesday working session with the municipal People’s Council’s urbanization board.

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport on Tuesday opened a 13.6-kilometer section of the Tan Son Nhat - Binh Loi - Outer Belt route to traffic. The route will link the southern metropolis with its neighbors and serve as a new way leading to Tan Son Nhat International Airport and help meet the rising demand for travel in its four districts and ease congestion in the inner city.

-- Nguyen Xuan Sang, head of the Vietnam Maritime Administration, has said that their inspectors will instruct port authorities in central provinces to search for a freighter which had allegedly dumped waste into waters off the north-central province of Quang Binh on August 8.

Business

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism and Tuoi Tre on Tuesday jointly launched a guidebook, which will be given free to tourists to provide them with essential information on good restaurants, hotels and shopping malls, discounts, emergency contact numbers, and tips on where to go and what to do during stays in the southern hub.  

-- On Tuesday the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade opened a promotion fair to kick off the 2016 Promotion Month event, to take place until the end of this year. The fair, held at Phu Tho Sports Center, boasted more than 500 booths from around 250 enterprises in consumer products, fashion and tourism services.  

Education

-- A ceremony was held on Tuesday at the Vietnam National University- Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities to put the Center for Rural Development – Saemaul Undong into operation. The facility, jointly initiated by the Saemaul Globalization Foundation, aims to facilitate scientific research and technological transfer.

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