Society

-- The administration of the northern mountainous province of Son La is planning drastic measures to wipe out a large locust swarm which allegedly hails from Laos and has been wreaking serious havoc on crops in Sop Cop District in early 2017 with a budget of more than VND2 billion (US$89,700).

-- Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung announced at a press meeting on Tuesday that the government has launched a website to receive feedback and complaints from enterprise owners.

-- The People’s Committee of Quang Nam Province in the central region has fined 16 illegal gold mining operators a total of VND14.4 billion ($645,840) after they had held a crack-down on an illicit quarry amidst Song Thanh natural reserve, located in Nam Giang District.

-- The number of fish that went belly up a few days ago at Ho Tay (West Lake), the largest lake in Hanoi, has amounted up to 200 metric tons, the municipal chair reported to the government on Tuesday.

-- A fire broke out early Tuesday at a bridal accessory shop in District 12, Ho Chi Minh City, killing a 33-year-old man, his wife and their toddler.

-- Police in Vung Tau City, a coastal resort town located around 120 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City, are investigating a fraud case after some taxi drivers from Ho Chi Minh City had reported being swindled by a male passenger of their valuables.

Business

-- Party Secretary Nguyen Xuan Anh of Da Nang City in the central region on Tuesday met with Malaysian billionaire Vincent Tan as part of the municipal administration’s activities to call for foreign investment into the city. 

-- Ho Chi Minh City leaders discussed cooperation potentials on different areas, including tourism, during a working session on Tuesday with their counterparts from the northern province of Hoa Binh.

-- Plastic producers in Vietnam have been on hot bricks as the import tariff on polypropylene (PP) plastic raw materials is expected to rise to three per cent in early 2017 from the current rate of one per cent, which will aggravate their already ferocious competition against plastic imported from neighboring countries.