VIETNAM TODAY

Vietnam won 15 gold, six silver and six bronze medals, ranking first at the 10th ASEAN Skills Competition that wrapped up in Hanoi on October 28.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will be imposing penalties for the first time on banks offering poor quality Automated Teller Machines (ATM) service.

The Vietnam Paragliding Open Championship 2014 will be held in the northern province of Hoa Binh from October 30 to November 2.

The HCM City People’s Committee has asked the Department of Education and Training to pull the plug on its pilot project and replace it with an integrated English teaching curriculum.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has reiterated that Vietnam always rolls out the welcome mat for Indian investors and provides all possible assistance for them.

Customs officials on October 27 caught a Vietnamese woman attempting to illegally smuggle 6kg of rhino horns valued at VND4 billion into Vietnam.

Illegal gold mining activities in Kon Tum Province's Kon Plong District have been halted with all illegal gold miners being expelled, an official said.

Fresh controversy has broken out after authorities in central Quang Binh Province last week allowed a survey project to set up a cable car system connecting many of the caves – and even enter the world's biggest, Son Doong.

Chief Minister of the eastern Indian state of Bihar, Jitan Ram Manjihi, pushed for stronger cooperation with Vietnam on farming, fisheries, food processing, education and tourism in a meeting with the visiting Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on October 27.

Vietnam always treasures broader cooperative relations with Tanzania, said President Truong Tan Sang at talks with his Tanzanian counterpart Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete in Hanoi on October 27.

Deputy PM Pham Binh Minh has affirmed Vietnam’s recognition of high importance to developing a comprehensive strategic partnership with China.

Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) has been honored by the International Finance Magazine as the "Most Innovative Bank in Vietnam" in 2014, becoming the first Vietnamese commercial bank to get the award.

The deadline to register for retention of the Vietnamese nationality has been removed by the Government.

A wide range of short documentaries by young domestic and foreign filmmakers are set to screen at the Mini DocFest 2014 at the Goethe Institute in Hanoi from October 29-November 4.

After receiving an emergency SOS at 12:30 on October 26 from a fishing vessel in Quang Tri, the Vietnam Maritime Search & Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), sent out a rescue ship to help the 13 crewmembers aboard.

Hoang Minh Nhat, a 23-year-old bank employee, beat fellow Vietnamese overseas home cook Le Chi of Canada in the pressure-packed finale of the second Vietnam MasterChef.

In Dong Thap Province, 60 children were mistakenly injected with distilled water instead of rubella vaccine.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung left Hanoi on October 27 for a three-day official visit to India at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

Residents of Khanh Hoa Province have been complaining about the strong fragrance of a blossoming tree called alstonia scholaris, or devil's tree.