Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Hong Kong Customs detects three dangerous drugs cases and seizes suspected drug worth about $19 million
In the first case, through risk assessment, Customs on April 24 inspected an air cargo consignment, declared as LED lights, arriving in Hong Kong from the United States at HKIA. Upon inspection, Customs officers found a total of about 55kg of suspected cannabis buds concealed in 23 packing boxes in the consignment. After a follow-up investigation, Customs officer conducted a controlled delivery operation yesterday (April 25) in Tsuen Wan and arrested a 58-year-old man and a 35-year-old woman. After that, Customs officers further arrested two men aged 27 and 26 in Yau Tong and further seized about 200g of other suspected cannabis drugs and a batch of packing tools from the vehicle they were travelling in. The first two arrestees have been released on bailing pending further investigation, and the last two arrestees had been jointly charged with two counts of attempting to traffic in a dangerous drug. They will appear at the Kwun Tong Magistrates’ Courts on April 28.
In the second case, Hong Kong Customs conducted a joint operation with the Mainland Customs yesterday and inspected an express parcel, which was declared as coconut oil, arriving in Hong Kong from Thailand via Shenzhen at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point based on intelligence analysis. After examination, about 2kg of suspected liquid etomidate with an estimated market value of about $2 million were found concealed inside 4 bottles. After a follow-up investigation, Customs officers conducted a controlled delivery operation in San Po Kong on the same day and arrested two men, aged 14 and 24, suspected to be connected with the case. The two arrestees have been charged with trafficking in a dangerous drug and the 24-year-old arrestee with one additional count of resisting a member of the Customs and Excise Service, they will appear at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts on April 28.
In the third case, Hong Kong Customs today detected one drug trafficking case involving a passenger at HKIA and seized about 7kg of suspected heroin, with an estimated market value of about $5 million.
A 22-year-old male passenger arrived in Hong Kong from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, today. During customs clearance, Customs officers found the batch of suspected heroin inside his check-in suitcase. He was subsequently arrested. The arrested person has been charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. He will appear at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on April 28.
Customs will continue to enhance enforcement against drug trafficking activities through intelligence analysis. The department also reminds members of the public to stay alert and not to participate in drug trafficking activities for monetary returns. They must not accept hiring or delegation from another party to carry controlled items into and out of Hong Kong.
Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.
Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hkIssued at HKT 21:50
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PRESIDENT OF INDIA ATTENDS FUNERAL MASS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
Source: Government of India
Posted On: 26 APR 2025 7:15PM by PIB Delhi
The President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu attended the funeral Mass of His Holiness Pope Francis at Saint Peter’s Square in Vatican City today (April 26, 2025). Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State Minister for Minority Affairs, Shri George Kurian and Deputy Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly, Shri Joshua De Souza, who are part of the official Indian delegation, also attended the ceremony.
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MJPS/SR
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LCQ9: Student Activities Support Fund
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
LCQ9: Student Activities Support Fund
The Government established in early 2019 a $2.5 billion Student Activities Support Fund (the Fund) to support primary and secondary students with financial needs to participate in school-organised or recognised out-of-classroom life-wide learning activities, so as to foster their whole-person development. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the annual and cumulative (i) amounts of revenue and expenditure of and (ii) numbers of school and student beneficiaries as well as activities organised (together with the types and natures of the activities) under the Fund since its establishment;
(2) whether there are schools which have never or scarcely applied for subsidy under the Fund; if so, whether the authorities know the reasons for that, and whether assistance has been provided to such schools to ensure that all students with financial needs are given the opportunity to participate in life-wide learning activities;
(3) as it is reported that situations such as low birth rate, decline in the number of school-age children and the addiction of many students to online activities arise in Hong Kong, whether the authorities will encourage schools to make use of the subsidy granted under the Fund to organise more life-wide learning activities conducted in groups and physical settings;
(4) whether the authorities have received complaints on or identified problems in the operation of the Fund since its establishment; if so, of the follow-up actions; and
(5) whether the authorities have assessed if the operation of the Fund since its establishment can achieve its intended objectives; whether a comprehensive review of the overall operation of the Fund will be conducted in the light of the experience gained in the operation of the Fund, feedback of stakeholders, development of society, changes in students’ needs, etc.?
Reply:
President,
The Education Bureau (EDB) has been providing resources for schools to organise a wide range of learning activities and schools may deploy such resources flexibly to support student learning and offer after-school student activities to foster students’ whole-person development. Starting from the 2019/20 school year, the EDB has been providing a recurrent Life-wide Learning Grant (LWL Grant) with an annual provision of about $900 million to support public sector and Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools in taking forward life-wide learning based on the present foundation. The LWL Grant aims to help students develop lifelong learning capabilities and foster their whole-person development through the knowledge, skills and positive values and attitudes acquired in experiential learning. At the same time, the Government set up the Student Activities Support Fund (SAS Fund) in 2018-19 with an allocation of $2.5 billion, and the investment return of the SAS Fund has been used to provide the Student Activities Support Grant (SAS Grant) for public sector and DSS schools to support students with financial needs to participate in out-of-classroom life-wide learning activities organised or recognised by schools. While the SAS Grant is supplementary in nature, schools should make good use of the LWL Grant and the SAS Grant, having regard to their own development contexts and students’ needs.
Our consolidated reply to the question raised by the Hon Tony Tse is as follows:
(1) and (2) The SAS Grant has been available for schools’ application since the 2019/20 school year. The amount to be disbursed to a school is calculated based on the number of students of the school in receipt of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) or the full-grant under the School Textbook Assistance Scheme (STAS full-grant) in that school year (based on the number in December of the school year). The rate for each primary student is $350 and that for each secondary student is $650. Noting that some families may be in need of support but are not in receipt of the CSSA or STAS full-grant for various reasons, so besides providing support for students receiving the CSSA or STAS full-grant, schools are given the flexibility to, at their discretion, deploy up to 25 per cent of the total provision of the SAS Grant for the school year to support students who are identified as needy according to the school-based criteria (e.g. students receiving the STAS half-grant) to participate in out-of-classroom experiential learning activities. Since the 2019/20 school year, nearly 95 per cent of schools have applied for the SAS Grant. For the schools which have not submitted any application, the main reason is that their numbers of students with financial needs are relatively small and they have flexibly deployed the LWL Grant and other resources to support student learning.
From the 2019/20 to 2023/24 school years, the incomes and expenditures of the SAS Fund, the numbers of beneficiary schools and the numbers of students are set out in the table below: