Non-residential and residential electricity accounts are benefitting from government relief measures, the Environmental Bureau announced today.

Under the measures, nearly 90% of non-residential electricity bills obtained a 75% subsidy for electricity charges in March, while 40% of residential electricity accounts enjoyed zero electricity charges in the first quarter of the year.

The Government announced about $2.3 billion in provisions last December to provide an electricity charge subsidy to each eligible non-residential electricity account holder to cover 75% of their monthly electricity charges for four months, subject to a monthly cap of $5,000.

The Budget further provided $2.9 billion to extend the subsidy period to eight months.

According to the bills issued by the two power companies in March, 360,000 non-residential bills obtained a 75% subsidy. This is close to 90% of the total eligible non-residential tariff bills.

To balance the impact on people's livelihood of the recent transition to cleaner electricity generating systems in Hong Kong, the bureau implemented the electricity charges relief scheme in January 2019.

A monthly electricity charge relief of $50 has been granted to each eligible residential electricity account for 60 months.

To help the public cope with the challenging economic environment, the Government implemented a new round of one-off electricity charge subsidy schemes in January.

A subsidy of $160 will be credited to each residential electricity account from January to November, while $240 will be credited in December.

From early this year, over 2.7 million households have been benefitting from both the electricity charges relief measures and the electricity charges subsidy. The bills of the two power companies indicated that 40% of residential electricity accounts, representing 1 million households, enjoyed zero electricity charges.

The bureau called on the community to cherish environmental resources, including saving energy and electricity to mitigate climate change and improve air quality.

Chief Justice Patience Roggensack faced backlash for her comment, with some people calling it "elitist" to separate meatpackers from "regular folks."

Comedians Over Viruses and Infectious Diseases (COVID) is the message behind the latest project from comedian duo Ity and Fancy Cat. Recognising that stress levels are on the rise due to the effects of the...

New proposal would help low and middle-income nations fund their pandemic response.

Members Event

Event participants

James D Zirin, Host, Conversations with Jim Zirin; Author, Plaintiff in Chief: A Portrait of Donald Trump in 3500 Lawsuits

Chair: Chanu Peiris, Programme Manager, International Law Programme, Chatham House

​ Builders will continue to build, and White folk dumpster dive,  In the winter anyway, In red, And blue overalls, scavenge – Scavenger, Some for profit, others fun, and I Cannot be a predator, I Cannot carry luggage, I Am dying, and Perhaps giving things away, a book or something will relive the pain, lord […]

  Don’t make fun of the flower arranger, Ikebana Is self – discipline, a Nip here, a Snip there, and With fullness of time, and Passage through life, Done with the flash of a scissor, Bone handles, Glinting, Scissor flash snip, all gone Extra weight, things un-needed, flash Unheeded, If you stop, To think about, […]

Having seen what Luiz Gohara had done upon his introduction to the big leagues the previous September, Freddie Freeman told Alex Anthopoulos the big left-hander might immediately became an All-Star. Instead, it became a year of awakening for the young hurler, who remains fueled by last year's disappointments.

With Dallas Keuchel and Charlie Morton leaving in free agency and Lance McCullers Jr. on the mend following Tommy John surgery, Collin McHugh is returning to his roots this year and is back in the Houston rotation. He said his experience as a reliever will only help him evolve as a starter.

Each individual’s grief process is unique, when confronted with the death of a loved one, most people experience transient rather than persistent distress - however 10% of bereaved individuals, with an increased risk following the death of a partner or child and loss to unnatural or violent circumstances, experience prolonged grief disorder. In...

Western Bureau: Some displaced Iberostar employees in Rose Hall, St James, are angry with their employer, charging that they have been unable to benefit from the Government’s COVID-19 relief programme because of the hotel’s failure to pay over...

Tears flowed yesterday down the face of Donaree Anderson, cousin of 15-year-old Nyron Taylor, one of two children shot dead in west Kingston hours apart on Wednesday. Eight-year-old Toya Brown was the other child killed just days into the month...

Branson Centre goes digital The Caribbean branch of Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship has shifted fully to online delivery of its services. This includes online training and support in three business development areas: finance, strategic...

Invitation Only Research Event

HE Raffaele Trombetta, Italian Ambassador to the UK, Co-Host, COP 26
Archie Young, UK Lead Climate Negotiator, Cabinet Office 
Peter Betts, Associate Fellow, Energy, Environment and Resources Department, Chatham House
Chair: Professor Tim Benton, Research Director, Energy, Environment and Resources, Chatham House  

In the run-up to COP26 in Glasgow, Chatham House is organizing monthly briefings about the UN climate negotiations and climate change more broadly. The events provide an excellent opportunity to discuss the most pressing and complex climate issues of the day with government officials, renowned experts and members of the London-based diplomatic community.

Research Event

Event participants

Research Event

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Former intelligence chief Mustafa al-Kadhini was named prime minister of Iraq on Thursday, after five months of political instability in the Middle Eastern nation.

Global Dental Relief, a nonprofit organization that has delivered free dental care to children around the globe since 2001, is seeking clinical volunteers for upcoming humanitarian missions in Nepal and Guatemala.

The American Dental Association is applauding the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ decision to appoint a chief dental officer at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid but would like to confirm the position is exclusive to CMS.

As Congress works on a third legislation package in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the ADA is asking lawmakers to include provisions on how to assist dental practices and other small businesses facing economic burdens.

Oregon Dental Association dentists, volunteers donate more than 600,000 pieces of PPE to help emergency relief efforts

The ADA, Organized Dentistry Coalition, and many state dental associations are asking the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to release funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act Provider Relief Fund to assist dental Medicaid providers.

Two additional Delta Dental member companies announced details April 27-28 of programs that will provide economic assistance and post-COVID-19 pandemic relief for members of its independent provider networks across 16 states and the District of Columbia.

I know it's Ramadan, but I've been feeling urges for a few years now and it's just getting more and more now. I always imagine about sex and loving my to-be wife. Right now, I'm studying medicine, so my parents told me it's too early to get married (24 years old). I just don't know really what to do. I prone masturbate to get some relief. What should I do?

On the frontlines of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic yet also more disproportionately affected by the virus and with reduced health care access, immigrants in the United States have largely found themselves blocked from federal economic relief. As states and philanthropic groups seek to plug the gap, this article examines conditions and changing policies around immigration and the coronavirus response.

There are two ways to think about the staggering amounts of money given by special interest groups to politicians -- the type of contributions that were detailed for the last quarter in reports filed yesterday by presidential candidates and members of Congress.

John Duffy lost 67 of his colleagues at the firm of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods six years ago during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Among the dead was Duffy's son Christopher. The investment banking firm, located in the South Tower of the World Trade Center, was among the companies hit hardes...

BRUSSELS — Even as the number of refugees in need of protection has reached an all-time high, the resettlement spots offered by countries in 2018 were less than half the level in 2016—and future commitments may shrink further. With refugee needs high and generosity dimming, there is increasing urgency for humanitarian actors to find new ways to bring refugees to safety as well as to rebuild public interest and consensus around the importance of protection.

Findings will be discussed during 25 February MPI Europe – SVR webinar

Michele Heisler
Oct 1, 2008; 26:161-165
Practical Pointers

A collection of short news stories from this week.

The state's elected superintendent and the governor-appointed state board have been in a legal dispute since 2016 over who should oversee the many tasks of the education department.

"In communities most devastated by COVID-19, academic achievement is pretty far down on the priority list—this is the reality," says Wyoming state chief Jillian Balow.

Wayne Sanstead, who has been North Dakota's state schools superintendent for nearly three decades, has decided not to run for an eighth term this fall.

Michael Sentance, who would oversee ESSA implementation as state superintendent, is less than a year into the job and under fire by the state board for his communication and leadership style.

Michael Sentance abruptly resigns less than a year after being hired to oversee Alabama's schools and as board members were preparing to decide his fate after a brutal evaluation.

The state's last superintendent resigned under pressure after he attempted to take over Montgomery's school system and figure out a way to grade the state's schools.

A collection of short news stories from this week.

Schools may have to continue closures in the fall if the coronavirus resurges, state schools chiefs in Maryland and Washington said. The warnings came the same week thata key federal official predicted schools would be able to reopen for the 2020-21 school year.