In Brief
Officials report HK$13.6b deficit
The government has posted a HK$13.6 billion deficit for the period April to May. Expenditure in the past two months was HK$41.2 billion with revenue of HK$27.6 billion. A spokesman said the deficit for the period was mainly because some major sources of revenue, including salaries and profits tax, were received towards the end of a financial year. As at the end of May, the debt was HK$15.61 billion and reserves were HK$480.8 billion.
Research body approves 776 academic applications
The Research Grants Council yesterday announced that it approved about 776, or a third, of applications for research funds for 2009 and 2010, involving a total HK$517.6 million. The council received a record 2,300 applications from academic staff at the eight University Grants Committee-funded institutes, a 6 per cent increase on last year. Of the approved research projects funded, 239 were in engineering disciplines, 206 in humanities, social sciences and business studies, 171 in biology and medicine, and 160 in physical sciences. The average amount granted to each project was HK$670,000, a 16 per cent rise on last year. The council will also fund 20 projects under the public policy research funding scheme, at a cost of HK$7.2 million.
Delay in unveiling Macau chief executive candidate list
The committee tasked with electing Macau's chief executive has delayed announcing who has been accepted as candidates for the July 26 poll. The election committee said it would delay its announcement, scheduled for yesterday, because of a complaint from a resident who had tried unsuccessfully to run in the race. The committee said the man was not qualified to run and did not name him. Fernando Chui Sai-on is set to become the only candidate in the election after securing 286 nominations from the 300 election committee members.
