The Transport Department (TD) today (July 30) reminded the public that to facilitate tram track maintenance work at Des Voeux Road West, parts of the fast lane of Des Voeux Road West westbound near Kwan Yick Building Phase I will be temporarily closed during the period from about 10am next Monday (August 6) to 6pm on August 13 (Monday).

     Appropriate traffic signs will be erected on-site to guide motorists.

     The TD anticipates that the traffic in the vicinity of the above road section will be relatively busy. Motorists should exercise tolerance and patience in case of traffic congestion. Members of the public are advised to stay alert to the latest traffic news or the department's website (www.td.gov.hk).

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Monday, July 30, 2018 is 104 (up 0.1 against last Saturday's index).

     Police today (July 30) appealed to the public to use the 999 hotline service only for emergencies.

     In the first six months of 2018, the Police Regional Command and Control Centres received 1,073,892 calls, of which about 66.2 per cent, or 710,605 calls, were genuine. The remaining 363,287 calls were nuisance calls or misdialled.

     A Police spokesman said that misuse of the emergency hotline would delay the handling of genuine emergencies. It would endanger the lives of people in urgent need of Police assistance.

     The spokesman added that police stations could also promptly handle most crime reports and requests of a non-emergency nature. Members of the public are advised to seek assistance from police stations.

     Police contact cards listing the telephone and fax numbers of all police stations as well as police hotlines are available for collection at police stations and Home Affairs Enquiry Centres of the Home Affairs Department. The list of contact numbers can also be found on the Police website (www.police.gov.hk) and the Hong Kong Police Mobile Application.

     A team of five secondary students representing Hong Kong achieved remarkable results at the 49th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO), winning one gold medal, three silver medals and one bronze medal.
      
     The IPhO aims to promote physics education, enhance contacts and co-operation among scientists and educators all over the world, and nurture and inspire teenagers who are highly talented in physics. This year, the IPhO was held from July 21 to 29 in Lisbon, Portugal, with the participation of around 400 students from 86 countries or regions. 
      
     Rahul Arya (King George V School) won a gold medal in the competition. Gaurav Arya (King George V School), Chau Chun-wang (St Margaret's Co-educational English Secondary and Primary School) and Joshua Leung (La Salle College) each won a silver medal, and the bronze medallist was Sean Mann (Diocesan Boys' School).
      
     The Acting Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, congratulated the Hong Kong team today (July 30) on their outstanding performance. 
      
     "The impressive results achieved by the Hong Kong team this year demonstrate our students' great potential in physics and high level of critical and creative thinking ability," Dr Choi said.
      
     "The Education Bureau is committed to promoting STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, and will continue to work in collaboration with the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education (HKAGE) and relevant professional bodies in providing challenging learning experiences for talented students, including participating in national and international STEM-related competitions. We believe the potential of talented students could be further stretched through engaging them in these quality STEM learning activities," she added.
       
     The members of the Hong Kong team, which was fully funded by the EDB to join the competition, had earlier distinguished themselves in last year's Hong Kong Physics Olympiad. They subsequently received training under the Physics Enhancement Programme jointly arranged by the HKAGE and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The best performing students in the programme were then selected as contestants representing Hong Kong to participate in the IPhO this year. The success of the Hong Kong team once again showcased the fruitful collaboration among relevant parties in nurturing talented students in Hong Kong.
      
     To nurture more talents, the EDB is proposing to the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council an injection of $800 million into the Gifted Education Fund to support the enhancement of services of the HKAGE and to provide quality advanced learning programmes for gifted students by different gifted education providers, so as to further enhance the development of gifted education in Hong Kong.

  

Attention TV/radio announcers:
 
Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at regular intervals:
 
     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.
 
     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) announced today (July 30) that Hoi Mei Wan Beach in Tsuen Wan District, which was closed earlier due to maintenance of the shark prevention net and the sighting of a stingray, is now reopened and the red flag has been lowered.

     A spokesman for the LCSD said the stingray had left the enclosed zone of the shark prevention net. The maintenance contractor had also completed inspection of the net at the beach, and confirmed that the net was in good condition and that there were no big fish inside the enclosed zone of the net.

     The spokesman appealed to swimmers to swim in the enclosed zones of the shark prevention nets for the sake of safety, adding that LCSD staff would remain vigilant and strengthen patrols in the swimming zones.