News

According to the monitoring data of Gamma Radiation recorded for the past 24 hours (16th April 16:01 till 17th April 16:00) by the Taipa Grande Station of the Macao Meteorological Bureau, the Gamma-ray absorbed dose rate per minute ranges between 0.1169 and 0.1361μGy/h (micro Gray / hour) which is far more below the warning level of 0.35μGy/h. The Macao Meteorological Bureau will continue to pay close attention to the radiation level in Macao. If any abnormalities being discovered, we will release related message to the public immediately and inform relevant government departments to adopt relative contingency measures.
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According to the monitoring data of Gamma Radiation recorded for the past 24 hours (16th April 10:01 till 17th April 10:00) by the Taipa Grande Station of the Macao Meteorological Bureau, the Gamma-ray absorbed dose rate per minute ranges between 0.1169 and 0.1291μGy/h (micro Gray / hour) which is far more below the warning level of 0.35μGy/h. The Macao Meteorological Bureau will continue to pay close attention to the radiation level in Macao. If any abnormalities being discovered, we will release related message to the public immediately and inform relevant government departments to adopt relative contingency measures.
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According to the monitoring data of Gamma Radiation recorded for the past 24 hours (15th April 16:01 till 16th April 16:00) by the Taipa Grande Station of the Macao Meteorological Bureau, the Gamma-ray absorbed dose rate per minute ranges between 0.1169 and 0.1291μGy/h (micro Gray / hour) which is far more below the warning level of 0.35μGy/h. The Macao Meteorological Bureau will continue to pay close attention to the radiation level in Macao. If any abnormalities being discovered, we will release related message to the public immediately and inform relevant government departments to adopt relative contingency measures.
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Consumer Council will expand its 'No Plastic Bag Day' to 18th and 28th of each month starting this April. 18th will be the first 'No Plastic Bag Day' of this month, consumers and shop owners are called on to support and bring their own shopping bags. 'No Plastic Bag Day' was established in 2008 to arouse public's attention to reduce the use of plastic bag. A survey on the evaluation of 'No Plastic Bag Day' was conducted last year and the result showed that 'No Plastic Bag Day' helped to reduce the number of plastic bag used. Starting this month, the Council will add one more day to the 'No Plastic Bag Day' campaign. On 18th and 28th each month, consumers, 'Certified Shops' and 'Adherents' well as other retailers are called on to support and participate in the campaign for the protection of our environment.
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According to the monitoring data of Gamma Radiation recorded for the past 24 hours (15th April 10:01 till 16th April 10:00) by the Taipa Grande Station of the Macao Meteorological Bureau, the Gamma-ray absorbed dose rate per minute ranges between 0.1169 and 0.1318μGy/h (micro Gray / hour) which is far more below the warning level of 0.35μGy/h. The Macao Meteorological Bureau will continue to pay close attention to the radiation level in Macao. If any abnormalities being discovered, we will release related message to the public immediately and inform relevant government departments to adopt relative contingency measures.
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The aeronautical authorities from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao met in Macao on 14 April 2011 for the annual “Tripartite International Air Law Meeting” to update each other on aviation legislative development over the past year, introduce the procedures for the applicability of multilateral conventions in the three places, as well as exchange opinions on the content and the eventual applicability of “The Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Relating to International Civil Aviation (the Beijing Convention)” and “The Protocol Supplementary to the Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft (the Beijing Protocol)”. The meeting enhanced the communication and exchange on their civil aviation laws and regulations. The healthy and orderly development of aviation is reliant on the protection by well-established legislation. Since Hong Kong and Macao have become two special administrative regions of China, the aeronautical authorities of mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao saw the need to create a communication and exchange mechanism to understand the latest developments of aviation laws and regulations in the three places and to coordinate among themselves on the formulation and amendment of multilateral conventions relating to aviation. It was therefore decided among the three sides that a regular “Tripartite International Air Law Meeting” should be convened every year for exchange of information, and to be held by each of the aeronautical authorities in turn. In the presentation by the Civil Aviation Authority of Macao SAR (AACM) on the latest development of Macao's aviation laws and regulations, AACM explained that reviews are made on the existing legislation from time to time and amendments will be introduced when necessary. The latest developments were the Despacho of Chief Executive No. 295/2010 published in 2010 regarding the flight protection area around the airport, heliports and navigation aids, and the Executive Order No. 8/2011 published earlier this year which approves the Air Navigation Regulation of Macau; AACM also gave a brief overview on the laws and regulations which are currently under legislative process, namely the “Aerodrome Certification”, the "Minimum Air Transport Passengers Rights in Case of Denied Boarding and Cancellation or Delay of Flights" and the "Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation and Aviation Safety Information Protection Law"; furthermore, AACM is studying the need for new laws and regulations in the field of aviation security. The three delegations also discussed the content and the eventual applicability of the Beijing Convention and the Beijing Protocol. In September 2010, the "Diplomatic Conference" held under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization was convened in Beijing. The Conference defined new and emerging threats that are not covered under the Montreal Convention of 1971 and the Hague Convention of 1970, and finally adopted two new counterterrorism treaties devoted to improving aviation security, named as the Beijing Convention and the Beijing Protocol. These new treaties have reflected a new concept according to which the states are required to, for example, criminalize the unlawful and intentional use of an aircraft in service for the purpose of causing death, serious bodily injury or serious damage to property or the environment; criminalize the release from an aircraft in service of any biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons that cause death, serious bodily injury or serious damage to property or the environment; criminalize the transport of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons and related materials by air; prosecute and punish those who organize or direct others to commit acts of terror; cooperate between each other on the extradition of those who seek to commit acts of terror, among others. The Beijing Convention and the Beijing Protocol will significantly strengthen the existing international counterterrorism legal framework by expanding the scope of crimes as well as promote the cooperation between states on extradition. Presently, the Beijing Convention and the Beijing Protocol are not yet in force. For the two treaties to be fully applicable to Macao SAR, they need to be extended to Macau SAR by the Central Government after seeking the opinion of Macao SAR. Besides, amendments should be made to the existing Criminal Code and the relevant law on prevention and punishment of terrorism crimes, or a new criminal legislation should be promulgated. The meeting was held in AACM's office. Participants were the representatives from the Department of Treaties and Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, the Civil Aviation Administration of China as well as the Division of Policy and Regulations of their regional offices, the Department of Justice of Hong Kong SAR, the Civil Aviation Department of Hong Kong SAR, the Security Bureau of Hong Kong SAR, the Law Reform and International Law Bureau of Macao SAR and AACM.
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According to the monitoring data of Gamma Radiation recorded for the past 24 hours (14th April 16:01 till 15th April 16:00) by the Taipa Grande Station of the Macao Meteorological Bureau, the Gamma-ray absorbed dose rate per minute ranges between 0.1152 and 0.1318μGy/h (micro Gray / hour) which is far more below the warning level of 0.35μGy/h. The Macao Meteorological Bureau will continue to pay close attention to the radiation level in Macao. If any abnormalities being discovered, we will release related message to the public immediately and inform relevant government departments to adopt relative contingency measures.
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The distribution work of 2011 Wealth Partaking Scheme has basically finished on 31 March this year. In the course of the implementation, 91,242 beneficiaries have received the cash premium by means of bank transfer, accounting for MOP$ 363,432.00, while 504,631 crossed cheques have been mailed, which summed up to MOP$ 1,897,221,600. Until the present time, 424,135 cheques were withdrawn, representing 84% of the total number of cheques written out. In line with the scheme, a Support Centre for Wealth Partaking Disbursement entered into service on 18 January to cater for enquiries and deal with procedures related to the cash disbursement. As of 14 April, some 22,599 enquiries have been handled, with the majority of which being personal visits, summing up to 14,946 enquiries, around 66.1% of the total. The second most popular channel was telephone enquiry, which stands for 32.4% or 7,314 enquiries. Personal visits to the Centre were mainly for re-issuance of cheques, which totaled 6,850 cases, whereas 4,444 came for the purpose of alteration of address. Pursuant to article 11 of Administrative Regulation No. 1/2011, the Support Centre will cease to provide services starting from 15 April. From 18 April onwards, residents can go to the Service Centre of Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau located in Avenida da Grande Praia, China Plaza, 2/F for assistance regarding procedures associated with the Wealth Partaking Scheme of present and previous years. The opening hours of this Service Centre are from 9am to 6pm straight, Monday to Friday, except public holidays. Telephone enquiries are available at 8795 2675 and 8795 2676. The service hotline 2822 5000, fax 2822 3000 as well as the official website of Wealth Partaking Scheme http://www.planocp.gov.mo will be retained to provide relevant information.
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The Macau Business Tourism Office (MBTC) of Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) organized the annual “Meet in Macau” seminar in Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia and Singapore respectively, held on 6th and 8th April, as an effort to promote Macau's business tourism. A delegation of 15 business tourism officials and Macau trade organizations comprising representatives from hotels, attractions and tour operators participated in the event. The “Meet in Macau” programmes in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore both included a seminar and mini mart, as well as a corporate networking luncheon. There were 78 participants from the Malaysia trade and 82 participants from the Singapore trade attended the seminars and mini marts, while there were 17 participants comprising Malaysia corporate clients and media partners, as well as 40 participants comprising Singapore corporate clients, media partners and airline partners attended the networking luncheons. The promotional activities of MBTC held in the two markets aimed to network and update key business tourism planners, travel agents, corporate clients and airline partners about the latest tourism developments and incentive programmes in Macau, while encouraging more international companies to choose Macau as their desired destination for business tourism events in Asia. In the year 2010, the MGTO Representative Office in Malaysia has successfully assisted and brought 35 meeting and incentive events to Macau, whilst the MGTO Representative Office in Singapore has successfully assisted and brought 27 meeting, exhibition and incentive events to Macau. Feedback from both guests and Macau trade partners indicated that the event was both fruitful and informative. The MGTO Representative Office in Malaysia and Singapore also had an influx of enquiries from meeting planners after the event.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR's foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP204.1 billion (USD25.45 billion) at the end of March 2011. The reserves rose by 4.0% from the revised value of MOP196.2 billion (USD24.44 billion) for the previous month. When compared with a year earlier, the reserves increased by MOP47.9 billion or 30.6%. Macao SAR's foreign exchange reserves at end-March 2011 represented 35 times the currency in circulation or 288.9% of Pataca M2 at end-February 2011. The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca, a gauge of the domestic currency's exchange rates against the currencies of Macao's major trading partners, fell by 0.49 points month-to-month and 2.80 points year-on-year to 87.72 in March 2011. For enquiry, please contact:
Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao (Tel: 83952532; Fax: 28353042)
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