Day: April 16, 2023

The Christian denominations in Syria, which follow Eastern calendar, celebrated Easter by holding prayers and masses at churches and places of worship.

The Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate held a divine mass at St. George Cathedral in Bab Touma neighborhood of Damascus, chaired by Archbishop Mor Cyril Babi, Patriarchal Vicar for the Patriarchal Archdiocese of Damascus.

In a speech, Archbishop Babi underlined the importance of following the values of glorious Easter in all aspects of life and in human relations and spreading love and peace among the whole world.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

The General Presidency of the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque, represented by the Agency for Social, Voluntary, and Humanitarian Services, is supervising the coordination of volunteer work at the Grand Mosque. Over 7,000 volunteers are working according to plans that ensure the provision of the best services to visitors and Umrah performers during Ramadan.

Saleh Al-Najdi, the head of the “Makkah Youth at Your Service” program, explained that the program is partnering with the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque to offer several programs to serve the Umrah performers and visitors of the Grand Mosque. These include pushing wheelchairs for people with disabilities, the elderly, and those in need, free of charge throughout the year and 24 hours a day. The program is also organizing sections allocated for men and women inside and outside the Grand Mosque, as well as organizing corridors and walkways on the ground floor and the first floor during the last ten days of Ramadan.

The Makkah Youth Program also conducts field trips to educate visitors and Umrah performers on the importance of not sitting in the corridors and entrances, directing them to the designated praying areas and guiding the lost to the doors, entrances, and exits of the Grand Mosque and its courtyards.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

The domes of King Fahd’s expansion in the Prophet’s Mosque is considered an architectural masterpiece and engineering design that brings together an enormous construction design, exquisite decorations and inscriptions, and a smooth motion through automatic control.

The dome that weighs 80 tons is designed to move a few seconds at scheduled times.

As many as 27 moving domes are periodically maintained in the Prophet’s Mosque regularly and installed on a square base with a side length of 18 meters, each weighing 80 tons, and moving on iron axes with a total length of 1573 meters.

The internal structure is coated with layers of solid cedar wood, each layer with a thickness of 2 mm, and ornamented with distinctive wooden shapes and pieces of blue turquoise.

The external structure is covered with pieces of small hexagonal ceramic mosaic with a diameter of 70 mm. The domes are decorated with geometric shadow lines in turquoise and light beige colours.

The domes of the Prophet’s Mosque are manufactured to open and close automatically through control devices; to maintain the cool air inside the mosque and help provide a suitable climate for worshippers.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) distributed 19 tons and 950 kilograms of food baskets to the neediest families in the Waakem region of Dakar, benefiting 285 families as part of the 2023 food basket project in the Republic of Senegal.

This comes as part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s relief and humanitarian efforts through its KSrelief arm to support people in need and countries worldwide.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

The Secretariat General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has welcomed a prisoner exchange operation between the Yemeni government and the Houthis.

In these days of the blessed month of Ramadan, the OIC Secretary General, Hussein Ibrahim Taha, welcomed this significant humanitarian initiative, saying it would give returning detainees, their families in particular, and the Yemeni people in general, hope.

He also expressed appreciation for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg’s efforts in this operation, hailing the mediation efforts made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Omani authorities. He expressed the hope that the operation of exchanging prisoners and detainees would help to give the peace efforts in Yemen a new impetus.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

The Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) will present the Accademia Stauffer All Stars Ensemble on 5 May 2023. It is a talented and extraordinary ensemble of musicians from the Stauffer Academy of Cremona in Italy. The academy is an institution which nurtures education in stringed instruments.

The evening concert offers a programme of two special composers, Vivaldi and Piazzolla, each exploring the seasons of the year through compositions arranged for stringed instruments. Well-known and well-loved throughout the world, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, tell the story of the seasons through intricate, dramatic, and unique music.

The ensemble, featuring violin, viola, cello, double bass, and harpsichord, consists of musicians selected from the academy which is supported by the Fondazione Stauffer. Established in Cremona, in 1970, by Italian-Swiss patron and entrepreneur Walter Stauffer, the foundation aims to promote and support advanced musical training for string players, traditional Cremonese violin making, and musicological research

Source: Oman News Agency

Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) general index (30) today lost (51.5) points, comprising a drop by (1.07%) to close at (4759.69) points, compared to the last session, which stood at (4811.17) points.

The trading value today stood at (RO 4,360,968), comprising a surge by (262.4%), compared to the last session, which stood at (RO 1,203,333).

The report released by MSX pointed out that the market value went down by (0.163%) to reach about (RO 23.78) billion.

The report added that the value of shares bought by non-Omani investors reached (RO 309,000), comprising (7.08%). The value of shares sold by non-Omani investors reached (RO 407,000), comprising (9.34%). The net non-Omani investment decreased by (2.26%) to (RO 99,000).

Source: Oman News Agency

Bank Muscat posted a net profit of RO 51.30 million during the first quarter of 2023 compared to RO 48.26 million reported during the same period in 2022, constituting an increase of 6.3%, according to the preliminary unaudited results announced by the bank.

Net Interest Income from Conventional Banking and Net Income from Islamic Financing stood at RO 91.71 million for the three months period ended on 31 March 2023 compared to RO 82.08 million for the same period in 2022, comprising an increase of 11.7%.

Non-interest income stood at RO 31.50 million for the three months period ended on 31 March 2023 as compared to RO 31.83 million for the same period in 2022.

Operating expenses reached RO 48.70 million compared to RO 45.76 million for the same period in 2022, comprising an increase of 6.4%.

Net Impairment for credit and other losses for the three months period ended on 31 March 2023 stood at RO 13.69 million compared to RO 12.0 million for the same period in 2022.

Net Loans and advances, including Islamic financing receivables increased by 8.4% to RO 9,765 million compared to RO 9,009 million by the end of March 2022.

Customer deposits, including Islamic Customer deposits increased by 1.6% to RO 8,992 million compared to RO 8,853 million during the corresponding period in 2022.

Source: Oman News Agency

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) granted a new license to Oman Data Park (ODP) to provide voice or video telecommunication services over Internet protocol (VoIP), which contributes to expanding the base of services provided via Internet Protocol in the Sultanate of Oman.

The issuance of the license is based on Oman’s Telecommunications Regulatory Law and its executive regulations, issued by the Ministerial decision No. 144/2008.

In accordance with this approval, ODP will work to contribute to enhancing the benefit of users of the telecommunications sector in Oman from the technology of voice transmission, as well as sending and receiving phone calls over the Internet Protocol (VoIP) instead of transmitting it via the landline telephone network.

Eng. Maqbool Al Wahaibi, CEO of Oman Data Park said, said that obtaining this license confirms ODP’s readiness to provide this type of advanced services at a time when the Sultanate of Oman is keen to keep pace with the latest developments in this field.

Source: Oman News Agency

Energy Development Oman (EDO) has successfully renegotiated the terms of its USD 2.5 billion loan, resulting in cost savings of USD 100 million in interest.

The move sets a new benchmark for EDO and represents a significant saving for the company and is part of a broader initiative aimed at reducing interest costs across government-related entities in Oman in line with the government’s objectives to achieve financial sustainability.

The borrowing cost of EDO is largely based on the credit rating of the Sultanate of Oman. In 2022, the rise in oil and gas prices along with the government’s continued efforts to ensure financial sustainability led to two ratings agencies, Fitch Ratings and Standard and Poor’s (SandP), raising their rating assessments. This improvement in the credit outlook contributed to increasing the investment attractiveness of the Sultanate of Oman.

SandP Global Ratings has revised its outlook on Oman to positive from stable while affirming its rating at ‘BB’. According to the report, Oman’s government is reforming its balance sheet, with debt repayments and strong nominal GDP growth.

Eng. Mazin Rashid Al Lamki, the CEO of EDO said “The latest credit rating upgrade by SandP Global Ratings is a strong testament to the government’s prudent fiscal policies and ongoing economic reform efforts. As a result of this upgrade, we expect to see increased investor confidence and interest in Oman, which will, in turn, support economic growth.”

He added, “For EDO, this means that we will have access to more favorable borrowing terms and is a positive step towards achieving our goal of supporting Oman’s long-term development.”

Al Lamki pointed out that taking advantage of the country’s improved credit profile, EDO proactively sought to renegotiate its seven-year USD 2.5 billion loan, issued in August 2021 and signed initially at a fixed credit margin of 2.95%. EDO asked the bank group to voluntarily amend the existing loan to a lower margin. The company worked closely with the Debt Management Office (DMO) of the Ministry of Finance to set the margin at 2.05%.

Source: Oman News Agency

The Western Region Command of the Sudanese Armed Forces announced that it joined all its soldiers and military equipment to the Rapid Support Forces and opened its headquarters and bases to confront the “remnants of the defunct regime.”

The Command said in a statement: “The Western Command of the Armed Forces followed the course of events between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, which developed into bloody clashes that claimed the lives of the best Sudanese youth in fabricated battles.”

The statement added: “In order to spare the blood of innocent people and protect the homeland, the Western Region Command of the Armed Forces announces its accession with all its soldiers and military equipment to the Rapid Support Forces and the opening of its headquarters and bases to confront the remnants of the defunct regime who are preparing to return to power through the gate of the Armed Forces.”

Clashes broke out on Saturday morning in Khartoum, between the army forces led by Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces loyal to his former ally, Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, in a sudden transformation of the conflict between them into an armed conflict.

Earlier today, Sunday, the Rapid Support Forces announced their control of the Republican Palace, and the escape of army personnel, leaving behind weapons, military equipment, and armored vehicles.

It reported, through its Twitter account, that its members destroyed the armored vehicles of the aggressor forces in Khartoum, attached a video clip documenting the burning of one of the armored vehicles.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion today reviewed the investment milieu in the Sultanate of Oman’s governorates. This came during a meeting held via video-conferencing between Qais Mohammed Al Yousef, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion and the governorate’s governors.

The meeting highlighted investment opportunities in Oman’s governorates, in addition to challenges. It also touched on topics related to local community companies.

The meeting also comes within the framework of joint action and achieving decentralization which will contribute to boosting the national economy

Source: Oman News Agency