News

A’ Seeb, Apr 23 (ONA) — Oman Charitable Organization (OCO) distributed today 1000 food baskets containing more than 10 types of staple food to expat families and individuals in Ma’abaila Industrial area in the Governorate of Muscat.   OCO’s initiative comes on the occasion of Ramadan and the need for such food and consumer commodities due to the interruption of their work. — ...

     Muscat, Mar 16 (ONA) --- Oman Research and Education Network (OMREN) has launched the video conferencing service for its subscribers.          This step aims to spread research knowledge and facilitate research and educational communications through distance learning websites, using electronic social media applications,           Dr. Abdulmonem bin Ali Al Kharusi, OMREN Director, said, “The video conferencing service aims to enable distance learning and online meetings using global applications ...

          Muscat, Mar 9 (ONA) --- To spread wider awareness about Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), the Ministry of Technology and Communications (MTC), in partnership with Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and Middle East College (MEC), organized the first FOSS BootCamp under the theme of “4IR & Emerging Technologies, DevOps Tools, Digital Content Development” in the MEC.            The three-day FOSS BootCamp witnessed the attendance of over 150 participants including undergraduate students, ...

Muscat, Mar 8 (ONA) --- The Research Council (TRC), in collaboration with Sultan Qaboos Higher Centre for Culture and Science (SQHCCS), has announced the winners for the 4th Research and Innovations Award in Water Science 2019-2020, which received 95 local and regional applications for various categories of the award.           The Research and Innovations Award in Water Science comprises of two categories; the Scientific Publication Category and the Innovation Category. For the PhD holders for the Scientific Publication Category, “Removing Heavy ...

     Muscat, Mar 4 (ONA) --- The Ministry of Technology and Communications, in cooperation with Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and Middle East College, will organize the first free and open source software BootCamp from 9th to 11st March, under the theme of “4IR & Emerging Technologies, DevOps Tools, Digital Content Development”, with the participation of over 250 programmers and IT professionals from Oman, GCC and Meena Region.           The main objective of FOSS BootCamp program is to enrich local FOSS resources ...

Muscat, Mar 3 (ONA) --- The Omani Journalists Association (OJA) has completed its preparations to host meetings of the Permanent Office of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the founding meeting of the Asia Journalists Association (AJA) from 16 to 20 March. As many as 60 media personnel, including heads of journalism unions, syndicates and associations from 20 countries, will take part in the meetings.            The Sultanate's hosting of the meeting, as represented by OJA, stems from the role undertaken by OJA in promoting ...

          Muscat, Mar 2 (ONA) --- The 7th international conference of the College of Education: Education and Entrepreneurship (Opportunities and Challenges) began at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) today under the patronage of Dr. Su'aad bint Mohammad al-Lawatiya, Minister of Arts Affairs, in the presence of Azza bint Sulaiman al-Ismailia, Minister of Technology and Communications and undersecretaries, State Council's members, academics, and students.            The conference included eight main themes ...

     Muscat, Feb.12 (ONA) ----The Sultanate will mark the World Radio Day, which falls on February 13th of each year.  The date of February 13th, the day United Nations Radio was established in 1946.    Data issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information indicate that the number of hours of the Sultanate's Official Radio Stations, including the general radio station, Al Shabab radio station and the general radio station in English) in 2019 reached 26,280 hours, an average of 8.760 hours for general radio station, the Al Shabab radio station and ...

         Muscat, Feb 4 (ONA) --- The Advanced Cybersecurity Academy (ACA) hosted a symposium under the title “Cyber Security in Critical National Infrastructure” with participation of executives’ representatives from various entities in the country.                 The symposium was opened by Dr. Ahmad al-Kalbani, Dean of the ACA, followed by a keynote speech from Dr. Ian Levy, technical director of the National Cyber Security Centre in United Kingdom (UK). Prof Chris Johnson from ...

         Muscat, Jan 27 (ONA) --- For the first of its kind in the Sultanate, the Royal Hospital succeeded recently in removing the damaged cells in the pancreas by the laparoscopic ultrasound for a patient suffering from a severe necrotic pancreatitis.          The surgical intervention was performed by a medical team from the Royal Hospital headed by Dr. Hisham Abdullah Al-Dahab, Senior Consultant in Gastroenterology in cooperation with the anesthesiologists and nurses.           Al-Dahab ...

Glasgow University Delegation Visits SQU             Muscat, Jan 20 (ONA) --- A delegation from the University of Glasgow visited Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) today. The delegation met with Pro. Amer bin Ali al-Rowas, SQU Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Community Service.                The two sides discussed the possibility of cooperation between the two universities in terms of student exchange and research cooperation in the fields of medicine and nursing. --- ...

            Muscat, Jan 13 (ONA) --- The weather analyses in the National Multi Hazard Early Warning Centre indicate that a trough of low pressure will affect the Sultanate from tomorrow evening (Tuesday), 14 to 15 January 2020.              A report issued today by the Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) said that the weather will be partly cloudy to cloudy with chances of rains over governorates of Musandam, Al Buraimi, North Al Batinah, South Al Batinah, Muscat, A'Dakhiliya, ...

Muscat, Jan 8 (ONA) --- The Public Establishment for Industrial Estates – Madayn, represented by its Social Responsibility Department, organized today a cleaning campaign at Al Seeb Beach, in coincidence with Oman Environment Day which falls on January 8 of each year.          The beach cleaning campaign comes in line with the awareness initiatives adopted by Madayn’s Social Responsibility Department through organizing various programmes and activities to enhance social responsibility and serve the community and the environment. The campaign aimed ...

        Muscat, Jan 7 (ONA) --- The weather analysis in the National Multi Hazard Early Warning Centre indicate that the Sultanate will be affected by a trough of low pressure starting from Tuesday, 9 to 12 January 2020.           A statement today issued by the Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) said that chances of rain showers with various intensities occasionally thundershowers are expected starting from Thursday night to affect the Governorate of Musandam, and extending gradually on Friday to affect the ...

Muscat, Jan 6 (ONA) --- The 5th International Conference on Numerical Analysis and Optimization (NAOV 2020) was opened at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) today under the patronage of. Dr. Ali bin Saud Al Bimani, SQU Vice Chancellor.            The conference, organized by the Department of Mathematics at the College of Science, SQU will continue till January 9, 2020.         In his address, Prof. Mehiddin Al Baali, Chairman of the NAOV Conference said that this is the 5th conference in a series organized every three years ...

     Al Jabal Al Akhdhar, Jan.04 (ONA) ---- The 2019 season of olive oil in Al Jabal Al Akhdhar witnessed good production, achieving economic value for farmers in the quantities of olive received and oil extracted from them in government and private presses.  The production amount reached more than 60 tons, and the amount of oil extracted reached 8028 liters.  The economic return for this year has reached RO160.000, at RO20 per liter.     The olive harvest for this season began in mid-August and continued until December.  The best period is October and ...

Sadah, Dec.21 (ONA) ---- Abalone Fishing Season has started.  Abalone is one of the most important maritime seasons that the people of Dhofar Governorate await every year.  The Dhofaris, especially those living in the Wilayats of Sadah and Mirbat, depend on it for good return. Abalone is a mono-shelled mollusk, which lives in coastal areas with rocky beaches where algae and seaweeds are abundant.  It is one of the marine species of high economic value in global markets.  It is known in Arabic as "ear-shell" and globally as abalone.  It is often glued to the lower ...

Ja'alan Bani Bu Ali, Dec.14 (ONA) ---- The fisheries sector in the Wilayat of Ja'alan Bani Bu Ali in the Governorate of South  A'Sharqiyah is considered one of the most important and most promising economic sectors because it is one of the pillars of economic development in the Sultanate for its prominent role in providing job opportunities and one of the most important sources of income.    The coasts of the wilaya enjoy a strategic marine location on the Arabian Sea.  The number of coastal villages is more than 22 villages, extending along the coastal strip ...

     Madrid, Dec.11 (ONA) ---- The Sultanate, in its speech at the 25th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at the Climate Summit (cop 25), affirmed its commitment to its international obligations, its ratification of the various international conventions on climate change and on the promotion and enhance efforts of the international community to support adaptation of measures and mitigating the negative effects of climate change.    This came in a speech delivered by Mohammed bin Salim al-Toobi, Minister ...

        Salalah, Dec.10 (ONA) ---- The harvest season for abalone in the Governorate of Dhofar will start tomorrow /Wednesday/ and last for ten days.  Abalone is considered one of the rare and important marine resources that Oman waters is rich with.    The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries represented by the Directorate General of Fisheries in the Governorate of Dhofar has completed its preparations for the current season after the two-year ban that the Ministry approved to preserve the stock of Abalone.  The production in the 2016 season reached ...

Al Hamra, Dec.07 (ONA) ---- Al Jabal Al Sharqi in the Wilayat of Al Hamra is rich in many beautiful tourist areas and places, including ''Al Ruwaidah'' area, which has become a tourist destination for lovers of nature, camping and exploration in the mountain peaks due to the mild weather and various services, such as roads, communications, electricity and water.    The areas and villages of Al Jabal Al Sharqi of in the Wilayat of Al Hamra are known as an extension of the villages of Jabal Al Akhdhar.  They thus meet and are similar in terms of water sources and ...

     Muscat, Nov 24 (ONA) --- Food Science and Nutrition Department and Ageing & Dementia Research Group (ADRG) at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) organized the 6th International Workshop on Food and Brain Health.         The workshop was inaugurated by Dr. Rahma Al-Mahrooqi, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Postgraduate Studies & Research, SQU, in the presence of Dr. Nasser Al-Habsi, Assistant Dean of the College of Agricultural & Marine Sciences (CAMS).        There were 13 international speakers from USA, Qatar and ...

 Budapest, Nov.20 (ONA) ---- The 2019 UNESCO-Sultan Qaboos Prize for the Conservation of the Environment was presented in its 15th session in the Hungarian capital Budapest.    Assigned by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said, Dr. Madiha bint Ahmed al- Shaibaniyah, Minister of Education, Chairperson of the Oman National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, presented the prize to the representative of the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) in India, based on the recommendation of the jury committee of the prize.    The prize ...

        Muscat, Nov 13 (ONA) --- The Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Research Center at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) organized a celebration on the occasion of the International Day for Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which falls on 13 November every year.          On this occasion, Dr. Yaseen bin Ahmed al-Mulla, Director of the Center, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the event said that GIS is one of the important pillars of work at the Center along with remote sensing and the use and ...

        Muscat, Nov 13 (ONA) --- A workshop on “Diamonds and Recycled Mantle,” which is organized as part of the 5th International Geoscience Program (IGCP-649), commenced at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) today. The event is being sponsored by UNESCO; IUGS; ICGP-649 Project; SQU, Institute of Geology at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, China; and Nanjing University.                The IGCP is a cooperative enterprise of UNESCO and the International Union of Geological Sciences ...

Muscat, Nov 6 (ONA) --- The Research Council (TRC) continues its participation in the Oman Science Festival 2019.        This year’s festival is a five-day event, starting from the 4th till the 8th of November 2019 at Oman Convention and Exhibition Center. The festival consists of 300 events and more than 1,200 participants, in addition to leading programming and robot competitions, various hackathons, drone competitions, scientific films as well as scientific presentations.           Among its various events, TRC has ...

Muscat, Nov 4 (ONA) --- The Research Council (TRC) is taking part at the second season of Oman Science Festival 2019, which is taking place at Oman Convention and Exhibition Center from the 4th untill the 8th of November 2019.   Based on the strategic objectives of TRC, their participation in the festival aims to transfer knowledge, provide a stimulating environment for research and innovation, encourage creativity and innovation, and promoting the culture of scientific research and innovation.   Participation of TRC in the festival further includes an interactive pavilion ...

             Muscat, Nov 3 (ONA) --- A conference on Modern Strategies of Risk Management began today under the patronage of Sheikh Khalid bin Omar al-Marhoon, Minister of Civil Service.            The three-day conference aims to introduce principles of crises, disasters management and relevant operations to their management, to mitigate their impact, and identify roles and responsibilities of those participating in their management.               ...

             Salalah, Oct 30 (ONA) --- Salalah Port today received “MSC Orchestra” and “AIDAbella” cruise ships with 6,064 passengers on their boards including 4,491 tourists from various nationalities.           The tourist programme of the two cruise ships included tours to major archeological and historic landmarks in the Governorate of Dhofar, besides visiting beaches and traditional markets in Salalah.               “MSC ...

Muscat, Oct 30 (ONA) --- The Remote Sensing and GIS Research Center at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) today organized an International Forum on Advancements and Future of Remote Sensing and Space Technologies under the patronage of Dr. Mona bint Fahad Al-Said, SQU Assistant Vice Chancellor for International Cooperation.         This forum was co-sponsored by IEEE- Geoscience and Remote Sensing International Society.          The forum consisted of two sessions and eight speakers covered the many topics. These ...