Oman Air Plane crash?

Oman Air deeply regrets to announce that itsflight WY900 flying from Salalah to Muscat has met with an accident on 8:35 hours on Friday 13th November 2009.13th November 2009 11:14 hrsRevised information indicates that Flight WY900 had a total of 158 people on board, there are 126 injuries, 29 fatalities (including all 8 crew) and 3 unaccounted for. It is further reported that there are 5 resident fatalities.

From the Oman Air website:http://www.omanair.aero/wy/dark/index.htm

A weird posting from Oman Air Website. Is it for real? a drill or a defaced/hacked website?

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Exercise Exercise Exercise Exercise

13th November 2009 11:14 hrs

Revised information indicates that Flight WY900 had a total of 158 people on board, there are 126 injuries, 29 fatalities (including all 8 crew) and 3 unaccounted for. It is further reported that there are 5 resident fatalities.
13th November 2009 10:25 hrsRevised information indicates that Flight WY900 has a total of 127 survivors, of which 124 are injured. It is further reported that there are 31 fatalities including 8 crew members.

13th November 2009 10:23 hrs

Flight WY900 was carrying a total of 158 people. Latest information is that there are 3 survivors, 126 injuries, 29 dead (including all 8 crew members).
13th November 2009 9:23 hrsLatest Information indicate that there are 33 survivors, 41 injured and 51 fatalities.

13th November 2009 08:54 hrs

AT 8:35 hours on Friday 13th November 2009, the flight WY900, a Boeing B737 from Salalah to Muscat crash landed near the wave resort, Muscat.
Flight WY900 had 150 passengers on Board plus 2 flying crew and 6 cabin crew.
At this stage there are reported 76 casualties and 19 fatalities.
A toll free number 80070001 has been established.

Link : http://www.omanair.aero/wy/dark/index.htm

Sayyid Fahd receives Croatian minister

MUSCAT — His Highness Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, deputy prime minister for the Council of Ministers, yesterday received Gordan Jandrokovic, Croatian foreign and European integration minister, who is currently visiting the Sultanate. During the meeting, Sayyid Fahd reviewed the bilateral relations and ways of enhancing them in energy and economic fields, exchanging scientific and technical expertise and encouraging private sector investments. They also reviewed current developments at the regional and international arenas. The Croatian minister showed his country’s preparedness to promote the existing relations with the Sultanate. He expressed his country’s appreciation of the Sultanate’s balanced policy and the achievements it made at various spheres, thanks to its wise leadership. The meeting was also attended by Sayyid Badr bin Hamed bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, secretary-general of the Foreign Ministry; and Drazen Margeta, Croatian non-resident ambassador to Oman.

H1N1 vaccination set to begin today in Oman

MUSCAT: Vaccination campaign for H1N1 flu will begin here today (October 25) making Oman the first country in the region to receive and administer the flu vaccines, officials announced yesterday. Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saidi, Under-Secretary, Minister for Health Affairs, Dr. Ali bin Jaafar bin Mohammed, advisor to the Ministry of Health Affairs and Dr Jihane F Tawilah, WHO representative, Sultanate of Oman will among the first residents to receive the shots at the Al Hail Health Centre. Residents across the Sultanate will be administered with vaccine in the coming days. However, among the 100,000 doses of Novartis vaccine that arrived on October 19th in Oman the first few shots have been earmarked for Haj pilgrims and healthcare workers on a priority basis. Following them the vaccine will be administered to people in essential services, pregnant women, people of all ages with chronic diseases, children more than six months to less than two years, children more than two years to less than six years (pre-school), children more than 6 years to 18 years (school). All healthy people above the age of 18 years i.e. the rest of the healthy people in the community including students of colleges and educational institutes will be administered. Oman will receive more batches of vaccines in the coming months and by the end of March 2010, it would have received 2.6 million doses. GlaxoSmithKline’s H1N1 vaccines are expected to arrive next week. The challenge for health authorities continues to be to convince citizens on the safety of the vaccine. Speaking at a press conference here yesterday Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Obaid Al Saidi said, “We will not give a vaccine that is not safe. Rumours about the effectiveness and safety of the new influenza vaccines are being circulated in the community.” Urging residents not to fall prey to rumours, Dr Saidi said, “the MOH has never bought any products that have not been tried, tested, researched and registered in the country it was produced.” Informing that Novartis and GSK’s vaccine will be administered intramuscularly as a single-dose shot on the upper arm, the Dr Saidi said, “One dose is enough for people over the age of 10. However, children under the age of 10 might get two doses,” Al Saidi said. Dr. Ali bin Jaafar bin Mohammed, who is also a member of an international body that studies vaccines said that the Sultanate has been taking part in several meetings worldwide to discuss the vaccines. “We are in touch with international bodies and World Health Organisations who have a long experience on vaccines. Besides, we would not buy the vaccines from unregistered companies,” he said. Asking people not to be mislead Dr Ali said, “In consideration of the Ministry’s concerns to safeguard public health and safety and provide all measure to prevent transmission of the disease, we urge all citizens and residents in the Sultanate to get vaccinated.” MOH officials also said immunization is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions for many of the communicable diseases. They pointed out that the intractable and killer diseases like smallpox, tetanus, diphtheria, poliomyelitis and many others do not pose a risk today and their burden substantially decreased due to the development of specific vaccines. Dr. Ali bin Jaafar bin Mohammed clarified that those who have been infected with H1N1 virus need not get vaccinated. “However those cases not confirmed by laboratory can take the vaccine,” he added. The Ministry of Health officials also said that no one will be forced to take the vaccination. They also ensured that there will be no discrimination between expatriates and citizens on giving the vaccinations. Dr Jihane F Tawilah clarified that no serious side effects were reported so far in people who have received it across the world which includes in Japan and China besides other countries. “Studies have found that the vaccine is good at preventing swine flu,” she said. “The flu shot itself a dead vaccine. There is nothing alive in it and you cannot get the flu from it,” she added. The Ministry of Health also reaffirmed that according to the scientific studies the expected side effects associated with the new vaccine are not different from those associated with other vaccines. These effects can be summarised as local effects such as pain, swelling and redness at the injection site, mild fever and headache. These are simple transient symptoms which may last for a day or two from the date of injection. According to the WHO licensed vaccines, including influenza vaccines, are held to a very high standard of safety. “Likewise, all possible precautions will be taken to ensure safety of new pandemic vaccines and results from clinical trials, currently ongoing or soon to be initiated, will be taken into consideration by the regulatory authorities in their decision to license pandemic vaccines. WHO has held consultation of experts who reviewed the safety of adjuvants, or substances added to vaccines to make them more effective; no significant safety concerns were identified. Vaccine safety will be carefully monitored through post-marketing surveillance,” Dr Jihane added. “Rumours of side effects of the vaccines are spreading faster than the epidemic itself but we should not give an ear to them,” said Dr Jihane. The Sultanate has recorded over 2428 laboratory confirmed cases until now. 24 deaths were reported along with several mild cases treated without laboratory testing and many others recovered without medical intervention.

Oman - Donating just one click away

MUSCAT — In the spirit of giving and charity during the holy month of Ramadan and the upcoming occasion of Eid, Information Technology Authority (ITA) is raising awareness about the donations portal. This portal provides opportunity for citizens and residents to make online donations to a charity of their choice. The participating organisations include: Al Noor Association for the Blind, National Association for Cancer Awareness, Association for Early Intervention for Children with Special Needs, The Association of the Welfare of the Handicapped, and Oman Association for the Disabled. Comfortable Donation during the month of Ramadan, a month already characterised with giving and humanitarian aid, makes the portal even more pertinent allowing residents to donate from the comfort of their own homes. Designed for simplicity, making a donation is as easy as making a payment using a credit card, authorised by any Omani bank. The portal makes it easy to donate with a single click from anywhere and at anytime. And yes, contributions made via the website do directly benefit the selected charity. As it is Ramadan and in anticipation of the celebration of Eid Al Fitr, ITA invites all citizens and residents in the Sultanate of Oman to donate to these aid organisations using the donations portal. ITA, an independent national body responsible for promoting Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the Sultanate in the form of the e.oman initiative, has transformed the way charitable contributions are made to improve the lives of underprivileged individuals and communities during the holy month of Ramadan through its online donations portal to charitable organisations. Bilingual portal The portal was officially launched in January 2009 in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Development and the five chief humanitarian and charitable organisations in the Sultanate to facilitate electronic donation processes. The bilingual online portal, www.onlinedonations.org.om, designed for transparency, convenience, simplicity and user-friendliness as its guiding principles, allows citizens and residents of the Sultanate to make direct donations using their bank credit cards to the respective bank accounts of the charitable organisations. Security was also given high priority, as all transactions are carried out accurately and safely within seconds through the closely monitored portal to protect people’s interests. On the occasion, Dr Salim Al Ruzaiqi, chief executive officer at ITA, expressed: “With the development of the donations portal we have designed one of the most innovative websites in the country. Through our partnership with the Ministry of Social Development, we provide the public a simple, convenient and secure platform for making contributions and a number of other online financial transactions through the latest ePayment technology.” Single access point “The donations portal represents a single access point for donating, as we aim at providing superior public services. This is only the beginning of the diverse initiatives we have in store for the public following the launch of the new e.oman identity, as it will guide us in all future endeavours to truly create a knowledge-based society. Through e.oman, we plan to cover a very wide spectrum of socio-economic services in light of the new e-lifestyle,” he added. Muhanna Moosa Baqer, manager of ePayments, commented: “Although accessible all year round, we are very enthusiastic about spreading awareness of the portal’s availability during Ramadan and promoting charity for valuable social causes in the Sultanate. We are confident that ITA’s partnership with the Ministry of Social Development will enable us to reach a wider audience and cover vast territories with the advent of the Internet and new technology.” “We encourage the citizens and residents to get online and begin using this portal. We hope that this portal will help overcome the challenges encountered when using conventional methods and modes of making charitable contributions,” he added. In addition, the portal allows potential contributors to gain an understanding of the various projects, objectives and functions of the organisations, allowing greater access to a multitude of social and economic welfare causes, including financial and educational assistance, health awareness training and preventative programmes. We invite other charity organisations registered with the Ministry of Social Development to join the donations portal. The donations portal for charitable organisations is one of the various initiatives carried out by ITA in its quest to create a truly digital society providing an electronic gateway through the latest ePayment technology. It is important to note that this portal recently won a prestigious Arab e-Content Award at the Second Bahrain International e-Government Forum in the e-Inclusion and Participation category. Another current project includes the ground breaking ePurse project, the result of a tri-lateral national collaboration between the Royal Oman Police, BankMuscat and ITA. This new ePayment system enables citizens and residents to make various government-related payments through their national ID and resident cards. Later in the year, ITA will also introduce the eGovernment Services Portal in addition to the electronic Tendering initiative.

Oman - Nawras journey strikes a chord

MUSCAT ─ The fifth goodwill journey initiated by telecom company Nawras ended on a successful note yesterday. The nine Nawras branded vehicles reached Muscat after passing through most of the Sultanate’s regions and governorates, traversing more than 4,200 kilometres since the journey began on August 30. A grand reception party took place yesterday at the Nawras headquarters in Al Athaiba, under the patronage of Ibrahim bin Yahya Al Rawahi, wali of Baushar. Ross Cormack, CEO of Nawras was also present with a large number of invitees and guests. Rapturous applause greeted the Nawras team on their arrival. Members of the team were honoured and a four-minute documentary film on the journey was screened. Throughout its journey, the Nawras team aimed at fulfilling its commitment to Omani society. In addition to the humanitarian side, the team had the rare opportunity of exploring different wilayats of the Sultanate. “Nawras staff came up with the whole idea of the goodwill journey. It was not the company’s decision. Credit also goes to people who have been working behind the scenes. We appreciate all the efforts that were made,” Cormack said. Talking about his participation in the goodwill journey with Nawras, Cormack said: “I try to attend at least three events in each journey. Through the journey, we get a precious opportunity to see the Omani society and its people from the real walk of life. Honestly, wherever you go in the Sultanate, you will be received with an incredible gathering. As a guest in this country, I cannot express how delighted I am. In fact, I am thrilled how the people of Oman have placed their trust in us.” New elements Cormack is expecting the next journey to be another milestone with different facets. “We will try and add new elements to each journey in the following years, I would like to thank all the people who welcomed the team. I am proud of our team and the media, who gave the event extensive coverage.” Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, chief operating officer at Nawras, said: “Since Nawras launched its services, it has been committed to a set of values taken from the Omani society and probably being one big family is the real value”. “I would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to the team for the message they tried to convey and the dedication with which they went about their job,” Al Mahmoud added. Peter Rubeck, chief technical officer (CTO), also shared his satisfaction at being part of the Nawras family. “The goodwill journey has become a lifestyle for the Nawras team. Solidarity, spirit and noble thoughts have brought the team together. It has done a great job and feels proud to be part of Nawras.” The team’s last two destinations before arriving in Muscat were the Omani Women’s Association in Manah and Al Wafa Centre in Dema Wa Al Taeen. The Omani Women’s Association organised a series of entertainment events, which was attended by children too, who also celebrated the occasion of Qaranqashoo. A number of entertaining and comic plays were also staged for the audience. Khalsa bint Said Al Toobi, head of the Association, appreciated the role played by Nawras Goodwill Journey in providing assistance to different centres and associations and also mentioned the gesture made by Nawras in providing the association with a new car to facilitate administrative matters. Cormack delighted Cormack attended the event in Manah and was in his elements. “This is one of the fantastic events. It was lovely to be part of this occasion. The plays that were performed during the event were entertaining,” he said. Nawras team also gifted the children at Al Wafa Centre in Dema Wa Al Taeen a variety of books, toys and educational materials. A number of essential supplies were also given to the centre comprising tables, chairs, sewing machines and other necessary equipments. “All thanks to the Nawras team for their efforts in helping our special group of children,” said Malek bin Rashid Al Rasbi, director of social development in the wilayat of Ibra.

Oman - Learning the online way

MUSCAT — KnowledgeOman.com, Oman’s leading knowledge sharing community portal, has received great response since the launch of the KO Online School programme, it being the first e-learning community platform in the Sultanate and a major leap towards free online education in Oman. Over 280 students have registered in the KO School programme offered in both English and Arabic for its users. The initial programmes were in the field of ICT in the areas of Adobe Photoshop, C++, Web Designing, VB.Net, Networking, Java, IC3 and SQL, and the KO team is currently working on introducing new programme to cater to the various needs of the community. Students positively shared their experiences in the KO School, as one of the students Bushra Aleem said, “I joined the KO School because I was eager to learn online and I could join a school and learn ‘freely’ without any formalities like giving an entry test or buying new books. The level of teaching is just as good as attending a school but with added benefits such as learning from the comfort of your own home. A forum has been set up as well so that students can ask questions and exchange ideas easily with the teachers and other students.” “My advice to those who have joined the KO School would be to take advantage of the great opportunity that has been given by KnowledgeOman.com and learn with full interest through the lessons that are being provided,” added a spokesperson. Great experience Another KO School student, Hassan Al Muqbali, added “Knowledge means power. It’s the most powerful weapon on earth since the beginning of humanity. “I learnt a lot from the KO forums, and when the KO School was launched I knew that I could learn even more. I like the way we are taught. The KO team knew whom to choose to be our teachers and it’s one of the reasons why I enjoy it a lot.” Tariq Hilal Al Barwani, founder and president of KnowledgeOman.com, said, “We launched KO School as part of promoting knowledge and reaching the community via utilising what technology offers, with education being the nation’s wealth and the cornerstone of our community. “We are pleased to learn about the fruitful response the programme has generated for the community.” KnowledgeOman.com has two user interfaces, English and Arabic, and has so far attracted more than 3,000 registered members since the launch last year. The portal is managed by a team of dedicated local and expatriate professionals and enthusiasts who share the passion for sharing knowledge and making a difference. Achievements The various achievements of KnowledgeOman.com include winning the International Standard Web Technology Award from Oman Web Awards 2009, linking with the global software giant Microsoft, collaborating with the governmental Information Technology Authority (ITA), launching KO Mobile product and other initiatives, along with a quality online portal that has become a leading knowledge hub attracting a diverse group of visitors and members.