SATURDAY November 5, 2016 5 Safar 1438 AH
FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTY THE SULTAN
At the Opening Ceremony of the State Consultative Council at Al Alam Palace in Muscat, 1990
‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’ The role being played by your Council is acquiring growing significance at the present stage and that makes it necessary for the Council, more than at any time before, to participate in shouldering the burdens and responsibilities of the new stage to achieve the progress and growth we cherish for Oman.
5 clever hacks to simplify morning routine >A8
Founded 1975 . Volume 41 No. 212 | 24 Pages . Baisas 200 . Subscription OMR63 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company | Chairman/Editor-in-Chief: Mohamed Issa Al Zadjali | Printed & Published by Muscat Media Group
PRINCE CHARLES, CAMILLA, ARRIVE IN SULTANATE
His Royal Highness Prince Charles and his wife HRH Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, have arrived in Oman. Upon their arrival at the Royal Airport, the guest and his accompanying delegation was received by His Highness Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communications (Head of the Honour Delegation), Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Zaher Al Hinai, the Sultanate’s Ambassador to the UK, Jonathan Wilks, British Ambassador to the Sultanate, and members of the UK’s Embassy in Muscat. -ONA
KHAT CLAMPDOWN Smugglers face death sentence, says police chief
TIMES NEWS SERVICE
AWA R D E D
TRAGIC
Book on His Majesty the Sultan brings recognition to author
Two killed in car accident Times News Service MUSCAT: Two Omanis died after a car crash on the Sultan Qaboos Highway in the early hours of Friday. Royal Oman Police officials have confirmed the deaths of driver Ahmed bin Khamis Al Siyabi, 34, and his 37-year-old passenger Ali bin Jumaa Al Zakwani. The accident happened at 12:30am yesterday at the Royal flight exit road on the Sultan Qaboos highway. TOP THREE INSIDE STORIES
OMAN
Akcent performs DEEBA HASAN deeba@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: A Pakistani author, social activist and a former parliamentarian was recently awarded by the government of Oman for writing a book on His Majesty the Sultan. The 238-page book, in English and Urdu titled ‘His Majesty Qaboos bin Said, Sultan of Oman- A Nation Maker, Entitled to the Noble Peace Prize’ was written by Farah Azeem Shah back in 2013. The book features articles on an array of subjects related to His Majesty’s life, including education and background and the developments attained by Oman under his wise leadership, but predominantly, the book seeks for His Majesty to be awarded with the Noble Peace Prize. “We want to promote bilateral relations between the two countries and in this respect I have also
written a book on His Majesty. When I came to know about him and his visionary leadership, I was very impressed by the man, his services towards the nation, and how he developed his country, and we want a similar leader back in Balochistan as well. “Balochistan and Oman have very close relations, dating back to the history of Gwadar, which is why there are so many Balochis here in Oman and we Balochis have very strong feelings for the Omanis, this is why me and my team are here,” she said. Besides the book, together with her journalist husband Shahzad Akhtar, Shah also founded a monthly magazine called ‘Global Affairs’ more than two years ago, which now has offices in over 15 countries worldwide. His Majesty the Sultan was featured on the cover of their September 2016 edition.
“We have our own platform by the name of Global Affairs, based in more than 15 countries, with our head office in Pakistan, branch offices in London and Durban. In a couple of months we will inaugurate our offices in Muscat and Dubai as well. We also have plans to open offices in the United States soon.” When the Muscat office opens, Shah says that they will also appoint a peace ambassador in the country, going in line with their policies of bringing about peace and co-existence in the world. “We will also soon announce our peace ambassador in Oman, we have a peace ambassador in every country that we are based in. This is because Global Affairs is a platform where we are uniting nations with peace, love, friendship, harmony, and we believe our country is the earth we are the citizens of this world which consists of only one race- the human race. >A2
MUSCAT: Khat smugglers may face life sentences or the death penalty if they are caught by the Royal Oman Police, warned the Director General of Narcotics Control. A senior official at the ROP said that there has been an increase in khat smuggling in the Sultanate and the warning comes in light of the rise. According to the ROP, 27 cases were registered against 58 people involved in the khat trade since the beginning of the year until October 2016, and 10,240 bundles of the herbal high were seized. During the same period 18 smuggling attempts were foiled and 2,560 kilogrammes were seized. Those numbers are up on last year, according to police, prompting the renewed warning that the death penalty is available in cases of smuggling. Under the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law issued by the ROP, khat smugglers and traders could suffer severe punishments which could go as far as being sentenced to life in prison or execution. There is also the option of a fine of OMR 50,000. Khat users would also face up to three years in prison as well as a fine of up to OMR3,000. The Director General of Narcotics Control, Colonel Abulrahim Qassim Al Farsi, said, “Using khat creates a health hazard and
According to the ROP, 27 cases were registered against 58 people involved in the khat trade since the beginning of the year until October 2016, and 10,240 bundles of the herbal high were seized
it is no less dangerous than any other drug which affects mental and physical health. “These types of poisons give the illusion that the user is more active and it is nothing more than a synthetic feeling and far from reality. Khat users will feel lazy and drowsy as well as insomniac.” He added that they will also be more moody, angry and hostile, especially towards relatives. Impact on health “There are many health effects from khat such as schizophrenia and sudden heart attacks from the rapid hard beats, as well as damaging the digestive system from prolonged usage in the mouth, lips, gums and tongue,” said Col. Al Farsi. “Loss of appetite, liver infections, urinary tract infections and erectile dysfunction are among the effects. Health reports also suggest that mouth cancer can be a result of using khat,” added Col. Al Farsi.
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Adrian Sina and his band Akcent, performed live in front of an audience of about 2,000 people at the Cave Gardens on Friday.>A2
REGION
US trainers killed
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Three US military trainers were killed on Friday in Jordan when their vehicles came under fire as they were entering an army base. >A4
MARKET
Saudi oil hike threat
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Riyadh has again threatened to raise oil output steeply if Tehran refuses to limit its supply, Opec sources say. >B1
ADDICTIVE: Khat users would also face up to three years in
prison as well as a fine of up to OMR3,000.
W E AT H E R
Weak La Nina behind poor rain this year RAHUL DAS
rahuldas@timesofoman.com
Pro Kurdish leaders arrested in Turkey
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MUSCAT: Blame it on a weak La Nina if there is less rainfall this year in Oman. The name La Niña originates from Spanish, and means “the girl,” and is analogous to El Niño, which means “the boy.” “We are in a weak La Nina (cooler than normal waters in central and eastern equatorial Pacific) and these weak La Nina conditions will continue through December and like into January. This can certainly be one factor in the dry pattern in Oman, but given that it is a weak signal it is not the only one,” Jason Nicholls, senior meteorologist and the manager of International Forecasting for AccuWeather, said. Echoing same opinion, Saeed Al Sarmi, the head of the Research
Centre from Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA), confirmed that this year Oman is facing a weak La Nina phenomenon, which can be one of the factors for less rainfall. “But we can’t be confident enough to say that this is the only reason as there is not much study on La Nina in Oman,” he told the Times of Oman. He added that La Nina is the opposite of El Niño, where you get heavy rainfall. “But each El
Niño has different characteristics, where we can’t predict the rainfall figures.” According to PACA officials this year, Oman has gotten around 40 to 50 millimetres (mm) of rainfall in some areas of Northern Oman. “But sometimes during El Niño, Oman gets around 300 to 400 mm of rainfall,” Al Sarmi said. He also noted that October and November are generally not considered the rainy months in Oman. “But sometimes some rainy events happen,” he said, adding that the February to April period is considered as the rainy months in Oman. Nicholls also pointed out that a bigger factor in the drier pattern and lack of Arabian Sea activity is the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), which is currently negative. “It was strongly negative from July into September. A negative IOD
is characterised by warmer than normal near Indonesia with cooler than normal water off Somalia. This usually results in less rainfall across the Middle East, India and eastern Africa, with enhanced rainfall in South East Asia and Australia. This was certainly the case in September and October.” He also said there was no rain in Muscat in October 2015. “So October 2016 is not too different than October 2015, except that this October was not quite as warm as last October. The wettest October recently was back in 2012 when nearly 26 mm of rain fell in Muscat,” Nicholls said. Regarding the chances of rain, Nicholls predicted that he sees no rain prospects over the next couple of weeks in Oman. “So we can say that the month of November will likely be drier than normal overall.”