HUGE changes in Oman! New Royal Decrees!

As I think most of you already know by now the HUGE changes happened in the cabinet reshuffle ? or let's say in appointing and reappointing ministers and ministries in the past 3 hours ?!

here are the Royal Decrees from the Oman News Agency website : Royal Decrees( English version, النسخة العربية )

this is the video when the news were boradcasted on Oman TV in Arabic

this is really HUGE, some of the names the protesters raised have been removed! Macki and the entire MONE is removed! Also a dozen of new names have surfed up to be ministers. many of which people actually think they are a good change and can make a difference! I personally don't have solid background information from the new names that have emerged.

big changes keep coming, let's hope it's for the best of Oman!

Cheers, 

M

Unemployment Allowance & the 50 K Jobs!

Last night on "Hona Oman" show on Oman TV, they interviewed the minister of manpower shaykh: Abdullah Al Bakri to discuss the latest Royal orders on which 150 R.O / month will be entitled for unemployed citizens and the 50 thousand job opportunity as well.

I tweeted most of the points yesterday as it was aired on TV.

1. The 50 k Jobs offers will be both provided by the public & private sectors in the sultanate
2. The 50 k unemployed citizens already registered in the manpower directories until 27th of Feb 2011 will have the priority 4 immediate employment.
3. Those who updated their profiles recently will have the priority chances to be called for job interviews first. 
   job-seekers are expected to update their profiles in the ministry of manpower records every 3 months
4. Those who registered for a manpower ID after 27th of Feb. Will be entitled with the 150 R.O/month but will have to wait until the first 50 K jobs are occupied.
5. Each citizen will have 3 job offers in total on which he/she will be offered in a period of 15 days-1month between each offer. He/she will get the 150 R.O/month until finishing the process. 
   
   
   in case the citizen declined the 3 offers, he will no longer be considered a jobseeker and won't be entitled with the 150 R.O continuation.
6. the Minimum wage 200 R.O is implemented starting 1st of March 2011 and those not applying it should be reported 2 manpower .
7. citizens SHOULD NOT sign any contract bellow the minimum wage & must report that to the ministry.

These were the basic points on which they were discussed.

Important information for job-seekers

• Updating your bank account info will be added & new fields on the online system on the ministry's website : www.manpower.gov.om u can also call the hotline: 80077000 to update your info and bank account
• You can update your profile online on: www.manpower.gov.om also for new job-seekers, you can printout the forms and fill out your information for submission in order to get a manpower ID

this was a fast blogpost for those who were asking for detailed information .

Cheers,

M

the After protests effects in Oman!

Sohar Globe roundabout where protests started

So it has been really crazy, what's going on in the protests in Oman especially in Sohar which was the main focus for the media circus. After the violence and vandalism drama that happened by some of the protesters, immediate responses were taken by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos.

I was live-tweeting the royal orders and decrees as they were announced on Oman TV and you can also follow the updates on twitter by following the #Oman and #Sohar hashtags. Also you can check Muscat Mutterings blog for the protests coverage as well as Dhofari Gucci blog . In the meanwhile I'll repost my previous tweets here and translate them.

1. A committee will be formed to agree on terms of expanding the Majlis Al Shura authority
2. Royal Orders: providing jobs for 50 thousand Omani citizens.
3. royal orders to the minister of Diwan of royal courts to go listen to the protesters requirements and demands
4. taking the necessary steps for The State Audit Institution to have it's role increased.
5. Royal orders: distributing a monthly salary amount of 150 R.O for jobseekers registered in manpower until employment
6. there will be a number of ministers from members of the Majlis A'Shura with effect from the next term
7. Release of all protesters that have been jailed,& ONA was informed of 1 death during the recent events in Sohar

that's from what I have tweeted and translated to english. I beleive there are more detailed decrees and orders that you can check them out on the Oman News Agency website 

cheers,

M

Royal Orders & Decrees in Oman 2011

Oman Flag

As of today 26th of Feb. 2011, the Oman news agency have published some new royal decrees and some interesting  news with royal orders.

They were basically 4 Royal orders which are summarized in the following :

1. Establishing an independent Consumer Protection Authority.
2. Considering the possibility of establishment cooperative societies.
Reducing the contribution of the civil service employees at the pension system from 8% to 7% per month, of their basic salaries plus 75% of the housing, electricity and water allowances.
3. Increase the monthly financial allocations for the students at the public colleges and institutes. 

Source: Oman News Agency: Royal Orders 

So congrats for the students, too bad I finished my studies in college before I get the allowance increase :p and let's hope that the consumer protection authority will make a great impact in Oman, we have been waiting for this to happen from along time! 

Please Note: Royal Decrees of Cabinet reshuffle have been Revoked after recent events proceeding the protests on 27th of Feb. 2011

Now for the Royal decrees there are many changes in the structural positions in the government sector : His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has issued five Royal Decrees as follows:

• Royal Decree No. 13/2011 On Government Reshuffle

1. Article One: Appoints Sayyid Hamoud bin Faisal al Busaidi as a Minister of Civil Service
2. Article Two: Appoints Maqbool bin Ali bin Sultan as a Minister of Transport and Communications
3. Article Three: Appoints Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah al Harthy as a Minister of Environment and Climate Affairs
4. Article Four: Appoints Mohammed bin Nassir bin Mansoor al Kusaibi as a Minister of Commerce and Industry
5. Article Five: Appoints Eng. Mohsen bin Mohammed bin Ali al Sheikh as a Minister of Tourism
6. Article Six: Appoints Dr. Madeeha bint Ahmed bin Nassir al Shibaniyah as a Minister of Education
7. Article Seven: The decree takes effect from its date of issue.

• Royal Decree No. 14/2011 Appointing State Advisors

1. Article One: Appoints Dr. Khamis bin Mubarak al Alawi as the State Advisor
2. Article Two: Appoints Yahya bin Saud bin Mansoor al Sulaimi as the State Advisor
3. Article Three: The decree takes effect from its date of issue.

• Royal Decree No. 15/2011 Appointing Secretary General for the Ministry of National Economy

1. Article One: Appoints Sheikh al Fadal bin Mohammed bin Ahmed al Harthy as a Secretary General of the Ministry of National Economy with a Minister Grade.
2. Article Two: The decree takes effect from its date of issue.

• Royal Decree No. 16/2011 Appointing Members in the State Council

1. Article One: Appoints Sayyid Hamad bin Hilal al Busaidi as a member in the State Council
2. Article Two: Appoints Mohammed bin Hamoud bin Zahir al Toobi as a member in the State Council
3. Article Three: The decree takes effect from its date of issue.

• Royal Decree No. 17/2011 Appointing Undersecretaries at the Ministry of Manpower

1. Article One: Appoints Dr. Muna bint Salim bin Khalfan al Jardaniyah as an Undersecretary of the Ministry of Manpower for Technical Education and Vocational Training
2. Article Two: Appoints Mohammed bin Khamis bin Abdullah al A'mri as Undersecretary of the Manpower Ministry for Labour Affairs

Original source : Oman News Agency : Royal Decrees

cheers,

M

Egyptian Revolution sense of humor

There have been many jokes, pranks and stories after the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Many have called it the humorous revolution for what the people of Egypt have carried out through the protests and their sense of humor in doing so. In this post I'll present several videos on which were done by Egyptians during the revolution and I thought they were hilarious. 

The first video was done by an Egyptian blogger and movie maker called Ashraf Hamdy (blog). His latest videos was about a recently famous internet activist called Wael Ghonim. (twitter). After his release from  prison and getting interviewed in a numerous number of channels he was accused of many things which was summarized in this video in a sarcastic way. The original video is in Arabic but I managed to find an English subtitled version.

 (Arabic version ) الحقيقة وراء وائل غنيم

The truth behind Wael Ghonim (English subtitled version )

Another video that I would like to share was a clip from a TV report done by BBC Arabic news channel (website, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook). It was a summary of what happened during the Revolution and the humorous parts of it. Unfortunately I couldn't find the video on their official Youtube channel, so the video was uploaded several times online by random people. I'm still searching for a subtitled version though.

So what do you think? I personally salute every Egyptian that went through these rough times and was able to make a joke out of it. I can't imagine how hard it must have been to fight claiming your rights and seeking your freedom.

This post will be updated with new video clips when I get more. please don't hesitate to share with me any video you think is worth watching.

cheers,

M

What democracy means to "Gaddafi"!!

Do you remember this special dude in the photo?

I just came across a really funny youtube video of  This dude who is : Muammar Al-Gaddafi , the de facto leader of Libya  and thought of sharing it with you guyz.

it was part of an interview conducted by Aljazeera channel and I'm not really sure when it was aired exactly, so here's the video :

I didn't find a subtitled version of the video so I'll translate what he generally said in it.

He basically was playing an Arabic language genius trying to explain what the word democracy really means. It means -he says- "demo-karasy" , demo as in dohama2 = meaning idiots and Karasy means chairs in Arabic. so According to him, the elected presidents out of democratic elections are basically idiots elected to sit on their chairs!

yes it sounds really stupid and it's one of the many "great" things this dude says! just youtube him!

quick update, I got this reply on twitter after I posted my blog which really is true and I couldn't agree more about it since Gaddafi himself was on the "chair" of power for over 40 years! the comment was via @3abdulaziz :

There's no-one who exemplifies his definition than him, he has been in power (in kursy) for more than 40 years!

cheers,

M

خبر اصدار مرسوم سلطاني بشأن الطعون ودعاوى العضل في السلطنة

السلام عليكم

ياجماعه وصلتني ايميلات " مستفزه " من وجهة نظري بخصوص المرسوم السلطاني الجديد

المصدر مع الشرح
هنا
http://www.s-oman.net/avb/showthread.php?t=748451

المرسوم ماجاء من فراغ
وأظن القضايا اللي تارسه المحاكم عندنا تتكلم عن الموضوع

لكن بعض المواقع وضعت عناوين مستفزه توحي للقارئ بأن المرسوم سيؤدي الى "فلتان" الشعب

استغرب من البعض لما يقرأ القشور ولايفهم الأصل والتفصيل

عموما الرابط العلوي يوضح المرسوم والشرح فيه

فيه روابط مستفزه كثيره انتشرت واخبار فقط من اجل النشر وخلق بلبله

اتمنى عدم تمريرها وكلامي موجه للعاقلين طبعا
يعني اقرأ الايميل قبل ماترسله يا أخي وأختي

وشوف فيه معاني بين السطور

في النهايه نحن ابناء بلد واحد ويهمنا سمعة البلد

معليش ترا الموضوع عصبني شوي
-_-

تحياتي

ماريا