Oman Financial News

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has announced a new unified tourist visa called "GCC Grand Tours," allowing travelers to visit all six Gulf countries and stay for over 30 days. This initiative, unveiled by the United Arab Emirates Minister of Economy, Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, at the Arabian Travel Mar ket (ATM), aims to boost tourism and make travel across the GCC region more convenient. The Gulf Cooperation Council, also called the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The GCC Grand Tours visa is designed to attract a higher number of tourists by simplifying the process of visiting multiple countries in the region, similar to the European Union's Schengen visa. This new unified visa is expected to significantly contribute to the growth of the tourism sector in the Gulf and increase the number of hotel guests, ultimately establishing the region as a leading destination for regional and international tourists.

iMobile Pay, and marks a significant shift from the previous requirement for NRIs to register an Indian mobile number for similar transactions. Sidharatha Mishra, Head of Digital Channels and Partnerships at ICICI Bank, commented on the launch, “We are delighted to partner with NPCI to launch the UPI facility on international mobile numbers through iMobile Pay. With this facility, our NRI customers residing in 10 countries do not need to switch to an Indian mobile number to pay using UPI.

Aghori Sadhus, Ghost Adventures: House Calls S2, Hidden Frontiers Arabia with Reza Pakravan, OJ and Nicole: An American Tragedy and many more. The story revolves around Nicole Brown Simpson's sister Tanya Brown who attempts to depict the Brown family's experience using Nicole's words and the pictures she left behind. OJ Simpson case unfolds as she examines and Nicole's relationship with OJ.

A Portuguese-flagged container ship has come under attack by a drone in the far reaches of the Arabian Sea

₹5,000 crore may be offered for developing the ecosystem for building inland vessels in the country to support movement of cargo on national waterways. Capital support may also be considered for producers of sea bound vessels at a later stage. At present 14 PLI schemes with an outlay of ₹ 1.97 trillion are under implementation for five years from FY22.

India and Oman will sign a trade deal in the coming months, two Indian government officials said, as New Delhi seeks to expand its ties in the Middle East, where rising tensions are putting major shipping routes at risk. «It will help India with a strategic partner and access to key trade routes in a volatile region,» one official told Reuters. India and Oman have annual trade of less than $13 billion, but the relationship is important for New Delhi as the Gulf nation is a gateway to the narrow Strait of Hormuz between Oman and Iran, a major transit point for global oil shipments.

Markets always tend to climb a wall of worry. And in 2024, investors are grappling with abundant worries. Alongside the looming elections, they now must contend with a fresh geopolitical outbreak in the Middle East. Despite this, most international markets are trading within 5% of their all-time highs. Recent weeks have been dominated by news of strife and armed conflicts. This has led to jitters in foreign flows into Asian equities, impacting India as well. Approximately Rs 25,000 crore has been pulled out by foreign institutional investors from Indian equity markets in April so far.

Strait of Hormuz is a narrow marine corridor situated between Oman and Iran and spans approximately 40 km at its most constricted section, providing 2 km of navigable waterways for vessels entering and exiting. India imports 85% of its crude oil requirements from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the UAE and LNG from Qatar.

Long-haul carrier Emirates says it is halting local check-in for passengers traveling on its flights as the wider United Arab Emirates tries to recover from record-setting rains this week

heaviest rain ever recorded there after a deluge flooded out Dubai International Airport, disrupting flights through the world’s busiest airfield for international travel.The state-run WAM news agency called the rain Tuesday “a historic weather event” that surpassed “anything documented since the start of data collection in 1949.” That’s before the discovery of crude oil in this energy-rich nation then part of a British protectorate known as the Trucial States.Rain also fell in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. However, the rains were acute across the UAE.One reason may have been “cloud seeding,” in which small planes operated by the government fly through clouds burning special salt flares.

Dubai floods caused by heavy rainfall in the e United Arab Emirates. Dubai's flagship Emirates Airline has stopped all check-ins for the day. Emirates, in an official statement, stated that the airline is trying to restore the scheduled flight operations and the teams will provide all possible assistance to affected customers.

Dubai International Airport, one of the busiest airports globally. Meteorological reports indicate that Dubai received about 20 millimeters of rain late Monday, with the storm intensifying on Tuesday morning. By the end of the day, the city had accumulated over 142 millimeters of rain, surpassing its average annual rainfall of 94.7 millimeters.

Reuters. "All flydubai flights scheduled for departure from Dubai this evening (16 April) have been canceled effective immediately until 10:00 (Dubai local time) on 17 April. During this period, passengers who do not have Dubai as their final destination will not be accepted for travel," a flyDubai spokesperson was quoted as saying.

UAE braces for a second wave of unsettled weather, featuring heavy rain, thunder, lightning, and possible hail on Tuesday. The National Centre of Meteorology issued a bulletin after the initial bout of unstable conditions persisted from Monday evening to Tuesday noon, urging residents to stay informed and cautious. The second wave that starts that starts today would also witness an increase in convective cloud coverage, leading to varying intensities of rainfall, a Khaleej Times report stated.

New York to Mumbai and from Mumbai to London, respectively, on April 13 and April 14 above the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman when the shadow of a conflict between Iran and Israel loomed large, showed data by Flightradar24, a website that tracks flights. Iran attacked Israel over the weekend, firing at least 300 drones and missiles. Iran’s military assault was expected for days after tensions between the two countries ratcheted up on April 1, when fighter jets struck a building that is part of the Iranian Embassy at Damascus in Syria.

Oman News Agency. The expatriate who died was identified as Sadanandan, a Kollam native, after a wall collapsed on him, according to Onmanorama.com.

global maritime industry is set for tougher and more challenging times after Iran ramped up West Asia tensions by launching an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel, causing supply chain disruption and increasing the probability of choking shipping routes, experts here have said. Iran's attack on Israel marks a distinct escalation in hostilities by bringing the two nations into direct conflict. Iran and its proxies launched 330 missiles and drones on Israel late on Saturday night in retaliation to an alleged attack by Israel on a diplomatic mission of the Islamic Republic in Damascus on April 1 in which several people, including two top commanders, were killed. There is a concern about the probability of a Persian Gulf shutdown, though many maintain hope of defusing fierce tension in the region, a delegate at the opening of Singapore Maritime Week on Monday, told PTI.

Strait of Hormuz and seized the vessel Saturday, authorities said. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency acknowledged the seizure after a video seen by The Associated Press showed the commandos raiding the ship Saturday, an attack a Mideast defense official attributed to Iran amid wider tensions between Tehran and the West. The attack was earlier reported by the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which said it took place in the Gulf of Oman off the Emirati port city of Fujairah.

Strait of Hormuz by helicopter Saturday, an attack a Mideast defence official attributed to Iran amid wider tensions between Tehran and the West. The video showed the attack earlier reported by the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations. It had offered no details about the boarding in the Gulf of Oman off the Emirati port city of Fujairah. The defence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, shared the video with the AP. Though the AP could not immediately verify it, it corresponded to known details of the boarding and the helicopter involved appeared to be one used by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which has carried out other ship raids in the past.

Live: Eid-al-Fitr 2024 moon sighting Highlights: India to celebrate Eid on April 11 except THESE places Whereas Kerala, Ladakh, and Jammu & Kashmir, witnessed the crescent on April 9, due to this these states celebrated Eid on April 10 together with the Muslims in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, USA, United Kingdom and other countries in the Middle East and West. Also Read | Eid-al-Fitr 2024: Wish your friends and family 'Eid Mubarak' with these quotes, WhatsApp messages Banks closed for 14 days across states; check the state-wise list of bank holidays in April.