Muscat

I am planning to drive from Salalah to Muscat, Oman by 4WD over Eid. Can anyone help me with the following information:
- road conditions
- accommodation along the way
- is it possible to do this trip comfortably in 4 days
- any special issues or problems
- highlights along the way from Salalah to Al Ashkarah

A R Rahman will perform in Doha as part of his Jay Ho tour in January. the original plan was to conduct the programme in Nov and kick start his international tour from Doha but now it will start from Muscat where the event is sceduled for Decemeber.

It is touted as the biggest cultural programme to be held in Doha with nearly 100 stars performing including singers sankar mahadevan, sreenivas, chitra and some hindi stalwarts apart from Gazal maestroes.

Do you think this programme will be the biggest in Doha as he is a star for Indians (all indians irrespective of language), pakis, nepalese, lankan tamils, bangalis and to an extent the international audience as such after his oscars

GCC's $2.1tn worth of projects set to create new job opportunities

10 August 2009

MUSCAT -- The GCC is expected to generate numerous jobs over the coming few years as development projects continue to take place, creating opportunities for qualified young Arab jobseekers and foreign workers in the region. Combined value of projects planned or being carried out in the GCC has totalled around $2.1 trillion at the end of the second quarter of 2009, according to a study by Kuwait National Bank (KNB). The value of the current projects is more than four times the estimated value of projects in June 2005, representing an annual growth of nearly 50 per cent.

RAS AL KHAIMAH // Fertility rates are declining at a drastic rate. Emiratis have never had so few children – 2.3 per family at the last count.Two men, however, are doing their best to reverse the trend. And while father-of-52 Salem Juma’a, in his late 70s, will probably stop there, 60-year-old Daad Abdulrahman has 86 and says he is aiming for 100.

“It’s from God,” says Mr Juma’a. “God gave me this. I can’t object to God’s gift. God gave me because I deserved it. If I did not deserve, God would not give.”

In the family sitting room, Mr Juma’a is surrounded by a small part of his family: two wives, two daughters, five sons and a grandchild. Over the next two hours, dozens of his children enter the room, kiss him on the head and then greet their mothers.