News Rewind: Renaissance Day holiday announced in Oman

We've had a busy week before the long weekend for most of us in the Sultanate. Here are Times Of Oman's top five headlines from the past week:
The Renaissance Day holiday was announced, with Sayyid Khalid bin Hilal Al Busaidi, Minister of the Diwan of Royal Court and Chairman of the Civil Service Council, and Sheikh Abdullah bin Nassir Al Bakri, Minister of Manpower announcing that Sunday, 28 Shawwal 1438 AH corresponding to July 23, 2017, will be an official holiday for employees at ministries, public authorities and other departments of the state’s administrative apparatus, as well as of private sector companies and establishments.
The Ministry of Manpower also announced a pilot scheme in partnership with the Central Bank of Oman, to monitor salary payments for all private sector employees. This means that employers could soon start being fined for not paying their employees on time.
A flash flood struck northern Oman earlier this week, washing away a stretch of road and flooding a school. The flooding was the direct consequence of heavy cloud build-up in and around the Al Hajar Mountains, which led to heavy rainfall of about 20mm over the previous few days, according to weather experts.
Forbes Middle East released their lists of most powerful women in the Arab world, with Oman's Minister of Education, Madiha bint Ahmed bin Nasser Al Shibaniyah ranking seventh in the Forbes list of Top 10 Most Powerful Arab Women in the Government, with seven other high achieving Omani women have been ranked in the Forbes list of most powerful businesswomen in the Arab world 2017.
And finally, data released by human resources agencies signal that this year will witness most companies hiring in different sectors. Nearly 75 per cent of the companies in the Sultanate plan to recruit new employees this year as the Omani private sector expects to create 12,000 to 13,000 new jobs in 2017, according to the country's budget statement.