News Rewind: Oman's skies shine with meteor shower

With the lots happening this week in Oman, here's a look at what made headlines with the Times of Oman's weekly News Rewind:
The Sultanate witnessed the Geminid meteor shower this week, with citizens treated to a stunning show of 'shooting star', as the meteor showers were visible on Wednesday night. Ibrahim bin Mohammed Al Mahrouqi, a member of the Oman Astronomical Society said "Meteor showers fall as they are launched from Gemini constellation active during the current period where these meteors are one of the best meteors."
Dates for the annual Muscat Festival were announced this week, with the 24-day annual fest set to begin on January 18, 2018 and run until February 10, 2018, municipality officials announced. The festival will take place mainly in Amerat Park and Naseem Gardens, and will showcase mesmerising sights, food, sports, cultural and entertainment for adults and children alike.
A number of people in Muscat were slapped with fined and penalised, after Muscat Municipality cracked down on individuals barbecuing on the lawns of parks in the city. Officials from the authoity later warned that people barbecuing on lawns in parks could face hefty fines and even face jail time. "Indiscriminate disposal of waste will attract a fine of OMR100 and whoever destroys government property can be fined OMR50 or imprisoned for a period not exceeding two months," the official said, adding the violator is also obliged to pay the cost of repairing what has been ruined.
The new Mwasalat taxi's fares were also revealed, as it began operations from Tuesday, the Oman National Transport Company (Mwasalat). As a promotional offer, Mwasalat taxis that are hired from malls will charge OMR1 and on-call taxi services will be charged from OMR1.2 during the day between Saturday and Thursday (from 6 am to 10 pm). Passengers will have to pay 300 baisas for every kilometre.
Omani citizens over the age of 18 who earn OMR600 or less a month will get 200 litres of subsidised fuel every month, the government has announced. With the introduction of the National Subsidy System, the current price cap on M91 petrol will also be lifted, as directed by the Council of Ministers, according to authorities.