Dar Al-Madinah museum in Madinah
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Monday 15 July 2013
A tourism official in Makkah has confirmed that the prices of hotels have undergone radical change and returned to their normal rates.
“We have witnessed a 150-percent decline in both the prices of hotels around the Grand Mosque and suites with direct views of the Kaaba,” said Fahad Al-Wethyiani, head of the Hotels and Tourism Committee at the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Development projects around the Grand Mosque will lead to the construction of massive hotels with tens of thousands of new rooms, he said, adding that these hotels will set the actual prices of hotels in the holy city.
“The decline in occupancy rates of rooms this year is 15 to 20 percent. Investors are now offering rooms at lower prices to the local market to muster a higher percentage of occupancy,” he said.
Al-Wethyiani said that the prices of hotels are now becoming low after many years, adding that foreign tourism companies and representatives of Haj service providers played a major role in creating a speculative market on the prices of hotels.
“The prices used to be more than SR180,000 for a suite with a view of the Kaaba during the last ten days of Ramadan,” he said, adding that the price has now decreased to SR70,000 for the entire month. “This represents a 150 percent decline,” he said.
He said: “Although there are fewer pilgrims this year, which has resulted in less profitability, I personally welcome the decision.” He added that this is not a personal issue, as development projects implemented by the Saudi government will benefit Muslims across the world, as well as the Kingdom’s private sector.
The Kingdom has so far spent SR100 billion to develop Makkah into a modern city with improved services to meet the needs of millions of pilgrims.
Development projects in the area of the Grand Mosque have culminated in a considerable number of construction and hotel projects, such as the Jabal Omar project, which will lead to the construction of two hotels every six months. “These will contribute to price stability and limit speculation on prices that led to the rise in prices witnessed in the past,” he said.
Hafez Al-Juhani, vice chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, agreed that prices have been high. “There is a drive to lower the prices of hotels between 20 and 50 percent,” he said.
“The number of visas has been reduced from 1.5 million to 500,000 because of the development projects. This has forced hotels to reduce prices,” said Al-Juhani, adding that the sector is expecting losses this year, something that has propelled the restructuring of plans and prices to attract local and Gulf pilgrims.
Saad Al-Qurashi estimated the losses to be SR450 million, according to surveys conducted during Shaban and Ramadan. “It is projected that losses will reach SR700 million in the Haj season,” he said, adding that these figures are not yet official.
He also said that the price of hotels came down 50 to 60 percent to attract domestic and GCC pilgrims who do not require visas.
http://www.arabnews.com/news/458069
09-07-1434 10:34
بث
أكدت الجمعية الفلكية بجدة، أن سماء مكة المكرمة، تشهد يوم اليوم الاثنين، 15 يوليو، حدوث التعامد الثاني والأخير للشمس على الكعبة المشرفة خلال العام الحالي.
وأضافت الجمعية، إن الشمس تشرق في سماء مكة عند الساعة 5:47 صباحا، من الأفق الشرقي الشمالي الشرقي، وتتحرك ظاهريا في قبة السماء، وهي حركة ناتجة عند دوران الأرض حول محورها، إلى أن تتوسط السماء وتصبح على استقامة واحدة مع الكعبة المشرفة، وتكون الشمس على ارتفاع 89 درجة و58 دقيقة، وذلك عند الساعة 12:26:43 ظهرا موعد أذان الظهر حسب التوقيت المحلي، وسيلاحظ المتواجدون في المسجد الحرام اختفاء ظل الكعبة المشرفة، وظلال جميع الأجسام تماما وظل الزوال يصبح صفرا.
وأكدت الجمعية، أن سبب هذه الظاهرة هو ميلان محور الكرة الأرضية الذي يؤدي بدوره إلى انتقال الشمس بين مدار السرطان شمالا والجدي جنوبا، مرورا بخط الاستواء، أثناء دوران الأرض حولها مرة كل سنة، ومكة المكرمة، تقع في هذه المنطقة المدارية ما يجعل الشمس تتعامد على الكعبة المشرفة وقت أذان صلاة الظهر حسب التوقيت المحلي.
وعرفت هذه الظاهرة منذ القدم، واستخدمت في تحديد أو تصحيح اتجاه القبلة من المناطق البعيدة عن مكة في نصف الكرة الأرضية التي ترى فيها الشمس في هذا التوقيت، وذلك عن طريق مراقبة ظل قطعة من خشب أو البلاستيك أو غيرها مغروسة عموديا على الأرض، حيث يكون اتجاه القبلة في الجهة المعاكسة للظل، حيث يشير امتداد الظل إلى موقع الكعبة تماما.
جدير بالذكر، أن ظاهرة تعامد الشمس، تحدث مرتين في السنة لكل المناطق التي تقع على خطوط عرض شمالا وجنوبا، بين مداري السرطان والجدي، وتحدث مرة واحدة في السنة لكل المناطق التي تقع على أحد هذين المدارين.
http://bth-ksa.com/news.php?action=show&id=4493
Google translation: 09/07/1434
Astronomical Society in Jeddah confirmed, that the sky Mecca, witnessing on Monday, July 15, an orthogonal second and last of the sun on the Kaaba during the current year.
She said the Assembly, that the sun rises in the sky of Mecca at 5:47, from the eastern horizon north-east, moving outwardly in the dome of the sky, a movement caused when the earth's rotation on its axis, that mediates the sky and become straighter one with the Kaaba, and be the sun at an altitude of 89 degrees and 58 minutes, and at 12:26:43 azan time is noon noon local time, and will notice Who's at the Grand Mosque disappearance of the Kaaba, and in the shadow of all objects completely remained becomes zero meridian.
The Assembly stressed that the reason for this phenomenon is the Milan axis of the Earth, which in turn leads to the transmission of the sun between the Tropic of Cancer north and Capricorn south, passing through the line of the equator, while the Earth's rotation around once a year, and Mecca, located in the tropical zone is what makes the sun تتعامد on Kaaba AZAN TIME noon prayers according to the local time.
I knew this phenomenon since ancient times, and has been used to identify or correct the Qibla direction from areas remote from Mecca in the hemisphere, which sees the sun at this time, and by monitoring under a piece of wood or plastic or other implanted vertically on the ground, where the trend Qibla in the opposite direction for shade, where along the shadow refers to the Kaaba site completely.
It is worth mentioning that the phenomenon of the sun passes, occur twice a year in all regions which lies on latitude north and south, between the orbits of Cancer and Capricorn, and occur once a year for all regions which lies on one of these two tropics.
The Kaaba
16 July 2013 - 07 Ramadan 1434 H
MAKKAH — The Civil Defense has deployed as many as 3,000 officers and personnel at some 35 sites inside the Grand Mosque as well as at its new annex building and courtyards to cope with any emergency situations.
These personnel, who are specialized in handling emergency situations, are mainly stationed at the main gates of the Grand Mosque, the mataf (the circumambulation area around the Holy Ka’ba), masa’a (hastening area between Safa and Marwa), escalators and all the floors of the mosque, said Brig. Gen. Khalaf Al-Matrafi, director general of Civil Defense in Makkah.
As the flow of Umrah pilgrims and visitors to the Grand Mosque gains momentum in the holy month of Ramadan, these forces are heavily involved in rescue work as well as medical evacuation and extending emergency medical aid.
Al-Matrafi said that there are four units to monitor tunnels and courtyards around the Grand Mosque, besides support forces stationed in Shumaisy comprising rescue and extinguishing units, ambulance services, boats and equipment that will be used during emergency situations.
He said: “The Civil Defense Department started implementing its emergency plan before the beginning of Ramadan.
“The plan aims at making optimum use of its human resources and machinery in covering all areas of the holy city and main roads leading to it through extending services such as fire extinguishing and rescue work, first aid and ambulance services and making available quick-response units.”
Al-Matrafi said the Civil Defense forces are implementing a surveillance plan aimed at ensuring the security and safety of pilgrims and visitors to the Grand Mosque.
“As part of this, the forces are carrying out inspections at all hotels, furnished apartments, restaurants, and commercial centers in Makkah.
“For this, we have divided the holy city into seven regions and deployed a batch of 60 officers to each region.”
According to Al-Matrafi, the surveillance plan, which came into force at the beginning of the current year, covers more than 10,000 firms, shops and commercial activities including 1,247 hotels, 165 outlets for the sale of cooking gas cylinders, 165 shops, 313 restaurants, 194 fuel stations, and 3,000 commercial establishments.
A total of 400 violations have already been detected and referred to the concerned committees for further investigations.
The Civil Defense official said the plan also contains a series of awareness and guidance programs with regard to safety measures that are to be taken by pilgrims and visitors to the Grand Mosque.
“As part of this, more than 100 panels have been installed in front of major hotels and public squares in addition to 20 huge screens in the courtyards of the Grand Mosque, with guidelines from the Civil Defense in different languages.
“More than 1 million location maps, giving details of flood-prone areas, have been distributed.”
Al-Matrafi said the Civil Defense is also sending more than 4.5 million awareness text messages during the holy month.
“There are 103 shelters to evacuate Umrah pilgrims in the event of emergency situations, besides 60 fire extinguishing units and 30 rescue units,” he said.
The Civil Defense personnel will use 300 motorcycles to handle emergency situations, the official added.
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index...20130716173662
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