Times of Oman - May 7, 2016

SATURDAY May 7, 2016 29 Rajab 1437 AH

6 085010 120010 FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTY THE SULTAN

On the occasion of the 5th National Day, 1975

‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’

GIVE YOUR HOME A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

A hope which disperses the clouds of darkness to illuminate with its light the road of civilisation, progress and prosperity, which we see today on the land of our beloved Oman.

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Founded 1975 . Volume 41 No. 64

| 28 Pages . Baisas 200 . Subscription OMR63 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company | Chairman/Editor-in-Chief: Mohamed Issa Al Zadjali | Printed & Published by Muscat Media Group

TOP THREE INSIDE STORIES

OMAN

Career fair offers job, training opportunities

SALALAH COOL When the sweltering summer heat has taken the entire Middle East in its grip, cool Salalah offers the perfect getaway for tourists. Visitors from world over flock to this destination to enjoy the greenery during the Khareef season. Soumya N Ghosh clicked this picture of an old and colourful boat at Mughsayl beach in Salalah.

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Second career fair organised by a consortium of five colleges, and held at the Oman Tourism College, concluded on a positive note.

The fair saw the participation of more than 30 companies and agencies from the government and private sector. Together they presented more than 300 job possibilities. >A2

SPORTS

Nick emerges overall winner of MRR race

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Nick Conlan emerged overall winner of the second Muscat Road Runners Summer Series races held near Al Amerat. Conlan clocked the best time of 19:52secs in the 5.4km event and finished on top of the Men’s Open category. The five km route followed tracks winding down towards the dam before returning to the starting point.>A12

MARKET

Shift in Saudi stand deepens Opec rift

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As Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) officials gathered to formulate a long-term strategy, few in the room expected the discussions would end without a clash. But even the most jaded delegates got more than they had bargained with. “Opec is dead,” declared one official. >B1

Packed house at play on Khalil Gibran

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Raise taxes to lower tobacco use, says Shura Higher taxes will help tobacco users kick the

D U R I N G H O L I D AY S

habit and money could be used to support

ROP to take strict action for unruly behaviour on streets them trouble and violates used of public infrastructure and obstructs roads,” he stated.

According to Al Battashi, groups have a significant influence on such behaviour.

Times News Service MUSCAT: Negative behaviour of youth during national holidays and events should not spoil the joy of the occasion, Lieutenant Colonel Khamis bin Ali Al Battashi, the head of the Traffic Awareness Department at the Royal Oman Police (ROP) said in a statement tweeted by the ROP on Wednesday.

“Some youth express their happiness through behaviour, which does not reflect the customs or traditions of Oman,” he said.

According to Al Battashi, the most commonly observed wrongdoing on the part of such youth is violating traffic laws and the laws of assembly while gathering in the middle of the streets and roads and dancing and singing while causing major traffic obstructions, making too much noise, wearing improper clothes and vandalising public infrastructure.

He added that such behaviour hurt the image of the country and its people.“Unfortunately, such behaviour is being repeated every

Colonel Khamis bin Ali Al Battashi, the head of the Traffic Awareness Department at the Royal Oman Police.

time during a national event and it reflects a weak culture of celebration with some youth. This sends out the wrong meaning of happiness and turns expressing a love for the nation into imprudent behaviour. This also infringes on the freedom of others, causes

Wrongdoings “Such wrongdoings are practiced in groups and when groups gather, they imitate each other in such acts. However, if a person is alone, he will not be tempted to act in such a way, since some of those who take part in this behaviour, are not convinced with what they were doing, but have been influenced by others,” he said.

Al Battashi also said that most people do not approve of such behaviour, which leads to all who see and hear about such acts condemning them.

The ROP plans to deal strictly with perpetrators of such actions going forward, he said, doing everything it can to protect public safety and security, public property and maintain law and order in a way it deems appropriate.>A2

de-addiction drives and boost state coffers

ERIK PRINS

erik@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Calls to increase taxes on tobacco in Oman have grown louder as members of the Majlis Al Shura have requested the government to implement an earlier proposal made by the Ministry of Health (MoH) to impose local taxes on tobacco.

“We have requested an increase in taxes to up to 200 per cent, Mohammed Baqi, member of the Health Committee at Majlis Al Shura told the Times of Oman (TOO). “If we can reach 200 per cent, that would be a great job. It would be a wise step for tobacco control in the country,” he said.

Dr. Jawad Al Lawati, senior consultant and rapporteur at the National Tobacco Control Committee of the MoH, said the ministry had last year proposed to introduce a domestic tax on tobacco to replace the customs duties, which had to be removed due to Oman’s bilateral trade agreements.

“We are asking the government to rethink this recommendation and move it forward,” Baqi said, adding that raising taxes on to-

200% rise in taxes has been demanded by the Shura members given its harmful effects and health costs on the society

bacco products is a successful way to curb the use of tobacco.

“Some countries have done that very successfully,” he stated.

According to Baqi, countries that had previously raised taxes on tobacco have been able to reduce significantly the impact of tobacco use.

The fact that the Majlis Al Shura has requested the government to increase taxes on tobacco is significant, according to Al

Lawati. “In the past, they never talked about tobacco at all. But now, there are a lot of young people elected to the Majlis Al Shura, some of them with a medical background,” he said.

Al Lawati further said the political decision to impose taxes on tobacco has already been taken.

In November 2015, finance ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states agreed to impose a tax of 100 per cent on tobacco products, equal to the customs duties levied on these products. Al Lawati said the question now was how to administer these taxes.

“There are several ways to tax, based on cost or based on the retail price and there are many issues to be finalised and decided before it’s implemented.” He also said that probably 90 to 100 per cent of the retail price would be taxed.

“The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance are working together to implement this and develop a mechanism for administering taxes in the GCC countries with other governments in the region. Now that the oil prices have gone down, it has become a priority,” he noted.

Al Baqi said the Minister of Health had also expressed support for the demand during the meeting. “I believe he is working hard towards achieving these recommendations. “We hope that the price of a pack [of cigarettes] will be higher, and rise to a level that can help reduce consumption (significantly),” he said.>A2

B R E AT H TA K I N G H U B

Staycation best option for all during the extended weekend TARIQ ZIAD AL HAREMI

tariqh@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Weekends in Oman are a blessing that should be taken advantage of after a long work week, but getting an extra day off makes it even better.

With Thursday, May 5 having been officially declared a holiday to celebrate Isra-wal-Meraj, many can take advantage of this weekend for a ‘staycation’ instead of an actual vacation.

The Sultanate has always been a breathtaking hub for adventure.

Some of the population could utilise the extra day by making a trip to Jebel Akhdar and enjoying

the cool weather at the top of the mountain range or explore the vast hidden treasures that Oman has to offer. “I travelled to Jebel Akhdar this holiday and camped for two nights. The weather is amazing during the day and night,” said an Omani local, who wished to remain anonymous.

“I encourage everyone to go out in nature, away from the city, and take in some fresh air. It will help you relax,” he added.

Hotels and resorts are considered very popular among hard working citizens as they look to enjoy a relaxing stay at some of the best hotels in Oman.

By announcing exclusive offers

and a number of fun activities one can take part in, hotels and resorts offer a tempting and irresistible experience for the public.

Mustafa Al Jundi, director of Marketing and Sales at the Musannah Resort, said the resort experienced 100 per cent occupancy during this holiday, hosting over 650 guests.

“We have exclusive offers for both Omani nationals and residents. I do encourage people to stay with us whenever there is a long weekend instead of travelling,” said Al Jundi. People welcome holiday which give them a much-needed break to re-energise for another week of work.

AMAZING WEATHER: The weather at Jebel Akhdar is amazing both during the day and night. -Supplied photo

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SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016 Career fairs offer one of the most efficient platforms for employers looking to hire talented graduates.

Sheikh Mohammed Ghalib Ali Al Hinai, advisor (Human Resource Planning) at the Ministry of Manpower

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Oman Tourism College career fair offers job, training opportunities The career fair, held under the slogan ‘Your way to Labour market,’ was jointly organised by the Modern College of Business and Science, the Oman Tourism College, the Arabian Open University, the Waljat College of Applied Sciences, and the Muscat College

Times News Service MUSCAT: Second career fair organised by a consortium of five colleges, and held at the Oman Tourism College, concluded on Tuesday on a positive note.

The career fair, held under the slogan ‘Your way to Labour market,’ was jointly organised by the Modern College of Business and Science, the Oman Tourism College, the Arabian Open University, the Waljat College of Applied Sciences, and the Muscat College.

The fair saw the participation of more than 30 companies and agencies from the government and private sector. Together they presented more than 300 job possibilities, in addition to offering over 150 training opportunities across

disciplines. The career fair was inaugurated by Sheikh Mohammed Ghalib Ali Al Hinai, advisor (Human Resource Planning) at the Ministry of Manpower.

Many workshops were held as part of the fair, including workshops on CV writing, professional ethics, and other soft skills that are crucial for students to succeed in the job market.

Efficient platform Addressing the gathering, Sheikh Al Hinai said: “Career fairs offer one of the most efficient platforms for employers looking to hire talented graduates. I’m heartened by the presence of a number of private and government companies, offering a range of opportunities not just for jobs, but training as

H O L I D AY R U S H

Massive gridlock at Oman-UAE border: Motorists MUSCAT: A massive gridlock was reported at the Oman-United Arab Emirtaes(UAE) border, as many travellers said they have been waiting for a long time to pass checkpoints on Thursday, the first the day of the long weekend.

Motorists travelling to the neighbouring country complained of long waiting hours,

well. This is a fine example of the successful collaboration between academic institutions and the industry.”

He also pointed out that one of the major challenges related to employment is to align the academic qualifications and skills with the needs of the labour market; and as such the academic inECONOMIC FORUM 2016

LONG QUEUES: Motorists travelling to the neighbouring country complained of long waiting hours, while some advised people who plan a trip to the UAE to “to cancel it”. – Supplied photo

Staff reporter

SOFT SKILLS: Many workshops were held as part of the fair, including workshops on CV writing, professional ethics, and other soft skills that are crucial for students to succeed in the job market. -File photo

while some advised people who plan a trip to the UAE to “to cancel it”.

Issa Al Maiassi, an Omani resident, said he has spent more than an hour at the Khatmat Milaha checkpoint due to the traffic.

Oman had announced earlier that public and private sector companies and establishments would remain closed on May 5, on the occasion of the blessed Al Isra’a Wal Miraj.

stitutions in the Sultanate have a big mission, which is to train graduates in such a way as to make their skills relevant and useful for the labour market. This approach will go a long way in raising the percentage of Omanisation in the private sector, which is considered as the main source for jobs.

Dr. Abdulkareem Al Mughairy,

the dean of Oman Tourism College, noted that “the second employment fair had succeeded in accomplishing its goals. The fair saw the highest participation from the student community, and also the industry, with a good number of government and private firms across the travel, hospitality, banking, IT and business sectors opening up a world of

career possibilities for the graduates. Also, the workshops contributed to enhancing the graduates’ employability skills.”

Stressing on the importance of properly guiding the graduates to make them succeed in the job market, Dr. Ismail Baki Muhammad, psychological consultant at the Waljat College of Applied Sciences, said: “The fair reflected the colleges’ keen interest in supporting the graduates by showcasing as many training and jobs opportunities as possible for them. The role of academic institutions is not just to train the youth, but to introduce them to the labour market and help them succeed. The fair presented great job and training opportunities to the graduates.”

Badr Al Busaidi, assistant director at the Arab Open University (Oman), praised the participating companies for their positive approach towards supporting graduate job seekers. “The most important responsibility of academic institutions is to ensure that educational qualifications help graduates in getting hired.”

Commenting on the career fair, Prof. Ahmed bin Mohammed AlNaamany, dean of Modern College of Business and Science, said such fairs helped graduates understand the real employment needs of the industry, and also allow them to interact with potential employers.

A R A B R A D I O A N D T E L E V I S I O N F E S T I VA L

Participants send thanks to HM

Oman TV programme wins first prize in Tunisia

MUSCAT: Participants at the 5th edition of Al Roya Economic Forum 2016 sent a cable of thanks and gratitude to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said.

They expressed their utmost thanks and gratitude for His Majesty’s interest in enhancing comprehensive and sustainable development through economic diversification in a manner that serves the Blessed Renaissance to yield fruits for the citizen across the country.

They also expressed their utmost appreciation for His Majesty. They valued His Majesty’s constant endeavours in the march of development that yielded prestigious development achievements in all fields in the Sultanate, which will witness further progress under His Majesty’s wise leadership, thanks to His Majesty’s planning that fulfills present requirements and forecasts avenues of the future.

They hoped that the recommendations made by the forum would represent a qualitative addition to this dear country.

The participants at the forum prayed to Allah to protect His Majesty the Sultan and grant him success. -ONA

TUNIS: ‘Sh’owoon A’Sa’ah’, a programme produced by Oman TV has won the first prize in the dialogue programmes’ category in the Arab Radio and Television Festival organised by the Arab Radio and Television Union in Tunisia.

The festival aims to encourage development of Radio and TV production. It also encourages fair competition among the public and private authorities and department concerned with production of TV materials among other objectives. Media person Khamis bin Mohammed Al Balushi received the prize on behalf of Oman’s Public Authority for Radio and Television. —ONA

HONOUR: Media person Khamis bin Mohammed Al Balushi re-

ceived the prize on behalf of Oman’s Public Authority for Radio and Television. —ONA

TOURIST VESSEL ARRIVES Seven Seas Voyager vessel arrived at Salalah Port, yesterday, with 650 tourists. The visit is part of its programme to anchor at a number of ports worldwide. ONA

G O O D B E H AV I O U R ,

TOBACCO

income can Society A1 ‘Tax A1 help fund control plans’ < FROM

Al Lawati said that because many people who use tobacco are poor and are more prone to diseases, higher costs of smoking would deter them from this bad habit.

“They spend a large part of their income on tobacco rather than on their families,” he stated.

Shura members also pointed out that this was not only a way to curb tobacco use, but the money raised could also support tobacco control programmes, as well as help increase the state’s revenue.

Al Baqi said income generated from the taxes could be used for tobacco control programmes in Oman, such as a tobacco dependency treatment programme. “This programme is currently very weak,” he explained.

Hilal Al Sarmi, also a member of the Health Committee, revealed that while other countries are levying 150 or 200 per cent import tax on tobacco, Oman has not increased the taxes in 16 years.

According to Al Sarmi, the income generated from tobacco taxes was OMR65 million in 2013. “If the government imposes a tax of

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150 per cent, this could be raised to 120 million, which is a huge amount,” he said.

A Joint Mission to Oman carried out by the United Nations Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of NonCommunicable Diseases (NCDs) earlier this month had found that one in seven Omani men use tobacco.

Doctors in Oman said that higher taxes will be a good step towards curbing the use of tobacco. Dr. Partha Sarathi, physician at the Badr Al Samaa Hospital, said he would welcome the move. “That’s a good sign. It reduces the consumption of tobacco products. People will think twice before spending more on tobacco. It would be a welcome step in addition to the government banning smoking in public places and banning ads,” he added.

“Taxes should be increased.

The public will not be able to easily buy these products and there use may decrease,” Dr. Pradeep Maheshwari, an Internal Medicine specialist at the Atlas Hospital, said.

sought

The senior Royal Oman Police official also noted that such behaviour can only be countered through cooperation from all members of Omani society and with the efforts of the ROP, starting with families who should monitor their children and make them aware of the consequences of such acts and educate them about observing good morals.

Customs and traditions Responsibility also lies with schools, colleges and universities, to stimulate students to develop good behaviour, which does not infringe upon the customs and traditions of Oman, according to Al Battashi.

Behaviour He added that the media also needed to inform society about the proper way to behave, which everyone should follow in order to celebrate national holidays happily.

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

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OMAN

THIRD BEST-SELLING POET: The Lebanese-American artist, poet and writer, Khalil Gibran might have been largely unknown among the vast majority of people attending the show, but with the insight delivered by all the actors on stage with elegance, the name of the third best-selling poet of all time will surely take root in the hearts and minds of the public again. – OK Mohammed ali

Full house at play on Khalil Gibran SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY VISIT

The play ‘Rest upon

PHOTO GALLERY W W W.T I M E S O F O M A N .C O M

the Wind’ looks back on Arab poet Khalil Gibran’s early life in the Ottomancontrolled area in Lebanon and his desire to set his people free with his writing and art, while he lived in Boston with his sister

MOBIN MATHEW BLESSON

mobinmathew@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: A packed auditorium at the Al Bustan Palace saw the dramatic interpretation of the life of Khalil Gibran, one of the most recognisable names among, which was written and directed by Nadim Sawalha.

The Lebanese-American artist, poet and writer, Gibran might have been largely unknown among the vast majority of people attending the show, but with the insight de-

livered by all the actors on stage with elegance, the name of the third best-selling poet of all time will surely take root in the hearts and minds of the public again.

Born in 1883 in Lebanon, Gibran immigrated to the United States when he was 12. He struggled with poverty, but created an art that would touch the lives of many. His magnum opus sold over 100 million copies since 1923.

The play called ‘Rest upon the Wind’, begins with a dialogue between a spiritually troubled Gibran and a waiter at a cafe in Boston, many years after the former’s move to America, that culminates rather reverentially in the completion and successful publishing of his most acclaimed work.

The play looks back at Gibran’s early life in the Ottoman-controlled area in Lebanon and his desire to set his people free with his writing and art, whilst he lived in Boston with his sister.

This has been shown in the play with a gentle exquisiteness by the gracious Dina Mousawi, which could have been lost on other actors. It is through Myrianna one sees the real Gibran—a rather mean and frustrated figure at first who is full of unproductive negativity and anger at the world.

The story later moves to his

time in New York where he would go onto write with Mary Haskell’s backing, the book that would go on to become his most famous piece of work.

The second half is better, with an improved musical score representing the move from stagnation to the momentum of success and the audience getting to experience some of the genuine “spiritual emancipation” that Gibran’s works represent.

Captured perfectly Throughout the whole play, the generosity of Sawalha’s writing of the main character of Gibran is captured perfectly by Fanos Xenofos.

The desires, his love of life and his constant pain are etched on the face of the actor perfectly, evoking passion in turn among the appreciative audience.

A mix of drama, comedy and profound self-discovery, Gibran is an absolute ‘must see,’ not only for Gibran fans, but for all those who are busy discovering their own spiritual journey.

With an original sound score from award winning composer Jules Deering, this production boasts of stunning visuals, music and electric performances from the six cast members.

First staged at the West End in London at the Tristan Bates Theatre in 2011, ‘Rest Upon The Wind’ has gained popularity the world over, with several shows staged in New York. In Dubai, the play was a sell-out for five consecutive nights.

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SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

REGION Syrian army denies targeting camps, UN condemns attacks Women and children were among those killed in the attack on the camp near the town of Sarmada, which sheltered people fleeing the five-year civil war

BEIRUT/GENEVA: The Syrian military denied on Friday it had conducted air strikes on a camp near the Turkish border that killed at least 28 people, but a top UN official said initial reports suggested a government plane was responsible for the “murderous attacks”.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said Thursday’s attacks were almost certainly a deliberate war crime. France called them a “revolting and unacceptable act that could amount to a war crime or crime against humanity”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said women and children were among those killed in the attack on the camp near the town of Sarmada, which sheltered people fleeing the five-year civil war. The monitoring group said the death toll could rise further because many people were seriously

BADLY HIT: An image grab taken from AFPTV shows destruction at a camp for displaced people near the town of Sarmada in Syria’s Idblib province, near the border with Turkey, following an air strike on Thursday. – AFP

wounded. In a statement published by state media, the Syrian military said: “There is no truth to reports... about the Syrian air force targeting a camp for the displaced in the Idlib countryside.”

Syria’s ally Russia said none of its aircraft had flown over the camp. It said militants from the Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front might have deliberately or accidentally fired on it.

UN rights chief Zeid said in a statement: “Given these tent settlements have been in these locations for several weeks, and can be clearly viewed from the

air, it is extremely unlikely that these murderous attacks were an accident.” He said his organisation and others would “leave no stone unturned in their efforts to research and record evidence of what appears to be a particularly despicable and calculated crime against an extremely vulnerable group of people.”

Initial reports suggested the attacks were carried out by Syrian government aircraft, but this remained to be verified, he added. He urged governments on the United Nations Security Council to refer Syria to the International Crimi-

nal Court so that there would be “a clear path to punishment for those who commit crimes like these”.

Footage shared on social media showed rescue workers putting out fires which still burned among charred tent frames, pitched in a muddy field. White smoke billowed from smouldering ashes, and a burned and bloodied torso could be seen.

Sarmada lies about 30 km (20 miles) west of Aleppo, where a cessation of hostilities brokered

by Russia and the United States had brought a measure of relief on Thursday. Zeid said most of

KILLED IN RAID

the people in the camps had been forced to flee their homes in Aleppo in February because of sustained aerial attacks there. He said he was also alarmed about the situation in Syria’s Hama central prison, where detainees had taken control of a section of the prison and were holding some guards hostage.

“Heavily armed security forces are surrounding the prison and we fear that a possibly lethal assault is imminent. Hundreds of lives are at stake, and I call on the authorities to resort to mediation, or other alternatives to force,” Zeid said. — Reuters

FRANCO-TUNISIAN

Woman kidnapped in Yemen appeals for release CAIRO: New online footage shows a Franco-Tunisian woman who was kidnapped in Yemen in December appealing to her Red Cross employers and governments to help free her, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Friday.

The 39-second video, shared on Yemeni news sites on Friday, shows Nourane Hawas pleading in French for Yemen’s exiled President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi and France’s President Francois Hollande to assist her.

Hawas, wearing a black veil, does not indicate her location or the identity and demands of her kidnappers.

The ICRC confirmed her identity and appealed for her to be freed.

“Since our colleague’s abduction, we mobilised all channels possible to secure her release,” Rima Kamal, the ICRC’s Yemen spokeswoman, told Reuters.

“Over the past five months, we have certainly had some leads. We are however unable to share or elaborate on these leads publically due to the sensitivity of any abduction case. What matters now is Nourane’s safe return to her family as soon as possible,” she added.

“We would like to request the media and public to refrain from sharing the video further out of respect and consideration for Nourane’s family and loved ones.”

The French foreign ministry said in a statement that Hawas had dual nationality and that the country’s relevant services were working in support of the ICRC to secure her release. — Reuters

C A L L F O R D E M O N S T R AT I O N S

Saudi identifies suspected IS fighters Baghdad shut down DOHA: Saudi Arabia on Friday published the names of four people it said were IS fighters killed in a raid by security forces outside the holy city of Mecca, and vowed to protect the country from further attacks by the group.

Security forces shot dead two of the men and two others blew themselves up outside the holy city on Thursday. The raid followed a spate of shootings and bombings against security forces which raised concerns about security in the world’s top oil exporter.

Among the four was 46-year-old Saudi national Said Ayed Al Shahrani who orchestrated the bombing of a mosque for security forces in Asir province in August that killed 15 people, state news agency RAID SITE: Members of Saudi security forces are seen during a raid on suspects involved in the bombSPA quoted an interior ministry ing of a mosque in Asir province in August, outside the holy city of Mecca, in Saudi Arabia on Friday. – statement as saying on Friday.

Saudi Press Agency/Handout via Reuters “We continue with determination to foil attacks and to guard the security of this nation.. we must and pistols had been found after liceman on duty in a village close to citing a local police spokesman.

The IS group has claimed restand as one against this criminal Thursday’s shooting and showed the site of Thursday’s raid.

Corporal Khalaf Al Harithi was sponsibility for a string of bombgroup and its terrorist activities,” images of the four men’s faces and shot late on Thursday while on ings that have targeted police and dates of birth. the statement said.

The interior ministry also said duty at a police station outside the mosques of the kingdom’s minorSaudi-owned Al Arabiya TV reported that explosive devices gunmen shot and killed a Saudi po- holy city of Mecca, SPA reported, ity since last year. — Reuters

to prevent protests

BAGHDAD: Iraqi security forces ramped up their presence across Baghdad on Friday, blocking most major roads and bridges to keep followers of cleric Moqtada Al Sadr from reaching the government district they stormed a week earlier.

An Al Sadr representative meanwhile called on supporters to rally outside local mosques following afternoon prayers, rather than gathering near the heavily fortified Green Zone, a move which could reduce the risk of clashes.

The demonstrations are aimed at pressuring Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi to follow through on months-old promises to replace party-affiliated ministers with independent technocrats as part of an anti-corruption drive.

Iraq has endured months of wrangling over the proposal, with a divided parliament withholding approval amid scuffles and protests. Deep frustration among Iraqis over the deadlock

culminated on Sunday in the unprecedented breach of the Green Zone, which houses parliament, government offices and many foreign embassies.

United Nations envoy to Iraq Jan Kubis told the UN Security Council on Friday that the situation remains unpredictable and could unfold in many different directions.

“A business-as-usual approach simply will not be enough for the people. They want genuine change that will improve their lives,” Kubis told the Security Council.

In his prepared remarks, seen

by Reuters, Kubis also said that solutions being discussed to end the political crisis would not meet the demands of the people and therefore demonstrations were likely to continue.

Security officials said on Friday three regiments from an elite police division that has battled IS militants were deployed in and around the Green Zone. — Reuters

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INDIA

Apex court orders floor test in Uttarakhand on May 10 The petition of the disqualified MLAs

The House shall divide and those in favour of motion will sit one way/ side and those against motion will on other way/side Supreme Court

will come up on Saturday before the High Court. If these MLAs are allowed to vote, Rawat’s fate in the 70-member Assembly may be sealed

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today ordered a floor test in Uttarakhand Assembly on May 10 when sacked Chief Minister Harish Rawat will seek a vote of confidence during which the nine disqualified Congress MLAs may be able to vote if the High Court permits them.

In a significant order detailing the modalities of the floor test to be conducted on Tuesday between 11 AM and 1 PM for the single agenda, the court directed that the nine rebel Congress MLAs, who have challenged their disqualification by the Speaker in the High Court, will not participate in the floor test “if they have the same status” at the time of vote of confidence. Incidentally, the petition of

the disqualified MLAs will come up on Saturday before the Uttarakhand High Court. If these MLAs are allowed to vote, Rawat’s fate in the 70-member Assembly may be sealed. The apex court directed that the entire proceedings of two hours shall be videographed under the supervision of the Principal Secretary of the Legislative Assembly. A bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh ordered that during the two hours when the voting will take place on the vote of confidence, the President’s rule will be put in abeyance and the Governor shall be in-charge of the state.

The top court directed that the Principal Secretary of the Legislative Assembly shall place before it on May 11 in a sealed cover all the

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documents including the result and video of the entire proceedings. The apex court directed the Chief Secretary and DGP of Uttarakhand “to see that all qualified members participate and attend the proceedings safely and no hindrance is caused by anyone by anybody”.

The court refused to allow any outsider like a former chief election commissioner as suggested

by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi as an observer for the floor test. While finalising the modalities for holding the floor test, the bench made it clear that except for the said agenda of vote of confidence motion for Rawat, nothing else shall be discussed in the Assembly. It also expressed confidence that the proceedings shall

be absolutely peaceful and without any disturbance.

The bench said that all officials of Assembly shall follow in letter and spirit the procedure and any kind of deviation shall be viewed seriously. It asked Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh, appearing for Uttarakhand, to immediately convey the order of the court to the Chief Secretary and DGP. In the order, the bench said the Assembly session shall convene at 11 AM for the single agenda and shall be over by 1 PM. The bench said “the House shall divide and those in favour of motion will sit one way/side and those against motion will on other way/side”. “The Principal Secretary, Legislative Assembly, (an

official of rank of district judge) shall see that the voting is peaceful and recorded,” the bench said, adding “members voting in favour of motion shall singularly vote and raise hand one by one and that will be counted by Principal Secretary, Legislative Assembly”.

“Similar procedure shall be adopted while members voting against the motion,” it said.

The bench directed that “the entire proceedings shall be videographed so that it can be perused by this court if required”.

On the nine rebel Congress MLAs who were disqualified by the Speaker, the bench said “needless to say our observations in presented will not cause prejudice to the case of disqualification of MLAs which is presently subjudice before the Uttarakhand High Court”. The bench made clear that it was a special arrangement for conducting the floor test and said “accordingly we direct that the judgment of the division bench of the high court quashing Presidential proclamation shall remain in abeyance from 11 AM to 1 PM”.

The bench also clarified that “the proclamation of emergency under Article 356 of the Constitution shall be in abeyance from 11 AM to 1 PM on May 10 and during that period the Governor shall be the incharge”.

It also said after 1 PM, the President rule will be revived and the matter will be taken by it on May 11 when the Principal Secretary, Legislative Assembly will come with all the documents including the results and video of the proceedings in a sealed cover. — PTI

DISTRICT OF KERALA

100-year-old woman to be poll mascot in Kannur KANNUR: A-100-year-old woman, who is all set to cast the first vote of her life in the May 16 Assembly elections, will be a poll mascot in Kannur district of south Indian state of Kerala.

Though many elections had come and gone in her lifetime, centenarian Thressiamma Chacko, a native of Kolakkad, had been indifferent to them. When she expressed desire to cast her vote for the first time in the coming polls, the district administration came up offering her all support and decided to present her as a mascot to woo voters to exercise their franchise. Thressiamma, who is living with her son Johny, had applied for voters’ identity card at an Akshaya centre, a project focusing on the various facts of e-learning and egovernance, at Kolakkad recently.

District Collector P Bala Kiran himself arrived at her residence and handed over her the voter identity card last evening.

“She is very active even at this age and really enthusiastic to exercise her franchise. She will be an inspiration to all voters to exercise their franchise in the upcoming polls,” Bala Kiran told PTI. The district administration officials also gave the woman some lessons on how to use the voting machine. The woman told officials that she had no time to think about polls or casting vote during her young age as she had been struggling to meet both ends of her family. Thressiamma would cast the vote at the polling booth in a local school near her house, family sources said. — PTI

UNION HOME MINISTER’S ASSURANCE

‘Centre ready for CBI probe in Kerala law student rape, murder’ CHATHANNOOR: Union government is ready to conduct a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the brutal rape and murder of a 30-year-old Law student in Ernakulam district and the guilty will be punished, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday.

“CBI probe should be held into the murder. As the country’s Home Minister, I assure you that as soon as we get a recommendation (in this regard) from the state government, we are prepared to conduct a CBI probe,” Singh, who began electioneering for the May 16 Assembly polls in Kerala, said at a public meeting, about 16 km from Kollam city.

Guilty The Home Minister said the guilty will be brought to book.

“I assure you that the guilty shall be punished,” he said.

The Home Minister’s remarks assume significance with the investigation by Kerala police not making much headway even days after the incident.

The Dalit woman, who hailed from a poor family, was raped and brutally assaulted using sharp-

Police arrest three in Varkala gangrape case THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Police on Friday arrested three persons in connection with the gangrape of a 19-yearold Dalit nursing student at Varkala in south Indian state of Kerala on May 3.

The incident comes days after the Dalit law student was raped and murdered at Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district.

The accused have been identified as Safeer (25), Saiju (21) and Rasheed (20), all hailing from Varkala, Thiruvananthapuram Superintendent of

edged weapons before being murdered at her house at nearby Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district on April 28.

The shocking incident had its echo in Parliament with members demanding “exemplary punishment” for the culprits besides

Police (Rural) Shefeen Ahamed K told reporters. The victim, a second year BSc nursing student, was raped allegedly by Safeer along with his friend Saiju, an autorickshaw driver near Ayanthi bridge in Varkala and later by their friend Rasheed, the SP said.

Punishment They took the girl to a deserted place and committed the offence, he said. “We want to ensure maximum punishment for the accused. After getting

triggering widespread protests across the state.

Flaying Communist Party of India-Marxist(CPI-M) veteran V S Achutanandan for not disclosing the name of the VIP in the sensational Killiroor and Kaviyoor sex scandals as “assured” by him,

legal advice, charges would be framed,” he said when asked whether they would be charged under IPC 376 (2) (G) (gangrape). Medical examination had confirmed that she had been gangraped. The victim had gone with Safeer, who was known to her, in the autorickshaw of his friend, Saiju, on the day of the incident, police said.

Later, they called Rasheed and asked him to take her to the railway station in the auto, police said, adding, he also allegedly raped the girl en route. — PTI

Singh said his credibility in kerala politics had come to an end as he failed to keep his promise.

“I want to ask you... you had in 2006 Assembly elections said in the two big cases of Kiliroor and Kaviyoor... You had said when you will become chief minister, you

will disclose the name of the VIP. “What you said you didn’t do, your credibility in Kerala politics has come to an end,” Singh said at the meeting. The two sex scandals had rocked the state in 2003 after young girls were physically abused on the pretext of giving them roles in television serials.

They were allegations that some influential persons were involved in the two cases.

‘Planned crime’ Meanwhile, Kerala Police on Friday said the incident appears to be a “planned one” and its probe has entered a “crucial stage”.

“Investigation is going through a crucial stage. It appears to be a planned murder and not an unpremeditated,” Additional Director General of Police K Padmakumar, who is supervising the probe by the Special Investigation Team comprising experts from the state police, told reporters.

He said the investigation is on the “right track”, but refused to say about the arrest of the culprits.

Police, which continued questioning people, including some neighbours, a bus driver and his

assistant, to get a lead in the case, said it was verifying the inputs received from various persons.

Over 125 people have been questioned in connection with the rape and brutal murder.

Rejected Earlier, state police chief T P Senkumar had rejected suggestions that there were many major lapses by the force initially which have impacted the probe.

After holding meeting with the top cops supervising the case at nearby Perumbavoor on Thursday evening, Senkumar had said “a scientific, professional investigation” is progressing in the case, but admitted that they could not reach a “sudden detection”.

“We are doing a professional work. Many experts in the police team have been called in to assist the probe. We are taking all types of inputs. Scientific, professional investigation is on. We have not reached a sudden detection but the probe is in progress,” he told reporters.

The top police officer said there were “not much lapses” from the local police in the initial stage of the investigation. — PTI

A6

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016 I am shocked, how could you accept order from a company who has not given tender? They lost sense of proportion.

Manohar Parrikar, India’s Defence Minister

INDIA

UPA government did everything to help AgustaWestland: Parrikar Defence Minister

Sonia slams Modi government; top Congress leaders court arrest

Manohar Parrikar said the main beneficiaries of the kickbacks will be tracked so that ‘may be we can do’ what ‘we could not do in Bofors’

NEW DELHI: Mounting an attack on Congress, the government on Friday said the previous UPA government had “done everything” to help AgustaWestland bag the chopper deal and asserted that the main beneficiaries of the kickbacks will be tracked so that “may be we can do” what “we could not do in Bofors”.

In a hard-hitting speech in the Lok Sabha, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the “entire corruption” in the deal took place during the UPA tenure but former Air chief S P Tyagi and Gautam Khaitan are “small people” who “simply washed their hands in a flowing ganga (of corruption)” and that the government will “find out where the river was going”. He said while the decision on the contract was taken in 2010, Tyagi had retired in 2007 and “might have got just a ‘chiller’ (loose change)”.

Amid a walkout by Congress which was pressing for a Supreme Court-monitored probe, he said CBI is “very seriously” investigating the case. “I hope members are satisfied and members will support government in finding the truth. The truth may lead to many

NEW DELHI: A combative Sonia Gandhi on Friday attacked the Modi government for “murdering” democracy and unleashing a campaign of “baseless allegations” against the opposition, as top Congress leaders hit the streets and courted arrest near Parliament.

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi were taken into custody along with Sonia Gandhi, who predicted that the government’s days were numbered the way it was functioning. “Do not try to frighten or defame us... life has taught me to struggle, we have faced a lot of challenges. They don’t know what we are made of,” she said addressing the party’s ‘Save Democracy’ rally at Jantar Mantar.

Alert opposition Asserting that her party will play role of an “alert” opposition with “full vigour” both inside and outside Parliament, she asked partymen to “unmask” the Modi government.

Opposition leader in Rajya

unwanted realism. What we could not do in Bofors, may be we will do it in AgustaWestland,” Parrikar said while replying to a debate on the Calling Attention Motion during which he continuously targeted the Congress but deliberately refrained from naming anybody.

He said the UPA government had “done everything” to help AgustaWestland bag the Rs36 billion deal for purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters and that its action

HITTING THE STREETS: Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh courting arrest during their Loktantra Bachao March in New Delhi on Friday. – PTI

Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, party leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and others courted arrest at Parliament Street Police station after they were stopped from marching to Parliament. They were released after a short while.

“They should understand very well that when matters would become unbearable, peo-

against the company following the disclosure of corruption was not pro-active but “forced by circumstances”. He asserted that the government will recover damages to the tune of 398 million euros as well as the “bribe”.

Referring to the Italian court’s recent judgement, Parrikar said with this, the criminal conspiracy has been established and “we will get the documents very fast”.

Alleging that the Congress party J E T A I RWAY S C R E W

Emotional homecoming for Brussels attack survivor MUMBAI: Nidhi Chaphekar, the 42-year-old Jet Airways crew member whose image sitting bloodied and dazed and her yellow uniform shredded in Brussels airport bombings became an iconic picture of the horror, returned to Mumbai on Friday to an emotional homecoming.

A mother of two, Nidhi, who has not yet recovered from the injuries suffered in the deadly terror attack on March 22, arrived in Mumbai at around 7.30am on a Paris-Mumbai Jet airways flight and was driven straight to Breach Candy hospital from the airport.

She was injured from the force of the first blast of the attack.

Relieved on her return, Nidhi’s husband Rupesh Chaphekar said, “we are extremely happy to have Nidhi back home with us in Mumbai after the horrific episode in Brussels.”

“Her homecoming is an extremely emotional moment for all of us, especially her two children, who were reunited with her after six weeks as they could not travel to meet with her owing to their studies,” he said. Rupesh said the family has had a harrowing time since news on the brazen strikes trickled in. — PTI

ple of India know how to teach them a lesson.... The way the Modi government is playing a fraud on the mandate, it seems its days are numbered,” the Congress president said.

The rally saw Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh also attacking the Modi dispensation over pulling down of Congress governments in north-east

had close links with Christian Michel, the middleman in the deal, he said the contract was given to a company which had not even participated in the tendering process.

Finding loopholes in the deal, the Defence Minister said the tender was submitted by Italy-based AgustaWestland but the contract was given to the UK-based Agusta Westland International Ltd (AWIL), which was not Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).

Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and north Indian state of Uttarakhand.

The AgustaWestland issue appeared to be weighing heavily on her mind as Sonia targeted the Modi dispensation accusing it of starting “this game of levelling baseless allegations against leaders of opposition parties”.

“But, I would like tell them they should not commit the mistake of assuming that Congress is a weak force. Congress is never going to bow before injustice.

We will play our role of an alert opposition with full vigour in coming days, (both) within Parliament and outside too and combat injustice,” she said.

Sonia said that the way the Centre has toppled Congress governments in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand through “money and muscle power has not only shaken the foundation of democracy, but has murdered it”.

She also asked the partymen to reach out to “each corner” of the country and “unmask” the Modi government through democratic means. — PTI

“I am shocked, how could you accept order from a company who has not given tender? They lost sense of proportion. They thought they will be in power for ever. The smell and sight of Euro was so attractive, so intoxicating that they forgot everything. They should take consultation from Michel on how to cover up and how to do white wash,” he said taking a dig at the Congress. As Congress created uproar and tried to disrupted

his speech, he remarked, “Why are you (Congress) concerned? I have not named anybody. You seem to know where the ganga was going.”

“An investigation is underway with regard to those whowashed hands in the flowing ganga. Those who wash hands in the ganga have an idea about temperature of the water, how fast the water is flowing. Based on that, we are assessing whether water was cold or hot, whether the water had Hindi, English, Italian or German and what was the issue,” Parrikar said.

Refusing to spell out what CBI probe had revealed, the Defence Minister told the House, “I can assure you that I will not disappoint you.” He said he has already started personally “monitoring” the probe even though CBI and ED are not under him. “I am personally taking interest into the sequence of events,” he said.

When CPI(M) member Mohd Saleem questioned how he could “monitor” CBI and whether it was not affecting its independence, the minister amended his version to say that he was not telling CBI what to do but only “trying to find out what they are doing” and “monitoring its progress” to check if they are doing something.

He asserted that it was within his right as otherwise he would not be able to inform the House about the progress of the probe.

Parrikar, while giving details of the case, said the decision to prescribe higher cabin height of 1.8 metres of the helicopter was taken by the UPA government on May 9, 2005 and to buttress his point, he placed on the table of the House the minutes of the meeting that was chaired by the then NSA M K Narayanan. Making 1.8 metre height of the cabin mandatory ensured that only AgustaWestland could qualify. Noting that the scam surfaced in 2012, the defence minister said nothing was done by the then UPA government till January 2014. — PTI

R E S U LT S D E C L A R E D

Girls outperform boys yet again in ICSE, ISC exams NEW DELHI: Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) on Friday declared results for both class XII, which saw a pass percentage of 96.46, and class X with 98.5 per cent as girls once again outshone boys.

The results have been announced two weeks earlier than previous years as the council for the first time used Live Ink Character Recognition (LICR) technology, which helped in fast compilation of results.

ICSE (Class X) and ISC (Class XII) Examination, 2015, showed a marginal increase in pass percentages over the previous year’s results, said Gerry Arathoon, CEO of the Council. While class X registered a slight increase of 0.01 per cent, class XII showed a 0.18 per cent increase as compared to previous year’s result.

In class X examination this year, the top position was bagged by Abineet Parichha from Odisha who scored 99.2 per cent, while second position was shared by four students - Sudarshan R (Bangalore), Isha Sethi (Mumbai), Manan Manish Shah (Kandivali) and Jyotsana Srivastava (Lucknow) who scored 99 per cent. Third position was shared by 10 students with a score of 98.8 per cent.

In class XII, the top position has been bagged by Mumbai’s Aadyaa

JUBILANT: Students celebrate their success after announcement of ICSE board results in Patna on Friday. – PTI

Maddi with 99.75 per cent, Mumbai’s Mansi Puggal secured the second position with 99.50 per cent while the third position was shared by Arkadeb Sengupta and Kavita Desai from Kolkata who scored 99.25 per cent. A total of 1,68,591 students including over 75,000 girls appeared in the ICSE this year. In class XII, over 38,000 boys and 33,000 girls appeared in the examination this year. The total number of students who had appeared in class XII examination was 72, 069, Arathoon said.

In terms of region wise performance, Southern region recorded the highest pass percentage in both the classes. The pass percentage in class X stood at

99.68 per cent and in class XII it was 99.14 per cent. The schools abroad have recorded 100 per cent pass percentage in both the classes. While the Class X examination was held in 63 written subjects including 22 Indian and 13 foreign languages as well as one classical language, the class XII examination was conducted in 50 written subjects including 15 Indian, 6 foreign and 1 classical language, Arathoon said.

Candidates can see their results by selecting their course code (ICSE or ISC), entering their unique id and the Captcha and then clicking on the “show result” button. A print out of the result can also be taken. — PTI

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

A7

PAKISTAN G R A FT A L L E G AT I O N S

CONFESSION

BY SWEET SHOP OWNER

Balochistan finance secretary arrested

In this handout photograph released by Punjab police and taken on May 2, 2016, Pakistani policemen escort Tariq Mehmood, second right,, his younger brother Khalid Mehmood, second left, and an employee, centre, at a court in the Karor Lal Esan area of Punjab province. On Friday, sweet shop owner Khalid confessed to fatally poisoning at least 30 people by lacing his goods with pesticide in an attempt to take revenge on his older brother who ‘insulted and abused’ him in a business dispute, police said. — AFP/

QUETTA: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday rounded up Balochistan’s Secretary Finance Mushtaq Raisani and several other officials from Quetta Civil Secretariat over allegations of corruption.

Officials of the top accountability body also seized records of the provincial treasury office for carrying out investigation in alleged corrupt practices of the accused.

This is not the first time NAB Balochistan has arrested government officials on charges of corruption.

In March, the accountability body had received Rs59 million from the former chairman of Balochistan Development Authority (BDA) Saadat Anwar and his facilitator Abdul Hakeem. Anwar was accused of misusing his authority and causing huge loss to the national exchequer in a road project in the province. — Express Tribune

PUNJAB POLICE/HO

Court indicts Zardari aide Asim Dr Asim Hussain pleaded not guilty in a corruption case involving Rs462b, saying the charges levelled against him by the National Accountability Bureau were false Dr Asim Hussain

KARACHI: An accountability court in Karachi on Friday indicted former petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain and five others in a corruption case involving Rs462 billion.

However, Dr Asim, who is also a close confidante of former president and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Asif Ali Zardari,

pleaded not guilty in the case, saying the charges levelled against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) were false.

Dr Asim — who also heads Ziauddin hospitals’ trust-owned private health facilities — is facing allegations of extending a ‘huge’ loss to the national exchequer by

misusing his powers as a federal minister. The top accountability body had filed two references against the former minister and his alleged associates including former civil servants and some private persons.

The first reference, which was filed on February 25, pertains to

an alleged scam, in which gas was curtailed illegally to the agriculture sector to benefit a particular group associated with the fertilizer industry. NAB contends the price of fertilisers was arbitrarily hiked and Dr Asim received kickbacks in return.

Furthermore, the same reference reads about land scam, public fraud and money laundering. The overall amount involved in this investigation is Rs462.5 billion.

Former petroleum and natural resources secretary Ejaz Chaudhry, Karachi Docks Labour Board’s former CEO Safdar Hussain, Karachi Development Authority’s exdirectors Syed Athar Hussain and Masood Haider Jaffery, and Ziauddin group finance director Abdul Hameed have also been named as

co-accused. The other reference, filed on March 5, revolves around illegal award of contracts to a privately-managed gas processing company, Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited (JJVL).

According to NAB, the private company was allowed to process gas from five fields in lower Sindh without conducting an open auction, signing agreements and other necessary procedures.

The prosecution alleges that the private company was given the contract without an open auction being held, agreements being signed or other necessary procedures required by the law to make the process transparent.

The NAB had obtained custody of Dr Asim on December 11 in connection with an inquiry

regarding misuse of authority in allotment of plots and encroachment of state land for Dr Ziauddin Hospital Trust, fraud with public by running a charity hospital on commercial basis, kickbacks and commission through fertilizer cartel for illegal curtailment and money-laundering. Dr Asim was also facing charges of abetting and harbouring terrorists at his familyowned hospitals in Karachi.

After spending 90 days in the custody of paramilitary Rangers, who detained him on August 26, he was handed over to the Karachi police for further interrogation.

The police, however, relieved him of the charges and got him released, sparking a tussle between the federal and provincial governments. — Express Tribune

A8

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READERS’ FORUM World ill prepared to fight climate change This refers to the report Wildfire destroys homes in Canadian city, 80,000 people ordered to evacuate (May 4). This report highlights the fact that mankind is not prepared for the fight against climate change. The United Nations and its member countries are still planning how to fight the phenomena while nature is unleashing extreme weather events every day. The need of the hour is to remove people from vulnerable spots like cities on the coast, which are below sea level. For such events, communities will need to make up their own solutions as in most countries - with Scan this QR code politicians making hue and cry - such an to send letters to the action to take place requires complicated Readers’ Forum, red tape. — Rahim Mohsin, Ruwi containing not more

FRANCIS WILKINSON

Trumpism, or Palinism, or some other personally tailored cocktail of demagogy and yahooism will remain a threat until the party halts its cultural and regional retreat, and engages the cosmopolitan, multiracial 21st century without a crutch of resentment. GOP candidates who offered alternatives to that mix were crushed in 2016

than 200 words with full name, address and telephone number, may be sent by e-mail (akhtar@ timesofoman.com).

Shahid Afridi must retire before fans stop respecting him This refers to the report Say goodbye to cricket, Qadir tells Afridi (May 4). Pakistan’s iconic all rounder Shahid Afridi needs to retire while he is still respected by the fans. However, he is unlikely to realise this and will try to play on till he has no other option but to hang his boots and become scared of his own fans. — Nadir Pasha, Seeb

I

ndia’s Solicitor-General, Ranjit Kumar, recently declared that India would not seek the return of the Kohinoor diamond – one of the world’s oldest and most valuable – from the British, to whom India had “gifted” it. The statement shocked India and unleashed passionate debate – so passionate, in fact, that the government scrambled to declare that it still wants the gem back. But the government’s commitment to securing that outcome remains unconvincing, at best.

Kumar was responding before the Supreme Court to a suit filed by the All India Human Rights and Social Justice Front, an NGO, demanding that the government seek the return of the famed diamond, which can be found among Britain’s crown jewels. He claims that the erstwhile Sikh kingdom offered the gem to the British East India Company in 1849 as “voluntary compensation” for the expenses of the just-concluded Anglo-Sikh wars.

Add to that the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act of 1972, which does not permit the government to seek the return of antiquities exported before India gained its independence in 1947, and, according to Kumar, the Indian government has no recourse to secure the diamond’s return.

The uproar that Kumar’s statement triggered has forced government spokesmen to backpedal furiously, asserting that Kumar’s was not the final official view. The Ministry of Culture announced that a claim will still be pursued. But unless Kumar is instructed to file a new deposition before the Supreme Court, his statements appear to have put paid to India’s claim to the world’s most fabled diamond. So the question is whether that should indeed be the final outcome. The Kohinoor was first mined by the Kakatiya dynasty near Guntur, in what is now Andhra Pradesh. The Kakatiya kings installed it in a temple, which was raided by Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khilji, who took it back to his capital along with other plundered treasures. It passed into the possession of the Mughal Empire that established itself in Delhi in the sixteenth century.

In 1739, the Kohinoor fell into the hands of the ancient Iranian invader Nadir Shah, whose loot from his conquest of Delhi (and decimation of its inhabitants) also included the priceless Peacock Throne. It was Nadir Shah, or so legend has it, who baptised the diamond the Kohinoor, or “Mountain

of Light.” One of his consorts memorably and colourfully stated, “If a strong man were to throw four stones – one north, one south, one east, one west – and a fifth stone up into the air, and if the space between them were to be filled with gold, it would not equal the value of the Kohinoor.”

Upon Nadir Shah’s death in 1747, the diamond fell into the hands of one of his generals, Ahmad Shah Durrani, who became the Emir of Afghanistan. In 1809, one of Durrani’s descendants was obliged to cede the Kohinoor in tribute to the powerful Sikh Maharaja of Punjab, Ranjit Singh. But Singh’s successors could not hold on to his kingdom. The Sikhs were defeated by the British in two wars, culminating in the British Empire’s annexation of the Sikh domains in 1849.

That was when the Kohinoor was supposedly “gifted” to the British.

The argument that the diamond was offered as “voluntary compensation” for the expenses the British incurred in defeating the Sikhs is ridiculous. For starters, the formal handover was conducted by the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, Duleep Singh, who was only ten years old – and most certainly was not given a choice. As I have pointed out to other Indian politicians, if you hold a gun to my head, I might give you my wallet, but that doesn’t make it a gift – and it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t get it back. Compensation provided to the winners of a war by those they defeated is usually known as reparations, which are not entirely voluntary. And, in fact, many former colonies rightly argue that it is Britain that owes them reparations for centuries of oppression and looting. Returning priceless artefacts of cultural significance purloined at the height of imperial rule might be a good place to start.

To be sure, the Kohinoor poses a particular challenge, owing to competing claims. The Iranians say that Nadir Shah stole it fair and square, while the Afghans assert that the Sikhs forced them to surrender it. Now Pakistan has entered the ring, with the somewhat flimsy argument that the capital of the Sikh Empire, the undisputed last pre-British owners, was in Lahore. — Project Syndicate

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MAY 2001 Rashidi opens information seminar MUSCAT: Hamad bin Mohammed Al Rashidi, undersecretary for the Ministry of Information opened a five-day seminar on information network at the Press Club yesterday. Present at the ceremony was Sayyid Sultan bin Hamad Al Balushi, chairman of Oman Establishment for Press News, Publication and Advertising (OEPNPA).

At the outset of the seminar, the chief guest gave a speech in which he said the ministry had decided to dedicate this seminar to matters relating to organisational, administrative and financial aspects with regard to laws and procedures adopted.

December 2015

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1824: Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony” premiers in Vienna.

1915: The German submarine U-20 torpedoes the passenger ship Lusitiania, sinking her in 21 minutes with 1,978 people on board.

1954: French troops surrender to Vietminh at Dien Bien Phu. 1960: Leonid Brezhnev becomes president of the Soviet Union.

Source National Centre for Statistics & Information

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US WARSHIP VISITS SHANGHAI The USS Blue Ridge prepares to berth in Shanghai on Friday. The visit of the Blue Ridge in the commercial hub of Shanghai comes just days after China denied a port call for a US aircraft carrier in its special administrative region of Hong Kong. - AFP

Afghan forces free 60 from Taliban prison LASHKAR GAH/KABUL: Afghan special forces have freed more than 60 prisoners held by the Taliban in a house in the southern province of Helmand, officials said on Friday.

During months of fighting, the Taliban have seized control of large parts of Helmand and driven government forces from several districts.

Special forces In a night time helicopter raid, counter-terrorism operators and special forces based in the neighbouring province of Kandahar attacked the house in Naw Zad district and freed the prisoners, according to a statement from NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Kabul. It said coalition forces supported the raid as part of their train, advise and assist mission but gave no details.

Insurgents At least two insurgents were killed and several were wounded or detained.

The governor of the southern province, Hayatullah Hayat, said the prisoners released during the raid had been taken to Kandahar.

“We are still investigating as to who these people are and how long they were kept there,” he said.

New appointment Meanwhile, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has appointed a new acting defence minister to replace Masoom Stanekzai, a loyalist ally whom he has shifted to lead the main intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS).

The changes, announced late on Thursday, underline the uncertainty at the top of Afghanistan’s security apparatus that has hindered the fight against the Taliban and other insurgents since Ghani’s National Unity Government came to power in 2014.

Stanekzai, who was well regarded by NATO commanders but never confirmed in office by parliament, moves to take over the NDS, whose director, Rahmatullah Nabil, resigned in December after disagreeing with Ghani’s moves towards rapprochement with Pakistan.

Stanekzai is replaced as caretaker defence minister by General Abdullah Khan, previously chief of staff at the ministry. — Reuters

Kim holds first party congress in 36 years

PHILIPPINES

During the congress, the North Korean leader is expected to further consolidate CAMPAIGN: Supporters of Philippines vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo attend a poll campaign rally in Manila on Friday. - AFP

Aquino for unity against maverick candidate Duterte MANILA: Outgoing Philippine leader Benigno Aquino on Friday weighed into the contest to replace him by urging presidential candidates to join forces and stop popular maverick mayor Rodrigo Duterte from winning next week’s election.

Aquino’s intervention, just three days before the vote, came moments after his chosen successor, Manuel Roxas, hastily called a news conference urging rival Grace Poe to join him and uphold “democracy and decency” by thwarting Duterte.

Duterte’s promises to wipe out drugs and criminality within six months and his advocacy of extrajudicial killings have struck a chord among Filipinos tired of soaring crime rates.

The administration’s push for a pact followed the release of the last opinion poll before Monday’s vote, which showed crime-fighting mayor Duterte as top choice for 33 per cent of survey respondents, 11 points ahead of nearest rival Poe, with Roxas on 20 pe cent.

“I am trying to get all of these different voices together and in that sense, perhaps help our candidate get together and have that united front,” Aquino told CNN Philippines.

Duterte, 71, was a late entry into the race and analysts say his victory would represent disenchantment with Aquino’s administration, despite it overseeing economic growth averaging over six percent annually, the country’s best fiveyear record in four decades.

Aquino said he was talking with Roxas and had exchanged text messages with Poe about them joining forces and it would be good if other candidates, Miriam Santiago and Vice-President Jejomar Binay, allied themselves to beat Duterte. “Instead of thinking about what shall we do if everything he says is exactly what he intends to do, why don’t we remove that problem, or that threat, or that insecurity,” he said.

‘Comical, sickening’ Duterte’s spokesman Peter Lavina said it was both comical, and “truly sickening”.

Neither Aquino nor Roxas explained how an alliance would work, or if any candidates would have to withdraw.

Early reaction suggested Aquino’s idea may not get any takers.

Poe, a senator and adopted daughter of Philippine movie stars, said there was no chance she would back down. — Reuters

his control over a country that has grown increasingly isolated over its atomic arms pursuit

PYONGYANG: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday hailed the country’s recent nuclear test and launch of a satellite into space, as he opened the first congress of the country’s ruling Workers’ Party in 36 years.

Wearing a dark western-style suit and grey tie, the 33-year-old was flanked by his top military aide and the titular head of state in a massive hall packed with military and party delegates, according to footage on North Korean state television aired late on Friday.

During the congress, Kim is expected to further consolidate his control over a country that has grown increasingly isolated over its pursuit of nuclear weapons, including its fourth nuclear test in January, which led to UN resolutions in March tightening sanctions.

“In this year of the seventh party congress, the military and the people accomplished the great success in the first hydrogen bomb test and the launch of an earth observation satellite, Kwangmyongsong-4, to brilliantly illuminate the prowess of Juche Joson,” he said, referring to the North’s home-grown founding ideology combining Marxism and extreme nationalism.

“Unprecedented results have

UPBEAT: People watch a television news broadcast showing file footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, at a railway station in Seoul on Friday. AFP

been accomplished.” Foreign analysts expect the third-generation leader of the Kim dynasty to formally adopt his “Byongjin” policy of simultaneously pursuing nuclear weapons and economic development.

“Kim is after catching two rabbits, a nuclear arsenal and economic development, and he’s likely going to declare the country is a nuclear weapons state, so that’s one rabbit,” said Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

“He might also lay out a fiveyear or seven-year blueprint for the development of the people’s economy,” Yang said.

Foreign journalists invited to cover the event were not permitted inside the April 25 House of Culture, the imposing stone structure draped in red party flags where the congress is expected to run for several days.

Kim has aggressively pursued nuclear weapons and ballistic missile technology. The February satellite launch was criticised internationally as a long-range missile test in disguise.

Giant neighbour China, the North’s lone major ally, backed the U.N. resolutions, as it grew frustrated over the nuclear tests.

Important stage Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, asked about the congress at a daily briefing in Beijing, said North Korea was at an important stage in its national development.

“We also hope North Korea can listen to the voice of the international community, and jointly maintain northeast Asia’s lasting peace and stability,” Hong said.

Thousands of delegates from around North Korea had been expected to attend the first congress to be held since 1980, before the 33-year-old Kim was born. Security guards in suits and ties surrounded the venue on Friday.

The Byongjin policy follows Kim’s father’s Songun, or “military first” policy, and his grandfather’s Juche ideology.

State radio said the Workers’ Party congress would “unveil the brilliant blueprint to bring forward the final victory of our revo-

lution”, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. orth Korean state media has trumpeted a 70-day campaign of intensified productivity in the run-up to the congress, and Pyongyang has been spruced up for the event. “Miraculous results were produced,” KCNA said, touting production in the industrial sector that achieved 144 percent of the target and electricity generation 110 percent, although the actual targets were not given.

Under Kim Jong Un, an informal market economy has been allowed to grow, although it has not been officially adopted as government policy. However, more taxis and private cars on the streets, more goods in shops and more buildings under construction attest to growing prosperity and consumption among Pyongyang residents. South Korea has been on alert in anticipation that the North could conduct a fifth nuclear test to coincide with the congress. North and South Korea are still technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty. — Reuters

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SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

WORLD SHOPPING CENTRES

ALGERIA WOMEN RUN FOR AWARENESS Women at the start of the ‘100% women and supportive’ race, on Friday in Algeria’ sthe capital Algiers. The event, taking place for the first time, is a 3km run intended for women and aims at raising women’s awareness about sports. — AFP

One killed, three hurt in US shootings WASHINGTON: Shootings at two shopping centres in Washington suburbs killed one person and wounded three others on Friday, although it was known if the incidents were related and no suspects were in custody, police said.

Authorities locked down schools and recreational facilities as a precaution. A confrontation led to the first shooting at Westfield Montgomery Mall in affluent Bethesda, Maryland, where two men and a woman were hit by gunfire and taken to a hospital, police said.

Critical condition They were in critical condition.

The incident was originally reported as an assault at about 11 a.m.(1500 GMT).

Two of the wounded were bystanders who came to the aid of the first victim, said Assistant Chief Darryl McSwain of Montgomery County police.

There was no reason to believe they knew one another, he said.

No suspect was in custody but “we are looking at a person of interest,” McSwain told a news conference in the pouring rain.

A second shooting about half an hour later killed a woman at the Aspen Hill Shopping Center in Silver Spring, some 8 miles (13 km) away, Montgomery County police said on Twitter. Bethesda and Silver Spring are suburbs just north of Washington in Montgomery County, Maryland. — Reuters

FIRST MUSLIM

Sadiq Khan elected mayor of London LONDON: Sadiq Khan, the son of a bus driver, became London’s first Muslim mayor on Friday, seeing off a Conservative challenger who attempted to link him to extremism and securing a muchneeded victory for his opposition Labour Party.

As New York mayor Bill de Blasio sent his congratulations, Khan had yet to receive official notification of his victory, which would go some way to soothing the wounds of Labour which suffered losses in Thursday’s other local elections.

Dealt a crushing blow in Scotland, where it came third behind the Scottish National Party and Britain’s ruling Conservatives, Labour did better than expected in England, saving its left-leaning leader from an early challenge.

But the big prize was the London mayor vote, which pitted Khan, 45, who grew up in public housing in inner city London, against Conservative Zac Goldsmith, 41, the son of a billionaire financier.

The Labour lawmaker replaces Conservative Boris Johnson, who has run the city of 8.6 million people for eight years. A top campaigner for Britain to leave the EU, Johnson is seen as a contender to succeed David Cameron as party leader and prime minister.

The Conservatives were keen to keep hold of the post, which does not run the City of London financial district but has influence over government in lobbying for the capital. — Reuters

Erdogan rebuffs EU demand for changes to terrorism law Brussels as a far tougher negotiating partner less closely wedded in recent years to Turkey’s ambition of joining the EU. To win visa-free travel, Turkey must still meet five of 72 criteria the EU imposes on all states exempt from visas, one of which is narrowing its legal definition of terrorism.

We’re going our way, you go yours, said the Turkish president after Brussels said under a deal Ankara had to bring its laws in line with European Union’s standards

ISTANBUL: President Tayyip Erdogan told the European Union on Friday that Turkey would not make changes to its terrorism laws required under a deal to curb migration, and declared: “we’re going our way, you go yours”.

His fiery speech will be a blow to any hope in European capitals that it might be business as usual with Turkey after Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who negotiated the migration deal with Europe and had largely delivered on Turkey’s commitments so far, announced he was standing down.

The EU asked member states on Wednesday to grant visa-free travel to Turks in return for Ankara stopping migrants reaching Eu-

DETERMINED: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan greets his fans during an opening ceremony in Istanbul, Turkey on Friday. — Reuters

rope, but said Turkey still had to change some legislation, including bringing its terrorism laws in line with EU standards.

“When Turkey is under attack from terrorist organisations and the powers that support them directly, or indirectly, the EU is telling us to change the law on terrorism,” Erdogan said in a speech at the opening of a local government office in the conservative Istanbul district of Eyup.

“They say ‘I am going to abolish visas and this is the condition.’

I’m sorry, we’re going our way, you

go yours. Agree with whoever you can agree,” he said.

Visa-free travel is for many Turks the biggest benefit of Ankara’s deal with the EU. Europe, meanwhile, is counting on Turkey to maintain an agreement that has helped stem the flow of refugees and migrants via Turkish shores, which saw more than a million people reach Greece and Italy last year.

Davutoglu’s departure consolidates the power of Erdogan, who has been highly critical of the EU in the past and who is seen in

Silence dissents Rights groups say Turkey has used broad anti-terrorism laws to silence dissent, including detaining journalists and academics critical of the government. But Ankara insists the laws are essential as it battles Kurdish militants at home and the threat from IS in neighbouring Syria and Iraq.

Turkey’s EU Minister Volkan Bozkir was earlier quoted by the Daily Sabah newspaper as saying Turkey had already made some changes requested by Europe, including reference to “the concept of immediate and obvious danger that threatens public security”, but that it “does not have the luxury” of making any more.

Erdogan said there would be no gap in Turkey’s governance after Davutoglu’s departure and that the episode demonstrated why the country needs a full presidential system, a matter he said urgently needed to be put to a referendum.

Opponents fear an executive presidency will consolidate too much power in the hands of an

authoritarian leader, a sentiment shared by some European leaders who fear his ascent will make relations with Turkey more complicated in the years ahead.

“A new constitution and presidential system are urgent requirements, not Erdogan’s personal agenda ... There is no turning back from this point we reached.

Everyone should accept that,” he said.

Erdogan bristles at suggestions that Turkey uses its anti-terrorism laws indiscriminately. He has repeatedly stressed his determination to crush Kurdish militants fighting an insurgency in Turkey’s southeast, and is unlikely to sanction Ankara backing down on the European demands.

Much may depend on the ability of whoever replaces Davutoglu, a decision to be made at an extraordinary congress of the ruling AK Party on May 22, to convince European allies that Turkey has already done enough.

Transport Minister Binali Yildirim, a close Erdogan ally, appears to be the president’s current preference, three senior AKP officials said, although they said that could still change.

Government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus and Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, also Erdogan loyalists, have been touted, as has Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, Erdogan’s son-in-law, sources in the party have said. — Reuters

SCANDAL

Brazil senate panel votes for Rousseff impeachment trial BRASILIA: A Senate committee recommended on Friday that Brazil’s President Rousseff be put on trial by the chamber on charges of breaking budget laws in an impeachment process expected to lead to her suspension from office next week.

The committee voted 15-5 for the impeachment trial. If she loses in the vote in the plenary on Wednesday, as expected, Rousseff would be suspended automatically and Vice President Michel Temer will replace her as acting president.

CORNERED: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff attends the launching ceremony of a new stage of the state-subsidised housing programme at Planalto Palace in Brasilia on Friday. — AFP

Resist Meanwhile, Rousseff vowed to resist her removal from office until the end.

“I will resist until the last day,” Rousseff said at an event where she announced the delivery of lowcost housing.

Dilma’s removal would mark an end to 13 years of leftist rule by the Workers Party that began in 2003

The president said she would not resign because she committed no crime and called her looming ouster a “coup d’etat.”

The Supreme Court has rejected government requests to halt the impeachment process.

Rousseff has struggled to survive politically in the face of Brazil’s biggest ever corruption scan-

dal and its worst recession since the 1930s.

Her removal would mark an end to 13 years of leftist rule by the Workers Party that began in 2003 under her mentor, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Rousseff ’s supporters on the Senate committee called for annulment of the impeachment proceedings because the man who launched them last year, lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha, was removed from office on Thursday by the Supreme Court for obstructing the investigation of corruption accusations against him.

Workers Party Senator Lindbergh Farias said the ouster of Rousseff was aimed at undoing Lula’s work to help the poor, and at rolling back workers’ benefits, privatising state companies and realigning Brazil’s foreign policy with the United States. — Reuters

S AT U R D AY, M AY 7, 2 0 1 6

S P O R S CRICKET

Say goodbye to cricket, Qadir tells Shahid Afridi KARACHI: Former leg-spin great, Abdul Qadir has advised flamboyant Pakistan allrounder Shahid Afridi to say goodbye to cricket and slammed Umar Akmal, saying he lost his place in the national team because of his own mistakes.

Qadir, known for his candid comments, said at a function in Lahore that Afridi had aged and was no longer fit for top level cricket.

“I don’t think cricket is any longer the forte of Afridi and he should say goodbye,” Qadir said.

He also didn’t mince any words on the exclusion of batsmen Ahmed Shehzad and his son-in-law Umar Akmal from the list of probables for the tour to England. “To me Shehzad is simply more of an actor than a cricketer while Umar Akmal has lost his place in the team because of his own mistakes,” he added.

Umar, who is married to Qadir’s daughter, has in recent months been at the centre of controversies raising questions over his commitment to the game.

Qadir also slammed the culture of favoritism and nepotism in Pakistan sports and cricket board.

“This culture has destroyed the fabrics of our sports and particularly cricket.

In every department in PCB they are people who have been appointed because of favoritism and nepotism. Najam Sethi also came in because of the prime minister,” Qadir said.

On the appointment of former captain, Inzamam-ul Haq as chief selector, Qadir said he hoped Inzamam had taken up the job after giving it lot of thought since there was a culture in the board which didn’t allow people to work properly. — PTI

Why Spanish football clubs are ruling Europe yet again Since 2000 there

Barcelona intent on avoiding history repeating itself

have been 12 Spanish finalists in the Champions League, more than any other European league, and the final in Milan on May 28 guarantees an eighth winner from the country during that spell

BARCELONA: Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid’s passage to the Champions League final and Sevilla qualifying for the Europa League equivalent for a third straight year has underlined Spain’s dominance of European soccer.

The nation’s hegemony can be put down to a blend of the financial muscle of Real and Barcelona, ranked the two richest clubs in the world according to the Deloitte Money League, and top-quality coaching from grassroots level to the elite.

Since 2000 there have been 12 Spanish finalists in the Champions League, more than any other European league, and the final in Milan on May 28 guarantees an eighth winner from the country during that spell.

Barcelona, who have won the Champions League four times in the past decade, have produced an array of skillful players from their academy who grew up playing possession-based football that the first team still practices.

The club have supplemented home-grown talents such as captain Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique by buying world-class individuals like Luis Suarez, Neymar and Ivan Rakitic.

Atletico’s 2014-15 earnings of 187 million euros ($210.68 million) are well below the colossal incomes of Real (557 million euros) and Barcelona (560 million), and their success has hinged on Argen-

BARCELONA: When Barcelona host local rivals Espanyol on Saturday hoping to edge closer to the La Liga title, many may be haunted by Raul Tamudo’s 89th minute equaliser which wrecked their title bid in 2006/07.

Just as they will do on Saturday, Espanyol visited the Nou Camp in the penultimate weekend. Barcelona were on course to go into the final game of the season on top after taking a 2-1 lead. But Tamudo struck what is now infamously known as the ‘Tamudazo’, handing the title to Real Madrid.

Barca are top of La Liga on 85 points due to their superior head-to-head record with second-paced Atletico Madrid, also on 85, while Real are third with 84. Espanyol are 14th with 40 points.

Luis Enrique’s Barca have won their last three games after relinquishing their nine-point lead over Atletico following three straight defeats. But another slip up against Espanyol, who held Barca to a goalless draw in back in January, could prove costly.

Defender Jordi Alba said thoughts of events in 2007 are far from his mind, but admitted Espanyol would be stubborn opponents.

“A ‘Tamudazo’ isn’t on my

tine coach Diego Simeone who has turned the club’s fortunes around since taking charge in 2012.

“An interesting aspect of Spanish football is its diversity, fomented by a new generation of coaches,” wrote journalist Santiago Segurola in the Marca newspaper on Friday.

“La Liga is a kaleidoscope of styles, something unusual in the rest of Europe. The sensation is that Spanish football, with all its organisational deficits, has transformed into an ideal laboratory for teams in European competition.”

The success of Sevilla, who meet Liverpool in the Europa League final in Basle on May 18, can also be put down to coach Unai Emery

NEW COACH

LA LIGA: Barca are top of La Liga on 85 points due to their superior head-to-head record with second-paced Atletico Madrid, also on 85, while Real are third with 84.

mind, but Espanyol are a difficult team who need points and they play these games with a lot of intensity,” Alba said on Wednesday at a sponsor’s event. “They’ll want to win, but so do we. We are at home and we’re not approaching this game scared about a ‘Tamudazo’. We’ll have our fans behind us and we’ll be really up for it, and I’m certain we’ll deliver in the game.”

Barca will be without goalkeeper Claudio Bravo due

who has been at the helm since 2013. “Spain is pulling further away from the rest of the pack all the time,” added Alfredo Relano, writing in the AS newspaper.

Best influences “La Liga has been embracing the best influences from South America and Europe for a long time and possesses top-quality managers.”

Spain’s consistency in Europe is a consequence of their astonishing record in knockout rounds, having won 47 of their last 50 ties against non-Spanish sides.

Liverpool’s triumph over Villarreal on Thursday was the second time a Spanish team had lost a tie

to a calf injury, allowing Marc Andre ter Stegen, who usually only plays in cup competitions, to see out the league campaign.

Barca’s title rivals Atletico and Real must put the euphoria of reaching the Champions League final to one side to ensure they pounce on any Barcelona slip up.

Atletico travel to already-relegated Levante after knocking Bayern Munich out on away goals on Tuesday.

Levante stunned Diego Sime-

to English opposition in 18 meetings since 2009, the other being when Chelsea beat Barcelona in the 2012 Champions League semi-finals.

Spain’s dominance over England is despite the huge gap in earnings in terms of television income and average attendances.

La Liga signed its most lucrative deal ever in December and will earn 2.65 billion euros ($2.68 billion) over the next three years.

That pales in comparison to the 5.1 billion pounds ($7.4 billion) three-year deal penned by the Premier League in 2015.

“I’ve always said the best league in the world is the Premier League,

one’s Atletico by winning 1-0 in May 2014, although Atletico eventually won the title, but the league’s bottom club now have just their pride to play for after being condemned to the Segunda Division by last Monday’s 3-1 defeat at Malaga.

Real Madrid, which secured their place in the Champions League final, by edging past Manchester City 1-0 on aggregate, host Valencia, who have a habit of interrupting Real’s title bids in recent seasons. - Reuters

for various reasons: the fans, the organisation, but the best football is played in Spain,” said Manchester City coach Manuel Pellegrini this week.

La Liga president Javier Tebas responded by stressing the importance of Spain’s successes in Europe.

“If he’s saying the Premier League is the most powerful because it earns the most then he’s correct, it’s a mathematic number, but I don’t think it’s the best,” said Tebas.

“You have to balance economic and sporting results and if we do that then the Spanish league is the best in the world.” - Reuters

GOOD FOR THE GAME

Excited to play in day-night Test: Dhawan

NEW ROLE Mickey Arthur after his dismissal as Australian cricket coach in Sydney in 2013 in this file photo. – AFP

Arthur taking over as Pakistan coach KARACHI: Former South Africa and Australia coach Mickey Arthur is to take charge of Pakistan following the resignation of Waqar Younis after the World Twenty20 tournament.

“His contract is being finalised,” the country’s cricket board said in a statement on Friday.

“It is expected Mickey Arthur will join the PCB towards the end of this month.”

Coaching Pakistan, traditionally a fractious bunch of talented individuals, is one of the toughest jobs in international cricket and Waqar stepped down last month after the team’s poor World Twenty20 display in India.

Former captain Inzamam-ulHaq was also appointed as new chief selector in April.

The 47-year-old Arthur coached his native South Africa from 2005-10 and also led Australia for two years from 2011.

Pakistan rose to number two in the test rankings last year after series wins in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and by beating England in the United Arab Emirates in November.

However, they started 2016 with defeats in the 50-over and T20 series in New Zealand and went out of the World T20 on the back of three group stage defeats.

Those results prompted former fast bowler Waqar to resign and also saw all-rounder Shahid Afridi lose the T20 captaincy.

The selection committee was also dissolved by the Pakistan Cricket Board. - Reuters

HYDERABAD: Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan cannot wait to play in a day-night Test match as he feels the planned innovation will be good for cricket.

India might play a day-night Test against New Zealand later this year during the gruelling home season, which will feature 13 Test matches.

“We are excited for sure. I always believe change is always good. If things go well, it’s a new thing for batsmen, for the bowlers also. It’s going to be good to try our hands on the coming thing,” he said in a media interaction here.

Dhawan and his Sunrisers Hyderabad teammate, pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, said T20 has brought in major changes in cricket as the players are expected to be more quick and agile in the shortest format.

“It’s always a challenge. Test cricket is also a challenge. Every

Shikhar Dhawan

format has its own challenges. In Test cricket, you have to bowl. In T20, you have to mix things. But T20 makes bowlers smarter. They know how to change the things very quickly and how to change according to the batsman,” Kumar said.

“If you look at the first year of IPL, there were only limited things, bouncers, Yorkers, slower.

But now, in the last couple of years, if you see, many kind of slower

balls, slower bouncers, these things make boys smart,” he said.

Dhawan chipped in saying that the shots, played in T20, are now making their way into Test cricket as well.

“Even for batsmen, because of T20, we are bringing the (IPL) shots into Test cricket. So, the revolution that has come in cricket, it has come after T20. Basically, we had to apply our minds,” he said.

Replying to a query, Bhuvneshwar Kumar said he has different approaches for his first spell (in T20 matches) and death bowling.

“Different way to approach first spell and death: There is a different way...I always try to swing the ball in the first six,” Kumar said.

Replying to a query, Dhawan said he is not interested in acting and that he would like Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar to play the role of Shikhar Dhawan if a biopic is made on his life. - PTI

FOOTBALL

Knee injury ends Chamberlain’s Euro 2016 hopes LONDON: Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain faces up to two months on the sidelines with a knee injury that also rules the England international out of the European Championships, his club manager Arsene Wenger said

on Friday. Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was expected to return for Sunday’s game against Manchester City, has not featured for Arsenal since he damaged the knee in a Champions League tie against Barcelona on February 23.

“There is no chance of the Euros for him. He will be back at the beginning of July,” Wenger told reporters. England face Russia, Slovakia and Wales in Group B of the 24-team tournament in France that starts on June 10. - Reuters

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SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

SPORTS

Conlan emerges overall winner of MRR Summer Series’ second race Nick Conlan clocked the best time of 19:52 overall in the 5.4km event and at the same time finished on top of the Men’s Open category of the second run

Times News Service MUSCAT: Nick Conlan emerged the overall winner of the second Muscat Road Runners Summer Series races held near Al Amerat.

Nick Conlan clocked the best time of 19:52 overall in the 5.4km event and at the same time finished on top of the Men’s Open category.

The over five kilometre route followed tracks winding down towards the dam before returning across the wadi to the start point.

The temperature and humidity

made it a tough race The MRR Summer Series consists of six races, all off-road, with four races needed to qualify for the series T-Shirt and overall points.

Finishing second behind Nick was Mahmoud Seiam, who ran the distance in 21:26 and third was David Muljolland in 21:42.

The Female Open was won by Clare Mullenger from Dubai Striders. She covered the distance in 23:05 an effort which saw her finish in the 10th place overall.

Finishing second behind Clare was Birgit Schulz (23:29) and

the third spot was won by Irene Ng’eno (24:42).

The winner of the 2.8k junior race was Kiki in a time of 14:00 followed by Lucy in 14:26 and Erin 3rd in 19:47.

The organisers also thanked the race directors, the volunteers for registration, water stations and photographs. The next race will be held on May 18 at 6pm and more detalis can be had from www.muscatroadrunners.com.

Following are the podium positions of the second Muscat Road Runners Summer Series race: Female open: 1. Clare Mullenger - 23:05; 2. Birgit Schulz - 23:29; 3. Irene Ng’eno - 24:42.

Male open: 1. Nick Conlan 19:52; 2. Mahmoud Seiam - 21:26; 3. David Mulholland - 21:42.

Female veteran: 1. Birgit Schulz - 23:29; 2. Fiona Vaughan - 35:12.

Male Veteran: 1. Karl D Street - 22:54; 2. Dave Salt - 24:01; 3. Paul Dean - 24:56.

Super veteran: 1. Cesare Porta - 30:08; 2. Robert Borjal - 36:36

TOUGH RACE: The second race of the Muscat Road Runners Summer Series was held at Al Amerat. The third race will be held on May 18 at 6pm. - Supplied photos

IPL PREVIEWS

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE

Royal Challengers aim to get campaign back on track against Pune Supergiants BENGALURU: It will be a battle of survival for the two national captains as Virat Kohli’s struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore square off against a fledgling Pune Supergiants led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in an IPL encounter for the bottom-rung teams, here on Saturday.

With five defeats in seven games, RCB are currently placed at a lowly seventh spot in the table with four points while Pune are just a notch above in sixth spot courtesy their third win against Delhi Daredevils, yesterday.

It has been a tough journey for the two superstars of Indian cricket as their franchises have dished one disappointing performance after another.

RCB with perhaps the most intimidating batting line-ups has had to taste defeat because of a pedestrian bowling attack that has failed to defend 180 plus scores in most of the matches.

Skipper Kohli, who is in form of his life, is leading the run-getters list with 433 runs to his credit with a century and four 50 plus scores at a whopping average of 72.16.

AB de Villiers with 320 runs is also in the Top-10 list but the problem has been their bowling.

Their two best performers Shane Watson and Yuzvendra Chahal with 9 and 5 wickets respectively have an economy rate of 8.60 and 8.89 to show for their efforts.

In fact, none of the RCB bowlers have an economy rate of less than eight runs per over.

It is expected that England

Daredevils hope for correction MOHALI: After a below-par effort against Pune Supergiants, the Delhi Darevils will be looking to hit the straps rightaway with their prime players set to comeback in the playing XI as they take on wooden spooners Kings XI Punjab in an IPL encounter, here on Saturday.

After three horrendous season, the Daredevils have had a decent outing so far under Rahul Dravid’s mentorship and Zaheer Khan’s captaincy, having won five of their eight games and are placed third in the eight-team table.

There has been no standout performer as such but con-

seamer Chris Jordan, who put up some exceptionally good performances at the death during the last ICC World T20 will be coming into the playing XI giving Kohli, the respite he needs at the opening and during the death overs.

For Dhoni and his men, they will like to think that the win against Daredevils will boost their morale after four defeats at their home ground in Pune.

Spate of injuries leading to return of Faf du Plessis, Kevin Pietersen, Steven Smith and Mitchell

tributions from most of the players in their five victories has made it clear that Dravid’s men are certainly not dependant on any one individual to carry the team forward.

The team has set a new template taking the ‘Horses for Courses’ theory to an altogether new level with only three Indian players — leg-spinner Amit Mishra, wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson and top-order player Karun Nair getting a start in all the eight matches.

All the other players have been either rested or replaced during the course of the tournament so far. — PTI

Marsh has hampered Dhoni’s plans but he will get some relief with the joining of Usman Khawaja, who made 30 in his IPL debut.

Khawaja and former Australian captain George Bailey can add the filip that the Sanjeev Goenkaowned team desperately needs.

Although Dhoni did not finish the match, his two sixes did go a long way in helping Thisara Perera finish off the match.

With the team needing to win each and every match, Dhoni and his boys know very well that they

cannot afford any slip ups at this stage of the tournament.

RCB also needs to win almost all games to keep their hopes alive, without depending on other team’s performances to qualify when the event nears the business end.

To begin their quest to bounce back, the hosts will be keen to find their foot after they were defeated by two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders, who rode high on Yusuf Pathan’s match-winning half century to record a five-wicket victory, in their den.

RCB would once again be relying heavily on their batsmen, hoping that opener Chris Gayle, skipper Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, KL Rahul and Shane Watson put up a massive total on the board.

More than anyone else, Gayle will be eager to get back into form as he has scored only 8 runs in 3 games so far with the highest score of 7.

Considered easily as the most destructive batsman in this format, the dip in form since the World T20 has not done anything great for the reputation of the ‘Big Jamaican’, who has been a proven match-winner in this format.

In T20’s, it takes a match or specifically one innings for a turnaround.

Dhoni and his men will pray that the turnaround atleast does not happen against them.

The last time when a Pune Franchise (Pune Warriors) played against RCB at Bangalore, Gayle scored an unbelievable 175 not out, a match that is still fresh in the memory of the cricket afficianados of the ‘Garden City’. - PTI

CAUTIOUS KNOCK: Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Shikhar Dhawan plays a shot during the IPL match against Gujarat Lions. – AFP

Dhawan, bowlers help Sunrisers beat Lions HYDERABAD: Shikhar Dhawan struck an unbeaten 47 after a clinical display by his bowling team-mates as Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Gujarat Lions by five wickets in their IPL match on Friday. Chasing 127 for a win, opener Dhawan dropped anchor as he carried his bat through the innings as the Sunrisers chased down the target with six balls to spare at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

Dhawan played second fiddle to his batting partners initially before opening up later on to take his side home. He hit six fours in his solid 40-ball unbeaten innings, including the winning shot which was also a boundary as the Sunrisers reached 129 for 5 in 19 overs.

This was after Sunrisers’ bowlers produced a clinical display to restrict the Lions to a meagre 126 for 6 after being put into bat.

Pacers Mustafizur Rahman (2/17) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/28) led an impressive bowling show while Barinder Sran and Moises Henriques took a wicket apiece as the Sunrisers bowlers

bowled a disciplined line and length.

Senior pacer Ashish Nehra (0/23) and Bhuvneshwar bowled a maiden over each as the Lions took 14 balls to score their first run, the most in IPL history.

Sunrisers though made a heavy weather of a small chase as they lost wickets in regular intervals but Dhawan ensured that the home side notched up their fifth win in eight matches and jumped to the fourth spot with 10 points.

The Lions suffered their third loss on the trot — and fourth so far overall — and they remained on the second spot with 12 points from 10 matches. The Sunrisers had beaten the Lions in the first leg also.

David Warner (24) gave the Sunrisers a rollicking start as he took 16 runs from the second over bowled by Pradeep Sangwan, hitting the bowler for two sixes.

Brief scores: Gujarat Lions 126 for 6 in 20 overs (Aaron Finch 51 not out, Suresh Raina 20; Mustafizur Rahman 2/17, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/28) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad 129 for 5 in 19 overs (Shikar Dhawan 47 not out; Dwayne Bravo 2/14, Dhawal Kulkarni 2/17). - PTI

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APPLE AND SAP TO DEVELOP SOFTWARE FOR IPHONE, IPAD Apple and SAP are joining up to deliver software for iPhones and iPads, opening a new avenue for Apple to reach businesses at a time when sales of its mobile devices have tapered. >B3

MUSANDAM

EXPORTERS’ GROUP

Omantel family event offers attractive prizes Times News Service

Mohammed Al Lawati.

— Supplied picture

MUSCAT: Residents of the Musandam Governorate are enjoying three special days of entertainment with many prizes on offer.

The event, which began on Thursday and concludes on Saturday, is hosted by Oman’s first integrated telecommunications services provider, Omantel, in partnership with the Omani Women’s Association Mohammed Al Lawati, Manager of Events at Omantel said, “After last year’s success we decided to host another weekend of entertainment for residents of Musandam. This year we are pleased to partner with the Omani Women’s Association, a group that does re-

markable work throughout the Sultanate, in Musandam region to be specific. We have been working hard to plan numerous exciting events and activities to ensure that residents of the region can enjoy their weekend to the max.”

“The programme includes activities for both children and adults such as games, entertainment and competitions with prizes and giveaways, all designed to bring residents joy and laughter,” added Mohammed Al Lawati.

Community engagement plays an important role in Omantel’s vision to enrich the lives of all citizens and residents of the Sultanate. Omantel works closely with community groups and organisations to make a meaningful differ-

ence to the future development of the nation.

He added, “The secret to Omantel’s success in the local market is the strong relationship we have with our customers, a relationship we are constantly looking to strengthen further through supporting community groups and activities. We welcome everyone in Musandam to join us for a weekend of fun, laughter and excitement at the Omani Women’s Association Headquarters in Khasab. Activities will be held on Friday at Bakha sports club, and the weekend festival will conclude on Saturday at the Omani Women’s Association in Daba. We look forward to meeting our loyal customers at such a joyous occa-

sion and expressing our appreciation for their ongoing support.”

Investing in the future of the nation, Omantel connects even the most remote communities of the Sultanate to each other and with the rest of the world.

Omantel is the Sultanate’s first and leading integrated telecommunications services provider, enabling the digital society to flourish, allowing new ways of doing business and delivering a world of information, news and entertainment.

Today, Omantel boldly innovates to deliver the highest levels of customer satisfaction, the broadest and most reliable nationwide network while investing for Oman’s future development.

US payrolls gain in April; smallest rise in 7 months Nonfarm payrolls rose by 160,000 jobs last month as construction employment barely rose and the retail sector shed jobs, the Labor Department said on Friday

WASHINGTON: The US economy added the fewest number of jobs in seven months in April and Americans dropped out of the labor force in droves, signs of weakness that cast doubts on whether the LOSING STEAM: Employers added 19,000 fewer jobs in February and March than previously reported. While the unemployment rate Federal Reserve will raise interest held at 5.0 per cent that was because people dropped out of the labour force. - Bloomberg News rates before the end of the year.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 160,000 jobs last month as con- 202,000 last month and the jobless inflation to rise to the Fed’s 2.0 per Group’s FedWatch. They see a nated employment gains in April. struction employment barely rose rate unchanged at five per cent. cent target. The US central bank less than 50 per cent probability of Manufacturing added 4,000 jobs and the retail sector shed jobs, the The stepdown in job growth could last month offered a fairly upbeat rate hikes in September and No- last month after shedding 29,000 Labor Department said on Friday. raise concerns that the weakness assessment of the labour market, vember, with a 59 percent chance in March, the biggest loss for the sector since December 2009.

That was the smallest gain in overall economic activity was saying that conditions had “im- at the December meeting.

There were further job losses The labour force participation since September and below the spilling over to the labor market. proved further.”

The Fed raised its benchmark rate, or the share of working-age in mining as the energy sector first-quarter average job growth Economic growth slowed sharply overnight interest rate in Decem- Americans who are employed or adjusts to weak profits from a in the first quarter this year. of 200,000.

Average hourly earnings were ber for the first time in nearly a at least looking for a job, fell 0.2 recent prolonged plunge in oil Employers added 19,000 fewer jobs in February and March than a bright spot in the employment decade. Fed officials have forecast percentage point to 62.8 per cent. prices. Mining payrolls fell 8,000 It had increased 0.6 percentage last month. previously reported. While the report, rising eight cents or 0.3 two more rate hikes for this year.

Mining employment has deMarket-based measures of Fed point since dipping to 62.4 per unemployment rate held at 5.0 per cent last month. That took the creased by 191,000 jobs since per cent that was because people year-on-year increase to 2.5 per policy expectations have virtu- cent in September.

The labour force fell by 362,000 peaking in September 2014, with cent from 2.3 per cent in March, ally priced out an interest rate dropped out of the labour force.

Economists polled by Reu- still below the 3.0 per cent advance increase at the Fed’s June 14- as people dropped out in April. The 75 per cent of the losses in support ters had forecast payrolls rising that economists say is needed for 15 meeting, according to CME vast private services sector domi- activities. — Reuters PERFORMANCE

Sharp shares tumble after loss widens TOKYO: Sharp fell the most in almost two months on concerns that the Japanese company’s loss for the last fiscal year will be far wider than forecast. The company may report a net loss of 300 billion yen ($2.8 billion), according to a person familiar with the matter, almost double the 161 billion yen that analysts expect on average.

The stock dropped 8.5 per cent to 129 yen at the close in Tokyo, its biggest fall since March 16.

Sharp has struggled for years with deteriorating demand for consumer electronics and the displays it provides mobile phone makers like Apple. The Osakabased company, which Foxconn Technology Group took control of this year in a $3.5 billion deal, had previously forecast a 170 billion yen operating loss.

“We’re not at the stage where we can disclose net losses or net assets as we’re looking into a restructuring-related loss,” Toyodo Uemura, a spokesman for Sharp, said by phone. — Bloomberg News

Shift in Saudi thinking on oil deepens split within Opec LONDON/DUBAI: As Opec officials gathered this week to formulate a long-term strategy, few in the room expected the discussions would end without a clash.

But even the most jaded delegates got more than they had bargained with.

“Opec is dead,” declared one frustrated official, according to two sources who were present or briefed about the Vienna meeting.

This was far from the first time that Opec’s demise has been proclaimed in its 56-year history, and the oil exporters’ group itself may yet enjoy a long life in the era of cheap crude.

Saudi Arabia, Opec’s most powerful member, still maintains that collective action by all producers is the best solution for an oil market that has dived since mid-2014.

But events at Monday’s meeting of Opec governors suggest that if Saudi Arabia gets its way, then one of the group’s central strategies — of managing global oil prices by regulating supply — will indeed go to the grave.

In a major shift in thinking, Riyadh now believes that targeting prices has become pointless as the weak global market reflects structural changes rather than any temporary trend, according to sources familiar with its views.

Opec is already split over how to respond to cheap oil. Last month tensions between Saudi Arabia and its arch-rival Iran ruined the first deal in 15 years to freeze crude output and help to lift global prices.

These resurfaced at the longterm strategy meeting of the Opec governors, officials who report to their countries’ oil ministers.

According to the sources, it was a delegate from a non-Gulf Arab country who pronounced Opec dead in remarks directed at the Saudi representative as they argued over whether the group should keep targeting prices.

Iran, represented by its governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, has been arguing that this is precisely what Opec was created for and hence “effective production management” should be one of its top long-term goals.

But Saudi governor Mohammed Al Madi said he believed the world has changed so much in the past few years that it has become a futile exercise to try to do so, sources say.

“Opec should recognise the fact that the market has gone through a structural change, as is evident by the market becoming more competitive rather than monopolistic,” Al Madi told his counterparts inside the meeting, according to sources familiar with the discussions. — Reuters

$ 6 . 4 B I L L I O N I N S TA L L E D F U N D S

India to pay Iranian oil dues via European banks NEW DELHI: The central banks of India and Iran have reached an arrangement to use European banks to process pending oil payments to Tehran, India’s Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told Reuters, unlocking $6.4 billion in stalled funds.

Buyers of Iranian oil were prevented from using global banking channels to clear their transactions after sanctions were imposed on Iran in 2011 over its nuclear programme. With the end of those sanctions in January, after an agreement to curb the programme, Iran is finally gaining needed access to the funds.

Iran hopes the money will revive its moribund economy and raise Iranian living standards as well as help to integrate the country into the global economic system.

Oil payments Indian refiners have been holding 55 per cent of its oil payments to Iran after a route to make payments through Turkey’s Halkbank was stopped in 2013, although payment of some of those funds was allowed after an initial tem-

India’s Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. - Bloomberg file picture

porary deal to lift the sanctions.

“There is an agreement between (India and Iran’s) central banks. European banks will be the clearing agent. They will be dealing with Iranian banks and we have to pay those European banks,” Pradhan told Reuters in

an interview. He did not elaborate further, saying the finance ministry was dealing with the issue.

Also because of the previous sanctions, Indian refiners have been depositing 45 per cent of their oil payments to Iran in rupees with India’s UCO Bank.

Tehran has been using the funds, currently about Rs130 billion ($1.95 billion) to import nonsanctioned goods from India.

Indian government sources said during Pradhan’s visit to Tehran last month Iran had asked India to consider clearing the oil payments through EuropaeischIranische Handelsbank (EIH) of Germany, Central Bank of Italy and Halkbank of Turkey.

One of the sources said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has ruled out channelling funds through Halkbank.

“Halkbank’s Iran-related foreign trade activities with Iran have been carried out since 2004 ... Halkbank will continue its operations in accordance with international law,” a senior Halkbank official told Reuters.

No immediate comment was available from EIH and Central Bank of Italy. The government sources said Indian refiners will remit funds to Iran through stateowned UCO Bank.

UCO Bank’s chairman did not respond to calls from Reuters to his mobile phone.

Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said on April 5 India will make payments to Iran in a staggered manner.

Banking arrangements “Oil companies are working out the banking arrangements in coordination with Iranian counterparts and payments will be made by them presumably over time with minimal impact on the market,” an RBI spokesperson said on Thursday.

Despite the sanctions, India continued its engagement with Iran and was among a handful of countries that sourced oil from Tehran. Iran was India’s secondbiggest oil supplier before the sanctions hampered its trade relations. The country is set to import at least 400,000 barrels per day of Iranian oil in the year from April 1. — Reuters

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SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

MARKET US banks face new rule making it a must to provision for bad loans The rule, approved by the FASB, would have a small impact on profits at US banks under current credit conditions.

If economy is in a recession or coming out of one, the amount banks in US need to set aside could surge

NEW YORK: A new accounting rule that will force banks to set aside provisions for bad loans long before they sour could cannibalise profits and eat into capital at US lenders.

It all depends on how the economy is doing when the standard goes into effect in 2020. The rule, approved by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) last week, would have a negligible impact on profits or capital at US banks under current credit conditions.

If the economy is in a recession or coming out of one, the

amount banks need to set aside could surge. For the four largest US lenders, the difference could be eightfold, based on a comparison of 2015 estimates of the rule’s impact and those based on data from 2011, when loans were going bad at a higher rate.

At JPMorgan Chase, the biggest US bank, that difference could amount to $12 billion and at Bank of America almost $16 billion.

Spokesmen for all four banks declined to comment.

“It’s very hard to guess where the economic cycle will be by the time the rule comes into effect,” said Christopher Wolfe, a bank analyst at Fitch Ratings. “If the rule were adopted today, in the current economic environment, the hit to capital would be easily manageable. But it could be significantly different in a few years. We just don’t know.”

Future performance The new standard, which requires banks to provision for losses on all loans when they’re made, based on expectations about future performance, came about in response to criticism during the 2008 financial crisis that lenders were slow to record losses on souring debt. It aims to speed up that process and keep a certain level of reserves so losses don’t jump in times of stress. That means there will be a one-time increase in provisions when the rule goes into effect — and that increase could vary by billions of dollars depending on where in the credit cycle the nation’s economy is.

Any increase in reserves reduces a bank’s net income, and that

per cent to 50 per cent jump would be more relevant, according to Brian Kleinhanzl, a KBW analyst.

“Who knows how bad the next recession will be?” Kleinhanzl said. “We could have those rates back again or even worse next time.”

ACCOUNTING NORMS CHANGE: At JPMorgan Chase, the biggest US bank, that difference could amount to $12 billion and at Bank of America almost $16 billion. - Bloomberg file picture

means a slower accumulation of capital through retained earnings.

If there’s a loss as a result of higher credit costs, capital is reduced by that amount.

The final version of the rule will be published in June after FASB staff rewrites the latest draft incorporating the board’s decisions over the years. Last week the board voted to give banks an additional year and smaller lenders even more time to comply. Community banks also won incremental disclosure requirements on legacy loans.

The efforts to change how banks account for potential bad loans go back to 2010. FASB’s first proposal called for marking all loans to market values, which would have been even harsher in forcing recognition of deteriorating economic conditions.

Lenders ush back Banks pushed back, arguing that the typical industry model isn’t based on selling loans but on holding them until maturity and writing off the bad apples along the way. FASB came up with a revised version in 2012, which focused on faster recognition of bad loans.

That concept remains intact in the latest draft FASB distributed at an April 1 meeting with banks and auditing firms.

When FASB released its 2012 version, then-chairman Leslie Seidman said the biggest US banks were estimating their reserves could jump by about 50 per cent.

A subsequent study by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency using 2011 data provided by lenders predicted the increase would range from 30 per cent to 50 percent for US banks, according

to people briefed at the time. The OCC never made the study public.

In 2011, when the economy was still recovering from the 2008 crisis, nonperforming loans made up about three per cent of lending at US banks with assets greater than $500 million. Last year the figure was about 1 percent.

The makeup of loan portfolios has also changed. Some banks have reduced mortgage lending, while others have expanded into home loans. That could affect the rule’s initial impact in a future stressed environment.

Based on today’s more benign credit environment, investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods estimates reserves at the four largest US banks would increase by 13 per cent on average if the rule were to go into effect this year. In a recession, the OCC’s estimate of a 30

ECONOMY

Different directions They ended up going in different directions, as they have on other issues. The international standard, which was approved in 2014 and goes into effect in 2018, asks banks to consider potential losses only for the next 12 months at the time a loan is made. If they see further deterioration in credit quality, they’re required to estimate losses over the lifetime of the loan.

That means upfront provisions would be much smaller than the US standard given the same economic conditions, analysts estimate. — Bloomberg News D I F F I C U LT T I M E S

Britain’s economy slows in April; risks stalling LONDON: Britain’s economy slowed in April and may stall as consumers worry about June’s EU referendum, reaching levels at which in the past the Bank of England began to consider rate cuts, a survey of the dominant services industry showed. If last month’s weakness persists, economic growth may be just 0.1 per cent in the second quarter, down from 0.4 per cent in the first three months of this year, financial data company Markit said on Thursday.

That would be the weakest quarterly reading since late 2012.

Markit chief economist Chris Williamson said the deterioration in April pushed the surveys into territory which “has in the past seen the Bank of England start to worry about the need to revive growth” by easing monetary policy.

The services sector grew at its lowest rate in more than three years, according to Markit’s activity index, which fell to 52.3 from 53.7 in March, below the lowest forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists. Companies said uncertainty about the referendum and weakness in the global economy were worrying the main drivers of Britain’s recovery: its consumers.

“In combination with the weaker-than-expected manufacturing index earlier in the week that points to a pretty subdued Q2 GDP reading,” Alan Clarke, strategist at Scotiabank said, predicting a less marked slowdown to 0.2 per cent in the second quarter.

Convergence effort If such a recession coincides with the adoption of the accounting standard, reserves could already be elevated as loans go bad faster.

That would require banks to increase their expectations for future losses, leading to a much bigger one-time charge on earnings.

Banks can adopt the rule earlier than required but not before 2019.

Initially, FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board, which sets accounting rules for most of the rest of the world, aimed to revise loan-impairment standards together as part of an effort to converge US and international accounting regimes.

WEAKNESS PERSISTS: If last month’s weakness persists, economic growth may be just 0.1 per cent in the second quarter, down from 0.4 per cent in the first three months of this year. - Bloomberg file picture

“The (BoE) has told us that it will be a little less sensitive than usual to the hard data given the EU referendum uncertainty.

Nonetheless, a ... GDP number of 0.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter (or lower) is likely to test the patience of some of the doves.”

Sterling fell while gilts showed little reaction to the data.

Britain’s economy has outpaced much of the rest of the rich world over the past three years. But it

has been showing signs of slowing since late last year.

Brexit vote Economists generally believe a Brexit vote on June 23 would deal at least a short-term blow to the economy, possibly prompting the BoE to cut already record-low interest rates or expand its bondbuying programme.

But it would also probably weaken the pound, adding to in-

flation and making it more difficult for the BoE to act. Thursday’s survey showed growth in input costs paid by service companies were the highest in over two years in April, suggesting that a gradual rise in inflation will continue.

Williamson said the early timing of this year’s Easter holiday might also have contributed to the slowdown. Job growth was also at its slowest in April since August 2013, reflecting a recent

weakening in the labour market as a whole. Britain’s economy increasingly relies on services, with manufacturing and construction failing to contribute to growth for much of the past year. Surveys of those sectors published this week suggested that trend was likely to continue. Manufacturing output unexpectedly shrank in April while construction output grew at its slowest rate in nearly three years. — Reuters

EU bosses see a bleak future for Europe ROME: The presidents of Europe’s three main institutions on Thursday presented a bleak picture of the European Union, saying the 28-nation bloc lacked leadership and was descending into petty, nationalistic politics.

“We have a lot of salesmen in the European Council and only a few statesmen,” said Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament, bemoaning the current crop of EU government chiefs who are struggling to overcome a string of crises.

Schulz joined European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and EU Council President Donald Tusk for a debate on the future of Europe in the room where the Treaty of Rome was signed in 1957, which laid the foundations of today’s European Union.

‘An illusion’ “The idea of one EU state, one vision ... was an illusion,” said Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, who is now tasked with finding consensus and cohesion amongst EU leaders.

Such unity has become an almost impossible mission at a time when hundreds of thousands of migrants are fleeing into Europe in search of a better life, sending a shockwave through the staid and conservative continent. — Reuters

NEW DRAFT GUIDELINES

Conglomerates barred from entering India’s bank sector NEW DELHI: Indian conglomerates may be barred from entering the country’s banking industry under draft guidelines regulators are considering for new bank licences.

While the proposed guidelines — posted on the Reserve Bank of India’s website on Thursday — seek to allow the central bank to approve bank permits more frequently, they also say “large industrial or business houses” won’t be eligible to apply, without explaining why.

“Conglomerates are kept out to avoid conflicts of interests that arise when large business groups manage other people’s funds,” Nitin Kumar, a Mumbai-based analyst at Prabhudas Lilladher, said by phone. “As they have interests in various businesses, the RBI wants to ensure fairness and transpar-

ency by keeping these groups out of running banks.”

Companies that are within conglomerates controlled by billionaires Kumar Mangalam Birla and Anil Ambani were among contenders that failed to get licenses in 2014, when India awarded bank permits for the first time in more than a decade.

New guidelines Under the new guidelines, the RBI said it will push to approve new permits on a “continuous” basis, or more frequently than the long periods between approvals under the existing system. That would increase “competition and bring new ideas” into the system, the RBI said.

New banks will bolster financial services for Indians in re-

mote towns and rural districts, and bolster lending in Asia’s fastest growing major economy. Recipients of the permits will be required to open their banks within 18 months, and one out of four branches must be located in towns with fewer than 10,000 people, the RBI said.

The lender should have minimum paid-up capital of Rs5 billion ($75 million).

According to the draft rules, individuals can apply for the permit if they have banking experience of at least 10 years. Companies controlled by resident Indians that have been in operation for at least a decade can also apply. Conglomerates may be allowed to hold as much as 10 per cent in the newly created lenders, according to the proposed guidelines. — Bloomberg News

BIG NOT BEAUTIFUL: India has 27 state-run banks that accounted for more than 70 per cent of outstanding loans as of March 2015, RBI data show. - Bloomberg file picture

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

PERFORMANCE

InterContinental falls as sales in Middle East hit BERLIN: InterContinental Hotels Group, owner of the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza brands, fell to the lowest in 10 weeks after oil markets hit Middle East travel and an early Easter holiday slowed demand in Europe and Americas.

Revenue per available room, a measure of occupancy and rates known as revpar, increased 1.5 per cent, the Denham, England-based company said in a statement on Friday. In the Middle East, it fell 10.4 per cent as oil prices hurt demand. The shares fell as much as 2.5 per cent, the lowest since February 26, and were trading at 2,675 pence at 8:45am in London trading.

“We came into the year expecting full-year revpar growth approaching 4 per cent and although the update points to a recovery into Q2, especially given the timing of Easter” it’s now likely to be closer to 3 per cent, Greg Johnson, an analyst at Shore Capital, said in a note.

InterContinental has benefited from increased travel as Chinese tourists spend more time and money overseas and the global economy grows.

International tourist International tourist arrivals are set to rise 4 per cent in 2016, after reaching a record 1.2 billion last year, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.

“Despite economic and political uncertainty in some markets, current trading trends and the momentum behind our brands give us confidence for the rest of the year,” Chief Executive Officer Richard Solomons said in the statement.

More than half of InterContinental’s rooms are in the US, where revpar rose 1.5 per cent, driven by record levels of industry demand.

Demand was weaker in oil producing areas. The company bought US boutique chain Kimpton Hotels last year, which help expand its reach into the country’s upscale segment. — Bloomberg News

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MARKET Apple and SAP to develop software for iPhone, iPad The deal has the potential to attract millions of software developers and sell millions of devices, Apple CEO Tim Cook and SAP CEO Bill McDermott said

FRANKFURT: Apple and SAP are joining up to deliver software for iPhones and iPads, opening a new avenue for Apple to reach businesses at a time when sales of its mobile devices have tapered.

SAP will develop apps specifically designed for Apple’s iOS operating system for doctors and industrial field technicians. The two companies will release a software development kit by the end of the year to let SAP customers and consultants write native apps for Apple devices that take advantage of features such as location and touch sign-in. The deal has the potential to attract millions of software developers and sell millions of devices, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and SAP CEO Bill McDermott said in an interview.

“I think back to 2008 when we opened the App Store for consumers,” Cook said. “This is sort of the equivalent of that for the enterprise space. Enterprise has not really taken advantage of all the great things that happen with mobility.” The agreement, which the two CEOs sealed last October, would give Apple access to tens of thousands of companies that run SAP’s business software and some 2.5 million developers who ac-

SMART MOVE: SAP will develop apps specifically designed for Apple’s iOS operating system for doctors and industrial field technicians. - Bloomberg file picture

cess its programs, which manage operations including accounting, manufacturing, sales and human resources.

Apple two years ago teamed with International Business Machines Corp. to create dozens of iOS apps for industries including energy, health care and air travel. Last year, the Cupertino, California-based company inked an agreement with Cisco Systems Inc. that makes it easier for white-collar workers to take calls and videoconferences from iPads and iPhones. In September, Apple introduced the iPad Pro, a tablet for business users with a bigger screen and a stylus.

Getting access to customers of big IT suppliers including SAP, IBM and Cisco could help Apple

at a time when its era of blockbuster growth has come to an end, as the consumer market becomes saturated. Apple’s fiscal secondquarter sales fell 13 per cent as it sold 10 million fewer iPhones and iPad sales continued to slide.

Smartphone market Cook has said the smartphone market isn’t growing, and Apple shares have lost more than a quarter of their value in the past year.

“This is all about transforming the way people work,” Cook said.

SAP’s platform and the new development kit “really unleashes millions of people writing apps for iOS — we think we can do that in a major way.”

The agreement also illustrates a shift in how businesses roll out

MARCH QUARTER

software. Protracted projects have yielded to shorter ones that make new functions available more quickly to workers.

That means SAP is succumbing to the same forces that have stung software sales at Oracle Corp. and IBM. The German company’s software licence sales fell 13 per cent in its most recent quarter and McDermott said it’s taking longer to sign deals. McDermott said he can see millions of device sales happening as a result of the agreement, which will serve as a counterweight to rival Salesforce. com’s programming tools.

“Where they were getting traction was Force.com and that became a billion-dollar business for them,” he said of his competitor.

“That’s a great strategy until

someone else comes along with a better idea.” McDermott has long advocated Apple devices as a showcase for SAP’s software — he once got a phone call from Steve Jobs after ordering 4,000 iPads for SAP’s sales staff in 2010 before the tablet’s introduction.

SAP’s new wave of i-applications will be written in Apple’s Swift language, promising faster response times and better access to underlying iOS technologies as the apps connect to SAP systems in companies’ data centers.

The software development kit for outside programmers will also let them build native iOS apps in Swift that talk to SAP’s S/4 Hana software suite and pull information from its Hana database. — Bloomberg News

P H O T O - TA G G I N G F E AT U R E

Alibaba’s sales increase as Chinese Facebook must now face privacy claims consumers defy economic gloom HONG KONG: Alibaba Group Holding posted a 39 per cent surge in revenue as China’s dominant e-commerce operator shrugged off a slowing economy with promotions to woo cash-rich consumers.

Asia’s largest Internet company posted better-than-expected sales of 24.2 billion yuan ($3.7 billion) in the March quarter and said it will start providing annual forecasts. Alibaba shares jumped four per cent to $78.83 at the close in New York.

Alibaba, often regarded as a proxy for Chinese consumer spending, is capitalizing on the liquidity of households and expanding into rural areas, helping limit the impact of an economy growing at the slowest pace in 25 years. The company’s platforms, which link buyers and sellers, hit a three trillion-yuan milestone of goods sold during the period and the online emporium made more from mobile advertising and expanded overseas.

“Alibaba is still growing very nicely and sustaining very high margins in the face of the concerns about Chinese consumers and the face of competition,” said Gil Luria, an analyst with Wedbush Securities. “It’s good results for Alibaba and it seems

sue growth — despite the potential drag on the bottom line.

“Going forward we are prepared to continue investing in high-potential businesses that are highly strategic to Alibaba, from digital entertainment to local services to international expansion,” Tsai said on Alibaba’s blog on Thursday. “These businesses contribute to losses in our current income statement.”

SOLID GROWTH: Asia’s largest Internet company posted betterthan-expected sales of $3.7 billion in the March quarter and said it will start providing annual forecasts. - Bloomberg file picture

like their business is holding up.”

Net income rose 85 per cent to 5.3 billion yuan, just shy of the 5.4 billion-yuan average of estimates.

Affiliate Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group, which owns Alipay, incurred a net loss after spending to drive user growth. Adjusted earnings-pershare were 3.02 yuan, trailing analysts’ projections for 3.52 yuan.

The marketing push helped spur a 21 per cent jump in active users to 423 million. That in turn

underpinned a 41 per cent jump in revenue on Alibaba’s Chinese retail e-commerce platforms. Mobile shopping on local retail sites almost tripled and now accounts for 63 per cent of sales.

Vice Chairman Joseph Tsai highlighted the $4.6 trillion of net cash reserves held by Chinese households as a key driver of ongoing spending and growth at Alibaba. After free cash flow reached $8 billion last year, he has pledged to keep investing to pur-

New businesses Alibaba expects last month’s $1 billion deal for control of Lazada Group, which gives it access to six Southeast Asian markets, will help Chinese merchants expand sales in the region.

“Lazada is a very important acquisition, Lazada has a very great brand recognition,” Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang said.

“This is a good vehicle for us to expand to this area.”

Alibaba has also expanded into on-demand services and entertainment, areas that have shown promise but aren’t expected to yield much profit for now. Its cloud computing business almost tripled revenue to more than one billion yuan in the quarter, has more than half a million paying customers and is close to breaking even. — Bloomberg News

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook users who say the social network’s facial scanning flouts their privacy rights won the first round of a court fight.

A federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday rejected Facebook’s request to throw out a lawsuit alleging the company “secretly amassed the world’s largest privately held database of consumer biometric data.”

The dispute is over technology introduced in 2010 that allows users to identify people they recognise in photos using a tool that automatically matches names to faces on pictures uploaded to the social media site. Citing an Illinois law, subscribers alleged they never gave Facebook permission to use their faces as biometric identifiers, while the company countered that all users could opt out at any time.

Facebook also argued that information derived from photographs wasn’t covered by the law.

Facebook had no immediate comment on Thursday’s ruling.

Lawyers for the users said the decision is “an important step towards protecting the privacy rights of consumers.”

“We look forward to the continued prosecution of the action, and ultimately proving our case at trial,” according to a joint statement by law firms Edelson PC, Robbins

Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP and Labaton Sucharow.

Facial recognition California is one of 47 states without laws regulating the use of biometrics and facial recognition technology. Only Illinois, Texas and Connecticut have passed such measures. The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act of 2008 is the only law that allows companies to be sued for failing to get consent from consumers.

The Facebook litigation started as three separate lawsuits in Chicago that were moved to San Francisco and consolidated into a single case.

Facebook argued the case had to be dismissed because the attempt to enforce Illinois law runs afoul of its user agreement that requires disputes to be resolved under the laws of California, where it’s based.

US District Judge James Donato rejected that argument.

‘Illinois will suffer a complete negation of its biometric privacy protections for its citizens if California law is applied,” he wrote. “In contrast, California law and policy will suffer little, if anything at all,” if the Illinois law is applied. Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum in San Diego, said the judge’s ruling is a significant win for consumers. — Bloomberg News

B4

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

FEATURE

EVERYTHING IS AWESOME WHEN YOU ARE ON THE CHINA TEAM

In many countries, financial analysis is a confusing mass of speculation, ill-informed opinion and logical fallacies. Some commentators argue the world is heading toward a bright future, while others say we're on the brink of crisis. China rejects this disorderly approach, according to a report on Wednesday in the 'Wall Street Journal'

I

N many countries, financial analysis is a confusing mass of speculation, ill-informed opinion and logical fallacies.

Some commentators argue the world is heading toward a bright future, while others say we're on the brink of crisis.

Such a clash of opinions is all very well, but when 100 flowers are blooming and 100 schools of thought contending for supremacy, it can be difficult to know who to believe.

China rejects this disorderly approach, according to a report on Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal: Securities regulators, media censors and other government officials have issued verbal warnings to commentators whose public remarks on the economy are out of step with the government’s upbeat statements, according to government officials and commentators with knowledge of the matter. Gadfly welcomes the opportunity to discuss China in this constructive spirit.

Dare to act, dare to lend Timid overseas analysts express doubts that their countries will be able to pay their debts. There are no such concerns in China, where total loans outstanding have been growing at double-digit rates since 2002.

Lenders are feeling so confident that they've advanced an additional 6.59 trillion yuan ($1 trillion) of new

finance since the start of the year, up 42 percent from the first quarter of 2015. China Zheshang Bank, which listed on the Hong Kong exchange in March, has seen its total assets surge 50 per cent since the end of 2014, according to Gadfly's Nisha Gopalan.

China's non-financial corporate sector now owes debt equivalent to more than 175 per cent of GDP, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) wrote this week — more than double the mature market average of 87 percent.

Professional cynics may see such credit expansion as rash, given an economy that even official indicators suggest is growing at the equal-second slowest rate since at least 1992.

They may even question whether that growth is now coming from sustainable improvements in productivity, or from a credit bubble.

Such scepticism surely is unfounded. The growth in lending is a reflection of the market's resolute faith in China's prospects. This is shared by banks like Zheshang; the life insurers offering wealth management products; online payments companies like Alibaba's $60 billion Ant Financial affiliate; and the peerto-peer lenders that have at least 388 billion yuan in loans outstanding, according to industry news site WangDaiZhiJia. There's no connection between orders to remove social finance

Lenders are feeling so confident that they've advanced an additional 6.59 trillion yuan ($1 trillion) of new finance since the start of the year, up 42 percent from the first quarter of 2015. China Zheshang Bank, which listed on the Hong Kong exchange in March, has seen its total assets surge 50 per cent since the end of 2014, according to Gadfly's Nisha Gopalan.

companies from street fronts and the perceived risk of social unrest, after almost 1,000 online lenders collapsed over the past year. This is just prudent management of a nascent industry. Penny-pinching economies regard overcapacity as a problem.

They see factories running at rates below about 80 per cent of maximum output as risking losses.

This miserly philosophy doesn't apply in China. Businesses that are aligned with the government's targets can expect robust growth, as solar equipment maker Hanergy Thin Film Power argued in the years before its shares were suspended and it posted an annual loss more than four times its revenue.

Subsectors of the country's chemicals industry were running at a median operating rate of about 50 per cent in February, while LNG was at 46 per cent, according to Christopher Balding, a professor of economics at HSBC business school in Shenzhen and a Bloomberg View contributor.

Weaker economies tremble if they face glutted markets. When capacity utilisation in oil refineries falls, they may fear demand for petroleum products is on the wane, or that billions may have been wasted building vast networks of processing plants.

China knows no such defeatism.

While utilization at its refineries is running below 75 per cent, that's nothing special: Returns on assets

have fallen in almost every industry in China over the past three years, Gadfly wrote last week.

There is always a way ahead for the strong-willed and stout of heart.

In steel, if China's economy can't digest the industry's output (which the second-biggest producer reckons may shrink 20 per cent), it will make metal for the world instead.

Reform and opening up Doomsayers get excited about the estimated $1 trillion in capital that flowed out of China during 2015.

There's been $279 billion in outbound M&A from China over the past 12 months, accompanied by a tendency to overpay for acquisitions and anomalies in trade invoicing that look to some like attempts to evade capital controls.

Previously obscure businesses such as Anbang Insurance and HNA Group have become meal tickets for M&A bankers around the world. The temptation to see this as a rush for the exits by businesses and individuals should be resisted. Chinese capital is simply embracing the world economy, in line with President Xi Jinping's One Belt, One Road policy.

Once such incorrect thoughts have been exorcised, it's clear that all the indicators are admirably predictable and consistent in their message: There is a bright future in China's dreaming. — Bloomberg News

B

SECTION

LIFESTYLE

Family WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

GIVE YOUR HOME A BREATH OF FRESH AIR Seal Air Leaks Keep cool air in and hot air out by sealing leaks and adding insulation. Areas to check for repairs include the attic, garage, and unfinished basement. Throughout the house, ensure that all cooling and heating vents and registers meet the floors, walls and ceilings and are well sealed.

It’s time to do some home improvement projects that you’ve been putting off for some time now. Include steps to improve your family’s home environment, both inside and outside. Your house will be a better and more comfortable place to live.

Conserve Water Help preserve this precious resource by replacing any leaky indoor faucets in your kitchen, laundry, and bathroom. Also, think about replacing your showerhead with a low-flow model. Outdoors, check the watering hose faucet for leaks and replace it if needed. And when mowing the lawn, set the blades 2 to 3 inches high because the longer grass shades the soil, improving moisture retention and helping the grass survive drought and tolerate insect damage.

Reduce Indoor Pollutants Improve your home’s indoor air quality. Studies indicate indoor air may be 25 times, and occasionally more than 100 times, more polluted than outdoor air. A whole-house air cleaner, can remove up to 99.98 per cent of airborne particles and allergens from the filtered air, such as dust, pollen, bacteria, pet dander, mould spores, and smoke.

Keep Cool More Efficiently Upgrading your cooling system to a more efficient one can save home energy consumption, helping to save you money. For example, a speed air conditioner is one of the industry’s most efficient systems, delivering precise cooling by running at the exact speed needed to keep a home constantly comfortable. This allows the compressor, outdoor fan, and indoor fan to vary operating speed as the temperature outside changes, slowing down or speeding up in small increments rather than turning completely off and on.

Shield Windows From the Hot Sun A seasonal heat comes indoors from windows, too, so close draperies and shades, or install them in rooms that don’t already have them.

Outside, create some natural shade near the windows by planting a tree, tall bushes or adding awnings on the sunniest side of the house.

Control Indoor Temperatures Ensure a more comfortable home environment by adding a programmable HVAC ( Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) control.

Programmable smart controls are easy to use and, when paired with a smart home system, let you remotely monitor and control indoor temperatures, so you can adjust your system. -BPT

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

B6

PRAYER TIMINGS

FIND-IT-ALL CINEMA SCHEDULE

1.45, 6.00, 8.00 PM 1920 London (2D) (Horror / Triller) –TBC Cast : Sharman Joshi, Meera Chopra 3.45, 10.00 PM

@ SALALAH

@SOHAR

SUR Captain America : Civil War (3D) (Action | Adventure ) ( PG12 ) Cast : Chris Evan, Robert Downey Jr 3:45, 9:05, 11:45 PM. Jacobinte Swargarajyam (Mal) ( PG ) 1:00, 6:30 PM. 24 (Tamil) (Action ) ( PG12 ) 8:30 PM Baaghi ( Hindi | Action | Romance ) (PG) Cast : Tiger Shroff, Shraddha Kapoor 3:45, 11:30 PM Jungle Book 3D (Adventure | Drama ) ( PG ) 1:30, 6:30 PM.

CITY CINEMA Contact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68 www.citycinemaoman.net facebook.com/citycinemaoman SHATTI Captain America: Civil War (3D) (Action) (PG) Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr. 3:00, 5:45, 8:30, 9:00 & 11:30PM Robinson Crusoe - (3D) (Animation) (PG) Voice Overs: Ron Allen, George Babbit 3:30 & 5:15PM Hellions - (2D) (Horror) (18+) Cast: Ron Allen, George Babbit, Laila Berzins 11:45PM The Adderall Diaries - (2D) (Drama) (12+) Cast: Amber Heard, James Franco 5:45, 11:45PM The Man Who Knew Infinity - (2D) (Biography | Drama) (PG) Cast: Dev Patel, Jeremy Irons 7:30PM I Am Wrath – (2D) (Action |Crime) (12+) Cast: John Travolta, Rebecca De Mornay 3:45 & 9:45PM The Jungle Book - (3D) (Adventure ) (PG) 7:00PM

Robinson Crusoe (3D) (Animation) (PG) Voice Overs: Ron Allen, George Babbit 3:00, 4:45 PM

MUSCAT GRAND MALL The Jungle Book – 3D (PG) Adventure | 12:00, 3:45, 7:30 PM I Am Wrath – 2D (12+) Action |Crime | Drama Cast: John Travolta, Rebecca De Mornay 11:45 PM Captain America: Civil War– 3D (PG12) Action | Adventure| Sci-Fi Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr 12:30, 3:15, 6:00, 8:45, 11:30 PM Gold Class : 3:00, 5:45, 8:30, 11:15 PM The Man Who Knew Infinity – 2D (PG) Cast: Dev Patel, Jeremy Irons 9:30 PM Robinson Crusoe – 3D (PG) Animation Voice Overs Ron Allen, George Babbit 2:00, 5:45 PM

PANORAMA MALL Captain America: Civil War – (3D) (PG) (Action | Adventure| Sci-Fi) VIP LOUNGE Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr 3:15, 6:00, 8:45 & 11:30PM Captain America: Civil War – (4D) (PG) (Action | Adventure| Sci-Fi) MX4D 3:00, 5:45, 8:30 & 11:15PM Captain America: Civil War – (3D) (PG) (Action | Adventure| Sci-Fi) 3:30, 6:15,9:00 & 11:45PM The Man Who Knew Infinity - (2D) (PG) Cast: Dev Patel, Jeremy Irons 7:15PM The Adderall Diaries - (2D) (Drama |Romance | Thriller) (12+) Cast: Amber Heard, James Franco 3:45 & 11:30PM Just the 3 of Us - (2D) (Comedy,) (PG) Cast: John Lloyd Cruz, Jennylyn Mercado 5:30PM Bastille Day – (2D) (Action) (12+) 11:15PM Precious Cargo – (2D) (Action ) (12+) Cast: Bruce Willis, Claire Forlani

The Adderall Diaries (Drama |Romance) 12+ Cast: Amber Heard, James Franco 4:30, 11:55PM

1920 London (2D) (Hindi) (15+) (Horror) Cast: Sharman Joshi, Meera Chopra 11:15PM

9:45PM The Jungle Book - (3D) Adventure) (PG) 3:15, 5:15,7:45 & 9:15PM

Cast: Sai Dharam Tej , Rashi Khanna 8:30 PM RUWI Screen 1 Baaghi (2D) (Action) –PG Cast: Tiger Shroff, Shraddha Kapoor 3.30 PM 24 (2D) - Tamil (Action) –PG12 Cast : Vikram and Ileana D’Cruz 6.30 PM Captain America: Civil War (2D) (Action/ Sci Fic) –PG12 Cast :Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr. 9.45 PM Screen 2 24(2D) - Tamil (Action/ Sci- Fic) –PG12 Cast: Vikram and Ileana D’Cruz 12.30 PM Captain America: Civil War (2D) (Action/ Sci Fic) –PG12 Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr 3.45 PM Baaghi (2D) (Action) –PG 6.30, 9.45 PM Screen 3 The Jungle Book (2D) (Adventure) –PG

AZAIBA Captain America: Civil War (3D) (Action |Adventure | Sic-Fi) (PG) Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr. 12:15, 3:15, 7:45, 11:50 PM Robinson Crusoe (3D) (Animation) (PG) Voice Overs: Ron Allen, George Babbit 3:00, 4:45 PM 1920 London (2D) (Hindi) (Horror) (TBC) Cast: Sharman Joshi, Meera Chopra 12:30, 5:30, 11:30 PM 24 (2D) (Action) (PG12) Cast: Suriya Sivakumar , Nithya Menen 12:00, 3:10, 6:00, 10:30 PM The Jungle Book (3D) (Adventure) (PG) 6:30 PM Jacobinte Swargarajyam (2D) (Mal) (Drama) (PG)r 12:30, 9:10 PM Baaghi (2D) (Action) (PG) Cast: Tiger Shroff, Shraddha Kapoor 3:00, 6:15, 08:45, 11:15 PM Supreme (2D) (Telugu) (Action) (TBC)

SOHAR The Jungle Book – 3D (Adventure) (PG) Cast: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley 3:00, 5:00, 7:00PM Bastille Day– 2D (Action) (12+) Cast: Idris Elba, Richard Madden, Kelly Reilly 3:00, 11:45PM Baaghi– 2D (Action) (PG) Cast: Shraddha Kapoor, Tiger Shroff 3:30, 9:00PM Captain America: Civil war (Action | Adventure| Sci-Fi) PG Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson.

3:15, 6:00, 8:45, 11:30PM. The Man Who knew Infinity (Biography | Drama) PG Cast: Dev Patel, Jeremy Irons, Malcolm Sinclair.

6:15PM 24 (Tamil) (Action) PG12 Cast: Suriya Sivakumar , Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Nithya Menon 6:30, 8:15PM 1920-London (Hindi) Horror15+ Cast: Sharman Joshi, Meera Chopra 11:30PM The Adderall Diaries (Drama |Romance) 12+ Cast: Amber Heard, James Franco 4:30, 11:55PM Jacobinte Swargarajyam (Mal) PG Cast: Nivin Pauly, Renji Panicker 9:15PM

BURAIMI Captain America: Civil War(3D)(Action)PG Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr. 3:15, 6:00, 8:45, 11:30PM The Jungle Book(3D) (Adventure) PG 6:45PM Robinson Crusoe (3D) (Animation) PG Voice Overs: Dev Patel, Jeremy Irons 3:30, 5:45PM 1920 London (Crime |Horror | Thriller) Cast: Sharman Joshi, Meera Chopra 11:15PM Baaghi PG (Hindi) (Action| Romance) Cast: Shraddha Kapoor, Tiger Shroff 8.45 PM The Adderall Diaries 12+ (Drama) Cast: Amber Heard, James Franco 3:30 & 10:05 PM Jacobinte Swargarajyam PG (Mal|Drama) Cast: Nivin Pauly, Renji Panicker 7:30 PM Hellions 18+ (Horror) Cast: Chloe Rose, Robert Patrick 5:15 & 11:45 PM

TO MUSCAT (RUWI) Arrival Operating time days

Dept time

Destination

Arrival Operating time days

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (ROUTE 36)

TEMPERATURE

05:30 05:30 05:30

Maximum

Daily Daily Daily

Sur Quriyat Ruwi

06:45 08:30 10:00

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

06:30 06:30 08:00 13:00 13:00 16.00 16.00

07:00 07:00 13:30 13:00 13:00 13:00 17:00

Sohar Buraimi Buraimi Sohar Buraimi Sohar Buraimi

08:50 Daily 11:00 Daily 14:30 Daily via Ibri 15:45 Daily 17:40 Daily 18.35 Daily 20:20 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52) 17:30

Sinaw

Nizwa Yanqul

20:50

Daily

16:50 19:30

Daily Daily

Nizwa Al Araqi

37 27

Daily Daily

07:00

Ruwi

10:25

Daily

06:00 06:00

Nizwa Ruwi

08:40 11:00

Daily Daily

15:40 15:40

Nizwa Ruwi

17:55 20:20

Daily Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55) 12:00 18:45

Daily Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (ROUTE 62) 06:30 06:30

Fahud Yibal

Salalah Marmul Salalah Salalah

20:00 20:30 23:30 07:40

Daily Daily

Marmul

Dubai

16:50

Daily

Sohar Dubai Sohar Dubai Sohar Dubai

Daily Daily

12:30 12:30

Fahud Ruwi

13:15 17:30

Daily Daily

07:00 10:00 10:00 19:00

Ruwi Marmul Ruwi Ruwi

19:50 13:15 22:30 07:30

06:00

Marmul

16:30

Daily

Daily

08:30 11:30 15:30 18:30 17:35 20:55

Daily Daily Wed,Thur Wed,Thur Daily Daily

15:00

Salalah

07:00

Daily

10:50 13:40 16:15 19:10 18:45 21:35

Daily Daily Thur-Fri Thur-Fri Daily Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201) 07:30 07:30 13:00 13:00 15:30 15:30

Sohar Ruwi Sohar Ruwi Sohar Ruwi

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH/SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

07:00 07:00 07:00

16:00 16.00 16.00

Fujairah Sharjah Dubai

Next Change: Azhar (Hindi) Supreme (Telugu) Programmes are subject to change

0

RELATIVE HUMIDITY

85-35% Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 17 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to lifestyle@timesofoman.com

LISTINGS

11.45 13.30 14.00

Daily Daily Daily

Sharjah Fujairah Ruwi

16:30 18.15 23.00

Emergencies and inquiries: 9999 General Directorate of Passport and Residence 24569603 Directorate General of Customs 24521109 Traffic violations inquiries 24510228 Public Relations Admin 24560099 EMBASSIES IN OMAN

Daily Daily Daily Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)

07:00

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201) 06:00 06:00 13:00 13:00 15:00 15:00

10:45 19:00

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102) 15:00

Ruwi Ruwi

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100) Daily Daily Daily Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101) 06:00

06:00 14:30

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)

10:30 11:15

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (ROUTE 100) 07:00 10:00 10:00 19:00

24 (Tamil) (Action \ Thriller Cast: Suriya , Samantha &amp; Nithhya Menon 3:00, 6: 30 PM Cinema Main 9:30 PM Cinema -2 \\ 9:45PM Cinema -3 & Cinema 4

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

10:20 12:30

TO SUR (ROUTE 55) Sur Sur

Jacobinte Swargarajyam (Mal) (Comedy) Cast : Nivin Pauly Renji Panicker &amp; Lakshmi Ramakrishna 3:30, 6:30 PM Cinema-2 \\ 3:45, 6:45 PM Cinema 3\\ 10:00 PM Cinema Main

Minimum

ROYAL OMAN POLICE 07:30 14:30

Film information 24791641 / 24786776 Website: www.isurf.co.om

0

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54) 08:00 08:00

08:55 Daily 11:40 Daily 20:20 Daily via Ibri 14:55 Daily 17:40 Daily 19:20 Daily 22:15 Daily

STAR CINEMA

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54) 14:30 14:30

Sohar Ruwi Ruwi Sohar Ruwi Sohar Ruwi

Daily Daily Daily

The Adderall Diaries: (Drama) Cast: Amber Heard, James Franco 4.00, 6.00, 10.00, & 11.55 PM. CP No : 1115 (12+) The Man Who Knew Infinity: (Biography / Drama) Cast: Dev Patel, Jeremy Irons, Malcolm Sinclair 4.00, 8.00, & 10.00 PM CP No: 1116 (PG) I Am Wrath: (Action / Crime / Drama) Cast: John Travolta, Amanda Schull 2.00, 6.00, & 11.55 PM. CP No : 1109 (12+) Take Down: (Thriller) Cast: Dominic Sherwood, Phoebe Tonkin, Ed Westwick 2.00, & 8.00 PM CP No: 1110 (PG12)

WEATHER

15:00 15:00 15:00

16:30 18:00 19:30

Film information 24540856 / Advance Booking 24540855 Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com

WITH LOVE

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (ROUTE 36) Quriyat Sur Jaalan

BAHJA CINEMA

SALALAH Captain America: Civil War (3D) (PG) (Action | Adventure| Sci-Fi) Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr 12:30, 3:15, 6:00, 8:45, 11:30PM The Jungle Book (3D) (PG) (Adventure) 2:30, 6:15PM Robinson Crusoe (3D) (PG) (Animation) 12:45, 4:30PM The Man Who Knew Infinity (2D) (PG) (Biography | Drama) Cast: Dev Patel, Jeremy Irons 4:00PM I Am Wrath (2D) (12+) (Action) 2:00, 11:55PM 1920 London (2D) (Hindi) (15+) (Horror) Cast: Sharman Joshi, Meera Chopra 11:15PM Baaghi (2D) (PG) (Hindi) (Action| Romance) 9:20PM 24 (2D) (PG12) (Tamil) (Action) Cast: Suriya Sivakumar , Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Nithya Menen 6:05PM Jacobinte Swargarajyam (2D) (PG) (Mal) (Drama) 8:15PM

LONG DISTANCE BUS TIMINGS (OMAN NATIONAL TRANSPORT COMPANY SAOC) *SUBJECT TO CHANGE

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI) Destination

12.08pm 3.33pm 6.42pm 7.59pm 4.07am

CHILDREN BELOW THE AGE OF 3 YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE CINEMA | BOX-OFFICE COUNTER OPENS 30-MINUTES PRIOR TO THE SCREENING OF THE FIRST SHOW

@ AZAIBA

Dept time

Dhuhr Asr Maghrib Isha Fajr (Tomorrow)

Daily Daily Daily

Afghanistan Algeria Bahrain Bangladesh Brazil Brunei China Cyprus Egypt France Germany India Indonesia Iran Iraq Italy Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya South Korea Kuwait

24698 791/4 24605 593 24 605 074/133 24 698 660 24640100 24 603533 24 696782 24 699815 24 600 982/411 24681 800 24835000 24684500 2469 1050 24 696 944/7 24603642 24693727 24 601 028 24692760/1/3 24 692418 24 697664 24 691490 24 699628

Lebanon Libya Malaysia Morocco Nepal Netherlands Pakistan Palestine Philippines Qatar Russia Saudi Arabia Senegal Somalia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Switzerland Syria Tanzania Thailand Tunisia Turkey UAE United Kingdom United States Yemen

24 693208 24603466 24698329/643 24696152/3 24696177 24603706 24603439 24601312 24605335 24 691 153/2/4 24602894 24601705 24694139 24697977 24647300 24691101 24697841/2 24697875 24603267 24697904 24601 174 24 602684/5 24603486 24697050/1/2 24400000 24609000 24643400 24600815

PHARMACIES (ROUND THE CLOCK) Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi 24783334 Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi Salalah Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra Muscat Region Apollo, Al Hamriya Muscat, A Seeb Market Muscat, Al Khuwair Muscat, Al Hail South Dhofar Region Muscat, Al Nahdha Road, Salalah

24782666 24702542 23291635; 24503585 24787766 24421691 24485740 24537080

23291635

HOSPITALS Al Amal Medical & Health Care Centre 24485052 Atlas Hospital Ruwi 24811743/ Ghubra 24504000 Al Musafir Specialised Medical Clinic 24706453 Hatat Polyclinic LLC, Ruwi 24563641 Azaiba 24499269 Sohar 2683006 Al Raffah Hospital 24618900/1/2 Al Massaraat Clinic & Laboratory 24566435 Al Makook Medical Coordinance Centre 24499434 Apollo Medical Centre, Hamriya 24787766, 24787780

Capital Polyclinic 24707549 Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic, Ruwi 24799760/1/2 Capital Clinic, Seeb 24420740 Ceregem National Raak 24485633 Dr Harub’s Clinic 24563217 Elixir Health Centre 24565802 Emirates Medical Centre 24604540 1st Chiropractic Centre 24472274 Lifeline Hospital Salalah 23212340 International Medical Centre LLC 24794501/2/3/4/5 Kims Oman Hospital 24760100 24 Hrs Emergency 24760123 Lama Polyclinic, Sohar 26751128 MBD 24799077 Al Khuwair 24478818 Magrabi Eye and Ear Hospital 24568870 Muscat Private Hospital 24583600 Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, Al Khuwair 24477666 Al Hayat International Hospital, Al Ghubra 22004000, 94267068/97049520 Al Hayat Clinic, Al Hail 22009455

AIRLINE OFFICES Muscat Airport Flight information (24 hours) 24519456/24519223 Aeroflot 24704455 Air Arabia 24700828 Air France 24562153 Air India 24799801

Air New Zealand 24700732 Biman Bangladesh Airlines 24701128 British Airways 24568777 Cathay Pacific 24789818 Egypt Air 24794113 Emirates Air 24404400 Ethiopian Airlines 24660313 Gulf Air 80072424 Indian 24791914 Iran Air 24787423 Japan Airlines 24704455 Jazeera Airways 23294848 Jet Airways 24787248 Kenya Airways 24660300 KML Royal Dutch Airlines 24566737 Kuwait Airways 24701262 LOT Polish Airlines 24796387 Lufthansa 24796692 Malaysian Airlines 24560796 Middle East Airlines 24796680 Oman Air 24531111 Pakistan International Airlines 24792471 Qatar Airways 24771900 Qantas 24559941 Royal Jordanian 24796693 Saudi Arabian Airlines 24789485 Singapore Airlines 24791233 Shaheen Air 24816565 SriLankan Airlines 24784545 Swiss International Airlines 24796692 Thai Airways 24705934

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

B7

LIFESTYLE

(Exploring History, Science, and Nature)

FACT FILE

VOLCANOES Our planet experiences about 30 volcanic eruptions every year

Ring of Fire Most volcanoes are found along the edges where giant land masses called tectonic plates collide. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions sometimes occur together. About 90 per cent of all volcanoes form along the edges of the Pacific Ocean, an area that is sometimes called the Ring of Fire.

Magma Magma is superhot, molten rock that forms in the Earth’s mantle. Volcanoes serve as a kind of vent for magma making its way to the surface.

Active Volcanoes There are about 500 active volcanoes on Earth, which are likely to explode again. Other volcanoes are dormant and may eventually become active. A volcano which has not erupted in more than 10,000 years is considered extinct and unlikely to ever erupt.

Lava (on the rocks) Depending on the type of rock it contains, lava may be thick or runny.

Trapped gases make bubbles in the lava, and a large amount of gas may cause explosions when the lava reaches the surface.

Lava flows can reach 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,250 degrees Celsius) or more. A lava flow will burn anything in its path. Volcanic rock is also varied. Pumice is brittle and dusty, while obsidian is smooth and clear, like smoked glass.

Volcano Types Cinder cone volcanoes are the most common type of volcano. These coneshaped volcanoes are formed when lava cools quickly and builds up around the vent, forming a crater at the summit.

Strato volcanoes erupt with great violence. They are formed from layers of lava flow, ash and blocks of unmelted stone. They are larger than cinder cones, rising up to 8,000 feet (2,438m).

Mount St. Helens, in Washington state, is a strato volcano that erupted in 1980. Shield volcanoes are huge, gently sloping volcanoes, the result of very thin lava spreading out in all directions from a central vent. Eruptions are rarely explosive, and the lava resembles a liquid overflowing around the edges of a container. Mauna Loa in Hawaii, a shield volcano, is one of the world’s largest and most active volcanoes.

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano is one of the most active on Earth. The most violent volcanic eruption ever recorded was that of Mount Tambora on Sumbawa Island, Indonesia, in 1815.

It ranked a 7, or super-colossal, on the Volcanic Explosivity Index. One of the world’s most famous volcanoes is Mount Vesuvius in southern Italy. It has erupted more than 50 times over the past 2,000 years. The A.D. 79 eruption buried the city of Pompeii and was responsible for the deaths of up to 25,000 people. Another eruption in 1631 killed 3,000 people.

—lifestyle@timesofoman.com

Questions & Answers

One thing that puts me off...

When we cancel a trip at the last moment

When I’m in doubt...

I google it I go crazy...

I’m home alone and I watch TV without anyone telling me anything The scariest thing that I have done...

Nothing yet

One skill I would like to learn...

Athletics (I am a turtle)

If I win a lottery...

I’ll faint and will text my best friend Laayba

One movie/book I can watch/ read over and over again...

Minions / How to train your dragon

CDUR

Crossword Puzzle ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE

It’s better not to argue with...

My father

If I met an alien I would...

Ask him what does he eat

If I have to describe myself as a flavour it would be...

Tangy and spicy

If I could go back in history, I would like to meet My grandfather

PRAGYA GAUTAM One person I would trade places with (real or fictional) Hrithik Roshan

Questions for quirky questions 1. It’s better not to argue with…

2. When I’m in doubt…

3. I go crazy when…

4. One thing that puts me off…

5. If I meet an alien…

6. If I win a lottery…

The best way to my heart is...

Movies

7. One person I would trade places with…

8. If I had treasures I would hide them in…

9. One movie/ book / I can watch /read over and over again…

10. One skill I would learn…

If I had treasures I would hide them...

In my school bag

11. The best way to my heart is…

12. If I have to describe myself as a flavour it would be …

13. The scariest thing that I have done…

14. If I would go back to history I would like to meet …

Send your contributions to lifestyle@timesofoman.com. A good quality photo is compulsory. Lifestyle reserves the right to publish the contributions.

DOWN

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 16 18

Sponge up Word of disgust Drop — — line Perceived Give a crew cut Draw a bead on Cop on base Largest bird Cheered up Disencumber Lo- — graphics Neutral colour Not ‘neath

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 28

Ecru Very pale Dome home Betrayal Buzzes Wash away Violently intense Lairds’ households 31 Most daring 35 Shop tool 37 Damage superficially

38 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 49

— vous plait Sparklers Had a picnic Egg — yung Harp on Yea, to a matador Francois’ refusal Stage scenery Moon of Jupiter

ACROSS 1 Bottom lines 5 Hunter’s garb 9 Menacing sound 12 S-shaped moulding 13 Dangerous tides 14 Speak falsely 15 Musical’s masked man 17 Garden dwellers 19 Weaken 20 — -in-the-bone 21 Go from two to four lanes 24 More out of the ordinary 27 Mellowed 28 In vogue 29 Baseball stat.

30 Really big tees 31 “Bounty” captain 32 San Francisco hill 33 Want-ad letters 34 Not plentiful 35 Darth Vader, once 36 1066 conquerors 38 Joined with 39 Hebrew letters 40 Rock-band booking 41 Ignited 43 Wrestling holds 47 In addition 48 Where Anna taught 50 Lotion ingredient 51 Immeasurable time 52 Clothing, informally 53 Had a turn

B8

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

LIFESTYLE

Children up to the age of 16 who would like to have their art considered for inclusion in “Art for the Ages” can e-mail their drawings or paintings (in jpeg or tiff format) to lifestyle@timesofoman.com

Art for the Ages

Children’s Poetry

Varalakshmi, Grade 4, IS Seeb

Work Book

Pragya Gautam, Grade 7, ISM

Roshan John Anto, Grade 7, ISM

Abhinand Sudheer, Grade 5, IS Sohar

Mihika Saraf Grade 3 ISG -cbse-i This is a work book, My friend has a pretty look, My mother has food magic like a real cook, I’ve never eaten in a restaurant called Food Book.

A police caught a crook, I have interest in reading comic book.

King wears a crown, Queen wears a gown, I saw the moon going down, I saw the moon coming up.

And the prince has a pup His sweet pet, He takes him to a vet.

The rhyme for dine, Is a special word of mine.

I eat a chips packet I wear a warm jacket.

Dhruv V. Maheta, Grade 4, ISM

Gokul Hari Nair, Grade 10, ISWK

Sudoku How to play Fill empty cells with the numbers 1 to 9, so that each number appears once in each row, column and area.

SOLUTION Answer to previous puzzle

Send your contributions for Children’s Poetry to lifestyle@timesofoman.com

Teleword All the words below appear in the puzzle - horizontally, vertically, diagonally, even backward. Find them and circle their letters.

The leftover word spells the Teleword.

A I P M I A R Y O E B R E O RM T A S Z A I WU Y G E E R L

L J A C K S O N C F O S T E R

A H E S MO BW C O O N O D L E A R G I A A S H S N E Y WA

A S Y D D A F A L C O N C D L

CLUE: CELEBRITIES ON SESAME STREET

M S S E N I O Y R N E G O N N I R B S A L L A N N T R R M F A E D L L A U N D R AW T E R

O L R E E U A E J A R R E O S

R E D E C E A L M L L R L L S M U N P A I E A B H N B L A O N I R K D E R WO H O R T S E

A A E Z A R I M O R E N O N U

N P R Y O R E U H A N O D E G

SOLUTION: 8 LETTERS

Brian, Celine, Cool, Diana, Donahue, Falco, Foster, Guests, Horne, Howard, Jackson, Jesse, Krall, Labelle, Lagasse, Lancaster, Larry, Legend, Leguizamo, Mahalia, Mayer, Miraz, Moreno, Nader, Obama, Odonnell, Perlman, Pryor, Ripa, Robbins, Roberts, Ross, Sarandon, Sawyer, Short, Superman, Ullman, Underwood, Walters, Wonder, Wyclef Jean, Yo Yo Ma. Answer: Children

C

W W W.T I M E S O F O M A N . C O M S AT U R DAY, M AY 7, 2 0 1 6

SECTION

CONNEC T H E D A I LY G U I D E

RENT

C2

VACANCY

C4

CARGO

C7

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

C2

S AT U R D AY, M AY 7, 2 0 1 6 Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DAILY GUIDE FOR RENT

*Tourist visa arranged

FURNISHED OFFICES FOR RENT

COLD STORE ROOMS

Available at a prime location on Azaiba Service Road (Previously Occupied by A’Saffa Foods) near Al Turky and Mazda showroom.

Available at a prime location on azaiba service road (previously occupied by A’Saffa Foods) near Al Turky and Mazda showroom

Contact: 95215289, 99229263, 93221054

Contact: 95215289, 99229263, 93221054

Two modern fully furnished & equipped offices available for rent at Jasmine Complex Al Khuwair:

FOR RENT

1) 152 M2 with reception, 1 GM Office, 2 meeting rooms, 26 working stations, pantry, network connection.

2) 132 M2 with reception, 7 offices, 6 working stations, 1 conference room, network connection.

Contact - 99469698

FOR RENT

Commercial Space Commercial Space For Rent in Al Khuwair. Ideal for Coffee Shop / Restaurant / Office Space / Showroom 27sqm / 68sqm / 128sqm

Contact: 96775026

3 BHK, 3 toilets near Indian School main Wadi Kabir & 2 BHK, 2 toilet near Honda road Junction.

Contact: 99737562 Office 55 SQ. Mtrs & 2 B /R new bldg in Bausher behind bank Muscat from owner. Contact: 92158031 3 Rooms, 2 Toilets Flat for Rent.

18 November Street. Near Mars Hypermarket and The Chedi.

Ghobrah -Good for Commercial or Residential use. OMR 295/- month.

Call 94477222 Flats for rent near Indian School in Wadi Kabir. Contact 99777122 Super Deluxe 2 bedroom flat with swimming pool, Gym, at Qurum Shatti Al Qurum. Contact: 99369081 2 BHK at Al Mawaleh South near Masjid Sadiq Al Amin.

Contact: 99224748 / 99332297 7 room villa at split AC 18th November road Azaiba.

Contact: 99224748 / 99332297 Flat for rent at Al Amerat at H.One mortaffat , 2 rooms, toilet kitchen.

Contact: 99313344 OFF / Shop 30 SQMT, W/Kabir R.O 200/-. Contact: 99384640 New warehouse for rent with office space 1150 sq mtr 9.5 height (rent negotiable), new Industrial area Salalah.# 96955505 / 96217297 1,2,3 BHK flats & villas.

Contact: 92144045 3 BHK without A/C Al Khuwair R.O 375/-. Contact: 92144045

1 BHK and 2BHK Flats available near Lulu Darsait (Main road, Opp. to Min. of Defense). Contact : 93202733 2BHK & 1BHK flats with split air conditioners are available for rent in new building in Al Qurum, near Rose Garden. Interested persons may contact on 95133331 / 96722449 Flat for rent : flat available at Hamriya & Wadi Kabir. Contact: 97380548 / 99680499 Flat for rent 2 BHK 2 split A/C, 2 toilets, Wadi Kabir near Kuwaiti Masjid. Contact – 97007934 / 92609232

1BHK M.B.D R.O 250/-.

Contact: 92144045 1BHK Mumtaz R.O 225/-.

Contact: 92144045 Flats in Muttrah. Contact 94051789 / 97201688

2BHK with A/C Ghubra R.O 325/-. Contact: 92144045

Offices and Flats in Ghala.

Contact 94051789 / 97201688

Room for rent near Al Daser Rex road Ruwi. Contact: 92099367 / 99797645

Offices & Showrooms in Al Khood.

Contact 94051789 / 97201688 Flats In Qurum. Contact 94051789 / 97201688

Flat for rent in Al Khuwair 33.

Contact: 92277419 1 BHK flat for rent R.O 180/Near Medical Darsait.

Contact: 24705742

2BHK split A/C for rent Muttrah near Oman House.

Contact: 97007934 / 92629232

Flats in Ghobrah. Contact 94051789 / 97201688

Flats in Darsait. Contact 94051789 / 97201688

Brand new villas in Al Ansab.

Contact 94051789 / 97201688

Flats in Wadi Kabir. Contact 94051789 / 97201688

1BHK Studio flat near Star Cinema RO 180/-. Contact: 99358589 / 97079146 / 95570288

Fully Furnished apartments in Boucher (35). Contact 94051789 / 97201688

Warehouse for rent at Ghala Ind. Area. 800 & 2500 approx sqms Near Hotel Al-Madinah Holiday, Ghala. Container can enter. Immediate access to roads & highways.

Contact : 94583320

Spacious room with bath and passage, kitchen available for sharing at Darsait (near ISD School).

Contact: 99419390

House rent 2 bedroom, Majlis, 2 toilets, kitchen & parking in Mawalah near City Center.

Contact: 96968104

House for rent 1 bedroom & sitting room, 1 toilet & kitchen in Mawalah near City Center.

Contact : 96968104

2 BHK flat at Ruwi Mumtaz area RO 320/-. Contact: 99358589 / 97079146 / 95570288

For rent flat in Darsait office CBD. Contact: 95345909 / 92820734

Room at Al Khuwair RO 110/-.

Contact: 95317247 1BHK with A.C Ghubra R.O 275/-.

Contact: 92144045 3 Bedroom well maintained flat (villa TYPE only 2 flats in villa) in Al Khuwair, Behind Al Akhtam Restaurant Villa No 1841, Way No 3922 Block No 239.

Contact: 99462980 4 BHK villa in Bowsher Heights.

Contact 99792181 2 BHK flat in Ghubra 18 November Street. Contact 99792181 2 BHK flat in Al Khuwair.

Contact 99792181 2 Bedroom flat near Kuwait Masjid, Wadi Kabir. Contact: 98498823 / 97608564 Flats in Wadi Kabir. Contact 94051789 / 97201688

2 Bed room flats available in Al Amera Mahj5 (Opp. Sultan Center. Contact: 99108822 150 + 180 + 200 Sqr mtrs office in Al Khuwair. Contact 99792181 3 BHK villa in Qurum heights.

Contact 99792181 Room or apartment for rent in Qurum. Contact: 99664703 Luxury fully furnished 2 bedroom flat at Al Khuwair for short or long term lease contract. Contact Atlas Real Estate & Rent a Car LLC. Contact Atlas Real Estate & Rent a Car LLC. Contact 94617563 / 92888376, tel : 24833848 / 24834888 Flat for rent in Ruwi, Mumtaz area 2 bedrooms. Contact: 24291500 / 91409667 Villa for rent, 4 rooms, big hall, 6 toilets, big living room, kitchen & store Bousher 750/-OMR. Contact: 91153933 Fully Furnished apartments in Boucher (35) Contact 94051789 / 97201688

S AT U R DAY, M AY 7, 2 0 1 6

C3

DAILY GUIDE

REQUIRED Sub-Contractor For Indoor and Outdoor Telecom works including Fiber, RF and In building cabling work experience

FOR RENT

FOR RENT IN RUWI 1 BHK – SPILT A/C, BUILT IN WARDROBE &CENTRALIZED GAS. SPACIOUS 2 BHK.

Contact : 990 49 722 Villa for rent room, toilet, hall, kitchen, store with furniture water & electricity included Bowsher OMR 300/-. Contact: 91153933 Office for rent in Mabela.

Contact: 99355330 Duplex villa in QURUM 29.

Contact 94051789 / 97201688 Offices & Showrooms in Al Khoud.

Contact 94051789 / 97201688 Room for rent big room, toilet, washing place including water & electricity Bowsher OMR 200/-.

Contact: 91153933 Villa for rent, big hall, 4 room, 5 toilets, kitchen, store living room in Ghubra OMR 650/-.

Contact: 91153933 Flat for rent in South Mabela.

Contact: 95331177 / 95230355 Office space small in Azaiba.

Contact: 99428143 1BHK at Hamriya near Muscat Pharmacy & 2 BHK at Mawaleh near Mosque Sadiq Al Amin.

Contact: 99224748 / 99332297 Villa for rent 8 big room, 7 toilets, big hall, Kitchen & store Al Khoud.

Contact: 91153933 Brand new double bed room flats with two and three toilets, split ac, elevators available at Al Khoudh next to Al koudh health center.

Contact 99022675 Furnished office (61M2) for sale / rent Al Khuwair near Zawawi Mosque. Contact: 95611569 Warehouse at Wadikabir - total area 3500 sqm - covered warehouse (500sqm), office, accommodation (1000sqm), open area (2000sqm) please contact: 99273774 - 99202278 Four bedroom two floors luxurious and spacious residential villa in Al Hail North, near to the sea and Oman oil. Each room has its own bathroom. It has splits A/C’s and shaded car park. OMR 750 monthly. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 or 97509955 1 BHK in Azaiba. Contact: 99385835 / 99428143 2 bed rooms flat with hall, 2 bathrooms in Darsait near Muscat Municipality.

Contact: 92584715/ 24700120 Flats in Qurum. Contact 94051789 / 97201688 Flat for rent 2 BHK 2 split A/C, 2 toilets, Wadi Kabir near Kuwaiti Masjid. Contact 97007934 / 92629232 Flats in Darsait. Contact 94051789 / 97201688

Contact - 91409326

INVESTOR PARTNER REQUIRED

FOR RENT

For a successfully Catering Restaurant Investor cum Partner is required.

ACC. AVAILABLE

1 Bed room, sharing K& T, R.O 100, 2 bedrooms , sharing K& T R.O 200/- in AL Khuwair.

Contact 95154331 Flats in Muttrah. Contact 94051789 / 97201688 Offices in Ghala. Contact 94051789 / 97201688 Shops / flats available in Honda Road, Ruwi & Mabellah Industrial area. Contact 24833972/ 24833974/ 99367448 Flat for Rent 2 bed room Near ISM muscat Indian Scoole Dar sate Tel : 00 968 95158570 Brand new villas in Al Ansab.

Contact 94051789 / 97201688 Flat in Al Khuwair opp grand mall 4 room 3 toilet + hall kitchen in 3 floor 400. Contact 99420346 Flats, shops and store for rent in Ruwi, MBD & Mumtaz. Contact: 97293708 / 92433127 2BHK Wadi Kabir R.O 300/-.

Contact: 92144045 Offices & Showrooms in Mutrah.

Contact 94051789 / 97201688 Flat for rent in South AlGhubrah 3 rooms, hall and 3 toilets, kitchen rent 450/-. Contact: 99335580 2BHK split A/C 200/- Monthly & 1BHK spilt A/C 150/- monthly new building good location Barka Market. contact 99342661 2BHK Big Size Flat Behind Bank Muscat, Wadi Kabir. Near ISWK. 97826454, 24815012.

02 BHK residential flat opposite to Al Nahdha hospital.

Contact: 99342733 /99795241 For rent and investment Land industrial shops in Rusayl.

Contact: 99323957 / 95490842 Two bedrooms flat in Al Ghobrah near Oman Oil of 18 November Street. OMR 330 Monthly.

Contact 99333479 or 95215360 or 97509955.

FOR SALE

SALE ELECTRICAL and ELECTRONICS items for bulk sale at Muscat.

Contact 99883067/ 92429917 FOR SALE HD Scaffoldings, Shuttering Jacks, Wooden Planks, Shuttering wood assorted, Tower hoist (lift), Concrete Mixer, Bending Machine, Steel Fabrication Machinery (Searing/Cutting, lathe & Welding) including tools for immediate sale: Contact 99273774/ 99202278 Shop for sale near Oman House, Muttrah. Contact 99024362.

400 sq mtrs Commercial/Residential land in Mabela Phase 5 Block 2. OMR 165 Thousand.

Contact 99333479 or 95215360 or 97509955 Dental chair, mobile dental X ray, instruments, 5 year old, sale for 1000 Rials only in Al Buraimi.

Contact: 92737149 Single colorful Bed and Sofa for Sale at Al Khuwair.

Contact 92881849 /What`s up No 97290565 Beauty Salon for urgent sale in Al Khoud/ Seeb prime location next to Rameez shopping centre. With sponsor and 1 staff and 1 ready visa clearance. Call: 95318629 / 95169411 Space for printing press available at wadikabir with or without machinery. Contact 99328430

1100.00 m2 com. & Res. plot at heart of Ruwi. Contact: 93666944 Luxury Apartments in Boucher (35). Contact 95056808 / 97201688

Luxury Apartments in Boucher (35). Contact 95056808 / 97201688

Porta Cabin Office for sale in Sohar 40 Ft length contains 2 office room, 1 Open meeting hall, 1 pantry, 1 toilet and 1 security cabin.

Contact National Gas Company: Badar (9546 9929)

Steel Scrap materials for immediate sale.

Contact 99273774/ 99202278

Coffee shop for sale in Al Khuwair 33. Contact: 92294415 A well running pharmacy for sale at prime location.

Contact 99627621, 93240949 20 x40 containers.

Contact: 99354909 Villas in Al Khoud.

Contact 95056808 / 97201688

Please contact – 95213273

Email: muscatcoffeeshop@gmail.com

Small old house for rent in Ghobra. Contact: 97165972

Car accessories, upholstery, oil & battery shop for sale in Seeb.

Contact: 92262284/96733523

Travel agency for sale or lease very well established travel agency at Rex Road is for sale or lease with two staff and one clearance. Contact 99704304

Investor with fixed returns also welcome.

1 BHK appartment for rent in Al Khoud Shabiya near mazoon mosque for rent (next to alkhoud medical center and squ) MOB: 93913224

Almost new beach/ garden lounge chairs /bar stools/ counter.

Photos can be sent 95865457 Urgent sale of steel scrap only serious buyers kindly contact +968 96725423 for viewing the items.

BUYING Bobcat available for rent.

Contact 97623299 Buying cars for cash.

Contact: 90202090

Sharing ACC available for bachelor in Al Khuwair near the Muscat Pharmacy rent R.O 100/- only.

Contact: 94297820 Furnished room available for Executive bachelor in Ruwi area.

Contact: 99054542 Room for rent near Hamriya roundabout for bachelor only.

Contact: 97443614 Single room sharing B/K at Mumtaz area. Contact: 95212017 Single room available near Darsait Lulu. Contact: 92120626 Room with attached bathroom for working ladies in a flat in M.B.D. Contact: 99764307 Villa for rent in South Mabellah, 3 bedrooms, sitting room, family Lounge, kitchen, three Toilets Contact 92212212 between 10 AM to 5 PM. Rooms available with Kitchen facility at Ruwi.

Contact: 91214897 Furnish bedroom with attach bathroom for executive bachelor.

Contact: 97704794 Room with attached bathroom for a family in Wadi Kabir.

Contact 97167857 Room for rent with furniture.

Al Bustan village.

Contact 93687466 Furnished apartment for rent, two rooms, majlis, hall, kitchen. Near Carrefour al-mawalah.

Contact 99336776 Sharing Accommodation available for working ladies opposite Al Nadhah Hospital. Preferably Indians. Room with seperate toilet and sharing kitchen.RO.90.

Contact 96524717 Room available in Mumtaz area 1 room, 1 Bathroom, Kitchen & 1 room, common bathroom. Interested pleasecontact 92680041 Mr. Altaf Sharing accommodation near ISD. Contact: 99657340 Room available for Executive bachelor at Al Hail.

Contact 96234708 Furnished room attached bath for Indian bachelor, Al-Falaj Ruwi & lady Wadi Kabir near Mars hypermarket. CONTACT 96202458/96761960 Room with attached bathroom and sharing kitchen available for Executive bachelor or small family at wadikabir Contact 93049849

FOR HIRE

DRIVING

Crane trailer, hiab. Contact: 99354909

MV SALE Mazda Cx 9, in immaculate condition, expatriate driven, single owner, no accidents, serviced regularly by Towel Auto, 2013 model, mileage 8500KM.Expected price: RO 7000.000 (negotiable).

Contact Pradeep 94194071 Nissan Altima 2.5S purchased & registered Oct 2012 Golden color dealer maintained new tyres & battery, excellent condition.

Contact: 97717152 Pajero 2015 GLS V6 3.5L for sale, R.O 7,700. Contact: 97798368 Hyundai Accent 1.6, 2014 model, good condition. Contact : 95212017

NRI

INDIAN RAILWAYS Ticket Reservation Hotel & Bus Tickets

Star Travel 92820665 / 24711734 910 SQ FT, 1 B/R fully furnished flat at Quepem – Goa. Contact: 97094797 NRI selling his properties in following places : -Bangalore (Sobha Garnet, 4 bed room apartment), Hosur (25 cents), Cochin (20 cents), Trivandrum (11 cents, opposite to KIMS Hospital), Shertala (20 cents), Kanyakumari ( 175 cents along National Highway) Nagercoil ( 3 plots of 11 cents, 100 cents and 20 cents). Please send e mail to drkpraman@gmail.com or call Pradeep 94194071

AVAILABLE Party & Wedding equipment rentals. Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirting, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery, Crockery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes, Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound Systems and spectacular lighting. Call Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering and Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound & Light. ww.tunesoman.com, E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

WANTED IELTS Coaching (academic) required nearby wadi Kabir area. Please call on mobile or msg on Whats up. Mobile no: 92927880/99012165

LOST Serkalem Kasahun has lost Ethiopian Passport No. EP 2731436.

Finder please handover to ROP Zaheer Abbas has lost Pakistani passport No EC 1017342. Finder please handover to ROP.

CHANGE OF NAME We, Rajesh Kumar (name of father as per the passport holder of Indian passport No N 0404985) and Poonam Kumari (name of mother, holder of Indian passport No. N8144907) having permanent address in Vill. Raggar Rajputan, P.O Batarali, Teh. Barsar H.P 174312 (complete portal address in India) and presently residing at the following address in 26/2023 MBD Ruwi, PB No PC No. 112 , Sultanate of Oman, hereby solemnly affirm and declare to change the name of our child master Abhiuday (name as per passport), holder of Indian passport No. N 8144927 date of issue 18.04.2016 issued at Muscat. The name of our child will be henceforth known as Abhyuday Thakur (new name) for all purpose.

Any objection towards change of name of our minor child may please be communicated to Embassy of India , Muscat, Diplomatic Quarters, Al Khuwair, PB No. 1727, PC 112, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman.

TRANSFORMING THE LEGAL FORM Noor Al Dar AL Jadeeda company for Trading limited partnership (recommendation) registered on the Commercial in Sur under the number 1221882, declares that, it is in the process of converting the legal form from(limited partnership) to (General partnership) , in accordance with Article 13 (2) of the Commercial Companies Law No. 4/47, and its amendments.

Therefore those who have objection against this amendment, can submit reasons for their objection to the general Directorate of Commerce and Industry in South Al Sharqiyah Governorate within two months from the date of publishing the above. Signature and stamp of the Directorate General of Commerce and Industry, South Al Sharqiyah Governorate.

ACC WANTED 1/ 2 BHK flat required in Al Khuwair/ Ghubra. Contact 96026943 Wanted one room.

Contact 98026234

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

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S AT U R D AY, M AY 7, 2 0 1 6 Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

DAILY GUIDE SITUATION SITUATION WANTED VACANT

HR & ADMINISTRATION MANAGER Should hold Bachelor degree & Diploma in HR, coupled with 6-7 years experience in Oman.

Managing HR related functions, Annual budget, Renewal of all types of documents and well versed with Government Laws & Policies.

Email CV: jobs@alkhonjiholding.com

LOOKING FOR ELECTRICIAN Required urgently experienced Electricians with ITI Certificate.

Contact 99878180, narrowstreet@gmail.com

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE Wanted part time Accountant (Tally). Contact: 99419390

BEAUTICIAN Wanted experienced beautician for the reputed ladies beauty center at Muscat. Contact: 99791572 / 97453246 Email: souzawilfred@gmail.com

Beautician required for Al Gazala beauty parlour, visa available.

Contact: 92534941

CATERING Urgently required an experienced Waiter for a food restaurant. Visa available. Contact: 96026615 / 99816262

DOMESTIC HELPER Required Gardener for part time job at Al Rabiat Qurum.

Contact 95890531

DRIVER Experienced light duty driver.

Contact: 94647631 Wanted Light duty Driver cum house boy for an Indian family in Oman. Kindly contact 99425610 / 99211030

Truck Mechanics With 3-5 years experience required for a leading commercial Workshop in Sharjah.

Fax CV to: + 971 6 507 2736

or Email: hr16info@gmail.com

IT Required Shop Sales man + Hardware Technician for IT Company with minimum 2 years experience.

Contact: 98825806 / 98825806, Email: info@rns-group.com

MEDICAL Required gynecologist GEN: practitioner lady lab Technician and pharmacologist immediately for a clinic in Suwaiq. #95081010 Email: umchealthcare@gmail.com Care Medical Centre Al Seeb requires Gynecologist and General Practitioner. Mail CV to: sarita_h23@yahoo.com Urgently required Staff Nurse with MOH license to work in a reputed clinic, permanent or for leave vacancy.

Salary negotiable. Contact 99048170 Wanted G.P doctor & Nurse in Muscat. Contact: 95631779 / 99722457 Urgently required Staff Nurse with MOH license for a private clinic in Sohar (leave vacancy for 3 months).

Contact: 99797459 GP doctor needed for reputed clinic. Preferably with MOH license or with Dataflow & Paramatics pass Contact: 95388934

Wanted driver. Contact: 97165972

Wanted Staff Nurse for a dermatology clinic in Muscat .

Must have MOH license and NOC. Attractive salary offered. Email: clinicvacancy2015@gmail.com

DESIGNER

MISCELLANEOUS

Architect Interior designer diploma / degree having minimum 2 yrs experience in Revit AutoCAD / MEP / Conceptual presentation drawing.

Contact: info@cscoman.com

ENGINEER/MECHANIC. Urgently Required: Construction Project Manager- with experience 10 years experience in building and with NOC for immediately join.

Interested candidates may call us to our office telephone: 00968-24696584/24696585 or fax: 00968-24605955 or email us to sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com, sbeoman@yahoo.com Construction company seeking Marketing Executives, Electrical Diploma Engineer & Civil Engineer. Should have Omani driving license. Email : info@greencover.net Required Indian Engineer road Construction 5/10 years experience Eligibility BE or Diploma Civil AutoCAD Estimation with Oman (D/L) & Indian Heavy Duty drivers.

Contact: 99882127 Email: georgymv@yahoo.com

EDUCATION Private School seeks to employ teachers with experience and high efficiency in the following specializations: Class teacher, English KG Teacher, Science Teacher, Math Teacher for grade 6,7,8,9 experienced in teaching field with not less than 5 years experience, University degree in the field of Sociology.

Contact: 99573791 / 24489721 / 24489536 Email: omfajer@hotmail.com

Required candidates for following posts: Accountant, Storekeeper, Foreman Building Maintenance, Van-salesman (water), Helpers.

Candidates with Omani driving license preferred.

Contact 99273774/99202278

SALES / MARKETING Sales & Marketing degree holder having min 2 yrs experience for interior design company with Omani D/L prefer to having exp in hospitality & hotels.

Contact: info@cscoman.com Require Marketing Manager, experience 5 years plus, Omani driving license. Tel: 24548382 Email id - towershr70@gmail.com Urgently required Marketing Executive for a reputed Company in Oman with valid Oman D/L. Contact 94293209, career@ruwaishad.com Wanted Staff with 3 years experience in Oman in real estate field.

Contact: +968 95910186 Email: aburashid94dd@gmail.com Required marketing / PR manager for a modern restaurant group in Oman , proficient in illustrator & Photoshop charismatic , proactive , creative & flexible excellent writing / Editing skills degree in relevant area fluent in English. Send CV to marketingpr2016@gmail.com Looking for Salesman with experience in vegetable and fruits sales, good conduct, fluent in English. Should have driving license.

Email CV on: info@eigllcoman. com Contact - 96339339 Salesman required for electrical equipments with driving license & 5/7 years working experience. Fax your C.V 24833043 (Jinan Enterprises)

SITUATION WANTED

SKILLED / UNSKILLED Urgently required 1 No. ITI Electrician, minimum 2 years of experience & should be able to read electrical drawings.

Send CV to Fax: 24591610 or email: qaisllc@yahoo.com Printing male Indian single colour four colour painting exp.

Contact: 99740206 Required Indian Mason – 5 nos., eligibility (minimum 5 yrs experience in road construction field).

Contact: 99882127 Email: georgymv@yahoo.com Electrician for Heavy Machines : experienced with mobile cranes and Wheel Loader (shovel) with a background in troubleshooting and reading a diagram . #98856565 . email : hr@wadibaad.com Crane Hydraulic Mechanic : experienced with Mobile Cranes and should have knowledge with troubleshooting and hydraulic system diagnosis . Contact : 98856565 . email : hr@wadibaad.com

SIT.WANTED ACCOUNT. & FINANCE Indian male age 26, Accountant one year experience in accounts looking for suitable job. Contact Email: Anishkhan991867@gmail.Com Mobile: +968 9565 9415 Qualified and experienced MBA post graduate with proven work exposure in Middle East & India, having more than 5.5 years of rich experience in accounts , project coordination and administration in (3.5 years UAE experience) oil and gas projects is currently looking for suitable job.

Contact 93953613, Email allen.mathew83@gmail.com Chief Accountant well experienced with reputed group available for immediate joining.

Contact : 98803439 / 97413784.

Chief / Senior Accountant having 12 years of Oman experience seeks suitable position.

Contact: 97385562 Indian Accountant M.Com, 3 years experience in Oman, with valid NOC & driving license looking for a suitable position in accounts & sales.

Contact: 94744575 Indian male qualification MBA Finance Marketing experience 2 years express visa seeking for placement, presently on express visa. Contact: 93991882 Accountant, Indian female, B.Com Graduate 1 & half year experience up to finalization in tally with reporting knowledge, pursuing ACCA, having valid GCC D/L. Contact: 95373751 Accountant, Indian male, with 6 years experience up to finalization in tally with reporting knowledge and good knowledge of payroll, having valid driver’s license, with NOC. Contact: 94035577 Email: azu090@gmail.com 25 years, Pakistani male with a qualification of BBA (Hons) & valid Omani driving license looking for suitable job in Muscat.

Contact: 93557510 Part time Accountant up to finalization audit & assignments.

Contact: 91126314 Indian male M.Com, PGDCA, 10 years of experience in Oman as Senior Finance Executive good experience in finance and accounts looking for suitable placement with reputed organizations.

Contact: 95392251 BBA finance 2 years experience as Accountant 6 months experience Assistant Marketing offer looking for jobs in accounts and marketing. Contact: 90291297 BBA finance fresh Graduate knowledge of accounting balance sheet income statement, tally, advance, excel looking for jobs accountant. Contact: 93150918 Indian male 28 Accountant / Senior Audit Associate ACCA finalist having 6 years experience in Accounting upto finalization currently on visit visa. Contact: 95193650 or 99078853 Accountant 8Years Experience with D/L and NOC. Contact 97712084

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE Male Accountant M.Com (Accounts & finance) having 3 years experience in accounts looking for suitable job on visit visa. ontac: 94648575 IND female 12 years exp in Banking, Insurance customer service Secretarial skills analysis communication, client handling, coordination, Team handling, qualification, M.COM looking for suitable position currently on visit visa. Contact: 95166496 Indian CA, male 34yrs, 14+ Yrs exp. in A/Cs, finance, auditing, consultancy & knows SAPB1, Tally ERP. Oman D/L .Currently in Oman. NOC available. PLZ contact: 94704800, Email: omanjobca@gmail.com.

Indian male 25 yrs, Graduate in commerce, overall 5 yrs exp in accounts/ finance field. On visit visa.

Immediately available.

Contact 92836216 / muhammad.tausif623@gmail.com SENIOR ACCOUNTANT-M. Com Finance-Indian with 7 years experience in Finance & Accounts up to Finalization. Currently employed in Oman. Having D/L & NOC. Mob: 94122464, cammk13@gmail.com 28/male/MBA - finance/B.Com Accountant with 4 years of Dubai/ India experience looking for a suitable placement.Contact 90187483 shobinkarikkan1987@gmail.com Part time Sr. Accountant with 19 yrs experience in Accounts, finance, Audit Tax Management.

Contact: 95857199 Male B.Com Graduate Assist.

Accountant with 2 years experience in Accounting administration.

Contact: 94736742 Indian male 36 (M.Com) 10 +2 yrs IND / Oman experience, expert in Accounts upto finalization looking for accounts or sales, NOC available. Contact: 90389456 Email: mns.muscat@gmail.com A Graduate of Alexandria in Accounting has freelance interior designing, experience in different design programs & recorded projects achievements, willing to join suitable job for his qualification and talents. Contact: +201003966769 Oman: 99602608 C/o Osman.

Email: shadyhenaawy@gmail.com A Graduate of Alexandria Mechanical Power Engineering and certified International Procurement Manager CIPM basics of supply chain management BSCM - APICS seeking suitable job for his Qualifications. Contact: 20 01222399139 Oman 99602608 C/O Osman Email: samer_ henawy@hotmail.com Indian male 7 years experience as Accountant in Oman having Oman driving license looking for job, currently in Oman. NOC available. Contact: 92859733 Email: parthasarathy67@gmail.com Sudanese Accountant, Alexandria University Graduate bachelor of commerce Diploma of Marketing professional photographer worked in PR and social media for 2 years looking for a job in public relations media, social media or marketing.

Contact: 96976240 Accountant available with NOC, 7 years experience in Oman.

Ready to join immediately.

Contact 98263394 Indian male , 29 B.com ICWA (pursuing) 7 years experience in accountant / audit with valid Omani D/L seeking for suitable placement, NOC available.

Contact: 94706954 Email: ajurn33@gmail.com ACCA member with 6 yrs of experience in Oman looking for a suitable job in finance.

Contact: 99284193 Indian female MBA in finance currently on visit visa seeking suitable placement in Accounts / HR / Admin. Contact: 92896110 Email: anoopodiyan@gmail.com 36 years, male with M.Com Finance having 15 yrs of insurance & banking experience in India, on visit visa for 15 Days seeks suitable jobs. Contact 91159284 / 99429589 Indian male 34 Yrs, Dual MBA Finance and marketing with IT skills, 7+ yrs of experience, Looking for suitable placement. contact 94879615,Emailsajan_chacko1981@yahoo.com

ADMIN Indian male, 10 yrs exp seeks placement in Off Coordination, HR, Admin, Customer service, on visit visa. Contact: 95762646 With 15 years of Gulf experience in HR / Admin / logistics looking for suitable position. Fluent in Arabic / English with D/L. Contact: 95824598 Indian male, 20 years experience in Oman as personal assistant / office manager / executive secretary / administrator / business development assistant looking for a change. holding Omani driving license. local release available.

Contact 99168054 Lady Expat looking for full time job with visa. Interested fields are Admin, teaching, HR, back office.

Contact: 91739424 Email: jinsijobs@gmail.com A Young dynamic post Graduate with 10 years experience of Office Administration cum transport in charge in Oman to manage large fleet of PDO / Non PDO vehicles in addition having experience of managing the labor camp and staff with their mess valid Omani D/L. Contact: +968 - 92700274 Email: naqvi8084@gmail.com Filipino HRD especialist / material controller supervisor with 18 yrs experience looking for suitable job in Oman. Contact: (+968) 98037142 / (+968) 92659817 Indian Female, MBA-HR having 8+ experience in Administration/ HR, Customer Support, Office Coordinator with good Computer skill, Now on Visit Visa,looking for suitable position. Contact: 90196235 Indian looking for customer service, purchase front office Admin 5 years experience in UAE. Contact: 91744032

DRIVER Light driver looking for job exp 2 years in Oman. Contact: 91929556 Light driver looking for job.

Contact: 96798075 Looking for light driving job 2 yrs exp. Contact: 91625977

DESIGNER/DRAUGHTSMAN Architectural Draftsmen diploma in construction technology with 6 years experience in drafting and detailing as per British standard in Oman with valid Omani license looking for suitable opportunity Noc available. Call 94375897.

Revit, Autocad D/man, expected salary 200 OMR PH :92279784 Filipino Senior Revit/AutoCAD Draftsman with 20 years professional experience is looking for suitable job in Oman.

Please Contact: 96489798, (+974) 66653780.

EDUCATION/TRAINING Female B. Ed English teacher, 7 yrs exp seeking suitable placement. Contact : 99739415 / 92091528 Teacher Female , Phd in Chemistry having 3.5 yrs of Experience in India. Staying here on Family Visa & seeking for a suitable placement.

Contact – 99675828, Email Anupam.tiwari67@gmail.com

ENGG. / TECH./MECH. Indian male 26 B.Tech Civil Engineer 3 year’s 8 months Experience at building construction. In Oman 2 year’s experience N.O.C available seeking suitable placement Contact : 97396269 Email : usmanshaik42@gmail.com

Young Omani male have experience 12 years as P.R.O, CLERK Helper Supervisor Admin Supervisor, H.R Manager have diploma in H.S.E, IT and P.D.O license, looking for H.R position or P.R.O part time or full time. Contact: 95933288

An Iraqi civil with more than 30 years experience in (Iraq and G.C.C) looking for a job, (N.O.C) available. Contact: 96561306 Email: iq.bgd.mnsr@gmail.com

DRIVER

Indian male, Mechanical Engineer having 1year experience, on visit visa looking for suitable job. Contact:97416564, Email:jovinmathias@gmail.com

Light vehicle driver 6 years in Oman. Contact: 94260369 / 94035746 Light Duty Driver seeks placement. Contact: 96250185 Looking for Office driving job in Muscat, have been driving in Muscat for 7 years & known all the fluent speaking in Arabic, English com join work immediately.

Contact: 99640986 Email: sheka786@gmail.com Bangladeshi driver want job.

Contact 93822195 Bangladeshi male light vehicle driver 15 yrs Kuwait exp & 3 yrs Oman exp looking for job.

Contact: 98440049 Male 3 years have experience in driving. Contact: 96457875 Indian light driver having 2 years experience in Oman know language English, Hindi, Arabic need job. Contact: 97366822 Looking for driving job or transportation job, have Nissan Sunny 2012 model. Contact: 97224035 Light duty driver Pakistani seeks placement. Contact: 97762974 Indian light driver looking for job.

Contact: 99089441 Driver LTV computer opt store keeper office boy, shop keeper.

Contact: 94801189 12 years experience driver with Pajero 2015 GLS V6 3.5L need job.

Contact: 97798368 GCC experienced Driver 10 years requires suitable placement.

Contact: 94801679 Experienced driver available 20 years in Oman.

Contact: 99040186 Driver with car.

Contact:91362320 Looking for job as light vehicle driver 5 years experience.

Contact: 92640278 8 years experience in driving heavy D/L (PDO) H2S. Contact: 92091528

Civil Engineer 8 years experience in Oman as a project engineer for governmental & private projects.

Contact – 90164912 Quantity Surveyor (Civil) 11 years with Omani driving license, local release available. Contact: 95719108 Sudanese Mechanical Engineer +13 years experience in heavy equipments maintenance experience in Oil field. Contact 96583270 Electrical B.E.C Engineer Pakistani male 24 years looking for a job. Contact: 94049812 / 92958112 Electrical & Electronics Engr, knows autocad & revit.

PH: 93837973 Electrical Engineer having 16 years experience in switchgear / transformer / over head lines & trading for sales / procurement & project execution with valid Omani D/L. Contact: +968 95994727 Email: qurm340@gmail.com Sr. Electrical Engineer with17+ yrs of exceptional exp in spear heading strategic planning and project management initiatives & executing various high rise residential & commercial building as well as roads and highway project with proficiency in installation, seeking a challenging position in a dynamic organization. Contact 96570891 Electrical Engineer Indian male 30 years, having 5 years of experience in industrial automation & utility maintenance in Indian (MRF Tyres) holding valid Oman D/L. Contact: 92789995 Email: akhilabrahamlktr@gmail.com Indian male B-tech 8 years experience as senior electrical project engineer / QC engineer on visit visa seeks suitable placement.

Contact 94094543 Email: anwar425@gmail.com Pakistani male Diploma Civil Engineer 4yrs exp in Oman bulling & mega projects, valid license Oman.Contact:98921022 Site Supervisor, Diploma in Civil Engg (cert attested) knows autocad revit, salary exp: 250 Ph : 92279784

S AT U R DAY, M AY 7, 2 0 1 6

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DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED Mechanical Engineer & Project Manager Sudanese 29 yrs, more than 3 yrs experience in Mining Company, Profession:Production & manufacturing, safety, fire fighting designing, Engineering Management, sales – Muscat, Oman.

Contact 968 93642704, Email : mohamedfdl87@gmail.com

Sales & Marketing specialist

Indian male, 25 yrs, Accountant, 2.5 yrs in Finance & Accounts, MBA Finance & HR, exposure in SAP, Tally, ERP 9 on visit visa.

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

Contact 96715420 / 91265020, Email : jijosrgo@gmail.com, simonjosephjc@gmail.com

ENGG. / TECH./MECH. Procurement Coordinator Indian male 30 yrs B.Com (computers) 4 years experience in Saudi Arabia in Construction Company, looking for any suitable position on visit visa till 15 May 16.

Contact: 0968-98590811 Email: ibrahimhashmi220@gmail.com Indian female Mech. Engineer with 1 & half years experience looking for suitable placement.

Interested in Sales & Marketing also. Contact: 94743992 Email: selveena054@gmail.com Indian female B.Tech (Civil) looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 93480346 Email: deepasajish@gmail.com Electrical Engineer 5.5 years experience and 2 years Gulf experience. Valid GCC driving license ph:+968-95527936 Civil Engineer diploma, 4 yrsexp seeks suitable position ina reputed company. NOC available.

Contact 96789711 Mechanical Engineer (Indian male, 24 years) with three years experience looking for suitable job.

Currently on visit visa, ready to join immediately.

Contact: 92175441 Email: ihabeeb24@gmail.com B.E Mechanical Engineer, age 24 with almost 1 year experience as Production Shift Engineer, has achieved training on HVAC Engineering design and has good hands on software like AutoCAD and HAP.Currently in Oman on a visit visa, looking for a suitable placement.Contact: 95065955 email: mjs.jazeb@gmail.com Construction Machinery repairs Engineer, 5 years, driving license, 94001961 Electrical Engineer experience 9 years in Oman. Contact: 98148034 Indian male civil Engineering Diploma holder, 31 years, 4 years experience in Oman, 2 years in road division looking for placement. N.O.C available.

Contact: 93298395 Architect Engineer bachelor Sudanese 7 years experience in building and construction and design (AutoCAD – Archicad) Contact: 95140464 Indian 14 yrs exp SR MEP – Elect Engg with NOC, searching suitable job, in field PMC, Fire consultants , Testing & com, project supervision.

Contact: 92437865 Email: maimran.mtech@live.com Indian 24 yrs exp SR civil Engg with NOC, searching suitable job, in any project Supervision.

Contact: 96602718 mishteyaqh@yahoo.co.in Indian female diploma Architecture having 5 years exp in Engineering consultancy in Oman seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 96683293 18 years experienced Civil Engineer with NOC looking for suitable opportunities in Contracting companies - Nationality Indian immediately available.

Contact: 92855910 Email: jk2_anu@yahoo.co.in Mechanical Engineer (UK), having 4 yrs exp in the field of technical, sales & maintenance Engineer seeking suitable placement having valid Oman D/L& NOC is also available. Contact: +968 97612297 Email: ymirza11@caledonian.ac.uk Telecommunication Engineer Sudanese male having 3 years for experience in Telecom RF3 optical fiber seeks for job.

Contact: 91403123 Email: alrsheed88@hotmail.com

with 16 yrs experience in Oman in MNC retails telecom lubes construction related industry handled various projects, holding valid Oman driving license, release available.

Contact 96960991

Civil Engineer 8 years experience Structural buildings marine.

Available NOC release.

Contact: 92451323.

Email: zubairali134@yahoo.com Indian male Electrical Engineer, having 6 years gulf experience in designing, assembling, commissioning execution etc having valid GCC license too looking for a suitable. Contact: 00968-98052942 Email: azamjeelani78@gmail.com HSE Engineer (B.E Mech+Diploma Safety+NEBOSH+OSHA) over 10yrs. Exp, (Visa Release Letter (NOC) available), seeking suitable placement, Mob:97061817, Email:jayanammu1977@gmail.com B.E Mechanical Engineer, Indian male 34 years, having 10+ years experience in MEP building construction field (HVAC, Firefighting and Plumbing) with Omani D/L. NOC available.

96978380;prajithks@gmail.com Civil Engineer (B.Tech), Indian male 24 years with 1+years Indian experience,(Certified in Staad Pro/ Quantity Survey/ Auto Cad).

Looking for a Suitable position.

Available In Sultanate of Oman (Muscat) on Visit Visa.

Contact 92835952. E-mail: mohammedamair.bin@gmail.com Telecom Engineer Sudanese male having 4 years experience in telecom RF 3 optical fiber looking for job. Contact: 95614243 Email: rshe0029@gmail.com AutoCAD Draughtsman Indian male 8 years exp Civil, Interior, precasting, GCC driving license.

Contact: 95685028 Email: vimalg.kannur@gmail.com Civil Engineer experience March 2013 to July 2015.

Contact: 91034688 Indian male (Kerala) 24 yrs, B.E Civil Engineer, residing in Oman on visit visa looking for suitable placement. Contact: 92724814 / 99473131 Geologist position Pakistani male 27 years applied Geology looking for any Geologist position in any oil & gas construction or mining company in Oman on 1 month visit visa of Oman, experience total of 2 years. Contact: 96390458 Email: gulfamhussain17@gmail.com A/C Tech with Electrician and plumber looking for maintenance job, have D/L. Contact: 95308363 Pakistani male 48 yrs Diploma electrical technician with 21 yrs exp . Contact : 98262600, Email: muhammedakram41@gmail.com Diploma in Civil Engineer with 5 yrs experience in Oman seeking a suitable job N.O.C available.

Contact: 93630296 / 93264828 Sudanese Civil Structure Engineer 3 years looking for job in reputable company AutoCAD, Etabs, Staad Pro Omani driving license available. Contact: 97906770 Quantity Survey works part time / freelance (civil).

Contact: 95719108 Mechanical Engineer (B.Tech) Indian male with 1 year experience looking for job, qualification in Qa-Qc, HVAC & piping engineering.

Contact 90510800, Email : muhammedjaseem07@gmail.com Civil Engineer diploma 3 years Sudanese National experience 4 years at construction sites.

Contact: 91183608 Telecommunication Engineer 35 years experience with Omantel company, Hindi , English & Arabic.

Contact: 91204243 / 94372096 / 99751612 5 years experience in supply chain (warehouse logistics) procurement. Contact: 90644186 Indian male, Structural Engineer looking for job in structural design field. Having 6 years of experience in design field. Residing in Muscat.

Contact: 91176187 syam036@gmail.com

INDIAN MALE, MARKETING & HR SPECIALIST, 25 yrs, Master degree with 2 yrs of experience both HR & Marketing, now on visiting visa.

Contact 96972939 / 96096723 Email : lijubn@gmail.com, jerrin007@gmail.com

IT B.E (CSE) Graduate Indian male 25 years with 3 years experience in IT field, seeking suitable placement currently on visit visa.

Contact: 91228492 Email: ajishanish@gmail.com Sudanese IT Developer with 2 years experience.

Contact: 94360181 5 years of experience in the post of Networking Engineer holding (CCNA – MCITP) Very good in Arabic & English valid driving license.

Contact: 99813988 IT support MCSA Network Virtualization 1 year exp.

Contact: 98207829 B.Tech Information Technology with one year experience in I.T field looking for job on visit visa.

Contact: 92312978, Email : quazi13026nehal@gmail.com IT Support Engineer, Exp 3 years in Oman 2 years in India.

Contact: 94672759 B.Tech (IT) experience in Networking server & desktop management in corporate environment looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 92954613 Indian female M.Sc Computer Science seeking suitable placement in Muscat area.

Contact: 98660672 Female 24 yrs, 3 years in IT programmer now in Oman looking for suitable job. Contact: 96350234

MANAGER Young Dynamic MBA Post-Grad with 2 yrs exp as Procurement officer at Muscat & 3 yrs exp in Marketing-Interior construction in India with NOC and Driving License. Mob 98238260.

Manager Indian experience FMCG Company & supply chain logistics solid organizational skills looking suitable position currently on express visa. Contact: 98826074

MISCELLANEOUS Indian Female, 24 Years - MSc Biotechnology. Worked in International Crops Research Institute For The Semi Arid Tropics for project work as trainee. Looking for suitable job. Mobile: 92619048, Email: anusreeg1991@gmail.com Operations Coordinator Indian Male 27 ,5 Years Exp call:90649152 Filipino Male, 28 years Old. Looking for job, Have experience in Rent a Car/ Cargo & Logistics / Real Estate/ Customer Care Executive / Sale Executive & Marketing/ Shop In- Charge with driving license, w/ good computer and communication skill.

GSM: 97761075 Male having visa, 3 years in Oman with valid D/L seeks suitable placement. Contact: 95453393 Indian female master degree one year experience seeking suitable placement in any field.

Contact: 97792820 Email: pnjli.1991@gmail.com BS in Electrical Engineering, Experience: 5 years(Power Plants).

Contact: 92475206 Email: zahaibzafar007@gmail.com Indian male, 28, post graduate, 6+ yrs exp in Oman in sales (back office) & credit control with valid Oman D/L looking for suitable placements. NOC available.

Contact: 920 66 523

MEDICAL Female Indian MOH licensed dentist looking out for job opportunities in Nizwa. Has 14 yrs experience as dentist after graduation.

Can be contacted on 93329964 Sudanese female Medical Laboratory specialist with M.S.C in hematology, 3 years experience seeking for suitable job.Contact: 97996545

Sr. Sales & Marketing Specialist Indian male, Diploma Engineer with BBA & 16 yrs experience in Oman, worked with MNC in retail (Telecom/ Lubricant sales) and with construction industry handling various products & subcontract projects.

Holding valid Oman D/L, NOC available.

Qualified Certified Management Accountant (CMA-USA) and cost and management accountant (ACMAIndia) with over 25 years experience in Sultanate of Oman in finance, banking and administration is seeking a suitable placement. NOC available.

An experienced Chartered Accountant With over 25 years in varied industries, presently working with a reputed group in Muscat, looking out for a suitable change.

Contact 96960991, Email : sunap1968@gmail.com

Contact 95986767

MANAGER, CIPD HR

SALES / MARKETING

MISCELLANEOUS

10 years ICT Business development & project management exp in Oman looking for suitable senior position. Contact: 98987654

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT-M. Com Finance-Indian with 7 years experience in Finance & Accounts up to finalization. Having D/L & NOC. Mob:94122464, caammk13@gmail.com

With 13 years experience in GCC and Oman. Competent in Sales, Marketing, Business operation and administration.

Interested employer please call

97728418 SKILLED LABOUR MEDICAL Quality Analyst Medical Coding CPC ICD-10 testified qualification M.Sc biotechnology holding 4+ years of experience seeking suitable job, currently in India, age 27 yrs. Contact: +91 9500515933 Female Nurse passed Oman prometric and viva completed dataflow searching for vacancies preferably from Salalah region.

NOC available. Contact: 91737898

SALES / MARKETING Indian male 26 years looking sales & marketing job, having 2 years experience in Oman valid license & NOC available. Contact: 96155259 Indian 7 years experience in Hospitality Industry looking for customer service Indoor sales purchase front – office reception. Contact: 91744032 Indian male looking for jobs as driver storekeeper or salesman.

Contact: 93925621 MBA (Marketing) Sales & Marketing Executive with 4 years of experience in Sales & Business Development in FMCG sector is looking for best opportunity in Muscat at present available in Muscat on visit visa.

Mail: akbarshareef786@gmail.com, GSM: 95840153.

Indian male BBA in Marketing & finance have 3 years work experience in Oman with driving license seeking for suitable placement.

Contact: 96007885 Indian male 12 yrs experience in sales & administration seeks suitable placement. Contact: 97205114 Sudanese in Oman bachelor in Business Management & diploma in Sales & Marketing with experience seeking for a job.

Contact: 93909910 Looking for job in shop, 6 years experience. Contact 96001823 Indian male, M. Tech (CS), MBA Marketing, 25 years experience, Country Manager, seeks suitable placement valid D/L, NOC available. Contact: 92279972 Pakistani male, Graduate over 9 years experience in Procurement, Warehouse & Logistics, looking for suitable placement currently on visit visa. Contact: 968 91257663 , waqasmehar1@gmail.com Procurement / Estimation male 15 years experience in Oman working with reputed company seeks suitable placements. N.O.C available.

Contact: 93508898 Email: reghunair01@gmail.com D/L, NOC available looking for salesman job, 1 year experience.

Contact: 91210380 Senior Sales Executive, 10Yrs Exp, India seeking immediate job.

Contact #+968 98444359, +91 9880637906.

E: ahmed.shabbirsyed@gmail.com 35 years male, Lebanese holding British passport, 10 years of experience in procurement, Omani Government tenders, setup marketing plans & strategies, importing, Organizing events, management, have car, NOC available.

Contact 94123939 Email: 002015r@gmail.com Indian male 37 years MBA graduate in marketing with 9yrs of experience in UAE in field of brand promotions & marketing with UAE D/L on a visit seeking suitable position. Conatct 95792820 10 yrs experience in Oman in logistics / purchase have Oman D/L looking for suitable placement.

Contact 96410767. email :harishkts@yahoo.com

Electrician looking for a job, 6 years experience. Contact: 96001823

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE Looking for part time job Secretarial / Data Entry / Documentation available every day after 5:00 pm Friday / Saturday full day area preferred Ruwi/ CBD/ MBD / Al Khuwair. Contact: 90414827

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE Filipina, looking for an administrative job with experience in Law office and Logistic planning.

91384939/ 91961348, nadia.navelgas@gmail.com Lady Secretary / Sales Co-coordinator 12 years experience in Oman in reputed companies, seek immediate Employment.

Call: 95244761

MISCELLANEOUS Light Duty Driver, Fluent in English, Arabic. Well knowledge of Oman Areas looking for suitable placement.

Contact 97950869 Indian male 34 years MBA finance & marketing 7 years experience in India accounts & Administration, currently in Muscat on family visa. Contact: 98104991 Email: sureshkr01@gmail.com Indian male, network cabling technician (19 years Gulf experience) seeking for suitable placement. NOC available. Contact : 0091-8089909265 (India), E mail: mohithavp@gmail.com Indian male 26 years, Graduate in BBM & having Diploma in Logistics with 3 years of experience in Banking and Accounts looking for suitable placement. Contact : + 968 97166820/ +91 9895102356 Email :afsalrahman1989@gmail.com Indian male,B.Com + Dip. Logistic 2year experience looking for a job in Accounts/Logistics Field.

Presently on Visit Visa Mobile: 93884951, Email:mehreenraiz@gmail.com Indian male, 40 Years, B. Com, having 10 years experience in Oman, Tally & ERP- looking for suitable placement ( NOC and Oman driving license available) Tel- +91 89 43 109897 Rajeev. 252002@gmail.com Indian female 10 years exp as cook in Oman. South Indian & Gujarati special looking for job, company or restaurant.

Contact 90559292 HSE Engineer, Indian male, 5.5 Plus years Experience in Oil & Gas Working in Shclumberger.

NEBOSH, IOSH, & NDT Certified, M Tech in HSE, CONTACTkrish.569@gmail.com, Mobile- +91 9867016808 Indian Male 30 year GCC driving license and past experience as project coordinator looking for a suitable position. Project Coordination, Sales Executive, Marketing Executive or any other suitable post. Contact number -97070427

Contact - 96491030

Software Engineer with 5 + plus years of experience in Infosys ltd on visit visa seeking suitable vacancy in oman. Email : steffyraphel@gmail.com mob: 96896246205 / 96897032284 Indian male, 24 yrs, B. Com Graduate more than 1 year experienced in accounts planning to come for a family visit in oman seeking for a suitable placement .

Contact : 99339544 / 99743709 A/C & Fridge Technician 25 years experience in Oman India seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 95680380 Indian Female looking for a part time opportunity (Graphic Design/ Teaching/Research Assistant/ Business Development/Administration) Contact: 95811820 or sankarikm06@gmail.com IT professional, B.E. in IT, CCNA, MCSA, MCSE, 3yrs exp. in IT, valid Omani D/L seeking suitable placement in IT/Network/Server support/Retail sales. #91496939.

Indian male, Fire & Safety Engineer having 1 year experience on visit visa looking for suitable job.

Contact: 95208305 Email: nirmalk558@gmail.com Indian female, 27 yrs, B.E (Telecom) with 3 yrs exp in IBM (India) as Senior Security Delivery Analyst. Now on family visa seeking for suitable position.

Contact: 95600437 Electrical & Electronics diploma engineer Indian male 22 years, 2 years experience currently in visit visa. Contact 93047707 adilm89@gmail.com Indian Female, 29 Yrs Age, M.Sc Microbiology, looking for Job any reputed organization / Hospitals, seeks suitable position.

Contact : 95218424 / 9610 6604.

On Family Residence Visa.

Indian male, M. Com with 3 yr Oman Exp in Accounts with valid NOC & D/L on Visit Visa, available to join immediately .

GSM :94744575 IT professional, B.E. in IT, CCNA, MCSA, MCSE, 3yrs exp. in IT, valid Omani D/L seeking suitable placement in IT/Network/Server support/Retail sales.

Contact 91496939.

Indian Male B-Com Graduate 1 year, experience in market survey, Valid Driving License, looking for any suitable post.

Contact: 92567020 / 96930392 Indian Female, M.Sc Computer Science, Seeking suitable placement in Muscat Area.

Contact : 98660672 Indian B-Com Graduate 1 year Experience in market survey, Valid Driving License, looking for any suitable post. Contact: 92567020 / 96930392, shwayanad@gmail. com Indian male, M. Com, 11 years experience in the field of accountancy and Stores. Good knowledge in SAP, Tally, oracle, MS office and Excel seeks suitable placement.

Contact 92859733

Tea boy looking for job Name: Man Bahadar Contact: 97859837

Senior Accountant, NOC available, more than 5 years exp., born & bought up in Oman, Accounting upto finalization, computer skills tally9, Sage ERP ACCPAC 500(6.0A), Vcams, Audit ,valid Oman driving license, languages known English, Arabic, Hindi. Can join immediately.

Tel: (+968) 96339599, E-mail(ahmedmohdkhan@gmail.com)

HSE Engineer,Indian male, 5.5 Plus years Experience in Oil & Gas Working in Shclumberger NEBOSH,IOSH, & NDT Certified, M Tech in HSE. CONTACTkrish.569@gmail.com Mobile- +91 9867016808

Indian male, M.Com, 7 years Oman experience in the field of accounts and valid oman driving license & NOC . Good knowledge in SAP, Tally, oracle, MS office and Excel seeks suitable placement.

Contact 92859733

Assistant Accountant - B.Com Graduate with excellent overall skills. 2 Years of experience. Ready for immediate joining.

Contact: sharonravi00@gmail. com, 968-92049215

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DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTED Looking for a part time accounting & admin job. Contact 99196621.

Indian male 42, BE-Civil 13 years experience in Road construction. looking for suitable placement. having valid Oman driving license.

Contact: 95225214, Email: Sudheerrokkala73@gmail.com Indian Male 28 years, Mechanical Engineer (Diploma) with 2 years’ experience, Automobile ITI NCVT, CSWI-BGAS Painting QC Grade-2, NDT Level-2, ISO Lead Auditor QA (IRCA), Piping QC & Isometric Drawings, WPS & WPQR, available on Visit Visa, looking for a suitable job.

Contact: 90653733, libinthomaslt@gmail.com Bachelor in Hotel Management Having 13 years experience in Catering Industry in all aspects of Operations with D/L looking out for a suitable placement.

Contact 90654826 Email: mailingsaikiran@gmail.com HSE Engineer, Indian male, 4 Plus years experience in Oil & Gas, Working in Shclumberger, NEBOSH,IOSH, & NDT Certified, M Tech in HSE. CONTACT-krish.569@gmail.com Mobile- +91 9867016808

Indian Female on a visit visa having master degree seeking suitable placement in any field, 1 ,5 year experience in HR .Contact 91467576.

The Business Development Manager, Iraqi, Exp. 15 Years Inside and outside Oman following activities: construction(Very strong and qualified to bringing business for civil work Or any type of the construction work for many million per year with a good experience in pricing and collect payment and cash flow & marketing projects & investments & tenders & real estate. #92385033 Indian female 27 yrs, Diploma in Aviation & Hospitality management, seeking suitable placement.

Curnetly in Oman, NOC Available.

Contact 94880684 Safety Officer 3 years of experience in safety certifications: BE (Electrical and Electronics Engineering),NEBOSH, OSH, DHSE, first aid. Contact +97474018995, email:midhunmich@gmail.com skype:midhunmike 9 yrs exp Site Engineer in Civil & Shade Structure. 2d, 3d draughtsman (HOLDING OMANI DRIVING LICENSE) seeking job.

Contact: 93790601

Indian with 3 years for experience in sales and marketing fluency in English, Arabic, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam looking for suitable job.

Also hold valid Driving License, currently in oman Mob : 93451439 Indian male network cabling technician (19-years Gulf experience) seeking for suitable placement.

Contact 0091-8089909265 (India), Email: mohithavp@gmail.com Indian female, MBA, Diploma in Aviation & Hospitality mgt (IATA), having 4 yrs of exp, on family visa seeks job in Oman.

Contact-9910 4529, 95679557, e-mail-jkramya91@gmail.com 27 years old Indian male looking hospitality jobs in Hotel. Experience in customer service, front desk, housekeeping supervisor, captain, cashier,guest relation manager.

Contact. +968-90351742Email. samubaid6@gmail.com Indian male, 26 years old BA Graduate having 1 year experience in accounts finance field. Looking for suitable Job On visit visa immediately available.

Contact. 9565 9415 anishkhan991867@gmail. com

LAND SURVEYOR: Male, more than 12 years’ experience in land/ pipe line surveying in Oman and UAE. Looking for suitable placement. NOC available.

Contact 91215843 ELECTRONICS ENGINEER Indian/ male/24Yrs,Bsc.Electronics & Communications,ITI,1.7 Years experience as Service Technician in India, on visit Visa, looking For a Suitable Placement.

Contact :92794176 , E-mail: prathyushkp9@gmail.com 27 yearsold Indianmale looking Jobs in documents Collection executive.Experience in collection executive. Contact. +968-90358068 Email wasimsaif04@gmail.com ELECTRONICS ENGINEER Indian/ male/24Yrs,Bsc.Electronics & Communications,ITI,1.7 Years experience as Service Technician in India. On visit Visa, Looking For a Suitable Placement.

Contact :92794176, E-mail:prathyushkp9@gmail.com Pakistani male 23 years old experience in travel agency - ticketing looking for a suitable job, NOC available.

Contact: 93253759

Indian male physiotherapist with 3 years of experience, with (moh license and NOC available. seeking suitable placement.

Contact 99767528, 91317863 HSE Engineer, Indian male, 4 Plus years exp. in Oil & Gas, Working in Shclumberger, NEBOSH, IOSH, & NDT Certified, M Tech in HSE. #krish.569@gmail.com, Mobile- +91 9867016808 Indian Male, 40 Years, B. Com, having 10 years experience in Oman, Tally &ERP- looking for suitable placement ( Local release and Oman driving license available. Tel- 92469789 14 years experienced light driver with valid Oman license looking for suitable job. Contact 99442481

ELECTRONICS TECHNICIAN Indian/male/24Yrs,Bsc.Electronics & Comm,1.7 Years experience as Service Engineer in India. On visit Visa, Looking For a suitable placement. Contact : 92794176 E-mail:prathyushkp9@gmail.com Indian male Executive Secretary having vast experience in admin, logistics & procurement well versed with computer seeks suitable placement. #99514286 Indian male Kerala, B.com & B.PE. Currently on visit visa, looking for a suitable job in Accounts, Store keeper etc. Ready to join as early as possible. Contact:-93301023, email:- sajith3969@gmail.com

Electrical diploma Engineer Indian male 22 years, 2 years experience in control panel contact 93047707 adilm89@gmail.com

NOC available, Indian Male - MBA (HR) and B.E (E.I.E) with total 9 years of experience in HR & Admin and Business Development (3 yrs of Gulf exp.) can join immediately # 91240251 /kvaradhan@hotmail.com

Indian Male 42 year’s, MBA, Sr. Material controller having 12 years experience in Oman with reputed companies. Having Oman driving License, Seeks suitable replacement immediately. Available NOC. Cont. 00968-92944026, Email – charanjeet35@yahoo.co.in

Indian Male 42 year’s, MBA, Sr. Material controller having 12 years experience in Oman with reputed companies. Having Oman driving License, Seeks suitable replacement immediately. Available NOC. Cont. 00968-92944026, Email – charanjeet35@yahoo.co.in

SITUATION WANTED SERVICES

CATERING SERVICES

SITUATION WANTED EDUCATION/CLASSES/COMP./WEB.

We do industrial catering service, Canteen / mess, 3 times packed meals and all types of catering events.

Contact: 92188777 / 99249899 Pest control & Building cleaning all kinds of pest control building. Cleaning tiles / Marble polishing monthly/ Yearly contracts available.

Contact: 98814733 /98814740 Al Husn Cleaning L.L.C

Split unit & window unit A.C servicing & maintenance.

Contact: 96236476 Split unit & widow unit A.C servicing & maintenance.

Contact: 95323517 / 93769089 Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles polishing, carpet shampooing, maintenance. Contact ABU QABAS- 99320217 /24788722

SERVICES We Provide Cleaners, Office boys, Cleaning Contracts, General cleaning etc.

Al Mudakhir National Est. LLC Contact : 94277020

CAD drawings Archi/ MEP CAD – comply BIM. Contact: 91233975 House Shifting Packing.

Contact: 99657644 / 98518013

MANPOWER Split & window A/c installation & maintenance specialist package & ducted units. Contact 98667326

Spoken Arabic class for Non Arabic Speakers & English class for Malayalam Speakers

in Azaiba and Ruwi

• Learn in two months • Satisfaction guaranteed

Tel: 95244310

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing, Contact 99314807/24792998 A/C Maintenance & Servicing, Fridge, Washing machine & Dish washer repairing, Painting & Cleaning services, Electrical & plumbing.

Contact 99447257 / 97014234 / 24504281

Wanted partner handover 20% to 30% running building Construction Company. Contact: 97491117

Service & maintenance of split & window A/C. Contact: 95273713

Karate and self defense classes at Azaiba 18 Nov Street. RO 10 per month twice a week Monday and Tuesday 6. 30 TO 7. 30. PM. Contact: 98294551

We do building maintenance all kind of works. Contact 99247663

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

Water proofing ABUQABASContact 99320217/24788722 Al farzdaq Al Fedi Trad and Cont Maintenance services electric, plumbing and A/C. Contact: 96524904 /94285064

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your marble. contact 24793614/ 99314807 Pest control treatments, Ocean center LLC Contact 99344723

Window & split unit A.C servicing & repairing. Contact: 99557080 Split & window A/c servicing & maintenance. Contact 93769089 / 95323517 House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

House shifting. Contact 99708138 Marble crystallization & grinding, cleaning & carpet shampooing.

Ocean center LLC. Contact 99344723 Muscat Driving School established for over 15 years drive safe with MDS. Meet our professional friendly Instructor.

Contact: 99773651 / 95840670 Sohar 26844412 Ruwi / Darsait 24781123 MGM 24399951 AL Khudh 24536348 Marble crystallization & grinding, Ocean center LLC Contact: 99344723

All MEP & Civil shop drawings.

Contact : 93070771 Email : designjob2014@gmail.com Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile polishing, pest control & anti-termite treatment, general cleaning painting,Plumbing, Electrical, shifting. Contact Mundhir Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C. Contact: 24810137, 99450130 Complete building maintenance Midawa Trading Est. Contact: 94614479 Split A/C servicing R.O 10 only.

Contact: 94217681 /99210141

TRANSPORTATION Transportation available in Ruwi, MSQ, Al Azaiba, Al Hail, Al Khoud area. Contact: 94297820 Transportation. Contact:91310107 Picking and drop Al Khuwair to Rusayl. Contact 91287470 / 98957524 Transportation available Ruwi to Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.

Contact: 91103909 Transportation. Contact: 95190627

S AT U R DAY, M AY 7, 2 0 1 6

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DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED CARGO

TOURS

Moon Travel L.L.C

Saudi Arabian Government approved agent

Umrah Package by Road & Air Bus Departures- Apr 19, May 03, 17 & 31.2016 Ramadan Schedule - Jun 06, 10, 14, 18, 22, 26 & 30.2016 Contact: Tariq Al Balushi - 99218069 Ahmed Maseehuddin - 99353611, Oĸce: 24790746/24706217

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain Marine Tours contact 98029602, 92808636 We arrange tours & accommodation at all the beautiful places in Oman.

Contact 99839898

SITUATION WANTED BUSINESS

RENT A CAR

WEB, ERP and Business Intelligence (BI) creation and management at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman Investment opportunity for lucrative building and decorative product. Contact: 99421513 Email: borderlineomn@gmail.com

MATRIMONIAL Invite alliance for Sunni Muslim Urdu girl B.E, M.B.A 25 years 5.1” fair, Tamil Nadu India.

Contact: 99502581 Parent of Thrissur based Hindu Ezhava girl aged 20, Slim,Atham star, Studying for B. Pharm seeking alliance from well employed Graduates, preferably in Engineering Contact :96425102 Keralite RC boy 35 / 184 working as 3D Animator and Graphics designer in Salalah.

Contact: 92936076 / 95605527 Indian male Roman Catholic 40yrs divorcee working in Muscat.

Seeks suitable alliance from widow/ divorcee/ single.

Contact 96059801.

25 - 50 seater bus with PDO & BP specification for monthly rent & small car with driver.

Contact: 99839898

Required partner investor to build an apartment in Al Mobelah.

Contact: 99355330

MATRIMONIAL Malankara Catholic Male Nurse (28) from Thiruvalla working in Nizwa Private Co. Alliance invites parents/nurses working in Oman.

Contact 968 98267338, 0091 9287215726

TRANSPORTATION Transportation required from Qurum to WadiKabir at afternoon only 1 PM. Contact - 99012165 Transportation. Contact 99508282 Transportation. Contact 92015894

GOOD NEWS Ayurvedic treatment for joint pain, backache, paralysis, massage, steambath, obesity, Spondylitis, Ideal Care Ayurvedic Clinic, 18 November Street, Azaiba.

Contact: 99639695 / 97397320 Ayurvedic treatment for backache, paralysis, arthritis etc & massage, All Season (Vaidyaratnam). Contact: 24475280 / 95371664 / 2504980 www.siddhayur.com FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know more about Islam, please call: 99425598, 99250777, 99353988, 99253818, 99341395, and 99379133. For ladies: 99415818, 99321360, 99730723 Orvisit:www.islamfact.com

RENT A CAR Best Rates for Saloon Contact: 97869042 / 95730550 sales@modernreem.com

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S AT U R D AY, M AY 7, 2 0 1 6

DAILY GUIDE

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

SITUATION WANTED DINING DELIGHTS

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624