Times of Oman - June 7, 2015

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SUNDAY, June 7, 2015 / 19 Sha’aban 1436 AH

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Will two-year ban on NOC drop to one year?

As some firms are allegedly misusing the rule and holding expats to ransom, the OCCI is leading talks for the review of the two-year visa ban

FAHAD AL GHADANI

fahadnews@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Talks aimed at changing the controversial two-year country ban on expatriates trying moving job without a no objection certificate (NOC) are being held by the Oman Chamber of

Commerce and Industry (OCCI), Oman’s trade union and the Ministry of Manpower.

The OCCI is leading the talks after some of its members called for the review of the two-year visa ban, which doesn’t allow expat workers to switch jobs without an NOC from the current employer.

“The OCCI is holding talks with the ministry and the trade union to make the two-year visa ban

more flexible,” said Mohammed Hassan Al Ansi, vice-chairman of the Committee of Logistics and Transportation Affairs at the OCCI, and added that the rule could see some changes.

Al Ansi stressed that the ministry should protect the rights of the expatriates.

“The rule should not target expatriates working in different positions. As an OCCI member, I feel

that the ban should be reduced to one year for expatriates in some positions, while the two-year ban should be retained for specific positions,” he said.

The ministry should find a way to shield expatriates as some companies are misusing the rule, he added.

“When one expatriate is paid less than someone in another company with the same qualifications and experience, the ministry should stand by the expatriate,” he said.

Stating that the ban should not generalise, Al Ansi said, “It helped control illegal trade in the Sultanate but not in the free market.

It also helped in moving nationals around in the private sector, but at the same time it impacted the expatriates, as some companies misused the situation and ignored their rights. This should change,” he noted.

On why the ban should be reduced to one year, he said, “It is

essential if one has to control illegal trade. Some of the expatriates come to Oman on work visas. In the process they develop contacts and gain experience through their companies. After one or two years, they convince some of the Omanis to sponsor them. They open their own companies and then start an illegal trade by paying a monthly sum to the sponsor,” he said.

He added that these expatriates even take away contracted employees from companies they have worked for earlier through their contacts.

“The illegal trade has truly affected the economy of the Sultanate and also the business of many companies, especially among the small or medium enterprises,” said Al Ansi.

Supporting the OCCI move, Ahmed Al Busaidi, a Majlis Al Shura member representing Manah, said the decisions made by the authorities in the recent past need to be reconsidered. >A6

INDIAN OFFICIALS

Gold seized in Mumbai on Jet’s flight from Oman REJIMON K

reji@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Gold bars worth OMR119,521 were seized by the Indian air intelligence unit (AIU) officials from a MuscatMumbai flight at Mumbai airport on Saturday morning.

A passenger has been arrested in this connection.

According to the officials, this is the largest seizure made so far this year.

“Acting on specific information, AIU officers rummaged and retrieved 8 kg of gold (8 bars of 1 kg each), worth OMR119,521 from the reverse of the waste bin flapper assembly in the two rear toilets of the Jet Airways 9W-539 Muscat-Mumbai,” said an AIU official. >A6 TOP THREE INSIDE STORIES

OMAN

Solve water crisis

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The current water shortage in Oman is not new and now it is entering a crisis level because authorities have simply lost control of the problem. >A4

O M R 7. 5 M I L L I O N P R O J E C T

Seeb aquarium tender soon ELHAM POURMOHAMMADI

elham@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Tender for the OMR7.5 million aquarium at Seeb harbour, the first of its kind in the Sultanate, is expected to be awarded later this year, said a senior official at the Petroleum Development Oman (PDO).

“We are in the final stages. The invitation for tenders has gone out, and we are getting a lot of interested parties. So we will be going to the Tender Board probably in the next six to eight weeks,” Raoul Restucci, PDO’s managing director, told the Times of Oman.

Hopefully, it will be awarded in

ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company

An artist’s impression of the aquarium.

September or in October, Restucci said on the sidelines of a graduation ceremony of a number of PDO scholars held at the Ministry of Oil and Gas last week.

According to him, the tender will be for the construction of

a vast majority of components and a few other elements will be awarded later.

The project will take around 15 months to complete and will be ready by the end of 2016, added the official.

It is a special “gift to the nation”, said Restucci, adding that the project is of high significance from the domestic and tourism point of view.

The PDO’s managing director had said earlier that the aquarium project will be the biggest ever “gift to the nation” by the company.

The project will include an educational centre and will be spread over 17,000 square metres. >A6

OMAN

Alawi meets UN envoy

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Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs, met special envoy of the UN chief to Yemen. >A5

INDIA

Fog to fulfill water needs of Dhofar

Delhi, Dhaka ink pacts

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India and Bangladesh inked 22 agreements, including on curbing human trafficking, smuggling of fake currency and setting up an Indian Economic Zone. >A10

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Fog water harvesting is very important not only in Oman but also in other regions in the world that would like to adopt the technology Prof Sabah Al Suleiman, Department of mechanical and industrial engineering, SQU

Fog water to fulfill Dhofar’s needs The plan could contribute to the quality of life in the mountain regions

TARIQ AL HAREMI tariqh@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Fog water harvesting project is being implemented to reduce the dependence on groundwater during the monsoon season in Dhofar, and use it as a backup supply for the locals.

Prof Sabah Al Suleiman, from the department of mechanical and industrial engineering in the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), initiated the project to explore collection of water from fog to provide water for domestic use and small-scale farming in the mountains of Dhofar. “We have developed residential type fog collectors to directly meet the needs of the inhabitants on the mountain and to decrease the abstraction of groundwater,” said Al Suleiman.

“The project has provided an additional source of water, which in turn has contributed significantly to the quality of the life of the people in the mountains,” she added.

The project titled ‘Fog water harvesting in the Dhofar Region of the Sultanate of Oman during Al-

FOG WATER HARVESTING: One of the actual fog collectors in foggy conditions established in Dhofar region.– Supplied photo

Khareef Season’ is a National Energy Globe Oman award winning scheme. This award is one of the most prestigious environmental competitions from Austria.

The technology of fog collection and low cloud is based on the tradition whereby the leaves of trees and plants trap droplets from coastal clouds, she explained.

Due to the scarcity of water, the project gives the Dhofar mountain residents the option of using fog water as an alternative to groundwater during the monsoon season.

Fog collection has the potential to reduce dependence on groundwater. “Water shortage is a reality in many parts of the world. Therefore, fog water harvesting is very important not only in Oman but also in other regions in the world that would like to adopt the technology,” said Al Suleiman.

When asked about any health issues related to fog water compared to natural groundwater, Al Suleiman said, “The quality of the fog water was tested and compared with the Omani domestic water quality standards.”

On plans to make a proposal

to the government, Al Suleiman explained that it was too early to do so simply because they have to study the three- month monsoon season and collect enough data to implement the project, which would take some time.

“The water will be collected from fog only for a period of three months. The results indicated the feasibility and applicability of this technology for collecting water in Dhofar Region only from June to September. Hence, the costs of storing fog water should be studied carefully as per the conditions in Dhofar. The economics should then be compared with the existing water supply costs before fog water technology can be adopted as an alternative water supply in Oman,” she explained.

I N T E R N AT I O N A L D AY

Focus on society’s role in fighting drug abuse, trafficking Times News Service MUSCAT: Under the theme ‘Your Life is much Important….

So Draw your Path’, the National Committee for Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (NCNPS) held a function to observe the upcoming International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Oman.

The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed every year on June 26 to draw the world’s attention to the efforts being exerted to eliminate drug addiction.

The event was held under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Said Al Kalbani, minister of social development, and attended

by Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Saidi, minister of health, NCNPS members, medical staff, social workers and psychologists.

The event also highlighted the

NCNPS efforts to curb the spread of this evil at all levels in society.

It also aims to familiarise the participants with the scourge, the harm it causes, the society’s role in combating it, and how the society can contribute to reducing the spread of drug abuse, as well as improving health, social and cultural awareness among individuals and the community. The organisers of the show said that drug abuse is a global concern that requires different yardsticks while dealing with it.

The event also included various agendas presented by the NCNPS, the Royal Oman Police (ROP), the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of Social Development.

In conclusion, the guests launched a societal competition by adopting community projects to combat drug abuse in the community.

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Safer bus system for Indian school New bus transport has features like IVMS, seat belts, emergency doors etc.

SAFETY FIRST: The transport system will be monitored to ensure

Times News Service MUSCAT: To provide a safe transport system for its students, the Indian School Darsait (ISD) has signed an agreement with private transport operator Sahban United LLC. The school will be implementing the school-approved and monitored private transport system from August 4 after the summer vacation.

Sahban United LLC has been awarded the contract through a tender process by the school management. “The school management committee, school administration and the transport governing body were instrumental in implementing this project and worked very hard for the last six months,” said Wilson George, chairman, board of directors, InH E A LT H A D V I S O R Y

‘Steroid injections don’t help in asthma treatment’

Dr Shadha S. Al Raisi, chronic respiratory disease programme manager at the Ministry of Health

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADI

elham@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Monthly steroid injections play no role in the management of chronic asthma, says an expert at the Ministry of Health who believes that an inhaler device is the best medication.

“There is no role for monthly steroid injections in the management of chronic asthma.

Steroid injections may be used in an acute setting. However, numerous studies find the use of a short course of oral steroids to be just as beneficial provided the patient can swallow,” Dr Shadha S. Al Raisi, the chronic respiratory disease programme manager at the Ministry of Health, told the Times of Oman.

She made the comments in response to concerns raised by some patients that a number of centres and clinics in the country manage asthma with steroid injections on a monthly basis, partly due to non-availability of specialists.

“In a chronic setting, inhaled steroid is the gold-standard management of asthma. Oral steroids may be given for a short course in case of an exacerbation or a longer course if the patient’s asthma is severe and requires further management,” Al Raisi said, adding the prolonged steroid use should always be supervised by a specialist.

These practices should shift away from monthly steroid injections, which play no role in the management of asthma and carry numerous side effects, to prescribing the use of an inhaler, noted the physician.

Asthma is one of the most common chronic respiratory diseases and the most prevalent chronic illness in children.

Some 4,848 asthma patients were admitted to hospitals all over the country in 2013.

that the safety requirements are adhered to.–File photo

dian schools in the Sultanate.

The operator has 25 years of experience in the field of transportation and has a fleet of 73 vehicles. “They are undertaking similar transport services for the different schools in Muscat and are considered a pioneer in this industry. All the buses are equipped with safety measures as outlined by the transport governing body of the school and all the buses are either new or less than five years old,” he added.

The buses will have assistants to help the driver in picking up and dropping off the children as well as to ensure their safety.

The system has features like IVMS, seat belts, emergency doors etc. All the drivers have undergone training.

“The number of children in the buses will be strictly limited to the seating capacity and as per the Royal Oman Police (ROP) and the Ministry of Education guidelines. The transport system will be continuously monitored by the governing body to ensure that the terms of safety and security features required as per the guidelines are adhered to,” he added.

This is also in the context of the prevailing traffic issues in Darsait and the recommendations by the ROP, Muscat Municipality and the Ministry of Education to reduce the number of cars coming to drop off and pick up children.

Earlier, the Indian School Al Mabela had signed an agreement with Al Fautam Group for safe transportation of students.

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OMAN Don’t litter a beautiful country like OMAN. Ensure proper disposal of garbage.

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ISM students pitch for ecology in Dubai sumption – Getting More Out of Less’, and a presentation of a waste recycling machine in the year 2050 were organised.

Meghan D’Souza from Class VIII of the ISM secured the first position in the public speaking competition among various schools that attended the conference.

The students presented a model of the waste recycling machine in the year 2050 and bagged the first position in the competition

GREEN CAUSE: The students

from Muscat bagged the first position in the exhibition held to mark the World Environment Day.–Supplied photo

Times News Service MUSCAT: In a journey to raising awareness on the cause of environment, some students of Indian School Muscat (ISM) made their mark at an event in Dubai.

Green Hope UAE conducted

its World Environment Day Conference on Monday, based on the theme ‘Seven Billion Dreams, One Planet. Consume with Care.’

In order to create awareness, two events, a public speaking competition on ‘Sustainable Con-

Year 2050 Twelve students from Class VIII of the ISM presented a model of the Waste Recycling Machine in the year 2050 and bagged the first position in the exhibition too.

The students were Anjana Anil Kumar, Kalyani Gopal, Soundharya and Shitikshu Vyas, in addition to Deeshita Soin, Arzoo Bariana, Mohammud Jahangir, and Meghan D’Souza. Srikrippa Krishan, Dhanvi Bharadwaj, Shanjanaa, and Amulya were the other students.

The ISM fraternity congratulated the proud achievers.

Billion Dreams, One Planet. Consume with Care, was the theme of the contest organised by Green Hope in Dubai.

C O M M E N TA RY

Who is to blame for water crisis?

T

he current water shortage in most parts of Oman is not new. It has now become a public crisis because the authorities, due to oversight, have simply lost control of the problem.

The national water network grid supplied 5.3 per cent less water by February this year compared to the last 12 months, according to official statistics. However, the problem is much bigger. Water wastage contributes hugely to the problem, apart from the slow execution or delayed projects. Old water pipes that go back to four decades are leaky, either due to lack of maintenance or because they are not replaced fast enough.

Although Oman has started the drive to build desalination plants since the 1980s, the country is still struggling to get the scheme of refining sea water right to satisfy the rising demand. Perhaps, the most obvious culprit in the planning of water supply is the coordination of various government departments to anticipate the rising demand.

For example, the urban planners do not communicate effectively to the agencies responsible for water supplies in terms of the number of houses expected to be built.

As villages rapidly develop into towns and eventually to sprawling cities, the demand does not get the attention it deserves.

Population increase is another example and so are huge projects under execution that need tens of thousands of gallons of water per day.

The current problem is not an accident but was waiting to happen because of indecisiveness and mismanagement. If not, what else can it be?

The authorities have been defensive when it comes to such criticism but the general oversight simply hurts consumers who pay their hardearned money to have uninterrupted water supply to their houses. In a country that has a widespread welfare system, including free education and health services, some governmental agencies have a wrong notion that water and electricity supply is part of this. Yes, water and electricity supply is subsidised but consumers still

SUNDAY BEAT

SALEH AL SHAIBANY

pay what they are billed and as customers, they have the right to ask questions. In the age of consumerism, customers need to lodge complaints in the strongest manner when it comes to a critical issue like water. The last thing they want is to be intimidated by authorities who want to cover up for their sloppiness.

Perhaps, this is the main reason why the country is suffering a water crisis now.

Officials appointed by the government to run the water network feel they can get away with it simply because they think they are above scrutiny.

Two major desalination plants that were supposed to be commissioned months ago have been delayed leaving thousands of houses cut off from water. With summer temperatures touching half the boiling point, residents are paying exorbitant prices to have water tankers filling up their storage tanks. For some of them, the water shortages have been continuing for a year now. With the holy month of Ramadan approaching, consumers are bracing for the worst as water demand is

In the age of consumerism, customers need to lodge complaints in the strongest manner when it comes to a critical issue like water. The last thing they want is to be intimidated by authorities who want to cover up for their sloppiness

expected to go up.

The people most affected are in the low-income bracket, who find themselves paying ten times the normal rate as charged by greedy water tankers owners who are now taking advantage of the shortage. There is already talk of rationing water to try to cope with the problem but this will not solve the problem.

While waiting for the completion of desalination plants, new pumps, replacements of old pipes, the least the government can do now is to mobilise its resources to supply water by tankers to people who cannot afford to pay for privately delivered water.

But the urgency of better water management cannot be underestimated to ensure an uninterrupted supply. As natural water from the underground reservoir systems is rapidly depleting, the government would need to focus on upgrading the dilapidated water infrastructure by building more desalination plants as the demand is set to increase, to avert future water crisis. saleh@timesofoman.com

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Plan to train scuba diving guides SARAH MACDONALD sarah@timesofoman.com

As tourism grows in Oman so does the need for capable Omani tour guides

MUSCAT: To meet the needs of Oman’s growing scuba diving activities, a new programme will soon be launched by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) to train Omani citizens to be scuba diving guides.

As tourism in Oman grows

so too does the need for capable Omani tour guides, including those working under the sea. In August PADI, which is the biggest scuba certification company in the world, will officially launch a new pilot programme that will train Omanis, both those with scuba diving experience and beginners, to become scuba diving guides.

“We need to get more Omani

YEMEN CRISIS

Alawi, UN envoy hold talks MUSCAT: Yousef bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs, received in the premises of the Foreign Ministry here on Saturday, Ismail Wald Al Sheikh Ahmed, special envoy of the UN Secretary General to Yemen, who is visiting the Sultanate as part of his tour to gather support for holding the Geneva Conference on Yemen.

The UN Secretary General’s envoy provided details to the Minister of the efforts and preparations the UN has extended for holding the conference for all Yemeni factions in mid-June.

The Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs renewed the Sultanate’s stance and support for holding the conference with the participation of all political

factions. Bin Alawi also stressed that the agenda of the Geneva Conference on Yemen should include a mechanism for facilitating the united efforts of humanitarian relief to all parts of Yemen in a way that contribute to restoration of basic services such as water, electricity and other basic services for the Yemeni people. – ONA

citizens involved in the industry.

There are not enough qualified people here to take people diving,” said Mark Spiers, Vice President, Sales, Field Services, Markety and Business Development for PADI Europe, Middle East and Africa.

ADI consulted with Gulf Divers, in association with Euro Divers, to discuss the best ways to grow the scuba diving industry in Oman

while also providing more employment for Omanis. The conclusion was a funded program to train Omanis as guides.

The programme, the first of its kind, will provide training in Arabic for Omanis to first become certified scuba divers, and then continue through the more advanced levels of PADI certification to become qualified guides.

As guides they will be able to take other certified scuba divers to the many beautiful diving sites which Oman has to offer.

Spiers said there is a growing international interest in Oman as a destination for scuba diving, and more divers being certified in Oman, but a shortage of people to staff the dive centres. Omani guides would fill this void.

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SU N DAY, JUNE 7, 2015 Exerting pressure with regard to visas for expatriates in construction companies has not helped, and has only impacted the market negatively Ahmed Al Busaidi, Majlis Al Shura member

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NEED FOR SKILLED WORKERS

45TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS MAJESTY

< FROM

A1 Aquarium is PDO’s gift to nation PDO has a long tradition of marking every five years of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said’s rule with such endowments. Other gifts include the Oil and Gas Exhibition Centre, Planetarium, the EcOman Centre, the Public Knowledge Library and the Traffic Safety Institute.

The aquarium project, which will mark the 45th anniversary of His Majesty’s reign this year, in-

cludes a range of features such as specialised viewing tanks, interactive activities and guided tours.

Another central aspect of the building will be a research division for all fisheries studies by Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries staff, universities and other specialists.

The PDO’s initiative will showcase the rich biodiversity, habitats and species found in the Sultanate’s waters and aims to appeal to

both international tourists and Omani citizens.

The vast majority of the area, around 80 per cent, will be covered by the aquarium.

There will be five sections in the aquarium: World of Oceans and Seas, Coastlines and Seas of Oman, Fishing and Maritime Heritage of Oman, PDO Marine History and Operations, and Oman Marine Life and Habitat.

A1 ‘Need to value skilled < FROM

expatriate workers’

“I do not feel that the decisions made by the authorities can resolve any issues. Coming up with rules such as these will not help in decreasing the number of expatriates in the Sultanate,” said Al Busaidi, and added that some of the rules are quite vague.

“The government should value skilled expatriates as countries across the world depend on them.

Every country needs skilled expatriate workers and we should ensure a healthy work environment for them instead of discouraging them with such decisions,” he said.

He added that such people contribute to the development of the country and at the same time give a fillip to the Sultanate’s economy.

“Exerting pressure with regard to visas for expatriates in construction companies has not helped, and has only impacted the market negatively,” he said.

“The Ministry of Manpower must share all its decisions with the OCCI and the Majlis Al Shura.

It should not be made by only one side. The OCCI can share their market requirements with the ministry and the Majlis Al Shura can convey the public view on these issues,” said Al Busaidi.

Involving more parties in decisions made by the ministry will

ensure that the rules and regulations are implemented professionally. Any move by the ministry on the issue of expatriates should be implemented only after a realistic study, he opined.

Obsolete rules “Times change and so do needs.

The ministry should understand that a rule which worked five years ago may not work now,” said Al Busaidi.

“Such rules also become obstacles for young nationals who wish to establish businesses. I have received numerous complaints from young businessmen who feel that their businesses have stalled or have been affected due to the complicated rules and regulations by the ministry,” he said.

Welcoming the move by the OCCI, A Seal, a businessman based in Muscat, said that he has been waiting for such a move for the past year.

“Such a rule will not force expatriates to leave the place which they have enjoyed living in and working in for many years. We know that there are various issues created by some expatriates inside the Sultanate, but the rest of us have nothing to do with violations, crimes and illegal trade,” he said.

He hoped that the government would cancel the rule, but if that was not possible it should make it flexible, especially for companies which have submitted proper documents with the government.

Yahya Khalfan, a businessman, also supported the OCCI move.

Business hit “My business has been affected by the ban. I cannot recruit expatriates who have the experience of working in Oman. Training an expatriate without any experience of working in Oman can be frustrating at times,” he said.

Pawan Kunburu, working in a private sector company, said that his company has faced numerous problems because of the rule.

“We have had no salary hike, many deductions and warnings.

I feel, this rule is not taking the Sultanate’s private sector on the right path,” said Pawan.

When the Times of Oman contacted the Ministry of Manpower recently an official said there were no plans to change the ban.

No one from the manpower ministry was available to comment on the talks.

The ministry had recently extended the ban on recruiting constructions workers for another six- month period.

JET FLIGHT

Traveller A1 in custody < FROM

“The passenger admitted the concealment inside the toilet.

Further, he said that gold was to be retrieved during the domestic leg of the aircraft to Calcutta,” added the official.

The passenger was remanded to custody until June 19.

Meanwhile, a senior official of the Jet Airways in Oman said that they were aware of the incident.

“At this moment we are not clear whether the arrested person was a transit passenger or not. We will be fully cooperating with the investigations,” said the Jet Airways official.

Recently, the AIU in Mumbai seized 6.2kg of gold, valued at OMR92,493 (Rs1.54 crore), in five separate cases.

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BEST OF

RUWI

SHOPPING MADE EASY SHAHZAD RAZA

shahzad@timesofoman.com EVER SINCE the dawn of Renaissance in 1970, Sultanate of Oman has been seeing steady progress across the country and nothing reflects that more than the capital itself. Quite like its heterogeneous population, Muscat is a magical mix of modern life, traditional lifestyle and conventional ways.

Nothing illustrates that juxtaposition of contrasts more than Ruwi, the densely populated commercial hub that is forward looking, yet known for its backstreet business lanes.

After a Royal decree issued in 2010, Muscat Municipality devised plans to give Ruwi area a new look and many old buildings have already been demolished, giving way to modern residential and commercial complexes. Once the municipality is through with its development work for this area, Ruwi is going to have wider roads and flyovers, spacious parking lots and none of the traffic jams it is notoriously known for. That Ruwi will be the pulse of the Omani capital.

Amazing variety Ruwi High Street, and the amazing variety it offers, defines the best of Ruwi. Customers can get anything and everything here including all the leading brands of high-end electronics, watches and home appliances as well as their cheaper low-end versions, depending on their budgets. With such astounding variety to choose from, shopping has really been made easy.

Just a collection of a few deserted shops in the early 1970s, Ruwi High Street now houses hundreds of outlets selling a variety of consumer items.

“I think this shopping place came into existence in 1975 when there were hardly any outlets here. I am proud to be part of Ruwi High Street since 1982 when I came and opened my gold shop here,” Yaqoob bin Ibrahim bin Yaqood Al Hashim, who hails from Musannah, told Times of Oman. His gold shop is now a plush showroom selling a variety of traditional and imported jewellery.

“Of course we are doing quite well but business was good even in those days. Ruwi High Street is a good place for business and I am sure others are happy too,” explained the veteran entrepreneur when asked to compare the old days with the current volume of sale.

This shopping paradise is also home to a variety of shops selling readymade garments, shoes, mobile phones and a whole lot of food joints offering mostly Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Filipino food because of heavy presence of Asian expatriates in the area.

Some of the best biryani and curries in town can be found at restaurants based in Ruwi.

Ruwi High Street is the hub of gold and diamond jewellery and all the leading brands have their showrooms here with all the glitter and gloss. One of the biggest and most prominent is Joyalukkas currently operating a chain of 105 showrooms across 10 countries around the world with one of the biggest jewellery showrooms in Ruwi.

Joyalukkas Jewellery showrooms in Oman feature a wide range and most exquisite collection of jewellery in all precious form i.e. gold, diamond, precious stone, pearls and

platinum. It offers a choice of over one million designs from around the world to meet all the dreams and expectations of jewellery lovers in Oman.

Jolly Silks is the fashion and silks retail business of Joyalukkas Group and offers a range of branded women, men’s and kids apparel. The extensive range for women includes designer sarees, lehenga cholis, churidars, kurtas and formal dress materials for weddings, occasions and daily wear. All designs and creations available at Jolly Silks have been specially created to appeal to a wide array of tastes and traditions and are suitable for a variety of occasions from parties to bridal wear. An extra incentive for shoppers is the host of new summer collections that Jolly Silks has recently added in-store. Jolly Silks also offers the best prices and has created the choice to suite all budgets to make the fashion and silks choices accessible for all shoppers.

Ruwi High Street is undoubtedly the biggest hub of money exchange transactions. Due to a huge population of Asian expatriates around the place, all the big money exchange houses have opened their showrooms and doing a roaring business.

Majan Exchange, one of the leading money exchange service providers in Oman, is among those who attract considerable customer attention.

“From international trading to simple domestic or overseas transactions between individuals’ foreign currency exchange needs, our customers receive the best service and value for money. Our innovative services are powered by a strong and reliable network built by a diligent team of professionals who ensure that our customers receive the best, at all times and under any given circumstances. Customers also can visit our centers for exchange or buying bullion (gold coins and bar) at best rate. We consider it our duty at Majan Exchange that our customers’ transactions and other exchange requirements are completely fulfilled and make sure that they stay connected with their loved ones, no matter where they are,” stated Joy Alukkas, chairman and MD, Joyalukkas Group, who is also the director of Majan Exchange.

Largest retailer People in Oman have a special penchant for top-end mobile phones and are always willing to spend to own one.

“Although there are many shopping centers in Oman now, people still prefer Ruwi as their main shopping hub for mobile phone purchases because of a large number of shops, wide variety of products and competitive pricing,” said Abdul Razaak, Managing Director of Zahrat Al Hana (Zahra Phones).

Having opened its first outlet here in 1998, Zahra Phones is the largest mobile handset retailer in Ruwi High Street with 8 shops in Ruwi with a total of 35 retail stores spread across the country at all prime locations including all Lulu outlets in Oman. Currently they opened their premium outlet in Oman Avenues Mall. Zahrat also has outlets in Dubai and India. Ruwi High Street has hundreds of shopping outlets and interesting stories. Many of them are worth a mention. We’ll talk about a few of them some other time.

To advertise in this special feature, contact Mr. Vikash @ 91901390

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REGION

After taking over several villages, we came from the mountains and entered the town and began combing it Abu Malek, Nusra Front

Yemen rebels fire Scud in new threat to talks southern Yemen, including Sanaa where weapons storage depots were struck on hills overlooking the capital.

On Saturday they carried out strikes in Amran, Hajjah, and Saada as well as Lahj, where the rebel-held air base of Al Anad was bombed.

The missile was fired from south of the Houthi rebel bastion of Saada in Yemen’s northern mountains, the Saudi Press Agency said

SANAA: Yemeni rebels flexed their muscles on Saturday by firing a Scud missile at Saudi Arabia just days before they are to sit down with the exiled, Saudibacked regime for peace talks in Switzerland.

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted the missile fired at its territory by the Houthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen.

The launch came a day after rebel allies killed four Saudi soldiers in cross-border attacks clouding preparations for UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva on June 14.

“The Royal Saudi Air Defence Forces intercepted it with two Patriot missiles,” said the Saudi-led coalition, which has been waging an air war against the rebels since March 26.

Launcher destroyed Coalition aircraft destroyed the launcher used in the 2:45 am (2345 GMT Friday) attack on the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait, said the statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The missile was fired from south of the Houthi rebel bastion of Saada in Yemen’s northern mountains, it added.

A pro-Houthi military spokes-

VOICING PROTEST: Yemeni children shout slogans against the Saudi-led military operations, during a protest in the capital Sanaa on Saturday. The Saudi-led coalition has been bombing the Houthi rebels and their allies since March 2015. -AFP

man told Yemen’s rebel-controlled Saba news agency the target was the Prince Khaled air base in Khamis Mushait.

There has been cross-border artillery and rocket fire into Saudi Arabia but virtually no missile attacks since the air war began.

The coalition has made destroying the missile capabilities of the Houthis and their allies a top priority of its bombing campaign.

But its spokesman Ahmed Al Assiri told Al Arabiya television the rebels hid in caves some of the

300 missiles they were thought to have had prior to the campaign.

Saudi forces had “thwarted more than 300 rebel attempts to cross the border,” he added, calling it an act of “desperation”.

The bombing campaign was launched in support of Yemeni President Abedrabbo Manour Hadi, who fled to Riyadh as the Houthis advanced on his southern stronghold of Aden.

The coalition’s latest raids targeted rebel military sites and positions in northern, central and

Border attacks The Houthis overran Sanaa in September, before going on to seize much of the country.

The interception of the Scud came after forces loyal to Saleh attacked several locations on the Saudi border Friday.

The coalition Saturday reported the second major ground attack of the war against Saudi territory.

“The Saudi armed forces today were able to repel an attack from the Yemeni side targeting several locations in Jazan and Najran,” said a coalition statement carried

by SPA, referring to two Saudi border districts.

The attack, supported by Houthis, was coordinated by elements of the Republican Guard loyal to Saleh and sparked an hours-long battle in which four Saudis lost their lives, the coalition said, adding that “dozens from the enemy were killed”.

In Taez, seven civilians were killed when the Houthi militia fired on a residential area, while clashes in Dhaleh killed 12 rebels, officials said. Fighting overnight on the northern and western entrances to Aden left dead seven people, including four civilians, and wounded 71, they said.

Tensions have escalated between Riyadh and Tehran because of the months-long fighting in Yemen, while rights groups have expressed concerns about the extent of civilian casualties.

The violence comes only hours after the Houthis confirmed they would attend talks in Geneva aimed at ending weeks of war that has cost more than 2,000 lives. -AFP

C I V I L WA R

File photo of UN peace keepers in Sudan in Juba.

South Sudan rebels claim having taken Unity State oilfields JUBA: South Sudan’s rebels said they had taken control of oilfields in a northern state after fighting government troops, adding their aim was to capture and shut down all the oilfields in the country.

A military spokesman meanwhile said the government was in control of the Unity State in the north, but that fighting continued.

Forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and rebels allied with former vice president Riek Machar have been fighting for nearly 18 months in the world’s newest state, which seceded from Sudan in 2011.

Ceasefires have been agreed but broken. Rebel SPLA-In-Opposition spokesman James Gatdet Dak said in a statement late on Friday that the group’s soldiers had taken control of Unity oilfields.

Production stopped Production in the oilfield stopped after fighting erupted in December 2013. “In response to the government’s ongoing full-scale offensive against our positions, all the oilfields in South Sudan are our targets with the aim to capture and shut down their operations,” he said. “Our next targets are Adar and Paloch oilfields in Upper Nile state. We will make sure the only two remaining oilfields cease to function as well.”

Paloch is the country’s main oilfield, where output has not been hampered by conflict. The rebels

NATURE’S ROCK ART

have in the past unsuccessfully tried to capture it. Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in the past month because of the fighting, and some 650,000 civilians are without access to aid in the affected states. Both sides have also been accused of killing or raping civilians and burning houses during the fresh violence.

U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has said over 2 million people have been displaced since December 2013, with more than 500,000 fleeing the country.

South Sudan’s oil production has dropped to 165,000 barrels per day from between 168,000 and 169,000 in January, the petroleum and mining ministry said, citing technical reasons as opposed to fighting in oil producing areas.

Production has been slashed by about a third since fighting broke out in 2013, with many South Sudanese oil wells damaged and output in decline at functioning fields due to a dearth of spare parts.

“Yesterday, the rebels attacked SPLA positions in Unity Oil field and they were repulsed and SPLA captured number of equipment in the fighting with the rebels,” Col. Philip Aguer, South Sudan’s government military spokesman, told Reuters. He said fighting was still going on and the government’s forces, known as Sudan People’s Liberation Army, or SPLA, were in full control of Unity State. -Reuters

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Rock shapes are seen in the White Desert north of the MORE PHOTOS Farafra Oasis southwest of Cairo recently. The White Desert, about 500 km southwest of the Egyptian capital W W W.T I M E S O F O M A N .C O M Cairo, features limestone and chalk forms strangely shaped by the wind and sand, a terrain that gains in intensity when illuminated by the moon. Slightly to the north lies the Black Desert, given its name by the volcanic rock dolerite, similar to basalt. Four-by-four and trekking trips for tourists include Bedouin music around campfires and nights slept under a breathtaking array of stars. Picture taken May 15, 2015. -Reuters

SYRIA

Idlib gains bring rebels closer to Assad’s coastal homeland AMMAN: Extremist groups have overrun Syrian army outposts and villages in the Idlib province, closing on coastal strongholds of President Bashar Al Assad’s government, rebels and a monitor said on Saturday.

The Syrian army said its troops had abandoned the town of Muhambal in the western part of Idlib and were regrouping for a counter-offensive. Social media videos showed army trucks and large caches of weaponry abandoned.

The extremist alliance, including Al Qaeda’s Nusra Front, calls its operation the “Army of Fatah”.

“After taking over several vil-

lages, we came from the mountains and entered the town and began combing it,” Abu Malek, a field commander from Nusra who led the advance against Muhambal, was quoted as saying on an opposition television station.

Muhambal lies close to a highway that runs between Aleppo in the north and the port city of Latakia.

Syrian state television later said it killed “tens of terrorists” and destroyed large convoys carrying Nusra Front fighters in a series of air raids on their positions in Basankoul and a string of villages rebels had taken over.

Heavy fighting also broke out

around Abu al Dahour military airport, the largest Syrian airport in the north of the country, and it’s last stronghold in the eastern part of Idlib province.

The army said it had killed scores of extremists holed in surrounding villages east and north of the major military installation besieged unsuccessfully by extremist rebels for over a year but who have now renewed their offensive.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks violence across the country, said large caches of weapons were abandoned by the army when they fled the area. -Reuters

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FOOD SAFETY

Other brands of noodle, pasta, macaroni to be tested NEW DELHI: A day after banning Maggi noodles, India’s food safety regulator FSSAI on Saturday said it will test samples of instant noodles across brands to ensure food safety.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said it will also examine branded pasta and macaroni products while asserting that it’s not considering any action against brand ambassadors as of now. “We will check all other instant noodles brands as well. Why should we restrict to one brand?

We are drawing samples of other noodles brand,” FSSAI CEO Yudhvir Singh Malik told PTI. While he did not name the brands, popular products include

ITC’s Sunfeast Yippee, HUL’s Knorr and Nissin Foods’ Top Ramen and Wai Wai from Nepal’s Chaudhary Group. “On Monday, we will publish names of all brands of instant noodles, macaroni and pasta which have taken approval from FSSAI to sell their products.

Samples of those brands will be collected for testing,” Malik said.

“The brands or products that have not taken approval are unauthorised and an action would be contemplated against them,” he said, adding “there would be many brands which have not taken approval from FSSAI”.

On Friday, FSSAI had banned all variants of Nestle India’s Maggi noodles, terming them as “unsafe

and hazardous” for human consumption. Asked about action against brand ambassadors, Malik said “not right now” and they must be given “benefit of doubt”.

He, said consumer affairs ministry can take action against the brand ambassadors.

“They may or may not have an idea about the ingredients of the product, but they should be sensitised and be aware about the product they are promoting,” he added.

Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta have been dragged into the Maggi controversy after food inspectors in UP found excess lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG) in the noodles.-PTI

BAD BARGAIN: Children participate in a protest against Maggi noodles in Bhopal on Friday. -PTI

Jammu city remains tense, army deployed Army carried out a ‘Flag March’ in the disturbed areas of Jammu, including Miran Sahib, Satwari, Digiana, RS Pura, Talab Tillo, Bakshi

INCONSOLABLE: Family members of Jagjeet Singh, who died in yesterday’s clashes, mourn at the Government Medical Collage hospital, in Jammu on Friday. -PTI

Nagar and Rehari

JAMMU: Indian Army was on Saturday deployed in various parts of the tense Jammu city of India-administered Jammu and Kashmir as the sikh youth killed in clashes with police was cremated after the state government accepted most of the demands of the agitating community, including a magisterial probe and transfer of district police chief.

Army carried out a ‘Flag March’ in the disturbed areas of Jammu, including Miran Sahib, Satwari,

Digiana, RS Pura, Talab Tillo, Bakshi Nagar and Rehari this morning as security was stepped up in view of the 31st death anniversary of Khalistani militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

Quick reactions teams (QRTs) of police were also deployed in view of the prevailing tension arising out of four-day protest by sikh community members over removal of Bhindranwale’s posters which had come up in some localities.

“The situation in Jammu is peaceful but tense.

“There was no report of any untoward incident from anywhere on Saturday. Elaborate security

measures have been taken in view of the sensitive situation,” a senior police officer said. Defence PRO Lt Col Manish Mehta said two columns of Army were deployed in the city after requisition from the civil administration.

One column moved onto the streets and roads of Miran Sahib to conduct a ‘Flag March’ to caution rioters and violent protesters, he said, adding that soon after, one more column of troops was sent to control the situation in RS Pura.

“Situation is tense, however, under control,” Mehta said.

Meanwhile, the Sikh youth killed during clashes with police on Thursday was cremated

SIKHS

Pro-Khalistan slogans raised on Bluestar anniversary in Punjab

STRICT VIGIL: Police personnel take out a flag march from Hall Bazar to Golden Temple on the 6th anniversary of Operation Bluestar in Amritsar on Friday. -PTI

AMRITSAR: The 31st anniversary of Operation Bluestar on Saturday went off peacefully amid tight security arrangements here even as supporters of Indian political party SAD (Amritsar) raised pro-Khalistan slogans at the Akal Takht.

Supporters of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), led by former MP Dhian Singh Mand, assembled at Golden Temple and raised ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ slogans besides brandishing swords.

As many as 25 Sikh youths were detained, police said.

Tight security arrangements were made by Punjab police to prevent any untoward incident.

Policemen in civil dress along with SGPC task force were present on premises of the Golden Temple, officials said.

Heavy barricading was done

by the SGPC officers around Akal Takht to prevent entry of any suspicious element to disturb peace, police said.

SAD President and former MP Simranjit Singh Mann could not reach Akal Takht because of ill health.

On the occasion, the family members of slain militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale were honoured by Akal Takht Jatehdar Giani Gurbachan Singh.

Addressing the gathering, Jathedar Akal Takht said, “Sikh community will, all over the world, remember the unhealed wounds of Operation Bluestar.”

Memorial made in the memory of those killed during Operation Bluestar in 1984 witnessed sizable footfall of devotees on Saturday.

Radical Sikh group Dal Khalsa

has called for Bandh here in the memory of those killed during the Operation in June 1984 in Punjab.

On alert Security forces in Amritsar and other areas of the state were asked to remain on alert ahead of the anniversary.

Punjab Police personnel conducted a flag march in Amritsar on June 4 in areas leading to the Golden Temple Complex where the Operation Bluestar was undertaken in 1984 to flush out militants.

Punjab Police sources had said that the security personnel in the districts have been asked to remain extra alert in view of the killing of a Sikh youth during protests in Jammu on Friday against the removal of posters of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. -PTI

on Saturday after the state government accepted most of the demands of the agitating community. The government ordered magisterial probe into firing incident and violence.

It would be conducted by Divisional Commissioner Jammu Pawan Kotwal. Accepting another demand, the government ordered transfer of Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jammu Uttam Chand, suspension of Satwari’s Station House Officer (SHO) Kulbir Singh and payment of ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh and a government job to the next kin of the slain sikh youth Jagjit Singh.

A case under murder charges was also registered against SSP’s PSO Uttam Chand for firing (during violent protests in which one youth was killed Gadigarh area of city on Friday)”, Deputy Commissioner, Jammu Simrandeep Singh said. The PSO of the SSP had opened fire in “self-defence” during an attack by angry protesters at Gadigarh in Satwari belt of Jammu city, police has said.

“Police has fired in self-defence in which there was one causality.

The entire incident would be looked into and action would to taken against those involved in it,” Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh had said. -PTI

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SU N DAY, JUNE 7, 2015 We have resolved a question that has lingered since Independence.

Our two nations have a settled boundary. It will make our borders more secure and people’s life there more stable Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India

INDIA

Historic border pact signed; Modi offers Bangladesh $2b

R E I T E R AT I O N

No compromise on the basic purpose of Land Bill: Naidu

After extensive talks between Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the two sides signed Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs, M. Venkaiah Naidu at an event in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh on Monday.-PTI

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DHAKA: India and Bangladesh on Saturday opened a new chapter in their ties as they settled the 41-year-old boundary dispute and promised to do more in other areas amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of a fresh line of credit of $2 billion to the neighbouring country.

With West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee standing by his side, Modi, on his maiden visit here, also expressed confidence to have a “fair solution” to the Teesta and Feni river water sharing issues with Bangladesh “with the support of state governments in India”.

After extensive talks between Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the two sides signed 22 agreements, including on cooperation in maritime safety and to curb human trafficking and fake Indian currency.

Hasina, whose country is seen as a hiding ground for insurgents of north east India, also promised “zero tolerance” stance against terrorism. She said the two countries agreed to set up two Special Economic Zones to bridge the growing trade deficit.

Modi promised to do “everything” to address it.

He announced a fresh USD 2 billion line of credit for Bangladesh and promised quick implementation of the earlier line of credit of USD 800 million and full disbursement of USD 200 million.

A NEW CHAPTER: Prime Minister Narendra Modi presents the steering wheel of INS Vikrant to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina during the exchange of memorabilia, in Dhaka, on Saturday. Just an hour after Modi’s arrival, top Indian conglomerates Reliance Power and Adani signed outline agreements with Bangladesh’s state-run electricity agency to invest some $5 billion in the country’s rickety power sector -PTI

ON FRIENDSHIP MISSION: Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures

after leaving the aircraft at Shahjalal International Airport, in Dhaka, on Saturday. Modi arrived in Dhaka for a two-day state visit to Bangladesh.

The highlight of the Modi’s first day here was the exchange of documents related to the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA), which paves the way for exchange of territories to settle the 41-year-old border dispute which has been an irritant.

Under the Agreement, 111 border enclaves will be transferred to Bangladesh in exchange for 51 that will become part of India.

“The visit is at a historic moment. We have resolved a question that has lingered since Independence. Our two nations have a

settled boundary. It will make our borders more secure and people’s life there more stable,” Modi said at a joint press interaction with Hasina. Referring to the unanimous passage of the LBA by Parliament last month, he said it “reflects the consensus in India on relations with Bangladesh.”

Noting that the two countries had accepted the settlement of the maritime boundary last year, he said, “it is evidence of the maturity of our ties and our shared commitment to international

rules. So, we stand at a moment of huge opportunity in our relationship. Prime Minister (Hasina) and I recognise that.”

Modi said the future he dreams for India is the future he wishes for Bangladesh.

“As we deepen our political engagement and celebrate our rich inheritance, as our economies get more integrated and our people better connected, our nations will become more prosperous,” he said, while observing that “our growing cooperation is a picture of my deeply-held belief in the shared prosperity of neighbours”.

New dimension Contending that the two countries have added new dimensions to the economic ties, the Indian leader said the coastal shipping agreement will boost bilateral trade while the Indian Economic Zone will promote Indian investments in Bangladesh.

“The new border haat at Kamalasagar will reinforce traditional economic links. And, the agreement on blue economy and maritime cooperation opens a new area of economic opportunities. We should now extend our frontiers of cooperation to space,” he said.

Modi said he was “conscious

of the huge trade imbalance, despite duty free and quota free access to Bangladesh in India on all but 25 items” and had “assured Prime Minister (Hasina) that we will do everything we can to bridge the deficit.”

Indian investments in Bangladesh will help, he said, adding “I will also try to make trade smoother and easier, including at the border.” The agreement on standards and testing is a step in that direction, the Indian Prime Minister said.

He said power supply from India to Bangladesh will grow from 500 MW to 1100 MW within two years. “The 1320 MW Rampal power project is making progress in accordance with your (Bangladeshi) laws and regulation. We can do more together in power sector, here and in India,” he added.

Hasina said India’s growth in economy, education, innovation and technology is praiseworthy.

“Even Bangladesh has achieved a lot in the last six years.”

Citing the flagging off of two bus services, Hasina said she and Modi had agreed on the importance of connectivity between the two nations and for the overall development of the region. “I am sure we would be able to usher in a society sans discrimination.” -PTI

MUMBAI: Though the Centre will consider the collective view of the Joint Parliament Commitee on the Land Bill, it is not ready to compromise on the basic purpose of the Act, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu said today.

“The new Bill is currently before the joint committee of Parliament.

We want the bill to be passed. We are ready to have suggestions. The government will consider the collective wisdom of the committee, but we will not compromise on the basic purpose of the Land Acquisition Act,” Naidu told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

The joint panel will have to submit its report on the first day of the Monsoon Session on the bill which has already been passed by the Lower House. Making a veiled attack on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on his ‘suit-boot ki sarkar’ jibe, Naidu said they (the Congress) should show maturity and debate on larger issues of development.

Larger issues “I have yet not understood the comments on PM’s suit boot. The first prime minister (Jawharlal Nehru) used to wear suit boot and hat. One should be very careful in making such comments and show maturity. They should debate on larger issues of development and not make irresponsible statements,” he said.

He said it is necessary to show the world that India is a mature democracy. “We need to focus on brighter issues. Development should be the core issue for all including politicians. We are seeing what is happening around the globe. Everyone wants progress.

We also need progress,” he said.

Naidu also said the media should be responsible and not politicise the statements made by politicians but focus on developmental issues. -PTI

POLITICS

Rahul questions ‘Mamata, Modi’s friendship’ at rally KOLKATA: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today came down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of trying to deflect attention away from the NDA government’s “unfulfilled promises”, and also targeted West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as he questioned her “friendship” with BJP. At a rally here, he sought to project Congress as the viable third alternative for the state, saying his party will bring a change in the fortunes of West Bengal, where Assembly polls are due in 2016.

Alluding to the bonhomie between BJP and Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress as she heads to Bangladesh during Modi’s visit there, Gandhi said, “When our (UPA) government was there, our PM wanted to go to Bangladesh.

We spoke to her and requested her to go with us. She said no, ‘ekla chalo re’ (I will go alone).

“Now, Modiji is there, so no ‘ekla chalo re’.We will go together.

Why is this happening? What is the friendship about? You must be knowing the reason.”

In his over 20-minute speech, Gandhi lambasted Banerjee, an erstwhile UPA ally, saying that contrary to her promise of freeing West Bengal from the “persecution” under the Left, she had “doubled” it after becoming chief minister of West Bengal.

Congress and TMC had fought

ON THE OFFENSIVE: Congress party vice president Rahul

Gandhi greets Congress workers during a rally at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, in Kolkata on Saturday. -AFP

the 2011 Assembly elections together in the state which had brought to an the 35-year rule of the Left in West Bengal.

Turning his guns on the prime minister, Gandhi accused him of not fulfilling his promises and repeated his jibe of “suit- boot ki sarkar” to paint the Modi government as “pro-rich” and “antipoor” and “anti-farmer”.

He also slammed the NDA government over the land Bill as he referred to the agrarian and tribal agitations in Nandigram, Bhatta Parsaul and Niyamgri.

“One year back, a new government came in Delhi. It made a lot

of promises like the ones made

by Mamata ji. It talked about employment, development, opening factories. Both (Modi and Mamata) said this. One year (of Modi government) is over now.

“He talked about sanitation. He said that you won’t get employment and so hold a broom and start sweeping. When the talk of ‘swachchata’ is over, now he is saying that go and do Yoga on Rajpath. There is no word about employment. Every day something new is said.

All these new things are being said to cover up the unfulfilled promises,” Gandhi said. -PTI

S U N DAY, JU N E 7, 2 0 1 5 A model presents creations by Pakistani designer Shazia Kiyani during the Bridal Couture Week in Karachi, Pakistan, on Friday. — Reuters

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PAKISTAN

B A L O C H I S TA N

Gunmen on motorcycles kill four policemen in Quetta city

INSURGENCY: Pakistani relatives mourn the death of a policeman

killed by gunmen on the outskirts of Quetta on Saturday, during a police patrol. — AFP

QUETTA/PESHAWAR: Gunmen on motorcycles shot dead four policemen on Saturday in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, police said.

The shooting took place in Pashtunabad, a low-income neighbourhood on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of restive Balochistan province when policemen were patrolling the area.

“Four gunmen on two motorcycles sprayed bullets on a police vehicle and four policemen were martyred,” senior police official Abul Razzaq Cheema told AFP. Another senior police official Aitzaz Goraya confirmed the incident and said it was an act of terrorism.

Eight acquitted in Malala attack still in custody The suspects’ trial was held behind closed doors at a military internment centre and even its existence was not known until the verdicts were handed down in April

PESHAWAR: Eight of the 10 men acquitted by a court over the attempted murder of Pakistani schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai are still being held in custody on other charges, officials said on Saturday.

Court and security officials said last month 10 men had been con-

victed in a secret trial by an antiterrorism court and jailed for life over the October 2012 attack in which the teenager was shot in the head on her school bus.

Surprise twist But in a surprise twist on Friday, officials said that in fact eight were cleared and only two sent down for their part in the bid to silence education campaigner Malala, who last year became the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner.

The suspects’ trial was held behind closed doors at a military internment centre and even its existence was not known until the verdicts were handed down in April. Police said on Saturday that the eight men who were cleared were in fact still in custody.

“The eight who were acquitted are still being held in various jails and an internment centre,” a police official who followed the trial and had access to documents relating to case told AFP. The eight had various other terrorism-related charges against them, he said.

“The trial was held at internment centre Swat which is controlled by security forces and access of media, even police, is restricted,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

He said police only came to know of the court’s decision some two weeks after the hearings, which were conducted by a civilian judge.

The Pakistani army, which wields enormous influence across the country, has a strong presence in Swat and another investigations officer said civilian law enforcement personnel and investigators could not operate freely where the military was in charge.

Malala, now aged 17, survived the attempt on her life and in October last year won the Nobel Peace Prize for her courageous and determined fight for children to have the right to go to school.

Pakistan’s military announced the arrest of the 10 suspects in September 2014 as part of an operation that involved the army, police and intelligence agencies. — AFP

Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Baloch separatist groups demanding more autonomy and control over province’s gas and mineral resources have frequently targeted security forces and police for years.

Strong condemnation Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a statement “strongly condemned” the killings and said “such incidents cannot weaken [the] government’s resolve in eliminating the menace of terrorism and extremism.”

The province is also riven by sectarian strife and extremist violence.

Meanwhile, a US drone attack on a militant compound in a restive Pakistani tribal area Saturday killed at least seven militants, security officials said. The drone strike took place in the Shawal area of lawless North Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan, where the Pakistani military is battling Taliban militants.

“At least seven militants were killed in a drone attack,” a senior security official told AFP. Another security official in Peshawar confirmed the attack and casualties.

Local intelligence authorities said that the militants belonged to the Haqqani network, a feared militant group which targets for-

eign troops across the border in Afghanistan.

“An important meeting of militants was in progress at the compound when missiles launched by US drones hit it,” a local intelligence official told AFP. North Waziristan is one of seven semi-autonomous tribal districts that border Afghanistan. It has been a hub for Al Qaeda and Taliban militants since the early 2000s. — AFP

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Don’t back down on Russian sanctions

R

ussia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea, an egregious violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, prompted a strong response from the United States. President Obama used his executive authority to impose sanctions on Russia and Congress voted to ban the purchase of Russian-made rocket engines, which have been used to launch military and intelligence satellites since 2000. The White House also lobbied the European Union to enact economic sanctions.

Now, barely five months after the engine ban took effect, the Obama administration is urging Congress to ease it. Such a move would harm American credibility and give the Europeans a reason to ease their own sanctions.

It would also embolden President Vladimir Putin of Russia, who even now refuses to acknowledge that he is sending troops and weapons to expand the war in eastern Ukraine. The core problem is that the United States let itself become dependent on Russian rocket engines for national security missions. After the Cold War, it made sense to encourage cooperation between the nations and offer opportunities to Russian scientists and technicians so they would be less likely to sell their skills to North Korea and to any other country.

But in recent years, Putin has become increasingly at odds with the United States. Meanwhile, United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of the defence giants Lockheed Martin and Boeing also known as ULA, has become the Pentagon’s primary rocket maker and gets its engines from NPO Energomash, a Russian company that reportedly has close ties to Putin. Senator John McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, says NPO Energomash could gain $300 million on engine sales that are to end under the law. The Pentagon, backed by ULA and American intelligence agencies, is pushing to change the law, arguing that additional Russian engines will be needed for at least a few more years. Under the law, ULA was allowed to continue launching satellites on its Russian-powered Atlas 5 rocket until 2019, but the Pentagon claims it will run out of engines and there will be a gap — a point proponents of the ban reject.

The consortium is now working to develop an American-made engine, but it may not be certified for use until at least 2022. ULA faces competition from SpaceX, a venture of Elon Musk, the founder of PayPal and Tesla. Last month, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was certified by the Pentagon for use in national security missions, an important step.

If Congress retains the ban on Russian engines, SpaceX could end up, at least for a time, as the sole company able to bid for some satellite launches. When sanctions are necessary, the countries that impose them must be willing to pay a cost, too. After leaning on France to cancel the sale of two ships to Russia because of the invasion of Ukraine, the United States can hardly insist on continuing to buy national security hardware from one of Putin’s cronies. - The New York Times News Service

BRINKMANSHIP OVER GREECE

Is the solidarity of Europe weakening?

JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ

Police brutality and violence

T

here is a disturbing frequency to reports of police brutality and violence, and an equally disturbing and worrying spread of incidence from all provinces and across urban and rural areas of Pakistan. Although it is unwise to generalise, to the average eye the police appear to be a law unto themselves, and judge, jury and executioner when they choose to be. Much of the evidence for this is not merely anecdotal but gathered by news crews which document police violence on unarmed civilian groups, and citizen journalists with smart-phones and a sharp eye for the use of social media. All of which points to police forces that are either badly trained and led or a combination of both, a complete lack of accountability and an equal absence of political will in terms of reform of a vital element of governance. Public confidence in the police remains low; the police are widely mistrusted and seen as part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

The latest case of alleged police brutality in Karachi illustrates the point. A worker of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement has died in the custody of the police at Aziz Bhatti police station on June 3, and the post mortem report states that he died of cardiac failure which was the result of a head injury. His body also bore deep cuts and other marks of torture that are not self-inflicted. Consequent to this a number of police have been suspended. It is an irrelevance as to what the victim was arrested for, and if arrested in connection with a criminal offence then the police are right in doing their job.

Murdering suspects in their custody is not part of their job. Neither torturing suspects to extract a confession nor for any other reason.

Describing the police action in this matter as merely ‘high-handed’ understates the gravity of it by several orders of magnitude. A man has been unlawfully killed, in all likelihood by the police personnel who arrested him. The chances of the culprits being brought to book are vanishingly small, and the rule of law a sorry, perverted travesty of itself. - The Express Tribune

The new flyover may not ease traffic immediately It felt nice as I drove over the Sheraton flyover yesterday morning to reach Wadi Kabir. I am sure that the opening of this flyover will help improve traffic in the area and will also add some pace to the flow. But what still lacks is the free flow of traffic as vehicles descend from the flyover on both ends. The widening of roads on either ends of the flyover has still not been completed and therefore I fear that traffic congestions will continue for some more time.

Joseph Sanctus Muscat

New flyover will make it much easier for motorists It was good to learn that the Sheraton flyover has been opened

to traffic. Work on the project has been going on for long and creating gridlock for people who use this stretch of road for going to work and other purposes. All these people will certainly benefit now.

I stay in Ghala area and I normally do not visit this part of the city. But normal life in this area is getting affected because of the escalating water crisis. It is not just that the problem is persisting — it is getting worse with each passing day and people are being forced to skip their daily baths. Many are forced to suspended cleaning of houses and utensils and are buying food from outside and are using disposable plates and glasses to eat. We are forced to keep washing of clothes in abeyance for the past several days as well.

Shanthi Ponambalam Ghala

The most important consequence is the weakening of European solidarity. The euro was supposed to strengthen it. Instead, it has had the opposite effect. It is not in the interest of Europe — or the world — to have a country on Europe’s periphery alienated from its neighbours, especially now, when geopolitical instability is already so evident

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uropean Union leaders continue to play a game of brinkmanship with the Greek government. Greece has met its creditors’ demands far more than halfway. Yet Germany and Greece’s other creditors continue to demand that the country sign on to a programme that has proven to be a failure, and that few economists ever thought could, would, or should be implemented.

The swing in Greece’s fiscal position from a large primary deficit to a surplus was almost unprecedented, but the demand that the country achieve a primary surplus of 4.5 per cent of GDP was unconscionable.

Unfortunately, at the time that the “troika” — the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund — first included this irresponsible demand in the international financial programme for Greece, the country’s authorities had no choice but to accede to it.

The folly of continuing to pursue this programme is particularly acute now, given the 25 per cent decline in GDP that Greece has endured since the beginning of the crisis. The troika badly misjudged the macroeconomic effects of the programme that they imposed.

According to their published forecasts, they believed that, by cutting wages and accepting other austerity measures, Greek exports would increase and the economy would quickly return to growth. They also believed that the first debt restructuring would lead to debt sustainability.

The troika’s forecasts have been wrong, and repeatedly so. And not by a little, but by an enormous amount. Greece’s voters were right to demand a change in course, and their government is right to refuse to sign on to a deeply flawed programme.

Having said that, there is room for a deal: Greece has made clear its willingness to engage in continued reforms, and has welcomed Europe’s help in implementing some of them. A dose of reality on the part of Greece’s creditors — about what is achievable, and about the macroeconomic consequences of different fiscal and structural reforms — could provide the basis of an agreement that would be good not only for Greece, but for all of Europe.

Some in Europe, especially in Germany, seem nonchalant about a Greek exit from the eurozone. The market has, they claim, already “priced in” such a rupture. Some even suggest that it would be good for the monetary union.

I believe that such views significantly underestimate both the current and future risks involved.

A similar degree of complacency was evident in the United States before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. The fragility of America’s banks had been known for a long time — at least since the bankruptcy of Bear Stearns the previous March. Yet, given the lack of transparency (owing in part to weak regulation), both markets and

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policymakers did not fully appreciate the linkages among financial institutions.

Indeed, the world’s financial system is still feeling the aftershocks of the Lehman collapse. And banks remain non-transparent, and thus at risk. We still don’t know the full extent of linkages among financial institutions, including those arising from non-transparent derivatives and credit default swaps.

In Europe, we can already see some of the consequences of inadequate regulation and the flawed design of the eurozone itself. We know that the structure of the eurozone encourages divergence, not convergence: as capital and talented people leave crisis-hit economies, these countries become less able to repay their debts. As markets grasp that a vicious downward spiral is structurally embedded in the euro, the consequences for the next crisis become profound. And another crisis in inevitable: it is in the very nature of capitalism.

ECB President Mario Draghi’s confidence trick, in the form of his declaration in 2012 that the monetary authorities would do “whatever it takes” to preserve the euro, has worked so far. But the knowledge that the euro is not a binding commitment among its members will make it far less likely to work the next time. Bond yields could spike, and no amount of reassurance by the ECB and Europe’s leaders would suffice to bring them down from stratospheric levels, because the world now knows that they will not do “whatever it takes.” As the example of Greece has shown, they will do only what short-sighted electoral politics demands.

The most important consequence, I fear, is the weakening of European solidarity. The euro was supposed to strengthen it. Instead, it has had the opposite effect.

It is not in the interest of Europe — or the world — to have a country on Europe’s periphery alienated from its neighbours, especially now, when geopolitical instability is already so evident.

The neighbouring Middle East is in turmoil; the West is attempting to contain a newly aggressive Russia; and China, already the world’s largest source of savings, the largest trading country, and the largest overall economy (in terms of purchasing power parity), is confronting the West with new economic and strategic realities. This is no time for European disunion.

Although the single currency was supposed to bring unprecedented prosperity, it is difficult to detect a significant positive effect for the eurozone as a whole in the period before the crisis. In the period since, the adverse effects have been enormous.

The future of Europe and the euro now depends on whether the eurozone’s political leaders can combine a modicum of economic understanding with a visionary sense of, and concern for, European solidarity. We are likely to begin finding out the answer to that existential question in the next few weeks. - Project Syndicate

It is silly to sue celebrities for endorsing Maggi brand To sue celebrities for endorsing the Maggi brand is simply outlandish. I am yet to understand why should they be dragged into a row in which they have absolutely no role to play. They were paid for the endorsement and they were probably not even aware of the details of the product. We often come across such products endorsed by celebrities. Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova endorses some luxury apartments and houses in India claiming she has designed them. But, did she? In all possibility she may not have. But should we go to the court and sue her? Have we ever thought of suing those who endorse the fairness creams? They are, in fact, endorsing and spreading more venom in our society by fomenting a kind of discrimination

against people with darker skin.

But we are not suing them.

Anu Shaikh Wadi Kabir

India should now promote local food manufacturers I don’t eat any variant of the Maggi noodles and it is unlikely that I shall ever need to eat it in future.

But, if I ever need to eat instant noodles, I would consciously avoid buying Maggi. The product should be banned, at least in India, in the greater interest of the national health, especially that of the children. It is time that India should promote local food manufacturers. In fact, most of the modern diseases are caused because of the fast foods that we eat.

Vivek Darshan Azaiba

Letters, containing not more than 200 words with full name, address and telephone number, may be sent by mail (Times of Oman, P.O. Box 770, P.C. 112, Ruwi), by fax (24813153) or by e-mail (times@omantel.net.om)

T I MES OF OMAN

S U N DAY, JU N E 7, 2 0 1 5

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PERSPEC IVE Ensuring economic stability in these challenging times I

MOHAMMED MAHFOODH AL ARDHI

Residential projects in the country figure high on the list of priorities in Oman’s five-year development plan, and I must mention here that the sector has always contributed as a catalyst to real growth in the national GDP

n an ideal world, governments usually seek effective ways to ensure the welfare of their people regardless of circumstances. However, in the Gulf region the issue of welfare has been viewed with increasing cynicism lately in the light of current social, political and economic developments.

One of the most pertinent concerns for people is the surging cost of products and services, potential upswing in property prices, and the possibility of investment projects facing another trough of stagnation following the resurgence in the wake of the global financial crisis.

The good news is that key performance indicators of Q1 2015 have proved just the opposite.

Despite the fluctuating oil prices and slow growth in some vital sectors, there is a noticeable overall stability this year, with most development projects continuing at the same pace.

For Oman itself, most sectors have been stable owing to the generous budget our government announced at the beginning of this year, which has already registered a strong impact on sustainable development and helped allay concerns about our welfare.

It is important to note that Oman’s real estate sector has not faced any dramatic shifts in roughly a decade and has successfully maintained steady growth since 2008. Although this might be viewed by detractors as a negative factor, the fact remains that it has ensured stability and progress for both Oman’s citizens and residents in recent years.

From an economic standpoint, the current phase of stability or slow growth could lead to a possible weakening of real estate market indicators due to the decline in demand and decrease in job opportunities. This could pose a significant challenge for the government and the private sector, but nothing, I believe that cannot be tackled with ample planning.

Recent studies by industry experts have noted that the discrepancy between income levels and property prices is one of the most important challenges at a time when Gulf countries have to also deal with volatile oil prices. I believe that Oman has successfully managed to weather this problem.

Residential projects in the country figure high on the list of priorities in Oman’s five-year development plan, and I must mention here that the sector has always contributed as a catalyst to real

growth in the national GDP. Furthermore, consumer confidence greatly impacts living conditions. If we examine the opinions of citizens and residents about living conditions in Oman, we will find a general level of satisfaction among different social segments.

The results of ‘Bayt.com Middle East Consumer Confidence Index Survey 2015’ have revealed that job satisfaction levels in Oman are generally favourable compared to other countries examined in the survey. Participants who were interviewed in Oman expressed an overall satisfaction about the job opportunities and scope for growth existing in different sectors.

With such an enabling environment, our country has earned a respectable ranking in terms of living conditions for foreign residents. According to the Top Expat Destinations Survey 2014 published by InterNations, Oman ranked first in the Arab world, third regionally, and 30th globally among top destinations favoured by expats.

These advanced rankings clearly demonstrate the government’s resolve and continued success in developing a socio-economic framework that suits individuals originating from various parts of the world. They also reveal the level of satisfaction among citizens and expats regarding the quality of life, job opportunities, professional development, job security, living costs, and the alignment of all these factors with personal income.

The current challenges we face in the region may make us wonder if an unexpected economic recession is heading our way. However, I would like to reiterate my absolute confidence in the government’s strategies. I believe our leaders have planned well and will be able to maintain the existing stability.

In my personal analysis of Oman’s investment landscape, I think we should be able to ensure a balanced pace of development and forestall any unplanned economic roadblocks, especially in the real estate sector. This is the best and most sustainable approach to maintaining positive and stable living conditions that suit both our country’s residents and citizens.

The author is the Chairman of National Bank of Oman and an International Advisor to the Brookings Institution. All the views and opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not reflect those of Times of Oman.

Every child has a right to breathe clean air JANET STREET-PORTER

A

two-year-old boy has been removed from his parents and may be put up for adoption because they were heavy smokers and his health was suffering. Is it right for the state to take such drastic action? What if those parents choose to carry on smoking and have more children?

I grew up in a home where both parents smoked continuously. My father had a heart attack followed by bypass surgery, and my sister died of lung cancer. My exhusband had a heart attack and the same operation as my dad. I’ve never smoked — but I don’t know why.

In 1962, the Royal College of Physicians linked smoking and lung cancer, and finally my parents (though not my sister), reluctantly gave up their beloved fags.

The game-changer was a harrowing edition of Panorama in which the reporter fished a nasty black leathery object out of a dustbin — and announced it was the lung of a dead smoker.

Over half a century later, smoking is still killing people

despite laws banning it in public places, huge hikes in tax, and millions of pounds’ worth of public health campaigns. Demonising smoking has worked to a limited degree — back in 1962, 70 per cent of men and 40 per cent of women smoked, now the figure has shrunk to 21 per cent for both. Soon, anyone smoking in a car with a child on board will be fined £50.

If we continue down this route, should the nanny state take the radical (and logical) step of banning all parents from smoking in their own homes?

Such a ban would infringe our human rights and be impossible to police. But how else can we stop young people smoking?

Plain fag packets are not going to do the trick, and huge taxes mean smokers from the poorest families spend a disproportionate amount of their household income on their habit.

Money which should buy decent food goes to feed their addiction to tobacco. The result — people get fat and sick from eating rubbish and it costs the NHS even more.

Next week ASH (Action on Smoking and Health), backed by more than 120 health organisations, will issue a report calling on the Government to impose a new levy on tobacco companies which would pay for new initiatives to stop people smoking. Why should the NHS (funded by all of us, the majority of whom don’t smoke) spend millions on anti-smoking campaigns — and have to deal with the resulting health issues — when they have a £22bn funding shortfall?

Addiction to cigarettes (like alcohol) is harming children in low-income homes and they have no choice in the matter.

Helping addicts and educating the young is the only answer.

It’s all very well for middleclass trendies to talk about working people’s “rights”, but the people whose rights are being violated are babies and tiny children.

I dream of being able to walk the streets around my home without ever breathing the nasty fumes left by a smoker or stepping over a fag butt. We got rid of smog, now we have to face up to smoking. - The Independent

Two-thirds of Africa still without power KEVIN WATKINS

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ight at this very moment 621m Africans – two-thirds of the continent’s population – live without electricity. And the numbers are rising. A kettle boiled twice a day in the United Kingdom uses five times as much electricity as someone in Mali uses in a year.

Nigeria is one of the world’s biggest oil exporters but 93m Nigerians depend on firewood and charcoal for heat and light. On current trends, there is no chance that Africa will hit the global target of energy for all by 2030.

Not in headlines Unlike droughts, health epidemics and illiteracy, Africa’s energy crisis seldom makes the headlines. Yet the social, economic and human costs are devastating. Inadequate and unreliable electricity undermines investment.

Power shortages cut economic growth by 2-4 per cent annually. The toxic fumes released by burning firewood and dung kill 600,000 people a year – half of them children.

Health clinics are unable to refrigerate life-saving vaccines and children are denied the light they need to study.

Politics is at the heart of Africa’s energy crisis. The region’s power utilities are notoriously inefficient and bad at serving poor consumers in particular.

This is partly down to mispricing and under-investment.

But it’s also because utilities are vehicles for political patronage and, in some cases, institutionalised theft. US$120m went missing from the Tanzanian state power utility last year though a complex web of offshore companies.

The sheer scale of Africa’s energy deficit often fuels a sense of fatalism and paralysis. Yet on the flipside of this crisis are enormous opportunities.

Sub-Saharan Africa has some of the world’s most abundant and least exploited renewable energy sources, especially solar power.

With the price of solar panels plunging, there are opportunities for firms and governments to connect millions of poor households to affordable small-scale, off-grid systems.

Panel report This would help the poorest most. The latest Africa Progress Panel report, published this week, estimates that 138 million households living on less than $2.50 a day spend US$10bn annually on energy-related products,

including charcoal, candles and kerosene.

Measured on a per-unit cost basis, these poor households pay 60-80 times more for energy than people living in London or Manhattan.

Solar power Off-grid solar power could slash these costs, releasing resources for productive investment, health and education, driving down poverty and raising life expectancy.

If you think this is a pipedream, think again. Bangladesh has installed over 3.5m off-grid solar power systems, and the figure is set to double over the next few years. The key to success?

Financial and technical support from government, allied to new business models.

In Africa, a vibrant off-grid solar industry is poised for take-off.

The only thing missing in most countries is government action to support, encourage and enable this investment.

Supporting the development of large-scale renewable energy is not just the right thing to do for Africa. It is also the smart thing to do on climate change.

One of the symptoms of Africa’s energy poverty is the destruction of forests to produce charcoal for rising urban populations: fewer trees means the loss of vital carbon sinks.

Small-scale solar energy can provide millions of people with a first step on the energy ladder.

But it can’t in the medium term fill the energy void left by large-scale utilities. African governments must aim for an annual growth rate in power generation of 10 per cent a year for the next two decades – around 5 times current levels.

Countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda have demonstrated this is possible.

Both have simultaneously increased public investment while attracting large-scale foreign investment.

Aid donors can help by providing bridging loans and helping to reduce risk.

Throughout history electricity has fuelled the growth that has created jobs, cut poverty, and improved the quality of life.

Now, almost 150 years after Edison developed the light bulb, it is time to spark an African energy revolution.

We lack neither the finance nor the technologies to do so: all that’s needed is the vital connection of international cooperation and political will.

The author is director of the Overseas Development Institute

Tariq Aziz

TODAY IN HISTORY

Iraq’s former Deputy Premier, for many years the public face of Saddam Hussein’s regime, has died in an Iraqi prison 1936 Born in a village near Mosul. Studies English literature before career in journalism. Edits main Baath Party newspaper 1977 Joins Revolutionary Command Council – senior Baath committee ruling Iraq – becoming deputy prime minister in 1979 1980-88 Helps win US support for Iraq in its war with Iran 1990 Recognisable figure in world media following invasion of Kuwait 1991 Famously refuses to accept letter from then US President George Bush to Saddam, signalling inevitability of first Gulf War 2003 Gives himself up to US forces two weeks after fall of Saddam October 2010 Sentenced to death by Iraq’s Supreme Court for persecution of religious parties under Saddam’s rule

FROM OUR ARCHIVES PACM BOARD OF DIRECTORS HOLD MEET

MUSCAT: The board of directors of the Public Authority for Capital Market (PACM) met yesterday under the chairmanship of Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, minister of commerce and industry, and board chairman of the PACM. An official source at the PACM said the meeting discussed four main issues. The rules governing the appointment of members of the boards of public stock companies, the appointment of an internal auditor in those companies, the rules regulating transactions, and a report on non-performing companies enlisted in the Muscat Securities Market were discussed. The source said the board of directors took appropriate decisions for the issues on the agenda and implementations of those decisions would be in coordination with the concerned bodies. The source added the PACM was confident the measures would serve the interests of the investors by strengthening, monitoring and improving the market performance.

1498

Christopher Columbus leaves on his third voyage of exploration.

1546

The Peace of Ardes ends the war between France and England.

1654

Louis XIV is crowned king of France.

1712

The Pennsylvania Assembly bans the importation of slaves.

1775

The United Colonies change their name to the United States.

1942

The Japanese invade Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands.

June 5, 2015 Dies aged 79 Graphic News /

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396 confirmed dead in ship capsize Only 14 people have been confirmed alive out of the 456 — mostly tourists aged over 60 — on board when the ‘Eastern Star’ rapidly sank on the Yangtze river in a storm last Monday

JIANLI (CHINA): A total of 396 people have been confirmed dead after a cruise ship capsized in China, state media said, making it the country’s worst shipping disaster in nearly 70 years.

Only 14 people have been confirmed alive out of the 456 — mostly tourists aged over 60 — on board when the “Eastern Star” rapidly sank on the Yangtze river in a storm on last Monday.

The death toll jumped by over 200 after rescuers hoisted the battered ship out of the water on Friday and began recovering bodies trapped inside.

The official Xinhua news agency put the number of dead at 396 as of noon local time (0400 GMT) on Saturday.

The figure would make it China’s worst shipping disaster since 1948, when up to 4,000 on board the SS Kiangya were killed when it sank near the city of Shanghai.

As images showed the blue and white vessel’s caved-in roof, state broadcaster CCTV said rescuers’ torches were visible inside the ship overnight.

Funeral Online images showed workers wearing surgical suits handling body bags in the vessel’s dark cabins, while others slept on a nearby floating platform, exhausted by their grim work.

At a nearby funeral parlour, AFP saw men also dressed in the white suits driving a convoy of about 20 mini-vans adapted to carry coffins towards the disaster site.

A total of 46 people remain missing, but a government spokesman said on Thursday that no further survivors are expected to be found.

Rescuers used massive cranes to lift the ship at the site of the

DISASTER: Rescue workers prepare to enter the salvaged cruise ship Eastern Star on the Yangtze River, Jianli, China, on Saturday. — Reuters/cnsphoto

disaster in Hubei province’s Jianli county on Friday.

Reports citing witnesses said the 76.5 metre long (250 feet) and 2,200 tonne ship overturned in under a minute, and weather officials said a freak tornado hit the area at the time.

The vessel was cited for safety

infractions two years ago, according to a notice by the Nanjing Maritime Bureau, but no further details have been given about the state of the ship.

Investigators will probe the ship’s structure for flaws, CCTV said, after the ruling Communist party’s all-powerful Politburo

M I S A P P R O P R I AT I O N O F F U N D S

Standing Committee vowed to leave “no doubts remaining” about the disaster.

Information about the sinking and media access to the site have been tightly controlled, and online criticism of the search operation quickly deleted.

Relatives of those on board the Eastern Star clashed with police earlier this week, and an angry woman berated officials at a press conference in Jianli on Friday.

A group of relatives from Nanjing, the city in the eastern province of Jiangsu where the boat began its journey, argued with officials from their home town at a meeting in Jianli on Saturday morning, AFP learned.

A city official refused to make clear commitments to families about them receiving the bodies, showing “impatience”, a woman at the meeting surnamed Zhang said.

He responded to questions by telling relatives they should do his job if they were not satisfied, she added.

Family members who emerged from the meeting looked visibly upset as they hugged each other and walked away arm in arm, shaking their heads.

Other relatives who had arrived in Jianli were growing impatient at the lack of information and the lack of access to the disaster zone.

“We have come all this way, but all we are doing is waiting,”

said Jin Weifeng, who travelled from Shanghai to seek news of his mother-in-law Wang Shuisheng.

A petition posted by family members on social media service WeChat called for “key state leaders” to apologise, an investigation, compensation and the “death sentence” for the ship’s captain -- one of the few survivors of the disaster -- who is in police custody.

Local reports said other ships in the area on the day of the accident had dropped anchor after a warning of heavy storms, but the Eastern Star continued on.

More than 3,400 soldiers and 1,700 paramilitary police and 149 vessels are part of the rescue effort, Xinhua reported. — AFP

T OU R I S T D E S T I NAT I O N

Hondurans seek president’s exit 11 dead, eight missing after TEGUCIGALPA: Thousands of protesters marched through Honduras’s capital on Friday demanding the resignation of President Juan Orlando Hernandez over a corruption scandal that has seen growing calls for him to quit.

Noisy crowd A large, noisy crowd estimated at 20,000 by organisers marched

half a kilometer in drizzle from a hospital in the east of the capital Tegucigalpa to the United Nations building.

Earlier this week Hernandez admitted his conservative ruling National Party had accepted money that had been misappropriated from social security funds and proclaimed himself “outraged,” pledging that investigators would “get to

the bottom of all of this.”

The opposition charge that the president received about $90 million of more than $300 million they say was skimmed from poverty-wracked Honduras’s public health system for his 2013 election campaign.

Hernandez has denied wrongdoing and drastically played down the amount. — AFP

quake jolts Malaysia peak KUNDASANG (MALAYSIA): A strong earthquake that jolted Malaysia’s Mount Kinabalu killed at least 11 people and left another eight missing, an official said on Saturday, as authorities searched for survivors on Southeast Asia’s highest peak.

The 6.0-magnitude quake struck early Friday near the picturesque mountain, a popular tourist destination, sending landslides and huge granite boulders tumbling down from the 4,095-metre (13,435-foot) peak’s wide, craggy crown.

“From Kinabalu park management, I want to express my condolences to the families of the victims,” said Masidi Manjun, tourism minister for the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island, as he announced the toll at the mountain park’s headquarters.

Masidi said authorities could not yet confirm the identities of the dead and missing.

The Star newspaper later quoted unnamed search and rescue officials saying the final death toll could rise as high as 19 but there was no immediate confirmation of that figure.

The reports said the dead included members of a Singapore primary school group on an excursion to the peak, including a 12-year-old girl who was killed, as well as a local Malaysian climbing guide.

“It’s very sad. The Singapore children were so happy when they arrived here, but now...” Masidi said, trailing off as he shook his head.

Rescuers earlier on Saturday finished escorting down to safety

RESCUE TEAM: Members of a Malaysian rescue team listen to

their radios at the Timpohon gate checkpoint a day after an earthquake in Kundasang on Saturday. — AFP

137 hikers who were stuck on the mountain for up to 18 hours after the quake damaged a key trail and they faced the threat of continuing rockfalls.

Crews and officials engaged in further search and rescue efforts were kept on edge, however, by aftershocks including a Saturday afternoon temblor that Malaysian officials rated at 4.5-magnitude.

It staff and journalists scurrying out of the park’s headquarters.

Reports said most people on the mountain when the quake hit were Malaysian but that they also included hikers from Singapore, the United States, the Philippines, Britain, Thailand, Turkey, China and Japan.

Authorities have not provided details on injuries suffered by climbers.

Major earthquakes are rare in Malaysia and the tremor was one of the strongest in decades, jolting a wide area of Sabah and sending people fleeing outdoors.

But there have been no reports of major damage, nor any casualties outside of those on the mountain.

Masidi said all climbing would be suspended at Mount Kinabalu for at least three weeks to allow for repairs to damaged trails, accommodation and other facilities.

Malaysia’s Bernama news agency quoted a climber describing his terror as the quake unleashed a shower of large stones from the rocky peak.

“Rocks were raining down fast, like rock blasting,” Lee Yoke Fah, a 60-year-old Malaysian who suffered minor injuries, was quoted as saying. — AFP

S U N DAY, JU N E 7, 2 0 1 5 Alas, science is slowly dying. The massive advance of ignorance is being supported by the media and authorities Boris Shtern, Russian astrophysicist

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ANTI-GOVERNMENT

Russian scientists stage rare protest

ANTI-POLLUTION PROTEST IN BRAZIL

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A man stands up on a paddle with a latrine on board on Botafogo beach, located in Guanabara Bay, during a protest in Rio de Janeiro, on Saturday. The protest was organised by biologist Mario Moscatelli, to call attention to pollution in the waters of Guanabara Bay, where the Rio 2016 Olympic Games sailing events will take place. — Reuters

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

MOSCOW: Russian scientists staged a rare anti-government demonstration on Saturday, amid fears that after cracking down on the media, rights activists and the opposition, the Kremlin is now training its sights on science.

Several thousand protesters including scientists and intellectuals took to the streets of Moscow to express fears that scientific research in Russia faces dire prospects due to stifling bureaucracy and mismanagement.

Alexei Navalny Prominent opposition figures including top activist Alexei Navalny joined the rally.

“Authorities are strangling science” and “Nobel laureates are foreign agents” read some of the placards held by protesters. “Putin cannot solve problems, he is the problem,” read another sign.

Astrophysicist Boris Shtern told the rally: “Alas, science is slowly dying. The massive advance of ignorance is being supported by the media and authorities.”

Philanthropist Zimin The protest was originally called in support of a top private foundation whose 82-year-old founder, philanthropist Dmitry Zimin, has recently come under fire for financing Russian science from overseas accounts.

Discontent among scientists has been brewing for months but the crackdown against Zimin’s Dynasty Foundation sparked acute anger and disbelief. — AFP

On poll eve, Erdogan in war of words with Kurd leader The Turkish president seeks a large majority for the ruling AK Party on Sunday to furnish him with the powerful presidency he believes Turkey must have

ISTANBUL /DIYARBAKIR (TURKEY): Turkey’s Kurdishrooted opposition party, which could scupper Tayyip Erdogan’s ambitions for sweeping new powers, accused the President on Saturday of a lack of respect for supporters killed in a bomb attack in an election rally and demanded he apologise.

Erdogan countered by accusing Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) leader Selahattin Demirtas of instigating violence in October, linked to events in Syria, that killed dozens.

Chanting slogans and bearing a banner declaring “peace despite everything”, hundreds marched to the scene of Friday’s attacks in the mainly Kurdish southeastern city of Diyarbakir.

Others joined a convoy of cars

CLOSE CONTEST: Supporters of the ruling AK Party listen to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet

Davutoglu (not pictured) during an election rally for Turkey’s parliamentary election, in Konya, Turkey, on Saturday. — Reuters

heading to a funeral for a 16-yearold boy. Onlookers made the victory sign and chanted “martyrs don’t die” and “AKP you will pay for this”.

HDP deputy Idris Baluken told Reuters his party had told the government it believed anti-HDP rhetoric from Erdogan and the AK Party had paved the way for the attacks. Two explosions sent ball bearings and nails tearing into a crowd of tens of thousands at Friday, killing two people and injuring over 200.

Demirtas said Erdogan went

ahead with his own rally after news of the bombing broke without referring to it or to the people affected.

Provocation Erdogan later offered his condolences on what he termed a “provocation” designed to undermine Sunday’s election. He did not spell out who he believed to be the provocateur.

“He needs to apologise to them, express his sadness to them,” Demirtas told a rally on the Asian side of Istanbul.

“He should go to Diyarbakir. Is he not the president of 77 million people? He ought to leave flowers where people were killed.”

Erdogan, the most popular politician in Turkey but accused by opponents of authoritarian tendencies, seeks a large majority for the ruling AK Party on Sunday to furnish him with the powerful presidency he believes Turkey must have. However, if the HDP clears a 10 percent hurdle to enter parliament, that could rob AK of dozens of seats and thwart his ambitions.

Polls suggest such a result is within the HDP’s grasp, drawing as the party now is on nonKurdish centre-left and secularist sympathers as Erdogan’s religious tone has become more pronounced.

At a rally in eastern Turkey, Erdogan said it was Demirtas who should apologise, accusing him of instigating violence that broke out when Kurds in the town of Kobani, just across the Syrian border, came under siege from Islamic State militants.

Demirtas accused pro-government newspapers of giving scant coverage of Friday’s attacks. He held up their front pages as he spoke to thousands from atop a campaign bus in Istanbul.

“I know we are angry, but we will not act in anger. We will act in good conscience. We will be smart and we will give our answer at the ballot box and stand up for our country,” he said.

Demirtas said his party has been the target of 140 violent attacks during the campaign, including a double bombing in southern Turkish cities last month which wounded six.

He says the HDP will continue to promote peace talks between Kurdish rebels and the government whatever the election outcome.

Erdogan has accused the HDP of being a front for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which took up arms in 1984 in an insurgency that has killed 40,000 people.

Jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and Ankara launched peace talks more than two years ago.

— Reuters

DECISION

Gambia expels EU’s top diplomat BANJUL (GAMBIA): Gambia has given the EU representative in its capital Banjul 72 hours to depart from the country, leaving Brussels “astonished” and prompting the opposition to brand the decision gravely “ill-considered”.

“The Gambian government informs the public that it has decided to call on Miss Agnes Guillaud, interim charge d’affaires of the European Union delegation in Gambia, to leave Gambian territory within 72 hours,” said an official statement read out on public television late Friday.

Without giving any reasons for the decision to expel Agnes, the statement said the 72-hour deadline included Friday -- presumably giving her until Sunday to leave.

“We are astonished by this announcement which came with no explanations,” an EU foreign policy spokesman in Brussels said.

“We are summoning the Gambian ambassador today to seek an explanation,” he said on Saturday, adding that the EU had “full confidence” in Agnes’s work.

Agnes, a French citizen, has been in Gambia since 2011.

Economic partner The EU is one of the main economic partners of the West African country, with subsidies of 65 million euros ($72 million) from 2008 to 2013.

Gambia’s top opponent Ousainou Darboe also lashed out at Banjul, branding the expulsion “one of the most ill-considered decisions by the government of the Gambia”.

Speaking to AFP by phone, Darboe said he did not know why the representative was being told to go. — AFP

CRISIS

Migrants trapped in Myanmar-Bangladesh tussle MAUNGDAW (MYANMAR): Unwanted by Bangladesh and unwelcome in Myanmar, hundreds of stick-thin migrants found adrift at sea as a transnational trafficking route collapsed are now living in tents on a frontier scrubland.

After weeks crammed together on a boat bound for Malaysia — a treacherous journey many braved to flee persecution or poverty — they are back near to where they began.

Since Southeast Asia’s migrant

crisis erupted more than a month ago, 4,500 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants have been washed ashore, and the UN estimates that around 2,000 others are still trapped at sea.

Myanmar found the boat of 733 Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis abandoned by peoplesmugglers late last month, and eventually allowed them to disembark in its western Rakhine state on Wednesday.

The would-be migrants were

then driven to camps in a remote region near the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, where an earlier boatload of 200 men was already being held, to wait in limbo as authorities wrangle over which country they belong to. Neither nation has shown a willingness to accept them and rights groups are concerned some could be pushed to the wrong side of the border.

Arriving at one of the camps, the men bathed for the first time in days and received urgent medi-

cal treatment, some attached to IV drips, as Myanmar immigration officials noted down names, ages and addresses of migrants now at the heart of a diplomatic tussle with Bangladesh.

Go back “I want to go back to Bangladesh.

I’m praying to God to be able to go back home quickly,” said 20-yearold Shophikuu from Chittagong in Bangladesh, who like many others boarded the boat in the hope of

earning a better living in Malaysia.

Nishok, 24, is also desperate to get back to his family, saying he was forced to leave at gunpoint.

“A broker asked me whether I would like to go to Malaysia. When I refused to go, he pointed his gun at me and took me to the boat,” he told AFP of the moment he was cornered by traffickers in Cox’s Bazar, an impoverished coastal region in Bangladesh where around 300,000 Rohingya refugees eke out a life alongside poor Bangladeshis.

There have been previous reports of migrants being forced to make the dangerous journey south as brokers can earn hefty sums in the lucrative trade by demanding their relatives pay release fees of around $2,000 as well as selling victims on to businesses in Malaysia.

Recalling the hardships of the journey, where migrants were given only one scant meal a day, Nishok spoke of his parents: “I miss my mum and dad so much. I really want to see them.” — AFP

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Oman’s natural gas output grows 5.5% While non-associated gas showed a growth of 7.6 per cent to 10,216MNCM, associated gas production declined 3.1 per cent to 2,185MNCM, according to National Centre for Statistics and Information statistics

A E JAMES

businesseditor@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Oman’s natural gas production and imports rose 5.5 per cent to 12,402 million cubic metres (MNCM) for the first four months of this year, from 11,750 MNCM for the same period last year.

Of this, while non-associated gas showed a growth of 7.6 per

cent to 10,216MNCM, associated gas production declined 3.1 per cent to 2,185MNCM, according to statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

Industrial projects A sizeable portion of the natural gas in Oman is used by various mega industrial projects, which stood at 7,267MNCM for the

first four months of 2015, against 6,946MNCM for the same period last year. Natural gas is also used in oilfields either as fuel or for re-injection. For instance, in the first four months, as much as 2,613 MNCM of natural gas was used in oil fields, against 2,406 MNCM units consumed for the same period in 2014.

Other major consumers of natural gas in the country include power producers, small-scale industries and liquefied natural gas plants. Natural gas used by power and desalination plants stood 3.9 per cent higher at 2,303 MNCM for the first four months of this year. The Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP), estimates gas consumption in the electricity and water desalination sector to rise substantially in the next five years, mainly due to higher production to support growing demand for power and water.

While the national demand for gas will rise sharply over the coming five years, the rate of increase is by no means evenly distributed, with requirements set to spike in some regions.

In fact, the Ministry of Oil and Gas is responsible for supplying gas to various consumers and the obligations are set out in within the agreements.

The Sultanate’s natural gas production this year is projected at 120 million cubic metres per day, which is 15 million cubic metres higher than that of last year. Oman produced and imported 37,687 million cubic metres of natural gas last year (equivalent to 105 million cubic metres per day).

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INDO-OMAN VENTURE

Bina refinery expects first full-year profit Times News Service MUSCAT: Bina refinery, a joint venture between India’s Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) and Oman Oil Company, will likely post its first full-year net profit in 2015-16, generating some of the cash required for a planned capacity expansion, according to a report carried by an Indian newspaper.

Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd (BORL), a special purpose vehicle majority-owned by BPCL that runs the four-year-old refinery, reduced its annual losses in 201415 and posted a net profit in its last quarter, said Mint newspaper in a report.

“We have been able to reach a net profit in the last quarter with a robust GRM (gross refining margin) and we are sure we can

continue this trend in the current year. We are now ready for the planned creeping expansion,” P. Balasubramanian, director-finance of BPCL was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Ramachandran said BPCL has started work on the blueprint for its second expansion phase and is talking to the state government to set up a petrochemical complex as well. “These are very preliminary

discussions and will take time to fructify,” he said.

Usually, after a refinery opens, several low-capacity equipment are replaced by higher capacity equipment, he said.

A senior executive at the Bina refinery, who requested anonymity, said the profitable operations at Bina have revived discussions for a proposed initial public offering of BORL.

ECONOMY

Central Bank of Oman. – Times file picture

Sultanate’s GDP registers 4.6% growth in 2014 MUSCAT: The Sultanate’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at current prices increased 4.6 per cent during 2014, as compared to the 2.4 per cent growth registered the previous year.

While the nominal GDP emanating from the hydrocarbon sector registered a marginal decline of 2.4 per cent, that from nonhydrocarbon activities witnessed a growth of 10.1 per cent during the year, according to the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) preliminary data on national accounts, received by e-mail.

The balance of payments situation remained comfortable with both current account and overall position in surplus. The annual inflation rate measured by the movement in the average CPI for the Sultanate stood at 0.60 per cent from January to March 2015 over the corresponding period in 2014.

Total assets of commer-

cial banks rose 9.3 per cent to OMR26.2 billion in March 2015 from OMR24.0 billion a year ago.

Of the total assets, credit disbursement was 66.4 per cent and rose 11.6 per cent as at the end of March 2015 to OMR17.4 billion.

Credit to the private sector increased by 11.1 per cent during the period to reach OMR15.1 billion at the end of March 2015. Of the total credit to the private sector by the end March 2015, the share of the non-financial corporate sector stood at 47.5 per cent, closely followed by the household sector (mainly under personal loans) at 45.1 per cent, financial corporations at 5.1 per cent and other sectors the remaining 2.3 per cent.

The overall investment of commercial banks in securities marginally declined by 0.5 per cent to OMR3.36 billion as at the end of March 2015 from OMR3.38 billion a year ago. > B4

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MARKET PRIMARY MARKET

Subscription to Phoenix Power share offering closes on Monday MUSCAT: Subscription for the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of the Phoenix Power Company (under transformation) will close on Monday, June 8.

The company, which owns the largest independent power plant currently in operation in the Sultanate in Sur, is the newest power company to enter the stock market. The plant, which started commercial operations in December to produce 2,000 megawatts of electricity, was set up at a cost of OMR632.5 million.

On May 10, the company offered

35 per cent of its shares for public subscription, which is about 512 million shares, each share worth 110 baisas comprising a nominal

value of 100 baisas, share premium of 8 baisas and issue expenses of 2 baisas. The share offer is for both Omanis and foreign residents..

Good response Sources at the banks said that the subscription has been overwhelming and it is clear from the applications received, that it has generated the same interest as the initial public offering for Al Batinah Power and Al Sawadi Power nearly a year ago.

After being listed, the company plans to distribute dividends to shareholders in July 2015 at 1.7 baisas per share.

From the beginning of next year, the company will distribute dividends twice a year. — ONA

Boeing finds room for 14 extra seats Extra capacity on the 777-300ER is being planned by shrinking the lavatories in a bid to drum up orders for a best-selling aircraft

CHICAGO: As Boeing tries to bolster sales of its largest twinengine jetliner, no detail is too small. One result: It found room to shoehorn in as many as 14 more seats by shrinking the lavatories.

The extra capacity on the 777300ER is part of Boeing’s quest to drum up orders for a best-selling aircraft line into the next decade as it prepares to start building the upgraded 777X. Engineers also lightened the plane by 1,200 pounds (544kg by rehanging the overhead bins.

“The market reaction has been good — really positive,” 777 general manager Elizabeth Lund said at a briefing at Boeing’s widebody factory ahead of the Paris Air Show later this month.

With improvements to the engines, the control surfaces on the wings and other efforts to cut kerosene-guzzling weight, Boeing expects to boost fuel economy by about 5 per cent, Lund said.

The upgrades should be ready next year in time for the first deliveries of United Airlines’ 777300ERs, Lund said.

The shift to the “enhanced

-300ER makes a great transition from the 777 to 777X,” she said.

The-300ER is the biggest version of the 777 family, and typically seats about 386 people in a threecabin configuration, according to Boeing website.

Focus on innovation Focusing on small efficiency gains is part of a larger move under way at Chicago-based Boeing as the company focuses on innovation that will speed planes through its factories instead of ‘moonshot’ product breakthroughs.

That theme is likely to resonate at the Paris show this year, the aerospace industry’s largest annual gathering, according to Michel Merluzeau, vice president for global aerospace business development with consultant Frost & Sullivan.

With Boeing, Airbus Group SE and other planemakers landing orders at a slower pace in 2015 after three record-breaking years, investors are focusing on how the companies will make good on a backlog of almost 14,000 aircraft.

Those planes are valued at about $1.1 trillion. - Bloomberg News

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S U N DAY, JU N E 7, 2 0 1 5

B3

MARKET FIRST QUARTER

OIL-FOR-GOODS DEAL

Insurance firms’ claims rise by 36% Russia set to start Iran crude imports

MUSCAT: Unaudited preliminary indications for the insurance sector indicate that claims paid by insurance firms rose 36 per cent in the first quarter of this year to reach OMR39 million, compared to the same period last year.

The data also shows a rise of total direct premiums of the sector in the first quarter of 2015 by 6 per cent to OMR121.25 million, compared to the same period last year.

Most insurance products witnessed a rise in total premiums during the same period in varying proportions, with health insurance on the top, rising 28 per cent, as compared to the same period last year. Health insurance amounted to 22 per cent of the to-

tal direct premiums for the sector, a rise of 4 per cent in comparison to 2014. Liability insurance rose 18 per cent, collective life insurance 16 per cent, transportation 7 per cent, and third party vehicle insurance by 3 per cent, while other products saw a decrease in varying degrees like property insurance.

Growth rate Growth rates achieved by the sector in total direct insurance premiums for the first quarter of 2015 reflected positively to reach OMR61.665 million at the end of the quarter, up 14 per cent from the same period last year. Direct premiums are the total amount of an insurer’s written premiums

without any allowance for premiums ceded to re-insurers.

The claims paid by insurance companies to cover the risks undergone by policyholders during the first three months of 2015 amounted to OMR38.76 million, up 36 per cent, as compared to the same period last year.

Data indicates that when comparing the total direct premiums and net direct premiums, the retention rate of insurance companies rose 4 per cent during the first quarter to 51 per cent as compared to 47 per cent.

Retention rates in property, engineering, and transport insurance branch were the lowest, compared to other branches,

Financial sector fares well in May and OMR1.242 billion for Bank Muscat. They are the only two companies whose market value crossed OMR1 billion.

The market value is the total number of shares multiplied by the share price.

The gross value of MSM as of the end of May 2015 stood at OMR14.8 billion, including OMR4 billion for the closed joint stock companies and OMR1.4 billion for the securities market.

Trading in financial sector stocks constituted 48.7 per cent of total traded volume on MSM

MUSCAT: Trading in financial sector stocks constituted 48.7 per cent of total traded volume on Muscat Securities Market (MSM) in May, benefiting from the active trading on listed banks and investment companies stocks. Still, the sector index did manage to rise and closed at 7713 points; a decline by about 20 points.

The total volume of trading at the financial sector stood at about OMR36.6 million. The value of trading on the MSM stood at OMR75 million.

The services sector came in second with stocks worth OMR31.2 having been traded.

Industry came third with stocks worth OMR6.8 million traded.

Investors are more interested in bank stocks as they maintain

a good growth rate in profits and financial indicators. This encourages many investors to add bank stocks to their portfolios.

Bank Muscat led the finance sector in terms of volume of trading in shares worth OMR14 million (18.6 per cent of the gross volume of trading). Bank Sohar came second with shares worth OMR4.4 million traded, or 5.8 per cent of the gross volume.

In the service sector, trading has been active in Omantel and Ooredoo shares (OMR9.6 million and OMR6.8 million respectively), thereby allowing the sector to achieve high trading.

Bank Muscat and Omantel were still on top in terms of market value by the end of May with OMR1.248 billion for Omantel

Volatile The MSM’s performance was volatile last May. While MSM30 managed to jump 65 points to hit 6387 points (more than 1 per cent increase), the service and Sharia sectors indices grew by 28 points and 16 points, respectively. On the other hand, the industry and finance sectors declined 23 points and 20 points, respectively.

Last month, the value of 24 shares increased compared to 33 shares that decreased and 22 that remained unchanged. 13,688 transactions changed hands in May 2015, less than the 21,000 transactions that changed hands in April 2015. The value of trading declined to OMR75 million compared to OMR109 million, a decline of 45.2 per cent compared to April 2015. — ONA

reaching 9 per cent, 23 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively, as a result of re-insuring the bulk of these risks.

Vehicle, health, and life insurance contributed the largest share in retention rate reaching 84 per cent, 59 per cent, and 41 per cent, respectively, while retention rates in property, transport and engineering products dropped 9.8 per cent, 14.4 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively. — ONA

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INSURANCE

CMA’s takaful workshop today Times News Service MUSCAT: Oman’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) will conduct a workshop on takaful insurance on Sunday at the Intercontinental Hotel Muscat.

It will discuss various issues concerning takaful insurance industry, including business models, product offerings and market strategies.

The meeting will also discuss on the new takaful business legislation in Oman and practical issues in governance, risk, transparency and compliance.

Abdullah Al Salmi, executive president of CMA, will address the gathering, while key note speech will be delivered by Scott Lim, associate director, Dubai Financial Services Authority.

TEHRAN: Russia may start importing crude from Iran next week as part of an oil-for-goods agreement, Iranian Energy Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said.

“We hope that next week” Russia will take its first imports, Zanganeh told reporters on board a plane from Vienna late on Friday, after attending a meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec). “Much of this will be for cash and we will be using this money to buy commodities from the Russians.”

Iranian oil exports have dropped 50 per cent since international sanctions against the country were

tightened in 2011 amid a dispute over its nuclear program. Companies that trade with Iran are barred from doing business with United States and European operators.

World powers including Russia and the US plan to complete talks with Iran by the end of June to end the decade-long impasse over its atomic program.

Zanganeh said he discussed the deal with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak in the Austria on June 3. The country plans to buy “much lower than 500,000 barrels day” in exchange for cash, which Iran will then spend on Russian goods. - Bloomberg News

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People skill important for successful business: Shiv Khera A E JAMES

businesseditor@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Three skills — people skill, persuasion skill and prioritising skill — are important for making a venture successful, a motivational speaker said here.

Shiv Khera, the renowned motivational speaker and author of the

bestseller ‘You Can Win,’ was in Muscat at the invitation of Crowe Horwath Oman. He also addressed an international conference organised by the Muscat Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Khera said once a company resolves peoples’ problem, most of the problems faced by the com-

D I G I TA L L I F E S T Y L E S

Yahoo folding up its online map site SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo will fold up its online map service this month as it strives to recapture past glory by reinventing itself as a premier venue for digital lifestyles.

Word that Yahoo will shutdown an array of tools and services by the end of June comes as the California-based Internet search pioneer spins off an Alibaba investment that bolstered the company’s coffers despite lackluster earnings from its own offerings.

“We continue to focus on our key product pillars: search, communications and digital content,” Yahoo chief architect Amotz Maimon said in an online post.

“Part of that focus includes taking a hard look at our existing products and services, and ensuring our resources are spent smartly and with a clear purpose.”

Yahoo Maps website will close at the end of June, but Yahoo will continue to support maps in products such as search and Flickr, according to Maimon.

“We made this decision to better align resources to Yahoo’s priorities as our business has evolved since we first launched Yahoo Maps eight years ago,” he said. Google’s free online mapping service has soared in popularity and Apple has been bolstering its own map capabilities for its popular mobile devices.

Media properties Yahoo said that it is also closing some genre and region specific digital media properties and spreading the content to its other online venues.

The company planned to close Yahoo Music in France and Canada along with Yahoo Movies in Spain.

Also closing by month’s end are Yahoo TV in Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Canada as well as Yahoo Autos in most of those countries.

Yahoo Entertainment in Singapore will also be shuttered, according to Maimon.

pany are solved. He said there are many skillful people, who are incompetent.

Technical skill “Just having a professional qualification does not make you a professional. There are a lot more to it.” A major chunk of time, he said, is taken for developing technical

skill and a small portion is devoted for people’s skill.

He also said that 90 per cent of corporate failures are happening at the implementation stage and not at planning stage. Also, most companies do not go out of business because of competition from outside, rather sabotage from within the organisation.

Talking about persuasion skill, Khera said people to people contact is all the more important.

“Persuasion skill is the ability to influence, negotiate and sell.

People buy things from people they like.” As many as 3.5 million copies of Shiv Khera’s bestseller ‘You Can Win’ have been sold in 23 languages.

Shiv Khera. — Supplied picture

Greece must now find 1.6bn euros in 3 weeks Greece and its

Part of that focus includes taking a hard look at our existing products and services, and ensuring our resources are spent smartly and with a clear purpose

international creditors have wrangled for weeks as they try to hammer out a reform plan that would unlock the final 7.2 billion euros in bailout funds

Amotz Maimon

for Athens

Yahoo chief architect

Multi-year transformation Yahoo last month said it was expanding its online offerings, unveiling 18 new video series with which it hopes to attract a larger audience and advertisers.

Music will be another big focus for the company as it courts millennials.

It will be extending a deal with Live Nation to broadcast music festivals, and will join iHeartMedia to broadcast other music events. Chief executive Marissa Mayer said in a recent earnings release that Yahoo is in the midst of “a multi-year transformation to return an iconic company to greatness.”

Yahoo has benefitted from an early and shrewd investment in Alibaba that provided financial cushion as Yahoo worked to reinvent itself. Yahoo bought a 40 percent stake in the Chinese online giant in 2005 for $1 billion.

The current stake of some 15 percent is worth more than $30 billion. - AFP

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. — Reuters

ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is facing a showdown both with international creditors and dissenters in his party as his government toils to reach a default-saving loan deal in less than a month.

Athens this week opted to bundle four IMF loan payments into a single one due by the end of June, giving the 40-year-old premier just weeks to reach an agreement with creditors that sceptics in his hard-left party could accept.

Greece and its international creditors have wrangled for weeks as they try to hammer out a reform plan that would unlock the final 7.2 billion euros in bailout funds for Athens.

Late on Friday Tsipras rebuffed creditor proposals as “absurd” in a bid to galvanise support at home, but it was unclear whether the message has won over the hardliners in his radical Syriza party.

Athens this week withheld a 300-million-euro ($336 million) loan repayment to the International Monetary Fund, opting

instead to group four scheduled tranches into a single payment at the end of the month.

This means that Greece must now find 1.6 billion euros in three weeks — funds it is unlikely to muster without a deal with its EUIMF creditors.

Creditor demands This, in turn, is unlikely given the creditor demands, the ruling party’s top EU sceptic, Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, said on Saturday.

“It is obvious that given their demands, there can be no convergence between our government and the institutions,” Lafazanis, who is believed to influence a third of the party, told The Telegraph.

Many within Syriza, including a number of cabinet members, say the PM should even call early elections rather than accept further austerity measures.

In a speech to parliament late on Friday Tsipras called for crossparty support for his government.

“It is clear that the Greek gov-

ernment cannot under any circumstances consent to absurd proposals,” he said.

Greece’s lenders have insisted on higher primary budget surplus targets than Athens would like, financed by increased rates of sales tax, cuts in civil servants’ salaries and pensions.

In contrast, Athens insists on a new restructuring of the country’s massive debt, arguing that it is the only means to ensure the Greek economy’s long-term recovery.

The International Monetary Fund supports this position but many eurozone countries including Germany vehemently oppose such a move, pointing to a drastic debt write-down granted to Greece in 2012.

Tsipras on Friday argued that a “cynical” policy of economic asphyxiation and harsh austerity being applied to Greece will ultimately impact other European states in economic difficulty.

“Those who believe that a punishment of Greece will only strike Greece are deeply in the dark,”

Tsipras said. “The bell will toll mainly for the countries in southern Europe” that currently benefit from ECB stimulus policies, he said. Should Greece miss its loan payments and default, many fear that this would set off a chain of events that could lead to a messy Greek exit from the euro.

The deadlock has also alarmed the Obama administration in the United States, which has repeatedly urged all sides to reach a compromise.

Leaders of the Group of Seven summit are expected to also discuss the Greek issue during a meeting in Bavaria over the weekend.

“It would be astonishing... if the topic of Greece were not discussed,” said a German government source. - AFP

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ECONOMY

Deposits with B1 banks increase < FROM

Of total investments, CBO CDs stood at OMR1.6 billion while investment in Government Developments Bonds (GDBs) stood at OMR669.5 million as at the end of March 2015, the CBO started issuing 91-day government treasury bills after a long interval. Banks invested OMR180 million in TBs as at the end of March 2015. The investment of commercial banks in foreign securities increased 18.5 per cent to OMR589.3 million in March 2015.

Aggregate deposits held with commercial banks registered an increase of 4.6 per cent to OMR18 billion in March 2015 from OMR17.2 billion a year ago.

Government deposits with commercial banks declined by 3.3 percent to OMR5.1 billion.

Deposits of public enterprises also declined 22.3 per cent to OMR0.96 billion during the same period. Private sector deposits, which constituted 64.8 per cent of total deposits with commercial banks, increased 12.1 per cent to OMR11.6 billion in March 2015 from OMR10.4 billion a year ago.

Sector-wise, the share of households was 48.5 per cent of the total private sector deposit base, followed by non-financial corporations at 29.2 per cent, financial corporations at 19.9 per cent and other sectors at 2.4 per cent.

Islamic banking entities pro-

vided financing to the extent of OMR1,218.6 million at the end of March 2015 as compared to OMR574.4 million a year ago.

Total deposits held with Islamic banks and windows also registered a significant increase to OMR743.6 million in March 2015 from OMR205.4 million outstanding at the end of March 2014. The total assets of Islamic banks and windows combined, amounted to OMR1,524.2 million as at the end of March 2015 which constituted about 5.5 per cent of the banking system assets.

Monetary management during the year continued to be faced with abundance of bank liquidity and the primary focus of the CBO was to ensure appropriate levels of liquidity in the banking system. At the end of March 2015, narrow money stock (M1) when measured on a year-on-year basis, grew by 13.1 per cent driven both by the increase in currency with the public by 9.4 per cent, as well as an increase in demand deposits by 14.2 per cent.

Quasi-money (OMR savings and time deposits, certificates of deposits issued by commercial banks, margin deposits and foreign currency denominated deposits) witnessed a growth of 11.2 per cent during the period. Broad money supply M2 (or M1 plus quasi-money) stood at OMR14,391.7 million at end of March 2015. — ONA

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ROUND-UP P O W E R P L AY S E R I E S

Volkswagen golf tourney concludes

Bank Sohar organises annual party for staff The event was organised with the objective of bringing the bank’s entire staff team together in a social atmosphere whilst recognising their efforts and commitment which played an important role in helping the bank achieve success year after year

MUSCAT: Bank Sohar, one of the most prominent banks in the country, recently held their annual staff party at the Al Bustan Palace, A Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Muscat.

The event was organised in order to bring together staff and their spouses in a fun filled evening outside work premises to promote further networking as well as

show appreciation to all the hard work the employees have put into the bank, says a press release.

Highlighting the importance of such events, Rashad Ali Al Musafir, Acting CEO of Bank Sohar, said, “We believe that success and sustainability in any organisation depends solely on maintaining a highly productive and motivated

H I G H E S T QUA L I F I C AT I O N

team. This is why, in our drive towards excellence, we are committed towards providing a highly professional work environment focusing on transparency, team spirit and participative leadership style at all levels. Our annual staff party greatly helps facilitate this goal and also provides us with an opportunity to show our appreciation to all our staff members as they are the driving force behind our continuous success.”

The event was organised by the bank’s Human Resources Department with the objective of bringing the bank’s entire staff team together in a social atmosphere whilst recognising their efforts and commitment which played an important role in helping the bank achieve success year after year.

The event included various entertainment activities that engaged the staff, including competitions, live music by famed Omani singer Salah Al Zedjali, live violet show,

raffle draw and spot prizes.

“Such social events encourage our staff to come together and spend quality time with each other away from their busy work schedules, which in turn strengthens their relationships and helps them get to know each other better. Doing so also helps foster a friendlier work environment and enables them to work better as a team towards pursuing their own goals, and those of Bank Sohar, more efficiently,” added Munira Abdulnabi Macki, DGM of Human Resource and Corporate Support.

Bank Sohar enjoys a strong team of qualified and talented professionals, providing banking with a difference. The bank provides a platform for professionals with a passion for success, and together with a committed management and wise leadership, Bank Sohar has been able to win global recognitions by highly acclaimed institutions.

MUSCAT: The Muscat Hills Golf and Country Club recently concluded the eighth and final qualifying round of the Volkswagen PowerPlay Series, a unique golfing tournament exclusively sponsored by Volkswagen Oman.

Since its launch in September 2014, the Volkswagen PowerPlay monthly tournament has emerged as one of the must-play competitions at the Golf and Country Club. With the qualifying rounds now completed, the grand final of the Volkswagen PowerPlay Championship tournament is set to be played on October 16, says a press release.

Andrew Squires, general manager, Wattayah Motors, said of the PowerPlay series: “Volkswagen Oman are proud to be partnering with Muscat Hills Golf & Country Club as it has a great reputation as one of the leading golf clubs in Oman as well as the wider region.

Volkswagen has been a steadfast supporter of sports in the region, and the great response we’ve seen for the Volkswagen PowerPlay

Series is yet another step forward for the game of golf in Oman, as well as giving us the opportunity to interact closely with the golfing community in Oman.”

Tournament players have enjoyed the innovative format for game-play, which is unique in the Sultanate. The Volkswagen PowerPlay series sees players choosing between an easy or a difficult flag position on each nominated hole, with the more difficult flag positions offering additional stableford points for a well-played hole. This type of scoring offers players a risk and reward opportunity. In addition, holes 9 and 18 are optional bonus holes, where a player choosing a PowerPlay can earn bonus points. However, the double risk on these holes can cause deducted stableford points if the hole isn’t well played. This exciting format of golf adds another dimension to the game, which makes it dramatic and intensively competitive, with winners more often than not being decided on countbacks.

SUPPORTING SMALL ENTERPRISES

Raneem launches corporate identity

50 Omanis awarded 6G Welding certificates MUSCAT: Fifty Omani trainees were awarded with 6G Welding certificates, by the UK based TWI, (The Welding Institute) one of the highest qualifications in the welding profession recently. The trainees have been trained

by RAY International Skills Development, one of Rukun Al Yaqeen International Group of companies, says a press release.

During the ceremony, RAY International Skills Development was formally accredited by TWI as not only a fully Accredited Centre for Welding training but also as an approved TWI Examinations and Assessments Centre.

The RAY International Skills Development Welding Institute, based in Halban, Barka, is one of the largest in world with 100 training bays. RAY International Skills Development is the only TWI Accredited Centre outside the United Kingdom.

The graduation ceremony was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Oil and Gas, Petroleum Development Oman, Bank Muscat, TWI (UK),Occidental Oman, United Kingdom Embassy, Takatuf Oman and other local business enterprises.

“We are really proud to see these young Omanis who have worked extremely hard achieving the highest qualification of 6G in the welding profession. These trainees have set a pace that other aspiring Omanis may follow.

Indeed, we in RAY International, are delighted to have been associated with this training venture which will undoubtedly contribute to the training and development of young Omanis for such challenging but highly rewarding careers,” said Dr Tahir Ibrahim Al Kindi, chairman of RAY International Group of Companies.

MUSCAT: Raneem Ja’lan Trading, a newly established enterprise specialised in the sale of readymade garments, perfumes, cosmetics and various types of accessories, launched its corporate logo and identity in collaboration with Zubair Small Enterprises Centre (Zubair SEC).

Raneem Ja’lan Trading has recently joined Zubair SEC and became a member with full membership status to benefit from the services and facilities provided by the centre. The new enterprise won the Direct Support Programme for 2015, a flagship programme by Zubair SEC that incentivises the centre’s members to positively compete on best performance, says a press release.

The logo of Raneem Ja’lan was delicately designed to reflect femininity and modernity, using artistic ripples forming the word “Raneem”, consistent with the delicate feminine taste. Dark pink was used as an attractive favorable colour in the world of women as they are the prime target clients of Raneem Ja’lan products. The logo and brand identity were designed through Zubair SEC as one of the services provided by the centre for outstanding members. The design and concept creation were handled by a specialised team at The Zubair Corporation, in line with the corporation’s approach towards extending all support possible to the members of Zubair SEC. Najla Bilal Al Shukaily, owner of Raneem Ja’lan, said: “In the be-

ginning I would like extend my appreciation and gratitude to Zubair SEC and all its staff for the genuine support and assistance I received in further developing my project, and towards achieving success and understanding the dynamic aspects of the different markets while perusing expansion.”

She added: “Today, what we need as entrepreneurs is an advisory body that can offer us guidance, and this is what Zubair SEC provides us with through its advisers and experts and their valuable expertise. The additional advantage provided by Zubair SEC is the multiple partnerships it has with a number of private and public organisations interested in supporting small and mediumsized enterprises to attain growth and sustainability.”

She also shed light on the business concept of Raneem Ja’lan project, stating: “Raneem Ja’lan

aims at opening a source of income for local women in Jalan Bani Bu Hassan, as its marketing strategy focuses on enabling local women to operate through their homes as sale points to promote and sell goods and obtain a certain percentage in income. This strategy will encourage them to enter the market and secure a steady income. My ambition is to apply this idea into various governorates in the Sultanate.”

Adel Al Hubaishi, Senior Adviser at Zubair SEC, said: “Our attention was drown since the first day of our meeting with Najla Al Shukaily for her enthusiasm to develop the local community through her project. We felt that she has the ambition to expand and grow in the work field of Raneem Ja’lan.

Hence, we provided all the support to enhance this unique ambition.”

He added: “We always strive to highlight the importance of the

commercial brand in the minds of the members and the transition process from merely marketing products and goods to marketing their own brands, and seek expansion and wider reach according to the marketing strategies we developed with the members for their businesses.”

Zubair SEC allocated an advisory team for Najla’s Al Shukaily, owner of Raneem Ja’lan, to be with her step-by-step in the construction and strategic planning of the project and the marketing of its products. The team is currently working on redesigning Raneem Ja’lan’s outlet in Jalan Bani Bu Hassan.

Today, Zubair SEC has more than 240 members that receive various strategic, legal, administrative, and financial advisory services and enjoy an ecosystem and platform of support to run their businesses empowered by competitive expertise and shared experiences.

STUDENTS COUNCIL

Indian School Wadi Kabir holds investiture ceremony MUSCAT: Like far and wide, at the dawn of the new scholastic year Indian School Al Wadi Al Kabir (ISWK) also invests the office bearers of its Students Council.

This time it was a grand ceremony that made it one of the most magnificent examples.

Everyone carries in him a piece of good news, as said Anne Frank, the good news is that you don’t know how great you can be!

ISWK also sows the seeds of those dreams so far unseen. The school always strives to instil high standard of excellence by laying a strong foundation for character building through unrelenting effort. Students are encouraged to embrace a philosophy of personal growth and development, in that they learn to toil together, tolerate

together and twig together as well as triumph together en route for the leadership challenges, says a press release.

The head boy and the head girl designated said the welcome message with flowers to the chief guest A. P. S. Chauhan, first secretary (community welfare, culture & HOC) of the Indian Embassy. He was accompanied by members of the School Management Committee together with the honorary chairman Harshendu Shah, academic director Leo Lobo, principal and other dignitaries.

Compliant with the motto of the school, From Darkness to Light, the chief guest lighted the lamp denoting the dispelling of darkness and drawing the audience in the direction of an erudite tomorrow.

The day’s programme set alight with a prayer, I Pray You’ll Be Our Eyes, staged by the western choir.

There came the handing over ceremony by the former house masters and mistresses of all the four houses – Ashoka, Tagore, Vivekananda, and Akbar – to their inheritors. Next came the investing of badges on members of the Students’ Head Council as well as the house office bearers. Vice principal shepherded the guest of honour to confer the badge of office on the members of the head council.

Principal D. N. Rao and vice principal J. P. Pillai introduced the head boy Ashwin Titus, head girl Mamata Gopinathan, and their deputies Mayukh Misra and Disha Suresh. Sports coordinator Premlata, in turn, delineated the activity

sports coordinators of the council.

The chief guest classed this red letter day to be a defining moment in the lives of the student leaders who were cherry-picked as office bearers. The leaders should now deem this to be the training ground that would open up avenues of leadership for them in the future.

He exhorted them to work hard to hone their leadership skills and to meet the challenges ahead.

A leader is one who knows, goes and shows the way, he underlined.

Donning their new roles as student leaders committed to lead from the front, one can feel a new wave of enthusiasm surging within them.

The school Hindustani choir captured the explicit emotion in the words of a vibrant song, Shakti keliye…

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SUN DAY, JUNE 7, 2015

ROUND-UP CONFERENCE

Nama Group takes part in energy and water exhibition

Legendary Ferrari 488 GTB unveiled in Dubai Forty years from the original launch of Ferrari’s iconic first-ever mid-rear-engined V8 berlinetta, the 308, the 488 GTB opens a new chapter in the history of cars with this particular architecture as the 488 GTB has set a new benchmark for the sports car sector globally

DUBAI: Following its recent debut in early March at the Geneva Motor Show, the 488 GTB was unveiled in Dubai at an exclusive regional launch which took place at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Forty years from the original launch of Ferrari’s iconic first-ever mid-rear-engined V8 berlinetta, the 308, the 488 GTB opens a new chapter in the history of cars with this particular architecture as the 488 GTB has set a new benchmark for the sports car sector globally, says a press release.

Credit for this achievement must go to the 488 GTB’s revo-

lutionary proprietary solutions which deliver a car at the top of its class in terms of power output (670 cv) with engine and command response times of just 0.8 and 0.06 seconds respectively. Significantly, however, sophisticated dynamic vehicle controls make this massive power completely controllable even on the limit by drivers of all abilities, resulting in the unique driving pleasure that only a Ferrari can deliver.

Ferrari drew extensively too on its experience in both Formula One and endurance racing, bringing to the road the technology that

delivered victory in two editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the title in the WEC (World Endurance Championship).

Also pivotal was the XX programme in which Ferrari’s technicians have developed a unique knowledge of the dynamic behaviour of extreme cars driven by nonprofessional drivers.

The 488 in the car’s moniker indicates the engine’s unitary displacement, while the GTB stands for Gran Turismo Berlinetta, a reference to its deep roots in Ferrari history. Designed by the Ferrari Styling Centre, the 488 GTB’s sculptural forms are completely new. They accentuate the car’s sportiness yet retain the classically clean, pure lines typical of Ferrari’s legendary styling. The seamless interweaving ofform and function is clear in every detail, in fact. Certain design elements are also obvious nods to the past, not least the 308 GTB-inspired styling of the flanks.

The extreme power required by the car is delivered by the new 3902cm3 turbo engine which is coupled with a seven-gear F1 dual-clutch gearbox featuring Variable Boost Management which optimally distributes torque (a maximum 750 Nm in seventh

SOCIAL MEDIA

gear). The 488 GTB guarantees exuberant performance that is absolutely exploitable to the fullest regardless of driving conditions and is accompanied by a deep, seductive soundtrack, the signature of all Ferrari engines.

The 488 GTB’s revolutionary aerodynamics incorporate patented solutions, such as the blown rear spoiler, as well as innovative features like the 458 GT-derived aerodynamic underbody with vortex generators. The result is a new efficiency record for a Ferrari (E=1.67). Downforce increases to 325kg at 250 km/h, thanks in part to active aerodynamic devices which reduce drag whilst simultaneously generating downforce when required.

The 488 GTB’s dynamic vehicle controls have also been further evolved. It sports a new version of the Side Slip Control System (SSC2) which, aside from just integrating with the car’s F1-Trac and E-Diff, now also controls the active dampers.

This renders the 488 GTB’s dynamic behaviour during complex manoeuvres even flatter and more stable, so that less expert drivers can enjoy its potential to the fullest, resulting in an astonishingly engaging driving experience.

MUSCAT: As part of its sector day celebrations, Nama Group – formally known as Electricity Holding Group – participated in ‘Oman’s Energy and Water Exhibition and Conference 2015’ which coincided with the ‘Arab Efficiency Day’. The group took part in the event with several papers regarding the latest achievements in the sector, says a press release.

The group’s participation consisted of three papers, the first one on ‘Investment opportunities in the power and water sector’ was presented by Eng. Yaqoob Al Qumi, chief operation officer at Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP), and the second paper was presented by Eng Khalil Al Manthari, head of the renewable energies department at Rural Areas Electricity Company (RAECO) and titled ‘Renewable Energy’, and the third paper ‘The national plan for the electricity sector in the Sultanate of Oman’ presented

by Dr. Adil Al Busaidi, manager of the Asset Management and Plan-

‘MAGICAL KNOTS’

MYHASSAD

Bank Sohar gives away prizes to Instagram contest winners MUSCAT: Bank Sohar recently handed over the prizes to top three winners, selected by means of the highest likes, of its #banksohar8 Instagram competition which had OMR800 in cash prizes on offer.

The prizes of OMR400, OMR300 and OMR100 were presented to the winners, Ashraf Al Hinai, Hafedh Al Harthi and Aflah Al Zakwani respectively, at the bank’s headquarters in MBD. The #banksohar8 Instagram competition was launched on the occasion of the bank having completed eight years of banking excellence and with the objective of sharing this joyous occasion with the community it serves. All visitors to the bank’s Instagram page were invited to participate in this photography/videography competition that revolved around the number ‘8’ in any of its manifestations.

The contest which ended in May, accepted entries based on the predetermined criterion, following which the best eight entries were shortlisted by the bank’s executive management. The eight selected entries were then shared on the bank’s official Instagram page for voting purposes in order to identify the top three winners, says a press release.

Congratulating the winners, Mazin Mahmood Al Raisi, AGM and Head of Marketing and Publicity said, “At Bank Sohar, we lay great emphasis on the widely used social media platforms as

another avenue for us to communicate with potential and current customers in order to build strong and lasting relationships through a series of engaging initiatives. It gave us great pleasure to receive such creative entries to celebrate our eighth anniversary and on behalf of the bank, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who entered or voted in the competition, making it a runaway success. I would also like to congratulate the top three participants on their winning entries; the support they received is clearly reflective of their creativity and talent.

Given the positive feedback from our followers, we will definitely organise several others contests such as this one in the near future and hope to have the support of our customers going forward.”

This announcement falls on the heels of the bank’s latest social me-

dia competition – the ‘Customer Service Twitter Competition’; which came to a close on June 1.

The competition encouraged followers of the bank’s Twitter page to submitting their suggestions and recommendation on how Bank Sohar can further improve customer service and its overall banking experience. The best eight entries will be shortly be picked out and announced by the bank’s executive management. Each winner will then be presented with OMR100 Account Opening Certificate and the bank will then strive to implement each of their suggestions in order to provide its customers with the best banking experience.

In the past year, Bank Sohar’s social media identities have witnessed a tremendous growth, in addition to a high level of engagement from fans through questions, comments and responses.

ning department at Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC).

Eng. Omar Al Wehaibi, CEO of Nama Group, said “Our participation in this conference through the various papers is a vital aspect of sharing the group’s latest achievements towards our vision in empowering and developing our human resources to provide safe and sustainable energy to our customers. We have also provided a technology corner with the collaboration of young Omanis to encourage innovation in the renewable energy sector as well as spreading awareness on Sustainable Energy Conservation.”

He also added, “Nama Group strives to provide any new advancements that benefit the consumer. At Nama Group, we work hard towards providing a better customer experience through the usage of the latest technologies to reach the largest audience in the most effective manner, we aim to provide the best services in billing, meter reading and payment systems.”

ahlibank announces daily winners

Alfa Romeo supports Sarah’s fashion show MUSCAT: Dhofar Automotive’s latest Italian brand prodigy – the Alfa Romeo – recently supported designer Sarah Shanfari’s fashion show themed ‘Magical Knots’ that was held at the Opera Galleria.

Sarah Shanfari Topolska, a well-known musician, is also better known as the author and conceiver of ‘Magical Knots’. A unique fashion event, ‘Magical Knots’ depicted to every woman present at the show the art of knotting dresses from plain, ecologically-friendly material such as silk, cotton, linen, with no cutting or stitching. The idea was to stir one’s imagination, and help one turn simple material into glamorous and iconic looks.

Abdullah Al Kharusi, sales manager for Alfa Romeo at Dho-

far Automotive, said: “The sponsorship of the ‘Magical Knots’ show was a great match for Alfa Romeo, as it demonstrated how creativity and fashion aesthetics can come together to create something special that celebrates local fashion and style. Given that Alfa Romeo is a car aimed at a fashion-conscious audience, it was an absolute must for us to support the show.”

“Alfa Romeo’s history of style and elegance within driving is a perfect reflection of the women that would wear my clothes,” said Sarah Shanfari.

“I’m extremely thankful of Alfa Romeo’s support as the brand perfectly encapsulates what my clothes stand for – progression, style and sophistication.”

MUSCAT: ahlibank has announced the names of the MyHassad daily prize draw winners.

Omar Peer Mohd Khudadat Al Balushi from Khoudh branch, Sulaiman Darwish Rashid Fadhil from Barka branch, Salim Said Al Bakhet Fadhil from Salalah branch, Badryiah Khamis Saleem Al Maskari and Khalfan Salim Nasser Al Salmi from Ibra branch were the lucky winners of OMR 1,000 each for the week, says a press release.

MyHassad savings account continues to successfully satisfy the existing customers and attract new ones. MyHassad Saving Scheme was introduced in July 2008 as an extension of the bank’s tradition of product innovation. Opening MyHassad Saving account is simple and easy.

Customers need only to open their MyHassad account with OMR100 for their chance to win OMR1,000 in the next working day’s draw hence their chance to “open today and win tomorrow” continues. Further enhancements in March 2009 allows customers to participate in the OMR10,000 monthly draw, by maintaining a minimum OMR250 during the month.

Effective from June 2010 customers can also transfer their salaries to MyHassad saving account and will be eligible to enter in the daily, monthly draw as per the balance maintained.

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Shell Oman signs agreement with Sayarti for lubricants distribution Being a market leader, it is indeed a pleasure to work with Shell Oman and we look forward to work closely with the team and develop the brand and the business in the months to come, said, Ziyad M. Al Zubair, director, Zubair Corporation

MUSCAT: Shell Oman Marketing Company recently signed an agreement for distribution of Shell Lubricants in retail service stations after a successful tender process.

The agreement was signed for Zubair Automotive Group (Sayarti) by Ziyad M. Al Zubair, director, Zubair Corporation and

Adil bin Ismail Al Raisi, managing director, Shell Oman Marketing Company, in the presence of Mark Tomlinson, group general manager, Zubair Automotive Group, Mohammed Mahmoud Al Balushi, country manager Retail Sales and Operations Shell Oman, and senior managers of both the companies, says a press release.

“We have a long standing partnership with the Zubair Group and this new business is a reaffirmation of that partnership.

“We believe that Sayarti will

PERFORMING ART

be able to bring in a fresh perspective and renewed growth in the retailing of Shell Helix Lubricants at our stations,” said Adil bin Ismail Al Raisi.

“This partnership is between two companies which have been in Oman for many decades. Being a market leader, it is indeed a pleasure to work with Shell Oman

and we look forward to work closely with the team and develop the brand and the business in the months to come,” stated Ziyad M. Al Zubair.

B AT H & B O D Y C O L L E C T I O N

ISM organises Drama Fest Amouage introduces ‘Fate’,

a new fragrance for women

MUSCAT: Indian School Muscat, celebrating the 40th year of excellence, recently organised a twoday long Inter-school Drama Fest.

Eight Indian schools from the Sultanate participated unlocking and matching their skills in various dimensions of theatre arts.

The performances were adjudicated by eminent judges from the field of performing arts. On June 3, in the grand finale, the prize winning drama Macbeth was presented before an august audience. The festival envisaged promoting integrated development in children and foster optimal development through interactive approaches, provided a unique experience to the pathways of excellence, says a press release.

Talib Mohammed Al Balushi, director, Drama, Oman Radio and Television, Sultanate of Oman was the chief guest. The members of the Board of Directors, Indian Schools in Oman, Dr Avirat Vaishnav, president, ISM Managing Committee, Dr Aju Koshy Samuel, coordinator ISM@40 Celebrations, other members of the SMC, principal Srinivas K. Naidu, principals from other schools, vice principals, asst. vice principals, members of the alumni and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

The participant schools were Indian School Darsait, Indian School Al Seeb, Indian School Sur, Indian School Ibri, Indian School

Salalah, Indian School Nizwa, Indian School Al Wadi Al Kabir and Indian School Muscat.

An adaptation of the Shakespearean Drama Macbeth performed by Indian School Darsait won the first position. The performance titled Dysfunctional Dreams by Indian School Salalah bagged the second position. Butterflies and the dramatisation of The Merchant of Venice - performances by Indian School Muscat and Indian School Al Wadi Al Kabir respectively claimed the third and fourth positions.

Navneet Sunil Nair and Gopika Ganga Nair of Indian School Darsait won the Best Actor and Best Actress Awards respectively for their spellbinding performances in the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The award for the Best Actor in a Supporting Role went to Dawn Roy of Indian School Al

Wadi Al Kabir and the award for the Best Actress in a Supporting Role was lifted by Juhi Josh of Indian School Salalah. Gurleen Kaur of Indian School Muscat and Femina Siddique of Indian School Al Wadi Al Kabir received consolation prizes for their performances in Butterflies and The Merchant of Venice respectively.

The chief guest accompanied by Avirat, Srinivas and Deep Wilson, vice principal, senior section honoured the young performers and the judges of the Drama Fest. Later principal honoured the chief guest with a memento. Head boy Alen Jiji Tom proposed the vote of thanks. Geeta Chauhan, assistant vice principal, senior section and Aklary Sajindran, coordinator ISM @40 Drama Fest, did a commendable job in organising and conducting the entire programme perfectly.

MUSCAT: Amouage has extended its Bath & Body Collection to include ‘Fate’ for women, a fragrance that explores the uncertainty of the future and the universal principal by which the order of things is inescapably prescribed.

The Oriental Chypre scent opens with Bergamot, Cinnamon, Chilli and Pepper and remains subtly on the skin, radiating a floral heart of Rose, Narcissus, Jasmine, Frankincense and Labdanum that is deepened by a dark and destructive accord of Vanilla, Benzoin, Castoreum, Patchouli, Oakmoss and Leather resonating the tumult of the unknown.

The collection, presented in luxurious ivory and white packaging, comprises a full complement of products including bath and shower gel, soap and guest soaps, body lotion, hand cream and the ultra-rich body cream, says a press release.

Formulated by renowned French experts, the range is perfumed with the highest concentration of fragrance possible, and the products harmoniously layer and nourish the skin with the finest of ingredients.

Created with signature properties to invigorate the natural vitality and radiance of the skin, the collection delivers high performance with exceptional results

P O P U L A R C A M PA I G N S

Dahabi makes its presence felt on social media MUSCAT: Oman’s No. 1 flour and bakery brand, Dahabi believes that customer interaction and engagement is of utmost importance to developing brand loyalty.

Arabic short story contest This belief is reflected through Dahabi’s ongoing social media campaigns. Dahabi is currently running an Arabic short story competition on its Facebook page, giving its fans a chance to win an iPhone 6 by writing on the ‘Hidden Wonders of Oman’, says a press release.

Oman Flour Mills and the group are involved in manufacturing and selling of a variety of flour products, sliced breads, buns, samoons, croissants, muffins, puffs and other confectionary items

under brand Dahabi.

Over the last two years Dahabi has had an increasingly active social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The company builds strong engagement with its fans via interactive posts, regular cooking or baking related tips, posting recipes and running various competitions.

Customer loyalty “Social media is a very important platform in helping us receive direct feedback from the consumers. It also enables us build customer loyalty through active engagement. We are extremely overwhelmed by all the comments and contributions received through our social media campaigns and will focus on

connecting with our consumers through this medium,” said Abdullah Al Suleimi, assistant marketing manager.

Some previous Dahabi competitions include ‘My Dahabi Lunchbox!’ wherein fans were asked to submit photos of their children’s creative lunches to win toy vouchers and ‘31 Happy Dahabi Days’ in which a Dahabi hamper was given away to lucky winners each day.

These, along with various recipe and photo sharing competitions, have given participants the chance to walk away with great prizes.

With close to 15,000 followers on Facebook, Dahabi has the largest number of fans for an Omani food brand.

The collection, presented in luxurious ivory and white packaging, comprises a full complement of products including bath and shower gel, soap and guest soaps, body lotion, hand cream and the ultra-rich body cream for all skin types.

Providing more ways to enjoy ‘Fate’, the bath and shower gel is an indulgent daily gentle cleanser, and the perfumed soaps incorporate organic vegetable oils to preserve the natural pH balance essential for soft and healthy skin.

The body lotion and hand cream contain glycerin, shea butter, aloe vera, almond oil and silicone, and

a protective film makes the skin silky and radiant. The collection’s masterpiece is the lavish body cream, presented in a beautifully designed, pearlescent pot.

With active ingredients such as algae, glycerin, aloe vera, shea butter and cacao butter, the cream is a highly intensive treatment to restore suppleness, leaving the skin soft and velvety.

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ROUND-UP

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Mazda unveils new promotion for Ramadan The offer that will last till July 23 gives you a guaranteed cash gift of OMR500 on Mazda6 and Mazda3 and OMR750 cash gift on Mazda CX-9 and CX-5 models

MUSCAT: The holy month of Ramadan is round the corner and Mazda Oman is all set to make it even more special for all their customers with their exciting Ramadan promotion.

Under the promotion, on buying a Mazda3, Mazda6, MazdaCX-5 or CX-9, you can avail of exceptional guaranteed cash gifts that will enhance the overall ownership experience of your

Mazda. This is in addition to the already amazing prices and class leading features and styling in all these four Mazda models, says a press release.

Guaranteed cash gift The offer that will last till July 23 gives you a guaranteed cash gift of OMR500 on Mazda6 and Mazda3 and OMR750 cash gift on Mazda CX-9 and CX-5 models. So whether you are making a choice within the Mazda range for the first time or opting for upgrades, Mazda cars have now become even more irresistible. To avail of the Mazda Ramadan promotion, buy a Mazda during the offer period and also drive home with free 24 hours AAA roadside assistance that will be valid for the first three years from the date of purchase.

You can also book a test drive sitting at home or get more details about any of these models, using

the Mazda Oman mobile app for Apple, Android and BB10.

Offering the trendiest of Japanese cars, Mazda has brought in a lot of excitement in Oman’s automobile industry with their ‘stylish, spirited and insightful’ branding. These three unique qualities lie at the core of each Mazda you spot on the streets and form the brand’s DNA and TAC makes owning a Mazda extra pleasant with its efficient after sales service and quick response time.

With a network of 13 service outlets and 10 parts outlets spread across Oman, TAC is the only Mazda distributor in the world to win the Mazda Customer Service award five years in a row.

With 98.2 per cent parts deliverability, TAC also offers quick, efficient service with genuine parts available for all models and have highly trained staff who pride in their quality of service.

NEW SMARTPHONE

LG unveils new flagship G4 model in Sultanate MUSCAT: LG Electronics (LG) unveiled the new flagship GSeries model on Thursday, the LG G4, which is now available across Oman. Once again redefining the smartphone industry, the LG G4, aspires to spark consumers with the most ambitious user experience, cutting edge technology, sophisticated design, and functionality.

The LG G4 is focused on providing exceptional performance.

Its leather finish and brilliant edge-to-edge 5.5 inch Quantum display provides an unsurpassed visual experience and a sleek design. The LG G4 captures engaging images with its 16 mega pixel camera and a rare-in-smartphone F1.8 aperture lens. The new lens allows 80 percent more lightto hit the image sensor than in the LG G3. The innovative camera module is paired with the new IPS Quantum Displaythat surpasses the innovative Quad HD display introduced to the world in the LG G3. The LG G4 embodies intuitiveness through its Slim Arc exterior design and graphical user interface.

“We are ecstatic to reveal our flagship mobile to the Sultanate.

It represents our relentless commitmentto provide innovation that best meets consumers’ needs and expectations. Surrounded by mountains, sands and the seas, we believe that the LG G4 truly caters to the Omani nature with its ability to capture brilliant images,” said D. Y. Kim, President LG Electronics, Gulf FZE. “We wanted to give consumers a truly human-centric device powered with technologies that deliver real world performance.

This is the most ambitious phone we have ever created.”

The LG G4 is available in handcrafted, genuine full grain leatherin six beautiful colors. Other material options for the G4 rear cover

include pure Ceramic White with 3D patterns, artisan-forged Metallic Gray as well lustrous Shiny Gold. The comfortable elegance of the LG G4is defined by the Slim Arc, which runs along its entire body, highlighted by a display with a subtle curvature.

Great visual experience LG designed the 16MP camera in the LG G4 to capture beautiful images, even under less than ideal lighting conditions. The camera module features a wide F1.8 aperture lens that allows 80 percent more light to reach the sensor and greatly improves lowlight performance even further with its OIS 2.0.

New for G4, Manual Mode allows experienced photographers the ability to exercise more artistic expression by letting them directly control the focus, shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation and white balance for every shot.

Advanced photographers can also save their photos in RAW format, in addition to JPEG. The advanced camera in the LG G4 is complemented by Colour Spectrum Sensor (CSS), the first feature of its kind to find its way into a smartphone.

For selfies good enough to frame, LG included an industryleading 8MP front-facing camera for sharp, detailed portraits and group shots. Gesture Interval Shot improves on the original Gesture Shot feature by taking four shots spaced two seconds apart, increasing the chance of getting that perfect shot under the most difficult conditions. Triggering the shutter is as simple as opening and closing one’s hand twice in front of the camera.

Taking a quantum leap in display technology, the LG G4 is the first smartphone to use LG Display’s new 5.5-inch IPS Quantum Display,which offers 20 percent greater colour reproduction, 25 percent improvement in brightness and 50 percent greater contrast. It is the first Quad HD display to employ Advanced In-Cell Touch (AIT) technology, which combines the LCD and touch sensor into a single layer to provide better colour reproduction and touch sensitivity.

With G4, the higher quality display doesn’t come at the expense of battery life thanks to its high-capacity 3,000mAh removable battery, combined with the snappy yet energy-thrifty Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor.

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‘MACHINE’ DJOKOVICC ON THE BRINK OF HISTORY RY Novak Djokovic can become the eighth ighth man to claim a career Grand Slam m in the French Open final on Sunday ay when he takes on Stan Wawrinka a who has described the world No. 1 as a “machine”. >C2

FOOTBALL

Oman, Qatar in same group for AFC U-19 qualifiers MUSCAT: The Oman under-19 team are placed in the same group as defending champions Qatar when the AFC U-19 Championship qualifying rounds draw was conducted in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

According to the news posted on the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) website, Oman and hosts Qatar are placed in Group D along with Lebanon and Kyrgyzstan.

A total of 43 member associations including finals hosts Bahrain will compete in the qualifiers and they will be divided into two zones — the West Zone which has 25 teams and the East Zone with 18 teams.

Ten group winners and five best second-placed teams will qualify for the finals while hosts Bahrain received an automatic qualifica-

tion. If Bahrain finish top of their qualifying group or one of the five second best-placed teams, the next (sixth) second placed team will qualify for the final competition.

The seeding for the draw was based on the rankings from the AFC U-19 Championship 2014 which was won by Qatar after they defeated DPR Korea 1-0.

Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan, Northern

Mariana Islands, Sri Lanka, Syria and Timor-Leste, who will participate in the 2016 tournament qualifiers but did not take part in the 2014 edition, were added in the table as non-ranked teams.

Indonesia were also excluded from the seeding table following Fifa’s suspension of the Football Association of Indonesia.

The qualifiers will be held from

September 28 to October 6, 2015.

Groupings West Zonze: Group A: Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka (hosts), Bhutan. Group B: Yemen, Saudi Arabia (hosts), Turkmenistan, Syria. Group C: UAE, Palestine (hosts), India, Afghanistan. Group D: Qatar (hosts), Oman, Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan.

Group E: Iran (hosts), Kuwait, Jordan, Nepal. Group F: Iraq, Bahrain, Maldives, Tajikistan (hosts).

East Zone: Group G: Myanmar, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Brunei, Timor-Leste. Group H: Thailand, Korea Republic, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Northern Mariana Islands. Group I: DPR Korea, China, Malaysia, Macau. Group J: Japan, Australia, Philippines, Laos.

Serena wins 20th Grand Slam title The American, who skipped practice on Friday because of a bout of flu, opened up a 6-3, 4-1 lead but suddenly slumped as Safarova stormed back into contention.

But Williams won the last six games to win the clay-court major for the third time

‘IT’S A DREAM FOR ME’: Serena Williams poses next to her trophy. – AFP

PARIS: World No. 1 Serena Williams survived a mid-match meltdown to beat Czech Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-2 to win the French Open on Saturday, her 20th Grand Slam singles trophy.

The American, who skipped practice on Friday because of a bout of flu, opened up a 6-3, 4-1 lead but suddenly slumped as the 13th seeded Safarova stormed back into contention, even moving 2-0 up in the decider.

But Williams regained her composure and won the last six games to win the clay-court major for the third time after her 2002 and 2013 titles. She is now third on the list of all-time major champions behind

RUNNERS-UP: Lucie Safarova with her shield. – AFP

Australian Margaret Court (24) and German Steffi Graf (22).

“It was complicated, Lucie played very well, she’s a superb opponent, she was very aggressive,” Williams said courtside in French.

“I got a bit nervous but it’s alright, it’s a dream for me. To win it (the 20th Grand Slam) here is special for me because I don’t always play very well here.”

On a sun-kissed court Philippe Chatrier, it looked as though the spectators would be heading home in good time as Williams took an early stranglehold on the match.

The American sought to keep the rallies short and prevent Safarova from getting into her groove from the baseline. The plan initially worked to perfection.

A sizzling forehand gave her the first break and she then held to bag the opening set when Safarova returned a kicking serve into the net.

In the 17 times Williams had won the opening set of a grand slam final, she had gone on to win the title. It all seemed too much for Safarova, who dropped serve in the first game of the second set when

Williams hit a backhand winner, while another backhand winner in the fifth game secured a second break for the American.

But then everything began to go wrong for Williams.

She served two double faults in succession as Safarova got a break back before two clumsy backhands and another double fault helped the Czech break again to level for 4-4.

It still seemed as though Williams would close it out in straight sets when she broke for 6-5, but a splendid backhand winner down the line from Safarova sent the set into a tiebreak.

The Serena meltdown continued as Safarova won it 7-2. A backhand wide earned the Czech a break in the first game, only for Williams to break back for 2-2.

While the American was struggling to keep her frustrations in check and was given a warning for swearing, she eased home comfortably.

“It’s been a great two weeks here for me,” Safarova said. “Serena you were amazing, you are a great player and a great fighter.” - Reuters

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‘Machine’ Djokovic on the brink of history

G O O D S TA R T

MY GAME IS BACK: Andy Murray

I’m close to another Grand Slam title, insists Murray IN GREAT FORM: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic stretches for a return against Great Britain’s Andy Murray during their French Open semifinal

match at Roland Garros in Paris on Saturday. Djokovic won 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 6-1. – AFP

But having handed Nadal just his second ever loss at Roland Garros in the quarterfinals and then seeing off world No. 3 Andy Murray in five sets in a semifinal stretched over two days, the 28-year-old is primed for history

PARIS: Novak Djokovic can become the eighth man to claim a career Grand Slam in the French Open final on Sunday when he takes on Stan Wawrinka who has described the world No. 1 as a “machine”.

Djokovic takes a 17-3 career lead into his clash against the popular Wawrinka whose win over the Serb in the 2014 Australian Open quarterfinals put him on the way to his first and so far only major title.

It also snapped an eight-year losing streak against the eight-time Grand Slam trophy winner.

Djokovic will be playing in his third French Open final having lost the 2012 and 2014 championship matches to nine-time Paris champion Rafael Nadal.

But having handed Nadal just his

second ever loss at Roland Garros in the quarterfinals and then seeing off world No. 3 Andy Murray in five sets in a semifinal stretched over two days, the 28-year-old is primed for history.

Only Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Nadal have won all four majors.

But Djokovic also has even greater objectives in sight — victory over Wawrinka would put him halfway to a calendar Grand Slam, a challenge so daunting that only Budge (1938) and Laver (1962 and 1969) have managed to pull it off.

“It is obviously very encouraging knowing that I have won all of the big events from last October, and playing some of my best ten-

nis,” said Djokovic, who has lost just twice in 41 matches in 2015, is on a 28-win streak and has already claimed a fifth Australian Open as well as Masters at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Rome this year.

“But I have been in this situation before when people were speculating, is this the year or not? Can I win the title or not.”

Djokovic insists that having to come back on Saturday to play another hour to finish his semi-final against Murray after a Friday night suspension will have no bearing on his physical fitness for Sunday’s match with Wawrinka.

“It wasn’t physically an easy match, that’s for sure, but I think I will be fine for the final,” said the Serb, “Whatever rest I have in me, whatever I have left in me I will put out on the court tomorrow, and hopefully it can be enough.”

Djokovic and Wawrinka have met six times on clay and the Swiss has won just one of those -- in Umag in the pair’s first clash way back in 2006 and even that was through a retirement.

Djokovic also came out on top in their most recent battle, a five-set marathon in the Australian Open semi-finals in January where the

world number one clinched the deciding set 6-0.

But Warinka, who put out Federer in the quarter-finals in Paris, insists his poor record will not be a factor on Sunday as he tries to escape the ‘one Slam wonder’ club.

“He’s a machine,” said the 30-year-old. “But again, he has never won the French Open. Maybe he’s gonna play his best tennis and beat me straight sets.”

“But I shouldn’t forget that my game can bother the top players and when I am in form I can seize the opportunity to defeat them all.”

It’s been a long road to the business end of the majors for world number nine Wawrinka. It took him 36 Grand Slam tournaments and nine years to make his first final in Melbourne last year.

“My dream was to play Roland Garros, not to win it, not to reach the final,” said former junior champion Wawrinka.

“To me, the players that did were mutants. But to reach the final here and in Australia last year is exceptional.

“I will try and enjoy it as much as I can. Tennis is an extreme sport in terms of emotions — in a good way and a bad way. You should make the most of these moments and enjoy them fully.” - AFP

PARIS: Andy Murray came up short once again against Novak Djokovic but insists he’s in the perfect place with his game and fitness to reclaim his Wimbledon title next month.

The world No. 3 went down fighting 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 6-1 to top seed Djokovic in the French Open semifinals on Saturday, his eighth successive defeat to his old rival.

It ended British hopes of a first finalist in Paris since Bunny Austin in 1937 but it sparked greater optimism in the 28-year-old Murray that a second Wimbledon title is within his grasp.

“My game is back close to where it needs to be to winning Slams,” said Murray whose Wimbledon reign was ended by Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals in 2014, a straight sets loss where a bad injury conspired against him.

“Physically I’m back there again, and obviously now with the grass-court season coming up, hopefully I can get myself an opportunity there and play much better than last year.

“Physically I’m in a much better place. We’ll see what happens the next few months, but it’s been a good start to the year.”

Against Djokovic, he dominated the third and fourth sets before his momentum was quashed by the Serb who allowed the Briton just one game in the deciding set.

In two of their other meetings this year — at the Australian Open and Miami finals — Djokovic had won the decisive sets 6-0.

“He regroups well during matches,” said Murray.

“He didn’t at the beginning of his career, and now it’s something that he does extremely well, physically and mentally.”

Optimistic But Murray may still be right to be optimistic after a spring where he won his first career titles on clay, in Munich and Madrid, with his third career run to the semifinals in Paris giving him 15 wins on the surface.

“After Novak, I would say I probably played the best tennis in the major events, in the Slams,” said Murray.

“Also in the Masters Series I have been quite consistent in the ones that I have played. And I won probably more matches to this stage than I have any other year of my career.

“That’s what it feels like. I don’t know if that is the case, but that’s what it feels like. That’s been positive.”

Murray will head to the All England Club with a 2-0 winning record over Djokovic thanks to his Olympic Games semifinal triumph in 2012 and his Wimbledon title the following year.

He is 1-1 against Roger Federer in London after taking gold in the Olympics on Centre Court just weeks after losing the 2012 Wimbledon final. Of his top three rivals, his record on the Wimbledon grass against Nadal does not make encouraging reading, losing in 2008, 2010 and 2011. - AFP

TENNIS

OTA to discuss Al Talee’a Club’s request MUSCAT: The board members of the Oman Tennis Association (OTA) hold their second meeting of the year here on Sunday under the chairmanship of association chief Mutassim Al Zadjali.

According to a press release issued by the Sultanate’s tennis governing body on Saturday, the OTA board members will discuss a number of issues but the most important one being Al Talee’a Club’s request for OTA affiliation.

The OTA board members will

also approve the minutes of first the meeting of the year and also follow-up the decisions passed during that meeting.

The topic OTA’s financial status will also come up during the association board meeting.

The members will also look into the recommendations made during third meeting of association’s teams and coaches committees as well as the the second meeting of competitions committee held here recently.

MAJOR DECISIONS: OTA chief Mutassim Al Zadjali. – Supplied photo

IN-HOUSE EVENT

Beatrice cricket tournament on June 12 MUSCAT: Even as Beatrice Sports are celebrating their 37 years of existence in south Indian state of Kerala, their Oman members are gearing up to organise another in-house Cricket Champions Trophy in Al Amerat on June 12.

The tournament, sponsored

by Afsal Babu of Faisal Al Naimi Company - Saudi Arabia, is being organised in honour of founder members of the club in India late Moidu, Mackey and Hussain.

Ever since Beatrice Cricket Team was registered officially with Oman Cricket, the performance of players were self evident.

Dawood bin Ahmed Al Raisi, former chairman of Oman Hockey Association and Vice-President of Asian Hockey Federation will the chief guest. S.A.S Naqvi, sports consultant and former technical advisor of Oman Olympic Committee (OCC), will be guest of honour.

During the day’s proceedings, the organisers will be felicitating cricket players Arun Poulose and Sindo Michael. According to team manager Siraj Afia, there are also plans to organsie in-house basketball and hockey tournaments later this year with support from Rasheed,Saif And Feroz.O.V.

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SPORTS

Musandam-Oman Sail hope to break own record at Kiel Week Musandam-Oman Sail will welcome onboard Boris Herrmann, Germany’s best-known offshore sailor, and Pierre Casiraghi, youngest son of Caroline, Princess of Hanover

MUSCAT: Musandam-Oman Sail, the Ministry of Tourism’s flagship MOD70 boat, will soon head north to Kiel, Germany, to attend Kieler Woche, Northern Europe’s biggest summer festival, and showcase the speeds that are earning the team worldwide recognition.

The MOD70 crew is fresh from a busy period in Europe where they set a new Round Ireland Record, adding to the Round Britain and Ireland record achieved in 2014.

Kieler Woche runs from June 20 to 28, and the crew, intent on shaving a few more seconds off the Kiel Week Welcome Race record that they smashed by almost 20 minutes last year, will welcome onboard Boris Herrmann, Germany’s best-known offshore sailor, and keen sailor Pierre Casiraghi, youngest son of Caroline, Princess of Hanover and seventh in line to the Monegasque throne.

Casiraghi recently finished ninth at the Melges 32 World Championships, and raced with Boris Herrmann on the Europeanflagged Esimit Europa 2, winning line honours in the Giraglia Rolex Cup last year. “I love sailing. It’s my passion and I can’t wait to sail

RECORD SHOW: Musandam-Oman Sail pictured during last year’s Kiel Week race. – Supplied photo

on Musandam-Oman Sail and discover this spectacular MOD70. I am sure it will give me an amazing experience, different from what I experienced on Maserati or on the TP52. It’s a real privilege to be able to sail in Kiel for the first time in such fantastic conditions next to all these great names of sailing,” said Pierre Casiraghi, Vice-President of the Yacht Club de Monaco.

The celebrity guest sailors will take their place alongside Mohsin Al Busaidi and one of the Middle East’s first professional female sailors Ibtisam Al Salmi.

Both are products of Oman Sail’s award-winning Keelboat training programme and have gone on to achieve success and notoriety for their sailing endeavours in their home country and beyond.

The Lord Mayor of Kiel, Ulf Kaempfer, who was on board last year during Kieler Woche, is also set to return in 2015 for a highspeed spin around the inner fjord with the team. The crew will be skippered by Frenchman Sidney Gavignet, who just came back from completing a leg of the Volvo Ocean Race with Chinese entry, Dongfeng.

Delighted to step back onboard the MOD70, Gavignet said: “It is great to be back and we are looking forward to trying to take a little more time off the Welcome Race Record that we broke last year.

We have an exciting crew with Boris Herrmann and Pierre Casiraghi joining us, alongside our own Omani stars with Ibtisam Al Salmi and Mohsin Al Busaidi coming to Kiel this year.”

Kiel Week will also promote the country as a tourist destination to the German public with activities off the water taking place in Oman’s Ministry of Tourism’s new pavilion, set to make its European debut.

Over three million people are expected to visit Kieler Woche, and visitors to the Oman exhibition can expect a highly experiential tour since it resembles an Omani fort on the outside and a bustling colorful souk on the inside, divided into six different areas representing different regions of the Sultanate, complete with ethnic artefacts and activities.

These will include the most popular attractions from 2014, in particular the henna artist and the pottery and weaving craftsmen, and a photography area for visitors

G R E E N I N I T I AT I V E

Bank Muscat organises field visits to review 2015 Green Sports applications MUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the flagship financial services provider in the Sultanate, organised field visits to review 2015 Green Sports applications from sports clubs and teams for greening and infrastructure development of playgrounds across the Sultanate. The bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) officials will conclude the field visits soon to evaluate the applications and select 15 beneficiaries in 2015.

The Green Sports CSR programme was launched by the bank in 2012 to lay the foundation at the grass-root level for a sustainable sports infrastructure.

In a record time, the bank achieved notable success in developing green fields in all parts of the Sultanate, thus contributing to realising the sporting dreams of clubs and teams. In the first three years of the programme, the bank supported 34 sports clubs and teams to green their playing fields.

As part of its commitment to promoting a sporting nation, the bank this year widened the scope of Green Sports initiative beyond greening of playgrounds.

From 2015, sports teams and clubs seeking Green Sports support can choose from four options to either green their playgrounds with natural or synthetic turf, or avail support to affix flood lights or water desalination equipment to

We are looking forward to trying to take a little more time off the Welcome Race Record that we broke last year

GREENING THE ROUNDS: A view of one of the grounds developed under the programme. – Supplied photo

facilitate greening of fields in areas facing problems of water salinity.

The move is aimed at providing wider representation to sports clubs and teams to build sustainable sports infrastructure in all parts of the Sultanate.

The bank’s support to the initiative stems from its commitment to giving a helping hand to all deserving teams and clubs in Oman to green as well as provide infrastructural support for playgrounds in Oman.

The bank recognises that local clubs wield immense influence on neighbourhood communities, especially youth, hence clubs with modern infrastructure facilities can help raise sporting heroes for the country.

The funding criteria of the programme, include that sports clubs/teams should have been in existence for three years with a minimum membership of 300 youth from the local community.

The Green Sports initiative

reiterates the bank’s support to Oman’s youth who represent the future of Oman. True to its commitment to supporting varied sporting activities in the country, Bank Muscat remains at the forefront in offering the required encouragement to youth. As the nation’s leading financial institution, Bank Muscat aims to motivate and provide the required impetus for youth to excel in all arenas and thereby contribute to the development and progress of Oman.

to take selfies against three iconic Omani backgrounds.

Musandam-Oman Sail’s visit to Germany, which is linked to Muscat in Oman via a direct Oman Air flight service, marks the start of a three-month German sailing season for Oman Sail. Kiel Week will be followed later in the summer by the Extreme Sailing Series event in Hamburg in July and the Bullitt GC32 Racing Tour in Kiel shortly after where Leigh McMillan’s formidable multihull crew will take aim at both 2015 titles to add to their impressive collection.

“Last year, Kiel Week was incredibly successful for us on a number of fronts,” said Salma Al Hashmi, Director of Marketing and Events at Oman Sail.

“Our flagship MOD70 Musan-

Sidney Gavignet Musandam-Oman Sail skipper

dam-Oman Sail was a massive hit especially when it took the Welcome Race Record and we loved having our German guests on board to share in this success.

“Our Oman tourism exhibition pavilion was also a big hit and attracted visitors in their thousands which gave us a great opportunity to promote our country to sailing enthusiasts, tourists and even business men and women who were keen to find out more. We are excited about having this second opportunity to build on that success.”

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SPORTS

Mosley for level playing field in Formula One Former Fia chief Max

Rosberg tops timesheets at Canadian GP

Mosley has called for an overhaul of Formula One and claimed that in its current structure the decision-making is ‘completely wrong’

MONTREAL: Former Fia president Max Mosley has called for an overhaul of Formula One and claimed that in its current structure the decision-making is ‘completely wrong’.

In an interview with BBC television , the Briton who was the head of the sport’s ruling body, the International Motoring Federation (Fia), from 1993 to 2009, told former team owner Eddie Jordan that “there are clearly things wrong”.

Jordan interviewed Mosley for a special feature to be aired shortly before qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix, according to the BBC website (bbc.co.uk).

“Four of the teams haven’t got enough money and other teams have so much money they waste a lot of it,” Mosley is quoted telling Jordan.

He described the current governance, in which small teams are not involved in much of the decision-making, as completely wrong.

He added: “I would bring in a second set of rules - run under current rules or a second set on condition you operate under a cost cap.

“Because you have more freedom your car would be as quick as the expensive teams. Then you’d get very competitive racing and the smaller teams wouldn’t be in

MONTREAL: Nico Rosberg topped the timesheets while world champion Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton propped them up in Saturday’s final Canadian Grand Prix practice.

Hamilton, who will be chasing his sixth pole position in seven Formula One races this season, failed to get in a clean lap in a scrappy session twice red-flagged due to incidents.

Rosberg’s best lap of one minute and 15.660 seconds was 0.573 quicker than Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in second place.

Hamilton, who ended Friday’s rainswept second practice session in the tyre wall but fastest, was slowest of all with an unrepresentative time of 1:21.492 after managing just nine laps in all.

The Briton leads Rosberg by 10 points, arriving in Canada determined to bounce back from disappointment in Monaco where a needless late pitstop while leading cost him victory and handed it to his teammate.

After Friday’s washout, the Saturday session started under clear blue skies but the

as much financial trouble.”

He added: “If a small team has less money, the bigger team might just as well have a bigger engine and that is compounded by the way the money is distributed.”

Last year, Ferrari was reported to have earned 164 million dollars and Red bull 156 million dollars while Marussia and Sauber each received only 48 million.

SETTING THE PACE: Nico Rosberg

drivers were still hampered by interruptions.

The first red flag came out when Brazilian Felipe Nasr’s Sauber speared into the wall as he was weaving on the straight to heat up the tyres.

After a 10 minute suspension, with Nasr taken to the medical centre for checks and the wreckage removed, the action resumed but was again halted when Jenson Button’s

“Income should be distributed equally,” according to Mosley, who added: “Bernie (Ecclestone) says that is communism and the big teams would be against it, but it is a sport and sport demands a level playing field. “If you’re giving one team five times as much as another team that is not a level playing field.”

Mosley’s comments came soon after an outburst from former Fer-

McLaren stopped on track and had to be recovered.

“I had a massive loss of power. We’ve got a bigger problem here,” Button said over the radio, with his participation in qualifying in doubt.

Button’s Spanish teammate Fernando Alonso managed only three laps after sitting out most of the morning as mechanics installed a new Honda power unit. - Reuters

rari driver Eddie Irvine who accused the sport’s rulers of ignoring the sport’s history and fans.

As the teams began the third and final free practice session for this weekend’s race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, it was clear that the sport remains trapped in a period of soul-searching amid reports of falling interest and a drop in television viewing figures. - AFP

INTERVIEW

Blatter should leave now, says DFB boss BERLIN: Fifa president Sepp Blatter should step aside quickly so that world soccer’s governing body can move forward with urgently needed reforms, the head of Germany’s football association (DFB) said on Saturday.

In an interview, DFB President Wolfgang Niersbach said it was also essential for Fifa to rigorously clear up the bribery allegations and for a new Fifa leadership to implement sweeping reforms to restore lost credibility.

“We strongly advocate that the announced resignation be done quickly now to clear the path for a fresh start,” said Niersbach, the world’s largest FA with 6.8 million members.

Blatter announced on Tuesday, days after being re-elected for a fifth term, that he would step down. He is intent on staying in office until an extraordinary congress finds his successor -- between December and March.

That delayed departure has drawn strong criticism in Germany. German sport minister Thomas de Maiziere said Blatter’s resignation will be worthless if Fifa fails to enact meaningful reforms and end cronyism tarnishing it.

Fifa was plunged into the worst crisis in the organisation’s 111-year history on May 27 when Swiss police staged a dawn raid in Zurich and arrested several officials on corruption charges.

“The basis needed to win back the trust that’s been lost is to first of all completely clear up everything,” said Niersbach. “Towards that goal, a new leadership has to come up with a comprehensive reform package and rigorously implement that.”

Niersbach, 64, said he did not know what prompted Blatter to abruptly change his mind and announce his resignation after winning re-election. Germany had opposed his re-election.

“That’s a question for Sepp Blatter,” he said when asked why Blatter changed his mind. “But

Wolfgang Niersbach

it’s difficult to understand why a Congress was called and then the resignation was announced four days later.”

Niersbach, whose name has been mentioned as a candidate to succeed Blatter, said he is focused on his job in Germany. Elected to the Fifa executive committee in March, he would bring a modern reformist approach while fostering global cooperation.

“I’ve always said my main focus is on soccer in Germany,” he said when asked if he wanted to lead Fifa.

He added Germany, a fourtimes World Cup winner and a country with comprehensive soccer organisations at all levels, was eager to take a constructive leading role in FIFA’s time of troubles.

“There’s the principle of ‘one country, one vote’ in Fifa,” he said when asked if Germany should have more weight in Fifa.

“But we in the DFB are taking our responsibility seriously in these difficult times. That’s why I agreed to the new role in the Executive Committee (of Fifa) in Zurich,” he said.

Niersbach has been critical of both Fifa’s handling of a report on corruption for the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup as well as picking Qatar for 2022. - Reuters

FOOTBALL

Coach Hiddink slams ‘disorganised’ Dutch for blunders in defeat to US AMSTERDAM: Netherlands manager Guus Hiddink slammed his players for a succession of defensive blunders after giving up a 3-1 lead against the United States in a crazy final 20 minutes to lose 4-3.

“It was a mad end of the match,” fumed Hiddink after the game in Amsterdam.

“This is a difficult moment. We were completely disorganised in the last 20 minutes,” added the 68-year-old, who is in his second spell as national coach having in the previous one guided the Dutch to the 1998 World Cup semifinals.

Although the Amsterdam game on Friday was only a friendly, the match was crucial in Hiddink’s efforts to get the Netherlands back into the European Championships qualifying race.

They are third in Group A — five points behind second placed Iceland — and have a crunch match in Latvia on Friday.

With 20 minutes to go the Dutch were 3-1 up against Jurgen Klinsmann’s USA through two goals from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and one from Manchester Unitedbound Memphis Depay.

Los Angeles Galaxy forward Gyarsi Zardes scored his first international goal in the first half, but the United States were revitalised by Germany-born John Brooks 70th minute goal — almost

This is a difficult moment. We were completely disorganised in the last 20 minutes. We have got to fix the defensive errors Guus Hiddink

The Netherlands coach

a year to the day since his goal sealed Klinsmann’s side a surprise 2-1 win over Ghana in a group match at the World Cup finals. The game was then turned on its head.

Hiddink’s team still led with two minutes of normal time remaining, but Danny Williams of English Championship side Read-

ing scored with a long range shot that came off Luuk de Jong.

Seconds later de Jong saw a header come off the US crossbar.

But Bobby Wood scored from close range in the dying seconds to spark wild US celebrations.

“We have got to fix the defensive errors,” said Hiddink, who

also called for his side to be more “ruthless” in attack. “Without a doubt, nobody was playing at his best,” added Hiddink.

Czech Republic and Iceland are dominating Group A in the race for the Euro 2016 finals. Hiddink’s team meanwhile, are only two points ahead of Turkey. - AFP

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Ramdin wants Windies to toughen up after harsh lesson from Aussies Australia won the first Test by nine wickets inside three days to ensure retention of the Frank Worrell Trophy, the symbol of supremacy in Test cricket between the two teams since it was introduced following the memorable 1960-61 series Down Under

ROSEAU: West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin believes his team will have learnt a very harsh lesson from the Australians in the first Test here in Dominica going into the second and final match next week in Jamaica.

Australia won by nine wickets inside three days to ensure retention of the Frank Worrell Trophy, the symbol of supremacy in Test cricket between the two teams since it was introduced following the memorable 1960-61 series Down Under.

“They are a very good unit and we need to play a lot tougher cricket when we are in positions of strength,” said Ramdin in reflecting on a match that came to a swift end on the third evening despite stern resistance from the fourthwicket pair of Shane Dowrich and Marlon Samuels, who put on 144 runs, through most of the first two

sessions of the day. “We need to carry on. (It would have been better) if they could have taken it to 200-plus,” the skipper suggested.

“That’s a very difficult pitch to get a decent start. As we saw from Adams Voges once he got a start for Australia he carried on to get a big hundred for his team.”

In his first Test at the age of 35, Voges’ unbeaten 130 lifted Australia from the depths of 126 for six on the second day to 318 and a first innings lead of 170.

Dowrich, also making his debut following the omission of veteran batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul ahead of the series, batted for over four hours in compiling 70 in the West Indies second innings.

But his dismissal just before tea triggered a collapse which saw the last seven wickets going down for just 35 runs and a final total of 216, leaving the Aussies to knock off the

QUICK FINISH: West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin, left, shakes hands with Australian captain Michael

Clarke at the end of the first Test match at Windsor Park Stadium in Roseau, Dominica, on Friday. – AFP

47 runs needed to seal victory for the loss of just one wicket.

“That decision has been made.

His experience is countless but we have to move on,” said skipper Ramdin in deflecting questions over the dropping of Chanderpaul when just 87 runs away from sur-

passing Brian Lara as the most prolific West Indian batsman ever in Test cricket.

“If Dowrich could have carried on to get a hundred it would have been brilliant,” he continued.

“It’s something he can learn from. He stood up against one of

MORE TO COME

the best bowling line-ups in the world. I’m sure he’s going to go from strength to strength.”

Ramdin was disappointed though in the repetitive manner in which Samuels, now the senior batsman in the West Indies side, got out in the match, notwith-

standing a topscore of 74 in the second innings.

“That was a bad shot, a bad time,” noted the wicketkeeper-batsman.

“We lost a wicket in the over before and he got sucked into the short ball again. Hopefully he won’t let it happen in the near future.”

A 34-year-old with more than 14 years of international experience, including 59 Tests, Samuels topedged an attempted hook off Mitchell Johnson to be caught by Mitchell Starc at fine leg amid the second innings capitulation, bringing an end to his determined 250-minute occupation of the crease.

Two days earlier in the first innings, he plodded around for seven runs off 39 deliveries in 55 minutes before a similar shot gave Josh Hazlewood the catch in the same position off Starc’s bowling.

While Australia are expected to be unchanged for the second Test beginning next Thursday in Kingston, the West Indies have two issues to focus upon: the form of Shai Hope following a double-failure in the unaccustomed role of opening batsman and the ability of frontline spinner Devendra Bishoo to bowl long spells given continued concerns with a lingering finger injury.

Bishoo claimed six for 80 in the Australian first innings but had to leave the field twice in the latter stages of his effort to receive treatment for a problem that had ruled him out of the third Test against England a month earlier in Barbados. - AFP

IN DEFENCE

Attacking cricket the Aussies Ashes mantra Pakistan spinner Hasan challenges doping ban

ROSEAU: Captain Michael Clarke is expecting Australia to maintain their attacking brand of cricket heading into the second and final Test against the West Indies in Jamaica next week and the Ashes series beginning in England just three weeks later.

“That’s the way we play our best cricket, the way Davey (David Warner) and Shaun Marsh went about it the second innings,” said Clarke after seeing his opening pair waste no time in plundering most of the 47 runs needed to complete a nine-wicket win in just five overs late on the third day of the first Test at the Windsor Park Stadium in Dominica on Friday.

“I think you’re going to see more of that in the second Test.”

Clarke acknowledged the patience and discipline of his fast bowlers in the face of stubborn resistance from the West Indies fourth-wicket pair of Shane Dowrich and Marlon Samuels in the second innings. The breakthrough just before tea triggered the slide and paved the way for an ultimately comfortable win that ensures the Frank Worrell Trophy

OUR BEST: Captain Michael Clarke is expecting his team to

maintain their attacking brand of cricket sayding ‘that’s the way we play our best cricket’. – AFP

stays in Australian hands whatever the result in Kingston.

West Indies were holders of the prize for 15 years before Australia, under Mark Taylor’s leadership, reclaimed the trophy with a series-clinching innings triumph in the Jamaican capital in 1995.

They have retained possession

since and return to Sabina Park not having lost a Test to the Caribbean side anywhere since 2003, a run of 13 matches unbeaten.

“We had to work hard for the wickets and we did it in the end, which is a good sign for us,” said Steve Smith, who led Australia in the latter half of the home series

against India when Clarke was sidelined by a hamstring injury.

“The bowlers did the hard yards... we always thought once we broke that partnership between Dowrich and Samuels we’d get through them pretty quickly because it’s one of those wickets where it’s pretty hard to get a start on.”

Reinforcing his leader’s mantra, the vice-captain, whose run of four hundreds in consecutive Tests ended in this match, acknowledged that the template has been set for immediate and upcoming assignments.

“It’s just about going out there and keep playing the same brand of cricket we’ve been playing for some time,” he observed.

“We’ve been playing some good Test cricket of late and hopefully we can keep doing that (next week) and keep building towards the Ashes as well.”

Following the final Test in Jamaica, the Australian squad heads off to England for two warm-up matches against Kent and Essex before the defence of the Ashes begins with the first match of the fiveTest series in Cardiff on July 8. - AFP

U N C E R TA I N T Y

PCB has plan B in case India series gets cancelled KARACHI: With uncertainty hanging over the resumption of Indo-Pak bilateral cricket ties later this year, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan has said that they have an alternate plan in hand if the proposed series against the neighbours in the United Arab Emirates does not materialise.

Refusing to divulge any further details, the PCB chief said the fate of the Indo-Pak series will be decided in two months time.

“We know there is always such a possibility when it comes to

Indo-Pak relations but we think the situation will be clear in two months time,” Khan said. “We have a plan B in case the series (against India) cannot be held but I can’t share the details of that now. If such a situation is created we can call alternative teams.”

Reliable sources in the PCB confirmed that the board was in talks with two other cricket playing nations to prepare a contingency plan.

Pakistan is due to host India in the UAE in December this year as part of a six series Memorandum of Understanding signed between

the two boards last year. Khan said that at present there was 70 per cent chance that the Indo-Pak series would take place if no major untoward incident happens in context with the relations between the two countries.

India has not played Pakistan in a bilateral Test series since 2007 after the terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008. Pakistan did tour India for a short limited over series in the winter of 2012.

Khan also said that the vibes coming from India were positive but any untoward incident could

obstruct the series. “Things need to be sorted out on that front, and especially between the BCCI and the Dubai based Ten sports network which has brought the rights to our international cricket,” the PCB chief said.

“I hope this issue is resolved soon it would make it easier to organise the series in December,” he added.

Khan also insisted that while the series was very important for Pakistan for different reasons it was also equally important for India and world cricket. - PTI

LAHORE: Pakistan’s left-arm spinner Raza Hasan on Saturday challenged a two-year ban imposed on him for failing a drug test, saying he was not given a chance to defend himself.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) last week banned the 22-yearold spinner after he failed a drug test conducted during a domestic cricket event in January this year.

“I have filed an appeal against the ban,” Hasan told reporters.

“The ban is illegal because I

was not given a chance to defend myself and the PCB should have formed a tribunal to hear my point of view.”

Local media last month reported Hasan was under investigation for using cocaine, but PCB in its announcement did not disclose the name of the banned substance.

“I have never indulged in anything illegal and will fight the ban,” said Hasan, who had been tipped as a future prospect for Pakistan at the international level. - AFP

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SU N DAY, JUNE 7, 2015

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South Africa leadership ‘approved’ $10m payment for 2010 World Cup The new revelations

Ireland unfazed by Fifa loan furore: O’Shea

came as Fifa remained in the eye of a corruption storm that has seen seven executives arrested and its president Sepp Blatter announce his resignation

JOHANNESBURG: Football’s world governing body faced fresh pressure on Saturday, after media reports the highest levels of South Africa’s government approved a $10 million payment that U.S. investigators suspect was a bribe to get the 2010 World Cup. Then president Thabo Mbeki and foreign minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma approved the payment, the reports said, which the authorities again insisted on Friday was for a legitimate development project in the Caribbean.

The new revelations came as Fifa remained in the eye of a corruption storm that has seen seven executives arrested, its president Sepp Blatter announce his resignation and former executive com-

DUBLIN: Republic of Ireland defender John O’Shea said on Saturday that his teammates had not been troubled by revelations about a secret Fifa loan to the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).

It emerged this week that world governing body Fifa paid a five million euros ($5.5 million) loan to the FAI to stop them taking legal action after a handball

by Thierry Henry in a play-off match took France to the 2010 World Cup at Ireland’s expense.

O’Shea was watching from the substitutes’ bench when the handball incident occurred in

mittee member Chuck Blazer admit to paying bribes.

On Friday, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) published details of a five-million-euro ($5.6 million) loan it received from Fifa in return for dropping a legal case, rocking the game two days ahead of a long-awaited friendly with England on home soil.

England’s Football Association chairman Greg Dyke predicted the scandal engulfing Fifa will see the arrest of 79-year-old Blatter, who has pledged to begin reforming the body before standing aside after a new election sometime between December and March 2016.

extra-time of the game at the Stade de France in November 2009, but he said resurfacing memories of the incident would not disturb his preparations ahead of games against England and Scotland.

“It’s one of those things,” the Sunderland centre-back told a press conference at a hotel beside Dublin Airport.

“You’re aware of it because of the news. But look, we just have to get on with it. The FAI have obviously made everything as public as possible and they’ve dealt with it as quickly as possible. “We move on, we concen-

Blatter, once considered the most powerful man in sport, will not attend an International Olympic Committee meeting in Lausanne next week.

“The one thing you discover if you run an organisation is that the moment you say you’re going, you’ve gone. He’s dead. It’s over,” Dyke told British newspaper The Guardian.

Approval from the top The South African payment in 2008 was made through Fifa and went to an account controlled by Jack Warner, a disgraced former vice president from the Caribbe-

trate as players do on the games coming up, because they’re very important for ourselves and the country and the fans.”

Raymond Domenech, France’s manager at the time, has branded news of Fifa’s loan “disgraceful and unacceptable” and suggested Ireland’s players should have been compensated, but O’Shea said his comments were “ridiculous”.

“It’s fairly easy for him to say that now,” he said. “The important thing from our point of view is that the FAI have made things as up front and clear as possible.” - AFP

an wanted by U.S. authorities for accepting bribes.

U.S. investigators suspect it was a bribe to get three Fifa executive votes for its World Cup bid.

South African authorities say the $10 million payment was an honest donation to support football among the “African diaspora” in the Caribbean.

“President Mbeki spoke with the leadership of the 2010 World Cup local organising committee,” Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula told the Beeld newspaper when asked who decided to pay the money. “(It was) the government’s idea,” he said.

John O’Shea

The Mail and Guardian newspapers published a 2007 letter from World Cup bid chief Danny Jordaan to Fifa about South Africa’s donation to the “Diaspora legacy support programme,” which was virtually unknown in the country at the time.

Jordaan wrote then foreign minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, now chairman of the African Union Commission, had advised the money should be paid to the organising committee. Fifa would then deduct the sum from the committee’s budget and pay it straight to the “diaspora programme”.

Mbalula said the latest disclosures did nothing to challenge

South Africa’s position that the payment was genuine, and that the allegations are “being used to pursue political agendas”.

Warner, from Trinidad and Tobago, is one of 14 football and sports marketing company officials and executives facing charges in the United States over more than $150 million of bribes paid over two decades.

Net widens On Friday, he blamed the charges on a conspiracy by the government of Trinidadian Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, his onetime ally, who he said was attacking him because he had opposed her nepotism.

“All that the prime minister was concerned about was schooling me so that their minions would rise as she promised,” wrote Warner, who was head of the American and Caribbean football association Concacaf at the time of the South African payments.

Current Concacaf head Jeffrey Webb was among the seven Fifa officials detained in Zurich last week who are now fighting extradition to the United States. Authorities in several countries, including South Africa, have since launched their own investigations. Evidence given by ailing whistleblower Blazer to US investigators told of attempts to buy the 1998 and 2010 World Cups hosted by France and South Africa respectively.

Now battling cancer in hospital, Blazer said in testimony released by prosecutors that Fifa executives conspired to accept bribes during bidding for the tournaments. - AFP

B I T T E R G R I E VA N C E

Aussies turns on soccer saviour Lowy MELBOURNE: Australia’s failed bid for the 2022 World Cup bid left the country’s soccer supremo Frank Lowy with a bitter grievance.

Now, corruption investigations into global soccer governing body Fifa threaten to end the 84-yearold billionaire’s reign over Australian football on a sour note.

Lowy has promised to retire as Football Federation Australia (FFA) president at the end of the year, but not soon enough for local critics who have rounded on the shopping centre magnate as national police probe the 2022 bid.

The FFA spent some A$42.5 million ($32.41 million) of government money on the bid which garnered only one vote by Fifa delegates who awarded the tournament to Qatar.

But it is a payment of A$500,000 for a soccer facility in Trinidad and Tobago that has attracted the most scrutiny after the arrest of Jack Warner, a former Fifa power-broker and chief of Caribbean soccer.

Both Lowy and Concacaf, the regional governing body for football in the Caribbean, North and

Central America, said the payment was misappropriated by Trinidadian Warner.

Allegations of impropriety have dogged Australia’s bid and well before the vote in 2010. To a large extent, critics are covering old ground.

Fifa’s own ethics committee criticised it in a summary of their probe into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

The summary, released in November, said investigators had a “prima facie” case that two of Australia’s highly-paid consultants violated the bidding and ethics rules. They had also “indications” that attempts were made to divert funds earmarked for African development projects to countries with ties to voting members.

Lowy insisted Australia ran a clean, if “naive” bid in an open and frank letter to media this week, while the return of a single vote had left him with a “bitter” grievance.

However, the letter has done little to mollify critics who have rounded on Lowy amid the wider Fifa corruption scandal that has

shaken the game to its core.

“For the good of the game he has done so much to develop in this country, Mr Lowy should step aside from FFA immediately until all questions can be resolved,” the editorial of the Sydney Morning Herald demanded this week.

Lowy’s inability to control the narrative has contrasted with his iron rule over Australian soccer since its resurrection after the collapse of the old National Soccer League in 2004.

His influence in local business and politics, charisma and boundless energy have helped make the country’s A-League a viable competition in a hugely competitive sports market where indigenous football and rugby league have long ruled the roost.

Under Lowy, the national soccer team has qualified for three successive World Cups and in January won the Asian Cup. Though senior executives have come and gone in the FFA, Lowy has remained a constant presence, and the local game is now arguably in its rudest health after surviving some financial wobbles in recent years. - Reuters

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M

LIFE & STYLE

SECTION

en often face pressure to measure up as alpha males, to “wolf up” as it were. Alpha male connotes the man who at every moment demonstrates that he’s in total control in the home, and who away from home can become snarling and aggressive.

The alpha male stereotype comes from a misunderstanding of the real thing. In fact, the male wolf is an exemplary male role model. By observing wolves in freeliving packs in Yellowstone National Park, I’ve seen that the leadership of the ranking male is not forced, not domineering and not aggressive to those on his team.

“The main characteristic of an alpha male wolf,” the veteran wolf researcher Rick McIntyre told me as we were watching gray wolves, “is a quiet confidence, quiet self-assurance. You know what you need to do; you know what’s best for your pack. You lead by example. You’re very comfortable with that. You have a calming effect.”

The point is, alpha males are not aggressive. They don’t need to be. “Think of an emotionally secure man, or a great champion. Whatever he needed to prove is already proven,” he said.

There is an evolutionary logic to it.

“Imagine two wolf packs, or two human tribes,” McIntyre said. “Which is more likely to survive and reproduce?

The one whose members are more cooperative, more sharing, less violent with one another; or the group whose members are beating each other up and competing with one another?”

Thus, an alpha male may be a major player in a successful hunt but then, after the takedown of the prey, may step away and sleep until his pack has eaten and is full.

McIntyre has spent 20 years watching and studying wolves in Yellowstone for the National Park Service. He rises early, uses radio telemetry to pinpoint the location of a pack with a radio-collared member, then heads out with his spotting

scope to observe them, keeping careful notes of their activities.

In all that time, he has rarely seen an alpha male act aggressively toward the pack’s other members. They are his family — his mate, offspring (both biological and adopted) and maybe a sibling.

This does not mean that alpha males are not tough when they need to be. One famous wolf in Yellowstone whose radio collar number, 21, became his name, was considered a “super wolf” by the people who closely observed the arc of his life. He was fierce in defence of family and apparently never lost a fight with a rival pack.

Yet within his own pack, one of his favourite things was to wrestle with little pups.

“And what he really loved to do was to pretend to lose. He just got a huge kick out of it,” McIntyre said.

One year, a pup was a bit sickly. The other pups seemed to be afraid of him and wouldn’t play with him. Once, after delivering food for the small pups, 21 stood looking around for something.

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM S U N DAY, J U N E 7, 2 0 1 5

Soon he started wagging his tail. He’d been looking for the sickly little pup, and he just went over to hang out with him for a while.

Of all McIntyre’s stories about the super wolf, that’s his favourite. Strength impresses us. But kindness is what we remember best.

If you watch wolves, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that perhaps no two species are more alike behaviourally than wolves and humans. Living as we do in families, we can easily recognize the social structures and status quests in wolf packs. No wonder Native Americans recognised in wolves a sibling spirit.

The similarities between male wolves and male humans can be quite striking.

Males of very few other species help procure food year-round for the entire family, assist in raising their young to full maturity and defend their packs yearround against others of their species who threaten their safety. Male wolves appear to stick more with that program than

their human counterparts do.

Biologists used to consider the alpha male the undisputed boss. But now they recognize two hierarchies at work in wolf packs — one for the males, the other for the females.

Doug Smith, the biologist who is the project leader for the Yellowstone Gray Wolf Restoration Project, said the females “do most of the decision making” for the pack, including where to travel, when to rest and when to hunt. The matriarch’s personality can set the tone for the whole pack, Smith said.

Or, as McIntyre put it — “It’s the alpha female who really runs the show.”

Clearly, our alpha male stereotype could use a corrective makeover. Men can learn a thing or two from real wolves: — less snarl, more quiet confidence, leading by example, faithful devotion in the care and defence of families, respect for females and a sharing of responsibilities. That’s really what wolfing up should mean. -Carl Safina/The New York Times News Service

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SU N DAY, JUNE 7, 2015

EXTRA

B R I AN S H I MK OV I T Z

AW E S OM E TA P E S FROM AFR IC A Music blogger Brian Shimkovitz is finally

paying back the African artists who made him famous, with his own record label

A

n unlikely highlight of next week’s Field Day festival will be a DJ performance by an ethnomusicologist. Back in 2001, Brian Shimkovitz, 34, was studying ethnomusicology at Indiana University on a Fulbright scholarship, when his research sent him to Ghana.

There, he discovered some amazing music, from brightly flowing hip-hop-influenced pop and Highlife to traditional music with funky names like Gyil, Wa and Lawra. The music was very raw and mostly produced on cassettes, which are prone to warping, so no two were totally identical. He saw that his dry academic papers were not getting the word out about the vibrancy and excitement of these sounds.

“I realised my course wasn’t a way to do a whole lot,” he says. His blog, launched five years later, was called Awesome Tapes from Africa.

“It all started because I wanted

to show they are so conceptually different, yet here in the music is just one thread that people might relate to enough to be impressed and inspired by.”

Now on the blog there are hundreds of tapes to download with unique descriptions of the music written by Shimkovitz. Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey and his Miliki Sound is a collection of samba-like tunes, which Shimkovitz describes as “Nigerian juju soup for the soul” and La Grande Vedette Malienne Kandja Kouyaté et l’Ensemble Instrumental du Mali “makes me want to drop and burn incense or something, it’s so smoky and dark and surreal. Like late Coltrane.”

“The blog was a way to reach people in an unacademic way,” says the bespectacled New Yorker.

With the quick rise of the internet, it really caught on. “I was quickly inspired by posts by people who grew up hearing it or people who had just discovered it. I still get comments

saying ‘Yo, I’m from Nebraska and I never heard about this stuff and it’s dope and amazing’.”

Shimkovitz’s blog has since evolved into a record label in its own right. One of the difficulties of showcasing obscure artists from Africa is that they aren’t always easily contactable and so sometimes he shares their music without their consent. A note on the site states: “This is music you won’t easily find anywhere else except, perhaps in its region of origin. But if you are an artist/ etc and wish for me to remove your music, email me.”

Shimkovitz tries very hard to track the artists down. A recent acquisition, Hailu Mergia, whose music Shimkovitz describes as “completely sublime music from one of the seminal bands of a funklaced era of Ethiojazz and soul”, was the easiest to locate. “No-one puts their cell phone number on the Internet these days,” Shimkovitz laughs, “but he did, he was

just down with anyone contacting him!” Since making contact, Shimkovitz has taken Mergia on tour: “He is completely awesome, people are in love with him when he performs.”

Others on the label proved harder to track down, most notably an artist called Ata Kak, real name Yaw Atta-Owusu, whose 1994 tape Obaa Sima only went out on a run of 50 copies. Shimkovitz’s search for Ata Kak spanned several years and continents, becoming the subject of a Radio 4 documentary. Shimkovitz finally tracked down Ata Kak, who was living “off the grid” back in Ghana, and his cassette was re-released in March this year with Ata Kak’s blessing. The original cover image of Ata Kak, looking very cool, was the first thing that attracted Shimkovitz to the tape. “Ata Kak was living in Toronto and went to the local photo shop and put on this cool jacket and sunglasses, and he had the microphone in

his back pocket and that became the cassette cover.”

The new re-release, on CD, retains that same brightly-coloured original photo. “It would be nice to do really fancy album designs,” he says, “but people do a lot of corny stuff with African music and I just want to present it as I see it — I don’t want to put my fingerprints all over it.” Shimkovitz now operates as part A&R manager, part detective, hunting down and representing his artists. He gets sent tonnes of old tapes from friends and fans and travels to markets in “Brussels, Peckham and the Bronx”, trawling for inspiration. “It starts with finding a cassette that is totally astounding. I look on the web to see if any local journalists have interviewed them, then I call them up, if that doesn’t provide any leads, I try cold calling on Skype or call up local stores, like when I wanted to contact a Somalian artist, I called up all the Somalian

grocery stores and eventually I got to one that knew him.”

The new task for Shimkovitz is making money for these artists, and he’s starting to succeed. One source of income is from DJing. He DJs using old tape decks that often disintegrate by the end of his set, and he’s toured various festivals across the world with the label’s music, sometimes bringing selected artists along to perform as well.

“The beautiful thing is that I’ve never had to borrow a huge sum of money or do Kickstarter,” he says, instead, after a decade of work, the site is starting to pay for itself.

Since October last year, the tapes have been available for sale on the site.“These artists are funding this and it’s split 50/50 and the rest of my money goes back into promo and helping them tour. It’s nice to see it’s finally working, like with Nahawa Doumbia (a Malian singer) her last royalty payment was as much if not more than the month before.”-Emily Jupp/The Independent

S U N DAY, JU N E 7, 2 0 1 5

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ENTERTAINMENT CINEMA SCHEDULE

BAHJA CINEMA Entourage (Comedy) Cast: Andrian Grenier, Jeremy Priven, Kevin Connolly 2:00, 4:00, 8:00 pm CP No: 1474 ( 15+ )

Spy (Action, Comedy) (18+) Cast: Jude Law, Raad Rawi, Melissa McCarthy 9:30, 11:45 pm Dil Dhadak Ne Do (Drama, Romance) (TBC) Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shetty, Priyanka Chopra 2:00, 8:20 pm Entourage (Comedy) (15+) Cast: Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Connolly 2:00, 6:10 pm Insidious Chapter 3 (Horror) (15+) Cast: Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, Angus Sampson 04:15, 11:30 pm Woman In Gold (Drama) (PG) Cast: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Brühl 05:15, 07:25 pm Survivor (Action, Thriller) (PG12) Cast: Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan, Dylan McDermott 3:30, 5:30, 7:30 pm San Andereas (Action, Adventure) (3D) Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario 9:30, 11:45 pm (PG) Jungle Master (Animation, Adventure) (2D) PG Cast: Victoria Justice, David Spade 1:45 pm

10:00 am, 06:05 & 09:35 pm Gold Class: 03:45 pm Jungle Master (2D)(Animation) (PG) Cast: Victoria Justice, David Spade 12:15 pm Entourage (2D) (Comedy) Cast: Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven 10:00 am & 04:00 pm; Gold Class: 11:45 am Survivor (2D)(Act/Thriller) (PG12) Cast: Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan 02:15 pm, Gold Class: 2:00 pm Spy (2D) (Action/Comedy) (18+) Cast: Jude Law, Raad Rawi 02:05 pm & 08:15 pm Gold Class: 11:15 pm Woman in Gold (2D) (Horror) (PG) Cast: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds 04:30 pm, Gold Class: 06:00pm Insidious Chapter 3 (2D) (Hor) (15+) Cast: Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott 11:45 pm, Gold Class: 06:00 pm Dil Dhadakne Do (2D) (Dr/Roma) Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shetty, Priyanka Chopra 06:30 pm, Gold Class: 08:00 pm

SCREEN 1 Dil Dhadakne Do (Rom/Dr/Co) – PG12 Cast: Anil Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Shefali Shetty, Anushka Sharma Priyanka Chopra 3.30, 6.45, 10.00 pm SCREEN 2

Tanu Weds Manu Returns (2D) (Co) Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Madhavan, Eijaz Khan 02:00 pm (PG) San Andreas (3D) (Act/Thriller) (PG) Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario

Tanu Weds Manu Returns (Rom) – PG Cast: Kangana Ranaut, R. Madhavan 3.45, 6.45, 9.45 pm

SCREEN 3 Gabbar Hindi (Action/Drama ) – PG Cast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti K. Haasan, Kareena Kapoor 3.45, 6.45, 9.45 pm

San Andreas - 2D (PG) (Act | Dr ) Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario 03:15 pm San Andreas - 3D (PG) Act | Dra Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario 9:15, 11:30 pm Jungle Master - 2D (PG) Animation Cast: Victoria Justice, David Spade 04:00 pm Survivor - 2D (PG12) Action | Thriller Cast: Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan, Dylan McDermott 5:20, 09:45, 11:45 pm Cut Bank - 2D (12+) Thriller Cast: Liam Hemsworth, Teresa Palmer, Billy Bob Thornton 2:30 pm Entourage - 2D (15+) Comedy Cast: Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven 05:20, 07:15 pm Woman in Gold - 2D (PG) Drama Cast: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds 4:15, 6:15 pm Insidious: Chapter 3 - 2D (15+) Hor Cast: Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, Angus Sampson 2:10 , 5:30 , 11:30 pm Spy - 2D (18+) Action | Comedy Cast: Jude Law, Raad Rawi, Melissa McCarthy 7:15 , 9:30, 11:30 pm Dil Dhadakne Do - 2D (TBC) Drama Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Anil Kapoor, Shefali

Shetty, Priyanka Chopra 02:15 , 07:15 pm Chandrettan Evideya - 2D (M) (PG) Co Cast: Anusree, Dilip, Namitha Pramod 7:25 pm

San Andreas – 3D (PG) Act, Drama, Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino 9:30, 11:45 pm Spy - 2D (18+) Action, Comedy Cast: Jude Law, Raad Rawi, Melissa McCarthy, 3:15, 07:15, 11:30pm Survivor – 2D (PG12) Action, Thriller Cast: Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan 2:45, 5:30, 8:15, 10:00 pm Burying the Ex – 2D (12+) Com, Horror Cast: Anton Yelchin, Ashley Greene 4:30 pm Woman in Gold – 2D (PG) Drama Cast: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds 2:45, 6:15 pm Insidious: Chapter 3 - 2D (15+) Horror Cast: Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, 4:45, 11:45 pm Chandrettan Evideya – 2D (PG) Com Cast: Anusree, Dilip, Namitha Pramod 6:30pm Dil Dhadakne Do – 2D (TBC)Dra Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Priyanka Chopra 08:45 pm

San Andreas (2D) (Act| Adv) (PG) Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario 06:10 pm Survivor (Act | Thriller) (PG12) Cast: Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan

04:20, 07:00 pm Insidious: Chapter 3 (Horror) (15+) Cast: Dermot Mulroney, 02:30, 11:45 pm Spy (Action | Comedy) (18+) Cast: Jason Statham, Jude Law 02:30 pm Dil Dhadakne Do (Hindi) (Dr ) (TBC) Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Priyanka Chopra 11.30 AM, 08:45 pm Chandrettan Evideya (Mal) (Co) (PG) Cast: Anusree, Dilip 12:15, 04:45 pm 07:05 pm

San Andreas (2D) (12+) (Act, Dra) Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino 2:45pm San Andreas (3D) (12+) (Act, Dr) 9:15, 11:30pm Spy (2D) (18+) (Action, Comedy) Cast: Jude Law, Raad Rawi 5:00, 11:30pm Cut Bank (3D) (12+) (Thriller) Cast: Liam Hemsworth; 11:00 am,3:15 pm Survivor (2D) (PG12) (Act, Thriller ) Cast: Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan, 12:45, 7:15pm Woman in Gold (2D) (PG) (Drama) Cast: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds 12:30, 06:30pm Insidious: Chapter 3 (2D) (15+) (Hor) Cast: Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott 2:30, 11:45pm Jungle Master (2D) (PG) (Anim) 11:00am Entourage (2D) (15+) Comedy Cast: Adrian Grenier; 4:20, 7:20pm Burying the Ex (2D) (12+) Com Cast: Anton Yelchin, 1:30pm Chandrettan Evideya (2D) (PG) Com Cast: Anusree, Dilip, 5:00pm Dil Dhadakne Do (2D) (PG12) Dra 8:30pm

Cut Bank ( Thriller ) Cast: Liam Hemsworth, Teressa Palmer, John Malckovitch 4:00 & 8.00 pm CP No: 1476 (12+) San Andreas (Action / Thriller) Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Alexandra Deddario, Carla Gugino 6.00, 10.00 & 11.55 pm CP No: 1381 (PG) Survivor (Action / Thriller) Cast: Milla Jovovitch, Pierce Brosnan, Dylan Mc Dermott 2:00, 6:00, 10:00 & 11:55 pm CP No: 1475 (PG 12)

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

STARS CINEMA Film information 24791641 / 24786776 Chandrettan Evideya (Mal) (Com) Cast: Dileep, Namitha & Anu Sree 3-00, 6-30 & 10-00 pm At Cinema Main Pandaga Chesko (Telugu)(Act/Rom) Cast: Ram, Rakul Preet Singh & Sonal Chauhan 3-30, 6-30 pm at Cinema -2 Oru Vadakkan Selfi (Mal) Cast: Navin Pauly Manjima, Vineeth Sreenivasan 9:30pm at Cinema -2 Masss (Tamil) (Act/Hor) Cast: Surya & Nayanthara 3-45, 6-45 & 9-45 pm Cinema-3 Bhaskar The Rascal (Mal) (Rom) Cast: Mammootty, Nayanthara & Isha Talwar 3-45, 6-45 & 9-45 pm at Cinema -4 NEXT CHANGE: Premam (Mal); Romeo and Juliet (Tamil); Humari Adhuri Kahani (Hindi)

For More Information 24789032, 24786776 Website: www.isurf.co.om

ACES ON BRIDGE

When you know, clue in partner

A

nouk Aimee, a French actress, said, “What helps me go forward is that I stay receptive, I feel that anything can happen.”

What may help a bridge defender go forward is information from partner.

In this deal, West is in the dark, but East, whose curtains are open, can throw light upon the situation for partner.

South is in three notrump after the most common auction of all.

West leads a fourth-highest spade six, which is covered by the two, jack and king.

Declarer plays a club to dummy’s ace and returns

a low club. What should happen after that?

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, North should not mention his club suit in the auction. Note that five clubs has no chance.

After trick one, West is wondering who holds the spade queen. It could be either East or South. Each would have played the same way with or without that card. However, East knows what is happening. He applies the Rule of Eleven.

Deducting six (West’s lead) from 11 gives five. So, there are five spades higher than the six in the North, East and South hands combined.

And at trick one, East saw

all five: dummy’s seven, his nine, jack and queen, and South’s king. East knows that West’s suit is ready to run. At trick three, East should discard his spade queen, telling partner exactly what he wants to know. Then three no-trump will go down one.

Phillip Alder is combining in May 2016 with Kalos to run a bridge and golf river cruise starting from Bordeaux, France. Details are available on Phillip’s website: www.phillipalderbridge. com.

— By Phillip Alder

MARMADUKE

CROSSWORD

B I G NAT E

Answer to previous puzzle

ACROSS 1 Slant 5 Mdse. bars 8 Play horseshoes 12 Killer whale 13 Frat letter 14 Lhasa — 15 Ode or ballad 16 Much obliged 18 Gist 20 A moon of Jupiter 21 Japanese — ceremony 22 Aardvarks have them 26 Trouser feature 29 Bridal notice word 30 Opposing force 31 Pine (for) 32 Round mark

33 Guide a raft 34 Geisha’s accessory 35 Respond to an SOS 36 Hologram maker 37 Monotony 39 Swimmer’s unit 40 ER staffer 41 Motel sign 45 Pitcher’s coup (hyph.)

49 Nostalgic time 50 Paleozoic and Mesozoic 51 Seek information 52 Famous last word 53 Claptrap 54 Half-qts.

55 Bastes

DOWN 1 Canter 2 Winged deity 3 King beaters 4 Convention sticker 5 Mohawk Valley city 6 Glass square 7 Bossie’s chew 8 Forbidden 9 Decide on 10 Weathervane dir.

11 Instant lawn 17 “— kleine Nachtmusik” 19 Hockey goal 22 Mount a gem 23 Alien tour buses?

24 Painted tinware 25 Fortuneteller

26 27 28 29 32 33 35 36 38 39 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48

Storyline Brain part Novelist — Bagnold Doze Shady Yellow fruits Reunion attendee Fond du — Kind of potato Carefree adventures Unisex garment Alaskan port Shuttle complement Itches Corn Belt st.

Incan treasure Is down with Drum, as fingers

BORN LOSER

WITH LOVE

NANDITA RAMESH June 7, 2013

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 16 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 extra@timesofoman.com

KIDSPOT

H E A LT H C A P S U L E

C10

SUN DAY, JUNE 7, 2015

PRAYER TIMINGS

FIND-IT-ALL Y O U R B I R T H D AY

BORN today, you sometimes don’t quite know just who you are or how you want to be seen — or remembered — by the world at large. Because of this, you may appear to drift quite often, moving from one endeavour to another in a seemingly rootless fashion. But this is, in fact, a necessary component of your process, as it allows you to discover much about yourself, the world and your place in it as you experiment with your own talents and the opportunities that present themselves to you. You never feel as though you are in a hurry to accomplish anything; in this way, you are almost certain to accomplish more than most! It is a curious paradox that by not seeming to try too hard at any one thing, you are able to master much.

You know that ups and downs are a part of life, and you will no doubt become an expert at navigating them.

When you are up, you are active, social and influential; when you are down, you withdraw into your own private reality and seek refuge from the world so you can reinvent yourself if need be.

Also born on this date are: Prince, singer and musician; Tom Jones, singer; Liam Neeson, actor; Dean Martin, singer and actor; Bear Grylls, television personality; Kim Rhodes, actress; Anna Kournikova, tennis player; Paul Gauguin, painter; Jessica Tandy, actress; James Ivory, filmmaker; Thurman Munson, baseball player; James J. Braddock, boxer.

W E AT H E R

P

WORLD

Max 42 Min 29 Max 21 Min 14

Max 41 Min 29

Max 39 Min 32 Max 21 Min 9

Max 41 Min 31

Max 28 Min 18

Max 42 Min 28

Max 44 Min 29

Max 42 Min 28

Max 42 Min 31

Max 34 Min 27

[MAY 21-JUNE 20] Max 32 Min 27

Max 27 Min 17

-www.met.gov.om

Max 34 Min 26 Max 22 Min 11

Min

GULF Abu Dhabi Doha Dubai Kuwait Manama Riyadh

40 41 39 49 39 44

27 31 28 32 31 28

WORLD Athens Baghdad Beijing Berlin Boston Cairo Colombo Frankfurt Hong Kong Istanbul Johannesburg Kuala Lumpur Lisbon Paris Perth Singapore Tokyo Toronto

24 42 28 24 19 38 31 27 31 23 18 32 31 24 21 31 25 20

20 27 18 11 11 23 25 13 27 18 3 25 21 12 8 27 19 17

L O N G D I S TA N C E B U S T I M I N G S ( O M A N N AT I O N A L T R A N S P O R T C O M PA N Y S A O C ) * S U B J E C T T O C H A N G E

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)

TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

[JUNE 21-JULY 22] You may wake knowing that certain visions from the night before are likely to be realised before the day is out. This can be exciting!

LEO [JULY 23-AUG. 22] You’re going to need the help of some generous friends and relatives in order to see a plan come to fruition. Don’t be afraid to ask!

VIRGO [AUG. 23-SEPT. 22] What you’ve been eagerly anticipating is likely to come to pass, but certain details may actually surprise you.

LIBRA L [[SEPT. [S S 23-OCT. 22] You have a great many reasons to continue along the same course, but you may still harbor certain unexplained fears.

SCORPIO S [[OCT. 23-NOV. 21] You’re able to do what others have said you would be unable to do.

Is it purely a matter of will? Luck certainly plays a part.

SAGITTARIUS S [[NOV. 22-DEC. 21] Your ability to get to the heart of the matter will benefit those around you as well as yourself. A key issue is revealed.

CAPRICORN [DEC. 22-JAN 19] You must be willing to do more to improve your own physical wellbeing. Even little adjustments have a big payoff.

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (Route 36) Dept Destination Arrival Time Time 15:00 Quriyat 16:30 15:00 Sur 18:00 15:00 Jaalan 19:30 TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41) 06:30 Sohar 06:30 Buraimi 08:00 Buraimi 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Buraimi 16.00 Sohar 16.00 Buraimi TO SINAW (Route 52) 17:30 Sinaw

Operating Days Daily Daily Daily

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (Route 36) Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily 05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily 05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

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

Daily Daily Daily via Ibri Daily Daily Daily Daily

20:50

Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41) 07:00 Sohar 07:00 Ruwi 13:30 Ruwi 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Ruwi 13:00 Sohar 17:00 Ruwi TO SINAW (Route 52) 07:00 Ruwi

To Yanqul (Route 54) 14:30 Nizwa 14:30 Yanqul

16:50 19:30

Daily Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54) 08:00 Nizwa 08:00 Al Araqi

10:20 12:30

TO SUR (Route 55) 07:30 Sur 14:30 Sur TO FAHUD - YIBAL (Route 62) 06:30 Fahud 06:30 Yibal

08:55 11:40 20:20 14:55 17:40 19:20 22:15

Daily Daily Daily via Ibri Daily Daily Daily Daily

10:25

Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54) 06:00 Nizwa 06:00 Ruwi

08:40 11:00

Daily Daily

Daily Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54) 15:40 Nizwa 15:40 Ruwi

17:55 20:20

Daily Daily

12:00 18:45

Daily Daily

TO SUR (Route 55) 06:00 Ruwi 14:30 Ruwi

10:45 19:00

Daily Daily

10:30 11:15

Daily Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (Route 62) 12:30 Fahud 12:30 Ruwi

13:15 17:30

Daily Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (Route 100) 07:00 Salalah 20:00 10:00 Marmul 20:30 10:00 Salalah 23:30 19:00 Salalah 07:40

Daily Daily Daily Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (Route 100) 07:00 Ruwi 19:50 10:00 Marmul 13:15 10:00 Ruwi 22:30 19:00 Ruwi 07:30

Daily Daily Daily Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101) 06:00 Marmul

Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101) 06:00 Marmul

16:30

Daily

Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (Route 102) 15:00 Salalah 07:00

Daily

16:50

SALALAH TO DUBAI (Route 102) 15:00 Dubai 07:00 TO DUBAI (Route 201) 06:00 Sohar 06:00 Dubai 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Dubai 15:00 Sohar 15:00 Dubai

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

Daily Daily Wed,Thur Wed,Thur Daily Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204) Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily 07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily 07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201) 07:30 Sohar 07:30 Ruwi 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Ruwi 15:30 Sohar 15:30 Ruwi

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

Daily Daily Thur-Fri Thur-Fri Daily Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204) Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily 16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily 16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

LISTINGS

AQUARIUS [JAN. 20-FEB. 18] You can adjust your environment just enough to increase the odds and improve your own efficiency. Much has to be done at this time.

PISCES [Feb. 19-March 20] Though you may be in no hurry to make a necessary change, the fact is that time is of the essence, and you mustn’t fritter it away.

ARIES [March 21-APRIL 19] You’re fighting against your own uncertainty, and this will surely slow you down. Your instincts are keen; rely on them!

TAURUS [APRIL 20-MAY 20] You can propel yourself forward at a much faster pace than usual. Make sure, however, that you’ve taken all necessary precautions.

Sunset Sunrise (Tomorrow)

6:52pm 5:19am

High tide Low tide

-6:20am

11:40pm 6:29pm

SEA STATE: Moderate along the southeastern coast with a maximum wave height of 2.0 metres and slight along the rest of Oman’s coast with a maximum wave height 1.25 metres.

HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY: Good over most of the Sultanate becoming weak during fog, dust and thundershowers.

THE NEXT 48 HOURS OUTLOOK: Chance of convective clouds developments and thundershowers over Al-Hajar mountains and adjoining areas toward afternoon. Chance of late night to early morning low level clouds along the coastal areas of Arabian Sea.

Max

OMAN

CANCER

12.11pm 3.29pm 6.57pm 8.19pm 3.53am

AIRLINES

artly cloudy skies over Dhofar governorate and mainly clear skies over most of the Sultanate with chance of convective clouds developments and thundershowers over Al-Hajar mountains and adjoining areas during evening that may be associated with hail and fresh downdraft wind. Chance of late night to early morning low level clouds or fog along the southeastern coastal areas.

EXPECTED WIND: Along the coastal areas of Oman Sea wind will be northeasterly light to moderate during day becoming southwesterly light at night and along rest of the Sultanate wind will be southerly to southeasterly light to moderate, occasionally fresh.

GEMINI You can allay someone else’s fears simply by leading the way in a calm and confident manner. Certain dangers are unavoidable.

Dhuhr Asr Maghrib Isha Fajr (Tomorrow)

PHARMACIES Round the clock Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24783334; Appolo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24782666; Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24702542, Salalah: 23291635; Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra: 24503585; Ruwi 24811715 Muscat Region Apollo, Al Hamriya. Tel: 24787766 Muscat, A Seeb Market. Tel: 24421691 Muscat, Al Khuwair. Tel: 24485740 Muscat, Al Hail South. Tel: 4537080 Dhofar Region Muscat, Al Nahdha Road, Salalah.

Tel: 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 Hamdan Hospital: 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 Polyclinc LLC: 22004000 ROYAL OMAN POLICE Emergencies and inquiries: 9999 General Directorate of Passport and Residence: 24569603 Directorate General of Customs: 24521109 Traffic violations inquiries: 24510228 Public Relations Admin: 24560099 ACCOMMODATION Al Bahjah Hotel: 24424400 Al Bustan Palace: 24764000 Al Khuwair Hotel Apartments: 24478171 Al Madina Holiday Inn: 24596400 Al Maha International Hotel: 24494949 Al Fanar Hotel: 24712385 Al Falaj Hotel: 24702311 Al Qurum Resort: 24605945 Azaiba Hotel Apartments: 24490979 Beach Hotel: 24696601 Bowshar Hotel: 24491105 Coral Hotel Muscat: 24692121 Crowne Plaza Muscat: 24660660 Crystal Suites: 24826100 Golden Tulip Seeb: 24510300 Grand Hyatt Muscat: 24641234 Haffa House Hotel: 24707207 Hotel Muscat Holiday: 24487123 InterContinental Muscat: 24680000 Majan Continental Hotel: 24592900 Marina Hotel: 24711711 Midan Hotel Suites: 24499565 Mina Hotel: 24711828 Muttrah Hotel: 24798401

Nuzha Hotel Apartments: 24789199 Oman Dive Centre: 24824240 Park Inn: 24507888 Qurum Beach House Hotel: 24564070 Radisson Blu Hotel: 24487777 Ramee Dream Resort Seeb: 24453399 Ramee Guestline Hotel: 24564443 Ruwi Hotel: 24704244 Safeer Hotel Suites: 24691200 Sheraton Oman Hotel: 24772772 Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa: 24776666 The Chedi Muscat: 24524400 The Treasurebox Muscat Hotel: 24502570 Sifawy Hotel +968 24749111 Juweira Hotel +968 23239600 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, Turkish Airlines: 24703033 MUSEUMS Bait Al Baranda: Corniche (seafront opp fish market), Open from Saturday to Thursday 9am to 1pm and 4 to 6pm Natural History Museum: Al Khuwair, Tel: 24604957, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm; Thursday: 9am to 1pm Museum of Omani Heritage: (former Omani Museum), Madinat Al Alam, Sat-Wed 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday 9am to 1pm, Tel: 24600946 Armed Forces Museum: Bait Al Falaj, Tel: 24312651, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm; Thurs 9-12pm and 3-6pm; Fri 9-11am and 3-6pm. Al Hoota Caves 24498258; Turtle Beach 96550606/96550707 Children’s Science Museum: Shatti Al Qurum, Tel: 24605368, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pm Oman-French Museum: near Muscat Police Station, Tel: 24736613, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm, Thurs: 9am to 1pm Bait Al Zubair, Muscat: Tel: 24736688, Al Saidiya St., Muscat museum@baitalzubairmuseum.com Open from Sat to Thurs: 9:30am to 6pm.

National Museum Ruwi: Tel: 24701289, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm, Thurs: 9am to 1pm Sohar Fort Museum: Tel: 26844758, Open from Saturday to Wed: 8 to 1:30pm Thurs: 9am to 1pm Muscat Gate Museum: at Al Bahri Road, Muscat open from Sat to Wed 8am to 2pm

SUNDAY FLT NO

ARRIVALS FROM

WY406 WY648 WY676 WY672 WY682 WY914 WY916 WY910 TK774 4H585 NL669 PK225 GF560 QR1132 ET624 EK866 EY384 FZ041 WY114 4H586 CV732 WY658 WY638 WY902 WY326 WY644 G9841 WY686 WY154 WY144 WY692 WY668 WY674 WY132 WY102 FZ043 WY602 NL768 WY272 WY202 WY3932 WY236 G9114 WY282 WY226 EK862 WY210 WY242 WY212 WY252 IX549 QR1128 IX817 EY382 IX443 9W530 WY3922 WY3302 WY604 WY918 GF562 FZ037 IX337 WY384 WY822 WY818 WY634 WY904 WY670 WY324 WY332 WY652 WY606 KU677 WY906 WY920 WY348 FZ045 WY3304 WY344 QR1126 WY204 WY632 WY292 WY264 WY664 EK864 WY246 WY232 WY610 GF564 WY656 TG507 G9116 WY374 WY646 FZ047 WY908 WY614 WY848 WY338 WY386 WY434 FZ049 WY124 9W534 AI973 6.00E+81 WY254 BA073 WY624 UL205 AI907 WY312 QR1134 LX242 GF566 LH616 EY388 WY414 WY910 9W540 AI985 WY662 WY654 WY636 WY928 WY816 WY696 WY612

MONDAY ETA

FLT NO

ARRIVALS FROM

CAIRO 0005 KUWAIT 0005 JEDDAH 0005 MEDINA 0005 RIYADH 0010 SALALAH 0020 SALALAH 0120 SALALAH 0130 ISTANBUL 0135 DACCA 0200 SIALKOT 0200 KARACHI 0210 BAHRAIN 0325 DOHA 0345 ADDIS ABABA 0350 DUBAI 0350 ABU DHABI 0400 DUBAI 0415 FRANKFURT 0515 DOHA 0600 LUXORE 0635 BAHRAIN 0635 ABU DHABI 0640 SALALAH 0645 KARACHI 0650 KUWAIT 0650 RAS AL KHAIMA 0655 RIYADH 0655 ZURICH 0700 MALPENSA 0705 DAMMAM 0715 DOHA 0715 JEDDAH 0735 PARIS 0735 LONDON HEATHROW 0740 DUBAI 0800 DUBAI 0805 LAHORE 0830 JAIPUR 0830 BOMBAY 0835 SOHAR 0840 HYDERABAD 0900 SHARJAH 0905 BANGALORE 0910 COCHIN 0920 DUBAI 0930 GOA 0935 DELHI 0935 TRIVANDRUM 0950 MADRAS 0955 TRIVANDRUM 0955 DOHA 1000 MANGALORE 1010 ABU DHABI 1010 COCHIN 1020 TRIVANDRUM 1045 DUQUM OMAN 1045 MUKHAIZNA 1110 DUBAI 1110 KHASAB 1115 BAHRAIN 1130 DUBAI 1140 CALICUT 1155 MALE 1210 KUALA LUMPUR-SINGAPORE 1215 BANGKOK 1220 ABU DHABI 1220 SALALAH 1230 DOHA 1250 KARACHI 1300 KATHMANDU 1305 BAHRAIN 1330 DUBAI 1340 KUWAIT 1405 SALALAH 1440 KHASAB 1445 ISLAM ABBAD 1515 DUBAI 1535 MUKHAIZNA 1550 LAHORE 1605 DOHA 1650 BOMBAY 1655 ABU DHABI 1710 CALICUT 1710 LUCKNOW 1740 DOHA 1745 DUBAI 1745 DELHI 1750 HYDERABAD 1750 DUBAI 1800 BAHRAIN 1810 BAHRAIN 1820 BANGKOK-KARACHI 1900 SHARJAH 1905 COLOMBO 1915 KUWAIT 1920 DUBAI 1940 SALALAH 2000 DUBAI 2025 JAKARTA 2035 KATHMANDU 2040 MALE 2045 TEHRAN 2055 DUBAI 2100 MUNICH 2105 COCHIN 2115 DELHI 2125 BOMBAY 2130 MADRAS 2135 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI 2140 DUBAI 2150 COLOMBO 2155 MADRAS 2200 CHITTAGONG 2210 DOHA 2225 ZURICH-DUBAI 2225 BAHRAIN 2240 FRANKFURT-DOHA 2245 ABU DHABI 2300 AMMAN 2300 SALALAH 2310 BOMBAY 2315 BOMBAY 2325 DOHA 2335 BAHRAIN 2340 ABU DHABI 2340 SALALAH 2345 BANGKOK 2350 DAMMAM 2355 DUBAI 2355

WY672 WY648 WY406 WY676 WY682 WY914 WY916 TK774 4H583 PK229 GF560 QR1132 ET624 EK866 EY384 FZ041 WY114 WY658 WY638 WY902 WY644 WY154 WY144 WY668 WY674 WY102 FZ043 WY422 WY602 WY346 WY342 WY272 WY202 WY236 G9114 WY226 EK862 WY210 WY242 WY212 WY252 QR1128 EY382 WY844 9W530 WY604 WY918 WY3302 GF562 FZ037 WY372 IX337 PA450 WY705 WY822 WY634 WY818 WY904 WY670 WY324 WY332 WY632 WY606 WY920 FZ045 WY3304 WY656 QR1126 WY204 WY292 WY264 WY664 EK864 WY232 WY246 WY254 WY284 WY3922 WY610 GF564 G9116 WY684 WY646 FZ047 WY614 WY848 WY338 WY434 FZ049 KL441 AI977 WY124 4H561 9W534 AI973 6.00E+81 BA073 WY624 WY906 AI907 WY312 QR1134 LX242 GF566 LH616 WY717 SG061 EY388 WY910 9W540 WY908 AI985 WY662 WY654 WY636 WY928 WY816 WY612 WY696

MEDINA 0005 KUWAIT 0005 CAIRO 0005 JEDDAH 0005 RIYADH 0010 SALALAH 0020 SALALAH 0120 ISTANBUL 0135 DACCA 0200 LAHORE 0215 BAHRAIN 0325 DOHA 0345 ADDIS ABABA 0350 DUBAI 0350 ABU DHABI 0400 DUBAI 0415 FRANKFURT 0515 BAHRAIN 0635 ABU DHABI 0640 SALALAH 0645 KUWAIT 0650 ZURICH 0700 MALPENSA 0705 DOHA 0715 JEDDAH 0735 LONDON HEATHROW 0740 DUBAI 0800 BEIRUT 0805 DUBAI 0805 ISLAM ABBAD 0815 LAHORE 0825 JAIPUR 0830 BOMBAY 0835 HYDERABAD 0900 SHARJAH 0905 COCHIN 0920 DUBAI 0930 GOA 0935 DELHI 0935 TRIVANDRUM 0950 MADRAS 0955 DOHA 1000 ABU DHABI 1010 MANILA 1020 TRIVANDRUM 1045 DUBAI 1115 KHASAB 1115 MUKHAIZNA 1120 BAHRAIN 1130 DUBAI 1140 COLOMBO 1140 CALICUT 1155 LAHORE 1215 DARESSLAM-ZANZIBAR 1215 KUALA LUMPUR-SINGAPORE 1215 ABU DHABI 1220 BANGKOK 1220 SALALAH 1230 DOHA 1250 KARACHI 1300 KATHMANDU 1305 ABU DHABI 1335 DUBAI 1340 KHASAB 1445 DUBAI 1535 MUKHAIZNA 1550 BAHRAIN 1635 DOHA 1650 BOMBAY 1655 CALICUT 1710 LUCKNOW 1740 DOHA 1745 DUBAI 1745 HYDERABAD 1750 DELHI 1750 MADRAS 1750 BANGALORE 1750 DUQUM OMAN 1755 DUBAI 1800 BAHRAIN 1810 SHARJAH 1905 RIYADH 1915 KUWAIT 1920 DUBAI 1940 DUBAI 2025 JAKARTA 2035 KATHMANDU 2040 TEHRAN 2055 DUBAI 2100 AMSTERDAM-DOHA 2105 BANGALORE-HYDERABAD 2105 MUNICH 2105 DACCA 2115 COCHIN 2115 DELHI 2125 BOMBAY 2130 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI 2140 DUBAI 2150 SALALAH 2155 MADRAS 2200 CHITTAGONG 2210 DOHA 2225 ZURICH-DUBAI 2225 BAHRAIN 2240 FRANKFURT-DOHA 2245 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 2250 AHMEDABAD 2300 ABU DHABI 2300 SALALAH 2310 BOMBAY 2315 SALALAH 2320 BOMBAY 2325 DOHA 2335 BAHRAIN 2340 ABU DHABI 2340 SALALAH 2345 BANGKOK 2350 DUBAI 2355 DAMMAM 2355

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AI986 9W539 WY657 WY225 WY637 WY235 WY281 WY211 WY685 WY201 WY643 WY251 WY271 WY601 WY123 WY325 WY847 WY241 WY901 WY691 WY667 WY383 TK775 WY209 4H585 PK260 NL772 WY331 ET625 EK867 EY385 FZ042 QR1133 WY3931 4H586 GF561 WY3921 G9842 WY903 WY603 WY3301 CV732 WY917 WY347 WY669 WY323 FZ044 WY373 WY815 WY291 WY343 NL769 WY651 WY263 WY821 WY843 G9115 WY231 WY605 WY905 WY203 WY385 WY245 EK863 IX554 WY337 QR1129 IX818 EY383 IX442 WY311 9W533 WY919 GF563 FZ038 WY3303 WY253 IX350 WY633 WY113 WY663 WY631 WY143 WY645 WY655 WY101 WY153 WY927 WY405 WY413 WY433 WY609 KU678 WY907 WY675 FZ046 WY671 WY613 QR1127 WY623 WY681 WY647 WY909 GF565 EK865 WY695 WY653 WY661 G9117 WY913 TG508 WY635 FZ048 WY611 WY915 FZ050 WY421 WY817 9W529 6.00E+82 AI908 UL206 AI974 WY705 GF567 LX243 QR1135 BA072 WY673 EY381 LH617

BOMBAY 0020 BOMBAY 0020 BAHRAIN 0055 COCHIN 0105 ABU DHABI 0105 HYDERABAD 0110 BANGALORE 0110 TRIVANDRUM 0110 RIYADH 0115 BOMBAY 0115 KUWAIT 0120 MADRAS 0120 JAIPUR 0135 DUBAI 0145 MUNICH 0200 KARACHI 0210 JAKARTA 0215 DELHI 0215 SALALAH 0215 DAMMAM 0225 DOHA 0225 MALE 0230 ISTANBUL 0230 GOA 0255 DOHA 0300 PESHAWAR 0310 PESHAWAR 0330 KATHMANDU 0350 ADDIS ABABA 0450 DUBAI 0450 ABU DHABI 0500 DUBAI 0510 DOHA 0515 SOHAR 0635 DACCA 0700 BAHRAIN 0715 DUQUM OMAN 0745 RAS AL KHAIMA 0745 SALALAH 0750 DUBAI 0750 MUKHAIZNA 0800 HONG KONG 0800 KHASAB 0815 ISLAM ABBAD 0830 DOHA 0835 KARACHI 0835 DUBAI 0845 COLOMBO 0900 BANGKOK 0905 CALICUT 0915 LAHORE 0915 LAHORE 0930 BAHRAIN 0935 LUCKNOW 0940 SINGAPORE-KUALA LUMPUR 0945 MANILA 0955 SHARJAH 0955 HYDERABAD 1000 DUBAI 1020 SALALAH 1020 BOMBAY 1025 MALE 1040 DELHI 1040 DUBAI 1045 TRIVANDRUM 1045 KATHMANDU 1050 DOHA 1100 MANGALORE 1100 ABU DHABI 1105 COCHIN 1120 CHITTAGONG 1140 COCHIN 1145 KHASAB 1145 BAHRAIN 1215 DUBAI 1225 MUKHAIZNA 1230 MADRAS 1255 CALICUT 1255 ABU DHABI 1300 FRANKFURT 1320 DOHA 1330 ABU DHABI 1345 MALPENSA 1350 KUWAIT 1350 BAHRAIN 1400 LONDON HEATHROW 1400 ZURICH 1420 SALALAH 1430 CAIRO 1440 AMMAN 1440 TEHRAN 1445 DUBAI 1445 ABU DHABI-KUWAIT 1505 SALALAH 1540 JEDDAH 1615 DUBAI 1620 MEDINA 1705 DUBAI 1710 DOHA 1750 DUBAI 1840 RIYADH 1840 KUWAIT 1845 SALALAH 1850 BAHRAIN 1855 DUBAI 1910 DAMMAM 1915 BAHRAIN 1920 DOHA 1920 SHARJAH 1955 SALALAH 2000 KARACHI-BANGKOK 2005 ABU DHABI 2015 DUBAI 2025 DUBAI 2035 SALALAH 2100 DUBAI 2145 BEIRUT 2215 BANGKOK 2225 TRIVANDRUM 2230 BOMBAY 2245 MADRAS 2300 COLOMBO 2305 DELHI 2310 DARESSLAM-ZANZIBAR 2310 BAHRAIN 2325 DUBAI-ZURICH 2325 DOHA 2330 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW 2330 JEDDAH 2350 ABU DHABI 2355 DOHA-FRANKFURT 2355

AI986 9W539 WY657 WY225 WY637 WY211 WY235 WY201 WY643 WY345 WY271 WY341 WY601 WY371 WY123 WY901 WY847 WY241 WY667 TK775 WY209 4H584 PK226 WY331 EK867 ET625 EY385 FZ042 QR1133 GF561 WY603 WY903 WY3301 WY917 WY323 WY669 FZ044 WY633 WY815 WY253 WY291 WY263 WY717 WY821 G9115 WY231 WY283 WY631 WY605 WY203 WY245 EK863 WY337 QR1129 EY383 WY311 9W533 WY919 GF563 WY655 FZ038 WY3303 IX350 PA451 WY113 WY663 WY683 WY131 WY645 WY143 WY101 WY153 WY927 WY405 WY609 WY433 WY3921 WY675 FZ046 WY613 WY905 QR1127 WY681 WY623 WY647 WY909 GF565 WY907 EK865 WY695 WY661 WY653 G9117 WY913 WY635 FZ048 WY611 WY411 WY915 FZ050 AI978 4H561 KL442 WY817 9W529 6.00E+82 AI908 WY677 WY705 AI974 GF567 LX243 BA072 QR1135 WY673 LH617 EY381

BOMBAY 0020 BOMBAY 0020 BAHRAIN 0055 COCHIN 0105 ABU DHABI 0105 TRIVANDRUM 0110 HYDERABAD 0110 BOMBAY 0115 KUWAIT 0120 ISLAM ABBAD 0125 JAIPUR 0135 LAHORE 0145 DUBAI 0145 COLOMBO 0155 MUNICH 0200 SALALAH 0215 JAKARTA 0215 DELHI 0215 DOHA 0225 ISTANBUL 0230 GOA 0255 DACCA 0300 KARACHI 0315 KATHMANDU 0350 DUBAI 0450 ADDIS ABABA 0450 ABU DHABI 0500 DUBAI 0510 DOHA 0515 BAHRAIN 0715 DUBAI 0750 SALALAH 0750 MUKHAIZNA 0800 KHASAB 0815 KARACHI 0835 DOHA 0835 DUBAI 0845 ABU DHABI 0900 BANGKOK 0905 MADRAS 0915 CALICUT 0915 LUCKNOW 0940 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 0940 SINGAPORE-KUALA LUMPUR 0945 SHARJAH 0955 HYDERABAD 1000 BANGALORE 1000 ABU DHABI 1015 DUBAI 1020 BOMBAY 1025 DELHI 1040 DUBAI 1045 KATHMANDU 1050 DOHA 1100 ABU DHABI 1105 CHITTAGONG 1140 COCHIN 1145 KHASAB 1145 BAHRAIN 1215 BAHRAIN 1215 DUBAI 1225 MUKHAIZNA 1230 CALICUT 1255 LAHORE 1315 FRANKFURT 1320 DOHA 1330 RIYADH 1335 PARIS 1345 KUWAIT 1350 MALPENSA 1350 LONDON HEATHROW 1400 ZURICH 1420 SALALAH 1430 CAIRO 1440 DUBAI 1445 TEHRAN 1445 DUQUM OMAN 1455 JEDDAH 1615 DUBAI 1620 DUBAI 1710 SALALAH 1735 DOHA 1750 RIYADH 1840 DUBAI 1840 KUWAIT 1845 SALALAH 1850 BAHRAIN 1855 SALALAH 1900 DUBAI 1910 DAMMAM 1915 DOHA 1920 BAHRAIN 1920 SHARJAH 1955 SALALAH 2000 ABU DHABI 2015 DUBAI 2025 DUBAI 2035 AMMAN 2100 SALALAH 2100 DUBAI 2145 HYDERABAD-BANGALORE 2200 JEDDAH 2215 DOHA-AMSTERDAM 2220 BANGKOK 2225 TRIVANDRUM 2230 BOMBAY 2245 MADRAS 2300 MEDINA 2310 DARESSLAM-ZANZIBAR 2310 DELHI 2310 BAHRAIN 2325 DUBAI-ZURICH 2325 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW 2330 DOHA 2330 JEDDAH 2350 DOHA-FRANKFURT 2355 ABU DHABI 2355

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EXTRA BRIEFS

Teachers suffer from frequent headaches TEACHERS SUFFER psychosomatic disorders such as exhaustion, fatigue, and headaches more frequently than other occupational groups, Germany-based research has found. The study by Klaus Scheuch, business manager at Center for Work and Health in Saxony, Germany and colleagues involved almost 800,000 teachers who were working in Germany in the 2012-13 school year. The researchers found that compared to the general population, teachers maintain a more healthy lifestyle. In the study, teachers had healthier cardiovascular systems than the general population: they were more physically active.

A stroke steals away eight years of brain function HAVING A stroke ages a person’s brain function by almost eight years, robbing them of memory and thinking speed, new research says. In both black and white patients, the researchers found that having had a stroke meant that their score on a 27-item test of memory and thinking speed had dropped as much as it would have if they had aged 7.9 years overnight.

“The results show the amount of cognitive aging that stroke brings on, and, therefore, the importance of stroke prevention to reduce the risk of cognitive decline,” said lead study author and assistant professor Deborah Levine from the University of Michigan. The results are forthcoming in the journal Stroke.

Unethical behaviour is rampant across domains

Athletes should get hearts tested to avoid potential sudden death Researchers said their results should stimulate cardiologists who manage athletes to pay greater attention to the right side of the heart

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octors who try to detect heartbeat irregularities, known as arrhythmias, by focusing on the left ventricle of the heart, or on the right ventricle while an athlete is resting, will miss important signs of dysfunction that can only be detected during exercise and that could be fatal, scientists report.

Their findings, in the European Heart Journal, could change the way athletes are monitored as routine assessments of those with suspected arrhythmias often involve looking at the heart while it is resting, with a focus on the left ventricle. Researchers said their results should stimulate cardiologists who manage athletes to pay greater attention to the right side of the heart.

Triathletes and alpine cyclists should also consider getting their heart tested while exercising, the authors recommend.

Endurance sports are largely safe forms of exercise and deaths are rare. Extensive studies have shown roughly one in 150,000 marathon runners will die with fatalities most likely to occur from a heart attack precipitated by a congenital heart defect (in runners under 35 or so) or by artery blockage in older runners.

Those deaths are more likely to occur towards the end of marathons or half-marathons so experts recommend runners do not over-exert themselves when the finish line is in sight.

Previous research has demonstrated that the thin-walled right ventricle of the heart, which pumps blood through the lungs, is subjected to much greater stresses during exertion than the left ventricle, and that prolonged exercise is associated with temporary damage to the right ventricle.

In this new study, Professor André La Gerche and his colleagues in Australia and Belgium have found that problems in the way the right ventricle works become apparent only during exercise and cannot be detected when an athlete is resting.

La Gerche said: “You do not test a racing car while it is sitting in the garage. Similarly, you can’t assess an athlete’s heart until you assess it under the stress of exercise.”

The researchers tested the performance of the hearts in 17 athletes with right ventricular arrhythmias, eight of whom had an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) in place to control the rhythm of their hearts, 10 healthy endurance athletes and seven non-athletes.

Previous research has demonstrated that the thin-walled right ventricle of the heart, which pumps blood through the lungs, is subjected to much greater stresses during exertion than the left ventricle, and that prolonged exercise is associated with temporary damage to the right ventricle They found that measurements of how well the heart was functioning when the athletes were resting were similar in all three groups, as was left ventricular function during exercise.

However, measurements taken while the participants were ex-

ercising showed changes in the functioning of the right ventricle in the athletes who were known to have arrhythmias when compared with the other two groups.

Prof La Gerche, associate professor and head of sports cardiology at Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia, said: “By measuring the blood pressure in the lungs and the body during exercise we have shown that the right side of the heart has to increase its work more than the left side of the heart. Hence, the right side of the heart is a potential ‘weak link’ in athletes. In the normal healthy athletes, the right side of the heart was able to manage the increased work requirements. In the athletes with arrhythmias the right side of the heart was weak during exercise, it could not handle the increase in work and we could detect problems accurately that were not apparent at rest.

“The dysfunction of the right ventricle during exercise suggests that there is damage to the heart muscle. This damage is causing both weakness and heart rhythm problems. Whilst the weakness is mild, the heart rhythm problems are potentially life threatening.”

-Paul Gallagher/The Independent

BE IT office or home, thinking about the long-term consequences of misbehaving can help you do the right thing, says a new study. Honest behaviour is quite like sticking to a diet. “Unethical behaviour is rampant across various domains ranging from business and politics to education and sports,” said Ayelet Fishbach, behavioural science and marketing professor, University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. In a series of experiments that included common ethical dilemmas, such as calling in sick to work and negotiating a home sale, the researchers found that two factors together promoted ethical behaviour. Participants who identified a potential ethical dilemma as connected to other similar incidents and who also anticipated the temptation to act unethically were more likely to behave honestly than participants who did not. -IANS

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SU N DAY, JUNE 7, 2015

EXTRA The next battleground: Your home Visions of the smart home — a house that can set its own thermostat, schedule its own lights and preheat its own ovens — are fast-becoming a reality

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echnology is becoming smaller, faster and cheaper, opening new opportunities for transforming everyday objects.

In a report on Tuesday, International Data Corporation projected that the “Internet of Things,” the industry term for this web of connected products, will generate $1.7 trillion in spending by 2020 — an astonishing number considering it was almost non-existent five years ago.

Jumping on that wave is a nobrainer for companies, which are trying to convince consumers that everything could be better with a chip. There’s a buffet of options out there. Right now, for around $200 you could pick up a smart thermostat that lets you control your home’s temperature from anywhere. You can pick up packs of sensors to make any outlet “smart” for about $60. Or you could pay a company such as AT&T, Comcast or ADT (US) to do a lot of the work for you, for as little as $20 or $30 per month.

That’s where, for consumers, it gets a little more complicated. Because while you may think you’re buying one gadget — a thermostat, a security system, a smart lock — but what you’re really buying is the cornerstone of a whole system of smart devices that need to work together. By extension, the first smart home device you buy may determine the brand of your next refrigerator, security system or even your car.

“Consumers are asking: If you buy a Nest, are you stuck with Google for the rest of your life?” said Jefferson Wang, of IBB Consulting. “If you buy an Apple TV, are you stuck with Apple?”

The stakes to produce the first “I need it” home gadget are high.

And tech giants, who are watching sales of smartphones hit a plateau in high-spending markets, are racing to find it. Google and Apple have both laid out ambitious plans for the smart home. The area was a main focal point for Google at its developers conference last week and is expected to be a showcase at Apple’s big developer confab next week. Apple has already released guidelines for developers that state that the Apple TV, the company’s set-top box, will be the hub for compatible smart devices.

Analysts say they expect this battle to play out as an extension of the war between Apple, Google and a few other specialty players for early dominance. The first to

really crack the idea can capitalize on the gadget “halo effect” — the consumer tendency to buy gadgets that are compatible with ones they already have, which locks them into one of those companies’ worlds.

Apple and Google certainly appear to hope so and are applying the same strategies they used in the smartphone era to the connected home.

Apple’s reputation for quality and the loyalty of its fans give it a certain edge, said Jefferson Wang of IBB Consulting. “Apple’s iOS is strong, and tends to have faster adoption,” he said. But, he added, “in Google’s favour, Android has a huge developer community, a huge number of customers and

existing products like the Nest,” a successful smart thermostat made by the company of the same name. Google bought Nest in 2014, for $3.2 billion.

Nest’s appliances, as well with its Dropcam security systems — the result of another acquisition — have already given Google early home gadget success. And last week, the firm announced it would expand its ambitions even further with a smarthome platform, Brillo, to developers looking to make smart devices for the home that work with other Google-based doodads such as the successful Nest thermostat.

That comes a year after Apple first announced its plans for “HomeKit,” a platform centred

around its own software. On Tuesday, the first official HomeKit devices hit the market, all of which can be controlled through an iPhone app. The launch partners included electronics firm iHome, major smart light bulb maker Lutron, and Elgato, which makes sensors that monitor air quality, humidity, water consumption and energy use. The products work with Apple’s Siri as well, meaning that the voice assistant can now turn on your lights, check your monitors and act as a general remote control for your home.

It’s far too early to predict who will win, said Mark Hung, an analyst for Gartner.

“Unlike in the PC or smartphone markets, neither have come

out with a whiz-bang story of why (the average person) needs this.

It’s still in the exploration stage,” he said.

And Apple and Google aren’t the only dogs in the fight either. There are scads of competitors out there with their own technologies, services and products that are trying to capitalise on what they think consumers want from a smart home. Game console makers Microsoft and Sony are building out their content offerings to try and control the living room through their forays into entertainment and gaming. AT&T and Comcast, meanwhile, are adding on to their positions as Internet providers to include smart security systems.

More traditional home appliance

makers such as Honeywell and GE are also joining forces to make their own standards.

And then there’s Amazon, which hasn’t competed much with Apple or Google on the hardware front in the past, but has taken some small steps into the home, analysts said. Last year, the company introduced the Echo, a standalone cylinder that has a voice assistant of its own. Through the Echo, users can add items to their shopping lists, ask the device for answers to basic questions and listen to music. (Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) Over time, Amazon has added support for Belkin’s WeMo line or smart switches and even for Google Calendar, so users can use the Echo to turn off the lights or get a summary of their daily schedule.

Amazon’s offering is the first representation of how we may interact with our smart homes in the future — by speaking to them in the style of the Star Trek computer. But the product is pretty limited at the moment, Wang said. “Amazon’s always going to be looking for areas to push the core business — which is ultimately shopping,” Wang said. “Echo is a fun product, and an interesting one. But I don’t think they’re on the same level at all as a Google or an Apple.”

Still, keeping some variety in the market could help consumers avoid getting locked in to an either all-Google or all-Apple environment. The smart home market could follow in the footsteps of the smartphone world, but Wang also said that the market could be large enough to support all players.

He pointed to the way we’ve seen car makers such as General Motors, for example, refuse to take a side in the connected car battle, opting instead to support both Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto.

“The question is how does that affect their strategy — when companies choose both — and then how Apple and Google use that to create the next layer of interaction, between the watch, the phone, the tablet and the home.”

For consumers, the best way to navigate this complex, highstakes world may be to just sit out for now, Hung said.

“The products aren’t there yet.

If you can wait to change your thermostat — and it’s unlikely that you can’t — wait,” he said. “None of these camps or factions have come out with a killer.”

-Hayley Tsukayama/ The Washington Post

WEIRD NEWS

Woman sues eBay, claims ownership of sun ENTREPRENEURIAL PEOPLE have tried to sell some weird stuff on eBay over the years: the meaning of life, the names of their children, a whole town in Tuscany. But Maria Angeles Duran, a 54-year-old mother of four from Vigo, Spain, may be the most audacious seller on eBay: She tried to sell pieces of solar real estate.

Now, Duran’s claims have made their way to a Spanish court — a totally bizarre and unexpected twist to a bizarre, unexpected story that began five years ago.

Duran makes a fitting heroine for this kind of tale. A life-long “romantic” and professional dabbler — she’s studied nursing and law, dreamt up her own religion, and penned a kinky romance novel — Duran first laid claim to the sun in the summer of 2010, when she noticed that the American entrepreneur Dennis Hope had done the same with the moon, Mars, Venus and Mercury. His claim, which rested on an alleged loophole in the United Nation’s Outer Space Treaty, was closely echoed by Duran in legal documents she drew up for a local notary.

“Outer space — is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty,” the treaty says. Nothing about individual ownership, Duran said.

Interestingly, Duran held onto this claim for several years without anyone really question-

ing it; perhaps that’s because it’s legally ridiculous, or because the international media never heard about it. But in 2013, Duran decided to rock the boat. She opened an eBay store and began auctioning, for one euro each, square-meter plots of sun with accompanying ownership documents.

You can still see the certificates, in fact: Duran now sells them on her personal website (http://angelesduran.es/WordPress3/shop/). That’s because eBay found her in violation of its “intangible goods” policy — you can’t sell things that don’t ex-

ist, basically — and summarily kicked her off the site.

But Duran is not your average eBay seller; Spanish media accounts paint her as more ideological, and more litigious, than most.

In several interviews, Duran has framed her claim to the sun as a critique of corporate ownership — If utility companies can profit off wind and water, she’s argued, what’s to stop people from profiting off the solar system, too? Duran has also claimed that all profits from her solar sales will go to charities.

-Caitlin Dewey/The Washington Post

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2 BHK (with split AC) residential flat at Honda road.

Contact 98087644 / 99795241

1BHK in Ghoubra South behind Extra (280/- R.O). Contact : 99342661 We have, 2BHK flat in Mabela 7, 2 rooms, sitting hall, kitchen & 2 bathrooms only 200/- R.O. Contact 93782735/ 99208033 2 BHK near Oman House Khimji H.O. Contact: 95865686 2 rooms, 1 bath room for Indian near Ruwi church. Contact: 99746379 Shop / office near Oman house Muttrah. Contact: 99233116 Office space in new building at MBD South. Contact : 94460790 / 24714625 Two bedroom flat at Al Hamriya, Ruwi. Contact: 99767783 Furnished 2BHK Amerat 200 rent.

Contact 95113797

We have 2 BHK flat in Ghala, 2 rooms, large sitting hall, huge kitchen & 3 bathrooms only 350/- R.O our building no water problem.

Contact: 93782735 / 99208033 1 BHK flat in Honda Road (Ruwi).

Contact 99792181 500 sq mtrs office space on mezzanine floor near Royal Hospital. OMR 6.500 per sq mtr. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 3 bedroom at Al Khuwair 33. House No. 866, Way No. 4712. Contact Mohamed : 99580484, Ahmed : 99486805, Awadh 95525509 1 BHK flat for Rent in Ghobra Near Indian School. Contact 99792181 2BHK at Azaiba 2 rooms, 1 hall, dining, 3 bathrooms. Contact: 99224748 / 99425665

Flat at Darsait. Contact 99326879

Deluxe 1, 2 BHK flats in Darsait, AL Khuwair 1deal for office & residence. Contact 99369081 /99142314

New building, residential apartments and offices, in Al Khoud Souq. Contact 95202340

Showroom for rent 200 m in Al Misfah, Bousher facing the main road. Contact 95202430

1BHK, 2BHK, 3BHK new flat available at Mabela in front of Modern English School Contact: 96239126

Big flats in Darsait near Al Falaj hotel, 3BHK living room, dining room, 2 bathrooms, Kitchen AC FAMILY only 500/-R.O .Contact : 92479515

2000 sqm Commercial land for lease in Ghala. Please contact 98154444

2 BHK Apartment for rent near MSQ area. Please contact 92888063 2 BHK Flat in Al Khuwair. Contact 99792181

For rent in Darsait new flats.

Contact: 99777351

Villa for rent in Al Khuwair 33, 8 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms with parking area near Taimur Mosque.

Contact: 99366624

For rent in Darsait, new flats.

Contact: 99311525

2 BHK near Medical Darsait R.O 250/-. Contact : 98748925

4 Ware house at Barka Falaij.

Contact: 99337857

Room for rent family /ex bachelor/ sharing in Ruwi. Contact : 99777496

Nice two bedrooms flat near Lulu Seeb split A/Cs R.O 300/- P.M .

Contact: 95278815

4 BHK Villa in Al khuwair. Contact 99792181

We have 5 BHK villas in Al Khuwair near Taymour Mosque commercial villa good for office, companies & families. Contact: 93782735 / 99208033 2BHK in Ghoubra South behind Extra (350/- R.O). Contact: 99342661

3000 sq mtrs Industrial landß, in Barka Sanaiya, with electricity 400KW, shed, staff accommodation and office. Ready to start any kind of factory. Contact 99384255.

5000 sqm prime indusial land in Misfah, Bausher, with 550 sqm of covered warehouse and office space, for rent only. Contact: + 968 – 99264162

Flat for rent with 2 bed rooms and hall, attach bath rooms, split A/C near bridge stone Ghalla top of Majan Hyper Market. Contact: 95928800 Flats for rent in Muttrah near Oman house 2 BHK. Contact: 97009734 / 92629232 Villa for rent at Al Ansab 3rd 4 bedrooms total 230 sqm, air conditioned 1 living room, 3 toilets, kitchen, store only RO 700/-. Contact 99299689

Flat in Darsait, Mumtaz behind Ministry of Sport 2 bedrooms, living room, 3 bathrooms & kitchen split 400/- R.O . Contact: 92479515 Flats in Al Ghubra near 18 Nov .St, 1 bedroom, living room, bathroom, and kitchen with AC 280/- R.O family only. Contact: 92479515 3 BHK Flat in Al Khuwair 33.

Contact 99792181 Labour Camp for Rent in Wadikabir.

Contact 99792181

2 BHK Flat in Rex Road. Contact 99792181 2 BHK Flat in Azaiba.

Contact 99792181 Executive 3 bedroom flat all attached with bathroom, air condition curtains, sitting room and big varanda R.O 400/- Athaiba round about behind bank Muscat Sohar Building way No 4216 HSE No 1067. Contact: Owner 99331413 / 99105169 1,000 sq mtrs industrial land in Misfah Industrial area near to Khanco. OMR 1,500 Monthly. It has Electricity and boundary wall.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 Apartments for rent Ghubra : near Indian School Ghubra & Al Maha International Hotel (2BHK with 5 split A/C units).Contact 99273774 / 99202278 /94652485

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DAILY GUIDE

FOR RENT Contact 92702891/ 95490842 1/3 BHK Flat Ghubrah, close to ISG Way 4041, building 4390.

Contact 99319880 Studio flat Wadi Kabeer 160/-O.R. Contact - 99358589 / 97079146/ 95570288 1BHK flat near star cinema with split A/C 230/- O.R. Contact 99358589/ 97079146/95570288

FOR RENT Furnished flats for rent in Al Buraimi, daily, weekly, monthly.

Contact 97819981 / 93593336 Al Khuwair (17/1) a room & hall, kitchen, toilet with ACs ground floor.

Contact Owner : 99385553 2BHK Darsait R.O 325/-, 300/-.

Contact: 92144045 1BHK Ghubra R.O 275/-. Contact: 92144045 1BHK Mumtaz R.O 250/-. Contact: 97799175 3 rooms with attached bath room, hall Brand new in Mabelah near Sharahe Noor. Contact 99663905/ 99415119 2 bedroom flat new building in Wadi Kabir. Contact 99313274 3 bedrooms flat for rent near NIT Institute Darsait. Contact 93494098 506 sqm space with mezzanine available for rent in Al Wadi Al Kabir. Suitable for carpentry / auto workshop and /or electrical shop.

Interested parties may Contact 24703981 Ghubra near Al Maha hotel & Indian school (2BHK with 5 split ac units). Contact 94652485/ 99273774 / 99202278 Flat with 2 rooms, toilet & kitchen in second floor in Souk Al Khoud behind bank Al Ahli 200/- R.O .

Contact : 99738881 1& 2BHK for rent at Wadi Kabir, Hilal Al Sad and Al Khoud areas .

Contact Office: 24834644 Mobile: 93994401/02/03 If require flats for rent in Wadi Kabir please send me messages through whatsapp or call 99376454 3 flats for rent 3 bedrooms include A/C, near the highway (Bowshar Amerat). Contact 97777911 / 95533777 Spacious 2 BHK flats in Ruwi MBD area only on 350/- OMR. Contact – 95122188 / 96441499 Flats for rent in Wadi Kabeer.

Contact : 92800007

2BHK flat + store room in CBD, Ruwi with Split A/c’s, secured access, car parking. Rent 400/-.

Contact 99603696 3 BHK villa and 2 BHK flat with A/ Cs at Muttrah, near Oman house.

Contact : 95915154 Flat 1BHK for rent, Opp Omani School near Al Tajaweed Furniture, bldg No 1057, Way 5917, Hamriya.

Rent 150/- P.M. Contact: 99350946 Villa for rent - Al Seeb/Al Mawelah - Block 5 - 4 bedrooms with attached bathrooms, Majlis, 2 halls, kitchen and storeroom. split Ac and carpark.

Contact 99564616 Flat for rent in Ruwi, CBD. Contact: 92820734 2BHK flat with store room, split A/cs in CBD, Ruwi near QNB. Rent 400/-.Contact 99603696

Villa in Al Khuwair and Seeb.

Contact 95250300/ 99119699 / 92125648 Industrial land for rent in Wadi Kabir 7000 Sq mtrs. # 99354340 Flats/villas owned by ROP pension fund available for rent in Muscat. Contact 99349526 1st floor flat in Amerat Phase 5, 4 rooms, bathrooms (3), kitchen with A/C for family. # 95522405

FOR SALE Running business material shop for sale good location & profitable business. Contact : 92249983 Used Supermarket Gandolas RO 40/- per pc, Double tube light fitting RO 2/- per pc. Contact: 97752395 23,886 Sq Mtrs Agriculture land with water well in Al Salwa, Barka.

OMR 260 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

One BHK flat for rent in Ghobra with attach and common bathroom. For Indian family. Contact 92322096

Super market in (Hairoon Hairithi) Thamrith road. #98189810 / 99675190.

1 BHK Flat in Wadi Kabir.

Contact 92275454

Shop for sale in Ibra and Bid Bid. Contact: 95304693

Flat for rent in Al Khuwair 33.

Contact: 92277419

Restaurant for sale well running with open area and good parking area. 3 new clearance also in Wadi Kabeer near Mars hyper market.

Contact 99656863

2BHK at Al Azaiba, 2bedrooms, 1 hall & dinning , 3 bathrooms.

Contact : 99224748 / 99425665 Flats shops and store for rent in Ruwi, MBD Honda road.

Contact 97293708 / 92433127 Bath attached room for rent Al Khuwair. Contact 99743569 Flat for rent 1 & 2 bedroom available behind Zaker Mall Al Khuwair.

Contact - 99530405 Labor camp available with all facilities at Sohar Falaij (Near Sohar Sea port) - Contact – 92982172 Labour camp for Rent in Wadi Kabir. Contact 99797422 Room main road, Al Khuwair R.O 110/-. Contact 97799175 2 BHK & studio flat at Darsait 1SM. Contact 99024730 For rent 3 industrial land.

2,560 sq mtrs industrial land Wadi Kabir Main Road, First line on way to Al Bustan hotel. Possible to make petrol station or hotel. OMR 990 Thousand Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 Ice Cream & Juices shop in Ruwi good location for sale 1.5 mt fish display machine unused for sale.

Contact: 92150455 Shopping center for sale at Bousher by good price 400 m2 with all equipment. Reason for selling part-time. Contact 92916490 Running restaurant going for sale in Ibri. Contact: 96774871 Best Investment opportunity in Muscat a brand new furnished show room for electronics building, material mobiles etc available for sale at prime location. Contact 91710624 / 98873484

Shfandish & tables for sale.

Contact 99368907

ACC. AVAILABLE

5 Flats of 1 bedroom for Sale in Boushar: OMR 35 Thousand each.

Monthly income OMR 270 Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

Semi furnished single room for Executive bachelors behind Kamat Restaurant Al Khuwair.

Contact: 94271085

Coffee shop for sale in North Al Ghubra. Contact 95256009

Fully furnished room with attached bath for Executive bachelor, behind Al Meera Hypermarket, Azaiba R.O 150/-. Contact: 99455735

Well equiped and running condition Restaurant for sale. Contact: 97710015 / 92934027 near Missfah Khanco Road Cement Factory 558 Sq mtrs residential land in Barka (Al Jenainah) near Lulu and near to school. OMR 32 Thousand.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 60,000 Sq Mtrs Agriculture Land in Misfah, can be changed to Industrial Land. OMR 29 Per Square Meter.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 3 floor commercial building in Muttrah behind Police. Generating income of OMR 18 Thousand annually. Neat and well maintained. Built on 197 sq mtrs land. 2 tailor shops on ground floor and 6 flats. OMR 207 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 We have planned industrial lands in a prime location (Bowshar / Al Misfah) the space 8575 SQ. M for each plot, meter price 120/- OMR only. Contact: 99883338

ACC. AVAILABLE Sharing accommodation available opposite Mars at Al Ghubra for Executive bachelor or small family sharing, kitchen. Contact 94474351 / 96237050

Single room at Walja, opposite MBD area available for Executive bachelors inclusive of electricity and water for OMR100/-. #93079877 Room for rent 130/-RO, A/C, E/W kitchen Including bachelor only.

Contact: 95423391 Furnished single room for Exe. bachelor or small family at Rex Road. Contact 92873832 Independent flat (1 Bed Room + Bath) is available at Mawaleh (Behind City Centre) for a Non Cooking Executive Bachelor. #95931004 Family room available at Muttrah.

Contact: 24712088 / 99022790 Fully furnished room attached bath for Executive bachelor behind Al Meera hypermarket Azaiba R.O 150/-Contact : 99455735 Furnished room available for Executive bachelor in Ghala near Oman LNG building. Contact: 93980990 Sharing for non-cooking Executive bachelor in CBD area wi fi free, advance deposit. Contact 95934642 Sharing family accommodation in Wadi Kabir. Contact 99335057

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. www.tunesoman.com, E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

ACC. WANTED Required villa for office in Mawallah. Contact : 96996938 Semi furnished room with attached bathroom for Executive bachelors at CBD area behind chamber of commerce. Contact: 96389375/93554942

ACC. AVAILABLE Independent house with 1 room, kitchen and toilet in Wadi Kabir.

Rent: RO170. Contact: 96639246 2 Rooms with separate bathroom & kitchen for executive bachelors.

Gsm 942-888-63 Furnished room attached bath for Indian bachelor - Al Falaj area & for lady at Wadi kabir (Al Maya) 95941515.

Sharing acc. Available in Muttrah behind Oman house. Contact: 99354340 Accommodation available for South Indian family, one bedroom with attached toilet, kitchen, hall in a villa, Al Ghubrah. Contact 99209160

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DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

SITUATION WANTSIT. WANTED ED

SITUATION SITUATION WANTED VACANT

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE Indian male 22 yrs B. Com Graduate 1 year exp in Accounts, currently on visit visa. Looking for suitable job.

Contact 94341848 / Email – mohdhaji7272@gmail.com Accounts part time works up to finalization on monthly basis. Profit & loss A/C and financial statements, MS Reports Etc. Contact: 96247295 ACCA affiliate , BSc Honors in applied Accountancy advance diploma in Accounting and Business, CAT Affiliate 1 year hand on working experience of Oman, with Oman driving license looking for a suitable placement in Audit firm. Having NOC can join immediately.

Contact : 98989970 Indian male well experienced in accounts & Admin looking for a suitable vacancy. NOC available.

Contact: 98717938

ADMIN

DOMESTIC HELPER

Indian Manager is required to work an administrative and real estate valuer in properties office in Shatti al Qurum. He has to be qualified and speaks English with experience in Oman. Contact : 99109094

Urgent required House maid in Mabela. Visa available.

Contact 95200180.

Omani lady HR Manager for a leading metal fabrication company. Min. 5 yrs exp, familiar with Oman labor Laws. Responsibilities – Making HR policies, Training of Omanis, liaising with various Ministries. Contact: operation@khancogroup.com

Urgent required Offset printer / binder / designer. Good experience in printing press industries. Please send C.V to fax: 24453227 Contact: 92872940 Email: kkh104@hotmali. com / mgayaz19@gmail.com

ENGINEER DRIVER

Required an Accountant B.Com + Tally. Fluently English speaking & computer. Having valid N.O.C. Send CV and contact information to arrange interview.

Email: info@alrabiyahrealestate.com A leading Company in Ruwi looking for Accounts Assistant, B Com with min 3 years of exp. Female candidate preferable. Please send your CV’s to hrruwi2015@gmail.com Assistant Accountant experience: 2 years. Contact: 24703484 / 96918100 Email: om.omanlights@gmail.com

BEAUTICIAN Urgently required Indian experience beautician, good salary + Accommodation + Food visa Available location Al Hail.

Contact: 92284899 / 92139922

CATERING Family in Muscat seeking to hire an experienced butler. Hotel experience is preferred. Candidate must hold a valid driver’s license. Please send CV’s on vacancyinmuscat@gmail.com A leading Company in Ruwi looking for Accounts Assistant, B Com with min 3 years of exp. Female candidate preferable. Please send your CV’s to hrruwi2015@gmail.com Looking for a Restaurant Manager for a well known restaurant in Muscat, with atleast 2 years of work experience in Oman. Candidate must have a valid Omani driving license, excellent marketing and communication skills and an eagerness to work. For enquiries and interview Contact: 92978956 or 94027151.

Shawarma /Arabic/Chinese/ cook & helper. Contact 95529970

DOMESTIC HELPER Wanted full time Indian Housemaid for Indian Muslim family. Should be skilled in preparation of Non-Veg dishes. Preferably from Hyderabad, India.

Company visa, good salary + bonus, air –ticket for leave travel provided by company. Contact 99349924.

An Indian family in Al Ghubra requires a full time living housemaid.

Contact : 97084023 Required looking for full time Housemaid for Omani family at Mabela, visa available. Contact: 92454170

SALES / MARKETING

DESIGNER

ACCOUNTANT A reputed shipping and forwarding company urgently require following personals 1) Accountant 2) Operations Executive valid Omani D/L is must. Experienced hands in shipping field are preferred. Send your CV to applymd2015@gmail.com

Indian male 25 years BBM (Finance) 2 years experience in accounts & inventory controller now in visit visa. Contact : 94176838 Email: shillukidavan@gmail.com

Required light driver, Excavator Operators & heavy drivers.

Contact: 99454425 Required Light duty driver from Kerala with construction experience.

Contact : 98294695 Heavy duty driver Oman experience. Contact: 99453617

EDUCATION Qualified female Teacher required for Maths & Science with 3 years minimum experience and IELTS school in Al Khuwair.

Contact: 99353961 Teachers required (B.A, BEd, BSc, and B.ed) for Omani Pvt. School Al Hail (North).Contact: 95141554/ 96653118

ENGINEER Sudanese Electrical Engineer, 2 years experience.

Contact: 91211592 Email: aymanhamza1990@gmail.com Mechanical / Civil Site Supervisor; diploma / ITI fitter; 3-4 year’s exp in supervision of Erection work of sheds, customer coordination, and project execution. Omani D/L is must. Contact: hr@khancogroup.com / 99102383 Reputed consultancy office required a Mechanical Engineer with 10 to 12 years experience in design of HVAC Systems and plumbing services. Please send your detailed resume to: info@designunitoman. com Urgently Required: Civil Engineer with an experience minimum in 5 years in building construction and MUST have NOC. Apply, fax 00968–24605955, emails sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com, sbeoman@yahoo.com Required a diploma holder in Mechanical Engineering. Fluently English speaking & computer, having valid Omani driving license & N.O.C. Send CV and contact information to arrange interview.

Email: info@alrabiyahrealestate.com A leading business group in Omanis looking for Civil Engineers (Diploma/Degree Holders) with 4-5 yrs experience for their Civil Engineering division. Please apply to kumar@muscatsteel.com MEP Contractor in Muscat looking for AC Foreman with minimum 5 years experience in Split AC installation. Contact: 92472326 Email:info@4dengineering.net A reputed water treatment company is looking for 10 years experienced Civil Engineer with driving license. Knowledge of civil works, QS. Apply : md.mohamed@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer having 3 years gulf experience with driving license.

Contact: 24703484 / 96918100 Email: om.omanlights@gmail.com Construction Company require Civil Engineer, minimum 2 year’s Gulf experience. Contact: 93806556

IT Urgently required Omani IT Software professional fluent in Arabic and English with 2 years experience email: mhca@mhabibgroup.com, fax: 24564459 Website Graphic Designer, .Net/ Oracle Certified Developer, Systems Analyst, Software Business Developer/Marketer. hr@takweenit.net

MEDICAL Wanted Female Nurse with or without MOH license for a Polyclinic.

Salary negotiable. Contact 97091664, 97327175.

Email: mmcmuscat@gmail.com

Required Senior Sales Executive 2nos focused with successful track record in this industry. 2-3 years experience in similar capacity with valid driving license. Attractive salary package for the right candidates.

Contact : 92673856 Email CV: oman.ms.sharad@gmail.com Required male candidates to work full / part time in an international Café “franchise”. They will be trained for the job.

Contact 97673395 Urgent required Sales staff with good communication skill for Building materials showroom.

Attractive salary + incentives. Contact: 91408823/91408817, ECC Mart, Opposite Al-khuwair Garden, Near Rawasco. eccoman@eccholding.com

Urgently required Sales and Marketing Executive for Graphic designing company. Contact: 96727631 mail: smartgraphic518@gmail.com Required Sales man - 1 Person Qualification. Gulf Experienced - Minimum 5 Years with Oman Driving Licence Language - English Education:- Any Degree Further Contact :Mr. Abdul Hameed Nashabat - Mobile No: 97414307 and -92807399 amn@yaqeeneng.com Sales man for electrical and building material Items, experience: 2 years with driving license.

Contact: 24703484 / 96918100 Email: om.omanlights@gmail.com

Urgently required Marketing Executives male / female Acrylic bender. Contact: 95453949

Required Indian Salesman for a Spare parts Company, Good salary package and visa will be offered for suitable candidates. Can send CV on alrabhe@omantel.net.om

Sales Coordinator : Mechanical Diploma holder with 3-4 yrs exp. in sales department preferably in Metal fabrication Company. Omani D/L is must. Contact: 99102383 hr@khancogroup.com

Salesman experienced 5 yrs in Oman, in the field of industrial & oilfield service, garage equipment tools & spares, safety wears & rescue equipments. Please forward your CV to almaadhi.trd@gmail.com

Urgently required Advertising & Media Sales Executives with Oman D/L. Trainee positions available for Freshers.

Email: jobs@interacoman.com

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE Required Office Assistant 160+25+Acc, Contact 99454425

Wanted Staff Nurse for a polyclinic in Sohar. Contact :3457270

Finance Manager, CPA, with more than 15 yrs. of experience in GCC. Fully knowledgeable in Finance, General & Management Accounting .

NOC available. Contact 96209331 Indian male with total 5 year experience (2 years experience in Accountant cum sales co ordinator in a FMCG Company in Oman) in accounts field and NOC available. Looking for suitable job Contact 92130188 Indian male, 32 years, M. Com. 7 out of 9 years experience in Oman in Accounts/finance. Having NOC and valid Oman D/L. Contact 98277143, Email: anzarks@gmail.com MBA Graduate with 6 yrs exp in finance/accounts/ auditing. Specialized in accounts payable dept, Oracle app user, proficient in Sap (fico) end user & tally 9.0. lean &six sigma certified trainer on visit visa.

Contact – 91967213 / 99064780 Indian Accountant: Male, M com, 7 Yrs experience in Accounts up to finalization, having knowledge of ERP, Tally, seeks suitable placment. contact 93950138 Email: lijinrajan123@gmail.com Tanzanian male, 25 yrs Accountant successful experience in Tanzania looking for suitable placement in any field. Contact : 96710154 Tunisian lady has Professorship in social and economical sciences and accounting, diploma in Experimental Sciences degree in English for media. Contact 95391050, aysser2013@gmail.com

ADMIN/HR TOURISM

Female dentist vacancy in a private clinic. Send CV to dentalclinic1212@gmail.com

Required experience (minimum 3 years) holiday staff for an IATA Approved Travel agency for the holiday department. Preferably Arabic speaking please forward the CV : kttjobs@gmail.com

Wanted Nurse for MCT area for GP Clinic Cont: 9670 9401 Required a MOH licensed female Nurse for a private clinic near Al-Suwaiq. Call 93746086 Wanted Nurse for a dental centre in Mawaleh South. Interested may contact 93431024 Email: drasyanaseem@gmail.com Urgently required a Staff Nurse for a clinic at Hamriya area who has passed prometric exam with 60% or more. Contact: 99031408 Email: ranjitbarua63@yahoo.com Urgent required staff Nurse in Mabela. Contact- 95200180.

Email: amanammc@gmail.com Urgently required Staff Nurse, Pharmacist and endodontist Female Staff nurse, Pharmacist and endodntist with MOH License/Prometric exam passed with 60% and above.

Contact 24780088, 97374459 Email : karamadental@gmail.com Immediate placement ( with or without MOH) A. Pharmacist 3 nos B. Asst.pharmacist - 2 nos Contact Tel.99338219 , 93240949 Wanted Lady Doctor GP or Gynecologist with MOH license. Immediate opportunity. # 99310590

MISCELLANEOUS A company from UAE require 2 merchandisers in retail food supply, store keeper with English and invoicing experience. Email: yesterdaysun@hotmail.com

SITUATION WANTED ACCOUNT. & FINANCE Indian CA with 15 yrs exp working as Finance Head for MNC looking for suitable job. NOC available. 94047434 Male 24 years MBA in Accounts and Finance with 2 year experience looking for job in Oman. Knows about accounts and Business related reports. Contact me Name: Saqib Shakeel, GSM: 94374745 and E.mail:saqibshakeel5@gmail.com M.Com, CA (Article ship), 15 years Gulf experience looking for suitable position in finance & accounts on visit visa valid up to 10/7/2015.

Contact: 97767828, knowledge of quickbooks, Tally 9, Focus V.5 Email: altabhossain2008@hotmail.com Indian female 25 years married, MBA Finance, Diploma in foreign accounting 3 months experience in a CA firm on family visa.

Contact: 95916769 Email: sikhapadoor@gmail.com

ACCA & B.Com with Noc more than 5 years of experience in accounts & finance looking for a suitable job can join immediately. Contact: 97012146 Indian male, 27 M.Com, MBA, 4.5 years experience in finance & accounts, tally & SAP currently on visit visa. Contact: 93484048 MBA Indian male looking for suitable position having 2 years working experience as an accountant now in Oman a visiting visa. Contact: 99424803 Male 24, B.Com / PGD having 2 years experience in accounts and inventory field, looking for suitable job, on visit visa. Contact: 94129550 Indian male 26 years having 2 years of experience in financial accountant looking for accountant job. Contact: 00968 97483234 Part time Accounts job & finalization work Muscat. Contact: 92917448

ACA,ACMA & ACS qualified with rich experience in Finance & Accounts, more than 14 years in gulf, seeks suitable opening.

Contact: 00968-95591523 Email:anush123@hotmail.com

An Indian lady Chartered Accountant with five years experience (including article ship) on family visa in Oman looking for a suitable job. Please Contact 9621 0347 / 9943 5346, shincycrajan@gmail.com

Indian male 25 yrs B.com having experience in accounts for 3 yrs currently on visit looking to job.

Contact: 97937868 Email: rehman.naseer999@gmail.com

Sr. Accountant M.com (finance) 15 years experience (2years in Oman with a reputed firm) NOC available.

Contact: 92404608 Email: jin_75@rediffmail.com

Indian female MBA, 3 Years experience in Admin MIS, Family Visa.

Contact 98234427, jkjsmith01@gmail.com Indian female, Postgraduate in HR, with 8 years working experience in Oman(HR and administration), looking for suitable placement.

Contact 97411008 Indian female 29 MBA (HR) BSc, 4 yrs exp in HR& Admin looking suitable placement. Contact : 95619537 MBA (international business) from London, 4 years of UK experience in operations with D/L, looking for suitable position. Contact 91710075 Indian male 2+yrs oman exp in HR. joing immediatly. release available.

Contact :93671437 Over 14 years of gulf experience in Admin /HR /Logistics, fluent in Arabic & English with D/L looking for suitable position.Contact 95824598 Indian female post Graduate with 5 years experience in HR and Admin looking for good opportunity.

Contact: 94692244 Indian female MBA – HR 1 and half years experience seeking suitable job. Contact : 99257214 Indian female with 10 yrs of experience in HR/Banking/Operations seeks a suitable placement.

Can be contacted on 98919015 or sherianne.coelho@gmail.com

AUTO CAD/ARCHITECT Female Architect (27) 4 years experience seeking for suitable job in Oman experience in Oman, India & UK. Contact: 96146645 Email: anjuovil@gmail.com

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DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED

AUTO CAD/ARCHITECT

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

Indian Female 23yrs, Autocad draftsman with 3ds max & rivet , 3yrs exp, Looking for suitable vacancy in Muscat, now in visit visa Contact:95601266 Email : reshmanb121@gmail.com

Quantity Surveyor with 5 Years experience (one year in Oman) looking for job. Contact 91090036

Indian Female Architect (Interior Design), Knowledge in AutoCAD, Revit, Adobe Photoshop, 3D Max Studio, Adobe in design, Google Sketch up, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft Office etc.. Currently on family dependent visa up to November 2015.

Contact: 95959494 , E-Mail: rasha.k973@gmail.com Autocad D man, Gulf exp in major projects, knows arch, structural, MEP, NOC available ph: 98225740

BEAUTICIAN Indian Beautician looking for job in Oman, with 5 yrs Oman experience.

Contact: 98869716

DRIVER Driver available with or without car. Contact 96771598 L.T.V driver language, Hindi, Arabic & English. Contact: 98802079 Light Driver having own visa looking for job as driver.

Contact: 97073429 Heavy duty driver valid license Omani need job & visa.

Contact: 91139936 Driver looking for job with visa, release available, 5 yrs driving experience. Contact: 96261895 Faruqu.

Light vehicle driver looking for job.

Contact: 91452930 Driver looking for job, light vehicle.

Contact: 95446207 Driver looking for job, with driving license of Oman.

Contact : 98007513 Driver 6 yrs exp knowing English, Arabic, Hindi Education B. A. Contact: 99512270 Driver with car 10 years experience part and full time looking for job light driver. Contact: 95897233 Light Driver needs Job. Contact: 93284327 Driver light. Contact: 91020999

DOMESTIC HELPER Looking for job for House maid.

Contact : 93599302 Laundry Housekeeping professional looking for a opening in Oman with 18 years experience.

Contact : 91957861 Housemaid & houseboy, Indian with 4 yrs exp looking for job.

Contact 91299288

ENGG. / TECHNICAL Omani Mechanical Engineer, has 3 years experience ,has HSE, H2S, Riggers/Banks men Permit, Drawing / cad, SCBA, Safety Leadership and Initial Fire Response Courses. good with computer and English language looking for suitable job. Contact 99224319-98454500 Indian male 22 Mechanical Diploma holder Engg with HVAC certified, having 1 year exp. seeking suitable position. Currently available on visit visa. Contact - 92835952 Indian Male, IT Support Engineer, 2 yrs in Oman & 5 yrs Indian experience. Contact 97311847 Electrical Eng. Degree (MEP) need suitable job of construction 12 yrs exp.

Email: mohd.ateeq.khan@gmail.com Indian female, B.Tech biotechnology with strong computer skills and 2 years experience as associate research analyst (Media Monitoring) in Nasdaq Oman seeking growth oriented jobs. Contact 92044603 /918056169148 or angeline.babithac@gmail.com.

MEDICAL Well experienced MOH Licensed Indian GP Doctor looking for locum / permanent position in the Capital area. Contact 98140024 email:drgpoman@yahoo.com

Indian male Electronics & Instrumentation Engineer having 5 yrs exp with valid Omani D/L & NOC. Contact: 96082604

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

Civil Engineer, Indian Female, 3 yrs experience, on visit visa seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 99195433

ENGG. / TECHNICAL BE Mechanical Engineer 4/5 years experience in Planning Engineer.

Interested companies kindly contact 95403146 / 99426840 candidate available till 12.06.2015 Sr Manager, B.Tech, MBA, PRINCE-2, British National. 24 yrs exp in EPC Project Management of Oil & Gas, Pipelines, Refineries & Power Plants. Seeking job immediately/on visit/Contact- 0096891263952/ josececy25@gmail.com Toms Davis-Indian, Diploma in Mech Eng, 4+yrs exp in Projects & co-ordination, 1yr exp in HVAC Design & Draughting, Mob-92068508, tomsdavispullan@gmail.com B.Tech Civil Engineer, Indian female 2 yrs experience in Oman, looking for suitable position.

Contact 91690345 Structural Engineer 4 years experience Indian, will handle projects independently, able to get Municipality approvals easily.

Contact: 91668044 Quantity Surveyor (Civil Diploma) 2 yrs experience in Oman, looking for full/ part-time job.Contact 96936793 Indian male diploma in Computer Engineering seeking suitable placement immediately now on visiting visa .Contact 97317844 / 92580948 BSC. Mechanical Engineering, 17 yrs exp in Oman, 30 yrs exp in production management, erection and maintenance of refineries, stock piling equipments, belt convoying systems structures, power transmission equipments gear boxes contact 98214442; Email: mohusak@gmail.com

Sales Engineer (37), 15 yrs (12 yrs Oman) experience in structured cabling fiber optics, data centers, security & AV, Telecom, Network & datacom, OSP, Industrial Connectivity. Contact: 99771815, Noc.

Indian male/30 years with hotel management degree, 02 years experience in F&B service at 5 star hotel in Dubai and 05 years in American 6 star cruseliner as butler.

Contact 91135371

Indian female 28 yrs having 2 yrs experience as Estimation and Design Engineer (BMS) with valid Omani driving license seeks suitable placement. Contact: 99047570

4 yrs exp (Money Exch. Services & hospitality services in Oman& India) Indian male 27, Graduate in Hospitality Science, fluent in English, Hindi & Arabic seeks job.

Contact 91383167

Electronics Engineer with 4 years experience in product development looking for in instrumentation and industrial automation now in Oman visit visa. Contact : 968 95218030 Email: ronymreji@gmail.com Indian male 30 years Mechanical Engineering Diploma with 4+ years of Experience in Fabrication drawings using CAD Software’s in India, now on a visit visa seeking for a suitable placement in OMAN. Will be available till 12/6/15 for interview.

Contact 99013952, vineetf56@gmail.com Instrumentation Engineer, Indian male having 2 years experience in process instruments and sales seeks suitable placement on visit visa.

Contact: 95954385 Email: irfancisinn@gmail.com Indian male B.Tech (ECE), currently working in HCL Chennai India, as Engineer Product Support Officer with 2.5 yrs experience looking for a suitable placementMobile: 92625379 ; Email: mekala.kashyap@gmail.com 24 years Indian EEE Diploma with Auto CAD, B.Com completed required any suitable job.

Contact : 94015346 / 93276916

Indian male 29 years Civil Engineer diploma 4 years Oman experience, 2 years road construction looking placement. Contact: 93298395 N.O.C available

Civil Engineer male 13 years exp Indian seeking suitable job.

Contact: +919640973798 Email: firozbakhtiar2@gmail.com

Adarsh.B , B. Tech Mechanical N.D.T ASNT level 2, 2 years 10 months experience in New Delhi. Contact adarsh320480@gmail.com

Diploma in Civil Engineer with 10 yrs experience, valid Omani driving license, NOC available.

Contact: 94052815.

Indian male 28 years Electronics & Instrumentation Engineer 4+ years experience in Industrial automation (SCADA) seeking suitable job.

Contact: 93154156 / 98416190

5 years experienced Q.S ENG with driving license looking for suitable position. Contact: 98142595

Network Engineer, Security Engineer with a Bachelor degree seeking a suitable job in a good company.

Contact: 98129846 Sudanese Industrial Engineering & Management, experience 12 years in QA/QC and production. Contact: 94041960 / 94044784, Email: mekkimedani@hotmail.com / mekkimedani78@gmail.com Mechanical Engineer, Indian, 24 years with piping engineering, autocad & PDMS now on visiting visa seek suitable placement. Contact : 99168054 / 96684345 email: mbkishore@hotmail.com Indian male B.Tech Electronics Instrumentation, studied till 12th in Oman, presently on family visa seeking suitable position.

Contact: 99639646 / 99067950 Email: prajeeshpp12@gmail.com Electrical Engineer : Indian male 29 years , having 5 years of experience in industrial automation and utility maintenance in India (MRF Tyres) seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 92789995 Email: akhilabrahamlktr@gmail.com Civil Foreman, maintenance, 15 years Oman, 2 yrs Kuwait with Oman driving license.

Contact 00968-96405865 / 91 9464255409 Email: sukhwinder9@yahoo.com

HOSPITALITY

Indian male 25, Diploma Civil Engineer 2 years experience insite Engineer looking for suitable placement. Contact: 96750429 Indian male, B.Tech Mechanical having 4 years experience with QA/ QC / CSWIP looking for a suitable position. Contact: 99447106 Email: dhanubhasi87@gmail.com Electrical Engineer, 2 years as Project Engineer office works proposals / contracts site jobs installations/ maintenance. Contact: 96209298 English/ Arabic languages Graduate Electrical Engineer having 6 years experience of Gulf and professional license available to join. Contact: 98063081 Indian Civil Engineer (building) available immediately as supply contract. Contact : 95218004 Electrical Engineer 10 years experience in underground cables extension and distribution substation and terrestrial station available in Oman, on visit visa. Contact : 95471606 Btech computer science graduate 2015 passout.. Android application marketing.. Having good communication skills and mindset to work in a team. Contact 91024385 Engineer with 3 yrs experience in Indian in MEP, HVAC& mechanical maintained field on visit visa looking for suitable job. Contact 99191535 Email: fareed029@gmail.com

Indian male fresher BCA young and energetic, seeking good opportunites.email: jlaxmimenon@gmail. com, Contact 00919567722270

IT Indian male, B.E ( computer science engineer), MBA (finance), OCA certified, having 5 years of experience in oracle Dba/ oracle apps Dba, seeks a suitable position in the field of IT. Contact: 96212062 email: zubairkhan11@gmail.com Software Engineer 6+ Exp.(MCA with Distinction) interested in IT/ Teaching Contact-92656246 Indian, Computer networking / facility Mgmt, 5 yrs of exp holds B.E (ECE), CCNA looking for good opportunity on visit visa.

Contact: 91911792 Email: arafakdnl@gmail.com Indian female MCA, experience in C#.Net, SQL Server, ORACLE with 4.5 years experience seeking suitable positions.

Contact: 96485923, 99886271. prathibhakp07@gmail.com 27 years Pakistani male, having bachelors B.Com IT and Nebosh IGC – Level 3 looking for placement in HSE in construction for experience having valid visa with NOC. Contact: 92064233 MCA Indian male 24 yrs seeking suitable placement in software / Database support currently on visit visa. Contact 96785261 Email: sudheesh.edakkadan@gmail.com 25 yrs, Omani male, 5 years exp seeking job in IT and AutoCad all info in website.

Contact: najeeb719.weebly.com Indian female 27 yrs B.Tech (IT) MBA one years of experience as a software analyst. Contact 91234864 Email: ashwinirathnam2011@gmail. com Networking technician with driving license, with Noc, having 2 experiences in data & telephone structured cubing EPABX & CCTV installation is looking for suitable jobs. Contact: 96027516 Net work Technician CCTV, UTP, OFC, Flooring work 6 yrs experience (GCC). Contact: +91 9526888134 Network system Engineer B.E / ECE + CCNA & Ms certified with 4+ yrs exp looking for a job. Currently in Oman on visit visa.

Contact: 92589502 Email: careersjegan@gmail.com

B.Com Graduate with 12 years experience in overseas / local purchase, logistics, warehouse seeks suitable placement. NOC available.

Contact: 94657319 MSc qualified female on female joining visa good experience in Administration, Advertising media and branding at managerial level with 13 years experience. Good knowledge in the field of marketing looking for a suitable position. Contact : 91980400 Sr Manager, MBA, 18 yrs professional exp in building material, tiles, sanitary wares, bath, turnkey projects, interiors, modular kitchens, hardwares & tools. Project sales in Gulf countries with GCC license on visit visa looking for job assignment.

Contact 93364846 Sr Manager, B.Tech, MBA, Prince -2 from UK. 24 yrs exp in EPC project management of oil & gas pipelines, refineries & power plants. Seeking job immediately / on visit/ Contact: + 00968912639 Email: josececy25@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS Indian Female 30 Yrs (Master in Hospital Administration) Lead Auditor ISO 9001:2008 QMS; ISO 14001:2004 EMS Certified Having Total Exp. of 6+ years ( Last 3 Years In Oman ) In Healthcare Administration ,Quality , Training , HR & Healthcare Audit .Well versed In JCI (U.S.A.) Accreditation/NABH Accreditation .

Seeks Opening in Quality /Training / Auditing /HR&A Department.Currently on Family Visit Visa (Received NOC). GSM: 96683277 / 93747007 E-Mail: smsraza819@gmail.com Ware house In charge or store keeper 27 yrs Gulf experience 4 yrs in Oman NOC available.

Contact: 97657823 Email: rusaikmzm_2009@yahoo.com MCA, BCA with 2 yrs relevant experience seeking suitable opportunity.

Contact: 96377039 Indian Female with over 9 yrs experience with good communication skills seeks jobs in customer service or sales field. Contact : 96108289, shijipaul84@gmail.com Part- Time Accountant, well experience senior accountant ,doing all type of accounting works, Finalization, Budgeting available. Contact 98803439 13 Years UAE experienced in MNC & reputed firms logistics distribution looking for a suitable placement, on visit visa contact 99838743, gani.dawood@gmail.com

SECRETARIAL/OFFICE Indian male MBA having 10 years experience in Oman as Document controller and 2+ Years experience as Project Assistant / Executive Secretary seeks suitable placement.

NOC available Contact: 95373198, email: sydnvrng@yahoo.com Indian male more than 10 years Gulf experience in Office / Sales Coordinator, Admin (employees visa processes), Secretarial and purchase coordination with good computer skills. Having Driving license and NOC available. Looking for suitable placement. Contact 99709336

MEDICAL SALES / MARKETING Indian female Dentist MOH Oman passed seeking a suitable placement in capital region. Contact– 91377681 hashimsarawat@gmail.com Indian male Nurse, 31 years Oman prometric passed 6 yrs ICU experience. Contact : 94195150 / 92758895 Lab Technician, Civil (8yrs Gulf experience) looking for a suitable job (NOC available) Contact-93344378

Indian male 45+ yrs , 20 yrs exp as sales supervisor in India looking for indoor sales /stores /cashier or any suitable placement can speak Hindi , English, Malayalam, Tamil, kannada can join immediately on visit visa.

Contact 93086105/33016546 Pakistani male 34 yrs Intermediate 2 yrs exp in sales & marketing in Oman. Looking for suitable job.

Contact - 92146864

SALES / MARKETING Indian male 10 years experience in Welding Supervisor NDT Technician, MIG Welding specialist seeking suitable job. Contact 96771841 Indian male MBA 7 years experience in Hospitality industry, operation, sales & marketing looking for suitable vacancy. Contact 92115860 Email vibin.py@gmail.com Indian female B.Com Graduate having 8 yrs experience in India & 2 yrs experience in Oman as Customer Service, Office Asst, Sales Coordinator, Secretary seeks suitable placement. Contact: 95433987 Indian male MBA with versatile dynamic target driven personality having rich and In-depth experience of 5 years in marketing, sales, office, administration team handling and recruitment looking for challenging and suitable position. Contact: 96145933 Sales man looking for a opening in Oman with 18 years Gulf experience.

Contact: 91957861 Indian male 22 years, B.Com graduate (fresher) Well versed in English, Arabic & Hindi with Oman D/L , seeking a suitable job in Oman . Now on visit visa. Contact:- 97660518 Indian male, 32 years having 3 yrs exp in sales & marketing in Oman, holding valid Oman driving license.

NOC available. Contact: 97615497 / +919894436645 Email: faraj7@gmail.com Result oriented male M. Com 25 yrs experience sales marketing, admin building material seeking immediate suitable placement having L /D. Contact : 92882408/ 92715831 Indian female 28 years experience Sales Coordination, Administration, Secretarial and Accounting Software knowledge with Oman D/L. Contact : 96751993 8 years purchase experienced Indian male looking for job. N.O.C. available. Contact: 98161323 Graduate Indian male 25 yrs, looking for a suitable placement for an Executive or Sales support job in a reputed organization.

Contact : 98558648 Email: risham54@gmail.com Salesman cum Driver 6 yrs exp Know English, Arabic, Hindi, Education B.A. Contact: 98522914 33 years male looking for a suitable position holding driving license, sales man by nature, experience in storekeeping, supervision skills, well aware of health & safety management, fluent in English, familiar with MS Office & good communication skill .Contact : 93556794 Email: faisal.khan2092@gmail.com Indian male 5 years gulf experience in Admin / vehicle insurance coordinator and sales having driving license looking for suitable placement. Contact : 95870476 Email: mubaris.abdul@gmail.com Indian male 32 yrs, 6 years experience instore in charge with Indoor salesman looking for suitable job.

Contact: 97385874 An Indian male having rich experience in procurement, Sales marketing and office administration seeking suitable position.

Contact: 93689602 Indian 23 years B.Com Graduate, 2 years experience in Sales knowledge of TALLY, ERP & MS Office.

Contact: 93134643 Email : syedismailnoor@gmail.com 8 years store experience Indian male looking for placement. N.O.C available. Contact: 98456535 Indian Male, B.Com Graduate, 23, with experience in Sales looking for suitable placements. #- 98371144 Indian male, B.Sc (Mathematics) PGDBM (Marketing). 9 yrs of Oman experience in sales in midlevel management, NOC available.

Valid Oman D/L. Contact: 95278838 Email: anup2p4p@yahoo.com

D6

S U N DAY, J U N E 7, 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTSIT. WANTED ED TOURS & TRAVELS Indian male, IATA qualified & English graduate on family visit looking for a suitable job. Contact no.

93449151, 99475217.

25 Indian female B.S.C. Fashion Technology. 5 years experience in textile industry as a merchandiser and good in fashion marketing.

Currently available on visit visa, seeking for a suitable job.

Contact 96990368.

Email: simmy.missy@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS Female 26 M.Tech bio medical Engineer, 1plus years experience in research and teaching seeking opening. Contact : 91960160 Email: amluprasannan@gmail.com 7 and half years experience working accounts / inventory manager looking suitable job. Contact: 96991782 Email: srinivasu.sp@gmail.com Indian male, 28 yrs MBA (HR/M) 2 years experience in Indian Oman in HR & admin seeks suitable placements. NOC available.

Contact 97484159 Email: rameshkapa86@gmail.com Indian house maid looking full time job. Contact : 98254909 Indian female , MCA BCA, certification PL SQL , 6months training PHP, date warehouse looking for suitable placement. Contact : 95694330 Email: mondkashyapodl@gmail.com Part- time accountant, well experience senior accountant , doing all type of accounting works, finalization, budgeting available.

Contact : 98803439 HSE Advisor, NEBOSH IGC, Indian male, 4 years experience in construction and oil fields, seeking suitable jobs. Gsm: 97458900, Mail: miroshbabu@gmail.com Highly Experienced Finance Manager, CPA ,ACCA-UK . MBA-USA , Professional of Banking, Audits , ERPs Sap , Management as Team Leader and Problem Solver call 94 504505 / 94403270 Indian, male, Civil Engineering graduate with 8 years Dubai experience in Estimation, Project/Design Co-ordination seeks suitable job in Oman. Hold UAE driving license.

Contact: shibupnbr@ gmail.com; +971-501426982 Indian, male, 26, Commerce graduate, three years experience as Administrative Assistant in UAE, seeks a suitable job in Oman. Contact: tkjasbeer@gmail.com; +971-558291437.

Indian male MBA Finance presently OMAN IN visit visa, 26 years, looking for an accountant job.

Contact 95240641, email Id mohammadabdulazharuddin@ gmail.com Indian male, looking for a part time accounting job. Having additional knowledge & experience in HR admin & purchase. Contact 99196621 Indian male MBA (U.K), 10 Years of experience in Admin, Sales, HR, stores and logistics seeks suitable placement. Contact 99271903.

SITUATION WANTED SIT. WANTED B.Com with more than 5 yrs exp. looking for an accounts part tome job work. know with tally.

Email-shilpa_62@yahoo.com Indian Male. 27, Post Graduate, 5+ yrs exp in Oman in Sales & Credit Control, with valid Oman driving License, NOC available, looking for suitable placements. Ph: 9199 3376 Indian male Executive Secretary having vast experience in admin, logistics & procurement well versed with computer .seek suitable placement. Contact : 99514286 MEP Quantity Surveyor-Estimation-Project, 10 Years Experience (3 years in Oman). Having NOC & Oman D/L, looking for suitable job, Contact - 98291626 B.E. Civil Engineer age 27, total 3 years of experience in Mumbai looking for placement asap in oman now on visit visa of 1 month ph 9571 3441 Email. Khatrialeem@gmail.com Indian Female, 24yrs, M.COM (Accounts) having 3yrs experience in Accounts, HR, Administration, Customer Service. Good Computer Proficiency. Seeking Suitable Position. Visa Transfer/NOC Available.

Contact: 99654913

Indian Female MCA, 4 plus Years of experience in Web designing, Admin, P.A, seeks suitable placement.

Contact 99486374

Indian Male, 29 years, CCNP, MCITP having Bachelor degree and 6 years of experience in Networking looking for job. 96760618 / varghese.manthara@gmail.com

Admin Executive, 31, Indian Male, having 9+ years exp. in reputed companies. Seeking suitable placement in any gulf region. Contact +968 99276601 & 97693456. email : muralimahdav77@gmail.com

ACCA affiliate, with 2.5 years experience in Big6 audit firm and Oil industry, looking for permanent placement in Accounts/Audit. Release available Contact #95140445 a.saran891@gmail.com

Indian male seeking suitable vacancy in office works 30 years Muscat experience. Contact: 99024055 Indain Male MBA Marketing/HRM 3 year experience with Omani D/L, seeking suitable jobs. #97424188 email: dharwesh@gmail.com Sudanese male, 31 year old, have 3 year Diploma in electrical engineer, 5 years experience in different activities . Mobile No ; +96894549609 8 yrs exp Site supervisor cum 2d, 3d Draughtsman (holding Omani driving license) seeking job.

Contact : 93790601 B.E Biomedical Engineer, having 5 years of experience in Diagnostics division seeking suitable position.

94151658 Indian Male, 29 years, CCNP, MCITP having Bachelor degree and 6 years of experience in Networking looking for job. 96760618 / varghese.manthara@gmail.com B.E. Civil Engineer from India with 3 years of experience looking for suitable vacancy in oman now on visit visa. Contact 9571 3441, Email . Khatrialeem@gmail.com Indian male 21 IT Eng. networking & computer hardware diploma, 1 year experience, currently on visit visa looking for a suitable job.# 96036273 email: faizanfarooqui23@gmail.com

SITUATION CHANGE OFWANTNAME ED

We , James Varghese Agalayil (name of father as per the passport, holder of Indian passport No F6308861) and Joby James Agalayil (name of mother, as per the passport, holder of Indian Passport No. J7418610) having permanent address in 105, Navya Regency, 62-63 Padmavati Colony, Indore, M.P. 452001, India. (complete postal address in India) and presently residing at the following address in Salalah, P.B No. 2305, P.C No. 211, Sultanate of Oman, hereby solemnly affirm and declare to change the name of our child Miss Helen Teres James (name as per present passport), holder of Indian passport No. J7419465 date of issue 26/11/2011 issued at Muscat. The name of our child will be henceforth known as HELEN TERESE (GIVEN NAME) AGALAYIL (SURNAME) (new name for all purposes).

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.

SITUATION WANTMANPOWER

SITUATION WANTMANPOWER Available for longer period : Mig Welder 5 nos, General worker with PDO pass 10 nos, Helper 10 nos, Mason 8 nos. Contact 99610703

GOOD NEWS Ayurvedic treatment for backache, paralysis, arthritis etc & massage, All Season (Vaidyaratnam).

Contact 24475280 / 95371554 / 92504980 www.siddhayur.com Taimour Ayurvedic Clinic, Ruwi offers genuine & effective treatment for back pain, paralysis, cervical and lumbar spondylitis, osteoarthritis, joint pains, sinusitis, migraine, allergic problems, varicose vein and all other health related problems.

Kerala massage and rejuvenation package available. For details please Contact 92197920/ 24799689 Genuine Ayurvedic treatments & massage, Ayurvedic clinic at Al Khuwair. Contact 24478618 / 97263637 /93309131

MATRIMONIAL Alliance invited for a Hindu Ezhava girl 24 years, 5’ 2”, slim, B.Tech, MBA (Star Makayerium) joining shortly to an international firm for work , reputed family of Thrissur dt. currently settled in Muscat, from parents of well educated & employed Ezhava boys preferably from Thrissur, EKM, Palakkad. Contact : 98986547

Nair 36 yrs, Accountant in Muscat (M.Com) need suitable brides BSc Nurses preferred.

Contact : 96146560

We are Muslim family seeking alliance for our son interested families. Contact 97664009

Kerala Nair girl, B.Com, 22 yrs, 5.2” very fair, slim, (Star Uthrattathi) Presently working in infosis, Chennai. Financially sound, from parents of nair boys from Trissur, Palakkad and Eranakulam & Calicut dist. .

Contact :0091 8301865688 email: raveendrandr@yahoo.com

GOOD NEWS Ayurvedic massage backache, joint pain & neck pain etc.

Contact: 98254909 Ayurvedic treatment for joint pain, backache, paralysis massage, steam bath, obesity, spondylitis IDEAL , CARE Ayurvedic Clinic 18 November street, Azaiba. Contact 99639695 / 99117987 FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know more about Islam, please call: 99425598, 96050000, 99353988, 99253818, 99341395, and 99379133.

For ladies: 99415818, 99321360, 99730723 Orvisit: www.islamfact.com

Alliance invited for a nair boy 28 yrs 165cm working with a leading business group in Muscat.

Contact : 91717912

Alliance invited for a Nair girl 24 yrs, 5ft, 1”, fair, slim, B.Tech graduate reputed family of Ernakulam dist. (Star Thiruvonam Sudhajathakam) financially sound, from parents of B.Tech nair boys from Trissur, Palakkad and Eranakulam dist. .

Contact :00919495924302 email: raveendrandr@yahoo.com Hindu Ezhava family, settled in Muscat looking for suitable groom working within Oman for their daughter 25 yrs (MBA) working with a reputed company in Muscat.

Contact : 98689663

S U N DAY, J U N E 7, 2 0 1 5

D7

DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED CARGO

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain Marine Tours Contact- 98029602, 92808636

TOURS

RENT A CAR

RENT A CAR

MV. SALE

2 Prime Movers Man 2008 with 40 ton petrol tank each working at the moment in Al Maha. Price OMR 35 Thousand each. Contact 97000155 or 92688692

Toyota Yaris 2006, 1.3 cc Automatic, Gray, 101000 k.m, accident free, well maintained & sparingly used by diplomat. All services done through Toyota. Contact 96249208.

Land Cruiser 2012. Contact 99336093

Hyundai Accent 2004, fully automatic.

Contact: 99045803

Peugeot 206-2007 Model, expat driven. Contact 99209285

D8

S U N DAY, J U N E 7, 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTED SERVICES

WEBSITE

ACCOUNTANTS AND CONSULTANTS

WE ARE PROVIDING ACCOUNTING/ AUDITING TAX/ CONSULTING CONTACT: 24 567 251 / 95 498 033

NRI

NRI Ready / under construction apartments / villas. Near guruvayur.

Contact: 00919846877773 Ready / under construction apartments / villas / row houses / shops, available for sale in North / South Goa (India). tel # 95867021 E- mail tonynoronha@rocketmail.com

DRIVING

Learn driving with professional only automatic. Contact 94022250

BUSINESS

WEB, ERP and Business Intelligence (BI) creation and management at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

COMPUTER

Specialist available for explosive growth in term of restructuring all modules of businesses with over 30 years of experience across continents with a decade in Oman.

Contact 96733578 Email : profitoman@gmail.com

CLASSES

Split & window A.C servicing & maintenance. Contact 93769089 / 95323517 A/C maintenance split A/C servicing. RO. 10 only. Contact 94217681/ 99210141 Tailoring churidar, anarkali, salwar kameez dance co stumes shop 32 Dhofar bldg, Ruwi.

Contact: 99740196

New Construction Company required investors for financial project.

Contact: 92959251 Software development based on requirements such as: Web development & cloud computing, SAP implementation & services. Android App development networking.

Contact 97423932

Churidar, Anarkali, Salwar Kameez, Dance costumes, shop 32, Dhofar building, Ruwi.

Contact 99740196

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing, Contact 99314807/24792998 MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your marble. Contact 24793614/ 99314807 Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles polishing, carpet shampooing, maintenance.

Contact ABU QABAS- 99320217 /24788722 Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile polishing, pest control & anti-termite treatment, general cleaning painting, Plumbing, Electrical, shifting. Contact Mundhir Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C. # 24810137, 99450130 Water proofing ABUQABASContact 99320217/24788722

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422 Window & split unit A.C servicing & repairing. Contact 99557080 Split & window A.C servicing & maintenance. Contact 93769089/95323517 House shifting. Contact 99708138

TRANSPORTATION Transportation. Contact: 95190627

Scrap business running scrap business sale with 60 Ton Weighing Bridge in Mabellah.

Contact: 92295780

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

Carpet & sofa cleaning, house cleaning. Contact 99542979 / 98855815 P.R.O services. Contact 99368907 Carpet & sofa shampooing. Ocean Centre LLC. Contact 99884591 / 92682970 Learn Cup cakes, exotic cakes, Icing decorations, handicrafts.

Contact 95941515

Split & window A.C servicing & maintenance. Contact: 96236476

A/C maintenance & servicing. Fridge, washing machine & dish washer repairing. Painting & cleaning services & electrical & plumbing. Contact 99447257/97014234/ 24504281

Pick & Drop anytime @ 91653903 Transportation available.

Contact: 99867456 Transportation. Contact: 91310107

Pest Control Treatments, Termites, Cockroaches, Bedbugs. Contact Ocean Centre LLC. Contact 99344723

Driver with vehicle. # 99159277 Pick & Drop any time. # 97014786