Times of Oman - May 9, 2015

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BAE SYSTEMS TO TRAIN OMANI STUDENTS As part of its ongoing education and social investment strategy, BAE Systems will work with the Ministry of Education to deliver science, technology, engineering and mathematics workshops. >A2

SATURDAY, May 9, 2015 /20 Rajab 1436 AH

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Prices of used imported cars set to increase Prices of second-hand vehicles set to rise With 10% customs duties, the price of an imported used

Registered new and imported vehicles Registered private vehicles

March 2014

nearly same as one

2015 40,000

vehicle will become 32,904

26,418

25,612 20,000

bought locally. The

18,383

move will also help regulate the market

0

10%

custom duties have been imposed with effect from May 1, 2015

Source: NCSI

Graphic News /

Graphics

FAHAD AL GHADANI

fahadnews@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Prices of imported second-hand vehicles are expected to rise as the Royal Oman Police (ROP) has imposed higher custom duties on such vehicles from May 1, 2015. As per the new rule, buyers have to pay customs duties of up to 10 per cent of the vehicle price.

“The ROP has issued a reference directory for the prices of vehicles being imported,” said a reliable source.

“The directory includes the prices of vehicles manufactured between 2000 and 2010,” the source added. Customs officers will no longer be allowed to make an estimate of the price of imported vehicles as was the case before, he added. The rule had been made

active since May 1, 2015.

There is a huge demand from buyers in Oman for used vehicles, especially cars from neighbouring places such as Dubai. In fact, it has been reported that individual buyers purchase cars in bulk for resale in the Omani market.

Ahmed Al Hooti, an Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) member told the Times of Oman that the ROP is on the right track. “The used vehicle market had become quite a mess recently,” said Al Hooti.

He added that such laws would definitely regulate the market and put the brakes on individual unlicenced sellers who have stormed the market in the last ten years.

“Now the prices will almost be the same. There will not be much

difference between buying used vehicles in Oman or outside,” said Al Hooti.

Customs officers used to be very generous with individuals importing vehicles since there was no rule in place earlier, he added. “Those who wish to make a business of this should be ready to pay the customs duties that will go into the state coffers,” he explained.

Ali Al Bahri, who works in a used vehicle market in Oman, welcomed the rule and said it would revive the local market. “I feel motorists will soon realise that it is not worth making a trip outside the country to buy a used vehicle,” said Al Bahri, adding that it would also stem the flow of imported second-hand vehicles into the Sultanate.

However, Hussein Al Rahbi, a used vehicle seller was quite upset by the new rule. “This will increase the price of an imported vehicle and our profit margins will drop drastically,” he complained.

“The prices will go up as buyers will realise that it is not worth importing a used vehicle,” added Al Rahbi.

Interestingly, the National Centre of Statistics and Information revealed that the number of new vehicles registered in Oman, which included imported vehicles and those that had their licence plate numbers changed, declined by 19.7 per cent by the end of the first quarter of 2015. In March 2015, 26,418 vehicles were registered as compared to 32,904 during the same period in 2014.

REACHING OUT TO PUBLIC

TOP THREE INSIDE STORIES

OMAN

Awareness drive on new traffic rules, fines on ROP table

Tour Muscat, savour top cuisine on Gourmet Bus

1

After Barcelona and Dubai, Muscat may get a Gourmet Bus, which will offer tourists an opportunity to tour the landmarks in the capital while enjoying five-star international cuisine aboard a moving bus. Speaking to the Times of Oman, David Gonzalez, business development, Gourmet Bus, Dubai, said that there are plans to expand this bus service to the GCC region, including Muscat, in the next few years. “However, before that we will have to consolidate our position in Dubai,” he said, at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.

The bus service will be launched in Dubai next month. >A2

REGION

PAKISTAN

Saudi announces ceasefire in Yemen

Norway, Philippines envoys killed in Gilgit

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A Pakistani military helicopter crashed, killing seven people including the Norwegian and Philippine envoys and setting a school building ablaze in a remote northern valley.

The helicopter was one of three carrying a delegation of ambassadors to inspect projects on a three-day trip to GilgitBaltistan. >A7

Saudi Arabia on Friday announced a humanitarian ceasefire in Yemen starting May 12, even as it stepped up retaliatory air strikes on Houthi rebels in the north of the country. “We have made a decision that the ceasefire will begin on May 12, at 11:00 pm and will last for five days,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said. >A4

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FAHAD AL GHADANI

fahadnews@timesofoman.com

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Cameron sweeps to victory in Britain polls

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MUSCAT: With the new traffic law likely to be announced soon, Royal Oman Police (ROP) is all set to launch a media campaign to enlighten the public about the new rules and fines, according to a reliable source at the ROP. “This change in the traffic law requires a wide platform to explain and spread awareness among the public,” said the source.

He explained that the drive is aimed to reach out to public through different media outlets including social media.

“All the messages sent to the public will be in multiple languages as the campaign will target both nationals and expatriates,” said the source.

The source also said that the objective of the campaign is to educate the public about the changes in the traffic law and explain the fines which have been levied for violations. “It is necessary to give the public a clear picture about the new law,” said the source.

He added that a lot of effort and discussions have gone into framing the new law, and urged the public to obey it and avoid recklessness on the roads.

P O P U L A R D E S T I NAT I O N

Omani tourists’ arrival to Croatia increases by 119 per cent RAHUL DAS

rahuldas@timesofoman.com DUBAI: Arrival of Omani tourists to Zagreb, Croatia’s capital has jumped by 119 per cent, a senior official of the Croatian National Tourist Board has said.

Speaking to the Times of Oman, CEO of Zagreb Tourist Board, Martina Bienenfeld, said that the rise in the number of Omani tourists arriving in Zagreb was amazing.

“Despite (it) being a popular destination with European travellers, Omani tourists have only recently begun to explore the possibility of a leisure break in Zagreb and indeed Croatia as a whole,” she said.

Croatian National Tourist Board representative Jelena Slavujevic said, “Income from foreign visitors to Croatia totalled $7.8

billion in 2014, a growth of 2.8 per cent over 2013. However we have already witnessed a 24 per cent increase in the number of arrivals during the first quarter of 2015, so we are confident our tourism receipts this year will eclipse our 2014 earnings.”

Direct routes Slavujevic attributed this increase in the number of Omani tourists in part to new and direct routes between Muscat and Zagreb via Dubai operated by flydubai.

“Besides that, Qatar Airways has also announced it will introduce two additional flights in July to the Croatian capital taking its tally to seven weekly direct flights from Muscat via Doha,” she said.

Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa already operate seven weekly flights to Zagreb from Dubai via

Istanbul and Germany.

“The GCC market, including Oman holds great potential for us, notwithstanding Croatia’s stunning natural beauty, our heritage and our cultural similarities, the real game-changers now are the increased number of direct flights to Zagreb. Many people may not realise that we are little more than six to seven hours away from Muscat,” added Slavujevic.

According to the recently published survey by Zagreb’s Institute for Tourism “Preparing for Tomorrow: Analysing Tourism Demand from GCC countries to Croatia”, Kuwait represented the highest share of tourists to Croatia followed by the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman.

The average length of stay was three days with the vast majority of GCC visitors, around 83 per cent,

staying in four or five star hotels.

Martina Bienenfeld also highlighted the work the capital has undertaken to meet the demands of the Middle East market.

“Zagreb is witnessing a growth in demand from GCC visitors and was one of the first cities in Croatia to identify the opportunities of halal tourism. We are now home to 30 per cent of Croatia’s 15 halal quality certified hotels,” she said.

“This in turn is having a positive impact on the number of travel agents, hoteliers and restaurateurs in the city willing to adjust their offer to capitalise on the increasing number of Middle East visitors,” she added.

Croatia plans to host the Halal Tourism and Trade Congress in March 2016, and as a nation, celebrate World Halal Day in November next year.

BOOMING MARKET: Croatia seeks to capitalise on the country’s health and wellbeing credentials by targeting the highly lucrative medical tourism market.

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S ATUR DAY, M AY 9, 2 015 BAE Systems is dedicated to knowledge transfer in Oman and this series of school workshops is the most comprehensive to-date Matt Foster, general manager for BAE Systems in Oman

OMAN

Tour Muscat, savour top cuisine on Gourmet Bus Muscat may get a Gourmet Bus, which will offer tourists an opportunity to tour the landmarks in the capital while enjoying five-star international cuisine aboard a moving bus

RAHUL DAS

rahuldas@timesofoman.com DUBAI: After Barcelona and Dubai, Muscat may get a Gourmet Bus, which will offer tourists an opportunity to tour the landmarks in the capital while enjoying fivestar international cuisine aboard a

NEW SERVICE: The double-decker bus is designed aesthetically

and has a restaurant equipped with the latest tech. -Supplied picture

moving bus. Speaking to the Times of Oman, David Gonzalez, business development, Gourmet Bus, Dubai, said that there are plans to expand this bus service to the GCC region, including Muscat, in the next few years.

“However, before that we will have to consolidate our position in Dubai,” he said, at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai. The bus

service will be launched in Dubai next month. The double-decker bus is designed aesthetically and has a restaurant equipped with the latest technology.

“Gourmet Bus combines comfort, technology and design. The height of the two storey glass roof allows an unparalleled panoramic view of the city,” he said.

In the Gourmet Bus, tourists can

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

apply the latest technology in the tourism sector. “Before the threehour tour begins, each tourist will receive an individual “iPad” on which they can view and listen to all information in the language of their choice, as well as multimedia information on tourists attractions in the city,” he said. In Dubai, the journey will start from downtown and cover Burj Khalifa, Palm Jumeirah, Zabeel Palace, Sheikh Zayed Road and Burj Al Arab.

Tourists can book the Gourmet Bus tour through the hotels, Alpha Destination Management offices or through a dedicated website that will be launched shortly in the United Arab Emirates. “So you can have meals on wheels on the Gourmet Bus,” he added.

The tourists can enjoy viewing these sites on the upper panoramic deck of the bus, comfortably seated at any of the tables, while the kitchen, toilets and an additional table for customers with limited mobility are located on the lower level. “So, if you are looking for new ways to travel around the city, you have to ride the Gourmet Bus,” he added.

I N D I A N S C H O O L M U S C AT

HEALTH DRILL: An awareness programme for students.

Follow hand hygiene to prevent infections Times News Service MUSCAT: Indian School Muscat conducted an awareness programme for students of Classes V and VI and their teachers on ‘Hand Hygiene Day’ on Tuesday, May 5, 2015.

The programme was conducted by Dr Thashli Thankachen from Life Line Hospital, Muscat.

Hand hygiene is a simple action but the best way to prevent infection and illnesses. Clean hands prevent infection and illness at home, school and work place.

Dr Thankachen started the session with a colourful, informative and very enlightening power

point presentation. He explained the importance of hand hygiene and the diseases which can be caused by the lack of it. For an easy understanding of the subject, several images and videos were shown to students.

The steps involved in the process of hand washing were demonstrated by two nurses from Life Line Hospital. After the live demonstration, Dr Thankachen involved all the students by asking them to repeat the steps required to wash their hands. The session ended with the students being asked to summarise what they had been shown, before they moved to their classes.

I N V O LV I N G T H E C O M M U N I T Y

BAE Systems to train Omani students in science and tech Times News Service MUSCAT: As part of its ongoing education and social investment strategy, BAE Systems will work with the Ministry of Education to deliver science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workshops in more schools in the Sultanate to highlight the exciting career possibilities in these areas.

The workshops are, once again, supported by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) from the United Kingdom (UK).

Matt Foster, general manager for BAE Systems in Oman, commented, “BAE Systems is dedicated to knowledge transfer in Oman and this series of school workshops is the most comprehensive to-date.

We are developing our social investment strategy to focus on supporting Oman’s national agenda across education and, in this instance, working with the Ministry of Education to support their aspirations towards inspiring Omani youth about science, technology, engineering and mathematics across the Sultanate. We hope our workshops this week have gone some way in achieving this.”

Building on previous visits, BAE

GET-TOGETHER: Students of five academic batches, from 2005 to 2009, will be taking part in the first-ever alumni meet on the college premises on May 14. -Supplied picture

INSPIRING YOUTH: The students learnt how engineering plays a critical role in aerospace and related areas through a series of presentations and hands-on activities. – Supplied picture

Sohar college meet to focus on nation-building efforts Times News Service

Systems held workshops for six schools from Adam and the surrounding area in the Governorate of Al Dhakhiliyah this week, where students learnt how engineering plays a critical role in aerospace and related areas through a series of presentations and hands-on activities.

The workshops were presented by newly graduated engineers working with BAE Systems in the

UK. One of the graduates, Joseph Powell, is currently working with BAE Systems in Muscat.

Sir Simon Bryant, vice president (Oman), BAE Systems, said of the outreach, “The Ministry of Education has been very supportive in working with us to demonstrate to Omani youth what career options may be open to them in engineering in an exciting and engaging way.”

MUSCAT: Sohar’s Centre of Career guidance and Training at the College of Applied Sciences is gearing up to host the first-ever alumni meet on the college premises on May 14.

Students of five academic batches, from 2005 to 2009, will be taking part in this gathering.

CAS - Sohar is organising this event to enhance communication with its alumni and to appreciate what they have presented to Oman and the community. This event aims to bring together alum-

ni of different batches. It is also trying to maintain effective communication and nurture relationships which can enhance the collaboration between both parties.

This event will highlight aspects of the past, present and future, and involve the community and companies to make them aware of the achievements of the CAS - Sohar graduates along with introducing the education streams offered at the college.

Abdullah Hasan Al Barakhti, head of the Career Guidance and Training Centre said, “The centre has put in a lot of effort to launch

this initiative, which is the first of its kind among all the colleges of applied sciences. The college will also conduct an open day for the alumni, which will aspire to enhance loyalty and a sense of belonging between them and the college and create a friendly atmosphere during the gathering.

“The graduates will meet their colleagues, employees, academics and staff to exchange their success stories and memories. This event will also allow graduates to give a feedback about their careers and suggest further improvement in the teaching process.”

COBRA ART EXHIBITION

European artists exhibition at Bait Al Zubair wows visitors Times News Service MUSCAT: With over 3,500 visitors thronging the Colours of CoBrA Art exhibition at Bait Al Zubair, it has been extended until the May 17, 2015.

The colourful and expressive exhibition showcases over 40 pieces from the CoBrA Museum of Modern Art in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The exhibits by European artists changed the face of art in the post-war period from 1948 to 1951.

“Breathtaking! Thank you for bringing the exhibition all the way here,” said one of the many Omanis who visited Bait Al Zubair. An Omani student said he had loved the experience, while a visitor from the UK said he was amazed to see this exhibition in Muscat.

“Thank you for inspiring us and our children,” said the visitor.

‘World class’, ‘exceptionally brilliant’ and ‘gorgeous, stunning work’ were some of the other reactions from visitors.

The show has been on at Bait Al Zubair for the past six weeks and during that time more than 700 school children have visited the exhibition. The staff at Bait Al Zubair has been trained to conduct workshops with students, exploring the style of the Cobra artists and engaging young people

STUNNING CREATIONS: The Colours of Cobra continues at Bait Al Zubair untill May 17 from Saturday through Thursday, between 9.30 am and 6.00 pm. -Supplied picture

in creating their own art.

The Sultan School has used the exhibition as part of the International Baccalaureate programme with some of their project work based on the works by Appel, Cornel and Constant.

“Fantastic! The students really enjoyed their live art experience,” said Heather Ford from the Sultan School on the exhibition.

Many Omani and Dutch businesses have sponsored the exhibition. Omantel, Oman Arab Bank and MB Holdings in addition to Sohar Port and Freezone along with the Netherland’s embassy in

Muscat were the main sponsors.

By supporting creativity in Oman it gave access to people from all walks of life to engage with their imaginations, explore the beauty of art and think a bit out of the box, said the sponsors.

The Colours of Cobra continues at Bait Al Zubair until May 17 from Saturday through Thursday, between 9.30 am and 6.00 pm.

For more information on Bait Al Zubair events and activities join them on Facebook at www. facebook.com/bait.alzubair and Twitter and Instagram on @Bait_ AlZubair.

SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2015 SCAN THIS FOR MORE PHOTOS

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OMAN

Red Bull photo contest beckons all HERE are some the submissions for the ongoing Red Bull 5 Pics contest. To compete at the photo contest, all you need to do is shoot ďŹ ve photos showing what you love about Oman, upload them to the Red Bull 5 Pics website and collect votes to win. If your pictures are among the ďŹ nest you could get a chance to show them off at a gallery exhibition. Winners will be announced on May 27th at Bait Al Zubair gallery. This promotion is only open to residents of Oman of all nationalities aged 16 years or above. Those interested can submit one album throughout the duration of the promotion which ends on May 13. Some of the pictures featured here have been clicked by Hassan Al Jadidi, Aaron Larcombe, Sayed Waleed, Al Harith Al Harthy, David Webb, Daina Tabara, Marlon Bartolo, Mishkat Tariq, Ahmed Mullahi and Erfan Arafath

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S ATUR DAY, M AY 9, 2 015

REGION

The ceasefire will end should Houthis or their allies not live up to the agreement -- this is a chance for the Houthis to show that they care about their people and they care about the Yemen people Adel Al Jubeir, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister

Saudi Arabia announces Yemen truce from May 12

10 killed in Iraq attack claimed by IS militant group BAQUBA : A bomb attack on a mosque in eastern Iraq killed at least 10 people on Friday including an army officer, officials said.

An interior ministry official said a car bomb struck the mosque in the province of Diyala northeast of Baghdad, while a police source said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber.

The IS militant group claimed responsibility for the attack.

We have made a decision that the ceasefire will begin this Tuesday, May 12, at 11pm and will last for five days subject to renewal if it works out, said Saudi foreign minister

SANAA: Saudi Arabia on Friday announced a humanitarian ceasefire in Yemen starting May 12, even as it stepped up retaliatory air strikes on Houthi rebels in the north of the country.

“We have made a decision that the ceasefire will begin this Tuesday, May 12, at 11:00 pm and will last for five days subject to renewal if it works out,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said at a meeting of Gulf ministers in Paris.

Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition have focused their fire since Thursday on rebels in their northern stronghold after Riyadh vowed “harsh” punishment for deadly cross-border bombardments. On the humanitarian front, the UN children’s agency warned that restrictions on delivering food and fuel are hampering aid efforts and threaten the lives of tens of thousands of Yemeni children.

“The ceasefire will end should Houthis or their allies not live up to the agreement -- this is a chance for the Houthis to show that they care about their people and they care about the Yemen people,” Jubeir said at a joint news

VIOLENCE

PARIS MEETING: United States Secretary of State John Kerry, second left, poses for members of the media with foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council as they meet, in Paris, France, on Friday. –Reuters

conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Kerry met Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries foreign ministers ahead of a summit with the US President Barack Obama.

The Sultanate of Oman’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah also participated in the meeting.

Kerry is accompanied by his undersecretary Wendy Sherman, the chief US negotiator in the negotiations with Iran on its nuclear programme.

The GCC leaders will visit the White House on May 13, followed the next day by a trip to the bucolic presidential retreat near Washington. Raids on Thursday targeted rebel control centres, a communications complex, a landmine factory and other rebel positions across Saada province bordering Saudi Arabia, state media in Riyadh said. Witnesses in Saada said coalition jets dropped leaflets urg-

H E AV Y F I G H T I N G

ing residents to leave and an AFP correspondent in Sanaa reported scores of families arriving in the capital. The coalition warned that “all of Saada will be a military target to coalition strikes after 7:00 pm (1600 GMT)” on Friday, Saudi media said.

Saudi Arabia, which has led six weeks of air strikes on Yemen in support of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, has warned that the Houthi rebels crossed a “red line” by shelling populated border areas in the kingdom. “The equation is different, the confrontation is different, and they will pay a harsh and expensive price,” coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Al Assiri said.

Top priority “The safety of Saudi Arabia is a top priority for the coalition and the Saudi armed forces. It is a red line they crossed.”

In Paris, Kerry urged the re-

bels to accept Riyadh’s offer of a five-day renewable humanitarian ceasefire. Air strikes have failed to halt the Houthis and allied fighters loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, amid mounting concern over civilian casualties.

The United Nations has renewed its plea for a ceasefire, where weeks of war have now killed more than 1,400 people and wounded nearly 6,000, many of them civilians. UNICEF warned that fuel in Yemen may run out in less than a week, complaining that humanitarian access is being blocked by many parties to the conflict.

“If restrictions on the commercial imports of food and fuel continue, then it will kill more children than bullets and bombs in the coming months,” said UNICEF spokesman Christophe Boulierac.

UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed met Hadi in Riyadh on Friday as he tries to relaunch stalled

peace talks, Hadi’s office said.

Yemeni state news agency Saba, which the rebels control, said on Friday that 13 people including women and children were killed when a village in the northern Hajja province was bombed.

Coalition warplanes hit Houthi positions in the city of Amran, north of Sanaa, witnesses said.

Overnight they targeted rebels in the southern port of Aden, the scene of clashes with Hadi allies.

A military official close to the rebels said 12 Houthi and Saleh loyalists were killed.

Aden’s health authority chief Al Khader Laswar said three civilians and three southern fighters were killed in clashes and 36 civilians were wounded.

Coalition aircraft also hit the eastern outskirts of rebel-held Ataq, the Shabwa provincial capital, as tribal fighters attacked on the ground, a military official close to the rebels said. — AFP

15 injured Fifteen people were also wounded in the attack on Al Zahraa mosque in Baladruz, a district in Diyala province 75 kilometres (46 miles) northeast of Baghdad, the interior ministry said.

There were conflicting reports on the nature of the attack.

The interior ministry said two car bombs went off and a police officer said one car exploded and immediately afterwards a suicide bomber blew himself up.

Websites IS, in an online claim posted on militant websites, said a suicide bomber in a car carried out the attack. “Brother Abu Jihad Al Ansari... drove his booby-trapped car... and blew it up, killing dozens,” the statement said.

The interior ministry identified one victim of the “twin terrorist attack” as Colonel Adnan Al Tamimi, who led a rapid intervention force in Baladruz.

Latest Friday’s attack is the latest in a series of IS bombings targeting districts or militias in Iraq, since members of the community have joined ranks with government forces to battle the militant group.

The extremist group, which controls chunks of Iraq and neighbouring Syria, was present in many areas of Diyala province, which authorities said they retook in January. — AFP

WA R W I T H I N C O U N T RY

100,000 flee week of South Sudan fighting, says UN JUBA: Up to 100,000 people have fled a week of heavy fighting in South Sudan’s key northern oil state of Unity, the United Nations said on Friday.

The violence is some of the worst in the country’s 17-monthold civil war.

“Since the beginning of May, military activities south of Bentiu in Unity state have forced up to 100,000 people from their homes,” the UN’s aid chief in South Sudan, Toby Lanzer, said in a statement.

“People should never be harmed, and certainly not targeted or forced to flee from their homes,” he added.

The fighting erupted in December 2013, when President Salva Kiir accused Riek Machar, whom he had sacked as vice president, of attempting a coup. The violence, which has escalated into an ethnic conflict involving multiple armed groups, has killed tens of thousands of people in the world’s youngest nation, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011.

It has also left over half of the country’s 12 million people in need of aid, with 2.5 million people facing severe food insecurity, according to the UN. Both Kiir’s forces and rebels loyal to Machar have been accused of widespread atrocities, including massacres, gang rapes and recruiting child soldiers.

Lanzer said the heaviest fighting was around villages along the shifting frontlines south of Unity state capital Bentiu, home to some of the country’s once lucrative oil fields. “Civilians living in the areas of and around Guit, Ngop and Nhialdu have been particularly struck by violence and, in an attempt to avoid it, have fled,” Lanzer added.

“This comes at the peak of the traditional planting season, when people need to be able to move freely and safely to be able to tend to their crops.”

Over two million South Sudanese have fled the fighting, with over 520,000 of them seeking refuge in neighbouring Ethiopia, Su-

WARM WELCOME: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, centre left, is welcomed at IFO-2 complex of the sprawling Dadaab refugee camp by South Sudan refugees performing a traditional dance on Friday. – AFP

COUNTING LOSSES: Residents inspect a damaged site after what activists described as a barrel bomb was dropped by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad in Maarat Al Nouman, south of Idlib, on Friday. – Reuters

Raging battles kill 34 in east Syria Since the beginning of May, military activities south of Bentiu in Unity state have forced up to 100,000 people from their homes.

Toby Lanzer UN’s aid chief in South Sudan

dan, Kenya and Uganda. Lanzer said aid workers were unable to reach those in the hardest-hit areas. “UN agencies and their partners are urgently seeking access to areas of Unity state to assess the needs of people and to respond to them,” he said, pleading with both sides to allow in aid based on the principles of “humanity, impartiality and neutrality.” — AFP

BEIRUT: Fierce battles between Syrian regime forces and the IS militant group in eastern Syria have left 34 fighters dead in 24 hours, a monitor said on Friday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 19 pro-government forces and 15 IS extremists had been killed since clashes began late Wednesday in the city of Deir Ezzor and around its nearby military airport.

The head of aerial defence at the airport -- one of the few areas left in regime hands in Deir Ezzor province -- was killed in the fighting, the Observatory said.

Four government soldiers were beheaded by IS Thursday as the militants seized a key checkpoint in the city near the air base.

“An IS suicide bomber detonated himself by the checkpoint, which IS then seized,” said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman. “Seizing the checkpoint gets them closer to the military airport.”

Abdel Rahman said fighting continued into Friday morning with both sides shelling positions

on the outskirts of Deir Ezzor city.

Local activist Mohammad Al Khleif confirmed IS had gained control of the Jamyan checkpoint in the city’s southeast.

IS already controls most of Deir Ezzor province and roughly half its capital, he said.

If its offensive succeeds, Deir Ezzor would be the second provincial capital to fall to the group, after it captured the northern city of Raqa. In northern Syria, at least six civilians were killed on Thursday in attacks in Aleppo city, once Syria’s commercial hub but now divided between government control in the west and rebels in the east. The Britain-based Observatory said a woman and three children died after rebel rocket attacks on the government-held Ashrafiyeh neighbourhood.

A father and his young son were killed by snipers in another regime-held area.

In Aleppo province, a fierce attack by IS on the regime’s Kweyris military airport left seven progovernment forces dead.

According to the Observatory,

IS has surrounded the airport but are coming under fire from regime war planes. Southeast of Syria’s capital, an explosion in the Billi military airport killed 13 regime soldiers, including the base’s head, the Observatory said.

“The blast happened inside a plane within the base, but the causes are still unclear,” Abdel Rahman said. Billi air base lies 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Damascus along a main highway that leads to the regime-controlled city of Sweida.

Meanwhile, the Syrian army, backed by Hezbollah fighters, has made advances in mountainous areas along Syria’s border with Lebanon, a Hezbollah official said on Friday. The push in the Qalamoun mountain range appeared to be preparation for a wider offensive in the border region previously announced by Hezbollah.

Syrian state media said dozens of insurgents had been killed.

Hideouts in the Qalamoun mountains, north of the capital Damascus, have long allowed Al Qaeda-linked insurgents to attack

Syrian soldiers and Hezbollah fighters in the borderlands along Lebanon’s eastern flank.

On Friday, a Hezbollah source said the army and Hezbollah were in control of around 100sq km (40 sq miles) of the Qalamoun mountains by late on Thursday after advances in the strategic areas of Assal Al Ward and Qarna Heights.

The British-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighting had continued into Friday.

Hezbollah said in a statement that three of its fighters had been killed in the battles that started on Thursday, rejecting Lebanese media reports that more had died. A Twitter account from an alliance of extremist insurgent groups including the Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s Syrian wing, said scores of Hezbollah fighters had been killed. The Hezbollah source said dozens of Nusra Front fighters had been killed, and large amounts of vehicles and weapons had been captured or destroyed. The Syrian state news agency SANA also said dozens had been killed. — Agencies

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INDIA WA N T E D F U G I T I V E

PROTEST AGAINST LAND ACQUISITION BILL Congress activists in West Bengal participate in a protest rally with an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi against Land Acquisition Bill on the eve of his two-day visit to the state, in Kolkata, on Friday. -PTI

‘Government reply on location of Dawood same as that of UPA’ NEW DELHI: Government on Friday sought to take the sting out of the opposition attack on the whereabouts of fugitive Dawood Ibrahim, with Home Minister Rajnath Singh telling Lok Sabha that the National Democratic Alliance(NDA) government’s reply was the same as the United Progressive Alliance(UPA) regime gave two years ago.

Singh said he would make a detailed statement on the issue in the House on Monday. The home minister had said on Thursday that there was “no confusion” about Dawood’s whereabouts.

“The reply given on the issue on May 5, 2015 is the same that was given on May 7, 2013. That time, we had not criticised....

They have not been able to understand the meaning.

“I will make a detailed statement on the issue in the House on Monday”, Singh said responding to Congress leader Jyotiraditya

Scindia in the Zero Hour. Scindia, who had given notice for an adjournment motion on the issue, accused the Modi dispensation of doing a sudden “U-turn” in the matter in spite of the fact that Dawood continued to be the most wanted fugitive after the 1993 Mumbai blasts.

The Congress chief whip said Pakistan was cocking a snook at India in the wake of the U-turn by the NDA Government.

Election campaign He recalled that during the election campaign, Modi used to say that India will pursue Dawood inside Pakistan like the US targeted Osama bin Laden there.

He said the latest statement on Dawood showed that the government has no control over its ministers as ministers like Sadhavi Niranjan Jyoti, V. K. Singh and Giriraj Singh continue to make controversial remarks. - PTI

Court suspends Salman’s sentence in hit-and-run case, granted bail While admitting the 49-year-old actor’s appeal, the High Court said it will expedite the hearing on it and posted the matter for June 15

MUMBAI: In a major reprieve for Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, the Bombay High Court on Friday suspended the five-year sentence awarded to him in the 2002 hit-and-run case, admitted his appeal against conviction and granted him bail.

Justice Abhay Thipsay directed Khan to surrender before the trial court forthwith and execute a fresh bail bond of Rs30,000.

The interim bail granted to the actor hours after his conviction and sentencing on Wednesday was to expire on Friday.

While admitting the 49-yearold actor’s appeal, the HC said it will expedite the hearing on it

REPRIEVE: Bollywood actor Salman Khan greets his fans from his residence after returning from the Sessions court, in Mumbai on Friday, as father Salim Khan, mother Salma, sister Arpita and brother Arbaaz Khan. - PTI

and posted the matter for June 15.

“This is not a case where I should keep him (Khan) in jail till his appeal is heard and decided.

“Why his right should suffer when his appeal is admitted and kept pending? In many cases people have suffered and spent their entire prison term only to be acquitted later by the High Court,” Justice Thipsay observed.

Normal rule “The normal rule is that when an appeal is admitted and the sentence is under seven years, it (the sentence) is suspended. Why do

you (prosecution) want to depart from this norm?” the court said.

While setting out the bail conditions, the judge said Khan will have to obtain the permission of the court before travelling abroad.

Khan’s passport is with the Bandra police station and he hitherto he used to seek police’s permission before going abroad.

During the arguments on admission of Khan’s appeal, defence counsels Amit Desai and Shrikant Shivade said the trial court had failed to appreciate the fact that four prosecution witnesses, including the investigating officer,

had maintained there were four persons present in the Toyota Land Cruiser when the accident took place and that it was the family driver Ashok Singh who was at the wheel.

Prosecutor Sandeep Shinde, while insisting on denial of bail to the actor, countered the defence’s argument, saying it was only at the fag end of the trial that Salman Khan had made a statement under section 313 of CrPC in which he claimed it was Singh who was driving the SUV. Sessions judge D. W. Deshpande had on May 6 held Khan guilty of “all charges” levelled against him by the prosecution. Apart from being convicted of culpable homicide, Khan was also found guilty of offences under section 279 IPC (rash and negligent driving) and sections 337 and 338 IPC (causing hurt by acts endangering life or personal property of others), which prescribes six months jail.

Besides, he was sentenced to undergo jail for six months under sections 181 (driving without licence) and 185 of Motor Vehicles Act (drink driving).Salman was found guilty under the Bombay Prohibition Act under section 66 (a) and (b) for which he received two months imprisonment and fine of Rs 500. All sentences will run concurrently. - PTI

Salman case shows VIPs can avoid jail sentence: Bedi NEW DELHI/PANAJI: The bail given to Bollywood star Salman Khan has given the impression that VIPs and the rich can avoid jail with “best legal aid”, former police officer Kiran Bedi said on Friday.

The “general impression” after the Bombay High Court suspended Salman’s sentence in the 2002 hit-and-run case “is if u r a VIP, celebrity, privileged, rich and u can access best legal aid, you can avoid jail”, tweeted Bedi, now a Bharatiya Janata Party leader.

Meanwhile, Censor board member and filmmaker Ashoke Pandit on Friday said here that the media was giving too much space to the stories about actor Salman Khan’s conviction in the 2002 hit and run case.

“Last three days there is nothing happening in India other than Salman Khan. That

Kiran Bedi

is sad. That is not a good sign,” he said, speaking at ‘Women Economic Forum’ here.

Talking about the finances of the film industry, he said most of the producers were in the red, despite the hype about box office successes.

“A facade is created that it (the Hindi film industry) is a Rs 100-crore (per film) industry, (but) the reality is something else. More than 90 per cent of the producers are indebted. They go through a hard time,” said Pandit. -PTI

HURTING RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS

Eight year jail to 10 men in Kerala professor’s hand chopping case KOCHI: Ten persons belonging to a radical outfit were on Friday sentenced to eight years rigorous imprisonment by a special NIA court for chopping off a hand of a college professor in Kerala in 2010, accusing him of hurting religious sentiments through a question paper he had set.

NIA court judge P. Sasidharan also awarded two years rigorous imprisonment to three others in the sensational case and imposed a fine of Rs800,000 on the 13 convicts which will be given to the victim, T. J. Joseph, professor of Newman College in Thodupuzha in Idukki district.

Those awarded 10-year rigorous imprisonment were found guilty under various sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), along with different sections of the IPC and Explosive Substances Act. The rest three were convicted for offences under IPC. Since many of the convicts have been under judicial custody for five years, they will have to serve only the remainder of the period in jail. The court, which began trial in July 2013, examined over 300 prosecution witnesses, four defence witnesses, over 950 prosecution documents, nearly 30 de-

fence documents, and over 200 material objects.

Thirty-seven persons were chargesheeted by NIA in the case.

However, only 31 underwent trial as the remaining six, including first accused Savad, were absconding. The 13 persons owing allegiance Popular Front of India were convicted in the case in which the right hand of Joseph was chopped while he was returning home after attending Sunday mass at a church in Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district on July 4, 2010.

The court in its judgement had said the prosecution has proved beyond all reasonable doubts

that eight of the accused along with some others entered into a criminal conspiracy to eliminate the professor by inflicting grievous injuries.

They did it out of enmity towards Joseph,accusing him of hurting religious sentiments of a community through a question paper he set for his students.

Those awarded eight years RI by the NIA court are Jamal, Shobin, Shamsudin, Shanawaz, Pareed, Younus, Jafar, Ali, Shajeer and Kasim.

Abdul Lateef, Anwar Sadique and Riyas have been awarded two years rigorous imprisonment. -PTI

PRONOUNCED GUILTY: Police escort the persons convicted in a case related to the chopping off a hand of professor in Kerala in 2010 as they come out of the special NIA court after the verdict, in Kochi, on Friday. - PTI

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S ATUR DAY, M AY 9, 2 015 Across Indian society and the spectrum of its political structures, there is unanimity that friendship with Russia is an important pillar of India’s foreign policy Pranab Mukherjee, President

INDIA B R I T I S H PA R L I A M E N T

Vaz, Patel, Sunak among ethnic Indians elected in UK polls LONDON: Several Indian-origin candidates, including Keith Vaz, Priti Patel and Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy’s son-in-law were on Friday elected to the British Parliament.

Prominent Labour candidates like long-serving MPs Keith Vaz (Leicester East) and Virendra Sharma (Ealing Southall) have won their respective seats, as they have a special connect with a largely Indian-origin electorate in their constituencies.

Ruling Conservatives’ Indianorigin stalwart, British Prime

Minister David Cameron’s Indian Diaspora champion Priti Patel also retained her Witham seat with a 41.5 per cent majority, winning 27,123 seats.

Opposition Labour’s Valerie Vaz also retained her Walsall South seat and Seema Malhotra won a her south west London seat comfortably.

The Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy’s son-in-law Rishi Sunak, was contesting from the Tory safe seat of Richmond(Yorks) in the north of England and bagged 27,744 votes.

With his nearest opponent, Matthew Cooke of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), at a mere 8,194, his win marks an impressive 51.4 per cent majority to become a first-time MP in the House of Commons.

“I grew up watching my parents serve our local community with dedication. My dad is a NHS (National Health Service) family GP and my mum ran her own local chemist shop,” Sunak said.

But it was not all smooth sailing for Indian-origin Tory candidates, with Paul Uppal losing

by a narrow margin to Labour. In the same Wolverhampton region, brother-sister duo Arun and Suria Photay also failed to make their first-time mark.

The overall tally of Indian-origin MPs in the new House of Commons will soon become clear as all the seats are declared.

2010 record It remains to be seen if they are able to break the previous 2010 general election record of eight MPs. There were a total of 59 Indian-origin candidates in the fray

from the Tories (17), Labour (14), Liberal Democrats (14), Green Party (4), United Kingdom Independence Party- UKIP (3), Independents (2) and one each from the smaller parties like All People’s Party, Christian Movement for Great Britain, National Liberal Party, Socialist Labour Party and Young People’s Party.

David Cameron, who looks set to return as Prime Minister, has repeatedly gone on record during the campaign claiming that he is confident that the country’s “first Asian or black Prime Minister”

Gadkari resignation demand leads to Rajya Sabha ruckus House when it reassembled at 2.30 pm, with Opposition members led by those from Congress insisting on Gadkari’s resignation, describing the claims in the CAG report as “serious” in nature.

With the opposition sticking to their demand, Naqvi said the government was ready for discussion as it has “zero tolerance towards corruption”. Congress members, though, charged the treasury benches of running away from a discussion, alleging that the government was adopting different yardsticks on holding discussion.

Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said this is a CAG report against a company Nitin Gadkari was heading.

Having been indicted he cannot continue as a minister

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha on Friday failed to transact any business as Opposition Congress created ruckus, demanding resignation of Minister Nitin Gadkari in the wake of a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report that alleged irregularities involving loan extended to his family-linked Purti group.

The House saw repeated adjournments for six times before the final one at around 3.45pm as uproar continued, with Congress members shouting slogans and trooping into the Well.

There were heated exchanges between Congress and ruling BJP members, who raised questions over the moral authority of Congress to discuss corruption.

While the Congress pressed for Gadkari’s resignation and stressed on accountability of ministers

IN THE EYE OF STORM : Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari with BJP MP Jagdambika Pal during the budget session at Parliament House, in New Delhi, on Friday. - PTI

to Parliament, the BJP members shouted “Chor Machaye Shor (thief makes noise)”.

Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said, “This is not a question of allegation against an individual MP or minister. This is a CAG report.”

Noting that while BJP is talking about corruption and transparency in and outside the House and attacking previous UPA government on corruption issue, he said here is a case involving something for which he (Gadkari) had to resign as BJP President in past.

“This is a CAG report against a company he was heading. Having been indicted he cannot continue as a minister,” the Congress leader

said. Deputy Leader of Congress Anand Sharma recalled that BJP, in 2012, had stalled Parliament for 23 days after leak of a CAG report, apparently referring to 2G spectrum allocation issue in which then Telecom Minister A Raja was the target.

“We do respect rule, we respect democracy, which your government does not respect... Since I have been reminded. Let met tell you that in 2012 on leaked CAG report, 23 days were disrupted,” the former union minister said, while responding to criticism for stalling the House.

“In this House and the other, council of ministers are accountable. We have very recently estab-

lished a precedent based on leaked CAG report. First, there should be accountability,” Sharma said.

Apparently taking a dig at Modi, he said, “We are helping Prime Minister, who is for zero tolerance to corruption.

“Where is zero tolerance? We want that zero tolerance. You cannot have two standards. There cannot be double standards.”

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “Congress always talks about corruption. It seems it loves corruption. How can they misquote?

The government is ready for discussion on corruption. We are ready for discussion on all issues.”

Pandemonium prevailed in the

Not a verdict Amid levelling of charges and counter-charges, Deputy Chairman P. J. Kurien ruled against a discussion saying he would not proceed against the rule of the House.

He said the House can discuss the matter only after the PAC examines the CAG report once it is place before it as per rules.

“The CAG report is not a verdict.

It has to be placed before Parliament and examined by PAC, which has all the right to question the CAG. You proceed as per rule,” he said. The opposition did not relent, forcing the Chair to adjourn the House till 3.30pm as members from the Congress trooped into the Well raising slogans against Gadkari.

Sharad Yadav (JD-U) contested the Chair saying the Parliament proceedings were disrupted on the issue of 2G and coal scam even before the presentation of CAG report based on a leak.

He demanded a discussion on the issue leaving everything aside as corruption has become a disease in the society. - PTI

will come from his Conservative party. The party had also fielded the first-ever Sikh candidate in Northern Ireland, Amandeep Singh Bhogal, but he failed to make any mark coming last with just 201 votes in a DUP stronghold.

Connected Indian-origin voters have traditionally connected more with Labour due to its working class and immigrant friendly outlook, however these elections seem to indicate a strong shift in favour of the Tory party. - PTI CRIME

Prime accused in nun gang rape arrested

NABBED: CID officials pro-

duce Ranaghat Milan Sarkar and Wahidul Islam Babu, the prime accused in the case related to the rape of a nun at a local court at Ranaghat in Nadia district on Friday. - PTI

KOLKATA: The two prime accused in the gang rape of a septuagenarian nun at Ranaghat in Nadia district of West Bengal have been arrested by the CID from Sealdah station, a senior official of the investigating agency said here on Friday.

“We have arrested Milan Kumar Sarkar and Wahidul Islam from Sealdah station (Main) last night,” the official said.

“Acting on a tip-off, we had laid a trap and when the duo arrived at the station, we arrested them,” the official said adding, “both are Bangladeshi nationals and they don’t have any valid passport or document.”

The Sister Superior of Jesus and Mary’s Convent School was gangraped by dacoits at Ranaghat in Nadia district on March 14. With the arrest of these two, the total number of arrests in the case went up to five. Earlier one person was arrested from Mumbai and two others were nabbed from West Bengal. - PTI

B I L AT E R A L T I E S

Russia a pillar of strength for India in difficult times: Pranab MOSCOW: Russia has been a pillar of strength at difficult moments in India’s history and India-Russia ties “will not be affected by winds of transient global political trends”, President Pranab Mukherjee said here on Friday.

Delivering the keynote address at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian ministry of foreign affairs after receiving an honorary doctorate from it, Pranab said that “India will always reciprocate” the support it has received from Russia.

“Across Indian society and the spectrum of its political structures, there is unanimity that friendship with Russia is an important pillar of India’s foreign policy,” he added.

Pranab, who is on a five-day visit to Russia, said the “dynamic development” of the strategic partnership owed a great deal to the vision and leadership of President Vladimir Putin.

“His personal commitment has led us to new heights in our relations. We recognize President Putin as a great friend of India. I look forward to renewing my association with him on this visit,” the president said.

Strategic partners Pranab, who is to attend the Victory Day commemoration on Saturday, said that India-Russia ties are unique and multi-dimensional and have proved their resilience.

“India and Russia today enjoy what we have termed a ‘special and privileged strategic partnership’, based on unmatched mutual confidence, trust and goodwill”.

He said the annual bilateral summits “are at the apex of an elaborate multi-layered mechanism for bilateral interaction, more detailed than India has with any country in the world”.

“India values her close and extensive cooperation with Russia in defence, nuclear energy and security. Russia is and will remain our most important defence partner.

It is also a key partner for our energy security, building on its leading role in the development of nuclear power generation in India,” he said and added that their cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector can become the driver of a resurgent economic partnership.

He said both sides had agreed during Putin’s visit to India in December 2014 to boost trade and economic ties to a higher level.

“We must build on synergies in areas such as engineering, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, fertilizers, coal, diamonds, metallurgy, civil aircraft, automobiles, and information and communication technology.”

Pranab said though the world has become increasingly multi-

polar and emerging economies have grown in strength, this was not fully reflected in international institutions and decision-making processes.

“Cooperation between India and Russia in multilateral fora, including G20 and BRICS is thus of great importance”. He congratulated Russia on its presidency of the BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organization this year.

“We will work closely with our Russian friends to enhance multisectoral cooperation within these fora. We appreciate Russia’s support for India’s permanent membership of UN Security Council and membership of the multi-lateral export control regimes,” he said.

“We applaud Russia’s efforts to promote a political settlement in Syria and its contribution towards a peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue,” Pranab said. - IANS

HONORARY DOCTORATE: President Pranab Mukherjee being conferred with Honorary Doctorate from Russian Diplomatic Academy at a function at the academy, in Moscow, Russia on Friday. - PTI

SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2015 A statement by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s office said he was on a plane en route to the Gilgit area at the time of the incident, but turned back to Islamabad after news of the crash broke. He was due to inaugurate a chair-lift at a ski resort, one of the region’s top administrative officials said

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PAKISTAN

Norway and Philippines envoys killed in Gilgit helicopter crash

TRAGEDY: Pakistani soldiers gather near an army helicopter at a military hospital where victims of a helicopter crash were brought for treatment, in Gilgit, on Friday. — AFP

The Pakistani Taliban later claimed the group had struck the aircraft with a ground-to-air missile hoping to assassinate Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif but this was rebutted by officials and multiple eye-witnesses

GILGIT: A Pakistani military helicopter crashed Friday, killing seven people including the Norwegian and Philippine envoys and setting a school building ablaze in a remote northern valley.

The Pakistani Taliban later claimed the group had struck the aircraft with a ground-to-air missile hoping to assassinate Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who was flying to the region at the same time -- but the claim was rebutted by officials and multiple eyewitnesses.

The helicopter was one of three carrying a delegation of ambassadors to inspect projects on a threeday trip to Gilgit-Baltistan where they were set to meet with Sharif.

Technical fault The military and Pakistan’s foreign office said the crash was due to a technical fault while landing.

Officials added the school was shut at the time.

LUCKY TO BE ALIVE: Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force, meets Malaysian Ambassador Hasrul Sani Mujtabar to enquire after his health at the CMH hospital, in Gilgit on Friday. — Reuters/Pakistan Air Force/Handout via Reuters

“The matter will be investigated as initial reports suggest it was a technical fault,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

A statement by Sharif’s office had said he was on a plane en route to the Gilgit area at the time of the incident, but turned back to Islamabad after news of the crash broke.

He was due to inaugurate a chair-lift at a ski resort, one of the region’s top administrative officials said.

Leif H. Larsen, the Norwegian envoy, and Domingo D. Lucenario Jr of the Philippines were killed along with the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors, as well as the helicopter’s two pilots and another crew member according to official tweets by the army. Norway’s foreign office confirmed the death of its diplomat.

The Indonesian foreign minis-

try in a statement confirmed the death of the ambassador’s wife, Heri Listyawati Burhan Muhammad, but said that Ambassador Burhan Muhammad was safe though he had sustained injuries.

Sharif “expressed deep grief and sorrow” and announced a day of mourning, according to his office.

Polish ambassador Andrzej Ananiczolish and Dutch ambassador Marcel de Vink were also injured, the army said. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed Vink’s injury.

It was Pakistan’s worst air crash since 2012 when a Boeing 737 passenger plane went down in Islamabad, killing 130 people.

In 1988, a plane crash killed Pakistan’s then military-ruler General Ziaul Haq as well as the US ambassador at the time, Arnold Raphel.

A local police official on duty near the site told AFP: “I was watching the helicopters arriving, they were coming since the morning, it was their third or fourth trip.

“One helicopter suddenly whirling at its place and went down with a bang, then there were flames.”

An emergency medic who was deployed nearby ahead of the inauguration ceremony said the helicopter only exploded and caught fire after landing.

“The pilot was gesturing at us to come and help him. We rushed there, broke the windows, and started dragging people out.

“After some minutes, there was an explosion, injuring some of the medics too.”

Two other eye-witnesses also said they did not see the chopper being hit by a missile.

According to a list of passen-

TRAGIC END: A Pakistani security personnel stands guard near a Philippine national flag flying at half-mast in mourning, following the death of Ambassador Domingo D. Lucenario Jr, in Islamabad, on Friday. — AFP

gers, the ambassadors of Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Romania, Norway, South Africa, the Philippines and Poland were scheduled to fly on the helicopter.

“It was a diplomatic trip with members of 37 countries in total,” said a passenger in one of the helicopters, who requested anonymity, concurring that the school had

caught fire after the crash.

The passenger added that the air convoy was supposed to have included four helicopters but the number was later reduced to three.

In Gilgit, the region’s capital, some 50 kilometres to the southwest, a hospital official said the injured were carried on stretchers to the emergency ward of the Combined Military Hospital.— AFP

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Apply the lessons of Haiti in Nepal

I

f disaster relief were simply a question of money, Nepal would shortly be righted. The world rarely fails, in financial terms, to respond to natural tragedies, and with hundreds of thousands of Nepalese displaced by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake, and at least 5,000 dead, both governments and individuals have responded generously.

The rush to help is necessary and admirable. But history teaches that, on the ground, that rush can sometimes — if combined with a lack of coordination — be dangerous.

The lessons from Haiti, struck by an earthquake in 2010 and still lacking basic infrastructure, should inform today’s relief effort. There, a melee of aid organisations operating independently of each other — often in impromptu fashion — created as many problems as they solved.

To prevent a repeat of such waste and mismanagement, NGOs in Nepal must be far more transparent about what exactly they are doing with their funds — if only so that others can avoid overlapping. New technology may assist: thousands of volunteers mapped the earthquake’s effects within 48 hours, using high-definition satellite imagery.

Better still would be for those NGOs which do not already have a strong presence in Nepal to avoid the country altogether and let the money filter through to established international agencies or local groups — such as the Nepalese Red Cross — that will be around long after the media and most aid workers depart. Organisations with an intimate knowledge of the people will be better at getting them back on their feet, and less likely to impose the kind of “top-down” solutions that so often subsequently fall apart. Imperative above all is to “build back better”, so that the next time the plates beneath the Himalayas convulse, the damage is reduced. Nepal is not Haiti. President Ram Baran Yadav’s government looks better equipped to deal with catastrophe. But outsiders who wish to support the recovery must remember what happened five years ago — and make sure they are not getting in the way first. - The Independent

COMMENTARY

Putin on Parade: Fight to remain relevant NINA L. KHRUSHCHEVA

Runaway medicine prices

A

drug to treat abnormal heart rhythms can cost about $200 on one day and more than $1,300 the next. A diagnosis of multiple sclerosis can lead to a drug bill of at least $50,000 a year. How companies set prices of specialty drugs for these and other complex diseases, like cancer and AIDS, has been a mystery to the patients who need them. Now the Obama administration and some states are tackling that lack of transparency and the rising costs. Obama has asked Congress to let Medicare officials negotiate prices with drug manufacturers, a practice forbidden by current law that may be hard to change with the antiregulatory mood among Republicans. And several states are considering bills that would require drug companies to justify their prices to public agencies. It is the least the states can do to bring costs to levels that patients, hospitals and government progammes can afford.

Spending on all prescription drugs, including commonly used medicines like antibiotics, accounts for a tenth of the nation’s total health spending. Prices have been rising slowly in recent years mainly because many brand-name drugs lost protection and lower-cost generics were prescribed. But there are fewer patent expirations ahead.

Specialised medicines already on the market carry huge price tags, as The Times reported recently, and strain the budgets of Medicare, Medicaid and consumers. The list price for a one-year’s supply of Kalydeco to treat cystic fibrosis is $311,000. A standard course of treatment with Blincyto, a leukemia drug, is about $178,000.

The drug and biotech companies contend that high prices are justified to cover the large costs of bringing a drug to market and to compensate for the large number of drugs that fail in late stages of costly clinical trials. But it appears that many companies raise prices arbitrarily and charge what public and private insurers will pay.

A recent report in The Wall Street Journal described how Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, based in Canada, bought the rights to two lifesaving heart drugs on February 10 and raised their prices the same day. Bills have been introduced in several states requiring drug makers to report profits and expenses for costly drugs or sometimes for all drugs, according to The Journal’s pharmaceutical blog.

Such disclosures might shame companies into restraining their price increases and provide state officials with information to determine what action to take. The industry helped defeat such a bill in Oregon and is fighting to head off a bill in California that would impose new reporting requirements on makers of any prescription drug.

The companies complain that some of these costs are hard to quantify and that compiling the data would be burdensome. But surely the public would benefit from increased transparency that might deter the worst abuses. - The New York Times News Service

Netanyahu’s plans to demilitarise Gaza is flawed

Hunger across the world is a calculated creation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s road map to demilitarisation of Gaza entails prolonged re-occupation of the strip of land and complete extirpation of Hamas. This roadmap is preposterous as it offers no permanent solution but only a temporary respite. In both 2008-2009 and 2012, Israel degraded Hamas’s high-trajectory weapons; but Hamas survived and restocked its arsenal with weapons of greater range, precision, and lethality. Hamas maintained control over Gaza and even derived a few political benefits in the process. Hamas has to be made a partner if the strip has to be demilitarised.

Minu Dutta Muttrah

The picture of hunger is too big to be ignored or shoved aside.

Because it is not just a story of crisis but of people, kept starving like animals in cages. Hunger across the world is a calculated creation and I am convinced that the world today produces enough food for everyone. My study into the matter convinced me that despite a seventy per cent increase in the global population, the world today produces seventeen per cent more calories per person than it did thirty years ago. This means, there is an availability of at least 2,720 kilocalories (kcal) per person per day today. And that is enough to banish malnutrition from our planet once and for all.

Nirmala Srinivas Wadi Kabir

It is not difficult to see the parallels between Putin’s approach and that of Joseph Stalin, who declared at the start of WWII that the “enemy” aims to “destroy” Russia’s “national culture,” to “Germanise” its people, and “convert them into slaves.”

T

his May’s parade in Moscow to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II promises to be the greatest Victory Day celebration since the Soviet Union’s collapse. Some 16,000 soldiers, 200 armoured vehicles, and 150 planes and helicopters are set to pass through and over Red Square. It will be a scene that would easily have been familiar to Soviet leaders like Leonid Brezhnev and Nikita Khrushchev, taking the salute atop Lenin’s tomb.

Yet, though Russia’s WWII allies were from Europe and North America, no Western leaders will attend the commemoration — a reflection of the West’s disapproval of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. Instead, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s high-profile guests will include the leaders of China, India, and North Korea, underscoring just how few friends Russia has these days. The surreal nature of this gathering reflects the increasingly bizarre nature of Putin’s regime. Critical to this strategy is propaganda conflating the West today with the Germans who invaded Russia in 1941, while painting Ukrainian government officials as “fascists” and “neo-Nazis.” The Kremlin has relied on such claims, together with the supposed need to defend Russians abroad, to justify its aggression against Ukraine. In Putin’s speech following the annexation of Crimea, he charged that the West’s refusal “to engage in dialogue” left Russia with no choice. “We are constantly proposing cooperation on all key issues,” he declared. “We want to strengthen our level of trust and for our relations to be equal, open, and fair.

But we saw no reciprocal steps.”

A month later, Putin reinforced this image of Russians as the morally superior victims of a cruel and uncompromising West. “We are less pragmatic than other people, less calculating,” he asserted, before adding that Russia’s “greatness” and “vast size” means “we have a more generous heart.” It is not difficult to see the parallels between Putin’s approach and that of Joseph Stalin, who declared at the start of WWII that the “enemy” aims to “destroy” Russia’s “national culture,” to “Germanise” its people, and “convert them into slaves.” The difference, of course, is that the Nazi Wehrmacht actually invaded the Soviet Union, whereas Ukraine simply wanted to decide its own future.

Without defending Stalin, one must recognise the immense Soviet contribution — including the lives of 26 million citizens — to the Allied victory in WWII. At the time, the military pa-

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Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory ALBERT SCHWEITZER

rade in Red Square — featuring almost 35,000 troops, up to 1,900 pieces of military equipment, and a 1,400-man orchestra — was a well-deserved pageant. The Soviet leadership spared no cost in staging its military displays, which, in the absence of an external military threat, became an important vehicle for rallying national unity.

After the Soviet Union’s collapse, Russia, no longer a superpower, put its military spectacles on ice. But in 2005, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII, Putin held a major parade — one that Western leaders, believing that Russia might have a European future, did attend. The tone of this year’s Victory Day commemorations is far less anticipatory. How can one celebrate the end of a war at a time when the descendants of those who fought it (undoubtedly driven by the hope that future generations would live in peace) are killing one another in a brutal little war in eastern Ukraine? What is the point of grandiose fireworks displays amid the firing of real howitzers and rockets?

The historian Robert Paxton believed that one could tell much about a country by its parades.

His 1966 book Parades and Politics at Vichy describes how Philippe Pétain, as Chief of State of Vichy France, used pageantry, reactionary politics, and, of course, a partnership with Adolf Hitler to dupe his defeated country into believing that it still mattered in the world. The Vichy state’s brand of authoritarian traditionalism lionized family and fatherland, with Pétain, a former military commander, serving as a kind of military king, exalted on the tribune.

The parallels with Putin’s Russia are clear.

Putin views himself as a new czar. His KGB background dictates his leadership style, which includes the abolition of free and fair elections, the persecution of opponents, and the promotion of conservative values that he, like Pétain before him, juxtaposes with the corrupting influence of an “immoral” and “decadent” West.

Relying on this approach, Putin has built alliances with the likes of Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad and Egypt’s military ruler Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. China, the world’s second largest economy, is a useful addition to this collection of friendly anti-democratic states, as it has its own strategic grievances with the West.

Unlike China, however, Russia is not a rising superpower. Putin may try to portray his actions in Ukraine as a fight against fascism. But it is really a fight for relevance — a fight he will never win. No matter how grand the parade, he cannot hide the truth: Russia’s days as a superpower are in the past. Putin’s patriotism, like Pétain’s, is that of the vanquished. - Project Syndicate

Muslim Brotherhood seeks redemption in rise of Isis Academics are deeply polarised, almost to the point of vitriol, and a debate is under way over how would the rise of Isis shape and influence Muslim Brotherhood. Muslim Brotherhood’s gradual transformation from pseudo democracy to bigotry or radicalisation is ominous. And this has given rise among many a fear that Muslim Brotherhood, at least a faction of it, will soon go underground and will take to extremism seeking Isis patronage and affiliation. Confronting the worst ever existential threat Muslim Brotherhood’s options today have grown extremely limited. The Isis now is its sole way out — the only redeemer or the exclusive panacea to the problems that are now threatening

its existence. Muslim Brotherhood in Syria has already come in defence of Isis.

Asadul Iqbal Latif Muscat

Racism still exists in our societies in subtler forms Today, racism is a taboo word.

We are taught from our infancy that discriminating on the basis of stereotype is not just a crime but a sin. But has this teaching erased the blight completely?

We may have grown more conscious and avoid being too overt nowadays in expressing our racial feelings. The scourge, in fact, has now found subtler ways of expression through microaggression.

B. B. Gurumurthy Muscat

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)

SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2015

ASIA

We will do pre-emptive evacuations because it might be difficult to get people out if we do it later Fritzie Michelena, Disaster official in Irosin in central Sorsogon province, Philippines

Typhoon and volcano pose twin threats to Philippines being taken to face a typhoon approaching the northeastern coast, as well as a rumbling volcano in a central province

Stranded Thousands of passengers have already been stranded in seaports along the central and eastern Philippines after authorities stopped vessels from sailing because of rough seas.

The typhoon, the fourth to hit the Southeast Asian country this year, was expected to bring heavy

SOUTH CHINA SEA

Philippines, Japan to hold first naval drill TOKYO/MANILA: Japan and the Philippines will hold their first joint naval drill this month in the South China Sea near a disputed shoal claimed by Beijing, sources in Tokyo and the Philippines said.

The May 12 maritime safety exercise, which will practice the code for unplanned encounters at sea, known as CUES, is part of an agreement signed by Japan and the Philippines in January aimed at tightening security cooperation.

The nature of the training is unlikely to worry China unduly, as it has conducted similar exercises with the United States in the past.

But the presence of Japanese naval vessels in the South China Sea signals Japan’s growing interest in the region, and may irritate Beijing as criticism of its land reclamation projects there mounts.

“The exercise will not be far from Scarborough Shoal,” one of the sources in Japan said, referring to a rocky outcrop which China seized in 2012 after a three-month standoff with the Philippines.

Safety steps are

MANILA: Preparations are on in the Philippines to evacuate residents along its northeastern coast as a typhoon approaches, as well as those near a rumbling volcano that has been spewing steam and ash over a central province, officials said on Friday.

Typhoon Noul was about 480km (300 miles) northeast of the town of Borongan in Eastern Samar province early on Friday, with wind gusts of up to 185km per hour (115mph), and was expected to make landfall as a category four storm at the weekend.

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RUMBLING TROUBLE: Bulusan volcano as seen from a highway in Irosin town, Sorsogon province, south of Manila on Friday, two days after it spewed ash. – AFP

to intense rainfall when it makes landfall in the northeast, the weather bureau said. It was then expected to weaken as it swung northeast towards the Japanese island of Okinawa by Tuesday.

Officials warned that heavy rain from the typhoon could cause “lahar”, or flows of mud and debris, around Mount Bulusan, a volcano that has been spewing ash this week. “There could be lahar flow, mudslides, that could sweep away

houses in the area if there is heavy rain ... that is the danger,” Esperanza Cayanan, division head at the weather bureau, told a briefing at the national disaster agency.

Fritzie Michelena, a disaster official in Irosin in central Sorsogon province where the volcano is located, said the municipality was getting ready to evacuate residents.

“We will do pre-emptive evacuations because it might be difficult

to get people out if we do it later,” she said in an interview with the ANC news network.

Officials have designated schools and gymnasiums as possible shelters.

Typhoon Noul was also expected to trigger landslides and flash floods, with government officials alerting regional offices along the storm’s projected path by text, email and phone calls.

Richard Gordon, chairman of

Philippine Red Cross, said responders had learned a lot from Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the central Philippines in 2013, leaving more than 8,000 people dead or injured and about a million homeless.

“We have learned to prepare better, pre-positioning relief goods and emergency equipment to respond faster,” he said.

An average of 20 typhoons cross the Philippines annually. — Reuters

Two-hour practice The two-hour practice within Philippines territorial waters near Subic Bay, a former US navy base, will involve a Japanese warship and a Philippines navy frigate, a spokesman at the Philippines Navy said.

A spokesman for Japan’s Maritime Self Defence Force declined to comment. China, which claims about 90 per cent of the 3.5 million sqkm (1.35 million sq mile) South China Sea, is asserting its territorial claims by building a chain of man-made islands on coral reefs in the Spratly archipelago. — Reuters

D E VA S TAT I N G T R E M O R S

Nepal earthquake survivors turn to rebuilding homes, lives

DAUNTING TASK: Paru Shrestha, an earthquake survivor, stands inside her damaged house in Sankhu, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal, last Sunday. – Reuters

KATHMANDU: Six years ago, Paru Shrestha’s family tore down their old home in the Nepali town of Sankhu and replaced it with a modern, five-storey house. It probably saved their lives.

On April 25, a devastating earthquake killed over 7,700 people and flattened towns and villages across central Nepal, including most of Sankhu’s fine old buildings.

But Shrestha’s no-frills home stood cracked yet intact among the rubble and dust of neighbouring buildings.

“If this was an old house, we’d all be gone,” said Shrestha, a 28-yearold office worker in the nearby capital Kathmandu.

Ten days after the 7.8 magnitude quake, many people were still

searching debris for the bodies of loved ones, or struggling to recuperate from injury and trauma.

Many surveyed their wrecked communities and wondered how they would ever rebuild.

Survivors across the Himalayan nation expressed gratitude for international relief workers and the local soldiers who sped to their aid in the disaster’s wake.

Daunting task Now many fret that foreigners may not stay long enough to help with the equally daunting task of resurrecting homes and livelihoods, while the Nepalese government’s reputation for inefficiency and graft is a further cause for concern.

Kathmandu is a city of migrants,

THRIVING TRADE

Thailand seeks help of Malaysia, Myanmar to stop human trafficking BANGKOK: Thailand’s junta chief on Friday called for Malaysia and Myanmar’s help in stamping out the region’s thriving human trafficking trade as the UN warned migrant crossings in the Bay of Bengal have dramatically spiked.

Prime Minister Prayut ChanO-Cha said he is seeking a threeway meeting with the neighbouring countries before the end of May following the discovery of remains from dozens of migrants in southern Thailand.

In recent years tens of thousands of Rohingyas, mainly from Myanmar but also more recently from Bangladesh, have braved the dangerous sea crossing to southern Thailand, with many headed for Malaysia and beyond.

The recent discovery of migrant graves and a network of secret jungle camps run by people smugglers in Thailand’s deep south has embarrassed the kingdom and highlighted its central role in a grim trade in which officials have long been accused of complicity.

“We are the middle country, what should we do?” Prayut told reporters.

“They (the migrants) have to pass Thailand on the way. But the third country doesn’t want to accept them (either),” he added.

Prayut, who took over in a coup nearly a year ago, suggested officials across the region were benefiting from the trade. “There have been evil people as well as the authorities. But without the authorities joining in, it wouldn’t happen,” he said, adding corrupt officials should be “got rid of”.

His comments came as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said an estimated 25,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshis have taken to boats in the first three months of this year — double the number over the same period in 2014.

Survivor accounts “Based on survivor accounts, we estimate that 300 people died at sea in the first quarter of 2015 as a result of starvation, dehydration and abuse by boat crews,” the refugee agency said in a statement on Friday.

The UN added that the most common route used by gangs was to ferry migrants by boat to Ranong province in southern Thailand and drive them by road to a network of hidden camps on the southern border with Malaysia. “Conditions in the smugglers’ camp are horrific,” the statement read. “Beatings are common and there are reports of rapes. Those who try to escape risk being shot.” — AFP

DRIVE SLOWER LIVE LONGER

and in the days after the quake tens of thousands of Nepalis left for family homes in distant villages. Soon, a place famed for its bustling, narrow streets was eerily deserted. Cholendra Dawadi, 46, travelled against the human tide.

A farmer from Dhading, a town close to the quake’s epicentre, he survived unscathed. But his 21-year-old daughter, Shakuntala, who studied German in Kathmandu and like many Nepalis hoped to one day work abroad, was badly injured while fleeing her collapsing hostel.

Dawadi reached the capital to find her, bloodied and halfconscious, at a private clinic. He took her to the city’s National Trauma Centre, opened just six

months before and now overflowing with casualties.

A week later, the trauma ward was almost empty. But Shakuntala was still there, groaning with pain, her scab-ringed eyes shrouded in medical gauze.

“She can still see,” said Dawadi, who has slept each night in a chair with his head resting on her bed.

“But she can’t get up and she has problems speaking.”

Doctors suspect a skull fragment was lodged in her brain.

Dawadi’s stoicism is familiar.

The Nepal of cliche is gritty and resilient, a land of Gurkhas and Sherpas. But many survivors do not complain simply because they know other Nepalis are suffering, too. — Reuters

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S ATUR DAY, M AY 9, 2 015

WORLD

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

Cameron sweeps to victory in UK with an overall seat tally of 331 Nationalists win 56 of the 59 Scottish seats; Ed Miliband resigns as Labour leader after defeat; Liberal Democrats hammered, party leader resigns

LONDON: Prime Minister David Cameron won a stunning election victory in Britain, confounding poll predictions that the vote would be the closest in decades to sweep into office for another five years with a clear majority and his Labour opponents in tatters.

The sterling currency, bonds and shares surged on a result that reversed near-universal expectations of an inconclusive “hung parliament”, in which Cameron would have had to jockey for power with Labour rival Ed Miliband.

Instead, Cameron met Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace to accept a mandate to form the first majority Conservative government since John Major’s surprise victory in 1992. Despite the unexpectedly decisive outcome, longer-term uncertainty looms over whether Britain will stay in the European Union - and even hold together as a country. Secessionists swept the board in Scotland, and Cameron repeated a promise to hold a referendum on membership in the EU. The scale of Cameron’s victory surpassed even his party’s most optimistic projections.

Sweetest victory “This is the sweetest victory of all,” Cameron told enthusiastic supporters at party headquarters.

“The real reason to celebrate tonight, the real reason to be proud, the real reason to be excited is we are going to get the opportunity to serve our country again.”

Smiling beside his wife Samantha, Cameron returned to the prime minister’s office in Downing Street after meeting the Elizabeth II. Downing Street staff lined up to applaud when he entered the residence. Cameron’s pitch to voters was that he had rescued Britain from economic crisis to deliver the fastest growth among major economies. He had warned that Labour’s Miliband would cripple the United Kingdom by giving Scottish nationalists the keys to England’s treasure.

Miliband, a self-confessed socialist “geek”, had argued that the recovery was benefiting the rich and most people were still worse off. But he failed to connect with working class voters or convince the public he could be trusted with the world’s fifth largest economy.

WINNER TAKES IT ALL: Britain’s Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party David Cameron, centre left, and his wife Samantha are pictured outside 10 Downing Street in London on Friday, after a visit with Queen Elizabeth II, a day after the British general election. – AFP.

Student Mhairi Black, 20, youngest member of parliament PAISLEY (UK): At the age of just 20, Mhairi Black has become Britain’s youngest member of parliament since 1667 in a victory which symbolises a nationalist landslide in Scotland.

Black still has to complete her final exams at Glasgow University but will now be putting her politics degree into practice as the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South. The blonde, who pronounces her first name “Mary”, won a majority of over 5,000 in Thursday’s election to topple Douglas Alexander, the Labour party’s 47-yearold foreign affairs spokesman and campaign chief. As the result was announced, a roar of approval went up from her supporters at the count centre but Black spoke in a steady voice as she vowed to improve life for ordinary Scots.

He phoned Cameron to concede and then resigned as party leader.

With all results declared in the 650-seat house, the Conservatives held 331 and Labour 232. The centre-left Liberal Democrats, who supported Cameron in gov-

RARING TO GO: Scottish National Party (SNP) members of parliament Mhairi Black, right, and Gavin Newlands after the declaration of the results for the constituency of Paisley and Renfrewshire South & North at the Lagoon Leisure Centre, in Paisley, west of Glasgow, Scotland. – AFP

“We will work to put an end to the austerity cuts that are hurting people in communities both north and south of the border,” she said.

Black grew up in a family that supported Labour but like

ernment since 2010, were all but wiped out, reduced to eight seats from 57. Scottish nationalists won 56 of the 59 Scottish seats, up from just six five years ago.

The anti-EU, populist UK Independence Party (UKIP) surged

many in Scotland, has turned her back on the centre-left party that she says has become too distant from its supporters and left-wing roots.

Black says her hometown has been in decline for decades,

into third place in the overall vote tally, but disappointed its followers by managing to place first in only one district to win just a single seat. Like Labour’s Miliband, Lib-Dem leader Nick Clegg and UKIP leader Nigel Farage resigned

with one in five people in Paisley now living in poverty and one in three families forced to use food banks.

She campaigned for Scottish independence in last September’s referendum. The vote was lost but she told AFP a few weeks later: “It doesn’t mean the dream has died.”

“The vote result was absolutely heartbreaking, gut-wrenching. But less than a week later I was raring to go.

Everyone is pumped up, saying what’s next?”

What’s next has turned out to be the House of Commons, where Black has promised to stand up for her constituents in a way she says that her Labour predecessor never did.

She has called Alexander a “career politician”, and said during the campaign: “I’m coming across door after door of people who are tired of having an MP who’s never here.” — AFP

as party leaders. Sterling gained more than 2 cents against the dollar to rise above $1.55 for the first time since late February, and looked on track to enjoy its biggest one-day gain against the euro since January 2009. The FTSE 100

stock index was up 1.45 percent at 6985, approaching a record high set last month. The price of British government bonds also rose.

Cameron’s victory means Britain will face a vote which he has promised on continued membership in the EU. He says he wants to stay in the bloc, but only if he can renegotiate Britain’s relationship with Brussels. Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the EU’s executive European Commission, congratulated Cameron on his victory. The Commission would examine any British proposal “in a polite, friendly and objective way”, a Commission spokesman said.

In Scotland, the extraordinary scale of the nationalist landslide victory reopened the question of the future of the United Kingdom less than a year after Scots voted in a referendum to remain inside it.

Scotland will send just three representatives of traditional British parties to the UK parliament in London and its dominant nationalists will be locked out of the British cabinet, arguments separatists could use to seek a new vote to leave. Cameron sounded a conciliatory note towards Scotland, likely to be his first immediate headache, promising further devolution of powers to a Scottish government.

“In Scotland, our plans are to create the strongest devolved government anywhere in the world with important powers over taxation and no constitutional settlement will be complete if it did not offer also fairness to England,” Cameron, 48, said.

‘Electoral tsunami’ Alex Salmond, the former leader of the Scottish nationalists, now elected to represent them in parliament in London, called the SNP’s victory an “electoral tsunami on a gigantic scale”. “The SNP are going to be impossible to ignore and very difficult to stop.”

The United Kingdom includes England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, with England accounting for 85 per cent of the population. Scottish politicians elected to parliament in London have historically held major cabinet posts, which could now be impossible with nearly all Scottish seats in nationalist hands.

In a body blow to Labour that set the pattern for the night, Douglas Alexander, the party’s campaign chief and foreign policy spokesman, lost his seat to a 20-year-old Scottish nationalist student, the youngest member of the House of Commons since 1667.

Labour also faced traumatic losses in England. Ed Balls, in line to be finance minister if Labour had won, lost his seat. He fought back tears as he expressed sorrow at Labour’s defeat. “Any personal disappointment I have at this result is as nothing compared to the sense of sorrow I have at the result that Labour have achieved across the UK tonight ... and the sense of concern I have about the future,” he said. — Reuters

S PA I N

E C O N O M I C C O O P E R AT I O N

Russia, China sign Eight-year-old smuggled in suitcase $25b finance deal MOSCOW: Russia and China signed a $25 billion deal to boost Chinese lending to Russian firms and a host of other accords deepening economic cooperation on Friday as Moscow’s ties with the West fray over the Ukraine crisis.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping hailed their countries’ improving relationship after Kremlin talks and a signing ceremony on the eve of a military parade marking the end of World War II in Europe. Xi is among about 30 foreign dignitaries attending the anniversary events in Moscow but the Red Square parade is being shunned by Western leaders in a show of displeasure over Moscow’s role in the conflict in Ukraine.

In a further sign of Moscow’s eastward shift, China and Russia are due to hold joint naval exercises next week in the eastern Mediterranean and Chinese soldiers will take part in Saturday’s military parade.

“Today China is our strategic and key partner,” Putin said after

he and Xi presided over a signing ceremony in front of rows of Chinese and Russian officials in the Kremlin. Xi, who like Putin looked relaxed, invited the Russian leader to attend war commemorations in China on September 3. Putin accepted, saying their countries had suffered most in the war. The Chinese president said the talks had shown Beijing and Moscow shared the same views on many global problems.

Both leaders said it was necessary to guard against a resurgence of fascism and attempts to rewrite history, echoing previous comments by Putin criticising the West and Ukraine for, in his view, underestimating the Soviet role in ending the war.

Despite both being Communistrun in Soviet times, Beijing and Moscow almost went to war in the 1960s over a border dispute but relations have improved steadily since the end of the Cold War, especially since the West imposed economic sanctions on Russia last year over its seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula. — Reuters

MADRID: Police found an eightyear-old Ivorian boy hidden in a suitcase that was smuggled across the border into Spanish territory in north Africa, an official said on Friday.

A 19-year-old woman took the case through a pedestrian crossing from Morocco into the small Spanish-governed territory of Ceuta on Thursday, a spokesman for the Civil Guard police force said.

Something strange “When they put the suitcase through the scanner, the operator noticed something strange, which seemed to be a person inside the case,” he told AFP. “When it was opened they found a minor, in a terrible state.”

The boy said he was eight years old and from Ivory Coast, according to the spokesman. The Civil Guard arrested the woman, who was due to go before a judge.

They also arrested the boy’s father when he tried to cross the border a few hours later. The father is Ivorian and lives in Spain’s Canary Islands. Thousands of migrants each year risk their lives trying to enter Ceuta and another Spanish

IN A TERRIBLE STATE: A picture provided by Spanish Guardia Civil on Friday shows an 8-year-old sub-Saharan boy hidden in a suitcase. – AFP/HO/Spanish Guardia Civil

territory bordering Morocco, Melilla, in search of a better life in Europe. Many Africans try to scramble over the seven-metre (23-foot) fences that separate the Spanish cities from Morocco.

Others smuggle themselves over the border hidden in vehicles and cargoes or try to swim or sail from shores on the Moroccan side.

Earlier this week a 23-year-old Moroccan was found in a shipping

container in the port of Melilla.

He was dehydrated after four days cooped up without food or water, since the container was left unattended over the May holiday weekend. — AFP

S ATURDAY, MAY 9, 2015

S P O R S

Pandya helps Mumbai breach CSK’s fortress SCOREBOARD

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS D. Smith c Pandya b Harbhajan 27 B. McCullum c Pandya b Kumar 23 S. Raina c Pandya b Suchith 10 F. du Plessis c Simmons b McClenaghan 17 MS Dhoni not out 39 P. Negi run out (Patel) 36 Extras (w-6) 6 Total (5 wickets; 20 overs) 158 Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-64, 3-65, 4-104, 5-158 Bowling: MJ McClenaghan 4-0-34- 1; M. de Lange 4- 1-30-0; J. Suchith 4-0-21-1; R. Vinay Kumar 3-0-33-1; Harbhajan Singh 4-0-36-1; H. Pandya 1-0-4-0 MUMBAI INDIANS L. Simmons c Smith b Ashwin 38 P. Patel c du Plessis b Ashwin 45 R. Sharma c Raina b Bravo 18 K. Pollard run out (Bravo) 1 A. Rayudu not out 34 H. Pandya not out 21 Extras (b-1, w-1) 2 Total (4 wickets; 19.2 overs) 159 Fall of wickets: 1-84, 2-85, 3-86, 4-125 Bowling: R. Ashwin 4-0-17-2; M. Sharma 2-0-19-0; A. Nehra 3-0-45-0; R. Jadeja 4-027-0; P. Negi 4-0-34-0; D. Bravo 2.2-0-16-1.

Man of the match: Hardik Pandya

Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in a breathtaking finish to record their fifth successive win of the Indian Premier League here on Friday

CHENNAI: Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in a breathtaking finish to record their fifth successive win of the Indian Premier League here on Friday. Needing 30 runs off the last 12 balls, Hardik Pandya (21 not out of 8 balls) and Ambati Rayudu (34 off 19) smashed left-arm spinner Pawan Negi for 25 runs in the penultimate over to tilt the highpressure game in Mumbai’s favour.

Mumbai took two balls to knock off the five runs needed in the final over, ending at 159 for 4. Super Kings had recovered to post 158 for five in 20 overs. Pandya was the star of the night as he backed his effort on the field by hitting three sixes in the 19th over, proving to be the difference in the end.

Super Kings remained at top in the points table despite their first defeat at home this season while Mumbai added to their remarkable turnaround with a fifth win in as

MUMBAI STARS: Hardik Pandya and Ambati Rayudu of Mumbai Indians celebrate after denying Chennai Super Kings home win. – BCCI

many games. They are now fourth in the standings with six wins and five losses. The away team made a flying start in the chase, racing to 61 for no loss in six overs.

Parthiv Patel (45) was aggressive from the outset, getting his first four with a exquisite punch on a length ball from medium pacer Mohit Sharma. Simmons soon joined in punishing the bowlers, especially in-form speedster Ashish Nehra, smashing the experienced Indian for a six and couple of fours. Having already off to their best start of the season, Mumbai were cruising at 84 for no loss in 10 overs. The

momentum shifted dramatically in the next over when R Ashwin removed the openers in space of four balls, sending the partisan crowd into a frenzy.

And soon it became 86 for three as Dwayne Bravo had his West Indies teammate run out Kieron Pollard with a spectacular direct hit.

Super Kings were right back into the game out of nowhere.

Mumbai, needing 58 runs off the last 30 balls, were now relying heavily on skipper Rohit Sharma and Rayudu. The seasoned pair took the team closer the to target by hammering Nehra for 17 runs in

the 17th over, their team still needing 34 off 18 balls.

While Rohit got out, Rayudu led his team to a thrilling win.

Earlier, M S Dhoni (39 not out off 32 balls) and Negi (36 off 17) smashed 55 off the last five overs to push their team to a fighting total after it struggled for runs in major part of the innings. Dhoni had Negi by his side and the Delhi based cricketer, coming ahead of Jadeja, did not disappoint his skipper, smashing four fours and a six in quick time. The captain too got into the groove late into his innings, collecting two sixes and as many boundaries to the delight of his fans at Chepauk. - PTI

IPL PREVIEW

Kolkata look to end home run on a high KOLKATA: Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will aim for their third win on the trot and end the home leg on a high when they face a demoralised Kings XI Punjab in their next Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match, here on Saturday.

Third-placed KKR would aim for another clinical finish at the Eden Gardens, something that would shoot them to second place in the standings taking them closer to play-offs.

Bottom-placed Kings XI Punjab are virtually out of contention for last-four after succumbing to a 138-run humiliation against a marauding Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last outing and they would look to play for pride in their remainder four matches.

Chris Gayle blasted 117 off 57 balls — the fastest century of this IPL — to floor Kings XI Punjab who were later skittled out for 88 for their lowest in the IPL. The magnitude of the defeat was so big that it would be a big challenge for the George Bailey’s men to recover from the assault and get back to winning ways especially against a team that has done nothing wrong at home.

KKR’s only loss from six outings at the Eden had come against RCB

GOOD GOING: Kolkata Knight Riders celebrating win over Delhi Daredevils on Thursday. – PTI

too and it was the ‘Gayle storm’ that had taken away the match from the defending champions who had begun their campaign with a win over Mumbai Indians in the previous match.

Since that defeat, KKR have posted three successive wins at home while one against Rajasthan Royals was a washout, and every time their bowling has performed up to the expectations.

As Sunil Narine was cleared by the BCCI, albeit with a final warning, KKR went with in four spinners and two pacers to snuff out Delhi Daredevils’ 172-run chase for yet another convincing win last

night. Leg spinner Piyush Chawla revelled in the turning conditions while Aussie china man bowler Brad Hogg foxed batsmen with his guile. Narine went wicket-less but he helped contain the batsmen as everything went as per the script.

The batting looked shaky at times but all of them kept the run-rate ticking while Yusuf Pathan anchored the innings with a valuable 42 from 24 balls before Johan Botha’s five ball 17 pushed them to a challenging total on a difficult wicket.

While KKR will once again look to thrive at home, absence of a quality spinner in KXIP attack will also hurt the visitors cause es-

pecially on the Eden slow turner.

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel and leggie Karanveer Singh are the two frontline spinners in Punjab’s line-up and the duo would look to recover from the bashing they endured against Gayle having leaked 91 runs from six overs against RCB. It was not only their spinners but also their pace spearhead and one of the most fearsome quickies in International cricket, Mitchell Johnson struggled.

Johnson looks out of sorts on the slow subcontinent pitches but KXIP would desperately need their pace spearhead to get into the act.

The likes of Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey, the three KKR frontline batsmen, on the other hand will look to get back among runs before the much important playoff stage.

Coach Sanjay Bangar who had a dream run with the runners-up KXIP in the last season has tried every possible combination but nothing has clicked for him so far as he appears helpless.

“It has been a very difficult phase for us so far. We tried to keep the spirits and confidence high as much as possible, but unless you get a performance under your belt, the confidence doesn’t seem to lift up, and that has been our worry,” he has said. “After such a dismal performance against RCB, we have to dig out deep and pull out some sort of performance. The way things are going, we need to play for our pride.”

KXIP next will play Sunrisers Hyderabad (May 11) in their last away match before concluding their campaign at home against RCB (May 13) and Chennai Super Kings (May 16).

KKR on the other hand travel to Mumbai for their back to back away matches against Mumbai Indians (May 14) and Rajasthan Royals (May 16). - PTI

PREVIEW

Hyderabad eye win against Delhi RAIPUR: Their play-off hopes somehow still alive, inconsistent Sunrisers Hyderabad would look to get yet another win under their belt when they take on struggling Delhi Daredevils in an IPL cricket match, here on Saturday.

Sunrisers Hyderabad kept themselves in the play-off fray by pulling off a seven-run victory over Rajasthan Royals at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. Sunrisers have blown hot and cold right through the tournament and are currently placed at the fifth position in the points table, courtesy their win over the Rajasthan outfit.

Lack of consistency has been Sunrisers’ bane in this tournament so far. They showed signs of returning to form in their 22-run win over league leaders Chennai Super Kings last Saturday but slumped to defeat against defending champions Kolkata knight Riders on Monday.

But as has been the case so far, the Sunrisers returned to winning ways and from here what they need is consistency in their performances if they desire to make it to the next stage of the Twenty20 tournament.

On the other hand, the Daredevils campaign has simply faded away after a promising start.

The Delhi outfit slumped to its seventh loss of the season — second on the trot — last night and the JP Duminy-led side is more or less out of the Play-offs contention.- PTI ODI

Rain washes out IrelandEngland tie MALAHIDE: Rain meant only 18 overs were possible as the lone One-day International between Ireland and England at Malahide ended in a washedout no result on Friday.

The rain, which interrupted play after 79 minutes, did not relent and the umpires called the match off shortly after 3:00pm local time (1400 GMT).

England’s debutant captain James Taylor won the toss and had no hesitation in asking their hosts to bat first in overcast conditions.

Taylor’s team, without members of the side that featured in the recent third Test defeat by the West Indies in Barbados, featured five players making their first appearance in a oneday international.

Two of them, Mark Wood and David Willey, took a wicket each as Ireland slumped to 56 for four when the rain arrived.

Paul Stirling was the first batsman dismissed, too slow to react to William Porterfield’s call for a quick single and wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow’s direct hit left the Middlesex batsman well short.

Porterfield struggled to impose himself against accurate bowling and Wood got him.

Niall O’Brien edged a drive off Tim Bresnan straight to a third debutant James Vince at first slip. - AFP

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Pakistan tighten grip on decisive Bangladesh Test

FORMULA ONE

Hamilton back on top in Barcelona

SCOREBOARD

The hosts were 63 for one at stumps with Tamim Iqbal (32) and Mominul Haque (15) together at the crease after Imrul Kayes was bowled by Yasir Shah for 16 on a wearing pitch at the Sher-eBangla stadium

DHAKA: Bangladesh faced a long haul to save the second and final Test against Pakistan in Dhaka after they were set an improbable victory target of 550 on the third day on Friday.

The hosts were 63 for one at stumps with Tamim Iqbal (32) and Mominul Haque (15) together at the crease after Imrul Kayes was bowled by Yasir Shah for 16 on a wearing pitch at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.

Bangladesh will still need to bat out six sessions over the last two days to avoid losing the short series after the first Test ended in a draw in Khulna last week.

Bangladesh’s highest fourth innings score to win a Test is 217 against the West Indies in 2009.

The Tigers were bowled out for 203 in their first innings before lunch in reply to Pakistan’s 557-8 declared, but the tourists did not enforce the follow-on despite a a mammoth lead of 354 runs.

Batting a second time, Pakistan declared their second innings at 195-6 with skipper Misbah-ul Haq leading the way with a 72-ball 82 that included nine boundaries and three sixes. Pakistan lost opener Mohammad Hafeez before lunch, caught behind by hard-working seamer Mohammad Shahid off the fourth ball of the innings.

CRICKET

Moores facing sack: reports LONDON: Peter Moores is set to be sacked for the second time as England coach after Andrew Strauss takes up a new post in the national set-up, several British newspapers reported on Friday.

Strauss is the overwhelming favourite to land the newlycreated post of England director of cricket, a post created by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) last month following Paul Downton’s sacking as managing director.

Further evidence that former England captain Strauss was on course to take up the administrative role at Lord’s came when he was withdrawn from the Sky television commentary team covering the washed-out oneday international between Ireland and England in Malahide on Friday.

“It is highly likely that he will be the new cricket director, and if that appointment does go ahead it will be announced next week,” said Sky presenter Ian Ward as he explained Strauss’s absence. — AFP

CELEBRATION: Yasir Shah, right, celebrates with his teammates after the dismissal of the Bangladesh cricketer Imrul Kayes during the third day of the second cricket Test. – AFP

Shahid struck again soon after resumption when he removed Sami Aslam, before Azhar Ali, a double-centurion in the first innings, became Soumya Sarkar’s first Test victim after making 25.

Misbah put on 58 for the fourth wicket with Younis Khan before he closed the innings soon after he was sixth out caught in the deep in a bid to step up the run-rate.

Pakistan are seeking their first win on the month-long after being routed 3-0 in the one-day series and losing to Bangladesh for the first time in a Twenty20 international.

Bangladesh, resuming the day at 107-5, conceded the huge lead despite an unbeaten 89 off 91 balls by Shakib Al Hasan that included 14 boundaries and two sixes.

Shakib, who was on 27 when the eighth wicket fell at the total of 140, smashed 62 of the 63 runs he added for the ninth wicket with Mohammad Shahid, who held firm at the other end for nine overs.

‘Won’t give up without a fight’ Shakib admitted his team faced a tough task, but vowed to go down fighting.

“We won’t give up without a

fight, that’s for sure,” the star allrounder said.

“Nobody has ever chased such a total so if we don’t play well tomorrow, we won’t be thinking about the chase obviously. But if we can get a 200-run stand from the toporder, we can build from there.

There is a lot of time left in the game and the wicket is not as slow or low as it was in Khulna.

“If we can spend the first hour tomorrow without losing a wicket, we have hope in this match.”

Shakib said he was surprised by Pakistan’s decision to bat again instead of enforcing the follow-on.

“Frankly, I did not expect them to bat again,” he said. “I don’t know why they did that. But hopefully this will go in our favour.

“I am sure they will think about their decision if we have a big partnership tomorrow. It would, even for a short time, give them some tension.”

Shakib raced to his half-century with two consecutive boundaries off leg-spinner Yasir and celebrated the landmark with a six later in the same over.

Wahab Riaz and Yasir picked up three wickets each. - AFP

Nobody has ever chased such a total so if we don’t play well tomorrow, we won’t be thinking about the chase obviously. But if we can get a 200-run stand from the top-order, we can build from there.

There is a lot of time left in the game and the wicket is not as slow or low as it was in Khulna Shakib Al Hasan

Pakistan 1st innings: 557-8 declared (Azhar Ali 226, Younis Khan 148, Asad Shafiq 107; Taijul Islam 3-179, Mohammad Shahid 2-72, Shuvagata Hom 2-76) Bangladesh 1st innings: Tamim Iqbal lbw b Junaid 4 Imrul Kayes b Yasir 32 Mominul Haque c Sarfraz b Junaid 13 Mohd Mahmudullah c Azhar b Wahab 28 Shakib Al Hasan not out 89 Mushfiqur Rahim b Yasir 12 Soumya Sarkar c Azhar b Wahab 3 Shuvagata Hom c Shafiq b Wahab 0 Taijul Islam b Hafeez 15 Mohammed Shahid c Azhar b Yasir 1 Shahadat Hossain absent hurt Extras (lb-2, w-2, nb-2) 6 Total (all out, 47.3 overs) 203 Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Tamim), 2-38 (Mominul), 3-69 (Imrul), 4-85 (Mahmudullah), 5-107 (Rahim), 6-113 (Soumya) 7-119 (Shuvagata), 8-140 (Taijul), 9-203 (Shahid) Bowling: Junaid 6-2-26-2 (1w), Imran 7-0-31-0, Wahab 15-2-73-3 (1w, 2nb), Yasir 15.3-4-58-3, Hafeez 4-1-13-1.

Pakistan 2nd innings: Mohammed Hafeez c Rahim c Shahid 0 Sami Aslam c Mahmudullah b Shahid 8 Azhar Ali c Shuvagata b Sarkar 25 Younis Khan c and b Taijul 39 Misbah c sub (Hasan) b Mahmudullah 82 Asad Shafiq b Shuvagata 15 Sarfraz Ahmed not out 18 Extras (lb-2, w-6) 8 Total (for six wickets decl, 41.1 overs) 195 Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Hafeez), 2-25 (Aslam), 3-49 (Azhar), 4-107 (Younis), 5-140 (Shafiq), 6-195 (Misbah) Did not bat: Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Imran Khan and Junaid Khan.

Bowling: Shahid 10-4-23-2 (w6), Taijul 10-0-56-1, Sarkar 9-0-45-1, Shakib 8-043-0, Shuvagata 2-0-18-1, Mahmudullah 2.1-0-8-1 Bangladesh 2nd innings: Tamim Iqbal not out 32 Imrul Kayes b Yasir 16 Mominul Haque not out 15 Total (for one wicket, 14 overs) 63 Fall of wicket: 1-48 (Imrul).

Bowling: Junaid 5-0-19-0, Imran 4-1-220, Yasir 3-0-7-1, Wahab 2-0-15-0 Toss: Bangladesh Umpires: Nigel Llong (ENG) and Paul Reiffel (AUS) TV umpire: Ranmore Martinesz (SRI) Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)

Bangladesh

Lewis Hamilton. – AFP

BARCELONA: Defending champion and current leader Lewis Hamilton regained his almost customary place at the top of the timesheets on Friday afternoon when he outpaced Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in the second free practice session ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Driving with his usual elan and precision in a gusty wind at the Circuit de Catlunya, the twotime world champion clocked a best lap of one minute and 26.852 seconds to finish almost half a second clear of nearest rival four-time champion German Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari.

Rosberg, given a reprimand during the morning for infringing the pit-lane entry lines as he worked his way to the fastest lap in that session, wound up seven-tenths of a second back in third place. The reprimand was his first since last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix. Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who complained of boredom during a radio conversation in the closing stages, was fourth quickest in the second Ferrari, endorsing a growing impression that the Italian team is the only one capable of mounting a serious challenge to Mercedes’ continuing domination.

For Hamilton, it was another day of business as usual. After winning three of season-opening four “flyaway” races outside Europe, he dominated the session.

He has failed to top the times in second practice only five times in the last 24 sessions.- AFP

MADRID OPEN

Serena’s long unbeaten run ended by Kvitova MADRID: World number one Serena Williams’s 27-match unbeaten run ended with a 6-2, 6-3 defeat by Petra Kvitova in the Madrid Open semifinals on Friday.

Czech Kvitova will face Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final after she surprisingly knocked out defending champion Maria Sharapova.

Williams had not lost since October but her mood appeared negative and she was slow around the court against fourth seed Kvitova who broke the American’s first service game and never looked back.

“I’m just exhausted today. This has been a rough week for me,” Williams told a news conference.

“It’s good to be really exhausted now going into another tournament and then getting ready for Roland Garros.

“So this is all great preparation that I actually really, really needed, something to push me to the wall and to the limit.”

Kvitova broke serve three times in the first set and there was little resistance in the second set from a despondent Williams.

It was a setback for Williams who won in Madrid in 2012 and 2013, and this was her first claycourt tournament of the season as she prepares for the French Open

Rafa Nadal eases into Madrid Open semifinals

OUSTED: Serena Williams was stunned by Petra Kvitova and she followed Maria Sharapova out of the tournament. – AFP

looking to win her 20th grand slam title. Sharapova crashed out after failing to match the solid hitting of unseeded Kuznetsova who won 6-2 6-4. She looked tense from the start against her fellow Russian, whose consistency from the back of the court helped her break twice to win the first set.

Sharapova came to the tournament in poor form and struggled to get through her previous two matches in the Spanish capital with Caroline Garcia and Caroline Wozniacki taking her to three sets.

She failed to convert a break point at 2-1 in the second set and

lost her serve in the following game. The Russian battled hard to win her next service games but went down 6-4.

“I felt my shots were a little too flat and right in her striking zone,” Sharapova told reporters. “She was able to push me back and when we got into a rally she was the one that found the right ball to be the more aggressive player.”

Kuznetsova is a former grand slam winner at the U.S. Open and Roland Garros but has struggled to reach those heights in recent years and is now ranked 29th in the world. - Reuters

MADRID: Rafa Nadal remains on course for a third straight Madrid Open title after sweeping past Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals on Friday.

The Spaniard, seeded third, came into the tournament with plenty of doubt over his form but in front of his home support he has not yet dropped a set in his quest for a fifth Madrid crown.

Nadal decided to return to his old racket design after trying out a new style in the last two tournaments — and it appears to be working for him.

Throughout the match, Nadal returned serve well against the 10th seeded Bulgarian, breaking Dimitrov in just his second service game with a cross court winner.

Yet the world number four did not have it all his own way as he also lost his own serve before taking control with two more breaks in the first set.

After comfortably enjoying the upper hand in the second set, Nadal told reporters: “This was a good win. I knew that I needed to play better and I think in the first set I played at quite a high level.

“I feel quite positive and I always like playing in Madrid where the people make it a lot easier for me.”

Later in the quarterfinals, second seed Andy Murray meets fifth seed Milos Raonic while fourth seed Kei Nishikori faces David Ferrer and John Isner takes on Tomas Berdych. - AFP

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CHINA EXPORTS IN APRIL UNEXPECTEDLY CONTRACT China’s exports unexpectedly fell 6.4 per cent in April from year earlier, while imports tumbled by a deeperthan-forecast 16.2 per cent, fueling expectations that Beijing will quickly roll out more stimulus to avert a sharper economic slowdown. >B2

N O T S U S TA I NA B L E

Iran expects oil price to touch $80 a barrel by 2016 end TEHRAN: Current crude prices at about $68 a barrel are unsustainable and will rise to $80 by the end of next year as US supply slows, Iran’s deputy oil minister said.

“From a commercial point of view, we believe today’s price is not sustainable,” Roknoddin Javadi, who is also managing director of state-run National Iranian Oil Co., said on Thursday at a news conference in Tehran. “Based on

trends and information we have and what’s happening in the US drilling sector and consequences for the related industry, our expectation is that by the end of 2016 we can see this figure of $80.”

Javadi’s remarks reinforced comments from Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, who told reporters in Tehran on Wednesday that no one is happy with current prices and would instead by “very satisfied” to see oil trad-

ing in a range of $70 to $75. North Sea Brent crude, an international benchmark, fell 16 cents to $65.38 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange at 12pm Singapore time.

Oil has rebounded about 50 per cent from a six-year low in January as drillers in the US reduced the number of active rigs to the fewest since September 2010, slowing production. Iran, the fifth-biggest producer in the Organisation of

Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), pumped 2.78 million barrels a day in April, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Iran’s exports have dropped more than 60 per cent because of sanctions that the UN, US and European Union have imposed over its nuclear program, Zanganeh said. Nuclear talks are to resume May 12 in Vienna with a deadline for an agreement by June 30.

“Financial and oil sanctions all

need to be lifted,” Zanganeh said on Thursday at a conference in Berlin.

Iran has been stockpiling oil in supertankers in the Arabian Gulf, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

While estimates vary from as little as seven million barrels to 35 million barrels, Barclays and Societe Generale predict this crude would be first to be sold abroad if there’s an agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Employment rebounds in US after March’s setback Jobless rate fell to the lowest since May 2008 as more Americans entered the labour force and found work. Average hourly earnings climbed less than forecast, Labour Department showed on Friday

WASHINGTON: Payrolls rebounded in April following an even bigger setback a month earlier than previously estimated, a sign companies are confident the US economy will reboot after stagnating early this year. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.4 per cent.

The 223,000 net increase in employment followed an 85,000 gain in March that was the smallest since June 2012, figures from the Labour Department showed on Friday in Washington.

The jobless rate fell to the lowest since May 2008 as more Americans entered the labour force and found work. Average hourly earnings climbed less than forecast.

Construction and health care were among the industries that accelerated the pace of hiring last month as the economy emerged from temporary setbacks that included bad weather and a labour dispute at West Coast ports.

Such job growth and steadily

ROBUST DEMAND: US economy saw a net rise in employment by 223,000 followed an 85,000 gain in March that was the smallest since June 2012. – Bloomberg file picture

ket where the unemployment rate is 5.4 per cent.”

The pace of employment is quite encouraging. Wage growth is accelerating, but it’s quite gradual, more gradual than we would expect in a market where the unemployment rate is 5.4 per cent Gregory Daco Head of US macroeconomics at Oxford Economics USA Inc.

rising wages may keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise its benchmark interest rate later this year.

“The pace of employment is quite encouraging,” said Gregory Daco, head of US macroeconom-

ics at Oxford Economics USA Inc., whose payrolls forecast of 221,000 was among the closest in a Bloomberg survey.

“Wage growth is accelerating, but it’s quite gradual, more gradual than we would expect in a mar-

CRUDE SUPPLIES

Saudis splurging in Asia to win loyal oil customers for decades LONDON: Saudi Arabia is spending generously now on Asian refiners to lock-in its position as the region’s biggest supplier of oil for decades to come.

The Saudi national oil company is part of a group that’s building a processing plant in China and it teamed with Asia’s biggest refiner on another in Fujian province. Oil Minister Ali Al Naimi travelled to Beijing last month, highlighting the importance of the world’s second-biggest crude consumer to his country’s future.

He also visited a South Korean refinery in which his country has a majority interest.

Pressure is rising on Saudi Arabia to hold on to market share in Asia as competitors including Iraq, Mexico and Russia make inroads. The kingdom, the world’s largest crude exporter, has cut price differentials on its crude to Asia 10 times in the past 18 months, while rivals followed with their own reductions.

“Saudi Arabia has been on the lookout for a lot more joint ven-

ture projects,” Suresh Sivanandam, a refining and chemical analyst at Wood Mackenzie in Singapore, said by phone. “They want to secure demand for their crude and that’s one way of increasing market share.”

Asian demand Daily consumption of 31.2 million barrels in Asia this year will take the region’s demand above that in the Americas at 31.1 million barrels, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA). Asia will account for twothirds of the growth in global oil demand in 2015, the IEA says.

The flexibility of Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the state company known as Aramco, to raise or cut output on short notice along with stakes in refineries run by its customers gives it an advantage over rivals, according to Julian Lee, an oil strategist with Bloomberg. The company has capacity to produce 12 million barrels of oil daily.

Aramco’s press office declined to comment in an e-mail.

The Saudis, pumping near a record rate, already forced a slowdown in US shale production by leading the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) in a policy of maintaining output to hold on to customers rather than cutting production to support prices. Shale oil drillers have reduced their rigs 21 weeks in a row and cut the total by more than half since October. West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, is down more than 40 per cent from a high in June.

Joint venture A joint venture between PetroChina Co., Aramco and Yunnan Yuntianhua Co. is currently building a 260,000 barrel-a-day refinery in the southwest of the Asian nation. Aramco already manages a 280,000 barrel-a-day refinery and petrochemical complex in China’s Fujian province along with China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec, and Exxon Mobil Corp. — Bloomberg News

Previous months The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 96 economists called for a 228,000 advance, with estimates ranging from gains of 175,000 to 327,000. March was revised from a previously reported 126,000 advance. Revisions to prior reports subtracted a total of 39,000 jobs from overall payrolls in the previous two months.

To calculate the data, the Labour Department surveys businesses for the pay period that includes the 12th of the month. The span between the agency’s April and March employment surveys was five weeks, rather than the typical four. The participation rate, which indicates the share of working-age people who are employed or looking for work, increased to 62.8 per cent from 62.7 per cent in March, which matched the lowest since 1978.

Hourly earnings Wage growth remains limited, with average hourly earnings rising 0.1 per cent in April after a revised 0.2 per cent gain that was weaker than initially reported.

Compared with a year earlier, hourly pay was up 2.2 per cent last month, less than the Bloomberg median estimate of 2.3 per cent.

The average work week for all employees held at 34.5 hours.

Construction companies took on 45,000 workers in April, the biggest gain since January 2014.

Employment in health services increased 55,600 in April, the strongest increase in five months.

Michele Natale, 54, a licenced practical nurse who’s been looking for steady employment for a year, said she’s relieved to be starting a new, full-time job next week with Blue Cross Blue Shield.

‘It’s been horrible’ The work couldn’t come at a better time, as there’s currently “not enough money to pay rent, no money for food, not money for gas — it’s been horrible,” she said.

When a former manager helped her find the job, “I was elated, because the benefits are good, and the money is phenomenal for down here,” said Natale, who lives in Flagler Beach, Florida.

“I just feel very fortunate, especially because of my age.” The slowdown in employment tied to cheaper oil prices persisted in April, the Labour Department’s report showed.

Job growth in leisure and hospitality employment, which climbed by 17,000 last month, was restrained by a 7,100 decrease in payrolls at hotels. — Bloomberg News

HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your comments at facebook.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com haveyoursay@timesofoman.com

“We don’t have very much oil in floating storage — as much as operationally needed,” Javadi said, without giving details.

Iran’s oil output capacity will rise to 3.96 million barrels a day by next March from 3.8 million in March this year, he said. “Our most important job this year is securing financing for development projects, for which the parliament has allocated $100 billion.”

— Bloomberg News

L I C E N C I N G B ATT L E

Ericsson sues Apple over mobile-phone patent royalties STOCKHOLM: Ericsson said it sued Apple in three countries as it ratcheted up a global licencing battle between the companies.

The suits in Germany, the UK and the Netherlands add to US filings seeking a patent-licensing agreement for technologies fundamental to the way mobile devices communicate and for intellectual property related to user interfaces, batteries and operating systems.

Apple continues to sell products globally without a license from Ericsson, the wireless-network maker said on Friday.

“Everybody needs to take a license for the technologies we are providing to them,” Kasim Al Falahi, Ericsson’s chief intellectual property officer, said in a phone interview from the company’s Stockholm headquarters. “It’s a very serious thing, regardless of who the company is.” The issue has split the technology industry between those who have created some of the basic ways phones operate and those that use the technology in complex devices.

Apple had been paying royalties to Ericsson before a license expired in mid-January. When talks over renewal failed, the companies sued each other, seeking court rulings on whether Ericsson’s royalty demands on fundamental technology were fair and reasonable.

An Apple representative in the UK didn’t immediately return a call and e-mail seeking comment before regular business hours.

In its complaint against Ericsson in January, Apple said the price of today’s electronics are driven by things like design, operating system and touch capabilities that are unique to each product. Apple said Ericsson “seeks to exploit its patents to take the value of these cutting-edge Apple innovations” and accused the company of “abusive licensing practices.” — Bloomberg News

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Greece defies international creditors on pension, labour reform ATHENS/BRUSSELS: Greece defied its international creditors on Thursday, refusing to cut pensions or ease layoffs to meet their demands, dimming prospects of progress next week towards securing desperately needed financial aid.

Despite efforts by European Commission President JeanClaude Juncker to coax leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras into moving on two key conditions for releasing EU/IMF bailout funds, a Greek government spokesman said lenders could not expect Athens to make all the concessions.

“There should not be an expectation on the part of institutions ... that the government will back down on everything,” Gabriel Sakellaridis told a news conference. “When you negotiate, there

pect of releasing the frozen bailout funds. “We’re nowhere near that as things stand today,” said an official close to the so-called Brussels Group negotiations between Greece and the European Commission, ECB and IMF.

should be mutual concessions.

“We won’t go beyond the limits of our red lines,” he said. “It’s clear that we cannot cut pensions.”

Athens is running out of cash but has dragged its feet on accepting unpopular reforms promised by a previous government. Negotiations have moved so slowly that the lenders have ruled out an agreement at next Monday’s meeting of euro zone finance ministers.

Immediate crunch Sakellaridis said Greece wants the Eurogroup ministers to recognise progress towards an agreement in a joint statement on Monday, giving the European Central Bank leeway to let Athens sell more short-term debt to Greek banks.

That would ease the immedi-

Liquidity assistance The central bank on Wednesday raised the amount of emergency liquidity assistance Greek banks can tap to counter deposit outflows and held off from tightening conditions for collateral they must present. But without a political deal, the ECB could toughen its stance in the next two weeks, the sources said.

Confidence between Athens and its euro zone partners is at a low point after three months of radi-

– Bloomberg file picture

However, sources familiar with the deliberations said the ECB was highly unlikely to make such a move unless the euro zone ministers set out a very strong pros-

ate funding crunch, helping the government make a 750 million euro payment to the International Monetary Fund on May 12 and pay wages and pensions later.

China exports unexpectedly drop in April, imports slide VITAL FACTS Dismal trade

Surprisingly weak trade data fans stimulus expectations

Risk that growth could slow to global crisis levels

April exports fall 6.4% year-on-year, versus forecast of 2.4% rise

Imports fall 16.2% year-onyear, versus forecast 12.0% decline

Trade balance +34.13 billion, versus forecast +39.45 billion

performance raises the risk that secondquarter economic growth of China may dip below seven per cent for the first time since the depths of the financial crisis UNCERTAIN TIMES: Imports have been weaker than exports, falling 16.2 per cent in April from a year earlier, according to General Administration of Customs data on Friday. — Bloomberg file picture

BEIJING: China’s exports unexpectedly fell 6.4 per cent in April from a year earlier, while imports tumbled by a deeper-than-forecast 16.2 per cent, fuelling expectations that Beijing will quickly roll out more stimulus to avert a sharper economic slowdown.

The dismal trade performance raises the risk that second-quarter economic growth may dip below seven per cent for the first time since the depths of the global financial crisis, adding to official fears of job losses and growing levels of bad debt.

“This is bad. I expect an interest rate cut this weekend,” said economist Tim Condon at ING in Singapore.

“This is going to make seven per cent (GDP) growth hard to attain.

It looks like the weakness in the

first quarter wasn’t transitory. It’s persistent.”

Lower interest rates The central bank has lowered interest rates and banks’ reserve requirement ratio (RRR) thrice in three months since November to stoke the economy, and most analysts had expected it to loosen policy again on both fronts in coming months.

Policy insiders told Reuters this week that China’s leaders have been caught off guard by the sharpness of the downturn, and are likely to resort to fiscal stimulus to revive growth after a flurry of monetary policy easing has proved less effective than hoped.

Imports have been weaker than exports, falling 16.2 per cent in

April from a year earlier, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Friday, highlighting tepid domestic demand as the world’s secondlargest economy slows. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected exports would rise 2.4 per cent in April after a 15 per cent plunge in March, and predicted imports would fall 12 per cent after a 12.7 per cent drop the previous month.

In April, exports to the United States, China’s top export market, rose 3.1 per cent from a year earlier, while shipments to the European Union, the second largest market, dipped 10.4 per cent, according to customs data.

Economists at Nomura expect annual economic growth to slow to 6.6 per cent in the second

quarter from seven per cent in the first quarter, and are pencilling in three more 25-basis-point rate cuts and two more 50 bps cuts in banks’ reserve requirements for the rest of the year, which would mark the central bank’s most aggressive easing campaign since the global crisis.

Lukewarm demand Buffeted by lukewarm foreign and domestic demand, China’s trade sector has wobbled in the past year, adding to pressure on the slowing economy and unsettling policymakers.

Earlier this week, China’s trade minister said the devaluation of currencies by some countries has led to sharp gains in the yuan, hurting the competitiveness of

Chinese exports. The yuan has gained against major non-dollar currencies in recent months, leading to its rise on a trade-weight basis. But Premier Li Keqiang has ruled out a devaluation, even as the economy faces headwinds.

While some exporters said they have not felt the impact of a rising yuan, thanks in part to the growing popularity of currency hedging options, few doubt that sales would suffer in coming months if the yuan sustains its ascent. — Reuters

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cal rhetoric, obstruction of EU and IMF officials on the ground, contradictory policy statements and obdurate negotiating tactics.

In frenetic diplomacy ahead of Monday’s meeting, Juncker said he discussed Greece with ECB President Mario Draghi by telephone on Thursday and would be speaking to Tsipras again later in the day, just 24 hours after their previous call.

Asked about the risk of a Greek default and exit from the currency area, the EU chief executive said, “If I were to say that ‘Grexit’ was an option, what do you think would happen then on the financial markets?” A Commission spokesman said the Brussels Group would continue negotiations over the weekend. — Reuters ECONOMY

Investors in Tokyo look to Japan, US data TOKYO: Tokyo investors will be looking to Japanese trade data and US retail sales next week, while bracing for any signs of a US interest rate hike following a warning from Fed boss Janet Yellen on high equity valuations.

Japan’s finance ministry is scheduled to release its March trade balance on Wednesday, while US retail sales in April will be announced later in the day.

Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities, said investors would continue watching for any signs of a US rate hike after a warning from Federal Reserve chief Yellen that stock valuations were “quite high”.

“The market is expected to remain nervous about economic indicators” related to an expected rate hike, Horiuchi said. “Positive figures are welcome in general but if it’s too good, that would fuel speculation that a rate hike is near,” he added. On Friday, stocks rose 0.45 per cent after Wall Street rallied and the yen eased on hopes for a solid US jobs report, while Nintendo shares surged on betterthan-expected earnings.

The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 87.20 points to end at 19,379.19. It lost 0.78 per cent over the week, which was shortened to two sessions by public holidays.

The Topix index of all first-section issues added 0.83 per cent, or 13.12 points, to 1,587.76. Markets were gearing up for the US Department of Labour’s jobs report on Friday to gauge whether the economy is strong enough for the Federal Reserve to begin raising ultra-low interest rates. — Agencies

ECONOMY

German industrial production drops FRANKFURT: German industrial production unexpectedly declined in March in a sign that Europe’s largest economy remains vulnerable to global economic weakness.

Output, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, fell 0.5 per cent after stagnating in February, data from the Economy Ministry in Berlin showed on Friday. The typically volatile number compares with a median estimate of a 0.4 per cent gain in a Bloomberg survey. Production rose 0.1 per cent from a year earlier.

Patches of economic weakness around the world and the stand-off between Greece and its creditors risk dragging on an accelerating recovery in the euro area, Germany’s biggest trading partner, even as the European Central Bank (ECB) is making large-scale asset purchases. Yet, German business confidence is at a 10-month high and the Bundesbank predicts “quite robust” economic growth for this year.

“Today’s data have created uncertainty, rather than clarity,” said Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at ING-DiBa in Frankfurt. “The German growth picture seems to be more mixed than buoyant sentiment indicators have been suggesting. Industrial production is clearly stagnating, reflecting stillweak demand from other eurozone countries but also a continued investment drought.”

The euro extended its decline after the report and traded at

tics office said on Thursday. While the trend continues to be positive, orders dropped 1.5 percent in the first quarter amid sluggish demand from abroad, it said.

SEASONAL SWINGS: Factory output, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, fell 0.5 per cent after stagnating in February. — Bloomberg file picture

$1.1199 at 9:06am Frankfurt time, down 0.6 per cent. The benchmark DAX Index was up 0.8 per cent.

Moderate start Manufacturing output fell 0.8 per cent in March from the previous month, with investment-goods production down 1.4 per cent, according to the report. Industry output rose 0.5 per cent in the first quarter, the ministry said, bolstered by a 2.3 per cent increase in construction.

“The industrial sector had an overall moderate start to the year,” it said in an e-mailed state-

ment. “Manufacturing especially stumbled in the past months. Important sectors for the economy such as engineering and the car industry are currently lacking momentum.”

A measure of factory activity in Germany and the euro area signalled slowing output in April, according to Markit Economics.

At the same time, manufacturers raised prices for the first time in eight months, providing evidence that the foundations of the feeble recovery are strengthening.

Factory orders, a gauge of future output, rose in March after two months of decline, the statis-

Trade surplus widened In March, exports rose 1.2 per cent from the previous month, while imports surged 2.4 per cent, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said in a separate release. The trade surplus widened to 23 billion euros ($26 billion) from 19.5 billion in February.

First-quarter growth data will be released on May 13. Economists forecast an expansion of 0.5 per cent, compared with the 0.7 per cent recorded at the end of last year. On Tuesday, the European Commission raised its economic outlook for the euro area, with gross domestic product projected to increase 1.5 per cent this year, up from a prediction of 1.3 per cent in February. Germany’s economy will continue outpacing the region, expanding 1.9 per cent this year and two per cent in 2016, according to the report.

“The fundamentals look good and German manufacturers should benefit from the weaker euro and the higher growth in neighbouring countries,” said Johannes Gareis, an economist at Natixis in Frankfurt. “Yet, there are some worries, which include China’s economic struggles, the question marks hanging over the state of the US economy and continuing Russian woes.” — Agencies

SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2015

B3

MARKET TRIMMING COSTS

F I R S T Q U A R T E R R E S U LT S

InterContinental room revenue tops estimates – Bloomberg file picture

Bombardier mulls cuts in jobs, private jet sales slow MONTREAL: Bombardier is again considering job cuts among options to reduce costs as business-jet sales slow and the maker of planes and trains begins work on an initial public offering for a minority stake in its rail unit.

The widely traded Class B shares rose the most in two-and- a-half years as Chief Executive Officer Alain Bellemare laid out details of his turnaround plan on Thursday.

Bombardier also disclosed the first operator of its delayed C Series jet, Deutsche Lufthansa’s Swiss, to resolve questions over the model’s 2016 debut.

A new round of job reductions would deepen the pullback begun last year, when Bombardier eliminated 3,500 aerospace positions before suspending work on its newest business aircraft, the Learjet 85, in January. While Bellemare didn’t give details, his announcement signalled that he plans to heed investor demands for improved earnings with a view to reviving a sagging stock price.

“It’s clear that we have to work on our cost structure,” Bellemare told reporters after the company’s annual meeting in Montreal. “We see that compared with our peers there is a lot of room to improve.

We have to take the right actions to improve the profitability of the company. This is an important and urgent priority for me.”

While job cuts are one of the “tools” at Bombardier’s disposal, they aren’t the only option, Bellemare said. Supplier expenses will also be looked at, he said.

Momentum regained Bombardier reported first-quarter earnings excluding one-time items of 9 cents a share, topping the 6-cent average of 16 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg, as deliveries of commercial and business aircraft increased.

The results are the first under Bellemare, who took over February 12 with a mandate to restore profitability after C Series cost overruns dragged Montreal-based Bombardier to its first annual loss in almost a decade in 2014. He has brought in new executives, ordered a strategic review of the train division’s future and boosted liquidity.

“Confidence grows that the company’s new management has regained solid fundamental momentum,” Nicholas Heymann, a William Blair analyst, said in a note to clients. He rates the stock as outperform. Bombardier rose 6.7 per cent to C$2.54 at the close in Toronto, the biggest jump since November 2012. — Bloomberg News

BERLIN: InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) reported firstquarter room revenue that beat analyst estimates as the owner of the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza saw increases in all its regions.

Revenue per available room, an industry measure of occupancy and rates known as revpar, increased by 5.9 per cent, the Denham, England-based company said in a statement on Friday.

Analysts predicted five per cent growth, according to the average of eight estimates compiled

by Bloomberg. The average room rate rose by 3.4 per cent globally, the company said.

“We’ve had a very good first quarter and continue to see strong momentum in the business,” Chief Financial Officer Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson said on a call with reporters.

The company’s stock surged to a record last month after Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide said it’s exploring strategic and financial alternatives to increase shareholder value, fuelling speculation it may bid for Inter-

– Bloomberg file picture

Continental. Activist investor Marcato Capital Management in November urged InterContinental to merge with another leading hotel operator.

Edgecliffe-Johnson declined to comment on the speculation.

Profit in 2015 will likely be hurt by the weak euro, Julien Richer, an analyst at Raymond James Financial, said in a research note.

Taking into account currency fluctuations, IHG’s revpar rose 1.5 per cent in the first quarter, he

said. “No change in fundamentals, but forex is denting growth,” said Richer, who has a buy rating on the stock.

Revpar for the Americas increased 6.2 per cent, less than the analysts’ estimate of 6.5 per cent,

led by a 6.6 per cent jump in the US, where the industry achieved all-time record levels of occupancy for each month since December, according to EdgecliffeJohnson. Europe revpar grew 5.8 per cent, beating an estimate of five per cent. Asia revpar climbed 6.2 per cent compared with an estimate of three per cent.

Revenue in Hong Kong was hurt by “Occupy” protests at the end of 2014, IHG said. The company is continuing its “strategic review” of InterContinental Hong Kong, it said.

InterContinental has been divesting properties as it focuses on operating hotels rather than owning them. Last year, the company agreed to sell Le Grand in Paris for 330 million euros ($370 million) and said it’s examining options for its remaining properties.

InterContinental jumped 33 pence to 2,792 pence at 8:30am in London trading, 16 per cent higher than a year ago. That compares with a 17 per cent drop in the Bloomberg World Lodging Index.

— Bloomberg News

Toyota’s annual profit zooms by 19% to record $18.1 billion $1.0 billion plant in rising Mexico and another production line in China.

Despite weakness in Asia and industry concerns about a slowdown in major market China, Toyota also said it was on track for a bigger 2.25 trillion yen net profit in the current business year.

Akio Toyoda. — Bloomberg News

TOKYO: Toyota said on Friday its annual profit accelerated 19 per cent to a record $18.1 billion as the world’s biggest automaker capitalised on a weak yen and strong demand in North America, despite a damaging string of recalls.

The company beat earlier forecasts with its 2.17 trillion yen net profit ($18.1 billion) in the fiscal year to March — bigger than the combined 2014 profit of Volkswagen and General Motors.

Revenues at the Corolla and Prius hybrid maker rose six percent to 27.23 trillion yen.

Despite weakness in Asia and industry concerns about a slowdown in major market China, Toyota also said it was on track for a bigger 2.25 trillion yen net

profit in the current business year.

Toyota’s latest operating profit rose 20 per cent — largely owing to cost cuts and a sharp decline in the yen, which inflates the value of exporters’ repatriated profits — even as sales edged lower to 8.97 million units.

Hino and Daihatsu Including the Hino and Daihatsu brands, Toyota moved a slightly higher 10.16 million units.

Sales to North America and Europe rose, while they turned down in Asia and specifically in Japan, where consumer spending dived after the government hiked sales taxes last year.

Chinese sales rose 7.4 per cent in the latest period, however, although GM and Volkswagen still outsell Toyota in the world’s biggest auto market.

“We are expecting the North American market to continue its strong performance, but we see sales volume falling in Asia where the environment is becoming increasingly tough, as well as emerging markets such as Russia and the Middle East,” Executive Vice President Nobuyori Kodaira told a press briefing in Tokyo Friday.

Toyota said it is planning a 300 billion yen share buyback after an investor meeting in June.

But president Akio Toyoda added that his family company still needed to be “reborn” to cope with an “uncertain” global auto market.

Productivity gains Toyota has been focusing on squeezing out productivity gains and better using existing plants — it put on hold building new factories for several years.

The company began operating a new Thai plant in 2013, but then halted investment as the global car market struggled with oversupply and weak demand.

Last month, Toyota announced it was ending the construction freeze as it unveiled plans for a

Overhauling production The firm is also overhauling its production methods, vowing to slash development costs in a bid to offset any downturn in the market. “The weak yen has had a big impact on Japan’s auto industry and strong demand in North America also benefited the industry, offsetting stagnant markets such as Japan,” Marusan Securities auto analyst Hiroaki Mochida told AFP. “But recalls will remain a potential serious risk at a time when the use of common parts is a global trend.”

Toyota is working to recover its reputation for safety after the recall of millions of cars globally for various problems, including an exploding airbag crisis at embattled supplier Takata, which posted an annual loss on Friday.

Rival automaker Honda last month said its fiscal-year net profit fell 8.9 per cent as it grapples with soaring recall-related costs.

Japan’s number two car company Nissan reports its latest results next week. As part of moves into growing markets, Toyota is tapping demand for environmentally friendly cars, especially in China which is struggling to contain an air pollution crisis. — AFP

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B4

S ATUR DAY, M AY 9, 2 015

FEATURE

CHINA’S $364B REALTY BOMB FITCH RATINGS has called real estate the “biggest threat” to Chinese banks as surging loans tied to properties coincide with defaults and falling sales.

Corporate loans backed by buildings have grown almost fivefold since 2008 and residential mortgages have more than tripled in the period among lenders rated by Fitch, the company said on Friday. That’s seen property loans held by China’s four biggest lenders soar to a total 2.26 trillion yuan ($364 billion), according to their annual reports.

“Collateral is supposed to reduce bank risk — but the rise of property collateral in corporate loans may actually increase the chance of bank failure,” Fitch analysts Jack Yuan and Grace Wu said in the report. “This is because the widespread use of such collateral has lowered the perceived risks of lending, fuelling China’s credit build-up and spreading real-estate risk to other sectors of the economy.”

Alarm bells sounded last month when Kaisa Group Holdings became the first Chinese developer to default on offshore bonds, putting more scrutiny on a sector that made up a third of the nation’s economy in 2013, according to Gavekal Dragonomics. Property prices in 70 Chinese cities have fallen for more than a year, the worst losing streak in at least a decade, while sales have dropped for 11 of the past 24 months, Bloomberg-compiled data show.

High real estate credit Loans backed by properties now comprise 40 per cent of all facilities held by Fitch-rated banks, according to the report. Total credit to real estate could be as high as 60 per cent if other types of financing besides direct loans are included, Fitch said.

“The property market is usually one of the main revenue contributors to the state,” said Raymond Chia, the head of credit research for Asia ex-Japan at Schroder Investment Management. “With the weakness in the sector, especially with excess inventory overhang as well as weak earnings by developers, economic growth will be affected.”

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the world’s biggest bank by assets, held 443.5 billion yuan of real estate loans, or 6.6 per cent of all facilities, at the end of last year, according to its annual report. The portion for Bank of China, the nation’s second-largest, was 714.6 billion yuan of advances, or 8.4 per cent of its credit book.

China Construction Bank Corp.’s property loans were reported at 520.1 billion yuan, or 5.5 per cent of overall facilities. Agricultural Bank of China’s real estate loans stood at 581.1 billion yuan, or 11.3 per cent.

Recent data There’s still reasons for optimism on Chinese property, helped by the central bank cutting the lenders’ reserve requirement ratio twice this year, said Owen Gallimore, a Singapore-based credit strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group. “The recent data on property sales has shown improvement, especially for the biggest developers,” he said in an interview. “And with the PBOC aggressively easing, it’s hard to be bearish on Chinese property.”

Banks and developers will be hoping the bulls are correct. Chinese loans secured by real estate have increased 400 per cent since 2008 at lenders rated by Fitch, compared with a 260 percent rise in facilities overall, according to Fitch.

“We believe a significant portion of China’s four trillion yuan stimulus package found its way into the real estate sector,” the analysts said in Friday’s report. “The rise of property collateral is a familiar theme in real estate booms.”

— Bloomberg News

PROPERTY LOANS HELD BY CHINA’S FOUR BIGGEST LENDERS SOAR TO A TOTAL 2.26 TRILLION YUAN ($364 BILLION), ACCORDING TO FITCH’S ANNUAL REPORTS

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Study of 17,000 hit pop songs identifies the years to remember – and the ones best forgotten

I

t was the year that Madonna begged Papa Don’t Preach and Peter Gabriel dropped his Sledgehammer. Now a scientific study of pop music’s evolution has concluded that 1986 was the most repetitive year on record.

Whilst the hits of 1986 morphed into one repetitive thud, 1991 was the most revolutionary year in popular music, as rap broadened the vocabulary of pop, researchers from Queen Mary University of London and Imperial College London found.

With help from music website Last.fm and using the US Billboard Hot 100 as its source material, the scientists employed cutting edge methods including signal processing and text-mining to analyse the musical properties of songs.

Their system automatically

grouped 17,000 hit songs by patterns of chord changes and tone allowing researchers to statistically identify trends with what they believe is an unprecedented degree of consistency. The study found that 1986 was the least diverse year for the charts, a fact the researchers attribute to the sudden popularisation of drum machines and sampling technology.

Harmonic and rhythmic diversity declined as the metronomic, club-inspired beats of the Pet Shop Boys’s West End Girls, the rigid synthesised percussion of Janet Jackson’s biggest hits and the dance production trio of Stock, Aitken & Waterman took over the charts.

In rock music too, stadium rock, defined by huge snare drums, wailing guitar solos and crunching power chords drove out the relative melodic sophistication of

previous bands. The authors single out “the gated reverb effect famously used by Phil Collins on In The Air tonight, 1981 as an example of the thunderous drum sound copied by every rock band.

The homogenisation of pop began with the 70s rise of genres such as new wave, disco and hard rock, the researchers say, and peaked in 1986. From then on, the emergence of hip-hop, credited to the popularity of the MTV series Yo! MTV Raps, broadens the frequencies of music with its focus on variable speech patterns, a revival of classic 70s funk breaks and an absence of overdriven guitars.

“The greatest musical revolution in US pop history was not 1964, but 1991 when hip-hop arrived in the charts,” the researcher say after finding that, contrary to popular belief, the so-called “British Invasion” of US pop music by

groups such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, did not start a rock revolution, but only followed existing trends.

The scientists identified “three revolutions: a major one around 1991 and two smaller ones around 1964 and 1983” - the year America embraced synth-based pop.

Many music experts believe that the current day singles chart, dominated by a single dance-pop genre and lacking the diverse genres of previous decades, has never been more repetitive.

Matthias Mauch, of the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science at QMUL, lead author of the paper, said: “For the first time we can measure musical properties in recordings on a large scale. We can actually go beyond what music experts tell us, or what we know ourselves about them, by looking directly into the

songs, measuring their makeup, and understanding how they have changed.

“No doubt some will disagree with our scientific approach and think it’s too limited for such an emotional subject but I think we can add to the wonder of music by learning more about it. We want to analyse more music from more periods in more countries and build a comprehensive picture of how music evolves.”

guitar-driven aggression and decreased use of mellow vocals”.

Hall of fame

1991 A breakthrough year due to “the rise of hip-hop, rap and related genres, as exemplified by the music of Busta Rhymes, Nas, and Snoop Dogg, who all use chords particularly rarely”. However, the academics neglect to explain why (Everything I Do) I Do It For You

by Bryan Adams is the year’s topseller. — Adam Sherwin/The Independent

1964 The Singing Nun and Bobby Vinton are replaced by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. But the report says the groups’ musical style merely “exaggerated existing trends... towards increased use of major chords and decreased use of ‘bright’ speech and increased

1983 Michael Jackson, The Police, Eurythmics and even Dexys Midnight Runners top the US charts in music’s second revolutionary epoch.

Synthpop, soul and doo-wop (Billy Joel) rub shoulders with Lionel Richie’s All Night Long, which incorporates Caribbean influences alongside funk.

B6

S ATUR DAY, M AY 9, 2 015

ENTERTAINMENT CINEMA SCHEDULE

BAHJA CINEMA AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON (3D) (Action, Adventure) (PG12) Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, 02:15 pm /06:10 pm /08:50 pm /11:30 pm Hot Pursuit (Comedy) (12+) Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Sofía Vergara, Matthew Del 3:50, 7:45, 10:00 PM

SCREEN 3 Gabbar - Hindi (Action/Drama ) – PG Cast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti K. Haasan, Kareena Kapoor 3.45 PM

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WORDS & PICTURES (12+) Cast : Clive Owen, Juliette Binoche, Bruce Davison 05:25 pm

KAJAKI (Adventure, Drama) (15+) Cast: Mark Stanley, David Elliot 05:30 pm /09:25 pm /11:45 pm

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Avengers: Age of Ultron (2D)(Act, Adventure, Fantasy)– PG12 6.45, 9.45 PM

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Gabbar - 2D (PG) Action |Crime Cast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti K. Haasan, Kareena Kapoor 09:15 pm

SCREEN 1 Piku (Drama / Comedy) – PG Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Irrfan Khan 3.30, 6.45, 9.30 PM SCREEN 2

AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON (3DPG12 Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans 02:20 pm /07:00 pm /11:45 pm

Avengers: Age of Ultron (3D)( Act)– PG12 Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans 3.45 PM

AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON (3D) (PG12) Cast : Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans 03:15 pm /08:30 pm

Gabbar - Hindi (Action/Drama ) – PG Cast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti K. Haasan, Kareena Kapoor 6.45, 9.45 PM

Hot Pursuit - 2D (12+) Action |Comedy Cast : Reese Witherspoon, Sofía Vergara, Matthew Del 12:45, 3:15, 7:00 pm Absolution – 2D (15+)Act, Adv, Crime Cast: Steven Seagal, Byron Mann 5:00, 7:00, 11:45 pm Avengers: Age of Ultron – 3D (PG12) Action |Adventure |Sci-Fi Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans 12:30, 2:15, 8:45, 11:30 pm Words and Pictures - 2D (12+) Comedy, Drama, Romance Cast: Clive Owen, Juliette Binoche, Bruce Davison 4:50, 7:20 pm Piku -2D (PG) Comedy, Drama Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Irrfan Khan 12:00, 9:00, 11:20 pm It Follows - 2D (15+) Horror | Mystery Cast: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist 3:15, 11:45 pm Kajaki – 2D (15+) Adventure, Drama, Cast: Mark Stanley, David Elliot 5:15, 9:30 pm Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet - 2D (PG12) Animation Cast: Liam Neeson, Salma Hayek, 2:30, 4:10 pm Oru Vadakkan Selfie - 2D (M)(PG) Comedy Cast: Nivin Pauly, Aju Varghese, 12:30, 06:30 pm

Avengers: Age of Ultron- 3D (PG12) 04:45/09:00 PM Kajaki - 2D (15+) 03:00/11:45 PM Hot Pursuit-2D (12+) Vergara, Matthew Del; 05:15/07:15 PM Backcountry 2D (15+) Cast: Missy Peregrym, Eric Balfour 05:00/09:15 PM Absolution 2D (15+) Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Esposito, 07:00/11:15 PM Gabbar is Back 2D (PG) Cast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti K. Haasan, Kareena Kapoor, 09:00 PM Kahlil Gibran’s the Prophet (2D) Cast: Liam Neeson, Salma Hayek, 03:15 pm (PG12) Revenge for Jolly! 2D (15+) Cast: Brian Petsos, Kristen Wiig 03:30 pm Piku (2D) (PG) 07:00/11:00 pm

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Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Irrfan Khan 12:30, 09:15 PM Kajaki (Adventure / Drama ) (15+) Cast: Mark Stanley, David Elliot, Malachi Kirby 08:00, 11:30 PM Absolution (Act / Adv / Crime) (15+) Cast: Steven seagal, Byron Mann, 04:30, 11:45 PM Hot Pursuit (Act / Comedy) Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Sofia Vergara, 02:45, 06:15, 10:00 PM

Avengers :AgeOf Ultron (3D)(PG12)(Act) Cast: Robert Dwney Jr,Chris Evan, 11:00AM/3:35/7:15/11:30PM Kajaki (2D)(15+)( Adve, Dr, Thriller ) Cast: Mark Stanley, David Elliot 10:30AM/12:45/11:45PM Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet (2D)(PG12) Cast: Liam Neeson, Salma Hayek, 11:15AM/12:30PM Words and Pictures (2D) (12+) (Com ) Cast: Clive Owen, Juliette Binoche 4:30PM It Follows (2D)(15+) (Horror | Mystery) Cast: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist 2:45/6:35PM Hot Pursuit (2D) (12+) (Act, Comedy) Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Sofía Vergara, 2:00/5:30/9:45PM Gabbar (2D)(PG) (Act/Crime/Dr) Cast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti K. Haasan, Kareena Kapoor; 11:15PM Oru Vadakkan Selfie (2D)(PG) (Comedy) Cast: Nivin Pauly; 8:30PM Absolution (2D)(15+)( Act, Adv, Crime ) Cast: Steven Seagal, Byron Mann 1:30/6:05/10:00PM Piku (2D)(PG)( Comedy, Drama) Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Irrfan Khan 3:15/7:45PM

ABSOLUTION (Action) Cast: Steven Seagal, Byron Mann, Josh Barnett 12.00, 6.00, 10.00 pm CP No: 1127 ( 15+ ) HOT PURSUIT ( Act / Com ) Cast: Sofis Vergara, Reese Witherspoon, Mathew Del Negro 11.45 am, 4.00, 8.00 pm CP No : 1131 (12+ ) KAJAKI (Adv/Thriller/War ) Cast:Mark Stanley, David Elliot, Malachi Kirby 1.15, 5.30, 11.55 pm CP No: 1130 (15+ ) BACKCOUNTRY ( Hor/ Thril) Cast: Missy Peregrym, Eric Balfour 2.00 & 11.55 pm CP No: 1128 (15+) PIKU (Hindi) ( Comedy/Drama ) Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Depika Padukone, Irrfan Khan 3.15, 7.30 & 9.45 pm CP No: 1129 (PG )

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

STARS CINEMA Film information 24791641 / 24786776

Oru Vadakkan Selfie (Mal) (Rom/ Com) Cast: Navin Pauly, Manjima, Aju 3-00, 6-30 & 10-00 pm at Cinema Main Piku (Hindi) (PG) Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Irrfan Khan, 3-45 , 6-45 & 9-45pm at Cinema 3 Uthama Villain (Tamil ) ( Rom/Com ) Cast: Kamal Hassan, Jayram, Pooja Kumar & Urvashi 3-30 & 9-30 pm at Cinema -2 Dohchay (Telugu) (Com/Act) Cast: Naga Chaitanya & Kirti Sanon 3-45 , 6-45 & & 9-45 pm at Cinema 4 O Kadhal Kanmani (Tamil/Rom) Cast:Dulqar Salman & Nitya Menon 6:30pm at Cinema 2 Next Change: Bhaskar the Rascal (Mal)

For More Information 24789032, 24786776 Website: www.isurf.co.om

ACES ON BRIDGE

Picking the contract may be tough

G

eorge Eliot said, “A toddling little girl is a centre of common feeling, which makes the most dissimilar people understand each other.”

This week’s deals have an unusual feature in common. You will do very well to see it because they look dissimilar, but all will be understood — revealed — shortly.

Keep the columns to compare.

First, South is in four spades. How should he plan the play after West leads the spade queen?

These days, South’s one-spade rebid shows

a four-card suit and is forcing for one round.

(Instead, a jump to two spades would be the artificial fourth-suit game-forcing. Then South would typically be trying to get into three no-trump but would need his partner to have a spade stopper.) North is just worth his fourspade raise, but if he bids only three spades, South would venture higher, perhaps offering three no-trump en route.

When the opponents bid all four suits and land in the fourth, lead a trump; hence West’s choice of the spade queen.

It may look tempting to ruff dummy’s three low clubs in the South hand.

But if declarer does that, he goes down with best defence. (The curious may try it.)

It is better to take the first trick with dummy’s king, cash the spade ace, and play a diamond.

If South is allowed to win that trick, he leads another diamond and discards a club from dummy. Even if West has the diamond ace and draws trumps, declarer will have 10 tricks: two spades, three hearts, four diamonds and one club.

— By Phillip Alder MARMADUKE

CROSSWORD

B I G NAT E

Answer to previous puzzle

ACROSS 1 Big name in trucks 5 Apple seeds 9 Swimmer’s unit 12 Book-binder’s need 13 Ph.D. exam 14 Morn’s counterpart 15 Speak hoarsely 16 Offensive player 18 Price increase 20Royal decree 21 Final word (hyph.)

23 Hot-burning fuel 25 Good buddy’s radio 26 Ms. Dinesen 28 Low voice 32 Clay pot 35 One, to Conchita

36 Garish 37 The strong, silent — 38 Gaelic singing star 40 “10” actress 41 Sphinx site 43 Smudge 46 Broadcast portion 49Artificial, as pearls 50 Esteem 53 Interview wear 56 Perfume label word 57 Hotshots 58 — St. Vincent Millay 59 Really big tees 60 Mailed out 61 Hockey feint DOWN

1 Dept. boss 2 — — carte 3 Like some jobs 4 French Legion headgear 5 Sponge feature 6 Vexation 7 Felt boot 8 Built for speed 9 Name in blue jeans 10 With, to Henri 11 Saucy 17 Suitable in every way 19 Garden-pond fish 21 Dundee citizen 22 In a skillful way 23 Large blossom 24 Passable

27 Port city in Egypt 29 — -cal 30 Helicon 31 Hound’s track 33 DJ album 34 Patronage 39 Dry — — bone 42 Wee bits 44 Thought about 45 Ooze out 46 Zenith 47 Europe-Asia range 48 — ex machina 49 Oktober ending 51 Wine cooler 52 Ike’s rank 54 Fingerprinting need 55 — kwon do

BORN LOSER

WITH LOVE

ADITYA KATIKALA

THAMRAH SIDDIQI

May 8, 2014

May 8, 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

SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2015

PRAYER TIMINGS

Dhuhr Asr Maghrib Isha Fajr (Tomorrow)

Y O U R B I R T H D AY

BORN today, you are destined to make your mark and be remembered — if not for what you do, then simply for who you are, for you have been endowed with one of the most colourful and memorable personalities of all Taurus natives. You know yourself quite well, and you know where your abilities truly lie. You’re not the kind to explore endeavours that do not sit in your sweet spot, as you are determined to succeed and make the most of what you have been given. You know how to take raw materials and blend them in a unique and lasting way in order to have the greatest possible impact; you do this again and again with your own talents and with even the most mundane of tasks. You can make a topnotch salad, for example!

There are times when you may engage in flights of fancy that are simply too unconventional to be embraced or even understood by others. That’s fine with you, for you are determined to be yourself, whether or not those around you approve. You’re not the kind to insist on companionship. You can go it alone quite contentedly.

Also born on this date are: Billy Joel, singer-songwriter; Mike Wallace, journalist; Prince Fielder, baseball player; Rosario Dawson, actress; Candice Bergen, actress; Albert Finney, actor; John Brown, abolitionist leader; James L. Brooks, producer; John Corbett, actor; Tony Gwynn, baseball player; J.M. Barrie, writer.

12.08pm 3.33pm 6.43pm 8.00pm 4.06am

Sunset Sunrise (Tomorrow)

6:38pm 5.28am

High tide Low tide

1.28pm 6.35am

11:40pm 6.32pm

FIND-IT-ALL

W E AT H E R

AIRLINES

M

ainly clear skies over most of the Sultanate with chance of convective cloud development and rain over al-Hajar mountains and adjoining area during afternoon. Chance of early morning low level clouds or fog patches along the coastal areas of Arabian Sea. EXPECTED WINDS: Along the coastal areas of Oman Sea wind will be northeasterly light to moderate during day becoming southwesterly light at night, while it will be southerly to southeasterly light to moderate occasionally fresh over rest of the Sultanate.

SEA STATE: Moderate to rough along the Arabian Sea coastal area with maximum wave height of 2.5 metres and slight along the rest of the coasts with maximum wave height of 1.25 metres.

HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY: Good over most of the Sultanate becoming moderate during rain.

THE NEXT 48 HOURS OUTLOOK: Clear to partly cloudy skies over most of the Sultanate with chance of clouds development over al-Hajar mountains and adjoining areas. Chance of early morning low level clouds or fog along most of the coastal areas of Arabian Sea.

Max

OMAN

WORLD

Max 38 Min 29 Max 22 Min 17

Max 43 Min 28

Max 40 Min 30 Max 17 Min 7

Max 40 Min 31

Max 21 Min 8

Max 42 Min 27

Max 43 Min 28

Max 43 Min 29

Max 42 Min 32

TAURUS

Max 34 Min 27

[APRIL 20-MAY 20] You may be itching to get started with something that is making you wait longer than you had hoped. You can use the time to your advantage.

Max 32 Min 27

Max 19 Min 12

Max 32 Min 26 Max 22 Min 11

Source: www.met.gov.om

GULF Abu Dhabi Doha Dubai Kuwait Manama Riyadh

38 35 39 37 33 39

29 31 31 25 29 26

WORLD Athens Baghdad Beijing Berlin Boston Cairo Colombo Frankfurt Hong Kong Istanbul Johannesburg Kuala Lumpur Lisbon Paris Perth Singapore Tokyo Toronto

28 37 15 22 22 34 31 22 28 22 24 32 25 20 23 32 23 22

18 23 10 9 16 18 25 9 23 12 11 26 14 11 11 27 16 12

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)

TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

[MAY 21-JUNE 20] Now is the time to weigh the pros and cons of a proposal that you haven’t yet taken very seriously. It could mean some important changes.

CANCER [JUNE 21-JULY 22] You’re likely to get yourself into a jam that can only be worked out through a new level of honesty — and manoeuvrability.

LEO [JULY 23-AUG. 22] You’re seeing things from a strictly literal point of view, but in fact, the more you interpret things symbolically, the better.

VIRGO [AUG. 23-SEPT. 22] You can see yourself in a new role very soon, but you probably have to tie up some loose ends before making any kind of change.

LIBRA L [[SEPT. [S S 23-OCT. 22] An invitation comes your way that has you considering a schedule change. Take care that you’re not forgetting a key detail.

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

[[OCT. 23-NOV. 21] You must think long and hard about what you really want in order to put yourself in the best position to receive what is coming to you.

SAGITTARIUS S [[NOV. 22-DEC. 21] You and another party must talk openly about what lies ahead; otherwise, both will be making assumptions that can be harmful in the long run.

CAPRICORN [DEC. 22-JAN 19] Yes, the clock is ticking, and yes, you may be running a little behind, but you mustn’t let your nerves get the better of you.

AQUARIUS [JAN. 20-FEB. 18] You’re likely to realise what you’ve been missing lately. It’s not something you require, but it’s something you’d very much enjoy.

PISCES [Feb. 19-March 20] You’re reaching a new level of creativity. Take care you don’t take yourself too seriously, however. Even you can make mistakes!

ARIES [March 21-APRIL 19] You’ll derive inspiration from the strangest, most unexpected sources.

Let another take the wheel for a time during evening hours.

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

SCORPIO S

Operating Days Daily Daily Daily

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

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 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:

SATURDAY

Min

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

GEMINI

B7

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 Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 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

FLT NO

ARRIVALS FROM

WY406 WY648 WY672 WY424 WY676 WY682 WY914 WY916 TK774 4H583 PK225 GF560 QR1132 ET624 EK866 EY384 MS930 FZ041 WY114 WY658 WY638 WY902 WY644 WY154 WY144 WY668 WY692 WY132 WY674 WY102 FZ043 WY602 WY432 WY346 WY202 WY236 G9114 WY282 PK191 EK862 WY210 WY242 WY252 IX549 QR1128 EY382 IX443 WY844 WY652 9W530 WY604 WY918 GF562 FZ037 IX337 WY384 PA450 WY705 WY822 WY818 WY634 WY904 BG023 PK291 WY670 WY324 NL771 WY332 WY606 WY3302 WY906 WY920 FZ045 SV532 WY344 WY656 QR1126 WY204 WY632 WY292 WY216 EK864 WY232 WY246 WY694 WY664 GF564 G9116 WY274 WY374 WY386 FZ047 WY908 PK259 RG125 WY646 WY224 WY614 WY338 FZ049 WY124 KL441 9W534 AI973 6.00E+81 BA073 WY624 WY254 UL205 WY684 AI907 WY264 WY312 LX242 QR1134 GF566 LH616 WY717 WY328 EY388 9W540 AI985 WY662 WY654 WY636 WY928 WY816 WY696 WY612

CAIRO 0005 KUWAIT 0005 MEDINA 0005 BEIRUT 0005 JEDDAH 0005 RIYADH 0010 SALALAH 0020 SALALAH 0120 ISTANBUL 0135 DACCA 0200 KARACHI 0215 BAHRAIN 0325 DOHA 0345 ADDIS ABABA 0350 DUBAI 0350 ABU DHABI 0400 CAIRO 0410 DUBAI 0415 FRANKFURT 0515 BAHRAIN 0635 ABU DHABI 0640 SALALAH 0645 KUWAIT 0650 ZURICH 0700 MALPENSA 0705 DOHA 0715 DAMMAM 0715 PARIS 0735 JEDDAH 0735 LONDON HEATHROW 0740 DUBAI 0800 DUBAI 0805 TEHRAN 0805 ISLAM ABBAD 0815 BOMBAY 0835 HYDERABAD 0900 SHARJAH 0905 BANGALORE 0910 TURBAT 0930 DUBAI 0930 GOA 0935 DELHI 0935 MADRAS 0955 TRIVANDRUM 0955 DOHA 1000 ABU DHABI 1010 COCHIN 1020 MANILA 1020 BAHRAIN 1040 TRIVANDRUM 1045 DUBAI 1115 KHASAB 1115 BAHRAIN 1130 DUBAI 1140 CALICUT 1155 MALE 1210 LAHORE 1215 DARESSLAM-ZANZIBAR 1215 KUALA LUMPUR-SINGAPORE 1215 BANGKOK 1220 ABU DHABI 1220 SALALAH 1230 DACCA 1230 ISLAM ABBAD 1235 DOHA 1250 KARACHI 1300 PESHAWAR 1300 KATHMANDU 1305 DUBAI 1340 MUKHAIZNA 1350 SALALAH 1440 KHASAB 1445 DUBAI 1535 JEDDAH 1550 LAHORE 1605 BAHRAIN 1615 DOHA 1650 BOMBAY 1655 ABU DHABI 1710 CALICUT 1710 TRIVANDRUM 1745 DUBAI 1745 HYDERABAD 1750 DELHI 1750 DAMMAM 1805 DOHA 1805 BAHRAIN 1810 SHARJAH 1905 JAIPUR 1910 COLOMBO 1915 MALE 1935 DUBAI 1940 SALALAH 2000 PESHAWAR 2000 ABU DHABI 2005 KUWAIT 2010 COCHIN 2025 DUBAI 2025 KATHMANDU 2040 DUBAI 2100 MUNICH 2105 AMSTERDAM-DOHA 2105 COCHIN 2115 DELHI 2125 BOMBAY 2130 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI 2140 DUBAI 2150 MADRAS 2150 COLOMBO 2155 RIYADH 2200 MADRAS 2200 LUCKNOW 2200 CHITTAGONG 2210 ZURICH-DUBAI 2225 DOHA 2225 BAHRAIN 2240 FRANKFURT-DOHA 2245 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 2250 KARACHI 2250 ABU DHABI 2300 BOMBAY 2315 BOMBAY 2325 DOHA 2335 BAHRAIN 2340 ABU DHABI 2340 SALALAH 2345 BANGKOK 2350 DAMMAM 2355 DUBAI 2355

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

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

FLT NO

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DEPARTURES TO

9W539 AI986 SG062 WY657 WY637 WY281 WY235 WY201 WY251 WY643 WY345 WY601 WY431 WY123 WY901 WY241 WY667 WY691 TK775 WY383 WY209 4H584 PK230 WY331 ET625 EK867 EY385 MS931 FZ042 QR1133 WY651 GF561 WY903 WY603 WY917 WY669 WY323 FZ044 WY373 WY633 WY215 WY815 WY343 WY291 WY717 WY821 WY385 G9115 WY3301 WY231 PK192 WY905 WY605 WY203 WY245 EK863 IX554 WY337 QR1129 EY383 IX442 WY311 WY919 9W533 GF563 WY223 WY655 WY273 FZ038 IX350 WY253 PA451 WY113 WY693 PK292 WY631 WY131 WY663 WY143 WY263 BG024 WY101 WY153 WY927 NL668 WY405 WY645 WY907 WY675 FZ046 WY683 SV533 WY671 WY613 QR1127 WY327 WY681 WY623 WY647 GF565 EK865 WY695 WY661 WY653 G9117 WY913 WY635 FZ048 WY611 RG126 PK226 WY915 WY909 FZ050 KL442 WY817 9W529 6.00E+82 AI908 UL206 AI974 LX243 GF567 QR1135 BA072

BOMBAY BOMBAY AHMEDABAD BAHRAIN ABU DHABI BANGALORE HYDERABAD BOMBAY MADRAS KUWAIT ISLAM ABBAD DUBAI TEHRAN MUNICH SALALAH DELHI DOHA DAMMAM ISTANBUL MALE GOA DACCA LAHORE KATHMANDU ADDIS ABABA DUBAI ABU DHABI CAIRO DUBAI DOHA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN SALALAH DUBAI KHASAB DOHA KARACHI DUBAI COLOMBO ABU DHABI TRIVANDRUM BANGKOK LAHORE CALICUT ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM SINGAPORE-KUALA LUMPUR MALE SHARJAH MUKHAIZNA HYDERABAD TURBAT-GWADUR SALALAH DUBAI BOMBAY DELHI DUBAI TRIVANDRUM KATHMANDU DOHA ABU DHABI COCHIN CHITTAGONG KHASAB COCHIN BAHRAIN COCHIN BAHRAIN JAIPUR DUBAI CALICUT MADRAS LAHORE FRANKFURT DAMMAM ISLAM ABBAD ABU DHABI PARIS DOHA MALPENSA LUCKNOW CHITTAGONG-DACCA LONDON HEATHROW ZURICH SALALAH SIALKOT CAIRO KUWAIT SALALAH JEDDAH DUBAI RIYADH RIYADH-JEDDAH MEDINA DUBAI DOHA KARACHI RIYADH DUBAI KUWAIT BAHRAIN DUBAI DAMMAM DOHA BAHRAIN SHARJAH SALALAH ABU DHABI DUBAI DUBAI ABU DHABI KARACHI SALALAH SALALAH DUBAI DOHA-AMSTERDAM BANGKOK TRIVANDRUM BOMBAY MADRAS COLOMBO DELHI DUBAI-ZURICH BAHRAIN DOHA ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW

0020 0020 0030 0055 0105 0110 0110 0115 0120 0120 0125 0145 0155 0200 0215 0215 0225 0225 0230 0230 0255 0300 0315 0350 0450 0450 0500 0510 0510 0515 0645 0715 0750 0750 0815 0835 0835 0845 0900 0900 0900 0905 0915 0915 0940 0945 0945 0955 1000 1000 1015 1020 1020 1025 1040 1045 1045 1050 1100 1105 1120 1140 1145 1145 1215 1215 1220 1220 1225 1255 1310 1315 1320 1330 1335 1345 1345 1350 1350 1400 1400 1400 1420 1430 1430 1440 1440 1540 1615 1620 1620 1650 1705 1710 1750 1810 1840 1840 1845 1855 1910 1915 1920 1920 1955 2000 2015 2025 2035 2045 2100 2100 2110 2145 2220 2225 2230 2245 2300 2305 2310 2325 2325 2330 2330

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

WY673 EY381 LH617

JEDDAH ABU DHABI DOHA-FRANKFURT

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EXTRA BRIEFS

When Kangana Ranaut wanted to look like a star

BOLLYWOOD actress Kangana Ranaut, who chose a trailing gown instead of the often chosen traditional outfit at the 62nd National Awards ceremony, says she wanted to “look like a star”. The 28-year-old actress received her career’s second National Award on May 3 for Queen. Earlier, Kangana had won the Best Supporting Actress honour for Fashion, but this time, she walked away with the Best Actress title for Queen. Making a bold fashion statement, Kangana turned up in an outfit designed by New York-based Indian designer Bibhu Mohapatra.

“I have been there (at the National Film Awards) before, and unfortunately I wore an anarkali suit that time. The thing is I have that photograph (of the president presenting the award to me) and I look like a behenji (not fashionable). I thought, ‘I am a star, so I have to look like a star’. “Everyone said you can’t wear Bibhu Mohapatra with a cape and go to this ceremony. I said, ‘I don’t care! I want a good picture!’. It was fun but it was quite a task to smuggle a cape to the venue,” she said, adding that she eventually got a good photograph from the ceremony.

The actress was in the city to promote Tanu Weds Manu Returns, which releases on May 22. -IANS

Why do we get brain freeze when we eat ice cream?

It’s thought the rush of chilled blood causes blood vessels to dilate, producing that sudden, intense pain

Romance is superficial in our movies: Irrfan Khan INDIAN ACTOR Irrfan Khan feels most of the Bollywood films are restricted to the dramatic, artificial depiction of love stories.

The 48-year-old actor, whose The Lunchbox relied on subtlety and silence in a romantic relationship, said films should have scope for unspoken exchange of love between characters.

“This is what I miss sometimes in our stories, there is not anything which is unsaid, everything has to be said. It becomes very boring as an actor. You are looking for a director, who is ready to explore and bring a new layer to it.

“There is something you can see and hear but there is another story which you are seeing but nobody is saying it. Like what happened in The Lunchbox, unsaid was much more powerful than what was said,” Irrfan told PTI. His latest is the family drama Piku, where he plays Deepika Padukone’s love interest. The actor said understated love story was one of the things that attracted him to the movie.

The Qissa star feels real-life romance is much deeper than just looking dreamily at your lover and films should explore the gamut of emotions a person goes when he/she is in love.

“We haven’t seen romance dealt in the way Piku does. In our cinema romance has some definition and in that area it circulates. It does not go deeper, does not go in the periphery and does not see where it is coming from.

“In a film, when a couple look at each other it is understood that they can die for each other but in real life it does not happen. Sometimes you are deeply in love with each other but you cannot say that. There is a pull towards that person. Piku has those new elements. It is bringing something new to the commercial cinema,” he said. Piku, also starring Amitabh Bachchan and directed by Shoojit Sircar, released on Friday. - PTI

E

xperts have come up with a possible reason for why that most hated of afflictions, “brain freeze”, is caused, along with a way to get rid of it. The news should please those who dread the curse of the ice cream headache even more than wasps or hay fever as summer approaches.

The International Headache Society (yes, that’s a thing), officially recognises the condition, caused by the consumption of

cold food and drink. A draft of the third edition of the International Headache Classification, drawn up earlier this year, has dedicated an entire section to the various known causes of “Cold Stimulus Headaches”.

It explains how some are caused by diving into cold water, while others come from eating ice cream, the Daily Mail reported.

Known scientifically as sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia, brain freeze is thought to be caused by cold solids or liquids

passing over the upper palate of the mouth or back wall of the pharynx.

Dr Jorge Serrador, a cardiovascular researcher at Harvard Medical School, conducted research which revealed that the pain was brought on by a rapid increase in blood flow through the anterior cerebral artery, a major blood vessel into the brain.

It is thought the rush of cold blood causes the blood vessels to dilate, producing that sudden, intense pain as their blood ves-

sels first open and then close.

So how do you stop the pain?

The pain subsides when the blood vessels return to normal, so some scientists have suggested putting your tongue against the roof of your mouth to help warm the blood passing through.

Others think drinking warm water could help increase the temperature of your mouth. Sadly the general consensus to stop the pain is simply to stop eating the ice cream. Easier said than done.

— Roisin O’Connor/The Independent

TECHNOLOGY

Create high-quality video panoramas in a jiffy WANT TO CREATE one video out of several video feeds in a professional way? A new Disney technology will now help even amateurish videographers create high-quality video panoramas using multiple cameras.

The algorithm developed by the team at Disney Research Zurich uses as many as 14 various types of cameras, generating panoramic video in the order of tens to more than 100 megapixels.

The method smooths out the blurring, ghosting and other distortions that routinely occur when video feeds from unstructured camera arrays are combined to create a single panoramic video.

The algorithm corrects for the

apparent difference in position of an object caused by different camera angles — known as parallax — and image warping that occurs because of slight timing differences between cameras.

Both of these are known to lead to visible discontinuities, ghosting and other imperfections in existing approaches.

“We can foresee a day when just about anyone could create a highquality video panorama by setting up a few video cameras or even linking several smartphones, just as many people today can easily create a still photo panorama with their smartphones,” explained Alexander Sorkine-Hornung, senior research scientist at Disney Research Zurich.

Combining video feeds enables the creation of video panoramas beyond the resolution of any one camera.

Though combining or stitching separate still images into one is a technique as old as photography, stitching together video feeds remains a difficult challenge due to parallax changing over time.

The new technique automatically analyses the images from the cameras to estimate the position and alignment of each camera. This eliminates the need to use special or manual calibration techniques and allows for a flexible positioning of the cameras.

The algorithm corrects for differences in parallax that create ghosting and other disturbing

effects in the areas of the panorama where images from separate cameras are stitched together.

It also detects and corrects for image warping — wavy lane markings on roads, or buildings that appear to bend over — that occurs when images are stitched together.

Finally, the technique also compensates for slight differences in the timing of frames between cameras, which otherwise causes jitter and other artefacts in the image.

The findings were scheduled to be presented at “Eurographics 2015”, the annual conference of the European Association for Computer Graphics in Zurich, Switzerland this week. — IANS

B O L LY W O O D

Madhuri Dixit to launch ‘Dance with Madhuri’ app AFTER HAVING her own dancing tutorial website, actress Madhuri Dixit is all set to launch her own mobile application. The 47-year-old took to micro-blogging website Twitter to announce the launch of her“ “Dance with Madhuri app”. “Getting ready for the launch of the new Dance with Madhuri app! Lots to do... Have you uploaded your moves? Might get to meet me at launch,” the Khalnayak actress tweeted.-IANS

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W W W.T I M E S O F O M A N . C O M S AT U R DAY, M AY 9, 2 0 1 5

SECTION

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*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

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S AT U R D AY, M AY 9, 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

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.

3 Office space available between 120-142 sqm, with data cable, pantry, cassette AC, parking, @ RO. 5/- per/sqm. At Jibroo Muttrah. 2 BHK flat at Azaiba, behind Al Meera Hypermarket. RO. 330/-.Contact: 93221054, 99229263, 95215289

First floor one unit flat 3 bed, 3 bathrooms, hall, sitting, dining at Ghubra South. Contact 98087644 Showroom for rent 200 m in Al Misfah, Bousher facing the main road. Contact 95202430 New building, residential apartments and offices, in Al Khoud Souq. Contact 95202340 Deluxe 1, 2 BHK flats in Darsait, AL Khuwair 1deal for office & residence.# 99369081 /99142314 2BHK with split AC in W. K behind Sana Fashion. contact 96708000 2BHK flat with very big balcony for rent at MBD, rent R.O 400/-Month.

Contact 94273529 1& 2BHK for rent at Wadi Kabir, Hilal Al Sad and Al Khoud areas .

Contact Office: 24834644 Mobile: 93994401/02/03 Flat for rent, 2 BK near Kuwaiti Mosque, Wadi Kabir. Contact 97007934 / 92629232 Flat for rent 2 BK near Oman House Muttrah. Contact 97007934 / 92629232 200 Sqr mtrs office space in CBD. Contact 99792181 2 bedroom flat for rent in Azaiba near Mitsubishi showroom, Rent 300/-. Contact : 92447365

One BHK flat for rent in Ghobra with attach and common bathroom.

For Indian family.

Contact - 92322096 Flat for rent 2 bedroom +1sitting room + 3 bathroom + 1 kitchen with store + store + (building is security + gym) 460 RO in Ruwi- Mumtaz area. Contact 95135445 New Building in Mutrah, 2 B/D Room Flat + Setting Room,3 Baths+ Kitchen with split unit Ac’s. Behind Khimiji’s main office/opposite to Oman House Call 99419712 Two bedroom Flat Available at Darsait/Near Muscat Municipality/ Call 99107588 Ground floor flat in Mabela South with 2 big room & living room, 3 toilets, kitchen, small store & hall.

Contact 93295953 1 BHK new bldg with A/C, curtains near Khimji Mart MBD. Contact: 99061408 / 99024039 2BHK Al Khuwair.

Contact : 99024730 Ware House & office space.

Contact 99024730 C.B.D 2BHK. Contact 99024730

2 BHK (with split AC) residential flat at Honda road. Contact 98087644 / 99795241

Villa for rent with 4 bedroom at Al Khodh, Rent 600/-RO.#92888115 2 Bed room Portion of a Villa for rent at Honda road, Rent 225/-RO. (For Indain family) Contact: 91218273

Independent rooms in Qurum / Al Hail. Contact 95529970

Furnished flats for rent in Al Buraimi, daily, weekly, monthly.

Contact 97819981 / 93593336

1BHK, 2 toilets at South Ghubra include E/W and AC split with fully furnished OMR 350/-.# 92811110

New furnished flat at Amerat 3BHK, 3Toilets RO230 pm.

Contact 95113797

Flats for rent near Indian School in Wadi Kabir. Contact 99777122

Shop for rent Misk house bldg Walja area near Honda road.

Contact 99312674 / 96917934

1, 2, 3, BHK flats. Contact: 97799175 1/3 BHK Flat Ghubrah, close to ISG Way 4041, building 4390.

Contact 99319880 If require flats for rent in Wadi Kabir please send me messages through whatsapp or call 99376454

1 Bedroom bachelors, sharing K & T in Al Khuwair R.O 100/-.

Contact 95154331 Room main road, Al Khuwair R.O 110/-. Contact 97799175

Studio flat Wadi Kabeer 160/-O.R. Contact - 99358589 / 97079146/ 95570288

2 B/R Apartment Luxury Fully Furnished @ Azaiba Near Zubair Showroom. 2 B/R Apartment Executive Fully Furnished @ Al Khuwair 33. 1 B/R Apartment Executive Fully Furnished @ Al Khuwair 33. 3 B/R Apartment Executive Fully Furnished @ Al Khuwair 25.

5 B/R Villa - Fully Furnished at Madinat Al Ilam. Contact - Atlas Real Estate & Rent A Car LLC / 24783341- 24834888/ 99249069 / 92888376/ 93201688 Email: info@alshahiintl.com

Bath attached room for rent Al Khuwair. Contact 99743569

Labour camp for Rent in Wadi Kabir. Contact 99797422

2 bedrooms flat with hall, 2 bathrooms in Ruwi behind Boys school.

Contact 92584715 / 24700120 1BHK flat near star cinema with split A/C 230/- O.R. Contact 99358589/ 97079146/95570288

Flat at Darsait. Contact 99326879 3 bedroom flat for rent in Al Hamria Contact: 99341112 New 3 bedroom flats split AC, attached toilets available behind Kims Oman Hospital.

Contact 95225662 2 BHK & studio flat at Darsait 1SM. Contact 99024730 Room with attached bathroom Al Khuwair 33 area.

Contact 96059431 Apartments for rent Ghubra : near Indian School Ghubra & Al Maha International Hotel (2BHK with 5 split A/C units).Contact 99273774 / 99202278 /94652485 Villa in Al Khuwair and Seeb.

Contact 95250300/ 99119699 / 92125648 Industrial land for rent in Wadi Kabir 7000 Sq mtrs.

Contact 99354340 1 Bedroom flat in Azaiba.

Contact 99385835/99428143 For rent flats, shops, villas in Al Hail, Mawalih, Ruwi, Khuwair, special prices, fast service.

Contact 98588240 / 24487033 Flats shops and store for rent in MBD area, Honda rood and Rex Road. Contact 92433127 / 97293708/ 95150632

Ghubra near Al Maha hotel & Indian school (2BHK with 5 split ac units). Contact 94652485/ 99273774 / 99202278 Flat for rent 1 & 2 bedroom available behind Zaker Mall Al Khuwair.

Contact - 99530405 For rent 3 industrial land.

Contact 92702891/ 95490842 New 2B/R flats with split unit D/C & free Internet & office space available at Al Khuwair near Mustafa Sultan Philips showroom. # 99460330 Big flat in Al Khuwair 33, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, sitting, dining, family lounge, kitchen, store with A/C, rent 550/- OMR. # 97278169 1,000 sq mtrs industrial land in Misfah Industrial area near to Khanco. OMR 1,500 Monthly.

Electricity and boundary wall will be provided. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 Residential land for sale 21000 sqm, best for housing complex at Al Harm – Barka, opp to Khimji logistic. Contact 99438397 2BHK Flats for families at Azaiba next to Al Meera Hyper Market.

Contact : 96457757 Flats/villas owned by ROP pension fund available for rent in Muscat. Contact 99349526 Spacious 2 BHK flats in Ruwi MBD area only on 350/- OMR. Contact – 95122188 / 96441499

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BUYING / SELLING

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

Used household & office furniture and electronic items.

Contact 99834373, 97102699

FOR SALE FOR SALE 40 FT Seaworthy used containers for sale located in Sur and Sohar in very good condition.

Contact 99771466 Used Furniture of Ready made showroom for Sale.contact 24704370, 99798452 (Ashwin)

ACC. WANTED I BHK Wanted In MBD Or CBD area (R0. 200 or 230) Contact : 93262152

Port cabin new & refurbished – porta cabin for sale & rent.

Contact 96723468 / 97775501 / 97775502

All the fittings and equipment for sale from a closed restaurant.

Contact : 99425461 1BHK Ruwi & Wadi Kabir.

Contact 99024730 Shopping center for sale at Bousher by good price 400 m2 with all equipment. Reason for selling part-time. Contact 92916490 Shfandish & tables for sale.

Contact 99368907 House hold shop / Empty shop for sale Al Hail Zam Zam line.

Contact 97039497 Solid metal scrap & scaffoldings/ jacks for immediate sale.

Contact 94652485 / 99273774 / 99202278.

A Building in CBD opposite to the central bank of 3100 Sq mtr built up area of expected rent of 205 K per annum for 1 million 350 thousands.

Contact 95330200 2,560 sq mtrs industrial land in Wadi Kabir. First line on way to Al Bustan hotel. Possible to make petrol station or hotel. OMR 1 Million. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 5 Flats of 1 bedroom for Sale in Bousher: OMR 35 Thousand each.

Monthly income OMR 270 Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 2 residential Lands together, one 610 and the other 600 sq mtrs, in Al Haram on way to Barka. OMR 49 Thousand both. 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 23,886 Sq Mtrs Agriculture land with water well in Al Salwa, Barka.

OMR 260 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 Fabrication machinery & tools in excellent condition for immediate sale.

Contact 94652485 / 99273774 / 99202278.

Indian male 38 yrs working in Muscat, looking for life partner.

Any Nationality. Divorced or widow. Contact:96059801

BUSINESS 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

Beauty salon for sale with all its equipments in Al Khuwair.

Contact 99827772 60,000 Sq Mtrs Agriculture Land in Misfah, can be changed to Industrial Land. OMR 27 Per Square Meter.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

MATRIMONIAL

Furnished office for sale at Walja.

Contact 99024272 / 95604205 558 Sq mtrs residential land in Barka (Al Jenainah) near Lulu and near to school. OMR 32 Thousand.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

We are Muslim family seeking alliance for our son interested families.

Contact 97664009

M.V. FOR SALE

LOST Indian passport number F6650837, name - Jaikishin Mahadevmal Makhija. If found please contact 99335013 / 95194007

Beauty parlour for sale.

Serious buyers. Contact 99609265 Shop for sale Al Khoudh.

Contact 92820541

Mostofa Rostum Ali has lost Bangladeshi Passport No. AC 6544946.

Finder please handover to ROP.

For running beauty saloon for sale.

Contact 97786792 / 96914627 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

ACC. AVAILABLE Excellent room, with A/C kitchen available near ONTC Bus station (Ruwi). Contact 95569740 Sharing for non-cooking Executive bachelor in CBD area wi fi free, advance deposit. Contact 95934642 Furnished room in Ruwi for non cooking Executive bachelor.

Contact 94412557 Sharing accommodation available opp. to oman house at Muttrah, for executive bachelors.

Contact 92506852 Room for rent with fully furnished available for non-cooking executive bachelor (preferably Indian/ Srilanka).near to GMC’ behind Bausher Baladiya. Price OMR: 175/- inclusive of Wifi, Elect & water. Contact 97373888.

Family room available for rent at Muttrah Souk. Contact 24712088 / 99022790

2010 Camry GCC 94000 KM, automatic, valid insurance price RO 3700. Contact 91322757

For sale 18 Ton Mitsubishi 2014.

Contact 95292503 call between 5 pm -10 pm

Expat owned car for sale in Sohar.

Nissan-Altima 3.5V-SL (Topend). 2013 Model, bought Jan 2014. Only 25000 km. As good as showroom condition.

Contact +968 97752903.

Pajero 2010, GCC, 230000 km white 6200/- R.O. Contact 92857111

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 Kia Rio, Maroon Colour, 7300 kms Done, Very good condition, Insurance valid till March 2016, Price OMR 3800/- Contact 95793970

MD Osman Bazal Ahmmed has lost Bangladeshi Passport No. C 0803175. Finder please handover to ROP

Freezer Trucks Volvo Scania Mercedes Benz 10 & 12 & 18 Ton & 40 Ft good condition. Contact 99890151 / 99814635

Local company based in Ghala requires business development Manager with good experience and driving license.# 99166930 / 93782735

Mercedes delivery van 2002.

Contact 99755644

Software development based on requirements such as: Web development & cloud computing, SAP implementation & services. Android App development networking.

Contact 97423932

DRIVING

Land Cruiser 2012. #99336093

Looking for a genuine investor for an IT company. Good prospects. # 99329216 Email: sales@aditsllc.com

Nissan Sunny 2007, 1.6, automatic, good condition km 1,48000.

Contact 99781671

Required business Researcher. contact 99229700 Email: kjaaraimi@hotmail.com

Mazda 3 model KMS 140,000 fully automatic single driven company maintained. Contact 92302159

We have some companies for rent with the following activities: press publishing & advertising, information consultancy, organizing event management & conference, real estate, landscaping, maintenance etc Contact 93946622 / 91408005

ACC. AVAILABLE

TRANSPORTATION Transportation. Contact: 99542393

Sharing accommodation available Wadi Kabir attached room with sharing, kitchen. Contact 96575016

Transportation Contact 99159277

Single room available at Hamriyah.

Contact 92390266 Single room & AC attached bath at Mumtaz area. Contact 95212017 & 93103337

Sharing acc. Available in Muttrah behind Oman house.

Contact 99354340

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

Building of 2floors in Al Hail, each 3Bedrooms, 3bathrooms, Sitting room, lounge, kitchen, store Contact 92817777

Sharing family accommodation in Wadi Kabir. Contact 99335057

Transportation. Contact: 98505294

Road Safety concrete barriers for sale all over Oman available in sizes 2 meters and 3 meters. #94546200 Business Consultant, feasibility study. Contact 99229700

It is notified for the information that my original qualifying examination certificate of Main / Secondary, Examination of year 2013 and roll no. 8107898 issued by CBSE has been actually lost. Name of the candidate Abhinav CK full address / Tel 0495 2358469/ 00968 98192329.

Rahumat Hullah Mohamed Saly has lost Sri Lanka Passport No. N 4666112. Finder please handover to ROP Fazulr Rahman has lost Bangladeshi Passport No. AA 1795127. Finder please handover to ROP Mohammed Yousuf Moashi has lost Bangladeshi Passport No. B 0334414.

Finder please handover to ROP Mohammed Shadat Hossain has lost Bangladeshi Passport No. AE 2766425. Finder please handover to ROP Masba Uddin Abdus Sattar has lost Bangladeshi Passport No. V 0761076.

Finder please handover to ROP Humayaun Kabir has lost Bangladeshi Passport No. AC 0620581.

Finder please handover to ROP Bala Krishnan Faraylla Parmbil has lost Indian Passport No. J 5401933.

Finder please handover to ROP

Transportation. Contact99508282

1B/R available for bachelors in REX ROAD, Ruwi. Contact 99889590

Accommodation available for South Indian family, one bedroom with attached toilet, kitchen, hall in a villa, Al Ghubrah. Contact 99209160

Transportation. Contact 94087276 Transport to ISWK. Contact 93172589 Pick & Drop any time. # 97014786

Road construction Demolition Company invites equipments for long term on rental basis. 10 Nos. Tipper 18 Cu. M, 5 Nos. 3 Axle tippers, 5 Nos. Excavators, Showel, Roller & Grader. Payment - 60 days.

Contact 99454425

Muhammed Idris has lost Pakistani Passport No. AS 1427461. Finder please handover to ROP

C4

S AT U R D AY, M AY 9, 2 0 1 5 Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTSIT. WANTED

SITUATION SITUATION WANTED VACANT Wanted urgently Full Time Cook for an Omani family Salary R.O.250/-

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE Pakistani male B.Com /PGD having 2 years experience in Accounting and Inventory field seeking suitable job, on visit visa. Contact 94129550

Kindly send your CV to

Chief Accountant Indian male having 16+ years experience in Oman/ GCC up to finalization of accounts.

Contact 92729422

alraid@alraidgroup.com

or contact 24567070

Indian male M.Com, 5 years experience in finance /HR and Purchase department in Oman companies having valid D/L available to join immediately with NOC. Contact 98363897 Email: prince9496@hotmail.com

ACCOUNTANT Urgently required Accountant with valid Oman D/L. Send your CV to accounts@progroupoman.com

Indian male, B.Com Graduate having 10 years exp 6 years in Oman looking for an Accountant job.

Contact : 93830171 Email: nidbivtl@yahoo.com

Cosmetic leading company is looking for: professionally qualified and experienced Accountant.

Please email your CV at maryanaoman@hotmail.com Urgently required for a newly opened shopping center in Ghubra: 1) Omani Lady – as Cashier, 2) Part time Accountant. Send CV to info@dolphin-oman.com or fax to 24492718 Urgently required: Junior Accountant and Store keeper with 3 years experience in building construction and immediately join. Apply, fax 00968–24605955, emails sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com, sbeoman@yahoo.com

27, male ACCA with 4 years of work experience in a reputed company looking for a suitable position in accounts / finance. Contact 98489141

ENGI./ELECT./TECH..

SALES / MARKETING

Road construction Demolition Company invites equipments for long term on rental basis. 10 Nos. Tipper 18 Cu. M, 5 Nos. 3 Axle tippers, 5 Nos. Excavators, Showel, Roller & Grader. Payment - 60 days.

Contact 99454425

Sales Executive male / female experience 2 years of travel agency experience. Interested candidate shall send his / her CV to officer1_ajyad@yahoo.com

HOSPITALITY CATERING Shawarma /BBQ/Tandoor /helper wanted. Contact 95529970

DRIVER Wanted tipper drivers for Road works. Contact 95565039 / 98878989 Urgently required for Omani Family: a private driver with minor knowledge of domestic maintenance. Contact 93387962.

Looking for freelance driver with car in Mabela industrial area.

Contact 24460287 / 96220165

DOMESTIC HELPER Housekeeper / nanny looking for full time job (filipina) Contact: 91758581 or 95784531 Wanted fulltime Housemaid or houseboy for Indian family in Azaiba. Contact 97448484

EDUCATION Physics, Chemistry Edexcel ‘A’ level board teacher urgently required to teach a student of 12th standard. Teacher’s experience preferred. Contact: 99349076.

A school requires teachers for English, Science, Math, IT and Science Laboratory technician minimum requirements masters degree IELTS (band6).

Contact send CV to: 96606121.

Email: fred-cate2@yahoo.com

ENGI./ELECT./TECH..

Required Quantity Surveyor for Salalah, min 5 years experience.

Email: hussainbaomar2@gmail.com Urgently required a SERVICE ENGINEER with B.Tech or Diploma for a heavy equipment trading firm.

Applicants should have 3-5 years experience. Apply to jobtechoman@gmail.com Required heavy Driver, Operators for Excavator, Grader, Dozer & Showel.

Contact : 99454425 Required Civil Foreman with electrical/plumbing 5 yrs experience with Oman driving license. Contact 94652485 / 99273774 / 99202278.

We are looking for the post of diesel mechanic -2, thermo king mechanic -2, denting worker -1, Painter -1, Marketing & Sales -1 (with Oman light license), GCC experience 3 years clearance are available. Contact : 99890151 / 95160851/ 99814635 Email: hiralal.rajgor@yahoo.com Available heavy equipment Mechanic Driver’s Operators Civil Engineers with Oman GCC license ready. Medical and hundred helpers.

Contact: 98408488 / 97784397 Email: alkubratrading@gmail.com

A reputed hotel has a requirement for front desk Receptionist (Omani). Apply to benoyjacob2@gmail.com Contact: 94146486 / 92883346

MANAGER Multinational Consultant Hiring, Senior: Architect/ Design Manager/ Project manager above 10 Years’ Experience, Senior: MEP & Site Engineers Above 5 years’ experience.

Send CV: lvjob2015@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS Wanted for immediate appointment HSE officers - degree in safety engineering, Electrical site engineers- degree in electrical engineering, linemen class C- transmission – basic qualification. Gulf exp is preferred for all posts. Apply with bio data to – hr_oman1@yahoo.com immediately

MEDICAL Medical CARE Centre, Al Seeb, requires Gynecologist, General Practitioners and Medical Lab Technicians. Mail CVsarita_h23@yahoo.com or call 97884856 Urgent! Omani healthcare company looking for a smart proactive marketing executive cum product specialist, with strong English communication skills and clinical microbiology/biotechnology background, for medical equipment division. Omani driving license is a must. Candidates with experience in laboratory diagnostics will be given preference. Mail your CV to: vacancymedeq@gmail.com Wanted doctor or any person to run a medical complex & pharmacy in Salalah. # 95675488 / 99480068 Wanted Medical Lab Technician (male or female) for a reputed polyclinic. Contact 97101062 or send Email : arunjeni11@gmail.com Aesthetic and laser center in Oman seeking full time dermatologist with experience in cosmetology (Botox Fillers) good English as MOH license required. Package upon the experience and skills. For more information. Contact 00968 95233442 email: history@omantel.net.om Urgently required Staff Nurse, Pharmacist and endodontist Female Staff nurse, Pharmacist and endodntist with MOH License/Prometric exam passed with 60% and above. # 24780088, 97374459 Email : karamadental@gmail.com

Urgently required 26 yrs & above with 2 +years experience in sales, marketing, Business development / production controlling in FMCG. Contact : 98989620 Email: contact@sixarfoods.com Software company is recruiting minimum 3-5 years experienced Omanis for Sales Manager position.

Interested candidates are requested to send their resume to omansupport@gmail.com A leading software company urgently requires marketing person with minimum 4-5 years experience in Oman market with good communication skills and driving license - Omani / expats with release. Fax 24564459 Email: mhca@mhabibgroup.com

MBA (international business) from London, 4 years of UK experience in banking operational, looking for suitable position. Contact 91710075 Indian female B.Com PGDCA, Tally -9, 10 years exp in Accounts & HR at Oman. Contact 93726921 / 99058722 30 yrs Indian B.Com 7 yrs experience looking for job in accounts, Admin department. Contact 91935828 Indian Chartered Accountant post qualification experience 22 years working in Muscat since July 2011.

Senior position seeks suitable change.

NOC available. Contact 94201290 Email: chakjain37@yahoo.com M.Com, CA (Article ship), 15 years Gulf experience looking for suitable position in finance & account on visit visa, valid up to 10/07/2015. Contact: 97135855 / 94097305 Email: altabhossain2008@hotmail.com Tanzanian male, 25 yrs Accountant 3 month successful experience in Tanzania looking for suitable placement in any field. Contact : 96710154

A company at Muscat looking for a senior salesman of building materials who has minimum 3 years experience & NOC as well.

Contact no 93991932

Finance Manager, CPA, with more than 15 yrs. of experience in GCC. Fully knowledgeable in Finance, General & Management Accounting .

NOC available. Contact 96209331

A reputed media advertising & publishing company looking for female Sales Executives. Send CV to job08080@gmail.com or Contact 91408005

India 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

Software company looking for Telesales Executives – Female, with minimum 2 years of experience.

Suitable candidates can send their resume to omanerpsales@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

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE Required Office Assistant 160+25+Acc, Contact 99454425

TOURS Counter staff male/female experience 2 years of travel agency experience. Interested candidate shall send his / her CV to officer1_ajyad@yahoo.com

SITUATION WANTSIT. WANTED

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 Finance / Accounts Manager 12 years experience at senior position in leading companies 9 years in Oman CPA – USA& modern accounting certificate from AUC. Contact 99139926 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 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 Part time Accountant with 15 years experience in accounts, finance tax, audit management. #95857199

SITUATION WANTED 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

ADMIN/HR India Female MBA 3 Year Experience in Admin MIS. Contact 98234427, jkjsmith01@gmail.com Omani national fluent in English looking for suitable placement.

Contact 91908052 Indian Female, 34 yrs, B.Com, Knowledge in MS Office & Tally, exp in accounting & admin seek suitable placement 99199710/96744965 Indian female Post Graduate with 5 years experience in HR & Admin looking for good opportunity.

Contact 94692244 Omani experience in the legal, administrative, public relations, education. Contact 97243393 Email: mwm3003@gmail.com Over 15 years of gulf experience in Admin /HR /Logistics, fluent in Arabic & English with D/L looking for suitable position.

Contact 95824598 B.A graduate with 8 years experience (2 years in Oman) in admin / business development and sustainably (green buildings) on visit visa. Contact 91626216 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 Female 26, 3 yrs exp in HR & Admin, with Oman D/L, looking for a suitable opening. Contact 98236033 Indian male 2+yrs oman exp in HR. joing immediatly. release available.

Contact :93671437

AUTO CAD Indian male draft man, 3 D visualiser, 18 month experience in Oman driving license.

Contact 96285891 / 98414107 Email: prasadvv4u@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS Diploma in Fire and Safety Engineering, Completed IOSH and have PDO passport. Having experience of 3.5 years as Safety Advisor in Oman. Have valid Omani driving license. For further information please contact me on 96896176872, 9689808527 Female B. Sc Maths, B. Tech, Computer science CCNA, RHCE, MCP 7 years experience.

Email : devi2571997@gmail.com presently in India

Immediate placement ( with or without MOH) A. Pharmacist 3 nos B. Asst.pharmacist - 2 nos Contact Tel.99338219 , 93240949

Indian male- 32, 6 years’ experience in store incharge in Africa seeks suitable job, Contact 97385874

Wanted female Gynecologist, female Staff Nurse -2 no, Dentist, Dental Technician with MOH license for Al Saadi specialized Medical Centre in Mussana.

Contact 92025033

Indian ,Male 43,CA/ISA, Experience in Retail, NBFC, Logistics, Banking, Automobile, Investment and Facility Management seeking for a change.

Valid D/L. Release available.

Contact: aurosun@gmail.com

Indian male MBA finance, 6 years experience finance & accounting, specially in Oil & Gas now on visit visa. Contact 94327063 Email: shabab3939@yahoo.com Indian female qualification BBA Finance exp 7 years in Media Advertising (Branch Manager) looking job in Media Accounts / HR /Admin.

Contact 91342861 Email: indrabhushan23@gmail.com Education M.Com Finance experience 4 years, 7 months, 3 other course IELETS British Council, software ERP Oracle Tally ERP designation Chief Accountant.

Contact +968 96744752 Email: rehmanmushtaq786@gmail.com Accountant 35 years India male 8 years experience in accounts up to finalization & Admin with Oman D/L. Contact 92838233 Email: salihkkc@gmail.com

CATERING Young Bangladeshi male 26 knowing coffee shop work as waiter or sandwich maker or juice maker, presently in Bangladesh if any employer need. Contact with his brother 92278538

DESIGNER Interior Designer Syrian Nationality one year experience in design.

Contact 95246737 Email: yassalnajjar@gmail.com Female architect bachelor, 4 yrs experience (internal & external design, project coordinate, office management) with valid Oman D/L NOC available. Contact 94348074

DRIVER Driver looking for job.

Contact 94195818 Driver with car and electrician, 3 years experience looking for job.

Contact 92041902 Looking for job light duty driver well experience in Oman.

Contact 96749970 Need job LTV exp driver Pakistani.

Contact 94436276 Driver looking for job exp 15 years.

Contact 95904566 Light driver, 4 years exp need job.

Contact 94208089 Bangladeshi male looking for driving job. Contact 98066704 Pakistani male Light Duty Driver, past 4 years at Oman.Contact 96134311 White car with driver.

Contact 96771598 Looking for job light duty driver and office boy experience 2 years.

Contact 95789583 Driver looking for job. contact 94435912 Light Vehicle Driver requires job in any transportation / private co.

Contact 96015617 Driver looking for job.

Contact 92137431 Light duty driver looking job experience 4years Oman.

Contact 96088707

EDUCATION Indian female (M.Com B.Ed) 3 years experience in teaching commerce subjects, seeks placement.

Contact 94256332 Indian female MSc, MPHIL Chemistry currently on visit visa, 3 years teaching experience seeks immediate placement. Contact 96916534 Indian female Graduate 26 yrs having 3 years exp in teaching seeks a suitable position in the field of biology. Contact 99341926 Indian female B.Ed M.SC Organic Chemistry 3 years experience looking for suitable job.

Contact 91006851 Sudanese male BSC electronic Engineer 2 years experience in GSM, 10 years experience in oil industry (Drilling & Measurements).

Contact 91198104 Email: husseintalat@hotmail.com Sudanese BSC industrial Engineer experience 4 yrs in QA /QC and 8 yrs in production. Contact 94041960 Email: mekkimedani@hotmail.com / mekkimedani78@gmail.com

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

S AT U R DAY, M AY 9, 2 0 1 5

C5

DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED ENGG. / TECHNICAL Mechanical Design Engineer, 7 years of experience in Piping Design & Development, with good sound knowledge of AutoCAD, AUTOPLANT 3D,CATIA/V5,SOLIDWORKS,etc Looking for a suitable position. NOC available. Contact :+968-94549776, ashrafvpt@yahoo.co.in

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

Expatriate male MBA marketing and engineering working in Oman having valid D/L available to join immediately with NOC and release.

Contact 94553097

Indian- B.E.-MBA having 25 years Experience. Last 12 years in Oil & Gas Sector in Oman. Indian Male ,4 year experience as Safety Officer with NEBOSH currently on visit visa.

Contact 9565910,email: yadavchandan287@gmail.com

Indian male, 24 yrs B.Tech (MECH) on visit 1 year experience as PPC Engineer looking for suitable placement. Has, HVAC, AutoCAD and CATIA designing skills.

Contact: 98925685

Marine Engineer, Filipino, 33 years old, seeking for suitable job in Oman with 8 years work experience.

Contact Number-96627685

Indian male Senior Site Engineer (Diploma) having total 11 years experience in GCC, 7 years in Dubai and 4 years Oman. With valid Omani driving license, seeking for suitable position in building construction field, NOC available.

Contact 97943703 / 93458841 Email: georgesaji77@gmail.com 3Years Experienced Indian Male Electronics & Telecommunication Engineer Seeks Suitable Job in Electronics Design and or Relevant Field in Muscat. Ph.99286081.

Sudanese looking for job as Desktop Support Engineering good experience in UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Contact: 94519363 PIPE fitter 3 years experience CS pipe DSS pipe, SS PIPE, P.D.O permit holder seeks suitable placement in only P.D.O areas seeking urgently.

Contact 92533253 Civil Engineer (DCE) Indian male with 20 years experience, 10 years in Oman worked with reputed consultancy and contracting companies as RE, PE, PM and did projects for MOD and PDO with D/L Seeks suitable position. Contact 93251720 Indian male I.T.I diesel mechanic experience 4 yrs Qatar (11 yrs in India) seeking for suitable placement carpentry on visiting visa.

Contact 91969224 Email: anilk6102@gmail.com Bachelor degree B.SC (Honours) Telecommunication Engineering CCNA , CISCO, Certified network associate experience installation operation maintenance, ATMS & Electronics, Surveillance Security systems Nationality Sudanese age 25.

Contact: 92617282 Male Civil Engineer (B.Sc) having 10 years Gulf experience 2 years in Oman looking for suitable placement. Contact 99561877 Email: zahid_ruet@hotmail.com Electrical Engineer (B.Tech) looking for suitable vacancies, Now in Oman on visit visa. Contact 93293597.

Email: subinjohn26@gmail.com Indian male 25 B.Tech ( IT) Engineer 3 years experience in networking (MCSE- CCNA) certified currently on visit visa looking for suitable job.

Contact 91006851 Indian male 25 diploma Civil Engineer 6 years experience in India looking for suitable placement.

Contact 96750429 Indian / male B. E / B. Tech Civil / Site Engineer 3 years D.L. NOC available. Contact 93883136 email:mohammedcivilengineer.mct @gmail.com Iraqi Civil Engineer with more than 25 years experience in (Iraq ,U.A.E. and Oman) looking for a job, (N.O.C.) is available. Contact 94043735, amin.sarim007@gmail.com Indian male Instrumentation Engineer having 2 years experience in process instruments, seeks suitable placement. Contact 95954385 Omani 9 years as PRO & 8 years safely HSE Officer with PDO, D/L seek good job. Contact 96996938 Network / system Engineer B.E / ECE + CCNA & Ms certifiedwith 4+ yrs exp looking for a job. currently in Oman on visit visa.

Contact : 92589502 Email : jeganscareer@gmail.com B.Tech, instrumentation Engineer, Indian male with 4 yr experience in EPC and Sales / 2 yr Oman experience having valid Oman driving license. Contact 94145460 Email: jgeevarughese@gmail.com B.Tech biomedical Engineering having Omani driving license.

Contact 91352248

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 24 years, Mechanical Engineer,pdms.1 yr experience in pipeline,16years in oman seeking immediate placement Contact 95775742 B.E (Mechanical), Indian male 8 years experience (HVAC – 4 years, operation / production / maintenance, 4 years) looking suitable position. Contact 96696190 Email: faisalmnz@gmail.com Project (Electrical) Engineer with BE 10 years of experience (8 years in Oman).Driving license and NOC available. Looking for job.

GSM- 92197288 Civil Engineer Female, 3 yrs experience in structural design, on visit visa seeking suitable placement.

Contact 99195433 Male civil Engineer 6yrs experience 4 yrs in Oman (B.B.S and steel shop drawing prepare, M.Q.C sit management, D, W, M report) with valid Oman D/L NOC available.

Contact 99870370 Diploma in electronics & Telecom, Engineering with 5 years experience in Engineering & sales, marketing.

Contact 95932219 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.

25 yrs (f) B.Tech (Civil) 2 yrs in Oman (QS & Tendering) Estimation.

Contact 91228615 Education +2 Diploma Mechanical Engineering skills 2 C (Non destructive testing) experience 1 year 6 months company GB Engineering Pvt Ltd S.D Engineering pvt ltd.

Position Production Engineer, Production Supervisor.

Contact 99799237 Electrical and Electronics Engineer (BE) 1+ year of experience now on visit visa seeking suitable opportunities Email: djnitheesh@gmail.com Contact 99254469 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 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

Network Engineer,Female,CCNA,3 yrs exp specializing in DHCP,DNS,NTP also desktop level 3 assistance in different OS.94525630 / 93215372 Indian 25 yrs B.Sc computer science 2 yrs exp in computer hardware and networking and CCTV looking for job. Contact 93243372 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 Indian male 22 yrs fresher BCA young and energetic, seeking good opportunites. email: jlaxmimenon@gmail.com Contact 00919567722270 IT System Support Engineer,28 Years, Indian male,7.8 years experience,3 years from Oman, NOC available, having driving license, ready to join immediately, Mob : 93551182, E-mail: aniljose4u@gmail.com IT Network and Security Engineer with a master degree, CISCO and Linux red hat certified seeking a suitable job in a good company.

Contact 99818601

Indian male 26 yrs B.Com PGDM, IETS-6, 2 yrs exp.

Contact : 91694170 Indian Graduate (32) computer literate seeks any official job presently on visit visa. 95697715

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR Indian male BBA, 5 years worked as Operations Manager Omani D/L. Born, brought up in Muscat seeking suitable position. Contact : 93408014 Experience Restaurant Manager with valid driving license and NOC for immediate placement.

Contact: 92953199 Indian male Graduate with Oman work experience for 10 years in construction trading, automotive Industries seeking mid management position in business development, sales & marketing. Contact 92133277 Email: bijuma73@yahoo.com NOC available. Living in Oman more than 20 Years, With Valid Drivers license and more than 3.5 Years Working Experience in Logistics/ Operations/ Supply chain/ QHSE. Contact : 98515670

MEDICAL GM/Head of Business with experience in developing and managing group of healthcare companies in Oman actively seeking fresh opportunities in healthcare related companies. Contact 93504997, Email: josephstergin@gmail.com Dentist more than 10 yrs of experience in Muscat with release looking for suitable post. Contact 91232778 BSc male Nurse with MOH license and NOC on visit visa.

Contact 96414215 Lab Technician, Civil (8yrs Gulf experience) looking for a suitable job (NOC available) Contact-93344378 Well experienced MOH Licensed Indian GP Doctor looking for locum / permanent position in the Capital area. Contact 98140024 email:drgpoman@yahoo.com

SALES / MARKETING

IT Indian male 22 years BCA graduate, CISCO Certified Network Associate and COMPTIA A+ (Installing, configuring and troubleshooting). Fresher with good computer proficiency seeking for suitable opportunities. Ready to do other office routines and work anywhere in Oman. Valid Indian driving license. Currently on visit visa.

Contact 99704508 / 91258708 Email: chiran280293@gmail.com

SALES / MARKETING Indian male looking job in Sales & Marketing on visit visa having Qatar experience with driving license.

Contact 96669152 Indian male 10 years experience in Welding Supervisor NDT Technician, MIG Welding specialist seeking suitable job. Contact 96771841 Egyptian male 11 years in five stars international hotels management sales marketing D/L available residency visa. Contact 93577497 Email: elkomy82@hotmail.com Indian male 28 years with 3 years experience in Oman suitable placement in sales, having Omani D/L on visit visa. Contact: 92784776 Indian male 31 years, MBA, 7yrs experience in sales & marketing with valid driving license seeking suitable placement. Contact 98719219.

EMAIL: recruitme1984@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS

HOSPITALITY Indian male 18 yrs hotel experience Dubai procurement logistics stores suitable position NOC available.

Contact + 968 96573591 Email: namraj1973@rediffmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS

Indian female Graduate, 3 yrs experience in MNC as process associate & CED seeking for suitable job.

Contact: 94657273 Pakistani male 34 yrs Intermediate 2 yrs exp in sales & marketing in Oman. Looking for suitable job.

Contact - 92146864 Indian male MBA 7 years experience in Hospitality industry, operation, sales & marketing looking for suitable vacancy. Contact 92115860 Email vibin.py@gmail.com 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

Stores In Charge / Purchase coordinator with 6 years oman experience seeking placement. Contact 95439645 or storeoman@gmail.com Release / NOC available.

Indian male 24 years, MBA in Marketing looking for suitable placement currently in Muscat on visit visa. Contact: 93507063 Email: zamer_124@yahoo.com Indian 23 years B.Com Graduate, 2 years experience in sales knowledge of tally E.R.P & MS Office.

Contact 93134643 Graduate Indian male 25 with Good communication skill looking for suitable placemen in sales or marketing field in a reputed organization.

Contact 98558648 Email: risham54@gmail.com Indian male 26 yrs BSC Maths with 5 yrs exp in sales / operations / banking looking for a suitable job currently on visit visa. Contact : 96673159 / 95602012

SECRETARIAL/OFFICE 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

TOURS & TRAVELS Indian female, B.Sc in Travel & Tourism, 9 months exp in Oman as Travel Consultant .GDS-Sabre, Amadeus, Galileo, seeking suitable Job. GSM-95883404.

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 Light driver looking for job.

Contact 92791678 Indian Male, B.Tech Mechanical Engg 29 Yrs old,4 year experience,2.5 year experience as Lifting Inspection Engineer in Qatar. Looking for suitable placement. NOC available.

Contact No.93269839, Email: saneersainu@gmail.com Indian female,available on visit visa,knowledge in AutoCAD 2012,Revit 2012,Adobe photoshop C3, Google sketchup,seeking suitable position.

Email:dhiyana.mhmd@gmail.com.

Indian male experience in electrical and plumbing looking for a suitable position. Contact 92282845 Indian female Looking for an Accounts part time job, preferred to do from home. Well versed with TALLY , Accounting software.

Contact 95482970.

Indian male, 14 yrs Experience in Maintenance & Supervisor in hotel field (Electrical, Ac Mechanical & Plumber) N O C available.

Contact 95253640

Indian female B.Com graduate, 4years experience in accounts & administration department looking for suitable placement. #98928220

Indian female MBA Finance currently on visit visa, seeks immediate placement.

Phone - 968 - 98430089

Indian male, 34 yrs, ca inter pass, with 14 yrs experience, is seeking suitable placement, currently on visit visa & ready to join immediately. Contact: 95585069 or 95630747

Indian Male 34 years Mechanical Engineer 3 years of Experience seeking suitable placement immediately Contact: 91991435, 93310821

26 years Indian male with MBA & PGDFM, Total 3.8 years experience in Administration, seeking suitable placement in any gulf region.

Holding Oman valid driving license.

Contact :93359371 23 yrs old Pakistani bachelor in accounts and marketing 3.5 yrsexp 2 yrsexp in Oman, looking for a job.

Contact- 99374062 Indian female 25 yrs MBA finance currently on visit visa seeks immediate placement. # +(968) 9843 0089 Indian male 27 years, MBA, having more than 5 yrs experience in sales and marketing, looking for suitable job. Contact no.99224057, +919824823734 Indian male 21 IT Engineer Networking & Computer hardware course 01 yr experience currently on visit visa looking for suitable job.

Contact 96036273, E mail faizanfarooqui23@gmail.com Sales/ Marketing Executive : 35 years old Indian male, MBA, having experiences in UAE and India in sales and marketing field, presently on visit visa, looking for a suitable job in Salalah or in Oman.

Contact 91233648 Indian male, 14 yrs Experience in Maintenance & Supervisor in hotel field ( Electrical . Ac Mechanical & Plumber ) N O C available mob : 95 25 36 40 . email = hareeshma24@yahoo.com Part- Time Accountant, well versed with all accounting, Finalization, Budgeting available.# 98803439 ACCA affiliate,male,2.5 years experience in an audit firm in Finance & Audit, looking for suitable immediate placement. Release available. # 95140445, a.saran891@gmail.com Indian female MBA finance currently on visit visa seeks immediate placement.# (968) 9843 0089

Female British Beauty Therapist looking for suitable situation.

Contact 97175240 Indian Male 34 years Mechanical Engineer 3 years of Experience seeking suitable placement immediately contact: 91991435, 93310821 Indian female BA graduate. My total experience is 4 and half year in Call Center looking for jobs in admin and HR. Contact : 96089143, Email: sharanjit_kaur2009@yahoo.com Civil supervisor-8 year’s experience in commercial and residential building, including portable cabin, natural and artificial play ground’s, and Oxy petroleum field, at sultanate of Oman. GSM :91249005. Mail :sandeep88joseph@gmail.com Indian Male 28yr age having 6year gulf+ Indian experience in HR field.

Looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 97914340, Email: rajkv3086@gmail.com Indian male 27, looking for suitable placement in Piping Design & Engineering. Having 7 years of experience in AutoCAD. Also familiar with PDMS (11.6 Version),CAESAR ll. Contact : 97351786 / 96143708, E-mail : mohammednazeer07@gmail.com ACCA affiliate & Bsc (Oxford Brookes University), 2.5 years experience in oilfield & audit/finance in Big6 firm, seeking permanent placement. Release available. #95140445, a.saran891@gmail.com Indian male 21 Diploma in Mechanical Eng with HVAC certified having 6 yrsexp and seeking job in HVAC field as a supervisor. Currently on visit visa. Contact 92835952/ 92734863 Indian Female: MCA, 3 Years Exp. as Asst. Professor, Specialization in C # (sharp).net, Data Comm.& Networking, Knowledge about Web Development, ASP.Net, Oracle, SQL,VB.net.

Seek Immediate Placement. Now on Visit Visa.9588 7051 ashwininakod@gmail.com

Indian female, B.Com graduate, 2 years experience in admin department looking for a suitable placement. Contact 92531929

Indian female, B.Com. Knowledge of MS Office &Tally, 4yrs experience in accounting & admin dept. looking for good placement in any field.

Contact.98928220

ACCA affiliate, male, 23, 2.5years of vast experience in finance & audit in audit firm,seeking suitable placement immediately. # 96895140445, a.saran891@gmail.com

Indian male, 28 years, 7 years experience in transporting & heavy equipment renting company. Having Omani driving license seeks suitable positions. Contact 94410485

30 years Indian male with hotel management degree, 02 years experience in F&B service at five star hotel in Dubai and 05 years in American 6 star cruiseliner as Butler . Currently in Muscat on visit visa. Contact 91075704

Sudanese/Bsc IT/26/2 years experience/excellent Eng-Arb speaking/ Omani driving license/96387227/ henrykarrar@gmail.com

Indian Female looking for an Internship or Part time opportunity in any Interior Design, Architectural or Design Firm . Contact 95811820 Male - B.E Mechanical Engineer fresher( QA, QC , Piping & NDT + 1 month practical training in production & oil field ) seeking immediate placement currently on visit visa.

Contact - 0096896107833 Email albinalbin.thomas@gmail.com Senior Accounts Professional, Indian Male, 35 years, M.Com, MBA (Fin) 8 years in Oman, with valid Oman DL and NOC available. Capable to handle accounts up to finalization.

Contact 9602 3965.

25yrs experienced indian marketing mangr seeking suitable position. .presently working as a General Manager one of the leading Hyper Market Group in Oman.valid omani driving licence. Release available . contact number.92205026. aparayath@Gmail.Com Indian male executive secretary having vast experience in admin, logistics & procurement well versed with computer seeks suitable placement. Contact : 99514286 Young male, 22 years, B. Arch.

Graduate with 12 months training experience, seeks suitable entrylevel position in an architecture firm or architecture and engineering consultancy. Currently on visit visa, ready to join immediately.

Phone no. 92488990 Email: jay.kay.92@gmail.com

Sudanese / 29 years old / Bsc English language and Translation / 3 years experience in Oman teaching & translation / have driving license.

94211377. hosam.karar.1@gmail.com Indian Male 27, Piping Design Engineer looking for suitable placement in Piping Design & Engineering. Also familiar with PDMS (11.6 Version),CAESAR ll, AutoCAD. Contact : 97351786 / 96143708, E-mail : mohammednazeer07@gmail.com Mechanical Engineer B.E fresher (QA, QC , Piping & NDT + 1 month practical training in production & oil field) seeking immediate placement currently on visit visa. Contact – 0096896107833, Email albinalbin.thomas@gmail.com Civil Autocad draughtsman looking for part time job. Mobile: 95218737 Indian Male 33 looking for Scaffolding Supervisor vacancy in Oil & Gas field in Oman. Having 5 years experience in CCC Qatar and 3 years in Saudi” contact fysal.nellaya@gmail. com or 96155921 Well experienced hair dresser/ beautician required, visa available.

Contact – 96524717 Sharing accommodation available for ladies opposite Al Nahda hospital.

Contact - 96524717 Indian Male 58yrs, Oman experience 31yrs in Multifunctional Management, Administration, Business Development, Purchase & Operations, seeking suitable Manager/ Supervisory Position. Visa transfer/ NOC Available. GSM: 95036410

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DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTED SERVICES

WEBSITE

SITUATION WANTSIT. WANTED

COMPUTER

Indian female MBA finance currently on visit visa, seeks immediate placement# +(968) 9843 0089 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 Sudanese/Diploma/Electronics Engineering Communication/Optical Fiber Cable/Installation and Survey new towers/Experience 3 years.

Contact 00968 95932219 Indian Male 25 B-Tech(IT) Engineer 3 years experience in Networking(MCSE,CCNA-CERTIFIED)currently on visit visa looking for suitable job. # 99570776

CLASSES

Indian female, B. Ed-M. Sc organic chemistry 3years Experience looking for suitable job #99570776 7 Years successful experience.

Accountant, Indian male, 29 years.

Presently working in Oman as a Senior Accountant with Oman Driving license seek suitable opportunity.

GSM: 97705854 Indian female, B.SC, PGDCA currently on family joining visa. Two years working experience in Oman as customer care / sales coordinator.

Immediate joining seeks suitable placements. Contact no. (968) 95573205 /95949230/ 95800792

WEB, ERP and Business Intelligence (BI) creation and management at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

NRI

MANPOWER

Indian Pune based 29 years looking for job in Travel industry or any good company as a front office reception.

Contact: 93221054, Email: rufinabhavania@gmail.com Indian female, B.Com. knowledge of Ms. Office & Tally, 4yrs experience in A/Cing & admin dept .looking for good placement in any field.

Contact.98928220

CANADIAN MANPOWER CO. based in Oman Recruitment for legal jobs - Hotel staff ,Construction staff, Medical staff ,Gas & Oil Free consultancy, 2 years contract, work visa, free tickets, accommodation, social & medical ins. Contact us on 93392630 , pls send CV to margholdingoman@yahoo.com

Accountant, Indian Male 24 , 2 Years successful experience in Oman with Oman Driving License.

NOC Available seek a suitable opportunity. GSM : 9340 9315

GOOD NEWS

An Indian expatriate female, Graduate with TEFL certificate seeks suitable openings with Language centres or schools. Email : write2nishanair@ gmail.com, Contact : 97216963 Indian Female, MBA with 2.5 years of experience in Marketing seeking a suitable placement in sales/media/administration. Have Oman experience & valid driving license.#92460623 Indian male, 29 yrs, MBA in Marketing, 6 yrs exp. in Marketing/ Sales presently on family visa seeks suitable placement. #92345569, Email : tapankumarupadhyay@gmail.com Tunisian women looking for job, knows english, frensh, Italian and arabic. Contact: 91171838 Indian Accounts / Audit assistant with 2 years of experience currently on a visit visa looking for suitable job openings.

Contact 94677338, 97041086 Email: ajeeshkcy1989@gmail.com A Fresh ACCA Affiliate, Pakistani male, 24 yrs, open for positions of Accounts, Audit and finance.

Contact : 94541539 email: wasiqnasir_3@yahoo.com ACCA finalist and BSc from Oxford Brookes University UK, having 18 months working experience, currently in Muscat on visit, seeking immediate and suitable position.

Contact : 95375282

10 and Half cent land for sale in Cochin Cheranellor.

Contact : 99410160 5.1 cents land with a house at Tripunithura hill palace for immediate sale. Contact 0091 7736764525 Email: utham@yahoo.com 56 cents plot for sale at NH 47 Eramallour Ernakulam – Cheethala road. Contact 0091 7736764525 Email: utham@yahoo.com Residential land for sale in Chennai Kundrathur and Poonamaalee, we construct house in your budget.

Contact 98753366

SITUATION WANTSIT. WANTED Indian Male, 27 yrs MBA (Fin), SAP, 4 Yrs Exp in Finance Seeking Suitable Job with a Reputed Firm Currently on Visit Visa #92481230 22 years of experience in Multinational Companies & reputed firms in Financial Management, Project Management, Budgeting and Cost control, seeking a strategic Financial/Management Accounting role in a dynamic organization .

Contact : +971-506178139, Email.georg_vargis01@yahoo.com

Ayurvedic treatment for backache, paralysis, arthritis etc & massage, All Season (Vaidyaratnam). Contact 24475280 / 95371554 / 92504980 www.siddhayur.com 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 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

FOR LADIES Beauty package for vacation for ladies 10/-R.O, 15/-R.O, 20/-R.O. Contact : 99410160

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing, Contact 99314807/24792998

Split & window A.C servicing & maintenance. Contact 93769089 / 95323517

A/C maintenance split A/C servicing. RO. 10 only. Contact 94217681/ 99210141

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your marble.# 24793614/ 99314807

Sewage remove tanker sewage tank cleaning & block remove all maintenance sewage tanks. Contact 97412505 / 98852238

House shifting.

Contact 99708138

WINDOW & SPLIT unit A.C servicing & repairing. contact 99557080 SPLIT & WINDOW A.C servicing & maintenance. Contact 96236476 SPLIT & WINDOW A.C servicing & maintenance.# 93769089 / 95323517 A/C maintenance & servicing.

Fridge, washing machine & dish washer repairing. Painting & cleaning services & electrical & plumbing. Contact 99447257/97014234/ 24504281 Electric, Plumbing, painting & all kinds of building maintenance.

Contact 93896787 / 97924862

We do building maintenance all kind of works. Contact 99247663 P.R.O services. Contact 99368907 Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles polishing, carpet shampooing, maintenance.#ABU QABAS99320217 /24788722 House shifting packing.

Contact 99657644/ 98518013 Water proofing ABUQABASContact 99320217/24788722 Learn driving with professional only automatic. Contact 94022250

Pest Control Treatments, Termites, Cockroaches, Bedbugs.

Contact Ocean Centre LLC. Contact 99344723 Carpet & sofa shampooing. Ocean Centre LLC. Contact 99884591 / 92682970 Painting- building maintenance & management - excavation.

Contact : 99057348 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

S AT U R DAY, M AY 9, 2 0 1 5

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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

C8

S AT U R D AY, M AY 9, 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

Indian, Arabic, Chinese dishes, Buet Lunch (On Friday) Indoor & Outdoor, Catering, Party hall available Take Away & Home Delivery

Party booking & sugges ons 99320065, 99341643

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624