Times of Oman - May 10, 2015

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SUNDAY, May 10, 2015 / 21 Rajab 1436 AH

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Vaccination plan for all schools in Oman REJIMON K FAHAD Al GHADANI

Denying a surge in chickenpox cases in Oman, a health department official said the vaccines would include one for countering chickenpox

reji@timesofoman.com fahadnews@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: In partnership with school health workers, the Ministry of Health plans to launch a vaccination drive in schools all over Oman, said an official of the ministry.

“The special vaccination drive will soon be launched in public schools first,” said the official.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health denied that there was a surge in the number of chickenpox cases in Oman.

“There is no surge in chickenpox cases,” clarified the official.

Among the vaccines administered to students in all public schools in Oman, there will also be one for countering chickenpox.

Doctors say that patients with chicken pox symptoms are coming to their clinics.

“Since November, patients with chicken pox have been visiting us.

Now, the number is going up. On an average per month around 100 patients with chickenpox have come to us,” said Dr Shibu Mohammed, a dermatologist, at Badr Al Samaa Hospital in Ruwi.

He explained that chickenpox, an illness caused by the varicellazoster virus, is a contagious disease that causes a blister-like rash, itching, tiredness, and fever.

Being airborne, the virus spreads easily if an infected person coughs or sneezes or someone comes in direct contact with secretions from rashes.

Medics and pharmacists said

C H R O N I C R E S P I R AT O RY D I S E A S E

More asthma clinics to be opened, says health official ELHAM POURMOHAMMADI

elham@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: More clinics for treating asthma patients will be opened in Oman, as the Ministry of Health steps up its efforts to control this chronic respiratory disease.

“Currently, we have about 80 clinics in the country, but they are not sufficient,” Dr Shadha S. Al Raisi, chronic respiratory disease programme manager at the Ministry of Health, told the Times of Oman.

Al Raisi, who works in the noncommunicable disease department, said one of the responsibilities of the department is to set up clinics at primary care centres.

“We have a total coverage of 32.6 per cent of our primary health set-ups and are aiming for 100 per cent coverage,” she said on World Asthma Day, observed on May 5 this year.

According to Al Raisi, asthma

We have a total coverage of 32.6 per cent of our primary health set-ups Dr Shadha S. Al Raisi Chronic respiratory disease programme manager

clinics are being opened every month in Oman. One clinic was recently set up in North Sharqiyah, and asthma clinics are to be soon opened in Buraimi and Dhofar.

Al Raisi said that given the high prevalence of asthma in Oman, workshops and train-

ing programmes are also being held to improve the skills and knowledge of nurses, doctors and pharmacists.

“We had a clinic that reported seeing 40 patients in the first month of opening,” she said, adding that this reflects the need for more qualified staff. >A6

DECISION

‘Indonesian maids will have to return within four years’ RAHUL DAS

rahuldas@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Indonesian housemaids working in Oman will have to return to Indonesia within four years, a senior Indonesian diplomat said.

This move follows after the employment of Indonesian domestic workers in Oman was suspended from March 1, 2015.

Speaking to Times of Oman, Sukanto, Ambassador of Indonesia to Oman, said his government would not give more than four-year time to housemaids to continue working in Oman.

“After that, we will not allow anyone to stay in Oman, unless a Memorandum of Understanding

Sukanto, Indonesian ambassador to Oman.

(MoU) is signed between the two countries,” he said.

In 2004, the Indonesian government stopped sending housemaids to countries with

whom Indonesia does not have a bilateral agreement, or Memorandum of Understanding, for the protection of domestic workers.

Three years ago, Indonesia’s Ministry of Manpower drew up a plan to end the employment of housemaids abroad by 2017.

Indonesia’s decision to stop the employment of housemaids in the Sultanate of Oman will affect a market that is already facing a shortage of domestic workers due to curbs imposed by other labour-exporting countries in Asia and Europe.

Indonesian officials noted, “Our laws say that we should have a MoU with host countries before deployment.” >A6

they are facing a shortage of antiviral tablet Acyclovir used to treat chickenpox since last month.

“Only anti-viral syrups are available,” they added.

A drug distributor also confirmed the shortage of anti-viral tablets.

However, refuting those claims, the official at the Ministry of Health said there was no shortage of anti-viral medicines prescribed for treating chickenpox.

Another drug distributor said, “There was a shortage. But we have heard that a new lot of medicines have arrived. We are just waiting for the clearance.”

Meanwhile, the medic said the increase in the number of cases should serve as a warning to parents to get themselves vaccinated along with their children.

However, the doctor urged parents to avoid bringing their children along with them to hospitals when they come for treatment.

“Since it is contagious, it is better to avoid exposing their children to the disease. We are seeing such children in large numbers at our clinic,” added the medic.

Chickenpox symptoms usually go away without treatment but as the infection is very contagious, an infected child should stay home and rest until the symptoms disappear.

“We do suggest anti-viral medicine sometimes and in severe cases prescribe antibiotics. Patients should be cautious to avoid gastric bleeding,” warned the medic.

“Patients should avoid spicy and non-vegetarian food and opt for bland food,” added the medic.

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ELECTION VICTORY

HM sends greetings to UK MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a congratulatory cable to David Cameron, prime minister of the United Kingdom, on the victory of Conservative Party in the parliamentary elections and his assignment to form a new government.

In his cable, His Majesty has

expressed his sincere greetings and success to him for further progress and prosperity of his country’s people along with his His Majesty’s wishes of further development of relations between the two countries for the interest of their people.

—ONA

‘Oscars’ for British School students

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TOP THREE INSIDE STORIES

OMAN

Build affordable units to end housing crisis

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Oman must build affordable housing units to avert a housing crisis for young married couples as they increasingly struggle to afford the spiralling rising rent. From 2012, the government decided to allocate OMR80 million a year to build free accommodation for people in the social security programme. >A3

OMAN

MARKET

Indian minister’s tweet brings hope

Oman, Indonesia to form business panel

2

Oman and Indonesia, an emerging new powerhouse in Asia, plan to set up a joint business council, which is expected to be formed by the end of this year to facilitate bilateral trade. >B1

Bhaskaran Haridas, an Indian photographer, who is battling for life in a private hospital in Muscat, has found hope following a Tweet from Indian minister. >A5

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SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015 With Oman just next door to the UAE, there is a long history of tourism and trade between our countries. With increased frequency, we hope to further enhance these ties and make it easier and more convenient to travel between Dubai and Muscat Sudhir Sreedharan, senior flydubai official

OMAN CMA REPORT

Insurance sector Omanisation touches 65% MUSCAT: Insurance sector achieved a slight growth in Omanisation in 2014, increasing by 1 per cent to reach 65 per cent of the total workers in this sector.

A report issued by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) on the insurance market indicators pointed out that the number of employees in the insurance sector in 2014 stood at about 2,376

including 1,556 Omani employees.

The newly released report indicated that the number of employees in the insurance sector in 2013 stood at 2,170 including 1,399 Omani employees, representing 64 per cent of total employment in the insurance sector.

A total of 206 employees joined the sector during 2014 with a growth rate of 11 per cent includ-

National insurance firms employed 61% of the total Omani staff in the year 2014

ing 157 Omani employees, representing 76 per cent of the recruitment in the sector. The national insurance companies employed 61 per cent of the total Omani employees in the insurance sector in 2014 while foreign insurance companies employed 19 per cent whereas 20 per cent of Omanis work in the Omani insurance broker companies. -ONA

Flights to Dubai set for boost From May 7, flydubai will offer 56 flights per week to the Sultanate, making it one of their highest frequency routes

RAHUL DAS

rahuldas@timesofoman.com DUBAI: Growing trade and tourism links between the Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have convinced Dubai-based flydubai, to introduce seven new flights a day between Muscat and Dubai.

From May 7, flydubai will offer 56 flights per week to the Sultanate, making it one of their highest frequency routes. “We will fly seven times a day to Muscat and once a day to Salalah,” said Sudhir Sreedharan, senior vice president – commercial operations (Indian sub-continent/ GCC/Africa), in an exclusive interview to the Times of Oman.

Important market Speaking on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, he said that Oman is a very important market for flydubai.

“There is great demand for this service not only from those travelling for leisure or to visit friends and family, but also from business passengers. Offering frequent, affordable flights

Sudhir Sreedharan.

makes it easy for passengers to travel between Muscat and Dubai during the day,” he said.

“With Oman just next door to the UAE, there is a long history of tourism and trade between our countries. With increased frequency, we hope to further enhance these ties and make it easier and more convenient to travel between Dubai and Muscat,” he added.

Salalah demand Regarding its operation to Salalah, he said they would be adding more flights whenever it was required. “Last year, on some days, we operated four flights a day during the Khareef festival in Salalah from Dubai. So, if there is demand we will continue adding flights,” he said.

Recently, flydubai announced the launch of flights to Lar in Iran, adding to the recent launch of operations to Ahwaz, Bandar Abbas, Esfahan and Hamadan, in addition to Shiraz and Tabriz earlier this year. Operations to Lar began on May 2 with three flights a week. “People from Muscat will have excellent connections to Lar,” said flydubai officials.

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

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OMAN BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY

Coverall innovation to save on time going to the restroom TARIQ AL HAREMI

tariqh@timesofoman.com

TIME-SAVING: Doing your business in the old coveralls takes ten

minutes. In this new coverall, it will take five minutes. – Supplied photo

MUSCAT: Workers wearing coveralls will now be able to save five minutes when going to the restroom, thanks to a new innovation by Issa Al Sulaimi, which features an ankle-to-ankle zipper.

“The toilets here in small areas in workshops, and I believe all over the world, are very small. You cannot even turn around,” said Issa Al Sulaimi a mechanical engineering graduate from the University of Queensland, Australia.

“It saves time. Doing your business in the old coveralls takes ten minutes. In this (new coverall), it will take you five minutes. Saving

time is saving money,” he said, explaining that workers usually remove their heavy steel boots and coveralls while going to restrooms which takes up a huge amount of time and causes health risks to those who would rather hold it in rather than go through all that trouble.

Rise in productivity Companies could expect a 2.1 per cent rise in productivity, if 500 employees wearing this innovation saved 10 minutes going to the restroom.

This product has the first WIPO certificate under The Hague agreement from Switzerland which Oman is a part of.

Several Muscat areas hit by power outage The outage occurred in the morning and the MEDC was able to fix the problem by 8 p.m.

Times News Service MUSCAT: A power outage hit residential, industries and commercial establishments in Rusail Industrial area, KOM, Sultan Qaboos University and Jafnen residential area, on Thursday, May 7.

The power outage occurred in the morning on the Rusail primary sub-station, where the circuit breaker was flashed and damaged, causing the primary to trip.

A technical team from the Muscat Electricity Distribution Company (MEDC), which is part of the

Nama Group, was dispatched on time to repair the damaged circuit but encountered an issue with the bus bar. This created further interruptions in power supply till the MEDC team was able to fix the problem by 8 p.m.

“First of all, we would like to apologise to all affected customers as this power failure was beyond our control. Power outages are likely to occur due to various reasons, and the flashing of one of the circuit breakers was the cause of the outage that occurred on Thursday. Our team had con-

ducted an inspection of that substation on May 5, and had seen that there were no technical issues that needed to be addressed. Further, when the circuit breaker suffered damage at the primary station the safety measures came into place to protect the network, causing the breaker to burn and that localised the power outage,” said Engineer Ali Al Mashrafi, chief operations officer, distribution.

“We would like to thank our customers for their understanding and patience and we would like to reassure them that we are always there for them. We are ensuring reliable power supply as the new primary will be in service in the next two months,” he said.

Due to the increasing demand for power in the Sultanate, and particularly in Muscat, MEDC has planned for this increase by investing in a new primary sub-

C O M M E N TA RY

Government must avert housing crisis for low-income citizens SUNDAY BEAT

compete with the rising tenancy rates.

In the capital area, the average monthly rental of a onebedroom flat is OMR250 per month. If the official statistics can be used as a yardstick to measure the affordability of housing rentals, then nearly 25 per cent of all Omani workers in the country cannot afford a house.

SALEH AL SHAIBANY

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O

man should build affordable housing units to avert a housing crisis for young couples as they increasingly struggle to afford the spiralling rents.

From 2012, the government decided to allocate OMR80 million a year to build free accommodation for people in the social security programme.

People qualify for the social security programme if they have no income, are severely disabled, families that are raising orphans, or widows and elderly abandoned by their children.

Minimum wage workers But this housing grant does not stretch to people who are earning a minimum salary of OMR325 per month or just above it. Minimum wage workers, according to official statistics, make up about 23 per cent of all employees in the Sultanate, both in the private and government sectors.

House rentals have quadrupled in the last 20 years and disadvantaged people in this category are most vulnerable.

They face eviction from their homes as they find it hard to

Living costs The living costs in the Sultanate — thanks to a steady rise in inflation at an average of 4-5 per cent per year — is taking a sizeable chunk of their pay every year. Inflation in Oman, though modest compared to other countries, is considerable to minimum wage workers or even those who get paid up to OMR500 a month.

It hits most of the young people in the workforce who dropped out from the secondary school. It also affects those who could not get into the universities because their parents couldn’t afford to pay for it, or did not qualify for governments’ higher education grant.

Dreams dashed Low income not only dashes the dreams of young people of owning their own homes but forces them to stay with their parents long after leaving their education. It also forces them to get married late hoping that a decade later their wages would improve to afford a house of their own.

If they cannot wait that long, they are forced to live in their parents’ homes and share their childhood bedrooms with their wives.

Rising age of borrowers Figures with the various mortgage lenders in the country, including the state-run Oman Housing Bank (OHB) over the last ten years, show that the average age of applicants for housing loans has increased from the age of 31 in 2004 to 37 in 2014.

This means that the affordability of housing ownership is edging closer to middle age in the last decade. It also means that an average Omani, in the best part of their thirties, either lives with his parents or in rented accommodation.

What statistics say These statistics obviously prove the existence of a wide gap between affordability of housing and monthly income.

It is imperative that the government must address the long term undersupply of housing for low income people to improve affordability. There is no research to underline the future implications and how far the problem will stretch but it is not likely to improve soon unless the government acts on it now.

One way to solve the problem is to use the existing method the government has already adopted since the mid1980s. The total Pension Funds in Oman, both for private and government sectors, are worth more than OMR7 billion and growing all the time.

The Pension Funds are being invested in a variety of schemes, including the financial sector and in the real estate. The government perhaps should look into building affordable houses by using the extensive Pension Funds and lease them to the low-income people at a modest rent.

Young nation No doubt that the housing crisis is on the doorstep considering that Oman is a very young nation. More than 12,000 students leave the education system every year and all of them would look for their own accommodation a few years after that.

Oman cannot have a quarter of its population living with their parents until the middle age and the number will obviously increase over the years.

Unless of course, something is done about it pretty quick.

stations and increasing the capacity of some of the current primary sub-stations. MEDC has invested more than OMR50 million in those projects and added more than 200mw to its network. This huge investment was made to cater to the increase in demand of power, secure the current supply and ensure reliability from more than one source for most of the customers.

“Moreover, for better planning in the future, we would like all our customers to approach us during their planning phase to ensure the availability of reliable power supply, as most of those big projects take a long time to be executed,” he added.

“We would also like to take this opportunity to ask our customers for their assistance in the upcoming summer months by reducing non-essential power usage.”

Health risk Among the health risk factors that workers could be facing due to urinary delays are urinary tract infections (UTI), interstitial cystitis, kidney failure and kidney stones.

“I made a prototype and used it myself for a week. It is definitely better,” he said.

The coverall is a mix of the men’s traditional Arab gown and coverall where the ankle-to-ankle zipper would transform the coverall from one form to the other.

“There is a zipper from ankle to ankle. When it goes all the way, it (coverall) looks like the Arab gown,” said Al Sulaimi.

Regarding materials used, the coveralls can be fully customisable

using any material, from cotton to polyester to making the uniform fireproof.

Flexibility “What we will do is we will take a sample from the company and create the coverall based on the material of that sample. We can do it anyway the customer wants it to be done,” explained Al Sulaimi.

Aziz Al Balushi, oilfield engineer of scientific drilling, said on the new coveralls, “It is definitely a great idea.

It will be easier on us all when we need to heed nature’s call. Especially when the floors are dirty in the bathrooms, we will not have to take our boots off.”

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SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015 There is no doubt that the development of tourism requires the evaluation of the available resources in a particular area which provides various services for tourists Helal Ghalib Al Hinai, Adviser for green tourism, Ministry of Tourism

OMAN

Persian music group’s concert rocks ROHM

Workshop focus on sustainable tourism industry Times News Service

The 14-member ensemble includes a number of musicians who have studied Persian folk music at leading Iranian universities

SARAH MACDONALD

sarah@timesofoman.com

engaged and interested in the music.

MUSCAT: Traditional music from Iran was performed with a modern, energetic twist by Rastak, a Persian folkloric music group, who gave an engaging concert at the Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) on Thursday night.

The 14-member ensemble, which includes a number of musicians who have studied Persian folk music at leading Iranian universities, plays traditional Iranian music from different regions and sub-cultures from the country, but with a contemporary, lively and fast interpretation. Rastak not only delighted the many Iranians who were in the audience, but they impressed those who were less familiar with their music, too.

Multiple instrument One of the fascinating aspects of Rastak’s concert was watching as many of the musicians moved from instrument to instrument, revealing just how multi-talented they are. A number of them are accomplished performers on five, six and even seven different instruments.

One musician who was especially note-worthy was Yaser Navazandeh Gorji, who plays a variety of woodwind and pipe instruments. He was particularly engaging during a song called “Bushehri” in which he introduced the neyanban. Not only did he play the bagpipe with ease, he also twirled and danced around the stage as he played.

Infectious spirit From the moment the ensemble took to the stage, there was an infectious spirit on among the musicians that quickly spread to the audience, who clapped and cheered throughout the concert. There was also a lot to engage one’s eyes, as there were so many different instruments being played, some of them rarely or never seen before on the ROHM

MINISTRY OF TOURISM

MESMERISING: Though Rastak plays traditional music from the

different regions and cultures of Iran, including Kurdistan, Balushistan, Shiraz, Huzestan, Guilan, and the Lori people of Balushistan, they bring a hyperactive, modern vitality to the music. – Khalid Al Busaidi

stage, including the dutar, a type of long-necked string instrument, and the neyanban, a type of bagpipe made out of a goatskin.

Traditional music Though Rastak plays traditional music from the different regions and cultures of Iran, including Kurdistan, Balushistan, Shiraz, Huzestan, Guilan, and the Lori

people of Balushistan, they bring a hyperactive, modern vitality to the music. The traditional songs and rhythms are played at faster tempos and with a spirit that aims to attract a younger audience, engaging them in the rich Persian cultures. Watching and listening to the musicians, who play with the utmost joy and enthusiasm, it’s almost impossible not to be fully

Richness of Persian culture Rastak was the first Iranian ensemble to perform at the ROHM and their’s was a concert that truly engaged the audience and highlighted the richness of Persian culture. Based on their success, no doubt it won’t be long before the ROHM brings back more musicians from Iran to entertain their audience in Oman.

MUSCAT: Development and promotion of sustainable tourism products will be the focus of a workshop that begins here on Monday.

The Ministry of Tourism, in cooperation with the World Tourism Organisation, will host the workshop entitled “Sustainable Tourism” that will take place in Al-Jabreen Hall, Intercontinental Hotel, from May 11 to 13.

The workshop will be held under the auspices of Mohammed bin Salim bin Said Al Tobi, Minister of Environment and Climate, and in the presence of Ahmed Nasser Al Mahrizi, Minister of Tourism (MoT), Dr Fuad bin Jaafar al Sajwani, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and E Maitha Al Mahrouqi, Undersecretary in the MoT. Additionally, a number of experts from around the globe, specialising in the study of the environment and intentional affairs, will be present. The workshop’s purpose is to develop and promote those tourism products that include sites and attractions, transportation, accommodation and entertainment, in which each element of the tourism product is prepared by individual companies and offered separately to tourists.

Ministry’s objective Developing a sustainable tourism industry has become one of the main objectives of the Ministry of Tourism, in collaboration with the World Tourism Organisation, through various development programmes and projects. The main points that will be discussed in the workshop contain issues related to sustainable tourism indicators, after a preliminary study,prior to the workshop, that included Bandar Khayran as a clear example of

sustainable tourism. The workshop will be attended by representatives and specialists from the public and private sectors, and students who specialise in tourism and have a general idea about sustainable tourism.

At the same time, the concept of sustainable development has become widely accepted as the way to create a better, more humane and socially responsible future. There is a growing belief that tourism can play a significant role in sustainable development. The workshop will include a field visit to Bandar Khayran to learn how tourism effects the environment.

The objectives of this seminar is to generate awareness among national and local authorities, other relevant agencies and tourism businesses, about the importance of developing tourism in a sustainable manner and to consider special circumstances and opportunities.

Evaluation needed Helal Ghalib Al Hinai, adviser for green tourism in the Ministry of Tourism, stated, “There is no doubt that the development of tourism requires the evaluation of the available resources in a particular area which provides various services for tourists.”

Making tourism more sustainable is not just about controlling and managing the negative impacts of the industry. Tourism is in a very special position to benefit local communities, economically and socially, and to raise awareness and support for conservation of the environment.

Within the tourism sector, economic development and environmental protection should not be seen as opposing forces, but they should be pursued hand in hand as aspirations that can and should be mutually reinforcing.

N C S I I N I T I AT I V E

Survey to map work trends among youth to be launched Times News Service MUSCAT: A survey by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) on work trends among Omani youth is set to begin, the statistics department said in a statement.

The survey will continue until the end of this month.

According to NCSI sources, apart from finding out the most sought-after sectors of employment and salary expectations, the study also aims to identify job preferences and work ethics and values of Omani youngsters.

Significantly, the extent to which nepotism is prevalent in securing government jobs will

also come under its purview. The NCSI study also seeks to record the assessment of the Sultanate’s youth about the role played by the Omani government in employing young nationals as well as how they expect the government to perform on this front.

Anaytical tools Also, it will look at the various sources of information on recruitment and related issues that are trusted the most by Omani youngsters.

Another focus area of the survey is the extent of use of modern technologies by the youth in the Sultanate. The first phase of the study was held in 2013 and the

second session in 2014, and both surveys employed quantitative as well as qualitative analytical tools to get a clear perspective on youth trends.

They revealed crucial information about the economic, social and cultural aspects of their lives providing valuable inputs toward ensuring sustainable development of the Sultanate.

The present phase of the study will be primarily a quantitative one and will follow the same methodology employed in the first phase.

The study consists of three surveys on different samples of Omani youth in the age group 18-30 years across all the governorates.

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

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OMAN Indian minister’s tweet brings hope for expat Bhaskaran Haridas, a 64-year-old Indian photographer who is battling for life in a private hospital in Muscat for the past 25 days, has found hope following a Tweet from Sushma Swaraj, India’s external affairs minister Bhaskaran Haridas. -Supplied photo

NISHAD PADIYARATH

nishad@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: How many of us use social media effectively when we are in any kind of trouble?

Thanks to the increasing use of social networking sites, Indian expatriates are getting all too vocal these days when it comes to raising issues.

Bhaskaran Haridas, a 64-yearold Indian photographer, who is battling for life in a private hospital in Muscat for the past 25 days, has found hope following a Tweet from Sushma Swaraj, India’s external affairs minister, after social workers turned to Twitter to raise the issue.

On Wednesday, Swaraj was tagged in a Twitter post from Oman-based social worker Vikrant Malik who wrote, “This is the life of a destitute. Please help this guy in Oman.” With it was a link to a blog post by Wailana Jabir narrating Haridas’s plight.

Minutes later Swaraj responded, informing that the Indian Embassy in Oman would help Haridas.

Speaking to the Times of Oman, award-winning Indian social worker P M Jabir, who has been supporting Haridas from day one, has confirmed that the Indian

embassy officials are now closely monitoring Haridas’ health.

“They (officials) visited him soon after Swaraj tweeted and have offered all help. Unfortunately, Haridas is on ventilator and cannot be airlifted to his home country. It was my daughter Wailana who wrote his story on her blog and that was tweeted to Swaraj by Malik,” said Jabir.

The story of Haridas goes back to 2013, when he was a reputed photographer, and wanted to set up his own studio. He gathered all his earnings and savings for the

purpose, but while furnishing documents for a licence to run the studio, he was asked to submit a medical certificate. Since his age was not as young as his dreams it posed problems for him to obtain the certificate. Subsequently, he could not renew his visa and that of his wife Mohana, and their 14-year-old son Nayana Krishna Das. Later that year, Haridas suffered his first stroke, and since then nothing has been the same.

Treatment gave him back a little strength and he battled the stroke, but his health deterio-

MAJOR POSITION

Ahmed Al Bulushi appointed ONTC chief executive officer Times news Service MUSCAT: Ahmed bin Ali Al Bulushi has been appointed as the new chief executive officer (CEO) of the Oman National Transport Company SAOC (ONTC) from May 3, 2015.

“Our goal is to recruit competent and talented young Omanis on major positions in the sector,” said Salim bin Mohammed Al Naimai, chairman of ONTC. ONTC is a government-owned company founded in 1972 and is a permanent member of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP). It is also the leading public transport company

in the Sultanate of Oman. Currently, the company is going through a rapid growth process to support the government’s vision of enhancing the public transport network in the Sultanate.

Ahmed Al Bulushi holds a master’s degree in Management and Information Technology from Australia and Higher Diploma in Accounting. He has over 17 years of experience in various fields. He worked with major governmental bodies, held various positions in senior management. He is also on the board and a committee member for some corporates and has led different projects and investments in various sectors.

Ahmed Al Bulushi. – Supplied photo

rated. Since then, the family has been dependent on Mohana who started working.

“They wanted to go back to India, but all their savings were exhausted on Haridas’ health,” said Jabir.

On April 15, Mohana found Haridas in a semi-conscious state and rushed him to a hospital.

“I have seen this man hovering between life and death, every day.

I have seen Mohana crying in the corridors of the hospital, everyday,” said Jabir.

“I realised that day, more than ever, that nothing mattered more than having the right documents whilst living in this country. For, if you are undocumented, you may be allowed to live here, but you are not allowed to die of an illness,” he said. His hospital bills have shot up and as of today, it stands at OMR6,000.

“We have been able to pay an advance of OMR250 through contributions by colleagues of the Kerala Wing, and a further OMR1,000 was paid by the Charity Wing of the Indian Social Club. There have been contributions by a few amazing and kind individuals. Frankly, this is one of the most challenging cases I have come across,” said Jabir, who has been in the forefront in helping Indian expatriates in distress since 1982.

Jabir had written quite a few letters to the authorities to help Haridas, but to no avail.

“Imagine, when you are caught up in a situation where no one is willing to help you? When authorities turn down your pleas what can you do? It was then we decided to take up his case directly with India’s external affairs minister, who acted swiftly. We are now looking for justice. We hope Haridas can be airlifted once his health improves, and he can be given better treatment in his home country, because we do not know what will happen to him tomorrow,” he added.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Convention centre to be the venue for next year’s COMEX Times News Service MUSCAT: Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC) will be the new venue for COMEX, Oman’s premier communications and IT exhibition.

This was announced by Information Technology Authority (ITA), Oman International Trade and Exhibitions (OITE), and OCEC. The venue will provide a platform from which to propel the popular event to even greater success and increase participation. Commenting on the announcement, Dr Salim Sultan Al Ruzaiqi, ITA, CEO remarked, “COMEX , the region’s leading ICT Trade Fair. It is without a doubt a key event for the ITA to highlight the latest trends, opportunities and knowledge on ICT under the e.oman umbrella.

COMEX, along with Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre, represents a great platform for all government entities, international IT expertise and local businesses to boost ICT and innovation which, in return, attracts more local and global investment opportunities to the Sultanate.”

“OCEC is proud to host COMEX 2016 and to be the future home for this most prestigious event,” said Trevor McCartney, OCEC general manager, who went on to congratulate ITA and OITE on the resounding success of COMEX 2015.

“COMEX has an incredible reputation. It is an extremely powerful brand and the whole OCEC team is looking forward to building on the enormous achievements of COMEX 2015. Indeed we are already liaising with OITE and exploring how the Centre can best showcase and help grow the event while delivering a truly memorable and rewarding experience for both visitors and participants,” said McCartney.

“COMEX 2016 will be the first

The venue will provide a platform from which to propel the popular event to even greater success and increase participation

of our portfolio of events to be held at the OCEC and given the incredible venue and its superb facilities, I have no doubt that the success of COMEX 2016 will eclipse that of its predecessors,” observed Tarek Ali, general manager of OITE, adding, “OCEC is powering the events industry in Oman into an exciting new era and COMEX 2016 is already looking to be bigger in size and better in quality as compared to the 2015 edition.”

Set to be a major global player in the business events industry, the OCEC signed an agreement with OITE earlier in the year as part of its commitment to support local partners and business by forging strong and sustainable relationships to help maximise benefits countrywide with the intention of building world-leading events in Oman.

Phase I of the iconic and highly-anticipated OCEC will open in February 2016, an occasion which will place the spotlight on Oman as an innovative and leading edge events hub and that will change the face of the industry in the region. It is anticipated that domestic exhibitions will attract in excess of 200,000 visitors to OCEC in its first year of operation and over 600,000 per annum on completion.

A6

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

OMAN

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Ministry’s focus on Omanisation in private sector The private sector is expected to reduce reliance on expatriates and provide the required training to Omanis to help them take over their jobs in this sector

MUSCAT: To improve Omanisation and help Omanis take over different posts in the private se sector, the Ministry of Manpower follows with special interest the generation of job opportunities for Omanis in this sector.

Additionally, the Ministry of Manpower seeks to enhance the stability of the nation’s manpower in their jobs with the private sector, which is a challenge for the Omanisation.

The private sector is also required to reduce its reliance on expatriates and provide Omanis with the required training to help them assume the jobs currently occupied by expatriates.

The Oman government, represented by the Ministry of Manpower, provides the nation’s manpower though employment services using modern systems and technologies.

Training The Technical Education and Vocational Training (TEVT) directorates throughout the Sultanate are working to keep pace with developments made in the enforcement of labour laws and the TVET curricula and programmes.

The Ministry of Manpower maintains coordination with the respective stakeholders involved in the employment of the nation’s

ASTHMA CLINICS

INDIAN SOCIAL CLUB CELEBRATES HM’S HOMECOMING Indian Social Club Muscat, its linguistic wings and charity wing, organised a march on Friday evening on the Social Club premises to celebrate His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said’s return to Oman. - Photo: O K Mohammed Ali

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manpower, including the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), the General Federation of the Sultanate’s Trade Union and most private sector organisations, to implement the Royal Directives related to the employment of national manpower. It also seeks to ensure a balanced labour market that meets the needs of growth in different businesses and industries.

Achieving this aim requires carefully studied plans and programs to provide job opportunities through the expansion of existing projects, opening new projects, and enacting trade agreements between the Sultanate and other countries.

With many positive indicators about the Sultanate’s handling of crude oil prices, the labour market is expected to witness additional needs for more manpower.

The Ministry of Manpower also endeavours to enhance human rights of both national and expatriate manpower by ensuring proper application of the Omani Labour Law. -ONA ‘ N I G H T AT T H E O S C A R S ’

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A1510 staff trained “So far, we have trained 510 staff, and this year we are aiming to train 300 more during six workshops,” the programme manager said, adding that the establishment of asthma clinics and the management of asthma training programmes are conducted in collaboration with the Oman Respiratory Society.

Al Raisi also said that clinics are provided with the required equip-

It’s an event to celebrate the achievements and success of our students in a number of areas and subjects Nadia Megnin, head of the senior section of British School Muscat

ment and medication, and their progress is evaluated on a regular basis. New medication will also be introduced as part of the ministry’s initiative to control asthma in the country, she said. Apart from treatment, asthma clinics provide consultancy to patients, Al Raisi said, advising patients to take advantage of this opportunity and plan the best possible treatment.

45 British School Muscat pupils get ‘Oscars’ TARIQ AL HAREMI

tariqh@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: British School Muscat (BSM) held its sixth annual ‘Night at the Oscars’ ceremony at Al Bahja Hall on Saturday.

Forty-five students from primary and secondary schools received ‘Oscar’ awards for outstanding work in music, drama, dance, and film and media departments throughout the academic year. Just as at the actual Oscars ceremony, students are chosen based upon one piece of academic work performed excellently.

“It’s not about who the best student is over the year,” said Maurice Moul, head of film and media studies.

“We try to pick out specific pieces of work that people have done and, sometimes, they are not the strongest students; but because they’ve actually done something which is quite extraordinary, it’s a way of rewarding those who otherwise would not receive rewards,” he explained, saying that this is fair for all. Five awards were presented to primary students. “It’s an event to celebrate the achievements and success of our students in a number of areas and subjects. This is bringing together what they achieved throughout the year and celebrate their achievement and showcase their talent,” said Nadia Megnin, head of the senior school.

TALENTED STUDENTS: Just as at the actual Oscars ceremony, students are chosen based upon one piece of academic work done brilliantly. – Cio Datan

D ATA

INDONESIAN MAIDS

< FROM

Europeans top the list of hotel guests in Oman MUSCAT: Europeans topped the list of hotel guests until February 2015, showing an increase of 38 per cent to reach 95,945 guests, as compared to 69,519 during February 2014, according to the statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

The total number of guests staying in three to five star hotels reached 210,399 by the end of February 2015, compared to 207,551 during the same period in 2014, registering a growth rate of 1.372 per cent.

The statistics indicate that the total revenues of such hotels till February 2015, logged a 1.9 per cent increase compared to the revenues recorded during February 2014 to reach OMR36,078,000 compared to OMR35,400,000 recorded during the same period of 2014.

On the other hand, the occupancy rate recorded a 3 per cent

decrease as it reached 67.4 per cent compared to 69.5 per cent logged during the same period of 2014.

The statistics showed that Europeans topped the list of the hotel guests till February 2015, showing an increase of 38 per cent to reach 95,945 guests, as compared to 69,519 during February 2014.

They were followed by Omanis whose number reached 67,293 compared to 63,549 during February 2014, a 5.9 per cent increase. Asian guests came third on the list recording 26,462 till the end of February 2015.

They were followed by the guests from the Gulf region who touched 16,778. Other Arab guests numbered 8,972 while there were 8,384 Americans.

There were 474 guests from Oceania while other nationalities reached 11,072. -ONA

A1Protection of workers “Therefore, it is important that we have to devise a memorandum with Oman before sending Indonesian workers to this country.”

He noted that the presence of a proper protection system relating to the employment of Indonesian workers in Oman will always be in the interest of both countries.

According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the number of Indonesian nationals in the private sector had reached 35,738 in November 2014, including 35,111 women and 627 men.

“Our focus today is to reduce the number of housemaids from the local Indonesian population and increase the number of professionals in other sectors, including oil and gas, health and hospitality,” the Ambassador said.

The current salary of untrained housemaids from Indonesia in Oman is OMR100 per month, while trained housemaids receive a salary of OMR120 a month. “We are studying the living conditions in each of the GCC states and are in the process of revising the salaries to meet the growing requirements of the workers,” he said.

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

A7

REGION

Egypt court sentences Mubarak and sons to three years in prison The former Egyptian president and his sons Alaa and Gamal had already been sentenced to three years on the same charges but an appeal court overturned the original verdict

CAIRO: An Egyptian court sentenced ousted president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons to three years in prison on Saturday after a retrial for embezzlement.

Mubarak and his sons Alaa and Gamal were present in the caged dock, wearing suits and sunglasses. Mubarak’s lawyers may try to appeal the verdict.

They had already been sentenced to three years on the same charges but an appeal court overturned the original verdict.

It was not immediately clear whether the sentencing took into account time served.

The three had all been arrested in 2011, months after Mubarak was toppled in a popular 18-day upris-

RETRIAL: Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak sits in the defendant’s cage in between his sons

Gamal, left, and Alaa as they listen to the verdict in their hearing in a retrial for embezzlement, on Saturday in Cairo. - AFP

ing after three decades in power.

Mubarak waved at his supporters in the benches before the judge read his verdict.

Fined He and his sons were also fined 125 million pounds ($16 million) — the amount they were accused of embezzling from funds meant for the maintenance of presidential palaces. They also have to give back 21 million pounds, the court ruled.

Mubarak will return to the

Cairo military hospital where he has spent much of his time since his detention. Before Saturday’s verdict, he and his sons had been free men after their pretrial detention period expired.

Mubarak, who turned 87 this month, was cleared of charges in another trial over the deaths of protesters during the uprising in January and February 2011.

Seven of his police commanders were acquitted in the trial.

The prosecution has lodged an

appeal. In the months following his ouster, Egypt’s interim military rulers rounded up top Mubarakera leaders and police commanders and put them on trial, under pressure from protesters.

Most have since been acquitted, as widespread anger shifted to Mubarak’s now overthrown successor, Mohamed Morsi.

Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood leader, was overthrown by the army in 2013 and his movement crushed in a crackdown that left

STRIFE-TORN

30 prisoners killed, 40 escape in Iraq jail break BAGHDAD: Six guards and 30 detainees were killed in a prison break north of the Iraqi capital during which 40 inmates escaped, an interior ministry spokesman said on Saturday.

The spokesman said the break on Friday started when an inmate grabbed a weapon from a warden at the prison on the main police compound in Khalis, a town around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Baghdad.

“One of the prisoners seized a weapon from a guard. After killing him, the inmate headed up to the weapons storage and he seized more weapons,” Brigadier General Saad Maan said.

“Clashes erupted inside. We lost a first lieutenant and five policemen, forty prisoners fled.

WRECKAGE: A fireman hoses down a burnt vehicle after a car

bomb attack in Baghdad on Saturday. - Reuters

Nine of them were held on terror charges and the rest for common crimes,” he said.

Maan added that 30 prisoners who had been held on terrorism

charges were killed in the clashes.

Iraq has been plagued by several prison breaks over the past two years, including in the early days of the huge June 2014 offensive

WA R - T O R N

Coalition warplanes pound Yemen rebels after truce offer SANAA: The Saudi-led coalition bombed the Yemeni capital’s airport and the Houthi rebels’ northern stronghold on Saturday just hours after proposing a humanitarian ceasefire to start next week.

Hundreds of families fled the rebels’ Saada province bastion before a coalition deadline to leave expired on Friday evening, after which warplanes pounded the bases and homes of rebel leaders, witnesses said.

Aid agencies warned that many civilians would not have had time to leave Saada by the deadline, and urged the coalition to hold back from its threat to treat the whole province as a military target.

After six weeks of air strikes in support of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, the coalition zeroed in on Saada, the rugged heartland of the Houthi rebels on the border with Saudi Arabia.

Warned Riyadh has warned that the rebels crossed a “red line” by shelling populated border areas of the kingdom earlier this week.

Coalition aircraft and Saudi artillery pounded rebel chief Abdul Malik Al Houthi’s home town of Marran, witnesses said.

The insurgents’ Al Masirah television channel said Marran and nearby Baqim were hit by more than 160 rockets.

It said the coalition had

SOLIDARITY: Tribesmen gather to show support to fighters of the anti-Houthi Popular Resistance Committee near Yemen’s southwestern city of Taiz on Saturday. - Reuters

launched more than 27 air raids across the province.

Residents of Saada city said strikes brought down the telecommunications network there.

The coalition confirmed on Saturday it had targeted the houses of several Houthi chiefs as well as arms depots, and renewed its call to civilians to avoid rebel positions, the Saudi SPA state news agency said.

Coalition warplanes also launched new strikes against the airport in the rebel-held capital Sanaa, where the runway was damaged in previous raids.

The coalition has imposed a tight sea and air blockade in an attempt to prevent supplies from reaching the rebels and their allies in the security forces.

The rebels have yet to respond to the proposal made by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir on Friday for a five-day ceasefire beginning on Tuesday.

“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 conference in Paris with US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Kerry said the ceasefire would take place “provided that the Houthis agree that there will be no bombing, no shooting, no movement of their troops or manoeuvring to reposition for military advantage (and) no movement of heavy weapons”. - AFP

by the IS group. The extremists freed and recruited hundreds of inmates, including in the cities of Tikrit and Mosul.

Meanwhile, a car bomb blast targeting pilgrims on an annual march to a Baghdad shrine killed at least seven people on Saturday and wounded 20, security and medical sources said.

“A car parked near Kahramana square exploded... It was targeting pilgrims,” a police colonel said.

An Iraqi interior ministry official said at least seven people were killed and 20 wounded in the blast, which sent a plume of dark smoke billowing into the sky above the central neighbourhood of Karrada.

A medical source confirmed the casualty toll. - AFP

hundreds dead.

He has been sentenced to 20 years in prison over deadly clashes outside his palace during his year in power.

Mubarak was overthrown in one of the regional uprisings that swept the Middle East in 2011 after Tunisian protesters forced their president out.

The revolutionary optimism that marked the uprising has given way to fatigue and even nostalgia among many for the stability under Mubarak’s regime.

His former military intelligence chief, Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, is now president.

Sisi overthrew Morsi, who had promoted him to defence minister in a move to purge Mubarak loyalists in the army, after millions protested to demand Morsi’s resignation. Since then Sisi has crushed the Muslim Brotherhood, once the country’s largest political movement, while restoring the police’s authority after it had all but collapsed in 2011.

Critics say the popular leader is reviving the practices of the Mubarak era, which was marred by police abuses and arrests of dissidents. Sisi has distanced himself from Mubarak, but says the country has little room for chaotic protests as it tries to recover its economy. - AFP

HAVE YOUR SAY

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

Militants kill three Egyptian policemen CAIRO: Militants shot dead three Egyptian policeman and a retired officer in separate attacks in the capital of North Sinai, security officials said on Saturday.

Gunmen, suspected of belonging to the IS group’s affiliate in Egypt, shot dead two policemen in the town of El Arish overnight Friday before fleeing in a vehicle, the officials said.

Separately, a police officer was killed along with three members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood in an exchange of fire north of Cairo when police raided a village looking for wanted Brotherhood members.

Militants have killed scores of policemen and soldiers in an insurgency in the Sinai peninsula since the army overthrew president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 and his movement crushed. - AFP

A8

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015 The percentage of atrocities on women in European nations is far more than us, but the media there does not sensationalise.

There is a need for us to take lessons from them Krishan Gopal, RSS joint general secretary

INDIA

Maoists abduct 250 villagers as Modi visits Chhattisgarh The rebels, who have called for a

Only plough on the shoulders and not guns can bring development.

And this will bring everyone to the mainstream of the country. There is no future for violence. The future is only of peaceful means

boycott of the prime minister’s visit, went on rampage in several parts of Chhattisgarh’s insurgency-hit Bastar region, damaging rail tracks on Kirandul-

Narendra Modi

Visakhapatnam route

Prime Minister

and blocking roads ALL EARS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with students at Livelihood College in Dantewada in Chhattisgarh on Saturday. - PTI

RAIPUR: A hostage situation is continuing since Friday night in Sukma district of the Central Indian state of Chhattisgarh where around 250 villagers were seized

by Maoist rebels on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to neighbouring Dantewada.

Chief Minister Raman Singh said anywhere between 200 and 250 villagers were abducted by the Naxals from a few villages in Sukma district and efforts were being made by the local administration for their release.

“Around 200-250 villagers have been abducted and 4-5 others (locals) are negotiating their release,” Singh told journalists after conflicting claims were made by police officials on the number of villagers kidnapped by the ultras.

“There is no confusion....the local administration is making efforts for their release,” he said.

Earlier, Additional Superintendent of Police, Sukma, Harish Rathore said anywhere between 400 and 500 villagers were “taken away” to the jungles by the rebels opposing construction of a bridge, while Inspector General of Police, Bastar region, R. P.Kalluri, called it a “fiction” created by the media.

Unspecified number of Maoist guerrillas had swooped down on Marenga and some adjoining villages within the Tongpal police stations limits and herded the villagers to the nearby forest.

No future for violence Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi, who was on a visit to neighbouring Dantewada on Saturday, said there was no future for violence in democracy.

“Only plough on the shoulders and not guns can bring development. And this will bring everyone

to the mainstream of the country.

There is no future for violence.

The future is only of peaceful means. The birth place of Naxal movement Naxalbari has already given up this violent means. Don’t get disheartened,” he said.

“The macabre drama of death will end,” he said, referring to Naxal violence in the state, and added “a lot of people have been killed by “mad men on the path of violence”.

The prime minister inaugurated a slew of development projects in south Bastar region, worst-hit by the Naxal menance, during his day-long stay in Chhattisgarh.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, that the Centre was making efforts for the release of hostages. Security forces are combing the area to secure the release of the abductees.

“A large number of armed

cadre stormed into Marenga and adjoining villages under restive Tongpal police station limits late last night and took away 400-500 villagers, including women and children, along with them,” A.S.P. Rathore said.

Kalluri, on the other hand, said, “The hostage situation is a fiction created by the media....Yesterday, some Maoists came to the village where bridge construction is underway and they have taken fivesix labourers who were working on the bridge.

“As is the usual practice, some villagers of Marenga and nearby villagers have gone to the jungle to speak to the Maoists, negotiate and bring these five-six labourers back...but reports of 500-600 villagers held by Maoists is total fiction,” he said.

The Maoists have been opposing construction of a bridge on a river

near Marenga village that they apprehended would facilitate increased mobility of security forces during operations against them.

The Maoists, who have called for a boycott of the prime minister’s visit and a ‘Dandakaranya Bandh’ on Friday and Saturday, went on rampage in several parts of Chhattisgarh’s insurgencyhit Bastar region, damaging rail tracks on Kirandul-Visakhapatnam route and blocking roads.

Naxals removed fish-plates between Kakloor-Kumarsakhla villages in Kodenar police station limits in Bastar district late last night, Police said.

Soon after getting information, security personnel were dispatched to the spot and repair was underway. The bandh has hit normal life in the Bastar region with private transporters suspending their services. - PTI

THREE SCHEMES

PM launches social security schemes KOLKATA: After providing bank accounts to 15 crore unbanked people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched three social security schemes, including an insurance cover for less than Re 1 per day, and said that the poor “need empowerment, not aid”.

Modi said Rs 15,800 crore has been deposited in the 15 crore Jan Dhan accounts opened in four months and the scheme to provide cooking gas subsidy directly into bank accounts of beneficiaries has helped stop pilferages and leakages worth hundreds of crores of rupees.

“I told the poor, this nation, this government and our banks are for you... poor do not want ‘sahara’. We need to change how we think. The poor need ‘shakti’,” he said.

Modi said 80-90 per cent people in the country neither have insurance cover nor any possibility of pension. While the three schemes will come into force from June 1.

The schemes — Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) — were simultaneously launched at 115 locations throughout the country.

PMSBY will offer a renewable one year accidental death-cumdisability cover of Rs2 lakh for partial/permanent disability to all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-70 years for a premium of Rs12 per annum per subscriber.

PMJJBY, on the other hand, will offer a renewable one year life cover of Rs 2 lakh to all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-50 years, covering death due to any reason,for a premium of Rs 330 per annum per subscriber.

Atal Pension Yojana will focus on the unorganised sector and provide subscribers a fixed minimum pension of Rs 1,000, Rs2,000, Rs 3,000, Rs4,000 or Rs5,000 per month, starting at the age of 60 years, depending on the contribution option exercised on entering at an age between 18 and 40 years. - PTI

INFLUENCE

Intense lobbying for selection of Padma awardees: Baba Ramdev NEW DELHI: Yoga guru Ramdev, who had declined Padma Vibhushan award, on Saturday said that a lot of lobbying takes place behind the selection of Padma and even Nobel prize awardees and those with political influence succeed.

“The entire world knows that all these awards like Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan or Padma Vibhushan and even Nobel prize are given to good people also, but there is intense lobbying and those having more political influence succeed in getting them,” the Yoga guru said here.

He was speaking on the sidelines of an event organised by ASSOCHAM to spread awareness about yoga ahead of the first International Yoga Day which will be observed across the world on June 21.

Ramdev was tipped to receive Padma award this year but he wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh declining the honour, saying he was a ‘sanyasi’ (ascetic) and considered it his duty to serve the people and the country.

ple of India lived a healthy life without medicines,” Ramdev said. The yoga guru said that he will urge 100 million families to participate in the International Yoga Day. “We aim to reduce one crore kilo weight of obese Indians for which we will organise antiobesity camps throughout the nation,” he said.

Yoga guru Ramdev

Speaking about the benefits of yoga, he told the gathering that 50 per cent of people in India are forced into debts and mortgage their assets to avail treatment for various diseases.

“Diseases cannot be eliminated through medicines, rather it is the individual who is eliminated.

About 50 per cent of people in India are forced into debts and mortgage their assets to avail treatment for various diseases.

Yoga is a way out of this quagmire.It would ensure that peo-

Justified In his discourse laced with humour, Ramdev also justified charging money for providing Yoga courses and promoting ‘swadeshi’ line of products.

“Charging money for yoga classes is still better than charging for alcohol and drugs which are harmful to health. Yoga benefits both mind and body.

“And the herbal products that we offer are for the benefit of the people and not meant for cut throat business,” he said.

In a lighter vein, he also said that if “RSS promotes yoga, it will create controversy.”

Ramdev also exhibited several breathing exercises, Yoga techniques and asanas. - PTI

DAMAGING IMAGE

RSS says media showing half truths, ‘over-projecting’ attacks on churches NEW DELHI: RSS on Saturday charged the media with showing “half-truths” and “over-projecting” attacks on churches in the country, saying it “affected” India’s image internationally.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) joint general secretary Krishan Gopal also targeted the media for ‘over-playing’ the issue of atrocities on women in the country and said the percentage of such incidents was much more in European countries but the media there did not create sensation.

“While the attacks on four churches in the country were over-projected by the media, due to which India’s image with re-

gard to minorities came out in a negative manner as if minorities are being treated badly.

“The media hid half the truth as according to police during the same time there were 458 attacks on temples and 25 on mosques across the country, which the media should also have put forth,” he said.

Over-playing Similarly, he added that with regard to atrocities on women, the media “over-plays” the incidents and also mentions caste to sensationalise, as if the entire society was bad.

“The percentage of atrocities

on women in European nations is far more than us, but the media there does not sensationalise.

There is a need for us to take lessons from them,” he said.

Sensationalism Speaking at a function to mark ‘Narad Jayanti’, Gopal said the media world is going through a ‘tsunami’ as the emphasis is more on “sensationalism and showing half-truths that raises the feeling of hate and lowers the country’s image.”

“This is a fraud on the country and society. Bringing sensationalism in news is against the principle that news is sacred,” he said. - PTI

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

A9

INDIA Sonia: Dissent being stifled, minorities feeling insecure Congress president Sonia Gandhi accuses Prime Minister Narendra Modi of running a government ‘of some people, by one person, for a select few’

NEW DELHI: Mounting yet another attack on Modi government, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said dissent is being stifled and minorities feel increasGRAFT CASE

Verdict in Jaya appeal tomorrow

J. Jayalalithaa

BENGALURU: With Karnataka High Court all set to give its verdict on May 11 on appeals filed by former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa and three others in a disproportionate assets case, prohibitory orders would be clamped around the court area on that day.

City Police Commissioner M. N. Reddi has directed imposition of prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC that bars any gathering in a radius of one kilometre around the High Court that comes under Vidana Soudha Police Station limits.

The orders will be in effect from 6am to 9pm on Monday as a precautionary step as thousands of Jayalalithaa’s followers are expected to come to the city from Tamil Nadu for the verdict, Reddi said.

Police said they suspect that there may be obstruction to public peace as well as to the movement of traffic in the city.

The Special Vacation Single Bench of Justice C. R.Kumaraswamy is scheduled to give the judgement at 11am.

The trial court had sentenced Jayalalithaa and her close confidante Sasikala and two of her relatives, Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran, also AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) chief’s disowned foster son, to four years in jail in September 27 last year.

It had also imposed a hefty fine of Rs10 billion on Jayalalithaa and Rs100 million each on the three others. - PTI 4.3 ON RICHTER SCALE

Mild quake in Kutch KUTCH: A mild quake measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale was felt on Saturday in Kutch district of Gujarat.

However, there were no reports of any casualties.

“A minor earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter Scale hit Kutch district at 6.30am. The epicentre of the earthquake was 22km northwest from Bhachau town of district,” officials of the Institute of Seismological Research (ISR) said.

“Another minor tremor measuring 2 on Ritcher scale was also felt at 7.47am after the first tremor,” they added. People living in tall buildings felt the first tremors in the early morning hours, Kutch district officials said. - PTI

AWARD: Sumita Mehta receives G K Reddy Memorial Award 2014

on behalf of her husband the late Vinod Mehta from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at a function in New Delhi on Saturday. - PTI

ingly insecure. She was speaking at a ceremony to honour eminent Editor Vinod Mehta, who passed away recently, with G. K.Reddy Memorial National award.

The award was received by Mehta’s wife Sumita.

Addressing the gathering, which included former prime

minister Manmohan Singh, the Congress president said, “In the present climate when dissent is being stifled, when the minorities feel increasingly insecure, when the secular fabric of our society is threatened, when bigotry and obscurantism seem to flourish unchecked, we miss Vinod Me-

hta’s works.” Sonia has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of running a government “of some people, by one person, for a select few”. Lauding Mehta’s integrity, honesty and commitment to values, she said, “He has never failed to raise his voice against religious intolerance, communal violence and social injustice.”

Calling Mehta a passionate upholder of our “democratic and secular ideas”, the Congress president said that he was also a courageous crusader of the causes that he believed were just and a proud and “eloquent advocate of our pluralistic society”.

Naturally adversaries She also quoted the late editor as saying that politicians and journalists can never be friends and they were naturally adversaries.

“But he would have been surprised that how many of us across

the political spectrum looked to VM as a friend,” she said.

Sonia said that Mehta had an instinctive understanding of what the freedom of the press meant “to our country, that it was a cornerstone of our democracy and without this freedom, all our other liberties would be threatened”.

The award carries a cheque of Rs500,000, a gold medal and citation. Mehta, a distinguished editor and commentator who had successfully launched a number of newspapers and magazines, passed away in New Delhi on March 8 after prolonged illness.

He was 73.

Mehta, who was editorial chairman of Outlook magazine which he had founded, also wrote the best selling autobiography ‘Lucknow Boy’ in 2011.

Born in Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan) in 1942, Mehta was known for his bold journalism. - PTI

FINAL SETTLEMENTS

Lok Adalats settle nearly 76,000 cases NEW DELHI: A total of over 76,000 motor accident and insurance claim cases were on Saturday settled by the Lok Adalat conducted in courts across the country in which settlement of over Rs166 crore was awarded.

The National Lok Adalat, which was organised on Saturday under the patronage of Chief Justice of India Justice H. L. Dattu, was held in all courts at all levels from the taluk courts to the districts courts, high courts and the Supreme Court.

As per National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), the Lok Adalat resolved pending and pre-litigation matters too, with 24 cases settled in Supreme Court by a bench of Justices Abhay Manohar Sapre and Amitava Roy. The insurance companies and claimants who participated in Lok Adalat were able to arrive at final settlements worth Rs166 crores and more, the NALSA said in a release. - PTI

A10

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

PAKISTAN

It’s a very sad moment and we are all very shaken.

Unfortunately, these things happen. Everything seems to indicate it was a terrible accident Javier Carbajosa Sanchez, Spanish ambassador

Envoys’ bodies brought to capital from the crash site Pakistan declared a day of mourning and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has ordered cabinet ministers to accompany the bodies of the four foreign victims to their countries

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military brought the bodies of two ambassadors and two ambassadors’ wives to Islamabad on Saturday, a day after they were killed in a helicopter crash in northern mountains as they where inspecting a tourism project.

The ambassadors of Norway and the Philippines and the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian envoys were killed when the heli-

TRAGEDY: Army Chief General Raheel Sharif, right, comforts a relative of a diplomat who was injured

in a helicopter crash, at the Nur Khan Air Base in Rawalpindi on Saturday. — Reuters

copter they were on crashed in the Gilgit region.

Three Pakistani crewmen were also killed and several diplomats were injured when the Mi-17 helicopter came down on a school

in a valley lined by pine forests and overlooked by snow-peaked mountains. No children were in the school at the time.

The government says the aircraft suffered engine failure, dis-

missing as bogus a Pakistani Taliban claim that the militants shot it down.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was also going to the inauguration of a ski lift and was on a

separate helicopter when the accident happened.

Pakistani servicemen formed a guard of honour to receive the coffins, draped in national flags and bedecked with wreaths, as soldiers carried them from the aircraft that brought them from the north. The ceremony was broadcast live on television.

Diplomats in black and the military’s top brass, including army chief General Raheel Sharif, were on hand and the commanders saluted as the coffins were carried by. Raheel put his arm around a sobbing boy among the diplomats.

Pakistan declared a day of mourning and Nawaz has ordered cabinet ministers to accompany the bodies of the four foreign victims to their countries.

The government said 17 people were on board and among the injured were the ambassadors of Poland and the Netherlands.

Gilgit is not a militant den and the Taliban often claim responsibility for incidents that they had nothing to do with. — Reuters

HAVE YOUR SAY

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LEGAL TROUBLE

Court okays ex-minister Zulfiqar Mirza’s bail KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday approved the bail of former Sindh minister Zulfiqar Mirza until May 19 in three cases, for the sum of Rs100,000.

Mirza arrived at the court for a hearing of the cases against him pertaining to the ransacking of a police station in the Badin district.

Mirza arrived at the court where at least 300 police personnel were reportedly deployed around the vicinity of the court.

A dozen lawyers and a crowd of supporters carrying the national flag accompanied Mirza.

Heavy contingents of police and commandos were also seen taking up positions on rooftops of buildings around the court. Media was also barred from entering the premises.

The hearing comes a day after Sindh government ordered police not to make any arrest of the former minster before May 9.

The Sindh High Court on Wednesday had also extended the pre-arrest ‘protective bail’ granted to Mirza.

Addressing media, Mirza urged that his fight was against corruption and the verdict passed today was in favour of the people of Pakistan. — Express Tribune

E D UC AT I O N WO E S

Nearly half of all students in Sindh drop out before class five KARACHI: Almost half of the 800,000 children that are enrolled in class one in Sindh each year drop out before they reach class five.

Believing that there was a ‘missed opportunity’ in terms of retaining these children and ensuring their smooth progression through the public education system, the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development

(Acted) — a non-government organisation set up in 1993 to intervene in times of crisis — took up the under-researched phenomenon of dropouts in 2013.

Dissemination workshop The organisation recently held a dissemination workshop at the Pearl Continental hotel on Thursday to share its findings in the form of a report, titled Pathways

through Education: Dropout and Students at Risk in Rural Sindh.

The event brought together a number of stakeholders, including government officials, donors, NGOs and media, to formulate a roadmap and recommendations for reducing student dropout in the future.

“The overall goal is to increase the retention of students at risk of dropping out of school and to support the reintegration of dropout

students at the primary level by involving communities, establishing linkages and creating an evidence base,” Clara Straimer, the head of research at Acted Pakistan and author of the report, said.

Policy documents “When we first started our research, we felt the issue had not yet been addressed in a comprehensive way in current policy docu-

ments,” she explained. “So, we felt the need to explore this problem because the factors that influence dropout are not the same for every child.”

Discussing critical tipping points, Clara argued that children were at risk of dropping out from the age of 10 onwards, when they were considering starting their adult lives.

“While age is a critical factor,

we also found that it is not the only one; the changes in the family’s earning opportunities also adversely affect boys,” she added.

No other option “However, these crises often happen over a longer period of time until the situation has deteriorated so far that the child or the parents see no other option.”

— Express Tribune

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

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WORLD

Europe is forgetting that the USSR won the war, said 72-year-old university lecturer Lyudmila Yurkova

Putin brushes off Western snub at massive WWII victory parade

ALLIES: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, centre, watches the Victory Day parade next to China’s President Xi Jinping at Red Square in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday. — Reuters/Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool

OVERFLOWING PRIDE: People carry portraits of World War II soldiers as they take part in the Immortal Regiment march during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on Saturday. — AFP/POOL/HOST PHOTO AGENCY RIA NOVOSTI

Addressing thousands of foreign guests and veterans, Russian President Vladimir Putin chose to ignore the boycott, thanking Britain, France and the US for their ‘contribution’ to the defeat of war-time Germany

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday presided over a huge military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of victory over war-time Germany, brushing off a snub by Western leaders over Ukraine.

In what is seen as punishment for Kremlin meddling in Ukraine, Western countries led by Russia’s World War II allies boycotted the May 9 festivities, leaving Putin to mark the day in the company of the leaders of China, Cuba and other Moscow-friendly figures.

Addressing thousands of foreign guests and veterans, Putin chose to ignore the boycott, thanking Britain, France and the US for their “contribution” to the defeat of war-time Germany.

“Our fathers and grandfathers went through unbearable suffering, deprivation and losses,” Putin said, feting the country’s veterans.

“We are grateful to the people of Great Britain, France and the United States for their contribution to victory,” he added, also thanking those who fought against the oppressors in other countries including Germany.

Apparent dig In an apparent dig at the United States, Putin also criticised attempts to establish a “unipolar” world order and stressed the need to develop a “system of equal security for all states”, but he conspicuously shunned more aggressive rhetoric and made no mention of the Ukraine crisis.

Speaking at a reception later, Putin said international relations should be guided by the WWII-era “spirit of allied partnership”.

More than 16,000 soldiers including troops from China, India, Mongolia, Serbia and several

‘ S A N C T I O N S V I O L AT E D ’

N. Korea test fires ballistic missile from submarine SEOUL: North Korea said on Saturday it had successfully testfired a ballistic missile from a submarine, a step that would mark significant progress in the secretive state’s military capabilities.

It could pose a new threat to South Korea, Japan and the United States, which have tried to contain North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile strength, military experts said.

The North’s leader, Kim Jong Un, oversaw the test-launch from an offshore location as the submarine dived and “a ballistic missile surfaced from the sea and soared into the air, leaving a fiery trail of blaze,” the official KCNA news agency said.

“Through the test, it was verified and confirmed that the underwater ballistic missile launch from a strategic submarine fully achieved the latest military, scientific and technical requirements.”

Under UN ban North Korea is under United Nations sanctions banning it from developing or using ballistic missile technology.

The United States would not comment on the reported test but said launches using ballistic missile technology were a “clear violation” of UN Security Council resolutions.

“We call on North Korea to refrain from actions that further raise tensions in the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its international commitments and obligations,” a State Department official said in an email.

The KCNA report did not mention the date or the exact location of the test, but a separate KCNA dispatch on Saturday

RAISING TENSIONS: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches

the test-fire of a strategic submarine ballistic missile (not pictured), in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang on Saturday. — Reuters/KCNA

said Kim gave field guidance at a fishery complex in Sinpo, a port city on the country’s east coast and the location of a known submarine base.

The test, if verified, would mean North Korea can move its missiles within range of the United States, said Korea analyst Victor Cha of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Capabilities advancing “The test shows that North Korea missile capabilities are advancing without any constraints now despite a bevy of nonproliferation sanctions applied by the United Nations,” he said in an email.

A South Korean military expert who saw still photos of the launch in the North’s media said they appeared to show a ballistic missile

being fired from a submarine in a “cold launch” through an ejection mechanism, a key element in a submarine launch system.

“The potential of this is that existing missile defence against the North can be rendered useless,” said Shin In-kyun, who runs the Korea Defence Network, an independent forum.

Missile defence systems Such missile defence systems are positioned to look at the North, not at “submarines that could be south of Jeju or near Guam”. Jeju is a South Korean island.

Shin said a full deployment of the submarine-based missile system would still require a functional guided propulsion mechanism that can carry the missile vehicle from the water surface to a target. — Reuters

ex-Soviet states marched past the leaders.

In a finely choreographed spectacle, troops including soldiers sporting Soviet-era uniforms and rifles and a cavalry regiment marched across Red Square’s famed cobbles as Putin, seated next to China’s Xi Jinping, looked on.

Nuclear missile systems Cutting-edge military equipment including the next-generation Armata T-14 tank and nuclear missile systems rumbled through the square along with the famed warera T-34 tank, in one of the biggest Victory Day celebrations in decades.

The parade also saw over a hundred military aircraft -- including long-range nuclear bombers -swoop over Moscow in a spectacular fly-by. Besides China’s Xi, other high-profile guests at the parade were United Nations chief Ban

Ki-moon, India’s President Pranab Mukherjee, and Abdel Fattah Al Sisi of Egypt. Raul Castro of Cuba, Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Jacob Zuma of South Africa were also in attendance.

US actor Steven Seagal also attended the parade as did a leatherclad Alexander Zaldostanov, leader of a Kremlin-backed biker gang.

The Soviet Union lost an estimated 27 million soldiers and civilians in WWII -- more than any other country -- and the Red Army’s triumph remains an enormous source of national pride.

Half a million marchers According to police, in Moscow more than half a million marched to commemorate the victory, an amount that vastly exceeded expectations.

Organisers said up to 1 million more people took part in similar marches in cities and towns across the rest of the country.

In Moscow, the elderly walked together with the young, as the march drew people from all walks of life.

The parade was overshadowed by the Ukraine crisis, with the West slapping sanctions on Moscow over Russia’s seizure of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

United States President Barack Obama has snubbed the festivities, as have the leaders of Rus-

sia’s other key WWII allies Britain and France.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel ducked out of attending the parade but will fly to Moscow on Sunday to lay a wreath at the grave of the Unknown Soldier.

Parade of cynicism President Petro Poroshenko of war-torn Ukraine has branded Russia’s show of military might a “parade of cynicism”.

Several hours after the main parade, Putin unexpectedly joined the head of a 250,000-strong commemorative march on Red Square, clutching a portrait of his father, who fought in the war.

“I think that my father, just like millions of simple soldiers - and he was a plain soldier -- had every right to walk through this square,” Putin said, as he briefly led the vast crowd in the Kremlin-backed event dubbed the “Immortal Regiment.”

Lyudmila Yurkova, 72, a university lecturer, said the world owed a debt to Russia as she marched as part of the huge column of people, mostly carrying portraits of relatives.

“Europe is forgetting that the USSR won the war,” she told AFP. Over 70 per cent of Russians say a close family member was killed or went missing during the war.

Victory Day was celebrated across Russia, with authorities staging parades involving thousands of soldiers, naval vessels and even nuclear submarines. — AFP

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SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

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The disunited kingdom: Cameron has to stop it

T

he 2015 general election was a watershed which will determine whether Britain will remain together as one United Kingdom — and one United Kingdom that can look forward to a future with its closest European neighbours. As with the emergence of Irish nationalism a century ago, and the discovery that it could not be contained within the UK’s parliamentary system, the very boundaries of the nation are now in play. At a time of rapid global change and fast emerging rival powers, that is not in the national interest. In Scotland, the party system has been re-drawn overnight, the SNP surge ending a half century of Labour hegemony. In the rest of the country the emergence of Ukip and the collapse of the Liberal Democrats have also changed the dynamics of politics. The Conservatives now have a mandate — though weak — to press on with the reforms to welfare and the economy that they talked so much about. Many will fear that inequality will worsen, opportunities will shrink, and that an already fractured society will grow still more damaged.

A catastrophe has befallen Ed Miliband and Labour, and there are fears for what an untrammelled Conservative government will do to the cohesion of the country. After five years of austerity, when living standards for most families have barely improved, if at all, and with the NHS now in jeopardy, to witness Tories open up a six-point lead in the popular vote and an overall majority in the Commons is indeed galling. Labour’s next leader has, somehow, to appeal to the aspirant middle-class families in England that voted for Tony Blair, and also Scottish nationalists sick of austerity. In other words, the next leader needs to be a political giant. Is such a figure available?

One grim fragment of consolation for Labour, however, is that when Jim Murphy — an outstanding public servant who has much still to offer the party — and Miliband warned the people of Scotland that voting for the SNP would help the Tories back into Downing Street, they were right. That, in turn, will most likely end up with Scotland breaking away from the Union, so unacceptable is rule by Tories to the Scots, even if devo-max or fiscal autonomy is delivered. David Cameron may embrace the SNP, so as to kill them with kindness.

All of which leaves the prospect of the UK still being in one piece at the next general election in 2020 in some doubt. That is how hollow this Tory victory is. There is an inevitability about Scottish independence now, and blame also lies with the Westminster parties as much as the Scottish nationalists. For the future of the UK in the European Union there are equally grave risks, with a Conservative pledge to hold an in/out referendum that virtually nobody outside the nuttier elements on the Tory back benches wants. In a couple of years Britain could find itself withdrawing from its biggest export market almost by accident: again, a pyrrhic victory for Cameron and his party.

MATTER OF FACT

Racism is very much alive and kicking

I DEBASISH MITRA

- The Independent

Chilling crackdown on NGOs

T

he Ford Foundation is among the world’s best-known charitable organisations, dispensing billions of dollars globally for projects aimed at reducing poverty, fighting injustice, improving education and advancing democracy. So it was alarming when India’s Ministry of Home Affairs last month placed the foundation, which has made $500 million in grants to organisations in India since 1952, on a national security watch list. That means it cannot give money to Indian groups without permission from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. The move shook the donor community and triggered fears of a broader crackdown on civic activism — fears quickly realised when the government cancelled the registration of nearly 9,000 foreign-funded civic and nongovernmental groups. The Ford case smacks of political payback. The listing stems from a complaint by the Gujurat State government about the Sabrang Trust, a private group that has received grants from Ford.

The trust, its founder, Teesta Setalvad, and her husband have worked on behalf of victims of sectarian riots in Gujarat in 2002, when Modi was chief minister. The state asked the ministry to investigate the trust for “disturbing the communal harmony here and carrying out anti-national propaganda against India in foreign countries.” The state had previously accused Setalvad and her husband of embezzling funds meant for a museum to honour the riot victims. Their advocates say they are victims of a political vendetta. One Indian official has described Ford and Greenpeace, which is now facing closure in India, as “agents of Western strategic interests.”

Although democratic India is a far cry from Russia, China and Egypt, similarly chilling talk was heard when authoritarian leaders in those countries moved to crush civic activism. Modi has an ambitious agenda to lift millions of people out of poverty and play a bigger role on the world stage. He almost certainly cannot attract the investment he needs while imposing a repressive social order and devaluing India’s greatest asset, a robust democracy. - The New York Times News Service

We were actually plain naïve or just idiots to believe that we have done away with racism when apartheid in South Africa ended; we were grievously mistaken in believing that we buried the bane when Madiba walked free and Blacks were empowered. The reality is — racism isn’t over, it is all over the world and we have failed to end the blot

n the thick of Baltimore riots one voice was loud and clear. “I want to tell White America to stop not giving a damn about black people.” Hundreds and thousands of Ethiopian Israelis and asylum seekers who poured into the streets of Tel Aviv earlier this month conveyed a similar message — stop not giving a damn about black people. “Ethiopian Israelis, like African Americans, are disproportionately harassed by police and broadly marginalised in a majority-white country.”

People having deep tanned skin and the Roma live in a society in Europe where they are blatantly discriminated against, looked down by the white majority as different and remain perceptibly disadvantaged. Germany, Russia, Greece, Spain, Italy, Thailand, South Korea and China, says Atlanta Black Star, are the eight worst countries in the world for the black people to travel and definitely to live in.

An African man who was travelling in Rajasthan in India with his white South African wife could not complete his tour of the state because he and his wife apparently made a rather odd couple which Indians failed either to accept or even think of. He with his wife offered a more amazing sight than the beauty of the land; sculptures of Rajasthan. The couple cut short their tour of India and went back to South Africa.

In Israel, as the sun sets in the distant horizon, temperature plummets and decibel fades the Zionist state gets enveloped in an eerie silence. Immigrants, especially those from Africa, huddle together in animal like alertness in expectation of the most unexpected. Fear among them is all pervading.

Prejudice against them has been on an alarming rise whipped up by combative narratives.

New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow feels, Blacks in the United States are lesser mortals. They are second class citizens in their own country, persecuted, discriminated and killed at will by police. “People of colour, particularly AfricanAmerican men, have been caught up in a twister of macro aggressions and micro ones. No amount of ignoring can alleviate it; no amount of achieving can ameliorate it.”

Parents of black male children in the United States are nervous and worried. A study, undertaken by the University of South Carolina and the University of Albany, has revealed that almost fifty per cent of the black males in the United States get arrested before they reach the age of 23. One in two black males get arrested and often on assumed and minor charges jeopardising their future once and for all.

And this appalling story does not end here. Sixteen per cent of the black females run the risk of getting arrested on some charges or the other by

For a change, I am willing to agree with the former Indian top copturned-activist-turned-politician Kiran Bedi. In fact, she is absolutely right in saying that if one is rich and famous in India, then one can get away with a crime like mowing down people in a drunken state. Indians, I feel, are not just disappointed but have perceptibly lost faith in their judiciary after the Bombay High Court suspended Bollywood superstar Salman Khan’s sentence in the 2002 hitand-run case.

Sandeep Nair Al Ghubra

in India? Who says that the Indian society is egalitarian? One who says so is naive. Look at the manner in which Salman Khan has been granted respite from going to jail even after mowing down humans in drunken driving. He has been roaming free since 2002 after his culpable homicide crime.

He has not been punished even after killing a black buck. A common man in his place would have been in jail long back. It seems that the law in India isn’t equal for all and the statue of justice wears the blindfold because it does not want to see or behave equally.

Uuzma Rehaman Azaiba

READERS’ FORUM

The law seems to be more benign for rich and famous

The BJP leader has been both wrong and malicious

Who says that law is equal for all

A section of BJP leaders yet again

War is a cowardly escape from the problems of peace THOMAS MANN

Bedi is right to say that the mighty do influence law

NEW INDIA ASSURANCE New India offers a wide range of HEALTH INSURANCE COVERS to you/family/employee. website: www.newindiaoman.com

the time they reach twenty three. Petrified Black parents in the United are angry because they never thought that in a democracy like the United States they would have to remain vigilant so that police never lock up their children and stigmatise them forever. And now, their children are getting shot and killed, more often sans any provocation and reason, by police.

We were actually plain naïve or just idiots to believe that we have done away with racism when apartheid in South Africa ended; we were grievously mistaken in believing that we buried the bane when Madiba walked free and Blacks were empowered.

Not everyone appreciates the truth because it is ugly and it hurts. The reality is — racism isn’t over, it is all over the world and we have failed to end the blot.

It is virulent in Israel and in the United States; it is rather overt in Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and in some Scandinavian nations; it is covert but more than perceptible in India, Pakistan, China, Thailand and South Korea where people with dark pigmentation are often considered aliens from Pluto.

Israel is a racist nation with multiple racial fault lines crisscrossing the society. Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Desmond Tutu was shocked in Israel which he described as: “Much like what happened to us black people in South Africa. I have seen the humiliation of the Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks, suffering like us when young white police officers prevented us from moving about”. A survey done by Israel Democracy Institute showed that at least one third of the ethnic Jewish population in Israel is racist.

Racism in Israel is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since the inception of the Jewish entity in 1948 and is, at present, alarmingly widespread. It is between the Jews and Arabs, between Jews from America and Europe, between Jews from western world and Africa and so on.

What happened in Baltimore, Ferguson and elsewhere in the United States weren’t just ugly. They confirm that racism hasn’t disappeared from our societies, our planet. We still discriminate, suffer discriminations and evaluate worth and dignity of others on the basis of the colour of our skin, our non-Caucasian features. We still look at each others to find differences rather than similarities. We still believe that black lives do not matter; blacks ought to be dominated and exploited.

Alas! This is real! Racism is alive and kicking.

The author is the Opinion Editor of Times of Oman.

All the views and opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not reflect those of Times of Oman. He can be reached at opinioneditor@ timesofoman.com

displayed how incorrigible they are. Reacting to the bail that actor Salman Khan got from Mumbai High Court, Sadhvi Prachi said that the actor got the reprieve only because of his religion. This shows the tragedy of India. The country is fast sliding deep into bigotry. To Sadhvi Prachi, I, on behalf of millions of Indians, would like to say that she was not only wrong but was malicious too. We voted the BJP into power expecting development, eradication of poverty and a movement towards egalitarianism. We Indians have been badly deceived.

Minu Dutta Muttrah

Oligarchy is gradually taking its roots in India In getting reprieve from higher

court, Salman Khan showed that the real power is not with the people in India. It is the money that is most powerful. We call our country a republic. It seems to be no better than oligarchy. It is a country where one can get away with any crime if one has the money, muscle and contacts.

K. K. Srinivas Ghala

In India the rich have the licence to hit and run Mowing down people on pavements in drunken driving by rich and famous and getting away scotfree isn’t new in India. In 2013, the scion of a top business house did the same and did not face the law.

He roams free.

Jivesh Rao 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)

T I MES O F OM AN

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

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PERSPEC IVE Rafique rails as a wobbly PML-N train loses wheel P

KAMRAN REHMAT

The larger issue is one of a free, fair and transparent conduct of the poll. It is about nixing the possibility of manipulation, where, for argument’s sake, ballotstuffing in even a handful of polling stations can easily lead to exaggerated counts and hence, a fraudulent result

olitics in Pakistan has taken an interesting turn with the annulment last week of the election of Khawaja Saad Rafique, thenow former minister for railways in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s federal cabinet.

Rafique, a close confidante of Sharif, was deseated following the detection of poll irregularities in his National Assembly constituency, NA125 in Lahore — provincial capital of Punjab, the country’s most populous province, and a stronghold of the ruling Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N).

The decision of the election tribunal comes almost two years after his rival, Advocate Hamid Khan of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf (PTI), challenged the poll results alleging widespread rigging. Under the law, the tribunal is supposed to decide such petitions within four months of their filing.

Symbolically, the de-seating of the PML-N stalwart is a big setback for the party given that it is one of the four core National Assembly seats that Imran Khan, chairman of PTI, has long been demanding to probe as a benchmark to ascertain if the 2013 general elections were not rigged by — and for — the PML-N. Rafique has refused to accept the tribunal’s verdict — no small irony here as the PML-N has often chided the PTI for not accepting court verdicts that are not in its favour — and gone to the Supreme Court against it.

Imran Khan spearheaded a record 126-day agitation last year against the ruling party’s refusal to conduct a judicial investigation into PTI’s allegations, citing limitations in the ability of poll tribunals to redress the issue of largescale, systematic rigging.

In strict legalese, the said tribunals remain the only source of relief available to complainants, failing which they can approach the apex court. However, as the notorious history of the country’s legal system suggests, in practice, provision of justice is a long walk where complainants have even died before a decision arrived!

Ruling party parliamentarians have been trotting out statistics to disprove that this has been the case more recently, where decisions have been reached by poll tribunals in response to the majority of registered complaints, but the issue is slightly more complex than what cold statistics may suggest.

In Rafique’s case, for instance, even though the margin of victory was substantial — 38,921 votes to be precise — and irregularities were cited in only seven of the 265 polling stations, which is miniscule figuratively, it is not solely about the arithmetic going wrong.

The larger issue is one of a free, fair and transparent conduct of the poll. It is about nixing the

possibility of manipulation, where, for argument’s sake, ballot-stuffing in even a handful of polling stations can easily lead to exaggerated counts and hence, a fraudulent result.

In Rafique’s case, the tribunal cited evidence of unverified results where the Returning and Presiding Officers failed to carry out the legal requirements.

Even though Rafique questions why he has had to lose his seat for the apparent failure of poll officers, it does not beget that just because his own hand was not cited in the irregularities, the results should be accepted merely on the basis of the vote count.

A livid Rafique has since filed a review petition with the Supreme Court, seeking to set aside the verdict of the poll tribunal. PML-N has chosen to take the legal route rather than going back to the fray for the ordered re-poll because it fears it might end up losing more seats, if similar irregularities are established in some of the other constituencies as well.

The PML-N’s decision not to go for bye-polls has surprised pundits because it is a negation of its claims of easily making it again, citing the overwhelming majority it attained in last month’s local polls in the cantonment areas that actually make up Rafique’s constituency!

Although one cannot always set store by apparent poll logic — if there is indeed such a thing — Rafique has so much to gain from going back to the voters since not only is he a street smart politician who outrivals the staid Hamid Khan, who does not particularly enjoy a reputation for rubbing shoulders with hoi polloi, it does appear the ruling party has begun to fear its own shadow.

That insecurity may be partly driven by yet another potentially adverse result in the Imran Khan vs Ayaz Sadiq case (NA-122 constituency) where the poll tribunal is to hand its verdict shortly. Suffice it to say, attached to it is the mother of all symbolism given the high stakes at both ends.

While Khan is the face of the challenge posed to the authenticity of the 2013 elections, Sadiq is the speaker of the National Assembly — lower house of Pakistan’s bicameral legislature.

Will these crucial verdicts impinge on the Judicial Commission’s forthcoming ruling in perhaps, the most defining review in the history of Pakistani polls — to ascertain if the 2013 polls were systematically rigged to pave the way for PML-N’s return to power? Watch this space!

The author is a senior journalist based in Islamabad. All the views and opinions expressed in the article are solely his and not of Times of Oman.

Workers of the world, untie against email

H

ere is the short version of Britain’s “productivity puzzle”. An average French worker takes four days to get through the same amount of work a Briton does in five. A doff of the chapeau to them. All that fornication and camembert apparently makes no difference.

But, with the thinking cap back on, one might also wonder how it is — what with Britain’s preponderance of “hard-working families” — the country puts up such a poor show on tables that chart international worker efficiency.

Only Japan limps behind the UK in the G7’s productivity league (the same Japan whose 1990-2010 economic slump is cheerfully known as the “lost two decades”).

The typical economists’ explanation for this is dreary.

A lack of investment in infrastructure, a shortage of skills

MEMPHIS BARKER

in engineering and construction. But one possible solution strikes closer to home.

According to Professor Sir Cary Cooper, a former government advisor, too much emailing has sapped the life out of Britain’s workforce.

Employees spend so much time refreshing their inbox outside of the office, says Cooper, they fail to refresh themselves. Ping! That’s the sound of “electronic overload”.

I quite agree. You can go anywhere in the world and if you’re still peeking at your email, you might as well be back where you marinate for 40 hours of the week.

Check in the park and the trees morph into coatracks, the sun turns into an overhead strip light. By the beach, and the sound of surf becomes the whirr of an airconditioning unit. Of course it helps to have the complaint

phrased in terms of “lower output per head”, as Cary attempts to put it.

Employers can lump that sort of phrase into a pie-chart, send it by the accountants and adjust company policy, for the good of the bottomline, not the mere sanity of their employees.

The McKinsey Global Institute worked out that emails take up 28 per cent of a standard working day.

They do not attempt to figure out what percentage of those emails are an utter waste of time, but I wouldn’t flinch if it edged towards half.

Professor Cary’s certainly right to suggest a ban, or at least a significant tapering off, on in-house email.

Walking and talking is clearer, and better for the spine-soul nexus, as they say in the business world.

A result that is more shocking than surprising STEVE RICHARDS

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he result was so unexpected it distracts from the wild storms that lie ahead. With endless opinion polls wrongly suggesting a close outcome, David Cameron justifiably claims a big victory. But he has a tiny majority in what will be a febrile House of Commons.

Expectations determine how Britons view what has happened. Cameron has roughly the same tiny majority as the one Harold Wilson secured in the October 1974 election. Then some polls had suggested Labour would win by a fairly big margin. As a result Wilson was despondent about an outcome that gave his party the same tiny majority that the Conservatives are now celebrating.

His despondency proved to be justified, as the fragile Labour government endured a helter-skelter parliamentary ride. Similarly, for all the Tory euphoria, Cameron will feel very fragile quickly. He had a bigger majority when he was Prime Minister of a coalition.

No wonder one of Cameron’s first moves was to invite the senior backbencher, Graham Brady, for a cup of tea. Brady and others could cause trouble very quickly if they feel inclined to do so.

But for now unsurprisingly some of Cameron’s more ideological ministerial allies are excited by their unexpected freedom as a oneparty government. Already they speak enthusiastically of ruling unleashed.

At last their frustrated Thatcherite ambitions can be realised even more fully, or so they hope. Those ambitions include reducing the size of the state, a referendum on Europe, a right to buy and other 1980s echoes.

Nick Clegg made some fatally naïve errors when he took his party into coalition with a party of the radical right in 2010.

Nonetheless Clegg’s critics will soon realise how much he constrained some of the Conservatives’ more extreme policies as they are implemented in this parliament.

One Tory minister from the last parliament has already made a list of what was blocked then and can go ahead now.

Such zeal explains why England moves away from Scotland rather than the other way around. Scotland has not opted for NHS reforms that are costly and lead to such a convoluted hierarchy of controls no one is quite sure who is accountable to whom. Scotland has no tuition fees.

Schools in Scotland are not subjected to the fractured

reforms in England that are both acts of centralisation and anarchic.

England will move further away unless Cameron means what he said in his gracious victory speech when he advocated vaguely a “one nation” Conservatism.

Arguably Cameron has more authority over his party than he has ever had in the immediate aftermath of this unexpected victory. Perhaps he can do what he pledged to do in 2005 and seek to widen the Conservatives’ appeal by moving away from reheated Thatcherism. He has a brief opening to do so.

For Labour and the Liberal Democrats there are more immediate hurdles to face, all of them intimidating. For Labour to leap over them without some of its most formidable figures makes the task more daunting.

The traumatic shock of defeat yesterday was as great for Labour as in 1992, the last election when the opinion polls were wrong. The setback is even greater. In 1992 most of Labour’s stars survived the electoral wreckage.

On Thursday all its heavyweights from Scotland fell.

The shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls, also lost his seat. Balls would have been a commanding chancellor.

As arguably the third-most influential figure in the New Labour era Balls has already made a significant contribution to public life, but the fall was brutal.

Now Labour’s leadership contenders will have to revive their party without him, Douglas Alexander and other experienced figures, framing a message that resonates in Scotland and England, on the surface at least two very different target electorates.

Labour needs to reflect far more deeply than it did in the aftermath of its 2010 defeat.

At least it is still a political force. As a parliamentary party the Liberal Democrats are almost wiped out. Arguably they faced doom from the moment they formed the partnership with a right-wing Conservative Party.

Signs of Thursday’s collapse were right in front of their eyes if they had chosen to look, the humiliating lost deposits in by-elections and the bleak poll ratings.

For all the talk of multiparty politics perhaps the 2010 Coalition will be seen as a freakish one-off rather than the start of a pattern.

One party rules in Scotland too. The SNP dominates the Edinburgh Parliament and will be players in Westminster. With England electing a Conservative government Nicola Sturgeon has the ideal political context in which to make her next moves.

- The Independent

- The Independent

US offers $20m in rewards for IS leaders

TODAY IN HISTORY

The Obama administration is offering rewards of up to $20 million for information leading to the whereabouts of four top leaders of the militant group

m

Described as senior IS group official.

Reintegrated himself into Syrian-based IS network in early 2012 following his release from Iraqi prison

Abu Mohammed al-Adnani

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Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli

Chief spokesman and senior leader of IS. Original name Taha Subhi Falaha.

Main conduit for dissemination of official IS messages

Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili

Tariq bin al-Tahar al-Harzi

Former Georgian army soldier joined fight against Syrian government in 2012.

Swore allegiance to IS head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2013 Source: US State Department

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Senior IS commander and member of ruling Shura Council in Raqqa, Syria.

Better known as Omar al-Shishani (Omar the Chechen)

m

Opposed US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, jailed for five years. Arrived in Syria following his release in 2010

m

Originally joined Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) in 2004 and served as deputy to now deceased AQI leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

IS leader for border region between Syria and Turkey. Known as “emir of suicide bombers” for orchestrating hundreds of suicide attacks in Iraq

Accused by US of helping to raise funds from Gulf-based donors for IS, and of recruiting and facilitating travel of fighters to Syria since 2013 Graphic News /

Graphics

FROM OUR ARCHIVES INTERIOR MINISTER TO VISIT BAHRAIN

MUSCAT: Sayyid Ali bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, interior minister, will pay a three-day official visit to Bahrain starting today. The visit comes in response to an invitation from Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Bahraini interior minister, to further enhance bilateral relations and cooperation between the two ministries within the context of the AGCC goals. During the visit Sayyid Ali will meet senior Bahraini officials. The minister will be accompanied by a delegation comprising Salim bin Ali Al Mashikhi, Sultante’s ambassador to Bahrain; Major General Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Riyami, assistant inspector general of police and customs for operations; Sayyid Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Busaidi, wali of Rustaq; Colonel Said bin Hilal Al Kindi, director general of passports and residence at the Royal Oman Police; Colonel Mohsin bin Alawi Al Hafeidh, director general of information and technology at the ROP and Aziz bin Humaid Al Ma’amari, conference officer at the ROP.

1285

Philip III of Spain is succeeded by Philip IV (“the Fair”).

1503

Christopher Columbus discovers the Cayman Islands.

1773

To keep the troubled East India Company afloat, Parliament passes the Tea Act, taxing all tea in the American colonies.

1774

ALouis XVI succeeds his father Louis XV as King of France.

1796

Napoleon Bonaparte wins a brilliant victory against the Austrians at Lodi bridge in Italy.

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WHO declares Liberia Ebola-free Medecins Sans Frontieres, however, urged vigilance until the outbreak was also extinguished in neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone

MONROVIA: Liberia was declared free from Ebola by the government and the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Saturday after 42 days without a new case of the deadly virus, which killed more than 4,700 people there during a year-long epidemic.

However, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) urged vigilance until the worst outbreak of the disease ever recorded was also extinguished in neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone.

A total of 11,005 people have died from Ebola in the three West

African neighbours since the outbreak began in December 2013, according to the WHO. “Liberia is free of Ebola today...

We are celebrating the victory over Ebola,” Liberia’s Information Minister Lewis Brown announced on state radio. “Whether you are in this party or not, we are united today. We have defeated it today.”

Liberia was recording hundreds of new cases a week at the peak of the outbreak between August and October, causing international alarm.

The United States sent in hun-

dreds of soldiers to help build treatment clinics in a country founded by freed U.S. slaves, a move seen as a game changer in the battle to stem the disease, contracted through physical contact with sick people.

The White House welcomed the news as a milestone for Liberians but cautioned there was more work to be done in Sierra Leone and Guinea.

“We must not let down our guard until the entire region reaches and stays at zero Ebola cases,” it said in a statement that stressed the

importance of trying to prevent, detect and respond to outbreaks before they become epidemics.

Awareness campaign In Liberia, the government ran a national awareness campaign to educate Liberians on how to protect themselves from Ebola.

“It is a tribute to the government and people of Liberia that determination to defeat Ebola never wavered, courage never faltered,” the WHO said in a statement on Saturday.

MSF said that Liberia’s comple-

tion of the WHO’s benchmark for the end of an Ebola outbreak - 42 days without a new case, marking twice the maximum incubation period of the virus - should not lead to complacency.

“We can’t take our foot off the gas until all three countries record 42 days with no cases,” Mariateresa Cacciapuoti, MSF’s head of mission in Liberia, said in a statement.

She urged Liberia to step up cross-border surveillance to prevent Ebola slipping back into the country. — Reuters

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015 Israel’s determination to continue its settlement policy despite the urging of the international community not only threatens the viability of the two state solution but also seriously calls into question its commitment to a negotiated agreement with the Palestinians. Settlements are illegal under international law European Union statement

EU criticises Israel’s latest settlement plan Settlement watchdog Peace Now reported the latest batch of construction approvals on Thursday, just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a new rightwing coalition government OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: The European Union on Saturday added to United States and Palestinian criticism over Israeli plans to build 900 settler homes in Occupied East Jerusalem.

“Israel’s determination to continue its settlement policy despite the urging of the international community not only threatens the viability of the two state solution but also seriously calls into question its commitment to a negotiated agreement with the Palestinians,” the EU said in a statement. “Settlements are illegal under international law.”

Settlement watchdog Peace Now reported the latest batch of construction approvals on Thursday, just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a new rightwing coalition government.

The new homes will be built in

OCCUPATION: A general view taken on Friday, shows the Occupied

East Jerusalem Israeli settlement of Ramat Shlomo (foreground) and part of Occupied Jerusalem city (background). — AFP

the Occupied East Jerusalem settlement neighbourhood of Ramat Shlomo following a decision late Wednesday by the city’s district planning committee, Peace Now spokeswoman Hagit Ofran said.

In a briefing Thursday at the US State Department, spokesman Jeff Rathke called the decision “disappointing” and “damaging”.

“This is a disappointing development, and we’re concerned about it just as a new Israeli government has been announced,” he said. “Moving forward with construction of housing units in east Jerusalem is damaging.”

“We continue to engage with the highest levels of the Israeli Government, and we continue to make our position clear that we view this as illegitimate,” Rathke said.

In March 2010, Israel’s interior ministry announced a plan to build 1,600 settler homes in Ramat Shlomo, a neighbourhood in Occupied East Jerusalem.

That announcement came as

US Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Israel, provoking fierce American opposition and souring relations with Washington for months.

In his reelection campaign in March this year, Netanyahu vowed to step up settlement construction in Occupied East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community.

Palestinians decried the new Israeli government, in which the far-right Jewish Home is a key partner, with senior official Nabil Shaath blasting what he termed a “colonial settler cabinet”.

The Palestinians demand that any peace deal include Israel’s withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territory, recognition of Occupied East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital, and the right of return for Palestinian refugees who fled Israel after the Zionist state’s creation in 1948. — AFP

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Indonesia and Oman to set up business panel According to Bayu, there are plans to invite businessmen from Oman to participate in the 30th Trade Expo Indonesia 2015, which is set to be held in Jakarta from October 21 to 25 this year.

The official also said that Indonesia would encourage Omani investors to set up manufacturing units in the Indian Ocean country, especially to produce garments, building materials, fisheries and agricultural products, which can be exported to Oman and also re-exported from there.

Time is ripe now to give a boost to economic ties and the new joint business council, which is expected to be formed by the end of this year, will facilitate bilateral trade, said an Indonesian official

Mochamad Bayu Pramonodjati.

— Picture by Jun Estrada/Times of Oman

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADI

elham@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Oman and Indonesia, an emerging new powerhouse in Asia, plan to set up a joint business council, which is expected to be formed by the end of this year to facilitate bilateral trade, said an Indonesian official.

The volume of trade between the two countries have been modest over the past years, but Mochamad Bayu Pramonodjati, coordinator of economy and trade function at the Indonesian Embassy in Muscat, believes that the time is ripe now to give a boost to economic ties.

Direct flights Speaking to Times of Oman, Bayu said that the launch of direct flights from Muscat to Jakarta by Oman Air in December last year has provided a great opportunity for businessmen in Oman and Indonesia to further explore each other’s markets.

According to the Indonesian Ministry of Trade, the volume of bilateral trade reached $438.3 million in 2014, showing an increase of 2.9 per cent from 2010 till 2014.

Indonesia exported $244.6 million worth of goods to Oman in 2014, while its imports from the Sultanate totaled $193.6 during the same year.

Indonesian exports to Oman include wood and wood product, electrical appliances, paper and paperboard, iron, textiles, manmade staple fibers, furniture and foodstuff, while Indonesian imports from Oman are products of mill industry, mineral fuels and inorganic chemicals.

Untapped potential There are many unexplored areas for collaboration, Bayu said, adding, “Indonesia sees Oman as a new potential market, while Oman can benefit from Indonesia’s great economic potential, its abundant natural resources and its strategic position in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).”

He noted that a number of Omani businessmen visited Jakarta in August 2013 and December 2014 to explore trade opportunities and held business forum Indonesia-Oman through the coordination of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) and the Indonesian Embassy.

Investment “The Indonesian government offers a wide range of incentives to foreign investors,” Bayu said, adding that agriculture plays an important role in the national economy.

Indonesia has 21.6 million hectares of plantation area and is one of the largest manufacturers of crude palm oil, rubber and cacao.

Foreign investment opportunities in the agriculture sector include seed industry, farm management, post harvest, processing and other sorts of partnership on agribusiness.

Food security and agroindustry are becoming a priority in the agricultural development.

“Our aim is to encourage businessmen in Oman to visit and invest in Indonesia. At the same time, we provide assistance to Indonesian entrepreneurs who want to develop their business in non-traditional or untapped markets such as the Sultanate of Oman,” he added.

Oil and gas Sector Commenting on Indonesia’s investments in Oman, Bayu explained that it is mainly in the oil and gas sector services, referring to the agreement between Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) and Indonesian oil and gas company MedcoEnergi.

The deal was recently signed between the two companies to continue developing the Karim Small Fields (KSF) project in southern Oman. The agreement runs until 2040 and builds on an existing contract from 2006. > B2

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

Al Yusr Islamic opens branch in Nizwa Times News Service MUSCAT: To reach out to the largest number of customers in the Sultanate, Al Yusr Islamic Banking of Oman Arab Bank, has opened a new branch in Nizwa town in Al Dakhiliya Governorate.

Abdul Qader Al Balushi, general manager of Al Yusr Islamic Banking said, “Our choice of opening our new branch in Nizwa coincides with Nizwa being selected as the Capital of Islamic Culture by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISECO). We are sure that Al Yusr branch in this historic city will meet the islamic banking needs of the dense population homed there.”

Full-fledged branch Al Yusr branch in Nizwa is a full fledged branch and it offers a suite of products for the retail, small and medium enterprises (SME) and corporate banking segments.

All products are in compliance with the Sharia (Islamic law) and are very popular in the market. Al Yusr plans to launch several innovative products suitable to the needs of many customers in the near future.

The retail products include Al Yusr current account, savings account, fixed deposit, auto finance and home finance, among others.

The range of corporate and SME banking products including trade finance services, term finance and commercial real estate finance.

Energy sector offers B1 ‘huge opportunity’ < FROM

MedcoEnergi also signed a new exploration and production sharing contract for Block Oman 56 in November 2014.

Under the contract, the Indonesian company holds majority participating interest in the block and becomes its operator.

This is a very potential sector where Oman and Indonesia can cooperate, Bayu concluded.

Economic performance With the GDP (gross domestic product) of around $1 trillion in 2014, Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia.

Its economy grew by 5.7 per cent

Abdul Qader Al Balushi. – Supplied picture

S U P P LY C H A I N M A N A G E M E N T

Major forum to kick off on Monday MUSCAT: Supply Chain Management (SCM) forum will begin at Crowne Plaza Hotel on Monday under the patronage of Said bin Hamdoon Al Harthy, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport and Communications for Ports and Marine Affairs.

The forum, which is being organised by Al Asayel Conferences, will include four seminars touching on the impact of businesses in the Middle East on rapid economic growth and shopping festivals, the necessity of integrating all operations into one ring to ensure successful, effective supply chain through practical application not by practice.

A panel discussion will be held as experts and specialists of supply, whole and retail sale in various sectors, such as communications, banking, hotels, telecommunications, oil and gas, will take part. — ONA

in 2013, making it ‘The World’s Most Stable Economy in the Last Five Years’, according to a survey conducted by the Economist.

GDP growth Gross domestic product growth is forecast to reach 5.5 per cent this year and six per cent in the year 2016.

The Indonesian government has also continued its focus on the promotion of creative industries.

At present more than eight million people work within these industries, which contribute around eight per cent to Indonesia’s gross domestic product.

Customs reforms key for petrochem industry in GCC GCC countries have significantly improved their global rankings among the leading chemicalexporting countries over the past five years, according to the GPCA research

Times News Service MUSCAT: Customs regulation reforms will be crucial for the export-oriented Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) petrochemical industry to reach the milestone of manufacturing 190 million tonnes of products by 2020, said industry leaders at the 7th Supply Chain Conference in Dubai, hosted by the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA).

“The GCC petrochemicals industry has been growing on a CAGR of 8 per cent over the past five years increasing from 37.2 in 2008 to 67.6 million tonnes by the year 2014,” said Dr Abdulwahab Al Sadoun, secretary general,

GPCA. “Countries in the Arabian Gulf also have varying degrees of success in terms of optimising their supply chains. Details such as export times, the number of documents required for trade or trade tariffs measure how easy it is to do business, and these are areas that need to be improved to ensure that the GCC chemical industry will maintain its competitive advantage,” he said.

According to the GPCA research, the GCC countries have significantly improved their global rankings among the leading chemical-exporting countries over the past five years.

The UAE is ranked 38th in the world in terms of chemicals export volumes, up six places from 2008, as per data collated from the GPCA and World Trade Organisation (WTO).

According to the World Bank’s “Doing Business Report-2015”, export cost per container for petrochemicals from the Emirates averaged $656 in 2014, which is the lowest in the Arabian Gulf, with clearance times estimated at seven working days, a figure that is the lowest in the GCC. “The UAE is a leader in terms of ease of export procedures and accessibility, which is certainly a testament to the business-friendly strategy led by the government,” said Dr Al Sadoun.

“However, aspects such as container costs have marginally risen in the last two years, so stakeholders must work together to ensure

that this position is maintained,” he added.

Petrochemical products manufactured in the GCC amounted to 80 per cent of the region’s product portfolio in 2014, or 67.6 million tonnes of chemicals, according to GPCA estimates. As the GCC’s chemical industry is expected to add an additional 50 million tonnes in capacity by the end of this decade, the region’s petrochemicals sector clearly has potential, with exports expected to account for a sizeable percentage of this share.

“As an industry with increasingly competitive worldwide players, operating agile and flexible supply chains will be essential in the development of our export portfolio,” continued Dr Al Sadoun.

“In order to ensure that we are preferred partners for wide-ranging customers, introducing customs and clearance procedures reforms will be the key to ensuring global market share,” he said.

Commenting on the ongoing challenge of the fluctuating oil prices, which have dropped by nearly 50 per cent since June 2014, Mohammed Husain, chairman of the GPCA Supply Chain Committee and chairman and CEO of Equate said, “We are in a volatile period where everyone in the oil and gas industry strives to win. And as everyone asks about the effect of oil prices, we face additional challenges as petrochemical producers in this region.”

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

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Phoenix Power’s public offering opens for subscription Times News Service MUSCAT: Phoenix Power Co SAOG (under transformation), announced that its initial public offering (IPO) will open for subscription on Sunday (May 10).

Phoenix Power is offering 511,910,511 existing shares at a price of 110 baisas per share (comprising nominal value of 100 baisas, share premium of eight baisas and issue expenses of two baisas) totalling OMR56,310,156 to the public. The IPO represents an offer of 35 per cent of the share capital. Bank Muscat Investment Banking is the financial advisor and sole issue manager for the IPO. The IPO opens for subscription on May 10, 2015 and will close on June 8, 2015. It will be open to Omani and non-Omani investors, including individual and institutional investors.

In the IPO, 65 per cent of the shares made available for subscription have been reserved for investors applying for a minimum of 1,000 shares and a maximum of

600,000 shares, and the balance of 35 per cent of the shares have been reserved for investors applying for 600,100 shares or more, up to the maximum of 51,191,000 shares (which amounts to almost 10 per cent of the total number of shares offered in the IPO).

The company owns the largest power plant in operation in Oman.

The founding shareholders are conducting the IPO to comply with their obligations in the Project Founders Agreement signed with the government of Oman’s Electricity Holding Company (EHC) at its inception.

IPO price At the IPO price, the company projected dividend yield comes to 7.3 per cent until FY 2019 (excluding issue expenses).

This compares with an average dividend yield of 5.9 per cent for other power companies listed on Muscat Securities Market (MSM).

The first dividends will be paid in July 2015 and twice yearly thereafter. At the offer price, the

company made available an internal rate of return (IRR) of 13.5 per cent to investors, as detailed in the prospectus.

Phoenix Power owns, maintains and operates the Sur Independent Power Project (Sur IPP), the Sultanate’s largest operating power plant, generating 2000MW. The company is owned by a consortium comprising Axia Power Holdings (Marubeni Corporation, Japan), Chubu Electric Power Sur (Chubu Electric Power Co, Japan), Qatar Electricity & Water Company, and Multitech (part of the Suhail Bahwan Group, Oman).

Sur IPP was commissioned on December 11, 2014 and officially inaugurated on April 27, 2015.

The ceremony marked an important milestone in the journey of the company, which constitutes an investment of $1.6 billion and installed capacity of 2,000MW, representing about 27.8 per cent of the Sultanate’s Main Interconnected System’s total current contracted power capacity (based on OPWP’s 7 year statement from 2014-2020).

– Supplied picture

Accumulated revenue of 8 MSM-listed hotel firms fall Revenues of these companies in first quarter 2015 declined to OMR13.3 million as compared to OMR13.6 million during the corresponding period in 2014

MUSCAT: Performance of the companies operating in the hospitality sector during the first quarter (Q1) of 2015 varied, with some posting profits and others incurring losses.

The financial data compiled by the Oman New Agency (ONA) from the reports issued by eight companies listed on the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) showed that the accumulated revenues of these companies in Q1, 2015, declined to OMR13.3 million as compared to OMR13.6 million during the corresponding period in 2014. Their net profits also fell by OMR15,000 to OMR3.3 million.

By the end of March 2015, the revenues of these companies declined to OMR3.8 million from OMR4 million in March 2014. The net profits also de-

– Supplied picture

clined to OMR1.3 million, a fall of OMR69,000 compared to the corresponding period last year.

Direct cost The Gulf Hotel Company, which owns Crowne Plaza Hotel in Muscat posted an increase of only OMR20,000 in revenues in Q1, 2015, to OMR2.9 million, compared to the corresponding period last year. The direct cost to the company increased by 5.8 per cent due to the increase in salaries.

This resulted in a 6.1 per cent de-

cline in operational profits and 2.7 per cent in the net profits, which stood at OMR988,000.

This was a decline of OMR27,000 compared to the corresponding period last year.

The company described its performance during Q1, 2015, as ‘satisfactory’ due to the condition of the market. It expected to witness a decline in occupancy rates during second quarter and third quarter in 2015 due to the depreciation of the euro against the US dollar, increased compe-

tition and sluggish activity in the summer season.

Ubar Hotels Ubar Hotels and Resorts previously known as Interior Hotels said that the work scenario during the first quarter of 2015 was not good for the hospitality industry due to the unrest in the region especially near the Yemeni borders.

This led to a decline in the number of inbound tourists.

The depreciation of the euro also made the Sultanate an ex-

pensive destination for European travellers seeking popular and cheap destinations.

The Dhofar Tourism Company, which manages the Marriot Hotel in Mirbat said that its income increased by 9 per cent during the first quarter of 2015 compared to the corresponding period in 2014.

The company pointed out that this increase is attributed to the contracts signed with numerous tourism companies in Europe, which operated tours to the resort. It is also attributed to the facilities provided by the company, coordinating with Marriott management to enhance local and regional tourism.

In the Dhofar Governorate, Salalah Beach Company said that its profits declined from OMR279,000 to OMR240,000 due to the decline in restaurant revenues.

The company added that it will pursue its promotion plans and take whatever action necessary to augment revenues.

In the Al Buraimi Governorate, the Al Buraimi Hotel Company said that it posted OMR34,000 profits in Q1, 2015, compared to OMR38,000 losses during the corresponding period last year.

It pointed out that the infrastructure was developed and renovated in several phases to restore the four-star classification of the hotel. — ONA

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SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE

GCC chamber senior official lauds Duqm developments MUSCAT: Abdulrahim Hussein Naqi, Secretary General of the Federation of the Gulf Cooperation Council Chambers (FGCCC), hailed investments of the Sultanate in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm.

He said that these investments make Duqm a model zone in terms of its services and facilities provided to investors, in addition to unique strategic location on the Arabia Sea overlooking the Indian Ocean. He affirmed that Duqm is capable of enhancing the GCC economic integrity.

In a statement to Oman News Agency (ONA), the FGCCC Secretary General added that the Sultanate has made great efforts in establishing infrastructure of the zone. He explained that the projects in which the Government has invested in are major and promising as they enjoy great potentials to allure various investments. He praised moderate weather that provides Duqm an added privilege for investors. He also visited Duqm last week with senior delegation from the Arab and Gulf commerce chambers, businessmen and women.

He further said that the visit to Duqm availed the chance to closely view potentials of the zone and the projects being implemented there are capable to enhance economic development.

He added that the GCC, Arab and foreign investors have promising opportunities in SEZD. He said “We invite them and divert their investments to the zone particularly in energy, petrochemical, oil and gas and railway fields.” — ONA

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Visitors seek luxury in glittering waters Times News Service MUSCAT: Leisure cruising is becoming an increasingly popular option for tourists in Dubai, with prices comparing favourably with staying in five-star hotels, and visitors keen to enjoy the breathtaking views of the city’s waterfront, say industry experts.

While sailing and boating have been an integral part of traditional life in the UAE for many years, the increased focus on the active, on-water lifestyle and development of Dubai’s waterfront has led to interest increasing among tourists and other visitors, according to UAE-based yacht and boat manufacturer and one of the world’s leading international shipyards, Gulf Craft.

Experience luxury “Dubai visitors come here to experience luxury and so yachting naturally becomes part of that experience,” said Erwin Bamps, CEO of Gulf Craft. “Our objective at Gulf Craft is to make boating accessible to everyone, so we are delighted that tourists here in Dubai are getting a taste of the sea life.”

Dubai-based charter company Tirena Boats receives half its bookings through tourists and tourism agencies, says its Gen-

eral Manager, Mazen Faraj. Tourists can enjoy a range of experiences on the water, from fishing and watersports to deep-sea diving and long-range cruising.

Dubai is also proving popular as a cruising hub to other destinations, with Ras Al Khaimah and the Abu Dhabi islands being easily accessible — one in five bookings are for trips to other emirates, according to Faraj.

“Different tourists are looking for different experiences, and through Gulf Craft’s wide range of yachts, boats, and sport cruisers, we are able to cater to their diverse requirements,” Faraj said. “The value added services and amenities that we provide onboard our craft — be it fishing gear, fully equipped kitchens, equipment for water sports and activities, and, of course, the reassurance that we take the highest safety and security precautions, incentivises tourists to explore the many possibilities of leisure boating in the UAE.” With bookings starting from Dh800 per hour, the yachting experience compares favourably with other attractions in Dubai, adds Faraj. Most customers are looking for a taste of the yachting experience, with typical bookings lasting between two and five hours.

Software spending in region to grow by 7.4% This Gartner forecast includes spending by banking organisations on internal IT services, IT services, software, devices and telecom services

Times News Service MUSCAT: Banking and securities companies in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) will spend approximately $12.9 billion on IT products and services in 2015, an increase of one per cent over 2014 revenue of nearly $12.8 billion, according to Gartner.

This forecast includes spending by banking organisations on internal IT services (including personnel), IT services, software, data centre technologies, devices T H R E E - D AY F O R U M

Meet to focus on fisheries sector in Gulf MUSCAT: The 8th meeting of the Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI) will begin next Tuesday. The threeday meeting is organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

The meeting will discuss topics of interest to the fisheries sector in the countries of RECOFI, including the report on the activities that took place during this session between 2013-2015, the RECOFI financial and administrative report, and the reports of the Committee on Aquaculture, as well as the Committee on Fisheries on the meetings that have been held during this session, in addition to the regional system of aquaculture information.

The meeting will review the results of the survey examining the economic and social situation of the fisheries sector in the countries of RECOFI and the current status of RECOFI, as well as future prospects for the development of its work and other related topics of interest to the fisheries sector in the RECOFI countries.

The meetings of its technical committees are an opportunity for researchers and developers of fishery policies in the member states of RECOFI to meet and exchange views. — ONA

STRONG DEMAND: While the software and devices segments are

smaller than telecom services, IT services, and internal services, they are experiencing stronger growth. – Bloomberg file picture

and telecom services. While the software and devices segments are smaller than telecom services, IT services, and internal services, they are experiencing stronger growth.

Software and devices are the fastest growing segments with 7.4 per cent and 7.1 per cent increases in 2015, largely due to the customer-centric strategies of banks that drives customer insight projects and mobility initiatives that include an increasing use of tablets and mobile phones

while better understanding customers with business intelligence tools and analytics.

Software spending “Software spending will perform better than other IT segments due to the reduction in operational budgets which will be a consequence of reduced oil revenue across these countries,” said Vittorio D’Orazio, research director at Gartner. “CRM solutions, as well as core banking software, will drive spending in this segment.”

Telecom services will be the largest segment in overall IT spending in the banking and securities market at $5.5 billion in 2015. This segment is forecast to decline 1.8 per cent compared to 2014.

Further information on the banking and securities industry IT spending is available in the Gartner report: “Forecast: Enterprise IT Spending by Vertical Industry Market, Worldwide, 20132019, 1Q15 Update.”

This vertical industries forecast provides total enterprise IT spending, including internal spending and multiple lines of detail for spending on hardware, software, IT services, and telecommunications for vertical industries and 43 countries within seven geographies.

Gartner Symposium/ITxpo is the world’s most important gathering of CIOs and other senior IT executives. This event delivers independent and objective content with the authority of the world’s leading IT research and advisory organisation, and provides access to the latest solutions from key technology providers. Gartner’s annual Symposium/ITxpo events are key components of attendees’ annual planning efforts.

EUROPEAN UNION

Greece huddles with global creditors ahead of ECB test ATHENS: Greek officials are huddling with their creditors to prepare for a finance ministers meeting on Monday with the European Central Bank (ECB) threatening to restrict the country’s emergency funding unless there’s progress toward a deal.

The so-called Brussels Group of officials from Greece, the euro area and the International Monetary Fund will hold discussions in Brussels over the weekend, a Greek official said. While both sides have declared progress in the last few days, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who leads the euro-area finance ministers’, told Corriere della Sera Greece hasn’t yet done enough to earn more aid.

“We have made progress, but we are not very close to an agreement,” Dijsselbloem said. “It will surely not be reached at the Eurogroup meeting on Monday. We will need more time, but I don’t know how much.” The ECB is seeking significant progress on an aid agreement to justify maintaining the emergency funding keeping Greece’s banking system afloat. The central bank reviews the liquidity provision each week and on May 6 policy makers said they would consider tightening access if Greece’s stalemate with its creditors drags on.

“European institutions plus the IMF and Greek authorities are trying to find a solution, but the solution is in the hands of Greek authorities,” European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen said.

Support slips As the four-month standoff derails Greece’s economy recovery amid fears the country could be forced out of the euro, support for Tsipras is ebbing. Fifty-four per cent of Greeks back the government’s negotiating strategy, a Marc poll for Efimerida Ton Sintakton newspaper showed on Saturday. That compares with 82 per cent in February.

– Bloomberg file picture

Tsipras’s Syriza party remains the most popular all the same, with 36 per cent backing versus 21 percent for New Democracy, which headed the previous administration.

“The government has proved that it’s doing everything it can to reach an honest deal within the EU,” Tsipras told lawmakers in Athens on Friday. “There’s no technical issue anymore for reaching this deal, there’s only a matter of political will.”

Without clear signs of progress on Monday, or if there is any problem with a payment due to the IMF on Tuesday, the ECB could increase the haircut it imposes on the collateral Greek banks post when tapping the emergency funding facility.

Both Tsipras and Greece’s finance minister Yanis Varoufakis have said that an agreement with creditors, which would pave the way for resuming aid flows and avert a default, is within reach.

Tsipras has spoken twice this week by telephone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“I’m optimistic that we will soon have a happy ending and, despite the difficulties we will

face, with the people’s support, we will manage to accomplish a deal,” Tsipras told Parliament on Friday.

Greece’s government has repeatedly expressed confidence a deal was imminent, only to be rebuffed by European officials seeking more specific policy proposals in areas including labor market deregulation, a pensionsystem overhaul, and sales tax reform. The standoff has led to an unprecedented flight of deposits from Greek banks and renewed concern over the country’s future within the single currency.

“Politically there is only one deadline — that’s end-June when the second plan will end,” Dijsselbloem told French daily Le Monde on May 7. “But there could also be another deadline if Athens’ liquidity problems became too pressing. It’s in our common interest to avoid getting there.”

— Bloomberg News

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IT SOLUTIONS

Omasco Watches Division has been retailing and distributing prominent brands like Raymond Weil, 88 Rue Du Rhone, West End Watch Co., Kolber, Westar and Alba across Oman for the last 30 years

MUSCAT: Strengthening its brand portfolio, Omasco Watches recently launched the 2015 novelties of the Swiss brands Raymond Weil, 88 Rue Du Rhone and West End Watch Co. at Crowne Plaza Hotel, says a press release.

On the occasion, Hussain Al Lawati, MD, Omasco, said, “We are proud of the varied brands we have in our portfolio, which is fundamental to our vision of creating choice and value for our customers.”

Omasco Watches division has been retailing and distributing prominent brands like Raymond Weil, 88 Rue Du Rhone, West End Watch Co., Kolber, Westar and Alba across Oman for the last 30 years. The Swiss brands are retailed from the exclusive Raymond Weil boutique in Sabco Center, whereas Westar and Alba are distributed through the exclusive Omasco Watches retail outlet at Lulu Hypermarket. During the last five years, Omasco Watches division has served 150,000 customers across Oman and over 150 institutional customers, which includes

government organizations, ministries and corporates.

Nabucco Cello Tourbillon Loyal to its longstanding source of inspiration, the music-loving watchmaker creates a new star shining in the Nabucco collection, testifying to its ability to combine watchmaking expertise with cutting-edge creativity. The brainchild of Raymond Weil CEO ElieBernheim — the founder's grandson and a cellist since an early age — the Nabucco Cello Tourbillon is a first in the world of luxury watchmaking in taking its design cues directly from this noble instrument.

A worthy major new addition to the Nabucco collection, the Nabucco Cello Tourbillon features fine, clean-cut lines creating a striking contrast with the gentleness of the musical intention conveyed through this model. It embodies a clever intertwining of watch components evoking the theme of the cello and enlivening the vibrant heart of this mechanical hand-wound movement. More than a mere coincidence, the entire musical soul of Raymond Weil inspired this model with its rigorous nature, pure lines, gift for performance along with impressive mastery of watchmaking and

musical expression.

The remarkable musical elements of the mechanism were conceived entirely by the Raymond Weil in-house Research and Development department, which was set up by the brand in 1999.

Alongside its undeniable beauty, the tourbillon cage serves to make major precision adjustments and plays its role as the ultimate compensatory element. Beauty appeals and technique reassures in this masterful creation.

A tourbillon skeleton watch The lightness required for the rotating cage harmoniously echoes the steel and titanium case and features an extremely airy variation, despite its generous 46 mm diameter. Carbon fibre sets the perfect finishing touch, stretching along the black PVD-coated sides of the timepiece. In a subtle detail much appreciated by connoisseurs, the screw-lock crown lines up the Raymond Weil logo with the curve of the case, while a genuine crocodile leather strap holds the model firmly to the wrist, thus infusing this object of fascination with all the signature codes of subtle elegance.

The new Toccata Swiss watchmaker, Raymond Weil

SUMMER BONANZA

announced its partnership with internationally renowned classic violinist, Nicola Benedetti, to present the new 34mm ladies watch: Toccata. Elegant and sober, classic but timeless, the new brand ambassador perfectly embodies the Toccata collection which again this year promises to be a hit.

Following the success of the launch of the collection last year, Raymond Weil presents a new toccata watch dedicated to ladies in need of a sober and timeless yet elegant and precious timepiece.

Equipped with a quartz movement, Toccata subtly combines accessibility and quality.

Now available in 34mm, the beautifully rounded steel, rose gold PVD plated steel or yellow gold PVD plated steel case blends harmoniously with the rounded sapphire crystal — the hallmark of this collection.

The dials display a simple but precise musical score under the baton of the orchestra conductor, which sweeps back and forth incessantly over the diamond indexes. With its mother-of-pearl dial and satin strap, toccata is more feminine than ever.

Omasco also launched novelties of West End Watch Co., 88 Rue Du Rhone, Kolber, Westar and Alba for 2015.

MUSCAT: Delegates to the recent Comex 2015 were treated to two very informative presentations courtesy of Nortal, the leading Open Source software provider for mission critical solutions in the fields of Government, Healthcare, Industry and TIME (Telecom, Internet, Media and Entertainment, says a press release.

With an active office branch in Muscat, Nortal had a strong presence at the conference and exhibition which saw many industry experts, solution providers and end users convene to explore the theme ‘Disruptive technologies for fast tracking National Growth’.

Two of Nortal’s leading thought leaders, Margus Magi, CEE business development director and Taavi Einaste, director of Business Area e-Health, presented at the conference. Margus Magi captivated the audience with a paper entitled ‘Pushing the Borders’ as part of the Big Data, Cloud and ICT Infrastructure for public sector session. He explained to delegates ‘In Estonia, we have seen how seamless egovernment could work and how it will be in an era of Big Data and Cloud computing. Scenarios for e-government processes must be re-wised so that real benefits of technology could be utilized.

"Keeping in mind that interoperability of systems is the key to success. We are facing new concepts like Data Embassy and e-Residency which will change the borders between physical and

virtual worlds. Governments can now grow bigger than the actual country is. This will change the concept of public services in broader scale. We are creating and implementing some very exciting IT projects across the Sultanate where we can clearly see the possible merits of Big Data and Cloud technology upcoming," he added.

Taavi Einaste spoke passionately on ‘Modern e-health solutions in an era of FHIR’.

Healthcare has lagged behind in adopting modern IT solutions, compared with other industries. It is an industry which has enormous potential benefits for society. Given the aging populations in most countries, the lack of specialists and the monetary limitations, if IT can be honed to come to its aid then we must embrace it. One of the key drivers for IT adoption is the ability to share information between different IT systems, organizations and medical specialists. With fast healthcare interoperability resources (FHIR), an exciting platform has been created for successful health data exchange.

Nortal has assisted numerous countries in the field of e-government including Qatar, Oman, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Nigeria, Botswana and Moldova in providing better services to their citizens and businesses. Nortal began its operations in the Gulf in 2008 and established a local subsidiary in 2011. Today it considers Oman a home market with a strong onsite presence there.

SAFETY FORUM

Last few days left to grab Toyota Oman Occupational Health, Safety Aurion with Summer Surprises Forum to address current issues MUSCAT: A popular choice in Oman, the Aurion is packed with many superior features. Delivering a top-class driving experience, it sets a classy impression with elegant, luxurious and prestigious looks.

At the present moment, the buzz surrounding the Aurion is that it is now available with Summer Surprises, says a press release.

“If you buy an Aurion, you will be happy to know that the first year’s insurance (Oman only) and registration is already taken care of; you need not spend on it in the first year. Apart from this, you are entitled to receive 1000 litres of petrol. Don’t want these? No problem, you can instead pocket a cool wad of OMR500 as you drive off in your new Aurion. Terms and conditions apply on various benefits that are being offered as a part of the Summer Surprises campaign. This campaign will end on May 13. Benefits are applicable on 2015 year models, which are 2015 production vehicles, for all purchases except government organizations and ministries," said a company spokesperson.

“I am planning to get myself an amazing Toyota Aurion.

Why? Because there are so many things that make it special,” says an enthusiast.

The interior of the Aurion is made with an emphasis on luxury and quality, creating a unique personalized appearance. The cabin of the Aurion is spacious and the dashboard has an exclusive horizontal T-Shaped design, which significantly enhances the feeling of prestige. The quieter cabin experience is due to the reduced road and wind noise. The feeling of quality is enhanced with leather stitching, while the curved woodgrain and silver accents create a sense of functional beauty.

The ECO-meter allows drivers to recognize when they are driving in a fuel efficient and economical manner. Chrome accents on the air conditioning vents and

audio controls complete the sense of prestige that extends even to the smallest of details, including the audio switches on the steering wheel and a two seat position memory system.

Available with 6-speed multimode automatic transmission mated to a 3.5 L V-6 Dual VVT-i engine, the Aurion surges forward on an awesome 268 HP. Thin, long headlamps on either side of the impressive front grille and elevated hood lend it a majestic and powerful presence. The side of the Aurion is accented for a stronger appearance through a flared bottom section and an accented door-cross section.

The Aurion's 17-inch wheels enhance the character of the vehicle and provide a feeling of advanced luxury. The rear of the Aurion blends into the rear combination lamps for a greater emphasis on width, with the bumper corners protruding outwards, creating a wide stable feeling and a ground-hugging stance.

Cutting-edge aerodynamic technology ensures that the Aurion experiences straight line stability, while the column mounted electric power steering mechanism allows an optimum level of vehicle control.

“Were the Aurion a human being, I would say that its vehicle stability control (VSC) plus traction control (TRC) technologies give it a ‘firmer footing’ while the

(High Intensity Discharge) HID headlamps help it see better in the dark, by improving night-time visibility,” says a fan, in a manner of speaking.

The Aurion offers utility features such as a front and rear parking systems, which alerts the driver when approaching obstacles. The Aurion also has an audio system with a 7-inch navigation system, a USB/AUX terminal for external audio devices, advanced Bluetooth communication compatibility, smart entry and start system, dual-zone airconditioning and a back window power sunshade.

All specifications listed above are standard Toyota equipment.

Safety kit (fire extinguisher, warning triangle, tyre pressure gauge & first aid kit) and floor mats are dealer installed nonToyota items provided on Toyota models as standard equipment.

The vehicle specifications may change without prior notice. Pictures and colours shown may differ from actual specifications of the vehicles. For further details and to ascertain availability of stocks, please visit your nearest Toyota showroom.

In Oman, Toyota’s outstanding product quality is supported by the nationwide parts and service network of Saud Bahwan Automotive. No wonder then that today, Toyota is one of the most trusted and well-known brands.

MUSCAT: The First Oman Occupational Health and Safety Forum will be held at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Muscat on May 11.

The keynote address and opening presentation of the forum will be delivered by Dr. Mohamed Said Al Yazidi, director of Environmental and Occupational Health Department at Ministry of Health, Oman on Oman’s frame work of Occupation Health and Safety,' says a press release.

The forum’s oil & gas partner is Oman Society of Petroleum Services (OPAL). In addition Oman Society of Engineers (OSE) and Oman Road Safety Association (ORSA) are supporting the event; the associate sponsors are Samara Training Services and JD Institute of Health and Safety.

The first session will focus on OHS-CSR integration, economic dimensions, regulatory aspects and legal requirements. Distinguished speakers in this session are Jonathan Scopes, senior HSE consultant and trainer from Samara Training Services will present on 'Economic dimensions of

OHS' and Nadhira Al Hinai on 'To what extend should CSR and OHS be integrated'.

The second session will focus on OHS policy, plan, readiness and implementation with accidents, fire safety, work place poisoning, driver training and incorporation of all elements in a comprehensive OHS Policy. Notable speakers at this session are David Wilson, general manager HSSE from Port of Salalah, who will speak on 'OHS at Ports and Maritime Safety' and Shaima Al Lawati, CEO, Oman Road Safety Association (ORSA), who will speak on 'Inclusion of Road Safety and Driving Training as part of OHS strategy, policy and measurement' The third session addresses one of the most challenging aspects which is human element, the behavioral, cultural, health care, mental and emotional well-being.

Notable speakers in this session are Ashraf Sameh, QA/HSE manager from Renaissance Services, who will talk about 'Behavioral Safety and Human Error', Marie Chatelier, project QHSE manager

from Newrest Oman, who will speak on 'Emotional Well-being – Mental Health and Fitness' and Gunhild Pfaff/Silvia Wenzel, head of University Sports / Intern Sports Officer fromGUTech who will share views on 'OHS through sports and GUtech Perspective'.

Sadiq Ahmed Khan, managing director of Tafani Events and Research, the organizers of the forum, said that the forum is timely and will address the current situation of workplace health and safety at organizations in oil & gas, construction, transport & logistics sectors in Oman.

This is a gathering to share, appreciate and adopt best practices and chart out missing elements and take adequate measures which will improve the OHS standards and the organization is better prepared to meet any situation.

The forum’s main objective is to address the current practices and situation in Oman, share knowledge and best practices while networking with experts, professionals and peers in the OHS Profession.

SPECIAL OCCASION

Egyptians in Oman celebrates Spring Festival MUSCAT: Egyptian expatriates in the Sultanate celebrated their spring festival Sham El Nessim, organized recently by Egyptians in Oman Facebook group which boasts of over 20,000 members all over Oman. The daylong event was conducted at Al Massa farm house, Barka, says a press release.

Sham El Nessim or the spring festival, has been celebrated in Egypt since ancient times as a social gathering where people enjoy a day out with food festivals, games, cultural, musical and children entertainment activities.

The event was a day full of entertainment with different types of sports competitions and cultural

activities being the highlights.

A large number of those present there took active part in the games of football and volleyball, swimming for kids, ping pong and relay running. Some artistic competitions such as drawing and coloring kids were conducted in addition to fun activities like pulling the

rope, inflamed ball, banana eating, donuts eating, musical chairs, ball in the square, ballon shooting etc were also conducted.

The organizers also conducted a lucky draw for the participants.

Winners received a return air ticket to Egypt. Al Jadeed Exchange sponsored all the gifts.

B6

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ROUND-UP

Upgraded for 2016, Mazda6 now available at Towell Auto Centre The latest 2016 model of Mazda6 aims to fully respond to customer expectations and the Japanese automaker has gone to great lengths to bring new levels of depth and maturity to every aspect of the model

MUSCAT: Debuting in 2012 as the flagship model in Mazda’s new-generation product line-up, Mazda6 earned high acclaim in markets around the world thanks to the alluring vitality of the KodoSoul of Motion design language and Skyactiv technology’s balance of driving pleasure, environmental performance and safety.

The latest 2016 model of Mazda6 aims to fully respond to customer expectations and the Japanese automaker has gone to extraordinary lengths to bring new levels of depth and maturity to every aspect of the model. In addition to an innovative interior design, the updated refreshed Mazda6 of-

fers the customer greater sophistication and value with enhanced exterior design, functionality, ride comfort, quietness and safety, says a press release.

Aaron James Grimley, a customer who recently purchased Mazda6 2.5 luxury model from Towell Auto Centre, the sole distributors of Mazda range in Oman, said, “After doing some research, I chose Mazda6 primarily for its safety performance. Safety is the most important feature for me especially when I travel with my children and family. With Mazda6, I rest assured as it offers peace of mind and greater driving pleasure and the added bonus of stylish de-

sign, comfort and high quality of the interior.”

The 2016 Mazda6 features a host of enhancements. Bold changes to the shape of the instrument panel and floor console give the interior a fresh new look. It fuses a driveroriented cockpit design, based on Mazda’s unique heads-up cockpit concept, with a roomy front seat passenger environment. In addition, thorough attention has been paid to minimizing gaps between parts and achieving an overall

B U S I N E S S A S S O C I AT I O N

unified appearance, significantly enhancing the feeling of quality as befits the flagship model in the Mazda product line up. It also includes the adoption of Mazda Connect, Mazda’s next-generation car connectivity system, an electrical parking brake (EPB) and a Sport mode for people looking for that extra Zoom-Zoom.

Exterior features include a new front grille and signature wing design. These combine with new LED headlamps create a bold and

elegant expression that leaves a distinct impression of the evolution of the brand. Detailed refinements to dynamic performance include improved sound insulation throughout the body and improved front and rear seat performance. These enhancements yield a quieter and more comfortable riding experience.

The all-new Mazda6 also delivers higher quality dynamic performance and pure driving pleasure.

The smooth, linear response and feeling of oneness between car and driver realized by Skyactiv Technology delivers a light and pleasant driving experience.

The world-class safety performance of Mazda6 has earned high acclaim. Its adoption of Mazda’s i-Activsense*1 advanced safety technologies based on Mazda Proactive Safety*2 plays an important role in achieving this level of safety performance.

The 2016 Mazda6 offers a wide variety of advanced safety technologies and further strengthens safety performance. These include Mazda’s blind spot monitoring (BSM) that detects vehicles approaching from the blind spot areas at the sides and rear. BSM

also incorporates Mazda’s rear cross traffic alert (RCTA) function, which alerts the driver when it detects vehicles approaching from either side as the driver backs up. Smart brake support (SBS) feature is also available that helps avoid frontal collisions or minimize damage when traveling mid- to high-speed.

Offering the trendiest of Japanese cars, Mazda has brought in a lot of excitement in Oman’s automobile industry with their ‘stylish, spirited and insightful’ branding.

These three unique qualities lie at the core of each Mazda you spot on the streets and form the brand’s DNA and TAC makes owning a Mazda extra pleasant with its efficient after sales service and quick response time.

With a network of 13 service outlets and 10 parts outlets spread across Oman, TAC is the only Mazda distributor in the world to win the Mazda Customer Service award five years in a row.

With 98.2 per cent parts deliverability, TAC also offers quick, efficient service with genuine parts available for all models and have highly trained staff who pride in their quality of service.

HONING SKILLS

Knauf Danoline, MHD officials conduct seminar on sustainable indoor comfort

Muscat Insurance signs deal with Muscat Finance for distribution of products MUSCAT: Muscat Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Muscat National Holding Company, has tied up with Muscat Finance for distribution of its general insurance products, through its branch network. “We look forward to this partnership and providing best products and services to our customers. We are confident the

joint effort of the teams shall fructify into setting new benchmarks and ‘enabling dreams’ of our customers,” said Bikram Rishi, CEO, Muscat Finance.

“We are extremely happy to have Muscat Finance as our partner and look forward to building a strong and sustainable business.

The entire process and technol-

ogy support was customized to make it easy for the customer.

The joint project team did a commendable job and we look forward to building it together.

We stand by our motto, ‘A friend cares’ and are committed to the partnership,” stated Philip K. Philip, GCEO, Muscat National Holding Company.

MUSCAT: Knauf Danoline along with MHD Building Materials team recently conducted a seminar for architects and key clients on ‘Sustainable indoor comfort using acoustic gypsum materials’ at the Intercontinental Hotel, says a press release.

Knauf Danoline is one of the world’s leading companies in ceiling systems and well known in the market to offer quality and innovative acoustic gypsum products.

The seminar was presented by Erik Ipsen, architect and head of R&D at Knauf Danoline, Den-

mark. Also attending were Kim Christensen, general manager and Rajeev Menon, head of Marketing from their Dubai office.

The seminar was attended by architects; consultants and clients from both ministries and private sector who were briefed in detail on the new trends and latest developments in ceiling technology using gypsum materials.

Latest products introduced included ceiling tiles using Cleano technology (air purification technology integrated with all perforated gypsum ceiling tiles or

boards); flexible acoustic ceilings for hospitals or health centers along with the complete range of acoustic ceiling tiles from Knauf Danoline range.

The seminar was organized

by MHD Building Materials who are the authorized distributor for Knauf Danoline ceilings in Oman for over 25 years.

Many prestigious government and private sector projects and a varied clientele across the Sultanate of Oman have used and appreciated Knauf Danoline ceilings over these years.

E N E R G Y C O N S E RVAT I O N

First Oman Energy, Water Exhibition to start on May 19 MUSCAT: “With the demand for utilities steadily rising, the pressing need to instill awareness about the importance of power and water conservation is necessary.” This was stated by Dr. Ali Hamed Al Ghafri, chairman’s assistant for International Relations and Conferences, in a press statement.

This demand, along with the development and achievements of the sector over the last decade, has spurred the need for organizer Omanexpo in partnership with the Public Authority for Electricity & Water, the regulatory and administrative body of Oman’s utility sector, to organize the first Oman Energy and Water Exhibition & Conference, the first event of its kind in the Sultanate.

“Oman Energy and Water comes in line with our CSR initiatives, emphasizing the value of power and water resources and the implications of the shortage of these resources, and the impact on the country’s future in the long term,” said Ahmed Sayed, exhibition manager. “To reinforce the CSR thrust, the accompanying conference will include in the agenda, topics on strategies for efficient energy generation and use and water management.”

“The event is also aligned with our continuous efforts to present a ready platform for individuals and businesses to introduce their product or service offerings to the market as well as provide op-

portunities for investment and private and public participation,” he added.

Currently, the significant lineup of multi-billion key power and water projects have been attracting a lot of investment in new infrastructure. This includes the $1.6 billion Sur Independent Power Plant Project, Oman’s largest power project, the Wadi Dayqah Water Treatment Project, the Salalah 2 Independent Power Plant, and the Quriyat Desalination Plant Project.

Oman Energy and Water Exhibition and Conference, organized in conjunction with Arab Energy Efficiency Day, will be held from May 19 to 21 at the Oman International Exhibition Center.

It is an international event dedicated to the power generation, renewable and alternative energy and transmission and distribution, and water-related industries, and designed to be a platform for stakeholders to discuss real issues and solutions to the energy and water challenges and opportunities in Oman.

Included in the event’s sponsors roster are Nama Group (strategic partner), Siemens (lead sponsor), ACWA Power and Wartsila (gold sponsor), Gulf Petrochemical Services & Trdg & Innovation Park Muscat (silver sponsor), Nuhas Oman Cables & Wires and Engie (Associate sponsors), and Mitsubishi Corporation (lanyard sponsor).

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Lulu opens new hypermarket at Al Bandar Complex in Mawaleh The complex is prominently located near the defence camp and is close to the arterial roads leading to Muscat OPENING A NEW CHAPTER: Badr bin Saud Al Busaidi, Minister responsible for Defence Affairs, after inaugurating the 115th Lulu Hypermarket at the Al Bandar Complex in Mawaleh, in the presence of Yusuff Ali MA, MD of Lulu Group, Saifee T Rupawala, CEO, and Ananth A.V, regional director of Lulu Oman. –Supplied photos

MUSCAT: In an attempt to provide better facilities and services to the employees of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces, Al Bandar Mall Complex was inaugurated recently under the auspices of Sayyid Badr bin Saud Al Busaidi, minister of defence, along with Yusuff Ali M.A, managing director of Lulu Group.

The complex is prominently located near the defence camp and is close to the arterial roads leading to Muscat. The facility is designed to provide basic necessities and luxuries at preferential rates for the employees of the Ministry of

Defence and the armed forces. It will also serve as a large commercial market with many recreational and service facilities. The complex was designed to serve all sections of society, taking into account future expansions and other support projects, says a press release.

Built over 9160 square meters, the mall consists of a supermarket selling groceries, fruits and vegetables, hot food and bakery products.

The complex also includes 22 outlets for diverse brands that fulfill the needs of shoppers from various categories. In addition, there is a children’s play corner and a spa-

cious food court (approximately 1685 square meters) comprising 6 restaurants with indoor and outdoor seating facilities. The store has prayer facilities for men and women, each approximately 150 square meters. The complex also features a vast car parking that can accommodate about 1600 vehicles, with dedicated slots for the disabled and elderly.

The complex is managed by Lulu Hypermarket, a company that has extensive experience in operating and managing such complexes and presence across the Wilayats of the Sultanate, which will make

it easier for the employees of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces to take advantage of this. A team has been formed to oversee the functioning of the complex, follow the pricing and ensure the quality of services provided. In the initial stage, a preferential price will be offered on some commodities for commissioned officers and civilian and military personnel, including retired employees of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces, who will be the beneficiary of a special Membership Card. The entertainment area for children, the cinema and the restaurants

DEVELOPING HUMAN RESOURCES

Oman LNG signs agreements with OPAL to train 30 Omanis MUSCAT: In line with His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said’s Royal Directives to create jobs for Omani nationals, Oman LNG and the Oman Society for Petroleum Services (OPAL) signed two agreements that will see Oman LNG fund the training of 30 Omani candidates.

The agreements appoint OPAL to arrange and facilitate the training of the candidates, who are assured of employment by companies serving the oil and gas sector.

The training courses offered include non-destructive testing and general mechanical for diesel engine. The courses will be conducted for a period of six months and will be provided by Technical and Administrative Training Institute and Institute of Technical Training Services, says a press release.

Besides direct recruitment into its operations which has yielded almost 90% Omanisa-

tion, Oman LNG pursues a pioneering social investment programme that allocates one and a half per cent of the company’s net income after tax (NIAT) to a vast swath of social development programmes, ranging from healthcare and education, through women’s development.

Thus far, the company has enabled the recruitment of over

one thousand and four hundred candidates through its trainingfor-jobs model. In this particular instance, the candidates will receive monthly stipends during their schooling and salaried positions upon starting out in their new jobs with contractors to the oil and gas industry.

“The key to build the required national resources capabilities

and productive workforce is through such Training for Employment programs especially in technical disciplines which are critically needed by the industry. Oman LNG has demonstrated excellent corporate responsibility through its commitment in funding such initiatives,” said Musallam bin Rashid Al Mandhari, OPAL’s Chief Executive Officer shortly after signing the agreement.

“These agreements are yet another testimony of Oman LNG’s dedication towards developing and training young Omani nationals as part of funding training for employment program. The training programmes will develop a number of capable Omani youth to work in the private sector and boost the Ministry of Manpower Omanisation efforts,” said Khalid Al Massan, Oman LNG’s Chief External Affairs Officer.

T I M E L E S S C R E AT I O N S

Al Qurum Jewellery offers unique Charriol experience MUSCAT: Al Qurum Jewellery, the official dealer of Charriol Genève, is offering customers an innovative Charriol experience with the newly renovated boutique in Sabco Commercial Centre.

The exclusive boutique in Oman is a third generation design with an appealing balance of understatement and opulence that reflects the Charriol style of classicism and modernity, while sleek displays showcase the multi-product brand including timepieces, jewellery and leather goods, says a press release.

On his visit to the boutique, President of Charriol, Philippe Charriol, said, “The hallmark of our designs is to invent fresh and state-of-the-art timepieces and jewellery collections founded on

expert craftsmanship. We replicate this in the design of our boutiques to give customers a truly wonderful and unique experience as they immerse themselves in the Charriol mantra of living life differently, L’Art de Vivre Difference.”

Established in 1983, Charriol today remains a family-run business with over 300 boutiques around the world. The timepieces made in Switzerland and jewellery and leather goods created in Europe.

“I appreciate art in many forms, and have learnt that it is not the most costly things that grow more beautiful in time, but those that are carefully and lovingly made.

It is in this same spirit that our products are created, with an at-

tention to quality whilst never losing sight of functionality,” said Charriol.

Ali Awadh Ali, president of Al Qurum Jewellery, said, “Our partnership with Charriol dates back 35 years and we have watched the brand grow organically and evolve in response to its customers’ needs. Charriol’s capacity to blend heritage with innovation in timeless creations is what sets it

apart as a brand, and we are confident that customers with an eye for detail, artistry and beauty will enjoy the design of the renovated boutique as well as the new collections to come.”

Soon to be available exclusively at the boutique is the Saint Tropez Collection. Like the Charriol Maison, the French Mediterranean town of Saint Tropez is enduringly timeless, and the collection of women’s watches embodies this essence with feminine additions added every season. Charriol’s St-Tropez Style variant invites women to customise their watch with interchangeable bracelets and clips, and special editions have been designed especially with the timepiece connoisseur in mind.

will be added at a later stage. The opening ceremony was attended by the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Defence, the Chief of the Armed Forces and other ranked leaders and senior officers of the armed forces.

“Lulu has become an integral part of Oman’s landscape over the last few years and we are committed to extending our footprint with plans to open 5 new stores in the next 18 months. This has been made possible only because of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said and the government’s vision and policies which encourage and pro-

vide a conducive environment for businesses. The faith that has been bestowed upon us has translated into growth and has been a motivation for us to strive and do better.

The induction of young Omanis into our workforce has been instrumental in strengthening our presence in Oman, and we will ensure that there is adequate focus in this area” said Yusuff Ali M.A. “The inauguration of the Al Bandar – Lulu Complex at Mawaleh branch is a matter of great pride for us as we join hands in a collaborative manner with Oman’s Ministry of Defence,” he added.

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SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

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Last 5 days left to avail unique offers from Nissan Oman Nissan enthusiasts and fans have yet another chance to avail exclusive benefits from Nissan as its ongoing promotions last till May 14 across 19 Nissan showrooms in the Sultanate

MUSCAT: Nissan from the house of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles has been famous for its exclusive promotions that are launched for its patrons every now and then.

Nissan enthusiasts and fans have yet another chance to avail exclusive benefits from Nissan as its ongoing promotions last till May 14 across 19 Nissan showrooms in Oman.

The promotion is mainly aimed at offering serious buyers and customers some of the most competitive offers on Nissan vehicles along with a host of other benefits, says a press release.

The unique offers from Nissan gives customers an opportunity to enjoy exclusive briefings, tips, advices and suggestions from Nissan officials on the entire Nissan range. Visitors will also get a chance to take a test drive of any of their favourite Nissan vehicle with Nissan officials to assist and guide through the aesthetics of the vehicles at all times.

This limited period offer is an opportunity for Nissan officials to give back to their dedicated customers a week filled with unlimited benefits, surprises andan opportunity for auto enthusiasts to own Nissan vehicles at attractive prices.

Nissan’s innovations Nissan’s iconic vehicles deliver a refreshed vision of ‘innovation that excites’ with introduction of new levels of sophistication and state of the art features. Nissan vehicles are known to offer

smoother ride comfort, more refinement and benchmark fit and finish, while delivering breathtaking performance and road-holding.

Their ‘multi-dimensional performance’ means the driver can enjoy the full depth of a Nissan’s capabilities whether navigating the corners of a winding mountain road, cruising on a motorway or even travelling in an urban environment.

An exciting offer Nissan is offering a host of benefits during this week as part of the their exclusive promotion that includes free insurance, free registration, free 2 years / 35,000 km service package and six years unlimited mileage extended warranty. Customers will also receive cash gift of up to OMR1000 on select models. Nissan Oman is known to offer some of the firsts in the country as they are committed to offer some of the best services to their valued customers.

“We consider understanding and anticipating customer needs as crucial to our continued success. We believe in ‘customers for life’ concept and strive to provide the best value for money to our customers by offering world-class products and services. With our current offerwe want to reach out to as many customers and auto enthusiasts and give them back something special which is essential to our continued success,” said a senior official of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles.

Easy finance options Customers are guaranteed hasslefree financing process while purchasing any Nissan vehicle during this week as there is no processing fee or documentation charge to be paid. Also, customers’ will get to avail attractive interest rates with a loan term up to 8 years (through Bank Muscat only) and lastly have an option for customisedfinancing and enjoy spot approvals too.

During this promotion, trade-in offers will also be available. Cus-

tomers will get an opportunity to exchange their existing vehicles for a new Nissan model of their choice.

Customer Excellence “When it comes to providing good service, the firms that are able to build strong relationships with their customers are more likely to maintain a solid core of enthusiastic supporters. Quickly resolving issues and going beyond customers’ expectations encourages repeat business from patrons, and in many cases, we go further than that. High quality customer service helps to create customer loyalty. Customers today are not only interested in the product they are being offered, but also all the additional elements of service that they receive starting from the greeting when they enter a retail outlet”, the key spokesperson opined.

At sales showrooms Suhail Bahwan Automobiles’ sales executives take the customer through a needs analysis process whereby asking focused questions the Sales Executive identifies customer needs. Based on the needs thus identified the sales executive then proposes the correct vehicle.

At service centres the customer service staff is available from the time customers book a service appointment at any of our service centres across the Sultanate till they receive their vehicles ready after service. Additionally, an on-call staff person is available during evening, weekend, and holiday hours for emergency-situations.

SBA has recently introduced Employee Suggestion scheme, with a focus on enhancing participation of employees in improvement of customer service delivery.

SBA has a Hall of Fame Award scheme that includes Customer First Champions and Customer Super Stars schemes. These schemes are high value cash rewards with trophies presented to the employees who demonstrate customer enthusiasm.

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SPOR YOUR GAME

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ROSBERG TAKES POLE AT SPANISH GRAND PRIX

Nico Rosberg ended Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton’s qualifying stranglehold on Saturday when he secured his first pole position of the season in a tense and closely-fought qualifying session for Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix. >C5

Yasir baffles Bangladesh as Pakistan clinch Test series SCOREBOARD

Pakistan 1st innings: 557 for 8 declared Bangladesh 1st innings: 203 Pakistan 2nd innings: 195 for 6 declared Bangladesh 2nd innings T. Iqbal c Sarfraz b Imran 42 Imrul Kayes b Yasir 16 M. Haque c Shafiq b Yasir 68 M. Mahmudullah c Younis b Imran 2 Shakib Al Hasan c Wahab b Hafeez 13 Mushfiqur Rahim b Yasir 0 Soumya Sarkar c Sarfraz b Wahab 1 Shuvagata Hom b Junaid 39 Taijul Islam c Aslam b Yasir 10 Mohammad Shahid not out 14 Shahadat Hossain absent hurt Extras (b-4, lb-4, nb-8) 16 Total (all out, 56.5 overs) 221 Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-86, 3-95, 4-121, 5-126, 6-139, 7-143, 8-177, 9-221.

Bowling: Junaid 10.5-1-45-1 (nb-5), Imran Khan 11-1-56-2 (nb-1), Yasir 21-3-73-4, Wahab 11-1-36-1 (nb-2), Hafeez 3-0-3-1.

Shah, who took three for 58 in the first innings, once again baffled the Bangladesh batsmen to grab four for 73 as Pakistan crushed the hosts by 328 runs

DHAKA: Leg-spinner Yasir Shah claimed a match haul of seven wickets as dominant Pakistan crushed Bangladesh by 328 runs in the second and final Test in Dhaka on Saturday to clinch the series 1-0.

The hosts, who resumed their second innings at 63 for one chasing an improbable target of 550, were shot out for 221 in the postlunch session of the fourth day at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.

Shah, who took three for 58 in the first innings, once again baffled the Bangladesh batsmen with his leg-spin and googly on the wearing pitch to grab four for 73 in the second knock.

Mominul Haque played a lone hand for the hosts with 68, joining West Indies great Vivian Richards and the Indian duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir as the only batsmen to score 50 runs or more in 11 consecutive Tests.

Shuvagata Hom hit 39, sharing a ninth-wicket stand of 44 with Mohammed Shahid, to steer Bangladesh past the 200-run mark after they were reduced to 143 for seven soon after lunch.

The match ended at the fall of the ninth wicket as Shahadat Hossain was unable to bat after suffering a serious knee injury on the first day.

The win helped Pakistan end an otherwise dismal month-long tour AT H L E T I C S

Ennis-Hill encouraged after ending two-year absence LONDON: Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill finished third in the 100 metres hurdles as she returned to the track for the first time in almost two years in Manchester on Saturday.

Ennis-Hill, who took time off from athletics to become a mother, won the 2012 Olympic heptathlon and has set her sights on defending that title in Rio next year despite her lengthy absence.

The 29-year-old Briton took the first step towards that goal at the Great CityGames by clocking a time of 13.14 seconds.

Ennis-Hill was racing on a purpose-built track in front of her nine-month-old son Reggie and hordes of spectators, who gave her a huge cheer when introduced to the crowd for the first time in 22 months.

On that occasion, in the Anniversary Games at London’s Olympic Stadium, Ennis-Hill recorded a time of 13.08sec, so she was encouraged by her return performance in cold conditions and into a headwind.

“It was really good to be back,” said Ennis-Hill, who finished behind Tiffany Porter, who claimed a dominant victory in 12.86sec, and second placed Lucy Hatton. I feel like it’s a starting point now. I feel like I can build on that.

“I’m always going to be disappointed. I know I am capable of running a lot faster, but I hit a hurdle. I feel like I’m lacking sharpness. I’m happy to come away with that, I can build on it.” - AFP

CRUSHING WIN: Pakistan players pose for a group photograph after defeating Bangladesh in the second of the two-match Test series in

Dhaka on Saturday. – PTI

on a positive note after being routed 3-0 in the one-day series and losing to Bangladesh for the first time in a Twenty20 international.

It was Bangladesh’s ninth loss to Pakistan in 10 Tests, the only consolation coming through a draw in the first Test of the short series in Khulna last week.

“This was a much-needed win for us,” Pakistan captain Misbah-

ul Haq said. “The team showed great character after what happened in the earlier games.

“The key was the way Younis Khan and Azhar Ali batted in the first innings to put up a 250-run stand. There was also more bounce in this wicket than in Khulna which our bowlers enjoyed.

“But Bangladesh must be congratulated (for) the way they played

on this tour. The draw in the first Test was like a victory for them. I wish them well for the future.”

‘Nothing went right for us’ Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim said he was very disappointed at the defeat after losing a frontline bowler in Shahadat on the first morning.

“Nothing went right for us from

the first day,” he said. “I don’t think we executed our plans well and that is why we lost the game.”

Rahim said his team would, however, take a lot of positives into next month’s one-off Test at home against India which will be followed by three one-day internationals.

“Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes had a good series and Mominul

scores well consistently. But the bowlers need to be aggressive to keep us in the game for five days.

“They must realise that to compete and win Test matches, 20 wickets need to be taken. We will look to do that against India.”

Pakistan turned the screws on the hosts with four quick wickets in the morning session to leave the rivals tottering at 126 for five.

Seamer Imran Khan, a late replacement for the injured Rahat Ali, dealt two major blows when he removed the in-form Tamim and Mohammed Mahmudullah in the space of nine runs.

Tamim, who slammed a double century in the first Test, was caught behind by wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed for 42 as he slashed at a short delivery from Imran.

Mahmudullah made two when he edged Imran to second slip where Younis Khan picked up the catch on second attempt as Bangladesh slipped from 86 for one to 95 for three.

Off-spinner Mohammed Hafeez struck in his first over when Shakib Al Hasan (13) stepped out to loft a flighted ball and gave Wahab Riaz an easy catch at mid-off. - AFP

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SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

SPORTS INJURED

Finch expects early return to action MELBOURNE: Injured Australian opener Aaron Finch is planning to return to cricket a month earlier than expected and now reckons he will miss just one week of his stint with English county side Yorkshire.

Finch, 17 days after a tendon surgery, said his rehab was ahead of schedule and had set himself an “aggressive” timeline to return to cricket.

“I’m hopeful to be back in six to eight weeks. The physio is not quite as aggressive as me. I’m seeing the surgeon and he’s really positive as well,” Finch was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au “Hopefully, I’ll get to Yorkshire about a week later than I was originally planned to from the IPL (Indian Premier League), which would be a great result personally to get over there and play cricket,” the Australian added.

Cricket Australia (CA) team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris is no stranger to hamstring injuries and Finch says he could not have been in better hands.

“Luckily (Kountouris) has been through quite a few of these with Michael (Clarke) and the Marsh brothers and (Nathan) Coulter-Nile so he’s right across the rehab and recovery. It’s second to none. I couldn’t be in better hands,” Finch said on Friday.

The opener slumped to the ground after snapping the tendon in his left leg in an IPL encounter for the Mumbai Indians against Rajasthan Royals on April 14. - IANS

Super Kings seek revenge against Rajasthan Royals Chennai Super Kings started their campaign in the eighth edition of IPL with three backto-back victories before their rampaging run was halted by Rajasthan Royals at Ahmedabad on April 19

EXPERIENCED CAMPAIGNER: CSK captain MS Dhoni, left, plays a shot as Pawan Negi looks on. – PTI

CHENNAI: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will look to avenge their first leg loss against Rajasthan Royals (RR) and consolidate its position at the top when the two former champions clash in a highoctane Indian Premiere League (IPL) match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Sunday.

CSK started their campaign with three back-to-back wins before their rampaging run was halted by Rajasthan Royals at Ahmedabad on April 19.

The two-time champions, however, didn’t lose their momentum as they notched up four more wins on the trot, before losing to Kolkata and Hyderabad.

They bounced back with a victory against Royal Challengers Bangalore but lost to Mumbai Indians during their last outing and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men will now look to get across Rajasthan Royals to get back to their winning ways once again.

Rajasthan too were on a roll from the start as they registered five straight victories, before losing to Kings XI Punjab in a Super

Over on April 21. They lost to RCB next and then could just helplessly watch as two of their matches against KKR and RCB got abandoned because of weather.

Shane Watson’s men arrested the slide with a victory against Delhi Daredevils on May 3 but a resurgent Sunrisers Hyderabad brought back down once again last Thursday.

With six wins in 12 matches, Rajasthan are placed at the second position in the table and they would be eager to find their touch and ensure a berth in the play-offs with another win in their penultimate league match on Sunday.

An experienced campaigner, Dhoni has led the Super Kings well as under him, the team has won seven out of 11 matches to top the table with 14 points.

The two-time champions boosts of a strong batting line-up with the likes of Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith doing a great job opening the innings. The middle-order is also well manned by Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis and Dhoni himself. - PTI

PULL OUT ALL STOPS

Resurgent RCB face MI juggernaut MUMBAI: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will have to pull out all stops to prevent the Mumbai Indians (MI) juggernaut from rolling them over in what promises to be a high-octane Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the latter’s home ground Wankhede Stadium here on Sunday.

MI are on a splendid winning spree, clinching five wins in as many games to hold the all-important momentum ahead of their contest against RCB, who are seeking a sixth straight win that would propel them towards the play-off stage.

The brilliant show against Chennai Super Kings in the latter’s bastion — Chidambaram Stadium — last night would certainly galvanise MI to produce another good performance against RCB who have the advantage of a well-earned rest before the difficult match. That the brilliant four-wicket win over CSK in the latter’s den came without the presence of their key death bowler Lasith Malinga, who was unable to even go to Chennai because of

GOOD TIMES: RCB players and owner Vijay Mallya are in good spirits after their fifth win in a row. – PTI

political reasons, is a feather in MI’s well-adorned cap.

With the Sri Lankan sling-arm bowler available to reclaim his spot in the MI line-up, gangling South African pacer Marchant de Lange, who filled in the breach and played his first game, is expected to be benched.

Mumbai Indian’s impressive display has come on the backs of quite a few match-winners like

captain Rohit Sharma, big-hitting Kieron Pollard, Malinga and Harbhajan Singh.

A lot many players have been putting their shoulders to the MI’s pace-gathering process in the last few games which is a very important factor in their fabulous run after tasting four straight defeats in their first four games.

The openers — Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel — have started

firing and down the order while Ambati Rayudu has been a source of inspiration whether setting a total or chasing an imposing one with his calm demeanour and ability to clear the rope.

In bowling, after the injury to Corey Anderson, his New Zealand compatriot Mitchell McClenaghan has stepped in to be counted along with young left-arm spinner Jagadeesha Suchith. - PTI

AMAZING TURN AROUND

Positive Simmons satisfied with performance for MI CHENNAI: Mumbai Indians (MI) opener Lendl Simmons said he doesn’t have many half centuries as he would have liked but is happy doing the important thing, which is giving the team good starts in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Mumbai jumped to fourth spot in the league standings with a crucial six-wicket victory over hosts Chennai Super Kings (CSK) here on Friday.

“So far things have been going the way I wanted them to. I don’t have as many half centuries as I would have liked but I am doing the important thing, which is giving my team a good start. A good start is very important to have a good score in the end,” Simmons was quoted as saying by iplt20.com.

“So far Parthiv Patel and I have been doing the job, giving the team a good, solid platform to build on. But you know this is a funny game. You don’t score in two games and things will change.

But we remain positive and take it one game at a time. We now have

won five out of five and that is pretty good.”

Four losses followed by five wins on the bounce for Mumbai, it has been an amazing turnaround for the Rohit Sharma-led side.

“Last year too we were in a similar situation. We lost our first five games. We just like coming from behind. Hopefully, the losses are out of the way and we can continue in this vein,” he said.

“In the first four matches, we did get the scores we wanted but our bowling wasn’t coming to the party. Now our bowlers are complementing our batting and when that happens, we can defend or chase any total.”

‘We missed our chances’ Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming said his team paid the price for not grabbing its chances. “...catches going down put us off the phase. We were hanging in and creating chances but in the end lost our way,” Fleming said.

Fleming said in a low-scoring

match, it was perhaps a wrong move to give the last over to Pawan Negi instead of an experienced Ravindra Jadeja.

Disappointing time “I am sure the skipper will be reflecting on that. We learnt some things today. No doubt we had a disappointing time because we fell back hard and we thought we are going to come pretty close to winning the game,” he said.

However, he defended the batting performance, saying that that 159 was a fairly defendable target.

“Such scores of 150 to 160 are very good. We created chances in winning the game today but they played very well. I think we were predictable,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians batsman Hardik Pandya was pleased with how his team performed. “It is an amazing victory, especially beating Chennai in Chennai. It is amazing for the team and as well individually for me,” he said. - Agencies

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

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SPORTS C O M M E N TA RY

Stump vision: what could go wrong for MS Dhoni

H

OW irresistible MS Dhoni is when it comes to his almost incurable urge to pick up a stump as a souvenir whenever the Indian team or Chennai Super Kings win a match is stuff of awesome Indian cricket folklore.

In February, after the opening game victory against Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval during the World Cup, Dhoni was happy to settle for one of the bails, but after square leg umpire Ian Gould had a friendly chat with the Indian skipper the bail was back on the stumps.

Later, we got to know that the setup for a match was done at an approximate cost of 2.5 million Indian rupees (Rs. 25 lakh) - Rs. 24 lakh for the stumps and Rs. 1 lakh for the bails - and that Cricket Australia couldn’t afford to let Dhoni and the likes indulge in their pet peeves of the stump kind.

The Indian Premier League doesn’t use LED stumps, so it’s easy for Dhoni to pluck one at the end of every match his team win.

Chennai Super Kings have won seven of their last 11 games this season, and that means Dhoni has happily added quite a few to his precious collection.

We don’t know how many he has collected so far, but it’s safe to assume that he has a few hundreds of them.

That’s quite a few to take up considerable space, which is why he is keen on having an exclusive space to keep them. A brilliant idea? Wait a minute.

One of the things he is going to do when he quits playing international cricket is to retire into this exclusive space and allow himself a nostalgic journey back in time. Unfortunately, he had not marked the stumps, so it’s going to be difficult for him to identify them.

And that means he would view video recordings of the matches and try to identify them from sponsor logos.

Brilliant, only if he could zoom in on just the logos, not the unwanted memories associated with some of the matches in recollection.

Viewed from this angle, it was a blessing in disguise for Dhoni that CSK lost the match against Mumbai Indians on their home turf on Friday. If CSK won the game, Dhoni would have walked off the field clutch-

Russell, Chawla power KKR to thrilling win In a contest which

ing at a stump, and given the kind of busy schedules he now has it’s unlikely that he got time to mark it.

Which means, he will be viewing the video recording of the proceedings at the MA Chidambaram stadium on |Friday at some time post his retirement life to mark the stumps. Which means, he might be viewing quite a bit of what he may not really like to recall.

Dhoni was at the crease before the half way stage of the game against Mumbai Indians, and he tried to play himself in and get used to the conditions by the time he was facing Suchith in the 11th over.

Dhoni came down the pitch to hit deliveries number four and five, but was left with no option but to defend on both occasions, and he meekly pushed the last ball of the over back to the bowler. The taming of the shrewd.

Having failed to get the better of the bowler in conventional ways, Dhoni tried something he normally didn’t — a paddle shot — but only managed to edge it on to his pads.

In the penultimate over he wanted to hammer a low full toss out of the stadium, but the edge hits his pads again. And then it was time for the last ball, which normally would fly over the boundary, but nowadays Dhoni even fails to make contact with the ball.

While his idea of turning his vast stump collection into post-cricket pass time is something that could offer precious moments of priceless nostalgia, he needs to be really careful while playing it back and forth.

A moment of carelessness could open up a trove of trash that could spoil his mood for an unpredictably long time.

The writer is a freelance contributor based in India.

All the views and opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not reflect those of Times of Oman

went to the wire Piyush Chawla struck a vital six off Anureet Singh to take defending champions closer to the target of 184 and eventually they prevailed with one ball left

KOLKATA: Andre Russell smashed the joint fastest fifty of the season as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pulled off a heart-stopping one-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab to jump to the top of the Indian Premier League (IPL) table, in Kolkata on Saturday.

Fortunes fluctuated like a pendulum in the contest which went to the wire as Piyush Chawla (18) struck a vital six off Anureet Singh to take defending champions closer to the target of 184 and eventually they prevailed with one ball left.

KKR were gasping at 83 for four at one stage and the required run rate had shot past 12 with 98 runs required from last eight overs.

From there Russell and Yusuf Pathan (29) put on 53 runs from 25 balls for the fifth wicket to turn the match around.

Russell slammed five fours and four sixes in his 21-ball 51 as he equalled Harbhajan Singh’s fastest fifty (from 19 balls) this season.

Pathan provided perfect support to the Jamaican who unleashed his fury in front of a packed home support to take them near.

There was never a clear winner

UNLEASHING THE FURY: Andre Russell of the Kolkata Knight Riders smashes the ball during their IPL match against Kings XI Punjab in Kolkata on Saturday. – PTI

SCOREBOARD

KINGS XI PUNJAB Murali Vijay b Narine 28 Manan Vohra c & b Narine 39 Wridhhiman Saha b Narine 33 Glenn Maxwell c Botha b Narine 43 David Miller not out 27 Gurkeerat Singh c & b Russell 4 George Bailey not out 0 Extras (b-1, lb-3, w-5) 9 Total (5 wkts, 20 overs) 183 Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-78, 3-143, 4-149, 5-169.

Bowling: Umesh Yadav 4-0-36-0; Andre Russell 4-0-50-1; Sunil Narine 4-0-19-4; Johan Botha 1-0-9-0; Brad Hogg 4-0-30-0; Piyush Chawla 3-0-35-0.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS R. Uthappa c Patel b Anureet Singh 17

as wickets kept falling but KKR kept nearing the target and eventually eight runs were required from the last over.

KKR lost two wickets in three

G. Gambhir c Vijay b Gurkeerat Singh 24 Manish Pandey c Patel b Maxwell 22 Suryakumar Yadav b Gurkeerat Singh 9 Yusuf Pathan c Saha b Hendricks 29 Andre Russell c Saha b Patel 51 Johan Botha run out 2 Piyush Chawla c Saha b Anureet Singh 18 Brad Hogg run out 5 Umesh Yadav not out 0 Sunil Narine not out 1 Extras (lb-2, w-4) 6 Total (9 wkts, 19.5 overs) 184 Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-63, 3-69, 4-83, 5-136, 6-159, 7-161, 8-177, 9-183.

Bowling: Sandeep Sharma 4-0-35-0; Ben Hendricks 4-0-35-1; Anureet Singh 3.5-057-2; Axar Patel 4-0-33-1; Gurkeerat Singh 3-0-17-2; Glenn Maxwell 1-0-5-1.

balls including that of Chawla, leaving Narine at the crease to score one run from two balls.

The left-hander held his nerve and played a flick shot, did not

connect and took the winning run from the legbye to seal his side a thrilling win.

KKR thus ended their homeleg winning three matches on the trot and jumped to the top spot of the table with 15 points from 12 matches, while KXIP remained at the bottom (four from 11), suffering seventh straight loss.

Earlier, Gambhir had Knight Riders them a brisk start in the power play with 57 for one in the first six overs but introduction of spin put on the brakes.

Left-arm spinner Patel gave away just two runs from his first over, while offie Gurkeerat was tidier with just one run to tighten the proceedings.

As a result Manish Pandey tried to break free in the next over but only to mistime Maxwell and was caught by Patel.

Gurkeerat gave the big breakthrough in Gambhir the next over to derail KKR’s run chase. - PTI

CRUCIAL WIN

Sunrisers beat Daredevils by six runs RAIPUR: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) beat Delhi Daredevils (DD) by 6 runs in a Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Saturday.

After Australian all-rounder Moises Henriques struck a gritty fifty to lift Sunrisers Hyderabad to 163 for four, Delhi Daredevils could manage 157 for four in 20 overs. Quinton de Kock struck a

50 but that was not enough, and Yuvraj Singh once again disappointed, scoring just two.

Earlier, Henriques (74 not out) managed stick around with a wobbly top-order to finally stitch a crucial 64-run unbeaten fifth wicket stand with Ravi Bopara (17 not out) and take SRH to a respectable total at the Shaheed Veer Narayan

Singh International Stadium. Veteran DD pacer Zaheer Khan (one for 33) drew first blood after scalping Shikhar Dhawan (13) in the fourth over.

The left-hander tried to flick an incoming delivery from the leftarm pacer but mistimed the shot to lob an easy catch to Albie Morkel at midwicket.

Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 163 for 4 wickets in 20 overs (Moises Henriques 74 n.o., Ravi Bopara 17 n.o., Eoin Morgan 22; Nathan Coulter-Nile 2/25) beat Delhi Daredevils 157 for 4 wickets in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 50, Kedar Jadhav 63 n.o., Saurabh Tiwary 26 n.o., Karn Sharma 2/12). - PTI

WINDIES DISCARD

OMAN QUALIFY FOR 2016 BEACH HANDBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Oman defeated eventual champions Qatar to settle for the second place at the Asian Beach Handball Championships on Thursday. In the final match of the six-team round robin league tournament played at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Oman handed Qatar a 2-0 defeat. The victory, their third in five outings, also paved the way for Oman team’s entry into the 2016 Beach Handball World Championships as one of the top three teams from the Asian event. Besides Qatar and Oman, the other team to qualify for the world championships are Bahrain. Meanwhile, Thailand emerged Asian champions and booked their place in the world championships along with second placed Chinese Taipei and third placed Vietnam. The world championships will take place in Hungary next year.

Edwards in line for Hampshire debut SOUTHAMPTON: West Indies discard Fidel Edwards is poised to make his competitive debut for Hampshire after he was named in a 14-man squad to face Yorkshire in the county championship at Headingley.

The match is scheduled to be played on Sunday.

Once he makes the final XI, the 33-year-old will become the 17th West Indian to turn out for Hampshire in the County Championship, joining a list that includes legends Gordon Greenidge, Malcolm Marshall and Andy Roberts.

Edwards arrived here only recently and made his first outing for the club in a Twenty20 game

against Dorset where he sent down three overs for 24 runs.

Afterward, the West Indian pace bowler said his mission at Hampshire was clear.

“My job is very easy: bowl fast and get wickets,” he said.

Edwards had been scheduled to join Hampshire in July for the Twenty20 Blast but the deal was brought forward by two months to cover for Australia fast bowler Jackson Bird, who was ruled out with injury.

The right-armer has signed as a Kolpak player.

Edwards has taken 165 wickets from 55 Test matches but has not played for West Indies in three years. - IANS

C4

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

SPORTS CRICKET

England sack coach Moores as Strauss gets new role

‘MAN OF INTEGRITY’: Peter

Moores. – Reuters

LONDON: Peter Moores was sacked as coach of the England team on Saturday by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Saturday as former captain Andrew Strauss was given the new role of director of cricket.

“The ECB confirms that Peter Moores has left his role as England head coach today (Saturday),” said a board statement.

The board said Strauss had been involved in the decision to fire Moores following “private conversations” with ECB Chief Executive Tom Harrison.

Moores has now lost the job of England coach on two occasions, having initially been fired from the post in 2009 after a bust-up with then captain Kevin Pietersen.

His second spell in charge, which came after he replaced Andy Flower following the team’s 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia in

2014, lasted just over a year.

It yielded just one series win, at home to India last year, and included England’s embarrassing exit from the World Cup, where they failed to beat a single Test side.

Afterwards came the recent 1-1 series draw in the Caribbean against a West Indies side labelled “mediocre” by incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves.

“At the moment it’s difficult to put into words how I feel except to say how disappointed I am in the way my term as England coach has ended,” said Moores in the same ECB statement that announced his exit.

Harrison, paying tribute to Moores, said: “Peter is a man of great integrity and has offered a huge amount to England cricket.

“This decision has been made as we focus on the future and our need to build the right approach and deliver success over the next

five years within a new performance structure.”

Assistant coach Paul Farbrace will now take charge of England for their upcoming two-Test series with New Zealand starting at Lord’s on May 21.

Both Strauss’s appointment and Moores’s exit had been widely trailed in the British press and were announced in successive ECB statements on Saturday.

‘Frustrations along the way’ Moores, whose tenure concluded with Friday’s washed-out oneday international way to Ireland, lamented what he said was the ECB’s lack of patience.

“My record in developing players stands for itself and though we have had some frustrations along the way I am confident that this team will go on and bring the success the supporters desperately

Nadal sees off Berdych to enter Madrid final

want to see,” said the 52-year-old Moores. “I knew when I took on the role that this was going to be a tough period for English cricket and I would need time and support to get new players through.

“My frustration is not being given that time,” the former Sussex and Lancashire coach added.

Farbrace — best known as coach of the Sri Lanka side that won last year’s World Twenty20 — may be the man in possession, his ‘caretaker’ status means the speculation linking Jason Gillespie to the England coaching position is set to continue.

Now the coach of English county champions Yorkshire, having been brought on board at Headingley four years ago by Graves, the ECB’s statements on Saturday left open the possibility of the former Test fast bowler coaching against his native Australia in the Ashes

series in England starting in July.

Meanwhile, the ECB said Strauss’s new role would have responsiblity for the England team’s long-term strategy, as well as its coaching and management structures. Strauss, twice an Asheswinning captain, was the overwhelming favourite to land the post of England director of cricket, a job created by the ECB last month following Paul Downton’s sacking as managing director.

“Andrew’s breadth of ideas, his passion for England cricket and his proven leadership skills shone out,” said Harrison.

“He was an exceptional England captain, is an authoritative voice on the modern game and has a wealth of experience building successful teams...We’re delighted he’s joining us at the ECB as we set out to create a new strategy for the game.” - AFP

ONE-SIDED FINAL

FINALISTS: Petra Kvitova, right, and Svetlana Kuznetsova pose with their trophies after the Madrid Open final. – AFP

Kvitova downs ailing Kuznetsova for second Madrid title

OLD MASTERFUL SELF: Spain’s Rafael Nadal hits a return against Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych during their semifinal match at the

Madrid Open in Madrid on Saturday. – Reuters

Nadal edged a tight first set before turning the screw in the second to exact revenge for a straight-sets defeat by Berdych in this year’s Australian Open quarterfinals

MADRID: Holder Rafa Nadal looked something close to his old masterful self on clay again as he crushed Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6 (3), 6-1 on Saturday to reach the Madrid Masters final.

The home favourite, bidding for a third consecutive title in the Spanish capital but still searching his for his best form and consistency, will face either Britain’s

Andy Murray or Kei Nishikori of Japan in Sunday’s final.

Chasing a fifth Madrid title overall, third seed Nadal edged a tight first set before turning the screw in the second to exact revenge for a straight-sets defeat by Berdych in this year’s Australian Open quarterfinals.

Nadal had won 17 consecutive matches against the Czech sixth

seed before falling to him in Melbourne and restored his dominance with a solid display that included a series of trademark whipped forehand winners.

“I had to play at a very high level today to have any chance and I think it was without doubt one of the best matches I have played this year,” a jubilant Nadal told Spanish television.

“This week was crucial for me and the fact that I am in the final cannot be improved on given my situation coming into the tournament,” added the 28-year-old.

The Mallorcan is favourite to claim the title after world No 1 Novak Djokovic decided to miss the event to rest and Swiss great Roger Federer, who took over from the Serbian as top seed, lost to Australian Nick Kyrgios in the second round.

Favoured surface After struggles with injury and illness, Nadal is attempting to rediscover his spark on his favoured surface before he makes a bid for a record-extending 10th French Open singles title in Paris starting at the end of the month.

Berdych saved both break points he faced in the opening set but faded badly in the tiebreak. Nadal punished a series of errors from the 2012 runner-up to open a 5-1 lead in the second and sealed victory on his first match point when Berdych sent a return sailing out.

Nishikori conceded the title to Nadal in last year’s showpiece when he had to withdraw due to injury.

“Both players are extremely difficult opponents,” Nadal said.

“Whichever one I play I will have to play as well as I did today or even better.” - Reuters

MADRID: Petra Kvitova swept to a second Madrid Open title and put her recent struggles behind her when she thumped an ailing Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-2 in a hopelessly one-sided final on Saturday.

Champion on the clay at the premier event in 2011, the Czech fourth seed’s powerful ground strokes were far too much to handle for the unseeded Kuznetsova, a former world number two who was hampered by a thigh problem.

Kuznetsova took a medical timeout after losing the opening set and returned to the court with strapping on her left thigh before Kvitova, who dispatched world number one Serena Williams in the last four, finished her off in a little over an hour.

“It was an amazing week for me and I am really happy to win for a second time on this beautiful court,” Kvitova told fans at the futuristic Magic Box arena.

“I know that Svetlana wasn’t ready properly and I don’t think she is feeling very well so I wish her good luck,” added the 25-year-old from Bilovec.

Kvitova appears to be getting back to her best again a few weeks before the French Open begins in Paris at the end of this month.

The double Wimbledon champion pulled out of this year’s Indian Wells and Miami events due to exhaustion and suffered a second-round exit on indoor clay in Stuttgart last month.

Saturday’s success took her career title haul to 16 and she will retain her place at No. 4 in the WTA rankings when they are updated on Monday, while Kuznetsova will return to the top 20.

“I am very sorry I couldn’t play a good level of tennis today for you to enjoy but I hope to return next year and play even better,” Kuznetsova, speaking in fluent Spanish, told spectators. - Reuters

AFTER BREAK

Djokovic back in action ROME: Novak Djokovic returns to clay-court action after a threeweek break hoping to put the final touches on his impeccable game with a fourth title at the Italian Open.

Despite starting 2015 by winning a fifth Australian Open and then taking the first three Masters 1000 titles of the season at Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo, the Serb knew that taking time away to recharge was his best season strategy.

“I need at least a week of good rest, it’s been a long couple

months for me,” he said before the break. “It has been very successful and I cannot complain.

“But I played a lot of matches, travelled a lot with Davis Cup, Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami, and now getting into clay that is a totally different surface,” added Djokovic, who turns 28 the week before the start of the French Open at Roland Garros.

“I’m healthy, obviously very confident. Everything is going in the right direction,” continued the Serb, winner in Rome in 2008 and 2011 as well as last year. - AFP

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

C5

SPORTS Rosberg takes pole to end Hamilton’s stranglehold Rosberg produced a fastest lap in one minute and 24.681 seconds to outpace the defending world champion Hamilton by three-tenths of a second on a hot afternoon at the Circuit de Catalunya

BARCELONA: Nico Rosberg ended Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton’s qualifying stranglehold on Saturday when he secured his first pole position of the season in a tense and closely-fought qualifying session for Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.

The 29-year-old German produced a fastest lap in one minute and 24.681 seconds in the final Q3 segment of the action to outpace the defending world champion by three-tenths of a second on a hot afternoon at the Circuit de Catalunya, where Hamilton won from pole last year.

His lap was quicker than Hamilton’s 2014 pole time and ended the 30-year-old Briton’s run of four straight poles this year. Rosberg now has to convert that advantage into a first win since last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix to reduce Hamilton’s 27-point lead in the title race.

Rosberg, who has won once in 13 races since his home German Grand Prix victory last year, said he had enjoyed “a good day at the office” to end Hamilton’s run and prevent him enjoying a fifth straight pole success.

“Strategy is important,” he said. “It’s a big advantage to have a new set of used tyres for the race. Overtaking is more difficult around here, so starting in front is a big advantage.”

Eight of the last 10 Spanish races at Montmelo have been won from pole.

“Of course I needed it sooner rather than later,” added Rosberg.

“It is one step in the right direction to winning the race. It was a good day in the office.”

Hamilton, on the other hand,

FIRST OF THE SEASON: Mercedes’ driver Nico Rosberg, centre, flanked by teammate Lewis Hamilton, right, and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel,

celebrates after winning the pole position for the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona on Saturday. – AFP

was subdued and conceded that he had been below his best.

“I did not have the pace today and Nico did a great job,” he said.

“I didn’t have the balance where I liked it, but tomorrow there’s still a lot to play for. I didn’t think I was on the back foot, I just didn’t have pace the and I didn’t do a great job.”

Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel was third-fastest for Ferrari ahead of Finn Valtteri Bottas of Williams, Spaniard Carlos Sainz and his Toro Rosso team-mate, Dutch teenager Max Verstappen.

It was the first time that Toro Rosso had qualified a car in the top 10 at the Spanish event.

Vettel not disappointed Vettel, meanwhile, said he was not disappointed by his, or Ferrari’s, failure to claim a front-row start.

“I think disappointed is the wrong word. I think it is great for Ferrari to keep confirming how close we are,” he said.

“This is a great race for us. It is very nearly a home race for us! You have to say the two guys sat at the side of me (Rosberg and Hamilton) are doing a good job, but hopefully

Spurred by Bahrain poor show BARCELONA: Nico Rosberg said on Saturday that he was spurred to beating Lewis Hamilton to pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix by memories of his own poor qualifying performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix three weeks earlier.

“Bahrain was still on my mind,” said Rosberg, after out-pacing his Mercedes team-mate and defending world champion Hamilton for the first time in five at-

tomorrow we can be closer than today, but they are doing a good job.”

Another Finn, Kimi Raikkonen, was down in seventh for Ferrari ahead of Russian Daniil Kvyat of Red Bull, Brazilian Felipe Massa in the second Williams and Austral-

tempts this year. I wanted to make sure I didn’t make that mistake again so I got myself in the rhythm in Q2 and it worked very well for me today.”

The 29-year-old, who trails Hamilton by 27 points in the drivers’ title race, described his success as “a good day in the office” and rejected all suggestions that he was psychologically in need of such a boost in his bid to mount a serious title challenge. - AFP

ian Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull.

It was the 16th pole of Rosberg’s career and his first since claiming the prime grid spot for last year’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Hamilton qualified on the

ISSF TOURNAMENT

front row for the 13th successive race stretching back to last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

The air temperature at the Circuit de Catalunya was 25 degrees and the track was 45, enough heat to make tyre-wear an issue if repeated in Sunday’s race.

Hamilton topped the times in the opening Q1 part of the session ahead of Rosberg and Raikkonen.

That session saw the elimination of German Nico Hulkenberg of Force India in 17th place behind Swede Marcus Ericsson of Sauber, but one ahead of Mexican Sergio Perez in the second Sauber.

Briton Will Stevens qualified 19th ahead of Manor Marussia teammate Roberto Merhi.

In Q2, Hamilton set the pace with a lap in 1:25.166 and appeared to be in charge, but Rosberg then delivered an immediate riposte in 1:25.166, a time that was faster than the champion’s pole lap in 2014.

Out went Frenchman Romain Grosjean and his Lotus team-mate Pastor Maldonado, in 11th and 12th, followed by the two McLaren Hondas of home hero Fernando Alonso and Briton Jenson Button. - AFP

FORMULA ONE

Sainz delivers unexpected thrills for Spainish fans BARCELONA: A familiar and famous name was back at the top level of Spanish motorsport on Saturday when Carlos Sainz qualified fifth for the unheralded Toro Rosso team at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Sainz, 20, is the son of twotime world rally champion Carlos Sainz, and has until recently competed with the additional sobriquet of ‘junior’.

In hot May sunshine at the Circuit de Catalunya, he cast that aside by outpacing not only his Toro Rosso teammate, Dutch teenager Max Verstappen, but also a clutch of far more experienced drivers in so-called ‘bigger’ teams.

“Yes, it’s something special,” he said with disarming honesty.

“Dreaming is free, no? A P5 tomorrow will be very difficult, but we’ll try our best.”

As a team, Toro Rosso outpaced their ‘senior’ siblings at Red Bull — their drivers qualified eighth and 10th — for their best grid positions at the Spanish event.

Sainz and Verstappen were faster than Finn Kimi Raikkonen, in a Ferrari, and Brazilian Felipe Massa, in a Williams, who have both started 214 Grands Prix and been in Formula One for 14 years.

Sainz and Verstappen, 17, the son of former Benetton driver Jos Verstappen, are both in their maiden seasons and have started a total of eight races between them. Their combined age is only 37, while Raikkonen will be 36 this year.

Until this weekend, Fernando Alonso, 33, a two-time champion who is now attempting to rekindle his reputation and the results of the struggling McLaren-Honda team, was the biggest name in Spanish motor racing.

He may remain that, but after Saturday’s outstanding success

by Sainz, he now has a serious rival. Amazingly, Sainz himself seemed to be surprised at his own success and admitted he had not realised his home race ‘hero’ standing until the final mintues of qualifying.

“I didn’t realise I was at home until the lap back to the pits after Q3,” he said. “Then, I realised! Yeah, I had done a P5 and I was at home and I could see all the crowd. Everyone was cheering. It was a great feeling.

“We will try our best to finish in that top five.” - AFP

‘1000 PERCENT’

Oman tennis team leave for Indonesia 2016 German GP is

confirmed: organiser

MUSCAT: Oman tennis team left for Indonesia to participate in the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation (ISSF) Tennis Championships scheduled to be held in the city of Palembang.

According to a press release issued by the Oman Tennis Association (OTA) on Saturday, the tournament, which offers a total prize-money of $65,000, will take place till May 18.

Oman delegation is led by OTA Executive Director Salman bin Abdulraheem Al Balushi.

The team comprises Saleh bin Ghazi Al Zadjali, Younis bin Tufail Al Rawahi, Omran bin Mohammed Al Balushi, Fawwaz bin Ali Al Manzari, Fatma Al Nabhani, Sarah Al Balushi and Samar Al Bakri.

The team is accompanied by Fatma Al Nabhani’s mother and women’s coach Huda and men’s coach Ruel Leoprdas.

BERLIN: The managing director of the Hockenheim motor racing venue has insisted the 2016 German Grand Prix is ‘1000 percent’ certain to take place there after this year’s race was cancelled.

For the first time since 1960 there was no German Grand Prix this year because of contractual problems with the Nuerburgring venue, which shares hosting the race with Hockenheim on alternate years.

PALEMBANG BOUND: Oman team pictured at Muscat International Airport. – Supplied photo

Tickets on sale But tickets for the 2016 Grand Prix at Hockenheim have already been on sale for three weeks and venue manager Georg Seiler told SID, an AFP subsidiary, he is certain next yer’s race will take place.

“It’s 100 percent sure, even a

1000 percent sure,” he said.

“We have a contract for next year and we have always respected our contract.”

At the Malaysian Grand Prix in March, Formula One magnate Bernie Ecclestone had refused to confirm whether the 2016 German Grand Prix would take place, but Seiler insisted there is no doubt.

“I have a good relationship with Bernie Ecclestone,” said Seiler.

Only a relatively low gate of 52,000 spectators attended the 2014 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim and Seiler said he is hoping an exciting season this year will help boost attendance for next year’s race.

“Formula One has to be good, then the spectators will come,” Seiler added. - AFP

C6

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

SPORTS

LA LIGA

Barca blank Sociedad to pull five points clear of Real MADRID: Barcelona moved within touching distance of a fifth La Liga title in seven years and piled pressure on chasing Real Madrid when Pedro scored a late stunner to seal a nervous 2-0 win at home to Real Sociedad on Saturday.

The victory over the mid-table Basque club at the Nou Camp stretched treble-chasing Barca’s

lead over second-placed Real to five points.

Barca have 90 points with two games left, including a trip to champions Atletico Madrid next weekend, with Real on 85, nine ahead of third-placed Atletico, who play at Levante on Sunday.

Valencia are a further four points adrift in fourth.

Sparkling form Sociedad’s Argentine goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli was on sparkling form and conjured up a series of superb saves to deny Barca’s attacking trident of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez before the former finally found the net after 51 minutes.

Sociedad defender Mikel Gon-

zalez attempted a clearance but the ball fell kindly for the Brazil forward and he nodded home to settle the home supporters’ jangling nerves.

Neymar, who netted Barca’s third goal in Wednesday’s 3-0 Champions League semifinal, first leg win over Bayern Munich, has scored in his last six appearances

Burnley down despite battling win at Hull The humble Lancashire club needed to win their last three games to have any hope of avoiding the drop

LONDON: Burnley were relegated from the English Premier League despite beating Hull City 1-0 on Saturday, results elsewhere sending them back to the Championship after one season in the Premier League.

The humble Lancashire club needed to win their last three games to have any hope of avoiding the drop but there proved no escape after Sunderland, Leicester City and Aston Villa all won and Newcastle United drew.

Danny Ings capitalised on some slack Hull defending to score Burnley’s first goal in over 10 hours but it proved in vain.

Sean Dyche’s side have 29 points and their final two games of the season, against Stoke City and Aston Villa, will be their last among the elite for at least a season.

Sunderland’s surprise 2-0 win at Everton in the early kickoff means Hull now occupy the final relegation spot with 34 points. Queens Park Rangers, who are bottom, will also be relegated if they fail to beat second-placed Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Ings, whose displays this season have earned plenty of praise, spoke for his team when he told the BBC: “The lads showed unbelievable fight and spirit today.

“I thought we were phenomenal DOUBLE DUTY

CAPTION KICKER: Burnley’s manager Sean Dyche applauds the team’s fans after the English Premier

League match against Hull City at the KC Stadium in Kingston upon Hull on Saturday. – AFP

and were on top from start to finish — but it has come a little too late.

“Now we are going to play the last two games with pride and hope to finish strongly.”

Final relegation place With QPR almost certain to join Burnley, the battle to avoid the third and final relegation place is still very much alive.

Hull, Newcastle, Sunderland, Leicester and Aston Villa are separated by only four points.

Steve Bruce’s Hull are 18th following defeat against Burnley and they are two points behind Newcastle after John Carver’s side ended a run of eight straight defeats with a 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion at St James’ Park.

Victor Anichebe headed home Craig Gardner’s cross to put West Brom ahead but Ayoze Perez

struck the equaliser just before halftime to provide Newcastle with some light relief.

Sunderland claimed a crucial win over Everton at Goodison Park to climb out of the bottom three and level on 36 points with North East rivals Newcastle but Dick Advocaat’s side have a game in hand on the teams around them.

Danny Graham was in the right place to deflect Jordi Gomez’s shot past Tim Howard and record his first goal for the club he joined over two years ago before Jermain Defoe made sure of the points five minutes from time.

Leicester have now won six of their last seven league matches and remain on course to avoid the drop after a comfortable 2-0 victory over Southampton.

Riyad Mahrez’s low drive fired Leicester in front on seven minutes before the Algerian added a second

12 minutes later to move the flying Foxes up to 15th with 37 points.

FA Cup finalists Aston Villa rose to 14th after Tom Cleverley tapped home Jack Grealish’s cross to give Tim Sherwood’s men a 1-0 victory over West Ham United at Villa Park.

Sixth-placed Tottenham Hotspur hold a point advantage over Southampton in the battle for Europa League qualification despite a 3-0 defeat against Stoke City.

First half goals from Charlie Adam and Steven Nzonzi set Stoke on their way before Spurs defender Vlad Chiriches was sent off after the break and Mame Diouf added a late third.

Later, fourth-placed Manchester United travel to Crystal Palace hoping to stop a run of three straight league games and consolidate the final Champions League qualification spot. - Reuters

M O R E W I T H D R AWA L S

Dunga takes International federations consider over Brazil’s position after IOC row Olympic team SportAccord sible further action at the federaLONDON: Several international sports among the 15 involved.

SAO PAULO: Brazil have appointed national team coach Dunga as manager of their Olympic soccer squad to replace Alexandre Gallo, the Brazilian Football Confederation said on Friday.

“Under an agreement reached by the Brazilian national team’s technical commission, Alexandre Gallo departs as coach of the Under-20 and Olympic teams after 27 months,” the CBF statement said.

“Mario Rogerio Reis Micalle will take over at the Under-20 team and the Olympic side will be led by coach Dunga until the 2016 Olympics.”

Dunga has revitalised the national team after taking over in the wake of their dismal World cup last year. - Reuters

federations will be reviewing their membership of sports umbrella organisation SportAccord next week after its president launched a scathing attack on the International Olympic Committee (IOC), they said on Saturday.

The international boxing federation (AIBA) became the latest body to withdraw from SportAccord, an organisation representing close to 100 Olympic and nonOlympic sports federations and organisers of multi-sports games.

It pulled out this week after SportAccord President Marius Vizer’s scathing attack on the IOC last month.

AIBA also withdrew from the World Combat Games 2017 organised by SportAccord, leaving the event with just five Olympic

These are wrestling, taekwondo, fencing, weightlifting and judo, the international federation of which is led by Vizer himself.

The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) has also suspended links with SportAccord. Some of those federations are now also considering their own futures in SportAccord and the World Combat Games with wrestling due to discuss the issue on Monday.

“We are completely in solidarity with ASOIF,” United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic said. “We will absolutely follow the other 27 (Olympic) sports.”

Lalovic, credited with bringing wrestling back to the Games in 2013 after it was dropped briefly, said he would discuss any pos-

tion’s board meeting on Monday.

“We may follow (other federations) but first I have to consult my board,” Lalovic said in a telephone call from Qatar.

World taekwondo federation officials will also be discussing the issue during the world championships in Chelyabinsk in Russia next week, an WTF official said.

“We have just arrived in Russia.

It will be discussed here,” said the official when asked about the federation’s membership of SportAccord. “When we have an official position it will be made public.”

The withdrawals are major blow to Vizer, who emerged as a self-styled reformer of international sport when he took over the SportAccord presidency two years ago. - Reuters

in all competitions, equaling his best run since joining from Santos in 2013.

Acrobatic kick Pedro’s playing time has been limited this season but he scored one of the goals of the season four minutes from time shortly after replacing Rafinha.

The ball looped up in the penalty area and the Spain international sent it arrowing into the roof of the net with an acrobatic overhead kick.

Barca play their Champions League return leg at Bayern on Tuesday and will seek a recordextending 27th King’s Cup crown against Athletic Bilbao in the final at the end of the month. - Reuters

STRONG FINISH

Liverpool hopes pass through Chelsea gauntlet LONDON: Liverpool must reluctantly subject themselves to the after-glow of Chelsea’s Premier League title triumph on Sunday as they seek to keep their slim hopes of Champions League qualification flickering.

A year ago, the teams were vying for the title and despite Chelsea puncturing Liverpool’s lateseason momentum with a 2-0 win at Anfield, it was Brendan Rodgers’s side who finished higher in the table.

Now, it is Chelsea who are champions, after last weekend’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, with Liverpool a huge 22 points behind them and in the unfortunate position of having to give their rivals a guard of honour.

Rodgers’s men go into the weekend four points adrift of Manchester United, who occupy the fourth and final Champions League qualifying berth.

Victory for United there would effectively oblige Liverpool to condemn Jose Mourinho to only the second home league defeat of his time as Chelsea manager in order to remain in top-four contention, but Rodgers remains optimistic.

“We’re going into the game at the weekend looking to win,” said the Liverpool manager.

“Chelsea are obviously deserved champions. They’ve been the best team, but all we can do is control the last three games, look to win those and see where we end up. I’m purely focused on the game.

“I congratulated (Mourinho).

They’re the deserving champions and to win it with a few games to go is obviously pleasing for him.

“But it doesn’t take away from what we’re looking to do and we want to finish the season strong.”

Rodgers will take encouragement from his side’s performance on their last visit to Stamford Bridge, when Chelsea needed an extra-time header from Branislav Ivanovic to secure victory in the League Cup semifinals.

Mourinho may also elect to rotate his squad, but he has set his players the target of finishing the campaign on 92 points by winning their last three games.

“We want to win our matches,”

said Mourinho, whose side are unbeaten in their last seven encounters with Liverpool.

“We have three difficult games.

We don’t need to win, but we want to try to win points.

“For many months we had no defeats, but I can’t do anything. I can just enjoy the title, which is the most important thing.”

‘My favourite enemy’ Sunday’s game will be the final time Mourinho comes up against Steven Gerrard in a Liverpool shirt before the Anfield club’s captain leaves for the Los Angeles Galaxy at the season’s end.

Gerrard’s slip against Chelsea 12 months ago sparked Liverpool’s finishing-straight collapse and the 34-year-old has endured a frustrating campaign, compounded by the recent loss to Aston Villa in the FA Cup semifinals.

But Mourinho paid a handsome tribute to the former England skipper in his pre-match media conference, describing him as “one of my favourite enemies” and revealing that he had tried to sign him for Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.

Gerrard has started three of Liverpool’s last four matches and will hope to do so again as he gears up for an emotional Anfield send-off against Palace next weekend.

Rodgers revealed on Friday that Daniel Sturridge will be out until September after undergoing hip surgery, but fellow striker Mario Balotelli could make his return against Chelsea following a foot injury.

Midfielder Lucas Leiva is in contention to start, but centre-back Mamadou Sakho remains sidelined with a hamstring problem.

Mourinho must once again decide whether to take a risk with top scorer Diego Costa’s troublesome hamstrings, which have kept the Spain international out of action for over a month.

“Diego wants to play, but I will protect him all the way,” Mourinho said. “We need to find a balance between the risk and the desire.”

Playmaker Oscar will definitely miss out due to a thigh problem that has ruled him out of Brazil’s Copa America campaign. - AFP

FOOTBALL

Clark quits Blackpool LONDON: Lee Clark has resigned as manager of Blackpool following their relegation to the English third tier, he announced on Saturday in a statement released via the club.

“After a great deal of thought I have come to the decision that it is not in the best interests of either myself or Blackpool FC that I continue as manager of the football club and have therefore tendered my resignation to the chairman (Karl Oyston), which

he has accepted,” said 42-yearold Clark, who had been in charge since October.

“It only remains to thank my staff, the players, the supporters and everybody else involved with the club for their help and support and wish them the best of luck for the future.”

Blackpool, who spent the 201011 season in the Premier League, finished the campaign 21 points adrift of safety at the foot of the Championship table. - AFP

C

SECTION

LIFE & STYLE

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

O

nce the preserve of more adventurous travellers, Morocco has evolved as a mainstream destination for families seeking something a little more exotic. Whether it’s the bustling crowds and colours of Marrakech’s ancient medina, the vast, windswept beaches of its Atlantic coast, the high-altitude thrills of the Atlas Mountains, or the shifting sands of the Sahara, there is something for all ages, from tots to grandparents.

Children receive an extremely warm welcome in Morocco, and with a flight time of between three and four hours, it’s close enough for a short break. Last week, easyJet launched direct flights from Luton to Essaouira, making this atmospheric seaside town on the western coast much easier to reach. That said, the outbound flight from London has a decidedly family unfriendly departure time of 6.40am.

If such an early start doesn’t appeal, there are many more connections to the country’s main gateway, Marrakech. Also known as the Rose City, it is the obvious must-see for first timers.

There has been an proliferation of hotels both inside its historic medina and the surrounding areas, many of them are family friendly, with pools, gardens and activities.

Trekking in the nearby Atlas Mountains is another popular excursion for a day or a few nights — smaller children can often ride on donkeys and it’s a great way to experience the authentic, rural side of the country stopping at Berber villages along the way.

Morocco’s other cities such as Casablanca, Meknes, Rabat and Tangier have plenty to offer; the Unesco-listed city of Fès is increasingly seen as a less touristy alternative to Marrakech. Its medina is claimed to be the world’s largest car-free urban centre, so children can roam freely. Of the many resorts dotted up and down the country’s lengthy coastline, Agadir is its best known, its six-mile beach is lined with hotels and resorts, and many of them are all-inclusive. Those in search of more authentic experience should look further north to Essaouira, El Jadida and the under-theradar charms of the laid-back 17th-century fishing port of Oualidia.

Further inland, southern Morocco is the gateway to the Sahara, where you can enjoy the “Lawrence of Arabia” experience of camping out under the stars, sand surfing and riding camels. This is ideal for families with slightly older children, as transfer times can be long, particularly if you are driving from Marrakech.

Although parts of Morocco can be oppressively hot in summer (temperatures in Marrakech regularly top 40C in August), with some careful planning you can enjoy a family break during the school holidays. Take care to avoid the midday sun, limit the amount of time you spend inland, and instead head for the coast where temperatures are usually a pleasant 30 degree celsius. February or October half-term, the Easter holidays and Christmas/New Year are good times to visit, although the mountains see snow in winter and rain can be a pain at sea level.

Just deserts Southern Morocco is the gateway to the awe-inspiring dunes of the Sahara, and on the way you can stop at the crumbling remains of the stunning, Unesco-listed site of Ait Ben Haddou, a spectacular example of the local desert architecture, which has featured as a backdrop in many films including Gladiator as well as TV blockbuster Game of Thrones.

Budding cinephiles can take a look behind the scenes at the Atlas Film Studios studioatlas.com) in Ouarzazate, the centre of Morocco’s film industry. Here numerous films have been shot including Babel, Alexander and Asterix & Obelix.

Marrakech has undeniable appeal, with its 11th century medina — a Unesco World Heritage Site. Children will be enchanted by the nightly theatre in Djemaa el-Fnaa square, with its snake charmers, Gnaoua musicians, magicians, storytellers and the billowing smoke and aromas of its food stalls. It’s worth bearing in mind, however, that younger children might find the sights, sounds and hoards a little too much to deal with.

-Aoife O’Riordain/The Independent

MOROCCO FOR FAMILIES

From the Atlas Mountains to Saharan sands, this land has something to thrill all ages

C8

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

EXTRA

By the end of the year, you will be able to write like Albert Einstein, or at least fake his handwriting Kickstarter campaign to turn the famous physicist’s handwritten script into a font has been successfully funded with more than a month of fundraising time left.

Harald Geisler, the designer who came up with the idea along with Elizabeth Waterhouse (a dancer with a degree in physics), has dabbled in genius handwriting before — He once turned neurologist Sigmund Freud’s handwriting into a font. The Kickstarter campaign will allow him to bring the Einstein font, which already exists in a primitive stage, up to a level as lifelike as his Freud font.

That $15,000 is going toward at least six months of work. To create a font from handwritten script, Geisler traces each letter on a tablet to record a realistic pen stroke, a process that he feels is more effective than simply scanning the written text and letting a computer copy it. Then he manipulates each letter to replicate the fickle nature of real

ink, making it catch and drag in a realistic way.

Then he has to do that all over again three more times.

In its current form, the font is beautiful, and sentences typed with it certainly look like something Einstein might have written. But with only one version of each character, it doesn’t actually produce sentences and paragraphs that look like real handwriting. That’s because handwriting produces slightly different letters with every lift of the pen. If you wrote a page of text in a “handwritten” font that only used one set of characters, it would end up looking a bit off.

By like Geisler’s Freud font, the completed Einstein font will automatically shuffle between one of four variations for each letter of the alphabet, number, punctuation mark, and accented letter (to allow for international use). In fact, if Geisler and Waterhouse hit their stretch goal of $30,000 — a distinct possibility with nearly $18,000 raised and

37 days to go — he’ll create a fifth set to make the font even more realistic. At $35,000, he’ll add Greek letters to the mix.

And hey, it won’t make you a genius, but isn’t there something kind of lovely about borrowing the handwriting of one of history’s favourite geniuses? The project’s page quotes several scientists who think so.

“While producing documents in Einstein’s handwriting would not alter the quality or respectability of my own physics research, there’s something very pleasing about representing the universe in the same style as someone who was himself so effective at it,” Phil Marshall of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology is quoted as saying. “It’s also just very nice handwriting, which perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise: Einstein’s equations were beautiful, so it makes sense that their presentation should be as well!” Geisler hopes to have the final font completed by December.

-Rachel Feltman/The Washington Post.

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

C9

ENTERTAINMENT CINEMA SCHEDULE

BAHJA CINEMA 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) (PG12) Cast : Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans 03:15 pm /08:30 pm KAJAKI (15+) Cast : Mark Stanley, David Elliot 12:15 pm /09:40 pm BACKCOUNTRY (15+) Cast : Missy Peregrym, Eric Balfour 3:40 pm KAHLIL GIBRAN’S THE PROPHET (PG12) Cast : Liam Neeson, Salma Hayek, John Krasinski 10:30 am /12:15 pm /02:00 pm

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

KAJAKI (15+) Cast : Mark Stanley, David Elliot 12:15 pm /09:40 pm BACKCOUNTRY (15+) Cast : Missy Peregrym, Eric Balfour 3:40 pm

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

KAHLIL GIBRAN’S THE PROPHET (PG12) Cast : Liam Neeson, Salma Hayek, John Krasinski 10:30 am /12:15 pm /02:00 pm WORDS & PICTURES (12+) Cast : Clive Owen, Juliette Binoche, Bruce Davison 05:25 pm HOT PURSUIT (12+) Cast : Reese Witherspoon, Sofía Vergara, Matthew Del 10:30 am /07:35 pm

WORDS & PICTURES (12+) Cast : Clive Owen, Juliette Binoche, Bruce Davison 05:25 pm HOT PURSUIT (12+) Cast : Reese Witherspoon, Sofía Vergara, Matthew Del 10:30 am /07:35 pm

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) (PG12) Cast : Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans 03:15 pm /08:30 pm

06:30 pm Gabbar - 2D (PG) Action |Crime Cast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti K. Haasan, Kareena Kapoor 9:15 pm

SCREEN 1 Piku (Drama / Comedy) – PG Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone 3.30, 9.30 PM Gabbar - Hindi (Action/Drama ) – PG Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor 6.30 PM SCREEN 2 Avengers: Age of Ultron (3D)( Act)– PG12 Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans 3.45 PM Piku (Drama / Comedy) – PG Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, 6.45 PM Gabbar - Hindi (Action/Drama ) – PG Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor 9.45 PM

Hot Pursuit - 2D (12+) Action |Comedy Cast : Reese Witherspoon, Sofía Vergara, Matthew Del 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 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 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,

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

Avengers: Age of Ultron (3D)(Sci-Fi) Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans01:15, 11:30 AM & 06:45 PM (PG12) Khalil Gibran’s - The Prophet (Animation) (PG12) 02:00, 03:45, 05:15 PM Piku (Comedy / Drama ) (PG)

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 3:30, 6:30, 9:30 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) 36 Vayathinile (Tamil), Purampokku (Tamil)

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

ACES ON BRIDGE

Carefully count losers and winners W. Somerset Maugham said, “Common sense and nature will do a lot to make the pilgrimage of life not too difficult.”

Common sense and card sense will do a lot to make the pilgrimage of a bridge deal not too difficult. What would a declarer with those characteristics do on this deal? He is in four hearts, and West leads the spade jack, which is covered by dummy’s queen and East’s king.

South’s three-heart rebid shows at least a six-card suit and gameinvitational values; typically, he will have 15-

17 high-card points. Yes, this hand is a maximum, but if partner has an unhelpful holding, game will probably fail. North, of course, is happy to raise to four hearts.

When you are in a suit contract and have more trumps than the dummy, count the losers in your hand. Here, South has four: one spade, two diamonds and one club.

Then declarer should count winners.

Interestingly, he has 10: one spade, six hearts, one diamond and two clubs. So he can make his contract as long as the defenders do not get their

four tricks first.

There is only one way for South to eliminate a loser — discard it on the third round of diamonds.

Also, because dummy is so short of entries, there isn’t a moment to lose.

Declarer must win the first trick (or East might shift to a trump) and lead a diamond. A defender may win, cash a spade trick, and play a trump, but South wins with dummy’s 10 and leads another diamond. Then, when back in the dummy with the heart ace, he pitches his club two on the diamond queen.

— By Phillip Alder MARMADUKE

CROSSWORD

B I G NAT E

Answer to previous puzzle

ACROSS 1 Thicken 5 Amigo of Fidel 8 Scenery 12 Drama prize 13 Poet’s contraction 14 Kind of lock 15 Heavy reading?

16 Cocktails for 007 18 More wintry 20MD asst.

21 Situps strengthen them 22Refused to share 26 Hive of bees 29 Collection 30Avail oneself of 31 Pirate captain of

yore 32 Young male 33 Bear in the sky 34 Gary’s st.

35 — -de-sac 36 More sincere 37 Sandy expanse 39 Toupee, slangily 40 It’s next to VT 41 More gung-ho 45 Alvin or Simon 49— bene 50 Reunion attendee 51 Affinity 52 “Braveheart” group 53 Flock 54 Want — 55 Hairy humanoid

DOWN 1 Scribbles down 2 Deep black 3 Prom rental 4 Away from the wind 5 Tags along 6 Get word of 7 Make a typo 8 Competing for 9 Woosnam of golf 10 Bulldogs backer 11 Unseld of the NBA 17 Quick pace 19 “Big Blue” 22Yo! 23 Meditation guide 24To be, to Brutus 25 Close to one’s heart

26 Slip 27 Cellar contents 28 Appends 29 Earth’s star 32 However 33 Need for speed 35 Study late 36 Barge pusher 38 Meaningless 39 Does a fall chore 41 Oklahoma town 42Kind of model 43 Oregon, to Yves 44Sari sporter 45 Urban transport 46Lavender or lilac 47 Mdse. bill 48Tony-winner — Hagen

BORN LOSER

WITH LOVE

VAANI KRISHNA May 10, 2007

JELIN JOHNY May 10, 2003

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 16 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to extra@timesofoman.com

KIDSPOT

H E A LT H C A P S U L E

C10

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

PRAYER TIMINGS

FIND-IT-ALL Y O U R B I R T H D AY

BORN today, you are a true original.

You never follow in another’s footsteps if you can help it, but you will always pay attention to what has gone before so that you can learn from what has or has not worked in the past. You are determined to follow your bliss, doing the things that bring you genuine contentment. You do not feel compelled to chase the kind of success that may prove so alluring to others. Money is secondary to happiness as far as you are concerned, and though you will always accept handsome compensation for doing what you most enjoy, the fact that you enjoy it is why you do it — not because you get paid. It is very important that your job and your principles are in sync; you will never do anything that conflicts with your world view.

You can think big thoughts, tackle big challenges, win the big game, and in fact do everything in a big way. Like so many Taurus natives, you prefer to live life fully, unafraid and unwilling to compromise. And you are able to keep a smile on your face more often than not!

Also born on this date are: Bono, singer; Missy Franklin, Olympic swimmer; Fred Astaire, actor, dancer and singer; Sid Vicious, musician; Judith Jamison, dancer and choreographer; Pat Summerall, sportscaster; Chris Berman, sportscaster; Nancy Walker, actress; Gary Owens, TV personality and voice actor; Donovan, singer.

W E AT H E R

P

WORLD

Max 39 Min 27 Max 28 Min 19

Max 43 Min 29

Max 39 Min 31 Max 20 Min 13

Max 39 Min 30

Max 21 Min 9

Max 42 Min 28

Max 43 Min 29

Max 43 Min 25

Max 42 Min 30

Max 35 Min 28

[APRIL 20-MAY 20] Max 32 Min 27

Max 22 Min 14

-www.met.gov.om

Max 32 Min 26 Max 22 Min 12

Min

GULF Abu Dhabi Doha Dubai Kuwait Manama Riyadh

39 39 40 38 36 39

28 29 28 26 27 24

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

26 37 11 17 28 32 32 22 30 20 22 31 28 23 24 32 25 22

18 23 9 8 18 19 25 8 28 12 9 28 15 13 12 27 11 12

L O N G D I S TA N C E B U S T I M I N G S ( O M A N N AT I O N A L T R A N S P O R T C O M PA N Y S A O C ) * S U B J E C T T O C H A N G E

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)

TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

[MAY 21-JUNE 20] You’ve been doing things in a way that promotes healthier living. Today, however, you may be tempted by a certain indulgence.

CANCER [JUNE 21-JULY 22] You’re ready to take things to a new level, but someone else is fearful that you’re misinterpreting the signals he or she is sending.

LEO [JULY 23-AUG. 22] Relationship issues come to the fore, not because of anything bad, but because something good is in the offing!

VIRGO [AUG. 23-SEPT. 22] You can get things done as easily today as you did when you first started out and your energy and enthusiasm were at an all-time high.

LIBRA L [[SEPT. [S S 23-OCT. 22] You may have the sneaking suspicion that your best ideas are being poached by someone who has had his or her eye on you for some time.

SCORPIO S [[OCT. 23-NOV. 21] You’re waiting for someone else to pick up some slack before you continue doing your part. Now is no time to do it all on your own.

SAGITTARIUS S [[NOV. 22-DEC. 21] You’re likely to encounter certain dangers that you have foreseen, though you may not have prepared fully to face them.

CAPRICORN [DEC. 22-JAN 19] You must face a rival head-on if you’re going to beat him at his own game. Don’t back down, and don’t let yourself be dissuaded.

AQUARIUS [JAN. 20-FEB. 18] You’re likely to receive a gift of sorts from someone who senses that you’re in need of a little special consideration.

PISCES [Feb. 19-March 20] You’re ready to explore something more fully. Take the time to equip yourself appropriately.

ARIES [March 21-APRIL 19] You can hit upon a new method of doing a certain thing. This will increase not only your chance of success, but your rewards as well.

Sunset Sunrise (Tomorrow)

6:39pm 5:28am

High tide Low tide

12:31am 7:25am

1:28pm 7.29pm

SEA STATE: Rough along the coastal area of Arabian Sea with a maximum wave height of 3.0 metres, and slight along the rest of the coasts with a maximum wave height of 1.25 metres.

HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY: Good over most of the Sultanate becoming poor during fog.

THE NEXT 48 HOURS OUTLOOK: Mainly clear skies over most of the Sultanate. Chance of convective clouds over Al-Hajar mountains and adjoining areas during afternoon with chance of isolated rain and occasional thundershowers associated with fresh downdraft wind and hail.

Chance of late night to early morning low level clouds or fog patches along the coastal areas of Arabian Sea.

Max

OMAN

GEMINI

12.08pm 3.32pm 6.44pm 8.01pm 4.06am

AIRLINES

artly cloudy skies over Musandam governorate with chances of isolated rain. Mainly clear skies over most of the Sultanate with chance of convective cloud development with isolated rain over Al-Hajar mountains and adjoining areas during afternoon. Chance of early morning low level clouds or fog patches along the coastal areas of Arabian Sea. EXPECTED WIND: Along the coastal areas of Oman Sea wind will be northeasterly light to moderate during day becoming southwesterly light during night, while it will be southerly to southwesterly light to moderate over rest of the Sultanate and occasionally fresh along the coastal areas of Arabian Sea.

TAURUS It’s perfectly all right for you to maintain the highest possible standards, but you must accept the fact that you may not always measure up.

Dhuhr Asr Maghrib Isha Fajr (Tomorrow)

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (Route 36) Dept Destination Arrival Time Time 15:00 Quriyat 16:30 15:00 Sur 18:00 15:00 Jaalan 19:30 TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41) 06:30 Sohar 06:30 Buraimi 08:00 Buraimi 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Buraimi 16.00 Sohar 16.00 Buraimi TO SINAW (Route 52) 17:30 Sinaw

Operating Days Daily Daily Daily

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (Route 36) Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily 05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily 05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

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

Daily Daily Daily via Ibri Daily Daily Daily Daily

20:50

Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41) 07:00 Sohar 07:00 Ruwi 13:30 Ruwi 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Ruwi 13:00 Sohar 17:00 Ruwi TO SINAW (Route 52) 07:00 Ruwi

To Yanqul (Route 54) 14:30 Nizwa 14:30 Yanqul

16:50 19:30

Daily Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54) 08:00 Nizwa 08:00 Al Araqi

10:20 12:30

TO SUR (Route 55) 07:30 Sur 14:30 Sur TO FAHUD - YIBAL (Route 62) 06:30 Fahud 06:30 Yibal

08:55 11:40 20:20 14:55 17:40 19:20 22:15

Daily Daily Daily via Ibri Daily Daily Daily Daily

10:25

Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54) 06:00 Nizwa 06:00 Ruwi

08:40 11:00

Daily Daily

Daily Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54) 15:40 Nizwa 15:40 Ruwi

17:55 20:20

Daily Daily

12:00 18:45

Daily Daily

TO SUR (Route 55) 06:00 Ruwi 14:30 Ruwi

10:45 19:00

Daily Daily

10:30 11:15

Daily Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (Route 62) 12:30 Fahud 12:30 Ruwi

13:15 17:30

Daily Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (Route 100) 07:00 Salalah 20:00 10:00 Marmul 20:30 10:00 Salalah 23:30 19:00 Salalah 07:40

Daily Daily Daily Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (Route 100) 07:00 Ruwi 19:50 10:00 Marmul 13:15 10:00 Ruwi 22:30 19:00 Ruwi 07:30

Daily Daily Daily Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101) 06:00 Marmul

Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101) 06:00 Marmul

16:30

Daily

Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (Route 102) 15:00 Salalah 07:00

Daily

16:50

SALALAH TO DUBAI (Route 102) 15:00 Dubai 07:00 TO DUBAI (Route 201) 06:00 Sohar 06:00 Dubai 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Dubai 15:00 Sohar 15:00 Dubai

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

Daily Daily Wed,Thur Wed,Thur Daily Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204) Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily 07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily 07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201) 07:30 Sohar 07:30 Ruwi 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Ruwi 15:30 Sohar 15:30 Ruwi

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

Daily Daily Thur-Fri Thur-Fri Daily Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204) Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily 16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily 16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

LISTINGS

PHARMACIES Round the clock Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24783334; Appolo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24782666; Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24702542, Salalah: 23291635; Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra: 24503585 Muscat Region Apollo, Al Hamriya. Tel: 24787766 Muscat, A Seeb Market. Tel: 24421691 Muscat, Al Khuwair. Tel: 24485740 Muscat, Al Hail South. Tel: 24537080 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:

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

WY406 WY648 WY676 WY672 WY682 WY914 WY916 WY910 TK774 4H585 NL669 PK225 GF560 QR1132 ET624 EK866 EY384 FZ041 WY114 4H586 CV732 WY658 WY638 WY902 WY326 WY644 G9841 WY686 WY154 WY144 WY692 WY668 WY674 WY132 WY102 FZ043 WY602 NL768 WY272 WY202 WY3932 WY236 G9114 WY282 WY226 EK862 WY210 WY242 WY212 WY252 IX549 QR1128 IX817 EY382 IX443 9W530 WY3922 WY3302 WY604 WY918 GF562 FZ037 IX337 WY384 WY822 WY818 WY634 WY904 WY670 WY324 WY332 WY652 WY606 KU677 WY906 WY920 WY348 FZ045 WY3304 WY344 QR1126 WY204 WY632 WY292 WY264 WY664 EK864 WY246 WY232 WY610 GF564 WY656 TG507 G9116 WY374 WY646 FZ047 WY908 WY614 WY848 WY338 WY386 WY434 FZ049 WY124 9W534 AI973 6.00E+81 WY254 BA073 WY624 UL205 AI907 WY312 QR1134 LX242 GF566 LH616 EY388 WY414 WY910 9W540 AI985 WY662 WY654 WY636 WY928 WY816 WY696 WY612

MONDAY ETA

FLT NO

ARRIVALS FROM

CAIRO 0005 KUWAIT 0005 JEDDAH 0005 MEDINA 0005 RIYADH 0010 SALALAH 0020 SALALAH 0120 SALALAH 0130 ISTANBUL 0135 DACCA 0200 SIALKOT 0200 KARACHI 0210 BAHRAIN 0325 DOHA 0345 ADDIS ABABA 0350 DUBAI 0350 ABU DHABI 0400 DUBAI 0415 FRANKFURT 0515 DOHA 0600 LUXORE 0635 BAHRAIN 0635 ABU DHABI 0640 SALALAH 0645 KARACHI 0650 KUWAIT 0650 RAS AL KHAIMA 0655 RIYADH 0655 ZURICH 0700 MALPENSA 0705 DAMMAM 0715 DOHA 0715 JEDDAH 0735 PARIS 0735 LONDON HEATHROW 0740 DUBAI 0800 DUBAI 0805 LAHORE 0830 JAIPUR 0830 BOMBAY 0835 SOHAR 0840 HYDERABAD 0900 SHARJAH 0905 BANGALORE 0910 COCHIN 0920 DUBAI 0930 GOA 0935 DELHI 0935 TRIVANDRUM 0950 MADRAS 0955 TRIVANDRUM 0955 DOHA 1000 MANGALORE 1010 ABU DHABI 1010 COCHIN 1020 TRIVANDRUM 1045 DUQUM OMAN 1045 MUKHAIZNA 1110 DUBAI 1110 KHASAB 1115 BAHRAIN 1130 DUBAI 1140 CALICUT 1155 MALE 1210 KUALA LUMPUR-SINGAPORE 1215 BANGKOK 1220 ABU DHABI 1220 SALALAH 1230 DOHA 1250 KARACHI 1300 KATHMANDU 1305 BAHRAIN 1330 DUBAI 1340 KUWAIT 1405 SALALAH 1440 KHASAB 1445 ISLAM ABBAD 1515 DUBAI 1535 MUKHAIZNA 1550 LAHORE 1605 DOHA 1650 BOMBAY 1655 ABU DHABI 1710 CALICUT 1710 LUCKNOW 1740 DOHA 1745 DUBAI 1745 DELHI 1750 HYDERABAD 1750 DUBAI 1800 BAHRAIN 1810 BAHRAIN 1820 BANGKOK-KARACHI 1900 SHARJAH 1905 COLOMBO 1915 KUWAIT 1920 DUBAI 1940 SALALAH 2000 DUBAI 2025 JAKARTA 2035 KATHMANDU 2040 MALE 2045 TEHRAN 2055 DUBAI 2100 MUNICH 2105 COCHIN 2115 DELHI 2125 BOMBAY 2130 MADRAS 2135 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI 2140 DUBAI 2150 COLOMBO 2155 MADRAS 2200 CHITTAGONG 2210 DOHA 2225 ZURICH-DUBAI 2225 BAHRAIN 2240 FRANKFURT-DOHA 2245 ABU DHABI 2300 AMMAN 2300 SALALAH 2310 BOMBAY 2315 BOMBAY 2325 DOHA 2335 BAHRAIN 2340 ABU DHABI 2340 SALALAH 2345 BANGKOK 2350 DAMMAM 2355 DUBAI 2355

WY672 WY648 WY406 WY676 WY682 WY914 WY916 TK774 4H583 PK229 GF560 QR1132 ET624 EK866 EY384 FZ041 WY114 WY658 WY638 WY902 WY644 WY154 WY144 WY668 WY674 WY102 FZ043 WY422 WY602 WY346 WY342 WY272 WY202 WY236 G9114 WY226 EK862 WY210 WY242 WY212 WY252 QR1128 EY382 WY844 9W530 WY604 WY918 WY3302 GF562 FZ037 WY372 IX337 PA450 WY705 WY822 WY634 WY818 WY904 WY670 WY324 WY332 WY632 WY606 WY920 FZ045 WY3304 WY656 QR1126 WY204 WY292 WY264 WY664 EK864 WY232 WY246 WY254 WY284 WY3922 WY610 GF564 G9116 WY684 WY646 FZ047 WY614 WY848 WY338 WY434 FZ049 KL441 AI977 WY124 4H561 9W534 AI973 6.00E+81 BA073 WY624 WY906 AI907 WY312 QR1134 LX242 GF566 LH616 WY717 SG061 EY388 WY910 9W540 WY908 AI985 WY662 WY654 WY636 WY928 WY816 WY612 WY696

MEDINA 0005 KUWAIT 0005 CAIRO 0005 JEDDAH 0005 RIYADH 0010 SALALAH 0020 SALALAH 0120 ISTANBUL 0135 DACCA 0200 LAHORE 0215 BAHRAIN 0325 DOHA 0345 ADDIS ABABA 0350 DUBAI 0350 ABU DHABI 0400 DUBAI 0415 FRANKFURT 0515 BAHRAIN 0635 ABU DHABI 0640 SALALAH 0645 KUWAIT 0650 ZURICH 0700 MALPENSA 0705 DOHA 0715 JEDDAH 0735 LONDON HEATHROW 0740 DUBAI 0800 BEIRUT 0805 DUBAI 0805 ISLAM ABBAD 0815 LAHORE 0825 JAIPUR 0830 BOMBAY 0835 HYDERABAD 0900 SHARJAH 0905 COCHIN 0920 DUBAI 0930 GOA 0935 DELHI 0935 TRIVANDRUM 0950 MADRAS 0955 DOHA 1000 ABU DHABI 1010 MANILA 1020 TRIVANDRUM 1045 DUBAI 1115 KHASAB 1115 MUKHAIZNA 1120 BAHRAIN 1130 DUBAI 1140 COLOMBO 1140 CALICUT 1155 LAHORE 1215 DARESSLAM-ZANZIBAR 1215 KUALA LUMPUR-SINGAPORE 1215 ABU DHABI 1220 BANGKOK 1220 SALALAH 1230 DOHA 1250 KARACHI 1300 KATHMANDU 1305 ABU DHABI 1335 DUBAI 1340 KHASAB 1445 DUBAI 1535 MUKHAIZNA 1550 BAHRAIN 1635 DOHA 1650 BOMBAY 1655 CALICUT 1710 LUCKNOW 1740 DOHA 1745 DUBAI 1745 HYDERABAD 1750 DELHI 1750 MADRAS 1750 BANGALORE 1750 DUQUM OMAN 1755 DUBAI 1800 BAHRAIN 1810 SHARJAH 1905 RIYADH 1915 KUWAIT 1920 DUBAI 1940 DUBAI 2025 JAKARTA 2035 KATHMANDU 2040 TEHRAN 2055 DUBAI 2100 AMSTERDAM-DOHA 2105 BANGALORE-HYDERABAD 2105 MUNICH 2105 DACCA 2115 COCHIN 2115 DELHI 2125 BOMBAY 2130 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI 2140 DUBAI 2150 SALALAH 2155 MADRAS 2200 CHITTAGONG 2210 DOHA 2225 ZURICH-DUBAI 2225 BAHRAIN 2240 FRANKFURT-DOHA 2245 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 2250 AHMEDABAD 2300 ABU DHABI 2300 SALALAH 2310 BOMBAY 2315 SALALAH 2320 BOMBAY 2325 DOHA 2335 BAHRAIN 2340 ABU DHABI 2340 SALALAH 2345 BANGKOK 2350 DUBAI 2355 DAMMAM 2355

FLT NO

DEPARTURES TO

FLT NO

DEPARTURES TO

AI986 9W539 WY657 WY225 WY637 WY235 WY281 WY211 WY685 WY201 WY643 WY251 WY271 WY601 WY123 WY325 WY847 WY241 WY901 WY691 WY667 WY383 TK775 WY209 4H585 PK260 NL772 WY331 ET625 EK867 EY385 FZ042 QR1133 WY3931 4H586 GF561 WY3921 G9842 WY903 WY603 WY3301 CV732 WY917 WY347 WY669 WY323 FZ044 WY373 WY815 WY291 WY343 NL769 WY651 WY263 WY821 WY843 G9115 WY231 WY605 WY905 WY203 WY385 WY245 EK863 IX554 WY337 QR1129 IX818 EY383 IX442 WY311 9W533 WY919 GF563 FZ038 WY3303 WY253 IX350 WY633 WY113 WY663 WY631 WY143 WY645 WY655 WY101 WY153 WY927 WY405 WY413 WY433 WY609 KU678 WY907 WY675 FZ046 WY671 WY613 QR1127 WY623 WY681 WY647 WY909 GF565 EK865 WY695 WY653 WY661 G9117 WY913 TG508 WY635 FZ048 WY611 WY915 FZ050 WY421 WY817 9W529 6.00E+82 AI908 UL206 AI974 WY705 GF567 LX243 QR1135 BA072 WY673 EY381 LH617

BOMBAY 0020 BOMBAY 0020 BAHRAIN 0055 COCHIN 0105 ABU DHABI 0105 HYDERABAD 0110 BANGALORE 0110 TRIVANDRUM 0110 RIYADH 0115 BOMBAY 0115 KUWAIT 0120 MADRAS 0120 JAIPUR 0135 DUBAI 0145 MUNICH 0200 KARACHI 0210 JAKARTA 0215 DELHI 0215 SALALAH 0215 DAMMAM 0225 DOHA 0225 MALE 0230 ISTANBUL 0230 GOA 0255 DOHA 0300 PESHAWAR 0310 PESHAWAR 0330 KATHMANDU 0350 ADDIS ABABA 0450 DUBAI 0450 ABU DHABI 0500 DUBAI 0510 DOHA 0515 SOHAR 0635 DACCA 0700 BAHRAIN 0715 DUQUM OMAN 0745 RAS AL KHAIMA 0745 SALALAH 0750 DUBAI 0750 MUKHAIZNA 0800 HONG KONG 0800 KHASAB 0815 ISLAM ABBAD 0830 DOHA 0835 KARACHI 0835 DUBAI 0845 COLOMBO 0900 BANGKOK 0905 CALICUT 0915 LAHORE 0915 LAHORE 0930 BAHRAIN 0935 LUCKNOW 0940 SINGAPORE-KUALA LUMPUR 0945 MANILA 0955 SHARJAH 0955 HYDERABAD 1000 DUBAI 1020 SALALAH 1020 BOMBAY 1025 MALE 1040 DELHI 1040 DUBAI 1045 TRIVANDRUM 1045 KATHMANDU 1050 DOHA 1100 MANGALORE 1100 ABU DHABI 1105 COCHIN 1120 CHITTAGONG 1140 COCHIN 1145 KHASAB 1145 BAHRAIN 1215 DUBAI 1225 MUKHAIZNA 1230 MADRAS 1255 CALICUT 1255 ABU DHABI 1300 FRANKFURT 1320 DOHA 1330 ABU DHABI 1345 MALPENSA 1350 KUWAIT 1350 BAHRAIN 1400 LONDON HEATHROW 1400 ZURICH 1420 SALALAH 1430 CAIRO 1440 AMMAN 1440 TEHRAN 1445 DUBAI 1445 ABU DHABI-KUWAIT 1505 SALALAH 1540 JEDDAH 1615 DUBAI 1620 MEDINA 1705 DUBAI 1710 DOHA 1750 DUBAI 1840 RIYADH 1840 KUWAIT 1845 SALALAH 1850 BAHRAIN 1855 DUBAI 1910 DAMMAM 1915 BAHRAIN 1920 DOHA 1920 SHARJAH 1955 SALALAH 2000 KARACHI-BANGKOK 2005 ABU DHABI 2015 DUBAI 2025 DUBAI 2035 SALALAH 2100 DUBAI 2145 BEIRUT 2215 BANGKOK 2225 TRIVANDRUM 2230 BOMBAY 2245 MADRAS 2300 COLOMBO 2305 DELHI 2310 DARESSLAM-ZANZIBAR 2310 BAHRAIN 2325 DUBAI-ZURICH 2325 DOHA 2330 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW 2330 JEDDAH 2350 ABU DHABI 2355 DOHA-FRANKFURT 2355

AI986 9W539 WY657 WY225 WY637 WY211 WY235 WY201 WY643 WY345 WY271 WY341 WY601 WY371 WY123 WY901 WY847 WY241 WY667 TK775 WY209 4H584 PK226 WY331 EK867 ET625 EY385 FZ042 QR1133 GF561 WY603 WY903 WY3301 WY917 WY323 WY669 FZ044 WY633 WY815 WY253 WY291 WY263 WY717 WY821 G9115 WY231 WY283 WY631 WY605 WY203 WY245 EK863 WY337 QR1129 EY383 WY311 9W533 WY919 GF563 WY655 FZ038 WY3303 IX350 PA451 WY113 WY663 WY683 WY131 WY645 WY143 WY101 WY153 WY927 WY405 WY609 WY433 WY3921 WY675 FZ046 WY613 WY905 QR1127 WY681 WY623 WY647 WY909 GF565 WY907 EK865 WY695 WY661 WY653 G9117 WY913 WY635 FZ048 WY611 WY411 WY915 FZ050 AI978 4H561 KL442 WY817 9W529 6.00E+82 AI908 WY677 WY705 AI974 GF567 LX243 BA072 QR1135 WY673 LH617 EY381

BOMBAY 0020 BOMBAY 0020 BAHRAIN 0055 COCHIN 0105 ABU DHABI 0105 TRIVANDRUM 0110 HYDERABAD 0110 BOMBAY 0115 KUWAIT 0120 ISLAM ABBAD 0125 JAIPUR 0135 LAHORE 0145 DUBAI 0145 COLOMBO 0155 MUNICH 0200 SALALAH 0215 JAKARTA 0215 DELHI 0215 DOHA 0225 ISTANBUL 0230 GOA 0255 DACCA 0300 KARACHI 0315 KATHMANDU 0350 DUBAI 0450 ADDIS ABABA 0450 ABU DHABI 0500 DUBAI 0510 DOHA 0515 BAHRAIN 0715 DUBAI 0750 SALALAH 0750 MUKHAIZNA 0800 KHASAB 0815 KARACHI 0835 DOHA 0835 DUBAI 0845 ABU DHABI 0900 BANGKOK 0905 MADRAS 0915 CALICUT 0915 LUCKNOW 0940 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 0940 SINGAPORE-KUALA LUMPUR 0945 SHARJAH 0955 HYDERABAD 1000 BANGALORE 1000 ABU DHABI 1015 DUBAI 1020 BOMBAY 1025 DELHI 1040 DUBAI 1045 KATHMANDU 1050 DOHA 1100 ABU DHABI 1105 CHITTAGONG 1140 COCHIN 1145 KHASAB 1145 BAHRAIN 1215 BAHRAIN 1215 DUBAI 1225 MUKHAIZNA 1230 CALICUT 1255 LAHORE 1315 FRANKFURT 1320 DOHA 1330 RIYADH 1335 PARIS 1345 KUWAIT 1350 MALPENSA 1350 LONDON HEATHROW 1400 ZURICH 1420 SALALAH 1430 CAIRO 1440 DUBAI 1445 TEHRAN 1445 DUQUM OMAN 1455 JEDDAH 1615 DUBAI 1620 DUBAI 1710 SALALAH 1735 DOHA 1750 RIYADH 1840 DUBAI 1840 KUWAIT 1845 SALALAH 1850 BAHRAIN 1855 SALALAH 1900 DUBAI 1910 DAMMAM 1915 DOHA 1920 BAHRAIN 1920 SHARJAH 1955 SALALAH 2000 ABU DHABI 2015 DUBAI 2025 DUBAI 2035 AMMAN 2100 SALALAH 2100 DUBAI 2145 HYDERABAD-BANGALORE 2200 JEDDAH 2215 DOHA-AMSTERDAM 2220 BANGKOK 2225 TRIVANDRUM 2230 BOMBAY 2245 MADRAS 2300 MEDINA 2310 DARESSLAM-ZANZIBAR 2310 DELHI 2310 BAHRAIN 2325 DUBAI-ZURICH 2325 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW 2330 DOHA 2330 JEDDAH 2350 DOHA-FRANKFURT 2355 ABU DHABI 2355

ETD

ETA

ETD

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

C 11

EXTRA

Salt may actually be good for your health Salt intake that is often deemed high may actually have benefits, scientists say

W

“

e humans eat more salt than is necessary.

But we all do it. So the question is — why?” asks Paul Breslin, a professor of nutritional sciences who researches sodium appetite at New Jersey’s Rutgers University.

In the past, people thought that salt boosted health — so much so that the Latin word for “health” — “salus” — was derived from “sal” (salt). In medieval times, salt was prescribed to treat a multitude of conditions, including toothaches, stomachaches and “heaviness of mind.”

While governments have long pushed people to reduce their intakes of sodium chloride (table salt) to prevent high blood pressure, stroke and coronary heart disease, there are good reasons why cutting down on salt is not an easy thing to do.

Scientists suggest that sodium intake may have physiological benefits that make salt particularly tempting — and ditching the salt shaker difficult. It comes down to evolution.

“In biology, if something is attractive and we invest in gaining it, it must be beneficial, adaptive in evolutionary terms,” says Micah Leshem, a professor of psychology, who spent decades researching salt’s unique appeal.

People tend to consume about the same amount of sodium no matter where they live, and this amount hasn’t changed much in decades. Those facts hint at the biological basis of our sodium appetite.

A 2014 analysis of data that spanned 50 years and dozens of countries (including the United States, France, China and several African nations, including Zimbabwe and South Africa) found that the quantity of sodium that most people consume (and then excrete) falls into a historically narrow range of 2.6 to 4.8 grams per day. (And then there are extremes: In 16th-century Sweden, for example, people ate 100 grams a day, mostly from fish that had been salted to preserve it.)

“Over the last five decades, salt content of commercial food in our food (in the United States) has gone up. But if you look at people’s 24-hour urinary sodium excretion, you see that the amounts of salt people consume have been constant,” he says. Irrespective of age, gender or race, between 1957 and 2003 Americans have been eating on average 3.5 grams of salt a day. “This suggests that we are somehow regulating the amount of salt we are eating,” Breslin says.

And, in fact, salt is good for us. Sodium is necessary for preventing dehydration, for proper

BRIEFS

Where you live can affect your body weight too NEXT TIME you begin house hunting, try for an upscale neighbourhood to keep your body weight in check, new research says.

The US researchers found that people who moved to more socio-economically deprived neighbourhoods gained additional weight.

“This study sheds important light on the impact that changes in neighbourhood socioeconomic deprivation by moving can have on weight change and subsequent obesity,” said lead investigator Tiffany Powell-Wiley from National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, US National Institutes of Health.

EU project set to engineer bacteria for novel vaccines A EUROPEAN UNION funded project is combining gene engineering and biotechnology to design novel vaccines based on the bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae. The Mycosplasma bacteria are the smallest selfreplicating organisms. They lack a cell wall, making them resistant to almost all antibiotics, and infections caused by Mycoplasma in livestock, result in huge losses in Europe and throughout the world. Although there are vaccines against two species of Mycoplasma that affect poultry, no vaccines exist for many Mycoplasma species that affect not only livestock but also pets and humans. The eight-million Euro MycoSynVac project will see researchers engineer a universal vaccine chassis that will be free of virulence and optimised for fast growth.

Sodium is necessary for preventing dehydration, for proper transmission of nerve impulses and for normal functioning of cells.

If we ate no sodium at all, we would die

transmission of nerve impulses and for normal functioning of cells. If we ate no sodium at all, we would die. When they become sodium-deficient, many animals go out of their way to find the mineral. That’s why, for example, sweaty clothes of alpinists tend to attract mountain goats.

Once sodium deficiency is experienced, salt cravings can last a lifetime. That happens with humans, too — but only if the deficiency strikes in very early childhood, or even before birth.

If your mother suffered frequent vomiting in pregnancy or if you lost significant amounts of sodium as a baby (due to vomiting or diarrhoea, for example), chances are good that you eat more salt than other people do, even by as much as 50 per cent, as one of Leshem’s studies has shown. This is probably because

sodium depletion alters our central nervous system so that we develop long-lasting preference for the mineral, Johnson says.

In one of Leshem’s studies, babies who had low concentrations of sodium in their blood in the first weeks of their lives grew up to be teenagers with a penchant for salt, even salt that is seemingly hidden in processed foods.

“Even if you can’t taste the salt, apparently your body does. It’s working on an unconscious level to condition a preference for sodium,” Leshem explains.

Evolutionary perspective This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective, says Daniel Fessler, a UCLA anthropologist — If a mother or her infant experiences sodium hunger, it could mean that salt is hard to come by in their environment — and so it is better to be on a constant lookout for it. That is also how humans may have evolved their general liking of salt, Johnson says: “Mankind spent a lot of evolutionary history on the hot African savanna where salt was very scarce and readily lost from the body. Since severe sodium depletion can cause circulatory collapse, there was a selection for mechanisms to save sodium and to drive us to consume more of it.”

Eating salt may also help calm us, or reduce our stress.

In animal studies, the effects are pretty clear. An experiment published in 1995 showed, for example, that when rats are put in stressful situations, they choose to drink salty water rather than unsalted water. In another study, when wild rabbits were stressed, their sodium intake shot up.

The possibly stress-reducing, or mood-enhancing, effects of

salt in humans are not as well documented, but there is some evidence. In a 2014 study involving about 10,000 Americans, Leshem and his colleagues found a relationship between salt intake and depression — Women whose diets were high in sodium were less depressed than other women. “Maybe people are self-medicating with salt,” he reasons. “But that’s a small effect; salt is not going to cure anyone of depression.”

What’s more, women from the Yanomami tribe in Brazil, famed for their low salt intake (23 milligrams per day — less than 1 per cent of what the average American consumes), have fewer children than could be expected, and they often miscarry. Yet according to Tilman Drüeke, a nephrologist who researches fertility and sodium intake at the French Institute of Health and Medical Research, this observation should be taken “with a grain of salt” because, he says, “the relatively low fertility and high rate of pregnancy loss in Yanomami women clearly cannot be attributed to their very low salt intake alone. This is only one hypothesis among several others, including the higher prevalence of infectious diseases.”

It’s also possible that sodium aids growth.

As scientists from New Jersey Medical School found out, if you put rats on low-salt diets, their bones and muscles fail to grow as fast as they normally would.

In one of his experiments, Leshem found that children in general reach for more salt than adults do — independent of calorie intake — which may be explained by the needs of their growing bodies.

-Marta Zaraska/The Washington Post.

Next-generation tele-operated robots could be hacked IF YOU feel that your car’s remote-controlled security system is full-proof, you may be wrong as a team of engineers has shown how easily a malicious attack could hijack remotely-controlled operations in the future. A team of engineers from the University of Washington demonstrated that next generation tele-operated robots using non-private networks can be easily disrupted or derailed by common forms of cyberattacks. -IANS

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SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2015

EXTRA B O L LY W O O D

Salman Khan thanks his fans for all their support AFTER THE Bombay High Court suspended Salman Khan’s five-year sentence in the 2002 hit-and-run case and granted him bail, the superstar took to micro-blogging website Twitter to thank his fans. “All those who prayed for and supported me thank u meherbani shukriya,” Salman tweeted on Friday night. The 49-year-old’s sister Arpita Khan Sharma also thanked her brother’s die-hard fans for their relentless support. “This wouldn’t have been possible without all your love, support & prayers. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” Arpita tweeted. Hours after the sentence was suspended on Friday, the actor received a hero’s welcome from fans outside the Khan’s Bandra residence here. The fans were singing songs, dancing and even bursting crackers to celebrate his homecoming.

WHY YOU SHOULDN’T WASH YOUR DISHES BY HAND From an environmental perspective, machines have grown so energy and water-efficient that it is very hard to beat them through hand-washing

I

t is still common practice in many households to — after dinner — wash the dishes by hand to get all the grimy food off of them, and then put them in the dishwasher and run a cycle. For many of us, it just feels cleaner.

And that can be a very personal feeling, hard to let go of.

The problem is, a diverse group of experts — including from Consumer Reports, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Program, the Natural Resources Defence Council, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy — suggests that in most cases we should just “let the dishwasher do its job,” as Consumer Reports puts it.

The basic line is that from an environmental perspective, these machines have grown so energyand water-efficient — especially Energy Star-certified models — that it is very hard to beat them through hand-washing (though, of course, you should first scrape off any food before putting dishes

in the dishwasher, and you should run only full dishwasher loads).

The reasons for this are multiple, but they include the fact that dishwashers just keep needing less and less water (and energy) because of improving appliance standards, even as they get better and better at using it.

“While it may be possible to use less water/energy by washing dishes by hand, it is extremely unlikely,” Jonah Schein, technical coordinator for homes and buildings in the EPA’s WaterSense program, said in a statement. Schein was referring, in particular, to Energy Star-certified dishwashers, not all dishwashers. “In order to wash the same amount of dishes that can fit in a single load of a full size dishwasher and use less water, you would need to be able to wash eight full place settings and still limit the total amount of time that the faucet was running to less than two minutes,” he said.

“Studies are showing more and

While it may be possible to use less water/energy by washing dishes by hand, it is extremely unlikely Jonah Schein

Technical coordinator EPA WaterSense programme more that, when used to maximise energy-saving features, modern dishwashers can outperform all but the most frugal hand washers,” adds the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

How well modern dishwashers conserve water and energy is not the same thing as how well they

perform their cleaning task. And determining how clean is “clean enough” is somewhat subjective.

But here, too, the machines have a number of advantages.

For instance, our hands just can’t take the hot water temperatures — 140 or 145 degrees Fahrenheit — that many dishwashers use to get stuff really clean. Modern dishwashers also often include an increasing number of high-tech features that are just better at cleaning than we are — the design of the racks, the spray of the water jets and other aspects have been tailored to improve performance.

The overall story here is a familiar one in the appliance world, and much like what has happened with refrigerators: Ever increasing standards have made dishwashers more and more energy- and water-efficient, even as they’ve also taken on new features, such as soil sensors, which detect whether your dishes are still dirty.

-Chris Mooney/The Washington Post.

Shabana off to Ahmedabad for the ‘Kaifi Aur Main’ play ACTOR social activist Shabana Azmi jetted off to Ahmedabad on Saturday for a play Kaifi Aur Main. The 64-yearold actress took to micro-blogging website Twitter to share the news with her fans and well-wishers. “Off to Ahmedabad for show of Kaifi Aur Main this eve. Am going to stuff my face with yummy Gujju khana,” Shabana tweeted on Saturday. Directed

by Ramesh Talwar, Kaifi Aur Main is a play based on renowned Urdu poet and film lyricist Kaifi Azmi’s life and works, seen through the eyes of his wife — noted theatre and film actress, Shaukat Kaifi. It has been brought to life by Kaifi Azmi’s daughter Shabana Azmi and son-in-law Javed Akhtar.

Audience is ready to get nourished: Irrfan Khan ACTOR Irrfan Khan says he enjoys watching Hindi films that don’t “waste my time”. He also believes that the audience is “ready to get nourished”. “I watch Hindi films which I feel I’ll not waste my time.

Our audience is ready to get nourished. I think our audience is ready, but our industry is not ready to give what our audience expects,” Irrfan told reporters. On what basis does he choose scripts? “I like films that connect you as an audience. Birdman was an outstanding film,” said the Life of Pi actor, whose latest film Piku hit the screens on Friday. -IANS

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W W W.T I M E S O F O M A N . C O M S U N DAY, M AY 1 0, 2 0 1 5

SECTION

CONNEC T H E D A I LY G U I D E

RENT

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VACANCY

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CARGO

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S U N DAY, M AY 1 0, 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.

One BHK flat for rent in Ghobra with attach and common bathroom.

For Indian family.

Contact - 92322096

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

2 BHK with A.C Ghubra R.O 350/-.

Contact: 92144045 2BHK without A.C Mumtaz R.O 275/-. Contact 92144045 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 2 bedroom apartment in Ruwi for rent or sale for information.

Contact: 99360303 Well maintained spacious, 2BHK at Rex Road from 1st August.

Contact: 92227165 2BHK Muttrah behind Oman house. Contact 95915154 We have flats for rent in South Al Mabella stage -8 along the highway. Contact 95121222 2 BHK in Muttrah, 2 bedrooms, 1 hall, 1 bathroom & 1 kitchen.

Contact 99342790 1BHK A.C Mumtaz.

Contact 97799175 2 BHK with A.C, M.B.D, R.O 325/-.

Contact: 92144045 2 bedroom flat for rent in Azaiba near Mitsubishi showroom, Rent 300/-. Contact : 92447365

1BHK Ghubra R.O 350/-.

Contact 92144045 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

First floor one unit flat 3 bed, 3 bathrooms, hall, sitting, dining at Ghubra South. Contact 98087644 2 BHK (with split AC) residential flat at Honda road. Contact 98087644 / 99795241

2 bedrooms flat with hall, 2 bathrooms in Ruwi behind Boys school.

Contact 92584715 / 24700120

Flat at Darsait. Contact 99326879 3 bedroom flat for rent in Al Hamria Contact: 99341112

1BHK flat near star cinema with split A/C 230/- O.R. Contact 99358589/ 97079146/95570288

New 2B/R flats with split unit D/C & free Internet & office space available at Al Khuwair near Mustafa Sultan Philips showroom.

Contact 99460330

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

2BHK Al Khuwair.

Contact : 99024730

Studio flat Wadi Kabeer 160/-O.R. Contact - 99358589 / 97079146/ 95570288

Shop for rent Misk house bldg Walja area near Honda road.

Contact 99312674 / 96917934

Industrial land for rent in Wadi Kabir 7000 Sq mtrs.

Contact 99354340

Ware House & office space.

Contact 99024730

Bath attached room for rent Al Khuwair. Contact 99743569

1 Bedroom bachelors, sharing K & T in Al Khuwair R.O 100/-.

Contact 95154331

1 Bedroom flat in Azaiba.

Contact 99385835/99428143

C.B.D 2BHK. Contact 99024730

Furnished flats for rent in Al Buraimi, daily, weekly, monthly.

Contact 97819981 / 93593336

1 BHK new bldg with A/C, curtains near Khimji Mart MBD. Contact: 99061408 / 99024039

200 Sqr mtrs office space in CBD. Contact 99792181

Independent rooms in Qurum / Al Hail. Contact 95529970

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

1BHK, 2 toilets at South Ghubra include E/W and AC split with fully furnished OMR 350/-.

Contact 92811110

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

Villa for rent with 4 bedroom at Al Khodh, Rent 600/-RO.#92888115

Big flat in Al Khuwair 33, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, sitting, dining, family lounge, kitchen, store with A/C, rent 550/- OMR. Contact 97278169

Flats for rent near Indian School in Wadi Kabir.

Contact 99777122 1, 2, 3, BHK flats.

Contact: 97799175

Two bedroom Flat Available at Darsait/Near Muscat Municipality/ Call 99107588

1/3 BHK Flat Ghubrah, close to ISG Way 4041, building 4390.

Contact 99319880

Ground floor flat in Mabela South with 2 big room & living room, 3 toilets, kitchen, small store & hall.

Contact 93295953

If require flats for rent in Wadi Kabir please send me messages through whatsapp or call 99376454

New furnished flat at Amerat 3BHK, 3Toilets RO230 pm.

Contact 95113797 Room main road, Al Khuwair R.O 110/-. Contact 97799175 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

Labour camp for Rent in Wadi Kabir. Contact 99797422 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

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

Apartments for rent Ghubra : near Indian School Ghubra & Al Maha International Hotel (2BHK with 5 split A/C units).Contact 99273774 / 99202278 /94652485

For rent 3 industrial land.

Contact 92702891/ 95490842

Villa in Al Khuwair and Seeb.

Contact 95250300/ 99119699 / 92125648

2BHK Flats for families at Azaiba next to Al Meera Hyper Market.

Contact : 96457757

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DAILY GUIDE

AVAILABLE

BUYING / SELLING

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

FOR SALE

Used household & office furniture and electronic items.

Contact 99834373, 97102699

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) Port cabin new & refurbished – porta cabin for sale & rent.

Contact 96723468 / 97775501 / 97775502 We have flats for sale in south Al Mabella stage -8 along the highway. Contact 95121222 Well established coffee shop & BBQ with open parking along with 5 clearance located in Wadi Kabir.

Contact 97161811 Residential land for sale 21000 sqm, best for housing complex at Al Harm – Barka, opp to Khimji logistic. Contact 99438397 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 All the fittings and equipment for sale from a closed restaurant.

Contact : 99425461

FOR SALE! 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

1BHK Ruwi & Wadi Kabir.

Contact 99024730

Fabrication machinery & tools in excellent condition for immediate sale.

Contact 94652485 / 99273774 / 99202278.

Shopping center for sale at Bousher by good price 400 m2 with all equipment. Reason for selling part-time. Contact 92916490

Furnished office for sale at Walja.

Contact 99024272 / 95604205

Shfandish & tables for sale.

Contact 99368907

558 Sq mtrs residential land in Barka (Al Jenainah) near Lulu and near to school. OMR 32 Thousand.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

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

FOR RENT

NRI

1 No. PLASTER MIXER PUMP (Make/Model: Putzmeister; DWϮϱͿ ŝŶ ǁŽƌŬŝŶŐ ĐŽŶĚŝƟŽŶ available for sale on AS IS WHERE IS basis (at our Ghala Store). Genuine buyers Contact Evan G. Amanna, Mbl. 99334126; R&N KHIMJI LLC - Tel.24502111; Email: rnk@rkhimjigroup.com

ACC. WANTED

M.V. FOR SALE

I BHK Wanted In MBD Or CBD area (R0. 200 or 230) Contact : 93262152 Looking for 2 BHK flat in Ruwi, Darsait or surrounding areas.

Contact 96027403

ACC. AVAILABLE 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.

Chalo ab Laot Chalein Har koi ka yahi sapna Lucknow main ho ghar apna. Plots, flats, villas, duplex farm houses any where in Lucknow, Varanasi, Allahabad, Nainital, Aligarh.

Contact Qamruddin : 91273414

Shop for sale Al Khoudh.

Contact 92820541

Family room available for rent at Muttrah Souk. Contact 24712088 / 99022790

For running beauty saloon for sale.

Contact 97786792 / 96914627

Single room available at Hamriyah.

Contact 92390266

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

Single room & AC attached bath at Mumtaz area. Contact 95212017 & 93103337

Beauty parlour for sale.

Serious buyers. Contact 99609265

ACC. AVAILABLE 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

Flats/villas owned by ROP pension fund available for rent in Muscat. Contact 99349526

Excellent room, with A/C kitchen available near ONTC Bus station (Ruwi). Contact 95569740

Spacious 2 BHK flats in Ruwi MBD area only on 350/- OMR. Contact – 95122188 / 96441499

Sharing for non-cooking Executive bachelor in CBD area wi fi free, advance deposit. Contact 95934642

Building of 2floors in Al Hail, each 3Bedrooms, 3bathrooms, Sitting room, lounge, kitchen, store Contact 92817777 1B/R available for bachelors in REX ROAD, Ruwi. Contact 99889590 Sharing accommodation available Wadi Kabir attached room with sharing, kitchen. Contact 96575016 Sharing acc. Available in Muttrah behind Oman house. # 99354340 Sharing family accommodation in Wadi Kabir. Contact 99335057 Accommodation available for South Indian family, one bedroom with attached toilet, kitchen, hall in a villa, Al Ghubrah. Contact 99209160

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

10 and Half cent land for sale in Cochin Cheranellor.

Contact : 99410160

2 Prime Movers Man 2008 with 40 ton petrol tank each working at the moment in Al Maha. Price OMR 35 Thousand each. Contact 97000155 or 92688692

Toyota Yaris model 2007 manual very good condition accident free full service history 210000 km. Contact: 94223132 expat leaving.

5.1 cents land with a house at Tripunithura hill palace for immediate sale. Contact 0091 7736764525 Email: utham@yahoo.com

Kia Rio, Maroon Colour, 7300 kms Done, Very good condition, Insurance valid till March 2016, Price OMR 3800/- Contact 95793970

56 cents plot for sale at NH 47 Eramallour Ernakulam – Cheethala road. Contact 0091 7736764525 Email: utham@yahoo.com

Land Cruiser 2012.

Contact 99336093

Residential land for sale in Chennai Kundrathur and Poonamaalee, we construct house in your budget.

Contact 98753366

LOST Indian passport number F6650837, name - Jaikishin Mahadevmal Makhija. If found please contact 99335013 / 95194007 Igat Majang Anak Mathew has lost Malaysian Passport No. K28566039.

Finder please handover to ROP.

Nissan Sunny 2007, 1.6, automatic, good condition km 1,48000.

Contact 99781671 Mazda 3 model KMS 140,000 fully automatic single driven company maintained. Contact 92302159

Pajero 2010, GCC, 230000 km white 6200/- R.O. Contact 92857111 Freezer Trucks Volvo Scania Mercedes Benz 10 & 12 & 18 Ton & 40 Ft good condition. Contact 99890151 / 99814635 Mercedes delivery van 2002.

Contact 99755644 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.

CHANGE OF NAME I Sumi Panachikal Samuel (name exactly as in present passport) daughter of Mariyamma Samuel presently residing at the following address in Ruwi P.B No. 1878 P.C No.114 Sultanate of Oman and having permanent address in India Panachikal (H) Kumplampoika P.O Pathanamthtta( Distt.) Kerala (state) (as per present passport), holder of passport No. H 5615249 date of issue 30/7/2009 place of issue Trivandrum solemnly affirm and declare that my Mother’s name is Kunjamma Samuel for all purpose. Any objection towards this name change may please be communicated to Embassy of India, Muscat, Diplomatic Quarters, Al Khuwair, P.O. Box No, 1727, Postal Code 112, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman.

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DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

SITUATION SITUATION WANTED VACANT

SITUATION WANTED SIT. WANTED

Wanted urgently Full Time Cook for an Omani family Salary R.O.250/-

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE Indian male MBA finance, 6 years experience finance & accounting, specially in Oil & Gas now on visit visa. Contact 94327063 Email: shabab3939@yahoo.com

Kindly send your CV to

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

alraid@alraidgroup.com

or contact 24567070

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 Urgently required Accountant with valid Oman D/L. Send your CV to accounts@progroupoman.com Cosmetic leading company is looking for: professionally qualified and experienced Accountant.

Please email your CV at maryanaoman@hotmail.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

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

SALES / MARKETING Software company looking for Telesales Executives – Female, with minimum 2 years of experience.

Suitable candidates can send their resume to omanerpsales@gmail.com

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

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

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 Wanted an Indian family in Al Ghubra requires a full time living housemaid. Contact 97084023 Housekeeper / nanny looking for full time job (filipina) Contact: 91758581 or 95784531 Wanted fulltime Housemaid or houseboy for Indian family in Azaiba. Contact 97448484

ENGI./ELECT./TECH..

MEDICAL

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

Wanted a Staff Nurse to work in a private clinic in EBRI (Ibri) preference will be given to candidates who have cleared their prometric exam. Contact: 99502851

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

HOSPITALITY A reputed hotel has a requirement for front desk Receptionist (Omani). Apply to benoyjacob2@gmail.com Contact: 94146486 / 92883346

MANAGER EDUCATION Wanted Graduate in Electronics / Mechatronics for teaching position for school students. Send CV to info@iiriss.com 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

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 Urgently required (All female only) Radiographer, Physiotherapist, Echo Technician, EEG technician & Nurses. Contact: 99374223, 22081700 email: hr@gshoman.com Wanted doctor or any person to run a medical complex & pharmacy in Salalah. Contact 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 Immediate placement ( with or without MOH) A. Pharmacist 3 nos B. Asst.pharmacist - 2 nos Contact Tel.99338219 , 93240949 Wanted female Gynecologist, female Staff Nurse -2 no, Dentist, Dental Technician with MOH license for Al Saadi specialized Medical Centre in Mussana.

Contact 92025033

SALES / MARKETING Looking for Electrical Salesman with diploma certificate.

Contact 97616265 email: brightsilverllc@gmail.com, Wanted Salesman with Oman driving license for Advertising Company.

Contact 96440587 Sales Executive male / female experience 2 years of travel agency experience. Interested candidate shall send his / her CV to officer1_ajyad@yahoo.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

Sales Executives for Media Enterprise. Oman D/L. Contact: essential. jobs@interacoman.com A company at Muscat looking for a senior salesman of building materials who has minimum 3 years experience & NOC as well.

Contact no 93991932 A reputed media advertising & publishing company looking for female Sales Executives. Send CV to job08080@gmail.com or Contact 91408005

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE Required Office Assistant 160+25+Acc, Contact 99454425

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 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 Part – time accountant qualified experience accountant available.

Contact 9675938527, male ACCA with 4 years of work experience in a reputed company looking for a suitable position in accounts / finance.

Contact 98489141 MBA (international business) from London, 4 years of UK experience in banking operational, looking for suitable position. Contact 91710075

AUTO CAD AUTOCAD D MAN, Gulf Exp In Major Projects, knows ARCH, Structural, MEP, Noc available PH: 98225740 Indian male draft man, 3 D visualiser, 18 month experience in Oman driving license.

Contact 96285891 / 98414107 Email: prasadvv4u@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

Indian female B.Com PGDCA, Tally -9, 10 years exp in Accounts & HR at Oman. Contact 93726921 / 99058722

Female 26, 3 yrs exp in HR & Admin, with Oman D/L, looking for a suitable opening. Contact 98236033

30 yrs Indian B.Com 7 yrs experience looking for job in accounts, Admin department. Contact 91935828

Indian male 2+yrs oman exp in HR. joing immediatly. release available.

Contact :93671437

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

CATERING Indian Cook, Tandoori cook and Chinese cook looking for a cook job in hotel restaurant.

Contact: 98744307

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 ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

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

Pakistani male B.Com /PGD having 2 years experience in Accounting and Inventory field seeking suitable job, on visit visa. Contact 94129550

Finance Manager, CPA, with more than 15 yrs. of experience in GCC. Fully knowledgeable in Finance, General & Management Accounting .

NOC available. Contact 96209331

Finance Manager (M.Com. MBA) with start-up skill & group consolidation, Baking,corporate funding, restructuring of finance and accounts with new system and procedure.amritaa.m2002@gmail.com

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

3 yrs experience, Indian female, 26 years, Masters in Financial Management, B.com, Seeking suitable placement. Contact: 99345132 Email: Sandhya1735@gmail.com

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

Egyptian Accountant using ERP system on visit visa 1year experience. Contact: 96019233 Sri Lankan male qualified CIMA (UK) Accountant & bachelor degree in accountancy with over 10 years experience in various industries looking for job position as Senior Accountant / Finance Manager currently in Muscat available on visit visa. Contact 97299017 Email: mnm_ruzan79@yahoo.com Indian Male, 25, CA, CMA, ACMA, looking for a challenging assignment in finance or Investment Banking field. Contact +917567122122 or umang@snthakar.com Chief Accountant Indian male having 16+ years experience in Oman/ GCC up to finalization of accounts.

Contact 92729422 Indian male, B.Com Graduate having 10 years exp 6 years in Oman looking for an Accountant job.

Contact : 93830171 Email: nidbivtl@yahoo.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.

Contact 95857199

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 Light duty driver seek job.

Contact 95546316 Heavy driver valid license Omani need job & visa. Contact 91139936 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

S U N DAY, M AY 1 0, 2 0 1 5

D5

DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED DRIVER 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 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 Expatriate male MBA marketing and engineering working in Oman having valid D/L available to join immediately with NOC and release.

Contact 94553097 Indian male B.Tech Mechanical having 4 years experience with QA/ QC & CWSIP looking for suitable position. Contact 99447106 / 24483297 Graduate Civil Engineer, Indian, Total 16+ Yrs exp., 7+ GCC seeking suitable Senior/Mid level Job in PMC/Contracting, NOC Available & Valid GCC Driving License.

Contact : GSM: 94363574; E-mail : Crashu_78@yahoo.com Male 26, B.Tech in Electronics & Communication Engineering having 4.8 years experience (including experience in Japan) seeks suitable placement & can join immediately.

Contact: 91902646 Email: ajumalmajeed@gmail.com Procurement Officer 7 years experience in Oman construction civil & structural steel NOC, ITI & driving license in Oman.Contact: 92023761 QA/QC inspector 5 yrs exp in O&G Industry with diploma mechanical & NDT level 2 on visit. Contact : 91231007 sf.aseem@gmail.com B.Tech Mechanical Engineer on visit visa looking for job, two years experience as QC Engineer, NDT level-2 certified. Contact: 98386074 Email: jayeshthilakan@gmail.com Indian male 29, Mechanical Engineer CSWIP3.1 certified having 5.5 years experience in steel structural construction projects seeking suitable position. Contact: 91078780 Email: nikhilhai@gmail.com Electrical Engineer (B.E) : 5 years of experience (4 years in Oman) with valid Omani D/L. NOC available.

GSM: 92260391

ENGG. / TECHNICAL 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

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 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

Marine Engineer, Filipino, 33 years old, seeking for suitable job in Oman with 8 years work experience.

Contact Number-96627685

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

Omani Mechanical Engineer, has 3 years experience ,has HSE, H2S, Riggers/Banks men Permit, Drawing / cad, SCBA, Safety Leadership and Initial Fire Response Courses. good with computer and English language looking for suitable job. Contact 99224319-98454500 Indian male 22 Mechanical Diploma holder Engg with HVAC certified, having 1 year exp. seeking suitable position. Currently available on visit visa. Contact - 92835952 Indian male 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 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

HOSPITALITY Indian male 18 yrs hotel experience Dubai procurement logistics stores suitable position NOC available.

Contact + 968 96573591 Email: namraj1973@rediffmail.com

IT

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

Indian male 22 yrs fresher BCA young and energetic, seeking good opportunites. email: jlaxmimenon@gmail.com Contact 00919567722270

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

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

Project (Electrical) Engineer with BE 10 years of experience (8 years in Oman).Driving license and NOC available. Looking for job.

GSM- 92197288

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

B.Tech biomedical Engineering having Omani driving license.

Contact 91352248

Civil Engineer Female, 3 yrs experience in structural design, on visit visa seeking suitable placement.

Contact 99195433

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

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

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

Mechanical Engineer (B.E) : Four years of experience (3 years in Oman). NOC available.

Contact :92530471

IT 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 IT system support Engineer, 26 years Indian male 6 years experience on windows VMware , Lo tus domino , desktop, on visiting visa immediate joining.

Contact : + 968 96316459 Email: nairvipint@gmail.com 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

SALES / MARKETING

SECRETARIAL/OFFICE

MISCELLANEOUS

Indian male looking job in Sales & Marketing on visit visa having Qatar experience with driving license.

Contact 96669152

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

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 Hotel field diploma in Computer B.Com, Indian, Diploma in Hotel Management MBA in hospital management at pursuant operation manager in a resort India. Contact 97864635 / 91815776074 Projects/ contracts Manager 31 yrs (26 yrs Oman) experience in management & coordination of multi-million R.O projects of government & private sector, Post Graduate Structural Engineer with structural & QS Background looking for senior position. Contact +00968-91400599 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

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 3 years experience Media Hospitality Sales Marketing looking for suitable job valid driving license car, NOC available.

Contact 96054202 37 years male 15 years experience in facility superior & specialized in fitness equipment maintenance, excellent skill in English on visit visa. Contact: 94514883 / 99679306 Email: jobin163@gmail.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 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

Indian, BINU. M Scaria medical lab technician, 15 years experience prometric passed BSc, MLT+ pursuing Msc MLT. Contact 97850841 / 97864635/ 919447935234

Indian female Graduate, 3 yrs experience in MNC as process associate & CED seeking for suitable job.

Contact: 94657273

Lab Technician, Civil (8yrs Gulf experience) looking for a suitable job (NOC available) Contact-93344378

Pakistani male 34 yrs Intermediate 2 yrs exp in sales & marketing in Oman. Looking for suitable job.

Contact - 92146864

Well experienced MOH Licensed Indian GP Doctor looking for locum / permanent position in the Capital area. Contact 98140024 email:drgpoman@yahoo.com

Indian male MBA 7 years experience in Hospitality industry, operation, sales & marketing looking for suitable vacancy. Contact 92115860 Email vibin.py@gmail.com

Dentist more than 10 yrs of experience in Muscat with release looking for suitable post.

Contact 91232778

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

BSc male Nurse with MOH license and NOC on visit visa.

Contact 96414215

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

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 Key Account Executive , currently working with a reputed FMCG company Oman is looking for a placement asap, NOC available, valid Omani driving license.

Total experience in Oman is 12yrs and particularly in Sales is 8 1/2 years. Contact 95589765 Email : agnelfrancis@yahoo.co.in Senior IT Professional, Indian Male, more than 17 yrs. of experience in software development(PB, Oracle, SAP ABAP) and IT Support with valid Oman DL and NOC available Contact : 92193867, Email : cp.prasad@gmail.com 23,Male, ACCA with 2.5 years experience in Big6 audit firm and Oil/ Gas,looking for permanent placement in Accounts/Audit. Contact #95140445 a.saran891@gmail.com Indian female MBA Finance currently on visit visa, seeks immediate placement.

Phone - 968 - 98430089 Indian Male 34 years Mechanical Engineer 3 years of Experience seeking suitable placement immediately Contact: 91991435, 93310821 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, 28 years, 7 years experience in transporting & heavy equipment renting company. Having Omani driving license seeks suitable positions. Contact 94410485

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S U N DAY, M AY 1 0, 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTSIT. WANTED MISCELLANEOUS 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. Knowledge of MS Office &Tally, 4yrs experience in accounting & admin dept. looking for good placement in any field.

Contact.98928220 Sudanese/Bsc IT/26/2 years experience/excellent Eng-Arb speaking/ Omani driving license/96387227/ henrykarrar@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 96155921 fysal.nellaya@gmail.com or 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 Indian female B.Com graduate, 4years experience in accounts & administration department looking for suitable placement. #98928220 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, 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

SITUATION WANTED SIT. WANTED 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 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

Indian female MBA finance currently on visit visa seeks immediate placement.# (968) 9843 0089 Indian female, B.Com graduate, 2 years experience in admin department looking for a suitable placement. Contact 92531929 ACCA affiliate, male, 23, 2.5years of vast experience in finance & audit in audit firm,seeking suitable placement immediately. # 96895140445, a.saran891@gmail.com 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 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

Part- Time Accountant, well versed with all accounting, Finalization, Budgeting available.# 98803439

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.

ACCA affiliate,male,2.5 years experience in an audit firm in Finance & Audit, looking for suitable immediate placement. Release available.

Contact 95140445, a.saran891@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.

SITUATION WANTSIT. WANTED 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

ACCOUNTANTS AND CONSULTANTS

WE ARE PROVIDING ACCOUNTING/ AUDITING TAX/ CONSULTING CONTACT: 24 567 251 / 95 498 033

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 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 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 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 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#93269839/ Email: saneersainu@gmail.com

SITUATION WANTED SIT. WANTED Female B. Sc Maths, B. Tech, Computer science CCNA, RHCE, MCP 7 years experience.

Email : devi2571997@gmail.com

Indian female having 10 years as cook looking for part time job, expert in gujarati & south indian food.. contact 96733187

Indian male- 32, 6 years’ experience in store incharge in Africa seeks suitable job, Contact 97385874

Female Junior Architect Graduated from School of Planning & Architecture, Vijayawada. Excellence in Autocad, Sketching & Modelling. Motivated, Hardworking and Result Oriented. Internship - KHAM Designs, Bangalore.Presently with Atulya Architects & Associates.

Email saatvika.frozenmusic@gmail. com Contact 00968-94057427

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- 29 BCA & Diploma, IT document controller & database.

8 years’ experience in India seeks suitable job. Contact: 97385864 Indian female, B.Sc, PGDCA currently on family joining visa. immediate joining seeks suitable placements. contact no. (968) 95573205 /95949230/ 95800792

Electronics System Eng. UK Graduate. Indian Female with relevant work experience. Eng. Analysis, Instrumentation and Control, Power & Heat, Electrical & Fluid, Drives & Actuators etc. Looking for an entry level position.

Email s.dinesh1508@gmail.com. contact 97848075, +91-8105413827

S U N DAY, M AY 1 0, 2 0 1 5

D7

DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED CARGO

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain Marine Tours Contact- 98029602, 92808636

TOURS

RENT A CAR

RENT A CAR

D8

S U N DAY, M AY 1 0, 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTED SERVICES

WEBSITE

MATRIMONIAL

COMPUTER

Hyderabadi Sunni Muslim parents invite alliance for their daughter, age 25 years height 5’1”, fair, M.Tech (Assistant professor in Engineering College), from professionally qualified boys, age between 27 to 29 years, well settled in Oman, UAE, Saudi or Qatar, from a decent family only.

Contact 91-8885350596 Email Id: watad1988hr@gmail.com, agents please excuse.

Indian male 38 yrs working in Muscat, looking for life partner.

Any Nationality. Divorced or widow. Contact:96059801 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 We are Muslim family seeking alliance for our son interested families.

Contact 97664009

BUSINESS

CLASSES

WEB, ERP and Business Intelligence (BI) creation and management at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

MANPOWER

DRIVING 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

GOOD NEWS TRANSPORTATION Local company based in Ghala requires business development Manager with good experience and driving license.Contact 99166930 / 93782735

Transportation. Contact: 99542393 Transportation Contact 99159277 Transportation. Contact: 98505294

Software development based on requirements such as: Web development & cloud computing, SAP implementation & services. Android App development networking.

Contact 97423932

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422 Transportation. Contact99508282 Transportation. Contact 94087276

Looking for a genuine investor for an IT company. Good prospects.

Contact 99329216 Email: sales@aditsllc.com Required business Researcher. contact 99229700 Email: kjaaraimi@hotmail.com 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 Road Safety concrete barriers for sale all over Oman available in sizes 2 meters and 3 meters.

Contact 94546200 Business Consultant, feasibility study. Contact 99229700

Transport to ISWK. Contact 93172589 Pick & Drop any time. Contact 97014786

BUSINESS 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

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

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