Times of Oman - September 14, 2015

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MONDAY, September 14, 2015 / 30 Dhul Qa’ada 1436 AH timesofoman.com

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TURNING INTO REALITY

HM receives thanks MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has received a cable of thanks from Dr. Islam Karimov, President of Uzbekistan, in reply to His Majesty’s congratulatory cable on his country’s Independence Anniversary.

In his cable, President Karimov expressed his thanks and appreciation for His Majesty’s congratulations, wishing His Majesty good health and happiness and the Omani people further progress and prosperity. - ONA TOP THREE INSIDE STORIES

OMAN

School fee hikes

1

Oman’s private schools are raising their fees every year. >A2

OMAN

CEO apologises, quits

2

The CEO of Al Jazeera Steel Products, has resigned. >A4

MARKET

Water projects

3

A major tender has been floated for water projects. >B1

PRESTIGIOUS PROJECT: The first phase of Saraya Bandar Jissah comprises two beachfront Jumeirah Group hotels and three exclusive residential zones. – Supplied photo

Saraya Bandar Jissah signs OMR106m deal with banks MUSCAT: Saraya Bandar Jissah’s dreams of creating one of the most exclusive developments in the Gulf have taken a significant step towards becoming reality as two major banks agreed to fund the project to the tune of OMR106 million.

In one of the biggest property deals in the Sultanate, Bank Muscat and BankDhofar have committed $275 million in financing to the luxurious ocean front Integrated Tourism Complex taking shape

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in Muscat. Under the terms of the agreement, the entire first phase of the development will be financed to the developer.

The first phase of Saraya Bandar Jissah comprises two beachfront Jumeirah Group hotels, three exclusive residential zones — Zaha, Nameer and Wajd, comprehensive recreational facilities and staff accommodation.

The agreement was signed by Sheikh Hamood bin Sultan Al Hosani, CEO of Saraya Bandar Jissah, AbdulRazak Ali Issa, Chief Executive of Bank Muscat, and Abdul

TO OPEN NEXT YEAR

Muscat airport work on the right track MUSCAT: Work at the Muscat International Airport is progressing well and the authorities are hoping to “open it early next year.”

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the launching ceremony for new non-stop flights between Kuwait and Muscat, a senior official of the Director General of Civil Aviation Regulations, Anwar bin Abdullah Al Raisi, said that the runway is open and so are all operational facilities. “Only the terminal building is left to be opened which, too, will happen soon,” he said.

He also said that the deadline is

approaching soon. “We are near our deadline but initially, it was a big challenge,” he said.

Admitting that there has been a delay, he said, “Yes, there is some delay as we were constructing five airports at the same time. We are now done with the Salalah International Airport and are focusing on the Muscat International Airport currently so that we can complete it very soon. It is towards this purpose that we are working round the clock,” he said.

On the illegal expatriates caught working at the Muscat airport, the official said that the work has been affected slightly because of this. >A4

Hakeem Al Ojaili, Acting CEO of BankDhofar at the Saraya Bandar Jissah site near Qantab.

Sheikh Hamood, CEO of Saraya Bandar Jissah, shared his thoughts at the signing ceremony, noting, “The agreement between Saraya Bandar Jissah, Bank Muscat and BankDhofar, is of great strategic importance. The pact with the two banks provides an ironclad guarantee to our customers that their properties will be delivered within the stipulated deadline irrespective of the market dynamics.”

See also >A6

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Calls to protect children through new law Lawyers say the Child Law needs

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to be put into force after children died recently through adult neglect

FAHAD AL GHADANI

fahadnews@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: After a number of shocking deaths of children due to adult neglect, top lawyers have called for new Child Law regulations to come into force urgently.

In the most recent case, a fouryear-old girl was allegedly left unattended in a bus owned by a training centre and reportedly died of suffocation in Bid Bid. That followed an incident earlier in the year when two boys,

aged five and six, died after locking themselves in a car in Ibri when the parents of the boys were at home.

The Child Law was adopted by the Sultanate of Oman in early 2014 but speaking to the Times of Oman, Ahmed Al Mukhaini, a senior lawyer, said, “The Child Law is not clear yet. I believe the implementing regulations are important. The Child Law regulations should identify violations of the act and consequent punishments.”

Complaints “The Child Law as of now faces two challenges which currently prevent implementation of the child right protection. The first one is, of course, that Child Law is not ready to be applied in certain cases and the second one is the fact that people in our society do not come forward to complain,” said Al Mukhaini.

He added that the Omani society is a reserved society where people invariably prefer to remain silent even when they witness such cases. >A6

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Thunderstorm has been predicted in Mudhaibi, Saiq and Jabal Shams by the meteorology department.

Rains likely in Mudhaibi, Saiq and Jabal Shams >A3

Parents demand curbs on private schools fees

C O R P O R AT E W E L FA R E

Private schools have been increasing fees SOCIAL SUPPORT: The initiative will help people with special needs to easily access help and services they need.–Supplied photo

Oman Air to assist special needs fliers Times News Service MUSCAT: In a new initiative, Oman Air has made exclusive arrangements to assist people with special needs but having low income to make their air travel easier. The initiative comes in partnership with the Oman’s Ministry of Social Development and underlines the carrier’s commitment towards corporate social responsibility.

Announcing the move, Oman Air’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Gregorowitsch, said, “Oman Air is pleased to be working closely with the Directorate General for People with Special Needs to benefit such people who fall in the low-income bracket as far as their airline tickets requirements are concerned. The tickets will enable them to access treatment or education or take part in other relevant activities.

“This initiative underlines Oman Air’s long-standing commitment to working with public and private institutions to offer a helping hand to those who are in need. As the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, we have a duty to support and enable the people of Oman. This is an important element of our corporate social responsibility programme and we are proud to be working with the Ministry of Social Development in achieving it.”

Hilal Mohamed Al Abri, Director General for People with Special Needs at the Ministry of Social Development, added, “This new initiative with Oman Air will provide vital support to people with special needs who are living on low incomes. It will mean that they can more easily access the help and services that they need.

We are grateful to our national carrier for its commitment.

“The Ministry of Social Development works as a strategic partner with Oman Air on many projects and in many cases, the airline takes the lead. Together, we aim to adopt initiatives that deliver positive, long-term impact within our communities, and create a cooperative society.”

Oman Air has been providing support for people with special needs for quite some time. Most recently, the airline partnered with the Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises and the Al Raffad Fund to conduct a workshop in Muscat.

In this workshop, the importance of providing financial backing for students with special needs was emphasized, and students learned about the significance of economic independence. The steps necessary for creating one’s own business, and the practical and financial support provided by the Al Raffad Fund were also outlined.

by an average of 10 per cent per annum since 2010, with parents struggling to cope with the hikes

SALEH AL SHAIBANY saleh@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Oman’s private schools are raising their fees every year, forcing many parents to register their children in government schools because they can no longer afford the steep fee hike.

Private schools have been increasing their fees by an average of 10 per cent annually since 2010, with parents who want their children to be educated in these schools finding it becoming a burden.

“This year, I am paying OMR275 per month for my son who is studying in Class 7. Last year, I paid OMR205 per month. So, it was a big jump in fee this year,” Tariq Al Shabibi, parent of a 12-year-old boy, told the Times of Oman.

Many parents say they do not enroll their children in government schools because of the overcrowded classrooms. Besides, there are also questions of quality education as well.

“I have already pulled out my two children from private schools because I cannot afford the high fees anymore. The tuition fees go up every year,” Aisha Al Harthy, mother of four children, said.

Some parents urged the government to ensure that private schools do not increase their fees.

COST BURDEN: Parents have urged the government to ensure that private schools do not increase their fees. They have also urged the monitoring of their tuition fee structure.–-File photo for illustrative purpose only

This year, I am paying OMR275 per month for my son who is studying in Class 7. Last year, I paid OMR205 per month. So, it was a big jump in fee this year Tariq Al Shabibi Parent of a 12-year-old boy

They also asked for monitoring their tuition fee structure.

PACP action “Maybe the Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP) needs to put a cap on fee hikes. For example, these schools must be prevented from increasing their tuition fees by imposing a three year freeze. It will prevent schools from taking any undue advantage,”

said Khalil Al Jardani, owner of a construction company as well as parent of a 15-year old pupil studying in a private school.

Education experts agreed but said capping the fees is not enough.

The government must also benchmark the tuition charges with a known standard instead of letting schools have a free hand.

“A fee freeze is okay but we need to benchmark all private schools’

charges according to tuition fees charged in the GCC private schools. This will prevent them from exploiting parents desperate to ensure that their kids acquire private education,” Faisal Al Ansari, a basic education expert, told the Times of Oman. Other experts said steep hikes in private schools’ fees are not justified when compared with tuition fees charged by higher education institutions.

“Your child can earn a degree for a maximum of OMR3,000 a year in Oman because the government does not allow higher education institutions to increase their tuition fees. Why is the same rule not applied to our private schools?”

Safa Al Rawahi, a higher education expert, asked.

A PACP official said parents have the right to lodge complaints if they feel their children are being overcharged by private schools.

“School education is a service and if parents think schools cannot justify the fee increase, they can complain and we will investigate,” a PACP official who did not want to be identified told the Times of Oman.

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W E AT H E R R E P O R T

Expect rains in Mudhaibi, Saiq, Jabal Shams Staff Reporter MUSCAT: Thunderstorm has been predicted in Mudhaibi, Saiq and Jabal Shams by the meteorology department. In a tweet, the met department has confirmed the presence of clouds in Al Batinah region and in the south east coast.

According to the weather bulletin, the skies would be partly

cloudy over Dhofar governorate with chances of intermittent drizzle and fog over the mountains.

There are chances of convective clouds development and rain and occasional thundershowers, associated with hail and fresh winds over Al Hajar mountains and adjoining areas. There are also chances of dust rising due to fresh wind over deserts and open areas.

There are also chances of early morning low level clouds along the coastal areas of Arabian Sea and some parts of Oman Sea coast, the general weather bulletin added.

Last Wednesday, heavy rains in the northern parts of Oman claimed one life.

Meanwhile, UAE newspaper The National, quoting the National Centre for Meteorology and Seis-

YOUR BIGGEST ROAD HAZARD IS IN YOUR HAND A TIMES OF OMAN HANDS-FREE DRIVING INITIATIVE

mology (NCMS), reported that gathering clouds threaten rain over the eastern and western regions at the start of this week.

“Scattered rain has been on the radar and started falling sporadically in the mountains and near Al Ain late last week. More of the same is expected this week,” the report said quoting NCMS meteorologist Sufian Farrah.

CHANCES OF RAIN: There are chances of rain and occasional thundershowers associated with hail and fresh winds over Al Hajar mountains and adjoining areas.–File photo

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144th

session of the Arab Foreign Ministers Council started on Sunday in Cairo at the Headquarters of the Arab League

TRANSPORT

Futaisi pledges better roads for Al Dhahirah IBRI: Efforts are being made to improve and develop roads network in the Governorate of Al Dhahirah in particular and the Sultanate in general, said Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communications.

During his meeting with citizens and officials in the Governorate of Al Dhahirah at Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) branch in Al Dhahirah on Sunday, Dr Al Futaisi detailed several developments in the governorate that included lighting Ibri-Hafeet road, matters related to Ibri-Al Ruba’ Al Khali ‘Empty

Quarter’ road and its associated services, as well as other topics related to roads in various wilayats of the governorate.

Salim bin Mohammed Al Nu’aimi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport and Communications for Transport reviewed the major road projects in the governorate, as well as underconstruction projects and understudy projects.

Abdulrahman bin Salim Al Hatmi, CEO of Oman Rail talked about the economic importance of the rail project in terms of saving time in goods transport, creating jobs etc. —ONA

ARAB MINISTERS DISCUSS YEMEN, SYRIA AT CAIRO MEETING The 144th session of the Arab Foreign Ministers Council started on Sunday in Cairo at the headquarters of the Arab League.

The meeting is being chaired by the United Arab Emirates. Oman’s delegation is being chaired by Yousef bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs.

The session will discuss various political, economic and social issues of common concern, including the developments in Yemen, Syria and the Palestinian cause, among other developments. -ONA

Omani women shine in challenging professions

O M A N I S AT I O N

Al Jazeera Steel CEO apologises, submits resignation to Board Times News Service

I like to be in the field of safety and believe that women have high capabilities Zahra Al Balushi Assistant manager at the ICEM SAFETY ISSUES: Students of International College of Engineering and Management (ICEM) in Muscat study the techniques of protecting and saving people’s lives.-Supplied photo

They (women) just need to be supported at every stage, from training to employment

Female students at the International College of Engineering and Management (ICEM) have impressed with their performance in various higher education courses such as mechanical engineering, facilities

MUSCAT: Omani women have proved that they are capable of becoming great health and safety experts and serve the country in one of the most honourable professions, say experts.

The International College of Engineering and Management (ICEM) in Muscat is one of the oldest specialist college of its kind in the Gulf region, where men and women study and train side by side for a common noble goal – protecting and saving people’s lives.

Female students at the college have impressed their instructors with their performance in various higher education courses such as mechanical engineering, facilities management and fire safety as

well as health, safety and environmental management.

Their gender has also not stopped them from undergoing vocational training in some of the challenging courses offered by the college, which include airport and aviation, fire and rescue, industrial fire and oil and gas.

Speaking to the Times of Oman, Zahra Al Balushi, health and safety assistant manager at the ICEM and a graduate of the same college, said her passion motivated her to join this field and believes that women can become great health and safety experts.

“I like to be in the field of health and safety and believe that women have high capabilities. However, they should concentrate and work hard as it is a big responsibility.

You deal with people’s lives,” Al Balushi said.

M U S C AT A I R P O R T

B.A.B. LOUNGE

Shangri-La’s lounge set for new season

University of Central Lancashire

Sara Al Bulushi, who studied well engineering at the ICEM and then continued her studies at the University of Central Lancashire (UClan) in the UK, also believes that women are not less strong or less efficient than men.

“They just need to be supported at every stage, from training to employment,” said Al Bulushi, who has made history by winning an award from the US-based MFPT society, for developing a low-cost advanced gas emission monitoring system.

Abdullah Al Khaduri, a fire instructor at the ICEM, said he has trained a number of women, most of whom went to the United Kingdom for further studies after studying at the college for three years.

A majority of them have been working in the field of health and safety, Al Khaduri said, prais-

ing them for their hard work and dedication.

Female firefighters According to Ahmed Mohammed Al Shamsi, health and safety manager at the ICEM, the Omani law allows women to become firefighters but the challenge lies in attracting them to this field and training them.

Stephen Parr, a fire instructor at the college, has been impressed by the capabilities of female trainees.

Trainees taking part in courses which involve physical activities are mainly men but in higher education, 30 per cent of the students are female, he said.

“Just recently, we had some students who underwent vocational training as part of their higher education. They were as good as men,” Parr said.

Times News Service MUSCAT: Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa has announced it will be commencing a new season at the B.A.B. lounge on September 18, following the success of its debut season earlier this year.

Located on the rooftop of the popular Bait al Bahr seafood restaurant, the B.A.B. Lounge has a stunning panoramic view of the ocean with a dramatic mountainous backdrop.

The B.A.B. lounge will, once again, provide a contemporary luxury environment to enjoy predinner drinks or late night cocktails, wine or champagne as well as a selection of canapés and light snacks accompanied by relaxing entertainment curated by the resort’s resident DJ, Angela Pandelis.

Angela, who is no stranger to the lounge scene after featuring at international venues, will be playing an eclectic mix of “chill-out” tunes, developing to a more up-

tempo repertoire as the evening progresses.

After the last season, Angela has already become a favourite in the area.

The staff at the venue have full mixology training since an integral part of the offering will be the diverse and unique selection of beverages on offer.

These will range from signature drinks, such as the “Rosita” and the “B.A.B,” created by the resort’s mixologists, as also the classic drinks such as the “Manhattan” and “Daiquiri”. A selection of mocktails will also be available.

“We are excited about the new season at the B.A.B. lounge following the success of the first season and anticipate the venue to, once again, become the talking point in the town. It is such a unique venue that there will be no better place to come and relax in the cooler evenings,” commented Mark Kirk, Area Manager and Hotel General Manager at the resort.

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Signboards in A1 regional languages < FROM

“But then we brought workers from Salalah to replace them to finish the work,” he said.

More than 1,000 expatriate employees were arrested in May 2015 when they were found working illegally at the new terminal being built at the Muscat International Airport project.

He also said the new airport terminal will have signboards in regional languages. “We are talking with the operator OAMC to ensure that we have sign boards in regional languages also,” he said.

Regarding the Sohar airport, the official said that many airlines, including Qatar Airways and Indian carriers, have shown a keen interest in starting new flights as the population they cater to is huge. “But nothing has been finalized so far,” he asserted.

Oman also wants to fly to more

Dutta urged the “colleagues in other companies to put their trust in the Omani workers, and spare no efforts to develop them or else this will affect negatively the development process in the private sector.”

He expressed his gratitude to all Omanis and expatriates who supported him over the last seven years of his work in Oman and also supported the growth of Jazeera Steel. Dutta said, “I appreciate the help I received from my Omani neighbours and expatriates. Once again, I would like to go on record that I had not wanted the statement to hurt the feelings of locals and I am extremely sorry for the same. I wish this wonderful country and the locals to prosper and grow on their own merit and the Omanisation drive should be a great success in the future.”

Sara Al Bulushi

management and fire safety

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADI elham@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Apologising for a controversial statement made to a magazine, Bhaskar Dutta, the CEO of Al Jazeera Steel Products, has submitted his resignation and is awaiting its acceptance.

Sending out a personal apology to all Omani nationals, Dutta said, “I would like to express my regret and deep sorrow to all workers in the Sultanate of Oman, the private sector, Al Jazeera Steel Board and Al Jazeera Steel workers for the recent statement which unintentionally hurt the sentiments of the workers serving in the industry.

I am confident that all workers in the Sultanate of Oman will accept this apology. I have submitted my resignation to the board of directors and I am awaiting its acceptance.”

places in India and that is one of the reasons they want the existing bilateral agreements to be revised.

Paul Gregorowitsch, the chief executive officer of Oman Air, has always maintained that Oman Air would like to operate more flights to India but the Sultanate is “highly restricted” by the bilateral agreements between India and Oman. “We want to fly to more places in India and have hence requested that the existing bilateral agreements be revised.

We have been promised another meeting in Muscat in October with the Indian authorities so that we can revise our seat sharing agreement as we are looking at increasing the number of seats to around 9,000 to 10,000 for India,” he summed up, adding that he prefers an “open sky policy.”

SMEs discuss labour law at ‘Tajribati’ Times News Service MUSCAT: Difficulties in dealing with labour laws, particularly those concerning Omanisation for small enterprises, was discussed at the Zubair Small Enterprises Centre hosted session ‘Tajribati’.

The discussion was a continuation of a series of sessions that were launched last Ramadan, bringing together a group of Zubair SEC members and experts from various public and private institutions.

The discussion concentrated on one of the most important topics concerning entrepreneurs and small business owners, which is the Omani labour law. The title of this ‘Tajribati’ meeting session was ‘My experience with labour laws in Oman’, hosting a group of speakers from institutions involved in small and medium enterprises. Guest speakers in this

BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP: The concept of ‘Tajribati’ is based on The Zubair Corporation strategy, represented through Zubair Small Enterprises Centre to support entrepreneurs and owners of small businesses.–Supplied photo

session included Sheikha Al Bulushi, Assistant Director-General, Department of Development and Performance Evaluation, Ministry of Manpower, and Khalifa Marhoon Al Rahbi, legal counsel and lawyer at Khalifa Bin Marhoon Al Rahbi Office.

The subject of the ‘Tajribati’ discussion involved a dialogue in which the audience raised many questions, to which the speakers explained the correct mechanisms to apply the laws governing their businesses.

Some attendees spoke of diffi-

culties in dealing with the labour laws, particularly those concerning Omanisation for small enterprises. All speakers were experienced in the field of small projects, whether in practice or supervision, which added much value to the discussion.

Khalifa Al Rahbi noted, “The nature of this ‘Tajribati’ session was very enriching and the participation of entrepreneurs with ideas and aspirations in relation to the labour laws were very important in motivating the renewal and development of the laws with the concerned authorities”.

Sheikha Al Balushi also commented, saying, “We extend our thanks to Zubair Small Enterprises Centre for providing us with this opportunity to meet a group of outstanding entrepreneurs and owners of small businesses and to listen to them and know the difficulties facing them”.

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More flights to Kuwait

MUSAFIR PLANS

Ooredoo’s offer for Haj pilgrims Times News Service

FREE BAGGAGE ALLOWANCE: Kuwait Airways will be offering additional free baggage allowance to customers travelling from Muscat during the promotional period. – Ismail Al Farsi/Times of Oman

To promote the new additional services, Kuwait Airways has launched special promotional offers

MUSCAT: Kuwait Airways has added two new flights between Kuwait and Muscat on Friday and Monday with effect from August 31, CEO of Kuwait Airways and Chief Commercial Officer, Philip Saunders, said on Sunday.

Earlier, Kuwait Airways was operating two flights a week from Kuwait to Muscat on Thursday and Sunday. “Now, we will be operating four flights a week between Muscat and Kuwait which will be connected to 18 destinations worldwide, including India, Middle East, Far East and many other places,” Saunders said.

Nonstop flights Kuwait Airways also held a ceremony on Sunday to mark the new operation of nonstop flights from Kuwait to Muscat.

Rashid Al Anzi, Chargé d’affaires of the Embassy of the State of Kuwait, Muscat; Anwar bin Abdullah Al Raisi, Director General of Civil Aviation Regulations, Public Authority for Civil Aviation, Muscat; and Hamed al Abri, Director General-Air Navigation, Public Authority for Civil Aviation were among the digni-

taries present on this occasion.

“The introduction of new additional frequencies to Muscat will cater to the growing demand for traffic between Kuwait and Muscat,” Saunders said.

Kuwait Airways has acquired seven A320 new aircraft from Airbus recently and these will be used on the Kuwait-Muscat route. Asked about the airlines’ plan for Oman, he said, “Muscat is one of the places where we want to increase the number of flights, and eventually we plan to fly daily to Muscat,” he said.

Promotional offers In order to promote the new additional services, Kuwait Airways has launched special promotional offers to Kuwait, various destinations in Indian subcontinent and Far East to attract passengers.

“Further, Kuwait Airways will be offering additional free baggage allowance to customers travelling from Muscat during the promotional period. Kuwait Airways is also providing a special and unique SMS service to its customers,” said Rajan Jayaraman, District Sales ManagerOman, Kuwait Airways.

“Kuwait Airways sends an SMS on the registered customers’ mobile phones alerting them about confirmation of seats, expiry of time limit to purchase tickets and any change in the timing of the departure of flights booked,” he added.

The service keeps the passengers informed about the current status of their travel details and is available in both, English and Arabic.

MUSCAT: As the Haj season begins, Ooredoo has joined hands with the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs to ensure that Haj pilgrims stay connected with family and friends at home. Competitive data bundles and free calling time will give customers great rates with Musafir. To opt for the Musafir plans, customers simply need to opt in prior to their departure.

As part of this partnership, Ooredoo is supporting the Ministry’s Health and Safety campaign during the 2015 season.

Special leaflets will be distributed from registered Haj offices across the Sultanate to ensure the health and wellbeing of those visiting Saudi Arabia.

Feras Al Sheikh, Director of Consumer Sales at Ooredoo, said, “It is a very spiritual time of the year for thousands of Muslims travelling to Mecca from Oman to perform Hajj, and the last thing any of them want to worry about is changing their SIM cards to stay in touch with their families, especially during Eid Al Adha. Our Musafir bundles are designed for exactly that, to eliminate the hassle and added expenses often incurred due to unsubscribed data roaming services.”

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OMAN S U LTA N Q A B O O S U N I V E R S I T Y

Art expo showcases Oman’s history Times News Service MUSCAT: Different types of paintings, part of 86 works of art, have been put on display at the second exhibition of Dr. Salman bin Amer Al Hajri, organised by the Deanship of Student Affairs at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU).

The opening ceremony of the exhibition was held under the

patronage of Dr Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Sarmi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Higher Education. It includes five national works representing the history and development of the Sultanate, 11 abstract paintings and two works following the realistic style.

As many as 47 works representing iPad art and phone art have been done on coated paper. As some

of the creative works reflect historical and cultural aspects of the Sultanate, others document the trips of the artist and his impressions about humans, life and places. Dr. Salman bin Amer Al Hajri is an artist, graphic designer and researcher in the field of visual arts. He is an Assistant Professor in Graphic Design, Department of Art Education, College of Education, SQU.

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As the flagship financial services provider in the Sultanate, Bank Muscat is pleased to partner with Saraya Bandar Jissah, which is truly a visionary development AbdulRazak Ali Issa, Chief Executive of Bank Muscat

Saraya Bandar Jissah signs one of largest realty pacts with banks Under the terms of the agreement, Bank Muscat and BankDhofar will finance the development of entire first phase of the ITC

Staff Reporter SIGNIFICANT STEP: As progress at Saraya Bandar Jissah continues apace, three premier residential zones are currently on sale – Wajd Residences, Nameer Island and Zaha.

MUSCAT: Saraya Bandar Jissah, the company developing Oman’s luxurious Integrated Tourism Complex (ITC) in Muscat, has taken a significant step by partnering with Bank Muscat and BankDhofar to finance the development of the ITC property.

Dubbed as one of the largest real estate financial transactions in the Sultanate in recent years, the agreement that Saraya Bandar Jissah has signed with Bank Muscat and BankDhofar for development finance is valued at $275 million (approximately OMR106m).

Under the terms of the agreement, the finance will cover the entire first phase of the development. The first phase comprises two beachfront Jumeirah Group hotels, three exclusive residential zones – Zaha, Nameer and Wajd, comprehensive recreational facilities and staff accommodation.

The agreement was signed by Sheikh Hamood bin Sultan al Hosani, the CEO of Saraya Bandar Jissah, AbdulRazak Ali Issa, the Chief Executive of Bank Muscat, and Abdul Hakeem Al Ojaili, the Acting CEO of BankDhofar, at the Saraya Bandar Jissah site near Qantab.

Sheikh Hamood shared his thoughts at the signing ceremony, noting, “The agreement between Saraya Bandar Jissah, Bank Muscat and BankDhofar — the largest banks in the Sultanate — is of great strategic importance. This agreement provides an ironclad guarantee to our customers that their properties will be delivered within the stipulated deadline, irrespective of the market dynamics. Our partnership with the local banking community will help potential

buyers envision their dream home, and help make it a reality.”

Saraya Bandar Jissah has constantly made efforts to understand the market dynamics which are increasingly demanding superior properties, while potential purchasers are assured of timely completion and property handover.

Construction activity for the development began in 2012, well ahead of the original sales launch, and through their partnership with the government owned Omran — the tourism development investment arm of the government, Saraya Bandar Jissah is able to offer assured delivery time frames for local and expatriate property buyers wishing to invest in the ITC. AbdulRazak Ali Issa, Chief Executive of Bank Muscat, said, “As M I N I S T E R O F H E A LT H

Practice code for health institutions MUSCAT: Minister of Health Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Sa’eedi launched and signed the Code of Practice for Infection Prevention and Control aimed at healthcare providers in all health institutions affiliated with or supervised by the Ministry of Health.

Dr. Al Sa’eedi confirmed that this Code is an important step towards standardising and optimising infection prevention and control throughout the ministry’s situations. The health minister opened a workshop on Executive Leadership Workshop on Infection Prevention and Control. -ONA

the flagship financial services provider in the Sultanate, Bank Muscat is pleased to partner with Saraya Bandar Jissah, which is truly a visionary development. The financing agreement marks an important milestone in the development of the Omani real estate sector and reiterates Bank Muscat’s commitment to strengthen institutional participation in sustainable real estate projects.

“The pact further reinforces our strategy to provide developers like Saraya Bandar Jissah with an array of banking products and services to finance assets. We recognise that premier real estate developments like Saraya Bandar Jissah support the Sultanate’s growth outlook and further reinforce core economic sectors, in this case the tourism industry and the real es-

tate sector. Saraya Bandar Jissah is a leading and trusted developer and we look forward to seeing the development become one of Oman’s most prestigious new addresses when it opens.”

“Saraya Bandar Jissah is a reputed and exquisite addition to the real estate and tourism sector, and therefore, we are pleased to provide the developer with customised finance solutions. This agreement marks yet another significant accomplishment for BankDhofar.

“As a proudly Omani bank, we are pleased to finance a project of such national significance. The agreement reinforces our capabilities and commitment to continually collaborate with local and international developers towards supporting key strategic projects

that contribute towards Oman’s economic growth and prosperity,” said Abdul Hakeem Al Ojaili, Acting CEO of BankDhofar, during the signing ceremony.

“This agreement with Bank Muscat and BankDhofar validates the importance of the relationships Saraya Bandar Jissah has cultivated in Oman over the years. Saraya Bandar Jissah is extremely happy to collaborate with the two banks and we anticipate that our partnership will continue beyond this transaction,” added Sheikh Hamood.

As progress at Saraya Bandar Jissah continues apace, three premier residential zones are currently on sale – Wajd Residences, Nameer Island and Zaha. Units on the Nameer Island are available in 3 and 4-bedroom configurations.

CRIMES AGAINST CHILD

< FROM

A1 ‘People must lodge complaints’ “A number of crimes occurred in the past but the guilty received no punishment because people were reluctant to complain,” said Al Mukhaini.

An official of the ROP agreed, saying any investigations normally end if there is no complaint. “Almost all such cases meet the same end. “The public tend to avoid complaining in such cases, believing that such instances were not due to anyone’s mistake and it was just the destiny of the child,” said the ROP source.

Al Mukhaini added that the law should include the Public Prosecution authorities in all child neglect cases, especially those that lead to death or severe injuries.

Pointing out that he had demanded the Child Law years ago, Mukhaini noted that he, along with a number of lawyers and others interested in child rights issue, are looking forward to see the implementation of regulations.

“Currently, the Public Prosecution is not involved unless there is a complaint from a relative of the affected child,” said Al Mukhaini.

He explained that the ideal scenario in child neglect cases would

be that the Public Prosecution should intervene even if there is no complaint by a relative. “They should question the suspects even if they are parents,” Al Mukhaini said.

“The Public Prosecution should depend on the report filed by the ROP and examinations carried out by the Ministry of Health’s doctors,” said Al Mukhaini.

He explained that the Public Prosecution doesn’t act because such crimes do not come under the Penal Code as yet. “The Child Law regulation should consider naming such crimes and should include these in the Penal Code, too,” said Al Mukhaini.

“I have raised this issue earlier with the authorities concerned.

The Child Law regulations should identify violations, punishments and beneficiaries when there is compensation involved,” said Al Mukhaini. He added that the law should make it clear that the child or his relatives can sue the parents when they are witness to physical injuries or neglect.

“As of now, there is a National Committee for Family Affairs which looks after child rights and protection. This committee re-

ceives complaints from relatives, schools and even neighbours and then investigates. It has been successful in taking certain actions to protect the affected children but again, it is important that someone complains,” said Al Mukhaini.

He added that cases such as the one in which a child drowned as a result of parents’ neglect or was suffocated to death in a vehicle, do not come under the purview of the committee. “The Child Law recognises the child as an individual,” said Al Mukhaini. He explained that this message is not understood by the public yet but hoped that once the implementing regulations of the Child Law are issued, the situation will change.

“We don’t call for heftier punishments but demand that the concerned authorities should keep a record of suspect parents or relatives in cases of child abuse or neglect so that they can figure out if the neglect was on purpose or not,” said another lawyer not wanting to be named. A reliable government source confirmed that the implementing regulations of the Child Law draft are ready and are now in the review stage.

M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 14 , 2 0 1 5 The government decided “not to take part in any meeting until the militia recognises Resolution 2216 and agrees to implement it without conditions Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s, office statement

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REGION

Yemen’s government backs out of dialogue

TROUBLE

President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s BEATEN UP: Palestinians help another Palestinian man after he

was beaten by Israeli police during clashes in Occupied Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday. -Reuters

Israeli police clash with Palestinians at Al-Aqsa mosque OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli police raided the plaza outside Occupied Jerusalem’s AlAqsa mosque on Sunday in what they said was a bid to head off Palestinian attempts to disrupt visits

by Jews and foreign tourists on the eve of the Jewish New Year.

Police used tear gas and threw stun grenades towards Palestinian youths, who barricaded themselves inside the mosque and hurled rocks and flares, a Reuters witness said.

Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, in a statement, said the Palestinian youngsters also had pipe bombs. There was no sign these had been detonated.

No serious injuries were reported and the compound was opened to visitors after the violence subsided, police said.

A statement from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he “strongly condemned the ag-

gression of the Israeli storming of Al-Aqsa this morning with troops and occupation police”.

Al Aqsa official Radwan Amr said 32 of the mosque’s windows were completely or partially destroyed, a door was shattered and the carpet burned in 12 places.

The Palestinian youths, Israeli police said in a statement, had intended “to disrupt the routine of visits... on the eve of Rosh Hashana”, the Jewish New Year, which begins at sunset on Sunday.

“A police force... surprised the barricaded youngsters and entered the ... area” so that the visits could get under way, the statement added.

Jewish ultranationalists have been pushing the Israeli government to allow Jewish prayer on the compound outside Al-Aqsa, which stands above Judaism’s Western Wall.-Reuters

government, which has fled to Saudi Arabia, had said on Friday it would join UN-mediated talks this week

AL-ABER, YEMEN: Yemen’s exiled government backed out of UN-brokered peace talks as loyalist forces supported by a Saudiled coalition launched a major offensive against the Houthi rebels on Sunday.

A military official said the offensive aimed to push the insurgents out of the oil-rich Marib province east of Sanaa and eventually move on the capital, which the rebels seized a year ago.

President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s government, which has fled to Saudi Arabia, had said on Friday it would join UN-mediated talks this week.

But in a short statement overnight, Hadi’s office said the government would not attend talks unless the rebels first accept a UN resolution demanding their withdrawal from territory they have captured. The government decid-

CONFLICT

ed “not to take part in any meeting until the militia recognises Resolution 2216 and agrees to implement it without conditions,” the statement said. The UN’s special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, had announced that both the government and the rebels agreed to attend talks.

The United Nations has called repeatedly for a ceasefire in Yemen, which has been wracked by conflict since March when the coalition began air strikes against the rebels as they advanced on the southern city of Aden.

Hadi had fled to Aden after the rebels seized control of Sanaa to press their demands for a greater share of power in the country.

Previous attempts at negotiaIRAN

Russia building airstrip in Syria’s Latakia, says monitor BEIRUT: Russia is building an airstrip in the Syrian regime’s stronghold Latakia province, and has brought hundreds of technicians and military advisers to the site, a monitor said Sunday.

The claim comes as Washington accuses Moscow of a military build-up in Syria, where Russia has backed President Bashar AlAssad’s regime against an uprising of more than four years.

“Russian forces are building a long runway capable of accommodating large aircraft near the Hmaymeen military airport in Latakia province,” the Britainbased Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The monitor, which relies on a network of civilian, military and medical sources inside Syria, said “the Russians are preventing Syrians, whether military or civilian, from entering the area where they are building the runway”.

“In recent weeks, military airplanes arrived in Hmaymeen carrying military equipment and hundreds of Russian military ad-

ON THE OFFENSIVE: Armed Yemeni tribesmen from the Popular Resistance Committees, supporting forces loyal to Yemen’s Saudi-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, hold position in Marib province, east of the capital, Sanaa, during clashes with Houthi rebels, on Sunday. -AFP

visers and technicians,” the group said. Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said sources also reported that Russia was enlarging the Hamadiyeh airport in Tartus province, another regime stronghold that is south of Latakia. The airport is currently used by aircraft that spray crops with pesticide. On Friday, Cypriot officials said Russia had issued an alert for Cyprus to divert aircraft next week because it is planning military exercises off the coast.

And on Saturday, Syrian state media reported the arrival of two Russian planes at the airport in Latakia, saying they were carrying humanitarian aid.

80 killed in six days At least 80 rebels and regime fighters have been killed in six days of clashes northeast of Damascus, the Observatory added.

The deaths came in clashes that began on Tuesday when two prominent extremist rebel groups launched simultaneous attacks on three areas outside the capital.

The Jaish Al-Islam and Faylaq Al-Sham attacks have focused on the areas of Harasta, Dahiyat AlAssad and the region around Adra prison, the monitor said. “Clashes since September 8 have killed 46 rebels and 41 regime forces, including from pro-regime militias,” said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.

On Wednesday, Jaish al-Islam also began an assault on Adra prison, Syria’s largest and where many opposition figures have been held.

It briefly captured two buildings in the women’s section of the prison, but was subsequently forced back.

In Damascus city meanwhile, the Observatory said one person had been killed and 10 wounded in rebel fire on the Bab Tuma district.

Rebel forces including Jaish alIslam regularly fire rockets into Damascus from rear bases on the city’s outskirts.

The regime frequently carries out deadly air strikes on the rebelheld areas outside Damascus, often killing dozens of civilians at a time. -AFP

‘US must honour nuclear deal once under way’ TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign minister said Sunday that Washington must honour a nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers once implementation begins and block any attempt by lawmakers to meddle with it. The comments

by Mohammad Javad Zarif came after President Barack Obama’s Democrats last week staved off a united Republican effort to sink the July agreement in Congress.

“We hold the US government accountable for the implementation of the JCPOA,” Zarif told a press conference in Tehran, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreed with the six powers. -AFP

tions to end the conflict — which the UN estimates has killed more than 4,500 people — have repeatedly collapsed.

Pro-government forces have made significant gains in recent months as the coalition intensified its air strikes and sent modern equipment and reportedly thousands of troops to Yemen.

12,000 troops readied Analysts have said the war is entering a new and potentially decisive phase as Gulf nations build up ground forces to battle the rebels in the capital and their northern strongholds.

In July, loyalist troops freshly trained and equipped by the coalition pushed the rebels out of Aden

and four other southern provinces. On Sunday, Hadi loyalists launched the “largest and fiercest offensive since operations began in Marib province”, the military official said, adding that the rebels were targeted in the Jufeinah, Faw and Thatt-Alra areas.

The insurgents “repelled an advance backed by Apache helicopters and Saudi and Emirati armoured vehicles” in Jufeinah, the rebel-run Saba news agency said, citing a military source.

Saudi Brigadier General Ahmed Al Assiri, spokesman for the coalition, said the operation in Marib “has just started”, adding in a statement to Al-Jazeera news channel that it is “going as planned”. -AFP

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M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 14 , 2 0 1 5

INDIA LIVE SHOW

THREE TRAPPED AS TUNNEL CAVES IN Rescue work in progress on Sunday to search for workers in the tunnel of four laning which caved in on Saturday night in Bilaspur. At least three labourers have been trapped since Saturday evening when an under-construction tunnel near Bilaspur town in Himachal Pradesh collapsed and blocked the passage, police said on Sunday. Fire brigade and police have launched an operation to rescue them. Official sources said the workers of the Himalayan Construction Company were digging the tunnel when a portion caved in due to landslides. All the trapped workers belonged to the hill state. - PTI

Guests clash on TV show, channel flays incident NEW DELHI: Shocking scenes were witnessed on the national TV on Sunday when two guests on a live show used expletives, slapped and grappled with each other, leaving the audience aghast and prompting the channel to condemn the incident.

A self-styled guru Om Ji of the Hindu Mahasabha and and woman astrologer Rakhi Bai were seen having sharp exchanges on TV show ‘Aaj Ka Mudda’ on IBN 7.

Om Ji was seen engaged in a heated discussion with Rakhi Bai over some controversy related to Radhe Ma, who is embroiled in a case of alleged domestic violence.

“How can you criticise Radhe Ma, you correct yourself first,” Om Ji was heard saying. When Rakhi Bai protested, he said he was talking about another participant on the show Deepa Sharma whom the channel described as ‘Dharma Guru’. He referred to some alleged controversies about the family life of Sharma and criminal cases against her.

Sharma, who had looked calm by then, stood up and approached Om Ji from behind and interrupted his harangue by patting on his back.

“Tameez se baat kariye (behave yourself ),” she was seen warning the self-styled guru and then slapped him. Om Ji also hurled a slap at her and was seen tightly holding both her hands. “Tu kya maregi?” he said as the two were shown grappling on screen.

Meanwhile, the channel has “condemned” the incident.

“We invite responsible people to our shows and expect our guests to behave responsibly. We don’t expect such behaviour from them and condemn it,” it said. - PTI

Efforts on to evacuate 70 sailors from Yemen Nearly 70 seamen from the coastal village of Mandavi in Kutch and from Jodiya and Salaya villages of Jamnagar were stuck for over 15 days now at Khokha port in Yemen

NEW DELHI/AHMEDABAD: India on Sunday said it is taking steps to ensure safe evacuation of its nationals from Yemen after a sailors group claimed that 70 seamen from Gujarat are stranded in the war-torn county.

“Our Mission in Yemen (Camp Office in Djibouti) is aware of the situation and taking steps to ensure safe evacuation of Indians,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in Delhi when asked about the action being taken to rescue the Indians.

Nearly 70 seamen from the

AIR STRIKE: Debris and smoke rises after a coalition air strike hits an army base in Sanaa, Yemen, on Saturday. -PTI/AP

coastal village of Mandavi in Kutch and from Jodiya and Salaya villages of Jamnagar were stuck for over 15 days now at Khokha port in Yemen where they had gone to deliver cargo in five boats, a sailors group said in Gujarat and appealed to the government to rescue them.

It came days after six Indians, most of them from Gujarat, were killed when their boat came under Saudi-led air strikes in the Gulfcountry.

“About 70 Gujarati sailors along with five vessels are stranded in Yemen for around 15 days and they now need the government’s help for their rescue,” Vahanvatta As-

sociation of Kutch and Mandavi president Haji Juneja said.

“I yesterday wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs urging them to save our sailors or shift them to a safer place,” he said.

Pitiable condition “The sailors are in a pitiable condition as some forces have been bombarding them. They escaped death last night when some force, either of the insurgents or the Saudi coalition, began an attack with rocket launchers,” he said.

Meanwhile, one of the stranded sailors, identified as Sikandar from Mandavi village, sent an au-

dio message in which he said that they came under a bomb attack on Saturday night.

“I am an Indian. My name is Sikandar. We are at Khokha port.

They have lobbed three rockets and we somehow managed to save ourselves. We are running here and there to save ourselves,” Sikandar says in the message.

“We are 70 Indians stranded here along with five ships. They have been bombarding us with warplanes. Please help us. We are Indians. We are in great difficulty. They will kill us. Please save us,” he said.

Yemen has been facing a civil war-like situation with Houthi rebels clashing with pro-government forces.

United Nations estimates that more than 4,500 people have been killed in the conflict since March.

The External Affairs Ministry had said on Friday that six Indians were killed after their boat came under Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen on September 8.

The deceased were among seven Indian nationals who were initially reported missing when two boats, ‘Mustafa’ and ‘Asmar’ carrying a total of 21 Indian nationals came under aerial attack.

The ministry had said that of the remaining 15 Indians, 14 were safe in Hodeidah while one person was still missing. - PTI

B J P - R S S C O O R D I NAT I O N M E E T

‘RSS controlling, dictating agenda of Modi government’ KOLKATA: Charging Prime Minister Narendra Modi with handing over his government’s control to the RSS, CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Sunday said the right wing organisation dictated terms and set the agenda.

“Modi has proved that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) not only has the remote control, but the actual control of his government. RSS is dictating terms to the Modi government and preparing its agenda,” Yechury said here referring to the recent three-day BJP-RSS coordination meet held in the national capital.

Addressing the birth centenary celebration of former party general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet here, Yechury said an Emergency-like situation prevailed in the country under the current regime.

“The RSS has given a certificate of good work to Modi government. But the good work actually means the poison of communalism is spreading across the country and is evident in every sector.

“They have given a mandate for saffronisation of education... attempts are being made to rewrite history. They welcome Hindu Bangladeshis but if Muslims enter the country, they call them infiltrators. Riot is not the only way

Sitaram Yechury

thorough which communalism spreads,” said the Marxist leader.

“They have created an Emergency-like situation. They are changing the laws of a secular democratic republic which is a big threat to the unity and integrity of the nation,” alleged Yechury.

Taking a jibe at the “Make in India” campaign, he claimed the country attracted far less FDI than it had under the Congressled UPA regime. Yechury also attacked the West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress, alleging it has entered into “match-fixing” with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

“The Trinamool and BJP have entered into match fixing. If the BJP needs Trinamool’s support for its anti-people bills in parliament, the Trinamool needs the BJP to escape the CBI probe in the Saradha scam. It’s a marriage of convenience,” Yechury said. - IANS

I N V I TAT I O N

Modi to have town hall interaction with Zukerberg NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the Facebook headquarters in California on September 27 where he will hold a town hall interaction with its CEO Mark Zukerberg, only the second for the young billionaire with a world leader after US President Barack Obama.

Making the announcement on his Facebook page, the Prime Minister invited questions for the Townhall session.

Modi’s announcement came after Zuckerberg wrote in his Facebook post: “I’m excited to announce that Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India will be visiting Facebook HQ later this month for a Townhall Q&A. “Prime Minister Modi and I

will discuss how communities can work together to address social and economic challenges.”

It is only for the second time that Zukerberg will have a town hall with a world leader at Facebook headquarters.

The first was with Obama in April 2011, just before his re-election as president.

In that town hall, the two had talked about jobs, youth and innovation in the US. Facebook then had roughly over 500 million users globally.

Today, it has 1.49 billion users.

On August 24, one billion people were on Facebook globally on a single day. The prime minister will be on a visit to Ireland and the US from September 23 to 29

during which he will address the UN General Assembly and also visit Google headquarters in the silicon valley.

The Facebook CEO referred to his last meeting with Modi in India and said, “I had the chance to visit Prime Minister Modi in India last year and it’s an honour to have the chance to host him here at Facebook.”

Modi had received Zuckerberg in October last year. Zuckerberg invited questions that should be addressed to PM Modi.

He said video would be posted live on is profile which will also be visible on Modi’s official page on Facebook. In his response, Modi wrote on his Facebook post: “I thank Mark Zuckerberg for the invite to visit the Facebook head-

quarters. I look forward to the Townhall Q&A on Sunday 27th September at 10pm IST (9:30am Pacific time).”

He added that “the interaction will cover a wide range of issues and will surely be a memorable one”.Inviting questions, Modi said, “This programme will be incomplete without your participation!

Share your questions on Facebook. I urge you all to share your questions on the‘Narendra Modi Mobile App.’ Your questions will make this a programme to be remembered.”

India has the largest Facebook userbase outside the US. In June, the company had said 125 million users of its global base of 1.44 billion come from India. - PTI

ELATED: Mark Zuckerberg met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to India last year and pledged support to his ‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign. - Facebook photo

M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 14 , 2 0 1 5 SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH FACEBOOK PAGE

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INDIA

BIHAR POLLS

Former chief minister Manjhi plays hardball on seat-sharing NEW DELHI: NDA’s Bihar allies have failed to clinch a seat-sharing deal till late evening with Mahadalit leader and former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi playing hardball, demanding more seats than what has been offered by the alliance spearhead BJP. Manjhi’s associates, who had on Saturday threatened to reconsider continuing in the alliance if a “respectable” offer was not made, said on Sunday BJP has made concessions but some issues remain unresolved.

Manjhi, the Hindustani Avam Morcha (secular) chief, had told reporters earlier in the day he was not upset after Union Minister and BJP’s Bihar election in-charge Ananth Kumar, his ministerial colleague Dharmendra Pradhan and the party’s state in-charge Bhupender Yadav held a series of T W I N AT TA C K S

Two rape victims shot dead in UP MAU/SITAPUR (UP): Two rape victims were shot dead on Sunday in separate incidents in Uttar Pradesh with one of them being fatally attacked just two days before she had to appear in a court as a witness in the case.

The twin attacks on rape victims were condemned by opposition Congress which slammed the Samajwadi Party government for the “increasing lawlessness” in the state.

Police said that an 18-year-old rape victim was shot dead allegedly by bike-borne youths in Baijapur village in Dakshintola area in Mau district, two days before she had to appear in a court as witness in the case.

The incident occurred when the girl along with her brother was going to visit a doctor, and died of bullet injuries on the spot, they said. The girl was allegedly raped on June 6, 2011 by one B K Singh, Manager of a college, police said, adding the case was going on in the local court, where she had to appear as witness after two days.

The victim’s family members have alleged that she was killed upon the directions of the rape accused, they said.

Additional Superintendent of Police Sunil Kumar Singh said the guilty will not be spared.

Second incident In the second incident, a 23-yearold woman was shot dead allegedly by a rape accused against whom she had lodged a complaint last year in Mahmudpur village in Sitapur, police said.

The incident took place when the woman was going with her husband on bicycle and the accused, Pradeep, shot her dead, police said.

Pradeep had come out of the jail about two months back and was pressurising the woman to withdraw the rape case she had lodged against him, they said.

The body has been sent for postmortem, police said.

Efforts are on to nab the accused, they added. - PTI

meetings with him. Confabulations are still on to thrash out a seat-sharing formula acceptable to all allies.

Though BJP has a strong Dalit ally in LJP’s Ram Vilas Paswan, it wants Manjhi on its side during the high-stakes state elections to bring in the Mahadalit votes.

BJP president Amit Shah, party sources said, cancelled his Mysore visit to oversee the negotiations.

Manjhi was said to be unhappy after he was offered 13-15 seats by the BJP and sought to draw a parity with Paswan’s LJP, which was tipped to get around 40 seats.

Disagreement Those privy to the talks said BJP wanted to contest around 160 of the state’s 243 seats, leaving 25 for RLSP of Union minister Upendra Kushwaha. LJP and RLSP have

agreed to the seat-sharing formula brought forth by BJP but a final announcement has been delayed due Manjhi’s disagreement with it.

Manjhi had on Saturday met Shah at the latter’s residence twice.

Meanwhile, taking potshots at the NDA over the wrangling on seat-sharing, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said when there is alliance “minus any principle and for opportunism, such things happen.”

“This is the beginning of the contradiction. Let us see what is in store next. Such alliances based on personal ambition and lust for power do not survive.

“When you go for such alliances, these contradictions come out, which are the beginning of an end.

People will give a befitting reply to them,” Singhvi said. - PTI

Manjhi’s son detained with Rs465,000 cash JEHANABAD/PATNA: A son of former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi was on Sunday detained with Rs 465,000, while four people were arrested in pre-election crackdown on use of illegal money during the elections, officials said.

Elsewhere, Rs 4.9 million cash was recovered as part of the drive launched by the state authorities following a directive from the Election Commission against people travelling with unaccounted

money. In a major embarrassment for Manjhi, his son Praveen Kumar was detained after police intercepted his car during a routine check at Gaya-Jehanabad check post near Umta village and seized Rs465,000 cash, Sub-Divisional Police Officer Ashfaq Ansari said.

Kumar was detained and taken to Makdumpur police station for questioning after he allegedly failed to give a satisfactory reply about the purpose for carrying the cash, he said.

Kumar, however, claimed the money was meant for construction work being carried out at his house in Patna.

“I was going to Patna from Gaya with Rs465,000.

I was taking this money to build our house in Hanuman Nagar in Patna where some construction work is going on.

I had taken this money from my brothers,” he told reporters.

Police seized Rs 4.9 million unaccounted cash in five separate incidents in Patna and Muzaffarpur. - PTI

Chouhan heckled by locals as toll in blast climbs to 89 the district head of BJP’s Vyapar Mandal and accused Chouhan of “complete abuse and misuse of power”.Chouhan said the state government has launched a drive to ensure that the explosives for mining works are not stored in public areas even as it was reported that a large number of people were in possession of licenses to stockpile mining explosives.

The Madhya Pradesh chief minister and his cabinet colleague Antar Singh Arya faced the wrath of slogan-shouting people who blocked their path at the new bus stand square close to the site of the tragedy

JHABUA (MP): Protesters on Sunday heckled Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan near the site of the massive blast that left 89 people dead as anger spilled onto the roads in Petlawad town, while the main accused who allegedly had BJP links evaded arrest for storing mining explosives.

A reward of Rs100,000 was announced for information leading to the arrest of Rajendra Kasawa, the absconding accused, by the chief minister as his administration came under scanner over allowing storage of explosives in a crowded residential area.

Chouhan and his Cabinet colleague Antar Singh Arya faced the wrath of slogan-shouting locals who blocked their path at the new bus stand square close to the site of the tragedy.

Gauging the public anger, the two leaders squatted on the ground after being gheraoed and gave a hearing to the protesters for more than 15 minutes before leaving for the mishap site, eyewitnesses said.

Chouhan, who visited the mis-

TAKING STOCK: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the blast site at Petlawad town in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday. -PTI

hap site and also went door-todoor meeting the affected families, said he will stay put in Petlawad to oversee relief work till “normalcy is restored” but later returned to Bhopal as he was advised against night stay in the town due to public anger over the incident.

Assistance He said family members of the deceased will get assistance of Rs 500,000 instead of Rs200,000 announced earlier and employment will be given to their kin.

“I will return tomorrow to Petlawad and meet the family members of the deceased at 17 remaining places,” he later added.

Protesters, including Congressmen, came out on the roads in large

numbers shouting slogans against the state government and district administration, alleging that it had not taken appropriate steps to prevent the tragedy and demanded stern action against officials for the lapse, eyewitnesses said.

The protesters also shouted slogans demanding sacking of District Collector Aruna Gupta and also allegedly manhandled the area’s Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) A R Khan, who tried the clear the way for the chief minister.

Police carried out searches at some places to nab Rajendra Kasawa, who had stored the huge pile of explosives for mining work in a building which triggered off a series of explosions on Saturday.

After the explosion on Saturday, Kasawa and his family members fled from their residence.

“We have booked Kasawa under IPC section 304 (man slaughter or punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and section 3 (punishment for causing explosion likely to endanger life and property and section 4 (punishment for attempt to cause explosion, or for making or keeping explosive with intent to endanger life and property) of Explosive Substances Act yesterday,” Petlawad Sub-Divisional Officer of Police A R Khan said.

Demanding a CBI probe, Congress alleged that he was was allowed to store explosives in a busy area against the rules as he was

Complaint According to Channalal Gehlot (55), a resident of Bamniya village close to Petlawad town, he had lodged a complaint with former Jhabua Collector B Chandreshkar regarding the illegal storage of explosives by Kasawa in his shop in public area close to new bus stand on October 13 last year.

When contacted, Chandreshkar, who is now Collector of Ratlam district, said he could not recall any such complaint.

“I am not aware of any such complaint regarding Kasawa during my stint as Jhabua collector,” Chandreshkar said over phone.

Asking the Chief Minister what action he has taken against the culprits, Congress alleged that Madhya Pradesh under his rule is turning into a “multi-killings and multi-deaths state” and cited the Vyapam scam.

CBI probe demanded State Congress chief Arun Yadav demanded that a CBI probe be ordered in the explosion.

After visiting the blast site in Jhabua, Yadav alleged that Kasawa was an RSS and BJP man and that he had been booked some years back for storing explosives unlawfully in Jhabua.

At least 89 people were killed and nearly 100 injured after a massive blast caused by mining explosives stored in a building ripped through a crowded area in Petlawad town. The blast completely destroyed at least two buildings — one in which explosive material was stored and an adjacent restaurant. -PTI

D G - L E V E L TA L K S

India, Pakistan to implement border confidence building measures NEW DELHI: The latest set of confidence building measures (CBMs) agreed upon by BSF and Pak Rangers to put an end to ceasefire violations and firing along the border are expected to be put in place in the next fortnight.

The two sides, during their three-day DG-level talks here, had decided to enhance communication channels by getting in touch over the fastest modes of communication like mobile phone, fax and email and ensure that they alert the other side with a precautionary illumination fire if either side detects something suspicious on the International Border (IB).

“The 20-point joint record of discussions stipulates that the new CBMs and other points agreed upon shall be put into operation in the next 15 days.

Initiatives “A number of these initiatives do not require the permission of governments on either side and can be implemented by the two forces on their own keeping in mind the top

most agenda of peace, tranquillity and safety of border population,” sources privy to the development said. They said like in the case of exchange of mobile numbers, both the sides have to work out modalities as international calling is barred from border locations and hence mechanisms have to be put in place for this.

“Basic details like the colour of the warning flare shots that will be used by either side will have to be worked upon and communicated to each other within the next fortnight so that the decisions taken during the DG-level talks could be implemented on ground,” they said.

The joint record was signed and endorsed on Saturday here by the two chiefs — Border Security Force DG D. K. Pathak and Pak Rangers Director General Maj Gen Umar Farooq Burki.

The Rangers delegation, after this official ceremony, crossed over to their side in the evening through the Attari-Wagah land border.

These bi-annual border talks had taken place almost after a

PARLEYS: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh with Pakistani Rangers Director General (Punjab), Major General Umar Farooq Burki and his delegation, at a meeting in New Delhi on Friday. - PTI

break of two years as relations between the two neighbours came under strain due to a host of issues.

As part of efforts to bring peace on the border, India and Pakistan had on Saturday also decided to put a complete ban on firing of

mortar shells along the International Border which has claimed the lives of several civilians and damaged their houses.

The outcome of the talks, which both the sides said were held in a “cordial and constructive atmos-

phere”, also endorsed a CBM that in case either side notices suspicious movement along IB, they will fire precautionary illumination shots to alert the counterpart that the forthcoming fire is aimed at the intruder and not at them.

However, Pakistan has put on hold for the time being two other CBMs of cultural and sporting activities exchanges as proposed by Border Security Force.

“Pakistan said it could be implemented after some time is given to the primary decisions taken for ending ceasefire violations and development of mutual trust.

“They have assured that these two CBMs would be activated before the BSF delegation travels to Pakistan by the middle of next year for similar talks,” sources had said.

BSF and Rangers also decided to hold coordinated patrolling along IB in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab and once this is successful, it will be conducted along the Jammu frontier too. The joint record also mentioned that both sides will take extra steps to help and repatriate those who inadvertently cross the border and similarly ensure early release of apprehended fishermen.

It was also decided, they had said, that any serious breach of ceasefire violation will be “jointly investigated” by the two sides. -PTI

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M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 14 , 2 0 1 5

PAKISTAN CREEPING PRESENCE

‘IS’ linked rebels claim attack on border post

SEEKING JUSTICE Activists of opposition party Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) shout slogans during the protest for missing activists and killing of party workers, in Karachi on Sunday. A Pakistani paramilitary force said on Friday, it had killed four terror suspects during a gunfight in Karachi, but MQM said the men were executed as part of an ongoing political vendetta. — AFP

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Pakistan militants who have pledged allegiance to IS said on Sunday they had attacked a paramilitary checkpoint along the Afghan border, in the first such assault claimed by a former faction of the Taliban in several months.

A militant affiliated with the faction told Reuters the group attacked Damadola district of the Bajaur tribal area in Pakistan’s northwest, where the military has been battling a militant insurgency since 2007, late on Saturday.

“Our men destroyed the post, set it on fire and left it after our operation was complete,” he said by telephone.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials confirmed a checkpoint had been attacked, but there were no casualties.

The Pakistani government says that IS, a group founded in Syria and Iraq in 2013, does not have a credible presence in the country.

Several smaller militant groups and factions of the Pakistani Taliban have, however, pledged allegiance to IS and its leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi since last year.

So far, IS has not formally accepted any of those pledges, nor has its central leadership claimed responsibility for any attacks carried out in Pakistan.

On Sunday, at least 12 militants were killed after military jets bombed the Mana area of Shawal Valley in northwest Pakistan, two security officials said. — Reuters

Mullah Omar died a natural death: Son Mansoor Dadullah, a senior Taliban commander and one of the opponents of new Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar

Mullah Omar

Mansoor, had alleged that Mullah Omar was killed and didn’t die a natural death

ISLAMABAD: Afghan Taliban supremo Mullah Omar died a natural death, his son Mullah Yaqoob clarified on Sunday amid claims by dissident Taliban commanders that he was killed.

“The enemy is spreading different rumours about the death of ‘Amirul Momineen’ (commander of faithful) to create rifts within the ranks of the mujahideen. I want to assure all of you that he had died a natural death,” Mullah Yaqoob said in an audio message, emailed to The Express Tribune.

“He (Mullah Omar) has neither been martyred by anyone in the Islamic Emirate nor by the enemy. I considered it necessary to share this information with you,” he added.

Mullah Yaqoob confirmed his father was sick and was critical shortly before he passed away.

“We have information regarding my father’s treatment as he suffered from some disease. As my father is no more in the world and we have already suffered through the shock of his death, I want to assure you that no one has any involvement in his death,” he added.

Mansoor Dadullah, a senior Taliban commander and one of the opponents of new Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, had alleged Mullah Omar was killed and did not die a natural death.

Further, Mullah Najibullah, who is known as Omar Khatab and leads a splinter Taliban group Fidayee Mahaz also claims the Afghan Taliban supremo was “poisoned” in 2013.

The Taliban insist Omar died in April 2013 owing to an illness.

However, dissidents are demanding investigation into Omar’s death and are also asking for the location of his grave.

A former Taliban minister had earlier told The Express Tribune that Omar had been buried in Afghanistan near Pakistan’s border.

As rivals continue to mount pressure on Akhtar Mansoor, remarks by Mullah Yaqoob could be a sigh of relief for the Taliban leadership.

Afghan Taliban have also released an audio of Mullah Omar in which he had condemned Dadullah for killing several Taliban commanders over espionage charges on his brother Mullah Dadullah Akhund.

Akhund, the top Taliban military commander, was killed in southern Afghanistan in 2007.

Mansoor Dadullah suspected some Taliban commanders had passed on information to foreign troops about the movement of his brother.

Mullah Omar had asked his followers not to give any responsibility to Mansoor Dadullah for killing “innocent Mullah Mansoor Dadullah now leads Dadullah Mahaz and operates from Zabul province. — Express Tribune

LOCAL POLLS

Main parties agree on campaign expenses ISLAMABAD: The mainstream political parties and the top poll supervisory body have agreed to a grossly unrealistic maximum limit of campaign expenditures for the upcoming local government (LG)elections.

In a recent meeting at its headquarters, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) shared with the political parties its ‘code of conduct’ for the upcoming local government polls in Punjab and Sindh.

Under the code, candidates for the councillor seat can spend no more than Rs20,000 during their election campaign. The expenditure limit for other categories of seats is not only unrealistic but will be almost impossible to follow for an overwhelming number of candidates.

Any proven major violation of the code can evoke stern penalties, including disqualification and unseating of a winner. Interestingly, when the ECP gave a briefing to the representatives of the political parties on Thursday, none of the senior politicians objected to such rules.

It is hard to believe that the par-

ties’ representatives did not know that their candidates will have to violate these laws as they are unrealistic.

According to the ECP briefing – a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune – the candidates running for municipal committee and union council seats, commonly known as councillors, can spend up to Rs20,000 on their election campaign.

Those contesting for the chairman or vice chairman of a union council can spend a maximum of Rs100,000 on their election campaign.

The process of long-delayed LG elections in Punjab and Sindh started earlier this month. The polls will be held in three phases with balloting for the first phase scheduled for October 31. Voting in the second phase will be held on November 19 and the third phase on December 3.

The ECP has notified the districts in both provinces that will go to polls in each phase.

There will be one metropolitan corporation in each of these provinces – Lahore in Punjab and Karachi in Sindh. — Express Tribune

LARGE NUMBERS

Megabats take over fruit trees in rural areas of Sindh SUKKUR: The unsettled areas of Piryalo are reluctantly playing hosts to a large number of megabats, who have arrived seemingly from nowhere and have occupied most of the trees that bear fruits.

These megabats have taken over most of the mango and date trees in the katcha areas of Piryalo, Garhi Mori and other areas.

The residents, who are fairly at ease with microbats commonly found throughout the country, admitted that they are afraid of the megabats. And they have good reason to be — these large bats, also known as fruit bats, have a wing span of more than four feet.

Flying foxes Megabats, also called flying foxes, are being spotted in these areas for the last month. The nearly fourfoot-wide animals are often seen clinging to the branches of fruit trees or crawling on the ground.

Megabats are known to have an excellent sense of smell.

So far, the megabats have not harmed humans or livestock. In fact, local farmers have been brave

So far, the megabats have not harmed humans or livestock. In fact, local farmers have been brave enough to get a hold of some animals and pose with them. These animals have, however, eaten up all the fruits from the trees.

They have also been eating microbats and smaller birds, such as sparrows enough to get a hold of some animals and pose with them. These animals have, however, eaten up all the fruits from the trees. Besides this, they have been eating

microbats and smaller birds, such as sparrows.

A Piryalo-based journalist, Sanaullah, told The Express Tribune that birds that used to frequent

the farms have started avoiding the trees ever since the megabats made their presence known. Sparrows, pigeons and parrots have left the area in a possible attempt to

save their lives from the giant invaders. According to him, the microbats normally used to come out of hiding at night but the megabats are seen flying around at all times

of the day, in search of food.

Confirming the presence of megabats in the nearby katcha areas, a villager from Garhi Mori, Rashid Mahar, told The Express Tribune that people are unable to sleep at night due to the noise these megabats make. He added that some of the fruit bats have been shot dead by the villagers but the gunshots did not seem to have instilled any fear in the animals.

Fruit bats Sukkur’s deputy conservator of wildlife, Taj Mohammad Shaikh, said that these megabats are commonly known as fruit bats and their natural habitat is in the Mirpurkhas district. “After getting reports of their presence, I have sent my men to survey the area and try to catch one of the megabats to determine its species,” he said.

When asked about the presence of the megabats in the area, World Wide Fund for Nature — Pakistan, Sukkur, senior project officer Imran said that he has not received such a report. However, he said, he will ask the officials to visit the area and investigate. — Express Tribune

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F L O O D A FT E R M AT H

Death toll from Japan floods rises to seven, 15 missing TOKYO: The death toll from floods which have devastated parts of Japan in recent days rose to seven Sunday, with thousands of homes submerged, as rescuers searched for 15 people still missing.

Police on Sunday found the bodies of two men in rice paddies in Joso, the worst-hit city.

Earlier in the day they discovered the body of a 68-year-old man inside a submerged car in a flooded ricefield in the town of Tochigi north of Tokyo.

Parts of Joso, a community of 65,000 residents, were washed away Thursday when a levee on the Kinugawa river gave way, flooding an area spanning 32 square kilometres (12 square miles) after the worst rains in decades.

Toru Takasugi, mayor of the CRIME

Indonesian man arrested over Japanese woman’s death JAKARTA: Indonesian police have arrested a man suspected of robbing and strangling a Japanese woman to death in her apartment in Jakarta.

The woman identified as Yoshimi Nishimura, 28, was found dead with strangulation marks on her neck at Casa Grande apartment building in south Jakarta on Monday, the capital’s police chief Tito Karnavian told reporters. “There was definitely resistance, but the victim was later strangled and beaten to death,” he said.

Police arrested the apartment building’s security guard, Mursalim, 25, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, and who had fled to Sumatra.

According to a police statement released on Friday, the suspect had jammed the lock of the door to Nishimura’s apartment by stuffing it with paper and then demanded she hand over her belongings after he helped her to open the door.

“His main motive was to take the victim’s belongings,” Karnavian alleged, adding that the items seized included money and mobile phones.

“He observed that the woman was living alone which made it easier to rob her,” he added. -AFP

city about 60 kilometres (37 miles) outside Tokyo, apologised at a press conference for not ordering residents to evacuate before the river burst its banks, local media reported. “We thought it might break its banks but we couldn’t predict where. We are deeply sorry for not handling the situation properly,” he said.

Still struggling Four days have passed since the flooding but a total of 1,800 rescuers including police, firefighters and military were still struggling Sunday to find 15 people still missing from Joso, public broadcaster NHK said. The weather agency warned of the possibility of more heavy rain in the flood-hit area later in the evening.

Officials said more than 1,650 people were still at evacuation centres in Joso Sunday afternoon as over 4,000 houses were submerged and the water supply remained cut off.

The number of missing in Joso dropped from 22 to 15 Saturday after police found more victims alive, including a pair of eightyear-old children.

In Kanuma city north of Joso a 63-year-old woman was killed by a landslide, while a 48-yearold woman was found dead in the northern prefecture of Miyagi.

A 25-year-old man was killed while helping to clear blocked drains in the city of Nikko, known for its historic shrines.

Police also found the body of a man in a river in Miyagi. -AFP

UK’s Labour faces divisions over its new ‘leftist’ leader At odds with the existing Labour position, anti-war campaigner Corbyn opposes the renewal of Britain’s Trident nuclear-armed submarine programme and has advocated withdrawing from the NATO alliance

NEW ROLE: Jeremy Corbyn leaves his home the morning after being elected as the new leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, in London, on Sunday. -Reuters

CHANGE

Algerian president Bouteflika replaces intelligence chief ALGIERS: Algerian leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika has replaced his powerful intelligence chief, the presidency said on Sunday, in the latest move in a shake-up of the security forces.

The presidency said in a statement that General Mohamed Mediene, better known as Toufik, had been replaced by his deputy General Bachir Tartag after heading the DRS intelligence service for 25 years.

Bouteflika replaced Mediene “in line with the constitution” and using his prerogatives as president and defence minister, the statement said, confirming information given to AFP by a security source. It said Mediene had “retired”, but provided no further details.

The 76-year-old had never appeared in public, but on Sunday his picture was published for the first time by a local newspaper, En-Nahar, showing him in a suit and tie. General Toufik was the last serving general from among a line of top officers behind a crackdown against the Islamic Salvation Front after the FIS swept to victory in elections in the early 1990s.

The army stepped in to stop the vote, prompting an insurrection among extremists and the start of a brutal civil war that lasted nearly a decade and killed 200,000 people. During that time, the DRS rose as a powerful agency and its head, Mediene, became one of the most powerful men in the oil-rich North African country. The announcement of his replacement came a day after Bouteflika’s chief of staff confirmed the arrest last month of the former head of counter-terrorism.

Abdelkader Ait-Ouarabi, a close ally of Mediene and better

SALVAGING OPERATION: Residents carry wreckages of their houses in the city of Joso in Ibaraki prefecture on Sunday. Japanese authorities were grappling with the aftermath of massive flooding that killed at least seven people. -AFP

General Mohamed Mediene has been replaced by his deputy General Bachir Tartag after heading the DRS service for 25 years Abdelaziz Bouteflika President Algeria’s statement

known as General Hassan, had previously been the DRS chief and embodied the army’s fight against extremist groups for two decades. The daily Al-Watan revealed the arrest of General Hassan at the end of August, saying he was detained at his home and taken to Blida military prison south of Algiers.

‘State within a state’ General Hassan’s arrest came several weeks after the sacking of three security chiefs including two considered close to Mediene -- the head of counter-intelligence and the chief of presidential security.

Experts have said the arrest and sackings are part of a behind-thescenes power struggle between Bouteflika and the powerful DRS. Analysts say recent moves have tilted the balance in favour of the

tight circle around Bouteflika and his army chief of staff, Ahmed Gaid Salah, at the expense of a rival faction centred on Mediene.

According to political science professor Rachid Tlemcani, “The battle is coming to an end and President Bouteflika has defeated the shadowy power” -- a reference to the DRS. Echoing many, he described the intelligence service as “a state within a state”.

Over the past 18 months, the DRS had already lost many of its powers -- including the right to carry out judicial probes into corruption -- and some of its responsibilities have been transferred to the army. These developments come as Algeria faces many challenges.

More than two decades after the civil war the army continues to be at the forefront of a campaign against extremists.- AFP

LONDON: Britain’s opposition Labour Party must unite behind new leader Jeremy Corbyn, his deputy said on Sunday as he revealed his own differences with his new boss over issues such as defence and foreign policy.

“I understand the concern of my colleagues in parliament, this is a huge change for the party, there is no point in denying this a huge political realignment too but Jeremy Corbyn has got a huge mandate from our members,” Tom Watson, who was elected deputy leader on Saturday, told the BBC. “I say to my colleagues watch this space, respect the mandate that he has been given from our members, try and unify.”

Watson said there was “zero chance” of a coup against Corbyn but acknowledged there were differences to overcome on policy, which he said could be put to the vote of Labour members.

At odds with the existing Labour position, anti-war campaigner Corbyn opposes the renewal of Britain’s Trident nuclear-armed submarine programme and has advocated withdrawing from the NATO military alliance.

“I need to be honest about where I stand on things, I think NATO has kept the peace in Europe for half a century,” Watson said, adding that he did not believe most members had backed Cor-

byn solely for his views on NATO. The rise of Corbyn, who voted ‘No’ to Europe in a 1975 referendum and has been ambiguous about how he plans to campaign in the upcoming vote, has raised fears among some British pro-Europeans that he will scupper the hopes of drawing out millions of Labour voters in support of the EU. Wrong Leader Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives have quickly sought to play on Corbyn’s foreign policy views, saying he is a risk to Britain’s security and highlighting his past meetings with Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah group - something Corbyn has defended in the interest of gathering a wide range of views.

Hamas and the military wing of Hezbollah are both officially designated as terrorist organisations

by Britain.

“Unlike Corbyn, the mainstream Labour Party does not believe in ducking our international responsibilities, it would never offer succour to terrorist groups,” Labour lawmaker John Mann wrote in the Mail on Sunday newspaper. -Reuters

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In Britain, politics comes to life again

Location: Salalah/ Photo: Lineesh Madathil

T

he ironies of history never fail to surprise.

Measured by any criteria, Jeremy Corbyn is the most left-wing leader in the history of the Labour Party. He understands that those who do evil abroad are unlikely to do much good at home. He is the staunchest anti-imperialist Member of Parliament.

A contrast with his political forebears proves this assertion. Keir Hardie’s socialism floundered on the battlefields of the First World War. Clement Attlee was a great reformer domestically, but abroad his government approved the nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Harold Wilson redistributed wealth but supported the US in Vietnam; Michael Foot as Leader of the Opposition was a rabid supporter of Margaret Thatcher’s war to retrieve the Malvinas/Falklands.

The Thatcherite Blair/Brown twins agreed to share power thus creating two power-hungry factions with no political differences except that Tony Blair hungered for both power and money. He gave us the wars in the former Yugoslavia and Iraq, while Gordon Brown was oblivious to the vulnerabilities of financialised capitalism and spent billions of taxpayers’ money bailing out banks that might have (after paying the depositors) been best left to croak. Both bureaucratised the Labour Party by neutering the party conference, reducing it to a tacky version of the US Democrats. All show, no substance. They denuded constituency Labour parties of the right to select their own prospective parliamentary candidates. This was the only way they could transform a large chunk of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) into a collection of overpromoted office boys and girls together with bandwagon careerists.

Three of them were on regular display in the campaign to succeed another of their number, Ed Miliband. What is ironic is that Miliband’s reform of the party’s electoral system was designed to appease the Blairites and their media chums by eliminating what was left of trade union power in the party and opening it up to outsiders in the lame hope that more congenial voters would ensure the domination of extreme centre politics.

So confident were they, that a few Blairites gave Corbyn the necessary parliamentary votes

to stand as a token lefty and reveal the party’s generosity and attachment to diversity. Who would have thought that it would backfire so sensationally? Certainly not Corbyn. Nor anyone else. The Guardian came out for Yvette Cooper, its Blairite columnists denouncing the dinosaur from Islington, forgetting that, for younger folk, dinosaurs are a much loved and missed species.

The Daily Mirror backed Andy Burnham.

No one who knows or sees and hears Corbyn can doubt his authenticity. I have shared numerous platforms with him over the past 40 years. On the key issues he has remained steadfast. What appealed to the young, who transformed the campaign into a social movement, was precisely what alienated the traditional political and media cliques. Corbyn was untutored, discursive, too left-wing, wanted to reverse the privatisations of the railways and utilities, etc. Many who registered to vote for him did so because of this and to break from the bland, unimaginative and visionless New Labour.

Corbyn had underestimated the changes in Scotland, but these actually helped his campaign.

A Scottish National Party cohort in parliament that wanted to ditch the redundant and overpriced Trident; an electrifying maiden speech by 20-year-old Mhairi Black that took on the Tories.

All this helped the Corbyn campaign. If Scotland, why not England?

Corbyn understands the key issues on which no compromise is possible. He’s been campaigning for them long enough. His closeness to the Green agenda is not a secret, and the single Green MP now has a solid supporter in the new Labour leader. Taking back public transport from the profiteers is another element; cheap public housing for the young and the old will help rebuild communities. A robust tax regime that reverses the decades of privileges afforded the rich will unleash a fierce offensive by the City and its media and political acolytes, but it’s considered absolutely necessary.

Some Labour MPs will desert. After all, they happily supported austerity. But, whatever happens, it will no longer be possible for the selfcensoring BBC to keep the views espoused by the new Labour leader off the screen.

The living dead have been vanquished, if temporarily. English politics has come to life again. – The Independent

READERS’ FORUM High intake of water best way to stay fresh and alert This refers to the online story, ‘Wonder cures with water’ (September 13). I am sure the story would have made people more aware of the many uses of water. I drink a lot of water everyday and many people criticise me for this. But then drinking water is the best way to stay fresh and alert throughout the day. For some, high intake of water is a cause of concern due to the frequent need to relieve oneself. However, in dry conditions like that of Oman, this is even better as the chances of kidney stone formation is significantly decreased.

— Jennifer Jacobson, Muscat

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Otherwise, it will lose the trust of millions of Western clients who provide the bulk of its revenue, which exceeds $500m a year bit.ly/kasperskylabactofbalance

One should visit Russia for a brush with the past

Scan this QR code to send letters to the Readers’ Forum, 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).

This refers to the online story, ‘Russia draws in hordes of Chinese with ‘red tourism’’ (September 13). Russia is indeed a must visit country. Even if somebody doesn’t ascribe to the Communist school of thought, getting to know about its past is indeed worth.

— Danny Louis, Al Khuwair

Good to see a lower ranked player winning Grand Slam

This refers to the online story, ‘Pennetta wins US Open, announces retirement’ (September 13). It is very nice to see an lower ranked player winning a Grand Slam tournament. I cannot understand why people only want top seeds to always win. I was equally happy to see Spain win the last football World Cup. — Sherry Balan, Al Khuwair

CLIPPINGS

PICTOGRAPH

FROM OUR ARCHIVES SEPTEMBER 2000 Sultanate to host global educational meet in March MUSCAT: As a follow up to world conference on higher education held in October 1998, the Sultanate of Oman will play host to an international conference on the future of higher education with the ‘University of the 21st century’ as the theme from March 17 to 19. The Ministry of Higher Education in association with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) is organising the event.

IMPORT OF CHEMICAL PRODUCTS IN OMAN From February to April 2015 (in million rials) February

TODAY IN HISTORY

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1774: Tugot, the new controller of finances, urges the king of France to restore the free circulation of grain in the kingdom.

Protect the welfare of your workforce through New India’s WORKMEN COMPENSATION POLICY.

1918: US and French forces take St. Mihiel, France in America’s first action as a standing army.

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March

93.4

April

101.3

73.7

1945: Iran demands the withdrawal of Allied forces.

1961: An unmanned Mercury capsule is orbited and recovered

by NASA in a test.

0 Source: National Centre for Statistics & Information

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410,000

Chinese came to Russia last year putting them on top of the list of foreign tourists, according to the federal tourism agency

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SPECIAL

MAJESTIC: Chinese tourists have their photo taken in front of Church of the Savior on Blood in central St. Petersburg in this picture taken on September 4, 2015. Drawn by its Communist past and a visa-free

regime, Chinese tourists are flocking to Russia in droves as it develops new routes touting ‘red tourism’.

- AFP

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Experts estimate that between 40,000

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

and 50,000 Chinese tourists could visit Saint Petersburg this year, the Russian tourism industry union said

SAINT PETERSBURG: Drawn by its Communist past and a visafree regime, Chinese tourists are flocking to Russia in droves as it develops new routes touting “red tourism”. Nearly 410,000 Chinese came to Russia last year putting them on top of the list of foreign tourists, according to the federal tourism agency.

Their number has swelled 10 per cent since 2013, when Germans topped the list of overseas visitors.

“We had lots of work this summer,” said Viktoria Borgacheva, the head of the association of Chinese interpreters and guides in the city of Saint Petersburg, Russia’s main tourist destination.

“I would say our workload has increased 30 per cent since last year,” Borgacheva said.

In the first half of this year alone, more than 200,000 Chinese tourists visited Russia.

Russia’s second city of Saint Pe-

tersburg, the former imperial capital renowned for its world-class museums and luxurious palaces, hosted nearly 26,000 Chinese tourists in 2014.

“Saint Petersburg is a beautiful city with a rich history,” said Yong Tang, a 57-year-old tourist from Beijing, as he purchased a bust of Lenin. “I’m glad I came here.”

Experts estimate that between 40,000 and 50,000 Chinese tourists could visit Saint Petersburg this year, the Russian tourism industry union said.

Main attraction But Saint Petersburg’s European flair and its winding canals are not the main attraction for them, according to Russian tourism officials. Chinese tourists flock to Saint Petersburg chiefly to soak in the city’s turbulent revolutionary history as the scene of three revolutions — one in 1905 and two

CURIOUS: Chinese tourists walk in central St. Petersburg in this picture taken on September 4, 2015. In the first half of this year alone, more than 200,000 Chinese tourists visited Russia - AFP

in 1917 — that precipitated the end of the tsarist era and ushered in the Soviet Union.

“While Europeans come to Saint Petersburg above all to admire the old capital and the Hermitage (art museum), Chinese tourists want to see Leningrad and its revolu-

SELFIES: Chinese tourists in front of Church of the Savior on Blood in central St. Petersburg. - AFP

tionary history,” Borgacheva said, referring to Saint Petersburg’s Soviet-era name.

Tourist route In July Moscow and Beijing officially launched an ambitious “red circuit,” a tourist route tracing the

life of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin in four Russian cities.

The eight-day journey starts in Moscow, where tourists can gape at hammers and sickles on Sovietera buildings and in the sprawling metro network.

The Russian capital is also the

resting place of Lenin, with his body still preserved in a mausoleum on Red Square. The circuit then takes tourists to Lenin’s birthplace of Ulyanovsk on the banks of the Volga River, before continuing to Kazan, the city where he studied.

The tour ends in Saint Petersburg, the scene of the Bolshevik revolution of 1917.

“Revolution and the people’s fight for independence and even the Great Patriotic War (World War II as fought by the Soviets from 1941) are important themes for the Chinese, just as they are for us,” said Sergei Lakovsky, the head of Ulyanovsk’s tourist department.

Costing $1,000 per person excluding flights, the “red circuit” promises to be lucrative for the dozen Russian tourist agencies participating in the programme, expected to be in full swing by next year.

Chinese tourists spent some $1 billion in Russia last year, according to a recent estimate.

Russia’s new “red circuit” finds a counterpart in China, where Russian tourists can retrace the life of Mao Zedong, the first chairman of the Chinese Communist party. -AFP

ELATED: Chinese tourists at central St. Petersburg in this picture taken on September 4, 2015. - AFP

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SEEKING INDEPENDENCE

Scottish nationalists to set out ‘triggers’ for new secession vote LONDON: Scottish nationalist leader Nicola Sturgeon will include triggers for a second independence referendum in the party’s manifesto for the 2016 Scottish election, she said in an interview with the Sunday Herald newspaper.

British Prime Minister David Cameron in May ruled out another independence referendum despite spectacular gains by the Scottish National Party (SNP) in that month’s election, saying Scots had “emphatically” rejected a breakaway last year.

Scots voted 55-45 per cent against independence in a September 2014 referendum but the May 7 general election saw the SNP take 56 of Scotland’s 59 seats in the Westminster parliament.

“Our manifesto will set out what we think around the circumstances in which, and the possible timescales in which, a second referendum might be appropriate,” Sturgeon told the paper in an interview.

“It will then be down to people to accept whether they vote for that manifesto.”

Citing sources close to Sturgeon, the newspaper reported the trigger list would be limited but could include a general option allowing for a referendum in the event of a dramatic, unforeseeable event such as Cameron embarking on what they termed an illegal war.

A vote to divide England and Scotland would amount to the break-up of the United Kingdom, the world’s fifth largest economy.

When asked for comment on the Sunday Herald report, a spokesman for Cameron said: “The people of Scotland voted to remain

part of the United Kingdom last year and we will see through our commitments to give them the extra powers.”

SNP leader Sturgeon has previously said there could only be another independence vote if Scots voted for a party which proposed one in a Scottish parliamentary election.

Scottish elections are due in May 2016 but so far Sturgeon has refused to say directly whether she would include a referendum pledge in her manifesto.

After Jeremy Corbyn was

elected as the new leader of the opposition Labour Party on Saturday, Sturgeon cautioned that if his party failed to show swiftly it could beat Cameron’s Conservatives in the next national election then desire for Scottish independence would rise.

Chance of winning “If Labour cannot quickly demonstrate that they have a credible chance of winning the next UK general election, many more people in Scotland are likely to conclude that independence is

the only alternative to continued Tory (Conservative)government,” she said.

“The reality today is that at a time when the country needs strong opposition to the Tories, Jeremy Corbyn leads a deeply, and very bitterly, divided party.”

Sturgeon has previously warned that if England voted to leave the European Union in a referendum on membership due by the end of 2017, then Scotland could seek a second independence referendum if its people voted to stay in the EU. — Reuters

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ON THE RUN: Refugees get out of a special train coming from Munich upon arrival at the railway station in Berlin Schoenefeld, German, on Sunday. — AFP

Germany re-imposes border checks in attempt to slow migrant arrivals The aim of these

Babies, children among 34 dead in new tragedy off Greek island

measures is to limit the current inflows to Germany and to return to orderly procedures when people enter the country, said Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere

BERLIN/BRUSSELS: Germany re-imposed border controls on Sunday after Europe’s most powerful nation acknowledged it could scarcely cope with thousands of asylum seekers arriving every day.

Berlin announced that the temporary measure would be taken first on the southern frontier with Austria, where migrant arrivals have soared since Chancellor Angela Merkel effectively opened German borders to refugees a week ago.

“The aim of these measures is to limit the current inflows to Germany and to return to orderly procedures when people enter the country,” said Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, adding that this was also necessary for security reasons.

Berlin took the step - which is allowed under Europe’s Schengen treaty as long as it remains temporary - a day before EU interior ministers hold an emergency meeting to discuss spreading asylum seekers around the 28-nation bloc.

A European Commission pro-

ATHENS: At least 34 people, among them 15 babies and children, drowned when their overcrowded boat capsized in high winds off a Greek island on Sunday, the latest migrant tragedy at sea.

The latest deaths came as Athens angrily defended its handling of the mounting refugee crisis in Europe and appealed for more help.

Four babies and 11 young children -- six boys and five girls -- were among those on the stricken wooden boat when it sank off the island of Farmakonisi, Athens News Agency reported. Eight of the victims were found by coastguard frogmen in the hold of the boat.

A total of 34 people were found dead, while another 68 were plucked alive from the sea and a further 29 managed to swim to safety on a beach on the island, according to latest coastguard figures.

The exact number of those aboard remains unknown but the ANA said it was overcrowded and went down because of high winds in the area.

posal that each country should accept refugees under a system of compulsory quotas is meeting strong resistance from some countries, especially in central Europe.

Slovakia said on Sunday it would try to block the plan.

Germany, Europe’s largest and richest economy, has become a magnet for many people fleeing war and poverty in Syria and other parts of the Middle East, Asia and

DIRE STRAITS: A police officer gestures as migrants and refugees wait to cross the Greece-Macedonia border near the village of Idomeni, in northern Greece on Saturday. — AFP/STR

The coastguard was also still searching for four children missing after another boat capsized on Saturday off Samos, a Greek island just off the Turkish coast.

The latest tragedies follow the death of a Syrian toddler whose lifeless body was photo-

Africa. Police said around 13,000 migrants arrived in the southern city of Munich alone on Saturday, and another 3,000 on Sunday morning.

Now Germany has joined the list of smaller and poorer countries such as Greece and Hungary that are struggling to manage the huge flow of desperate people.

“This step became necessary.

The great willingness to help that

graphed washed up on a Turkish beach last week, becoming a heartwrenching symbol of the plight of refugees fleeing war.

The International Organisation for Migration has said more than 430,000 migrants and refugees had crossed the Mediterranean to Europe so

Germany has shown in recent weeks - by full-time employees and especially by the many thousands of volunteers - must not be overstrained,” de Maiziere said.

The European Commission said Germany appeared legally justified in reimposing border controls, which have been removed in recent decades across much of the continent, and urged action at Monday’s meeting in Brussels.

far in 2015, with 2,748 dying or going missing en route.

Interim Prime Minister Vassiliki Thanou on Sunday branded criticism of Greece, which has been on the frontline of the surge of migrants trying to reach Europe, as “unacceptable”. — AFP

“The German decision of today underlines the urgency to agree on the measures proposed by the European Commission in order to manage the refugee crisis,” it said in a statement.

Germany has halted train traffic from Austria, a spokeswoman for Austrian rail company OeBB said on Sunday. She said the head of the German rail company told his Austrian counterpart of the decision.

Amid political bickering among European governments, the crisis claimed yet more lives - 28 migrants drowned off a Greek island on Sunday when their boat sank, the coastguard said.

Earlier, Berlin made clear it needed help from EU partners.

“It’s true: the European lack of action in the refugee crisis is now pushing even Germany to the limit of its ability,” Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who is also vicechancellor, told the website of Der Tagesspiegel newspaper.

With large numbers of migrants stuck in squalid and chaotic conditions on European borders, or trudging along the side of motorways, Merkel last weekend stopped enforcing the EU’s “Dublin” rules under which asylum seekers should register in the first member state they arrive in.

De Maiziere defended her decision but insisted the Dublin rules were still valid. “We need to quickly return to orderly procedures now,” he added. “We can’t allow refugees to freely choose where they want to stay - that’s not the case anywhere in the world.”

Refusing to stay Most asylum seekers are refusing to stay in the poorer southern European countries where they arrive, such as Greece, and are instead making their way to Germany or Sweden where they anticipate a warmer welcome.

Germans have greeted them with cheers and volunteers are flooding in to assist at the end of their arduous and dangerous journeys by sea and land, often via Turkey and the Greek islands, and then onwards through the Balkans, Hungary and Austria.

Despite Germany’s decision, Austria would not introduce additional checks at its border with Hungary, Chancellor Werner Faymann said, according to the Austrian news agency APA. — AFP

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Kurd rebels kill three Turkish policemen

RISING CRIME

The authorities on Sunday imposed a curfew in several PROBE ON: French forensic experts and judiciary police conduct

their investigations at the scene where a man was found shot dead and five wounded in Marseille, on Sunday. -Reuters

France vows to disarm criminals

districts of Silvan after the deadly attack on police, informing citizens of the measure through loudspeakers on mosques, said

PARIS: The French government said on Sunday it was determined to choke off the supply of weapons and disarm criminal gangs, several hours after a man was shot dead in the centre of Marseille, the southern city known for its high crime levels.

“Within the next six weeks I will put forward a wide-ranging and extremely aggressive plan to fight against the trafficking and possession of weapons in our country,” Interior Minister Bernard Cazenueve told Europe 1 radio.

Killing In the early hours of Sunday, shots were fired from a car outside a bar near the Old Port area of Marseille, killing one man and wounding five others. “There is still too much violence in this city,” Cazeneuve said.

“We must step up the disarming of all these criminal groups.”

He said 6,000 weapons a year were being seized from criminal groups, of which 1,200 were combat rifles and other weapons of war. Investigators believe the shooting in Marseille followed an argument between a bouncer and a group of several people at the bar.

“It appears that after an argument a vehicle drove down the road and someone opened fire with a Kalashnikov on people who were at the entrance to the bar,” the Mediterranean city’s deputy prosecutor, Andre Ribes, said. Shootings are a regular occurrence in Marseille. On August 6, a man in his fifties who was active in the organised crime scene was gunned down in the street by two men, including one on a motorbike. -AFP

Turkish media

UNREST: A man runs past a burning trash can, set on fire by protesters before a police vehicle, in the Kurdish dominated southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, on Sunday. -Reuters

DIYARBAKIR: Three policemen were killed by Kurdish militants on Sunday in two separate attacks in Turkey’s southeast, security sources said, as the authorities imposed new curfews in the battle against the rebels.

Two officers were killed and five wounded on a highway outside the city of Sirnak in a car bomb attack carried out by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the sources said.

Security forces in assault helicopters then pursued the militants suspected of carrying out the attack. Five “terrorists” were killed, the office of the regional governor said.

Meanwhile, one policeman died and one more was wounded in a rocket attack carried out by the PKK in the Silvan district of the southeastern region of Diyarbakir.

Three suspected PKK members were also killed and large amounts of weaponry seized as the result of a three-day operation around Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey,

the governor’s office said.

Since late July, Ankara has used air power and ground forces in a self-declared “anti-terror” operation to try to cripple the PKK in its strongholds in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq.

But the group has hit back, killing dozens of Turkish police and soldiers in almost daily attacks.

The security forces had over the last week carried out a massive military operation against suspected PKK militants in the southeastern town of Cizre, lifting a curfew on Saturday after nine days.

Thousands on Sunday attended a funeral ceremony for 16 people killed in Cizre during the curfew. Kurdish activists say 21 civilians were dead in total but the government denies any major civilian losses.

Curfew in Diyarbakir The authorities on Sunday imposed a curfew in several districts of Silvan after the deadly attack on police, informing citizens of the

measure through loudspeakers on mosques, Turkish media said.

A curfew meanwhile was also imposed in parts of the central Sur district of Diyarbakir city, as the authorities conducted a new operation against suspected Kurdish militants.

A statement from the local governor’s office said that the curfew had been put in place at 5:00 am (0200 GMT) and would last until further notice.

Speaking just outside the curfew zone, the leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas said the situation showed the need for a return to peace talks.

“We call on all the parties to take into account the public’s expectations,” he said in televised comments.

Demirtas said both “Ankara and Qandil” had to respond to public pressure for peace, referring to both the Turkish government and the PKK’s leadership based in the Qandil mountains of northern

Iraq. Television pictures showed police roadblocks preventing access to the historical centre of Diyarbakir within its famous darkhued city walls.

Clashes There were clashes during the operation in which seven police officers were wounded, Turkish media said. The spate of violence has ended a 2013 ceasefire aimed at finding a final peace deal to end the PKK’s three-decade insurgency, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

The PKK initially took up arms in 1984 with the aim of establishing an independent state for Turkey’s Kurdish minority, although lately the demands have focused on greater autonomy and rights.

“In Cizre, in Diyarbakir there is a problem, it’s called the Kurdish problem,” said Demirtas. “It’s the problem of Kurds being able to live freely on their own land with their own language, culture and history.” -AFP

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Gulf insurers plan to enhance cooperation

S I T E S T U D I E S F O R S A L A L A H , S H A R Q I YA H

Key tender floated for water projects A E JAMES

meeting, the committee will have to develop cooperation among the regulators in order to promote GCC insurance industry for best standards of integration in the regulatory structures. It will also compare insurance legislations and regulations and adopt international standards.

Top-level insurance officials in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries have recommended for a standing committee, which will report to the secretariat general of GCC states

STRENGTHENING TIES: Oman was represented by an official delegation from the Capital Market Authority. — Times file picture

Times News Service

recommended for a standing committee, which will report to the secretariat general of GCC states, according to a statement from the Capital Market Authority.

MUSCAT: Gulf states are considering to strengthen cooperation in insurance industry by exchanging experience of individual countries, besides enhancing consultation mechanisms.

All these will result in introducing best standards in insurance sector and better economic integration.

Top-level insurance officials in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have recently

Insurance legislations The move comes after the decision of the Commercial Cooperation Committee of the Secretariat of the GCC in its 51st meeting held in May to invite senior officials of insurance in members states for consultative meeting for coordination on insurance

legislations in the GCC states and to boost cooperation.

Oman delegation The Sultanate was represented by an official delegation from the Capital Market Authority (CMA), which was headed by Ahmed Ali Al Mamari, director general of insurance supervision. SafinazNaseeb Al Raisei, director of compliance and examination department, also attended the meeting.

In view of the proposed recommendations in the constitutive

Best international practices The insurance sector in the Sultanate has witnessed developments in line with best international practices and also witnessed review of a number of regulation to cope with the developments in the local market. The market registered a remarkable growth during the past seven years.

The average growth of the sector was 14.8 per cent in the past seven years with gross premiums at OMR400 million at the end of last year. The unaudited financial statements for the first half of this year indicate the continuation of the prosperity as the gross premiums were OMR247 million,a growth of 9 per cent compared to the same period last year.

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businesseditor@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: A major tender has been floated for conducting initial site studies for building Salalah and Sharqiyah independent water projects.

Both desalination projects, which will be built by two private developers who win the concession from state-owned Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP).

The OPWP seeks bids from consultancy firms for conducting topographic survey, geotechnical investigation and bathymetric and environmental survey for identifying suitable locations for these two independent water projects. According to earlier reports, the Salalah desalination project will have a capacity of 20 million imperial gallon water per day, while the capacity of Sharqiyah project is yet to be decided.

Both the projects, which are expected to come on stream within four years, will meet the growing demand for water.

The tender documents are available between September 13 and September 21, while the last date for submission of bids is October 14, 2015.

The demand for potable water in Oman’s northern region is projected to grow by six per cent per

annum in the next five-year horizon, from 238 million cubic metres in 2013 to 349 million cubic metres in 2020.

This compares to the previous seven-year forecasts in which average annual growth was in the range of three to five per cent, according to a seven-year outlook for power and water demand released by OPWP last year.

In Salalah, the water demand is projected to grow at eight per cent, and peak water demand to increase from 75,000 cubic metres per day in 2013 to 132,000 cubic metres per day in 2020.

The northern region is mainly divided into an interconnected zone and Sur zone.

In fact, three major water projects — expansion of desalination projects of ACWA Power and Sur project and a new IWP in Qurayyat — are in different stages of development. These are part of several water desalination projects planned by the state-owned company to substantially raise the overall capacity of desalinated water in Oman.

The proposed Qurayyat independent water project, developed by a consortium of Singapore’s Hyflux and National Power and Water Co, is going to have a designed capacity of 200,000 cubic metres per day (44 MIGD) of potable water.

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MARKET FRAUD DETECTION

Central Bank of Oman seminar

deals with bank notes forgery Times News Service MUSCAT: A seminar on ‘combating forgery and the security features of Omani bank notes,’ was conducted in Salalah on Thursday by the Central Bank of Oman, in collaboration with the German company Giesecke & Devrient.

The deliberations of the seminar started on Sunday at Sohar

branch. A similar seminar was held at the company’s headquarters in Muscat the next day.

The aim of this seminar is to inform those working in the financial and monetary sector about the bank notes and acquaint them with developments in this regard.

The Central Bank of Oman seminar dealt with the history of banknotes in the world.

Omantel launches first ‘Zero Site’ in Sultanate Zero Site solution from Ericsson is a connected lighting solution, which integrates telecom equipment into light poles

Times News Service MUSCAT: Oman Telecommunications (Omantel) recently launched the first Zero Site solution from Ericsson in the Sultanate. Zero Site is a connected lighting solution, integrating telecommunication equipment into light poles, which enables telecom operators to improve mobile network performance while reducing urban clutter.

This deployment has enabled Omantel to maintain their market leadership of meeting end user demands with industry lead-

INNOVATIION: The Zero Site deployment has enabled Omantel to maintain their market leadership of meeting end user demands with industry leading solutions. – Supplied picture

ing solutions. During the famous Khareef season in 2015, Omantel experienced up to a 120 per cent increase in 3G and LTE data traffic over last year’s traffic in Dhofar region.

In support of Omantel to meet continuously growing network coverage and capacity demands, Ericsson recommended Zero Site, a solution that has zero footprint to avoid complex site acquisition and has low power consumption.

The solution makes bulk site acquisition possible in cities and also supports mass deployment. The concept in this case is to integrate a

small cell solution with billboards to provide optimal urban coverage with minimal visual impact.

Zero Site is a smart and compact solution suited to hot-spot deployments, that improves revenues by meeting user demands on network coverage and data, with reduced operational costs.

Salalah Gardens Mall Salalah Gardens Mall attracts massive numbers of tourists and visitors during the Khareef and was tested in the pilot Zero Site solution deployment in time for the season start. The site has

proven successful in carrying significant amounts of voice and data traffic and in improving Omantel customers’ experience.

Eng. Said Abdullah Al Ajmi, vice-president of Omantel Integrated Networks Unit said; “To stay ahead in the telecom market, we have to continuously enhance our infrastructure with innovative and pioneering technologies that will increase our network capabilities and reduce costs. Our partnership with Ericsson has allowed us to boost our network and that supported our strategy and goals of catering to the everincreasing requirements of our customer base.”

Dr Abdullah Al Balushi, country manager, Ericsson Oman, said: “As the networked society takes shape, Ericsson strives to innovate pioneering technology and design that will cater to the ever-evolving needs of the consumer. Urban areas are particularly challenging for the operator as the number of connected devices increases with a lack of space for network expansion. Ericsson believes those demands can be met with its innovative Zero Site solutions.”

Ericsson’s Zero Site solution models are multi-application pole solutions.

SUCCESSFUL WOMEN

Three Omani business women to share experiences at Najihat Times News Service MUSCAT: Najihat, an initiative introduced by the National Business Centre (NBC) which highlights successful experiences of Omani women entrepreneurs, will feature three entrepreneurs on Wednesday to share their experience with potential entrepreneurs in the Sultanate.

The event, which will be held at NBO’s Academy of Excellence in Athaiba, will highlight the journey of ReemaSadiq, owner of Reema Integrated Projects; Salma Noor, managing director of Azima Catering; and Abeer Ab-

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dullah, trainer and management consultant.

Inspiring stories Najihat programme consists of a session every three months where women meet and share experiences in the business arena and how they started their venture. The series of Najihat sessions aspires at utilising the skills and knowledge of Omani women and highlighting inspiring stories of successful women leaders in the business field, as well as encouraging other talented entrepreneurs to start their own ventures.

Besides, the event will present

innovative ideas for potential entrepreneurs and startups and support those who are willing to enter start own businesses.

NBC is an initiative of the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates that aims at offering promising Omani entrepreneurs a platform to develop their business ideas and advance them into growing ventures. The centre provides business development support and guidance, training and mentoring, access to markets and industry experts, and state-ofthe-art and fully equipped office space, meeting rooms and presentation facilities.

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MARKET Top companies to receive HM’s Cup in February The award, which will be awarded to five best performing firms for the current year, is aimed at motivating the corporate sector

Eng Ahmed Al Dheeb, undersecretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

– JUN ESTRADA/Times of Oman

TARIQ AL HAREMI

tariqh@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Oman’s best performing companies will be honoured in February 2016 by presenting His Majesty’s Cup for top five companies, Eng Ahmed Al Dheeb, undersecretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry told journalists here on Sunday.

The award, which is for best performing companies for the current year, is aimed at motivating the corporate sector.

Industrial establishments are given three months’ time from September to November to hand in their participation form to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. From November 2015 to January 2016, the evaluation team will visit the establishments as well as field visits accompanied by trainees who will evaluate other establishments in the future.

By the end of January 2016, the results will be revealed and the closing ceremony of the competition, which will be held in February 2016. The main aim of the competition is to award indus-

tries, which have excelled in their performance in order to increase their motivation to remain consistent in their duties.

“This year, we have made changes on the questionnaires, the way we are going to evaluate the industries from the start of the competition until the results are revealed,” said Al Dheeb.

New evaluation method This year’s competition has been completely revamped and new evaluation measures are implemented. The ministry will be evaluating the industrial establishment much deeper and professionally than previous years.

The companies will be judged based on nine categories — five of them will be on operations of the industrial establishment and the remaining four will be based on the results gained from following rules set by operations and in total will be 1,000 points.

Operations consist of leadership, employees, industrialisation, improving resources, and safety, environment and social responsibility.

After visiting the international awards, the ministry decided to undergo international standard evaluations of industrial establishments based on Total Quality Management (TQM) criteria.

“Our team visited several countries, regionally and internationally, to study the awards for excellence and to know what the evaluation measures were taken to award the prizes,” noted Al Dheeb.

Results consist of individual results, industrial production results, financial and marketing results and safety, environment, and social responsibility results.

The organising committee consist of the supervising committee, judging committee, evaluation team and contest secretaries.

“Our team will evaluate and judge the companies based on their participation forms and through visits and inspections.

They will then determine their strengths and weaknesses which will result in their winning of the trophy or loss on the other hand,” said Al Dheeb.

“Categorising the companies will be based on how many participate,” he added.

“Establishments are encouraged to participate in the competition because by achieving good results, it will help in lowering operation costs and raise profitability,” explained Al Dheeb.

“It will also motivate them to do better in the coming years,” he said, adding that the competition is now agreed upon its commencement every two years.

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C O R P O R AT E T R A I N I N G

Training programmes on leadership, management Times News Service MUSCAT: Training programmes on corporate leadership and management will be conducted by Tanfidh, a Muscat-based training and consulting organisation. The various courses include Strategy Implementation, Balanced Scorecard and Organisational Innovation.

Tanfidh’s training programmes are approved by the Institute of Leadership and Management, the HONING SKILLS: Tanfidh’s training programmes are approved by UK’s biggest awarding body for the Institute of Leadership and Management, the UK’s biggest leadership and management. It awarding body for leadership and management. – Supplied picture provides an in-depth research on key issues facing today’s leaders to effectively implement an HR tors,” said Narjis Al Lawati, strateand managers. (human resources) strategy in gy manager at Zubair Corporation, who completed the course. their organisation.

Strategy Execution The Balanced Scorecard is a The Strategy Execution course which will take place from Octo- strategic planning and manage- Organisational Innovation ber 12 to 14 and from October 14 to ment system that is used exten- The Organisational Innovation 16, at the Intercontinental Hotel, sively in business and industry, course, which will be held from Muscat, will deal with the funda- government, and non-profit or- November 2 to 3, will provide ganisations worldwide to align participants with practical tools mentals of strategy execution.

The course deals with trans- business activities to the vision which they can use to improve and forming strategy into more tan- and strategy of the organisation, speed up the innovation cycles in gible terms, and learning a disci- improve internal and external their workplaces.

In addition, it will help build inplined approach that will enhance communications, and monitor orthe likelihood of ensuring strategy ganisation performance against novation capability by pioneering new ways of thinking, challenging strategic goals is executed effectively.

The course is recommended for the status quo, and seeking out “A unique and worth listening conference. Not just theoretical leaders, executives, managers, di- new ideas and solutions beyond lecture about strategy execution rector generals, planners and per- the traditional methods.

The work experience of the but a very understandable and formance analysts.

“Overall, the programme cov- trainers spans a wide array of inhelpful analysis performed by excellent and experienced speak- ered essential elements to devel- dustries ranging from manufacers,” said Stefan Altziebler, general op a strategy the use of Balanced turing, oil and gas, electricity and manager of Strabag Oman, who at- Scorecard. Lecturer’s practical water to retail and hospitality.

The training supports all levels experience added value to the contended the course.

The HR Balanced Scorecard tent of the program and delivered of managers from team leaders course, which will be conducted it with a very pleasant style. The through to chief executive officers from November 9 to 11, introduces programme was enriched with with qualifications from level 2 to participants to the key processes, interesting discussions by partici- level 7 on the Qualifications and tools, and success factors needed pants from different business sec- Credit Framework.

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MARKET MSM index ends lower

OMAN STOCKS

MUSCAT SECURITIES MARKET

INDICES Index .................................................High .................Low..................... Value ............... Prev . Value.......... Diff ...............Diff % MSM30 Index ........................................5,801.72 ............... 5,795.17 .................... 5,795.71 ...................5,800.99.................. -5.28 .................. -0.09 Financial Index .................................... 6,978.06 ..............6,964.90 ...................6,964.90 ...................6,974.90................-10.00 .................. -0.14 Industrial Index ....................................7,496.21 ...............7,488.25 ................... 7,488.42 ................... 7,495.48...................-7.06 .................. -0.09 Services Index ...................................... 3,246.82 .............. 3,242.74 ................... 3,243.35 ...................3,242.16.....................1.19 ...................0.04 MSM SHARIAH INDEX....................... 913.68 ..................913.24 .......................913.38 ...................... 912.80....................0.58 ...................0.06 Trading Summary Volume ................Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded 6,932,986 ................... 1,625,907 .....................524 ................14,599,730,135 .................. 4 ........................6 ....................20 .........................30

Top gainer was Al Sharqia Investment, up by 2.61 per cent, while top loser was Galfar

SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

Engineering, down by 2.04 per cent ISIN ......................................SECURITY NAME ..................................................................VOLUME..... TURNOVER............TRADES ......OPEN PRICE......HIGH ............. LOW ........ CLOSE PR. ...PREV. CLOSE...DIFF (RO).........DIFF % .............LAST PR.....LAST BID .............LAST OFFER ........MARKET CAP.PAR VALUE

MUSCAT: Amid weak trading activity, the MSM 30 Index declined 0.09 per cent to close at 5,795.71 points. However, the MSM Shariah Index gained 0.06 per cent to close at 913.38 points.

Al Sharqia Investments was the most active in terms of volume while Bank Muscat was the most active in terms of turnover.

The top gainer was Al Sharqia Investment, up by 2.61 per cent, while top loser was Galfar Engineering, down by 2.04 per cent.

As many as 524 trades were executed in the session generating a turnover of OMR1.6 million with over 6.9 million shares changing hands. Out of 30 traded securities, 4 advanced, 6 declined and 20 remained unchanged.

GCC and Arab investors were net buyers to the tune of OMR68,000 followed by foreign investors at OMR18,000. Omani investors, who were net sellers, sold shares amounting to OMR86,000.

Financial Index decreased 0.14 per cent to close at 6,964.90 points. Al Sharqia Investments and Al Madina Takaful increased 2.61 per cent and 1.15 per cent respectively. Bank Sohar and Al Anwar Holding declined 1.18 per cent and 1.11 per cent respectively.

Industrial Index ended at 7,488.42 points, down by 0.09 per cent. The only movers were Oman Fisheries, which gained 1.89 per cent and Galfar Engineering, which declined 2.04 per cent respectively.

Services Index gained 0.04 per cent to close at 3,243.35 points.

Al Jazeera Services gained 2.55 per cent to close at OMR0.402.

Phoenix Power, Port Services and OIFC declined by 0.67 per cent, 0.66 per cent and 0.58 per cent respectively.

Abu Dhabi stocks rise Emirates Telecommunications helped Abu Dhabi’s stocks buck

losses across most Gulf Arab markets two days before the telecommunications company allows foreign traders to own its shares directly. Saudi Arabian equities advanced.

Etisalat rose 1.4 per cent to Dh14.75 at the close in Abu Dhabi, bringing its four-day increase to 11 per cent. The emirate’s ADX General Index added 0.3 per cent, while Dubai’s DFM General Index and Qatar’s QE Index fell 1.5 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index climbed as much as 1.2 per cent, before rising 0.1 per cent in Riyadh.

“Etisalat has been doing quite well at a time of market instability in the region," said Ahmed Shehada, the head of advisory and institutions at NBAD Securities, the brokerage of the United Arab Emirates’ biggest bank. “It would make it interesting for a lot of global pension funds."

The government-controlled company, which is 60 per cent owned by the UAE’s sovereign wealth fund and has the secondbiggest weighting on Abu Dhabi’s index, will allow non-UAE nationals to own its shares starting Tuesday. Most other markets in the six-nation GCC reacted to a drop in one of the region’s biggest sources of revenue and uncertainty over whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its next meeting.

Etisalat advanced on 1.4 times its three-month average daily volume, contrasting with the number of shares exchanged in Abu Dhabi and Dubai markets, which were 33 per cent and 65 per cent below their daily averages, respectively. The company traded at almost 14 times its 12-month estimated earnings.

Saudi stocks rose after index provider FTSE Group said it will place the Tadawul on its watch list. - United Securities/Bloomberg News

REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING ........... 1,969,156....... 231,579................... 121 ............0.118 ........... 0.119............0.114 ............0.118 ............. 0.115 ............ 0.003.............2.609 ................0.118 .............. 0.118................... 0.119 ...................10,620,000.........0.100 OM0000002226 ...........AL JAZEERA SERVICES .......................................... 551,079.......... 221,726......................91 ............0.410 ........... 0.410 ...........0.390........... 0.402 .............0.392 ............0.010 ............. 2.551 ................0.398..............0.394...................0.398...................24,604,118 .........0.100 OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL...............................................35,780 ............... 3,148........................7 ........... 0.086 ...........0.088 ...........0.086........... 0.088 .............0.087 ............0.001 ............. 1.149.................0.088..............0.088...................0.089...................15,400,000.........0.100 OM0000001160 ............NATIONAL GAS ...............................................................6,600 ............... 2,112........................4 ........... 0.320 ...........0.320 ...........0.320........... 0.320 .............0.320 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.320..............0.310...................0.320 ..................16,000,000.........0.100 OM0000001483............NATIONAL BANK OF OMAN ......................................5,716 ................1,715........................2 ........... 0.300...........0.300 ...........0.300 .......... 0.300 .............0.300 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.300 ............ 0.300...................0.306 .................402,213,075........0.100 OM0000001533 ............OMINVEST .................................................................... 186,466 ............86,147........................3 ........... 0.462 ...........0.462 ...........0.462........... 0.462 .............0.462 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.462..............0.462...................0.466..................255,422,079 .......0.100 OM0000001749 ............OMAN CEMENT .............................................................. 1,320 .................. 605........................2 ........... 0.458 ........... 0.458 ...........0.458........... 0.458 .............0.458 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.458..............0.458...................0.500 ................. 151,539,701 ........0.100 OM0000001889............SALALAH MILLS................................................................ 644 .................. 956........................2 ............1.485 ........... 1.485 ...........1.485 ............1.495 ............. 1.495............ 0.000.............0.000 ................1.485 ..............1.440...................1.495 ...................72,003,781 .........0.100 OM0000001962............AL MADINA INVESTMENT .................................... 30,000 ............... 1,770........................2 ........... 0.059 ...........0.059 ...........0.059........... 0.059 .............0.059 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.059..............0.058...................0.060 ..................12,221,932 .........0.100 OM0000002168............AL ANWAR CERAMIC TILES .................................40,607 .............14,537........................3 ........... 0.358 ........... 0.358 ...........0.358........... 0.358 .............0.358 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.358..............0.360...................0.364 .................106,044,498 .......0.100 OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 492,857 ......... 250,371..................... 10 ........... 0.508 ...........0.508 ...........0.508........... 0.508 .............0.508 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.508..............0.508...................0.510................ 1,164,245,879 ......0.100 OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES .......................... 40,000 .............. 4,290........................8 ............0.108 ........... 0.108 ...........0.106........... 0.107 .............0.107............ 0.000.............0.000 ................0.106..............0.105...................0.108....................6,296,224 ..........0.100 OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ..........................35,600 .............58,740........................6 ............1.650 ........... 1.650 ...........1.650 ............1.650 ............. 1.650............ 0.000.............0.000 ................1.650 .............. 1.630...................1.650................1,237,500,000 ......0.100 OM0000003141 ............ACWA POWER BARKA ............................................. 287,943 .........239,569..................... 10 ........... 0.832 ...........0.832 ...........0.832........... 0.832 .............0.832 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.832............. 0.000...................0.832..................133,120,000........0.100 OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES ..................................... 839,682 .........142,654..................... 59 ............0.172 ........... 0.172 ...........0.169 ........... 0.170 ............. 0.170............ 0.000.............0.000 ................0.169 ..............0.168...................0.169...................49,410,674 .........0.100 OM0000003661 ............VOLTAMP ENERGY ...........................................................734 ..................308........................2 ........... 0.420 ...........0.420 ...........0.420........... 0.424 .............0.424 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.420..............0.420...................0.432...................25,652,000.........0.100 OM0000003711 ............SOHAR POWER................................................................ 9,590 ............... 3,261........................1 ........... 0.340...........0.340 ...........0.340 .......... 0.340 .............0.340 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.340............. 0.340...................0.350...................75,143,400 .........0.100 OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO.........................................................................79,000 .............57,264........................6 ............0.724 ........... 0.732 ...........0.724........... 0.724 .............0.724 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.732 ..............0.728...................0.000 .................471,283,623........0.100 OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS ..................................................33,095 .............16,739........................5 ........... 0.502 ...........0.506 ...........0.502........... 0.506 .............0.506 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.506..............0.504...................0.506 ..................26,565,000.........0.100 OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE................29,067 ...............4,941........................5 ............0.170 ........... 0.170 ...........0.170 ........... 0.170 ............. 0.171 ............-0.001 ........... -0.585 ...............0.170 ..............0.169...................0.170.................. 34,000,000 ........0.100 OM0000001145 ............PORT SERVICES CORPORATION ........................ 28,800 ...............4,350........................4 ............0.152 ........... 0.152 ...........0.150 ............0.151 ............. 0.152............-0.001 ........... -0.658 ...............0.150 .............. 0.145...................0.150...................14,351,040 .........0.100 OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 564,527 .........100,649..................... 47 ............0.180 ........... 0.180 ...........0.178 ............0.178 .............0.180 ...........-0.002 ............-1.111 ................0.178 .............. 0.178...................0.180................... 26,713,350 .........0.100 OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................. 42,640 ................7,152........................4 ............0.168 ........... 0.168 ...........0.167 ............0.168 ............. 0.170............-0.002 ............-1.176 ................0.168 ..............0.168...................0.170..................242,161,920........0.100 OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. .................. 526,962 ............50,748..................... 54 ........... 0.098 ...........0.098 ...........0.095........... 0.096 .............0.098 ...........-0.002 ........... -2.041 ...............0.096..............0.095...................0.096................... 27,838,141 .........0.100 .............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 5,837,865 ...1,505,332...................458 ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......24........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

PARALLEL MARKET .................................................................................................................................................................................

OM0000001566 ............OMAN FISHERIES ..................................................... 295,140 ............15,899........................7 ........... 0.053 ...........0.054 ...........0.053........... 0.054 .............0.053 ............0.001 ............. 1.887 ................0.054..............0.050...................0.055....................6,750,000 ..........0.100 OM0000001400 ...........OMAN FLOUR MILLS ...................................................... 200 .....................98........................1 ........... 0.490 ...........0.490 ...........0.490........... 0.490 .............0.490 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.490..............0.490...................0.516 ................... 77,175,000 .........0.100 OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................ 166,809 ............10,296........................9 ........... 0.062 ...........0.062 ...........0.061 ........... 0.062 .............0.062 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.061 ..............0.061...................0.063...................93,000,000 ........0.100 OM0000005963 ...........PHOENIX POWER ...................................................... 632,249 ...........94,209..................... 46 ............0.151 ........... 0.151............0.149 ........... 0.149 .............0.150............-0.001 ........... -0.667 ...............0.149 ..............0.149...................0.150.................. 217,927,618 ........0.100 .............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 1,094,398 ......120,502..................... 63 ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ........4........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

BONDS MARKET .................................................................................................................................................................................

OM0000004628 ...........BANK SOHAR BONDS 4.5 ................................................673 .....................68........................2 ............0.101 ........... 0.101............0.101 ........... 0.100 .............0.100 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.101 ..............0.100...................0.101 .................... 7,150,000 ..........0.100 OM0000005971 ............B.MUSCAT COMPL. CONVR. B.B.3.5 .............................50 ....................... 5........................1 ........... 0.094 ...........0.094 ...........0.094........... 0.094 .............0.094 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.094..............0.094...................0.096................... 30,471,192 .........0.100 .............................................SUM: ..........................................................................................723 .....................73........................3 ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ........2........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

FIRST QUARTER

Dubai plans to award solar power contract DUBAI: Dubai’s governmentowned utility will probably announce the winners in the first quarter to build the third phase of a $3.3 billion solar energy park.

The project to produce 800 megawatts of electricity from the sun will probably be awarded to more than one company, Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, chief executive officer of Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) , said in Dubai on Sunday.

DEWA is still deciding whether to build the plant all at once or at different times to take advantage of lower costs, he said. In January, DEWA tripled its target for solar energy production to take advantage of lower building costs.

Energy companies in the Middle East are turning to solar power to take advantage of plentiful amounts of sun. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, has ample solar resources and

open land and eventually “won’t need fossil fuels,” Oil Minister Ali Al Naimi said in May. DEWA in January awarded a contract to build a 200-megawatt plant to a group led by Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power International, in the second phase of the park.

The first solar factory at the park started in October 2013, with a 13-megawatt photovoltaic plant that was the largest of its type in the Mena region. - Bloomberg News

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W W W.T I M E S O F O M A N . C O M M ON DAY, S E P T E M B E R 14 , 2 0 1 5

SECTION

SLOW DOWN ENJOY THE RIDE

E-

IMES TECH STUFF

Why Apple wants to bring back the pencil

MOBILE START-UPS WORTH $800 BILLION Number of mobile Internet start-ups with valuations crossing $1 billion has jumped by a third in just eight months and that is spelling trouble for some venture capitalists looking to cash in on their investments. The ratio of mobile Internet exits — start-ups that are either sold or go public — to investments has plunged over the past six quarters, excluding one outlier deal, according to consulting firm Digi-Capital. — Washington Post-Bloomberg News

T E C H U P D AT E S

Microsoft to pay $250 million for security vendor Adallom Microsoft acquired security software maker Adallom for $250 million to add products to protect its cloud and Office programmes, said a person familiar with the agreement. The Redmond, Washington-based software giant announced the deal in a blog posting on Tuesday. The person asked not to be named because the acquisition price wasn’t disclosed. The Wall Street Journal reported in July that the purchase price would be about $320 million. Microsoft is trying to boost its cloud and productivity offerings and wants Adallom’s programs to buttress existing security software included in products such as Office 365 and the Enterprise Mobility Suite. Adallom, founded in 2012, works with products from Salesforce.com, Box and Dropbox, among others. Adallom’s headquarters are in Palo Alto, California, with its research and development operations based in Tel Aviv. Adallom is the third company to be acquired in the past year

by Microsoft, which purchased text-analysis startup Equivio in January and enterprise security firm Aorato in November 2014.

The company’s name is an abbreviation of the phrase “ad halom,” which translates to “up to here” and means “the last line of defense” in game theory, the company said on its website. Adallom’s founders will join Microsoft as part of the deal, the companies said. — Washington Post-Bloomberg News

Now secretly take photos of those who try to hack you

Analysts say the Apple Pencil is part of a wider move by the tech industry to convince consumers that computing does not have to be limited

By returning to more physical forms of interaction, Apple is not only conceding that tablet users need more flexibility — it’s making an argument that even the most mundaneseeming items can become part of a sophisticated computing environment. That’s perfectly fine — and it’s consistent with Apple’s goal of bringing other, heretofore undigitised routines into the modern age

to computers and smartphones. Instead, Apple is focused on giving new, digital capabilities to more traditional platforms

A

pple’s latest accessory is a return to the written word — not so much a stylus as a digital pen that harks back to the way that humans captured language for centuries before the keyboard made cursive an obsolete art.

Analysts say the $99 Apple Pencil, announced last Wednesday as an add-on to the new supercharged iPad Pro, is part of a wider move by the tech industry to convince consumers that computing doesn’t have to be limited to, well, computers and smartphones. Instead, Apple is focused on giving new, digital capabilities to more traditional platforms.

But it’s also a return to an early era of computing history. While Apple has turned the touchscreen into the center of so many of its mobile devices, the stylus was key to some of the earliest digital “tab-

let” incarnations. One of the early version was built by the RAND Corporation in the 1960s. Dubbed the “RAND Tablet,” it didn’t look very much like an iPad or even a Star Trek Data PADD. Instead, this “tablet” was longer than a man’s forearm with a primitive electronic touch pad in the middle that users could write on using the pen-like stylus attached to the device via a wire — all hooked up to tube-television style monitor.

But this type of manual interface didn’t take off. Instead, it lost out to the mouse-and-keyboard pairing that’s been a hallmark of the personal computer industry for decades.

It wasn’t until the mid-90s that the stylus saw a popular resurgence, this time in the digital assistant market.

Remember Palm Pilots? The styluses that accompanied those handheld devices were little more than plastic toothpicks, with no particular special abilities.

Soon, the stylus was thrown back into the shadows again — this time by BlackBerry’s physical keyboards. They represented a major advance in technology at a time when the most sophisticated cellphones were still reliant on numpads for text messaging.

But even the physical keyboard was quickly overtaken by the simplicity of the iPhone’s finger-based

touch interface. Touchscreens promised a new era of interactivity that, for many consumers, rendered the stylus obsolete (if they could remember them at all).

Why carry around an extra tool when you’ve got five of them attached to one hand?

Some diehard loyalists still swore by the stylus even as touchscreens proliferated around the globe. But these were a specialised few, limited to professional designers and digital artists. For most of us, fingers were good enough.

That was then. But now, as consumers have witnessed digital technology spreading into seemingly every part of their lives, they’ve also become more sophisticated. They may not be making Pixar-level animated films in their basements, but we’ve certainly seen the rise of the “prosumer” class that blurs the line between novice and advanced users of technology. In short, now is the perfect time for the stylus to make a comeback.

There have been signs of hope for stylus fans: Nintendo’s DS mobile consoles and then the Wii U gave styluses a new life in the gaming world; other manufacturers have attempted to bring the stylus into the smartphone market — particularly Samsung, with the tablet-like Galaxy Note series.

There remains a healthy market

for third-party styluses.

And Microsoft already offers a “Surface Pen” that is much like the Apple Pencil — a digitally sophisticated, pressure-sensitive piece of hardware.

But the Apple Pencil isn’t some play for a mass market return to writing things by hand: It’s an addon for iPad’s aimed at enterprise customers and graphics professionals with a relatively hefty price tag.

This may still seem like a surprisingly retro-step for Apple, especially considering Steve Jobs’s scorn for styluses. (He once said that a stylus with an iPad would be a sign that the company “blew it.”)

But in a lot of ways, what Apple is doing is being already being done across the tech industry. Our most mundane devices — refrigerators, cars, TVs — are being updated for a world in which connectivity and communication offer superpowers.

So it’s no surprise to see Apple look back in time toward some of our most venerable productivity tools. Apple’s efforts go beyond the pencil, whose origins date back to 16th-century Italy. The company’s new Smart Keyboard for the iPad also represents a departure of sorts — a recognition that newfangled touch interfaces have their limits.

By returning to more physical forms of interaction, Apple is not only conceding that tablet users need more flexibility — it’s making an argument that even the most mundane-seeming items can become part of a sophisticated computing environment. That’s perfectly fine — and it’s consistent with Apple’s goal of bringing other, heretofore undigitised routines into the modern age.

“If you think about the Apple Watch in particular,” said Dan Cryan, an analyst at IHS, “and the iPad Pro demo, they were both squarely geared around almost traditional computing tasks as a way of illustrating what that future looks like — traditional computing tasks being taken onto the watch or the tablet.”

— Washington Post-Bloomberg News

Have you ever gotten an email warning that someone is trying to hack into your account and wondered: Who is doing this to me? A password manager called LogMeOnce now gives you the option to take a picture of whomever is trying to access the accounts you’ve registered with its service. It does this by hacking the hacker’s camera, whether on a computer or a mobile device, and secretly taking a photo. The feature, which is called Mugshot and launched on Tuesday, also provides information about your attacker’s location and IP address — the unique set of numbers that identify each computer on a network. And it offers to take a photo with the rear-facing camera of a mobile device, so you can get a look at the hacker’s surroundings. LogMeOnce, a Fairfax, Va., company incorporated in 2011, has a patent pending on the proprietary technology, which essentially tries to protect consumers by exposing the identities, or at least the locations, of hackers.

Chief executive Kevin Shahbazi phrased it another way, calling it a digital burglar alarm. It is “identical to an alarm system that everyone uses to protect their home, business or property,” only for the digital age, he said. — Washington Post-Bloomberg News

Hacker group exploits satellites to steal data and hide tracks A group of sophisticated Russian-speaking hackers is exploiting commercial satellites to siphon sensitive data from diplomatic and military agencies in the US and in Europe as well as to mask their location, a security firm said in a new report. The group, which some researchers refer to as Turla, after the name of the malicious software it uses, also has targeted government organisations, embassies and companies in Russia, China and dozens of other countries, as well as research groups and pharmaceutical firms, said Stefan Tanase, senior security researcher at Kaspersky Lab, a Moscow-based cybersecurity firm with analysts around the world. Turla has used this technique for at least eight years, which reflects a degree of sophistication and creativity generally not seen among advanced hacker groups, Tanase said. “For us, it was very surprising,” he said in a phone interview.

“We’ve never seen a malicious operation that hijacked satellite” connections to obtain data and to cover its tracks. “This is the first group that we believe has done it. It allows you to achieve a much greater level of anonymity.” Although Kaspersky has not linked Turla to the Russian government, other security firms have done so. The Turla malware originated from a “sophisticated Russian-government-affiliated” hacker group that “we call Venomous Bear,” said Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder and chief technology officer of CrowdStrike, an Irvine, Calif.-based cybersecurity technology firm. — Washington Post-Bloomberg News

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M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 14 , 2 0 1 5

ROUND-UP OAB launches staff rewards programme ‘Mukafaati’ is a non-cash incentive programme where employees can gain points on professional development, outstanding performance, positive behaviour and personal milestones

MUSCAT: Oman Arab Bank (OAB) launched its employee rewards programme titled ‘Mukafaati’ at its Ghubra head office yesterday.

The bank has signed an agree-

ment with Ensperity Ventures; a Canadian pioneering company in the field of loyalty programmes, engagement incentives, rewards and recognition offerings.

‘Mukafaati’ is considered the first of its kind in the banking sector not only in Oman but also in the Middle East.

‘Mukafaati’ is a non-cash incentive programme where employees can gain points on professional development, outstanding performance, positive behaviour and personal milestones. These points are then redeemed into valuable rewards that are provided by lead-

ing global suppliers in the field of hospitality, travel, electronics and retail, hence giving the employees the flexibility to choose their preferred brand of perfumes, watches, hotel stays and air tickets as gifts to themselves, says a press release.

On this occasion, Amin Al Husseini, CEO of Oman Arab Bank, said: “Oman Arab Bank assures its commitment to providing all means of incentives programmes to its employees towards achieving excellence in job performance and creating positive work environment based on a teamwork culture approach that leads to continuous

E X PA N S I O N

development of our bank.”

Ensperity, a Toronto based solution provider of Power2Motivate platform for employee engagement has partnered with Oman Arab Bank as their first Middle East banking client. Power2Motivate is the world’s leading platform for employee and business partner incentives and rewards, available across 150 countries and in 17 languages, with over 750 clients, in excess of 2.5 million users and still growing.

Oman Arab Bank has over 1,200 employees with 94 per cent Omanisation.

“This move is aligned to our long-term strategy of making Oman Arab Bank the “employerof-choice” for all young Omani graduates. Hence ‘Mukafaati’ programme is geared to the current generation’s desire of online shopping and social media recognition and engagement. It comes with a fresh look and a clear message that Oman Arab Bank is modernising and appealing to the generation next,” concluded Amin Al Husseini at the closing of the event.

F O R C O R P O R AT E C U S T O M E R S

Omantel launches Ethernet service MUSCAT: In line with its commitment to enrich its customers with innovative services that add value to their businesses, Omantel, the leading telecommunication services provider in the Sultanate, announced the launch of Ethernet service for corporate customers, says a press release.

Commenting on the launch of the Ethernet service, Ali Bakhit Kashoob, senior manager, Product Development at Omantel’s Corporate Business Unit, said: “The Ethernet service is an innovative service which allows corporate customers and public organisations to connect two or more sites or branches through a LAN network, to smoothly transmit data and applications allowing for site-to-site connectivity easily, securely, and cost-effectively helping to boost the overall business performance.

He added that Omantel is very keen on introducing modern technologies and services that add value to its customers. The services will also contribute to enhancing productivity and improving the services rendered by these organisations to their cus-

tomers and beneficiaries.

“Ethernet services allows our customers to manage their data transfer among different branches through a virtual connectivity.

The service provides dedicated capacities for use at a fixed speed to enable customers to control their costs; an objective that was well considered by Omantel when designing this service,” he continued.

The Ethernet service allows customers to be in better control of the network. They can add sites, change speeds if required and set the priorities for certain applications. This service offers several options from which they can select the best services available to them.

PROMOTION

Malabar Gold’s 8th outlet in seaPearls ‘Factory Sale’ gets Oman nears grand opening huge response from patrons SOHAR: Driven by the increased demand for unique and diverse gold and diamond jewellery, Malabar Gold and Diamonds, one of the leading jewellery retailers, announced the opening of its 135th outlet in Oman, which will be inaugurated by prominent Indian actress Kajal Aggarwal on September 18 at 6.30pm.

This elegant showroom conveniently located at Lulu Hypermarket, Sohar, will be their second showroom in Sohar, eighth in Oman and 54th in the Middle East, says a press release.

Like all other Malabar Gold and Diamonds outlets, this showroom will also display a significantly large collection of traditional as well as contemporary jewellery in gold, certified diamonds, platinum and precious stone jewellery from across the world that can hold you spell-bound with their awe-inspiring beauty.

Inaugural offers To celebrate this occasion, the group introduced fabulous inaugural offers for their customers.

With every purchase of diamond jewellery worth OMR500, the customers will get a 1gm gold coin absolutely free and the customers can also avail a free gold coin with every purchase of gold jewellery worth OMR300. These offers are valid at their outlet in Sohar until

September 26.

One of the most important factors driving the group’s success are innovation in their strategies, designs, promotions and the trust Malabar Gold and Diamonds evokes. With a rich mix of traditional and trendy jewellery in gold, diamond and platinum, Malabar Gold & Diamonds is one of the most preferred destinations for quality jewellery. The combination of purest jewellery and cutting edge designs combining unmatched grace and style makes their jewellery unique.

Impeccable style The branded jewellery segment of Malabar Gold & Diamonds that includes Ethnix - Handcrafted Designer Jewellery, Era - Uncut Diamond Jewellery, Mine - Diamonds Unlimited, Divine- Indian Heritage Jewellery, Precia - Precious Gem Jewellery and Starlet - Kids Jewellery are renowned globally for their flawless craftsmanship and the impeccable style.

The leap from a single store to 135 outlets globally did not happen overnight. It was achieved through consistent effort & an insistence on setting exceptionally high standards to meet the aspiration of customers over a period of 22 years. Their dedicated and highly skilled employees invest heart and soul in striving to achieve maxi-

mum perfection. Absolute customer satisfaction is the overriding promise in everything they do.

Ornaments have never been so easier to buy, sell and exchange as it is in Malabar Gold & Diamonds and with their customer friendly policies, they give their customers enough reasons to come back to their stores. The jewellery group also gives their customers the advantage of using their 0% Easy Payment Plan with selected banks through which they can pay the total amount in 3 to 6 instalments without any interest. Customers can also enrol to the unique ‘Gold Purchase Scheme’ from the new store as well. It gives customers a unique opportunity to save gold every month equivalent to equal monthly instalments for a maximum period of 24 months.

The group is in the forefront when it comes to CSR activities as well. The group sets apart a fixed percentage of its net profit to the benefit of needy and the charity projects of Malabar Gold & Diamonds have touched the lives of thousands of people across the world. They focus primarily in five priority areas such as health, education, environment, housing and women empowerment.

In Oman, Malabar Gold & Diamonds operates showrooms at Darsait, Bausher, Ruwi, Salalah and Sohar.

MUSCAT: seaPearls Gold and Diamond Jewellery has been receiving positive response from customers and patrons on its ongoing ‘Factory Sale’. seaPearls stores across the Sultanate have received an overwhelming response to the ongoing offers and have been witnessing footfalls from customers from all walks of life, says a press release.

Sale extended The Factory Sale exclusively on their diamond collection has been extended till October which is currently available at their stores located in Ruwi and at the newly opened Avenues Mall, Bausher. seaPearls Gold and Diamond Jewellery, Oman caters to the modern woman of today and is best known for the combination of precious and innovative materials and distinctive designs, for glamorous and exciting styles that fuses classic and contemporary.

The collections of diamond and gold jewellery range from daily wear — such as light weight necklace sets, chains, rings, pendants, bracelets, earrings and bangles — to more occasion-specific and exclusive designs.

It houses an array of signature jewellery collections, namely Ishana, You & Me, Fella, Sol, Nava Graha and Mayoomi are some unique bestsellers among others.

Commenting on the positive

We believe in creating an everlasting memory with each of our customer and hence putting their demands and choice as our priority, we thought of extending the diamond ‘factory sale’ offer P. A. Riyas General manager of seaPearls Gold and Diamond Jewellery response, P. A. Riyas, general manager of seaPearls Gold and Diamond Jewellery said, “The ongoing offer has given us a huge opportunity to interact and understand customer needs and requirement. It gives us immense pleasure to see our customers happy and satisfied with our offerings this time of the year. We believe in creating an everlasting memory with each of our cus-

tomer and hence putting their demands and choice as our priority, we thought of extending the diamond ‘factory sale’ offer.”

Riyas further added, “We always have special plans for our patrons, we understand that buying a diamond ring is an emotional choice and to encourage people to choose diamonds we now have over 40 designs at affordable price range.”

On the social media Valued patrons can get more information on the eclectic diamond collection on the official Facebook page https://www. facebook.com/seapearlsjewelleryom. The page also provides a plethora of information on the wide range of gold and diamond collection on a daily basis to provide the latest information at all times comprising of pictorial galleries, aesthetic details, and unique collection features. The page also runs occasional contests to keep viewers enticed and engaged at all times. The aim has been to be at par with customers’ requirements and needs.

Riyas concluded saying, “Showcasing jewellery, exemplifying fine craftsmanship and exquisite designs, seaPearls Gold and Diamond Jewellery with over 10 years of experience offer complete customer centric shopping experience.”

T H R E E - D AY E V E N T

Major exhibition on fire, safety and security commences today MUSCAT: OFSEC 2015 — Oman’s only and most comprehensive exhibition on fire, safety and security commences today at the Oman International Exhibition Centre, Seeb. The exhibition will be inaugurated at 9am by His Highness Sayyid Shihab bin Tariq Al Said, Adviser to His Majesty the Sultan, says a press release.

The timings of the exhibition are 10am to 1pm, and 4.30pm to 8.30pm today, tomorrow and the day after.

Eighty five exhibitors OFSEC will bring together over 85 international and local exhibitors who will showcase their avant-garde solutions, latest technologies, cutting edge innovations, cost-effective products and services to meet the requirements of governments, businesses, industrial and commercial entities, aviation, construction, infrastructure, transportation, manufacturing, oil and gas and utilities sectors.

OFSEC is designed to meet the needs of the local, regional and international markets by linking practitioners, suppliers, distributors and manufacturers from the fire, safety and security industry, with key decision makers from the government and private sectors making it a definitive networking platform, where new projects and

partnerships are initiated and visionary objectives are implemented. This event also aims to create synergy and strengthen the collaboration between the authorities and the industries.

The exhibition will highlight commercial security, crisis and risk management, critical infrastructure, emergency and rescue, fire & protection, hazard and disaster management, information security, safety and health, smart home/office/city, training and consultation, transport safety and security and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

OFSEC is organised in cooperation with Muscat Municipality and supported by Advantage Austria, Firestop Contractors International Association, Foundation for Police Research, German Industry and Commerce Office (AHK), Highfield Awarding Body For Compliance, Institution of Occupational Health and Safety (IOSH), International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM), International Security Research Association (ISRA), Middle East Facility Management Association (MEFMA), Oman American Business Council and World Safety Organisation (WSO).

The lead sponsor is NAFFCO, the diamond sponsors are Falcon Technical Services, SFFECO

OFSEC is designed to meet the needs of the local, regional and international markets by linking practitioners, suppliers, distributors and manufacturers from the fire, safety and security industry, with key decision makers from the government and private sectors making it a definitive networking platform, where new projects and partnerships are initiated and visionary objectives are implemented. This event also aims to create synergy and strengthen the collaboration between the authorities and the industries

Global and Mitsubishi Electric B.V; the platinum sponsors are Aman Fire Protection Consultants, Canon Middle East, Group 4 Security (G4S), HIK Vision, Intertech Vision FZE, Mohsin Haider Darwish, MSA Global, Oshkosh Corporation, Samsung Techwin and Tyco Fire & Security UAE; the gold sponsors are

Advance Telecom Engineers Co., Business Automation & Security Systems, Integrated Engineering Services, Lichfield Fire & Safety Equipment Co. Ltd. and Williamson Dickies FZE. Conference Co-located with OFSEC is the Middle East Cyber Security Con-

ference to be held tomorrow and the day after at the Hotel Golden Tulip, Seeb. The conference is in collaboration with Oman CERT and Nispana Innovative Platforms Limited and is supported

by ISACA, Muscat Chapter and Association of Chief Information Security Services.

Middle East Cyber Security Summit will discuss the need to have a strategic approach to national cyber security, focusing on implementation of “CCC” framework - Comprehensive in nature, Collaborative by intention and Capability-driven.

This summit will be attended by government officials and C-Level Management from various sectors such as critical infrastructure, energy and utilities, telecommunications and network service sectors, oil and gas sectors, finance and banking institutions, E-commerce and business sectors, technology industries, research and development organisations, security and intelligence services, police services and crime prevention, transportation, ICT networks, individual consumers.

Key note presentations The ME Cyber Security Conference will host visionary key note presentations, from regional and international experts.

The highlight of the conference is the Special Address by Ayham Yassmineh, Criminal Intelligence Officer, Focal Point for Middle East & North Africa Region - Interpol General Secrétariat.

The strategic sponsor for the conference is – Dell Security Solutions, gold sponsor – Fortinet, silver sponsors – Venafi and Paytheon-Websense, bronze sponsors – Bitdefender, Cyberoam and Pinecone Cyber Defence, associate sponsors – Airwatch, Gavs Technologies, Mohsin Haider Darwish and Palo Alto Networks.

IAEE member Muscat Expo, a member of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) is headquartered in the Sultanate of Oman with alliances offices globally and have the distinction of being pioneers in organising exhibitions, conferences, seminars and training workshops accomplished by a team of cohesive and experienced professionals.

The other exhibitions organised

by Muscat Expo are: EDUTEK - Education and Training Exhibition Kuwait, MEHSE - Middle East Health and Safety Exhibition, ITECH - Oman’s Innovation and Technology Exhibition and ELAJ Expo - International Health and Medical Treatment Expo.

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Bank Muscat launches 1st eBranch The well-appointed eBranch creates a unique banking environment within a world of privacy

MUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the flagship financial services provider in the Sultanate, in step with its ‘Let’s Do More’ vision and innovation reflecting technological trends in future banking, has launched Oman’s first electronic branch in the banking sector.

Unleashing an innovative concept, the eBranch located at Oman Avenues Mall elevates the banking experience to new levels of convenience and delight, says a press release.

The well-appointed eBranch creates a unique banking environment within a world of privacy.

The exclusive facilities include a self-service zone for both retail and corporate customers to ex-

ecute day-to-day banking transactions. The eBranch, which is open from 9am to 10pm, helps customers to visit the branch at their convenience and complete the banking requirements at their own pace.

Tariq Atiq, AGM – Cards & eBanking, said: “As the flagship bank in Oman, and in keeping with the technological trends, Bank Muscat is proud to introduce the eBranch which widens the bank’s reach, especially to the country’s youth with a host of services which spell convenience.

“Driven by innovation and the latest technological trends, the eBranch presents a unique facility from Bank Muscat that helps both retail and corporate customers bank at convenience.”

Majority of services at the eBranch is availed by self-service.

Welcoming to all ages and customer segments, the eBranch also has employees present to provide assistance to those not fully conversant with the electronic banking environment. The bank employees do not handle cash, instead machines do.

Social corner The eBranch has many firsts in

the market, including cash deposit machines for corporates. The innovative branch is not all about banking as a lifestyle zone allows customers to relax and enjoy their time. The spacious and modern facility also has a social corner

where customers can interact on social media channels. A video calling facility to speak face-toface with Call Centre employees, customer appointment booking and feedback kiosk are also available at the branch.

RECRUIT CAREER COACH

Best ways to keep negative thoughts from dragging down your job search WHEN you are feeling despondent about your job search efforts, don’t let the emotions and the accompanying physical sensations take control of you and your thinking. Toughen up mentally: Recognise how you’re feeling.

As with most challenges, the first step is admitting the problem. If you’re in a bad mood or frustrated, recognise those feelings to yourself and take a few deep breaths.

Identify “automatic negative thoughts.” According to Rob Yeung, a British psychologist and management expert, automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) are private, uncensored views that

pop into our heads when we experience strong emotions. Make a mental note when you have these thoughts so you can address them.

Think positive. Counter or replace negative thoughts with realistic, positive ones.

The following interaction that I recently had with an MBA student demonstrates what I’m talking about. When Ima visited my office, she was annoyed and embarrassed that she had not yet received a job offer. According to Ima, “The employer never got back to me. I thought I did well in the interview, but I guess I was a terrible candidate since I didn’t get a second in-

terview. . . . I don’t think I’m worthy of a position with this strategy consulting firm.”

During our discussion, Ima acknowledged that her emotions and fears were causing her to question herself and were adding to her stress levels. I helped her to recognise the ANT - her belief that she was a terrible candidate, unworthy of the job. Such overgeneralisations are rarely true and they are typically self-defeating.

In this case the employer didn’t hire anyone for that position because of poor market conditions (a fact unbeknownst to Ima).

We also discussed how Ima’s

ANT was influencing her behaviour and attitude. I then asked her to challenge her ANT by rephrasing her negative thought with a positive, affirming one. She offered the following: “I’m a great MBA candidate with plenty of talents, and it’s the company who lost out by not hiring me.”

Managing your own emotions and being mentally prepared will play a huge role in your career development and leadership success. You can reach amazing heights if you pay attention to your emotions, get mentally tough, and keep things in perspective. — Jeffrey Kudisch/The Washington Post

The eBranch facilitates a host of self-service banking transactions, including fund transfers between own accounts, to third party accounts in Bank Muscat, to other bank accounts in Oman, international transfers and speed transfer

to India.

Customers can also utilise the eBranch facility for online bill payment covering utility services such as electricity, water, mobile, landline, internet, school fees and Bank Muscat credit cards. They can also use the facility for blocking of debit or credit cards, and mobile top-up for Ooredoo and Omantel service.

“The eBranch complements the government’s efforts in creating a digital society, reiterating the bank’s commitment to providing electronic services which spell convenience to customers.

The electronic workflow system is aimed at improving operational efficiency and enhancing customer satisfaction. In Oman, the tech-savvy youth are increasingly adapting to mobile and online banking and the eBranch serves as an extension of the virtual banking facility. The bank lays emphasis on competitive channels and new products to enhance service, in tune with the banking requirements of a young and tech-savvy generation. A keen perception of customer requirements enable Bank Muscat to develop products in line with the current and emerging needs,” added Tariq Atiq.

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MAN Truck & Bus celebrates 100 years of vehicle manufacturing Arabian Engineering Services, distributors of MAN Truck & Bus in the Sultanate of Oman, also celebrates 34 years of providing customers in Oman with tough and reliable automotive solutions

MUSCAT: This year MAN Truck & Bus commemorates an important milestone with the company celebrating 100 years of commercial vehicle manufacturing. In the Middle East, MAN Truck & Bus has built a leadership presence with operations across the GCC and Levant over the years.

Arabian Engineering Services (AES), distributors of MAN Truck & Bus in the Sultanate of Oman, also celebrates 34 years of providing customers in Oman with tough and reliable automotive solutions, says a press release.

Franz von Redwitz, the new managing director of MAN Truck & Bus Middle East, said: “Celebrating 100 years of commercial vehicle manufacturing is a significant achievement and I am proud to lead MAN Truck & Bus Middle East during this historic occasion.

MAN has a longstanding presence in the region and along with our valued distributors we have earned a well-founded reputation as an innovative and reliable commercial vehicles manufacturer delivering high quality products

ACCOLADE: Anton Weinmann, then Chairman MAN, presenting the Award of Excellence to Mohammed Saud Bahwan, chairman, Saud Bahwan Group, in 2006.

to our customers in various industries. As we look ahead to the future, we rededicate ourselves to maintaining this wonderful heritage by continuing to support our customers’ transportation requirements with leading industry products and services.”

Mohammed Saud Bahwan, chairman, Saud Bahwan Group, stated: “This year is an important milestone for MAN Truck & Bus. It gives us the opportunity to reflect on the long heritage of their vehicle manufacturing and it reminds us of the pioneering technologies that MAN has contributed to the Truck and Bus industry. AES, as distributors of MAN Truck & Bus places high emphasis on providing exemplary sales and after sales support to our valued customers, through continuous investment in infrastructure, systems and people.”

Here is an overview of the most important milestones: On June 21, 1915, a new company was entered in the trade register of the City of Nuremberg: “Lastwagenwerke M.A.N.-Saurer”.

The company was established as a joint venture between Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg AG and Saurer, a Swiss producer of commercial vehicles. MAN has significantly influenced the development of trucks and buses with its advanced and often revolutionary innovations for the last 100 years – and is still continuing to do so.

The early years In 1916, production was shifted to the MAN plant in Nuremberg. The company traded as “M.A.N Lastwagenwerke” after the departure of Sauer in 1918. In 1924, MAN presented the first truck with a direct-injection diesel engine – which created the basis for the triumph of diesel engines in truck construction. It saved up to 75 percent of operating costs in comparison with the petrol engines common at the time. Economy and efficiency were already important development goals of MAN at that time and they still apply today.

MAN trucks as engines of reconstruction Trucks were in demand during reconstruction work after the Second World War. In the 1950s, the MAN F8 with its 180 hp V8 engine became the flagship of the eco-

nomic miracle in the new Federal Republic of Germany. MAN demonstrated its level of innovation as early as 1951, when it introduced the first German truck engine with exhaust gas turbo-charging.

The six-cylinder engine achieved 175 hp with an 8.72-litre displacement, a remarkable power increase of 35 percent.

MAN also proved its innovative powers in bus construction. In 1961, the company introduced the 750 HO to the market, the first bus in modular design.

Büssing brought the lion to MAN In 1971, MAN took over Büssing Automobilwerke and the company’s plant in Salzgitter. MAN adopted Büssing’s specialised underfloor engine technology as well as Büssing’s logo, the lion of Brunswick, which has since deco-

rated the radiator grille of all commercial vehicles made by MAN. At the end of the 1970s, MAN started to cooperate with VW in the light truck segment. The six- and eighttonne trucks of the G-series were jointly produced until 1993. Today, MAN is part of the VW Group.

However MAN’s showpieces have always been trucks with hoods for construction work and heavy Cab-Over-Engine trucks for long-distance transport, such as the Type 19.280, which was the first MAN truck to receive the “Truck of the Year” award in 1978.

Numerous awards followed, for example for the MAN F90, which was introduced in 1986 and received the “Truck of the Year” award the following year. The generous driver’s cabin of the F90 was particularly impressive. Ergonomics and comfort for the driver have always been important concerns for MAN designers.

MAN in the new millennium MAN started the new millennium with new innovations. In 2000, the “Trucknology Generation Type A” called TGA set new standards regarding comfort and ergonomics as well as new technologies such as the MAN TipMatic or the MAN Comfort-Shift for optimal gear changes. MAN strengthened its position in the premium coach segment by taking over the NEOPLAN brand in 2001.

The introduction of the D20 engines with common rail injection in 2004 was a real milestone in engine technology. MAN also modernised the light and medium series by introducing the TGL and the TGM in 2005. It was possible to achieve Euro 4, the exhaust gas standard at the time, by a combination of exhaust gas recycling and particle filters, entirely without additives such as AdBlue.

Two years later, two models were presented to succeed the TGA in the heavy series: The TGX was designed for long-distance transport while the TGS was used for applications requiring traction and heavy distribution traffic. MAN received the “Truck of the Year” award for the seventh time and for both models - which is a record in this sector.

Into the future with MAN The development of resource-saving and environmentally friendly vehicles has always been one of the main goals of MAN Truck & Bus. Euro 6, the latest exhaust gas standard was a challenge that MAN met in 2012 with its latest generation of TG vehicles.

In the autumn of 2014, MAN introduced the latest engine generation, the D38, which is currently the culmination of 100 years of engine development in commercial vehicles. Compressed natural gas and biogas are already available as alternatives. Engines suitable for CNG can also be operated with biogas in an almost CO2-neutral manner.

An example is the new Lion’s City GL CNG natural gas articulated bus, which won the “Bus of the Year 2015” award. The established range of natural gas city buses will be supplemented by trucks with a CNG drive in 2016.

MAN’s developers are already working on vehicles that no longer need a driver for certain activities, for example when a safety vehicle secures motorway building sites.

H E A LT H C A R E

Kims offers specialised services at cardiology dept MUSCAT: Kims Oman Hospital (KOH) ), a 50-bedded facility, has added highly experienced professionals in its cardiology department. which provides a broad range of services in the diagnosis and management of heart disease.

Professional team The cardiology department at KIms Oman Hospital comprises professional team of doctors, Dr

Praveen Kumar, consultant cardiologist and Dr Saad Haddad, specialist cardiologist, who are highly experienced in echocardiography and colour Doppler, exercise stress test including stress echocardiography and Dobutamine stress echocardiography, 24 Hours Holter ECG and BP monitoring, CT angiography evaluation, management of critical cardiac illness including valvular, coronary arrhythmias and

heart failure. They also specialise in cardiac evaluation for risk of heart attacks and coronary disease, says a press release.

“Our cardiology department at Kims Oman Hospital is fully equipped and we are very proud of having such a strong team of cardiologists. These experienced specialists offer full cardiac treatment and care to our patients,” said Dr Hussam Akoum, chief operating officer at KOH.

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OMAN’S AZZAN, ALI FOR APGC CHAMPIONSHIP Oman will once again be taking part in the prestigious Asia Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Championship that will take place in Hong Kong from October 1 to 4. >C3

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OMAN’S GCC UNDER-19 CHAMPIONS RETURN HOME TO HERO’S WELCOME The Sultanate’s under-19 squad, who won the GCC Under-19 Football Championship in Qatar on Saturday, returned to hero’s welcome on Sunday. Rasheed Jaber-coached Omanis lifted the trophy after defeating Bahrain 5-3 via penalties in the championship final played in the Qatari capital of Doha. On their return home, the triumphant team were given a warm reception at the Muscat International Airport by Rashad Al Hinai, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Sports Affairs, and Oman Football Association chief Sayyid Khalid Al Busaidi and other officials. — JUN ESTRADA/Times of Oman

Australia end England tour on a high SCOREBOARD

Australia, who lost the Ashes Test series by the same 3-2 scoreline, wrapped up an emphatic eightwicket win in the fifth and deciding ODI at Old Trafford

MANCHESTER: Australia ended their tour of England on a high with a 3-2 victory in the One-day International series as home captain Eoin Morgan suffered concussion after being hit on the head by a bouncer.

The tourists, who lost the Ashes Test series by the same scoreline, wrapped up an emphatic eightwicket win in the fifth and deciding ODI at Old Trafford with 25.4 overs to spare thanks to Aaron Finch’s unbeaten 70.

Mitchell Marsh had earlier picked up four for 27 as England were dismissed for just 138 in 33 overs with Ben Stokes (42) and Adil Rashid (35 not out) the only

Aussies ‘shaken’ by Morgan blow MANCHESTER: Australia captain Steve Smith admits the blow to the head sustained

by England counterpart Eoin Morgan from a bouncer in the fifth and final ODI on Sunday left his players shaken.

With the death of Australia opener Philip Hughes to a bouncer in a first-class match in Sydney last November still relatively fresh in the mind concerned Australian players quickly surrounded the Dublin-born left-hander.

“I think there were a couple of guys who were shaken up.

Starcy in particular,” Smith said. “Obviously it was a

players to really trouble the Australia attack. England played the majority of the match without skipper Morgan, though, after he was struck on the helmet by a short ball — clocked at 90mph — from Mitchell Starc in the seventh over the game.

Morgan, who scored one run and faced six balls prior to the blow, was hit just below his right ear as he turned his head away.

tough summer back home losing a close mate. It’s always nasty when you get a glance like that. So there were a few guys shaken up and I guess hopefully Eoin’s ok.”

England coach Trevor Bayliss confirmed that Morgan felt dazed after the incident and that medical staff would monitor him closely over the next 24 hours “Eoin’s alright. He’s got a bit of lump on his head and a bit of headache but he’s ok, and up and about now and having a chat so he’s fine,” Bayliss said.

“I think when anyone gets hit its anxious moment.” - AFP

With the death of Australia opener Philip Hughes to a short ball in a first-class match in Sydney last November still fresh in the mind concerned Australian players quickly surrounded the Dublin-born left-hander.

Following treatment by the England medical staff on the pitch the 29-year-old batsman climbed to his feet and groggily made his way back to the dressing room, but was

ENGLAND J. Roy lbw Starc 4 A. Hales c Maxwell b Hastings 4 J. Taylor c Wade b Hastings 12 E. Morgan retired hurt J. Bairstow lbw Marsh 10 M. Ali c wade b Marsh 5 D. Willey lbw Marsh 0 A. Rashid not out 35 M. Wood c Agar b Hastings 13 R. Topley lbw Agar 6 Total (all out, 33 overs) 138 Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-13, 3-22, 3-22* (Morgan, retired hurt), 4-56, 5-72, 6-72, 7-85, 8-106, 9-138.

Bowling: Starc 9-1-44-1 (w-1); Hastings 10-2-21-3; Cummins 6-0-33-0 (w-3); Marsh 6-0-27-4 (w-1); Agar 2-0-12-1.

AUSTRALIA J. Burns c Bairstow b Willey 0 A. Finch not out 70 S. Smith c Bairstow b Wood 12 G. Bailey not out 41 Total (2 wkts, 24.2 overs) 140 Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-32.

Bowling: Willey 6-3-13-1 (w-1), Topley 5.2-1-33-0 (nb-1), Wood 5-1-25-1, Rashid 4-0-34-0, Ali 4-0-25-0.

deemed unable to continue with James Taylor charged with skippering the hosts for the remainder of the contest.

It proved an impossible task for Taylor with so few runs on the board as Australia made light work of England’s total. - AFP

SHAKEN: Australian pacer Mitchell Starc, right, as England’s Eoin

Morgan gets treatment after being struck by a bouncer from the former during their fifth and final ODI at Old Trafford on Sunday. – Reuters

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Hingis and Sania win women’s doubles title Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis did not drop a set in becoming the first

FANJA, SUWAIQ, AL MUSANNAH MAKE WINNING START IN OPL Fanja, Suwaiq and Al Musannah made winning starts as the third edition of the Omantel Professional League (OPL) season kicked off on Sunday. Fanja, the last season’s runners-up, outplayed Muscat 3-0 at the Seeb Sports Stadium with both international strikers Imad Al Hosni and Abdulaziz Al Maqbali finding the net. At Al Saada Sports Complex in Salalah, Suwaiq edged Al Nasr 2-1 while Al Musannah scored a similar 2-1 win over Al Nahda at Buraimi Sports Complex. Al Arouba are scheduled to launch their title defence on Monday against Salalah at Al Saada Sports Compled. The day’s other matches will see Sohar playing Sur and Al Khabourah facing Saham in a double header at Sohar Sports Complex while Al Shabab take on Dhofar at Seeb Sports Stadium. — ISMAIL AL FARSI/Times of Oman

top-seeded duo to win the US Open women’s doubles title since Cara Black and Liezel Huber did in 2008

NEW YORK: Wimbledon champions Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza captured their second consecutive Grand Slam women’s doubles crown on Sunday, defeating Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3, 6-3 in the US Open final.

India’s Sania and Swiss veteran Hingis did not drop a set in becoming the first top-seeded duo to win the US Open women’s doubles title since Cara Black and Liezel Huber won the 2008 crown.

“It has been a great year for us,” Sania said. “To win Wimbledon was a great year. Then to come back and back it up to win the US Open, we feel like we’re a really solid team. And we came through again today.”

Hingis also won the mixed doubles alongside a partner from India, men’s doubles veteran Leander Paes.

It was the 11th career Grand Slam doubles title for Hingis,

SUCCESSIVE SLAM CROWN: Martina Hingis, left, of Switzerland and India’s Sania Mirza celebrate with the winner’s trophy after defeating Casey Dellacqua of Australia and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan in the women’s doubles final of the US Open in New York on Sunday. – AFP

34, who has won four Australian Opens (1997, 1998, 1999, 2002), two French Opens (1998, 2000), three at Wimbledon (1996, 1998, 2015) and two on the New York hardcourts in 1998 with Jana Novotna and this year.

Hingis, who hit a backhand volley winner to break for the win after 70 minutes, won 14 matches in a row when she began playing alongside Mirza in March, taking titles at Indian Wells, Miami and Charleston before the streak ended in the Rome final. “From the start, we hit it off,” Hingis said.

“Our games work well together.”

Sania, the world doubles No. 1 at 28, won her only prior Slam women’s doubles title with

world doubles No. 2 Hingis in July at the All England Club.

Australian left-hander Dellacqua, 30, had been seeking her first Grand Slam doubles crown but settles for a sixth runner-up showing, including the 2013 US and Australian Opens and Wimbledon plus the 2008 and 2015 French Opens. Kazak Shvedova, 28, owns two major women’s doubles titles from 2010 at Wimbledon and the US Open.

She delayed her wedding so she could play in the final.

“I will be flying home tomorrow, landing home Tuesday, getting married Wednesday and then flying to another tournament,” Shvedova said. “To my American

family, save my bachelorette party for later.”

Hingis was also the US Open doubles runner-up last year alongside Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, who won her first Grand Slam singles crown on Saturday by beating compatriot Roberta Vinci in the singles final.

Sania and Hingis have reached finals in six of 12 tournaments together while Dellacqua and Shvedova have made four finals from seven pairings since partnering in May. “It has been great,” Dellacqua said. “Slava and I get along well off the court. Our games complement each other. The more we keep playing together the more we will improve.” - AFP

PREMIER LEAGUE

Leicester storm back to beat Villa, go second LONDON: Leicester City staged a remarkable comeback from two goals down to beat Aston Villa 3-2 and go second in the Premier League table on Sunday, scoring three times in 17 minutes.

Villa seemed in control when Carles Gil’s curling shot after a lightning counter-attack put them

2-0 ahead just past the hour after youngster Jack Grealish’s first goal for his club had given them the halftime advantage.

But Claudio Ranieri’s vibrant Leicester side halved the deficit in the 72nd minute through Ritchie De Laet and, roared on by a raucous home support, equalised through

Jamie Vardy before substitute Nathan Dyer’s brave headed winner.

Leicester have 11 points from five games, four less than Manchester City who still have a 100 percent record.

Tottenham Hotspur claimed their first win of the season thanks to Ryan Mason’s late winner in a

1-0 win at Sunderland although he was then carried off on a stretcher.

The win lifted Spurs to 12th in the table and dropped champions Chelsea, beaten 3-1 at Everton on Saturday, down to 17th and in danger of falling into the bottom three when Newcastle United play at West Ham United on Monday. - Reuters

ON THE RUN

BCB suspends Shahadat from all forms of cricket DHAKA: Bangladesh national cricketer Shahadat Hossain was suspended on Sunday from all forms of the game as police investigate allegations that he and his wife beat their 11-year-old maid.

Police are still searching for the 29-year-old paceman who went into hiding last week after claims he “tortured and abused” the maid who is undergoing treatment in hospital. “The allegations against Shahadat Hossain have tarnished our image,” Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) spokesman Jalal Yunus said.

“We’ve therefore decided to temporarily suspend him from all sorts of cricket being organised by the BCB,” Yunus said, adding that Shahadat would only be allowed to play if cleared by the police.

He said the BCB had vocally opposed the abuse of children

and women in the past, including the use of minors for labour.

Police raided the house of the pace bowler and his wife, Nritto Shahadat, who is also on the run, on the night of September 6 after officers found the injured and crying maid on a street in Dhaka.

“We’ve also raided his village home and houses of his relatives and friends. But we did not find Shahadat and his wife anywhere,” Inspector Shafiqur Rahman, who is investigating the case, said.

The maid, Mahfuza Akter Happy, has told police that the couple beat her. TV footage showed the girl, looking frail and thin, being taken to hospital with swollen black eyes. “She told us that the couple beat her very often. Her hand was charred with a hot cooking paddle. She had injury marks all over her body,” Rahman said. - AFP

MOTOGP

Marquez wins, Rossi extends lead SAN MARINO: Valentino Rossi extended his MotoGP lead over Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo to 23 points at the San Marino Grand Prix on Sunday despite a strategy blunder that handed victory to Spaniard Marc Marquez.

Rossi had a record 92,000-strong home crowd on their feet and cheering as he took the lead at Misano’s Marco Simoncelli circuit in eastern Italy but the joy was shortlived in a thrilling dry-wet-dry race involving two pitstops.

With Marquez’s Honda team pitting the reigning champion to switch bikes again with 10 laps remaining, Rossi and Lorenzo — who had started on pole — stayed out.

Lorenzo eventually came in with eight laps to go and then crashed out on the next lap just as Rossi, who ended up fifth, was brought in for his switch back to a bike with slick tyres. Britain had two riders on the podium instead of the familiar faces, with Bradley Smith second for Tech3 Yamaha after staying on slick tyres during the rain shower and coming through from 19th place.

DIFFICULT RACE: Marc Marquez, centre, flanked by Bradley Smith, left, and Scott Redding celebrates on the podium after winning the San Marino Grand Prix in Misano Adriatico on Sunday. – AFP

“Everyone told me it would rain for a little spot and then it would disappear. It was raining and I saw there was 20 laps to go, so I thought it could dry and they’d be on wets that would be ruined in the end,” said Smith.

“In the end I thought: ‘I’ve already stayed out four laps longer than I should, so I’m in it for the long haul’. I just kept telling my-

self ‘luck favours the brave’.”

Scott Redding’s first MotoGP podium was even more remarkable with the Marc VDS Honda rider having to pick up his machine after a fall into the gravel on the seventh lap.

Rossi now has 247 points to Lorenzo’s 224, with Marquez on 184 with five rounds remaining.

“I was behind the Yamahas and

was trying to check how was the asphalt and the tyres and I saw that Lorenzo and Valentino had big (tyre) degradation,” said Marquez.

“I said now is the time to change the tyres and when I changed then I saw that the track was completely dry, but it was difficult to understand,” added the Spaniard after his fourth win of the season and 23rd of his career. - Reuters

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SPORTS Ahmad to start in sixth row in British GT season finale Partnered by Alex MacDowall, Ahmad goes into 120-minute ninth round of the campaign determined to emerge victorious in the Silver Cup battle while also helping the Oman Racing Team try to retain the coveted GT3 teams’ title

LEICESTERSHIRE: Silver Cup class points leader Ahmad Al Harthy will begin the final race of the 2015 Avon Tyres British GT Championship season at Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit, from the sixth row of the grid, after a mixed qualifying session for the Oman Racing Team.

Partnered for the second race meeting in succession by Aston Martin ‘works’ driver Alex MacDowall, 34-year-old Ahmad goes into 120-minute ninth round of the campaign determined to emerge victorious in the Silver Cup battle while also helping the Oman Racing Team try to retain the coveted GT3 teams’ title.

With grid position determined by the combined best lap times of each teammate, Ahmad took the first qualifying stint in the all-important session on Saturday afternoon and the Aston Martin Middle East and

GOOD PROGRESS: Ahmad Al Harthy in action during the qualifying session of the 2015 Avon Tyres British GT Championship season at Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit. – Supplied photo

North Africa ambassador broke into the top six on his third lap.

Although posting his quickest effort of the run the next time around, a lap of one minute and 30.448 seconds (99.00 mph), he had to settle for ninth quickest in the end — just 0.6 seconds shy of the front row in a very closely fought battle.

McDowall took over the No.2 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 for the second run, the Briton setting a best time of 1:30.223 seconds (99.24 mph) before a red flag stoppage.

With officials choosing to end the session at that point, on combined times the duo ended up with the 12th quickest lap and a spot on row six of the grid.

“We didn’t have a proper dry run in the two practice sessions on Saturday morning, the conditions were mixed, so we think we could have achieved more in qualifying than we did”, said Oman Air, Oman Ministry of Sports Affairs, Ooredoo, National Bank of Oman and Al Hashar Group-backed driver Ahmad.

“We looked at all of the data and we’re confident we will be stronger for the race.

“We have our own battle and we know what we need to do. Although we’re not starting as high up the grid as we would like, I’m really looking forward to the race and I know we can make very good progress. It’ll be important to make up some places early in the race so we’re in a good position at the pit stops, hopefully everything will go to plan.”

Ahead of today’s grand finale

S E C O N D PA R T I C I PAT I O N

Provisional 2015 Avon Tyres British GT Championship GT3 Driver Standings: 7. Ahmad Al Harthy 54 pts.

Provisional 2015 Avon Tyres British GT Championship GT3 Silver Cup: 1. Ahmad Al Harthy 103 pts.

Provisional 2015 Avon Tyres British GT Championship GT3 Team Standings: 2. Oman Racing Team 189.5 pts.

Singapore GP on alert over haze threat SINGAPORE: Since the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix in 2008, drivers have been routinely quizzed about how they would cope with a tropical downpour during the only Formula One race held entirely under floodlights.

After seven years of bone dry races, the answer still remains a mystery, but a different hazard could possibly threaten this year’s race, scheduled for September 20.

A dense cloud of haze has been hanging over the city-state of Singapore for the past week, a result of farmers in neighbouring Sumatra burning forests to clear their land for agriculture.

An annual occurrence, the smog is currently rated under the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) as being in the mid to low range of “unhealthy” air quality, but race organizers are monitoring the situation in case it worsens and effects driver visibility.

“The possibility of haze is just one of the many potential issues that are covered in the overall 2015 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix Contingency Plan,” a Singapore GP spokesperson said in a statement.

“The plan was formulated and refined with stake holders, government bodies and the Formula One community.

“In the event that the haze caused visibility, public health or operational issues Singapore GP would work closely with the relevant agencies before making any collective decisions regarding the event.”

A number of local sports events in Singapore were cancelled this weekend because of health risks and the Singapore National Environment Agency said that the PSI levels were likely to remain in the “unhealthy” range for the next week. - Reuters

THREE MORE YEARS

Azzan and Ali to represent Oman at Asia Pacific golf championship

HEADED TO HONG KONG: Ali Hameed, right, and Azzan Al Rumhy. – Supplied photos

MUSCAT: Oman golfers are once again selected to take part in the prestigious Asia Pacific Golf Championship that will take place in Hong Kong from October 1 to 4.

The Oman Golf Committee (OGC) has entered the names of its experienced players, Azzan Al Rumhy and Ali Hameed, to represent the country in the prestigious championship.

The action will take place at the iconic Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club in Hong Kong.

Oman also participated in the competition in 2014, when Azzan and Hamood Al Harthy took part, with the competition taking place

of the British GT season, Ahmad holds a 9.75 point lead in the Silver Cup while the Oman Racing Team is second in the entrant standings.

In the overall GT3 title battle, the Omani holds seventh position.

F1

Oman made their debut at the Asia Pacific Golf Championship in 2014 after becoming a member of the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation when the Sultanate fielded Azzan and Hamood Al Harthy

from in October at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia.

The OGC has high hopes over Azzan and Hamood’s participation in this year’s championship, with OGC Chairman Mundhir

Al Barwani wishing the players all the best.

“This is a great opportunity for our golfers to shine on behalf of Oman in a major international tournament,” Al Barwani said.

“Azzan had already taken part in the competition in the past and Ali Hameed is shaping up well for this competition.

“I am confident the two of them will give their best and have a good time out there.”

The OGC became a member of the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) in early 2014, after which Oman debuted in the Asia Pacific Golf Championship later that year in Australia.

Ahmed Al Jahadhamy, ViceChairman of the OGC, is looking forward to the event. “This is a very big competition for Oman.

We are confident our two players will do well in Hong Kong.”

Melbourne extends F1 hosting deal to 2023 MELBOURNE: Melbourne has secured the hosting rights to the Australian Formula One Grand Prix until 2023, the Victoria state government announced on Sunday.

Melbourne last year signed an agreement to continue hosting the race until 2020 and Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said the state government had agreed to a three-year extension to 2023.

“There’s nothing quite like the

Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne and the buzz it creates around our state,” Andrew said.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has in the past suggested the race was one of the least viable on the sport’s calendar because of the time difference with the key European television market.

“We are very happy to extend our relationship with Melbourne,” Ecclestone said in a statement. - Reuters

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SPORTS The Wave, Muscat One shine in Al Musannah The championship, now in its second year, serves as a first taste of competitive team racing for many sailors in the Optimist Class

MUSCAT: Six teams representing three of Oman Sail’s sailing schools took to the seas in Al Musannah on Saturday at the Oman Team Racing Championship. Each school entered two teams, emphasising the high quality of sailor on show, with The Wave, Muscat One emerging victorious after 17 intense races. The school held off the challenge of a team from Musannah in second and The Wave, Muscat Two in third to take the trophy.

A team from Marina Bander Al Rowdha finished fourth.

The championship, now in its second year, serves as a first taste of

CHAMPIONS: Members of the victorious The Wave, Muscat One team pose for a group photo after winning the Oman Team Racing Championship. – Supplied photo

competitive team racing for many sailors in the Optimist Class, all of whom are part of Oman Sail’s Omantel Youth Programme co-sponsored by Oman Shipping Company.

Rashid Al Kindi, Oman Sail’s National Team Manager, said: “Team racing provides an extra edge and teaches a more tactical

side of the sport. Our sailors need to consider the goals of the team and not solely focus on their own performance.

“They must work together during the races to ensure their team finishes in the best position possible. This added dimension is an important lesson in the develop-

ment of our young sailors and is a valuable experience for them as they progress through the Oman Sail Performance Pathway.”

The competition features a fleet of identical Optimists, competing in a series of short 10 minute races with the winner of each race earning one point, second place receiving two points, third gaining three and the fourth placed team are given four.

At the end of racing, the team with the fewest points overall is declared the winner. This format requires a combination of boat speed, good boat handling and teamwork as well as a thorough understanding of racing rules and tactical insight in order to create opportunities to overtake or force rivals into errors that can be capitalised on.

Racing continues next weekend with the first ranking race of the new season where the Optimist class will compete for positions in Oman’s National Squad for forthcoming competitions.

On September 27, the top six Optimist sailors that comprise the Oman national dquad will travel to Algeria to compete in the IODA African Championship. In October, the Optimist squad will travel to Qatar to take part in the Optimist Asian Championship.

INTENSIVE MODULES

OOC starts Advanced Sports Administration Course MUSCAT: The Oman Olympic Committee (OOC) has launched an Advanced Sports Administration Course at its headquarters on Saturday. The course was inaugurated under the auspices of Khalifa bin Saif Al Essai, Director General of Sports Activities at the Ministry of Sports Affairs, in the presence of Jihad bin Abdallah Al Shaikh, OOC Board Member.

According to a press release issued by the OOC on Sunday, the course will be held in three stages for five days each month and is being organised by OOC for administrators of sports associations, committees and teams.

Lecturing at the course is Dr. Mansoor bin Sultan Al Tauqi, who is an international lecturer and course director approved by the Olympic

Solidarity (OS) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The course is attended by administrators from Oman Olympic Committee, Ministry of Sports Affairs, Ministry of Education, Oman Tennis Association, Oman Swimming Association, Oman Handball Association, Oman Equestrian Association, Oman Volleyball Association, Oman

Hockey Association, Oman Bowling Committee, Oman Beach Sports Committee, Oman AntiDoping Committee, Oman Karate Committee, Oman Taekwondo Committee, Oman University Sports Committee, Oman Women’s Sport Committee and Oman Paralympic Committee.

The course is held in the context of the OOC’s plans and pro-

grammes aimed at qualifying cadres working in the fields of sports organisation and management and as part of the OS Programme.

It includes intensive modules in the field of organisation of sports entities, management of strategies, human resource management, finance management, sports marketing and management of sports events.

ANNUAL EVENT

Al Saadi to grace Oman Cricket gala MUSCAT: Sheikh Saad bin Mohammed Al Mardhouf Al Saadi, the Minister of Sports Affairs, will preside over the Oman Cricket’s annaul gala on Wednesday.

The 36th edition of the event will take place at Le Grand Hall of Al Falaj Hotel from 7 p.m.

According to a press release issued by the Oman Cricket on Sunday, the several members of diplomatic missions, dignitaries and heads of corporates will also grace the occasion.

List of awardees: Teams: A Division sponsored by Muscat Pharmacy & Stores LLC: Winners: Assarain A; Runner–up: Muscat Cricket Team. B Division sponsored by Khimji Ramdas LLC: Winners: Enhance Eagles; Runners-up: Sinha. C Division sponsored by Al Ansari Group of Companies: Winners: NBO A; Runners-up: Z-Axis Media. D Division sponsored

by Raha – Poly Products LLC: Winners: Al Faisal; Runners-up: Assarain B. E Division sponsored by Enhance: Winners: Times of Oman; Runners-up: Sarco. F Division: Winners: Attic Outdoors; Runners-up: Newrest Wacasco.

G Division: Winners: Professional Trading; Runners-up: Global Money Exchange. H Division: Winners: Sayarti; Runners-up: Abu Maather Al Malki. I Division: Winners: Ahli Bank; Runners-up: Caledonian College. J Division: Winners: NBO B; Runners-up: Starcare Hospital.

Individual awards: Omani players (playing for one team): Best batsman: Haroon Trad Yaqoob Al Balushi (OCT Al Hail B); Best bowler: Amur Ahmed Qader Bakhsh Al Balushi (OCT Al Hail A); Consolation bowlng: Mohammed Aslam Qader Bakhsh Al Balushi (OCT Muscat A); Omani players (playing for more than one team): Best batsman: Abdul Ghani Rahim Bakhsh Al Balushi (OCT Al Hail ‘B’ & Majees); Best bowler: Khalid Moosa Murad Al Balushi (OCT Al Hail A & MARH); Consolation batting: Shuaib Ismail Mohammed Al Balushi (NYDT, OCT Muscat A & Arrow Overseas); Consolation Bowling: Mohammed Ali Akbar Al Balushi (OCT Muscat A, NYDT & Ooredoo) A Division: Best batsman: Jatinder Singh (Muscat); Best bowler: Ajay Lalcheta (Al Turki NMC); Consolation batting: Aaqib Ilyas Sulheri (Muscat); Consolation bowling: V.S. Shiju (Assarain A).

B Division: Best batsman: Zafar Iqbal (Enhance Eagles); Best bowler: Shankar Parameswaran (Enhance Eagles); Consolation bowling: Chadith Lakmal (Renaissance).

CHIEF GUEST: Sports minister Sheikh Saad Al Saadi

C Division: Best batsman: Melwin Mathew (Z-Axis Media); Best bowler: Syed Zaheer Abbas (NBO A); Consolation batting: Abdul Majeed Abdul Naveed (PDORC).

D Division: Best batsman: Aadil Mohammed Amin (Blue Sky Int’l); Best bowler: Ranjith R. Nair (Assarain B); Consolation bowling: Ghazanfar Iqbal (Al Faisal).

E Division: Best batsman: Prasad Peruli (Landscape Architecture); Best bowler: Adnan-ul Haq Mustaq Hussain (Times of Oman); Consolation bowling: Kashif Imtiyaz Bakkar (Ibrahim Al Kishri).

F Division: Best batsman: Mohsin Abbas Zaidi (Majees); Best bowler: Rajesh Rao (Attic Outdoors); Consolation batting: Jeason Jacob George (Orange Mart); Consolation bowling: Deepesh Unikkoru (Al Daam Int’l).

G Division: Best batsman: Anup Rajan (King Travels); Best bowler: Binu Babu Varghese (Professional Trading); Consolation batting: Patel Ashokkumar Haribhai (Global Money Exchange).

H Division: Best batsman: Masanam Ragunath (Rukun Al Yaqeen); Best bowler: Aneesh Madhavan (Al Fairuz Trading); Consolation bowling: Ruwan Rupasinghe (Sayarti).

I Division: Best batsman: Mohammed Shafeeq Nagori (Caledonian College); Best bowler: Rithesh Acharya (Al Ansari).

J Division: Best batsman: Khuram Rashid (Trust Oilfields Strikers); Best bowler: Meesam Ali (Starcare Hospital).

Cricketer of the year A Division: Ajay Lalcheta (Al Turki NMC).

Sponsors: Junior League Under 16 & Under 19 Women’s Cricket Tournament 2014-15: Al Turki Enterprises.

Junior League Under 19, B Division League and Knock-Out Tournament 2014-15: Khimji Ramdas LLC. A Division League 2014-15: Muscat Pharmacy & Stores LLC. C Division League 201415: Al Ansari Group of Companies. D Division League 2014-15: Raha Poly Products LLC E Division League 201415: Enhance.

TELY BOYS EMERGE WINNERS AT BPL Tely Boys defeated RCC to emerge the winners of the Bluestar Premier League (BPL) organised by Team Bluestar in Salalah recently. In the final of the 10-team event, Tely Boys, after electing to field first, restricted RCC to 46 in six overs before chasing the target in 4.1 overs loss of just two wickets. Man of the final: Shanid of Tely Boys, Best bowler: Raniz of Tely Boys, Best wicketkeeper: Shamseer of Bluestar, Fastest fifty: Sohan of Cheers XI, Maximum sixes: Rayees of Tely Boys and Best catch: Raihan of DCC. — Supplied photo

M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 14 , 2 0 1 5

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or Flavia Pennetta, summing up her tumultuous, shocking, fascinating and heart-warming US Open triumph was easily described in a single word. “Perfect.” Pennetta, the oldest maiden Grand Slam finalist in the Open era, became the first Italian to win the US Open women’s crown and did so on Saturday with an efficient 7-6 (4) 6-2 victory over childhood friend and compatriot Roberta Vinci.

Before accepting the trophy and $3.3 million for the win that easily marked the greatest triumph of her career, the 33-yearold announced her retirement.

“My life is perfect,” Pennetta said when asked how she would look back at the championship.

“Perfect. “This one was my last US Open match and I couldn’t think to finish in a better way.”

Two weeks ago, no one could have predicted a final between the 26th-ranked Pennetta, then rated a 150-1 outsider, and the 43rd-ranked Vinci, an even more unfancied 300-1. However, both players refused to be swayed by the odds and fought their way through to the most unlikely title showdown that put Italy firmly in the spotlight of New York’s gaze.

Pennetta, who is engaged to fellow Italian tennis player Fabio Fognini, said she would play to the end of this season, including tournaments in Wuhan, Beijing and possibly the elite eight-woman WTA Finals in Singapore.

Adding to their collective joy, Fognini also had a magical moment at the Open, coming back from two sets down to eliminate 14-times grand slam winner Rafa Nadal in the third round with an inspired performance.

Having battled injuries on a regular basis in recent years, Pennetta said she made the decision to call time on her career at last month’s Toronto event.

“Sometimes it’s getting hard for me to compete. This is the important point,” she explained. “When you are in the court, when you have to play 24 weeks in the year, you have to fight every week.

“And if you don’t fight every week

SPORTS ‘Miracle’ girl Vinci goes down joking

BUDDIES: Roberta Vinci and Flavia Pennetta. – Reuters

NEW YORK: Roberta Vinci shrugged off her US Open final loss to fellow Italian Flavia Pennetta by dreaming of home-made pasta and enjoying her last New York hamburger. Far from being despondent after her loss to her childhood friend, the 32-year-old Vinci instead showed off a nice line in stand-up comedy.

Poking fun at what she described as her poor command of English, Vinci admitted she was a fan of the host city but yearned for her home in Taranto in the south of Italy. “I love New York. Today probably this is my last cheeseburger, and then tomorrow pasta, real pasta at home,” she said, raising her hands to the sky in mock relief.

“But, no, I enjoy all the season, all the US Open season. I play so good. Yeah, my emotions are difficult to say, especially in English.”

Vinci joked that she received as many messages of congratulations for her English as she did for her semfinal victory over Serena Williams.

“I receive a lot of congratulations about my interview, but my English is so bad. The press say, Congratulations, Good job. Because I beat Serena? No, for your interview. Grazie. Thank you. I’m not joking. Is true. Thank you. I need to improve my English, eh?”

Sshe described her win over Williams as a miracle.

“Miracles can happen. Because I beat Serena, miracle. And then two Italians can reach the Grand Slam final, a miracle. And one Italian player can win a Grand Slam, another miracle,” she said.

Vinci and Pennetta have been friends since they were nine and roomed together at the Italian tennis headquarters in Rome.

But she has no intention of following the champion into retirement. “No, really. I like to play tennis, so I have a passion and I work in art,” she said. “Now I reach one final Slam, so I’m happy.” - AFP

in the same way I did today, it’s gonna be bad. I don’t feel to have this power anymore sometimes.

“So this is the perfect moment, I think. Was a really hard decision to make but I’m really happy that I did it. I’m really happy and proud of myself.”

Better than expected Pennetta, who had previously climbed as high as 10th in the rankings in 2009 but will shoot up to eighth after this success, always seemed to save her best Grand Slam performances for the US Open. Prior to this week, she was a semifinalist in New York in 2013 and reached the Flushing Meadows quarterfinals on four other occasions. “I think I did everything that I expected,” she said about her career. “More. Much more.” There to congratulate both Italians was Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. “He said: ‘You won’t understand what will happen now in Italy. It’s good that you are here because it’s going to be crazy back in Italy now. It’s good to stay here a few days, just relax a little bit and then go back home.’”

Making the occasion extra special was sharing the stage with Vinci, who had miraculously overcome top-seeded world number one Serena Williams with a stunning semifinal victory that crushed the American’s dream of completing a calendar Grand Slam.

“She is like a sister,” said Pennetta. “It’s so magical, you have one of your best friends with you in this moment. It’s amazing.”

They met some 24 years ago as young players in southern Italy.

“It’s funny to be here today, because we played our first match when we were nine years old,” she said, adding that they moved to Rome together when she was 14.

“We spent four years in a house together in the same room in Rome at the Italian Federation.

We have so many things in our life happening together. So today was a really big day for both of us.”

And how was she as a room mate? “She’s perfect,” beamed Pennetta from behind the gleaming silver US Open trophy. - Reuters

PENNETTA ‘PERFECT’ In Triumph And Retirement Pennetta became the first Italian to win the US Open women’s crown and did so with an efficient 7-6 (4) 6-2 victory over childhood friend Roberta Vinci.

Before accepting the trophy and $3.3 million for the win, the 33-year-old announced her retirement

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‘TBE’ Mayweather happy to call it quits, as planned After a stellar 19-year run that produced world titles in five weight divisions and earnings in excess of $800 million, Mayweather bade farewell to the ring with a clinical display to earn a unanimous decision over Berto

LAS VEGAS: Floyd Mayweather Jr. signed off from professional boxing as he had planned on Saturday, going out unbeaten and on his own terms as ‘The Best Ever’ after improving his career record to 49-0.

After a stellar 19-year run that produced world titles in five weight divisions and earnings in excess of $800 million, Mayweather bade farewell to the ring with a clinical display to earn a unanimous decision over fellow American Andre Berto.

“I had a game plan from the very beginning,” Mayweather, 38, said of his career during a lengthy news conference after retaining his WBC and WBA welterweight titles in the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

“I always knew what I wanted to do — be outspoken, be one of a kind. To be in the sport for 19 years and to be world champion 18 years, I’ve had a remarkable career.

“If you put them (opponents) in front of me, we see what they can do. It’s all about that IQ. I’m 10 steps ahead of any fighter. I take

UNANIMOUS DECISION: Floyd Mayweather Jr, right, and Andre Bertrade punches during their WBO welterweight world title bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday. – AFP

whatever is your best attribute and take that away from you, make you do what you don’t want to do.”

Unparalleled Mayweather, who matched the 49-0 career record set by former heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano, is widely regarded as one of the best defensive practitioners of all time while his ability to out-think opponents and adjust strategy midway through fights is unparalleled among contemporary fighters.

However, he has also been a po-

larising figure because of his arrogance and flamboyant showmanship, and has certainly not always endeared himself to boxing fans with his repeated claims that he is TBE (The Best Ever).

“It’s crazy,” smiled Mayweather, whose defensive brilliance and agile movement helped him avoid punishment from opponents throughout his career. “I’ve been in the sport of boxing my whole life and they say I’m wrong for saying I’m the best.

“Every champion — (Muham-

mad) Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Larry Holmes — the list goes on and on. They opened up the doors and paved the way for where I am today and I’m appreciative.

“But now the young fighters say, ‘We want to be like Mayweather.’

It’s not cool to take punishment in the ring. I’m not perfect but I strived to be a perfectionist.”

Asked whether he might ‘get that itch’ to come back for another bout, as he did in late 2009 when he returned from a 21-month ‘re-

tirement’, Mayweather replied: “My career is over. It’s official. My 49-0 record is part of boxing.

“I’m financially secure and I’m in good health.

“I’m looking forward to finding the next Floyd Mayweather and seeing someone break all these records I set. Records are meant to be broken.

“I am leaving the sport with all my faculties, I’m still sharp and smart. I’ve accomplished everything in this sport, there’s nothing else to accomplish.” - Reuters

BOXING

Pacquiao ‘bored’ as rival makes history MANILA: Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao lazily fiddled with his phone saying he was “bored” while his unbeaten rival, American Floyd Mayweather made boxing history on Sunday.

As Mayweather tied heavyweight Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record by beating Andre Berto in Las Vegas, Pacquiao tapped an off-key tune on his iPhone while lounged in bed.

“What I do when I’m bored.

Hehe,” Pacquiao captioned the Instagram post, which got 36,000 likes in the first two hours after it was posted.

The eight-division world champion and member of the Philippine parliament then snickered, smiled and rolled over.

He did not mention Mayweather in the post but the hundreds who commented on the post saw it as Pacquiao’s dig at his brash rival, who has only won twice inside the distance since 2007.

Pacquiao on Friday called on Nevada sports officials to “impose the appropriate sanction” on Mayweather for allegedly violating anti-doping rules in the buildup to their mega-fight in May. He also asked for a rematch, saying he was treated unfairly when he was not allowed to take USDAapproved painkillers for his injured shoulder before the fight.

“That is why I want a rematch.

One without any injury and with fair play. No favouritism.

Not one where the Mayweather camp gets to dictate all the terms and conditions,” he said.

Pacquiao, who is recovering from shoulder surgery, is preparing for an election campaign that will start by the end of the year.

He is eligible to run for another term in Congress, where he represents his impoverished home province of Sarangani, or he can opt to run for the Senate. - AFP

‘ R E A L LY S M A R T ’

Berto struck by Mayweather’s IQ in the ring LAS VEGAS: For Andre Berto, Floyd Mayweather’s boxing IQ was the most impressive attribute on show at the MGM Grand on Saturday as the five-division world champion ended his professional career with a perfect 49-0 record.

Berto, a 30-1 underdog, could do very little against his fellow American as Mayweather once again delivered a consummate tactical display in the ring to retain his WBC and WBA welterweight titles on a unanimous decision.

“He’s smart, really smart,” twice former welterweight world champion Berto told reporters after being beaten for a fourth time in his last seven fights to slip to 30-4.

“He knows how to con his way in certain situations to keep his distance or to use that moment to get some rest time or to use clinches to breathe and come back with a few punches. I used a lot of speed but he was really crafty, he was using little things to kind of get me out of my rhythm. We pushed him to the limit but we fell short.”

Ninteen-year run Berto, who described himself as a man ‘on a mission’ during the build-up to Saturday’s fight, was asked to assess Mayweather’s standing among the pantheon of boxing greats.

“He’s sharp but it’s hard for me to say because I haven’t been in the ring with Muhammad (Ali) or (Rocky) Marciano,” the American said of Mayweather, who is re-

I used a lot of speed but he (Mayweather) was really crafty, he was using little things to kind of get me out of my rhythm.

We pushed him to the limit but we fell short Andre Berto American boxer

garded as one of the best defensive fighters of all time.

“But right now, for him to be 38 years old and still have that speed and that timing, it’s unheard of. I definitely commend him for that.

“The run he’s had for 19 years, being world champion and continuing to move forward to greatness. As a fighter, not too many people can do that.”

Many pundits have doubts over Mayweather’s insistence that his career is now over, and point to the American’s unexpected U-turn when he came back from a 21-month retirement to fight Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in September 2009.

For Berto, Mayweather has earned the right to do whatever he wants. “It’s up to him,” he said.

“I’m not Floyd. He has done tremendous things for the sport, he’s accomplished so much, he has broken all those records and made a shit-load of money.

“If he wants to retire, he can do what he wants to do. This sport is brutal by itself. If he wants to retire, he should be able to. If he wants to come back, that’s on him as well.” - Reuters

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SECTION

LIFESTYLE

M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 14 , 2 0 1 5

Gear WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

Breathing new life into the super-sport segment, the Triumph Daytona 675R offers superb stability and agility, along with neck breaking power

BY FA I S A L M O H A M M E D N A I M

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M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 14 , 2 0 1 5

LIFESTYLE

riumph jumpstarted the middle weight supersport segment with its innovative in-line 3 powered Daytona 675, nearly a decade ago. It came, it saw, and it conquered. And even though others followed the lead, and came up with even bigger configurations like Ducati 848, nothing could ever beat the charm and charisma of the magical Daytona.

Recently, Triumph took its flagship super-sport weapon to another level, with major performance and cosmetic tweaks, making the best even better; faster, lighter, and easier to ride, and added an ‘R’ to the moniker. The Daytona 675R employs a more powerful engine, updated chassis, and latest generation Ohlins suspension along with carbon-fibre body parts, slipper clutch and quick shifter; hardcore track specs, that you get only as optional upgrades in other brands.

The bike is now available in Muscat – thanks to Al Fardan Motors, housing not one but five premium motorcycle brands under one roof, including the Italian marquee Ducati, and British giant Triumph.

We landed up at the showroom recently with the greedy intention of taking the bike out for a spin, to see how the bike faired on Muscat turnpikes and boulevards. The showroom guys obliged happily (we were even happier), and in a few moments we had the gleaming white Daytona 675R in our hands.

The Daytona R impresses the moment you lay your eyes on it – super sleek lines, agile, sporty stance, and a sturdy feel. Simple touches of a red sub-frame, carbon front mudguard and fairing infill panels make the 675R special and instantly recognisable.

Push the self-start, and the bike

The Daytona 675R employs a more powerful engine, updated chassis, and latest generation Ohlins suspension along with carbon-fibre body parts, slipper clutch and quick shifter; hardcore track specs, that you get only as optional upgrades in other brands wakes to life with a meek purr accompanied with the typical whistle associated with most of the Triumph triple layouts. Twist the throttle a little however, and it breathes out a loud roar through its semi-restricted custom race exhaust.

Triumph has labelled the 675R as a track day weapon/fast road riding tool, and we can’t argue with this.

Pure supersport seating stance of high seat and clip-ons isn’t uncomfortable, but more intimidating at first (despite being a 5.10, I felt like a 5.4 gasping for ground while having to put both feet down). The screen is typically low for hard speed rid-

ing. So if you have to ride the Daytona 675R around town daily, your wrists will hurt a lot unless you have the abs needed to use your torso to carry your bodyweight.

The stiff Ohlins suspension and lithesome, agile nature of the 675R chassis also give the impression it is more of a sorted race bike.

That said, the power is ample and practically usable in the 675R. Even the newbies can feel home with the bike, with all the modern tech aid like ABS, traction control, power modes, quick shifter, and slipper clutch – all offered as standard on the bike. The bike

gives all the right vibes behind the handle bar. Always ready to pounce, it just keeps going. It dares you to lean further and push hard, even in corners with its perfect balance, and streamlined body – running fast on this one doesn’t feel like an effort at all.

One of the best rider friendly attribute on the 675R, hardly to be found on any other, is the really minimalistic fuel tank, which gives enough room for thigh and knee manoeuvre. Even though my own frame is quite wide, I was still easily able to keep my thighs tight and close around the tank, and turn in around tight corners of the Yeti road, super comfy.

I could use my legs so much to steer the bike that I could even increase my corner speed and kept going faster through the middle of the corners.

Power from the 675R is perfect for the street. It has great midrange for pulling away from traffic when needs be. And it has the topend grunt to put a big smile on your face when the road is clear ahead for full-tuck assault.

If you want to rip it up then the 675R will easily pump your adrenaline. Accelerate hard, emerging out of a corner, and suddenly the bike unleashes its ponies to throw you off the hook, as it pushes ahead with utter brute — something done very easily because the fitment of a plug and play quickshifter means it’s a case of simply opening and closing the throttle and foot tapping the gear lever.

Its 7.30pm and we turn up back at the showroom with a happy grin.

Highly flickable, yet stable; the engineers at Hinckley have done a marvellous job with the 675R. Out there in the pack, it may not be the fastest, but it definitely is the best. faisal@timesofoman.com

TECH SPECS: Engine and Transmission: Type: Liquid-cooled, 12 valve, DOHC, in-line 3-cylinder Capacity: 675cc Final Drive: O ring chain Clutch: Wet, multi-plate, slipper Gearbox: 6-speed, close ratio Performance: Max Power: 126bhp @ 12500rpm Max Torque: 74nm @ 11900rpm Top Speed: 270kmph Fuel Consumption: Urban: 6.1 litres per 100km 90kph: 4.1 litres per 100km 120kph: 5.4 litres per 100km

Authorised Dealer: Al Fardan Motors LLC, Wattayah Tel: +968 2456 3328 Mob: +968 9118 6968

M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 14 , 2 0 1 5

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LIFESTYLE

BATTLE OF THE BEST The debate on being the better has been a long one between Xbox One and PlayStation 4 fanatics. And though volumes have been said about both the consoles, each has grown drastically since its initial release in the end of 2013. The fierce competition between Sony and Microsoft remains persistent, yet each system’s game and app selection, host of streaming services, and pricing continues to fluctuate with each passing season. Here is a comparison of the two.

Xbox One Game selection and Performance Both the Xbox One and PS4 offer more than 100 unique titles, each with their own set of exclusives. The PS4 typically delivers a marginally better gaming experience nine out of 10 times when it comes cross-platform titles such as Destiny and Evolve. The PS4 usually renders games better than Xbox One, delivering overall better clarity and consistently offering 1080p resolution whenever possible.

The Xbox One on the other hand tends to upscale graphics, which is likely to bother some videophiles and perhaps even a host of casual gamers. When it comes down to it, though, the PS4 still makes up for its lack of killer exclusives with better graphical capabilities and a stellar list of indie titles.

Xbox: PS4:

vs

PS4

Apps

Ports and Storage

Controller

Media Streaming

Both the PS4 and Xbox One were built with more than simply gaming in mind. The One is now equal parts streaming box and gaming console, and unlike Sony’s next-gen counterpart, the system is designed to operate your cable box and record regular programming.

Both consoles feature the usual third-party subscription services such as Netflix and Amazon Instant Video, along with app offerings. The Xbox has increased its library tenfold in the second year of its existence, though, while subsequently redefining and polishing its interface to trump that of the PS4. The laundry list of Xbox apps also includes some big names that aren’t available on PS4 yet, such as Skype, Pandora, ESPN, and Fox Now.

Ports are a telling distinction between the Xbox One and PS4. Microsoft packed an IR Blaster and two HDMI inputs into the One, thus allowing you to connect the console to satellite boxes and cable TV, while Sony omitted these ports. Both consoles do tout a camera and Ethernet port, though, as well as two USB inputs.

Storage is a different story, too. Although both systems exhibit a 500GB capacity, the Xbox One only features 362GB of free storage after you factor in the operating system, while the PS4 showcases a healthy 407GB of storage. Moreover, only the PS4 allows you to replace the internal drive — your Xbox One warranty is voided when you replace the internal drive.

The Xbox One controller retains many of the core elements of the previous 360 controller, plus it adds two more rumble motors and loses the bulky battery pack on the back.

It also has smaller thumbpads on the analog sticks, which is step back when you find yourself losing your grip.

The DualShock 4, on the other hand, is improved all around. It is bigger, offers better, outward-curving triggers, features a clickable touchpad on the front, and the lightbar has multiple functions. Plus, the embedded thumbpads are normal human-sized. This round goes to Sony.

The PS4 has only recently taken off as a fully-fledged streaming console. Sony’s new subscription service (PlayStation Now) offers more than 100 PlayStation games for instant streaming.

Microsoft grants users free access to streaming services such as Netflix. Both the PS4 and Xbox One are also outfitted for Blu-ray playback, but given the latter is the only console designed to directly integrate with your cable service, it currently showcases the upper hand over Sony’s streaming ecosystem.

Xbox: PS4:

Xbox: PS4:

Xbox: PS4:

User Interface

Setup

The PS 4’s interface is designed to be accessible. It’s simple and anyone can figure it out. It lacks customisation though. The more games and apps you have, the longer it will take to go through.

On the other hand, the Xbox One’s UI is a bit more complex, but it’s also more robust and functional.

Built on Windows 8 modern user interface, it may take some time to acclimate to it, but once you do you’ll see why Microsoft decided to go in this direction, especially if you’re using the Kinect’s voice command options to elevate it.

When it comes to ease of setup, Sony’s console wins hands down here.

Even if you discount the extra step of hooking the Xbox One up to a cable box, the install process is just much easier on the PS4. So is updating the firmware, something both systems require to unlock their full functionality – or in the case of the Xbox One, any functionality.

Beyond that, learning how to use and speak to Xbox One’s Kinect may help in the long run, but it can be confusing at first if you don’t take the time to learn the peripheral’s unique vocabulary. Sony’s menus, on the other hand, are immediately intuitive and easy to grasp.

Xbox: PS4:

Xbox: PS4:

Xbox: PS4:

Design This is one of the easiest categories to pick a winner. The PS4 is slim, sleek, and lightweight, featuring an attractive light bar on the side and a sloping front and back.

The Xbox One is a much bulkier box. It isn’t ugly by any means, and it sort of resembles one of the new-generation cable boxes, but put the two next to each other and you have to wonder why it is so much bigger, especially since it still requires a brick for the power cord, where the PS4 does not.

Xbox: PS4:

Conclusion Taking everything above into account, while both consoles certainly offer a lot, we have to give an edge to Sony’s PlayStation 4. Xbox One may be slightly better for nongaming applications and content, but let’s be real: if that’s what you care most about, you can get a Roku, Apple TV, or any number of other dedicated devices that will stream content for a fraction of the price. If you’re buying a PS4 or Xbox One, you want to play games, and Sony has built a better dedicated gaming machine.

TOO Verdict: Looking to game? The PS4 will give you more bang for the buck faisal@timesofoman.com

M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 14 , 2 0 1 5

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FIND-IT-ALL CINEMA SCHEDULE

PRAYER TIMINGS

@SHATTI

@SOHAR

@RUWI

CITY CINEMA Contact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68. www.citycinemaoman.net facebook.com/citycinemaoman SHATTI Absolutely Anything (Comedy, Sci Fi) (PG12) Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Simon Pegg 2:00, 3:30, 5:15 pm The Runner (Drama) (12+) Cast: Nicolas Cage, Connie Nielsen 7:15 pm The Perfect Guy (Thriller) (15+) Cast : Sanaa Lathan, Michael Ealy 5:00 pm Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F (Animation) (PG) Cast : Masako Nozawa, Ryô Horikawa 1:15, 3:00 pm Hero (Action, Drama) (PG12)(HINDI) Cast : Sooraj Pancholi, Athiya Shetty 9:00 pm American Ultra (Action, Drama)(12+) Cast : Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart 1:30, 7:45, 9:45, 11:45 pm The Transporter Refueled (Action)(PG12) Cast : Ed Skrein, Loan Chabanol 10:00, 11:55 pm Hitman – Agent 47 (Action, Crime)(PG12) Cast : Rupert Friend, Hannah Ware 3:45, 11:30 pm MUSCAT GRAND MALL The Perfect Guy 2D (Thriller ) (15+) Cast: Sanaa Lathan, Michael Ealy 7:45, 1:20 pm Gold Class : 5:15PM American Ultra 2D (Action,Comady) (12+) Cast: Jesse Eisenberg,, Kristen Stewart 12:15, 5:00, 9:45, 11:45pm Gold Class : 3:15, 7:15, 9:15 pm The Runner 2D (Drama) (12+) Cast : Nicolas Cage, Connie Nielsen 6:00 pm Hitman: Agent 47 2D (Action) (PG12) Cast : Rupert Friend, Hannah Ware 2:15 pm Welcome Back 2D (Comedy, Crime) (TBC) Cast : Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar 7:00 pm

7:45, 1:20 pm The Perfect Guy (Thriller) (15+) Cast : Sanaa Lathan, Michael Ealy

Absolutely Anything 2D (Comedy) (PG12) Cast: Kate Beckinsale , Simon Pegg 11:45 am, 4:15 pm Gold Class: 1:30 pm The Transporter Refueled 2D (Action, Drama, Thriller ) (PG12) Cast: Ed Skrein, Loan Chabanol 10:15 am, 10:00, 11:55 pm Gold Class: 11:15 pm Dragon Ball Z 2D (Action, Drama) (PG) Cast: Masako Nozawa, Ryô Horikawa 10:00AM, 3:15 pm AZAIBA The Transporter Refueled - 2D (PG12) Action, Crime, Thriller Cast - Ed Skrein, Loan Chabanol 12:00, 6:00, 11:15 pm Hitman: Agent 47 – 2D (PG12) Action Cast – Rupert Friend, Hannah Ware 12:30, 7:00 pm Welcome Back – 2D (12+) Comedy Cast - Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar 5:15, 10:30 pm Zero Tolerance - 2D (12+) Action Cast - Dustin Nguyen, Scott Adkins, 12:45, 11:30 pm Double Barrel – 2D (12+) Action, Thriller Cast - Prithviraj Sukumaran, Aarya

1:30, 7:45, 9:45, 11:45 pm American Ultra (Action) (12+) Cast : Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Connie Britton

9:10 pm Yatchan - 2D (Action) (PG12) Cast : Aarya, Krishna Sekhar, Deepa Sannidhi

2:30, 8:45 pm Paayum Puli – 2D (12+) Action, Drama Cast – Vishal Krishna Reddy, Kajal Aggarwal 3:30, 8:00 pm Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’– 2D (PG) Cast - Masako Nozawa, Ryô Horikawa 2:30 pm Yatchan – 2D (PG12) Action Cast - Aarya, Krishna Sekhar, Deepa Sannidhi 4:15 pm American Ultra – 2D (12+) Action, Comedy 1:45, 7:45, 9:30 PM Hero – 2D (PG12) Action, Drama, Romance Cast - Sooraj Pancholi, Athiya Shetty 3:00, 5:30, 8:00, 10:30 pm

Phantom (Action) – PG Cast: Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif 3.45, 6.45, 9.45 pm

3.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm Hero (Action/Romance) – PG12 Cast: Sooraj Pancholi, Athiya Shetty

SOHAR The Transporter Refueled - 2D (PG12) Cast : Ed Skrein, Loan Chabanol 3:45, 10:00, 11:45 pm Welcome Back - 2D (12+) Comedy, Crime Cast: Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar 6:00 pm Hitman : Agent 47 - 2D (PG12) Action, Crime, Cast: Rupert Friend, Hannah Ware 4:15, 11:55 pm The Perfect Guy - 2D (15+) Thriller Cast: Sanaa Lathan, Michael Ealy 6:15, 11:30 pm American Ultra - 2D (12+) Action, Comedy Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart 2:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30 pm The Runner - 2D (12+) Drama Cast: Nicolas Cage, Connie NielsenTimings : 2:45, 4:30 pm Absolutely Anything - 2D (PG12) Comedy Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Simon Pegg 2:00, 8:15 pm Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ - 2D (PG) Cast: Masako Nozawa, Ryô Horikawa

RUWI Screen 1 Hero (Action/Romance) – PG12 Cast: Sooraj Pancholi, Athiya Shetty 3.30, 6.30, 9.30 pm Screen 2 Welcome Back (Comedy) – 12+ Cast: John Abraham, Shruti Hassan 3.45, 6.45, 9.45 pm Screen 3

3:00, 4:45 pm Hero - 2D (PG12) Action, Drama, Romance Cast : Sooraj Pancholi, Athiya Shetty 8:45, 11:15 pm Double Barrel - 2D (M) (12+) Action, Thriller Cast : Prithviraj Sukumaran, Aarya, Indrajith 6:30 pm Yatchan - 2D (T) (PG12) Action Cast : Aarya, Krishna Sekhar, Deepa Sannidhi 9:10 pm BURAIMI American Ultra – 2D (Action, Comedy) (12+) Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart 3:00, 8:15, 10:00, 11:45 pm The Transporter Refueled– 2D (Action, Crime, Thriller ) (PG12) Cast: Ed Skrein, Ray Stevenson 4:45, 6:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm Zero Tolerance – 2D (Action) (12+) Cast: Dustin Nguyen, Scott Adkins 3:15, 5:00, 11:30 pm Yatchan – 2D (Action / Comedy) (PG12) Cast: Arya, Kreshna, Deepa Sanndhi 6:00 pm Double Barrel – 2D (Action/Comedy (12+) Cast: Prithviraj Sukumran, Arya 8:45 pm Welcome Back – 2D (Action / Thriller) (12+)

Cast: John Abraham, Shruti Hassan; 3:15 pm

BAHJA CINEMA

SUR The Transporter Refueled (Action) (PG12) Cast: Ed Skrein, Loan Chabanol 4:15, 8:15 pm Zero Tolerance (Action) (12+) Cast: Scott Adkins, Dustin Nguyen 6:00, 11:45 pm Double Barrel (Malayalam)(Action) (12+) Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Aarya, Indrajit.

10:30 pm Welcome Back (Hindi) (Comedy) (TBC) Cast: Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar 7:45 PM American Ultra (Action | Comedy) (12+) 4:45, 6:30, 10:00 pm

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

TO MUSCAT (RUWI) Arrival Operating time days

Dept time

Destination

Arrival Operating time days

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (ROUTE 36)

TEMPERATURE

05:30 05:30 05:30

Maximum

Daily Daily Daily

Sur Quriyat Ruwi

06:45 08:30 10:00

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

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

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

Sohar Buraimi Buraimi Sohar Buraimi Sohar Buraimi

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

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52) 17:30

Sinaw

Nizwa Yanqul

20:50

Daily

16:50 19:30

Daily Daily

Nizwa Al Araqi

36 30

07:00

Ruwi

10:25

Daily

06:00 06:00

Nizwa Ruwi

08:40 11:00

Daily Daily

Daily Daily

15:40 15:40

Nizwa Ruwi

17:55 20:20

Daily Daily

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

Daily Daily

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

Fahud Yibal

Salalah Marmul Salalah Salalah

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

Daily Daily

Marmul

Dubai

16:50

Daily

Sohar Dubai Sohar Dubai Sohar Dubai

Daily Daily

12:30 12:30

Fahud Ruwi

13:15 17:30

Daily Daily

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

Ruwi Marmul Ruwi Ruwi

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

ARYANA PASTAKIA September 13, 2014

RELATIVE HUMIDITY

35-80%

06:00

Marmul

16:30

Daily

Daily

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

Daily Daily Wed,Thur Wed,Thur Daily Daily

15:00

Salalah

07:00

Daily

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

Daily Daily Thur-Fri Thur-Fri Daily Daily

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

Sohar Ruwi Sohar Ruwi Sohar Ruwi

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH/SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

07:00 07:00 07:00

16:00 16.00 16.00

Fujairah Sharjah Dubai

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 lifestyle@timesofoman.com

LISTINGS

11.45 13.30 14.00

Daily Daily Daily

Sharjah Fujairah Ruwi

16:30 18.15 23.00

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

Daily Daily Daily Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)

07:00

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

10:45 19:00

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102) 15:00

Ruwi Ruwi

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

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101) 06:00

06:00 14:30

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)

10:30 11:15

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

Thani Oruvan (Tamil) (Rom/Drama) Cast: Jayam Ravi, Nayanthara & Arvind Swamy 3-30 pm at Cinema Main, 9-30pm at Cinema 2 Yatchan (Tamil) ( Act\Com ) Cast: Arya, Krishna 6-30 pm Cinema Main 3-45 & 9-45 pm Cinema-3 Double Barrel (Mal) ( ACT ) Cast: Prithviraj, Arya & Indrajit 3-30 & 6-30 pm at Cinema-2 9-30 pm at Cinema Main Paayam Pulli (Tamil) ( Act ) Cast: Vishal & Kajal Agarwal 6-45 pm Cinema- 3 Loham (Mal) ( ACT ) Cast: Mohanlal, Andrea & Renji panikkar 3-45, 6-45 & 9-45 pm at Cinema – 4 Next Change: Utopiayile Raajavu (Mal) Maya (Tamil) Programmes are subject to change

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

10:20 12:30

TO SUR (ROUTE 55) Sur Sur

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

0

ROYAL OMAN POLICE 07:30 14:30

STAR CINEMA

Minimum

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

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

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

Absolutely Anything (Comedy/Sci: Fic) Cast: Kate Beckine Sale, Simmon Pegg, Robbin Williams 1.15, 4.45 & 8.15 pm CP No: 2370 (12+)

0

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

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

Sohar Ruwi Ruwi Sohar Ruwi Sohar Ruwi

Daily Daily Daily

The Runner (Drama) Cast: Nicolas Cage, Connie Neilsen, Sara Paulson 3.00, 6.30 & 10.00 pm CP No: 2369 (PG 12)

WEATHER

15:00 15:00 15:00

16:30 18:00 19:30

Zero Tolerance (Action) Cast: Dustin Nguyen, Scott Adkins, Sahajak Boonthanakit 1.15, 4.45, 8.15 & 11.55 pm CP No: 2371 (12+)

WITH LOVE

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

Transporter Refueled (Action/Thriller/Crime) Cast: Ed Skrein, Ray Stevenson, Gabriella Wright 3.00, 6.30, 10.00 & 11.55 pm CP No: 2280 (PG 12)

SALALAH American Ultra (2D) (12+) (Action/Comedy) Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart 1:00, 6:15, 8:00, 9:45 pm The Perfect Guy (2D) (15+) (Thriller) Cast: Sanaa Lathan, Michael Ealy 2:00, 10:00 pm Zero Tolerance (2D) (12+) (Action) Cast: Dustin Nguyen, Scott Adkins 2:45, 11:55 pm Hero (2D) (PG12) (Action/Drama/Romance) Cast: Sooraj Pancholi, Athiya Shetty 8:45, 11:15 pm Hitman: Agent 47 (2D) (PG12) (Action) Cast: Rupert Friend, Hannah Ware 10:30 am The Transporter Refueled (2D) (PG12) 11:15 am, 4:30, 11:30 pm Welcome Back (2D) (12+) (Comedy/Crime) 12:15 pm Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ (2D) (PG) Cast: Masako Nozawa, Ryô Horikawa 10:30AM, 12:15 pm El Khalbos (2D) (TBC) (Arabic) (Comedy) Cast: Mohamed Ragab, Iman Al Assie 6:45, 8:00 pm Double Barrel (2D) (12+) (Action/Thriller) Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Aarya, Indrajith 4:00 pm Yatchan (2D) (PG12) (Action) 5:25 pm Paayum Puli (12+) (Action, Drama) Cast: Vishal Krishna Reddy, Kajal Aggarwal 3:00 pm

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

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI) Destination

12.08pm 3.35pm 6.18pm 7.28pm 4.37am

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

@MGM

Dept time

Dhuhr Asr Maghrib Isha Fajr (Tomorrow)

Daily Daily Daily

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

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

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

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

PHARMACIES Round the clock Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi 24783334

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

24782666 24702542 23291635; 24503585 24787766 24421691 24485740 24537080

23291635

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

Hamriya 24787766, 24787780 Capital Polyclinic 24707549 Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic, Ruwi 24799760/1/2 Capital Clinic, Seeb 24420740 Ceregem National Raak 24485633 Dr Harub’s Clinic 24563217 Elixir Health Centre 24565802 Emirates Medical Centre 24604540 1st Chiropractic Centre 24472274 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 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

M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 14 , 2 0 1 5

C11

LIFESTYLE

C H E C K

M A T E

BY FAISAL MOHAMMED NAIM

T

hink of motor oil as blood of your car engine. Checking it on a regular basis is a key part of keeping your engine running well and getting the most miles out of it. The oil lubricates the engine’s internal moving parts, keeping them from wearing too quickly. It also helps keep the engine clean, by preventing dirt buildup, and helps keep it from overheating.

Checking the oil level is a quick, easy job that we recommend you do at every other gas fill-up. All you’ll need is a rag or paper towel, and your car’s owner’s manual if you have questions.

How to check your car’s oil level Before you begin: • The manufacturer’s service manual will tell you how often you should check your engine’s oil level, as well as what type of oil you should use.

Caution! If you have to top up your engine’s oil, it is very impor-

tant that you use the product recommended in your user guide.

• The vehicle’s manual will show you where the oil gauge is on your engine.

• Make sure the engine has been switched off for at least 2 minutes so that the oil is “resting” and at the bottom of the sump.

• Check that your car is on a stable and horizontal surface in order to ensure that you get a good reading.

• Get a cloth or a roll of paper towel to clean the oil gauge.

How to check the level • Open the engine’s bonnet and locate the engine oil gauge or dipstick (this is usually a brightlycoloured ring or hook).

• Pull on this hook in order to remove the stem in its entirety.

Then wipe it with the cloth and insert it back into the gauge.

• Pull out the stem once again and look at where the mark left by the oil is. This is your engine’s oil level. You should also see the two lines or marks for ensuring that

You should check your car’s oil at least once a month to make sure that there’s enough oil and that it isn’t contaminated. Oil reduces the friction in your engine and keeps it running smoothly. When you check your oil, if it is dirty or smells of gasoline, it should be changed

T E C H TA L K

Google, Twitter Tie up to Challenge Facebook’s Instant Articles In a world where many people read everything on mobile phones, a few seconds of load time can mean the gain or loss of millions of readers and advertising dollars. Now Google wants to help publishers — and itself — by speeding things up.

Popular search engine Google and micro-blogging site Twitter have reportedly teamed up with major news publishers and media houses, to create a new kind of Web link and article storage system that would load online news articles and digital magazine pieces in a few milliseconds on a smartphone, according to several people involved in the project. That is a fraction of the 5 to 10 seconds it can take to load a typical website.

Citing multiple sources, tech website Recode reported about a feature that will show instant articles to users who click on a link in Twitter or in Google

search results.

The full articles will pop up on their screens almost immediately.

The difference between the Google-Twitter move and other mobile publishing projects is that they will not host publishers’ content.

The Google-Twitter effort will be open sourced and is expected to launch soon with a small group of publishers.

The new solution will help readers see stories from “cached” pages from publishers’ websites instantly.

There are publishers whose websites load slowly on mobile devices that turn off the readers.

Ads displayed within the original story will also reportedly appear in the instant version, the report added.

Unlike Facebook’s Instant Articles or Apple’s upcoming app, Google and Twitter will not present their answer as a branded product. — IANS

oil levels are between the minimum and maximum levels.

• Your engine’s oil level should be between the “minimum” and the “maximum” lines on the gauge.

Never put more than the “maximum” quantity of oil – doing so may damage your engine and its oil-tight seal. The oil needs to be a bit lower than full mark for its optimal movement.

Similarly, the level should never be below the “minimum” line so as to ensure optimum lubrication at all times and avoid engine wear.

• If the level is below the “minimum” line, you must top up your oil immediately.

• If you think that the level is too close to the “minimum” line, it is advisable (although not obligatory) to top up the oil.

If you need to top up your oil, refer to your manufacturer’s user manual or our website to find out which product is suitable for your engine. Remember, it is most important to only use the recommended grade/spec oil. Do not fall

prey to the trap of mechanics or oil sellers, who might try to convince you that all oils are just the same, and that the one they are offering is the best. Go religiously by your car’s service manual recommendation only.

The two most important things to note in this regard are the viscosity grades (JASO, SAE, API ratings; for example SAE 10W 40, 20W 50, and so on), and the base type of oil, which could be mineral, fully synthetic, or semi-synthetic.

Fully synthetic oils are durable in extreme conditions and long lasting, and are required by most high performance cars.

Keep a regular tab also on other fluids of the car like, transmission, power steering, and brake fluids, and coolant level. Often the reason for sudden breakdown of a vehicle turns out to be the loss of any of the fluids, especially the coolant and engine oil. More next time. Stay safe. faisal@timesofoman.com

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M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 14 , 2 0 1 5

LIFESTYLE

BY THE NUMBERS

The Facebook Mania Facebook visitors spend around

About

of visits to Facebook are referred by search engines

Facebook ranks

AGE OF USERS 8%

0-17

8%

18-24

18%

25-34

23%

35-44

30%

45-54

10%

55-64

4%

65 or more

on the site and

on Alexa’s three month traffic ranking

Facebook Users:

E D U C A T I O N per page view

Facebook has over 500 million users

Sites linking into Facebook

8%

Less than a HS Diploma

8%

High School

56%

Some College

21%

Bachelors Degree

8%

Graduate Degree

BRIEFS

New model to predict tornadoes in advance Canadian researchers have developed a new model that could forecast tornado activities several months or even seasons in advance.

“The aim is to predict ahead to the following year or subsequent years about whether we will get above or below average tornado activity in a given area,” said Vincent Cheng, postdoctoral fellow at University of Toronto Scarborough. The model uses large-scale atmospheric variables like those used by weather forecasters. But instead of looking to predict a tornado on any specific day, it looks at variations in monthly and seasonal tornado activity relative to changes in atmospheric conditions over the same period. The model predicts how different conditions in the atmosphere during a thunderstorm will affect the risk of there being a tornado, Cheng said.

The key variables the model relies on includes the instability of the atmosphere and vertical windshear, which is the change in wind speed and wind direction at different heights. These variables are important since there is a much higher risk of a tornado taking place when air is able to rise quickly coupled with a big change in wind speed and direction at different heights above the ground. The model was explained in a research paper published in the journal Nature Communications.

Battery-free ‘smart’ camera to find its own pose, location A network of energy-harvesting sensor nodes equipped with onboard cameras can automatically determine each camera’s pose and location using optical cues, scientists from Disney Research and University of Washington (UW) have revealed. This capability can enable networks of hundreds or thousands of sensors to operate without batteries or external power and require minimal maintenance. Such networks could be part of the “Internet of Things” (IoT) which objects can communicate to and share information with to create smart environments. Future interactions of this sensing technology has the potential to enable low cost and maintenance-free IoT applications by eliminating the need for external wiring or regular battery replacement.

Disney develops LED lights that talk to each other Disney researchers have created a novel networking technology that makes it possible for LED lights not only to communicate with each other but to do so in a way that is compatible with Internet and its technical protocols. Transmitting signals via light is nothing new. “Communication with light enables a true ‘Internet of Things’ as consumer devices that are equipped with LEDs but not radio links could be transformed into interactive communication nodes,” said Stefan Mangold who heads Disney Research’s wireless research group. The new technology is called Visible Light Communication (VLC) which promotes the idea that objects can communicate with each other and share information to create smart environments. “We are not just talking about sensors, smartphones and appliances. This easily could include toys that have LEDs, creating an ‘Internet of Toys’ in which toys can be accessed, monitored and acted on remotely,” Mangold said. Mangold and his colleagues presented their findings at VLCS 2015, the ACM workshop on visible light communication systems in Paris, France, last week. —IANS

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W W W.T I M E S O F O M A N . C O M M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 1 4 , 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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*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

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M O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 1 4 , 2 0 1 5 Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DAILY GUIDE FOR RENT

New 1/2 B/R RES/ Comm. flats near Medical College Bausher directly from owner.

Contact :92158031

Showroom and office space available on prime location. Main road facing excellent location.

Contact: 92944717

02 BHK commercial / residential (with split AC) flat at Honda read / 02 BHK residential flat opposite to Al Nahda Hospital.

Contact: 99342733 / 99795241

Gorgeous villa 3BR + Maid room directly on the beach in Shatti Qurum. Huge garden best location in Muscat OMR 2000/- Month call or Whatspp 95887572

1BHK near Oman house behind Khimji H.O . Contact : 95865686

Brand new 2 B/R deluxe fully furnished & unfurnished flats with split ACs & free internet available at Bausher 35 near Al Maha fuel pump.

Contact : 99460330

Twin villa for rent in Bowshar, near Muscat Private Hospital.

Contact 92760281 Brand new 2 bedroom flat for rent in Mabela. Contact 92760281 Fully Furnished 2BHK Apartments available at Bareeq Al Shatti.

Contact 92888063 Building includes 16 flats in four floors in good condition, opposite to Mars Hypermarket at Al Ghubra north. Contact: 99435882 / 91266667 or 92590509 For rent house in old Muscat town on the bab Muthaib Street consists of 5 bedrooms, living room and kitchen. Contact: 99319829 / 99234155 New flat for rent, 2 bedroom with study in Al Amerat (Al Atkyah).

Contact: 99230461 / 93355301 2 rooms and Majlis in Al Ghubra.

Contact : 99242119 Flat for rent Ruwi, 2 bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, 1 hall opposite Khimji Mart. Contact: 97645671 / 99362206 1 & 2 BHK , M.B.D. area R.O 250/-, RO 280/- & RO 300/-.

Contact: 97799175 Villa for rent in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 95562646 / 99059333 Rooms for rent in Al Khuwair near Ibis Hotel with AC. Contact: 95124975

Office space equipped with ACs , cabins with partition, furniture’s, free in internet ready for use, at Al Khuwair near Philips show room 2 B/R flats with slit AC’s a free internet available at Al Khuwair near Philips Show room.

Contact: 99460330 Flat Al Ghubrah near 18 Nov ST living room, 3 bedrooms,3 bathrooms, kitchen first floor without AC family only 380/-R.O. Contact : 92479515 Two shops in Muttrah Souq, for rent more details please contact: 91214849 / 99364735 600 SQT commercial flat for rent opposite Oman flourmill Darsait more details. Contact: 91214849/ 99364735 Bachelor accommodation available near ISD Darsait. Contact: 99346813

Villa for rent: 6 bed rooms, 1 sitting room, 2 halls, 1 kitchen and 1 pantry.

Al Mawaleh South phase 3 close to Al Sahwah roundabout, first line behind Amwag perfume factory.

Contact - 99360366 New flats for rent in Darsait, Al Sahal. Contact : 99311525

Available furnished meeting hall for seminars on a hourly, daily, monthly, yearly basis. please contact 93203773 : Email: mbdeast@gmail.com Furnished office available at Al Ghubrah. Contact 94110822 Flats, shops for rent in Ruwi, MBD & Mumtaz area. Contact 97293708 1BHK Al Falaj R.O 200/-.

Contact: 97799175 2 BHK Ghubra R.O 300/-, RO 325/-.

Contact: 97799175 2BHK Darsait R.O 325/-.

Contact: 97799175 2BHK Mumtaz R.O 300/-.

Contact: 97799175 2BHK villa Mumtaz R.O 300/-.

Contact: 97799175

Flat for rent in Wadi Kabir near Indian Primary School 2 BR & 1K. Contact: 92222922

Furnished room for rent at Al Khuwair R.O 225/- for family only.

Contact: 99251975 Room with A.C at AL Khuwair R.O 120/-. Contact: 97799175 2BHK pent house R.O 325/- , 1BHK R.O 225 /- close to Indian Nursery, Darsait. Contact: 99476728/ 98484415 2BHK close to Indian school kindergarten Wadi Kabir R.O 320/-, 1BHK R.O 250/-. Contact: 99476728 / 98484415 1& 2 BHK flats for rent at Wadi Kabir, Wadi Adai, Hamriya, Al Khoud and Mabela and shop at Al Khoud land line. Contact : 24834644 GSM 93994401/ 02/ 03, 3 lines Twin villa 6BR hall, kitchen at Al Ansab-2. Contact: 99747560 / 99444786

3BHK well maintained flat (villa type) G. floor split A/C separate entrance, parking, and compound available in Al Khuwair behind Sagar Polyclinic Way no. 3922, Block 239, Villa No. 1839. Contact: 99253125

2 bedrooms flats at Muttrah 2 flats available Oman house.

Contact: 99319149

New flats for rent in Darsait Al Sahal. Contact: 99777351

Two shops in Muttrah Souq, for rent more details pleas.

Contact: 91214849 / 95729711

Commercial villa near Bareeq Al Shatti 8 BHK + swimming pool RO.2500/-. Contact 93161111 Flat and show room for rent Al Khuwair 33, Al Ghubrah, Darsait and Jibroo. Contact: 24485240 / 24485241 / 93651633 / 92109563 Villa in Madinate Sultan Qaboos 3BHK + maid room RO.1400/-.

Contact 93161111

Flat for rent in Hamriya.

Contact: 99341112

2 BHK Flats for rent Muttrah near Oman house. Contact: 97007934 / 92629232 1BHK near Al Nahdha Ruwi.

Contact: 99617786 Commercial 20 BHK twin open villa in Al Mawalah Mazoon street RO.2000/- Contact – 93191111

2 BHK near Medical Darsait R.O 230/-. Contact : 98748925

2BHK Azaiba R.O 325/-.

Contact: 97799175

3BHK near Darsait I.S.M. Contact: 99024730

Villa in Al Khuwair 4 BHK RO.600/-, Flat in Madinate Sultan Qaboos 3BHK RO.600/-. Contact 93161111

VILLA IN AZAIBA – Four Bed Room Villa, near Well Roundabout & Umm Al Qura Mosque. Available for sharing also. Call 92887809 / 98048207.

Flats in Al Khuwair 33 with gym free for tenants 2 BHK RO.425/-.

Contact 93161111

1BHK flat with A/C AL Khuwair 250/- R.O. Contact: 99358589 / 95570288

Flat in Qurum near PDO 2 BHK + 1 BHK RO.550/ – 375/Contact 93161111

Luxury fully furnished 2 bedrooms flat at Al Khuwair & luxury fully furnished 5 bedroom villas at Madinat Al Ilam. For short or long term lease contract. Contact Atlas Real Estate & Rent a Car LLC. Contact : 93201688 / 92888376 Tel: 24833848 / 24834888

Two bedroom apartments available for rent at South Ghubra close to Atlas Hospital close to Grand mall & Avenues mall next to Diwan’s Office.

Contact: 99833747 / 24562526

Flats in Al Khuwair 2 BHK RO.350/Contact – 93161111.

Flats in Azaiba opp to Al Sahwa Tower 2 BHK RO.450/- 1BHK RO.350/-. Contact 93161111

Luxury 4 BHK flat in Al Wattaya with split A/C and private parking.

RO.475/- Contact – 93191111

New flats 1 room and living room with accessories & 2 rooms and living room with accessories in Wadi Kabir. Contact: 92130703 / 96045478

1BHK flats available for rent in CBD area. Contact: 98116480

1000 sq mtrs industrial land in Ghala suitable for warehouse workshop etc. Contact 24700120 / 92584715 1 penthouse, 1 bedroom, living room, kitchen, behind GMC Car showroom, Al Ghubra South R.O 260/-. Contact: 99310551

3BHK flat Darsait Near I.D card Medical 450/- R.O. Contact: 99358589 / 95570288

Darsait next to ISM 2BHK pent house 2nd floor brand new building R.O 300/- . Contact : 93393967 Furnished flat in Bareeq Al Shatti 2 BHK RO.750/-. Contact 93161111

3 Bedroom flat at Al Khuwair.

Contact: 99447257/97014234

M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 1 4 , 2 0 1 5

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DAILY GUIDE

AFFORDABLE QUALIFIED STAFF AVAILABLE: EŽ ƟŵĞ ƚŽ ƐĐƌƵƟŶŝnjĞ ƐƚĂī ĂŵŽŶŐ ƚŚŽƵƐĂŶĚƐ͍ EĞĞĚ ŝŶƚĞƌŶĂƟŽŶĂů ƐƚĂī Ăƚ ĂŶ ĂƌƌĂŶŐĞŵĞŶƚ͍ tĞ ĂƌĞ Ă ŵĂŶƉŽǁĞƌ ĂŐĞŶĐLJ ǁŚŽ ŚĞĂĚͲŚƵŶƚ ƚŚĞ ƐƚĂī ĨƌŽŵ ĂŶLJ ƉĂƌƚ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ǁŽƌůĚ͊ tĞ ƐĐƌĞĞŶ ƚŚĞ ĂƉƉůŝĐĂŶƚƐ ƐĞǀĞƌĂůůLJ ƚŽ ĞŶƐƵƌĞ ƚŚĂƚ LJŽƵ ŐĞƚ ŽŶůLJ ƚŚĞ ďĞƐƚ ŝƐĐŽǀĞƌ ǁŚLJ ƚŽƉ ĞŵƉůŽLJĞƌƐ ƉƌĞĨĞƌ ƵƐ ĨŽƌ ƐƚĂĸŶŐ͊

Hurry and call this number now!

95967902

FOR RENT Single bedroom flat near to Indian School Al Ghubra.

Contact: 99203954 Spacious 2BHK in MBD. Contact : 99713489 Basement in MBD. Contact: 99713489 4 bedroom villa with 3 maid room, big compound & parking area. Ideal for kindergarten or expat tenants residency. Contact:24566217 / 24564686 Office & retail space available Alasfoor Plaza, Qurum.

Contact: 24566217 / 24564686 1 & 2 bedroom flats available for rent in wadi-kabir (opp: pencil bldg), ideal for company staff / families bulk corporate deal possible.

Contact: 97677170

For sale land in Amerat 3000 Sq.mt with petrol pump permission. Contact 99323957 / 92702891 Expatriate LLC Company license (building materials 70 Ex : 30 Omani) for sale. Contact 94663824 / 94305499

FOR HIRE

Direct from the owner: for sale A 2 bedroom apartment with a full and direct Marina view at Marsa 2 at the Wave, area 138 sq. Mtrs, will be ready next month for R.O. 255,000.

Contact : 95330200 Beauty Salon for sale in Good location (Azaiba and Al Hail).

Contact : 95318629

Restaurant for sale in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 99425461

3 BHK flat with split A/C in Wadi Adai RO.200/- Contact – 93191111

Beauty salon in Ghubrah for sale Contact: 94689448

Villa for rent in Al Khuwair 33, 8 bedrooms & 5 bathrooms with parking area near Taimur Mosque.

Contact: 99366624

91494149 ĨŽƌ ĂŶ ĞdžĐůƵƐŝǀĞ ůŝŵŝƚĞĚͲƟŵĞ ŽīĞƌ ĚŝƐĐŽƵŶƚ͊​͊​͊

Automotive batteries for sale.

Contact : 24794657

1BHK flat with split A/C in Wadi Adai RO.200/- Contact – 93191111

2BHK flat available near medical / Darsait. Contact 24705742

96059470 *Kindly note that the scrap should be 50 tons onwards

Beauty Parlor for sale or rent.

Contact 99131775 / 96700192

Shop for sale in Al Khoudh.

Contact: 92820541

Brand new showroom of 595 SQM in BowsherRO.5 each sqm.

Contact – 93191111

Convert ANY type of Scrap into Money by selling us the scrap Great prices are guaranteed for our clients!

Call this number now for urgent response -

CLASSY, CREATIVE AND AFFORDABLE INTERIOR DESIGN 'Ğƚ ĐƵƐƚŽŵŝnjĞĚ͕ &ŝƫŶŐ͕ ĂŶĚ ƵŶŝƋƵĞ ŝŶƚĞƌŝŽƌ ĚĞƐŝŐŶƐ ŵĂĚĞ ĨƌŽŵ ƐĐƌĂƚĐŚ͘ Our professionals give YOU: ͻ ƵƚŽ ĂĚ >ĂLJŽƵƚ ͻ D W ƌĂǁŝŶŐƐ ͻ Ϯ ĂŶĚ ϯ ĚƌĂǁŝŶŐ ͻ /ŶŶŽǀĂƟǀĞ ŽŶĐĞƉƚ ĞƐŝŐŶ Hurry now and call this number

FOR SALE

Shops for ren in Wadi Kabeer.

Contact: 99888390

Brand new 6 BHK villa in Al Aziba with split A/C and lift RO.1200/Contact – 93191111

UNIVERSAL SCRAP BUYERS AT AMAZING PRICES

Aluminium workshop at Wadi Kabir with all machineries and 3 skilled workers. Contact: 99536206 / 99605915 Used Fabrication machinery for sale : Fabrication machinery and tools in excellent condition for immediate sale. Contact -94652485/ 99273774/ 99202278

Bobcat Grader and roller for rent.

Contact: 94584688 Volvo 12 Ton Truck for monthly rent. Contact: 98713900

ACC. AVAILABLE AVAILABLE Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirting, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery, Crockery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes, Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound Systems and spectacular lighting. Call Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering and Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound & Light. ww.tunesoman.com, E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

SITUATION WANTM.V. FOR SALE ED Toyota Yaris 2009 Dec model, manual, 150000km, 2500 OMR. Contact 93895508 Kia Cerato 2014 Model for sale 1300 kms Under agency warrenty and service.

Contact: 99634841

Large room with separate bathroom & sharing available in Al Khuwair.

Contact 95250161

ACC. AVAILABLE

Semi furnished separate room for non-cooking Asian bachelor, behind Shell filling station, Ghubra round about. Contact: 94263390

Fully furnished room with attached bath for Executive bachelor behind Al Meera Hypermarket, Azaiba R.O 150/-.

Contact: 99455735

Separate room with A/c, Small Fridge and Bed, for non-cooking Asian bachelor, behind Shell filling station, Ghoubra round about.

Contact: 94263390

A big room in available near Hamriya R/A for Muslim couple / small family / Executive bachelor rent 150/- per month including W+ E. Contact: 99495131

Room available for Executive bachelors, couple near Al Nahadah Hospital Al Hamriya Ruwi.

CALL 95235663

An Excellent 3bedrooms Flat at Al Hail, 3 bathrooms, sitting room, living room, kitchen with store 92817777

Three 2 bedroom bachelor accommodation available in a building near Kuwaiti Mosque at Wadi Kabir till 14th February 2016.

Contact: 95332701

Fully furnished accommodation available for an Executive bachelor with attached bath room and Wifi facility in Ghubra near Al Maha Hotel.

Contact 94295706

Furnished room (for Ladies)with attached bath separate entrance in Mabela. Contact :99634841 Sharing accommodation in CBD area for non cooking Executive bachelors, wifi free, advance deposit.

Contact 91852710

LOST Jahangir Alom has lost Bangladeshi Passport No. AD 0276303. Finder please handover to ROP. *Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

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M O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 1 4 , 2 0 1 5 Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DAILY GUIDE

SITUATION WANTED

SITUATION SITUATION WANTED VACANT

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE Finance Manager (15+yrs experience) Ability to manage Group of companies. Contact: 92701962 Accountant 35 years with 5 years experience in Oman urgently seeking suitable jobs accountant & Ass. Admin& HR valid D/L N.O.C. Contact: 968 99176112 /968 91818124 Email: aamirjaved24@hotmail.com Indian male 10 years experience, 6 years in Oman, with Oman driving license, having NOC seeking suitable job. Contact: 96012973 Indian female (BSc MBA) having 6 yrs exp in Garment industries seeking suitable office oriented job.

Contact : 91317975 B.Com, CA Inter (Indian) with 5 years experience (2 years GCC) in Accounts & Audit field. Contact: 95584531/razikthumbe@gmail.com

DRIVER 20 years experience.

Contact : 94795033 Light duty driver looking for job more than 4 years exp in Oman.

Contact: 92602182 Driver. Contact: 95084826 Wanted driving job.

Contact : 97690766 LMV Driver, 7 yrs exp. (Keralite).

Contact 97761606 Vehicle with driver 12 years in Oman seeking suitable job.

Contact: 92762258 Driver Pakistani available.

NOC available. Contact: 94356465 Pakistani male light vehicle driver looking for job. Contact: 96474528 Driver with car. Contact : 91452930

Indian male, 27years, MCom, having 2years experience in Accounts looking for suitable position. Presently on visit visa. Contact 93455055| gibingeorge88@gmail.com Accountant Part time up to finalization on monthly basis by Indian CA. All reports, backlog accounting, bank loan help, tax & internal Audit,affordable fee.92758370

ACCOUNTANT

IT

Omani candidate required for Audit firm Graduation / studying towards Graduation or professional qualification 3+ years experience in accounting. Accounts payable Senior Assistant in one of the leading oil & gas companies in Oman. Contact L. Santhosh 92257887, Manoj 99377604 Email: santhosh@mhmyauditors.com

Required Salesman for shop & hardware Technician for IT Company with minimum 2 yrs experience.

Contact 98825805 / 98825806.

Email : strns1@gmail.com

Urgently required for leading Company : Accountant between 5 to 10 yrs experience, Accountant (Petrol Station) between 3 to 5 yrs experiences. Fax: 24478522, Email : gh1.careers@gmail.com

CATERING Urgently looking for an Expatriate House Boy with Cooking knowledge and experience.

Contact Immediately: 99460564

DOMESTIC HELPER Required a housemaid in Ruwi.

Contact 96511169

DRIVER A reputed Lebanese chain of Restaurants requires Delivery Man in Muscat. The person should have a two wheeler driving license and must be familiar with the Muscat city. Are you interested to be a part of a reputed group please call 92443104.

Driver with Oman driving licence needed. Visa available.

Contact 94288863 Looking for an experienced house driver for an Omani family. Interested candidates may Contact: 96203333

EDUCATION Urgently required for a private bilingual school at Al Ansab for immediate placement - Physics, Maths, Librarian, Nurse, Special Educators. Please email your CV : employment22012@gmail.com immediately.

Agyal Al Huda School requires Maths & Science Teachers in Al Azaiba. Contact 91409998 / 24492548 / 99637238 Post Graduate researcher required.

Contact 99229700

Required Marine Mechanic with 3 to 5 years experience in maintaining / repairing outboard Engines and Generators of Boat. Ph: 24696130; Email: hrmedia123@gmail.com

Indian male B.Com / PGDM 16 yrs exp, 3 yrs prior Oman exp seeking suitable placement in accounts/ finance/ admin/ logistics. email : vikaso803@yahoo.com Contact 95587905 on visit visa

Urgently required Female Nurses with MOH license for a Polyclinic. Attractive Salary with accommodation.

Contact: 97091664 or 97327175.

Email: mmcmuscat@gmail.com

Accountant, 36 yrs, Indian male, 10 yrs UAE experience in Accountant, Insurance currently on visit visa seeks suitable placement.

Contact 96334958 / 95217432

Dental center in Muscat requires Staff Nurse holding MOH license.

Omani Secretary with Arabic & English speaking and writing.

To apply please send CV to the following address: rmsalsulaimani@yahoo.com Contact: 99445533 /99449413 Require qualified full time Caregiver (Sri Lankan or Philipino) for an orderly Mother.

Contact : 99425200 Looking for Indian Candidates : Prometric passed or MOH license with NOC for polyclinic:- Radiologist, Gynecologist, Radiographer, Lab Technicians and Pharmacists.

Email: polyclinicomanhr@gmail.com Required for private clinic: Gynecologist Arabic Nationality, GP Arabic Nationality, Nurse.

Contact 97304519 from 9 AM to 1 PM Urgently required female Staff Nurse with M.O.H. license & N.O.C. to work in Sohar. Salary: locum- 450 OMR per month for 1-2 months only, full-time : 400 OMR consolidated per month. Contact: 95406530 or e-mail: shamirudoy@gmail.com Required Pharmacist with license.

Contact: 92245470 Required Dentist, Endodontist, Orthodontist with MOH license.

Contact 99010755 for dental Centre in Muscat Khuwair Email: akdmuscat@hotmail.com Wanted GP doctor with MOH license - Al Suweiq clinic - salary RO 1600/-.

Contact 97742491 Required Nurse with MOH license for Dental Centre in Khuwair Muscat.

Contact: 99010755 Email: akdmuscat@hotmail.com

SKILLED LABOR

Project head (HVAC and firefighting) 12-15 years of experience with good project management skills.

GCC experience and driving license is mandatory. Send CVs on muscatjobs@outlook.com

25 yrs female Indian with B.Com MBA looking out for a job in finance / marketing / HR field with a work experience of 1 year, 3 months at Bank Muscat & 7 months at India.

Contact: 94657403 / 95537261

MEDICAL

ENGINEER A Mechanical Engineer with salesmanship experience of 5 years & above preferable with Oman drivers license and NOC. Please forward your CV to almaadhi.trd@gmail.com

Male B.Com Graduate having one year exp in Accounts & Admin.

Contact: 94736742

Wanted urgently need two Tailors who can make curtains.

Contact: 98962888

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR A new Multi-Purpose hall at Sohar city is urgently looking for an Event Manager. Pls send your CV to oec.oman@gmail.com

SALES / MARKETING Required Sales Executive for IT Sales, with valid Oman Driving License. Kindly email CV to careers@sactech.co.om

Indian male B.Com Graduate 24 years looking for suitable placement. Contact: 97219505

ADMIN SALES / MARKETING AVON requires female Omani Nationals (bi-lingual) and Expatriates to join their expanding local Sales Team. Candidate must have good communication skills, highly organized with a commitment and enthusiasm to be successful. Training will be provided. Valid Omani D/L necessary. Send CV on samiha-avon@mhd.co.om Required Sales & marketing person for IT Company with minimum 2 yrs experience in Oman & with valid Oman driving license.

Contact 98825805 / 98825806.

Email : strns1@gmail.com Digital Printing &Advertising firm in Muscat urgently requires Male / Female Business development Executives with D/L. Contact: 96348429 Email: mostdigi1@gmail.com

Reputed buildings material company looking for outdoor Sales Executive having valid Omani driving license with more than 2 years local sales experience in Tiles / Sanitary ware. Fax your CV to 24798709 / email: united@omantel.net.om Required Salesman in Salalah very good commission.

Contact 92760281 Sales man / interior designer wanted for prestigious interior design and office furniture Supply Company. Experience and drivers license needed.

Excellent remuneration package.

Email: tony@materials-plus.com Required experienced Sales / Marketing Executives having light license. Send your CV ocean@omantel.net.om

SITUATION WANTED ACCOUNT. & FINANCE Male Indian Accountant B.Com 7 years experience in Oman (accounting, finance, costing auditing) with NOC and valid driving license looking for suitable position. #96722257 Email: mudassir.pal@gmail.com M.Com female good knowledge in computer and tally 4 years experience in accounts and Administration seeks suitable placement on visit visa. Contact: 96992431 / 99450130 Male, Finance Executive / Sr. Accountant with Experience in Oman having Graduate degree in Commerce looking for suitable position. Contact: 98570383 Email: hadee.rasheed@gmail.com 12 yrs Oman experienced Chief Accountant looking for immediate placement. Contact 99513082 A Sri Lankan lady chartered accountant with five years experience (including article ship), on family visa in Oman looking for a suitable job. Contact: 91259845 Email: amashermila@gmail.com

Jordanian Accountant (ACPA) with more than 15 yrs experience in Oman (Accounts, Purchase & finance.

Contact: 92881223 Email: kamal_sarhan@yahoo.com Accountant 7Years Experience with D/L and NOC. Contact 97712084 Part time Accountant available.

Contact : 93438100 Accounts finance Indian male 22 yrs B.Com Tally ERP-9, 2 years working experience in India on visit visa seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 95636987 / 94280567 Email: nihadniha777@gmail.com Accounts finance Indian male 24 B.Com Tally ERP-9, 4 years working experience in India on visit visa seeks suitable placement.

Contact : 95583953 /96392009 Email: shafadmusthafa@gmail.com Male 29 yrs, 5+ experience, 4 yrs in HME (Office Assistant) 1 yr experience in accounts & marketing seeking for suitable position.# 96505486

Filipino,29,Male, 5years experience: Admin/Payroll/Finance/Document Control. Excellent Communication/ MS Office skills. Contact: 95057206 email: patrick110486@yahoo.com Indian lady, B.Tech graduate currently pursuing MBA via off campus and having 2 years work experience willing to work in management sector.

Contact: divyasara16@gmail.com Purchase Admin Indian male 15 years Gulf experience.

Contact: 95435370 Indian male 12+ years experience in Admin and hospitality services, seeks suitable placement.

Contact : 99318958 Email: josephonline2007@gmail.com Indian, 16 yrs experience in Admin / Office management and have knowledge in accounting seeks job. Release available and have D/L. Contact : 99573353 Filipina, 10 yrs experience in Fashion Retail, Shipment, Logistics, Inventory, Warehouse Control and Store Management is seeking employment. Call +971565833126 or 97728418.

Wanted driver. Contact 95112461 Driver job wanted.

Contact: 99343782 Car with driver or without cat specially Companies.

Contact 97943750 / 97408900 Light duty driver 5 years exp in Oman. Contact: 92602182 Driver available 24, HRS, car without car. Contact: 98522914 Looking job LTV D with car.

Contact: 94436276 / 97433432

DRAFTSMAN Drafting (interior design), experienced, knows autocad, 3D, PH : 99506977

ENGG. / TECHNICAL HSE Advisor 9 yrs oil & gas exp with NOC. Mobile :99493592 Pakistani diploma civil (Eng) 24 year 1.5 years experience in Pak) 2 years in (Oman). Contact: 97138320 Since March 2010 in Oman as a building Construction Site supervisor with Oman D/L looking for suitable placement or small Omani Construction Co. Contact 93061107 Indian male 27 years BE Mechanical, 2 years experience in Training AutoCAD Revit MEP PDMS Softwares. Contact: 94183625 Civil Engineer Pakistan 12 +2 years experience Oman, D/L required placement. Contact: 94392616 B.E Civil job, Project Eng exp 11 yrs.

Contact: 95690780 / 95694048 Email: sadiq.asrar81@gmail.com MECH. ENGG Indian male having 1 year exp & AutoCAD knowledge looking for suitable job.

Contact: 92835957 Electrician 3 years experience in Building lines in Oman and other related experience also. NOC available. Stay till 29.09.2015. Contact: 94057129 / 95964419 Email: raheemdadbaloch@hotmail.com Civil Engineer (Diploma) 3.5 years experience seeking for placement.

Contact: 96535084 Structural more than 5 yrs experienced in oman in multy story building designing and supervision with driving license. Contact : 99894029

Indian Female MBA, 3 Year Experience in Admin MIS , Family Visa. Contact 98234427, jkjsmith01@gmail.com

Electronic & Communication Engineer auto cad, 2 yrs Indian experience in Instrumentation, currently on visit visa looking for a suitable position. Contact : 94493227, Email: rijokokkadan@gmail.com

14 years of gulf experience in HR / Admin & logistics fluent in Arabic / English with D/L looking for suitable position. Contact: 95824598

Indian male 24, Diploma in Civil Engineering 2 years experience as a Site Engineer on visit visa.

Contact: 98023153

ARCHITECT PHD Architect from Italy with 10 years experience speaks Arabic, English & Italian looking for Architectural job in Muscat.

Contact: 95543753 Email: basim_radhi@yahoo.com / eng.radhibasim@gmail.com

DESIGNER MEP design and Drafting, all kind of shop drawing preparation and detailed section drawings. Contact : Mr Sandry Menon. Contact: (+968) 98471463 / 98471463

Civil QS / Project Engineer 8 yrs exp having Oman D/L looking for suitable position NOC and release available. Contact: 92633261 Email: manikce@gmail.com Civil Engineer 7 years experience in Oman. Contact: 92480604 Project Manger with B.E Civil 13 years experience including GCC having driving licence, release and NOC available looking for a suitable job.

Contact: 97068121 Bangladeshi male BSc Engg in civil total 3 yrs experience 2 yrs in Oman looking for job.Contact : 94038642, Email: shaikhhasib.ce@gmail.com

M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 1 4 , 2 0 1 5

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DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED

ENGG. / TECHNICAL A qualified Iraqi Electrical Engineer has more than 6 years experience in HV, LV, GAS power plant and electrical activities, resident in Oman looking for job. Contact: 94750771 Indian male Electrical and Electronics Engineer, 6 months experience GCC driving license, transferable visa. Contact: 93682181 Female Civil Engineer with 3.5 years experience looking for job in Muscat, proficient in site execution, tendering procedures billing, Quantity take off, budgetary control have knowledge in AutoCAD, SAP, Word, excel, power point. Contact: 97207212 Email: ranjur20@gmail.com DAE (civil) having 4.5 years experience with driving license of Oman, Seeking for suitable place in construction field NOC and release available contact 96968554, email- mehranahmad26@yahoo.com Civil Engineering Diploma 7 years experience in building construing in Oman with NOC. Contact `99512416 /96488479 Civil Engg, B.Tech fresher Indian male currently on visit visa seeks suitable placement.

Contact 91702450 Email: tijoct2015@hotmail.com Indian male, 23 yrs, B.E in Mechanical post Graduation Diploma in piping Engineering, seeking job in relevant field.Contact : 94786570 Email: asim.hajwani6@gmail.com Indian diploma Civil Eng, 2 yrs exp. Infrastructures project (4G – Towers, substation) landscaping & Auto CAD. Contact: 94756183 Email: indianexpat1@gmail.com Civil Engineer, 6 yrs experience having Oman D/L, looking for a suitable position. NOC available.

Contact: 93523507 / 95961336 Email: eyousuf04@yahoo.com Over 22 years of comprehensive experience in overall construction execution& management qualification.

BE (Civil). Contact : +968 91816590 Civil Engineer (diploma) 3.5 yrs exp, seeking for placement.

Contact: 95200650 Electrical Eng. Degree (MEP) need suitable job of construction 12 yrs exp.

Email: mohd.ateeq.khan@gmail.com C-SWIP 3.1 ASNT level 2 QC Mech.

Engr 5+ yrs exp Indian male 26 seeks placement. Contact : 91823331 Email: kannasekhar46@gmail.com Electrical and Electronics Engineer with one year experience and GCC licence holder seeking a job mail – shyjalpk@gmail.com SUPERVISOR: Indian male site supervisor (AIR CONDITIONING) 25 years of experience with valid Oman Driving license, seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 97498809, 93391910 Email: hilariankj@gmail.com Mechanical Engineer 23 having knowledge in HVAC looking for suitable vacancy. Contact: 95434381 Email: shuhaibuman313@gmail.com Mechanical and manufacturing Engineer , age 26 yrs masters ( Singapore) having 2 years Oman work experience with valid Oman driving license on visit visa available immediately.

Contact: 95498953 Indian 22 years male, Mechanical Engineer, B.Tech has done internships, born and brought up in Oman with Omani driving license, seeking suitable jobs.

Contact 92791637 Email: ashwinsureshkotturethu@gmail.com Indian Mechanical Engineer 31 yrs, 8+ experience in sales & Bus. Dev, having Oman driving license & NOC. Contact: 97116858 Email: menonamit1984@gmail.com Indian BE (MECH) aviation BE degree diploma in material quality management 17 years Navy aviation 13 years construction purchase stores professional on visit.

Contact: 90205082 /98796982 Engineer with 3 yrs experience in Indian in MEP, HVAC& mechanical maintained field on visit visa looking for suitable job. Contact 99191535 Email: fareed029@gmail.com Electrical Engineer, Indian male, 29 yrs having 5 yrs of experience in industrial automation & utility maintenance in India (MRF yres) seeks suitable placement.

Contact 92789995, Email : akhilabrahamlktr@gmail.com

ENGG. / TECHNICAL Indian male Civil Engineer with Engineer with 2 years experience in Building project is available currently on visit visa. Contact: 92841583 B.Tech Mechanical Engineer with 2 years experience in HV AC and plumbing - nikhilchandpm@gmail. com ; GSM: 97654489 Btech computer science graduate 2015 passout.. Android application marketing.. Having good communication skills and mindset to work in a team. Contact 91024385 Indian male BE Mechanical currently on 2 yrs free visa with NOC & local release. Looking for suitable job in Muscat. Contact – 90296975 / ali.syedausaf@gmail.com

HOSPITALITY Hospitality/Hotel/ Restaurants - Dynamic result oriented hospitality professional with 20 years of international exp. MBA in Hotel Management, specializing in Hotel/ Restaurant start ups, concepts & Franchise development with proven records. Seeking for Challenging positions in reputed groups as GM/ COO/CEO/Business Head. (NOC available) Contact : 96059470

IT SAP BW Analyst : Indian male, 26 yrs, B.Tech (CS & E) from ASET, New Delhi, worked as a Business Analyst in Software Industry.

Contact 98008127 / 92878708, vaisakh.bhaskar@gmail.com Indian female 25 years, 1 year experience MSc – Computer Science currently on family visa looking for a suitable job in any field.

Contact: 97265504 Email: ancitasons@gmail.com B.Tech Information Technology looking job in System work. MS Office, Data Entry, Networking experience, 2 years experience in Linux Admin. Contact: 92472137 Email: vairavel.inbaa@gmail.com IT B. Sc Computer Science 3 yrs exp in programming & web development, networking & admin & CCNA. Contact :99758186 CCNA MCITP Network support/ Network technician with 2 yrs experience Indian male having bachelors degree on visit visa. #93080871, email :sean.f.peters@outlook.com IT Engineer, 6 yrs exp in software projects & development (Java, PL/ SQL Unix) on visit visa.

Contact 99487493 Indian male 34 yrs M.Tech Industrial biotechnology having teaching experience seeking for job.

M. Ramkumar. Contact : 96674521, 0091-9940586051 Email: rmkumar28@gmail.com Network System Engineer switches, Routers, Servers, load balancers, CCTV 5 years of exp holds B.E (ECE) CCNA looking for good opportunity Indian visit visa. Contact 91911792 Email: arafakdnl@gamil.com Indian male, 35 years, BBA with IT diploma Holder with 13 years experience in IT Tech, Support & Administration seeking suitable position. Contact : 94770019 BE, ECE Mumbai university skills in C, C++, windows, linux, controller and processor RTOS, Electronics, Networking, 6 months experience in embedded software seeks placement. Contact : 917774864736 Email: sadatbtisekar@gmail.com

MEDICAL Indian Dentist, MDS, having 10 years experience prometric passed (70%) looking for job. Contact: 97985325 Indian female BSc Nurse with 4 years experience with Oman prometric 64% looking for suitable placement in capital area. Contact: 95847286 Lecturer in Nursing (MSc) specialized in OBG, 3 years experience, on visit visa, seeking teaching opportunities/ nursing educator. #90125347

MEDICAL Indian male, Audiologist and Speech language pathologist, 5 years experience looking for job.

Contact: 98490687, 9597597067 mail- kesavan.sundar7@gmail.com Indian male, MSc, MPhil, BEd Chemistry,2 Yrs Teaching experience and having experience in lab analyst, currently on visit visa, seeks suitable post. Contact 90208673 ENT surgeon board degree & prometric exam looking for a job in private hospitals & medical complexes.

Contact: 91347226 OB/ Gynecologist board degree & prometric exam looking for a job in private hospitals & medical complexes. Contact: 91347226

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR Senior Manager Indian, 30 years in FMCG Business in Oman looking for better opportunity at management level. Contact 99231513 Individuals having good relation with Ministry or desiring to start new business (or running) like Electronic security system or supply of medical equipments.

Contact 94742666 Indian BE, BA diploma quality material management 13 years experience procurement, stores, inventory warehousing manager construction industry on visit.

Contact 90287850 22 years B.Com Graduate having experience in trading of car accessories and also with valid GCC driving license looking for a suitable job.

Contact 98504698 Facility / Project Management 5 yrs of exp holds BE (ECE) MBA, Indian on visit visa looking for suitable openings.

Contact : 98580569 Email: arafacareer@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS Filipino (male) 37 yrs, having 8 yrs. experience in Operations (Shipping & Logistics) currently on visit visa looking for a suitable job.

GSM: 97121525

PROJECTS HSE Engineer Diploma in mechanical eng, 6 yrs Gulf exp, NEBOSH, OSHA with oman D/L & NOC available for urgent placement.

Contact 91258586.

Indian male, with 8 yrs exp. in Oman (BA- Graduate) working as a project Sales Coordinator, with Oman D/L, looking for suitable job, ready to join immediately with NOC, open for Sales & Marketing also.

Contact 95245057

SALES / MARKETING Omani college girl looking for a job in a management. Contact: 98298722 MBA Graduate having 23 yrs of experience as Sales Manager in building materials trading looking for a suitable opportunity, release available. Contact 92106768, Email : suvimasri@gmail.com Indian male, having 14 yrs of exp. in Business Development/ Marketing with Omani D/L seeks business development / Marketing Manager post. Contact 968 93400177 Sales man and author job – Dubai experience need job visa.

Contact: 91139936 / 96136615 NOC available with valid driving license looking for suitable placement diploma in Automobile Engg experience in dealer service 10 years and spare parts procurement 5 years through with local Market.

Contact : 00968 95487946 25 yrs experienced building materials manager knowledge of Purchase Marketing sales seeks suitable placement.#94663824 / 94305499 Indian male, with 5 yrs experience of call centre in customer service & sales looking for suitable position.

Contact 90198176 Indian female having more than 8 years of experience in oil and gas sectors sales and marketing and 2 years as commercial manager looking for a suitable post in Sohar area.

Now on visit visa. Contact 96311709, Indian no 0091 9745541355, Email Id:mvrajagd_d@yahoo.com Sales man (food stuff), Gulf experienced, knows Hindi, Arabic .

Contact 99506977 Indian male looking for job in spare parts BMW / Mercedes benz.

Contact: 95712035 Business intelligence / Global Marketing management specialist with 9 years of experience developing brand value & managing overall projects to achieve business objectives seeking suitable position on family visit. Contact: 91902154 A professional commercial & Business Developer (Sudanese) MBA & PGD extensive experience (14 yrs in marketing, sales and procurement) for International companies with residential permit & driving license.

Contact 94738839 Email: alhassanolive@gmail.com

SECRETARIAL / OFFICE Indian male more than 10 years gulf experience in Office / Sales Coordinator, Admin, Secretarial and purchase with good computer skills.

Having Driving license and NOC available. Looking for suitable placement. Contact 90135063

TOURS & TRAVELS SKILLED/ UNSKILLED Welder / fabricator, Gulf exp, 3G, 6G ARC, GAS PH : 95068064

SALES / MARKETING MBA 15 years experience in Sales & Marketing in telecom, FMCG, presently in India C/O Saif Kazi.

Contact : 99625957 Email Id: a_kazi123@yahoo.co.in Male BA, with D/L, having 6 years exp in Oman wanted suitable job in Sales Inventory & procure.

Contact: 92191026 Indian male 25 yrs BBM Graduate 3 yrs of experience Sales / Marketing in Oman looking in suitable placement. Contact : 93185316 Email: karsh794@gmail.com Sales and marketing - male 27 yrs, 2 years experience seeking suitable placement with Oman D/L. Contact: 95642740 Email: shaijichakkara@gmail.com MBA graduate having 6 years exp in Sales & Marketing, presently working in PEPSI, India seeks suitable placement in Oman.

Cont : + 91 9895388937, Email : samir.pag@gmail.com

Five years experience in Travel field ,BCom., IATA & pursuing MBA, Presently working in the Travel Desk of (ITC managed) Five Star Hotel in India, looking for a suitable position in the Middleeast. pls contact 9470 5767

MISCELLANEOUS Indian Male (Diploma in electronics Engineering and CCNA.) having 9 years of experience in Networking, 5 years’ experience in Oman. Looking for a suitable Placement. NOC available. GSM- 93787098, Email –anishktr@gmail.com Site Supervisor/ L Driver, Pakistani Male 33 with valid D/L, 4 years experience in Muscat, fluent in English, Arabic looking for suitable place. Contact: 97950869 Pakistani, Male, Pak, Exp 14 Years in IT Trainer / Computer Teacher, looking for a better position in Oman, already working in Prestigious Construction Company.

Contact:- 95983711.

Join.mtmali@gmail.com INDIAN MALE 24 YEARS,B. Tech (Electrical & Electronic).Having 2 years experience as Electrical Site Engineer in Constructions. Done IOSH & NEBOSH- IGC certifications.

Seeking for suitable placement in constructions or in any related industries. Contact no: 98045482, Email: shannu.hse@gmail.com Admin, having 10+ years experience in Admin/HR/Logistics/Time Keeper, in reputed companies. Presently working in Muscat.

Contact- 968 94369965 mail - satya1528@gmail.com Indian male B.Eng. in IT,CCNA,MCSA,MCSE, 2.5 yrs + exp. in IT support, Networking and Server support with valid Omani D/L seeking suitable placement in IT/Network/ Server support. Contact 92607532 Indian male auto cad draughtsman (civil) 8 years experience seeking for part time job mobile no: 0096899070584, email: remluvp@gmail.com Indian Male, 25, Chartered Accountant, working with ICICI Bank India. On a Visit Visa in Oman.

Staying with parents at Azaibah.

Ph:24492638.

Email: shyamal008@gmail.com SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, Indian male,29 years.8 years experience .Presently working in Oman as a Senior Accountant with oman Driving license. NOC available. Seek suitable opportunity. GSM: 97705854 Indian male Auto cad Draughtsman (civil) 8 years experience seeking for part time job. Contact : 99070584, Email: remluvp@gmail.com

Admin Executive, Indian Female having 10 years Gulf experience in seeking suitable placement currently working in Muscat.

Email: meenafajar@yahoo.com, Mobile 0096893211402 MOH Indian Dentist 10 years experience in Oman. Can speak Arabic, has driving license. Contact 98995321 or ventureoman007@gmail.com Having 9+ years exp. in Administration & HR in reputed companies.

Presently working in Muscat and seeking for suitable placement.

Contact No.: 97693456. Email : muralimahdav77@gmail.com Omani , female, have diploma in quantity survey, bachelor in Constitution management, seeking situated placement at Sohar. Tel 94454180, Mail nhlmct@yahoo.com Indian male,27, IT/Telecom Engineer, 2 yrs exp in Oman, with valid Oman D/L, NOC Available.

Ph: 9393 8727 ACCOUNTANT, Indian male, 29 years.8 years experience .Presently working in Oman as a Senior Accountant with oman Driving license.

NOC available. Seek suitable opportunity. GSM: 98184170 Indian male having 4 years of experience in IT Support & networking. Currently on visit visa. seeking suitable opportunities. Contact 92013641.

Indian Male 24 years, Looking for a Suitable Job in Telecom / Networking. 1 year sales experience. MSc. Communications Engineering & Valid Driving license. Ph: 91280121.

Email: jackrprasad@yahoo.com Finance Manager / Chief Accountant / Audit Manager, C.A , MBA ,ACCA , CPA..15years in GULF , Expert in Banking ,Financing, Profit Maximizations , Admin & Management, Business Developments , ERPs Software’s, Audit Exp. with Big 5 , NOC & Driving License Call 94403270 or 94504505 29 years Indian female (MBAFinance) with 4+yrs experience (Oman) in Accounts is seeking suitable placement in Accounts/Admin.

Contact:96141283.

MEP Quantity Surveyor-Estimation-Project, 10 Years Experience (3 years in Oman). Having NOC & Oman D/L. Looking for suitable job, Contact – 98291626

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M O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 1 4 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

SIT.WANTED MISCELLANEOUS ACCOUNTANT, Indian Male, 25 years old, 5 years Experience (2 years in Oman & 3 years in India) Presently working in Oman. Going exit on this week with NOC. Seeking suitable opportunities.

GSM : 97018783 Indian male Nurse 5 years ICU experience prometric 63% and BLS, ACLS puss, looking for suitable job currently on visit visa.

Contact: 93894049 Email: basilbabybasilbaby@gmail.com Indian male 29 years B.Tech & MBA with 1.2 years experience in Oman as Electronic Engineer seeking for a suitable job.

Contact: 92085082 Email: suhailece.61@gmail.com BE Civil Engineer with 11 years of experience in building construction with valid Oman DL, looking for suitable placement, NOC available.

Please contact 91329910 Diploma in civil engineering having an experience 24years (20years in Oman) experience in Estimator / quantity surveyor looking for a suitable placement, willing to join immediately Contact : 96328687 Indian male B.Eng. in IT,CCNA, MCSA, MCSE, 2yrs + exp. in IT support, networking and server support valid Omani D/L seeking suitable placement in IT/Network/Server support. Contact 92607532 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 ME Civil- structural Engineer, 8 Years Structural engineer experience, Looking for Structural Designer, supervisor or site engineer Position. Iranian male.

Contact: 93696929, Email: mhsaz1359@gmail.com Indian Male 26 years MCA, MCSE 2012 certified, Microsoft Exchange Server Administration, having 1 year experience in IT/System Administration looking for suitable placement.

Contact Mob : 00968 92745708 Email: nabeelmmkty@gmail.com, Light duty driver, Young and honest.

Can speak Arabic, Hindi and understand English. Release available.

Ph.92854775 / 93487450 Indian female with MBA on visit visa seeking immediate placement.

Contact - 968-93316493 27,male,ACCA finalist, have professional experience upto finalization of accounts, statutory and internal audit, expertise in using tally and focus & oracle software, have 3.5 years experience in accounts till finalization and statutory audit, seeking for permanent replacement ,GSM-97654769,email idabdullah.nooralam@yahoo.com Sudanese male, 31 years, have 3 year Diploma in electrical engineer , 6 year experience in construction and electrical production plant .

Mobile No ; +96894549609 Indian male, B.com, MBA, having 5 years experience (3 years in U.A.E) is currently seeking suitable opportunities within finance/accounts/ admin dept.Contact:93953613, allen.mathew83@gmail.com B.Com graduate, 11 years experience in Accounts, 9 years Oman experience , Oman valid driving license, looking for suitable post.

Mob:92758404 NOC Available.

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, Indian male,29 years.8 years experience .Presently working in Oman as a Senior Accountant with oman Driving license. NOC available. Seek suitable opportunity. GSM: 97705854 Two year experience in Oman, experience in sales, purchase and system admin, Having GCC license.

Contact number 97475860, Yadhukrishnan08@gmail.com Indian Male, 32 yrs, MBA-HR, Trainer & Faculty worked on Omanisation & nationals development activities with 10 yrs of experience seeking suitable job. Contact : 93891401 saiprasad_18@yahoo.com Sudanese 29 male (Bsc computer science,diploma computer engineering), 6 yrs. experience dba oracle plsql , ms sql-server ,ms visual studio vba,network Omani Driver licence language English, Arabic Tel: 91415886 Driver looking for job exp 2 yrs.

Contact: 98522914

SITUATION WANTED Piping Design Engineer, 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 / 96143708/97357143

Indian Female Accountant, CA Final (Group I cleared), 5+ year’s experience in the field of Accounts, Audit and Financial ERPs. Currently available in Muscat and seeking suitable job opportunities.Ph:94704800 email id: vinithsavith@gmail.com

Indian female, 24yrs, M.COM (Accounts) having 3 yrs experience in Accounts, HR, Administration, Customer Service. Good Computer Proficiency seeking Suitable Position. Visa Transfer/NOC Available.

Contact: 99654913

B.E (IT) 1 year exp complete schooling in Muscat needs job in software / net working / java/ WEB design or marketing. #97136248 / 99313821

Indian male 27 years B.E & MS Mechanical Engineer working in Delhi for last 4 years inJcb India pvt. ltd., seeks placement in Oman. #93393768

Data Entry operator cum Buyer, Indian male,26years.BA, Computer proficiency :Operating system (Windows 2000xp & Windows7) E plus and Tally ERP9, 4 yrs Experience in Oman seeks suitable placements.

Mob: 95360255

Female MBA gold medalist, with computer proficiency, Oman driving license looking for job opportunity in event management companies in Muscat. Ph : 99012949

Indian Female BSC nurse with 8+ years of experience including 3 years of GCC exp. Oman Prometric passed with 57 %. Currently in Oman. Contact : 98034384

Indian female B. Com MBA finance ,5 years experience in oman as an account seeking suitable placement.

Contact 99044292

Senior Accounts Professional, Indian Male, 36 years, M.Com, MBA (Fin) 9 years in Oman, with valid Oman DL and NOC available. Capable to handle accounts up to finalization.

Contact 9602 3965.

Indian male 23 years Graduate, working as a sales coordinator cum purchase & office coordination 2 yrs in oman Having oman license & NOC looking for suitable job in Muscat Email:yadhukrishnan08@gmail. com, GSM:97475860 Indian Male 22 Years , Graduation In Electronics Seeking Jobs In Supervisory , Sales & Sales Co-ordination Fields , Good Communication Skill Contact 96141317, E-mail: akhilek5@gmail.com DIPLOMA+B.E.(CIVIL ENGINEER), Indian, 4 years of experience, currently on visit visa; Seeking Right Position. GSM:91570703.

ME. Civil Engineer, Structural Designer, 3 Years Structural Design, 6 Years Str. Engineer Experience, Looking For Structural Designer Position. Iranian Male. #93696929, Email: mhsaz1359@gmail.com B-tech Electrical Engineer with more than 2 years of experience in erection and designing of HT and LT electrical systems. Seeking for suitable job in Muscat. #98269366.

Email: sijincleetus@gmail.com Male Graphic designer cum animation, non linear editing VFX, seeking suitable position.

Contact: 97792661 / 96229406 Indian lady 30 years Graduate having work experience in India and Oman looking for Admin or any other suitable job. Contact : 95676957

Indian Male 24 years, Looking for a Suitable Job in Telecom / Networking, 1 year sales experience. M. Sc. Communications Engineering & Valid Driving license.

Ph: 91280121.

Email: jackrprasad@yahoo.com

SITUATION WANTED Indian female LLB (Advocate) 2 years experience looking for suitable post legal advisor company secretary etc. # 93343190 / 94476387 Email: shafu1019@gmail.com Indian female, B.Sc, PGDCA, currently on family joining visa, 2 years working experience in oman as customer care / sales co-ordinator, immediate joining seeks suitable placements. Contact no. (968) 95573205 / 95949230 / 95800792 Indian male 22 years ACCA affiliate , BSc, Graduate in applied accounting 2 months working experience seeking suitable placement in Finance / Accounts / audit immediately. Contact: 97378607 / 92558734 B-tech Electrical Engineer with more than 2 years of experience in erection and designing of HT and LT electrical systems. Seeking for suitable job in Muscat. Contact: 98269366.

Email: sijincleetus@gmail.com Project Manager / Senior Engineer, Indian Male BE Civil, 21yrs experienced including Oman looking for the Job Contact +918939295181 Email I’D 58031_bala@yahoo.co.in

Indian, presently on visit visa in Salalah looking for job B.com failed UAE experience in accounts, commercial Admin & warehouse. Contact: 92754071 /93346931 Email: sathyanathanuk@gmail.com

Indian male 26 , graduate in mechanical engineering having 2 years experience in fabrication production filed in India, looking for a suitable job. mobile: +968-91384621 EMAIL : rmekhil@hotmail.com

Indian male, 39 yrs, MSC Computer Science 10 years experience IT support, FMS Engineer, bank experience looking for suitable job.

Contact: 94276449

Sr. Sales Executive, Indian Male, Holding Valid Oman DL. Total experience in Oman of 15 years with 4 years Rent a Car Co. experience.

Looking for Opportunities in any Industry for similar sales role.

GSM - 95703233 email id “khetani_r@yahoo.com

MBA (Marketing /HR) with 45 years exp in business development and marketing, having valid Oman driving license seeks suitable placement currently available on family visa. Contact 97618033 Email: vjgeorge12@gmail.com Civil site coordinator, Diploma, Male 25, now present in Oman, Seeking job in Oman.

Contact 92887561, jubincivileng@gmail.com Indian male 63 years have 30 years Muscat experience all office work sales business development insurance administration accounts with Oman driving license.

Contact 99249412

INDIAN MALE 23 YEARS,B. Tech (Electrical & Electronic). Done IOSH & NEBOSH- IGC certifications. Looking for HSE engineer job in Oil Gas Sector, constructions or in any related industries. Contact 98045482 Indian male. M.com holder with two year working experience as an accountant in India. Now at Muscat on visiting visa. Seeks suitable placement. Gsm:96947500,99463120, :mohamedshafikk5@gmail.com Driver 5 years exp know English, Arabic,& Hindi Education B.A. Contact : 91615715 / 99512270

ACCOUNTANT, Indian male,29 years.8 years experience .Presently working in Oman as a Senior Accountant with oman Driving license.

NOC available seek suitable opportunity. GSM: 97705854 Female, Indian, 35 Yrs- house maid available for Full/Part time work in Muscat. contact- 96754303.

29 years Indian female (MBAFinance) with 4+yrs experience (Oman) in Accounts, seeking suitable placement in Accounts/Admin.

Contact:96141283 Indian, male, 41 years, CA Inter, Persuing CA final. Now on express visa. 7 years of Experience in OMAN as Finance and Accounts Manager in Trading , Construction and Firefighting industry. 21 Years of exp. seeking suitable Managerial positions. No visa issues. Immediate joining.

Contact 98469311 Email:sebin30@yahoo.co.in B-tech Electrical engineer with more than 2 years of experience in erection and designing of HT and LT electrical systems. Seeking for suitable job in Muscat. Contact:98269366.

Email:sijincleetus@gmail.com Indian Female B.Sc., B.Ed.(Maths), M.C.A residing in Al-Ghubra seeking a teaching position as a Math Teacher GSM.- 94231633 INDIAN MALE 23 YEARS, B. Tech (Electrical & Electronic) having 4 years working experience as an Electrical site Engineer. Looking for suitable job in Oil Gas Sector or in related industries. Contact 98045482

Indian male 28YRS, 7Years exp. in Architectural & structural Draughtsman & 3d visualization, looking for a suitable Post GSM: +971551965944.

Email:aboosufiyan@gmail.com Indian Female, M.Com & MBA with 1.5 years of experience in Reinsurance Treaty seeking a good job opportunity in Insurance & Reinsurance Accounts or General Accounts.

Contact: +968 91920189, Email: neethumano.manohar@gmail.com CCNA MCITP network support / network technician with 2 years experience Indian male having bachelors degree on visit visa.

Contact 93080871 sean.f.peters@outlook.com 8 yrs exp 2d, 3d draughtsman (HOLDING OMANI DRIVING LICENSE) seeking job. Contact : 93790601 ME. Civil Engineer, Structural Designer, 3 Years Structural Design, 6 Years Str Supervising Experience, Looking For Structural Designer Position. Iranian Male.

Contact : 93696929 Email: mhsaz1359@gmail.com BSC Female Nurse having 8 years of experience ( 3 years in gulf). Prometric passed - 57%. Currently in Oman.

Contact : 98034384 ACCOUNTANT, Male, 8 years experience .Presently working in Oman as a Senior Accountant with Oman Driving license. NOC available seeks suitable opportunity.

GSM: 98184170

Indian male, ERP Functional Consultant (SCM, MM, HRMS), Seeks employment.Contact: 98478928, Email: anand.desai2408@gmail.com

ACCOUNTANT, M.Com holder with 2 year working experience as an accountant in Kerela-India, seeks suitable placement. GSM NO:96947500, 9 9463120, mail: mohamedshafikk5@gmail.com

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 Male 22 Years, Graduation In Electronics Seeking Jobs In Supervisory , Sales & Sales Co-ordination Fields , Good Communication Skill Contact 96141317, E-mail: akhilek5@gmail.com

Piping Design Engineer, 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, Email : mohammednazeer07@gmail.com

Sudanese.male 32 years.B.SC mechanical engineer.7years experience.5 years experiance in Gulf.working now in water pipeline projects.fluent Arabic and English. have Omani driving license. looking for good opportunity TEl:91117089

M O N DAY, S E P T E M B E R 1 4 , 2 0 1 5

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DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED SERVICES

NRI

Commercial plot measuring 30 cents for immediate sale having an old house and a shop at the heart of Kodakara Town – 17 kms from Trichur City and 7 kms from Chalakkudy.

Direct access to NH 47 from one side and old town road from other side of the plot, near to Shanti Hospital .

Contact : Muscat: 00968- 91318999 India: 0091- 9446371706.

COMPUTER

CLASSES

SIT.WANTED Filipino (male), 37 yrs. old, having 8yrs. experience in Operation (Shipping & Logistics) currently on visit visa looking for suitable job.

GSM: 97121525 Chartered Accountant with 7 years of post qualification experience, seeking challenging job opportunity.

Experience in auditing/accounts & finance/taxation/IFRS, etc.

GSM +968 95763680 Indian Female Interior Designer, 4.5 yrs experience, seeking immediate mid-senior level position with firm having lady clearance. NOC Available. Contact 93033072 Indian Male 22 years, ACCA Affiliate with B..Sc. Degree in Applied Accounting having three months working experience seeking suitable placement in Finance / Accounts / Audit. Holding valid Oman D/L. Contact 97378607 / 92558734 Indian female Nurse, Prometric passed 64%, 5 years of experience, MOH licensed, presently working in Oman seeking a suitable placement in reputed Hospitals, NOC available.

Contact: 98329941, Email: ancyanish2011@gmail.com.

SITUATION WANTBUSINESS ED

Spoken English IELTS & Computer classes.

Contact: 92088325 / 24799938

WEBSITE

Female from India -MA. B.Ed. with One year three months Teaching experience. English seeking for a urgent better placement, Now working in Oman. #93961142, 92184408 Email:-anoopkesavan78@gmail.com.

Driver with car seeking suitable post. Contact : 916602662 Video Editor 29 years Indian male with 8 years experience on visit visa looking for a suitable placement.

Contact: 91275969 / leomoorkoth@gmail.com Syrian male 3yrs. exp in IT support, Networking, Security systems, Server support, IT sales and marketing.

Valid Omani D/L seeking suitable placement. Contact 91033395 8 yrs exp 2d, 3d Draughtsman (HOLDING OMANI DRIVING LICENSE) seeking job. # 97449630 Tunisian shoes designer wuth 40years expereince in designing and manifacturing loocking for a job in a related field contact : 97816917 Indian male MBA + TALLY , 29 years & 7years experience in Administration and Manager level in Reputed companies, Seeking suitable placement.# 96297709 / +91 9066130371, Email: jomonjohnm9@gmail.com Indian female MBA Finance currently on visit visa seeks immediate placement. Phone: 968-98430089 Indian Male, 28, B.Com, 6+ yrs exp in Accounts, 2 yrs in Oman with Valid Oman D/L, NOC available.

Contact: 9719 4864 Indian male post graduate.2 years experience in sales. currently in oman on visit visa.seeks suitable placement.Gsm 92388346 Civil site coordinator, Diploma, Male 25, now present in Oman, Seeking job in Oman. Contact: 92875345, jubincivileng@gmail.com Male Indian 27, working as finance analyst having two years Oman experience with Driving license looking for suitable position. Mob: 98097009, rameesnm@gmail.com FRESH - B.Com Graduate on Family Visa, looking for any suitable Job. Contact : 92567020 / 95322175, Email: shwayanad@gmail.com

Required SUB Contractors for new projects. Contact: 99755534 / 96600581 Required investors for different projects. Contact: 99674870

MATRIMONIAL House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

RC, Keralite (Kottayam) male, 27 yrs, Civil Engineer, working in Muscat from decent family looking for suitable alliance. Contact 95035953

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your marble. #24793614/ 99314807

Ezhava boy, B.Tech, MBA, 26/178, Rohini working in Bangalore looking alliance from parents of professionals.# 24798043 / 94193031

Used house & office furniture & electronic items. Contact: 99834373 / 96642500

Seeking alliance for our son from Muslim families. Interested families Contact: 99889590

Supply fixing Wallpapers, all carpets. Contact: 99834373 / 96642500

GOOD NEWS

Building maintenance: Tiling, painting etc. Contact: 99325827

Ayuredic Treatment for joint pain, backache, paralysis, massage, steam bath, obesity, spondylitis , Ideal CARE Ayuruedic Clinic, 18 November Street, Azaiba. Contact: 99639695 / 98342990 FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know more about Islam, please call: 99425598, 99250777, 99353988, 99253818, 99341395, and 99379133. For ladies: 99415818, 99321360, 99730723 Orvisit:www.islamfact.com Ayuredic massage backache, joint pain, neck pain etc.

Contact 98254909

WEB, ERP and Business Intelligence (BI) creation and management at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

DRIVING

One stop shop business services : Public Relation (PRO) formation new companies, LLC companies, Investor visa, business setup, prepare businesses & companies accounts, legal services, representing you and your company. Contact: Saleh : 96723485 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 Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles polishing, carpet shampooing, maintenance. Contact ABU QABAS99320217 /24788722

Window & split unit A.C servicing & maintenance. Contact 93769089 / 95323517

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing, Contact 99314807/24792998

Pest Control Treatments, Cockroaches, Ants, Rodents & Termites, Ocean Center LLC. Contact: 99344723/ 99357908

All maintenance & repairs.

Contact Rizwan: 99429071, RMPM Trading.

General cleaning & Shampooing. Ocean Center LLC. Contact: 99344723/99357908 A/C Technician, all refrigerator items, installation.

Contact 92279370 Air condition maintenance split and window A/C split a/c ducted and package type units.

Contact: 98667326 General cleaning in buildings villas all types interior, exterior, polishing dry cleaning carpets, rugs, marble etc. Contact 94134784 / 98598280

GOOD NEWS Ayurvedic treatment for backache, paralysis, arthritis etc & massage, All Season (Vaidyaratnam). Contact 24475280 / 95371664 / 92504980 www.siddhayur.com

Water proofing ABUQABASContact 99320217/24788722 House shifting & packing.

Contact: 99657644 /98518013

TRANSPORTATION Transportation for saloon car& delivery van. Contact : 95530908 Transportation available.

Contact -955 70 429 Transportation.

Contact 99508282 Transportation. Contact 99664703 Transportation available.

Contact: 99867456 *Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

D8

M O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 1 4 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

TOURS

SITUATION WANTED CARGO

SITUATION WANTCARGO

SITUATION WANTED CARGO

RENT A CAR

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain Marine Tours Contact- 98029602, 92808636

RENT A CAR