Times of Oman - August 15, 2015

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MODI TO HARD SELL INDIA STORY IN UAE Narendra Modi heads to the United Arab Emirates in the coming week to seek cash from the world’s secondrichest sovereign wealth fund for everything from trains to toilets. >B1 SATURDAY, August 15, 2015 / 29 Shawwal 1436 AH

CABLES

HM sends greetings MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of greetings to Korean President, Park Geun-hye on her country’s Independence Day anniversary.

In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan has expressed his sincere greetings and wishes of good health and happiness to the president and her country’s people further progress and prosperity.

His Majesty the Sultan has also sent a cable of greetings to Pranab Mukherjee, President of India on his country’s August 15 Independence Day anniversary.

In his cable, HM the Sultan has expressed his sincere greetings and wishes of good health and happiness to the president and his country’s people further progress and prosperity.

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said sent a cable of congratulations to President Mamnoon Hussein of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on the occasion of his country’s Independence anniversary on August 14. >A2

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HIT BY TRUCK

Five Omanis killed in Adam accident HAMOOD AL BRICKY

MUSCAT: Five nationals died in a collision between a truck and a car in Adam early on Thursday morning.

The five victims were travelling from Salalah to Sahamin in a car when their vehicle was hit by a truck near a detour on the Adam road, according to sources.

Two other cars were also involved in the accident.

Earlier, five Emiratis had died in an accident on a road leading to Salalah on August 7.

Further on July 28, seven people died and 32 were injured, five of them seriously, when a bus on way to Salalah was involved in a collision.

Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance and Royal Oman Police has been promoting road safety awareness among travellers driving to Salalah during the Khareef season.

Additionally, the Royal Oman

PRIZED CATCH AT BARKA Pay a visit to the Barka beachside to have a glimpse of freshly caught fish. A makeshift market comes up as soon as catch is brought to the shore. Purushothaman K See also >A3

62.56 million rial worth fish were caught by the end of April 2015

king fish, said officials.

Officials also said that any organisation with a fishing licence should declare its stocks at the end of each year.

According to reports, the ban comes after a directive from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Agricultural Cooperation Committee at its 23rd meeting

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Oman tested and trusted mediator leadership, Oman’s stature has grown

Police (ROP) has advised drivers to take rest during long trips when feeling tired.

“Taking rest during long trips benefits both mind and body and keeps a person alert. It also eases fatigue of travellers on board, as well as vehicle. Pushing yourself to drive long hours, especially in the heat, could result in an accident,” said the tweeted guideline from the ROP.

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Help sought to enforce fishing ban MUSCAT: Clamping a ban on catching of kingfish species during the breeding season from August 15 to October 15, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has urged fishermen to co-operate in implementing the embargo.

The ministry called on fishermen, fish transporters, trading enterprises, and institutions, apart from hotels, restaurants and individuals to abide by the ministerial decision.

“The ban is meant to allow the species to breed during this period,” said the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

The decision covers purchase, transport, storage and export of

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held at the headquarters of the GCC Secretariat General in Riyadh on June 16, 2012, to protect the stock.

As per the directive, it was agreed by the GCC to enforce the ban from August 15 to October 15 each year starting from 2015.

Fish sales have been on the rise since the beginning of this year and remained so till the end of April, according to figures issued by the National Centre of Statistics and Information’s monthly statistical bulletin for July 2015.

Since the beginning of 2015, until the end of April, the total value of fish sold increased 1.4 per cent to OMR62.563 million, compared to OMR61.683 million in the same period last year.

around the world as a peaceful and reliable partner

SARAH MACDONALD

BOOST TO TIES: Syria’s Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid Al Moallem with Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah in Muscat recently. – Supplied photo

sarah@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Talks with the Syrian foreign minister in Muscat and Oman’s assistance in rescuing a French hostage in Yemen are the most recent example of why Oman is a trusted, tested and reliable mediator.

Last Thursday, Syria’s Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid Al Moallem visited Oman on the invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah and talks were held regarding the Syrian civil war and bilateral relations.

The following day French woman Isabelle Prime, who had been held hostage in Yemen for six months, arrived in Oman after her release, which was negotiated with the Sultanate’s help.

According to a report in the Syrian Arab News Agency, Yusuf bin Alawi and Walid Al Moallem agreed that “time has come for unifying constructive efforts to put an end to the crisis in Syria and fulfil the aspirations of Syrian people in combating terrorism, establishing security and stability and maintaining Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Regarding Prime’s release, the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that she was released after efforts made by Oman “in coordination with certain Yemeni parties.”

The French presidency issued a statement noting they had made

Oman’s ability to mediate is also thanks to its foreign policy of non-intervention and neutrality Dr Mohammed Al Muqaddam Sultan Qaboos University, professor

“every effort to achieve this happy outcome,” adding that Paris “expresses its gratitude to all those who worked on this solution, including His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said.”

These two moves by Oman to find peaceful settlements to disputes involving its neighbours and other countries are a continuation of a foreign policy it has developed since the 1970s under the leadership of His Majesty the Sultan. This peaceful, neutral foreign policy has resulted in Oman being valued as a credible mediator.

“Why we are considered an accepted mediator [is] because we

have the trust and confidence of all our neighbouring countries.

When we deal with Iran, when we deal with the US, our credibility and His Majesty’s credibility is accepted blindly. It is proved.

It is tested, and it is there,” a former Omani envoy, who wished to remain anonymous, told Times of Oman.

He said Oman has been developing this role since 1970 when His Majesty the Sultan came to power and over the years it has earned the trust of other governments. Regarding Yemen, for example, he explained that following the Dhofar Rebellion when Oman and Yemen were establishing their border, His Majesty gave up some land for peaceful settlement and proving Oman as a reliable partner.

“It will (sic) make a great, great difference to our relations and it built confidence and trust in our relations,” the ambassador said.

Oman’s policy is one that takes the proverb “You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your neighbours” one step further by ensuring friendly relations with all the neighbouring countries, the ambassador added.

“We play a role that really believes that first of all we are in this region and we have to be good with all our neighbours, and we should not only maintain good relations, we should strengthen these relations,” he said. >A2

TOP THREE INSIDE STORIES

OMAN

REGION

SPORTS

Pakistanis celebrate Independence Day

Palestinian on fast slips into a coma

Musandam-Oman Sail triumph

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A large Pakistani community in Oman celebrated their country’s 69th Independence Day in great style on Friday with day-long festivities to mark the occasion.

The 200 million Pakistanis celebrate their country’s Independence Day as the third Eid in their life. >A2

A Palestinian held by Israel without trial has slipped into a coma after a nearly two-month hunger strike, his lawyer said. “I was informed on Thursday by the (Israeli) hospital where he is being held that he had fallen into a coma,” Jamil Al Khatib, Mohammed Allan’s attorney, said. >A4

Oman Sail’s celebrity ‘express’ crew lived up to their name when their MOD70 Musandam-Oman Sail swept across the finish line at Cowes at first place in the 2015 Artemis Challenge. The brakes were definitely off when Sidney Gavignet’s crew turbo charged for the day. >A12

P R E S T I G I OU S I N T E R NAT I O NA L S H O W

Oman’s rich heritage attracts more than 57,000 visitors at Expo Milan pavilion Ministry of Tourism has prepared a calendar of events, including exhibitions to entertain visitors and organise trips to Oman, in collaboration with industry partners.

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Scottish certificate for RAFO officer

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MILAN: More than 57,000 footfalls were recorded at the Omani Pavilion in Expo Milan 2015 until Thursday.

A large number of people have been visiting the pavilion since the opening of Expo last May, thanks to its diversity which gives the true picture of Oman’s environment.

The pavilion, which is spread over 2,790 square metres, conveys the care with which Omanis protect, manage and preserve their valued resources.

Also, visitors can taste local produce, such as honey, dates and camel’s milk, or stroll through a garden that is divided into three sections, symbolising the sun, sand, and sea.

HERITAGE SHOW: As a strategic meeting point between Asia and Africa, Oman is among the countries with richest historical, cultural and natural landscapes. Photo– Supplied

The Sultanate has chosen the prestigious international show to present its ancient traditions and future plans for sustainable development. As a strategic meet-

ing point between Asia and Africa, Oman is among the countries with richest historical, cultural and natural landscapes.

For the six-month schedule, the

Tourism week In July, Oman’s pavilion organised Tourism Week, which included many events and activities aimed at introducing the Sultanate as a unique tourist destination.

The week culminated with the celebration of National Day on July 25. The government delegation took part in the ceremony led

by Dr Fu’ad bin Ja’afar Al Sajwani, minister of agriculture and fisheries, and member of the ministerial committee tasked with supervising and preparing the Sultanate’s participation at the expo.

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

OMAN

I think Oman always tries to reduce the military tension in this area. Oman’s foreign policy is to solve all these conflicts through diplomatic settlements. They don’t support military action Dr Mohammed Al Muqaddam, Professor of History at SQU

Pakistan Independence Day celebrated in style While Dr Naveed Atif, second secretary (immigration), conducted the proceedings, Captain Altaf Hussain, defence attaché (DA), read the messages from Mamnoon Husain, president of Pakistan and Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan.

Independence Day festivities started with a flag-

Economic challenges “During the last few years, the happenings at the regional and international levels have deeply impacted Pakistan, which not only gave rise to law and order issues but also complicated economic crises making inroads into our homes. But no hurdle could withstand the strong resolve of the nation. Similarly, on the economic front, the government has adopted solid policies for the economic turnaround,” President Mamnoon was quoted as saying.

Reading from the prime minister’s message to his countrymen, the DA said, “It is also a day of happiness; a day of bowing our heads before Almighty Allah in thankfulness and a day of renewing our pledge that we will continue to struggle with unity and oneness for the objectives, for which Pakistan was created.”

hoisting ceremony at the Embassy of Pakistan in Muscat.

The celebrations continued throughout the day with Pakistan School Muscat, Pakistan School Seeb and Pakistan Social Club also hosting impressive events to mark the occasion

SHAHZAD RAZA shahzad@timesofoman.com NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD: The festivities to mark the Independ-

MUSCAT: A large Pakistani community in the Sultanate celebrated their country’s 69th Independence Day in great style on Friday with day-long festivities to mark the occasion.

For more than six decades after winning freedom as well as a homeland, the 200 million Pakistanis celebrate their country’s Independence Day as the third Eid in their life. Pakistan is decorated and illuminated with the citizens in a festive mood to illustrate the national euphoria, which is replicated by nearly eight million Pakistanis living and working abroad.

The day started with a flag-

ence Day started with a flag-hoisting ceremony at the Pakistan Embassy in Muscat.– Jun Estrada/TIMES OF OMAN

hoisting ceremony at the Embassy of Pakistan in Muscat. Pakistani men, women and children started filling every nook and cranny of the embassy premises earmarked for the celebration. Many of them came dressed in green and white while others wore badges of the Pakistani flag to make their own statement. Within no time, the place was bustling with the presence of the cream of Pakistani community in Oman.

As the clock inched towards 8 am

everyone followed Ayaz Hussain, ambassador of Pakistan, to the embassy compound for the flag-hoisting ceremony. The excitement was palpable, the joy overwhelming.

The heat, and its rising intensity with time, did not seem to diminish the delight of listening to their national anthem when Hussain unfurled the flag. One could notice each one of those present singing in sync with the tune of ‘Pak ser zameen shaad baad’ (may the Pakistani land be ever green and happy).

Self-accountability “Today is a day for self-accountability too. We will have to ponder over what mistakes we have committed in the past that we have lagged behind our contemporary nations,” added the prime minister.

Later, everyone moved to the air-conditioned confines of the consular hall where the ambassador, along with the youngest and the oldest attendant, cut the cake amid great applause.

In the end, everyone was served traditional Pakistani snacks and refreshments.

Independence Day festivities continued throughout the day with Pakistan School Muscat, Pakistan School Seeb and Pakistan Social Club also hosting impressive events to mark the occasion.

I N D E P E N D E N C E D AY

A1 HM sends wishes to Pakistan < FROM

In his cable, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said expressed his sincere congratulations along with his best wishes of good

health and happiness to President Hussein and the people of Pakistan further progress and prosperity.

R E G I O NA L R E L AT I O N S

A1 Oman hailed < FROM

Oman’s ability to mediate is also thanks to its foreign policy of non-intervention and neutrality, such as when Oman maintained relations with Egypt following the 1978 Camp David Accords with Israel, during the Lebanese Civil War, and during the IranIraq War, said Dr Mohammed Al Muqaddam, history professor at Sultan Qaboos University.

More recently Oman hasn’t taken sides in any regional conflicts, such as the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, and it helped bring together Iran and its Western counterparts to negotiate the recently settled nuclear agreement.

Al Muqaddam said Oman always prefers peaceful means to end conflicts rather than military options. “I think Oman always tries to reduce the military tension in this area. Oman’s foreign policy is to solve all these conflicts through diplomatic settlements.

They don’t support military action,” he said.

Azim Nasser-Zia, a former Afghan ambassador to Oman, has watched in admiration as Oman mediated disputes, arranged prisoner exchanges and the release of hostages, and brought adversaries to the table for crucial and successful negotiations.

Azim Nasser-Zia said the Sultanate is the one country others can depend on thanks to its normal, positive and balanced foreign policies.

He says for years Oman’s approach to foreign policy has remained the same, while other countries in the region may have shifting alliances and may change

All the sides trust the Omani role. They respect Oman’s position and that Oman tries to solve all these problems Dr Al Muqaddam Professor at SQU

their stances on various issues.

“Oman is one country where the policies are defined and solid so that’s really a great asset for the international community to have Oman where it is in the region.

"For Western countries I think it is God’s gift to have a country like Oman in the region, in a very volatile region,” he said.

As the conflicts in Syria and Yemen continue, Oman could once again be in a position to bring the different parties to the negotiating table since it is seen as an honest, responsible and objective player, said Al Muqaddam.

“All the sides trust the Omani role. They respect Oman’s position and that Oman tries to solve all these problems,” he said.

DIPLOMACY

Indian envoy presents credentials MUSCAT: Mohammed bin Yousef Al Zarafi, under secretary of the Foreign Ministry for Administrative and Financial Affairs received in his office a copy of credentials of Indra Mani Pandey, the newly-appointed ambassador of the Republic of India to the Sultanate.

Al Zarafi wished the ambassador success in his tour of duties and the hoped bilateral relations between the two countries experience continuous progress in all fields to achieve joint interests.

The meeting was attended by a number of officials at the Foreign Ministry.–ONA

BOOSTING TIES: The under secretary of the Foreign Ministry hoped bilateral relations between the two countries experience continuous progress.–ONA

MARTIAL MUSIC

Scottish certificate for RAFO officer EDINBURGH: Air Corporal Athari bint Marhoon Al-Harrasiyah from the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) got the international training certificate from the National Centre for Bagpipes in Scotland. The certificates makes her the first Omani bagpipe trainer in the Sultanate.

Wing Commander Nassir bin Saif Al Sharji, Commander of the Music Band said that this certificate is another unprecedented achievement by RAFO. –ONA

MUSICAL ACHIEVEMENT: This international certificate allows her to train others for music performances. –ONA

DEPUTY GOVERNOR RECEIVES SPANISH COMMANDER Sayyid Said bin Ibrahim Al Busaidi, Deputy Governor of Muscat received in his office Rear Admiral Alfonso Gómez Fernández, Commander of the Spanish ship ‘Galicia’.

During the meeting, Sayyid Al Busaidi stressed the deep-rooted existing relations between the Sultanate and the Kingdom of Spain in all areas.–ONA

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

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Barka’s busy beachside fish market Want to see freshly caught fish make its way to the market from the seashore?

Just pay a visit to the Barka beachside on a weekend. As soon as the fishermen are back with their catch, a makeshift market comes up on the beach. The catch is laid out on the boats for sale to the public as well as to those catering to the nearby markets.

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

REGION

Regional mediators, backed by US President Barack Obama during his recent visit to Ethiopia, gave South Sudan President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar until August 17 to halt the civil war.

CHLORINE GAS

IS attacked Peshmerga with chemical weapons: Iraqi Kurds ARBIL/BAGHDAD: Kurdish authorities in Iraq said on Friday they believe their Peshmerga forces have been attacked with chemical weapons, possibly chlorine gas,

by IS militants.

The Kurdistan Region’s Security Council said it was investigating multiple attacks by IS insurgents against Peshmerga positions, including in Makhmour, southwest

during the conflict. Authorities said last month they had recaptured most of the town, but the radical militant group attacked central neighbourhoods days later, forcing pro-government forces to pull back.

At least three militia fighters were killed on Friday when IS launched car bomb attacks against a makeshift headquarters

in the town’s western districts, the local mayor and security sources said on Friday. The town of Baiji and its refinery - Iraq’s largest have been a battlefront for more than a year. The hardliners seized the town in June 2014 as they swept through much of northern Iraq towards the capital Baghdad.

Control of Baiji neighbourhoods has changed hands many times

ness, vomiting and general weakness, while some are receiving treatment for burns.” Chlorine’s use as a weapon is prohibited under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention.

Meanwhile, IS militants attacked the outskirts of Iraq’s northern oil refinery town of Baiji overnight with car bombs and clashed with the army and militias

of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region, earlier this week. It was the third report of suspected chemical weapons use on the Iraqi battlefield this year.

“Initial reporting indicates chemical agents were fired in the form of projectiles, possibly mortar rounds,” the council said in a statement. “Several Peshmerga officers were treated for dizzi-

Hunger-striking Palestinian held by Israel slips into coma Mohammed Allan’s condition had ‘deteriorated’, adding he was receiving fluids and salts by intravenous drip and aided by an artificial respirator, said spokeswoman for Barzilai hospital

OCCUPIED RAMALLAH: A Palestinian held by Israel without trial has slipped into a coma after a nearly two-month hunger strike, his lawyer said on Friday, raising fears for his life.

“I was informed yesterday (Thursday) evening by the (Israeli) hospital where he is being held that he had fallen into a coma,” Jamil Al Khatib, 31-year-old Mohammed Allan’s attorney, told AFP. A spokeswoman for Barzilai hospital in the southern city of Ashkelon confirmed Allan’s condition had “deteriorated”, adding he was receiving fluids and salts by intravenous drip and aided by an artificial respirator. “His condition is stable,” she said in a statement. “The treatment is in accordance with the instructions of the ethics committee.”

Allan, an alleged Islamic Jihad activist who has been held without charge by Israel since November, has been on hunger strike since June 18, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club.

His relatives say his fast began in protest at being held under what Israel calls administrative detention, a controversial procedure allowing indefinite detention without charge. Israeli figures indicate that of the nearly 5,700 Palestinian prisoners currently held

by Israel, some 379 are under adC I V I L WA R

South Sudan suspends peace talks JUBA: South Sudan’s government said on Friday it was pulling out of peace talks to end a 20-month long civil war after rebels split despite international threats of sanctions.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in a war marked by widespread atrocities on both sides, and diplomats warned the collapse of the latest peace efforts could trigger “serious consequences” for the rival leaders.

“We suspend the peace talks until the two rebel factions sort out their differences,” top government official Louis Lobong said, after meetings with President Salva Kiir. South Sudan’s civil war began in December 2013 when Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of planning a coup, setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings that has split the poverty-stricken, landlocked country along ethnic lines. Regional mediators, backed

by US President Barack Obama during his recent visit to Ethiopia, gave Kiir and Machar until August 17 to halt the civil war.

On Tuesday, top rebel generals said they had split from Machar, accusing him of seeking power for himself, and adding they would not recognise any deal agreed. — AFP

PROTEST: Palestinians walk holding placards and national flags at the end of a march in support of Mohammed Allan (portrait), a Palestinian held by Israel without trial and who has reportedly slipped into a coma after a nearly two-month hunger strike on Friday, in the occupied West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah. – AFP

ministrative detention. His case has become a source of growing concern among the Palestinian public, while Israel faces a dilemma over whether to force-feed the protester.

March, rally for Allan In the northern occupied West Bank city of Nablus, near his hometown, around 1,000 staged a march for Allan on Friday.

“My son is in a coma. He’s my son, but also the son of the entire Palestinian people,” Allan’s father Nasser Eddine told the crowd.

Hundreds of people also rallied for Allan after Friday weekly prayers at Al Aqsa mosque in annexed east Jerusalem, waving his portrait and chanting against force-feeding.

Portraits of his pale face framed by a dark beard have been circulating on Palestinian social media,

including among Israeli Arabs.

The Islamic Jihad movement identified Allan as a member, called for a general mobilisation and warned from Gaza that his death would be an “end to the truce” with Israel.

Allan’s lawyer said Israel intends to force-feed him, a measure likely to further increase Palestinian anger.

The Israeli Medical Association strongly opposes the practice and has said its members will not participate in force-feeding.

An Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity said forcefeeding was a very last resort and required a judge’s approval in every case. “Before forced feeding, there are many, many medical processes,” he said. “They can give him water and other fluids intravenously. There’s no need to go straight to forced-feeding.”

Allan was transferred earlier this month from Soroka hospital in Beersheva after doctors there objected to carrying out blood tests against his will, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said at the time.

On Friday, the NGO appealed to Barzilai medical staff.

“Medical ethics requires that his doctors act in accordance to their understanding of the patient’s will,” it said.

“PHR-Israel hopes and believes that the doctors in Barzilai hospital have acted with respect and in accordance with Allan`s will.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has visited Allan several times, has warned that he was “at immediate risk” of death.

He has been taking only water throughout his fast and experts say that survival under such

conditions is uncertain after two months.

His supporters say his sight and hearing have been badly impaired.

Palestinians in Israeli prisons regularly go on hunger strike in protest at conditions, particularly those who, like Allan, are held in administrative detention.

On July 30, parliament approved a law allowing prisoners on hunger strike facing death to be force fed, sparking criticism from rights groups and doctors.

That vote came two weeks after Israel freed Islamic Jihad member Khader Adnan following a 56-day hunger strike that brought him near death.

Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan said the law was necessary to prevent “hunger strikes of terrorists in prisons” being used as a means to pressure Israel into releasing them. — AFP

in Al Rayash, about 18 km (5 miles) south of Baiji, a militia leader and a source in the Salahuddin Operations Command said.

Mortars in an adjacent area killed two civilians, according to the source in the operations command, the Iraqi military’s command centre for the province of Salahuddin, where Baiji is situated. — Reuters MOSCOW MEETING

Russia ‘not clinging’ to Assad, says opposition MOSCOW: After talks with Moscow’s top diplomat, Syria’s main opposition group insisted on Friday that Russia is “not clinging” to President Bashar Al Assad.

The head of Syria’s National Coalition, Khaled Khoja, met on Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as part of a fresh push by Moscow to find a way out of the four-year civil war that has cost some 240,000 lives.

Moscow -- one of Assad’s few remaining backers -- is pushing a plan for a broader grouping than the US-led coalition fighting the IS (IS) group, to include Syria’s government and its allies.

But Khoja -- in Moscow for the National Coalition’s first talks there since February 2014 -- reiterated that Assad must go immediately and hinted that Russia’s support for the strongman may be wavering. “We have found that the Russian authorities are not clinging to Bashar Al Assad personally, but rather they’re clinging to the Syrian state, its territorial integrity, and the preservation of its institutions,” Khoja told journalists at a press conference.

A spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry said in response that Moscow’s position remained unchanged. “We have always said that we do not support Assad in a personal capacity but that we support the legitimately elected president of Syria,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told AFP. The ministry said in a statement that Russia was pushing the National Coalition -- Syria’s main opposition group in exile -- to talk to other parties in the fragmented opposition about the creation of a cohesive negotiating platform for talks with the authorities.

The meeting on Thursday is part of a broader diplomatic flurry that saw Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir fly into Moscow on Tuesday, on the back of a threeway Russian-Saudi-US meeting in Doha earlier this month.

The top diplomat for Saudi Arabia, a key backer of the Syrian opposition, rejected calls to work with Assad against IS after a meeting with Lavrov. — AFP

A N T I - C O R RU P T I O N C A M PA I G N

Iraq’s Sistani for reforms to begin with judiciary BAGHDAD: Iraq’s top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani called on parliament and Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi on Friday to focus their anti-corruption campaign first on improving the judiciary.

Parliament unanimously approved a sweeping reform plan this week proposed by Abadi in the biggest shake-up in the country’s governing system since the 2003-2011 US military occupation. Abadi has sought to transform a system which critics say has encouraged graft and incompetence, depriving Iraqis of basic services while undermining government forces in the battle against IS insurgents.

The initiative, announced after Sistani pushed Abadi to “strike with an iron fist” against corruption, eliminates entire layers of government, scraps sectarian and party quotas for state positions, reopens corruption investigations and gives the premier the power to fire regional and provincial bosses. In his first public comments since the measures were announced, Sistani called judicial reform “one of the most important aspects of the reform process”.

“It is not possible to achieve true reform without it. Even if corruption has spread to the judiciary, there is no small number of honest

SHOW OF STRENGTH: Demonstrators in Baghdad shout slogans on Friday in support of reforms proposed by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi aimed at curbing corruption. – AFP

judges whose hands have not been tainted and will not hesitate to achieve justice,” his spokesman, Sheikh Abdul Mahdi Al Karbalai, said in a Friday sermon.

Part of Abadi’s campaign calls for a committee of judges known for their integrity to investigate and prosecute corrupt officials who he has accused of plotting sabotage to preserve their privileges. The governing system set up under the US occupation included numerous overlapping senior posts, many set aside to be divvied up on ethnic and sectar-

ian grounds among Iraq’s majority and minority and Kurds.

That was intended to reduce strife by keeping the government inclusive. But Abadi complained it encouraged ethno-sectarian party patronage, spawning corruption and incompetence so pervasive it made Iraq nearly impossible to govern. Critics have accused Abadi of trying to consolidate too much power in his own hands, which he denies. “We do not wish to reinstate a political system where there is only one leader and everyone else is insignificant,”

Abadi said at a youth forum on Thursday.

Sistani also called for reforming the security services following a massive bombing in a majority district of Baghdad on Thursday claimed by IS, and for reducing inequality in the salaries of public employees. “It is unacceptable that some major officials make tens of millions in salary every month, while many employees do not make more than $261.32 (300,000 dinars),” Karbalai said.

Meanwhile, a UN human rights watchdog called on Iraq on Friday to close what it described as secret detention centres where militant suspects, including minors, are “severely tortured”.

The panel of 18 independent experts, who reviewed Iraq’s record in preventing torture and ill-treatment last month, had challenged Iraqi officials to name a single person the country had jailed for torture in a justice system that had “gone astray”.

In its findings issued on Friday, the watchdog voiced concern at information pointing to a pattern whereby militant and other high-security suspects, including minors, were arrested without warrants and detained in facilities - especially those run by the defence and interior ministries.

It said they were “detained in-

communicado and held in secret detention centres for extended periods of time, during which they are severely tortured in order to extract confessions”. The UN Committee against Torture called on the government of Abadi to “ensure that no one is detained in any secret detention centres, as these facilities are per se a breach of the Convention (against Torture) and should be closed”.

Iraqi officials were not immediately available to comment but at last month’s session Iraqi delegates rejected any form of torture, regardless of who was the perpetrator, and gave assurances that torture was not systematic in the country.

The panel called for access to detention facilities such as that it said was at a military airport in Baghdad.

The facility at the old Al Muthenna military airport in West Baghdad, “which was uncovered in 2011, is still open and continues to secretly operate under the control of the 54th and 56th brigades of the army”, the committee said, citing allegations it had received.

Committee member Alessio Bruni said: “Where the problem of treatment torture is acute is especially in those places of detention run by the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defence. — Reuters

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

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INDIA

Chabahar port figures in India-Iran dialogue India has pledged to invest about $85 million in developing the strategic port, located on Iran’s southeastern coast, which would provide India a sealand access route to Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan

NEW DELHI: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi who affirmed India’s commitment to work with Tehran for development of Chabahar Port that is expected to have far reaching benefit for India, Iran and the entire Central Asian region.

India has pledged to invest about $85 million in developing the strategic port, located on Iran’s southeastern coast, which would provide India a sea-land access route to Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan.

During the meeting, Zarif, the first key minister of Iran to come here after the historic nuclear pact between Tehran with the Western countries in July which will lead to lifting of sanctions, said Iran considered India its “strategic partner”.

Zarif, who arrived here on Thursday night, also held talks with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj, who raised the issue of nine Indian sailors detained in Iran and requested him for waiver of $2.9 million fine imposed on them and for their early release.

After her meeting with Zarif, Swaraj tweeted, “I had a good meeting with Foreign Minister of Iran. I raised the issue of nine Indian sailors detained in Iran. I requested him for waiver of $2.9

BOOSTING TIES: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif at a meeting in New Delhi on Friday.

million fine imposed on them and for their early release.

“I have advised our Ambassador designate to Iran Saurabh Kumar to follow this up on priority and secure their release at the earliest.”

These Indians, who were part of a shipping crew, have been in a jail in Iran for two years on charges of smuggling oil. They have been asked to pay a fine of $2.9 million for securing their release.

High priority Recalling his meeting with President Hassan Rouhani in Ufa last month, Modi reiterated that India attached high priority to its relations with Iran.

During his meeting with Modi, Rouhani had sought Indian investments of nearly dollar eight billion in infrastructure sector in Iran.

The prime minister also congratulated Iran for reaching an agreement with P5+1 countries and expressed confidence that it

would contribute to greater peace and stability in the region.

Zarif is first key minister of Iran to come here after the historic nuclear pact between Tehran with the Western countries in July which will lead to lifting of sanctions. Modi “conveyed India’s commitment to work with Iran for development of the Chabahar Port that would have far reaching benefit, not only for the people of India and Iran, but also for Afghanistan and the entire Central Asia region,” a PMO statement said.

Zarif said Iran considered India its “strategic partner and cannot forget the support India extended to Iran during its difficult times”, it added.

Zarif also met Shipping minister Nitin Gadkari, who had visited Tehran in May when the two inked an agreement to develop Chabahar port, located on Iran’s southeastern coast.

The strategically important port

A5

would provide India a sea-land access route to Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan.

Investments Iran looked forward to working closely in all areas, including connectivity, oil and gas, investments, fertilizers, infrastructure development, among others, Zarif said during his meeting with Modi.

They exchanged views on the regional developments, including in Afghanistan, West Asia and South Asia, the PMO statement said.

Zarif extended invitation on behalf of the President of Iran to Modi to visit Iran.

Prime Minister agreed to visit Iran at mutually convenient dates to be decided through diplomatic channels, it said.

Meanwhile, Swaraj said she also met the family of Sushil Kapoor, who is one of the Indian prisoners in Iranian jail, and apprised them of her meeting with Zarif. - PTI

ONE RANK ONE PENSION

After crackdown, retired soldiers continue protest NEW DELHI: Police on Friday evicted ex-servicemen who were protesting in the heart of the capital seeking one rank one pension (OROP) but later allowed them to continue with the protest.

In a crackdown apparently linked to Saturday’s Independence Day celebrations, police and civic employees swooped on the protesting retired soldiers at the Jantar Mantar protest site, leading to scuffles.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijay Singh said that all protesters were being evicted from the area for security reasons ahead of Saturday as part of a drive by the New Delhi Municipal Council. As the ex-servicemen refused to move, saying they had the permission to stage their sit-in, some police personnel brought down the tent and tried to take away a portable generator. This led to scuffles between the police personnel and the former soldiers.

“We have the permission to hold the protest and have been protesting peacefully. This is an attempt to get rid of us as they don’t have an answer to our demands,” said Anil Kaul, a former colonel and spokesman for the United Front of Ex-Servicemen.

As criticism of the forcible eviction mounted, the authorities did a quick U-turn and allowed the ex-servicemen to reclaim the site.

“We got a verbal go ahead from the home ministry and Delhi Police to carry on with our protest,” Kaul later said. “We did not

want to move. Some people were injured in the scuffle, but there were minor injuries,” he added.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also criticised their eviction and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accept on Independence Day Saturday their demand for OROP. “Ex-servicemen being forcibly thrown out of Jantar Mantar? Bizarre. They protected us till yesterday. Now they are a security threat for Independence Day?” the Aam Aadmi Party leader asked.

“Within a year, the NDA has started behaving the way UPA behaved in its second term. This is how UPA-II would crush movements,” he said.

Technical difficulties Amid stepped up demand for one rank one pension, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday said that there are “technical difficulties” in implementing it but insisted that government will fulfil the “assurance” made to the ex-servicemen in this regard.

Asserting that NDA government was committed to implementing OROP, Parrikar said it was working to fulfil the longpending demand of the ex-servicemen. Parrikar, however, said “there are are technical difficulties” in implementing OROP. A group of ex-servicemen are on a protest at Jantar Mantar for two months demanding early implementation of OROP. - Agencies

PROTEST: Ex-servicemen shout slogans during their agitation demanding “one rank one pension” at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Friday. - PTI

REVIVE ECONOMY

Modi’s ambitious reform agenda hits roadblock in parliament NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious reform agenda has stalled with crucial bills stuck in India’s parliament, which ended its latest session this week in bitter uproar.

After sweeping to power 15 months ago in a landslide election victory, Modi’s right-wing government promised a string of business-friendly reforms to attract foreign investment and revive the economy.

But the opposition has blocked flagship tax and land reforms with rowdy protests in parliament, while a much-touted plan to overhaul archaic labour laws has yet to be unveiled.

A year after Modi’s first Independence Day speech, hailed as a political tour de force, analysts say he risks failing to deliver on his promises. They will be closely watching his second on Saturday for signs that his right-wing government is still committed to pushing through reforms.

Promised “PM Modi promised he would quickly change the economy and get GDP growth back on track,” said Satish Misra, a senior fellow at the Observer Research Founda-

including scrapping a need for consent of 80 per cent of landowners for some projects, would hurt millions of poor farmers.

Congress, humiliated at last year’s general election, has been re-energised by the issue ahead of a critical election in Bihar state later this year.

tion think tank in New Delhi.

“People now have a lot of doubt about that. He promised more than he could deliver,” he said.

Landmark tax reforms The prime minister this week accused the main opposition Congress party of holding back the economy for its weeks-long protest in parliament to demand ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders resign over graft allegations. The government is desperate to pass a bill paving the way for a landmark national sales tax to replace a myriad of complex state and national levies and boost the economy.

But it failed to secure enough backing and now faces a huge struggle to meet a deadline of next April, the start of the financial year.

Companies say simplifying India’s unwieldy tax system would make it easier to do business in a country clogged with red tape, boosting production and growth.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley accused Congress of ignoring the national interest over the goods and services tax, before parliamentary debate descended into personal insults.

Analyst Misra blamed Modi and

RISKS FAILURE: A year after Modi’s first Independence Day speech, hailed as a political tour de force, analysts say he risks failing to deliver on his promises. - PTI file photo

his senior ministers for failing to adequately negotiate with the opposition to resolve the impasse in parliament -- where the BJP lacks a majority in the upper house.

“The (opposition) tactics we are seeing in the parliament are not new. We have seen them for the past 20 years,” he said.

“It’s the government’s responsibility to unblock these logjams but nothing is moving.”

The government has backtracked on another stuck bill meant to make it easier to buy land for infrastructure and other development projects, following mass protests led by Congress.

Companies complain that frustrating negotiations over purchase of land has held up billions of dollars worth of projects, sometimes for years.

Congress says the amendments,

Investment pouring in Moody’s and Fitch unit BMI Research have warned such problems in implementing big-ticket reforms were aggravating investor concerns.

Central bank governor Raghuram Rajan also called for clarity on the stalled bills, telling Bloomberg TV that legislative action “would send a strong message to the outside that India is still on the move”.

Analysts urged Modi to use Saturday’s speech, delivered from Delhi’s historic Red Fort, to detail how and when he plans to deliver on a plethora of reforms announced since taking office.

“Give us a detailed report card on the overabundance of schemes that have been announced since May 2014,” commentator Gurcharan Das wrote in the Times of India this week.

The government defends its performance, saying foreign direct investment rose to $31 billion last financial year, with firms such as Taiwan’s Foxconn, the maker of iPhones, this month pledging $5 billion to build factories.

“We are working on a number of other reform measures and hopefully we will be able to push those along faster,” junior finance minister Jayant Sinha told India Today TV. The economy grew 7.5 per cent for the first three months of this year, outperforming China’s.

Warn But experts warn reforms are needed to at least maintain that pace to create jobs for India’s millions of young people.

Sonal Verma, chief economist at Nomura, said investors were reassured by some initiatives already introduced, including coal auctions to replace a corruptionhit system of allocating mining licences. And some states were going it alone on reforms instead of waiting for the national government to act, she said.

“But the reality is that India is the world’s biggest democracy and expectations around reforms have to be realistic,” she said. - AFP

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

INDIA ‘Parliament should rethink its working’ Addressing the nation on the eve of 69th Independence Day, President Pranab Mukherjee expressed concern over the apparent fractious politics and parliament ADDRESS TO NATION: President Pranab Mukherjee addresses the nation on the eve of Independence Day, in New Delhi on Friday. - PTI

NEW DELHI: Parliament has been converted into an arena of combat rather than debate, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday observing that institutions of democracy are under stress and “correctives must come from within”.

In comments that come against the backdrop of a washed out Monsoon session of Parliament, he said, “if the institutions of democracy are under pressure, it is time for serious thinking by people and their parties”.

Addressing the nation on the eve of 69th Independence Day, Pranab expressed concern over the apparent fractious politics and parliament when he said “the roots (of vibrant democracy) are deep but the leaves are beginning to wilt. It is time for renewal.

“If we do not act now, will our successors seven decades hence remember us with the respect and admiration we have for those who shaped the Indian dream in 1947?

The answer may not be comfortable but the question has to be asked.”

Asserting that the most precious gift of the Constitution is democracy, the president said, “our in-

stitutions are the infrastructure of this idealism.

The finest inheritance needs constant care for preservation.

“Our institutions of democracy are under stress. The parliament has been converted into an arena of combat rather than debate.”

Social harmony Referring to social harmony, Pranab said Indian democracy is “creative” because it is plural but diversity must be nourished with tolerance and patience.

“Vested interests chip away at social harmony, in an attempt to erode many centuries of secularism. In an age of instant communication through ever-improving technology, we must remain vigilant to ensure that the devious designs of a few never overcome the essential oneness of our people.”

He said the rule of law is sacrosanct for both government and people but society is also protected by something greater than law — humanity.

He quoted Mahatma Gandhi “you must not lose faith in human-

ity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty”.

The president said a nation which forgets the idealism of its past loses something vital from its future. Our educational institutions multiply as the aspirations of generations continue to exceed supply.

“But what has happened to quality, from base to apex? We recall the guru-shishya parampara with legitimate pride; why then have we abandoned the care, devotion and commitment that is at the heart of this relationship? A guru much like the soft and skillful hands of a potter, moulds the destiny of shishya.

“The student with devotion and humility acknowledges the debt of the teacher. Society respects and recognises the merit and scholarship of the teacher. Is that happening in our education system today?

Students, teachers and authorities must pause and introspect,” he said.

Referring to concerns over environmental degradation, Pranab said the symbiotic relationship between man and nature has to

be preserved. “A generous nature when violated can turn into a destructive force leading to calamities resulting in huge loss of life and property.

“Even as I speak, large parts of the nation are barely recovering from floods. We need immediate relief for the afflicted as well as long-term solutions for the management of both, water deficiency and excess,” he said.

The president said a great generation of supreme heroes faced formidable challenge when ideals and convictions that had held through the travails of an epic struggle against British rule were under strain.

“The sagacity and maturity of that generation saved our ideals from deviation or degeneration under the pressure of emotion, including rage,” he said.

While stating that the country’s rise will be measured by the strength of the values, the President also said it will equally be determined by economic growth and equitable distribution of the nation’s resources. - PTI

ECONOMY

Inflation plunges to nine month low NEW DELHI: Deflationary trends continued for the ninth month in a row in July with wholesale inflation plunging to a historic low of (-)4.05 per cent on cheaper vegetable and fuel, which may prompt Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut interest rate ahead of the September 29 policy meet.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) number follows retail inflation (CPI) data, which had slipped to a record low of 3.78 per cent in July. The overall wholesale price index-based (WPI) inflation was (-)2.40 per cent in June, government data showed on Thursday.

It has been in the negative zone since November 2014. A year ago in July 2014, inflation was 5.41 per cent. During the month, pulses, milk, edible oil, egg, meat and fish turned dearer.

May cut interest rate RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan after the monetary policy announcement on August 4 had said the central bank may cut interest rate even out of the policy cycle depending on how macroeconomic indicators play out.

“We are waiting for information. There was more need to move fast in the early stages of the turnaround. We will take all information into account and decide whether at times it warrants moving in between policy cycle

or it does not,” he had said after the policy meet.

RBI mostly tracks the consumer price inflation for its policy decision, and its next review is due on September 29.

Last month, rate of price rise for food items, especially rice, vegetables and fruits, eased at a wholesale level.

Overall wholesale inflation in the food category was (-)1.16 per cent compared with 2.88 per cent in June. Vegetable prices declined 24.52 per cent, with potato prices slumping 49.27 per cent.

However, pulses got dearer by 35.75 per cent as against 33.67 per cent in the previous month.

Inflation in fuel and power category stood at (-)12.81 per cent in June. The manufactured product index inflation was (-)1.47 per cent as against (-)0.77 per cent last month.

Prices eased for sugar, beverage, tobacco and tobacco products. Prices of cotton textile also declined 4.63 per cent, and those of leather and leather products 2.43 per cent. Since RBI wanted more clarity over inflation numbers in months to come, it kept policy rate unchanged during its policy review earlier this month.

RBI kept the repo rate, at which it lends to banks, unchanged at 7.25 per cent and the cash reserve ratio, the proportion of deposits banks have to park with the central bank, at 4 per cent. -PTI

WITHIN REACH: A vendor works at his vegetable stall at a wholesale fruit and vegetable market in Mumbai. India’s wholesale price inflation plunged to nine month low in July. Reuters file photo

PA R L I A M E N T D E A D L O C K

BJP attacks Congress over washout of monsoon session, rejects terms on GST NEW DELHI: Top BJP ministers and leaders on Friday fanned out to states and attacked the Congress for the washout of the monsoon session of Parliament where the GST bill was stalled even as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley dismissed as an “afterthought” the conditions set by Congress for supporting the measure.

“All these three pre-conditions are an afterthought,” he told a press conference when he was asked about the conditions set by the Congress on Thursday for breaking the logjam over the Constitution amendment that will bring in a uniform Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the country.

Former finance minister P. Chidambaram had on Friday said if the government addresses three of its fundamental concerns — maximum GST rate should not cross 18 per cent, no additional one per cent tax and setting up of a grievance redress mechanism — then the Congress could consider supporting its passage.

Following up on the NDA decision on Thursday, the BJP bigwigs targeted Congress President and Vice President Rahul Gandhi for the paralysis of Parliament and said first family of the party has not reconciled to being out of power.

Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in Chennai she was “very optimistic” of the pas-

SPELLING OUT: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley along with Minister of State Finance Jayant Sinha addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Friday. - PTI

sage of the GST while Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said it will be “definitely” passed because government enjoyed a majority in Lok Sabha.

However, in Ahmedabad Power Minister Piyush Goyal felt there were “less possibilities” of the bill being passed by April, 2016 but government would work out alternative ways to ensure people get its benefits.

In Delhi, Jaitley said, “All these three decisions (on issues raked up by Chidambaram) are unanimous decisions of all the states to which the Congress party states are privy.

So its clear that these three pre conditions are an after thought.

“Well I don’t think it is part of prudent politics for any party to put pre-conditions, particularly on a matter which involves fiscal relationship between the centre and the states,” he said.

Jaitley said two conditions are contrary to what was his own stand when Chidambaram was finance minister.

The third condition of up to one per cent one per cent additional tax was a compromise between the centre and the states.

However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu sounded conciliatory when he appealed to all parties, particularly Congress and the Left, to help take forward the legislation as any delay

would hurt the national interests.

“The need of the hour is to bury the immediate and distant past.

The need of the hour is also to end the politics of revenge and tit for tat,” Naidu told reporters in Bengaluru.

Naidu said the government would talk to all parties and “explore how quickly we can do it.”

He said there were some suggestions to reconvene Parliament at the earliest and take forward the GST Bill. “It is necessary to bring into force the GST by April next year. Any delay would only hurt our national interests.”

“I sincerely appeal to all concerned not to allow a repeat of the Monsoon session. Let us not let the people down,” he said, as he struck a note of conciliation to give a push to one of the government’s big bang reforms.

To a question if a special session would be called, he said “we have not taken any decision.

We will talk to all parties.”

At the same time, Naidu also blamed the Congress for the session washout and said it had clearly lost the plot and “got it wrong and as a result painted itself into a corner.”

He said as Parliamentary Affairs Minister, he strongly felt that time has come to revisit the Rules of Business of legislatures to enable their effective functioning. - PTI

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

A7

PAKISTAN S A M J H O TA T R A I N T R A G E D Y

CELEBRATING INDEPENDENCE DAY Pakistanis attend a flag hoisting ceremony to celebrate the country’s Independence Day on the Pakistan-India border at Wagah on Friday. Pakistan celebrated the 68th anniversary of its independence from British rule on August 14. - AFP

Protest lodged with India over bail of Aseemanand ISLAMABAD: Pakistan lodged a protest with India on Friday over the bail of the main accused in the Samjhota Express tragedy, Swami Aseemanand.

“The Indian deputy high commissioner was called in by the director general SA and SAARC,” a press release issued by the foreign ministry said on Friday.

“A protest was lodged against decision of the Indian National Investigation Agency not to contest the bail granted to Swami Aseemanand on ‘Special Leave Permission,” the press release added.

Further, it said, “The government of Pakistan has serious reservations on the efficiency of the court in processing and disposal of cases regarding terrorism, especially those involving deaths of Pakistani citizens.”

Mastermind “No action has been taken by the Indian authorities against the mastermind and perpetrator of the dastardly attack,” it claimed.

Further, the government demanded the authorities in New Delhi to take steps to bring to justice all those involved in the heinous act of terrorism on the Samjhota Express. - Express Tribune

‘Nation stands by army in fight against terror’ President Mamnoon Hussain urged the Pakistani nation to follow in the footsteps of the nation’s forefathers and work together for the betterment of the country

ISLAMABAD: Despite facing a number of challenges, the nation stands alongside the Pakistan Army against the menace of terrorism, President Mamnoon Hussain said on Friday.

“Today, hoisting of the national flag has recalled the sacrifices of our forefathers,” Mamnoon said during his address at the event of the Independence Day celebrations at Convention Centre in Islamabad.

“Sir Syed Ahmed Khan toiled for education, Poet of the East Allama Muhammad Iqbal envisioned a great homeland and Qaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah worked hard to turn Iqbal’s dream into reality,” the president said.

Further, the president said that our forefathers made enormous sacrifices for the creation of this country and it is because of their countless sacrifices that we gained independence.

President Mamnoon urged the Pakistani nation to follow in the footsteps of the nation’s forefathers and work together for the betterment of the country.

“Illiteracy and corruption are some of the many challenges that our country is facing, however,

TOGETHER WE STAND: Pakistan’s President Mamnoon Hussain, second left, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, right, observe the national anthem after hoisting the national flag during a ceremony to mark the country’s Independence Day in Islamabad on Friday. - AFP

we will soon be able to overcome these challenges,” he claimed, adding that the war against terrorism will continue until the elimination of terrorism from the country.

Furthermore, the president said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is not only the favour of Pakistan but the whole region will get the benefits of the project.“The CPEC will bring prosperity in the region.”

“Pakistan wants to resolve all the longstanding disputes with India, including that of Kashmir, through dialogue,” he said regarding Kashmir issue.

The president lauded the prevalence of the ‘culture of tolerance’ among the political parties, adding unanimous decisions are being taken on national issues which is a good omen.

“We hope that every coming day will bring us a better future,” he added. President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif felicitated the nation on Independence Day and called for

unity to achieve the aims and objectives of the creation of Pakistan, Radio Pakistan reported.

In their messages to the nation, both the president and prime minister said that Allama Iqbal’s dream of an independent and sovereign nation had been realised due to the great leadership of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

President Mamnoon Hussain said the Pakistani nation is celebrating the 69th Independence Day with the conviction that this day would be a harbinger of political, economic and social stability.

Meanwhile, PM Nawaz said August 14 was the day of self-accountability and we should reflect on our past mistakes and learn from them.

Speaking on the subject of terrorism, the premier said the government was determined to end the menace of terrorism and Operation Zarb-e-Azb (North Waziristan operation) reflected their resolve.

Further, he appealed to the nation to continue the struggle to make Pakistan a strong and pros-

perous country with the power of unity, faith and discipline.

The day began with special prayers for the progress of the country and flag hoisting ceremonies in the federal and provincial capitals and scores of other government installations across Pakistan.

Change of guards ceremonies were held at mausoleums of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Muhammad Iqbal early on Friday morning.

A contingent of Pakistan Navy Cadets assumed guard duty at Mazar-e-Quaid in Karachi whereas Pakistan Army 2-Baloch Regiment took over the charge from Punjab Rangers at the mausoleum of Allama Iqbal in Lahore.

Award for excellence on the occasion of the 69th Independence Day, President Mamnoon Hussain has conferred 156 civil awards on citizens of Pakistan as well as foreign nationals for showing excellence and courage in their respective fields. - Express Tribune

B I L AT E R A L TA L K S

Pakistan assures support to Afghan anti-terrorism war ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday promised to extend full cooperation to Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism as it redoubles efforts to defuse tensions triggered by a barrage of deadly attacks in Kabul.

The attacks prompted an outburst of rage in Afghanistan and led President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Dr Abdullah Abdullah to point fingers at elements in Pakistan while accusing Islamabad of doing little to stop such incidents.

Pakistan also emphasised that the two countries should have trust and faith in each other and that they should “discourage spoilers and detractors who have been trying to create mistrust between the two brotherly countries”.

A high-level delegation, led by Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, arrived in Islamabad on Thursday and held crucial talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to convey his country’s concerns.

Prime Minister’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad accompanied Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during the talks.

According to the official statement, the two sides discussed issues of mutual interest while avoiding contentious issues.

However, an official privy to the meeting said that the Afghan side did convey its concerns over the spate of recent attacks in Kabul and sought cooperation from Pakistan.

Ahead of the visit, the Afghan government had said that the delegation was going to Islamabad to urge Pakistan to take tough action against those who had carried out the recent attacks.

The official source said Premier Nawaz assured the Afghan

CRUCIAL TALKS: Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, right, talks with Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz, right, during their meeting in Islamabad, on Thursday. - Reuters

delegation of all-out support but also suggested that implicating Pakistan’s security institutions in the attacks was regrettable.

He said Pakistan reminded Afghanistan that an understanding had been developed whereby neither country would play to the media if either of them had a complaint against the other, but would raise the issue on a bilateral forum. The Afghan delegation also held a separate meeting with Aziz at the Foreign Office.

According to the source, the PM’s adviser informed the delegation that the Pakistani government had serious concerns about Afghan soil being used against Pakistan.

“But we believe in using appropriate channels to convey our concerns instead of going public with allegations,” Aziz was quoted as saying.

He said that levelling allegations would only benefit those who wanted to undermine PakAfghan cooperation. An FO statement said the two sides had candid discussions on Pak-Afghan bilateral relations, evolving political and security situation in Afghanistan, security cooperation between the two countries, and peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. - Express Tribune

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Jeb Bush’s recipe for economic decline

JUSTIN FOX Photo: Dr Mahmudul Hasan

“I

think we need to lift our spirits and have high, lofty expectations for this great country of ours,” Jeb Bush said in last week’s Republican presidential debate. The former governor of Florida (full disclosure) was being questioned about an ambitious goal he has set: As president, he’d aim to achieve 4 per cent economic growth.

That target is too ambitious, according to most of those who have examined it.

But that isn’t the biggest problem with the idea.

It’s true that average growth over the past four decades has been a lot slower than 4 per cent. It’s also true that most forecasters have concluded that the potential US growth rate has been falling. For a long time, the influx of baby boomers and women into the workforce boosted growth, for example, but now we face less favourable demographic trends. Economists have been debating whether we’ve entered an era of “secular stagnation,” not whether we’re about to experience a rapid acceleration of growth.

John Cochrane of the University of Chicago is probably the most prominent economist to defend the notion that 4 per cent growth can be achieved -- but his posts on the subject end up underscoring how unlikely it really is. He’s talking about what’s economically, rather than politically, possible. One of the items on his list of pro-growth reforms is an end to agricultural subsidies, which would very likely boost growth but isn’t going to happen.

If the point of setting a goal is to “lift our spirits,” as Bush says, the implausibility of the goal may not matter that much. What matters is that politicians and the public don’t assume that whatever growth rate we’re achieving is the best we can do, and thus settle for bad policies.

Bush’s goal, then, could be a useful corrective to today’s economic pessimism.

There is a long tradition of such pessimism in American economic thought, and it has

almost always been wrong. The American Economic Review was announcing the coming of “secular stagnation” in 1939.

Natural-resource depletion was supposed to impose tight limits to growth in the 1970s. “Peak oil” was more recently going to wreak havoc on economies.

But setting a 4 per cent target still seems like a bad idea, for two reasons.

First, it would distort policy-making should Bush become president. Think about it from the perspective of his budget office. If it projects unrealistically high growth in line with the goal, it will also make unrealistically high revenue estimates. When reality strikes, the administration will have to defend lower growth and higher deficits. And if spending plans are made on the basis of too-rosy revenue projections, deficits will not only be higher than the Bush administration forecasts -- they’ll be higher than they would have been without the goal.

Alternatively, the budget office could use more realistic projections. But then the new Bush administration would be saying that a central message of its campaign was -- well, let’s say irrationally exuberant.

And while Bush wants to send a message about American possibility, not all the messages that his goal would send are good ones. This is the second problem with the target: It makes government, and presidents, seem more important to the performance of the economy than they are. The difference between good policy and bad policy can be substantial, but there are real limits to what government can do. It’s no coincidence that targets for economic output are typically features of planned economies rather than freemarket ones.

People are already too quick to credit presidents for positive economic trends and blame them for negative ones.

Politically chosen growth targets -whether they’re realistic or not -- will reinforce that tendency. Conservatives, especially, should be wary of doing that. - Bloomberg View

READERS’ FORUM Locals, expats have numerous ways to interact This refers to the news story, Respect and learn from each other (August 14). Omanis and expatriates understand that respecting each other results in social progress and economic prosperity of the country. Many Omani social organisations allow expatriates to participate. ‘Knowledge Oman’ is a prominent example of it, which has been founded by Tariq Hilal Barwani. Many expatriates, including myself associated with ‘Knowledge Oman’ as ‘Knowledge Ambassador’ are busy in promoting education in Oman without any self interest. In such a scenario, an expatriate manages specific organisations, voluntarily, which benefits both locals and to expatriates. There are enough opportunities for local and expatriate to respect and learn from each other if they go with the power of positive thinking. — Munawar Hameed Mangalwala, Muscat 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).

There really are ghost buildings and neighbourhoods in New York and London where high-end apartments owned by foreign zillionaires stand vacant most of the time. As the New York Times reported last year, in Manhattan high-end apartments are vacant at least 10 months a year bit.ly/wholivesinhotcities

CLIPPINGS FROM OUR ARCHIVES AUGUST 2000 Omantel achieves 99 per cent Omanisation MUSCAT: Oman Telecommunications Organisation (Omantel) has obtained an enviable position of 99 per cent Omanisation by the end of this June, Sheikh Suhail bin Mustahail bin Salim Shammas, minister of telecommunications, said. He also stressed that with such an achievement behind it, the days were not far off them to achieve 100 per cent Omanisation. “We hope that the percentage would rise up to 100 in the near future,” Shammas said.

Nationals no less hard working than the expatriate workers

This refers to the news story, Respect and Learn from each other (August 14). I fully agree with the views expressed by Shabib Al Maamri except his comment that the expatriates are more hard working than the locals. In my practical experience, I find that many locals who worked with me are equally hard working, but needed a bit more motivation. Undoubtedly cooperation between the local and expatriate work force is very important for the ongoing economic prosperity and progress of Oman. In my opinion, Omanisation must continue and the expatriate population must cooperate the local work force on this aspect without any sense of fear. — Mohammad Osama Rawat, Ruwi

PICTOGRAPH

OIL AND GAS EXPORT Oman’s total export of oil and gas products including crude oil, refined oil and liquified natural gas. (in million rials)

February

755.1

April

586.8 March

TODAY IN HISTORY

NEW INDIA ASSURANCE Protect the welfare of your workforce through New India’s WORKMEN COMPENSATION POLICY. www.newindiaoman.com

572.6

1559 Spanish explorer de Luna enters Pensacola Bay, Florida.

1900: The European allies enter Beijing, relieving their besieged legations from the Chinese Boxers.

1945: Japan announces its unconditional surrender in World War II. 2010: First-ever Summer Youth Olympic Games open, in Singapore. Athletes must be 14–18 years old.

Source: National Centre for Statistics & Information

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A team of 217 nuclear

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

and biochemical est and say what you know. Don’t hide the truth!” one poster urged on social media.

Another said: “Every time when disaster happens, state media always spread heroic acts. In the end, people are touched by these stories. Then nobody asks the cause of the accident to explore the truth.”

materials specialists from the Chinese military had travelled to Tianjin to inspect the site

TIANJIN (CHINA): Chinese authorities struggled on Friday to extinguish fires and identify dangerous chemicals at a devastated industrial site, two days after giant explosions killed dozens and left residents in fear of being cloaked in a toxic cloud.

Officials in the northern port city of Tianjin, where the blasts killed at least 56 people and injured more than 700, told a news conference they did not yet know what materials were at the hazardous goods storage facility that exploded, or the cause of the blast.

Extremely dangerous But Chinese media and environment group Greenpeace warned a host of potentially extremely dangerous chemicals may have been stored there. At least 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide were at the site, along with other dangerous substances, and the poisonous chemical had been detected in nearby drains, the Beijing News initially reported. But the report was no longer available on the newspaper’s website on Friday, giving rise to suspicions that the Chinese government was clamping down on sensitive information relating to the tragedy.

The official Xinhua news agency said a team of 217 nuclear and

DEVASTATED: Rescuers work at the site of the explosions in Tianjin on Friday. – AFP

biochemical materials specialists from the Chinese military had travelled to Tianjin to inspect the site. Xinhua cited local authorities for the latest rise in the death toll to 56, which it said included 21 firemen. The agency added that 721 people had been hospitalised, 25 of whom were in critical condition.

Dozens of people were still missing but there was a rare moment to cheer on Friday morning when rescue workers pulled a 19-year-old firefighter from the rubble. However up to 1,000 firefighters were still struggling to extinguish blazes at the site, with smoke billowing from three areas, adding to uncertainty over whether more chemicals may be leaking.

Some police wore no protective clothing, while others had full-face gas masks, although an environmental expert told an official press conference that toxic

gas indicators were within normal ranges and the air “should be safe for residents to breathe”.

At a nearby office building, security guard Liu Zongguang, 50, wore a cheap surgical mask. “I’m wearing this mask because I saw some police wearing them, but I also saw some without masks, I don’t really know what to do,” Liu said.

“I’m really scared, but I don’t even know what to be scared of, the government hasn’t said anything, nothing about what we should do to keep our families safe from the chemicals.”

Greenpeace warned on Thursday that rain could transfer airborne chemicals into water systems. The campaign group said it was “critical” that authorities monitored the situation closely and identified what substances were being released into the air.

Tianjin work safety official Gao

A9

Huaiyou told reporters that authorities did not know which of the many dangerous substances the company was authorised to store were on the site at the time.

As a trans-shipment facility, items were normally only kept for brief periods and “the types and amount of the dangerous materials are not fixed”, he said.

The company’s own records were damaged in the blast, he added, and information from its executives was unreliable as it did not match its customs filings. The deputy director of the Binhai New Area government, where the blast happened said that 17,000 families, 1,700 industrial enterprises and 675 business had been affected, but did not provide details.

Online commentators expressed fury at authorities, who are regularly accused after disasters of cover-ups. “Please be hon-

Safety rules violated The People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece of China’s ruling Communist Party, said that the facility’s construction “clearly violated” safety rules.

Under Chinese regulations, warehouses stocking dangerous materials must be at least one kilometre (0.6 miles) away from surrounding public buildings and main roads, it said, but there were two residential compounds and several main roads within that distance. Two hospitals, a convention centre, several residential compounds and a football pitch were also nearby, it said.

“The warehouse should not have passed the environment assessment under normal circumstances,” the paper quoted an unnamed environmental expert as saying.

Residents fearing pollution from proposed or already-built industrial plants in China regularly protest about local authorities being prepared to prioritise profits over safety. In Tianjin, taxi driver Li Shiwen, 53, expressed familiar sentiments.

“There shouldn’t be reckless development of these type of dangerous chemicals so close to where people live,” Li said.

“There’s always short-term thinking in China, looking for a quick solution,” he added. “No one thinks about the fact we have to live here for generations.” — AFP

AMBITIONS VETOED

Rajapakse challenges Sirisena COLOMBO: Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse openly challenged his successor on Friday, demanding he respect the “will of the people”, after the country’s new leader vetoed his ambitions to become prime minister.

In a tersely written letter, Rajapakse rejected President Maithripala Sirisena’s accusations against him as “baseless” and hinted he should head the government if his party won the vote.

The two men belong to the same party and were allies until late last year, when Sirisena quit as health minister to stand against the veteran strongman in the January 8 presidential election.

On Thursday, Sirisena accused Rajapakse of fuelling communal hatred on the island and said he would choose one of seven senior members of their United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) as prime minister should it win Monday’s general election.

“Even if I have to intervene to form a coalition, you will not be the prime minister,” Sirisena said in a five-page letter to Rajapakse.

Rajapakse lambasted the president over the claims. “The allegations you have made against me are baseless. You have relied on outsiders to form these accusations,” said Rajapakse.

“I wholeheartedly reject them.”

But Rajapakse loyalists said the letter could damage their chances with just hours to go until campaigning ends, and appealed to the independent elections commissioner to bar the media from reporting it. The UPFA is seen as unlikely to prevail in the vote.

Many observers were stunned by Sirisena’s victory over Rajapakse, who had been in power for nearly a decade and oversaw the crushing of the Tamil Tiger separatist rebels in 2009. Although Rajapakse is reviled by large sectors of the minority Tamil community, he retains widespread support among ethnic Sinhalese voters and his rallies have drawn big crowds. — AFP

K E N S I N G T O N PA L AC E O P E N L E TT E R

‘Prince George currently paparazzi’s number one target’

AT RISK: Britain’s Prince George looks into the pram of his sister, Princess Charlotte, after her christening at the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Sandringham, Britain. – Reuters Files

LONDON: The office of Prince William and his wife Kate warned on Friday that paparazzi attempts to photograph their son Prince George were becoming increasingly “alarming” and urged media to boycott their pictures.

In an open letter, Kensington Palace communications secretary Jason Knauf said that “a line has been crossed and any further escalation in tactics would represent a very real security risk” to the twoyear-old prince. “Prince George is currently their (the paparazzi’s) number one target,” said the letter.

“We have made the decision to discuss these issues now as the incidents are becoming more frequent and the tactics more alarming.” The royal couple guards the

privacy of their children closely and George has only appeared in public five times, most recently at the christening of his younger sister Charlotte last month.

Most media publications have respected the family’s wishes to only publish official photos of the prince, which have been released intermittently. But some publications, mainly from abroad, have not. In one incident last week, police apparently discovered a car parked near a children’s play area in which a photographer had hung sheets to create what the palace called “a hide stocked with food and drinks to get him through a full day of surveillance”.

The photographer was lying in the boot trying to take pictures

with a long lens through a small gap. “In a heightened security environment, such tactics are a risk to all involved,” the letter said.

Hiding in fields Photographers have also been found hiding in fields and woodland around the couple’s country home in Norfolk, eastern England, and in sand dunes on a beach to take images of George playing with his grandmother. “All of this has left the duke and duchess concerned about their ability to provide a childhood for Prince George and Princess Charlotte that is free from harassment and surveillance,” added the communication.

Prince William is thought to be particularly wary of the paparazzi

because he blames them for his mother’s death in a Paris car crash in 1997. Although this is not the first such letter that royal officials have released pleading for privacy, the warning is the strongest and most detailed yet. The letter said it hoped that a “public discussion” of the issues would underline to publishers “the power they hold to starve this disturbing activity of funding”.

“We are aware that many people who read and enjoy the publications that fuel the market for unauthorised photos of children do not know about the unacceptable circumstances behind what are often lovely images,” it added.

The royal couple will continue to seek legal advice to deal with individual cases. — AFP

A 10

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

WORLD

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last week said Barack Obama “was not telling the truth” in comments he made in 2009 linking the need for a missile shield to what the president called the “real threat” from Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile activity

BLOW TO ERDOGAN

Turkey’s nationalists refuse to support minority government ANKARA: Turkey’s nationalist opposition made clear on Friday it would not roll over and back a minority government, making President Tayyip Erdogan’s aim of taking the country to a snap election with the ruling party in control look increasingly difficult.

Talks on forming a grand coalition between the AK Party and the main opposition CHP broke down on Thursday, making an autumn election almost inevitable and leaving the ruling party having to turn to the nationalist MHP for support. The uncertainty comes as the NATO member faces an almost unprecedented confluence of national security threats, battling IS insurgents on its borders and Kurdish militants at home. The lira currency hit a record low on Friday and stocks were little recovered after sharp falls the previous session.

The AKP failed to hold its majority in a general election on June 7, leaving it unable to govern alone for the first time since it came to power in 2002 and plunging Turkey into uncertainty not seen since the fragile coalitions of the 1990s.

APPEAL

Russia urges US to scrap missile shield plans in Europe MOSCOW: Russia urged the United States on Friday to scrap plans to station parts of a missile shield system in Europe now that Iran has reached an agreement with world powers to limit its nuclear programme.

Moscow has long opposed the plan, which it sees as a threat to its nuclear deterrence, and vowed to retaliate if it goes ahead. Washington has previously assured Moscow the shield was meant as protection from “rogue” states like Iran, and not directed against Russia.

Rhetoric stepped up Since the July agreement under which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for an easing of UN, US and European Union sanctions, Moscow has stepped up its rhetoric against the missile shield.

“We don’t see any reason to continue with the programme, let alone at such an accelerated pace and with a clear aim at the Russian nuclear potential,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters.

Latest spat The latest spat threatens to further worsen a deep chill in ties between Moscow and Washington, now at their lowest point since the Cold War because of the conflict in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last week said Barack Obama “was not telling the truth” in comments he made in 2009 linking the need for a missile shield to what the president called the “real threat” from Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile activity.

At the time, Obama said: “As long as the threat from Iran persists, we will go forward with a missile defence system that is cost-effective and proven. If the Iranian threat is eliminated, we will have a stronger basis for security, and the driving force for missile defence construction in Europe will be removed.”

Moscow says those comments mean that with the resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue, Washington should now walk away from the missile shield plan. But William Stevens, spokesman for the US embassy in Moscow, said even if the agreement was fully implemented, it did not annul the threat from Iran’s ballistic missiles that Obama also mentioned back in 2009. — Reuters

FOUNDATION DAY: Turkish Prime Minister and leader of Justice and Development Party Ahmet Davutoglu addresses a meeting marking the 14th anniversary of the foundation of Justice and Development (AK) Party in Ankara, on Friday. – AFP

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday urged parliament to call for a new vote as soon as possible, apparently hoping for an agreement with the MHP that would allow his government to stay in power until the new election takes place. But the MHP said it had no interest in propping up an AKP minority administration.

“That would be a minority government. We would reject this,”

MHP vice chairman Mevlut Karakaya told Reuters, saying that unless the AKP was prepared to accept nationalist conditions for a full coalition there was little point even negotiating. Davutoglu has until August 23 to broker a deal or else Erdogan will have to call a new vote and an interim “election government” will be formed, with cabinet positions divided proportionally among the four parties in parlia-

ment. “Erdogan does not want to go there, because that would mean power sharing, and holding the elections with a government not under AKP control,” said Sinan Ulgen, visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe and head of the Istanbulbased EDAM think-tank. “That is his least-desired scenario.”

An “election government” would hand cabinet posts not only to the CHP and MHP, but also the proKurdish HDP. Senior AKP officials had been betting that the nationalists, virulently opposed to greater Kurdish political power, would do anything possible to avoid such a scenario. But the MHP appears to be calling their bluff, arguing that such a power-sharing government would be required if no deal is reached, while it would refuse to serve alongside the Kurds and would turn down the posts allocated to it. The political uncertainty handed the lira currency another battering, sending it to a record low for a second straight day, and prompting the central bank to step in and tweak some policy tools in an attempt to shore it up.

The lira is already one of the worst-performing major emerging market currencies this year, and analysts have said they expect further losses. A senior AK Party official said a meeting was expected with the MHP over the weekend or on Monday, but that there was little chance of the two parties reaching a coalition agreement.

The MHP has made the full abandonment of a peace process with Kurdish militants and curbing Erdogan’s influence over daily politics two of its core conditions, neither of which the ruling party is likely to compromise on. “The coalition option doesn’t seem to be on the table due to the MHP’s attitude,” the AKP official said, describing a November election as the “most likely and realistic” option.

Erdogan is hoping that a new vote will enable the AKP to regain its majority. He has made no secret of his ambition to change the constitution and create an executive presidential system akin to France or the United States, a move that would be virtually impossible without a strong AKP majority.

Two recent polls have suggested the ruling party, whose roots are in hardline politics, could recover its majority and govern alone if the vote were held again.

But as Turkish warplanes bomb Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey, it is unlikely to claw back much support from the Kurdish minority, meaning winning over religiously conservative nationalists will be key. That is something MHP leader Devlet Bahceli knows all too well, strengthening his hand in the negotiations. Seeing Kurdish politicians in ministerial positions would enrage his core supporters, bolstering his own election chances and ensuring they turn their backs on the AKP. “It serves Bahceli’s purpose more to see the HDP acquire cabinet positions under an election government,” said Ulgen. “They want to be able to criticise AKP and Erdogan from the sidelines... and use that in their election campaign. They actually want Erdogan to call early elections. That’s the MHP’s strategy I think.” — Reuters

US Marines raise American flag at embassy in Havana Three retired Marines who last lowered the flag in 1961 participated in the ceremony, handing a new flag to the Marine Color Guard, which raised it on the grounds outside the embassy building on the Havana seafront

HAVANA: Watched over by US Secretary of State John Kerry, US Marines raised the American flag at the embassy in Cuba for the first time in 54 years on Friday, symbolically ushering in an era of renewed diplomatic relations between the two Cold War-era foes.

Three retired Marines who last lowered the flag in 1961 participated in the ceremony, handing a new flag to the Marine Color Guard, which raised it on the grounds outside the embassy building on the Havana seafront.

Kerry, the first US secretary of state to visit Cuba in 70 years, told the ceremony it was obvious that “the road of mutual isolation and estrangement that the United States and Cuba have been travelling is not the right one and that the time has come for us to move in a more promising direction.”

The symbolic event took place eight months after Havana and Washington agreed to restore ties and nearly four weeks after the United States and Cuba formally renewed diplomatic relations and upgraded their diplomatic missions to embassies.

While the Cubans celebrated with a flag-raising in Washington on July 20, the Americans waited until Kerry could travel to Havana.

Kerry made plain in his remarks that despite the historic opening, Washington has not set aside criticism of Communist-run

HISTORIC MOMENT: US Secretary of State John Kerry, centre, stands with other dignitaries as members of the US Marines raise the US flag over the newly reopened embassy in Havana, Cuba on Friday. AFP

Cuba’s human rights record.

“We remain convinced the people of Cuba would be best served by a genuine democracy, where people are free to choose their leaders,” he said.

Kerry will meet Cuban dissidents opposed to the island’s oneparty political system at the US embassy residence in Havana.

But dissidents were not invited to the morning flag-raising in deference to the Cuban government, generating criticism from opponents of US President Barack Obama’s opening to Cuba.

Critics of Obama’s move, which seeks to end decades of US isolation and was announced last December in a landmark agreement with Cuban President Raul Castro, complain the Cuban government has made no concessions in exchange for diplomatic ties.

“It is shameful that on the grounds of our embassy in Havana, the Cuban regime can dictate to the United States government who may or may not attend this ceremony,” Bob Menendez, a Cuban-American senator from New Jersey, said in a statement.

Overnight, workers attached a sign reading “Embassy of the United States of America” above the entrance of the building, accompanied by a US seal.

Three classic American cars like those that still ply the streets of Havana were parked on the street behind the podium where Kerry spoke: a 1955 and a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air and a 1959 Chevrolet Impala, from the year of the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power.

Fidel Castro handed over power to his brother, Raul Castro, in

2008 because of poor health.

Buildings surrounding the embassy were draped with large Cuban flags but the numerous flag poles in front of the embassy were bare but for one Cuban flag.

In last December’s agreement, Obama and Raul Castro announced they would restore diplomatic ties, reopen embassies and work to normalize relations.

With ties now restored, there are plenty of hurdles along the way to normal relations between the two neighbours.

Cuba wants the United States to end its economic embargo of the island, return the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay in eastern Cuba and halt radio and television signals beamed into Cuba.

The Americans will press Cuba on human rights, the return of fugitives granted asylum and the

claims of Americans whose property was nationalized by Fidel Castro’s government.

President Dwight Eisenhower severed diplomatic ties with Havana as relations soured soon after the 1959 Cuban Revolution.

The seven-story building in Havana and Cuba’s mansion in Washington were closed from 1961 until 1977, when they reopened as interests sections.

Obama has defended his move to open up to the Caribbean island saying Washington’s long policy of trying to force change through isolation did not work.

The Democratic president also has used his executive power to relax some US travel and trade restrictions. But the Republicancontrolled Congress has resisted his call to end America’s wider economic embargo. — Reuters

2 6 Y E A R S A N D 1 3 D AY S

Corduroy is world’s oldest pet feline OREGON: An Oregon cat with a fondness for sharp cheddar and catching mice has become the oldest pet feline in the world at 26 years and 13 days, Guinness World Records officials said on Thursday.

OLDEST FELINE: Corduroy, the new ‘oldest living cat’. – Reuters/Guinness World Book of Records/Handout

Rural community Corduroy lives in the rural community of Sisters, Oregon, about 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Portland, and spends plenty of time outside, the organisation said in a statement.

Since kittenhood, Corduroy has lived with owner Ashley Reed Okura, who was only seven years old when the cat entered her life, Guinness officials said.

“The secret has been allowing him to be a cat - hunting and getting plenty of love,” Reed Okura said in a statement.

Aside from chasing mice, the cat also likes to eat cheddar cheese, according to Guinness officials.

The previous record-holder was a San Diego feline named Tiffany

Two, who was 26 years and 204 days old when she died on June 3, the officials said.

Evidence Kristen Ott, a spokeswoman for Guinness World Records, acknowledged that an older cat than Corduroy might be out there. To hold the record, an owner must submit evidence such as video recordings of a pet feline throughout the decades, as well as witness statements. — Reuters

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

S P O R S SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

Delhi police to appeal IPL fixing acquittal NEW DELHI: Police in Delhi announced plans on Friday to appeal a lower court’s verdict to clear former Test fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and two teammates of spot-fixing during the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Special Commissioner S. N. Srivastava said police had carefully studied the observations made by the trial court and decided to file an appeal before the end of this month.

“The court has appreciated our efforts in bringing forth the contamination in sport especially in the IPL,” Srivastava said. “We have sufficient evidence to go for an appeal.”

The players were acquitted only because of a lack of a specific law to deal with a crime such as spot-fixing, he added.

Sreesanth and two of his Rajasthan Royals teammates, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, were arrested in May 2013 along with scores of bookies. - AFP

Chandimal helps Sri Lanka set tricky target for India SCOREBOARD

Sri Lanka 1st innings: 183 India 1st innings: 375 Sri Lanka 2nd innings D. Karunaratne b Ashwin K. Silva b Mishra D. Prasad c Rahane b Aaron K. Sangakkara c Rahane b Ashwin A. Mathews c Rahul b Mishra D. Chandimal not out L. Thirimanne c Rahane b Ashwin J. Mubarak c Rahane b Harbhajan R. Herath c Rahane b Mishra T. Kaushal c Saha b Ishant N. Pradeep b Ashwin Extras (b-3, w-8, nb-8)

The Sri Lankans were reduced to 95 for five in their second innings before Chandimal launched an audacious counter-attack to steer his team away from imminent disaster

GALLE: Dinesh Chandimal smashed an unbeaten 162 off 169 balls to lead a brilliant revival by Sri Lanka on the third day of their first Test against India at Galle on Friday.

The hosts, who trailed India by 192 runs in the first innings, were reduced to 95 for five in their second knock before Chandimal launched an audacious counterattack to steer his team away from imminent disaster.

Sri Lanka went on to make 367, setting India a tricky target of 176 runs to take the lead in the threematch series.

India ended the day at a shaky 23 for one after Lokesh Rahul was trapped leg-before by Rangana Herath for five. First-innings century-maker Shikhar Dhawan was unbeaten on 13 and nightwatchman Ishant Sharma was on five.

The 25-year-old Chandimal hit four sixes — one of them a spectacular reverse sweep off Harb-

BRILLIANT TON: Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Chandimal raises his bat on reaching his century during the third day of their opening Test match against India at the Galle International Cricket Stadium in Galle on Friday. – SFP

hajan Singh over the mid-wicket boundary — and 19 boundaries in his fourth Test century.

Chandimal put on 125 for the sixth wicket with Lahiru Thirimanne (44) and 82 for the seventh with Jehan Mubarak (49) to frustrate India’s bid to force an early win.

Chandimal and Thirimanne, who joined hands before lunch with their team still 98 runs away from wiping the deficit, batted

through a major part of the postlunch session.

India miss DRS As the pair settled down, the Indians were left to rue the refusal by their powerful cricket board to use the Decision Review System (DRS) for their bilateral matches.

Both batsmen were fortunate to get into double figures after surviving three appeals for catches

SUCCESSION PLAN

close to the wicket — two against Chandimal and one against Thirimanne — in a 10-minute period before lunch.

Replays showed all three catches were clean, but the absence of DRS meant India could not ask for reviews from the television umpire.

Chandimal said aggressive batting had been necessary after five wickets had fallen and praised Thirimanne and Mubarak for their support at the other end. “I am really very happy with the way I handled the situation today with the help of Thirimanne and Mubarak,” he said.

“The wicket was turning and there was a lot of pressure on us.

But it was also important to score runs instead of just staying at the wicket. It is my best innings but the value of my hundred will be known if we win the match. The happiness of winning the match will be greater than the happiness of scoring a hundred.

Rahane sets record Ajinkya Rahane set a new world record for most catches by a fielder other than a wicket-keeper when he claimed eight catches in the

Test — three in the first innings and five in the second.

Rahane said he had worked hard on his fielding and catching close to the wicket, but celebrating the new record was not on his mind.

“I was surprised when teammates told me of the record, but my focus now is entirely how we bat tomorrow,” the Indian batsman said.

“We have to take it by the session, but we also have to be positive and ensure the runs keep flowing. The morning session will be very crucial. Batting is our strength and I am confident we can win the match.”

Ashwin finished with 10 wickets in the match, having taken six in the first innings and four in the second.

Earlier, Kumar Sangakkara scored 40 in his penultimate Test and captain Angelo Mathews made 39, the pair adding 87 for the fourth wicket after Sri Lanka lost nightwatchman Dhammika Prasad off the first ball of the match.

Sangakkara received a standing ovation from some 1,500 home fans as he walked back after playing his final innings at the Galle International Stadium. - AFP

OMAN FOOTBALL

Smith to lead Aussie Test team OFA Super Cup on Aug 21 MELBOURNE: Steven Smith will take over as captain of the Australian Test team following the retirement of Michael Clarke after the fifth Ashes Test against England, the country’s cricket board said on Friday.

Opening batsman David Warner will be Smith’s deputy in the Test and One-day International (ODI) formats, Cricket Australia said in a statement.

Clarke announced his decision to quit international cricket after England won the fourth test at Trent Bridge last week to regain the Ashes.

The 26-year-old Smith was expected to take the role having previously led the team when he replaced the injured Clarke as captain for three tests during the home series against India.

National selector Rod Marsh said Australia had no doubt that Smith was the right man for the job.

“We have had a clear succession plan in place for the captaincy with Steve Smith gaining valuable experience leading the Australian test team while Michael Clarke was recovering from injury last season,” Marsh said in the statement.

“When Michael made his deci-

MUSCAT: The Oman Football Association (OFA) Super Cup will be played on August 21.

According to information received from the OFA, the Super Cup match will be played at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.

SKIPPER & HIS DEPUTY: Steve Smith and David Warner pose for a photo after they were named as the captain and vice-captain of the Australian team at Northampton Marriott Hotel on Friday. – Reuters

sion to retire last week it was a very straight forward decision for us to nominate Steve as his successor.

“He has big shoes to fill but everything about him suggests he is the right man for the job. At 26, he is a fine young man with extraordinary talent, excellent leadership qualities and a terrific temperament.

“He is highly regarded by the selectors and we congratulate him on being appointed to the role on an ongoing basis. He should be incredibly proud.”

Smith has clearly been Austral-

ia’s best batsman in the last year but his team is certain to have a very different complexion when they embark on a two-test tour of Bangladesh in October.

Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, Chris Rogers and Shane Watson are all expected to have played their last Tests during their calamitous trip to England, while paceman Ryan Harris retired before the first Ashes test after suffering another knee injury.

The fifth and final Ashes Test starts at The Oval in London on Thursday. - Reuters

TRI-SERIES FINAL

Gurkeerat stars as India A stun Austalia A CHENNAI: Gurkeerat Singh produced a superb all-round show as India A stunned the much fancied Australia A by four wickets in the final to win the One-day International (ODI) tri-series here on Friday.

Set a target of 227 after a fine performance by their spinners, the Indian top-order made a mess of what seemed like an easy chase before Gurkeerat turned the tide in the hosts’ favour with his unbeaten knock of 87.

Coming into the match with-

0 0 3 40 39 162 44 49 1 7 3 19

Total (all out, 82.2 overs) 367 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-1, 3-5, 4-92, 5-95, 6-220, 7-302, 8-319, 9-360.

Bowling: Ashwin 28.2-6-114-4, Mishra 172-61-3 (nb-2), Harbhajan 17-0-73-1, Aaron 7-0-39-1 (w-8), Ishant 13-0-77-1 (nb-6).

India 2nd innings L. Rahul lbw Herath 5 S. Dhawan not out 13 I. Sharma not out 5 Extras: 0 Total (1 wkt, 8 overs) 23 Fall of wicket: 1-12.

Bowling: Prasad 2-1-2-0, Herath 3-0-13-1, Kaushal 3-1-8-0.

out a single win over the Australian unit in the series, the Indians did quite well to contain the rival batsmen, who were in stupendous form through the league stage.

However, the effort with the ball was not complemented by the top four of India’s batting, who accounted for a mere 65 runs with in-form opener Mayank Agarwal’s 29-ball 32 being the best among the quartet.

However, at five down for 108 runs, the lower-half came to In-

dia’s rescue and Gurkeerat was the star performer.

After returning figures of 2-41 with his off-spin bowling, Gurkeerat produced some magic with the bat as well to rescue the hosts from a precarious position.

His unbeaten knock came off 85 deliveries and included seven hits to the fence besides a couple of sixes, including the one which sealed the match for the side.

Gurkeerat was well-supported

by Sanju Samson, who scored 24

runs off 42 deliveries, as the two steered the Unmukt Chand-led side to its first win against the Kangaroos in this series.

For the Australians, left-arm spinner Ashton Agar was the pick of the bowlers, taking two wickets in his 10 overs which cost 39 runs.

Earlier, opting to bat after winning the toss, Australia A started on a strong footing with their openers — skipper Usman Khwaja (76) and Joe Burns (41) — putting together an 82-run stand. - PTI

The match, to be kicked off at 7.30 pm, will involve Al Arouba and Fanja. Al Arouba, who won both Omantel Professional League (OPL) and His Majesty’s Cup trophies, will clash with Fanja who finished second in the OPL last season.

A 12

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

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SAILING

Musandam-Oman Sail triumph at Artemis Challenge MUSCAT: Oman Sail’s celebrity ‘express’ crew lived up to their name when their MOD70 Musandam-Oman Sail swept across the finish line at Cowes in first place to take line honours in the 2015 Artemis Challenge.

The brakes were definitely off when Sidney Gavignet’s recordbreaking crew, turbo charged for the day by French rugby legend Serge Betsen and polar explorer Ben Saunders hurtled across the finish line at a remarkable 35 knots.

They had spent 3 hours and 32 minutes on the water which was more than an hour outside the 2012 multihull record set by Foncia but two minutes faster than Ned Collier-Wakefield’s trimaran Concise 10 and five minutes ahead of old rivals Prince de Bretagne who beat them across the line in 2014.

From a wet start, when the 16 strong Artemis Challenge fleet set off on the 50 nautical mile course around the Isle of Wight in torrential rain, the conditions proved testing with winds reaching around 16 knots and seas at the half way point around St Catherine’s Point whipped up and un-

commonly rough. But such a test brought sailing skills and strength under the spotlight and Gavignet’s Omani crew of Fahad Al Hasni, Yassir Al Rahbi, Sami Al Shukaili and Abdulrahman rose to the occasion with flying colours, which according to Gavignet was testimony to Oman Sail’s tough development programme.

“We are very happy because this Artemis Challenge fleet is a very competitive one and our team with Ben Saunders and Serge Betsen worked well together so it was a very good result,” said the Musandam-Oman Sail skipper whose duties include mentoring and inspiring young Omani sailors to perform.

“The work we are doing is paying off more and more. We are working and mentoring and they are learning and gelling so we have a good time and perform well together which is what any sporting team aims for. Our plan is to keep growing our performance slowly but surely.

“Sometimes we have felt a bit lonely as a multihull going round the island on our own but we are

WINNERS: The crew of MOD70 Musandam-Oman Sail celebrate line honours at the 2015 Artemis Challenge in Cowes. – Supplied photo

developing a love affair with British and Irish islands after setting a new Round Britain and Ireland record in 2014 and a new Round Ireland record earlier this year.

“Today we had other MOD70s and an 80 footer to race against which was great. It made it more fun and we are looking forward to racing with them some more.”

Gavignet was not the only one to highlight the impressive team-

work among the MusandamOman Sail crew.

Polar explorer Ben Saunders was hugely exhilarated by his MOD70 experience.

“It was an absolutely amazing experience — I have never been that fast on a sailing boat ever before, the crew was amazing, really cool, calm and composed the whole way around, so skilled. They are constantly in motion, always busy

on the boat, there was never a quiet easy moment, they were always pushing hard and tweaking or doing something. They were genuinely having fun. Lovely atmosphere on board, it was an incredible experience,” said Saunders who plans to visit Oman next year after discovering how much the Sultanate has to offer for adventurers.

“I think Oman from an adventurer’s point of view is a real hidden gem, I think it has a lot to offer, amazing scenery, amazing history, amazing culture, the mountains sound fantastic, so I am certainly planning to go soon.”

Serge Betsen was invited to join the Oman Sail crew since he is renowned as an inspirational sportsman but he admitted he was inspired by the teamwork on Musandam-Oman Sail.

“The way Oman Sail and Sidney empower their young sailors to be leaders in sailing is just fantastic and is exactly what I am trying to do with rugby in Cameroon where I have my own charity Serge Betsen Academy,” he explained.

“The idea is to use sport and particularly rugby as a vehicle to make

an impact and change the lives of kids so I think for Oman Sail it was a great achievement today.

“I understand that some of the young Omani sailors started sailing only four or five years ago and they are already very talented and really building their experience. It was amazing to see.”

The Artemis Challenge title can now be added to the list of accolades being notched up by Oman Sail’s MOD70 crew but according to Al Hasni, this one was a bit special.

“We are so happy to have won especially with all the other MOD70s to compete against in the race,” he said. “We didn’t think we had won until we went round the forts near the finish line. You have never won until you cross the finish line so we didn’t take our foot off the pedal until we had done that.”

As well as the 2015 Artemis Challenge crown, MusandamOman Sail also won a £2000 charity prize, which is pledged to the Al Hayat Association, a non-profit organisation which was established in Oman in 2011 to raise drug awareness amongst young people.

Chen survives, Saina moves into semifinals seven game points before clinching victory on his sixth match point.

Chen let out an almighty roar upon sealing the match but will need to be on his best form to advance to the final with rising Japanese player Kento Momota standing in his way after the fourth seed eased to a 21-6, 21-14 win over Hong Kong’s Wei Nan.

The Chinese world No. 1 needed 65 minutes to subdue Axelson while in the eves’ draw Spaniard Marin and India’s Nehwal advanced to the last four MEDAL ASSURED: India’s Saina Nehwal his a return against China’s Yihan Wang during their women’s singles quarterfinal match at the World Badminton Championship in Jakarta on Friday. – Reuters

JAKARTA: Top seed and defending champion Chen Long survived a mammoth tussle to advance to the semifinals of the World Badminton Championships with a 2118, 30-29 victory over Denmark’s Viktor Axelson on Friday.

The Chinese world No. 1 needed 65 minutes to subdue his seventhseeded opponent as his equivalent in the women’s draw, Spaniard Carolina Marin advanced to the last four. In the evening matches, hopes of a dream semifinal between veteran arch-rivals Lin Dan

and Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei were dashed when the Chinese five-time world champion was beaten in straight sets by Danish second seed Jan O Jorgensen.

Lee on course for a maiden global crown with a routine 21-12 21-18 victory over Hong Kong’s Hu Yun. Jorgensen’s win was equally emphatic as the European champion cruised to a 21-12 21-15 win over the fifth seed to set up a last-four encounter against the in-form Lee,

who has lost just one match, to Chen, since returning from his ban in May. Axelson started the stronger of the pair and forged two-point leads several times in the first game but found himself behind when Chen’s five-point surge overturned an 1816 deficit to allow him to take the opener. The second game was even closer once Axelson had erased an early three-point deficit and the players traded the lead all the way to its conclusion, with Chen saving

Sensational show Marin, the 22-year-old Spaniard, threw herself around the court against China’s Wang Shixian on Friday, taking the high-class encounter with a 21-17 21-19 victory.

Marin will play South Korean eighth seed Sung Ji-Hyun while local hope Lindaweni Fanetri takes on second-ranked Indian Saina Nehwal in the other semifinal.

Nehwal came out with a sensational performance to enter her maiden women’s singles semifinal at the world championships and assure herself of at least a bronze medal here.

The second seeded Hyderabadi defeated former world champion Yihan Wang of China 21-15, 19-21, 21-19 to advance to the last four. Saina will take on local girl Lindaweni Fanetri against whom the Olympic bronze medallist has a 2-1 advantage in career meetings. - Agencies

K H E L R AT NA

Sania chosen for India’s highest sports award NEW DELHI: The Indian sports ministry on Friday confirmed that tennis icon Sania Mirza will be awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the country’s highest sporting honour, while 17 others, including cricketer Rohit Sharma, hockey goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh and ace shooter Jitu Rai will be given Arjuna awards.

Apart from the quartet, wrestlers Bajrang and Babita Kumari, men’s singles shuttler Kidambi Srikanth, boxer Mandeep Jangra, rower Sawarn Singh, 400 metres runner M.R. Poovamma, archer Sandeep Kumar, 2014 Commonwealth Games medal winning gymnast Dipa Karmakar, kabaddi players Manjeet Chillar and Abhilasha Shashikant Mhatre, roller skater Anup Kumar Yama, weightlifter S. Sathish Kumar, wushu athlete Y. Sanathoi Devi and para-swimmer Sharath M. Gaekwad will also be given the annual Arjuna awards.

“A large number of nomina-

tions were received for these awards this year, which were considered by the Selection Committee headed by Justice V.K. Bali, former Chief Justice of Kerala High Court and consisting of eminent sportspersons and sports administrators,” the ministry said in a statement.

Sania, who became the first Indian woman to achieve the world No.1 spot in doubles, recently clinched the Wimbledon crown with Swiss great Martina Hingis.

Sania has four Grand Slam titles to her credit.

The Hyderabadi is only the second tennis player after Leander Paes to be named for the top sports award. Paes received the honour in 1996 after clinching the bronze medal at the Atlanta Summer Olympics.

She had also received the Arjuna award in 2004 and was awarded the Padma Shri — the country’s fourth highest civilian honour — in 2006. - IANS

F E L I C I TAT I O N

MASTER CHEF RESTAURANT FELICITATES OMAN SQUAD Master Chef Restaurant Al Hail hosted a dinner party in honour of the Oman national cricket team for their historic achievement. During the ceremony, the hotel’s management felicitated the members of the team as well as the member of the coaching staff Mazhar Ali. The hosts also wished the team all success at the ICC World T20 Championship. — Supplied photo

ISM honours Oman national cricket team MUSCAT: In a buoyant gathering held on Tuesday, the Indian School Muscat (ISM) honoured the Oman national cricket team that made history recently by clinching their maiden berth at the ICC World T20 Championship.

The Sultanate qualified for the world event, to be held in India next year, following their exploits at the ICC World T20 Qualifier jointly organised by Ireland and Scotland.

In a press release the school stated: “The ISM felt highly afloat as one of her worthy ex-students, Jatinder Singh, the third highest run-getter of the tournament (ICC World T20 Qualifier), has been featuring regularly for Oman in ACC and ICC limited over tournaments since the 2012 World Twenty20

Qualifier, including the 2012 and 2014 ACC Premier League tournaments, the 2013 and 2015 ACC Twenty20 Cups, and the 2013 WCL Division Three and 2014

WCL Division Four tournaments.”

Later in his remarks, Jatinder Singh said that ‘there was nothing that could not be achieved with hard work and determination’.

“The presence of Kanak Khimji, the doyen of the Indian Community in the Sultanate, and Pankaj Khimji gave the felicitation ceremony the grandeur and magnificence it rightly claimed,” the press statement said.

Kiran Asher, Vice Chairman, Board of Directors of Indian Schools in Oman, Dr. Avirat Vaishnav, President of ISM Managing Committee, Riyasuddin Kuttery, Chairman of Sports & Extra-Curricular Activities Sub-committee, ISM, Principal Srinivas K. Naidu, school teachers and other dignitaries graced the well-attended ceremony.

Riyasuddin Kuttery accompanied by Dr. Avirat Vaishav and the principal presented mementos to the members of the history-making team.

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WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM S ATU RDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

MARKE

GREEK PARLIAMENT CLEARS THIRD BAILOUT PROGRAMME Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faced the widest rebellion yet from his leftist lawmakers as parliament approved a new bailout programme on Friday, forcing him to consider a confidence vote that could pave the way for early elections. >B2

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

Eye on investment, Modi to hard sell India story in UAE NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi heads to the United Arab Emirates in the coming week to seek cash from the world’s second-richest sovereign wealth fund (SWF) for everything from trains to toilets.

Modi will be the first Indian prime minister in more than 30 years to visit the UAE, India’s third-biggest trade partner.

The two-day visit will feature discussions that will probably refer to the sovereign wealth fund, according to Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup.

“I seek to enhance cooperation in energy, trade and will talk to investors on why India is an attractive destination,” Modi wrote on Facebook on Thursday. $773b in assets The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s $773 billion in assets is second only to those of Norway.

Modi is scheduled to meet Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince who chairs the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, an offshoot of the sovereign wealth fund.

DAZZLING CITY: To modern-day India, the Gulf is the embodiment of money. It’s where the uneducated masses toil as labourers and maids to break out of poverty and where Bollywood stars keep lavish holiday homes. - Bloomberg file picture

A meeting with Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice-president and prime minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is also on the agenda. Modi said he looked forward to meeting some of the more than

two million Indians who live in the UAE, many as migrant workers.

About 40,000 of them are expected to pour into Dubai’s cricket stadium to hear him speak on Monday, August 17.

“No words will be enough to

appreciate their hard work and sweat,” Modi wrote.

The Indian community abroad sends home more money than any other group overseas. Their reliable billions provide a cushion for Modi as he struggles to push

through economic proposals that may attract more capital inflows.

Rallying overseas Indians long neglected by previous leaders has become a staple of Modi’s foreign trips since he swept to power in May 2014. Indians working overseas remitted $70.4 billion in 2014, double what India attracted through direct foreign investment.

Workers in the Gulf — barred from settling there permanently — accounted for more than half of those flows, and workers in the UAE sent the single biggest chunk of $12.6 billion.

“They act like insurance, rising in times of financial difficulties such as when external private capital flows decrease and the rupee weakens,” said Dilip Ratha, a World Bank economist who pioneered the first global calculations of remittances.

Diaspora billionaires And those numbers are probably even higher than reported. Official figures only capture money wired through formal channels, with as much as 40 per cent more passing

Eurozone growth slows slightly, outlook modest Analysts said the figures suggest the economy is bumping along, but there seems little hope of a sharp improvement despite a massive European Central Bank stimulus programme

SLOWDOWN: The 19-nation eurozone expanded 0.3 per cent in the three months to June after a gain of 0.4 per cent in the first quarter, the Eurostat statistics agency said. - Bloomberg file picture

BRUSSELS: Growth in the eurozone slowed slightly in the second quarter but it appears to be holding up against the Greek debt crisis and the Chinese slowdown, official data showed on Friday.

Analysts said the figures suggest the economy is bumping along, but there seems little hope of a sharp improvement despite a massive European Central Bank (ECB) stimulus programme.

The 19-nation eurozone expanded 0.3 per cent in the three months to June after a gain of 0.4 per cent in the first quarter, the Eurostat statistics agency said.

Analysts had expected 0.3-0.4 per cent after recent data showed inflation and unemployment little changed. Compared with second quarter of 2014, the economy grew 1.2 per cent, Eurostat said.

The eurozone slowdown re-

flected a sharp reverse in France — flat after a jump of 0.7 per cent in the first quarter — which was offset in part by a pick-up in Germany, Europe’s powerhouse economy, to 0.4 per cent from 0.3 per cent.

Analysts at Capital Economics said the eurozone would likely continue slow growth, supported

by Spain and Germany but with France unlikely to show much improvement.

CRUDE SUPPLIES

World oil prices steady after reaching a new six-year low LONDON: Oil prices steadied on Friday after New York crude reached a new multi-year low point against a backdrop of high supplies.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for September hit $41.35 a barrel — the lowest level since March 2009.

It recovered to $42.22 a barrel, down one cent compared with Thursday’s close. Brent North Sea crude for September rose 12 cents to stand at $49.34 a barrel in London afternoon deals.

Bernard Aw, a strategist at IG Markets, predicted prices to remain weak after the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday forecast the global crude supply glut to last into next year.

IEA assessment “The IEA assessment that the supply glut situation would be extended beyond 2015 continues to contribute to the pessimistic outlook for energy,” he said.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec)

SUPPLY GLUT: Oil prices fell this week also as traders tracked developments over China, the world’s biggest consumer of energy.

- Bloomberg file picture

this week said that its output in July rose by 100,700 barrels per day from the previous month to 31.5 million bpd.

The producer group’s refusal to cut its output level despite sagging demand is seen as a reason for a prolonged global oversupply, which has contributed to oil prices falling to almost a third of

their mid-2014 peak. Analysts have said the move is an attempt by the cartel’s kingpin Saudi Arabia to defend its market share as it fends off competition from United States shale oil.

Oil prices fell this week also as traders tracked developments over China, the world’s biggest consumer of energy. - AFP

Among the larger economies, Spain was one of the best performers with a gain of one percent in the second quarter, while Italy added just 0.2 per cent.

“Looking ahead, business surveys suggest that the eurozone economy will continue to expand, led by strong growth in Spain and a solid German economy, but they offer little hope that the recovery will gain pace,” analyst Jennifer McKeown said in a research note.

“We suspect that growth in the region as a whole will slow further in the second half of the year as temporary boosts from a weaker euro and lower oil prices fade,” McKeown said.

“This underlines the need for the ECB to maintain and perhaps extend its policy support.”

Muted growth outlook The ECB has pledged to pump more than one trillion euros ($1.1 trillion) into the economy through September 2016 to boost demand and credit. Data last month showed the July eurozone inflation rate unchanged at 0.2 per cent while unemployment for June was also flat.

The inflation data has been a cause for concern as the figures directly reflect consumer demand and have fallen well short of the

ECB’s inflation target of just under two percent.

A notable highlight of Friday’s report was debt-mired Greece, which gained 0.8 per cent in the second quarter, but analysts said that was an anomaly.

“The 0.8 percent Greek expansion should be seen as a freak figure, distorted by Greek consumers emptying their bank accounts and spending it on durable goods out of fear for a possible ‘Grexit,’” said Peter Vanden Houte at ING Bank.

Vanden Houte said the figures overall showed the eurozone was holding its own against the Greek and Chinese headwinds although the ECB may still have to do more.

“The relative immunity... to the Greek crisis and the Chinese slowdown remains encouraging, although it’s probably still a bit too soon to claim victory on this front,” he said in a note.

He added that he shared the ECB’s view “of a broadening recovery, with risks remaining tilted to the downside.” — AFP

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through the underground “hawala” system, Ratha said.

“Modi is really acknowledging the importance of those workers” as he tries to build more strategic ties with the region, said Kadira Pethiyagoda, visiting fellow in Asia-Middle East relations at the Brookings Doha Center.

To modern-day India, the Gulf is the embodiment of money: it’s where the uneducated masses toil as labourers and maids to break out of poverty, where Bollywood stars keep lavish holiday homes.

It’s also where a lucky few have made their fortunes, including retail king M.A. Yusuff Ali and Micky Jagtiani, a one-time London cabbie turned mall developer.

Billionaire Ali was an early investor in Cochin airport, the first in India constructed with private participation.

“The diaspora is important in every country that Mr Modi visits but it’s even more important in countries of the Gulf,” said Aparna Pande, a South Asia expert at the Washington-based Hudson Institute. - Bloomberg News S T R AT E G I C S P H E R E S

India, US to bolster cyber security pact WASHINGTON: Faced with evolving cyber challenges, India and the US have decided to join hands in combating cyber crime and bolster their cyber security partnership in various strategic spheres to achieve “concrete outcomes.” “Cybersecurity is fundamentally a team endeavour, and it is essential that international partners like India and the US work together closely, along with industry and civil society, to raise our cyber defences in both the short and long term, to disrupt and interrupt malicious actors in cyberspace, and to improve our ability to respond to and recover from cyber threats,” Michael Daniel, Special Assistant to the President and Cyber-security Coordinator, said.

Daniel said he is especially encouraged by India’s recent statements of support for the multistakeholder model of Internet governance.

The United States, he further said, looks forward to a collaborative partnership with Indian colleagues and partners from different industry and civil society to ensure that the Internet continues to be an open, interoperable, global platform that enables international trade and commerce, strengthens international security, and fosters free expression and further innovation. - PTI

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

MARKET Greek parliament approves third bailout programme This clears the way for euro zone finance ministers to approve the first batch of aid from the 85-billioneuro package, though deep doubts remain in major creditor Germany about whether Athens will fulfil its pledges Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. — Bloomberg News

ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faced the widest rebellion yet from his leftist lawmakers as parliament approved a new bailout programme on Friday, forcing him to consider a confidence vote that could pave the way for early elections.

After lawmakers bickered through the night on procedural matters, parliament comfortably passed the country’s third financial rescue by foreign creditors in five years thanks to support from pro-euro opposition parties.

That clears the way for euro zone finance ministers to approve the first batch of aid from the 85-billion-euro package later on Friday, though deep doubts remain in major creditor Germany about whether Athens will fulfil its pledges.

“I do not regret my decision to compromise,” Tsipras said as he defended the bailout from euro zone and International Monetary Fund creditors that comes at the

price of tax hikes, spending cuts and tough economic reforms.”We undertook the responsibility to stay alive over choosing suicide.”

But the vote laid bare the depth of anger within Tsipras’s leftist Syriza party at austerity measures as 43 lawmakers — or nearly a third of Syriza deputies — voted against the bailout deal or abstained.

It also left the government with support from within its own coalition below the threshold of 120 votes in the 300-seat chamber, the minimum needed to command a majority and survive a confidence vote if others abstain.

In response, government officials said Tsipras was expected to call a confidence vote in parliament after Greece makes a debt payment to the European Central Bank on August 20 - a risky move that could trigger the collapse of his government and snap elections. A senior lawmaker, Makis Voridis, from the opposition New

Democracy party said his party would not vote in favour of the government, raising the odds that Tsipras’s coalition could be toppled. Still, some of those who rebelled against Tsipras on Friday could still opt to support the government in a confidence vote — as could other pro-European parties like the centrist Potami and the centre-left PASOK, leaving unclear the final outcome.

Fight starts The vote was only the latest in a series of events highlighting the deepening rift within Syriza, which stormed to power this year on a pledge to end austerity once and for all, before Tsipras accepted a bailout under threat of a euro exit. The leader of Syriza’s far-left rebel faction, former energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, took a step toward breaking away from the party on Thursday by calling for a new anti-bailout movement.

“The fight against the new

ECONOMY

bailout starts today, by mobilising people in every corner of the country,” said a statement signed

by Lafazanis and 11 other Syriza members. The rebels insist the government should stand by the promises on which it was elected, to reverse the waves of spending cuts and tax rises which have had a devastating effect on an already weak economy over the past few years. Adding to Tsipras’s troubles, parliamentary speaker and Syriza anti-austerity hardliner Zoe Konstantopoulou snubbed a request from Tsipras to speed up handling of the bailout bill.

Instead, she raised a long series of procedural questions and objections which held up proceedings that were due to be wrapped up on Thursday, infuriating lawmakers.

The delay forced Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos to miss the vote because he had to depart for the euro zone finance ministers’ meeting in Brussels.

Tempers flared As talks in parliament dragged on through the night, tempers flared, with the conservative opposition accusing Tsakalotos of making “provocative” comments and warning him not to take its support for the deal for granted.

With the bill’s passage, focus turns to a meeting of euro zone ministers in Brussels who now must approve the deal so aid can be disbursed before Athens must make a 3.2 billion euro debt payment to the European Central Bank on August 20.

Athens is keen to get ratification so it can avoid having to take a new bridge loan to make the payment — a prospect Tsipras called a return to the country’s crisis days.

But Germany — the biggest contributor to Greek bailout programmes — remains deeply sceptical that Athens will live up to pledges to reform its economy and political system, raising doubts about whether it will seek to hold up approval. Other more longterm concerns also remain.

Debt burden The IMF has made clear it would participate in the programme only if Europe agreed to ease Greece’s huge debt burden.

But Berlin opposes writing off any Greek debt, although it is open to the idea of extending grace periods before Athens has to start paying interest and principal on its bailout loans.

Tsipras has long argued Greece cannot repay all its debts and demanded a partial write-off.

The creditors have agreed to consider the issue only after a review in October of the government’s implementation of its side of the deal. — Reuters

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Q UA R T E R LY D ATA

French economy stagnates in the second quarter PARIS: The French economy came to an unexpected standstill in the three months to June after a strong first quarter, as a jump in exports was not strong enough to offset the impact of weak consumer spending and changes in inventories.

Data published by the INSEE national statistics agency on Friday showed the 2-trillion euro economy was left unchanged at 0.0 percent in the three months to June, missing a forecast of 0.2 per cent growth. But the euro zone’s second-largest economy had grown by 0.7 per cent in the first quarter, INSEE said, up from a previous estimate of 0.6 per cent.

The carry over from the first half of the year means the government’s one per cent growth forecast for the year is still well within reach but could make it harder to beat that target, as many expected, analysts said.

“Today’s 0.0 per cent figure is therefore a rather bad surprise, dampening hopes of significantly above 1.0 per cent GDP growth this year,” ING’s Julien Manceaux said.

The European Commission, IMF and Bank of France have over the past months published 1.1-1.2 per cent French growth forecasts for 2015. French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said stronger exports and investments made the government confident in its estimate of one per cent annual GDP growth for the year, adding that it could still beat that forecast.

Companies that were selling down their inventories after building them up in the first quarter accounted for much of the stagnation, dragging GDP growth down by 0.4 percentage points. Consumer spending growth slowed sharply from a 0.9 per cent increase in the first quarter to a 0.1 per cent rise in the second quarter, much of which was due to lower spending on energy amid higher temperatures.

Exports were a bright spot, up 1.7 per cent in the second quarter after growing by 1.3 per cent in the first quarter. - Reuters

PORT CITY OF TIANJIN

Germany’s growth accelerates BERLIN: German growth accelerated in the second quarter of 2015 but by less than expected, with foreign trade acting as a support and investment braking Europe’s largest economy.

German gross domestic product (GDP) grew 0.4 per cent in the quarter between April and June after expanding by 0.3 per cent in the first three months of 2015.

The consensus forecast for the second quarter in a Reuters poll was for 0.5 per cent growth.

“Growth is not rapid at the moment, but it has a solid basis,” said Holger Sandte at Nordea.”The biggest weakness is in companies’ investments, and that is likely to remain the case as a good outlook for sales is apparently lacking.”

Unstable global backdrop The mood among analysts and investors in Germany worsened in August due to concerns about the effect of an unstable global economic backdrop on the country’s export-dependent economy.

Some economists took confidence, however, from Friday’s GDP figures showing that neither a slowdown in China nor the crisis in Greece slowed the German economy in the second quarter.

The solid German expansion contrasted with a stagnation in the French economy in the second quarter. “Neither the Chinese growth slowdown nor the events in Greece threw German compa-

consensus-beating financial results for the April-June period.

More than two thirds nonetheless stuck with their guidance for the year as a whole as geopolitical and economic uncertainties remain for the second half of the year. Business confidence nonetheless improved in July after two monthly drops as an agreement between Greece and its creditors for talks on a third bailout lifted the mood at firms.

– Bloomberg file picture

nies off track,” said Andreas Rees at UniCredit.”

Furthermore, overall domestic demand remained solid despite the weather-related decline in the construction sector.” The Statistics Office said exports rose much more strongly than imports in the second quarter, supported by the weak euro.

Marked drop However, it said there was a marked drop in inventories and weakness in investment.

Unadjusted data showed the economy expanded by 1.6 per cent on the year in the second quarter, surpassing the Reuters consensus forecast for 1.5 per cent growth.

The uncertain global outlook is holding back German firms.

Around half of Germany’s 30 blue-chip companies reported

Industrial orders In positive news for the economic outlook, figures released last week showed industrial orders recorded their biggest gain since early 2011 in the April-June period thanks mainly to strong foreign demand.

Some German industrial companies have made upbeat earnings announcements.

German auto parts and tyre maker Continental this month raised its full-year profit outlook after quarterly earnings jumped more than expected on a strengthening European car market.

Much of the concern about the outlook concerns China, which has seen a run of weak economic data. “There is no denying in that the Chinese slowdown already weighed on German companies’ business.

It also likely that the downward pressure will intensify in the second half of this year,” Rees further added. - Reuters

ALL CHARRED UP: Burnt out cars are pictured on the second morning after a series of explosions at a chemical warehouse hit the city of Tianjin, in northern China on Friday. - AFP

Top automakers scramble to assess damage at China port BEIJING/TOKYO: Global automakers including Volkswagen and Toyota Motor scrambled on Friday to assess damage to cars and facilities after two massive explosions in the port city of Tianjin, China’s largest auto import hub. The blasts that ripped through a warehouse storing volatile chemicals in the northeastern city late on Wednesday were so strong that they damaged buildings a few kilometres away.

French carmaker Renault said nearly 1,500 of its imported cars stored in a warehouse at the port had been burned while Toyota said the blasts broke windows at its car assembly, logistics, and research buildings, which are jointly run with China FAW Group Corporation. Operations at the Toyota facilities had been closed for a week-long summer holiday and no one was injured, but a spokesman at Japan’s biggest carmaker declined to say whether it could resume production as normal from Monday.

“In our current view, the damage isn’t that severe,” a Chinabased Toyota spokesman said.

Roughly 40 per cent of cars imported to China pass through Tianjin’s port, or more than half a million units in 2014, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

China imported 372.4 billion yuan ($60.8 billion) in cars last year, official data shows.

The blasts tore through an industrial area in the broader Tianjin port, killing at least 54 people, including a dozen fire fighters, state media said.

700 people injured About 700 people were injured.

Subaru maker Fuji Heavy Industries said more than 100 cars that were imported from Japan and were awaiting customs clearance in a warehouse had been damaged by broken windows.

The warehouse, which does not belong to Fuji Heavy, is about 2-km (1.2 miles) from the blast site, it said.

Volkswagen said that some of its imported cars were damaged but did not know exactly how many had been affected. Photographs from the scene showed rows of Beetles and other VW brand cars badly scorched by the explosion. “We have a task force in the area to find out more and which is primarily concerned with the wellbeing of our employees,” a VW spokeswoman said.

Ford Motor, Nissan Motor and Toyota also said they were checking their cars parked around the port. South Korea’s Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors had a total of 4,000 cars near the blast site but did not have specific details on the extent of damage, the companies said.

BMW said it has two vehicle distribution centres near the port but the damage was unknown given the area had been cordoned off by authorities. Mazda Motor said over 50 cars imported from Japan were also damaged, with peeling paint and scratches. - Reuters

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

B3

MARKET Samsung unveils two large-screen handsets to challenge rival Apple launch in Britain, Spain and China with partners to be named in each market. Shin said he expects wide adoption because Samsung Pay “doesn’t cause small business to upgrade their terminals and will be accepted almost everywhere on day one.”

Moves are aimed at keeping the South Korean giant atop the global smartphone market and countering its US rival Apple, which has made gains with its largescreen iPhone 6 and 6-Plus and its tap-to-pay feature

NEW YORK: Samsung staked its claim to the high end of the smartphone market on Thursday, unveiling two large-screen handsets and its new mobile payment system as part of its challenge to Apple. The moves are aimed at keeping the South Korean giant atop the global smartphone mar-

SLEEK AND HANDY MODEL: Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ phones are displayed at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2015 event in New York Thursday. Samsung Electronics unveiled a new Galaxy Note phablet and a larger version of its curved-screen S6 edge smartphone on Thursday, marking a fresh bid by the South Korean tech giant to revive momentum in its handset business. - Reuters — Reuters

ket and countering its US rival Apple, which has made gains with its large-screen iPhone 6 and 6-Plus and its tap-to-pay feature.

At a New York media event, Samsung unveiled its Galaxy S6 edge+, the latest update for its flagship handset, and Galaxy Note5, its main device in the “phablet” mar-

ket. “Today the journey continues in the large-screen category that Samsung created,” said J.K. Shin, Samsung’s head of IT and mobile communications.

The S6 edge+ and Note5 each have a 5.7-inch display, but the S6 has smaller overall dimensions and a curved “dual edge” screen

that sets aside a portion of the display for contacts or other content.

Samsung Pay The company also announced that its Samsung Pay service would roll out in South Korea on August 20 and in the United States on September 28, and that it would

CRUDE SUPLLIES

Stealing a march on Apple Ramon Llamas, analyst at IDC, said the launch appears aimed at getting ahead of Apple, which is widely expected to announce its own upgrades later this year.

“This is a calculated move to avoid the marketing onslaught of Apple in September and October,” Llamas told AFP. Llamas said that with these devices, “Samsung is establishing itself at the high end and attacking its biggest and closest competitor, Apple.”

According to reseach firm IDC, Samsung led the smartphone market in the second quarter with a 21.7 per cent market share, even though sales dipped from a year earlier and its market share was below 24.8 percent in the same period a year ago. — AFP

ENERGY

Optimistic experts still predict crude rally even as price plumbs new lows WASHINGTON: Oil analysts are, if nothing else, optimists.

So much so that no one seemed to see the 60 per cent slide in oil prices coming when the commodity was trading at almost $108 a barrel on June 20, 2014.

At the time, analysts as a group predicted oil would average about $100 a barrel this quarter and the most pessimistic called for $84, instead of the low $40s it’s languishing at.

Analysts are still mostly sunny, looking for a 60 per cent rally by late next year. Even the worst month for oil since 2008 has brought out just a few frowns, as Societe Generale and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut their estimates in the past week by more than $10 a barrel.

The prognosticator looking smart? Goldman Sachs, which in May said the rally would fizzle.

“Oil prices have so many moving parts that it’s exquisitely challenging to predict,” said Credit Suisse Group global energy economist Jan Stuart.

He revised his January forecast in February, predicting oil would average around $67 a barrel at the end of the year.”That forecast looks ambitious now,” he said.

West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 2.5 per cent on Thurs-

Magnetic stripe Samsung said its mobile service can be used with magnetic stripe terminals as well as those using updated NFC or “near field communication” contactless payments employed by Apple Pay. InJong Rhee, Samsung Electronics vice-president, said that “NFC is fine technology but most stores don’t have it.”

He added that Samsung Pay will be secured by its Knox software, which creates a one-time code without transmitting credit card numbers. Samsung has remained atop the global smartphone market even though its sales have been slipping in the past year.

With the new devices, Samsung expands from its 5.1 inch display on the existing Galaxy S6, and leapfrogs Apple’s handsets at 4.7 and 5.5 inches.

The new handsets, which have Samsung Pay and wireless charging options integrated, will go on sale in the US and Canada on August 21, said Samsung, which

did not announce specific launch dates for other markets.

The Note5 is the upgraded version of the phablet which Samsung is generally credited with popularizing. The new device has a new pop-out pen stylus and shares its upgraded 16-megapixel camera with the S6 edge+. Kantar Worldpanel analyst Carolina Milanesi said Samsung trailed Apple in the phablet market — devices with screens at 5.5 inches and above — in the second quarter.

be headed,” said Chris Feltin, an analyst at Macquarie Bank in Calgary. ”There are a lot of moving variables globally.”

CRUCIAL RESOURCE: Is it getting tougher to forecast accurately, with shale and oil sands production clouding the supply picture that once was dominated by OPEC? - Bloomberg file picture

day on the New York Mercantile Exchange to settle at $42.23, the lowest close since March 2009. It touched $41.91, the lowest intraday level in more than six years.

Morgan Stanley researchers were seeing a “modest recovery and higher prices into year-end” in an April 12 research report.

They still have another four months to be proved right.

In the meantime, crude prices have fallen by almost 19 per cent

and they revised their outlook in July, telling investors this could be worse than the oil rout of 1986.

Tough job Is it getting tougher to forecast accurately, with shale and oil sands production clouding the supply picture that once was dominated

by OPEC? That’s something everyone seems to agree on.”It’s increasingly getting difficult to peg exactly where this commodity is going to

Oil price recovery There’s a lot of talk about the shape of the oil price recovery.

Most people are debating whether it’s a “V” shape where prices bottom out and quickly recover or a “U” shaped recovery where prices stay low for a while before bouncing back.

Oil and gas restructuring specialist John Castellano at AlixPartners in Chicago offers another more intriguing visual: “we view it more as shark teeth,” he said, describing prices that bounce between $45 and $65 a barrel over the next few years without dramatic swings in either direction.

“This is more like a new normal in this price range,” he said.

Most analysts, in the meantime, predict that oil prices will slowly recover, or at least won’t get any worse, by the end of next year.

Natixis SA is on the low end among those surveyed by Bloomberg at $46 a barrel while Standard Chartered analysts are forecasting prices will rebound to $85 a barrel by the fourth quarter of 2016.

Only time will tell who is right. - Bloomberg News

ONGC seeks $900m Russia oilfield stake NEW DELHI: Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) is seeking through its overseas unit to buy a stake in Russia’s second-largest oil producing development from OAO Rosneft, according to two people with direct knowledge of the plan. ONGC Videsh is in discussions to purchase a share of the Vankor oil field in East Siberia, said the people, who asked not to be identified because discussions are ongoing.

The New Delhi-based company is seeking to pay $900 million for the stake, which will secure about 3.5 million metric tonnes of oil a year (about 70,290 barrels a day), and expects to sign a deal as early as next month, one of the people said. Vankor, which started production in 2009, is one of the largest oil fields in Russia, with recoverable reserves estimated at about 500 million tonnes.

Vankor pumped about 40.2 million barrels of oil in January to March (about 447,000 barrels a day), according to the company.

Rosneft’s press office declined to comment on ONGC’s approach for a stake in Vankor. ONGC Videsh Managing Director Narendra Kumar Verma declined to comment on a possible deal.

ONGC shares rose as much as

– Bloomberg file picture

1.4 per cent to Rs273.50, the most in a week, and traded at Rs269.80 as of 10:22am in Mumbai.

Russia, pressured by western sanctions and falling crude prices, offered 10 per cent of the field to China National Petroleum Corp. during President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia in November last year.

ONGC, India’s biggest energy explorer, plans to spend Rs11 trillion ($169 billion) by 2030 to add reserves in India and overseas and reverse a decline in output from aging domestic fields.

ONGC Videsh, which spent $6 billion in the past two years buying assets outside India, plans to more than double its output from overseas fields in four years.

ONGC Videsh owns 20 per cent in the Sakhalin-1 project, off Russia’s far eastern coast, which it acquired in 2001. - Bloomberg News

B4

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

FEATURE

YUAN REFORM WORRIES C

hina’s currency devaluation is a step in the long march to a more open regime for the yuan, analysts say, but authorities will need to further loosen their controls to promote long-term growth.

The central bank on Tuesday unveiled a near two per cent devaluation of the yuan, saying the move was part of broader economic reforms aimed at moving towards a more flexible exchange rate.

The suddenness and scale of the devaluation in a normally stable unit rocked global financial markets, as investors took it as a sign the world’s secondlargest economy is performing worse than revealed, and sparked worries China had fired the first shot in a currency war.

It also compounded jitters over China’s financial health after a debt-fuelled stock market bubble burst in June, following a 150 per cent surge in the previous 12 months.

China’s central bank soothed markets by setting the daily reference rate of the yuan — also known as the renminbi (RMB)— against the US dollar marginally higher on Friday, ending an almost five percent fall over three days.

Analysts cheered the move towards a more market-based Chinese currency, but said other reforms had become more urgent as the Asian giant seeks a more sustainable growth model in the face of a slowing economy.

“Reducing overvaluation of the RMB is a welcome change that eliminates one source of unnecessary self-inflicted pain,” the Asian Development Bank’s chief economist Shang-Jin Wei said on Friday.

ANZ Banking Group’s chief economist for Greater China, Liu Ligang, hailed the move as “very important” but said more reforms, such as freer capital flows, liberalising interest rates and more allowing financial products to hedge against risk, were still needed.

If the bank had acted sooner, the impact on the economy would be “more obvious”, he told AFP.

‘Killing two birds’ The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) used to decide its daily yuan reference rate by polling market-makers, but will now consider the previous day’s close, foreign exchange supply and demand and the rates of major currencies.

The yuan is restricted to trading up or down two percent from the daily rate, although the State Council, the cabinet, has signalled it does intend to broaden the trading band.

China is currently bidding to join the International Monetary Fund’s basket of reserve currencies, but the Washington-based lender has said more reforms are needed for membership.

Beijing is “killing two birds with one stone: it can release depreciation pressure to help the economy grow and meet the IMF’s requirement of letting the yuan be more market-oriented”, Zhang Ning, a Hong Kong-based economist for UBS, told AFP. The yuan devaluation has also been seen as a means for authorities to help the slowing economy by boosting exports — a key driver of China’s extraordinary rise in the past three decades.

For the Henry Parts company in the eastern city of Ningbo, the devaluation means more orders from foreign customers for its machinery components.

“The devaluation will increase our revenue and we can get the orders we couldn’t get before,” manager He Zhanyong told AFP. China’s economy expanded 7.4 per cent last year, its weakest since 1990, and has slowed to 7.0 per cent in each of the first two quarters.

The government wants growth of around 7.0 per cent for all of 2015.

Currency war Still, there are worries the move could set off a “currency war” as regional neighbours and other emerging market countries face pressure to devalue to stay competitive.

“To some extent, the PBoC has served as an anchor in the region and the move now allows other currencies to weaken further,” Societe Generale Group said in a research report.

Asia-Pacific currencies this week suffered their biggest two-day sell-off since 1998, during the Asian financial crisis, while Russia’s ruble slid to a six-month low.

A disorderly devaluation could hamper Beijing’s push for greater global stature for the yuan and the government’s pursuit of a bigger say in world finance, typified by its role setting up two new multilateral banks for Asia and the BRICS nations, which also include Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa.

Argentina has nearly $34 billion in foreign exchange reserves but about a quarter are denominated in yuan and their value declined after the Chinese devaluation, Bloomberg News reported.

Chinese central bank officials have denied a currency war was the intention, but have been more cagey about the timetable for further reforms to the yuan.

Asked if China was on track to open its capital account to investment flows this year, as previously pledged, one official said the process would be orderly.

“China’s schedule for capital account convertibility is steadily advancing,” PBoC Deputy Governor Yi Gang told a news conference on Thursday.”We will proceed in an orderly way according to our own schedule to realise it.” — AFP

Beijing is killing two birds with one stone: it can release depreciation pressure to help the economy grow and meet the IMF’s requirement of letting the yuan be more market-oriented Zhang Ning Hong Kong-based economist for UBS

B

SECTION

LIFESTYLE

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

Family WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

By Ashish Dubash

F

P

eeling sad about throwing away a favourite pair of old shoes? Do you have a new pair that you don’t love and wish you could makeover? Muscat based entrepreneur Nagma Shaikh has come up with a unique solution, launching a concept she calls Shoe Spa. “Clients can bring in their old or new shoes — flats, heels, sandals — and we analyse the amount of restoration required and discuss design requirements of the client. Before we start work, we discuss the final design layout with client and proceed with the work when approved. We revamp, or makeover, her shoes to create a unique, new finished product,” Nagma explained, describing the process that typically takes about a week. “The same service is also available for bags.” But how did Nagma come up with such STEPS TO FOLLOW a unique idea? “We all have 1. Take a black plain shoe. 2. Firstly clean it a favourite, most comfortthoroughly by wiping it with wet cloth and able shoe or bag that, even ensure it’s dry before starting work. 3. Depending on the design like for the shoe in the picture, roll though worn out, we refuse out a piece of fimo clay to a medium thickness. to discard. These beloved 4. Using a cutter cut out a desired shape or items can be restored at the shapes/motifs. 5. These motifs then need to Shoes and Bags Spa.” On the be baked in the oven at 110C for 30 minutes. 6.

Once hardened the motifs can be applied gloss price range of her products or can be left as it is depending on the look. 7.

Nagma said, “Depending on Stick these motifs with Fevicol or Araldite glue the design and size the range in the format envisioned before. 8. Your shoe is starts from OMR2.500 onready to be shown off. wards.” Her clientele ranges from toddlers to teenagers to grown up women. “They bring both worn out shoes or even new shoes they want to upgrade. We add the uniqueness and zing we offer in our designs, which can range from simply hand painting them to adding stones, motifs, and many other things. Shoes and Bags Spa is all about providing the client something unique, head turning and different from the crowd.” — ashishdubash@timesofoman.com

Contact Naghma Yusuf Shaikh for more information on booking a treatment for your bags or shoes +968 9961 0466

A

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

B6

FIND-IT-ALL CINEMA SCHEDULE

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

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SUR Fantastic Four (Action|Sci - Fi) (PG12) 12:00, 3:45, 9:50, 11:45 PM Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation 4:45, 7:30, 11:30 PM (Action) (PG12) Brothers (Hindi) (Thriller) Cast: Akshay Kumar, Jackie Shroff, Sidharth 12:00, 7:15 PM Vacation ( Adventure / Comedy) (18+) 2:00, 5:45 PM Inside Out (3D) (Animation) (PG) 2:45 PM The Daibolical (Horror / Sci-Fi) (15+) 10:00 PM

@RUWI

CITY CINEMA Contact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68. www.citycinemaoman.net facebook.com/citycinemaoman SHATTI Fantastic Four (2D)(Action)(PG12) Cast: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan 1:15, 5:45, 9:45, 11:45 pm Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2D) (Action, Adventure) (PG12) Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Jeremy 3:15, 9:00, 11:30 pm Mr. Holmes (Crime, Drama)(PG) Cast: Ian McKellen, Laura Linney, Hiroyuki Sanada 3:00, 7:45 pm Vacation (Adventure, Comedy)(18+) Cast: Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Skyler Gisondo 1:00, 5:00, 7:00 pm The Diabolical (Horror, Sci-fi)(15+) Cast: Wilmer Calderon, Kurt Carley, Merrin Dungey 5:00, 11:45 pm Shad Agzaa (Drama, Action))(15+) Cast: Mohamed Ramadan, Donia Samir 6:45 pm INSIDE OUT (Animation)(3D) PG Voice Overs: Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Lewis 1:00, 3:00 pm BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN (Drama)(PG) Cast: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor 8:45 PM MUSCAT GRAND MALL Fantastic Four 2D (Action, Sci-Fi ) (PG12) Cast: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael Jordan 12:15, 9:45 & 11:45PM Gold Class: 2:45, 9:15 & 11:15PM Mr. Holmes 2D (Crime, Drama) (PG) 11:15PM & 2:15PM Gold Class : 12:45PM Brothers2D (Action, Drama) (TBC ) 6:45PM The Diabolical 2D (Horror, Sci-Fi ) (15+)

11:15PM & 2:15PM Gold Class : 12:45PM

1:15, 5:45, 9:45, 11:45 pm

3:45 pm

1.00, 4.00, 7.00, 10.00 PM

Mr. Holmes 2D (Crime, Drama) (PG) Cast: Ian McKellen, Laura Linney, Hiroyuki

FANTASTIC FOUR (Action)(PG12) Cast: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan

Love 24x7 - 2D (M) (TBC) Romantic, Comedy Cast: Dileep, Anjali & Suhasini

Brothers (Drama/ Sports) – TBC Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sidahrth Malhotra, Jackie Shroff

Cast: Wilmer Calderon, Kurt Carley, Merrin 10:15PM Vacation 2D (Adventure, Comedy) (18+) Cast: Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Skyler Gisondo 10:15AM, 5:15PM Gold Class: 4:45PM Inside Out 3D (Animation) (PG) 1:15, 3:15PM Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation 4:15 & 11:55PM; 2D (PG12) Gold Class: 6:45PM Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2D) ( Action ) (PG) 7:15PM

Cast - Hansika Motwani, TR Silambarasan 8:30 PM Inside Out – 3D (PG) Animation 12:00, 3:40 PM The Diabolical – 2D (15+) Horror, Sci-Fi, 2:00, 11:45 PM Love 24x7 – 2D (PG) Romantic, Comedy Cast - Dileep and Nikhila Vimal 5:30 PM Mr. Holmes – 2D (PG) Crime, Drama, Mystery 1:00, 9:45 PM Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation – 2D 11:15 AM, 9:30, 11:55 PM (PG12) Into the Grizzly Maze – 2D (15+)Action 1:45 PM Brothers – 2D (TBC) Action, Drama 3:30, 6:30, 8:30, 11:30 PM Fantastic Four – 2D (PG12) (Action) 11:00 AM, 3:00, 5:00, 10:00, 11:55 PM Bajrangi Bhaijaan - 2D (PG) (Drama, Action) 7:00 PM

AZAIBA Vacation – 2D (18+) Adventure, Comedy 11:30AM, 8:00 PM Vasuvum Saravananum Onna Padichavanga – 2D (PG) Comedy; 1:30 PM Cast - Aarya, Tamannaah Bhatia, Brinda Das Dekh Magar Pyaar Say - 2D (PG) Comedy Cast - Humaima Malik, Amna Ilyas, Sikander 4:15 PM Shad Agza – 2D (15+) Drama, Action Cast - Mohamed Ramadan, Donia Samir 6:30 PM Vaalu – 2D (PG) Action, Comedy, Romance

RUWI SCREEN 1 Brothers (Drama/ Sports) – TBC Cast: Akshay Kumar, Jackie Shroff, Sidharth M 1.00, 4.00, 7.00, 10.00 PM SCREEN 2

Baahubali: The Beginning (Act ) – 12+ 1.00, 7.00 PM Drishyam (Thriller/Drama ) – PG12 4.00, 10.00 PM SCREEN 3 Drishyam (Thriller/Drama ) – PG12 1.00 PM Dekh Magar Pyaar Se - Urdu (Comedy) – PG 4.00, 9.30 PM Bajrangi Bhaijaan (Action/Drama ) – PG 6.30 PM

2:10, 11:45 PM Shad Agza - 2D (Arb) (15+) Drama, Action Cast: Mohamed Ramadan, Donia Samir 6:15 PM Brothers - 2D (TBC) Action, Drama 11:15 AM, 9:00, 11:30 PM Love 24x7 - 2D (M) (TBC) Romantic, Comedy 3:45 PM Vaalu - 2D (T) (PG) Action, Comedy, Romance Cast : Hansika Motwani, TR Silambarasan, 11:15 AM, 6:15 PM

SOHAR Bajrangi Bhaijaan - 2D (PG) Drama, Action 4:00 PM Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation - 2D (PG12) Action; 3:55, 9:05, 11:55 PM Inside Out - 3D (PG) Animation, 2:10, 4:00 PM Fantastic Four-2D (PG12) (Action ) 12:00, 2:00, 7:45, 9:45, 11:45 PM Vacation- 2D (18+)Adventure, Comedy 12:15, 6:00, 8:15 PM Mr. Holmes - 2D (PG) Crime, Drama, Mystery 2:00, 7:00 PM Into the Grizzly Maze- 2D (15+) Action, Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, James Marsden 10:00 PM The Diabolical - 2D (15+) Horror, Sci-Fi,

BURAIMI Fantastic Four -2D (PG12) (Action) 5:30, 9:30, 11:30PM Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation - 2D 3:00, 8:45, 11:45PM (Action) (PG12) Inside Out - 3D (Animation, Comedy) (PG) 3:00PM Vacation – 2D (Comedy, Adventure) (18+) 5:15, 7:00PM Mr Holmes– 2D (Crime, Drama) (PG), 7:30PM The Diabolical – 2D (Horror, Thriller) (TBC) 3:00, 10:10PM Brothers – 2D (Drama, Sport) (PG) 4:30, 11:15PM Vaalu – 2D (Action, Comedy) (PG) 7:15PM

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

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI) Dept time

Destination

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

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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

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

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

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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

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

Ruwi Marmul Ruwi Ruwi

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

60-85%

06:00

Marmul

16:30

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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

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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

11.45 13.30 14.00

MOHAMMED AYAZ KHAN August 15, 2013

SOHAM RANIGA August 15, 2003

ANN ROSE JENSON August 14, 2011

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 16 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to extra@ timesofoman.com

LISTINGS

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

ANDREA DALE LOBO August 15, 2013

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

10:20 12:30

TO SUR (ROUTE 55) Sur Sur

Film information 24791641 / 24786776 Website: www.isurf.co.om Srimanthudu (Telugu ) ( Act ) Cast: Mahesh Babu & Shruthi Hassan 3-00 Pm Cinema Main Brothers ( Hindi ) (Act ) Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sidahrth Malhotra 10-00 Pm Cinema Main, 6-30 Pm Cinema -2 Love 24x7 ( Mal ) ( Com ) Cast: Dileep, Anjali & Suhasini 3-45, 6-45 & 9-45 Pm At Cinema- 3 Vasuvum Saravananum ( Tamil ) ( Com ) Cast: Arya, Tamanna & Santhanam 3-30 & 9-30 Pm At Cinema-2; 6-30 Pm Cinema Main Vallu (Tamil ) (Rom\Com ) From Friday Cast: Silambarasan & Hansika 3-45, 6:45 & 9-45 Pm At Cinema-4 NEXT CHANGE: Madura Naranga Programmes are subject to change

RELATIVE HUMIDITY

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

35 28

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

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

Sohar Ruwi Ruwi Sohar Ruwi Sohar Ruwi

Daily Daily Daily

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation 2D (Action, Adventure, Thriller) (PG12) Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Jeremy 5.00, 9.30 & 11.55 pm CP No: 1953 (PG12) Vacation (Comedy / Adventure) Cast: Ed Helms, Christina Appligate, Skyler Gisondo 1.30, 4.00 & 7.30 pm CP No: 2027 ( 18+) Awol - 72 (Action) Cast: Luke Goss, LouiseMandylor, RZA 11.30 a.m. 3.30 & 11.55 pm CP No: 2026 (12+) Brothers (Hindi )( Thriller ) Cast: Akshay Kumar, Jackie Shrof, Sidharth Malhotra 1.00, 6.00 & 9.00 pm CP No: 2028 (PG) The Night Crew (Action/Thriller) Cast: Danny Trejo, Jason Mewes, Luke Goss 11.30 a.m.; CP No: 1886 (15+)

WEATHER

15:00 15:00 15:00

16:30 18:00 19:30

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

WITH LOVE

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

SALALAH Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation (2D) 2:00, 9:15, 11:45PM (PG12) Ant-Man (3D)(PG12) (Action/Sci-Fi ) 12:00PM Inside Out (3D)(PG) (Animation/Comedy) 10:00AM Fantastic Four (2D)(PG12) (Action) 12:00, 7:15, 10:05, 11:55PM Cast: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2D) (PG) (Drama/Action) 7:15PM Vacation (2D) (18+) (Adventure/Comedy) Cast: Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Skyler Gisondo 11:30AM, 8:15PM Shad Agza (2D)(15+)(Arabic) (Drama/Action) Cast: Mohamed Ramadan, Donia Samir Ghanem, Yasser Galal and Sabry 6:15PM Mr. Holmes (2D)(PG) (Crime/Drama/Mystery) Cast: Jacqueline Fernandez, Rajesh Sharma, Riteish Deshmukh 10:00AM, 5:15 PM Dekh Magar Pyaar Say (2D)(PG)(Urdu) (Comedy/Romance) Cast: Humaima Malik, Amna Ilyas, Sikander 1:15 PM AWOL-72 (2D)(12+) (Thriller) Cast: Luke Goss, RZA, Bokeem Woodbine 10:00AM, 10:00PM Brothers (2D)(TBC) (Action/Drama) 4:30, 11:30PM Srimanthudu (2D)(PG) (Action) 2:15PM Vaalu (2D)(PG) (Action/Comedy/Romance) 3:30PM

BAHJA CINEMA

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

Appolo 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

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

LIFESTYLE Winning Isn’t Everything IT WAS SPORTS day in Muscat Private School. The children stood in a row in the school playground.

Neatly dressed in white uniform they all were ready for the race. Robby, Matt and Rehman eagerly waited for the whistle to blow.

Robby had won the coveted title of best runner and he was very proud of his skills. “Hey, Matt! I am going to win the title this year too. No one can beat me,” he said with immense pride. Matt and Rehman nodded. They too were sure that Robby would win the race as he had the incredible gift of speed. He would always win in any race competitions.

“Hey guys. All the best to you all” Jamila and Aasila shouted from the stands. Soon Aliya and Jia joined and the girls cheered their friends waiting to compete each other. The girls had taken part in the sack race and were still laughing reminiscing the funny moments of the race. “You saw Natasha,” Jia asked her friends and all of them burst into laughter. “She was looking so funny while jumping,” Aliya said. “And half way through she literally stumbled,” Jamila added.

Soon the warning whistle alerted everyone present. It was the boys turn to participate in the hurdle race. There were 10 participants and all of them were known to be good runners.

On your mark! Get, Set, Go. “Look who’s that?” Aasila exclaimed. She pointed at Sahil who stood at the end of the row. “I can’t

believe it,” Jamila said. The girls could not believe that someone like Sahil could also participate in the race. Sahil was a friendly boy who had joined them in school that year. “I must say he has got real guts to compete with Robby,” said Jia. Sahil was not good in sports. The children knew this well as in most of the PT (Physical Training) classes he would not do well.

The PT teacher was encouraging most of the time but no matter how hard Sahil tried he could not beat any of the boys.

The race began. As expected Robby ran at a super-fast pace. He was leading so far in the front that Mathew, who was in the second place was almost few metres away from him. He had above average

speed with good stride length and excellent flexibility. Everyone knew that Robby had the natural knack for the hurdling technique. Matt hit the second hurdle as a result of which his speed slowed down a bit.

But someone who caught the attention of all the spectators sitting in the gallery was Sahil. He ran slower than all the other children participating in the race and was the last one in the league. “You’re so slow!

You’re slower than a snail!” some boys watching the race shouted.

“Hurry up, Mr Slow,” Rehman teased Sahil while pushing his way past him. All the children finished running around the track except for Sahil. He was the last, as usual. He hit three hurdles and managed to

bounce over the rest. Robby was declared the winner. The girls clapped and applauded him as he received the winner’s trophy from the principal. His parents couldn’t stop but smiling. They were too happy for Robby. “Congratulations Robby!,” Jia and Aasila said together. “You are the best.” “The winner takes it all! Heard that song?” Robby said with pride. “By the way where is Mr Slow? Is he hiding in shame?” Robby asked sarcastically.

Sahil stood behind the group of boys and girls who had crowded near Robby to congratulate him. He wanted to congratulate Robby but somehow couldn’t gather courage. He knew that they all would make fun of him. He was on verge of tears.

B7

STORY TIME

By Swati Dasgupta

Sahil was feeling more miserable as his parents couldn’t attend the sports day. “Wish mum and dad were here,” he thought. He decided to quickly walk back home before other children tormented him further.

“I tried my best yet I am slow,” Sahil thought. He was nearly home when he spotted Robby’s car pass.

The car suddenly stopped and Robby’s father peeped out. “Sahil, would you like to be dropped home?” he asked. “No uncle, it’s ok!” he said feebly. “No my child. It’s pretty hot.

You will fall sick. Come inside,” Robby’s father said.

Sahil could not turn down his advice and quietly sat inside the car.

Robby smirked at him and asked: “Sahil, after today’s disastrous per-

formance, would you still participate in the next sport’s day?”

Tears filled Sahil’s eyes hearing this. Robby’s father heard the kids converse and suddenly halted the car in the nearby parking area.

“What happened dad? Are we getting down here,” Robby enquired.

“No, but I halted to have a word with you,” he said in a firm voice.

“Robby, I know you are over jubilant after your win and I am very happy for you. But at the same time I do not approve the way you spoke to Sahil now.

It’s true that he did not win the race, or to be precise was the last one to compete but wining is not everything in life.

Playing a good game matters the most.

Rather than winning and losing. Victory is sweet but only when you share that sweetness with your friends.”

Robby hung his head in shame.

He realised success had got into his head. He apologised to Sahil for hurting him.

Seeing the kids Robby’s dad smiled and took them to the nearby ice cream parlour. Sahil still looked sad. Robby’s dad cheered him up and said: “Wining is important but losing comes with a lesson too. It tells us that we you can do better next time and most importantly teaches us to accept defeat with grace.

Sahil smiled hearing this. He ran the rest of the way home, feeling much better. “I may not be a fast runner, but I tried my best. Better luck next time!”– swati@timesofoman.com

Omani Sunny Days Hot Chocolate Challenge

by Isidore Carloman

Questions & Answers It’s better not to argue with...

My sister

I go crazy when...

Babies cry...

One thing that puts me off...

Exams

If I win a lottery...

I will save for future needs

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

Fast and Furious 7

Crossword Puzzle ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE

When I’m in doubt...

I think a thousand times on it

The scariest thing that I have done...

Going in a deep pool without elders

If I met an alien I would...

Take a lot of selfies with me

ACROSS

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

Albert Einstein

RIYA REJI One skill I would like to learn...

Skating If I had treasures I would hide them...

It’s a secret If I have to describe myself as a flavour it would be...

Chocolate

One person I would trade places with (real or ficitional) Anna (Frozen)

The best way to my heart is...

Honest person

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

DOWN

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Lean backward Runner’s unit Out of funds White-sale buys Not chic Rope-a-dope boxer Mutt Exploded Again and again Forest grazer Hairpin curve

16 Bisque and miso 20 Name a knight 23 Linoleum square 24 Red-waxed cheese 25 Applies makeup 26 Hotel name 27 Jai — 28 Dermatologist’s concern 29 Merriment 32 Ached for 33 City near Inchon

35 36 38 39 42 43 44 45 46 47 49

Fruit pastry Making gentle Rock music, to some Buffalo hockey pro Slangy hats Coup d’— Hunt and peck Zippy’s word Cotton gin name Countdown start Thole filler

1 4 8 12 13 14 15 17 18 19 21 22 26 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 39 40 41 45 48 50 51 52 53 54 55

Current meas.

Unwanted email Be an omen of Sugarloaf locale Moon ring Pilots’ sightings Thickens, as fog (2 wds.)

AAA suggestions Odysseus and Galahad Mdse.

Colorado native Like a wagon trail Rough files Groundhog mo.

Spud st.

Varieties “Westworld” name Cement section “— -Pan” Corral Abounds Bright flower — Paulo Not ‘neath Talisman Himalayan enigma Great-heartedness Cheers for matadors Hold down a job Skip stones Dinner beverage Remnant Sault — Marie

B8

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2015

LIFESTYLE Children up to the age of 15 who would like to have their art considered for inclusion in “Art for the Ages” can e-mail their drawings or paintings (in jpeg or tiff format) to lifestyle@timesofoman.com

Art for the Ages

Children’s Poetry

FOREVER FORGOTTEN

By Alex Roy

Grade 10, Indian School Wadi Kabir I was brought into the home of a little boy, As a birthday gift, he received me as a toy.

His favourite plaything, was none other than me, In my company, he’d always be in glee.

He thought of me, as his true friend, The bond was such, it could never end.

Sadly, one day, he abandoned me on the shelf, All alone in obscurity, by myself.

It seems, he has found new cohorts, From toy cars to battery operated robots.

Years of confinement, has left me frail and dusty, Enclosed; I’m left sad and gloomy.

Pranav Sivakumar, Grade 2, Modern International School

The pain, by no means is yet, perceived, I’m inanimate, is what is believed.

Nobody tries to identify with my feel, For everyone, it’s not a big deal.

Tanmay Bhola, Grade 4, ISM

But, I too, have a human heart, Please come back, why keep me apart?

Don’t leave this poor teddy forsaken, I ask myself, “Am I, forever forgotten?”

Life Irene Rose Bency

Grade VIII Indian School Wadi Kabir

Divya P. Joseph, Grade 8, ISG

Sudoku How to play Fill empty cells with the numbers 1 to 9, so that each number appears once in each row, column and area.

SOLUTION Answer to previous puzzle

Aparna Praveen, Grade 2, ISG

Life is all about losing and gaining.

It is a learning path.

You must learn to be happy With it although you don’t like it.

Find joy in every little thing, And take all your sorrows as joy.

Consider yourself precious In the eyes of God. And take every sorrow and joy As a plan of God for you.

Life is not always sweet, You must learn to face it cheerfully.

Learn to face all the tests in life.

Life is very challenging, But it’s up to you as to how you face it.

Jaahnavi G, Grade 9, ISG

Teleword All the words below appear in the puzzle - horizontally, vertically, diagonally, even backward. Find them and circle their letters.

The leftover word spells the Teleword.

D I V A D I S C U S S I O N P

T E S T I M O N Y M E R C E R

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

CLUE: NANCY GRACE

L T L A U U Q C A S E S E A T

I A A E N E O U A H O J C S E

T B E T V O S C E N U T O T T

I E L P E I I T A S S H R U A

G A D M I Z S M P S M A S E N I T I L B T E W I D E D Y N O

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

I O S S B E A L I W E H C K O R T H N S O Y W C A U N L S S

N I T C T S N O I T I S O P A

R O H C N A J V S M A C O N P

H N O I T N E T T A E G D U J

SOLUTION: 6 LETTERS

Anchor, Answers, Appeal, Attention, Books, Cases, Claims, Court, Crime, David, Debate, Discussion, Elizabeth, Facts, Host, Hotline, Issues, John, Judge, Justice, Legal, Linch, Litigation, Lucy, Macon, Mercer, Mission, Opinionated, Passionate, Persona, Position, Prosecutor, Questions, Record, Statements, Study, Television, Testimony, Twins.

Answer: TV Show

C

W W W.T I M E S O F O M A N . C O M S AT U R DAY, AU G U S T 1 5, 2 0 1 5

SECTION

CONNEC T H E D A I LY G U I D E

RENT

C2

VACANCY

C4

CARGO

C7

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

C2

S AT U R D AY, AU G U S T 1 5, 2 0 1 5 Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DAILY GUIDE FOR RENT

3BR villa, sitting, dining & hall, Azaiba behind Al Meera H- Market.

Contact: 99259977 / 95033008 1BHK, Darsait, walking distance to ISM , neat and clean building, ground floor, OMR 260/- per month rent Call IQRAR on 99076557 840 sqr mtrs Store & Staff accommodation for Rent in Misfah.

Contact 99792181 Flat for rent near Al Nahdha Hospital in Hamriya. Contact: 97380548 / 99680499 Big flat for rent in Al Khuwair, nr.

Ibis Hotel. Contact 95724975 3 bedroom flat with 3 attached toilets, split A/C, brand Kims Hospital.

Contact: 95225662 2BHK with Split AC. AL-KHUWAIR Near MARS HYPERMARKET – 92880107 Brand new 3BHK apartment on 5th floor at Qurum, PDO gate 2, master bedroom with en-suite (shower) with balcony, 2 bedrooms with bath, guest washroom with shower, laundry room, luxury floorings with A/Cs. Other amenities in the building: Gym, multi purpose room & children’s play area. Contact 24564460 / 97610908

3BHK Flats & 6BHK Villa in Azaibah.

Contact : 96775026 1 BR flat at Darsait, near ISM. Contact 99237971 / 99320633 250 sq mtrs restaurant for rent in Plaza Hotel, Walja Ruwi.

Contact 99326339

Fully furnished 3 BHK accommodation with all spacious rooms in a villa at Darsait near ISD. Contact: 9526 5289 / 9604 8422

Readymade office space for rent (100sm) in Bank Melli Iran building, MBA area Ruwi opposite Center Point. Contact: 99011352

Villa for rent in Al Khuwair 33, 8 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms with parking area near Taimur Mosque.

Contact 99366624

2BHK, 2 Baths, Split A/C, Wadi kabeer, near Indian Elementary School.

Contact 99441193, 93004801 3 BHK Flat in Azaiba.

Contact 99792181

2BHK flat in Al Khuwair with A.C 350/- Riyals. Contact: 92888337

1BHK, 2BHK, 3BHK new flat available at Mabela in front of Modern English School Contact: 96239126

2 B/R res./comm. Flat directly from owner near Oman Medical College Bausher. Contact 92158031

Villa for rent in Shatti Al Qurum.

Contact: 99315150

3 BHK flat for rent in Azaiba.

Contact 99792181

2 BHK near CBD & Star Cinema, Muttrah. Contact 99233116

Al Khuwair 17/1, 7 flats of single bedroom available, 2 big flats RO 200/-., 1 medium RO 150/-, 4 small flats RO 125/- respectively including Electricity & Water. Contact 99441798

2 BHK villa for rent in Azaiba, near Sultan Centre. Contact 99792181

Shop/ office near CBD & Star Cinema, Muttrah. Contact 99233116

3 & 4 BHK villa in Al Khuwair.

Contact 99792181

1 BHK, 2 BHK & shop at Wadi Kabir.

Contact 99024730

A flat for rent in Al Khuwair 33, 2 rooms and sitting room and all the necessary things. Contact:92277419

2 BHK flat in Azaiba.

Contact 99792181

I BHK Flat -4 Nos at Hamriya – R.O. 200/- . 2 BHK - 2 Nos / 1 BHK- 2 Nos, at Wattayya R/A near the mosque for Families. Contact : 96457757 9 am to 7 Pm. 1 & two bedroom flats available for rent in wadi-kabir (opp: pencil bldg), ideal for company staff / families bulk corporate deal possible.

Contact 97677170

1 BHK Flat in Honda Road (Ruwi).

Contact 99792181

Shop at Azaiba. Contact 99024730

1 BHK, 2 BHK at Al Khuwair.

Contact 99024730

Fabulous AC flat at Al Khoud 3 bedrooms, hall and kitchen RO 270/for rent. Contact: 99334699

2BHK & 1BHK flats available in Darsait. Contact : 99357586 / 97500025

3 Bedroom flat in Wadi Kabeer and 2 bedroom villa in Sidab- Muscat.

Contact: 95755953

3 BHK, 3 bathrooms, 2 balcony, nr. Al Hassan W/Kabir RO 330/-.

Contact :99384640 Flat for rent 2BR at Wadi Adai.

Contact 94643380 3 Bedroom flat with 3 attached toilets, split A/C, brand new available, behind Kims Hospital.

Contact 95225662

1 & 2BHK flat in Al Khuwair.

Contact 99792181 250 sq mtrs office space (showroom) in CBD. Contact 99792181 Flats shops & stores for rent at Al Amerat. Contact: 96278724 Villa 2 bedrooms + hall + sitting room in Al Hail South R.O 300/Monthly. Contact: 93993354

Fully furnished 2 bedroom luxury flat for rent at Ghala for short or long term basis. Contact 9178526 / 99881653

Furnished room for rent at Al Khuwair R.O 225/- for family only.

Contact: 99251975 Flats for rent in Al Khuwair, Al hail, Wadi Kabir, Al Falaj, MBD, and Muttrah. Contact: 99119699 / 95250300 / 24813002

2 BHK, 3BHK at Qurum.

Contact 99024730

1 & 2 BHK Flat in Al Khuwair.

Contact 99792181

4 & 5 BHK villa for rent in Al Khuwair. Contact 99792181 3 BHK Flat in Al Khuwair 33.

Contact 99792181 2 BHK in Ghubra RO 350/-.

Contact 97799175 / 92144045 2 BHK at Mumtaz RO 300/-.

Contact 97799175 / 92144045 2 BHK at Darsait RO 300/-. Contact 97799175 / 92144045 1 BHK at Ghubra RO 275/-. Contact 97799175 / 92144045

S AT U R DAY, AU G U S T 1 5, 2 0 1 5

C3

DAILY GUIDE

MOTOR VEHICLE FOR SALE

Mazda 3,1.6, 2008 Automatic, accident free, single owner.

Contact: 92030516 Hyundai Elantra 2012 1.8 top model 3800RO GSM 99883832 Nissan Tiida, F. automatic 2011, R.O 2800/-. Contact: 93835318

Land Cruiser 2012. # 99336093 Nissan Altima 2.5S, 2008 Model, Metallic Gold Colour, Excellent condition, self driven by diplomat, only 65, 000 k.m run, available for immediate delivery, Contact 99251286.

Prado ,2012. Contact : 99336093 PAJERO 2015 km1400. #99336093

AVAILABLE Sportage, 2013. Contact 99336093 Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirting, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery, Crockery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes, Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound Systems and spectacular lighting. Call Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering and Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound & Light. www.tunesoman.com, E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

FOR SALE

ACC. AVAILABLE Sharing accommodation in CBD area for non cooking Executive bachelors, wifi free, advance deposit.

Contact 91852710 Used supermarket Gandola Shelving RO 40.00 per meter.

Contact 96441670 Forklift sale. Contact: 99763831 Furnished office for sale.

Contact 99024272 Land for sale at prime location in Al Athaiba. Contact 91299531 / 91408005 Wall papers, grass carpets sale & fixing. Contact: 99834373 / 96642500

600 sqr mtrs showroom in Wadi Kabir. Contact: 99792181

3BHK AlAmerat No.3, Rent190 pm.

Contact 95113797

House for rent in Sidab at reasonable rent. Contact: 95555162 / 95755953

1bedroom in Al Hail South RO 150/monthly. Contact: 93993354

Flat for rent with AC in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 95555162 /95755953

Flats for rent near Indian School in Wadi Kabir. Contact 99777122

Flat for rent in Mabellah 8th.

Contact: 97147240

2 BHK Flats for rent in Muttrah near Oman house. Contact: 97009734 / 92629232

Brand new villa Bosher 37, 4 BHK. Contact: 91936034

2 & 3 BHK big Flats with Big hall, Kitchen & new split ACs at Al Khoudh 6, Close to express way, from owner. Tel 97600322 alnehang@gmail.com Flats for rent at Darsait near to Ministry of Sports.

Interested candidates please Contact : 00968-92225523 2BHK near Oman house behind Khimji H.O. Contact: 95865686 2BHK flat available behind Majan College / Darsait. Contact 24705742

For rent if require flats for rent in Wadi Kabir please send me messages through Whatsapp.

Contact: 99376454 BHK Flat in Azaiba.

Contact 99385835 / 99428143 Commercial Space 68 SQM, Wadi kabeer, near Indian Elementary School. Contact 99441193, 93004802 House in Amerat near to Makah hypermarket with three room, 5toilets, kitchen and hall 430/-.

Contact: 92747078

4 BHK single villa in Al Khuwair.

Contact: 97616158

Bath attached room for rent Al Khuwair. Contact 99743569

1 &2 BHK flats for rent at Wadi Kabir, Wadi Adai, Hamriya and Al Khoud areas, shop for rent at Wadi Adai Round about. Contact: 24834644, GSM 93994401 /02/03 lines

Villa with two floors in (Hay Al Arjan) in AL Khoud with 4 bedrooms, hall, Majles, kitchen & one room in ground floor. Contact: 93219597

3bed room well maintained flat (villa type only 2 flats in one bldg) in Al Khuwair behind Al Akhtam Restaurant, Villa no 1839, Way No 3922, block No 239.

Contact: 99253125 2BK Wadi Kabir near Kuwaiti Mosque. Contact 97007934 / 92629232

1 Villa & 3 big Flats of 2/3 BHK with hall, Kitchen & ACs Al Khoudh 6, Close to express way, from owner.

Tel 97600322 Email: alnehang@gmail.com

FOR HIRE Volvo 12 Ton Truck for monthly rent. Contact: 98713900

An excellent grade, 8 yrs old, non residential civil construction company, having registered office in Muscat needs immediate sale.

Company has considerable running projects of handsome amount. Only genuine buyers contact 92978650 A secured land of 1500 sqm available for keeping construction equipments, trailers, container etc. near Sohar Airport - Contact: 94215208 Spare parts heavy for sale at Ghala with stock worth 50000 R.O. Contact: 99263071 Ice Cream & Juices shop Ruwi good location for sale suitable for beauty parlor also. Contact: 92150455 400 sq mtrs Commercial/Residential land in Maabela Phase 5 Block 2. OMR 140 Thousand.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

FOR EXPATS

Room for rent with sharing bathroom & kitchen at Al Khuwair, behind Golden Spoon Restaurant.

Contact 92994415

Shop for sale in Ruwi High street, Contact 96078411 New villa at Qurum, 6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, sitting, dining and open sitting on the terrace.

Contact: 99342733

Fully Furnished studio immediately available for couple in N.Azaiba.

Contact 95450249

Running established for sale including industrial licenses for marble & granite, fully furnished kitchen showroom and fully equipped factory. Contact: 99337670 / 92623665 A well running security solutions company & a perfume shop for sale at Al Hail. Contact 93664357/ 95372501 Running Polyclinic, 20 yrs, with VISAMEDICAL, available for SALE/LEASE. Contact.94596677 / 99343280 Workshop sale / rent Full fledge workshop for / sale at prominent location at Misfa near Cement factory around 900 sq meter along with tools, equipments and manpower.

Also 5 Nos Volvo / Mercedes / Man /Putsmiester concrete pump 2004/2005 model for sale. Contact: 93681107 / 96051565 / 98541936

Furnished room with equipped kitchen immediately available in N. Azaiba Contact 95450249 Independent rooms in Qurum / AL Hail. Contact 95529970 Furnished room with sharing bathroom immediately available in N.Gubrah. Contact 95450250 Room for rent in a flat for Executive bachelor at Azaiba behind Al Meera Hypermarket Azaiba with attached bath with cot & A/C, rent RO 175/- per month including water & electricity. # 96404166 / 97433992 Family sharing accommodation 2 rooms, bathrooms, kitchen RO 150/-, Keralite only. Contact 99519161 Furnished room with attached bath separate entrance in Mabela. Contact :99634841 preferable Omani ladies

A fully equipped furnished and licensed private polyclinic for sale or rent in excellent location in Sohar - Falaj al Qabail opposite to life line hospital Departments are GP clinic, Dental, Medical lab, X-ray And Working Pharmacy. Contact 95603395

Furnished room for rent at Al Khuwair RO 225/- for family only.

Contact 99251975

SELL/BUY

Sharing accommodation available with Kerala family, nr. Wadi Kabir Indian School # 95882866 / 96575016

From owner plot of land near Zanzibar, airport price RO 15000.

Contact 99348943

Furnished room for Indian Bachelor in Al Falaj area (Ruwi) & Lady in Wadi Kabir (near Al Maya).

Contact 96761960

Fully furnished room for a decent expatriate. independent kitchen, bathroom in Wadi Adai.

Contact 96243086 at 5p.m.

NRI

Fully furnished 1BHK with all household items in Darsait near Lulu on monthly Basis. Contact : 99378397/99493500 Sharing accommodation available for working lady or couples near Ruwi Church. Contact: 92837206

9.75 cents square plot with compound wall and gate at Kovalam, Trivandrum(Kerala) for sale. Interested in NRI buyers only near to Hotel Leela. Contact: 00968 – 95210474

Used furniture & Electronic items, office & house. Contact: 99834373 / 96642500

Room attached toilet and kitchen near Indian School Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 95345537

LOST Suhaeni BT Ceong Karsem has lost Indonesia Passport No. AT 038854.

Finder please handover to ROP

Shamshad Ali has lost Pakistani Passport No. KK 1799912. Finder please handover to ROP

MATRIMONIAL Malayalee Nair boy from good family(only son) – 36 yrs- B.Com, MBA (Mktg & Finance)- Associate Regional Manager in an MNC in Coimbatoreinvites alliance – #+91 7639622079 Keralite male, 34 yrs, Hindu Viswakarma (Sudha Jathakam) working as Chef in reputed Hotel in Muscat seeks suitable alliance. Contact 97097061/ 91 8547644153 23 yrs Keralite Christian girl settled in Bangalore invites alliance from well settled Christian boys.

Contact 99494371 Keralite Christian Orthodox boy, 28 yrs, MBA seeks suitable alliance.

Contact 91394731 RCSC boy, Kanjirapally Diocese, 36-172. # 93028813 / 92501521 24 yrs, Keralite Christian girl Engineer working in Oman looking for alliance from good looking, well educated. Contact: 92467948 Sunni Muslim girl, Indian origin, 20 yrs BA graduate from Oman, good looking homely with good religious values, seeking alliances from Muslim professionals, well settled in Oman or Middle East.

Contact: 99644760 or Email: ghulamuzma23@gmail.com

CHANGE OF NAME I AZAZMAHEDI ALIHUSAIN PALASARA (holder of Indian passport No. K0755709) son of ALI HUSAIN ABBASBHAI PALASARA having permanent residence in GUJARAT,TA-PALANPUR BK, AT & PO KANODAR , KAVSARI STREET (complete postal address in India) and presently residing in MUSCAT ,NAZIMUJA, PO box : 39,PC-100, LANE NO - 1406, HOUSE NO - 117 ( complete postal address in Oman) intent to change my name from AZAZMAHEDI ALIHUSAIN PALASARA(old name) to AJAZ MEHDI ALI HUSAIN PALASARA ( New name) for all practical purpose. Any objection towards my name change may please be communicated to Embassy of India, Muscat, Diplomatic Quarters, Al Khuwair, P.BOX No 1727, Postal Code 112, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman.

NOTICE Pursuant to the provisions of Article 13 reiterated 2 of the Company law no. 4/74 & the amendments thereto, Al Amida Al Muthaida Co. for trade & contracting – associate, registered with the Secretariat of the commercial registration under no.

1128166 hereby announce that they are going to alter their legal status from (associate) to (limited partnership) with the name: Al Amida Al Mutahids Co. for trade & contracting – limited partnership. Any person who objects to the above shall present the reasons for his objection to the Secretariat of Commercial Registration at the Ministry of Commerce & Industry in Muscat within a period of 2 months from the date of this announcement.

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S AT U R D AY, AU G U S T 1 5, 2 0 1 5 Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DAILY GUIDE SITUATION SITUATION WANTED VACANT

SITUATION WANTED SIT. WANTED ACCOUNT. & FINANCE Indian male, 10 years experience, 6 years in Oman with Oman driving license with NOC seeking suitable job. Contact: 96012973 12 years of Oman experienced Chief Accountant looking for immediate placement. Contact : 99513082 Indian male, MBA, 27 yrs, 2 yrs exp. in Oman in Accounts upto finalization of accounts, seeks suitable placement. Contact 91208799, jahafeer@yahoo.co.in

ACCOUNTANT Urgently required Junior Accountant. Please send CV: hr.azatllc@gmail.com Seeking minimum 5 yrs Construction company experienced Accountant able to read Arabic & owning vehicle.

Email : hr@greencover.net

BEAUTY Wanted experience Beautician for beauty parlor in Muscat. Contact: 94241385

CATERING Chinese/ Arab/ continental cook & helper wanted. Contact 95529970 A fast growing chain of omani fusion restaurants in Muscat is looking to hire experienced waiters and chefs (2 yrs exp).Applicants should have NOCs if applicable. Forward resume to creativefoodsllc@gmail.com Indian Cook required. Should know Omani traditional foods.

Contact 99209264 Temporary Cook required for 1 month for company mess. Contact 99413089 / 98048952

DRAFTSMAN Leading Civil construction company requires “MEP DRAFTSMAN” with 4-6 years gulf experience. Send your CV to mep.oman2015@gmail. com. (NOC required).

DOMESTIC HELPER An Indian family located in Azaiba looking for a Housemaid.

Contact 99384009 Require qualify caregiver for an orderly mother. Contact 99425200

DRIVER A fast food restaurant in Muscat required Drivers. (1 car and 1 motor cycle) # 93216008. Forward CV :fastfoodoman2014@gmail.com Indian Driver required.

Contact 99209264.

Female Driving Instructor needed in Madinat Qaboos.

Contact 95591068 Required Indian national Light Duty Driver for Omani house.

Contact: 99420752 L.D Driver Indian required preferably Keralite. Contact : 92888337 Wanted driver. Contact: 95112461 Driver heavy duty required urgently for trailer. Oman / GCC experience must. Those ready for immediate joining. Contact: 99310859

Indian male,, MBA, Finance, 10 yrs exp as Branch Supervisor in a reputed logistics company in Oman with an overall experience of 21 yrs in finance & logistics, with valid Oman D/L, on visit looks for suitable placement. Contact 96567151, girishlalmahadev@yahoo.com

EDUCATION A well known private school require English, Mathematics, Science, Physics & Computer Teacher.

Email : staffing.oman@gmail.com, ph: 96910649 Pakistani Female, Masters of Education. 13 years of Experience in Teaching. Looking for suitable placement. Contact: 94739533/97926339 Email: kiranilyas95@gmail.com

ENGINEER Smartphone Technician Required ftt@futuretarget.net GSM: 99110080/9669066 Urgently require B.E. Civil Engineer with 5 yrs Gulf experience in multi storey buildings should have Oman driving license & join us immediately. Email : applyforoman@gmail.com Wanted urgently Civil Engineer with driving license, Civil Foreman, Masons, Carpenters, Steel fixtures.

Contact Abu Hakeem International LLC. Contact: 24699200 / 92854404 fax: 24602393, shsllc@omantel.net.om

MEDICAL

MANAGER Contracting Company requires a Project Manager (Civil) – 1 No. 8 ~ 10 years of experience in overall Project Management, GCC D/L. Mail CV : contractingrecruitment1234@ gmail.com

IT

MISCELLANEOUS

Software developer with experience in asp.net, sql server and crystal reports required for a software development firm. Email CV to hr@ promisworld.com

Established real estate company looking for male or female property agents for leasing and sales of the property. Applicant must be Graduate, possess Omani or GCC driving license. Having oman market experience. Apply with NOC. Attractive salary +commission.

Send your CV: property@ labdmarkmuscat.com

Medical CARE Centre, Multi Speciality Clinic, Seeb, requires Gynecologist to work on Freelance (Profit Sharing) basis. Interested candidates call- 97884856 Wanted Nurse (Salary-RO 400/-) & Pharmacist (Salary RO 500/-)-MOH Licensed -Al Suwaiq Clinic Contact- 97742491 Required Nurse for A Clinic in Al-Buraimi, S. of Oman.

Contact : 00968 92737149. Send CV to drpkabbas@yahoo.co.in Urgently required Lab Technician male / female, Receptionist female Omani (fluent in English and Arabic) at Sinaw – Hala Medical Center. Contact : 95969249 / 94580112 Email: halamedicalgroup@gmail.com

FMCG professional with 18 yrs Gulf experience in commercial / operations looking for opening.

Contact 92787747 / 92168401

Urgently required Pharmacist (B. Pharm) with MOH license for a reputed organization in Oman. Email Id: goodpharma2015@gmail.com

MEP Engineer on urgent basis required for immediate placement.

Please contact tgi17@omantel.net.om

Wanted GP Doctor for clinic.

Ph 98115439

Finance/ Audit professional with 18 yrs Gulf experience can work independently or head the division looking for opening. Contact 92787747 / 92168401.

Required prometric passed or MOH license holder for the following posts Indian male & female GP Doctor, Indian Female dentist, Female Staff Nurse & Pharmacists.

Contact: 97985325 Email: polyclinicomanhr@gmail.com

Contracting Company requires a Sales Manager (Trading) – 1 No. Experience in Building Materials & Specialized Products, Oman/GCC D/L. Mail CV : contractingrecruitment1234@ gmail.com

MEDICAL

Accountant Part time up to finalization on monthly basis by Indian CA. All reports, bank loan help, tax & Audit matters, affordable fee.

Contact 92758370

Required Indian or Pakistani calligrapher & Painter (staff accommodation) Contact# 24480487/24483493

SKILLED / UNSKILLED Wanted: Loading and unloading people. Apply - Indians only: Contact: 95451713

SALES / MARKETING A REPUTED TRADING & CONTRACTING CO. requires urgently sales Executive (male) having at least 3 years experience of construction materials in Oman/GCC with valid driving license . Send CV through Fax 24495411 or email: info@styletrading.net

B.Com Graduate 3 yrs experience in Oman driving license looking for accounts/sales. Contact 93645008

SALES / MARKETING Urgently required outdoor salesman for building material, shop.

Contact 99867456 / 24501882 Required Smart, dynamic Sales & Marketing Executive having 2-3 years sales experience in building materials. Omani Driving License and NOC is must. Apply with photograph to E-mail: jobdsint@gmail.com.

Contracting Company requires Outdoor Salesman (Trading) – 2 Nos. Experience in selling Building Materials in Oman/GCC with D/L solicited. Mail CV : contractingrecruitment1234@gmail. com Required Smart, dynamic Sales & Marketing Executive having 2-3 years sales experience in building materials. Omani Driving License and NOC is must. Apply with photograph to E-mail: jobdsint@gmail.com.

Required outdoor sales man in construction and oilfield sector with valid GCC D/L. # 92830110 Email : contact@absmct.com Vacancy for Marketing Executive for TOP CLEAN LAUNDRY in Muscat, Whoever has got experience in the above field. Contact issa. alsuqri@gmail.com, GSM: 99370072 Wanted designer & Salesman for Advertising CO. With Oman D/L. Contact: 96440587 / 94055643 Sales Executive Industrial products : 2-3 yrs of exp. with good communication & computer skills. D/L is must. Send resume to salescvv@hotmail.com Looking for Outdoor Salesman for heavy equipment spare parts.

Contact - 93292015, Email: mail.om@gulfcenter.co

Indian male, Accountant, B.Com, 1 yr experience in Accounts.

Contact 98295101 Omani female exp. in Accounts & shipping & Secretary & PRO, job knowledge in Computer with Oman D/L. Contact 91161736 Senior Document Controller, male, Indian, MCA 9+ yrs experience as Document controller in oil & gas sector seeks job as Senior Document controller. Contact 95388197, Email : rojanchristopher@gmail.com Filipino Male 26 years old, Certified Public Accountant, Bachelor of Science in Accountancy with 5 yrs of experience now on visit visa, Looking for suitable opening.

Contact: +968 91278583 Email: kennethalcedo07@gmail.com Accountant Indian male B.Com with 2 years of experience currently on visiting visa seeks suitable placement. Contact: 94649272 Email ID: sherin.am01@gmail.com Indian 24 years MBA finance 2 years experience seeking suitable placement. Contact: 9822253 Indian female B.Tech (EEE) MBA finance with 1and half years experience as Bank Officer in India seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 91358676 / 98157895 Email: sujivu88@gmail.com An Indian Lady Chartered Accountant with five years experience (including articleship), on family visa in Oman looking for a suitable job.

Please Contact 9621 0347 / 9943 5346, shincycrajan@gmail.com Indian male, 27 years, M. Com, having 2years experience in Accounts looking for suitable position. Presently on visit visa. Contact 93455055| gibingeorge88@gmail.com

Accountant Indian male 31 yrs Accounts up to finalization, 9 yrs experience (7 yrs in Oman) with D/L & NOC seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 99582979 Part time accountant services available to handle all accounts related work up to finalization.

Contact 96247295 Accountant having 4 yrs experience looking job. Contact: 99867456 Email: ashkar7673@gmail.com Part time Accountant with 15 yrs exp in accounts, finance audit taxation. Contact: 95857199 Energetic Finance & Audit Manager / Chief Accountant, C.A , MBA ,ACCA , CPA..15 yrs in GULF , Expert in Banking, Financing, Profit Maximizations, Admin, Biz Developments ,All ERPs Software’s, 15yrs Audit Exp. with Big 5 , NOC & Driving License Call 94403270 – 94504505 Indian female Accountant with 5 yrs Gulf exp in accounts, audit, Admin payroll. Contact: 96263157 Jordanian Accountant (ACPA) with more than 15 yrs experience in Oman (Accounts, Purchase & finance). Contact: 92881223 Email: kamal_sarhan@yahoo.com MBA, B.Com CA (finalist) 7 years experience (2 years in Oman) looking for suitable placement in a reputable organization. Expertise in ERP, Tally Quickbooks, peachtree and Excel.

NOC available. Contact: 97736404 Email: adnantahir1990@gmail.com Motivated and energetic male 25 having 4 years of experience in finance with Master’s degree in Economics and CAT Certified seeking opportunity in Accounts/finance/ audit in a reputable organization.

Cell no: 00968-94626209 E-Mail: omerjawedshah@gmail.com

ADMIN Indian Female MBA , 3 Years Experience in Admin MIS , Family Visa. Contact 98234427, jkjsmith01@gmail.com Indian male having 17 yrs experience in Logistics, Purchase, payroll processing & office Admin, UAE D/L seeks suitable position, valid visa till 24th August’15. . Contact 91219303 Indian Male 18 years ( 7 years in Oman ) experience in HR / Admin in Oil & Gas , construction fields with Oman D/L seeks suitable position.

Visa Transfer / NOC available.

Call 92854993.

Indian male 2+yrs oman exp in HR. joing immediatly. release available.

Contact :93671437 HR.Admin, Indian male..2+ Oman exp..joining immediately..

Contact 93671437 Purchase, Admin, Indian male, 15 yrs Gulf experience.

Contact 95435370 HSE Admin experience for 10 years in GCC with valid D/L seeking to join a reputed firm. NOC available.

Contact: 99626821 Indian female, 29 yrs, MBA (HR) 4 yrs exp in HR & Admin seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 95619537

S AT U R DAY, AU G U S T 1 5, 2 0 1 5

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DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED MEDICAL Medical - Staff Nurse (male) with NOC and license, experience 6+ yrs.

Contact: 98680299 Email: georgevaikom@gmail.com

ADMIN 14 years of Gulf experience in HR / Admin & logistics fluent in Arabic / English with D/L looking for suitable position. Contact: 95824598 Master degree HRM professional having excellent experience in finance and management and having 8 yrs experience looking for suitable placement. Contact: 92955453 / 91213269

DRIVER Looking for driving job. Contact 98219182 LMV Driver, 8 yrs exp. (Keralite).

Contact 93412587 Light duty driver/ salesman looking for job, with Oman Driving license. Contact 91389466 Looking for a job as Driver, with 9 yrs experience in Oman, language : Arabic/ English/ Hindi.

Contact 92517532

ENGG. / TECHNICAL 24Yrs, B.E (Mechanical), having 3 Yrs experience as a Piping Engineer, Seeking suitable job in Oman.

Contact: +919965885511 (India), +96898989716(Oman), Email : nandhamek@gmail.com Indian female (M. Tech – power system) having Gulf experience, currently on family visa seeking suitable placement in Oman.

Contact: 94306164 Electrical Engineer, Indian male, 29 yrs having 5 yrs of experience in industrial automation & utility maintenance in India (MRF tyres) seeks suitable placement.

Contact 92789995, Email : akhilabrahamlktr@gmail.com Experienced Electrical Technician, with Oman driving license looking for suitable placement.

Contact 96103843 Electrical and Electronics Engineer with one year experience and GCC licence holder seeking a job mail – shyjalpk@gmail.com

Diploma in Mech.Engg. Indian Female - with great experience in Quality Control, (QA/QC) Auto CAD, Primavera, CATIA, Pro E, seeking job. Currently in family visa Contact: 94526980/96510532 B.Com MBA, Indian male 2 years experience looking for suitable job.

Contact: 94718663 Email: naveelkhan524@gmail.com B.Tech Mechanical Engineer (HVAC) 2 years experience in India.

Contact: 97654489 Email: nikhilchandpm@gmail.com Sudanese male Telecommunication Engineer looking for job.

Contact: 94537607 Electrical Engineer 5 years of exp in construction companies, NOC available Indian. Contact: 92641757 Indian male B.Tech Mechanical Engineer 1 year experience seeking suitable placement, available immediately. Contact: 93907707 Email: jubinkasim@gmail.com

Driver, 10 yrs. Contact 94260369 Light Driver, 5 yrs experience looking for job. Contact 92617293 Light driver 5 years exp Education B.A language English, Arabic & Hindi. Contact : 98522914 / 91615715 Indian (Kerala) light driver seeking for job 4 years exp in Oman.

Contact 95844147 Driver available with car.

Contact: 96652352 Sri Lankan driver. Contact: 97387112 Light duty driver, 8 yrs exp.

Contact: 96736744

DRAUGHTSMAN 3D Draughtsman 25 years Indian male having 4 years experience.

Contact: 93746877

DESIGNER Experienced Graphics Designer with 6+ years of international exposure in Middle East & Asia looking for job. Valid Omani D/L. 97615584.

Sr Designer, Civil & Structural (oil & gas) / Site Supervisor Indian male, 21 years experience in design field with driving license seeks suitable placement N.O.C available.

Contact: 92684051 Email: babyshibu@yahoo.co.in

ENGG. / TECHNICAL Keralite, Indian, Diploma in Mechatronic, PG Diploma in Industrial automation (PLC SCADA DCS) interest field. Email : sajasvp@gmail.com Civil Engineer BSc -7 years experience with constructions companies - 2 years in Oman - qualified as a project Engineer- Fluent in Arabic & English - Contact 98078095 Project Manager / Senior Engineer, Indian Male BE Civil, 21yrs experienced including Oman looking for the Job Contact +918939295181 Email I’D : sanja_bala@yahoo.co.in 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 Civil Engineer, more than 6 yrs experience in Supervision, site management, QS, Engineering software with valid Oman driving license.

NOC available. Contact 91761364, Email : a-shaqfa@hotmail.com Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineer, 26 yrs, Masters from Singapore, Bachelors from India. Having 2 yrs work experience in Oman, with Valid Oman driving license. available immediately.

Contact: 95498953 Indian male 25yrs B.E in Electronics and Communication Engineering with 2 yrs experience D/L. Email : azee245ec@gmail.com, Contact 94188216

Indian male, 30 yrs, Diploma in Civil Engineer, 5 yrs exp. at building construction & consulting company with Oman driving license.

NOC available seeks suitable placement. Contact 95989500, cv.shihabedappal@gmail.com Indian male 25MBA having 4years Gulf experience in Coordination with contracting company .NOC Available.

Looking for(Store,Coordination,Admin ,Backoffice) Jobs Ph:95405885 Indian male Electronic Technician, 7 yrs experience, CCTV Technician seeks suitable job, now on visit visa.

Contact 98353542 / 99179853 Indian male, B.Tech, B.Tech (Electronics) MBA (Marketing) having 1 yr experience as Deputy Manager Sales in Fortune 100 MNC currently on visit visa seeks suitable job.

Contact 96967234, Email: lijotitus111@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 Indian male MBA 13 yrs exp in Oman (8 yrs in Tech Documentation 5 yrs in Project coordination) Administration, seeks suitable placement. Visa transfer / NOC available.

Contact : 93069441 Civil Engineer BSc-Total Experience 6 years-2 years in Oman, experience in site work & Structural Design & Technical office. #97983610 Bangladeshi male, B.Sc, Engg. in Civil total 9 yrs experience, 2.5 yrs as Contractor Engg. & 3.5 yrs as consultant Engr, total 6 yrs exp in Oman seeking a job.

Contact Mobile 95540721, Email : sheikwet@gmail.com Civil Engineer, 10 yrs exp. in building residential M.O.E, M.O.D, Stp looking for suitable placement. NOC available. Good knowledge AutoCAD, computer MS Office, Excel, making B.O.Q. all type of civil work related, building supervision. Contact 99471944, engrzagar@gmail.com HSE, 10 yrs Logistics Site Coordination consultancy valid Oman D/L, PDO driving permit. Contact 92565093 Indian male, Supervisor Electrician Diploma 8 yrs in Oman. NOC available. Contact 95057068, jratheesh@yahoo.com BE Civil Graduate /Male – More than 18 years of experience in Infrastructure in India,UAE and Oman. looking for a suitable job in Oman.

Mob :98294123 Email: sandeepj02@gmail.com Egyptian Civil Engineer-total experience 6 years - 1 year @ Oman-I have good experience in Technical office & site Works.

Contact number: 00968 94682217 Electrical Engineer bachelor degree having 6+ years experience of Gulf and professional license available to join. Contact: 98063081 Email: imran.engr08@gmail.com

BE in ECE Indian female currently on visit visa looking for suitable job.

Contact: 94767662 Email: chaithanyankotian10@gmail.com Civil Engineer B.E 12 years experience with valid Oman driving license. Contact: 93843448 Mechatronic Engineer (UK) with business operations PG Certificate (UK) & piping Engineering (IIT) looking for vacancy, with Oman driving license. Contact 99278195, email : justin_johns123@hotmail.com Mechanical Engineer, Indian male, 24 yrs, having 1 yr plant experience currently on visit visa, looking for suitable job. Contact 92835957, rafeekmohammed84@gmail.com Indian female, Electronics and telecommunication Engineer, currently on family visa looking for suitable openings. Contact: 95020425 Electrical Engineer, Indian, exp. in MEP (AutoCAD)# 99079140 / 98205818 Civil Project Engineer exp 10 yrs.

Contact: 92673432 Email: arifjamalkhan8@gmail.com Telecommunication Maintenance Engineer Sudanese male 2 years experience in HUAWEI hardware field cabins good communication English & Arabic. Contact :+ 968 96433495 / +968 94756295 Email: muzamilawadalla@gmail.com Indian male 23, Mechanical Engineer, 1 year experience, knowledge in HVAC currently on visit visa looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 95434381 Email: shuhaibusman313@gmail.com Indian Male, IT Support Engineer, 2 yrs in Oman & 5 yrs Indian experience. Contact 97311847 Indian male 24 years B.E mechanical 2 years exp. or visit visa.

Contact: 99247326 Civil Engineer B.E, 5.5 years experience with Omani D/L. # 96785311 Electrical Engineer 2 years experience (Indian) construction (building) looking suitable placement.

Contact 00968 92596672 Email: kundara.renjith@gmail.com Indian Male, Diploma in Civil Engineer working as a Project engineer with 7years of experience looking for suitable job. Contact- 92636569 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 SAP – SCM.MM Consultant B.Tech.

(Chemical), from NIT, working with oil industry, seeks employment.

Contact: 98049288 Btech computer science graduate 2015 passout.. Android application marketing.. Having good communication skills and mindset to work in a team. Contact 91024385 Electrical Eng. Degree (MEP) need suitable job of construction 12 yrs exp.

Email: mohd.ateeq.khan@gmail.com

EDUCATION Indian female, M.Sc, M.Phil.

Chemistry, 3 yrs Teaching experience currently on visit visa, seeks suitable position. Contact 96916534 / 91969756 Indian lady M.Com, B.Ed looking for openings in teaching.

Contact 97668603 Indian female, English teacher, MA,B.Ed,CELTA, 5+years experience, looking for suitable placement.# 99642462, kalcky@yahoo.com

HOSPITALITY Indian female 40 yrs, MBA, Oman driving license with experience in service industry / business development is looking for suitable job.

Contact : 98007311 Diploma holder in Aviation Hospitality & travel management, Indian male seeking for suitable position, presently in Oman. Contact 97309707 4 Years experienced (Money exchange services & Hospitality services in Oman & India) - Indian male 27 years, graduate in Hospitality science, fluent in English, Hindi & Arabic seeks suitable placement. #91383167

IT Indian male, MCA completed certificate come in Oracle, 10g, experienced as Software developer (Php) worked CSS HTML, codesigner seeking suitable position in IT field. Email: mohamedashif786@gmail.com Contact: 99153840 Sudanese female IT Tech. Support, Demographic, English fluent exp.

11.6 yrs. Contact: 96659392 Indian (f) with 7 yrs exp in software development (2.5 yrs Oman exp) good knowledge in .net and MSSQL Server seeks suitable placement.

Contact : 93276784 email: sanalkumar63@gmail.com B. Tech (CSE) Oracle, DBA Indian female 23 yrs seeking suitable placement now on visiting visa Contact : 91873454 / 99508485. email : shahanasebi@gmail.com Indian female, BCA, MCA, SAP ABAP certification, ASP.Net Certification 2 yrs experience, looking for a suitable opportunity.

Contact 99109121.

Indian visit visa, Network / System Engineer switches, routers, servers, load balancers 5 yrs of exp holds B.E (ECE), CCNA looking for good opportunity. Contact: 91911792 Email: arafakdnl@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS Indian male 26 yrs Graduate, 2 yrs exp as logistics Coordinator looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 96944298 Indian female, having 9 years experience in Logistics and Sales co ordinator. Experience in SAP, MS office, holding Oman driving license.

Currently on Visit Visa, looking for suitable placement.

Contact 95251911 Indian male looking for indoor, sales, accountant, storekeeper, office assistant.

Contact 98295101 Management Professional accountable, responsible for profitable management can handle the entire operations, HR/Recruitment, Business development & Sales & marketing & etc, Great organizational skills with over 23+yrs exp. in Bombay, Saudi Arabia, Dubai-UAE & Oman(11yrs) as General Manager - Publications, Printing,Media. open to any industry, can Join immediately w/NOC. Contact : +968 98864706/99574638 Mail : akdas_uae@yahoo.com 10 yrs exp in Oman in logisticshave Oman D/L-looking for suitable placement. Contact 96410767 ; email: harishkts@yahoo.com Indian Female POST GRADUATE .

One Year experience seeking suitable Job Contact :97792820 Email: pnjli.1991@gmail.com

Female Nurse- Indian, Total 14 yrs. experience,6 yrs. in KSA, Prometric passed, ready to join immediately.

Contact 95525004 & 98146565 Looking for job as office boy + driver going to visit within this month Oman Muscat working experience 10 years. Contact: 968 97859837 BA degree Nursing professional having excellent looking for suitable placement. Contact:: 92955453 /91213269 GP Doctor Yemeni national-male, with 4 years of work experience.

Mobile:00966531598754 Email: alsyaniramzy@gmail.com A Pakistani lady, having M.A Islamiyat at B.ED Degree, 7 years Teaching experience. All documents are ready, looking for job in school or private firm. Contact: 96534115 Email: alex_ali1@yahoo.com

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR Indian Male 9 years experience in Purchase/Supply Chain with Oman D/L looking for a suitable opening in Construction/ Oil & Gas Industry.

Contact 91124175 MIB Post Graduate /male – more than 9 years of experience in shipping & Logistics in middle east (Liner Section) looking for a suitable job in Oman. .Mob :( India) 919400043894, Email: jaise81@gmail. com, Oman 99899627

SALES / MARKETING MBA (Marketing/ HR) with 4.5 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 MBA, BBA (Marketing), Certificates in NEBOSH, IOSH, MEDIC FIRST AID. 2 years work experience as BDE in HSE firm. Phone - 94362502, Email - libinakurisinkal@gmail.com Indian on visit visa, having 5 yrs exp. in procurement / purchase in KSA with valid Saudi driving license. Contact 95438201 Looking for job as Salesman at any shop. Contact 96930922 Male, BA with D/L, 6 yrs exp. in Oman seeks suitable job in Sales & Inventory & procure. Contact 92191026 Expert in Sales Marketing & promotions, having D/L of Oman, good communication skills in Arabic & English. Contact 92262680 Indian male 8yrs experience in Purchase looking for a suitable placement with N.O.C. Contact : 95621614 Female, 5 yrs experience in software and 1 yr experience in administration, looking for any official job full time or part time or work from home. Contact: 00968 91711326 Email: shetty.sapna22@gmail.com Indian female high School Teacher having 30 years experience, currently on visit visa, looking for suitable openings. Contact: 95020425 B.Com Graduate having 5 years of experience in purchase & sales with valid Oman driving license looking for suitable job. Contact: 97302353 Indian male B.Com & MBA Graduate 11 years experience airline travel & tourism, Sales & Marketing in Dubai & Oman with driving license NOC available. Contact: 92552612 Email: mazmanu1@gmail.com Indian male 27 years, B.Tech Graduate having good work experience with valid Oman D/L looking for a suitable opening as Sales Engineer.

Contact: 91472953 Email: harees.rasheed.2014@gmail.com Sales and marketing - male 27 yrs, 2 years experience seeking suitable placement. Contact: 95642740 Email: shaijichakkara@gmail.com

TOURS & TRAVELS Indian female 24 yrs, Bachelor in Travel & Tourism and 1 year exp in Oman as ticketing executive. GDSSabre, Amdeus, Galilio seeking suitable job.

Contact- 95883404 11 yrs experience in travel field B.Com, IATA, MCSE working for Qatar Airways, Sales reservation ticketing driving license & NOC available. Contact 92954613

MISCELLANEOUS B.Com graduate, 11 years experience in Accounts, 9 years Oman experience , Oman valid driving license, looking for suitable post.

Mob:92758404 NOC Available.

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 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 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, 32 yrs, MBA-HR, Trainer & Faculty worked on Omanisation & nationals development activities with 10 yrs of experience seeking suitable job. Contact : saiprasad_18@yahoo.com,93891401 Female MBA gold medalist, with computer proficiency, Oman driving license looking for job opportunity in event management companies in Muscat. Ph : 99012949 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 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 Male 22 Years , Graduation In Electronics Seeking Jobs In Supervisory , Sales & Sales Co-ordination Fields , Good Communication Skill # 96141317, E-mail: akhilek5@gmail.com Indian female B. Com MBA finance ,5 years experience in oman as an account seeking suitable placement.

Contact 99044292 DIPLOMA+B.E.(CIVIL ENGINEER), Indian, 4 years of experience, currently on visit visa; Seeking Right Position. GSM:91570703.

Two year experience in Oman, experience in sales, purchase and system admin, Having GCC license.

Contact number 97475860, Yadhukrishnan08@gmail.com ME. Civil Engineer, Structural Designer, 3 Years Structural Design, 6 Years Str. Engineer Experience, Looking For Structural Designer Position. Iranian Male. Contact: 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.

Contact: 98269366.

Email: sijincleetus@gmail.com 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 Civil site coordinator, Diploma, Male 25, now present in Oman, Seeking job in Oman. # 92887561, jubincivileng@gmail.com

SKILLED/ UNSKILLED TIG+ARC Welder Indian with 16 yrs Middle East exp. in Copper Nickel, Duplex, Inconel, S.S, CS Now on visit visa seeks suitable placement..

Contact : 96502282.

Email: manuangold88@gmail.com

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

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DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

DRIVING

CLASSES Driver for Automatic Transmission. Contact: 99040813

SITUATION WANTMANPOWER SITUATION WANTED SERVICES

SITUATION WANTBUSINESS ED

Spoken English IELTS & Computer classes. Contact: 92088325 / 24799938 Admission started in a private school, Darsait (Mount Zion Group of Institutions CBSE 1) for KG and grade 1 to 4 please register soonest.

Contact: 92088325 / 24799938

COMPUTER

Well established infrastructure works company with full assets & huge value contracts up for immediate sale. Contact 98867530 / 95565039 Canadian Consultancy Company is looking for a Partner in Oman. For more information please contact +973 39990830 New company seek partnership.

Contact: 96996938

WEBSITE General Investors.

Gsm-99674870 Serious investor needed for succeeded furniture company for expansion purposes.

Contact: 99041337 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

SIT.WANTED Driver looking for job exp 2 yrs.

Contact: 98522914 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 House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

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.

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your marble. Contact 24793614/ 99314807

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

Split window cassette AC unit servicing, maintenance.

Contact: 99540621 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

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 Indian male 32 years post Graduate , working as Purchaser cum office coordinator 4 years in Oman having Oman driving license & NOC looking for suitable job in Muscat. #98399415 Email: thankansam@gmail.com

WEB, ERP and Business Intelligence (BI) creation and management at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

Split & window A.C servicing & maintenance. Contact 93769089/95323517 GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing, Contact 99314807/24792998 A/C Maintenance & servicing, fridge, washing machine & dish washer repairing, painting & cleaning services, electrical & plumbing.

Contact: 99447257 / 97014234 / 24504281 Water proofing ABUQABASContact 99320217/24788722

Split & widow unit A.C servicing & repairing. Contact: 99557080 Split & window unit A.C servicing & maintenance. Contact: 96236476 Window & split unit A.C servicing & maintenance.# 93769089 / 95323517 All maintenance & repairs. Contact Rizwan: 99429071, RMPM Trading.

General cleaning in buildings villas all types interior, exterior, polishing dry cleaning carpets, rugs, marble etc. Contact 94134784 / 98598280

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles polishing, carpet shampooing, maintenance. Contact ABU QABAS99320217 /24788722

Civil maintenance - plumbing, electrical, painting, and tiling, interior decorations, shop furnishing and all other maintenance works.

Contact: 97897831 / 92112094 (Indian, Keralite)

General cleaning & Shampooing.

Ocean Center LLC. Contact: 99344723 / 99357908

Air condition maintenance split and window A/C split a/c ducted and package type units.

Contact: 98667326

Pest control Treatments, Cockroaches, Ants ,Rodents & Termites. Ocean Center LLC. Contact: 99357908 / 99344723.

Genuine Ayurvedic treatments & massage, Ayurvedic clinic at AL Khuwair. Contact: 24478618 / 97263637 / 93309131

GOOD NEWS

For AutoCAD drawings and Civil Engg. Q.S works, please contact.92758095

GOOD NEWS Fresh flowers Jasmine Roses Marigold & Garlands for Onam & other festivals, advance booking accepted.

Haridas Nensey. Contact 24750784 Rakhees Raksha Bandhan available thousands Designs. Also special offer at Haridas Nensey Ruwi.

Contact 24750784 Ayurvedic treatment for backache, paralysis, arthritis etc & massage, All Season (Vaidyaratnam). Contact 24475280 / 95371664 / 92504980 www.siddhayur.com FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know more about Islam, please call: 99425598, 99250777, 99353988, 99253818, 99341395, and 99379133. For ladies: 99415818, 99321360, 99730723 Orvisit: www.islamfact.com

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DAILY GUIDE TOURS

SITUATION WANTCARGO

SITUATION WANTED CARGO

RENT A CAR

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain Marine Tours Contact- 98029602, 92808636

TRANSPORTATION Transportation only in Muscat.

Contact 96736975 Transportation any time. Contact 99365092 Transportation. Contact 98178135 Pick & drop anytime in Al Ghubra.

Contact 97681599 Transportation available.

Contact 95570429 Transport. Contact: 95190627 Transportation. Contact: 96538078 Transportation. Contact:98522914 Transportation. Contact 99508282 Car for rent. Contact: 92516090 Silver Car, car for rent. Contact: 96166155 / 98402662

Butter cup rent a car competitive prices new car 2016.

Contact: 97249449

Transportation. Contact: 98244078 Pick & Drop any time. # 97014786

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DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624