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HOW MUCH CAN SUCH STUFF SAY ABOUT YOU? University of Cambridge and Stanford University researchers found that taking stock of an individual’s Facebook likes creates a strikingly-accurate personality assessment — even more accurate than an assessment done by friends and family. >B5

SATURDAY, January 17, 2015 / 26 Rabi Al Awal 1436 AH timesofoman.com

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His Majesty receives thanks

Close shave ROP launches e-passport for Oman Air Omani e-passport was rective Committee said that the passengers MUSCAT: launched on Thursday by Royal e-passport includes a chip that alTimes News Service MUSCAT: It could have been a bad day for passengers of Oman Air flight WY 131 but for the pilots’ good work.

“The quick thinking and professionalism of the pilots of Oman Air Flight WY 131 averted any significant damage to the aircraft after its landing gears got stuck in grass and mud at Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport on Thursday, January 15, 2015,” Oman Air tweeted on Friday.

“No passenger or crew were hurt in the incident and the aircraft departed from Paris to Muscat at 01.10 on Friday,” it added.

“Oman Air regrets the inconvenience caused to the passengers due to the delayed departure,” it further tweeted.

Oman Police (ROP) at a ceremony held under the patronage of Sayyid Hamoud bin Faisal Al Busaidi, Minister of Interior.

The new e-passport design is derived from the Omani heritage of the dagger and Islamic and Arabic decorations along with three dimensional drawings of the most prominent landmarks of Oman.

Brigadier Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Jabri, director of human resources at the ROP and head of the Omani e-passport Project Di-

ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has received a cable of thanks from Tammam Salam, Prime Minister of the Lebanese Republic in reply to His Majesty’s congratulatory cable on the occasion of his country’s 71st Independence Anniversary.

In his cable, the Lebanese Prime Minister expressed his appreciation and gratitude for His Majesty the Sultan’s congratulations, sincere feelings and best wishes. >A3

lows officials to read the data of the passport electronically, as well as verify its credibility.

He explained that with a highresolution digital photo, the epassport meets the specifications of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). It will be linked to the electronic gate system. He added that the registration for the new passport will be conducted through mobile units or by filling forms, which can be obtained from the ROP website. -ONA

A JOURNEY THROUGH CULTURAL LANDSCAPES Muscat Festival, which kicked off on Thursday, takes visitors on a journey where they feel lost in time. ‘Oman Thrills’, the theme of this year’s Festival, tempts people to take another round inside and explore more of the mysteries of life in Oman during the past. Photos-Talib Al Wahibi See also >A2

FOR MORE PHOTOS

TOP THREE INSIDE STORIES

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Social media leads to rise in divorce cases

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Social media have been playing an indirect role in the high rate of divorce among Omanis, a study conducted by the SQU, entitled “The modern social media and the high divorce rate in the Omani society,” has revealed.

The study says that inappropriate use of the social media leads to marital issues between spouses exploding to become major differences, and cause for eventual separation. >A3

OMR1m losses suffered by duped firms After counting their losses, the aggrieved parties have decided

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to submit a petition

Kerala studies pension for female expats

to the Ministry of Commerce

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Indian women working in Gulf Cooperation Council countries are likely to get a pension as the women’s commission from the Indian state of Kerala is conducting a study in this regard. The KWC will conduct the study in co-operation with the NonResident Keralites Association (Norka), a Kerala government entity created for the welfare of overseas Keralites. >A3

and Industry

REJIMON K

reji@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Companies duped by a trading firm in Muscat have calculated their losses to be more than OMR1 million. “As more cheques have started to bounce during the last few weeks, our initial estimate is that the loss would be more than OMR1 million,” the owner of a company who lost OMR11,000 told Times of Oman.

During the first week of December, a trading firm which was operating in Al Khuwair and had a warehouse in Barka shut down without clearing its dues for goods purchased on credit.

According to officials of the duped companies, the trading firm was stocking goods from tissue paper to steel rods and even the iPhone 6.

“We have decided to submit a joint petition to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. A few,

MARKET

Oman Oil arm’s $1.3b tight gas plant opens

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Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production (OOCEP) has announced the commercial export of 27 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas and 2,500 barrels per day of condensates from its newly developed block 60 tight gas field in Abu Butabul, located around 500 kms away from Muscat. >B1

including me, have also lodged a complaint with the Royal Oman Police. We are working together. We hope the fraudsters will be nabbed soon,” said the company owners.

“We planned to submit (a) joint petition, but we heard that big companies which have lost huge amounts are fighting the case alone,” said one of the owners who had been duped.

The trading company was reportedly owned by a young Omani, but the dealings were conducted by an Omani woman and an Indian manager. Many major companies and small and medium enterprises have fallen prey to the fraud.

An Omani woman entrepreneur had sold goods worth around OMR50,000 and an electronic gadget sale company lost around OMR65,000.

A copy of the fraudulent trading company’s registration paper shows that they were allowed to trade in household appliances, perfumes, cosmetics and toilet soaps in addition to clothing, ready-made garments, novelties and food products. They were also allowed to trade in construction material and even motor vehicle spare parts.

While a few have filed complaints with the police, many are waiting for their cheques to bounce before doing so.

In 2013 also, a trading company in Ghala had reportedly shut its operations leaving dozens of businessmen in the lurch. In that case, businessmen and companies were duped of approximately OMR150,000.

H U M A N I TA R I A N E F F O R T S

Four Guantanamo prisoners from Yemen arrive in Sultanate for temporary stay

Belgium foils terror plot

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MUSCAT/WASHINGTON: To support international efforts for freeing detainees from Guantanamo on humanitarian grounds, the Sultanate’s Government, in coordination with the Yemeni authorities, allowed four Yemenis to arrive in the Sultanate on Thursday for a temporary stay, a responsible source at the Foreign Ministry told Oman News Agency on Thursday.

According to Reuters, the Pentagon sent off on Wednesday five Yemenis held at Guantanamo prison to foreign countries – four to Oman and one to Estonia despite Republican calls for a moratorium on such movements.

The Pentagon identified the detainee sent to Estonia as Ahmed Abdul Qader, about 31, who had been held for 12 years at the Guan-

tanamo facility. Those sent to Oman were Al Khadr Abdallah Muhammad Al Yafi, about 44, who had been held for 13 years; Abdul Rahaman Atah Mahmood Shubatti, about 32 and imprisoned for 12 years; Fadil Husayn Salih Hintif, about 33 and imprisoned for 12 years; and Mohammed Ahmed Salam, 34, who was detained for 12 years.

US officials said all five Yemenis, held for a dozen or more years at the military prison at a US Navy base in Cuba, had been cleared for release nearly five years ago by a multi-agency task force that included intelligence, diplomatic and military officials.

The transfer took place just a day after several Republican US senators, including Kelly Ayotte of

New Hampshire, proposed legislation to place a moratorium on the release of most of the Guantanamo prisoners, saying they posed too much danger to the United States and its allies.

US President Barack Obama has promised to close the internationally condemned detention centre, which was opened in 2002 to house detainees in the US campaign against Al Qaeda.

His efforts have been blocked by lawmakers who reject the plan, including Senator John McCain, his Republican opponent in the 2008 presidential election, who said this week 30 per cent of the released detainees have re-entered the fight against the United States.

Obama recently pledged to step up the closure effort, and the ad-

ministration moved 28 prisoners from Guantanamo in 2014, the most since 2009.

122 detainees remaining The transfer on Wednesday leaves 122 detainees still at the facility. Fifty-four of those, including 47 Yemenis, have been approved for resettlement, while the rest are considered too dangerous to be released.

“We take our obligation to assess the security risk of detainees seriously prior to transfers. As a result, more than 90 per cent of detainees transferred during the Obama administration live quietly around the world,” said Paul Lewis, the Defence Department’s special envoy for closing Guantanamo. -Reuters with inputs from ONA

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015

OMAN

SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY VISIT

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

Live museum of Oman’s heritage

While Al Amerat Park dazzles visitors with its interesting features, Naseem Garden entertains them with a series of fun features and activities as part of Muscat Festival, which comes to an end on February 14 – Photographs by TALIB AL WAHAIBI and ELHAM POURMOAMMADI/TIMES OF OMAN

ELHAM POURMOAMMADI elham@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: A ‘live museum of the Oman’s heritage’ is perhaps, the best way to describe the most enchanting part of Muscat Festival, which kicked off to a modest start on Thursday.

A graceful ancient Omani dhow at the centre of the Heritage Village in Al Amerat Park takes you on a journey to the past where you feel lost in time, staring at the calloused hands of old Omani seamen twisting and tying the rope, knot after knot.

Chatting with visitors does not break the deep concentration of these men who amaze everyone with their skills in making fishing nets and weaving ropes, pouring their heart and soul into keeping Oman’s sea traditions alive.

The pleasant fragrance of frankincense, an intrinsic part of Omani culture, along with traditional music and dance, all add to your enjoyment as do the donkey ride and the displayed delicate Omani handicraft.

The scene of Omani women cooking various types of traditional dishes also catches your eyes and makes you want to get a taste of each bit of authentic Omani

culinary delights. A large and rich collection of old items, gathered for around 30 years by an Omani, offers you a chance to delve deeper into history and put your hands on some of the most unique and fascinating items that you have ever seen in your life.

The way to the Heritage Village passes through Oman’s modern life, where the stands of various ministries and institutes remind you of the great progress that Oman has made in recent years in all spheres.

Children expressing their joy at entertainers dressed as popular cartoon characters give you the clue that the Muscat Festival caters to people of all ages and interests.

Oman’s growing emphasis on childhood education is manifested in the fact that the first pavilion in the festival is the Kids Village, where science is explained to children in a fun way. Children can indulge in a broad range of entertaining activities if they stop at this station or participate in the festival’s competitions.

The efforts to highlight the importance of education in the chil-

drens’ section is complemented by a field designed in the shape of a street where children can take a small bike and try to cycle in the right direction while getting exposed to different traffic signs.

“Two to three lives are lost in road accidents in Oman every day,” reads a board at the entrance of the section with an aim to plant the seeds of good driving habits in children from an early age.

Some of the stands are still being set up at Al Amerat Park but some pavilions were already offering their services to visitors, including the stands of the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Bank Muscat and Omantel in addition to National Bank of Oman, Muscat Electricity Distribution Company, Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Oman Air and e.oman.

Interesting contrast Passing through lanes lined with trees adorned with lights, you can see the latest models of cars on display and hear Western music, which provides an interesting contrast to the Heritage Village and makes you admire the Sultanate’s

endeavours to stay true to its traditions while embracing modernity.

While Al Amerat Park dazzles visitors with its interesting features, Naseem Garden entertains visitors with a series of new fun features and activities as part of Muscat Festival, which comes to an end on February 14.

According to Mohsen bin Mohammed Al Sheikh, chairman of the Muscat Municipality and head of the organising committee, the new features in this year’s event include specialised exhibitions, an ice village, an interactive village, a dinosaur village and the marine craft festival.

Al Amerat Park and Naseem Garden receive visitors from 4pm to 11pm, offering them a chance to not only experience Omani traditions firsthand but also to see stands promoting art and culture of other countries.

In fact, you would understand the true meaning of ‘Oman Thrills’, the theme of this year’s Muscat Festival, when the burning fire at the exit of the Heritage Village tempts you to take another round inside and explore more of the mysteries of Oman’s ancient life.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015 3,550 divorce certificates were registered in 2013, compared to 3,570 in 2012. Divorces by Omani couples topped the chart with 3,319 cases, followed by 65 cases of Omanis who had married expatriates National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI)

Social media fuelling marital rift: SQU study The study on marital discord conducted by Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) pointed out that reading and

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OMAN R O YA L C A B L E S

< FROM

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HM receives messages from global leaders

He hailed the fraternal relations binding the two countries, looking forward to enhancing them in all fields to serve the interests of the Omani and Lebanese people.

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has also received a cable of thanks from His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain in reply to His Majesty’s greeting cable on the occasion of the 43rd National Day of Bahrain.

In his cable, King Hamad expressed his utmost appreciation for His Majesty the Sultan’s greetings and best wishes, praying to Allah to grant His Majesty good health and happiness and to achieve further progress and prosperity for the Omani people under his wise leadership, wishing the good relations between the two countries and people further progress.

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has also received a cable of thanks from Prince Albert II of Monaco in reply to His Majesty’s greetings cable on the occasion of his country’s National Day. In his cable, Prince Albert II expressed his utmost thanks and best wishes for His Majesty and the Omani people further progress and prosperity.–ONA

watching social media content often

W E L FA R E P L A N

Kerala mulls plan for NRI women’s pension

plays a role in the spouses’ inclination to officially seek a divorce or a break-up

REJIMON K

reji@timesofoman.com

FAHAD AL MUKRASHI fahad@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Social media have been playing an indirect role in the high rate of divorces among Omani couples, reveals a study conducted by the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU).

The study titled ‘The modern social media and the high divorce rate in the Omani society’ explained that inappropriate use of social media leads to marital discord between spouses exploding into major differences, and then becoming the cause for eventual separation.

The study pointed out that reading and watching social media content often plays a role in the spouses’ inclination to officially

seek a divorce or a break-up.

Moreover, the study advises spouses to think about the consequences before seeking a divorce.

They should try understanding each other’s needs and help to change. Furthermore, the study mentioned that all issues facing couples can be solved with maturity, patience, a give-and-take approach, understanding pain and keeping up hope.

Nice words, treatment and dialogue can also be effective methods in overcoming marital discord in the Omani community, says the study, which confirms that a happy marriage needs an atmosphere of confidence, freedom and mutual

respect, not an atmosphere of constant suspicion, which is extremely catastrophic for any relations.

While there are no figures available for the number of divorces and marriage cases in 2014, the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) showed that 3,550 divorce certificates were registered in 2013, compared to 3,570 in 2012.

Divorces by Omani couples topped the chart with 3,319 cases, followed by 65 cases of Omanis who had married expatriates.

The instances of GCC nationals divorcing Omani wives came third with 47 cases, followed by Omanis divorcing a woman who was a

GCC national in 25 cases. Meanwhile, Khalid Hamdan, a psychologist, told the Times of Oman that establishing centres for couples, advising them about marriage and inculcating a culture of dialogue between couples, will lead to significantly reducing divorce cases.

Khalid added that women have to bear the brunt in a divorce, much more than men, and therefore, they indeed need more assistance from the government.

Khalid called upon couples to open more channels of dialogue while urging them to become less dependent on their smartphones in the house for better understanding and a happy marriage.

MUSCAT: Indian women working in Gulf Cooperation Council countries are likely to get a pension as the women’s commission from the Indian state of Kerala is conducting a study in this regard, said a member of the commission.

“The Kerala Women’s Commission (KWC) is conducting a detailed study about the problems facing Indian women in the Gulf, especially the low-income earning domestic workers, as part of a long-term plan to introduce a contributory pension scheme for them,” said Dr Prameela Devi J, a member of the commission.

The KWC will conduct the study in co-operation with the Non-Resident Keralites Association (Norka), a Kerala government entity created for the welfare of overseas Keralites.

“A comprehensive study is

among the various strategies planned to improve the welfare of South Indian woman in the GCC, especially those in the lower income brackets, who face a bleak future once they return home after working there for many years,” added the member.

“The initial study reveals that women from the lower income group often return home emptyhanded. Our plan is to start a contributory pension scheme for them after studying an ongoing contributory pension scheme for overseas Keralites,” added Prameela Devi.

“I have met three categories of Indian women in the GCC, the lower income group and the middle class housewives whose husbands are working while they sit idle at home. Such ladies have a lot of time but do not know what to do with it,” she said, adding that the proposed study will also cover Keralite women entrepreneurs.

H E R I TA G E C O L L E C T I O N

TOM &JERRY SHOWS AT MCC, QCC FROM JANUARY 31 Majid Al Futtaim has announced that international entertainment icons Tom & Jerry will make their Oman debut at City Centre Muscat and City Centre Qurum, during Muscat Festival.

From January 31st, visitors to City Centre Qurum can enjoy live shows from the cartoons. During the same week, City Centre Muscat will host a Tom & Jerry cheese maze activity, with participants hunting through a dedicated zone and earning a certificate, alongside art activities.—Supplied photograph

Bait Al Zubair artefacts show at Grand Mall concludes today Times News Service MUSCAT: Bait Al Zubair is exhibiting its heritage collection at Muscat Grand Mall till January 17. This is for the first time that Bait Al Zubair is exhibiting their curated selection of pieces from the unique heritage collection in Muscat along with a panel exhibition about the museum at the Muscat Grand Mall.

The exhibition is complemented by a selection where people can hold, feel and examine the historical items. Questions about the museum and artefacts will be answered by Bait Al Zubair’s team.

Paul Doubleday, director of Bait Al Zubair said, “Nowadays, with

the development of technology it is more important than ever that museums and heritage sites connect with the public.

“One way of doing this is by using technology while the other is by getting out of the museum galleries and bringing the collection to the public. We hope that through this exhibition people can get a feel of the wonderful collection we have and be encouraged to come and visit to learn, encounter and feel a part of Oman’s rich heritage and contemporary art.”

The wide range of collections and Omani artefacts displayed at Bait Al Zubair go back a number of centuries and are considered to

be the finest privately owned collections in Oman.

Bait Al Zubair consists of five separate buildings. These are Bait Al Bagh, Bait Al Dalaleel, Bait Al Oud, Bait Al Nahdhah and Gallery Sarah, as well as a garden with a number of traditional features, café and gift shop.

One of the best heritage sites in the country, Bait Al Zubair in Muscat is open to the public from Saturday to Thursday between 9.30am and 6.00pm.

For more information about Bait Al Zubair events and activities join them on Facebook www. facebook.com/bait.alzubair and Twitter and Instagram on: @ Bait_AlZubair

FA M I L I A R I S AT I O N T R I P

Trip highlights India as a complete tourist destination Times News Service MUSCAT: India is a complete destination, offering historical monuments and cultural events, national parks, luxury trains and also showcasing development in technology and best medical facilities.

Air India and the Government of India’s Tourism Department recently organised an exclusive familiarisation trip for Omani travel trade and media professionals. It enabled the participants to enjoy and experience the various aspects of India and also to experience the brand new Air India.

Seven participants, including five Omani nationals were a part of this week-long tour which began on January 9. During the week, the group visited the major tourist hubs of India, including Hyderabad, Delhi, Jaipur and Agra.

In Hyderabad they saw the ‘Sound and Light Show’ at the Golconda Fort and visited the Ramoji Film City, where film shootings take place. In Delhi, they covered both New and Old Delhi and visited historical monuments.

In Jaipur, the group visited City Palace, Amber Fort and enjoyed

FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE: During the week, the group of professionals visited the major tourist hubs of India, including Hyderabad, Delhi, Jaipur and Agra.– Suppplied photograph

an elephant ride. Later they travelled to Agra to see the world famous monument of eternal love the Taj Mahal.

India has many patient-friendly hospitals, providing state-of-theart medical facilities. Keeping

that in mind, India is encouraging people of all nationalities to benefit from this facility at a very reasonable cost. To familiarise them with these facilities, the group was taken to the Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad and the All India Institute

of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Hospital in New Delhi. With more and more Omani families preferring India as a destination for medical treatment, the visit to these hospitals by our participants will enable them to assist people opting for

medical treatment in India.

This tour was planned with the support of Indian Embassy, Muscat. The participants also experienced the ‘Tourist Visa on Arrival’ facility recently introduced for Omani nationals vis-

iting India. The TVOA facility, recently launched by the Indian government, allows visitors from 43 countries, including Oman, to apply for a visa online and avail the visa on arrival at nine major airports in India.

The initiative, launched at the start of this year, would benefit travellers planning a vacation along with their families throughout this year, says BP Kulkarni, country manager for Air India, Oman.

Air India has achieved global standards by entering into the ‘Star Alliance’. Currently Air India operates 24 flights per week from Muscat to various destinations in India. It offers daily nonstop flights to Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai apart from thrice weekly to Hyderabad and Bangalore.

Its subsidiary Air India Express operates 19 flights per week from Muscat to various destinations on the West Coast of India and 2 flights from Salalah to south of India. Air India Express is the only direct operator from Salalah to India. Together, they operate 45 flights per week, making Air India the second largest operator in Muscat.

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015

REGION

Vanessa Marzullo and Greta Ramelli were kidnapped in July while volunteering as healthcare assistants in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo

Libya parties agree to more talks; announce ceasefire United Nations extends talks into next week, GNC chief in meetings in Turkey, European Union calls negotiations ‘last chance’

TRIPOLI: Libyan factions agreed to continue United Nationsbacked negotiations in Geneva next week over ending the country’s political crisis, the UN said.

Key representatives from a self-declared government based in Tripoli stayed away from this week’s talks, however, in a possible sign of movement, its main armed groups battling forces of Libya’s recognised government declared a ceasefire.

Turmoil Nearly four years after a NATObacked revolt ousted Muammar Gaddafi, Libya is in turmoil with two rival governments and two parliaments backed by allied armed factions who Western governments fear may drag the country into civil war.

The internationally recognised government of Prime MinisTERRORIST GROUPS

Bahrain arrests suspects linked to Syria extremists MANAMA: Bahraini authorities arrested suspects who have returned from Syria and are allegedly linked to “terrorist” groups, the interior ministry said on Friday.

Bahrain, home to the US Fifth Fleet, is among the countries that have joined the international coalition against the IS group in Syria and Iraq. Bahrain’s interior ministry announced that authorities have arrested “a group of people who were recently in Syria and are suspected of contacts with terrorist groups abroad.” It said that investigations were ongoing, without giving further details in the statement carried by the BNA news agency.

The conflict in Syria, which began in March 2011, is believed to have drawn in thousands of foreign fighters. Militants have flocked to Syria to support the rebels, while Shiite fighters—mainly from Lebanon and Iraq—support Assad’s forces. — AFP

ON ROAD TO PEACE: Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and Head of United Nations Support Mission in Libya Bernardino Leon, centre, poses with delegates for a group photograph after a news conference at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, on Wednesday. – Reuters

ter Abdullah Al Thinni and the elected House of Representatives have operated out of the east after a faction, Libya Dawn, took over Tripoli in the summer, set up its own government and reinstated the old parliament known as the GNC. A delegation from the House of Representatives and parties allied to Tripoli attended this week’s talks in Geneva, but major representatives from Libya Dawn and the GNC parliament refused to join, casting doubt over efforts to form a unity administration.

“Participants agreed to return to Geneva next week for a new round of dialogue after holding the necessary consultations,” the UN said in a statement late on

Thursday. “The mission and the participants expressed their hope that all the invited representatives, including those who did not attend this round, would take part in the talks next week.”

Libya Dawn battling Thinni’s troops on several fronts and an allied group which has been trying to seize two eastern oil ports declared a ceasefire, said Ahmed Hadia, spokesman of a Misrata-based armed group called Central Shield.

“We are also seeking now to open safe corridors for aid in different conflict areas,” he said.

GNC head, Nouri Abusahmain, a key figure in the Tripoli faction, was to visit Turkey on Friday for talks with President Tayyip Er-

political allies who once fought together against Gaddafi have since turned against each other in a scramble for control.

The UN talks are aimed at forming a unity government, ceasing hostilities and putting a transition to democracy on track. But the Tripoli-based forces complained this week that the process had been rushed, and said they would vote on Sunday whether to go to Geneva or not.

Fighting over the country’s oil infrastructure has closed two major oil ports in the east and slashed Libya’s oil output to around 300,000 barrels per day from the 1.6 million bpd produced before the civil war toppled Gaddafi in 2011. - Reuters

UN food aid delivery to Homs starts GENEVA/BEIRUT: UN aid workers have started delivering food to tens of thousands of people trapped in a besieged district of Homs city in Syria following negotiations with warring parties, officials said on Friday.

In the absence of a nationwide peace deal, relief groups have tried to get localised agreements with fighters on all sides of the conflict to get convoys through to people in battle zones.

The United Nations did not give details of the Homs agreement but local opposition activists told Reuters there was a temporary ceasefire.

Food was sent to Al Wa’er on Thursday, Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the UN’s World Food Programme, told journalists in Geneva.

“Following extensive negotiations between parties to the conflict, a first convoy carrying 8,500 family food rations were delivered to the besieged area of Al Wa’er,”— enough food for about 42,500 people for one month, Byrs said.

Two more convoys over the coming days will deliver food to 75,000 people, she added, 30 percent of the estimated quarter of a million people the United Nations says are trapped in besieged areas across Syria. A UN official in Geneva said that the WFP rations were aboard an 18-truck convoy that also delivered some medical supplies and non-food items from other U.N. agencies. Al Wa’er has witnessed an intensification of shelling and heavy clashes which prevented all access for humanitarian deliveries, WFP said in a statement. — Reuters

SECOND SESSION

Kerry, Zarif bid to narrow nuclear issue gaps PARIS: US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian counterpart Mohammad Jawad Zarif met in Paris on Friday to try to narrow gaps over Iran’s nuclear programme, their second session in three days with broader negotiations due to resume soon.

Iran and six world powers - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - have renewed their quest for an elusive nuclear deal after negotiators failed for the second time in November to meet a self-imposed deadline.

Zarif and Kerry met for about an hour to follow up on a lengthy meeting on Wednesday in Geneva in search of an accord seen as crucial to reducing the risk of a wider Middle East war.

Scheduled meetings “Both Secretary Kerry and Foreign Minister Zarif were in town for previously scheduled meetings. They agreed to stay in touch and plan to meet again in the coming weeks,” a senior US State Department official said with-

NEGOTIATIONS: French Foreign Affairs minister Laurent Fabius, right, and Iranian Foreign Affairs minister Javad Zarif at the Quai d’Orsay, in Paris, on Friday. Earlier, Zarif met US Secretary of State John Kerry and to discuss negotiations for a nuclear deal, a US official said. – AFP

out elaborating. Kerry was in the French capital to honour the 17 victims killed in last week’s shooting in France. Zarif was in Paris to meet French Foreign Minister

FREED AID WORKERS

Laurent Fabius, whose government has had a tough stance. Any deal will require consensus.

The major powers hope to persuade Iran to curb its nuclear pro-

gramme, which the West suspects may seek to develop atomic weapons, in exchange for a gradual easing of economic sanctions. Iran says its nuclear programme is

solely for peaceful energy.

Talks are due to resume at political director level in Geneva on Sunday as the two sides look to reach a framework agreement in March and a final long-term deal

by June 30.

In a New Year’s address to the foreign and French diplomatic corps on Friday, President Francois Hollande said there were still unanswered questions about Iran’s uranium enrichment and the production of fissile material that could be used to create a nuclear bomb.

“France wants a definitive agreement, but with a clear line: yes for Iran to have civilian nuclear power, but no to military nuclear power. We will be intransigent on this principle.”

France, a UN Security Council member with veto power, has long held out for strict terms for a deal, trading a loosening of international sanctions on Iran’s oil-based economy in return for commitments by Tehran to show, verifiably, that its nuclear work is as peaceful as it maintains. — Reuters

FIRST FORMAL STEP

Italy denies paying $14m ransom ROME: Italy said on Friday reports that a $14 million (12-million-euro) ransom was paid to free two aid workers kidnapped in Syria were “baseless”, following public criticism, but did not deny directly that a payment had been made.

Vanessa Marzullo and Greta Ramelli were kidnapped in July while volunteering as healthcare assistants in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.

dogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, according to the Turkish government.

Thinni’s government is recognised by the United Nations and Western powers. The Tripoli administration is not, but still controls ministries, airports and some oil facilities.

Most diplomats pulled out of the capital when Libya Dawn took over Tripoli after months of fighting with rival armed groups.

But in October, the Tripoli government’s premier Omar Al Hasi met Turkey’s envoy, the first such public meeting.

The European Union has called the Geneva talks the “last chance” to resolve Libya’s crisis. Rival brigades of former rebels and their

RELIEF

They returned home on Friday.

News of their return was greeted with applause in parliament but also drew unusually heavy criticism from opposition politicians after Arab media reports suggested a ransom of 12 million euros ($14 million) may have been paid to Al Qaeda’s Syrian wing, the Nusra Front.

Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni dismissed the reports, which

he said may have been circulated by the kidnappers. “It surprises me that this conjecture from these sources was given credibility by some without any confirmation,” he told parliament.

He said the government’s approach was in line with the longstanding policy of successive Italian governments and Italy had acted in respect of internationally recognised rules. — Reuters

ICC opens probe into possible war crimes in Palestinian territories AMSTERDAM: Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Friday they had opened a preliminary inquiry into possible war crimes in the Palestinian territories, the first formal step that could lead to charges against Israelis or Palestinians.

On January 1, a day before requesting ICC membership, the Palestinian government asked the prosecutors to investigate alleged crimes committed on its territory since June 13, 2014, the date on which Israel began its latest offensive in Gaza.

Analysis “The office will conduct its analysis in full independence and impartiality,” said the prosecution office in a statement, adding that it was a matter of “policy and practice” to open a preliminary examination after receiving such a referral. “The case is now in the hands of the court,” said Nabil Abuznaid, head of the Palestinian delegation in The Hague. “It is a legal matter now and we have faith in the court system.”

ENDLESS WAIT: Palestinian security guards stand behind the gate of the Rafah border crossing between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt on Friday. – AFP

An Israeli embassy official in The Hague, where the ICC is based, could not immediately comment. A preliminary examination, which could take many years, involves prosecutors assessing the strength of evidence of alleged crimes, whether the court has jurisdiction and how the “interests of justice” would best be served.

Only if that led to a full investigation could charges be brought against officials on either the Israeli or Palestinian side of the conflict.

An initial inquiry could lead to war crimes charges against Israel, whether relating to last conflict in Gaza or Israel’s 47-year-long occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. - Reuters

SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015

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INDIA

Fast reforms to boost economy, assures PM Asserting that development has

the tax system and

Reforms are not an end in itself. Reforms must have a concrete objective. The objective must be to improve the welfare of the people

target subsidies

Narendra Modi

to result in jobs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the government will change rules, reform

Prime Minister

to the needy

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday promised reforms “at top speed” with positive regulatory framework, tax stability and boost to infrastructure to help take the economy to $20 trillion from $2 trillion.

Asserting that development has to result in jobs, he said the government will change rules, reform tax system and target subsidies to the needy.

“A positive regulatory framework, tax stability and ease of doing business are being pushed ahead at top speed...

“We are cutting down on multiple clearances that choke investment. Our complex tax system is crying for reform which we have initiated. I believe in speed, I will push through change at a fast pace.

You will appreciate this in times to come,” he said addressing Economic Times Global Business Summit here.

Maintaining that improvement in governance is a continuous process, Modi said government was making changes wherever as rules and procedures were not

in tune with the needs. After two back-to-back years of below five per cent growth, governance at rock-bottom and a series of scam, the transition of the New Age India has begun, he said.

Uphill task “We have to repair the damage that has happened. Restoring growth momentum will be an uphill task.

It will take hard work, sustained commitment and strong administrative action. But we can overcome the mood of despair,” he said.

Stating that transparency and efficiency in governance and institutional reforms are essential elements for rapid growth, he said the government was “moving fast in designing policies and laws to promote growth”.

Infrastructure, he said, is being given a boost and “new approaches and instruments are being put in place” to attract greater investment in sectors like railways and roads. Outlining his agenda, Modi said fiscal deficit targets will not be breached, inflation will be controlled through firm measures, GST will be implemented and

schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana will be pursued to get poor included in the financial system and the rupee will be made more productive.

Modi said there was no contradiction between doing big ticket items and doing small things.

A massive national programme for computerisation of public distribution system (PDS), right from FCI godowns to ration shops and consumers, will be launched, he said, adding subsidises are needed for poor and there was a need to cut subsidy leakages. Stating that the cash subsidy transfer to users of cooking gas was the world’s largest cash transfer programme, he said, “we plant to introduce direct cash transfers in other benefit schemes.”

“We are committed to achieving the fiscal deficit target announced in the Budget. We have worked systematically in this direction,” he said, adding cutting wasteful expenditure would help achieve the target.

On the role of government, the prime minister said besides being responsible for public goods such as defence, police and judiciary, it was needed to control externali-

ties like pollution, which hurt others, and market monopolies.

“We require competent, efficient and non-corrupt arms of government,” Modi said.

“India is a $2 trillion economy today. Can we not dream of an India with a $20 trillion economy?”

Stating that quick and easy reforms will not be enough for creating a fast growing economy, he said, “Reforms are not an end in itself. Reforms must have a concrete objective. The objective must be to improve the welfare of the people.”

On energy sector reforms, he said transparent allocation of coal and other minerals mines through auctions have been included and “similar reforms are on the way in the power sector” to deliver 24x7 power for all.

“India is being made an attractive destination for investment,” he said, adding relaxation in foreign investment caps in insurance, real estate, defence and railway sectors as well as amendment to the land acquisition law will give a thrust to infrastructure and manufacturing while protecting compensation to farmers. - PTI

CENSOR BOARD CLEARANCE

Controversy over film ‘MSG’ snowballs NEW DELHI: The controversy over the clearance to the film “MSG: The Messenger of God”, snowballed on Friday with another censor board member resigning in support of its Chairperson Leela Samson as government rejected allegations of”coercion” and “interference” in its functioning.

A high alert has been sounded in Punjab and Haryana as protests were staged in Haryana and Delhi against the proposed release of the movie on Sunday.

The controversial Dera Saccha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, on whom the movie is based, claimed at a press conference in Gurgaon in Haryana where it was premiered that it does not target any religious section.

“I have clearly said that I am just human. The acts portrayed in the movie are simply stunts,” he said in an apparent rejection of criticism from Sikh groups.

The clearance by the Appellate Film Certification Tribunal created turbulence in Delhi when Ira Bhaskar, a member of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), decided to resign in solidarity with Samson, who quit last night.

Support Samson had resigned after learning that the Tribunal had cleared the movie for release even though the CBFC had withheld it.

“I have decided to resign.

My resignation has to do with

UP IN ARMS: Members of the Delhi Sikh Committee are prevented from advancing any further by po-

lice and barricades as they shout slogans and protest against a movie starring a controversial sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, in New Delhi, on Friday. - AFP

Leelaji’s decision to step down.

We were working together and as a group we had discussed resigning earlier. But we held on as she attempted to help the Ministry in running the Board,”Bhaskar said.

“But things were clearly not in order. There was no meeting in the past one year though it was mandatory for board members to meet every three months. The last meeting was in January 2014. The censor board CEO said there were no funds to hold the meetings so the board is clearly not required,” she said.

Another CBFC member Nandini Sardesai came out in support of Samson and Bhaskar, saying this was the “last straw”. “We went

strictly by the Cinematograph Act. We saw the film in its entirety and found that it is not suitable for public viewing. That was the collective decision of all of us.

“So as per procedure, it is up to the producer to go to Delhi and ask for a tribunal hearing which normally takes 15-30 days. This has happened within 24 hours.

A tribunal has been set up and the film has been cleared. This is what, I think, is rankling Leela,” she said.

Samson has termed as “a mockery of CBFC” the clearance to the film and said she had taken the decision to quit because of “recent cases of interference”, “coercion and corruption of panel members

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and officers” of the censor board.

Refuting the charges, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said the government has always maintained a distance from the entire process of film certification and Samson should furnish evidence.

He said Samson should show the “SMS” or “letter” which could show there was “interference” or “coercion” so that action could be taken.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who regaled an audience of his supporters who had come to watch the film with songs, said he did not feel the movie will cause law and order problem. - PTI

FA L L I N C R U D E P R I C E

Petrol price cut by Rs2.42, diesel by Rs2.25 per litre NEW DELHI: Petrol price was on Friday cut by Rs 2.42 per litre and diesel by Rs 2.25 a litre after an excise duty hike limited the benefit of global crude prices slumping to six-year low.

The reduction would have been almost double but for the government also raising excise duty by Rs2 per litre on both petrol and diesel on Friday.

This is the ninth straight reduction in petrol prices since August, and fifth in diesel since October. New rates were effective midnight on Friday, Indian Oil Corp, the nation’s largest fuel retailer, announced here.

In Delhi, petrol will cost Rs 58.91 a litre, the lowest in 44 months, as compared to Rs61.33 a litre now.

Similarly, diesel will cost Rs 48.26 a litre in Delhi, the lowest since April 2013, as against Rs 50.51 currently.

This is the fourth hike in excise duty since November and cumulatively customers have been denied the benefit of Rs7.75 per litre reduction in petrol and Rs6.50 a litre cut in diesel rates that was warranted due to the slump in oil price to $46 per barrel.

A Finance Ministry notification said the excise duty on unbranded petrol is being hiked to Rs8.95 per litre and that on unbranded diesel to Rs 7.96 per litre.

The four excise duty hikes will result in about Rs 200 billion in additional revenue this fiscal and will help the government meet its fiscal deficit target of 4.1 per cent of the GDP. Petrol and diesel prices were last cut on December 16 by Rs2 per litre each.

Including Friday’s reduction, petrol price have been cut by Rs 14.69 per litre on a cumulative basis since August, while diesel rates in five downward revisions have been slashed by a total of Rs 10.71 a litre.

Crude oil price in June was at $115 per barrel.

The Finance Ministry notification said the excise duty hike will be effective from midnight on Friday. The government had last raised the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs2 per litre each from January 2. Prior to that, the tax was hiked by Rs 1.50 a litre each from November 12 and Rs 2.25 per litre on petrol and Re1 on diesel from December 2.

ON THE RUN

Beant’s assassin extradited to India from Thailand NEW DELHI: After being on the run for over 10 years, Babbar Khalsa militant Jagtar Singh Tara, convicted for life in the then chief minister of Punjab, Beant Singh’s assassination case, was on Friday extradited from Thailand, heading back in the custody of Punjab Police.

Thirty-seven-year old Tara, who had tunelled his way out of high-security Burail prison in Chandigarh in 2004, remained absconding, travelling under various identities before being

nabbed in Thailand on January 5 this year. According to Thai authorities, Tara entered Thailand as Gurmeet Singh on Pakistan passport in October and was arrested in the eastern Province of Chon Buri living in the home of a Pakistani national who has also been taken into custody.

Interpol had issued a Red Corner Notice on the request of CBI soon after he escaped with two other dreaded militants.

A Thai court had ordered his extradition on January 7. - PTI

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015

INDIA

To improve quality, transparency and speed, it will be my personal endeavour to use the latest technology both internet and digital to improve the quality of our election management, especially in voting Harishankar Brahma, Chief Election Commissioner

APPOINTMENT

Harishankar Brahma takes charge as CEC

GUTTED Vehicles left damaged after a fire broke out in a pipeline of Gail (India) Limited in Satyaniketan area, of New Delhi, on Friday. Nearly a dozen fire tenders were pressed into service and it was brought under control by 1100 hours. The incident took place when some PWD workers were carrying out some digging work to test the soil of the south Delhi area for the construction of an elevated flyover. They accidentally punctured the pipeline which caused the fire,” said an official. -PTI

India blasts EU over Italian marines case The case involving the two Italian marines...is sub judice and is being discussed between India and Italy, an external affairs ministry spokesperson said

NEW DELHI/BRUSSELS: India on Friday blasted the European Parliament for adopting a resolution calling for the repatriation of two Italian marines charged with killing two Indian fishermen.

“The case involving the two Italian marines...is sub judice and is being discussed between India and Italy,” an external affairs ministry spokesperson said.

He said the Indian Supreme Court on January 14 granted three months extension to marine Massimiliano Latorre for staying in

FACE MURDER CHARGES: Italian marines Massimiliano Latorre, right, and Salvatore Girone, arrive at Ciampino airport near Rome in this photograph taken on December 22, 2012. - AFP file photo

Italy on health grounds. The other marine, Salvatore Girone, lives in the Italian embassy in New Delhi.

“Under these circumstances, the European Parliament would have been well advised not to adopt the resolution,” he said.

The Indian embassy in Brussels also issued a similar statement.

The European Parliament on Thursday hoped that the row between India and Italy over the prosecution of the marines accused of killing the fishermen in 2012 should be settled under “Italian jurisdiction or through international arbitration”.

The members called for the marines to be repatriated to Italy as their detention without charge was a “serious breach of human rights”, according to an European Parliament press release.

In a resolution, the members expressed “great sadness” over the death of the Indian fishermen but voiced concern over the detention of the marines.

“We have to ensure that the principles of international law are complied with and I think that the fate of the two marines will be linked to the credibility of our antipiracy efforts,” said EU Foreign

Affairs High Representative Federica Mogherini.

In February 2012, the two marines, on board an Italian commercial vessel, shot and killed the Indian fishermen after mistaking them for pirates. Italy said the incident took place in international waters and the marines should be tried in Italy or in an international court.

India insists the incident occurred in Indian waters. The two marines face murder charges.

Disagreeing with the house, Neena Gill, British member of the European Parliament and vice chair of the parliamentary delegation for India, expressed her disappointment over the resolution.

“I rise to express my disappointment about the way this matter has been addressed by this house.

And I do have strong reservations about the resolution.

“I do agree that we need to speed up developments to ensure legal certainty to all sides involved but my concern is the failure to address Indian issues will do just the opposite. At the heart of this case is the fundamental question about how we treat our partners.

“While the EU has a duty to stand up for its citizens, it is hard to understand that the lives of Indian fishermen should be valued lower than the liberty of the two EU citizens,” said Gill. - IANS

NEW DELHI: Harishankar Brahma on Friday assumed charge as the 19th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and said the first priority was to conduct the Delhi assembly polls in a “free and fair” manner and use digital technology to improve election management.

“To improve quality, transparency and speed, it will be my personal endeavour to use the latest technology both internet and digital to improve the quality of our election management, especially in voting,” Brahma said.

“My first priority and mission objective is to ensure that we conduct the election to the Delhi legislative assembly in an absolutely free and fair manner,” he said after taking charge.

“Our long-term goal at the Election Commission of India, which I visualise, is to deliver excellence.”

Technological innovations Officials said the commission was trying to use technological innovations in addressing problems like multiplicity of names in electoral rolls, issuance of voter identity cards and corrections in details like addresses. Brahma (64), succeeds V.S. Sampath, who completed his tenure Thursday.

Harishankar Brahma

He will have a tenure of slightly over three months till April 19 when he turns 65, the upper age limit for the post under the constitution.

The appointment of Brahma, the senior-most member of the Election Commission, was made

by President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday. There is a convention of appointing the seniormost among the three commissioners as the chief election commissioner.

A 1975 Indian Administrative Service officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, Brahma, who hails from Assam, is a former union power secretary. He is the second from the northeast to hold the post after J.M. Lyngdoh (2001-04). - IANS

P O P U L AT I O N

Indians become largest migrant group in UK LONDON: People born in India have overtaken the Irish to become the largest immigrant group in the UK. According to latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), India-born migrants now living permanently in the UK has risen by 232,000 since 2004 to total 734,000 in 2013.

Along with Polish nationals, at 679,000 in 2013, they lead Britain’s surge in population by 1,200 per cent since 1983, adding the equivalent of a city to UK annually.

“Net migration was at a relatively low level during the 1980s and early 1990s. Since 1994 it has been positive every year and rose sharply after 1997,” the ONS said.

It added: “During the 2000s net migration increased further, partly as a result of immigration of citizens from the countries that have joined the EU since 2004. Since the mid-2000s, annual net migration has fluctuated between approximately 150,000 and 300,000. More recently, as the UK economy recovers from the economic downturn, net migration has begun to increase once again, with work generally the most common reason.”

Overall the number of migrants coming to the UK rose from 173,000 in 1980 to 526,000 in 2013 and has been more than half a million in every year except one since 2002. - PTI

DELHI ELECTIONS

Kejriwal rubbishes ‘negative’ politics barb NEW DELHI: Hitting out at former aides Kiran Bedi and Shazia Ilmi for accusing AAP of doing “negative” politics, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said it is not tolerated when a common man tries to come to power.

Kejriwal said he is fighting to make Delhi a better place while the Bharatiya Janata Party is fighting to defeat him.

“From the Ramlila Maidan the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and today Kiran ji and Shazia also said that we do negative politics.

But my question is people who loot the nation come to power and nobody says anything, but when a common man wants to come to power, it is not even tolerated?”

Jolt to AAP Kejriwal said in a series of tweets.

The Aam Aadmi Party leader’s reaction assumes significance as for the second consecutive day the BJP tried to give AAP a jolt when his former aide Shazia Ilmi joined the saffron party.

Kiran Bedi, the former IRS officer’s one-time colleague in Team Anna, had on Thursday joined the

ELATED: BJP president Amit Shah presents a bouquet to former AAP leader Shazia Ilmi at his residence, before she formally joins the party, in New Delhi, on Friday. - PTI

BJP. Kejriwal said that the BJP was only fighting to defeat him.

“I want to make Delhi a better place and I am fighting for that while the BJP is fighting as it wants to defeat me,” he tweeted.

The former Delhi chief minister said that he was fighting the election on issues.

“AAP is doing positive politics.

We say we will open 20 new colleges, we will improve govern-

ment schools, will have CCTVs across Delhi for women’s security, will improve the infrastructure of villages in Delhi. We have an elaborate plan on women’s security, to stop corruption and inflation,” Kejriwal told reporters.

Meanwhile, the AAP has launched a twitter war against Kiran Bedi and Shazia Ilmi, who have joined the BJP by pulling out old tweets of the two.

In a subtle attack on Ilmi on Wednesday, Aam Aadmi Party chief Kejriwal took a swipe at Ilmi by retweeting one of her tweets, dated November 21, 2013 titled ‘Hypocrisy, thy name is BJP’ The tweet by Ilmi, who was in AAP at that time, criticises the BJP and the Congress over its funding.

Founder AAP member Kumar Vishwas posted more than halfa-dozen old Kiran Bedi tweets in which she gave her views on the Congress, the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The tweets were of 2010.

“CM Gujarat has a right for communal harmony. But what if first planned to reach out to families in the need of healing,” said one of the Bedi’s tweet on September 2011.

“One day, Namo (Narendra Modi) will have to respond with clarity about riot massacre,” said another tweet posted by Bedi on March 16, 2013.

“Our old tweets are being retweeted. Then I used to believe in Kejriwal as a leader. There were reasons behind my parting ways with the party. Now in Modi I am seeing a new light,” Ilmi said. -PTI

SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015

3.1m

people possess national tax numbers, with actual filers being less than 900,000

A7

PAKISTAN M I S S I N G O U T P U T TA R G E T

THREE HURT IN PROTEST

Growth expected to decelerate: WB

Protesters shout slogans against the printing of satirical sketches by French magazine ‘Charlie Hebdo’ during a demonstration, in Lahore, on Friday. At least three people were injured on Friday in clashes between anti‘Charlie Hebdo’ protesters and police outside the French consulate in Karachi, officials said. -AFP

Government plans to ban Haqqani network Senior Pakistani government officials said a formal announcement of the ban would be made ‘within weeks’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has outlawed the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, officials said on Friday, days after US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government to fight groups that threaten Afghan, Indian and US interests.

American officials blame highprofile attacks in Afghanistan on the powerful Haqqani network, which mainly operates out of Pakistan’s border areas, and say it has ties to the Pakistani state.

Senior Pakistani government officials said a formal announcement of the ban would be made “within weeks”.

“We have decided to ban the Haqqani network as a step in implementing the National Action Plan devised after the (Pesha-

ON THE SAME PAGE: US Secretary of State John Kerry, left, with Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz at a news conference, in Islamabad, on Tuesday. Kerry urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government to fight groups that threaten Afghan, Indian and US interests. - Reuters

war) school attack,” said a cabinet member, referring to a massacre of 134 children by Taliban gunmen last month.

“The military and the government are on the same page on how to tackle militancy. There is no more ‘good’ or ‘bad’ Taliban.

Pressed for action “Kerry specifically pressed for action against the Haqqanis, including banning the group,” the official added. A second official, a minister who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the decision to outlaw the Haqqani group.

The United States accuses the Pakistani intelligence agency of

supporting the Haqqani militants and using them as a proxy in Afghanistan to gain leverage there against the growing influence of India. Pakistan denies this.

A formal announcement of the ban would show the government is keen to convince the United States it will no longer differentiate between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ militants.

But it remains to be seen if the ban will translate into significant action. There has been intense debate within the government on whether to brand the group a terrorist organisation.

Some officials have argued the move would have little battlefield impact but risks setting

ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING

Rs1b in alleged terrorist funds frozen, claims government ISLAMABAD: Facing global pressure to crack down on money laundering, the government sought to deflect criticism that it has not done enough by claiming to have frozen Rs1 billion in alleged terrorist financing.

The claim was made by Syed Mansoor Ali, senior joint director at the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU), during his testimony at the Senate finance committee, during its hearings on the proposed new Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Act. Ali, however, did not specify over what period this amount was frozen.

Ali said that the actions were taken in order to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 1267 and 1373. Resolution 1267 establishes a global sanctions regime against designated individuals and entities associated with al Qaida, wherever they may be located. Resolution 1373 calls on UN member states to take measures against terrorists, including cutting off their funding sources.

Thursday’s hearing was the second day of the Senate finance committee meetings meant to review proposed amendments to the 2010 law. Disagreements from the previous day appeared to continue: the government, supported by the banks, want a tougher antimoney laundering law, but opposition politicians insisting that the law will be bad for business.

Proposed amendments The committee completed a first reading of the proposed amendments to the AML Act and decided to hold a second reading in the presence of senators with legal expertise: Senators Aitzaz Ahsan and Raza Rabbani of the PPP and Senator Farogh Naseem of the MQM. The government’s stance is that it wants to bring the current law into conformity with international standards laid out by the UN Financial Action Task Force (FATF) . The proposals are aimed at toughening the law to make prosecution

of money laundering easier.

A key provision of the amendments is that collecting funds that are subsequently used to finance terrorist activities would be dealt with under the AML regime. The amendment, which uses broad language to define collection of funds, would cover all types of organisations and individuals involved in fundraising.

Under the proposed amendment, the collection of funds will fall in the category of transactions that have to be watched as suspicious transactions, said Muneeb Zia, legal consultant to the finance ministry. The proposed amendments would help the government to ensure that the proceeds of crimes and property involved in money laundering are detected, investigated and prosecuted effectively.

Opposition politicians, however, claimed that this law would impede business activity and raise transaction costs for small businesses. - Express Tribune

In June last year the Pakistani army launched a long-expected military operation in the troubled North Waziristan region, said to be the base of the Haqqani group

back Afghan reconciliation efforts and unleashing more attacks against Pakistan.

In June last year the Pakistan army launched a long-expected military operation in the troubled North Waziristan region, said to be the base of the Haqqani group.

“Pakistan has done a lot already to disrupt the activities of the Haqqanis... within Pakistan,” said a Western diplomat.

“But they must also take follow up steps ... to ensure the Haqqanis and other groups are not allowed to regroup or return to sanctuaries, their assets are frozen, their funding is blocked and their networks dismantled.” - Reuters

ISLAMABAD: Despite subsiding simmering political tensions, growth in Pakistan is expected to decelerate due to the persistent energy crisis and troubled security situation, which would result in missing the annual national output target of 5.1 per cent, says a report of the World Bank (WB).

The Global Economic Prospect report states that the weakening support for economic reforms will also dampen the prospects of growth in Pakistan. The WB’s report partly supports the government argument that blamed that Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf’s agitation disturbed the momentum of economic recovery.

The Washington-based lending agency stated that political tension in Pakistan seemed to be settling down, which should help improve prospects of growth.

“However, the pace of this recovery should remain slow on account of persistent energy shortages and a troubled security situation”, it adds.

Assessment The WB’s assessment of lower growth is in line with the evaluation of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. In his latest interaction with media, Dar had stated that due to the prevailing security situation, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate may not be achieved.

But he appeared optimistic and said that the rate will be closer to the annual target of 5.1 per cent.

The only difference between the WB analysis and Dar’s reasoning was that the finance minister was attributing the losses in national output to the military offensive against terrorists and its consequential implications on growth. But the WB termed energy shortages equally damaging for the growth.

The WB has projected that in fiscal year 2014-15, the growth rate could be around 4.7 per cent.

According to another report, Economic and Social Survey of Asia and Pacific of the UNESCAP, Pakistan’s macroeconomic fundamentals remain fragile due to poor security conditions, political instability and low fixed investment constrained by a shortage of domestic savings.

Independent economists think that half a percentage less or more growth would not have much

impact on the country’s overall socio-economic conditions. They argue that the country needs a consistent growth rate of over 7 per cent to lift millions of people out of the poverty net and create jobs for thousands of people entering the market each year.

Focus more on investment Economists like Dr Nadeemul Haq, a former employee of the IMF, argue that the government should focus more on investment and economic reforms and talk less about the tax-to-GDP ratio.

However, investment is the word that one rarely listens from the mouth of the finance minister.

The WB has cautioned that disappointment over non-resolution of structural issues could weaken confidence, depress investment, trigger a reappraisal of growth prospects and reversal of investor sentiment, and could derail financing under the IMFsupported programme.

The report stated that preferential market access to the European Union could boost export performance but the continued energy supply shortages hamper growth of exporting companies. It adds that with power generation unlikely to keep pace with growing demand in the region, shortages are expected to persist in the near term, including in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.

In yet another adverse development, the WB stated that share of manufacturing in the total economic output of Pakistan has trended down to near the bottom of the range for major developing or emerging market economies.

On the issue of tax reforms, the WB stated that in Pakistan, personal and corporate income tax rates are very complex, having multiple rate structures. In Pakistan, only 3.1 million people possess national tax numbers, with actual filers less than 900,000.

The WB states that Pakistan is implementing comprehensive and multipronged reforms spanning tax administration, regulatory reforms, and governance reforms Contrary to perception of introducing reforms given to the WB and other multilateral lenders, elements in Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) are hampering attempts to introduce meaningful reforms. - The Express Tribune

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Subtler forms of prejudice still remain in Britain

B

oth in its timing, and the message delivered, the annual report on the state of Britain’s far right could not be more welcome.

It paints a picture of a movement that has run into the gutter.

The “tinpot führers and sawdust Caesars” that lead such groups, to quote the historian Richard Thurlow, have failed to rally the support of all but a tiny sliver of the UK population. The British National Party (BNP) is down and out; the English Defence League (EDL) is petering out into irrelevance. Far-right groups, says Hope Not Hate, which compiles the report, are at their weakest for 20 years. Amid the turmoil and anxiety unleashed by the Paris attacks, it is no little solace to be reminded that Britain remains, in many ways, an island of calm.

That is not to be complacent. But set against an economic background of stagnant wages and falling living standards, the opposite — the growth of hate — might have taken hold. The example of Europe makes that clear: in Italy, France and even Germany, where Pegida anti-M demonstrations have attracted up to 25,000, anti-immigrant sentiment has morphed into a visible and virulent strain of nationalism. When in 2009 the BNP held a seat on the London Assembly and took two seats in the European Parliament, the far right looked likely to form a permanent feature of Britain’s political life. Evidently, it has not. We owe some of the thanks for this to the personal failings of the movement’s great hopes: Nick Griffin has gone bankrupt and been dismissed from the party he once led; Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the EDL, was imprisoned last year for mortgage fraud.

Yet a broader explanation can be found in the aversion to hatred that has long formed part of the British character.

When native-born Britons live among migrants, they tend to believe that migration “enriches” the cultural life of the nation. Even the leaders of far-right parties seem perturbed by the nature of the groups for which they end up as figureheads: Jim Dowson, the leader of Britain First, an anti-Muslim group that flourished online, departed the organisation in disgust at mosque invasions carried out by some members; Robinson himself quit the EDL in 2013, apparently worried by the “dangers of far-right extremism”.

The rise of Ukip has drawn the sting — and the support — from groups that fall towards the extreme of the political spectrum. Yet the public face of the party abjures racism, aware of how toxically it plays among the electorate. The picture is not an entirely rosy one, however.

It would be too much to say Britain’s spirit of openness and tolerance is under threat, yet this serves as a reminder that both old and new forms of prejudice must be actively kept at bay. - The Independent

COMMENTARY

Is Europe already into yet another war?

GEORGE SOROS

Killer roads of Pakistan

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t least 62 people may have died in the fire resulting from a crash between an oil tanker and a bus on the Kathore link road between Superhighway and the National Highway near Karachi on January. There is uncertainty about the final body count as some bodies were ‘clustered’ and fused into a single mass such was the ferocity of the fire. On the same day, at least 10 people died in another crash in Lasbela district of Balochistan and at least four in Sukkur.

There may have been countless other fatal accidents on that day as well that never made the headlines. The reality is that Pakistan is losing more to the carnage on the roads every day than it is in its war against extremism and terrorism, and unless there is a dramatic — and unlikely — change in national attitudes to road safety, that carnage is set to continue indefinitely.

This latest horror is alleged to have happened after the bus and the tanker collided head on some time after midnight, with the tanker reportedly on the wrong side of the road at the time. Road users, be they drivers or otherwise, will have seen vehicles on the wrong side of the road every day of their lives; it is commonplace and causes accidents daily, fortunately not all of them as disastrous as that in Karachi.

As has been noted before in these columns, Pakistan has no culture of safety outside some parts of industry and local franchises of multinational operations. That absence adds up to a yet-to-be counted drain not only on the population numerically, but in terms of resources, human and otherwise.

There was recently a much-trumpeted plan to teach road safety in Punjab schools but even if implemented, it will be years before there is an attitudinal change in driving behaviour. Quite apart from fatalities, there are hundreds of thousands injured on the roads every year, their lives blighted and productive lives possibly ended. The fight against extremism may one day be won; the war on the roads has a far more uncertain outcome. - The Express Tribune

Oman should consider levying taxes now It is legal for a government to collect taxes to meet development needs and provide services.

Oman has been flexible on this matter for decades, but now that there is a need to find other sources of revenue, it is time to impose taxes on all and this should include all businessmen irrespective of their size, turnovers and hues. A standard rate of 15 per cent will do and on remittances, all nationalities including the nationals, should pay at least five per cent tax. Alcohol should not continue to be a reliable source of revenue for the government. Oman can do without the tax on alcohol. May be, the government can consider allowing serving alcohol in four or five star hotels for the tourists

and for those who have alcohol permits issued by the ROP. Elsewhere, serving and sale of alcohol should be banned.

Aziz Seeb

Modi’s efforts will bring more development in India The Vibrant Gujarat business summit is expected to shift India entirely from the past, and with this initiative Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying his best to bring to the people of the world’s largest democracy a confidence to build a bright future. As it is a collective effort to change all that traditional thoughts and perceptions of the past, Modi’s tireless exertion is slowly taking shape in various spheres in the country. Development and

Europe is fortunate that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has behaved as a true European with regard to the threat posed by Russia. The foremost advocate of sanctions, she has been more willing to defy German public opinion and business interests

B

y invading Ukraine in 2014, President Vladimir Putin’s Russia has posed a fundamental challenge to the values and principles on which the European Union was founded, and to the rules-based system that has kept the peace in Europe since 1945. Neither Europe’s leaders nor its citizens are fully aware of the scope of this challenge, much less how to deal with it.

Putin’s regime is based on rule by force, manifested in repression at home and aggression abroad. But it has been able to gain a tactical advantage, at least in the short term, over the EU and the United States, which are determined to avoid direct military confrontation.

Violating its treaty obligations, Russia annexed Crimea and established separatist enclaves in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.

When it appeared last summer that the Ukrainian government might win the war in Donbas, Putin ordered an invasion by regular Russian armed forces. Preparations for a second wave of military action began in November, when Putin provided separatists with a new influx of armoured columns and personnel. The West, sadly, has provided embattled Ukraine with only a façade of support. Equally disturbing has been the continuing reluctance of international leaders to provide new financial commitments to Ukraine, despite growing pressure on its foreign-currency reserves and the spectre of a full-blown financial meltdown. As a result, the mere threat of military action may be sufficient to bring about Ukraine’s economic collapse.

Putin seems to be holding out the prospect of a grand bargain, with Russia helping in the fight against the Isis by not supplying S300 missiles to Syria in exchange for the US giving Russia control over its so-called “near abroad.” Should US President Barack Obama accept such a deal, the entire structure of international relations would be dangerously altered in favour of the use of force. That would be a tragic mistake, with farreaching geopolitical consequences.

The collapse of Ukraine would be a tremendous loss for Nato and indirectly for the EU and the US. A victorious Russia would pose a potent threat to the Baltic states, with their large ethnic Russian populations. Instead of supporting Ukraine, Nato would have to defend itself on its own soil, exposing both the EU and the US to the danger they have been so eager to avoid: direct military confrontation with Russia.

Neither Europe’s leaders nor its citizens seem to recognise that Russia’s attack on Ukraine is indirectly an assault on the EU and its principles

READERS’ FORUM NEW INDIA ASSURANCE New India’s PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY and PUBLIC LIABILITY POLICIES safeguard the professional hazards of Doctors/Engineers/ Architects/Hospitals/Hotels etc. website: www.newindiaoman.com

Now and then an innocent man is sent to the legislature KIN HUBBARD

of governance. It should be clear that it is inappropriate for a country, or association of countries, at war to pursue fiscal austerity, as the EU continues to do. All available resources should be put to work in the war effort, even if that requires running up budget deficits.

Europe is fortunate that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has behaved as a true European with regard to the threat posed by Russia. The foremost advocate of sanctions, she has been more willing to defy German public opinion and business interests on the issue than on any other.

But Germany has also been the main advocate of fiscal austerity, and Merkel needs to understand the contradiction between these positions.

Sanctions against Russia are necessary, but they are not without repercussions. European economies, including Germany, are suffering, as the sanctions’ depressive impact aggravates the recessionary and deflationary forces that are already at work. By contrast, helping Ukraine to defend itself against Russian aggression would have a stimulative effect on Ukraine and Europe.

The EU’s members are at war – and they need to start acting like it. That means modifying their commitment to fiscal austerity and recognising that they are better off helping Ukraine to defend itself than hoping that they will not have to defend the EU themselves.

Ukraine needs an immediate cash injection of, say, $20 billion, with a promise of more when needed, in order to stave off a financial collapse.

The International Monetary Fund could provide these funds, as it did previously, with the EU promising to match the IMF’s contribution. Actual expenditures would remain under the IMF’s control and subject to the implementation of far-reaching structural reforms.

In Ukraine, there is one more factor working in the EU’s favour: the country’s new leadership is determined to correct previous governments’ corruption, mismanagement, and abuses. Indeed, it has already created a detailed strategy to cut household gas consumption by more than half, with the goal of dispersing the corrupt gas monopoly of Naftogaz and ending Ukraine’s energy dependence on Russia. The “new Ukraine” is resolutely pro-European, and ready to defend Europe by defending itself. But its enemies – not only Putin’s Russia, but also its own bureaucracy and financial oligarchy – are formidable, and it cannot defeat them alone.

Supporting the new Ukraine in 2015 and beyond is the most cost-effective investment the EU could make. It could even help the EU recapture the spirit of unity and shared prosperity that led to its creation. In short, by saving Ukraine, the EU could also save itself. - Project Syndicate

progress is gradually becoming palpable across the nation. The assurances of investments made at the summit will soon take India into a new and next phase of growth and prosperity. We, I am sure, will be seeing a more vibrant and powerful India in next two years from now.

Ramachandran Nair Ruwi

IDF is the most cruel and inhuman army in the world This refers to the article, Why Israelis will not serve Israel army now (January 13). There is no wonder that the Israeli youth are refusing to join the IDF. It is, undoubtedly, the most inhuman and cruel army in the world.

What IDF has been inflicting on the innocent women and children

of Gaza is a shame for our civilisation and is despicable. Anyone with a heart and mind will refuse to serve such an army.

Mubashir Muscat

Arab Spring is essentially a bourgeois uprising The Arab Spring, which has not only gone horribly wrong but has also spawned dangerous counter revolutionary forces almost everywhere across Arabia, has been a bourgeois, undemocratic and nationalist uprising. Much like what happened in the wake of the 1975 revolt in Vietnam we are today witnessing unprecedented and dangerous rise of deep-state across Arabia Sumit Chatterjee Qurum

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

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Pope demands end to social inequalities in Philippines The pontiff made the comments in his first speech of a five-day visit to the Philippines, after an electrifying welcome on Thursday

MANILA: Pope Francis on Friday demanded leaders in the Philippines end “scandalous social inequalities”, hitting out at corruption.

The pontiff made the comments in his first speech of a five-day visit to the Philippines, after an electrifying welcome on Thursday enhanced the nation’s reputation as the vibrant Asian bastion. Francis, a revered figure for most Filipinos, took immediate aim at the nation’s elite who have for decades enjoyed the spoils of power while the vast majority lived in poverty.

“It is now, more than ever, necessary that political leaders be outstanding for honesty, integrity and commitment to the common good,” the pope said in the speech at the presidential palace.

Challenged He challenged “everyone, at all levels of society, to reject every form of corruption, which diverts resources from the poor”.

The 78-year-old pontiff, seen by many around the world as a bold reformer compared with his predecessor, said the “great biblical tradition” obliged everyone to hear the voice of the poor.

“It bids us break the bonds of injustice and oppression which give rise to glaring, and indeed scandalous, social inequalities,” he

BOLD REFORMER: A general view of the meeting of Pope Francis with families, in Manila, on Friday. – AFP

said. Francis had moments earlier met President Benigno Aquino, who has waged a high-profile campaign against corruption since coming to power in 2010 that has seen his predecessor and three senators detained.

Aquino also orchestrated the impeachment of the Supreme Court’s chief justice on corruption charges, and he has won international plaudits for his efforts.

But critics of Aquino, the son of democracy heroine Corazon Aquino, have accused him of focusing his anti-graft campaign only on opponents and not allies.

They also point out his family has for decades been among the elite. And, despite Aquino presiding over some of Asia’s strongest economic growth, his time in office has failed to make a major dent on poverty. About 25 million Filipinos, or one quarter of the population, live on the equivalent

of 60 cents a day or less, according to the latest official poverty surveys. The poverty has forced more than 10 million Filipinos to head overseas in search of a better life.

Francis said one of the main purposes of his trip was to visit survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Yolanda, which left 7,350 people dead or missing in 2013.

Gathering storm He will spend Saturday in areas of the central Philippines that were devastated by the typhoon, which smashed into coastal communities with the strongest winds ever recorded on land. “In a particular way, this visit is meant to express my closeness to our brothers and sisters who endured the suffering, loss and devastation caused by Typhoon Yolanda,” he said.

While in Tacloban, the pope is expected to get some first-hand

experience of the tropical storms and typhoons that claim hundreds of lives each year in the Philippines.

A tropical storm in the area will bring “heavy to intense” rain on Saturday, according to the Philippine weather agency.

Monsignor Pedro Quitorio, spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said the pope intended to press on with the Tacloban trip regardless of the weather. The Philippines has long been the Church’s stronghold in the region, with Catholics accounting for 80 per cent of the former Spanish colony’s population.

Francis enjoyed a hero’s welcome when he arrived on Thursday night, with hundreds of thousands of people crowding the streets of Manila to get a first glimpse of him as he travelled in a motorcade.

Massive crowds continued to

C H A R G E S R E L AT I N G T O M A S S P R O T E S T S

Hong Kong student leaders arrested, freed HONG KONG: Hong Kong student leaders including the teenage face of the pro-democracy movement, Joshua Wong, were arrested on Friday on charges relating to mass protests as authorities target prominent figures who spearheaded the rallies.

Police have vowed to investigate the “principal instigators” of protests for fully free leadership elections that lasted for more than two months and brought parts of the city to a standstill before rally camps were cleared in December.

“I was held for three hours and I was arrested on charges of calling for, inciting and participating in an unauthorised assembly,” Wong, 18, said as he emerged from police headquarters to cheering supporters. Wong had voluntar-

RELEASED: Student leader Joshua Wong, 18, speaks as he arrives at the police headquarters in Hong Kong on Friday. – Reuters

ily turned himself in along with three other student leaders after being requested to do so by police as part of the investigation into the protests. He was formally arrested and questioned, but was re-

leased without charge, his lawyer confirmed. Wong said that police had told him that the investigation was still ongoing so “there is still a chance for prosecution”.

But the lawyer representing

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Wong said that it would be “an abuse of process” for police to try to charge him at a later date based on evidence they already have.

“If they had the evidence to charge they should have charged, that’s our view,” Michael Vidler said. “They’re seeking to maintain they reserve the right to charge him at a later date, (but) it would be an abuse of process if they were to later charge using exactly the same evidence that they have today.

“It engenders a sense of uncertainty and they are using that, in my view, as a method of control.”

Wong said it was a “waste of time” adding that he had been shown media reports and YouTube footage of the protests as part of the interview. — AFP

choke his motorcade route on Friday as he travelled around the city.

“My sacrifice was worth it. I feel happy. I feel blessed,” Nanette Hermano, 56, told AFP as she cried after taking a smartphone picture of the pope.

“I’ve been here since 3am, but I don’t feel tired, I don’t feel hungry.

It’s like a miracle.”

Later in the day Francis will led thousands of people in prayer at Manila’s top concert arena, where music fans have flocked in recent years to see the likes of Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift.

Pope-mania will reach a peak on Sunday, with organisers expecting him to attract as many as six million people for mass at a Manila park. If as big as expected, the crowd will surpass the previous record for a papal gathering of five million during a mass by John Paul II at the same venue in 1995. — AFP

STONG CURRENTS

Efforts to reach main body of AirAsia plane fail yet again SURABAYA: Indonesian divers on Friday again failed to reach the main body of an AirAsia plane that crashed into the sea last month with 162 people on board, as strong underwater currents hampered efforts.

Flight QZ8501 went down in the Java Sea on December 28 in stormy weather, during what was supposed to be a short trip from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

The plane’s black boxes were recovered this week, providing investigators with a wealth of information to determine what caused the crash, and on Wednesday a Singapore navy vessel spotted the fuselage, the jet’s main body.

So far just 51 bodies of the crash victims have been recovered, but authorities hope the main section will contain most of those belonging to passengers and crew.

Underwater photos taken by hightech search equipment showed the fuselage and part of Malaysia-based AirAsia’s motto—“Now Everyone Can Fly”—painted on the plane’s exterior.

For the past two days, divers have been trying to reach the wreckage but the inhospitable conditions in the area have prevented them from accessing it.

Strong currents Search and rescue agency official S.B. Supriyadi said that on Friday “the divers were hampered by strong currents which them stopped from reaching the fuselage”. Officials say that if it proves difficult to retrieve bodies from the main section while it is still on the seabed, search and rescue teams will try to lift it.

The plane’s tail was raised out of the water last weekend using giant balloons. There was a huge international hunt for the crashed plane, involving ships from several countries including the US and China, but the search has now been scaled back. — AFP

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015

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I wanted to tell you personally of the horror and revulsion that all Americans felt at these cowardly and despicable attacks against innocent victims and fundamental values John Kerry, US Secretary of State

PA R I S AT TA C K S

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KATE WITH CHILDREN Britain’s Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, talks to children after attending an event hosted by the Fostering Network organisation, in London, on Friday. — Credit

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Kerry offers hug and condolences to France PARIS: Bearing flowers and his fluent French, US Secretary of State John Kerry offered his condolences and “a hug” to France on Friday for the deaths from last week’s attacks.

Kerry’s visit came after the United States failed to send a top official to attend Sunday’s march in the French capital, an omission that led to significant domestic criticism and a rare White House admission that it had made a mistake. While Kerry and his aides stressed that he was not trying to make amends for the US absence on Sunday, by word and deed he sought to convey the United States’ solidarity with France, its oldest ally.

Wreaths The chief US diplomat laid wreaths of white lilies and red roses at the sites of the two attacks, one on the Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly and the other at a Jewish supermarket in the French capital. Seventeen people were killed by three attackers who also died.

“Today, I wanted to be here, at home with you, among you,”

Kerry said, speaking in fluent, American-accented French.

“I wanted to tell you personally of the horror and revulsion that all Americans felt at these cowardly and despicable attacks against innocent victims and fundamental values,” he added, stumbling over the word “revulsion” in French.

Speaking in English, Kerry said: “I really wanted to come here and share a hug with all of Paris, with all of France.”

Underlining the message of Franco-American friendship, Kerry arranged for American musician James Taylor to sing his version of the 1970s hit “You’ve got a friend” at an event at the Paris city hall where the two appeared together.

Earlier, Kerry literally hugged French President Francois Hollande in the courtyard of the Elysee presidential palace.

“You have the full and heartfelt condolences of the American people,” Kerry told Hollande. “We share the pain and the horror of everything you went through.”

“The French people ... was the victim of an exceptional terrorist attack,” Hollande said. — Reuters

Belgium grills 15 over foiled plot to ‘kill police’, two gunmen killed Security tightened after police kill two gunmen in eastern Belgium; group was ‘planning attacks’ on police stations across country

BRUSSELS/VERVIERS: Belgian investigators said a plot to murder police officers across the country had been foiled “within hours or days” of being launched by raids in which two gunmen were killed.

Fifteen suspects were in custody on Friday, they said, after a dozen raids around Brussels and in Verviers, the eastern town where two men believed to have fought in Syria were shot dead on Thursday after opening fire on police with assault weapons.

Two of those under arrest were seized in France, but state prosecutors said they still had no evidence of a link between the Belgians and hardliners who killed 17 people in Paris last week at a store and satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

Security tightened With security tightened across Europe, and other arrests in France and also in Germany on Friday, a man with a military weapon took hostages at post office near Paris.

The incident, which ended with his surrender, unfolded after Sec-

QUICK REACTIONS: Belgian police investigators arrive outside an apartment in central Verviers, a town between Liege and the German border, in the east of Belgium, on Friday. – Reuters

retary of State John Kerry arrived in the city to offer US solidarity in combating militants.

In Belgium, Prime Minister Charles Michel urged people not to panic, saying authorities believed their actions had thwarted any imminent attack.

Home to half a million Muslims, or five percent of the population, Belgium believes some 300 citizens have fought in Syria - the highest rate per head in Europe.

Security was tight at public buildings in the capital and at police stations. The army provided 150 troops to bolster police, who were instructed not to patrol alone.

At the Verviers apartment where the two still unidentified gunmen died, security forces found police uniforms as well as four AK-47 rifles.

Officials declined comment on reports of threats to behead a policeman but said the targets were

all over the country. “This group was on the point of carrying out terrorist attacks aiming to kill police officers in the streets and in police stations,” state prosecutor Eric Van Der Sypt told a news conference. They were set to act “in the next hours or days”.

Of the 15 people detained, one had been with the dead gunmen in Verviers, a struggling textile town near the German border, and two were held in France at Belgium’s

request. The other 12 were seized around Brussels, most in the Molenbeek quarter, home to many poor descendants of North African immigrants.

A government plan to combat radicalisation and violence by those returning from Syria includes a move to strip those coming back of travel documents, as well as measures to improve intelligence and persuade people to forsake militant groups.

In Verviers, people attending Friday weekly prayers distanced themselves from militants but had few ideas of how to combat the radicalisation of disenchanted young men.

“Who can defend against this? Who can defend against youngsters who in some weeks, some months become radicalised?” asked local mosque imam Franck Hensch.

“The Internet is the main source of radicalisation ... How can we act? Sadly, I don’t have a solution and I don’t think the authorities have one either.”

Belgian officials say their investigation into the group began several weeks ago, before the Charlie Hebdo bloodshed, and they believe the cell was acting without international links.

Separately, Belgian investigators have been interrogating a man suspected of supplying weapons to Amedy Coulibaly, the Frenchman who killed hostages last week at the Jewish grocery.

A former Belgian counter-terrorism chief told RTBF radio that the Paris attacks may have accelerated the timing of the arrests: “Paris may have speeded things up,” said Andre Jacob.

“Some information that may have been barely ‘ripe’ has been acted on quicker than planned ... because the threat was real.”

Belgium has seen violence before. A Frenchman of Algerian origin faces trial there, accused of shooting dead four people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels last May. A court in Antwerp is due to rule on 46 people accused of recruiting fighters for Syria. It was to have given its verdict this week but delayed it for a month after the Paris violence. — Reuters

GUNSHOTS AND EXPLOSIONS

Quiet streets of Belgian town turned into battle zone

MAKING SURE: Belgian police inspect the entrance of an apartment in central Verviers, a town between Liege and the German border, in the east of Belgium late on Thursday. – Reuters

VERVIERS: As police swooped on a suspected hardliners’ cell in Belgium, the quiet streets of the town of Verviers were transformed into a war zone complete with gunshots and explosions.

Despite the town’s reputation as a hardliners hotbed, residents in the faded industrial town in Belgium’s French-speaking rustbelt said they were still shocked by the raid on Thursday night which quickly turned into a shootout between police and the suspects holed up in an apartment block.

“I was leaving the corner pharmacy when I saw the balaclavaclad police on the road in front, blocking traffic,” said Emric Bertholet, a 19-year -old apprentice, drinking an early morning Red Bull after a mostly sleepless night.

“Then two more police cars ar-

rived and some more police got out.

They shouted ‘Let’s go’, they ran and they went into the apartment. Then there was shooting everywhere and there were explosions.”

Two suspected militants were killed and a third arrested in the gunbattle, during which the militants were so determined that they carried on shooting even while lying on the ground injured, according to officials. One of the windows of the apartment block was blown out, its frames covered with soot from the blast and the fire sparked inside the building by the police raid, AFP journalists at the scene saw. The police commandos were long gone by Friday morning, with only local officers manning a cordon sealing off the whole road about 100 metres (yards) from the house. “You could feel explosions

everywhere, they were very strong.

I’m in shock,” said neighbour Eva Ruiz, who heard the battle as she was on her way home from her job as a secretary at a nearby school.

Asked about the suspects targeted by the raid—part of a nationwide sweep that resulted in a total of 13 arrests—she said she did not know them. “I’ve never heard of these guys, never seen them.”

Angelique, a Belgian woman who has converted and lives one street away said she “heard what sounded like a loud firecracker.

Then looking out I saw the police running in the street.” She said she feared for community relations in Verviers, which is home to a diverse group of around 100 ethnic communities. “It was already difficult (being a Muslim). It’s going to get even more difficult now,” she

added. Like the Brussels suburbs of Anderlecht or Vilvoorde, Verviers, which sits at the foot of the Ardennes near the German border, is reported to have an increasingly radicalised population of people.

With 20 per cent unemployment and a largely bleak economic situation leaving many of its ethnic communities feeling dispossessed, it has proved fertile ground for recruitment, experts said.

Michael Privot, an expert affiliated to the Catholic University of Louvain who lives in Verviers and is a convert, said local youths could be easily influenced to join the militants’ cause. “The young people who come from here, mainly of Moroccan origin and Algerian, are all linked. As soon as one of them goes, that acts like a clarion call,” he told RTL television. — AFP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2014

S P O R S FOOTBALL

Presidency bid was not my plan, says Prince Ali MELBOURNE: Fifa presidential candidate Prince Ali bin Al Hussein had no intention of running for soccer’s top job but felt compelled to stand by fellow officials keen for change at the world governing body.

The 39-year-old Jordanian royal announced his candidacy earlier this month and told Australia’s SBS that it was his love of the sport that will lead to him standing against incumbent Sepp Blatter, seeking a fifth term in office, and Frenchman Jerome Champagne in the May election.

“It’s not ideally something that I wanted to do, but I got a lot of encouragement from many people around the world who really care about the sport, not just from officials but also from players,” Ali said on Friday.

“And so after a lot of thinking and so on I decided, ‘OK, let’s go.

Let’s do it’. It’s not something that I want to do for a long time but I really think it’s a duty.”

The Fifa vice-president and head of the Jordanian and West Asian football Federations, who has the support of Uefa President Michel Platini, did not reveal any specific election pledges but stressed the need for greater transparency. — AFP

Warner counters Morgan ton to lead Aussies to win SCOREBOARD

The powerful left-hander’s commanding century cancelled out a long overdue ton by new England skipper Eoin Morgan to help the Australians earn a bonus point for reaching the target inside 40 overs

SYDNEY: Australian opener David Warner led his team to an emphatic three-wicket win over England in the opening one-day international of the triangular series at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday.

The powerful left-hander’s commanding century cancelled out a long overdue ton by new England skipper Eoin Morgan to help the Australians earn a bonus point for reaching the target inside 40 overs.

Morgan’s lone hand of 121 off 136 balls with 11 fours and three sixes enabled England to recover from a disastrous start to make 234 in 47.5 overs.

Warner then made 127, breaking his own drought with his first one-day international ton since back-to-back hundreds against Sri Lanka in 2012, as Australia cruised to the victory target with 61 balls to spare, finishing on 235 for seven from 39.5 overs.

MATCH HERO: Australian batsman David Warner acknowledges his century against England. – Reuters

Warner faced 115 balls, hitting 18 fours, and fell when just eight runs were needed to win and Australia was chasing the bonus point.

He was delighted to become the first Australian to score a limited overs century against England at the SCG, his home ground.

“It was good to score a hundred, it was a big one (getting the record), here at the SCG,” Warner said. “Importantly, we won the game and we got a bonus point.”

England have now won just three of their last 14 one-day internationals as they head towards next month’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Morgan took little solace from his own performance after the loss.

“Ultimately the early wickets

cost us,” Morgan said.

“I was happy with my performance to start like this as captain but devastated at the result.”

In the first match of the triangular series, which also features India, Morgan won the toss in his debut as skipper since replacing Alastair Cook and elected to bat.

His sixth one-day century for England helped the tourists put on a defendable total before being dismissed in 47.5 overs.

Morgan was the only England batsman to score over 30.

The century ended a dry run for Morgan, as it was his first century in his past 20 one-day innings, which had included just one prior half-century.

He brought up his ton by lofting

O M A N A M AT E U R G O L F

CHIEF GUEST: Minister of Oil & Gas Dr Mohammed Al Rumhy.

IN FRONT: Azzan Al Rumhy.

Azaan continued: “I was 1-under par after the first 6 holes. But I hit a few bad shots on the 13th hole, making a double bogey. A birdie on the 17th hole then put me back in contention for the title.”

All the players in the top bracket of the leaderboard stand a good chance of snatching the title on

Saturday. Mundhir Al Barwani, chairman of Oman Golf Committee was present in the course from early morning till the day’s action was over, said: “ It’s nice to see so much competition this year. The golfers are really battling it out.”

Jeff Campbell, who is the defending champion at the annual golfing extravaganza, carded a score of 81 on the opening day and is seeking to improve on the performance on the second day.

Campbell, who won the competition’s last two editions and is keeping an eye on a hat-trick of title wins, said: “I scored 81 today. I am not satistfied with my performance. I would have liked to have produced a better performance than this. I am looking forward to a much better day out tomorrow.

It’s great to be chasing another title win.”

F I FA E L E C T I O N S

Ginola launches unlikely Fifa bid as ‘fans champion’ LONDON: Former France international David Ginola launched an unlikely and almost certainly doomed bid for the Fifa presidency on Friday, assuming the role of the “fans champion” under the

slogan of “rebooting football.”

Ginola, 48, who has until Jan. 29 to prove he has the backing of five football associations before his bid can be officially accepted by Fifa, is seeking the support of fans around

late runs, holing out to Glenn Maxwell at deep mid-wicket from the bowling of Starc in the 48th over.

The England innings was wrapped up one ball later, when Steven Finn was clean bowled by a Starc yorker.

Starc finished the innings with 4-42 from 8.5 overs and claimed man-of-the-match honours. — AFP

INDIA FOOTBALL

Azaan, Yacoub share lead MUSCAT: Oman’s top-ranked golfer Azaan Al Rumhy and Bahrain’s Nasser Yacoub both carded an impressive score of 75 each to jointly stay on top of the leaderboard as the prestigious Oman Amateur Open 2015 got underway in style on Friday at the lush green course of the Muscat Hills Golf & Country Club.

This is the sixth edition of the competition, which is being organized by the Oman Golf Committee over two days, and it witnessed 117 golfers — from Oman and abroad — taking part in the strokeplay format.

While Azaan and Yacoub took the No 1 position after the first day’s outing following impressive performances, Danny Van Bill John and Tenzin Tsarong stood right behind them, both with a score of 78 each.

His Excellency Dr Mohammed Al Rumhy, who is Oman’s Minister of Oil & Gas, will grace the second and final day of the big event on Saturday with his presence as the Chief Guest and will give away the prizes.

Azaan, alongside Yacoub, was in prime form on a breezy day out.

Azaan said: “I am happy with the way I played today despite the tough conditions. I had an early start and I had to battle early morning dew, making the course play longer. Tomorrow, I am looking forward to playing with Nasser, who is tied with me.”

James Faulkner (3-47) over cover from the 127th ball he faced, having hit nine fours and two sixes.

Morgan had to save the innings after a top-order collapse and strode to the wicket with his side in strife at 12 for three.

The home side struck with the very first ball, with Ian Bell trapped lbw by left-armer Mitchell Starc for a duck.

Worse was to come for England when Bell’s replacement at the crease, James Taylor, was also adjudged lbw for a duck two balls later. Morgan arrived after Joe Root was caught by Shane Watson from the bowling of Pat Cummins for just five.

The captain was eventually the ninth man to fall, in the push for

ENGLAND I. Bell lbw b Starc 0 M. Ali c Maxwell b Faulkner 22 J. Taylor lbw b Starc 0 J. Root c Watson b Cummins 5 E. Morgan c Maxwell b Starc 121 R. Bopara c Maxwell b Doherty 13 J. Buttler c Warner b Faulkner 28 C. Woakes c Smith b Maxwell 8 C. Jordan c Maxwell b Faulkner 17 S. Broad not out 0 S. Finn b Starc 0 Extras (b-2 lb-3 nb-1 w-14) 20 Total (all out, 47.5 overs) 234 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-0, 3-12, 4-33, 5-69, 6-136, 7-168, 8-224, 9-234, 10-234 Bowling: M. Starc 8.5-0-42-4(w-1); P. Cummins 9-1-42-1(nb-1 w-5); S. Watson 4-0-23-0 (w-1); J. Faulkner 10-1-473(w-1); G. Maxwell 6-0-37-1; X. Doherty 10-0-38-1(w-2) AUSTRALIA D. Warner c Bell b Woakes 127 A. Finch b Woakes 15 S. Watson c Woakes b Jordan 16 S. Smith b Ali 37 G. Bailey c Buttler b Woakes 10 G. Maxwell c Buttler b Woakes 0 B. Haddin run out (Bopara) 16 J. Faulkner not out 6 M. Starc not out 0 Extras (lb-7 w-1) 8 Total (for 7 wickets, 39.5 overs) 235 Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-71, 3-158, 4-199, 5-200, 6-227, 7-233 Bowling: C. Woakes 8-1-40-4; S. Finn 8-1- 48-0; S. Broad 6.5-0-49-0; C. Jordan 6-0-33-1; M. Ali 9-0-45-1(w-1); R. Bopara 2-0-13-0

the world to help get him on the ballot and to ultimately mount a successful election campaign.

Launching “Team Ginola”, the former Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Everton player,

48 told reporters: “I am putting my name forward as a candidate for the Presidency of Fifa and am seeking the support from fans all over the world and from their associations to make this happen.” — Reuters

Constantine back as head coach MUMBAI: Stephen Constantine is returning to coach India after the country’s football federation confirmed on Friday that the Englishman had agreed to a second stint with the national team. The 52-year-old Constantine coached

India from 2002-05 and was most recently head coach of Rwanda.

Constantine would also be in charge of India’s U-23 team and was expected to officially start work from irst week of February, the All India Football Federation said. — Reuters

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015

SPORTS Oman will play for pride: Le Guen

READY FOR THE LAST ASIAN CUP MATCH: Oman players gearing up for the final Group A match against Kuwat at Newcastle. Right, Oman coach Paul Le Guen, left, and skipper Ali Al Habsi, centre during a prematch press conference. – Times of Oman / CIO DATAN and OFA

Although both Oman and Kuwait are out of the running in Group A, Paul Le Guen has emphasised that every international match is important and promised his team would be pushing for three points at Newcastle Stadium to finish campaign on positive note

NEWCASTLE: Coach Paul Le Guen wants already-eliminated Oman to play with pride in their clash with Group A’s other ousted side Kuwait in the Asian Cup on Saturday. Oman exited the tournament after a 4-0 mauling by 2011 runners-up Australia in Sydney on Tuesday following an opening 1-0 loss to powerhouses South Korea.

Although both sides are out of the running in Group A, Le Guen has emphasised that every international match is important and promised Oman would be pushing for three points at Newcastle Stadium to finish the campaign on a positive note. “(We will play) with the pride we need to have,” said the former Rangers and Lyon coach. “Each international game is important.

“We have trained every day. We know that we are out of the competition but it’s another competition game and we want to win it.”

He added that if Oman were to contend at the continental championships, the players had to become more professional.

“I would like my players to be-

come more professional, but that is not easy to organise in Oman for many reasons,” he said.

“The league is not strong enough. In this competition we finished first in our group in qualifying. It’s not easy though against teams such as South Korea and Australia (in the finals). It is not a shame to be beaten, but we have to try to win the last game.”

A main motivating factor for Oman is that they beat Kuwait 5-0 in the last meeting between the sides at the Gulf Cup in November although goalkeeper and captain Ali Al Habsi said Saturday’s game would be a different proposition.

“We beat them two months ago but tomorrow (Saturday) will be different,” he said.

“Both teams want to finish in a nice way after both losing to Australia and Korea Republic.

“For us it is an important game.

We need to win the game for us as players, for the manager, for the Oman Football Association, and for the fans back home. It is important we finish the competition with three points and not zero.”

ASIAN CUP

Road to redemption Former winners Kuwait will take the first steps on the road to redemption after their early exit.

Coach Nabil Maaloul is treating the match with Oman in the same fashion as the games against Australia and Korea Republic and is targeting a victory.

“Of course this match is not important for the AFC Asian Cup (as neither team can make the quarter-finals) but it is important for both teams,” said the Tunisian.

“This will be very important to the two teams as it allows us to find who will be placed third in the group. We will be looking for a bright outcome. It is bad luck to be in a group with such strong teams

Jedinak boost for Australia ahead of top spot tussle

as Australia and Korea.”

Maaloul’s men will have to block out thoughts of the last meeting between the sides which ended in a 5-0 loss to the Omanis in the Gulf Cup last November, a defeat that hastened the departure of then coach Jorvan Vieira, the man who guided Iraq to the title at the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. “We will do what is best for the game and will try to win this match. We will pick the players most likely to get us three points. Oman were the best team at the Gulf Cup, we will try to beat them,” he added.

Kuwait have been dogged by injuries during the AFC Asian Cup and Maaloul said that Hussain Fadhel, scorer of the opening goal of the tournament, was likely to be sidelined for the clash with Oman. — AFC

BRISBANE: Australia captain Mile Jedinak could return for the Socceroos’ Asian Cup Group A clash against South Korea on Saturday if not definitely the quarterfinals, according to coach Ange Postecoglou.

Jedinak twisted his left ankle late in the first half of the opening match against Kuwait and had to be replaced, missing the following Oman game. Postecoglou said on Friday at Brisbane Stadium that he will make his decision on the Crystal Palace skipper following training, but expects him to be fit in time for the last eight, where the hosts will take on either the winner or runner-up from Group B. “We have a session this afternoon (Friday) and apart from Chris Herd who unfortunately has an injury he can’t overcome, we’ll have a look at Mile Jedinak this afternoon,” Postecoglou said during a press conference.

“But everyone else who played in the last game has pulled up really well. So we are looking forward to it.

Stielike sweats Meanwhile, South Korea coach Uli Stielike will consult

with team doctors before naming his starting line-up.

“All of the changes from the first to the second game, it was because of the circumstances; players were injured, players were sick so we had to change the line-up in the second game,” he said.

“For Saturday’s game, I’m sitting here now with a lot of doubts and waiting for the afternoon training. On Thursday, it was the first time after five days that (Koo) Ja-cheol and (Son) Heung-min and (Kim) Chang-soo did the first training session, so we have to wait as the players consult the doctor because we cannot take any risk looking at the quarterfinal.”

Victory in their opening two games ensured the Koreans would advance to the quarterfinals of the competition but, with a vastly inferior goal-difference to the Socceroos, Stielike’s side needs to win against the Australians to qualify for a quarterfinal against the runners-up in Group B, either Saudi Arabia or Uzbekistan. “I think the big pressure after the clearance of the qualification is out of the head of both teams,” he said. - AFC

AUSTRALIAN OPEN PREVIEW

Wasteful Japan edge out Iraq BRISBANE: Keisuke Honda converted a penalty to make amends for hitting the post three times as a wasteful Japan held on to beat Iraq 1-0 in their Asian Cup Group D match on Friday.

Honda made no mistake with his spot kick, however, sending Iraqi goalkeeper Jalal Hassan the wrong way to score the only goal of the match in the 23rd minute at Lang Park.

Despite scoring the winner, the attacking midfielder could have scored at least four goals but struck the woodwork three times, including twice from close-range, as the defending champions squandered a series of chances to extend their lead.

The result elevated Japan to the top of the group on six points from two matches and needing only a point from their final match against Jordan to reach the quarter-finals.

Iraq and Jordan each have three points with Palestine on none, and all four teams still have a mathematical chance of advancing or being eliminated.

Japan were awarded the penalty after Honda, who also scored a spot kick in on Monday’s 4-0 win over Palestine, was felled after getting sandwiched between Ali Adnan and Saad Abdul Amir as he tried to control a rebound from Shinji Kagawa’s saved shot.

Japan should have taken the lead earlier when Yuto Nagatomo stole the ball off Iraq defensive midfielder Amjed Kalaf and crossed to Honda, who missed the target from inside the sixyard box, heading straight onto the base of the post.

Japan dominated possession throughout the match but were

He added that both Oman and Kuwait had been unfortunate to be drawn in Group A against hosts Australia and Korea Republic and predicted that both of them would go deep into the tournament.

“We are in a strong group with two big teams, Australia and South Korea. We and Kuwait were unlucky to get in this group. I think they will both be in the semi-finals, and at least one will be in the final,” he said “The way Australia played against us was different to how they played against Kuwait.

In their opening game there was a little bit of stress and pressure for the home team, but in the game against us I think they showed a really good performance.

“They were always looking forward in the game, trying to set up plays to win. I’ve played against Australia at least six times, and the performance they put in this time is different. They have a big chance of winning this competition.”

Al Dardour scores four as Jordan beat Palestine MELBOURNE: Hamza Al Dardour scored four as Jordan recorded a first win under head coach Ray Wilkins by brushing aside Palestine 5-1 on Friday to keep alive their hopes of reaching the Asian Cup quarterfinals.

A stunning 33rd minute strike from Yousef Ahmad set the twice quarterfinalists on their way before Al Dardour took charge to end Palestinian hopes of picking up their first ever points in the Asian Cup. —Reuters

haunted by poor finishing with Kagawa spraying a shot across the goal and Shinji Okazaki heading the ball straight to Hassan in the first half.

Iraq, who opened their campaign with a 1-0 win over Jordan, were unable to create many clear-cut chances with Ahmed Ibrahim’s climb above the Japanese defence to test keeper Eiji Kawashima, the biggest threat for the 2007 Asian Cup winners in the opening half. — Reuters

Djoko primed to reclaim Aussie throne MELBOURNE: Last year’s Australian Open kicked off the biggest shakeup in men’s tennis for a decade but Novak Djokovic is primed to stave off the charge of ‘Generation Next’ and take back his throne at Melbourne Park.

Stan Wawrinka holds the title and a band of young upstarts are determined to topple the ‘Big Four’, but Djokovic has the fitness and the momentum to reassert himself on the blue courts by the banks of the Yarra River, where he claimed three successive titles from 2011-13 and his first in 2008.

Though upended a year ago

by Wawrinka in a cataclysmic quarter-final, a match seen as the beginning of the end for the old guard, Djokovic finished the year with victory at the World Tour Finals, the top ranking and the respect of his greatest rivals.

“The only guy who was really consistent was Novak,” Roger Federer said at the Brisbane International last week. “He was still there when it mattered the most.”

Adding to Djokovic’s chances are a kind draw and fitness doubts over his biggest threats.

With Federer, Andy Murray and Rafa Nadal bunched on the other side of the draw, only one could meet the Wimbledon champion in the final.

Tough year Barring his record ninth French Open trophy, Nadal had a tough 2014. Having lost to Wawrinka in the Melbourne Park final when battling a back injury, the second half of his year was wiped out by a wrist problem and appendicitis.

The Spaniard’s new campaign got off to a miserable start at the Qatar Open last week where he was dumped from the first round by German journeyman Michael Berrer.

DEFENDING CHAMPIONS: China’s Li Na and Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka hold the Women’s and Men’s singles trophies as they sit on a tram before the start of the official draw ceremony. – Reuters

Sixth seed Murray, though recovered from back surgery in 2013, struggled to find his best tennis last year and has had a major shakeup in his entourage, parting ways with assistant coach Dani Vallverdu and fitness trainer Jez Green in November.

Federer may be the best placed to stop Djokovic and the Swiss master’s 1,000th career win, reached by beating Milos Raonic in the Brisbane International final, proved he still has the hunger to challenge at the age of 33.

Federer’s last grand slam triumph was at Wimbledon in 2012, however, and his ability to win seven matches of best-of-five-set tennis remains the biggest question mark.

Wawrinka’s quarter-final upset of Djokovic in a five-set thriller was arguably the match of the tournament last year, and avenged his defeat in another marathon against the Serb at Melbourne Park in 2013.

Though the 29-year-old Swiss failed to reach his Australian heights at the other three grand slams, the fourth seed is peaking at the right time.

Sharing in a morale-boosting

Davis Cup win with Federer at the end of the year, Wawrinka also won at Madras in the leadup and is on collision course for a mouth-watering semifinal against Djokovic.

To get there he may need to overcome Japanese trailblazer Kei Nishikori, who became the first man from an Asian country to contest a grand slam singles final at the US Open.

Like 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov and eighth seed Raonic, the cleanhitting Nishikori, who stunned Djokovic in the Flushing Meadows semifinals, is considered among the brightest hopes to rock the establishment.

Still favourite Serena Williams’ Australian Open preparations included smashing a racquet in frustration, complaining of fatigue and losing to players she had never lost to before, yet she is still the favourite to claim her sixth title at Melbourne Park.

The 33-year-old had a terrible buildup to the season-opening grand slam while playing in the Hopman Cup in Perth, losing to Eugenie Bouchard and Agnieszka Radwanska for the first time.

Her standard of play at the

event, essentially an exhibition within a tournament format, was also far below her best.

Pundits, however, are loathe to begin writing about the decline of the 18-times grand slam champion as Father Time catches up with her. With age comes wisdom. Or craftiness, at least.

Her biggest challenge, apart from stopping her own game self destructing as it has done in Melbourne from time to time, is likely to come from Maria Sharapova, one of the few players who can go toe-to-toe with the American.

Azarenka has made at least the quarter-finals in four of the past five years, including back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013, but she will need a dose of luck and a return to form if she is to go deep in the tournament this year.

She could face world number eight Caroline Wozniacki, who had to withdraw from Sydney this week with a wrist injury, in the second round before a potential quarter-final with Williams.

The winner of that last eight clash has been drawn to face either fourth seed Petra Kvitova or sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals. — Reuters

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WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM S ATU RDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015

MARKE

BP’S FINE FOR GULF SPILL CAPPED AT $13.7 BILLION The government’s 4.2 million barrel estimate of the spill size was rejected on Friday by US District Judge Carl Barbier, decreasing the potential maximum fine from $18 billion. >B3

Oman Oil arm’s $1.3b gas processing plant opens Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production has so far invested $1.3b for developing the field, a processing plant, and other related pipeline facilities and the total investment in the present phase will reach $2.5 billion once the remaining work is completed

A E JAMES

businesseditor@timesofoman.com QARN ALAM/MUSCAT: Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production (OOCEP) has announced the commercial export of 27 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) of natural gas and 2,500 barrels per day (bpd) of condensates from its newly developed block 60 tight gas field in Abu Butabul, located around 500 kilometres (kms) away from Muscat in the western region of Central Oman.

The company has so far invested $1.3 billion for developing the field, a processing plant, and other related pipeline facilities and the total investment in the present phase will reach $2.5 billion once the remaining work is completed.

OOCEP has announced the official opening of the gas field and a state-of-the-art processing plant

RIBBON_CUTTING: The newly developed block 60 tight gas field in Abu Butabul, located around 500 kilometres away from Muscat in the western region of Central Oman. — A R Rajkumar/Times of Oman

on Thursday at a ceremony held at the field under the auspices of His Highness Sayyid Shihab bin Tariq Al Said, advisor to His Majesty.

Addressing the inaugural function, Salem bin Zahir Al Sibani, chief executive officer of OOCEP, said that natural gas and condensate production would gradually reach 70 MMscfd and 6,000 bpd, respectively, by the middle of this year.

“The investment in the project amounted to $1.3 billion until the end of 2014. Development will continue as per the first plan for the project to reach about $2.5 billion,” he added.

In fact, the Abu Butabul gas processing plant was commissioned on September 23, 2014, while production and export of gas started in November 2014.

“The project was completed in a record time of three years and is considered a global record at

this stage,” said Al Sibani, adding, “The Sultanate is one of the first countries in the region to extract non-conventional gas from deep reservoirs.”

Block 60 Abu Butabul, also known as Block 60, is a 1,500sqkm concession encompassing the wilayats of Ibri and Haima, and is 100 per cent owned and operated by OOCEP – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oman Oil Company, which is the Oman government’s investment arm in the energy sector.

The field is situated 50kms west to Mabrouk Field and 85kms from Barik Field. Abu Butabul Field (Block 60) was discovered in 1998

by ABB-01 drilled by Petroleum Development Oman. The concession was acquired by OOCEP in December 2010, after the previous operator relinquished the block.

The newly built gas processing plant, with a capacity to treat 90 MMscfd of gas, 6,000 bpd of condensates and 2,000 bpd of water, was commissioned on September 23, enabling processing and export of unconventional tight gas into the Government Gas System – for the first time in the country’s modern history.

The successful production of gas from the deep and tight reservoir substantially enhanced gas availability to meet the growing local demand – which is vital for the economic development of the country.

Elaborating on the scope of development work in the first phase, Al Sibani said the overall development of the Barik gas reservoir included preparation of geological studies and drilling of hydraulically fractured 80 wells at a depth of 4.5kms, so that the gas can go out of its tight reservoir. Other

major facilities include a major plant for treating natural gas and condensates, construction of gathering network for well products with a total length of 122kms, building an integrated storage and export system with the construction of dual pipelines of 90kms to transport natural gas and condensates to Barik.

“While the condensate is transported to PDO facilities, the gas is exported to the government gas system run by Oman Gas Company.”

While the concentration is to deliver the Barik project on stream, other opportunities have also been matured utilising the drilled wells into Barik. Miqrat, Haushi (Gharif and Alkhlata) and Khuff at ABB field have been realised as potential projects that can be delivered altogether with Barik to enhance ABB project profitability. OOCEP has also found a number of exploration prospects of which is currently drilling the first exploration well, Bisat structure.

The real value of this achievement is the success of establishing local expertise that can compete in this industry and the establishment of lots of procedures, standards and policies that provide foundations for the execution of future projects, added Suleiman Al Zakwani, project director of OOCEP. Block 60 development has been challenging in different aspects.

The block is located in a remote area away from any existing infrastructure, majority of the block is covered with sand dunes and the block is located away from the known subsurface salt basins.

The reservoirs under development are at 4500 metre depth and they are treated as unconventional tight sandstones.

The inaugural function was attended by top-level officials including ministers, undersecretaries and other officials from both government and private sector.

ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION UNIT

Posco in talks to sell unit stake to Saudi fund LONDON: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is in talks to buy a stake in South Korean steelmaker Posco’s engineering and construction unit as ties strengthen between the company and the state-backed investor.

Posco is still considering the sale, with a decision to be made in the first half of the year, according to a spokesman at the Posco Engineering & Construction Co. unit,

who asked not to be identified according to company policy. He declined to comment on the size of the stake.

Nearly 40 per cent stake The Saudi state-run investment fund is seeking to buy as much as 40 per cent of the unit, three people with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.

PIF is working with JP Morgan Chase and Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank on the deal, they said.

A 40 per cent stake is worth about $850 million based on the unit’s current market value, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Saudi Arabia is allocating a record amount of money to build roads, industrial centres and air-

CRUDE SUPPLIES

IEA cuts its non-Opec output growth estimate for this year LONDON: Non-Opec oil producers will increase output this year at a slower rate than previously forecast, aiding a recovery in crude prices, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.

The adviser lowered its nonOpec supply growth estimate by 350,000 barrels a day, the first cut since the 2015 forecast was introduced in July. Half the cut is from Colombian output while effects on US production are so far “marginal,” it said. The slow-down in non-Opec output will lead to a “rebalancing” of currently over-supplied global markets in the second half, reviving prices, the agency said.

“Companies have been taking an axe to their budgets, postponing or cancelling new projects,” the Paris-based IEA, which advises 29 nations on energy policy, said in its monthly market report.

“A price recovery, barring any major disruption, may not be imminent, but signs are mounting that the tide will turn.”

Oil prices have collapsed almost 60 per cent from last year’s

peak, as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) resolved to defend market share against the fastest U.S. production in more than three decades. Opec’s decision is testing the ability of rival producers to keep pumping as prices slump to a 5 1/2-year low. Brent futures traded near $49 a barrel on Friday.

Colombia reduced Non-Opec supply still will increase 950,000 barrels a day this year to 57.5 million a day, the IEA said. Colombia’s supply will be about 175,000 lower than previously anticipated, about the same as Canada and the US combined.

Any stimulus for demand from lower prices remains “elusive” because of underlying weakness in the global economy, said the agency, which kept its global oil consumption forecast for 2015 unchanged. The surplus in oil inventories in developed economies in December was the highest for the time of year since 2010, its preliminary data show.

A higher level of supply from Opec will be required than previously expected because of slower non-Opec growth, according to the report. The organisation will need to provide 29.2 million barrels a day this year, about 300,000 a day more than last month’s forecast. That’s still about 1.3 million a day less than its 12 members pumped in December, when Iraqi supplies rose to a 35-year high of 3.7 million barrels a day.

Production from Saudi Arabia, Opec’s biggest member, remained steady in December at 9.6 million barrels a day, the IEA said.

Opec itself reduced estimates for the crude it will need to provide in 2015 by 100,000 barrels a day to 28.8 million a day in its monthly market report yesterday.

— Bloomberg News

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

ports as it seeks to cut its energy dependency and stimulate economic growth.

PIF is one of several investment bodies the kingdom uses to invest its oil wealth. The fund holds stakes in several listed Saudi companies, including Saudi Basic Industries Corp. one of the world’s biggest petrochemicals maker.

Posco E&C rose 1.6 per cent as of 9:43am in Seoul, according to

data from Freeboard, an over-thecounter market managed by the Korea Financial Investment Association. Its construction projects range from steel and power plants to harbours and skyscrapers, according to its website.

A spokeswoman for JPMorgan declined to comment, while representatives at National Commercial Bank (NCB) weren’t immediately available to comment. — Bloomberg New

EUROPEAN UNION

ECB reshapes euro-area bank landscape FRANKFURT: Euro-area bank executives are beginning to feel the force of Daniele Nouy’s resolve.

The European Central Bank’s supervisory chief wants banks to reflect the outcome of last year’s ECB health check by either provisioning for assets that it found to be overstated by almost 48 billion euros ($56 billion) or raising more capital.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the worst performer in the review, will probably post more than three billion euros in extra provisioning for the fourth quarter, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Lenders across the euro area are shoring up balance sheets as the ECB completes its first annual supervisory plan, due to be approved next month. As Nouy lays down new rules for the industry, banks are getting their first indication of how demanding officials in Frankfurt will be over the longer term.

“The undeniable trend is toward more and higher quality capital,” said Christian Thun, senior director at Moody’s Analytics in Frankfurt. “The regulators want a prudential valuation of assets, and either challenge the banks’ own valuation or force them to hold more capital on the other side of the balance sheet.”

Must respond The ECB’s Single Supervisory Board is set to finalise so-called SREP plans for the 120 banks it monitors directly when it meets on January 22. Many of the banks must respond to the ECB’s individual plans for them by on Friday. Those plans, including capital-raising measures for the banks that failed last year’s Comprehensive Assessment, must then be seen by the ECB’s Governing Council, which has the right to object.

That final step could happen as soon as February 4.

An ECB spokeswoman declined to comment on the schedule for approval as the process isn’t public. Executives at Monte Paschi, which displayed a 2.1-billion- euro gap in last year’s review, met ECB supervisors yesterday in Frankfurt to discuss the plan to fill their capital shortfall, said the person, who declined to be identified as the issue isn’t public.

The executives will update the bank’s directors in a meeting on Friday in Siena, where they will discuss the extra provisions.

The move may lead the ECB to lower the preliminary capital target of 14.3 per cent common equity Tier 1 set in December, the person said. — Bloomberg News

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015

FEATURE

O GAS PRICE : ANOTHER SERIOUS CONCERN FOR PUTIN

A

fter last year’s plunges in oil and the ruble, Russian President Vladimir Putin now has another thing to worry about: the price of natural gas.

While the fuel held up better than oil last year, weakening just about half as much, the average cost on Europe’s biggest open market will fall 13 per cent this year to the lowest since 2010, according to the median of 13 traders, brokers and analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Part of the reason for the drop is that global production capacity of liquefied natural gas will jump the most in four years, boosting competition for Russian pipeline flows that meet almost a third of Europe’s demand.

Brent crude, used to help price stateowned OAO Gazprom’s gas sales to Europe, slumped 48 per cent last year on global oversupply. Russia gets two-thirds of its export revenue from oil and gas and Putin has warned the nation of a recession as the world’s biggest energy exporter also contends with a 34 per cent drop in its currency versus the euro.

“There are all these factors coming in that are not really great for Russia in terms of its position as a supplier of natural gas to Europe,” Daragh McDowell, a senior analyst at Bath, England-based Verisk Maplecroft, who has studied Russia for about 10 years, said by phone.

“Russia’s hand is weak and is getting a lot weaker.”

Brent fell 5 cents, or 0.1 per cent, to

$51.10 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange at 8:18 a.m.

London time. It is trading near the lowest level in more than 5 1/2 years.

Benchmark prices UK gas prices, a European benchmark, will average 44.5 pence a therm ($6.69 a million British thermal units) this year, according to the survey. That compares with 51 pence a therm for the frontmonth contract in 2014 and 67.1 pence in 2013. The contract traded at 46.8 pence on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London. Lower oil prices will start to fully feed into Russia’s long-term gas contracts as early as April, Citigroup Inc. said in a December 15 report. Almost half of Europe’s wholesale gas contracts are linked to oil, with the impact showing up with a lag of six to nine months.

Global LNG output will expand by 5 per cent, or 14 million metric tons, this year, according to Bank of America Corp.

That’s the fastest pace since 2011 as new projects start from the US to Australia.

European LNG imports have fallen since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011 boosted demand in Japan, the world’s biggest consumer.

A drop in Asian prices will help reverse the decline in deliveries to Europe, the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said in its latest quarterly report on gas markets. Northeast Asian spot LNG prices have declined 49 per cent from a record in February, according to New York-based World Gas Intelligence.

There are all these factors coming in that are not really great for Russia in terms of its position as a supplier of natural gas to Europe.

Russia’s hand is getting a lot weaker.

Daragh McDowell A senior analyst at Bath, England-based Verisk Maplecroft

European imports Because of the decline in Asian prices and demand, Europe’s imports of LNG will rise 18 per cent in 2015 to 41.7 million tonnes, according to Energy Aspects Ltd., a consultant to the industry.

“The European natural gas market has been short of LNG over the last few years because prices in Asia were so high,” Sabine Schels, the London-based head of energy strategy at BofA, said by e-mail on January 6.

“After four or five years of extreme tightness, there will be a multiyear bear market, which ultimately means that there will be more cargoes left for Europe.”

While LNG supplies to Europe will rise, growth this year will be “marginal” as most new plants start producing at the end of the year, said Thierry Bros, an analyst at Societe Generale SA in Paris.

Lower prices may also mean some LNG facilities won’t be built.

Gas sales Russia gets 14 per cent of its export sales from gas. State- run Gazprom’s revenue will drop 7.6 per cent to 6.13 trillion rubles ($99 billion) in fiscal year 2015, the first decline since 2009, according to the mean estimate of 18 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Sergei Kupriyanov, a spokesman with Gazprom in Moscow, didn’t respond to three phone calls seeking comment on the gas market during public holidays in Russia.

Russia also faces lower demand in the

European Union, its biggest gas market. Consumption in the 28-nation bloc declined 9 per cent last year, the fourth annual drop, according to a forecast by Brussels-based lobby group Eurogas.

Summer arrivals Most LNG will arrive in Europe during the summer, according to Energy Aspects, boosting inventories already at their highest for this time of year since at least 2009. That would damp summer prices and increase the incentive to store, said Niall Trimble, managing director at The Energy Contract Co., whose clients include GDF Suez SA and Statoil ASA. “There’s potential for summer-winter spreads to widen as you see all this new LNG capacity come to the market,” Schels said by phone from London on December 2.

This “should absolutely help increase security of supply in Europe.”

Russia, which spent more than $80 billion last year to stem the ruble’s decline, will probably try to keep its European gas market share by discounting prices, according to Eurasia Group. The nation’s economy may shrink 4.5 per cent this year with oil at $60 per barrel, the Russian central bank said on December 15.

“In terms of revenues, gas is a smaller proportion than oil,” noted Leslie PaltiGuzman, an analyst at Eurasia Group in New York.

“But at the end of the day, when you have a bad fiscal situation, everything becomes important.” – Bloomberg News

SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015

B3

MARKET BP’s fine for Gulf spill capped at $13.7 billion

PERFORMANCE

The government’s 4.2 million barrel estimate of the spill LOWERING COSTS: Net income dropped to $302 million, or 23

cents a share, from $1.66 billion, or $1.26, a year earlier. — Bloomberg

size was rejected on

file picture

Friday by US District

Schlumberger cuts 9,000 jobs

Judge Carl Barbier, decreasing the potential maximum fine from $18 billion

HOUSTON: Schlumberger, the world’s biggest oilfield-services company, tackled the “uncertain environment” of plummeting crude prices head-on by cutting 9,000 jobs and lowering costs at a vessels unit.

The 7.1 per cent workforce cutback, along with the reduction and reassessment of its WesternGeco fleet, were among steps leading to a $1.77 billion fourthquarter charge in anticipation of lower spending by customers in 2015, the Houston- and Parisbased company said in an earnings report on Thursday.

Energy companies, coping with oil worth less than half its price six months ago, are expected to cut spending in the US by as much as 35 per cent this year, according to Cowen.

The number of onshore US rigs could fall by as much as 750 this year, Wells Fargo said in a note on Wednesday. That would be a 43 per cent decline from the 1,744 in operation at the start of the year, according to Baker Hughes.

The coming year “is looking like it’s gonna be pretty rough,” Rob Desai, an analyst at Edward Jones in St. Louis, who rates the shares a buy and owns none, said in a phone interview. Schlumberger, which

had doubled its workforce in the past 10 years, said the one-time charges for the quarter also resulted from the devaluation of Venezuela’s currency and a lower value for production assets it owns in Texas.

Net income of the compnay dropped to $302 million, or 23 cents a share, from $1.66 billion, or $1.26, a year earlier.

Tough environment “In this uncertain environment, we continue to focus on what we can control,” Schlumberger Chief Executive Officer Paal Kibsgaard said in the earnings report. “We have already taken a number of actions to restructure and resize our organisation.”

Shares in oilfield-services companies, which help customers find and produce oil and natural gas, were the first to fall as crude prices declined. Service companies in the Standard & Poor’s Index dropped 20 per cent in the quarter, more than the 18 per cent decline for producers.

Exploration and production spending globally is expected to drop 17 per cent to $571 billion, Jim Crandell, an analyst at Cowen, wrote in a January 7 research note. Schlumberger has the smallest exposure to North America compared with peers, generating a dollar of sales in the region for every $3 globally.

With oil prices failing to stabilise, some producers are waiting to announce plans for 2015, making first-quarter earnings estimates for Schlumberger “still a bit of a guess,” said Gengaro, who rates the company a buy and doesn’t own the shares.

Less than half of the 150 oil and gas companies it monitors have reported spending plans for the year, Norman MacDonald, a portfolio manager for Invesco, said in an interview. MacDonald, who manages the $990 million Invesco Energy Fund, said he’s never seen this many companies wait so long to announce their budgets. — Bloomberg News

LONDON: BP faces a maximum fine of $13.7 billion after a US judge ruled that the company dumped 3.2 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 — about a quarter less than the US had calculated.

The government’s 4.2 million barrel estimate of the spill size was rejected on Friday by US District Judge Carl Barbier, decreasing the potential maximum fine from $18 billion. BP estimated the flow at 2.45 million barrels. The maximum possible fine would still be the largest US pollution penalty.

Barbier, who conducted a trial without a jury over who was to blame for the disaster, previously found BP’s exploration unit had acted with gross negligence in causing the largest offshore oil spill in US history.

That decision triggered BP’s exposure to the maximum fines under the Clean Water Act. The ruling on

the spill’s size sets the stage for a trial next week in New Orleans at which Barbier will determine the amount of the fines, based on the law’s provision for as much as $4,300 per barrel released and factors such as what BP did to minimise or mitigate the effects of the disaster. BP still faces multiple claims by private parties and state governments. The company reached an estimated $9.7 billion settlement of claims from most private parties who alleged they were harmed by the spill. The company didn’t settle with banks, casinos, local governments and businesses claiming harm from the deep-water drilling morato-

US FIGURES

Nintendo’s Amiibo sales rise TOKYO: Nintendo said it sold almost 2.6 million Amiibo figurines in the US since they debuted in late November, giving an early indication of whether the company’s new strategy of selling toys will be successful.

While Nintendo didn’t provide a number of toys sold, the Kyotobased company said in an e-mail

that sales were “nearly twice” the 1.3 million copies of Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U sold last year in the United States Mario Kart 8 sold 1.7 million physical and digital units for the console, Nintendo said in the email.

President Satoru Iwata is looking to vindicate his strategy of selling games only on Nintendo

devices rather than offering them on smartphones and tablet computers. He’s counting on demand for Amiibo and the two titles to reach a sales target of 3.6 million Wii U consoles for the fiscal year ending in March. Earnings from the interactive toys aren’t included in the company’s annual forecast. — Bloomberg News

GULF OIL DISASTER: Barbier, who conducted a trial without a jury over who was to blame for the disaster, previously found BP’s exploration unit had acted with gross negligence in causing the largest offshore oil spill in US history. — Bloomberg file picture

rell, a BP spokesman, said today in an e-mailed statement.

Today’s ruling is a major victory for BP and reduces by billions their potential liability. A fine in excess of $10 billion remains possible but is now less likely David Uhlmann A law professor at the University of Michigan

rium set off by the spill. Louisiana, Alabama and other Gulf states are also seeking unspecified damages for harm to natural resources.

BP victory “Today’s ruling is a major victory for BP and reduces by billions their potential liability,” said David Uhlmann, a law professor at the University of Michigan and former head of the Justice Department’s environmental crimes division.

“A fine in excess of $10 billion remains possible but is now less likely,” Uhlmann said in an e-mail.

The London-based oil company has set aside $3.5 billion to cover the pollution fines. BP has already spent more than $28 billion in spill response, cleanup and claims. It also reached a $4.5 billion settlement of criminal allegations in 2012.

The company had taken a $43 billion charge to cover all the costs, according to an October 28 earnings statement. The ultimate cost is “subject to significant uncertainty,” BP said.

The company doesn’t expect Barbier to impose the maximum Clean Water Act fine, Geoff Mor-

Mitigating factors Barbier has to consider multiple factors including BP’s efforts to minimise or mitigate the spill, Morrell said. “BP believes that considering all the statutory penalty factors together weighs in favour of a penalty at the lower end of the statutory range,” he said.

Wyn Hornbuckle, a Justice Department spokesman, said the agency was reviewing the ruling.

Anadarko Petroleum, which owned a 25 per cent share of the doomed well, will also be a defendant in the penalty phase of the trial.

Barbier previously ruled Anadarko wasn’t responsible for the spill and is on the hook for pollution fines as a part owner of the well. The US said last month it was seeking no more than $1 billion from Anadarko, which is based in The Woodlands, Texas. — Bloomberg News

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B4

SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015

MARKET Apple, Google agree to antitrust hiring pact

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The four months it took to hammer out the new $415m agreement suggests “serious sustained negotiation” between the two sides – Bloomberg file picture

WASHINGTON: Apple and Google agreed to a $415 million settlement, $90.5 million more than a previously rejected accord, to end an embarrassing chapter of litigation showing how they and other Silicon Valley companies conspired to avoid hiring one another’s employees.

The agreement, first disclosed on January 13 with no details on terms and filed on Friday in full, requires the approval of US District Judge Lucy H. Koh in San Jose, California, who in August rejected the initial $324.5 million accord on grounds it didn’t offer enough

money for affected workers.

Koh said the companies, which include Adobe Systems and Intel, should pay at least $380 million given “ample evidence” of antitrust violations that might result in damages of more than $9 billion if the case went to a jury.

For the companies, approval of the new accord would avoid the risk of a trial scheduled for April and finish off a 2011 lawsuit that produced troves of internal emails detailing anticompetitive agreements among the chief executive officers at technology giants.

The four months it took to ham-

mer out the new agreement suggests “serious sustained negotiation” between the two sides, Orly Lobel, a law professor at University of San Diego who specialises in labour and employment issues, said in an e-mail.

Adobe employee One of the objections to the original settlement was filed by former Adobe employee Michael Devine, who left the company in 2008 and was a lead plaintiff in the case.

Devine’s lawyer, Daniel Girard, argued that if workers’ lawyers hadn’t initially agreed to settle for

an average payout of about $3,572, they could have won damages at trial of as much as $141,331 each.

Daniel Girard, a lawyer representing Devine, said the new settlement comes out to about $6,400 for each employee. Girard said that when a San Francisco-based appeals court agreed in September to consider the companies’ request to overrule Koh’s rejection of the initial settlement, it presented a “meaningful risk.”

That factored into Devine’s decision to support the $415 million agreement, Girard said. Devine “has signed on to the settlement but he believes everyone should make their own assessment,” Girard said.

“We believe this is the maximum number that can be obtained at this point in the litigation.”

Kristin Huguet, a spokeswoman for Cupertino, California- based Apple, and Aaron Stein, a spokesman for Mountain View, California-based Google, declined to comment on the new settlement agreement.

Rejections of antitrust settlements are rare, especially when objections are based on the amount and not the law. The rejected settlement would have given the employees’ lawyers $81 million in fees plus $1.2 million in costs. — Bloomberg News

PERFORMANCE

Reliance reports first profit drop in nine quarters MUMBAI: Reliance Industries, operator of the world’s biggest oil refining complex, reported its first profit decline in nine quarters as crude’s slump drove down the value of stockpiles and narrowed its refining margin.

Net income fell 7.6 per cent to Rs50.9 billion ($823 million) in the three months ended on December 31, compared with the same period a year earlier, Mumbai-based Reliance said in a stock exchange filing on Friday. That matched the 50.8 billion-rupee median estimate of 24 analysts compiled by Bloomberg. Net sales fell 23 per cent to Rs802 billion.

China’s slowest economic growth in almost three years is reducing global demand growth for oil. The weakness is holding back Reliance’s refinery business even as its natural gas production continues to lag behind estimates.

Reliance shares dropped 0.5 per cent last year, the first annual decline in three years, compared with a 30 per cent gain in the benchmark S&P BSE India Sensitive Index. The stock has extended its decline by another 2.4 per cent this year, while the benchmark index has increased

2.3 per cent. The company operates two refineries that can together process 1.24 million barrels of crude everyday, the world’s biggest. The plants are located next to each other at Jamnagar in the western state of Gujarat and have the ability to process cheaper, lower grades of crude into high-value products for sale in Europe and the US. Profit from making diesel in Singapore, an Asian benchmark, averaged $15.57 a barrel in the quarter ended on December 31, compared with $17.47 a year earlier and $14.54 a barrel in the preceding three months, according to data from PVM Oil Associates in London.

The decline in oil prices also results in the value of stockpiles falling.

The losses can reduce profits at refiners such as Reliance and Indian Oil Corp. that have to maintain reserves. — Bloomberg News

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INDIAN MARKET

Sensex posts biggest weekly gain in two months as RBI cuts interest rates MUMBAI: Indian stocks climbed, with the benchmark gauge completing a weekly advance, as industrial and consumer companies rose after the central bank cut borrowing costs in an unscheduled move on Thursday, January 15.

Sesa Sterlite, the largest Indian copper maker, climbed the most in two weeks, while Hindustan Unilever, the biggest home-products maker, increased to a record. Mahindra & Mahindra, a tractor maker, rose for a second day. Tata Consultancy Services fell after reporting profit that missed estimates.

The S&P BSE Sensex added 0.2 per cent to 28,121.89 at the close, taking the weekly gain to 2.4 per cent, the most in more than two months. The gauge changed directions at least 12 times amid a slide in Asian stocks after the Swiss National Bank’s decision yesterday to abandon the franc’s cap against the euro roiled markets worldwide.

The Reserve Bank of India cut the main rate as a slide in inflation offered scope to boost an economy growing at little more than half the pace of four years ago.

“Global factors are a constant worry for investors, but our market will not go down much because macros are improving and the RBI has signalled the start of the easing cycle,” R.K. Gupta, managing director of Taurus As-

“In the short-term corporate earnings and global factors will dictate market directions,” Gupta said.

Wipro, the third-biggest software exporter, reported profit of Rs21.9 billion after the close of trading on Thursday.

That exceeded the Rs21.6-billion estimate of 35 analysts compiled by Bloomberg. The shares fell 0.8 per cent before the earnings were announced.

Axis Bank, SBI

Bombay Stock Exchange. – Bloomberg file picture

set Management Co., which has about $600 million in assets, said by phone from New Delhi.

Governor Raghuram Rajan’s move came after data this week showed consumer prices in December holding below the RBI’s six per cent target for a third month. India, which imports about 80 per cent of its oil, benefited from a 48 per cent slump in Brent prices last year. Rajan raised the repo rate three times since taking office in September 2013.

Sesa Sterlite gained 1.9 per cent and Hindustan Zinc increased two per cent, the most since De-

cember 29. Hindustan Unilever rose 2.1 per cent, taking this year’s rally to 24 per cent, the top performer on the Sensex. Mahindra increased 2.1 per cent, adding to Thursday’s 3.3 per cent gain.

TCS declines Tata Consultancy declined 0.3 per cent. Net income rose 5.1 per cent to Rs54.4 billion ($876 million) in the December quarter, the company said after trading ended on Thursday. That compared with the Rs54.8 billion median of 37 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Reliance Industries, owner of the world’s largest refining complex, may say quarterly profit declined eight per cent to Rs50.9 billion, according to the median estimate of 23 analysts. Its shares rose 0.6 per cent. Axis Bank on Friday said its net income rose 18 per cent to Rs19 billion, beating the Rs18.7 billion estimated by analysts. The shares advanced 0.2 per cent. State Bank of India fell 1.5 per cent, while ICICI Bank gained 0.3 per cent.

International investors sold a net $3.8 million of local shares on January 14, extending this month’s outflow to $315.3 million.

Foreign funds bought $16 billion of stocks last year.

The Sensex is climbed 2.3 per cent so far this year and is valued at 15.5 times projected 12-month earnings, compared with the MSCI Emerging Markets Index’s multiple of 10.6. — Bloomberg News

B SECTION

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

LIFE & STYLE

SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015

HOW MUCH CAN SUCH BENIGN STUFF SAY ABOUT YOU ANYWAY?

Apparently Facebook may know you better than your friends and family, study finds

U

niversity of Cambridge and Stanford University researchers found that taking stock of an individual’s Facebook likes creates a strikingly-accurate personality assessment — even more accurate than an assessment done by friends and family. Their findings appear in a new study published recently by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers wanted to see how well a computer system could predict personality as measured by openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticisms — “the traits that human beings are especially good at predicting,” said co-lead author Michal Kosinski, a Stanford University postdoctoral fellow.

So they created a computer model that went through the Facebook “likes” of 86,220 volunteers who provided access to that data — including likes of pages, articles, musicians, books, statuses, you name it. Those volunteers also completed a 100-question surveys via the app myPersonality.

Researchers found certain likes correlated to particular traits. For instance, liking meditation and David Bowie correlated with liberal and artistic openness. Liking Lil’ Wayne and Mike “the Situation” Sorrentino went along with outgoing and active extraversion. Oh, and liking Wikipedia correlates with being shy and reserved; hugs with being cooperative; and R&B with being with well-organised. (You can try it yourself at http://applymagicsauce.com It may not work if you don’t have enough likes or if they are set to private).

MyPersonality users also had their personalities judged by friends and family on Facebook via a 10-question survey, and researchers also examined roughly 30 previous studies on how well humans judged others’ personalities.

Taking all of that data into account, the researchers found that their computer model more accurately predicted an individual’s personality than actual humans could.

“We were surprised to find that actually computers are beating us at something we excel at,” Kosinski said.

Knowing someone well does make a difference in how well they can judge another’s personality. The model only needed to analyse 10 likes to outperform a person’s coworker; it needed 70 likes to do better than that person’s friend or roommate, and 150 likes to do better than a parent or sibling.

Husbands and wives seemed to know their partners best of all; the computer model needed 300 likes to outperform an individual’s spouse.

10 LIKES IS THE NUMBER REQUIRED FOR A COMPUTER TO OUTPERFORM A COWORKER’S PERSONALITY JUDGEMENT. ALTHOUGH IT NEEDS MORE THAN 300 TO BEAT THAT OF A SPOUSE

How is it that computers do so well in measuring traits that are so innately human? Part of the reason may be because the algorithm can analyse a lot of data all at once, and it doesn’t discriminate — it has a perfect memory, so to speak. “The more likes you give to the computer, the more accurate the picture becomes,” Kosinski said.

But people, well, we carry a lot of biases. We have a tendency to project traits we think are good onto those people we like, Kosinski said. We also have short-term memory; say you just hung out with your friend last week and had a great time. You may now rate him as outgoing because of your recent experience, regardless of things that may have happened in the past, Kosinski said.

While these researchers had previously found that Facebook likes can accurately predict certain psychological and demographic characteristics, the findings of this recent study could have some major implications for the use of hard data on everything from online dating to career recruitment.

“This is an emphatic demonstration of the ability of a person’s psychological traits to be discovered by an analysis of data, not requiring any person-to-person interaction,” the authors write. “It shows that machines can get to know us better than we’d previously thought, a crucial step in interactions between people and computers.”

“Emotionally-intelligent and socially skilled machines” could be features of the not-too-distant future, Co-lead author Wu Youyou of Cambridge said in a statement. “In this context, the human-computer interactions depicted in science fiction films such as Her seem to be within our reach.”

Obviously, there are limitations; computer models won’t work on people without a public, digital footprint, and people may be much better equipped to judge certain traits in others.

While such a discovery may startle some, Kosinski said he isn’t a proponent of shutting down access to data, but rather providing users with the ability to control their privacy.

“Companies should give users the choice if they don’t want to give you the (digital) footprint,” he said. Plus, he adds, phone and credit card companies already know so much more about you than Facebook does.

So, go ahead and like away on Facebook — just know that you may be revealing something profound in the process.

-Elahe Izadi/The Washington Post

B6

SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015

ENTERTAINMENT CINEMA SCHEDULE

BAHJA CINEMA Taken 3 (2D) (Action | Crime) (12+) Cast: Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker, Maggie Grace 12:45, 3:00, 7:15, 9:30, 11:45 pm I (2D) (Action | Fantasy) (12+) Cast: Chiyaan Vikram, Amy Jackson, Upen Patel; 12:15, 8:15 pm The Theory of Everything (2D) (Biography | Drama) (PG12) Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Tom Prior; 5:15, 7:30 pm 13 Sin (2D) (Horror | Thriller) (18+) Cast: Mark Webber, Devon Graye, Tom Bower; 9:45, 11:30 pm The Snow Queen: Magic of the Ice Mirror (2D) (Animation) (TBC) Voice Overs: Anna Shurochkina, Ivan Okhlobystin, Anna Khilkevich 12:30, 2:00 pm The Snow Queen: Magic of the Ice Mirror (3D) (Animation) (TBC) 3:30, 5:00 pm We’ll Never Have Paris (2D) (Com) Cast: Melanie Lynskey, Nancy Marlowe 3:30, 6:30 pm Seventh Son (2D) (Adv) (PG12) Cast: Ben Barnes, Julianne Moore 5:15 pm Seventh Son (3D) (Adv) (PG12) 11:45 pm

Snow Queen-Magic Of The Ice Mirror (2D)(Animation) (PG) Voice Overs: Anna Shurochkina, Anna Khilkevich; 10:00am Snow Queen-Magic Of The Ice Mirror (3D): (Animation) (PG) 2:00, 3:30 & 5:00pm

SCREEN 3 Shankar’s “ I” – Tamil (Thriller) – Hindi (12 +) 12.30 pm Sharafat Gayi Tel Lene (Comedy) Cast: Zayed Khan, Rannvijay Singh, 3.45, 6.45 pm Tevar (Action) – PG12 Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha 9.45 pm

Gold Class: 12:30 pm The Imitation Game (2D): (Biography/Thriller) (12+) Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode Gold Class: 2:00 pm Taken-3 (2D) (Act/Thriller) (12+) Cast: Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker 11:30am, 7:45, 9:45 & 11:45 pm Gold Class: 4:15, 9:00 & 11:15pm 13 Sins (2D): (Horror/Thriller) (18+) Cast: Mark Webber, Devon Graye 1:30 & 11:45 pm The Theory Of Everything (2D): (Biography/Drama) (PG 12) 3:15 & 5:30 pm Gold Class: 6:30 pm Feng Shui (Tagalog) (2D) (Hor) (15+) 6:30 pm I (Tamil) (2D) (Act/Thriller) (12+) 10:30 am I (Hindi) (2D) (Action/Thriller) (12+) Cast: ‘Chiyaan’ Vikram, Amy Jackson 8:20 pm

Tevar – 2D (PG12) Action Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha 11:15 pm The Snow Queen: Magic of the Ice Mirror – 2D (PG) Animation Voice Overs: Anna Shurochkina 12:30, 6:15 pm

Seventh Son – 2D (PG12) (Adv) Cast: Ben Barnes, Julianne Moore 5:30pm Seventh Son – 3D (PG12) (Adv) 10:00pm Taken 3 – 2D (12+) Crime | Thriller Cast: Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker 1:30, 3:30, 7:30, 9:30 & 11:30 pm The Snow Queen: Magic of the Ice Mirror – 3D (PG) Animation Voice Overs: Anna Shurochkina, Ivan Okhlobystin, Anna Khilkevich 2:00, 3:30, 5:00 pm I (Hindi) – 2D (12+) (Action) Cast: Anna Shurochkina, Ivan Okhlobystin, Anna Khilkevich 12:15, 6:30 & 11:00 pm I (Tamil) – 2D (12+) (Action) 12:30, 7:45 pm 13 Sins – 2D (18+) Horror | Thriller Cast: Mark Webber, Devon Graye 11:55 pm We’ll Never Have Paris – 2D (PG12) (Comedy | Romance) Cast: Melanie Lynskey, Geoffrey Cantor, Nancy Marlowe 3:30, 7:15 pm The Theory of Everything – 2D (PG12)(Biography | Drama | Romance) Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Tom Prior 4:00, 5:00, 9:00 pm

SCREEN 1 Shankar’s “I” - Hindi - (Thriller)(12+) Cast: Vikram, Amy Jackson, Suresh 3:30 pm Shankar’s “I” – Hindi (Thr) (12+) 7:00, 10:30 pm SCREEN 2 Shankar’s “ I” - Hindi - (Thril) (12+ ) 12:30 pm Alone - Hindi - (Thriller | Horror) Cast: Bipasha Basu, Karan Singh 3.45, 9.45 pm P. K (Comedy | Drama | Social) (PG ) Cast: Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma 6:45pm

Snow Queen 2: Magic Of Ice Mirror (3D) (Animation | Adventure) (PG) Voice Overs: Anna Shurochkina, Ivan Okhlobystin, Anna Khilkevich 3:00, 5:00 pm Taken 3 (Crime | Thriller) (12+) Cast: Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker, Maggie Grace 4:30, 6:30, 9:45 & 11:45pm I (Tamil) (Action | Fantasy ) (12+) Cast: ‘Chiyaan’ Vikram, Amy Jackson, Upen Patel 8:30 pm Tevar (Action | Romance) (PG12) Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha and Manoj Bajpayee 3:30, 8:00 pm 13 Sins (Horror | Thriller) (18+) Cast: Mark Webber, Devon Graye 3:15, 6:15, 11:45 pm I (Hindi) (Action | Fantasy) (12+) Cast: ‘Chiyaan’ Vikram, Amy Jackson 6:30 & 10:45pm

Seventh Son (3D) (Adv| Fan) (PG12) Cast: Ben Barnes, Julianne Moore 11:15pm Seventh Son (2D) (Adv | Fa) (PG12) Cast: Ben Barnes, Julianne Moore 5:30pm

I (Tamil) (Action | ) (12+) Cast: ‘Chiyaan’ Vikram, Amy Jackson, Upen Patel; 12:15, 8:00 pm Taken-3 (Action | Crime) (12+) Cast: Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker, Maggie Grace 1:30, 3:30, 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pm The Snow Queen: Magic of the Ice Mirror (3D) (Anim/ Family) (PG) Voice Overs: Anna Shurochkina, Ivan 3:30, 5:00, 6:30 pm

Taken 3 (2D/12+) (Action) Cast: Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker, Maggie Grace 3:45, 7:45, 9:45, 11:45pm Seventh Son (3D/PG12) (Adv) Cast: Ben Barnes, Julianne Moore 8:45pm Seventh Son (2D/PG12) (Adv) 5:45PM The Snow Queen: 2 (2D/PG) (Animation/Adventure/Family) 11:15am The Snow Queen: 2 (3D/PG) (Animation/Adventure/Family) 2:00, 3:30, 5:00pm The Theory of Everything (2D/ PG12) (Biography) Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones 2:45, 6:30pm 13 Sins (2D/18+) (Horror/Thriller) Cast: Mark Webber, Devon Graye, Tom Bower 12:45 & 11:30pm I – (Tamil) (2D/12+) (Action) 5:00, 8:15pm I – (Hindi) (2D/12+) (Action) Cast: ‘Chiyaan’ Vikram, Amy Jackson 12:15, 10:45pm

Taken 3 (Action) Cast: Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker Famke Janssen, Maggie Grace Cast: 4.00, 8.00, 10.00 & 11.55 pm CP No: 2015 /153 (12+) Seventh Son (Adventure/Fantasy) Cast: Jeff Bridges, Ben Barnes, Alicia Vikander Kit Harington 8.15 pm; CP No: 2015/62 (PG 12 ) 13 SIN (Horror-/Thriller) Cast: Mark Webber, Devon Graye 4.15, 10.15 & 11.55pm CP No: 2015/154 (18+) The Theory of Everything (Drama) Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Tom Prior 2.00 & 6.00 pm; CP No: 2015/155 (15+) Snow Queen 2 The Snow King (Animation) Voice Overs: Anna Shurochkina, Ivan Okhlobystin, Anna Khilkevich 2.00 & 6.00 pm CP No: 2015/156 (U)

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

STARS CINEMA Film information 24791641 / 24786776

“I” (Tamil) ( Action\Thriller) Cast: Vikram, Amy Jackson and Suresh Gopi 2:30, 6:15 & 10:00pm Cinema Main (Saturday: 11:00am at Cinema Main) 3:00, 6:30 & 9-45 pm Cinema -2; 3:45, 7:00 & 10:15pm Cinema- 3 P K (Hindi) (Comedy) Cast: Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma and Sanjay Dutt 3:45, 6:45 & 9:45 pm Cinema-4

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

ACES ON BRIDGE

Tread carefully into the new year

SUDOKU

9

3

5 7 4 1 8 7 3 9 6

7 2 1 5 9 5

8 4 2 3 3 2 9 2 9 5

8 6

7 2

HOW TO PLAY Fill the empty cells with the numbers 1 to 9, so that each number appears once in each row, column and area.

— Seven Galaxies

4 2 8 5 3 9 7 6 1 5 7 1 6 4 8 9 2 3 3 9 6 1 7 2 8 5 4

4 6 8

Previous puzzle Solution

MARMADUKE

CROSSWORD

B I G NAT E

ACROSS 1 Friday was one 4 Gazillions 9 Bygone auto ornament 12 Fore opposite 13 Rapunzel’s home 14 Rollover subj.

15 Moo companion 16 Statuesque model 17 Off-road vehicle 18 Half-woman, halfbird 20 “Tao — Ching” 21 Stone Age cartoon 23 Burns and Allen 24 Pond animal 28 Cousins of “um” 30 Janitor’s tool (2 wds.)

32 Many August people 34 Also not 35 Goofball (hyph.)

36 Confused 39 Trim a doily 40 Black suit 41 Exist 43 — Mans auto race 44 “—, shucks!”

45 Complete reversal (hyph.)

47 Warning, maybe 50 Flintstone dad 51 Emma in “The Avengers” 54 Peeve 55 Breezy talk 56 Back-fence yowler 57 Deceive 58 Beat or throb 59 — Paulo, Brazil

22 24 25 26 27 29 31 33 37 38

Twitter Appears menacing Play the trumpet Steadfast Wax theatrical Three-seater Earth’s star Khartoum’s land It glistens Menial worker

42 45 46 47 48 49 50 52 53 55

MD station Europe-Asia range Brownie morsels Shale extract Hi-tech scan Use sparingly Winter complaint Flightless bird I love (Lat.) H.S. language class

DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 17 19 20 21

Semi front Ghost — — chance Egyptian deity Make trouble (2 wds.)

H2O and NaCl, e.g.

Tow- — zone Lion’s quarters Jr.’s dad Cry of reproach Ill temper Short snooze Seinfeld, for one Teaser Open vessel Daffodil starters

Answer to previous puzzle

FOR the last two days, declarer has struggled in a 4-3 fit. Today he has nine trumps, but the original declarer did not foresee the danger and went down in his game contract.

Against four spades, West led a top-of-nothing heart nine. East won with his ace and shifted to the diamond seven. How should South have continued?

After East overcalled one heart, South’s one-spade response guaranteed at least a five-card suit.

(With only four spades, he would have made a negative double.)

West raised hearts with threecard support and a singleton. East competed to three hearts, the ninetrick level, because he knew that his side had nine hearts between them.

But South’s jump to four spades silenced everyone.

Note West’s lead. Since he had raised hearts, he led his highest.

If he had passed throughout, he would have led his lowest. (Yes, all right, if he were psychic, he would have led a diamond, which would have defeated the contract with subsequent accurate defence.)

South won the second trick in the dummy and called for a trump, but East dashed up with his ace and shifted to the club nine. West won with his ace and gave his partner a diamond ruff for down one.

How could declarer have avoided this outcome?

He had to win trick two on the board, cash the heart queen and continue with the heart 10, discarding both of his clubs. Then West could not have gained the lead to give East the critical ruff.

Declarer would have lost only one spade and two hearts with a textbook scissors coup.

— By Phillip Alder

GAURI MANDAR KELKAR

THOBIYAS JOSE

AFRAA BAI RAFEEQ SAIT

MITHRAN

January 17, 2014

January 17, 2007

January 17, 2007

January 17, 2005

TAYYABA IMRAN

VEDITA ANAND GHEEWALA

ARJUN KRISHNA

SAWERA EMAN

January 17

January 16, 2011

January 16, 2003

January 15, 2013

9 5 4 2 8 1 3 7 6 6 1 3 9 5 7 2 4 8 7 8 2 3 6 4 5 1 9 2 6 5 8 1 3 4 9 7 1 3 7 4 9 5 6 8 2 8 4 9 7 2 6 1 3 5

7

WITH LOVE

BORN LOSER

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

KIDSPOT

H E A LT H C A P S U L E

SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015

PRAYER TIMINGS

Dhuhr Asr Maghrib Isha Fajr (Tomorrow)

Y O U R B I R T H D AY

BORN today, you are able to work very hard morning, noon and night — and on into the following morning if circumstances require it! You have been endowed with tremendous staying power, and you can stick with a thing until it has been accomplished — or until you have simply outlasted everyone else, and there is no one else left to work with or compete against.

You are highly expressive; you know how to put your thoughts into words in such a way that others are always willing to listen to what you have to say.

You are very interested in what makes people tick, and while you may not always understand another’s motives, you are often driven to learn more about those motives — and your own.

You will be faced with one or two key choices in life that will make all the difference for you, both professionally and personally. It is essential, however, that you recognise those choices when they come to you. Miss one — or both — and they’re not likely to come to you again.

Also born on this date are: Betty White, actress; Jim Carrey, actor and comedian; Muhammad Ali, boxer; Michelle Obama, US first lady; Andy Kaufman, comedian; Zooey Deschanel, actress; Steve Harvey, comedian; James Earl Jones, actor; Kid Rock, singer; Maury Povich, talk show host; Eartha Kitt, singer and actress; Al Capone, gangster; Shari Lewis, puppeteer; Vidal Sassoon, hair stylist; Susanna Hoffs, singer; Anne Bronte, novelist and poet; Mack Sennett, director.

12.22pm 3.26pm 5.47pm 7.02pm 5.32am

Sunset Sunrise (Tomorrow)

5:42pm 6.51am

High tide Low tide

5.36am 01.01am

7:26pm 12.06am

[DEC. 22-JAN 19]

FIND-IT-ALL

W E AT H E R

AIRLINES

M

ainly clear skies over most of the Sultanate with chance of low level clouds or fog patches during late night to early morning over the coastal areas of Oman Sea and the governorates of Al-Dhahirah, south Al-Sharqiyah, Al-Wusta and northern parts of Dhofar governorates.

EXPECTED WINDS: Along the coastal area of Oman Sea wind will be northeasterly light to moderate during day becoming variable light at night while, along the coastal area of Arabian Sea wind will be northeasterly light to moderate occasionally fresh and over the rest of the Sultanate wind will be westerly to northwesterly light to moderate.

SEA STATE: Slight to moderate over the Western Musandam coast and Oman Sea coasts with maximum wave height of 1.5 metres and rough along the coast of Arabian Sea with maximum wave height of 3.0 metres.

HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY: Good over most of the Sultanate becoming poor during fog formation.

THE NEXT 48 HOURS OUTLOOK: Mainly clear skies over most of the Sultanate. Chances of low level clouds or fog patches during late night to early morning over governorates of Al-Buraimi, Al-Dhahirah, Al-Wusta, Dhofar and most of the coastal areas of the Sultanate.

Max

OMAN

WORLD

Max 26 Min 14 Max 3 Min -3

Max 17 Min 8

Max 25 Min 18 Max 7 Min 2

Max 25 Min 17

Max 0 Min -2

Max 26 Min 11

Max 26 Min 11

Max 27 Min 11

Max 27 Min 16

CAPRICORN You may have to do things a little differently because of external influences and internal forces beyond your control.

Max 26 Min 11

Max 28 Min 20

Max 23 Min 12

Max 28 Min 21 Max 29 Min 19

Source: www.met.gov.om

[JAN. 20-FEB. 18]

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)

The difference between genuine and artificial will stand out in sharp relief today. Give yourself a chance to assess matters.

PISCES [Feb. 19-March 20] You have more than what you need to accomplish a certain task, so why are you still harbouring doubts?

You’re ready and able!

ARIES [March 21-APRIL 19] You are planning to do things in a new way very soon, but you should be willing to enjoy the traditional approach as well.

TAURUS [APRIL 20-MAY 20] You may not trust that others have the ability to get things going in the proper way, but how else will they learn?

GEMINI [MAY 21-JUNE 20] It’s important for you to follow and assess trends. You might uncover a new piece of information you can use immediately.

CANCER [JUNE 21-JULY 22] Your own investigation will tell you just what you need to know, but you must be patient. Everything will not come together all at once.

LEO [JULY 23-AUG. 22] You can be a leader, or you can be a follower, but not both. Your head and your heart may be competing for dominance right now.

VIRGO [AUG. 23-SEPT. 22] You can up the ante and push another into making a move that all but guarantees you a solid — and perhaps surprising — victory.

LIBRA L [[SEPT. [S S 23-OCT. 22] You’ll require a little more knowledge of which tools you need — and how to use them — before you can get a new project off the ground.

SCORPIO S [[OCT. 23-NOV. 21] You’re able to point the way, and others will surely follow your lead.

Many are willing to accept what you say without question.

SAGITTARIUS S [[NOV. 22-DEC. 21] You may be seeking something new for yourself and a loved one, but you are not likely to make much practical headway.

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (Route 36) Dept Destination Arrival Time Time 15:00 Quriyat 16:30 15:00 Sur 18:00 15:00 Jaalan 19:30

GULF Abu Dhabi Doha Dubai Kuwait Manama Riyadh

25 22 26 19 21 19

16 18 14 8 17 10

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

14 14 4 6 -5 19 31 6 18 8 29 32 13 7 36 30 14 0

8 7 -5 -2 -7 8 24 -2 12 3 14 22 11 2 21 24 1 -1

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41) 06:30 Sohar 06:30 Buraimi 08:00 Buraimi 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Buraimi 16.00 Sohar 16.00 Buraimi TO SINAW (Route 52) 17:30 Sinaw

TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

Operating Days Daily Daily Daily

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (Route 36) Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily 05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily 05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

08:50 11:00 14:30 15:45 17:40 18.35 20:20

Daily Daily Daily via Ibri Daily Daily Daily Daily

20:50

Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41) 07:00 Sohar 07:00 Ruwi 13:30 Ruwi 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Ruwi 13:00 Sohar 17:00 Ruwi TO SINAW (Route 52) 07:00 Ruwi

To Yanqul (Route 54) 14:30 Nizwa 14:30 Yanqul

16:50 19:30

Daily Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54) 08:00 Nizwa 08:00 Al Araqi

10:20 12:30

TO SUR (Route 55) 07:30 Sur 14:30 Sur TO FAHUD - YIBAL (Route 62) 06:30 Fahud 06:30 Yibal

08:55 11:40 20:20 14:55 17:40 19:20 22:15

Daily Daily Daily via Ibri Daily Daily Daily Daily

10:25

Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54) 06:00 Nizwa 06:00 Ruwi

08:40 11:00

Daily Daily

Daily Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54) 15:40 Nizwa 15:40 Ruwi

17:55 20:20

Daily Daily

12:00 18:45

Daily Daily

TO SUR (Route 55) 06:00 Ruwi 14:30 Ruwi

10:45 19:00

Daily Daily

10:30 11:15

Daily Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (Route 62) 12:30 Fahud 12:30 Ruwi

13:15 17:30

Daily Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (Route 100) 07:00 Salalah 20:00 10:00 Marmul 20:30 10:00 Salalah 23:30 19:00 Salalah 07:40

Daily Daily Daily Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (Route 100) 07:00 Ruwi 19:50 10:00 Marmul 13:15 10:00 Ruwi 22:30 19:00 Ruwi 07:30

Daily Daily Daily Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101) 06:00 Marmul

Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101) 06:00 Marmul

16:30

Daily

Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (Route 102) 15:00 Salalah 07:00

Daily

16:50

SALALAH TO DUBAI (Route 102) 15:00 Dubai 07:00 TO DUBAI (Route 201) 06:00 Sohar 06:00 Dubai 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Dubai 15:00 Sohar 15:00 Dubai

08:30 11:30 15:30 18:30 17:35 20:55

Daily Daily Wed,Thur Wed,Thur Daily Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204) Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily 07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily 07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201) 07:30 Sohar 07:30 Ruwi 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Ruwi 15:30 Sohar 15:30 Ruwi

10:50 13:40 16:15 19:10 18:45 21:35

Daily Daily Thur-Fri Thur-Fri Daily Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204) Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily 16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily 16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

LISTINGS

PHARMACIES Round the clock Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24783334; Appolo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24782666; Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24702542, Salalah: 23291635; Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra: 24503585; Ruwi 24811715 Muscat Region Apollo, Al Hamriya. Tel: 24787766 Muscat, A Seeb Market. Tel: 24421691 Muscat, Al Khuwair. Tel: 24485740 Muscat, Al Hail South. Tel: 4537080 Dhofar Region Muscat, Al Nahdha Road, Salalah.

Tel: 23291635 HOSPITALS Al Amal Medical & Health Care Centre: 24485052 Atlas Hospital: Ruwi: 24811743/ Ghubra: 24504000 Al Musafir Specialised Medical Clinic: 24706453 Hatat Polyclinic LLC, Ruwi: 24563641, Azaiba: 24499269, Sohar: 2683006 Al Raffah Hospital: 24618900/1/2 Al Massaraat Clinic & Laboratory: 24566435 Al Makook Medical Coordinance Centre: 24499434 Apollo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24787766, 24787780 Capital Polyclinic: 24707549 Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic, Ruwi: 24799760/1/2 Capital Clinic, Seeb: 24420740 Ceregem National Raak: 24485633 Dr Harub’s Clinic: 24563217 Elixir Health Centre: 24565802 Emirates Medical Centre: 24604540 1st Chiropractic Centre: 24472274 Hamdan Hospital: 23212340 International Medical Centre LLC: 24794501/2/3/4/5 Kims Oman Hospital: 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency: 24760123 Lama Polyclinic, Sohar: 26751128, MBD: 24799077, Al Khuwair: 24478818 Magrabi Eye and Ear Hospital: 24568870 Muscat Private Hospital: 24583600 Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, Al Khuwair: 24477666 Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC: 22004000 ROYAL OMAN POLICE Emergencies and inquiries: 9999 General Directorate of Passport and Residence: 24569603 Directorate General of Customs: 24521109 Traffic violations inquiries: 24510228 Public Relations Admin: 24560099 ACCOMMODATION Al Bahjah Hotel: 24424400 Al Bustan Palace: 24764000 Al Khuwair Hotel Apartments: 24478171 Al Madina Holiday Inn: 24596400 Al Maha International Hotel: 24494949 Al Fanar Hotel: 24712385 Al Falaj Hotel: 24702311 Al Qurum Resort: 24605945 Azaiba Hotel Apartments: 24490979 Beach Hotel: 24696601 Bowshar Hotel: 24491105 Coral Hotel Muscat: 24692121 Crowne Plaza Muscat: 24660660 Crystal Suites: 24826100 Golden Tulip Seeb: 24510300 Grand Hyatt Muscat: 24641234 Haffa House Hotel: 24707207 Hotel Muscat Holiday: 24487123 InterContinental Muscat: 24680000 Majan Continental Hotel: 24592900 Marina Hotel: 24711711 Midan Hotel Suites: 24499565 Mina Hotel: 24711828 Muttrah Hotel: 24798401

Nuzha Hotel Apartments: 24789199 Oman Dive Centre: 24824240 Park Inn: 24507888 Qurum Beach House Hotel: 24564070 Radisson Blu Hotel: 24487777 Ramee Dream Resort Seeb: 24453399 Ramee Guestline Hotel: 24564443 Ruwi Hotel: 24704244 Safeer Hotel Suites: 24691200 Sheraton Oman Hotel: 24772772 Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa: 24776666 The Chedi Muscat: 24524400 The Treasurebox Muscat Hotel: 24502570 AIRLINE OFFICES Muscat Airport Flight information (24 hours): 24519456/24519223 Aeroflot: 24704455, Air Arabia: 24700828, Air France: 24562153, Air India: 24799801, Air New Zealand: 24700732, Biman Bangladesh Airlines: 24701128, British Airways: 24568777, Cathay Pacific: 24789818, Egypt Air: 24794113, Emirates Air: 24404400, Ethiopian Airlines: 24660313, Gulf Air: 80072424, Indian: 24791914, Iran Air: 24787423, Japan Airlines: 24704455, Jazeera Airways: 23294848, Jet Airways: 24787248, Kenya Airways: 24660300, KML Royal Dutch Airlines: 24566737, Kuwait Airways: 24701262, LOT Polish Airlines: 24796387, Lufthansa: 24796692, Malaysian Airlines: 24560796, Middle East Airlines: 24796680, Oman Air: 24531111, Pakistan International Airlines: 24792471, Qatar Airways: 24771900, Qantas: 24559941, Royal Jordanian: 24796693, Saudi Arabian Airlines: 24789485, Singapore Airlines: 24791233, Shaheen Air: 24816565, SriLankan Airlines:

SATURDAY

Min

L O N G D I S TA N C E B U S T I M I N G S ( O M A N N AT I O N A L T R A N S P O R T C O M PA N Y S A O C ) * S U B J E C T T O C H A N G E

AQUARIUS

B7

24784545, Swiss International Airlines: 24796692, Thai Airways: 24705934, Turkish Airlines: 24703033 MUSEUMS Bait Al Baranda: Corniche (seafront opp fish market), Open from Saturday to Thursday 9am to 1pm and 4 to 6pm Natural History Museum: Al Khuwair, Tel: 24604957, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm; Thursday: 9am to 1pm Museum of Omani Heritage: (former Omani Museum), Madinat Al Alam, Sat-Wed 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday 9am to 1pm, Tel: 24600946 Armed Forces Museum: Bait Al Falaj, Tel: 24312651, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm; Thurs 9-12pm and 3-6pm; Fri 9-11am and 3-6pm. Al Hoota Caves 24498258; Turtle Beach 96550606/96550707 Children’s Science Museum: Shatti Al Qurum, Tel: 24605368, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pm Oman-French Museum: near Muscat Police Station, Tel: 24736613, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm, Thurs: 9am to 1pm Bait Al Zubair, Muscat: Tel: 24736688, Al Saidiya St., Muscat museum@baitalzubairmuseum.com Open from Sat to Thurs: 9:30am to 6pm.

National Museum Ruwi: Tel: 24701289, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pm Sohar Fort Museum: Tel: 26844758, Open from Saturday to Wed: 8 to 1:30pm Thurs: 9am to 1pm Muscat Gate Museum: at Al Bahri Road, Muscat open from Sat to Wed 8am to 2pm

FLT NO

ARRIVALS FROM

WY406 WY676 WY648 WY816 WY916 PK225 TK774 PK229 QR1132 ET624 EK866 GF560 EY384 FZ041 MS930 WY902 WY668 WY638 WY658 WY686 WY412 WY644 WY114 WY122 WY154 WY692 WY674 WY142 WY672 WY132 WY602 WY202 WY432 WY102 WY422 FZ043 WY274 G9114 WY242 WY236 PK191 WY346 EK862 WY252 IX443 QR1128 EY382 IX549 9W530 WY342 WY604 FZ037 IX337 WY268 PA450 WY904 WY3302 BG023 WY326 NL771 WY606 WY632 WY918 IX817 WY906 WY656 WY328 SV532 FZ045 MP95 WY204 WY292 WY246 WY610 WY3304 WY284 WY232 WY216 QR1126 EK864 GF564 G9116 FZ047 WY614 WY914 WY386 KL441 AI973 WY624 WY312 6.00E+81 9W534 FZ049 WY374 WY254 AI907 WY224 QR1134 UL205 WY338 GF566 EY388 WY814 BA073 WY908 AI985 WY662 LX242 9W540 WY654 LH618 WY116 WY612 WY928 WY636 WY696 WY696 WY717

SUNDAY ETA

FLT NO

ARRIVALS FROM

CAIRO 0005 JEDDAH 0005 KUWAIT 0010 BANGKOK 0015 SALALAH 0150 KARACHI 0210 ISTANBUL 0215 LAHORE 0215 DOHA 0345 ADDIS ABABA 0350 DUBAI 0355 BAHRAIN 0405 ABU DHABI 0405 DUBAI 0415 CAIRO 0430 SALALAH 0630 DOHA 0635 ABU DHABI 0650 BAHRAIN 0700 RIYADH 0700 AMMAN 0705 KUWAIT 0715 FRANKFURT 0715 MUNICH 0715 ZURICH 0720 DAMMAM 0725 JEDDAH 0730 MALPENSA 0745 MEDINA 0745 PARIS 0800 DUBAI 0805 BOMBAY 0815 TEHRAN 0815 LONDON HEATHROW 0820 BEIRUT 0830 DUBAI 0850 JAIPUR 0855 SHARJAH 0915 DELHI 0920 HYDERABAD 0920 TURBAT 0930 ISLAM ABBAD 0940 DUBAI 0940 MADRAS 0940 COCHIN 1010 DOHA 1010 ABU DHABI 1015 TRIVANDRUM 1020 TRIVANDRUM 1035 LAHORE 1100 DUBAI 1110 DUBAI 1200 CALICUT 1210 LUCKNOW 1210 LAHORE 1215 SALALAH 1215 MUKHAIZNA 1230 DACCA 1245 KARACHI 1255 PESHAWAR 1300 DUBAI 1330 ABU DHABI 1330 KHASAB 1400 MANGALORE-ABU DHABI 1440 SALALAH 1445 BAHRAIN 1530 LAHORE 1550 JEDDAH 1550 DUBAI 1555 AMSTERDAM 1645 BOMBAY 1710 CALICUT 1720 DELHI 1730 DUBAI 1730 MUKHAIZNA 1730 BANGALORE 1740 HYDERABAD 1740 TRIVANDRUM 1740 DOHA 1745 DUBAI 1800 BAHRAIN 1810 SHARJAH 1915 DUBAI 1945 DUBAI 2030 SALALAH 2035 MALE 2110 AMSTERDAM-DOHA 2120 DELHI 2125 DUBAI 2125 CHITTAGONG 2125 BOMBAY 2130 COCHIN 2140 DUBAI 2145 COLOMBO 2150 MADRAS 2155 MADRAS 2200 COCHIN 2205 DOHA 2210 COLOMBO 2225 KATHMANDU 2235 BAHRAIN 2240 ABU DHABI 2250 BANGKOK 2250 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI 2255 SALALAH 2305 AHMEDABAD-BOMBAY 2310 DOHA 2315 ZURICH-DUBAI 2320 BOMBAY 2325 BAHRAIN 2330 FRANKFURT-ABU DHABI 2330 FRANKFURT 2335 DUBAI 2335 SALALAH 2345 ABU DHABI 2350 DAMMAM 2350 DAMMAM 2350 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 2355

WY406 WY676 WY682 WY648 WY904 WY816 WY824 WY916 4H583 NL669 TK776 QR1132 ET624 EK866 GF560 EY384 FZ041 WY324 WY686 WY902 4H584 WY638 WY658 WY668 WY674 WY602 WY202 WY102 FZ043 WY274 NL768 G9114 WY236 WY242 WY226 EK862 WY252 WY212 WY346 QR1128 EY382 IX549 WY3302 WY282 WY3922 WY604 G9841 WY372 FZ037 WY424 IX337 PK223 WY606 WY918 WY906 WY812 WY656 WY632 FZ045 WY204 WY292 WY610 WY246 WY264 WY232 WY664 QR1126 GF564 WY3306 G9116 WY254 TG507 FZ047 WY434 WY614 WY914 WY386 WY152 WY312 WY116 WY124 KL441 WY144 AI973 WY624 6.00E+81 WY134 WY414 FZ049 AI907 QR1134 UL205 GF566 EY388 BA073 WY908 AI985 WY648 LX242 9W540 WY654 LH618 WY612 WY696 WY910 WY928 WY717

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FLT NO

DEPARTURES TO

FLT NO

DEPARTURES TO

AI986 LX243 9W539 BA072 SG062 LH619 WY685 WY251 WY201 WY235 WY273 WY345 WY601 WY241 WY431 WY643 WY637 WY657 WY115 WY667 WY691 TK775 PK226 PK230 WY267 ET625 EK867 FZ042 QR1133 EY385 MS931 GF561 WY603 WY903 WY3301 WY325 WY813 WY215 WY291 WY327 WY823 FZ044 WY385 WY283 WY231 WY245 G9115 WY815 PK192 WY373 WY605 WY905 WY631 WY203 WY311 WY717 WY917 EK863 EY383 WY655 IX554 QR1129 IX442 9W533 WY337 IX350 WY253 PA451 FZ038 WY3303 WY101 WY223 WY927 BG024 WY609 NL668 WY405 IX818 WY675 WY913 SV533 WY613 FZ046 MP95

BOMBAY 0005 DUBAI-ZURICH 0020 BOMBAY 0025 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW 0025 AHMEDABAD 0030 ABU DHABI-FRANKFURT 0050 RIYADH 0105 MADRAS 0110 BOMBAY 0120 HYDERABAD 0135 JAIPUR 0140 ISLAM ABBAD 0150 DUBAI 0150 DELHI 0155 TEHRAN 0155 KUWAIT 0200 ABU DHABI 0205 BAHRAIN 0205 FRANKFURT 0215 DOHA 0220 DAMMAM 0235 ISTANBUL 0310 KARACHI 0310 LAHORE 0315 LUCKNOW 0355 ADDIS ABABA 0450 DUBAI 0455 DUBAI 0510 DOHA 0520 ABU DHABI 0525 CAIRO 0530 BAHRAIN 0745 DUBAI 0800 SALALAH 0800 MUKHAIZNA 0800 KARACHI 0820 BANGKOK 0855 TRIVANDRUM 0920 CALICUT 0920 LAHORE 0920 KUALA LUMPUR 0930 DUBAI 0935 MALE 0940 BANGALORE 0940 HYDERABAD 0955 DELHI 0955 SHARJAH 1005 BANGKOK 1010 TURBAT-GWADUR 1015 COLOMBO 1020 DUBAI 1030 SALALAH 1030 ABU DHABI 1030 BOMBAY 1030 CHITTAGONG 1040 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 1045 KHASAB 1050 DUBAI 1055 ABU DHABI 1105 BAHRAIN 1110 TRIVANDRUM 1110 DOHA 1115 COCHIN 1115 COCHIN 1135 KATHMANDU 1310 CALICUT 1310 MADRAS 1315 LAHORE 1315 DUBAI 1315 MUKHAIZNA 1330 LONDON HEATHROW 1330 COCHIN 1355 SALALAH 1415 CHITTAGONG-DACCA 1415 DUBAI 1420 SIALKOT 1430 CAIRO 1430 MANGALORE 1530 JEDDAH 1630 SALALAH 1630 RIYADH-JEDDAH 1650 DUBAI 1700 DUBAI 1700 DUBAI WORLD CENTRESINGAPORE 1815 DUBAI 1820 DOHA 1845 RIYADH 1845 SALALAH 1850 BAHRAIN 1855 DOHA 1900 KUWAIT 1900 BAHRAIN 1910 DAMMAM 1910 DUBAI 1915 SHARJAH 2005 DUBAI 2025 ABU DHABI 2030 DUBAI 2040 SALALAH 2135 DUBAI 2225 DOHA-AMSTERDAM 2230 TRIVANDRUM 2240 BOMBAY 2245 MADRAS 2300 DELHI 2310 DOHA 2320 BAHRAIN 2325 COLOMBO 2335 ABU DHABI 2350 SALALAH 2350 JEDDAH 2350

AI986 LX243 BA072 9W539 LH619 WY685 WY811 WY323 WY211 WY251 WY201 WY225 WY235 WY273 WY601 WY341 WY151 WY241 WY281 WY423 WY657 WY637 WY371 WY123 WY133 WY115 WY667 WY143 WY345 4H584 NL772 TK777 ET625 EK867 FZ042 QR1133 EY385 WY3301 WY3921 4H584 GF561 WY903 WY603 WY291 WY263 FZ044 WY245 WY231 G9115 WY905 WY203 NL769 WY605 WY253 WY311 WY717 EK863 EY383 IX554 WY655 QR1129 WY3303 WY917 WY331 G9842 WY631 IX350 FZ038 PK224 WY663 WY413 WY101 WY433 WY927 WY609 WY405 WY3305 WY675 WY913 FZ046 WY613 WY623 WY681 QR1127 WY907 GF565 WY647 WY661 WY695 WY653 WY909 G9117 WY611 WY635 FZ048 TG508 WY825 WY915 FZ050 KL442 WY817 6.00E+82 AI908 AI974 QR1135 GF567 UL206 EY381 WY673 WY901 WY671

BOMBAY 0005 DUBAI-ZURICH 0020 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW 0025 BOMBAY 0025 ABU DHABI-FRANKFURT 0050 RIYADH 0105 BANGKOK 0105 KARACHI 0105 TRIVANDRUM 0110 MADRAS 0110 BOMBAY 0120 COCHIN 0125 HYDERABAD 0135 JAIPUR 0140 DUBAI 0150 LAHORE 0150 ZURICH 0155 DELHI 0155 BANGALORE 0200 BEIRUT 0200 BAHRAIN 0205 ABU DHABI 0205 COLOMBO 0210 MUNICH 0210 PARIS 0215 FRANKFURT 0215 DOHA 0220 MALPENSA 0225 ISLAM ABBAD 0250 DUBAI-DACCA 0300 PESHAWAR 0330 BAHRAIN-ISTANBUL 0350 ADDIS ABABA 0450 DUBAI 0455 DUBAI 0510 DOHA 0520 ABU DHABI 0525 MUKHAIZNA 0715 DUQUM OMAN 0720 DACCA 0740 BAHRAIN 0745 SALALAH 0800 DUBAI 0800 CALICUT 0920 LUCKNOW 0920 DUBAI 0935 DELHI 0955 HYDERABAD 0955 SHARJAH 1005 SALALAH 1030 BOMBAY 1030 LAHORE 1030 DUBAI 1030 MADRAS 1040 CHITTAGONG 1040 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 1045 DUBAI 1055 ABU DHABI 1105 TRIVANDRUM 1110 BAHRAIN 1110 DOHA 1115 MUKHAIZNA 1115 KHASAB 1140 KATHMANDU 1205 RAS AL KHAIMA 1210 ABU DHABI 1225 CALICUT 1310 DUBAI 1315 PESHAWAR 1320 DOHA 1330 AMMAN 1330 LONDON HEATHROW 1330 TEHRAN 1340 SALALAH 1415 DUBAI 1420 CAIRO 1430 MUKHAIZNA 1515 JEDDAH 1630 SALALAH 1630 DUBAI 1700 DUBAI 1700 DUBAI 1820 RIYADH 1845 DOHA 1845 SALALAH 1850 BAHRAIN 1855 KUWAIT 1900 DOHA 1900 DAMMAM 1910 BAHRAIN 1910 SALALAH 1940 SHARJAH 2005 DUBAI 2025 ABU DHABI 2030 DUBAI 2040 KARACHI-BANGKOK 2040 KUALA LUMPUR 2110 SALALAH 2135 DUBAI 2225 DOHA-AMSTERDAM 2230 BANGKOK 2235 BOMBAY 2245 MADRAS 2300 DELHI 2310 DOHA 2320 BAHRAIN 2325 COLOMBO 2335 ABU DHABI 2350 JEDDAH 2350 SALALAH 2350 MEDINA 2350

WY623 QR1127 WY681 WY907 GF565 WY661 WY647 WY653 WY695 EK865 G9117 WY611 WY635 FZ048 WY915 FZ050 KL442 9W529 6.00E+82 AI908 AI974 QR1135 GF567 UL206 EY381 WY901 WY673

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015

EXTRA BRIEFS

What’s making Varun Dhawan romantic?

Why iconic tailoring of flight attendant uniforms has inspired many designers

A

s we reach the conclusion of London Collections: Men, the first of four international fashion weeks devoted to what the male of the species may be wearing come next winter, I couldn’t help but think of… flight attendants. Specifically, female ones.

This is not some kind of prediction about men dressing as trolley dollies. It’s not even a notion that a jauntily-pinned scarf may become a masculine fashion must-have.

It’s just that I see a lot more of them than usual over the next couple of months, with menswear butting schedules with womenswear, sliding straight into the spring haute couture shows in January, and a mere two week gap dividing that and the autumn/winter ready-to-

wear shows in New York. Then again, I can’t blame the peripatetic fashion calendar. I’ve always been fascinated by flight-attendant chic. Maybe the short-lived 1990s Scottish situation comedy The High Life is to blame; or that Jeremy Scott ensemble Britney Spears sports in the Toxic video; or maybe it was my exposure to the Emirates uniform at an early age – which, with its quasi Grace Jones swathed scarf snood, is universally acknowledged as the chicest of all airline sartorial statements. I maintain that last spring’s Atelier Versace collection was inspired, in part, by Emirates.

Plenty of designers are. The pre-spring collections of Miu Miu and JW Anderson both did

duty, the former with boxy, brassbuttoned tailoring like Cristobal Balenciaga’s Air France uniforms from 1969, while the latter showed silk dresses in tonal stripes of airforce blue, olive and a particularly nasty hazelnut brown.

There’s something a bit perverse about flight attendant uniforms.

They’re almost S&M – while travellers today consciously dress in easyto-wear, elasticated stuff, flight attendants are trussed in tailoring.

Virgin Atlantic’s uniforms by Vivienne Westwood are a great example, where every detail has been considered, and a few overdesigned. They look great, I think, but I wonder how comfortable they are on a long-haul flight? On my way to Japan in December, I

asked one of the cabin crew: she responded with a wry smile. You couldn’t help but notice the staff tugging at the peplums on those too-fitted, back-vented jackets.

Westwood’s clothes are rarely the easiest to wear on the ground, let alone at 35,000ft.

I also couldn’t help but wonder how quickly they would date – although, honestly, that’s part of the joy of the flight attendant uniform. It harks back to a different time, when people actually travelled in the kind of high-heeled shoes they may need to remove for the emergency slide, rather than in Uggs. Maybe flight attendants are the final bastion of the jet-set? Perhaps that’s why so many designers want us to dress like them? -Alexander Fury/The Independent

ACTOR Varun Dhawan is turning into a hopeless romantic! No, he has not found the love of his life but it’s a song from his dark, intense revenge drama Badlapur that’s making him go all gooey inside. The actor took to micro-blogging site Twitter to share his views on the Jeena jeena track, to which Pakistani singer Atif Aslam has lent his voice. “Starting my day with a bandage and #JeenaJeena. I’m not that romantic but this brings it out in me. Thank u #SachinJigar and@itsaadee for this,” he wrote.

Badlapur, which also stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi and Divya Dutta, is set to release on February 20.

Superstar treat in ‘Birju’ SUPERSTARS Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Ranveer Singh with dancing legends Prabhudheva and Ganesh Acharya have come together for the video of a song Birju of an upcoming movie Hey Bro. Singer Mika Singh, who has sung the track with Udit Narayan, shared the video on micro-blogging site Twitter. “All Superstars in one video.

My latest song #Birju,” he tweeted with a link of the video. The song has a touch of humour, with stars asking a certain Birju — whose identity is not revealed in the video — to return bangles with lyrics Maa ke kangan wapis karde re. The video oozes style, action and drama. The lyrics of the song are penned by Pranav Vatsa and the rap is by Arya and Naezy. -IANS

FA S H I O N

Dress to impress If you have resolved to improve your career in 2015, why not try a new look for work?

While some resolutions are based on physical self-improvement, many people choose a new year to undertake a fresh start professionally. Be it pursuing promotion or branching out in a new direction, a tried-and-tested approach to job-hunting is to dress for the role you want, rather than the one you’re in.

Take direction from the creative class and bring a modern, casual spin to the classics. Wearing a suit has fallen out of favour in most workplaces, but that can be rectified by opting for soft tailoring that’s unlined and unstructured, which is far easier to wear than anything strict or severe and won’t elicit teasing remarks about court appearances from the office wag. A slightly loose, relaxed fit is key to making this look modern – as is forgoing a starched shirt and tie.

A fine-gauge rollneck is the most up-to-date way to wear tailoring, but the thought of the unforgiving but necessary slimness of fit isn’t worth the sweat stains if you’re anxious about your abs.

Instead, a buttoned shirt in a poplin, printed silk or soft chambray

denim will ensure you’re not mistaken for a stuffed shirt. Trainers and a suit is still a strong look, but if that’s too casual for you choose suede or leather lace-ups with minimal detailing.

While the transition to tailor-

ing might feel daunting at first, you’ll be surprised how following the easy formula makes getting dressed in the morning easier, leaving you more time to concentrate on the task at hand. -Rebecca Gonsalves/The Independent

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SECTION

CONNEC T H E D A I LY G U I D E

RENT

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VACANCY

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CARGO

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DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

OFFICES FOR RENT - Premium offices to let a very good location on the main road very close to Zakher Mall, Al Khawiar. Business Center has offices with sizes of 50m2, 110m2, 180m2, 207m2, 230m2, 437m2.

- Showroom also available at Business Center, Area 500m2 with central A/c.

- Offices with Central Air-conditions, Security System with CCTV cameras, and Security presence in the building.

Contact: 97377355 / 95530121, Email id: aaleem@ggcoman.com

3BHK, (3 bathroom and big hall) opp. Apollo Hospital, Hamariya R/A (OMR 300/-) Contact 91181761 2 BR flat for rent in Wadi Kabir next to Al Maha Petrol Pump.

Rent RO 300 pm. contact 99440826 Fully furnished rooms for rent for family. Contact 99251975, Al Khuwair 1 BHK at Ghobrah - Near Indian School. Contact: 99014885 Al Qurum heights Sea view.

Contact 99249069 / 92888376/ 93201688 Flat in Darsait. Contact 99326879 Office space for rent in Ruwi, OMR 500. Contact 91120552 500 Sq Mtrs industrial land, leveled, ready to use with boundary wall, in Misfah industrial Area, block 2 near Baladiyah Camp, RO 600/-, monthly. Contact 94030814 1000 Sq Mtrs, Industrial Land for rent in Ghala suitable for warehouse workshop etc. Contact 24700120, 92584715 2 BHK Flat in Mumtaz.

Contact 99792181 1, 2, 3, BHK in Al khuwair.

Contact 99792181

Flat, shops, basement, Ruwi-MBD Area, Honda Road.

Contact 96942749, 92433127

Fully Equipped Restaurant / Industrial Kitchen for Sale with existing catering orders, CR & Labour Clearance, Restaurant space and Outdoor sitting area on Sale at Mawaleh Call: 9906 4589

6 shops in Mabela Industrial Area.

Each Front Shop OMR 400 and Side Shop OMR 300Monthly.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

Office space with cassette type A/C’s with free internet at al Khuwair near KM Hypermarket. Contact 99460330

Spacious 2 BR flat in MBD. Contact 99713489 Family room available for rent at Muttrah Souq. Contact 24712088 / 99022790

1 & 2 BHK in Ruwi.

Contact 99792181 200 Sqr mtrs Showroom in CBD. Contact 99792181 1 & 2 BHK in Wattaya. Contact 99792181 New warehouse for rent at Ghala ind. area. 578 & 1200 sqms near. hotel al-madinah holiday, Ghala.

Container can enter, immediate access to roads & highways.

Contact : 92078090 Villa in Al Khuwair 33 close to Technical College with 3 bedrooms, 1 sitting room and shaded balcony.

Directly from owner not for brokers.

Contact 92814242

2 BHK in Bowsher, Ghobra.

Contact 99792181

For rent at Ruwi, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, sitting, dining, kitchen with A/C near Al Falaj Hotel, Ruwi, Way 2116 building 577, rent RO 275, PDC. Contact 99879939

Furnished room with attached bathroom for Executive bachelor behind Al Meera Hypermarket, Azaibah RO 150. Contact 99455735

For rent at Al Khuwair, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, sitting, dining, kitchen split A/C near Rawasco, 1st floor.

Rent 480 PDC. Contact 99879939

2 Bedroom Spacious flat for rent at Al Khuwair 25 for OMR 400/- per month . Contact: 99379988.

2 BHK available in Darsait, 1 B/R and hall, 2 B/R and hall. Contact 99357586, 97500025, 97884787

1 BHK with A/C, Mumtaz Area, RO 250/-. Contact 92144045

Office space (3 BHK flat – Ample space) located in prime area at 18th November street, Al Azaiba (nr. To Sultan Center). Contact 99261522

For rent at Al Khuwair, 1 room with bathroom (Independent), near Rawasco with split A/C, 2nd floor, rent RO 125 PDC. Contact 99879939

2 BHK Commercial, Al Khuwair, RO 375/-. Contact 92144045

Office space & store, CBD 20059.

Contact 99024730 2 BHK, Al Khuwair. Contact 99024730 Spacious well maintained 2 BHK at Rex Road from 1st February.

Contact 92227165 2 BHK, CBD. Contact 99024730

Flat for rent in Al Hail, North near The Wave, Muscat. Contact 99353433, 99271017 Family villa & flats at Al Ansab and Awabi. Contact 98458542 2 BHK with split A/C in Wadi Kabir, Sana Building furnished.

Contact 96635026 3 BHK with AC, Al Falaj, RO 425/-.

Contact 92144045 2 BHK available in Mumtaz area, Ruwi & Ghubra, nr Indian School.

Contact 99269751

1 BHK, commercial, Darsait.

Contact 92144045 3 rooms, 3 bath flat. Darsait coast near Indian School like new.

Contact 99715042

2 BHK, Darsait near Kims Hospital.

Contact 99024730 1 & 2 BHK & villa 3 BR-Darsait near ISM & ISD. Contact 99024730

1,000 sq mtrs industrial land in Misfah Industrial area near to Khan co.

OMR 1,500 Monthly. Electricity and boundary wall will be provided. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

1 BHK, 2 BHK, Ghala, new bldg.

Contact 99024730

New bldg 3 BR flats located at Darsait, Muscat close to Kims Pvt Hospital. Contact 92020004 / 99800838

Fully furnished one bedroom penthouse Wadi Kabir behind Sana Hassan, weekly RO.140/- Monthly RO 350/- Contact – 99349990

1 BHK, Wadi Kabir. Contact 99024730

Flat for Rent in Ruwi, Bareeq Shatti, Mawalah. Contact 92521080, 98899916 Flat for rent Ghubrah South, ground floor flat, 3 bedrooms, majlis, family hall, RO 425/-. Contact 94669711 6 bedroom villas at Al Ansab (nr Express highway).# 99199365 2 BHK Pent House with split A/C in all rooms, very spacious balcony with sea & city view RO 350, 2 BHK RO 340, Bldg #1619, Way #1322 adjacent to Indian Nursery Darsait.

Contact 99476728 / 99831047 1 BHK bedroom flat in Wadi Kabir neat Kuwaiti Mosque RO 200/-.

Contact 95094028 Abu Adnan Tower - flat for rent available at Al Mabelah, 2 B/R, 1 hall, 2 toilets, 1 kitchen.

Contact 95566475 / 99654252 1 / 3 BHK Flat Ghobrah, close to ISG Way 4041, building 4390.

Contact 99319880 2 BHK flat for rent RO.350/- at Al Khuwair near Sultan Taimur Mosque. Contact – 98893294 2 BHK flats for rent behind Kims Hospital. #93161573 / 97769759

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DAILY GUIDE

AVAILABLE Established Restaurant for rent with sponsorship.

Contact 97628242

FOR SALE

FOR RENT

FOR SALE

Party & Wedding equipment rentals. Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirting, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery, Crockery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes, Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound Systems and spectacular lighting. Call Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering and Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound & Light. www.tunesoman. com, E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

ACC.WANTED Single room or studio flat required in Ruwi area. Contact : 95405033

ACC. AVAILABLE Furnished single room with separate bathroom near al meera hypermarket, azaiba. Gsm 94288863 Restaurant about 250 SQM @ 5/- SQM, heart of Ruwi Market in Plaza Hotel for sale / rent. Contact 99326339 / 24833314

Bath attached room with separate sharing kitchen for rent in Wadi Kabir. Contact 99378661 Rooms for rent in Al Hail, front of the Wave. Contact 95192927

Shop for sale near ONTC bus stand Ruwi near Sun City Hotel on main road. Contact 99326339 / 24789801

1 BHK residential flat at Honda road.

2 BHK residential flat opposite to Al Nahdha hospital. Contact93219590 Villas & flats & stores. Contact 99776071 / 99057348 1 BHK flat Qurum RO.270/- with split A/C. Contact – 99358589 / 95570288 /97079146 2 BHK flat at Al Khuwair RO.370/with split A/C. Contact – 99358589 / 95570288 /97079146 If require flats for rent in Wadi Kabir please send messages through Whatsapp or call – 99376454

Flats and shops. Contact 93009999

Fabulous A/C flat Al Khoud, 3 rooms, 280 rials. Contact 99334699

Villa, ground floor in Al Khuwair.

Contact 99743569, 97004265

BHK flats Muttrah near Oman House.

Contact 97007934 / 92629232

2 BHK flat Muttrah / Mabelah.

Contact 95915154

2 BR, 2 toilets, kitchen at Al Mawaleh. #99444786, 99747560

For rent (flats), 2 bedrooms +hall+kitchen, location: South Al Mawaleh. Contact 99870020

Flat for rent 2 bedrooms one hall in South Al Hail. RO 270. #93221474 House in North Al Hail with 3 rooms, Majlis & 3 toilets. Contact 99439568 Apartments in Al Khuwair new area each apartment contains (2 bedrooms + living room) for RO 365. # 93181111 Penthouse near Sultan Centre Al Amerat with 2 A/Cs. #99612270 3 bedroom furnished Executive Apartment @Al Khuwair 25, 2 BR fully furnished Executive Apartment @Azaiba near Zubair Showroom, 2 BR fully furnished executive Apartment @Al Khuwair 33 near Zakher Mall. Please contact : Atlas Real Estate & Rent A Car LLC, 99249069 / 92888376 / 93201688, email : info@alshahiintl.com

Running Medical Centre with full equipments is available for sale. Those interested can contact 98994208.

Clinic for sale. Contact 99824232, email : modern.medicalclinic@gmail. com

For rent apartments: An apartment in old Muscat at Oman Arab Bank’s building. 3 bedrooms + 3 bathrooms, dining room, living room and a kitchen. Air conditioned apartments.

2 bedrooms + 2 bathrooms, living room, dining room area and kitchen in an excellent location in Al Khuwair opposite the court of first instance. For further information call 97072976

Luxury 2 bed room villa at BausherAL Ansab Phase 3.Call. 99324456

We have 1 BHK, 2 BHK, 3 BHK flats, 4, 5 bedrooms villa, open space offices & shops available in Ghala, Ghobrah, Qurum, Mabela, Ruwi, Darsait, Mumtaz, Wadi Kabir. All brand new buildings & very affordable prices.

Contact 93782735 / 99208033

A running supermarket for sale in Wadi Kabir. Contact 95113037

2 BHK with A/C near ISM RO.325/1BHK Al Falaj without A/C RO.200/2 BHK with A/C near Kims hospital RO.300/- Darsait commercial or residential with A/C RO.230/Studio at Al Falaj RO.170/-. 2 BHK without A/C at Wadi Kabir RO.300/Contact - 92144045

1 / 3 BHK Flat Ghobrah, close to ISG Way 4041, building 4390.

Contact 99319880 Show room on the main road Saham center total area 450 m sq.

Contact: 99366558 / 99334226 1 BHK with attached toilet & bathroom behind Bank Muscat at Wadi Kabir.# 99373290, 24815012 Flats/villas owned by ROP pension fund available for rent in Muscat.

Contact 99349526 New Villa for Rent Two floors newly built villa in Maabillah, 8 Fullfledged Residential Area 6 Rooms, 8 Toilets, excellent finishing spacious Kitchen, Big Dining Rooms in Both Floors, Easy Access to Muscat and Sohar using Maabillah Bridge. Contact 92828303 Flats ground floor, 3 Rooms & AC, kitchen, hall, in Al Mabaila South.

Contact 99377290 2 BHK with A/C, commercial Al Khuwair. Contact 92144045

Industrial shed / warehouse for immediate lease in Rusayl Industrial Estate. Contact 99263196 / abcon@omantel.net.om New fully equipped 2 chair dental clinic in Seeb area for immediate sale. MOH approved.

Contact 94514045 Well running pharmacy.

Contact no . 93240949

FOR RENT 2 B/ R Fully Furnished Executive Apartment @ Al Khuwair 33 Near Zaker Mall. 3 Bedroom Furnished executive apartment @ Al Khuwair 25 5 B/R Luxury Fully Furnished villas at Azaiba with servants, 3 Bedroom Unfurnished Villa @ Mawalah South Area 6 with Servant Quarter, 5 Bedroom Unfurnished Villa @ An Apartment that resembles a penthouse has 2 rooms with 2 toilets, living room & an elegant balcony.

Fully furnished, suited for families.

Final price RO.300/- Mabela 8 near German University.

Contact 99888400 Studio flat Darsait. RO 150/-.

Contact 92144045 Industrial Land in Misfah.

Contact 93009999 2 BHK at Al Azaiba, Building No.5145 Way 4470. Contact 99224748, 99425665

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

We are dealing with sale of all beauty salon equipments, furnitures & cosmetics.#942 888 61 / 942 888 63 Running Workshop for Tiles / Marble & Granite cutting & skirting in Wadi Kabir for immediate sale.

Contact 99105492 Household items on sale.

Contact 93833107 Building material shop for sale, near Mars Hypermarket, Al Ghoubra.

Contact 93797343 / 99881647 Running establishment for sale, industrial license, marble & granite, aluminum workshop, fully equipped showroom. Serious buyers please Contact 99334540

Flats for Sale in Bowshar: OMR 35 Thousand 1 bedroom. OMR 45 Thousand 2 bedroom. Monthly income 1 bedroom OMR 270 and 2 bedroom OMR 350. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

Sale!, all household items, like fridge, freezer, cooking range, washing machine, window/split A/Cs, LCD TV, Laptop, tab and many more for attractive prices. Location : near Toyota service Center, Honda Road.

Contact - 97048983, 95293643

Dental clinic for sale in Sohar. Contact immediately 99705760,92625962

Restaurant for leasing/sale in Al Hail. Contact 94148970, 94148972, 97820877

23,886 Sq Mtrs Agriculture land with water well in Al Salwa, Barka.

OMR 260 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

Darsait Business Office furniture, Isuzu 4 ton brand new.

Contact 91391363

Port cabins – New & refurnished Porta cabin for sale and rent.

Contact 96723468 3 floor commercial building in Muttrah behind Police. Generating income of OMR 18 Thousand annually. Neat and well maintained. Built on 197 sq mtrs land. 2 tailor shops on ground floor and 6 flats. OMR 207 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 Used furniture bedroom sofa dining A/Cs Majlis washing machine, table keyboard, Expat leaving.

Contact 99353978 A newly opened Barber Shop for sale at upcoming industrial zone in Misfah. Expat leaving Oman.

Genuine buyers call 93833107 (Sale Price Negotiable)

BUYING/SELLING Looking for purchase of Used Portable Compressor (350 CFM, 7 Bar Pressure) powered with Diesel run Generator.

Kindly Contact 99014686 or operation@khancogroup.com Used household & office furniture and electronic items. Contact 99834373, 97102699 Looking for commercial lands for sale in Al Ghobrah North (urgent serious buyers, commercial lands in al Ghobrah North (corners prime location). Contact 91155779

2 rooms with 2 bathrooms and sharing kitchen for couple or executive bachelors at hamriya r/abt. ( on the main road side, opp.

Apollo hospital ) RO 150.

Contact 98232567 Single room at Walja, opposite MBD area available for executive bachelors or single working woman for OMR 100 including Electricity and Water.

Contact 93079877 Single furnished room in Ruwi.

Contact 24833609 Single room available for a working lady with separate bathroom & sharing kitchen with a family @ Rex Road. Contact 95423572 Sharing accommodation available at Mumtaz area, Ruwi.

Contact 97612335 Independent room furnished Executive at Wadi Kabir.

Contact 99336206 Accommodation available for rent in SEEH AHMER FANJA near Oman Oil, only 10 mtrs drive from Rusayl industrial area, Please Call on 95200429 or 99224352 Room with A/C, furniture for expats at Al Khuwair. Contact 97004265 / 99689315 Room with separate entrance & A/C in Al Khuwair near Rawasco for noncooking Indian Bachelor, rent RO 125/-. Contact 97201100, 95397442 Room with separate toilet and WiFi, Wadi Kabir near pencil building.

Contact 93416854 Office space near KFC, Al Khuwair, office basement near Mars, Al Ghubrah, double & single bedroom flat Al Ghubrah near Mars and Wadi Kabir near Lulu. # 95755551 / 92222045 Furnished single room with attached bathroom near Mars Hypermarket, Al Ghubrah. Contact 97312111, RO 150/- per month 2 Bedroom flat for offices with furniture near Al Manaf Hotel, Ghala.

Contact 99525743, 99439705 Excellent 3 bedrooms , 2 sitting rooms, 3 bathrooms, kitchen & store with A/C. 92817777

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S AT U R D AY, JA N UA RY 1 7, 2 0 1 5 Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTSIT. WANTED ED

SITUATION SITUATION WANTED VACANT

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE Indian female, 25 yrs, bachelors of businesses management, having experience of 5 years as a fund/ financial administration, on visit visa,looking for suitable placement.

Contact 94662416 Apurwaverma@gmail.com

ADMIN

ENGINEERS

SALES / MARKETING

Urgently required: Receptionist (Omani) - 01 no with 2-4 years experience Marketing Executive - 01 no; with 5 years experience (Location - Mawelah, Muscat) . PRO -02 no with min 10-15 years experience (Location - Muscat & Sohar).

Interested candidates may send CV to infoduqumoil@gmail.com

Construction Company requires Civil Engineer with degree only with 10 yrs of local or GCC Experience.

Email : omaniantrad@gmail.com

Salesman for Printing Press materials like Printing Press Plates, inks, rollers etc. Must have worked in a printing press and know the products well. Job is in Dubai with visa and good salary. Apply to sales@ies-oman.com

A leading foodstuff company requires the following : Office Coordinator – with experience in related fields, female. Interested candidates may send their resumes at jobs.om@outlook.com Construction Company requires female executive assistant, with good computer and communication skills, advanced English, fluent Arabic. Please send your CV harun.koyyar@adaliholding.com

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE Required experienced Accountant Tally, excellent English & driving license. Contact – omanlaw.om@gmail.com / 24497762 / 92192510 Male Accouuntant required in Ghala. Candidates present in Oman only. # 99454425, Email: qamest@omantel.net.om Indian male having 14 years of experience in Various dept. (stockbroking Dealing, Back Office Accounts, Dmat, Settlement, Risk management, Maintaining Books of accounts ETC).

Having Good Computer Knowledge seeking suitable placement Email Id: vora_bharat@yahoo.com, +91 9820240094 Urgently required Senior Accountant (exp. required minimum 5 yrs having driving license), Assistant Accountant (exp. req minimum 3 yrs). Contact 99322373 , omanlightsmarketing@gmail.com, alzahraexports@gmail.com.

An Accountant with minimum 3 yrs experience in managing financial records & administration functions is required for an IT company in Muscat. Send your CV with updates photo to itmuscat2014@yahoo.com

ARCHITE. / INTERIOR Architect ( Autocad 3D / 3D Max / photoshop / presentation ) in a reputed office. Tel 24794481 fax 24794482 kamalismailconsultant@hotmail.com

DRIVER Wanted driver. Contact 95112461 An excellent company seeking for experienced male Light Duty Driver to work in Salalah. Contact 92322588 / 99653350, email : sadiq.fm@omantel.net.om Good growing Company in Muscat is looking for 2 Heavy duty drivers.

English language needed. Email : yesterdaysun1@hotmail.com

DOMESTIC HELP Need cutter for Tailoring shop.

Contact 99825211

EDUCATION Required English teacher for KG 1 / KG II. Contact 97163777, 99429352 Required Teacher for ISWK student studying in VII & III at Honda Road Ruwi. Contact 99471699

ENGINEERS Urgently required Biomedical Engineer with 5 yrs experience with Laboratory Diagnostic instruments for a Medical Diagnostic Company.

Candidate with Omani Driving License preferred. Contact imsllc@imsoman.net

We are looking for :- 1) Firefighting equipment Engineer / Technician, 2) Marketing Executive, 3) Crane Maintenance Technician. Email : alsarooj@omantel.net.om STRUCTURAL ENGINEER (full time) Responsibilities: To work with architect, To provide of construction issue documentation for a projects.

Desired candidate Profile: min of 3-5 years experience in Structural Design, Should be AutoCAD competent.

Please send your CV to Email: info@pak2pak.com Tel. 99196733, 99419766

LAWYER Required urgently a Legal consultant /Lawyer for reputed law firm for SOHAR office. Candidates should have 5-7 yrs exp. as a Legal Consultant/ Lawyer with good knowledge of Computer & should be fluent in English. Email C V to shejaanil66@gmail.com or Contact 99153620 between 8am to 5.30 pm.

MEDICAL Urgently required a GP Doctor with MOH license for a leading Medical Clinic.

Contact 92008272 / 96602188, email : dearnaif@hotmail.com Urgently required an experienced Pharmacist with MOH License for a reputed Pharmacy in Muscat.

Please send CV to newcareesr2015@gmail.com Doctor needed for a rehabilitation centre in Muscat. Kindly call 92130498 Reqd 1 Lady Doctor (Internist) with 3 yrs experience in Oman. One female Nurse with atleast 3 yrs experience in Oman. For newly established clinic in Ruwi. Send your detailed CV to mohamedsfarah@ hotmail.com, Tel : 91283188 We are looking for an Optometrist for an Optical with minimum 3 yrs experience. Please contact 99340769 or email : aeooman@gmail.com Wanted MBBS Doctor, Staff Nurse and Lab Technician for a Clinic in Capital Area. Please contact 93431024, send CV to drasyanaseem@gmail.com Required Physiotherapist.

Contact: 91453024 Dentist required to work urgently in dreams clinic at Al Khoud and must be resident in Sultanate of Oman.

Please send your CV to the following email – towershr70@gmail.com / balushi70@gmail.com / info@towersinternationalgroups.com Mobile – 99882340 / 24545914 General practitioner Doctor is required to work urgently in Dreams Clinic at Al Khoudh and must be resident in the Sultanate of Oman.

Please send your CV to the following email: towershr70@gmail.com, balushi70@gmail.com & info@towersinternationalgroups. com, Mobile 99882340, Tel: 24545914

MECHANICAL A well reputed steel fabrication & machining Workshop company in Oman requires experienced petrol & diesel mechanic for trucks.

Contact email : oman518@gmail. com, 99228046

SALES / MARKETING Required an experienced person who has ideas to start a new business in electrical field or supply with minimum cost.

Contact 99426421

UPVC Doors and Windows Company urgently require Sales and Marketing Person, experience 3-5 yrs in same industry with Oman Driving License. Contact 99475701, email : siju.greentech@gmail.com Required Salesman, Tailor, Barber.

Contact 91114884 A leading Company in Oman looking for – (1) Customer Care Service – male (1 no.), (2)Customer Care Service – female(1 no.), (3) Driver – (2 no.) Contact 97461515 / 99101733 Highly reputed Perfume Company requires Omani Sales girl promoters. # 95663682, 92956876 Urgently required Sales Managers & Sales Executives for the following fields: 1) Information technology, 2) Gifts & promotion 3) Readymade Garments & textile. Experience required minimum 3 yrs & having valid Oman Driving license.

Contact 99322373 , omanlightsmarketing@gmail.com, alzahraexports@gmail.com Leading Construction company requires young purchase assistant with Oman driving license.

Contact 99108425 Looking for outdoor salesman for heavy equipments.

Contact- 93292015, 99656542

SIT.WANTED Looking out for the post of Travel coordinator/Senior travel Consultant, 14 years (10 years in GCC Countries) of experience in the travel industry looking for a suitable placement. Contact : 96328687.

An Indian driver with car looking for part time job. #91103909 Indian, Female, Pharmacist available with NOC and MOH License, preferably in Muscat. #9439 1355.

Indian, 24 years, B.Tech with Diploma in Sound Engineering & Sound Recording seeking suitable placement. Currently on Visit Visa.

Contact: 95615436. Email: siddharthsadasiv@gmail.com Indian Female-Tech Electrical, from third best college, Government Engineering College Trissur. Fluent in English. Excellent presentation skill.Engineering, IT, teaching or account sector job wanted. Contact -97724630 / email: vyshnaparthan@gmail.com IT supports 6 yrs experience, male, Filipino Desktop Support, Backup administrator, Wireless Networking, server admin.

Contact - +96896126502 Indian male, 31 years of Rich Oman experience in Multifunctional Management, Admistration, Business Development, Purchase & Operations seeking suitable Manager/Supervisory Position. Visa transfer/ NOC Available.

GSM: 95036410 Well experienced MOH Licensed Indian female staff nurse looking for placement under contract with Schools, Medical Centres, other Institutions. Contact 98140024.

Phd – Management, specialization in management, e-marketing and online consumer behavior, 6 years of academic and research experience. Indian lady GSM 97240687 & 93463439 Indian Male having 14 years of experience in HR, Purchase Dept having Oman Driving License looking for a suitable position NOC available. Email – madhuvtk@gmail.com.

Contact: 99252635, 99239498

Indian Male 25 years B.Com having 3 years of exp of Oman in Accounts/Administration.Well versed with computer knowledge looking for suitable position. Immidiately available. Contact:93207867 email: tambeazhar@gmail.com Indian female, 25 yrs, B.Com with computer Application, 1 yr experience as Accountant, looking for suitable job. Contact 98847165 Chartered Accountant, 10+ yrs experience, B.Com, CA, CIA. Immediate availability. Audit, Finance.

Contact 94641805 Indian male, 25 yrs, 3 yrs experience, Diploma in foreign & Indian accounting, Diploma in fire & safety eng, looking for suitable position in Oman. Contact 96582370 Pakistani male, 25 yrs, MBA Finance, 1.6 yrs exp in Accounts seeking placement in Accounts, Administration or Business Management. Contact 92651927 / 94250149 Indian Male, looking for job in Accounts & Administration previously, experience 1 yr in Oman, now on visit visa. Contact 97424337 Indian accountant with more than 30 years of experience in construction (financial / cost accounting) with experience in material management ,HR and general administration seek part time/full time assignment.

Ready to work any where in Oman.

Contact 98598099 Male, 4 yrs of experience as Financial Analyst looking for suitable position. Contact 94140728 Part time Accountant, up to finalization, looking for job after 5 pm (Location prefer – Qurum to Al Khoudh). Contact 92917574 Accountant B.Com & CIMA Part qualified, 8 yrs experience currently in Sri Lanka. Contact +94777222392 or 91126314

SITUATION WANTED ACCOUNT. & FINANCE India Accountant: Male, M com, 7 Yrs experience in Accounts up to finalization, having knowledge of ERP, Tally, seeks suitable placement. Contact:93950138 Email: lijinrajan123@gmail.com

ADMIN/HR Indian male MBA 32 yrs having 10 yrs of exp seeking suitable placement in Admin/ HR/ Operations/ Coordination/ Logistics etc. Holding valid Oman D/L .Contact - 99054786 Graduate Indian female having 5+ Years Oman experience in Admin/Procurement/Logistics with excellent computer skills(PGDCA).

Seeking suitable Placement.

NOC available.Contact:95382966

Female Accountant with 4 years experience in Oman seeking suitable placement. Contact 98721909

Indian male 32 years, B.A Tourism & Travel Management. 2 and Half years Dubai experience in Front office & reservation in a 3 star hotel with good command over English & Hindi, seeking placement in HR or Admin. Contact - 9454 1041.

ACCA, 24 yrs, female, looking for a suitable position, Accounting/ Finance in a reputed firm.

Contact 91710657

Indian male having NOC with 7 yrs Oman experience in recruitment / on boarding general admin. Immediate joining. Contact 96684424

Indian female, having 9 yrs experience in Administration & 4 yrs in Accounts seeks suitable placement, preference for the straight shift. Release available. Contact 92239617

Indian female with excellent communication skills, confident, dedicated to work and enthusiastic.

Knowledge about ms office. Has 6 years of experience in customer service, telecommunication, HR.Looking for immediate placement. Contact # 97348819

Indian Accountant: male, B.Com, 6 out of 10 yrs experience in Oman.

Having NOC & valid Oman D/L. Can join immediately. Contact 95740191, email : lashks@gmail.com B.Com Graduate, 3 yrs experience in Accounts, Indian male, looking for accounts or suitable job. Contact afsarsabith@yahoo.com, 93975526 Part time Accountant with 15 yrs exp in Accounting, Auditing, Taxation Management. Contact 95857199 Finance Manager, CPA, with more than 15 yrs. of experience in GCC. Fully knowledgeable in Finance, General & Management Accounting .

NOC available. Contact 96209331 Accounts part time works upto finalization & finalization works.

Contact 96247295 Pakistani Male, 26 yrs, MS-Supply Chain & Project Management, BSFinance & Business Administration, +2 yrs experience in Trading Firm responsible for Supply Chain & Accounts. Skills including strong operation managerial Communication & interpersonal, fluent in English, SAP and EPM. Contact 94663827, email : musadiqfayyaz@gmail.com Accountant / Auditor, Srilankan male 27, having 3+ yrs experience looking for suitable placement.

Contact 93556320 Indian male, 32 years, M. Com.7 out of 9 years experience in Oman in Accounts/finance. Having NOC and valid Oman D/L. Contact 98277143, Email: anzarks@gmail.com Indian Male, MBA 2 yrs experience in Accounts, Admin & HR on visit visa. Contact 92045306

Omani with 6 yrs experience as PRO, 3 years Admin / Procurement Officer, excellent English can travel out of Oman, PDO D/L seeks job.

Contact 96996938

ARCHI./ DRAUGHTSMAN ARCHITECT/DRAFTSMAN/SITE ENGINEER: Indian, Male.5 Years’ Experience; In Edu Trust, and Commercial Complexes.

Currently in Oman In Visit Visa Cont.

No.93957502 / 97899661 Civil Draughtsman, Indian Male, 23 yrs with 3yrs experience in AutoCAD 2D & 3D, MEP, HVAC, 3Ds Max and Photoshop looking for suitable position, presently in Muscat, Oman on visit visa. Contact 91764358, mohdsiraj02@yahoo.com

DESIGNER Interior Designer, Indian male, have 5 yrs experience with Oman License looking for a suitable job.

Email : sijithpattath@gmail.com, 93779308 AutoCAD Designer D/man 2D/3D/ Revit/Photoshop, experienced.

Contact : 97103168 Interior Designer, Gulf Exp, AutoCAD 2D/3D/ Corel draw.

Contact : 97103168 Indian male, 8 yrs GCC experience in 3D & Architectural Designing with D/L. Contact 97263199

DRIVER Light Driver having own visa looking for job as driver Contact 92303692 Light vehicle driver looking for job.

Contact 95141473 Light driver looking for job in any Company Office, experience 2 yrs.

Contact 95341768 Pakistani male, having one year exp as light vehicle driver looking for job.

Contact 96342684 Bangladeshi Driver seeking job, 3 yrs exp. Contact 99063175 Light Driver looking for job.

Contact 92787245 Driver with vehicle, Keralite.

Contact 94251067 Driver seeking job. Contact 99805236 6 Years experience light duty driver.

Contact – 96736744 Light driver looking for job.

Contact 92791678

EDUCATION Indian Female, M.Tech (A.E), B.Tech (ECE) with 1.5 yrs experience in teaching (Asst Professor) in Engineering College, seeking suitable teaching / non teaching jobs in Muscat. Contact 91532690 Email: rin2mary@gmail.com, Indian female MSc costume design & fashion having 3 yrs exp in teaching seeking suitable job.

Contact: 97614456 / 95918968

ENGG. / TECHNICAL DAE (Civil) having 3.5 years Experience 2 years from Oman with driving licences, seeking for suitable position in Construction field NOC and release available Contact 96968554 Email: mehranahmad26@yahoo.com M. Tech Electrical Eng. Female, now in visit visa.

Contact +968-94654481.

B. Tech Civil Eng. 3 yrs exp in Oman with driving license. Contact 93733627.

Mail id : joinvisam@gmail.com, neethusprakash@gmail.com Indian Male, IT Support Engineer, 2 yrs in Oman & 5 yrs Indian experience. Contact 97311847 Jordanian Engineer Electrical 7 yrs exp. Consulting, site & shop drawing works. Ready to join immediately.

Worked in UAE & Saudi Arabia.

Contact - 00971555594733 Civil Engineer B Tech, Site Engineer Experienced, Drafting on Visit Visa Ph : 91642050 Sudanese Mechanical Engineer, 3 yrs experience as Sit Engineer, HVAC System, and driving license, easy to transfer immediately.

Contact 91135140 Looking Part time Job in HVAC93198128 Experienced female Electrical Engineer.Contact 93800906

S AT U R DAY, JA N UA RY 1 7, 2 0 1 5

C5

DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED

NRI

ENGG. / TECHNICAL Seeking job, BTech Instrumentation, 12 years experience Design, FEED, Detailed engineering, Oil & Gas, Instrumentation systems, Oman Driving license.

Email :- wilfridsjacob@gmail.com Mobile:- 00968 99048130

B.E Mechanical Engineer, Indian Male, 29, 5 years experience in steel fabrication field (piping and structural) as site engineer. Looking for suitable placement.

Contact 96115463.

Jijoraju085@yahoo.com.

Jordanian Civil Engineer with 4 yrs experience in Construction Field (release available). Contact 95157199 / 92866288, email : best66_pl@hotmail.com

Telecommunication Engineer with 5 yrs experience in the Gulf.

Contact 95219822

B.Sc, Civil Engineer, over 19 yrs experience in construction field with project management skills, seeks suitable placement. NOC available & can join immediately. #92198264, Email : mdrana1970@gmail.com Indian male Mechanical Engineer (M.Tech), Manufacturing Engineering, having 2 yrs Exp with Oman D/L - seeking suitable placement . NOC available. Contact: 98681278; Email : alexyvellara@gmail.com Civil Engineer, Diploma, Sudanese, 5 yrs experience in Oman, have driving license. Contact 96618918 Electrical Engineer, Sudanese male, 8 yrs experience in Construction, operation, maintenance, electrical plants, responsible for electrical installation coordination.

Contact 94549609 Civil Diploma Engineer, Indian male, 5 yrs experience in Oman with valid Omani D/L. Contact 98518370 Civil Engineer, 14 yrs exp, 5 yrs in Oman, driving license, NOC release available. Contact 91101892 Telecom Engineer with Bachelor Degree, CCNA female, 1 yr experience in Sales & Marketing seeking suitable job. Contact 97269189 B.E (Civil) Engineer looking for a suitable placement, driving license available. Contact 91253392 Civil Engineer (Diploma) looking for an urgent placement.

Contact 95200650 Mechanical Engineer, B.Tech 4 yrs MNC experience, installation commissioning & on-site repairs / maintenance of heavy mechanical equipment. Contact 93387867, mamgain9806@rediffmail.com B.E Production / Diploma Fabrication, 2 yrs experience valid PDO permit holder visa expiry on 26/01/2015. Contact 94270360, +91 9925140499, pankajrathod1985@gmail.com Mechanical Engineer, Indian male, seeking suitable job on visit visa.

Contact 99796730, 92031312, email : pudsalamilup123@gmail.com Indian male, B.E. Electrical Engineer having 15 months experience in a leading Indian Company, seeking suitable placement. Now in Oman on visit visa. Contact 92453891, email : jestinjose007@gmail.com Mechanical Engineer, B.Tech, 3+ yrs exp. (2 yrs. in Oman) looking for better prospects. NOC available.

Email : myopportunities2015@ gmail.com, 968 94403484 Civil Engineer, male, 25 yrs, 3 yrs experience in site, CAD,3D, MS Project, now in India, seeks job in Oman.

Contact 92887561, jubincivileng@gmail.com B.Tech Civil Engineer since 9 yrs in Oman experienced in Project coordination / Quantity surveying, looking forward to work with contractor/ consultants/client. Email: mmali_03@yahoo.com, Contact 93457995 26, female, B.Tech in Electronics & biomedical engineering with 1 And Half yrs experience in medical field is seeking suitable job openings.

Email : aswathiravirak@gmail.com, ph : 94652908 B.E, Civil Engineer, 7 yrs experience (3 in UAE & 4 in Pak), skilled – MS word. Excel, AutoCAD. Contact 98499008 Email : saadichan1331@gmail.com, Indian male, 25 yrs, Electrical & electronics Engineer, 7.8 CGPA, history of no backlogs, Zonal topper in English Communication, with Cambridge certification, looking for suitable position, 2 yrs experience.

Contact 93918271, abhilileeeian89@gmail.com Mechanical Engineer, Indian male, 6 yrs exp (3 yrs in GCC) seeks suitable openings. Have valid GCC driving license. Email : msfebco@gmail. com. Contact 91228398

Electrical Project Engineer, 4 yrs experience OHL, Substations, Oil & Gas field, AutoCAD. D/L available.

Contact 95120225 Indian male, B.Tech (Electronics & Electrical) working in Saudi Arabia as Plant Manager for more than 2 yrs, seeks suitable opening in Oman. Contact +966593599187, Email: noushadpm149@gmail.com.

Oman : 98875103, 99480523 Indian B.Tech Mechanical Engineer, 26 yrs, 4 yrs experience in HVAC/MEP. Contact 94669629, rajeevhpd15@yahoo.com BSc Architectural Engineer, 7 yrs experience (6 yrs in Oman) site work. Contact 99178218, 92579358, email: ah.elnakash@yahoo.com BE (Elec and Tele Engg), Experienced as Application Engg, Certified in BMS SCADA Ph: 94037935/ 97103168

INFORMATION TECH IT Professional, Indian male, B.Sc Graduate with 4+ yrs Gulf (UAE) good exp in System Administration, IT Support, Server Desktop, laptop, smartboard, datashow biometric, CCTV, currently on visit visa. # 98936548, vaseemj@yahoo.com BCA Gratuate, Indian male with 1yr of exp in System Admin, IT Support, Network Admin and 1yr exp as sales Executive.CCNA,MCSE .looking for suitable job. # 95938303 email- hafsalhs@gmail.com

Logistics Officer, Experience in Store keeping. Contact : 99505934

MBA, male, 31 yrs, 5 yrs Production management exp, 1 yr sales experience, 4 yrs admin & accounts exp. strong IT team management skills, immediately available for joining.

Contact 94670691, ibrjhung@gmail.com

BE Civil Engineer, 5 yrs experience.

NOC available. Contact 98970233 Diploma in Civil Engineer, 15 yrs Oman experience (total 28 yrs) looking for senior position with valid D/L, NOC available. Contact 99013465

INFORMATION TECH IT Network Engineer with Bachelor Degree, CCNA, RHCSA, RHCE seeking suitable job in good Company.

Contact 99818601 IT Engineer, Indian male, 25 yrs having 3 yrs experience in Technical Support (IT) Networking, Sales Marketing, looking for a job.

Email ID : abumohd3@gmail.com, 91687294 B.Tech IT, 1 yr experience programming with asp.net visual basic network certified. #96748154 Indian Male 23 yrs – IT / Prepost Sales Consultant / Business Analyst / Web Designing. 2 yrs. exp.

Languages-HTML5, WebRTC, Java, CSS, C++, .Net, SQL, Oracle, ERP-Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Looking for suitable job. Contact: 98802504, email:shrihari26@gmail.com IT support Technician, B.Sc computer science, 1 yr experience in Desktop support & 3 months experience as System administrator, Indian male, 25 yrs.

Email : rameezkk@outlook.com, Contact 94525218

Indian male Graduate with 20+ years of Administration, Operations & Management experience in IT, Oil & Gas & Hospitality Industry. 12 years in Oman with vast contacts, very strong management, operational, communication and interpersonal skills, can handle any size of business and projects whether it’s in initial stage or established. Can join immediately.

Local release available on request.

Contact: 9906 4589 Qualified Manager: (12+ yrs. Oman Exp.) Vast knowledge in A/c & Admin, Costing, Banking, Credit Control, Insurance, International Purchase/ Logistics & Finance, With D/L looking for suitable position.

Gsm: 93826090 Email: jskanchan01@gmail.com Indian female with nine years of experience in 5 Star hotels as Assistant Food & Beverage Manager looking for a suitable placement in a reputed Star hotel.

Contact: 91219787 General Manager / working partner 20 years in Dubai adverting agency experience. Contact 93031168

MEDICAL Female dentist with MOH license and with Noc looking for suitable placement in Muscat region Contact no. 99147426 Indian female, 26, Pharmacist with MOH license, 3.5 yrs of experience in India, seeking suitable placement.

Contact 94474924, suryacprasad88@gmail.com Lab Technician, Civil (8yrs Gulf experience) looking for a suitable job (NOC available) Contact-93344378 Indian female Pharmacist, 28 yrs MOH license holder with 3 yrs experience seeking suitable placement.

Contact 94037178 Home nurse. Contact 99156191

MCA Graduate, Office mgmt typing speed 45-50 wpm, 5+ yrs of experience in UAE & India.

Contact 98762816 Indian Male M.Sc electronics, having 7.5 years of experience in IT Hardware and Networking, seeking placement. Contact: 97202522 mail: connectjinomjohn@yahoo.com B.Tech IT Professional, Indian Male with 3 yrs of Exp. In System Admin, IT Support, Networking, Installing Active Directory, DHCP, DNS,RAS, configuring maintaining and managing servers, configuring cisco routers, Exp in handling SQL database, With Valid Driving Licence. Contact - 968 98863507 IT Prof, MCA having 6+ yrs exp, seeks suitable position. #94543668

Quality Assurance Officer, ISO Quality System Internal Auditor, BSc Graduate, female 27, with 4 years experience seeks suitable placement.

Contact nipuni.d.silva@gmail.com

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

Quantity Surveyor (Civil Building) looking for Part time job Contact no:-94391712 E-mail addressinayathhussain@yahoo.com

Diploma of Associate Civil Engineering, Diploma of AutoCad, having 3.5 yrs experience, 2 yrs experience of Oman in Building Construction, valid transferrable ID Card.

Contact 94378581

Indian male, 27 yrs, B.A. Economics, Diploma in Fire & Safety, NEBOSH, IOSH Certification, 4 yrs experience as Safety Officer in India, on visit visa. Contact 97209656

Microbiologist & Quality Assurance Executive, BSc Graduate, female, 27 with 4 yrs experience in food industry looking for a suitable placement.

Email : nipuni.d.silva@gmail.com

MBA Graduate 10+ exp FMCG food serv. Sales channel/ Branch Manager. Contact - 99185205

Indian male, 26 yrs B-Tech (ECE) with MBA in Marketing / HR looking for a suitable placement. Currently on visit visa valid up to 30 January 2015. Contact 93754428, email : shijosirius709@gmail.com

Skipper, fishing vessels, 33 yrs experience as Captain in Indian and International waters, oceanography and fishery related research activities and management.

Contact 95775380 / 99616823

IT Professional, 7 yrs exp in System Administration, IT Support, Networking etc. currently on visit visa. Contact 94064579, email : preejes01@gmail.com

Civil Engineer with 12 years Experience Looking For Job. Contact 98162295

Industrial Electrician with Oman Driving license. Contact 96348016

35.6 cents residential land (plus 4.5 cents area) high profile gated community, 7.2 kms from sims park, Coonoor kothagiri highway Tamil Nad, granite wall built facing main road, premium property breathtaking view of valley, for sale price rs.750/per sq.ft.

Contact Sukumar Menon +968-94080269

MISCELLANEOUS

Veterinary Doctor 4 years experience in Military Cattle farm, Pet Animals & butchery, looking for a suitable placement.

Contact: 97892349 Indian male Pharmacist (B.Pharma) 5 1/2 years experience in Oman seeking suitable placement in Muscat. NOC from the present employer available.

CONTACT +968 98525100 Indian Female, Dentist fresher looking for suitable placement.

Contact 98857686, email : drsumbulahmad@gmail.com

Furnished house for sale near Vattiyoorkavu, Thiruvananthapuram, 5 cents, 220 SQ Ft. Contact 96099215 / 99016230

MANPOWER

MBA Finance, 6 yrs exp in Sales & Marketing with Omani Driving License seeks suitable placement.

Contact 94685706 Indian male, MBA 9+ yrs Oman exp in Sales & Marketing in FMCG (F & B) sector on a Supervisor / managerial role with D/L & Local NOC available. Contact 97912789 Young female, having experience of working in Oman with expertise in the field of Event Management, Advertising, Marketing and Hotel Management. Currently on a visit visa. Seeking for a suitable Job. Contact 96153578 Sri Lankan Salesman cum driver with NOC. Contact 97265733 Indian male, Diploma in Automobile & BBA, 8 yrs experience in Sales looking for a job in Sales. #94480382 Indian male, 25yrs, MBA in HR/ Marketing.6yrs exp with MNC and pharma. Presently in family visit visa looking for suitable placements.

Contact no-94657379/ 96645182 Indian male, 7 yrs Gulf exp in Sales (Indoor – Outdoor), looking for job.

Contact 99433816 / 93159202 15 years experience in Business Development , marketing, purchase – UAE & Oman-staff coordination, documentation, civil & technical maintenance, -valid GCC license-looking for working partnership or management post. Contact:91568362 / Email vpj555pem@gmail.com Indian Male, MBA in Marketing and Finance, 10 years’ Sales & Business Development Experience with valid D/L of Oman & UAE looking for a suitable placement. NOC Available.

Contact: 93969961 e-mail abhilash.pvrk@gmail.com Indian Male, 7 yrs experience in building materials trading having Oman D/L, immediate release available. Contact 98676713 Indian male, 22 yrs, BBM Graduate looking for suitable job in sales/ marketing, currently on visit visa.

Contact 91757222, email : danishdani460@gmail.com

SECRETARIAL/OFFICE Indian female, well experienced in secretarial, administration, customer care & supervisory jobs.

5 years experience in Muscat.

Immediately available for joining.

Contact: 92139298

Land for sale, 13.2 cents prime residential land near Perourkada Junction on Vattiyoorkavu Road, Trivandrum at 12L per cent.

Contact 92973928

Keralite girl, 26 (160), BSC Nurse at South America seeks suitable alliance. Contact 94413100, 98335340 Proposals are invited from parents of professionally qualified Nair Boys for 24 year old Upper Middle Class Nair girl hail from Trivandrum, (171 cm, Star-Bharani) employed in a reputed Company in Oman. Contact: 0968-9950 2593 /99798041.

(KM ID.2844689)

Sales & Marketing Indian male MBA (marketing & sales) business development experience at all levels of management. Currently on visit visa. Contact – 91272819

Young Energetic Male, with Oman work experience in the field of Sales/ Marketing and Administration.

Currently on a visit visa seeking suitable position. Contact 97832289. wakakhan.1@gmail.com

Villa for sale 2200 sq ft in 8 cent.

Kottayam. Contact: 92652534

MATRIMONIAL

SALES / MARKETING

Graduate, Indian, having 6 yrs experience in Sales with D/L, NOC available. Contact 93410723

For Astrological consultation, Jathakam. # 99860435 / 97102599

GOOD NEWS SIT.WANTED SKILLED / UNSKILLED Civil foreman maintenance D/L, 12 yrs in Oman, 2 yrs in Kuwait.

Contact 96405865, 99534138, India - +91 7589248550, +91 9464255409, email: sukhwinder9@yahoo.com

TECHNICIAN Instrument Technician (M.Sc Instrumentation) with 2 yrs experience (1 yr Indian + 1 yr in SABIC Petro Chemical Plant, Saudi Arabia), currently available in Muscat on visit visa looking for a suitable position in Oman. Contact 97165988, email : shabeer812@gmail.com

TOUR / TRAVELS IATA Certified experienced Indian Lady looking for job. Currently on visit. Contact 94613747, 91339846

MISCELLANEOUS Omani Man looking for a job with experience in HR/ Admin/ accounting. # 99767666 Graduate, Indian, having 6 yrs experience in Sales with D/L, NOC available. Contact 93410723 3 Years experienced Administrative Executive seeking for Virtual Admin Opportunities. Can work for 6 hours/day from a virtual location for 100 RO/month. Call: 95811820 Indian female, Accountant. having +5 years experience in Oman till Nov 2014. seeking suitable placement. NOC available. currently in family visa. Contact :98447045, email:anilavandika@gmail.com Indian male, 26 yrs - MBA Graduate with 3 yrs of Experience in Banking ( Standard Chartered Bank Scope International - Operations) &Coffee Vending Machine (Fresh & Honest Cafe ltd - Operations) on Visit Visa seeking placement.

Contact 91267867 Indian male 23 yrs, 4 yrs experienced in Architectural Draughtsman looking for a suitable Post GSM:96023726, Email :jayan. mathew009@gmail.com

Genuine Ayurvedic treatments & massage, Ayurvedic clinic at Al Khuwair. Contact 24478618 / 97263637 /93309131 FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know more about Islam, please call: 99425598, 96050000, 99353988, 99253818, 99341395, and 99379133. For ladies: 99415818, 99321360, 99730723 Orvisit: www.islamfact.com Ayurvedic treatment for backache, paralysis, arthritis etc & massage, All Season (Vaidyaratnam).

Contact 24475280 / 95371554 / 92504980 , www.siddhayur.com Ayurvedic treatment for joint pain, backache, paralysis, massage, steam bath, obesity, spondylitis, ideal care Ayurvedic Clinic, 18 November Street, Azaiba. Contact 99639695 / 99117987

SIT.WANTED 28 year Indian male with 7yrs of experience in Accounts & Finance up to finalisation in Construction Oil & Gas and also in Manufacturing industries with Oman D/L seeking suitable placement. #97104364 . email:moorthy_cbe@hotmail.com.

Indian male, 25yrs, MBA in marketing from Delhi with 1 year experience in operation department, currently on visit visa seeking suitable placements. Ph 97334359 email: mshahinp1@gmail.com Civil Engineer, B.E in civil , Approx. two year experience in Oman, Pakistani age 29 years.

Contact : 94389853 Email : faheemdeeer1986@gmail.com Male 28, seven & half an year experience. Worked as maintenance division co-ordinator, purchaser’s assistant, and office administration works. Valid driving license.

94454847 Indian, female, Pharmacist available with NOC and MOH License, preferably in Muscat. #9439 1355.

INDIAN, B.E Mechanical Engineer, 2 years job experience in Oman in pipeline field, fluent in English, Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi, with valid Omani driving license (light) searching for job. #99871470

Mechanical Engineer with 10+ years experience currently on visit visa looking for a Operation Manager/Branch Manager position in reputed organizations. #95757845

Male 28, seven & half an year experience. Worked as maintenance division co-ordinator, purchaser’s assistant, and office administration works. Valid driving license.

Contact 94454847

Senior Accounts Professional, Indian Male, 35 years, M.Com, MBA (Fin) 8 years in Oman, with valid Oman DL and NOC available.

Capable to handle accounts up to finalization. Contact 9602 3965.

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DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTED SERVICES

SITUATION WANTSERVICES

WEBSITE

CLASSES

Al Manar Vocational pleased to announce at vocational short and long term courses in tailoring, cooking and internal design. Contact us now : 24698070 or 91144335

BUSINESS

WEB, ERP and Business Intelligence (BI) creation and management at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

COMPUTER

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing, Contact 99314807/24792998

GULF INTERNATIONAL LLC all kind of pest control.

Contact 92326955

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your marble. # 24793614/ 99314807

For All Your Maintenance Solutions, A/c Servicing & Fixing, Painting, Cleaning, Electric. Contact 99002390

Cheapest Prices, all types window, curtains and blind.

Contact 99539521 Computer service/ AMC/ Networking. Contact 93552434 Pest Control Treatments!!!

Termites! Cockroaches! Bedbugs!

Ocean Centre LLC. #99344723

First Grade Building Construction Company registered in Tender Board, MOD, and all Ministries with 120 manpower have current projects of RO 2 million seeking for investor partner to be the Managing Director.

Send CV to constructionjop@gmail.com My client needs to buy Residential land or villa in Al Ghubra Bahar Factory area. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 Excellent investment, business and earning opportunity in Sultanate of Oman and other GCC countries.

Looking for investors and sponsors (Omani Nationals only). For meeting and discussions please call on 91285860

Wanted dentist or investor to buy a well-running dental clinic in Sohar immediately. Contact 92625962, 95904234 We assist in new business set up local sponsorship, real estate services, assist in company formation services. Contact - 93166088

Building Caretaker, Gulf Experienced, knows Arabic, Hindi English Ph : 94304348 For All Your Maintenance Solutions, A/c Servicing & Fixing, Painting, Cleaning, Electric. # 99002390

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles polishing, carpet shampooing, maintenance. Contact ABU QABAS- 99320217 /24788722

Water proofing ABUQABASContact 99320217/24788722

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles polishing, carpet shampooing, maintenance. Contact ABU QABAS- 99320217 /24788722

Civil Maintenance, Painting Electric, Plumbing, Decor, Tile Fixing, Lecithin Copra Board flat stifling , Carpet Cleaning and A/C Servicing. Contact 97897831 (Indian keralite)

Door to Door Computers repair specialist laptop software Website cartridges. Contact 99199376

BUSINESS

Carpet & sofa cleaning, house cleaning. Contact 99542979 / 98855815

A.M Trading Pest control.

Contact 99067923 Split & window A/C servicing & maintenance. Contact 93769089 Carpet & Sofa Shampooing.

Ocean Centre LLC. # 99884591 Maintenance – 1) A/C Maintenance, 2)fridge, washing machine & dish washer repairing, 3)painting & cleaning services, 4)electrical & plumbing carpentry work. # 99447257 / 97014234 / 24504281

Waterproofing, light weight Screed, Antitermite and MS Fabrication.

Contact 92888337 Electrical Plumbing Painting Contract and Maintenance.

Contact 98456535 House shifting transport. Contact 99657644, 98518013 Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile polishing, pest control & anti-termite treatment, general cleaning painting, Plumbing, Electrical, shifting. Contact Mundhir AlRizaiqi trading. L.L.C. # 24810137, 99450130

PRO services. Contact 99368907 Painting Interlock plumbing maintenance. Contact 92142319 Fast & Right Way - For all PR related works – permanent Visa stamping, family visiting visa holders, clients contacts – with NOC letter with signed & sealed photocopy documents .

Contact 91568362

NOTICE I, Craysac Francis Xavier holder of Indian passport No.L3316141 s/o Francis Xavier having permanent residence in No. 65, Little rose cottage church lane Finger post Ootacamund Tamil Nadu (complete postal address in India) and presently residing in B. No. 1955, Way No. 3704, Flat No. 32, Ghubra, Muscat PO 1393, PC 133 (complete postal address in Oman) intend to marry Miss Sandra Martins holder of Indian passport No Z2909890 d/o Mr. Stanlay Martins in Embassy of India, Muscat. I swear that I am marrying her at my own free will and not under any duress & intimidation. Any objection towards this marriage may please be communicated to Embassy of India, Muscat, Diplomatic Quarters, Al Khuwair, P. O Box 1727, Postal Code112, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman within 30 (thirty) days of publication of this news paper advertisement.

Catering services We do industrial catering service, Canteen/ mess, 3 times packed meals, and all types of catering events.

Contact 92188777/99249899 For HT cable jointing and termination works 33KV/11KV. Contact 99056438 / Email: npgoman@gmail.com

CHANGE OF NAME We, Parameshwaran Ravi (name of father as per the passport, holder of Indian Passport No. L3320623) and Sangeeta Parameshwaran (name of mother as per the passport, holder of Indian Passport No. L3320622) having permanent address in H.No.2, Gayatri Niwas, Ajabpurkala, Saket Colony, Dharampur, Dehradun, 248001 (complete postal address in India) and presently residing at the following address in P.B.No 792, P.C.No 133, Sultanate of Oman, hereby solemnly affirm and declare to change the name of our child Miss Sara (name as per present passport), holder of Indian Passport No. L9527861, date of issue 22/05/14 issued at Muscat. The name of our child will be henceforth known as Yanti Ravi (new name) for all purposes. Any objection towards change of name of our minor child may please be communicated to Embassy of India, Muscat, Diplomatic Quarters, Al Khuwair, P.B. No 1727, Postal Code 112, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman.

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DAILY GUIDE TOURS

SITUATION WANTED CARGO

TOURS

RENT A CAR

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain Marine Tours # 98029602, 92808636

DRIVING

M.V. FOR SALE

TRANSPORTATION Transportation. Contact 93405941 Transportation. Contact 98178135 Transportation available.

Contact 95570429 Pick & drop anytime in al Khuwair.

Contact 99764307 Transportation. Contact 91379976

FOR HIRE

TRUCK FOR HIRE Isuzu 10 ton cargo body truck (2012 FVR) with UAE experienced driver available for long term / short term rent.

Contact: 95346950 Five tower cranes with operators.

(50 m height, 55m boom length and 2.5 tons lifting capacity at Jib).

Please contact : ravin0225@gmail. com or call 96529679

Renault Safrane 2011, Excellent condition OMR3400. Contact 94015245

L/R Discovery, 2003, KM 1,60,000. Contact 99238877

Tucson V-6, 2007, automatic RO 2500/-. Contact 99384640

Prado 2012. Contact 99336093

Expat Prado VX6, model 2008, excellent condition, 2 fuel tanks, 180 ltrs, cool box, leather seats, 122500 kms, last Toyota Service in Jan 2015. Contact 99435226

Pick & Drop any time. # 97014786 Pajero 3.8 v6 full option, 2008 model expat driven single owner, excellent condition, accident free, 217k. Contact - 92590781 Lexus GS300, 2006.

Contact 93218349

FOR HIRE Running truck wash for rent in Ouhi Sunia Sohar. Serious people can. Contact on 97864747 50 seater bus with PDO specification for rent or lease. # 99839898

Transportation with car & driver.

(VIP’s only). Contact 95040768

M.V.WANTED Required Nissan Tida / Toyota yaris / Suzuki swift / hyundai/Kia hatchback car in good condition.

Contact 95405033

Transportation. Contact 99664703 Transportation available 99159277 Transportation. Contact 96538078 Transportation Available Contact 97180655 *Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

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DAILY GUIDE

Indian, Arabic, Chinese dishes, BuďŹ&#x20AC;et Lunch (On Friday) Indoor & Outdoor, Catering, Party hall available Take Away & Home Delivery

Party booking & sugges ons 99320065, 99341643

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624