Times of Oman - December 17 , 2015

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FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTY THE SULTAN

Before The Council of Oman, 2001

‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’ We are convinced that all forms and types of terrorism, and from whatever source, is an aggression against peace which all mankind cherishes. We are working with all nations to solidify international stability and security, and upon this conviction we condemn and reject terrorism – as we have always done throughout our Blessed Renaissance. We call upon all to counteract terrorism and remedy its causes.

THURSDAY, December 17, 2015 / 5 Rabi Al Awal 1437 AH timesofoman.com

CABLE

HM sends greetings MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of congratulations to King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of the Kingdom of Bhutan, on the occasion of his country’s National Day. In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan has expressed his sincere congratulations and best wishes to King Wangchuck and the people of his country. -ONA

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‘Illegal taxi’ fines hitting motorists

MUSANDAM

Two Asians arrested for allegedly killing Omani Times News Service MUSCAT: Two Asian expatriates, accused of murdering an elderly Omani national, were arrested after police officers in Musandam received an information about a body inside a well, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) reported on Wednesday.

According to the ROP, a citizen while walking along the well found sheep drinking water laced with blood. On getting information, the ROP arrived to the spot and identified the body.

“The deceased was an old man living alone with the Asians who murdered him,” said an ROP official, adding that the accused used to share the same accommodation and both took part in the murder and hiding the body.

SLAPPING FINES: Police officials say that the fines are being realised to curb illegal private transporters. – Supplied photo

The ROP says expats can seek a refund if wrongfully fined, but they must prove their innocence

REJIMON K HASSAN SHABAN AL LAWATI

reji@timesofoman.com hassan@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Expatriates, who have been unfairly fined for ferrying passengers in their private vehicles, can reclaim the fine if they can prove their innocence, a

senior Royal Oman Police (ROP) official said.

“There is no such rule that penalises an expatriate if he is providing a ride to a friend or a relative in his private vehicle.

However, they can reclaim the fine if they can prove their innocence,” the police official said.

Ferrying relatives Recently, many expatriates told the Times of Oman (TOO) that they were stopped and fined by police officials for ferrying relatives and friends.

“I was stopped and fined by a police official on the basis that I was transporting my friend in return for money two days back. I was just helping my close friend to reach airport in my private vehicle. We tried our best to convince the official that we are not doing anything wrong but he

didn’t lend an ear to our requests.

We were fined OMR35,” an Indian expatriate working at a senior position in a company in Muscat, told TOO. “I drive a sedan. I annually pay taxes and insurance to have four people in my car. How can the police stop me and slap a fine for helping my friend to reach airport? I was stopped in Al Khuwair and fined,” the expatriate, who was fined, said.

A group of expatriates who went in a car to celebrate a birthday party was also fined.

“I went to Qurum to celebrate my birthday. My friend was driving the car. My group was stopped by police and we were fined for moving together in one car,” Parth Mehta, told Times of Oman. “While talking to us, the police told us that this is not a new law,” Parth added.

Illegal private operators Meanwhile, the police official added that this has been done to curb illegal private transporters.

“We know that many expatriates are ferrying people in private vehicles in return for money. So, patrolling is carried out to catch these violators.

However, depending on the circumstances they are caught in, if they can prove they are innocent, then they can reclaim the fine,” the police official added.

Tonia Gray, general manager at Competence HR, said she is surprised the ROP is stating that it will refund fines if the individual ‘can prove themselves innocent.’

“Surely, it is the job of the ROP to prove the individual is guilty of any offence before issuing a fine,” Tonia said. >A6

ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company

DECEMBER 24

Holiday on Prophet’s birthday MUSCAT: Thursday, 12th Rabi Al Awwal, 1437 AH corresponding to December 24 will be an official holiday for staff of the ministries, public authorities, other departments of the state administration and private sector companies and establishments on the occasion of the Holy Prophet’s Birthday (PBUH).

A decision to this effect was issued on Wednesday by Minister of the Diwan of Royal Court and Chairman of the Civil Service Council Sayyid Khalid bin Hilal bin Saud Al Busaidi, and Minister of Manpower Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Bakri. >A6 TOP THREE INSIDE STORIES

OMAN

Toddler recovering

1

A two-year-old toddler is recovering following a car crash on Tuesday. >A2

REGION

Qataris abducted

2

Qatar said it was working with Iraq for the release of its citizens. >A7

MARKET

‘Interest rates rise’

3

Bank interest rates have started rising and will strengthen further. >B1

34-COUNTRY COALITION

Oman welcomes Saudi coalition on terror Staff Reporter

Young blood

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QUANTUM LEAP

MUSCAT: Oman has welcomed Saudi Arabia’s move to form a 34-country coalition to fight terrorism.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Oman’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the announcement made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on forming the Riyadhbased Islamic Coalition to Combat Terrorism.

MOVIES

Artist’s efforts to help ‘Star Wars’ versus bead jewellery art ‘Dilwale’ scale global heights Times News Service

BABA UMAR

babaumar@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: For Nadia Al Shamsi, a timely switch from management studies to the world of arts proved to be a quantum leap.

“I am proud of what I did,” she said joyfully. Once a management student at the Sultan Qaboos University and a passionate bead jewellery artist at home, Al Shamsi chose to build her career in the arts by starting a small workshop inside the corner of her home in the Shatti Al Qurum neighbourhood of the capital.

“It was like a hobby and I wanted to take it to the next level,” she told the Times of Oman.

That next level was quickly getting a degree in Creative Jewellery Design from the London Jewellery School in 2014.

With the newly acquired knowledge of jewellery art and her years-long passion, Al Shamsi, now in her late 20s, launched Mazayen or Miss Camel, a small one-man company selling handmade jewellery made of silver and gemstones mostly. The company has started to yield good results. “It’s been so far a one-man army,” she laughed. “But now I am hiring more people for marketing purposes.”

Al Shamsi designs the jewel-

lery from beginning to end. For customers, she participates in different exhibitions held from time to time across the Gulf region and beyond.

“In my small workshop, I make three to four designs from each design and then I partake in exhibitions across the world. That’s how I meet customers,” she said.

Al Shamsi was the only Arab exhibitor at the prestigious annual event held in London earlier this year, where participants that included top designers from 74 countries had come to exhibit their work. >A6

MUSCAT: Hollywood actor Harrison Ford-starrer Star Wars: The Force Awakens will clash with Bollywood’s superstar Shahrukh Khan’s Dilwale, as both the films are being released in Oman today.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a 2015 American epic space opera film directed, coproduced, and co-written by J. J. Abrams.

The film is set approximately 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983).

On the other hand, Dilwale, which means ‘large hearted’ is an Indian romantic film directed by Rohit Shetty and produced by Gauri Khan.

Most theatres operated

by City Cinema and Vox are screening the movie in the early hours of opening day on Thursday. “We are getting a good response for both the movies. All the tickets are reserved and we are running more shows than usual,” said Neha Singh, business operations manager at City Cinema.

A spokesperson of Vox Cinemas said: “VOX Cinemas is receiving an overwhelming response for the films: Star Wars and Dilwale, releasing on Thursday, VOX Cinemas is expecting a record breaking weekend.”

Oman is not on the list of coalition, according to the list published by Saudi Arabia’s official news agency SPA. According to SPA, the countries that have decided to form a military alliance to fight terrorism led

by Saudi and a joint operations centre are, Jordan, UAE, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Turkey, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Djibouti, Senegal, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Gabon, Guinea, Palestine,

Comoros, Qatar, Cote d’Ivoire, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mali, Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Yemen.

Dr Khalid bin Salim Al Sa’eedi, Secretary General of the State Council, asserted that Oman has always chosen to support peace and avoid violence.

“His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said made this country an international port of peace for all coun-

tries,” Al Saeedi said, adding that even before 1970, Oman had kept a very visible and clear political stance which promoted peaceful solutions.

Leon Goldsmith, who teaches Political Science at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), called the formation of alliance a “very interesting development” in the region.

He said the development highlights Oman’s policy of “permanent neutrality”. >A6

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

4.3m

OMAN

Is the total population of Oman at the end of November, according to the latest NCSI data. >B5

TRAGIC INCIDENT

POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION

Child recovering after car accident HASAN SHABAN AL LAWATI

hassan@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: A two-year-old toddler who was injured in a serious car crash on Tuesday morning, is recovering at the Armed Forces Hospital in Muscat.

A Royal Oman Police (ROP) source said the impact from the accident threw the child from the car due to which she had sustained injuries.

A picture of the little girl lying on the roadside had been circulated on social media, even as ROP warned that taking pictures

of accident victims is against the law and would be deemed unethical behaviour.

“The mother did not make sure that the child was wearing a seatbelt,” said the official.

He added that the mother, an Omani national, was in a stable condition and had been discharged from the hospital on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, an expatriate pedestrian escaped with moderate injuries after being hit by a car in Ruwi while he was crossing the road on Wednesday, the ROP reported.

Fahd hails State Council MUSCAT: His Highness Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers, hailed the positive contribution of State Council in crystalising the efforts made in a number of important issues in the joint national work.

In a special interview with the ‘Shurufat al Majli’ magazine, Sayyid Fahd said that Oman’s government is promoting Shura approach as one of the pillars of the state of institutions.

He said that the Shura experience in the Sultanate has made steady strides and reached advanced stage in meeting the needs of the socio-economic development in Oman. — ONA N C S I N O V E M B E R D ATA

Sultanate’s population rises MUSCAT: Sultanate’s total population increased marginally at the end of November 2015 to more than 4.3 million, registering a 0.5 per cent growth compared to October, 2015 population of 4.28 million, according to the latest data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

The Omanis population stood at 2.38 million, while expatriates numbered more than 1.92 million.

Nationals comprised 55.3 per cent of the total population.

Compared to October figures, the highest growth rates were recorded in the governorates of Dhofar and Al Wusta (1.0 per cent each), closely followed by the Governorate of Al Buraimi (0.9 per cent). The monthly population growth rate in Muscat stood at 0.8 per cent.

In terms of population size, Muscat topped the governorates at over 1.34 million, as against 1.33 million in October. — ONA

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OMAN

CRIME INCIDENTS

Six Asian nationals arrested for series of robbery in Ibri Times News Service MUSCAT: Six Asian nationals were arrested for theft in Ibri after Al Dahirah Police Station received several reports of the same robbery in different cases a Royal Oman Police (ROP) official said.

After inquiries and investigations, the ROP were able to arrest

the suspects, and after interrogations it had become clear that they committed crimes in different governorates.

The scammers targeted barber shops and enter the barber shop with a false intent to get a haircut and bargain for a price before the haircut with the victim. After agreeing a price, the suspects hand

over a single OMR50 note and receive the change.

After receiving the change, they argue that the price is expensive and demand their OMR50 note back without giving back the change they received in the first place and they run away along with their OMR50 note. The thefts in all the cases are alike, said the official.

13 grocery shops shut, 46 vehicles seized in Ghala In a bid to ensure top health and safety standards, the Muscat Municipality – Supplied picture

carried out a total 1,164 raids during the last three months

Times News Service MUSCAT: In a major crackdown in the Ghala industrial area, 46 abandoned vehicles were confiscated and 13 grocery shops were closed by Muscat Municipality.

In a bid to ensure top health and safety standards, the Bausher inspection team carried out 1,164 raids on companies, workshops and local stores during the last three months.

Around 258 violations were

reported during the raids as violators were slapped with hefty fines exceeding OMR6,000.

Inspectors targeted traders, who were not complying with the municipality’s guidelines on health, safety and hygiene.

According to officials, more than 386 shipments of waste, including construction waste, solid waste, tyres and workshops leftovers were taken away by the hygiene inspectors. Sixteen violations were also reported related to labourers working outside the workshop area and leaving equipment outdoors, in addition to littering and causing leakage of sewage water.

The municipality added that 46

abandoned vehicles were spotted on road shoulders and public areas in Ghala, all of which were impounded. The campaign included surprise checks on coffee shops, restaurants and grocery shops, where 13 food related shops were sealed and warning letters were issued. Violators have been fined for selling and displaying expired food items, for bad storage of food, lack of hygiene and not sticking to an official uniform.

Meanwhile, the municipality has also ordered the closure of six workshops in the industrial area.

Violations varied from wrong installation of signboards, working with expired licences to displaying commodities outside shops.

The suspects were referred to the public prosecution for investigations before appearing in court.

Drugs seized The Directorate of Narcotics Control from Dhofar Police, in cooperation with the Department of Customs in Dhofar and port security, was able to seize a con-

tainer containing a large amount of narcotics.

The drugs were hidden inside bags of sugar within a container which arrived to Salalah port from a European country.

Interpol were tipped off that there was a ship carrying illegal substances departing a European port believed to be narcotics.

After gaining the proper clearances and warrant, an immediate search for the container was conducted. Upon inspection, officers found 118 moulds of narcotics placed inside five bags.

A sample was taken to the forensics department for analysis.

The case is currently under investigation. — ONA

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

OMAN

We are here to showcase our bond of friendship through the arts of South Africa and Oman South African Ambassador

ACCLAIMED ARTIST

American soprano to perform at ROHM Times News Service MUSCAT: American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, accompanied by the superb Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, will thrill Muscat audience with some of opera’s most stunningly beautiful arias, at the Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM), under the baton of Emmanuel Villaume.

The Muscat audience will be taken on an exciting journey through the very best of 19th century Italian opera in an evening that is bound to be glorious and uplifting.

One of the most prominent sopranos of her generation, Radvanovsky, is a globally celebrated artist, who regularly appears at

talent, Sondra has the ability to connect with current audiences, making each one of her concerts a truly meaningful experience.

Praised by critics for her stunning voice with its rich vibrato and expressive timbre, this charismatic soprano is mesmerising on stage. The Washington Post describes her voice as “outright gorgeous, poignant and silvery.”

Sondra Radvanovsky.

— Supplied picture

the world’s greatest venues, including most notably, the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Paris Opéra, and Teatroalla Scala.

Along with her stupendous

Remarkable range With a remarkable range in her repertoire, Radvanovsky specialises in 19th century Italian opera and Verdi in particular. One of her greatest Verdi signature roles is Leonora in Il Trovatore, but no less important are her interpretations of Aida; Elvira in Ernani; LuK H O U L A H H O S P I TA L

Surgeons reattach nine fingers of expatriate MUSCAT: Surgeons at Khoulah Hospital successfully performed a 16-hour long surgery for the reattachment of nine fingers of an Asian expatriate.

The expat, in his 40s, had suffered an occupational injury a few days ago.

The hospital had earlier successfully performed a 12-hour long surgery for an Omani working at a cereal mill whose hand had been completely amputated.

It also successfully performed a 12-hour long surgery for an Asian working at a brick factory whose hand had been completely amputated.

Khoulah Hospital had performed a surgery for the reattachment of four fingers of an Asian expatriate recently.

But this is the first time that the surgeons had reattached nine fingers at one time. -ONA

isa Miller; Elena in I Vespri Siciliani; and Elisabeth in Don Carlo.

Radvanovsky is also renowned for her virtuosic mastery in the title role of Bellini’s Norma.

This season, Radvanovsky is set to become the first singer in the history of New York’s Metropolitan Opera to win a ‘triple crown’ by singing all three of Donizetti’s Tudor queens—the title roles in Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda, along with Elisabeth I in Roberto Devereux.

A video clip from a rehearsal of Anna Bolena (Anne Boleyn) at the Metropolitan Opera went viral on the internet when it was released last September. The clip shows Radvanovsky singing as animatedly as a rock star does.

BOOK ON HIS MAJESTY LAUNCHED His Highness Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Minister of Heritage and Culture, launched a book titled ‘Qaboos, A Sultan or A Visionary Leader’, at Nizwa Auditorium at Inter-Continental Muscat, on Wednesday. - ONA

‘Splendour of the Seas’ cruise ship docks at Muscat The passengers will spend two days and will enjoy the historical and cultural landmarks of Muscat FLOATING BEAUTY: The ship offers a smaller and more relaxed vacation experience. — Picture by Jun Estrada/Times of Oman

Staff Reporter MUSCAT: Port Sultan Qaboos received on Wednesday the ‘Splendour of the Seas’ cruise ship, carrying 1900 passengers onboard.

The passengers, who were travelling from Dubai, reached Khasab on Tuesday. They will spend two days on the coast of Muscat and will enjoy the historical and cultural landmarks of Muscat.

From December 2015 to March 2016, with a total of 17 round trips, the ‘Splendour of the Seas’ will visit some of the Arabian coast’s most exciting destinations, including Dubai, Khasab, Oman, an overnight stay in Oman’s capital Muscat and Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

“We have tourists from around 35 countries, mainly British, but also from Scandinavia, Germany, Spain, Italy and Nigeria,” said Adam Sharp, head of Port Operations and Guest Services–North Europe Middle East and India, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises.

Plaque presentation The cruise ship was welcomed with a plaque presentation by Saud Ahmed Al Nahari, chief ex-

ecutive officer of the Port Services Corporation. Government officials also attended the ceremony.

Adventures for all The ship offers a smaller and more relaxed vacation experience. Featuring the Rock Wall, mini-golf, the Centrum entertainment, the Vitality Spa at Sea and award-winning family programming and entertainment, there will be new adventures for all to enjoy.

Guests onboard have a variety of restaurants, both dining and casual, such as the Asian Izumi restaurant; the line’s signature steakhouse, Chops Grille; as well as the Boardwalk Dog House hotdog counter; the Park Café deli-style restaurant and the exclusive Chef’s Table dining experience. The line also offers an à la carte menu in the Viking Crown Lounge, which giving guests the opportunity to enjoy bite-sized portions of their favourite classics.

Teens can enjoy their time with peers in the teen-only hangout and disco, and join enrichment classes, such as mixing music like a DJ or learning hip-hop dance moves. Youth programme activi-

ties are always led and supervised

by Royal Caribbean’s exceptional, energetic and college educated youth programme counsellors.

For business travellers, ‘Splendour of the Seas’ also offers numerous conference and meeting facilities. State-of-the-art fullyequipped meeting rooms and WiFi connections onboard the vessel can accommodate big groups and charters too; whilst theatres and lounges are also available for corporate events involving up to 800 people.

“Wilhelmsen Ships Service (Oman) as port agents for RCCL group, the Oman team together with Ministry of Transport and Port Services Corporation and Royal Oman Police are really excited to welcome RCCL back to Oman for the winter cruising season,” Aju A.Thomas, general manager, Wilhelmsen Towell Co. LLC (Wilhelmsen Ships Service) Oman, said. “‘Splendour of the Seas’ is a great opportunity to showcase the Royal Caribbean brand under the Cruise Arabia initiative and develop cruise tourism by offering amazing destination experiences the beautiful country of Oman has to offer,” he added.

B I L AT E R A L R E L AT I O N S H I P

South African embassy hosts ‘Bond of Friendship’ art expo MOBIN MATHEW BLESSON

mobinmathew@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Oman and South Africa have a deep friendship, said the South African ambassador to Oman, at the launch of an art exhibition. “Oman and South Africa have an excellent bilateral relationship,” Maj Gen Lungile Chris Pepani, the South African ambassador said, while thanking those who have contributed to fostering the relationship between Oman and South Africa.

In order to show the strong bond between Oman and South Africa, the South African Embassy hosted an exhibition on its premises under the patronage of His Highness Sayyid Mohammed bin Salim Al Said, head of the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Sultanate. “We are here to showcase our bond of friendship through the arts of South Africa and Oman,” the South African ambassador said.

PRISTINE BEAUTY: South African ambassador said the exhibi-

tion was being held to mark Oman’s 45th National Day. — Picture by OK Mohammed Ali/Times of Oman

The theme of the art exhibition was the ‘Bond of Friendship.’ Visiting artists, Reuben Matemane and Tladi William Mokgokolo and local artists Ali Al Hinai, Anwar Sonya, Asma Al Mamary, Dawood Al Shibli, Essa Al Mafrji, Herbert Otto, Khamis Al Moharbi, Lisa Kruger, Mallallah Al Zedjali, Mariette Peens, Mohammed Al Rashdi, Mona Al Baiti, Nadia

Al Balushi, Naif Al Ghafri, Phillip Grobler, Qais Al Salhi and Sami Al Syabi showcased their work at the exhibition.

The South African ambassador also said the exhibition was being held to mark Oman’s 45th National Day. “The exhibition is in recognition of the 45th anniversary of the renaissance in Oman,” the ambassador said.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015 Oman Air’s mission is ‘To become the best.’ Whilst we have built an international reputation and won numerous awards for the quality of our goods and services, we know there is still more we can do Paul Gregorowitsch, Oman Air’s Chief Executive Officer

OMAN ARABIC LANGUAGE

Sultan Qaboos Award for culture, arts on Tuesday MUSCAT: Sultan Qaboos Award for Culture, Arts and Literature 2015, will be presented at a ceremony to be held next Tuesday at the InterContinental Hotel Muscat. The 4th edition is dedicated to Arabic language studies, calligraphy and children’s literature.

Prof. Dr. Abdul Salam Al Masdi from the Republic of Tunisia won the award in the field of Arabic language studies, Dr. Mohammed Said Sharifi from the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria in the field of calligraphy, and Dr. Mohammed Al Ghazi from the Republic of Tunisia in the field of children’s literature. -ONA CMA

Changes to auto insurance policy MUSCAT: A seminar on the final draft of the unified auto insurance policy, after introducing the new amendments, was organised by Capital Market Authority (CMA).

The seminar held on Wednesday targeted employees at the underwriting, compensation and claims departments at the insurance, insurance brokerage companies, as well as compliance officers at the insurance companies’ boards.

The seminar was held as part of the preparations to launch the new version of the policy after final approval of the CMA’s CEO. The seminar covered the articles of the insurance policy and provided answers for the questions raised by participants. -ONA

‘Crème de la Crème’ fetes luxury brands The Luxury Award 2015 was organised amid the stunning setting of Shangri La resorts overlooking the Sea of Oman

Staff Reporter MUSCAT: It was an evening gathering that will be remembered by both judges and entrants for years to come.

Amid the excitement and anticipation of the stunning bay of Shangri La resorts overlooking the Sea of Oman, Crème de la Crème—Oman’s exclusive luxury lifestyle magazine—held its Luxury Award 2015 event on Tuesday, which was the first of its kind in the Sultanate.

On the occasion, Sheikh Hatim Al Taie, chairman and chief executive officer of Al Roya Press and Publishing, which publishes Crème de la Crème, said the event is a novel concept that has been created to celebrate luxury in Oman. “It is an opportunity to commend the magnificent work done by companies and individuals in the luxury arena,” he said.

“Oman as you know is a very special place. And there are lots of things we can celebrate and enjoy

NOVEL CONCEPT: The organisers said they would continue to organise similar functions for the luxury brands in the future as well.

and have great moments. I think that’s what life is all about—the search for beauty and happiness and the search for peace. That’s also the mission of Oman in this region that we are people of love, peace and tolerance, he added.

In the fashion category, Endemage by Lubna and Nadia Zakwani were adjudged the winners.

Cartier was awarded for best jewellery, while the Chedi restaurant was named the winner in fine dining category.

The Spa-the Chedi won the best spa award, while London was declared as the top tourist destination in 2015.

In the hotel category, the Al Husn Hotel at the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Oman won the best prize, while Al Mourjan Business

by Qatar Airways, Doha was declared the best airline lounge.

Patek Phillippe was declared the best luxury watch brand and Amouage was chosen for the best national brand awards.

The Crème de la Crème brand of the year was awarded to Montblanc. Times of Oman was the media partner for the event.

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz Oman, the main sponsor of the event, also announced the launch of the company’s latest version of A-Class cars to appeal to young buyers. “This is a car driven by ambition. It is a car that is ready for a new generation.

“It’s a vehicle that allows drivers to accelerate and live life to the full and one that stands out for all the right reasons,” David Swain,

general sales manager, MercedesBenz, Oman told the audience.

The organisers said they will continue to organise similar functions for the luxury brands in future as well.

“This is the first time that an award ceremony in this genre is being held in the country. We are proud to initiate what we hope will be a precursor to honouring and celebrating the world of luxury in Oman,” said Annë Kurian, editor of Crème de la Crème.

“The nominees in the different categories were chosen based on their contribution to the luxury industry in Oman and globally. Each of the nominees are brands or companies that are pioneers in their respective fields,” said Kurian.

MINISTRY DECISION

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December 24 a holiday

The decision said: “On the occasion of the Holy Prophet’s birthday (PBUH), it was decided that Thursday, 12th Rabee Al Awwal, 1437 AH corresponding to December 24, 2015, will be an official holiday for the employees of the ministries, public authorities and other departments of the state administrative apparatus.”

Sayyid Khalid extended heartfelt greetings to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said on this happy occasion, praying to the Almighty to protect His Majesty against all harms and grant him good health, happiness and a long life and for the return of this and similar occasions on His Majesty for many years to come, the Omani people and our dear country further progress and welfare under the wise leadership of His Majesty, and all Muslims prosperity and blessings. The decision allows employers and employees to agree on work arrangements during the holiday if necessity arises. Employees whose weekly off-days coincide with this occasion shall be compensated.

All employees in the private sector extended heartfelt greetings to His Majesty the Sultan on this blessed occasion, praying to Allah the Almighty to protect His Majesty and grant him good health, happiness and a long life and for the return of this and similar occasions on His Majesty and the Omani people with blessings. -ONA O P E R AT I O N S C E N T R E

A1 Riyadh centre < FROM

Q UA L I T Y S TA N D A R D S

Oman Air signs agreement with BVA Mystery Shopping Services Times News Service MUSCAT: Oman Air’s commitment towards continuously improving its quality standards will receive a further boost in the coming months. The national airline of the Sultanate of Oman has signed an agreement with BVA Mystery Shopping Services, a French company, which specializes in assessing and evaluating customer-facing services.

The agreement will see a team of mystery shoppers pose as customers in order to experience every aspect of Oman Air’s passenger experience. They will fly in all cabin classes and on all routes, and will use all sales channels to buy tickets. Furthermore, they will examine all check in options, airport lounges and customer services access points.

Upon the completion of the project, BVA will submit a compiled data analysis report with their recommendation for all areas. This will enable Oman Air to establish a strategy for fur-

NEW INITIATIVE: Oman Air plans a strategy for further improve-

ment in services.

ther improvement. Oman Air’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Gregorowitsch, said: “Oman Air’s mission is ‘To become the best.’ Whilst we have built an international reputation and won numerous awards for the quality of our goods and services, we know there is still more we can do.

“And as Oman Air continues to expand its fleet and network, it is especially important that we not only maintain, but also

improve, the standard of service we offer to our customers. So I am pleased that we have recently commissioned a significant piece of research by BVA Mystery Shopping Services. The mystery shoppers will have full access to all Oman Air’s customer-facing services. And because they will be posing as regular passengers, none of the staff they interact with across their passenger journeys will know who the mystery shoppers are.”

MODERN TWIST

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A1 Omani heritage

She also displayed her art, which she said is inspired by Omani heritage “but with a modern twist.”

“Regarding raw material, I rely on online shopping. I get most of my things, such as stones, gems and all that from India and the United States,” she pointed out.

Spreading knowledge Al Shamsi wants to spread her passion to other art lovers. She runs a workshop for a small group of would-be art professionals and she teaches free courses at the government schools.

Apart from jewellery business,

Al Shamsi said she loves painting, travelling and anything related to art. “I am very much interested in decoupage (the art or craft of decorating objects with paper cut-outs) as well, which I learnt in 2011,” she noted.

There is still a long way to go for Al Shamsi though.

“I’m proud that I reached this far. I didn’t know my passion will become my business too. Now there is no limit to my ambitious life,” she said, adding that her parents and friends have been “very supportive” in helping her chase her dreams.

A statement by SPA added that the new coalition would have a joint operational centre based in Riyadh to “coordinate and support military operations”.

While announcing the coalition in Riyadh on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince and Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman said the new coalition is aimed to “coordinate” efforts to fight terrorism in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan.

“There will be international coordination with major powers and international organisations ... In terms of operations in Syria and Iraq, we can’t undertake these operations without coordinating with legitimacy in this place and the international community,” bin Salman said.

ILLEGAL TRANSPORTERS

< FROM

fine A1 Police surprising “Surely it is better on our busy roads that people ‘car pool’ and isn’t it an individual’s own choice as to who he allows in his or her car? I accept that there should not be ‘private’ taxis as this affects the income of public transport and taxis and there are probably insurance issues, but offering people lifts and carpooling with friends and colleagues should surely be acceptable?”

Tonia asked.

Some other expatriates, who were fined after carpooling from the Darsait Church a few weeks ago, said they were surprised by the police’s move.

“We were having a sort of carpooling to visit church. While we were driving back, we were stopped and fined,” the expatriates added.

“As it is Christmas season, we had late night prayers and celebrations. So we got late. Moreover, as we are coming from the same area, we opted for carpool to save on petrol. However, we were disappointed when we got fined,” the expatriates added.

Meanwhile, taxi drivers in Muscat said patrolling should be increased as illegal private transporters were stealing their market share.

“We are not saying that expatriates, who are providing help to a friend or relative, should be fined. But illegal transporters should be identified and caught.

Police can find illegal transporters easily in front of schools and airports. Those who indulge in illegal transporting should be fined severely,” Mohammed Faisal, a taxi driver, said.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015 An armed group driving dozens of pickup trucks kidnapped at least 26 Qatari hunters from their camp in the area of Busaya in the Samawa desert near the Saudi border Falih Al Zayady, Samawa governor

DESOLATE EXPANSE: A file picture taken on December 14, 2015 shows a camel standing in the

southern desert of Samawa in an area used by Iraqi herdsmen to graze their stock. – AFP

Gunmen kidnap 26 Qataris from Iraq desert camp Iraqi security forces have launched a widescale search for the Qataris in the area, a largely desolate expanse where armed militia groups predominate

BAGHDAD: About 100 gunmen kidnapped at least 26 Qataris from their desert hunting camp in Iraq near the Saudi border in the early hours of Wednesday, the regional governor and police officials said.

Two police officers in Samawa confirmed the kidnappings and said Iraqi security forces had launched a wide-scale search for the Qataris in the area, a largely desolate expanse where armed militia groups predominate.

“An armed group driving dozens of pickup trucks kidnapped at

least 26 Qatari hunters from their camp in the area of Busaya in the Samawa desert near the Saudi border,” Samawa governor Falih Al Zayady told Reuters.

No claim of responsibility There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the mass abduction. Hunters from various Gulf countries often make trips to Iraq’s southern desert at this time of year. Qatar’s foreign ministry confirmed that a group of its citizens were kidnapped in Iraq while on a hunting trip. It did not men-

tion how many were in the group.

In a statement, the ministry said it was working with the Iraqi government to secure their release “as soon as possible”. It added that the hunters had entered Iraqi territory with an permit from Iraq’s interior ministry.

Escorted A Samawa police colonel said the hunters had been escorted on their trip by an Iraqi security detail but that it decided not to engage a large number of gunmen.

“We are talking about at least 100 gunmen armed with light and medium weapons who broke into the Qatari camp and abducted the hunters at around 3am local time on Wednesday,” said the police colonel, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Another police officer said initial information suggested that the gunmen managed to flee with their captives further north into the province of Nassiriya, 300km (185 miles) south of the capital Baghdad. — Reuters

REGION

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015 We intend to carry on with our activities including (launch of) communication and observation satellites in 2016 with greater vigour... we have lot more to achieve A. S. Kiran Kumar, ISRO chairman

INDIA CURB POLLUTION

SC bars registration of diesel SUVs and cars with 2000 CC NEW DELHI: Diesel-run sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and highend private cars with engine capacity of 2000 CC and above will not be registered in Delhi and National Capital Region till March 31, 2016, the Supreme Court ordered on Wednesday as it unveiled a slew of measures to curb the alarming rise in pollution levels in the national capital.

The court, which also directed 100 per cent hike of the Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) being levied on light and heavy commercial vehicles entering Delhi, said that its directions were aimed at “mitigating hardship” of residents of Delhi “that has earned to it the dubious reputation of being the most polluted city in the world.”

“It is noteworthy that diesel vehicles of 2000 CC and above and SUVs are generally used by more affluent sections of our society and because of the higher engine capacity are more prone to cause higher levels of pollution.

Not affect common man “A ban on registration of such vehicles will not therefore affect the common man or the average citizen in the city of Delhi.

“We accordingly direct that registration of SUVs and private cars of the capacity of 2000 CC and above using diesel as fuel shall stand banned in the NCR up to 31st March, 2016,” a bench comprising Chief Justice T. S. Thakur and Justices A. K. Sikri and R. Banumathi said in its interim order and agreed to the contention that diesel vehicles are “the most polluting” ones contributing to the current state of affairs in Delhi.

It also directed that “all taxis including those operating under aggregators like OLA and UBER in the NCT of Delhi, plying under city permits shall move to CNG not later than 1st March, 2016.”

The court said that the levy of Environment Compensation Charge has resulted in some diversion of commercial vehicles but a very large number of such vehicles, which are not bound for Delhi, still enter by paying the Green cess.

“In the circumstances, we consider it necessary to make it clear that no vehicle which is not bound for Delhi will be allowed to enter from NH-VIII which connects Jaipur to Delhi and NH-I that connects the States of Punjab, Haryana and other northern States to Delhi via Kundli border,” it said. - PTI

India launches six Singapore satellites The Singaporean satellites that would help the city-state gather information on disaster monitoring and urban planning were launched by ISRO’s workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle

SRIHARIKOTA: India on Wednesday successfully put six Singapore satellites into orbit after a perfect launch of its polar rocket in its landmark 50th space mission from here that also gave a boost to its space business.

The Singaporean satellites that would help the city-state gather information on disaster monitoring and urban planning were launched by ISRO’s workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle(PSLV-C29) coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Singapore and India this year.

Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) also scored a splendid hat-trick of exclusive commercial launches this year after the July and September missions when it launched 11 satellites, including those of United States and United Kingdom.

In a textbook launch, PSLV C-29 blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC)

BOOST TO SPACE BUSINESS: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s PSLV C-29 carrying six

satellites of Singapore, lifts off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Wednesday. - PTI

here, about 110km from Chennai, at 6pm and released the six satellites one by one into a 550km circular orbit, completing the exercise about 21 minutes later.

After the rocket soared into clear evening sky at the end of the 59-hour countdown, the four stages of PSLV performed as programmed, releasing the satellites in orbit much to the jubilation of ISRO scientists at the mission control centre.

Momentous feat Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated ISRO scientists for the successful launch, saying it was a “momentous feat”.

“Our scientists at @isro accomplish another momentous feat.

Congrats to them on PSLV-C29 successfully launching 6 Singapore satellites,” he tweeted.

On its 50th launch from here, ISRO has succesfully launched six satellites of Singapore which was celebrating its 50 years of independence, a beaming ISRO Chairman A. S. Kiran Kumar said in his address from the mission

control room. “We intend to carry on with our activities including (launch of ) communication and observation satellites in 2016 with greater vigour... we have lot more to achieve,” he said.

This was the 32nd flight for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which once again proved its reliability as the workhorse rocket for ISRO, recording its 31st consecutive success.

Wednesday’s mission was the golden jubilee launch for ISRO from Sriharikota, since the maiden launch in August 1979, an official of the space agency said.

With this, the Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of ISRO, has provided launch services onboard the PSLV for 57 customer satellites from 20 countries.

This year alone ISRO has launched a total of 17 satellites of foreign countries.

In the previous two missions, ISRO launched five satellites for customers from United Kingdom onboard PSLV-C28 in July and four satellites belonging to the US and one each from Canada and

Indonesia onboard PSLV C30 in September.

The maiden launch from Sriharikota was on August 10, 1979 when the first experimental launch of Satellite Launch Vehicle SLV-3 with Rohini Technology Payload ended in failure as the satellite could not be placed in orbit. Since then, ISRO has undertaken 49 other missions onboard 32 Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV), three Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV), four Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicles (ASLV), nine Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and one GSLV Mark -III, an ISRO official said.

In Wednesday’s mission, PSLV in its ‘core-alone’ configuration sans solid strap-on motors, launched Singapore’s first commercial earth observation satellite designed and developed by ST Electronics and five other micro and nano satellites.

Talking about the mission, P. Kunhikrishnan, Director of SDAC, said in every sense it was a ‘golden launch’. - PTI

FREAK ACCIDENT

Air India staffer sucked by aircraft engine, dies MUMBAI: In a freak accident, an Air India ground staffer was sucked in by an aircraft engine at the Mumbai airport on Wednesday evening, official sources said.

The incident took place at bay No.28 around 8.40pm when a flight was being readied for departure. The victim was sucked in by the running engine of the aircraft

which was scheduled to depart at 8.44 p.m. as Mumbai-Hyderabad flight AI-619.

It was delayed by an hour due to the incident. - IANS

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INDIA GROSS FINANCIAL IRREGULARITIES

Sonia, Rahul may not apply for DDCA denies allegations against Jaitley bail in National Herald case NEW DELHI: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will appear in a Delhi court on Saturday in the National Herald case amid speculation that they may not apply for bail.

The Congress party remained tightlipped on the course to be adopted by the two leaders when they appear before the court on Saturday afternoon.

Judicial custody Under procedures, once an accused has been summoned, he or she has to appear before it and seek bail which the court may HIT-AND-RUN CASE

Salman’s acquittal echoes in Parliament NEW DELHI: The acquittal of actor Salman Khan in the Mumbai hit-and-run case on Wednesday echoed in the Lok Sabha with questions being raised as to who was responsible for the death of a man sleeping on a pavement if the superstar was not driving the car.

Ruling National Democratic Alliance members Vinayak Raut (Shiv Sena) and Kirti Azad (BJP) raised the Salman Khan judgement during the debate on setting up of benches of commercial courts.

Azad, in a tongue-in-cheek comment, asked whether it was a ‘deer’ who was driving.

“The legal system is such that after 12 years Salman Khan has been acquitted. But the question is that on that night when the accident took place, someone died, so who is responsible for it? Who did it?,” Raut said. -PTI

grant. Otherwise, they can be taken into judicial custody.

If the accused does not apply for bail, the court can take the accused in the judicial custody.

There was speculation that the Gandhis may not seek bail and prefer to be taken into custody so that they can make a political issue of the Herald matter.

Party’s chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said “we respect judicial process and we will submit ourselves to the majesty of the court process. The Congress President and the Vice President have complete faith in the judicial process. They will be proceeding

as per the advice by the lawyers”.

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, who had represented the Gandhis in the court, steered clear of questions whether the Gandhis would apply for bail.

Solidarity “We cannot share our strategy.

I have not spoken to anyone on the issue. I cannot speak on it”.

Several senior party leaders, including Congress Working Committee(CWC) members and party General Secretaries and party MPs, would accompany the Gandhis to the court as a mark of solidarity. -PTI

NEW DELHI: The Delhi and District Cricket Association on Wednesday strongly refuted allegations of “gross financial irregularities” against Finance Minister and its former president Arun Jaitley, saying that such charges were “absolutely rubbish”.

Hours after Congress and Aam Aadmi Party targeted Jaitley and demanded his resignation over

alleged “gross financial irregularities” in the DDCA when he headed it from 1999 to 2013, DDCA working president Chetan Chauhan held a press conference to rebut all the allegations.

Irregularities “Some allegations have been raised against DDCA and it needs clarification as everyone is stating

their point. First thing is allegation of irregularities on stadium construction. Stadium is made of Rs 141 crore,” Chauhan said.

“The reason for escalated costs was because capacity earlier was 26,000. But we demolished and then we renovated. It is recorded in ROC. It was given to EPIL, so I absolutely rubbish the charges,” he said. - PTI

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

PAKISTAN

We do not know who those people were. We should have been taken into confidence. We should have been shown why these were the people who were the culprits Shahana Ajoon, Speaking for her son

‘Military action has broken the back of the terrorists’ gee card,” he said. “I remained for three months in jail, my family is now afraid and thinking of running away from here.”

A solemn ceremony in the northwestern city of Peshawar commemorated the deaths of 134 children and 19 adults at a military school in the deadliest militant attack in the country’s history PAYING RESPECTS: This handout photograph released by Pakistan’s Inter Services Public Relations

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has arrested nearly 100,000 people under a counter-terrorism programme enacted after a massacre of school children a year ago, though only about 2,000 of them were militants, a senior Interior Ministry official said.

The rare figures on results of the National Action Plan (NAP) could reinforce critics who say it has resulted mostly in indiscriminate clamp downs that do not solve long-standing security problems.

A solemn ceremony in the northwestern city of Peshawar commemorated the deaths of 134 children and 19 adults at a military school in a Pakistani Taliban

(ISPR) on Wednesday, shows Primer Minister Nawaz Sharif, second right, and army chief Raheel Sharif, centre, paying their respects during a ceremony at the Army Public School, to mark the first anniversary of the school massacre which left more than 150 dead in Peshawar. - AFP

assault, the deadliest militant attack in the country’s history.

In a speech in Peshawar on Wednesday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif barely mentioned the plan, instead focusing on the achievements of military offensives.

“We formulated the National Action Plan,” he said briefly, but spent most of his time praising military action along the Afghan border that “has broken the back of the terrorists. It has destroyed their hideouts, their training centres and their infrastructure”.

Tackle militancy Pakistan announced the 20-point plan to tackle militancy after the assault on the Army Public School on December 16, 2014.

Among its main thrusts are expanded counter-terrorism raids, secret military courts, the resumption of hangings and promises to reform the justice system.

Government officials say the plan is working, and no one disputes violence is down.

Militant attacks killed an average of 90 people a month this year,

down from 136 the previous year.

However, several factors have contributed to the drop in violence: ongoing anti-Taliban military operations predating the plan and a continuing downward trend of attacks over the past few years.

Many of those arrested under the National Action Plan have been civilians who say they must pay police to release them, like Afghan fruit seller Khaliq Khan in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan. “I did not pay them, because I am legal and have a refu-

Statistics Statistics on arrests and prosecutions under the plan are rarely made public. In February, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar told parliament that 12,000 suspects had been picked up.

However, Reuters on Tuesday viewed updated ministry figures showing that about 95,000 people have been arrested under the NAP. An ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the figure and said only about 2,000 of those were “hardcore” militant suspects and the rest were arrested for other, unspecified crimes.

It was unclear how many of those arrested had faced trial and how many had been freed.

Military spokesman Asim Bajwa said recently that 142 cases had been referred to special military courts, but other courts can also handle cases under the plan.

Bajwa said military courts had seen “31 hardcore terrorists convicted”.

Little else is known about those on trial or the legal process, concerns sharpened after the government lifted a moratorium on executions.

This year, 319 people were hanged, but the vast majority had no known militant connections, data collected by legal aid charity Reprieve showed. - Reuters

M AT I A R I , S I N D H

Biggest gas find in 10 years announced KARACHI: Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) on Tuesday announced that it had struck the country’s biggest gas discovery from any well in the past 10 years, raising hopes of acceleration in drilling activity.

The state-owned company hit a find of 56 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas in Matiari, Sindh.

This volume might not appear big in the overall context of gas consumption in Pakistan — 4,000 mmcfd — but it is still significant since many petroleum exploration companies have struggled to replace depleting gas fields with new finds.

The Hatim X-1 well was spud in the Gambat South Block in October 8 and was drilled to the depth 3,800 metres on November 26 where tests were run to determine its potential.

Company officials say further drilling is expected to increase the gas output to 80 mmcfd.

“We will drill the appraisal well in the next three months. We won’t be announcing that because it won’t be a discovery. But this is major find,” said an official.

This makes the discovery large enough to meet the need of Engro’s new fertilizer plant — the largest in the country — that has continuously faced shutdowns due to gas shortages.

Investors reacted to the news straightaway as PPL’s share price jumped from Rs106.71 to Rs110.95 by end of business even though the benchmark-100 index remained visibly under pressure. A total of 3.67 million shares changed hands on Tuesday. - Express Tribune

F I R S T A N N I V E R S A RY O F A R M Y P U B L I C S C H O O L AT TA C K

A year on, Peshawar massacre survivors still awaiting aid, justice PESHAWAR: Families of children killed or wounded in Pakistan’s worst militant attack accuse the local government of breaking its promises of medical treatment and justice, a year after Taliban gunmen massacred 134 students in a Peshawar school.

Victims’ relatives say they will attend the official anniversary commemoration on Wednesday, but vowed to pressure the authorities to deliver on their commitments.

The government promised it would help with medical expenses above an initial Rs400,000 ($3,800) grant, but only 22 of approximately 60 families who applied have received any funds, said Akbar Khan, who represents 124 families of those wounded. “There are many children who were disfigured, or crippled, who need continuous long-term treatment. And above all, they need psychological rehabilitation,” said Khan, whose 17-year-old son Umar was shot in his left arm during the attack.

Muhammad Ibrahim, a provincial health official in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, of which Peshawar is the capital, said not all funds had been disbursed because of delays

IN REMEMBRANCE: Students hold placards during a candlelight vigil in Islamabad, on Wednesday, to mark the first anniversary of a Taliban attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar. - Reuters

in families submitting receipts for the money they spent.

Khan is among the parents who have also asked the government to facilitate treatment of their children abroad, as it said it would, but have not heard back.

“I have been shot twice in my arm. I have had three or four surgeries, but still need further

treatment. And we cannot get that treatment in Pakistan,” said Syed Ansar Ali Shah, 16, who has a metal plate holding his left hand together. According to Khan, just two children, Ahmed Nawaz and Ibrahim Afridi, had received government assistance for treatment abroad so far.

Ibrahim disputed the figure, say-

ing at least six people had been sent overseas with government funding. The provincial health department is now demanding that the unspent portion of the Rs400,000 grant people received be returned, some families of the wounded say.

“These parents say that their children are not recovered: they cannot sleep, they cannot move

properly, and some of them even have bullets still lodged in them,” said Akbar Khan.

Health official Ibrahim confirmed that some families had been asked to return funds they had not used. Azhar Mehmood, 15, was shot four times and has difficulty walking. He still attends the Army Public School where the massacre occurred, but says months of surgery have adversely affected his education. Mehmood was among several students who complained that the government broke a promise to delay board exams for those children wounded in the attack.

As a result, they say, they have lost a year of study.

“I was shot in both my hands, and I wasn’t able to write (the exam). I was in hospital at that time. When the exams started, my hands were both in plaster,” said Obaid Sajid, 16, who has to repeat the ninth grade.

For the families of the 134 pupils and 16 staff members who were killed, the primary concern is that justice is done. On December 2, Pakistan hanged four men tried in secret military courts for their involvement in the massacre.

All four were said to have con-

fessed to facilitating the attack, the military said in a statement.

Shahana Ajoon, whose 15-yearold son was killed, said she had no faith in the investigation, because it took place behind closed doors and no evidence was made public.

“We do not know who those people were. We should have been taken into confidence. We should have been shown why these were the people who were the culprits,” said burqa-clad Ajoon, who sobbed while speaking of her son.

Ajoon and her husband run an organisation that provides support to parents of the 134 slain students.

Many members said they were still traumatised by events a year ago.

Among them is Aurangzeb Khan, whose 16-year-old son Hassan was killed during the attack. Khan has left his son’s bedroom untouched since the day of the attack.

He quit his job months ago, and now spends most of his time either in the room or in a shed that he converted into a shrine to Hassan.

As he speaks, he holds a medal in his hands, a tribute to his son given by the government earlier this year, blackened over time.

The medal, he says, is a symbol of the authorities’ attitude.- Reuters

S I N D H A S S E M B LY

Resolution to curtail Rangers’ special powers adopted KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly passed a resolution on Wednesday demanding conditions on Rangers’ special powers to raid and arrest suspects. According to

the resolution, which was tabled

by Sindh Home Minister Sohail Anwer Siyal, the paramilitary force can only take action against target killings, extortion, kidnap-

ping for ransom, and sectarian killings. Rangers were given special policing powers following the start of the surgical action in Karachi in 2013. - Express Tribune

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paralysed the capital, Manila with floodwaters chestdeep in some areas disrupting train services and causing traffic gridlock on major roads

MANILA: Nine people were killed and hundreds spent the night huddled on their roofs in the central Philippines as floods generated by a powerful typhoon inundated villages, disaster officials said on Wednesday.

Typhoon Melor had paralysed

the capital, Manila, by late Tuesday, with floodwaters chest-deep in some areas disrupting train services and causing traffic gridlock on major roads. Five people were listed as missing.

The typhoon, known locally as Nona, was about 150km (95 miles) northwest of Mindoro island, just to the south of Manila, with winds at its centre of 130kph (80 mph).

Mindoro Governor Alfonso Umali said in a radio interview four people were killed in what he described as one of the strongest typhoons to hit the province in years.

Evacuation centres Another five people were killed in Northern Samar, where Melor first made landfall further south.

About 90 percent of the province was affected, said disaster official Jonathan Baldo. “Many people will

spend Christmas in evacuation centres without power and potable water,” Baldo said.

Thousands of lightly constructed houses had been reduced to “matchsticks”, he said. “It may take three to four months to restore power in the province after power lines and electricity posts were toppled by strong winds,” Baldo said.

Missing Five fishermen were missing in Albay gulf on the heavily populated main island of Luzon, officials there said. About 120 domestic flights were grounded and nearly 200 ferry services were stopped.

The storm forced the evacuation of about 800,000 people to shelters. Another storm is expected to hit the southern Philippines later this week, forecaster Accuweather said.

An average of 20 typhoons pass through the Philippines each year.

In 2013, typhoon Haiyan killed more than 6,300 people and left 1.4 million homeless in the central Philippines. — Reuters MAROONED: A rickshaw driver negotiates floodwaters in suburban Manila on Wednesday. – AFP

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READERS’ FORUM A divide and conquer strategy in South East Asia This refers to the US warning that an arms race could ensue in south east Asia over the South China Sea dispute. Washington itself has lured countries of this region to be wary of China, which does not have an aggressive foreign policy.

The US policies are reminiscent of those prior to its Pacific engagement in World War Two. Now, the US is using proxies to set a peaceful China ranged against other countries in the region so that it implodes due to divide and conquer strategy.

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Libya — spin, lies and deception

CHRISTOPHER BALDING

The US central bank has telegraphed its move for months and while pockets of lingering weakness will spur some Fed watchers to challenge the decision, there’s little reason to believe such a small move will nudge the world’s biggest economy back into recession. bit.ly/fedpolicytax

he result of the Rome Conference was to have been a landmark signing by a majority of the HoR from Tobruk (the UN recognised elected officials and government) and similarly from the Islamist controlled GNC in Tripoli of a truce and an agreement to create a NUG (National Unity Government). That signing was heralded to be today, on the 16th December in Skhirat; any piece of paper if signed by a collection of Libyans will be as worthless as the paper Neville Chamberlain waved in 1939.

It has so far been shifted “for logistical reasons” to today the 17th, with rumours of further delays and that the confab might be held in Sicily, several hundred kilometres from IS’s growing North African epicenter, again illustrating what a non-starter the Rome Conference was. Why was the Conference a non event? Because nothing was settled properly in Rome. Both heads of the HoR and GNC have since said they reject the outcome of the US Secretary of State John Kerry’s Conference there.

So, if so, now what?

But there is another issue that is far more serious and necessary: A door for military action against IS in Libya that is, to be frank, fully available to States with real machismo. Its time to end the jaw wagging.

Sunday’s Rome Conference, Co-Chaired by John Kerry and Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, had intended to give a “decisive push” for a Libyan National Unity Government (NUG) that alluded the UN and other Western powers for over a year. The West through Kerry and UNSMIL’s Martin Kobler, Bernadino Leon’s replacement, dictated all the terms, not Libyans, including most importantly the nine unelected individuals who would represent the Executive Council that would select the new PM and his government, the NUG. This will then bring the total number of governments in Libya to three!

Think about it, three governments instead of just one already internationally recognised one in Tobruk.

Were these nine men elected by Libyans? No. Bernardino Leon, from the UN selected six with the other three still unknown, presumably three hidden aces the UN can play with either the HoR or GNC to create the NUG. Yet the designate PM has already been selected by the UN? How can that be? The unachievable diktat from the West made in the form of a pronouncement was that the two warring factions, the majority of both the HoR - the Tobruk Government - and the GNC - the Tripoli Government - would defi-

nitely be signing a ceasefire in Skhirat on the 16th December will clearly never happen, neither today nor tomorrow nor the next day. Speculation that the UN’s selected third Government might have to be located in the far away Libyan town of Ghademis or even a third country for security reasons such as Tunis further adds to the continuing farce. What nonsense.

The new, emerging alliance between France and Russia is raising Italian anxiety about the proposed military action. Paris and Moscow want to hit IS hard wherever they exist. For France, in the wake of the multiple attacks in Paris and Mali over the course of 2015, the Parisian outlook is increasingly aggressive to stamp out IS everywhere including Libya. A prominent Libyan politician said to me on condition of being anonymous: “Libyan oil has been freely given to IS by Tripoli’s extremists from within Fajr Dawn helping to finance IS’s growth in Libya”.

Perhaps Italy is afraid its oil assets in Libya will be targeted inadvertently by French or Russian jets and feels the need to coordinate with those two countries to ensure that doesn’t happen. One can only speculate that Italy’s plan seems to be to try and agree to support the end of sanctions against Russia over Crimea in exchange for Moscow’s help in ‘collaborating/coordinating’ in future airstrikes on Libya. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was in Rome on Sunday, but he chose to send his deputy to the Kerry chaired conference. The Tobruk government, aligned with Egypt and Russia for the past 18 months, is raising its relations with Cairo and Moscow to a new level.

Tobruk, a port city, requires additional protection that Egypt and probably Russia will provide.

General Haftar, no stranger to Moscow, is upping his contacts with the Kremlin as are other Tobruk government representatives.

France, after the horrific attacks in Paris a few weeks ago, sees the Egypt-Russian alliance on Libya as necessary and is thought to be willing to be part of any campaign to bomb Libya’s IS. The only remaining option is to strike Libya’s IS hard with hopefully some type of support from the United States and Britain. While Barack Obama and Kerry in particular seem to be getting along with Putin and Lavrov, for once, on Syria, as evidenced by the meeting the other day in Moscow, it is seen as very doubtful that Obama could get Congress and almost impossible for David Cameron to get Parliament in Britain to agree — again on full, authorised airstrikes.

CLIPPINGS FROM OUR ARCHIVES DECEMBER 2000 OCCI services committee meets MUSCAT: The Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI)’s services committee has held its regular meeting under the chairmanship of Said bin Nasir Al Khusaibi, its chairman, and was attended by members from the private sector.

The committee studied several topics related to services sectors such as clinics, health centres and other services establishments and recommended to study the results it reached with the concerned authorities.

< Scan this QR for full story online

PICTOGRAPH NATIONALISATION IN OMAN The number of foreigners granted Omani citizenship reduced in the last few years

2012

258

2013

2014

Rewarding of nationality

58

28 63

TODAY IN HISTORY INVITATION TO WRITERS We invite our readers to write articles on topics related to Oman. The articles should not exceed 800 words. Send us your article along with your picture to akhtar@timesofoman.com

452

1948: The Smithsonian Institution accepts the Kitty Hawk – the Wright brothers’ plane.

Naturalization

1952: Yugoslavia breaks relations with the Vatican.

1990: Jean-Bertrand Aristide wins Haiti’s first free election.

2010: Mohamed Bouazizi immolates himself, the catalyst for the Tunisian revolution and the subsequent Arab Spring.

864

Source National Centre for Statistics & Information

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015 Australia is experiencing an El Niño weather pattern, a phenomenon associated with extreme droughts, storms and floods, which is expected to become one of the strongest on record UN weather agency

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SYDNEY: A rare tornado hit Sydney on Wednesday with destructive winds above 200 km an hour (125 mph) and cricket ball-sized hail, bringing down trees and power lines, sheering off roofs and walls and causing flash flooding in Australia’s largest city.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issued the rare tornado warning around midday as the dangerous storm swept up the coast from Sydney’s south, forcing some international and domestic flights to be diverted to other cities. A Reuters witness described

widespread damage at an industrial park in the hard-hit Kurnell neighbourhood near the southern beachside suburb of Cronulla. “We really had no warning. The sky just went really black and we had this massive clap of thunder,” said Meredith Sullivan, a 48-year-old worker at the industrial park.

Horrific “Then the gusts of winds were just horrific, you could hear the roof starting to lift and debris was starting to fly around. All the cars were pretty much destroyed,” she said.

Kurnell, which is close to Sydney’s airport, was closed to all but emergency services, who were assessing the damage. Wind gusts as high as 213 kmh (132 mph) were recorded there. “There is obvious evidence that we have had a tornado go through Cronulla today,”

BOM meteorologist Alan Sharp told Sydney media.

Social media was swamped by pictures of the huge, dark storm as it engulfed the harbour city, plunging a 25 degree Celsius (77 Fahrenheit) summer’s day into darkness.

Evacuated A shopping centre in Sydney’s eastern suburbs was also evacuated after part of its roof collapsed in the storm, media reports showed, and one woman suffered minor injuries.

Some 6,000 homes were reportedly without power south of the city and rescue services received more than 200 calls for help in the city. “The tornado risk has now subsided but there is a very good chance of more thunderstorm activity for the rest of today,” said BOM senior meteorologist James Taylor.

Australia is experiencing an El Niño weather pattern, a phenomenon associated with extreme droughts, storms and floods, which is expected to become one of the strongest on record, the UN weather agency said earlier this year. — Reuters

MAROONED: A worker wades past inundated cars on a flooded street after a storm in the eastern suburbs of Sydney on Wednesday. – AFP

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Yemen’s warring parties agree to swap prisoners The exchange of prisoners comes in a move aimed at supporting UNsponsored peace talks in Geneva

ADEN/GENEVA: Yemen’s warring parties agreed on Wednesday to exchange hundreds of prisoners in a move aimed at supporting UN-sponsored peace talks which resumed for a second day in Switzerland, as reported fighting and air strikes appeared to violate a ceasefire.

A seven-day truce, timed to coincide with the peace talks, began at mid-day on Tuesday to halt fighting in nine months of civil war between the Houthi movement based in Yemen’s north and Saudi-backed southern and eastern fighters loyal to President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi.

The prisoner swap would be one of the most positive signs yet

PEACE HOPES: Yemenis shop at a market in the old city of the capital Sanaa on Wednesday as a fragile ceasefire appeared to hold despite breaches. – AFP

in the civil war, which has killed almost 6,000 people and drawn in foreign powers. Some 360 members of the Houthi movement held in Aden would be exchanged for 265 southern civilians and fighters, and both groups were en route by bus toward the exchange venue in central Yemen according to of-

ficials from the warring sides.

Despite the truce, Saudi-led air strikes hit positions of the Houthi group in two conflict zones on Wednesday, residents and tribal sources said. “Coalition planes launched an air strike on the positions of the Houthis and Saleh forces in the Najd area of Sirwah

district after they repeatedly violated the ceasefire,” a tribal source said by telephone from the central province of Mareb. Residents in the southwestern city of Taiz also reported an air strike there after Houthi forces launched rockets on the area. Saudi state news agency SPA said the Houthis

killed one of its officers in a border area after the ceasefire began.

The Saudi-led coalition’s spokesman, Brigadier General Ahmed Al Asseri, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman, a spokesman for Yemeni forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is allied with the Houthis, said a “serious escalation by land, sea and air is taking place by the alliance in various areas,” according to the Houthicontrolled Saba news agency.

Luqman said strikes from the sea were taking place on the Red Sea port city of Hodaida, while ground forces carried out attacks on Taiz city in southwestern Yemen and air strikes by the Arab coalition had not stopped. “We will not stay hand-tied but we will respond strongly towards the breaches that are taking place by the alliance and their mercenaries,” Luqman said.

The Hadi-run sabanew.net news agency said five loyalist fighters and three civilians were killed in Houthi shelling in the central city of Taiz shortly after the ceasefire began. Asseri said earlier the alliance was committed to the ceasefire but was ready to respond to any violation by the Houthis, according to the Saudi Al Riyadh daily. — Reuters

LOGISTIC PROBLEMS

Libya peace deal signing delayed: UN TRIPOLI: The signing of a longdelayed peace deal between Libya’s warring factions has been pushed back again to Thursday because of logistical problems, a UN spokesman said on Wednesday.

The pact called for a unity government to bring together two rival administrations and parliaments that have emerged four years after revolt ousted Muammar Gaddafi.

“It (the signing) will be delayed for logically reasons until tomorrow,” the UN spokesman said.

Western officials hope that even if the agreement faces opposition, that war fatigue, worries over Libya’s economy, promises of international aid and the common threat of IS militants will help bring critics onboard. But questions remain about how the myriad of armed factions on the ground will react, how the new unity government would be established in Tripoli and how much political sway those accepting the deal have in Libya.

“We met to find a solution of the Libyan crisis and to let the world know that we are able to work our problems by ourselves,” Aguila Saleh, president of the elected House of Representatives in the east, told reporters.

Nuri Abu Sahmain, head of the rival General National Congress in Tripoli, said they would consider parts of the UN accord. — Reuters

SOUTHEASTERN TOWNS

Turkey steps up offensive against Kurdish militants DIYARBAKIR: Turkish security forces stepped up operations targeting Kurdish militants in southeastern towns on Wednesday, security sources said, as progovernment media detailed plans for a 10,000-strong force to restore state control in the region.

The mainly Kurdish southeast has been beset by conflict between the police and armed forces and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters since July, when a ceasefire collapsed and left in tatters a peace process launched three years ago. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu pledged on Tuesday to prevent the PKK “spreading the fire” from Syria and Iraq to Turkey by imposing control in towns, like the army has done in mountainous areas where the militants are active. One person was killed in a clash in Cizre near the Syrian border, which was placed under curfew on Monday evening, state officials said. Kurdish Firat news agency described an 11-year-old boy as being shot dead.

Turkish military also said eight Kurdish militants were killed in Cizre on Tuesday after they shot at the soldiers during an operation. Residents of Silopi, 30km (20 miles) away near the Iraqi border,

said explosions rocked the town early on Wednesday and deputies from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) said security forces had begun raiding houses. “In Silopi, soldiers and police have started to break down doors and conduct raids on houses,” HDP Sirnak deputy Aycan Irmez wrote on Twitter alongside a photo showing dozens of soldiers gathered on a pavement.

Intense shelling “Throughout the night and particularly around 2-3:30 a.m, we heard the noise of intense shelling,” one resident who declined to be named told Reuters. “It is impossible for us to go outside and look. Even going out on the balcony is risky,” he added.

Haberturk newspaper said some 10,000 police and gendarmerie troops were to be deployed in a major operation against PKK militants, removing ditches and barricades erected by them in urban areas to obstruct the movement of security forces. “Today’s operation and the ones that will follow are essential,” Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said in an interview with broadcaster Bloomberg HT. — Reuters

R O U H A N I ’ S S TAT E M E N T

‘Iran to implement nuclear deal soon’ DUBAI: Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday a UN watchdog’s closure of investigations into Iran’s past nuclear activities is a political victory for the country, lifting the main obstacle to implementing Tehran’s deal with world powers.

The 35-nation governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency passed a resolution on Tuesday ending the IAEA’s 12-year-long inquiry into suspicions of “possible military dimensions” (PMD) to Iran’s nuclear work. “Now the main obstacle to implement the (July nuclear deal between Iran and six powers) is lifted..., Iran will start implementation of the nuclear deal within two or three weeks,” Rouhani said in a speech broadcast live on state television.

Rouhani, a pragmatist whose election in 2013 led to a diplomatic thaw between Tehran and the West, voiced hope that sanctions on Iran would be removed in January, “delivering one of the electoral promises of the government”.

Rouhani is hurrying to carry

out Iran’s side of the deal so as to bring about the removal of sanctions hobbling its oil-based economy before the parliamentary election in February.

To that end, Iran is to reduce the number of installed uraniumenriching centrifuges to around 6,100 from 19,000. It must also remove the core of the Arak heavy-water reactor so that it cannot produce weapons-grade plutonium.

In a further move meant to reassure that Iran will not illicitly divert nuclear energy to bomb making, much of its stockpile of enriched uranium is to be exchanged for a less refined form of uranium known as yellowcake.

“The yellowcake has arrived in the country and is now in city of Isfahan,” Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency on Wednesday.

“Iran will ship its enriched uranium from Bushehr port to Russia within the next few days,” he added. — Reuters

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015 The loss of Crimea peninsula’s valuable energy assets has been a particular sore point for cashstrapped Kiev given a long-running energy dispute between Russia and Ukraine.

Putin suspends free trade zone with Ukraine A decree signed by Russian president cited ‘extraordinary circumstances affecting the interests and economic security’ of Russia

MOSCOW/KIEV: President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered his government to suspend Russia’s free trade zone with Ukraine from January 1, making good on Moscow’s threats to Kiev which seeks closer ties with the European Union.

Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninusula last year and is accused by Kiev of fomenting a conflict with pro-Moscow separatists in the east of the country.

It has staunchly opposed plans to launch an EU-Ukraine free trade pact. Senior Russian officials said this month Moscow would probably have to penalise Ukrainian imports and impose a non-preferential trade regime if Kiev’s planned free trade pact with Europe went ahead on January 1.

Putin’s decision to suspend a 2011 free trade treaty with Ukraine was set out in a decree which cited “extraordinary circumstances affecting the interests and economic security” of Russia. The decree made no mention of how long the free trade re-

gime would be suspended.

There was no immediate reaction from Kiev, where the authorities have previously said there will be no amendments to the free trade agreement with the EU and it will come into force on January 1 regardless of any action by Russia.

Russia says the Ukraine-EU deal could lead to a flood of European imports across its own borders and damage the competitiveness of Russian exports to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Ukraine accused Russia on Wednesday of looting two of its oil rigs after Crimeabased oil and gas firm Chornomornaftogaz moved the equipment off the coast of the annexed peninsula into Russian waters.

The loss of Crimea peninsula’s valuable energy assets has been a particular sore point for cashstrapped Kiev given a long-running energy dispute between the two countries. On Monday Chornomornaftogaz said it had moved the two rigs, worth 25 billion roubles ($357 million), into Russian

territorial waters due to the “the complicated international situation (and) risk of losing vital assets.”

While Ukraine had already lost control of the rigs following Crimea’s annexation, it described their recent relocation as “largescale looting”.

“The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry expresses its deep indignation in connection with the actions of Russia that violate international law, once again aimed at violating the sovereign rights of Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement.

Ukrainian state-run energy firm Naftogaz, which owned 100 per cent of Chornomornaftogaz, repeated on Wednesday that it would seek compensation from Russia in international courts for its annexed Crimean oil and gas assets, which it said were worth $15.7 billion. New rows have erupted between Russia and Ukraine over Crimea in recent weeks after saboteurs in Ukraine blew up power lines to the peninsula. — Reuters

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Muscat 5,361.98 - 3.63 - 0.07%

Dubai 2,985.85 + 66.21 + 2.21%

Abu Dhabi 4,065.14 + 50.22 + 2.22%

Kuwait 5,624.60 + 8.42 + 0.15%

Saudi Arabia

6,866.80 + 95.27 + 2.40%

Qatar 9,862.03 + 72.23 + 0.74%

Bahrain 1,197.06 - 9.65 - 0.80%

CRUDE OIL PRICE

CURRENCY RATES*

DRAFT RATES (OMR1)*

GOLD PRICES*

Type ............................Delivery...........Price

Forex rates vs OMR1* US Dollar ................................. 2.58 Euro ............................................ 2.34 Pound ............................................ 1.71 Indian Rs ............................. 173.25 Pak Rs ....................................267.59 Bangla Taka......................200.20

Indian Rs ...................................173.20 Pakistan Rs ............................. 271.00 Sri Lanka Rs .......................... 370.00 Bangla Taka............................ 204.15 Phil Peso ................................... 122.36

Muscat 24ct per gm (OMR) ....... 13.70

Oman Crude............. (Spot) .........$32.12 Dubai Crude ............. (Spot) .........$31.87 Murban Crude ........ (Spot) ........$33.39 Arabian Light ......... (Spot) ........ $30.57 N.Sea Brent............... (Spot) ......... $37.75

* Rates are as of Dec. 16 Source: Bank Muscat

West Texas Int ....... (Spot) ..........$37.15

* Rates as of Dec. 16 Source: Oman UAE Exchange

‘Interest rates have started moving upwards in Oman’

Muscat 22ct per gm (OMR) .......13.25 Dubai 24ct per gm (Dh) ........... 129.50 Dubai 22ct per gm (Dh) ............. 122.75 * Rates as of Dec. 16 Source: Malabar Gold & Diamonds

M A J O R I T Y S TA K E

Draka to raise stake in Oman Cables to 51% Times News Service

In view of the tight liquidity situation in the financial system, interest rates have started

You will see the trends in deposit rates moving upwards. We are already seeing tightness in liquidity in the market.

And that will result in an increase. It all depends on the extent to which liquidity is taken away from the market

moving up, said a senior banker

A. E. JAMES

businesseditor@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Bank interest rates have started moving up and will strengthen further in view of the tight liquidity situation in the financial system, said a senior banker here on Wednesday.

“Given the low oil prices and limited liquidity available today, interest rates have started moving up gradually,” said Rashad Ali Al Musafir, acting chief executive officer of Bank Sohar. He was talking to the media on the sidelines of an informal luncheon meeting.

“You will see the trends in deposit rates moving upwards. We are already seeing tightness in liquidity in the market. And that will result in an increase. It all depends on the extent to which liquidity is taken away from the

market,” added Al Musafir.

The Oman government has recently raised debt funds from domestic market by way of several development bond issues and a sovereign sukuk issue to partially meet the budget deficit.

He also noted that raising funds from the overseas markets would provide some kind of relief to the domestic financial market. “(However), whether it will be enough to reduce interest rate is something that we will have to see.”

Lending rates Al Musafir further said commercial banks would manage their interest margins by raising lending rates. “But there is always a time lag factor. So, there will be some kind of pressure on interest margins of banks.” In the long run, the cost of funds in the corporate sec-

Rashad Ali Al Musafir

Acting chief executive officer, Bank Sohar

tor would increase, he added.

Referring to the recent sluggish trend in oil prices and its impact on the Omani economy, the Bank Sohar official said the Sultanate had faced similar challenges on several occasions, such as the one in 1998 when oil prices were at around $9 per barrel. He said Oman is currently facing several

OIL BLOCK

CONFIDENT: Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi, undersecretary at the Ministry of Oil and Gas,

has said that the government will have a strategy for the next year. – Times file picture

Oman on target to award an oil block by year-end BUSINESS REPORTER

MUSCAT: Oman is ‘on target’ to award an oil block by the end of the year, according to a senior official at the Ministry of Oil and Gas. “We are on target. We are still hoping to sign (an agreement) very quickly, very soon,” Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi, the undersecretary at the ministry, told Times of Oman, adding that the block identified for awarding is Block 7.

Asked if any other block will be awarded by the end of the year, the official said, “No more this year. This is it, and then we will have a strategy for next year.”

He made the comments on the sidelines of the second Islamic Banking Knowledge Forum hosted recently by Bank Nizwa.

Earlier, Al Aufi had told Times Business that with oil prices falling, multinational energy companies were either slowing down their investment in new concession areas in Oman or asking for much more favourable terms.

It may be noted that the government has been encouraging multinational oil companies to find new reservoirs in a move to sustain production levels.

Block 54 In September, it was announced that the ministry had signed a new exploration and production sharing agreement with Oman Lasso Exploration and Production Karwan. Under the agreement, the company will explore oil and natural gas in Block 54, which covers an area of 5,632 square kilometres and is located in Al Wusta Governorate.

Challenges During a panel discussion at the Islamic Banking Knowledge Forum, Al Aufi said a hard truth is that crude oil price has dropped significantly and is unlikely to recover to what it used to be. He also referred to the issue of oversupply, saying that although the demand is growing, still there is more supply than demand.

Sultanate’s reserves The oversupply has ended up filling reserve tanks on the ground or floating tankers and is ready to come to the market, Al Aufi said, adding that there are also some challenges posed by shale oil.

In a presentation at the conference, Hatim Al Shanfari, member

of the Board of Governors at the Central Bank of Oman (CBO), discussed the impact of the slump in oil prices on Oman and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Quoting the BP Statistical Review of World Energy June 2015, he said that Oman’s share of the world’s total proved crude oil reserves is 0.3 per cent, with the reserves-to-production ratio being 15 years.

Meanwhile, the Sultanate’s share of global natural gas reserves is 0.4 per cent, with the reserves-to-production ratio being 24 years, he added.

Way forward Al Shanfari said that Oman’s success in the past has been based on good leadership and governance as well as natural and inherited wealth.

For the future, good leadership and governance as well as education and training is necessary, the official said, adding that the country needs to be more flexible and adaptive to changes, reduce bureaucracy, enhance productivity and pay attention to smart investment.

challenges due to oil price drop and downgrading of banks’ credit ratings.

About Bank Sohar, Al Musafir said the bank has been able to raise funds by way of a rights issue this year. “We were able to raise syndicated borrowing of $250 million during the year. So, we are well positioned.”

The bank’s capital adequacy ratio is above the central bank’s regulatory requirement.

HAVE YOUR SAY

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

MUSCAT: Draka Holding has signed an agreement to increase its stake in Oman Cables Industry to approximately 51 per cent, thus gaining a majority stake in the Omani cable producer, according to a stock market filing.

“As per the agreement, Draka Holding already owns 34.78 per cent of the total shares of the company and will purchase an additional approximately 16 per cent of shares, for a total consideration of around €100 million,” Draka Holding said.

According to Draka Holding, this investment is considered of strategic importance to its presence in the Middle East region.

Draka Holding is a fully owned subsidiary of the Prysmian Group.

The sales revenue of Oman Cables for the first nine months of 2015 was OMR170.8 million, compared to OMR188.7 million for the same period last year.

“The drop in sales realisation is mainly attributable to the sharp fall in prices of major raw materials: copper and aluminium,” said the company official in its third quarter results.

The net profit after tax for the nine-month period ended September 2015 was OMR11.830 million.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

MARKET MSM index ends lower

OMAN STOCKS

MUSCAT SECURITIES MARKET

INDICES Index .................................................High .................Low..................... Value ............... Prev . Value.......... Diff ...............Diff % MSM30 Index ........................................5,370.74 ............... 5,359.17 ................... 5,361.98 ................... 5,365.61.................. -3.63 .................. -0.07 Financial Index .................................... 6,452.50 .............. 6,433.00 ...................6,442.67 ...................6,433.00.................... 9.67 ................... 0.15 Industrial Index .....................................6,715.15 .............. 6,694.29 ...................6,702.94 ................... 6,712.08...................-9.14 .................. -0.14 Services Index ...................................... 3,089.04 .............. 3,084.98 ...................3,084.98 ...................3,088.96.................. -3.98 .................. -0.13 MSM SHARIAH INDEX.......................853.64 .................. 851.63 .......................851.90 ...................... 853.46...................-1.56 .................. -0.18 Trading Summary Volume ................Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded 5,229,675.....................1,613,847 .................... 482 ................14,475,135,516 .................11 ........................9 .................... 18 .........................38

Oman Fisheries, up by 1.92 per cent, was the top gainer, while Oman Flour Mills, down by

SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16

3.02 per cent, was the top loser ISIN ......................................SECURITY NAME ..................................................................VOLUME..... TURNOVER............TRADES ......OPEN PRICE......HIGH ............. LOW ........ CLOSE PR. ...PREV. CLOSE...DIFF (RO).........DIFF % .............LAST PR.....LAST BID .............LAST OFFER ........MARKET CAP.PAR VALUE

MUSCAT: Shares on the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) continued its fall on selling pressure.

The MSM30 Index closed with marginal losses of 0.07 per cent at 5,361.98 points. The MSM Sharia Index fell by 0.18 per cent to end at 851.90 points.

Bank Nizwa was the most active in terms of volume while Omantel led in terms of turnover.

Oman Fisheries, up by 1.92 per cent, was today’s top gainer while Oman Flour Mills, down by 3.02 per cent, was the top loser.

As many as 482 trades were executed on Wednesday, generating turnover of OMR1.6 million with 5.2 million shares changing hands. Out of 38 traded securities, 11 advanced, nine declined and 18 remained unchanged. GCC and Arab investors were net buyers to the tune of OMR416,000 worth of shares followed by Omani investors at OMR68,000. Foreign investors, who were net sellers, sold shares amounting to OMR484,000.

Financial Index advanced 0.15 per cent to finish at 6,442.67 points. Al Madina Investments, Bank Sohar, Al Anwar Holding, Al Sharqia Investments and HSBC Bank Oman gained by 1.89 per cent, 1.29 per cent, 1.27 per cent, 1.06 per cent and 0.99 per cent, respectively. Bank Muscat and National Bank of Oman declined by 1.68 per cent and 0.75 per cent, respectively.

Industrial Index declined by 0.14 per cent to close at 6,702.94 points. Oman Fisheries, Al Jazeera Steel and Raysut Cement gained by 1.92 per cent, 1.50 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.

Oman Flour Mills, Galfar Engineering, Oman Refreshments and Al Anwar Ceramics fell 3.02 per cent, 1.37 per cent, 1.33 per cent and 0.33 per cent, respectively.

Services Index ended at 3,084.98 points, down by 0.13 per cent. OIFC, down by 0.63 per cent,

was the only sector gainer. Renaissance Services, OoredooOman and Al Batinah Power decreased by 1.21 per cent, 0.56 per cent and 0.52 per cent, respectively.

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

OM0000001962............AL MADINA INVESTMENT .................................... 23,000 ...............1,242........................4 ........... 0.054 ...........0.054 ...........0.054........... 0.054 .............0.053 ............0.001 ............. 1.887 ................0.054..............0.053...................0.054 ...................11,186,175..........0.100 OM0000002176 ............AL JAZEERA STEEL PRODUCTS ......................... 60,400 ............... 8,169........................9 ............0.136 ........... 0.136 ...........0.135 ............0.135 ............. 0.133............ 0.002............. 1.504 ................0.136 .............. 0.135...................0.137 ................... 16,861,225 .........0.100 OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 128,000 ........... 20,140........................7 ............0.155 ........... 0.158 ...........0.155 ............0.157 ............. 0.155............ 0.002............. 1.290 ................0.155 .............. 0.155...................0.158................. 226,306,080 .......0.100 OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 340,237 ........... 53,999..................... 39 ............0.158 ........... 0.160 ...........0.158 ............0.159 ............. 0.157............ 0.002............. 1.274 ................0.158 .............. 0.157...................0.158...................23,861,925 .........0.100 OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING ............. 31,100 ...............2,955........................5 ........... 0.095 ........... 0.095 ...........0.095........... 0.095 .............0.094 ............0.001 ............. 1.064 ................0.095..............0.095...................0.097....................8,550,000 ..........0.100

Dubai stocks rally Dubai stocks rallied as the lowest valuations in nearly three years lured institutional investors after a selloff earlier this month.

The DFM General Index gained 2.3 per cent to close at 2,985.85, the biggest jump in almost a month. Emaar Properties, the developer of the world’s tallest building in Dubai, led the increase as it rose the most in six weeks. Stocks on the gauge are trading at the cheapest compared with expected earnings since January 2013, according to data.

“This is a great market for value investors,” said Nabil Farhat, an Abu Dhabi-based partner at Al Fajr Securities. “I have been buying every day in the last 10 days.

Institutional investors find the current prices attractive. A lot of stocks offer discounts to average target prices.”

Dubai led a rebound across most markets in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council. Equities in the region have tumbled this year as oil, which generates the bulk of government revenue, plunged to the lowest in seven years. The GCC is home to about 30 per cent of the world’s proven crude reserves.

Emaar added 3.8 per cent as the gauge’s 14-day relative- strength index rose above 30 for first time in a week. A level below 30 suggest to some technical analysts that a security may be oversold and poised to rebound.

About 285 million shares changed hands, compared to a 12-month daily average of over 400 million. Stocks on the benchmark measure closed at 9.6 times 12-month forward earnings.

OM0000001418 ............RAYSUT CEMENT ........................................................ 18,629 ............. 18,815........................5 ............1.010 ........... 1.010............1.010 ............1.010 .............1.000 ............0.010 ............. 1.000 ................1.010 .............. 1.010...................1.035 ................. 202,000,000 .......0.100 OM0000001517 ............HSBC BANK OMAN ...................................................... 12,441 ...............1,268........................2 ............0.101 ........... 0.102 ...........0.101 ........... 0.102 ............. 0.101.............0.001 .............0.990 ................0.102.............. 0.101...................0.102..................204,031,905 .......0.100 OM0000002374............UNITED FINANCE ...................................................... 68,000 ...............7,480........................4 ............0.110 ........... 0.110............0.110 ............0.110 .............0.109 ............0.001 ............. 0.917 ................0.110 ..............0.109...................0.110 ...................34,184,144 .........0.100 OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE.............. 139,089............22,249......................16 ............0.161 ........... 0.161............0.159 ........... 0.160 ............. 0.159.............0.001 ............. 0.629 ................0.160.............. 0.159...................0.160...................32,000,000 ........0.100 OM0000002200 ...........AHLI BANK .................................................................... 500,057 ............ 97,211........................6 ............0.196 ........... 0.196 ...........0.188 ........... 0.194 ............. 0.193.............0.001 ............. 0.518 ................0.188 ..............0.180...................0.187..................276,457,012 ........0.100 OM0000001145 ............PORT SERVICES CORPORATION ......................... 29,861 ...............4,031........................2 ............0.135 ........... 0.135 ...........0.135 ............0.135 ............. 0.135............ 0.000.............0.000 ................0.135 .............. 0.135...................0.145...................12,830,400.........0.100 OM0000001681 ............OMAN AND EMIRATES INV. HOLDING............. 49,753 ...............4,478........................7 ........... 0.090 ...........0.090 ...........0.090........... 0.090 .............0.090 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.090..............0.090...................0.091...................10,968,750 .........0.100 OM0000001707 ............OMAN CABLES INDUSTRY...................................... 53,631 ............ 90,398..................... 10 ............1.700 ........... 1.700 ...........1.685 ............1.685 ............. 1.685............ 0.000.............0.000 ................1.700 .............. 1.650...................1.800..................151,144,500 ........0.100 OM0000001749 ............OMAN CEMENT .......................................................... 170,338.............75,872........................8 ........... 0.440...........0.446 ...........0.440 .......... 0.446 .............0.446 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.446..............0.446...................0.450..................147,569,229 ........0.100 OM0000002366 ...........AL BATINAH DEV. INV. HOLDING ........................43,596 ............... 3,749........................8 ........... 0.086 ...........0.086 ...........0.086........... 0.086 .............0.086 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.086..............0.085...................0.087....................2,580,000 ..........0.100 OM0000002549 ...........BANK DHOFAR ................................................................ 3,085 .................. 636........................1 ........... 0.206...........0.206 ...........0.206 ...........0.211 ............. 0.211............ 0.000.............0.000 ................0.206..............0.210...................0.220 .................325,937,723 ........0.100 OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES ......................... 210,000 ........... 18,900........................2 ........... 0.090 ...........0.090 ...........0.090........... 0.090 .............0.090 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.090..............0.090...................0.095....................5,295,890 ..........0.100 OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ........................ 283,888 ........ 434,349..................... 25 ............1.530 ........... 1.530 ...........1.530 ............1.530 ............. 1.530............ 0.000.............0.000 ................1.530 .............. 1.530...................1.540................ 1,147,500,000 ......0.100 OM0000003661 ............VOLTAMP ENERGY ...........................................................336 ...................138........................2 ............0.412 ........... 0.412 ...........0.412 ........... 0.412 .............0.412............ 0.000.............0.000 ................0.412 ..............0.412...................0.434 ..................24,926,000 ........0.100 OM0000003711 ............SOHAR POWER................................................................ 2,810 .................. 989........................3 ........... 0.352 ...........0.352 ...........0.352........... 0.352 .............0.352 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.352..............0.352...................0.380 .................. 77,795,520 .........0.100 OM0000004669 ...........SHARQIYAH DESALINATION .................................. 1,928 ...............8,676........................5 ........... 4.500...........4.500 ...........4.500 .......... 4.500 .............4.500 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................4.500 ............ 0.000...................4.940 ..................44,010,972.........1.000 OM0000004735 ...........SEMBCORP SALALAH...................................................1,108 .............. 2,842........................1 ........... 2.565 ........... 2.565 ...........2.565........... 2.565 .............2.565 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................2.565............. 2.400...................2.560 .................244,847,705........1.000 OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL...............................................21,947 ............... 1,722........................4 ........... 0.078 ........... 0.079 ...........0.078........... 0.078 .............0.078 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.079..............0.078...................0.079...................13,650,000 .........0.100 OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS .................................................... 3,680 ............... 1,475........................9 ........... 0.406 ...........0.406 ...........0.400 .......... 0.402 .............0.402 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.400..............0.394...................0.400 ..................21,105,000 .........0.100 OM0000002168............AL ANWAR CERAMIC TILES ............................... 114,417 .............34,185........................7 ........... 0.296 ...........0.300 ...........0.296........... 0.299 .............0.300 ...........-0.001 ........... -0.333 ...............0.300 ............ 0.300...................0.304 .................. 88,567,891 .........0.100 OM0000004925 ...........AL BATINAH POWER..................................................28,027 ...............5,356........................4 ............0.191 ........... 0.192 ...........0.191 ............0.191 .............0.192............-0.001 ........... -0.521................0.192 ..............0.189...................0.192..................128,903,499........0.100 OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO....................................................................... 305,122 .........216,026..................... 56 ............0.708 ........... 0.708 ...........0.708........... 0.708 ............. 0.712............-0.004 ........... -0.562 ...............0.708..............0.708................... 0.716 ..................460,868,515........0.100 OM0000001483............NATIONAL BANK OF OMAN ...................................91,499 ............24,360........................8 ............0.261 ...........0.268 ...........0.261........... 0.266 .............0.268 ...........-0.002 ........... -0.746 ...............0.264..............0.264...................0.294 .................356,628,927........0.100 OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES ..........................................7,767 ...............1,266........................1 ............0.163 ........... 0.163 ...........0.163 ............0.163 ............. 0.165............-0.002 ............-1.212................0.163 .............. 0.163...................0.165 ................... 47,376,116 .........0.100 OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. .................. 122,250 ..............8,802......................14 ........... 0.072 ...........0.072 ...........0.072........... 0.072 .............0.073 ...........-0.001 ........... -1.370................0.072..............0.072...................0.073...................20,878,606.........0.100 OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 650,671......... 304,500...................128 ........... 0.470 ...........0.470 ...........0.466........... 0.468 .............0.476 ...........-0.008 ............-1.681 ................0.466..............0.464...................0.466................1,072,572,975 ......0.100 .............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 3,516,667 ...1,476,279.................. 402 ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......31........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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

OM0000001566 ............OMAN FISHERIES .......................................................26,160 ............... 1,386........................7 ........... 0.053 ........... 0.053 ...........0.053........... 0.053 .............0.052 ............0.001 ............. 1.923 ................0.053..............0.052...................0.053....................6,625,000 ..........0.100 OM0000001368 ............CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IND. .................. 563,652 ............18,643........................6 ........... 0.034 ...........0.034 ...........0.033........... 0.033 .............0.033 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.033..............0.033...................0.034 ...................2,805,000 ..........0.100 OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................ 741,993.............53,523..................... 23 ........... 0.072 ........... 0.073 ...........0.072........... 0.072 .............0.072 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.072..............0.072...................0.073................. 108,000,000 .......0.100 OM0000004511 ............ALIZZ ISLAMIC BANK.............................................. 226,712.............14,736........................8 ........... 0.065 ...........0.065 ...........0.065........... 0.065 .............0.065 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.065..............0.064...................0.065...................65,000,000.........0.100 OM0000005963 ...........PHOENIX POWER ...................................................... 129,026 ............18,580..................... 29 ............0.144 ........... 0.144 ...........0.144........... 0.144 .............0.144 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.144..............0.143...................0.144..................210,614,610 ........0.100 OM0000001426............OMAN REFRESHMENT ............................................10,870 .............24,131........................4 ........... 2.220...........2.220 ...........2.220 .......... 2.220 .............2.250 ...........-0.030 ............-1.333................2.220 ............ 2.220...................2.250 .................111,000,000 ........0.100 OM0000001400 ...........OMAN FLOUR MILLS ................................................. 14,595 ...............6,568........................3 ........... 0.450 ...........0.450 ...........0.450........... 0.450 .............0.464 ...........-0.014 ............-3.017................0.450............. 0.000...................0.450...................70,875,000.........0.100 .............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 1,713,008........137,568.....................80 ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ........ 7........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

– United Securities/Bloomberg News

INDIAN MARKETS

ECONOMY

Sensex rises; rupee in the green Job creation signals euro-area economic recovery in 2016

MUMBAI: Trading in green throughout the session, equities rallied for third-day in a row, garnering 173.93 points to end 25,494.37, while the broader Nifty finished slightly above 7,750-level as investors braced for United States Federal Reserve rate hike later in the day.

Earlier the market resumed positive taking support from bullish Asian cues and overnight surge in US markets on the back of slight

rebound crude oil prize, while investors unruffled by two-day US Federal Reserve policy meet to be concluded later in the day, factoring a symbolic 25-basis points hike.

Rupee appreciates Showing remarkable resilience, the Indian rupee appreciated for the second straight day to end at one-week high of 66.73 against the US dollar even as Federal Reserve’s historic policy decision re-

mained in the spotlight.

Heavy unwinding of dollars by banks and corporate alongside upbeat equities predominantly supported the rupee upmove despite firm dollar overseas. In active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the home currency resumed almost flat at 66.91 per dollar compared to overnight close of 66.92.

The domestic unit regained strength to hit a high of 66.7050. - PTI

FRANKFURT: Euro-area companies are hiring at the fastest pace in more than four years in a sign of confidence that the region’s economy will gather momentum in the coming months, according to Markit Economics.

Encouraging order intake pushed the rate of employment growth to the highest since May 2011, the London-based company said on Wednesday. A Purchasing Managers’ Index for manufacturing and services was at 54 in December, close to the 54.2 the previous month.

The European Central Bank (ECB) cut one of its key interest rates this month and extended quantitative easing after updated projections showed that the region’s inflation rate would rise slower than previously anticipated. Economic confidence remained at the highest level in more than four years in November in anticipation of more stimulus. Unemployment is at the lowest since early 2012.

in coming months.” The euro fell 0.1 per cent against the dollar to $1.0922 in Frankfurt.

“Most encouraging of all is the upturn in the rate of job creation to the highest since spring 2011, which will hopefully pave the way for unemployment to start falling in earnest as we move into 2016,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.

“The upturn in hiring also indicates that companies are optimistic about prospects for the year ahead and suggests that the pace of GDP growth could lift higher

Solid growth The ECB predicts gross domestic product will increase 1.5 percent in 2015, 1.7 percent in 2016 and 1.9 percent the year after. Inflation is forecast to accelerate to 1.6 percent in 2017 from 0.1 percent this year.

Markit said the PMIs signal “ongoing solid growth” in Germany, which recorded its best quarter in 1 1/2 years, while French activity slowed closer to stagnation.

“The quarterly assessment for both sectors in the euro area and particularly in Germany is positive, which suggests that the economy gained some momentum in the fourth quarter,” said Stefan Kipar, an economist at Bayerische Landesbank in Munich. “On the price side, the outlook in the euro area has clouded further, also because of continuously high competitive pressures.” – Bloomberg News

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

B3

MARKET BP Oman ties up with oil firm to train technicians

INSURANCE

The programme, which was started in 2012, consists of a WORKSHOP: Organised by the Capital Market Authority (CMA), the

workshop was set to pave way for the implementation of the new amendments to the unified motor insurance policy. - Supplied picture

15-month foundation training. The firm

Workshop discusses amendment to unified motor insurance policy

has recruited more than 80 qualified Omani technicians

Times News Service Times News Service MUSCAT: More than 100 representatives of insurance companies, brokers and agents attended a workshop on new amendment to the unified motor insurance policy in its final version on Tuesday.

Organised by the Capital Market Authority (CMA), the event was set to pave way for the implementation of the new amendments after final approval by the executive president of CMA as underwriting officers and employees of indemnity and claims departments and compliance officers are the link between the CMA and insurers and policyholders.

Benefits and options Hence, they must be well aware of the details and new clauses so as to convey to the policyholders the benefits and options included in the policy further to explaining the rights and obligations of the policyholder to avoid any differences and confusion. The unified policy is standard form of the minimum requirements of the motor insurance contract.

Qais Al Suhi, insurance auditor FOREX MAKKET

US rate cut could impact Indian rupee MUMBAI: India’s rupee is feeling the heat as the US Federal Reserve looks set to raise interest rates for the first time in a decade.

The currency, touted as Asia’s most resilient to a US rate increase

by Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, has extended declines in December after weakening 2.1 per cent last month in the region’s worst performance.

Rising odds of a Fed liftoff saw global funds cut holdings of Indian bonds and stocks by $2.6 billion since October 31.

Policymakers are seeking to avoid a repeat of 2013, when the Fed’s signal to end its unprecedented bond purchases sent the rupee tumbling to a record 68.845 a dollar in August that year.

Traders say the Reserve Bank of India intervened this month as the currency slid past the 67 level and the monetary authority said for the first time it will step into the exchange-traded derivatives market if needed.

Central bank “The Fed is absolutely key,” said Divya Devesh, Standard Chartered’s Asian foreign-exchangestrategist in Singapore.

“Markets are currently working under the assumption that we will get a dovish tightening, but central banks have surprised in the past, so taking a cautious approach is warranted.”

The rupee has weakened 2.4 per cent since the end of October to 66.88 a dollar in Mumbai, according to prices from local banks.

The Bloomberg Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 global peers, advanced 1.6 per cent in the period as the probability of a Fed liftoff at the current meeting jumped to 78 per cent from 50 per cent.

Standard Chartered revised its year-end forecast for the rupee to 67 a dollar from 66 on account of the “broad dollar strength,” Devesh said. ABN Amro Bank, the top rupee forecaster, is sticking to its 2015-end forecast of 66 a dollar as it expects the central bank to defend the rupee. - Bloomberg News

PHASES

Qais Al Suhi, insurance auditor and actuary, made presentation and spoke about the phases of the new amendments since the inception of the evaluation process 7 years ago when the unified policy was issued in 2008

and actuary made the presentation and spoke about the phases of the new amendments since the inception of the evaluation process 7 years ago when the unified policy was issued in 2008, in addition to benefiting from the international practices in the development of the policy beside the opinions of the insurance companies, brokers and agents and then the final legal phases prior to issuance.

He added that the board of directors of Capital Market Authority has approved the new amendments and discussion is under way currently with the Ministry of Legal Affairs.

MUSCAT: In an initiative to develop Omani talent, BP Oman and Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production (OOCEP) have joined together to train and develop BP Oman’s technicians at a facility of OOCEP. This collaboration was marked at a signing ceremony between the two companies at the office of the Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production. OOCEP is an upstream oil and gas company based in the Sultanate and a subsidiary of Oman Oil Company.

BP Oman’s technicians enrol in a multi-year training programme to become world-class technicians working at the Khazzan project.

The final term of BP’s Oman Technician Training Programme is to complete 15 months of field experience some of which will be provided by OOCEP at its Block 60 site.

By providing on-the-job training at facilities within Oman, the programme will not only develop Omani technicians locally but also simultaneously contribute to incountry value, an added benefit.

The trainees from BP will join OOCEP’s technical teams to finalise their training programme,

SIGNING CEREMONY: BP Oman and Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production have joined hands to train and develop BP Oman’s technicians at a facility of OOCEP. - Supplied picture

and up-skill and develop their capabilities further in a live operational environment. Additionally, OOCEP will also benefit from this training by developing its own technicians in parallel to the BP technicians.

Launched in 2012, the BP Oman Technician Training Programme has so far recruited more than 80 technicians to become qualified instrument, mechanical, electrical and production technicians over a four year programme.

The programme consists of a 15-month foundation training and delivering an NVQ Level 2 followed by a live site operational experience locally and internationally mixed with technical assessments at an operational site to achieve an internationally-rec-

ognised competence qualification.

Khazzan facilities Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production acting VP Operations, Suleiman Al Zakwani, said: “This agreement marks another important stage in our progress as OOCEP whereby we are able utilise one of our operated facilities in Oman (Block-60) for operational training purposes that will benefit our partnership with BP in Block 61 (Khazzan Field).

“The exposure, experience and skills obtained at the end of this programme will enable BP technicians to play a big role in the commissioning and operation of the Khazzan facilities once it is ready in 2017,” he added.

BP Oman president Yousuf Al

Ojaili also commented, “This programme is a great example of how we are trying to develop Omanis to become world-class technicians in the long term. It also demonstrates the collaboration happening across the oil and gas industry in Oman where different companies are working together for the benefit of Oman.”

Once completed, the technicians will be equipped with the skills and expertise to work on the Khazzan Project once operation starts in 2017.

HAVE YOUR SAY

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

CRUDE OIL MARKET

Crude falls on speculation that US oil export ban will not stop supply glut SINGAPORE: Crude oil held losses after falling from the highest price in a week amid speculation that a United States deal to end a 40-year ban on crude exports will fail to alleviate the nation’s supply glut.

Futures were down 0.7 per cent in New York after earlier declining as much as 1.7 per cent. Congressional leaders agreed on a fiscal plan that would avert a government shutdown and lift restrictions on shipping domestic crude overseas, US House Speaker Paul Ryan told fellow Republicans during a closed-door meeting.

Any change in US oil policy will have ‘zero’ impact on the market because the country remains an importer, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) secretary-general Abdalla El Badri said on Tuesday.

Oil is trading near levels last seen during the global financial crisis after the Opec effectively abandoned production limits to defend market share. While the US repealing restrictions on crude exports could allow unfettered access to supplies, prices aren’t competitive enough to attract foreign buyers, according to Energy Aspects. The nation’s stockpiles are still more than 120 million barrels above the five-year

Don’t litter a beautiful country like OMAN. Ensure proper disposal of garbage.

Saudi spends billions to lock in Asian buyers RIYADH: At the heart of Korea’s Onsan Refinery lies a street called ‘A.I. Naimi Road’, an homage to Saudi Arabia’s oil minister. The reason: stateowned Saudi Arabian Oil Company holds a 65 per cent stake in the complex.

Taking a controlling interest last year in South Korea’s third-largest refinery highlights the shifting dynamics of the oil business. With crude prices down by more than half in the past two years, the Saudis and other oil-rich countries are fighting to lock in customers. Asia, which now accounts for 70 per cent of Saudi oil exports, is the primary battleground.

seasonal average.

“The deal to lift the crude ban is a significant change in US policy, but in terms of the near-term impact on prices, we expect that to be blotchy and sentiment-driven,”

For Saudi Aramco, as the company is widely known, that means purchasing stakes in refineries, with contracts guaranteeing most of the oil will come from the kingdom.

Aramco has invested in three processing facilities in Asia.

As Iran prepares to boost its own exports, the Saudis are on the cusp of a dramatic increase in its commitment to the region, eyeing billions of dollars of projects in countries from Indonesia to Vietnam.

Owning refineries in Asia is “part of a long-term strategy to consolidate” the Saudi market share in a key region, said Mustafa Ansari, an analyst at the Arab Petroleum Invest-

Virendra Chauhan at Energy Aspects, a UK consultant, said by phone in Singapore. “The incentive for international buyers to rush to the US to pick up crude is quite limited at the moment.”

ment, a state-controlled development bank in Dammam, the city of Saudi oil country.

US states The Saudis pursued a similar path in the US three decades ago to lock in sales as crude prices tumbled, buying into three oil-processing facilities in Texas and Louisiana since 1988.

The strategy worked: Motiva Enterprises, the US refiner half- owned by Aramco, imported 65 million barrels of Saudi oil in the first eight months of 2015 -- more than triple what ExxonMobil got from the kingdom in that time, US data show. - Bloomberg News

US supplies WTI for January delivery dropped as much as 62 cents to $36.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $37.10 in Singapore. The contract climbed

$1.04 to $37.35 on Tuesday. The volume of all futures traded was about 30 per cent above the 100day average. Prices are down 30 per cent this year, set for a second annual loss.

Brent for February settlement slid as much as 35 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $38.38 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The January contract, which expires Wednesday, was 8 cents lower at $38.37.

The US restricted crude exports during the energy shortages of the 1970s. Producers including Continental Resources, Pioneer Natural Resources and ConocoPhillips have been pressing for an end to rules that block the export of most raw, unprocessed oil while not limiting overseas sales of refined products such as gasoline and diesel.

After days of bipartisan negotiations, the House and Senate on Tuesday evening reached a deal on tax and spending plans that included an end to the oil-trade limits, according to Reid Ribble, a Wisconsin Republican. John Kline, a Republican, said after meeting with fellow party members that the House plans to vote Thursday. The ban will be lifted if Congress approves the deal and the President adds his signature. - Bloomberg News

B4

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

FEATURE

INDIA EYES AFRICAN CONTINENT

There are immense opportunities to the tune of 2,600 GW over the next 10 years, which will result in a number of transmission line projects AFRICA’S PROJECTED growth can fructify by leveraging India's pledges at the recently held India Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) in New Delhi to make public private partnership (PPP) programmes across the continent work, which could result in a slew of initiatives like power projects to generate 2,600 GW over the next decades, as also forward movement in the areas of agriculture, healthcare and telecommunications, experts say.

Indications that the private sector in India is aware of the opportunities that Africa has to offer can be summed up from what Vijay Kumar Chohan, executive director for international operations at Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, had to say: “There are immense opportunities to the tune of 2,600 GW over the next 10 years which would result in a number of transmission line projects.” There are also indications that some African countries would like to get into generating electricity from coal.

Given this, it is encouraging that India's coal secretary, Anil Swarup, has said the country has targetted the doubling of production to one billion tonnes per year by 2020 and thereby increasing generation by 50 percent by that year.

African countries, experts say, can take forward Swarup’s thoughts that India would be keen to partner with the continent to explore business opportunities in the coal sector by way of exploration, mining, development of projects and mines by Indian companies.

Agriculture offers another great opportunity. With a large pool of unemployed youth, Africa can take advantage of its improving investment climate to attract Indian money to grow its agriculture.

International accounting firm KPMG has said the “potential for growth in the agricultural sector on the continent is huge,” adding that agricultural growth in Africa has failed to reach its potential.

The Alliance for Green Revolu-

tion in Africa (AGRA) says: "The value of Africa's agricultural output is about $280 billion and has the potential to reach $800 billion by 2030," adding: "It could address a major problem in Africa by providing economic opportunities for the 200 million people between 14 and 24 years old that make Africa home of the youngest population in the world." Thus, there are many who feel that changes in governance and an improved investment atmosphere can help attract private Indian capital.

And, amid indications that the continent's largest economy, Nigeria, is turning to China to help develop the country's agriculture, Indian companies also have the opportunity to engage in largescale agricultural projects.

In the health sector, Nigeria alone is said to have lost close to $2 billion annually to India as a result of an inadequate health delivery sector.

KPMG Africa chairman Oluseyi

Bickersteth told IANS: "In 2012, about 40 percent of all visas to India from Nigeria were for medical tourism and Nigerians spent about $260 million on medical expenses in India."Bickersteth said Indian involvement in Nigeria's healthcare delivery is gradually increasing after a lull in the 1970s when most of the Indian medical officers operating in the country left. However, the new interest in Nigeria has been bolstered by the Indian government's announcement last January to set up two specialist units for eye and cancer care.

The telecom sector is another area that is looking for investors across the continent. Therefore, experts say, with the Indian government keen to improve the poor balance of trade with African countries, an improved political atmosphere backed by right policy frameworks would be the magnet to attract Indian companies.

- Francis Kokutse/IANS

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ROUND-UP

Toyota Innova brings home exciting benefits The multi-utility Innova attracts attention with its dynamic looks and impressively sculpted contours

MUSCAT: With a spacious 8-seater interior and a dynamic design, the Innova is perfect for the modern family — offering flexible space for infinite possibilities, says a press release.

Now, the family-friendly Innova is spreading even more smiles, “We currently are offering one-year (Oman only) insurance package to all Innova customers (2015/16YM models with 2015 YM production). Conversely, we offer a cash gift to customers who do not wish to avail of the insurance package.

They can pocket OMER350,” says the spokesperson. (There benefits are applicable on all purchases except those made by government organisations and ministries, until

January 21, 2016. Insurance would be given to the extent applicable for private vehicles.)

“I have had my eye on a new Toyota Innova for some time now,” says a new owner, “When this offer came along, I thought, why not… seems to be a good time!”

Indeed, the admirer is now a proud owner of a vehicle that offers space, safety and comfort in one sleekly styled package. The multi-utility Innova arrests attention with its dynamic looks and impressively sculpted contours. It seats comfortably, ensuring spacious legroom in and around the second and third row seats.

Fashionably adorned with a bold front grille, stylish front

The Innova packs a host of safety measures that include the thoughtful design of the driving position, enabling each driver to find a position of comfort and control with an excellent field of view.

Other safety measures include a specially designed body, comprising a crumple zone and high integrity cabin, which help to protect occupants by minimising deformation to the passenger compartment. The dual airbags, ABS and seatbelts further add to the outstanding safety offered by Innova.

All specifications listed above are standard Toyota equipment.

Safety kit (fire extinguisher, warning triangle, tyre pressure gauge & first aid kit) is a dealer installed non-Toyota item provided on Toyota models as standard equipment.

Vehicle specifications may change without prior notice.

Pictures and colours may differ from actual specifications of the vehicles. For further details and to ascertain availability of stocks, please visit your nearest Toyota showroom.

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

FESTIVE SEASON

Win round trip air tickets to Istanbul at Park Inn Muscat MUSCAT: With a new season of festivities on the horizon, planning of dinners and parties is in full swing. Park Inn Muscat will host a lucky draw on New Year’s eve.

Two winners will get chance to win round trip ticket to Muscat-Istanbul–Muscat, courtesy Turkish Airlines (terms and conditions apply). To be eligible to win, patrons needs to dine and party on Christmas and New Year’s Eve package of the hotel, says a press release.

Patrons can enjoy a package which includes a lavish elegant dinner followed by a party to ring in 2016. The two outlets of the hotel Sama Terrazza rooftop and RBG Grill are two highly acclaimed hotspots in the city. With Christmas and New Year’s Eve offers, guests can enjoy the best of two great outlets each with a completely different ambience.

Have your elegant dinner first and then just head up to our rooftop to party and bring in the New Year under the stars with some heady music by our DJ. For Christmas Eve and Day, the hotel’s signature restaurant, RBG Grill will host a special dinner on December 24 and sumptuous lunch on 25. Guest can enjoy a three course set menu.

For Christmas private event, the Sama Terrazza rooftop can be booked with minimum guarantee of 50 guests. The package includes an elaborate dinner, a 8kg roasted turkey accompanied by complimentary water and chilled juices. The team has put a lot of thought into creating the perfect meal to make for a memorable Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebration.

On December 31 guests can book a seat for the elegant New Year’s Eve themed set menu at the RBG Grill. After enjoying the ambience complete with background music and being satiated with the four course menu, they can get lively and enjoy a complimentary entrance to the party on the roof of the hotel.

A glass of welcome bubbly will be given to all guests. Entrance to Sama Terrazza without the dinner at RBG Grill person and includes one beverage. The doors open at 7pm and the party goes on until 2am. A live DJ will perform at Sama Terrazza, setting the mood for everyone to bid farewell to 2015 and usher in 2016. Tickets will be available in advance at the hotel restaurants and advance booking is recommended to avoid disappointment.

AWA R D O F E X C E L L E N C E

APPLE PREMIUM RESELLER

Mi Store opens outlet at Oman Avenues Mall MUSCAT: Apple Premium Reseller Mi Store is now open at Oman Avenues Mall, offering customers the opportunity to learn and experience Apple’s innovative products and solutions including the Mac, iPhone and iPad with a wide range of accessories, says a press release.

“We are excited on opening of an Apple premium reseller in Oman Avenues Mall, Muscat where customers will receive a first class shopping experience,” said Dr Manmohan Singh Rehsi, CEO. “Customers who want to learn more about Apple’s products and other items can now get personal attention from our

bumper design and an attractive backdoor garnish that catches the eye, the Innova offers outstanding manoeuvrability even at high speeds. Powered by a 2.7-litre, 4-cylinder, 16V, DOHC, EFi, VVTi Engine, its front and rear suspensions achieve excellent drive comfort and stability as well as an extremely quiet ride.

The top of line grade hosts a plethora of high class features – auto AC, multi-information display, outer mirrors with turn signal indicators, side protection moulding with chrome, Bluetooth integrated music system with 6.1” display screen, woodgrain panelling, alloy wheels, fog lamps and steering mounted controls, to name a few.

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many dedicated Apple-trained consultants.”

At Mi Store, trained consultants are available to help customers learn about all the latest products from Apple, including iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, the most advanced iPhones ever; iPad Pro, thin. light. epic; iPad Air 2, thin and powerful; iPad mini 4, now with Touch ID; the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display with the allnew Force Touch trackpad; the 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display with a breathtaking 14.7 million pixels; OS X El Capitan, the world’s most advanced desktop operating system.

Ministry of Health honours Badr Al Samaa MUSCAT: Badr Al Samaa Hospital Salalah achieved the prestigious National Award of Excellence for Best Hospital in Dhofar region and Badr Al Samaa Barka for the Bbest Polyclinic of the Year 2015.

P.A. Mohammed and Abdul Latheef, directors and their officials from Badr Al Samaa group of hospitals, received the awards from Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Saidi, Minister of Health in the presence of Dr Sultan Al Busaidy, adviser of Health Affairs and Dr Mazen bin Jawad Al Khabouri, Directorate General of Private Healthcare Establishments, in a ceremony held at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Muscat, says a press release.

The ceremony was attended by top officials from the Ministry of Health and from private healthcare establishments. Abdul Latheef and Mohammed, directors, Badr Al Samaa Group of Hospitals thanked the public and the Ministry of Health for their support and encouragement.

S I G NAT U R E C H O I C E S

Badr Al Samaa has received many accolades and awards earlier from different organisations.

Badr Al Samaa was honoured recently by the Ministry of Health for the best practice in Infection Control and Hand Hygiene across their establishments.

Badr Al Samaa was honoured

by the Ministry of Manpower in recognition of its efforts in employing and developing skills of national workforce.

Badr Al Samaa was also honoured by Oman Football Association (OFA) in recognition of their valuable contributions to promote Oman Football at the Oman Foot-

ball Association awards ceremony held under the auspices of Sheikh Rashad bin Ahmed Al Hinai, undersecretary at the Ministry of Sports Affairs. Badr Al Samaa officials received the award in June 2015 from Al Hinai at the ceremony attended by Oman Football Association chairman Sayyid Khalid Al Busaidi. Badr Al Samaa has been their official medical partner since 2013.

Mohammed appreciated the branch head, Azeez and his team for their hard work and valuable contributions made by each and every staff of Badr Al Samma Hospital Salalah.

He also added that he expects the continued support in future.

Abdul Latheef, expressed his sincere gratitude to the branch head of Barka for his ceaseless efforts in achieving the prestigious National Award of Excellence.

He appreciated the doctors, staff nurse and all the staff for the achievements.

E M T R AC B ATT E R I E S

Home Centre launches ‘Star Eint Automotive launches a new range of high performance battery Wars’ themed collection In line with the theme of the movie series, the products have been styled as per the ‘light side’ and ‘dark side’ bringing the iconic characters to life through a unique collection

MUSCAT: Home Centre, the largest home retailer in the Middle East, launched its latest collection inspired by the Star Wars movie series.

While everyone is gearing up for today's release of the highly anticipated movie — Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Home Centre has decided to bring home the ‘Force’ by collaborating with Disney to launch a never-seen-before collection that will appeal to every Star Wars fans, says a press release.

Star Wars’ universal appeal is what makes it popular across generations. Every product tells a story and this Home Centre - Star

Wars collaboration is a celebration of those stories, promising to reinforce fans’ emotional connection with the characters.

In line with the theme of the movie series, the products have been styled as per the ‘light side’ and ‘dark side’, bringing the iconic characters to life through a unique collection which includes innovative products like the Darth Vader touch table lamp, the stormtrooper shaped rug, Star Wars posters featuring classic quotes, a Yoda shaped clock and lots more.

Médéric Payne, CEO of Home Centre, said “This initiative is a first for us and we are thrilled to be collaborating with Disney to

offer exclusively curated products. Star Wars has a huge fan following in the Middle East and we are sure this product range will find takers among people of all ages. This meticulously crafted collection reiterates our commitment to consistently innovate and offer signature choices to our customers.”

Home Centre stores will have ongoing activities for customers. Additionally, its social media platforms will be carrying out engaging contests for customers wherein they will be given a chance to win Star Wars goodies.

Star Wars merchandise is available in all Home Centre stores.

MUSCAT: A leader in automotive aftermarket, Eint Automotive, a successful division of WJ Towell Group endeavours to introduce in Oman products that are always a notch higher than all others in the market.

Living up to their mission, Eint Automotive has partnered up with the well-known Indian battery manufacturers and introduced to the Oman market, Emtrac batteries. Eint Automotive will be the sole distributors of Emtrac batteries in the country, says a press release.

Emtrac’s high performance battery with its patented SilvenX alloy confidently allows an extended warrantee period of 18 months to its users. As opposed to the standard warrantee of just 12 months by other industry players, Emtrac gives an additional six months thereby also becoming a value for money alternate. Along with being long lasting, these zero maintenance batteries have a host of other advantages. Emtrac batteries fare high on heat tolerance and vibration resistance which means they work flawlessly even in the harshest climate, roughest terrain and other extreme conditions. Emtrac also boasts of the highest cranking power as well as the highest reserve capacity as compared to other batteries. Extremely low corrosionwith time enhances the battery’s ability to go longer. Emtrac batteries also work to lower water consumption.

Emtrac’s credentials are validated by the brand being pioneers

in various segments in their industry. Their success is due to their unrelenting focus on innovative engineering, a deep-rooted commitment to research and design and the promise to deliver customer-focused products. As industry firsts to introduce zero-maintenance batteries, Emtrac ensures customers never have to worry about top-ups or other maintenance. It also holds the record for being the first battery that left the factory fully charged. This meant that batteries were not subject to inconsistent charging at the dealerships. So customers could be rest assured that all the batteries were created equal and would perform equal.

“The secret is that the Emtrac batteries are the only batteries that contain the patented SilvenX alloy; that’s what gives it the power to ‘last longer than other standard

batteries,” said Shajahan Azeez, Business Unit head, Eint Automotive, PLB Division. “We are confident that our customers will find this battery highly beneficial and are also pretty certain that Emtrac will very soon become a preferred choice in the market due to its long life and extended warranty.”

Emtrac batteries are made in QS 9000 IS 14000 & TS 16949 certified plants where every item is stringently tested for conformance to specifications. The batteries are manufactured in a totally automated assembly line to ensure consistent products of the highest quality. The finished batteries also undergo strict quality control parameters to ascertain that they meet global standards, and will deliver the promise of lasting really long. The manufacturer is the OE supplier to almost 90 per cent of vehicle manufacturers in India.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

ROUND-UP SOHAR UNIVERSITY

SU celebrates 14th graduation ceremony

Ooredoo hosts sixth annual B2B function The gathering at Crowne Plaza Muscat, drew more than 400 business executives from a variety of sectors in the largest event of its kind in the company’s history

MUSCAT: Ooredoo hosted its 6th annual Business-to-Business (B2B) networking event to celebrate yet another successful year of collaboration and partnership

with new and existing business customers.

Held at the Crowne Plaza Muscat, the gathering drew over 400 business executives from a variety

of sectors in the largest event of its kind in the company’s history, says a press release.

Said Al Shanfari, director of Business Marketing at Ooredoo said, “We pride ourselves in being a customer-centric organisation, always providing what businesses need, when they need it. But we also realise that it’s not always about sales; we want to share some fun time with our business customers and give them a chance to unwind and enjoy.

“Our partnerships are personal and we have been able to nurture strong relationships with our business customers, whether govern-

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ment, large corporations or SMEs. It is to celebrate these partnerships that we organised our 6th annual gathering.”

The social evening included a variety of inspiring and fun entertainment, all specially tailored for their unique event.

Over the years, Ooredoo has consistently been at the forefront of supporting businesses in Oman, offering innovative and competitive products and services that cater to their changing needs.

As a result, the company has witnessed unprecedented growth in its business customers in recent years.

MUSCAT: Under the patronage of Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al Rowas, adviser to His Majesty the Sultan for Cultural Affairs, Sohar University celebrated the 14th graduation ceremony of 690 students in the presence of a number of distinguished invitees and officials, recently.

The ceremony was held on the university campus.

This ceremony saw the graduation of the first batch with Master’s degree in Computer Science.

The ceremony started with the National Anthem, followed by the recital of the Holy Quran.

The vice-chancellor’s addressed the students and then the professor, Barry Winn welcomed

and thanked the guest of honour, congratulated the SU staff, the graduates and their friends and families.

He advised the graduates to get ready for the coming stage in their life saying, “you create living by what you gain, but you create life by what you give.”

Marwan Al Matroushi gave a speech on behalf of his fellow graduates thanking SU academic and admin staff for their support to the students during their study.

He said the graduates should represent themselves well and pay back to Oman where its development requires all their efforts. Finally he awarded the certificates to the graduates.

‘ B E S T P R I VAT E H O S P I TA L AWA R D ’

Al Hayat wins coveted award alizz Islamic bags Best Customer Service Award MUSCAT: In recognition of its commitment to quality customer service, alizz Islamic bank won the prestigious Best Customer Service Award from Banker Middle East Oman Product Awards 2015, says a press release.

Speaking on the occasion, Salaam Al Shaksy, chief executive officer of alizz Islamic bank said, “In our industry, service quality is a critical differentiating factor in our offerings to our customers. Hence, we are constantly striving to deliver an exceptional customer experience. We are therefore delighted to be recognised in this manner and the award inspires us to intensify our efforts in becoming the top service quality provider.” alizz Islamic bank has developed a solid technology infrastructure to provide its customers with innovative financial solutions and

responsive customer services via its corporate website, online banking, mobile banking, short message service, call centre, ATM, ITM, and branch banking.

This helps the customers transact and access their accounts 24/7 wherever they are. alizz Islamic bank was the first Islamic bank in Oman to launch instant card and cheque issuance, mobile banking, and bill payment services. The bank is also the first financial institution in the country to launch the “interactive teller machine” thereby enhancing the customer experience for our valued patrons. Furthermore, alizz Islamic bank provides its customers top security through 3D secure for its credit and debit cards.

The Banker Middle East Awards are held each year to recognize businesses in the region that have excelled in providing exceptional levels of customer service and innovation across a range of sectors, from basic banking products to investment services.

MUSCAT: Al Hayat International Hospital (AHIH) was recently declared ‘Best Private Hospital 2015’ at a gala event hosted by the Ministry of Health.

The award recognises AHIH’s successful record of delivering health care of the highest quality and exceeding patients’ expectations. Dr K. P. Raman, AHIH’s founder, has cultivated a world class team of medical and administrative professionals who strive to adhere to all regulatory standards and industry best practices while providing patients and their families with compassionate, effective care, says a press release.

The award was conferred by senior MOH officials, including Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Saidi, Minister of Health along with Dr Sultan bin Yarub Al Busaidi, adviser of the Ministry of Health for Health Affairs and Dr Mazen Al Khabouri, director-general, Directorate-General of Private Health Establishments. The

event took place at the Crowne Plaza in Muscat.

This high profile award is the latest in a series of awards bestowed on AHIH, which was recently honoured by the MOH for good practices in infection control and hand hygiene.

The Ministry of Manpower has also recognised AHIH’s efforts in following HR best practices and providing career development to Omani nationals. AHIH’s Sohar branch also garnered recognition from the MOH’s Sohar office for

following best practices in patient care and safety.

“To get the ‘Best Private Hospital Award’ was a dream and we are honoured and humbled to receive this award. Our goal has always been to constantly bring the best of healthcare to Oman and to provide the best of services to the patients and their families. This award truly reflects the dedication, passion and personal efforts of all our doctors and staff and is a recognition of the efforts of the Al Hayat family,” said Dr Raman.

ROAD SHOW

Vivansaa Group to showcase affordable dream homes at Sohar MUSCAT: Vivansaa Group is coming to Sohar, for a 2 days road show tomorrow and the day after at Crowne Plaza Hotel to bridge the needs of the Indian expatriate population of luxury dream homes yet affordable, says a press release.

Vivansaa Group, thinks globally of a factor with technology and sustainability of asset valuations.

So, they assess opportunities that reflect a broader range of opportunities across local and global market for global standards and investments.

Affordable People nowadays wants small ticket size houses to keep the investment diversified, thus their

projects are in favourable and affordable for global investments at a capital take, financial centre stage, global city Bangalore, India.

Thus, people can choose variety of life style projects that is premium row villas, lavish apartments with pent houses on prelaunch offers and smart home flats promising early completion

by 2017-2018.

Customers are to get benefits with attractive loyalty and financial schemes written at favourable — terms and conditions.

Vivansaa is a dynamic Agarwal’s family from Pune, of the real estate market in India known as Vijcon Properties since 2011, a brainchild of Vijay Agarwal, managing direc-

tor and managed by his brothers and directors - Shubham Agarwal and Swapnil Agrawal.

In 2014, the company transformed to Vinvansaa Infratech Pvt Ltd., headquarters and corporate office based in Bangalore and a branch office in Pune and Dubai.

In 2011, a 6,000 sq. feet area was a start at Pune. At their peak in Q4

2015, a 1.5 million SFT projects are on hand, which are ongoing and upcoming at both Bangalore and Pune cities.

All the projects are certified by Green Building and BMRDA approved at Sarjapur Rd, Bangalore.

The Sarjapur road is rated and listed among top 6 places of IT hubs property investment in the city.

F U N D AY

ISD celebrates Christmas in style Carols and scenes echoing with the nativity, children dancing, reindeers pulling along Santa, brought home the true spirit of Christmas

MUSCAT: The magical spell of Christmas turned over Indian School Darsait (ISD) into a wonder land, adorned with the stars all over the corridors, Christmas trees, bells, candles, snowman, wreaths and every little thing a child can relate with the festive season.

Carols and scenes echoing with the nativity, children dancing, reindeers pulling along Santa, brought home the true spirit of Christmas in the hearts of all who walked into ISD that morning.

Arrival of Santa brought cheer and delight in the little hearts as they witnessed their principal, vice principal and teachers dance side by side with the Santa of their dreams, says a press release.

Dr Sridevi P. Thashnath, principal in her address to the audience, conveyed her seasonal greetings and appreciated the efforts of the teachers and students for the stunning and well coordinated assembly, the comprehensive decor, the confident performances of the

little ones and the support of the parents. She underlined by saying that. “It was indeed a treat to the eyes on this festive occasion of love, joy and peace.”

She encouraged the parents to do even little things for their wards that, they will cherish these memories for their lifetime.

Vice principal also greeted everyone on the occasion of Christmas and reminded the students to be mindful of the Chennai floods and the human sufferings.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

ROUND-UP

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ACCOLADE

BankDhofar receives ‘Best Mobile Banking, Oman’ award LONDON: In recognition of its commitment to employ state-ofthe-art technology and apply the best international practices in the banking industry, BankDhofar has received the ‘Best Mobile Banking, Oman 2015’ by the London-based International Finance Magazine (IFM).

The award was received by Abdul Hakeem Oman Al Ojaili, acting CEO of BankDhofar, during a prestigious event that took place recently at the Landmark Hotel in London, and was attended by high profile guests and representatives of world top banks and financial institutions, says a press release.

The IFM Awards celebrate excellence and recognise individuals and organisations in the international finance industry that make a significant difference and add value. The award shines a spotlight on those who make a contribution to raising the bar in the financial industry through activities that impact the global finance community.

Upon receiving the award, Al Ojaili said: “We have been committed to embrace creativity and innovation, and we aspire to lead with technology and best banking solutions.

“We have successfully launched a wide variety of banking services

that are accessible to our customers wherever they are through our mobile banking app.

“We invest in innovative technology and pledge to deliver the best services that are exclusively designed to fulfil the needs of our valued customers and meet their expectations,” he noted.

BankDhofar offers a wide range of instant mobile banking services such as instant connection to accounts and cards details, instant payment of utility bills and mobile top-up options, instant credit card due payment, location of nearest ATM, CDM and branches, instant money transfer to any third party’s

Bank Muscat hosts experts on global oil market trends The initiative affirms the commitment of Bank Muscat Asset Management to strengthen customer relations

MUSCAT: Bank Muscat Asset Management, as part of the bank’s ‘Let’s Do More’ vision and partnership to work together to achieve the strategic investment objectives of valued clients, hosted renowned economists and investment experts Greg Priddy, director of Global Energy & Natural Resources, and Marc Moussalli, director, Global Markets, Eurasia Group.

In separate gatherings, the workshop addressed by the experts were attended by the bank’s Management Team and prime cli-

ents, says a press release.

Greg Priddy in his presentation on ‘Rebalancing of the World Oil Market: Geopolitical Influences & Fundamental Drivers’ highlighted the continuing imbroglio of the depressed oil market. Priddy is a leading oil analyst for energy projects, global oil markets, OPEC and the Gulf region. He focuses primarily on the global oil mar-

ket and issues that affect strategic decision-making in the upstream and downstream.

Marc Moussalli made a presentation on ‘Approach to Global Geopolitical Risks’. Moussalli works with European institutional investors to advise on global political and macro-economic risks.

He lays emphasis on structured investment and risk management

H I G H E R E D UC AT I O N E X P O

F E S T I VA L D E L I G H T S

Celebrate festival season with Al Falaj Hotel MUSCAT: Whether you are looking for a vibrant or electric dining experience this Christmas or New Year’s Eve, Al Falaj Hotel has something for you.

Spend the Christmas at one of Oman’s finest restaurants, The Souq Café or The Sports Lounge for enjoyable evening of unforgettable sights, incredible sounds, and exquisite tastes, says a press release.

Create a truly memorable Christmas and New Year with splendid festive celebrations.

Delight in sublime cuisine by taking home a mouthwatering Christmas hamper and Turkey from the Christmas Market.

Embrace the celebrations this festive season with Al Falaj Hotel on Christmas Eve and Christmas brunch on December 25 at the Souq Café.

Al Falaj Hotel Souq Café Terrace and Pool side will offer a magical atmosphere alongside an elegant gala menu and live music with a four piece band flown in specially for the New Year’s Eve.

PROMOTION

Ghedex, OCF to be held at OIEC MUSCAT: OITE Trade Fairs announced that the leading Global Higher Education ExhibitionGhedex and the Omanisation Career Fair - OCF 2016 will be held at the Oman International Exhibition Centre (OIEC).

This announcement comes following a previous one made

by OITE Trade Fairs where they announced that the 17th edition of Ghedex and 15th edition of OCF would take place at the new Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre (OCEC), which is still under construction.

“The decision to hold Ghedex and OCF 2016 at the Oman International Exhibition Centre, was taken by our company due to the uncertainty surrounding the inauguration dates, and a notification received from the venue operator AEG Ogden, stating that the inauguration of Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre will be postponed to a later date in 2016.

OITE continues to be committed to delivering premium quality events and services to its valuable customers” says Tarek Ali, general manager, Exhibitions, OITE. Ghedex, held under the patronage of the Ministry of Higher Education, will take place from April 19-21, 2016 at the Oman International Exhibition Centre, Muscat, Oman alongside OCF, held under the patronage of the

products across asset classes.

Abdullah Al Hinai, DGM – Investment Banking, said: “Bank Muscat Asset Management is gratified to facilitate this unique opportunity to listen and interact with experts on macro-economic challenges facing the region arising from depressed oil prices and geopolitical developments fanning this situation which call for tacti-

cal responses to develop winning investment strategies.

“The initiative affirms the commitment of Bank Muscat Asset Management to strengthen customer relations and equip esteemed clients with the necessary insights on prevailing global economic trends to identify new investment opportunities.”

Bank Muscat Asset Management is the biggest fund manager in Oman, offering a variety of funds investing in Oman, the Mena region and international markets. The division manages US$1.8 billion worth of assets, 60% of which are invested in equity markets, 25% in fixed income and the remaining 15% in real estate and private equities. Bank Muscat Asset Management maintains its leadership position thanks to its experienced team, researchbased decision making process, financial strength, and strong systems and processes. Bank Muscat Asset Management is always on the lookout for strategic investment products, enabling investors to create, manage and grow their wealth in a sustainable manner.

account within BankDhofar, updated currency exchange rates, instant update on promotions and new products and services.

The mobile app also allows customers to view account details and check the balance in all their accounts, view last 10 transactions (mini-statement), view up to 150 transaction under statements with opening and closing balances.

The flagship Cardless Cash Transfer exclusive service allows BankDhofar customers to use their mobile phone as an ATM card where they can have access to their accounts and withdraw cash from any BankDhofar ATM.

Ghedex, held under the patronage of the Ministry of Higher Education, will take place from April 19-21, 2016 at the Oman International Exhibition Centre alongside OCF, held under the patronage of the Ministry of Manpower Ministry of Manpower.

“We have already received participation for Ghedex 2016 from a number of leading universities from UK including University of Stirling, University of Hull, University Of Liverpool, University of Central Lancashire, University of Salford, University of Greenwich (London), University of Exeter, University of Portsmouth and University of Derby. Other universities of note that have confirmed their presence at Ghedex include California State University, Fresno from USA; Aga Khan University from Pakistan; the Student Campus from Malta; and Oman Medical College & IDP Education PtY

Ltd from Oman. Ghedex will also receive support from DAAD German Academic Exchange Service as silver sponsor & Majan College as lead sponsor,” said Ashit Barnes, Exhibition director- OITE Trade Fairs. Commenting on OCF he added, “OCF 2016 receives confirmed support from Zubair Corporation as lead sponsor; and participation from Al Hassan Group of Companies and Carillion Alawi.”

The last edition of Ghedex broke a 16 year record by attracting over 25,000 visitors. Additionally 200 top-notch universities and colleges from over 23 countries participated at the event, with 170 educational bodies and institutions accounting for international participation and 30 for local participation. Omani and expatriate students seeking quality education and opportunities for evolvement through internships and related career planning programmes will find Ghedex to be a lucrative opportunity to pursue their higher education goals.

The last edition of OCF attracted over 5,000 professionals which is the highest number ever recorded in the event’s history.

As the demand for Omanisation is growing in the market, OCF is the only platform which provides all companies the chance to meet all types of professionals under one roof.

Exciting benefits add to Nissan X-Trail’s appeal MUSCAT: The Nissan X-Trail from Suhail Bahwan Automobiles is a compact SUV that comes with a 2.5-litre 4 cylinder engine, mated to a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) is all set to offer class-leading comfort, thoughtful technology and a rewarding driving experience with a completely refurbished interior and exterior styling.

Nissan’s ongoing seasonal offers on the X-Trail are a huge hit among auto enthusiasts and they will last until December 31. The exclusive vehicle promotions are enticing and one-of-a-kind promising unlimited benefits to valued patrons, says a press release.

Benefits Auto enthusiasts can now avail exciting benefits on the Nissan X-Trail that include cash gift up to OMR500, free service for two years or 20,000km (periodic maintenance only), free registration, six years unlimited mileage warranty and easy and convenient financing options.

Flexible EMIs can also be tailor made for any individual requirement from in-house Auto Finance team.

Standard features in the new Nissan X-Trail include power windows, power steering, electric mirrors, fabric seats, keyless entry with central locking, manual A/C, AM/FM radio with CD/USB/AUX and alloy wheels.

Optional features include pushengine start, better entertainment system with more speakers, bigger alloy wheels, parking sensors and automatic A/C. Standard safety features include driver and passenger airbags, tyre pressure monitoring system, ABS brakes,

electronic brake distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist (BA). The vehicle comes in two separate variants — 5-seater and 7-seater respectively. The 5-seater comes with 4x2 and 4x4 with only S Grades and the 7-seater comes only in 4x4 that has three grades comprising S, SV and SL. SBA is largely committed to supporting Nissan’s growth in the Sultanate through major emphasis on customer satisfaction and by providing world-class aftersales services in Oman.

B8

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

ROUND-UP

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ISD alumni all set to celebrate 5th anniversary

PROMOTION WINNER

The event organised

by JK Films will feature legendary

Yokohama felicitates winner of ‘Wheels of Fortune’ scheme

musician Stephen

MUSCAT: Yokohama the favourite tyre brand in Oman held the ‘Wheels of Fortune’ scheme between August and September 2015. This unique promotion from Yokohama created a huge buzz in Oman and gave new tyre buyers many reasons to rejoice.

At a special felicitation ceremony held at the Yokohama showroom in Wattayah, Yoshikuni Nakamura, general manager, Tyre Overseas Sales & Marketing Department, Tokyo Office and Eisuke Imai, general manager, Middle East & Africa, Dubai office awarded the keys of the

Manoj George

Camry Exclusive GL to the winner, says a press release.

During the promotion, customers purchasing 4 tyres were entitled to an American Tourister Trolley Bag / Duffle bag depending on the size of the tyre purchased.

Besides, the instant high value gift, customers were also eligible to a raffle coupon for the grand prize.

Yokohama tyres are ideally designed to meet the demanding operating conditions in Oman. Yokohama’s state-of-the-art technology ensures top-notch safety and reliable performance. Yokohama tyres

have won global acceptance as ‘safe’ tyres which are engineered to offer excellent road grip and comfortable smooth drive, in addition to extended tyre life.

Yokohama Tyres are manufactured at one of the world’s largest and the most advanced facilities of its kind, and are also torture-tested at D-PARC, one of the most challenging test tracks in the world, to ensure maximum safety.

In Oman, Saud Bahwan Automotive markets Yokohama Tyres with a nationwide network of branches and dealers.

Devassy along with Grammy Award winning violinist

Times News Service MUSCAT: With just one day to go, the ISD alumni is all gearedup to celebrate its fifth anniversary celebration titled ‘Yesterday Once More’ set to be held at Al Falaj Hotel.

The event organised by JK Films will feature legendary musician Stephen Devassy along with Grammy Award winning violinist Manoj George setting the stage on fire on Friday at 6:30pm.

The entry is strictly by invitation.

Speaking about the widely publicised event, Betsy Watson, vicepresident of ISD Alumni said that there is a huge response from the former students of the school ever since the event was announced in the media.

“The response is overwhelming ever since we announced it and we are looking forward for a full house event,” she said.

ISD alumni, an association of former students of Indian School Darsait, has been on the forefront ever since it was launched in 2010.

“Our aim is to bring all the for-

mer students of the school under one roof and we have been successful in our initiatives. Many of the former students have already arrived here in Muscat to be part of the alumni meet on Friday.

The event is purely for the former students of the school who have registered with us and the major highlight of course is the performance of these two legends on stage,” Betsy informed.

Spot registration has been arranged for those former students who have not yet registered.

“We have a spot registration desk where these former students can come and register,” Betsy added.

“There are so many students in the school whose parents are finding it difficult to pay the school fees. These students are very good in studies. This mega event will be will be organised for these students. In a way we are giving something back to the school,” said Midhun Mukund, general-secretary of ISD Alumni.

The effort of this scholarship, according to Midhun is the hard work of the dedicated committee members who have been working over the last one year to organise this event.

“It took us one year to reach this stage today. Our dedicated mem-

bers in the organising committee have worked hard to make this (scholarship) happen,” he said.

Sabco Centre is the presenter of the event; while Malabar Gold & Diamonds and Hussain Fadhil & Partners are the gold sponsors.

Renna, Genesis and Al Amani TVR Group are the silver sponsors. The co-sponsors are: Al Ajwakh Group, Al Eman Dental Clinic, Arabian Industries, Reema Building Materials, Al Hikma International Medical Centre, Shah Nagardas Manji & Co., Al Azaiba United Co., Al Zakwani Enterprises, Raha, Index Group, AA Group of Companies, Ramford Institute of Business Management, Foodlands Restaurant, Axis Events, Rajeev Travel and Tourism, Grand Technical Equipments, Abdul Fatah Mohd Noor Co., Sanford Electronics, Majan Events, Nabras Dhofar Trading and Contracting, Aster family.

Times of Oman is the official media partner, while Crystal Suites is the hospitality partner, Talentz is the light and sound partner, Jet Airways is the official airline, 360 Degrees and On the Rocks are the official restaurants.

The official photography is by Al Hashmi Studio and Green Ghubrah Printing Press is the official printing partner.

C

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM THUR SDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

SECTION

BIG-HITTING YUSUF EYES TWENTY20 WORLD CUP SQUAD BERTH >C3

SPOR YOUR GAME

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INSIDE LIFESTYLE

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India’s chances bright at Rio, says badminton expert Vimal The former India international and experienced coach, spoke to Times Sport about the ever growing popularity of badminton in India, the factors that contributed to Indian players success and their prospects at the 2016 Rio Olympics

A. SESHAGIRI RAO

ALL ATTENTION: Experienced Indian badminton coach Vimal Kumar speaks to the Indian School Muscat students during a coaching camp at the school’s new multi-purpose hall on Wednesday. – JUN ESTRADA/Times of Oman

MUSCAT: India, without doubt, is now a world power in badminton.

Over the years, thanks to the ‘government support and infrastructure development’, Indian badminton has ‘gone from strength to strength’ and thanks equally to the success of a handful of stars, led by top women’s player Saina Nehwal, the country is now looking forward to Olympic glory in a little over six months at 2016 Rio Games.

To know more about the growing popularity of the sport, not just in India but in the Asian continent as a whole, Times Sport caught up with

former India international and experienced coach Vimal Kumar.

The former French Open and Welsh International Open champion is in the capital on an invitation from the Indian School Muscat (ISM) to impart training to a select group of students on the school premises.

The amiable and soft spoken Olympian took time off his busy schedule to express his views on badminton in India and Asia, and about India’s medal prospects at the Rio Games.

Having represented India at the

raoas@timesofoman.com

international level, including 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and having groomed champions as coach, and not to forget the famous ‘revolt’ launched in association with legendary Prakash Padukone against Badminton Association of India (BAI) in the 1990s for the ‘betterment of badminton’, Vimal Kumar is the right person to talk about the sport in India.

On the current popularity of badminton in India, Vimal Kumar said: “To be frank badminton has always been popular in India.

The country has been fortunate to

FOOTBALL

Platini will not attend FIFA ethics committee hearing PARIS: Suspended European soccer chief Michel Platini will not attend Friday’s FIFA ethics committee hearing in protest at what he condemns as a political process designed to prevent him running to lead the world governing body, his lawyers said on Wednesday.

Platini was provisionally suspended for 90 days on Oct. 8, alongside outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter, over a suspicious payment from FIFA to Platini, deepening a corruption scandal that has engulfed soccer’s ruling body.

The ethics panel is set to rule on their cases, and could impose much longer bans than the provisional suspensions if it finds the men guilty of violations. Blatter is due to appear on Thursday. Both men have denied any wrongdoing.

Platini’s lawyers objected to comments in French newspaper L’Equipe by ethics committee spokesman Andreas Bantel that the former France captain would be sidelined for “several years”.

“Michel Platini ... has decided not to attend his hearing at the FIFA ethics committee on Dec. 18, 2015, as the verdict of this ethics committee has been announced in the press last weekend by one of its spokespersons, Mr Andreas Bantel, in disregard of all fundamental rights, starting with the presumption of innocence,” the lawyers said in a statement.

By his decision to boycott the hearing Platini “intends to show his deepest indignation towards a process which he considers as uniquely political and designed to prevent him from putting himself forward for the FIFA presidency,” the lawyers said in their statement.

FIFA said they noted Platini’s decision but his lawyers were still welcome to attend the hearing, which would be handled in “an unbiased manner”.

“Mr Platini would miss the opportunity to present his points of view vis-a-vis the adjudicatory chamber in person,” FIFA’s ethics committee said in a statement.

“However, his legal representa-

Michel Platini, who has been head of European soccer’s governing body UEFA since 2002, had registered as a candidate to replace Sepp Blatter in a vote on February 26. He had been seen as a frontrunner for the job before he was suspended as part of an investigation into the payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2 million) he received from FIFA in 2011 for work he completed between 1998 and 2002

tives would be fully able to present his case at the hearing.”

It added: “We would like to clearly stress that the adjudicatory chamber of the ethics committee will deal with the present case in the same way as with any other procedure independently and in an unbiased manner.”

Platini, who has been head of European soccer’s governing body UEFA since 2002, had registered as a candidate to replace Blatter in a vote on February 26.

He had been seen as a frontrunner for the job before he was suspended as part of an investigation into the payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2 million) he received from FIFA in 2011 for

work he completed between 1998 and 2002. Last Friday, he failed in an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to have the suspension lifted, meaning he was unable to attend Saturday’s draw for the Euro 2016 Championship in France.

FIFA is suffering the worst corruption scandal in its more than 100 years of existence, drawing in top officials and triggering investigations by U.S. and Swiss authorities.

Blatter said in a letter on Tuesday that the ethics committee’s investigation was “tendentious and dangerous”, adding: “This trial reminds me of the Inquisition.” - Reuters

have had quality badminton players... right from the 1950s, from the days of Nandu Natekar, Trilok Nath Seth and then Dinesh Khanna of 1960s.”

“The success of Prakash (Padukone) brought the sport under focus,” Vimal said referring to the legendary exploits of Prakash who won the All England Championships and World Cup gold medal in 1980s.

“But it is the success of (Pullela) Gopichand that completely transformed the badminton scene,” he said of the Hyderabad player’s title

winning exploits at the 2001 All England Championships.

“Gopichand’s success combined with subsequent changes brought in by the World Badminton Federation, contributed to more success both in India, and in other Asian countries,” said Vimal.

“Around 2006, there was a major change in scoring format... the new running scoring system really appealed to everyone and more players and countries started tasting success. And obviously the numbers (of people taking to badminton) too increased,” he said. >C5

From 2006 onwards and in the run up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the ministry of sports has done a lot for the sport. They have spent enormous amount of money on developing badminton and in giving exposure to the players Vimal Kumar

Indian badminton coach

C2

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

SPORTS

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River scrape into Club World Cup final with nervy win over hosts An enjoyable, prestigious competition, says Pique

Lucas Alario headed the only goal in the 72nd minute when Hiroshima goalkeeper Takuto Hayashi failed to clear a free kick and Alario headed in the loose ball

OSAKA: South American champions River Plate scraped into the Club World Cup final with a nervous 1-0 win over Sanfrecce Hiroshima thanks largely to goalkeeper Marcelo Barovero on Wednesday.

Lucas Alario headed the only goal in the 72nd minute when Hiroshima goalkeeper Takuto Hayashi failed to clear a free kick and Alario headed in the loose ball.

But Barovero was the real hero as he kept the Argentine side in the game in the first half with a flurry of saves.

River, backed by 15,000 fans, who had made the marathon journey from Argentina, will face either European champions Barcelona or Asia’s Guangzhou Evergrande, who meet on Thursday, in Sunday’s final.

Hiroshima, who qualified for the competition thanks to a rule which awards a place to the champions of the host nation, had knocked out Auckland City from Oceania and African champions TP Mazembe in a surprise run.

Fan power River, whose supporters outnumbered the home fans by at least four to one, had plenty of early possession but struggled to create openings and looked very vulnerable to Hiroshima’s quick counter attacks led by Brazilian striker Douglas.

Barovero was called upon for the first time when he blocked Yusuke Minagawa’s shot after the Hiroshima forward got clear of the

MY BALL: River Plate forward Lucas Alario, right, fights for the ball with Sanfrecce Hiroshima defender

Sho Sasaki, left, during their Club World Cup semifinal football match in Osaka. – AFP

River defence. Minagawa, always a threat, failed to connect with a Douglas pass from another counter attack and then saw an effort brilliantly turned away by Barovero after getting free of two defend-

CRICKET

ers. In between, Barovero also did well to tip over Yusuke Chajima’s effort after he cut inside a defender to make space for the shot.

River had their first real chance just after halftime but Rodrigo

Mora skied his shot over from close range.

The Argentines did not really look like scoring until Alario popped up with the inner late in the second half. - Reuters

OSAKA: Barcelona defender Gerard Pique made all the right noises about the Club World Cup on Wednesday, describing the tournament as enjoyable and prestigious, ahead of their semifinal against China’s Guangzhou Evergrande.

Piquet also warned that the Asian champions, coached by Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari, may try to disrupt Barcelona’s game with tactical fouling in Thursday’s match in Yokohama.

The competition, featuring the six continental club champions plus a team from the host nation, draws little interest in Europe but Piquet dismissed suggestions it was just a mid-season excursion for the European champions.

“The world club championship is a very prestigious competition,” Piquet told a news conference in Yokohama. “These are unique opportunities which history gives you.

“It’s enjoyable, you live new experiences, and get to know different cultures and ways of understanding football. It’s good at a professional level.”

No European team have failed to reach the final of the tournament since it started in its current form in 2005 and Barcelona are runaway favourites to win the title for a third time.

Former Brazil and Portugal coach Scolari, however, revels in knockout competitions and is a master in the art of spoiling tactics.

“I imagine they will try to use any method they can to stop us and disrupt our style of play,” said Piquet.

“One way of doing this is by committing fouls.”

CANDID: Barcelona player Gerard Pique. – Reuters

Earlier, Scolari said he did not expect Barcelona to be weakened by the absence of Brazilian forward Neymar, who is injured.

“Neymar is one of the best three players in the world and has kept on progressing over the course of the last five years. But Barcelona have 25 or 26 players of a similar standard,” he said.

Guangzhou were beaten 3-0 by Bayern Munich when they reached the semi-final two years ago under Marcello Lippi, but Scolari was confident of a good result.

“We are getting better day by day and I’m very grateful to my players. We are aware of our own qualities and Barcelona’s qualities. My players are very motivated and intelligent. We will give a good performance.

“We will not do anything special. We are the champions of Asia and we have to be motivated.

“How many teams in the world would want to be in our position today? That is the greatest motivation.” - Reuters

LOOKING TO INDIA

Cummins replaces Gabriel in West Indies Test squad SYDNEY: Uncapped pace bowler Miguel Cummins has been called into the West Indies squad in place of the injured Shannon Gabriel for the final two Tests of the series against Australia, the West Indies Cricket Board said on Wednesday.

Gabriel was ruled out of Melbourne and Sydney matches after injuring his left ankle last week during the innings and 212-run

defeat in the first test in Hobart.

Barbadian right-armer Cummins, 25, has played one One-day International for his country and taken 99 wickets at an average of 22.83 in 36 first class matches.

West Indies play a tour match against Victoria in Geelong starting on Saturday before the test series resumes at Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 26. - Reuters

EXPERTS RECRUITED: Indian Premier League expert Mike Hussey, left, and former India player Sridharan Sriram was recruited by

Cricket Australia to help team prepare for the World Twenty20 tournament to be held in India from March 8 to April 3.

Australia bring Sriram, Hussey on board for World Twenty20 SYDNEY: Australia have recruited former India player Sridharan Sriram to help their team prepare for the conditions they will face in the World Twenty20 in India early next year, Cricket Australia said on Wednesday.

Sriram, an all-rounder who played eight ODIs for India between 2000 and 2004, worked with Australia A on their tour of India earlier this year and was slated to travel with the Test side to Bangladesh in October before the trip was postponed.

The 39-year-old will work with the Australia side during their three warm-up matches against South Africa prior to their arrival in India for the March 8-April 3 tournament.

Former Australia batsman Mike Hussey will also work with the side for two weeks of the tournament, bringing to bear his experience of playing on the subcontinent in the India Premier

Sriram’s focus will be on getting the players as prepared as possible for what they will face in India.

Mike’s advice and support will be of great benefit to the players who have played a large amount of Test and ODI cricket in the last 12 months Pat Howard, Cricket Australia League competition.

“Sriram’s focus will be on getting the players as prepared as possible for what they will face in India,” Cricket Australia’s Pat

Howard said in a news release.

“Mike has been one of our most successful players at transitioning between the different formats and his advice and support in this

area will be of great benefit to the players who have played a large amount of Test and ODI cricket in the last 12 months.”

Australia have played just one Twenty20 international in 2015, with the triumphant 50-over World Cup campaign and Test cricket taking priority.

The World Twenty20 is the one major international prize that has eluded Australia, whose players in the past have struggled to combat spin bowling on the slow decks of the subcontinent.

“As a proud Australian cricketer I am delighted to be involved in Australia’s campaign for the World T20 title,” said Hussey.

“I’m really looking forward to working with the boys and assisting in any way possible with their preparation and match day plans.”

Australia play New Zealand in Dharamsala on March 18 in their opening match of the tournament. - Reuters

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

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SPORTS CRICKET

Awaiting government nod for Pakistan series: BCCI to Giles

Big-hitting Yusuf Pathan eyes berth in T20 World Cup squad Yusuf Pathan, who last played an international T20 for India in March 2012, has been regularly performing for his IPL side Kolkata Knight

MEDIATOR: Giles Clarke.

Riders and making it count for Baroda

LAHORE: Former England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke has been told by the Indian cricket board authorities they are waiting for the government approval for a series against Pakistan in Sri Lanka.

Giles has played the role of a facilitator for the resumption of India-Pakistan cricketing ties, holding meetings in Dubai with the boards’ officials recently.

But he too has received a reply similar to what was given to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) when he spoke to Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Shashnak Manohar.

The Indian board chief told him that the Indian government had not yet given its go-ahead for the series, reports dawn.com on Wednesday.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has already given the green light to the PCB to host the series in Sri Lanka.

Two tentative dates for the series, comprising three Oneday Internationals and two T20 matches, have been put forward by the PCB: December 15-January 4 and December 19-January 4.

The PCB hasn’t officially announced Clarke’s reply to its chief Shaharyar Khan, the report added.

Shaharyar Khan on Monday announced he will wait for a few more days for a final decision on the series after receiving a call from Clarke, who reassured that he will speak to the BCCI again.

The two boards signed an MoU last year in which they agreed Pakistan will host India four times while India will host their arch-rivals twice in the next eight years.

The PCB isn’t keen to officially announce the cancellation of the series since it believes such a move can have an adverse impact on their next scheduled series with India in 2017. - IANS

in the current Ranji season. The 33-yearold all-rounder is sure that he still has a lot to offer to Indian cricket

NEW DELHI: Having honed his all-round skills, swashbuckling all-rounder Yusuf Pathan is eyeing a berth in India’s world T20 squad on account of his batting prowess and a good showing during the Ranji season and IPL. Yusuf, who last played an international T20 for India in March 2012, has been regularly performing for his IPL side Kolkata Knight Riders and making it count for Baroda in the current Ranji season. The 33-year-old all-rounder is sure that he still has a lot to offer to Indian cricket.

“I have had a very good Ranji season this year. If you talk about T20 then I have had a very good IPL season for KKR. I am bowling well, letting down 9-10 overs in every match (Vijay Hazare), so things are moving in the right direction. Wickets are coming my way and I am also getting runs when I am batting.

“So obviously I am eyeing a place in the upcoming tournament and that’s the T20 World Cup. And I believe that if I keep performing then I will get an opportunity,” Yusuf told PTI in an interview.

On his cricketing future, Yusuf said, “I have a lot of cricket left in me and a long road ahead of me. I am just focussed on doing well.

“Performing to the best of my ability and leave the rest to the almighty. I believe if you keep performing, selectors certainly take notice.

HOPEFUL: Yusuf Pathan hopes to get a call from Team India after his excellent performance in Ranji Trophy tournament. – File photo

“My aim has always been big and those will remain so till the time I play cricket. I will work harder to achieve my goals. If you do well for your team consistently, the team will always like to take your services and give you an opportunity.

So my goal is always to play good cricket and work towards it.”

Making his Team India debut in 2007, four years after his star brother Irfan Pathan wore his international cap in 2003, Yusuf made an impression right away in the inaugural World T20 final.

Opening the batting in the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side, Yusuf hit Pakistan’s Mohammed Asif for a six in his eight-ball stay as India won a thriller by 5 runs.

The Men in Blue have come a long way after that historic moment with the Test captaincy changing hands from Mahendra Singh Dhoni to Virat Kohli.

“Kohli has done well in the few matches that he has captained so far. He is a good leader and has shown positivity in his approach.

He is aggressive on the field, but that is positive aggression I believe. He also helps the team and

My aim has always been big and those will remain so till the time I play cricket. I will work harder to achieve my goals. If you do well for your team consistently, the team will always like to take your services and give you an opportunity. So my goal is always to play good cricket and work towards it Yusuf Pathan the teammates and that is a good sign for Indian cricket,” he said.

The destructive batsman has also been a useful off-spinner for his side, something that works well in limited-overs cricket. Yusuf insists that he has worked

PICK OF THE YEAR

Shane Warne names Ganguly captain of his India Test XI MELBOURNE: Australia’s legspin legend Shane Warne, in his best India Test XI, has named Saurav Ganguly as captain, Sachin Tendulkar as the No.4 batsman and V.V.S. Laxman as the 12th man.

Warne, who is the second highest Test wicket-taker in the world with 708 scalps from 145 matches, continued his series of naming the best XI from countries he has played against.

And it was unsurprising that Warne named Test cricket’s overall greatest run-scorer Sachin Tendulkar at No.4 in his side.

Tendulkar — who retired at 40 having played a staggering 200 Tests, scored 15,921 runs in his remarkable career, with 51 hundreds — was an automatic selection considering the momentous on-field rivalry he has had with the Australian spin wizard.

However, Warne said selecting his India XI was his toughest team to date, with the biggest decision being who to choose between Laxman (8,781 runs in 134 Tests) and former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin (6,126 runs from 99 Test) at the No.6 position.

Between 1996 and 2012, Laxman hit six out of his 17 Test hundreds, and four out of his six One-Day Internationals (ODIs) hundreds against Australia.

“This was the hardest team to

AUSSIE LEGEND’S PICK: Shane Warne named Saurav Ganguly as the leader and Sachin Tendulkar as

the No.4 batsman.

select as I played against a few legends at the end of their respective careers like (Dilip) Vengsarkar, Sanjay Manjreker, Ravi Shastri and Manoj Prabhakar as well as current players like Zaheer Khan too,” Warne wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday.

“The Indian side I’ve selected is a very strong one and would be tough to play against. The hardest position to select for me was the number 6 spot between my great friend VVS or Azharuddin.”

Ultimately, while Warne named Azharuddin in his team and opted to have Laxman carry the drinks, he said the final decision would depend on the conditions.

“Hence I named 12 and would choose the 12th man on the day!”

Warne’s greatest India XI features Virender Sehwag (8,273 runs) and Navjot Singh Sidhu (3,202 runs) at the top of the order, followed by Rahul Dravid (13,288 runs) at first drop.

Tendulkar would be followed by Sourav Ganguly (7,212 runs) - also named captain of Warne’s team while Azharuddin at No.6 would be followed by iconic all-rounder Kapil Dev (434 wickets and 5,248 runs).Current India limited-overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni sneaks into the side and would wear the gloves.

While Warne’s criteria for his

greatest XIs demands he must have played against all selected, Dhoni qualifies having faced Warne in the Indian Premier League (IPL).Anil Kumble (619 wickets), Harbhajan Singh (417 wickets) and Javagal Srinath (236 wickets) round out Warne’s bowling attack.

Next, Warne has promised to name his greatest combined Ashes XI and Sri Lankan Test XI. The team: Virender Sehwag, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Mohammed Azharuddin, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Javagal Srinath (VVS Laxman 12th). - IANS

on all aspects of his game since being out of favour from the national side.

“I have been working on my bowling for quite sometime now and the results are certainly showing. Not only on my bowling, I have

worked tirelessly on every aspect of my game, whether it is batting or fielding,” he said.

Having played 57 ODIs and 22 T20s for the national side, Yusuf feels at home with the limitedovers format, but is not averse to trying his luck in Test matches as well.

“Look, I have played ODIs and T20s, so obviously I think more about ODIs and T20s. I have not played Test matches, so can’t say much about them. But it’s not that I don’t wish to play Tests. I have done well in the four-day Ranji matches and will certainly look to play these, but yes, for the moment I am enjoying my limited-overs cricket,” he said.

Cricket apart, Yusuf and Irfan are also seen donning many hats but the older brother feels that its family that keeps the two occupied off the field.

“The Cricket Academy of Pathans (CAP) is being looked after by the coaches that we have, so that doesn’t really keep us busy.

Either it’s cricket that takes our time or it’s family that we are surrounded with,” he concluded. - PTI

C4

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

SPORTS Tainted Jacob Martin gets one-time grant from BCCI Jacob Martin was arrested in Delhi on April 27, 2011 on charges of human trafficking after he had a formed a bogus cricket team and send one Nimesh Kumar to the United Kingdom by obtaining visa through fraudulent means.

He was later released on bail but the case is still pending against Martin

Jacob Martin, who played 10 ODIs for India between 1999 and 2001, was arrested on charges of human trafficking but the Board of Control for Cricket in India has cleared his onetime grant

NEW DELHI: Accused of spotfixing during IPL 2013, tainted cricketers S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila’s monetary grants have been withheld by the BCCI, which has applied a different yardstick for another tainted former India cricketer Jacob Martin.

Martin was arrested in Delhi on April 27, 2011 on charges of human trafficking after he had a formed a bogus cricket team and send one Nimesh Kumar to the United Kingdom by obtaining visa through fraudulent means.

He was later released on bail but the case is still pending against Martin.

According to the BCCI website where the payment or one-time

grant of former cricketers have been recorded, Martin’s name in the beneficiary list is at No 118.

The former Baroda right-hander, who played 10 ODIs, has been paid Rs 30 lakh by the BCCI. Martin’s payment again came into prominence as at the start of this month, a Delhi Court dismissed his plea challenging framing of charges against him in that particular case.

On December 1, 2015, the additional Sessions Judge Vinod Kumar dismissed a revision petition filed by Martin against a magiste-

rial court’s order framing charges for alleged offences of cheating and criminal conspiracy against him.

“Even if the documentary evidence has been weeded out as already discussed, the statements of aforesaid witnesses (of police) are enough to frame charge against the revisionist (Martin). What is the worth of these statements, can only be seen during the trial.

“However, I am of the opinion that the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate has rightly framed the charge against the re-

visionist and I find no infirmity in the impugned order and the charge,” the judge said while dismissing his plea.

In fact, Martin’s payment was cleared by the last finance committee and one of its member said that they had no clue about Martin’s arrest.

“Look, we were finance committee members. It is BCCI’s duty to do all the checks & balances. He had played 138 first-class matches and qualified for the payment. As far as police case is concerned, BCCI officials in charge should

have informed us. His payment was passed as no one even raised a question,” a member of the erstwhile finance committee told PTI. In fact, questions are being raised that if Sreesanth and Chavan are not being paid for corrupting the game, how did Martin get away before clearing his name in the case.

The police had opposed Martin’s plea in the sessions court contending that while framing charges, the magisterial court had referred to statements of various prosecution witnesses which prima facie established that Martin had floated a bogus cricket club and obtained visa for co-accused Nimesh Kumar Manubhai as a team member.

Martin’s counsel has told the court that in 2003, his client became a part of the Vadodara-based club which toured the United Kingdom for friendly cricket matches with the local English cricket clubs.

He argued that in September 2003, Martin took a team of cricketers to the UK and Patel was one of the members of the team. The lawyer told the court that Martin had returned to India within the validity period of his VISA but later, it transpired that in August 2004, Patel had travelled to London and allegedly overstayed there after which he was deported back to India in December 2004.

He said that after Patel had returned to the Indira Gandhi International airport here, a complaint was lodged against him alleging that the home stamp of UK affixed in his passport appeared to be counterfeit. — PTI

CRICKET

Hales fails again as England build big lead POTCHEFSTROOM: Opener Alex Hales failed for the second time as England ended day two of their warm-up match against a South African Invitation XI on 99 for three on Wednesday. The tourists lead by 381 runs with seven second-innings wickets remaining after bowling out their opponents for 188 at Senwes Park.

The usually fluent Hales, likely to open alongside Alastair Cook in the first test against South Africa starting in Durban on Dec. 26, repeated his first-innings score when he was bowled on eight, again falling to seamer Junior Dala after having laboured for 42 balls.

Cook (37) looked in fine touch before he was trapped leg before wicket, also for the second time in the game, while Nick Compton (15) could not repeat his firstinnings half-century. Joe Root (25 not out) and Gary Balance (six not out) will resume on the final morning on Thursday.

Stuart Broad had earlier impressed with the ball in recording figures of three for 18 as the inexperienced home batting line-up were dismissed for 188.

That included a 51-run lastwicket stand, the only frustration for the bowling attack on the day. Seamer Mark Footitt was expensive but bagged figures of two for 51 from 12 overs, while all-rounder Ben Stokes followed up his century with the bat on Tuesday with figures of two for 25. — Reuters

FOOTBALL

Chennaiyin to face Goa in ISL final KOLKATA: Defending champions Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) pulled off a 2-1 win against Chennaiyin FC in a high-voltage encounter but lost out on aggregate (2-4) to crash out of the Indian Super League (ISL) in the semifinals at the Salt Lake stadium here on Wednesday.

In the first leg of the semifinal clash at Pune, Atletico had lost 0-3 and in the second leg failed to overturn the deficit against Chennaiyin, who now face FC Goa in the final on December 20.

For ATK it was Serbian striker Dejan Lekic and Iain Hume who netted the goals, while for Chennaiyin it was substitute Fikru Teferra who got into the scoresheet.

On the verge of the crushing defeat, a frustrated Atletico coach Antonio Lopez Habas was directed by the referee to leave the touchline after an altercation at the closing stages of the encounter.

Earlier, the hosts were quick to get off the blocks and could have had an early in the fourth minute of the contest but Lekic rattled the side-netting with a strong right footer.

As Atletico pressed forward in numbers, it left some huge open spaces at the back, allowing the opposition to catch them on counter-attack.

And they almost did, as Stiven Mendoza made them pay with a solo run cutting through the ATK defence but his shot was thwarted away brilliantly by Amrinder Singh diving to his right.

It was finally a mistake from Chennaiyin defender Bernard Mendy which led to the hosts scoring their opener.

Mendy tried to head back his goalkeeper Edel Bete the ball but Lekic somehow got in between them and tapped it into the net bringing the 68,340 people to their feet.

Egged on by the vociferous supporters, ATK kept on creating waves of attack and Bete had to be on his toes to deny Arata Izumi once and then Sameegh Doutie.

The latter’s low shot nearly crept in but Bete denied him with a strong right hand as the scoreline read 1-0 in favour of the hosts.

It was high drama after the breather as Chennai and Atletico both stepped on the gas.

At the 55th minute mark, Doutie tried darting into space with the ball but was heavily brought down

by Thoi Singh and the Chennaiyin defender was shown the yellow card. Amidst confusion ATK’s Nallapan Mohanraj decided to

KEEN BATTLE: Action from a tense second leg ISL semifinal between Chennaiyin FC and Atletico de

Kolkata at Kolkata. – PTI

take matters into his own hands and headbutted Mendoza, however, the right-back got away with just a yellow card.

A few minutes later Bete was once again pressed into action as he acrobatically tipped off a Tiri header over the bar.

Lekic then tried his luck with a

free-kick, though it crashed into the wall, the rebound fell kindly in the way of Izumi but his shot was blocked by a defender just before the goal line.

The game sprung into life again as Hume, with an assist from Lekic, found the net with a crisp volley which gave ATK a glimmer of

hope in the last few minutes.

But then an error from defender Arnab Mandal and goalkeeper Amrinder let substitute Fikru through on goal, and the Ethiopian calmly slotted it in for Chennai’s first of the night and fourth of the tie, breaking the hearts of the ATK fans at the stadium. - IANS

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SPORTS

BADMINTON

< FROM

C1 Vimal credits Saina for more girls taking to badminton “Till then the sport was dominated by countries like China, Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia and to an extent Denmark. But the new format helped the other nations to catch up with them and among those who benefited from the new format were India, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Singapore and Thailand.”

Speaking more about Indian success, Vimal also credited the government for ever growing popularity. “From 2006 onwards and in the run up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games (hosted by India), the ministry of sports has done a lot for the sport. We have to give credit where it is due. They have spent enormous amount of money on developing badminton and in giving exposure to the players. That really helped in further growth.”

Vimal also credited the current women’s world No. 1 Saina Nehwal whose success ‘encouraged more girls to take to sport’.

“Saina is a special player. Ever since she won the silver medal at 2004 Commonwealth Games as a sixteen year old, there has been no looking back. She really caught the imagination of the people and encouraged more girls to take to the sport,” he said.

Vimal, who is involved with Prakash Padukone Academy in Bangalore since quitting as national coach in 2006, is credited with guiding Saina to become the world No.1 early this year after the player left national coach Gopichand’s

‘Omani children should be encouraged to try the sport’

DELIGHTED: Indian School Muscat students are all smiles as they pose for a group photo along with

MUSCAT: Indian badminton coach Vimal Kumar sees scope for development of badminton in the Sultanate in a big way.

The former international and Indian Olympian said: “I know football is the number sport in Oman. But there is scope for development of indoor sports like badminton in a big way, especially considering the climatic conditions here.”

“All they need to do is to create awareness and involve the kids, the sport will really take off,” he added.

He was all praise for the Indian School Muscat (ISM) for arranging a training camp for their school students.

Indian badminton coach Vimal Kumar during a coaching camp at school’s new multi-purpose hall on Wednesday. – JUN ESTRADA/Times of Oman

academy in Hyderabad.

Vimal, however, refused neither to get into controversy regarding Saina’s switch of academies nor to take all credit for his protege’s accolade. “I just happened to be her coach when Saina reached the top of the world rankings. I think we

should give credit to Gopichand as well, as she trained at his academy before coming to Bangalore.”

Asked about another controversy involving Jwala Gutta, who complained of doubles players not getting proper attention, Vimal said: “She (Jwala) is a different

personality and she is outspoken.”

“Without going deep into the issue, all I want to say is the controversy led to a change of attitude just like our revolt against BAI back in 1990s. We have to admit that. Now the Indian association is giving more attention to the dou-

All set for Renaissance inter school sailing final

bles and they have even roped in a Malaysian coach to help the team.”

Queried further on ‘revolt’ which led to formation of a parallel national association, he recalled: “That time the players like Gopichand and (Aparna) Popat were not getting proper chances and the

EYEING TITLE: A file photo of Oman Sail’s young sailors. The Inter-School championship will take place on December 19. – Supplied photo

Lining up on day of final will be sailors from Sur Private School, Abdul Rahman bin Auf School and Said bin Taimur School, who emerged from the heat at Oman Sail’s Sur Sailing School

with over 150 of the country’s most promising sailors aged 8-12 from across 20 schools. The three winning teams from each heat now advance to the finals to proudly represent their school on December 19 to determine Oman’s best sailing team. Lining up on finals day will be sailors from Sur Private School,

Abdul Rahman bin Auf School and Said bin Taimur School, who emerged from the heat at Oman Sail’s Sur Sailing School.

Following the Marina Bander Al Rowdha heat, teams representing Saidia, Qantab and Ibn Nafees schools will take part in the final, and teams from Manhal School, Alshikh Nasser School and Ahmed Bin Majid School have advanced after qualifying in the Al Mouj Muscat heat. Completing the line-up will be finalists from Mussanah’s Ka’ab Bin Sur, Al Khalil bin Ahmed and Kanbsh bin Moh’d schools.

Rashid Al Kindi, Oman Sail’s National Youth Team Manager, said: “The heats have shown us that the standard of sailing at each of the schools is very high, and the potential to get even better bodes well for the future. The sailors

going forward to the final represent the best of the next generation of Omani sailors and as they continue to progress, Oman Sail will support their development at every stage.”

Alablaj Al Dughaishi, a finalist from the Al Mouj Muscat Sailing School, said: “It was so much fun sailing with my friends and teammates, and we will try to be the best sailors to win a trophy for our school in the final. I will continue to learn about sailing because I dream of one day winning trophies for my country.”

The final will take place at Kalboo Beach in Muttrah Corniche with the 2015 Inter-School Sailing Champions crowned at a special prize-giving at Kalboo Park Amphitheatre as part of Oman Sail’s 45th National Day Sailing Festival.

exposure they needed. We were glad the revolt led to a big change.”

Turning his attention to Rio, he said: “India can really look forward to Rio Olympics with medal hopes.

Saina is a real medal prospect and so are (P. V.) Sindhu, (Kidambi) Srikanth and Prannoy (Kumar).”

TENNIS

Fatma, Angelina in doubles semifinals MUSCAT: Omani star Fatma Al Nabhani and her Russian partner Angelina Gabueva fought their way into the semifinals of the doubles competition at the ongoing $25,000 ITF Pro Circuit tournament in Thailand on Wednesday.

In a thrilling quarterfinal contest, Fatma and Angelina rallied from a first set deficit to overcome Chinese duo of Fang Ying Xun and Qiu Yu Ye. The Omani-Russian pair lost the first set at 3-6 but they kept their cool to win the match with a final scoreline of 3-6, 6-2 (10-7).

In the last four stage, Fatma and Angelina will face Russian third seeds Irina Khromacheva and Va-

MUSCAT: After six days of racing, 36 young sailors representing 12 schools have qualified for the final of the Renaissance Inter-School Sailing Championship 2015.

Qualifying heats at Oman Sail’s four sailing centres in Almouj Muscat, Marina Bandar Al Rowdha, Al Musannah and Sur started

“I am happy to be here and training these kids. I am actually glad to see these basic facilities being provided by the school for their students,” he said. “The schools like ISM can also do more by inviting and involving some of the local boys and girls during such training camps.”

Vimal also stressed the need to train at the best academies and to learn from the experience. “Ideally these boys and girls along with a sports teacher should be visiting and training at the academies, even if it is for short durations.

Both the players as well as the teachers, who are their coaches, should get exposure.”

Fatma Al Nabhani

leria Solovyeva. Fatma also took part in the singles competition, where her campaign ended in a first round loss to Japanese girl Miharv Imanishi.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

SPORTS

WHY GARY NEVILLE’S NEW TASK AT VALENCIA IS

TOUGH & ARDUOUS With the level of scrutiny so high

perhaps we should have expected it but there seemed to be an awful

lot of focus on where and how Gary Neville stood on the touchline at the Mestalla. As the player who served Manchester United at the highest level for twenty years and the businessman, the pundit, the coach, Neville is sure to pour every ounce of energy into this job and if he is succeeds English football will be better off for it. It is early days and Neville will be given time to adapt to new surroundings, to a new language and a new league

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ands in his pockets, rarely straying from the spot Gary Neville took up deep in his technical area and watching as the size of the task that lies ahead at Valencia became clear to him. Los Che needed to beat Lyon and hope that Gent did not beat Zenit St Petersburg to progress from Group H but they got neither.

Lyon came away from Spain with a 0-2 victory and Gent triumphed over Zenit 2-1 to send Valencia and Neville into the Europa League. With many eyes drawn on the Mestalla as it hosted Neville’s first game as a professional head coach, Valencia fell flat as they failed to produce the result in-keeping with Neville’s rapid rise. Despite a positive start from the Spaniards, coming after a hard fight to salvage a late draw against Barcelona on Saturday, watched by Neville in the comfort of club-owner Peter Lim’s private box, Lyon eased to victory courtesy of Maxwell Cornet’s stunning effort just before half-time and a late goal from Alexandre Lacazette.

The home team looked flat and disjointed, inhibited by the anxiety to impress the new manager that gazed on passively anx from the technical area.

Calm amidst the tension Cal Neville promised he would remain calm in his first game in Nev the dugout and he was true to that word, anybody familiar with the level of insight he displayed regularly on Sky Sports would be assured that he was analysing and assessing all wou aspect of his new team’s performance in detail. The match aspe itself would have taught him little and he is wise enough to itse know that judgements can’t be made this early in his reign. kno He aalready knows that the Valencia he is taking over lie ninth in La L Liga, level on points with minnows Eibar, whom they travel to on Sunday for Neville’s first La Liga game in charge, trav having won only five of their first 14 games in charge. hav So far this season the Mestalla has been a nervous place S with supporters quick to turn on outgoing manager Nuno Espirito Santo after sporting director Francisco Rufete and Esp Roberto Ayala, both former players for the club, were jettiRob soned, and this weekend the true business starts for Neville son as he h aims for an upturn in league form to get the supporters back onside.

Fresh faces at his disposal Fre There is plenty with him to work with in order to do just that; The 20 year old Jose Gaya is a huge prospect at left-back, Dani y Parejo and Javi Fuego are both talented midfielders and SanPare tiago Mina, Paco Alcacer and Alvaro Negredo form a dangertiag ous attack-line.

The defence, coping with the loss of Nicolas Otamendi to T Manchester City in the summer and the injury to goalkeeper Man and vice-captain Diego Alves, holds the second-best record La Liga with 11 goals conceded. in L Only Atletico Madrid have shipped less. Andre Gomes can O create from midfield if given the licence to do so while Soficrea ane Feghouli and Pablo Piatti can provide incision from out wide but have so far struggled under the tense atmosphere wid the club has started the season in. That is significantly owing Lim, despite the Singaporean billionaire’s financial power to L rescuing them from near ruin and guiding them back to the resc Champions League, and the involvement of super-agent Cha Jorge Mendes, a close associate of Lim’s.

Jorg This summer has been spent making permanent the seT ries of loan deals Mendes arranged last year, €74 million on compulsory purchase deals, while the supporters watched com Otamendi, the rock in last season’s defence, move to ManOta chester City while they yearned for some fresh and exciting che names to come through the door ahead of their return to the nam Champions League.

Cha They got Aymen Abdennour, a £17 million signing from T Monaco, and Aderlan Santos, arriving from Sporting Braga Mon for £6.5 million. Both players are represented by Mendes.

Otamendi, sold to City for £31 million, was also a client Ota of Mendes, and so too is Rafa Mir, the 19 year old who was M mysteriously called into the Champions League for the demys feat to Zenit in Russia. There is Gomes, the right-back Joao Cancelo and Rodrigo, who Mendes moved from Benfica for Can combined total of around £42 million, there is Ruben Vezo, com Danilo Barbosa and Santi Mina.

Dan Question marks Que Negredo however isn’t represented by Mendes and didn’t Neg play for Nuno after October 4th. When the striker queried his omission the mutiny became too much for Nuno, who was Mendes’s first ever client after he became an agent, and the supporters perceived him to be the puppet under Lim and Mendes’s choreography.

Relations between the manager and Rufete and Ayala R were far from cordial too and when the two popular memwer bers of backroom staff were pushed out, it only served to exacerbate the growing antipathy. “Nuno vete ya” (Nuno go exac now) was the popular Mestalla chant. And so he went and now in ccame Neville. Two Nevilles. Brother Phil will provide assistance as a co-coach alongside the long-serving Salvador sist Gonzalez, the siblings having dealings with Lim in their Gon Hotel Football and Café Football businesses as well as with Hot Salford City, the Singaporean owning 50% of the non-league Salf club the Nevilles run together with the rest of Manchester United’s famous ‘class of 92’. Suspicion will be rife thereUni fore that Neville, having previously never held a manager’s job and his only experience coming as working as a coaching consultant with England while starring as a television puncon dit, will act as another pawn to Lim and therefore Mendes. It was wise then that Neville, seeking an immediate bond with the locals, penned an open letter pleading to give his all to the job and held an open training session in the build-up to the game with Lyon. gam To prove himself as manager of integrity As the t player who served Manchester United at the highest level for fo twenty years and the businessman, the pundit, the coach, Neville is sure to pour every ounce of energy into this job and if Nev he is succeeds English football will be better off for it. It is early days and Neville will be given time to adapt to new surroundings, to a new language and a new league. But soon, starting ideings ally with the trip to Eibar’s tiny 6,300 Ipurua home on Sunday, he will w have to begin convincing that he is not just an accessory to L Lim and Mendes’s business-plan. — ADAM GRAY / o-posts.com

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Culture LIFESTYLE

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Young Blood

THE ELEVEN OMANI ARTISTS WHO VIED FOR THE STAL GALLERY’S YOUNG EMERGING ARTIST PRIZE, REPRESENT A REFRESHING WAVE OF GENERATIONAL CHANGE

S T O R Y:

PAT R I C I A

G R O V E S |

P H O T O G R A P H Y:

J U N

E S T R A D A

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

LIFESTYLE

This exhibition is not about who gets the prize.

It’s about inspiring Omani artists to move forward, to use their talents to provoke critical thinking, address global issues, and to influence the world through their art because, after all, they are the future

As an old ballad proclaims – “The times, they are a-changing.”

The eleven Omani artists, three men and eight women, who competed for the Stal Gallery Young Emerging Artist Prize, represent a nascent wave of generational change, both personal and social. Their artworks are not about traditional subjects or beautiful images. Instead each artist chose a serious theme and an original conceptual framework for their installations and visuals.

“Inner Emotions”, an installation by Shahla Abdulmajid using photography and mixed media causes us to think about the negative emotional states such as anger, anxiety, frustration, low selfesteem and depression that “are sometimes hidden deep inside, but are just as real”. Shahla depicts this by hanging photographic images inside a wire sculpture of the human body. The imagery is eloquent and arresting.

Rawan Al Mahrouqi presents two women looking at each other, one dressed in colour, the other in black, each surrounded by long intrusive arms in outline, the finger tips encroaching on their faces. Titled “Holy Hands 1 & 2”, the installation is on the theme of dress and social perception. Rawan explains, “The Holy Hands symbolise the people who believe they are doing what is right by telling women what to wear in the name of religion. This trivial obsession … might in their eyes seem holy and righteous, but in re-

ality it is suffocating. It shows how society turns tradition into religion as there is no script that instructs women to dress in black”.

While listening to Rawan, I admired the objectivity of her approach – no anger or impassioned judgement against others; instead, a simple desire to make her message clear. Cartoon images of the various thoughts that go through the minds of young women, such as “Why do they keep saying, ‘No, because you are a girl’,” and an animation on a tablet complete Rawan’s compelling installation. She won the prize for best format.

Questioning is a recurring theme in the exhibition. In a video with powerful imagery confronting time and space, Safa Al Balushi takes the viewer on “a reflective and mystifying journey in search of the answer to the big question – ‘Who am I?’” In exploring the rituals of monotheistic religions through startling, surrealistic video imagery, Ahmed Al Mullahi questions aspects of ritual performance culminating in “the spiritual identification to reach the divine source that all humanity seeks to touch”. Riham Noor Al Zadjali exposes what she sees as the true condition of refugees by cramming them photographically into a wooden crate. Provocatively, the piece is called “Illegal”.

A graphics and sound installation titled “Questioning Religion”

by Raiya Al Rawahi was awarded the Grand Prize. Dramatic sounds

and symbolic yet mundane objects illustrate “a Journey from Indoctrination to Skepticism to Enlightenment”. Raiya asks viewers “to think of where they stand, what they stand for, and why.” In the big picture, this carefully composed work is seen as commenting on conventional society in this region and perhaps the extraordinary times in which we live.

Although I would like to include every artist in the exhibition as all are meritorious, there is space for only one more - and so I choose a mixed-media piece on a matter that is currently top of the world agenda, and that is the natural environment.

In “See Me as I See You”, Sarah Al Balushi observes that ‘our appreciation of nature has been dulled by rapid and drowning growth that

is distorting and threatening our perspective of the world around us’.

Sarah expresses the depths of her feeling for nature.

“Nature is watching me and I am watching her … my love for her beauty is unconditional, spontaneous and eternal. She is part of me and I am a part of her.”

Hassan Meer, Artistic Director of Stal, the Gallery that is pioneering a momentous paradigm change for the world of art in Oman, concludes: “This exhibition is not about who gets the prize. It’s about inspiring Omani artists to move forward, to use their talents to provoke critical thinking, address global issues and to influence the world though their art because, after all, they are the future.”

Photography: Jun Estrada

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Actress Jennifer is scared of alien invasion

Actress Jennifer Lawrence says she believes in aliens and is scared that there will be an invasion.

Recalling the storylines of films such as War Of The Worlds, Lawrence said: “Based on history, when we find each other, we kill each other. I don’t feel like aliens are going to be like, ‘Oh great. Let’s get along.’ They might not. They might want to destroy us. Have you seen a Tom Cruise movie? So sometimes I look up into the stars,” she added. Lawrence was asked to ponder on life’s important questions, while she was on The Late Show with host Stephen Colbert.

DiCaprio reveals his brush with death

Lay it All on Me

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s I was waiting to cross a road, I saw a threeyear-old girl release her little hand free from her mother’s grip and run away. My heart raced a bit. For a moment I thought she was going to run straight into the moving traffic.

She did not but stopped yards from me near a large billboard and stared at it.

The giant advertisement was over 10 metres long and she looked tiny in front of it. What would a three-year-old find interesting on a piece of cardboard? It was not about toys but two men warning each other about “too many good things.”

Her mother grabbed her hand and pulled her forward. She was reluctant. She made such a racket that the lady let her take a longer look. She was serious and her eyes looked unblinkingly as if mesmerised. Funny enough, nobody else was interested but her.

There was nothing memorable about it. Finally, she let herself be dragged away and I am sure she forgot about it the moment she

turned her head away from it.

Ads are provoking at best and boring at worst. Their messages are never insincere. This particular one “too many good things‚” insinuate what you are missing if you don’t buy a product they are selling. For a kid like her, it is just a fascination that she would grow up to last her entire life.

If you think carefully, ads serve no purpose. They are annoying, misleading and make a lot of people poorer. The good news is that, they are so familiar that you walk past them without noticing them. They blend with the pavements and the buildings. The bad news, they are fast becoming a cult to three-yearolds. The danger here is that you cannot reason with a toddler. It is too much of a bad thing rather than too many good things.

One ad designer said that it is part of the revolution. Accept it or be doomed. I disagreed. Ads, especially billboards, destroy the soul of living. It is the graphics that communicate with you and not the people. I was so obsessed

Ads are provoking at best and boring at worst.

Their messages are never insincere. They are annoying, misleading and make a lot of people poorer

by it that I dreamt of giant ants eating every ad in the world. In an industry that generates billions of dollars a year, it sure provides the livelihood of millions. It is a cultural revolution alright. Of course you can escape its reach when you drive to villages. Basket weavers or people who work on clays have no use of them. Big businesses find villagers too poor

to buy designer shoes. You would not find a mobile phone being advertised behind a donkey cart, would you?

There are no neon lights there but cows mooing and an odd bat flapping its wings in the night.

When I put this question to a marketing man on why ads are not seen in villages, his answer was, “goats eat them from the walls.” Of course that is not the real reason and he was only being sarcastic. Hooves imprints on the dusty tracks after a seasonal rain are the billboards of the villages.

Dangling pottery and silver ornaments hanging from the front of the shops need no marketing skills. Three-year-olds would never be corrupted. They see the proper representation and not the graphics. Alas, as villages are gobbled up by sprawling cities, even cows are getting scarce these days. If you are wondering why shopping is getting costlier than before, than understand that a fair size of the overheads go to the ad designing. And we all promote their existence.

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has shared that he has had three near-death experiences, including a shark attack, an engine explosion on a plane and a skydiving accident. “A great white jumped into my cage when I was diving in South Africa. Half its body was in the cage, and it was snapping at me. I sort of fell down to the bottom and tried to lie flat.

The great white took about five or six snaps an arm’s length away from my head.

The guys there said that has never happened in the 30 years they’d been doing it,” DiCaprio said.

Taylor Swift announces concert film

Singer Taylor Swift celebrated her 26th birthday with the announcement of her concert film.

“Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes. I have a little surprise for you.#1989WorldTourLIVE @applemusic (sic),” Swift, who celebrated her birthday on December 13, tweeted. Swift also included a clip of the film in which she explained her dreams for the tour. — IANS

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CITY CINEMA Contact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68 www.citycinemaoman.net facebook.com/citycinemaoman SHATTI Star Wars: The Force Awakens (3D) (Action | Adventure | Fantasy) (PG12) Cast: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher 12:30, 4:30, 6:00, 9:30, 11:45, 11:55 PM Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2D) (Action | Adventure | Fantasy) (PG12) Cast: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher 2:00, 7:00 PM Dilwale (Action | Crime) (PG12) Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Kriti Sanon, Varun Dhawan 3:00, 5:30, 8:45, 11:30 PM Bajirao Mastani (Drama | History) (TBC) Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh 8:30 PM The Good Dinosaur (3D) (Animation) (U) Voice Overs: Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, Maleah Nipay-Padilla 3:30 PM MUSCAT GRAND MALL Star Wars: The Force Awakens -3D (Action | Adventure | Fantasy ) PG12 Cast : Oscar Isaac, Harrison Ford 11:00AM, 12:45, 4:30, 6:15, 9:00 & 11:45PM Gold Class: 3:00, 8:45 & 11:15PM Dilwale (Action | Romantic | Comedy) PG12 Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Kriti Sanon, Varun Dhawan, 1:30, 3:15, 8:45 & 11:30PM Gold Class: 5:45PM The Good Dinosaur-3D (Animation) U Cast: Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand 10:45PM & 7:00PM

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (MX4D) (Action | Adventure | Fantasy) (PG12) Cast: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Issac 2:30, 5:45, 9:00, 11:30 pm

Bajirao Mastani – 2D (PG12) Drama, History, Romance Cast – Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra 2:15, 5:15, 8:15, 11:15PM

Cast : Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac 4:45 pm /09:15 pm Star Wars (Action)(VIP LOUNGE)(PG12) Cast : Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac 2:45 pm /05:15 pm /11:00 pm Star Wars (Action, Adventure)(MX4D)(PG12) Cast : Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac 2:30 pm /05:45 pm /09:00 pm /11:30 pm Dilwale (Action, Romance)(2D)(PG12) Cast : Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Kriti Sanon 2:15 pm /05:15 pm /08:15 pm /11:15 pm /11:45 pm Dilwale (Action)(2D)(PG12)-VIP LOUNGE Cast : Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Kriti Sanon 7:45 pm BAJIRAO MASTANI (Drama)(2D)(PG12) Cast : Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone 2:45 pm /05:45 pm /08:45 pm /11:45 pm The Good Dinosaur (Animation)(3D)(U) Cast: Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, Maleah Nipay-Padilla 2:30 pm /07:15 pm

Cast – Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhavan, Kriti Sanon 2:00, 02:30, 05:00, 05:30, 08:00, 08:30, 11:00, 11:30PM Star Wars – 3D (PG12) Action | Adventure | Fantasy Cast – Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Brendan 2:00, 04:25, 06:50, 09:15, 11:45PM Bajirao Mastani – 2D (PG12) Drama, History, Romance Cast – Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra 2:15, 05:15, 08:15, 11:15PM

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

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)

TO MUSCAT (RUWI) Arrival Operating time days

Dept time

Destination

Arrival Operating time days

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (ROUTE 36)

TEMPERATURE

15:00 15:00 15:00

05:30 05:30 05:30

Maximum

16:30 18:00 19:30

Daily Daily Daily

Sur Quriyat Ruwi

06:45 08:30 10:00

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

06:30 06:30 08:00 13:00 13:00 16.00 16.00

07:00 07:00 13:30 13:00 13:00 13:00 17:00

Sohar Buraimi Buraimi Sohar Buraimi Sohar Buraimi

08:50 Daily 11:00 Daily 14:30 Daily via Ibri 15:45 Daily 17:40 Daily 18.35 Daily 20:20 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52) 17:30

Sinaw

Nizwa Yanqul

20:50

Daily

Nizwa Al Araqi

16:50 19:30

Daily Daily

Sur Sur

10:20 12:30

Daily Daily

Fahud Yibal

Daily Daily

Salalah Marmul Salalah Salalah

Daily Daily

Marmul

20:00 20:30 23:30 07:40

Daily Daily Daily Daily

Dubai

16:50

Daily

Sohar Dubai Sohar Dubai Sohar Dubai

06:00 06:00

Nizwa Ruwi

08:40 11:00

07:00

15:40 15:40

Nizwa Ruwi

17:55 20:20

Daily Daily

06:00 14:30

Ruwi Ruwi

10:45 19:00

Daily Daily

12:30 12:30

Fahud Ruwi

13:15 17:30

Daily Daily

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

Ruwi Marmul Ruwi Ruwi

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

06:00

Marmul

16:30

Daily

Daily

15:00

Salalah

07:00

Daily

Daily Daily Wed,Thur Wed,Thur Daily Daily

07:30 07:30 13:00 13:00 15:30 15:30

Sohar Ruwi Sohar Ruwi Sohar Ruwi

10:50 13:40 16:15 19:10 18:45 21:35

Daily Daily Thur-Fri Thur-Fri Daily Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH/SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

07:00 07:00 07:00

16:00 16.00 16.00

Fujairah Sharjah Dubai

11.45 13.30 14.00

STAR CINEMA Film information 24791641 / 24786776 Website: www.isurf.co.om

Dilwale (Hindi) (Act\Com) Cast : Shrukh Khan, Kajol & Varun Dhawan 3-00 & 10-00 Pm At Cinema Main; 6-30 At Cinema-2 Bajirao Mastani (Hindi Rom\Act/Drama) Cast: Ranveer singh, Deepika Padukone & Priyanka Chopra 6-30 Pm Cinema Main; 3-30 & 9-30 Pm At Cinema-2 Amar Akbar Anthony (Mal) (Act/Drama) Cast : Prithviraj & Jaya Surya 6-45 Pm Cinema -3 Salt Mango Tree (Mal \ Com) Cast Biju Menon, sohasani & Mani Ratnam 6-45 & 9-45 Pm At Cinema -4 Bengal Tiger (Teligu // Act Cast : Ravi Teja, & Tamannaah 3-45 Cinema -4 Pathemari (Mal/ Drama) Cast : Mammootty & jewel Mary Show Time : 3-45 & 9-45 Pm At Cinema- 3 Programmes are subject to change

WITH LOVE

50-80%

25 17

0

DARSH DHINAK December 17, 2007

ANKITH SUNIL December 17, 2007

Minimum

0

NAVEEN V. December 17, 2006

ANUPAM KRISHNA December 17, 2004

JOHN December 18

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

Daily Daily Daily

Sharjah Fujairah Ruwi

16:30 18.15 23.00

LISTINGS

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 EMBASSIES IN OMAN

Daily Daily Daily Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201) 08:30 11:30 15:30 18:30 17:35 20:55

Dilwale (Action / Comedy) Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon 1.00 p.m., 4.00 p.m., 7.00 p.m. & 10.00 p.m.

CP No: 3047 (PG12) Close Range (Action / Crime) Cast: Scott Adkins, Nick Chinlund, Caitlin Keats 6.15 p.m. & 10.15 p.m.

CP No: 3041 (12+) Hyena Road (Drama / War) Cast: Rossif Sutherland, Paul Gross, Clark Johnson 4.00 p.m. & 8.00 p.m.

CP No: 3043 (15+) Howl (Horror) Cast: Ed Speleers, Holly Weston, Shauna Macdonald 2.00 p.m.

CP No: 3042 (18+)

RELATIVE HUMIDITY

Daily Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201) 06:00 06:00 13:00 13:00 15:00 15:00

WITH LOVE

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

Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102) 15:00

10:25

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100)

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101) 06:00

Ruwi

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)

10:30 11:15

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (ROUTE 100) 07:00 10:00 10:00 19:00

07:00

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

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (ROUTE 62) 06:30 06:30

08:55 Daily 11:40 Daily 20:20 Daily via Ibri 14:55 Daily 17:40 Daily 19:20 Daily 22:15 Daily

SALALAH In the Heart of the Sea (3D) (PG12) (Action | Adventure | Biography) Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Timings: 04:00PM Star Wars: The Force Awakens (3D) (PG12) (Action|Adventure|Fantasy) Cast: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac 10:15 AM/12:45/06:15/09:20/11:55 PM Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2D) (PG) (Action|Adventure|Fantasy) Cast: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac Timings: 03:00PM Dilwale (2D) (PG12) (Action | Romantic | Comedy) Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Kriti Sanon, Varun Dhawan 12:00/03:25/06:25/08:45/11:45PM Bajirao Mastani (2D) (PG12) (Drama/ History) Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh 5:30/08:30/11:30PM The Good Dinosaur (3D) (U) (Animation| Adventure |Comedy) Cast: Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, Maleah Nipay-Padilla 10:00AM/02:00PM When Marnie was There (2D) (PG) (Animation | Drama | Family) Voice Overs: Sara Takatsuki, Kasumi Arimura, Nanako Matsushima 12:00PM

BAHJA CINEMA

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

TO SUR (ROUTE 55) 07:30 14:30

Daily Daily Daily

Adventure, Comedy) (U) Voice Overs: Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, Maleah Nipay-Padilla 5:45PM Dilwale – 2D (Action, Romantic, Comedy) (PG12) Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Kriti Sanon 3:00, 06:00, 8:50, 11:45PM Bajirao Mastani– 2D (Drama, History) (PG12) Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh 3:15, 8:30PM

BURAIMI Star Wars: The Force Awakens– 2D (Action, Adventure, Fantasy) (PG12) Cast: Daisy Ridley, Oscar Issac, Harrison Ford 3:15, 6:00, 9:15, 11:30PM Close Range– 2D (Action, Crime) (12+) Cast: Scott Adkins, Nick Chinlund, Caitlin Keats 7:45, 11:30PM The Good Dinosaur – 3D (Animation,

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54) 08:00 08:00

SUR Star Wars : The Force Awakens (Action | Adventure | Fantasy) (PG12) Cast: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy 6:40, 11:55 PM Diwale (Action | Romance ) (PG12) Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon 3:00, 8:45, 11:35 PM Bajirao Mastani (Action | Romance | History) ( PG12) Cast : Ranbir Singh, Dipika Padkone, Priyanka Chopra 3:50, 5:50, 9:05 PM The Good Dinosaur 3D ( Animation | Adventure | Comedy ) ( U ) Voice Overs: Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, Maleah Nipay-Padilla 2:00 PM

SOHAR Macbeth - 2D (12+)Drama | War Cast : Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jack Madigan 5:30 , 11: 55 PM The Good Dinosaur - 3D (U) Animation | Adventure | Comedy Voice Overs : Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, Maleah Nipay-Padilla 6:30 PM The Good Dinosaur - 2D (U) Animation | Adventure | Comedy Voice Overs : Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, Maleah Nipay-Padilla 2:45 PM Star Wars: The Force Awakens - 2D (PG12) Action | Adventure | Fantasy Cast : Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher 5:45 , 9:20 PM Star Wars: The Force Awakens - 3D (PG12) Action | Adventure | Fantasy Cast : Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher 3:00 , 8:40 , 11:30 PM Dilwale - 2D (PG12) Action | Comedy | Musical Cast : Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon 3:30 , 8:30 , 6:45 , 11:15 PM Bajirao Mastani - 2D (TBC) Drama | History | Romance Cast : Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh 2:30, 7:45, 10:45 PM When Marnie Was There - 2D (PG) Animation | Drama | Family Voice Overs : Sara Takatsuki, Kasumi Arimura, Nanako Matsushima 4:45 PM

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

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

Sohar Ruwi Ruwi Sohar Ruwi Sohar Ruwi

Screen 3 Bajirao Mastani (Romance/Drama) – PG12 Cast : Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh 2.45, 5.45, 8.45, 11.45 PM

WEATHER

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

Dilwale (Action/Romance) – PG12 Cast : Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon 2.30, 5.30, 8.30, 11.30 PM

RUWI Screen 1 Dilwale (Action/Romance) – PG12 Cast : Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon 2.30, 5.30, 8.30, 11.30 PM Screen 2 Bajirao Mastani (Romance/Drama) – PG12 Cast : Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh 2.45, 5.45, 8.45, 11.45 PM

AZAIBA Dilwale – 2D (PG12) Action,Romantic, Comedy

PANORAMA MALL Star Wars (Action, Adventure)(3D)(PG12)

Destination

12.08pm 3.08pm 5.28pm 6.44pm 5.21am

CHILDREN BELOW THE AGE OF 3 YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE CINEMA | BOX-OFFICE COUNTER OPENS 30-MINUTES PRIOR TO THE SCREENING OF THE FIRST SHOW

CINEMA SCHEDULE

Dept time

Dhuhr Asr Maghrib Isha Fajr (Tomorrow)

Daily Daily Daily

Afghanistan Algeria Bahrain Bangladesh Brazil Brunei China Cyprus Egypt France Germany India Indonesia Iran Iraq Italy Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya South Korea Kuwait

24698 791/4 24605 593 24 605 074/133 24 698 660 24640100 24 603533 24 696782 24 699815 24 600 982/411 24681 800 24835000 24684500 2469 1050 24 696 944/7 24603642 24693727 24 601 028 24692760/1/3 24 692418 24 697664 24 691490 24 699628

Lebanon Libya Malaysia Morocco Nepal Netherlands Pakistan Palestine Philippines Qatar Russia Saudi Arabia Senegal Somalia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Switzerland Syria Tanzania Thailand Tunisia Turkey UAE United Kingdom United States Yemen

24 693208 24603466 24698329/643 24696152/3 24696177 24603706 24603439 24601312 24605335 24 691 153/2/4 24602894 24601705 24694139 24697977 24647300 24691101 24697841/2 24697875 24603267 24697904 24601 174 24 602684/5 24603486 24697050/1/2 24400000 24609000 24643400 24600815

PHARMACIES Round the clock Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi 24783334

Apollo Medical Centre, Hamriya Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi Salalah Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra Muscat Region Apollo, Al Hamriya Muscat, A Seeb Market Muscat, Al Khuwair Muscat, Al Hail South Dhofar Region Muscat, Al Nahdha Road, Salalah

24782666 24702542 23291635; 24503585 24787766 24421691 24485740 24537080

23291635

HOSPITALS Al Amal Medical & Health Care Centre 24485052 Atlas Hospital Ruwi 24811743/ Ghubra 24504000 Al Musafir Specialised Medical Clinic 24706453 Hatat Polyclinic LLC, Ruwi 24563641 Azaiba 24499269 Sohar 2683006 Al Raffah Hospital 24618900/1/2 Al Massaraat Clinic & Laboratory 24566435 Al Makook Medical Coordinance Centre 24499434 Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24787766, 24787780 Capital Polyclinic 24707549 Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic, Ruwi 24799760/1/2 Capital Clinic, Seeb 24420740 Ceregem National Raak 24485633 Dr Harub’s Clinic 24563217 Elixir Health Centre 24565802 Emirates Medical Centre 24604540 1st Chiropractic Centre 24472274 Lifeline Hospital Salalah 23212340 International Medical Centre LLC 24794501/2/3/4/5 Kims Oman Hospital 24760100 24 Hrs Emergency 24760123 Lama Polyclinic, Sohar 26751128 MBD 24799077 Al Khuwair 24478818 Magrabi Eye and Ear Hospital 24568870 Muscat Private Hospital 24583600 Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, Al Khuwair 24477666 Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC 22004000 AIRLINE OFFICES Muscat Airport Flight information (24 hours) 24519456/24519223 Aeroflot 24704455 Air Arabia 24700828 Air France 24562153 Air India 24799801

Air New Zealand 24700732 Biman Bangladesh Airlines 24701128 British Airways 24568777 Cathay Pacific 24789818 Egypt Air 24794113 Emirates Air 24404400 Ethiopian Airlines 24660313 Gulf Air 80072424 Indian 24791914 Iran Air 24787423 Japan Airlines 24704455 Jazeera Airways 23294848 Jet Airways 24787248 Kenya Airways 24660300 KML Royal Dutch Airlines 24566737 Kuwait Airways 24701262 LOT Polish Airlines 24796387 Lufthansa 24796692 Malaysian Airlines 24560796 Middle East Airlines 24796680 Oman Air 24531111 Pakistan International Airlines 24792471 Qatar Airways 24771900 Qantas 24559941 Royal Jordanian 24796693 Saudi Arabian Airlines 24789485 Singapore Airlines 24791233 Shaheen Air 24816565 SriLankan Airlines 24784545 Swiss International Airlines 24796692 Thai Airways 24705934

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

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LIFESTYLE GHAWI BAZAAR

BUY LOCAL: JEBEL SHAMS SOUVENIRS December is the best time to visit Jebel Shams, as the temperature drops to below 10 Degrees Celsius during the day. Apart from enjoying the scenic beauty atop Oman’s highest mountain, you can also buy hand-made souvenirs from the tiny shops and carpet vendors.

‘Ranveer is Sensitive and Emotional in Real Life’

A

lot of people say to me that you are so lucky to have (Ranveer)… 24 hour entertainment and livewire. But actually he is not the same in real life. In front of so many people, he gets a different source of energy in him. But in actual life, he is very sensitive and emotional,” Deepika said.

Ranveer, meanwhile, replied: “I don’t feel like showing my inner self in public because I’m very shy of all this.”

The duo has re-teamed with their Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela director Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Bajirao Mastani which also stars Priyanka Chopra.

Asked whether they knew the

story of Peshwa Bajirao before signing the film, Ranveer said: “I did my schooling in Mumbai at a private school where Marathi was a compulsory subject till fifth standard. But in our whole syllabus, including Marathi and history, there wasn’t any mention of Peshwa Bajirao.

“The syllabus only focused until Chhatrapati Shivaji’s exploits. First time I got to know about Bajirao Mastani was through a filmy magazine... Then while we were doing Ram-Leela, he told me about this project which he was planning to make for the past 12 years,” he added.

Deepika also echoed a similar view. The Chennai Express actress said: “There was no mention of

A lot of people say to me that you are so lucky to have Ranveer. But actually he is not the same in real life. In front of so many people, he gets a different source of energy in him

Bajirao in my syllabus too. Just because of this film I’ve got to know about him and Mastani. During my school days I used to hear that Bhansali wanted to make a film like this with Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the lead. In my dream I never thought that one day I’ll become an actress and will get a chance to be a part of this film.”

“I believe in destiny. During that time Bhansali was not able to make this film due to various reasons.

He really wanted to make this film but may be the paring didn’t work or he didn’t have that much budget. Now if Ranveer and I are in this film, I think it was in our destiny,” she added. Bajirao Mastani hits theatres today. — IANS

WHAT Many residents in Jebel Akhdar make a living by selling souvenirs, such as keychains made of wools, walking sticks, and carpets. The carpet sellers do not sit in shops, as they roam around clutching piles of red-and-black goat hair rugs. You do not have to worry about the quality of the products as they are made by experienced artisans.

WHERE These special souvenirs are available only at Jebel Shams. Weaving is men’s work, while spinning the wool is women’s work.

HOW MUCH You have to bear in mind that there is no scope for bargain. A keychain made of wool will cost you OMR2, while a walking stick will cost OMR5. A rug can cost anything from OMR30 to OMR80, depending on the colours used and the complexity of the pattern.

Have a favourite Omani product or shop?

Tell us about it: ameerudheen@timesofoman.com

IN BRIEF

Writing autobiography is a long, slow process, says SRK SHAH RUKH KHAN, who has been working on an autobiography, says it’s a long and slow process as it involves “giving your heart out”.

During a live Twitter chat session, a social media user asked the 50-year-old actor: “How is writing of your book going on? How does it feel to write the heart out?”

The actor said: “A very very long process and slow...giving your heart out takes a bit of time.”

The actor has a treat for all his fans to end the year on a high note with the release of his film Dilwale.

Directed by Rohit Shetty, the film

brings Shah Rukh and Kajol back together on screen after five years, and promises a ride full of action, adventure and fun.

Also featuring Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon, Varun Sharma, Johnny Lever, Boman Irani and Sanjay Mishra, the film will hit the screens in Oman today.

Asked to describe Dilwale, Shah Rukh said the film is “fast and furious and funny”, and went on to add that Dilwale is an “amazing fare for the whole family with loads of comedy and action”.

Over some time, Shah Rukh and

Salman Khan, known for their bitter-sweet bond off screen, have been cordial and friendly. They have even been extending support to each other.

When asked by another user “Varun played a role of your younger brother... do you ever wish to have a brother in real life? #AskSRK”, the actor in a cryptic way called Salman his younger brother.

He posted: “My two boys are now like my friends and brothers and everything so I am ok. And there is always bhaijaan.”

Meanwhile, filmmaker Karan Jo-

har has said the lead pair of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol “the most loved onscreen couple”.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham..., which also starred Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor Khan, tells the story of an Indian family, which faces troubles and misunderstandings over their adopted son’s marriage to a girl belonging to a socio-economic group lower than their own.

Karan took to Twitter on Monday to share his memories about the hit film. — IANS

PHOTOGRAPHY: MOHAMMED SHAFEEQE

Actress Deepika Padukone, who will be seen alongside her rumoured boyfriend Ranveer Singh in forthcoming film Bajirao Mastani, says the latter is very “sensitive” and “emotional” in real life unlike his onscreen image

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

LIFESTYLE

PERFECTION IS

SOMAN’S STORY: PRADEEP KUMAR A.V.

C

lad in a long-sleeved brown kurta, he sits near the drawing board splattered with vibrant colours. Pictures that adorn the walls give his living room a splendid look. The ambience is vibrant and striking, just like his paintings.

Meet Somasundaran, a naturalistic artist who has been sketching and painting colourful facets of the incredible culture of Oman and its beautiful people.

Soman, as he is fondly known, began his tryst with the Sultanate in 1993 when he got a job in a private organisation as an artist.

A few years later, he joined the In-

dian School Sur, as an art teacher, where he began to groom wannabe artists. He shared his creative flairs and taught them the nuances of art.

His creative brilliance caught the attention of art lovers when he took part in the ‘Qaboos Oman’ painting competition conducted by the Omani Society for Fine Arts in 2009 to paint the portrait of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos. Everyone praised Soman for depicting the glory of the royal grandeur on canvas. “It was a high point in my career,” he remembered.

From then on, he painted more than 70 portraits of His Majesty, which adorn government and private offices in Salalah and Sur,

including the Chamber of Commerce, Majlis at Fatah Al Khair and Sur College. Another major work is an eight feet oil painting of His Majesty at the Sur Desalination Plant. Similar paintings are exhibited in the Diwan’s offices and Palaces in Salalah as well.

“I am thrilled to translate the finer details of royal face onto canvas.

I used to spend days to achieve perfection. I wish to present one painting to the Royal Court,” he said.

Omani citizens also request him to paint landscapes and artefacts of Oman. “Omanis are fond of paintings that depict elements of the local culture and images of the good old heritage as they admire

FORTE

the glorious past,” he said.

The teacher’s job at Indian School Sur gave him enough time for creative endeavours. His wards made him proud by winning prizes in inter-school competitions. Moreover, there hasn’t been a single creative event in the school that goes untouched with his magical fingers. It was quite natural that the management of the Indian Schools in Oman honoured him with the best art teacher award recently.

A native of Thrissur in the South Indian state of Kerala, Soman will leave Oman soon after retirement.

“I will continue teaching art to children in my home town,” he said.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SUPPLIED

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LPG scrap cylinder & scrap metal FOR SALE 22 KG Cylinder- Quantity 4000 Nos. (Approx) 44 KG Cylinder- Quantity 550 Nos. (Approx) Scrap metal -3 MT Approx.

Interested parties to submit their quote at NGC Rusayl office before 25th December 2015. *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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Industrial Area Brand new with raised floor, dock leveler, office space.Total covered area 1300 Sqm. With 10 meters height.

Contact - 92525766 Email-

E t &ůĂƚƐ Θ ^ŚŽǁƌŽŽŵƐ ĨŽƌ ZĞŶƚ 1/2/3 BHK Flats & Showrooms at DƵƩ ƌĂŚ͕ ŶĞĂƌ KŵĂŶ Ň ŽƵƌ ŵŝůůƐ͕ ϭϬ ŵŝŶ͘ ĨƌŽŵ ĐŽƌŶŝĐŚĞ͘ ĞƋƵŝƉƉĞĚ ǁŝƚŚ ƐƉůŝƚͬ ĐĂƐƐĞƩ Ğ ƵŶŝƚ Ɛ͕ ŝŶƚĞƌŶĞƚ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ͕ ĨƌĞĞͲ ƚŽͲĂŝƌ ĚŝƐŚ ĐŽŶŶĞĐƟ ŽŶ͕ ds ŵŽŶŝƚŽƌĞĚ͕ ďĂƐĞŵĞŶƚ ƉĂƌŬŝŶŐ͘ ZĞŶƚ ZK͘ϮϱϬͬϯϱϬͬϰϱϬ ;EĞŐŽƟ ĂďůĞͿ ƉĞƌ ŵŽŶƚŚ͘

properties@alsirajholdings.com

FLATS FOR RENT

FOR RENT 2BHK, 3 washroom Flat with Split Air Conditioners Near Lulu Darsait CONTACT :

93202733 2 Bedrooms Flat for rent in front of Indian School Ghubra.

Contact: 92197959 / 92502497 2 Bedroom Townhouse with Swimming pool, free Wi-Fi for Rent near British Council in Madinat Sultan Qaboos. Contact: 92197959 / 92502497.

Showroom / Office for rent located in Prime location of Azaiba Main Highway. Contact: 92197959 / 92502497.

2 Bedrooms Flat for rent located in Prime location of Al Khuwair.

Contact: 92197959 / 24527852.

Villa for rent in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 95562646 Rent for flat in Wadi Adai, big room big hall one toilet, one Kitchen. Contact : 99345137

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In a Luxury Building in Al Seeb Market Near Police station

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Profs / jack. Contact 93219378

ů EĂŚĚĂ dŽǁĞƌ Ϯ͕ Į ƌƐƚ Ň ŽŽƌ͕ ϭϬϮ Ň Ăƚ ŶŽ͘ KƉƉŽƐŝƚĞ Ͳ WŝŽŶĞĞƌ Θ ϯ ŝŐ ďĞĚƌŽŽŵƐ ĨŽƌ ĂĐĐŽŵŵŽĚĂƟ ŽŶ ďĞƐŝĚĞ 'ƵůĨ DŝŶŝŶŐ ŽŵƉĂŶLJ 'ŚĂůĂ Ͳ DƵƐĐĂƚ

V. Nice flat in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 95755953 /95555162

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Call: 99888007 - 99473500

2 BHK flat for rent opp. Sheraton, CBD. Contact 99046569 Flat for rent, 2 room, 2 bathroom with AC 250/-. Contact: 94447825 One & Two bedroom apartments available for rent near grand mall, opposite panorama mall, next to Diwans office, at south Ghobrah.

Contact: 99833747 Villas available for rent at Al Hail close to the wave (Al Mouj) compound swimming pool & gym.

Contact: 99833747 3 Bed with split A/C near Hojar roundabout R.O 275/-. Contact: 99326048/ 95250986 2bedroom centrally Ari conditioned flat in CBD, central bank Area.

Contact: 24714625 /99053493

1& 2 BHK CBD Ruwi Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 99024730

At Wadi Kabir Industrial two floor showrooms, 80 sm each, rent 450/R.O (PDC). Contact: 99879939

At Al Athaiba ground floor with split AC, 2beds, 2bathrooms, kitchen & sitting room Behind AL Zubair rent 350/-PDC. Contact: 99879939

At Al Athaiba (2nd floor) 2 bed, sitting room , 1 bathroom , kitchen , split AC rent 310/- PDC. Contact: 99879939

Flat villa type for rent - in al khuwair 33/, 4 Bed Rooms .4 bath Rooms, 1 Family Hall, 1 Dining Room, 1 Living Room, 1 Kitchen, Store.

Contact 99315515 3 Room flat in North Ghubra, 18 November Street with three toilets.

For residential or commercial use.

RO. 315/- Contact 94477222.

2bed rooms flat with hall, 2 bathrooms in Darsait near Muscat Municipality. Contact: 92584715 / 24700120 House for rent in Al Amerat .

Contact: 92532371 / 92294259 1 Flat for rent 4 BRM hall 4 toilets, kitchen, store rent R.O 400/- (per month) in Darsait 12 cheques monthly . Contact: Morean 98292846 New deluxe 1BHK for rent in Darsait behind ISD School.

Contact 99142314 Flats shops & store for rent in Ruwi Honda road Mumtaz.

Contact: 97293708 / 92433127

One / two B/R RES / comm. flat near Oman Medical College directly from owner. Contact: 92158031 1BHK R.O 170/-, & 2BHK R.O 215 near medical Darsait Muttrah house. Contact : 95076261 Flat for rent 3BRM hall, 2 toilets, kitchen, store payment R.O 350/payment 12 cheques monthly in Darsait (ENT) . Contact: Morean 98292846 1BHK R.O 225 close to Indian Nursery, Darsait, 2BHK close to ISWKG Wadi Kabir bldg 1690 R.O 300/-.

Contact : 99476728 1000sqmtrs industrial land for rent in Ghala suitable for warehouse workshop etc. Contact 24700120 /92584715 Ghubra-Beautiful Room, attached bath, separate entrance, huge terrace, near Shell & Bank Muscat, for Male/Female - Indian/Asian/Western. OMR 180. Strictly for Vegetarian, non-drinker. Contact 99283938 (No Kitchen).

Shops for rent good for offices + stores behind bldg, behind whole sale center Al Amerat space 11 x4 meters R.O 250/- per month.

Contact: 92877449 6 B/R villa for office use in Al Khoudh, 2 & 3 B/R flat in AL Khuwair for office.

Contact: 99776071 /99057348 NEW WAREHOUSE FOR RENT at Ghala Ind. Area. 800 & 2500 approx sqms Near Hotel Al-Madinah Holiday, Ghala. Container can enter.

Immediate access to roads & highways. Contact : 94583320 4 B/R, 3 flats building in Azaiba behind Al Meera. Contact: 99776071 /99057348 2 B/R flat in Wattaya and Azaiba.

Contact: 99776071 /99057348 Big room attach bath kitchen in Muscat near Palace R.O 90/-.

Contact: 95094028 1& 2 BHK flats for rent at Hamriya Mabela and Al Khoud shop at Al Khoud. Contact: 24834644 / GSM : 93994401 /02/03/3lines

02 BHK commercial / residential (with split AC) flats at Honda Road.

Contact: 99342733 / 99795241 02 BHK residential flat opposite to Al Nadha hospital. Contact: 99342733 / 99795241 1,2 BHK Ghubra R.O 300/-, 325/- & 350/-. Contact: 97799175 2BHK flats available for near PDO gate no 2 Qurum.

Contact: 94057023 Flats for rent at Al Mablah block eight. Contact: 99445177 Single BHK flat available in Honda road Ruwi. Contact - 24833972/ 24833974/99367448 2BHK Wadi Kabir near Kuwaiti mosque. Contact: 97007934 / 92629232 Offices & Showrooms in Al Khoud.

Contact - 94051789-97201688 1000 sqm industrial land with compound wall & two rooms at Misfah.

Contact: 99342733 / 99795241

T H U R S DAY, D E C E M B E R 1 7, 2 0 1 5

D3

DAILY GUIDE

HOME THEATER & KARAOKE BRING HOME - LIVE MUSIC & CINEMA GENERAL ELECTRONICS SERVICES LLC CONTACT: 99627299 / 93327841

STOCK CLEARANCE SALE Indian Granite 600x300x20 - 15000 sq mts Indian Granite Slabs 20000 Sq mts Our factory yard at Ghala Industrial area.

Contact 99337723 / 95118906

FOR RENT 2 BHK with split / AC in MSQ opposite Al Fair. Contact: 96708000 Open showroom AL Ghobrah 18 November 175SQM & office space Al Qurum next to Al Araimi Complex.

Contact: 94300909 1.2.3 BHK & villa. Contact: 97799175 1BHK Darsait R.O 225/-.

Contact: 92144045 /97799175 1BHK Mumtaz R.O 250/-.

Contact: 92144045 /97799175

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MV SALE Hummer H2 model 2006, 178000 km, Full options Number 1 Army edition.OMR 7200. Contact -99466773

2BHK available near Hamriya round about main road rent R.O 170/- PM. Contact: 99513510

Jeep Wrangler 2012 20,000km, Expat from new, dealer serviced, RO6500 Contact 99440320 Sohar

Flats in Darsait. Contact 94051789-97201688

4WD Mitsubishi Pajero 2008 model 3.8 CC white 137000km maintained by Mitsubishi work shop. Contact: 99513510

Fully Furnished apartments in Boucher (35) Contact - 9405178997201688 Flats in Muttrah. Contact 94051789-97201688 Offices in Ghala. Contact 94051789-97201688 Offices in Qurum opposite City Center. Contact - 94051789-97201688 Brand new villas in Al Ansab.

Contact - 94051789-97201688 Offices & Showrooms in Muttrah.

Contact - 94051789-97201688 Mini Furnished Apartment in Qurum. Contact - 94051789-97201688 Duplex villa in QURUM 29.

Contact - 94051789-97201688 Shops, studio flat and spacious outlet and offices (good for clinic) are offered for rent in Al Amarat opp. ROP police station.

Contact: 91231380 2 bedroom luxury fully furnished flat for rent at Ghala short or long term basis. Contact: 99886386 / 99881653 New apartment for rent at Al Amerat second floor consists of two rooms with two toilets, reception with toilet, kitchen.

Contact: 95588568

New car Pathfinder Classic 4X4,4L V6.Only 11500 OMR. Zero KM.Call 99416162 Yaris 2011, full automatic Toyota warranty, 90,000 km, expat use R.O 3100/-. Contact: 92227165 Mazda 626 in VGC, 2001 model, single expat Owner, full service history with dealer, 180000 kms.

Offer price OMR 1000.

Contact 99296768 Single owner Ford Escape 2012 white, 2.5L, 10100 kms. All tyres recently replaced, Comprehensive insurance including UAE Mulkiya valid Oct 2016. OMR 5250 92320155 divadmuscat@gmail.com

Dozer Kom 355A -3 Dozer Kom 155A- 3 Grader Champion 780 Excavator PC 400 with breaker Man green water tanker 5000 IG All are in good condition

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FOR SALE Cradle lift for external building painting hundred mtr height almost new. Contact: 99235701 /97747705 Beauty Salon for urgent sale in Azaiba prime location behind Al Fardan building. With sponsor and 1 staff and 1 ready visa clearance. Call: 95318629 / 95169411 Studio for sale in Athaibah.

Contact: 92478970 Villas in Al Khoud. Contact 95056808-97201688 Luxury Apartments in Boucher (35). Contact - 9505680897201688 Fully Furnished apartments in Boucher (35) Contact -9505680897201688 Running restaurant with seven clearance for sale Awabi Muscat.

Contact: 95497007 Al Qurum, 2 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, sitting, kitchen, split ACs price 65,000 R.O. # 9879939 Sports shop for sale at Ruwi.

Contact: 98453599 /93050776

BMW 318/ 2003 for sale.

Contact 96364990

Top Quality sparingly used Outdoor Catering & Bakery Equipments including chairs etc for sale in Muscat .Please call for viewing 99471085.Serious buyers only.

FOR RENT 2 BHK Flats for rent Muttrah near Oman house. Contact: 97007934 / 92629232 1BHK flat near Star Cinema 220/-.

Contact 99358589 /95570288

Scrap available for sale, power cables & accessories. # 24446399 / Email – ravi.ztc@omzest.com Zawawi Trading Road no.8 Rusayl 3Ton Forklift, Special made for Oman market, Japanese Isuze C240 Engine, Cascade side shifter, High amount exhaust, 3m lifting height, Solid tyres, One year warranty. Contact: 98883445 Shop for sale at Ghala Sanaya main junction (prime location) shop for sale #: Kamil 92696479

Villa, 2 flats at Al Khuwair (17/2) Contact: 99444786

Flats for rent in Wadi Kabeer.

Contact: 99388994

3 BHK behind Oman House, Muttrah. Contact: 99319149

Flat for Rent 1/2 BHK Flat at Muttrah, near Oman flour mills, 10 min. from Corniche.Equipped with split unit ACs, internet points, free-to-air dish connection, CCTV monitored, basement parking. Rent RO.250/350 per month. Contact: 99229263; 93221054; 95215289

Mangalorean restaurant at Wadi Kabir & shop at Ruwi for sale.

Contact: 98428507 / 93655003

One flats for rent 2 bedroom all with bath al Ghobrah north near Indian school (hot burger restaurant) Tel. 9976610

400 sq mtrs Commercial/Residential land in Maabela Phase 5 Block 2. OMR 155 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

600 SQT commercial flat for rent opposite Oman flourmill Darsait more details. Contact: 91214849/ 99364735 Flats for rent in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 99376454 7 Bedrooms villa in Ghobrah North. Contact - 96420432

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99310448/99612010/95208455

Chaverlet Epica 2004 model RO -700, for sale. Contact 92194205

Ford focus, automatic, 2010 model, silver colour, expat driven, 58000 kms, dealer serviced, registration till sep 2016, price ro 2750.

Contact- 93207590

GOOD NEWS

FOR SALE

ŽŶƚĂĐƚ ͗ ϵϮϴϴϭϮϲϮ

1BHK M.B.D R.O 280/- & 250/-.

Contact: 92144045/97799175

Flats in Wadi Kabir. Contact 94051789-97201688

SITUATION WANTBUSINESS ED

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60,000 Sq Mtrs Agriculture Land in Misfah, can be changed to Industrial Land. OMR 29 Per Square Meter. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

Barber shop for sale in Ghubra.

Contact 92955874 5 plots of fertile agriculture lands in Misfah East totaling 4,532 sq mtrs having date trees and using falaj water for irrigation. OMR 158 Thousand for all 5 plots. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 2,688 sq mtrs commercial land in MBD North. OMR 1.39 Million.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 Window AC 30 Nos (general make all good conditions), refrigerator, freezer & mess equipments for sale. Contact: 98064113/ 99315878 Quotation fax on: 24448101 /24448103 Grade one, non residential civil construction company, seven months old, with all approvals, in Sohar, for immediate sale.

Contact: 98236616

ACC. AVAILABLE Furnished sharing accommodation in ruwi near O.K. Center for non-cooking indian bachelor. #98805474 Sharing accommodation available opp. to Oman house at Muttrah, for executive bachelors.

Contact - 92350595 Family sharing accommodation available for rent at Honda road Indians only O.R 130/-.

Contact: 99519161 Room for rent with furniture.

Al Bustan villeage. # 93687466 Single room, toilet, and sharingkitchen near Azaibah Bank Muscat family only. Contact 96755127 A Bedroom along with separate bathroom available for rent for an Executive Bachelor in Al Khuwair (near Zawawi Mosque). Contact 92138451 Room for rent available in a flat for Executive bachelor at Azaiba, behind Al Meera Hypermarket with attached bath with cot & A/c, rent inclusive of water & electricity. Contact 96404166 / 97433992 Single room bathroom in Darsait R.O 140/-. Contact: 93289652

Ayurvedic treatment for joint pain, backache, paralysis, massage steambath, obesity, Spondylitis, Ideal Care Ayurvedic Clinic, 18 November Street Azaiba.

Contact: 99639695 / 98342990 Required expatriate partner or investor, to invest various commercial fields. For inquiry.

Contact : 98209820 We will register LLC. trade license for foreign investors and do all actions. Contact: 92833566

NRI royal castles

vakathanam, kottayam Luxurious villas in a Gated community with all the modern facili es at Vakathanam By-Pass (MC road-NH 220) Web: www.royalcastles.in email: info@royalcastles.in +968 92855909, +91 9961 11 9988

Plot for sale Shadnagar Municipality, Mahboob Nagar District, walk able distance to existing colonies, national highway and basic amenities at reasonable price.

Contact – 0091 8686631669 Plot, propeties for sale in prime location in pune 95272138,(+918390982975)

WANTED Wanted carpentry shop with clearance. Contact: 99055571 /97982406 /95306030

ACC. AVAILABLE 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, sitting room, Kitchen & store including utilities bills at Al hail.# 92817777 Single room for expat Indian bachelors near Al Aktham restaurant Al khuwair for RO 120. Water and electricity included. # 98803261

Independent rooms in Qurum / Al Hail. Contact 95529970

Big room available near Hamriya R/A for Muslim couple / small family / Executive bachelor rent 150/- per month including W+ E. Contact : 99495131

Furnished room in new building for working Muslim lady/ Muslim couple only. Location AINT, Darsait. Contact - 99008069

1 Bedroom with attached Bath, fully furnished, separate entrance at Mabela for ladies only.

Contact: 99634841

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know more about Islam, please call: 99425598, 99250777, 99353988, 99253818, 99341395, and 99379133. For ladies: 99415818, 99321360, 99730723 Orvisit:www.islamfact.com Ayurvedic treatment for backache, paralysis, arthritis etc & massage, All Season (Vaidyaratnam).

Contact 24475280 / 95371664 / 92504980 www.siddhayur.com

MATRIMONIAL Rose Mary age 25 yrs Born Oman, B.com 2 years ACCA, MBA. Contact: 92841175 T.C.R. EKM .DT. Only Kerala RC boy 31 yrs paramedical working in Oman hailing from Tellichery Dioces. Contact: 92866673 Keralite, Thiruvananthapuram based “Young and Handsome Boy”, Hindu – Viswakarma (Carpenters), Birth Star – Pooyam, MCA, 29 years(05/11/1985, 01.30 AM), 176 cm height, Wheatish colour, Moderate family, Working as ‘Commercial Assistant’ in a reputed automotive company. seeking alliance of girls from the suitable family. Contact: Rejeesh 92801583, 94238934, Shanmughan - +919895891202, +914712619230 RCSC MOH Nurse working in Ministry hospital Sur seeking suitable alliance from Keralite Malayalees Christian boys (preference in Muscat, well educated).

Contact: Gince Sebastian 98055621 / 97929487 Kerala Ezhava boy 28 years MBA working in Oman seeking suitable alliance. Contact: 98185755 23 Years Malayalee Christian girl born & educated in Bangalore, seeking suitable alliances from well settled Keralite Malayalee Christian boys. Contact - 99494371

ACC. WANTED Single room required for an Executive with reasonable rent.

Contact 95405033

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T H U R S D AY, D E C E M B E R 1 7, 2 0 1 5 Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

DAILY GUIDE SITUATION SITUATION WANTED VACANT Urgently Required for Frozen Division Van Salesman - (2) Sales Supervisor - (1) Driver - (2) Candidates with relevant GCC experience can mail their resume at omanjobsdcg@gmail.com

WANTED

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SITUATION VACANT Leading MEP contracting company looking for following gulf experienced hands

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE Accountant, Indian Male, 15 Years experience (8 Years in Oman with Driving License & NOC) Seeks suitable placement, Contact 94117616, 91238272 Email: praveen78oman@gmail.com

Indian male , B.Com, 21 yrs, accountant with 1 and half years experience looking for suitable job for more discussion. Contact: 96512733 Email: azazahemad968@gmail.com

15 years GCC experienced in finance treasury management CPA, CMA, ACCA, MBA qualified chartered accountant available for immediate joining. Contact: 94872345 Email: mfta27@gmail.com

CA (Inter), MBA, 25 yrs exp. in Accounts, Sales, Marketing & Administration in poultry industry seeks suitable placement immediately.

Contact 91 9704075855, +968 96500893, Email : sanaullah.sheikh@rediffmail.com

ACCA /B.com (3.7 years experience) looking for accounts / audit job. Contact: 97769145 Email: mnaem02@gmail.com

1. Asst. Operations’ Manager – preferably B Tech (Elect) with min 5 years in building service with good communication& administrative skills.

2. A.C Engineer – B Tech (Elect / Mechanical) with min 2 years in building service.

Kindly include the details of projects handled by you, in your CV.

Send your CV to hr.green.mct@gmail.com

ACCA, 8 years comprehensive experience of audit, Engineering/ Manufacturing & Trading-FMCG is looking for a change.NOC available Contact: 91147885 Young 24, ACCA affiliate, advanced diploma in Accounting and business, seeking suitable placement in accounts, finance or audit with valid driving license.

Contact: 92430152 Email: rau_dey@yahoo.com Indian Male 32, MBA (Marketing & Finance) with 10 years experience in Marketing of Banking Products & Insurance Industry. Seeking for a job in Oman. Contact: 93576980, 97750460 Email: senthil.cbe83@gmail.com

hZ' Ed>z Z Yh/Z ACCOUNT. & FINANCE We are looking for Chief Financial Officer, Male 40- 45 years old, Bachelor of Science in Accountancy with 5 - 15 yrs. of experience.

Contact: +968 24702133 Email: admin-dept@daud.om

BEAUTY Urgently require a Female Beautician for a saloon in Sur, must have exceptionally good skills in threading ,waxing ,haircuts & facial treatments .Hair styling & bridal make ups would be added advantage .(Visa available)For more details please contact on 95214535

CATERING Shawarma / griller / helper wanted. Contact 95529970

DRIVER Driver cum maintenance person.

Wanted cheerful, caring, clean and honest young man for an Indian family. Must have excellent driving skills and a valid GCC license. Can do and helpful attitude. Age 28 to 35, good references and English.

Attractive salary, please apply to jobscharismat@gmail.com or call 99471085 for interview.

Light duty driver. # 98505294

DOMESTIC HELPER Urgently required for full time a Gujarati House maid for small family (2 members), aged around 40-50, Visa Available. Contact 99370306, after 08:00 pm only or Whats app.

Looking for full-time housemaid - please call 99385119

&ƌĞŶĐŚ dĞĂĐŚĞƌ YƵĂůŝĮ ĐĂƟ ŽŶƐ Θ ĞdžƉĞƌŝĞŶĐĞ͗ ĂĐŚĞůŽƌƐ Žƌ DĂƐƚĞƌƐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƌĞůĞǀĂŶƚ ƐƵďũĞĐƚ dŚŽƌŽƵŐŚ ŬŶŽǁůĞĚŐĞ ĂŶĚ Ăƚ ůĞĂƐƚ ƚŚƌĞĞ LJĞĂƌƐ ĞdžƉĞƌŝĞŶĐĞ džĐĞůůĞŶƚ ĐůĂƐƐƌŽŽŵ ƉƌĂĐƟ Ɵ ŽŶĞƌ KŶůLJ ĞůŝŐŝďůĞ ĐĂŶĚŝĚĂƚĞ ǁŝƚŚ ƌĞƋƵŝƌĞĚ ĞdžƉĞƌŝĞŶĐĞ Θ ƋƵĂůŝĮ ĐĂƟ ŽŶ ŵĂLJ ĂƉƉůLJ Ăƚ ƚŚĞ ĞĂƌůŝĞƐƚ WůĞĂƐĞ ĐŽŶƚĂĐƚ ͗

ĂƉƉůLJŝŐĐƐĞΛŐŵĂŝů͘ĐŽŵ

DESIGN & ESTIMATION ENGINEER (HVAC+ FIRE FIGHTING) Degree/ Diploma in Mechanical Engineering with 3 to 4 years of experience in estimation, designing and tendering.

Working knowledge of AutoCAD is must. Should have good communication skills. Contactvacancyforoman@gmail.com Wanted Chemical Engineer with 5-10 years experience in STP Operations and Maintenance. Also wanted Market Research Expert with experience in Feasibility Studies.

Kindly send your resumes to advance@omantel.net.om or Fax us at +968-24792175.

Engineer consultancy company urgently require (2) Architectural Draftsman (Filipino) with experience 2 years. Contact: 99201222 Email: sahd35@yahoo.com Civil Site Supervisor for telecom tower projects across Oman. Send CV to fyjo@spec-link.com or call +968 9946 7227

A Grade Construction company in Muscat urgently requires “Safety Officer”. Send C.V hr.azatllc@gmail. com or fax C.V to 24422458

Ϯ͘ DĞĐŚĂŶŝĐĂů ŶŐŝŶĞĞƌ ϰ͘ ůĞĐƚƌŝĐĂů Ś͘ ,ĂŶĚ ϲ͘ dŝůĞ DĂƐŽŶƐ ϴ͘ ĂƌƉĞŶƚĞƌƐ ϭϬ͘ ͛Ɛ dĞĐŚŶŝĐŝĂŶƐ ϭϮ͘ WůƵŵďĞƌƐ

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ŽŶƚĂĐƚ ͗ ϵϱϮϴϭϲϴϬ͕ ϵϱϮϴϭϱϬϮ &Ădž͗ ϮϰϴϭϲϱϯϮ ŵĂŝů͗ ĐŽŶƚĂĐƚƵƐΛŶďĐŽŵĂŶ͘ĐŽŵ

MISCELLANEOUS

SECT. /OFFICE

Urgently required for a reputed company in Oman (Tyre, Battery & Lubricant division) Sr. Executives/Executive-5 nos (Sohar, Nizwa & Muscat), Techno Commercial Professional-5nos, Driver (Omani)-1no. Required minimum 3-5 yrs experience in the same field with market exposure holding valid Omani driving license or GCC. Kindly fwd your CV’s to ashwin@taasintl.org Contact: (+968)93891700

Urgently required Female Secretary : Oman based leading manufacturing company has immediate requirement Graduate with min. 5 yrs of experience & capable to handle Management office work independently & Secretarial work, knowledge of computers & accounts will be an advantage. Age limit upto 30 yrs.

Send CVs to vacancyinoman123@gmail.com

Looking for a FOREIGN STAFF has experience in Oman in real estate field. Interested contact: #99109094 Email: aburashid94dd@gmail.com

SKILLED

Instrumentation & controls Technician with 2-3 years experience preferably in water sector and having valid driving license Send CV to shiju@spec-link.com or call Ph:+968 99450811

Looking for experienced construction laborers as a subcontractor for a villa construction in Mawaleh.Contact: 96203333

SALES / MARKETING Urgently required Graphic Designer & marketing executive please forward your CV arshedkm@gmail.com

MEDICAL Urgently Required: Civil Engineer with an experience minimum in 5 years in building construction, MUST have NOC and immediately join. Apply, fax 00968–24605955, emails sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com, sbeoman@yahoo.com.

IT (SALES)

ENGINEER

ϭ͘ WƌŽũĞĐƚ ŽͲKƌĚŝŶĂƚŽƌ Ͳ ΀KŵĂŶŝ EĂƟ ŽŶĂů KŶůLJ΁

ENGINEER

DESIGNER Required Graphic designer and sales person for Advertising agency. Contact: 97982406 Email: choice.ap@gmail.com

&ŝƌƐƚ 'ƌĂĚĞ͕ dĞŶĚĞƌ ŽĂƌĚ ZĞŐŝƐƚĞƌĞĚ ŽŶƐƚƌƵĐƟ ŽŶ ŽŵƉĂŶLJ ZĞƋƵŝƌĞƐ ƚŚĞ ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ^ƚĂī Θ tŽƌŬĞƌƐ ŚĂǀŝŶŐ EK ĨŽƌ ŝŵŵŝĚŝĂƚĞ dƌĂŶƐĨĞƌ

ƌĞŶŽǁŶĞĚ ƐĐŚŽŽů ŝŶ DƵƐĐĂƚ ŝƐ ĐƵƌƌĞŶƚůLJ ƐĞĞŬŝŶŐ ƚŽ ĂƉƉŽŝŶƚ Ă

An IT Company dealing with wireless connectivity /networking requires a Salesman urgently.

Forward your CV to vctsjobsoman@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS

Experienced Petrol Mechanic, denter required. Contact: 98045373

Sales Ladies wanted for Ladies Boutique. Age: 20-35 yrs.

Al Khoudh. Send CV to sameer916@hotmail.com or call 91159905

Planning Engineer (HVAC) Degree/ Diploma in Mechanical Engineering with minimum 7 years of experience in the planning and coordination of multiple projects, cost evaluation/ control and handing over.

Good communication skills. Email vacancyforoman@gmail.com

Urgent Staff requirement for Omar Al Khayyam Group of restaurant (restaurant manager, restaurant cashier, waiters, Indian / Chinese / Tandoor cooks.

Contact: +96893798969 or email: ok.office2013@gmail.com

Leading medical services company looking for GP Doctors, Nurses male & female. Preference given to candidates in oman with MOH/ prometric. Send resume to athirababylon@gmail.com, tamara@babylon-om.com. ph: 24613069 Wanted Lab Technician for Ibra clinic. Very attractive salary for MOH license holders. Send biodata to jmjmedicare@gmail.com 99373493 Urgently required Philipina Nurse with MOH license at prometric parsed. Contact: 99724013 Wanted a Staff Nurse with MOH license for a well running clinic in Seeb. Contact: 99442701 Wanted GP Doctor with MOH license, job location in Muscat with good salary and benefits. Drop your cv at careerhr1972@gmail.com.

Looking for new private clinic GP Doctor who finish license in Oman, Muscat. Contact: 97882811

Reputed building materials company looking for outdoor Sales executive having valid Omani driving license with more than 2 years local sales experience in tiles / sanitary ware.

Please fax CV to 24798709 Email: united@omantel.net.om Urgently required Salesman having experience in marble and granite D/L and NOC must.

Contact: 93484330 Email: preciousmrbl@gmail.com Insurance agency company require Sales Executive with experience Oman driving license.

Clearance available. Send CV to: ahiginsurance@gmail.com Looking for experienced sales candidates in (outdoor & industrial signage, exhibition stands & media locations). Fluent English.

Email : creativityeast@gmail.com Kitchen cabinet manufacturing company is looking sales person, most have Oman D/L and must know any kitchen designed software and two years experience.

Contact: 93326636

Indian male 11 yrs exp in accountant (4 yrs in Oman with D/L & NOC) seeking suitable placement in Sohar area .Contact: 91212471 / 94049967 Email: rennyj6@gmail.com Indian male 29 yrs, M.Com, MBA, ICWA (pursuing) 5 years experience in finance & accounts, Tally, SAP , Sage &MS Office on visit visa till December . Contact: 92840519 / 98450609 Chartered Accountant with ICWA Inter having 5 years experience in Finance, Accounts, Costing, Budgeting, Insurance, Treasury & Banking operations - NOC Available + Oman Driving License Contact : 97881548 Email-financecost2@gmail.com Indian male, MBA finance, B.Com have 1 and half years experienced as Accountant and office assistant of India, on visit visa.

Contact: 97445488 Accountant looking part time job.

Contact: 99867456 Email: ashkar7673@gmail.com Indian male 37 yrs,(M. Com finance) with 12 yrs experience (9 yrs in Oman) in accounts up to finalization can join immediately having NOC & Oman driving license looking for suitable placement. Contact: 90194907 Email: ke.jinson@gmail.com Filipino, 29, Male, BS Commerce, 5years experience Payables/Receivables/Payroll/Document Control.Excellent Communication/MS Office skills. Contact: 95057206 patrick110486@yahoo.com Indian Female, CA Final, 5+ years’ experience in A/cs. Currently in Oman.Ph:94704800 email id: vinithsavith@gmail.com Chief Accountant IndianMale, B.Com Graduate+ PGDCA, Total 18 Years Experience, 13 Year in GCC, 7 Years in Oman. Exposure in Tally ERP9, Peach Tree, MS Office.

Having NOC Available for Immediate Joining. Contact - 97060826 Email-tomnedum71@yahoo.co.in Indian male accountant cum admin with good experience in India & Oman knowledge of tally ERP.9 currently on visit visa seeking suitable placement. Contact: 94834687 Indian lady, bachelor degree in Preparatory Programme (BPP) and Bachelor of Commerce (BCom), completed training course in MS Word, Excel, Power Point and Outlook from KTI looking for full time / part time job opportunity in Oman. Contact 92437568, 96795853, Email: linda_navs@yahoo.com Indian male 9 years experienced Accountant cum store keeper with D/L Oman & UAE transfer available.

Contact: 97085435 Email: sudhimohd@gmail.com Pakistani male age 28 years MBA finance work experience 3 years as Accountant currently in Muscat Oman on visit visa.

Contact: 99685330 Email: hussain_ca87@yahoo.com

28/male/MBA - Finance/B.Com Accountant with 4 years of Dubai/ india experience looking for a suitable placement. shobinkarikkan1987@gmail.com 90187483 Male Indian with 7 years experience in accounting & 6 years experience in sales and marketing very good knowledge of tally currently in Muscat on a visit visa. # 96148427 Email: jijokurianp@gmail.com Indian male 25 yrs, Graduate in commerce, overall 5 yrs exp in accounts/ finance field. On visit visa.

Immediately available.

Contact – 92836216 / muhammad.tausif623@gmail.com 25 years (20 years in Oman & 5 years in Indian) well experienced finance controller seeking for suitable position, with valid Oman driving license. Contact: 99756765 SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, with 13yrs experience, 6 yrs Oman in manufacturing, trading & contracting Cos, capable of handling all accounting, finance, banking, L/C, import, export & finalization seeks placement. NOC Available. Call+968-98932752, mail:jjohnmuscat@hotmail.com 28/ male MBA – finance /B.com – accountant with 4 years of Dubai / India experience looking for a suitable placement.

Contact: 90187483 Email: shobinkarikkan1987@gmail.com Indian male MBA, 8 years experience in hospitality industry, accounting looking for a job, now in visit visa. Contact: 92115860 Indian male 28 yrs, 3 years experience Oman driving license available accounts/ assistant accounts/ sales representatives, Tally, focus experienced Graduated, diploma in Accounting +2 SSLC. Contact: 96565010 Indian Male 28. B.Com with 11yrs experience in in secretarial and document controller field in Saudi Arabia with Saudi license looking for a vacancy contact 00966501913557 and yarajunun@gmail.com Indian CA, 8 yrs + Exp (6 yr in Oman & UAE ) in Finance , Accounts & Auditing , seeking suitable position in Muscat/Dubai, Can Join Immediately, NOC Available , Contact: 98707434 / Email: casmart007@gmail.com Part time Accountant services, yearly finalization works, monthly report, profit& loss report, consulting and audit works. Contact: 96247295 Accountant Indian female, 26 yrs, B.Com 2 yrs experience in accounting, purchase vouchers, bank reconciliation. Contact: 95690207 Email: pereira.rita08@gmail.com

ARCHITECT Senior Architect with 16+ years experience in Multi turnkey projects in KSA, UAE, Qatar, Libya, Oman, India.

Contact: +974 433657155 Email: aftab1706@gamil.com

ADMIN Egyptian woman resident has considerable experience in the administration and secretarial executive for companies. Contact: 97221126 Young dynamic professional with 4yrs of Oman Experience in HR & Admin looking for suitable placement.(NOC Available)-91507099 Now in visiting visa looking for job, fluency in Arabic writing, typing, reading & speaking, looking in Admin, document controller secretary translator & HR Assistance. do needful. Contact: 968- 97240204 Email: dmethaju@gmail.com 15 yrs experience in administration (rent a car) in UAE, holder of UAE driving license on visit in Oman seeking suitable post. Contact: 98606800 / 99431708

T H U R S DAY, D E C E M B E R 1 7, 2 0 1 5

D5

DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED ADMIN

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

Indian male MBA- UK 18 yrs Gulf exp in Administration/ HR & Public relationship. Fluent in Arabic/ English with D/L. Looking for suitable position.

Contact - 99897280

Building construction site supervisor with Omani D/L since Mar .2010 in Oman looking placement in good company.

Contact: 93061107

10 years experience in secretarial / Admin job. Contact: 94868626 HR/ Admin with total 7 years GCC experience looking for immediate change over with suitable position NOC available. Contact 95521535 Email: kbino110@gmail.com HR & Admin Executive (MBA) Indian male 26 years, with more than 4 years experiences in HR / Admin (16 months in Oman) looking for suitable placement. NOC available.

Contact: 968-98757304 / 968 -98314238 Email: muroollah789@gmail.com Indian female, Masters in HR, having 4 + years Oman experience in media management and HR, looking for openings in HR, Education, Admin, Corporate communications. Contact 98252030 Indian Female, MBA-HR having 8+ experience in Administration/ HR, Customer Support, Office Coordinator with good Computer skill, Now on Visit Visa, looking for suitable position. Contact: 90196235

CATERING Cooks (Arabic Indian) gulf exp looking job. Contact: 99531802

DRIVER Experienced Light Duty Driver, Fluent in English, Arabic Well knowledge of Oman Areas Seeking Suitable placement 97950869 Driver looking for a job with visa NOC available. Contact: 91039598 Indian light driver.

Contact: 92279370 Driver with experience of 10 years in Oman seeks suitable placement. Contact: 92191698 Light driver. Contact: 96313100 Driver with car available.

Contact: 93015630 Driver with big Pajero only pick, drop. Contact: 91800277 Light driver looking for job.

Contact: 98549627 10 yrs exp in GCC driver.

Contact: 93722881 Light driver, looking for job.

Contact: 98372745/99090362 Looking for Job driving.

Contact: 97418036 Driver with new car looking for job.contact: 95873286 Driver (light & heavy duty) valid gulf /Indian) looking job.

Contact: 95175192

DESIGNER/DRAUGHTSMAN Multimedia and graphic designer Filipino male 25 , looking for job in Muscat 3 years experience in 6 graphic and 3D design on visit visa immediately available.

Contact: 95844940 Email: chrisrimas@gmail.com 25 years male BA. English , Qualified as mast in digital animation having 5 yrs ex in character animation specialized Auto Desk mago and motion building software knowledge, seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 97917357 Autocad , Oman exp in ARCh, structural, interior, knows 3D ph : 96946306 Professional architect 3ds max (interior, exterior) looking for private work. Contact: 96041201

DOMESTIC HELP House maid looking for job.

Contact: 98257659

ENGG. / TECH./MECH. Male, B.E in industrial & production engineering, 8 years experience (5 years in oil & gas) and 3 years in available currently on visit visa, seeking immediate placement.

Contact: 97863823

Civil Draughtsman having 10 years experience in engineering consultancies N.O.C available.

Contact: 00968- 96712846

Well experienced team available to provide feasibility reports & business solutions, product development, risk management methods for startups, progressive, defunct operations.

Creating of ERP modules.

Contact - 93343251 (PDLO SUR¿ WRPDQ#JPDLO FRP

ƌĞƐƵůƚ ŽƌŝĞŶƚĞĚ ƉƌŽĨĞƐƐŝŽŶĂů ͘ ͘;DĞĐŚͿ͕ ϯϬн LJĞĂƌƐ ĞdžƉĞƌŝĞŶĐĞ ŝŶ Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ WƌŽũĞĐƚƐ͕ &ĂďƌŝĐĂƟ ŽŶ͕ Z Θ D ĂŶĚ ^ĞƌǀŝĐĞƐ͘ ^ĞĞŬŝŶŐ ũŽď ĂƐ 'D͕ K͕ ŽƵŶƚƌLJ ,ĞĂĚ͘ EK Θ ŝŵŵĞĚŝĂƚĞ ĂǀĂŝůĂďŝůŝƚLJ͘

WŚŽŶĞ ͗ нϵϭ ϵϳϳϯϴϮϴϲϲϯ͕ EŵĂŝů ͗ ũǀƉϮϵϭϯϲϳΛLJĂŚŽŽ͘ĐŽŵ

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

Indian male, Mechanical Engineer on visit visa looking for suitable job. Contact:97416564, Email:jovinmathias@gmail.com

Civil Engineer 8 years experience in Oman as a project engineer for governmental & private projects.

Contact – 90164912

Civil Engineer diploma, 4 yrsexp seeks suitable position ina reputed company. NOC available.

Contact – 96789711

Indian Male, 35 years old, ITI – Mechanical Maintenance Technician (Total 14 years) 7years Oman experience. Ready for NOC , VISA transfer, ready to join immediately, Mob .96254637 Email.abilashbt@gmail.com

Civil Engineer (B.Tech), Indian male 24 years with 1+years Indian experience,(Certified in Staad Pro/ Quantity Survey/ Auto Cad).

Looking for a Suitable position.

Available In Sultanate of Oman (Muscat) on Visit Visa.

Contact: 92835952. E-mail: mohammedamair.bin@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer Indian male having 5 yrs of exp in designing, execution & planning in electrical field.

Having valid GGC driving license.

Looking for a suitable job.

Contact – 98052942 / azamjeelani@gmail.com

Indian Male, 36 years old, ITI – STEEL FABRICATION Supervisor (13 years) 11 Oman experience.(6 years in Plant maintenance) Ready for NOC , VISA transfer, ready to join immediately, Mob + 92257422 Email: jacktcr@gmail.com Indian male, 26 yrs experienced as Telecom engineer in ooredoo FTTX project in Qatar with valid GCC driving license, currently in Oman, seeks suitable placement.

Contact 90194856 Email: azeezvallikkad@gmail.com Indian female, 31 yrs, 7 yrs experienced as AutoCAD civil draftsman (2 yrs experience in Oman) currently in Oman seeks suitable.

Contact 96789441 Email: simi5304@gmail.com Indian male 23 years BE degree in electronics & telecommunication, diploma in industrial control & automation, holding valid Oman D/L. Contact: 95726383 Email: christosvaidyans@gmail.com Electrical Engineer with 18 years exp in UAE. Contact: 98148034 Email: shassalih66@gmail.com Indian Female 25 BE.CS Engg with 2yrs Exp in Tech Support at Hewlett Packard & S/W Development at ISRO India,looking for a job in IT/ TechnicalSupport/HR/Administrative/Teaching field.

Contact : 92891427, 24128682 reshmatj@gmail.com B.E Civil Engineer having 10 years experience (04 years in Oman) looking for a suitable placement NOC available.

Contact: 98065360 Email: shafeeqahmedr@gmail.com Indian, looking for work building maintenance electrical & plumbing. Contact: 99365092 Looking for a suitable job (4 yrs experience) electrical engineer.

Contact: 96649586 Email: sattarali863@yahoo.com Electrical engineer Indian male 30 years , having 5 years of experience in industrial automation and utility maintenance in Indian ( MRF Tyres) seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 92789995 Email: akhilabrahamlktr@gmail.com An Indian male HSE professional 9yrs experience out of 6yrs in Oman 3 yrs in India. Graduate, safety diploma, IOSH & NEBOSH . Working as Sr. HSE officer in a reputed MNC in MCT. NOC available, seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 90187224 7 Yrs Exp. PM in Mech. Engg in the field of Building Const. Oil & Gas Seeking Job.94625598 29 yrs Indian male B.E (ECE) with more than 5 yrs experience in Oman with valid D/L. # 96652145 Electronics & Communication Engineer : Master degree in VLSI & Embedded systems , looking for electronics/telecom/embedded jobs or teaching in colleges or schools or institutions . Currently on family visa. #97092459 or 91342287 remyaramaswamy1991@gmail.com Robotics/Embedded Systems Engineer, Masters in Electronics Engineering, experience in software field & robotics, seeks suitable opportunities.

Email: mariaannajoseph@gmail.com Mob: 91306841 Diploma in Electrical Engineering with 6 years’ experience in Electrical Automation , Programming, Project, Power, Energy and Supervision in Civil Work.

Currently in Oman and looking for suitable position, Please contact 94873560/92406652

Electrical Project Engineer 5 years experience in primacy substation cables and OHL valid driving license. NOC available.

Contact: 91204243 QA Engineer 5+ years experience executing ISO internal audit implement QA document. NOC available.

Contact: 95361454 Email: mohamedshalifawaz@gmail.com B.Tech (IT) Indian Male 2 years Oman experience in I.T & Networking, holding Oman Driving License, presently on employment visa, seeks for a suitable placement.

Ready to join immediately. NOC available. Contact: 92462578 10 year experience fit – out project Engineer, holding Omani driving license searching for a suitable placement. Contact: 95896061 Email: supreethshetty88@gmail.com Sudanese Civil Engineer with 5 years experienced AutoCAD primavera & GIS Arabic & English language looking for a suitable job.

Contact: 91340584 Indian male diploma Civil Engineer having total 6 years experience in building continuation looking for suitable job. #94257287 Indian Male 23 years B.Tech Civil having 2 years experience in quantity survey and site management looking for suitable placement Contact:- 95042656 Diploma in Mechanical Eng piping system in AutoCAD work, 21+ years experience with Driving license. Contact: 95267113 Email: rkakkaryil@gmail.com Female Engineer material / controller 3 years experience in road companies, with D/L. Contact: 98001764 Civil Engineer (Diploma) looking for urgent placement (final exit).

Contact: 95200650 Electrical Engineer ( B.Tech) Indian female 4 years experience in India presently located at Al Ghubra on family visa. Contact: 97228117 Indian male, Mechanical Engineer having 1Year experience, on visit visa looking for suitable job.

Contact: 97416564, Email: jovinmathias@gmail.com Indian male 24 yrs bachelor mechanical 2 yr experience looking for job. Contact: 95179021 /96974981 Email: atharhussain54@gmail.com Need for job Generator Mechanic 2 years auto diesel cores, exp. 7 years Pakistan 1 and half years in Oman oil filed. Contact: 92849823 BCA & GNIIT Higher diploma in NIIT. Looking for job, .presently in Muscat oman. Looking for a suitable position, Able to get NOC from the present company.

Network management in computer, software developing, Accounting.

Contact 98631210 Civil Engineer 6 yrs Exp in Oman with license. Contact: 98975528 STP Operator having 25 yrs experience in Oman. Contact: 93089468 Project Manager / Site manager two years experience with BE Civil Engineer + DAE civil technology skills Primavera 6, Ms Office, age 26 years seeking suitable job.

Contact: 94842408 Email: engrali300@gmail.com Mechanical Engineer M.Tech 2 years experience as HVAC design engineer rev IT M.E.P AutoCAD. Contact: 91050913 Email: rahmanmechengg@yahoo.com

QA/QC Engineer 10 yrs experience 7 yrs in GCC oil& gas industry looking for opportunity in Oman.

QMS Auditor CSWIP3.1, API 570 BE MECH, MBA-PM NOC available.

Contact 94663812 Email: srsaamy@hotmail.com Buyer cum expeditor having more than 7 years of experience in oil& gas sector major client Oman gas company & British petroleum, knowledge in logistics and shipping clearance. NOC available.

Contact: 98708758 Email: sakthivigneshraj@gmail.com Indian male Mechanical Engg with 6 yrs experience in MEP field, seeking suitable placement with GCC license now in visit visa.

Contact: 98086267 Email: khaleel1586@gmail.com Road and Construction Engineer with 5 years exp in Oman.

Contact: 97646908 Civil Engineer with 6 years exp in Oman. Contact: 93242103 Email: mohamedf91987@gmail.com

EDUCATION Indian female M.SC B.ED qualified TEFL two years experience in gulf seeking suitable job in teaching.

Contact: 91706466 Computer Teacher M.SC Indian male 10 years teaching exp in Maldives as O level computer teacher presently located at Berha on family visa.

Contact: 94867456 / 95262691 Indian female MSC, B, ED M.PHIL currently on visit visa seeking suitable placement, 2 years experience Contact: 96916534 / 91969756 Email: aryanair23@gmail.com

HOSPITALITY Hospitality/Hotel/ Restaurants Dynamic result oriented hospitality professional with 20 years of international exp. MBA in Hotel Management, specializing in Hotel/ Restaurant start ups, concepts & Franchise development with proven records. Seeking for Challenging positions in reputed groups as GM/ COO/CEO/Business Head. (NOC available) Contact: 96059470 Dutch male qualified commercial pilot (Faa-ME-IR certified) is looking for job openings in middle east. rutjestom@outlook.com

IT 7 years Gulf experienced Automatic door system technician. All type of automatic door, gate barrier, Access control, CCTV, working in Oman (NOC available). Contact 96707646 Email: pramod.raj.p@gmail.com B.Tech (IT) Indian Male 2 years Oman experience in I.T & Networking, holding Oman Driving License, presently on employment visa, seeks for a suitable placement.

Ready to join immediately. NOC available. Contact: 92462578

Civil Supervisor, 5 yrs experience in high rise buildings worked in BP Khazzan projects. NOC available.

Contact: 96259407 Email: rp2251990@gmail.com

IT / Net work Engineer with MIT , CCNA certified CCNP and MCSE training , 2 years working experience currently on visit visa in Muscat. Contact: 94153542 Email: shahzadmahmood51@yahoo.com

Mechanical Engineer (B.Tech) Indian m with good knowledge in MEP, currently in Oman on visit visa looking for suitable placement. Contact: 90154793 Email: sangu.vazhoor@gmail.com

Indian female MCA IT 3years experience in the field of computer hardware and windows, Network Administration on visit visa.

Contact: 96730971 Email: anjuretankar@gmail.com

Indian female on visit visa master of engineering (M.E) in computer science with 2 years experience software trainee, worked as mathematics and IT Teacher seeking for suitable job.

Contact: 94528019 Email: indhu101291@gmail.com

Hardware & net working, 2 years exp. Contact: 96244031

Mechanical Engineer with 3 Yrs experience in international Oil & Gas company looking for job Contacts: Tel: 90164236 Email: mustafaoshi-62@hotmail.com Project Engineer 6 years experience in Oman, construction (site manager) fluent Arabic, English and good Hindi.

Tele 97858589 Civil Engineer (BE) having total 5 years experience in building construction looking for a suitable placement. D/L available Contact# 94450270 Indian female civil engineer B.Tech having 3 years experience sound knowledge of software, REVIT STAD PRO structural detailing currently on family visa seeks suitable placement. Contact: 95345591 Sr. Civil Engineer, Indian male with 22 yrs of experience in building construction, pipeline work specialist in tendering, billing, quantity surveying with Gulf experience. contact 95225759 Email : rafiksimna@gmail.com Civil maintenance painting, tile works decor works, plumbing, electric, shop furnishing carpentary works and all other maintenance. Contact 97897831, 92112094 (Indian, Keralite) Bachelor Civil Engineer 6 Years in Oman experience Valid Driving License seeks suitable placement Phone 97619722 Email – golamrob@yahoo.com Civil Engineer 6 yrs Exp in Oman with license. Contact: 98975518 Sri Lankan Engineer (27 Years old) – B.Sc Engineering (Hon) Mining / Geotechnical Presently in Muscat, 1.5 years experience. Contact 91295802 / acmfaslan123@gmail.com

Female, 24yrs, B-tech Computer Science, currently on visit,1yr experience and certified special training .skills in software testing,managem ent,administration,java,oracleDB,A ndroid,C++,C.seeking suitable placement.Contact:98741930, amruthamohandas515@gmail.com Indian male IT, CCNA, RHCE, MCITP, 3 years experience have GCC driving license seeking suitable position on visit visa (until 27th Dec).

Contact: 93311963 Email: sajal035@gmail.com An Indian male 27yrs, B. Tech in (Computer Science) 6 years of exp in technical support, troubleshooting and managing seeks suitable placement. Contact:- 97483775, email:- mir.jak89@gmail.com CCNA MCITP network support /network technician with 2 years experience Indian male having bachelors degree on visit visa. Contact : 93080871 sean.f.peters@outlook.com Age 28 years experience 2years & 8 month in IT accounting technical skill, java, J.S.P tally Peachtree M.S excel, SQL ,Working java programmer India , accountant , Dubai ,Qualification MCA, B.C.A mathematic visit visa. Contact: 95673451

MEDICAL Indian BDS doctor looking for a suitable position properties passed. Contact: 90377433 MSc Bioinformatics BSc Biotechnology, 3 to 4 years experience in outsourcing related to U.S based Pharma Company regarding cheminformatics and drug designing work related to human kinases. Contact – 93871822 / anshulv45@gmail.com Experienced prometric cleared Indian female dentist seeks suitable placement in Muscat.

Contact: 94673720 /92880267 An experienced Sudanese female Dentist with MOH license looking for job. # 96436517 /97396088

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR MBA (marketing) with 17 years experience in freight forwarding/ logistics industry in GCC & Oman.

Presently working as branch manager in Muscat. Looking for a suitable position. Release and NOC available. Contact: 99856331 MBA In Operations Management Indian male : MBA in Lean Operations And Systems with 3 years of experience seeks suitable placement in Oman.

Contact : 0096894369897 The Business Development Manager, Iraqi, Experience 15 Years Inside and outside Oman following activities: construction(Very strong and qualified to bringing business for civil work Or any type of the construction work for many million per year with a good experience in pricing and collect payment and cash management of the company & marketing projects & investments& tenders & real estate. Contact: - 92385033 Indian male 4 years experience M.S.C Marine biotechnology, looking for Production Manager.

Contact: +919629032023 Email: evergreenram88@gmail.com The Business Development Manager, Iraqi, Experience 15 Years Inside and outside Oman following activities: tenders& real estate& construction & marketing projects& investments& transportation & Marine services& companies management& develop business.

Contact :- 92385033 Indian male, with experience in operations management, information security, purchase & stores mgmt, hold UAE driving license, on visit visa, seeks suitable job. #91904541 Email: naushers@yahoo.com

MISCELLANEOUS Candidate with communication & analytical skills. Contact 90187827 Indian Female, 24 Years - MSc Biotechnology. Worked in International Crops Research Institute For The Semi Arid Tropics for project work as trainee. Looking for suitable job. Mobile: 92619048, Email: anusreeg1991@gmail.com Indian male 42 years 13 years experience with Oman driving license in MEP contracting looking job store keeper / purchaser.

Contact: 95197065 Indian 28 yrs, 5 years experience in purchase looking for a suitable NOC available, driving license available. Contact: 96772166 Indian Male, 34 years with 14 years oil & gas tankers sailing experience in reputed firm with Class 1 UK COC Master’s license seeking suitable placement in port/drydock/terminal facilities/ shipping and marine services.

Contact- 98842135/99090098 email:-menon.dhanesh@gmail.com Graduate, computer literate, experienced in sales, credit control, accounts, Omani D/L , seeks suitable placement. Gsm 9880-5474

SKILLED / UNSKILLED Game operators & gardener, with at least relevant field experience.

Please send your CV to fuad@hadidmajan.com Required expatriate manpower goods loading & unloading labors.

For inquiry Contact: 98111363

SALES / MARKETING Candidate with good communication. Contact 90187827 Indian, 38 years with 15 years in sales & marketing filed with GCC valid license. Contact: 94744746 Indian male with Oman driving license and 27 years Oman experience in FMCG sales/newspaper distribution across the Sultanate seeks job. No objection certificate/release letter is available from the present employer. Contact 98962942 Indian male 11 yrs exp in Oman looking for job in sales /mrkt, office work having Oman D/L. Contact: 99501046 Indian male 23 years with 4 years experience in Purchase and Sales, graduate in EC, currently on visiting visa, seeking suitable job in Oman. Contact: 96761020. Email: adikmuthumuttam@gmail.com

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T H U R S D AY, D E C E M B E R 1 7, 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

SIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANTED CARGO SALES / MARKETING Male B.com 8 month experience in sales seeking suitable placement. Contact: 98371144 Indian male graduate with 7 yrs exp in sale & marking immediate join NOC available. Contact : 96746107 Indian Male 32, MBA (Marketing & Finance) with 10 years experience in Marketing of Banking Products & Insurance Industry.

Seeking for a Job in Oman.

Contact: 93576980, 97750460 Email: senthil.cbe83@gmail.com Sales & Marketing Executive MBA with 3 years experience in sales looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 91345727.

Age 26 Indian male B.Com completed 3 years outdoor sales experience, one year Gulf experience good marketing knowledge, having Oman driving license. NOC available seeking suitable placement. Contact: 98792682 Indian male sales marketing with G.C.C license 7 years exp.

Contact: 98097459 Email: shl_kami@yahoo.com Indian male with Oman driving license and 27 years’ Oman experience in FMCG sales /newspaper distribution across the Sultanate seeks job. No objection certificate/ release letter is available from the present employer.

Contact: 98962949 Graduate, computer literate, experienced in sales, credit control, accounts, Omani D/L , seeks suitable placement. Gsm 9880-5474 12 years of experience in Oman; marketing strategies & operations, logistics, government tenders, public relations & dealing with international companies -4 years of experience in UK, engineering CNC & industrial areas, have dual nationality, fluent in English & Arabic speaking and writing , (I can travel abroad easily without visa, for finalizing business or any other purpose).

Contact: 94123939 Indian male, MBA Finance & Marketing 28 yrs,6+ Exp, with Driving license, Hospital Phrma Herbal Marketing, construction A/c & sales , F&B industry, 93379044 Indian male, MBA Marketing having 2.5 years Sales experience immediately looking for a suitable position. Contact: 91415145, Email: shariqs88@gmail.com Indian male 46 years, Sales Manager experience in modular kitchens & furnitures.

Contact: 94522616 Indian male, 24, MBA Marketing and HR, I year experience. On visit visa. Looking for suitable job.

Contact 94014073 Marketing Executive/Merchandiser, Omani License, BA 8 years Experience in Multinational Groups. Contact 97601343 Indian 18 years experience in Oman Driver cum Sales man fields NOC available. Contact: 92459603

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE Indian lady with release paper. searching for admin or accounts asst or showroom sales job.

Contact 94417080 MCA, Indian female looking for a job in admin office works.

Contact: 96370225 Secretary MBA Indian male 5 years exp in India, 1 yr exp as Secretary / document controller in tendering dept in Oman seeking urgent placement. Contact 91566118 / 93089367

SKILLED / UNSKILLED Looking for job as Mason, steel fixer, electrician.

Contact: 93015630 Masonry / finishing foreman 20 years experience NOC available.

Contact: 98435309/ India + 91 9446958838

CLASSES

IELTS PREPARATION Target Band 8.0

Classes for Spoken English TOEFL / GRE / GMAT / SAT Excellent Guidance and Coaching Satisfaction Guaranteed EAGLES INSTITUTE 92325542 | 93657915 | 93657917 | Email: engominst@gmail.com

Spoken Arabic class for Non Arabic Speakers & English class for Malayalam Speakers

in Azaiba and Ruwi earn in two months

tion guaranteed

Tel: 95244310

IELTS & TOEFL Academic / General Target Band 8 TQT Institute.

Ph # 24480800 / 99347202

Karate and self defense classes at Azaiba 18 Nov Street. RO 10 per month twice a week Monday and Tuesday 6. 30 TO 7. 30. PM. CONTACT 98294551

COMPUTER

ABDULHAKIM AL BIMANI TRADING & CONTRACTOR Expert in Shipping cargo by sea & air to Zanzibar, Pemba, Dar es Salam in Tanzania, Burundi, The Philippines, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.

Reasonable price.

Contact: 97440625/95416662

SITUATION WANTED SKILLED / UNSKILLED Mason, SH / carpenter, steel fitter gulf & Indian exp looking job.

Contact: 95175192 Electrician, plumber (exp gulf / Indian) looking job.

Contact 95175192

TECHNICIAN /MECH. Instrumentation & controls Technician with 2-3 years experience preferably in water sector and having valid driving license call Ph:+968 99450811 Send CV to shiju@spec-link.com

TOURS & TRAVELS Indian female BSC IATA, 14 years exp in travel & tourism in Oman looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 96433490 Email: indu623@yahoo.co.in Indian female 24 yrs, Bachelor in Travel & Tourism and 2 year exp in Oman as ticketing executive.

GDS-Sabre, Amdeus, Galilio. seeking suitable job. Contact- 95883404

MISCELLANEOUS MBA - (F), M.Com,B.COM. Indian female having knowledge of accounts with Tally looking for part time or full time job. Presently on family visa. Contact :- 91892264.

Email: yashicapandya@gmail.com 31 year Indian male PG in HR with 5 yrs Professional experience in HR in Construction Oil & Gas Oman seeking for a suitable placement(NOC Available).Kindly contact me on 93488914, emailKaarthickshankar@gmail.com Indian Male, 26 years, With 7 years of experience in Sales Field in shipping company in “Dubai” , looking for suitable placement.

Experienced working in safety Marine equipment and well versed with MS Office. #90182494, Manojmallya999@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS

Email: abdulhakimalbimani@hotmail.com

WEBSITE

HR & Admin Executive ( MBA) Indian male 26 year old, with more than 4 years of experiences in HR& Admin (16 month in Oman) looking for suitable placement, NOC available. Contact: +968-98757304 Email: nuroollah789@gmail.com Indian Male, 28, MBA Finance & Mcom. more than 5yrs exp. in A/c & Finance (Including 2 yrs in Oman), NOC available, Seek Suitable Placement, Contact: 93939421, email: baleeq.ams@gmail.com Indian Accounts professioanl with 2 years of experience currently on visit visa looking for suitable job openings Contact: Gsm: 92395449 jaleelcabdul@gmail.com Part- Time Accountant, well experience senior accountant ,doing all type of accounting works, Finalization, Budgeting available.

Contact 98803439 Post graduate master of social work having 5 years experience at present visit visa seeking suitable opportunity.Contact 99876307 Planning Engineer: B.E(Electrical and Electronics Engineering): Indian Male 33 yrs with 10 years of experience in UAE & Muscat. Skilled in the areas of project coordination, planning & procurements.

Contact: 00971503529608 Email Id: saravananbe44@gmail.com 29 year Indian male B-Tech Engineering, with 6 yrs of Professional experience in Manufacturing Oil & Gas Industries seeking for a suitable placement (NOC Available).Kindly contact me on 94628362, emailmahinathdevani@yahoo.co.in MBA (F), B.COM. Indian female having knowledge of accounts with Tally looking for job. presently on family visit visa.

Contact :- 94704661. Email:bhumicapandya@gmail.com

WEB, ERP and Business Intelligence (BI) creation and management at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

MANPOWER

D EWKt Z dŝůĞ DĂƐŽŶƐ͕ DĂƐŽŶƐ͕ ůĞĐƚƌŝĐŝĂŶƐ͕ WůƵŵďĞƌƐ͕ &ĂůƐĞ ĞŝůŝŶŐ ͬ 'LJƉƐƵŵ tŽƌŬƐ ĂŶĚ ĂƌƉĞŶƚĞƌƐ ƌĞƋƵŝƌĞĚ ŝŵŵĞĚŝĂƚĞůLJ ŽŶ >ĂďŽƌ ƐƵƉƉůLJ ďĂƐŝƐ͘ /ŶƚĞƌĞƐƚĞĚ ƉĂƌƟ ĞƐ ƉůĞĂƐĞ ĐŽŶƚĂĐƚ

'^D͗ ϵϲϳϳϱϬϮϯ ͬ ϵϲϳϳϱϬϮϰ *Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

T H U R S DAY, D E C E M B E R 1 7, 2 0 1 5

D7

DAILY GUIDE TOURS

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain Marine Tours contact 98029602, 92808636

RENT A CAR

DRIVING

RENT A CAR

Learn driving with professional.

Contact: 94022250

TRANSPORTATION

TRANSPORTATION 7 Ton/ 10 Ton- Trailer Local transport- MCT- UAE

Rental car. Contact: 92516090

Contact 96609857

SITUATION WANTED SERVICES

Amir Ali Transportation & tours. Contact: 99324045 Pick & drop anytime in Al Khuwair.

Contact 99764307 Transportation available Ruwi to Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.

Contact: 91103909 Transportation. Contact: 99099714 Transportation available Ruwi Seeb. Contact 99867456 Transportation. Contact: 8505294

FOR HIRE

^ Zs/ ^ Bobcat available for rent.

Contact 97623299 Car with driver available for rent.

Contact: 93015630

tĞ WƌŽǀŝĚĞ ůĞĂŶĞƌƐ͕ Kĸ ĐĞ ďŽLJƐ͕ ůĞĂŶŝŶŐ ŽŶƚƌĂĐƚƐ͕ 'ĞŶĞƌĂů ĐůĞĂŶŝŶŐ ĞƚĐ͘ ů DƵĚĂŬŚŝƌ EĂƟ ŽŶĂů Ɛƚ͘ >> ŽŶƚĂĐƚ ͗ ϵϰϮϳϳϬϮϬ

AVAILABLE MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your marble. Contact 24793614/ 99314807

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirting, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery, Crockery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes, Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound Systems and spectacular lighting. Call Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering and Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound & Light. ww.tunesoman. com, E-mail: info@tunesoman.com Available office space in Prime location on 18th November Street, Azaiba Kindly. Contact: 99288664

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

FOR LADIES Home service for ladies only facial, waxing, body massage, (if you not waxing menicure pedicure) only 20 Riyal, Contact 9243 0239

Pest Control Treatments.

Ocean Center LLC. Contact: 99344723

Cleaning & Carpet Shampooing, Ocean Center LLC. Contact: 99344723

Al farzdaq Al Fedi Trad and Cont Maintenance services electric, plumbing and A/C. Contact: 96524904 / 94285064

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles polishing, carpet shampooing, maintenance. contact ABU QABAS99320217 /24788722

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile polishing, pest control & anti-termite treatment, general cleaning painting,Plumbing, Electrical, shifting. Contact Mundhir Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C. Contact: 24810137, 99450130 Debt collection services your money we collect value commercial services. Fax: 0096824783669 Contact: 009682479815 /00968- 24701422 /00968- 94665476 Email: salim@valuedbtcollection.com

Marble grinding resurfacing & ceiling crystallization / polishing general cleaning of villas & flats.

Terrazzo floor scrubbing, ceiling, polishing & buffing.

Contact: 98598280 /94134784 Water proofing ABUQABASContact 99320217/24788722 Split & window A/c servicing & maintenance. Contact : 93769089 / 95323517 GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing, Contact 99314807/24792998 House shifting. Contact: 99657644/98518013

D8

T H U R S D AY, D E C E M B E R 1 7, 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

SITUATION WANTED DINING DELIGHTS

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classiямБeds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624