Times of Oman - January 20, 2016

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6 085010 120010 FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTY THE SULTAN

On the occasion of Opening of the 2nd Term of the Council of Oman, 2000

‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’ Over the past three decades we have endeavoured to ensure that every step taken by Oman’s Renaissance springs from our deepest reality, that it is inspired by our heritage, religion and values, and that it incorporates those aspects of modern human civilisation that are useful

WEDNESDAY, January 20, 2016 / 10 Rabi Al Thani 1437 AH timesofoman.com

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‘NOC doesn’t guarantee return to the Sultanate’ Expatriates in limbo

Rules for the return of expats have been tightened but there

REJIMON K

is an exception when

reji@timesofoman.com

both the old and new sponsors come e personally to the office

FAHAD AL GHADANI REJIMON K

fahadnews@timesofoman.com reji@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: “A No Objection Certificate (NOC) will not assure that an expatriate can return to Oman after leaving his job.”

That was the message again from senior police officials to the Times of Oman, who reiterated that holding a certificate from an ex-employer no longer guarantees being able to work in Oman again within two years of exit.

Major Rashid Al Abri confirmed there were new rules tightening up procedures for expatri-

ate workers wanting to return, saying, “The final decision is of Royal Oman Police (ROP).”

An exception to the strict rules, he added, was that if both the old and the new sponsor — not a company representative but the sponsor-themselves — came in person to the immigration office to sign the NOC for approval from the ROP. There were media reports yesterday that company representatives could process the papers at the immigration office, but the official said this was not fully correct.

“The media misunderstood our version,” the major said.

Even if an employee is able to get both sponsors to attend and complete the paperwork, Major Al Abri said there were still factors that could lead to a denial.

The police, he said, will look into the aspects such as whether the expatriate employee is needed in Oman, whether the applicant’s personal records are clean and also whether any money is involved in the transfer process.

He added that this move was taken to stop employees getting around Article 11 in the immigration code stating that an expat who leaves the country and leaves his job should spend two years

abroad before joining another company back in Oman.

“It is to control the market,” Major Al Abri added.

A second, more senior top official in the ROP, who initially told Times of Oman about the new rules that led to yesterday’s headlines, said the decision was taken as there were many complaints filed with the Public Prosecution against the police force itself from previous employers.

“Almost 30 cases were filed against the ROP for allowing an expat to join another company without the knowledge of the first employer,” he said. >A6

TOP THREE INSIDE STORIES

OMAN

OMAN

MARKET

Oman 4th in Arab region in Logistics Index

Public sector remains top choice for Omanis

Massive growth plans for Port of Duqm

1

2

3

Earning 5.48 points, Oman came fourth on the Arab level and 14th on the international level in the logistic service indicators for the emerging markets in 2016.

The indicator was prepared by Agility of Switzerland. >A2

More than 50% of the Omani youth working in the private sector are ready to join public sector, even if the salary there would be lower, according to a survey carried out by the National Centre for Statistics and Information. >A3

Port of Duqm will witness hectic activities in the next three years for completing the final development work at the port for commencing fully-fledged operations, according to the CEO of the Port. >B1

On a mission to create future Omani leaders

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MUSCAT: Tightening of two-year visa ban rule has put expatriates in limbo who have already left for their home country with a No Objection certificate (NOC) in the hope of returning to Oman.

“I left last week only.

I have an NOC from the previous employer. Now, I have heard that the new employer is facing hurdles in getting a fresh job visa for me. First request has been rejected by the immigration officials.

As I was of returning to Oman, I didn’t vacate my rented house and sold my car. I am confused on what to do,” Rajesh V, an Indian expat, told Times of Oman from India. >A6

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

OMAN REVIEW

Majlis committees discuss Omani Penal Law, Oman University MUSCAT: Referred by the Council of Ministers, the Legal and Legislative Committee of Majlis Al Shura reviewed the time programme for studying the draft Omani Penal Law, according to the Article No. (58) biz (35) of the Basic Law of the State.

Dr. Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al Zedjali, head of the committee, pointed out that the draft Omani

Penal Law is one of the most important laws being studied by the panel.

He explained that the current law has been in-force for more than 40 years and it is essential to review the current law to cope with variables of the current stage particularly with the progress of the concept of crime and the philosophy of punishment.

The draft law includes about 400 articles. The Committee also studied the amendments proposed to the internal bylaw of the Majlis according to the article (60) of the Majlis bylaw that identifies prerogatives of the Legal and Legislative Committee.

The Legal and Legislative Committee held its 4th regular meeting of the first annual sitting (2015–

2016) of the 8th term (2015–2019).

Meanwhile, the Education and Scientific Research Committee of the Majlis Al Shura discussed topics related to educational sector plans in the Sultanate, the challenges and the proposed solutions, as well as reviewing a group of incoming messages to the Majlis Office.

Members of the Committee

touched on the proposal of establishing Oman University, which was referred by the Majlis Office for discussion. They also reviewed a decision No. 588/2015 issued on December 31st, 2015 by the Minister of Education particularly the article (40) that stipulates that the student or the parent is allowed to view the exam book of the student in case the student or the parent

requests to review his/her exam paper. The Committee took the appropriate decision regarding that article.

The Education and Scientific Research Committee at Majlis held its 4th regular meeting of the 1st annual sitting (2015 – 2016) of the 8th term under the chair of Khalid bin Yahya Al Far’ei, Head of the Committee. -ONA EMERGING MARKETS

Oman 4th in Arab region in Logistics Index 2016 GENEVA: Earning 5.48 points, Oman came fourth on the Arab level and 14th on the international level in the logistic service indicators for the emerging markets in 2016.

The indicator was prepared

by Agility of Switzerland and published on its website.

The indicator is based on two basic criteria namely doing business and transportation infrastructure and the connection between them as this will help logistic service providers, customer clearance officers, distributors and shipping companies to carry out their tasks easily. China topped the list which includes 45 countries.

UAE came second followed by India, Malaysia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Brazil.

The company affirmed that it uses economic, business data, social indicators and the development of transportation sector to rank the countries in logistic services markets indicators.

Agility Logistic Services company is a global leader in providing comprehensive logistic solutions. The company has more than 500 premises in more than 100 countries round the world with over $4 billion revenues. -ONA

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

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State jobs remain first choice of Omani youth Job market survey results A National Centre for Statistics and Information survey also found that 52.2 per cent of youth workers in the government sector would switch to the private sector if a higher salary was offered. Also, men and the lower educated class are more inclined

76%

Who are more willing to enroll in the private sector?

Male

69.2%

Female

37.8%

of Omani job seekers prefer a job in the government sector even when the salary in a private sector job would be 50 per cent higher compared to jobs in the government sector.

Salary Government

towards finding a state job

Private

+50%

Source National Centre for Statistics & Information

ERIK PRINS

erik@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: More than half of the Omani youth working in the private sector would transfer to the government sector, even if the salary was lower, according to a job market survey carried out by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

Men and the lower educated class are more inclined towards finding a state job, the NCSI said in the full report, which was published in Arabic on Thursday.

The NCSI also found that 76 per cent of Omani youth seeking a job preferred a job in the government sector, even if the salary in a private sector job was 50 per cent higher, compared with the government job.

Tonia Gray, general manager at Competence HR, said during the current economic climate, job security is a real concern for many Omani youth, who see the private sector as less stable in this regard.

“Omani youth may also consider accepting a lesser salary in the government sector due to the job security offered.

“In addition, the government sector often undertakes its business in the Arabic language,

Omani youth have a high expectation of the role of the government, as well, the NCSI said. Nearly 89 per cent of work seekers think the government should be responsible for providing a job for every young Omani, the NCSI found

which may be an advantage for some,” she said.

The lower number of working hours and less arduous work are other important factors pulling young Omanis to the government sector, according to Gray.

Male students (69.2 per cent) are more willing to enrol in the private sector than females (37.8 per cent).

52.2 per cent of youth workers in the government sector would switch to the private sector if a higher salary was offered. The desired minimum increase in salary rose from 43 per cent in 2013 to 52 per cent in 2015, indicating higher expectations regarding salary, said the NCSI. The findings also showed that

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these expectations are higher among students enrolled in higher education than they are among job seekers (OMR880, compared with OMR454 in the private sector, respectively). In general, job seekers expect a higher salary in the public sector (499.7, compared with 454.3).

Gray of Competence HR said she recognizes this increase in salary expectations.

“We have noticed steadily increasing demand from graduates in our recent graduate recruitment programmes on behalf of private sector clients,” she said.

Most of the youth working in the private sector earn between OMR320 and 900, while in the private sector they earn between

Graphics

OMR320 and 700, according to the NCSI. The top reasons for not being content with a job include [perceived] low salaries, strenuous working conditions and the nature of the work not deemed fit, the report concluded.

“While young Omanis have obtained an excellent education, quite often the qualifications they have do not match the requirements of the private sector. Fresh graduate Omanis we have hired often left within two years,” Gray noted.

Omani youth have a high expectation of the role of the government, as well, the NCSI said.

89 per cent of work seekers think the government should be responsible for providing a job for every young Omani, the NCSI found.

However, more Omani youth wanted to start their own businesses. 46 per cent of job seekers and 71.6 per cent of those employed said they would want to, compared with 33 and 53 per cent, respectively, in 2013.

As for competition from the expat workforce, more than 75 per cent of job seekers and 61 per cent of those employed think expats negatively affect their own chances of being employed, the report found.

MEETING

Majlis panel discusses taxi drivers’ problems MUSCAT: Challenges faced by taxi drivers due to some expatriates using private cars as taxis, were among the issues discussed by the Majlis Al Shura’s Services and Social Development Committee, at its 7th meeting of the 1st annual sitting (2015/2016) of the 8th term (2015 2019), under the chair of Dr. Hamoud bin Ahmed Al Yahyaie, Head of the Committee.

The Committee also discussed the issue of some hotels and shopping malls issuing memberships, in addition to a request to regulate taxis at Sultan Qaboos Port.

The panel decided to prepare a report to study the requests and

offer appropriate solutions. It also discussed the request made by a member of the Council for formation of civil volunteer teams in all governorates to study it and propose a mechanism to form these teams, their powers, and appropriate frameworks for putting them into application.

The Committee also discussed an Omani Autism Society report.

The report explained that based on a study conducted at the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) there are at least (5,000) autism cases in the Sultanate, mostly not diagnosed yet, with prevalence rate of (1 out of every 156 children). -ONA

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

For detailed coverage log on to www.timesofoman.com

ALL OMANI SHOW: The most distinguished aspect of the exhibition is that it is fully designed and created by Omanis. – Talib Al Wahibi

GOING ALL OUT TO SPREAD LOVE FOR SCIENCE IN OMAN SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY LAUNCH

In a first-of-its-

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

kind initiative in the Sultanate, a Science Lab, designed and built by Omani experts, has provided a platform to introduce various aspects of science to children in an entertaining way

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADI

elham@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: A group of young Omani engineers have joined hands to spread love for Science among children visiting the Muscat Festival venue at Amerat Park.

In a first-of-its-kind initiative in Oman, a Science Lab, designed and built by Omani experts, has provided a platform to introduce various aspects of science to children in an entertaining way. The Science Lab is a collaboration between the Innovation Factory, a research and development company, and the Innovation Group, an event coordinating company, said Firas Khamis Al Mosafir, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Innovation Factory.

“This is the first time that something like this has been organised in Oman. The most distinguished aspect of the exhibition is that it is fully designed and built by Omanis,” Al Mosafir told the Times of Oman. “Everything you see inside is designed from scratch and programmed by Omani inventors at our company,” he said, adding that a group of specialists, including inventors, programmers and mechanical engineers are constantly working on similar projects at the Innovation Factory.

Various sections According to him, the Science Lab has various sections featuring some of the most important aspects of science and technology, such as astronomy, geology, virtual reality and robotics.

“We have not covered every topic in science, but we have chosen the ones that we think are important for children to understand,” Al Mosafir said. He explained that the Science Lab targets school children from the age of 10 to high school students.

Children are taken in batches of six inside the lab along with a guide and are given an audio device through which they can listen to explanations about each segment in Arabic or in English, he added.

The CEO of the Innovation Factory also noted that all sections of the exhibit are ‘interactive’ and the message of each part is delivered to the children in simplified terms and in a nutshell so as not to bore them. Inside the Science Lab, children are treated to a unique experience, where they learn about the Earth, galaxy, asteroids and meteorites, virtual reality, robots, recycling, air pollution and planet conservation through fun and educational methods and devices.

Recycling workshop In the outdoor section of the Science Lab, children can participate in recycling workshops and get to watch science shows designed for children, Al Mosafir said.

He added that a screen would also become available outside the lab for live streaming of the activities taking place inside that will also show some educational videos. According to him, there is also a giveaway for visitors, such as explaining a pot and a message about science written on paper that comes out after water is poured inside it.

Permanent venue Al Mosafir believes that it would be a good idea to dedicate a permanent venue for the Science Lab or similar projects.

Many of the sections in this lab are designed in a way that enables them to be modified for permanent use, he noted. The CEO of Innovation Factory said their mission is to inspire children through science and, in particular, the fact that this Science Lab has been built by Omani nationals.

“We want to spread the love of Science in the hope that the next Science Lab will be built by these children,” Al Mosafir said.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

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OMAN

On a mission to create future Omani leaders

CLUTTONS REPORT

Fuel subsidy cut, austerity to boost real estate market

The main challenge

Times News Service

that we are facing in

MUSCAT: Removal of fuel subsidies and the government’s austerity measures to tighten spending could provide a welcome boost to the public private partnerships in Oman’s real estate market, says Cluttons.

According to the international real-estate consultancy, measures set in place by Oman’s government, such as plans to remove fuel and utility subsidies, could also lead to a rise in the number of private public partnerships (PPP) by enticing additional foreign investment into the Sultanate.

“For a country as reliant on hydrocarbon income as Oman, the continuing slide in crude prices is driving the need for additional income streams,” Faisal Durrani, head of Research at Cluttons.

The property consultancy believes the move could be beneficial for international investors that want to engage in projects, such as the ambitious Port Sultan Qaboos Waterfront.

“We have already seen the successful implementation of fuel subsidies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where energy subsidies formed a sizeable proportion of the gross domestic product (GDP). Bahrain has also announced similar plans and so it was only a matter of time before other Gulf States, including Oman followed suit by dropping fuel and energy subsidies as they tried to rebalance their economies in this era of cheap oil. Over the past six months, the price of diesel in the UAE has fallen by 30 per cent to 40 per cent, which has a clear upside for the industrial sector, with lower manufacturing and transport costs likely to be passed on to consumers gradually,” Durrani added.

Meanwhile, Philip Paul, head of Cluttons Oman, said the redevelopment of Port Sultan Qaboos is

creating partnerships with companies is getting support for

“The main challenge that we are facing is creating partnerships with companies is getting support for our projects,” said Al Nadhairi, adding, “But we are currently enhancing our products and projects to make sure we are delivering the best to our current partners.”

Al Nadhairi outlined her 20162017 plans ahead of starting her term as President, which begins this July, where she is planning to focus on forming partnerships with educational institutions in order to help the organisation develop Omani and non-Omani members’ leadership skills and capabilities, as well as establish strong partnerships with other organisations to “deliver the best actions towards the youth of Oman.”

our projects, says Zubaida Al Nadhairi

TARIQ AL HAREMI

tariqh@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Youth are striving for entrepreneurial changes in the Sultanate and that begins with creating young Omani leaders, who are capable of making positive changes that could contribute to the society, community and economy of Oman.

Today’s #Oman Pride campaign features Oman’s first President elect for AIESEC Oman, Zubaida Al Nadhairi, who quickly rose through the ranks in only three years to clinch the top position in the organisation.

AIESEC, which is originally the French acronym for Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales (English for International Association for Students in Economic and Commercial Sciences), is the largest youth run organisation, which exists in over 126 countries, and aims to develop leadership and entrepreneurship skills among young students by providing them with relevant experiences in the country or abroad through the organisation’s exchange programme, memberships or conferences.

AIESEC Oman was established in 2007, but Al Nadhairi joined the organisation only three years

CREATING IMPACT: Zubaida Al Nadhairi, president elect for AIESEC Oman (Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales), plans to focus on forming partnerships with educational institutions to help the organisation develop Omani and non-Omani members’ leadership skills and capabilities. – Supplied photo

ago in 2013 where she learned and gained skills until she decided she was ready to lead the organisation, which led to her being elected as President for the 2016-2017 term.

“My motivation is to create leaders in Oman; those who are capable of making a desired change in the country. Every stu-

dent member in the organisation has given me the motivation to apply for the position,” said Al Nadhairi.

Organisations run by the youth often face challenges in gaining support from companies and educational firms to enhance the members’ skills and capabilities.

E X P L O R AT I O N

Good progress in ‘Crossing of the Empty Quarter’ expedition

TOUGH TASK: ‘Crossing of the Empty Quarter’ expedition has now covered almost three quarters of the distance to Doha and is expected to arrive in Doha on January 28. – Supplied photo/John C Smith

Times News Service MUSCAT: On the 38th day of its challenging journey, “Crossing of the Empty Quarter” expedition team has made significant progress towards Doha.

The team has now covered almost three quarters of the distance to Doha with 252 kilometres (kms) remaining in their journey.

Currently walking 30 kms a day, they plan to arrive in Doha on January 28, as long as they are not delayed by unexpected challenges, such as more sandstorms.

An official welcome reception will be held in Qatar to celebrate and honour the arrival of the three intrepid explorers, Mohammed Al Zidjali, Amur Al Wahibi and Mark Evans, who started their expedition from Salalah, Oman to Doha, Qatar last December. The three members of the team have endured harsh and challenging weather conditions during the journey, including high temperatures in the daytime and low temperatures at night, as well as unexpected sand storms and squalls.

The team’s journey has not been easy: one camel became sick, they have had to coax the other camels across huge sand dunes, have been drenched in unexpected rain storms in areas, which haven’t experienced rain for six years, and they have suffered the

daily onslaught of walking in high temperatures, their feet blistering and the camels kicking them.

Commenting on the challenges presented by the journey, Mark Evan, expedition team leader said, “We are very pleased with the progress made in our expedition so far, and this is down to the good cooperation of the team members and their perseverance to achieve our goal. Every day, we do our best to cover 30 kilometres at least to be ahead our schedule and to arrive in Doha ahead of our original schedule.”

“There have been many high points, particularly meeting so many people on the way. There have been more than 20 social gatherings, large and small, often three generations sitting together sharing an oral history and local pride.... 28 goats, seven camels and three sheep have been slaughtered in our honour. One of the high points for me has been the fact that whilst everything has changed in terms of technology, nothing has changed in terms of the extraordinarily generous and endless hospitality we have been offered. It has been nice to show the face of the real Middle East that lies behind the headlines.”

“One of the major challenges has been managing the psychology of a long journey; blisters, complaining camels refusing to

go any further before we were half way across.

“Our worst days were in the mega dunes in Saudi; stiflingly hot, dripping in sweat that ran down my body to soaked even my boots.

There were steep dunes with soft sand and the camels bellowed in protest and collapsed to their knees, unwilling to go any further.

The memory of this exciting expedition will stay for generations to come and we will recall stories of the journey for our children.”

Evans added, “It is now all downhill as we begin to exit the sands and enter an area of gravel that slowly descends down to the Arabian Sea, and Qatar. Amongst the gravel lies something called sabkha, a hazard well known to desert explorers. After rains, it turns to exceptionally slippery mud, making for difficult trekking, and tricky conditions for the camels. If a camel does the split in such terrain, it can be extremely difficult to get it back up.”

Expedition team member, Mohammed Al Zidjali, also spoke about his experience in the desert.

“We are living the dream to cross the largest desert in the world and are very proud of our achievement so far. We will keep walking until we reach our destination and repeat the glory of our ancestors.

We are making good progress and things are working as per plan.”

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Ambitions She also plans to bring international trainees from different countries to enhance their organisational culture by direct interaction between the trainees and employees in the organisation, which adds new values to AIESEC. Offering words or encouragement for the youth, Al Nadhairi said, “Never stop seeking new adventures or experiences in your life. Make sure you create a stamp in your life and others by volunteering and helping create an impact on society.”

“If you aim high, always believe that you will achieve it. Never give an excuse to yourself or allow the community to judge you or hesitate about what you are capable of doing, because we are going to build the future leaders of this country,” she further said.

an ideal example of a project that would benefit from international best practices and ‘place-making’ expertise to create a thriving waterfront destination in the heart of Muscat that will attract both visitors and residents.

“Urban regeneration is something that is only just starting to appear in cities across the Gulf and will provide tremendous opportunities to create more value from established and desirable parts of central business districts, which often benefit from wellestablished communities, transport infrastructure and pedestrian footfall; something that developers and investors will find hugely attractive, particularly in the case of PSQ,” Paul said.

“There have been limited PPPs in the Sultanate’s real-estate sector as the size of the market is still fairly small, compared with some neighbouring countries. International interest in Oman’s real-estate development has mainly come from a handful of Gulf developers, however, large scale projects, such as the Port Sultan Qaboos Waterfront could open the market for foreign investors to gain a foothold in a highly attractive market that has a good track record,” he added.

In Oman, the property market as a whole has been supported by the relative stability in job creation levels in the Sultanate, as it continues to boost oil production to inject confidence into the economy.

Continued infrastructure spending has also boosted business confidence and has contributed to stability in the country’s residential and commercial markets.

Paul concluded that privatepublic partnerships offered a good alternative solution to the government to continue driving major infrastructure projects and boost job opportunities that will support economic growth, particularly when credit availability is low.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

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The rule might have been implemented in a good sense to avoid workers shifting jobs frequently, but it seems it’s going to hurt the workers badly Mohammed Al Khaldi, board member of General Federation of Oman Trade Union

OMAN SAYYID ASA’AD BIDS FAREWELL TO AMBASSADORS

ALAWI MEETS INDONESIAN FOREIGN MINISTER

On behalf of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, His Highness Sayyid Asa’ad bin Tariq Al Said received on Tuesday Jabera Bakari, ambassador of Mauritania, and Sukanto, ambassador of Indonesia, to bid them farewell at the end of their tenures. The ambassadors expressed their thanks to His Majesty the Sultan for the support they received during their stay from His Majesty, the government and the Omani people, which enabled them to carry out their duties. — ONA

Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs, received Retno Marsudi, Foreign Minister of Indonesia and her accompanying delegation on Tuesday. The two leaders discussed cooperation between the two countries and the means of enhancing them, in addition to exchanging views on regional and international issues of common concern and the latest developments in the region. The meeting was attended by a number of officials at the Foreign Ministry. -ONA

Jacaranda Ensemble to perform in Muscat The young musicians will entertain music

NOC DILEMMA

A1 ‘Workers to be hit badly’ < FROM

He added that the cases filed showed that in many the NOC letters were fake.

In addition, the decision aims to stop the selling of NOC letters which started after the activation of the rule introducing the twoyear ban, he said.

This move is different from the internal transfers of sponsorship inside Oman, which must be for the same job title, resulting in the old employer losing an expat visa clearance from his quota.

Mohammed Al Khaldi, board member of General Federation of Oman Trade Union (GFOTU), told Times of Oman, “It will force workers to toe the employer line which is out of the purview of the contract. The rule might have been implemented in a good sense to avoid workers shifting jobs frequently, but it seems it’s going to hurt the workers badly.”

Tonia Gray, general manager at Competence HR, said that expatriate employees in Oman may become somewhat disgruntled and demotivated feeling that they are being restricted by the rules of the country and as such, their productivity may drop.

The general manager also thinks, that when this new rule becomes widely known, many expats may well re-consider their move in the first instance to Oman and may focus their search for employment in the other GCC countries where the regulations are less restrictive.

“This may have a negative long term impact on the diversification of national revenue sources if

enthusiasts on January 31 at the Ministry of Education

< FROM

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‘Visa processing problems’

“Today after reading Times of Oman online, I contacted the HR department of the new company. They confirmed that they are facing some problems in processing my visa. However, they are hopeful and have assured me that they will try their best,” Rajesh added. A couple of public relation officials from different companies confirmed to TOO on Monday that their request for fresh job visa for expats were rejected even though they had the NOCs. On Tuesday too, a company official said that two of their requests were rejected by the immigration officials.

“We had applied for two visas with NOCs. They are supposed to come on senior positions in the company.

However, they got rejected at the first go. We will try again.

They are needed in our company,” the official who didn’t wanted to be named, said.

expat roles cannot be readily filled or by having to identify and train nationals to fill such roles. Expats are fundamental to the smooth running of many businesses here

Meanwhile, another Indian manager said that he was surprised to hear the news.

“I have worked in Oman for more than three decades. As I got a good offer in another company, I planned to join that company. My old employer provided me an NOC. Now, I am hearing that the new company is facing hurdles. Hope, it gets sorted out soon. My family is staying back in Oman,” the manager told Times from India.

Another expatriate businessman said that he too has an NOC but under the present situation, returning to Oman is doubtful. “I don’t know how to come back. My company officials are facing hurdles.

However, they have assured me of a solution and if not, will inform me soon. If the visa option doesn’t work, I will go to Dubai and visit Oman on a visit visa for business,” Sreenath Anu, said.

and therefore support the Oman economy. Given the even tougher times yet to come, these regulatory changes may cause even more difficulties,” she added.

auditorium in Wattayah

Times News Service MUSCAT: Oman is all set to welcome five young musicians of the Jacaranda Ensemble. They will entertain music enthusiasts in the Sultanate on January 31 at the Ministry of Education Auditorium in Wattayah.

According to Arabesque International, the organisers of the event, the best way of approaching the Jacaranda Ensemble and their music is not to expect music or at least music in the usual, traditional sense. Rather one should prepare oneself for a reflection in sound of one’s own inner resonances and moods, immersing oneself in “the sounds of nature becoming music.”

The event will take place under the patronage of Dr Frank Walter Steinmeier, German Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Five young musicians, principals of the Brandenburg Symphony, have put together an unusual ensemble as a result of a desire to experiment with new sounds.

Instrumentation for this band clearly demonstrates the idea that instruments used in the concert origins are often thousands of miles apart, which are woven through a mixture of composed

BRANDENBURG SYMPHONY: The concert will be held under the patronage of Dr Frank Walter Steinmeier, German Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs. -Supplied photo

and improvised music into a musical tapestry. Instruments used in the concert are alpenhorn, didgeridoo, saxophone, and percussion.

Through its music, the Jacaranda Ensemble builds a bridge between the cultures of the world.

The positive response of the public, as well as the international respect has validated the unusual concept of the Jacaranda Ensemble.

Artistic endeavour.

Concert tours within Germany and abroad, as well as a positive reaction from the media are the visible results of this artistic endeavour. Sebastian Pietsch, Richard Mosthaf, Thomas Hoffmann, Thomas Ringleb and Matthias Dressler are the band members.

Jacaranda Ensemble is performing at the third concert in the second season of the Muscat Chamber Music series, which is organised by the Arabesque International.

Arabesque International is a performing art promoter and event organiser, with its head office being located in Muscat, Sul-

tanate of Oman. Arabesque International was founded in 2012 by the Egyptian German pianist Ahmed Abouzahra, general manager of East West Art Promotion (Germany, Egypt).

In July 2014, Sayyed Mohamed bin Salim Al-Said took over the partnership in Oman.

“Our mission is to promote, organise and produce all genres of performing arts in the Middle East and North Africa region, such as classical music, chamber music, folklore music, choirs, professional performing troupes, dance, opera and ballet,” a spokesman from Arabesque International said.

In 2015, Arabesque International was commissioned by the government of the Sultanate of Oman to produce Ibn Battuta, the Winged Traveller musical again at the Royal Opera House Muscat.

The show represented the Sultanate at the Milan Expo 2015. The show also has a different choreography and direction from the one that was produced in 2013.

According to the organizers, admission is free for the concert.

ECGA

S TAT E - O F - T H E -A R T B U I L D I N G

New French school campus opened at Airport Heights

Oman elected to Prague Club, Berne Club

Times News Service MUSCAT: French School of Muscat (Lycee Francais de Mascate) officially inaugurated its new campus on Tuesday in the presence of Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education for Financial and Administrative Affairs, Dr. Mustafa Ali Abdulatif Al Lawati and the Ambassador of France to Oman, Roland Dubertrand.

The school, located at Airport Heights near Muscat Hills, on a 10,000 square metre plot gifted by the Government of Oman, is part of a global network of 494 schools in 136 countries across the world. The new campus is a state-of-the-art building, designed and constructed to meet the needs of all stakeholders, students, teachers, staff and parents.

The new school was designed by a local SME firm (23 Degrees North) and built by Sam Engineering. It has all the facilities to help students have a better experience at school, science laboratories, art rooms, library,

NEW PREMISES: The new school has all the facilities to help students have a better experience on the campus.

common facilities, a 25-metre long swimming pool, a student’s cafeteria and a multi-sport pitch spread over 1200 square metres.

The French School of Muscat was founded in 1979 as a very small villa, accommodating a few students. Christine Thauvin, principle of the school, thanked everyone who helped build the new campus and explained that through a strong and efficient educational system, the French School of Muscat has been in-

creasingly attracting students from different nationalities, which makes it a very cosmopolitan school that provides its students with a high exposure to other cultures. Also present were the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sayyid Badr Bin Hamad Bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, along with Ambassadors and officials from different sectors and Jean-Paul Negrel, deputy director of the AEFE (Agency for French Education Abroad).

MUSCAT: The Sultanate, represented by the Export Credit Guarantee Agency (ECGA), was elected as a member of Prague Club and Berne Club, which operate in export and investment insurance and credit.

The elected task force by Prague Club includes The Export Credit Agency of New Zealand and the Russian Export Credit and Investment Endurance Agency, in addition to the ECGA. Helsinki meeting Acting Director General of ECGA Emad bin Saud Al Harthy will represent Oman at the meeting in Helsinki in Finland next Thursday.

It is worth mentioning that Prague Club, which was established in 1993, aims at supporting new and developing export credit agencies.

Berne Union aims at facilitating trans-boundary trade by promoting international acceptance of the proper principles for export credit and foreign investment. -ONA

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

REGION

Libya gets new government as divide remains Critics say the UNbacked plan for a political transition was forced through too quickly and does not evenly represent the country’s groups and factions

TUNIS: Libya’s Presidential Council announced a new government on Tuesday aimed at uniting the country’s warring factions, though two of its nine members rejected it in a sign of continuing divisions over its UN-backed plan for a political transition.

Western powers hope the new government will deliver stability to Libya and tackle a growing threat from IS extremist militants, but critics say the agreement was forced through too quickly and does not evenly represent the country’s groups and factions.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called the announcement by the Tunis-based council, tasked with overseeing Libya’s political transition, “an essential step”.

The council had delayed its announcement by 48 hours without giving a reason.

Mogherini said only a unity government would be able “to end political divisions, defeat terrorism, and address the numer-

Fayez Seraj

ous security, humanitarian and economic challenges the country faces”.

Libya has become deeply fractured since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Since the summer of 2014 it has had two rival governments and parliaments, operating from the capital Tripoli and from the east.

Both are supported by loose alliances of armed brigades of rebels who once fought Gaddafi.

Late on Monday, one of the council members who did not sign the document naming the new government, Ali Faraj Al Qatrani, announced he was withdrawing from the process, saying eastern Libya was underrepresented and there was not sufficient support for the armed forces allied to the eastern government.

He claimed there had been “a lack of seriousness and clarity in dealing with our basic demands” during the Presidential Council’s negotiations.

The internationally recognised parliament in eastern Libya now

The new government will be led by Fayez Seraj, a lawmaker from the eastern parliament, known as the House of Representatives.

He also heads the Presidential Council

has 10 days to approve the new government.

There has been no announcement on how and when it would be able to establish itself in Libya.

Tripoli is controlled by a faction called Libya Dawn, and the head of the self-declared government that it backs said last week that preparations by the Presidential Council to secure the capital violated military law.

The eastern military forces are led by General Khalifa Haftar, a former Gaddafi ally who has become one of the most divisive figures among Libya’s rival groups.

In a statement on Tuesday, UN Libya envoy Martin Kobler urged the chamber “uphold the country’s national interest above all other considerations and promptly convene to discuss and endorse the proposed cabinet”.

The new government will be led

by Fayez Seraj, a lawmaker from the eastern parliament, known as the House of Representatives.

He also heads the Presidential Council. — Reuters

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

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INDIA

Scholar’s suicide snowballs into a major political row suicide were created by the vice chancellor, the minister and the institution,” he told the students, one of whom said before his speech that they did not want any politicising of the issue.

Union Labour Minister Dattatreya, Hyderabad University Vice Chancellor Appa Rao and three others were named in an FIR lodged with the Cyberabad police over the suicide of the Dalit student CONSOLING: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi meets the family members of research scholar Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide on HCU Campus, in Hyderabad on Tuesday. - PTI

HYDERABAD/NEW DELHI: The suicide by a dalit student of Hyderabad University on Tuesday snowballed into a major issue with BJP’s rivals wading into it and demanding the removal of Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya, accusing them of being responsible for the death.

As Congress mounted the demand for the sacking of the Human Resource Development and Labour Ministers, Rahul Gandhi led the multi-party charge attacking them and the Vice Chancellor Appa Rao saying “The VC and the Union Ministers in Delhi have not acted fairly. This youngster was put in so much pain that he had no option but to kill himself.”

Though he did not name Irani, who had just over the week attacked Rahul in his constituency Amethi of failing youths there, the reference was obvious to her against the backdrop of ministry’s action which is blamed for the suicide by Rohith Vemula,

a dalit research scholar, on Sunday night.

Protests escalated in Hyderabad and cities across the country including in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Chennai.

Student organisations including the pro-Left AISA and AAPbacked CYSS and Congress’ NSUI held protests in Jantar Mantar and the HRD ministry in the capital demanding the sacking of the ministers and strong action against the vice chancellor.

Various political parties and leaders have blamed Labour Minister Dattatreya’s letter of August 17 last year to Irani seeking action against the “anti national activities” of a students union and the alleged assault of an ABVP leader and a series of five communications from the HRD Ministry between September 3 and November 19 demanding follow up action for the suicide.

The HRD ministry, however,

on Tuesday rejected allegations that it had put any pressure on the University relating to either suspension of Rohith or keeping him out of the hostel.

The communications, it maintained, was not aimed at putting pressure but was in compliance with the standard protocol adopted in accordance with the Central Secretariat Manual of Procedure whenever a “VIP Reference” is received.

Fact-finding report Ministry officials said the twomember committee of HRD officials have met people concerned in Hyderabad on Tuesday and their fact-finding report is expected to be ready after their return on Wednesday.

After the high-profile visit of Rahul to the campus, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi also went there and asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not say-

M Y S T E R I OU S D E AT H

‘Delhi police probe into Sunanda death shoddy’ NEW DELHI: The head of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) forensic department, Dr Sudhir Gupta, on Tuesday said that Delhi Police investigation into Sunanda Pushkar death case was slipshod and that it had unnecessarily delayed sending of the viscera to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the US. “It has been a shoddy investigation on the part of the police.

There have been many errors in the investigation,” Dr Gupta said, adding that there had been unnecessary delays in the case.

“The delay in sending the viscera samples of Sunanda Pushkar to the FBI led to its degradation,” he said.

On January 15, Dr Gupta said that the FBI had found a few radioactive substances in the viscera, “but due to degraded viscera, they could not read its intensity”.

This was contrary to what the police had claimed that no radioactive substance had been found in the viscera.

On the police claim over the uncertainty about the exact cause

Sunanda Pushkar

of death or lack of ‘clarity’ on the poisonous substance that caused Pushkar’s death, Gupta said on Tuesday: “Delhi Police are lying if they are saying so.”

Gupta added: “There have been many attempts to dilute the investigation. The previous government and the AIIMS administration even tried to remove me from my post so that they could form a new medical board which would give a ‘natural death’ report.

But they did not succeed.

I did not compromise with the

principles and ethics of my profession.”

Gupta had earlier alleged that he was asked by AIIMS director M.C. Mishra to prepare a postmortem examination report of Sunanda, stating her death was ‘natural’.

The AIIMS director had filed an affidavit with the Delhi High Court last year to remove Gupta from his post.

Sunanda, 52, wife of senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, was found dead in a south Delhi hotel room on January 17, 2014.

Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi earlier said that they had received a report from AIIMS on the FBI’s finding on the viscera samples of Sunanda.

The FBI had endorsed the AIIMS report of poisoning as the cause of Sunanda’s death.

Sunanda’s viscera samples were sent to the FBI lab in Washington DC, US, in February last year to determine the poison that may have killed her.

The FBI report was received in October 2015. - IANS

G OV E R N M E N T F O R M AT I O N

Call for fresh polls if unwilling to be CM: Omar to Mehbooba SRINAGAR: Former Indianadministered-Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has asked PDP president Mehbooba Mufti to recommend dissolution of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly for conduct of fresh elections in the state if she is “unable or unwilling” to assume the responsibility as chief minister.

In an open letter to Mehbooba Mufti, the NC leader said “to dilly-dally is the biggest disservice you can do” to people of the state as they should not be denied an elected government.

“If you are unable or unwilling to assume the responsibili-

ties that are being placed on your shoulders, then you must do your duty to the people, recommend to the Governor to dissolve the Assembly, and let the people make a fresh decision in an election,” he said. Omar said Mehbooba’s reluctance to step up and take charge meant that in less than a year, the state had to be placed under central rule again.

“No state should be denied an elected government, but I took some consolation from the belief, alas mistaken, that central rule would be a short-lived affair and you would take over after the four days of mourning,” he said.

The working president of National Conference said the people of the state had a number of expectations.

“The flood victims expected to see a bigger flood relief package; industry expected to see the return of power projects; contractors expected to see more money for development; and unemployed youngsters expected to see more jobs.

“Civil society was heartened to read that you were negotiating to ensure that divisive issues like the attack on our flag and threat to our special constitutional status would end,” he said. - PTI

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ing sorry over the incident.

“It does not need even 140 characters,” he said in an apparent reference to the Prime Minister’s penchant for tweeting on issues.

He alleged that there has been social discrimination that had led to the suicide.

Rahul flew into Hyderabad from Delhi in the morning and drove straight from the airport to the University campus where he addressed the agitating students.

He alleged that the institution instead of operating fairly has used its power to “crush” the freedom of students to express.

“The vice chancellor and the minister in Delhi have not acted fairly. What is the result. The result is that the youth, who came here to improve the country, to learn and to express himself was put in so much pain that he had no option but to kill himself.

“Certainly he has committed suicide but conditions for his

‘Strictest punishment’ He demanded “strictest punishment” for Vice-Chancellor and the minister holding them “responsible” for the death of the research scholar. After meeting the students, Rahul upped the ante against Irani and Dattatreya and the Vice Chancellor, by observing in a tweet: The VC and union ministers in Delhi have not acted fairly. This youngster was put in so much pain that he had no option but to kill himself.”

Union Labour Minister Dattatreya and Hyderabad University Vice Chancellor Appa Rao and three others were on Monday named in an FIR lodged with the Cyberabad police over the alleged suicide of the dalit student.

The Congress Vice President said there is “no question of the Vice Chancellor remaining” on merit and criticised him severely for not even meeting the mother of the deceased.

“There are certain people responsible for it. Vice Chancellor is among them. The minister is among them,” Rahul said insisting that whoever is responsible for this outcome has to be punished in strictest terms.

In a series of other tweets, Rahul said, “Any student can come to the University- whether he belongs to any caste or religion. He should feel that I can say what I want to say. The idea of a University is that young people can come and share their thoughts.”

“These students were protesting against the unjust expulsion and social boycott of Dalit students on campus. Met students of the Ambedkar Students Association, Hyderabad University,” he said in the other tweets. - PTI

LECTURE

Strengthen secularism idea to build harmonious society: Pranab NEW DELHI: The idea of secularism needs to be further strengthened in the minds of young people to build a harmonious society, President Pranab Mukherjee said here on Tuesday.

Addressing institutes of higher learning and civil service academies, the president stressed on the need for providing “value-based education” to the youth.

“We must inculcate in them the spirit of democratic behaviour which calls for an appreciation of the rich diversity of our nation, assimilation of ideas, and accommodation for divergent or contrarian views. The idea of secularism is deeply ingrained in the consciousness of our nation.

“It has to be further strengthened in the minds of the young ones to build a harmonious society,” he said.

Gender equality The president also spoke about gender equality and said it was important for having an “inclusive society”.

“The occurrence of some unfortunate incidents of atrocity and violence against women in recent years should strengthen our resolve to wipe out any trace of depravity and evil from the minds of individuals.

“Respect for women is sacrosanct in our society with its roots embedded in our civilisational values, which are reflected in our Constitution.

“A spirit of reverence towards women must be instilled in our children in our homes and educational institutions. It must guide social conduct of an individual from an early age,” Mukherjee said while addressing them through video conferencing.

He said that “word inclusion” has no meaning until there is a socio-economic equity. - PTI

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The imperative of tech literacy Gavin Patterson

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The current era of innovation, in which cutting-edge technologies are disrupting entire economic sectors at a breathtaking rate, has been called the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It is also the theme of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting this week in Davos. bit.ly/4indrevolution

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READERS’ FORUM Ismaily is a true inspiration for Omani youths The news report, Flying for RAFO was an honour, not a job, (January 18), was an inspirational reading. It is a fact that in the current global scenario defence personnel perform a job that holds the highest risk and hazards. It is a privilege to learn the experience of Said Al Ismaily, the former operational pilot of the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO). Ismaily, being one of the members of the first batch of five Omani pilots, flew with the RAFO some four decades ago. There has been a huge strategical difference in the methodology of technical norms since then and he must Scan this QR code be proud of today’s youth to entrust and to send letters to the follow the same. Ismaily’s service for the Readers’ Forum, country comes as a great encouragement containing not more than 200 words with for the youth to be involved in defending full name, address the nation. and telephone — Ramachandran Nair, Ruwi number, may be sent

JONAS PRISING

As the global economy changes at an ever-quickening pace, the labour market in many countries is not merely struggling to keep up, but seems to have broken down in important ways. High unemployment coexists with unfilled jobs. Rising productivity fails to translate into higher wages. bit.ly/risinglabourforce

by e-mail (akhtar@ timesofoman.com).

Drug addiction a social menace This refers to the story, ROP in drive to raise awareness on drug addiction dangers, (January 19). Drug addiction among the youth is a social menace. ROP has to be appreciated for taking initiative to enlighten the public about the dangers of drugs among young, especially students. Muscat Festival is a good platform for such awareness campaigns. More than the children, parents have to be educated about the dangers of drugs. — P. A. Jacob, Ruwi

NEW INDIA ASSURANCE

“Insure with New India and be secure”

Tel: 24838800 | Fax: 24838899 | Email: niamct@omantel.net.om | Website: www.newindiaoman.com With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

I

n many parts of the world, young children grow up surrounded by technology. At their fingertips – literally – lies a limitless amount of entertainment, gaming, learning, and social networking. Their world has always been connected. They learn to scroll before they can walk. And yet, as confident as they may be using technology, too many children have no idea how it all works. Nor do they fully appreciate how it underpins their lives – or how it will shape their futures.

I think of this as the tech literacy paradox. Today’s children may be great consumers of technology, but rarely are they truly tech literate.

They may look like savvy digital natives, but their knowledge is only screen-deep.

They are passive users, not active creators.

And most of them have little real interest in finding out how the technology on which they depend actually functions.

This has important implications. Economies are undergoing radical shifts in terms of how they produce, distribute, and consume goods and services. Every aspect of life and work is changing. Greater tech literacy will be essential to ensure that the human implications of the ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution are positive.

If young people are to participate fully in our increasingly tech-enabled world, greater numbers of them will have to be tech literate. If they are to be empowered citizens, not just beguiled consumers, they will need to understand how technology affects their lives and prospects.

Not only will there be more tech jobs in the future; increasingly, more jobs will have a tech dimension to them, especially as scientific advances play a major role in solving some of society’s biggest challenges – climate change, health care, poverty, and inequality.

That is why BT has made a long-term commitment to use our skills and capabilities to help build a culture of tech literacy. We want young people to know that they will be the creators and builders of our future – in every sense. We want them to get excited about looking beyond the screen, to make and do stuff.

That means learning to code, of course. But it

also means becoming fluent in computational thinking and problem solving. And, perhaps most important, it means becoming an engaged tech citizen. For example, all young people should understand who has access to their personal data, how it is being used, and why that matters. Accomplishing this will not be easy. It will take more than simply making sure that children have access to iPads.Any initiative to boost tech literacy must focus on three areas. First, kids must be inspired to learn about the technology they use every day; they must “connect” with tech concepts and find them exciting. At BT, we are collaborating with tech entrepreneurs and education thinkers to develop fresh and creative ways to engage young people’s innate curiosity.

Second, teachers must be supported, as many do not feel confident to teach tech literacy. We can help with that.

Already, we have engaged with thousands of teachers in the United Kingdom; in the last school year, we reached nearly 350,000 primaryschool children, and we aim to reach five million by 2020. We have also collaborated with education innovators at MIT to bring new coding tools into classrooms.

Third, schools must be properly equipped.

Making sure students have access to the latest technology is a challenge even for advanced countries. In the UK, we are working to ensure that our high-speed fibre broadband connects the hardest-to-reach schools. And we are using our expertise to help teaching professionals who are eager to make tech an integral part of schools’ everyday life.

A successful tech literacy programme requires a long-term, sustained commitment to all three pillars of this approach. We expect it will take a school generation to realize the cultural shift we believe is necessary. Previous industrial revolutions unlocked social progress only when they were accompanied by changes in education – in particular, concerted efforts to boost literacy and numeracy. If we want everybody to benefit from the radical upheavals transforming the world’s economies, further changes in education will be needed. Among the most important of these will be those that build a strong culture of tech literacy. - Project Syndicate

CLIPPINGS FROM OUR ARCHIVES JANUARY 2001 Azizi opens International Art Exhibition MUSCAT: Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Matar Al Azizi, minister of civil service, opened the ‘You and Me’ international art exhibition at Radisson SAS Hotel yesterday. The exhibition has been staged by the Omani fine Arts Society in cooperation with the Muscat Festival 2000 cultural committee in aid of children with special needs, and has been sponsored by the Muscat Municipality. The three-day exhibition includes work by five of the renowned artists – Dr Ahmed Anwar from Egypt, representing the African continent, John Cornwell from Australia, Rafael Conajar and Luis Barto Hernades from Spain (representing Europe). Several Omani artists are also represented.

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

PICTOGRAPH

POPULATION IN MUSCAT

From November to December there was an increment of more than seven thousand residents in Muscat.

November 2015

December 2015

1,342,723

Total

1,349,865

847,667

Expats +5,533

853,200

495,056

Omanis +1,609

496,665

1945: Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated for his fourth term.

1946: France’s Charles DeGaulle hands in his resignation.

1952: British troops occupy Ismalia, Egypt.

0

1977: President Jimmy Carter is sworn in and then surprises the nation as he walks from the United States Capitol to the White House.

Source National Centre for Statistics & Information

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

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INDIA Modi kicks off BJP poll campaign in Assam The prime minister said that Assam has not developed much despite the 10 years of Congress-led UPA rule and that the Congress has been in power in the state for about last 15 years

KOKRAJHAR/GUWAHATI: Launching a scathing attack on the Congress government in Assam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday kicked off the BJP’s campaign for the assembly polls, saying the state did not develop much despite a prime minister getting elected from it for 10 years.

Modi said Assam has not developed much despite the 10 years of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance rule and that the Congress has been in power in the state for about last 15 years.

The state assembly elections are due in April this year.

The prime minister first addressed a public rally organised by the Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF) and then a Yuva Shakti Sanmilan at Khanapara area in Guwahati.

He also addressed a large gathering of students from different education institutions of the northeast at the IIT Guwahati campus before leaving for New Delhi. In Kokrajhar, Modi announced the Karbis of the plains will be granted the Scheduled Tribes (ST) status while the Bodo Kachari community of the hill areas like Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao district will also be granted the ST status soon.

The prime minister, however, cautiously avoided talking about the issue of statehood to Bodoland and the Bodoland Peoples’ Front’s demand for a Rs1,000 crore package for development of the Bodo region. While the BPF has been

GARNERING SUPPORT: Prime Minister Narendra Modi joins hands with Chief of Bodoland Peoples’ Front’s (BPF) Hagrama Mohilary and ministers Sarbananda Sonowal and Jitendra Singh, at a public meeting in Kokrajhar on Tuesday ahead of the Assam assembly elections. - PTI

demanding a special package of Rs1,000 crore for the four districts of Bodoland Territorial Areas Districts (BTAD), several other Bodo organisations have demanded that the prime minister make the Centre’s stand clear on the issue of statehood to the Bodo lands.

Modi also announced that the Central Institute of Technology (CIT), Kokrajhar, will be upgraded to a Deemed University within a year and more academic and administrative autonomy would be granted to the institute.

He assured the people that the defunct Rupsi airport will be made operational for the Indian Air Force and common people as soon as the land clearance is received from the state government.

He said the Central government is also working on extending the Kanchanjunga Express to Assam’s Barak Valley to boost connectivity of the region.

Modi targeted the erstwhile Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre and the ruling Congress government in Assam.

“I was under the impression there is no problem in Assam. Assam is the state from where the

prime minister was elected for 10 years. The Congress has ruled the state for the last 15 years. But I am shocked to see the problems and issues here,” he said.

“So what has the prime minister, who was elected from the state for 10 years, done? They (the Congress) have not been able to do anything in last 15 years and they (the Congress) want me to do everything in 15 months time. You tell me if it is justified?” said Modi.

“You have seen their 15 years of rule and the 15 months of BJP government in power. We have been working each minute of these 15 months for the betterment of the country,” the prime minister said.

Taking a dig at recent Congress campaigns against him, Modi said: “Delhi has started asking for accounts of each penny given to the states. I was told when the Centre releases Re1 only 15 paise of it reaches the villages.

“So, where does the money go?

The Centre has started asking for the accounts. Thus, many do not like me these days,” he said.

Modi also laid the foundation stone of IIIT at the IIT Guwahati and addressed a large gathering of students. He said India has be-

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come one of the fastest growing economies in the world and that the 21st century belongs to India.

“We have 65 per cent of young people in India, those who are below 35 years of age group. With so much of young people, India has the talent and potential to change the existing situation,” he said while encouraging the students to go for more innovative work in different fields so that the country can have a unique place in the entire world.

“In Silicon Valley, the address is of the US but most of the faces there are of Indians. It is the young people from India who have occupied more than 50 percent of the Silicon Valley. With so much of IITs, IIITs, and other distinguished institutions in India, we must think of innovation, new researches and new technologies in different fields, so that we can make our place in the entire world,” he said. - IANS

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

‘Israel should build long-term stakes in Indian economy’ OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: With India and Israel expanding cooperation to new areas like homeland security innovation and science and technology, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has asked Israeli businesses to look beyond trade for building “long-term stakes” in the Indian economy.

Swaraj, in her address at an Indian community reception here on Monday night, expressed optimism for the future in the growth of bilateral ties.

“To quote your (Israeli) Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) ‘sky is the limit’ for ties between India and Israel,” she said, underlining that India and Israel are expanding cooperation to new areas such as homeland security, innovation, education and science and technology.

“We should work towards a new vision of our important partnership, which should reflect our close friendship and harness fully the potential of our two knowledge economies,” Swaraj said.

Swaraj, who was here on her first visit to the West Asia region, also held talks with the top Israeli leadership and discussed a wide-range of bilateral and regional issues.

“The economic relationship is the key to developing our bilateral ties. We should move from a tradebased relationship to one that is based on investment, manufacturing and services,” Swaraj said.

“As you know ‘Make in India’ is a priority of our Government. Our flagship schemes of ‘Clean Ganga’, ‘Smart Cities’ or ‘Digital India’

are all areas of Israeli expertise.

We encourage you to look beyond trade to build long term stakes in the Indian economy through investment and joint development of products and services,” she said.

The minister said she had “very good” meetings with President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and o ther leaders.

“All of them expressed to me the importance they attach to Israel’s relations with India, as a friend and partner. I wish to assure you that these feelings are reciprocated by the Government and people of India. We attach high priority to India’s relations with Israel,” she said.

Swaraj noted that the bilateral interactions at the political level are also increasing.

In this context, she highlighted Indian President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit here last year.

“This first ever visit by the President of India gave a substantial boost to our bilateral relationship.

Next year will mark the 25th anniversary of the full establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries,” she said.

“I am very happy to be here in Israel. I served as the Chairman of the India-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group for three years during which I also had the pleasure of visiting Israel.

“I am a personal advocate of strong ties between India and Israel; so I am very happy to see that our relations are progressing so well in all fields of our engagement,” she said. - PTI

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PARLEYS: Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin, right, with India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, during their meeting in Occupied Jerusalem on Monday. - Reuters

A 14

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

PAKISTAN FA L L O U T O F T O D D L E R ’ S D E AT H

Resolution against VIP culture passed in Sindh Assembly

LAHORE FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET Pakistani traders wait for customers at a fruit and vegetable market in Lahore on Tuesday. — AFP

KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly passed on Tuesday a resolution against the prevalent VIP culture in the province.

“It is VIP anarchy, not culture,” lawmakers said during the session.

The resolution was moved by Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) lawmaker Kamran Akhtar.

Akhtar argued the general public suffered immensely because of the closure of main thoroughfares.

Earlier this month, human rights activist Ansar Burney filed a petition in Sindh High Court (SHC) against the Sindh government’s administration in regards to the prevalent VIP culture in the province.

Burney, who heads the Ansar Burney Trust International, requested the SHC to take notice of “violation of the fundamental human rights of citizens.”

In December last year, a 10-month-old girl died when her family was unable to enter a hospital in Karachi due to protocol in place for the arrival of Paki10-FOOT-LONG

Endangered sawfish sold for Rs26,000 in Gwadar KARACHI: A 10-foot-long and 96-kilogramme-heavy rare largetooth sawfish was caught by local fishermen near Surbandar, Gwadar, on Sunday.

Despite the ban on its catch and trade due to its near extinction, the rare fish was later sold to traders for Rs26,000.

According to the records of the World Wide Fund for Nature – Pakistan (WWF-P), only three authentic records of their existence have been recorded in Pakistan in the last 10 years.

Abdul Rahim, the site coordinator for the WWF-Pakistan, said that a local fisherman had caught the fish and brought it to the market.

Rahim said the fish was caught from shallow waters.

Economic importance He explained that most of the fishermen in the area are aware of the economic importance of the sawfish.

“They also know it is critically endangered but they don’t rescue nor release it back into the waters,” he lamented.

He said that the rare sawfishes were brought into the local market about 10 to 15 years back.

Take catch to Karachi “But they don’t exist now,” he added. Rahim claimed that the local traders will take the species to Karachi and will export it from the port city. — Express Tribune

In December last year, a 10-month-old girl died when her family was unable to enter a hospital in Karachi due to protocol in place for the arrival of Pakistan People’s Party leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

stan People’s Party leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Bisma, a resident of Gabol Park in Lyari, had been suffering from measles and had a high fever when her father brought her to the hospital. — Express Tribune

10 killed as suicide bomber targets Jamrud checkpost A Pakistani Taliban commander claimed responsibility for the attack saying it was revenge for what he alleged were the recent deaths of arrested Taliban men while in government custody

PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber blew himself up close to a police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people and wounding more than 20, officials said.

The bomber rammed his motorcycle into a police vehicle next to the roadside checkpoint in the Jamrud area on the edge of Pakistan’s volatile Federally Administered Tribal Areas, local government official Munir Khan told Reuters.

“He was riding an explosivesladen motorcycle and hit the checkpoint and the vehicle of the line officer,” Khan said.

Among the dead were at least

SUICIDE ATTACK: Pakistani firefighters extinguish the wreckage of a vehicle after a suicide bomb attack on the outskirts of Peshawar on

Tuesday. — AFP

five police officers including the line officer whose vehicle was targeted by the bomber, as well as a child and a local journalist, officials said. TV footage showed the burnt-out remains of cars as rescue workers rushed to evacuate the wounded.

The Pakistani Taliban senior commander Maqbool Dawar claimed responsibility for the at-

tack. He told Reuters it was revenge for what he alleged were the recent deaths of arrested Taliban men while in government custody, and said that the journalist was not the target.

A Taliban splinter group also claimed it was behind the bomb.

The attack took place in an area where security forces have stepped up their fight against the

Taliban and other militant groups along the border with Afghanistan, following the massacre of more than 150 people, mostly children, at an army-run school in December 2014.

Attacks have fallen since the government crackdown and the Taliban squeezed into small pockets of territory, but militant groups remain able to launch hit-

and-run and suicide attacks on security forces.

A Hayatabad Medical Complex in official nearby Peshawar, to where the wounded were evacuated, said earlier that the hospital had received six bodies, including that of a child. Last month, a suicide bomber attacked a government office in the northwest, killing at least 23 people. — Reuters

U N R E S O LV E D D I L E M M A

Walled City of Peshawar trampled by urbanisation PESHAWAR: The master plan to conserve the walled city of Peshawar might have been officially approved, but the problem of spatial growth management to regulate the expansion of the inner city remains an unresolved dilemma.

The plan delineates a comprehensive strategy to document the condition of all buildings of historical and cultural significance, to build a complete profile of each building, and then to prepare a conservation plan.

Master plan A master plan has been made to assess the provision of municipal services, including water supply; sewerage, sanitation and solid waste management; street lighting; accessibility; and encroachment.

The master plan will also suggest measures to resolve parking issues and build sidewalks for better pedestrian movement in the area.

Above all, the plan would analyse the existing legal and institutional framework—including building bylaws—for the conservation and rehabilitation of buildings of historical and cultural significance, and planning permissions.

funds for implementation,” he added, stressing a majority of heritage buildings were private properties now.

The old city, as it is referred to, is now a distant dream with the drastic changes it has been forced to go through.

Kapoor Haveli However, a government official involved in the project said although the plan was much needed, unfulfilled previous efforts and a lack of political will necessitates a more rigorous approach for the execution.

“There are legal lacunae surrounding the entire project,” the official said, while referring to the recent demolition of the Kapoor Haveli in the city.

The police were initially hesitant to file a first information report when the owner of the building started knocking down portions of the mansion.

“There can be no preservation unless the government releases

Enhanced by British The old city was enhanced by the British in 1848-49 when the colonial rulers established a planned community called Cantonment, covering an area of five square miles.

The city in its current state of affairs remains an urbanised cluster with a large and overwhelming number of problems. “Electricity was introduced first here in January 1932,” the official said. “But since then, the wires have only grown to form a nest around a city of utter neglect.”

The master plan prepared by the Urban Policy Unit (UPU) seems to address these issues— and more—at length. — Express Tribune

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

A15

WORLD Allies corner Merkel on migrants Conservative loyalists in Bavaria, the entry point for most migrants, are regularly breaking ranks and criticism is also mounting from her Social Democrat coalition partners

BERLIN: A group of conservative lawmakers urged Angela Merkel to reverse her open-door refugee policy as a poll showed a slide in support for her bloc on Tuesday, raising the stakes for a German chancellor exposed by deep rifts in her right-left coalition.

CONTROVERSY: Migrants walk along a road after crossing the border from Macedonia, near the village of Miratovac, Serbia, on Tuesday. — Reuters

With three closely watched regional elections looming in March, Merkel is facing the toughest spell of her 10-year chancellorship over her handling of the refugee crisis.

Conservative allies in Bavaria, the entry point for most migrants,

S TA N D O F F

Nepalese charter talks collapse as protests continue KATHMANDU: Talks between the Nepal government and minority groups to resolve a dispute over a new constitution have fallen apart, opposition leaders said on Tuesday, dashing hopes that protests that have led to crippling fuel shortages will end soon.

More than 50 people have been killed since August in antigovernment protests in the Tarai region, a narrow strip of plains that runs along Nepal’s southern border with India.

A resulting slowdown in crossborder truck traffic has plunged the landlocked nation into a fuel crisis that has hampered aid to survivors of last year’s deadly earthquakes and spawned a lucrative black market.

After talks fell apart on Monday night, dozens of Madhesi activists burned tyres on the road in the southern business town of Birgunj, police said, in continuing protest against the charter’s carving the lowland region into federal states dominated by mountain communities.

Blame Nepal blames India, its largest trading partner, for siding with the protesters near its border and invoking an unofficial blockade on trucks crossing from India into Nepal, a charge that India has repeatedly denied.

In the eastern border town of Kakarvitta, a long row of motorcycles and scooters stood in the middle of a bridge marking the border with India, as their owners poured smuggled fuel into their tanks.

The ethnic Madhesi groups who live in the Tarai say Nepal’s new constitution alienates their members, granting them low representation in parliament and government bodies

“It’s been good business,” said a woman named Devi, who came from the Indian border town of Raniganj to sell petrol to Nepalese in plastic tubs and bottles.

The United Madhesi Front, which wants state boundaries to be redrawn to give their communities more power, said talks with government negotiators that started two weeks ago had become “meaningless”.

Defence Minister Bhim Rawal said the boundary issue would be settled by a political committee in three months, but Madhesi party leaders were not convinced.

“We can’t trust the government,” Laxman Lal Karna, another Madhesi leader, told Reuters.”We have been betrayed in the past on similar assurances.” — Reuters

NASHEED EYES COMEBACK Opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed, centre, poses on a plane as he prepares to leave the Maldives. He landed in Sri Lanka on Monday and is hopeful of a political revival once he returns to the country, his party spokesman said on Tuesday. — AFP/MDP

are regularly breaking ranks and criticism is also mounting from her Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners.

Some media have even started to speculate about Merkel’s future.

An INSA poll in Tuesday’s top-

selling Bild newspaper showed support for Merkel’s conservative bloc down 2.5 percentage points at 32.5 per cent, its lowest since the 2013 election.

It also put the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD), which campaigns against refugees, up 1 point at 12.5 percent.

The AfD has gained from worries about migrants, exacerbated by sexual attacks on women in Cologne and other cities at New Year blamed largely on asylum seekers, and is likely to make big gains in elections in three states in March.

“There’s a clear trend against conservatives in Germany.

Time is short to turn this sentiment round before the regional votes in March,” INSA chief Hermann Binkert told Bild.

Merkel’s insistence that Germany will cope with the influx of 1.1 million migrants last year and more this year, has angered local authorities struggling to house people, many fleeing war zones in Syria and other Middle East countries.

Pressure is mounting on her to

shut the borders five months after Germany opened its doors to asylum seekers from Syria, effectively suspending EU rules.

Call to change course In a letter to Merkel, 44 conservatives - many from her own Christian Democrats (CDU) as well as Bavaria’s Christian Social Union (CSU) - urged Merkel to change course.

“We are facing excessive demands on our country.

We believe a change is urgently needed in current migration practice... by a return to the strict use of existing law,” states the letter.

One of the initiators of the letter told Reuters a total of about 100 conservative lawmakers backed it.

It comes after Germany’s transport minister urged Merkel on Monday to prepare to close Germany’s borders to stem the influx, a highly unusual move for a cabinet member.

The letter is just the latest headache for Merkel.

The CSU wants a cap on mi-

grants and some members are talking about taking the government to the Constitutional Court.

The Social Democrats (SPD), at odds with conservatives on planned new rules on migrants, are also stepping up criticism.

“It is not on if Mrs Merkel lets herself be cheered for inviting over one million refugees... while her CDU bows out of responsibility for long-term integration,” SPD Chairman Sigmar Gabriel said this week in an unusual dig at his boss.

Conservatives fear Merkel’s attempts to persuade other EU countries to take in quotas of refugees, push for reception centres to be built on Europe’s external borders and pay Turkey to keep refugees from entering the bloc are not working.

There are signs that Merkel, traditionally known for her pragmatic approach, is hearing at least some of the criticism but she has remained firm in resisting a cap.

Last December she reassured her CDU that the number of migrants would fall. — Reuters

A 16

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

WORLD

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WORLDWIDE DISRUPTION

Sporadic outages hit Twitter FRANKFURT: Twitter said on Tuesday its social network was suffering ongoing outages on computers and phones and it was working to resolve issues which have been widely reported across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and North America.

Both Twitter’s web and mobile services began suffering outages

concentrated in northern Europe around 0820 GMT, with smartphone users receiving the warning: “Tweets aren’t loading right now.” Users from Scandinavia to Saudi Arabia to South Africa reported outages. India and Russia also suffered performance issues, a Twitter technical site reported.

Intermittent breakdowns later

spread to the United States and Canada in the early part of their working day. Sporadic disruptions continued at 1420 GMT, six hours after they first began to spread.

“Some users are currently experiencing problems accessing Twitter,” a statement on the company’s Twitter status website has read for several hours. — Reuters

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US supreme court takes up Obama immigration plan The US president’s action was blocked by lower courts after Texas and 25 other Republicangoverned states sued to stop it, contending he exceeded his presidential powers SETBACK: A woman chants as immigrants and community lead-

WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear President Barack Obama’s bid to resurrect his plan to shield more than 4 million illegal immigrants from deportation, a unilateral executive action he took in 2014 to bypass the Republicanled Congress.

Obama’s action was blocked by lower courts after Texas and 25 other Republican-governed states sued to stop it, contending he exceeded his presidential powers under the US Constitution.

The case will be argued before the high court in the coming months, with a ruling due by the end of June.

The case is not the first time Obama has asked the Supreme Court to rescue a major initiative.

Healthcare law The court in 2012 and 2015 rejected conservative challenges to his signature healthcare law.

The White House expressed confidence the court would now uphold Obama’s immigration ac-

ers rally in front of the US Supreme Court to mark the one-year anniversary of President Barack Obama’s executive orders on immigration in Washington, in this November 20, 2015 file photo. — Reuters/Kevin Lamarque/Files

tion as lawful. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said courts have long recognised the limits to presidential authority.

“The court should affirm what President Obama said himself on more than 20 occasions: that he cannot unilaterally rewrite congressional laws and circumvent the people’s representatives,” Paxton said. The nine justices will review a November ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld a February 2015 decision by US District Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, a city along the Texas border with Mexico, to halt Obama’s action.

Obama’s November 2014 executive order lifting the threat of deportation against more than 4 million illegal immigrants was directed at people with no criminal record whose children are US

citizens. Those eligible would be able to work legally and receive some federal benefits.

States were not required to provide any benefits.

The order expanded on a 2012 programme that provided similar relief for people who became illegal immigrants as children.

“Like millions of families across this country - immigrants who want to be held accountable, to work on the books, to pay taxes and to contribute to our society openly and honestly - we are pleased that the Supreme Court has decided to review the immigration case,” White House spokeswoman Brandi Hoffine said.

Obama’s moves were “consistent with the actions taken by presidents of both parties, the laws passed by Congress and the decisions of the Supreme Court, Hoffine added. — Reuters

B

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Muscat 4,981.58 + 0.01 + 0.00%

Dubai 2,765.97 + 88.47 + 3.30%

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Kuwait 5,084.21 + 29.57 + 0.59%

Saudi Arabia

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Bahrain 1,175.76 - 20.51 - 1.71%

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CRUDE OIL PRICE

CURRENCY RATES*

DRAFT RATES (OMR1)*

GOLD PRICES*

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

Forex rates vs OMR1* US Dollar ................................. 2.58 Euro ............................................ 2.35 Pound ...........................................1.80 Indian Rs ............................. 175.22 Pak Rs ................................... 267.80 Bangla Taka........................201.16

Indian Rs ...................................175.60 Pakistan Rs .............................272.20 Sri Lanka Rs ............................ 371.74 Bangla Taka........................... 203.20 Phil Peso ................................... 123.60

Muscat 24ct per gm (OMR) .......14.00

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* Rates are as of Jan. 19 Source: Bank Muscat

* Rates as of Jan. 19 Source: Oman UAE Exchange

Muscat 22ct per gm (OMR) .......13.50 Dubai 24ct per gm (Dh) ............ 131.00 Dubai 22ct per gm (Dh) .............124.25 * Rates as of Jan. 19 Source: Malabar Gold & Diamonds

Port of Duqm plans massive development in next 3 years of 3.5 million TEUs (ten equivalent units) after completion of all works at the port.

Another major project is to build a mega liquid terminal (which includes dredging work) and is also expected to be awarded this year.

Yet another major work is for creating a berth for government agencies, including the Royal Oman Police and Navy.

The years 2016, 2017 and 2018 will be crucial for the Port of Duqm because the government has started awarding the last construction packages for completing the work, said the CEO of Port of Duqm Reggy Vermeulan. — Times file picture

A E JAMES

businesseditor@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Port of Duqm will witness hectic activities in the next three years for completing the final development work at the port for commencing fullyfledged operations.

“The years 2016, 2017 and 2018

will be crucial years for the Port of Duqm because the government has started awarding the last construction packages for completing the work,” Reggy Vermeulan, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Port of Duqm, told the Times of Oman.

The port has commenced its ‘early operations’ phase some time back.

It appears that a package for

the customs department, police buildings and main gates has been awarded.

Also, another package for creating utilities for electricity, water and platform buildings are also in the final stage of evaluation.

All these construction works will help the port’s final container terminal, which will have a capacity

Massive construction phase “We will see a massive construction phase during the next three years,” added Vermeulan.

The Port of Duqm authorities had said earlier that they would start exporting minerals for the first time next month. The port has already set up facilities for an early operation of its break bulk terminal for exporting 50,000 tonnes of dolomite as the first shipment from the port.

Vermeulan said the terminal has the capacity to handle five million tonnes during the first phase, which can be scaled up substantially in the future. This will also help in the diversification strategy of the government and reduce the heavy dependence on oil revenue.

He added that the port is currently working with Oman Railways to substantially enhance mineral exports by transporting products from far off places and storing it near the port. In fact, a freight corridor is to be developed to connect the Port of Duqm to large regional markets, in a bid to increase the volumes of mineral, container and project cargo shipments.

The Port of Duqm’s chief said Oman has a variety of minerals and some of them can be considered as finished products, which can be directly exported without processing.

The mining companies, which have

IEA REPORT

PERFORMANCE

‘Oil market will be oversupplied until late 2016’ LONDON: Global oil markets could “drown in oversupply,” sending prices even lower as demand growth slows and Iran revives exports with the end of sanctions, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The International Energy Agency trimmed 2016 estimates for global oil demand as China’s economic expansion weakens and raised forecasts for supplies outside the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).

While non-Opec supply is set to drop 600,000 barrels a day in 2016, Iran’s comeback could fill that gap by the middle of the year.

As a result, world markets may be left with a surplus of 1.5 million barrels a day in the first half.

concession areas in Oman, will use the port’s break bulk terminal for exporting their minerals, including limestone, to several countries, especially to India.

The container terminal can handle 200,000 TEUs a year at the moment, which will be enhanced substantially to 3.5 million TEUs per annum.

The port, which is planning a feeder service connectivity with Dubai’s Jebel Ali,also plans to connect with other major Omani ports, including Sohar and Salalah.

The 300-metre dedicated break bulk terminal is the last part of a 2.2 kilometre-long commercial quay, which is equipped to export minerals. The commercial quay is divided into three main areas—300 metres of cargo terminal, a 1.6-kilometre long container terminal and 300 metres for a break bulk terminal.

“While the pace of stockbuilding eases in the second half of the year as supply from nonOpec producers falls, unless something changes, the oil market could drown in oversupply,” said the Paris-based adviser to industrialised economies. Prices “could go lower.”

Oil sank to a 12-year low of less than $28 a barrel in London on Monday as the removal of international sanctions over the weekend freed Iran to revive crude exports, threatening to swell a glut created by fellow Opec members and US shale drillers. Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil exporter, signalled again on Sunday it won’t relent in its strategy to preserve market share even as prices crash.

Iran growth Iran could be the only source of supply growth in Opec this year as a surge in Iraq fizzles out, the IEA said. International sanctions, including those on its oil sector, were lifted on January 16 as Iran met the terms of an agreement to curb its nuclear development program.

300,000 barrels The country could add 300,000 barrels a day by the end of the first quarter and 600,000 barrels a day by the middle of the year, the IEA said. While that’s below official ministry plans to add one million a day by mid-year, it could still be enough to pressure prices further, the agency predicted. The country

pumped at a 3 1/2-year high of 2.91 million barrels a day in December, according to the report.

Global oil demand growth slipped to a one-year low in the fourth quarter, from close to a fiveyear high in the third, amid mild winter temperatures and economic weakness in commodity producers. Consumption growth will slow this year to 1.2 million barrels a day, or 1.3 percent, from 1.7 million a day in 2015, according to the report, averaging 95.7 million barrels a day.

While supplies outside Opec proved “resilient” for most of last year, they shrank on an annual basis in December for the first time in three years, according to the IEA. The projected drop of

600,000 barrels a day in non-Opec production this year will be the steepest since 1992.

Production from Opec, whose membership expanded last month with the return of Indonesia, slipped 90,000 barrels a day to 32.28 million a day in December amid slightly lower output from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, according to the report. That’s still about 600,000 a day more than the average of 31.7 million required in 2016.

With Opec supply potentially expanding and demand growth slowing, global inventories could accumulate by a further 285 million in 2016 after swelling by one billion barrels last year, the IEA further added.. — Bloomberg News

Oman Fiber Optic profit falls Times News Service MUSCAT: Oman Fiber Optic said the company’s net profit for 2015 fell to OMR1.61 million from OMR7.87 million for the previous year. The company’s total revenue also declined to OMR22.56 million from OMR23.31 million, while expenses were down at OMR20.68 million from OMR21.70 million, according to a stock market filing.

The company has received an insurance claim of OMR7.38 million in 2014, which helped to achieve a higher net profit.

The financial results are subject to approval from audit committee, board of directors and shareholders of the company.

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Economy slowed in December, capping the

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weakest quarter of growth since 2009 global recession, as the nation struggles to manage a transition to consumer-led expansion

BEIJING: China’s economy slowed in December, capping the weakest quarter of growth since the 2009 global recession, as the Communist leadership struggles to manage a transition to consumer-led expansion.

Industrial production, retail sales and fixed-asset investment all slowed at the end of the year, while gross domestic product rose 6.8 per cent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier.

Full-year growth of 6.9 per cent, the least since 1990, was in line with the government’s target of about 7 per cent.

Downward pressure on industry

threatens to spread to consumption and services — an unwelcome prospect for policy makers who must weigh the need for further monetary easing with the risk it would spur more weakness in the yuan and additional capital outflows. Another dilemma: cutting excess capacity that’s spurring deflation and weighing on old industrial drivers without triggering a deeper slump.

“China is undergoing a debtdeflation led downward business cycle,” said Liu Li-Gang, head of greater China economics at Australia and New Zealand Banking in Hong Kong.

SLOWDOWN: Industrial production, retail sales and fixed-asset

investment all slowed at the end of the year. - AFP file picture

“Traditional fiscal and monetary policy will only have secondary impact on the economy by mitigating the pace of the slowdown.”

Industrial production posted one of the weakest gains in the past quarter century, increasing 5.9 per cent in December from a year earlier. That compared to a 6 per cent median estimate of analysts and

November’s 6.2 per cent.

Retail sales rise Retail sales increased 11.1 per cent from a year earlier, compared to the 11.3 per cent projected by economists. Fixed- asset investment excluding rural areas expanded 10 percent last year, the slowest pace since 2000.

The Australian dollar, which typically fluctuates in reaction to signs from China, Australia’s biggest export destination, fell in the 30 minutes after the GDP release, then recaptured lost ground in the afternoon. The Shanghai Composite Index closed 3.2 per cent higher after Tuesday’s data fueled speculation of increased stimulus and industrial shares rallied on prospects of state-fund buying.

Inflation slips Bloomberg’s monthly GDP tracker slipped to 6.69 per cent in December, from 6.85 per cent a month earlier. A measure of economywide inflation slipped deeper into negative territory, declining 0.5 per cent in 2015, according to another gauge.

“Deepening of deflationary pressures require more decisive

reflationary policies,” economists Julia Wang and LiJing at HSBC Holdings wrote in a report. “Both monetary and fiscal easing measures are needed to help support demand and anchor expectations.”

HSBC forecast a quarter percentage point interest-rate cut and 100 basis point reserve ratio reduction this quarter, plus a wider fiscal deficit target for the year.

China’s top leadership has signaled in recent months it may allow some additional slowness as they tackle delicate tasks such as reducing excess capacity, but nothing that could threaten President Xi Jinping’s goal of at least 6.5 per cent growth through 2020.

The world’s second-largest economy will slow to 6.5 per cent this year and 6.3 per cent next year, according to the median of economist estimates. - Bloomberg News

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TRADE DISPUTE

China could seek trade curbs as EU loses WTO case GENEVA: China could demand trade sanctions against the European Union (EU) after winning an appeal on Monday in a dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over EU tariffs imposed on Chinese imports of screws, nuts and bolts made of iron or steel.

China has never before asked the WTO to impose trade sanctions since it joined the organisation in 2001, but the end of the seven-year battle leaves the way open to a claim for compensation. “The measures have negative effect on exports from China around $1 billion and more than 100,000 jobs from thousands of fastener producers in China,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.

“It has resulted in huge economic losses to the Chinese industry, which has expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to the measures.” The EU must now comply with the ruling and remove its illegal tariffs or China would take “further steps”, the statement said.

The value of China’s exports of the products to the EU peaked at over $1 billion in 2008, but averaged about $200 million after the EU imposed punitive tariffs on the Chinese exports in 2009, according to an analysis of data from the International Trade Centre, a UN-WTO joint venture.

Under WTO rules, countries are allowed to punish ‘dumping’ — or exports priced at an unfairly cheap level — to stop one country deliberately undermining its foreign rivals by artificially undercutting their prices.

But the use of anti-dumping tariffs is subject to strict rules

and, in this case, China complained that the EU had not applied the rules correctly. WTO arbitrators agreed. The EU appealed and lost, and said it had reduced the tariffs. But China complained that the EU had not done enough to comply with the ruling, and again it won. The EU’s final appeal appears to have backfired, with the WTO judges reversing points that previously went in the EU’s favour and toughening the ruling against it. An EU trade official declined to comment.

Indian proxy A key part of the EU argument was the use of an Indian proxy for Chinese prices, since China is not considered to be a “market economy” under WTO rules and therefore its prices do not need to be taken at face value.

But China says that it will have the right to “market economy status” from December 2016, 15 years after it joined the WTO, which will force the EU to take Chinese export prices at face value, or risk more WTO disputes from China.

Though Beijing says the designation should be automatic, a debate is brewing in the EU over whether to grant it. Fu Donghui, managing partner at Allbright Law Offices, told reporters at a briefing by Chinese business chambers in Beijing that the ruling announced Monday would be a boon for China’s position.

“Actually, this is a decision that overturns the EU’s substitute country system. I think it will be a major boost for Chinese market economy status at the end of the year,” Fu said. - Reuters

D E M A N D FA L L S

World’s leading steel industry demand falls SINGAPORE: Steel output in the world’s largest producer posted the first annual contraction in a quarter century.

Mills in China, which make half of global supply, churned out less last year for the first time since at least 1991 as local demand dropped, prices sank and producers struggled with overcapacity. Crude steel production shrank 2.3 per cent to 803.83 million metric tonnes, the statistics bureau said Tuesday. December output fell 5.2 per cent to 64.37 million tons from a year earlier.

Demand is weakening as policy makers seek to steer the economy away from investment toward consumption-led growth. The economy expanded 6.9 per cent last year, the slowest full-year pace since 1990, data showed.

Steel output will probably drop 2.6 per cent this year, weakening the outlook for iron ore as global miners increase shipments, Citigroup has estimated.

“This marks the start of declining steel output in China as the economy slows,” Xu Huimin, an analyst at Huatai Great Wall Futures in Shanghai, said by phone.

“We’re likely to see more output cuts this year, though the magnitude of declines will be quite similar to 2015. Supply cuts in a glut are a long- drawn process as mills seek to maintain market share.”

Crude-steel output in China surged more than 12-fold between 1990 and 2014, and the increase is emblematic of the country’s emergence as the world’s second-largest economy.

Demand soared as policy makers built out infrastructure, shifted millions of people into cities and promoted consumption of autos and appliances.

Chinese steel demand is also dropping for the first time in a generation, prompting mills to export record amounts of the metal. Shipments jumped 20 per cent last year. - Bloomberg News

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

B3

MARKET R E G I O NA L AWA R D S

New categories included in Oman projects competition

Omantel to upgrade ATMs, branches of Bank Muscat tion across the Bank Muscat network provides 24/7 support and gives us enhanced connectivity and security across our branches and ATM locations. We can deploy new customer applications and rapidly enhance our network configuration with the addition of new branches and ATMs throughout the Sultanate. Omantel has a unique and unrivalled experience in designing and operating communications networks in the banking sector, and we are very pleased with the improvements the upgrade has delivered throughout our branch and ATM network.”

Times News Service MUSCAT: New categories of projects have been included this year in the competition for the region’s highest quality awards, instituted

by MEED Quality Awards for Projects, in association with Mashreq.

Among the new categories include Upstream Oil and Gas Project of the Year, Downstream Oil and Gas Project the Year, Airport Project of the Year, Tall Building Project of the Year, Retail Project of the Year, Mixed-Use Project of the Year, Education Project of the Year, Residential Project of the Year, Commercial Project of the Year; Rail, Metro, Tram Project of the Year; and Road, Bridge, Tunnel Project of the Year.

Owners, architects, engineers, contractors and consultants of completed projects in Oman from January 2011 to December 2015 have until January-end to submit their entries.

Oman’s projects market is traditionally dominated by infrastructure schemes. Over the past five years the focus has been the expansion of Muscat International airport, the Batinah Expressway and to a lesser extent, the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre. For the coming years the focus will shift to rail.

The national railway project is the largest upcoming scheme in Oman. With an expected budget of $15 billion, there are at least eight segments that make up the planned 2,135-kilometre national railway. Other upcoming projects include a liquids terminal at Duqm, and a new hospital.

The project entails upgrading the existing telecommunications system for Bank Muscat branches across Oman and migration of existing offsite ATMs to MPLS CONNECTIVITY: The Omantel MPLS solution delivers an integrated network that simultaneously handles multiple types of network traffic, including data and video, providing end-to-end connectivity with high speed intranet, extranet voice and data services. – File picture

Times News Service MUSCAT: Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel), the leading provider of integrated telecommunication services in Oman, and Bank Muscat, the largest financial services provider in the country, have joined hands for a comprehensive telecommunications network upgrade for Bank Muscat branches across the Sultanate and migration of existing offsite automated teller machines (ATMs) to multiple protocol label switching (MPLS) network.

The project entails upgrading the existing telecommunications system for all Bank Muscat locations, including 152 branches as well as nearly 170 offsite ATMs located across the country.

Commenting on the benefits of the upgrade, Todd Dick, Omantel

SEMINAR

VP of Corporate Business, said: “The partnership with Bank Muscat highlights our deep experience in delivering end-to-end solutions for clients in the financial services sector, who require the very highest levels of data security, high data transfer speeds and network reliability.

“Deploying our technical experience and expertise on this project means that Bank Muscat will be able to conduct instant real-time monitoring and maintenance for their nationwide branches and ATM networks to ensure uninterrupted services, while branch staff and systems are securely connected via the MPLS network, providing seamless and secure intranet, extranet, and data capabilities,” he added.

The project scope for the Bank

Muscat upgrade calls for a nationwide upgrade to MPLS across the bank’s branch and ATM network, supported by a 24/7 service level agreement to provide ongoing monitoring of system performance and maintenance.

First in Oman Omantel is the first telecommunications service provider to offer MPLS in Oman, and the experience gained has earned the company an ISO 27001 certification for delivering MPLS services in the Sultanate.

The Omantel MPLS solution delivers an integrated network that simultaneously handles multiple types of network traffic, including data and video, providing end-to-end connectivity with high

speed intranet, extranet voice and data services.

“Bank Muscat network upgrade highlights our commitment and focus on delivering and implementing the highest global standards and best practices to ensure efficiency and confidentiality as well as integrity of data in its security journey. This is particularly important in the banking sector, where timeliness and data security for financial transactions and customer information are of vital importance,” Todd said.

Said Al Badai, group deputy general manager (Branches), said: “As the flagship financial services provider in the Sultanate, Bank Muscat is committed to providing world class services. The benefits of implementing the MPLS solu-

Investing in future Omantel connects even the most remote communities of the Sultanate to each other and with the rest of the world. Omantel is the Sultanate’s first and leading integrated telecommunications services provider, enabling the digital society to flourish, allowing new ways of doing business and delivering a world of information, news and entertainment. Today, Omantel innovates to deliver the highest levels of customer satisfaction, the broadest and most reliable nationwide network while investing for Oman’s future development.

Omantel Business Unit provides innovative communication solutions to meet the individual needs of corporate and public sector clients.

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

R E A L E S TAT E

India seeks to Brace for topsy-turvy market ahead, attract Omani says Dubai’s real estate developer businessmen Times News Service MUSCAT: Omani enterprises, business houses, investments funds and banks will get an opportunity to get acquainted with various investment opportunities available in India at an ‘Invest in India’ seminar, organised by the Embassy of India on January 20 at the embassy’s auditorium.

The seminar, which will showcase India as an increasingly attractive destination for Omani investments, will be inaugurated

by Dr Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy, minister of commerce and industry, who will be the chief guest.

Mohammed Al Barwani, chairman, MB Group of Oman has agreed to share his experience of doing business in India.

The event will primarily focus on giving a broad overview of India’s economy, in light of the recent initiatives taken by the Government of India to make India more investor and business friendly, says an embassy communiqué.

Representatives of the Government of Oman, relevant organisations from the economic, financial, trade and investment sectors, financial institutions, chambers of commerce, banks, pension funds, chartered accountancy firms, key business houses to name a few are expected to attend the event.

The Indian embassy in Muscat has accorded a high priority to explore and utilise every avail-

able opportunity to enhance interactions with the Omani business community as well as Indian business community in Oman.

Even though Omani business community is familiar with the investment opportunities in India, it has been felt that there is a need to highlight the new initiatives taken by the present Government of India, aimed at making India an attractive place to do business and make investments..

Joint fund Mutual investment between Oman and India has been growing and is estimated at more than $ 7.5 billion. The first tranche of India-Oman Joint Investment Fund of $ 100 million has already been invested and discussions are underway to finalise the second tranche of $ 300 million.

There is a huge untapped potential. The fundamentals of India’s economy remain strong and it is poised to grow at a fast pace in future. The fast-growing economy of India offers immense opportunities for foreign direct and portfolio investments from Oman.

There will presentations by representatives of Invest India, which is a joint venture of FICCI and Ministry of Commerce of India, and three key states of India: Gujarat, Kerala and Maharashtra.

There will also be presentations by the Institute of Chartered Accountant of India, Deloitte, Earnst & Young and KPMG.

DUBAI: Dubai’s biggest landlord has a message for the city’s developers: get ready to rethink your budgets and building plans repeatedly this year or be engulfed by a topsy-turvy market.

Companies need to be “more agile to sustain their businesses and survive the tough period ahead,” said Hesham Al Qassim, chief executive officer of the state’s Wasl Asset Management and vicechairman of Dubai’s largest lender, Emirates NBD. “Those who are mindful of the reality around them will manage, but those who stretch themselves with billions worth of projects won’t.”

Dubai’s property market was buffeted last year by falling oil prices, rising political tension in the region and slowing economic growth from China to Brazil, all trends that are set to continue in 2016. Real estate developers, whose projects can take two to four years to build, may see their

markets change several times over that period.

Property prices Residential property prices in Dubai dropped around 15 per cent last year and rents softened as demand from European and Russian buyers waned, Phidar Advisory said on January 11.

The dollar-pegged dirham made properties more expensive at a time the decline in the oil price put pressure on government spending.

Dubai is part of the United Arab

Emirates along with Abu Dhabi, which relies on oil for 51 per cent of its gross domestic product.”

“I’d be very cautious, whether running an asset-management company or a development company,” Al Qassim said. “I have to be very dynamic in terms of my budget planning. When there is a slowdown, I have to go through my budget and try to adjust it according to the market.”

Wasl, which collects rent from around 35,000 households and holds offices, hotels and golf courses across Dubai, is developing thousands of middle-income homes, a market that’s experiencing a severe shortage.

Al Qassim said he reviews the company’s plans often, shelving some and delaying or altering others to better respond to fastchanging demand and market sentiment. We look “to develop what the company can afford to do in the worst-case scenario,” he said.

Chain reaction Al Qassim says greater interestrate stability shows that the UAE market is adjusting to lower oil prices. However, bankruptcies at some companies in the country could set off a chain reaction that hurts many others, he said.

Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank, expects earnings to be flat in 2016 and the bank will freeze hiring to reduce staff through attrition rather than job cuts, Al Qassim said.

Growth will probably return in mid-2017 as a decline in values spurs new demand and momentum builds ahead of Dubai hosting of the World Expo 2020.

Wasl, which completed the construction of 1,244 affordable homes for leasing this year, is planning to build another 5,000 homes.

The asset manager is also building a 260-room Mandarin Oriental hotel to open in 2017 as well as the world’s largest - Bloomberg News

B4

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

MARKET Index ends unchanged

OMAN STOCKS

MUSCAT SECURITIES MARKET

INDICES Index .................................................High .................Low..................... Value ............... Prev . Value.......... Diff ...............Diff % MSM30 Index ........................................ 5,014.41 ...............4,981.58 ................... 4,981.58 ...................4,981.57.................... 0.01 ...................0.00 Financial Index .....................................5,967.09 ...............5,891.40 ....................5,947.15 ................... 5,891.40..................55.75 ................... 0.95 Industrial Index ....................................6,501.03 ...............6,487.38 ................... 6,488.37 ...................6,494.63.................. -6.26 .................. -0.10 Services Index ...................................... 2,869.52 .............. 2,848.33 ...................2,848.33 ................... 2,864.71................ -16.38 .................. -0.57 MSM SHARIAH INDEX.......................819.90 ..................814.09 .......................814.09 .......................815.99.................. -1.90 .................. -0.23 Trading Summary Volume ................Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded 12,948,372 ................. 2,886,673 .....................936 ...............15,295,033,269 ................ 14 ........................9 .................... 13 .........................36

The top gainer was Gulf Investment Services, up 9.46 per cent, while the top loser was Al

SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR TUESDAY, JANUARY 19

Jazeera Services, down 6.67 per cent ISIN ......................................SECURITY NAME ..................................................................VOLUME..... TURNOVER............TRADES ......OPEN PRICE......HIGH ............. LOW ........ CLOSE PR. ...PREV. CLOSE...DIFF (RO).........DIFF % .............LAST PR.....LAST BID .............LAST OFFER ........MARKET CAP.PAR VALUE

MUSCAT: Local selling in a tepid market led to the MSM30 closing unchanged at 4,981.58 points. The MSM Sharia index declined 0.23 per cent to close at 814.09 points. Al Anwar Holding was the most active in terms of volume while Oman Telecommunications Company led in traded value.

The top gainer was Gulf Investment Services, up 9.46 per cent, while top loser was Al Jazeera Services, down 6.67 per cent.

As many as 936 trades were executed on Tuesday, generating a turnover of OMR2.88 million with 12.9 million shares changing hands during the day.

Out of 36 traded securities, 14 advanced, nine declined and 13 remained unchanged. GCC and Arab investors were net buyers for OMR334,000 while Omani Investors were net sellers for OMR235,000 followed by Foreign Investors for OMR99,000 worth of shares.

Financial Index advanced 0.95 per cent to close at 5,947.15 points. Gulf Investment Services, Al Anwar Holding, Bank Nizwa, Al Sharqia Investments and Oman United Insurance gained 9.46 per cent, 4.17 per cent, 3.13 per cent, 2.50 per cent and 1.15 per cent respectively.

Industrial Index retreated 0.10 per cent to close at 6,488.37 points. Oman Fisheries, Galfar Engineering and Oman Cements advanced 4.35 per cent, 1.82 per cent and 0.44 per cent respectively. Raysut Cement and Al Maha Ceramics declined 2.06 per cent and 0.58 per cent, respectively.

Services Index ended negatively at 2,848.33 points, down 0.57 per cent. Sharqiyah Desalination, OIFC, Phoenix Power and Sembcorp Salalah gained 1.96 per cent, 1.19 per cent, 0.77 per cent and 0.21 per cent respectively. Al Jazeera Services, Renaissance Services, Ooredoo Oman, United

Power and Al Suwadi Power decreased 6.67 per cent, 3.17 per cent, 2.55 per cent, 1.35 per cent and 0.53 per cent respectively.

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

OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES ......................... 200,521 ............16,150......................11 ............0.081 ........... 0.081 ...........0.080........... 0.081 .............0.074 ........... 0.007............. 9.459 ................0.080..............0.077...................0.081.................... 4,766,301 ..........0.100 OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 1,865,059 ...... 280,471................... 145 ............0.148 ........... 0.155 ...........0.148 ........... 0.150 .............0.144 ........... 0.006............. 4.167 ................0.151 ..............0.150................... 0.151 ...................22,511,250 .........0.100 OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING ........... 129,525.............10,648......................21 ........... 0.082 ...........0.083 ...........0.081 ........... 0.082 .............0.080 ........... 0.002.............2.500 ................0.082..............0.081...................0.082 ...................7,380,000 ..........0.100 OM0000004669 ...........SHARQIYAH DESALINATION ................................ 10,978 .............51,502......................18 ........... 4.590 ........... 4.705 ...........4.590........... 4.690 .............4.600 ........... 0.090............. 1.957 ................4.695............. 4.400...................4.900 ..................45,869,213 .........1.000

Qatar stocks surge Qatari stocks surged the most in more than a year as investors saw attractive valuations after this week’s selloff, spurring advances across most equity markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Qatar’s benchmark QE Index jumped by 5.5 per cent in its first increase in nearly nine days, and was the best performer among more than 90 gauges tracked

by Bloomberg. Dubai’s DFM General Index rose the most in five months as Emaar Properties gained the most since April.

The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index, which tracks the region’s biggest and most liquid companies, added the most since August.

“The valuations are so depressed it doesn’t make sense to sell, especially now when dividend distribution is close,” according to Nabil Farhat, an Abu Dhabi-based partner at Al Fajr Securities.

The BGCC 200 was trading this week at its biggest discount to emerging-market peers in five years after sanctions that crippled Iran’s economy were lifted, paving the way for increased oil exports from the Opec producer amid a global glut. Brent crude, a pricing benchmark for more than half the world’s oil, dipped below $28 a barrel on Monday amid a decline that’s pressured government finances across the sixnation GCC. The region accounts for about 30 per cent of the world’s proven crude reserves.

Saudi Arabia’s share index rose four per cent. Kuwait’s benchmark measure increased for the first time in 12 days. Abu Dhabi stocks added 2.5 per cent, the most in almost five months.

OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. .................. 201,380 ............11,277..................... 25 ........... 0.056 ...........0.056 ...........0.056........... 0.056 .............0.055 ............0.001 ..............1.818.................0.056..............0.056...................0.057................... 16,238,916 .........0.100 OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE.............. 1,794,829 ......305,639...................144 ............0.170 ........... 0.176 ...........0.166 ........... 0.170 ............. 0.168............ 0.002............. 1.190 ................0.167 ..............0.166...................0.167.................. 34,000,000 ........0.100 OM0000001087............OMAN UNITED INSURANCE ............................... 334,888 ............58,961..................... 30 ............0.174 ........... 0.181............0.174 ............0.176 ............. 0.174............ 0.002............. 1.149.................0.174 ..............0.170...................0.176 ...................17,600,000 .........0.100 OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 1,254,345 ...... 507,545......................81 ........... 0.404...........0.420 ...........0.394........... 0.404 .............0.400 ........... 0.004............. 1.000 ................0.394..............0.394...................0.396..................925,896,329 .......0.100 OM0000001483............NATIONAL BANK OF OMAN ................................. 261,200 ............59,352......................21 ........... 0.225 ...........0.230 ...........0.225........... 0.227 .............0.225 ........... 0.002............. 0.889 ................0.225..............0.223...................0.225 .................304,341,227 .......0.100 OM0000001749 ............OMAN CEMENT .......................................................... 105,000 ........... 48,350........................3 ........... 0.462 ...........0.462 ...........0.460........... 0.460 .............0.458 ........... 0.002............. 0.437 ................0.460............. 0.000...................0.460 .................152,201,447........0.100 OM0000004735 ...........SEMBCORP SALALAH.................................................. 4,163 ...............9,887........................3 ............2.375 ........... 2.375 ...........2.370........... 2.375 .............2.370 ........... 0.005............. 0.211.................2.370..............2.375...................2.500 .................226,710,838 ........1.000 OM0000001095............DHOFAR INSURANCE ......................................................100 .....................21........................1 ........... 0.205 ...........0.205 ...........0.205........... 0.205 .............0.205 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.205............. 0.000...................0.204 ..................41,000,000.........0.100 OM0000001145 ............PORT SERVICES CORPORATION ........................ 40,000 ...............4,810........................5 ............0.121 ........... 0.121............0.120........... 0.120 .............0.120 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.120.............. 0.110...................0.120...................11,404,800 .........0.100 OM0000001160 ............NATIONAL GAS .............................................................10,000 .............. 2,940........................2 ........... 0.294 ...........0.294 ...........0.294 .......... 0.294 .............0.294 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.294..............0.294...................0.302 ..................14,700,000 .........0.100 OM0000001533 ............OMINVEST ........................................................................2,230 .................. 999........................1 ........... 0.448 ...........0.448 ...........0.448........... 0.448 .............0.448 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.448..............0.420...................0.448 .................247,682,016 ........0.100 OM0000002028 ...........GULF INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS ..............21,032 ............... 5,475........................9 ........... 0.265 ...........0.265 ...........0.258........... 0.260 .............0.260 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.258..............0.256...................0.258....................5,460,000 ..........0.100 OM0000002374............UNITED FINANCE ...................................................... 45,000 ............... 5,175........................5 ............0.116 ........... 0.116............0.114 ............0.115 ............. 0.115 ............ 0.000.............0.000 ................0.114 ...............0.113................... 0.115 ................... 35,737,968 .........0.100 OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ........................ 369,931..........536,339..................... 33 ............1.450 ........... 1.455............1.435 ............1.450 ............. 1.450............ 0.000.............0.000 ................1.445 ..............1.440...................1.445................1,087,500,000 ......0.100 OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 1,071,809 .......138,916..................... 48 ............0.130 ........... 0.132 ...........0.127 ........... 0.130 .............0.130............ 0.000.............0.000 ................0.127 ..............0.120...................0.129..................187,387,200 ........0.100 OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL...............................................21,966 ............... 1,538........................3 ........... 0.070 ...........0.070 ...........0.070........... 0.070 .............0.070 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.070..............0.070...................0.071...................12,250,000.........0.100 OM0000004925 ...........AL BATINAH POWER................................................ 210,100 ........... 39,079........................8 ............0.186 ........... 0.186 ...........0.185 ........... 0.186 ............. 0.187............-0.001 ........... -0.535 ...............0.185 ............. 0.000...................0.185..................125,529,062........0.100 OM0000004933 ...........AL SUWADI POWER .................................................. 200,083 ............ 37,215........................6 ............0.186 ........... 0.186 ...........0.186 ........... 0.186 ............. 0.187............-0.001 ........... -0.535 ...............0.186 ..............0.170...................0.186..................132,879,579 ........0.100 OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS ................................................ 191,205.............65,187..................... 27 ........... 0.342 ...........0.342 ...........0.340 .......... 0.340 .............0.342 ...........-0.002 ........... -0.585 ...............0.342..............0.342...................0.352...................17,850,000 .........0.100 OM0000001822............UNITED POWER ............................................................. 1,000 ...............2,550........................2 ........... 2.550 ...........2.550 ...........2.550........... 2.550 .............2.585 ...........-0.035 ........... -1.354................2.550............. 2.500...................2.550....................2,040,000..........1.000 OM0000001418 ............RAYSUT CEMENT ........................................................20,630 .............19,639........................8 ........... 0.952 ...........0.952 ...........0.948........... 0.952 .............0.972 ...........-0.020 ........... -2.058 ...............0.948..............0.948...................0.952................. 190,400,000 .......0.100 OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO....................................................................... 334,900.........204,901..................... 34 ........... 0.624 ...........0.624 ...........0.608............0.612 .............0.628 ...........-0.016 ........... -2.548 ...............0.620..............0.620...................0.628..................398,377,869........0.100 OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES ..................................... 971,546 ..........118,445.....................42 ............0.127 ........... 0.127 ........... 0.115 ........... 0.122 .............0.126............-0.004 ............-3.175................0.118 .............. 0.116................... 0.118 ...................35,459,425 .........0.100 OM0000002226 ...........AL JAZEERA SERVICES .......................................... 445,327 ......... 112,252......................15 ........... 0.260...........0.260 ...........0.250........... 0.252 .............0.270 ...........-0.018 ........... -6.667 ...............0.250............. 0.000...................0.250 .................. 15,423,477 .........0.100 .............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 10,118,747......2,655,262 .............. 751 ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......28........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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

OM0000001566 ............OMAN FISHERIES ..................................................... 128,889 .............. 6,143.....................22 ........... 0.048 ...........0.050 ...........0.047........... 0.048 .............0.046 ........... 0.002.............4.348 ................0.047..............0.046...................0.047 ...................6,000,000..........0.100 OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................ 1,835,585 ...... 121,424......................41 ........... 0.066 ...........0.067 ...........0.065........... 0.066 .............0.064 ........... 0.002............. 3.125 ................0.065..............0.065...................0.066...................99,000,000.........0.100 OM0000005963 ...........PHOENIX POWER ...................................................... 645,875 ........... 84,764...................104 ............0.131 ........... 0.133 ...........0.130............0.131 .............0.130.............0.001 ............. 0.769 ................0.132 ..............0.132...................0.133.................. 191,600,791 ........0.100 OM0000001368 ............CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IND. ......................6,000 ...................174........................2 ........... 0.029 ...........0.029 ...........0.029........... 0.029 .............0.029 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.029..............0.028...................0.029 ...................2,465,000 ..........0.100 OM0000004511 ............ALIZZ ISLAMIC BANK................................................77,000 .............. 4,824........................8 ........... 0.063 ...........0.063 ...........0.062........... 0.063 .............0.063 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.062..............0.061...................0.062 ..................63,000,000 ........0.100 .............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 2,693,349...... 217,329................... 177 ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ........ 5........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

BONDS AND SUKUK MARKET ......................................................................................................................................................................

OM0000004867 ...........BANK MUSCAT C C B 4.5 ...........................................35,973 ...............3,633........................3 ............0.101 ........... 0.101............0.101 ............0.101 ............. 0.101............ 0.000.............0.000 ................0.101 .............. 0.101...................0.110 ...................32,283,910 .........0.100 OM0000005971 ............B.MUSCAT COMPL. CONVR. B.B.3.5 .....................34,591 ...............3,286........................4 ........... 0.095 ........... 0.095 ...........0.095........... 0.095 .............0.095 ........... 0.000.............0.000 ................0.095..............0.095...................0.099...................30,795,353 .........0.100 OM0000004628 ...........BANK SOHAR BONDS 4.5 .......................................... 65,712 ................7,163........................1 ............0.109 ........... 0.109 ...........0.109........... 0.109 ............. 0.110............-0.001 ........... -0.909 ...............0.109..............0.095...................0.110 .................... 7,793,500 ..........0.100 .............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 136,276............ 14,082........................8 ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ........ 3........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

— United Securities/Bloomberg News

ECONOMY

RESEARCH REPORT

Record bank fines to put brake on foreign financiers supporting Iranian projects TEHRAN: For Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the lifting of sanctions brings “the opportunity for an economic leap.” Foreign financiers are going to take some persuading to make that jump.

Certainly, Iran offers potential following years of exile.

Overseas investors note the country’s stocks look cheap next to those in similar countries.

The benchmark TEDPIX stock index trades at a measly 5.7 times earnings, according to Bloomberg News. The MSCI Emerging Market index trades at 10.9 times earnings and the MSCI Frontier Markets Index is valued at 9.44 times earnings.

The Tehran Stock Exchange includes 318 listed companies with a total market capitalisation of around $90 billion, according to its website.

The economy is also expected to outpace its regional peers. The World Bank forecasts growth will rebound from 1.9 per cent in 2015 to 5.8 per cent in this year and 6.7 per cent next year.

Outpace growth That will outpace growth in the wider Middle East and North Africa, which is estimated to reach 3.8 per cent in 2016 and 4.4 per cent in 2017.

Economic diversity is a strength too. Although oil and gas is a key economic driver, investors are eyeing banks, telecommunications and retail as potentially hot industries. Infrastructure bankers spy potential fees in massive oil and gas reserves and underdeveloped infrastructure that require funding.

But turning a quick profit in the country won’t be easy.

For starters, investors could

VITAL RESOURCE: Brazil, China and India are among countries that will need about $13 trillion through 2040 to meet the demand for fuel supply, generation and networks. - Bloomberg file picture

Emerging nations need $13 trillion to invest in power CLOSE WATCH: Tehran Stock Exchange includes 318 listed companies with a total market capitalisation of around $90 billion, according to its website. - Bloomberg News

find themselves caught in a crush of foreigners trying to get in.

Western sanctions When western sanctions on Myanmar were lifted in 2013, there weren’t enough decent hotel rooms in the country to accommodate the flood of bankers that showed up. That won’t happen in Tehran’s modern urban centre.

But a rush of foreign money could push up asset prices quickly.

Most important of all, though there’s the fine detail on sanctions to work through. Iranian officials hailed the lifting of nuclear sanctions on the weekend.

But Western institutions will

be cautious while many of the country’s institutions and individuals are still restricted under terrorism sanctions.

In particular, the banks that grease the wheels of international finance will be desperate to avoid the risk of fines by US regulators for compliance failings. It’s less than a year since France’s BNP Paribas was fined $9 billion for sanctions violations. Londonbased Standard Chartered has paid almost $1 billion to US authorities in recent years over similar allegations. The prospect of more fines will surely curtail bankers’ exuberance — and crossborder flows of financing will only

move slowly until all the right boxes are checked.

Political risk There’s political risk too — the recent flare up between Saudi Arabia and Iran is a warning shot — and the risk that economic growth doesn’t materialised as hoped, especially because of sliding oil prices. Brent crude traded near a 12-year low in London on Monday. Still, such are the problems of investing in developing economies. Investors looking at Iran ought to know what they’re getting into — and banks will be especially wary of the dangers.

— Bloomberg News

LONDON: Emerging nations will need to invest twice as much in electricity than developed countries over the next two decades in order to power fast-growing economies and meet emission-reduction targets, according to consultants Bain.

Brazil, China and India are among countries that will need about $13 trillion through 2040 to meet the demand for fuel supply, generation and networks, Bain said in a report for the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. That compares with about $7 trillion for countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Emerging nations will probably seek about 70 per cent of the funding from private investors, up from about 30 per cent now, as wind and solar power typically requires higher up-front investment than

conventional generation, according to Bain. Non-OECD countries may struggle to convince global investors to stump up money amid competition from more predictable, transparent and mature markets, the Boston-based management consulting firm said.

“There’s a huge wave of capital that’s required,” Julian Critchlow, a partner at Bain, said by phone.

“Effectively, if you put in a windfarm or a solar plant, you’re buying the electricity for 20 years up front, as opposed to when you put in a more conventional plant, when you are paying 30 per cent up front” and spending the rest on fuel over the life of the equipment.

As an example of how countries can attract investment, Bain said India could install more free-market pricing consistent across its various states and simplify its land rules. - Bloomberg News

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ISLAMIC BANKING SERVICES

Maisarah celebrates 1st anniversary in North Al Batinah MUSCAT: Maisarah Islamic Banking Services recently celebrated the anniversary of the launch of its services in North Al Batinah Governorate.

The event was inaugurated at Sohar Branch under the patronage of Sheikh Muhanna bin Saif Al Lamki, Governor of North Al Batinah, and was attended by Abdul Hakeem Omar Al Ojaili, BankDhofar’s Acting CEO, Sohail Niazi, Maisarah’s Chief Islamic Banking Officer, and a number of invited guests, customers and Maisarah staff, says a press release.

During the event, Sohail Niazi said: “It is a great pleasure to witness yet another year of success in offering quality banking experi-

increase our customer and market reach. Additionally, new innovative products and services will be rolled out to fulfil customers’ needs and we will soon launch enhanced internet and mobile banking services in order to enrich our customer experience.”

Showing an impressive growth since the start of its operations in 2013, and demonstrating a high degree of product innovation and best services, Maisarah has been recognised for its commitment to lead the Islamic finance market in the Sultanate, earning prestigious awards and titles from leading local and international organisations including: ‘Islamic Bank of the Year – Oman 2015’ award by

ence to our customers. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Maisarah customers in North Al Batinah Governorate and reaffirm our commitment to continue to enrich our customer banking experience through customised financial products and the best service in the market.”

Highlighting Maisarah’s plans for 2016, Jamsheed Hamza - head of Retail at Maisarah Islamic Banking Services – noted: “We will continue to offer superior customer service, pursuing further business growth and increasing our market share and shareholders value. Our plan is to expand the retail network by opening more branches across the Sultanate to

The Banker, ‘Best Islamic Bank 2015’ award by the Global Banking and Finance Review magazine, ‘Best Islamic Banking Window - Oman 2015’ award by the International Finance Magazine (IFM).

Maisarah offers a wide range of financial solutions, products and services that cater to the needs of its retail and corporate customers nationwide.

As part of its future growth strategic plan, Maisarah plans to distinguish itself by focusing on prominent customer service, developing and launching new products, and investing in technology to provide the best customer experience in timely and convenient manner.

SPAR Oman opens its largest store in MBD

I N N O VAT I V E T R A I N I N G

Designed on a multiple-concept retail model, SPAR MBD has a food and

ELT workshop held at Indian School Ghubra

fresh produce section spread over 5,000 sq.ft. that offers customers the widest

MUSCAT: A team of teachers attended a special ELT workshop organised by Indian School Al Ghubra (ISG) recently.

The workshop encompassed modules such as speaking, writing and reading skills with phonics and grammar, says a press release.

Prof. Rajeevan Karal who is an accomplished and highly experienced teacher and trainer with over 30 years experience of teaching English at all levels, was the resource person. He has published several books on different aspects of English targeted at learners at school and university levels. Currently he is engaged in offering consultancy

service to publishers and corporate organisations.

Prof. Karal introduced the teachers to innovative training methods which can be implemented in classrooms at various levels. He also laid emphasis on the important tools in expressing language with appropriate form and meaning.

Papri Ghosh, Principal, Indian School Al Ghubra, extended a warm welcome to Prof. Karal.

She expressed the need for greater skills in this profession as everyday is a learning experience for a teacher. All in all, it was an educative, enriching and informative session for teachers to enhance their skills.

assortment of fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and poultry

MUSCAT: SPAR Oman launched its MBD store, its largest outlet yet in the Sultanate occupying over 15,000 sq.ft, in one of the city’s busiest commercial districts.

The outlet was inaugurated in the presence of M. K. Pathmanaathan, ambassador of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Qais bin Suleiman Al Kishri, director of Health Administration-Muscat

' PATA N G M A H O T S AV '

Municipality. Also present were Kanan Kapadia - director SPAR Oman, M. Sridar – CEO, SPAR Oman, K. Devendra Kumar – Retail head - SPAR Oman and Rithesh Rati - Country manager Sharaf DG, says a press release.

Speaking at the inauguration, Sridar said: “SPAR MBD will give its shoppers great value, uncompromising freshness in produce and a wide assortment of top quality products coupled with excellent customer service. The outlet will be a great convenience to customers from the surrounding MBD

and Wadi Kabir areas, giving them access to top quality retail products and services.”

One of the most significant advantage of this large super market, according to Devendra Kumar, will be its value offerings. “Most of our top selling products are at hypermarket prices. So customers will benefit greatly from a shopping experience that combines the convenience of a supermarket with hypermarket prices.”

Designed on a multiple-concept retail model, SPAR MBD has a food and fresh produce section

spread over 5,000 sq.ft. that offers customers the widest assortment of fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and poultry. Also included are a bakery, rotisserie, laundry and KITSU which is a great food-on-the-go and eat-in concept. The supermarket also has 2,500 sq.ft. of space devoted to electronics operated by Sharaf DG, one of the largest electronics vendors in Oman.

The outlet opened amid a mega three-day promotion that featured fabulous offers, exciting activities for kids and unbeatable value package for shoppers.

F E S T I VA L T I M E

Gujarati Wing organises Kite Festival ISC Rajasthani Wing, Salalah

celebrates Kite Festival in style

MUSCAT: The Muscat Gujarati Samaj (MGS) of Indian Social Club (ISC) recently organised a unique 'Patang Mahotsav', Annual Kite Flying Festival, to coincide with the famous Makar Sankranti celebrations, which marks the transition of the Sun from Sagittarius to Capricorn.

The event was held recently at Qurum Intercon Beach and attracted a mammoth crowd of over 1,500 enthusiasts who locked horns with each other, trying to outdo their fellow participants by cutting their kites, says a press release.

Indra Mani Pandey, ambassador of India, along with his wife, Sushma Pandey, was also present. The ambassador joined the MGS board members Anil Khimji, Kiran Asher and the President of Gujarati Samaj Arvind Toprani in cheering the jubilant crowd and ensuring everyone had a great time.

Neelu Rohra, 2nd Secretary, Community Social Services, Embassy of India, attended the occasion.

The day began with wonderful weather, a clear blue serene sky with a steady, soothing breeze.

However, this was not for long as one after the other, the MGS patangbaaz members took their colourful kites to the skies and very

soon the entire blue sky was filled with vivid kites of various shapes, sizes and colour.

The sky was virtually turned into a spectacular amalgamation of colours and shapes as onlookers of all nationalities took keen interest in the proceedings.

Members as well as guests of all age groups from 4-5-year old toddlers to 70-72-year old elders participated actively in the Kite Festival and got so much engrossed in enjoying the event that even the intensifying afternoon heat did not deter their festive spirits.

The wonderful weather and wind conditions too favoured the

fervour of all the kite flying enthusiasts. Every minute saw 4-5 kites taking up to the sky and those already airborne, soaring to even greater heights.

To add to the wonderfully charged festive atmosphere, the Muscat Gujarati Samaj had arranged delicious lip-smacking breakfast followed by a sumptuous lunch packed and served in the most hygienic manner at the venue.

At the same time, all participants were advised to be sensitive towards the environment and maintain spectacular cleanliness at the beach venue by not leaving any litter behind after the event.

This being the first major event of the year, the presence of such a huge crowd only sets the tone and momentum for the other mega events of Muscat Gujarati Samaj to follow, such as the popular MGS Grand Annual Picnic on February 5 followed by an Antakshari programme on February 13 and Gujarati drama on February 25.

Chandrakant V. Chothani, Convener of MGS, conveyed their sincere appreciation and thanks to all committee members, invitees and the sponsors for their whole hearted support to make the event a grand success.

SALALAH: The eagerly awaited Kite Festival was celebrated in Salalah with the traditional zeal and enthusiasm. The grand occasion was held recently at Dhariz beach, Salalah from 10am onwards, organised by the Rajasthani Wing, ISC Salalah, says a press release.

Kite Festival is celebrated throughout North India on January 14 every year, to coincide with the festival of Uttarayan or Makar Sankranti.

In Rajasthan, Makar Sankranti is celebrated as the kite-flying day, which is an extraordinary day there, unlike at other places.

Apart from the celebration, it marked the coming together of people from extreme backgrounds and communities of India. The festival commenced with chief guest Mala Ram, guest of honour Manpreet Singh, chairman ISC Salalah, accompanied by Sohanlal, convener and Dr Sandeep Ojha Co-Convener of Rajasthani Wing, ISC Salalah and other esteemed members of the wing.

Ojha officially declared the event open with a welcome speech. The later hours witnessed the skies flooded with kites accompanied by snacks and music. This was followed by various games for the gathered people, organised by Mamta Goyal and Mahim Bhardwaj. Towards the end prizes were distributed to the winners followed by Vote of Thanks delivered by Ojha.

Manpreet Singh in his address praised Rajasthani Wing for arranging this function for Salalah Indian Community and Indian Social Club members and its wing members.

Lunch arrangement was made for approx. 3,000 persons in this

kite festival. At the end of the day, the occasion turned out to be a grand success and a matter of great enjoyment for the people.

Makar Sankranti is a festival that heralds a change of season marking the movement of the sun

into the northern hemisphere - a celebration to mark the end of winter. The skies are blue and clear, a cool breeze blows and a feeling of anticipation, joy and jubilation grips all who celebrate the occasion.

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

ROUND-UP Lexus launches all-new GS F in Oman

A near perfect blend of distinctive luxury with sports car values, the Lexus GS F has a 5.0L V8 Engine, unique bodywork and a chassis tuned for high performance

MUSCAT: The all-new 2016 Lexus GS F was launched in Oman at an exclusive function held at Hotel InterContinental. The guest of honour at the function was Yukihiko Yaguchi, chief engineer and creator of the all-new GS F. Attending the occasion were prominent personalities from the public and the private sector, says a press release.

Speaking about Lexus’ passion for creativity in his keynote address, Nobuyuki Takemura, general manager, Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), said: “When people think ‘Lexus’ we want them to think creativity which is something we have a lot of right here in the Middle East. The Lexus brand is for people who want only the best. Lexus is amazing in every way: design, driving dynamics, cutting edge technology and ecofriendliness. You can see that in Intersect by Lexus. Our first space

opened in 2013 in Tokyo.

“We are repeating its success in the Dubai International Financial Center. An exceptional car derives from exceptional creativity. Lexus offers the most amazing brand experience as well. This new brand space is the intersection of design, art, fashion, music and technology.

Indulge yourself in the comfortable lounge and restaurant, gallery and library and display areas and you will understand what I mean.

Lexus is not just a car, it is a lifestyle concept.”

Sharing his views on the all-new 2016 GS F, he said: “The GS F offers emotion, inspiration, power, luxury and charisma. With the new offering, I am confident that Lexus will be in the fast lane challenging the way people see the brand.

Whether you are young or young at heart, it makes your pulse race.

Lexus F models are the pinnacle of performance. ‘Fun to drive’ means complete responsiveness in steering, braking, and acceleration for

complete control. An exciting engine sound that resonates in the ears, expressing limitless power and freedom. Lexus inspires. Our new spindle grille sets the tone, distinctiveness, elegance, excitement with great performance, all at the same time. And the Lexus F concept is all that and more. “F” is for everyone from novices to professionals. More “fun to drive”.

More performance.”

Speaking on the occasion, Yukihiko Yaguchi shared his thoughts on the all-new GS F. He said: “The GS F is a four door sports sedan. With the LFA and RC F and now the GS F the F Pyramid has everything! At home on a speedway. And also perfect for city driving or touring. Coupe or sedan, we have something for everyone. F Sport models offer real excitement at the wheel no matter what your level of driving skill.

“Whether you are a pro or a beginner, F Sport reinvents driving pleasure without compromises.”

A near perfect blend of distinctive luxury with sports car values, the Lexus GS F has a 5.0L V8 Engine, unique bodywork and a chassis tuned for high performance.

This luxury sports performance sedan is endowed with superior power and performance to surpass expectations. The GS F has four different driving modes: Normal, Eco, Sport and Sport S+, the latter designed specifically for the racetrack or your favourite challenging road. At the rear of the car, Lexus’ Torque Vectoring Differential (TVD) with two electro-mechanical clutch packs, will be part of a long line of standard equipment that’ll make the GS F’s handling stand out from the crowd. The TVD features three operating modes: Standard (default) provides a balance of agility and firmness; Slalom emphasises nimble steering response and agility; and Track emphasises control during high-speed circuit driving.

Along with all the sporty touch-

es, the GS F retains a luxurious feel, thanks partly to the highgrade Alcantara trim on the doors, on the centre console and above the instrument panel.

“An analog clock adds a touch of class to the already elegant dashboard that features a 12.3” central video monitor controlled by the Remote Touch Interface on the centre console. The GS F will feature an updated suite of standard safety features including PreCollision System with automatic braking and pedestrian detection, radar cruise control with full stop from certain speeds, lane keep assist, automatic high beam and blind spot monitor with rear cross traffic alert.

Luxury experience Earlier in the evening, an SBG spokesperson speaking on behalf of the chairman, Saud Bahwan Group, said: “At Saud Bahwan Group, it is a matter of great pride that ever since its introduction in

Oman, Lexus has offered a totally unique experience to luxury automotive customers in the country. It has consistently introduced some of the most reliable and luxurious models like the LX, GX, LS and more.

“It is very heartening to see that Lexus continues to be the most sought after brand by customers who desire the finest. I take this opportunity to humbly thank our valued customers for their continued patronage. I also take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Toyota Motor Corporation for their constant support, guidance and encouragement.”

During the event, Lexus enthusiasts went around viewing the vehicles on display and getting a first-hand experience on what makes these vehicles so special.

Earlier in the day Team Lexus addressed a well-attended press gathering. The all-new Lexus GS F is now on display at the Lexus showrooms.

F E L I C I TAT I O N

U S E R - F R I E N D LY

Sohar Islamic launches Menacom bids farewell to its outgoing agency head mobile banking app MUSCAT: Responding to an increase in customer demand and with the objective of providing customers with an enhanced banking experience, Sohar Islamic, Bank Sohar’s Islamic Banking Window, recently launched a new mobile banking application. The application will deliver secure bank account access to Sohar Islamic’s customers who have signed up for its online banking service, in addition to an array of other benefits, says a press release.

On downloading the mobile application from Google Play or Apple App Store, bank’s customers can view transactions in their operative account with real-time account balance and information about operative, deposit and financed accounts. In addition, users will also be able to transfer funds between their own linked Sohar Islamic bank accounts to any other Sohar Islamic account as well as create or track standing instructions, and undertake multi-currency fund transfers.

Commenting on the launch, Salim Khamis Saif Al Maskry, DGM and Head of Sohar Islamic commented: “In this increasingly connected and dynamic world, customers are looking for a service that allows them to stay connected with the Bank 24/7.

“It gives us great pleasure to launch Sohar Islamic’s new mobile banking application which features advanced and secure capabilities, a modern and easy navigation in addition to a streamlined look. Our mobile banking application will enable our customers to access and have control over their finances remotely, no matter where they are locally or globally. Through the App, which is available in both English and

Arabic, our customers will have access to a wide range of services at their fingertips.”

He also added: “Since our official launch in 2013, Sohar Islamic has pioneered banking utilising Sharia compliant products and services. It gives us great pride to mention that our customer base has since grown and gained a reputation. This new mobile banking application is a valuable addition to the services we offer on e-platforms and allows customers to bank with ease from the comfort of their mobile devices.”

Sohar Islamic offers its customers the convenience of accessing their accounts 24/7 and benefit from services such as cash withdrawals, balance inquiries, mini-statement and fund transfer facilities. The new mobile banking application will take the customer banking experience further, by offering them flexibility and comfort. The user-friendly application will also provide users with all necessary services to effectively manage their accounts.

Sohar Islamic customers who have registered for Internet and Mobile banking can now download the app at Google Play and Apple App store, where it is available both in English and Arabic.

Launched in 2013, Sohar Islamic offers Retail and Corporate products and services that adhere to the highest level of Sharia compliance. They are specifically designed to meet certain key criteria including a complete segregation of funds; stand alone and independent branches, separate sales staff, a strong Sharia Supervisory Board and Sharia Audit and Compliance unit; committed management; and the application of the world’s best Islamic banking software.

MUSCAT: Menacom Oman, one of the country’s leading advertising, PR and media communications groups, hosted a fond farewell to felicitate Rajesh Raman, its outgoing Vice President and Agency Head, during a ceremony held at the Mumtaz Mahal last week.

Menacom comprising Y&R Advertising, Wunderman, Asda’a

Burson Marsteller and MEC opened its operations in Muscat in 2006 under the stewardship of Rajesh Raman, a pioneer in the advertising industry (having previously headed one of the largest local agencies as its CEO). During this decade, the agency group quickly grew in reputation by working closely with some leading brands across various disciplines,

says a press release.

“It is with pride that I note my accomplishments over the last decade, of establishing some great WPP brands in Oman including Y&R, Wunderman, Asda’a and MEC. We have built a strong client portfolio and a qualified team, and I have no doubt that they will carry the torch forward. However, I have been keen to devote more

time and attention to some larger professional goals. On the request of the group, I have also overseen a smooth and seamless transition since last October,” said Raman.

“It is indeed a matter of great satisfaction that I have been part of two great communication stories in Oman, but I do believe the time has come to begin a new chapter in my journey,” he added.

N E W C A M PA I G N

A’Saffa Foods set to bring new perspective to healthy eating MUSCAT: The recently announced brand endorsement between A’Saffa Foods and celebrity chef Issa Al Lamki is guaranteed to bring a new perspective to healthy eating and living in the Sultanate and beyond.

Spearheaded by Chef Issa Al Lamki, the dynamic collaboration is set to showcase the brand’s commitment to the core corporate philosophy of - ‘Core values of Healthy Food, Health and Happiness’, says a press release.

As the brand ambassador Chef Issa Al Lamki will be encouraging consumers to embrace a healthy and nutritious lifestyle across various channels and engagement in Oman and also in the GCC and Mena region. A’Saffa Foods along

with Chef Issa Al Lamki will reinforce the brand’s core ideology of healthy eating and living and the focus will be to emphasise on the brand’s quality ingredients that

allow consumers get out of their normal routine in the kitchen and enjoy cooking simple, healthy yet savoury recipes — all with A’ Saffa Foods products. “Proper nutrition is one of the most important elements to good health and in turn happiness, and I know from years of professional cooking that the healthy choice is not always easy to find, or the one you have time to make,” said Chef Al Lamki.

“A’Saffa Chicken are bred and cared for at A’Saffa’s state-of-theart production facility under strict biosecurity measures to eliminate the risk of contamination and disease, hence ensuring that the chickens and other value added processed products are nutritious and healthy. That’s why I’m thrilled

to be working with A’Saffa Foods, to educate people on the benefits of healthy eating and provide them with 100 per cent naturally-fed, farm-fresh, halal, healthy chicken and other meal options that have compelling flavours, without skipping on nutrition.”

“We are pleased to have Oman’s finest Celebrity Chef Issa Al Lamki as brand ambassador, as we believe that he as a trusted industry personality and his association with the brand, will create further synergies and reinforce, strengthen the existing strengths of purity and authenticity of every product that comes out of the A’Saffa Foods brand umbrella,” said Sidhartha Lenka, head of Marketing and Sales, A’Saffa Foods.

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LUCKY WINNER

NBO Al Kanz monthly draw winner named at Muscat Festival venue MUSCAT: The winner of the National Bank of Oman’s (NBO) Al Kanz monthly prize draw was announced as part of the Muscat Festival celebrations. One lucky customer won OMR100,000 during a ceremony at the NBO’s Al Amerat Park installation.

The bank is a proud silver sponsor of the capital’s annual tourism and cultural celebration, which is being held from January 14 to February 13, 2016, says a press release.

Muscat Festival has evolved to become a hugely popular event for families. As part of its sponsorship, NBO is on location at two Muscat Festival sites. It is promoting its conventional banking offering in Al Amerat Park and its Muzn Islamic banking window in Naseem Park.

John Chang, general manager and chief retail banking officer at NBO, said: “NBO’s presence at one of our nation’s most visited festivals is a great opportunity to meet with existing and potential customers and answer questions about our latest products and services. We congratulate the winner and look forward to meeting with many more visitors over the remaining weeks of the festival.”

The Al Kanz account is a flagship NBO product offering customers the chance to multiply their savings without risking their capital.

Customers who maintain a mini-

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Bank Muscat awards women entrepreneurs Al Wathbah Businesswomen’s Award, set to become a major annual celebration, is aimed at appreciating and recognising Omani women entrepreneurs

mum monthly average balance of OMR100 or above are eligible to participate in the monthly prize draws. Opening an account is easy and the earlier a customer makes a deposit and longer they retain it, the higher the chance they have of winning.

With regards to the future plans

for the Al Kanz account, John Chang said: “In 2016 the Al Kanz prize scheme is going to be greatly improved. We plan to have even more draws and more winners: We believe these enhancements to the Al Kanz scheme will reinforce and promote the saving habits amongst the population in the Sultanate.”

MUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the flagship financial services provider in the Sultanate, gave a major boost to SME development initiatives by women entrepreneurs as the first Al Wathbah Businesswomen’s Awards were presented at a ceremony held at the bank’s head office in the presence of dignitaries and senior bank officials led by AbdulRazak Ali Issa, Chief Executive.

The top three winners of Al Wathbah Businesswomen’s Awards are Shatha Abdullah Al Jabri, owner of Meshan Dates and Sweets; Nadia Maqbool Al Lawati, owner of 23 Degrees North; and Jokha Al Hussaini, owner of Shumookh Engineering Consultancy, says a press release.

The initiative, which comes as part of the bank’s ‘Let’s Do More’ vision and continued support to women empowerment initiatives, marks a clear progression of the well-defined strategy pursued by the bank in line with the directives of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said to support the SME sector and strengthen its

role in the economic development of Oman.

AbdulRazak Ali Issa said: “Bank Muscat congratulates the enterprising women entrepreneurs for making a mark with successful business projects. We appreciate their determination and commitment to follow their business dreams and wish them greater success in serving the community as role models for the youth and other entrepreneurs. Complementing the government efforts to develop the SME sector, the support to SMEs and women empowerment initiatives stem from the bank’s commitment to create self-employment opportunities for youth who constitute more than 50 per cent of the country’s population.”

Al Wathbah Businesswomen’s Award, set to become a major annual celebration, is aimed at appreciating and recognising Omani women entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence in their business benefiting the community. Encouraging entrepreneurial skills and empowering Omani businesswomen, the award recognises businesswomen for playing an important role in contributing to the country’s economy.

Fatima Al Maskiry, AGM –

SME Credit, Marketing and Regional Corporates, said: “Bank Muscat is proud to have initiated a series of innovative programmes benefiting SMEs. “The bank is committed to meeting all the financial and service requirements of SMEs and we are happy that Al Wathbah Businesswomen’s Award sets a benchmark for business development initiatives by Omani women entrepreneurs. The award complements the series of initiatives launched as part of a comprehensive plan to support women entrepreneurs in Oman.”

Shatha Abdullah Al Jabri, the winner, thanked Bank Muscat for the big support extended to women entrepreneurs in Oman.

“I am deeply honoured to win this award which is a major boost for women entrepreneurs to embark on self-employment initiatives.”

In all, six finalists were shortlisted from the fields ranging from engineering, consultancy, health, handicrafts and traditional confectionary. The evaluation of the projects for the awards was based on the criteria of sustainability; creativity and innovation; leadership and commitment, financial strength and corporate social responsibility.

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WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM W EDN ES DAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

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Nadal, Halep crash out

FOOTBALL

Wawrinka says gambling sponsorships can help protect tennis

Shortly after a dejected Nadal walked off court having tasted his first opening round loss at

Blatter still being paid his salary despite the ban

the Australian Open, women’s second seed

DAY OF SHOCKS: Former champion Rafa Nadal reacts after losing his first round match. Below, Simona Halep is disgusted.– Reuters, AFP

Halep bid farewell while another high-profile casualty was seven-time

MIAMI: FIFA’s Sepp Blatter may have been banned for eight years from the game but he is still receiving his president’s salary from world soccer’s governing body, a spokesman for FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee told Reuters on Monday.

Blatter was suspended for 90 days by FIFA on October 8 and then banned from the game for eight years last month for ethics violations over a $2 million payment FIFA made to European soccer boss Michel Platini with Blatter’s approval in 2011.

But Blatter, a Swiss national who has been president of FIFA since 1998, will continue to be paid until a new president is elected on Feb 26, the spokesman Andreas Bantel said. That would mean Blatter would have been paid for nearly five months during which time he was unable to carry out his duties, and a period in which FIFA has appointed an acting president, African soccer head Issa Hayatou.

The compensation sub-committee of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee recently ruled that it could stop Blatter’s bonuses but not, according to his contract, his salary.

“Until the election of a new president on February 26, Mr Blatter is the elected president and therefore — according to his contract — is entitled to receive his remuneration,” Bantel said.

Blatter’s U.S. lawyer and his Switzerland-based spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.

FIFA is facing the worst corruption crisis in it history as a total of 41 individuals and entities, including many former FIFA

INSIDE LIFESTYLE

officials, have been charged with corruption-related offences in the United States. The U.S. investigation is far from over and FIFA also faces a parallel Swiss probe.

Blatter’s bonuses have been stopped because he was not carrying out his duties of supervising the organization, including its general secretary. Only last week, FIFA announced that Jerome Valcke was fired from his position as general secretary.

Compensation a secret “The duty of supervision is listed explicitly in the target agreements for the payment of bonuses. The compensation committee has therefore decided, at its last meeting, not to make any further bonus payments to Mr Blatter,” said Bantel.

The size of Blatter’s compensation from FIFA has remained secret although reforms to be voted on at the organization’s February Congress call for the disclosure of individual compensation for the president and top executives.

It is also unclear what Hayatou is getting paid to be acting president. FIFA’s finances may have taken a blow in the past year because of the costs and distractions of the corruption scandal.

According to a report from the UK’s Press Association late last year, the organization suffered its first loss last year since 2001.

The FIFA Ethics Committee said the payment to Platini, made at a time when Blatter was seeking re-election, lacked transparency and presented conflicts of interest, though both men denied any wrongdoing. Platini has also been banned from soccer for eight years. — Reuters

major champion Venus Williams

MELBOURNE: The more familiar shock of falling seeds added to the ructions caused by allegations of tennis corruption as former champion Rafa Nadal and highly-fancied Simona Halep both departed in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday.

Nadal arrived at Melbourne Park with high hopes of arresting his recent Grand Slam decline only to depart, his optimism crushed, under a barrage of winners from fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. Shortly after a dejected Nadal walked off court having tasted his first opening round loss at the Australian Open, women’s second seed Halep bid farewell while another high-profile casualty was seven-time major champion Venus Williams.

Andy Murray, the men’s second seed, and 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka both impressed as the on-court action took centre stage after the allegations of matchfixing in the sport overshadowed Monday’s programme. Nadal appeared confused at how he had managed to blow a 2-0 lead in the final set to go down 7-6(6), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 to Verdasco in a four hour 41 minute battle that had echoes of their marathon 2009 semifinal but with a reversed result.

The fifth seed, who failed to win a Grand Slam title last year for the first time in a decade, lost the last six games as world number 45 Verdasco unleashed a series of explosive forehands to take his place in

the second round.

“He was playing amazing in the last set. If you decide everything in one set, the opponent is ready to hit all the balls at hundred percent, then you are in trouble,” the 2009 champion told reporters.

“The real thing is I was not enough aggressive with my forehand during the whole match. I didn’t feel it. I tried. I fought. I was ready to do it, and I didn’t. I am sad for that.”

Halep gave similar reasons for her 6-4, 6-3 defeat at the hands of Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai, who was ranked 131 places below the Romanian in the rankings going into their contest over on Margaret Court Arena.

“I think it wasn’t my good day but I give her a lot of credit as she played without fear and hit every ball,” Halep, who has been struggling with an Achilles injury, told reporters.

“She beat me. It’s tough but it’s only one day, only one match and I have many matches ahead of me.”

Tearful Zhang Zhang burst into tears after winning her first Grand Slam singles match at the 15th attempt, later revealing that she had considered quitting the sport.

“I wanted try one more time, only one more time, yeah,” she said. “If Australia Open not good, maybe I finish tennis.”

Like Nadal, veteran Williams had been hoping to carry a resurgence in form from 2015 into the

New Year but she was similarly disappointed after a 6-4, 6-2 defeat at the hands of British number one Johanna Konta.

The 35-year-old eighth seeded American faces a likely fine from organisers after holding a postmatch news conference.

Seventh seed Angelique Kerber had to save a match point to stave off a fourth shock, rallying to beat Japan’s Misaki Doi 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 6-3, while third seed Garbine Muguruza beat Estonian Anett Kontaveit 6-0, 6-4.

Victoria Azarenka, twice an Australian Open champion, underlined her return to form and fitness, thrashing Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck 6-0, 6-0 in the final match of the day.

Murray’s earlier encounter with teenager Alexander Zverev was delayed in the second game when the German suffered a nosebleed but the former Wimbledon champion’s path to the second round otherwise ran smoothly.

The British four-times runnerup won 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 on Hisense Arena while Wawrinka, his possible semi-final foe and the only man to have broken Novak Djokovic’s grip on the Melbourne Park title in the last five years, had an even shorter day, going through when Russian Dmitry Tursunov retired hurt after the second set of their contest.

Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt delighted the Rod Laver Arena crowd by extending his career for at least another two

MELBOURNE: Former Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka believes betting companies can help tennis weed out corruption, playing down concerns over the propensity of gambling brands sponsoring major events. His prospective semifinal opponent in Melbourne Andy Murray, however, accused tennis organisers of hypocrisy as the fall-out from Monday’s allegations of match-fixing in the sport continued as a main talking point.

Asked for his thoughts following his first-round win on Tuesday, Wawrinka said the “bigger picture” could actually be a benefit for tennis as it tries to stay clean.

“Probably if they sponsor a sport, they are going to try everything to make sure there is no corruption,” the Swiss told reporters. “That can be something good for tennis also. Maybe the gambling companies can come to tennis and make sure there is no corruption, because they lose a lot of money when there is problem.

“For tennis, it’s not good to have corruption. But for the gambling company neither. So I think it can be only positive.” — Reuters

days with a 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-4 victory over fellow Australian James Duckworth.

Hewitt, who is retiring after his 20th Australian Open, sent his compatriots into a frenzy when he wrapped up the match with a trademark lob to set up a clash with eighth seed David Ferrer.

“This is what I’m going to miss the most, the buzz from the crowd,” he said. - Reuters

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

SPORTS

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Lack of common cricketing sense is very disappointing

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ow that India have lost the one-day series what do they do? Do they use the remaining two games to salvage some pride or do they use it to try out some fresh blood? Or will they carry on with the same personnel that have brought them grief since last year? One of the trickiest part of captaincy is how to lift the morale of a team that is losing. It is never easy as the one thing a skipper must try and avoid is the blame game for that will only alienate the team members who are targeted even more. In a team game there will always be some who will not be as successful as the others but it is their overall contribution to the team that needs to be looked at. How have they fit in with the team ethic, have they maintained the intensity despite personal failures? Are they a positive influence in the dressing room?

If the answers to the above is in the affirmative then the team management must continue to make them feel an important part of the team.

India have been let down by their bowlers as the skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni observed at the presser. He went

In a team game there will always be some who will not be as successful as the others but it is their overall contribution to the team that needs to be looked at

on to say that despite playing so many matches they are still making the same mistakes. It’s not just the bowling but the ordinary fielding that let’s the

team down at crucial stages, demoralises the others who are trying their hardest and turns the game around. Frankly in the limited overs format if you are not capable in two out of the three aspects of the game, batting, bowling and fielding, then you should not be playing at the international level. Yes the pitches are fabulous for batting and bowlers will get hammered as has been seen in all three games for both teams but it is the lack of common cricketing sense that is disappointing.

Ravi Ashwin will definitely be back for the last two games as he should because these two pitches will help spin more than anywhere else in Australia and if India can go with Axar Patel then they will have three bowlers who can take advantage of the surface.

The batting is looking very good indeed but if the curve in the middle overs can be a bit more northwards then the final total will be much more. With the kind of form the batsmen are in there is a case to go in with an extra spinner and leave out a seam bowler. It’s not just a question of horses for courses but picking those who are not lame. - PMG

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY INSTALL WHATSNEWS

Skipper Dhoni eyes pride in Canberra India’s batsmen have gone about their job efficiently, posting big totals on the board but the bowlers have been ordinary at best, allowing the hosts to chase down those tall scores

CANBERRA: The series already out of their grasp, India will be desperate to salvage some pride by avoiding a whitewash but their spiritless bowlers need to put up a far more inspired show to stop the Australians in the fourth and penultimate cricket ODI in Canberra on Wednesday.

India’s batsmen have gone about their job efficiently, posting big totals on the board but the bowlers have been ordinary at best, allowing the hosts to chase down those tall scores in each of the first three matches in Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne to concede a 3-0 lead. It will be the first time that India will take on Australia at the Manuka Oval. The Men in Blue have played here only once before, losing to Sri Lanka in the 2007-08 CB Tri-series.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma are the only ones to have played a game at this ground.

Two names from that side, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh, will be back in the T20 set-up by the end of this week. While it will be in preparation for the fast-approaching World Twenty20 back at home, the prevalent atmosphere in the ODI squad is one of transformation. Back in 2007-08, Rohit and Ishant were visiting Australia for the first time, and both were expected to hold the keys to the future.

Eight years later, they have grown into their roles further. At the same time, youngsters Man-

HOPEFUL: Team India director Ravi Shastri speaks during a press conference at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. – AFP

ish Pandey, Gurkeerat Mann and Rishi Dhawan have taken their first steps in international cricket.

In the first two matches of this series, India fielded their firstchoice eleven. When that didn’t work out as planned, they threw everything they had at the MCG in terms of team selection, thus bringing in the two debutants.

It was a bit premature to drop Pandey when he had batted only once in two matches, that too in the death overs. But the move was in the team’s best interests. It remains to be seen what the team management’s approach will be for this fourth ODI. As such, from the batting standpoint, there isn’t much room for manoeuvring. It will not come as a surprise if the same combination is played up again, with the only toss-up between Gurkeerat and Pandey.

The latter doesn’t bowl and that could yet again go against him, with a dry-looking pitch to be expected at the Manuka Oval.

It could also bring R. Ashwin back into the frame, with the management keen on giving him a couple of games to fine-tune his bowling ahead of the T20 series.

He is a key member of India’s T20 plans, irrespective of conditions and thus India could be

looking to play two spinners once again. That could strengthen the case for Gurkeerat. Alternately, the his control in the middle overs at Melbourne, as well his change of pace could put him in pole position.

Barinder Sran looked tired in Melbourne. Umesh Yadav has been playing since the onset of the season in Sri Lanka, while Ishant Sharma has played a bulk of the matches too. Bhuvneshwar Kumar could be given a look-in again if one of the three pacers is afforded a rare rest.

Meanwhile, the Australian camp seemed pretty relaxed on training day ahead of the fourth ODI here. Even so, Glenn Maxwell pointed out immediately after the MCG win that they intend to go for a 5-0 whitewash.

There will be no letting up of intensity from the hosts, therefore, and a full-strength squad will be presented to the Indian team.

David Warner is back from paternity leave, and given the nature of the wicket, Nathan Lyon seems a certain inclusion in the playing eleven. In that scenario, it will be interesting to see which bowler is left out.

Perhaps it could be Scott Boland who has been a touch expensive as compared to John Hastings and Kane Richardson. — PTI

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

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SPORTS OMAN CRICKET

Assarain outplay OCT Muscat A MUSCAT: Assarain registered a massive 113-run victory over OCT Muscat A in a Muscat Pharmacy and Stores-sponsored Premier Division match at the Ministry of Sports Affairs ground during the evening session on Sunday.

Batting first, Assarain scored a huge total of 210 for the loss of just two wickets in 20 overs.

Naseem Khushi and Zeeshan Maqsood top scored with 118 not out and 69 respectively. In reply, OCT Muscat A were restricted to 97 for seven in 20 overs. Sindo Mical and Ahmed Raza claimed two wickets each for Assarain.

Fatma trains ahead of Glasgow participation The Omani star has been training at Hotel Shangri La since the

STAR PERFORMER: Assarain’s Naseem Khushi, right, receives a prize from team official Vinu Mathew. – Supplied photo

beginning of January.

Brief scores: Assarain 210 for 2 in 20 overs (Naseem Khushi 118 n.o., Zeeshan Maqsood 69) bt OCT Muscat A 97 for 7 in 20 overs (Sindo Mical 2/12).

Points: Assarain - 3, OCT Muscat A – 0.

shan Siddiqui. The Oman Cricket has selected Khawar Ali, Sindo Michal, Swapnil Khadye, Muhammad Nadeem and Yousuf Abdulrahim Al Balushi as reserves.

of the month when

sULTAN TO LEAD OMAN Meanwhile, Oman Cricket announced the official list of players who will be representing the Sultanate at the forthcoming Asia Cup in Bangladesh and ICC World T20 championship in India.

The Sultanate’s cricket governing body retained Sultan Ahmed as the captain while naming Syed Aamir Kaleem as vice-captain.

The 15-player team includes Mehran Khan, Aaqin Ilyas Sulehri, Zeeshan Maqsood, Jatinder Singh, Vaibhav Sridhar Wategaonkar, Adnan Ilyas, Syed Amir Ali, Ajay Vrajlal Lalcheta, Sufyan Mahmood, Rajeshkumar Jagdishchandra Ranpura, Bilal Khan, Munis Ansari and Zee-

Team: Sultan Ahmed (captain), Syed Aamir Kaleem (vice-captain), Mehran Khan, Aaqin Ilyas Sulehri, Zeeshan Maqsood, Jatinder Singh, Vaibhav Sridhar Wategaonkar, Adnan Ilyas, Syed Amir Ali, Ajay Vrajlal Lalcheta, Sufyan Mahmood, Rajeshkumar Jagdishchandra Ranpura, Bilal Khan, Munis Ansari and Zeeshan Siddiqui.

Reserves: Khawar Ali, Sindo Michal, Swapnil Khadye, Muhammad Nadeem and Yousuf Abdulrahim Al Balushi.

Officials: Pankaj Khimji (OC Board of Director), Madhu Jesrani (Chef de Mission), Jameel Zaidi (Manager), Duleep Mendis (coach), Mazhar Saleem Khan (assisstant coach), Jaganathan Premnath (physio), Rumesh Ratnayke (pace bowling coach), Sunil Joshi (spin bowling coach), Nandisha (video analyst) and Manjunath Margasahayam (trainer).

HOCKEY

Indramani Pandey

Sheikh Mahfoodh

Kanak Khimji

All set for Republic Day of India Hockey Festival MUSCAT: Team Coorg Muscat and Friends of Naqvi Group are all set to organise the Republic Day of India Hockey Festival at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher on Friday.

The ninth edition of the hockey festival, organised under the patronage of Indian Embassy and in coordination with the Oman Hockey Association (OHA), will start at 3.00 pm and last till 7.00 p.m. The participating teams are Ambassador’s XI, Indian School Al Seeb, Team Coorg Muscat, UTSC and Beatrice XI. Indian Ambassador Indramani Pandey will be the chief guest while OHA chief Sheikh Mahfoodh Ali Juma Al Juma and Oman Cricket chairman Kanak Khimji will be the guests of honour. Former OHA chief Dawood Ahmed Al Raisi, Al Omaniya Financial Services CEO Aftab

Patel, Raha Poly Product CEO Anwar Ahsan, Al Ansari Group of Companies Managing Director Kiran Asher and Indian School Al Seeb Principal Nagesh Kelkar, Oman hockey veteran Mohammed Shambeh Al Raisi and Abdulrahman Al Raisi will grace occasion.

During the festival, the organisers will be honouring those who have contributed to the game of hockey in the Sultanate and this year there will be a special youth talent award. The event is supported by Khimji Ramdas Group, Al Omaniya Financial Services, UTSC, Beatrice, Amana Modern Medical Centre and Muscat Pharmacy (Pocari).

SAS Naqvi, the chairman of the organising committee, urged all the hockey lovers to turn up in large numbers to make the event a grand success.

The training will continue till the end Fatma will start her international participation for 2016 season

MUSCAT: The Oman Tennis Association (OTA) has arranged a local training camp for Fatma Al Nabhani ahead of their participation in the forthcoming international tournaments.

The Omani tennis star has been training at the Hotel Shangri La since the beginning of January.

LOCAL CAMP: Fatma Al Nabhani, left, and Angelina Gabueva, right, pose for a photo along with OTA official Salman Al Balushi and coach Patrick during their training camp at Hotel Shangri La. – Supplied photo

The month-long training will continue till the end of the month when Fatma will start her participation in the international tournaments for 2016.

Fatma confirmed that she will be starting her new season in Scotland at the beginning of February.

“The training will continue till the end of this month after which I will leave for Scotland to take part in the Glasgow ITF Pro Circuit tournament,” Fatma told Times Sport on Tuesday.

The $10,000 ITF Pro Circuit

tournament, the first of Aegon GB Pro-Series, is scheduled to take place from February 1 to 7, where Fatma (ITF ranking 381) is the third highest ranked player in the acceptance list for the main draw.

The other Aegon GB Pro-Series events are scheduled to take palce in Sunderland and Wirral from second week to the middle of February.

The domestic training camp is being conducted by German coach Patrick. Fatma’s doubles partner Angelina Gabueva is also training at the camp.

Meanwhile, the Oman Tennis Association (OTA) in a statement said: “We have invited (Angelina) Gabueva for the camp to training along with Fatma.”

“Fatma will be taking part in ITF Pro Circuit tournaments with the aim of improving her ranking, to climb to 300 in the ladder,” the OTA statement said.

“That will hopefully help her enter the qualifying rounds of the Grand Slam tournaments and lead her to getting an invitation for the Rio Olympics,” it added.

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

SPORTS Oman to host opening Act of Extreme Sailing Series The first Act of the

Top sailors off to fantastic start at Musannah Race Week

year will see the fleet racing in the historic city of Muttrah before competing along the coast to finish the day in front of the Extreme Club. The schedule will then return to three days of spectacular Stadium Racing in front of Almouj Golf

MUSCAT: The global sailing circuit, the Extreme Sailing Series (ESS), will start a landmark season this year with the Sultanate confirmed as the host country for the first Act of 2016. Some of the world’s renowned sailors are set to descend on Muscat to be part of a stunning showcase from March 16 to 19.

To celebrate its 10th year, the series will see a complete refresh in format. The introduction of a fleet of ultra-fast, GC32 hydro-foiling catamarans and a shake-up in racing, to include open water and match-racing elements, will give skippers and crews some tough new challenges.

In previous years, the class used as racing boats was the X40.

The teams will get their first chance to open up the throttle and see what the new boats are made of. The first Act of the year will see the fleet racing in the historic city of Muttrah before competing along the coast to finish the day in front of the Extreme Club. The schedule will then return to three days of spectacular Stadium Racing in front of Almouj Golf.

David Graham, Chief Executive Officer of Oman Sail, partners to the Muscat Act, explained: “The world will be watching the first Act of the 2016 as the fleet fly on foils

MUSCAT: The world’s best young sailors have started to plot their year campaigns with Musannah Race Week, a regatta that aims to test their skills.

After flying in to Oman from around the world, 150 young champions representing 20 countries are busy forging lifelong bonds before racing gets underway on Wednesday.

The week-long event combines coaching sessions with racing, making it a great platform for the participants to interact and exchange knowledge with their counterparts.

In a series of corporate personal development exercises designed to introduce them to the superb sports environment at Musannah Sports City and also to each other, the young sailors are being encouraged to have some physical exercises before the actual competition kicks off. This focus on corporate personal development is an essential part of the Musannah Race Week experience, explained Oman Sail’s Salma Al Hashmi, Event and Marketing Director at Oman Sail.

“Since it was launched in 2011, we have seen a big growth in the number of sailors taking part, the number of countries and classes,” said Al Hashmi.

“In past years, we have focussed on Optimists but we are delighted to have added the Laser 4.7 and Laser Radials in 2016 and hope to add more in future years. Many of these young sailors will go on to be Olympic champions and it is great to think that Mussanah will have played a part in their success”.

In all, there are 104 Optimist

for the first time. We are delighted to host the opening Act and to be able to welcome the international sailors to experience Oman, which is becoming renowned as one of the best sailing venues in the world. It will be a spectacle for the

FOOTBALL

OFA to hold General Assembly in March MUSCAT: The Oman Football Association (OFA) is preparing to hold the regular General Assembly on March 19.

According to a press statement issued by OFA on Tuesday, the association has sent invitations to the member clubs, as per the ‘basic statute that stipulates forwarding invitation to hold the General Assembly 60 days before the date of the meeting’.

During the meeting, the members will discuss a number of topics concerning the development of football in the Sultanate.

CRICKET

HCC Winter Cup in February SPECIAL PROGAMME: Corporate Personal Development exercises introduced the participants to the superb sports environment at Musannah Sports City. – Supplied photo

sailors including Jodie Lai from Singapore, the world’s best female sailor who came second in the Optimist World Championships in Poland last September, Norway’s Mathias Berthet who won the bronze medal and Dante Cittadini from Argentina who finished fourth in Poland.

They will compete in an Optimist fleet that will be split into gold and silver divisions with three races staged every day, depending on the conditions.

Oman is well represented with 28 Optimist sailors drawn from the Oman Sail Youth Programme, sponsored by Omantel, and their four sailing schools across the Sultanate.

They include Al Motasem Al Farsi, who won the Best Under-12 prize last year and talented Mohammed Al Qasmi.

In addition, there will be 26 competitors in the Laser 4.7

ever-growing global audience and the sailing fans of Oman.”

Speaking about the promising showcase of action racing, Race Director Phil Lawrence commented: “Stadium Racing remains at the core of what we do, but in 2016 we

fleet, including 13 Omanis and 21 in the Laser Radials, four of them representing Oman.

Watching the champions in action will be a great opportunity to inspire local kids who will also have access to world class coaches including Maurizio Bencic of Slovenia and Javier Figueroa, who coaches the stellar successful Singapore squad.

With the sailors, coaches, race management, and other support staff, the Mussanah Race Week family will number around 280, while Oman Sail has planned to develop the event into one of the top youth regattas in the world.

“Our aim is to expand the number of classes and make sure we have the top youth sailors competing in them. The plan is to make Musannah Race Week a very strong youth event and make sure Al Mussanah is recognised as a top international

will be including a variety of open water race formats to offer the skippers variety and new challenges”.

Oman Sail actively works to position Oman as a premier venue and host country for high profile international sailing events. In

racing venue,” added Al Hashmi.

Before taking to the race track, the participants will have completed their corporate personal development (CPD) programmes which involve exercises such as colour blind, which requires people to identify different colour shapes while wearing blindfolds, product assembly, pipe line, energy ball and ice breaker.

“These activities have been designed with a view to having some fun before the serious business of competition begins but they are also designed to add an important and worthwhile dimension to this event to make it stand out from other youth regattas,” Khamis Al Anbouri, a recognised sailing athlete who has re-joined Oman Sail to supervise and develop the Corporate Personal Development programme, said.

2013, Oman hosted its first world championship with the Laser Worlds taking place at Musannah Sports City. In 2015, the country hosted the Laser Radial Women’s World Championship and the RS:X Windsurfing Championship.

MUSCAT: Holiday Cricket Club (HCC) will organise the 8th Winter Cup cricket tournament at Al Maha Recreation Ground in Bausher from February 19 to 26.

The eight-over-a-side matches in the 16-team event will be played with tennis ball.

SARCO, General Engineering Service LLC, Shamel International and Ramniklal B Kothary are the main sponsors of the tournament. For further details contact Akshath (96420350) or Iqbal (94103379).

M AT C H - F I X I N G

Captain Angelo defends players COLOMBO: Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews defended the players on Tuesday after recording a statement before police in connection with a matchfixing scandal that has led to the suspension of a bowling coach.

Sri Lanka Cricket handed Anusha Samaranayake a twomonth ban on Monday over his relationship with net bowler Gayan Vishwajith, who allegedly approached national team players to under-perform during a Test match against West Indies in October. - Reuters

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

Leisure WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

Yachting has evolved into a lifestyle activity for many in Oman who prefer to go out to sea on a private yacht to unwind or explore the coastal treasures of the Sultanate on weekends Story Mohammed Shafeeqe

T

hink of the thrill in spending your weekends on the turquoise waters of the placid Arabian Sea, enjoying your favourite water sports off uninhabited islands, or soaking in the sun and the surf in a calm atmosphere devoid of the hustle and bustle of the city … all on your very own personal yacht.

Marinas in Muscat have become the most happening places these days. Yachts of different sizes and capabilities set sail for the sea everyday from Jebel Sifah, Marina Bandar Al Rowdha, and Almouj Muscat.

With the number of individual yacht owners increasing, yachting has already evolved into a lifestyle activity in the country. It is a natural choice for many in Oman, the land of Sindbad, which has a long coastline and a rich seafaring legacy. The vast ocean lures them, and offers a perfect venue to spend quality time with friends and family. Moreover, they can dock their yachts in uninhabited islands, and involve in activities like snorkelling and scuba diving.

The Sultanate has recently witnessed a spurt in yacht sales,

thanks to the development of many waterfront properties, evolution of the boating industry and emergence of a new middle class, which does not like to travel long distances to unwind. Owning a yacht gives them a sense of pride and a passport to explore the unchartered waters.

“This increased desire to spend more quality time on water mirrors regional trends, in which comfort, space, and the capacity to entertain are becoming a priority for existing and prospective owners,” Erwin Bamps, CEO of the UAE-based Gulf Craft said. He feels that the customer response to the leisure marine exhibition at Almouj Muscat last week is an indication of the things to come.

The event, which brought together an impressive fleet of luxury super yachts, sport cruisers, and leisure crafts, received hundreds of potential buyers this time.

“The Sultanate of Oman has always had a strong affinity with the sea, but what we are witnessing today is evolving aspirations. The country’s devoted sea travellers are looking for more than just a quick fishing trip along the coast-

shipyard’s recently launched Nomad Yachts collection, a series of powerfully engineered loft-style yachts built for avid explorers of the sea, as well as its range of Silvercraft fishing boats and family cruisers, and Oryx sport cruisers.

The development of waterfront facilities and many world-class marinas in the Sultanate have changed people’s perception towards yachting. Wayne Shepherd has been keenly observing the Omani phenomenon for quite a long time. “Yachting used to be an elite leisure activity some time back.

But the situation has changed now.

Plenty of people are hooked onto yachting these days,” says the General Manager of Mourjan Marinas, which runs the Almouj Marina.

According to Shepherd, the marina facilities in Muscat have improved a lot. “The award-winning five-star state-of-the-art facilities of Almouj Marina are the perfect showcase for this outstanding premium event, reflecting and radiating the exclusive luxury lifestyle it epitomises. I know our discerning boating community is eagerly anticipating the opportunity to explore the possibilities of this select seafaring portfolio, share their insights into its latest innovations, and assess potential purchases.”

Shepherd feels that people prefer to buy yachts, as they find it an ideal way to unwind after a hectic week’s work. He says that availability of charter yachts will boost tourism in the country. “It comes handy for tourists who fly in to the country. It can attract yachting enthusiasts from all over the world who want to experience the beauty of Oman,” he added. shafeeq@timesofoman.com MAJESTY 135 This super yacht has a large sun deck, exceptional interiors and impressive on-board features, like a folding balcony, three decks with five staterooms and accommodation for a nine-member crew.

The vessel possesses an ocean-going range of 2,500 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 12 knots, running on twin MTU 16V 2,000 series engines.

Photos: Supplied

OWN A FLOATING PALACE

line. They recognise the promise of on-water living, and they want to share that extraordinary experience with others,” the CEO of Gulf Craft, the world’s renowned super yacht manufacturers, said.

A luxurious super yacht with richly decorated interiors can accommodate 10 guests in five staterooms and a crew capacity of nine.

Families prefer smaller ones. For them, it is just like buying a new car. Apart from the super yachts, the company offers mid-sized and intelligently engineered vessels known as Majesty 48. The family yachts offer fresh, contemporary design, social cockpit area, and spacious fly bridge.

Among the yachts and boats on display at the preview event, was the award-winning super yacht, the Majesty 135, and the stunning Majesty 105. These ‘floating palaces’ combine sophisticated technology with opulent design for a truly royal cruising experience.

Characterised by its ability to maximise both space and natural light from the inside and out, the Majesty 135 offers a roomy and bespoke interior that emanates luxury, from the vanity table tops made from premium quality marble to the lustrous silver leaf ceilings in the main saloon and the owner’s stateroom. The novelty features onboard this super yacht is abundant, stretching from the use of state-of-the-art technology and environmentally friendly equipment, to advanced entertainment systems and ample lounging areas.

With an elegantly designed main saloon and an extensive dining area, the Majesty 105 offers breathtaking surrounding views through its panoramic windows.

Spacious outdoor entertaining and lounging areas, including a large aft deck and a spacious hard-topped sun deck, make the Majesty 105 the perfect super yacht for those who enjoy spending time admiring the coast while island-hopping, or for holidaymakers looking to catch all the action moored alongside the waterfront. And with five ensuites that accommodate up to 10 guests, and two crew cabins, passengers staying on board the Majesty 105 are sure to experience a comfortable journey.

The impressive display at the Gulf Craft Oman Exclusive Preview also included the innovative

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

C6

PRAYER TIMINGS

FIND-IT-ALL @BURAIMI

@RUWI

SUR The Fifth Wave (Sci-Fi) (PG12) Cast: Chole Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson 6.45, 8.45, 11.30PM Wazir - (Hindi) (Action | Thriller) (PG12) Cast: Amitabh Bachchan and Farhan Akhtar 4.30PM Charlie (Malayalam) (Comedy) (PG12) Cast: Dulquer Salman and Parvathi Menon 10:45PM The Revenant (Adventure) ( 12+) Cast : Leonardo DiCaprio & Tom Hardy 6.45PM Ride Along 2 (Adventure) ( 15+) Cast : Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumter 4.45, 9.30PM

@SALALAH

CITY CINEMA Contact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68 www.citycinemaoman.net facebook.com/citycinemaoman SHATTI The 5th Wave (2D) (Sci-F) (PG12) Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson 2:45, 7:00, 9:15, 11:30PM The Revenant (2D) ( Drama) (12+) Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy 3:00, 8:45PM Ride Along 2 (2D) (Action) (15+) Cast: Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter 5:00, 9:45, 11:45PM The Hateful Eight (2D) (Comedy) (12+) Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell 2:30, 5:45, 11:45PM Suffragette (2D) (History) (12+) Cast: Carey Mulligan, Anne-Marie Duff 7:45PM Norm of the North (2D) (PG12) Voice over: Rob Schneider, Heather Graham 6:00PM

The 5th Wave (2D) (Sci-F) (PG12) Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson 3:30, 5:30, 9:45, 11:45PM

Chalk N Duster (Drama / Social) – PG Cast: Shabana Aazmi, Juhi Chawla 6.45 PM

PANORAMA MALL Ride Along 2 (Action, Comedy)(2D)(15+) Cast: Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter 2:45, 7:45, 9:45, 11:45PM Ride Along 2 (Action) (2D)-VIP LOUNGE 6:00PM The Fifth Wave ( Sci-fi) (2D) (PG12) Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson 2:30, 9:30, 11:45PM The Fifth Wave (Sci-fi)(2D)-VIP LOUNGE 3:30, 11:00PM Norm Of The North (Animation)(2D)(PG12) Voice Overs: Rob Schneider, Heather Graham 2:15, 4:45PM The Hateful of Eight (Drama) (2D)(12+) Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell 4:45, 8:30PM The Revenant (Adventure, Drama) (2D) (12+) Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy 6:30, 11:30PM The Revenant (Adventure, Drama) (2D) (12+)-VIP LOUNGE; 8:00PM Bajirao Mastani (Drama)(2D)(PG12) 5:30PM Daddy’s Home (Comedy)(2D)(12+) Cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg 3:45 PM

MUSCAT GRAND MALL Ride Along 2 (Action | Comedy) 15+ Cast : Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter 12:00, 7:15 & 11:45PM Gold Class - 6:00PM The Fifth Wave (Adventure | Sci-Fi) PG12 Cast : Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson 2:00, 9:15 & 11:30PM Gold Class - 3:30 & 11:00PM Norm of the North (Animation) PG12 Voice over: Rob Schneider, Heather Graham 11:30AM & 7:00PM The Revenant (Adventure | Thriller) 12+ Cast : Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy 4:15 & 8:45PM Gold Class - 8:00PM The Peanuts Movie - (Animation) PG Voice over:(Noah Schnapp, Bill Melendez 3:15PM The Good Dinosaur-3D (Animation) U 1:15 & 5:00PM

The Hateful Eight (2D) (12+) (Comedy) Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell 11:15AM, 6:50 & 11:45PM

Voice Overs:Jiao Xu, Guanlin Ji, Ying Huang 2:45, 4:45PM Chalk n’ Duster - 2D (PG) Drama/ Social Cast – Juhi Chawla, Shabana Azmi 6:15, 8:55PM

AZAIBA Wazir – 2D (PG12) Hindi | Action| Thriller Cast – Amitabh Bacchan, Farhan Akhtar 2:00, 10:00, 11:15PM Dilwale – 2D (PG12) Action, Romantic Cast – Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol 4:00, 11:20 PM Bajirao Mastani – 2D (PG12) Drama Cast – Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone 3:15PM The Revenant – 2D (12+) Adventure | Drama Cast – Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy 2:30, 11:45 PM Charlie – 2D (PG12) Comedy/ Romance Cast – Dulquer Salman, Parvathi Menon 6:30 PM Thaarai Thappattai (Tamil) – 2D (TBC) Action/ Drama Cast – S Sasikumar, Varalaxmi, Pragathi 8:45 PM Nanakku Prematho (Telugu) – 2D (TBC) 6:55 PM Ho Mann Jahan (Urdu) – 2D (PG) Drama Cast – Mahira Khan, Sheheryar Munawar 5:30, 8:40PM Dragon Nest: Warriors’ Dawn - 2D (PG12) Animation/ Adventure/Family

RUWI Screen 1 Wazir (Action / Thriller) – PG12 Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar 3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PM Screen 2 Bajirao Mastani (Romance) – PG12 Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh 3.45, 9.45 PM Chalk N Duster (Drama / Social) – PG Cast: Shabana Azmi, Juhi Chawla, Arya Babbar 6.45 PM Screen 3 Dilwale (Action/Romance) – PG12 Cast: – Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan 3.45, 9.45 PM Ho Mann Jahan Urdu - (Musical/Drama) Cast: Mahira Khan, Sheheryar Munawar, Adeel Husain (TBC) 6.45 PM

SOHAR Dilwale - 2D (PG12) Action | Comedy Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan 7:00PM The Revenant - 2D (12+) Adventure | Thriller Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy 2:45, 11:30PM Wazir - 2D (PG12) Action| Thriller Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar 9:55PM The Fifth Wave - 2D (PG12) Adventure Cast : Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson 2:30, 9:30, 11:45 PM The Hateful Eight - 2D (12+) Comedy Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russel, Jennifer Jason Leigh 4:35, 11:00 PM Ride Along 2 - 2D (15+) Action | Comedy Cast : Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter 3:00, 7:35, 11:55 PM Suffragette- 2D (12+) Biography | History Cast: Carey Mulligan, Anne-Marie Duff 5:00 PM Nanakku Prematho -2D (Telugu) (TBC) Action Cast: Ntr Jnr, Rakul Preet Singh 8:15 PM Charlie - 2D (M) (PG12) Comedy| Romance Cast: Dulquer Salman, Parvathi Menon, Aparna Gopinath 5:45 PM Norm of the North - 2D (PG12) Animation Voice Overs: Rob Schneider, Heather Graham 2:45, 4:30 PM Thaarai Thappattai - 2D (T) (TBC) Action

Cast: S Sasikumar, Varalaxmi, Pragathi 8:45 PM Chalk and the Duster - 2D (PG) Drama Cast: Shabana Azmi, Juhi Chawla, Arya Babbar 6:15 PM

BAHJA CINEMA

BURAIMI Ride Along 2– 2D (Action, Comedy) (15+) Cast: Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter 5:15, 7:30, 9:30, 11:30PM The Revenant– 2D (Adventure, Drama) (12+) Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy 3:45, 11:00PM The Fifth Wave– 2D (Sci-Fi) (PG12) Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Maika Monroe 3:30, 5:30, 9:45, 11:45PM Thaarai Thappattai– 2D (Action) (TBC) Cast: S Sasikumar, Varalaxmi, Pragathi, R K Suresh 7:15PM Wazir – 2D (Action, Thriller) (PG12) Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar, Aditi Rao Hydari 3:15, 6:30PM Charlie– 2D (Comedy, Romance) (PG12) 8:30PM

Ride Along 2 (Action / Comedy) Cast: Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter 4.00, 8.00, 10.00, & 11.55 PM CP No: 112 (15+) Suffragette (Drama / History) Cast: Carey Mulligan, Anne-Marie Duff, Helena Bonham Carter 2.00, 4.00, 10.00, & 11.55 PM CP No: 113 (12+) Dragon Nest: Warriors’ Dawn (Animation / Adventure / Family) Voice Overs: Jiao Xu, Guanlin Ji, Ying Huang 2.00 & 6.00 PM CP No : 114 (PG12) Echo Effect (Action / Thriller) Cast: Michael Jai White, Max Ryan, Steve Austin 8.00 PM CP No: 103 (12+) Daddy’s Home (Comedy) Cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Linda Cardellini 6.00PM CP No: 3061 (12+)

TO MUSCAT (RUWI) Arrival Operating time days

Dept time

Destination

Arrival Operating time days

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (ROUTE 36)

TEMPERATURE

05:30 05:30 05:30

Maximum

Daily Daily Daily

Sur Quriyat Ruwi

06:45 08:30 10:00

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

06:30 06:30 08:00 13:00 13:00 16.00 16.00

07:00 07:00 13:30 13:00 13:00 13:00 17:00

Sohar Buraimi Buraimi Sohar Buraimi Sohar Buraimi

08:50 Daily 11:00 Daily 14:30 Daily via Ibri 15:45 Daily 17:40 Daily 18.35 Daily 20:20 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52) 17:30

Sinaw

Nizwa Yanqul

20:50

Daily

16:50 19:30

Daily Daily

Nizwa Al Araqi

25 17 Minimum

0

RELATIVE HUMIDITY

40-70%

Daily Daily

07:00

Ruwi

10:25

Daily

06:00 06:00

Nizwa Ruwi

08:40 11:00

Daily Daily

15:40 15:40

Nizwa Ruwi

17:55 20:20

Daily Daily

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

Daily Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (ROUTE 62) 06:30 06:30

Fahud Yibal

Salalah Marmul Salalah Salalah

20:00 20:30 23:30 07:40

Daily Daily

Marmul

Dubai

16:50

Daily

Sohar Dubai Sohar Dubai Sohar Dubai

Daily Daily

12:30 12:30

Fahud Ruwi

13:15 17:30

Daily Daily

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

Ruwi Marmul Ruwi Ruwi

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

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 17 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to lifestyle@timesofoman.com

LISTINGS

06:00

Marmul

16:30

Daily

08:30 11:30 15:30 18:30 17:35 20:55

Daily Daily Wed,Thur Wed,Thur Daily Daily

15:00

Salalah

Daily

07:00

Daily

10:50 13:40 16:15 19:10 18:45 21:35

Daily Daily Thur-Fri Thur-Fri Daily Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201) 07:30 07:30 13:00 13:00 15:30 15:30

Sohar Ruwi Sohar Ruwi Sohar Ruwi

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH/SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

07:00 07:00 07:00

16:00 16.00 16.00

Fujairah Sharjah Dubai

11.45 13.30 14.00

Daily Daily Daily

Sharjah Fujairah Ruwi

16:30 18.15 23.00

Emergencies and inquiries: 9999 General Directorate of Passport and Residence 24569603 Directorate General of Customs 24521109 Traffic violations inquiries 24510228 Public Relations Admin 24560099 EMBASSIES IN OMAN

Daily Daily Daily Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)

07:00

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201) 06:00 06:00 13:00 13:00 15:00 15:00

10:45 19:00

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102) 15:00

Ruwi Ruwi

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100) Daily Daily Daily Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101) 06:00

06:00 14:30

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)

10:30 11:15

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (ROUTE 100) 07:00 10:00 10:00 19:00

SHIV D. DAVE January 20, 2010

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

10:20 12:30

TO SUR (ROUTE 55) Sur Sur

Programmes are subject to change

KUNGURU January 20

ROYAL OMAN POLICE 07:30 14:30

Next Change : 2 Countries (Mal) Airlift (Hindi) Dictator (Telugu) Rajani Murugan (Tamil)

0

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54) 08:00 08:00

08:55 Daily 11:40 Daily 20:20 Daily via Ibri 14:55 Daily 17:40 Daily 19:20 Daily 22:15 Daily

Charlie ( Mal) ( Drama\Comedy) Cast : Dulquer Salmaan & Parvathy 9:30 PM Cinema Main; 3:45 & 6:45PM Cinema-3 Nannaku Prematho (Telugu) (Act | Rom) Cast: J.r NTR & Rakul Preet Singh 3:30, 6:30 & 9:30PM Cinema - 2 Soggade Chinninayana (Telugu | Comedy) Cast: Nagarjuna, Ramya Krishna and Lavanya Trirati 3:30 & 6:30 PM Cinema Main; 9:45PM Cinema -3 Thaarai Thappayyai (Tamil) (Drama ) Cast : Sasi Kumar & Varalaksmi 3:45, 6:45 & 9:45PM Cinema-4

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

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

Sohar Ruwi Ruwi Sohar Ruwi Sohar Ruwi

Daily Daily Daily

Film information 24791641 / 24786776 Website: www.isurf.co.om

WEATHER

15:00 15:00 15:00

16:30 18:00 19:30

STAR CINEMA

WITH LOVE

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

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

SALALAH The Revenant (2D) (12+) (Action|Drama) Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy 11:00AM & 2:25PM Ride Along 2 (2D) (15+) (Action|Comedy) Cast: Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter 10:45AM, 2:00, 4:25, 9:55, 11:30PM Suffragette (2D) (12+) (History Biography) Cast: Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham 7:00PM The Fifth Wave (2D) (PG12) (Adventure) Cast: Chloe Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson 2:15, 9:30, 11:55PM The Hateful Eight (2D) (12+) (Comedy) Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell 11:15AM, 6:50 & 11:45PM Dilwale (2D) (PG12) (Action |Comedy) 3:55PM Charlie (2D) (12+) (Malayalam) (Comedy) 9:00PM Norm of the North (2D) (PG12) (Animation ) 12:45, 5:20PM Nanakku Prematho (Telugu) (2D) (TBC) Cast: Ntr Jnr, Rakul Preet Singh 6:30PM

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

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI) Destination

12.23pm 3.28pm 5.49pm 7.03pm 5.32am

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

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

C7

LIFESTYLE Architectural Work of Art in Sur

Location: 22°33’49.2”N 59°32’20.4”E Have you been able to capture the beauty of an off-the-beaten-path destination in Oman?

Send your pictures with a caption & geolocator to: shafeeqe@ timesofoman.com

IN THE NEWS

El Nino’s impact on Japanese ski resorts The ski industry in Japan, already hurt by the country’s demographics that have aged out many from the sport, has been hit with a dose of just what it didn’t need —balmy winter weather, courtesy of El Nino. While a cold snap led to snowfall in many parts of the country, including in Tokyo, and some ski and snowboarding resorts are doing fine bolstered by visits from foreign tourists, others have been having one of their worst seasons in years. Lifts at the 80-year-old Oana resort in Minakami, a hotsprings town in Gunma prefecture, had run only two days this season and the number of visitors plunged about 80 per cent from a year ago during the new year’s holidays. “We’re finally having snow. It’s really good, as we had no snow until yesterday,” Motoko Hokari, who has worked at the ski resort for about 25 years, said. “Yet the weeks we’ve lost business opportunities won’t come back. I’m wondering how long this snow will continue. If snow continues for some more days, then the slope conditions will probably become stable. -Bloomberg

C8

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

LIFESTYLE

Glaciers, Glacier National Park United States and Canada

The Dead Sea Border between the West Bank (W) and Jordan (E)

Glacier National Park contains some of the most beautiful, primitive wilderness in the Rocky Mountains. There are more than 200 glacier-fed lakes, high peaks, sheer precipices, large forests, waterfalls, and a great variety of wildflowers.

However, temperature fluctuations have caused glacier growth and depletion. Ten thousand years ago, the area of Glacier National Park was covered by ice up to one mile below sea level. The latest warm period has caused the number of glaciers to decrease from 150 in 1850 to 26 today. If current global warming trends continue, there will be no glaciers left in Glacier National Park by 2030.

Known as one of the saltiest water bodies in the world and the lowest dry point on earth, the Dead Sea is fed by the Jordan River and a number of small streams. The Dead Sea loses much water through evaporation as it is located in a very hot and dry region, causing its level to fluctuate. However, inflow to the Dead Sea has been greatly reduced by the increased use of the Jordan River

by Palestinians, and Jordanians, who have growing populations and increased agricultural needs, resulting in falling water levels. Currently, the Dead Sea recedes about three feet each year.

VISIT THESE WONDERS BEFORE THEY DISAPPEAR Many of the world’s wonders and most beautiful destinations are in danger of being destroyed either by environmental or social factors: A warming climate, pollution, strained resources, bulging populations, and booming tourist traffic. Here are some popular locations and man-made wonders worth visiting before they vanish from the earth.

Mexico City Mexico Pyramids of Giza Giza, Egypt

In the past century, Mexico City has sunk more than 30 feet. The original city was built on the site of a former lake. The Aztecs built the city on a series of aquatic platforms, but when the Spanish conquered the city, they drained the lake, causing it to sink. As the city population ballooned and the demand for water increased in the 20th century, the government began pumping much of the city’s supply out of the underground aquifer that once fed the lake, causing the city to sink further.

One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Pyramids of Giza, located outside modern Cairo, consist of three magnificent royal tombs guarded by a Sphinx. The Pyramids have been a heavily trafficked sightseeing area for centuries, but the pollution and magnitude of visitors has taken its toll on the ancient structures.

Taj Mahal Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India Little Green Street London, United Kingdom Little Green Street, located in the centre of London, is one of only a few surviving streets from Georgian England. Lined with about a dozen 18th century homes, Little Green Street only stretches a city block in length, but has survived the Blitz in World War II and three centuries of construction. As a perfect example of Regency London, it has been featured in poetry, photo shoots, and music videos; but it has been threatened by construction activities now.

A mausoleum in northern India on the banks of Yamuna River, the Taj Mahal is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and the finest example of the late style of Indian Islamic architecture. The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan ordered it built after the death of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The building, which was completed between 1632 and 1638, is visited by three to four million tourists each year.

The crowd and air pollution have caused irreversible damage to the building’s facade, prompting tourism officials to consider closing the historic site to the public.

Venice Italy With as many as 40 floods per year between March and September, Venice is slowly sinking at an estimated rate of 2.5 inches every ten years. Venice was built as a collection of 118 separate islands, relying entirely on a canal system of about 150 canals, mostly very narrow, crossed by some 400 bridges.

A severe flood in December 2008 brought renewed attention to Venice’s vulnerable state and imminent fate as an underwater city.

—lifestyle@timesofoman.com

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CONNEC T H E D A I LY G U I D E

RENT

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VACANCY

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CARGO

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W E D N E S D AY, JA N UA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6 Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DAILY GUIDE FOR RENT

Luxury flat for rent in Bareeq Al Shatti building Spacious 2 BHK with sea view, split A/Cs, fixed wardrobes, kitchen appliance.

Near Opera Gallery.

Rent RO.900/- negotiable.

Contact - 94084335 / 96920789

FLATS FOR RENT In a Luxury Building in Al Seeb Market Near Police station Call: 99888007 - 99473500

*Tourist visa arranged

NEW Flats & Showrooms for Rent 1/2/3 BHK Flats & Showrooms at Muttrah, near Oman flour mills, 10 min. from corniche. equipped with split/ cassette unit ACs, internet points, freeto-air dish connection, CCTV monitored, basement parking. Rent RO.250/350/450 (Negotiable) per month.

New flats for rent at Darsait near to ministry of sports, Mumtaz area the flats include 1 living room, 2 Bedroom, kitchen, 3 toilets every room with split A/C & high Quality finishing, rent per flat is R.O 340/-.

Interested candidates please Contact: 00968- 92225523 2 bed rooms flat with hall, 2 bathrooms in Darsait near Muscat Municipality. Contact: 92584715/ 24700120 1000 sqmtrs industrial land for rent in Ghala suitable for warehouse workshop etc.

Contact 24700120 / 92584715 1& 2 BHK flats for rent at Hamriya Wadi Adai, Al Khoud, Mabela & shop at Al Khoud & land line Contact: 24834644 GSM 93994401/02/03 3 lines 2BHK modern & spacious flats with split AC for rent in Qurum near PDO Gate No.2.

Contact: 94057023

Contact : 99229263; 93221054; 95215289

2 BHK flat New Bldg for rent in Al Amerat.Contact 99353899 500 square meters workshop space, ready to use, for vehicle repairs, welding and other small industrial units , Misfah Industrial area block 2 near Baladiyah camp. Contact: 94030814 Villa for rent 4 spacious bath attached bedroom private swimming pool Gymnasium (common) with electrical equipment with free maintenance secured compound at Madinat Al Ilam. Contact: 98027975 Flat available in Muttrah Corniche near Gold Souq (4 rooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 kitchen with balcony).

Contact: 24707088 / 91405015 2BHK new bldg for families Al Khuwair 17/2. Contact: 91403136 3BHK flat for rent in Ghubra.

Contac: 99328070

We have 1 BHK, 2BHK flats in Mabela 7 new building. Contact: 93782735 / 99208033 Big office for rent in CBD (Ruwi) road ready to shifting with AC and partitions. Contact: 92345250 1000 sqm industrial land with compound well & two rooms at Misfah. #99342733/ 99795241 Store / warehouse for rent 52 sqm at Maabela Sinaiya.

Contact: 92454170 02 BHK Commercial / Residential (with split AC) flat at Honda road.

Contact: 99342733 / 99795241 Flats shops & store for rent in Ruwi, MBD area & Honda road.

Contact: 92589235/ 94579531 To let rooms in Qurum.

Contact: 99664703

We have Staff accommodation in Bowshar # 93782735 / 99208033 We have 150 SQM offices in Ghubra main road prime location. Contact: 93782735 / 99208033 We have 1BHK / 2BHK flat for rent in Ghubra, Ghala, Azaibah, Bousher & Darsait. #93782735 / 99208033 02 BHK residential flat opposite to Al Nadha hospital.

Contact : 99342733 /99795241 Flats shops & store for rent in Ruwi MBD Honda road. Contact: 92433127 / 97293708 2BHK flats with split AC available for rent at Al Khuwair 33.

Contact: 94057023 Flat for rent (Walja) Ruwi 2 rooms, 2 toilets & kitchen for enquiry.

Contact: 95464608 or 95464607

We 1000 SQM Ware house in Misfa & 2000 SQM open land for rent in Misfa near cement factory.

Contact: 93782735 / 99208033 Flats for rent 2BHK, 1 BHK with AC new building at Wadi Al Kabir behind Muscat Bakery.

Contact: 92103604 Single bedroom flat behind German Embassy near to Al Nahdha Hospital and single bedroom flat near to Indian School Al Ghubrah. Contact: 99203954 2 bedroom centrally air conditioned flat in CBD, Central Bank area. Contact: 24714625 / 99053493 2 BHK near Khamis shoes Honda road Junction. Contact: 99737562 Flats for rent in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 99376454

2BHK flat for rent Darsait near ISM. Contact: 95158570 / 99102255 2 bedrooms, kitchen, toilet, car park R.O 220/- & 1 bedroom, kitchen, toilet R.O 140 in Al Khuwair. Contact: 95154331 Flats available for rent at Al Ghubra. Contact 99876576 & 93656672 Brand new Twin Villas in Mawaleh South 4BR; 2Halls; External Kitchen and Maids room.

Contact: 99414106 Commercial / residential flats in a new building for rent near Muttrah Police Station residential 1BHK / 2BHK more details.

Contact: 99364735 / 95729711 2BHK Sitting room, 3 bathrooms, split AC big balcony 300/- R.O in Wadi Kabeer. Contact: 99324402

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DAILY GUIDE

FOR RENT

FOR RENT 2BHK, 3 washroom Flat with Split Air Conditioners Near Lulu Darsait CONTACT :

Flat for rent in CBD area - Ruwi Two rooms and a large hall •Office spaces for rent in Al Hail on the main road On the same building of Al Khamis Shoes at Al Hail •2 bed room flats in Qurum 29 for rent next to ABA New building -split AC - Good location

93202733

Contact No: 96177505

Flat in Khoud near Mazoon Mosque with 3 bedrooms, living room, 3 toilets, RO 250/- with A/C. Contact 95328147

600 SQT commercial flat for rent opposite Oman flourmill Darsait more details. Contact:91214849/ 99364735

Flat for rent in Wadi Al Kabeer near the Kuwaiti Mosque, for more information. Contact: 99425958

One flats for rent 2 bedroom all with bath al Ghobrah north near Indian school (hot burger restaurant) Tel. 9976610

Apartment for rent in Muscat Sidab beside road ground floor 3 bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms.

Guestroom, Kitchen & hall.

Contact: 99277377 Furnished offices in business center behind Al Burj Hotel Ruwi with all facilities included.

Contact: 99331181 Fully furnished deluxe villa behind Khimji Mart Darsait.

Contact: 99331181 1& 2 bedroom apartments available for rent at Ghubra near Grand mall, 6 bedroom villas available for rent Al Mouj (Wave) at Al Hail.

Contact: 99833747 2 BHK Flats for rent Muttrah near Oman house S/ AC. Contact: 97007934 / 92629232 Flats for rent in Muscat.

Contact: 99262605.

Profs/ Jack. Contact 93219378 2 Room + hall & kitchen ,3 toilets in Bareeq Al Shatti 750 RO. Contact: 99314314 1BHK Mumtaz R.O 250/-.

Contact: 97799175 / 92144045 7 Bedrooms villa in Ghobrah North.

Contact - 96420432 3 BHK flat near Darsait ID medical.

RO 420/- Contact – 99358589 / 97079146 / 95570288 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

1 bedroom flat at Ruwi Mumtaz area. Contact : 95282986 1,2 BHK Ghubra R.O 300/-, 325/- & 350/-. Contact: 97799175 1BHK flat near Star Cinema 220/Contact 99358589 /95570288 Single BHK flat available in Honda road Ruwi. Contact: 24833972/ 24833974/ 99367448

FOR HIRE Bobcat available for rent.

Contact 97623299 Low bed Trailer (PDO – SPC) available monthly / daily for Rent.

Contact: 96633970

MV SALE Ford focus, 2012 model, expatriate driven and fully company maintained, in good condition.

Contact: 968 97608174 Tucson Automatic 2007 V – 6, net R.O 1600/-. Contact: 99384640 Hummer H2 model 2006, 178000 km, Full options Number 1 Army edition.OMR 7200. Contact -99466773 Chaverlet Epica 2004 model RO -700, for sale. Contact 92194205 BMW 318/ 2003 for sale.

Contact 96364990

FOR SALE Dialysis Machine(DBO7) - Available 10 Units for Sale .

Contact : 94306662 or Email : ahdialysis1010@gmail.com

FOR SALE

FOR SALE

Disposal of defective Air Conditioners, Home Appliances and Old Spare Parts on as is where is basis.

Contact : 99853371 / 99895434

BUILDING

FOR SALE MUMTAZ AREA (NEAR RUWI HOTEL)

CONTACT - 99353931 Beauty parlor for sale in good condition at Ghubra.

Contact: 98178135 Excavation contracts worth RO 2 million + Big Volvo Excavators & 2015 Astra 5 tippers for sale. Contact: 99120532 / 98867530 Master Chef restaurant Al Hail for sale 8 visas clearance available.

Contact: 91205000

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 A well running coffee shop for sale at Wadi Kabir near KFC. Contact: 92772825 Dental Lab for sale Seeb.

Contact: 99826435

ACC. AVAILABLE New 1BHK fully furnished for R.O 275/- at Wadi Kabir near Al Hassan. Contact: 92577929 Family sharing accommodation for rent Honda road 2 rooms, bath room, sharing, kitchen Indians only R.O 130/-. Contact: 97684849

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

Hail Independent rooms RO 140/& 160/-. Contact 95529970

Restaurant & Coffee Shop for sale in Ghala area. For details contact 99072003 / 99299712

Couple or bachelor room in Wadi Kabir. Contact: 91165580 / 95264549

Furnished room at Hilat Al Saad with TV, AC, fridge near main road.

Contact : 95714202

ACC. AVAILABLE Single bedroom flat behind German Embassy, near Al Nahdha Hospital. Contact 99203954 Single room B/attached Executive bachelors. Contact: 99336206 Room available Walja. Contact : 95382651 / 95382650 Semi furnished spacious room with attached washroom separate entrance near Indian school Al Ghobrah for non cooking Executive Indian bachelor.

Contact: 95146361/92657598 Semi furnished separate room for non-cooking Asian bachelor, behind Shell filling station, Ghoubra round about. Contact: 94263390 Furnished bedrooms for Indian Executives / couple at Al Ansab.

Contact: 96366282 Spacious semi furnished room with separate bathroom for executive bachelor opposite OC centre Ruwi. Call: 92273779

Furnished room with a/bathroom in Al Khuwair33 for Indian Executive. Call: 95234062 Furnished room & bath Darsait R.O 140/-. Contact: 93289652 Single room for expat Indian bachelors near Al Aktham restaurant Al khuwair for RO 120.

Water and electricity included.

Contact 98803261 Furnished room in new building for working Muslim lady/ Muslim couple only. Location AINT, Darsait. Contact - 99008069 Room for rent with furniture.

Al Bustan villeage. # 93687466

WANTED IELTS Coaching (academic) required nearby wadi Kabir area.

Please call on mobile or msg on Whats up.

Mobile no: 92927880/99012165

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W E D N E S D AY, JA N UA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6 Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

DAILY GUIDE SITUATION SITUATION WANTED VACANT URGENTLY REQUIRE for a reputed Excellent Grade Catering Company

1. Arabic Cook (having experience in the field of Catering with knowledge in preparing Oman Cuisines).

Interested candidates may mail their resume to mast.ll.oman@gmail.com or hr@mast-oman.com

SITUATION VACANT REQUIRED SALES EXECUTIVE for furniture & building material, minimum experience 5 yrs.

Send CV at Email : careeroman@yahoo.com

URGENT REQUIREMENT

Sales & Marketing Manager For a reputed Ice cream outlet 1. Minimum 3 years experience in same field.

2. Good communication skills.

3. NOC and driving license are must.

Send CV with current picture & ref no: 1216/01

Email: vacancy299@gmail.com

ASSISTANT RETAIL MANAGER

Urgent Requirement

• To support GM in developing Muscat based stores • 5 years past Retail store operations experience • Omani or Expatriate (must have NOC if moving jobs) • Omani /GCC Valid Driving License • Team player & good communicator • Written & spoken English

For Jewellery Showroom

Email: recruitment@aflaggroup.com

URGENTLY REQUIRED A LEADING TRADING AND CONTRACTING COMPANY IS LOOKING FOR AN EFFICIENT

FEMALE SECRETARY WITH MINIMUM 5 YEARS EXPERIENCE. SHE SHOULD BE FLUENT IN SPOKEN AND WRITTEN ENGLISH. MUST BE FULLY COVERSANT WITH WORD/EXCEL PROGRAMMES AND BE PLEASANT/PRESENTABLE. SALARY ETC….GOOD PACKAGE WIL BE NEGOTIATED FOR THE RIGHT PERSON.

FAX CV TO 24619102 OR E MAIL; artco@omantel.net.om

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE Required female Accountant postgraduate in commerce email: mailcv7@gmail.com fax: 24784202 We are looking for Chief Financial Officer, Male 4045 years old, Bachelor of Science in Accountancy with 5 - 15 yrs. of experience. Contact: +968 24702133 Email: admin-dept@daud.om

CATERING Chinese / Arab/ Grill, cooks.

Contact: 95529970 Wanted experienced English speaking Continental Cook for reputed house in Qurum.

Contact 99466062

DOMESTIC HELP Looking for housemaid urgently clearance available good salary yearly ticket. TEL 24446920 / 99238121, mail: ravi.ztc@omzest.com

DRIVER Heavy duty driver with valid Oman Heavy Duty license, with 4 years experience. PDO License holder preferred. Call: 99221683 Driver available with release.

Contact: 93885404

ENGINEER/TECH/MECH Required Maintenance Technician (male - 1) - should have knowledge of new devices & 3 years Oman experience.

Contact: 94441111 Send CV to email: gsheild9@gmail.com

IT Required male Omani / Filipino, 24 – 35 yrs as IT Coordinator. Fluent in English, to handle all Web Designing aspects, Mail Campaigns management, Technical Support / Troubleshooting. Contact 91371231

MEDICAL We require licensed General Practitioner, General dentist and male Asst. Pharmacist. Contact 93129219 or CV to clinicrecruitment2015@gmail.com Urgently required Lab Technician with MOH license.

Attractive Salary with Accommodation. Contact: 97091664.

Email: mmcmuscat@gmail.com Wanted Nurse for a Dental centre in capital area. Interested may contact 93431024 or send CV to – drasyanaseem@gmail.com Wanted Gynecologist, General Practitioner, Assistant Pharmacist for immediate appointment.

Contact 97884856/ mail CV to – sarita_h23@yahoo.com

Wanted Driver. Contact: 91025698 Reputed Construction Company require experienced light Vehicle Driver. Contact 95526871

ENGINEER/TECH/MECH Urgently required building Technician for inquiries.

Contact: 98111363 Urgently Required: Window Aluminum Manager, Window Aluminum Engineer and Window Aluminum Foreman with an experience in Italian Aluminum Doors and Windows, MUST have NOC and immediately join.

Apply, fax 00968–24605955, emails sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com, sbeoman@yahoo.com Crankshaft Grinding Technician, Engine block boring Technician, turner required urgently for immediate appointment. call or whatsapp 98898273

A reputed medical complex in Salalah requires to fill the following positions, Staff Nurse & Dental doctor with MOH license, dataflow and NOC. Contact: 92728472 High class Medical Center in Salalah requires good looking Staff Nurses and medical orderlies, excellent English. Interested candidates please send your CV to mdcsalalah@gmail.com Required experienced Dentist with MOH license to manage dental clinic in Muscat.

Email: akdmuscat@hotmail.com Female marketing for medical centre in Al Khuwair with driving license. Contact: 99010755 Email: akdmuscat@hotmail.com Wanted female Staff Nurse with prometric pass/MOH license for a clinic at Musannah. # 99645150 Urgently required PHARMACIST with MOH license or Prometric passed. Attractive Salary with Accommodation. Contact: 97091664.

Email: mmcmuscat@gmail.com

SALES LADY 1. Two years experience in sales.

2. NOC is must.

3. Arabic speaking advantage.

(Send CV with current picture)

Email: vacancy299@gmail.com

REQUIRED

Auto Electrician cum A/c Mechanic

FIBER OPTIC PROJECTS MANAGER,

Candidate must have a minimum 2 to 3 years’ experience in assembly, installation, maintenance and repairs of automotive refrigeration, air-conditioning systems and chiller units.

should have GCC experience 5-10 years

for Workshop

He should be well conversant in repair and troubleshooting of electrical faults and experienced in using computerized diagnostic systems.

He should be ITI/DME (Auto) qualified.

kindly send your CV to

Interested candidates email cv on

oilndgasoman@gmail.com

krauto@kr.om or contact on 99440518

Required Sales Executive & Accounts / Admin Executive

We have a batch of skilled Omani candidates in Administration, HR, Account & Reception ready to join different companies in a month

For a FMCG Company based in Muscat.

Head office in Dubai.

Omani nationals only with driving license.

Sent C. V. to : magentas@eim.ae

AN URGENT REQUEST A specialized Physiotherapy clinic located in Madinat Al Sulatan Qaboos, seeking for two (male and female)

PHYSIOTHERAPISTS, With minimum 5 years’ experience and an Omani Ministry of Health licenses, for a full time work (7 hours a day).

Salary starting from 600, Omani Rials.

To apply please send your C.V. by

e-mail: tours@omantel.net.om A leading company in travels & tourism, accredited by IATA requires:

FOR COMPANIES SEEKING OMANI EMPLOYEES

We will also provide training for Omani candidates as per your need like Cashier, Teller, HR, Admin, Sales, Stores, Customer service etc., • The Institute will identify the potential candidates, interview them and select the suitable candidates in consultation with your officials.

• The entire cost of training will be borne by the Government. During training the company will not incur any cost like salaries & training.

• The Institute will train them for a period of 6 to 8 months as per the program.

• From the date training starts with us, you are fulfilling the omanization requirement. The candidate will stay at least for a year without leaving the job.

For any queries contact us: 26862210, 93677745 & 93677795 Fax: 26861710 email: ojt@aifas.net, www.aifas.net

Wanted a Structural Supervisor having experience in steel fabrication and erection for a well established fabrication company in Barka.

Candidates should have experience in Oman & should BE capable to handle various jobs independently He should have good experience in fabrication field with NOC and driving license.

Please send CV to jobsteel85@gmail.com / 95412589

Sales Executive for Travels & Tourism: Experience not less than 3 years in one of the travels & Tourism, must have a driving license.

Sales Executive for Car Rental: Experience not less than 4 years in one rent a car company, must have a driving license.

Notes: - You must determine which position did you applied for it as email subject - The company will not see at any demand without subject.

Email: nrtvacancies@gmail.com MEDICAL

SALES / MARKETING

Wanted GP Doctor with MOH license, job location in Muscat with good salary and benefits.

Drop your cv at 0careerhr1972@gmail.com.

Required Salesman for Electronic & mobile devices (male - 2) should have 3 years Oman experience. Contact: 94441111. Send CV to email: gsheild9@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS Sales Ladies wanted for Ladies Boutique. Age: 20-35 yrs. Al Khoudh. Call -91159905 Send CV to sameer916@hotmail.com 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 a lady to work in the studio shop and must have experience. Contact: 95097722 Urgently required a man to work in the studio shop inside, outdoor and should know to get business from outside. Contact: 95097722 Required lady photographer for studio. Contact: 99020458 Email: mohdautocentre@gmail.com

SALES / MARKETING Looking for Sales Executive for a fiberglass Company in Oman.

Should have 5 yrs experience in fiber glass / construction field.

Should have valid driving license.

Email : mfbarka1@omantel.net.om, Contact: 00968 98634898 fax: 26881211 An excellent Grade company requires Foreman / Supervisor for their false ceiling division. Min 5 to 8 years experience in handling the projects & execution, kindly send CV to hrjobs1679@gmail.com

Urgently Required: Senior Quantity Surveyor with an experience in building construction MUST have NOC and immediately join. Apply, fax 00968–24605955, emails sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com, sbeoman@yahoo.com

Wanted urgently lady Doctor GP or DGO for immediate appointment. Contact : 99310590 Email: tjmaluke@gmail.com

An excellent Grade company requires experience Salesman for indoor and outdoor with Oman driving license. Mail your CV to salesppeoman@gmail.com

Civil Site Supervisor for telecom tower projects across Oman. Send CV to fyjo@spec-link.com or call +968 9946 7227

Required female Nurse with MOH license dental clinic in Al Khuwair.

Contact: 99010755 Email: akdmuscat@hotmail.com

Tyres company seeking for Sales man, minimum 2-3 years experience. Send CV to saeed@liwainvestments.com

Sales Executive required in Muttrah, Muscat Oman experience & driving license is must.

Contact: 91710453 / 24711695 Email: salesaetOman@gmail.com Marketing Executive required for tyres & batteries.

Contact: 99020458 Email: mohdautocentre@gmail.com Urgently required Sales Executive with experience in printing press line with driving license.

Contact: 00968 95948142 Email: al_bpp@yahoo.com An excellent grade company requires Sales Executive for their Aluminium division. Min 3 to 5 years GCC experience in the same field with D/L may kindly send CV to info@sunubunited.com or sunubunited@gmail.com Salesman require for building material with driving license & 10 years working experience.

Fax your C.V 24833043.

(Mustafa Hardware Store)

SKILLED LABOR

SITUATION WANTSIT.WANTED ARCHITECT 20+ years experience Architect M.B.A 10 years Muscat experience (with NOC) looking for job opportunity. Contact: 91709408 / 92981814 Architect, Indian Female with 04 years of work experience in Qatar, Oman & India seeking suitable position. Email: shaazneen.s@gmail. com, Contact : 96635846 Diploma Architect 3Ds Max (interior, exterior) AutoCAD seeking suitable position. Contact 98907341 Email: susuhu009@gmail.com Architect looking for freelance work in (design plans and 3dmax).

Contact: 96041201 Architect, Indian Female with 04 years of work experience in Qatar, Oman & India seeking suitable position. Email: shaazneen.s@gmail. com, Contact No: 96635846

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE Female Accountant Indian with 3 years exp in Oman looking for suitable job. Contact: 98418533/ 99338639 Accounting, B.Com, 2 yrs experience in India Tally ERP 9, Peach tree accounting quick books, accounting SMACC busy advanced Excel power point E-filing of statutory return visa date 24.12.15, visit exp. 23.01.2015.

Contact 90439594 Chief Accountant looking for full / part time job.

Contact : 95598477/98803439 Indian female 27 MBA Finance with 4+ years exp in banking, accounts exp in teaching field also presently on visit visa.

Contact: 94735164 / 96591950

Immediate Requirements for experienced Tailors (Designer wears, casual clothing). Please call for interview 99471085

Sudanese National Bachelor of Accounting 7 years experience electronic accounting and auditing. Contact: 94872045 Email: hussainhassan1@hotmail.com

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

Female Accountant with 10 years experience. 93726921

TOURS/TRAVEL Travel agency in Ruwi urgently requires experienced ticketing staff preferably with IATA qualification. Contact 95595830

3 SALESMEN Requires minimum 3 years experience and valid Omani driving license.

Interested candidates please Fax your CV to 24601724 or Email on saab2803@gmail.com

SITUATION WANTSIT.WANTED ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Looking for experienced construction laborers as a subcontractor for a villa construction in Mawaleh.

Contact: 96203333

Experienced Secretary required for Ruwi office. Must have high standard of competence in MS Office suite and excellent Arabic / English communication skills.

Send CV and covering Email to mj-co@omantel.net.om

Well reputed Marble Company looking for

Part time accountant, up to finalization of accounts, looking for job after 5PM (Location prefers –n MSQ to AL Hail) Contact: 95694737 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

Indian male, 28, Post Graduate, 6 years exp. in Oman in Sales and Credit Control , with valid Oman D/L looking for suitable placements.

NOC available. Ph: 9206 6523 Accounts & finance Indian male 35 years B.Com M.B.A (F) 7 years experience valid Oman D/L family visa N.O.C available.

Contact: 93257426 / 95230114 Email: sibigeorgep@gmail.com Financial Accounting Manager having working experience 24 years looking job in construction or manufacturing companies 8 years working in Muscat expecting family status with good compensation. Contact: 95919546.

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT-M. Com Finance-Indian with 7 years experience in Finance & Accounts up to finalization. Currently employed in Oman. Having D/L & NOC. Mob: 94122464, cammk13@gmail.com Part time Accountant with 15 yrs exp. in Accounts Finance, Tax Audit Management.Contact: 95857199 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 Part-time accounting, tax report, auditing & bank loan assistance.

Contact 91720465 28/male/MBA - finance/B.Com Accountant with 4 years of Dubai/ India experience looking for a suitable placement. shobinkarikkan1987@gmail.com Contact 90187483 8+ yrs exp in Admin & Accounts (3 yrs in Oman) MBA, Indian female, seeks placement. Contact:97243806 Accounts & finance: 32 yrs Indian male (B.Com) having 7 years Oman experience Oman D/L & NOC available, looking for suitable placement.Contact: 98093515 / 97494322 email: manusodharan83@gmail.com Accounts part time services available to handle all accounts up to finalization, consulting & audit works. Contact: 96247295 Indian male, Oman 8yrs exp looking for any suitable vacancy for Accountant / Asst . Accountant / Office Admin, local release available. Contact: 98492752 Email: atiquehazique@rediffmail.com Indian male, 27 B.Com, +3 years experience in Qatar GCC driving license, interested in Marketing now on visit visa looking for suitable job. Contact: 92993512

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DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED D.M.E, Indian, 12 yrs experience in Oman, in Project Estimation, Execution, Quality & marketing working as Estimation Engineer in acid & water tanker, semi trailor company, with heavy driving license & will get NOC, seeks suitable job in Oman.

EXPERIENCED TEAM TO PROVIDE TECHNO- COMMERCIAL BUSINESS SOLUTIONS, FEASIBILITY, ERP WITH BI TOOLS, ADVISE ON FINANCIAL, HR, RISK GENERAL MANAGEMENT, GUIDE STARTUPS RESTRUCTURING, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT. Contact – 96500729 Email: k.profitoman@ gmail.com

ADMIN

SPECIALIST AVAILABLE FOR EXPLOSIVE GROWTH IN TERM OF RESTRUCTURING ALL MODULES OF BUSINESS WITH 30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, BUSINESS SOLUTIONS, MANUFACTURING, TRADING, APPLICATIONS, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT. CONTACT – 93343251 / profitoman@ gmail.com

DRIVER

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

Contact - 98968495 Indian female Graduate over 6 years experience in Admin operations business support excellent MS Office skills looking for suitable job. Contact: 94231020

Experienced Light Duty Driver, Fluent in English, Arabic Well knowledge of Oman Areas Seeking Suitable placement Contact 97950869

Mechanical Engineer (B.Tech) with 2 and half years experience Indian male 24 years in visit visa. Contact: 96620482 / + 91 9605423272 Email: bijumonps@gmail.com

Indian male good experienced in Accounts, ERP Tally 9 & Admin in India & Oman, presently on visit visa, looking for suitable placement.

Contact 94834687

Indian Female MBA, 3 Year experience in Admin MIS, Family Visa.

Contact 98234427, jkjsmith01@gmail.com

Light driver need job 4 years exp English & Arabia speaking.

Contact: 94208089

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

Indian having more than 10 years experience (7 years in UAE) as project secretary, document controller, site administrator, site store keeper on visit seek suitable placement. Contact 92196001

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

Indian Accountant professional with 3 years experience currently on visit visa looking for suitable job openings. Contact: 92390604 Email: sachinkokkatt@gmail.com

Indian male seeking office driver cum admin job having NOC and 5 years experience with valid Oman driving license. Contact: 97942787

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Indian male 28 MBA & M.Com finance 5 yrs exp in Accounts & finance. NOC available seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 93939421 Email: baleeq.ams@gmail.com Accountant / account assistant, BBA, M.Com, Tally, Peach tree on valid visa in Oman.

Contact : 98269281 Indian male, MBA (finance), 1 year experience in Oman having Oman D/L and NOC on visit visa looking for a suitable job.

Contact 94109375 Indian Male Accountant 10yrs Exp. in OMAN Retail & Furniture Co. (Release Available) GSM.92564955 Indian male MBA finance 12 years experience in Oman as Accounts / Admin manger, seeks suitable placement on visit visa.

Can join immediately. Contact: 96055815 Email: shaikhussain111@gmail.com Indian male B.Com, MBA with 10 yrs experience (5 yrs in Oman) in accountant receivable, account payable, sales collection, credit control with valid D/L, looking for suitable placement. NOC available.

Contact: 93240480 ACCA with more than 1year experience in an audit firm looking for a suitable position in accounts, audit section in a company, having Oman driving license.

Contact: 98428098 Presently working as Chief Accountant having 16 years experience in accounts in Oman having Oman D/L seeking suitable placement, release available.

Contact: 95060390 Indian with more than 30 years experience in construction accounts (Financial and Cost) and administration seek suitable placement (part/full time) in Oman or UAE. Contact.98598099 Indian male Accountant looking for a suitable placement in Salalah. More than 20 years experience in accounting job (up to the finalization of accounts) 8 years working experience in Middle east in Dubai, Muscat & Salalah.

Contact: 91325029 Available Indian Graduate (B.Com) / CA Final (Appeared) having 3 years practical Auditing & Accounting Experience.

Currently in Oman on Visit Visa.

Contact 91418637 Total 24 yrs exp. 15 years served Oman LLC SAOG, SAOC Contracting, trading manufacturing company as Finance Commercial Manager looks after finance logistics, procurement, ERP, oracle, tally focus internal control implementation B.Com PGDBM, ICWA (Inter).

Contact: 91721545 / 95788723, Email: manojpanda111@hotmail. com Accounting B.Com, 2 years experience in Indian tally ERP9, Peachtree, accounting, QuickBooks accounting SMACC , busy advanced excel PowerPoint E filing of statutory return visit date 24/12/2015 visit exp 23/1/2015

Young Omani male have experience 12 years as P.R.O, CLERK, Helper supervisor Admin supervisor, H.R Manager have diploma in H.S.E, IT and P.D.O license looking for H.R position or P.R.O license, looking for H.R position or P.R.O part time or full time. Contact: 95933288 14 years of Gulf experience in HR/ Admin & logistics fluent in Arabic & English with D/L looking for suitable position, NOC available.

Contact: 95824598 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 Filipino male with 13 years HR and Administration managerial experience. MBA & CIPD holder. Currently looking for job in Oman. Interested employer pls call 97728418.

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 Indian female 29 MBA (HR) BSc Oman & India, 3 years exp in Admin & HR seeks suitable placement. Contact: 95619537 Indian female 27 yrs with 5 yrs HR /Admin experience seeking suitable placement with valid Oman driving license. Contact: 98236033 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

Job for driving. Contact: 98982410 27 years, 1 year experience, with D/L. Contact: 97369716 Indian young smart driver 5 years Oman exp speaking English Arabic, Hindi looking for job.

Contact: 94524433 Pakistani male light driver 10 yrs in UAE & 1 yr in Oman.

Contact: 93709393 Light driver Ruwi. Contact: 95779594 Having Oman D/L seeking suitable placement of driver.

Contact: 92789805 Light Driver, 4 yrs exp in Oman.

Contact: 94608755 Looking for driver job 3 years Oman experience. Contact: 98244078 / 93798802 Driver with car available for part time job.

Contact: 96320385

DESIGNER/DRAUGHTSMAN Interior designer Indian male with 4 years experience / 3Ds Max, AutoCAD .Now on visit visa seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 94886507 Email: vizhue07@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

DOMESTIC HELP Maid from Mumbai looking for house hold work in Al Khuwair only.

Contact: 95896415 Male 26 in looking for Office boy / Receptionist job.

Contact 94640906 Looking full time job.

Contact: 99153378

DRIVER Bangladeshi male light driver exp 14 years need job and visa transfer, release paper available.

Contact: 99165961 Driver with new car looking for job.contact: 95873286

Indian male Electrical Engineer, having 6 years gulf experience in designing, assembling, commissioning execution etc having valid GCC license too looking for a suitable. Contact: 00968-98052942 Email: azamjeelani78@gmail.com Civil Engineer 11 years experience in construction having driving license & NOC. Contact: 94194399 Email: shiblyrock@gmail.com Indian male Diploma Civil Engineer have 1 yr. experience, on visit visa looking for suitable job (certificate attested).

Contact: 92667406 / 99210411, Email : manojgvh@gmail.com

Driver 2 years job visa Indian male (31 yrs). Contact: 96525311

Sudanese Telecom Engineer, 5 years experience, 3 years in Oman PMP certificate.

Contact: 93391008 Email: momen.awadallam@gmail.com

Light driver Indian 4 yrs exp in Oman having own car need job.

NOC available. Contact: 93053917

Sudanese Structure Civil Engineer 2 years experience resident Omani license. Contact: 94393880

Light driver looking for job.

Contact: 95219183

Bangladeshi male Diploma in Civil Engineer with D/L 5 years exp, 4 years in Oman has exp. in building construction seeking a suitable placement. Contact: 96732988

Driver (light & heavy duty) valid gulf /Indian) looking job.

Contact: 95175192

EDUCATION Indian female M.Sc B.Ed Mathematics having 2 years experience in teaching currently on family visa. Contact: 96007081 Email: surocs@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer Indian (29) , 7 years exp in Oman, 33KV, 11 KV projects in MZEC & MEDC having CEP 1 & NOC with D/L. Contact: 99822373 Need job for experienced mason, electrician & welder.

Contact: 93015630

Indian female B.ED, BCA & IELTS certified with 6 months Oman exp in teaching primary students looking for teacher job.

Contact: 97384206 Email: rani_sweet786@live.com

Telecom Engineer and HSE Advisor with 6 years experience in Oman with PDO requirement, fluent in Arabic and English with valid driving license searching for job. Contact: 96355678

ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

16+ yrs of Techno commercial experience in ELV systems seeking suitable position in mid management level. Local release available. Contact: 98143907 Email: mazher2005@yahoo.com

CATERING Cooks (Arabic Indian) gulf exp looking job. Contact: 99531802

Electrical & Instrumentation Engineer, Gulf Experience, 3 Year, Immediately available.Contact95691800 Email: fasalf@gmail.com

HSE & Fire Safety Engineer 4 years experience air port operational safety, power & chemical industry. Contact: 94374241 Indian male 31, Mechanical Enggr with 9+ year’s exp in Quality Assurance / control presently on visit visa. Contact: 94735164 / 96591950

Indian male 22 years, B. Tech in Chemical Engineering, currently working as a trainee chemist in India, looking for suitable placement. Contact: 00968 93214375 or 92739839

Electrical Engineer B.Tech with 4 yrs experience in India available on visit visa looking for suitable placement. Contact: 94741401 Email: sobinthomask05@gmail. com

Mechanical Engineer 4 years experience (3 years HVAC 10 months piping stress) knows more than 10 softwares, Indian Muslim (27) job visa. Contact: 90486758 Email: afsalhyder@gmail.com

Indian male electrical engineer having 3 yrs exp in industrial electrical machine maintenance & data center facilities management looking for suitable placement (NOC available). Contact :99381733 Email : shihab4eee@gmail.com

M.Tech in Manufacturing Engineering with 2 years of experience, on visiting visa looking for a suitable job. Contact: 91417949 Email: dannyrangde@gmail.com

Architect Engineer with 3 years experience in Muscat looking for a suitable job Contact: 91262904, Email: saeedbakayeh@gmail.com Indian female, BE in EEE having 3yrs exp in Software & 1 yr Experience in Marketing & Admin in Muscat, looking for suitable placement. Tel:93422434 ELV Sr. Presales Engineer +7 years experience in UAE, Qatar & Oman having valid Oman D/L & NOC. Contact : 93384285 Indian male 25 years Mechanical Engineer (2 years experienced) seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 93655805

Mechanical Engineer (UK) 28 years, male having 5 years experience in technical sales and service Engineer, looking for suitable placement and having valid Oman driving license. NOC available immediate avail slit.

Contact: 968 97612297 Email: ymirza11@caledonian.ac.uk

ACCOUNTANT

General Manager / Operations / Commercial / Procurement Manager

With 8 years of experience (working in Oman since Jan 2013) is looking for a change.

Experienced in all aspect of accounting up to finalization of accounts. Also experienced in Insurance underwriting and claim settlement.

NOC will be available

Indian male with 18 years of experience in Gulf operations, accounts, purchase, sales, Admin & HR, looking for a Sr. position in a medium size company.

Contact: 95503646

Contact: 99889396

Email: srjobsinoman@yahoo.com

ENGG. / TECH./MECH. Male 29 years (BE) MEP Engineer 8.5 years of experience in building construction. Seeking a suitable job. Contact -95119765/ Email id jayachandranmep@gmail.com NOC available Procurement Engineer (27 years Single Male with Oman Driving License) having 7 years experience (UAE 2, Oman 3) with expertise in MEP, Water, Electro-mechanical, Instrumentation seeking suitable placements. (Contact 95852033, hemal1988@gmail.com Transmission Cable Technician / Cable Splicer: Saudi Aramco & Saudi Electricity Co License Holder.

Experience 5yrs, Age 29yrs, Nationality Pakistani: KSA Valid Driving License. Immediately Available.

Contact: 92850409 Email: usman0083@gmail.com Mechanical Engineer male 26 yrs, with 4 yrs of experience in manufacturing oil & gas retail, brand promoting, marketing, logistics having valid Omani D/L seeking for a suitable placement.

Contact: 97098676 Email: ja237le@gmail.com Chemical Engineer MBA holder ITC certified in supply chain management, ERP familiar 5 years experience. Contact: 94690325 Email: phahad.hashim@gmail.com Operating Engineer MBA holder 5 years experience in electroplating and coating of metals. #94690325 Email: phahad.hashim@gmail.com B. Sc Civil Engineer 27 yrs Oman in Ministry private sector as Project Manager, Senior Structure Engineer in consulting office looking for suitable placement, NOC available.

Contact: 99349578 Email: farooqatm@hotmail.com BE Civil Engr - 5-10 yrs Exp Diploma Civil Engr - 5-7 yrs Exp Civil Foreman - 10-15 yrs Exp All must have valid DL send CV to jnstpmco@gmail.com Mechanic Diesel Engines & Hydraulic, 25 years Experience in Multinational Companies.

M Arshad 91685048 Electrical Engineer: Indian male, 30 yrs having 5 yrs of experience in industrial automation & utility maintenance in India (MRF tyres), holding valid Oman D/L. Contact 92789995, email : akhilabrahamlktr@gmail.com Instrument Engineer B.Tech Indian male, 24 yrs, 1 yrs experience in reputed oil & gas companies, currently on visit visa, seeks suitable job. Contact: 92007218 Email: ahmed0515@gmail.com 7 Yrs Exp. PM in Mech. Engg in the field of Building Const. Oil & Gas Seeking Job.94625598 Senior Telecom Engineer 4 years experience in Oman valid driving license MBA project management.

Contact: 95688953 Email: johan.joy@gmail.com Civil Engineer (Diploma) having 11 years experience in building construction, looking for a suitable placement , having Oman driving license. Noc available.

Contact: 95075365 Email: azharraaz@gmail.com Road and Construction Engineer with 5 years exp in Oman.

Contact: 97667113

5 years of experience in Business Analyst & Product Management with Engineering in ECE on visit visa Contact: 91374247 Indian male, Mechanical Engineer having 1year experience, on visit visa looking for suitable job. Contact:97416564, Email:jovinmathias@gmail.com Procurement Engineer (27 years single male with Oman Driving License) having 7 years experience (UAE 2, Oman 3) with expertise in MEP, Water, Electromechanical, Instrumentation seeking suitable placements. Contact 95852033, mail: hemal1988@gmail.com Project Civil Engineer, BSc, 6 years experience in Oman, building construction Fluent Arabic, English and good Hindi Release and NOC Available). Tel: 97858589 Civil Engineer diploma, 4 yrsexp seeks suitable position ina reputed company. NOC available.

Contact – 96789711 Civil Engineer 8 years experience in Oman as a project engineer for governmental & private projects.

Contact – 90164912 Diploma in Automobile Engg male 26 yrs, working as Service Advisor for 2.5 yrs seeking suitable position. Contact: 94744933 Email: shuhaibmost007@gmail.com Sudanese Mechanical Engineer 8 years experience HVAC, MEP, MPM in management.

Contact: 97986890 Indian Electrical Engineer Btech, female 24 seeking job, presently in oman having 2 year experience in design and estimation of Ht &Lt projects.

Contact 968 97436557, Mail id : sibinanoop1@gmail.com Diploma in Electronics, 2 years exp in telecommunication.

Contact: 94519571 Email: telecommunicationvishnumadhull @gmail.com Civil Engineer (BE) having total 5 years experience in building construction looking for a suitable placement. D/L available Contact# 94450270 Sudanese Architectural Engineer 2 years experience in Oman, Revit, AutoCAD 3Ds max Archicad looking for suitable job.

Contact: 94722356 Email: maya40999@hotmail.com Diploma in Mechanical Eng piping system in AutoCAD work, 21+ years experience with Driving license. Contact: 95267113 Email: rkakkaryil@gmail.com Mechanical Engineer M.Tech 2 years experience HVAC design & site Engg revit MEP Auto CAD. Contact: 90150913 Email: mahmanmechengg@yahoo.im Bachelor Civil Engineer 6 Years in Oman experience Valid Driving License seeks suitable placement Phone 97619722 Email – golamrob@yahoo.com Indian Male 23 years B.Tech Civil having 2 years experience in quantity survey and site management looking for suitable placement. Contact:- 95042656

Civil Engineer 6 yrs Exp in Oman with license. Contact: 98975518

Mechanical Engineer with 3 Yrs experience in international Oil & Gas company looking for job Contacts: Tel: 90164236 Email: mustafaoshi-62@hotmail.com

BE Mech specialization welding technology 11 yrs quality cont Engineer by Steel Cons EPL Installation desalination plant (Gulf). Contact: 96603299

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

Sri Lankan Engineer (27 Years old) – B.Sc Engineering (Hon) Mining / Geotechnical Presently in Muscat, 1.5 years experience.

Contact 91295802 / acmfaslan123@gmail.com

Male (23) BE Electrical Engineer looking for job as Electrical Engineering job experience 6 months in MEP designing & electrical designing job. Contact 98209070 Email: punivinlal@gmail.com

Civil Engineer diploma holder having 7 years experience of Site Engineer with valid Omani D/L looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 93294965 Email: hamza.nazeer717@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

D6

W E D N E S D AY, JA N UA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6

DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTED SIT.WANTED ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

LOGISTICS

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

More than 8 years of gulf experience & qualified executive in Air freight & Sea freight, proven work experience in logistics coordination, shipment, export and import Coordination, cross shipments and client relation etc. Contact: 95149624 / 0097150-3462492

Electrical Engineer with 18 years exp in UAE. Contact: 98148034 Email: shassalih66@gmail.com

HOSPITALITY Hospitality/Hotel/ Restaurants Dynamic result oriented hospitality professional with 20 years of international exp. MBA in Hotel Management, specializing in Hotel/Restaurant start ups, concepts & Franchise development with proven records. Seeking for Challenging positions in reputed groups as GM/COO/CEO/Business Head. (NOC available) Contact: 96059470

IT Indian male (29) MCA Post Graduate 4.6 years experienced skilled in System and Network administration seeking job in IT sector now on visiting visa. Contact: 92805363 Email: anukkuttan1986@gmail.com Indian male (28) MCA 6 yrs experienced Oracle 10g, 6I, PL / SQL forms / reports seeking job in IT sector now on visit visa.

Contact: 91475059 Email: maridurai19@yahoo.com

MEDICAL Nurse (male) Indian available with 3 years of experience & cleared prometric 64% & data flow.

Contact: 94035637 Male nurse MOH licensed having NOC completed BLS, ACLS total 6 yrs exp seeking suitable job, join at anytime . Contact : 91322744 An experienced Sudanese female Dentist with MOH license looking for job. Contact: 96436517 /97396088

MANAGER

Network Engineer degree Computer Science CCNA, MCSA experience NOC. Content: 92346191

Indian male, with experience in operations management, information security, purchase & stores mgmt, hold UAE driving license, on visit visa, seeks suitable job.

Contact 91904541 Email: naushers@yahoo.com

Indian male 27 yrs Master in Computer applications currently in Muscat with Oman driving L/C seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 93191800 Email: vijilraj60@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, IT System Engineer having 4 yrs of experience in system administration.CCNA,MCSE, Linux. Looking for suitable job.

Contact :91272867

Indian male 8 yrs exp in Oman working as housekeeping supervisor in star hotel, seeking for a job NOC available.

Contact – 91753210

GCC experience projects & business Management professional for IT & ELV systems seeking suitable job. Contact: 93522472

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

Indian male 26 years BSC IT with 4 years experience currently on visit visa looking for IT support job knowledge of networking, programming languages, windows / Linux environment. Contact: +968 95369856 / 24781651 Email: mark.tony.alphonso@hotmail.com 10 years Oman experience ICT Sector, capable of handling large accounts, looking for suitable Senior Executive position.

Contact: 98987654 INDIAN MALE - 29 years - (certified Computer hardware & network engineer) with six (6) years experience on VISIT VISA looking for suitable employment in system network administration Contact : Mr. SAJEEV KP, GSM : 94256964 mail ID : saji217@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

Indian male Sales Engineer 18 years experience (pneumatics, electric, air compressor, garage equipments etc) including 5 years Gulf experience currently employed in Oman with D/L looking for suitable position, NOC available.

Contact 94425942

Indian male B.Sc Chemistry Graduate 6 years experience in India seeking suitable placement willing to work in any field currently on visiting visa. Contact: 94855667 / 92255983

25 years experienced Supervisor in plumbing & firefighting available, NOC & driving license.

Contact: 95703680

B.E (CSE) Indian male 2 years of experience in System and Network Admin, presently on visit visa, seeks for immediate placement.

Contact: 93832694 Email: bailfupp006@gmail.com

PG diploma in Strategic Management having two years experience in Marketing and Management currently on visit visa seeking for suitable job. Contact : 93406821 Email: sayeedminhaj@gmail.com

Logistics All rounder Indian male 23 years experience administration material management, supply chain, warehouse, purchase, marketing, inventory, accounting, Oman D/L. NOC available.

Contact: 95980115

Indian female MCA Graduate, holding valid driving license seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 99466062

Dynamics AX 2009 / 2012 R2/ R3 Microsoft certified professional MCA & BCA Having 15 yrs of total exp & 6 yrs of relevant exp seeking for suitable position. NOC is available. Contact: 93469493 Email: axcertprof@gmail.com

Indian male 26, with more than 4 years experience in Sales and Marketing having valid GCC license on visit visa seeks suitable position. Contact: 92423161

BBA graduate /Valid Omani license/2 year experience/ Preferred role Marketing / Sales / Business development Executive.

Contact-94122944, raashidjabir@protonmail.ch

Sudanese Network Administrator 1 year experience with (MCSA, CCNA, CCNP) have valid driving license. Contact: 92394485

Software Engineering Graduate, 2 years IT Sales Experience, D/L + NOC, Contact: 94464786

Indian male with more than 15 years experience in construction, agriculture, industrial tools, air coolers & personal protective equipments looking for suitable position in sales & marketing valid Oman D/L. Contact: 92406527

Indian male with more than 14 yrs of experience in Business development / marketing Oman D/L looking for managerial position in Business development / marketing. Contact: 93400177

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 Email: kishorekumar.naik@yahoo.in

IT Support- 3Yrs,CCNA,MCSE. Ph:93594114 abeyve@gmail.com

SALES / MARKETING

Purchase MGR / Transport in charge 9 yrs exp in Oman having D/L & NOC join immediately.

Contact: 90187891 Email: mohammedshariff35@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS 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 25, On Visit Visa MBA (HR & Marketing) experienced in Sales, Looking for Suitable Position, Contact 92788018, shinemoncherian@gmail.com Indian female on visit MBA (International Business- Marketing & Logistics), BE (Computers & Science Engg.) Trained in SAP-BI/ BW with 1 year experience seeking for job Contact: 90228586 Email:fathimasha16@gmail.com Graduate, computer literate, experienced in sales, credit control, accounts, Omani D/L , seeks suitable placement. Gsm 98805474

Pakistani male three years experience in Oman speaks excellent English, earlier worked as English speaking tourist guide.

Contact : 99120956 Indian 16 yrs sales / marketing all Oman experience, on visit visa with D/L. Contact: 90205082 B.Tech Electronics Indian male experience in Technical & marketing 2 years Oman driving license.

Contact: 98627362 , email : shah9746099350@gmail.com Assistant Purchase Manager experience 9 years at Oman in Construction Company skills driving license.

Contact: 98894178 Email: amerfawzy2000@yahoo.com MBA Graduate (Indian) 2 years experience in Auto sales & marketing looking for suitable job in automatic industry. Contact: 94676974 Email: dabdulmuqsit@gmail.com Digital Marketer SEM/SMM SEO. Contact 93594114 Email: abeyve@gmail.com Sales Coordinator, BBA MBA (pursuing) tally on valid visa in Oman. Contact : 98269281 Indian male, MBA Marketing having 2.5 years Sales experience immediately looking for a suitable position. Contact: 91415145, Email: shariqs88@gmail.com Indian female M.Sc in computer application, having experience in Muscat looking for suitable placement available to join immediately.

Contact: 94591608 MBA graduate having 6 years exp in Sales & Marketing, 4 years with PEPSI, India, having international driving license permit seeks suitable placement. Cont : 95308167, Email : samir.pag@gmail.com Indian male 7 years experience in procurement with D/L, UAE & Oman, transfer available.

Contact: 97085435 Indian male 34 Yrs, Dual MBA Finance and marketing with IT skills, 7+ yrs of experience, Looking for suitable placement.

Contact : 94879615, Emailsajan_chacko1981@yahoo.com Indian male 29 yrs having 6 years Oman experience in hotel industry & sales looking for a suitable placement. NOC available having Oman driving license. #91059015 Email: nidhin.lal86@gmail.com Marketing Communication Coordinator: Indian, M.Com with 20 years Gulf experience in Marketing Communications, ATL& BTL branding exp. with Oman D/L. Contact- 93031168 34 yrs, Indian male 7 years sales & marketing exp have valid D/L. Contact: 99869456 34 yrs, Indian male 9 yrs experience in Oman have valid D/L 2 Yrs sales & marketing experience.

Contact: 99858456

MBA (logistics and supply chain) 3.5 years freight forwarding experience operations & sales, back office operation Oman, Yemen & UAE. Contact: 92549913 Email: jansunil1989@gmail.com Sales & Marketing Executive MBA with 3 years experience in sales looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 91345727.

Indian female (M.Tech in Power system) having Gulf experience seeking suitable placement in Oman, now in family visa.

Contact: 94306164 / 91001194 B.Com male 2 yrs experience in sales Computer knowledge, seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 98371144 email: nabilnazar22@gmail.com 30 yr old experienced available with NOC & Oman driving license 6+years experience in chemicals Industry. Contact: 96675065 5 years experience in Sales currently looking for a placement.

Contact: 93458869

SKILLED / UNSKILLED Mason, SH / carpenter, steel fitter gulf & Indian exp 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

MISCELLANEOUS Indian Female, Master of Technology (M.Tech) in Electronics & Communication Engineering, currently in Muscat with Family Visa,1+ year experience in Teaching seeks suitable placement in Muscat. Contact 96209509 27,male,ACCA finalist, have professional experience up to finalization of accounts, statutory and internal audit, expertise in using tally, focus and oracle software, have 3.5 years experience in accounts till finalization ,seeking for permanent replacement in senior position,GSM-91324962,email id : abdullah.nooralam@gmail.com B.TECH ( IT) . 24 years, 2 Years of experience in technical support, software development, networking, troubleshooting and managing, seeks suitable placement.

Contact GSM- 98184170 Indian Male 4 years experience Chef. Indian, Chinese Cuisine seek suitable placement.

Contact 99883019 Chief Accountant , 7 years experienced (out of 25 years experience in accounts) worked in reputed group companies. Currently procuring MBA finance and having Omani Driving License seeks suitable openings from reputed companies.

Contact : 95598477 / 98803439 Indian male having 6 Years of Experience in Oman Having Valid Driving License working as a Purchase officer, looking for a suitable Position, NOC Available.

Contact: 95132564 / 96456071, E-mail:naji1988@gmail.com Indian female 22 years 1 year experience in Secretary & Accounting, Tally, looking for suitable job on visit visa. Contact: 97084473 Email: jumihasin10@gamil.com Relationship Manager, Indian male 28 yrs, BBA, MBA 5 year’s exp, currently working in India computer skilled. Contact: 0091 974710108 / 95071632 BE Mechanical Engineer / MBA Indian male 25 yrs, currently working in Qatar skills MEP designing surveying, Oracle, AutoCAD, SAP. Contact: 97474470866 & C/O in Oman 95071632 Indian male 25 yrs, MBA in marketing on visit looking for a job in Sales and Marketing.

Contact: 91270215 Email: nibuvarughese13@gmail.com Bangladeshi Male, University MA, 5 years experience in IT sales & marketing working as sales coordinator in Oman; searching better job. Phone: 91997605, email: mohamednazrulislam2@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS Indian, Keralite seeks cleaning job part time. Contact: 90169048 Indian Male 28yr age having 7year gulf+ Indian experience in HR/Admin field, looking for suitable placement. Contact:97914340, Email: rajkv3086@gmail.com Part- Time Accountant, well experienced senior accountant ,doing all type of accounting works, Finalization, Budgeting available.

Contact : 98803439 Indian male Executive Secretary having vast experience in admin, logistics & procurement well versed with computer seeks suitable placement. Contact : 99514286, Email : azimmohd@yahoo.co.in Sri Lankan Male, 23 years old with 3 years of Sales experience and basic accounting knowledge (AAT and Tally) Seeking for a suitable position. Contact-94864296 Indian, male, 28, BBM degree holder. having 2 years experience.

1 year in banking industry & 1 year in hotel industry. good accounts knowledge also. seeking a suitable job. contact# 94678590, email: awesh.khokar@gmail.com Indian male B.Eng. in IT, CCNA, MCSA, MCSE, 3yrs exp. in IT/ networking/ server, valid Omani D/L seeking suitable placement in IT/ Network/Server support.

Contact 92607532 Indian female, 35 years, Bachelor of Pharmacy (B. Pharm) with no experience and BSc & MA seeking suitable positions in pharmacy, pharmacy stores, hospital, polyclinic & pharmaceutical companies. Contact 90236481 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. Contact: 90182494 Indian Female Accountant, now in Oman on Visit Visa, looking for suitable placement.

Contact 94250871.

Sudanese male 31 years, 3 years Diploma in electrical engineer , 6 years and 1year in Oman experience in building construction and electrical plants, have oman drive license. Contact No : 94549609 Chief Accountant , 7 years experienced ( out of 25 years experience in accounts) worked in reputed group companies. Currently procuring MBA finance and having Omani Driving License seeks suitable openings from reputed companies.

Indian Male, pursuing ACCA with knowledge in C++, Java looking for accounting job. Contact 94743462.

Email: zabinbashu@gmail.com Well-qualified Indian Female with 8 years of experience in Procurement Supply Chain from reputed Companies in Oman seeks placement. Contact 91374217 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.

Contact: 90182494, Manojmallya999@gmail.com Indian female accountant, now in Oman on visit visa, looking for suitable placement, Contact 94250871.

Indian male B.Eng. in IT, CCNA, MCSA, MCSE, 3 yrs exp. in IT/ networking/ server, valid Omani D/L seeking suitable placement in IT/Network/Server support.

Contact 92607532 Indian female 10 years exp as cook in Oman . South Indian & Gujarati special looking for part-time job. Contact 96710189 Indian female, 27, food technologist (MSc Food Technology), 2years experience in Research and Development -Instant foods, Snack, Noodles, Oats seasonings, Soups, Curry powders. Raw Material Quality Assurance and Analysis, HACCP. Contact -93987174 , email :mayacnair@outlook.com Indian male Autocad draughtsman (civil) 8 years experience seeking for part time job.

Contact : 00968 99070584, Email: remluvp@gmail.com

Indian male 32 years dip in hardware net working with 10 years hands on experience currently on visit visa seeking immediate placement in IT Support or relevant jobs. Good knowledge of hardware & Networking.

Contact 94169341 Email: haripulikal@gmail.com Indian female, Diploma in Aviation and Hospitality management (IATA), Having 4 years experience, Seeking for a suitable Job, Contact 99104529.

B.Tech (CSIT) 25 years Indian male 3 years experience having excellent communication skills paired with technical skills, VM ware networking, hardware on visit visa looking for suitable positions. Contact: 97641141 Email: wasimakram619@gmail.com PROCUREMENT OFFICER, Indian-Male 34yrs,M.Com with 14 yrs work Exp.( 8 yrs in Oman ) working in Contg & Trdg Co LLC. ( for ROAD,CIVIL,ELECTRO-MECHANICAL & Others Projects ) and having valid LT D/L,Looking for suitable placement- M:94064650, Email: nagauae@gmail.com Part time Accountant available, well experienced in accounting up to finalization. knowledge in tally also. contact. 92643875 B.TEC ( IT) . 24 years, 2 Years of experience in technical support, software development, networking, troubleshooting and managing seek suitable placement. Contact GSM- 98184170 Chemical Engineer, 26 years old, indian,2 years of exp in industrial production, valid oman driving license, seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 91247222 10 years’ experience in Oman Lady Secretary / Office Assistant worked in reputed companies, seek immediate Employment.

Call: 95244761 MCA (Master of computer applications) with overall 3+ years experience in the field of system administration, networking and sales, Now in visit visa looking for suitable job. Contact- 90390184 Indian male MBA, 8yrs Experienced in South Africa & UAE as a Sales & Purchase Manager, Supporting Manager, Administrative officer in FMCG/consumer goods/ Electrical/Electronics items, looking for a suitable job. Ready to join immediately. Contact +91 7034084039, +91 9947636840, jnairvishnu@gmail.com 54 years Indian male with 25yrs of experience in Accounts & Finance up to finalisation in Construction Oil & Gas and also in Manufacturing industries seeking suitable placement.

Kindly contact me on 95323316 , email:rengan15@yahoo.com Indian male 25 years (Electrical Engineer) 3 years working experience in MNC company India, currently on visit visa seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 94864680 Email: m.mohamedazik@gmail.com ACCA Affiliate, Indian male, Fresher, looking for full time employment in Accounting and Finance, Valid Omani driving license. # +968 91291520, shahidazeez5@gmail.com

AVAILABLE Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirting, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery, Crockery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes, Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound Systems and spectacular lighting.

Call Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering and Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound & Light. ww.tunesoman.com, E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

GOOD NEWS 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

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DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED CARGO

TOURS

TOURS

MATRIMONIAL Christian Orthodox girl 24 yrs, BSC MLT working in Government Hospital Thiruvalla, seeking suitable alliance from Orthodox family.

Contact: 99734325 / 99898130 Sunni Muslim parents invite alliance for their daughter for Hyderabad boys. Contact: 91383229 Email: sfah3108@gmail.com

SITUATION WANTTOURS ED

RENT A CAR

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain Marine Tours contact 98029602, 92808636 We arrange tours & accommodation at all the beautiful places in Oman. Contact 99839898

DRIVING TRANSPORTATION

Menon / Nair boy 30 years, looking for a girl, preferred from Ottapalam area.

Contact: 99505473

Transportation.Contact: 99099714

Nair boy 27 years Keralite working in Canada looking for qualified girl. Contact: 99361442

Transportation Al Khuwair.

Contact: 92711421 Transportation. Contact: 91310107

NRI

Transportation available Ruwi to Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.

Contact: 91103909

NRI 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 3 bedroom flat for sale Kerala, EKM, Palarivattom. Contact: 00968 95993089/ 0091 9446845999/ 0091 4842422700 Jimmy 1100 sqft Property for sale opposite to SPFort Hospital, Trivandrum. Contact 91254791, 91 8893226226

Kollam byepass 5-10 cent for sale. Contact: 96157394

Transportation. Contact 99508282 Transportation. Contact:99664703

For sale 142 cents prime land 7 kms from kozhikodu Medical College Hospital in full or plots bus route and electricity available.

Expected price 2.25 lakhs per cent negotiable. Contact person : Dr. Robins 0091- 9447322230 Jayadas 0091- 9446848957

Al Sharouq rent a car. Contact: 99222617

Plot, propeties for sale in prime location in pune Contact 95272138, (+918390982975)

25 - 50 seater bus with PDO & BP specification for monthly rent & small car with driver. # 99839898

Transportation. Contact 96173326

Silver car, car rental at good rate.

Contact: 96166155/93530540

Transportation. Contact 94510847 Transportation Contact: 99077395 Transportation taxi mini bus.

Contact: 93091106

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W E D N E S D AY, JA N UA RY 2 0, 2 0 1 6

DAILY GUIDE

SITUATION WANTED SERVICES

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTED EDUCATION/CLASSES/TRAINING/COMPUTER/WEBSITE Spoken Arabic class for Non Arabic Speakers & English class for Malayalam Speakers

in Azaiba and Ruwi

• Learn in two months • Satisfaction guaranteed

Tel: 95244310

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

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

SITUATION WANTBUSINESS ED

SERVICES We Provide Cleaners, Office boys, Cleaning Contracts, General cleaning etc.

Al Mudakhir National Est. LLC Contact : 94277020

Water proofing ABUQABASContact 99320217/24788722

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your marble.Contact 24793614/ 99314807

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing, Contact 99314807/24792998

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

Split & window A/c servicing & maintenance. Contact: 93769089 / 95323517

We provide loading unloading helper for contracting.

Contact: 94777137

Cleaning & Carpet Shampooing, Ocean Center LLC. Contact: 99344723

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

Al farzdaq Al Fedi Trad and Cont Maintenance services electric, plumbing and A/C. Contact: 96524904 / 94285064

Pest Control Treatments.

Ocean Center LLC. Contact: 99344723

A/C maintenance & servicing, fridge, washing machine & dish washer repairing, painting & cleaning services, electrical & plumbing. Contact: 99447257 / 97014234 / 24504281

Canadian Consultancy company (recruitment & immigration) is looking for a partner company in Oman.

For contact 00973 39990830 eurogulf.ca@gmail.com,

SITUATION WANTSERVICES We are providing services like Accounts, Auditing, Tax Reports, Feasibility Study, Bank Loan Assistance & L L C Registration ASAS AUDIT & CONSULTANCY Contact at 91720465/94319719 Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles polishing, carpet shampooing, maintenance.

Contact ABU QABAS- 99320217 /24788722 *Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

WEB, ERP and Business Intelligence (BI) creation and management at rock bottom price. Contact: http//webviewoman