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142 DEAD IN YEMEN SUICIDE BOMBINGS Suicide bombings claimed by the IS militant group killed at least 142 people on Friday at mosques in the Yemeni capital, in an attack targeting people, including Houthi militiamen. The multiple blasts were among deadliest attacks yet in Yemen. >A4

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ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

SHARQIYAH SANDS BECKON ADVENTURERS

His Majesty sends cable of condolence

One of Oman’s most beautiful desert areas is Sharqiyah Sands, also known as Wahiba Sands (Ramlat al Wahiba). Extending over an area of about 10,000 square kilometres, it is much-loved spot especially for those who love adventure. — Shabin E/Times of Oman

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MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of condolence to Dr Hassan Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on the death of his mother. In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan expressed his sincere condolences and sympathy to the president, praying to the Almighty Allah to rest her soul in peace and grant him and all family members patience to bear the loss. —ONA

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New rules lead to delay on border with UAE

TUNISIA

His Majesty sends cable of congratulations

Expatriates have complained of delays of up to two hours as they now

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of congratulations to President Beji Caid el-Sebsi of the Tunisian Republic on the occasion of his country’s Independence Anniversary. In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan expressed his sincere congratulations along with best wishes of good health, happiness and a long life to president el-Sebsi, praying to Allah for the return of this and similar occasions on him to achieve aspirations of further progress and prosperity for the brotherly Tunisian people. — ONA BARDO MUSEUM

Sultanate condemns Tunis attack MUSCAT: Oman on Thursday condemned the terrorist attack on Bardo Museum at the Tunisian capital Tunis, which claimed the lives of a number of Tunisians and foreign tourists. The Foreign Ministry has issued a statement, which reads as follows: “With deep sorrow and grief, the Sultanate of Oman received the news about the despicable attack, which targeted Bardo Museum at the Tunisian capital Tunis that claimed the lives of a number of Tunisians and foreign tourists.” “While the Sultanate severely condemns such cruel act, which reﬂects deep hatred and organised terrorism, criminalised by all heavenly religions, and contradicts with the sanctity of human soul, it expresses its solidarity with the sisterly Tunisian Republic, government and people and its heartfelt condolences to families of the innocent victims. It also affirms the importance of collaboration of the international community efforts in combating terrorism and eradicating its roots and causes,” the statement further added. — ONA

have to ﬁll in a security form which is then submitted to the authorities for ﬁnal approval

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Ajman University ban Foundation for two is only temporary fishing harbours laid

‘Cloud computing can help Omani firms’

With data growing at 40 per cent a year, there’s an increasing imperative for businesses in the Sultanate of Oman to invest in cloud computing solutions because of its potential to tackle data explosion, said Yarob Sakhnini, regional director, MEMA at Brocade. >B1

Decision of the Qualiﬁcations Equation Committee of halting Omani students’ enrollment in the Ajman University of Science and Technology is temporary, says Dr Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Sarmi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Higher Education in Oman. >A3

Foundation stones for Massanah and Liwa ﬁshing harbours were laid on Thursday. The two important projects were launched by Dr Fuad bin Ja’afar bin Mohammed Al Sajwani, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries at the function held on the site of the harbour. >A3

ISO 9001:2008 Certiﬁed Company

MUSCAT: With new rules being introduced recently, long delays have been reported at the border between Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A number of expatriates have complained of delays of up to two hours because visitors to the UAE now have to ﬁll in a security form which is then submitted to the authorities for approval. The wait for approval can take anywhere between 30 minutes and two hours, say visitors, even when the border post is relatively less busy. The new procedure does not affect GCC nationals. There are three border posts for entering the UAE from Oman and these are Al Ain/Buraimi, Khatmat Malaha and Hatta. In

the north, the UAE border with Oman has border points at Khasab and Diba. Confirming the new rule, Jo Bird, administrator for the What’s Happening Muscat group on Facebook said, “There are new rules at both Al Ain border crossings. I met and spoke with a United Arab Emirates police officer last night and this is what is happening now.” New security form “Everyone not on a UAE visa has to complete a security form. The questions are straight forward such as ‘When was the last time you visited the UAE?’ ‘Do you speak Arabic?’ ‘Phone numbers of contacts here and in the UAE. Nothing difficult in there,” she said. “The form and your passport are then taken away to the officer in charge on duty for his approval. I did this at an empty crossing and had to wait thirty minutes for it to come back.” “Take sandwiches and a flask with tea at the weekend as it could take two to three hours depending on how many people there are,” she advised. Jo Bird also added, “On leaving Al Ain if you go via Hili you will need to pay by debit card at the same office as when you left. If you cross at the other post at Shackla, you can pay cash at the kiosk (stay in your car) but only in dirhams and not in rials. Coming back to the Oman crossing at Wadi Jizzy, if you need to pay for any visa there, you must do so with a debit card. No more cash payments are allowed.” >A2

N O R E P O R T S O F C O N TA M I NAT I O N I N O M A N

No recall of Kraft macaroni and cheese from markets Times News Service

Solar eclipse thrills sky gazers

MUSCAT: There have been no recalls of Kraft macaroni and cheese products from the markets in Oman, conﬁrmed a senior official of food monitoring at the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources. This comes after Kraft Foods recalled 6.5 million of their macaroni and cheese products from all over the world, after small pieces of metal were discovered within the packages. The official told Times

of Oman that there have been no reports of contaminated readymade Kraft macaroni and cheese in stores in Oman at the moment. ‘We will look into it’ “So far we do not know anything about this, and there have been no reports of contamination, but we will look into it,” he said. The recalled boxes have “best when used by” dates ranging from September 18, 2015, through October 11, 2015, and are marked with the code ‘C2.’ They were sold in the

United States, Puerto Rico, and in some Caribbean and South American countries, but not in Oman. The recall covers 205-gramme boxes sold individually and in packs of three, four and ﬁve. It covers 242,000 cases of the product. Kraft Foods said on Tuesday it was aware of eight incidents of consumers ﬁnding metal in the boxes, but has not been informed of any injuries. It says consumers should not eat the macaroni and should return it to the store where it was purchased for a full refund.

CLASS XII EXAMS

Indian board’s tough maths paper leaves students shaken REJIMON K

reji@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Representing worried Class XII students of India’s Central Board of Secondary Examinations (CBSE) over a “tough” mathematics paper, Oman’s counsellor of CBSE, Dr Sridevi Pradeep Thashnath, has officially written to that country’s Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) to look into the matter. Thashnath, who is also the Indian School Darsait (ISD) principal said, “I am in touch with the HRD Ministry officials and they are aware of the issue. They will ﬁnd some solution.” The mathematics paper of the CBSE Class XII held on Wednesday has left students of the board in Indian and abroad, including

Oman, worried due to the “difficulty level” . Talking about the state of the students after the heartbreaker, she said, “Unlike the past, this time they are so shocked that it has instilled a strong sense of fear and phobia in their minds, and they are not prepared for the next examination. The students said that it was the toughest mathematics paper they have answered.” “It is learnt that around 70 per cent of the questions were not from the CBSE textbook,” added the principal. Worried and depressed Almost all the students who appeared for the mathematics examination are worried and depressed. “It was quite difficult. Questions for 20 to 25 marks were extremely tough and incomprehensible, and

rest of the questions were equally incomprehensible. We are very depressed and are now not able to concentrate on the next examinations,” said Balabhaskar Ashok Kumar, a Class XII student from the Indian School in Darsait. “Even students who were well prepared would have found more than 85 per cent of the questions difficult to answer. For a few minutes we went blank,” said Nita Alisa Mathew, a student who is expected by the school to be among the toppers. “This has shattered our dreams,” said another student Anu Sam Baby. This comes just days after a really tough Physics paper that left parents anxious about the effect it would have on the admissions of their wards to professional courses.

“I heard that some students

began crying halfway through the paper. Many were frustrated and came out of the examination centre in tears,” said Rajeev, a furious parent. IIT-level difficulty Suresh Kumar, another anxious parent, said his child told him that the mathematics paper was of “IIT-level difficulty.” “This will affect the prospects of students during admissions to professional courses,” added the parent. Even as the mathematics paper made a large section of the CBSE Class XII students stumble, their counterparts from the Indian state boards had it rather easy, with many conﬁdent of scoring full marks. Only one question was a modiﬁed version of the problem given

in the textbook and stumped a few. “We are going to score less than the students from the state boards, and that will be a problem when our ﬁnal marks are going to be the criteria when we apply for professional courses,” said Bipinjot Kaur Hara. The CBSE recently shifted the paper pattern from ‘objective’ questions to application-based questions and this has made it hard for students to score. Due to this students have to spend more time answering questions and tend to miss some.

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Dr Sridevi Pradeep Thashnath, Oman’s counsellor of India’s CBSE. — Supplied picture

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Timeless charm of Sharqiyah Sands

Sprawling Sharqiyah Sands’ breathtaking beauty has an irresistible pull for adventure fans. The changing hues of the desert, from red to brown, in this original Bedouin homeland, enchants visitors. Ease of access and availability of all the facilities needed by a modern traveller make a trip even more attractive as Times of Oman photographer Shabi E found out

BORDER POST

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Security procedures surprise expatriates

One Oman resident, a British passport holder, said, “We were surprised because we had been through the border without any issues just a few weeks before, but this time we were confronted with this heavily photocopied, barely readable, form to fill out.” “Some of the questions were odd, such as ‘what is the security situation in the country you have just left?’. This is the Oman-UAE border, the only place I can be coming from is Oman, and you know that Oman is safe and secure,” said the resident. “I did find ‘Are you exposed to armed gangs’ almost amusing as I am not sure who would answer yes to that,” said the resident. “There was hardly anyone at the border post but it took an hour for an official to finally walk in and pronounce we could go ahead and get our entry stamps. He was going to detain me for further questioning until he re-

alised I was with my family, two single men were asked to follow him out,” he said and added, “I do not know how they will manage on weekends, and the Easter holidays could be a nightmare.” “I understand the need for security, but this was very low-tech and very inefficient. It just means massive delays for tourists,” he added. A reliable source at the UAE embassy in Muscat said, “It is a routine security procedure followed by the country and expatriates are expected to obtain a proper visa to enter the UAE.” Popular destination The UAE is a popular destination for both nationals and expatriates in Oman. Many of them head across the border for short trips and long queues at the border are common during the short holiday breaks such as Eid. With the new rules in place, holidaymakers are worried that the

delay could be longer than before. Meanwhile, at the recent Future of Borders International Conference organised by General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai, authorities announced that the Emirate has plans for “efficient and quicker systems for border control procedures taking into account the rising volume of passengers at Dubai’s two international airports.” At the same conference it was revealed that in a span of 14 years, passenger traffic at Dubai International Airport has increased from 12 million in 2000 to 70.4 million last year. Similarly, the number of smart gates has increased from just three in 2003 to 120 last year, and e-gates to 20. The number of passport control counters rose to 67. Also, the number of employees rose from 400 in 2000 to 1,714 last year.

CRUISE SHIP DOCKS AT SALALAH PORT The cruise ship Costa Atlantica visited Salalah Port on Thursday with 1,483 passengers on board including 652 tourists of different nationalities. The ship came from the Maldives and is headed for Port of Ain Sukhna in Egypt.—ONA

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R O YA L C A B L E

REGIONAL RECOGNITION

HM’s greetings for Namibia president MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of greetings to Dr Hage Geingob, President of the Republic of Namibia on his country’s Independence Day. In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan expressed his sincere greetings and wishes of good health and happiness to the president and his country’s people further progress and prosperity.-ONA

NAT I O NA L E C O N O M Y

Mussanah, Liwa fishing harbour plan launched MUSSANAH/LIWA: Foundation stones for the Mussanah and Liwa fishing harbours were laid on Thursday. The two projects were launched by Fuad bin Ja’afar bin Mohammed Al Sajwani, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries at the function held on the site of the harbour. Dr Al Sagwani said that the port will provide services that would help fishermen and those from related professions. The inauguration ceremony of the Liwa fishing harbour began with a report on details about the cost of the port, and time duration of implementation, as well as the facilities and services that will be provided to the fishermen.-ONA

OMAN Ajman University ban is temporary

HM receives cable of thanks from Uruguay president MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has received a cable of thanks from Dr Tabaré Vázquez, president of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay in reply to His Majesty’s congratulatory cable on the occasion of him winning the presidential elections. President Vázquez expressed his conﬁdence to enhance the existing relations between the two friendly countries to serve joint objectives. -ONA

Ajman University of Science and Technology ENVIRONMENT PRIORITY: Alila Jabal Akhdar Resort, is among the three national winners of the MEED Quality Awards for Projects this year. –Supplied photo

National awards for three projects Times News Service MUSCAT: Three of Oman’s most important projects of recent years have scooped major national awards for their achievements and are now in the running for regional recognition. These are Alila Jabal Akhdar Resort, Barka III and Sohar II, and Al Siraj Logistics & Warehousing. The national winners of the MEED Quality Awards for Projects, in association with Mashreq, include the Alila Jabal Akhdar Resort Project by the Oman Tourism Development Co (OMRAN); the Barka III and Sohar II Project by the Oman Power & Water Procurement Co (OPWP) nominated by Siemens Energy Solutions and the Al Siraj Logistics & Warehousing Project by Al Siraj Holdings. “Complying with the highest quality standards in the projects market is critical not just to the success of individual projects, but also for their invariable impact on the society at large, in terms of the economic, social and environmental beneﬁts they provide,’’ said John Lossiﬁdis, executive vice president, group head – Corporate & Investment Banking, Mashreq Bank. A national winner and GCC

ﬁnalist in the Drake & Scull Leisure & Tourism Project of the Year category, Alila Jabal Akhdar Resort is a mountaintop luxury resort developed by OMRAN. Located 2,000 metres above sea level alongside the cliff edge of breathtaking Jabal Al Akhdar, the resort promotes sustainability and strives to preserve historic architecture and culture. The project was opened in May 2014. Increased efficiency Highly efficient power plants like the Barka III and Sohar II, a national winner in the Power and Water Project of the Year category, fuel economic growth while preserving valuable resources. These two power plants, with an increased efficiency of more than 57 per cent, brought the total power production capacity of the Omani grid to 6,000 megawatts. Oman’s national winner in the Small Project of the Year category, the Al Siraj Logistics & Warehousing Project is a stateof-the-art modern warehouse built with the latest technology supporting the Supply Chain sector of Oman, and forms part of the company’s strategic plan to build sustainable warehouses and add to the growth of GDP of Oman.

delegation discussed academic issues with the Higher Education Ministry officials

STAFF REPORTER MUSCAT: Decision to halt enrolment of Omani students to the Ajman University of Science and Technology is temporary, said Dr Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Sarmi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Higher Education. Explaining the decision of the Qualiﬁcations Equation Committee, he said: “The suspension is based on certain reasons and if the university overcomes these reasons, the ministry welcomes the recognition of the univer-

sity and the education of Omani students there.” This clariﬁcation was issued after a delegation from the Ajman University of Science and Technology held a meeting with Higher Education officials. The two parties agreed that the university would prepare an action plan to address the issues that were discussed during the meeting and submit them to the Ministry of Higher Education. The Committee on Qualiﬁcations for Institutions in co-ordination with the cultural attaché of

the Ministry of Higher Education recently decided to suspend the enrolment of Omani students to the Ajman University of Science and Technology and the Faculty of Islamic Studies and Arabic Studies in Dubai. Academic degrees The ministry said that students who had enrolled before the issuance of this decision would get the academic degrees in case they meet the other terms. Said Amir Al Rahbi, director of the Committee on Qualiﬁcations for Institutions, pointed out that the sub-standard quality of both institutions was evaluated by the Ministry of Higher Education after taking the opinion of employers who hired students from these institutions. The study showed a very low pass percentage of those who studied at these institutions when it came to job interviews.

CALIFORNIA TOURISM

US team pitches for more visitors Times News Service DUBAI: Orange County Visitors Association (OCVA) of California representatives visited the Sultanate as part of a promotional campaign to attract visitors to Southern California’s capital of premier lifestyle and family attractions. The four-day OCVA mission, included a series of special meetings with leading Omani travel agents and the promotion of ‘The OC & ME’ campaign, which offers a long list of special discounts and value added services for consumers purchasing the special holiday packages, including complimentary VIP Personal Shopper Experiences at the OC’s leading shopping malls and shopping destinations.

The OCVA Middle East team participated in the Al Khimji Travel Road Show, which was held last week, where the team informed the public on Orange County’s attractions, including the world famous Disneyland, whale watching and cruising adventures, shopping and entertainment destinations, luxury accommodation and resorts, as well as its fresh and vibrant Southern California cuisine. Ed Fuller, CEO of Orange County Visitors Association said, “We are extremely excited to start our proactive series of promotions for Orange County in Oman. The OC offers great family entertainment for all. We are here to say a big ‘Welcome!’ to all Omani nationals and residents to come visit us and dis-

cover the fun and excitement that the OC has to offer, and we are doing that with an exclusive “OC&ME” package designed especially with the GCC countries in mind.” Orange County is located in Southern California and is less than 45 minutes from Los Angeles and an hour to San Diego. As such, in addition to having access to some of the world’s best beaches, shopping, and family entertainment attractions, to beach-fronted luxury resorts, visitors can enjoy all the lifestyle pleasures that the OC has to offer as well as make day trips to urban attractions. OCVA is the ﬁrst regional tourism association from the USA to have a permanent presence in the Middle East.

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REGION

We have reached a very crucial point in the talks, there are one or two critical issues and for the other issues still one or two points remain to be resolved Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s Foreign Minister

Yemen suicide bombings kill 142 Suicide bombers targeted mosques attended by Houthi militiamen and others in an attack claimed by the IS militant group

SANAA: Suicide bombings claimed by the IS militant group killed at least 142 people on Friday at mosques in the Yemeni capital, in an attack targeting people including Houthi militiamen. The multiple blasts were among the deadliest attacks yet in Yemen, which is grappling with growing instability and divisions along sectarian lines. They came a day after clashes between forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and those allied with the Houthi militia in the southern city of Aden, where the leader ﬂed last month. The suicide bombers targeted two mosques attended by Houthis, who have seized the capital Sanaa. One struck inside Badr mosque in southern Sanaa while another targeted worshippers as they ﬂed outside, witnesses said. Third suicide bomber A third suicide bomber targeted Al Hashush mosque in northern Sanaa. Nashwan Al Atab, a member of the health ministry’s operations committee, told AFP that 142 people were killed and

INNOCENT VICTIM: An injured girl reacts as she is carried by a man out of a mosque which was attacked by a suicide bomber in Sanaa on Friday. Medics at three main hospitals in Sanaa said they counted 55 people dead and 83 wounded in triple bombings. – Reuters

at least 351 were wounded. The Houthi militia’s Al Massira television said hospitals in the capital had made urgent appeals for blood donations. The imam of the Badr mosque was among the dead, a medical source said. Footage aired by Al Massira showed bodies lying in pools of blood outside the mosques, as worshippers rushed the wounded to hospitals in pick-up trucks.

Another suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque in the northern Houthi stronghold of Saada, a source close to the militia said. Only the assailant was killed in that explosion, and tight security at the mosque prevented the bomber from going inside, the source added. In an online statement, the previously unknown Sanaa branch of IS claimed the bombings and said they were “just

the tip of the iceberg”. “Houthis should know that the soldiers of the IS will not rest until they eradicate them... and cut off the arm of the plan in Yemen,” the statement said. It is the ﬁrst time that IS has claimed any attack in Yemen where Al Qaeda remains the most prominent militant group. The Houthis overran Sanaa in September and have since tight-

ened their grip on power. Their attempts to extend their control into other areas have been met by deadly resistance from tribes and Al Qaeda. Yemen, a front line state in the US war on Al Qaeda, has descended into chaos since the 2012 ouster of longtime strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been accused of backing the Houthis. Since ﬂeeing to Aden last

month, President Hadi has been struggling to reassert his authority, and violence has erupted there in recent days between forces loyal to him and to the Houthis. A security official said Friday a top Yemeni officer linked to the Houthis had escaped an assassination bid near Aden overnight. Four people were killed in an ambush on the Lahj-Taiz road, but General Abdel Hafedh Al Sakkaf, the special forces chief in Aden, escaped unharmed, said the official from Lahj. “He escaped the assassination bid but a bodyguard was shot dead, while three others died when their vehicle overturned,” the official said. The attack came as Hadi loyalists tightened their control over Aden, where the situation was calm early Friday. Troops loyal to Hadi and their allied Popular Committees paramilitary manned checkpoints, an AFP correspondent reported. Hadi himself had to evacuate a presidential palace in Aden on Thursday after a fighter jet opened fire, hitting a nearby hill. Separately, 11 people were killed Thursday when special forces fighters loyal to the Houthis tried to seize control of Aden’s airport from Hadi loyalists, in fighting that forced its closure. The airport reopened on Friday with a flight to Sanaa. Following the Houthi takeover of Sanaa, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries moved their embassies to Aden and several Western missions closed their doors in the capital for security reasons. In other unrest, five people were killed as southern separatists attacked police centres in Lahj, a security official said, adding that the dead included three gunmen and two policemen. — AFP

AT TA C K O N NAT I O NA L M U S E U M

Gunmen were trained in Libya: Tunisia TUNIS: Tunisia said two gunmen who killed 21 people at its national museum trained at a militant camp in Libya, as the country marked its Independence Day in sombre fashion on Friday. The IS militant group has claimed Wednesday’s attack on foreign tourists in Tunis, the deadliest since Tunisia’s 2011 protests. The two assailants “left the country illegally last December for Libya and they were able to train with weapons there,” Secretary of State for Security Raﬁk Chelly told Tunisian television. IS, which has hundreds of Tunisians among its ranks, threatened more attacks in an audio message posted online Thursday claiming responsibility for the museum massacre. Authorities say as many as 3,000 Tunisians have gone to Iraq, Syria and Libya to ﬁght in militant ranks, raising fears of battle-hardened militants returning home to plot attacks. Chelly named locations of several suspected training camps for Tunisians in violence-wracked Libya, including the second city

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RALLYING AGAINST TERROR: Tunisians hold placards and wave their national ﬂag during a demonstration on Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis on Friday, two days after gunmen attacked the National Bardo Museum. – AFP

Benghazi and the coastal town of Derna, which has become a stronghold for militants. The president’s office said security forces arrested nine suspects -“four people directly linked to the (terrorist) operation and ﬁve suspected of having ties to the cell”. And a presidential source said soldiers were to be deployed in

major cities following the assault, while insisting “we are not under siege”. As international outrage grew over the attack on Tunisia, President Beji Caid Essebsi said his country would not be cowed by extremism. “The process of implementing a democratic system is underway, well anchored,” he told France’s TF1 television. “We

IRANIAN NEW YEAR Iranians pick painted eggs to buy for Nowruz festivities, the new year celebrations, at Tajrish square market in Tehran on Friday. Iranians buy ﬂowers, green sprouts and goldﬁsh to celebrate Nowruz. — AFP

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will never move backwards.” Essebsi was set to make a speech Friday to mark the anniversary of Tunisia’s independence from France in 1956, though celebrations were dimmed after Wednesday’s carnage. Marches against extremism were planned on Friday in Tunis and the southern tourist hub of Djerba. Local media was also deﬁant, with the daily La Presse’s front page declaring: “Tunisia will overcome” and the Assasbah newspaper running the headline: “The Second Republic will prevail”. The dead included four Italians, three Japanese, three French, two Spaniards, a Colombian, an Australian-Colombian, a British woman, a Belgian woman, and a Pole, health ministry officials said. A Tunisian policeman killed in the attack was buried on Thursday. — AFP

S TA N D - O F F

Iran nuclear talks resume next week to break the deadlock LAUSANNE (SWITZERLAND): Iran and six world powers suspended negotiations on a historic nuclear deal and were set to convene again later next week to break a deadlock over sensitive atomic research and lifting of sanctions, Western officials said on Friday. While the negotiations have made progress over the past year and both sides appear determined

to push for a deal, differences on major sticking points are still wide enough to potentially prevent an agreement in the end. On the sixth day of talks at a 19th century hotel in the Swiss city of Lausanne, plans for the delegations changed repeatedly over the course of several hours. At one point, the foreign ministers of France, Britain and Germany were expected to join the talks on Satur-

day. Less than an hour later those plans were called into question after the Iranian delegation informed their US, British, French, Germany, Russian and Chinese counterparts that they would be returning to Tehran due to the death of President Hassan Rouhani’s 90-year-old mother on Friday morning. Tehran’s delegation checked out of the hotel and headed to the air-

port. All sides agreed a resumption late next week was likely. Prior to the Iranian departure, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation chief Ali Akbar Salehi held another series of meetings to break the impasse. In addition, technical and political experts from the parties have

been gathering daily to discuss options that could form the basis of an agreement under which Iran would accept curbs on sensitive nuclear work for at least a decade and sanctions would be gradually eased. There was no breakthrough this week. “We have reached a very crucial point in the talks, there are one or two critical issues and for the other issues still one or two points

remain to be resolved,” Zarif told reporters. “We had good talks and whether we will reach a result ... we have to wait and see,” he said after meeting Kerry. “We made very good progress.” Kerry said they made good progress, adding: “We’ll be back next week.” Russia’s chief negotiator Sergei Ryabkov told Reuters he agreed wholeheartedly with Kerry’s assessment. — Reuters

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D I S C H A R G E D F R O M H O S P I TA L

‘Embarrassment’ for Mamata as gang-raped nun leaves Bengal KOLKATA: Discharged from a hospital, the nun who was gangraped inside a convent in West Bengal’s Nadia district left West Bengal, prompting the opposition parties to call it an “embarrassment” for the Mamata Banerjee government. The sister superior of the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Ranaghat was admitted to Ranaghat sub-divisional hospital on March 14 with serious injuries after she was brutalised by the gang of bandits who also looted the convent. “The convent authorities, along with the sub divisional officer and the sub divisional police officer, gave a written application that the survivor be discharged. After examining all the parameters, she was released in the early hours of the day,” hospital superintendent A.N. Mondal said. “She was taken to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (Kolkata) and considering her condition, we had sent a doctor who accompanied her to the airport,” said Mondal. Archbishop of Kolkata Thomas D`Souza said the survivor was taken to an undisclosed location for the sake of her safety and security. Already facing backlash over po-

lice’s failure to affect a single arrest in the case so far, the Mamata-led Trinamool Congress came in for more attacks from the opposition as well as civil society members. “This has become an international matter and I don’t know if she has left the country. She has already left the state... I don’t have words to express the embarrassment,” leader of opposition in the assembly and CPI-M state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra said. Echoing Mishra, BJP leader Tathagata Roy said: “People have realised that law and order doesn’t exist here. With the rapists still at large, there may be another attack on her, they may even kill her this time.” Congress leader Abdul Mannan said: “What can be a bigger shame for the state that despite having a woman chief minister, a woman could not retain her faith on this government.” Meanwhile, police have initiated a case against angry people who had blocked the Chief Minister Mamata Baneerjee’s convoy during her visit to Ranaghat on March 16. Mamata on March 18 entrusted the probe to the CBI but the central agency is yet to formally take over. - IANS

PROTEST RALLY: Christian People take out a rally in Kolkata on Thursday to protest against gang-rape of nun at Ranaghat. - PTI

INDIA 38 killed,150 injured as train derails in UP Though the cause of the derailment was not immediately known, officials at the scene of the mishap said the train apparently overshot a signal because of a possible brake failure before coming off the rails RESCUE OPERATION: Rescue work is carried out after the Dehradun-Varanasi Janata Express derailed at the Bachhrawan railway station, in Raebareli on Friday. - PTI

RAE BAREILLY/NEW DELHI: At least 38 people were killed and about 150 others injured on Friday when the engine and two adjoining coaches of the DehradunVaranasi Janata Express train derailed near Bachrawan Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh. Though the exact cause of the derailment was not immediately known, officials at the mishap spot said the train apparently overshot a signal because of a possible brake failure before coming off the rails. The scene of the accident that occurred at 9.10am was some 50 km from Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow. “The death toll has mounted to 38. While 34 people died in Rae Bareli, four were declared brought dead in Lucknow,” UP Minister Manoj Kumar Pandey said. Late Friday night, the King George Medical University at Lucknow released a list of the 38 people who died in the accident. Union Home Minister Rajnath

K AT H UA

Violence Armed encounters between rebels and government forces occur regularly, though violence in the region has substantially declined during the last decade. India blames Pakistan for arming the rebels — a charge Islamabad denies. No rebel group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on the police station near Kathua, 350km south of the state capital Srinagar. President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday condemned terror strike on a police station in

Singh and Minister of State for Railway Manoj Sinha visited the trauma centre at KGMU and met the injured. Officials feared that the casualties could go up. Rescuers used gas cutters to rip apart the wreckage of a mangled a general compartment. Most of the casualties were from this coach, officials said. The other was a guard compartment which is likely to have been vacant. If it was not vacant, the number of casualties would have been higher, the officials said. The locomotive driver apparently overshot the signal and as a result, the engine and two adjoining coaches derailed, Railway Spokesperson Anil Saxena said in Delhi. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu ordered an inquiry by the Commissioner Railway Safety of Northern Circle to ascertain the cause of the derailment. The Railways announced a compensation of Rs200,000 for ROAD ACCIDENT

Six killed in militant attack SRINAGAR: Two suspected rebels stormed a police station in Indian-administered-Kashmir on Friday, killing three officers and a civilian before being shot dead by government forces, police said. The heavily armed militants hijacked a private jeep and killed the driver before lobbing grenades into the station, triggering a gun battle with government forces, inspector general of police for the region Danish Rana said. “Both the militants were killed in the following gun battle,” Rana said, adding that one police officer and two paramilitary troops were also left dead after the shoot-out. Two other troops were wounded in the attack, the ﬁrst to hit Jammu and Kashmir, since the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took power this month in a coalition government.

OPERATION: Security personnel during an encounter with the militants at Raj Bagh Police station, Kathua in Jammu on Friday. - PTI

Jammu region and asked security forces to remain vigilant against any threat to peace and security of the nation. Expressing condolence to the grieving families of those who lost their lives in the attack, the president called upon security forces to remain vigilant against any “threat to the peace, prosperity and security of our nation.” President Mukherjee also prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured. Meanwhile, Congress on Friday sought to corner the government over the terror attack on a police station in Jammu and Kashmir which left four persons including three securitymen dead, wondering whether the policies of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Say-

eed were a reason behind it. “Why is the chief minister silent?... Either your CM is not listening to you or you are unable to take any action,” Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge told the BJP in Lok Sabha, as Home Minister Rajnath Singh rose to make a statement on Friday’s attack on a police station in Kathua. Singh, however, refrained from replying to Kharge’s swipe and stuck to the speciﬁcs of the terror attack and urged the House to appreciate the valour of the state police and CRPF personnel who gunned down the two militants involved in the attack. “I am sure the House will laud the bravery shown by the state police and CRPF personnel,” he said as members thumped desks when he gave out details on the attack and the action by security forces. It was the ﬁrst such attack since the PDP-BJP government took over in the state. Referring to the state government’s recent decision to “release terrorists”, Kharge asked if the Minister was “allergic” to speak on the matter. The state government’s decision to release separatist Masrat Alam besides Sayeed’s appreciation for Pakistan, militants and Hurriyat for smooth polls in the state had sparked an uproar in Parliament earlier, forcing the BJP- led government at the Centre to denounce them. - Agencies

Paralysed Indian gets Rs25m in compensation DUBAI: A 30-year-old Indian in the UAE has been awarded over Rs25 million in compensation for a road accident which left him paralysed in 2013, three months after his marriage, media reported on Friday. Aboobacker Palliyalil from Kerala, who was a newspaper vendor at the time of accident, was hit by a car speeding in the wrong direction in Ajman in September 2013 that fractured his vertebrae (spine) and left him paralysed below the neck. A year and a half after the accident, a UAE court has awarded him 1.5 million dirham in compensation, an English daily reported. Dependant “We were just married for three months when Aboobacker travelled back to Dubai and was injured in the accident. Now my husband cannot even speak well... sometimes his mind is not stable and he is dependant on me and his family members,” Palliyalil’s wife Safna was quoted as saying by the paper. According to Safna, the money may not bring back the couple’s lost dreams but will at least cover his medical treatment. - PTI

SCAN THIS TO VISIT

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

the next of kin of those killed in the accident. While Rs 50,000 will be given to those injured seriously, Rs 20,000 will be given to people with minor injuries. Railway sources said the driver apparently applied the brake but the train did not stop raising suspicions of the failure of the braking system. An eyewitness, who was travelling in the ﬁrst bogey and was fortunate enough to jump at Bachrawan railway station where the train did not halt before the mishap, said he saw the driver and the guard frantically signalling from the doors. Thirty-ﬁve-year-old Shiv Mohan, whose bogey suffered the

most damage, said, “It seemed as if the brakes had failed and both the driver and the guard were talking on the walkie-talkie and asking the station master to give the main line.” As soon as the news of the accident spread, people from nearby villages rushed to the spot to help in rescue and relief operations even before authorities arrived at the spot. The accident spot presented a devastating sight with one of the bogies reduced to a mangle of steel. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday expressed grief over the loss of lives in the train accident in Uttar Pradesh and asked Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu to ensure speedy assistance at the spot. “PM has expressed grief on the loss of lives in the train accident in UP and has wished the injured a speedy recovery,” Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. - PTI

S ATUR DAY, M A RCH 2 1, 2 015 Evasion of tax robs the nation of critical resources necessary to undertake programmes for social inclusion and economic development Arun Jaitley, Finance minister

INDIA

SKILL DEVELOPMENT

SERENE SURROUNDINGS Tourists enjoy Shikara ride under the snow covered Zabarwan mountains on a sunny day, after days of snowfall and rains, at Dal Lake in Srinagar in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir on Friday. The Srinagar-Jammu national highway re-opened for traffic on Thursday after remaining closed for four days due to landslides triggered by incessant rain and snowfall. - PTI

Unskilled workers not to be allowed to take up foreign jobs NEW DELHI: With a signiﬁcant number of unskilled Indian workers facing trouble and legal action abroad, Indian government on Friday said it has decided not to allow people without skill certiﬁcates to leave the country for overseas employment. Skill Development Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy told the Lok Sabha that during his meeting with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, he was told that people without necessary skills were being sent abroad. He also referred to a case of an Indian driver on the death row in Saudi Arabia after being involved in an accident. Resolution Replying to a private member’s resolution on a scheme for development of technical skills amongst the youth, Rudy said the

BENGALURU

Sonia asks for CBI probe into upright officer’s death NEW DELHI: Amidst outrage over the mysterious death of an upright IAS officer in Karnataka, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday asked Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to hand over the inquiry into the incident to CBI. “The Congress President has advised the Karnataka Chief Minister to hand over the inquiry into IAS officer D. K. Ravi’s death to CBI,” party general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Digvijay Singh said. Amid growing calls for a CBI probe into the case, Siddaramaiah earlier met Governor Vajubhai Val in the day in Bengaluru and briefed him about the developments in the case. “I have met the Governor. I have explained to him the developments in Ravi’s case till date,” Siddaramaiah told reporters after meeting the governor. He said the “Governor has heard what we have explained to him; we have told him the investigation is going on and the investigation has been handed over to CID.” There has been a clamour for CBI probe from Opposition parties and the family of Ravi who was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his ﬂat on Monday. Stepping up pressure, BJP and JD(S) MLAs had on Thursday marched in a procession from Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat, to Raj Bhavan and requested the governor to advise the Siddaramaiah government to refer the case to CBI. AICC spokesperson Rajeev Gowda had on Wednesday indicated that the party was open to a

Black money to attract 90% tax, 10 years in jail They would also be given an opportunity of being heard along with necessity of taking the evidence produced by them into account, with recording of reasons, passing of orders in writing and limitation of time for various actions of tax authority. Further the right of appeal has been protected by providing for appeals to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal and to jurisdictional High Courts and the Supreme Court on substantial questions of law.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday an 88-clause bill that PROTEST: Students protest for

a CBI probe into the death of IAS officer D. K. Ravi in Bengaluru on Thursday. - PTI

seeks to unearth black money

PARLEYS: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley holding a meeting with state ﬁnance ministers, in New Delhi on Friday. - PTI

and assets CBI enquiry into the matter. “...Essentially, this particular issue will be dealt with as the investigation unfolds and if it turns that a CBI inquiry is appropriate, then the state government will take action,” Gowda, a Rajya Sabha member from the state, had said. Speaking to reporters here, JDS leader and former chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy on Friday charged the Congress Government with trying to hush up truth behind the case by raking up the personal life of Ravi and dragging the name of a woman IAS officer who was his batchmate into the issue. “The wish of six crore people of this state and media is that truth has to come out. In such a situation fresh feathers irrespective of its credibility are being added to the case,” he said. He also accused the government of selectively ﬂoating information and stories in the media to mislead the public about this case. - PTI

government has also decided that personnel who retire from the armed forces at an age of 40 years would be trained as ‘trainers’ or imparted other skills like entrepreneurship in the last years of their service. The minister said the National Skill Qualiﬁcation Framework would ensure that the syllabi imparting training in various skills were standardised. He said while government sector has three crore jobs, the organised sector had one crore jobs to offer. Referring to skill development, he said 25 crore unskilled workers would have to be trained for which government may have to spend nearly Rs5 lakh crore in the next ﬁve years. Government was looking at managing this amount from various sources like corporate social responsibility. - PTI

stashed abroad

NEW DELHI: Black money stashed abroad will entail a 10 year rigorous imprisonment (RI) and a whopping 90 per cent tax under the proposed stringent law that provides for a limited window of opportunity to offenders to disclose illicit wealth and escape prosecution. Acting on his Budget promise, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday an 88-clause bill that seeks to unearth black money and assets stashed abroad, an issue the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had campaigned against in the Lok Sabha elections. Flat rate ‘The Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015’, that is proposed to come into effect from April 1, 2016, pro-

vides for taxation at the flat rate of 30 per cent without any exemption, deduction, set off or carry forward losses permissible under the Income Tax Act. The bill provides for a separate taxation of undisclosed income abroad which will be no longer be taxed under the Income Tax Act. In the statement of objects and reasons appended to the Bill, Jaitley says a limited window is provided to offenders to file a declaration before a specified tax authority within a period, followed by payment of tax at 30 per cent and an equal amount of penalty. “Upon fulfilling these conditions, a person shall now be prosecuted under the bill and declaration made by him will not be used as evidence against him in the Wealth Tax, Foreign Exchange Management Tax, the Companies Act or the Customs Act,” it said. “Wealth Tax shall not be payable on any asset so disclosed. It is merely an opportunity for persons to become tax compliant before

the stringent provisions of the new legislation comes into force,” Jaitley said. Jaitley later told reporters that the bill would be considered by Parliament in the second leg of the Budget session. The provisions of the new bill will also apply to beneficial owners or beneficiaries of such foreign assets. Abetment punishable Abetment or inducement of another person to make a false return, account, statement or declaration will be punishable with RI of six months to seven years. This provision will also apply to banks and financial institutions aiding in concealment of foreign income or assets of resident Indians or falsification of documents. As a measure of safeguard, the principals of natural justice and due process of law have been embedded in the bill by laying down the requirement of mandatory issue of notices to persons against whom proceedings are being initiated.

More teeth The bill also proposes to amend the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 to include offence of tax evasion under the proposed legislation as a scheduled offence under the PMLA. The bill provides that second and subsequent offence will be punishable with RI of three years to 10 years and with a ﬁne of up to Rs10 million. It also empowers the government to enter into agreements with other countries, speciﬁed territories and associations outside India for exchange of information, recovery of tax and avoidance of double taxation. “Evasion of tax robs the nation of critical resources necessary to undertake programmes for social inclusion and economic development. It also puts a disproportionate burden on honest tax payers as they have to bear the brunt of higher taxes to make up for the revenue leakage caused by evasion. “The money stashed away abroad by evading tax could also be used in ways which could threaten the national security,” he said. - PTI

OVER-EXTRACTION

Uncontrolled urbanisation has created a water crisis in India NEW DELHI: Ranbir Singh still remembers when the wells in his village on New Delhi’s southwestern edge were ﬁlled with sweettasting water and livestock drank from the small ponds that dotted the area. Now the village has been all but subsumed by Dwarka, a highrise satellite city that sprang up in the 1990s on the edge of India’s sprawling capital. The ponds dried out long ago and are now ﬁlled with rubbish, while over-extraction has caused the groundwater level to fall so far that industrial pumps are needed to bring water to the surface. “Today what you get from underground is not even drinkable,” the 62-year-old said in Pochanpur, now a hodgepodge of small-scale construction overshadowed by Dwarka’s tower blocks. Stomach problems “People who still consume it complain of stomach problems, and many young people in our village suffer from skin problems because of this water.” Decades of population growth and uncontrolled urbanisation have created a water crisis in In-

dia. The World Resources Institute, a Washington-based research group, says the national supply is predicted to fall to 50 per cent below demand by 2030. A new UN report launched in Delhi on Friday ahead of World Water Day on March 22 will warn of an urgent need to manage the world’s water more sustainably and highlight the problem of groundwater over-extraction, particularly in India and China. It says 20 per cent of global groundwater sources are already over-exploited and warns the problem will only become more acute without better management, with demand expected to rise by 55 percent by 2050. Contaminated rivers Sushmita Sengupta of the Delhibased Centre for Science and Environment says much more could be done to manage supplies in India. “Our lakes and ponds were once a natural way of recharging groundwater, but they are being destroyed through urbanisation,” she said. “Our sewage goes untreated, so the rivers are contaminated. We used to be very good at managing

200 feet (60 metres). Meanwhile all the water that falls in the monsoon is being drained into the sewers and lost.” The result is that in many parts of Delhi the groundwater contains such a high concentration of impurities that it is undrinkable. A few kilometres away from Dwarka’s modern high-rises in the working-class suburb of Kailash Puri, life revolves around the city water board’s twice-weekly deliveries.

WATER WOES: A water tank operator ﬁlls up a tanker from a water well in the Dwarka sector of New Delhi in this photograph taken on Monday. - AFP

water in India, but we are losing that ability.” Activist Diwan Singh is campaigning for the city to divert rainwater drains, which currently ﬂow into the sewage system, to lakes and ponds in order to replenish the water table. The 44-year-old experienced Delhi’s water woes ﬁrst hand when he moved into a tower block in Dwarka, which like many parts of

the capital receives no piped water and has to rely on tanker deliveries and borewells. “Delhi’s groundwater management has been dismal,” complained Singh, who says he faces an uphill struggle against a slowmoving and sometimes corrupt bureaucracy. “In some areas around Dwarka, the groundwater level has fallen by

People get very angry Residents used to drink water drawn from the ground with borewells, but that is now too toxic, and few can afford the expensive water purifiers that are a standard feature of Delhi’s wealthier households. As the water board’s brightly-coloured trucks roll down the street, entire families including small children dash out of their homes with plastic containers to fill. “I was supposed to be at a job interview today, but I had to miss it because the water was coming,” said 22-year-old Neha Rana as she filled her buckets. “It doesn’t matter what’s going on, you have to come and get the

water. At times people get very angry, and fights can break out.” No one at the Delhi water board would speak to AFP on the record, but an official speaking on condition of anonymity said this was a national crisis and could not be resolved at the state level. “It is an issue that needs concerted, long-term planning at the national level,” he said. The issue has become so big in Delhi that providing free water was one of new Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s key campaign promises in state elections last month. In the meantime, private water “mafias” are catering to demand unmet by the government — at a price. Artificial shortage Many source their water from illegal borewells, exacerbating the problem, and there have been reports they collude with water board officials to create an artificial shortage. “They can recharge their pockets but they can’t recharge the groundwater,” said Singh, the Dwarka campaigner, as he looked despondently at the empty pond in the park near his home. - AFP

SAT URDAY, MARCH 21, 2015 The hike in electricity charges has come as a surprise since the fuel prices have been lowered

PAKISTAN

Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry president

LAHORE HIGH COURT

GETTING IT RIGHT Children colour drawings related to World Water Day in Islamabad on Thursday, ahead of World Water Day on Sunday. Maximum efforts are under way to enhance water storage capacity in the country to meet agriculture needs, said State Minister for Water and Power Chaudhry Abid Sher Ali. He said the country needs at least 147 million acre feet storage and consensus has to be evolved with provinces for the construction of more dams. - AFP

Lakhvi to remain in jail, court rejects plea against detention LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday dismissed the Mumbai attacks ‘mastermind’ Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi’s petition challenging his detention. Justice Mahmood Maqbool Bajwa reserved the order on Lakhvi’s writ petition in LHC, which challenged his detention orders passed by Punjab Home Department. On March 14, a day after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered Lakhvi’s release, Punjab home ministry issued orders to restore his detention for one month. The petitioner’s counsel had set aside Lakhvi’s detention as being illegal and a violation of the order of Islamabad High Court (IHC). Accepting Lakhvi’s appeal for his third-time detention, IHC had ordered authorities to release him immediately. In his petition, Lakhvi pleaded that the government had issued orders for his detention owing to pressure asserted by India. He further requested the court to set aside the detention order and direct the government to re-

RS0.81 PER UNIT

Rise in power tariff condemned by industrialists KARACHI: Yet another bombshell was dropped on the city’s struggling industries as the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) allowed KElectric to raise the power tariff by Rs0.81 per unit. Denouncing the step on Friday, businessmen said that the government’s approach was ‘anti-industry’ and ‘anti-investment’. Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra said that it would have a debilitating effect on the national economy. “The hike in electricity charges has come as a surprise since the fuel prices have been lowered,” he remarked, pointing out that in the last few years, the power tariff had more than doubled as the price of fuel rose. “With the recent spell of eased input costs, the industries and businesses were expecting a major cut in the power tariff.” Vohra said that frequent increases in utility tariffs had already generated chaos for trade and industry. “Now it seems that the government is wilfully creating hurdles for the country’s economic survival.” He pointed out that Nepra had reduced the electricity tariff by Rs2.8 per unit to adjust for changes in fuel prices on January 18 but instead of beneﬁting from this, KElectric consumers had been bur-

dened with higher charges. “The industries are already struggling to remain competitive in the global markets but electricity is a major input cost.” Karachi Tajir Ittehad president Jamil Paracha said that the small industries were barely surviving due to prolonged load-shedding and excesses levies and surcharges but the government had now allowed K-Electric to sound the death knell for them. He added that the private utility company should improve its work and stop load-shedding if it was going to demand tariffs higher than those in other parts of the country. A K-Electric spokesperson, however, told The Express Tribune that the decision had been made by Nepra. “K-Electric has nothing to do with the increase in the tariff; this is Nepra’s responsibility.” Nepra cleared the way for KElectric to raise its power tariff during a public hearing headed by vice chairperson Habibullah Khilji on Thursday. Electricity consumers using up to 50 units per month will be exempted from the tariff revision. During the hearing, K-Electric ﬁnance director Muhammad Amir claimed that the cost of power production had risen by Rs814.194 million on the back of fuel variation in January. - In exclusive arrangement with The Express Tribune

Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi

lease him. India accuses Lakhvi, a senior ﬁgure of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, of being involved in planning, ﬁnancing and executing the Mumbai attacks in 2008, which killed over 160 people. Responding to Indian allegations that Pakistan is not doing enough to ensure Lakhvi remains behind the bars, Advisor on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz last Sunday said Pakistan’s judiciary is free and works independently. - Express Tribune

2 killed, 7 wounded in Karachi bike bombing A senior officer at the police Counter Terrorism Department, told reporters that about 2 kilogrammes of explosives were used in the bomb, which

EXPLOSION: Residents inspect the site of a bomb explosion, in Karachi on Friday. AFP

was detonated with a timer

KARACHI: At least two people were killed and seven others wounded after a bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded outside a mosque in Karachi on Friday, police said. The blast took place in the

SLOW DOWN ENJOY THE RIDE

congested Aram Bagh area of Pakistan’s biggest city, outside a mosque belonging to a sub-sect of the minority community. Pakistan has been hit by a rising wave of sectarian violence in recent years, most of it carried out by militant groups targeting minority community. A police spokesman said two were killed in the blast and seven wounded.

Saif-ud-Din, a witness, said people were coming out of the mosque after Friday prayers when there was a huge blast and many people fell to the ground. “I was inside the mosque when the bomb exploded and I saw people falling to the ground,” Din said. Umer Khatab, a senior officer at the police Counter Terrorism Department, told reporters that about two kilogrammes (4.4

pounds) of explosives were used in the bomb, which was detonated with a timer. “The bomb was planted to target the people coming out of the mosque,” Khatab said. Many worshippers in bloodstained clothes gathered outside the mosque, searching for relatives. The blast ripped through the shutters of several nearby shops and shattered windows. In a separate incident a suicide bomber on Friday evening rode a motorbike into a vehicle carrying paramilitary troops in the east of the city killing two paramilitary soldiers. “A suicide bomber riding on a motorbike hit the mobile van of (paramilitary) rangers in the neighbourhood of North Nazimabad killing two soldiers,” senior police official Faisal Noor said. He said three other soldiers in the vehicle were injured and one was in critical condition. Karachi, a city of 18 million people, is rife with criminal, ethnic, political and sectarian killings, which claim hundreds of lives each year. - AFP

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Murder? Pull out the clichéd Kremlin script

ack in the old USSR, the stock response to a politically embarrassing development was to ask, “In whose interest is this?” The understood answer was that Washington had engineered events to embarrass the Soviet Union. And like so many Soviet practices, this one has found new life in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. In whose interest was the uprising in Kiev? The downing of the Malaysian jet? And now the murder of the Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov? For Putin’s investigators and storytellers, the answer is obvious: The devious West was trying to create an opposition martyr and demonise Russia’s leader. Nemtsov’s killing on February 27 was followed by the detention of several Chechens, an ethnic group that has been linked to other politically motivated murders. The official narrative, however, has been almost comically confused: The prime suspect, Zaur Dadayev, was said to have confessed, but he then told Russian human rights inspectors he had been tortured and coerced. In classic Soviet style, investigators accused the rights officials — not the interrogators — of violating the law. Meanwhile, officials and news media close to the Kremlin put out preposterous hypotheses: that Dadayev was a Muslim upset by Nemtsov’s support of Charlie Hebdo, the French magazine that ran antiIslamic and blasphemous cartoons, or that Ukrainian nationalists had ordered the killing. The powerful Investigative Committee, which is leading the probe, was reported to have few doubts. An unnamed source told the Russian news service Interfax on last Friday that the investigators were working on the premise that the killing was intended to “destabilise” the country and that the trail of those who ordered it “leads abroad.” It was an old script: After the 2006 murder of the crusading journalist Anna Politkovskaya, for example, the chief prosecutor pointed to people abroad, “forces interested in destabilising the country.” Prosecutors never identified who ordered her murder; chances are they will never identify who ordered Nemtsov’s. The propaganda is intended to defend Putin against the suspicion that Nemtsov was a direct or indirect victim of the Kremlin. Most Western experts discount the notion that Putin or his lieutenants would have wished Nemtsov killed, since the furore over his death was bound to outweigh his impact as an opposition figure. Laying any untoward event at the feet of the West may still work with Putin’s Russian constituency, but nobody abroad is likely to put any store in the committee’s findings. Only an internationally monitored investigation would have credibility, and if Putin really wants to clear his name, that is what he needs. It is more likely, however, that the conspiracy talk will continue until, as in Soviet days, Russians cease believing anything the Kremlin says. - The New York Times News Service

FISCAL DIVERGENCE

The question is how far will the euro fall? ANATOLE KALETSKY

Spring cleaning Karachi

leaning up the political cesspool in Karachi was never going to be easy or universally popular, but a start has been made based on an intelligence report that most major political parties have ‘militant’ wings. This should come as no surprise to anybody, the only surprise being that it has taken so long to both recognise the fact that political parties effectively run militant wings within themselves, and that these wings must be dismantled if peace is ever to come to the city. All clean-ups have to start somewhere, and the cries that a single political party is being targeted to the exclusion of other political parties are being trenchantly denied. The intelligence agencies have recommended an across-the-board operation in an effort to finally shut down the turf war that has been going on for many years between the political parties all vying for control of different parts of the city — with the ordinary Karachi resient being the frequent victim of their feuding. According to security officials, it has been decided that the militant wings of all parties will be disarmed without discrimination, and if this is truly the case then we welcome this development. Significantly, it appears that the police have little part to play in such an operation, probably because the police force is corrupt and highly politicised anyway and is also long overdue for a clean-up. If, as is promised under the National Action Plan, all non-state groups are to be disarmed then this will represent a sea change in both attitude and response to political violence. Faced with some awkward questions, the politicians have been defensive, with Farhatullah Babar of the PPP refusing to confirm or deny when asked whether his party had a militant wing in Karachi. No such equivocation from the military, which is saying that there has been a strategic shift in the thinking of its leadership, leaving little doubt as to who and what is in charge of the operation. We await with interest an operation targeting any of the other political parties, without which the MQM might have cause for complaint. Also welcome are reports that sectarian organisations in Punjab will soon be targeted as well. This is much needed and something that should have happened a long time ago. - The Express Tribune

Israel incarcerates even the innocent Palestinians The Western moralists who have been lecturing about morality and civil rights of people around the world have so far remained shamefully silent on what Israel does on the pretext of administrative detention. David Rose, a Jewish investigative journalist has exposed the truth. Nearly 99.99 per cent of the Palestinians, detained under administrative detention, are locked up in different Israeli jails for at least four years on an average for no crimes ever committed. Seema Ghosh Wadi Kabir

Reasons for recruiting child soldiers are complex The reasons children are re-

cruited to participate in civil wars are complex. The hypothesis that child soldiers are brought into conflicts by pathological, predatory leaders addresses only a small piece of the problem. Some recent research into the tactical uses of child soldiers reveals several key findings. The first is that the bloodier the civil war, the more likely children are to be drawn into it. Both governments and rebels employ child soldiers to fill their depleted ranks, and often compete with one other over what they see as a resource within the conflict. This treatment of children as a commodity in part explains why both governments and rebels engage in massive forced recruitment campaigns to fill their ranks with child soldiers. Vijay Ramesh Ruwi

The scope for dollarbullish or euro-bearish surprises is much narrower today. Does anyone still believe that the US economy is on the brink of recession? Or that the Bundesbank has the power to overrule ECB President Mario Draghi’s policy decisions?

he US dollar is hitting new 12-year highs almost daily, while the euro seems to be plunging inexorably to below dollar parity. Currency movements are often described as the most unpredictable of all financial variables; but recent events in foreign-exchange markets seem, for once, to have a fairly obvious explanation — one that almost all economists and policymakers accept and endorse. French President François Hollande, for one, has ecstatically welcomed the plunging euro: “It makes things nice and clear: one euro equals a dollar,” he told an audience of industrialists. But it is when things seem “nice and clear” that investors should question conventional wisdom. A strong dollar and a weak euro is certainly the most popular bet of 2015. So is there a chance that the exchange-rate trend may already be overshooting? Last year, many investors questioned the ECB’s ability to launch a bond-buying programme in the face of German opposition, and many others doubted the Fed’s willingness to tighten monetary policy, because doing so could choke off the US economic recovery. That is why the euro was still worth almost $1.40 a year ago — and why I and others expected the euro to fall a long way against the dollar. But the scope for dollar-bullish or euro-bearish surprises is much narrower today. Does anyone still believe that the US economy is on the brink of recession? Or that the Bundesbank has the power to overrule ECB President Mario Draghi’s policy decisions? With so much of the monetary divergence now discounted, perhaps we should focus more attention on the other factors that could influence currency movements in the months ahead. On the side of a stronger dollar and weaker euro, there seem to be three possibilities. One is that the Fed could raise interest rates substantially faster than expected. Another is that investors and corporate treasurers could become increasingly confident and aggressive in borrowing euros to convert into dollars and take advantage of higher US rates. Finally, Asian and Middle Eastern central banks or sovereign wealth funds could take advantage of the ECB’s bond-purchase programme to sell increasing proportions of their German, French, or Italian debt and reinvest the proceeds in higheryielding US Treasury securities. These are all plausible scenarios. But at least four factors could push the dollar-euro exchange rate the other way. First, there is the effect of the strong dollar itself on the US economy and its monetary policy. If the dollar continues to rise, US economic activity and inflation will weaken. In that case, the Fed, instead of raising interest rates faster than expected, will probably become more dovish. Second, there must

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Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived ABRAHAM LINCOLN

be serious doubts about whether Asian and Middle Eastern governments will in fact want to shift more reserves into dollars, especially if this means converting the euros they have acquired since 2003 at a loss and far below their purchasing power parity. Many countries have spent decades diversifying their wealth away from dollars, for both financial and geopolitical reasons. With the US increasingly prone to using its currency as an instrument of diplomacy, even of warfare — a process known in Washington as “weaponising the dollar” — China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, for example, may well be reluctant to shift even more of their wealth into US Treasury bonds. A third factor suggesting that the euro’s downward trend against the dollar may not last much longer is the trade imbalance between the US and Europe. The gap is already wide — the International Monetary Fund forecasts a $484 billion deficit this year for the US, versus a $262 billion surplus for the eurozone — and is almost certain to widen much further, owing to the euro’s 20 per cent depreciation since the IMF released its estimate last autumn. The implication is that hundreds of billions of dollars of capital will have to flow annually to the US from Europe just to maintain the present eurodollar exchange rate. And as the transatlantic trade imbalance widens further, ever larger capital flows will be needed to keep pushing the euro down. Such huge capital flows are entirely possible, but what will drive them? That question leads to the final and most important reason for expecting the euro’s decline to reverse or at least stabilise. While higher US interest rates will attract some investors, others will move away from the dollar if the combination of a more competitive euro, the ECB’s enormous monetary stimulus, and an easing of fiscal pressures in France, Italy, and Spain generates a genuine economic recovery in Europe. The resulting flows of global capital into European shares, property, and direct investment — all of which are now substantially cheaper than corresponding US assets — could easily outweigh the cash and bond investments attracted by rising US interest rates. What, then, can strike a balance between the opposing forces operating on the euro-dollar exchange rate? No one can say for sure, but one thing is certain: Whereas the profits from playing transatlantic interest-rate differentials may run to 1 per cent or 2 per cent per year, investors can easily lose that amount in a single day — or even an hour — by buying the wrong currency when the trend turns. As we know from decades of Japanese and Swiss experience, selling a low-interest-rate currency simply to chase higher US yields is often a costly mistake. - Project Syndicate

Politics in India has failed to evolve over time Politics in India has never been known for its innovations or exciting movements. In fact, it has remained terribly insipid and gallingly tiring. It is a pity that even 65 years after the country gained its independence its politics has remained where it was six decades ago. Unlike the country’s advertisement industry which has matured remarkably in terms of its ideas and innovations, the polity of the largest democracy and a vibrant economy has virtually remained a trapped in the past. Nadeem Al Ghubra

Sri Lanka failed to put up a ﬁght against South Africa Contrary to what was thought and

expected, the first quarter final match of the ICC World Cup 2015 between Sri Lanka and South Africa turned out to be a huge damper. We were disappointed to see the match which, in fact, turned out to be a one-sided contest. Sri Lanka were comprehensively beaten by the South African team. The Sri Lankan team failed to put up any fight. And Sangakkara was a big disappointment. Ashok Panicker Seeb

South Africa seems to have postponed its choke By winning against Sri Lanka, South Africa have only postponed its choke to the semi-ﬁnal match of the ICC World Cup 2015. B. M. Srinivas Al Ghubra

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

SAT URDAY, MARCH 21, 2015

WORLD

It was worth coming here from Australia, probably not as good as the 2012 eclipse we saw in Cairns, but still worth coming Michael Tonks, Australian visitor

Two politicians claim to be mayor in Philippine city The power struggle is widely seen as a battle between the nation’s ruling Liberal Party and main opposition

MANILA: The Philippines’ ﬁnancial capital Makati has been plunged into chaos with two politicians claiming to be mayor, forcing courts to close and delaying government business during a bitter stand-off triggered by graft claims. Surrounded by hundreds of supporters, Makati mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay has been holed up in city hall since the ombudsman suspended him last week because of its investigation into his alleged corrupt practices. Insisting the graft accusations are trumped up, Binay has refused to cede power to his deputy and rival, Romulo Pena, who insists he is now “acting mayor”. The power struggle is widely seen as a battle between the nation’s ruling Liberal Party and main opposition. Binay is the son of opposition leader, Vice President Jejomar Binay, while Pena is a member of President Benigno Aquino’s Liberal Party. Makati’s courts closed for a day

UP IN ARMS: Protesters display placards while marching towards the presidential palace, in Manila on Friday. – Reuters

last week because of the crisis, and some judges have continued to postpone hearings to avoid the crush of Binay supporters outside the building, family spokesman Joey Salgado told AFP on Friday. He also warned there was a looming crisis over who had the authority to sign the city’s cheques, while some welfare recipients said they did not receive their beneﬁts on time. If banks do not honour cheques signed by Binay, street lamps and traffic lights will be shut down,

taps in government buildings will run dry and garbage collection will stop, according to Salgado. “This is a very dangerous situation, if their (national government’s) actions result in delays in salaries, utilities,” he said. “Any perception of instability would have an effect on the country. They are sending the wrong signal to investors. Makati is the ﬁnancial centre of the country.” From an adjacent old building, with hallways that reek of leaking toilets, Pena issued a memoran-

dum on Friday to all city hall employees asserting his authority. “All ordinances, official documents and official actions must be submitted and referred to the undersigned for approval and/ or appropriate action,” Pena said, referring to himself. Makati is the country’s largest city in terms of revenue, with 11.9 billion pesos ($265 million) in earnings from taxes and fees in 2013, according to government data. The city hosts the country’s stock exchange, 82 embassies and

consulates, 506 bank offices and 246 business process outsourcing and technology companies. The stand-off appears likely to drag on for weeks, with the Binay family against the suspension but Pena continuing to receive the Aquino administration’s support. While the power struggle is unlikely to affect big business in the city in the short term, it could affect the Philippines’ image as a safe investment destination, Richard Javad Heydarian, a political science professor at the De La Salle University in Manila, told AFP. “Business can’t be tied to political cycles,” he said. Binay’s family has said the mayor’s suspension is politically motivated as his father continues to dominate surveys to become the next president in 2016 elections, ahead of the Liberal Party’s Interior Secretary Mar Roxas. The Binays have ruled Makati since the restoration of democracy in 1986, endearing themselves to the masses with unparalleled beneﬁts such as free college education, medicine, movies and birthday cakes. The elder Binay capitalised on this populist theme to propel himself to the country’s second highest post in 2010 and fortify a political dynasty that includes two other daughters elected to parliament. True to the family’s populist touch, the Binay’s have attracted supporters to the vigil at the city hall grounds with ﬁlm showings on giant screens and free Zumba lessons. Media have also been given free food. -AFP

SENTENCED

UK teenager gets 22-year jail for soldier murder plan LONDON: A British court on Friday sentenced a teenager to 22 years in prison for plotting an attack against a soldier inspired by the 2013 murder of Lee Rigby by militants in London. Brusthom Ziamani, 19, was detained in August 2014 carrying a 12-inch (30.5-centimetre) knife, a hammer and a black ﬂag in his rucksack. Police said they were alerted to his intentions after he showed his weapons to his ex-girlfriend. “The defendant... would have carried out the intention he so graphically expressed to his exgirlfriend just a few hours before,” judge Timothy Pontius told the court. The judge said Ziamani would have to serve at least two-thirds of the sentence before being eligible for parole. A jury at England’s Old Bailey central criminal court in London last month convicted him of “preparing an act of terrorism”. Ziamani’s trial heard that he became radicalised by members of extremist organisation Al Muhajiroun (ALM) and had researched the location of army cadet bases. Ziamani’s lawyer, Naeem Mian, said his client was not an “entrenched extremist” and had been led astray by people “more sophisticated and mature” than him. He had previously been arrested in June 2014 on an unrelated matter, and police found a ripped-up letter in his trousers in which he wrote about attacking a British soldier. — AFP

SKY GAZING

Thousands scan skies for glimpse of amazing Solar eclipse TORSHAVN (FAROE ISLANDS)/LONGYEARBYEN: A Solar eclipse thrilled thousands of sky gazers on remote Arctic islands on Friday but clouds disappointed some viewers of a rare celestial show that was also partly visible for millions in Europe, Africa and Asia. People cheered and clapped as the moon blocked the sun for about 2.5 minutes under clear skies on the icy Norwegian islands of Svalbard, where tourists had been warned of risks of frostbite and polar bears after an attack on Thursday. But clouds masked the sky over Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands further south and the only other place where a total eclipse was visible from land as the moon’s shadow skimmed across the Atlantic. Overcast “It was overcast, there was rain and wind. You could see nothing. It was a disappointment for everybody,” said Gabor Lantos, a Hungarian tourist. “Some tourists were so irritated, they argued with

tour operators, demanding their money back.” Others were more awestruck by the sudden darkness. “It was worth coming here from Australia, probably not as good as the 2012 eclipse we saw in Cairns, but still worth coming,” said Australian visitor Michael Tonks. Street lights came on automatically as the sky blackened. Some eclipse viewers gathered on an icy mountainside in Svalbard. “We couldn’t ask for more. It was stunning,” said Ronny Brunvoll, head of the Visit Svalbard organisation. Bear mauls tourist In Svalbard, a polar bear mauled a Czech tourist on Thursday, breaking into his tent as he slept. Jakub Moravev, ﬂown by helicopter to hospital, escaped with light injuries to his face, chest and an arm. The Faroe Islands expected about 8,000 visitors on top of the archipelago’s 50,000 population for the ﬁrst eclipse in the region in 60 years. About 2,000 people

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RARE CELESTIAL SHOW: A combination photo shows the different phases of the total solar eclipse as it occurred over Longyearbyen on Svalbard on Friday. – Reuters

made the trek to Svalbard, doubling the population there. “I’ve seen aurora, I’ve seen some volcano eruptions, but the total eclipse is still the most spectacular thing I’ve ever seen. And each one is unique,” said Fred Espenak, a retired NASA astrophysicist in Torshavn. In an eclipse, when skies are clear, stars and planets are suddenly visible in daytime and a ring of ﬁre - the corona - appears around the sun. In one famous experiment, a 1919 eclipse provided evidence for Einstein’s theory of relativity by showing that the sun’s mass bent light from distant stars.

On Friday, electrical grids claimed success in managing the unprecedented disruption to solar power from the eclipse that brought sudden, massive swings in supply over a 2-1/2-hour period. The small audience on Friday contrasted with tens of millions of people who saw the last major eclipse in Europe in 1999. This time around, a partial eclipse was visible mainly in Europe and Russia, and glanced parts of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Twitter was dominated by the eclipse, with seven of the top 10 trending terms related to the sun

and moon in Germany. Leaden skies marred the view in most places except Europe’s remote north where spectators described the sight as “amazing”. Die-hard eclipse enthusiasts who ﬂew in to the Faroe Islands and Norway’s Arctic Svalbard archipelago — the only places where the less than three-minute total eclipse was visible — were rewarded with the best views. “We had clouds... but it was still fantastic,” said Ole J. Knudsen, an astrophysicist from Denmark’s Aarhus University, who watched from hills high above the Faroes

capital Torshavn. “You could see the shadow come up behind the clouds. For 20 to 30 seconds the sky was covered and it became dark and there was a collective shock that you could hear from all the spectators,” he said. “It was worth all the money.” To a background din of yelping sled dogs and in bracing bracing -20 Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit) morning air, Kathy Biersdorff, from Calgary in Canada, and her companions shouted out what they saw: “Crescent shadows! Diamond ring! Chromosphere! Moon’s shadow.” “Oh man... this is so amazing. I’ve never seen so many phenomena during an eclipse,” she said. But elsewhere, most of those who headed outside to watch the moon pass between Earth and the sun were left disappointed by cloud cover. — Agencies

A 10

S ATUR DAY, M A RCH 2 1, 2 015

WORLD

The single-seater aircraft touched down at 7:51 pm (1321 GMT) on Thursday, several hours earlier than expected, after a 13-hour journey from the Indian city of Varanasi, cut short thanks to strong tail winds

ETHIOPIA

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SHOW OF EQUESTRIAN SKILLS A Nepalese soldier takes part in the Ghode Jatra (horse race) festival in Kathmandu on Friday. The Nepalese army celebrates the Ghode Jatra festival every year with various equestrian activities. — AFP

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Ethiopian pilot who hijacked plane gets 20 years in jail ADDIS ABABA: An Ethiopian court sentenced an Ethiopian Airlines pilot to 19 years and six months in prison on Friday for hijacking his own plane and ﬂying it to Geneva, more than a year after he surrendered to Swiss police and sought asylum. Ruling The high court in Addis Ababa issued its ruling on Hailemedhin Abera Tegegn in his absence. He had been convicted in absentia on Monday. “The court sentenced him to 19 years and six months in jail for the crime he committed,” Shimeles Kemal, the government’s spokesman, told Reuters. Shimeles said an extradition request had been rejected by Switzerland and that Swiss authorities had said Hailemedhin would face charges there. There were no details on his current whereabouts. The 32-year-old was secondin-command on the Feb. 17, 2014 ﬂight to Rome. According to Swiss police, he took control of the aircraft when the main pilot, an Italian, left the cockpit for a toilet break, then sent a coded signal announcing he had hijacked his own plane. — Reuters

T H R E E - D AY V I S I T

US First Lady tries her hand on Japanese ‘taiko’ drum KYOTO: US First Lady Michelle Obama beat the drum for Japan on Friday — literally — as she tried her hand at traditional “taiko” drumming in the historic tourist hotspot of Kyoto. Winding up her three-day stay in the country, she picked up the cosh-like sticks players use to hit the huge drums in complex but hypnotic rhythms. Great time A smiling Obama, wearing a kneelength jacket in yellows, blues and greens, appeared to be having a great time as she thumped the ancient instruments and blew a whistle alongside high school students in a performance at Fushimi Inari Taisha, a 1,300 year old shrine. The shrine, one of the most important in Japan’s native Shinto religion, is famed for having 10,000 “torii” gates -- red or orange structures that look a little like the symbol for pi. Passing through the gates is supposed to help wishes come true. Obama had earlier visited the 1,200-year-old Kiyomizu Buddhist temple, a stunning UNESCO World Heritage wooden structure set in the hills around Japan’s ancient capital. Escorted by the chief monk and accompanied by US ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy, she watched “Noh”, a form of classical Japanese musical drama. Obama was in Japan to launch the “Let Girls Learn” initiative, a programme aimed at helping to get girls around the world into school. Tokyo and Washington are both big donors. — AFP

Kremlin turns to YouTube as new ‘propaganda weapon’ The videos seek to rid Russians of any guilt over their past - or doubts about a present in which their country is maligned for its role in the Ukraine crisis

MOSCOW: “I am a Russian occupier,” a deep voice says proudly as the video crackles to life with realistic gaming graphics that show a Kalashnikov being loaded by a soldier before the dramatic, throbbing music begins. “And I am tired of apologising for it!” The slickly designed YouTube video has been viewed more than ﬁve million times in two weeks and is the latest hit in a series of posts to an account apparently held by an enthusiastic young Russian merely trying to understand and explain his country’s politics. But upon closer inspection there is no young man at all, but a communications agency which openly admits being hired by people close to the regime to make the videos. With patriotic slogans, antiAmerican diatribes and scorn heaped upon those who chose independence from Russia, the

IMAGE BOOST: Russian military troops take part in a military drill on Sernovodsky polygon close to the Chechnya border, some 260km from south Russian city of Stavropol, on Thursday. The slickly designed YouTube video is the latest hit in a series of posts to an account apparently held by an enthusiastic young Russian merely trying to understand and explain his country’s politics. – AFP

videos seek to rid Russians of any guilt over their imperialistic past or doubts about a present in which their country is maligned for its role in the Ukraine crisis. Description The narrator describes how Russia occupied Siberia, turning it from a place which “sold women for sable skins” into a producer of oil, gas and aluminium. How the Baltic States, after rejecting their Soviet master now “sell sprats and some of their people clean toilets in Europe”. For its part, Ukraine now only develops “dictatorship”.

“I am an occupier by birthright” he says, as images of Russian heroes and historic battles play across the screen. “Please, understand, I don’t need your hypocritical freedom, I don’t need your rotten democracy. Everything that you call Western values is alien to me,” the narrator says. With a ﬁnal warning that “I know how to ﬁght better than anyone else,” an image of the message being sent as an email to US President Barack Obama ends the video. With subtitles in several languages the video has stirred curiosity outside the country. In Moscow, Deputy Prime Minister

Dmitry Rogozin — known for his anti-Western rants — tweeted a link to it proclaiming he too was “a Russian occupier”. Other videos by the same account (https://www.youtube. com/user/okeyamnet) follow the same formula: 3D graphics and shock phrases about the American conspiracy behind the crisis in Ukraine, a common theme in official media since a Moscowbacked government in Kiev fell in a pro-Western street revolt in February last year. It is a message which chimes well with Russians in an increasingly nationalistic mood after

President Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea from Ukraine. The owner of the YouTube account, subtitled “Russian Propaganda”, is Evgeny Yurov, 29. When contacted by AFP through Russian social media site VKontakte, he says he is a graphic designer who lives in the country’s third largest city, Novosibirsk, in western Siberia. He agrees to an interview by email, saying that before the events in Kiev, “I didn’t care about Russian politics. But now I need to understand, to explain” protest movements such as that in Ukraine. Yurov says he has nothing to do with the Kremlin and is pleased at the success of his videos. “You know, I get as many clicks as some cat videos,” he told AFP. However it quickly becomes clear that Yurov does not exist. A PR company named My Duck’s Vision -- a specialist in viral videos -- which makes strikingly similar videos to those published on his account, admits his identity is fake. “We have been producing Russian propaganda on YouTube for over ﬁve years but this is one of our major successes,” artistic director Yury Degtyarev tells AFP of the “Russian Occupier” clip when tracked down. The video, he adds, had been ordered “by people close to the ruling party”. “Ah yes, it’s true, this does destroy the myth of the young patriot willing to do anything for Russia,” he laughs over the revelation. Propaganda and misinformation are key to Russia’s special brand of what has been called “hybrid warfare” -- using deception rather than actually declaring war. — AFP

SOLAR-POWERED PLANE

Solar Impulse 2 gets jumbo welcome on landing in Myanmar YANGON: Solar Impulse 2 was met by dancers dressed in an elephant costume as it landed in Myanmar’s second largest city Mandalay, completing the fourth leg of its landmark circumnavigation of the globe powered solely by the sun. The single-seater aircraft touched down at 7:51 pm (1321 GMT) on Thursday, several hours earlier than expected, after a 13hour journey from the Indian city of Varanasi, cut short thanks to strong tail winds.

HONOURED: Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard, left, and Andre Boschberg receive a gift from Myanmar President Thein Sein, right, at Mandalay international airport on Friday. – Reuters

Brightly coloured Pictures showed the plane being met by two men dressed as a brightly coloured elephant, backed by a huge crowd of local dancers. Pilot Bertrand Piccard ﬂew the fourth leg of the 12-part journey, taking over from fellow Swiss

aviator Andre Borschberg. “A moment I will remember: touch down in #Myanmar,” Piccard tweeted shortly after landing. “It was fabulous to have my wife Michèle and my daughter Estelle by my side at the landing in #Mandalay,” he added in a later post. Previous visit The Swiss adventurer had previously visited Myanmar in 1998 during another attempted roundthe-world trip in the Breitling Orbiter 2 balloon. At the time Myanmar was still governed by a brutal and isolationist junta. But in 2011 outright military rule was replaced by a quasi-civilian government and Myanmar has since embarked on a series of reforms, prompting a ﬂood of foreign investment.

Infrastructure in the impoverished southeast Asian nation however remains limited, and the Solar Impulse team needed to erect an enormous inflatable mobile hanger at Mandalay airport to house the plane during its stopover. It is the first time the hanger has been used during the round-theworld trip. The Solar Impulse team said they expected the aircraft to remain in Myanmar at least two days before heading to China’s Chongqing for the next leg, pending favourable weather conditions. Strong winds The trip from Varanasi was expected to take around 20 hours, but strong tail winds pushed the plane up to record-breaking speeds. “This flight broke a record in terms of speed going up to 117

knots pushed by tail winds,” an update by the team on YouTube said. The plane had stopped overnight in Varanasi after leaving Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, where the pilots became entangled in India’s notorious bureaucracy, delaying its departure by five days. The team behind Solar Impulse 2, which has more than 17,000 solar cells built into its wings, hopes to promote green energy with the circumnavigation attempt. Ridiculed by the aviation industry when it was first unveiled, the venture has since been hailed around the world, including by UN chief Ban Ki-moon. Muscat was the first of the 12 planned stops on the plane’s maiden journey around the world from Abu Dhabi, with a total flight time of around 25 days spread over five months. — AFP

SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015

S P O R S FOOTBALL

‘No Team GB in Rio without full agreement’ ZURICH: Great Britain will not be allowed to enter the 2016 Olympic soccer tournaments unless all four British nations agree on sending teams, Fifa Vice-President Jim Boyce has stated, casting doubts on their participation in Rio. The Football Association of Wales was reported to be “livid” with the proposal put forward by the English FA to send a side to Brazil, and the Scottish and Northern Irish associations have also been opposed in the past. Despite that opposition, Team GB competed in the men’s and women’s events at the London Olympics in 2012. But Boyce, a former president of the Northern Irish federation, told reporters in Zurich that world governing body Fifa would need to approve such a plan and would only do so if all four British countries were in agreement. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have long been concerned about losing their individual status with Fifa and being subsumed into one Great Britain team for all international events. - Reuters

Fifa to pay clubs $209m for Cup ‘collaboration’ The move appeared to placate the

We are taking a huge step forward in promoting relations between Fifa and the clubs in a spirit of mutual and constructive cooperation

European clubs who had said they would demand compensation if the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was staged in November and December

Sepp Blatter ZURICH: Fifa has announced a threefold increase in the amount of money it pays as part of a collaboration agreement with clubs who release players for the World Cup and the ruling body will hand out $209 million in both 2018 and 2022. Clubs will also be given a greater say in drawing up the international match calendar, which allocates the dates for club and national team matches, following the agreement between Fifa and the European Clubs’ Association (ECA). The move appeared to placate the European clubs who had said they would demand compensation if the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was staged in November and December. Those dates, which will force the European season to be stopped for nearly two months, were confirmed by Fifa during an executive committee meeting on Thursday, with the final to be staged on December 18. “Fifa and the European Club Association (ECA) are pleased to announce an extension to their collaboration agreement, which was established for the first time for the 2010 Fifa World Cup,” Fia said in a statement on Friday. “A total of $209 million will be distributed among the clubs releasing players to the participating teams in the 2018 Fifa World Cup (in Russia),” Fifa added. “The same amount has been agreed for the 22nd edition to be staged in Qatar in 2022.” A total of $70 million was distributed to clubs who released players for last year’s World Cup in Brazil. “We have secured a direct say on the international match calendar — changes thereto will have to be jointly discussed and agreed,” the ECA said.

Fifa President

Nepal FC chief to miss AFC vote ZURICH: The president of the Nepal Football Association (ANFA) will skip next month’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Congress in Bahrain after standing down for a further 90 days while Fifa investigate claims of corruption. Ganesh Thapa had previously halted all football-related activity for 120 days while Fifa probed accusations from his colleagues at ANFA but the world governing body did not report any ﬁndings. That self-imposed ban ended on March 3, allowing Thapa to resume his duties while Nepal took part in the ﬁrst round of 2018 World Cup qualifying but his side lost 2-0 on aggregate

“In serious and fair negotiations, the ECA has agreed with Fifa on a transparent economic and organisational cooperation until 2022,” ECA President Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said in a statement. “For the ﬁrst time, the European clubs will have a direct say on the international match calendar, which was very important to me personally. As a result, the ECA will be actively involved and contribute constructively to the design of the calendar, especially for 2022. “Moreover, the World Cup club

to India after a goalless draw at home on Tuesday. Fifa said the former AFC vice president had opted to stand down again, meaning he will miss the April 30 congress in Manama where his full-time replacement at regional level will be voted for. “Ganesh Thapa... has agreed not to participate in any football-related activity at national and international level (administrative, sports or any other) for an additional period of 90 days as of 20 March 2015, while the Fifa Ethics Committee completes its review of claims involving alleged misconduct by ANFA officials,” Fifa said.

beneﬁts will triple from $70 million to $209 million for the World Cups in 2018 and 2022. “These payments will beneﬁt clubs from around the world who release World Cup players to their respective national associations. From an ECA perspective, this agreement is a great achievement. “It marks another milestone for club football as a whole.” Fifa President Sepp Blatter said: “We are taking a huge step forward in promoting relations between Fifa and the clubs in a spirit of mu-

tual and constructive cooperation.” Fifa uses a complex formula to determine how much each club receives, depending on the amount of players released and the number of days they participate in the competition. “The agreement puts the emphasis on fundamental principles such as the promotion of training and player development as well as the sporting integrity of the competitions, in the interests of the game and its appeal to the public,” Fifa added. - Reuters

‘40 years of work at Fifa is my manifesto’ ZURICH: Fifa President Sepp Blatter said on Friday he is campaigning for reelection based on his 40 years in football’s governing body and he would not release a manifesto. The 79-year-old Swiss officials faces three challengers in an election to be held on May 28-29 at a congress in Zurich. While favourite to win, Blatter refused to say what he would do if returned for a fifth term. “My manifesto is the work I have done in the last years at Fifa. I am now 40 years in Fifa. I am 17 years the president of Fifa, this is my manifesto,” he told a press conference. Pressed about his intentions, the Fifa leader said: “I am the Fifa president until May 29, until the last item on the Congress agenda, which is called the election of the president. “I have been asked by national associations in all the six confederations to be a candidate, they put me as a candidate. But I am still the Fifa president, I am not campaigning. I am doing my job as Fifa president and I will do until the last day of my mandate.” Blatter has turned down offers of a televised debate with his rivals, Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, a Fifa vice-president from Jordan, Dutch football federation president Michael van Praag and former Portugal international Luis Figo. But all four will speak at the Uefa European confederation congress in Vienna on Monday and Tuesday. Blatter’s rivals say that Fifa needs a radical change of direction following multiple controversies over the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. The Fifa president has said he needs a fifth term to “finish my mission” at the world body. Hosts to be chosen in 2017 Meanwhile, Fifa Secretary General Jerome Valcke said the host nation for the 2026 World Cup will be chosen by the Fifa Congress in May 2017. Valcke said Fifa’s executive committee were expected to approve the regulations for the bidding process at its next meeting in May and that the tournament should be played in the traditional slot of June and July. He added that the campaign “will be transparent from the first minute of the process until the decision-making.” The hosts will be chosen by the 209 associations instead of just the executive committee. - Agencies

FOOTBALL

Queiroz quits as Iran boss citing external ‘pressure’ TEHRAN: Carlos Queiroz has quit as Iran coach citing external “pressures” just six months after extending his contract until 2018, the Iranian Football Federation conﬁrmed on Friday. The 62-year-old’s future has been in doubt since the team returned from the World Cup in Brazil, where he won respect for shaping a plucky team out of a modestly talented squad, but ultimately lost out in the ﬁrst round. “I didn’t want to leave and was not even thinking about it,” the Por-

tuguese coach told the Fars news agency. “It was not in my control and it was not my decision. Even my boss didn’t want this but unfortunately both sides were forced to agree on this because of pressures.” According to the Fars, Queiroz wanted to pick Sardar Azmoon, of Russia’s FC Rostov, and Alireza Jahanbakhsh, of NEC in the Netherlands, for two friendlies in Europe. But they were called up to play for Iran’s Olympic under-23 team instead. The decision appears to have

been the last straw for Queiroz, whose rows with the federation and Iran’s Sports Ministry have played out in the media. “He cannot carry on with this situation and he has resigned from his post,” Ali Kafashian, president of the Iran Football Federation, said of Queiroz, in an interview with the official IRNA news agency. “We cannot force him to stay.” Queiroz will formally leave the Iran side at the end of March after friendlies against Sweden and Chile, the IRNA news agency reported. - AFP

EURO QUALIFIER

Del Bosque wary of Ukraine threat MADRID: Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has warned that his side can’t be complacent in their quest to qualify for the European Championships in France next year. Sevilla winger Vitolo and Villarreal goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo were called up to Del Bosque’s squad for the first time on Friday for matches against Ukraine and the Netherlands. Spain host Ukraine in Seville in a Euro 2016 qualifier on March 29 before hoping to avenge their 5-1 humiliation by the Dutch at last year’s World Cup in Amsterdam four days later. The European champions are only second in their qualification group, three points behind Slovakia and just ahead of Ukraine on goal difference. And Del Bosque believes the strong showings of Ukranian sides Shakhtar Donetsk, Dynamo Kiev and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in European competitions this season should serve as a warning to his side. “I was watching the games of the Ukranian teams and they are very good. I seems it is a routine things for me to praise the opposi-

Fifa had said in October the Nepalese FA had been the subject of an “unsatisfactory” external audit in 2012, when “unappropriated cash movements” were identiﬁed. ANFA officials said last month that Fifa needed to complete a full investigation into how Thapa had run the body. “The chaos in the administration of ANFA that has persisted for years under the leadership of Mr Thapa must be brought to an end. We urgently request your kind assistance,” they wrote in a letter to the world governing body. Thapa has long denied accusations of wrongdoing. - Reuters

F I FA P O L L S

We need to be careful because we have a lot at stake. If we don’t win it would be a worrying step backwards Vicente del Bosque Spain coach

tion, but it is the truth,” he said. Dynamo Kiev thrashed Everton 5-2 on Thursday to progress to the last eight of the Europa League where they will be joined by Dnipro, who eliminated Ajax on away goals. “Yesterday I watched the Europa League games and they have

very good forward players and the Shakhtar players at the back too. “We need to be careful because we have a lot at stake. If we don’t win it would be a worrying step backwards.” Athletic Bilbao’s Mikel San Jose is another surprise inclusion, whilst Mario Suarez and Alvaro

Morata are rewarded for their impressive Champions League displays with Atletico Madrid and Juventus this week respectively. Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets is also included despite suffering from a sprained ankle which is expected to keep him out of this weekend’s El Clasico against Real Madrid. “We had the all clear to call him up and see how he recovers this week,” added Del Bosque. “We will have time to take a decision on Tuesday or Wednesday after seeing if he is in condition to play or not.” The squad: Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), David de Gea (Manchester United), Sergio Asenjo (Villarreal); Defenders: Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Marc Bartra (Barcelona), Juanfran (Atletico Madrid), Raul Albiol (Napoli), Juan Bernat (Bayern Munich); Midﬁelders: Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Mario Suarez, Koke (Atletico Madrid), Mikel San Jose (Athletic Bilbao), David Silva (Manchester City), Santi Cazorla (Arsenal), Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea), Isco (Real Madrid); Forwards: Diego Costa (Chelsea), Alvaro Morata (Juventus), Vitolo (Sevilla) and Pedro Rodriguez (Barcelona). - AFP

‘NOT IN MY CONTROL’: Carlos Queiroz

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S ATUR DAY, M A RCH 2 1, 2 015

SPORTS

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C O M M E N TA RY

Windies will need to play inspired cricket

T Portuguese giants Porto host Bayern Munich of Germany in the ﬁrst leg of their last eight matchup while Italian champions Juventus welcome the Monaco

NYON: Holders Real Madrid will have to overcome city rivals Atletico in the Champions League (CL) quarterfinals, in a repeat of last year’s final, while Barcelona face familiar opponents in Paris SaintGermain (PSG) after the draw made in Nyon on Friday. Portuguese giants Porto host Bayern Munich of Germany in the first leg of their last eight matchup while Italian champions Juventus welcome the Monaco side who knocked out English side Arsenal in midweek. Sergio Ramos equalised in the dying minutes in Lisbon last year to send the final to extra-time before Real prevailed 4-1 over Diego Simeone’s Atletico for their 10th European crown. Real’s legendary striker and current director of institutional relations at the club Emilio Butragueno thinks the tie is finely poised. “Atletico are a competitive side and we have faced each other a lot this season and know each other well,” said the Spaniard in reference to the six matches the two clubs have played with Real yet to register a victory since last year’s final. “They’re a side who know how to compete, they let in few goals, are good from dead balls and get the best out of each situation. We will see if we can beat them and come back for the draw for the semifinals. “The Champions League is a different competition altogether. You never know if it’s an advantage playing the second leg at home. We have to be at our best because we know exactly the difficulties that we’re going to face. We need to be right on it if we want to go through.” Atletico are the Spanish champions and currently third in La Liga with Real seven points above them in second and Barcelona top of the league and one point above Carlo Ancelotti’s glamour side led by Cristiano Ronaldo. “Football doesn’t have a memory. It would be a big error to think about the recent results we have had against Real Madrid,” said Atletico

LAST FOUR DRAW: Uefa General Secretary Gianni Infantino, left, looks on as Champions League Ambassador Karl-Heinz Riedle shows the name of Porto during the quarterﬁnal draw at the Uefa Headquarters in Nyon on Friday. – Reuters

Holders Sevilla head to Russia while Wolfsburg face Napoli NYON: Holders Sevilla will have to win in Russia to keep their defence on track after the Spanish side were drawn to play Zenit St Petersburg in the Europa League quarterfinals on Friday in Nyon, Switzerland. Sevilla, who crushed domestic rivals Villarreal 5-2 on aggregate to reach the last eight, have met the 2008 winners four times including a quarterfinal triumph in 2006 when they went on to win the Uefa Cup. The first leg will be in Sevilla. In-form Bundesliga side Wolfsburg host Napoli in the first leg of their last-eight matchup while Dynamo Kiev await the second Italian side Fiorentina. Finally Club Brugge must

Director Clemente Villaverde. Barcelona and PSG met in the group stages with both teams winning their respective home ties while they also met in the 2013 quarterﬁnals when the Spaniards prevailed on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate draw. The French champions will be without suspended star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the ﬁrst leg after the Swede was given a one-

travel to Ukraine and a difficult opening match against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk before returning to Belgium for the return fixture. Teams from Russia and Ukraine were kept apart in the draw, following a ruling by Uefa over the ongoing unrest in the region. First leg matches will be played on April 16 with the return fixtures on April 23. The final takes place at Warsaw on May 27. Draw (teams listed first play first leg at home): Sevilla (ESP) vs Zenit St Petersburg (RUS); Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (UKR) vs Club Brugge (BEL); Dynamo Kiev (UKR) vs Fiorentina (ITA); Wolfsburg (GER) vs Napoli (ITA). - AFP

match ban following his sending off in the last-16 victory over Chelsea. Barcelona vice-president Jordi Mestre knows the two sides are familiar foes. “PSG are old foes for us and we met them in the group phase. They’re a great team who have reinforced their squad significantly and we’re going to have to fight for the victory,” he explained. “In the quarterfinals, all the

teams are strong and PSG are a strong team, very strong and it’s going to be difficult for us.” Barca, who overcame Manchester City 3-1 on aggregate, are on track for a treble of Liga, Copa del Rey and the Champions League trophies as their high-flying side ride on the crest of a streak that has seen them win 17 of their last 18 matches. Porto won the first of their two European Cups in 1987 when they defeated Bayern, their quarterfinal opponents, in Vienna. Bayern’s international goalkeeper Manuel Neuer expects a great atmosphere for the first leg in Portugal. “The atmosphere in Porto is very heated. I witnessed the Porto fans during the 2004 Champions League final against Monaco,” said Neuer. “The atmosphere was amazing. With these fans it won’t be easy for us, but we have played in many different stadiums with varying atmospheres and we will know what to expect,” added the World Cup winner. Finally Serie A leaders Juventus, who won the competition in 1985 and 1996, take on 2004 finalists Monaco with the first leg scheduled for Turin. Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim expects a tough two-legged matchup against the Italian giants. “Juventus are among the biggest sides. They are the favourites. We’re lucky to have the second leg at home. “We’ll try to make the most of this quarterfinal.” First leg matches will be played on April 14/15 with the return legs on April 21/22. The final will be played in Berlin on June 6. - AFP

HE first two quarterfinals were disappointing in the context of the quality of cricket that was seen. The Sri Lankans’ strange team selection meant that they were unable to thwart the main strength of the South Africans at the start of the match. For some reason, Kusal Perera gets preferred to the proven and experienced Upul Tharanga. In a World Cup, you need experience and Kusal does not have that. Kumar Sangakkara played a lone hand but the Lankans just did not have enough runs on the board to cause any panic to the Proteas. Bangladeshi batting in this tournament has been terrific, and it was expected to give the Indians a tough target. But with India batting first and scoring over 300, the Bangla batsmen were under pressure straightaway. India’s bowlers did not allow the Bangla batsmen to get into the game at all, and for the seventh consecutive time, dismissed all the opposition batsmen. The New Zealand bowlers also have been in their element and haven’t allowed teams to score too many against them. They, of course, have the advantage of playing all their matches till the final at home and they know and use the conditions well. Boult and Southee have got the ball to swing both ways and Vettori has been a revela-

tion with his rejuvenation as a spinner. New Zealand’s batting depends a great deal on skipper McCullum and Williamson, so the West Indies need to try and get them back in the hut quickly. The West Indies seem to be battling themselves more than the opposition and the zest that they brought to the game is missing. They used to entertain not only the spectators but themselves too, and so there used to be loads of laughter and smiles about them. Today, apart from Gayle and Sammy, you hardly see a smile on their faces, and it looks as if they are going through some unpleasant chores rather than playing a sport. Their bowling is no longer fearsome, and most times it’s been easy fodder for the batsmen, especially in the ﬁnal 15 overs. Unfortunately they are saddled with a captain who doesn’t exude any authority because he knows he is not an automatic selection. His lack of experience also does not help either. New Zealand start the favourites by a mile and more, and the West Indies will need to play inspired cricket to progress further in the tournament. - PMG

FOOTBALL

Everton have ‘nine finals’ to save season: Martinez LONDON: Everton manager Roberto Martinez has targeted “nine finals” to banish any lingering relegation concerns and lift his team as high as possible in the Premier League. The Merseysiders have finished in the top half of the table for the past eight seasons and last year’s fifth place earned them a spot in the Europa League. But after losing 5-2 at Dynamo Kiev on Thursday for a 6-4 aggregate defeat, they return to domestic football away to Queens Park Rangers on Sunday looking over their shoulder at the six teams below them -- including QPR. Last weekend’s 3-0 win over

Newcastle was only their second success in 13 league games, although it kept them six points above the relegation places. “We see these nine games as nine ﬁnals,” Martinez, who took over at Goodison Park 20 months ago but has been unable to replicate last season’s success, told a news conference. He said the Europa League campaign had been a “huge, huge positive” this season, adding that the younger players will have learned a lot from the “phenomenal” experience. That will count for nothing, however, if they are dragged into a relegation ﬁght. - Reuters

B U D D I N G TA L E N T S

Ooredoo and PSG deliver world class training to Oman talents

MUSCAT: Last weekend Ooredoo teamed-up with Paris-Saint Germain (PSG) to give local communities’ budding football stars the chance to learn from worldclass sports coaches. Some of France’s ﬁnest footballing trainers ﬂew to Oman to deliver the training at the Sultan School’s playing grounds to 200 lucky participants, who were selected from a social media competition, local football clubs, special VIPs and the Ooredoo family. Qasim bin Mohammad Al Barwani, student at the academy said:

“I learned a lot from the training at the academy and I appreciated every minute spent with the coaches. I especially enjoyed the match session and the training on how to juggle the ball. “I would like to thank Ooredoo for this great opportunity and I am looking forward to being enrolled in future similar academies.” The Academy forms part of Ooredoo and Paris Saint-Germain’s approach to encourage healthy lifestyles and support young peoples’ ambitions and

aspirations. The clinics provided the Omani youth an opportunity to showcase their talent to the world, whilst empowering each individual and the collective with the values of teamwork, discipline and commitment. Ooredoo supports a variety of events and initiatives to drive human growth through physical activities, including cricket and football, as well as generating partnerships with local businesses, sports clubs and gymnasiums to promote a greater awareness of health and wellbeing.

SAT URDAY, MARCH 21, 2015

A13

TODAY’S MATCH NEW ZEALAND V WEST INDIES (5:00AM OMAN TIME)

Australia set up India semifinal

GOOD BOWLING EFFORT: Australian players congratulate each other after bowling out Pakistan cheaply and setting up an attainable target. – Reuters

The co-hosts, chasing Pakistan’s modest 213 all out, were reduced to 59 for three in the 11th over before Steve Smith (65) and Shane Watson (64 not out) swung the match around with a fourthwicket stand of 89

ADELAIDE: Australia overcame to a fiery spell from fast bowler Wahab Riaz to record an entertaining six-wicket win over Pakistan in the World Cup quarter-final at the Adelaide Oval on Friday. The co-hosts, chasing Pakistan’s modest 213 all out, were reduced to 59 for three in the 11th over before Steve Smith (65) and Shane Watson (64 not out) swung the match around with a fourth-wicket stand of 89. Glenn Maxwell smashed an unbeaten 44 off 29 balls with five fours and two sixes as Australia recovered to coast home in the 34th over in front of a full house of nearly 47,000 spectators. Watson hit the winning boundary after a tense start to Australia’s chase saw left-armer Wahab remove David Warner and skipper Michael Clarke in his first two overs. But two dropped catches cost Pakistan dearly. Australia’s eighth consecutive win over Pakistan on their own soil set up an enticing semi-final clash against defending champions India at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday. Pakistan’s defeat ended the oneday international careers of two veterans in captain Misbah-ul Haq and all-rounder Shahid Afridi. Pakistan, who won the toss and elected to bat, were shot out for 213, with one ball to spare, as fast bowler Josh Hazlewood grabbed four wickets and Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell took two each. Haris Sohail’s 41 was the top score. Three other batsmen settled down to reach 20 but were unable to build on their starts. If Australia expected an easy

JOSH HAZLEWOOD

4 wickets for 35 Man of the match

HAPPY DUO: Shane Watson and Glenn Maxwell greet each other after steering Australia to semis. – AFP

chase, Wahab provided a rude shock with a hostile opening spell of two for 24 in six overs. However, it was right-arm seamer Sohail Khan who gave Pakistan an opening by trapping Aaron Finch leg-before in the third over. Finch, whose top score in the tournament after making 135 in the opening match against England is 24, asked for a television review which proved umpire Kumar Dharmasena had made the correct decision. Wahab, brought into the attack in the ninth over as the fourth bowler, struck with his third legal delivery by having the dangerous Warner caught at third man. Warner made 24 off 23 balls when he attempted to slash a short ball and Rahat Ali took a well-judged catch running in from the boundary. Wahab removed Clarke in his next over as the Australian captain fended at a short ball and lobbed an easy catch to Sohaib Maqsood close to the wicket on the on-side. Watson was greeted to the wicket with a barrage of short-pitched

deliveries from the fired-up Wahab, one of which nearly cost him his wicket when he was on four. The all-rounder hooked a bouncer high to fine-leg where Rahat got under the ball but dropped the catch to loud groans from the Pakistani fielders and supporters in the packed stands. The pressure eased as a tiring Wahab was taken off after his sixth over, allowing Smith and Watson to build a partnership. The pair stayed together till the 27th over, taking the total to 148 for three, when seamer Ehsan Adil broke through by having Smith leg-before as the batsman missed an attempted flick. Wahab, returning to the attack in the 29th over, almost claimed another wicket with his second delivery back as Maxwell top-edged a pull, but Sohail Khan failed to hold the ball at third man. Maxwell sent Australia cruising to victory with a typically aggressive knock before Watson hit the clinching boundary, with Pakistan left ruing the lack of runs on the board by their batsmen. - AFP

PAKISTAN Ahmed Shehzad c Clarke b Hazlewood 5 Sarfraz Ahmed c Watson b Starc 10 Haris Sohail c Haddin b Johnson 41 Misbah-ul Haq c Finch b Maxwell 34 Umar Akmal c Finch b Maxwell 20 Sohaib Maqsood c Johnson b Hazlewood 29 Shahid Afridi c Finch b Hazlewood 23 Wahab Riaz c Haddin b Starc 16 Ehsan Adil c Starc b Faulkner 15 Sohail Khan c Haddin b Hazlewood 4 Rahat Ali not out 6 Extras: (lb-5, w-5) 10 Total: (all out; 49.5 overs) 213 Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Ahmed), 2-24 (She-

hzad), 3-97 (Misbah), 4-112 (Sohail), 5-124 (Akmal), 6-158 (Afridi), 7-188 (Maqsood), 8-188 (Riaz), 9-195 (Khan), 10-213 (Adil) Bowling: Starc 10-1-40-2 (2w), Hazlewood 10-1-35-4 (1w), Johnson 10-0-42-1 (2w), Maxwell 7-0-43-2, Watson 5-0-17-0, Faulkner 7.5-0-31-1 AUSTRALIA D. Warner c Rahat b Riaz 24 A. Finch lbw b Sohail 2 S. Smith lbw b Ehsan 65 M. Clarke c Maqsood b Riaz 8 S. Watson not out 64 G. Maxwell not out 44 Extras: (w-9) 9

Total: (for four wkts; 33.5 overs) 216 Did not bat: James Faulkner, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Finch), 2-49 (Warner), 3-59 (Clarke), 4-148 (Smith) Bowling: Sohail 7.5-0-57-1 (2w), Adil 5-0-311, Rahat 6-0-37-0 (1w), Riaz 9-0-54-2 ( 6w), Afridi 4-0-30-0, Haris 2-0-7-0 Result: Australia win by six wickets Man of the match: Josh Hazlewood Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI) and Marais Erasmus (RSA) Tv umpire: Richard Illingworth (ENG) Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)

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S ATUR DAY, M A RCH 2 1, 2 015

Bitter end for Misbah, Afridi one-day careers

FIERY BOWLER

Over eight Pakistan batsmen scored 10 or more runs in their modest total of 213, but none could build on it, and both Misbah and former skipper Afridi were among those who failed to convert their starts Misbah-ul Haq.

NEAR COLLISION: Wahab Riaz sways away to avoid colliding

with Shane Watson. – AFP

Wahab fires up in losing cause ADELAIDE: Australia’s World Cup quarter-final against Pakistan threatened to produce more yawns than thrills at Adelaide Oval on Friday, but paceman Wahab Riaz sparked the match into life with two wickets and an enthralling duel with Shane Watson. Though Australia ultimately mowed down Pakistan’s modest 213 to win by six wickets, the belligerent left-armer’s masterclass of short-pitched bowling rattled Australia’s top order and fired up an impatient crowd. Removing opener David Warner for 24 in his first over and Australia captain Michael Clarke for eight in his next, 29-year-old Wahab then engaged in a fiery battle with Watson, sending bouncers pinging off the burly Queenslander’s chest and whistling past his nose. He followed up the better ones with a stroll up the pitch to meet the all-rounder, throwing him a withering stare and clapping his hands provocatively. Watson was at first impassive as a brick wall amid the assault, staring down Wahab in cold siI N T I M I D AT O RY S P E L L

Lucky to get through Wahab spell, says Watson ADELAIDE: Shane Watson admitted he was fortunate to escape Wahab Riaz’s classic spell of intimidatory, eyeball-toeyeball fast bowling in Friday’s World Cup quarterfinal between Australia and Pakistan. Watson ended the game on an unbeaten 64 off 66 balls but he was dropped on four by Rahat Ali at fine leg off a 145kmh Riaz bouncer as the veteran Australian all-rounder was under physical siege. Riaz charged in, peppering the batsman with a series of short-pitched deliveries and sarcastically applauding and even blowing the 33-yearold a kiss at one stage. “Wahab gave it everything, he was right on the money and there were some really nasty balls in there,” said Watson, after his team’s six-wicket win at the Adelaide Oval which set up a semifinal clash against defending champions India. “I was lucky to get through that spell.” Riaz finished with two for 54 but he should have had more wickets, with Sohail Khan displaying similar butter-fingers to Rahat when he dropped Glenn Maxwell late in the innings. “(Rahat Ali’s dropped catch) was a crucial moment. We would have had Watson and a wicket to put more pressure on Australia,” Riaz told Sky Sports. “We watched how the Australia guys play and had a chat before the game and put plans in place. I knew Watson was not so good with short balls so I knew I had to attack. The plans were successful at times.” “He bowled his heart out and was a different kind of bowler throughout this tournament. I have never seen a bowler bowling like that and if that catch had been taken who knows what could have happened?,” said Misbah. - AFP

lence after each delivery which seconds before had him hopping about like a frightened rabbit. The strain ﬁnally showed and at 83-3, Wahab thought he had his man when Watson, on four, hooked straight to third man. The simplest of catches was dropped by Rahat Ali and Wahab roared in frustration. The paceman came again, however, targeting hard-hitting Glenn Maxwell, and was again let down in the ﬁeld, with Sohail Khan spilling another gettable chance when running in from third man to meet a skied top edge. “That’s as good as I’ve faced in one-day cricket for a long time... Probably gave us a good look at what it would have been like to face Mitchell Johnson throughout the Ashes,” Clarke told reporters, referring to his own leftarm fast man. Retiring Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq paid tribute to Wahab, who has often struggled for consistency in a seven-year career but shone in the spotlight of the game’s biggest stage. - Reuters

ADELAIDE: A crushing quarterfinal loss to Australia at the World Cup on Friday was a heart-breaking swan-song in one-day cricket for Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq and fellow veteran Shahid Afridi. Though Pakistan grafted hard to reach the knockout rounds, Australia ruthlessly exposed their batting frailty, which will be further undermined by the seasoned pair’s retirements. Over eight Pakistan batsmen scored 10 or more runs in their modest total of 213, but none could build on it, and both Misbah and former skipper Afridi were among those who failed to convert their starts. Forty-year-old Misbah, who finishes his one-day career without a century, slog-swept straight to a fielder at deep midwicket to be out for 34. If surprising for a batsman renowned for his reserve, the explosive Afridi’s dismissal for 23 was less unexpected, albeit a carbon copy of his captain’s demise. A third batsman in Umar Akmal would hit straight to Aaron Finch near the rope to squander his positive start of 20. With the batsmen failing to provide a total to defend, their bowlers were let down by two dropped catches in the field that could have changed the complexion of the match. Australia all-rounder Shane Watson was dropped on four and Glenn Maxwell spilled on five. The pair would then build an unbeaten partnership of 68 to close out a six-wicket victory. Misbah lamented his side’s poor shot selection and forecast a grim

Shahid Afridi

Misbah quits with regrets over lack of century ADELAIDE: Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq admitted not scoring a century will remain a lifelong regret as the curtain fell on his 162-match, one-day career following defeat in the World Cup quarterﬁnals. Misbah, who retired from one-dayers on Friday along with fellow veteran Shahid Afridi, said his failure to score a one-day hundred would have to remain a regret. “It was my wish (to score a one-day hundred) but it didn’t come about,” said Misbah, who has the most runs in all one-day cricket — 5,122 in 162 matches — without scoring a hundred. “I put my whole effort into it but that didn’t come and it will be a disappointment but I enjoyed my career and I am satisﬁed.”

future for Pakistan if administrators failed to crack the whip in the domestic leagues to improve standards. “Especially we need to improve our batting. This has been now a problem for almost three, four years,” he told reporters after scoring his 3,000th run as captain. “We are not up to the mark, up

Misbah’s highest one-day score was 96 came against the West Indies at The Oval in the 2013 Champions Trophy. “It was really an honour to represent my country,” said Misbah, who will continue to play Test cricket. “I enjoyed my cricket and gave everything to my country.” The 40-year-old said he had no intention of reconsidering his decision to quit oneday cricket. “I told the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) about my plans,” said Misbah. “Until and unless you put responsibility onto youngsters they will not improve and the time has come to do that, they need to take responsibility. “I have played my innings. The PCB has a chance, these players have a chance to de-

to the standards, international standards. We need to really improve that. “And also ﬁelding is another aspect where all the other international teams are really going up to a higher level, and we really need to improve that, and obviously that comes with the ﬁtness.

velop a team for the next World Cup and progress.” Misbah said his message to the younger players is to work hard. “If you want to compete at international level you have to work hard and that is what I learnt from my seniors and greats like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. “The kind of ﬁghting spirit I saw in them, I followed and you have to follow that.” Misbah singled out one-day victories in India (2012/13) and in South Africa (2013/2014) as his high points as skipper. “Victories are special but beating India in India was big, then winning in South Africa to become the ﬁrst Pakistan team to win a series there, that was also special.” - AFP

“A lot of steps have been taken by the cricket board and just trying to develop that sort of system, ﬁtness culture in Pakistani domestic cricket. “But still, we are not there, and I think we need to really improve that, otherwise we’re going to suffer in the future.” - Reuters

‘GO BIG OR GO HOME’

Holder coy over Gayle fitness for Black Caps clash WELLINGTON: West Indies captain Jason Holder remained coy on whether injured star batsman Chris Gayle will play in Saturday’s World Cup quarterfinal against undefeated New Zealand. Gayle trained for the first time this week on Friday morning, batting in the nets two days after receiving an injection in his lower back. The injury forced him out of the West Indies’ six-wicket win over the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, when they squeezed into the final eight despite their erratic form in pool games. Holder said Gayle would face a late fitness test for Saturday’s final eight clash in Wellington, the winner of which will face a rampant South Africa in the semifinals. “He’s had an injection and a scan. The scan didn’t show anything major, so we’ll just see how he pulls up today and make a decision tomorrow morning,” the skipper said. Gayle, 35, scored the only double century in World Cup history with 215 against Zimbabwe in Canberra and is seen as crucial to the West Indies’ chances of progressing into the last four. ‘We will win’ But Holder insisted his team could win even without Gayle, pointing to the impressive 55 scored by Johnson Charles when he stepped in against the UAE. “Obviously, (Gayle) has been a very good player for us over the years but we’ve shown we’ve got people to fit the bill,” he said. “Johnson came in the last game and got a half-century and looked the part. So we’ve got people to fill his boots but obviously having Chris there is a plus for us.” Gayle smashed a small section of the fence at the Basin Reserve, where the West Indies trained Friday, with a typically powerful blow and afterwards told a New Zealand television crew: “I’m hitting it sweet, man.” Meanwhile Holder acknowledged playing the undefeated New Zealanders in front of their home

TAKING A BREATHER: Chris Gayle of the West Indies takes a moment out during a West Indies training session ahead of their 2015 Cricket World Cup quarterﬁnal match against New Zealand, at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. – AFP

We attack, attack, attack because it works: McCullum WELLINGTON: New Zealand will stick with their crash, bang, wallop brand of cricket in Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final against West Indies because it gives them the best chance of winning, captain Brendon McCullum said on Friday. The 33-year-old McCullum has electrified the tournament with his belligerent attacking style, both with bat in hand and through his tactics in the field, as New Zealand reached the last eight unbeaten.

fans was a different prospect to facing the UAE, saying it was time to “go big or go home”. With the West Indies relishing their underdog status, Holder

“I think it’s safe to assume that we’ll still try to play an entertaining and attacking brand of cricket,” McCullum told reporters at the Basin Reserve. “We want to play that brand of cricket. We’ve identiﬁed that that is what is going to make us a team which is going to be tough to beat (and) I can’t see that changing. “Just because there’s pressure on a game, it shouldn’t take you away from what’s your best opportunity to win.”

said he was looking for an aggressive but disciplined performance against Brendon McCullum’s men. “People pretty much wrote us off at the beginning of the tourna-

McCullum has received plaudits from around the cricketing world for his captaincy, including Richard Hadlee, New Zealand’s finest ever cricketer, who was the first man to take 400 Test wickets. “It’s great for the game,” he told Reuters. “It’s what our game needs. “Brendon is explosive with the bat, very proactive in the field, very attacking in the field, backs his bowlers to do a job. “We’ve got a couple of very good bowlers now and we’re

ment. “They didn’t expect us to get to the quarterﬁnal stage and now we’re here,” he said. “We’re just going out all guns blazing tomorrow and giving it our

exceptional in the ﬁeld with people putting their bodies on the line, including Brendon himself. We’re attacking and playing an aggressive, bright, entertaining style of cricket that’s good for television and the fans that come along. All these things are progressive and we’re well respected in all forms of the game now.” McCullum said the squad were feeding off the excitement but were not letting it affect their preparations. - Reuters

all. New Zealand can be beaten. We beat them in the last series when we played them and no doubt we will be looking to beat them tomorrow.” - AFP

SAT URDAY, MARCH 21, 2015

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PEP TALK: New Zealand players gather in a huddle during a training session ahead of their 2015 Cricket World Cup quarterﬁnal match against the West Indies, at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. – AFP

Black Caps eye final semifinal spot FA C T B O X

A rampant New Zealand went through pool phase unbeaten, while inconsistent West Indies lurched into the last eight clash at Wellington Regional Stadium with a six-wicket victory over United Arab Emirates

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum expects favouritism, underdog status and the possibility of choking under the weight of expectation to have little inﬂuence on Saturday’s World Cup quarterﬁnal against West Indies. A rampant New Zealand went through pool phase unbeaten, while inconsistent West Indies lurched into the last eight clash at Wellington Regional Stadium with a six-wicket victory over United Arab Emirates. To McCullum, though, that meant nothing. “I’ve said right throughout the tournament, whether you’re favourites or whether you’re underdogs, once the coin goes up, the contest between bat and ball starts,” the New Zealand skipper told reporters on Friday. “All of that talk and all of that prematch favouritism goes out the window. Tomorrow’s no different,

NEW ZEALAND Captain: Brendon McCullum Coach: Mike Hesson Squad: Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson, Daniel Vettori, Luke Ronchi, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Trent Boult, Mitchell McClenaghan Results so far at 2015 World Cup: Beat Sri Lanka by 98 runs (A solid batting performance from the batsmen saw New Zealand post 331-6, which the bowling attack easily defended by bundling out Sri Lanka for 233) Beat Scotland by three wickets (New Zealand skittled Scotland for 142 but then lost seven wickets in a nervous chase to win by three wickets) Beat England by eight wickets (Tim Southee picked up seven wickets for 33 as England were all out for 123. Brendon McCullum then blasted 77 in 25 balls as the co-hosts reached their target in 12.2 overs) Beat Australia by one wicket (New Zealand held their nerve to beat trans-Tasman rivals Australia by one wicket in a low-scoring thriller. Boult took ﬁve wickets for New Zealand while Starc did the damage for Australia with six wickets) Beat Afghanistan by six wickets (Daniel Vet-

tori stifled Afghanistan with four wickets for just 18 runs off his 10 overs and then McCullum hit 42 off 19 balls as New Zealand chased down the 187-run target with six wickets in hand) Beat Bangladesh by three wickets (Mahmudullah’s 128 took Bangladesh to 288-7 but it was not enough as Martin Guptill scored 105 to help his team to victory after early hiccups) Top performers: Guptill (261 runs): With one hundred and a fifty, Guptill has been the ideal opening partner for the aggressive McCullum. He has carried on when the captain has departed early. McCullum (257 runs): The New Zealand captain has scored three fifties and has mauled opposition bowlers, with a strike rate of almost 188 per hundred balls. Boult (15 wickets): The left-arm paceman has been unplayable on occasions with the new ball and his partnership with Southee at the start has been very fruitful for New Zealand. Southee (13 wickets): Southee has been accurate and has swung the ball in both directions, tormenting top order batsmen alongwith Boult. Vettori (13 wickets): The former captain has ensure that his team have picked up wickets in the middle of the innings after the opening

burst from Boult and Southee. The left-arm spinner has also been very economical, conceding just above three runs an over. Key to beating West Indies: Will need to get Gayle out early and see off the opening spell from fast bowler Taylor.

just because it’s a quarter-ﬁnal.” The co-hosts have arguably the most balanced side in the World Cup, all of whom have stepped up at one stage or another during the tournament. That has particularly pleased McCullum. “In horse racing parlance ... I think the horse has never been better and we’ve got every chance in this game to be able to go out there and win, even if things aren’t a hundred per cent,” McCullum said. “That’s something you probably can’t say about too many New Zealand teams in the past. That’s encouraging.”

McCullum has indicated that New Zealand will revert to their top lineup, with fast bowler Adam Milne returning from shoulder injury to join new ball duo Trent Boult and Tim Southee in place of Mitchell McClenaghan. Southee somehow managed to exploit a clear blue sky and little wind to produce a captivating spell of late-swing bowling to take career-best ﬁgures of 7-33 against England at Wellington Regional Stadium a month ago. Boult was imperious in their match against Australia with 5-27 the following week in Auckland, while left-arm spinner Daniel Vet-

tori has complemented the opening pair with 13 wickets at 13.29, and an economy rate of 3.69. West Indies, by contrast, have struggled in the top-order batting with most of the runs from top-scorers Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels coming in one big partnership against Zimbabwe in Canberra. Gayle, who is struggling with a back injury, has scored 279 runs with 215 coming from that one innings, while Samuels’ 133 not out has accounted for 66 percent of his total runs of 203. West Indies captain Jason Holder said the key to the game could be

WEST INDIES Captain: Jason Holder Coach: Stuart Williams Squad: Jason Holder, Marlon Samuels, Sulieman Benn, Johnson Charles, Jonathan Carter, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Nikita Miller, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor Results so far at 2015 World Cup: Lost to Ireland by four wickets (A ﬁne hundred from Lendl Simmons was not enough as the bowlers failed to defend a score of 304-7) Beat Pakistan by 150 runs (A ﬁery spell from the fast bowlers reduced Pakistan to 1-4, chasing 311 for win, and West Indies bundled Pakistan out for 160) Beat Zimbabwe by 73 runs (Duckworth/Lewis method)(Gayle smashed the World Cup’s highest individual score of 215 and Samuels also hit 133 as West Indies posted 372-2. Zimbabwe were all out for 289 in reply) Lost to South Africa by 257 runs (AB de Vil-

liers’ 66-ball 162 gave South Africa a taotal of 408-5, which proved too steep for West Indies who were all out for 151) Lost to India by four wickets (West Indies just managed 182 after opting to bat ﬁrst and India chased down the target with 10.5 overs to spare, losing six wickets) Beat UAE by six wickets (Captain Holder took four wickets to bundle out UAE for 175. West Indies chased it down in 30.3 overs with six wickets in hand) Top performers: Gayle (279 runs): The powerful left-hander is capable of destroying any attack on his day and he showed it against Zimbabwe by hitting 215, the World Cup’s highest individual score. Taylor (14 wickets): The fast bowler is the leader of the pace attack and is Holder’s go-to man when the team are in need of wickets. Key to beating New Zealand: Gayle will be the key to West Indies’ success against a very potent New Zealand attack. But the lefthander would need to see off the burst from Southee and Boult with the new ball. *** Head-to-head: Total played: 60, West Indies won 30, New Zealand won 23, no result 7 Never met at Wellington Regional Stadium Last match: January 8, 2014 - West Indies won by 203 runs in Hamilton

to take early wickets when McCullum comes out firing and then get stuck into the middle order. “Obviously Brendon McCullum’s carrying some form ... we will be our normal self in the power play, we just have to be disciplined,” Holder said. “I think aggression is also key. Brendon is a pretty aggressive batsman so I can probably try to fight fire with fire and try to get the better of him. “New Zealand’s middle order (also) hasn’t been tested in this tournament and so it’s important that we get early wickets and test them.” - Reuters

WARMING UP: Trent Boult enjiying a training session. – AFP

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Everyone contributing, says Dhoni The defending champions eased past Bangladesh by 109 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and will face Australia for a place in the March 29 ﬁnal at the same venue

MELBOURNE: Unbeaten India’s charge to the World Cup semifinals is testament to all their batsmen making contributions during the tournament, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Thursday. The defending champions eased past Bangladesh by 109 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and will face Australia for a place in the March 29 final at the same venue. India posted 302 for six batting first, with Rohit Sharma making 137 and Suresh Raina 65. It was a comprehensive victory for India, who started slowly but built a challenging target for Bangladesh to chase down. No side have made more than 300 batting second to win a Oneday International at the MCG. “I think what’s important for us is that we have scored runs in all the games, whether we batted first or chased,” said Dhoni. “But at the same time we don’t have our batsmen in the top-five scorers list for the World Cup, which means everybody has chipped in and contributed which is a good position to be in especially in the knockout stages.” Dhoni said the trick for the defending champions heading into the Sydney semifinal was to keep repeating their strong points. “We have to keep repeating what we have been doing as simple as that,” he said. “I feel we have done well. We

SMILE OF SUCCESS: Indian players celebrate Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s ‘special’ diving catch against Bangladesh in the quarterﬁnals on Thursday. – AFP

have batted well. We have got partnerships going. “We have bowled in partnership. People have contributed. We have taken good catches, run outs. “All of it’s looking very good, it’s just that we’ll have to keep repeating more often than not. “One of the most difficult things is to keep it simple, over-thinking can actually kill you. “Playing good cricket keeps your confidence going forward and you just feel more relaxed executing your plans so it’s a mix of everything and I think we have done well so far to keep it simple.” Dhoni also praised India’s improved fielding which put Bangladesh’s batsmen under pressure, with Ravindra Jadeja’s razorsharp run out of Imrul Kayes a standout. “We had a very good fielding side. We had a game where we dropped quite a few catches, but apart from that, the fielding has been good,” he said. “The reason being we have got good fielders. We don’t really have anyone we have to hide in the side, which means on average we are a very good fielding side.” - AFP

Bangladesh still proud after landmark tournament MELBOURNE: Bangladesh’s fairytale run at the World Cup was ended brutally by reigning champions India on Thursday, but the Tigers’ elation at making the knockout rounds for a ﬁrst time will not be too dimmed by the humbling. Bangladesh’s bowlers tried hard to restrict India and though able to subdue them for a period, were ultimately thwarted by a 122-run partnership between centurion Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina. With no team having ever chased down more than 300 for victory at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, few would have dared back Bangladesh to reel in India’s 302. But the batting collapse and 109-run defeat was an unworthy ﬁnish to an industrious campaign that offered glimpses

of a future where Bangladesh cricket might be taken seriously rather than accused of squatting at cricket’s elite table. In their pool phase thrashing by Sri Lanka at the MCG, Bangladesh put in an abysmal fielding effort that suggested a failure to grasp the dimensions of the sprawling venue on their debut appearance. Those fielding demons were kept at bay for half of the first innings but came rushing forth as the pressure grew to break Rohit and Raina’s partnership. Fortune played a cruel hand, with Raina surviving an lbw decision when on 10 by the vagaries of ball tracking technology, which showed Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza’s delivery pitching a whisker off leg stump. Rohit was later caught for 90 but was reprieved

Our plan was pretty good and we were a bit unlucky we couldn’t get a wicket at that time Mashrafe Mortaza by umpire Aleem Dar who judged Rubel Hossain’s full toss above waste height though replays suggested it was perfectly legal. “Our plan was pretty good and we were a bit unlucky we couldn’t get a wicket at that time,” Bangladesh captain Mor-

taza lamented to reporters. “We always knew they would come hard after 35 (overs). “They were brilliant after 35 and took the calculated risks and we couldn’t bowl according to our plans ... That was the moment when we lost.” Mashrafe still hailed a “brilliant” tournament for his team, who sent England crashing out to secure their place in last eight. “Except today, the batters batted really well throughout this tournament ... Hopefully that will continue. “The conﬁdence we got hopefully will continue. “Most of the players in our side ... haven’t had any cricket in Australia, so it was a really big class for us but the way the bowlers adapted with the wickets and the conditions, I’m still very proud of this team.” - Reuters

‘ U N F O R T U NAT E ’

ICC chief blasts own president over ‘fix’ claims SYDNEY: International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive David Richardson on Friday slammed his organisation’s Bangladeshi president for questioning the integrity of umpires, saying allegations of fixing were “unfortunate” and “baseless”. Mustafa Kamal claimed decisions made by officials during Bangladesh’s 109-run loss to India in their World Cup quarterfinal in Melbourne on Thursday seemed to have been “pre-arranged”. Kamal was angry that India’s Rohit Sharma, who top-scored with 137, had not been given out when he was on 90. Rohit had been caught at deep

mid-wicket off the bowling of Rubel Hossain, but umpires Aleem Dar and Ian Gould signalled a noball for what appeared to be a legitimate waist-high delivery. But Richardson defended Dar and Gould from all accusations of biased officiating. “The ICC has noted Mr Mustafa Kamal’s comments, which are very unfortunate but made in his personal capacity. As an ICC President, he should have been more considerate in his criticism of ICC match officials, whose integrity cannot be questioned,” said Richardson. “The no-ball decision was a 5050 call. The spirit of the game dictates that the umpire’s decision

is ﬁnal and must be respected,” the former South Africa wicketkeeper added. “Any suggestion that the match officials had ‘an agenda’ or did anything other than perform to the best of their ability are baseless and are refuted in the strongest possible terms,” Richardson insisted. Kamal said he was considering quitting his post in protest. “As the ICC president, whatever I have to say I will say it in next meeting. It could happen that maybe I will resign,” Kamal said in comments aired on Bangladeshi television. “There was no quality in the umpiring. It looked like they took

the field after it (the outcome) was pre-arranged,” he alleged. Bangladeshi fans were also furious at the dismissal of star batsman Mohammed Mahmudullah who was caught close to the boundary rope. The match was the biggest in the history of the cricket-mad nation, marking the first time that Bangladesh had made the World Cup quarterfinals. Many fans wept only after the defeat while protestors also burned an effigy of Dar, who hails from Bangladesh’s great rival Pakistan. Kamal, whose position has been largely ceremonial since India’s Narayanaswami Srini-

vasan became the body’s chairman last year, said the ICC’s acronym seemed to stand for the Indian Cricket Council. “I cannot represent the Indian Cricket Council. “If someone has imposed a result on us, in that case no one can accept it,” added Kamal, who is a minister in the Bangladeshi government. Meanwhile the Indian cricket board said Kamal should have made his feelings known to his fellow administrators before airing them in public. “I wish he could have taken all these issues on the ICC platform during the ICC meetings,” said

Anurag Thakur, the Indian board secretary. “The (reality) is we’ve won against Bangladesh and India has won all the previous matches in the league stage. “I think it’s time to move ahead... we can discuss and debate these issues in the next meeting.” Bangladesh’s exit dominated the country’s front-page headlines on Friday with, many commentators blaming shoddy umpiring for the defeat. “Tigers fall to controversial calls,” read the lead in the Dhaka Tribune, while the the headline of the mass-circulation Bengali daily Kaler Kantha said: “The dream run ends in umpiring scandal.” — AFP

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM S ATU RDAY, M ARC H 21, 2015

MARKE

BAKER HUGHES, HALLIBURTON PLAN $10 BILLION ASSET SALES Halliburton and Baker Hughes plan to begin seeking buyers next month for as much as $10 billion in assets that the oil-services companies need to sell in order to complete their merger. >B2

ECONOMIC CRISIS

Greece in new reform pledge to EU for bailout talks BRUSSELS: Greece agreed on Friday to give creditors a new list of reforms to get its bailout back on track after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras held crunch talks with European leaders. They agreed to ﬁnish work ‘as fast as possible’ on completing Greece’s EU-IMF rescue programme, a statement said, to free up crucial funds to help Athens avoid bankruptcy and a catastrophic exit from the euro. The radical left-wing Greek leader sat down for a three-hour meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and the EU’s top officials on the sidelines of a summit in Brussels. “We have put the process back on track,” a tiredlooking Tsipras told reporters after the talks. Merkel — who as leader of Eu-

rope’s biggest economy has led efforts to make Greece honour its commitments — said she and Hollande were ‘fully in line’ with the agreement. “The Greek prime minister declared that he is willing to present such a list and that he will do so quickly,” she told a press conference. Speed up Greece’s creditors agreed in February to extend its €240-billioneuro ($255 billion) bailout in exchange for promises of austerity reforms by Tsipras’s new hard-left government. Athens wants the ﬁnal €7 billion tranche of the money to be paid out now to stay aﬂoat, but Brussels wants more evidence of its commitment to the reforms. Time was running out for Athens as Friday brings a key debt deadline when Greece must pay

Alexis Tsipras. – AFP

€300 million to the International Monetary Fund and redeem €1.6 billion in treasury bills. “Greek authorities will have the ownership of the reforms and will present a full list of speciﬁc reforms in the next days,” said the statement is-

sued after the talks. Hollande urged Greece “to be more precise in its reform proposals and introduce them faster than planned.” Technical talks in Athens and Brussels which had largely stalled over the seemingly insurmountable differences between the two sides will continue as before, the statement added. The deal is the latest in a series aimed at narrowing differences between the new Greek government, with its desire to cast aside the shackles of austerity under two previous bailouts, and sceptical creditors. European alarm and frustration mounted after the Greek parliament adopted a crisis bill aimed at helping the poor on Wednesday, which lenders say violated its commitments to creditors. Tsipras warned earlier that

Greece faced a ‘humanitarian crisis’ if it did not get some of the cash it says is owed to it under the bailout programme that started in 2012. Greece was not formally on the agenda of the full meeting of the 28 EU leaders but it nevertheless eclipsed other topics such as Ukraine and the EU’s new energy union plan. EU tensions The separate Greece meeting was also attended by EU president Donald Tusk, European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi and Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch ﬁnance minister who chairs the euro single currency group. The Greek crisis has opened both new and historic tensions in the 28-nation EU, which when

Cloud computing can help Omani companies: Expert WHAT IS CLOUD COMPUTING? With data growing

Cloud computing consists of hardware and software resources made available on the Internet as managed thirdparty services. It enables companies to use software, applications and various services on pay-per-use basis, without the need to set up and own IT infrastructure

at 40 per cent a year, there’s an increasing imperative for businesses in Oman to invest in cloud solutions because of its potential to tackle data explosion, said Brocade official

Times News Service MUSCAT: With data growing at 40 per cent a year, there’s an increasing imperative for businesses in Oman to invest in cloud solutions because of its potential to tackle data explosion, said Yarob Sakhnini, regional director, MEMA at Brocade. He pointed out that the challenge for many of today’s business leaders is understanding what type of cloud solution makes the most sense for their organisation, as one size does not ﬁt all. Technology has fundamentally changed the way business is done today — from employees expect-

Yarob Sakhnini.– Supplied photo

ing to be able to access personal or business data from any location or device, to the emergence of new business models like managed services or sharing economies, said the official of Brocade, a network solutions provider. Massive potential Cloud computing has played an integral part in this change, offering a huge potential for ﬁrms of all sizes to enter new markets and survive in the new digital economy. It allows organisations to rapidly scale their computer resources, manage and process a myriad of data, and help control their IT spending, said Brocade in

a press release. Resources and skills, reliability, shift in IT mindset and security are some of the key considerations businesses need to think about before investing for the ﬁrst time or boosting their current offering, Yarob Sakhnini explained. With all of that in mind, businesses in Oman shouldn’t clamour to completely overhaul their existing infrastructures and jump into the cloud with both feet, he said. A well-thought through strategy takes time and understanding of where the business is now and where it would like to be in 5-10 years. This should play a signiﬁcant role in guiding cloud

CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY

Is Apple’s streaming Web TV service a death knell for cable? CALIFORNIA: Apple will offer its own streaming Web TV service this fall, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The slimmed-down service will feature 25 channels including ABC, CBS and Fox, according to the report, which cited unnamed ‘people familiar with the matter’. It would be available on Apple devices such as the Apple TV receiver, which the company recently discounted to $69. Currently, NBC and affiliated cable channels like Bravo and USA are not slated to be offered because of a dispute between Apple and NBC’s parent company, Comcast Corp., the report said The idea behind the service, sources told the Journal, is to offer a basic slate of channels without making customers pay for the dozens of others that come along with many traditional cable packages. Last week, Apple announced it would be an exclusive launch partner for HBO Now, the movie channel’s stand-alone streaming service and the ﬁrst way non-

NEW SERVICE

cable subscribers will be able to legally stream HBO content. The Journal report did not indicate how much the streaming service will cost. But “media executives” told the Journal they expect a monthly fee in the $30$40 range. An Apple streaming service would join an increasingly a growing ﬁeld of products targeting “cord cutters” who have been abandoning traditional cable subscriptions in favour of Web streaming content from the likes

Apple, which will offer its own streaming Web TV service, would join an increasingly a growing ﬁeld of products targeting ‘cord cutters’ who have been abandoning cable subscriptions in favour of Amazon, Netﬂix and Hulu

of Amazon, Netﬂix and Hulu. In February, Dish Network’s Sling TV debuted nationwide. Starting at $20 per month, the service offers users networks including ESPN, AMC, CNN, IFC and Cartoon Network. Sony also is expected to release PlayStation Vue, its own TV-streaming service, in the next couple of weeks. A beta-testing version of Vue, which works through PlayStation gaming consoles, has about 75 channels. – The Christian Science Monitor

investment levels. The data explosion isn’t going away, but cloud offers firms a unique opportunity to level the playing field against businesses of all sizes and deliver a real competitive advantage, he added. Cloud computing has traditionally broken down into two models: public and private. The difference between the two lies in who maintains control and responsibility for the data centre and is ultimately responsible for ensuring application service levels are met. In public cloud computing, some or all aspects of operations and management are handled by a third party service provider. Public clouds offer a number of advantages such as low costs and scalability. They can be extremely useful for companies needing to deal with large amounts of data or for those that don’t have the resources to manage their own infrastructure. Security concern However, concerns have been raised about how secure these public clouds are, and where the data they hold is physically stored; something that can be a major issue from a regulatory perspective. As a result, public clouds are often thought of as being suitable primarily for non-sensitive data or applications. On the other hand, private cloud offers a very different set of benefits. The private cloud model is based on the data centres being owned and maintained by the or-

ganisation using them. What that means is businesses have the ability to create a virtualised IT infrastructure that prepares them for the future, is built on an organisation’s own terms, and still maintains the ﬂexibility and scalability of cloud-based applications. Unlike the public cloud, private cloud computing does require an organisation’s own IT team and sufficient resource, which can sometimes prove impractical for small companies. Private and public clouds bring their own unique advantages and disadvantages and many companies may require elements of both. As a result, the company sees a third option become increasingly popular that combines the best of both models — hybrid clouds. Hybrid clouds fuse the qualities of both public and private clouds, allowing companies to take advantage of both cloud models in a way that works best for their business, now and in the future. According to Gartner, at least 80 per cent of business data is unstructured. As small ﬁrms mature, the right cloud solution can help ensure that number only decreases. Finding the right balance between the businesses long and short-term goals and resources available can be a challenge.

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

taken together has a population of 500 million and is the world’s largest economy. Greece has angered Berlin by demanding World War II reparations, but Germany’s minister for European affairs paved the way to a compromise Thursday by saying Berlin may increase its contribution to a German-Greek fund. Meanwhile, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg complained to former Polish premier Tusk that they had been frozen out of the mini-summit. “I am angry,” Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said. A formal decision to roll over the sanctions must still be agreed on by the 28 EU leaders, most probably at a summit in June. The Minsk accord is the basis of a shaky ceaseﬁre in eastern Ukraine between Kiev and pro-Kremlin rebels. - AFP GLOBAL GLUT

Crude oil price slump extends for fifth week MOSCOW: Oil traded near the lowest price in six years, heading for a fifth weekly decline amid signs that supplies from Iran and Russia could soon add to a global surplus. Futures fell as much as 1.5 per cent in New York. Iran may increase oil exports within months of reaching a deal on its nuclear programme, according to United States and European officials. Russia may export an additional 250,000 barrels a day of crude this year as it processes less in domestic teapot refineries. Baker Hughes will publish its count of rigs targeting oil in the US. Oil has renewed its slump after losing almost 50 per cent last year as US crude stockpiles expanded to the highest level in more than three decades, even as drillers idled a record number of rigs. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), which maintained its output target at 30 million barrels a day in November, needs to keep production steady to maintain market share, Kuwait Oil Minister Ali Al Omair said. “With Opec supplies running high and US production and inventories still swelling, the oil market is still trying to find a bottom,” Eugen Weinberg, head of commodity research at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, said by e-mail. West Texas Intermediate for April delivery dropped as much as 65 cents to $43.31 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $43.60. The contract closed at $43.46. - Bloomberg News

S ATUR DAY, M A RCH 2 1, 2 015

MARKET Halliburton, Baker Hughes plan $10 billion asset sales

Boeing eyes rapid growth in Southeast Asian market SINGAPORE: Boeing, the second-biggest United States government defense contractor, expects Southeast Asian demand for defence equipment to grow rapidly as economic growth enables them to boost purchases. “The Southeast Asian market isn’t as large as other markets, but it’s growing,” James Armington, Boeing vice-president for the East Asia-Pacific region, said in Langkawi, Malaysia on Thursday. “Over the next decade, with the growth rate in this region we’re going to see a significant increase in demand for defence equipment. It will grow very rapidly.” Boeing and other companies are trying to attract Southeast Asian countries, such as Malaysia and Singapore, to purchase jet fighters, air-refuelling tankers and other military equipment as regional disputes proliferate over territory and resources. Asia’s defence-related market is expected to grow 3 per cent annually over the next five years, Armington said.

These oil services companies need to sell assets in order to complete their merger. They plan to unload at least four batches of overlapping business lines to win approval

NEW YORK: Halliburton and Baker Hughes plan to begin seeking buyers next month for as much as $10 billion in assets that the oil-services companies need to sell in order to complete their merger, people with knowledge of the matter said. The companies are planning to unload at least four batches of overlapping business lines in order to win approval from the United States Justice Department for their $34.6 billion combination, said the people, who asked not to be identiﬁed because the matter is private. These include Halliburton’s drill bits and directional drilling operations and Baker Hughes’s cementing division, the people said. They also plan to sell a bundle of their completion-tools lines, the people said, and could select ﬁnancial advisers to oversee the sales by the end of the month. The divestments are needed to satisfy antitrust concerns. Halliburton has said it would sell businesses that account for as much as $7.5 billion in revenue for regulatory approval. Halliburton and Baker Hughes, the world’s

DEFENCE

GEARING UP FOR COMPETITION: Halliburton and Baker Hughes, the world’s second- and third-largest oilﬁeld services companies, are creating a larger footprint with a broader technology portfolio to better compete against Schlumberger, which will be about twice the size of the combined companies. – Bloomberg News

second- and third-largest oilﬁeld services companies, are creating a larger footprint with a broader technology portfolio to better compete against Schlumberger, which will be about twice the size of the combined companies. Baker Hughes said in a ﬁling this week it attracted attention late last year from a ‘global conglomerate’ in assets it may end up having to sell as part of the deal with Halliburton. A representative for Baker Hughes declined to comment, while Halliburton said in an emailed statement that it is too

early in the process to determine what units may be divested. Drill bits Halliburton’s drill-bits business, which manufactures the tips of drills for digging wells, is worth as much as $2 billion, the people said. Its drilling arm, Sperry Drilling, which uses data to track and steer the direction of drill bits, is worth up to $3 billion, they said. Baker Hughes’s cementing arm creates the permanent structure of a well after it is carved into the rock, and could fetch about $1 billion, the people said.

The completion-tools operations, which could include offshore sand control and various other gear used to ﬁnish the well before production, could sell for as much as $5 billion, they said. Halliburton and Baker Hughes will each hold special meetings on March 27 to allow shareholders to vote on the deal. In January, both reported higher earnings for the last quarter of 2014 as they prepared for a downturn in the industry. Even as they beat analysts’ proﬁt estimates, the companies are reducing their workforces and seeking to lower

costs after oil prices dropped by half from a June high. Halliburton is cutting as much as 8 per cent of its global workforce of more than 80,000. Schlumberger has announced cuts of 9,000 jobs and Baker Hughes has eliminated 7,000 positions. Weatherford International has announced 8,000 dismissals. - Bloomberg News

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Malaysia Malaysia, the first country outside Europe to have Airbus’sA400M military transport plane, is considering replacing some of its ageing fighters. Boeing plans to propose its Super Hornet jet for the bid, which hasn’t opened yet, Armington said. Boeing gets 30 per cent of its $90.8 billion in annual sales from outside the US, with a third coming from Asia, Armington said. Competition to win military deals in Asia has mounted as budget cuts in the US and Europe push Boeing and its rivals to bid for Asian projects. Indonesia and the Philippines, for example, have ordered trainer jets, submarines and patrol vessels to strengthen their defenses as tension in the region intensifies. Boeing lost out on jet-fighter deals to Lockheed Martin in Japan and South Korea. - Bloomberg News

TIGHT CENSORSHIP RULES

Sony’s PlayStation 4 debuts in China with few games to lure mobile players TOKYO: Sony’s PlayStation 4 debuted in China on Friday with few games and bare-bone online services as the ﬁrm navigates tight censorship rules to get a toehold in the world’s biggest gaming market. While the Chinese consoles are physically identical to those Sony sells worldwide, they have no access to music, TV shows and movies, and a library of just six games approved by authorities. That’s compared to almost 200 titles on Japan’s PlayStation Store. Chinese players won’t have Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto, the top-selling games last year, according to VGChartz.com. Sony and Microsoft — drawn to a market that International Data Corp. forecasts will reach $22 billion in 2017 — are entering China after the government lifted a 14year ban. The companies must convince a generation of gamers who grew up with free-to-play titles on smartphones and computers to buy consoles that cost more than the average worker’s monthly disposable income. The PS4, which increasingly utilises cloud-based gaming services such as PlayStation Plus, must also contend with China’s ‘Great Firewall’ of Internet controls, as well as restrictions on violent, sexual and political content. “The traditional game busi-

who spent 4,900 yuan ($792) on the console, a game called Dynasty Warriors, and a handheld PlayStation Vita.

TIGHT CONTROL: While the Chinese consoles are physically identical to those Sony sells worldwide, they have no access to music, TV shows and movies, and a library of just six games approved by authorities. – Bloomberg News

ness model has no upside when it comes to China because most gamers are on PCs and not used to paying $60 per title,” said Atul Goyal, a Singapore-based analyst with Jefferies Group. Gaming ﬁrst The service, which allows PS4 users to play online and costs about $10 a month in the United States, will be available with limitations in China, said Takehito Soeda, who oversees PlayStation’s strategy in the country. “PlayStation is ﬁrst a gaming

device, and that’s what we are focusing on for the launch,” Soeda said. “We are also considering opportunities when it comes to social networks popular with Chinese users. Video services require a bit more study because that’s a tightly controlled area.” Buyers started lining up outside the Sony store in Beijing’s Oriental Plaza mall at 7am. When the gate lifted three hours later, more than two dozen shoppers walked straight to the counter to buy the consoles. First in line was Alex Liu, a 21-year-old college student

Foreign versions Liu said he already spent more than 10,000 yuan on foreign versions of the console and games, including most of the six titles released in China. Still, he wanted the Chinese versions. “I believe in the future of PS4 in China,” Liu said. “I came to support Sony so they can bring more games next year and the year after. Online games can never meet all of our needs.” The China push comes as Sony shifts focus to selling streaming services to its more than 50 million active online users. Last year, the company rolled out a premium PlayStation Now game streaming service in North America for $19.99. This week, it released a console-based pay-TV service, Vue, in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia. The PS4 is key to chief executive officer Kazuo Hirai’s plan to raise proﬁts to the highest level since 1998 by emphasizing games, entertainment and image sensors over consumer electronics. The console sold 20.2 million units sold as of March 1, Sony said this month. - Bloomberg News

SAT URDAY, MARCH 21, 2015

MARKET C O M M E N TA RY

How long will euro’s downward slide against dollar last? ANATOLE KALETSKY

he United States dollar is hitting new 12-year highs almost daily, while the euro seems to be plunging inexorably to below dollar parity. Currency movements are often described as the most unpredictable of all ﬁnancial variables; but recent events in foreign-exchange markets seem, for once, to have a fairly obvious explanation — one that almost all economists and policymakers accept and endorse. French President François Hollande, for one, has ecstatically welcomed the plunging euro: “It makes things nice and clear: one euro equals a dollar,” he told an audience of industrialists. But it is when things seem ‘nice and clear’ that investors should question conventional wisdom. A strong dollar and a weak euro is certainly the most popular bet of 2015. So is there a chance that the exchange-rate trend may already be overshooting? In one sense, the conventional explanation of the recent eurodollar movement is surely right. The main driving force clearly has been monetary divergence, with the Federal Reserve tightening policy and the European Central Bank (ECB) maintaining rock-bottom interest rates and launching quantitative easing.

But how much of this divergence is already priced in? The answer depends on how many people either are unaware of the interestrate spread or do not believe that it will widen very far. Buying of bonds Last year, many investors questioned the ECB’s ability to launch a bond-buying programme in the face of German opposition, and many others doubted the Fed’s willingness to tighten monetary policy, because doing so could choke off the US economic recovery. That is why the euro was still worth almost $1.40 a year ago — and why I and others expected the euro to fall a long way against the dollar. But the scope for dollar-bullish or euro-bearish surprises is much narrower today. Does anyone still believe that the US economy is on the brink of recession? Or that the Bundesbank has the power to overrule ECB president Mario Draghi’s policy decisions? With so much of the monetary divergence now discounted, perhaps we should focus more attention on the other factors that could inﬂuence currency movements in the months ahead. On the side of a stronger dollar and weaker euro, there seem to be three possibilities. One is that the Fed could raise interest rates

substantially faster than expected. Another is that investors and corporate treasurers could become increasingly conﬁdent and aggressive in borrowing euros to convert into dollars and take advantage of higher United S rates. Finally, Asian and Middle Eastern central banks or sovereign wealth funds could take advantage of the ECB’s bond-purchase programme to sell increasing proportions of their German, French, or Italian debt and reinvest the proceeds in higheryielding US Treasury securities. Factors for exchange rate These are all plausible scenarios. But at least four factors could push the dollar-euro exchange rate the other way. First, there is the effect of the strong dollar itself on the US economy and its monetary poli-

Spanish bank Sabadell buys Britain’s TSB The two banks said they have agreed on terms of the bid which was pitched at 340 pence per share and worth €2.3 billion

LONDON: Spanish lender Sabadell on Friday clinched a £1.7-billion takeover of TSB, a unit of Britain’s bailed-out lender Lloyds, marking its entry into the UK retail banking sector. The two banks announced that they have agreed terms on the bid which was pitched at 340 pence per share and worth € 2.3 billion or $2.5 billion. The takeover strengthens Spain’s hold on British banking following rival Santander’s acquisition of Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and parts of Bradford & Bingley. “The boards of directors of Banco de Sabadell and TSB Banking are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer for TSB by Sabadell,” the pair said in a statement. Lloyds, which is 23-per cent state-owned after a bailout at the height of the global financial crisis, will sell its remaining 50-per cent stake in TSB, which it floated on the London stock market nine months ago. The announcement means that investors who bought the stock at the offer price of 260 pence will receive a 31-percent premium. The Spanish bank described the deal as ‘strategically attractive’ and added that it marked a “continuation of Sabadell’s successful growth strategy” to expand globally. It said the acquisition would bring benefits through enhanced

£1.7b Is the amount Sabadell will pay for takeover of TSB, a unit of Britain’s bailed-out lender Lloyds, marking its entry into the UK retail banking sector

scale and a broader funding and capital base. Growth prospects “Sabadell believes that the UK banking market, including the market serving UK retail and SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) customers, is attractive, having a well-defined and stable regulatory framework, consistent profitability and good future growth prospects.” It added that “TSB will be able to further enhance its growth strategy and efficiency, benefiting from Sabadell’s resources, experi-

ence in SME lending and experience gained in the Spanish banking market”. Sabadell also launched plans to raise €1.6 billion via a rights issue to shore up its balance sheet, but stressed that the takeover was not conditional on the move. The deal remains subject to approvals from British regulatory authorities, shareholders and the European Commission. “Today’s offer by Sabadell to acquire TSB is a real vote of conﬁdence in TSB, our 8,700 employees and the straightforward, transparent approach we’re bringing to banking in the UK,” said TSB chief executive Paul Pester, who will continue in his post. Expansion of services “I’m looking forward to working with Sabadell to continue to bring great banking to consumers across Britain, accelerate the expansion of our services to business customers and to continue to bring more competition to UK banking,” he added. The announcement comes one week after the Barcelona-based bank conﬁrmed its takeover plans. As part of its turnaround strategy and in order to meet European Union state aid rules, Lloyds relaunched TSB as a standalone lender in 2013, rebranding more than 600 branches ahead of its IPO in 2014. The Spanish lender added that potential savings of £160 million a year could be made through a switch over of IT systems to Sabadell’s own platform. - AFP

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cy. If the dollar continues to rise, US economic activity and inﬂation will weaken. In that case, the Fed, instead of raising interest rates faster than expected, will probably become more dovish. Second, there must be serious doubts about whether Asian and Middle Eastern governments will in fact want to shift more reserves into dollars, especially if this means converting the euros they have acquired since 2003 at a loss and far below their purchasing power parity. Many countries have spent decades diversifying their wealth away from dollars, for both ﬁnancial and geopolitical reasons. With the US increasingly prone to using its currency as an instrument of diplomacy, even of warfare – a process known in Washington as ‘weaponising the dollar’ — China, Russia, and Saudi Ara-

bia, for example, may well be reluctant to shift even more of their wealth into US Treasury bonds. A third factor suggesting that the euro’s downward trend against the dollar may not last much longer is the trade imbalance between the US and Europe. The gap is already wide — the International Monetary Fund forecasts a $484 billion deficit this year for the US, versus a $262 billion surplus for the eurozone — and is almost certain to widen much further, owing to the euro’s 20 per cent depreciation since the IMF released its estimate last autumn. Trade imbalance The implication is that hundreds of billions of dollars of capital will have to flow annually to the US from Europe just to maintain the present euro-dollar exchange rate. And as the transatlantic trade imbalance widens further, ever larger capital flows will be needed to keep pushing the euro down. Such huge capital flows are entirely possible, but what will drive them? That question leads to the final and most important reason for expecting the euro’s decline to reverse or at least stabilise. While higher US interest rates will attract some investors, others will move away from the dollar if the combination of a more

competitive euro, the ECB’s enormous monetary stimulus, and an easing of fiscal pressures in France, Italy, and Spain generates a genuine economic recovery in Europe. The resulting flows of global capital into European shares, property, and direct investment – all of which are now substantially cheaper than corresponding US assets – could easily outweigh the cash and bond investments attracted by rising US interest rates. What, then, can strike a balance between the opposing forces operating on the euro-dollar exchange rate? No one can say for sure, but one thing is certain: Whereas the profits from playing transatlantic interest-rate differentials may run to 1 per cent or 2 per cent per year, investors can easily lose that amount in a single day – or even an hour – by buying the wrong currency when the trend turns. As we know from decades of Japanese and Swiss experience, selling a lowinterest-rate currency simply to chase higher US yields is often a costly mistake. – Project Syndicate Anatole Kaletsky is chairman of the Institute for New Economic Thinking and the author of ‘Capitalism 4.0, The Birth of a New Economy’

N E W M I N I N G L AW

Will consider selling coal in open market, says Tata Steel MUMBAI: Tata Steel, which mines most of its own coal to produce the alloy in India, will consider selling the fuel in the open market with the government on Thursday passing a law that may end Coal India’s monopoly. “Having been in coal and iron ore for a century, that is a line of business to look forward to,” Koushik Chatterjee, group chief ﬁnancial officer at India’s biggest steelmaker, said on Thursday. Tata Steel, whose earnings are under stress amid weak steel demand and a supply glut worldwide, has mined coking coal and iron ore since early last century for feeding its steel factory in the eastern Indian city of Jamshedpur. The company, which produces about 7 million metric tons of metallurgical coal for its own use, will have to bid for new coal mines to sell the fuel in the open market, which is dominated by stateowned Coal India. A new law that proposes to attract private investment in the mining of coal was passed by lawmakers in India’s upper house today. Lawmakers earlier today approved the minerals mining bill, which will speed up auctioning of iron ore, bauxite and other mining assets and draw investors to a growing, resource-hungry nation. “It’ll take about four years for

the first output from private mines to come to the market,” said Giriraj Daga, a portfolio manager at SKS Capital & Research. “It’s too early to say how much private miners would benefit from this.” Falling prices Profit at Mumbai-based Tata Steel, which bought Corus Group in 2007 for $12.9 billion, is estimated to fall 41 per cent to Rs21.1 billion ($337 million) in the year ending March 31, according to the median of 36 analyst estimates. Higher local output, increased imports and falling exports mean there are 7 million tonnes of additional supplies in India, compared with 2 million tons of incremental demand, according to Steel Ministry data.“There is certainly pressure on margins,” Chatterjee said. “We have seen about 1 million tonnes of steel being imported into the country a month. We are taking internal initiatives from both the revenue side and the cost side.” Klesch talks In Europe, Tata Steel’s biggest market, the company’s negotiations with Swiss investment firm Klesch Group for the sale of its long-products manufacturing and distribution sites in the UK, France and Germany may take longer to conclude than antici-

pated, Chatterjee said. Tata Steel is, meanwhile, focusing on raising output of higher-value products and cutting costs. Tata Steel in October said it had started talks with billionaire Gary Klesch’s company. A successful sale will help Tata Steel pare net debt that currently stands at about $11 billion. “Talks are ongoing,” Chatterjee said. “These things take time to deliberate and decide. It doesn’t look to get over by March.” Tata Steel’s European unit, which accounts for more than half of the steelmaker’s global output, is trying to lower its ratio of net debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, Chatterjee said. The ratio is a measurement of leverage. “It’s also a function of earnings capability,” Chatterjee said in an interview at his Mumbai office. The emphasis is on building “earnings capability and product differentiation,” he said. The ratio climbed to 5.3 in the year ended March 2013 and is estimated to drop to 4.95 in the year ending March 31, according to data. The leverage rose after the purchase of Corus enlarged Tata Steel’s total debt to $13 billion as of March last year. Tata Steel raised the equivalent of $6.1 billion via loans in July and October to build a new plant in India. - Bloomberg News

S ATUR DAY, M A RCH 2 1, 2 015

FEATURE

WILL ROBOTS REPLACE US IN ALL OUR JOBS? If you think being a ‘professional’ makes your job safe, think again. The combination of advanced sensors, voice recognition, artiﬁcial intelligence, big data, text-mining, and pattern-recognition algorithms, is generating smart robots capable of quickly learning human actions. That’s bad news for the skilled labour market.

t’s now possible to sell a new product to hundreds of millions of people without needing many, if any, workers to produce or distribute it. At its prime in 1988, Kodak, the iconic American photography company, had 145,000 employees. In 2012, Kodak filed for bankruptcy. The same year Kodak went under, Instagram, the world’s newest photo company, had 13 employees serving 30 million customers. The ratio of producers to customers continues to plummet. When Facebook purchased ‘WhatsApp’ messaging app for $19 billion last year, WhatsApp had 55 employees serving 450 million customers. A friend, operating from his home in Tucson, recently invented a machine that can find particles of certain elements in the air. He’s already sold hundreds of these machines over the Internet to customers all over the world. He’s manufacturing them in his garage with a 3D printer. So far, his entire business depends on just one person — himself. New technologies aren’t just labour-replacing. They’re also knowledge-replacing. The combination of advanced sensors, voice recognition, artificial intelligence, big data, text-mining, and pattern-recognition algorithms, is generating smart robots capable of quickly learning human actions, and even learning from one another. If you think being a “professional” makes your job safe, think again. The two sectors of the economy harbouring the most professionals — health care and education – are under increasing pressure to cut costs. And expert machines are poised to take over. We’re on the verge of a wave of mobile apps for

measuring everything from your cholesterol to your blood pressure, along with diagnostic software that tells you what it means and what to do about it. In coming years, software apps will be doing many of the things physicians, nurses, and technicians now do (think ultrasound, CT scans, and electrocardiograms). Meanwhile, the jobs of many teachers and university professors will disappear, replaced by online courses and interactive online textbooks. Where will this end? Imagine a small box – let’s call it an “iEverything” – capable of producing everything you could possibly desire, a modern day Aladdin’s lamp. You simply tell it what you want, and – presto – the object of your desire arrives at your feet. The iEverything also does whatever you want. It gives you a massage, fetches you your slippers, does your laundry and folds and irons it. The iEverything will be the best machine ever invented. The only problem is no one will be able to buy it. That’s because no one will have any means of earning money, since the iEverything will do it all. This is obviously fanciful, but when more and more can be done by fewer and fewer people, the proﬁts go to an ever-smaller circle of executives and ownerinvestors. One of the young founders of WhatsApp, CEO Jan Koum, had a 45 per cent equity stake in the company when Facebook purchased it, which yielded him $6.8 billion. Cofounder Brian Acton got $3 billion for his 20 per cent stake. Each of the early employees reportedly had a 1 per cent stake, which presumably netted them $160 million each. Meanwhile, the rest of us will be left providing the only things technology can’t

provide – person-to-person attention, human touch, and care. But these sorts of person-to-person jobs pay very little. That means most of us will have less and less money to buy the dazzling array of products and services spawned by blockbuster technologies – because those same technologies will be supplanting our jobs and driving down our pay. New economic model The economic model that dominated most of the twentieth century was mass production by the many, for mass consumption by the many. Workers were consumers; consumers were workers. As paychecks rose, people had more money to buy all the things they and others produced — like Kodak cameras. That resulted in more jobs and even higher pay. That virtuous cycle is now falling apart. A future of almost unlimited production by a handful, for consumption by whoever can afford it, is a recipe for economic and social collapse. Our underlying problem won’t be the number of jobs. It will be – it already is — the allocation of income and wealth. What to do? “Redistribution” has become a bad word. But the economy toward which we’re hurtling — in which more and more is generated by fewer and fewer people who reap almost all the rewards, leaving the rest of us without enough purchasing power – can’t function. It may be that a redistribution of income and wealth from the rich owners of breakthrough technologies to the rest of us becomes the only means of making the future economy work. —ROBERT REICH/The Christian Science Monitor

B SECTION

LIFE & STYLE

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM S AT U R DAY, M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

GRIT: THE KEY INGREDIENT TO YOUR CHILD’S SUCCESS

hen parents and educators launched the “self-esteem” movement in the 1980s, lavishly praising children and handing out trophies to all, they expected everyone would try harder. But the opposite was true. Coddled children became softer, slower and less likely to persevere. In other words, they didn’t learn grit. “This is not a gritty generation,” says Caroline Adams Miller, an author and speaker. “They become overwhelmed easily because they’ve been protected from failure.” Psychologists are now focusing on grit as the key ingredient for happiness and success. Grit is defined as passion and perseverance in pursuit of long-term goals. Grit determines who survives at West Point, who finals at the National Spelling Bee, and who is tough enough not to be a quitter. “More than anything, it predicts who gets to the finish line of hard goals in life,” Miller says, adding that being talented is of little value unless you pair it with hard work and passion. Research shows grit is usually unrelated or inversely related to talent. But if you fear your children are light on grit, don’t worry. We can cultivate traits of gritty people — and model them for our children. Grit is contagious. Cultivating grit requires finding a passion — something that lights you up. Miller proposes some steps for getting grit:

Q When you face a tough challenge, don't tell yourself the job is too hard or that you can't do it. Ask yourself, why not me? Q When things get hard and you want to quit, mentally change the channel. Find perseverance by focusing on a spiritual phrase, personal mantra or image that spurs you on. Q Build a team around you. Connect positively with people every day to help you reach tough longterm goals. Q Parents also should praise effort over outcome and coax their children to push through pain and failure, which will help develop self-respect. Q While it's tough to let your children fail, failure is key in building grit and grit is often the key to success — you have to fall down to get back up. That hasn't always been the case. In the 1980s, when we “dumbed down” neighbourhood parks so

children could fall into a pillow of wood chips — that spawned a generation of softer children. Creeping grade inflation in high schools and teachers allowing students to retake bombed tests also eroded the ability of children to develop grit. But participation in competitive sports and developing the discipline required to excel in the arts makes children grittier. Miller urges parents to step outside their comfort zone, because she says playing it safe doesn’t net much except anxiety and an inability to take risks. Encourage your children to stick around people who aren’t quitters. “Take more risks that expose you to novelty and keep you curious and alive,” Miller says. In a recent Ted Talk on grit, Angela Lee Duckworth, a University of Pennsylvania psychologist, says the most significant predictor of success in children isn’t social intelligence, good looks, physical health or IQ. “It’s about having stamina, sticking with your future — day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years — and working really hard to make that future a reality.” In other words, it’s about being the tortoise, instead of the hare that sprints ahead but stops midway to take a nap, thereby losing the race. Grit is “living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Duckworth says. Duckworth says the best way to build grit in children is “growth mindset,” an idea developed by Carol Dweck, a Stanford University psychologist. Growth mindset is the belief that the ability to learn can change with effort. When children understand the brain grows in response to challenge, they’re more likely to persevere when they fail. They cultivate grit when they know the qualities they need for success can be developed through dedication and effort. To develop a gritty teen, we need to praise children not for being smart or showing up, but for their hard effort. We need to infuse optimism and humour into their lives. We need to train them to hang in there. We need to show them how to plug along toward longterm goals even when they trip and fall. “Children with grit are finishers in life,” Miller says. “At the first sign of discomfort they don’t run away and quit, they continue to show up and have the satisfaction of knowing that they gave their best whether there’s a trophy waiting for them or not.” — Judy Holland/The Washington Post

S ATUR DAY, M A RCH 2 1, 2 015

ENTERTAINMENT CINEMA SCHEDULE

BAHJA CINEMA Insurgent (3D) (Adventure/ Sci Fi) Cast: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, 7:00, 9:15, 11:30 PM (PG12) Insurgent (2D) (Adventure/ Sci Fi) Cast: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, 2:30 PM (PG12) The Gunman (2D) (Action/Crime) Cast: Javier Bardem, Sean Penn (15+) 4:45, 9:30, 11:45 PM Run All Night (2D) (Action) (15+) Cast: Liam Neeson, Ed Harris 9:30 PM Cinderella (2D) (Adv/Drama) (PG) Cast: Lily James, Hayley Atwell 3:45 PM Winx: The Mystery of the Abyss (2D) (Animation) (PG) 2:00, 3:15, 5:45 PM Suite Francaise (2D) (Drama)(PG12) Cast: Michelle Williams, Kristin Scott Thomas, Margot 7:30 PM The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2D) (Comedy I Drama) (PG) Cast: Michelle Williams, Kristin Scott Thomas, Margot 5:00, 7:15 PM The Lazarus Effect (2D) (Horror)(12+) Cast: Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass 11:45 PM

The Gunman (2D) (Action/Crime) Cast: Javier Bardem, Sean Penn (15+) 7:30, 9:40 & 11:45 PM Gold Class: 2:15 & 9:00 PM Insurgent (2D)(Action/Crime) (PG12) Cast: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort 11:45 AM

SCREEN 3 Badlapur – (Action | Drama) – 15+ 9.45 pm Cast: Varun Dhawan, Huma Qureshi, Yami Gautam Run All Nighht (Action) – 15+ Cast: Genesis Rodriguez, Liam Neeson 6.45 PM

Insurgent (3D) (Sci-Fi/Thriller (PG12) 9:30 PM & 11:45 PM Gold Class: 12:00, 4:30 PM & 11:15 PM Cinderella (2D) (Adventure) (PG) Cast: Lily James, Hayley Atwell, Richard 11:00 AM & 5:30 PM Run All Night (2D) (Action) (15+) 7:30 PM Cast: Liam Neeson, Ed Harris, Joel Kinnaman Winx: The Mystery Abyss (Animation) (PG) 10:15 AM, 2:00 & 3:45 PM Crazy Beautiful You (2D) (Action) (PG12) Cast: Daniel Padilla, Kathryn Bernardo, Lorna Tolentino 3:15 PM The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2D) (Comedy/Drama) (PG) Cast: Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy 1:00 & 5:15 PM Gold Class: 6:45 PM

Run All Night – 2D (15+) (Action) Cast: Liam Neeson, Ed Harris 3:15, 11:15 PM Cinderella – 2D (PG) (Adventure) Cast: Lily James, Hayley Atwell, 1:30, 3:30 PM Insurgent – 2D (PG12) (Adventure) Cast: Shailene Woodley, Ansel 5:15 PM Insurgent – 3D (PG12) Adventure|SciFi | Thriller Cast: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Theo James 12:45, 7:00, 9:30, 11:45 PM The Gunman – 2D (15+) (Action) Cast: Javier Bardem, Sean Penn 1:15, 3:00, 7:25, 9:15, 11:30 PM Winx Club : The Mystery of the Abyss – 2D (PG) Animation 12:00, 3:45, 5:30 PM The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – 2D (PG) Comedy |Drama Cast: Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy 5:15, 9:00 PM Suite Française – 2D (PG12) Drama |Romance | War Cast: Michelle Williams, Kristin Scott Thomas, Margot 5:30, 7:30 PM The Lazarus Effect – 2D (12+) Horror | Thriller

SCREEN 1 Dilliwali Zalim Girlfriend – Hindi (Comedy/Romance) Cast: Divyendu Sharma, Jackie Shroff, Prachi Mishra, Ira Dubey 3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PM SCREEN 2 NH 10 – Hindi (Suspense/ Thriller ) Cast: Anushka Sharma, Neil Bhoopalam, Ravi Jhankal, Darshan Kumaar 3.45, 6.45, 9.45 PM

Cast: Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass 7:30, 11:45 PM Dilliwali Zaalim Girlfriend – 2D (TBC) Romance | Comedy Cast: Divyendu Sharma, Jackie Shroff, Prachi Mishra 12:00, 9:30 PM

The Gunman – 2D (15+) (Action) Cast: Javier Bardem, Idris Elba 3:00, 5:00, 9:15, 11:30 PM Insurgent -2D (PG12) (Adventure) Cast: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Theo James 5:00 PM Insurgent – 3D (PG12) (Adventure) 7:15, 9:30, 11:45PM The Lazarus Effect – 2D (12+)Horror, Thriller Cast: Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass, Evan Peters 3:30, 11:45 PM Dilliwali Zaalim Girlfriend – 2D Romance, Comedy Cast: Divyendu Sharma, Jackie Shroff, Prachi Mishra 7:00, 9:30 PM Winx Club : The Mystery of the Abyss – 2D (PG) Animation 3:00, 4:30, 6:00 PM Run All Night – 2D (15+) Action, 7:30 PM

Insurgent (3D) (Adventure) (PG12) Cast: Shailene Woodley, Ansel 5:45, 9:30, 11:45 PM The Gunman (Action) (15+) Cast: Javier Bardem, Sean Penn 3:40, 7:15, 11:30 PM

The Lazarus Effect (Horror | Thriller) (12+) Cast: Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass, Evan Peters 8:00 PM Winx Club : The Mystery of the Abyss (Animation) (PG) CP# 2:00, 4:15, 5:45 PM Dilliwali Zaalim Girlfriend (Hindi) (Romance | Comedy) (TBC) Cast: Divyendu Sharma, Jackie Shroff, Prachi Mishra 2:00, 9:15 PM

Winx : The Mystery of the Abyss (2D)(PG) (Animation) 11:00AM, 2:15, 5:45PM Insurgent (2D)(PG12) (Adventure) 2:40PM Insurgent (3D)(PG12) (Adventure) 9:15, 11:30PM The Gunman (2D)(15+) (Action) 5:00, 7:05, 9:40, 11:45PM Run All Night (2D)(15+) (Action) 12:30, 9:30PM Cinderalla (2D)(PG) (Adventure) 11:00AM, 12:15, 3:45PM Dilliwali Zaalim Girlfriend (2D) 7:20PM The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2D)(PG)( Comedy/ Drama) Cast: Judi Dench, Maggie Smith 11:30AM, 7:15PM Crazy Beautiful You (2D)(PG12) (Drama/Romance) Cast: Daniel Padilla, Kathryn Bernardo 3:15PM Suite Française (2D)(PG12)(Drama) 5:15PM The Lazarus Effect (2D)(12+) (Horror/Thriller) 1:45, 11:30PM

Run All Night ( Action/Crime) Cast: Liam Neeson, Ed haris 10.00 p.m CP No: 668 (15+) Lazarus Effect (Horror/Thriller ) Cast: Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass 4.00, 8.00, & 11.55. p.m CP No: 749 (12+) Suite Francaise: ( Drama/Romance ) Cast: Michalle Williams, Kristin Scott Thomas, Margot Robie 2.00 & 6.00 p.m. CP No: 747 (PG12) Winx Club: The Mystery Of The Abyss (Animation) 2.00 & 6.00 p.m. CP No: 748 (PG ) Insurgent (Action/Sci:Fic) Cast: Shailen Woodley, Ansel Elgot 3.45, 7.30, 9.45, 11.55 pm CP No: 746 (PG 12)

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

STARS CINEMA Film information 24791641 / 24786776

Fireman (Mal) (Act \Thriller) Cast: Mammootty & Nyla Usha 3:30, 6:30 & 9:30pm Cinema Main Kakki Sattai (Tamil) ( Com\Act) Cast: Shiva Karthikeyan, Sri Divya & Prabhu 3:30, 6:30 & 9:30pm Cinema -2 NH 10 (Hindi) (Action\Thriller) Cast: Anushka Sharma, Deepti Naval & Neil Bhoopalam 3:45, 6:45 & 9:45pm Cinema – 3 Temper (Telugu) (Act) Cast: Jr Ntr, Kajal Agarwal 3:45pm Cinema-4 Picket 43 (Mal) (Act) Cast: Prithviraj, Javed Jafry 6:45 & 9:45pm Cinema -4 Next Change: 100 Days Of Love (Mal )

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

ACES ON BRIDGE

Your guess may be how to get home

SUDOKU

2 4 6 9

5 9

7 8

1 2 6

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

3 5 7 4 2

M. MOHD ZOHAIB

9 3 6 5 7

1 8 9

1 8

9 8 3 4 6

4 7

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

MARMADUKE

CROSSWORD

B I G NAT E

53 57 58 60 61 62 63

Cellist — Casals Pep Gawk Call for Did lunch No sweat Sticky fruit

DOWN 1 Cleaning cloth 2 Tempe coll. 3 Gibson of “Lethal Weapon” 4 Measly 5 “Little Women” woman 6 Dorm climbers 7 Brown the bandleader 8 Bomb material 9 Sketch 10 Make — — for it 11 Tijuana abode 16 Is that —? 18 Puts up alfalfa 20 Milder 22 Orange veggies 23 Actor Bana 24 Petri-dish contents

26 27 29 31 32 33 39 41 43

Least risky Opens the window Horse’s gait Tomb Raider — Croft Shed, as light Rides a bench Cracked a little Where Krakow is Metric pounds

45 46 47 49 51 52 54 55 56 59

Exploding star Monogram pt. Cognomen CD preceder Pamplona cheer Mauna — “Luck — — Lady” Lease Sonnet kin Derby st.

Answer to previous puzzle

ACROSS 1 Freeway access 5 Dump 9 Resinous deposit 12 On a voyage 13 Part of the range 14 Rollover subj. 15 Beach scavengers 17 Continent connector 19 Volume 21 Ms. Paquin 22 Subscription length 25 Dreaded assignment 28 Sporty sock 30 Theatre features 34 Hamm of soccer 35 Not hurt 36 Neighbour of Sp. 37 Yves’ friend 38 Minor injury 40 — de corps 42 Tugs 44 Equine fodder 45 Historic ship 48 “— do for now” 50 Winning big (3 wds.)

VISVAJEETH G. K.

March 20, 2013

March 20

ABRAHAM JACOB

TAPOSHYA DEY

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

Previous puzzle Solution

CHARLES-Maurice de Talleyrand, a French statesman who died in 1838, said, “What I have been taught, I have forgotten; what I know, I have guessed.” Sometimes declarer might have to guess after excellent defence. More often, though, declarer will control his own fate. However, before we get to the play of today’s deal, look only at the North hand. With both sides vulnerable, South opens two spades, showing a good six-card suit and 6-10 high-card points. After West passes, what should North respond? After you have decided, look at all 52 cards. How can South get home in four spades after West leads the club queen? In the auction, North must bid four spades, not three no-trump. This deal shows why. If East guesses to take the ﬁrst spade trick in no-trump, the South hand will be worth zero tricks. Even if East ducks one round of spades, three no-trump has no chance. In four spades, South might have to guess the trump split. He wins the ﬁrst trick with dummy’s club king, leads a spade to his queen and continues with the spade king. If East ducks, South must not lead another trump. Instead, he should play a heart to dummy’s ace, ruff a heart, cross to dummy with a diamond, ruff a heart, return to dummy with a diamond, cash the club ace and lead another heart. Here, he cannot go wrong. But if spades were 3-3, he would have to guess who had cleverly ducked his ace twice. If East, South must ruff with his spade jack; if West, South must ruff with his spade seven. If he gets it wrong, he should congratulate his opponent. — By Phillip Alder

WITH LOVE

BORN LOSER

March 20, 2000

March 19, 2008

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

KIDSPOT

H E A LT H C A P S U L E

SAT URDAY, MARCH 21, 2015

PRAYER TIMINGS

Dhuhr Asr Maghrib Isha Fajr (Tomorrow)

Y O U R B I R T H D AY

BORN today, you are destined to be one of the greats — but you can only fulﬁl that destiny if you recognise, early on, what your primary talent really is. You must seek out the proper development of that talent and the opportunities that will allow you to maximise it and put it on display in the right ways. You should take nothing for granted in life, not even your own ability — for if you neglect it even for a moment, it may suddenly abandon you, leaving you with very little other than disappointment. You will be recognised as superior in some way when you are very young, but whether you are recognised as such when you are older depends entirely upon your ability to work hard and keep your goals in sight. Though others may not always know it, there is a deep current of emotion running through your core, which always fuels your best efforts. This is not something that often gets the better of you, because you are quite adept at channeling even your deepest feelings into what you are doing — and making those feelings pay off handsomely. Also born on this date are: Gary Oldman, actor; Matthew Broderick, actor; Timothy Dalton, actor; Eddie Money, singer; Rosie O’Donnell, actress and talk show host; Modest Mussorgsky, composer; Florenz Ziegfeld, stage producer; Peter Brook, stage director.

12.19pm 3.45pm 6.23pm 7.33pm 4.55am

Sunset Sunrise (Tomorrow) High tide Low tide

6:18pm 6.11am

9:31pm 3.27pm

FIND-IT-ALL

10.09am 3.56am

W E AT H E R

AIRLINES

lear to partly cloudy skies over northern parts of the Sultanate with chance of convective clouds developments and isolated rain over Al-Hajar mountains and adjoining areas during afternoon. Chances of late night to early morning low level clouds and fog patches along the coastal areas of Oman Sea and over Governorates of south Al Sharqiyah, Al Wusta and Dhofar. EXPECTED WINDS: Along Musandam and Oman Sea coasts winds will be northerly to northeasterly light to moderate occasionally fresh over west coast of Musandam while winds will be Southeasterly light to moderate over rest of the Sultanate.

SEA STATE: Slight along most of Oman’s Sea coasts with maximum wave height of 1.25 metres. HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY: Good over most of the Sultanate becoming poor during fog. THE NEXT 48 HOURS OUTLOOK: Partly cloudy skies over northern parts of the Sultanate. Chance of convective clouds developments with isolated rain over Al Hajar mountains and adjoining areas during afternoon. Chance of late night to early morning low level clouds or fog patches along Oman Sea coast and over governorates of Al Wusta and Dhofar.

Max

OMAN

WORLD

Max 30 Min 21 Max 10 Min 1

Max 30 Min 18

Max 30 Min 23 Max 9 Min 2

Max 31 Min 21

Max 7 Min -1

Max 34 Min 19

Max 36 Min 19

Max 38 Min 19

Max 38 Min 23

ARIES

Max 35 Min 22

[March 21-APRIL 19] You’re able to put more in place than expected. Once you’ve tended to your primary duties, you can focus on a personal need.

Max 29 Min 23

Max 25 Min 14

Max 33 Min 24 Max 22 Min 19

Source: www.met.gov.om

GULF Abu Dhabi Doha Dubai Kuwait Manama Riyadh

33 31 32 26 27 30

22 23 24 18 22 20

WORLD Athens Baghdad Beijing Berlin Boston Cairo Colombo Frankfurt Hong Kong Istanbul Johannesburg Kuala Lumpur Lisbon Paris Perth Singapore Tokyo Toronto

15 23 19 9 5 23 32 9 24 8 25 32 18 13 26 33 16 7

9 12 3 1 -4 8 23 1 20 5 15 24 11 6 14 29 3 -5

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)

TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

[APRIL 20-MAY 20] Now is not the time to break from any pattern than has been yielding the results you desire. Indeed, you’ll want to redouble those efforts.

GEMINI [MAY 21-JUNE 20] The questions you answer will give you food for thought. Perhaps you have been trying to move in the wrong direction.

CANCER [JUNE 21-JULY 22] Policy and practices may have to be studied more closely if you’re going to do things ways that please the powers that be.

LEO [JULY 23-AUG. 22] Quality, not quantity, is what really counts, though you mustn’t make the mistake of doing less than you know you should.

VIRGO [AUG. 23-SEPT. 22] You’ve reached an important milestone. Copy another’s style for a time, and you’ll learn something, but you mustn’t do it for too long.

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (Route 36) Dept Destination Arrival Time Time 15:00 Quriyat 16:30 15:00 Sur 18:00 15:00 Jaalan 19:30 TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41) 06:30 Sohar 06:30 Buraimi 08:00 Buraimi 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Buraimi 16.00 Sohar 16.00 Buraimi TO SINAW (Route 52) 17:30 Sinaw

[[SEPT. [S S 23-OCT. 22] You can catch up on some longoverdue personal time with someone who always seems to make you feel more like yourself.

SCORPIO S [[OCT. 23-NOV. 21] You may not be feeling quite normal, but you must admit you’re not always sure what “normal” means!

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (Route 36) Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily 05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily 05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

08:50 11:00 14:30 15:45 17:40 18.35 20:20

Daily Daily Daily via Ibri Daily Daily Daily Daily

20:50

Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41) 07:00 Sohar 07:00 Ruwi 13:30 Ruwi 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Ruwi 13:00 Sohar 17:00 Ruwi TO SINAW (Route 52) 07:00 Ruwi

To Yanqul (Route 54) 14:30 Nizwa 14:30 Yanqul

16:50 19:30

Daily Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54) 08:00 Nizwa 08:00 Al Araqi

10:20 12:30

TO SUR (Route 55) 07:30 Sur 14:30 Sur TO FAHUD - YIBAL (Route 62) 06:30 Fahud 06:30 Yibal

08:55 11:40 20:20 14:55 17:40 19:20 22:15

Daily Daily Daily via Ibri Daily Daily Daily Daily

10:25

Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54) 06:00 Nizwa 06:00 Ruwi

08:40 11:00

Daily Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54) 15:40 Nizwa 15:40 Ruwi

17:55 20:20

Daily Daily

12:00 18:45

Daily Daily

TO SUR (Route 55) 06:00 Ruwi 14:30 Ruwi

10:45 19:00

Daily Daily

10:30 11:15

Daily Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (Route 62) 12:30 Fahud 12:30 Ruwi

13:15 17:30

Daily Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (Route 100) 07:00 Salalah 20:00 10:00 Marmul 20:30 10:00 Salalah 23:30 19:00 Salalah 07:40

Daily Daily Daily Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (Route 100) 07:00 Ruwi 19:50 10:00 Marmul 13:15 10:00 Ruwi 22:30 19:00 Ruwi 07:30

Daily Daily Daily Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101) 06:00 Marmul

Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101) 06:00 Marmul

16:30

Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (Route 102) 15:00 Salalah 07:00

Daily

16:50

SALALAH TO DUBAI (Route 102) 15:00 Dubai 07:00

LIBRA L

Operating Days Daily Daily Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201) 06:00 Sohar 06:00 Dubai 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Dubai 15:00 Sohar 15:00 Dubai

08:30 11:30 15:30 18:30 17:35 20:55

Daily Daily Wed,Thur Wed,Thur Daily Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204) Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily 07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily 07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201) 07:30 Sohar 07:30 Ruwi 13:00 Sohar 13:00 Ruwi 15:30 Sohar 15:30 Ruwi

10:50 13:40 16:15 19:10 18:45 21:35

Daily Daily Thur-Fri Thur-Fri Daily Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204) Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily 16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily 16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

LISTINGS

SAGITTARIUS S [[NOV. 22-DEC. 21] A sacriﬁce on your part doesn’t mean that you’re setting yourself up to lose. On the contrary, it can lead to a major personal victory.

CAPRICORN [DEC. 22-JAN 19] You’ll want to keep accurate records of the day’s events. Thinking of it only after the day is done will be too late!

AQUARIUS [JAN. 20-FEB. 18] Just because your personal taste clashes with that of another doesn’t mean you can’t share what is really a common interest.

PISCES [Feb. 19-March 20] A falsehood is revealed. You’ll want to look further into a developing situation that is not as good for you as you had hoped.

PHARMACIES Round the clock Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24783334; Appolo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24782666; Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24702542, Salalah: 23291635; Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra: 24503585; Ruwi 24811715 Muscat Region Apollo, Al Hamriya. Tel: 24787766 Muscat, A Seeb Market. Tel: 24421691 Muscat, Al Khuwair. Tel: 24485740 Muscat, Al Hail South. Tel: 4537080 Dhofar Region Muscat, Al Nahdha Road, Salalah. Tel: 23291635 HOSPITALS Al Amal Medical & Health Care Centre: 24485052 Atlas Hospital: Ruwi: 24811743/ Ghubra: 24504000 Al Musaﬁr Specialised Medical Clinic: 24706453 Hatat Polyclinic LLC, Ruwi: 24563641, Azaiba: 24499269, Sohar: 2683006 Al Raffah Hospital: 24618900/1/2 Al Massaraat Clinic & Laboratory: 24566435 Al Makook Medical Coordinance Centre: 24499434 Apollo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24787766, 24787780 Capital Polyclinic: 24707549 Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic, Ruwi: 24799760/1/2 Capital Clinic, Seeb: 24420740 Ceregem National Raak: 24485633 Dr Harub’s Clinic: 24563217 Elixir Health Centre: 24565802 Emirates Medical Centre: 24604540 1st Chiropractic Centre: 24472274 Hamdan Hospital: 23212340 International Medical Centre LLC: 24794501/2/3/4/5 Kims Oman Hospital: 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency: 24760123 Lama Polyclinic, Sohar: 26751128, MBD: 24799077, Al Khuwair: 24478818 Magrabi Eye and Ear Hospital: 24568870 Muscat Private Hospital: 24583600 Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, Al Khuwair: 24477666 Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC: 22004000 ROYAL OMAN POLICE Emergencies and inquiries: 9999 General Directorate of Passport and Residence: 24569603 Directorate General of Customs: 24521109 Traffic violations inquiries: 24510228 Public Relations Admin: 24560099 ACCOMMODATION Al Bahjah Hotel: 24424400 Al Bustan Palace: 24764000 Al Khuwair Hotel Apartments: 24478171 Al Madina Holiday Inn: 24596400 Al Maha International Hotel: 24494949 Al Fanar Hotel: 24712385 Al Falaj Hotel: 24702311 Al Qurum Resort: 24605945 Azaiba Hotel Apartments: 24490979 Beach Hotel: 24696601 Bowshar Hotel: 24491105 Coral Hotel Muscat: 24692121 Crowne Plaza Muscat: 24660660 Crystal Suites: 24826100 Golden Tulip Seeb: 24510300 Grand Hyatt Muscat: 24641234 Haffa House Hotel: 24707207 Hotel Muscat Holiday: 24487123 InterContinental Muscat: 24680000 Majan Continental Hotel: 24592900 Marina Hotel: 24711711 Midan Hotel Suites: 24499565 Mina Hotel: 24711828 Muttrah Hotel: 24798401

Nuzha Hotel Apartments: 24789199 Oman Dive Centre: 24824240 Park Inn: 24507888 Qurum Beach House Hotel: 24564070 Radisson Blu Hotel: 24487777 Ramee Dream Resort Seeb: 24453399 Ramee Guestline Hotel: 24564443 Ruwi Hotel: 24704244 Safeer Hotel Suites: 24691200 Sheraton Oman Hotel: 24772772 Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa: 24776666 The Chedi Muscat: 24524400 The Treasurebox Muscat Hotel: 24502570 AIRLINE OFFICES Muscat Airport Flight information (24 hours): 24519456/24519223 Aeroﬂot: 24704455, Air Arabia: 24700828, Air France: 24562153, Air India: 24799801, Air New Zealand: 24700732, Biman Bangladesh Airlines: 24701128, British Airways: 24568777, Cathay Paciﬁc: 24789818, Egypt Air: 24794113, Emirates Air: 24404400, Ethiopian Airlines: 24660313, Gulf Air: 80072424, Indian: 24791914, Iran Air: 24787423, Japan Airlines: 24704455, Jazeera Airways: 23294848, Jet Airways: 24787248, Kenya Airways: 24660300, KML Royal Dutch Airlines: 24566737, Kuwait Airways: 24701262, LOT Polish Airlines: 24796387, Lufthansa: 24796692, Malaysian Airlines: 24560796, Middle East Airlines: 24796680, Oman Air: 24531111, Pakistan International Airlines: 24792471, Qatar Airways: 24771900, Qantas: 24559941, Royal Jordanian: 24796693, Saudi Arabian Airlines: 24789485, Singapore Airlines: 24791233, Shaheen Air: 24816565, SriLankan Airlines:

SATURDAY

Min

L O N G D I S TA N C E B U S T I M I N G S ( O M A N N AT I O N A L T R A N S P O R T C O M PA N Y S A O C ) * S U B J E C T T O C H A N G E

TAURUS

24784545, Swiss International Airlines: 24796692, Thai Airways: 24705934, Turkish Airlines: 24703033 MUSEUMS Bait Al Baranda: Corniche (seafront opp ﬁsh market), Open from Saturday to Thursday 9am to 1pm and 4 to 6pm Natural History Museum: Al Khuwair, Tel: 24604957, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm; Thursday: 9am to 1pm Museum of Omani Heritage: (former Omani Museum), Madinat Al Alam, Sat-Wed 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday 9am to 1pm, Tel: 24600946 Armed Forces Museum: Bait Al Falaj, Tel: 24312651, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm; Thurs 9-12pm and 3-6pm; Fri 9-11am and 3-6pm. Al Hoota Caves 24498258; Turtle Beach 96550606/96550707 Children’s Science Museum: Shatti Al Qurum, Tel: 24605368, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pm Oman-French Museum: near Muscat Police Station, Tel: 24736613, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm, Thurs: 9am to 1pm Bait Al Zubair, Muscat: Tel: 24736688, Al Saidiya St., Muscat museum@baitalzubairmuseum.com Open from Sat to Thurs: 9:30am to 6pm. National Museum Ruwi: Tel: 24701289, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pm Sohar Fort Museum: Tel: 26844758, Open from Saturday to Wed: 8 to 1:30pm Thurs: 9am to 1pm Muscat Gate Museum: at Al Bahri Road, Muscat open from Sat to Wed 8am to 2pm

SUNDAY

FLT NO

ARRIVALS FROM

FLT NO

ARRIVALS FROM

WY676 WY682 WY406 WY636 WY648 WY816 WY910 WY3916 PK229 TK774 QR1132 ET624 EK866 GF560 EY384 FZ041 MS930 WY658 WY638 WY902 WY324 WY412 WY114 WY144 WY154 WY674 WY644 WY668 WY602 WY432 WY202 WY102 WY3914 FZ043 WY272 G9114 WY236 WY242 PK191 WY346 WY252 EK862 WY282 QR1128 IX443 EY382 IX549 9W530 WY604 WY844 WY918 WY372 FZ037 WY384 IX337 WY904 PA450 WY716 WY3302 NL771 WY818 WY606 BG023 IX817 WY920 WY906 WY632 SV532 FZ045 WY328 MP95 WY204 WY292 WY246 WY3304 WY610 WY264 WY232 WY216 WY664 QR1126 EK864 GF564 WY822 WY694 G9116 WY646 FZ047 PK259 WY338 WY614 WY224 WY124 WY386 4H561 KL441 WY624 AI973 6.00E+81 WY914 WY312 WY374 9W534 FZ049 WY254 WY684 AI907 QR1134 UL205 GF566 EY388 WY672 BA073 WY908 AI985 WY662 LX242 9W540 LH618 WY654 WY928 WY696 WY717

JEDDAH 0005 RIYADH 0005 CAIRO 0005 ABU DHABI 0005 KUWAIT 0010 BANGKOK 0015 SALALAH 0030 SALALAH 0205 LAHORE 0215 ISTANBUL 0215 DOHA 0345 ADDIS ABABA 0350 DUBAI 0355 BAHRAIN 0405 ABU DHABI 0405 DUBAI 0415 CAIRO 0430 BAHRAIN 0640 ABU DHABI 0650 SALALAH 0655 KARACHI 0700 AMMAN 0705 FRANKFURT 0715 MALPENSA 0720 ZURICH 0720 JEDDAH 0730 KUWAIT 0735 DOHA 0735 DUBAI 0805 TEHRAN 0815 BOMBAY 0815 LONDON HEATHROW 0820 SALALAH 0840 DUBAI 0850 JAIPUR 0855 SHARJAH 0915 HYDERABAD 0920 DELHI 0920 TURBAT 0930 ISLAM ABBAD 0930 MADRAS 0940 DUBAI 0940 BANGALORE 1000 DOHA 1010 COCHIN 1010 ABU DHABI 1015 TRIVANDRUM 1020 TRIVANDRUM 1035 DUBAI 1110 MANILA 1110 KHASAB 1115 COLOMBO 1140 DUBAI 1200 MALE 1205 CALICUT 1210 SALALAH 1215 LAHORE 1215 ZANZIBAR 1225 MUKHAIZNA 1230 PESHAWAR 1300 BANGKOK 1305 DUBAI 1330 DACCA 1345 MANGALORE-ABU DHABI 1440 KHASAB 1445 SALALAH 1445 ABU DHABI 1530 JEDDAH 1550 DUBAI 1555 LAHORE 1600 AMSTERDAM 1645 BOMBAY 1710 CALICUT 1720 DELHI 1730 MUKHAIZNA 1730 DUBAI 1730 LUCKNOW 1735 HYDERABAD 1740 TRIVANDRUM 1740 DOHA 1745 DOHA 1745 DUBAI 1750 BAHRAIN 1810 KUALA LUMPUR 1910 DAMMAM 1910 SHARJAH 1915 KUWAIT 1925 DUBAI 1945 PESHAWAR 2000 KATHMANDU 2010 DUBAI 2030 COCHIN 2045 MUNICH 2105 MALE 2110 DACCA 2115 AMSTERDAM-DOHA 2120 DUBAI 2125 DELHI 2125 BOMBAY 2130 SALALAH 2140 CHITTAGONG 2140 COLOMBO 2140 COCHIN 2140 DUBAI 2145 MADRAS 2155 RIYADH 2155 MADRAS 2200 DOHA 2210 COLOMBO 2225 BAHRAIN 2240 ABU DHABI 2250 MEDINA 2250 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI 2255 SALALAH 2305 AHMEDABAD-BOMBAY 2310 DOHA 2315 ZURICH-DUBAI 2320 BOMBAY 2325 FRANKFURT-ABU DHABI 2330 BAHRAIN 2340 SALALAH 2345 DAMMAM 2350 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 2355

WY406 WY682 WY676 WY648 WY816 WY910 WY916 NL669 PK225 TK776 QR1132 ET624 EK866 GF560 EY384 FZ041 WY114 CV732 WY658 4H562 WY638 WY902 WY686 WY324 WY144 WY154 WY692 WY674 WY644 WY668 WY132 WY602 WY3932 WY202 WY102 FZ043 WY272 NL768 G9114 WY342 WY236 WY242 WY226 WY212 WY252 EK862 WY282 QR1128 EY382 IX549 WY3922 WY3302 WY604 WY918 G9841 FZ037 WY384 IX337 WY904 WY818 WY606 WY906 WY920 WY920 WY632 FZ045 WY664 WY348 WY204 WY292 WY610 WY246 WY264 WY232 QR1126 EK864 GF564 WY3306 WY822 G9116 WY254 WY646 TG507 WY434 FZ047 WY338 WY614 WY848 WY124 WY386 KL441 AI973 WY624 6.00E+81 WY374 WY312 FZ049 AI907 WY414 QR1134 UL205 GF566 WY672 WY672 EY388 WY326 BA073 WY908 AI985 WY662 LX242 9W540 LH618 WY612 WY654 WY696 WY717

CAIRO 0005 RIYADH 0005 JEDDAH 0005 KUWAIT 0010 BANGKOK 0015 SALALAH 0030 SALALAH 0125 SIALKOT 0200 KARACHI 0210 ISTANBUL-BAHRAIN 0255 DOHA 0345 ADDIS ABABA 0350 DUBAI 0355 BAHRAIN 0405 ABU DHABI 0405 DUBAI 0415 FRANKFURT 0630 LUXORE 0635 BAHRAIN 0640 JEDDAH 0645 ABU DHABI 0650 SALALAH 0655 RIYADH 0700 KARACHI 0700 MALPENSA 0720 ZURICH 0720 DAMMAM 0725 JEDDAH 0730 KUWAIT 0735 DOHA 0735 PARIS 0800 DUBAI 0805 SOHAR 0815 BOMBAY 0815 LONDON HEATHROW 0820 DUBAI 0850 JAIPUR 0855 LAHORE 0900 SHARJAH 0915 LAHORE 0920 HYDERABAD 0920 DELHI 0920 COCHIN 0930 TRIVANDRUM 0940 MADRAS 0940 DUBAI 0940 BANGALORE 1000 DOHA 1010 ABU DHABI 1015 TRIVANDRUM 1020 DUQUM OMAN 1045 MUKHAIZNA 1045 DUBAI 1110 KHASAB 1115 RAS AL KHAIMA 1120 DUBAI 1200 MALE 1205 CALICUT 1210 SALALAH 1215 BANGKOK 1305 DUBAI 1330 SALALAH 1445 KHASAB 1445 KHASAB 1445 ABU DHABI 1530 DUBAI 1555 DOHA 1600 ISLAM ABBAD 1625 BOMBAY 1710 CALICUT 1720 DUBAI 1730 DELHI 1730 LUCKNOW 1735 HYDERABAD 1740 DOHA 1745 DUBAI 1750 BAHRAIN 1810 MUKHAIZNA 1845 KUALA LUMPUR 1910 SHARJAH 1915 MADRAS 1920 KUWAIT 1925 BANGKOK-KARACHI 1935 TEHRAN 1940 DUBAI 1945 KATHMANDU 2010 DUBAI 2030 JAKARTA 2055 MUNICH 2105 MALE 2110 AMSTERDAM-DOHA 2120 DELHI 2125 DUBAI 2125 BOMBAY 2130 COLOMBO 2140 CHITTAGONG 2140 DUBAI 2145 MADRAS 2200 AMMAN 2205 DOHA 2210 COLOMBO 2225 BAHRAIN 2240 MEDINA 2250 MEDINA 2250 ABU DHABI 2250 KARACHI 2255 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI 2255 SALALAH 2305 AHMEDABAD-BOMBAY 2310 DOHA 2315 ZURICH-DUBAI 2320 BOMBAY 2325 FRANKFURT-ABU DHABI 2330 DUBAI 2335 BAHRAIN 2340 DAMMAM 2350 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 2355

FLT NO

DEPARTURES TO

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DEPARTURES TO

AI986 LX243 9W539 BA072 SG062 WY715 LH619 WY251 WY201 WY235 WY281 WY345 WY601 WY241 WY431 WY271 WY643 WY821 WY637 WY657 WY371 WY123 WY667 WY323 WY383 WY901 PK230 TK775 ET625 EK867 FZ042 QR1133 EY385 MS931 GF561 WY3301 WY603 WY903 WY917 WY263 WY291 WY215 WY327 FZ044 WY385 WY245 WY231 G9115 WY815 PK192 WY203 WY905 WY605 WY373 WY337 WY717 EK863 WY311 EY383 IX554 QR1129 IX442 9W533 WY919 WY631 WY223 IX350 FZ038 PA451 WY253 WY3303 WY663 WY101 WY113 WY153 WY645 WY143 WY927 WY131 WY609 WY693 NL668 WY405 BG024 IX818 WY671 WY683 WY675 SV533 FZ046 WY613 WY913 MP95

BOMBAY 0005 DUBAI-ZURICH 0020 BOMBAY 0025 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW 0025 AHMEDABAD 0030 ZANZIBAR 0040 ABU DHABI-FRANKFURT 0050 MADRAS 0110 BOMBAY 0120 HYDERABAD 0135 BANGALORE 0150 ISLAM ABBAD 0150 DUBAI 0150 DELHI 0155 TEHRAN 0155 JAIPUR 0200 KUWAIT 0200 KUALA LUMPUR 0205 ABU DHABI 0205 BAHRAIN 0205 COLOMBO 0210 MUNICH 0210 DOHA 0225 KARACHI 0225 MALE 0235 SALALAH 0240 LAHORE 0315 ISTANBUL 0315 ADDIS ABABA 0450 DUBAI 0455 DUBAI 0510 DOHA 0520 ABU DHABI 0525 CAIRO 0530 BAHRAIN 0745 MUKHAIZNA 0800 DUBAI 0800 SALALAH 0800 KHASAB 0815 LUCKNOW 0920 CALICUT 0920 TRIVANDRUM 0920 LAHORE 0930 DUBAI 0935 MALE 0940 DELHI 0955 HYDERABAD 0955 SHARJAH 1005 BANGKOK 1010 TURBAT-GWADUR 1015 BOMBAY 1030 SALALAH 1030 DUBAI 1030 COLOMBO 1040 KATHMANDU 1040 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 1045 DUBAI 1055 CHITTAGONG 1100 ABU DHABI 1105 TRIVANDRUM 1110 DOHA 1115 COCHIN 1115 COCHIN 1135 KHASAB 1145 ABU DHABI 1220 COCHIN 1235 CALICUT 1310 DUBAI 1315 LAHORE 1315 MADRAS 1315 MUKHAIZNA 1330 DOHA 1330 LONDON HEATHROW 1400 FRANKFURT 1400 ZURICH 1405 KUWAIT 1405 MALPENSA 1415 SALALAH 1415 PARIS 1420 DUBAI 1420 DAMMAM 1430 SIALKOT 1430 CAIRO 1430 CHITTAGONG-DACCA 1500 MANGALORE 1530 MEDINA 1535 RIYADH 1605 JEDDAH 1630 RIYADH-JEDDAH 1650 DUBAI 1700 DUBAI 1700 SALALAH 1735 DUBAI WORLD CENTRESINGAPORE 1815 DUBAI 1820 DOHA 1845 RIYADH 1845 SALALAH 1850 BAHRAIN 1855 KUWAIT 1900 DOHA 1900 DUBAI 1905 DAMMAM 1910 BAHRAIN 1920 SHARJAH 2005 SALALAH 2015 DUBAI 2025 DUBAI 2040 ABU DHABI 2040 KARACHI 2100 SALALAH 2110 JEDDAH 2215 DUBAI 2225 DOHA-AMSTERDAM 2230 BANGKOK 2235 TRIVANDRUM 2240 BOMBAY 2245 MADRAS 2300 DELHI 2310 DOHA 2320 BAHRAIN 2325 COLOMBO 2335 ABU DHABI 2350 JEDDAH 2350

AI986 LX243 9W539 BA072 LH619 WY685 WY211 WY251 WY201 WY225 WY235 WY341 WY281 WY601 WY241 WY271 WY643 WY637 WY821 WY657 WY123 WY667 WY323 WY691 WY383 WY901 WY847 PK260 NL772 TK777 ET625 EK867 FZ042 QR1133 EY385 WY3931 WY3301 WY3921 4H562 GF561 WY903 WY603 CV732 WY917 WY291 WY263 WY347 FZ044 WY385 WY231 WY245 WY843 G9115 WY815 NL769 WY905 WY203 WY605 WY373 WY253 WY337 WY717 EK863 WY311 EY383 IX554 QR1129 WY3303 WY919 WY663 G9842 WY631 IX350 FZ038 WY433 WY113 WY101 WY413 WY645 WY153 WY143 WY927 WY609 WY405 WY3305 WY671 WY675 WY613 FZ046 WY913 WY623 WY325 QR1127 WY681 WY907 GF565 WY647 WY661 EK865 WY695 G9117 WY909 WY611 WY635 FZ048 TG508 WY915 FZ050 KL442 WY817 6.00E+82 AI908 AI974 QR1135 GF567 UL206 EY381

BOMBAY 0005 DUBAI-ZURICH 0020 BOMBAY 0025 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW 0025 ABU DHABI-FRANKFURT 0050 RIYADH 0105 TRIVANDRUM 0110 MADRAS 0110 BOMBAY 0120 COCHIN 0125 HYDERABAD 0135 LAHORE 0150 BANGALORE 0150 DUBAI 0150 DELHI 0155 JAIPUR 0200 KUWAIT 0200 ABU DHABI 0205 KUALA LUMPUR 0205 BAHRAIN 0205 MUNICH 0210 DOHA 0225 KARACHI 0225 DAMMAM 0235 MALE 0235 SALALAH 0240 JAKARTA 0245 PESHAWAR 0310 PESHAWAR 0330 BAHRAIN-ISTANBUL 0350 ADDIS ABABA 0450 DUBAI 0455 DUBAI 0510 DOHA 0520 ABU DHABI 0525 SOHAR 0600 MUKHAIZNA 0715 DUQUM OMAN 0745 DACCA 0745 BAHRAIN 0745 SALALAH 0800 DUBAI 0800 HONG KONG 0805 KHASAB 0815 CALICUT 0920 LUCKNOW 0920 ISLAM ABBAD 0920 DUBAI 0935 MALE 0940 HYDERABAD 0955 DELHI 0955 MANILA 1000 SHARJAH 1005 BANGKOK 1010 LAHORE 1030 SALALAH 1030 BOMBAY 1030 DUBAI 1030 COLOMBO 1040 MADRAS 1040 KATHMANDU 1040 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 1045 DUBAI 1055 CHITTAGONG 1100 ABU DHABI 1105 TRIVANDRUM 1110 DOHA 1115 MUKHAIZNA 1115 KHASAB 1145 DOHA 1145 RAS AL KHAIMA 1210 ABU DHABI 1220 CALICUT 1310 DUBAI 1315 TEHRAN 1330 FRANKFURT 1400 LONDON HEATHROW 1400 AMMAN 1405 KUWAIT 1405 ZURICH 1405 MALPENSA 1415 SALALAH 1415 DUBAI 1420 CAIRO 1430 MUKHAIZNA 1515 MEDINA 1535 JEDDAH 1630 DUBAI 1700 DUBAI 1700 SALALAH 1810 DUBAI 1820 KARACHI 1830 DOHA 1845 RIYADH 1845 SALALAH 1850 BAHRAIN 1855 KUWAIT 1900 DOHA 1900 DUBAI 1905 DAMMAM 1910 SHARJAH 2005 SALALAH 2015 DUBAI 2025 ABU DHABI 2040 DUBAI 2040 KARACHI-BANGKOK 2040 SALALAH 2110 DUBAI 2225 DOHA-AMSTERDAM 2230 BANGKOK 2235 BOMBAY 2245 MADRAS 2300 DELHI 2310 DOHA 2320 BAHRAIN 2325 COLOMBO 2335 ABU DHABI 2350

WY623 QR1127 WY681 WY907 GF565 WY647 WY661 EK865 WY695 WY653 G9117 WY909 WY611 FZ048 WY635 PK226 WY915 4H561 FZ050 KL442 WY817 9W529 6.00E+82 AI908 AI974 QR1135 GF567 UL206 EY381 WY673

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S ATUR DAY, M A RCH 2 1, 2 015

EXTRA BRIEFS

Priyanka takes ‘dialect training’ for US show BOLLYWOOD actress Priyanka Chopra, who has bagged a role in the American show Quantico, is taking dialect training for it. “Looooong dialect training today! Phew! Need some fooooood!,” Priyanka tweeted on Friday. She will be seen as a FBI trainee in the ABC drama pilot, for which she has already begun shooting.

WHEELCHAIR ON THE RUNWAY AT TOKYO FASHION WEEK

Actor Riteish proposes to wife Genelia, again! ACTOR-PRODUCER Riteish Deshmukh has popped the question to his wife Genelia D’Souza, again. The actor had tweeted his photograph in designer Raghavendra Rathore’s creation with the caption: “That was a great show @ RRathoreCo.” Genelia, whom he married in 2012, replied to the tweet: “Hey Good Looking!! I think I have a crush on @Riteishd.” Then the Ek Villain star popped the question on the micro-blogging site. He asked: “@geneliad will you marry me?” To that, the actress said: “@Riteishd he he he Ofcourse but only because Riaan says you’re the best dad in the world.” The star couple, who have starred together in movies like Tujhe Meri Kasam and Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya, were blessed with their ﬁrst child, Riaan Riteish Deshmukh last year.

SRK sees librarian in AbRam SUPERSTAR Shah Rukh Khan has joked that his youngest child AbRam and ﬁlmmaker Farah Khan’s son Czar will become librarians when they grow up. The superstar shared a photograph of AbRam, who was born through surrogacy in 2013, holding a book. The father captioned the photograph: “The proof is in the reading. Books r no more threatened by Kindle than stairs by elevators” Stephen Fry. & so it is.” Farah replied by posting a photograph of her son with a caption that read: “@iamsrk n here’s mine! Always a book as his companion... nothing beats tht smell of paper n the feel of d pages turning.” On seeing the photograph in which Czar is seen smiling with a book in his hands, Shah Rukh tweeted: “SRK @TheFarahKhan humaare bachhe librarian ban Jayenge mujhe lagta hai... which is awesome but they will shush us to silence whenever we speak!!” And Farah replied: “@iamsrk dream job!!”.

Arjun surprises fans with mohawk-inspired style ACTOR Arjun Kapoor has surprised his fans with a new mohawk-inspired hairstyle, which he aptly describes as an “extreme experiment”. The mohawk is a quirky hairstyle in which both sides of the head are shaven, leaving a strip of longer hair in the centre. But Arjun has kept a crew cut on either sides, making it a subtler version of the classic mohawk. The 29-year-old actor took to Instagram and Twitter to share an image of his makeover. He captioned it: “Change is the only constant... #extreme #experiment.” On Twitter, he wrote with it: “The long and short of it.” Arjun, who is still sporting his beard, has however, not clariﬁed whether his look is for a certain ﬁlm. In the past, celebrities who have been sporting the same hairstyle, include Indian cricketer Mahinder Singh Dhoni and television actor Apurva Agnihotri. -IANS

Japanese designer is challenging accepted ideals of beauty at Tokyo Fashion Week, with an easy-to-wear collection unveiled on the catwalk by models who are blind, wear prosthetic limbs or use a wheelchair. In his unorthodox show for the “tenbo” brand, Takafumi Tsuruta chose a mix of disabled and ablebodied models to showcase his quirky designs, with several of them donning bright yellow wigs. He is the latest designer to celebrate disability at a major fashion week, after an actress with Down’s Syndrome and a male amputee model graced runways this year in New York and Milan. “We are introducing something called ‘people’s design’,” Tsuruta said after the show. “The clothes are aimed at everyone in the world. I think it’s fashion’s responsibility to have trendy and easyto-wear clothing”. His ‘Dream”-

themed autumn/winter collection included details such as magnetic buttons and reversible jumpers, aiming to reach a wider audience than typical high-fashion items. Ami Sano, who was born with a rare disorder that left her without limbs except a left foot, said backstage before performing that she “really didn’t dream” she would end up modelling at fashion week. The 24-year-old appeared before the packed-out hall in her wheelchair, donning a white wedding dress, in the show’s moving ﬁnale. “Simple clothing for us is great. I think people in general will be thankful for this type of design, and there are various ways of arranging the pieces,” Sano said. Braille-inspired designs Opening the show was blind model Rina Akiyama, 27, who won a gold medal for swimming at the London 2012 Paralympics and works at a pharmaceuticals com-

pany. Akiyama, who wore a dotted trapeze dress inspired by Braille — a tactile writing system used by blind people — said it was “very rare” for such a fashion event to take place in Japan, which is gearing up to the Olympics and Paralympics in 2020. “I think there are a considerable number of disabled people who don’t leave their homes,” she said. “It would be great if chances like today increase.” Often criticised for their narrow choice of models, global fashion weeks have lately taken small but signiﬁcant steps towards greater diversity. Last month US actress Jamie Brewer, who has Down’s Syndrome, took a turn down the runway in New York in an A-line black dress designed by Carrie Hammer. Hammer launched the “Role Models Not Runway Models” campaign in 2014, choosing her models for their professional

achievements, and brought the ﬁrst woman in a wheelchair to the catwalk in New York. British model Jack Eyers also made history in February as the ﬁrst male amputee to appear at New York’s fashion week, in creations by Italian designer Antonio Urzi which he later showcased in Milan. Two women with prosthetic legs modelled for Tsuruta this week in Tokyo, including 31-yearold Sayaka Murakami, who wore a stylish white shirt patterned with paper cranes. As she prepares to compete in both sprint and long jump at the Rio Paralympic Games next year, she is hopeful the fashion industry, like the sporting world, will continue to champion inclusion. “In the future, people with disabilities won’t have to give up their dreams of modelling and will be able to work hard to achieve them.” — AFP

W W W.T I M E S O F O M A N . C O M S AT U R DAY, M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

SECTION

CONNEC T H E D A I LY G U I D E

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VACANCY

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*Classiﬁed Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

S AT U R D AY, M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classiﬁeds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

OFFICES FOR RENT Premium offices to let a very good location on the main road very close to Zakher Mall, Al Khawiar. Business Center has offices with sizes of 50m2, 110m2, 180m2, 207m2, 230m2, 437m2. Showroom also available at Business Center, Area 500m2 with central A/c. Offices with Central Air-conditions, Security System with CCTV cameras, and Security presence in the building.

Contact: 97377355 / 97307476, Email id: aaleem@ggcoman.com

We have 1BHK , 2BHK flats & office available in Mabela 7, brand new building main road, 1BHK RO 175/- , 2BHK RO 220/- only. Contact 93782735 / 99208033 We have 2050 sqm land in Ghala 800 sqm constructed Warehouse and other area open land. Prime location near Coco Cola Ware house very nice place. # 93782735 / 99208033 We have flats, offices, villa, shops & ware house for rent in Ghubra, Azaiba, Bousher, Ruwi, Mumtaz , Darsait, Mabela. #93782735 / 99208033 Spacious 2 BR, flat in MBD. Contact 99713489 Flat for rent in Wadi Al Kabir, 2 rooms & 3 toilets next to Platinum Gym. Contact 99210008 1,000 sq mtrs industrial land in Misfah Industrial area near to Khanco. OMR 1,500 Monthly. Electricity and boundary wall will be provided. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 1,000 sq mtrs industrial land in Misfah Industrial area near to Khanco. OMR 1,500 Monthly. It has Electricity and boundary wall. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 Flat with 2 bedrooms and big hall in Mawalih near King burger R.O 310/-. Contact 99886099 2BHK Apartment available at Al Khuwair 33. Contact 94057023 2BHK /3BHK apartment available at Qurum, near PDO Gate-2. Contact 94057023 2 B/R Luxury Fully Furnished @ AZAIBA, 2 B/R Luxury Fully Furnished @ Al Khuwair 33, 1 B/R Luxury Fully Furnished @ Al Khuwair, 3 B/R Luxury Fully Furnished @ Al Khuwair 25. 5 B/R Fully Furnished villa @ Madinat Al Ilam. For Daily, Weekly, monthly or Yearly contract. Contact: Atlas Real Estate & Rent A Car LLC 99249069 / 99436312/92888376, Email: info@alshahiintl.com

We have 150 sqm office in Ghubra main road prime location already glass partition done. Office with pantry & 2 washrooms. Contact 9378235 / 99208033 We have 2 BHK flat & 100 sqm office & 60 sqm shop for rent in Ghala brand new building. Contact 93782735 / 99208033 2 BHK commercial & residential flat at Honda road. Contact 98087644 / 99795241 2BHK flat for rent Wadi Kabir near Kuwaiti Mosque. Contact 97007939 / 92629232 2 bed room, 3 toilets 120 sq. mtr fully furnished parking near Star Cinema 450/- OMR / monthly. Contact 91778735 Available industrial open land 25,000 m2 and 450m2 of 2 Nos, covered ware house in Al Rumais and two shutter shops 70 m2 each in Mabellah, near Oman oil petrol pump station and MAC Donalad. Contact 99318152 Email ahastco@gmail.com 1BHK available Ghubra near Al Maha INT Hotel. Contact 99269751 2BHK at Honda road Ruwi. Contact 99224748 / 99332297 New Building in Mutrah, 2 B/D room Flat + Setting Room,3 Baths+ Kitchen with split unit Ac’s. Behind Khimiji’s main office/opposite to Oman House Call 99419712 Commercial Villa in Al Khuwair with Private Parking’s,7 Rooms Hall and Reception and Kitchen #95202430

New building near the Bousher Al Misfah high way, with showroom, offices, and shops. Great for banks, medical clinics and companies 95202430 Shop in Wadi Kabir & Azaiba. Contact 99024730 House for rent in Al Amerat Madinat Al Nahda consists of 3 bedrooms and 3 toilet & 2 Majlis away from school one kilometer. Contact 99351337 2 bedrooms ﬂat with hall, 2 bathrooms in Darsait near Muscat Municipality. #92584715 / 24700120 2BHK & 3BHK in Al Khuwair. Contact 99024730 Flat 4 rent south Al Mabelah. Contact 95331177 / 95230355

Villa for rent with 4 bedroom at Al Khodh, Rent 750/-RO.#92888115 New flat Al Athaiba behind Al Meera market, 4BHK hall, Kitchen, 5 bathrooms for family only first floor villa 550/-R.O .Contact 92479515 Brand new deluxe flats located near Seeb flyover on the right band side of the main road coming from the Seeb palace round about, 2 bedrooms family, hall, kitchen, 3 toilets with split unit ACs. Contact 97755586 NEW WAREHOUSE For rent at Ghala New Warehouse for rent at Ghala Ind. Area. 578 & 1170 approx sqms Near Hotel Al-Madinah Holiday, Ghala. Container can enter. Immediate access to roads & highways. # 92078090

Flat at Darsait. Contact 99326879 1 bedroom attached toilet in Al Khuwair bachelors/ family R.O 140/-. Contact 95154331 1 Bedroom attached toilet Al Khuwair area only for ladies or husband and wife without children. Contact 9:00 pm to 7:00 am 95765719 85 SQM shops in Ruwi only on 350/- OMR. Contact 95122188 / 96441499

Industrial Land in Misfah. Contact 93009999

Spacious 2 BHK ﬂats in Ruwi MBD area only on 350/- OMR. Contact – 95122188 / 96441499

Available furnished Office in Al-Khuwair near Centerpoint. Contact 92870771

Bachelor villa at Ansab. Contact 98458542

Villas & ﬂats at Ansab. Contact 98458542

2Bedroom centrally Air conditioned ﬂat at CBD. Contact 94460790 / 24714625

1BHK new bldg with A/C curtains near Khimji Mart MBD. Contact 99061408 / 99024039

Beautiful office space available in Ruwi MBD area only on 2/- OMR per sqm. # 95122188 / 96441499

2 bedroom ﬂat in Al Ghubra near Oman oil 18 November Street. OMR 330. Monthly. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

Flats & shops for rent at MBD, Wadi Kabir, AL Khoud & villa at Azaiba. Contact 93994401/02/03

If require ﬂats for rent in Wadi Kabir please send messages through Whatsapp or call – 99376454

Villa 2 bed rooms, hall, sitting room in AL Hail south R.O. 320/Monthly. Contact 93993354

Furnished room available on Seeb share with small family for couple working ladies. Contact 96996938

1 Bed room in Al Hail south R. O 160/- Monthly. Contact 93993354

Flats and shops. Contact 93009999

Big flat first floor in villa Al Ghoubrah South, 3BHK hall living room with split a/c family only 525/- R.O. Contact 92479515 Foklift 7,5,3 Ton with driver – 99424338 Villa Bosher behind Dolfeen near Muscat Hospital 5BHK hall living room with split a/c for family only 650/- R.O . Contact 92479515

Flat Wadi AL Kabeer, 2BHK, sitting room, 3 bathroom balcony split /AC 300/- R.O Contact 99324402 Room for rent Honda road. Contact 92540125/ 97605342/ 94053366

1000 sq mtrs industrial land for rent in Ghala suitable for Ware house workshop. #24700120 / 925 Flats/villas owned by ROP pension fund available for rent in Muscat. Contact 99349526

Industrial /commercial shops at Wadi Kabir 4 x 5.6 x 4.6 MTR height. Showroom with mezzanine & office at Al Noor Street near Switz bakery & Al Masa hall corner building all on roads & parkings in front of shops & show room. # 99065900 or 99354975 Prim location, nice ﬁnishing villa for RENT. 2 big bedrooms . Main large sitting room. Small maid room. Kitchen and 3 bathrooms. At Alkhuwair. near Holiday Inn & Oman Club. # 99426662, PDC only. For families & college girls.

AVAILABLE Established Restaurant for rent with sponsorship. Contact 97628242 Party & Wedding equipment rentals. Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirting, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery, Crockery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes, Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound Systems and spectacular lighting. Call Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering and Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound & Light. www.tunesoman. com, E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

BUYING/SELLING Looking for purchase of Used Portable Compressor (350 CFM, 7 Bar Pressure) powered with Diesel run Generator. Kindly Contact 99014686 or operation@khancogroup.com

S AT U R DAY, M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

FOR SALE Shop for sale near Al Maha Hotel Ghubra, area 68.40 sqm with 2 shutters, single shop also available. Contact 96642007 / 98867936 Building material shop for sale in Al Hail. Contact 98003111

ACC. AVAILABLE

Shop at good location in Darsait. Contact 98523634 Fully furnished office 46 sqr mtrs near Markaz Al Bahja. #99607788 Dental clinic for sale in Seeb area. Contact 96903341 2 Prime Movers Man 2008 with 40 ton petrol tank each working at the moment in Al Maha. Price OMR 35 Thousand each. Tel: 97000155 or 92688692 Latest EDExcel AS & A level textbooks for sale. Contact 99016532 Running beauty parlor for sale in Barka Souq with license & visa. Contact 92168729 New restaurant with 6 clearance at Wadi Hatat near Bank Muscat for sale. Contact - 91324412 Commercial registration with excellent name Grade A for business software for sale. Contact 92959251 Running Medical Centre on sale in Salalah. Owner shifting to Muscat. Contact 92872202. Building Material shop for sale at Suwaiq A running 5 shutter building material shop with two paint machines available for immediate sale. Also available warehouse and yard at the same place. Interested parties please contact the following numbers: 93223382 / 99874936 2 Prime Movers Man 2008 with 40 ton petrol tank each working at the moment in Al Maha. Price OMR 35 Thousand each. Tel: 97000155 or 92688692 23,886 Sq Mtrs Agriculture land with water well in Al Salwa, Barka. OMR 260 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 New Panasonic 500 Ansi lumens dip projector pt –D 5000. Contact: Hari 92138468

Shop for sale near Al Hail petrol pump. Contact 93314300 / 93937185

WANTED

Sharing accommodation available in Muttrah near Khimji Mart for family only with A/C & attached bath room. Contact 95450743

M.V. FOR SALE Ready mix concrete for sale. Contact 99054673 22KV Generator – 99424338 Expat leaving. Treadmill/gym items/Fridge/Washing machine/ Sofa(4 set)/wardrobe (4 door)/4burner stove/grill/ AC(window) other items for immediate sale. 95293535 Shop for sale Honda road. Contact 94053366 / 97605342 Land for sale residential commercial and residential and tourist and industrial, and hotels for sale in Muscat (Al Khuwair and the Qurum, and crushed stone, and Bowshar, and spite and Gala heights, and the heights of the airport) to deal with the buyer. Contact 99070093 Coffee shop for sale a well running coffee shop for at Wadi Kabir Sanaya. Contact 94159356/91039293 Restaurant for sale well running with open area and good parking area. 3 new clearance also in Wadi Kabeer near Mars hyper market. Contact 99656863 New barber shop on sale at Misfah. Contact 93833107 3 floor building in Muttrah behind Police. Generating income of OMR 18 Thousand annually. Neat and well maintained. Built on 197 sq mtrs land. 2 tailor shops on ground floor and 6 flats. OMR 207 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 Dental Clinic with license for sale in Sohar. Contact 92816015 Shop for sale at Ruwi. Contact 99103077

Clinic required, One Established new Clinic in Muscat, with Valid License & Clearance is required to purchase interested Parties can contact 91283188 or send your inquiries to mohamedsfarah@hotmail.com

ACC. AVAILABLE Single room behind main Indian School Wadi Kabir. Contact 99376454 Single room attached bathroom separate entrance near Rex Road Kolivada . Contact 99870317 / 98218453 One bed room ﬂat with hall for rent in Al Khuwair area near Radisson blue hotel. Contact 97646492 Room for rent Muttrah near Oman house looking for Executive working lady one room attached bathroom, sharing kitchen. Contact 94136102 A big room available near Hamriya R/A for Muslim couple / small family / Executive bachelor rent 150/- Rial per month including W+E. Contact 99495131

Single room available with A/C for non cooking executive bachelor at Hamriya R/abt. (on main road side, Opp. Apollo Hospital). #91673718, 98232567 Sharing family accommodation in Wadi Kabir. Contact 99335057 Room for SRI LANKAN Executive at Al Khuwair.TEL 96536307 Sharing Executive bachelor at Wadi Kabir. Contact 97940331 Vitara 2013. Contact 99336093 Furnished room for Executive bachelor at Ruwi. Contact 92435784 1B/R available for bachelors in REX ROAD, Ruwi. Contact 99889590 Gubrah furnished room, attached bath dish TV, WIFI, kitchen available for Executive single person, couple. Contact 99658689 Room in CBD area for non cooking Executive bachelors free WIFI, Advance deposit. Contact 95934642

ACC. WANTED

Fully furnished single room available in CBD area. Contact 92162623

Wanted a 2 bedroom ﬂat in around Ruwi area. Gsm 99761216

Single room attached bathroom with kitchen near Riyam park Muscat RO 70/-. Contact 95094028

FOR HIRE

Furnished Room with attached bath for Indian Bachelor in Al Falaj area Ruwi & sharing room lady in Wadikabir. Call 95941515 Furnished room with bath at Al Khuwair. Contact 99224185 Family sharing accommodation available in Al Khodh. Contact 98292798

Foklift 7,5,3 Ton with driver – 99424338 Hire Generators, Air conditioners. Contact 98927220 Running truck wash for rent in Ouhi Sunia Sohar. Serious people can. Contact on 97864747 50 seater bus with PDO speciﬁcation for rent or lease. #99839898

Suzki SX4 2012. Contact 99484342 Mercedes 500 S 2001- dark blue -250,000 kms valid 30/12/2015 good condition R.O 1,900/-. Contact 94056332 Isuzu 3.5 ton truck model 2013 MK done 20000 REG with full insurance valid up to 18.11.2015. Serious buyers only Contact 99332625 / 99312060 Porshe Cayenne – S- 2004 white 165,000 kms, valid 30/12/2015 very good condition R.O 4,750/-. Contact 94056332 Nissan Sunny 2012 model 71000 km, automatic, 1600cc white, price R.O 2750/-. Contact 98523634

Mercedes 55CL –AMG -200, black -124,000/- kms, valid 23/9/2015, excellent condition R.O 2, 800. Contact 94056332 Lincoln – Navigator 4WD -1998- silver and black – 200,000/- kms valid 25/12/2015, good condition R.O 1,600. Contact 94056332 Dodge Nitro 4.0 ltr engine 2007 model 130000 kms, red colour, registration valid for one year. RO.2700/-. Contact - 91251966 Toyota Camry white 2011 km -51000 R.O 4800/-. Contact 99561562

LOST Aklas Miaa has lost Bangladeshi Passport No. AD 4712359. Finder please handover to ROP.

DRIVING *Classiﬁed Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

S AT U R D AY, M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 5 Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classiﬁeds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DAILY GUIDE SITUATION SITUATION WANTED VACANT

SALES / MARKETING

ACCOUNTANCY Experienced omani/non-omani accountant. Send cv-career@ayadmn.com

ENGI./ELECT./TECH.. ADVOCATE Law ﬁrm office at Shatti al Qurum looking for Indian legal advisor minimum 5 years experience in Oman . please Contact :99772277 sereen38@gmail.com

ADMIN

Mechanical Workers Required - A well established pipeline construction company required some skilled workers of below mentioned categories; Fabricators, Fitters, Mechanical Helper . Please forward your CV at hr.muscat2015@gmail.com

Omani PRO with minimum 5yrs experience. Send cvcareer@ayadmn.com

Urgently required for leading company, Land Surveyor, Electrical technician, MEP foreman, Camp Boss. Fax: 24478522 E-mail: gh1.careers@gmail.com

Wanted PRO male Omani with 2-3 years experience and frontline associate male / female for reputed telecom brand retail stores. Apply to career@rechargeoman.om. Contact 94006462 / 94538465

Required HVAC Engineer, and Electrical Engineer, minimum 4 to 5 years experience with driving license. Send CV to nationalhvac.mep@gmail.com fax: 24799442

ACCOUNTANT Required an Accountant with experience in Tally, D/L in Oman, NOC, for a construction company doing MOE projects. Contact 94148220. Send CV to alrkhadev@hotmail.com

BEAUTICIAN Urgently required beautician, visa available. Contact 97172334 Required female to work in beauty center at Al Azaiba. Contact 94470321

CATERING Personal Chef needed for work in home and boat. Must be fantastic chef and willing to do housekeeping/ cleaning also. email cv: alibadawy@gmail.com Waiter /waitress for restaurant. Interested candidates send CV to email: omanhari@yahoo.com, Contact 95892831 Experience cook for Omani family 1Nos. Contact 99228046 Email: oman518@gmail.com

DOMESTIC HELPER Full-time housemaid needed for family of 4 in Azaiba. Contact 95123244 Housemaid required for Keralite family Cont 92729883 Wanted full time Keralite housemaid at Al Khuwair. Contact 93267065

EDUCATION Maths, Physics, Chemistry Teacher urgently required to teach 2 students of 12th standard . Teacher’s experience preferred. Contact 99360489

ENGI./ELECT./TECH.. Wanted Auto Electrician with ITI or diploma qualiﬁcation. Interested can send C.V on hilat.tech@gmail.com or contact 98983951 / 98668697 Required MEP Engineer with minimum Diploma or degree 5 yrs experience & with driving license. Fax : 24478522, Email : gh1.careers@gmail.com Wanted Mechanical Engineers with min. 5 yrs experience. Apply with bio data to hr_oman1@yahoo. com, immediately.

Looking for Assistant Workshop Manager, Automobile Engineering with minimum 4 years experience in vehicle modiﬁcation works. Contact: 97441935 Local Construction Company looking for Civil Engineer Indian nationality. If interested Email: mohad.amer@hotmail.com or Contact 92817182

MEDICAL Wanted LAB Technician and female Nurse for a 25 years old poly clinic at Ibri candidates who have passed their prometric examination can also apply. Contact 93828382 Email: zahrathalmahrami@gmail.com Wanted female Nurse for Skin clinic in Muscat. Must have MOH license and NOC. Mail to clinicvacancy2015@gmail.com Required Nurse for a reputed clinic in Suwaiq. Contact 26861077 / 99605906 / 92801446 Urgently required an Orthodontist with MOH to work at a reputed Dental Center in Muscat. Contact 968 99694723, Email : dr.bdohc@gmail.com Urgently required Pharmacist. Contact 94200385/ 95206905/ 97433142 Email: anitho@gmail.com

SALES / MARKETING Wanted Salesman with driving licence and car. Gsm : 98805474 or email id: jobssales2015@gmail.com Wanted experienced Sales Executive for FMCG with valid Omani driving license. Contact 98099914 wasim@alliusie.com Sales Executives needed for marble & granite company with minimum one year experience with driving license. Good looking Indians only. Email: anas@kenzostone.com / nabil@kenzostone.com Salesman Wanted for outdoor sales of ceramic items and building materials. Should have similar 2 years experience, driving license and NOC. Call 99332547 Required Salesman, Tailor, and Barber. Contact 96964767 Looking for Qualiﬁed and experienced Sales Executives in industrial and mechanical ﬁeld items & building materials. Please send your CV to slayhawk@yahoo.com Marketing Executive for printing press, minimum 2 years experience with D/L. Email: arshedkm@gmail.com

Required SALESMAN for LAMIS in Avenues Mall, Bousher. Must be young, active and have own transport. Send CV to rahibco@hotmail. com or call 96218662

Wanted Sales or Marketing Executive degree or master degree. Interested can send C.V on hilat.tech@gmail.com or contact 98983951 / 98668697

Experienced Sales Supervisor in FMCG especially gulf area. Experienced Salesman in FMCG. Send cv-career@ayadmn.com

Required delegates female Marketers in Advertising. Car & experience are required. To contact only the afternoon time on - 94021722

Cleaning Services Company requires Marketing Managers with minimum 5/8 years Gulf experience with valid Oman driving license. Interested candidates send CV to email: omanhari@yahoo.com, Contact 95892831

Required promoter for promoting Perfumes in shopping centre please. Contact 95663682 or send CV atugt15@gmail.com

Sales Man required with driving license knowledge of air conditioner and spare parts. Send CV to nationalhvac.mep@gmail.com fax: 24799442 Required M/F Marketing person part time exp in event management with strong communication read / write and knowledge of music & dance industry for an Institute. Mail: window4job@gmail.com Required Commercial Assistant having minimum 3-5 years of FMCG experience for a leading FMCG company in Muscat. Having Omani driving license is preferred. Interested candidates may send their resume at sunnex3@gmail.com Looking for Experienced Omani/ Expat Sales Executive for Web Application Sales. Email mctjobs@gmail.com Urgently required an excellent grade construction ﬁrm based in Muscat has immediate vacancy for Marketing Executive minimum 5 years experience with D/L. Email your CV to info@omannc.com

Required Kitchen Designer – Outdoor Sales Consultant :Qualiﬁed candidates must have a work experience of min 5 years in Oman with a valid omani driving license. Interested Candidates please send in your CV’s to amritharajeev345@gmail.com

SECRETARIAL / OFFICE Required female Office Secretary with well computer knowledge. Send CV to nationalhvac.mep@gmail.com fax: 24799442 Qualiﬁed personal Secretary required to work in a private ﬁrm. Please send your resume to majancom@omantel.net.om Wanted for immediate appointment : Male Secretary, HR Personnel with minimum 5 yrs experience for all posts. Apply with bio data to hr_oman1@yahoo.com immediately

SITUATION WANTSIT. WANTED ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

SITUATION WANTSIT. WANTED ACCOUNT. & FINANCE Indian female, 23 years B.Com Graduate having 2 years experience has accounts + office assistance , good working knowledge in tally, MS Office, SAP. Contact 97669156 Indian male 26 years, with 4 years experience in accounts and administration looking for suitable placement. Contact 93008891 Indian male, B.Com, Accountant – 6yrs exp in Oman, NOC availableReady to join.contact: 98162671 ; email: prasanths3@gmail.com Indian male 32 years M.B.A, 5 years experience as Accountant in Qatar and 3 years experience in Marketing and Purchase department valid Qatar license is advantage, seeking suitable placement. Contact 93011814 Mail: shajusr@yahoo.com Accounts part time works up to finalization, monthly report, balance sheet and finalization works. Contact 96247295 Indian female 28 MBA (HR) B. Sc, 3+ years exp India & Oman HR/Admin looking for suitable placement. Contact 95619537 Indian male, B.COM, currently in Oman on Visit Visa, Urgent seeking suitable Job Accountant / Administrative/ HR dept. have 6y. UAE experience, Valid Driving License, Knowledge of Internet ,Tally ERP9, Microsoft Office. MS EXCEL, immediately available. Contact -92718733 , Email : sahashankar@gmail.com B.com doing CA Accounts/ office job male now working in Oman Noc, release available. Contact 92715465 Email: alsabathehm@gmail.com Male, total 17 years experience in India & Oman - India - 9 years & Oman - 8 years In the field of procurement, material controller and accountancy - Local release available (Noc) Cont no. 91680124 , 98606546

Part time Accountant with 15 years exp in Accounts, ﬁnance, audit tax management. Contact 95857199

SITUATION WANTED ACCOUNT. & FINANCE ACCA-UK, B.Sc (OBU-UK) having 2.8 years of experience in Accounts, Bookeeping and Audit. Looking for job in Accounts/Finance department. Also worked on Oracle R12, Tally, Quick Books and PeachTree. Email: AliRiazMughal@Outlook. com, Gsm: +968-95459936 Part Time Accounting, Accounts Finalization, Audit Preparation, Internal Audit, Onsite Tally Training, Inventory Management Contact : 96975454, email : ibfcoman@hotmail.com Indian CA, male, having 12+ Years’ experience in the field of A/Cs, finance, auditing, consultancy and also knowledgeable in SAP B1,Tally ERP ,etc. Working as Finance Manager for last 2 years in Oman and have valid D/L of Oman. NOC available. PLZ contact: 98234761, Email:caraj700@gmail.com FCCA- Qualified from UK with 9 years of experience in Big 4 & Top 30 UK firms. Currently working as Manager Finance & Accounts for more than 2 years. NOC available, please contact 9259 3748 12 years Oman experienced Chief Accountant looking for suitable placement. Contact 97385562 American B International relations seeking position in finance HR, Administration or any suitable position. Contact 95560225 Email: sanyieha@gmail.com

India Accountant: Male, M com, 7 Yrs experience in Accounts up to ﬁnalization, having knowledge of ERP, Tally, seeks suitable placement. Contact:93950138 Email: lijinrajan123@gmail.com

Indian Male, 27 yrs MBA (Fin), SAP, 4 Yrs Exp in Finance Seeking Suitable Job with a Reputed Firm Currently on Visit Visa Contact No. 9535 6100

B.Com India. Languages : English, Hindi & Malayalam. Contact 92954613

Looking for part time accounts job please contact:95573856 & 99183135.

Indian M.Com Finance exp 1 year now in visiting visa. Contact 96970734

Part time Accountant up to ﬁnalization looking for job after 5 pm location Qurum Al Khoudh. Contact 92917574

Accounting up to finalization, auditing & contact for tally ERP software Contact– 91720465 Pakistani male, 25 yrs, MBA Finance, 1.6 yrs exp in Accounts seeking placement in Accounts, Administration or Business Management. Contact 92651927 / 94250149 Indian Male, 25 yrs currently in Oman on visit looking for suitable vacancies in accounts, B.Com completed 1 yr experience. Contact 92024380 Female with MBA finance, financial and tax professional four and half years of experience seeks suitable opportunities in reputed organizations. Contact- 99792457 Email: msparveen1@gmail.com Indian Male, MBA 2 yrs experience in Accounts, Admin & HR on visit visa. Contact 92045306 Indian male, 32 years, M. Com. 7 out of 9 years experience in Oman in Accounts/finance. Having NOC and valid Oman D/L. #98277143, Email: anzarks@gmail.com Indian male- B.Com/B.Ed/15 years Exp – 5 in Oman, seeks job in Accts/Sales/Logistics have NOC and Oman D/L with car. Contact – 92919625/93511425/ 93424828; Email- seshadricpioman@gmail.com

Accountant / Accounts Assistant with 7 years experience in Indian accounts like taxation, finalization of balance sheet, good knowledge in Tally ERP9 & MS Office, Currently on visit visa looking for immediate joining. Contact 94362799 Accountant Indian male B.COM / MBA 9 years experience in Oman up to finalization. NOC available, can join immediately. Contact 94134085/ muscatoman95@yahoo.com CA with 8 years Experience (6 in UAE & Oman) in A/cs ,Finance & Audit ,Contact: :98707434 / casmart007@gmail.com SL Accountant male 5 years experience in Oman up to account finalization, accounting software’s tally etc having Oman driving license & NOC. Contact 95764075 Email: arshaad18@gmail.com Accountant: Indian Male 29 years, 7 years experience in Oman seeking suitable placement in Accounts, Administration, Purchase (Release Available) Ph. 97614351 Email:vijayapalanbinu.aniyan@ gmail.com Indian male 35 years M.Com, 8 years in Oman out of 13 years experience in accounts up to finalization having NOC and Oman D/L. Contact 98407501

Accountant 35 years B.COM with experience in Oman urgently seeking suitable job Accountant/ Ass. Admin / HR valid driving license & NOC. Contact + 968- 99176112 Email : aamirjaved24@hotmail.com Indian Accounts / Audit assistant with 2 years of experience currently on a visit visa looking for suitable job openings.# 94677338, 97041086 Email: ajeeshkcy1989@gmail.com Seeking for a job on Indian male aged 23 years qualification are BCA bachelor & computer application & accountant 1 years experience. Contact 95386434 Email: mohammedshanid5@gmail.com Finance Manager, CPA, with more than 15 yrs. of experience in GCC. Fully knowledgeable in Finance, General & Management Accounting . NOC available. Contact 96209331 Indian male 22 yrs B. Com Graduate 1 year exp in Accounts, currently on visit visa. Looking for suitable job. Contact – 94341848 / Email – mohdhaji7272@gmail.com CA Finalist having big four experience of more than three years seeking suitable position currently on visit visa. Contact 94663269 Email: rizwan_ravian@yahoo.com Accountant 25 years experience M.Com Accounts up to finalization 14 years in Oman. NOC release available. Contact 99640490 email: mathutb@gmail.com Indian male BBM 23 yrs having 2 yrs experience seeking suitable job in accounts, admin, HR, Operation Coordination logistics etc. Contact 97623267 Accountant: a well experienced Indian male, M.Com, more than 20 years experience in accounting field (GCC & India), looking for job as accountant or accounts manager in oman. presently working in India and ready to join immediately. Contact :99087175

ARCHI./ DRAUGHTSMAN Indian male, Autocad draughtman with 2 years of experience currently working in oman.seeking suitable placement.NOC available.#94123480 Email: fahadhundred@gmail.com Female Architect 3.5 years experience looking for job, having experience in Oman AutoCAD and sketch up. Contact 96146645 Email: anjuovil@gmail.com Indian male, 1 and half years experience in Indian, Using Total station, Auto level and Auto Cad , seeking suitable placement. Contact 95140761 / 99208290 Email: binu.brijiv@gmail.com Architect (B. Arch) 3 years experience in 2D/3D CAD and construction detailing for design consultancies seeking suitable position in reputed ﬁrm. Contact 99083386 Email: nitish.nadaraajan@gmail.com Auotcad knows 3D,REVIT, MAX Ph : 97103168 AutoCAD operator, Indian male 3 yrs experience in Auto CAD 2D & 3Ds Civil Draftsman, MAX and Photo shop, presently on visit visa seek suitable placement.Contact 91764358 Email: mohdsiraj02@yahoo.com

S AT U R DAY, M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED ADVERTISING

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

Indian Male, 28 years, have Omani driving license. NOC available, seeks job. Phone: 96245690

Indian male BE/B. Tech in computers 2 years experience on DBA on visit visa. Contact :93048527

Business Development Officer cum Branch Head, young Indian male, MBA, around 5 years experience in reputed multinational company (MNC) looking for suitable position in Suwaiq, Sohar area.Contact 92700670 Email: fardhaan@gmail.com

Indian male Graduate (BSc. IT) 25 years new on visit visa in Muscat. 1 year experience in Accounts looking for suitable position. # 95752827 Email: mhdfsrn@gmail.com

ADMIN/HR Indian female with excellent communication skills, confident, dedicated to work and enthusiastic. Knowledge about ms office. Has 6 years of experience in customer service, telecommunication, HR.Looking for immediate placement. Contact # 97348819 Indian female 6 years experience in finance HR/ & Administration (M.Com) with Oman D/L or family joining visa. Contact 99796847 Email: rabitha.05@gmail.com Indian male 32 yrs MBA.HR marketing, 6 yrs experience in FMGC products looking for a suitable job. Contact 92954827 Over 14 years of Gulf experience in Admin /HR /Logistics, fluent in Arabic & English with D/L, looking for suitable position. Contact 95824598 Indian male, well experienced in Administration supervisory, business development, front office Administrations & good computer skills seeking Supervisory / Secretarial / Front Office Administrative jobs. #92145973 Email: ubaidpt99@yahoo.com Indian male having 2+ years Oman experience seeking suitable job opportunity...currently working as HR coordinator in a reputed company in Oman. Contact : 93671437 alluarun777@gmail.com Noc available

ENGG. / TECHNICAL Electrical Engineer (Indian) with 6 years experience in projects and maintenance having valid UAE driving license seeks suitable placement. Please contact: Ajay Haridas on mobile 00971528254782 or Haridas on 99558590 Network Engineer, BSc Communications, 5 years exp, CCNA, VAS, Data Center, working now at Alcatel Lucent, visit visa. Contact 9126878 Electrical Eng diploma 12 yrs exp HV /LV - UG & OHL having NOC with valid Oman D/L & Mazoon CEP. Contact 96274568 Mechanical Engineer (BE) done process piping, PDMS, Q.C welding N.D.T course fresher on visit visa looking for job. Contact 97359171 Email: sayyedz097@ymail.com BE Petroleum Engineer - 23 years, 1 year exp (6 months offshore), previously done 2 onﬁeld internships in Oman. Seeking suitable placement. Valid HSE PDO passport and Oman driving license holder. Contact: 97384353, wnehri@gmail.com

Wanted job as Administrative, Assistant, Supervisor 10 yrs exp. Contact 99014612

BSc Civil Engineer over 19 years experience in construction ﬁeld with project management skills, seeks suitable placement NOC available & can join immediately. Kindly Contact: 92198264 Email: mdrana1970@gmail.com

MBA Admin CRM exp female Indian. Contact 92135280

Looking Part time Job in HVACContact - 93198128

Indian female B.Com with excellent communication available for immediate joining full time or part time in HR & Admin coordination. #98460262

Quantity Surveyor (Civil Building) looking for Part time job Contact no:-94391712 E-mail addressinayathhussain@yahoo.com

Young Indian male with 5 years Muscat experience in admin, purchase & Masters from UK seeks placement. Possess driving license. Contact 94400671

11 and Half years experienced Civil Diploma holder seeks placement with D/L, CAD & site experience. Contact 93420930

Indian male MBA 32 yrs having 10 yrs of exp seeking suitable placement in Admin/ HR/ Operations/ Coordination/ Logistics etc. Holding valid Oman D/L .Contact - 99054786

CATERING Indian cook, Tandoori cook, male, 32 yrs, having 4 yrs of experience in Muscat in India, looking for a cook job in Hotel. Contact 93753523 / 98744307 / 92175119.

DRIVER Light Driver having own visa looking for job as driver. # 92303692 Light driver looking for job. Contact 96913836 Light driver looking for job. Contact 96694393 Driver available in Ruwi. Contact 97460056 Light driver with car available. Contact 95520696 Light driver with car 7 yrs experience. Contact 91553628 / 95667138 Light driver 8 years experience in Oman. Contact 95927422 Light duty driver with 3 years experience in Oman +5 years in Saudi Arabia speaking Hindi Arabic English. Contact 96088707 Light driver job. Contact96756014

Civil Engineer having 4.5 yrs experience in building construction, looking for suitable placement valid D/L available. Contact 91253392 D.A.E Civil Engineer Pakistani male, Diploma 3 years full experience 10 years, 6 yrs exp in Oman & Pakistan exp 4 years looking for good job in ﬁrm. Contact 92286164 Civil Engineer B Tech, Site Engineer Experienced, Drafting on Visit Visa Ph : 91642050 Electrical Engineer looking for job NOC available. Contact 96347995 B/Tech B.E Civil nearly 3 years Indian male. Contact 93850875 Indian Male 10 years experienced CIVIL ENGINEER having Omani driving license looking for suitable placement. GSM 94194399 (Shiblyrock@gmail.com) Indian Female, 24, UK Graduate - MSc Digital Communication Network Engineering with B.Tech Electronics and Communication holding a Valid Omani Driving License, looking for suitable placement (Presently on Visit Visa). Contact No. : 95408113 Civil Engineer Diploma and AutoCAD having 2 yrs experience in India seeking suitable jobs. Contact 95476430 Civil Engineer having four and half years experience in building construction, looking for a suitable placement valid D/L available. Contact 91253392

Light driver looking for job. Contact 92791678

Experienced female Electrical Engineer. Contact 93800906

Light driver looking for job. Contact 91376612

Project Engineer, civil engineer BSC, Building Construction 5 Years Exp in Oman ﬂuent Arabic, English and good Hindi .Contact - 97858589

LV Driver- 2 yrs Exp-know English- Contact 95292064

DESIGNER Modular kitchen designer with 4 years Bahrain /Dubai experience plus 10 years AutoCAD, 3D, Photoshop& 20-20 Fusion. Contact -96467673, cristobabu@gmail.com Keralite Bachelor professional building designer with AutoCAD, 3D Max & Accounts. #96535497, email : bhaviwky90@gmail.com

Store In Charge: Indian male having 6 years experience in Oman seeking suitable position, Now in India Contact: 93211256, India:+91-76114979, krishnamohanap2000@gmail.com Indian male, having 10 yrs experience in CCTV (AV Technician), ﬁre alarm, EPABX, all types of electrical work seeking suitable placement, presently on visit visa. Contact 97948198 / 99356393 Email: srinivasparipelli@yahoo.com

Indian B.Tech Mechanical Engineer, 26 yrs, 4 yrs experience in HVAC/MEP. Contact 94669629, rajeevhpd15@yahoo.com Indian Mechanical Engineer 27 years experience in Oman for 8 years with Omani driving license looking for job change. NOC available. Contact 92986079 for short and long term contracts. Area of experience oil and GAS. Contact 92986079 Electrical Engg B.E 6+ yrs in Oman exp in ELP projects, LV , 11KV, 33KVOHL , UGC & DCRP requirements available with release/NOC valid D/L join immediately. Contact: 97601836 Email: sidm4u@gmail.com 25 years old Indian male BE in Electronics and Communication / NEBOSH presently working as Safety Officer in reputed company in India looking for suitable placement. Contact India: 0091- 9605114343 Email: harishharinarayan@gmail.com Sudanese Electrical plants equipment Engineer with 3 years Diploma degree of Electrical Engineer have 5 years experience in building constructing industry operation installation maintenance asphalt crushers stone plants and automation systems. Contact 94549609 B. Sc Civil Engineer with 5 years experience and valid Omani driving license and PDO driving and safety license and OSHA safety license looking for suitable job. Contact 92548097 Sudanese chemist resident, 3 years experience in chemical industry. Contact 97399073 Sudanese Graduate with 3 years Diploma in Civil Engineering have 5 years experience in building construction industry materials, specification & testing. Contact 96995670 Civil Engineer (Diploma) with exp. looking for placement. Contact 95200650 Diploma in Architect 2.5 years experience in Oman having driving. Contact 92967404 Electrical Engineer B.E Engineer, 6 years experience in Dubai, Bahrain with G.C.C. professional licenses holding GCC driving license. Contact 98063081 Email: imran.engr08@gmail.com . Civil Engineer 4 years exp (3 in Oman as a Quantity Surveyor & planning engineer for road works & bridges in a big project) fluent in English & Arabic. Contact - 93477660 B.Tech electronics & instrument, Indian male having 4 years exp in oil & gas field one years experience in Saudi, looking for suitable vacancy. Contact 98854946 Email: alfredtjose@gmail.com Civil Engineer with 12 years Experience Looking For Job. Contact 98162295 Generator maintenance in charge with 4 yrs experience with Cummins, caterpillar, kirloskar and voltas. Contact - email: shibinmundakkal@gmail.com Indian Male, IT Support Engineer, 2 yrs in Oman & 5 yrs Indian experience. Contact 97311847 Aircraft Maintenance Technician with one year experience seeks suitable placement. Contact amaljohn2002@gmail.com B.Tech Mechanical Engineer (Automobile)&Diploma in QC with 2yrs experience in oil & gas company seek suitable placement job currently on Visit Visa. Contact no.96071081, 99214308 , Email: rahulvarikkat@gmail.com Sudanese Mechanical Engineer 11 years exp in oil & gas industry. Contact - 95928035 BE/EEE Electrical Engineer Indian male 25 years having 2.5 years experience currently on visit visa looking for suitable placement. Contact 00968-96522624 / 92770316 contact India +91- 9994024477 / 9597539520

Seeking job Electronics and Instrumentation Engineer (Indian) Indian male, Instrumentation Engineer having total 5 years of experience in electrical site execution, 1 year in Uae,presently in oman (visit visa) seeking suitable job Contact. 95690915 Email. Syam.andrews@gmail.Com Indian male 24 years, Mechanical Engineer,pdms.1 yr experience in pipeline,16years in oman seeking immediate placement Contact 95775742 Electrical Engineer Indian male 29 years, having 5 years of experience in Industrial Automation & utility maintenance in India (MRF Tyres) seeking suitable placement. Contact 92789995 Email: akhilabrahamlktr@gmail.com Telecom Engineer with 4.5 years Oman experience looking for a suitable opportunity, interested even in Marketing also. Possess valid Oman driving license. Contact 94145460 DAE (Civil) having 3.5 years Experience 2 years from Oman with driving licences, seeking for suitable position in Construction ﬁeld NOC and release available . Contact 96968554 Email: mehranahmad26@yahoo.com 24 years Indian female diploma in computer science and engineering now on visit visa seek suitable placement. Contact 96314974/99107369 Electrical Eng. Degree (MEP) need suitable job of construction 12 yrs exp. Email: mohd.ateeq.khan@gmail.com Mechanical Engineer, Gulf Exp in Design and Manufacturing Ph: 97097688 Diploma of Associate Civil Engineering, Diploma of AutoCad, having 3.5 yrs experience, 2 yrs experience of Oman in Building Construction, valid transferrable ID Card. Contact 94378581 Indian male, 26 yrs B-Tech (ECE) with MBA in Marketing / HR looking for a suitable placement. Currently on visit visa valid up to 30 January 2015. Contact 93754428, email : shijosirius709@gmail.com

EDUCATION Indian Female (M.Com, B.ED) 2Yrs Experience in teaching seeks suitable placement . Specialization in ( Accounting, Business studies, Human resource management, Economics). Presently in Visit Visa Status. Contact:97342709, Email: sininair27@gmail.com 1 year experience in teaching all subject to KG classes, currently working as a teacher in Oman, seeking suitable placement, Family visa. Contact 92178304 / 99036256

HOSPITALITY Indian female (Aviation and hospitality management) with excellent communication skill, conﬁdent, dedicated to works and enthusiastic and 1 year experience in admin department looking for immediate placement . Contact 93351256 email : hinakhan.hk88@gamil.com

IT Hardware specialist B.Tech M.Tech electronics with 10 years experience seeks suitable opportunities in reputed organizations. Contact 91289459 Email: shrn.shrf@gmail.com B.Tech IT Professional, Indian Male with 3 yrs of Exp. In System Admin, IT Support, Networking, Installing Active Directory, DHCP, DNS,RAS, conﬁguring maintaining and managing servers, conﬁguring cisco routers, Exp in handling SQL database, With Valid Driving Licence. Contact - 968 98863507 Hardware and Network Technician with 6 years experience one year in Oman, good experience in security systems and net work cabling looking for suitable placement.. Contact 96365220

Male Omani National, 27 years, holding Master in IT - Computer Sciences Engineering (India) and Master in Robotic Intelligency (Spain), looking for a suitable placement. Contact: 99211549. 3G , 4G Welding lead man Indian male, 33 years, having 15 years experience in American company, UAE and India, seeking for suitable placement. Contact 92122468 Email: shaji11@gmail.com IT Support Engineer Indian male with 6 years experience in system Admin/ IT support seeking suitable placement. # 94549589 / 99817516 Indian male 25 B.Tech (IT) Engineer 2.5 yrs exp in hardware networking. Currently on visit visa looking for suitable job. Contact – 94359564 IT Prof, MCA having 6+ yrs exp, seeks suitable position. Contact 94543668 Indian male MBA (marketing & IT) with 1 yr exp looking for suitable placement presently on visit visa. Contact 97327997 Email: irshad.alimc@gmai.com

MEDICAL Staff Nurse working in muscat. Looking for new opportunity. Release / NOC letter available. Contact 99433415 Female Dentist Indian, 28 years Dental Surgeon, 3 years of experience, Oman prometric passed with 64%, looking for a suitable placement in Muscat region. Contact 91377681 Email: hashmisarwat@gmail.com

Indian male M.Tech MBA, 24 years experience working as Country Manager seeks employment. Contact 92279972, NOC available.

SECRETARIAL/OFFICE Indian male more than 10 years Gulf experience in Office / Sales Coordinator, Admin (employees visa processes), Secretarial and purchase coordination with good computer skills. Having Driving license and NOC available. Looking for suitable placement. Contact 99709336 Indian female with 10 yrs of experience in HR/Banking/Operations seeks a suitable placement. Can be contacted on 98919015 or sherianne.coelho@gmail.com Indian female, well experienced in secretarial, administration, customer care & supervisory jobs. 5 years experience in Muscat. Immediately available for joining. Contact: 92139298

SKILLED / UNSKILLED Welder, 3G, 6G, TIG, Exp in Fabrication , Gulf Exp Ph : 97103168 Care taker, Gulf Exp knows Hindi, Arabic Ph: 94238840

SALES / MARKETING Male 22, BFT Graduate seeking job as Merchandiser, Marketing. Contact 98660360 Pakistani male MBA marketing 2 years experience need job in sales marketing export admin management sector. Contact 94009052

Pharmacist with MOH License and NOC available for placement in Hospitals, polyclinics, warehouses etc. either in Muscat or in and around Nizwa. Contact 99617610

Indian Salesman having over 10 years experience in shop and outdoor; knows Hindi & Arabic; looking for opening in sales ﬁeld. Contact 94432608

Medical- Indian female, 27 yrs, masters in hospital administration, fellowship in HTA studied in a super specialty medical sciences and research center in India and done project in an established hospital in sultanate of Oman. Contact 93200827, 91026506

15 years experience Indian male looking for job in storekeeper, counter sales having valid GCC driving license seeks suitable placement. Contact 99052817

Lab Technician, Civil (8yrs Gulf experience) looking for a suitable job (NOC available) Contact-93344378 Female pharmacist with 3 years experience and MOH license currently in Oman, CONTACT 92455124

MISCELLANEOUS Indian female 25, BFT with excellent communication skills, conﬁdent, dedicated to work and enthusiastic. 5 yrs experience in merchandising and fashion marketing. available on family visit, seeking for a suitable job. Contact 96990368, simmy.missy@gmail.com Logistics Officer, Experience in Store keeping. Contact : 99505934

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR BE. Mechanical Engineer with 2 years’ experience in Mechanical piping execution, Seek suitable placement job currently on Visit Visa, Contact no: 9843 9656, 9526 5739, Email: pavithomas@rediffmail.com Purchase Manager with 14 years experience in construction industry with valid D/L & NOC . Contact 92884811 Email: bati.rajesh@gmail.com Qualiﬁed Manager: (12+ yrs. Oman Exp.) Vast knowledge in A/c & Admin, Costing, Banking, Credit Control, Insurance, International Purchase/Logistics & Finance, With D/L looking for suitable position. Contact 93826090 Email: jskanchan01@gmail.com

Indian M.27 B.Com, 5 yrs exp sales & customer relation, MS Word, MS Office, Excel on visit visa. Contact 95612321 Email: jkadavil@gmail.com Indian male 25 yrs M.B.A having More than 2 years experience in sales & marketing good communication skills Looking for a suitable job. Contact 92152913 email: May4senthil@gmail.com Young female, having experience of working in Oman with expertise in the field of Event Management, Advertising, Marketing and Hotel Management. Currently on a visit visa. Seeking for a suitable Job. Contact 96153578 MBA fresher, with fluency in English, Arabic, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam, looking for suitable job. Currently in Oman on visit visa. Mob : +968-93730345 Indian male 30 years DME 4 years experience in building material outdoor sales, NOC available with valid Oman D/L. Contact 92447574 Email: shijophilip84@yahoo.in IND M 29 2 yrs exp in dales in Oman seeks suitable placement in back office support, sales, store keeper. NOC available. Contact 91797372 Indian male 23 with 2 years Oman experience looking for suitable placement in sales and marketing. NOC available with valid D/L. Contact 96392009 Looking for suitable placement in outdoor marketing field with 6 years experience valid Omani driving license. Abundant experience of local market can handle independently with positive attitude. # 99432807

Restaurant /Catering Manager – Operations with 21 years experience with 2 years in Saudi is available on visit. Contact 98894682

Indian male 34 years, having 5 years experience in Saudi as Safety Officer looking for suitable jobs in this ﬁeld. Contact 94349820

Indian female with nine years of experience in 5 Star hotels as Assistant Food & Beverage Manager looking for a suitable placement in a reputed Star hotel. Contact: 91219787

Indian Male having 7 yrs in experience in Oman Sales & Marketing Ofﬁce Automation Printer, Copier, MFP, IT products & Stationery. Looking for Suitable Placement NOC Available Contact :9738474

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DAILY GUIDE

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

SITUATION WANTED SERVICES

WEBSITE

SITUATION WANTSIT. WANTED

COMPUTER

SALES / MARKETING Indian male, with 8 yrs exp in Sales Operations & accounts handling, expert in SAP & ERP applications seeks job. Contact 93345990 Indian male 9+ years experience in GCC and Indian in hardcore sales and customer service looking for buffer opportunity, holding valid Oman driving license visit visa. Experience shipping, banking, safety products (PPE) Contact : 97132606 Indian male, B.Com Graduate, good experience in purchase, worked in SAOC company seeks suitable position. Contact 93219971 18 yrs Oman experience in building materials seeking suitable placement, NOC available Contact 93105775

CLASSES

Indian Male, 7 yrs experience in building materials trading having Oman D/L, immediate release available. Contact 98676713

WEB, ERP and Business Intelligence (BI) creation and management at rock bottom price. Contact: http//webviewoman

BUSINESS

Indian male, B.Com, 20 yrs experience in Sales & Marketing having UAE light D/L looking for suitable post. Contact +91 9946699062, email : sajim40@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS

MANPOWER

Sri Lankan, female, 25 years, Graduate in Management, possessing 6 years experience in banking, ﬁnancial, administration and risk management. Currently on a visit visa seeks suitable immediate placement. Contact 93462521. wathsala.perera1@yahoo.com

Grade -1 tender board construction LLC Company looking for joint ventures on a larger scale or partners who can invest 70% of the capital. Email: civilprojects57@gmail.com

Indian male, 25 years, now on visit visa in Muscat. One year experience in accounts, looking for suitable position. Contact:95752827, Email id: mhdfsrn@gmail.com

GOOD NEWS

Manager-Corporate Communications, pleasing personality, excellent English, Masters-Journalism, Mass Communication, Finance, expert in writing & publishing press releases, advertisements, website content, speeches, CSR, promotions, events. Immediate joining, NOC. # 91229392

NRI

Cheapest prices all types window, curtains and Blinds. Contact 99539521

Canadian Manpower Co. Recruiting Construction, Hotel, Medical, Gas & Oil Staffs - 2 years contract, work visa, tickets, accommodation. Free recruitment. Please send CV to margholdingoman@yahoo.com, www.margholdingimmigration.com, 93392630 Available construction workers, hospital staff with Oman parametric, housemaids Indian, Uganda. Contact 9629417/98408488 Email: alkubratrading@gmail.com

Investments, insurance and pension plans from SBI life (State Bank of India group). Contact 95778431 Spacious, 2BHK ﬂat for sale at Hebbal Bangalore. Contact 96263157

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing, Contact 99314807/24792998

Air conditioning split A/C, Ducted split & package A/C, maintenance & installation. Contact 98667326

NRI Brand new 3BHK for sale, 4 cents, 1600sq ft, vastu based contemporary style with modular kitchen house in Thirumala, Trivandrum. Contact 0091-9447159105 Mail: bijursmct@yahoo.co.in

Taimour Ayurvedic Clinic, Ruwi offers genuine & effective treatment for back pain, paralysis, cervical and lumbar spondylitis, osteoarthritis, joint pains, sinusitis, migraine, allergic problems, varicose vein and all other health related problems. Kerala massage and rejuvenation package available. For details please contact: 92197920/ 24799689 Ayurvedic treatment for joint pain, backache, paralysis massage, steam bath, obesity, spondylitis IDEAL , CARE Ayurvedic Clinic 18 November street, Azaiba. Contact 99639695 / 99117987 Ayurvedic treatment for backache, paralysis, arthritis etc & massage, All Season (Vaidyaratnam). Contact 24475280 / 95371554 / 92504980 , www.siddhayur.com FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know more about Islam, please call: 99425598, 96050000, 99353988, 99253818, 99341395, and 99379133. For ladies: 99415818, 99321360, 99730723 Orvisit: www.islamfact.com

MATRIMONIAL

Window & spilt unit A.C servicing & maintenance. Contact 96236476

Keralite Ezhava girl BSc Nurse wheatish Bharani Nakshatram 28 yrs, 160 cm working with MOH seeks suitable alliance from Keralite professionals in Muscat. Contact 94273585

AC service repair and maintenance. Contact 95356877

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your marble. Contact 24793614/ 99314807

Corporate Communication Professional, smart, quality English writing, double Masters, Oman exp in Corporate, Internal &Marketing Communication, CSR Programs, PRs, Ads, Events, Campaigns, Customer Relations. Immediately Available, Release. #91229392

Split & window unit A.C servicing & repairing. Contact 99557080

Carpet & sofa shampooing. Ocean Centre LLC. Contact 99884591 / 92682970 Cleaning services, carpet & sofa shampooing, marble restoration (grinding) and polishing, pest control, fogging service. Contact 99448057, 95401996 Cheapest Prices, all types window, curtains and blind. Contact 99539521 Computer service/ AMC/ Networking. Contact 91339882 Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles polishing, carpet shampooing, maintenance. Contact ABU QABAS- 99320217 /24788722 Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles polishing, carpet shampooing, maintenance. Contact ABU QABAS- 99320217 /24788722

We offer you the business services maintenance of buildings and villas for paint and carpentry and decoration works and installation of material awater Broof and cleaning services building management and leasing of real estate . Contact 99070093 Cold store freezer, chiller A/C installation and maintenance. Contact 92279370 Door to Door Computers repair specialist laptop software Website cartridges. Contact 99199376 Water prooﬁng ABUQABASContact 99320217/24788722 Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile polishing, pest control & anti-termite treatment, general cleaning painting, Plumbing, Electrical, shifting. Contact Mundhir Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C. # 24810137, 99450130 GULF INTERNATIONAL LLC. all kind of pest control. Contact 92326955 Pest control & cleaning services professionals in pest control service bedbugs treatment, rodent, treatment, snake treatment and termite treatment, pre and post construction. Contact 93098450, 96408964, fax : 24472116 A/C maintenance split A/C servicing. RO. 10 only. # 94217681/ 99210141

Keralite RCSC parents invite alliance from RCSC boy Graduate Post Graduate 26/29 their daughter 23/167 B. Tech. Contact 97112038 / 24493497 32 yrs old Nadar Executive is working in Oman for last 8 years require bride from same caste. #95892831 Alliance seeking from Hindu Keralite girl for a widower age 47 yrs having female child (10 yrs) working in automotive corporate Muscat as Manager.#96082694 / 99379956 Alliance seeking from Menon/Nair parents of professionally qualiﬁed grooms for a B.Tech graduate girl hails from Palakkad (23, Makeeram – 1 dosham), presently working in Dubai and staying with parents. Please contact +968-92146800. Preference to Palakkad, Trichur & Malabar side boys. Keralite Syrian Christian Parents seeking alliance from any Syrian Christian Denominations Graduated working girls preferably in Oman or UAE for their son MBA 29/175-born brought up in Muscat working in a reputed organization. # 97226324 email: m4proposal@yahoo.com We are looking for a Muslim Girl for our son interested parents or daughter May. Contact 97664009

Pest Control Treatments, Termites, Cockroaches, Bedbugs. Contact Ocean Centre LLC. Contact 99344723

Hindu Ezhava family, settled in Muscat looking for suitable groom working within Oman for their daughter 25 yrs (MBA) working with a reputed company in Muscat. Contact : 98689663

Carpet & sofa shampooing. Ocean Centre LLC. Contact 99884591 / 92682970

Male Nurse Keralite Christian RC Boy, Age 28 Years, Inviting Proposals. Contact: 93657535

House shifting. Contact 99708138 House shifting packing. Contact 99657644, 98518013

S AT U R DAY, M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED CARGO

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain Marine Tours Contact- 98029602, 92808636

TOURS

RENT A CAR

TRANSPORTATION School Transportation :96581664 Transportation. Contact 98505294 Transportation. Contact 99664703

RENT A CAR

Picking and drop.Contact 96743215 Transportation. Contact 98518979 Transport to ISWK. Contact 93172589 Transportation available. Contact 95570429 Transportation. Contact 91379976 Pick & Drop any time. Contact 97014786 Pick & drop anytime in al Khuwair. Contact 99764307

*Classiﬁed Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

S AT U R D AY, M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

Indian, Arabic, Chinese dishes, BuďŹ&#x20AC;et Lunch (On Friday) Indoor & Outdoor, Catering, Party hall available Take Away & Home Delivery

Party booking & sugges ons 99320065, 99341643

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624