Times of Oman - October 24, 2015

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FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTY THE SULTAN

On the occasion of the 28th national day

‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’ The success of any development and the achievement of its goals must be the combined work of three parties: the government, the private sector and the citizen. Each of them must bear their duties in the spirit of responsibility, without which nations cannot realise their aspirations for their progress, and avoid backwardness.

SATURDAY, October 24, 2015 / 10 Muharram 1437 AH

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HM sends greetings MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of greetings to Edgar Lungu, President of the Republic of Zambia on his country’s Independence Day anniversary. In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan has expressed his sincere greetings and wishes to the Zambian president and his country’s people. —ONA

HM receives message

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Comfortably ageing in place

HM DIRECTIVE

Shabab Oman visits Kuwait KUWAIT: Royal Navy of Oman’s vessel 2nd Shabab Oman arrived at Al Shuwaikh Port in Kuwait as part of its first journey to the GCC countries.

The vessel’s journey came in response to the directives of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said on extending friendship among the people of the world. -ONA TOP THREE INSIDE STORIES

OMAN

Visa-on-arrival for Omani tourists

Prominent citizens in Oman have urged voters to vote in strength so that

MEDICAL TOURISM

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has received a verbal message from President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation on the situation in the region within the context of consultations and exchange of views between the leaderships of the two countries. —ONA

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Rules for medical treatment abroad at government cost Times News Service MUSCAT: Regulations have been formulated by the Ministry of Health (MOH) for treatment abroad paid for by the government. The move comes at a time when medical tourism is on the rise, with thousands of patients from Oman seeking treatment abroad. The number of people that the Ministry of Health sent for treatment abroad has also been rising year after year.

“At least a panel of five doctors will examine the patients before they look for treatment abroad,” a decision issued by Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Saeedi, Minister of Health said.

The decision is applicable to Omanis, migrant women married to Omanis, expatriates married to Omanis and children of Omanis with a foreign husband.

The continued increase in the number of Omani patients seek-

ing treatment abroad has become a costly affair for the ministry.

The decision, which was announced on October 14, also stated that a “committee for treatment abroad” will review the case before it is finally approved.

“This committee will study patients and the recommendations of the advisory doctor or specialist physician or medical subcommittee to determine genuine cases”, it said.

The committee will sponsor one attendant with the patient if it is a male and two attendants if it is a female patient. “But if the patient is a child younger than seven years old, then one of the attendants will be a parent”, it said.

The committee may also dispatch a medical facility with the patient in some cases. “If the health condition of the patient requires it, then there are provisions of a medical team accompanying the patients”, it said.

the elected Majlis members could solve their pressing problems amid an economic downturn

FAHAD AL GHADANI

fahadnews@timesofoman.com MUSCAT: Your vote is your voice. Make this election count by making your voice heard, said prominent Omanis, urging the public to vote during the upcoming elections.

With 107 polling stations across the Sultanate set to receive voters for the Eighth Majlis Al Shura elections on Sunday, many Omanis have come out to stress that as a society, each member must remember how important it is to have the right to vote in Oman.

They also hope that all the eligible 611,906 registered voters will come out and vote to pick the best from among the 590 candidates contesting the 85 seats.

Voter turnout in the 2011 elections was 76 per cent. Out of the

Tunis Obaid Al Mahrooqi, top, Moath Al Ghilani, an Omani lawyer.

nearly 520,000 citizens, who were registered to vote, around 400,000 turned up to vote. The turnout for the 2007 Majlis Al Shura elections was 62 per cent.

“We hope the turnout is better than the last time and before that.

We have many issues that need to be addressed, which are related to education, employment, children and families. These issues can be better resolved by policy makers through the Majlis Al Shura,” said

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Tourists from Oman and 57 other countries can now get 30-day visa-upon-arrival at Iran’s airports, which can be extended by 15 days, the Iranian media have reported. >A2

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Cast your vote to have a say, nationals told

ZAMBIA

PUTIN

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Moath Al Ghilani, a well known Omani lawyer. “I believe it’s my responsibility to encourage members of the Omani community to get out and vote,” he said.

Voting for electing the 85 members of the Majlis Al Shura will begin at 7 am and end at 7 pm.

“Voting will be allowed till late in the evening, with the main committee of the Majlis Al Shura elections having announced that full paid leave will be given to voters of both the public and private sector, provided that voters get a paper from the voting centre stating the same,” said an official from the Ministry of Interior.

Khalid Alsafi Al Haribi, social entrepreneur and former Majlis Al Shura election contestant feels voting is important because it gives one the chance to make their voice heard.

“Voting during this term has greater significance, not only due to the gradually expanding legislative, checks and balances power in the Lower House, but also because of the economic and social legislations discussed, which will hopefully mitigate the effects of the global economic slowdown. I join my fellow voters in looking forward to a balanced and productive Majlis Al Shura performance”.

He also said, “I really hope we will capitalise on the opportunity and I am afraid if we don’t participate it means that people will not be able to play an active role in shaping public opinion. This might lead to continued lack of interest in public matters.”

While Al Haribi has already voted, he feels citizens will also turn out in large numbers. >A2 WA D I A L S A R M I

THE SERPENTINE BEAUTY The Sultanate of Oman boasts of some of the best roads in the world. Times of Oman photographer A R Rajkumar captured the beauty of this serpentine road as well as many others in his camera recently. >A3

43 killed in France’s road accident

Omani trapped in car rescued Times News Service MUSCAT: An Omani national trapped in his car in Wadi Al Sarmi in the Wilayat of Saham was rescued yesterday by the Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance (PACDA) in cooperation with a number of citizens, PACDA said on its Twitter account. The rescuers and citizens managed to rescue the trapped man without him sustaining any injuries.

A number of governorates in the Sultanate have been experiencing heavy rainfall, resulting in wadis (valleys) getting flooded. PACDA has again warned citizens not to risk their lives and adopt safety measures while travelling.

In the Governorate of Al Buraimi, light rain fell in Wadi Jizzi, Al Rabbi, Al Trariha and Kitnah.

In the Governorate of South Al Batinah, heavy rains fell in the Wilayat of A’Rustaq. -ONA

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At least 41 people on a bus carrying elderly daytrippers were killed early when the bus hit a truck head-on and caught fire in France. Two people, including a young boy, died in the truck. >A10

MARKET

Insurance market on growth path

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Despite being a small insurance market, the GCC remains the fastest growing insurance region, outpacing all other markets with top line growth of close to 15 per cent in 2014. >B1 CHARITY COMES FROM HEART

Indian schoolchildren lead the way when it comes to charity MOBIN MATHEW BLESSON

mobinmathew@timesofoman.com

HELPING THE NEEDY: Anirudh and Saanvi regularly distribute bottled water, juices and food items to workers who toil in the hot sun.

MUSCAT: Two children, who can act as a role model for many in the society, are part of the Times of Oman’s #Omanpride campaign.

Anirudh and Saanvi, the two children, regularly distribute bottled water, juices and food items among workers, who toil in the hot sun on the streets of Muscat. The scorching sun is a big problem for those workers who have to do their jobs out in the open air.

The families of Anirudh and Saanvi guided them to the path of helping the needy around them.

Both the children are students of the Indian School, Wadi Kabir.

Some days back, they distributed three cartons of juice, laban and

THE HOME OF GOOD NEWS

#OMANPRIDE some food items among the workers near the Shell Petrol Station in Wadi Kabir.

“Helping others comes naturally to me and I will try to help others in every possible way within my limit,” nine-year-old Anirudh told the Times of Oman.

Speaking about the workers, Anirudh said, “When I saw the work-

ers in the street, especially in the hot weather, I wished to give them some refreshments, such as juice, laban or something else”.

“I wish to do the same in future too,” he added. “I feel sad when I see labourers working under the hot sun. We can’t face the heat here, but they have to work the whole day under the hot sun,” 13-year-old Saanvi said. “I am just doing what I can and I am always ready to help the people around me,” she added.

According to Anirudh’s father, Ramakrishnan Anand, every parent should teach their children the value of helping others; only then will they grow into good human beings.

“I and my wife Indu always advise my child that they should help the people around them,” Anand

said. “I am not a rich man but to help the people around me is a great thing,” he added.

According to Saanvi’s father Sundarrajan, he and his wife Sangeetha are very happy to see their child helping other people in society.

“We are very happy to see our child doing charity happily”, Sundarrajan said.

“She has developed this habit from a young age and she feels happy and satisfied while doing such things”, he added.

Anirudh and Saanvi have shown society that charity should come from the heart. Parents and schools have a major role to play in helping children become good human beings. We hope Anirudh and Saanvi will inspire many in the society.

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30-day instant visa for Omani tourists to Iran To increase the flow of tourists into the country, Iran has started issuing 30day visa-upon-arrival to tourists from 58 countries, including all Gulf countries

Times News Service MUSCAT: Tourists from Oman and 57 other countries can now get 30-day visa-upon-arrival at Iran’s airports, which can be extended by 15 days, the Iranian media have reported.

In a move to increase the flow of tourists into the country, Iran

started issuing 30-day visas for tourists from 58 countries, which include all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries – Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait.

14-day visas Foreign tourists could previously only get 14-day visas at Iran’s airports and these visas could not be extended, Iran’s Press TV reported, citing the Donya-e Eqtesad newspaper.

Other countries that are now eligible are India, Uzbekistan, Australia, Indonesia, Brunei, Japan, Singapore, Syria, Palestine, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea, North Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand and Vietnam.

Tourists from Azerbaijan, Albania, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Armenia, Spain, Slovenia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Italy, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Cyprus, Belarus, Bulgaria, Denmark, Russia, Romania, Croatia, Luxembourg, Poland, Georgia, Norway, the Netherlands, Hungary, Yugo-

slavia (former Yugoslavian countries), Greece, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela and Mexico can now also apply for the 30-day visaupon-arrival in Iran.

The report said that an instant visa is obtainable for tourists from the aforementioned countries and does not apply to those, who hold official passports, as well as businessmen and journalists. There is no restriction imposed on foreign tourists to obtain a visa-uponarrival at Iranian airports several times within a year.

Citizens from the United States, Somalia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Bangladesh, Jordan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan cannot obtain visa-upon-arrival in Iran, and need to obtain a visa from the Iranian consular services in their countries, the report added.

The instant visa programme is part of a wider plan of the Iranian government to boost revenues by attracting tourists. Officials said the country plans to attract 20 million foreign tourists in order to generate up to $30 billion in revenues a year by 2025.

HIGH-LEVEL MEETING

Sayyid Shihab reviews progress of Oman University project MUSCAT: His Highness Sayyid Shihab bin Tariq Al Said, Adviser to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said discussed the Oman University project with the university supreme committee on Thursday.

The discussion included a review of the latest developments and achievements. It was also decided to follow-up the recommendations and decisions of the committee in the previous meetings.

The meeting discussed the summer little explorer programme which aims to promote English language skills and performance achievement in mathematics, science and technology, and a number of life and academic skills for a specific number of school students in the advanced stages of the second cycle of the basic education.

Scholarship programme The meeting followed the developments in the scholarship programme for capacity-building of Oman University, which aims to

REVIEW MEETING: His Highness Sayyid Shihab bin Tariq Al Said, Adviser to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, reviewed the Oman University project on Thursday. – ONA

create an Omani academic supporting and non-academic cadre to work at the university when it starts operating.

The meeting reviewed proposals for designs of corporate identity logo of Oman University, which was designed by specialists in this area in line with the vision set for the University of the Desired Objectives.

Presentation The meeting included a presentation on recommendations for a plan to develop the site and facilities of the University City, alternatives of implementation, time schedule and cost estimates associated with each alternative.

The meeting took the appropriate decisions and recommendations.- ONA

SHURA POLLS

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country’s representative’

JOINT COMMUNIQUÉ

POLL PROCEDURE

Oman, Estonia to boost ties MUSCAT: In light of the official visit of Taavi Roivas, prime minister of Estonia, to Oman, the two countries issued a joint communiqué on Thursday. The communique reads as follows: Both the governments recognise the potential of mutual benefits, in pursuit of strengthening and broadening relations and cooperation in the fields of trade, economy, information and communication technology, energy, transporta-

tion, sciences, education, innovation and culture, healthcare, tourism and sports, as well as other fields, resulting from the quantitative and qualitative achievements of the Sultanate in numerous economic and social sectors under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, and the development and continuous growth of Estonia.

Both the parties agreed to develop and expand political, dip-

lomatic, economic and cultural cooperation for the benefit of both nations; to cooperate in international organisations, regional and international fora, in the context of the roles played and efforts made by both countries to promote the rule of law, justice, and peaceful dialogue. They acknowledged the importance of economic diversification and secure sustainable energy supplies for the purpose of long-term development. -ONA

Polling will be held in all the wilayats, except Dhofar and Musandam

Polling will begin at 7 am and end at 7 pm

The election committee will forward the results to the main committee as soon as counting ends

Results to be ratified after 10 days of the announcement of preliminary results

10 days will be given to candidates to raise any objections after the declaration of results

Salim Al Ghammari, a municipal council member.

“I voted on October 18 as voters from Dhofar and Musandam, who are residents in Muscat. I had got an opportunity to vote earlier, along with the elections committees and Omani voters in GCC countries. I expect the voter turnout out to remain higher than the global average, due to the awareness efforts of the Main Elections Committees, better appreciation of the importance of campaigning and branding, and due to the increasing number of young voter registration”, said Al Haribi.

Though he has decided not to run for this term, Al Haribi said, “It was a great learning experience to interact with people and work with an excellent campaign team”.

Salim Al Ghammari, a municipal council member, said all Omanis should go and vote because it is a great opportunity for the whole country to select their representative.

But Al Ghammari cautioned people not to vote on the basis on tribal affiliations.

“Vote for the best candidate, based on his capability and his performance as a previous Shura member,” he stated. Al Ghilani too felt that voting for a person based on his tribe is unfair.

“I would say go for good educational qualifications and the positions they take on issues and the leadership qualities and experience they bring to office”, said Al Ghilani.

“Let’s make sure that this Majlis Al Shura goes down as a game changer”, urged Al Ghilani .

Tunis Obaid Al Mahrooqi, media and publication team leader at the information technology association is all set to vote for the best candidate. “Yes, I am going to vote for the person who I think is going to make a positive change to Oman’s future. I believe that our voices can put the right people

in the Shura council. It is our responsibility, as educated people, to participate in this event and help the right people to get the chance to be our representative,” Tunis said.

Majlis Al Shura began its life as “a partner of the government, with the aim of building this nation and serving its citizens”. Its members represent their respective wilayats and are elected by citizens aged 21 or more, and Omani women enjoy the right to vote and stand as candidates.

Media centre Sayyid Hamood bin Faisal Al Busaidi, Minister of Interior, will preside over the opening of the media centre for the Majlis Al Shura elections at the InterContinental Hotel-Muscat on Saturday. The center will provide information services to journalists and media persons covering the elections.—ONA FRESH ORDER

Oman Air orders 20 Boeing 737 MAX planes Times News Service MUSCAT: Oman Air, the Sultanate’s national carrier, has booked 20 Boeing 737 MAX single-aisle aircraft, Reuters reported from New York quoting Boeing. The order nearly doubles Oman Air’s 737 fleet.

Oman Air’s order includes conversions of six 737 NG planes to 737 MAX jets, for a net gain of 14 in Boeing’s order book, the report said.

Oman Air currently operates 21 Boeing 737 aircraft, and has no Airbus A320s, according to its website.

Boeing and rival Airbus are battling for market share in the large single-aisle market.

Boeing had booked 2,869 orders for the 737 MAX through the end of September, compared with more than 4,300 for Airbus’ competing A320neo, according to the companies, according to Reuters. -With Reuters inputs

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OMAN

Beauty of criss-crossing roadways

With more than thousand kilometres of roads under different stages of construction in the Sultanate, the beautiful roads of Oman, considered among the best in the world, are only going to get better. Times of Oman photographer AR Rajkumar has tried to capture the beauty of some of these roads connecting different parts of the country

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REGION

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday there were “strong indications” a new wave of migration was starting from Aleppo and renewed calls for a “safe zone” in Syria to protect civilians, an idea that has won little international backing

US special forces’ raid was aimed to free Kurd fighters Pentagon names Oklahoma soldier

Master Sergeant Joshua L Wheeler was assigned to the US Army Special Operations Command headquarters at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

killed in a special operations raid in northern Iraq

ARBIL/BAGHDAD: US special forces who raided a prison compound in northern Iraq were acting on intelligence that Kurdish fighters were being held there

by IS, a source in the Kurdistan Region Security Council said on Friday.

In Washington, the Pentagon said on Friday that the US commando killed in a special operations raid on Thursday in Iraq was a 39-year-old soldier Master Sergeant Joshua L Wheeler, of Roland, from Oklahoma.

Kurdish counter-terrorism forces also took part in the raid which rescued 69 people early on Thursday. One US commando was killed, the first American to die in ground combat with IS militants.

Four Kurds were wounded.

Rescue attempts Such rescue attempts are rare.

The joint operation highlighted the status of Kurdish peshmerga fighters as key allies of the US-led coalition against the militants, who control large swathes of Iraq and neighbouring Syria. “The in-

The Pentagon tention was to rescue peshmerga taken hostage by IS,” said the source in the Security Council of Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq. “We had solid intelligence that peshmerga were being held in that compound,” the source told Reuters.

It turned out, however, that none of the captives were peshmerga, suggesting they may have been moved to another location, the source added.

The detainees were in fact Arabs and included around 20 members of the Iraqi security forces.

The others were local residents and IS militants that the group had accused of spying, said a US official. The prisoners were about

to be executed and dumped in four mass graves, the official said.

IS militants attacked Kurdish positions on the frontline in Gwer, south of the region’s capital, overnight on Friday, after the raid.

An IS statement circulated online by the group’s supporters said “dozens” of peshmerga had been killed in the attack carried out by a suicide bomber. But Qader Hassan, a peshmerga on the frontline, said only two people had been killed, and they belonged to an Iraqi army unit based there.

US forces accompanied the peshmerga as advisers in the Thursday’s mission but were drawn in to fighting as the Kurds began to incur casualties, said

Colonel Steve Warren, spokesman for the US-led coalition, which has been bombing IS militants for more than a year.

Missing peshmerga Some 62 peshmerga have gone missing in battle with the militants and several have been beheaded in IS propaganda videos.

IS holds hostages in detention centres across the sprawling lands it controls. It also regularly executes people it accuses of spying for the Iraqi state or foreign powers. Iraqi government forces, militias and the Kurds are all fighting IS but coordination can be difficult in a country deeply divided along sectarian and ethnic lines.

Iraq’s Defence Ministry said earlier on Friday it was not informed about the raid, which took place just north of the IS-controlled town of Hawija.

“We just heard this from the media, we didn’t know about it,” ministry spokesman General Tahsin Ibrahim Sadiq told Reuters.

“It was just the peshmerga and the Americans, and the Ministry of Defence didn’t have any idea about that.”

The mission was the most significant raid against IS in months, and Warren said it had been requested by the Kurdistan Regional Government. The Pentagon said it did not mark a change in US tactics, and a CIA spokesman declined to comment on the suggestion that the rescued hostages had connections to the US government.

Senior Iraqi politician Ayad Allawi said he suspected there must have been significant figures among the hostages to warrant a risky intervention by US special forces. “I think this would have happened only if there were some useful assets,” he said.

Master Sergeant Joshua L. Wheeler, of Roland, became the first American to die in ground combat with the group.

Wheeler was assigned to the US Army Special Operations Command headquarters at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He entered the Army in 1995 and joined the United States Army Special Operations Command in 2004, deploying 11 times in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a US Army statement. — Reuters

SPECIAL MECHANISM

Russia, Jordan to coordinate forces in Syria MOSCOW: Russia and Jordan have agreed to coordinate their military actions on Syria by setting up a “special working mechanism” in the Jordanian capital Amman, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

Russia, which is bombing rebel targets in Syria in support of President Bashar Al Assad, has already forged close cooperation with the governments of Iraq, Syria and Iran.

“The military of the two countries have agreed to coordinate their actions through a working mechanism in Amman, capital of Jordan,” Lavrov said in comments broadcast by Rossiya-24 television channel.

“We think that other states that participate in the anti- terrorist fight can join this mechanism as well,” Lavrov added.

Lavrov, who gave no further details, was speaking in Vienna.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said a meeting on Friday between the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey aimed at exploring a political solution to Syria’s civil war raised ideas that might change the dynamic in the country. “I am convinced ... that today’s meeting was constructive and productive,” Kerry told reporters after the meeting in Vienna.

Lavrov said he wanted Iran and Egypt to take part in any future talks on Syria.

“We requested that future contacts take place in a more representative format,” Lavrov told reporters after the meeting, in comments broadcast on Russian state TV. He said that meant including Iran and Egypt in particular. — Reuters

MIGRANT CRISIS

New wave of Syrian refugees will head for Europe: Turkey ISTANBUL/ANKARA: Turkey is preparing for tens of thousands more refugees from Syria as government forces and Russian warplanes pound opposition-held areas, and officials said many would try illegally to get to Europe.

Syrian government troops and their allies, backed by Russian jets, launched an offensive against rebels battling to overthrow President Bashar Al Assad south of Aleppo, still home to two million people, a week ago.

Another offensive in Hama province, southwest of Aleppo, has also displaced tens of thousands, aid workers say. Estimates of the overall numbers on the move ranged between a UN refugee agency (UNHCR) figure of 30,000 to as many as 100,000.

Matter of time Turkish government and aid agency officials said there was no sign yet of people from Aleppo and surrounding areas reaching Turkey in large numbers but that it was just a matter of time.

“We are preparing our teams for

a new wave. We have mobile kitchens, food packaged,” said Kerem Kinik, vice president of the Turkish Red Crescent.

The situation had worsened since Russia launched air strikes three weeks ago, he said. “This affected the south and east part of Aleppo. Roughly 70-80,000 people moved from their houses and flats and now they are trying to find a secure place,” he told Reuters.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday there were “strong indications” a new wave of migration was starting from Aleppo and renewed calls for a “safe zone” in Syria to protect civilians, an idea that has won little international backing.

Amin Awad, Middle East director for the UN refugee agency UNHCR, said Russian air strikes and increased fighting around Aleppo had contributed to the “dynamic of displacement”, with about 30,000 displaced, but had not contributed much so far to the refugee exodus.

Kinik and a Western diplomat said that refugees may, however, be prevented from reaching the Turk-

ENDLESS WAIT: Migrants and asylum seekers wait for a train after crossing the Macedonian-Serbian border near the town of Bujanovac on Friday. – AFP

ish border, obstructed by fighting on the way.

So far, the UNCHR has not seen “significant movement” across borders due to the latest hostilities, UNHCR chief spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said.

A senior government official

said Turkey, which is a staunch opponent of Assad and has been incensed by Russia’s intervention in support of him, has been expecting new refugee movements because Moscow’s air strikes had targeted relatively stable parts of Syria where civilians were sheltering.

Both Kinik and the government official said many would try to smuggle themselves on to Europe, as Turkey and its European partners struggle to combat peopletrafficking networks.

“Our worry is the changing profile of the refugees. Migrants who

came to Turkey in the past had the hope of returning and saw Turkey as a temporary home,” the official said, requesting anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

“Now it has become a transit location. The final destination is Europe... which is why steps must be taken to restore calm in Syria.

There’s little point trying to address the symptoms without solving the main problem.”

Turkey is under pressure from the European Union, which it aspires to join, to do more to keep refugees on its soil and help stem the biggest migration movement the continent has seen since World War II. The European Union has proposed financial aid and faster membership for Turkey in the hope of winning its help. But it is already sheltering more than 2.2 million refugees and while its wants more funding, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday Turkey should not be expected to turn itself into a “concentration camp” for refugees. — Reuters

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INDIA NAT I O NA L D E B AT E

PROTEST AGAINST SCRAPPING OF FELLOWSHIP Traffic chaos as students protest at the University Grants Commission (UGC) headquarters in New Delhi on Friday against the scrapping of a fellowship awarded so far to non-National Eligibility Test (NET) research scholars. Caught in between the aggrieved students and UGC over discontinuation of the non-NET fellowship, the HRD ministry on Friday said the decision will be reviewed by an expert panel even as protests by students from universities across Delhi entered the fourth day on Friday. - PTI

‘Collegium system needs fine tuning’ NEW DELHI: A debate on the now-struck down National Judicial Appointments Commission on Friday saw participants sharply divided on the collegium system of choosing judges with even its supporters admitting that it has some faults and needed reform.

The participants — Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who had sharply criticised the recent Supreme Court judgement, former CJI R. M. Lodha and jurists Soli Sorabjee and Rajeev Dhawan— felt there was need to correct the flaws in the system of judges appointing judges.

The “National Debate” was organised by Times Now news channel in the wake of the Supreme Court last week striking down as unconstitutional the NJAC Act passed by Parliament.

It also witnessed repeated sparring between Jaitley and Dhawan. Justice Lodha conceded that the collegium system of appointing judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts was “opaque and secretive” and said the appointments and the procedure adopted can be put in the public domain or provided under RTI to bring in transparency.

“True, the (collegium) system is opaque and secretive. There

UNDECLARED BAGGAGE

Government eases penal provisions for customs, excise offences NEW DELHI: In a bid to reduce harassment of overseas travellers, the government on Friday eased the penal provisions by raising fourfold to Rs2 million the limit of undeclared or misdeclared baggage that will attract arrest or prosecution.

Presently, overseas travellers can pay a fine for any undeclared or misdeclared baggage of a value up to Rs500,000.

Any such baggage beyond this limit attracts prosecution or arrest. The government has now raised this limit to Rs2 million.

“In cases of outright smuggling or misdeclaration of baggage, the limits regarding value of offending goods have been revised from Rs500,000 to Rs2 million,” a Finance Ministry statement said.

Similarly, the monetary limits for arrests and prosecution have been raised for offenders under other acts including Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax. However, there will be no limit for arrest and prosecution in the cases of smuggling of fake Indian currency notes, arms, ammunitions and explosives and endangered species.

Also, the procedure for arrest and sanction of prosecution has been revised and specified with adequate safeguards to ensure that these powers are exercised only in serious cases above the revised thresholds.

Revised “The monetary limits for arrest and prosecution have been revised substantially upwards to ensure that these powers are not used against small and medium businesses,” the statement added. The Finance Ministry said limits in case of offence of evasion of tax or wrongful utilisation of input tax credit in case of Central Excise and Service tax have been revised to Rs10 million from Rs2.5 million and Rs 1 million, respectively. - PTI

are faults... The three faults are lack of transparency, lack of an expert body like a standing committee, to help the collegium and the executive’s indifferent role in the participatory process,” Justice Lodha. He said that while he respects the executive, he was of the view the judiciary “has to be insulated” from political interference or pressure, and added that interference by executive has to be “nominal”.

Justice Lodha said though the NJAC Act has been set aside, it was still open for the executive and the legislature to devise an alternate method of appointing judges. Opposing the collegium, Jaitley said it was full of flaws and while the nation needed an independent judiciary, its credibility was more important.

“To be independent is important. To be credible is more important. We all know there was a CBI Director who was independent but not credible,” he said.

Jaitley questioned the “exclusivity” enjoyed by the judges who appoint judges without any interference by the executive, saying the collegium system was akin to the Gymkhana Club here where members appoint the future members. - PTI

Akademi breaks its silence, condemns killing of writers “There is a process for resignation but no process of returning the awards. We have decided to appeal to them to reconsider their decision.”

The Akademi is now set to meet on December 17. It had been forced to call an emergency meeting on Friday after at least 36 writers including leading names like Nayantara Sahgal, Ashok Vajpeyi, Uday Prakash and K Veerabhadrappa had returned their Akademi awards, and five writers stepped down from official positions of the literary body, protesting against its “silence” over “rising intolerance”.

Akademi expressed solidarity with the writers urging those authors who had returned awards conferred by it to take them back and appealed to those who have stepped down from various Akademi posts to take back their resignations

NEW DELHI: Yielding to unrelenting protests by writers, the Sahitya Akademi on Friday strongly condemned the killing of Kannada writer M M Kalburgi and others while urging litterateurs to take back awards they have returned even as protests and counter protests were held outside its headquarters here.

Breaking its silence, the Akademi took to pacifying the authors who accused it of not speaking out against the killings of writers and rationalists besides on incidents like Dadri lynching and ink attack on Sudheendra Kulkarni.

Emergency meeting At an emergency board meet to discuss recent developments, the Akademi expressed solidarity with the writers urging those authors who had returned awards conferred by it to take them back and appealed to those who have stepped down from various Akademi posts to take back their resignations.

SOLIDARITY MARCH: Writers and cultural activists with black gags and arm bands take out a solidarity march, ahead of an emergency meeting of Sahitya Akademi in New Delhi on Friday to discuss the returning of awards by eminent authors in the backdrop MM Kalburgi’s killing. -PTI

The Akademi is “deeply pained and strongly condemns the murder of Prof M M Kalburgi and the other intellectuals and thinkers.

As the only autonomous institution of Indian literature in all its diversities, the Akademi firmly supports the writers’ right to freedom of expression in all the languages of India and condemns any atrocity against any writer anywhere in the country,” it said in a resolution.

The Akademi also asked the state and Central governments to take immediate action to bring the culprits to book and ensure the security of writers now and in future.

“The Akademi appeals to state and central government to take steps to prevent such incidents in the future”, Krishnaswamy Nachimuthu, an executive committee board member from Tamil Nadu said emerging from the meet.

The meet was attended by 20 out of 24 executive council members. “All writers stand together in

their decision to condemn the killings,” Nachimuthu said.

Sporting black gags and arm bands, several writers and their supporters held a solidarity march here ahead of the meeting and submitted a memorandum to the Akademi chair.

“We are witnessing a rise in intolerance against writers and artists... like it happened at Film Institute in Pune, awards are being returned... some claimed it is “manufactured”. What sort of manufacturing? where is such factory where writers are manufactured? We have nothing to throw at the establishment and the Akademi except our awards,” poet Keki N Daruwalla said.

English writer Gita Hariharan said, “It is a sad day that writers and artists have to walk with so much police to an institution which supposedly belongs to us.

The protest is not just against to what happened to Kalburgi but

against a series of incidents that are now hounding writers.”

Counter protest Another group had held a counter protest, alleging that the move by authors to return awards was “motivated by their vested interests” and the literary body should not buckle under pressure.

The protest was led by Janmat, with participation by ABVP activists also submitted a memorandum to the Akademi, questioning the motive of the writers.

K Satchidanandan, who had resigned from all positions in the Sahitya Akademi stating that it “failed in its duty to stand with the writers and to uphold freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution”, did not attend meeting.

The others who skipped the meeting were Lalit Mangtrata, Prem Pradhan and Balchand Nemade. Another board member present during the meeting said,

Political slugfest Besides Kalburgi, the killings of rationalists Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabolkhar over the past couple of months have triggered widespread outrage from writers and set off a political slugfest.

Congress had dubbed as “perverse and cynical” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s dismissal of their protest as a “manufacturedpaperrebellion”againstthe government.

The BJP on its part targeted the Congress, saying those returning awards in the wake of Dadri lynching incident and attacks on rationalists are doing new kind of politics after their “patrons” lost and seemed like “Congress sponsored” as they stood in support of that party.

“A writer, dramatist is killed. A free thinker is killed... why? Because he has different views. A rationalist is killed by superstitious people and the Akademi has done nothing. Why is it scared? It is an autonomous body where even the president is elected by writers.

We are all writers. Why are we so scared? Daruwalla said.

Striking a similar vein, Hariharan said, “To say that the writer in me is dead is the saddest comment one can make in our society.

To say that a writer has put down his or her pen...(is sad). Do we have any autonomous institution left or any government left that looks after our constitutional rights?” -PTI

A6

S ATUR DAY, OCTOBER 24, 2 015 The people voted for them in Haryana and helped them form the government. What happened there? Dalit kids were burnt in Haryana.

If there is ‘jungle raj’ in Bihar then isn’t Haryana witnessing ‘mangal raj’ Nitish Kumar, Bihar chief minister

INDIA

Minister warned by senior over statement on Faridabad killings Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s snub

We can’t get away by saying that statements were misinterpreted or twisted. We need to be extra careful while putting forth our views

came a day after V.K. Singh said in connection with the killing of two toddlers that the Centre cannot be blamed if somebody throws

Rajnath Singh

a stone at a dog

NEW DELHI/ PATNA: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday cautioned Union Minister V. K. Singh over his ‘dog’ remark on Dalit toddlers killing in Faridabad while Delhi’s ruling AAP filed a police complaint against the former army chief, as the chorus of condemnation of the controversial comment grew louder.

Singh’s remark was used by Bi-

Home Minister

har Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to fire a fresh salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying some call Bihar the ‘jungle raj’ but the incident in Haryana’s Faridabad in which two children were burnt alive reflected the ‘mangal raj’ in the BJP-ruled state.

During poll rallies in Bihar, Modi tore into Grand Alliance leaders Nitish Kumar and Lalu

Prasad, referring to them multiple times as the creators of ‘jungle raj’ in the state.

“We can’t get away by saying that statements were misinterpreted or twisted. We need to be extra careful while putting forth our views,” Rajnath told reporters.

“I feel that as leaders of the ruling party, we must all be extra cautious while making any state-

ment,” he said. Rajnath said ministers and BJP leaders must ensure that their statements were reflected in proper perspective and no wrong message is communicated through them.

“We should also ensure that there is no possibility of our statements to be interpreted in the wrong way or send an incorrect message,” he said.

Given clarification Rajnath said his ministerial colleagues — V. K. Singh and Kiren Rijiju — had already given clarification on their statements and matters should come to end.

V. K. Singh had made a qualified apology for his remarks.

The home minister’s snub came a day after V. K. Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, said that the Centre cannot be blamed if somebody throws a stone at a dog in connection with the killing of the Faridabad incident.

Rijiju had courted controversy when he said he agreed with the statement of a former Lt Governor of Delhi who had once remarked that north Indians “take pride in and enjoy” breaking rules.

The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) while filing a police complaint against V. K. Singh demanded that

an FIR be registered against him under the SC/ST Act. AAP legislators Saurabh Bhardwaj, Vishesh Ravi, Rakhi Birla, Hajarilal Chauhan and spokesperson Ashutosh met police officials at Central Delhi’s Prasad Nagar police station.

“The police told us that they will first inquire into the complaint,” Bhardwaj said.

Ashutosh also rubbished the minister’s clarification as an afterthought in view of the Bihar polls.

Singh had insisted a controversy has been created out of “unconnected sentences”.

“The people voted for them in Haryana and helped them form the government. What happened there? Dalit kids were burnt in Haryana. If there is ‘jungle raj’ in Bihar then isn’t Haryana witnessing mangal raj,” Nitish said while addressing a poll rally in Bihar.

Congress reiterated its demand for immediate sacking of V. K. Singh, and said the Prime Minister should apologise.

BJP ally Hindustani Awam Morcha’s (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi on Friday criticised V. K. Singh’s dog remark and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to initiate action against him.

“If V. K. Singh has compared

the incident of burning of Dalits with (burning of ) dogs, the Prime Minister should take cognisance of it and initiate appropriate action against him,” Manjhi said in a statement.

‘Stringent’ action demanded Manjhi, a former Bihar chief minister and a prominent dalit leader, sought “stringent” action for the remark “So that no leader dare to make such a statement on incident of atrocities on dalits.”

He said he was deeply hurt by the Faridabad incident where four members of a Dalit family were set on fire resulting in the death of two children. Manjhi said taking birth in any caste or a house was not in the control of an individual. “If somebody has taken birth in a dalit family so what’s his/her fault?

What kind of crime is in being a dalit?”, he said in the statement.

Union Minister of State and another BJP ally Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) chief Upendra Kushwaha has also advised leaders to avoid giving such controversial statements. BSP supremo Mayawati on Friday accused the BJP government in Haryana of being “insensitive” towards Dalits and termed as shameful Faridabad incident. -PTI

FOURTH INDIA-AFRICA TRADE MINISTERS’ MEETING

India sees Africa as natural partner, says Sitharaman

ONE FOR THE ALBUM: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for

Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman with delegates from African countries before a dinner at the India-Africa Trade Ministers’ Meeting 2015 in New Delhi, on Friday. - PTI

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Third India-Africa Forum Summit here next week, Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said India sees Africa as a natural partner and the two sides can together have a positive influence on the future global economic order.

Addressing the Fourth IndiaAfrica Trade Ministers’ Meeting here, she said both India and Africa face similar challenges and concerns and the world economy offers tremendous opportunities to the two fastest growing regions, according to an official statement.

Noting that after the First India-Africa Forum Summit here in 2008, India announced duty free tariff preference to least developed countries (LDCs) in order to open its market to greater exports from African countries, she said: “Since April 2014, the scheme has been further expanded and as of now India provides duty free market access on about 96 per cent of India’s tariff lines and another 2.2 per cent tariff lines to LDCs thus providing benefits on 98.2 per cent of all tariff lines.”

“In addition, India has been one of the first countries to provide a services package for LDCs and has also waived visa fees for

businessmen from LDC countries travelling to India.”

Highlighting the importance of the summit, Sitharaman said that they have “become a unique platform” where India and African partners “identify areas of cooperation through dialogue and strive to expanding and enhancing the partnership”.

Capacity building “Cooperation in trade, technology and capacity building form the basis of our relationship. Greater cooperation in agriculture and agro-processing, engineering, textiles, leather, pharmaceuticals to name a few would have a positive bearing on the food security, improvement in health situation and creation of additional jobs in both Africa and India,” she said.

She also stressed value addition was the key to development and enhancing livelihood opportunities.

The meet saw participation of 37 delegations from Algeria, Angola, Benin, Comoros, Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, South Africa, Togo, Tanza-

nia, Tunisia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe and eight regional economic communities. It reviewed the progress in the implementation of commitments of earlier meetings as well as of existing trade and business relations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold bilateral talks with heads of state and government of around 40 countries next week when they are here to attend the India-Africa summit, seen as an effort by India to consolidate its historical ties with the continent.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said Modi will hold one-on-one talks with leaders of the African continent between October 28-30.

Representatives of 54 African nations including heads of state and government of around 40 countries and powerful African Union are expected to participate in the four-day Summit beginning October 26. The main summit will be held on October 29.

Enhancing trade ties, particularly in oil and gas sector, stepping up maritime cooperation and lifting the overall engagement to a new high will be the main agenda of the summit, seen as India’s effort to counter-balance growing Chinese influence in Africa. - Agencies

SAT URDAY, O CTO BER 24, 2015

A7

PAKISTAN NEW APPOINTMENT

Ex-general’s new role strengthens army’s hand in talks ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has appointed a newly retired general as national security advisor, strengthening the powerful military’s role in security policy, talks with India and relations with neighbour Afghanistan, an official said on Friday.

The post had been held by Sartaj Aziz, a civilian who is a close ally of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Aziz has also controlled the portfolio for foreign affairs, which he apparently will retain.

Lieutenant General Naseer Khan Janjua, who retired last week, was appointed national security advisor “with immediate effect”, the Cabinet Division said in a notification.

A senior minister in Nawaz Sharif’s cabinet said army chief General Raheel Sharif had pushed “for many months” for the NSA and foreign minister portfolios to be held by different officials. But the prime minister had preferred to keep his own man, Aziz, in charge of both.

“Now the army chief has convinced the prime minister that they must share the responsibility of Pakistan’s national security concerns,” a second cabinet minister said on Friday. - Reuters

Obama urges Nawaz to help restart Afghan peace talks US President Barack Obama urged Pakistan to avoid developments in its nuclear weapons programme that could increase risks PARLEYS: US President Barack Obama meets Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Thursday. - Reuters

and instability

WASHINGTON: At a time of heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, US President Barack Obama urged Pakistan on Thursday to avoid developments in its nuclear weapons programme that could increase risks and instability.

In talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the White House, Obama also sought help in getting the Afghan Taliban back to peace talks, something vital to his faltering bid to bring US troops back from Afghanistan.

With tensions high between Pakistan and India, Washington has been concerned about Pakistan’s development of new nuclear weapons systems, including small tactical nuclear weapons, and has been trying to persuade Pakistan to make a unilateral declaration of “restraint.”

Not to accept limits However, Pakistani officials said Islamabad will not accept limits to its weapons programme and argue that smaller tactical nuclear

GOJRA-SHORKOT SECTION

Pakistan, ADB sign $178m deal for M-4 motorway ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday signed a loan agreement of $178 million for construction of the Gojra-Shorkot section of the M-4 Motorway, aimed at linking the southern parts of the country with the northern belt.

The United Kingdom will also fund road construction and would provide $90.7 million as a grant.

The UK will disburse funds through the ADB. The government will invest the counterpart share of $46 million, bringing the total cost of the project to $315 million. The M-4 Motorway will have four sections.

The Faisalabad-Gojra’s 58-kilometre section has been opened for traffic. The project was completed by obtaining a loan of $170 million from the ADB. The Gojra-Shorkot section of 62km will be completed by 2019.

The rest of the sections are Shorkot-Din Pur-Khanewal (64km) and Khanewal-Multan (45km). Once the M-4 is completed, it will link the southern parts of Punjab with the north through already established networks of motorways.

The M-4 Motorway will extend the already completed M-1, M-2 and M-3 motorways southward and shorten the distance between Multan and the twin cities of Is-

Once the M-4 is completed, it will link the southern parts of Punjab with the north through already established networks of motorways lamabad-Rawalpindi.

Upon completion, the M-4 Motorway will provide a fourlane access controlled alternative to the existing narrow and congested routes notably in the heavily trafficked Faisalabad and Khanewal-Multan-Muzffargrah areas. Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Secretary Saleem Sethi and the ADB Country Director

Werner Liepach signed the loan agreement.

It is the second project that is being co-financed by the UK government. Britain is already a participant of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and provided $121.6 million in grant to fund construction of the BurhanHavelian Expressway, which falls on the northern route.

The ADB said the new investment will boost the flow of trade and travel while reducing transportation cost and time from Pakistan’s textile producing hub Faisalabad towards Multan, which is the major trade centre in southern Punjab.

The ADB and UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) have joined hands to assist Pakistan in improving the country’s vital north-south road network to promote economic growth, job creation and regional connectivity, according to an official handout issued by the local office of the Manila-based lending agency.

The M-4 is also a step towards positioning Pakistan to act as a transit artery for goods moving between the port city of Karachi in the south to Torkham on the northern border with Afghanistan through the country’s major business and population centres. -Express Tribune

RELIGIOUS PROCESSION

Bomb blast kills 20 in Jacobabad ISLAMABAD: A bomb blast at a religious procession in Jacobabad of Sindh province killed 20 people on Friday and wounded at least 40, local Geo TV reported.

The blast was the second to hit the festivities in two days and came hours after a group threatened continued sectarian violence during the holiday.

Geo TV quoted a local police official as saying that 16 were dead

and 40 wounded in the blast.

“It was a suicide attack as the head and some other body parts of the suicide bomber were found at the site,” another Pakistani journalist in Jacobabad, Ghani Baksh, quoted police official Zafar Iqbal Awan as saying.

Meanwhile, some 9,400 firebrand speakers and clerics have been arrested on charges of fanning the flames of sectarian hate

as the government stepped up efforts to curb strife as part of the National Action Plan (NAP).

“All of them were found involved in fuelling sectarianism in the name of religion,” an official tasked with monitoring the plan said. Law enforcement agencies have registered 9,689 cases against ‘hate preachers’ under the law that has banned hate speeches and misuse of loudspeakers. - Agencies

weapons are needed to deter a sudden attack by India.

In reference to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme, Obama “stressed the importance of avoiding any developments that might invite increased risk to nuclear safety, security, or strategic stability,” a White House statement said.

In a joint statement, both leaders said “all sides” should act with restraint and work toward strategic stability in South Asia.

The statement said Obama and

Sharif expressed their commitment to the Afghan peace process and called on Taliban leaders to enter direct talks with Kabul, which have stalled since inaugural discussions in Pakistan in July.

The talks broke down after the Afghan intelligence agency said Taliban leader Mullah Omar had been dead for two years.

“It’s a setback, no doubt, and it will take some time to overcome this setback, but we will try again,” Sharif told reporters after his meeting with Obama.

In his talks with Sharif, Obama also raised concerns about Americans held hostage by militants in the region and welcomed Sharif’s offer to assist in ensuring their safe return, the White House said in an apparent reference to an American couple kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012.

A senior administration official declined to elaborate.

“For their safety and security, we are not going to offer specific details beyond the fact that we are aware of a small number of American hostages in this region,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Taliban insurgency has escalated since tens of thousands of US-led NATO combat troops

withdrew from Afghanistan ahead of an end-2014 deadline, hampering Obama’s efforts to withdraw remaining US troops.

Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Centre think tank said that as well as seeking help to revive the peace talks, Obama would have stressed to Sharif the need for Pakistan to do away with militant sanctuaries inside its borders used as bases from which to target the US-backed Afghan government and US forces.

“Obama knows that a political solution is needed to end the Afghan war, and for that you need help from the Pakistanis,” he said.

However, Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution said it was not clear Sharif had the clout with his own army to get military leaders to pressure the Taliban back into talks.

Despite the tensions, the Obama administration is preparing to sell Islamabad eight F-16 fighter jets in a bid to bolster ties, a US source familiar with the matter said.

The joint statement made no mention of the sale, which Congress could block, but said Sharif “expressed satisfaction with the cooperation achieved in defence relations.” - Reuters

A8

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Syria conflict bringing about a New World Order

Photo: Musandum/Photo: Reham Al Farsi

B

ack in 1992, political scientist Samuel P. Huntington advanced the theory of “The Clash of Civilisations”. He posited that the primary source of conflict in the post-Cold War world would be cultural and religious identity.

Now, in the age of IS, it seems Huntington was right. However, as we have seen in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and even in Ukraine, the reality is not binary. While the enemy is mostly clearly identifiable, the old adage ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ is not so easy to apply. There are many conflicting views as to ‘The Rebels’ in these countries; who created them, their funding patterns, who is arming them. Which local actors are independent and which are proxies of other powers.

In these cases where the state is facing distinct rebel groups, allegiances are frequently changing.

This makes the ‘frenemy’ game very difficult to play. Our western leaders so far seem to lack the intellectual agility to manage their part. It could be that Putin is the only leader with the will and the ability to smash IS. He certainly would have us believe that. Russia’s military engagement in Syria comes at a time when the US and EU are still scratching their heads over the question of ‘who is who’ that illuminates a larger reality: that the EU is largely impotent and much more importantly, that the US is essentially out of the Middle East.

America’s strategic interest now lies undoubtedly in the Far East. This leaves Iran, Russia, China, and India involved in varying degrees; These are the new important MENA players. In addition, watch the French. Paris is upping its game across North Africa, which started with France’s Mali operations, and is now firmly entrenched in bilateral, long-term relations with the Saudis and the Egyptians.

To defeat IS, we need ‘boots on the ground’. As long as those boots are not American or British, what do we care? Let others wipe out IS and other extremist groups even in Libya. Why haven’t Washington and Moscow collaborated so far? For example only last week Washington rejected Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev’s proposal to visit Washington DC for discussions.

However a dramatic diplomatic opening happened this week triggered by Assad’s sudden visit to Moscow causing Kerry and Lavarov to agreed to meet in Vienna on Friday along with their counter-

parts from Turkey and Saudi Arabia to discuss the Syrian conflict together.

But there is even more interesting news lying under the surface of the current fracas: Russia is signing onto key information sharing capabilities with Israel, Turkey, and Iraq, all of whom are major American security partners. The agreements are for de-confliction purposes especially in the arena of airspace rules of engagement. Washington is being sent a message: Play ball. These talks deal with the military aspects of the parties involvement.

At the higher, political level, the tension nevertheless remains palpable. Many paranoid Washington policymakers say that they see Russia as the larger problem; with thousands of nuclear weapons and empire-like reach into Europe and the Middle East. For these narrow minded Washington bureaucrats, IS is but a nuisance –seriously-- and this neurotic thinking is reflected in the Obama Administration’s policy goofs towards Syria. To worsen such negative perceptions in DC, the American Israeli lobby is using all its powers to try and frustrate the very important policy change made by the US of a rapprochement with Iran.

Listen up America: The Cold War ended a long time ago and we must realise that dramatic changes in outdated post WWII institutions like the UN and NATO are necessary. On the NATO front, we all remember that NATO, after the Cold War, was looking for a new mission. This mission headed East and that was a strategic mistake and a provocation to the then very weak Russia. Now we are in a New World Order controlled by a single hyper power the like of which we never imagined.

Robert Gates served as Pentagon chief under both Obama & Bush, and before that was a 30-year career CIA officer who rose to head that Agency. Gates was also a Soviet expert; he knows the Russians very well. He described certain aspects of Obama’s administration’s actions related to MENA last week as “nuts”. Gates is right: He is a former Cold War Warrior. Clearly the defeat of IS is not only in the interests of both Russia and the US but of the wider Arab world. In conclusion the UN and EU has failed to help to resolve any of the world’s problems this century. These institutions must be rebuilt, reconstituted. The Cold War should not be revived. Enough is enough. It’s time for a new world order involving all countries, not dictated only by America. - Special to Times of Oman

READERS’ FORUM Nelson Mandela’s dream child facing unrest This refers to the online story, South African police fire tear gas at stone-throwing students (October 23). The unrest in the so called BRICS powerhouse was bound to happen. This is so because though in recent years economic growth has been impressive inequality has risen in the same way. It can be seen particularly in the ghettos where the poor live. It is sad that Nelson Mandela’s dream child is facing this scenario. I fear that if this violence urns worse, it could be the tipping point for the country’s leader Jacob Zuma.

— Tom Henry, Ruwi

The least-bad answer for Britain, might be a formally recognised associate-member status. The UK, thanks to its wise decision not to join the euro system, is already most of the way there.

It shouldn’t be impossible to regularise this semi-detached standing bit.ly/euoptionsforbritain

Conditions in UAE do not favour Pakistan against England Scan this QR code to send letters to the Readers’ Forum, containing not more than 200 words with full name, address and telephone number, may be sent by mail (Times of Oman, P.O. Box 770, P.C. 112, Ruwi).

This refers to the online story, Root defiant after Pakistan make early inroads (October 23). Even though England’s game is not up to par with their performance in the previous match; I am sure the result they will the winners in the end. The conditions should have favoured the South Asian giants, but at the moment they are simply not in their groove.

— Roger Morris, Muscat

South Korea’s economic crisis was temporary This refers to the online story, Korea economy rebounds from disease outbreak (October 23). It is not surprising that the far eastern country has made a successful turnaround. The crisis was temporary. — Shahida Hussein, Muscat

CLIPPINGS FROM OUR ARCHIVES

PICTOGRAPH RAIN IN OMAN Monthly total rainfall (in mm) from January to December, 2014

OCTOBER 2000 Ma’amari meets UK sports minister MUSCAT: Sheikh Mohammed bin Mahroon Al Ma’amari, president of the General Organisation for Youth, Sports and Cultural Activities, who is on a visit to the United Kingdom, has met the British minister for sports. They held talks on promoting Oman-UK cooperation in the fields of sports and youths.

TODAY IN HISTORY

Monthly rainfall Jan

Annual average Dec

Ibra

25

Khasab

17

Bahla

17

Jabal Shams

16

Muscat

13

Sohar

10

Rustaq

8

Salalah

4

Duqm

0

1746: Princeton University, in New Jersey, receives its charter.

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1836: Sam Houston sworn in as the first president of the Republic of Texas.

1918: The cities of Baltimore and Washington run out of coffins during the “Spanish Inflenza” epidemic.

1972: Operation Linebacker I, the bombing of North Vietnam with B-52 bombers, ends.

Source National Centre for Statistics & Information

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South African police fire tear gas at angry students

SHOOTING

Police hunt for suspects after shooting at US college NASHVILLE (TENNESSEE): Police said on Friday they had recovered a pistol and were looking for suspects after gunfire erupted on the campus of Tennessee State University in Nashville, killing one man.

The shooting, which occurred just before 11pm local time on Thursday (0400 GMT Friday), stemmed from a dispute over a dice game in an outdoor courtyard that escalated into a physical fight, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said. The pistol was recovered in the immediate area.

The man who died was believed to be a 19-year-old who was not enrolled at the school, said police, who are expected confirm his identity later on Friday.

Protesting students hurled stones at police as South African President Jacob Zuma said there would be no fee hike for universities next year

PRETORIA: South African police fired tear gas and stun grenades on Friday at students who hurled rocks, demanding to be addressed by President Jacob Zuma who earlier told the media there would be no fee increases for universities next year.

Zuma said a meeting with student leaders, university authorities and government officials had resolved that fee increases would be frozen. Universities had proposed fee hikes of up to 11.5 per cent next year.

Earlier, South African police fired stun grenades at students who lit fires outside President Jacob Zuma’s offices following a week of protests, the first signs of the post-apartheid ‘Born Free’ generation flexing its muscle.

Students protesting against fee increases hurled stones at police guarding the Union Buildings. A few pushed through a cordon before being pushed back by antiriot police who also used water canons to douse the fires.

The protest caps a week of angry demonstrations over the cost of university education - prohibitive for many blacks - amid frustration at the inequalities that persist two decades after the end

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UP IN FLAMES: Billowing smoke engulfed students as clashes erupted between protesters and security forces on the site where a portable toilet was set ablaze on the south lawn of the Union Building in Pretoria on Friday during a protest against a hike in tuition fees. – AFP

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of white-minority rule.

But low growth since a 2009 recession has forced the government to keep a lid on spending, meaning that it has little spare cash to offer students in the form of enhanced subsidies.

“He’s not taking us seriously, we’ve been here for a while,” one student said on television.

The students danced, singing: “We the students dream of free

VIOLENCE

education. We are not afraid of the police, our fight will win.”

Tuition fees vary across universities, but can run as high as 60,000 rand ($4,500) per year for medical students in a country where white households still earn six times more than black households, according to official figures.

Protests - some of them violent - have broken out at universities across the country this week, taking the ruling African National Congress (ANC) by surprise.

On Wednesday, riot police threw stun grenades at students who stormed the parliament precinct in Cape Town as Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene deliv-

ered his interim budget in which he painted a gloomy outlook for Africa’s most advanced economy.

“Education mustn’t be free but it must be affordable,” Makungu Sithole, 21, an engineering student at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) said at the Union buildings grounds on Friday.

“The ANC just talks, we support the ANC but we just don’t support the current cabinet. Today is Zuma’s day to shine. The children are making a plea, you should listen.”

South Africa has a million students in further education, a figure that the ANC wants to increase to 1.5 million by 2030.

Universities say they need high-

er fees to keep up standards and they urged the government to find the extra money.

The government, which subsidises universities, said it could not afford the free education that students are demanding. Thousands of students from Wits and the University of Johannesburg marched through South Africa’s commercial capital on Thursday to Luthuli House, the headquarters of the ANC, where they handed a list of demands to officials.

On Friday, Africa’s top-rated university, the University of Cape Town, said it had postponed the start of final exams due from October. — Reuters

Incident The incident was isolated to the courtyard and there was no known threat to students in dormitories or elsewhere on campus, they said.

There have been several incidents of gun violence at or near US schools in October, including deadly episodes on the campus of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and adjacent to Texas Southern University in Houston.

Last week, three people were shot and wounded during a large house party near the Tennessee State University campus.

On October 1, a gunman killed nine people at a community college in Oregon, ranking it among the deadliest of dozens of US mass shootings over the past two years.

In Thursday’s shooting, two 18-year-old female students were wounded as innocent passersby, police said. One was in stable condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and was expected to fully recover, while the other had been treated and released, police said. A third 18-year-old female student suffered “a very minor graze” and did not need medical treatment, police said. — Reuters

‘EL CHAPO’ GUZMAN

UN and US call for US border tunnel linked to drug lord restraint as clashes flare in Myanmar YANGON: Fighting has flared in areas of Myanmar controlled by ethnic rebels who refused to sign a ceasefire, raising fears the army is pressuring groups that did not join in what was supposed to be a crowning achievement of President Thein Sein’s five-year term.

The United Nations and the United States have called on the military to de-escalate the tension, stressing that the groups, such as the Kachin Independence Organization operating on Myanmar’s northern border, should not be pressured but seen as partners essential to achieving a lasting peace. The army clashed with the Shan State Army-North, one of the ethnic armed groups that did not sign the deal, 37 times between October 6 and 19, militaryrun newspaper Myawady said this week. Seven SSA-N members were killed and the army suffered an unspecified number of casualties, the paper said.

“We made a point that it’s important the government and military show some restraint in those areas where groups did not sign the ceasefire,” Ben Rhodes, the US deputy national security adviser, told reporters in Yangon on Tuesday. Tense talks between the rebels and the government unrav-

elled after two years of gruelling negotiations, with only eight of more than a dozen major groups signing the peace accord last week. This was a blow to Thein Sein, who has made an all-encompassing ceasefire his top priority, as well as the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) which is facing stiff competition from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) in the Nov. 8 election.

“There’s a danger that if that escalates, that can be interpreted as putting pressure,” Vijay Nambiar, an adviser on Myanmar to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, told Reuters. “The fact is that there are some groups who still have problems to resolve with regard to how to move forward and that has to be respected,” said Nambiar.

A government spokesman was not available for comment. A senior official from the Shan State Army-North sent a letter to vice president Sai Mawk Kham on Wednesday, requesting him to help stop the military’s offensive. “We humbly request the immediate halting of the military operations near the SSPP/SSA headquarters,” said Sao Khur Tai, one of the leaders of the group, in the letter.— Reuters

SAN DIEGO: Authorities on both sides of the US-Mexico border have shut the 10th drug-smuggling tunnel to San Diego in more than a decade, a passageway Mexican authorities on Thursday attributed to the cartel of fugitive kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

The tunnel, originating from the Mexican border city of Tijuana, is about eight football fields in length, with the last quarter-mile crossing US territory before ending beneath a carpet warehouse in the busy Otay Mesa industrial district of San Diego, US and Mexican officials said.

Mexican drug ring link The tunnel was uncovered through intelligence gathered by US federal agents who infiltrated a Mexican drug-smuggling ring during the past six months, according to Laura Duffy, the US Attorney in San Diego.

It marked the 10th subterranean passageway from Mexico to Otay Mesa discovered since 2002.

Like those and dozens of others found along the nearly 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border in the last decade, the latest tunnel was equipped with lighting, ventilation and a rail system for moving goods, authorities said. Two Mexican government security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the latest passage belonged to the Guzman-led Sinaloa drug cartel.

DEEP DOWN: Batteries are stacked next to rails inside a tunnel in this undated photograph provided by Mexico’s Federal Police, late on Thursday. – Reuters/Mexico’s Federal Police/Handout

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Duffy said US officials were less certain that Sinaloa was behind the new tunnel, based on the comparatively unfinished, dangerous nature of the tunnel shaft on the US side. “We usually see ladders going down and staircases,” she

said. “This particular tunnel drops 32 to 35 feet straight down.”

Duffy said US federal agents moved to seize control of the tunnel on its north end on Wednesday after a shipment of 2 tonnes of drugs arrived there, and six men were arrested, two of whom were to be arraigned on federal drugsmuggling charges on Thursday.

Mexican agents seized 10 tonnes of drugs awaiting shipment through the passage at the Tijuana side, and authorities expect to find

more contraband when a thorough search of the tunnel is made, Duffy said. Guzman, the world’s most wanted drug trafficker, escaped in July from a Mexican maximumsecurity prison through a milelong tunnel that surfaced right inside his cell. His escape sparked a massive manhunt, and Mexico’s government said on Friday that Guzman had suffered injuries to his face and leg after recently beating a hasty retreat from security forces. — Reuters

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S ATUR DAY, OCTOBER 24, 2 015

WORLD

Southeast Asia has suffered for years from annual “haze” caused by forest and peat clearing across Indonesia, which has come under increasing political pressure to stop the problem, but so far to no avail.

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about 50 pensioners south to the Bearn region from their homes in a village

PUISSEGUIN (FRANCE): At least 41 people on a bus carrying elderly day-trippers were killed early on Friday when the bus hit a truck head-on and caught fire, in France’s worst road crash in more than 30 years.

Two people, including a young boy, died in the truck. A total of eight people were injured.

The bus and the truck collided near a forested bend on a twolane road cut into a hillside near Puisseguin in the Gironde region, about 60 km (35 miles) east of Bordeaux, the local prefect’s office said in a statement.

TV footage showed two blackened vehicles, with the bus facing the wood-transporter’s trailer, the truck’s cab skewed to one side, and scorched vegetation around the site, which was sealed off by police.

The bus was carrying about 50 pensioners south to the Bearn region from their homes in the vil-

lage of Petit Palais and surrounding hamlets. The crash occurred just a few minutes after the pensioners had boarded the bus.

Among the dead were the driver of the articulated lorry and a young boy who was in the cab, according to the local prefect’s office. News reports said the child was about three years old.

The driver of the bus was among the survivors, who were able to exit through the front door he opened, according to a source close to an inquiry that was under way within hours.

The source said the truck apparently veered onto the wrong side of the road as it came around a bend.

A spokesman for the interior ministry said that, as far as he could tell, all the bus passengers were French and from the region.

President Francois Hollande, speaking on a visit to Athens, said he had been “plunged into sadness by the tragedy”. Prime Minister Manuel Valls went to the scene.

It was the worst road accident in France since 53 people, mostly children, died in a bus crash in Burgundy in July 1982, according to the independent road safety organisation Association Prevention Routiere. - Reuters

TRAGIC COLLISION: This video grab taken from footage obtained from French TV news channel BFM TV shows the wreckage of a coach carrying elderly day-trippers, left, that collided with a lorry, killing 42 people on Friday near the village of Puisseguin in the St Emilion region, east of Bordeaux. – AFP/BFM TV

R A C I A L AT TA C K

SLASH-AND-BURN FIRES

Masked swordman kills two in Sweden school STOCKHOLM: A masked swordsman who killed a teaching assistant and a boy and wounded two others sought out his victims, all with immigrant backgrounds, by skin colour in an attack that has fuelled fears that a big refugee influx is polarising Swedish public opinion.

The 21-year-old assailant strode on Thursday through a school in Trollhattan, an industrial town in western Sweden with a large immigrant population, stabbing his victims with the sword before being shot dead by police.

Security footage from the school showed the killer marching through school corridors and stopping to talk to light-skinned students, police said.

“Everything points to this being a hate crime,” lead investigator Thord Haraldsson told a news conference. “He selected his victims and attacked the darkskinned ones and left the lightskinned ones alone.”

Interior Minister Anders Ygeman said record numbers of refugees had fuelled racism among a small segment of society.

“We will have to ask ourselves several questions about how society is developing, about polarisation and mobilise all good forces against this racist violence,” Ygeman told TV4.

The killings happened on the same day that the government announced up to 190,000 refugees, a record number, could arrive in Sweden this year.

Immigration policies The government and opposition agreed on Friday to restrict Sweden’s generous immigration policies, worried that its resources have been stretched to their limit with tents being prepared to shel-

CRIME SCENE: Police officers guard as a forensic staff investigates inside a primary and middle school in Trollhattan, southwestern Sweden, on Friday, where a masked man armed with a sword yesterday killed two people before being arrested and shot by police. – AFP

ter thousands of new arrivals.

Ygeman defended the government’s liberal asylum-seeking policies, under which Sweden had accepted more refugees per capita than any other European country in recent years. Over the decades, Sweden has welcomed refugees ranging from Vietnam war draft dodgers in the 1960s to Gulf War refugees in the 1990s.

“You can’t blame asylum policy because we have a madman who

murders children,” Ygeman said.

Swedish media said one of the dead, a 17-year old pupil at the school, had come to Sweden from Somalia three years ago. A 15-year old, recovering in hospital from stab wounds, had recently arrived from Syria.

Police said they had found “a sort of suicide note” which clearly pointed to racist motives and showed the assailant had acted alone.

In a photo taken after the killer had stabbed at least one person, he posed in a corridor with pupils who thought his cape, mask and World War II-type helmet were part of a Halloween prank. Moments later he stabbed a teacher who approached him.

“Then he chased us through the school, we were terrified,” one girl told Aftonbladet.

The suspected killer’s social media accounts showed likes for

pro-Nazi video clips as well as an anti-immigration campaign, according to local media.

“We have never felt afraid in Sweden,” daily Aftonbladet quoted the mother of the injured boy saying.

School attacks are almost unheard of in Sweden - the last incident was near the city of Gothenburg in 1961 when one student was shot dead and six others were injured - and violent crime in general is rare.

Polls show most Swedes welcome refugees. But tensions have been rising.

A number of asylum centres have been attacked in the past week. Police were forced to improve security at centres in August after the murder of a Swedish man and woman by a refugee at an IKEA store in the city of Vasteras.

The refugee had been denied asylum shortly before the attack.

The centre-left government and centre-right opposition reached a deal to tighten immigration rules, introducing three-year temporary residence permits, with exemptions for some, including families with children and unaccompanied minors.

Previously, asylum seekers were granted permanent residency. “The situation is unsustainable and we are at the limit of what we can deal with,” Migration Minister Morgan Johansson told a news conference.

The anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats party has seen its popularity soar, with polls showing it would get around 20 per cent of the vote now, up from around 13 per cent in a national election last year. The party plans an advertising campaign in foreign media aiming to warn off asylum seekers. — Reuters

Indonesian warships to evacuate ‘haze’ refugees JAKARTA: Indonesia is preparing warships as a last resort to evacuate children and others suffering from smoke inhalation from slash-and-burn fires, a minister said on Friday, as the country struggles to contain fires expected to continue for weeks.

Southeast Asia has suffered for years from annual “haze” caused by forest and peat clearing across Indonesia, which has come under increasing political pressure to stop the problem, but so far to no avail. Fires this year have been helped by drier weather brought by the El Nino weather phenomenon and have pushed air pollution to hazardous levels across Southeast Asia, forcing schools to close and disrupting flights.

“We are looking for a place for babies to be evacuated to if necessary,” coordinating security minister Luhut Pandjaitan told reporters referring to plans to prepare six warships and two state-owned ferries. The ships, however, will only be used as a last resort if other efforts, including moving residents to government offices with air purifiers, prove unsuccessful, Pandjaitan said.

The former general, who has been tasked by President Joko Widodo to oversee the response to the haze, said the country was treating the issue as a national disaster but stopped short of declaring a state of national emergency.

Indonesia earlier this month asked several countries, including neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia and far-flung Russia, for aid, equipment and personnel to help combat the fires. — Reuters

STRONGEST HURRICANE

Patricia strengthens into powerful storm, threatens Mexico PUERTO VALAARTA (MEXICO): Hurricane Patricia strengthened into one of the most powerful storms in history on Friday as it barrelled toward Mexico’s Pacific Coast, forcing resort hotels to evacuate guests and residents to stockpile supplies.

The National Hurricane Centre said Patricia was the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere, and on a par with Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, which ravaged the Philippines, killing thousands.

Loudspeakers along the shore of the resort of Puerto Vallarta blared orders to evacuate hotels as a light rain fell and a slight breeze ruffled palm trees. The streets emptied as police sirens wailed.

The city’s airport was closed on Friday morning. Local schools were also closed and some busi-

ness owners were busy boarding and taping up windows.

“Everything looks normal right now, but the most dangerous things will be strong waves and rains. We’ll definitely have to take precautions. We’re going to a shelter shortly,” said David Gonzalez, 40, who works in tourist gift shop in the resort.

The NHC said the damage potential was “catastrophic”.

The storm grew at an “incredible rate” in the past 12 hours, the World Meteorological Organization said, becoming a hurricane overnight with maximum sustained winds of about 200 miles per hour (325 km per hour) as it moved toward the north-northwest at 12 mph (19 kph).

“This is really, really, really strong,” WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis told a UN briefing in

Geneva. “It’s comparable with Typhoon Haiyan which hit the Philippines with such devastating affect a couple of years ago.”

“The winds are enough to get a plane in the air and keep it flying,” Nullis said.

Haiyan killed more than 6,300 people and wiped out or damaged practically everything in its path as it swept ashore on Nov. 8, 2013, destroying around 90 percent of the city of Tacloban.

The strongest storm ever recorded was Cyclone Tip which hit Japan in 1979.

Patricia was last located about 145 miles (235 km) south-southwest of the port of Manzanillo, where a hurricane warning had been issued. A hurricane warning was also in effect for the beach resort of Puerto Vallarta.

It is a Category 5 hurricane, the

highest rating possible, and was expected to make landfall as an “extremely dangerous” storm on Friday afternoon or evening, the Miami-based hurricane centre said earlier.

Mexican emergency officials prepared shelters and warned people in the states of Colima, Jalisco and Michoacan to prepare for torrential rainfalls.

The US government issued an advisory urging its nationals to steer clear of beaches and rough seas and to take shelter as instructed by Mexican officials.

Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo are key cargo ports, and both were shut as the storm approached, port officials said.

None of the major installations of Mexican state oil company Pemex lie in the projected path of the storm. — Reuters

TWISTER: This UTC Eumetsat satellite image shows category 5 Hurricane Patricia, off the Pacific coast of Mexico. Monster Hurricane Patricia roared toward Mexico’s Pacific coast on Friday, prompting authorities to evacuate villagers, close ports and urge tourists to cancel trips over fears of a catastrophe. – AFP/handout/Eumetsat

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2015

S P O R S

China’s Chen on top as top ten identified for the finale Top 10 emerge from gripping Final Series at RS:X World Championships in Oman and Medal Race competitors are fired up for grand finale on Saturday

MUSCAT: The Final Series at the RS:X World Windsurfing Championships in Mussanah, Oman, concluded on Friday with the top 10 from each Gold fleet — Men and Women — now confirmed for the Medal Race on Saturday.

Although she still needs to contest the Medal Race on Saturday, Peina Chen the super-fast Chinese sailor who has a clear 22-point lead, looks set to take an overall win of the Women’s World Championship.

Chen, who has dominated the fleet for most of the regatta, and has produced exceptional speed throughout, particularly downwind, says although she is fit, she is now looking forward to a rest once the Medal Race is over.

“It has been tough for everyone.

Today the conditions were up and down and shifty and I feel very tired. I was happy with my performance though because I just focused on myself, and even if I had a relatively poor beat, I was able to gain places again downwind.”

Chen’s closest challenger this week was Malgorzata Bialecka

GOOD GOING: Peina Chen the super-fast Chinese sailor who has a clear 22-point lead on the penultimate day, looks set to claim overall honours of the women’s fleet in the RS:X World Championships at Al Musannah Sports City. – Supplied photo

(POL) who snatched the overall lead on Thursday but had a relatively poor day on Friday. She now has to include a 17th in her score line.

The conditions were challenging with the wind shifting back and forth so it was a case of staying completely focused throughout. The Women enjoyed generally fresher conditions in the afternoon, which is where Bryony Shaw (GBR) really came into her own. Shaw, bronze medalist in Beijing 2008, and winner of the RS:X European Championship earlier this year, posted a 4, a 5 and finished the day with a 1st, enough to lift her to 3rd overall in the Final Series.

Impressive performance One of the most impressive performances this week comes from 18 year-old Stefania Elfutina (RUS)

who not only leads the 2015 Oman RS:X Under 21 Women’s Windsurfing Championship, but in finishing the Finals Series in 10th, she also qualifies for the Medal Race tomorrow.

Commenting on Friday’s race Elfutina, said: “I am shattered – it was all about pumping today. I am so happy though because my aim was to make the top 10 and I’ve done it.”

In the Men’s division, Pierre Le Coq (FRA), the 26-year-old dentist from Brest, Brittany, managed to secure a win in the Finals Series, but the Chinese really gave him a run for his money.

In the light, shifty airs he struggled to keep pace today while the Chinese duo Aichen Wang and Zhichao Zhang were unstoppable. Wang and Zhang finished the

Finals Series in second and third place respectively and will be serious challengers in tomorrow’s Medal Race.

Le Coq commented: “The Chinese were on fire particularly in the light winds, planing downwind at great speeds. I also did some good races but physically I found it very tough today.”

Looking ahead to tomorrow Le Coq added: “My plan is to not match race, I just want to go out there and sail my best.”

Nineteen-year-old Mattia Camboni (ITA) is another impressive young sailor. He has led the 2015 Oman RS:X Under 21 Men’s Windsurfing Championship all week, and after today’s results, which included a 2nd place, he finishes the Final Series in 9th overall, which is enough to secure a place in the

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

OMAN 24TH IN NOMURA CUP AFTER TWO ROUNDS Oman’s Azzan Al Rumhy, Hamed Al Rumhy, Ali Hameed and Rashad Al Harthy completed two rounds of action to their best abilities at the 27th Nomura Cup, which is being organised

by Emirates Golf Federation at Yas Links Golf Club in Abu Dhabi. The Omani foursome amateurs were in 24th position after the foursome completed 36 of the 72 holes to finish 24th with a gross score of 493. Chinese Taipei returned a best three-of-four-card team aggregate of 209 (-7) in round two for an overall 36-hole total of 407, a combined 25-under par. Japan are second on 412, while Thailand head into Saturday’s third round in the bronze-medal position on 419, 12 shots off the pace. — Supplied photo

INDIAN SUPER LEAGUE

NorthEast stun Kolkata GUWAHATI: A 77th minute strike from Argentine forward Nicolas Velez helped NorthEast United down Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) 1-0 in an Indian Super League (ISL) encounter here on Friday.

It was NorthEast’s second successive win after a 2-0 triumph over Chennaiyin FC on Tuesday and they are now sixth on the league table with half a dozen points from five games.

ATK remain fourth with seven points from five outings.

The lack of finishing upfront led Atletico to their second successive

loss, the first time they have suffered this fate in the two-year history of the ISL. Both teams were on the attack from the word go, but even though NorthEast had the better percentage of the possession, it was Atletico who were creating quite a few chances in the opening minutes.

Just about five minutes into the contest, Atletico midfielder Javi Lara’s strong shot was spilled by Rehenesh T.P. but he managed to kick the ball away to safety before Iain Hume could get to it.

A few minutes later, Spanish medio Borja Fernandez set up Gavilan Fernandez with a sublime cross but the latter’s first-time volley fizzed past the NorthEast post.

The hosts, however, reversed the course of the play soon by creating a few chances of their own.

Bruno Arias almost found his freekick at the back of the Atletico net but goalkeeper Amrinder Singh pulled of an outstanding save diving to his left.

Arias was at it again, this time with a cross which was punched away by Amrinder. — IANS

RUGBY WORLD CUP

FIFA must iron out inequalities, says Jerome ZURICH: Alarmed at the financial gulf between soccer’s haves and have-nots, FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne says a more even distribution of riches will be a priority if he wins election in February.

Making his pitch for the top job at the governing body of a multibillion dollar sport courted by household name sponsors and broadcasters alike, he says strong governance to spread the wealth is vital for the body engulfed in corruption allegations.

Highlighting the divisions, the former French diplomat pointed out that the top European clubs spend millions on players while Papua New Guinea’s football federation struggles to pay air fares for its team.

“The 20 wealthiest clubs in the world have a cumulative turnover of 6.2 billion euros ($6.90 billion) per year, but more than half the 209 national football federations survive with less than 2 million euros a year (each),” he told Reuters. “The national team of Papua New Guinea plays only two matches a year because they cannot afford the plane tickets.

The annual budget is not even half a million euros.”

He sees those disparities across the sport - not least in the Swiss city of Zurich, the home of FIFA, and where the election will take place to replace Sepp Blatter, who stepped down after the body became submerged in police and ethics investigations.

“Near my flat in Zurich is a park; there are six football pitches, five natural and one artificial; this suburb of Zurich has more good quality pitches than the whole of the Democratic Republic of Congo, with 70

Medal Race tomorrow.

“I am so happy to have made the top 10 so I can race the Medal Race. It makes all the hard work worthwhile.”

Commenting on what makes him so fast, Camboni added: “Fitness. I find it really important to maintain fitness to be able to pump hard. I spend a lot of time in the gym and on the road bike.”

The plan for Saturday is to run a double-points scoring Medal Race for the top 10 in both the Men and Women fleets to determine the overall winners of the RS:X World Windsurfing Championships.

The remaining Gold fleet and Silver fleet competitors will race one fleet race to determine the final overall positions including the results of the 2015 Oman RS:X Under 21 Windsurfing Championship.

million inhabitants,” he said.

“In the Congolese professional league, at the Stade des Volcans in Goma, they play on volcanic sand,” he said.

How FIFA spends its cash will be one of the biggest challenges facing whoever takes over from 79-year-old Blatter.

It is mired in the worst crisis in its 111-year history with Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini, who had been favourite to replace him, both suspended for 90 days pending a full ethics investigation. Both deny any wrongdoing.

Swiss authorities are investigating the decision to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments to Russia and Qatar respectively and the United States Department of Justice has indicted 14 soccer officials and sports marketing executives on a series of corruption charges.

Since 2010, FIFA’s own Ethics Committee has banned more than a dozen current and former members of the executive committee, either while in office or after they had left, for unethical conduct including bribery.

Despite the repeated dents to FIFA’s credibility, Champagne said its role was more important than ever. He said that FIFA needed to spend more on development to try to even out the financial differences.

“We need strong governance; football became so globalised and powerful that it needs a central authority,” said Champagne, who worked at FIFA from 1999 until 2010 under Blatter.

“The current development programmes are a few drops of water in the ocean of inequality.

We need to do more.” — Reuters

Familiar foes ready to ‘rip heads off’ WEYBRIDGE: Amid the platitudes and mutual respect for each other coming out of the New Zealand and South Africa camps this week, both know their World Cup semifinal on Saturday is as cut-throat as it gets on the international stage.

A rivalry stretching back to 1921 has produced many epic encounters down the years, not least the 1995 final won by the Springboks, and their Twickenham showdown has all the ingredients of another classic.

Holders New Zealand, who stand on the verge of greatness with a second successive final within their grasp, cruised through the pool stage but clicked ominously into gear with their quarterfinal rout of France.

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer hailed this All Blacks team as the best ever after the 62-13 drubbing but his opposite number Steve Hansen was happy to take his friend’s comments with a pinch of salt.

“H (Heyneke) has been very complementary, just about killed us with kindness,” Hansen told reporters on Thursday.

“He’s a cunning wee devil... praising us all week. While I know he means some of it at the same time they are getting ready to rip our heads off.”

The two southern hemisphere powers have met three times in World Cups, the last occasion in the 2003 quarterfinals when the All Blacks secured a comfortable 29-9 victory -- South Africa’s heaviest in a World Cup match.

New Zealand have held the upper hand by winning 10 of their 12 games since 2010, the most recent a 27-20 Rugby Championship win in Johannesburg in July. - Reuters

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SPORTS Root stays defiant after Pakistan make early inroads in second Test SCOREBOARD

Pakistan, playing in their adopted UAE home, were bowled out for 378 before lunch, some erratic slogging causing the hosts’ last five wickets to fall for 44 runs before Joe Root helped stuttering England reach 182 for 3

DUBAI: Joe Root’s unbeaten halfcentury helped stuttering England reach 182 for three at the close on the second day of the second Test on Friday after Pakistan’s seam and spin attack ran through the tourists’ top order.

Pakistan, playing in their adopted UAE home, were bowled out for 378 before lunch, some erratic slogging causing the hosts’ last five wickets to fall for 44 runs.

Pakistan pacemen Wahab Riaz and Imran Khan were given the new ball and captain Misbah-ul Haq packed the slip cordon.

Wahab had Moeen Ali (1) caught brilliantly by Shan Masood at short-leg.

Skipper Alastair Cook was joined at the crease by Ian Bell (4) and the veteran No. 3 was again found wanting, feathering a full Khan delivery to the slips as England slumped to 14 for two.

Root and Cook — Test cricket’s top two run scorers in 2015

IN CONTROL: England’s Joe Root in full flow on the second day of the second Test in Dubai. – Reuters

— repelled Pakistan’s ferocious onslaught to reach 105-2 at tea, although England’s skipper was fortunate on 27.

Attempting to sweep Zulfiqar Babar, the ball struck pad and skidded on to the stumps but miraculously the bails stayed on.

Hundreds more Pakistan fans appeared after Friday prayers, the field masked in late-afternoon shadow at Dubai International Stadium as a crowd of about 4,000 looked on, England’s support a mix of expatriate residents and the travelling Barmy Army.

Misbah brought Yasir Shah to the fore as the light faded.

The leg-spinner, the fastest man to 50 test wickets for Pakistan, missed the drawn first test in Abu

CRICKET

Dhabi with injury and initially did little, England’s batsmen scoring freely until Pakistan’s skipper positioned a leg-slip.

Cook tried to guide a Yasir (159) delivery round the corner but found only the hands of the newlystationed fielder.

England’s skipper walked for 65, his partnership with Root worth

113 as the tourists stumbled to 130 for three.

Root was unbowed, however, claiming a 15th test half-century with a single through short-leg.

He will resume on 76 with Jonny Bairstow on 27 not out.

Misbah dismissed Pakistan had begun the day on 282

for four, Misbah and Asad Shafiq resuming their partnership of 104.

Mark Wood (3-39) partnered Stuart Broad as captain Cook opted for an all-seam attack, the quicks better able to sustain hostility in the relative cool of the morning.

Broad’s impact was immediate, trapping Misbah (102) lbw with the day’s fifth ball.

The skipper had anticipated a bouncer after a barrage of short deliveries and was deceived by Broad’s fuller ball which thumped into the 41-year-old’s front pad.

Shafiq brought up his 12th test half-century with a four through the slips as he and Safraz Ahmed put on 52.

Safraz (32) was caught at mid-

Pakistan 1st innings: M. Hafeez c Bairstow b Ali 19 S. Masood c Buttler b Anderson 54 S. Malik c Bairstow b Stokes 2 Y. Khan c Buttler b Wood 56 Misbah-ul Haq lbw b Broad 102 A. Shafiq c Root b Wood 83 S. Ahmed c Anderson b Ali 32 W. Riaz c Anderson b Ali 6 Y. Shah c Stokes b Rashid 16 Z. Babar lbw b Wood 3 I. Khan not out 0 Extras (lb-4 w-1) 5 Total (all out, 118.5 overs) 378 Fall of wickets: 1-51, 2-58, 3-85, 4-178, 5-282, 6-334, 7-342, 8-370, 9-377,10-378 Bowling: J. Anderson 20-5-40-1, S. Broad 17-4-48-1, M. Ali 25-3-108-3, M. Wood 19.5-7-39-3, B. Stokes 17-3-55-1 (w-1), A. Rashid 20-1-84-1 England 1st innings: A. Cook c sub b Shah 65 M. Ali c Masood b Riaz 1 I. Bell c S. Ahmed b I. Khan 4 J. Root not out 76 J. Bairstow not out 27 Extras (lb-1 nb-3 w-5) 9 Total (for 3 wickets, 51 overs) 182 Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-14, 3-127 To bat: B. Stokes, J. Buttler, A. Rashid, S. Broad, M. Wood, J. Anderson Bowling: I. Khan 10-4-26-1, W. Riaz 100-51-1 (nb-3, w-1), Z. Babar 10-2-35-0, Y. Shah 17-2-59-1, S. Malik 4-1-10-0 Umpires: Bruce Oxenford and Paul Reiffel TV umpire: Chris Gaffaney Match referee: Andy Pycroft

on and Yasir, on 16 from 17 balls, miscued another attempted big hit to slip.

Zulfiqar (3) did not move as Wood’s inswinging Yorker caught him lbw, the ousted batsmen holding his head in shame.

Shafiq (83), who required prolonged treatment after Wood’s full toss thundered into his knee, was last out, caught at short midwicket.

Sharjah will stage the concluding Test from November 1. - Reuters

TEST CRICKET

Kohli: Chennai ton among my more challenging knocks CHENNAI: Exhausted and elated in equal measure after a match-winning hundred in the fourth ODI against South Africa here, Indian batsman Virat Kohli said the knock is among the most challenging of his career “It is one of my more challenging innings in ODI cricket specially because of the bowling attack they have. South Africa have been bowling pretty well in the series in the right areas. The pitch wasn’t that quick for us to get boundaries throughout,” Kohli told ‘bcci.tv’.

“So I had to run a lot and keep pushing the boundary fielders and keep looking for those gaps so that I could keep running through the innings. Probably, that is why in the end I started cramping because the body took a lot of toll. In the afternoon it gets pretty tough in Chennai and the conditions to bat are pretty difficult. But, all in all right now I feel great about it,” he said.

The innings included 66 singles and nine doubles and Kohli said he knew he would have to push himself more than usual given the conditions he was batting in.

“Till about 70 or 75 I only had three boundaries and a couple of

sixes. Also, only six boundaries throughout which are not too many. The conscious effort was to keep rotating the strike and keep getting those doubles as well,” he explained.

“It was a day where you had to push yourself further than your body might allow you to. I would have done that for maybe an hour more until I fell on the ground.

But we have levelled the series, so it feels brilliant,” he said.

But in the end, Kohli said the physical exhaustion was worth every bit as it turned out for a winning cause. “I was getting a bit of cramps but I told myself, if I can get 30 or 35 more runs here, the team will probably get to 300. That was the whole point of pushing myself over the limit and it feels absolutely wonderful that we are 2-2 all now. There is everything to play for in Mumbai,” he added.

The feisty batsman said he is all geared up for the series finale in Mumbai on Sunday. “I didn’t want to take a chance because there is a big Test series coming up and there is a big game in Mumbai as well. I am going to be 27 and I have got to start being smart about my body now.” - PTI

ALBERT-HAROOS COMBO CLINCH OPEN MEN’S DOUBLES CROWN Top seeded Albert and Haroos are in their spectacular form to claim Open Men’s doubles title defeating Cyril Williams and Sudheer Raghavan at the National Bank of Oman (NBO) – sponsored annual badminton tournament organised by the Indian Social Club Muscat. The duo won 21-10, 21-17. — Supplied photo

UNBEATEN: Kaushal Silva. – AFP

CHIEF WRECKER: Sri Lanka’s Dhammika Prasad scalped four wickets to rattle West Indies. – Reuters

Prasad earns Sri Lanka vital lead COLOMBO: Fast bowler Dhammika Prasad picked up four wickets as hosts Sri Lanka bundled out West Indies for 163 to take a firstinnings lead on the second day of the second and final Test at the P Sara Oval on Friday.

Off-spinner Dilruwan Perera provided good support by picking up the last three West Indies wickets to give the hosts a lead of 37 runs. Sri Lanka lost opener Dimuth Karunaratne to the first ball of their second innings from paceman Jerome Taylor but recovered to reach 76 for two at stumps, stretching their lead to 113.

Kaushal Silva remained unbeaten on 31 and added 55 for the second wicket with debutant Kusal Mendis (39) before the latter fell to left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican, also playing for the first time for West Indies.

In the morning, play was delayed by 30 minutes due to a wet outfield and Prasad made full use of the overcast conditions, bowling an impeccable line and length to extract movement off the pitch.

After dismissing the hosts for 200 on the opening day, West In-

SCOREBOARD

Sri Lanka 1st innings: 200 (M. Siriwardana 68; J. Warrican 4-67) West Indies 1st innings: K. Brathwaite c K. Perera b Siriwardana 47 S. Hope lbw b Prasad 4 D. Bishoo c K. Perera b Prasad 13 Da. Bravo b Prasad 2 M. Samuels c Mathews b Siriwardana 13 J. Blackwood c K. Perera b Prasad 16 D. Ramdin b Herath 14 J. Holder c Mathews b D. Perera 21 K. Roach not out 17 J. Taylor lbw b D. Perera 1

dies would have hoped for a solid start from their batsmen after resuming on 17-1.

Nightwatchman Devendra Bishoo (13) was the first to fall, edging a wide delivery from Prasad to wicketkeeper Kusal Perera.

West Indies’ batting mainstay Darren Bravo (two) then chopped Prasad on to his stumps to put the touring side in further trouble.

Opener Kraigg Brathwaite (47) tried to rebuild the innings in a fourth-wicket stand of 39 with Marlon Samuels (13) before the

J. Warrican c & b D. Perera 1 Extras (b-9, lb-3, nb-1, w-1) 14 Total (all out, 64.2 overs) 163 Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-33, 3-37, 4-76, 5-89, 6-105, 7-137, 8-149, 9-151, J. Taylor,10-163 Bowling: D. Prasad 12-3-34-4 (nb-1 w-1), N. Pradeep 11-3-24-0, R. Herath 20-5-39-1, D. Perera 11.2-3-28-3, M. Siriwardana 10-2-26-2 Sri Lanka 2nd innings: D. Karunaratne c Bishoo b Taylor K. Silva not out K. Mendis c Ramdin b Warrican

0 31 39

latter fell in the penultimate over before lunch. All-rounder Milinda Siriwardana, who top-scored for his side with 68 in the first innings, got Samuels to edge to Angelo Mathews at slip off his left-arm spin bowling.

Siriwardana took his second wicket when Brathwaite fell shortly after lunch with the batsman unable to overturn the umpire’s decision to give him out caught behind.

Prasad returned for another spell and took out Jermaine Black-

D. Chandimal not out 5 Extras (lb-1) 1 Total (for 2 wickets, 31 overs) 76 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-55 To bat: A. Mathews, M. Siriwardana, K. Perera, D. Prasad, R. Herath, N. Pradeep, D. Perera Bowling: J. Taylor 4-1-15-1, K. Roach 4-1-100, J. Holder 5-1-9-0, J. Warrican 11-1-21-1, D. Bishoo 7-1-20-0 Umpires: Simon Fry and Rod Tucker TV umpire: Marais Erasmus Match referee: David Boon

wood, who made 92 in the last test, for his fourth wicket of the innings.

West Indies captain Jason Holder (21) used his power and reach to hit a few boundaries and bring down the deficit but became Dilruwan Perera’s first victim of the innings.

The off-spinner dismissed Taylor (one) and Warrican (one) to finish off the innings.

Hosts Sri Lanka won the opening Test in Galle by an innings and six runs to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. - Reuters

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WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM S ATU RDAY, OCTOBER 24 , 2015

MARKE

REMITTANCES TO INDIA TO SURGE AHEAD Remittances to India are projected to increase by 2.5 per cent this year, the World Bank has said in its latest report, even as weak economies in Europe, especially Russia, are slowing the growth of remittance flows. >B2

Gulf insurance market on healthy growth path GCC insurance industry has more than tripled between 2006 and 2014, with insurance premiums increasing to $22.2 billion from $6.4 billion, says Moody’s

Times News Service MUSCAT: Despite being a small insurance market, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) remains the fastest growing insurance region, outpacing all other markets with top line growth of close to 15 per cent in 2014, said Moody’s Investors Service in a new report.

The GCC insurance industry has more than tripled between 2006 and 2014, with insurance premiums increasing to $22.2 billion from $6.4 billion. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.8 per cent over

the period, although growth in each market varies, ranging from 20.7 per cent CAGR in Qatar to 6.4 per cent CAGR in Kuwait.

Moody’s expects that the GCC will continue to grow at similarly strong rates over 2016-18. Growth will be driven by, inter alia, increased economic wealth in the region, together with increased insurance penetration.

“The positive growth outlook on the region will continue to attract insurers — both domestic and foreign — to invest in the GCC markets, but this is likely to increase competition and put

15% Was the top line growth in 2014 which outpaced all other markets.

Despite being a small insurance market in GCC, it remains the fastest growing insurance region

even further pressure in what is already a weak-to-average profitability in the sector,” said Mohammed Ali Londe, Moody’s assistant vice president and analyst.

“However insurers in the region are generally strongly capitalised and possible future pressure on profitability is unlikely to reduce the credit strength of the sector in the medium term,” added Londe.

Currently, insurance penetration within the GCC is well below 2 per cent of gross domestic prod-

uct (apart from UAE and Bahrain), compared ato 5.2 per cent in Austria, which has similar premium size to the GCC and much lower than that of advanced economies such as in the United States (7.3 per cent) and the United Kingdom (10.6 per cent).

Fiscal strength Moody’s expects significant further growth driven by the region’s high economic and fiscal strength, despite slower-than-expected oil price recovery. Sector growth will continue to be supported by governments making an increasing number of insurance products compulsory.

Additionally, many jurisdictions in the region are enhancing regulations to strengthen the sector in particular areas, such as capital adequacy, assets quality and reserve adequacy along with providing more transparency to the marketplace.

Moody’s expects that these enhanced regulations and implied additional costs of monitoring,

managing and reporting may also encourage consolidation among some smaller market players, potentially reducing competitive pressures and aiding market stability. Moody’s notes that the region also benefits from a generally stable sovereign backdrop, even though the region is exposed to low oil prices and has the potential for political turmoil.

Most GCC countries exhibit strong sovereign creditworthiness, as reflected in the fact that four of the six GCC sovereigns are rated Aa3 or higher, with all six being investment grade and four having a stable outlook.

In addition to the weak-to-average profitability, common weaknesses include geographic and business lines concentration and high risk investment portfolios.

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STOCK MARKET

Technology shares to add $100b in market value NEW YORK: Technology bulls in the stock market are about to get paid. Pushed up by earnings reports, shares of Microsoft., Google parent Alphabet and Amazon.com are poised to add $100 billion in market value at the open, based on prices in after-hours trading.

Futures on the Nasdaq 100 Index have increased 2.8 per cent on Thursday in New York, while contracts on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index are up 1.2 per cent.

Internet and software stocks have been the biggest contributors to the recovery from August’s selloff and are poised to fuel a rally that will erase losses for 2015 in the S&P 500 at the open of trading.

Since the bottom on August 25 and before Thursday’s reports, Alphabet had risen 11 per cent, Microsoft 19 per cent and Amazon. com almost 21 per cent.

Gains in Facebook are poised to push the stock over $100 for the first time. Microsoft jumped 10 per cent, Alphabet surged 9.7 per cent and Amazon climbed 9.6 per cent in New York. - - Bloomberg News

ENERGY MARKET

Crude oil heads for second weekly drop MELBOURNE: Oil headed for a second weekly decline as expanding United States crude stockpiles exacerbated a global glut.

Futures were little changed in New York and poised for a weekly decline of 3.9 per cent. Inventories expanded for a fourth week through October 16, keeping supplies more than 100 million barrels above the five-year seasonal average, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed on Wednesday.

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is unlikely to adjust its production quota, according to Ryan Lance, chief executive officer of ConocoPhillips.

Surplus Oil failed to sustain a rally above $50 a barrel earlier this month amid signs the surplus will persist as the Opec pumps above its target and Iran prepares to raise exports once sanctions are lifted. United States crude stockpiles rose by 8.03 million barrels, the EIA said this week, the biggest jump since April and more than twice the forecast increase.

“The bottom line is there’s still a lot of supply,” Michael Poulsen, oil risk manager at Global Risk Management in Middelfart, Denmark, said by phone. “Prices will likely stay at these levels, with a dollar or two movement either side.”

West Texas Intermediate for December delivery rose 8 cents to $45.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The con-

CHINA’S 4G SPENDING SLOWDOWN AFFECTS ERICSSON SALES Ericsson reported third-quarter profitability and sales that missed analysts’ estimates as business in Japan, Russia and Brazil slumped and spending slowed in China on fourth-generation (4G) networks that power smartphones and tablets. The gross margin was 34.5 per cent, against an earlier prediction of 35.3 per cent.- Bloomberg News

tract added 18 cents to $45.38 on Thursday. The volume of all futures traded was about 15 per cent below the 100-day average.

US supplies Brent for December settlement climbed 28 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $48.36 a barrel on the Londonbased ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices are down 4.2 per cent for the week. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $2.88 to WTI. US crude stockpiles rose to 476.6 million barrels as production remained unchanged at 9.1 million barrels a day, according to EIA data. Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI futures and the biggest US oil-storage hub, fell by 78,000 barrels, the first drop in three weeks.

Oil-service companies are starting a third round of job cuts as hopes fade for a rebound this year.

Weatherford International is tripling its previously announced reductions to 3,000. Baker Hughes is letting go of another 3,700 workers after trimming 2,500 in the second quarter. Schlumberger Ltd., which said in July it was done with layoffs after 20,000 global cuts, will resume staff reductions at an unspecified level.

“We have to be prepared for more volatility,” ConocoPhillips CEO Lance said in Boston.

The oil industry has to reinvest heavily to keep output flat and many areas “just aren’t economic at $45,” he said. - Bloomberg News

Q UA N T I TAT I V E E A S I N G

Stocks at two-month high on possible European bank stimulus LONDON: Prospect of yet more European Central Bank (ECB) stimulus pushed world stocks to a two-month high, the euro to a two-month low and left investors paying for the privilege of owning short-term Italian and Spanish bonds.

European shares and bonds kept climbing on Friday after soaring on Thursday’s message from ECB chief Mario Draghi that the central bank was ready to adjust “the size, composition and duration” of its quantitative easing (QE) programme.

It was set to be the fourth straight week of gains for MSCI’s 45-country All World index as the euro’s nose dive back to $1.11 put the dollar on course for its biggest weekly rise against the major currencies since late May. For investors hoping for a positive jolt to the lacklustre global economic growth outlook, it was shaping up to be the second

straight week of near 4 per cent falls in oil prices, which were edging higher on Friday. “Draghi has come out and kitchen-sinked the whole thing, everything is now on the table,” said Gavin Friend, a strategist at National Australia Bank in London.

“You combine what the ECB is now saying with (the fact) that the Fed is not going to be going aggressively and that the Bank of Japan is going to want to get involved, then you say ‘Blimey!’”

Big week ahead The pan-European FTS Eurofirst 300 index rose 1 per cent, building on a 2.1 per cent gain in the previous session, while the euro zone’s blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index advanced by 1.2 per cent.

Bond market moves were perhaps the most eye-catching though. Italian and Spanish twoyear government bond yields both

STRONG SENTIMENT: European shares and bonds kept climbing after message from Mario Draghi that the European central bank was ready to adjust “the size, composition and duration” of its quantitative easing (QE) programme. – Bloomberg News

turned negative for the first time ever, meaning that investors now pay to hold them rather than receive interest on them.

Greece’s bond ‘curve’ was also close to normalising, having been distorted for months in the wake

of a political crisis. Investors were spurred on by the prospect not only of the ECB increasing its bond buying but also of it cutting one of its main interest rates, the deposit rate, even further into negative territory.

Asian markets also roared their approval at Draghi’s bold moves overnight. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.7 per cent, and Japan’s Nikkei closed 2.1 per cent higher to end the week up almost 3 per cent. The Bank of Japan holds a meeting next week and markets are betting on more hints of additional stimulus there too.

The Shanghai Composite index added 1.4 per cent. Next week will also be a major one for Chinese markets with its government set to meet on its next five-year economic plan. “Investors and traders are buying the idea of expected action out of the Bank of Japan and the ECB,” said Ben Le Brun, market analyst at trading platform provider optionsXpress.

The euro saw another wobbly start having seen its largest oneday percentage drop against the dollar in nine months on Thurs-

day. The common currency was last at $1.1108, after earlier falling to a two-month nadir of $1.1072.

As a result the dollar was just off a two-month high, with it also down slightly on the day against the yen at ¥120.34.

The United States Federal Reserve will meet next Tuesday and Wednesday. Its policymakers opted to hold interest rates steady last month, amid concerns that a slowing global economy, particularly in China, could pose risks to the US economic outlook.

The Chinese central bank’s injection of 105.5 billion yuan into 11 banks via its medium-term lending facility this week, combined with possible additional stimulus from the ECB, “may give the Fed more reason to raise rates by year end,” said Chris Brankin, chief executive officer of online trading platform TR Ameritrade Asia in Singapore. - Reuters

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S ATUR DAY, OCTOBER 24, 2 015

MARKET Remittances to India set to increase by 2.5% this year

ECONOMIC GROWTH

Falling prices raise prospects of stimulus

central bank

FRANKFURT: Falling prices and potentially weakening growth in the euro-area are raising the prospect of more stimulus by the European Central Bank (ECB), according to Markit Economics.

While a Purchasing Managers’ Index for manufacturing and services unexpectedly increased to 54 in October from 53.6 in September, signaling a pickup in activity, forward-looking indicators point to a risk of a slowdown, London-based Markit said.

Service-sector expectations for the year ahead fell to a 10-month low, while the factory ordersto-inventory ratio dipped to the weakest level in nine months.

WASHINGTON: Remittances to India are projected to increase by 2.5 per cent this year, the World Bank has said in its latest report, even as weak economies in Europe, especially Russia, are slowing the growth of remittance flows.

In 2014, India is estimated to have received remittances worth $70.3 billion. In its latest report, the World Bank said remittances to India, South Asia’s largest economy and the world’s largest remittance recipient, are projected to increase by 2.5 per cent in 2015, below the regional average but well above the 0.6 per cent increase in 2014.

“Stronger remittance growth in India reflects improving economic prospects in the United States and continued fiscally-supported economic resilience in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council),” the World Bank said.

According to the Reserve Bank of India, about 35 per cent of re-

Resilient domestic demand The report underlines ECB president Mario Draghi’s latest analysis of the economy, delivered on Thursday.

While pointing to resilient domestic demand, he suggested that more stimulus may be needed by year-end as a global slowdown threatens to weigh on growth.

“Unless the PMI business activity and price indices pick up significantly in coming months, the combination of relatively weak growth and deflation signaled by the survey will fuel expectations that the ECB will step up its quantitative-easing programme at the December meeting,” Chris Williamson, Markit’s chief economist, said in a statement.

Average selling prices for goods and services fell for the first time in three months in October, partly as manufacturers tried to boost sales, according to the report.

Draghi told reporters in Malta that policy makers had a “rich discussion”. - Bloomberg News

About 35 per cent of remittances to India originate in North America, and another 35 per cent in the GCC countries, according to India’s

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: In 2014, India is estimated to have received remittances worth $70.3 billion. The World Bank report said that stronger remittance growth in India reflects improving economic prospects in the United States and continued fiscally-supported economic resilience in the Gulf Cooperation Council region. – Times file picture

mittances to India originate in North America, and another 35 per cent in the GCC countries.

The bank said the recent depreciation of the Indian rupee may have boosted investment-oriented remittances to India. Nevertheless, the regional growth rate of remittances is projected to moderate to about four per cent over the next two years, in part because remittances to Nepal and Pakistan are expected to decelerate after the large inflows following the earthquake, while lower oil prices

may reduce remittance inflows from the GCC countries eventually. In its report, the bank said remittances to developing countries are expected to reach USD 435 billion in 2015, registering a modest growth rate of two per cent from last year. This represents a significant slowing in the growth of remittances from the rise of 3.3 per cent in 2014 and of 7.1 per cent per year from 2010 -13.

Global remittances, sent home from some 250 million migrants, are projected to grow by 1.3 per

ECONOMY

cent to $588 billion. Slowing remittances this year will affect most developing regions, in particular Europe and Central Asia where flows are expected to decline by 18.3 per cent in 2015.

Weakening rouble A weakening of the rouble against the US dollar is the main cause of that decline, it said. Looking to 2016, the report says remittances to developing countries are expected to rise by about four per cent, reaching an estimated $453

billion, buoyed by the continuing recovery in the United States and a modest acceleration of economic activity in Europe.

Global flows of remittances are expected to recover in 2016 to reach $610 billion, and then rising to $635 billion in 2017. - PTI

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BANKING

Bank of Japan to cut inflation forecast for next financial year TOKYO: Bank of Japan (BoJ) will cut its growth and inflation outlook for this fiscal year at a rate review next week but only slightly tweak its projections for next year, sources said, possibly tempering expectations that the central bank will soon ease monetary policy further.

By not straying far from its current projections for next year, the BoJ can maintain that it is still broadly on course to meet its inflation goal of 2 per cent next year without needing to step up its massive asset purchase programme, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Critics say the programme has been only marginally effective and distorts the bond market, and the BOJ board itself has not been unreservedly behind it. Finance Minister Taro Aso also expressed doubt on Friday that further monetary stimulus would help achieve the inflation target.

As Japan flirts with recession, hit by weak exports, the BoJ is preparing to cut its core consumer inflation forecast for the fiscal year that began in April to below 0.5 percent in a semi-annual report due out on October 30, the sources said. It forecast inflation of 0.7 per cent three months ago. But the bank, which is trying to bring an end to decades of deflationary pressure, will only cut by 0.1-0.2 point its forecast that price rises will accelerate to 1.9 percent next fiscal year, keeping it near its target, they said.

“Overseas headwinds are largely behind the current economic slowdown,” one source said. “That means the downward pressure on inflation will be milder than last

year,” he said, when firms were reluctant to raise prices as household spending was restrained by a sales tax hike.

The sources said the forecasts had not been finalised and changes could be made ahead of the announcement. The projections are compiled by the central bank’s nine policy board members.

Rosy outlook intact Under Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, the BoJ buys the bulk of the government’s bond issuance and other assets to boost base money by 80 trillion yen ($663 billion) a year. He led the bank to expand stimulus last October. But oil price declines have brought inflation to a halt, and weak global demand is heightening chances of another recession, keeping alive market expectations that the BoJ will ease again next week.

Economists in a poll forecast inflation of just 1 per cent next fiscal year, with six of the 13 predicting the BoJ will add to its stimulus next week. The BoJ meeting comes

after European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi signalled on Thursday his readiness to deploy new stimulus measures to fend off the risk of deflation from falling commodity prices and weak emerging market demand.

Bank of Japan officials have taken a more sanguine approach, arguing that resilience in private consumption and capital expenditure would offset some of the pain from weak demand for exports.

Many of them expect Japan to emerge from the doldrums next year as the hit from China’s slowdown ebbs. Inflation will also accelerate next year as the effect of energy price falls dissipate, they say, pointing to a growing number of companies that are raising prices of goods.

The BoJ is preparing to slash this fiscal year’s forecast for economic growth to around 1 per cent from the present 1.7 per cent.

But it will likely not substantially alter its forecast for 1.5 per cent growth next fiscal year, the sources said. The final BoJ forecasts, which represent the median of the board members’ projections, could be worse if some members offer bleaker assessments than expected now.

Kuroda has said he sees no immediate need to ease further, stressing that a tightening job market will lead to wage gains and boost consumption, helping Japan generate modest inflation. Not all board members share Kuroda’s optimism, with pessimists fretting that the global slowdown may drag on Japan’s growth longer than expected. Some also worry about the strength of consumption. - Reuters

SEEKING BUYER: Citigroup is seeking buyers for its 20 per cent stake in China Guangfa Bank after the Chinese lender scrapped plans to list in Hong Kong. – Times file picture

Citi’s plan to join China bank exodus leaves focus on HSBC SHANGHAI: Citigroup’s plans to join an exodus of global banks from stakes in Chinese lenders leaves the focus on HSBC Holdings, the only one with a major holding in a big bank after earlier exits by the likes of Bank of America and Goldman Sachs.

Citigroup is seeking buyers for its 20 per cent stake in China Guangfa Bank after the Chinese lender scrapped plans to list in Hong Kong, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. Earlier this month, Deutsche Bank signalled it may sell a $3.5 billion stake in Huaxia Bank after saying it “no longer considers this stake to be strategic.”

While requirements to hold extra capital against such investments have encouraged foreign lenders to sell their stakes, HSBC is yet to give any signal that it’s planning any similar move for its 19 per cent stake in Bank of Communications.

The UK-based lender is instead boosting its bets on China, saying that it will add 4,000 jobs in the Pearl River Delta region over the next three to four years.

Global strategy “HSBC is different because its focus is in Asia and China is a big part of its global strategy,” said Richard Cao, a Shenzhen-based analyst at Guotai Junan Securities. “HSBC’s tie-up with Bocom has brought it decent dividend income, a client base and improved brand awareness.”

While HSBC’s own operation

HSBC is different because its focus is in Asia and China is a big part of its global strategy.

HSBC’s tie-up with Bocom has brought it decent dividend income, a client base and improved brand awareness Richard Cao Analyst, Guotai Junan Securities

in China faces restrictions as a foreign bank, Bocom doesn’t because it’s local, Cao added.

HSBC bought its stake in Bocom, the nation’s fifth-biggest lender, for $1.75 billion in 2004. It’s now worth almost $13 billion. Bocom is forecast to report a decline in profit for 2015 in a cooling econ-

omy where bad loans are rising.

Banks including Citigroup, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs have sold at least $14 billion of shares in Chinese lenders since the start of 2012, a turnaround from before the global financial crisis, when they were eager to buy in, often ahead of firms’ listings. In 2006, New Yorkbased Citigroup beat Paris-based Societe Generale in the year-anda-half long race for control of Guangfa with help from lobbyists including former United States President George H. W. Bush.

Chinese economy HSBC chief executive officer Stuart Gulliver said this month that he remains optimistic about the Chinese economy and will increase the bank’s investment in the nation. Shanghai-based Bocom plans to let HSBC name a vice-chairman to its board as part of a plan to restructure its ownership, people with knowledge of the matter said in August. HSBC in Hong Kong declined on Friday to comment on the outlook for its Bocom stake.

China caps foreign ownership of a Chinese bank at 25 per cent, with a single foreign investor to have no more than 20 per cent, making it harder for foreign investors to have any meaningful influence on operations.

Earlier this month, Ma Kunpeng, a Shanghai-based analyst at Sinolink Securities, said that the tie-up between HSBC and Bocom was unusual- Bloomberg News

SAT URDAY, O CTO BER 24, 2015

B3

MARKET THIRD QUARTER

CHINA CONSIDERING CONSOLIDATION AMONG BIG THREE AIRLINES A China Eastern Airlines aircraft flies over traffic as it approaches to land at Hongqiao Airport in Shanghai, China, on Friday.

China is considering combining some operations of the nation’s three biggest airlines as part of a broad reform of its stateowned enterprises. - Bloomberg News

Oil service companies cutting additional jobs by more than half since June 2014, he said.

Hughes is letting go of another 3,700

Venezuelan producer’s $8b US assets at risk in probe

workers after cutting 2,500 in the second quarter of the year

HOUSTON: Oil service companies are starting a third round of job cuts as hopes fade for a recovery in the global crude market this year.

Weatherford International is tripling its previously announced round of job cuts to 3,000. Baker Hughes is letting go of another 3,700 workers after cutting 2,500 in the second quarter. Schlumberger, which said in July it was done with layoffs after 20,000 global cuts, will resume staff reductions at an unspecified level.

The contractors who help oil explorers find and produce hydrocarbons said just months ago that they would scale back the volume of job cuts on expectations that the worst crude market in decades would gradually improve later this year.

Exploration and production companies have already reduced

CARACAS: A United States investigation of Venezuela’s national oil producer could jeopardise about $8 billion in crude refineries, storage terminals and pipeline networks.

Three US oil refineries owned by Petroleos de Venezuela’s Citgo subsidiary have a combined capacity to process 749,000 barrels of oil a day.

The company’s largest asset is its 425,000-barrel-aday refinery in Lake Charles,

spending for this year by more than $100 billion and are expected to slash budgets further next year.

“The oxygen is being turned off,” Tobias Reed, chief executive officer at Swift Worldwide Resources, said Thursday in a phone interview.

“There’s pretty much no new capital expenditure coming out through the marketplace.”

FULL YEAR

Maersk cuts profit outlook COPENHAGEN: A.P. MoellerMaersk cut its profit forecast for 2015 citing a weaker container shipping market as the outlook for global growth becomes gloomier.

The owner of the world’s biggest shipping line now sees underlying profit of about $3.4 billion, compared with a previous forecast for $4 billion, according to a statement to the stock exchange on Friday.

“Particularly the container ship-

ping market deteriorated beyond the Group’s expectations especially in the latter part of the third quarter and October,” the company said. “The Group now expects no market recovery within 2015. Initiatives have been taken to adjust Maersk Line’s network accordingly.” The company’s shares sank as much as 8.1 per cent and traded 7.9 per cent down at 9,680 kroner.

That’s their weakest level since September 2013. - Bloomberg News

Louisiana, which includes shipping docks and storage terminals.

Citgo probably would be valued around $8 billion, said Gurpal Dosanjh, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. Most of that value — about $6 billion — rests in the company’s pipeline and storage network, and the remaining $2 billion represents the trio of refineries, he said. Citgo valued its assets at $8.1 billion in a July 2014 bond offering. - Bloomberg News

Oilfield contractors Oilfield contractors, engineers, suppliers and their exploration customers have shed more than 200,000 jobs globally, and that’s expected to climb past 250,000 before all is done, Reed said.

An estimated 15 to 20 percent of the upstream oil industry is being cleaved off because of a downturn that’s seen oil prices fall

Slower Recovery Schlumberger, the world’s largest oilfield services provider, said Oct. 17 that a recovery might not come until 2017. Three months ago, Chief Executive Officer Paal Kibsgaard thought the industry had already seen the worst of the US oil rout.

Bernard Duroc-Danner, chief executive officer at Weatherford, remains optimistic heading into 2016. He told analysts and investors Thursday on a conference call that the market bottom may hit sometime between now and the end of the first quarter next year.

“I do think that the reduction in employment exercise is coming to an end,” said Duroc-Danner.

“What you’ll see going forward is surgical.” Oil service providers were the first to downsize after prices began falling last year, and their group has been the hardesthit segment of the oil industry. The world’s four largest service companies have announced a total of nearly 69,000 jobs cut, with much of that coming in North America.

“If they had fuller order books, they wouldn’t be taking such a drastic reaction,” Reed said.

“We certainly expect to see this getting worse before it gets better.” - Bloomberg News

Korea recovers from sluggish growth phase SEOUL: South Korea’s economy rebounded in the third quarter as an outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome receded and consumers ventured back to the shops, offsetting weakness in sales abroad.

Policy makers including Finance Minister Choi Kyung Hwan and Bank of Korea (BoK) governor Lee Ju Yeol have highlighted positive signs in the economy, while cautioning that risks remain from weakness and uncertainties in overseas markets. The betterthan- expected economic rebound is likely to ease pressure on the BoK for further monetary easing.

“Consumption and construction investment rose more than I had expected, and an improvement in exports this quarter would make it possible to achieve the BoK’s forecast” for growth, said Moon Jung Hiu, an economist for KB Investment & Securities in Seoul. “Today’s data lessens the possibility of an additional rate cut by BoK.” Gross domestic product expanded 1.2 per cent from the three months through June, when it grew by only 0.3 per cent, the Bank of Korea said on Friday. Economists surveyed had projected a 1 per cent increase. GDP expanded by 2.6 per cent from a year earlier.

The government introduced temporary consumption tax cuts and an extra budget after MERS disease spread to Korea in May, frightening away foreign tourists and local shoppers. Authorities declared in July that the virus was no longer a concern.

Property boom Private-sector consumption rose 1.1 per cent in the third quarter from a contraction in the previous period, while government spending increased 1.9 per cent and facilities investment rose 2 per cent, Friday’s statement showed.

Construction investment gained 4.5 per cent as the property market boomed. An active pre-sales housing market and increased spending on infrastructure due to an extra budget supported construction, according to Jeon Seung Cheol, a director general at the central bank.

The central bank held its key interest rate unchanged at a record low 1.5 per cent on October 15. It adjusted its 2015 growth forecast the same day to 2.7 per cent from 2.8 per cent, citing lower-than-expected second-quarter growth. The BoK’s monetary policy committee next meets to decide the policy interest rate on November 12.

The “upward surprise” in thirdquarter GDP points to an increased possibility that the BoK will keep its key rate at 1.5 per cent throughout the year, Morgan Stanley wrote in report after the release. Governor Lee said on Friday that Korea’s growth momentum is expected to continue in the fourth quarter.

Private analysts surveyed from October 8 to October 13 were more pessimistic about Korea’s economy, forecasting 2.4 per cent GDP growth for this year.

Exports as measured by volume fell 0.2 per cent from the previous quarter as sales of Korea’s major products declined. - Bloomberg news

B4

S ATUR DAY, OCTOBER 24, 2 015

FEATURE

IS THE NEW APPLE WATCH WORTH BUYING? NOT A TECHIE? THIS IS THE APPLE WATCH REVIEW YOU’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR.

The Apple faithful and the tech-minded aren’t really the ones who need to be convinced about this device.

Apple should be most interested in massmarket appeal.

o for a more everyday take on what it’s like to live with the Watch, in addition to spending time with it myself, I asked three of my colleagues to try life with the Watch for a few days and write up their observations. Here’s what some feel: Apple Watch is now available in select stores like Best Buy etc, marking the first time that the wearable will be sold outside a boutique or an Apple Store.

It’s arguably a bigger test for the Watch than its initial debut, since it is launching into what could be less friendly, less tech-savvy territory. After all, the Apple faithful and the tech-minded aren’t really the ones who need to be convinced about this device. Apple should be most interested in massmarket appeal.

And the mass market? They don’t think about the speed of the processor and they certainly don’t read the instruction booklet. They want to know how it works at the gym, while rushing through the airport and at night while trying to read a book to toddlers.

So for a more everyday take on what it's like to live with the Watch, in addition to spending time with it myself, I asked three of my colleagues to try life with the Watch for a few days and write up their observations. Here's what we found.

S

while working out. The sweat on my brow and occasional panting are usually enough to let me know that I’m working very hard.

Still, I was curious to see how the Activity app on the iWatch would track my workout. Fitness devices are typically marketed to runners, not folks like me who lift weights and do high-intensity interval training. To get a good read on the watch, I took a variety of classes: strength training, bootcamp and yoga. The results were a little bit disappointing.

After a 55 minute bootcamp, consisting of jump squats, burpees and vigorous pushups, the app recorded a mere 180 calories burned. Really? I was killing it in that class. Sure, there was a five minute warm up and five minute stretching, but I expected to burn at least 250 calories. Fine.

To mix it up, I taught a 55-minute strength training class, took a 55-minute yoga class and then taught another 55-minute bootcamp back-to-back. After those three classes, the app recorded 320 calories burned and 8,805 steps taken. I’ve since read tons of reviews that say fitness trackers are pretty bad at counting calories, which makes me feel a whole lot better about my mega workout day. But from now on I'm sticking to my old school method of tracking my workout: sweating and moderate panting.

The fitness buff Danielle Douglas-Gabriel covers student debt for The Washington Post, and also teaches fitness classes. Here’s her take: I’m not much for sporting heart-rate or calorie trackers

The traveller Hayley Tsukayama covers consumer technology for The Washington Post. Here’s her take: Convenience is supposed to be the name of the game for the Apple Watch — the idea being that

having information displayed on your wrist is a lot easier to get to than information buried in your pocket. Or, as is more likely, having information on your wrist is easier than going through life with just one hand.

In the course of normal, everyday life, I grew to like, but not love, getting notifications on my wrist instead of my phone. It was verynice, but there was never really a time when I felt like there was a real benefit to those at-a-glance notifications — I’d never been too busy to look at my phone before, and having the Watch didn’t change that. But what about when I was out of my element? For a real field test, I tried it out on a trip to San Francisco — actually, to go to an Apple event. It only seemed very appropriate.

Overall, I found myself loving the Watch. In the airport, the watch was key. Using the Delta app, I was able to pull up my ticket right on the watchface. Sure, it took a little bit of wrist acrobatics to get the square barcode over the reader. But it was way better than having to pull my phone out of my pocket and risk misplacing it in the chaos of the security line or keeping track of a paper ticket.

(I always seem to lose those things within two minutes of printing them, only to find them months later in a book.) It felt a little bit like showing off — a man seeing his son off actually gasped when I offered up my wrist — but it was really convenient.

Once on the ground in San Francisco, the Watch really came into its own. I’d set up calendar reminders to tell me which BART station to take to my hotel, which

popped up once I’d landed, which saved me more fumbling.

Where it really came in handy, though, was for directions. I used the watch to help me navigate to dinner with a friend in San Francisco. While a little warning about the elevation of the hills would have been useful, having the directions on my wrist rather than on my phone both made me a less conspicuous tourist. It also let me actually have a conversation with my friend as we walked, since I could count on the watch to buzz and let me know when I should be getting ready to turn. I didn’t have to keep my nose buried in my phone.

That was also very helpful on the road — I didn’t have my eyes glued to the Watch while driving, but, again, it provided a useful heads-up when my exit was coming up on unfamiliar highways.

And, because the Watch has a different series of vibrations to let you know when to turn right or left at an upcoming intersection, I wasn’t nearly as panicked about which lane I should be driving in; you’re very welcome, drivers of Northern California.

Settled back into my normal life, I went back to finding the Watch convenient but not essential. But, I have to say, when you really want that extra bit of convenience? It’s well worth the price.

The parent Ylan Q. Mui is a financial reporter at The Washington Post covering the Federal Reserve and the economy. Here’s her take: Every night, after I tuck my 3-year-old daughter into bed, she lifts her big brown eyes up to

meet mine, points a finger at me, and says: “Mommy, don’t forget your phone.”

It is a bedtime ritual for our modern age, one that speaks to the ubiquity of technology in my harried life as a working mother of two small children. For the record, I don’t even bring my iPhone into her room at night. But children have a way of revealing the unvarnished truths about ourselves, and my daughter is merely articulating the reality that I have been reluctant to accept: My smartphone is my constant companion. And when I lose track of it — which happens on a daily basis — the world stops until it is found.

One solution, of course, would be to simply give up my iPhone.

Hahahahaha! This is not the essay to read if you’re looking for an epiphany about disconnecting in our digital age. No, I opted for the other extreme: the Apple Watch.

Instead of hunting for my iPhone in a cluttered diaper bag or tucking it uncomfortably into the back of my yoga pants, I could keep my entire digital life literally within arm’s reach. The Post let me take an Apple Watch home for a few days, to provide a real world review of what is still a cutting-edge technology. Little did my editors realise how real it would get.

I started by not reading the instructions that came with the watch. This was supposed to be “real life,” right? And in real life, who has time for detailed instruction booklets? I already have an iPhone, an iPod and a MacBook. I figured I’d be able to learn how to work the Apple Watch on the go -- while driving in the car, to be exact. - Washington Post-Bloomberg News

B

SECTION

LIFESTYLE

S AT U R DAY, O CTO B ER 24 , 2 0 1 5

Family

Photo courtesy: Getty Images

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

COMFORTABLY AGEING IN PLACE H

aving lived in the same ranch house for 55 years, John Heck’s grandparents wanted to make any and all necessary accommodations to allow them to peacefully age in place.

Using his expertise as a home remodeler, Heck completed a variety of ageing-in-place related projects in their house, including adding grab bars to the bathroom and other small comforts.

“I feel very lucky knowing my grandparents live in a one storey and have my assistance making home adjustments to ensure that they can independently age in place,” said Heck, owner of VIP

Remodeling & Construction Services, LLC. “Many folks who ignore the fact that they are ageing and need to make adjustments wind up injuring themselves and being uprooted from a more affordable, comfortable lifestyle and proximity to loved ones.”

With the number of US residents 65 or older growing from 35 million in 2000 to nearly 73 million in 2030 according to the US Census Bureau, baby boomers entering or approaching retirement need to be aware of how they can best prepare to age comfortably.

According to HomeAdvisor’s 2015 Ageing-in-Place Report, more than half of homeowners who hire a professional for an ageing-re-

lated home improvement are under 65 years old, with 10 per cent younger than 50.

“Too many of us wait until we reach a health or financial crisis to plan for getting older,” said Marty Bell, Executive Director of the National Ageing in Place Council.

“We plan our careers, we plan to send our children to college, we plan our vacations, but we don’t plan to age.

“And yet the evidence is there that those who do accept they are going to get older and make plans in advance have a considerably better later life.”

Heck notes that even making small adjustments in a home over time, such as adding stair lifts and

We plan our careers, we plan to send our children to college, we plan our vacations, but we don’t plan to age. And yet the evidence is there that those who do accept they are going to get older and make plans in advance have a considerably better later life

handicapped accessible and curbless showers, can make all the difference in ageing safety.

The top ageing-in-place related projects completed by homeowners according to HomeAdvisor’s Ageing-in-Place report include: Adding a personal alert system: Personal alert systems provide necessary security in case of an emergency accident or fall.

Installing a personal alarm system costs an average of $652, according to HomeAdvisor’s True Cost Guide.

Adding grab bars: Many accidents and falls take place in the bathroom. Homeowners may choose to add grab bars to help them safely enter and exit a bath-

tub or shower. Building a disability ramp: Adding a wheelchair ramp, at an average cost of $1,547, offers accessibility to wheelchair or walker users.

Various factors go into the cost and safety of a ramp, including slope, weight specifications, landing and materials.

Installing a stair lift: A staircase lift can eliminate the risk of injury on one of the most dangerous parts of a home. Folks with mobility issues can access the upstairs level safely with this highly reliable added function.

To find a home professional to complete ageing-in-place projects, visit HomeAdvisor.com.

— Family Features

S ATUR DAY, O CTOBER 24, 2 015

B6

FIND-IT-ALL CINEMA SCHEDULE

PRAYER TIMINGS

@MGM

@SOHAR

@RUWI

SHATTI Shaandaar (Romance) (HINDI)(PG) Cast : Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant 4:00, 8:45, 11:30 pm The Little Prince (Animation)(3D)(PG) 2:00 pm Voice Overs: Rachel McAdams, Benicio Del Toro, Marion Cotillard The Last Witch Hunter (Actin)(2D)(PG12) Cast : Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood 2:00, 5:45, 9:45, 11:55 pm Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (Horror)- (3D)(15+) Cast : Chris J. Murray, Brit Shaw, Ivy George 4:00, 8:00, 10:05 pm War Pigs (Action, War) (12+) Cast : Luke Goss, Dolph Lundgren 2:15 pm The Martian(3D) (Adventure, Sci-Fi) (PG) Cast : Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig 7:30 , 11:45 pm Momentum (Action, Thriller) (15+)(2D) Cast : Olga Kurylenko, Morgan Freeman 6:45 pm Infinitely Polar Bear (Drama)( (2D)(PG12) Cast : Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana 5:45 pm Breaking Through (Drama)(2D)(12+) Cast : Sophia Aguiar, Jordan Rodrigues 4:00 pm MUSCAT GRAND MALL The Last Witch Hunter : 2D (Action) PG12 Cast : Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood 2:00, 7:00 & 11:55PM Gold Class : 8:45PM & 11:00PM Breaking Through : 2D (Drama | Music) 12+ Cast : Sophia Aguiar, Jordan Rodrigues 9:30PM The Little Prince : 3D (Animation) PG Voice Overs: Rachel McAdams 11:45AM & 2:45PM Shandaar : 2D (Romance| Comedy) PG

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE GHOST DIMENSION (Horror)- (3D)(15+) Cast : Chris J. Murray, Brit Shaw, Ivy George 4:00, 8:00, 10:05 pm

The Last Witch Hunter 2D (Action | Adventure | Fantasy) PG12 Cast : Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood Timing : 2:00PM, 7:00PM & 11:55PM Gold Class : 8:45PM & 11:00PM

Cast: Olga Olga Kurylenko, Morgan Freeman 4:15 & 9:15PM Pan 3D (Adventure | Family ) (PG) Cast: Levi Miller, Garrett Hedlund 7:15PM The Martian : 3D (Action | Sc-Fic ) PG Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain 12:00PM & 11:30PM Gold Class: 3:30PM The Walk : 3D (Adventure | Drama ) (PG) 4:45PM Gold Class: 6:15PM

Patthu Endrathukulla – 2D (PG12) Action Cast: Vikram, Samantha 11:45 AM, 4:15, 9:00 PM The Little Prince – 2D (PG) Animation Voice Overs: Voice(Rachel McAdams, Benicio Del Toro, Marion Cotillard) 12:00, 2:30, 07:00 Shaandaar – 2D (PG) Comedy, Romance Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant 12:00, 2:45, 4:30, 7:15, 10:00, 11:15 PM Ennu Ninte Moideen – 2D (PG12) Romantic Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Parvathi Menon 11:45 AM, 8:15 PM

AZAIBA The Martian – 3D (PG) Action, Sci-Fi Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain 5:30, 11:45 PM Jazbaa – 2D (12+) Drama, Action, Adventure Cast: Aishwarya Rai Bacchan, Irrfan Khan 2:00 PM Crimsom Peak - 2D (15+) Drama, Horror Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain 7:15 PM The last Witch Hunter – 2D (PG12) Action | Adventure | Fantasy Cast: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood 2:45, 5:00, 9:30, 11:45 PM

Shandaar : 2D (Romance| Comedy) PG Cast : Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant Timing : 7.30, 10.30 PM

SOHAR The Martian - 3D (PG) Action, Sci-Fi Cast : Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain 6:45 PM War Pigs - 2D (12+)Action | War Cast : Luke Goss, Dolph LundgrenTimings : 5:25, 11:45 PM Patthu Endrathukulla - 2D (T) (PG12) Action Cast : Vikram , Samantha 12:00, 9:00 PM The Last Witch Hunter - 2D (PG12) Action Cast: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood 12:15, 2:30, 4:35, 9:30, 11:45 PM The Little Prince - 3D (PG) Animation Voice Overs: Rachel McAdams 2:45, 4:45 PM Infinitely Polar Bear - 2D (PG12) Comedy Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana 3:30, 7:15 PM Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension - 3D (15+) Horror Cast : Chris J. Murray, Brit Shaw, Ivy George 6:45, 11:30 PM

RUWI Screen 1 Shandaar 2D (Romance| Comedy) PG Cast : Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant 7.30, 10.30 PM Screen 2 Pathu Enrathukulla (PG12) Cast: Vikram, Samantha, Jackie Shroff 7.45 PM Jazbaa (Action / Drama ) – 12+ Cast : Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Irrfan Khan 10.30 PM Screen 3

Shandaar - 2D (PG) Romance| Comedy Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant 11:45 AM, 2:30, 5:15, 8:00, 10:45 PM Ennu Ninte Moideen - 2D (M) (PG12) Romantic | Thriller Cast : Prithviraj Sukumaran, Parvathi Menon 12:00, 8:30 PM BURAIMI The Last Witch Hunter – 2D (Action, Adventure, Fantasy) (PG12) Cast: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood 3:00, 4:45, 9:45, 11:45PM Soldier of the Damend – 2D (Action, Horror, Thriller) (15+) Cast: Gil Darnell, Miriam Cooke, Lucas Hansen 5:00, 9:50, 11:45PM Kung Fu Jungle – 2D (Action, Thriller) (12+) 2:45, 6:30PM Cast: Donnie Yen, Charlie Yeung, Baoqiang Wang Shandaar– 2D (Romance, Comedy) (PG) Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant 3:45, 7:00, 11:30PM Ennu Ninte Moideen – 2D (Romantic | Thriller) (PG12)

TO MUSCAT (RUWI) Arrival Operating time days

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Ennu Ninte Moideen (Mal) (Drama) Cast: Prithviraj, Parvathi Menon,Bala & Lena 3-00, 6-30 & 10-00 Pm Cinema Main 10 Endrathu Kulla (Tamil) (Act ) Cast : Vikram, Samantha & Jackie Sherof 3-30, 6-30 & 9-30 Pm Cinema -2; 9-45 Cinema -3 Brucelee The Fighter (Telugu) (Act) Cast: Ramcharan, Rakul Preet Singh & Bramanandam 3-45, 6-45 Pm Cinema-3 Shaandaar (Hindi) (Rom) Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Ali Bhatt 3-45, 6-45 & 9-45 Pm At Cinema -4

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WITH LOVE

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

Paranormal Activity:The Ghost Dimension (Horror) Cast: Chris J Murray, Britshaw, Ivy George 6.00 & 11.55 pm CP No: 2815 (15+) The Last Witch Hunter (Action /Adventure/ Fantacy) Cast: Vin Diesel,Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood 2.00, 8.00, 10.00 & 11.55 pm CP No: 2816 (PG12) Breaking Through (Drama /Music) Cast: Julie Warner, Robert Roldan, Jordan Rodrigues 2.00, 4.00 & 10.00 pm CP No: 2817 (12+) Shaandaar (Comedy/Drama /Romance) Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant 4.00 & 7.00 pm CP No: 2818 (PG)

SALALAH The Martian (3D) (PG) (Action//Sci-Fi) Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain 4:45PM The Last Witch Hunter (2D) (PG12) (Action) Cast: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood 11:15AM, 2:30, 4:30, 9:15, 11:30PM Breaking Through (2D) (12+) (Drama/Music) Cast: Sophia Aguiar, Jordan Rodrigues 12:45, 4:35PM The Little Prince (3D) (PG) (Adventure) 10:30AM, 12:30PM Infinitely Polar Bear (2D) (PG12) (Comedy) Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana 2:45PM War Pigs (2D)(12+) (Action/War) 11:00AM, 6:45PM Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (3D)(15+) (Horror) 1:15, 3:00, 7:20, 11:45PM Shandaar (2D) (PG) (Romance/Comedy) Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant 9:00, 11:35PM Patthu Endrathukulla (2D) (PG12) (Tamil) Cast: Vikram, Samantha 6:30PM Ennu Ninte Moideen (2D) (PG12) (Mal) 8:35PM (Romantic)

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

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)

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

SUR The Last Witch Hunter (Action) (PG12) Cast: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood 2:45, 4:45, 11:45 PM Soldier of the Damned (Action | Horror | Thriller) (15+) Cast: Gil Darnell, Miriam Cooke, Lucas Hansen 3:00, 6:50, 9:55 PM War Pigs (Action | War) (12+) Cast: Dolph Lundgren, Luke Goss, Chuck Liddell 5:00 PM Shandaar (Hindi) (Romance | Comedy) (PG) Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kumud Pant 12:15, 8:45, 11:30 PM Ennu Ninte Moideen (Mal) (Romance | Thriller) (PG12) Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Parvathi Menon, Saikumar 12:00, 06:45 PM

Patthu Endrathukulla - 2D (T) (PG12) Action Cast : Vikram, Samantha Timing : 12:00, 9:00 PM

Talvar (Mystery/Thriller) – PG12 Cast: Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Tabu 7.45, 10.15 PM

BAHJA CINEMA

Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Parvathi Menon 6:45, 8:30PM

CITY CINEMA Contact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68. www.citycinemaoman.net facebook.com/citycinemaoman

Destination

11.56pm 3.13pm 5.39pm 6.50pm 4.52am

CHILDREN BELOW THE AGE OF 3 YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE CINEMA | BOX-OFFICE COUNTER OPENS 30-MINUTES PRIOR TO THE SCREENING OF THE FIRST SHOW

@SHATTI

Dept time

Dhuhr Asr Maghrib Isha Fajr (Tomorrow)

Daily Daily Daily

Afghanistan Algeria Bahrain Bangladesh Brazil Brunei China Cyprus Egypt France Germany India Indonesia Iran Iraq Italy Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya South Korea Kuwait

24698 791/4 24605 593 24 605 074/133 24 698 660 24640100 24 603533 24 696782 24 699815 24 600 982/411 24681 800 24835000 24684500 2469 1050 24 696 944/7 24603642 24693727 24 601 028 24692760/1/3 24 692418 24 697664 24 691490 24 699628

Lebanon Libya Malaysia Morocco Nepal Netherlands Pakistan Palestine Philippines Qatar Russia Saudi Arabia Senegal Somalia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Switzerland Syria Tanzania Thailand Tunisia Turkey UAE United Kingdom United States Yemen

24 693208 24603466 24698329/643 24696152/3 24696177 24603706 24603439 24601312 24605335 24 691 153/2/4 24602894 24601705 24694139 24697977 24647300 24691101 24697841/2 24697875 24603267 24697904 24601 174 24 602684/5 24603486 24697050/1/2 24400000 24609000 24643400 24600815

PHARMACIES Round the clock Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi 24783334

Apollo Medical Centre, Hamriya Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi Salalah Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra Muscat Region Apollo, Al Hamriya Muscat, A Seeb Market Muscat, Al Khuwair Muscat, Al Hail South Dhofar Region Muscat, Al Nahdha Road, Salalah

24782666 24702542 23291635; 24503585 24787766 24421691 24485740 24537080

23291635

HOSPITALS Al Amal Medical & Health Care Centre 24485052 Atlas Hospital Ruwi 24811743/ Ghubra 24504000 Al Musafir Specialised Medical Clinic 24706453 Hatat Polyclinic LLC, Ruwi 24563641 Azaiba 24499269 Sohar 2683006 Al Raffah Hospital 24618900/1/2 Al Massaraat Clinic & Laboratory 24566435 Al Makook Medical Coordinance Centre 24499434 Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24787766, 24787780 Capital Polyclinic 24707549 Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic, Ruwi 24799760/1/2 Capital Clinic, Seeb 24420740 Ceregem National Raak 24485633 Dr Harub’s Clinic 24563217 Elixir Health Centre 24565802 Emirates Medical Centre 24604540 1st Chiropractic Centre 24472274 Hamdan Hospital 23212340 International Medical Centre LLC 24794501/2/3/4/5 Kims Oman Hospital 24760100 24 Hrs Emergency 24760123 Lama Polyclinic, Sohar 26751128 MBD 24799077 Al Khuwair 24478818 Magrabi Eye and Ear Hospital 24568870 Muscat Private Hospital 24583600 Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, Al Khuwair 24477666 Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC 22004000 AIRLINE OFFICES Muscat Airport Flight information (24 hours) 24519456/24519223 Aeroflot 24704455 Air Arabia 24700828 Air France 24562153 Air India 24799801

Air New Zealand 24700732 Biman Bangladesh Airlines 24701128 British Airways 24568777 Cathay Pacific 24789818 Egypt Air 24794113 Emirates Air 24404400 Ethiopian Airlines 24660313 Gulf Air 80072424 Indian 24791914 Iran Air 24787423 Japan Airlines 24704455 Jazeera Airways 23294848 Jet Airways 24787248 Kenya Airways 24660300 KML Royal Dutch Airlines 24566737 Kuwait Airways 24701262 LOT Polish Airlines 24796387 Lufthansa 24796692 Malaysian Airlines 24560796 Middle East Airlines 24796680 Oman Air 24531111 Pakistan International Airlines 24792471 Qatar Airways 24771900 Qantas 24559941 Royal Jordanian 24796693 Saudi Arabian Airlines 24789485 Singapore Airlines 24791233 Shaheen Air 24816565 SriLankan Airlines 24784545 Swiss International Airlines 24796692 Thai Airways 24705934

SAT URDAY, O CTO BER 24, 2015

B7

LIFESTYLE STORY TIME

By Swati Dasgupta

T

he early morning call disturbed Mrs Iyer. It was a call from her sister who told her about her ailing brother. Mrs Iyer’s younger brother recently had a surgery and was under treatment for quite some time. She just heard from her sister that some complications had arisen and he had to be taken back to the hospital.

Mrs Iyer was feeling miserable for her dear brother. She knew it was time to lend mental support to his family but she was so far away.

And most of all she had to take care of Jia. How could she leave her and go! She could also not take her along as her exams were on.

Mrs Iyer was thinking hard when the doorbell rang. “It must be Ramiya,” she thought. Ramiya was the house help in their house who came every morning to help Mrs Iyer do the household work. Ramiya was a sweet middle-aged woman who took care of Jia and her aunt extremely well.

“What happened madam, you look worried,” Ramiya asked while entering the kitchen. Mrs Iyer told Ramiya about her brother’s ill health that caused her the problems.

“But why don’t you go madam?” she asked. Mrs Iyer replied: “Wish I could go Ramiya but Jia’s exams are on. She cannot miss them and

Listen to your heart there is nobody here with whom I can leave her.”

Ramiya thought for a while and soon got busy with her work.

Ramiya stayed with her husband and 15-year-old son few kilometres away and she was working in Mrs Iyer’s house for quite some time.

Mrs Iyer went to knock at Jia’s bedroom door to remind her to get ready for school.

Suddenly Ramiya called. “Madam, I have an idea,” her eyes brightened up as she continued.

“You pay a visit to your brother. I will come and take care of Jia,” she added with a smile.

“You?” Mrs Iyer exclaimed. She wasn’t prepared for such a proposal.

It was true Ramiya was a responsible and caring woman but she also had her own family to take care of.

How could she leave them?

Before she could ask Ramiya anything she gave a full explanation: “Don’t worry madam! My son is big enough to take care of himself. And moreover it’s a matter of few days only. You must go and meet your brother. He will be very happy.”

Mrs Iyer thanked Ramiya for her concern and was amazed to find her so helpful. Without worrying further she went on to do her bookings.

Jia hugged her aunt as she left for the airport. Jia knew she would miss her aunt a lot but being a responsi-

ble girl she understood that it was essential for her to go and see her brother. The next morning Jia got up on time and soon got ready for school. Since her exams were on she was working very hard for a good grade. Jia nibbled on the toast and somehow gulped half a glass of milk when Ramiya came running from the kitchen.

“Jia, please have your breakfast properly. Your exams are going on and you should take good care of your health,” Ramiya said with concern in her voice.

Jia smiled seeing Ramiya’s concern. She was an affectionate wom-

an and Jia liked her a lot. “Don’t worry Ramiya aunty! I am perfectly ok,” saying this she drank the leftover milk in the glass.

Ramiya hurriedly packed her lunch and Jia soon left for school.

Two days passed. Jia got busy with her exams and Ramiya took great care of her. From dawn to dusk she took utmost care of Jia. One day while Jia was rushing for school she saw Ramiya looking pale and tired. “What’s the matter Ramiya aunty,” she asked. “Nothing dear, just a mild temperature,” Ramiya said feebly.

Jia touched Ramiya’s forehead

and she was burning. “Aunty, you have high fever. You must go to the doctor,” she said.

“It’s ok my dear. I will manage.

You go to school or else you will miss your exams,” she said.

Jia had almost reached the door when she thought deeply. “What if Ramiya aunty’s condition becomes worse than this? What if she faints while I am at school? Should I take her to the doctor? What will happen to my Geography test? ” These thoughts disturbed Jia but it also helped her make up her mind.

Jia’s conscience didn’t let her leave a sick person at home and she lis-

tened to her heart. She dropped her bag on the sofa and searched the phone number book to find out the doctor’s number.

Dr Edward knew them well and Jia was sure he would help them in such a situation.

“Doctor uncle, this is Jia. There is a crisis here at home. Could you please help,” she pleaded.

Jia explained the whole scenario to the doctor in one breath. Dr Edward soon rushed to their home.

Ramiya lay on the bed burning with high temperature. The doctor carefully examined her and gave some antibiotics. He also gave an injection. Jia stood in one corner of the room and watched in anxiety. Dr Edward looked at Jia and said, “Don’t worry, she will be fine.”

Suddenly the doorbell rang. Jia was taken aback to see her aunty.

She went on to hug her. Mrs Iyer was equally surprised to see Dr Edward at home. “I came back earlier as my brother is fine now. But what brings you here doctor?’ she asked.

Dr Edward told Mrs Iyer all that had happened during her absence.

“Your niece is a brave little girl with a big heart. She missed her exams so that Ramiya could be treated. God bless her!”

Mrs Iyer’s eyes moistened hearing this. Indeed her niece had a kind heart. - swati@timesofoman.com

Tea time KEEP SAFE

by Isidore

Questions & Answers It’s better not to argue with...

Me, the great

One thing that puts me off...

Lots of mathematics homework

When I’m in doubt...

I do a wild guess

If I win a lottery...

I would give a part of it to needy people

I go crazy when...

I hear someone singing off key One movie/book I can watch/ read over and over again...

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE

Crossword Puzzle The scariest thing that I have done...

To break my mother’s favourite LED TV

If I met an alien I would...

Ask him about his appetite

ACROSS

If I could go back in history, I would like to meet...

The brave Shivaji and learn fighting skills from him One skill I would like to learn...

Acrobatics

If I have to describe myself as a flavour it would be...

Sweet Butterscotch

ABHIJIT PRASAD NAIR

If I had treasures I would hide them...

I don’t like breaking a suspense

One person I would trade places with (real or ficitional) Jeff Kinney

The best way to my heart is...

By being sincere, honest and of course humorous

Send your contributions to lifestyle@timesofoman.com. A good quality photo is compulsory. Lifestyle reserves the right to publish the contributions.

DOWN

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 16

Mongolian desert Thor’s father Emcee – Parks Physicist Nikola — Eur. country Gaelic pop star Coral formation Mist Feeling lousy — -tzu (“Tao” author) Cease Prevent

20 Aunt or bro.

22 Comanche neighbours 24 “The Mammoth Hunters” heroine 25 Canal site 26 Failing that 27 Ms. Paquin 28 Fair grades 29 Kitty’s cry 31 Lemony drink 32 Meryl, in “Out of Africa”

36 38 41 43 45 46 48 49 50 51 52 53 55

Thieves’ jargon Literary miscellany Desert dwellers Making do 66 and I-70 Toward sunrise In a proper manner Land measure Had down pat — Beta Kappa Went first Previous to Balance-sheet guru

1 4 8 12 13 14 15 17 18 19 21 23 27 30 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 42 44 47 51 54 56 57 58 59 60 61

Swabbie Grandstand level Loathsome “— to Billie Joe” Flying piscivore Paton or Thicke Kind of view (hyph.)

Galumph Chip maker Dated hairdo Letter after sigma Delete Zenith Plane part “Westworld” name — -do-well Mag execs Tavern brews Opposite of “paleo” Perplexed Bring down the house Lake Nasser’s dam Tapped item Like hen’s teeth Early camera Cop a — The silent type Dagwood’s neighbour Cable channel Sheltered side “Et tu” time Antler bearer Deviate, as a rocket

B8

S ATUR DAY, O CTOBER 24, 2 015

LIFESTYLE

Children up to the age of 15 who would like to have their art considered for inclusion in “Art for the Ages” can e-mail their drawings or paintings (in jpeg or tiff format) to lifestyle@timesofoman.com

Art for the Ages

Children’s Poetry

Dawn has approached Kavishka Visuddika Grade VI Indian School Nizwa

Aleena Fatima, Grade 2, ISAM

Saleha Samreen, Grade 3, ISM

Mitul Shanbhag, Grade 2, ISM

Dawn has approached Starting with a beautiful day, The beautiful world and its glowing flowers Engraved on the Earth.

The sunlight falls on the whole world.

The chirping birds and the sweet morning dew, The military air force, navy and the armies are ready The troops of brave soldiers march, Ready for a battle.

Dawn has approached Along with peace and harmony.

The Moon

Sai Niveditha, Grade 5, ISM

Sugam Raj Singh Grade VII Indian School Wadi Kabir The moon shines at night, When there is no sign of light.

It appears and disappears, With a period of time.

It gives a little light, To show the beauty of sky at night.

It reflects the light Till the first ray of sunlight.

It disappears in the morn, When the cock crows its horn.

Kashyab Jayaram, Grade 4, ISAS

Sudoku How to play Fill empty cells with the numbers 1 to 9, so that each number appears once in each row, column and area.

SOLUTION Answer to previous puzzle

Karthik Jayaram, Grade 7, ISAS

Pranav, Grade 3, Modern Intl School

Send your contributions for Children’s Poetry to lifestyle@timesofoman.com

Teleword All the words below appear in the puzzle - horizontally, vertically, diagonally, even backward. Find them and circle their letters.

The leftover word spells the Teleword.

D I V A D I S C U S S I O N P

T E S T I M O N Y M E R C E R

S E T S R O T U C E S O R P F

CLUE: NANCY GRACE

L T L A U U Q C A S E S E A T

I A A E N E O U A H O J C S E

T B E T V O S C E N U T O T T

I E L P E I I T A S S H R U A

G A D M I Z S M P S M A S E N I T I L B T E W I D E D Y N O

T I A I N N C N O P O G O R I

I O S S B E A L I W E H C K O R T H N S O Y W C A U N L S S

N I T C T S N O I T I S O P A

R O H C N A J V S M A C O N P

H N O I T N E T T A E G D U J

SOLUTION: 6 LETTERS

Anchor, Answers, Appeal, Attention, Books, Cases, Claims, Court, Crime, David, Debate, Discussion, Elizabeth, Facts, Host, Hotline, Issues, John, Judge, Justice, Legal, Linch, Litigation, Lucy, Macon, Mercer, Mission, Opinionated, Passionate, Persona, Position, Prosecutor, Questions, Record, Statements, Study, Television, Testimony, Twins.

Answer: TV Show

C

W W W.T I M E S O F O M A N . C O M S AT U R DAY, O C T O B E R 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

SECTION

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

RENT

C2

VACANCY

C4

CARGO

C6

FLATS FOR RENT • Spacious 3 Bedroom flats at Rex Road, with Split a/c’s & ample Parking facility.

• 3BR flats at Qurum.

• Brand new 3BR flats at Bowsher with Split a/c’s.

• Brand new 2BR flats at Bowsher with Split a/c’s.

• 2BR flats at Al Khuwair (near Badr Al Sama).

• 2BR flats at Azaiba (next to MHD Showroom).

• 1BR flats at Al Khuwair & Ghala.

• Studio type of flats at Rex Road, Al Felaj, Wadikabir.

RENT: NEAR AL FALAJ HOTEL : DELUXE 1 B H K with 2 bath rooms, built in wardrobe, security & split a/c with furnished & without furnished.

Wattayah- Honda S/R-Back side : DELUXE 2 B H K with 3 bathrooms-built in wardrobe, split a/c ,security .

Contact: 990 49 722

C2

S AT U R D AY, O C T O B E R 2 4 , 2 0 1 5 Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.com Tel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DAILY GUIDE FOR RENT

FOR SALE Restaurant for sale lease running restaurant, opp. Mars Wadi Kabir 7 visa. Contact: 93334685 Shop for sale North Al Hail near Zam Zam Hyper market. Contact: 99618161 / 94422131/ 96557131

02 BHK commercial / residential (with split AC) Flat at Honda road.

Contac: 99342733 / 99795241

Furnished room for rent at Al Khuwair R.O 225/- for family only.

Contact: 99251975

02 BHK residential flat opposite to Al Nadha Hospital. Contact: 99342733 / 99795241

For rent one bedroom Majlis, 2 toilets, kitchen, balcony Greater Muttrah near Muscat Electricity distribution new building rent R.O 230/-. Contact: 99243059

1000sqm industrial and with compound well & two rooms at Misfah.

Contact: 99342733 / 99795241

Flats and shops for rent in Ruwi, MBD Mumtaz area. Contact : 97293708 / 92433127

Readymade office space for rent (100sm) in Bank Melli Iran building, MBA area, Ruwi, opposite Center Point. Contact: 99011352 Shop / store for rent about 250 sq mtrs area in the heart of Ruwi City good for restaurant, store or general sale. Contact 99326639 Flat for rent in Al Hail 5 floor building 1bedroom R.O 180/-, 2 bedroom R.O 260/- Mabela, 3 bedroom R.O 280/- near Nesto Hyper market.

Contact: 99614346 Large room private toilet small kitchen, Electricity water lnclusive monthly RO 180/-, opp. Qurum Park.

Contact Hassan: 99349990 Private room with toilet, electricity water lnclusive opp Qurum Park monthly RO 130/-. Contact: 99349990 2BHK flat + AC Amerat 6 km from Amerat police. Contact: 95521432 600 SQT Commercial flat for rent opposite Oman flourmill Darsait more details please Contact: 91214849/ 95729711 Deluxe 3 BHK Penthouse with Seaview, ideal for office / residence at Qurum near PDO. #9772 1313

1000 sq mtrs industrial land in Ghala suitable for ware house, work shop etc. Contact : 24700120 / 92584715 New buildings commercial / residential in Muttrah both will BE rented out for one company only for more details. Contact: 99364735/95729711 Villa at Al Khuwair having six bedrooms, six bathrooms, sitting, dinning, hall, kitchen . Contact 24833972/24833974/ 99367448 Single BHK flat available in Honda road Ruwi Contact 24833972/24833974/99367448 Flat 2bedrooms, 2 toilets, kitchen and sitting room in Al Ansab.

Contact: 95302993 / 95216161 Office/Shop 28 SQM, Wadikhabeer, Contact 93004902 2BHK with Split Unit A/C , Wadikhabeer near Indian School, 99441193, 93004802

3 BHK Penthouse Flat with Split A/Cs, Free Unlimited Broadband WiFi, Security access system, Pvt. Terrace & Secured car park, Opposite Kims Hospital Al Falaj, Monthly Rent: 625/-.

Contact: 99657906 or 24702141 Deluxe beach front villa at Al Hail North with 5 bedrooms and Staff quarter having excellent finishes is available for immediate occupation.

Contact: 93888666 / 244493666 / 99228454 Deluxe, spacious & air conditioned two bedroom flats with good quality finishes, wardrobes & secured basement parking are available for rent in Azaiba North, close to 18th November Street. Contact: 93888666 / 24493666/ 99228454 Air conditioned two bedroom flats centrally located at Al Khuwair are available for rent. Contact: 93888666 / 24493666 / 99228454 2 rooms, bath room & kitchen OR. 175/- & 2 B.H.K OR. 250/- Wadi Kabir near Sana. Contact: 95094028 2BHK with Split Units , WadiKhabeer, 93004802.

Flat for rent 2BHK Wadi Kabir near Kuwaiti Mosque. Contact: 97007934 / 92629232

Luxury apartments in Al Khoud 3, composed of clean – conditioned room, lounge and toilet, kitchen and store. Contact 93366421

Brand new residential flats in Wadi Kabir near Muscat football club, have 2 bedroom family hall, 2 toilets, Kitchen with spilt AC for 250/- R.O. Contact: 95999904 / 98585889 / 92383886

Al Mawalh villa for rent 17 bedrooms, all attached toilet, 2 big hall, 1 big kitchen, outside 1 kitchen 1 PVT room near (Mac Donald). Contact: 99654252 / 95566475

2bed room villa in Sidab, 2 Bedroom villa in Wadi Kabeer. Contact : 95755953 / 95555162

2bedroom centrally air conditioned flat at CBD. contact 24714625 / 94460790

Furnished flat for rent, 3 rooms with attached bathroom, 1 dining room, 1 sitting room, 1 kitchen at Al Hail South. Contact 99835995

Flats in Wadi Kabir. contact 99376454

600 SQT commercial flat for rent opposite Oman flourmill Darsait more details.#91214849/ 99364735 New flats for rent At Darsait near to Ministry of Sports, Mumtaz area the flats includes1 living room, 2 bedrooms, Kitchen, 3 toilets, every rooms with split A/C, high quality finishing, rent RO 340 /-.

Contact: 00968 92225523 Fully furnished, 2 bedroom luxury flat for rent at Ghala for short or long term basis. # 91786526 / 99881653 1&2 BHK flat for rent at MBD Hamriya, Al Khoud, Mabela and shop at Al Khoud. Contact: 24834644 / GSM: 93994401/02/03, 3 lines 2 bedrooms flat with hall, 2 bathrooms in Darsait near Muscat Municipality. # 92584715 / 24700120

1BHK flat spilt with A/C Al Khuwair, 230/-. contact 99358589 / 95570288 Ware house space for rent at Ghala and Barka up to 20000/- Sqm. Contact: 99509460 / 93731363 1, 2 BHK in Azaiba. Contact: 99385835 / 99428143 1BHK flats available for rent in CBD area. Contact: 98116480 1 & 2 bedroom flats available for rent in wadi-kabir (opp: pencil bldg), ideal for company staff / families bulk corporate deal possible.

Contact: 97677170

FOR SALE Used supermarket shelvings Gadolas. Contact: 96441670

Expat leaving, house hold Items for sale W. machine, A/C, furniture.

Contact: 90320430 A reputed Muscat based logistics company owned & well maintained MAN prime mover (2011) & Trailer (40 ton) available for sale. model year 2011. Done (730000) kms and in excellent condition. For buying enquiry & inspection of the vehicle, please call Mr. Hamed Al Brashdi on 92829030 on or before 3 PM of 25th Oct’ 15.

Attention to wholesalers, retailers & manufacturers. We can Sell/Buy your dead stock. Contact : 99742983, 95226989 Split A/C -2, Window A/C- 25, Iron cot- 120, cupboard - 130, water cooler - 2, Gas big - 2, small-3 , Grinder-1 , Chapatti tava-1 , stove-2, kitchen equipment etc .

Contact: 99328223 Homegym with cross trainer for sale. Contact 95367937 Comm. & Res land in the heart of Ruwi 2400 sq mtr for sale.

Contact : 91155779 Comm. & Res land in Darsait, opp.

Pakistani School, 900 sq mtr for sale.

Contact: 91155779 Used Fabrication machinery for sale : Fabrication machinery and tools in excellent condition for immediate sale. Contact 94652485/ 99273774/ 99202278 Comm. & res. land for investment for 25 years in Ghala heights.

Contact: 91155779

S AT U R DAY, O C T O B E R 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

C3

DAILY GUIDE

Running furniture showroom for urgent sale.

Ladies beauty parlor sale at Muttrah.

Contact - 91135930 FOR SALE

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text,

Comm. & Res land in Ghala heights 400 sq mtr for sale. contact 91155779 Beauty parlour in Mobela for sale.

Contact: 96131261 For sale land in Amerat 3000 Sq.mt with petrol pump permission.

Contact 99323957 / 92702891

ACC. AVAILABLE Fully furnished office space in As Assalah Tower Ghobra.#98202001 Independent rooms in Qurum /AL Hail. Contact 95529970 Furnished room available hall, Kitchen, toilet, rent RO 100/- in Muttrah Corniche. Contact: 99514035 Furnished room with attached bathroom separate balcony MBD area available for couple or Executive bachelor. Contact: 96275098 Furnished room available in Ruwi.

Contact: 99740622 Sharing accommodation available in Bausher with split AC. Contact: 99223261

should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

ACC. WANTED 4-5 bedrooms villa with / without swimming pool in Wave / Madinat Qaboos / Al Shatti area. Contact: 91396909

AVAILABLE Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirting, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery, Crockery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes, Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound Systems and spectacular lighting. Call Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering and Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound & Light. ww.tunesoman.com, E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

SITUATION WANTBUSINESS ED

Sharing accommodation available: Bedroom with attached bathroom for Indian executive bachelors.

97704794 Furnished single rooms available for Executive bachelors at Ruwi.

Contact : 93431089 Furnished master b.room with attached bath ,and Furnished room with sharing bathroom fully equipped kitchen immediately available in N. Azaiba. 95450250 Semi furnished two Bed room flat immediately available in N.Azaiba .Contact -95450250 Furnished room for rent Indian family near Honda road. #99016546 Single room attached bath S/ kitchen at Mumtaz area.

Contact: 95212017 / 96916398 Room for Rent Alkhuwair - Behind Al Aktham Restaurant. 120 RO. With elec. and water.For executive bachelors only. Contact : 98803261 Flat for rent available in CBD near Costa Coffee. Mobile no.92820734 Private room with toilet near Qurum park incl. W& E, monthly RO 220/-.

Contact Hassan 99349990

INVESTORS in real estate needed to develop and construct a low cost housing and memorial/burial parks in the Philippines. Return of investment is very good due to big demands. Business partner is available to help you. Please email drjmd719@ gmail.com for details.

CLASSES

DRIVING

Sukhwinder Singh has lost Indian Passport No. M 6997005. Finder please handover to ROP Tushar kanti Nath Sunil Kantin Nath has lost Bangladeshi Passport No. AC 5881130. Finder please handover to ROP

Ph # 24480800 / 99347202

Soeflil Alam has lost Bangladeshi Passport No. AG 1016512. Finder please handover to ROP Ali Umar Zarin has lost Pakistani Passport No. HW 1790442. Finder please handover to ROP

COMPUTER

M.V.FOR SALE

BWM 320i 2006, 120K kms, black fully automatic engine interiors exteriors in excellent condition R.O 4200 (O.N.O). Contact: 92801633

LOST

IELTS & TOEFL Academic / General Target Band 8 TQT Institute.

Accommodation available for indian executive bachelor’s (no kitchen).RO:125 including water and electricitycontact 98145825, 98949724

Toyota YARIS. Model 2008. KM 70000 Expat driven, All services at Toyota. Very clean. Rate: 2750. Contact 99445675.

CHANGE OF NAME

NRI Architect designed 5000 Square feet exquisite Villa in 16 cents of land at a scenic location on Aakkulam Road, Ulloor, Trivandrum for sale. Contact +968 95372011

GOOD NEWS LOST Chandran Mookkaiah has lost Indian Passport No. M 6997002. Finder please handover to ROP

Kutchhi coffee shop, pure Veg available, Mandvi Kutch Dabeli, Chappati, puri Bhaji, Vada Pav, Farari Kachori, many more, next to Lulu Wadi Kabor Souq Al Juma, shop #3. Contact Udit – 94460286, Kishore – 99437869

I Mohammad Rashid Shabbir Ahmed Ansari (holder of Indian passport No. F 8468948) Son of Shabbir Ahmed Jumai having permanent residence in Plot No: 37/N/2, Road No: 12, Shivaji Nagar No: 2 (Baiganwadi) Govandi, Mumbai 400 043 (complete postal address in India) and presently residing in Seeb, Sultanate of Oman (complete postal address in Oman) intend to change my name from Mohammad Rashid Shabbir Ahmed (old name) to Mohammad Rashid Shabbir Ahmed Ansari (new name) for all practical purposes. Any objection towards my name change may please be communicated to Embassy of India, Muscat, Diplomatic Quarters, Al Khuwair, P. Box No, 1727, Postal Code 112, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman.

GOOD NEWS Genuine Ayurvedic treatments & massage, Ayurvedic clinic at Al Khuwair. Contact: 24478618 / 97263637 / 93309131 Ayurvedic treatment for backache, paralysis, arthritis etc & massage, All Season (Vaidyaratnam). Contact 24475280 / 95371664 / 92504980 www.siddhayur.com

I Krushaben Shah (holder of Indian Passport No. L 0074726) daughter of Kamlesh Shah having permanent residence in Ambaji Road, Mandvi Surat DT 394160 ( complete postal address in India) and presently residing in Ruwi. PO Box No. 2429 PC 112, Oman (complete postal address in Oman) intend to change my name from Krushaben Shah (old name) to Krusha Kamlesh (given name) Shah (Sur name) (new name) for all practical purpose. Any objection towards my name change may please be communicated to Embassy of India, Muscat, Diplomatic Quarters, Al Khuwair, P. Box No. 1727, Postal Code 112, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman.

MATRIMONIAL Seeking alliance for our son from Muslim families. Interested families Contact: 99889590

GOOD NEWS FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know more about Islam, please call: 99425598, 99250777, 99353988, 99253818, 99341395, and 99379133.

For ladies: 99415818, 99321360, 99730723 Orvisit:www.islamfact.com

C4

S AT U R D AY, O C T O B E R 2 4 , 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 A LEADING CLEANING COMPANY IN OMAN REQUIRE THE FOLLOWING STAFF 1.MANAGERS 2.SUPERVISORS 3.FOREMAN CANDIDATES MUST HAVE THE EXPERIENCE IN THE CLEANING INDUSTRY. SEND YOUR CVs TO hrdept191@yahoo.com Wanted urgently

Situation Vacant

A well known family in Oman urgently needed an experienced Indian female part time or full time Nursing Assistant to take care of their Mother recovering from stroke.

Star Hotel looking for a well experienced Indian Chef / South Indian with minimum 3 yrs experience.

Contact 99717791 or 94084335

Email : albalushi@hotmail.co.uk, mutrahhotel@googlemail.com Or Call: 96668830 / 24790951 / 24790952

ADMIN/ HR

ENGINEER/TECH/MECH

Urgently required for a Hotel / hotel apartments in Muscat: Receptionists (Omani) – male / female. Contact 97677211

ACCOUNTANT Urgently Required: Accountant cum Store Keeper- with 3 years experience in building construction, MUST have NOC and immediately join. Apply, fax 00968–24605955, emails sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com, sbeoman@yahoo.com.

Wanted Accountant. #94007259 Email: smylackal@gmail.com

CATERING Chinese/ Arab/ continental cook & helper wanted. Contact 95529970

DOMESTIC HELP Domestic helper for a family in Muscat. Must be able to cook Indian food & speak Hindi. Cleaning home laundry and accompanying children. Contact: 91396909

DRIVER Valid bike license (Oman), Driver required for reputed chain of restaurants in Muscat visa available.

Contact: 93798969 We required driver (L.M.V). Contact: 92392979 Urgently required one experienced House Driver to work in capital area. Contact: 93888666 / 24493666 / 99228454 Required heavy duty driver, preferably with good experience and communication skills. Contact: 91408759 Email: hanaa.alritaj@ gmail.com Required Indian driver with Omani driving license and experience to work in house. Contact : 96255558

EDUCATION Required teachers with B.Sc B.Ed BA B.Ed, Karate and art for Omani Pvt. School. Contact : 95141554 / 95825772 Post Graduate researcher required.

Contact 99229700

ENGINEER/TECH/MECH Required urgently Structural Mechanical Engineer having more than 5 years of experience with GCC driver license for a reputed fabrication company in Barka. Contact: 94144901 Leading construction company requires experienced Site Engineer and QA/QC Engineer for residential/ commercial project. Require NOC. Send your CV : degree.engineer2015@gmail.com Urgently required Civil Engineer, Diploma holder with experience.

Contact: 95766844 Urgently required for a leading Company Planning engineer. Fax : 24478522, Email : gh1.careers@ gmail.com Turning or Mechanical Engineer wanted to work in workshop if interested please call: 96996884 / 98021385 / 99745330/ 95179003

Experienced construction Civil Engineer with qualification (attested) certificates & with Omani driving license.

Contact: slayhawk@yahoo.com Aluminum Foreman – with minimum 5 years experience in aluminium fabrication, MUST have NOC and immediately join. Apply, fax 00968–24605955, emails sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com, sbeoman@yahoo.com.

Urgently Required: Mechanical Engineer for a steel fabrication welding workshop 10 yrs exp he should know how to design drawing with auto cad estimate & quotation he must have exp to supervise job of workshop & sites. Contact: 97130671 Required foreman for a steel welding workshop 10 yrs exp.

Contact :97130671

MEDICAL Required female Nurse with MOH license for a private a private clinic in Bowsher area, Muscat. Contact: 92189807 Female Lab Technician required urgently for Sohar International Medical Centre-reasonable salary and furnished accommodation -email: muttaheraziz@yahoo.com ; sohar.imc@gmail.com / tel:91304511 / 92369417 /93342567 New private clinic looking for GP Doctor & OBS & GYNK Doctor & staff Nurse with MOH license in Oman.

Contact: 97882811 Required MOH licensed Laboratory Technician for a reputed Medical center at Azaiba ready to join by 1st Jan 16. Please contact any time: 92724345 evening only: 99676812

MANAGER A newly started travel agency in Ruwi requires a Manager. The candidate should have 5-7 years experience with excellent communication skills and a valid Omani driving license. Interested candidates , please send CV to manager4travels@gmail. com, within 15 days from the date of this advertisement

MISC Storekeeper Required Urgently – Any Graduate with 2-3 years experience in similar field with good knowledge of MS Office, Age: 23-28 years can apply to tclsales@teejan. com A well reputed profile sheet & Purlin manufacturing company urgently requires following personals with valid Oman driving license, Factory Manager, Accountant, Sales Executive. Send your CV to applymd2015@gmail.com

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

Required cleaner for restaurant at Ruwi. Labor clearance available.

Release letter required. Call immediately- 92836495 Need car mechanics for workshop.

Contact 99157377 Required cleaner/helper for restaurant at Ruwi high street. labour clearance ready. Contact 92836495

A LEADING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT COMPANY REQUIRE THE FOLLOWING STAFF 1.ASST. MANAGERS - OPERATIONS * AGE: BETWEEN 35 TO 45 * QUALIFICATION: DEGREE IN ANY BRANCH OF ENGINEERING * Experience: Not required 2.SENIOR ACCOUNTANT * AGE: BETWEEN 35 TO 45 * QUALIFICATION: INTER. CA/ ICWA

SEND YOUR CVs TO hr@alyafeigroup.com Urgently Required Philippino sales Lady for a boutique in Muscat. Salary best available in market

Contact: +968 99250595 Mail CV: tc.subi@yahoo.com

With at least 8 years of experience in auditing.

Interested candidates may mail their CV’s to / abuosama1987@ yahoo.com

SALES / MARKETING

SITUATION WANTSIT. WANTED ED

A new lady’s fashion shop in shopping mall require Omani and Filipino sales lady. A new fast food shop in the same mall require Filipino cashier.

Please send CV to newbrandpanorama@gmail.com

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Urgently required Sales & Marketing Executives, carpenters and light duty drivers for a Muscat based kitchen company valid Omani D/L and experience in the related field are preferred. Contact: 92929906 Email: omansales2016@gmail.com Male/Female advertising and media sales executives required with valid driving license and minimum 1 year experience. Mail CV to blackandwhiteoman@gmail.com Sales man with 3- 5 years experience with driving license to work in insurance brokerage in Oman.

Contact: 93544244 Job opportunity in real estate company, with experience in Real Estate Management field. Send CV : careers@realestatesouq.com Require sales executive with experience in hydraulic hoses, crimping and services / building materials contact@absmct.com/92830110 Required urgently for sales of building materials, PPE & related products with driving license & 4+ yrs experience in this field. Email CV & expected package to salesforoman@gmail.com Urgently required: Sales Executive- with 5 years experience in aluminum and sales, MUST have NOC and immediately join. Apply, fax 00968–24605955, emails sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com, sbeoman@yahoo.com Required Sales Executive with corrugated cartons manufacturing background. Minimum 3+ years experience. Omani D/L is a must.

Please send CV to this email: corrugatedpackagingoman@gmail. com Urgently required Sales Executive with 2 years experience in electrical outdoor sales. Must have D/L and NOC. Contact: 91373200 Email: oman@sentorsupplies.com Sales & Marketing Executive for travel and tourism.

Contact: 92890506 A trading company in Muscat requires Sales Executive with minimum 1 yr experience & Oman driving license & welding machine / electronics / power tools technician with min. 1 year experience.

Email: jobs.trading2015@gmail.com Wanted Sales man (experienced in transporting etc). contact 94007259 Email: smylackal@gmail.com

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

Male Accountant 24 yrs, MBA (Finance & HR), DIFA certified having 2.9 yrs experience as Account assistant looking for suitable job, Currently on Visit Visa. Contact:95878661 E-mail: nazeelc@yahoo.com Fresher 24 years B.Com Graduate, Tally 7.2 & ERP-9, looking for a suit#Contact: 97219505 Accountant finance Indian male 24 years B.Com Tally ERP-9, 4 years working experience in India on visit visa seeks immediate and suitable placement. Contact: 95583953 / 96392009 Email: shafadmusthafa@ gmail.com

SITUATION WANTED ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Male accountant BSc Hons (Finance & Accounts) having 2 years experience in accounts, looking for suitable job on visit visa. Contact: 91420128 Accountant Indian male 6 years experience in Oman having driving license & NOC. Contact: 96012973 Indian male Accountant looking for a suitable placement in Salalah.

More than 20 years experience in accounting job (upto the finalization of accounts), 8 years working experience in Middle East in Dubai, Salalah.

Contact: 91325029 SENIOR ACCOUNTANT. 8 years experience. Noc Available. Oman driving License seeks suitable Opportunity. GSM- 98184170 CMA, three years experience 24, Indian on visit visa seeking accounts / Audit position. Contact: 96694516 Email: kalathiljoe@live.com Indian male 25 B.B.M Arabic, English, Hindi speaking 2 years experience in Accounting at Oman seeking suitable placement. Contact: 91266733 / 96392009 Email: safvank.k9@gmail.com Urgent Accountant (female India, 6+ years exp in tally ERP (latest), finalization of account, tax accounting, stock maintenance, payroll, ledger etc. Contact: 91551164 / 91175456 Accountant, B.Com, male, having 2 years Oman & 8 years Kerala experience in finalization of accounts, stock maintenance, payroll, tally ERP , MS Office etc. NOC in hand.

Contact: +917356273548 Email: shajumathew23@gmail.com ACCA member / B.Com looking for Accountants / auditing or relevant job on visit visa. Contact: 97769145 Accountant cum Sales Executive Indian male 29 yrs, 6 years experience in Oman presently on visit visa, Oman D/L, NOC available.

Contact: 95273713, Email: binadam399@gmail.com Male, 27 years work experience 3 years lost employment Administration Manager and Finance Executive education MBA and BBA finance C.G.P.A 3.71 Good hardworking professional. #99685330 Email: hussain_ca87@yahoo.com

Accountant Indian female having 5 years exp in finalization, audit and administration in GCC presently in Muscat seeking suitable position. Contact 97323574 Email: sreeja@236@gmail.com 10 yrs UAE experience fin. Controller looking for job change. Contact: 98006226 Accountant Indian male 10 years experience in Oman can do up to finalization and good knowledge of Tally ERP- 9 can be joined immediately with NOC. Contact: 94134085 Email: muscatoman95@yahoo.com Keralite lady (2 yrs experience in Oman) required job in Accounts. Contact: 97096918 Accountant, Indian female on visit visa degree: B.Com, exp 6+ years in tally ERP9 (latest), finalization of account, Tax, Accounting, Stock maintenance payroll etc. Contact: 91551164 /91175456 Email: mk-jothipriya@gmail.com Sri Lankan Male Accountant, Age 26, BBA Spl, CA Inter, Having more than 5 years’ Experience in accounting field seeking for Suitable Placement NOC Available Contact: 97250638 msmnaja@gmail.com Indian male with B.Com, MBA finance & marketing 14 yrs exp seeking suitable placement.

Contact : 0091 8697292219, Email : rejesh.nair@gmail.com Indian male 8 years experience having B.Com and MBA ready to work in HR customer service, Admin banking & related field.

Contact : 97436890 / 96939803.

Email: girimub@gmail.com

Chief Accountant, 12 years of Oman experienced looking for suitable placement. Contact: 99513082 Part time accountant, senior accountant, doing all type of accounting works, up to finalization. contact.95254864 SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, with 13yrs experience, 6 yrs Oman in manufacturing, trading & contracting Cos, capable of handling all accounting, finance, banking, L/C, import, export & finalization seeks placement. NOC Available. Call+968-98932752, mail:jjohnmuscat@hotmail.com Finance Manager, 12 years experience in leading Construction and manufacturing companies (9 years in Oman) have strategic vision and proven leadership ability. B.Com, CPA- USA & modern accounting certificate from “AUC”. “NOC” in hand. Contact: 97220505 Indian female 28 years M.Com, Accountant having 6 years experience in Accounts, finalization, Tally currently on visit visa.

Contact : 95595083 Email: merlinfernandes16@yahoo.in

ADMIN Indian female MBA , 3 Years experience in Admin MIS , family Visa. Contact 98234427, jkjsmith01@gmail.com 10 years Gulf & 4 years Oman experience in HR / Admin & logistics fluent in Arabic / English with D/L looking for suitable position.

Contact: 95824598

Indian lady, bachelor degree in Preparatory Programme (BPP) and Bachelor of Commerce (BCom), completed training course in MS Word, Excel, Power Point and Outlook from KTI looking for full time / part time job opportunity in Oman.

Contact 92437568, 96795853, Email: linda_navs@yahoo.com

Looking for job Admin / HR. Release available. #94229041

Accountant, Indian Male, 15 Years experience (8 Years in Oman with Driving License & NOC) Seeks suitable placement, Contact 94117616, 91238272 praveen78oman@gmail.com

Indian male, HR / Admin (MBA) Executive with 3 years experience (UAE , India) seeks suitable placement ready for immediate joining.

Contact: 90162412

Indian, Male having 8 years in purchase and admin furnishing / metal scrap On visit visa, available to join Immediately if selected – contact 00968- 96675184 , 97704828

S AT U R DAY, O C T O B E R 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

C5

DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED

ADMIN

Indian female, 30 yrs, Interior Designer

A BBA degree holder Man looking For suitable job #95864575

Bachelor degree with 5 yrs working experience seeking suitable placement in Oman.

HR/ Recruitment specialist with 8 years Oman experience in entire gamut of HR functions like resource planning, recruitment, HR policies & procedures performance appraisal, expatriate affairs, exit interviews & ticketing. Contact 93825307 Email: javthath@rediffmail.com

ARCHITECT Interior Designer; Post Graduate in Interior Design with Diploma in Journalism, 2 years work experience (1 year in UAE) in conceptualizing designs for residential/ commercial projects. Interested in taking up full-time, part-time or freelance projects in Oman. Contact no. 97897018 Email: nimimenon@ gmail.com Interior 3d designer, good knowledge in softwares. #93837973 Architect with bachelor degree 4 years experience in architectural design (interior & exterior) professional in (3D Max- Archicad AutoCAD - Photoshop). #96041201 Email: amer.yousfan@gmail.com

DRAUGHTSMAN Autocad d/man, exp in arch, interior 3d, photoshop. Contact : 93837973 Civil designer, Autocad, Diploma (3 yrs) Civil Engg, well exp PH : 92741929 Architectural & Structural Draughtsman 5 years experience.

Contact: 97312627

DRIVER Driver Bangladeshi, 26 years, 3 years experience U.A.E, 3 years experience Oman. Contact: 96737693 / 99463698 Driver looking For job 95154610 Light duty driver seeks placement.

Contact: 94435912 / 92439315 Light duty driver 8 years exp in U.A.E need visa Oman seeks placement.#96975028 / 95803184 Pakistani Driver wanted job, with 3 years experience. Contact: 94356465 Driver, 42 yrs, suitable job K.S.A 12 years Oman, 4 years release available. Contact: 93885404 Looking for driving job. Contact: 93650209 Light driver need job exp 4 years.

Contact: 94208089 Looking for driving job. Contact 98219182 Indian driver, 4 years experience in Oman with car looking for suitable job (NOC available). Contact: 93053917 Light duty driver looking for job, 2 yrs exp. Contact : 96342684 Driver seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 98134080 Indian Driver need job. #91254539 Light driver for job 5 yrs exp.

Contact: 92171166 Bangladeshi male driver, 48 yrs, exp 14 years, 9 years need job & visa, got release letter.#99165961

ENGG. / TECH./MECH. Jordanian Engineer in MECHANICAL & MANUFACTURING Good experience Sheet Metal Fabrication, AutoCad, Solidworks 3D, Storage Tanks & Silos, Sales - Speaking Arabic/English/Russian -GSM#90198575 / 99201710 Electrical Engineer (B.E) with 5 years experience (3 yrs in Gulf) NOC available. Contact: 92119851 Email: mayurdevadiga@gmail.com Resident Engineer B.E civil 25 years exp 12 yrs in Architecture consultancy having Oman Dubai D/L NOC available. Contact: 95732453 Email: milindj951@gmail.com Instrumentation Engineer, Indian male 24 years of age on visiting visa with 2 years experience in oil & gas seeking suitable position. Contact: 94743685 Email: akashpp444@ gmail.com

Project/ Program Manager/ Finance professional Qualification MBA PMP six sigma (GB) Countries exposure Canada & Middle East, Industry any (experienced in bank, telecom, transport.

Nationality-Canadian. On visit in Oman.

Contact 98499975, Email : swasdesigner@gmail.com

Contact - 97203531 ENGG. / TECH./MECH.

Indian male, 23 years, B.Tech [ECE], 1 year experience in sales and installation (electronics, IT and networking devices) is looking for suitable job. Currently on visiting visa. Contact: +968 96761020 email:a dik.mm7@gmail.com Female Electrical power system Engineer with experience seeks suitable placement. Contact: 99842083 Indian female 25 years B.Tech (Electrical) having 4 years experience in tendering, estimation and costing seeking suitable placement currently on family visa. #97228117 Indian male 26 y Mechanical engineer on express visa with 4 years India experience in HVAC Design/ Estimation/Site Execution is seeking a suitable job in Muscat contact 99339707 (ashfaq_1974@yahoo.com) Omani Mechanical Engineer with 2years Experiences looking for new opportunity . Contact:95993315, alrus7idisaif@gmail.com Maintenance planner (CMMS), Indian male 29 yrs, B.Com, MBA having 5 years Gulf exp in oil and gas industry in planning dept. currently on visiting visa, looking for suitable job. Contact: 93179096 Workshop Supervisor 29 years working in Oman P.D.O area project NOC available. Contact 94594234 Email: acmshaheed@outlook.com Civil Engineer, Indian male, 11 years experience in construction, having D/L and NOC. Contact: 94194399 Email: shiblyrock@gmail.com B.E Mechanical Engineer Indian male 27 years having 4 years experience including 2 years GCC experience, seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 90156984 Email: noorullahanas@gmial.com M.Tech (Electronics) Indian lady (on visit), 5 years teaching experience in engineering colleges also running entrance coaching centre for 8 years is looking for a better placement in colleges, schools & office etc. Contact: 93596002 Indian male 23 years, B.Tech Electrical Engineer 2 years experience in construction + Auto Cad designing, is looking for suitable job. Currently on visiting visa. Contact: 98266897 Email: elbinkeldhose92@gmail.com Indian B. tech Civil, 19 years exp , seeks suitable position.

Contact: 98365910 Email: kks.pkd1969@gmail.com Electrical Engineer, B.Tech, with 8 years GCC experience (5 years in Oman) in MEP & Oil/gas construction/Inspections side with NOC, is seeking new assignments in Oman.

Has attested degree certificate and Oman D/L. Contact No.96083636, Email:tobineasow@gmail.com Civil Engineer 5 years experience in Oman, 3 years in EURO looking best career in my field or management, with valid driving license. Contact: 93149659 Job required for Senior Electrical Engineer has 10 yrs experience in construction and management field with valid Oman light vehicle license and NOC available immediate from current employer. #96223283 Indian male 38 yrs total 19 yrs experience (Gulf 13 yrs) in Electrical field, electrical Forman experience 4 yrs in Oman seeking suitable placement in hospital setup, maintenance, department, construction field now visit visa, NOC available. Email: binu. kumar51@yahoo.com

Indian male 24 years Instrumentation technician have 2.5 years experience in India, seeks a suitable job. Contact: 92696798 Email: ajoarikkatt@gmail.com

Project Engineer (Electrical) 5 years experience in Oman primary substations + OHL, oil & gas, AutoCAD design driving license. NOC available.

Contact: 93210528 / 99410588

Architect more than 2 years exp in design, site supervision with strong knowledge in AutoCAD, Revit , 3D Max, Photo shop and Microsoft office looking for a good job. N.O.C available.

Contact: 90162685 Email: mohamed. dakrory92@gmail.com

M.Tech having 3 years experience in Mechanical Engineering department looking for any University to hire.

Contact: 90150913 Email: rahmanmechengg@yahoo.in

Qualified Engineer with 3-5 yrs exp in purchase, 2.2 yrs in automotive service, excellent communication, presentation and management skills.

PH: 968 91306841; Email: shanyphilip23@gmail.com Telecom Engineer Indian male 27 years, Telecom field Engineer experienced in vsati microwave 1.3 years of experience. Email: rogin.mk@gmail. com Contact: 95216362 Civil Structural Engineer professional in R.C structural design & Q.S & shop drawings. C.N (97983610) Electronics diploma 1 year exp in telecommunication, mobile tower field support Engg. Vishnu Madhu Soodanan. Contact: 94519571 / 95233636 Email: vishnumadhull@ gmail.com BSc. in Civil Engineer 12 years experience in infrastructure & building having UAE D/L currently on visit visa looking suitable placement.

Contact 91206763 Email: delwar.civil.97@gmail.com Diploma in Civil Engineer, have total 4.5 years experience & have 1.5 years experience in Oman. Contact: 96535084 Mechanical Engineer (Indian male) with experience in HVAC & Fire fighting looking for suitable placement in electro mechanical field. Contact: 90154793 Email: sangu.vazhoor@gmail.com BE Mechanical Engineer, 23 years, Indian male on visit available for immediate placement please contact: 96145820 or arunsankar.10.92@ gmail.com B.Tech Engineer (Civil), having 14 yrs of experience (6 years in Oman) with valid driving license is seeking for a suitable placement. NOC available. email: masum.civil10@gmail. com GSM:97455456 Civil Engineer B.Sc 5 years experience with building construction companies in Oman seek suitable placement. Contact: 98180524 Electrical Instrument Engineer having 10 years experience in high voltage and low voltage with extensive experience in instrumentation & automation, approved from PAEW for more info. Contact: 92950788 / Email: engtariq2007@gmail.com Mechanical Engineer with 7 years experience in oil & gas field have extensive experience in QA/ QC (Static equipment) , have API 653 & CSWIP3.1 certifications for more info: khaled19858@gmail.com Contact: 91917294 Civil Engineer 5 years experience with construction companies in Oman having valid driving license seek suitable placement. Contact: 99742280 Mechanical Technician oil & gas with 9 yrs experience in GCC worked in rotating EQP, Static EQP, commissioning and troubleshooting looking for an opening. Contact: 99598462 Email: bakash_85@yahoo.co.in

Palestinian Petroleum Engneer (B.E) 25 yrs available in Oman seeking for placement.

Contact: 91445467 Email: abdulrahman.m.mustafa@gmail.com

Diploma Civil Engineer 11 yrs experience (9 yrs building construction + 2 yrs O&G) with valid Oman D/L seeking suitable placement. Contact: 97669006 / 99142744 Email: shafique88am@gmail.com

Indian female 11 years experience in Oman as a Quantity Surveyor in Civil having valid Omani driving license.

NOC available. Contact: 99879525

4 years experience Electrical Engineer electrical primary substations UG cables and OHL, fluent in English and Arabic. Contact: 91204243

Experienced Civil Engg professional 12/26 years ran a company as Working partner have estimation, tendering of high rise building infrastructure steels conc. Products seeks suitable placement. contact 95360102 / 94460357

Electrical Engineer 4 years experience oil and gas electrical substation water project fluent in Arabic and English primavera p6 operator.

Contact: 99525856 Diploma Engineer civil. #91151237

B.Tech Mechanical Engineer with MBA in marketing & HR 3 yrs exp seeking suitable placement. #0091 9846568080 / 0091 4772702080, Email: jbabu4@gmail.com Civil Engineer, Indian male 29, having 7 years exp in construction field& Auto Cad in Oman. Having valid driving license. Fluent in English & Arabic. Looking for suitable job in reputed firm. Contact - 99650569 Indian male B.Tech Mechanical Eng (2 years exp in India) fire safety seeking suitable placement. Contact: 93523752 B.Sc Civil 9 years experience looking for suitable placement as a Residence Engineer having valid Omani D/L. Contact : 94431917 Email: gmssohel.ce@gmail.com Civil Engineer B.Sc -6 years experience with constructions companies - 1 years in Oman - qualified as Site Engineer & Planning Engineer.

Contact+968-94682217 Degree Civil Engg total 9 yrs experience, 7 yrs in Oman Construction Company with valid Oman driving license. Contact: 99721926 Email: tanvircivil@gmail.com Electrical Engineer Indian male 29 years, having 5 years of experience in industrial automation and utility maintenance in India (MRF Tyres), seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 92789995 Email: akhilabrahamlktr@gmail.com Road and Construction Engineer exp 5 years in Oman. #97646908

HOSPITALITY B.F hotels management 2 years exp food and beverages service, kitchen, 4 languages, N.O.C available. Contact: 95196212 Email: mido.hossams09@yahoo.com Hotel exp 4 years F+ B (service) visit visa expires 13/11/2015, B.A Hotel Management. Contact: 91987013 / 96971643 Email: shinekls34@gmail.com

IT ME Communication System, Exp in RF/Microwave, Access Ctrl, Networking & Server Ph: 95508754 Indian male (22) Java /J2EE specialization with BCA Graduate having 6 months experience in web application development / IT technical support, looking for suitable job. Contact: 00968 96292480 Email: farzeenfarook@gmail.com IT Telecom / Networking Engineer with CCNA & CCNP, 3 yrs experience, currently in visit visa. contact 97435944 Email: abdulsameerr@ gmail.com Computer and Systems Engineer.

Contact: 91770668 Indian male B.Eng in IT CCNA MCITP, 2+ yrs exp in IT support, Networking and Server support. #93311963 Email: sajal035@gmail.com Male 25 years B.E (CSE) 3.5 years experience in System and Networking / IT support currently in visit visa looking for a suitable job. Contact: +968-98914760 IT System Administrator MCSA Sudanese UAE experience. #91302074 Computer & Network Engineering.

11 yrs experience looking for suitable job. Contact 92811179/ 95882614 Email: khalido24@yahoo.com

LOGISTICS 10 yrs exp in Oman in logisticshave Oman D/L-looking for suitable placement-contact 96410767, email: harishkts@yahoo.com

MEDICAL

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

Medical Lab technician, MSc, 29 years, An Indian female having 3 years experience with prometric passed on family visa seeking suitable placement in capital. Contact: 93231549 Email: sujithsolomon@ yahoo.co.in

Welder fabrication, 6g 3g,tig arc gas PH : 95068064

Indian female Dentist (BDS) 3 Yrs Exp ,PROMETRIC Passed, Presently in Visit visa looking for placement.

Contact-24286098, 99284260 Palestinian dentist looking for job in private hospitals, Medical Center or Dental Centers in Muscat 15 yrs exp P. hospitals out Muscat. Contact: 96951750

MISCELLANEOUS Sudanese lawyer with experience 10 years in Judiciary in Khartoum.

Contact: 94458976 Microbiologist, Indian female, 25 yrs Msc Microbiology with 2.5 yrs Exp in Hospital & Dairy industry. Expertise in Microbial analysis of milk products and clinical samples. Currently in Oman seeking for suitable job opportunities. GSM#94767297 Email:shobi24190@gmail.com

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE Indian Male more than 10 years gulf experience in Office / Sales Coordinator, Admin, Secretarial and purchase with good computer skills.

Having Driving license and NOC available. Looking for suitable placement. #95149624

MISCELLANEOUS Chemical Engineer, Indian, 2 years of exp in industrial production, seeking suitable placement. #91247222 Indian male, 4 years of experience in Structured cabling, termination and Fiber optic splicing. Looking for a suitable Placement. NOC available. GSM- 92484039, Email –rajaveer8989@gmail.com Indian male , 23 yrs, postgraduate Mechanical Eng. (M.Sc, UK), 1 year sales exp, having Oman DL, seeking for suitable employment in reputed firm. Contact: 91419764 Email: z.enggoman@gmail.com

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

Pakistani male, MBA(Marketing)+PGD(HR) with 9 yrs experience in banking & hospital industry (Consumer Credit Review, Admin & HR). 3 yrs experience as Asst Manager, Admin & HR in famous private hospital in Oman with NOC. Contact: 95761982 or umerok@ hotmail.com

Indian 14 years experience in consumer goods as Marketing Manager with visa D/L. Contact: 90314809

Structure/Pipeline,Piping Draughtsman have 12+ yrs. Exp. in Oman seeking suitable placement.

Contact 92103713 NOC available.

Indian male 30 yrs 9 experience in Oman housekeeping supervisor with NOC seeking suitable placement. Contact: 96254837 Email: sudheeshmrf@gmail.com

Manager- Media & Advertising industry-15 yrs Gulf exp - seeks suitable opening- 93031168

PROJECTS Civil Engineer, Indian male, 25 years, B.Tech, have 3 years experience in building construction seeks suitable positions. 92609893, alenalexander123@gmail.com

SALES / MARKETING Indian female 2+ years Oman experience with D/L seeks suitable position in Business development / corporate & retail sales in training / IT / education ITES companies.

Contact: 98989784 Indian Male 22 years B. Com Graduate currently in Oman on family visa looking for a job, preferably in sales department. Also possess a valid Oman driving license.#98504698 Pakistani male, 8 years sales and marketing experience specialized in MBA, Marketing with valid driving license (GCC), NOC and with best sales performance award looking for suitable position Email: sheraz. rotanahotel@gmail.com , 99249296 / 93313173

Indian male 25 years, MBA finance and marketing with tally have 1.3 year experience in India. Now in Oman on visit visa. GSM: 97445488 Indian male, 19 years experience in purchase, material coordinator in building construction & factory production field. have good computer skills & driving license and NOC, looking for a suitable placement.

Contact: 99008101 Working as Senior accountant,5yr. exp.in oman, Accounting upto finalisation, relevant computer skills tally9, Sage, vcams , Audit ,valid oman driving license, languages known English, Arabic, Hindi. NOC avaliable can join immediately.

Tel: (+968) 96339599. E-mail(ahmedmohdkhan@gmail.com) Indian Female, 35years, Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) fresh graduate with BSc and MA looking for positions in Front Office, administration office, or any suitable positions in hospital, polyclinic, companies or Institutions. Contact 90236481 Network/Noc engineer, CCNA certified & CCNP trained, Indian male 27 years B.com(general) 5 years & 4 month’s of experience in the field of networking seeks for better placement.#97663834 / 98730758

Indian male MBA, 2 years experience in sales and 2 years experience in HR with D/L looking for a suitable position. Contact: 91202335 Email: mrishad90@yahoo.com

INDIAN FEMALE– ME in CSE with 2 years’ experience in teaching seeking Suitable Job Opportunity. Contact: 94263445 or +91 9486251274, E mail – apshinmar@gmail.com

Indian male, 26 M.A., 2 yrs experience in India and 11 months in Oman looking for job in sales or accounts.

Contact: 97022508 Email: zakariyazba@gmail.com

Registered Filipina Nurse looking for a suitable job in Admin/ receptionist, experience in admin, on visit visa seeks placement. Contact 97435849

Having 5 years exp, as office coordinator, NOC available. contact 92889617

Indian male 22 years, looking for suitable placement in Hardware and Networking field, Having 1 year exp. in India, training in al ameen computers Muscat Ruwi. Qualification is Diploma in Electronics and Communication at present I am having my valid employee visa In the same work. Contact : 9739622910/8050101914, Email ID :- fairozhuded13@gmail.com

Indian male, 38 years BE & MBA in Marketing from UK and 12 years experience in the IT industry seeks suitable placement. Contact: 91200413 Email: mniyaz@hotmail.com Indian male 38 yrs , MBA in Marketing with Oman D/License, over 8 yrs experience in ironmongery scheduler / specifier & general trading, currently on visit visa. NOC available. Contact: 98891737 Indian male more than 8 years experience in UAE in Office , Sales Marketing with good computer skills having driving license looking for suitable placement. #99369081 Email: shazulashraf60@gmail.com Male BA, with D/L having 7 years exp in Oman wanted suitable job in Sales inventory & procure. #92191026 Sales and marketing - male 27 yrs, 2 years experience seeking suitable placement with Oman D/L. Contact: 95642740 Email: shaijichakkara@gmail.com

Admin, having 10+ years experience in Admin/HR/Logistics/Time Keeper, in reputed companies. Presently working in Muscat. #968 94369965,mail - satya1528@gmail.com Civil Engineer B.Sc -6 years experience with constructions companies - qualified as A Project Engineer & Planning Engineer .

Contact+968-94682217 Sudanese / Arabic & English teacher for all nationalities / willing to teach at home. Tel: 94211377

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DAILY GUIDE

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

TOURS

SITUATION WANTED CARGO

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

MANPOWER

RENT A CAR

We offer labour for loading and unloading if any one required we are providing this service. Contact: 95208185 /95456022 Leading manpower agency to hire Recruiter from India housemaids.

Contact: 99226093, Email: fesalwardi48@gmail.com

TRANSPORTATION Driver available with car. Contact: 94408038 Transport. Contact: 94510847 Transportation available Ruwi to Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.

Contact: 91103909 Transportation available.

Contact: 99867456

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DAILY GUIDE SITUATION WANTED SERVICES

SIT.WANTED MISCELLANEOUS Indian male having 7 Years of Experience in Oman Having Valid Driving License working as a Office Driver ,Looking for a suitable Position, NOC Available. Contact: 99680429, Email:anzarkutty1975@gmail.com

ACCOUNTANT: Indian male 25 having 4 years experience in accounting & having well knowledge in tally.

Contact:968094535881, 0091 9037622048, Email: vishnuraj889@gmail.com

Syrian architect have years and half experience in oman looking for work, full time perfect in architectural programs 3d max , auto cad , Photoshop , and sketch up. for contact : 0096897482871

Pakistan Male: 24 years,M.Com Finance having 2.5 year experience as a accountant & marketing executive looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 97670816, E.mail: naeem.ahsan68@gmail.com

Female, Indian, 35 years, Bachelor of Pharmacy (B. Pharm) fresh graduate with BSc looking for positions in Front Office, administration office, or any suitable positions in hospital, polyclinic, companies or Institutions.

Contact 90236481.

Senior Accountant. 8 Years experience. NOC available. Oman driving license. Seek suitable opportunity.

GSM- 98184170

Indian Male 47 years MBA-Operations Management with total 25 Yrs exp inclusive of 9 yrs in Oil & Gas sector in Oman, having valid Omani D/L & NOC, seek challenging position in SCM/Logistics/Procurement.

GSM-94236414. Mail id – dialindia33@gmail.com Well experienced management finance specialist having 18 years experience available for placement.

Contact.95602518 23, Male, ACCA Affiliate, OBU Bsc, 2.5 years of experience in audit and finance in Big 6 Firms, Looking for permanent placement in similar field. Release NOC available. Contact: #95140445, a.saran891@gmail.com 22, Male, Indian, BBA (Marketing), 1 year experience in India, Looking for suitable placement in Sales and Marketing. #91897046, azzamsiddique1@gmail.com Indian Male,27,ACCA Part Qualified,B.COM with 7+ yrs exp in receivables and credit control in Oman looking for suitable placements. NOC available. # 9657 4343.

Indian Female, Science Graduate, 3 years Experience in Teaching back home. Looking for a suitable job opportunity as a teacher, in Schools in Muscat Region. Contact : 96431456 / 95704814 Looking for a suitable job as Jr. Accountant/ Jr. Administration in a reputed company. NOC Available.

GSM # 93004738.

ACCOUNTANT, Male, 8 years experience, presently working in Oman as a Senior Accountant with oman Driving license. NOC available, seek suitable opportunity. GSM: 97705854 Chemical Engineer Indian 2 years of experience in production field Contact: 91247222 Email:sahadpoonchola@gmail.com Syrian male 3yrs. exp in IT support, Networking, Security systems, Server support, IT sales and marketing.

Valid Omani D/L seeking suitable placement. Contact 91033395 Civil Autocad Draughtsman part time work for job mob :96023726 Indian female, MBA, 25yrs Having 4yrears of experience in MNC, hands of experiences in recruitment and administration, flexible for any suitable job placements currently in visting visa. Contact Tel : 98864639 Email : neethuvijayan06@gmail.com Indian Male, 25, Chartered Accountant, working with ICICI Bank India.

On a Visit Visa in Oman. Staying with parents at Azaiba. Ph: 24492638.

Email: shyamal008@gmail.com Indian Male, 26 Yrs, Business Management, 6 years in Oman.

Knowledge of MS Office and Arabic Language. Seeks suitable position.

Contact 93931935 Indian Mechanical Engineer, 30, having 8yrs of UAE Sales/Business Development. experience in Electromechanical and Irrigation sectors. Contact no- +971558763220 email id-sangowri@outlook.com Indian male, with finance and Law degree, having more than 25 years of experience in Finance/ Accounts / Audit (5 years of Oman experience) seeks suitable placement. NOC available. Contact: 98421619.

E-mail: talemadhamu@yahoo.com.

Indian male Executive Secretary having vast experience in admin, logistics & procurement well versed with computer seeks suitable placement. Contact : 99514286 Indian male 22yr BBA with LOGISTIC Diploma, exp in tally and data entry seeking in suitable placement.

Contact; 90151739 email shakeeb.mp280gmail.com

31 year Indian male PG in HR ,with 5 yrs Professional experience in HR in Construction Oil & Gas Oman seeking for a suitable placement. Kindly contact me on 93488914, emailKaarthickshankar@gmail.com MBA Finance with more than five years of experience in Finance & Accounts including GCC, looking for a suitable opening. Having UAE driving license. #91391802.

Indian female with MBA in finance seeking immediate placement.

Contact: 968-93316493 Sudanese/26/Bsc Computer Science /3 years exp/skills Excellent knowledge in operating systems and maintaining computers Java Programmer Web Developer Linux SMS solutions Android developer/ email khalid.omx@gmail.com/ # 944958080 and 99758186.

Indian male B.Eng. in IT,CCNA, MCSA,MCSE, 2.5 yrs + exp. in IT support, networking and server support valid Omani D/L seeking suitable placement in IT/Network/Server support. Contact 92607532 Indian B.E Computer Science graduate 2012 passout. 1 .5 yrs exp. in Accounting. Having good communication skills and mindset to work in a team. Having NIIT certificate in Diploma in Java Technology. # 97767894 Email: jinsonjacobjohn@gmail.com Indian male 24 YEARS, B.Tech (Electrical & Electronics), having 2 yrs. exp as Electrical Site Engineer. Done IOSH & NEBOSH- IGC certifications, seeking for suitable placement in any related industries. Contact 98045482, Email: mastanshaik1008@gmail.com Indian male, 24 years, HSE Engineer having 2 years of Indian experience.

Done IOSH & NEBOSH- IGC certifications, seeking for suitable placement in any related industries.

Contact 98045482 Indian Male (Diploma in electronics Engineering and CCNA.) having 9 years of experience in Networking, 5 years’ experience in Oman. Looking for a suitable Placement. NOC available. GSM- 93787098, Email –anishktr@gmail.com

B.Tech EEE with 4+ years experience in the field of it, networking, ex-tonics etc. presently working in Amazon India development centre as a content quality associate seeking for suitable jobs in Oman.

Contact : +91 9940514005, 93116402 email: mail2nbn@gmail.com MBA Finance with more than five years of experience in Finance & Accounts including GCC, looking for a suitable opening. Having UAE driving license. Contact no..91391802 Part- Time Accountant, well experience senior accountant ,doing all type of accounting works, Finalization, Budgeting available.

Contact 98803439 Pakistani, Male, Pak, Exp 14 Years in IT Trainer / Computer Teacher, looking for a better position in Oman, already working in Prestigious Construction Company. # 95983711.

Join.mtmali@gmail.com M. Tech VLSI design, B. tech Electronics and instrumentation, Indian female,3 years teaching experience for graduation level students, seeking suitable placements .

Ph:00968 92904155. email-achusooraj@gmail.com Indian 26M, B. Tech Computer Science graduate, 3 years exp in India, looking for suitable job in Muscat.

Contact : 93125669, Email : amritrajGT18@gmail.com Sudanese/Bsc IT/26/2 years experience/excellent Eng-Arb speaking/ Omani driving license/96387227/ henrykarrar@gmail.com MBA - (F), M.Com, B.COM. Indian female having knowledge of accounts with Tally looking for part time or full time job. Presently on family visa. contact 91892264. mail: yv.dixit@ yahoo.com Admin, having 10+ years experience in Admin/HR/Logistics/Time Keeper, in reputed companies. Presently working in Muscat. Contact94369965mail - satya1528@gmail.com Two year experience in Oman, experience in sales, purchase and system admin, Having GCC license.

Contact number 97475860, Yadhukrishnan08@gmail.com Indian male B.Eng. in IT,CCNA,MCSA,MCSE, 2.5 yrs + exp. in IT support, Networking and Server support with valid Omani D/L seeking suitable placement in IT/Network/ Server support. contact 92607532 Indian Female BSC nurse with 8+ years of experience including 3 years of GCC exp. Oman Prometric passed with 57 %. Currently in Oman.

Contact : 98034384 Indian male Accountant, 12 years experience, looking for a full time or part time job, experience in tally also. Contact 98983122

Mechanical Draftsman, Indian male 27, Diploma in Mechanical Engineering having 7 years of experience in Auto CAD looking for a suitable placement.#97351786 / 96143708 mohammednazeer07@gmail.com

Site Supervisor/ L Driver, Pakistani Male 33 with valid D/L, 4 years experience in Muscat, fluent in English, Arabic looking for suitable place.

Contact: 97950869

ACCA Affiliate, OBU Degree, 2.5 years experience in audit and finance in Big6 firm, Looking for permanent placement. NOC release available. Contact: 95140445, a.saran891@gmail.com

Indian Male, 25, Chartered Accountant, working with ICICI Bank India. On a Visit Visa in Oman.

Staying with parents at Azaibah.

Ph:24492638.

Email: shyamal008@gmail.com

27, male, ACCA finalist, have professional experience up to finalization of Accounts, Statutory and internal audit, expertise in using tally and focus & Oracle Software, have 3.5 years experience in accounts till finalization, seeking for permanent replacement ,#97654769, email id- abdullah.nooralam@yahoo.com

India male 33 years. DCT, BBA, OSHA, looking for Job in Construction HSE, 11 Years experience with GCC license, NOC available Contact :- 9418 4280

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, 8 years experience ,Oman driving licence,Noc available. Seek Suitable opportunity.

GSM- 98184170 B.E Mechanical Engineer with 2 years’ experience in HVAC field on visit visa looking for suitable job.

Contact: 93442296 Email Id: sal201091@gmail.com.

MBA (F) B.COM Indian female having knowledge of accounts with Tally looking for full or part time job.

Presently on family visit visa.

Contact: - 96259171. Email: bhumicapandya@gmail.com Indian Male, MBA, Talented management expert having 6 year experience at U.A.E, India and Oman in luxury goods and Retail. Seeking suitable openings in related or same field. Contact:92700670 Email: jobcareer44@gmail.com

WEBSITE

Filipino Senior Architect with 13 years GCC experience. Proficient in 3D StudioMax, AutoCAD, Revit, Phostoshop, and Microsoft Office.

With NOC and Omani driving license.

Please contact 91292933.

Indian female, 40 yrs, 7 yrs experience in customer service, with D/L seeks suitable placement.

Contact 95580711 ME Civil- structural Engineer, 8 Years Structural Engineer experience, Looking for Structural Designer, supervisor or site engineer Position. Iranian male.

Contact: 93696929 Email: mhsaz1359@gmail.com Indian Male 23 years B.Tech Civil Engineering having 2 years experience in quantity survey and site management looking for suitable placement. Contact- 95042656 SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, 8 years experience, Oman driving license, Noc available seeks suitable opportunity.

GSM- 97705854

WEB, ERP and Business Intelligence (BI) creation and management at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

SIT.WANTED MISCELLANEOUS Indian female, MBA, 25yrs Having 4yrears of experience in MNC, hands of experiences in recruitment and administration, flexible for any suitable job placements currently in visting visa. Contact: 98864639 Email : neethuvijayan06@gmail.com Indian Male -25years B.Tech Engineer seeking any suitable jobs in Oman ,currently on visit visa. Contact : Haneesh N. Surendran, Mob : 90126573, Email: - haneeshns02@gmail.com

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

Female Junior Architect, Excellence in Autocad, Sketching & Modelling, Internship - KHAM Designs, Bangalore. Presently with Atulya Architects & Associates. Email saatvika.frozenmusic@gmail.com Contact 00968-94057427.

Cleaning & Carpet Shampooing, Ocean Center LLC. #99884591

Electronics System Eng. UK Graduate. Indian Female with relevant work experience. Eng. Analysis, Instrumentation and Control, Power & Heat, Electrical & Fluid, Drives & Actuators etc. Looking for an entry level position. Email s.dinesh1508@gmail.com.

Mobile: 97848075, +91-8105413827

Split window unit A/ C servicing.

Contact 94694472

Pest Control Treatments.

Ocean Center LLC. #99344723 Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile polishing, pest control & antitermite treatment, general cleaning painting, Plumbing, Electrical, shifting. Contact Mundhir Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C. contact 24810137, 99450130 House shifting & packing.

Contact: 99657644 /98518013

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422 MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your marble. contact 24793614/ 99314807 Window & split unit A.C servicing & maintenance. Contact 93769089 / 95323517 Pest Control Gulfa Intl .LLC. Contact: 92326955 Water proofing ABUQABASContact 99320217/24788722 Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles polishing, carpet shampooing, maintenance. Contact ABU QABAS- 99320217 /24788722

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S AT U R D AY, O C T O B E R 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

DAILY GUIDE

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