times

48 PAGES . BAISAS 200 VOLUME 42 NO. 3FOUNDED 1975

MONDAY, February 25, 2013 / 14 RABIA II 1434 AH timesofoman.com facebook.com/timesofoman twitter.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com

Schoolchildren lifting heavy backpacks or soldiers and fi re fi ghters carrying occupational gear could damage their nerves, according to a study. >C11

HEAVY BACKLOADS CAN DAMAGE NERVES

MEDC mulls remote meter reading, pre-paid meters

MRUDU [email protected]

MUSCAT: Muscat Electricity Distribution Company (MEDC) is employing more advanced techno-logy to serve its customers better.

Close on the heels of the launch of the self-meter reading (SMR) billing procedure, MEDC is cur-rently conducting a feasibility study on new-technology remote meter reading having concluded similar one on pre-paid meters.

Speaking to Times of Oman, Zahran Zahir Al Ruqeishi, corpo-rate communications specialist at MEDC said, “Since SMR has received a positive response from customers, we are now considering remote meter reading.”

PotentialAl Ruqeishi explained that MEDC study on pre-paid meters has demonstrated potential for these types of meters adding, “We have conducted an assessment on whether pre-paid meters are suit-able for the Oman market as well as suitability to weather factors. So now we are in the execution stage. In fact, MEDC’s temporary new connections at construction sites

are pre-paid meters. The advan-tage is that contractors can use the same meter when they move to another site.”

He added that MEDC is in dis-cussions with suppliers regarding the recharging of pre-paid meters.

“We want to make it convenient, accessible, and similar to phones. Discussions are underway, and we expect tremendous demand for pre-paid meters from realtors be-cause it would be good for both the landlords and tenants,” he said.

Talking about the advantages, he noted, “They work on minus credit during the weekend and on offi cial holidays.”

Al Ruqeishi explained that pre-paid meters are supplied with small screen which will enable the customer to fi gure out his hourly reading. “The customer can even

fi nd out which appliance is con-suming more electricity than others because it is possible to check real-time consumption,” he remarked.

It is also possible for customers to check how much credit is re-maining since the meter produces a beeping sound when it needs recharging. “We expect an over-whelming response once recharg-ing options become more conven-ient and accessible to customers. However, the launch depends on the progress of our negotiations with our suppliers. We want re-charges to be available at conveni-ent locations and possibly online and via mobile phones,” he stated.

MEDC is also assessing the vi-ability of new technology called ‘remote meter reading’.

“This will employ technology that reads the meter through a

chip attached to the meter. It is now being assessed from many angles. Through this technology, we intend to target initially high-consumption meters. As tech-nology becomes available and af-fordable, we may expand on this service so that we can centrally read meters in remote locations.”

MEDC is elated by the response to SMRs — a new system of elec-tricity-consumption cataloguing, wherein customers record their readings and relay them to MEDC.

“SMR is the fi rst initiative to be undertaken by a distribution and supply company in Oman and perhaps in the region. It has many advantages. The reason MEDC in-troduced it is that we have had some complaints from some customers about bills not being delivered on time, bills not refl ecting actual

consumption, and bills that are not exact in their calculations. MEDC wants to use a multi-track approach to overcome this issue.

“SMR was launched as part of an overall strategy to deal with cus-tomer complaints regarding bills. SMR empowers the customer to read his own meter. This also has another dimension as it makes the customer more confi dent about his reading because he is reading it himself. Some customers complain about exaggerated readings, but when customers perform the read-ing themselves, it eases their doubts. It allows the customer to monitor his consumption patterns because he will be noting the reading during the new cycle from the 15th to the 25th of every month,” he added.

Al Ruqeishi explained that MEDC had set up various chan-nels through which customers could relay their meter readings.

“An array of communication channels such as smart phone ap-plications, SMS, e-mail, e-portals, the MEDC website, or the MEDC call centre are currently available to customers for delivering the reading,” he remarked.

“If many people opt for SMR, then MEDC will consider returning the savings it makes to the cus-tomers,” he said.

MEDC also plans to expand its customer interaction offi ces.

“We now have an offi ce in Grand Mall and MCC. Plans are underway to open offi ces in other commer-cial centres. This will make it more convenient for customers since the offi ces will be open during shop-ping hours or commercial-centre opening hours,” he noted.

Feasibility study

on remote meter

reading system being

carried out

Kerry kicks off fi rst foreign trip as US secretary of stateWASHINGTON: America’s top diplomat John Kerry began his fi rst offi cial trip as secretary of state yesterday, a marathon get-acquainted tour of America’s closest allies in Europe and the Middle East.

A plane carrying the new US secretary of state and his team took off from Joint Base Andrews outside Washington at around 7:15am local time (1215GMT).

Kerry will visit the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar from February 24 to March 6.

The fi rst stop will be London, where Kerry will meet with sen-ior British offi cials, State Depart-ment Spokeswoman Victoria Nu-land told reporters on Friday.

Kerry travels on to Berlin where, in addition to meeting Ger-mans, he will encounter his Rus-sian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, for a tricky exchange at a time when Moscow and Washington are at loggerheads on many issues.

“Obviously, they know each other well from when Secretary Kerry was Senator Kerry, but it will be their fi rst opportunity to sit down bilaterally as foreign ministers,” Nuland said.

Nuland added, “I would expect they’ll talk about all of the issues — bilateral, regional, global —

but with a particular emphasis, I would expect, on Syria, Iran, DPRK (North Korea) and the bi-lateral issues of the day.”

New foreign policyThe marathon trip underscores Washington’s new foreign policy imperative, which is subtly pivot-ing away from Asia and increas-ingly towards Europe.

Tyson Barker of the Bertels-mann Foundation think tank said that, after a fi rst term focused on relations with Pacifi c countries, President Barack Obama hopes “to consolidate and retro-fi t some of our legacy relationships”.

Among the issues high on his agenda during the marathon series

of talks is a newly-announced eff ort to agree a mammoth free trade agreement between the United States and the European Union.

Nuland added, on a personal note, that Kerry’s visit to Berlin “will also be an opportunity to re-connect with the city in which he lived as a child”.

Kerry travels from Germany to Paris, where Nuland said he would meet senior French offi cials to discuss American assistance for France’s ongoing military opera-tion against rebels in Mali.

On his next stop, in Rome, Ker-ry will concentrate on multilater-al talks on the crisis in Syria.

Kerry will travel to Ankara for meetings with Turkish offi cials on a range of strategic issues, including Syria.

His travels conclude in the Middle East.

In Egypt, Kerry will meet with political and business leaders and the secretary general of the Arab League, Nabil Al Arabi.

He will then go to Riyadh for meeting with Saudi leaders on “a broad range of shared concerns”, said Nuland.

Kerry then visits Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emir-ates, and Doha, Qatar, key contacts for America as it confronts cri-ses in Syria, Afghanistan, and the Middle East peace process. - AFP

E U R O P E , M I D D L E E A S T V I S I T

Photo by OK Mohammed Ali/TIMES OF OMAN

MARATHON TOUR: US Secretary

of State John Kerry. – AFP

C1Dhoni’s day outin Chennai

OMANDuqm land case

1More than 22 offi cials stood trial at the Duqm Primary Court facing charges of

abuse of power in distributing plots of land in Duqm. >A7

MARKETRelaxation sought

2Bank Nizwa is to request the Central Bank of Oman for allowing the bank to

get relaxation in deploying funds in overseas markets. >B1

EXTRAProlifi c serial killer

3Little-known Bristol-born woman Amelia Dyer is considered to have

murdered 300 babies. >C7

T O P T H R E E I N S I D E S T O R I E S

HM sends greetings

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sul-tan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of greetings to His High-ness Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, Emir of Ku-wait, on his country’s National Day. In his cable, His Majesty expressed his sincere greetings along with his best wishes of good health, happiness and a long life to Sheikh Sabah, pray-ing to Allah the Almighty for the return of this occasion on him and to achieve further aspira-tions of the people of Kuwait under his wise leadership. - ONA

K U W A I T

We want to make it convenient, accessible,

and similar to phones. Discussions are underway,

and we expect tremendous demand for pre-paid

meters from realtors because it would be

good for both the landlords and tenants

Zahran Zahir Al RuqeishiCorporate communications specialist at MEDC

A2 M O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

OMAN

Saluting the leader of media worldHE CREATED SOCIAL UNITYI was deeply saddened to hear of the demise of Sheikh Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali, chairman of MPPH and editor-in-chief of Times of Oman. The Times of Oman has been a very close friend of the Sri Lankan community and thereby Sheikh Essa bin Moham-med Al Zedjali, who played a key role to bring our community and the Times of Oman group together over the years. Sheikh Zedjali was a pioneer in English journal-ism and his demise has left an unfi xable vacuum in the media. We convey our condolences to the bereaved family and his media col-leagues. We pray for eternal peace for Sheikh Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali. May his soul rest in eternal bliss. Asoka Girihagama, ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Sultanate of Oman

UNWAVERING SUPPORTOne behalf of the offi cers and staff of the Embassy of the Philippines, I wish to express heartfelt con-dolences to the family and loved ones of Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali. We join the people of the Sultanate of Oman in mourning his demise.

Mr Zedjali was appointed as Philippine Honorary Consul Gen-eral in Muscat on November 1988 and served until October 1992. Throughout his term, he showed

his unwavering support for the de-velopment of Philippines-Oman relations and had a deep concern for the welfare of Filipinos in the Sultanate. Even after his service as Honorary Consul General, his ties with the Philippines remained strong as he continued to be a friend to the Philippine embassy. Through his beloved Times of Oman, we express our deepest condolences. May he rest in peace.

Joselito A. Jimeno, Philippine ambassador to Oman

BENEVOLENT SOUL It was indeed a very sad news to know that Essa Mohammed Al Zedjali has passed away. I had the honour to know this noble man since 1982. He was very fl uent in many languages i.e. English, Urdu, Persian, Balushi, and of course, Arabic. He was in diplomatic services prior to establishing the fi rst private daily English and Arabic newspaper in Oman with a publishing house. He was also a pioneer and a leader in Omani media for freedom of expres-sion within social, political and cultural norms of society. I also had the opportunity to have informally discussed many a time, his viewpoints on vari-ous regional and international issues. He was an acknowledged writer and thinker in the entire Gulf countries for his viewpoints which were regularly published

since April 2000. His articles were also regularly published in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Lebanon and Pa-kistan. Essa Zedjali was always a strong advocate of Palestine’s cause and used to feel pain for the killing of innocents.

On a personal level, we found him a very humble and kind human being and a great philan-thropist. He regularly hosted his staff and friends at his lush farm located in Al Hail, and let their families and children enjoy at the swimming pool at his garden with birds and animals. Essa Zedjali had a very high intellect and a sharp sense of humour with a wit of class.

Apart from journalism, he was always a sponsor of social and academic activities organised by the expatriate communities. He was honorary counsel general of Philippine government in Sultan-ate of Oman for many years, prior the opening of their embassy in Oman. He had a soft corner for poor expatriates, who work hard and contribute to the development of Oman. Unfortunately, his very close personal friends like Abdullah Moo-sa and then his cousin Abdul Rasool Kassim Al Zedjali also passed away recently. May Allah Almighty rest their souls in peace and we will always miss Essa Al Zedjali.

Arshad Ali Khan, Senior Legal Consultant, Value Commercial Services

ILLUSTRIOUS SONI am a Pakistani doctor who has lived and worked in Oman for 34 years. Please accept my heart-felt condolences on the sad and untimely demise of Sheikh Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali. I frequently met Sheikh Essa on social occasions and had the honour to interact with him. In this hour of grief, I share his family’s loss. In his demise, Oman has lost one of its most illustrious sons. His commit-ment to truth, his dedication to impartiality and the charisma of his personality contributed greatly to the freedom, impar-tiality and balance which is the hallmark of the Omani media today. May Allah the Almighty grant his family the strength to bear this great loss and may the departed soul rest in eternal bliss and peace.

Dr Asif Ali Mansuri

GLITTERING STARIn the death of Mr. Essa Moham-med Al Zedjali, Oman has lost one of its great sons. We all deeply mourn his sad demise. Indeed, this loss is synonymous to the disappearing of a glittering star from the face of Earth. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. May Allah Al-mighty grant him eternal peace and enhance his status in the life hereafter.

Condolences and tribute messages

continue to pour in on the demise of Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali, the late chairman of

MPPH and editor-in-chief of Times of Oman

Pakistan Navy backs joint eff orts to combat piracy Times News Service

MUSCAT: Pakistan Navy Ship (PNS) Jurrat and submarine Khalid have arrived at Port Sul-tan Qaboos as part of the eff orts to further improve bilateral relations between the two countries, as well as between their naval forces.

Speaking to Times of Oman, Commodore Ahmed Saeed said that Pakistan Navy ship’s visit to Oman aims at boosting coop-eration and relations between the two countries and their navies.

“Pakistan and Oman have a long history of very good rela-tions. Oman is our most friendly neighbour, and our partnership, particularly as far as naval exer-cises are concerned, has been go-ing on for many years. Our ships have been coming to Oman, and their warships have been visiting our bases regularly,” he said.

Anti-piracy eff ortsCommodore Ahmed informed that the Pakistan Navy has joined coalition eff orts in the Gulf of Aden/Somalia Coast, taking part in counter-piracy deployments. “These coalitions are the need of the hour to thwart common threats in the maritime sector,” he added.

PNS Jurrat, a missile boat ac-quired from China, was commissioned

into the Pakistan Navy in 1981. It was upgraded as a multipurpose auxiliary craft with enhanced ca-pabilities and launched in 2002 at Karachi Shipyard, and commis-sioned in February 2006. The ship has participated in national and international exercises.

PNS Khalid is the fi rst of the Agosta 90-B class submarines ac-quired by the Pakistan Navy from France, and was inducted into the fl eet in December 1999.

Commodore Ahmed also said that naval forces have his-torically played a pivotal role

in strengthening the bonds of friendship between nations through goodwill visits. “Naval ships are true ambassadors to rep-resent their nations in the com-ity of maritime states. Besides goodwill, overseas deployments also serve common professional pursuits and inter-operability between allied navies,” he said.

He noted that the Pakistani Navy enjoys cordial relations with the Royal Navy of Oman in all fi elds. “We hope this visit will open new avenues in bilateral cooperation,’’ he added.

N A V A L T I E S

NEW AVENUES: Pakistan hopes that the visit of their ships to

Oman will open new avenues in cooperation.– Supplied photo

537 workers caught for violating law

MUSCAT: The weekly report of the joint inspection team at the Ministry of Manpower has informed that the number of workers violating the Labour Law during the period from February 16 to February 22 stood at 537. This included 449 commercial workers, 61 farm workers and 27 housemaids and their equivalents.

The statistics showed that 530 workers were caught, includ-ing 143 absconding workers, 359 unaccounted workers and 28 workers with no documents.

The Governorate of Mus-cat had the largest number of workers violating the law with 347 cases, followed by the Gov-ernorates of North and South Sharqiyah with 65 workers.

The Manpower Ministry will take necessary measures to crack down on illegal workers. The ministry statistics showed that 245 expatriate workers were deported for violating pro-visions of the Labour Law and ministerial decisions.– ONA

M A N P O W E R M I N I S T R Y

A3M O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3 A3


OMAN

PACP raids earn kudos of people

REJIMON [email protected] MUSCAT: People in the Sultanate have welcomed the recent raids conducted by consumer-pro-tection offi cials to seize expired food items.

“The raids should be conducted regularly. It was only after the re-cent raid reports that we came to know that these greedy traders, especially expatriates, who are only interested in making money, were poisoning us. It was shock-ing to fi nd out that they were even selling expired cookies and sweets for children. Now, I have stopped buying packaged and tinned snacks for my kids. How will I know whether the food inside the packets is rotten, even though the packets bear valid expiry dates?” Mariam Al Raisi, a mother of three children residing in Azaiba, told Times of Oman.

Over the last few months, con-sumer protection and municipal-ity offi cials have raided dozens of shops and warehouses and have seized tonnes of expired food items all over the Sultanate.

The Public Authority for Con-sumer Protection (PACP) found that a company importing food-stuff from a neighbouring country was involved in the malpractice. The company was caught tam-pering with the production and expiry dates of more than 36,000

packets of 25 types of food items in Muttrah and Saham.

“The fraudulent activity was conducted by some expatriates,” said Dr. Said Bin Khamis Al Kaa-bi, Chairman of PACP.

“PACP will remain vigilant to stop such elements from earn-ing money through illegal means. Deterrent laws are the way to stop people from committing such malpractices,” Al Kaabi added.

According to a PACP report, a passenger carrying large quan-tities of labels and stickers for foodstuff , which didn’t bear any manufacturing or expiry dates, was arrested at Muscat Interna-tional Airport on Wednesday.

“Further investigations con-ducted in this person’s food-stor-age head offi ce in Walaja, Ruwi, revealed that they were altering the expiry dates and were ready to sell expired food items. The culprits have been taken into custody, and the case has been referred to the public prosecution,” the report added.

Consumer protection offi cials found coconut powder, banana chips, nuts, dried fi sh, and other food items in the store, which had been stored for packaging in covers with valid expiry dates.

The offi cials also seized equip-ment for repackaging expired

food items from there.During the recent raids, it was

also revealed that expired food items were being sold in new packets with valid expiry dates. The quality and brand had been changed, and some of the packets did not even have the item’s net weight printed on them.

“I read that a food store, man-aged by a Keralite trader in Ruwi, was raided recently and was slapped with penalties for sell-ing expired food items in new packets bearing valid expiry dates. The offi cials should act tough with these greedy traders. Their trading licenses should be cancelled,” stated an Indian homemaker, who didn’t want to disclose her identity.

This month, stores selling repackaged expired medicines and biscuits were also raided by offi cials.

“I think it is a great start! Many of these items have been sold in local markets, and many people do not check the date, especially when they are in a rush. So it is wonderful that the agency has started this initiative. Hopefully, now, fewer people will get sick from food poisoning,” stated Dr. Kawthar Hameed Abdullah, an educational psychologist and special-education specialist.

Many stores selling

expired edible items

and even medicines

have been raided by

offi cials

CONSUMER PROTECTION: During the raids, it was revealed that

expired food items were being sold in new packets with valid

expiry dates. The quality and brand had been changed. –Supplied photo


OMAN

Workers suff er foreman’s fury

REJIMON K [email protected]

MUSCAT: Two Indian expatri-ate labourers were allegedly “as-saulted with an iron rod” by their foreman, who is also an Indian, in Amerat on Saturday night, for fi ling a complaint against him at the Labour Department.

“We were not receiving the salary we had been off ered. We pleaded with him to give us what he had off ered us during recruit-ment. But our repeated pleas fell on deaf ears,” Shibu and Watson, the victims, alleged

“So, on Saturday, we ap-proached the Indian embassy, and following their directions, we fi led a complaint against the foreman at the Labour Depart-ment and returned to the camp. When the foreman and his broth-er found out about the complaint, they barged into our room and brutally assaulted us,” they said.

Shibu and Watson were work-ing as construction workers at the company, which is mainly run by the foreman and his family.

“The Arab sponsor is just a figurehead. We don’t think he is aware of these issues. We didn’t demand anything extra; we just wanted what he had of-fered us,” Shibu, who was badly injured, said.

According to Shibu, the fore-man and his brother had barged into his room at around 9p.m., and hit him with an iron rod.

“I was pushed down. The tel-evision set fell on my neck. He then started to set fi re to our clothes and belongings. We grabbed whatever things we could and ran out of the room in fear of losing our lives,” Shibu further alleged.

Watson, who came to Shibu’s rescue, was also beaten up.

“We somehow came to Ruwi to seek help from the police by 10 pm. They directed us to fi le a complaint with the Amerat po-lice station. As we were stand-ing in front of Badr Al Sama with bleeding hands, some social

workers came to help us. They took us to Amerat police station, and we fi led a complaint, and according to the police offi cials’ advice, we sought medical treat-ment at Khoula Hospital,” the labourers said.

According to the labourers, the foreman had threatened to prevent them from returning to their home countries until their contracts had expired.

“It was shameful to hear of an Indian foreman beating up his fellow citizens,” asserted Sha-meer PTK and Shaji Sebastin, Muscat-based social workers, who had helped the labourers at the police station and hospital.

“We hope the Indian embassy takes stringent action against such notorious foremen,” the social workers added.

With the help of the social workers, the labourers ap-proached offi cials at the Indian embassy, yesterday, seeking help and shelter.

Two Indian workers

have complained

of manhandling

by their foreman.

Shibu and Watson

were working as

construction workers

at the company, which

is mainly run by the

foreman and his kin

TARGETED: The victims approached the Indian embassy and

police with the help of social workers.–Supplied photo

A7

OMANM O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

FAHAD AL [email protected]

MUSCAT: More than 22 of-fi cials stood trial at the Duqm Primary Court on Saturday fac-ing charges of abuse of power in distributing plots of land in the wilayat of Duqm.

The offi cials include a former secretary of the Ministry of Housing, the secretary general of the dissolved Supreme Com-mittee for Town Planning, and offi cials from the Ministry of In-terior and Ministry of Regional Municipalities.

The hearing has been post-poned to April 7 to hear the state-ments of the accused and to give their defence team time to read

the case fi led by the Public Pros-ecution. This move came after the State Financial and Administra-tive Institution (SFAAI) fi led a report with the Public Prosecu-tion about irregularities in grant-ing land plots in Duqm, where mega projects are underway.

Investigation demandedThe Majlis Al Shura had recently demanded an investigation into the possession of large plots of land by infl uential people in the wilayats of Duqm and Mahdah in addition to plots of sand dunes in the wilayat of Bousher.

Meanwhile, six employees — fi ve from the fi nancial depart-ment of the Ministry of Man-power and another who worked

for a commercial bank in the Sul-tanate — have been summoned to the court.

The Public Prosecution, coor-dinating with the SFAAI, accused the fi ve defendants from the Min-istry of Manpower of embezzling more than OMR62,000.

Investigations revealed that one of the accused had withdrawn money from a bank in 2008 with the help of the banker, who has been charged as an accomplice.

Abdullah Al Bakri, Minister of Manpower, who was recently hosted by the Majlis Al Shura, re-iterated that he would not toler-ate any irregularities in the min-istry’s functions, and anyone who was found misusing power would be brought to justice.

C O U R T

Activists call off hunger strike

FAHAD AL [email protected]

MUSCAT: The jailed activists who had been on a hunger strike in Samayl Central Prison for the past 15 days ended their hunger strike yesterday.

This move comes after a re-sponse from the Supreme Court, setting the date for their appeal

for March 4 or March 6, Yaqoob Al Harthi, their lawyer, told Times of Oman.

Al Harthi added that the ver-dict in the unlawful assembly and lèse majesté charges will be an-nounced today by the Supreme Court. “We will soon receive the offi cial papers from the Supreme Court regarding the activists’ appeal,” Al Harthi said.

“The appeal of the accused went through four stages before it was submitted to the Criminal Court, for the announcement of the fi nal verdict,” stated Al Harthi.

Procedural delaySources said the delay in the ap-peals process was due to the in-tervention of Majlis Al Shura members, who were supposed to pay a visit to the activists.

The activists also received

a response from the Supreme Court to discontinue their plea after two months of waiting for the appeal, Al Harthi told Times of Oman.

Meanwhile, some observers in-formed that the decision to set a date for the appeal was prompted by the deterioration in the health of some of the activists, who had to be hospitalised. Al Harthi not-ed that most of the activists who had gone on hunger strike, who would only drink water with salt and sugar, were fed exclusively through intravenous (IV) drips.

Up to 27 prisoners accused of unlawful assembly and lèse majesté went on a hunger strike over the last few days.

More than 50 bloggers and activists are being held in Samayl Prison and are still awaiting fi nal judg-ment from the Primary Court.

The Supreme Court,

has set the date

for their appeal on

March 4 or March 6

Offi cials accused in Duqm land scam face legal action

A8

REGIONM O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

Palestinian prisoners go on hunger strike after inmate’s deathOCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Some 3,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails were staging a one-day hun-ger strike yesterday in protest at the sudden death of an inmate, an offi cial said, as security forces clashed with demonstrators in the West Bank.

“About 3,000 prisoners an-nounced that they would refuse meals,” Israel Prisons Service

spokeswoman Sivan Weizman, said. “It’s just the meals of one day; three meals.”

Arafat Jaradat, a 30-year-old fa-ther of two, from the village of Sair near Hebron in the southern West Bank, died suddenly on Saturday in an Israeli jail from what prison authorities said appeared to have been cardiac arrest.

Protestors in his home village

and in diff erent parts of Hebron city yesterday hurled stones at Is-raeli security forces who respond-ed with tear gas and stun grenades, witnesses said. There were no im-mediate reports of injuries.

Media said Israeli security forc-es were on the standby in case of further demonstrations.

Israel said yesterday it sent “an unequivocal demand” to Palestinian

leaders to quell unrest. Prime Minister Benjamin Net-

anyahu at the same time ordered the transfer of January arrears of tax revenues that Israel collects on the behalf of the Palestinians but has been withholding, the govern-ment said in a statement.

“Israel passed an unequivocal demand to the Palestinian Authority to calm down the territory,” the

statement said. “In order that the non-payment

of taxes that Israel collects for the Palestinians should not serve as an excuse for the Palestinian Authority not to calm the ter-ritory, Netanyahu instructed the money for January to be transferred,” it added.

Protests in the West Bank have been mounting, both in support

of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel — 11 of whom are on open-ended hunger strike — and against settlement expansion.

Israel’s Shin Bet domestic intel-ligence service said Jaradat had been arrested last Monday for his involvement in a stonethrow-ing incident in November 2012 during which an Israeli had been injured. – Agencies

M O U N T I N G U N R E S T

A9

REGIONM O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

Rebels captureN-site in Syria

AMMAN: Syrian rebels have cap-tured the site of a suspected nuclear reactor near the Euphrates river which Israeli warplanes destroyed six years ago, opposition sources in eastern Syria said yesterday.

Al Kubar site, around 60km west of the city of Deir Al Zor, became a focus of international attention when Israel raided it in 2007.

The United States said the complex was a North Korean-de-signed nuclear reactor geared to making weapons-grade plutoni-um. Omar Abu Laila a spokesman for the Eastern Joint Command of the Free Syrian Army said the

only building rebels found at the site was a hangar containing at least one Scud missile.

Scud launch base“It appears that the site was turned into a Scud launch base. Whatever structures it had have been buried,” he said, adding that three army helicopters airlifted the last loyalist troops before op-position fi ghters overran the area on Friday.

The Syrian military, which razed

the site after the Israeli raid, said the complex was a regular mili-tary facility but refused to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency unrestrained access, after the agency said the complex could have been a nuclear site.

The United States condemned a Syrian army Scud missile attack that killed dozens of people on Friday in the city of Aleppo, and invited the Syrian opposition for talks on fi nding a negotiated settlement to the confl ict. – Reuters

The complex was

a North Korean-

designed nuclear

reactor geared to

making weapons-

grade plutonium, says

the United States

THE AFTERMATH: A man reacts as he sits in rubble at a site hit on

Friday by what activists said was a Scud missile in Aleppo’s Ard

Al Hamra neighbourhood, yesterday. – Reuters

A10

INDIA M O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

Belt-tightening budget in bid to woo investors

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will present a belt-tightening budget this week in an attempt to win back investor confi dence, steering clear of pop-ulist measures even though polls loom, analysts say.

Investors have increasingly been giving a wide berth to Asia’s third-largest economy.

Now the fi nance minister, who is presenting his last full budget before Indian voters head to the polls early next year, must per-suade markets that the govern-ment is serious about nursing the economy back to health.

The budget for the fi nancial year to March to be unveiled on Thursday will likely be “a triumph of prudence over populism”, said Credit Suisse economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde.

Austerity movesChidambaram has already made some austerity moves, cutting spending by nine per cent this year, and a 10-per cent cut is expected for next year in the budget, said Deepak Lalwani, head of investment con-sultancy Lalcap in London.

“India’s budget is probably go-ing to be the most austere one in

many years — deep cuts across departments are on the cards,” Lalwani said.

Chidambaram assured global investors on an overseas road-show last month that the left-leaning Congress party-led government would present a “responsible budget”.

He has called the government’s fi scal defi cit targets of 5.3 per cent of gross domestic product for this fi nancial year and 4.8 per cent next year “red lines” that cannot be breached.

India must put its fi nancial house in order to avoid a credit ratings downgrade that would

deter vital investment needed to upgrade its dilapidated infra-structure from roads to ports, analysts say.

“A downgrade would take India to ‘junk” status’ — a severe embar-rassment for a country aspiring to become a global economic power” and further damage economic re-covery prospects, said Lalwani.

India is targeting raising $1 trillion in investment over the next fi ve years to spend on in-frastructure whose shabby state is seen as a key impediment to economic growth.

Foreign direct investment in India has fallen by 42 per cent in the eight months from last April to December from the same peri-od a year earlier, according to the latest offi cial data.

But analysts warn that govern-ment spending cuts carry risks of further weakening consumer demand and consequently eco-nomic growth, which is expected to be 5.0 per cent to 5.5 per cent this year, the lowest in a decade, analysts say.

“The government has to walk a tightrope” between “lack of fi s-cal credibility on one hand and growth risks on the other,” said senior HSBC economist Leif Eskesen. - AFP

The budget for the

fi nancial year to

March to be unveiled

on Thursday will

likely be ‘a triumph

of prudence over

populism’

Panel for regulation of Internet to reduce crimeMUMBAI: With an aim to curb crimes against women, an ex-pert committee has asked the authorities to control obscene and off ensive materials available on the Internet and social networking sites in Maharashtra. The third interim report by the committee, headed by Justice Chandrashekhar Dharma-dhikari, opined that there is an urgent need to impose restric-tions on objectionable material which is easily available on the Internet as it has the tendency to “corrupt young minds”. The committee was set up by the state government recently to recommend measures to reduce violence against women. There should be immediate restrictions on “networking, Fa-cebook, mobile phone and vulgar and indecent conversations and exchange of pictures”, the committee says.

Army colonel detained for smuggling illegal drugsIMPHAL: An army colonel and fi ve others were detained yesterday by the police in Manipur’s Chandel district after they were allegedly caught carrying illegal drugs meant to be smuggled out to Myanmar. Police sources said that the tablets worth Rs1.50 crore were found inside three vehicles at Pallel. The detained included an army PRO and his assistant, they said. They were being interrogated at the Pallel police station, about 45km south-east of here, the sources said. The army said the matter was being investigated and promised strictest action if any personnel was found guilty. The drugs included tablets of Respifed, Omkop, Hilcold, Polyfed and Actidin, the sources said.

‘Agri budget’ to promote farming in MaharashtraMUMBAI: Maharashtra, where nearly 60 per cent of the population is dependent upon farming, is likely to have a spe-cial ‘agriculture budget’ to enhance the output from the sector and address its problems. The state Agriculture Department has sought a separate ‘agri budget’ and a proposal in this re-gard has been submitted to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, sources said. If it is accepted, Maharashtra would become the third state after Karnataka and Odisha to have a separate budget for agriculture, they said. According to offi cials, a separate agriculture budget would help to address various issues of the sector, accelerate its development and eliminate duplicity of fund allocation.

Teledensity a visible sign of economic growth in BiharPATNA: One of the most visible signs of economic growth of Bihar could be witnessed through boom in telecom sector as refl ected from the fact that on an average every household have two mobile phones now. According to Economic Survey 2012-13, which was tabled in the state Assembly by Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi last week, Bihar has 4.6 crore telephone connections in 38 districts of the state of which mobile phones had a share of over 98 per cent with private operators playing a big role. Teledensity (number of telephone per 100 population) in urban areas of Bihar stood at 196.24 in 2012, which is more than the national average of 169.55, the survey report, quoting Telecom Regulatory Au-thority of India, said. Only Kerala and Odisha were ahead of Bihar in urban teledensity.

Sri Lanka plans to grant working visa to IndiansCOLOMBO: Facing a shortage of labourers, Sri Lanka plans to grant work visas to Indians to harvest paddy in the coun-try’s north and east, a media report said yesterday. “The gov-ernment is helpless as our people are leaving the country to work as labourers in West Asia, Singapore, South Korea and Italy,” Lankan Agricultural Minister Mahinda Yapa Abey-wardena was quoted as saying in the Sunday Times. - Agencies

B R I E F S

Countdown beginsfor PSLV-C20 launchCHENNAI: The fuelling of the second stage of the Indian rocket that would sling seven satellites into space this evening is expected to be done by morning while the countdown for the launch is pro-gressing smoothly, said offi cials of the Indian space agency.

“The countdown is smooth and is normal. The fuelling of second stage of the four-stage rocket will begin tonight (Sunday) and will get over tomorrow (Monday) morn-ing,” an offi cial of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), preferring anonymity, said.

President Pranab Mukherjee is slated to witness the launch of

the fi rst of the 10 space missions planned by the Isro in 2013.

The 44.4-metre tall Polar Satel-lite Launch Vehicle-C20 (PSLV-C20) rocket, with a lift-off weight of 229.7 tonnes, will sling into orbit seven satellites - one Indo-French and six foreign satellites.

The seven satellites together weigh 668.5kg.

The entire fl ight sequence-lift-off to the ejection of the seventh satellite at an altitude of 794km above the earth — will take around 22 minutes. The success-ful launch of the satellites will take Isro’s tally of launching foreign satellites to 35. - IANS

S P A C E M I S S I O N

India is targeting

raising $1 trillion in

investment over the

next five years to spend

on infrastructure,

a key impediment to

economic growth

UPBEAT: P. Chidambaram

A11

INDIAM O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

PM appeals for calm, meets blast survivors

HYDERABAD: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday ap-pealed for calm as he fl ew to Hy-derabad and visited some of the 117 people wounded in twin bombings last week which killed 16 people.

The prime minister also visited the blast site in Dilsukh Nagar, where two bicycle bombs explod-ed within a few minutes of each other outside a cinema and near a bus stand on Thursday evening.

The prime minister met with some of the blast survivors and medical staff in two city hospitals and expressed his condolences.

Hour of grief“It is most important that in this hour of grief the people should maintain calm,” he said.

“I am happy that the people of Hyderabad have refused to be pro-voked by this nefarious incident,” the prime minister told reporters.

“I pray for the speedy recovery of those who have been injured, to those who have died I send my condolences to all the bereaved families,” Singh added.

His spokesman Pankaj Pachau-ri said Singh was scheduled to be briefed by N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, on the incident.

Hyderabad, one of the major hubs of India’s booming software industry, is the capital of coastal Andhra Pradesh. The premier has vowed to bring to justice the perpetrators of what he called a “dastardly” attack, the fi rst major bombings in India since 2011.

His Congress Party-led gov-ernment was criticised in parlia-ment on Friday by the opposition, which said the bombings had ex-

posed systemic security failures at a time when India is on height-ened alert. The BJP mocked the premier’s one-day trip to Hy-derabad saying the blasts were a result of the government’s failure to tackle terrorism.

“The prime minister’s visit to Hyderabad is a non-event,” BJP leader Balbir Punj told reporters in New Delhi.

“In fact, if he and his govern-ment had been sensitive to the is-sue of terrorism in this country... this attack would not have taken place,” he said.

Newspapers have pointed the fi nger at the Indian Mujahideen, a banned militant outfi t which has claimed responsibility for previous attacks.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief G Kishan Reddy yesterday said he has received a threat letter purport-edly written by Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) in which it claimed responsibil-ity for the Dilsukh Nagar bomb blast.

Letter He received the letter by post on Saturday written in Urdu and Eng-lish, he claimed at a press conference here. He, however, refused to give a copy of the letter saying he has handed it over to Abids police station.

In the letter, the LeT stated that its next target is Begam Bazar, Red-dy claimed. Begum Bazar is an-other crowded wholesale market in the city. When contacted, Abids police said, “We have received a letter from Kishan Reddy today and it is being verifi ed.”-Agencies

Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh

also visited the

blast site in Dilsukh

Nagar; met medical

staff in hospitals

and expressed his

condolences

‘Italian documents will help in chopper probe’NEW DELHI: Moving forward in its probe into alleged kickbacks in the VVIP helicopter deal, the Cen-tral Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has procured some documents from Italian authorities in Mi-lan that may help it investigating whether any Indian had received bribes to swing the deal in favour of AgustaWestland.

Highly-placed sources in the probe agency said yesterday that one of the members of the CBI team who returned from Milan had got some of the documents from the Italian prosecutor re-garding the controversial Rs3,600 crore deal which would be examined in the next couple of days.

Preliminary EnquiryThe sources said a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) would be initiated in the next couple of days after ex-amining the documents received from the Italian authorities. It has been alleged that kickbacks to the tune of Rs362 crore were allegedly

paid to help secure the deal in fa-vour of the Anglo-Italian fi rm.

While declining to reveal the nature of documents, the sources said prima-facie it seemed suf-fi cient to initiate a PE against unknown persons since Italian authorities could share only these papers at this stage.

HopeOne of the two CBI offi cers was still in Milan to take some more documents and would be arriving here today, the sources said.

The CBI team is also pinning its hope on the assurance made by the Finmeccanica group, par-ent company of AgustaWestland helicopters, that it would provide assistance in probing bribery al-legations against some Indian na-tionals. At the meeting, CBI offi cials had requested the Italian fi rm to hand over the report of its internal probe to them so that it could be ex-amined in India and a proper inves-tigation could be conducted. -PTI

V V I P H E L I C O P T E R D E A L

Tension in Assam after

four youths found killed

GUWAHATI: Tension erupted in Assam’s Baksa district — a part of the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) — after bodies of four youths were found yester-day, police said.

The four bodies were recov-ered from a village called Gerua Ashram under Baganpara police station in the district. All the four bore injury marks, police added.

Investigation“Our investigation is on to fi nd out the motive behind the killing and those involved in the crime,” a police offi cer said, adding that local villagers spotted the bod-ies lying in paddy fi elds and in-

formed the police.“Family members of the de-

ceased said that the four were called out of their houses by uni-dentifi ed people last night and killed,” police said.

Baksa, which is a part of BTAD along with Kokrajhar, Chirang and Udalguri districts, had wit-nessed one of the worst-ever spells of ethnic violence between the Bodos and Bengali-speaking Muslim settlers last year that left over 100 people dead and close to fi ve lakh people displaced.

A high alert has been sounded in northeast following the Hy-derabad terror attack, an offi cial said yesterday. - IANS

E T H N I C C L A S H E S

I am happy that the

people of Hyderabad

have refused to be

provoked by this

nefarious incident

Manmohan SinghPrime Minister

CONCERNED: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meeting with a bomb blast victim at Yashoda

hospital in Hyderabad, yesterday. – PTI

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Of all the reasons Pakistani clerics could give for refusing to at-tend preparatory talks for a conference with Afghan clerics, citing the anti-Taleban nature of their counterparts may be one

of the very worst. There can be only two interpretations of this action: either the Pakistani clerics support the Taleban and their ideology or, they live in such fear of the Taleban that they are worried about being targeted for their association with anti-Taleban clerics. Neither inter-pretation refl ects well on the Pakistani clerics. The Pakistanis wanted to use the conference as a way to become part of the reconciliation pro-cess with the Taleban but true reconciliation will only be possible after a reckoning of the Taleban’s crimes and not by glossing over them. In fact, a conference such as this would have been an ideal way to bring about clerical consensus against the Taleban. One reason extremism is thriving is that too many prominent clerics have provided religious cover to the Taleban. Even if they denounce the Taleban’s methods, they are often in agreement with their interpretation of religion. This conference should have been used to try and counter that. In-stead, Pakistan is thwarting the possibility of even creating an anti-Taleban alliance. This will be counterproductive for the cause of peace in both countries.

Then there is also the unfortunate fact that such actions serve only to reinforce the almost colonial way in which Pakistan treats Afghani-stan. In our dealings with that country, we want things to either go our way or we pack our bags in a huff . It was this attitude, which led to our foisting the Taleban on Afghanistan and then continuing to support the Afghan Taleban based in our territory. It seems that for us, Afghanistan simply exists to further our regional geopolitical goals. Now might be the time for some humility, to show Afghani-stan that we take its concerns seriously even if we disagree with them. The place to express these disagreements and debate them would have been at the conference. - The Express Tribune

In India, people ask you about China, and, in China, people ask you about India: Which country will become the more dominant economic power in the 21st century? I now have the answer: Mexico.

Impossible, you say? Well, yes, Mexico with only about 110 million people could

never rival China or India in total economic clout. But here’s what I’ve learned from this visit to Mexico’s industrial/innovation centre in Monterrey. Every-thing you’ve read about Mexico is true: drug cartels, crime syndicates, government corruption and weak rule of law hobble the nation. But that’s half the story. The reality is that Mexico today is more like a crazy blend of the movies “No Country for Old Men” and “The Social Network.”

Something happened here. It’s as if Mexicans sub-consciously decided that their drug-related violence is a condition to be lived with and combated but not some-thing to defi ne them any longer. Mexico has signed 44 free trade agreements — more than any country in the world — which, according to The Financial Times, is more than twice as many as China and four times more than Brazil. Mexico has also greatly increased the num-ber of engineers and skilled labourers graduating from its schools. Put all that together with massive cheap natural gas fi nds, and rising wage and transportation costs in China, and it is no surprise that Mexico now is taking manufacturing market share back from Asia and attracting more global investment than ever in au-tos, aerospace and household goods.

“Today, Mexico exports more manufactured prod-ucts than the rest of Latin America put together,” The Financial Times reported on Sept. 19, 2012. “Chrysler, for example, is using Mexico as a base to supply some of its Fiat 500s to the Chinese market.” What struck me most here in Monterrey, though, is the number of tech start-ups that are emerging from Mexico’s young population — 50 per cent of the country is under 29 — thanks to cheap, open source innovation tools and cloud computing.

“Mexico did not waste its crisis,” remarked Patrick Kane Zambrano, director of the Centre for Citizen Integration, referring to the fact that when Mexican companies lost out to China in the 1990s, they had no choice but to get more productive. Zambrano’s Web site embodies the youthful zest here for using technology to both innovate and stimulate social activism. The cen-treaggregates Twitter messages from citizens about everything from broken streetlights to “situations of risk” and plots them in real-time on a phone app map of Monterrey that warns residents what streets to avoid, alerts the police to shootings and counts in days or hours how quickly public offi cials fi x the problems.

“It sets pressure points to force change,” the

centre’s president, Bernardo Bichara, told me. “Once a citizen feels he is not powerless, he can aspire for more change. ... First, the Web democratized com-merce, and then it democratized media, and now it is democratizing democracy.”

If Secretary of State John Kerry is looking for a new agenda, he might want to focus on forging closer in-tegration with Mexico rather than beating his head against the rocks of Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan or Syria. Better integration of Mexico’s manufacturing and innovation prowess into America’s is a win-win. It makes US companies more profi table and competitive, so they can expand at home and abroad, and it gives Mexicans a reason to stay home and reduces violence. We do $1.5 billion a day in trade with Mexico, and we spend $1 billion a day in Afghanistan. Not smart.

We need a more nuanced view of Mexico. While touring the Centre for Agrobiotechnology at Monter-rey Tech, Mexico’s MIT, its director, Guy Cardineau, an American scientist from Arizona, remarked to me that, in 2011, “my son-in-law returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan and we talked about having him come down and visit for Christmas. But he told me the US military said he couldn’t come because of the (State Department) travel advisory here. I thought that was very ironic.”

Especially when US companies are expanding here, which is one reason Mexico grew last year at 3.9 per cent, and foreign direct investment in Monterrey hit record highs.

“Twenty years ago, most Mexican companies were not global,” explained Blanca Treviño, the president and founder of Softtek, one of Mexico’s leading I.T. ser-vice providers. They focused on the domestic market and cheap labour for the US “Today, we understand that we have to compete globally” and that means “be-coming effi cient. We have a (software) development centre in Wuxi, China. But we are more effi cient now in doing the same business from our centre in Aguascali-entes, (Mexico), than we are from our centre in Wuxi.”

Mexico still has huge governance problems to fi x, but what’s interesting is that, after 15 years of political pa-ralysis, Mexico’s three major political parties have just signed “a grand bargain,” a k a “Pact for Mexico,” under the new president, Enrique Peña Nieto, to work togeth-er to fi ght the big energy, telecom and teacher monopo-lies that have held Mexico back.

If they succeed, maybe Mexico will teach us some-thing about democracy. Mexicans have started to won-der about America lately, said Bichara from the Centre for Citizen Integration. “We always thought we should have our parties behave like the United States’ — no longer. We always thought we should have the govern-ment work like the United States’ — no longer.” - The New York Times News Service

How Mexico got back into the gameTHOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Stalled talks

If Secretary of State

John Kerry is looking

for a new agenda,

he might want to

focus on forging

closer integration

with Mexico rather

than beating his head

against the rocks of

Israel, Afghanistan or

Syria. The US needs a

more nuanced view of

Mexico

Whatever else it may be, the downgrading by one agency of the UK’s credit rating from AAA to AA1 is a mark of failure. The Conservative manifesto at the last election promised: “We

will safeguard Britain’s credit rating with a credible plan to eliminate the bulk of the structural defi cit over a Parliament.” That pledge now lies in small pieces, and the objective of eliminating most of the struc-tural defi cit has receded into the slightly snowy distance. Whether the loss of a triple-A rating was partly caused by the Chancellor’s policy, or whether it was the result mainly of unexpected sluggish growth in the eurozone, there can be no doubt that George Osborne did not intend to fi nd himself in this position 33 months into his tenure of the Treas-ury. This newspaper agrees with the Shadow Chancellor that Osborne made the mistake of cutting the defi cit too sharply, and that this stifl ed consumption and investment and therefore growth. But there would have been risks in Labour’s policy too of more infl ation, and that the Government’s credit rating would have been downgraded further and earlier, raising the cost of public borrowing.

In any case, that debate is becoming marginal. Osborne has been forced by events to do much of what Balls, and Alistair Darling before him, advocated, putting off the point at which the national debt starts to fall as a share of income. And, although Ed Balls said yesterday that borrowing more was “what I would do now”, it is not what Labour will promise to do by 2015. Politically, it would be too hard to fi ght an election against a government that had failed to control borrowing by promising to borrow more. Such an argument will become ever harder to make if, as Hamish McRae argues today, the Moody’s downgrade marks the start of a gradual increase in the cost of borrowing in the long run. What matters now is what the Chancellor can do to crank up growth in the next couple of years. There are many sensible things that can be done, and Osborne should try all of them. Perhaps the two most important are to get the banks to lend to businesses again, and to ac-celerate public-sector capital spending.

On the fi rst, the temptation has been to wait for Mark Carney, who takes over as Governor of the Bank of England in June. However, if there are changes that could be made, they should be made straight away. Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, suggested last week that the Funding for Lending Scheme needed further work to ensure that new money went to small businesses. The scheme was launched last summer to use the Government’s credit to underwrite new lend-ing, and it has had some success in stimulating the housing market, but less of an impact on business lending. As for capital investment, the London School of Economics Growth Commission recently pub-lished a “manifesto for growth”, which emphasised the long-termism of higher educational standards and more research and development, but which also called for “investment in transport, telecommunica-tions, energy and housing”. – The Independent

Britain’s AAA loss is a

clear sign of failure

Viewpoint has been an inspiration to many It was sad to hear of the demise of Sheikh Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali, the founder of Times of Oman. His column, Viewpoint, had always been an inspiration for me and I had often found a refl ec-tion of my views in the column. I express my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family, his friends, relatives and the employees of Times of Oman. Soman SankuRustaq

Sheikh Essa’s demise has created a void The demise of Sheikh Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali has indeed created a huge void in the media industry of Oman. He was indeed

a bold voice. We express our deep-est condolences to the bereaved family and we pray for his soul to rest in peace. Suddapalli Bhaskara RaoRuwi

The crimes of Britain are continuing even todayOne of the best services to humanity is to expose the crimes against humanity, as the writer has done in the article, Endless are Britain’s colonial crimes (Febru-ary 24). The crimes of Britain continue even to this day. By di-viding India and Pakistan, and by creating the state of Israel, Britain continues to be part of the blood-shed that continues to this day. Its crimes must be exposed on a regu-lar basis. I must admit that the

article was very timely. I thank Times of Oman for the boldness with which the colonial crimes of Britain have been exposed.Syed HasanMuscat

Cameron’s regret has added to the painThe regret expressed by the British Prime Minister David Cameron on the disgraceful Jallianwala Bagh massacre has actually added to the pain of the Indians. It is quite surprising that Cameron had to wait for his premiership to realise the gravity of the 1919 episode. The crimes and atrocities that were commit-ted by Britain’s royal war heroes of the past will never go unno-ticed by the current and future

generations. The world, perhaps, is now witnessing a continuation of colonial legacy. We would not be surprised if in future, the US, Britain and other Nato countries express their regret for their roles in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ramachandran NairRuwi

Churchill gave slow and painful death to millionsFormer British prime minister Churchill shed crocodile’s tears over Jallianwala Bagh massacre but he had killed almost fi ve million Bengalis in one year by de-liberately creating a famine. The death he gave was slow, painful and humiliating.Nabarun GhoshalMuscat

READERS’ FORUM

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

Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe

H. G. WELLS

“Insure with

New India and

be secure”

EMERGING POWER

A13

PAKISTANM O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

Call for army in Quetta a conspiracy: Lashkari

ISLAMABAD: Handing Quetta to the army would ultimately pave the way for the arrival of interna-tional forces in the province, the former president of the Pakistan Peoples Party in Balochistan Nawa-bzada Lashkari Raisani has argued.

The demand to hand control to the army came from the frus-trated Hazara minority who re-cently lost 200 people in terrorist attacks. The Baloch reacted badly to demand as they regard the army

as their oppressors.Lashkari, together with former

PPP federal minister Amanullah Ghichki, was of the opinion that the demand for the army to step in was part of an international plan to destabilise Pakistan and further complicate the crisis in Balochistan.

“Balochistan, particularly Quetta, has turned into a fi eld of an international proxy war, as the players are creating a situation

that suits their economic interests in the province,” Lashkari said.

The January 10 bombing in Quetta killed almost 90 Hazaras led to the dismissal of the provin-cial government and the imposi-tion of Governor’s Rule.

Sympathising with the Hazaras, Lashkari said that all the political and democratic forces should ex-press solidarity with the ethnic minority. He said that the state would face terrible consequences if their protests were not joined by other political forces.

The two Baloch leaders, Lashkari and Ghichki, proposed that the establishment should rely on political elements in the province to reach a resolution.

“Maintenance of law and or-der and countering terrorism is the responsibility of the police and other law enforcing agencies while the army is responsible for (upholding) national security,”

Lashkari said.Giving weight to Lashkari’s

opinion, Senator Pervaiz Rashid said that his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, was strictly against any brutality in-fl icted upon people irrespective of their faith and belief. But he was critical of the demands made by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan and Minhajul Quran International’s Tahirul Qadri to hand over Quetta to the army.

“This demand has been made by people who are unaware of state craftsmanship,” Rashid said.

Describing the role of the army, Rashid said that “constitutionally, the army is available to the civil administration to maintain peace in any of the part of the country.” He said that those calling out for the provincial capital to be handed to the military were “ill-informed about constitutional provisions.” - Express Tribune

The demand for the army to take over

Quetta was part of an international plan to

destabilise Pakistan and further complicate

the crisis in Balochistan: Lashkari Raisani

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Karachi strike postponedKARACHI: The Sunni Tehreek (ST) postponed its strike in Ka-rachi — originally scheduled for today — after a meeting with rep-resentatives of the business com-munity, private schools associa-tion and transporters.

ST spokesman Fahim Sheikh confi rmed this decision to The Express Tribune.

The strike call was given to protest

the target killing of ST activists in the city.

No new date for the strike has been announced as yet.

The Sunni Tehreek has criti-cised the government for its fail-ure to arrest the culprits. Earlier in January, two members of the ST were killed in an attack in New Karachi. - In exclusive arrangement with The

Express Tribune

S E C T A R I A N S T R I F E

War between PPP and MQM could be fake: Sharif LAHORE: Pakistan Mus-lim League (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif said that the ongoing ‘war’ between the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and former coalition partner Mut-tahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) could be fake. Nawaz, speaking to the media in Lahore yester-day, suggested that it is possible that the two par-ties are ‘fi ghting’ because the provincial assemblies are about to be dissolved, and a caretaker chief minister is to be elected by the government — the PPP — and the opposition, now led by the MQM. “Why did the MQM not leave the government three or four years back? Why do it 15 days prior (to dissolu-tion of assemblies)?” he questioned.

Haq backtrackson opposing new universityHYDERABAD: Sindh Minister for Education Pir Mazharul Haq changed his statement, saying three universities will be set up in Hyderabad, Express News reported yesterday. He added that he never opposed the set-ting up of a university. Haq had earlier opposed the setting up of a government university in a state-ment while speaking at the convocation of Sindh University on Saturday. He had said that he will not allow the setting up of a University in Hyderabad city and would stand against any such eff orts.

Poll panel denies pressure on‘issue of degrees’ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has unoffi cially extended the deadline for submission of educational certifi cates of Members of Parliament (MPs) for an indefi nite period. Offi cially, the commission has strongly denied doing so under pres-sure. Sources in the ECP revealed that there is no deadline for MPs to comply with the letters sent to them earlier this month by the commission. As many as 249 MPs were asked to submit their educational certifi cates within 15 days of the notice or their degrees would be declared fake. Though recent devel-opments suggest that the ECP is dragging its feet on taking action against the MPs, the commission says no one is pressing it. “There is no pressure on the Election Commission of Pakistan … and why should there be any,” Ad-ditional Secretary Afzal Khan told The Express Tribune on Saturday. Khan, however, declined further omments. - Agencies

B R I E F S

A14

ASIAM O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

Four killed, 40 hurt in Bangladesh clashes

DHAKA: Protestors demanding the execution of bloggers they ac-cuse of blasphemy clashed with police in Bangladesh for a third straight day yesterday, and at least four protestors were killed when police opened fi re.

Up to 3,000 protestors, in-cluding students from religious schools and supporters of the main opposition party, barricaded a highway at Singair in the central district of Manikganj, police said.

“They attacked us with ma-chetes, sticks, bricks and fi rearms from three sides when we tried to clear the barricade. We fi red back in self-defence,” Mizanur Rahman, deputy police chief of Manikganj, said, adding at least 40 people, including policemen, were injured.

“The cleric of the local mosque used a loudspeaker to rally the protestors. They were shouting slogans for the execution of the bloggers, accusing them of being non-believers and atheists,” Rah-man said.

Khalilur Rahman, residential medical offi cer of Singair Hospi-tal, said three young people died of bullet wounds at the spot. A fourth person died after he was transferred to a Dhaka clinic, police said.

Among the injured, 18 suff ered bullet wounds, the medical offi c-er said. Fifteen people were in-jured, three by bullets, in anoth-er clash between police, ruling

party supporters and hardliners in the southeastern resort district of Cox’s Bazaar, said private television Maasranga.

ViolenceThe violence broke out as 12 small parties, backed by the largest group Jamaat-e-Islami and main opposition Bangladesh Nation-alist Party, called a nationwide strike in protest at Friday’s police action against hardliners.

Four people were killed, three in police shooting, and about 200 injured during Friday’s protests by tens of thousands of people de-

manding the hanging of bloggers.Tensions have risen over blog

posts by Ahmed Rajib Haider, who was hacked to death last week near his home in Dhaka.

In recent weeks Haider and fel-low bloggers had launched mas-sive protests demanding a ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami, and the execution of its leaders for al-leged war crimes. Since Haider’s death, Bangladeshi social media has been fl ooded with his alleged blog posts and with those by other bloggers, triggering protests by a number of groups and clerics.

The government has warned

of tough steps against those who incite social tension, and urged newspapers and blogs not to pub-lish defamatory writings.

It has cracked down on anti-re-ligion blogs and also given police protection to some bloggers in the wake of Haider’s murder.

Police have yet to comment on a motive for Haider’s killing. But his brother said Haider was tar-geted by Jamaat’s student wing for his online activities. The kill-ing of Haider was the second attack in Dhaka in less than a month against a blogger critical of groups. - AFP

Around 3,000

protestors demanding

execution of bloggers

turn violent, say

police

US radar to bolster defence in JapanTOKYO: Tokyo and Washington plan to install a US early-warning radar system at a coastal base near Kyoto to bolster defences against the North Korean missile threat, reports said yesterday.

The X-band radar, capable of precisely tracking the trajectory of a ballistic missile, allows US forces to launch intercept missiles from the ground and sea once a ballistic missile has been detected.

It will be the second X-band ra-dar system to be installed in Japan after another was set up in north-ern Aomori prefecture.

The X-band radar system will be built in an Air Self-Defence Force

base in Kyotango, northwest of Kyoto, on the coast of the Sea of Ja-pan, or East Sea, Kyodo News and Jiji Press agencies reported, citing unnamed sources.

The location was picked as it was likely that a North Korean missile targeting Guam or Hawaii would fl y over western or central parts of Japan, Kyodo said.

Meanwhile, Japan said three Chinese surveillance ships entered its territorial waters off disputed East China Sea islands yesterday. The three marine surveillance ships entered the 12-nautical-mile territorial zone off Uotsuri, one of the Senkaku islands. - AFP

N O R T H K O R E A N M I S S I L E T H R E A T

US forces ordered to leave two provincesKABUL: Afghan President Ha-mid Karzai demanded yesterday the withdrawal of US special forces from Wardak and Logar within two weeks, accusing them of fuelling “insecurity and insta-bility” in the volatile provinces neighbouring the capital Kabul.

“In today’s national security council meeting... President Karzai ordered the ministry of defence to kick out the US special forces from Wardak and Logar provinces within two weeks,” said presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi.

“The US special forces and illegal armed groups created by them are causing insecurity, instability, and harass local

people in these provinces,” he told a press conference.

The bulk of Nato’s 100,000 troops are due to leave Afghani-stan by the end of 2014.

A US Forces Afghanistan (US-FOR-A) spokesman said he was aware of the reported comments by Faizi.

“We take all allegations of mis-conduct seriously and go to great lengths to determine the facts surrounding them,” he said.

“Until we have had a chance to speak with senior (Afghan) offi -cials about this issue we are not in a position to comment further. This is an important issue that we intend to fully discuss with our Afghan counterparts.” - AFP

A F G H A N I S T A N

RALLYING FOR DEMAND: Students and pro-government supporters take out a rally, demanding death

to largest political party leaders who are on trial for alleged war crimes, in Dhaka, yesterday. – AP/PTI

A15

WORLDM O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

Emotional Pope vows he will not abandon Church

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI delivered an emotional last Sun-day prayer in St Peter’s Square, saying God had told him to devote himself to quiet contemplation but assuring he would not

“abandon” the Church. The fi nal days of his pontifi cate are being overshadowed by mounting scandal over two cardi-nals — one accused of covering up paedophile abusers and the other accused of “’inappropriate acts”’ — set to take part in the conclave to elect the next pontiff . But tens of thousands of supporters turned out for Benedict’s fi nal Sunday prayers ahead of his formal resignation on Thursday, often inter-rupting him with their clapping, cheering and chanting. “The Lord is calling me to climb the mountain, to dedicate myself even more to prayer and meditation. But this does not mean abandoning the Church,” the pope said from the window of his residence in the Vatican, his voice breaking with emotion. “If God is asking me to do this it is precisely so I can continue to serve with the same dedication and love as before but in a way that is more appropriate for my age and for my strength.” The 85-year-old leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics an-nounced earlier this month he will be stepping down because he lacks the strength to carry on.

Pistorius’s brother facing trial for ‘killing’ in accidentJOHANNESBURG: Oscar Pistorius’s elder brother faces trial for killing a woman in a traffi c incident fi ve years ago, the family said yesterday, confi rming a report that dominat-ed South African media two days after the “Blade Runner” athlete was bailed for murder. Carl Pistorius is charged with culpable homicide in the death of a motorcyclist in 2008; the case is unrelated to the Valentine’s Day shooting of his young-er brother’s girlfriend. However, it was not widely known of until local television e-News Channel Africa reported it yes-terday. A family statement said Carl appeared before a judge on Thursday and would be in court again in late March. His younger brother was freed on bail on Friday.

Fashion designers harness grannies’ knitting power ROTTERDAM: Two Dutch entrepreneurs are merging the fashion sense of young designers with the knitting knowl-edge of local grannies to create a range of original knitwear, stitched together over coff ee and cake at a retirement home. A small room at the back of a retirement home in the suburbs of Rotterdam has been given over to the weekly “knitting club” for women aged 58 to 85, their cheerful chatter almost drowning out the rhythmic click-clacking of knitting needles. “I think I’ll make this one next,” says an excited Willy Mollenaar, a grandmother in her seventies. – Agencies

B R I E F S Michelle’s dance video goes viral

WASHINGTON: A video clip of First Lady Michelle Obama groov-ing with a dressed-in-drag Jimmy Fallon on his late-night comedy talk show has gone viral on You-Tube on Saturday.

In the video, the pair, each clad in conservative slacks and car-digans, and Fallon with a long brown-haired wig, perform a rou-tine dubbed Evolution of Mom Dancing, to promote Obama’s “Let’s Move!” youth fi tness and nutrition campaign.

The dance moves — with names like The ‘Go Shopping, Get Grocer-ies,’ and The ‘Out of Sync Electric Slide according to titles splashed on the bottom of the screen — progress from a simple side-to-side step and end with Fallon stalking off set as Obama rocks a smooth Dougie.

Thousands watchThe clip, which has already been viewed more than 850,000 times since being posted on Friday and “liked” more than 11,000 times, has prompted eff usive comments about the fi rst lady and her fi rst family. “For the fi rst time... we have a fi rst lady with soul,” wrote zestydude87.

And Rina Lubit wrote, “it may be just me but i really love the presi-dential family. they just really seem like sincerely good and chill people.”

In an interview later on the show, Obama rates her husband’s dance skills a “B,” saying “he’s got, like, three good moves.”

Obama also touts her “Let’s Move!” campaign, saying it has seen progress since she launched it three years ago, but there is still work to do.

“Over the past three years, we’ve seen a culture shift. Now people understand that this is an issue,” she said.

“We’ve got better lunches in the schools, we’ve got companies put-ting grocery stores in under-served

communities. We’ve got our ath-letes, our Olympians, working to get our kids more active. It’s really heartening to see.”

Obesity is a major health prob-lem in the United States, where one in three adults and almost one in fi ve children is overweight.

Among other initiatives for “Let’s Move,” the fi rst lady, an at-torney by training, has planted the White House’s fi rst garden since World War II and written a book with healthy recipes.

TrendsetterFirst Lady Michelle Obama is without doubt the nation’s trend-setting arbiter of taste and style.

From her breezy new bangs to her elegant inaugural gowns, the entire country sits in breathless anticipation of what new look Obama will come up with next.

And for the obscure fashion de-signer, nothing catapults a career into the stratosphere like having Obama wear one’s clothes.

This week, that stroke of good fortune was enjoyed by Reed Kra-koff , whose classic azure dress and cardigan were worn by Obama in the fi rst lady’s offi cial portrait un-veiled by the White House.

The fi rst lady also chose Kra-koff ’s designs for President Barack Obama’s swearing-in ceremony last month -- an unanticipated two-for-one stroke of luck that still has him pinching himself.

“I knew there was a chance, but I didn’t know for sure,” he said.

“It’s a great honour, it is an amazing thing for any designer.”

“She wears contemporary fash-ion, sometimes avant-garde fash-ion, but never in such a way that she looks like a fashion victim or looks too wild,” said Patricia Mears, deputy director at the Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology.

“She wears a lot of American labels, but she is not afraid to wear something designed by someone who is from overseas or a foreign company. – Agencies

The clip has prompted

eff usive comments

about the fi rst lady

and her fi rst family

Michelle Obama. – File photo

Majority of Germans opposed to Turkey joining EU

BERLIN: Six out of 10 Ger-mans are opposed to Turkey joining the European Union, a survey published yesterday showed, as Chancellor Angela Merkel embarked on a two-day visit to the country.

Sixty per cent of those sur-veyed in the Emnid poll for the Bild am Sonntag weekly said they were against Ankara gain-ing membership of the EU bloc. Thirty percent said they were in favour, the rest undecided.

In addition, 57 per cent said Turkey’s growing economic and military strength was a matter of concern for them, with 35 percent welcoming Ankara’s increasing clout.

Merkel was due to set off on a trip to Turkey that will in-clude a visit to German troops on the Syrian border, a speech at a Turkish-German business conference, as well as high-level political talks.

Today, she will meet both President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

Ahead on the trip, she said in her weekly podcast she was in favour of opening a “new chap-ter” in Turkey’s bid to join the EU, adding that discussions needed to move forward al-though she remained sceptical.

“These negotiations have stalled a little recently and I am in favour of opening a new chapter in these talks so we can advance,” Merkel said.

“Although I am sceptical, I have approved the continua-tion of the membership discus-sions,” added the chancellor.

Turkey’s eff orts to join the EU have stalled in recent years and of the 35 so-called policy chap-ters EU candidates must negoti-ate, Turkey has opened talks on only 13 since formally applying for membership in 2005. – AFP

S U R V E Y

A16

WORLDM O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

Italians express rage as they vote

ROME: Italy voted yesterday in one of the most unpredictable elections in years, with many voters expressing rage against a discredited elite and doubt that a government will emerge strong enough to combat a severe economic crisis.

“I am pessimistic. Nothing will change,” said Luciana Li Mandri, 37, as she cast a ballot in the Sicil-ian capital Palermo on the fi rst of two days of voting that continues today. “The usual thieves will be in government.”

Her gloom refl ected the mood across Italy, where many voters

said they thought the new ad-ministration would not last long, just the opposite of what Italy needs to combat the longest slump

in 20 years, mounting unemploy-ment and a huge public debt.

The election is being closely watched by investors whose memories are fresh of a debt crisis which forced out scandal-plagued conservative premier Silvio Ber-lusconi 15 months ago and saw him replaced by economics professor Mario Monti.

“I’m not confi dent that the gov-ernment that emerges from the election will be able to solve any of our problems,” said Attilio Bi-anchetti, a 55-year-old building tradesman in Milan.

Underlining his disilluion with the established parties, he voted for the 5-Star Movement of comic Beppe Grillo.

An iconclastic, 64-year-old Ge-noese, Grillo has screamed himself hoarse with obscenity-laced at-tacks on politicians that have chan-nelled the anger of Italians, espe-cially a frustrated young generation

hit by record unemployment. “He’s the only real new element

in a political landscape where we’ve been seeing the same faces for too long,” said Vincenzo Cannizzaro, 48, in Palermo.

Opinion pollsOpinion polls give the centre-left coalition of Pier Luigi Bersani a narrow lead but the result has been thrown open by the prospect of a huge protest vote against Mon-ti’s painful austerity measures and rage at a wave of corruption scan-dals. A weak government could usher in new instability in the euro zone’s third largest economy and cause another crisis of con-fi dence in the European Union’s single currency.

Television tycoon Berlusconi has increased uncertainty over the past couple of months by halving the gap between his centre-right and Bersani.– Reuters

The usual thieves will

be in government,

says a pessimistic

voter as she cast her

ballot in Palermo

World’s oldest marathon runner shines at last raceHONK KONG: A 101-year-old Sikh believed to be the world’s oldest distance runner retired yesterday after ending his last race in Hong Kong on a high, de-scribing it as one of the “happiest days” of his long life.

Fauja Singh, nicknamed the “Turbaned Tornado”, fi nished the 10-kilometre run at the Hong Kong Marathon in one hour, 32 minutes and 28 seconds — half a minute faster than at the same event last year.

“Today is one of my happiest days,” the Indian-born British na-tional, who only speaks Punjabi, said through his interpreter after he crossed the fi nishing line with a broad smile and waving the Hong Kong fl ag.

“I felt so fresh and so good. I felt I’m full of power today.

“I will remember this day and I will miss it, but I will not stop running for charity,” added Singh, who was mobbed by supporters when he completed his fi nal com-petitive event, weeks before he turns 102 on April 1.

The centenarian, a farmer in his home state of Punjab before settling in England, became an international sensation and made headlines worldwide after he took up the sport at the ripe age of 89.

He has since completed nine

42-kilometre marathons in Lon-don, Toronto and New York. His best time was in Toronto, where he clocked fi ve hours, 40 minutes and four seconds.

The great-great-grandfather has said that while he is quitting competitive events, he will not stop running for personal fi tness.

In Hong Kong on Sunday he ran with 100 supporters from a com-munity group “Sikhs in the City”, forming a group of 101 to mark his age. Group member Karamjit Singh said the runner was in top form throughout on a breezy and

slightly overcast morning in the southern Chinese city.

“Apart from a toilet break at about 6km into the run and at one point he nearly slipped due to wet ground, he did not stop, he just kept on going,” Karamjit, a nurse who lives in Hong Kong, said.

“It’s amazing. We’re always proud of him.”

The 101-year-old, who has at-tributed his longevity to a positive attitude and simple lifestyle, was in high spirits and cracked jokes with journalists several times after fi nishing the race. – AFP

R E T I R E M E N T

CALLS IT QUIT: Indian-born British national Fauja Singh waves a

Hong Kong fl ag after crossing the fi nish line in the 10km event as

part of the Hong Kong Marathon. – AFP

Castro makes rare appearance in parliament HAVANA: Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro made a rare public appearance yesterday as he took his long-empty seat beside brother Raul Castro at the opening session of the National Assembly, the offi cial National Informa-tion Agency reported. Fidel Castro has graced the assembly chambers just once, in 2010, since taking ill in 2006 and ced-ing power to his brother. In that appearance, he delivered a brief speech warning that a US con-frontation with Iran could lead to a nuclear holo-caust. A frail and stooped Castro, 86, also appeared in public earlier this month to vote for the Na-tional Assembly and chat with Cuban reporters.

‘Hagel not fi t to be defence secretary’ WASHINGTON: Re-publican Senator John McCain yesterday said his former colleague Chuck Hagel was not qualifi ed to be US defence secretary but the Senate would likely vote on his nomination rather than hold it up with procedural hurdles. Before going on a weeklong recess, Republi-can lawmakers succeeded in delaying a Senate vote on Hagel’s nomina-tion earlier this month. Hagel is expected to win confi rmation if a vote is held because Democrats control 55 votes in the 100-seat Senate. “I do not believe that Chuck Hagel, who is a friend of mine, is qualifi ed to be secretary of defence,” McCain of Arizona said on CNN’s “State of the Union” show.

James Bond’s Aston Martin up for grabs GENEVA: James Bond’s famous Aston Martin car, complete with hidden ma-chine guns and a smoke screen, is now up for grabs for a cool three million pounds, a Swiss weekly reported yesterday. Swiss millionaire Thomas Straumann put the vehicle up for sale in Britain with a price tag of three million pounds ($4.6 million), the Swiss weekly NZZ am Sonntag said. Straumann bought the Aston Martin DB5 in 2006 and spent three years restoring the car driven by Sean Con-nery as the fi ctional Brit-ish spy in Goldfi nger and Thunderball. – Agencies

B R I E F S

MARKEWWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMMONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013B

A DIGITAL UPDATE FOR YOUR PHOTO ALBUM

Muscat

5,964.51- 15.40

- 0.26%

Dubai

1,945.95+ 22.82

+ 1.19%

Abu Dhabi

3,028.13 + 5.65

+ 0.19%

Saudi Arabia

7,043.65 + 2.07

+ 0.03%

Kuwait

6,409.04+ 4.22

+ 0.07%

Bahrain

1,102.78 - 0.02

- 0.00%

Qatar

8,693.21- 41.35

- 0.47%

CURRENCY RATES* DRAFT RATES (RO1)* GOLD PRICES*Forex rates vs RO1*

US Dollar .................................2.60

Euro ............................................. 1.97

Pound ............................................ 1.71

Indian Rs .............................140.99

Pak Rs ...................................254.99

Bangla Taka......................205.07* Rates are as of Feb. 24

Source: Bloomberg News

Indian Rs .................................. 140.05

Pakistan Rs .............................252.85

Sri Lanka Rs ........................... 327.85

Bangla Taka........................... 203.25

Phil Peso ................................... 105.05

* Rates as of Feb. 24 Source: Oman UAE Exchange

Muscat 24ct per gm (RO) ............19.50

Muscat 22ct per gm (RO) ............18.50

10 Tola Bar Muscat (RO) ................. N/A

Dubai 24ct per gm (Dh) ............189.25

Dubai 22ct per gm (Dh) .............. 177.75

10 Tola Bar Dubai (Dh) ..................... N/A* Rates as of Feb. 24

Source: Atlas Jewellery

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

Oman Crude ............. (Spot) ..... $109.64

Dubai Crude ............. (Spot) ......$109.52

Murban Crude ........ (Spot) .......$113.58

Arabian Light ......... (Spot) ....... $113.10

Arabian Heavy ....... (Spot) ......$108.70

N.Sea Brent ............... (Spot) ....... $116.16

West Texas Int ....... (Spot) ........ $92.77

CRUDE OIL PRICE

The days of sticking photos into the plastic pockets of a family album are all but gone but, there’s a digital equivalent to the old photo album in the form of slideshow apps for your tablet or smartphone. >B5

N.COMY 25, 2013

TE FOR LBUM

otos into the mily album ere’s a digital hoto album in

pps for your >B5

Bank Nizwa seeks relaxation for investing funds overseasThe bank is going

to discuss with the

Central Bank of

Oman for extending

the ceiling on

overseas investment,

until the bank fi nds

these assets in Oman

Samsung unveils Galaxy Note 8 to take on iPad MiniSEOUL: Samsung yesterday un-veiled an eight-inch tablet with phonecall capability to rival Ap-ple’s recently launched iPad mini and to cement its market domi-nance by off ering devices in a vari-ety of sizes.

The Galaxy Note 8.0 features an eight-inch screen and, where it may steal a march on its rival which measures 7.9-inches, the ability to make phone calls.

The new device, now being mar-keted by Samsung as a “tablet”, is powered by Google’s Android soft-ware and will be showcased at the four-day Mobile World Congress in Barcelona beginning today, the company said in a statement.

Comes with a stylus penLike previous incarnations of the Galaxy Note, the device comes with a stylus pen allowing the user to write or draw on the screen, which can be split in two to run various programs at the same time.

Global sales will begin in the second quarter, the fi rm said.

Samsung is the world’s top maker of smartphones and mobile phones in general.

The latest device — the fi rst from the company to feature an eight-inch screen — is set to fi ll a gap in the fi rm’s wide product

lineup, which ranges from the fl agship smartphone Galaxy S to the 5.5-inch Galaxy Note 2 and the 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab tablet personal computer.

The fi rm has recently shifted its focus to its Galaxy Note, which turned out to be far more popular than the larger Galaxy Tab, of-fering the Note in various sizes in a move that blurred the lines between smartphones and tablet PCs. Samsung said the launch of

the Galaxy Note 8.0 will “reignite the mid-size tablet category” — a segment increasingly crowded by rival products including the iPad mini that launched last November and Google’s seven-inch Nexus 7.

Samsung and Apple accounted for more than half of all smart-phone sales in the fi nal quarter of 2012 — 29 per cent for Samsung and 22.1 per cent for Apple — ac-cording to research fi rm Strategy Analytics. — AFP

E I G H T - I N C H T A B L E T

The new device, now being

marketed by Samsung

as a ‘tablet,’ is powered

by Google’s Android

software and will be

showcased at the four-day

Mobile World Congress in

Barcelona beginning today,

the company said in a

statement– AFP

Dr Jamil Jaroudi — Supplied picture

VITAL INFO Only up to 40% of the

net worth of a bank can be deployed in foreign currency-denominated assets

CBO needs to frame regulation for short-term instruments

Oman is well placed in attracting Sharia-compliant foreign direct investment

A.E. [email protected]

MUSCAT: Bank Nizwa is go-ing to request the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) for allowing the bank to get relaxation in deploy-ing funds in overseas markets for a certain period, until Sharia-compliant products are available within the domestic market.

The bank is going to discuss with the CBO for extending the ceiling on overseas investment, until the bank fi nds these assets in Oman, Dr Jamil Jaroudi, Chief Executive Offi cer of Bank Nizwa, told Times of Oman, on the side-lines of a seminar on opportuni-ties in Islamic fi nance in Oman organised by Thomson Reuters in conjunction with the CMA.

“Otherwise, you will have Is-lamic capital sitting idle in the country. They are positive and fl exible. We have to go and pre-sent them,” he added.

Dr Jaroudi said although Oman benefi tted from being a late-com-er in Islamic banking by learning from the mistakes of others, he said there are restrictions in the new law that does not allow Islamic banks to achieve their full potential. “One of the investment opportunities for

Islamic banks is equity participa-tion. However, we are not allowed to invest in a company more than fi ve per cent as an investor. I do not have control (on the compa-ny), nor advice the company by nominating a director.”

Banking regulationAs per the banking regulation, only up to 40 per cent of the net worth of a bank can be deployed in foreign currency-denominated assets and within that only fi ve per cent can go to a single issuer. These are limits that will not al-low Islamic banks and windows to deploy huge portion of their li-quidity off shore.

In fact, it takes time for Islamic banks to book assets within the country and therefore, treasury becomes important. The CBO needs to frame regulation for short-term instruments, which will allow Islamic banks to deploy their excess liquidity.

“The law for sukuk and takaful need to be issued soon,” noted an expert. Dr Jaroudi also noted that if these issues are not sorted out, the funds of Omani investors now deployed in Islamic institu-tions outside the country will not come back to the country. “So, the

potential is there. But we have to really work fast in amending and making adjustments in the regu-lation,” Dr Jaroudi opined.

Oman is well placed in attract-ing foreign Sharia compliant di-rect investment due to various favourable factors. Since the Sul-tanate is developing industrial zones, special economic zones and infrastructure the country can attract Islamic funds from overseas markets.

According to a survey con-ducted by Reuters, Oman came second in attracting investors and arrangers of sukuks. The total size of sukuk issues in the GCC soared to $26.6 billion in 2012, from $5.6 billion in the previous year. The sukuk issues are likely to achieve tremendous growth this year and next year as well, thanks to a large pipeline of projects. The seminar was organised under the auspices of the CMA executive president Abdullah bin Salem al Salmi. Apart from Dr Jaroudi, Mohammed Haris, AGM Islamic Banking, Bank Sohar, Sohaib Umar, Execu-tive Manager, Ernst & Young and Dr Omar Hafi z, Secretary Gen-eral, General Council for Islamic Banking and Financial Institu-tions, also addressed the seminar.

B2

MARKETM O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

Spearhead by the Public Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development, eight Omani fi rms showcased the Sultanate’s building and construction capabilities at BuildInt Tanzania 2013 in Dar Es Salaam. >B4

YOUR BIGGEST ROAD HAZARD IS IN YOUR HAND A TIMES OF OMAN

HANDS-FREE DRIVING INITIATIVE

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Meethaq, the pioneer of Islamic banking in Oman from Bank Muscat, yesterday launched the fi rst-of-its-kind Sharia com-pliant car fi nance product in the Sultanate based on the Islamic fi nancing mode of Murabaha.

Sulaiman Al Harthy, Group Gen-eral Manager (Islamic Banking), said: “Meethaq is proud to launch the innovative car fi nance as part of its focus to take the lead in off ering a suite of banking products, which combine traditional values with modernity. Meethaq has adopted the best practices in Islamic bank-ing and fi nance worldwide to com-bine a robust model which will pro-tect customers and complement the Islamic banking industry.

“The Meethaq strategy is to attract customers through in-novative Shari’a based products and services. The operations are managed by an experienced team,

separate from conventional bank-ing.” The benefi ts of Meethaq car fi nance include fi nancing up to 80 per cent of the car value and repayment tenure up to eight years. The bank does not charge

any processing fee and off ers competitive pricing. With mini-mal documentation and fast pro-cessing, the car fi nance also of-fers free Takaful life coverage for customers. Meethaq car fi nance is available for Omanis and expa-triates holding valid resident card and a minimum monthly income of OMR250.

Meethaq car fi nance is based on Murabaha, a form of fi nanc-ing done on the basis of sale. Meethaq, instead of giving a loan, purchases the car as per custom-er’s description and sells it to him at a cost plus agreed profi t.

Under Meethaq car fi nance, the subject matter of the contract is the car and the deferred install-ments, and not money against money. The bank buys the car ac-cording to the customer’s specifi -cation and sells the same to the customer against deferred repay-ments by concluding a Murabaha sale contract.

F I R S T - O F - I T S - K I N D

Sulaiman Al Harthy – Supplied picture

SME event opens in Khasab

KHASAB: An exhibition titled ‘Musandam Towards Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Development,’ was opened here yesterday under the patronage of Sayyid Khalifa bin Al Murdas Al Busaidi, Governor of Musan-dam. The exhibition is being organised by Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), Musandam branch.

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Shihi, Deputy Director of OCCI Branch in Musandam said that the exhibition aims at avail-ing cooperation among SMEs and with the leading compa-nies on the other hand in a bid to achieve development in the SMEs sector.

The exhibition included a presentation that depicted the Royal interest of His Maj-esty Sultan Qaboos bin Said on SMEs sector. Workshops were organised on the sidelines of the three-day event in addition to awareness lectures and advi-sory sessions. —ONA

S M E T R A D E F A I R

Meethaq launches Sharia compliant car fi nance

B3M O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

MARKETOnce you have established your business-continuity requirements and put in place plans, facilities and a framework, these need to be proven and kept current as the organisation changes. >B4

‘Incubation programme to aid growth of entrepreneurs’AFTAB H. [email protected]

MUSCAT: An incubation pro-gramme that gives entrepreneurs and SMEs access to a wide range of resources for use in various phas-es of business development and growth will be formally launched here on the heels of Comex be-tween March 25 and 29.

Addressing the media yesterday at Microsoft’s Open Door Oman event, Fahad Sultan Al Abri, di-rector general of the digital devel-opment division at the Informa-tion Technology Authority (ITA), pointed out that the incubation programme had already been in soft-launch mode for some four

months, and ITA had already incu-bated and provided support to 13 businesses in the IT industry.

Fahad added that ITA envi-sioned building a fl ourishing business-incubation infrastruc-ture in Oman in support of the ICT industry, as part of its aim to make signifi cant contributions to the na-tion’s economy.

“We believe that Microsoft’s newly launched products are a leap into the future of computing,” said Fahad. “We have long enjoyed a productive relationship with Microsoft, and we are pleased to deepen our collaboration with the company to bring the latest tech-nologies to businesses and the IT sector in Oman,” he added.

Tareq Hijazi, regional country manager for Microsoft Oman and Bahrain, and Sheikh Saif Hilal Al Hosni, business development manager of Microsoft Oman, ad-dressed the press.

Open Door eventThrough the Open Door event held here, Microsoft, in collaboration with ITA, has brought the next generation of cloud and productiv-ity technology products and ser-vices to Oman.

Windows 8, Office 2013, and Windows Server 2012 were the highlights of the technology port-folio demonstrated to the event attendees. Microsoft Open Door was a one-day event that brought

together speakers from Microsoft and its partners to off er IT profes-sionals and the business commu-nity insights into the latest tech-nology innovations.

Attendees engaged with Micro-soft experts and interacted with their peers in the IT community, while learning about Microsoft’s breadth of solutions, technologies, and vision for 2013.

Open Door Oman is one of fi ve Microsoft experiential technol-ogy showcases taking place in the Gulf in 2013, reaching people across fi ve countries including Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates.

Regional sponsors for Gulf Open Door are Nokia and HP.

Additional partners include Ex-ceed IT Services and Training, Le-novo, and Toshiba.

“Microsoft Open Door presents a unique opportunity for IT profes-sionals and enthusiasts in Oman to experience tomorrow’s technolo-gies today,” stated Tareq Hijazi.

“As a company, we place innova-tion at the heart of everything we do, and our belief that technology enables change goes hand-in-hand with Oman’s vision for the devel-opment of a competitive and diver-sifi ed economy.

And we are confi dent that in-novation and technology will con-tribute to the future developmentof Oman. We are committed, through working with our part-

ners, to giving IT professionals and businesses in Oman the latest technology to enhance productiv-ity, enable innovation, and reduce security risks,” he continued.

During the event, Microsoft provided access to pioneering next-generation IT solutions and discussed ways and means to help businesses improve their produc-tivity and returns on investment using technology.

In addition, a special focus was given to cloud computing, with Microsoft showcasing its latest innovations and the cloud ca-pabilities that Microsoft Office 365, Windows Server 2012, and Windows 8 bring to businesses and consumers.

I T A - M I C R O S O F T I N I T I A T I V E

MARKETB4 M O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

JOHN BARTLETT*[email protected]

Once you have established your business-continuity requirements and put

in place plans, facilities, and a framework of resilience to de-fend the organisation against disruptions and incidents, these need to be proven and kept cur-rent as the organisation changes. This is the hardest aspect of most business-continuity pro-grammes and where most or-ganisations fail to protect their investment in establishing this level of organisation protection.

ExercisingExercising (or testing) plans and facilities is essential to ensure they meet the organisation’s re-quirements and that they work as intended. Therefore, exercises should be conducted on a regu-lar basis—at least annually—and should be based upon realistic scenarios, incidents, and disrup-tions. The main benefi ts and rea-sons for exercising include:

Validation of business-conti-nuity plans

Provision of education and

training and increasing aware-ness amongst those who have business-continuity roles and responsibilities;

Confirmation that the required RTOs and RPOs can be achieved;

Identifi cation of preparation or resilience aspects that require enhancement or improvement (due to changes in facilities, technology, information, or communication links);

Provision of reassurance that the plans and facilities work as intended and demonstrate re-silience or recovery capability.There are international stand-

ards (such as ISO 22398) that provide guidance on conducting exercising and testing. However, prior to conducting any exer-cises, it is important for the or-ganisation to consider aspects such as the cost of the exercise, any potential disruption to nor-mal activities, any risks that the exercising may introduce to the organisation, and the type of ex-ercise that should be conducted (desktop check, simulation, unit or system test, or partial rehears-al or full rehearsal). The sim-plest process follows the Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) model

Planned: The scope is defi ned; resources are identifi ed; and risks are evaluated, scheduled, and communicated in preparation

Done: The exercising is con-ducted in accordance with the plan, preferably with independ-ent evaluation, and notes are taken on timing and any issues that arise or observations that are made to assist improvements

Checked: The results of the ex-ercise are reviewed and checked

to ensure business continu-ity, RTO/RPO, and resilience requirements were met; follow-up actions are identifi ed; and an exercise report is produced

Acted: The actions from the exer-cise are followed up, tracked, and validated to ensure they have been addressed, and any issues/risks identifi ed are also addressed.

An important part of conduct-ing exercises is to ensure the right people are involved and that there is suitable business engagement to plan and conduct the exercises.

For IT disaster recovery tests, this action is vital since any test-ing may introduce risks to pro-duction systems, and recovery should be validated and verifi ed by the business to ensure it provides the required functionality and data in the required timeframe. Ensuring exercises are conducted correctly and at the right frequen-cy will help ensure the business-continuity environment requires minimal amendments, confi gura-tion, and purchases upon invoca-tion and therefore avoids delays upon invocation.

MaintenanceOrganisations constantly change, whether it is people, technology,

processes, or products and ser-vices. Therefore, business-con-tinuity information, plans, and facilities also need to be changed (to ensure they remain current). Any change within the organi-sation should be assessed and evaluated to identify whether it aff ects the organisation’s ability to continue or recover.

Often, organisations do not re-alise that by changing business priorities or implementing busi-ness strategies (e.g., introducing new products or services or im-plementing projects to improve performance and processes or to reduce costs) they may alter the Business Impact analysis, conti-nuity requirements, and RTOs/RPOs since dependencies and priorities within the organisa-tion may change, thereby invali-dating the business-continuity facilities, plans, and capabilities that have been implemented.

Therefore, the easiest and best method for ensuring continued capability for business continu-ity and resilience is by including a business-continuity impact evaluation as part of any change. This requires strict change-control and change-management processes within the organisation, whereby all changes are recorded and evalu-ated, and the change processes are strictly followed.

This should include all pro-jects, programs, and strategic initiatives and will then also help to identify the true cost of these, rather than identifying addition-al (separate) business-continui-ty costs later.

In addition to maintenance and review as part of a strict change process, organisations should also regularly review (at least annually) business-con-

tinuity information, plans, and facilities to ensure these remain current. Organisations should review these as a matter of course after conducting exercis-es. It is very easy for information such as staff telephone numbers and supplier contact details to get outdated very quickly.

ReviewingConducting a review of your or-ganisation’s business-continuity arrangements is essential to en-sure it has been implemented correctly and appropriately. There are two kinds of reviews that can be conducted: assess-ments or audits.Audits: Verifi es that the busi-ness-continuity process has been followed correctly but will not check whether the solutions adopted are necessarily the cor-rect ones. Audits can be conduct-ed internally or externally.Assessments: Reviews the pro-cess to ensure it has been defi ned and adopted correctly, that it has been applied in an appropri-ate way within the organisation, and (typically) that the solutions adopted and implemented meet the requirements identifi ed. Self-assessments can be con-ducted if the necessary skilled, experienced, and qualifi ed peo-ple exist internally, or assess-ments can be conducted by an in-dependent business-continuity professional (recommended).

Audits and assessments should be conducted against rec-ognised industry practices and, if appropriate, industry standards. They usually ensure that

The business-continuity poli-cy is defi ned and contains suf-fi cient and appropriate detail;

The business-continuity poli-

cy is being implemented; Suffi cient resources and an ap-propriate budget have been al-located for implementation and ongoing management; Appropriate business impacts, recovery requirements, and strategies have been identifi ed; Risks have been identifi ed and recorded and are being ad-dressed; All processes, products, and services have been considered and assessed; The right (defi ned) facilities, technologies, and information are available in the required timeframe upon invocation; Plans, facilities, and technolo-gy for recovery are being main-tained in line with changes in the organisation; Roles and responsibilities have been communicated and are being discharged; Suitable monitoring process-es and measurements are in place, such as key performance indicators; Suitable mechanisms are in place to identify/report inci-dents and invoke business-continuity arrangements; Appropriate business-conti-nuity governance and report-ing are in place and involve the right people.

*The author, who hasover twenty-fi ve yearsexperience in business continu-ity, information security and risk management, is the General Manager of Al Mamlakah Ser-vices United LLC. This article is the eighth in a series of 10 weekly articles on aspects of business continuity, which will be carried on Monday’s edition of Timesof Oman.

Exercising, maintaining, and reviewing business continuity C O L U M N

BUSINESS CONTINUITY

The simplest

process follows

the Plan Do Check

Act (PDCA) model

Muscat shares react on profi t-bookingMUSCAT: The MSM 30 Index ended on a negative note to close at 5964.51 points, down by 0.26 per cent. Bank Muscat was the most active in terms of volume as well as turnover. Sohar Power remained as the top gainer for the day and closed

up by 8.65 per cent, while Majan Glass was the top loser for the day and closed down by 9.86 per cent.

A total number of 1,318 trades were executed in yesterday’s trad-ing session generating turnover of OMR6.79 million with over 18.91

million shares traded. Out of 54 traded stocks, 13 advanced, 21 de-clined and 20 remained unchanged. GCC and Arab investors were net buyers for OMR217,000 followed by Omani investors for OMR175,000 while foreign investors were net

sellers for OMR392,000 worth of shares. Financial Sector Index was down by 0.46 per cent and closed at 7043.82 points.

The Industrial Sector Index closed at 8046.19 points, up by 0.51 per cent. Dhofar Cattlefeed, Salalah

Mills, Gulf International Chemicals, Oman Cables and Oman Flour Mills increased by 4.28 per cent, 4.27 per cent, 2.69 per cent, 1 per cent and 0.80 per cent respectively.

Services Sector Index closed at 3035.68 points, up by 0.16 per cent.

Sohar Power, Oman Telecom and Al Maha Marketing rose 8.65 per cent, 0.07 per cent and 0.03 per cent, re-spectively. OIFC, Port Services Corp and Al Jazeira Services declined by 2.21 per cent, 0.89 per cent and 0.51 per cent, respectively. —United Securities

L O C A L B O U R S E

Omani fi rms showcase in Tanzania

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Spearhead by the Pub-lic Authority for Investment Pro-motion and Export Development (Paiped), eight Omani companies showcased the Sultanate’s build-ing and construction capabilities at BuildInt Tanzania 2013 from Feb-ruary 22 and 24 in Dar Es Salaam.

With non-oil exports to Tanza-nia reaching more than $20 million

in 2011, Oman’s debut at the annual international tradeshow provided a platform for national products to open new avenues for trade with East and Central Africa.

Nasima Al Balushi, director-general of Export Development at Paiped, said, “The building and construction industry is key to our export development strategy. This is in perfect synergy with the cur-rent direction in the Tanzanian

economy as construction remains one of the fastest growing sectors in the country contributing ap-proximately 12 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). There-fore, we sought the opportunity to utilise the close ties enjoyed by our countries to showcase the com-petitive advantage Omani products have to become strategic partners with private and public sector or-ganisations in Tanzania.”

P A I P E D I N I T I A T I V E

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

E- IMESTECH STUFF

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013

The days of sticking photos into the plastic pockets of a family album are all but

gone, thanks to the rise of digital photography.

But it is still a thrill to look at groups of your best photos, or photos from an event. Fortunately, there’s a digital equivalent to the old photo album in the form of slideshow apps for your tablet or smartphone.

Photo Slideshow Director is a $2 slideshow app for iOS devices. This app can make a timed sequence of photos into a slideshow, and can time slideshows to match the length of a music track from your library. You select the photos you want to include by tapping on them in your archive, and the app displays them as thumbnail images on a timeline.

You tap and drag the thumbnails on this timeline into the order you prefer for your slideshow, or tap on the icon between each thumbnail to control the transition from one photo to the next.

There’s a huge list of transitions, like dissolve eff ects and 3-D opening doors. You can also select a theme for your slideshow, which presents your photos against a background — like a wooden frame or a colour-ful blur — and selects transition ef-fects for you. (Some of the themes are a bit ugly, though.)

You can watch slideshows on your

device’s screen or on a television us-ing an Apple TV box. The best part is that this app can export shows to your device as a video fi le, for easy sharing. You can also publish the fi le to YouTube or cloud storage ser-vices like Dropbox. A drawback is that the app is so full of features you might forget which menu you’re in.

Slideshow Builder ($2 on iOS) includes some impressive special eff ects. The interface is straightfor-ward, with clear icons and carefully arranged menus.

Detecting facesA specialty is detecting faces in the photos you select for a show. When these photos are shown on screen, the app zooms into the faces before showing the bigger picture. This ef-fect would work well for wedding photos and the like. You can pass-word-protect your slideshows, and features include a long list of special eff ects for transitions.

The main limitation is with shar-ing: You can share your slideshows via Dropbox, email or iCloud but only with someone who also has the app (or the free Slideshow Builder Lite, which has fewer features).

One useful app on Android is SlideShow Application. Its in-terface is fairly simple, but it’s reasonably powerful and has a handful of transition eff ects. You

can add captions to photos and a soundtrack for the whole show or for individual photos. On the down-side, it’s sometimes hard to know how to control the app. To use shar-ing options, for example, or to edit a previous slideshow, you must press on the slideshow’s name in the app’s main window. Sharing is also lim-ited to people who use the app. But it’s free on Google Play.

Another free Android app that takes a slightly diff erent approach is Photo Slides (Photo Frame). This app turns your device into a digital picture frame. It has many options for controlling how images appear, including various transition eff ects and the option to group photos by their orientation. Though this app is more about displaying photos for personal viewing, you could easily use it to share favourite photos.

A slideshow function is built into the operating system of iPads and iPhones. Some attractive transi-tions between photos are available, and you can view a show on your tel-evision by wirelessly sending it to an Apple TV box. But this feature is not as powerful as a dedicated iOS app, and you can’t save a fi nished slide-show fi le to a separate device.

Quick callsThe Tamagotchi virtual pets have returned as an Android app called Tamagotchi L.i.f.e. The app recre-ates the look and feel of the original animated electronic toys, which you feed and nurture to keep alive. It’s free on Google Play. The Kindle e-book reader for iOS has been up-dated with a better progress bar and some new features; one asks readers to share their opinions of a book the moment they fi nish it. -KIT EATON/The

New York Times News Service

A DIGITAL UPDATE TO THOSEOLD FAMILY PHOTO ALBUMS

G A D G E T G A L L E R Y

TECH STUFF

SEARCH ENGINES NOW HELP FIND YOU WEB PAGES >B6

B

New music experience: Let your shower head sing to youKOHLER HAS BROUGHT a whole new meaning to “stream-ing audio.” The company, which makes bathroom fi xtures, has in-troduced a shower head with a built-in wireless speaker system called the Moxie.

Although it might seem simple to put a speaker in a shower head, there were a number of design challenges. The speaker displaces a lot of spray nozzles, and Kohler had to maintain a 2.5-gallon-a-minute water fl ow through a nor-mal-size shower head. It accom-

plished the task by carefully sizing and re-aiming nozzles to provide a good dousing.

Kohler also had to ensure that the small speaker and ampli-fier could be removed for charg-ing. It used a strong magnet to mount the cone-shaped module so it can be plucked easily from the shower head.

The shower head itself, which lists for $200, is plastic with a silicone face to make it easier to remove calcium deposits. The mounting hardware is chromed brass. The company says to ex-pect up to seven hours of play time, but you will want to turn the speaker off when it is not in use. There is a surface mounted button for that purpose.

In a test, the shower head pro-vided a strong, steady stream, and the sound quality was good for such a tiny speaker in a poor acousti-cal environment. Those hard tile

surfaces create an echo, which im-proves the sound of your singing in the shower but degrades the music.

A new fi lm ofprotection for the phone you’re boundto get wet IT’S A LITTLE HEART-STOP-PING to watch someone purpose-ly dunk a cellphone or tablet in a water tank. Seeing it continue to work underwater is astonishing.

It does because the components inside have been nano-coated. Such coatings are best applied to a phone’s components before as-sembly. You can have nano coating done afterward through Liquipel,

but it will cost you. A cellphone case can seal against most water, but it adds bulk and weight to a sleek device. Nano coatings render the parts themselves impervious to water damage, so the protection comes without added bulk.

Liquipel’s process will not make the device waterproof, but will make it water-resistant enough to survive short accidental dunkings and ordinary splashes.

You ship Liquipel your phone, which is then put into a vacuum chamber and treated with the coating in vapour form. The pro-cess takes about 30 minutes. If you can go to its facility in Santa Ana, California, the company will treat your phone while you wait.

The cost varies, starting at $90 to give a mobile phone a basic treatment. It goes up to $130 for a tablet with an added protective fi lm covering and an expedited four-hour turnaround. The cost is

not outlandish compared with the price of a waterproof case, which typically run $40 to $130. It’s al-most certainly less expensive than replacing your smartphone.

A handy power possibility for Apple iPhone 5 owners BATTERY LIFE HAS BEEN a com-mon complaint of iPhone5 owners. The accessory maker Mophie claims to be the fi rst to address the prob-lem with a battery case, which is called the Juice Pack Helium.

The Helium is a plastic case with an integrated lithium-ion bat-tery, and it is light, at under three ounces. And while it adds a bit of bulk — almost a third of an inch —

it’s still easy to slide in a pocket. The case holds a 1500 mAh bat-

tery that can almost double talk time. The case snaps over the phone. There are cutouts for the buttons, speaker and camera — some buttons are recessed such that it’s not easy for thick fi ngers to reach them, and anything other than a slim straight headphone plug won’t work (it comes with an adapter — don’t lose it).

Made with a gray soft-touch fi n-ish, the Helium is not very fi nger-print-resistant. Those marks won’t come off without cleaning solution.

One peculiarity is the inabil-ity to sync the phone by cable. The case plugs into the Thunderbolt port in the phone, but the case it-self has a micro-USB connection for charging.

The case is priced at $80. There are cheaper, more powerful bat-teries, but right now those aren’t integrated into a case.

All of this explains why Sony’s 2013 camera/camcorder line-up is so startling. The company has put full-frame sensors into three new cameras, at prices and body sizes that nobody has ever attained. >B6

BIG SENSOR MEETS SMALL BODY, AND IT WORKS

Photo Slideshow Director is a $2 slideshow app

for iOS devices. This application can make

a timed sequence of photos into a slideshow,

and can time slideshows to match the length of

a music track from your library

The best part is that this app

can export shows to your

device as a video file, for easy

sharing. You can also publish

the file to YouTube or cloud

storage services like Dropbox

When you’re shopping for a camera, you have a mil-lion specs and features to consider. Size, weight, battery life, megapix-

els, zoom power. ... Can you guess which aspect consumers consider most important?

The colour of the body. (“Ooh, I like the shiny red one!”) The camera buyer for a national electronics chain told me that. We both slapped our foreheads. Please. If you’re buying a camera, shouldn’t picture quality be the most important detail?

If so, what you should care most about is the fl at, rectangular light sensor inside the “fi lm.” In general, the bigger the sensor, the happier you’ll be with the results and the more you’ll pay.

At the low end, snapshot cameras with tiny sensors (0.4 inches diago-nal) cost $150 but give you blurry, grainy low-light shots. At the high end, those professional, big, black SLR cameras cost $2,000 to $6,000 but come with full-frame sensors. That is, these sensors are as big as an old piece of 35 mm fi lm (1.7 inch-es). They deliver unparalleled low-light quality, richness of colour, de-tail and soft-focused backgrounds.

(You can buy cameras with even bigger sensors — medium-format cameras that cost $20,000 and military cameras that cost millions —but let’s say you live in the real world.) All of this explains why So-ny’s 2013 camera/camcorder line-up is so startling. The company has put full-frame sensors into three new cameras, at prices and body sizes that nobody has ever attained.

For example, there’s the A99, which Sony says is the world’s smallest and lightest full-frame SLR. It’s meant to compete with professional cameras.

The A99 is sort of homely, but it has a long list of distinguishing features: fast, continuous focus-ing, even while fi lming or shooting something running at you; two mem-ory-card slots; built-in GPS function that stamps every photo with your location; 1080p, 60-frames-a-second high-defi nition video; micro-phone and headphone jacks; and an electronic viewfi nder whose video shows you the results of your adjustments in real time.

Sony says the A99 is also the only full-frame camera with a screen

that fl ips out and tilts. Then there’s the VG900, Sony’s fi rst full-frame camcorder. It costs $3,300 —about $10,000 less than any other full-frame camcorder, Sony says. And its sensor is about 45 times as big as a standard camcorder’s sensor.

Hi-def videoNow, a huge sensor may not seem to make sense in a camcorder. One frame of hi-def video has only about two megapixels of resolution; what’s the point of stuffi ng a 24-megapixel sensor into the camcorder?

Answer: It’s about picture qual-ity. A big sensor gives you amazing low-light video, gorgeous blurry backgrounds, greater dynamic range and better colour.

Thousands of fi lmmakers use full-frame SLR still cameras to shoot video, because of the superior quality and because they can use diff erent lenses for diff erent video eff ects. SLR-based camcorders like Sony’s VG900 off er the same fea-tures in a camcorder shape.

They’re much more comfortable to hold, and their buttons are better placed for video operation.

The VG900 accepts Sony’s E-mount camera lenses, of which there are 13; they don’t quite exploit the full area of that jumbo sensor. But the camera comes with an adapter for the older, more plentiful A-mount lenses. Alas, those lenses don’t autofocus

with that adapter. The most aston-ishing new full-frame Sony, though, is the RX1. It’s the world’s fi rst compact full-frame camera.

Now, you’re forgiven if you just spewed your coff ee. “Compact” and “full-frame” have never gone together before. Everyone knows why: A big sensor requires a big lens, meaning a big camera. You can’t change the laws of physics, no matter how much photographers would love it. But somehow, incred-ibly, Sony’s engineers have done it. The RX1 is easily coat-pocketable, but yes, there’s a full-frame sensor in there, and the photos it delivers are breathtaking.

That’s not the only price you’ll pay for this amazing act of min-iaturisation. This camera doesn’t zoom, apart from a 2x digital, fake zoom. And its lens is permanently attached. To make the whole thing smaller, Sony cleverly hid part of the long lens inside the camera’s inch-thick body; still, you can’t swap out lenses. Something had to give.

So who on earth would pay for a non-zooming camera?

Believe it or not, they’re out there. The Sony RX1 takes certain photos better than any other pock-etable camera in the world.

Low-light shots, for example. The camera has a small built-in fl ash, but you’ll rarely use it; incred-ibly, this camera picks up more light

than your eyes do, thanks to both its huge sensor and its f/2.0 Zeiss lens.

Perfectly balancedThe RX1 captures perfectly bal-anced, nicely illuminated shots in dimly lighted restaurants, candle-light, street corners at night, making them all look much brighter than they actually are.Full-frame cameras like a Canon 5D can do that, too —but to bring one of those along, you’d need a carrying case, not a pocket.

The RX1 also takes lovely por-traits. One reason is that this cam-era creates beautiful blurry back-grounds. That soft-focus background eff ect is a hallmark of professional photography —and of big-aperture, big-sensor cameras.

Until now, few pocket cameras could defocus the background at all. The RX1 does very well with close-ups, too. You can get about 5.5 inch-es away from your subject —close for a full-frame camera, even with a macro lens.

Weirdly, you switch into macro mode by turning a ring on the lens; it snaps into a new position. I ru-ined more than one great photo be-cause the lens ring had accidentally wound up in macro mode.

Superwide shots are eff ortless, since the RX1 inherits the Sweep Panorama feature of Sony’s other models; as you swing the camera

around you, pressing the shutter but-ton, it snaps away, creating a 270-de-gree, automatically stitched, usually perfect panorama in real time.

Video is gorgeous, too: 1080p high defi nition with stereo sound. There’s a miniplug input for an external microphone, too. Clearly, this camera is intended for profes-sionals or nearly pros. It’s built like a tank, all metal, with markings etched and not just painted on. Its shutter is completely silent. Its hot-shoe accommodates various expen-sive accessories, including optical or electronic viewfi nders.

Manual controlIt off ers every kind of manual con-trol, and you can customise it to the hilt; its scene mode dial off ers three positions for storing your own memorised settings. There’s an aperture adjustment ring right on the lens, and there’s a dedicated exposure knob on the top.

Unfortunately, there are also some aspects that will drive you crazy. Focusing can be slow —in low light, really slow; as a result, this isn’t a great camera for sports, pets or children.

There’s no stabilisation for still photos, either. And you can’t play back stills and videos consecutive-ly. You have to dive into the menus to switch from one form of playback to the other.

That’s common to other recent Sony cameras, and it’s idiotic. If Sony follows its usual pattern, it will follow up the RX1 with other models that address some of these shortcomings.

In the meantime, it’s fantastic that Sony decided to produce this expensive, astonishing, limited, one-of-a-kind machine.

You may scoff at its nonzoom-ing lens, its slowish focusing and its nosebleed price, and that’s fi ne; in many ways, the RX1 is a proof of con-cept, a bold experiment, an eff ort to achieve what’s always been thought unattainable.

It paves the way for other cam-eras that you may want to buy, cam-eras that embrace the philosophy of big sensors in small bodies.

After all, sensor size really is the most important consideration when you’re shopping for a camera — no matter what colour it is. —DAVID

POGUE / The New York Times News Service

The VG900 accepts

Sony’s E-mount camera

lenses, of which there are

13; they don’t quite exploit

the full area of that jumbo

sensor. But the camera

comes with an adapter

for the older, more

plentiful A-mount lenses.

Alas, those lenses don’t

autofocus with that adapter

B6

E-TIMESM O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

BIG SENSOR MEETS SMALL BODY

All of this explains why Sony’s 2013 camera/camcorder line-up

is so startling. The company has put full-frame sensors into three new

cameras, at prices and body sizes that nobody has ever attained

Searchengines now help fi nd you Web pagesSearch engines help fi nd the Web pages you are looking for, but when it comes to locating your keywords on the actual page, your browser can help you. Most browser programs use Control-F (Command-F on the Mac) to open a search box for fi nding certain words within the page itself, and most will also highlight the in-stances of the word (and num-ber of time it appears) for you.

Google Chrome even dis-plays yellow markers verti-cally along the scroll bar on the right side of the page so you can quickly see all the places the word or phrase appears (bit.ly/12e8FBY).

Back and forward buttons in the search box let you click through the page for each occurrence of the word.

Depending on which brows-er you use, you may be able to fi ne-tune your search results within the page.

Internet Explorer includes an Options button that can match the whole word only. or match its typographical case .

T E C H T I P

Controlling access to a Kindle FireIs there any way to keep my child from roaming through the videos on my Kindle Fire HD tablet? Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets include built-in parental con-trols for restricting access to spe-cific apps, functions and content. On the Kindle Fire HD, swipe your fi nger down on the screen to get to the settings area and tap More. Tap Parental Con-trols and then tap the On but-ton. Select a password (one that will be needed to unlock the restrictions), and tap the Finish button.

Select the apps and actions you want to block, such as the Web browser, email, video playback or the power to make purchases. Amazon has more information on parental con-trols at amzn.to/UJGS4R. The newer Kindle Fire HD mod-els also include an app called Kindle FreeTime that lets you select videos, apps and other specifi c content the child can view on the tablet. Instruc-tions for setting up a child’s FreeTime profi le are at amzn.to/Znv5wl.

Locking caps on an iPhone While I have no desire to SHOUT MY WAY through text messages, I do have to use ALL UPPERCASE sometimes and would like to have CAPS LOCK avail-able on my iPhone. Do I have ANY HOPE? Although the phone’s software keyboard has no dedicated Caps Lock key, quickly tapping the Shift key twice turns on the Caps Lock function. The Shift key turns blue when in Caps Lock mode. To turn off the Caps Lock mode, tap the Shift key again. The iPhone keyboard has a few other shortcuts intended to make typing in such a small area more effi cient.

For example, instead of tap-ping the .?123 key in the bottom-left corner to switch over to the keyboard that holds the num-bers and punctuation keys (and then having to tap the corner key again to switch back to the ABC keyboard), just touch the .?123 key and slide your fi nger to the number or punctuation mark you need. Once you select the character, you can resume typing without having to tap back and forth between the dif-ferent keyboards.

Pressing and holding the keys of vowels (and other let-ters) that use accent marks re-veals a pop-up list of accented characters to choose from. When you tap the space bar twice at the end of a sen-tence, the iPhone inserts a period and capitalises the next letter you type to begin a new sentence.

H E L P F I L E S


ROUND-UP

SBA honoured as ‘Champion Importer of the Year’ by Renault

MUSCAT: Renault in top-gear! Having established an undisputed leadership stance, Suhail Bahwan Automobiles (SBA), the exclusive dealer of Renault for passenger cars and light commercial vehi-cles in the Sultanate of Oman, bagged the much-coveted honour and prestige title of the ‘Champion Importer of the Year’ award con-ferred by Renault Worldwide.

The award was presented by none other than Carlos Tavares, the chief operating offi cer of Re-nault Worldwide to Sheikh Ahmed Suhail Bahwan, chairman, Suhail Bahwan Automobiles.

The award was conferred on Su-hail Bahwan Automobiles for the pioneering eff orts in ‘demonstrat-ing outstanding operational qual-ity standards, exceptional custom-er-centric service and overall best performance for the year 2012’.

This distinctive annual global award is given to distributors for exhibiting their prowess and

consistency in delivering outstanding performance.

Held in Dubai, the award func-tion was presided by dignitaries, region’s top Renault offi cials and important offi cials from the Mid-dle East automotive industry, where the Suhail Bahwan Auto-mobiles team was felicitated by Carlos Tavares.

Suhail Bahwan Automobiles has also added several prestigious feathers in its cap, which have cre-ated many fi rst-of-its-kind mile-stones in the past. These include business leadership, year-on-year performance enhancement and demonstrating outstanding stand-ards of customer relationship management.

Best marketing initiativeAt the same award function SBA also bagged the ‘Best Marketing Initiative’ for their launch cam-paign of the all-new Renault Dust-er. The ‘Shockingly Aff ordable’

campaign created a huge impact on the minds of auto fanatics and grossed a successful turnover last year.

A senior Renault spokesperson added, “This award is a testimony of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles passion, professionalism and dedi-cation to deliver top quality level for the Renault brand and its cus-tomers in Oman. The Renault and Suhail Bahwan Automobiles part-nership have a major potential to continue the growth we have seen in the market in the past few years.

“We really want to thank Suhail Bahwan Automobiles for their commitment towards our custom-ers. We are sure that the dedica-tion we see every day will continue to enhance Renault’s brand appeal

and generate interest from more and more customers in future.”

SBA’s core business proposition involves building technical com-petence of an extraordinary order, after-sale services and spare parts availability, across a country-wide network of showrooms, work-shops and offi ces, entailing exten-sive investments in manpower, systems integration, processes, and a mindset that places custom-er satisfaction right on top.

Upon receiving the award, of-fi cial spokesperson of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles stated, “We are delighted to receive the ‘Cham-pion Importer of the Year’ award and thank Renault Worldwide for this recognition. This award comes from a continuous eff ort

from all at SBA focused towards improving our operations, and to meet and exceed customer expec-tation with the best products and services in the market. We would like to thank our valuable custom-ers who have reposed their trust in the product and in our services.”

The performance of Renault in Oman last year has encouraged Suhail Bahwan Automobiles to introduce new models and vari-ants. Renault’s focus on impor-tant aspects such as safety, style, performance, value and reliabil-ity is naturally seen as an insepa-rable aspect of Renault all across its models.

SBA is committed to support-ing Renault Oman’s growth in the Sultanate through major emphasis on customer satisfaction and by providing world-class after-sales services in Oman. With a national network of more than 80 outlets — showrooms, service centres and parts outlets, SBA has further built upon its legacy of trust, excellent customer service and providing value for money to each of its cus-tomers.

Champions in Saudi ArabiaRenault is also represented by a Suhail Bahwan Automotive group company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia known as Gulf Advantage Automobile (GAA). Since GAA’s appointment in 2010, Renault has registered sales of over

14,000 vehicles in KSA — a com-mendable achievement in just three years that clearly highlights the strategic partnership between the two companies.

As a result, Renault’s status has been clearly defi ned as a leader amongst the Automotive Eu-ropean Brands in KSA. Recog-nising the same Carlos Tavares honoured Gulf Advantage Auto-mobile by presenting an award for an outstanding performance and making Renault as the num-ber one European brand in KSA. The award was received by Sheikh Ahmed Suhail Bahwan.

Speaking on the occasion, a senior spokesperson said: “It is a privilege to accept this honour. We would like to express our grati-tude for this recognition and the commitment of Renault to suc-ceed in KSA. The vision to provide the customers in KSA with quality vehicles from Renault backed up by high levels of after sales service from our side has been instrumen-tal in driving the sales of Renault vehicles in KSA.

Suhail Bahwan Automobiles’ partnership with Renault has been a successful one as SBA ensures that Renault’s heritage and ex-perience is passed down to their valued customers in Oman and in Saudi Arabia. SBA has been known for their pioneering eff orts in re-establishing the Renault brand name and market over the years.

This distinctive annual global award is given

to distributors for exhibiting their prowess

and consistency in delivering outstanding

performance

Konica Minolta Bizhub Centre openedMUSCAT: The Konica Minolta Bizhub Centre was inaugurated by Koichi Suzuki — managing direc-tor of Konica Minolta Business So-lutions Middle East FZE, and Mo-hammed Abdullah Mohammed Al Kharusi, group general manager — Business Development of Mohsin Haider Darwish LLC, recently in the presence Fuzio Ymayo Filho — area business manager of Konica Minolta Business Solutions Mid-dle East FZE and the Director of the Computers, Offi ce Automation and Telecommunication Division, Dr Manmohan Singh Rehsi.

The new Konica Minolta Bizhub Centre, houses the latest Multi-Function Printers (MFP) and Production Printers (PP) for the corporate and commercial sectors respectively. The digital imaging centre will showcase a broad range of readily available business docu-ment and production print solu-tions, in order to cater to the fast changing needs of various market segments in Oman.

Digital PP market in Oman has seen rapid growth in recent years. The fast paced market expansions and stiff competition has forced companies to spend more on ad-vertising and print media.

The off set printers has seen a lot of infl ux of short run jobs in Oman, which has created high demand for the reliable digital production printers, which can off er off set like print quality. The transformation from mono to colour digital pro-duction printers is also on rise in CRDs and in-house publishing.

To cater to this high demand, MHD and Konica Minolta, the industry’s leading suppliers of offi ce and production printers, have launched bizhub Press se-ries in colour and mono produc-tion printing segment. The bizhub Press series comes with amazing speeds of up to 80 PPM in colour and up to 125 PPM in mono with high

image quality and stability similar to off set at a greater value for short runs and on demand printing, it also provides impressive online fi nishing options right from saddle stitching to perfect binding

Moreover, Konica Minolta brings together unparalleled ad-vances in security, print qual-ity and network integration via its award-winning line of bizhub® range of colour and monochrome multifunction printers (MFPs); magicolor® colour printers; and pagepro® monochrome printers.

As per the latest IDC reports, Konica Minolta is the largest sell-ing copier / multifunction brand in Oman with a market share of more

than 40 per cent in 2012.This has been made possible

not only due to the renowned af-ter sales support by MHD, but with a service network consisting of professional service engineers covering all regions across the Sul-tanate and also due to the fact that the Konica Minolta machines give the best return on investment and solid reliability. Meet a Konica Mi-nolta customer in Oman and you are most likely to be talking to a satisfi ed one.

To bring these technologies and services closer to the customer, and to ensure that they are better able to experience and appreciate the changes taking place in the copy / print industry, MHD in con-junction with Konica Minolta have opened the Konica Minolta bizhub centre in Ruwi, Muscat.

This bizhub centre will not only showcase the latest in Koni-ca Minolta’s range of sophisticated copy/print/scanning solutions, but also help the customer un-derstand better how the tech-nologies can be best put to use in their office environment to help them optimise usage of the features and also maximise their return on investment.

D I G I T A L I M A G I N G C E N T R E

Annual sports day celebrated at BSMMUSCAT: Bangladesh School Muscat (BSM) celebrated its week long sports meet closing ceremo-ny-cum-annual sports day recent-ly. Md. Khorshed Alam Khastagir, charge d’aff aires, Bangladesh em-bassy, Sultanate of Oman graced the occasion as the chief guest.

As a mark of tradition, the pro-gramme commenced with a torch bearing ceremony as a symbol of universal brotherhood.

The ground looked colourful with the march past performed by the

students of the four houses Jahang-ir, Jashimuddin, Nazrul and Zainul saluting the dignitaries.

On the occasion the chief guest said that he was delighted to watch the synchronised march past and drill displays, and he ap-preciated the sports events that were organised during the an-nual sports day. He also congrat-ulated the young achievers and the eff orts of the teachers. Later the programme was followed by many events like 4x100m relay

race, three-legged race, skipping along with table tennis ball bounc-ing and balance race for the parents. Impressive and mind blowing per-

formances by the junior and mid-dle section students entertained the audience. The prize distribution ceremony marked the end of the day.

B A N G L A D E S H S C H O O L

Bank Sohar holds road shows at Muscat Festival

MUSCAT: As a part of its spon-sorship and partnership with Oman’s national festival — the Muscat Festival, Bank Sohar or-ganised a series of road shows at the heritage village in Al Amerat Park and the children’s theatre at Naseem Garden to deliver a more exciting and interactive experi-ence for the customers.

Khalfan Rashid Al Tal’ey, DGM Retail Banking, Bank Sohar com-mented on the success of the event, “The Muscat Festival is an ideal venue to connect with our customers and it was a perfect opportunity to let them know about our new 2013 Al Mumayaz savings scheme. We are pleased to inform that the road shows were a huge success with fami-lies and especially children as they rushed to participate in the fun activities.”

Conducted on February 13 and 14, in Amerat Park and Na-seem Garden respectively, the road shows were attended by thousands of people who took advantage of the festival cel-ebrations and entertainment on off er. The events provided games for children and quizzes for the families along with excit-ing gifts for the winners of the

activities. Attendees were also presented with information on Bank Sohar’s exciting new 2013 Al Mumayaz savings scheme. Present at the events were Khal-fan Rashid Al Tal’ey in addition to the AGM Branches — Salim Al Maskari, and AGM Marketing — Mazin Al Raisi.

Bank Sohar recently an-nounced their new Al Mumayaz savings scheme for 2013. The Al Mumayaz scheme encourages customers to save more and gives them the opportunity to win ex-citing prizes including six hourly prizes every working day and new prize draws just for children’s ac-counts every quarter. This is in addition to numerous other priz-es every quarter and the year-end grand prize of OMR600,000.

The 2013 savings scheme of-fers customers, who maintain a minimum average balance of OMR100 in their Al Mumayaz savings account, the chance to win one of six hourly prizes of OMR1,000 during the period from Sunday to Wednesday. These great prizes will be drawn six times every offi cial working day, ensuring that there will be over 1,000 ‘hourly prize’ winners over the course of 2013.

P R E S E N C E

B8

ROUND-UPM O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

Free life insurance with personal loans from HSBC

MUSCAT: HSBC Bank Oman is now off ering all its retail custom-ers complimentary credit life in-surance on new personal loans, buy-ins as well as top-ups.

HSBC Bank Oman customers can save up to OMR3,600 on the

mandatory credit life insurance depending on their loan amount and loan tenure.

HSBC Bank Oman’s customers can apply for a personal loan with competitive interest rates start-ing from 6.49 per cent without the

need for a guarantor, an advantage previously unavailable to Oman International Bank customers.

Alan Jarman, head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management at HSBC Bank Oman said, “Our per-sonal loan proposition is tailored to

meet both Omani and expatriate customer needs.

Whether it is to fund their chil-dren’s education, plan their next holiday or simply achieve what is important to them, customers can apply for a personal loan from HSBC Bank Oman amounting to a maximum of OMR80,000 with the added advantage of complimen-tary credit life insurance.”

HSBC Bank Oman’s custom-ers can also enjoy fl exible repay-ment periods as well as the ability to transfer their loans from other banks to HSBC Bank Oman.

In addition to personal loans, HSBC Bank Oman offers ve-hicle loans and home loans at competitive rates.

HSBC Bank Oman’s customers can also enjoy

fl exible repayment periods as well as the

ability to transfer their loans from other

banks to HSBC Bank Oman

Bank Sohar sponsors Promesa get-together

MUSCAT: Bank Sohar recently sponsored the fi fth edition of Promesa, the leading network in Oman for insurance industry employees, at the InterContinental Hotel in Muscat. Com-menting on the unique event, Khalfan Rashid Al Tal’ey, DGM Retail Banking, Bank Sohar, said, “This is the second year that Bank Sohar has had the privilege of supporting Promesa and it is an excellent opportunity for the Oman Insurance As-sociation to get its members together in one place. Over 700 people joined in the event and for industry employees and their families it was a chance to relax and connect with their colleagues in an informal environment and enjoy the range of entertainments on off er.” Attendees were also presented with the features of the Al Mumayaz Excel credit cards along with the various loan benefi ts on off er. Additionally, information on Bank Sohar’s Ek-Do-Teen India Remittance off ering was distributed during the event. The off ering provides the bank’s customers the ability to transfer funds instantly to any Axis bank account and within couple of hours to any bank account in India.

British General honours its dealers for performance

MUSCAT: British General (BG) appreciated its dealers in Oman for their outstanding performance during the year 2012 and presented them with memento to acknowledge and appreciate their eff orts. BG Electrical Ltd is a 60 years old UK based global manufacturing company dealing in electri-cal accessories/switches. BG is a globally recognised brand and has an extensive range of electrical accessories including white moulded accessories, high end metallic screw, less fl at plate switches in various fi nish and brass switches with clas-sic rope edge design. All the BG switches are certifi ed up to relevant British standards and carry 25 years of guarantee. Al Saleh Enterprises LLC has been associated with British Gen-eral for more than a decade as an exclusive distributor of BG switches in Oman.

‘BuildOman’ directory on construction released

MUSCAT: Ahmed bin Hassan Al Dheeb, undersecretary for Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, released the fi rst edition of BuildOman, a unique publication on Oman’s construction, contracting and related industries. Ahmed Al Dheeb, received the fi rst copy of the directory from Ali bin Abdullah Al Kasbi, editor-in-chief of Universal Press and Publishing (UPP), the publisher of the directory. The cer-emony was held at the ministry. Mohammed Ayoob, general manager of OmanAd and Syed Aziz, project manager were also present at the launching function. The directory, sup-ported by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, portrays comprehensive details about Oman’s construction, contract-ing and related industries including engineering consultants and architects; building material manufacturers/fabricators/dealers/suppliers; construction equipment dealers/suppli-ers/leasing companies; interior decorators and wood works; furniture and furnishing; electrical and electronics; home ap-pliances; real estate developers; fi nance and insurance insti-tutions, etc., among other things. The directory also provides ample information in its editorial sections about Oman’s cul-tural landmarks, projects in progress, industry snippets, etc. The sector-wise entries highlight the advertorials and adver-tisements of major players in this segment apart from the up-dated alphabetical listings.

B R I E F S

Khimji Ramdas makes a generous contribution for special childrenMUSCAT: As part of its ongoing support and assistance towards charitable associations, the Kh-imji Ramdas (KR) Group made a generous contribution to the As-sociation of Early Intervention for Children with Disability (AEICD).

The noble gesture from KR will go a long way in assisting the asso-ciation’s numerous initiatives di-rected at providing aid and service for children who are diff erently abled and their families as well.

Says Rajiv Ahuja, head of Cor-porate Communitions, KR, “The Khimji Ramdas Group has always played an active role in communi-ty development. It is an organisa-tion that prides itself on corporate social responsibilities, embracing any opportunity to give people and individuals a better life.

“We applaud the AEICD and its ceaseless endeavours aimed at time-ly intervention for children with dif-ferent abilities. Our support for the activities of the AEICD is just one

way to show that we too care and are always willing to do our share.”

Since its inception in 2000 the AEICD has been accomplishing remarkable milestones in ad-dressing the needs of diff erently abled children right from birth to the age of six.

The association has established itself as the only centre in Oman that caters to the wide ranging needs of children born with diff er-

ent abilities by providing extensive service and care. Its distinction as a charitable organisation means that the AEICD relies solely on grants and the goodwill of corpo-rates such as KR to fi nance its ac-tivities and services.

Expressing deep gratitude to-wards the KR Group, Sabah Al Bahl-ani CEO of the AEICD says, “The children, family and staff of the asso-ciation of early intervention would

like to thank the KR Group for their generous contribution towards our initiatives. The donation will be crucial to helping us equip the children with the necessary devel-opmental tools to integrate them into mainstream society.”

The association’s role, she em-phasised, is to assist in the growth and development of children from birth through a system of coordinat-ed services. This will facilitate early detection of physical, psychological or developmental anomalies that can be treated accordingly.

The purpose of early interven-tion, therefore, is to ensure that children who have been diagnosed with such developmental delays receive the resources and support they deserve to maximise their growth progress. Through its cen-tre, the AEICD enables timely medical intervention and provides integrated services to children di-agnosed under various categories of developmental disabilities.

S U P P O R T

Ford vehicles turn casual visitors to Muscat Festival into admirersMUSCAT: Visitors to Muscat Festival at Naseem Garden, were in for a pleasant experience at the Ford display area with Ford’s Ex-plorer, Fusion and Edge Sport.

“I was strolling around, marvel-ling at the wonderful activities tak-ing place when I noticed the Ford display area. Interested to know about the vehicles on display, I de-cided to experience them,” said a visitor at the Muscat Festival.

“Until now I had not really no-ticed the eye-catching change in Ford’s models. It’s really surpris-ing. The Fusion in particular is what I was more interested in, considering they have a lovely of-fer on it too,” he remarked.

The Fusion is Ford’s fi rst fully ‘digital’ car. It was completely de-signed, engineered and tested for manufacture in a digital environ-ment — using the most advanced design tools available for preci-sion, quality and effi ciency. Fusion is available in SE and SEL trims, featuring Ford’s 2.5L Duratec 23 I-4 engine and 17-inch machined aluminium wheels.

The Fusion features an all-alu-minium construction, dual overhead cams, four valves per cylinder, intake

Variable Cam Timing (i-VCT) and electronic throttle control to deliv-er smooth, spirited performance, along with good fuel economy and emissions ratings.

The four-cylinder engine de-livers 160 horsepower, and is paired with a six-speed automatic transaxle. Fusion also comes with standard four-wheel power disc brakes with ABS, allowing for more driver confi dence.

“I have visited this venue thrice till now, and always I have been drawn to the Ford display area,” said Rudy, a tourist.

“Being from the US it may sur-prise you that back home I don’t own a Ford. But now that I am here so close and personal with

the Explorer, I must admit that I will have to reconsider my deci-sion. This 4x4 SUV is just truly amazing! Just look at the interiors, the build quality, safety features and all that it has to off er,” Rudy said.

Seconding that expression was Nasser who was accompanying Rudy. “I have test driven the Ex-plorer and I just love that SUV. A few moments in it and you won’t be wrong to feel that you can take that beast to any terrain and it will gladly help you conquer it,” he remarked.

“I have just purchased the Ford Taurus for my wife. She is very fond of big vehicles. Soon I will buy the Explorer for myself. That SUV just doesn’t get off my mind.”

E Y E - C A T C H I N G V I E W

‘Enhance’ wins Dar Al Atta’a’s fi rst Treasure Hunt Challenge MUSCAT: In a fun-fi lled atmos-phere, Dar Al Atta’a, Oman’s lead-ing charity organisation, held its fi rst Treasure Hunt Challenge last week, which witnessed the partici-pation of 12 teams from 12 compa-nies competing to solve series of puzzles and other tasks in diff er-ent locations in Muscat.

‘Enhance’ team was announced the winner of the challenge, spon-sored by Standard Chartered, En-hance and Dhofar Automotives. The event was conducted with the aim of raising funds for the charity’s empowerment pro-gramme, which works to provide

opportunities for youth from un-privileged families to secure jobs, training and building of libraries and educational centres and raise awareness on Dar Al Atta’a’s ac-tivities and mission.

Twelve teamsTwelve teams representing Stand-ard Chartered, Bank Sohar, The Wave, Muscat, Enhance, Ra-naissance Services, PWC, SNR Denton, Oxy, Shangri La, Mus-cat Daily, DHL and Super In-ternational, competed in the map-based puzzle that focused on enhancing the skills of team

building and bonding through differ-ent physical and mental challenges.

The tasks were scattered around diff erent locations in Muscat in-cluding Oman Sails’s marina, Ghu-bra, Qurum, Ghala Industrial Area and Shangri La.

The challengeSandeep T. K. from the winning team ‘Enhance’ said: “We worked as one team to solve the puzzles and undertook the various tasks in the designated locations.

It was an excellent challenge held for a noble cause which is to raise funds for Dar Al Atta’a’s programmes.

‘Enhance’ is very supportive of such events and we will defi nitely participate again.”

Commenting on the success of the challenge, Dar Al Atta’a’s Dep-uty Chairman, Iman bint Salem Al Wahaibi, expressed her satisfac-tion with the turn out of the event.

“The Treasure Hunt is the brainchild of Dar Al Atta’a, adopt-ed to raise funds and bring people together for a good cause.

“We are happy with the perfor-mance of the winning team and the rest of the participants and are look forward to much more interaction in similar future events.”

F U N D R A I S I N G E V E N T

Fillet-O-Fish on Baisa Menu now

MUSCAT: McDonald’s off ers even greater value for money with its Baisa Menu range, which now comes with the Fil-let-O-Fish sandwich.

McDonald’s Fillet-O-Fish is topped with a fi sh fi llet por-tion, melty cheese, creamy tar-tar sauce and served on a soft, steamed bun.

“As part of our everyday pric-es, we are giving our customers even greater value on the food they love with our Baisa Menu range. The Fillet-O-Fish is the latest addition to our Baisa Menu range, available at 700 baisa only,” said Ali K. Daud, Development licensee and president of McDonald’s Oman.

G R E A T P R I C E


ROUND-UP

Muscat Electronics to open new showroom

MUSCAT: Muscat Electronics LLC (ME) announced the open-ing of its new-format showroom besides Ruwi Hotel in the ONIC building in Mumtaz area.

The showroom is slated for opening on February 27, 2013 for inauguration. This unique new-format showroom showcases a wide range of offi ce automation products from Ricoh and state-of-

the-art air-conditioning products from Daikin under one roof.

Spread over 2,222sq.ft, this spanking new showroom is taste-fully and elegantly designed. The customers will fi nd an attractively designed seating to enjoy techni-cal discussion/presentation over a cup of coff ee. The offi ce automa-tion space showcases the full range of Ricoh products like projectors,

printers, fax machines, photocopi-ers to name a few apart from giving a glimpse of the networking and managed print solutions.

The air-conditioning space has the famous Daikin VRVIII on dis-play apart from the traditional range of cassette, ducted split and wall mount splits.

A demo model with fl ickering LED displays clearly demonstrates the

functioning and energy effi ciency of the famed VRV system. The showroom is located at a prime location in the heart of Muscat next to the Ruwi Hotel and is con-venient for customers to reach and has dedicated parking area.

Muscat Electronics LLC (ME) the sole distributor of the Ricoh brand of offi ce automation solu-tions and Daikin brand of air-con-ditioning solutions has over the years earned the trust of people of the Sultanate of Oman in energy-effi cient, eco-friendly and aff ord-able high-quality offi ce automa-tion and air-conditioning solutions apart for its excellence in customer support services.

The showroom is a testimony of the growing strength of Ricoh and Daikin in Oman along with Mus-cat Electronics. Muscat Electron-ics enjoys a long relationship with these two Japanese giants. The relationship started with Daikin in 1982 and Ricoh in 1994. Since then the relationship and sales have grown from strength to strength.

The customers will

fi nd an attractively

designed seating

to enjoy technical

discussions or

presentations over a

cup of coff ee

Kia steals hearts at Chicago Auto ShowMUSCAT: Amid the popping strobes of cameras, Kia slipped the silk off the beautiful Cross GT concept at the 2013 Chicago Auto Show — drawing gasps from the audience.

“The Cross GT stunned onlook-ers with its elegant yet powerful stance, confi rming once again Kia’s now-well-established repu-tation for world-class design,” re-marked a press personality.

The Cross GT seamlessly melds high technology with nature, cre-ating a harmonious partnership between the driver and the vehicle that also respects our global envi-ronment. Purely conceptual, the Cross GT reveals Kia’s intentions to potentially off er a larger premi-um CUV than the current Sorento.

“The debut of the GT in 2011 heralded a new frontier for Kia, both from a design and a business perspective,” noted Peter Schrey-er, Kia Motors Corporation presi-dent and global chief of design. “It

beautifully illustrated to the world that the brand was ready to explore the possibility of perhaps one day off ering a full-size rear-drive lux-ury saloon. The Cross GT, with its raised stance and large cargo area, allows us to envision the GT in the form of a full-size luxury crossover.”

While the GT’s lines were penned in Frankfurt, Germany, the Cross GT hails from Kia Design Center America (KDCA) in Irvine, California, the house that breathed life into the Track’ster, KV7 and Soul’ster concepts, and most re-cently the all-new production 2014 Forte sedan. Based on the GT chassis, the Cross GT’s propor-tions are similar to its rear-drive stablemate with short overhangs, a long wheelbase and an aggres-sively wide posture.

But the Cross GT off ers even greater visibility thanks to its tall-er stature and features all-wheel drive for improved performance

and all-weather capability.Drawing inspiration from na-

ture, driven by technology and bathed in gorgeous Fusion Copper, the Cross GT is powered by an effi -cient hybrid power train that looks to reduce the vehicle’s carbon foot-print while providing the uncom-promising performance that is ex-pected of a large, luxury crossover.

Utilising a state-of-the-art 3.8-litre V6 hybrid, eight-speed automatic and torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive, the Cross GT’s power train matches the sophistication of

the exterior and interior designs. Backing the V6 is an evolution of Kia’s parallel hybrid system, a pancake-shaped electric motor sandwiched between the V6 and transmission.

The electric motor is neatly packaged under the rear fl oor. Combined, the V6 and electric mo-tor produce 500 lb.-ft. of torque and 400 horsepower, with an all-electric range of 20-miles — suffi -cient to enable exhilarating perfor-mance, while delivering superior fuel economy and fuel effi ciency.

S H O W S T O P P E R

Graduation ceremony held at ISMMUSCAT: Indian School Muscat (ISM) on February 21 hosted the graduation ceremony honouring the outgoing batch of Grade 12 students.

Ali Said Al Harthi, executive director, Polyglot and Rusayl In-stitute and Hoffi cons & Co. LLC, graced the occasion as the chief guest. Isaac Varghese, head of Hu-man Resources, Bank Muscat, was the guest of honour.

The sun shone brightly on this day, refl ecting the enthusiasm of the new 428 ISM graduates, well clad in their regalia, as they stepped for-ward in a magnifi cent procession.

The Principal Achuthan Madhav, in his welcome address noted that: “This ceremony is the culmination of the hard work and the dedication.

“He advised the students to measure their own success, it is a community of individuals who are willing to reconsider their stances and to compromise based on re-spectful discussion with people who believe diff erently,” he added.

He highlighted the achieve-ments of the outgoing batch of 2012 — 2013 during the academic year. He congratulated all the awardees for their meritorious achievements.

He expressed the gratitude of the Indian community and the school to His Majesty Sultan Qa-boos bin Said for fostering growth

and development of education. The Ministry of Education and Manpower was applauded for their encouragement and support.

The principal lauded the highly motivated staff for their dedicated service and thanked the chair-man and members of the board of directors, president and members of the school managing committee.

Valuable examination tips by the principal, citations and me-mentos were bestowed to the stu-dents by the chief guest and the guest of honour.

In his address to the august gathering, the chief guest Ali Said Al Harthi emphasised on the key value of hard work and prayed to the Almighty for all blessings throughout life after school years.

Achuthan Madhav presented a memento to Ali Said Al Harthi as a token of appreciation. Rakesh, member, School Managing Com-mittee, bestowed a memento to Isaac Varghese in appreciation.

The guest of honour later ad-dressed the gathering.

He called on the graduates to deepen their study and implement the essence of the education they received, as well as maintain their adherence to hard and practical work to make the nation thrive.

Vice-principal, Sunny Thomas proposed the vote of thanks.

I N D I A N S C H O O L M U S C A T

Omantel to hold fi rst draw for ADSL off er tomorrow MUSCAT: Omantel, the main sponsor of Muscat Festival 2013, will hold tomorrow its fi rst draw for several valuable gifts for sub-scribers of the ADSL promotion-al off ers, which were launched by the company as part of the Mus-cat Festival event.

Commenting on the draw and promotional off ers, Hamed bin Salem Al Ghassani, manager of promotions at Omantel Con-sumer Unit, said, “Omantel, the pioneer integrated telecom ser-vices provider in the Sultanate, is always keen to off er its valuable customers promotional off ers that suit their needs, live up to their expectations, and add value to current services.”

The promotional off ers in-cluded several benefi ts for ADSL customers: waivers of ADSL and fi xed-line installation fees, a 50 per cent discount on the monthly subscription fee for the fi rst month, and a free modem. Current subscribers may ben-efi t from the off er by upgrading

to any unlimited plan and pay-ing the monthly rental fee for the lower-priced plan for two months. Dial-up customers will receive a waiver of the fee to up-grade to ADSL.

“In addition to the high-quality ADSL service provided by the company, new ADSL subscrib-ers will get a chance to win one of many valuable gifts, including laptops, tablets, and PlaySta-tions, at the two draws. “The fi rst draw will be held tomorrow and the second draw will be held at the end of March 2013,” he added.

“During the last period, Om-antel launched several pro-motional off ers for Mada and Hayyak mobile subscribers. It also off ered smart phones at competitive rates and gave new postpaid Mada subscribers free sliver numbers. As for tablet lov-ers, when buying Media Pad tab-lets for OMR75, they will receive a Hayyak starter kit and 1GB of free Internet service per month for three months,” he concluded.

M U S C A T F E S T I V A L O F F E R

Apollo’s sugar screening programme getting popular

MUSCAT: With 343,000 diabet-ics projected for Oman by 2030, diabetes has become one of the biggest challenges for health care systems in the country.

Though Oman does not fi gure under top 10 diabetes prevalence countries, but there are enough alarming signals. Thus the Sugar — Apollo Clinic for Diabetics in association with Apollo Hospi-tals Group — India has come as a boon to residents of Oman.

Says V. T. Saileshwaran, man-aging director of Apollo Oman, “Apollo Group of Hospitals has always strived to identify gaps in the health care system and bridge them with appropriate solutions. To bring the best diabetic care for prevention and management to the door step of all the people of Sultanate of Oman, Apollo Hos-pitals Group, India has partnered with International Medical Cen-tre to launch the brand ‘Sugar — Apollo Clinic for Diabetics’ in Oman located at Ruwi, Muscat.

A number of pre-screening programmes for corporate and other clients have been con-ducted by Sugar — Apollo Clinic for Diabetics during the last couple of months and they are still on. Highlighting about pre-diabetes screening programme, Saileshwaran says, “Type-2 dia-betes often remain undiagnosed until complications occur. Fur-ther screening and early detec-tion of diabetes and pre-diabetes will enable clinicians to inter-vene early to delay the course of the disease, prevent complica-tions and adverse results.

“With an aim to use this impor-tant marker in preventing and de-laying diabetes, the sugar clinic is equipped with a state-of-the-art USFDA-approved non-evasive screening tool for screening and diagnosis of early diabetes.”

Adds Saileswaran, “Sugar — Apollo Clinic for Diabetics is a complete and integrated dia-betes care service provider to manage diabetes and off ers per-sonalised care and packages to diff erent sections of the diabetic population as per the recommen-dations of the American Dia-betic Association and the World Health Organisation.”

As a patient at the Sugar Clinic one undergoes an in-depth initial assessment done by a qualifi ed and experienced diabetologists. Dr Vamsi says, “The sugar clinic

is an integrated model and of-fers facilities for diabetologist consultation, diagnostics, pre-ventive /regular diabetic checks and pharmacy, all under one roof. The sugar clinic also pioneers in a range of value added services such as diet counselling on vari-ous lifestyle parameters.

“The sugar clinic not only of-fers complete diabetic care un-der one roof, it also plays a role in empowering customers with adequate knowledge regarding their health. The sugar clinic or-ganises camps and talks in order to achieve this.”

He adds, “A specialised diabe-tes educator works with the pa-tient to equip them with the skills to better manage diabetes. Some of the aspects covered include: Having diabetes puts you at risk for developing a wide range of foot problems — often because of two complications of diabetes — nerve damage (neuropathy) and poor blood circulation.

“At the sugar clinic we make sure that you are screened for the same in-line with international recommendations. The clinic is equipped with all the latest, ad-vanced equipment like automat-ed AB index PC based vascular Doppler recorder, digital bioth-esiometer – vibrometer, fundus camera, etc.”

One of the few remarkable and unique features of this centre is the off er of customised foot care services to diabetic patients. Sug-ar — Apollo Clinic for Diabetics is the fi rst in Oman to off er a full-fl edged diabetic foot wear store. The dedicated diabetic foot wear store at sugar clinic — Muscat off ers range of international dia-betic footwear brands. It also pro-vides custom made shoes based on the foot pressure analysis and foot scan report.

D I A B E T E S C A R E C L I N I C

Sundus Investments signs MoU with Rotana Hotel to develop four-star propertyMUSCAT: Sundus Investments Projects, pioneers in mixed-use development in the Middle East, yesterday announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Under-standing (MoU) with Rotana Hotel Management Company to develop a four-star Sundus Rotana by Ro-tana Hotels and Resorts in a unique hospitality complex taking shape at Airport Heights in Bausher, Muscat.

The launch of the uniquely de-signed property comes as part of Sundus Investments Projects’ ambition to shape a series of devel-opments that will signifi cantly com-

plement the hospitality landscape in the region. Located in close proxim-ity to the international airport and the city, Sundus Rotana is scheduled

for completion in the first quarter of 2015. Mohammed Mahfood Saad Al Ardhi, chairman of Sundus Invest-ments, said: “In a growing economy

such as Oman, tourism is an emerg-ing sector requiring huge invest-ments. Our decision to venture into a hospitality project was backed by our confi dence in the leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said and the overwhelming sup-port we continue to receive from government departments.”

Selim El Zyr, president and CEO of Rotana, said: “Sundus Rotana Hotel will serve as a one-stop des-tination for visitors to Muscat, drawing in people from all over the region to witness the splendour that is characteristic of the city.”

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‘Good health is best medical insurance’

DIPNA [email protected]

MUSCAT: “Good Health is a good medical insurance,” says chair-man and managing director of Wellness Solutions Dr A. Sree-kumar, who is a specialist in nu-tritional medicine. He is also the president of Indian Nutritional Medicine Association (INMA).

Dr Sreekumar, MBBS, DLO, MACNEM is a senior ENT sur-geon and specialist in nutritional medicine at Wellness Solutions. Speaking to Times of Oman during his short business visit to Muscat he said, “The main aim of Wellness Solutions is health care manage-ment rather than generalised dis-ease management.”

At Wellness Solutions genome analysis and metabolic analysis are done on patients to analyse their condition. Genome analysis helps to fi nd out the gene expression of the person to give insight into the diseases that tend to aff ect that in-dividual in future. The metabolic analysis will give the present condi-tion of the patient. Based on these analysis, adequate advice and treat-ment can be followed to maintain a balanced and healthy lifestyle.

Human body needs three vi-tal things for proper functioning.

Oxygen, water and nutrition. How-ever oxygen and water has limited advantage as it can be taken only to the capacity of the body. Nutrition through food is the most vital part and various aspects of food has to be taken care since the food what we intake now is not suffi cient. With the fast paced contemporary life, our nutritional requirement is very high but the supply of nutri-tion through food is very low which leads to tension and stress and to further complications.

Dr Sreekumar said, “We give nutritional advice to the patients. We do not change the lifestyle of a person but advice them revision of food intake that can be accom-modated to their present lifestyle. We try to bring a balance of what is lacking and what is in excess on nutritional front. Along with it we also give advice on diet, relaxation techniques and exercise to lead a healthy life. Also nutritional ad-vice on intake of nutrition likes vi-tamins and minerals which varies from person to person is also given.”

Wellness Solutions in India is fully equipped to admit in-patients. However in-patient treatment is only arranged for patients with terminal diseases since such cases require monitoring for a while. “We have patients with cancer and

heart diseases and we are glad we could cure them and are also lead-ing a normal life after practicing nutritional treatment,” added Dr Sreekumar.

“In cancer treatment, we have adopted a very good protocol com-bining conventional treatment with dendritic cell therapy and nutritional therapy. For dendritic (denvax) cell therapy we have tied up with the Institute of Cellular Therapy headed by Dr Jamal Khan (professor of Aligarh Muslim Uni-versity, India). In our endeavour we are supported by international or-ganisations like ACNEM (Austral-ian College of Nutritional and En-vironmental Medicine), Gene Care Australia and Mayo’s Clinic USA,” continued Dr Sreekumar.

The second aspect of Wellness Solutions is treatment. Most of the diseases in modern practice do not have any answer for cure or preven-tion. When nutritional treatment is combined with conventional

medical treatment, huge diff erence in the condition can be achieved. Even cancer, diabetics or heart ail-ment will show good considerable diff erence if the patient continues with conventional medicine sup-ported with nutritional medicine. In a long run the conventional med-icines can be discontinued and the patient can lead a normal life with nutritional medicine alone.

“As part of the treatment fi rst we do detoxifi cation. It is internal cleaning of the cells. And it is done in most scientifi c way. We use mod-ern allopathic approach as well as herbal approach for detoxifi cation. Once the detoxifi cation is done, we provide appropriate nutrition so that the body cells regain its func-tion. Any body cell can regain at any age. Recent research shows that the oldest cell in our body is only nine years old. That confi rms that any cell can grow at any age. We have based our treatment method on this fact and bring back the dor-mant cells to functioning,” said Dr Sreekumar.

Wellness Solutions also con-ducts school health programme, corporate health programme as well as advice for walk-in patients is also taken care. “We are now fo-cusing more on school students as they absorb the knowledge imme-diately as well as it is a part of edu-cation from early age. The aware-ness created in them does not get lost easily,” added Dr Sreekumar.

Wellness Solutions was started in 2004 at Cochin and is spread across in eight locations in India. In the global level, Wellness Solutions has a branch in Malaysia. Plans are underway to start a branch in Oman shortly.

Genome analysis helps to fi nd out the gene

expression of the person to give insight into

the diseases that tend to aff ect that individual

OGC organises beach clean-up campaign in SoharMUSCAT: Oman Gas Company (OGC) recently organised a cam-paign to clean up the beaches of Sohar. This is one of the com-pany’s key corporate social re-sponsibility (CSR) initiatives, refl ecting its commitment to environmental conservation and protection of Oman’s coastline from the threat of contamination.

OGC staff volunteered to par-ticipate in this activity joined by students and faculty members from Mahboob bin Al Raheel Ba-sic School in Sohar.

“Such periodic eff orts by OGC refl ect the remarkable level of environmental knowledge and commitment that the company promotes. It also speaks about a rich culture of a company that is striving to spread awareness among diff erent spectrums of society about the dangers of lead pollution and its direct damage to the environment, coastal and marine habitats.

Also, the pollution caused by

throwing plastic bags and other waste on beaches is a matter of grave concern. Therefore, we de-cided to clean up these areas to ensure hygiene and improve the city to the highest environmental and health levels,” said an OGC volunteer who has been an active participant in this campaign.

Commenting on the eff ective-ness of this campaign, the prin-ciple of the school said: “Such ini-tiatives will instil in the students a culture of volunteerism and a sense of responsibility towards the environmental health of the society. We applaud OGC for launching such a meaningful pro-gramme and leading by example.”

OGC is the main gas trans-portation company in Oman de-livering natural gas to the core economic sectors and major consumers comprising domes-tic, power and desalination plants, fertiliser, methanol, pet-rochemical, refi nery, steel and cement plants.

C S R I N I T I A T I V E

Dr A. Sreekumar. — Supplied picture

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A’Saff a chicken’s ‘transparent packaging’ a big hit

MUSCAT: A’Saff a Foods main-tains top safety standards when it comes to packaging their chicken or poultry products.

They allow customers to buy products with peace of mind and confi dence as it is always an advantage for customers to see what they are buying. The trans-parent packaging helps custom-ers to check for quality, colour, damages, discoloration, etc.

Sidhartha Lenka, head of Sales and Marketing at A’Saff a Foods, says, “Wilful tamper-ing with food products has resulted in special packaging features designed to reduce or eliminate the risk of tampering and adulteration. A’Saff a Foods’ transparent packaging will help customers to see the products in their best condition.”

The transparent packaging used by A’Saff a on its chicken products is just the fi nal phase of a fully hygienic and carefully managed production process that implements international standards to guarantee that consumers are provided with the healthiest, tastiest and freshest chicken’s products.

“The techniques that we use that are verifi ed to the highest international standards make sure that the product is as fresh and healthy as possible and we ensure that no unwanted ele-ment can enter the packaging,” added Lenka.

A package is the face of a product and often is the only product exposure consumers experience prior to purchase. The package may be designed to enhance the convenience features such as ease of access, handling, and disposal; prod-uct visibility and resealability; greatly infl uence package inno-vation, something that A’Saff a Foods believes in doing to keep up with the competitors.

“We are immensely proud of the world class quality and sys-tems that we have in place to ensure that our food processing is of the highest quality and can ensure that consumers across Oman can buy our chicken and other products with full confi -dence. When it comes to buying food for the family, it is essen-tial for our customers to know they can buy our products in the knowledge that it has been produced in conditions that can match any in the world — with the added benefi ts of its 100 per cent pure halal production and great taste thanks to our sys-tems and natural feed we give our chickens,” Lenka said.

F R E S H N E S S S E A L E D

Sonata ranked as most dependable midsize car

MUSCAT: Hyundai’s Sonata re-ceived the distinct honour of the most dependable midsize car by JD Power and Associates in their 2013 Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) in the USA. Released recently, the

annual Vehicle Dependability Study shows Sonata ranked high-est in its class, beating out leading competitors.

The Sonata off ers striking fl u-idic design, high fuel effi ciency and comes equipped with Hyundai’s own blue link infotainment sys-tem. The Sonata recently broke its all-time yearly sales record in 2012 surpassing the 225,000 mark. The Sonata sets the benchmark for midsize sedans off ering sleek de-sign, class-leading interior com-

fort, functionality and practicality all at an incredible high value.

The JD Power and Associ-ates Vehicle Dependability Study measures problems experienced during the past 12 months by original owners of three-year-old (2010 model year) vehicles which includes 202 specifi c problem symptoms grouped into eight ma-jor vehicle systems. The study results include industry insights, model rankings in each of the car and light-truck segments, and full

nameplate rankings. Overall de-pendability is determined by the level of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower score refl ecting higher quality.

The well-crafted stylish look-ing Sonata has won over 30 inter-national awards and the number keeps increasing, this is in recog-nition to its emotionally-driven design, state-of-the-art technol-ogy and superior build quality.

The Sonata is packed with loads of safety, comfort and luxury features. The interior is dynamic, echoing the stylish tone set by the outer shell with a generous fl air of comfort and high levels of exclusivity.

Each of the features of Sonata fi rst surprise then delights, time after time. It easily surpasses its peers who don’t even come close to its build quality. OTE group is the exclusive dealer of Hyundai vehicles in Oman.

The Sonata sets the

benchmark for midsize

sedans off ering sleek

design, class-leading

interior comfort,

functionality and

practicality

Badr Al Samaa cardiologist gets reputed US fellowship

MUSCAT: Dr Benny Panakkal, senior consultant cardiologist, Badr Al Samaa hospital, has been awarded the Fellowship of the American College of Cardiology.

The fellowship will be award-ed during the 62nd annual con-vocation of the American Col-lege of Cardiology on March 11, 2013 in Moscone Center, San Fransisco, CA.

Dr Benny Panakkal has been working in Badr Al Samaa as sen-ior consultant cardiologist and group medical director for over a decade. Dr Panakkal started the Department of Cardiology in Badr Al Samaa during the last quarter of 2002 in their Ruwi branch. It has grown over the years providing excellent service to many.

This was the fi rst facility in the private health care sector to of-fer acute coronary care unit and thrombolytic therapy (clot dis-solving treatment) in the event of a heart attack. On its constant

eff ort to deliver the best, the de-partment could able to pioneer many fi rsts like introduction of 3D real time echocardiography and the implementation of trans esophageal echocardiography.

A new cardiac catheterisa-tion laboratory is being set up at Badr Al Samaa, Ruwi. With the installation of cathlab, coronary angiography and related facilities will be accessible to many at an aff ordable cost.

C O N S U L T A N T

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ABBOTT HELPS S. AFRICACOMPLETE SERIES SWEEPDebutant Kyle Abbott took nine wickets as South Africa completed a 3-0 series sweep over Pakistan with a crushing innings and 18 run victory in the third and fi nal test at Centurion yesterday. >C3

Dhoni’s day out in Chennai

CHENNAI: Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni struck his maiden double century to lift India to a mammoth 515 for 8 in their fi rst innings at the end of the third day’s play in the fi rst cricket Test against Australia at the M.A. Chidambar-am Stadium here yesterday.

Dhoni remained unbeaten on 206 and had Bhuvneshwar Kumar (16 not out) for company as India ended the day with an impressive lead of 135 runs.

Dhoni and Kumar added 109 runs for the unfi nished ninth-wicket stand that took India to a dominating position after they were reduced to 406 for 8. It was a quick 243-ball knock by Dhoni and was studded with 22 fours and massive fi ve sixes. Though batting great Sachin Tendulkar failed to break his two-year wait for a Test century, falling for 81 in the morn-ing, what followed next was pure carnage by Dhoni and heir to his captaincy Virat Kohli, who made a valuable 107.

But it was Dhoni’s knock that stood out as he almost single-handedly blunted the Australian bowling attack. Dhoni walked in after India had scored just 14 runs after an hour’s play and had lost Tendulkar, who was bowled by off -spinner Nathan Lyon (3/182). Dhoni and Kohli then launched a counter-attack for their 128-run fi fth-wicket stand but the scor-ing slowed down after Kohli was dismissed by Lyon. Kohli in his at-tempt to get aggressive was caught by Starc off the bowling of Lyon.

Ravindra Jadeja (16), Ravichan-dran Ashwin (3) and Harbhajan Singh (11) all departed quickly and Dhoni risked running out of part-ners. Kumar, however, proved an able ally for Dhoni. The debutant managed just 16 runs but made

sure that his captain got the maxi-mum amount of strike. Dhoni was in complete control of his brilliant innings and simply toyed with the Australian bowlers. En route to his 206, Dhoni also crossed a few milestones, crossing the 4000-run mark in Tests. It was also the second highest individual score as an Indian captain and also the highest Test score by an Indian wicketkeeper. Dhoni is now just 28 runs short of the highest score by a wicketkeeper in the history of cricket, 232 by Zim-babwean Andy Flower.

Praise poursMeanwhile, cricketers world over showered praise on India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for smash-ing a double-ton. Former England captain Michael Vaughn tweeted:

“The coolest man in world cricket MS Dhoni delivers when it most matters... incredible innings against the Aussies...”

Legendary spinner Shane Warne was also impressed by Dho-ni’s knock. “WOW, M S Dhoni is going off here in Chennai, amazing batting,” tweeted Warne, who is part of the commentary team here.

Warne’s contemporary Glenn McGrath, who is heading the MRF Pace Foundation here, posted: “Great innings by MS Dhoni 206*. India in a strong position against the Aussies.”

Former West Indies batsman Darren Ganga said: “Magnifi cent accomplishment from Dhoni. Proven the critics wrong. Clearly one of India’s fi nest captains and wicket keeper-batsmen.” — IANS

Virat Kohli made a

valuable 107 but was

overshadowed by

the pure carnage

unleashed by the

Indian skipper hitting

an unbeaten 206 off

243 balls

206*243 balls22 fours5 sixes

MS DHONITWO centuries in con-

trasting styles have given India the chance

to begin the four Test series against Australia with a win. While Virat Kohli’s century was a typical hard earned one like you get to see in Test cricket, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s was a brutal violent one. It was as if the Indian skipper was taking his angst out of his system and the poor Australian bowlers came in the way and copped the brunt of it. He had come in for a fair share of criticism for his performance as a skipper in the series against England which India lost, and he seemed to have decided that while he will still be ‘cap-tain cool’, he won’t be shy of expressing his displeasure when it was necessary.

He did that a few times as the Indians wilted when Michael Clarke built partner-ships with Moses Henriques and Peter Siddle, and it won’t be a surprise if we fi nd those players who were slow, out of the team, unless of course they come good in the second innings.

That is how it should be, for when you are represent-ing your country you must be wholeheartedly in the game and not let your mind wander about.

The skipper cannot always look around at every fi elder and the fi elders themselves have to use a bit of common cricketing sense when to come up to save a run and when to drop back a few paces.

It was great to see a nearly full house at the Chidambar-am stadium, and while most would have come to see ‘the master’ get another Test cen-tury at this venue, they would have gone home very satisfi ed with what they saw.

Tendulkar missed out on a ton but it was he who had given the Indian team the belief that they could take the attack to the opposition.

The crisp manner in which he began his innings was confi dence boosting for the

youngsters Pujara and Kohli. Pujara was looking very

good when he was surpris-ingly bowled by Pattinson who was the pick of the Australian bowlers.

Kohli did not miss out as he played himself in and then worked the ball to all corners of the ground.

It would have been a most satisfying century for him.

Dhoni had quickly sensed that Lyon could be dangerous and so he set after him, and that prompted a change from the Aussie skipper.

By the time Lyon was brought back again, he did not have the same rhythm with which he had begun the day and during which he had got the prized scalp of Tendulkar.

Dhoni continued to get af-ter the bowling but it was also a calculated attack that took the game away from the visi-tors. His fi rst double ton in Test cricket has been studded with boundaries galore and some huge sixes bringing the crowd repeatedly on its feet.

It has given India a very good chance to win the Test, and with the pitch taking increasing spin, the spinners have to do it for India. — PMG

Good chance for Team India to win from here

C O M M E N T A R Y

SUNIL GAVASKAR

SUNNY STROKES

Dhoni’s master knock

has given India a

very good chance

to win the Test, and

with the pitch taking

increasing spin, the

spinners have to do it

for India

Australia 1st innings: 380India 1st innings:M. Vijay b Pattinson 10V. Sehwag b Pattinson 2C. Pujara b Pattinson 33S. Tendulkar b Lyon 81V. Kohli c Starc b Lyon 107MS Dhoni batting 206R. Jadeja b Pattinson 16R. Ashwin b Lyon 3H. Singh b Henriques 11B. Kumar batting 16Extras: (b-2, lb-14, w-3) 19Total: (8 wickets in 141 overs) 515Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-12, 3-105, 4-196, 5-324, 6-365, 7-372, 8-406Bowling: Starc 25-3-75-0; Pattinson 26-5-89-4; Siddle 22-5-61-0; Lyon 40-1-182-3; Henriques 17-4-48-1; Clarke 8-2-25-0; Warner 3-0-19-0

S C O R E B O A R D

AP

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Proud to be Kohli’s coach, says Sharma

NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Shar-ma is a happy man as the eff ort that his favourite student Virat Kohli put in at the nets prior to the Australia series has worked wonders for the player.

“I had a specifi c strategy in

mind for Virat so that he could counter the Australian quick bowlers. Since, it is very diffi cult to fi nd quicks, who can consist-ently hit 140kmph at the nets, I decided to shorten the length of the pitch from 22 yards to 20 yards,” Sharma said today.

“The idea was to prepare for Mitchell Starc and James Pat-tinson, who would bowl in the 140 plus range. Shortening the pitch by two yards would mean that reaction time for the bats-man would be less. Also the bowler, whose normal speed is in 130kmph would be able to add on a few yards of pace,” Sharma ex-plained the plan elaborately.

Kohli hit his fourth Test cen-tury on the day and his second against Australia and Sharma is undoubtedly satisfi ed.

“Virat didn’t take a single off day during the weeks prior to the series. He would every day bat for around two to two and half hours at the nets. He started leaving a lot of de-liveries, something he wasn’t doing due to excessive one day cricket.

“What made me happy was the amount of time he took to score a century. He batted close to 200 balls which means he was patient and prepared to wait for the loose balls,” Sharma stated.

The coach also feels that it is Vi-rat’s grit and determination that has helped him to get back into form after a temporary slump.

“Virat is a very determined boy and he told me “Don’t worry sir, I will be getting runs against Aus-sies.” He has kept his promise and I am proud to have a student like him,” Sharma concluded. — PTI

Virat Kohli’s grit

and determination

helped him to get

back into form after a

temporary slump

107206 balls15 fours

VIRATKOHLI

1 six

New Zealand name uncapped trio for fi rst England TestWELLINGTON: New Zealand will head into their fi rst Test against England on March 6 with an new opening partnership after the recall of Peter Fulton and in-clusion of the uncapped Hamish Rutherford and Tom Latham in their squad yesterday.

New Zealand’s opening bats-men have struggled against the England new ball attack of James Anderson and Steve Finn in the lost limited over series and the selection panel were forced to look elsewhere after a thumb injury to Martin Guptill.

Fulton, who has played 10 Tests as a top or middle order batsmen but averaged just 20.93 with one half century, went to South Af-rica last year before a knee injury forced him home, though a strong fi rst class season where he has av-eraged more than 50 had prompted his recall.

“We picked Peter to tour South Africa and he would have played there if he hadn’t been injured,” New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said.

Rutherford, the son of former New Zealand captain Ken, is ex-pected to join Fulton for his debut on his home ground at Dunedin’s University Oval, though Latham is also in contention for the spot,

Hesson said. Rutherford and Latham have both played limited overs cricket for New Zealand but never played a Test match.

Left arm spinner Bruce Martin is also expected to make his debut after the 32-year-old toured South Africa late last year but did not play in the Test series.

Martin, who replaces the dropped Jeetan Patel in the squad, is likely to play due to an Achilles’ injury to Daniel Vettori that is ex-pected to keep him out of action until the tour of England in May.

Tim Southee, who missed the South African tour due to a thumb injury but was recalled to play the fi nal two One-day Internationals against England after a side strain to Mitchell McClenaghan, will again link up with Trent Boult and Doug Bracewell in a young pace attack.

A fast bowler will be added to the squad after the match in Queen-stown between a New Zealand XI and England, which starts on Wednesday.

Squad: Brendon McCullum (captain), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Dean Brownlie, Pe-ter Fulton, Tom Latham, Bruce Martin, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson. — Reuters

T E S T S E R I E S

Bangladesh recall Enamul for Sri Lanka Test series

DHAKA: Bangladesh recalled left-arm spinner Enamul Haque Jr. and included batsman Mo-minul Haque in their 15-man squad yesterday for the two-Test series in Sri Lanka next month. Both were included to deal with the absence of all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan who has been advised to undergo a surgery after being diagnosed with exertional compartment syndrome which causes pain in shin bone.

“It is always diffi cult to re-place Shakib because you need two players to fi ll up his dual roles as a spinner and a bats-man,” chief selector Akram Khan said. Enamul played the last of his 14 Tests against West Indies in 2009, while Mominul, who has played fi ve ODIs, is yet to make his test debut. Un-capped opener Anamul Haque was also named in the squad.

Squad: Mushfi qur Rahim (captain), Mahmudullah, Tamim Iqbal, Shahriar Nafees, Anamul Haque, Naeem Islam, Nasir Hos-sain, Shohag Gazi, Abul Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Enamul Haque Jr, Jahirul Islam, Mominul Haque, Shahadat Hossain and Robiul Islam. — Reuters

C R I C K E T

C3


Abbott helps S. Africa complete series sweep

PRETORIA: Debutant Kyle Ab-bott took nine wickets as South Africa completed a 3-0 series sweep over Pakistan with a crush-ing innings and 18 run victory in the third and fi nal test at Cen-turion yesterday. Pakistan were bowled out for 235 in their second innings, having managed 156 in their fi rst in reply to South Af-rica’s 409. Abbott was the pick of the South African seamers on a helpful wicket, recording match fi gures of nine for 68.

The 25-year-old took the scalps of Imran Farhat (43) and Ehsan Adil (12) to add to his seven wick-ets from the fi rst innings.

Starting the day on 14 for one, Pakistan showed some fi ghting spirit losing only Younus Khan (11), who played a thick edge off Dale Steyn to Graeme Smith at fi rst slip, in the morning session.

But the tourists began to im-plode after lunch. Azhar Ali (27) and Farhat put on 54 for the third wicket before the former ran him-self out in calamitous fashion.

Farhat worked the ball to fi ne leg and after running one, Ali turned for a second at the wick-etkeeper’s end. He was always struggling against the bullet throw of Steyn from the boundary and in the end was well short.

Pakistan lost two more wick-ets with the score on 107. Abbott picked up his eighth of the match when Farhat (43) slashed at a wide delivery and was caught by wicketkeeper AB de Villiers.

Captain Misbah-ul-Haq (5) then became Rory Kleinveldt’s fi rst wicket of the game when he got a thin edge to a ball. Kleinveldt took a second when Asad Shafi q (6) scooped a delivery to Vernon Philander at mid-off . Saeed Ajmal

(31) and Sarfraz Ahmed put on 69 for the seventh wicket, but the former was trapped lbw by Steyn to end the resistance.

Sarfraz (40) followed soon afterwards when he top-edged Steyn to Dean Elgar at third man and Ehsan Adil tried to pull Ab-bott but only succeeded in bal-looning the ball to Kleinveldt at mid-on. The fi nal pair of Moham-med Irfan (6 not out) and Rahat Ali (22) hung around for another 33 runs.

South Africa won the fi rst Test in Johannesburg by 211 runs and completed a four-wicket victory in the second in Cape Town. — Reuters

Man of the match and

debutant Abbott was

the pick of the South

African seamers

recording match

fi gures of nine for 68

CELBRATION: Dale Steyn, left, celebrates with his teammates on the third day of the third Test match

between South Africa and Pakistan. – AFP

South Africa 1st innings: 409 Pakistan 1st innings: 156 Pakistan 2nd innings:Mohammed Hafeez b Steyn 0 Azhar Ali run out (Steyn) 27 Younis Khan c Smith b Steyn 11 Imran Farhat c De Villiers b Abbott 43 Misbah-ul-Haq c De Villiers b Kleinveldt 5 Asad Shafi q c Philander b Kleinveldt 6 Sarfraz Ahmed c Elgar b Steyn 40 Saeed Ajmal lbw b Steyn 31 Ehsan Adil c Kleinveldt b Abbott 12 Rahat Ali lbw b Peterson 22 Mohammed Irfan not out 6 Extras (b-9, lb-10, nb-2, w-11) 32

Total (all out, 78 overs) 235 Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Hafeez), 2-39 (You-nis), 3-93 (Azhar), 4-107 (Farhat), 5-107 (Misbah), 6-114 (Shafi q), 7-183 (Ajmal), 8-202 (Sarfraz), 9-202 (Adil) Bowling: Steyn 23-5-80-4, Philander 15-4-32-0 (2w), Abbott 17-7-39-2 (2nb), Klein-veldt 13-2-33-2 (1w), Peterson 10-2-32-1 Result: South Africa won by an innings and 18 runs Series: South Africa won the three-match series 3-0 Toss: South Africa Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZL), Steve Davis (AUS)

S C O R E B O A R D

Priority elsewhere as Barca and Real meet in King’s CupMADRID: With crucial Cham-pions League games looming, Barcelona and Real Madrid could have done without the distrac-tion of playing each other twice in fi ve days, starting with a King’s Cup semifi nal second leg tomor-row. The two “Clasicos” — the second a La Liga clash at the Ber-nabeu on Saturday — will provide rich entertainment for fans but they are relatively insignifi cant compared to Barca’s game at home to AC Milan on March 12 and Real’s match at Manchester United a week earlier.

The King’s Cup is never a pri-ority for Spain’s dominant pair as long as they are still alive in Eu-rope’s elite club competition and the domestic league, and Real have all but given up on a second consecutive La Liga title after slipping 16 points behind leaders Barca with 13 games left.

Barca are still reeling after go-ing down 2-0 to Milan at the San Siro in Wednesday’s last-16 fi rst leg, though they picked them-selves up and fought back from a goal down for a 2-1 La Liga win at home to Sevilla on Saturday.

Real, held to a 1-1 draw by Unit-ed at the Bernabeu on February 13, also came from a goal down to

win on Saturday, beating bottom side Deportivo La Coruna 2-1 at the Riazor with Cristiano Ronal-do coming off the bench to set up Gonzalo Higuain for the winner.

Assistant Barca coach Jor-di Roura, standing in for Tito Vilanova who is recovering from throat surgery, praised his play-ers for putting Wednesday’s shock reverse behind them.

“You can lose a match but the really important thing is the re-action,” he told a news confer-ence after the Sevilla game. “It was a really tough game and they scored against us while we had the match more under control,” he added.

Cup holders Barca have a slight advantage ahead of Real’s visit to the Nou Camp, which will be the 224th meeting between the arch rivals in all competitions, after they secured a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu in last month’s fi rst leg.

Cesc Fabregas fi red Barca ahead fi ve minutes after halftime and Raphael Varane nodded in an equaliser for Real nine minutes from the end. Real beat Barca 1-0 to win the Cup in 2011 and Barca eliminated them in the last eight last term. — Reuters

F O O T B A L L

C4


Mohammed Ali spurs Al Rehwan

MUSCAT: Al Rehwan, aided by an excellent 111 from Moham-med Ali, recorded a 35-run win against Ahli Bank in a Khimji Ramdas-sponsored Junior Cup T20 match played during the weekend at Municipality Ground No.1 at Al Amerat.

Electing to bat, Al Rehwan scored 170 for 4 off the 20 allot-ted overs, with Aboo P.C. con-tributing 23 and Umer Shana-vas chipping in with 21.

Ahli Bank, in response, lost wickets at regular intervals and could only muster 135 for the loss of 6 wickets. Only skipper Maaz Siddiqui remained unbeaten on 38, whilst extras totalled 39, in-cluding 23 wides. Shihabudeen Basheer and Mohammed Ali bagged 2 wickets each, conced-ing 12 and 27 runs, respectively, off 4 overs each.

Brief scores: Al Rehwan – 170 for the loss of 4 wickets off 20 overs (Mo-hammed Ali 111, Aboo P.C. 23, and Umer Shanavas 21) defeated Ahli Bank – 135 for the loss of 6 wick-ets off 20 overs (Maaz Siddiqui 38 N.O.; Shihabudeen Basheer 2/12 and Mohammed Ali 2/27).

ISC Urdu Wing win ISC Urdu Wing registered a 25-run win against Tile Marine in a Khimji Ramdas-sponsored Junior Cup T20 knock-out tour-nament played at the adjoining Ground No. 2 at Al Amerat.

Taking fi rst strike, ISC Urdu Wing, thanks to contributions from Shakeel Abdul Rehman, 55, and Shouzeb Abbas, 51, scored 160 for 9. Nishant Bhavsar was the pick of the bowlers, ending with fi gures of 3 for 40, whilst Akshay Jathar and Chembon Biju Govindan picked up 2 wickets each, conceding 25 and 30 runs, respectively, off 4 overs each.

Set a target of 161 to win, the 10-man Tile Marine team was bowled out for 135 off 19.5 overs, Brief scores: ISC Urdu Wing – 160 for the loss of 9 wickets off 20 overs (Shakeel Abdul Rehman 55 and Shou-zeb Abbas 51; Nishant Bhavsar 3/40, Akshay Jathar 2/25, and Chembon Biju Govindan 2/30) defeated Tile Marine – 135 All Out off 19.5 overs (Chembon Biju Govindan 33; Chetan Sharma 3/25 and Sheikh Mohammed Shameel 2/19).

Gayash Dias excelsGayash Dias, with bowling fi g-ures of 4 for 26 off 4 overs, helped Sinha register an easy 3-wicket win against PDORC in a Khimji Ramdas-sponsored Intermediate Cup T20 knock-out match played in the afternoon session at the same venue.

Electing to fi eld, Sinha did well to restrict PDORC to 161 for 7 off their quota of 20 overs. Sandesh Dhuri top scored with 50, whilst Abdul Majeed, 43, and Moham-med Aqib, 29, helped swell the score. K.G. Nalaka bagged 2 wick-ets, conceding 31 runs off 4 overs.

Requiring 162 for a win, Sinha, thanks to contributions from Manujaya S.E.M., 55; K.G. Nala-ka, 39; and Dhammika Premada-sa, 27 Not Out, reached its target, losing 7 wickets with 13 deliver-ies to spare. Mohammed Aqib ended with fi gures of 3 for 17 off 3 overs, whilst Asad Baig picked up 2, conceding 46 runs off 4 overs.

Brief scores: PDORC – 161 for the loss of 7 wickets off 20 overs (Sand-esh Dhuri 55, Abdul Majeed 43, and Mohammed Aqib 29; Gayash Dias 4/26 and K.G. Nalaka 2/31) lost to Sinha – 162 for the loss of 7 wickets off 17.5 overs (Manujaya S.E.M. 55, K.G. Nalaka 39, and Dhammika Pre-madasa 27 N.O.; Mohammed Aqib 3/17 and Asad Baig 2/46).

K N O C K O U T C R I C K E T

SINHA’S TOP BOWLER: Gayash

Dias. – Supplied photo

AL REHWAN’S TOP SCORER:

Mohammed Ali. – Supplied photo

Boost for City after beating Chelsea, Newcastle stay alive

MANCHESTER: Second-half goals by Yaya Toure and Carlos Tevez earned Manchester City a 2-0 win over Chelsea yester-day that gave their fading hopes of retaining the Premier League crown a boost.

Chelsea had missed the chance to go ahead early in the second half at the Etihad Stadium when Frank Lampard had a penalty well saved by keeper Joe Hart while City had endured long spells of frustration as their many chances went to waste.

Toure’s sweetly-struck shot into the bottom right broke the deadlock in the 63rd minute while substitute Tevez made sure of the three points with a right-footed missile fi ve minutes from time.

The result puts second-placed City 12 points behind leaders Manchester United, who have 68 points from 27 games, while Chel-sea stay third with 49.

“I think we deserved to win be-cause we played well, maybe we could have scored more goals,” City manager Roberto Mancini told a news conference.

In the day’s only other Premier League game, Newcastle United beat relegation rivals Southamp-ton 4-2 at home to move six points clear of danger.

After United had surged further ahead the previous day with a 2-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers, there was no doubt on the blue side

of Manchester what would need to be done to keep the title race inter-esting for a little longer.

Toure shot at Chelsea keeper Petr Cech in the opening minute to set the tone for the fi rst half as the hosts carved out several chances that came to nothing.

Centre back Matija Nastasic’s header was palmed away by Cech early on while forward Sergio Aguero should have struck a first-time shot rather than try to find a way round the keeper and midfielder Jack Rodwell

had three decent opportunities. It said a lot about Chelsea’s ap-

proach that their best fi rst-half ef-fort was a long - range free kick that Lampard sent way over the bar.

There was a similar story af-ter the break as City continued to press for an opener, Aguero hold-ing his head in his hands after one miss and lying on the ground in disbelief after fl uffi ng another ac-robatic eff ort.

Instead it was Chelsea, who had forced Hart into his fi rst save moments earlier with an Eden

Hazard eff ort, who suddenly found themselves with a golden chance to take charge when Demba Ba was brought down by Hart and the referee pointed to the spot.

Lampard stepped up, eyeing what would have been his 200th Chelsea goal, but his well struck 52nd-minute penalty was kept out by the outstretched Hart who had dived to his right.

“It was a case of trying to go the right way and get a strong hand on it.”

Fresh energy City’s players celebrated the save as if it had been a goal at the other end and seemed to fi nd fresh en-ergy for their task.

They got their reward 11 min-utes later when Toure kept his composure while surrounded by Chelsea players on the edge of the box to stroke the ball into the right corner.

The result was put beyond doubt when Tevez, who had failed to score in his last eight league appearances, was fed by Silva before unleashing a shot that gave Cech no chance and warmed City hearts on a chilly afternoon in Manchester.

At the other end of the table, Papiss Cisse scored with a superb long-range eff ort in Newcastle’s victory over Southampton.

The visitors took an early lead when Rickie Lambert headed down a Jack Cork cross to Morgan Schneiderlin, who turned and shot into the bottom corner from 10 metres on three minutes.

The lead lasted half an hour before Moussa Sissoko tapped in from six metres and three minutes before the break Cisse smashed a superb shot past Southampton keeper Artur Boruc from 25 metres to put Newcastle ahead.

Southampton’s Lambert side-footed his 100th goal for the club to give Southampton hope, but it proved short-lived as Yohan Cabaye netted a penalty and a ca-lamitous own goal from Jos Hoo-iveld wrapped up the points for Newcastle. Newcastle moved up to 14th in the table with 30 points while Southampton are three points adrift in 16th. — Reuters

The result puts

second-placed City

12 points behind

leaders Manchester

United, who have 68

points from 27 games,

while Chelsea stay

third with 49

THANKS MATE: Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez, left, celebrates

his goal against Chelsea with teammate James Milner during

their English Premier League soccer match at The Etihad Stadium

yesterday. – Reuters

C5


Bahrain in front at Almouj on Day One

MUSCAT: A perfect day greeted the players from six GCC coun-tries as the fi rst teams started play in the morning at Almouj Golf Club on the fi rst day of competi-tion at the 17th GCC Golf Champi-onships, yesterday.

The weather was very similar to Saturday’s practice day, though a cool sea-breeze kept the golfers on their toes since they had to con-tend with the challenge of hitting the ball perfectly.

The teams were split through a random draw that saw a mixed level of play between the groups. As a result of the random group-ing, Omani team members, attired in green, played alongside golfers from each of the GCC countries, and camaraderie was high since they shared golf buggies as well as conversation.

One of the favourites, along with Qatar and the United Arab Emir-ates, is the Bahrain team, winners of the fi rst 16 GCC Golf Champion-ship events.

Abdulla Al Kaabi, general secre-tary of the Bahrain Golf Associa-tion, was confi dent of the team’s chances this year but is watching all the other teams closely: “Our team did well today. They missed some birdie opportunities, but we are in a good position going into the second day. Although Qatar and the UAE are our main threats, the other teams have made great progress over recent years, and we can’t exclude them. Inshallah, we’ll bring back the title to Bahrain this year!”

All the players commented o n the quality of the fairways at

Almouj Golf Club and the chal-lenge of keeping their shots out of the rough that lines each hole of the course.

Al Kaabi was watching as the teams went around and joined the players in their praise of this championship course in Oman,

“Oman is in the early stages of a golf industry, but with Almouj Golf Club, they are setting a very high standard, and the future is very bright. The location along the seafront adds a special feel to the course and makes it truly unique.”

After the fi rst day of play, Bah-rain topped the leaderboard with a

total score of 222 points. Only one shot behind was the

Qatar team, closely followed by the UAE delegation on 242 points.

The Omani team had a very strong showing, putting them in a very respectable fourth place with 257 points.

Rounding off the points table was Saudi Arabia with 260 points and Kuwait with 285.

The strongest player of all the teams in the adult groups was Ali Al Bishi from Qatar, who shot 2 under par with a total of 70 points. Hamad Mubarak of Bahrain parred the course with a 72.

In the junior groups, one of Oman’s youngest hopefuls Ahmed Abdullah Al Balushi scored the best nett result and is leading the junior tables by two shots over UAE player Ahmed Skaik and fi ve shots ahead of Bahrain’s Abdulla Ali. Hosting the GCC Golf Cham-pionship was possible as a result of the eff orts of Golf Oman and the support of the Ministry of Sport and key sponsors who see the long-term benefits of develop-ing the sport of golf in Oman. These sponsors include Etihad Airways, National Bank of Oman, and OmanTel.

Abdullah Al Kaabi,

general secretary

of the Bahrain Golf

Association joined

the players in

their praise of this

championship course

in Oman

PERFECT STRIKE: Action on the opening day of the 17th GCC Golf Championship at Almouj Golf Club. –

Supplied photo

SMILING FACES: The winners and runners-up of the men’s and

ladies category pose with the trophies along with members of

the RAHGC. – Supplied photo

Jameela, Per crowned RAHGC ChampionsMUSCAT: More than 30 mem-bers of the RAHGC competed in the club championship during the weekend. The stroke-play competition was played across 36 holes over two days. The weather conditions were challenging, es-pecially during the second day, with a brisk breeze picking up at midday.

Jameela Daud maintained her advantage from Day 1 and extended her lead on Day 2 to be crowned Lady Club Champion, with a score of 175. Best Over-all Nett came from Ayse Kazdal, whose gross score of 186 became the winning nett score of 142.

Flora Raber picked up the sec-ond-best gross score prize with 193. Shirley Prescott bagged Best Nett Day 1, and Ans Goosen won Best Nett Day 2.

The gents saw a new club champion, with Per Sjostrand coming up from behind on Day 2 to score the winning result of 165 gross. The overnight leader

Sam Battersby managed to fi ght off Rob Wilcock with one stroke, scoring 174 and 175, respectively.

Tore Solberg claimed Best Nett with a fi ne 148 nett, ahead of Alex Borges on 151 nett, who was just a stroke ahead of Oyedele Alao on 152 nett. Best Nett Day 1 was won by RAHGC Captain Ray Prescott, and Best Nett Day 2 was won by Fred Park.Results Ladies: Club Champion Jameela Daud, 175 gross; Second Gross Flora Raber, 193 gross; Best Over-all Nett Ayse Kazdal, 142 nett; Best Nett Day 1 Shirley Prescott; Best Nett Day 2 Ans Goosen.

Gents: Club Champion Per Sjostrand, 165 gross; Second Gross Sam Battersby, 174 gross; Third Gross Rob Wilcock, 175 gross; Best Overall Nett Tore Solberg, 148 nett; Second Nett Alex Borges, 151 nett; Third Nett Oyedele Alao, 152 nett; Best Nett Day 1 Ray Prescott; Best Nett Day 2 Fred Park.

G O L F

AL FAISAL LIFT CHEERS CUPAl Faisal team pose with the cup after beating Century

CC in the fi nal of the inaugural Cheers Cup. — Supplied photo

C6


Samir Shibli leads Oman to big victory over Fiji

NEW DELHI: Thirty-sixth-ranked Oman men’s team beat 70th-ranked Fiji 7-3 in a hard fought match on the seventh and last day of the Hockey World League Round 2 here yesterday.

Fiji played an attacking game right from the start and kept the Omani defenders busy in the fi rst half.

Fiji opened the account with captain Hector Smith’s goal in the second minute. Within seconds, Oman captain Samir Haliyas Al Shibli equalised the score at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

Fijians fought back as James Saqacala (4th min) and Leevan Dutta (14th min) scored two back-to-back goals to take the lead.

Before half time, Oman’s Ahmed Sabeel Al Balushi scored the second goal for his team in the 22nd minute.

Oman came back in the sec-ond half strongly and scored thrice through Mahmood Salim Al Hasani (40th), Ahmed Sabeel Al Balushi (42nd) and Moham-med Hubais Al Shar (48th min) to dominate the match.

In the 68th minute, Oman got their sixth goal through an own goal.

In the next minute, skipper Samir Haliyas Al Shibli scored again and took the score to 7-3.

Fiji could not come back in the match and lost their last league match.

Al Shibli was adjudged player of the match for his two goals and leading the team to victory. — IANS

H O C K E Y Hussain Al Jabri strikes gold at Sail the Gulf regatta

DOHA: Oman’s young Laser sailor Hussain Al Jabri left for Qatar’s prestigious Sail the Gulf regatta last week with no expectations other than to develop and test his skills against an international fl eet; however, he returned home yesterday as a champion after winning his class.

The 24-year-old Al Jabri’s vic-tory in the 14-strong eight-nation Laser Standard class fl eet after four cutthroat days of 12 races at the Doha Sailing Club from Febru-ary 20-23 was even more incred-ible since he had placed third going into the fi nal day of racing.

Quietly confi dent that he could still improve his position, Al Jabri nevertheless found that the fi nal day of the event was a seesaw of emotions and results. His hopes rocketed when he posted a sec-ond-place fi nish in the fi rst race, soaring higher when he pulled off

a magnifi cent bullet in the second round but crashing when he fi n-ished a disappointing seventh in the fi nal race of the event.

“I went ashore trying to con-vince myself that despite the seventh-place fi nish, I had done my best to hold onto the overall third place and win bronze for my country,” stated Al Jabri, who only started sailing 18 months ago.

But what Al Jabri didn’t know at that stage was that his closest rivals, top two leading contenders Ga-jender Singh and Dharmender Sin-gh Shauham from the Indian Army Team, had both retired from the fi rst race of the day after being fl agged by the jury with a DNE penalty for pumping in the tricky, light seven- to eight-knot wind speeds.

The penalty relegated the In-dians, Singh and Shauham, to second and third overall, respec-tively, and left the way open for Al Jabri to leapfrog to the top of the leaderboard.

“I had been ashore for about an hour and was already de-rigging my boat when I got the news from the jury that I had won! Until then, I hadn’t been able to smile, but then I just laughed and said, ‘I love sailing! This is a sport where any-thing can happen!’”

Qatar’s Sail the Gulf regatta was the fi rst major regatta of the 2013 dinghy-sailing season, with 220 sailors from 21 countries com-peting in nine dinghy classes.

Al Jabri, who was up against sailors from Bahrain, the Czech Republic, Germany, India, Kazakh-stan, Myanmar, the Netherlands, and Russia, consistently posted top results with typically smart

tactics and a cool head to keep him in the top three places from the outset. On day one, he shared the lead on equal points with Ger-many’s Alexander Maxmilian after scoring two seconds and a third in light 5–8-knot winds. Day two saw him in second place with a fi fth

and two-thirds, despite heavy 24-knot winds and tough conditions. On day three, he posted a fourth, third, and fi fth place fi nish to posi-tion him in third place overall, go-ing into the fi nal three races on the fourth and fi nal day of the event.

The Qatar championship win

comes on the back of Al Jabri’s win at the Singapore Laser Trophy last year. It is sure to prove a confi -dence booster ahead of the March 10 start of the 2013 Mussanah Race Week, Oman’s premier din-ghy regatta, where he will face an even larger and more competitive international fl eet, which includes highly experienced teams from Australia, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

Mussanah Race Week will, in turn, be viewed by Al Jabri as part of his crucial training prepara-tions in Omani home waters for the Laser World Championships, which will be held for the fi rst time in Oman in November this year. His ultimate goal is to qualify for a place in the Olympics.

Al Jabri, who is one of the fi t-test sailors in the Omani Na-tional Squad and known for his hard work, determination, and intelligence, is leaving nothing to chance. He has already declared that his training will start again fi rst thing tomorrow (Monday) morning, when he will be back out on the water in Mussanah.

Rashid Al Kindi, Chairman of the Oman Sailing Committee and National Team Manager, was full of praise for Al Jabri: “Hussain is one of the most disciplined sail-ors in the team with regard to his training and fi tness abilities. He is passionate about what he does and always aims to improve his per-formance. This event was a great platform for him to test his per-formance at an international level. This will help him gain more expe-rience to compete on an Asia-wide and international level.

The 24-year-old’s

victory in the eight-

nation Laser Standard

class was even more

incredible since he

had placed third

going into the fi nal

day of racing

AISM leads as fi nal day beckonsMUSCAT: Dutch Student Team Delft Challenge-TU Delft pulled off a stunning victory in today’s leg of the Gulf region’s only long distance off shore sailing race, fi nishing over an hour ahead of the nearest rival. The leg, which takes in some of the scenic backdrops on the Tour, should have been plain sailing for the leading three teams.

Issa Al Ismaili, Events Director of race organiser Oman Sail, how-ever, knows that upsets are all part of the thrill of sailing: “It’s a sign of how wide open sailing can be as a sport – our mission is to show eve-ryone in the region that sailing is an accessible sport, and there could be no greater vindication of that ideal than a win from one of our young-est teams. It’s a thrill to see Team Delft Challenge excel here on one of the fi nal legs of the tour, in idyllic sailing conditions.”

All the boats competing in EFG Bank Sailing Arabia – The Tour are Farr 30 one designs, identical boats of identical speed and under normal circumstances in an off -shore leg the boats are separated by minutes, if not seconds. How-

ever on the sixth leg of the event from Zighy Bay to Mussanah Ma-rina, the leading boat, TU Delft, arrived one hour and 12 minutes ahead of her rivals.

After taking the risky tactics of splitting from the rest of the fl eet and heading inshore in the early hours of this morning, the Dutch student team led by Kay Heem-skerk had extended away at one point by more than 10 miles – im-pressive on a leg that ended up be-ing less than 60 miles from start to fi nish, after it was shortened.

The result leaves TU Delft sol-idly in fourth place overall, while Bertrand Pace’s team on AISM continues to lead albeit with only a 4.25 point advantage over

second-placed BAE Systems go-ing into tomorrow’s fi nal sprint leg of EFG Bank Sailing Arabia – The Tour, from Mussanah Marina back to The Wave, Muscat.

But the real fi ght will be on for second place between the Sidney Gavignet on EFG Bank (Monaco) and the Cedric Pouligny-skip-pered BAE Systems, now just 0.5 points ahead of Gavignet’s team.

The winner of this duel will be second overall. On a day trip to Oman to experience the event his bank sponsors, Keith Gapp, Head of Strategic Marketing and Com-munications at EFG Bank, saw the boats arrive in Mussanah Marina.

“So far we’re very happy,” Gapp commented. “We are active

across quite a broad front in sail-ing in the Americas, Europe and Asia, so this fi lls geographically a missing piece of the jigsaw and it touches quite a few points in the region which I think is useful in terms of making it distinctive for us from a marketing stand point.”

Fahad, Al Hasni on board of EFG Bank (Monaco) commented: “We are excited to be here and to see all the fans here and to be home. It certainly helped us sail-ing back into home waters. To-morrow it will be the last race and if we fi nish ahead of them [BAE Systems] we will be second.”

With just one leg to go, the crews are all resting well, the top three on their guard to ensure that another upset can’t happen before the fl eet reaches The Wave Mus-cat. Whatever the outcome today, however, EFG Bank Sailing Ara-bia – The Tour has highlighted the great potential and ideal sailing on off er in the Gulf, and with ever in-creasing participation, EFG Bank Sailing Arabia – The Tour counts as a win for sailing and a win for all of the countries.

S A I L I N G A R A B I A - 2 0 1 3

WELL DONE: Hussain Al Jabri poses with the cup after winning the

Sail the Gulf regatta. – Supplied photo

The entire fleet of the Sailing Arabia - The Tour will

leave for Mussanah en route to the finish line at the

Wave, Muscat for a grand prize-giving ceremony

SECTION

EX RAL I F E & S T Y L E

CSHINY HAPPY PEOPLEComputer designed by scientists to compose music which makes the brain feel happy. >C8

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMMONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013

Harold Shipman is generally consid-ered to be Britain’s worst serial killer, with more than 250

murders ascribed to his name. But hidden among the tales of habitual drunks, petty thieves and small-time fraudsters published online last week sits the fi le of a little-known Bristol-born woman who may well have killed more.

While largely forgotten today, Amelia Dyer’s crimes paved the way for one of the most sensa-tional trials of the Victorian era — and spotlighted the pandemic problem of infanticide in 19th century Britain. Her Prison Com-mission fi le, now visible online, logs Dyer’s fi nal moments on the scaff old at Newgate Gaol on June 10, 1896, and records her hanging with characteristic Victorian effi -ciency: “On account of her weight and the softness of the textures, rather a short drop was given. It proved to be quite suffi cient.”

Three weeks earlier, Dyer had been convicted at the Old Bailey of the murder of two babies. They had been strangled with white tape, wrapped in parcel paper and dumped in a carpet bag in the River Thames at Reading. She became a household name, ballad-mongers even wrote songs about her; her case raised the profi le of the fl edg-ling NSPCC and even fi rmed up our adoption and child protection laws.

Yet within a few decades, her crimi-nal career was all but forgotten.

Reading police had been alerted to Dyer back in April by the dis-covery of another tiny infant in the reeds of the Thames. An address on the parcel paper led the police to a stout midwife described vari-ously as ‘motherly’ and ‘homely’. What they discovered inside Dy-er’s two-up-two-down, rented ter-raced house on Kensington Road was damning.

Her home was crammed with evidence of a hefty trade in infant life — dozens of vaccination pa-pers, vast quantities of tiny clothes and countless pawn tickets for baby clothes. Letters and receipts for newspaper advertisements arranging adoptions were also re-covered, indicating that Dyer was

operating under several aliases, including Harding and Smith. The most gruesome evidence was the heavy stench of rotting fl esh com-ing from the kitchen pantry and from a trunk under her bed. The police were in little doubt that they had uncovered a baby farm. They ordered an immediate dragging op-eration, watched by crowds of on-lookers lining the river banks, drawn by lurid press coverage. When the body count rose to 50, Amelia told police: “You’ll know all mine by the tape around their necks”.

As the police investigation grew, so did the eff orts of investigative journalists. It became clear that Dyer had profi ted from her trade for almost 30 years, travelling as far afi eld as Liverpool and Plymouth.

Dyer fi rst opened a house of

confi nement in the Bristol suburb of Totterdown in the late 1860s, and charged a fee to take in un-married women when they could no longer hide their pregnancies. Some asked for their infants to be stifl ed at the moment of birth, since Victorian coroners were unable to distinguish between suff ocation and still-birth.

Dyer also fostered infants for a weekly fee, maximising her prof-its by slowly starving her little charges, muting them with daily doses of the liquid opiate, lauda-num, known colloquially as “the quietness” because it stifl ed both a baby’s appetite and its cries.

Ten years later, having complet-ed a six-month prison sentence for infant neglect, Dyer changed her modus operandi. No longer would

her house be fi lled with emaciat-ing infants. Now she accepted only full adoption in exchange for a lucrative one-off payment. She silenced the infants within hours, using a length of white tape tied twice around their necks and dumped their bodies in rivers or buried them in the gardens of her rented lodgings.

The world which enabled this wholesale trade in infant life may seem entirely alien today, but its scars are remarkably re-cent. Our Dickensian vision of Victorian urban filth is missing one grim detail: the bodies of dead infants littered the streets of British cities and reports of their discovery were too common-place to be considered newsworthy.

Endemic infanticide was a direct

consequence of mid-century leg-islation designed to deter illegiti-macy; far from fi xing the problem, the removal of all fi nancial obli-gation from fathers merely con-demned unmarried mothers to an impossible situation. Forced out of employment and barred from the workhouse, a single mother could either prostitute herself, starve, or else “make an angel” of her baby. Baby farmers off ered a last hope for a desperate minority, but in reality few wom-en were truly blind to the reality of their off spring’s fate once they had been farmed out.

The true scale of Dyer’s crime is almost certainly beyond calcula-tion. At her most frenzied, eyewit-nesses reported seeing as many as six babies a day coming into her home. Reading police found evidence of at least 20 children who had been entrusted to her care in the two months before her arrest. Even a conservative estimate of 10 infant deaths a year creates a staggering 300 murders over a 30-year period.

Dyer was by no means the only British baby farmer but she was certainly the most prolifi c, serv-ing a grim need that society was loath to acknowledge and has been quick to forget.

Amelia Dyer: Angel Maker is written by Alison Rattle and Allison Vale. — Allison Vale/The Independent

John Christie Victims: at least 8

He murdered a series of women, including his wife Ethel, between the

1940s and early 1950s.

Centuries of historical criminal records went online in Britain this week, including the

little-known tale of a midwife, Amelia Dyer who is considered to have murdered 300 babies

L I F E & SSSSSSSSSS TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY L E

SHCoto cthe

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013

Dr Harold Shipman Victims: more than 250

The UK’s most prolifi c murderer was found guilty of 15 murders in 2000

while working as a doctor in Hyde, Manchester. An offi cial report said he

killed between 215 and 260 people over 23 years while working

in Hyde and Todmorden, Yorkshire.

Amelia Dyer Victims: 300 babies or more

The Victorian era midwife, Amelia, operated under several aliases.

She silenced infants poisioned and strangled them for a fee

— over thirty years.

Dennis Nilsen Victims: 16

The ‘Muswell Hill Murderer’ confessed to killing at least 15 men

at his north London fl at between 1978 and 1983.

Mary Ann Cotton Victims: 21

Born in County Durham in October 1832, she was executed in

1873 for murdering her seven-year-old stepson, but was believed to have

murdered up to 21 people, mainly by arsenic poisoning.

Fred West Victims: 11

West, working alone and later with the help of his wife, Rosemary, tortured

and murdered at least 11 women and girls between 1973 and 1979. He com-mitted suicide while in police custody

in 1995. She was later convicted of nine murders, including that of her daughter and Fred’s stepdaughter.

Peter Manuel Victims: 8 (perhaps 15-18)

The American-born Manuel was convicted of eight murders in southern

Scotland between 1956 and 1958. He later admitted to killing 18 people though the true fi gure

is believed to be 15.

Peter Sutcliff e Victims: 13

Sutcliff e, aka the Yorkshire Ripper, preyed on women — many of

them prostitutes in Leeds and Bradford — in the 1970s. He was convicted of

murdering 13 and trying to kill seven others. He claimed divinemessages drove him to murder.

BRITAIN

’S M

OST P ROLIFIC SERI

AL

KIL

LER

C8

EXTRAM O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

Scientists are developing an intelligent music com-puter which can analyse a person’s brain activity when they listen to sounds and then composes

new music designed to make them happy. Research-ers, who believe the mood-altering music-writing soft-ware can help combat stress and depression, will unveil the fi rst composition created by the project at a music festival in Plymouth.

The project is being led by Dr Eduardo Miranda, a com-poser and professor at Plymouth University’s Interdisci-plinary Centre for Computer Music Research (ICCMR), and Dr Slawomir Nasuto, a professor in the Cybernetics Research Group at the University of Reading.

Using Artifi cial Intelligence techniques, the com-puter will play music and analyse the brain activity of the listener for emotional indicators. Based on this feedback, and a programmed knowledge of music, it will generate new sounds that can alter these emotions.

The project has been awarded a £880,000 grant by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The fi rst public demonstration of the re-search was a concert entitled Symphony of Minds Lis-tening, in which the second movement of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony will be ‘remixed’ and reassembled to refl ect the brain-scanned activity of three volunteers during listening.

“We all know music aff ects mood but we don’t really know how,” said Dr Mrianda. “We want to see if we can fi nd musical melodies or rhythms which elicit specifi c moods. Which kind of musical features in composition elicit physical signatures in brain patterns? Our project is to build a new system for musical composition.”

Three volunteers — a classic ballerina, a Gulf War veteran and Dr Miranda himself — have undergone functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans as they listened to the Beethoven Symphony.

Having analysed their emotional responses, with the help of bespoke artifi cial intelligence software devel-oped at ICCMR, Dr Miranda re-structured the original orchestral score to refl ect the volunteers’ brain activity

during listening. Dr Miranda said: “There’s a lot of diff er-ences in the way people listen. With the classical ballerina there was a lot of activation around the motor cortex because she listens to music based on the kind of move-ment she can make.

“I deconstructed the 2nd Movement and reassem-bled and modifi ed the rhythms and melodies based on information from the brain scans,” he said.

The ballerina’s brain yielded mostly rhythmic de-viations from the original, whiles Dr Miranda’s produced mostly harmonic deviations. Dr Miranda has posted a preview of his composition, scored for a string quartet, a fl ute and a clarinet, on the Soundcloud music-sharing website. The “mood-altering music computer” could have a number of therapeutic applications.

“If you have depression, instead of getting drugs to treat it, imagine if you could take people to a musician in-stead?,” Dr Miranda said. “You would go to see a musician and they would diagnose what kind of music they could be listening to, to improve their condition.”

The entertainment industry could also benefi t. “It could be used for cinema and advertising. The holy grail in advertising is to induce the correct emotion in a viewer.” But musicians, whose livelihoods depend on writing pieces which unversalise human emotions us-ing their own artistic intuition, may be concerned that they are being written out of the script altogether.

Dr Miranda predicts a Hollywood revolution in which “a computer system analyses the emotions its sees in the faces of fi lm characters. The system then comes up with ideas to speed up the compositional process for a fi lm soundtrack. When we get the results I will ap-proach industries ranging from health to entertainment.”

Jessie Ware, the Brit Award-nominated sing-er, said: “It’s a very exciting project and I’d love to see how it works. But I hope it doesn’t wipe every musi-cian out of a job. I’d like to think musicians them-selves have the ability to inspire and move listen-ers in the way I have been by particular singers.” — Adam Sherwin/The Independent

Computer designed by scientiststo compose music which makes

the brain feel happy

NAPOLEON Hill, who was one of the pioneers of personal success literature, said, “Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.”

At the bridge table, patience and persistence are excellent. If you are perspiring, the air-conditioning or heating system must be on the blink.

How is patience a virtue in this deal? South is in four hearts. West leads his singleton diamond. East overtakes with his ace and continues with the king, which South ruff s with the heart king. What happens after that?

South made a textbook triple-jump overcall. North was not sure if game would make, but since it could have been laydown, he sensibly raised to four hearts.

South has three aces to lose. To make his contract, he must not concede a second trump trick.

Note that East’s winning the fi rst trick with his ace and then leading the king were suit-preference signals for spades.

What will happen depends on West’s patience. Since he knows East has the spade ace, there will be a temptation to overruff with the heart ace and shift to a spade. East will win with his ace and lead another diamond, but South will ruff high, draw trumps in two more rounds, and claim.

West must be patient, discarding at trick two.

South will continue with a high trump, but West wins and puts his partner on lead in spades. When East plays a diamond, it promotes a second trump trick for West. South has only two high trumps left, and West still holds the nine and the three.

— By Phillip Alder

C9

ENTERTAINMENT

Patience is hard to practice

B I G N A T E

B O R N L O S E R

M A R M A D U K E

A C E S O N B R I D G E

K I D S P O T H E A L T H C A P S U L EC R O S S W O R D

ACROSS

1 Well-dressed 6 Braid11 Hockey player12 Gemstones14 Pantyhose

color15 Machines for

weaving17 IV + VII18 Sofa end19 Kind of quiz20 ‘Norma —’21 Crooked

scheme23 Ump’s cousin24 Cask stopper25 Honeycomb

cell27 Formation

fl iers28 — kwon do29 Bakery

purchase30 Jacket part33 Kind of sport37 Living qtrs.38 Female deer39 Warm up for a

bout40 Hairstyles41 — choy42 Not sm. or med.43 Such as (abbr.)44 Languishes46 Voight and Bon

Jovi47 Rigorous49 Term papers51 Liszt opus52 Save for future

use (2 wds.)

DOWN 1 Basis 2 Mel Gibson

role (2 wds.) 3 Frothy brew 4 New Eng. state 5 Util. bill 6 Evidence 7 Gravy no-no 8 Pecs’ partners 9 Twice I10 Many cowboys11 Grind one’s

teeth13 Prolonged

attack16 Store sign20 Be sorry22 Spouses23 Beluga delicacy24 Borscht veggies26 ‘My — Sunday’27 Rickey

ingredient29 ‘The Raven’

author30 Puts cargo on

board31 Orbit extreme32 Qt. parts33 Rum’s partner34 Poise35 ‘Mister

Roberts’ star36 Lock or curl38 Gift recipient41 Canary or

cardinal44 Tiny bit, to

Pierre45 City rtes.46 Air Force One,

e.g.48 N.H. neighbour50 That manA

nsw

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pre

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WITH LOVE

2 4

4 9 5 1 6

8 3 1 5 9

9 8 5 2

2 6 9 7

5 1 8 9 3

1 6 2 8

1 3

7 2 3 8

4 2 8 5 3 6 7 1 9

3 7 1 9 8 2 6 5 4

5 6 9 1 7 4 3 8 2

6 5 3 8 1 9 2 4 7

1 4 7 6 2 5 8 9 3

9 8 2 7 4 3 5 6 1

2 3 5 4 6 1 9 7 8

7 9 4 3 5 8 1 2 6

8 1 6 2 9 7 4 3 5 Pre

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

S U D O K U

M O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

SHREYA GUPTAFebruary 25, 2010

CHELSEY T. MONIFebruary 25

KAVISH K. VASAFebruary 25, 1999

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

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A Good Day To Die Hard (Action/Crime/Thriller) (12+) Cast: Bruce Willis and Sebastian Koch3:15, 7:30, 9:30 & 11:30pm, CP No: 140Snitch (Action /Drama/ Thriller) (12+) Cast: Dwayne Johnson and Susan Sarandon5:15pm, CP No: 167Bullet to head (Action/Crime/Thriller) (15+) Cast: Sylvester Stallone and Christian Slater2:30pm, CP No: 95Gambit (Comedy/Crime) (12+) Cast: Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz and Alan Rickman4:30pm, CP No: 137Lincoln (Biography/Drama/History) (PG) Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field 6:30pm, CP No: 218Snitch (Action /Drama/ Thriller) (12+) Cast: Dwayne Johnson and Jon Bernthal9:30 & 11:45pm, CP No: 167Beautiful Creatures (Drama/Fantasy/Romance) (12+) Cast: Alice Englert and Emma Thompson2:30 & 7:15pm, CP No: 175On The Road (Adventure/Drama) (15+) Cast: Sam Riley and Kristen Stewart5:00pm, CP No: 536 Bullets (Action/Crime/Thriller) (15+) Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Joe Flanigan and Anna-Louise Plowman9:30 & 11:45pm, CP No: 166 CITY CINEMA, RUWITelephone: 24607360

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A Good Day To Die Hard (Action) (12+) Cast: Bruce Willis and Jai Courtney3:15 & 11:30 pmCP No: 1536 Bullets (Action/Crime/Thriller) (15+) Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme and Joe Flanigan 9:30pm, CP No: 163Beautiful Creatures (Drama/Fantasy) (12+) Cast: Alice Englert and Emma Thompson5:00 & 7:15pm, CP No: 181Snitch (Action/Drama/Thriller) (12+) Cast: Dwayne Johnson and Susan Sarandon3:15, 9:30 & 11:30pm, CP No: 1706 Bullets (Action/Crime/Thriller) (15+) Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme and Joe Flanigan 5:15pm, CP No: 163A Good Day To Die Hard (Action) (12+) Cast: Bruce Willis and Jai Courtney7:15pm, CP No: 153Kai Po Che (H) (Drama) (PG) Cast: Amit Sadh and Raj Kumar Yadav3:00pm, CP No: 186Zila Gaziabaad (H) (Thriller) (PG) Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi and Vivek Oberoi5:15pm, CP No: 188Romans (M) (Comedy/Thriller) (PG) Cast: Kunchacko Boban and Biju Menon 7:30 & 10:30pm, CP No: 182Zila Gaziabaad (H) (Thriller) (PG) Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi and Vivek Oberoi3:30 & 10:30pm, CP No: 188Kai Po Che (H) (Drama) (PG) Cast: Amit Sadh and Raj Kumar Yadav7:30pm, CP No: 186

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A Good Day To Die Hard (Action/Crime) (12+) Cast: Bruce Willis, and Sebastian Koch3:30, 9:45 & 11:45pm, CP No: 140Beautiful Creatures (Drama/Fantasy) (12+) Cast: Alice Englert and Emma Thompson5:15 & 7:30pm, CP No: 174Snitch (Action /Drama/ Thriller) (12+) Cast: Dwayne Johnson and Susan Sarandon11:30am, 1:30, 9:30 & 11:30pm, CP No: 168

Gambit (Comedy/Crime) (12+) Cast: Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz and Alan Rickman3:30pm, CP No: 147On The Road (Adventure/Drama) (15+) Cast: Sam Riley and Kristen Stewart5:15pm, CP No: 1786 Bullets (Action/Crime/Thriller) (15+) Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme and Joe Flanigan 7:15pm, CP No: 165Plaza (Gold Class)Snitch (Action /Drama/ Thriller) (12+) Cast: Dwayne Johnson and Susan Sarandon4:00pm, CP No: 168Lincoln (Biography/Drama/History) (PG) Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field6:30pm, CP No: 218A Good Day To Die Hard (Action/Crime/Thriller) (12+) Cast: Bruce Willis and Sebastian Koch9:30 & 11:30pm, CP No: 140

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A Good Day To Die Hard (Action/Crime/Thriller) (12+) Cast: Bruce Willis and Sebastian Koch3:30, 5:30 & 9:30pm, CP No: 140Snitch (Action /Drama/ Thriller) (12+) Cast: Dwayne Johnson and Jon Bernthal7:30 & 11:30pm, CP No: 1696 Bullets (Action/Crime/Thriller) (15+) Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme and Joe Flanigan 3:30 & 11:30pm, CP No: 164Zila Gaziabaad (H) (Thriller) (PG) Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi and Vivek Oberoi5:30 & 8:30pm, CP No: 189Snitch (Action /Drama/ Thriller) (12+) Cast: Dwayne Johnson and Susan Sarandon3:30pm, CP No: 169Romans (M) (Comedy/Thriller) (PG) Cast: Kunchacko Boban and Niveda Thomas7:30 & 10:30pm, CP No: 184

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6 Bullets (Action / Crime / Thriller ) Jean-Claude Van Damme, Joe Flanigan, Anna-Louise PlowmanTiming: 2:00, 6:00 & 11:55pmCP No: 179 ( 15+ )Beautiful Creatures (Drama /Fantasy/Romance) Alice Englert, Viola Davis, Emma Thompson 2:00, 4:30 & 9:30pmCP No: 176 ( 12+ )On the Road (Adventure)Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart 7:00 & 11:55pmCP No: 177 ( 15+ )Mama (Horror / Mystery) Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier8:00 & 10:00pmCP No: 156 ( 15+ )Bullet to the Head (Action / Crime /Thriller) Sylvester Stallone, Jason Momoa, Christian Slater 4:00pmCP No: 116 ( 15+ )

ALLMOVIE

Film information2479164124786776

C10

FIND-IT-ALLM O N DAY, F E B RUA RY 2 5, 2 0 1 3

MONDAY

FLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA WY676 JEDDAH 0005PK229 ISLAM ABBAD/LAHORE 00154H583 DACCA 0130BG021 DACCA/CHITTAGONG 0130TK776 ISTANBUL/BAHRAIN 0300EY384 ABU DHABI 0330QR170 DOHA 0350EK866 DUBAI 0355GF560 BAHRAIN 0425FZ041 DUBAI 0430WY638 ABU DHABI 0700WY668 DOHA 0700WY904 SALALAH 0700WY602 DUBAI 0800FZ043 DUBAI 0800WY202 BOMBAY 0805WY102 LONDON-HEATHROW 0830WY236 HYDERABAD 0845WY274 JAIPUR 0845WY432 TEHRAN 0910G9113 SHARJAH 0915WY212 TRIVANDRUM 0925WY252 MADRAS 0930WY282 BANGALORE 0930WY226 COCHIN 0930EK862 DUBAI 0940EY382 ABU DHABI 1000WY326 ISLAM ABBAD 1010QR166 DOHA 10109W530 TRIVANDRUM 1025IX443 COCHIN 1050WY242 DELHI 1050WY372 COLOMBO 1105WY604 DUBAI 1105WY826 KUALA LUMPUR 1125WY342 LAHORE 1135WY384 MALE 1150WY332 KATHMANDU 1210WY918 KHASAB 1220WY655 BAHRAIN 1220WY3302 MUKHAIZNA 1230WY902 SALALAH 1230WY818 BANGKOK 1240IX337 CALICUT 1305WY606 DUBAI 1320PK259 ISLAM ABBAD/SIALKOT 1430WY812 BANGKOK 1445WY264 LUCKNOW 1540FZ045 DUBAI 1545WY908 SALALAH 1555WY632 ABU DHABI 1605PA450 LAHORE 1645WY3922 JAALUNI 1700WY204 BOMBAY 1700WY664 DOHA 1710WY292 CALICUT 1715WY232 HYDERABAD 1725WY3304 MUKHAIZNA 1730WY616 DUBAI 1740WY246 DELHI 1745GF564 BAHRAIN 1810WY684 RIYADH 1830G9117 SHARJAH 1915WY906 SALALAH 1930WY338 KATHMANDU 1930FZ047 DUBAI 2020WY312 CHITTAGONG 2020WY608 DUBAI 2025AI977 BANGALORE/HYDERABAD 2105QR168 DOHA 2120WY624 DUBAI 2120AI973 DELHI 2125KL441 AMSTERDAM/DOHA 2125LH618 FRANKFURT/ABU DHABI 21309W543 COCHIN 2140WY254 MADRAS 2145AI907 MADRAS 2200WY646 KUWAIT 2205WY324 KARACHI 2215UL205 COLOMBO 2225BA073 LONDON-HEATHROW/ABU DHABI 2240EY388 ABU DHABI 2240GF566 BAHRAIN 22406.00E+81 BOMBAY 2240WY912 SALALAH 2245WY662 DOHA 2305WY406 CAIRO 2310AI985 AHMEDABAD/BOMBAY 2310WY424 BEIRUT 2315LX242 ZURICH/DUBAI 2320QR172 DOHA 2320WY612 DUBAI 2330WY654 BAHRAIN 23309W540 BOMBAY 2340WY717 ZANZIBAR/DARESSLAM 2340WY696 DAMMAM 2350WY816 BANGKOK 2355WY636 ABU DHABI 2355WY682 RIYADH 2355WY416 AMMAN 2355WY648 KUWAIT 2355

TUESDAY

FLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA

WY676 JEDDAH 0005WY916 SALALAH 0125NL768 LAHORE 01304H583 DACCA 0130PK225 KARACHI 0200EY384 ABU DHABI 0330ET624 ADDIS ABABA 0350QR170 DOHA 0350EK866 DUBAI 0355GF560 BAHRAIN 0425FZ041 DUBAI 0430WY904 SALALAH 0600TK778 ISTANBUL/BAHRAIN 0605WY686 RIYADH 0635WY644 KUWAIT 0655WY674 JEDDAH 0655WY658 BAHRAIN 0700WY122 MUNICH 0700WY638 ABU DHABI 0700WY668 DOHA 0700WY692 DAMMAM 0700WY114 FRANKFURT 0720WY154 ZURICH 0745WY132 PARIS 0750WY142 MALPENSA 0750FZ043 DUBAI 0800WY602 DUBAI 0800WY202 BOMBAY 0805WY316 KARACHI 0825WY102 LONDON-HEATHROW 0830WY236 HYDERABAD 0845WY274 JAIPUR 0845WY422 BEIRUT 0900G9113 SHARJAH 0915WY268 LUCKNOW 0930WY226 COCHIN 0930WY252 MADRAS 0930EK862 DUBAI 0940EY382 ABU DHABI 1000QR166 DOHA 10109W530 TRIVANDRUM 1025WY3302 MUKHAIZNA 1045WY242 DELHI 1050WY604 DUBAI 1105IX549 TRIVANDRUM 1215WY918 KHASAB 1220WY902 SALALAH 1230PK191 GWADUR 1245WY632 ABU DHABI 1255IX337 CALICUT 1305WY606 DUBAI 1320IX817 MANGALORE/ABU DHABI 1415WY908 SALALAH 1430WY3304 MUKHAIZNA 1445WY328 LAHORE 1510FZ045 DUBAI 1545WY434 TEHRAN 1550WY204 BOMBAY 1700WY346 ISLAM ABBAD 1700WY292 CALICUT 1715WY664 DOHA 1720WY232 HYDERABAD 1725WY216 TRIVANDRUM 1745WY246 DELHI 1745WY284 BANGALORE 1750GF564 BAHRAIN 1810WY906 SALALAH 1830WY3306 MUKHAIZNA 1845KU677 KUWAIT 1900SV534 RIYADH 1900G9117 SHARJAH 1915WY388 KATHMANDU 1930TG507 BANGKOK/KARACHI 1935FZ047 DUBAI 2020WY312 CHITTAGONG 2020WY608 DUBAI 2025WY624 DUBAI 2120QR168 DOHA 2120AI973 DELHI 2125LH618 FRANKFURT/ABU DHABI 2130WY814 BANGKOK 21359W543 COCHIN 2140WY254 MADRAS 2145AI907 MADRAS 2200WY386 MALE 2205WY374 COLOMBO 2210BA073 LONDON-HEATHROW/ABU DHABI 2240GF566 BAHRAIN 2240EY388 ABU DHABI 2240WY912 SALALAH 2245WY662 DOHA 2305AI985 AHMEDABAD/BOMBAY 2310WY406 CAIRO 2310LX242 ZURICH/DUBAI 2320QR172 DOHA 2320WY612 DUBAI 2330WY654 BAHRAIN 23309W540 BOMBAY 2340WY717 ZANZIBAR/DARESSLAM 2340WY696 DAMMAM 2350WY682 RIYADH 2355WY636 ABU DHABI 2355WY816 BANGKOK 2355WY648 KUWAIT 2355WY416 AMMAN 2355

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD AI986 BOMBAY 0005QR173 DOHA 0020LX243 DUBAI/ZURICH 0020BA072 ABU DHABI/LONDON- HEATHROW 00259W539 BOMBAY 0040WY211 TRIVANDRUM 0110WY811 BANGKOK 0115PK230 LAHORE 0115WY235 HYDERABAD 0120WY201 BOMBAY 0130WY225 COCHIN 0130WY281 BANGALORE 0135WY601 DUBAI 0140WY383 MALE 0155WY903 SALALAH 0200WY273 JAIPUR 0210WY325 ISLAM ABBAD 0220WY341 LAHORE 0225WY133 PARIS 0225WY667 DOHA 0230WY637 ABU DHABI 0240WY241 DELHI 0245WY431 TEHRAN 0245WY657 BAHRAIN 0250BG022 CHITTAGONG/DACCA 03004H584 DUBAI/DACCA 0300TK777 BAHRAIN/ISTANBUL 0350EK867 DUBAI 0455FZ042 DUBAI 0510QR171 DOHA 0515EY385 ABU DHABI 0525GF561 BAHRAIN 0730WY263 LUCKNOW 0750WY3301 MUKHAIZNA 0800WY603 DUBAI 0805WY901 SALALAH 0830FZ044 DUBAI 0840WY917 KHASAB 0930WY311 CHITTAGONG 0930G9114 SHARJAH 0955WY231 HYDERABAD 1000WY337 KATHMANDU 1010WY815 BANGKOK 1010WY605 DUBAI 1030WY245 DELHI 1035WY717 ZANZIBAR/DARESSLAM 1035WY203 BOMBAY 1040EY383 ABU DHABI 1050EK863 DUBAI 1055QR167 DOHA 11109W533 COCHIN 1145IX442 COCHIN 1150WY907 SALALAH 1150WY656 BAHRAIN 1300WY3921 JAALUNI 1315WY631 ABU DHABI 1315WY663 DOHA 1330WY253 MADRAS 1330WY3303 MUKHAIZNA 1330WY683 RIYADH 1340WY101 LONDON-HEATHROW 1340WY405 CAIRO 1340WY121 MUNICH 1340WY113 FRANKFURT 1345WY131 PARIS 1350WY153 ZURICH 1350IX350 CALICUT 1405WY423 BEIRUT 1440WY615 DUBAI 1445WY905 SALALAH 1530PK260 ISLAM ABBAD/SIALKOT 1530WY141 MALPENSA 1615FZ046 DUBAI 1630WY675 JEDDAH 1640WY645 KUWAIT 1655WY607 DUBAI 1705PA451 LAHORE 1730WY323 KARACHI 1800WY623 DUBAI 1810WY911 SALALAH 1840WY681 RIYADH 1845WY647 KUWAIT 1850GF565 BAHRAIN 1855WY653 BAHRAIN 1920WY661 DOHA 1920WY695 DAMMAM 1930G9118 SHARJAH 1955WY611 DUBAI 2030WY635 ABU DHABI 2030FZ048 DUBAI 2105WY915 SALALAH 2120AI978 HYDERABAD 2200QR169 DOHA 2220KL442 DOHA/AMSTERDAM 22309W529 TRIVANDRUM 2240LH619 ABU DHABI/FRANKFURT 2250AI908 MADRAS 2300WY673 JEDDAH 2300AI974 DELHI 2310GF567 BAHRAIN 2325EY381 ABU DHABI 2330UL206 COLOMBO 2335

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD AI986 BOMBAY 00056.00E+82 BOMBAY 0015QR173 DOHA 0020LX243 DUBAI/ZURICH 0020WY421 BEIRUT 0025BA072 ABU DHABI/LONDON- HEATHROW 00259W539 BOMBAY 0040WY685 RIYADH 0050WY251 MADRAS 0110WY267 LUCKNOW 0115WY235 HYDERABAD 0120WY225 COCHIN 0130WY201 BOMBAY 0130WY643 KUWAIT 0135WYDXB DUBAI 0140WY691 DAMMAM 0150WY903 SALALAH 0200WY273 JAIPUR 0210WY315 KARACHI 0225WY667 DOHA 0230NL769 LAHORE 0230WY637 ABU DHABI 0240WY241 DELHI 0245WY657 BAHRAIN 0250PK226 KARACHI 03004H584 CHITTAGONG/DACCA 0300ET625 ADDIS ABABA 0450EK867 DUBAI 0455FZ042 DUBAI 0510QR171 DOHA 0515EY385 ABU DHABI 0525TK779 BAHRAIN/ISTANBUL 0655WY3301 MUKHAIZNA 0715GF561 BAHRAIN 0730WY603 DUBAI 0805WY813 BANGKOK 0820WY901 SALALAH 0830FZ044 DUBAI 0840WY327 LAHORE 0850WY291 CALICUT 0930WY917 KHASAB 0930WY311 CHITTAGONG 0930WY823 KUALA LUMPUR 0930WY215 TRIVANDRUM 0930WY433 TEHRAN 0945G9114 SHARJAH 0955WY231 HYDERABAD 1000WY385 MALE 1010WY815 BANGKOK 1010WY337 KATHMANDU 1010WY631 ABU DHABI 1015WY345 ISLAM ABBAD 1020WY907 SALALAH 1025WY283 BANGALORE 1030WY605 DUBAI 1030WY717 ZANZIBAR/DARESSLAM 1035WY245 DELHI 1035WY203 BOMBAY 1040EY383 ABU DHABI 1050EK863 DUBAI 1055QR167 DOHA 1110WY3303 MUKHAIZNA 11159W533 COCHIN 1145WY373 COLOMBO 1205IX554 TRIVANDRUM 1305PK192 GWADUR/TURBAT 1330WY253 MADRAS 1330WY101 LONDON-HEATHROW 1340WY663 DOHA 1340WY405 CAIRO 1340IX350 CALICUT 1405WY905 SALALAH 1430WY615 DUBAI 1445WY3305 MUKHAIZNA 1515IX818 MANGALORE 1515WY415 AMMAN 1525FZ046 DUBAI 1630WY675 JEDDAH 1640WY607 DUBAI 1705WY623 DUBAI 1810WY681 RIYADH 1845WY647 KUWAIT 1850GF565 BAHRAIN 1855WY661 DOHA 1920WY653 BAHRAIN 1920WY635 ABU DHABI 1930WY695 DAMMAM 1930G9118 SHARJAH 1955KU677 ABU DHABI/KUWAIT 2000SV535 RIYADH 2000WY611 DUBAI 2030WY825 KUALA LUMPUR 2035TG508 KARACHI/BANGKOK 2040FZ048 DUBAI 2105WY915 SALALAH 2120QR169 DOHA 22209W529 TRIVANDRUM 2240LH619 ABU DHABI/FRANKFURT 2250AI908 MADRAS 2300WY673 JEDDAH 2300AI974 DELHI 2310GF567 BAHRAIN 2325EY381 ABU DHABI 2330

A I R L I N E S

PHARMACIESRound the clockAl Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24783334; Appolo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24782666; Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24702542, Salalah: 23291635; Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra: 24503585; Ruwi 24811715Muscat Region Apollo, Al Hamriya. Tel: 24787766Muscat, A Seeb Market. Tel: 24421691Muscat, Al Khuwair. Tel: 24485740Muscat, Al Hail South. Tel: 24537080Dhofar RegionMuscat, Al Nahdha Road, Salalah. Tel: 23291635

HOSPITALSAl Amal Medical & Health Care Centre: 24485052Atlas Hospital: Ruwi: 24811743/ Ghubra: 24504000Al Musafi r Specialised Medical Clinic: 24706453Hatat Polyclinic LLC,Ruwi: 24563641, Azaiba: 24499269, Sohar: 2683006Al Raff ah Hospital: 24618900/1/2Al Massaraat Clinic & Laboratory: 24566435Al Makook Medical Coordinance Centre: 24499434Apollo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24787766, 24787780Capital Polyclinic: 24707549Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic, Ruwi: 24799760/1/2Capital Clinic, Seeb: 24420740Ceregem National Raak: 24485633Dr Harub’s Clinic: 24563217Elixir Health Centre: 24565802Emirates Medical Centre: 246045401st Chiropractic Centre: 24472274Hamdan Hospital: 23212340International Medical Centre LLC: 24794501/2/3/4/5

Kims Oman Hospital: 2476010024 Hrs Emergency: 24760123Lama Polyclinic, Sohar: 26751128, MBD: 24799077, Al Khuwair: 24478818Magrabi Eye and Ear Hospital: 24568870Muscat Private Hospital: 24583600Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, Al Khuwair: 24477666Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC: 22004000ROYAL OMAN POLICEEmergencies and inquiries: 9999General Directorate of Passport and Residence: 24569603Directorate General of Customs: 24521109Traffi c violations inquiries: 24510228Public Relations Admin: 24560099

ACCOMMODATIONAl Bahjah Hotel: 24424400Al Bustan Palace: 24764000 Al Khuwair Hotel Apartments: 24478171Al Madina Holiday Inn: 24596400Al Maha International Hotel: 24494949Al Fanar Hotel: 24712385Al Falaj Hotel: 24702311Al Qurum Resort: 24605945Azaiba Hotel Apartments: 24490979Beach Hotel: 24696601Bowshar Hotel: 24491105Coral Hotel Muscat: 24692121Crowne Plaza Muscat: 24660660Crystal Suites: 24826100Golden Tulip Seeb: 24510300Grand Hyatt Muscat: 24641234Haff a House Hotel: 24707207Hotel Muscat Holiday: 24487123InterContinental Muscat: 24680000Majan Continental Hotel: 24592900Marina Hotel: 24711711Midan Hotel Suites: 24499565Mina Hotel: 24711828Muttrah Hotel: 24798401

Nuzha Hotel Apartments: 24789199Oman Dive Centre: 24824240Park Inn: 24507888Qurum Beach House Hotel: 24564070Radisson Blu Hotel: 24487777Ramee Dream Resort Seeb: 24453399Ramee Guestline Hotel: 24564443Ruwi Hotel: 24704244Safeer Hotel Suites: 24691200Sheraton Oman Hotel: 24772772Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa: 24776666The Chedi Muscat: 24524400The Treasurebox Muscat Hotel: 24502570

AIRLINE OFFICESMuscat Airport Flight information (24 hours): 24519456/24519223Aerofl ot: 24704455, Air Arabia: 24700828, Air France: 24562153, Air India: 24799801, Air New Zealand: 24700732, Biman Bangladesh Airlines: 24701128, British Airways: 24568777, Cathay Pacifi c: 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, Turkish Airlines: 24703033

MUSEUMSBait Al Baranda: Corniche (seafront opp fi sh market), Open from Saturday to Thursday 9am to 1pm and 4 to 6pmNatural History Museum: Al Khuwair, Tel: 24604957, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm; Thursday: 9am to 1pmMuseum of Omani Heritage: (former Omani Museum), Madinat Al Alam, Sat-Wed 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday - 9am to 1pm, Tel: 24600946Armed Forces Museum: Bait Al Falaj, Tel: 24312651, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm; Thurs 9-12pm and 3-6pm; Fri 9-11am and 3-6pm. Al Hoota Caves 24498258; Turtle Beach 96550606/96550707Children’s Science Museum: Shatti Al Qurum, Tel: 24605368, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pmOman-French Museum: near Muscat Police Station, Tel: 24736613, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm, Thurs: 9am to 1pmBait Al Zubair, Muscat: Tel: 24736688, Al Saidiya St., [email protected] from Sat to Thurs: 9:30am to 6pm.National Museum Ruwi: Tel: 24701289, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pmSohar Fort Museum: Tel: 26844758, Open from Saturday to Wed: 8 to 1:30pm Thurs: 9am to 1pmMuscat Gate Museum: at Al Bahri Road, Muscat open from Sat to Wed 8am to 2pm

PRAYER TIMINGS

W E A T H E R

Dhuhr 12.25pm

Asr 3.44pm

Maghrib 6.13pm

Isha 7.23pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 5.17am

Sunset 6:07pm

Sunrise (Tomorrow) 6.33am

High tide 9:24pm 8:59am

Low tide 2:48pm 3:19am

OMAN

Max 30Min 20

Max 29Min 19

Max 28Min 17

Max 30Min 17

Max 30Min 20Max 30

Min 15

Max 31Min 15

Max 28 Min 18

Clear to partly cloudy skies over Governorate of Musandam and Al Hajar mountains and adjoining areas. Mainly clear skies over the rest of the Sultanate with chances of

early morning low clouds and fog patches over Governorate of southern Al-Sharqiya, Al-Wusta and northern parts of Dhofar.EXPECTED WIND: Over most of the Sultanate wind will be southeasterly light to moderate. SEA STATE: Slight to Moderate along most of Oman’s coasts

with maximum wave height of 1.5 metres SURFACE VISIBILITY: Good over most of the Sultanate becoming poor during fog existence. THE NEXT 48 HOURS OUTLOOK: Clear to partly cloudy skies over Governorate of Musandam and northern Al-Batinah with chances of light isolated rain. Moderate to rough sea is expected over Governorate of Musandam and Oman sea coasts.

Max Min

GULFAbu Dhabi 26 16Doha 26 18Dubai 25 18Kuwait 24 15Manama 22 18Riyadh 22 10

WORLDAthens 19 16Baghdad 22 11Beijing 6 -3Berlin 4 3Boston 4 -2Cairo 26 15Colombo 32 22Frankfurt 3 1Hong Kong 22 19Istanbul 15 9Johannesburg 26 16Kuala Lumpur 33 24Lisbon 13 5Paris 5 1Perth 38 23Singapore 30 25Tokyo 7 0Toronto 1 -1

WORLD

Max 10Min 2

Max 24Min 12

Max 5Min 2

Max 28Min 18

Max 22Min 8

Max 29Min 22

Max 0Min -10

Max 33Min 24

LISTINGS

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

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (Route 36)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (Route 36)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41)06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri13:00 Sohar 15:45 Daily13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41)07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily

TO SINAW (Route 52)17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily

TO SINAW (Route 52)07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54)14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54)06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54)08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54)15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily

TO SUR (Route 55)07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily

TO SUR (Route 55)06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (Route 62)06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (Route 62)12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201)06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201)07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (Route 100)07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (Route 100)07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101)06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily

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

TO MARMUL (Route 101)06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily

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

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI) TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

BORN today, you are one of those whose attitude and outlook are the best when things are going your way, but you may sink quickly into frustration, depression and even despondency when things are going against you. This means, of course, that you will surely be riding quite a roller coaster of emotion throughout your lifetime — unless you learn to control your ups and downs so that you experience only moderate fl uctuations. It is not always success that lifts you up, nor failure that brings you down; indeed, there are times in which only you may know what it is that triggers either your elation or your depression.

You love to tackle tasks that seem to be too much for you. The challenge, to you, is far more rewarding in itself than any promise of personal reward — though you can surely enjoy such rewards when and if they come your way! You are tenacious and eager to see how far you can extend yourself.

Also born on this date are: Sally Jessy Raphael, talk-show host; George Harrison, former Beatle; Jim Backus, actor; Pierre-August Renoir, painter; Anthony Burgess, author; Carrot Top, comedian.

The fruits of your labours can prove quite enjoyable — if you have time to enjoy them. You may have to moveon right away.

VIRGO [AUG. 23-SEPT. 22]

LIBRA [SEPT. 23-OCT. 22] LLLLLLLLLL[S[S[[S[S[S[[S[[SSSS[[SSS

SCORPIO [OCT. 23-NOV. 21] S[

SAGITTARIUS [NOV. 22-DEC. 21] S[[[[[[[[

AQUARIUS [JAN. 20-FEB. 18]

Jumping to conclusions today can very likely put you in hot water — or fi nd you, at the very least, in an extremely awkward position.

You are feeling quite passionate about a great many things, and even a loved one is going to notice the diff erence.

For one who usually approaches things in a rational, albeit sometimes heated fashion, you may prove surprisingly erratic today.

You’re very close to scoring that victory you’ve been so keen on lately — but one particular challenge has you doubting your approach.

You’ll fi nd yourself at the center of the action during much of the day — unless you make the decision to back away and give another the reins.

You will be able, confi dent and self-suffi cient today. What you do as a result, however, may hinge upon some random circumstances.

You’ll want things to feel comfortable and ‘homey’ today, especially if you fi nd yourself far from home. It’s the little things that count.

A smile makes all the diff erence, especially when you are dealing with someone for whom authority and status are important assets.

PISCES [Feb. 19-March 20]

Teamwork is the key today — but it may take you longer than expectedto fi nd that one person who rounds out your team just so.

GEMINI [MAY 21-JUNE 20]

CANCER [JUNE 21-JULY 22]

LEO [JULY 23-AUG. 22]

CAPRICORN [DEC. 22-JAN 19]

Y O U R B I R T H D A Y

ARIES [March 21-APRIL 19]

TAURUS [APRIL 20-MAY 20]

Take care of a situation that is,right now, private. Delay, and it is likely to become a public situation before you know it!

The nicer you are to those around you today the more you will gain — in ways that you have perhaps never before imagined.

C11


Disabled at greater risk of being victims of violencePHYSICALLY and mentally challenged people are more prone to being victims of violence, says a British study.

People with disabilities are at a greater risk of being the victims of violence and of suff ering mental ill health when victimized, accord-ing to research published in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Hind Khalifeh and colleagues from University College London and King’s College London.

A recent World Report on Disability highlighted violence as a leading cause of morbidity among disabled people. —IANS

Sitting down heightens chronic disease risk: Study

SITTING for more than four hours daily makes people vulnerable to diabetes and hypertension, says a new study.

Emma George from the Uni-versity of Western Sydney (UWS) School of Science and Health con-ducted the study with Gregory Kolt, dean, science and health at UWS and Richard Rosenkranz from Kan-sas State University (US) involving 63,048 men aged between 45 and 64 years.

Participants were asked to report on a range of health-relat-ed variables including the presence or absence of chronic dis-eases, and their daily sitting time, the International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity reports.

Sitting time was divided into four categories: less than four hours, four to six hours, six to eight hours, and more than eight hours, according to a Western Sydney statement.

George says, compared with those who spent four hours or less sitting down each day, participants reporting higher amounts of sitting were much more likely to report serious health conditions.

“The rates of chronic diseases reported by the participants exponentially increased in proportion with the amount of time the participants spent sitting down,” says George.

“Despite your levels of physical activity, the more time you spend sitting the less time your body has to stay active and expend energy,” says George.

Scientists engineer unique gel to repair heart tissueA LESS-INVASIVE and biocompatible gel that can repair damaged tissue in heart attack patients has been developed by American scientists. University of California-San Diego bio-engineers have demonstrated in a study in pigs that a new in-jectable hydrogel can repair damage from heart attacks, help the heart grow new tissues and blood vessels, and improve the health of the heart.

The results of the study were published in Science Transla-tional Medicine and cleared the way for clinical trials to begin this year in Europe.

The gel is injected through a catheter without requiring surgery or general anaesthesia — a less invasive procedure for patients, reports Science Daily.

Lead researcher Karen Christman, a professor in the De-partment of Bioengineering at the University of California-San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, said the gel forms a scaff old in damaged areas of the heart, encouraging new cell growth and repair.

“Our data show that this hydrogel can increase cardiac muscle and reduce scar tissue in the region damaged by the heart attack, which prevents heart failure. These results suggest this may be a novel minimally invasive therapy to prevent heart failure after a heart attack in humans,” said Christman. —IANS

S T U D Y

H E A L T H N O T E S

School children lifting heavy backpacks or sol-diers and fi re fi ghters carrying occupational gear could damaged

their nerves, according to a study.The damage includes simple

irritation to diminished nerve capacity, which limits the mus-cles’ ability to respond to brain’s signals, inhibiting movement of the hand.

In practice, this could impact functionality, reducing a worker’s ability to operate machinery, compromise a soldiers’ shoot-ing response time, or limiting a child’s writing or drawing capacity, the Journal of Applied Physiology reports Muscle and skeletal damage are real concerns.

Tel Aviv University researchers say that nerve damage, specifi-cally to the nerves that travel through the neck and shoul-ders to animate our hands and fingers, is also a serious risk, according to a statement.

Amit Gefen and Yoram Ep-stein, both professors from the TAU faculties of biomedical engineering and medicine, re-spectively, with doctoral student Amir Hadid and Nogah Shabshin of the Imaging Institute of the Assuta Medical Centre, have de-termined that heavy loads on the back could potentially damage soft shoulder tissues.

School bags are a major concern. It cannot be assumed that

children’s bodies react to

shoulder stress in exactly the same way as adults. Diff erences in physiology could lead to diff er-ent consequences, tolerance and damage levels, warns Gefen.

Focusing on soldiers who carry heavy backpacks, the re-searchers discovered that, in addition to complaining of dis-comfort or pain in their shoul-ders, soldiers also reported tick-ling sensations or numbness in the fi ngers.

“The backpack load applies tension to these nerves,” explained Gefen. He noted that the result-ing damage “leads to a reduc-tion in the conduction velocity — that is, the speed by which electrical signals are transferred through the nerves”. —IANS

HEAVY BACKLOADS CAN DAMAGE NERVES

Actress Kirti Kulhari, who will soon be seen in Rise Of The Zombie, feels intro-ducing a new genre

to modern-day audiences is chal-lenging as they are bound to reject anything they fi nd mediocre.

“The youth are very smart to-day and are exposed to world cin-ema, which is why they want to see good cinema. They will reject anything and everything that they fi nd mediocre,” Kirti says. Rise Of The Zombie tells the story of Neil Parker (played by Luke Kenny),

who is a passionate wildlife pho-tographer and pays more atten-tion to wildlife than his human life. As a result his relationships with the real world suff er. When his girlfriend walks out on him he resigns himself to isolation and nature. But a chance occurrence changes everything.

Directed by Luke and Devaki Singh, it is the fi rst ever fi lm of zom-bie genre in India and Kirti admits it indeed puts pressure on the team.

“There is a lot of burden and responsibility as we are introduc-ing a new concept to people. We

just hope that we introduce it in the right way, success and failure comes later,” said Kirti.

“The sensibilities of the audi-ence are very international today and it is important to live up to their standards,” she added. The ac-tress came into the limelight with the 2010 fi lm Khichdi: The Movie, which was the big screen adapta-tion of popular TV sitcom Khichdi.

She was later seen in Be-joy Nambiar’s Shaitaan, which helped her garner critical acco-lades from all corners. Though Kirti admits that her progress on the big screen is slow, she is keen to make it to the list of A-grade actors.

“I have done as many as six fi lms so far but only a few have seen the light of the day. I would say my jour-ney has so far been slow but crea-tively satisfying,” said the 27-year-old theatre enthusiast.

Other fi lms in Kirti’s kitty are Jal, Sooper Se Oopar and Single Chal Riya Hun. —IANS

C12


The rising zombieToday’s audience rejects anything mediocre,

insists Kirti Kulhari

Working as hardas my fi rst fi lm:Chitrangada Singh

CHITRANGADA SINGH who has been part of fi lms like Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi, Yeh Saali Zindagi and Inkaar, says she works as hard in her fi lms as she did in her debut project. “The level of eff ort in any fi lm doesn’t change. We make the same level of ef-fort for our fi rst as well as 10th fi lm.

The way you make the eff ort changes — I am just working as hard as I did in my fi rst fi lm,” said Chitrangada, who has been in the industry for eight years now. Chitrangada made her Bollywood debut with Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi and was later seen in fi lms like Sorry Bhai!, Yeh Saali Zindagi, Desi Boyz and Inkaar. “I think there has to be something diff erent in the script. Also, the director makes a lot of dif-ference to me,” said the actress, who is married to golfer Jyoti Singh Randhwa. Asked how she manages time for her family between shooting and other activities, Chitrangada said: “I just somehow do it all.” After doing some offb eat fi lms, Chitrangada entered the commercial fi lms zone with Desi Boyz and will now be seen in I Me Aur Main. Directed by Kapil Sharma, the fi lm also features John Abraham, who was her co-star in Desi Boyz too. Talking about her rela-tionship with the actor, she said: “I knew John a little bit from Desi Boyz initially. I know him a lot more now. He is a great guy and makes people feel comfortable around him.” On the professional front, Chitrangada says she will be part of two more commercial fi lms this year.

It’s diffi cult to break norms: Vikramaditya MotwaneFILMMAKER Vikramaditya Motwane, whose debut fi lm Udaan won him all-round critical accolades, feels it is a struggle to break general norms in the showbiz industry. “I am happy with the place where I am. I am happy with the fi lms that I have made. There is no sense of contentment as I think there is too much to do. The struggle that one has is against the general norms in the industry, probably there is going to be a struggle all the time,” Motwane says. “I want to make sensible movies, the movies that keep audiences en-gaged. It takes hard work but it breaks through the norms. It is a fi ght and there will be victories every year, losses every year,” he added. Meanwhile, the fi lmmaker is currently busy working on his new fi lm Lootera, which features So-nakshi Sinha and Ranveer Singh in prominent roles. It is a period drama set in the era of 1950s. Though Motwane ad-mits that having stars in the fi lm helps attract eyeballs, he suggests one should try and make a fi lm without big names and promote new talent. “Having stars in the fi lm makes a huge diff erence as people go and watch fi lms because you have stars in it and you can’t deny that,” he added.

‘Satya 2’ trailer to launch with ‘The Attacks of 26/11’FILMMAKER Ram Gopal Varma will release the theat-rical trailer of Satya 2, the sequel to his 1998 movie Satya, with his upcoming fi lm The Attacks of 26/11. “The trailer of Satya 2 will be attached with The Attacks of 26/11,” a source close to the team, says. Directed by Varma, the original Satya had actors like J.D Chakravarthy, Urmila Matond-kar, Manoj Bajpai and Shefali Shah. The new movie is said to have fresh faces. Varma says 50 per cent of the shooting for Satya 2 has been fi nished in Mumbai. “I have almost fi nished 50 per cent of shooting for Satya 2. The entire fi lm will be shot in Mumbai. Right now, I can’t talk much about the fi lms as I am busy with The Attacks of 26/11,” he said. The Attacks of 26/11 will release March 1, while Satya 2 is slated to release in July.

Want to integrate cinemas: PrashitaPRASHITA CHAUDHARY who is the co-producer of Emraan Hashmi’s debut Hollywood project, hopes to in-tegrate the world cinema with Indian movies with her yet-to-be-titled fi lm. “My focus is to integrate world cin-ema with our own cinema. Someone has to take a step in this regard and this fi lm is my eff ort towards achieving that goal,” Chaudhary told IANS by phone. “The shooting of the fi lm has already begun. We have shot certain portions in Berlin and the rest will be shot in Patiala, as the story has a huge Indian connect,” she added. The movie featuring Em-raan in the lead is directed by Oscar winner Danis Tanovic. Tanovic is the director of Oscar winning Bosnian war drama No Man’s Land. Under her banner Cinemorphic, Chaudhary is co-producing the fi lm with Anurag Kashyap and Guneet Monga. Emraan and Chaudhary recently walked the red car-pet of the Berlin International Film Festival. They were there to support Tanovic for the world premiere of his fi lm An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker. Chaudhary says it was a “great learning experience” for her as she “got to meet the veterans of world cinema”. Apart from Emraan-starrer Holly-wood project, Chaudhary is also associated another big-ticket international project, which is slated to take off by mid-2013. “There is lot of creativity in India, but it is just that people are waiting to go ahead and do something. The perception is chang-ing and as a producer, I hope to bring a change by producing right kind of projects,” she added. —IANS

B O L L Y W O O D

‘Circuit’ outside ‘Munnabhai’ will make it lose sanctity: Arshad Warsi

ACTOR Arshad Warsi, who is popular for playing Circuit in Munnabhai fi lm series, says that he never played that character out-side the franchise as he didn’t want to disrespect it.

The actor added that he got many off ers to play Circuit in ad-vertisements but he never took anything up. “I never played that character again.

Playing it again and again will make it lose it’s sanctity (if ) I will play it (outside) once I know for sure that Munnabhai will never be made again. I was asked in many ads to play it, but I refused,” he said in an interview.

The actor, who has been part of the industry for over a decade, feels the only actor who is doing author-backed roles in fi lms is Salman Khan, and others are just playing characters on screen.

“The only person who is doing author-backed roles is Salman because you are writing a script around how he is, what is he like, what he says, what he does and you are writing a fi lm around it. Other than this, all actors are play-ing a character which is written by someone,” he said.

Arshad has managed to create a good balance between com-mercial and parallel cinema with fi lms like Munnabhai, Ishqiya, Hulchul and Sehar. However, he admits he never consciously tried to bring about a balance.

“I don’t think so hard in life at all. People send me scripts and I listen to everyone. If I am not interested I don’t take it up. I am talking about big fi lmmakers as well and not only newcomers,” said the actor, who will soon be seen in the new fi lm Jolly LLB.

Arshad feels humour is a safe bet today and generally works with the masses. “If you really look at me, eight out of ten fi lms I have done is comedy. Humour is the safest bet. Not only me, Akshay (Kumar), Salman, everyone is doing comedy. You can’t help it.

The producer wants his money back and comedy is something which people go and see,” he said.

Arshad says he really likes Ak-shay Kumar’s style of comedy.

“Ask me who I think is really good at comedy, it is Akshay Ku-mar. He has his own niche and makes me laugh. It is fun, Akshay is fabulous,” he said

The actor also plans to don the director’s hat in future.

“I would love to direct a fi lm, but I don’t have the time at the mo-ment — Maybe a little later,” he said. —IANS

C I N E M A N E W S

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