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SATURDAY, December 27, 2014 / 5 Rabi Al Awal 1436 AH timesofoman.com wtimesofoman.com facebook.com/timesofoman twitter.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com ISO 9001:2008 Certifi ed Company

Oman national football team will begin its quest for the elusive AFC Asian Cup title with a well-balanced side announced by national coach Paul Le Guen. >A11

OMAN BEGIN QUEST FOR ASIAN CUP 2015

HM confers Excellent Service, Royal Commendation medals

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, conferred medals of Excellent Ser-vice and Royal Commendation to a number of offi cers and personnel of the Ministry of Defence, the Sul-tan’s Armed Forces and the Royal Guard of Oman.

The ceremony was held at Mu’askar Bait Al Falaj on Thursday under the patronage of Sayyid Badr bin Saud bin Harib Al Busaidi, Min-ister Responsible for Defence Af-fairs who presented the medals of Excellent Service and Royal Com-mendation in appreciation for their loyalty in serving their homeland and their dedication in carrying out the sacred duty.

While congratulating them, he urged them to exert more eff orts in serving their country under the wise leadership of His Majesty the

Sultan. The function was attended by Mohammed bin Nasser Al Ras-bi, Secretary General of the Minis-try of Defence, Lt.Gen Ahmed bin Harith Al Nabhani, SAF Chief of Staff , Maj.Gen Mattar bin Salim Al Balushi, Commander of the Royal Army of Oman, Air Vice Marshal Mattar bin Ali Al Obaidani, Com-mander of the Royal Air Force of Oman, Rear Admiral Abdullah bin Khamis Al Ra’eesi, Commander of the Royal Navy of Oman, Maj.Gen Salim bin Musallam Qattan, Com-mandant of the National Defence College, Brigadier Nasser bin Said Al Hadabi, RGO Acting Com-mander. -ONA See also >A2

E X C E L L E N T S E R V I C E

DISTINGUISHED HONOUR: Minister Responsible for Defence Aff airs Sayyid Badr bin Saud bin Harib Al

Busaidi presenting distinguished service medals to defence personnel. -ONA

Plan for crèches at offices hailed

FAHAD AL [email protected]

MUSCAT: People have wel-comed a recommendation made at a Ministry of Social Develop-ment discussion to establish workplace nurseries or crèches at government institutions.

They believe it would help women in keeping their ca-reers on par with their male counterparts if offi ces provide these facilities.

While one or two private fi rms already have such amenities, mothers working in both the sec-tors are hoping that more organi-sations will introduce this con-cept in Oman.

Starting a nursery or crèche at a workplace would mean parents can leave their children at the day care centre in the offi ce premises where trained staff will take care of their children.

The concept is already popular in countries such as the United

States, United Kingdom and even in some cities in India.

A study released recently by the National Centre for Statis-tics and Information (NCSI) has revealed that the number of Om-ani women working in the public sector rose from 29,218 in 2003 to 68,200 in 2012.

Similarly the number of Oma-ni women working in the private sector has increased from 13,385 in 2003 to 35,248 in 2013.

Besides, the study has also re-vealed that the number of Omani women enrolled in higher edu-cational institutions rose by 20 per cent, with 51,048 women enrolled in the 2011-2012 school year against 41,533 in 2007 and 2008.

“In this context, it has become increasingly important for wom-en to be made comfortable to take up jobs. While the statistics are encouraging, it is true that many women quit their jobs when they become mothers. They feel un-easy to leave their children in private crèches or under the su-pervision of the housemaid,” said a former member of the women’s association. >A2

‘Are we electing right person for Majlis Al Shura?’FAHAD AL [email protected]

MUSCAT: What are the essential qualities that a Majlis Al Shura member should possess?

With the current session of Ma-jlis Al Shura coming to an end and elections announced for the com-ing year, the issue of educational qualifi cations of members has triggered a debate among public.

While some believe that educa-tion criterion will benefi t Majlis Al Shura, others are of the opinion that there are aspects that need to be considered while choosing the proper voice to represent them.

Ahmed Al Kharousi, a govern-ment sector employee, said the question that needs to be asked is,

‘Did we elect the right person to put forward our views?’

On a hashtag that was created to invite views on the same issue, many said that this time the crite-ria for choosing the right members should be thought out deeply.

“It is not only about education. People should also think about the intellect, intelligence and problem solving aspects of a per-son,” said Salah Al Salmi, a pri-vate sector employee. He called on the public to forget about social commitments and focus only on the personality and education of the person.

Public need someone who is educated and eligible enough to convince others about solutions to various problems, Al Salmi said,

adding that since the education bar set by the government will deny 20 current members the chance to contest the forthcoming elections, other aspects should be decided by the public.

Right person“People should know who is the right person to represent them on such a big platform,” he said.

As per the Royal Decree No. 96/2011 issued on October 30, 2013, nominees should be Oma-nis, not younger than 30 years of age, with no criminal history, reg-istered in the electoral system, not belonging to any security or military units, not suff ering from any mental problems and most importantly, have at least a higher

education diploma. “Dominating personality was one of the major reasons for many of the members being overwhelmed by others, and there are some in the Majlis Al Shura who have such strong per-sonalities,” said Ali Abdullah, who works in the private sector.

He said the major decisions taken by Majlis Al Shura were in-troduced by these members.

The Ministry of Interior re-cently held an awareness seminar for interested candidates for the Majlis Al Shura elections to advise them on the legal aspects of the poll process, requirements that should be met by the candidates, ways to plan and manage promotion cam-paigns, and the regulations that should be complied with.

P U B L I C D E B A T E

A2Salalah Rotana Resort hosts 60,000 guests

REGION45 civilians killed, 175 injured in Syria

2 Forty-fi ve civilians were killed and some 175 wounded when

aircraft bombed a northern Syrian city controlled by IS group, as Bashar Al Assad’s government stepped up air raids. Helicopters and war planes dropped barrel bombs — steel drums full of shrapnel and explosives. >A4

EXTRANasa to build cloud cities in airships

3Nasa scientists are working on a city made out of huge balloons

in the clouds above Venus, which will allow astronauts to explore the planet without venturing onto its hostile surface. The airship-like balloons would carry two astronauts each on a 30-day mission. >B8

OMANStudents take lead in green housing plan

1Green Salalah Accommodation Project launched by a team

comprising two students from Modern College of Business and Science (MCBS) and 13 students from various other colleges in Oman was adjudged the best project at the Muscat Youth Summit 2014 held recently in Salalah. >A2

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

PRISTINE BEACH AND AZURE SEARas Madrakah beach in Duqm is famous for its soft, white

sands and azure waters. But what makes it more special

are the black mountains surrounding it. —Shabin E/Times of Oman

See also >A3

Council’s focus on Muscat transport systemMUSCAT: Three-stage plan for the development of a public trans-port system in the Governorate of Muscat was discussed by the Supreme Council for Planning recently. The study was submit-ted to the Supreme Council by the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

Keeping in mind the existing roads, they discussed the need for suitable legislation to regularise the public transport sector in the governorate.

The Council held its fi fth meet-ing under the chairmanship of Dr Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy, Min-ister of Commerce and Industry

and Deputy Chairman of the Su-preme Council for Planning.

During the meeting, the general framework of the 9th fi ve-year plan from 2016 to 2020, which in-cludes the priorities and pillars of the macroeconomic and fi nancial plan, as well as the mechanism to distribute allocations for the on-going and new development pro-grammes, were discussed.

Maintaining growthThe Council stressed the im-portance of maintaining growth rates that stimulate the economy and create fresh job opportuni-ties in logistic services, tourism,

fi sheries, mining and manufac-turing sectors.

It also reviewed the mecha-nism that will be used to involve communities in the next stage of preparing the development plan. This social involvement aims at ensuring more interaction among specialists, government organisa-tions and businesses, in addition to expanding social involvement of the governorates.

Out of its belief that the logis-tics sector in Oman is very im-portant and is one of the sustain-able alternatives for economic growth, thanks to the Sultanate’s geographic location and high

quality infrastructure, such as roads, ports, airports and com-munication network, the Council approved the logistic strategy for the country.

The strategy revolves around developing the existing laws and regulations, pursuing an intensi-fi ed marketing policy and setting up projects that ensure optimum utilisation of the infrastructure.

Reviewing the measures taken to identify the location of the eco-nomic zone in the Governorate of A’Dhahirah, the Council dis-cussed ways for enhancing busi-ness and economic activities in the governorate. -ONA

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



Opening crèches at

workplaces will rid

working mothers

of their worries of

having left their

children at home in

company of maids

A2 S AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 4

OMAN

Salalah Rotana Resort hosts 60,000 guests since opening

ELHAM [email protected]

MUSCAT: Salalah Rotana Resort, the fi rst hotel opened by Rotana in Oman, has hosted more than 60,000 guests since its opening earlier this year and has been con-tributing to the local community in various ways.

“We had over 60,000 guests stay with us. Oman and the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) overall are our main feeder markets and we also welcome a steady stream of visitors from European countries including Italy, Germany, Switzer-land and Austria as well as the UK, Russia, Scandinavia and France,” Claudio Melli, general manager of Salalah Rotana Resort, told Times of Oman in an interview.

Commenting on why Salalah was chosen as Rotana’s fi rst des-tination in Oman, he said that

the resort was built to add to the city’s luxury hospitality off ering, complementing Salalah’s devel-opmental plans such as the airport expansion to accommodate a rise in tourists.

“Salalah has already proven to be the destination of choice among

GCC travellers, especially dur-ing the Khareef season. Last year alone, the city had over 400,000 visitors from the Gulf, an increase of over 80,000 from the previ-ous year, and we expect numbers to continue rising year-on-year,” said Melli.

Asked if in his opinion there is still potential for development of luxury tourism facilities in Oman, Melli said that Oman is a beauti-ful country with a lot to off er and he believed that high quality ac-commodations that incorporate the country’s natural and cul-tural beauty have the potential to thrive here.

“The greatest indication of the industry’s growth is the invest-ment the country has made in infrastructure projects including airport expansions and port devel-opments,” he added.

On Rotana’s expansion plans in Oman, the general manager said that two new properties are being planned in Muscat next year.

“Rotana has signed an agree-ment with Sundus Investments Projects in 2013 to manage Sun-dus Arjaan by Rotana, and we will also manage the fi rst four-star Sundus Rotana Muscat corporate and conference hotel that is taking shape at Airport Heights in Boush-er,” he said.

Melli explained that the two properties will collectively span approximately 40,000 square metres and contribute to driv-ing Oman’s directive for the tourism sector.

Salalah Rotana Resort is also contributing to the develop-ment of the local community in various ways.

“We prioritise local employ-ment and make sure to source as many products from local suppli-ers. Our kitchens use local produce including fruits, more specifi cally papayas, coconuts and bananas, and of course we get seafood that has been caught right at our door-

step. The resort also locally sourc-es mineral water, milk, juices and Salalah’s famous Frankincense that is burned daily in the lobby,” said the offi cial.

Salalah Rotana Resort is also implementing the ‘Duroob’ ini-tiative to train local workforce and prepare them to work in the hospi-tality sector.

He said, “The programme ena-bles us to further expand our team of professionals to encompass a larger percentage of Omanis. We broaden the horizons of young Omanis with practical, on-the-job training and professional devel-opment in order for them to gain valuable insight and familiarise themselves with the hospitality industry.”

Local workforce“We also work with the Ministry of Manpower to provide our HR team with job-seekers for consideration and interview purposes, and our recruitment representatives par-ticipate in the Ministry’s ‘Recruit-ment Days’ to identify potentials candidates,” said Melli.

Asked how he sees the potential of Omanis in the hospitality sector, he noted that Omanis are perfect for the hospitality industry as it is in their culture.

He added that the key to attract-ing more locals to join this sector is education and introducing the youth to the many career opportu-nities in this industry.

“This is why we off er fi rsthand experience through on-the-job training. It is best to learn within the environment of a hotel to truly understand what is required for success,” he added.

The Salalah

Rotana Resort is

implementing the

‘Duroob’ initiative to

train local workforce

and prepare them

to work in the

hospitality sector

‘Private crèches services do not meet expectations’

Having a crèche or nursery at the work place would mean that mothers can be closer to their children.

In fact, at the discussion or-ganised by the Ministry of Social Development, the recommenda-tions most welcomed was the one to establish nurseries in gov-ernment units run by qualifi ed Omani cadres.

“It is good news for families who struggle to fi nd a decent kindergarten for their children close to their place of work. This will help many families, espe-cially in Muscat,” said Khlasa Al Rawahi, who works in the government sector.

She believed that it would re-duce the stress of not having to rush home in an emergency.

Incidentally, the discussion also focused on the social and economic impact of keeping housemaids.

Khlasa added that many fami-lies paid a lot of money for private crèches even though the services did not meet their expectations.

“I will be the fi rst to take my children to such a kindergarten, especially because I will be re-lieved that they are close by,” said Al Rawahi.

She said she now has to take her children to her mother’s house and at times be late for work.

“If such nurseries come up, I will not be on tenterhooks all the time,” said Al Rawahi.

Studies indicate that offi ces that off er workplace nurseries have lower rates of absenteeism.

Another mother, Rahima said, “Onsite crèches are prefect solu-tions for breast feeding mothers.”

In a recent interview to Times of Oman, Saada Mohammed Al Mamari, from the nutrition department of the Ministry of Health, said that it was impor-tant for women to take a one-hour or two-hour break from work to breast-feed their babies.

WHO recommendationsShe supported the recommenda-tions of the World Health Organi-sation, which said that necessary facilities should be developed for mothers at work to enable them to breast-feed.

Apart from this issue, once there were nurseries at work places, families would not have any doubts about the ser-vices as these would be under offi cial control.

“These nurseries will be under the supervision of the compa-nies,” said Ali Khalfan, working in the government sector.

Agreeing with Khlasa, Ali said that such a move would benefi t many families, especially those coming from the interiors and liv-ing in Muscat.

“Some fathers can keep chil-dren in the crèche in their work-place,” he said.

Since workplace nurseries of-

fer high-quality and regulated childcare at their place of work, it would allow mothers to focus on their work.

An owner of a private company opined that while it may be dif-fi cult for smaller companies to establish on-site crèches, it would be possible in the larger ones.

“Though there would be chal-lenges, it is about working out the logistics,” he said.

Mouza Al Sarmi, working in the government sector, felt that housemaids were a negative in-fl uence on her children.

“I would hear my children us-ing strange words every day,” said Mouza. After monitoring them, she discovered that it was the housemaid who was teaching them these words.

“Having professional staff manning the crèches would mean that we would have well brought up children,” said a parent.

Employees also preferred to leave their children in offi ce-certifi ed crèches, so that they were near the children. “A well-managed crèche might be a good investment for an organisation in terms of retaining their talented female staff ,” said Rahima.

W O R K I N G M O T H E R S

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A1

BOOST FOR TOURISM: The greatest indication of the tourism indus-

try’s growth is the investment the country has made in infrastruc-

ture projects. – Supplied photograph

Oman and the GCC are our

main feeder markets, and

we also welcome a steady

stream of visitors from

European countries

Claudio MelliGM, Saqlalah Rotana Resort

HIS MAJESTY’S MEDALS AWARDED TO DEFENCE OFFICIALS His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, conferred medals of Excellent Service and Royal Commendation on a number of commissioned and noncommis-

sioned offi cers and personnel at the Ministry of Defence, the Sultan’s Armed Forces (SAF) and the Royal Guard of Oman (RGO). The ceremony was held at Mu’askar Bait Al Falaj under the patronage

of Sayyid Badr bin Saud bin Harib al-Busaidi, Minister Responsible for Defence Aff airs, who pinned the medals on the offi cials.— ONA

Students take lead in green housing plan

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Green Salalah Ac-commodation Project launched by a team comprising two stu-dents from Modern College of Business and Science (MCBS) and 13 students from various other colleges in Oman was ad-judged the best project at the Muscat Youth Summit 2014 held recently in Salalah.

The project presented a blue-print for building green dwell-ings in the Old Mirbat region of Salalah that could qualify for Oman’s fi rst-ever LEED certi-fi cation. MCBS students Omar Said Al Musharfi and Salim Ayyad Al Busaidi are pursuing a Bachelor’s in Airport Manage-ment and Bachelor’s in Avia-tion Management, respectively.

The team received a cash prize of OMR3,000 to kick-start the project which outlines a comprehensive strategy to revamp the Old Mirbat set-tlement, an ancient colony of several abandoned ramshackle houses, keeping intact their architectural and cultural es-sence. The team won the title beating six other projects.

“We will work to restore as many as 39 houses of the Mirbat settlement as part of the project and turn them into eco-friendly, aff ordable and sustainable tour-ist accommodations. These properties will have effi cient water recycling systems and consume minimum electric-ity. The Mirbat project will help bring international focus on the culture and architectural her-itage of Dhofar, boosting tour-ism,” said Omar.

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

A well-managed crèche might be a good investment for an organisation in terms of retaining their talented female staff

Rahima, Working mother

A3

OMANS AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 14



The beautiful Ras

Madrakah beach

in Duqm is known

for its soft, clean

sands and its azure

waters. But what

makes it special are

the black mountains

that surround it. Ras

Madrakah’s white

sand beaches with

turquoise water

make it a perfect

camp spot. Times of

Oman photographer

Shabin E captures

the scenic beauty

of this beach from

diff erent angles

GOLDEN SANDS OF DUQMBEACH


REGION

PROTEST: A Palestinian scuffl es with an Israeli soldier during a

protest against settlements near Bethlehem. – Reuters

45 civilians killed, 175 injured in Syria raids

AMMAN: At least 45 civilians were killed and some 175 wounded when aircraft bombed a northern Syrian city controlled by IS group, as Bashar Al Assad’s government stepped up air raids, residents and a monitoring group said on Friday.

Helicopters and war planes dropped barrel bombs — steel drums full of shrapnel and explo-sives — on residential and indus-trial areas in the city of Al Bab and neighbouring Qabaseen, northeast of Aleppo, on Thursday and over-night, locals said.

“People were going about scrap-ing a living and there were no armed groups in the market, only poor people. Why is Assad killing us?,” said Yousef Al Saadi, a resi-dent of Qabaseen and a volunteer with the local civil defence group who was contacted on Skype.

TargetSyrian state media did not report the strikes on Al Bab, a city of around 100,000 people that has been a target of heavy government strikes since the start of US- led military campaign against IS group, in Syria in late September.

The Syrian Observatory for Hu-man Rights said 37 civilians were

killed. The British-based group, which gathers information from a variety of sources, said there had been an increase in air raids by the Syrian military across rebel held areas in the last three days.

It said at least 110 civilians had been killed in more than 470 air strikes on rebel held areas in Syr-ia in the last 72 hours, including towns in insurgent-held eastern suburbs of the capital Damascus,

where the army has stepped up a two-year campaign to retake the area.

Eleven civilians, most women and children, were killed by loy-alist snipers when they were try-ing to leave Zebdin, a besieged rebel-held neighbourhood in the rural outskirts of Damascus, the Observatory said.

“There have been unprecedent-ed air raids across Syria in the

last three days where the regime seeks to make gains on the ground to improve its negotiating stance in future political talks,” Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the Obser-vatory, said.

Syrian media said it had re-pulsed “terror attacks” across re-bel-held areas and infl icted losses against foreign militants but gave no fi gures on civilian casualties from its air raids. — Reuters

Helicopters and

war planes dropped

barrel bombs — steel

drums full of shrapnel

and explosives —

on residential and

industrial areas in

the city of Al Bab

and Qabaseen,

northeast of Aleppo

Syrian refugees suff er bitter cold as winter sets in AL SAAYDEH: With just blan-kets to shield them against the icy wind and rain, Abu Ali’s family huddles in a fl imsy tent in Leba-non — among the thousands of Syrian refugees struggling as win-ter sets in.

Sixty-year-old Abu Ali is now relatively safe after fl eeing the threat of IS group militants in northern Syria’s Raqa province, but some of his 14 children are al-ready coughing badly.

They have taken shelter at an unoffi cial camp in Al Saadiyeh, a village in the eastern Bekaa Valley home to tens of thousands of Syri-an refugees inadequately equipped to cope with the cold.

“This is our fi rst winter here. We really didn’t expect it to be so cold,” said Abu Ali.

“We have no sobia, nothing to heat us up,” he said, referring to a traditional Middle Eastern diesel or wood-powered stove that luck-ier refugee families have either received from humanitarian agen-cies, or bought with their savings.

On mercy“All we have is blankets and God’s mercy,” said Abu Ali, wearing a red and white keffi yeh scarf on his head and a traditional camel-col-oured Bedouin robe.

His family’s tiny tent is made from sheets of white plastic and

planks of wood, and only has straw mats as fl ooring.

A single battery-powered lan-tern hangs in the tent, so to escape the darkness, Abu Ali’s children

brave the cold and rain and play outside. “I am cold all the time, but there is nothing I can do to keep myself warm, so we play any-way,” said 12-year-old Hammudi,

whose striking green eyes glis-tened in the wind as he wandered around in plastic sandals, his feet covered in mud.

The United Nations says more

than half of the 1.1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon live in sub-standard housing. Abu Ali’s family is among the 17 per cent in infor-mal camps, making them especial-ly vulnerable to the elements as winter takes hold.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says humanitarian agencies have provided 400,000 people with fuel vouchers or cash for November and December, but that funding shortfalls mean many refugees are left “in cold, adverse conditions”.

In Jabaa, another unoffi cial camp in the Bekaa, the wind beats down from the hills as Umm Ali, who is in her sixth month of preg-nancy, steps out of her tent.

With her stomach bulging from her traditional dress, she ignores the rain as she hangs up clothes to dry. “What can I do? It’s raining all the time. We have to keep on liv-ing,” said Umm Ali, who is from Aleppo province in northern Syria.

Back in her tent, she and her family sit around the sobia.

But Umm Ali has a cough, like several of her 11 children, who sneeze as they try to stay warm.

While they have a sobia, they don’t have the money to buy diesel fuel or wood. Instead, four-year-old Khaled puts pieces of paper on the fi re to keep it going.

“The kids are sick all the time,

but none of them go to school, so I can’t stop them from playing out-side,” said Umm Ali, her hair cov-ered by a brightly-coloured scarf.

She has only been to the doc-tor once during her pregnancy, because she cannot aff ord health-care. “When little Doaa (aged two) got sick, we spent $66 on medi-cine,” Umm Ali said.

According to Maysam Moham-mad of the British-based charity Oxfam, a pregnant Syrian woman lost her child last year after a major storm struck the Bekaa area.

“Imagine you were living in a house, with all the heating and fur-niture you need, then suddenly you have to leave everything behind to live on farmland, with no buildings to block the wind,” she said.

“Conditions of life in a tent are extremely diffi cult.”

This year, after a dry 2013, rain-fall has been heavy in Lebanon.

Umm Ali’s sister-in-law, 23-year-old Rajaa, says that even if she tries to stop her children from playing in the rain, “they have to go to the bathroom — and that’s outside”.

The women heat water on the sobia to bathe their children. “You can imagine how long that takes,” said Umm Ali. She said “the worst is night-time, when we all gather next to each other to sleep and the chil-dren wail: ‘I’m cold, I’m cold.” — AFP

L E B A N O N C A M P

Egyptian Coptic teenager seized in Libya found dead

Palestinian attacks two Israeli policemen

BENGHAZI: An Egyptian Cop-tic Christian teenager abducted in Libya by armed men who killed her parents has been found dead, a hospital source said on Friday.

Residents found the body of the daughter of the two slain doc-tors on Thursday evening, said the source at the Ibn Sina hos-pital in the city of Sirte, without giving the cause of death.

ReportsShe said the girl was 13 years old. Initial reports had given her age as 18. After murdering her par-ents in their home on Tuesday, the attackers took the girl but left behind two sisters, local council chairman Yussef Tebeiqa said on the day of the incident.

Tebeiqa said the attack in Sirte, home town of slain leader Mua-mmar Gaddafi , might have been motivated by religion as money and jewellery were not taken.

Sirte, 500 kilometres east of Tripoli, is in the hands of militias including Ansar Al Sharia, which the UN Security Council last month added to its terror list over links to Al Qaeda and for running IS group training camps. Several Coptic Christian Egyptians have been killed in Libya in recent years. In February, the bodies of seven Egyptian Christians who had been shot were found near the second city of Benghazi. Thou-sands of Egyptians work in Libya, mainly in the construction and craft sectors. — AFP

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: A knife-wielding Palestin-ian wounded two Israeli po-lice offi cers on Friday in occupied Jerusalem’s Old City, the scene of months of tensions, authorities said.

One offi cer was wounded in the neck and the other in the hand, according to a police spokes-woman who described their in-

juries as light. Police launched a major search in the Old City and surrounding areas for the attack-er, who fl ed, she said.

Annexed east Jerusalem, in-cluding the Old City, has been shaken by frequent clashes be-tween Israeli police and Palestin-ians in recent months, as well as a series of “lone wolf” attacks on Israeli civilians. — AFP

S I R T E

K N I F E - W I E L D I N G

I am cold all the time, but there is nothing I can do to keep myself warm, so we play anywayHammudi, 12-year-old, refugee boy

BADLY-HIT: Umm Ali’s children who fl ed the violence in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, play at the

entrance of their tent at an unoffi cial refugee camp in Jabaa, a village in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon.

With just blankets to shield them against the icy wind and rain, tens of thousands of Syrian refugees

in Lebanon are inadequately equipped to cope as winter sets in. – AFP

AMMAN: Jordan’s military on Friday denied claims by the IS group to have shot down one of its warplanes which crashed in Syria, after the pilot was captured by the militants.“First indications show that the crash of the Jordanian military plane in the area of the Syrian city of Raqa was not caused by Daesh fi re,” a military offi cial said using another name for IS.“But since the wreckage of the plane cannot be reached and since its pilot is not present, we cannot at this moment determine the exact cause of the crash,” the offi cial said in remarks pub-lished on the army’s website.Maaz Al Kassasbeh, a 26-year-old fi rst lieuten-ant in the Jordanian air force, was captured by IS on Wednesday after his F-16 jet crashed while on a mission against the militants over northern Syria.The US military has also dismissed the militants’ claim to have hit the jet with an anti-aircraft missile, saying “evidence clearly suggests that ISIL (IS) did not down the aircraft”.

The crash was the fi rst war-plane from the US-led coali-tion lost since air strikes on IS began in Syria in September, and marks a major propaganda victory for the extremist group.Jordan is among a number of countries that have joined the

air raids against IS. Coalition warplanes have carried out regular strikes around Raqa, which IS has used as its de facto capital since declaring a “caliphate” in June straddling large parts of Iraq and Syria. — AFP

Jordan denies IS shot down its warplane

WAITING FOR RETURN: Safi Al Kassasbeh, centre, father of

Jordanian pilot Maaz, who was captured by IS in Syria after his

plane crashed while on a mission near Raqqa in Syria the day

before, meets with well-wishers in the house of a relative in Am-

man, on Thursday. Jordan’s military on Wednesday, confi rmed

that one of its pilots was captured by the IS group after his plane

went down in Syria, offi cial news agency Petra said. – AFP

A5

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Bandh against killings disrupts life in Assam

NEW DELHI/GUWAHATI: The Army on Friday vowed to intensify its operations in Assam in the af-termath of the massacre of tribals by Bodo militants, as authorities mulled coordinated action with armies of Bhutan and Myanmar to hunt them.

Normal life in Assam was, meanwhile, aff ected by a 12-hour bandh called by several organisa-tions including some tribal outfi ts in protest against the killing of the tribals by militants belong-ing to National Democratic Front of Bodoland(Songbijit faction) on Tuesday.

A fresh incident was reported where NDFB(S)militants lobbed a grenade at SSB personnel and ex-changed fi re with them in Chirang

district along the Indo-Bhutan border, police said.

Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag met Home Minister Ra-jnath Singh in Delhi after which the General said the Army is going to intensify its operations against NDFB militants.

“We are defi nitely going to in-tensify our operations in Assam,” he told reporters after the meeting.

“The meeting was to review the security situation in Assam,” the Army Chief said.

The Minister returned from As-sam on Friday after a two-day visit to review the situation.

Sources said the home minister is believed to have discussed the issue of coordinated operations with armies of Bhutan and Myan-mar against the NDFB(S) which has bases in the two neighbouring countries.

External Aff airs Minister Sush-

ma Swaraj also spoke to Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay on Friday evening seeking action against the Bodi militants and was “assured of support”.

External Aff airs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbarud-din said Swaraj was also trying to seek help of other “friendly neigh-bouring” countries to tackle the scourge of terrorism which India sees as a “national endeavour”.

“The External Aff airs Minister has talked to the Bhutanese lead-ership at the highest level. We are also working on having others who could possibly help in this,” the spokesperson said, adding, “this issue came up following possible leads which indicated that there may be others beyond Indian bor-ders where we require assistance.”

In Guwahati, a Defence spokes-person said Army is carrying out intensive area domination op-

eration in violence aff ected areas of Assam.

The death toll in attacks by NDFB(S), retaliatory violence by tribals and police fi ring since Tuesday rose to 81, according to police. “We have intensifi ed counter-insurgency operations and area domination in all the vio-lence aff ected areas to stabilise the situation,” he said.

The army has, however, not launched any fresh operation codenamed ‘Operation All Out’ as reported in a section of the electronic media, the spokesper-son said.

“The Commanders are keeping a close watch on the ground situa-tion and reviews are being carried out dynamically to deal with the situation,” he added.

Aerial surveiilance of the area was also carried out by Army Avia-tion Helicopter sorties, he said.

Gen Suhag said 66 army col-umns (70 personnel in each col-umn) have been deployed in Assam for counter insurgency operations.

The Indo-Bhutan border guard-ing force Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) has also rushed 2,000 of its personnel to Assam.

An estimated 72,675 persons in the four aff ected districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Sonitpur and Udalguri have taken shelter in 61 relief camps, CEO of Assam State Disaster Management Authority P K Tiwary said.- PTI

Army Chief Gen

Dalbir Singh Suhag

met Home Minister

Rajnath Singh in

Delhi after which

the General said

the Army is going

to intensify its

operations against

NDFB militants

ASSESSING SITUATION: Home Minister Rajnath Singh meets with

the Chief of Army Staff , General Dalbir Singh, to review the Assam

situation, in New Delhi on Friday. - PTI



J&K governor calls PDP and BJP for talks on government formationJAMMU/SRINAGAR: Amid continuing suspense over gov-ernment formation, in Indian-administered-Kashmir Governor N. N. Vohra on Friday invited for discussions Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and BJP, the fi rst and second largest parties in the elec-tions, which threw up a highly-frac-tured verdict with no clear winner.

Vohra has sent letters separate-ly to PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and state BJP chief Jugal Kishore “for holding discussions on the proposal for government-forma-tion,” a Raj Bhavan offi cial said.

The letter from the Governor has asked the PDP President to meet him on January one morn-ing followed by the state BJP chief on the same afternoon.

The letter to the two major parties said that the term of last Assembly was to end on January 18 and, therefore, both of them should come and discuss about the government formation, the sources said.

The Governor apparently to avoid a repeat of 2002 when gov-ernment could not be formed for 22 days pushing the state towards a spell of Governor’s rule.

The parties have also been con-veyed the message that if they are not able to cobble together num-bers, then they could tell the Gov-ernor about their position when they meet him.

BJP, which ended up with a tal-

ly of 25 in the 87-strong Assembly, and PDP, which secured 28 seats, have held discussions in the last two days to explore the possibility of coming together.

There was no indication as to how the discussions have gone.

Paralelly, two other key players, the National Conference (NC) which got 15 seats and Congress (12 seats), continued to make ef-forts to keep BJP out of power by

off ering support to PDP whose response remained a matter of speculation.

National Conference Work-ing President and outgoing chief minister Omar Abdullah, who has already declared that there is no deal between his party and the BJP, tweeted on Friday that only “a verbal off er of support” has been conveyed to the PDP.

But it looks like “PDP is playing mind games with the BJP leaking about a letter of NC support that doesn’t exist”.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad asked the BJP not to be “insensitive” and be seen indulg-ing in“arm-twisting” tactics while “bulldozing” its way on govern-ment formation.

“The way BJP is bulldozing re-gional parties in J&K and that’s just being insensitive towards the mandate and people of the state, “ Azad, who is Leader of the Oppo-sition in Rajya Sabha, told report-ers in Delhi. -PTI

F R A C T U R E D V E R D I C T

Anti-conversions law will go against Constitution: NCM

NEW DELHI: National Com-mission for Minorities (NCM) on Friday appeared to be critical of NDA government’s sugges-tion for a law against conversion, saying it will go “against” Con-stitution and expressed concern over lack of action against peo-ple making “irresponsible” com-ments on conversion issue.

In a resolution passed today, the NCM said reported state-ments of several “responsible persons in public life” on conver-sions of Christians and Muslims to Hinduism are causing “serious concern and creating a sense of insecurity” among minority com-munities across the country.

Right to freedom of religion “Indian Constitution guaran-tees every citizen the right to freedom of religion and any at-tempt to curtail this right goes against it. Ours is a secular na-tion where all religions are given an equal status and all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess,practice and propagate their religion.

“Claiming religious monopoly for any one religion in a multi-religious, secular state and forci-ble conversions through induce-ment, allurement and coercion violate the Constitution, and must be strongly condemned,” the NCM statement said.

The NCM did not name any person or organisation.

Most controversial statements have come from bodies affi li-

ated to Sangh Parivar which has a close link with the ruling BJP.

‘Ghar-wapsi’ events These groups have demanded a law against conversion while pushing controversial ‘ghar-wap-si’ events.

These statements have an implicit reference, it said, that Christianity and Islam are not “native” faiths.

“These statements are causing serious concern and creating a sense of insecurity among minor-ity communities across the coun-try... We expresses deep concern that such statements are being publicly made and no action is being taken against the individu-als or the organisations making such irresponsible and uncalled for statements,” it said.

The resolution appealed to the government to “prevail” upon all responsible persons in public life to refrain from encouraging reli-gious polarisation and creating mistrust and insecurity among the minorities.

Meanwhile, over 200 persons, mostly belonging to Christian families, in various parts of Kera-la have reconverted to Hinduism as part of the ‘ghar vapsi’ (home-coming) programme of Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Christmas-day, VHP sources on Friday said.

VHP State General Secretary, V. Mohan, in a statement claimed “none was being forcibly convert-ed. Those who want to convert to Hinduism on their own will are only being helped to do so.” - PTI

N D A G O V E R N M E N T S U G G E S T I O N

PARLEYS: BJP leaders Arun Jaitley, Jitendra Singh and Ram

Madhav attend a party meeting with newly elected BJP MLAs in

Jammu on Thursday. - PTI

A6

INDIAS AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 4

We will give good and corruption-free governance and development will pick up. We will also work for the 93 per cent people in the unorganised sector, Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes and the poor

Raghuvar Das, Jharkhand chief minister minister-elect

3D mapping of coastal areas in eff ortsto improve tsunami warning systemsHYDERABAD/CHENNAI: In-dia is taking up 3D mapping of coastal areas as part of its eff orts to further improve the tsunami early warning system.

On the 10th anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on Friday, Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan said under the pilot project 3D Geographic In-formation System (GIS) mapping of Cuddalore and Nagapattinam (both in Tamil Nadu) was being taken up.

“We are in the process of devel-oping a protocol which can be rep-licated in future,” he told report-ers after inaugurating a national workshop on ‘Indian tsunami early warning system: progress, challenges and future road map’.

The workshop was organised at the Indian Tsunami Early Warn-ing Centre (ITEWC) here to mark 10 years of the tsunami which claimed 2.38 lakh lives in 14 coun-tries. As many as 10,749 people were killed in India.

Joint eff ortThe centre, which is a joint ef-fort of 14 institutions, is pursu-ing technical enhancements like integration of data from GNSS networks, real-time inundation modelling, location-based warn-ing dissemination systems to im-prove accuracy and timeliness of tsunami warning.

Harsh Vardhan said it was time to introduce more innovations to improve safety mechanisms.

Pointing out that 26 per cent of India’s population lives in coastal areas, the minister underlined the need to sustain the effi cient warn-ing system and to make persistent eff orts to educate people.

Describing ITEWC as probably the best tsunami warning centre in the world, he said a strategy should be worked out to pass on information to people living in coastal areas in the shortest pos-sible time by using the latest com-munication technologies.

“We intend to very proactively and aggressively pass all this in-

formation in a form which should be received and perceived by peo-ple in coastal areas, who always face potential danger of being ad-versely aff ected by happenings in the ocean,” he said.

The minister also underscored the need to educate people on what to do after receiving the in-formation. “We pray to God noth-ing of this nature should ever happen but God forbid if it hap-pens we have to be fully prepared to warn our people and educate them well in advance on what they need to do.”

Harsh Vardhan’s junior minis-ter Y.S. Chowdary asked the cen-tre to publish a ‘blue book’ and

make it a part of national library to help the next generation. He said the ministry was also considering a tsunami volunteers scheme. He suggested that the centre provide training to the trainers who in turn can train volunteers.

Shailesh Nayak, secretary, min-istry of earth sciences, noted that ITEWC set up in 2007 has not only been providing timely tsuna-mi advisories for India but is also catering to 26 countries in the In-dian Ocean region.

Meanwhile, fl oral tributes and processions marked the tenth an-niversary of tsunami in the coast-al areas of Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu on Friday.

People observed a minute’s si-lence to pay homage to those who lost their lives in the 2004 tsuna-mi. State Fisheries Minister K.A. Jayapal, District Collector T Mu-nusamy, Nagapattinam MP Dr K Gopal and other offi cials led the si-lent marches, candle processions besides paying fl oral tributes.

India on Friday announced a US dollar one million contribu-tion to a UN fund for tsunami, dis-aster and climate preparedness in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asian countries on the 10th anni-versary of the 2004 tsunami.

Ambassador of India to Thai-land Harsh V. Shringla announced the donation to the UN-ESCAP Multi donor Trust Fund for tsunami. - Agencies

I O T H A N N I V E R S A R Y

Rajasthan ministers receive threatening emails from IMJAIPUR: Sixteen ministers in Rajasthan have received threat-ening messages on their offi cial email IDs purportedly sent by ter-rorists group Indian Mujahideen prompting the police to further strengthen the security arrange-ments in the state.

Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria and Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Arun Chaturvedi are among the Cabi-net ministers and Ministers of State who received the emails on December 22.

“We are examining the credibil-ity and authenticity of the email and its sender who gave threats in the message saying ‘You your-self understand what we will do’. We are investigating the matter and have collected inputs which are being shared with intelli-gence agencies,” DGP Omendra Bharadwaj said.

He said that there is no spe-cifi c target and also type of attack mentioned in the message which was sent on Monday purportedly by terrorists group IM.

ADG-ATS Alok Tripathi said that language of the message was poor and no specifi c target was mentioned.

“The sender in a threatening language warns to be prepared,” Tripathi said, while refusing to

divulge further details of the emails received. The Home Min-ister, who is in Udaipur, said that the DGP was aware of all the facts and that those behind the emails would be identifi ed.

“We will ensure that full se-curity is in place in the state and proper safety measures are being taken,” Kataria told reporters.

The DGP said that the security arrangements have been further tightened in the state in the wake of the threat,which is being thor-oughly examined.

“Alarming signals were com-ing for some time hence security arrangements were already tight and now other measures are also being taken from security point of view,” he said. However, he said, that there should be no panic.

Intelligence Bureau chief Asif Ibrahim recently said there was an imminent danger of Indian youths moving to the confl ict zone (Iraq-Syria), emerging as a role model and such develop-ments may directly or indirectly pose a threat to the country. - PTI

1 6 M I N I S T E R S

We will ensure that full

security is in place in

the state and proper

safety measures

are being taken

Gulabchand KatariaRajasthan Home Minister

IN REMEMBRANCE: Fishermen pour milk into the sea to mark the

10th anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, at Marina

beach in Chennai on Friday. -PTI

Das to be Jharkhand’s first non-tribal CM

RANCHI: The BJP on Friday broke from tradition and chose Raghuvar Das, the fi rst non-tribal, to be the new chief minister of Jharkhand in 14 years since it was carved out of Bihar.

The new government, possibly a coalition, will take oath of offi ce on Sunday. With 37 seats, the BJP in coalition with ally AJSU (5 seats) could form a stable government with the support of 42 MLAs in the 81 member Assembly.

Staking claimHours after his election by the BJP Legislature Party, Das, a vice presi-dent of BJP, staked claim to form a government in the state that was notorious for political instability.

Accompanied by alliance part-ner AJSU party President Sudesh Mahto and winning MLAs, Das

met Governor Syed Ahmed and staked claim to form the new government.

The fact that former party chief minister Arjun Munda, a tribal, lost the election helped Das’ case greatly.

“We met the governor and staked claim. We suggested to him that we want to take oath at 11am on December 28, and the Governor agreed to it,” Das said after meet-ing Ahmed.

“We will give good and corrup-tion-free governance and devel-opment will pick up. We will also work for the 93 per cent people in the unorganised sector, Sched-uled Tribes and Scheduled Castes and the poor,” said the 60-year-old chief minister-elect with trade un-ion background.

Earlier in the day, central ob-servers J. P. Nadda and Vinay Sa-hasrabuddhe attended the BJP LP meeting, in which Munda was also

present. Das was a deputy chief minister in the erstwhile Shibu Soren government but was out af-ter Munda took over from Soren in the outgoing house.

He will be the third chief minis-ter of BJP after Babulal Marandi and Arjun Munda.

Marandi has since quit BJP and fl oated Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik). While he suff ered defeats from Dhanwar and Giridih this time, his party won eight seats.

“I should not speak on it,” a sen-ior BJP tribal leader said when asked to comment on how he saw the party having decided to break the precedent of having a chief min-ister from the tribal community.

In the past 14 years, Jharkhand has seen nine governments with fi ve tribal chief ministers — Babu-lal Marandi (once), Arjun Munda (thrice), Shibu Soren (thrice), Madhu Koda (once) and Hemant Soren (once).

A Science and Law gradu-ate, Das has been representing Jamshedpur(East) constituency from 1995 and had taken part in the students movement of 1974 and the workers agitations in Telco.

For the fi rst time, a pre-poll alli-ance partners could muster a ma-jority in the state, which has only seen unstable governments. -PTI

The new government,

possibly a coalition,

will take oath of offi ce

on Sunday

ELATED: The women’s wing of BJP presents fl owers to Raghuwar

Das after he was elected as the leader of majority after BJP execu-

tive committee meeting, in Ranchi on Friday. - PTI

Ordinances on coal and insurance get president’s approvalNEW DELHI: The two ordi-nances to pave the way for a fresh dose of foreign investment in the insurance sector and to move ahead with the allocation of can-celled coal mines received presi-dential approval on Friday.

The government had decided to promulgate these ordinances to move ahead with reforms in the two sectors as the relevant bills could not be cleared during the Parliament Session.

President Pranab Mukherjee has signed the two ordinances, Rashtrapati Bhavan Press Secre-tary Venu Rajamony said.

The Cabinet had approved promulgation of the Ordinance on Insurance Bill and re-promul-gation of the Coal Ordinance on Wednesday.

Finance Minister Arun Jait-ley had expressed the hope that hiking of the foreign investment cap in the insurance sector to 49 per cent, which has been pending since 2008, will result in capital infl ow of $6-8 billion. Earlier, this foreign investment limit was capped at 26 per cent.

“The Ordinance demonstrates the fi rm commitment and deter-mination of this government to reforms. It also announces to the

rest of the world including inves-tors that this country can no long-er wait even if one of the houses of Parliament waits indefi nitely to take up its agenda,” he had said.

The Coal Mines Bill, 2014 has already been approved by the Lok Sabha during the session but could make no progress in the up-per house. The re-promulgation of ordinance on coal will facilitate e-auction of coal blocks for com-panies and allot mines directly to state and central PSUs. - PTI

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

Finance Minister Arun

Jaitley had expressed

the hope that hiking of

the foreign investment

cap in the insurance

sector to 49 per cent

will result in capital

inflow of $6-8 billion

PAKISTANS AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 14

Commander Saddam was a dreaded terrorist, who was killed in an exchange of fi re with the security forces in Jamrud town of Khyber tribal region

Shahab Ali Shah, Peshawar offi cial

REMEMBERING BENAZIRSupporters of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) hold candles

during a rally in Lahore on Friday to commemorate the

seventh death anniversary of slain former premier Bena-

zir Bhutto. Benazir was assassinated in a gun and suicide

attack after addressing an election campaign rally in the

garrison city of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad,

on December 27, 2007. — AFP

Drone strike kills fourPESHAWAR: A US drone strike killed at least four militants in Pa-kistan’s restive tribal region near the Afghan border on Friday, Pa-kistani security offi cials said, the second such incident in a week.

The strike targeted a Taliban compound in North Waziristan, one of seven semi-autonomous tribal districts that border Afghanistan.

“A US drone fi red two missiles which hit a compound... killing four terrorists,” a senior security offi cial said.

Another security offi cial con-fi rmed the strike and casualties.

Another drone strike in North Waziristan on December 20 killed at least fi ve militants, offi cials said.

The area is generally off -limits to journalists, making it diffi cult to independently verify the number and identity of the dead.

Washington pressed Islamabad for years to wipe out militant sanc-tuaries in North Waziristan, which have been used to launch attacks on Nato forces in Afghanistan.

Islamabad launched a major off ensive in the area in June and says it has killed more than 1,700 militants so far, with 126 soldiers having lost their lives. — AFP

N O R T H W A Z I R I S T A N

Top militant linked to school attack is killed

PESHAWAR: Pakistani security forces have killed a Taliban com-mander who allegedly facilitated the Peshawar school massacre, which left 150 people dead in the country’s worst ever terror attack, offi cials said on Friday.

Named only as “Saddam”, the militant was killed on Thursday night in a gunfi ght with secu-rity forces in the restive Khyber tribal area, which borders the northwestern city of Peshawar where last week’s horrifi c attack took place.

“Commander Saddam was a dreaded terrorist, who was killed in an exchange of fi re with the security forces in Jamrud town of Khyber tribal region,” top local administration offi cial Shahab Ali Shah said in Peshawar.

“Six of his accomplices were in-jured and arrested.”

He added that Saddam is be-lieved to have facilitated the school attack, although the extent or capacity of his alleged involve-ment was not yet known.

“Authorities are currently in-terrogating the injured terrorists,” Shah said.

He described Saddam as an important commander in the Pakistani Taliban and said he had masterminded several bomb attacks.

Heavy casualtiesHe and his accomplices had been involved in several recent attacks on security forces that had result-ed in heavy casualties.

The Taliban and other militants have taken refuge in Khyber from a major army off ensive launched in June in North Waziristan, an-other restive tribal area on the Afghan border that has been a hub

for Al Qaeda and Taliban mili-tants since the early 2000s.

Washington pressed Islama-bad for years to wipe out mili-tant sanctuaries in North Wa-ziristan, which have been used to launch attacks on Nato forces in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani military says it has killed more than 1,700 mili-tants so far in its heavy off ensive in the tribal zone, with 126 sol-diers having lost their lives.

Pakistan has ramped up its anti-terror strategy in the wake of the December 16 slaughter at an army-run school in Peshawar, where 134 children were among the victims gunned down by heav-ily-armed Taliban militants. — AFP

Named only as

‘Saddam’, the

rebel was killed

on Thursday night

in a gunfi ght with

security forces in the

restive Khyber tribal

area, which borders

Peshawar where

last week’s horrifi c

attack took place

PROTEST AGAINST TALIBAN: Children hold fl ags as women sup-

porters of Pakistani religious Jammat-e-Islami stage a protest

against the Taliban militants attack on an army-run school in

Peshawar, in Islamabad on Friday. — AFP

Pakistan has ramped up its anti-terror strategy in the

wake of the December 16 slaughter at an army-run

school in Peshawar, where 134 children were among

the victims gunned down by heavily-armed Taliban

ISLAMABAD: A court in Islamabad on Friday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz.

The decision comes against the backdrop of ongoing protests organised by civil society members. The civil society members also registered a fi rst in-vestigation report (FIR) against Aziz and gave the police till Friday to open an investigation case against the cleric.

Threatening callLawyer-turned-activist Jibran Nasir, who spearheaded the protest, remained undeterred, despite receiving a threatening call from the Jamatul Ahrar’s spokes-man, Ehsanullah Ehsan.

“We have requested the police to conduct a focused investiga-tion…then we will know whether to continue chanting slogans or to celebrate,” he said.

“This is a story of the will of the common man. This is a common man’s protest against all the rogue clerics who use and manipulate the name of Islam for their own interests,” he said. — Express Tribune

Warrant issued for cleric

Pakistanis invest $1.2b in Dubai real estate this yearLAHORE: It seems that inves-tor confi dence in the real estate market of Pakistan has started falling once again as capital fl ight to Dubai’s property market in the fi rst half of 2014 is recorded at $1.23 billion.

“Pakistan ranked third among countries that invested heavily in the Dubai real estate market in 2013 and the trend is continu-ing this year as well, despite the fact that the market has remained slow for almost the entire year,” said bayut.com Chief Executive Offi cer Haider Ali Khan.

For Khan, who heads one of the top three property portals of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dubai is the most attractive real estate market for many countries, primarily due to the reforms in-troduced after the fi nancial cri-sis of 2008. During the turmoil, many property developers had defaulted, shaking the confi dence of investors.

Now, after the introduction of new laws, the real estate market is once again strengthening.

According to Khan, Indians lead investments in the Dubai real estate sector by putting $2.27 billion, the United Kingdom puts $1.36 billion, whereas Pakistan stands third after investments of $1.23 billion, according to data for the fi rst six months of 2014.

Though no statistics are out for the remaining period of the year, market experts predict more outfl ow of capital from Pakistan to Dubai as the country’s econo-my has not performed well from June to date.

The real estate market of Pa-kistan has remained stagnant for the last six months, however, according to zameen.com, Pa-kistan’s leading property por-tal, overall property prices have registered a spike of 8-11 per cent in 2014.

However, the Dubai’s market, which is passing through a cor-rection phase, managed to post a growth of 20-23 per cent, accord-ing to bayut.com.

Khan stated that due to the ab-sence of any government-owned regulatory authority in Pakistan, many local investors opt to invest in Dubai.

“Dubai has improved very

quickly after learning from the 2008 crisis, at the time there were not many laws to protect investors, as a result the devel-opers defaulted and investor confi dence dived.

“Now, there are strict laws to protect the sector. They have cre-ated the Dubai land department to take things under control.”

Khan said most mature real es-tate markets are protected by law and the Pakistani government should gradually work to intro-duce some real estate laws, so that investor confi dence improves and practices like the biana system (20 to 30 per cent advance pay-ment) should be stopped.

The government should also provide information about prop-erty laws as majority of the buyers and sellers do not know buying or rental processes, which often re-sults in legal battles, especially in rental cases. — Express Tribune

F L I G H T O F C A P I T A L

The real estate market of Pakistan

has remained stagnant for the last six

months, however, according to zameen.

com, overall property prices have

registered a spike of 8-11 per cent in 2014

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The euro crisis, it is said, is over. Calm has returned to fi nancial markets, amid ironclad assurances by the European Union authori-ties — particularly the European Central Bank — that the monetary union will be preserved.

But Southern Europe’s economies remain de-pressed, and the eurozone as a whole is suff ering from stagnant growth, defl ationary pressure, and, in the crisis countries, persistently high unemploy-ment. Not surprisingly, given the EU authorities’ obvious inability to end the malaise, many member states are losing patience with austerity. Indeed, some countries are facing a political upheaval.

When the turmoil comes, it is likely to be triggered — as with the euro crisis — by Greece, which is hold-ing a presidential election that seems unlikely to pro-duce a winner. If the Greek parliament does not elect a new president by a two-thirds majority in the third and fi nal round, it will be dissolved and a snap elec-tion will be called. The risk is that Syriza, a far-left socialist party, will come to power.

To win, Syriza must either mislead its voters about its options, or insist that it will renegotiate the repay-ment conditions imposed on Greece by the so-called Troika (the European Commission, the ECB, and the International Monetary Fund), all while pursuing unilateral action should renegotiation fail.

But any renegotiation following a Syriza victory would undoubtedly unleash a political avalanche in the southern EU that would sweep away austerity and fully reignite the eurozone crisis.

Of course, Greece itself is too small for its problems to present any real danger to the eurozone. But the election result in Athens could fuel panic in fi nancial markets, causing a crisis that would threaten to spill over into Italy, the eurozone’s third-largest economy, and, with some delay, France, the second largest.

A miracle could occur: a new president could be elected in Athens next week, or Syriza might not win the next parliamentary election.

Unfortunately, either outcome would merely delay a politics-induced crisis in the EU.

After all, in Italy, too, the signs point to a coming storm — one bearing down not only on austerity, but also increasingly on the euro itself. And after the storm hits Italy, France could be next.

The confl ict over austerity has become politically explosive because it is becoming a confl ict between Germany and Italy — and, worse, between Germany and France, the tandem that drove European integra-tion for six decades.

And this is happening at a time when anti-Europe-an, nationalist forces are establishing themselves in

Germany’s national and state parliaments — and on the streets — thereby substantially reduce Chancel-lor Angela Merkel’s room for compromise.

The battle between austerity’s defenders and op-ponents thus threatens to tear apart not just the eu-rozone, but the EU as a whole.

The crisis in the eurozone and the refusal to at-tempt any real European approach to reviving growth has contributed — not exclusively, but signifi cantly — to the rebirth of nationalism within the EU.

The strength of this political tendency became fully apparent in May 2014, when anti-European populists performed well in the European Parlia-ment election. The nationalist trend has continued unabated ever since.

On one level, this seems bizarre. After all, none of the problems that Europe is or will be facing can be solved more easily alone and at the national level than within the EU and through the framework of a supranational political community.

Indeed, nationalist xenophobia is particularly ab-surd in view of demographic realities: An aging Eu-rope urgently needs more immigrants, not less.

It is also remarkable how little Europe has been scandalised by the support that the EU’s new and old nationalists have received from Russia; for example, President Vladimir Putin’s government helped to fi -nance the French National Front via a multi-million-euro loan drawn on a Russian bank.

Apparently, authoritarian values and national-ist worldviews (together with a strong dose of anti-Americanism) create ties that bind.

It is no exaggeration to say that the EU is currently both internally and externally threatened by reac-tionary nationalism, which is why the next euro cri-sis will come in the form of a political crisis.

So why are the authorities in Berlin, Brussels, and the other EU capitals still not willing to change their policies, which quite obviously have made a bad situ-ation worse? Observing the EU from the outside is like watching a train collision in slow motion — and one that was announced at the station.

And then there is the United Kingdom, moving steadily and with apparent determination ever closer to a “Brexit.” That danger extends beyond 2015; none-theless, it is an important component of the overall picture of impending crisis in the EU.

Regardless of whether the UK ultimately separates politically from the continent, the coming year will mark a turning point for Europe. - Project Syndicate

The author was German Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor from 1998-2005, a term marked by Ger-many’s strong support for Nato’s intervention in Kosovo in 1999, followed by its opposition to the war in Iraq.

2015 may be Europe’s make-or-break year

It is remarkable how little Europe has been scandalised by the support that the EU’s new and old nationalists have received from Russia.Putin’s government helped to finance the French National Front

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])

EUROZONE CRISIS

Hope is in danger of crumbling that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would rein in the divisive agenda of his militant Hindu-nationalist supporters and allow India to concentrate on the

important work of economic reform, and the blame lies squarely with Modi. During the last days of its winter session, Parliament was un-able to deal with important legislative business because of repeated adjournments and uproar over attempts by Hindu groups to convert Christians and Muslims. The issue has come to a head following a “homecoming” campaign by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad — groups dedicated to transforming In-dia’s secular democracy into a Hindu state — to “reconvert” Christians and Muslims to Hinduism. In recent weeks, Hindu militants have en-gineered conversions of Muslims and Christians in Agra and in the states of Gujarat and Kerala. Police are investigating accusations that people have been induced to participate in mass conversion meetings by a combination of intimidation and bribery, including the promise of food ration cards. Attacks on Christians and their places of worship have intensifi ed in recent weeks.

More than 80 per cent of Indians are Hindus, but Muslims, Chris-tians and Sikhs form important religious minorities with centuries of history in India. Religious pluralism and freedom are protected by India’s Constitution. The issue of religious conversion is contentious in India. Many dalits, known formerly as untouchables, and other low-caste Hindus and tribals admit they convert to Islam or Christianity primarily to escape crushing caste prejudice and oppression.

The main architect of the Constitution, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, born a Dalit, famously converted to Buddhism to escape caste-oppres-sion under Hinduism.

As opposition political leaders are demanding, Modi must break his silence and issue a stern warning to emboldened Hindu mili-tants before their actions turn further progress on economic re-form into a sideshow, with the politics and divisiveness occupying centre stage. - The New York Times News Service

Growing intolerance in India

On August 11, 1947, the man who more than any other was re-sponsible for bringing the state of Pakistan into being spoke these 52 words: “You are free; you are free to go to your tem-

ples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or wor-ship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the state.”

As the nation celebrates the birthday of the man who uttered those historic words, Muhammed Ali Jinnah, but it remains confl icted about the vision that Jinnah had for Pakistan. For much of its exist-ence as a state, Pakistanis have been taught that Jinnah wanted to create a theocratic state, but there is another view — that he sought a country that was Muslim-majority but secular, forward-looking and progressive. The former perception is currently dominant, the latter often buried or otherwise hidden from view by those for whom such a vision is anathema.

To the shrinking liberal strata of society the August 11 speech is a touchstone. Jinnah spoke with clarity of a state that is tolerant, inclu-sive and above all secular, but it was a vision that quickly was deliber-ately clouded by those who came after him and then metamorphosed over decades into the creature that the state has become today — riven by sectarian confl ict, at the mercy of terrorists who roam at will and butcher our children with seeming impunity. A state where those who carried out the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar on De-cember 16 spent the night before staying in a mosque close by accord-ing to the initial police report on the attack. A state that is not failed — nor is likely to despite what the Cassandra’s may say — but is deeply fl awed and performs far below where it should, given the plenitude of human and natural resources at its disposal.

It is clear that those who succeeded Jinnah in the corridors of power were distinctly unimpressed by what he said in his August 11 speech. They were powerful religious ideologues and they did what they could to suppress the speech in newspapers and it was virtually erased from the record. The Pakistan of today is what its people, and particularly several generations of politicians — have made it. Such visionaries that we have border on the delusional on occasion, and a broad streak of mediocrity runs through most of the political cadre. When a state chooses second-best to lead it, then it is no surprise that the state itself becomes second best. Jinnah may not have been per-fect, but any fl aws he may have had were by far outweighed by the clar-ity and discipline of the vision that drove him. We shall not see his like again. - The Express Tribune

They have distorted

the vision of Jinnah

Public transport will helpreduce consumption of oilThis refers to the news story, Help Oman through oil crisis (December 25). We must change our attitudes. It is true that Oman is blessed with oil but we need plans to reduce the consumption of oil. Trains and subways must be introduced in the Sultanate and we must also encourage met-ro bus service. This would reduce the consumption of oil and help the economy. Oman must have more export processing zones now so that skilled workers from abroad can join and train Omanis to acquire skills at par with international standards. It would boost the country’s exports, at-tract more global investment and encourage growth of SMEs. KalimullahMuscat

It is indeed time now to start tightening the beltThis refers to the news story, Help Oman through oil crisis (December 25). If the oil price stays low for some more time then the budget expenses and income calculations would go haywire. First, the government projects could get aff ected. It is indeed time now to start tightening the belt before it is too late. It is also time now to explore other sources of revenue earning and diver-sify the economy so as to reduce dependence on oil. It’s a must to reduce waste of resources and services on which the govern-ment pays huge subsidies. So the process to educate people in this matter must begin now even as it will be a challenging task to make people aware of the situation and motivate them to stop misusing

fuel, electricity and water etc.Sam Oommen MappilaveetilMuscat

Now is the time to eschew driving the heavy cars This refers to the news story, Help Oman through oil crisis (Decem-ber 25). I completely agree with the author of the referred story and feel that we, the nationals and residents, have both a critical role to play in helping Oman to tide over the crisis it is facing or may face in the near future because of the sliding oil prices in the international market. To start with, I would strongly suggest that the government now start discouraging people to use big and heavy cars. In view of the present scenario it is simply criminal to use heavy vehicles for personal

use. To discourage the use of heavy cars the government may consider increasing taxes on them and also increasing the annual registration fees for the existing cars. This apart, it will be wonder-ful if the authorities can quickly develop public transport network across the country.AbidAzaiba

If all join hands, Oman will certainly tide over crisisThis refers to the news story, Help Oman through oil crisis (Decem-ber 25). Rational use of electric-ity and water will defi nitely help Oman to overcome the situation. Let all hands join in to tide over the looming crisis.Sayadu RahmanMuscat

READERS’ FORUM

Morality, like art, means drawing a line someplace

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website: www.newindiaoman.com

NEW INDIA ASSURANCENew India’s PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY and PUBLIC LIABILITY POLICIES safeguard the professional hazards of Doctors/Engineers/Architects/Hospitals/Hotels etc.

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WORLDS AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 14

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Chinese seeks $2.4m for wrongful death sentence

BEIJING: A Chinese man who was freed after six years on death row following a wrongful murder conviction is seeking $2.4 million in compensation, state-media said Friday, amid public anger over the country’s fl awed legal system.

Nian Bin, a former food-stall owner who was convicted of poisoning two children and con-demned to death in 2008, was fi -nally freed after a court quashed his conviction in August.

His case went through multi-ple appeals, with lawyers arguing that the evidence against him was

insuffi cient and saying police had tortured him to obtain a confes-sion.

Nian on Thursday applied for $2.4 million (15 million yuan) in compensation from the govern-ment at a court in east China’s Fujian province which had upheld his death sentence three times,

the China Daily reported citing his elder sister. He also requested the court make a public apology through the media, it added.

“Eight years of life cannot be bought back with money,” the sis-ter, Nian Jianlan said, referring to the entirety of her brother’s ordeal since his 2006 arrest. “We hope that by asking for compensation and an apology, the culprit judges can have more respect for life and the law,” she added.

Forcible confessionNian, 38, told a previous court hearing that police had hung him from a hook and beaten him until he confessed, reports said.

Acquittals in China’s Commu-nist-controlled court system are extremely rare -- 99.93 percent of defendants in criminal cases were found guilty last year, according to offi cial statistics.

The use of force to extract con-fessions remains widespread in the country and defendants often do not have eff ective defence in criminal trials, leading to regular miscarriages of justice.

China has occasionally exon-

erated wrongfully executed con-victs after others came forward to confess their crimes, or in some cases because the supposed mur-der victim was later found alive. China’s ruling Communist Party is attempting to reduce public anger over injustices by lessening the in-fl uence of local offi cials over some court cases, and reversing verdicts in some high-profi le cases.

A Chinese man who was acquit-ted after being imprisoned for 16 years on a murder charge received state compensation of $256,000 (1.57 million yuan) this week, the China Daily said in a separate report. Xu Hui was arrested in 1998 and convicted of murdering a 19-year-old woman in 2001 but a court in the Southern province of Guangdong ruled in September that there had been insuffi cient evidence, it said.

Earlier this month, a court in the northern region of Inner Mon-golia declared innocent Hugjiltu, who had been executed at age 18 in 1996 for murder and rape. Doubt was cast on the original verdict when another man confessed to the crime in 2005. — AFP

Nian Bin, a former

food-stall owner

who was convicted

of poisoning two

children and

condemned to

death in 2008, was

fi nally freed after a

court quashed his

conviction in August

More than 100,000 evacuated as fl oods hit MalaysiaKUALA LUMPUR: More than 100,000 people have been evacu-ated from their homes by authori-ties in fi ve northern states of Ma-laysia hit by the Southeast Asian’ nation’s worst monsoon fl oods in decades.

Extremely high levels of fl ood-water and bad weather have made relocating victims and the transport of food supplies by heli-copters diffi cult, Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a statement.

A total of 103,412 people have been displaced in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Perak and Perlis, state news agency Berna-ma said, surpassing the previous record of 100,000 people evacu-ated during fl oods in 2008.

Northeastern peninsular Ma-laysia, which is worst aff ected, is regularly hit by fl ooding during the annual Northeast Monsoon, but this year’s rains have been par-ticularly bad. On Tuesday, nearly 60 foreign tourists were among almost 100 people rescued by boat and helicopter from a resort in a Malaysian national park lashed by its highest rainfall since 1971.

The fl ooding comes as commu-nities in northwestern Malaysia mark the 10th anniversary of the devastating tsunami that hit on December 26, 2004. — Reuters

N A T U R E ’ S F U R Y

Japan’s top research institute dismisses stem cell studyTOKYO: Japan’s top research in-stitute on Friday hammered the fi nal nail in the coffi n of what was once billed as a ground-breaking stem cell study, dismissing it as fl awed and saying the work could have been fabricated.

The revelations come a week after a young researcher at the centre of the scandal, which has rocked the country’s scientifi c establishment, said she would re-sign after failing to reproduce the successful conversion of an adult cell into a stem cell-like state, known as “STAP” cells.

The failure marked a stunning fall from grace for 31-year-old Haruko Obokata, whose co-re-searcher committed suicide amid the embarrassing scandal that prompted respected science jour-nal Nature to retract an article de-tailing the research.

On Friday the government-backed Riken institute, which sponsored the study, said embry-onic stem cells had been added in the process of the research, ham-mering Obokata’s contention that she had found an easier way to generate new stem cells in the lab.

“But we can’t conclude wheth-er the mixing was done on pur-pose or by mistake nor can we conclude who did it,” probe team chief Isao Katsura, head of the National Institute of Genetics, told a news briefi ng in Tokyo.

In January, Riken trumpeted Obokata’s simple method to re-

programme adult cells to work like stem cells.

The study was top news in Japan, where the photogenic Obokata, a Harvard-trained sci-entist, became a phenomenon.

But media attention soon grew into scepticism as doubts emerged about Obokata’s papers on Stimulus-Triggered Acquisi-tion of Pluripotency (STAP).

Mistakes were discovered in some data published in two pa-pers, photograph captions were found to be misleading, and the

work itself could not be repeated by other scientists.

On Friday the head of the probe team, which was made up of sci-entists outside the institute and lawyers, said the committee in-terviewed Obokata three times.

“During the last of our inter-views we told her that we had enough evidence to show the mix-ing-in (of embryonic stem cells),” Katsura said.

“Then, before us asking any-thing, Ms.Obokata said ‘I’ve never mixed them.’” — AFP

A L L E G E D L Y F A B R I C A T E D

Russia backs North Korea on its ire over US comedy

Philippines Maoist rebels say ‘ready’ to resume talks

MOSCOW: Russia has slammed the United States over a raunchy comedy featuring a fi ctional plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, saying Pyongyang’s an-ger was understandable.

The entertainment giant Sony said it was cancelling the release of the fi lm, The Interview, an ex-pletive-laden tale full of innuendo and scatological humour, after fol-lowing an embarrassing cyber at-tack on its corporate network and threats against moviegoers.

Russia said it was concerned by the latest escalation of tensions be-tween the North and Washington and slammed the irreverent com-edy. “The very idea of the fi lm is so aggressive and scandalous that the reaction of the North Korean side... is completely understand-able,” foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. He said the United States had not pro-vided any evidence linking North Korea to the hack attack, noting that Pyongyang off ered Washing-ton to conduct a joint investigation into the incident. - AFP

MANILA: Maoist-led guerrillas in the Philippines say they are ready to resume peace talks with the gov-ernment after Pope Francis’ visit to the state next month, in a renewed bid to end the 45-year confl ict.

About 15,000 New People’s Army (NPA) fi ghters and support-ers on Friday gathered in a village on the southern island of Mindan-ao to support calls for the resump-tion of peace negotiations by their leaders living in exile in Europe.

“The resumption of formal talks of the panels shall be after the papal visit,” Jose Maria Sison, a university professor and found-er of the Communist Party of the Philippines, told a local newspa-per in an interview from his base in The Netherlands. Pope Francis is due to arrive in the Philippines on January 15.

The government cautiously welcomed the rebels’ interest in returning to the negotiating table. “We want to resume talks on the basis of a doable and time-bound agenda,” Teresita Quintos Deles, the president’s adviser on the peace process, said. — Reuters

U N D E R F I R E

P E A C E M O V E

During the last of our

interviews we told her

(Obokata) that we had

enough evidence to

show the mixing-in (of

embryonic stem cells)

Isao KatsuraProbe team chief and head of the National Institute of Genetics,

THE PREVIOUS CASES A Chinese man who was acquitted after being

imprisoned for 16 years on a murder charge received state compensation of $256,000 (1.57 million yuan) this week, the China Daily said in a separate report.

Xu Hui was arrested in 1998 and convicted of murdering a 19-year-old woman in 2001 but a court in the Southern province of Guangdong ruled in September that there had been insuffi cient evidence, it said.

Earlier this month, a court in the northern region of Inner Mongolia declared innocent Hugjiltu, who had been executed at age 18 in 1996 for murder and rape. Doubt was cast on the original verdict when another man confessed to the crime in 2005

MAROONED: An aerial view of fl ooded streets of the National Park in Kuala Tahan, Pahang, on Wednesday. – Reuters

MAKING A POINT: Haruko

Obokata, a female researcher of

Japan’s Riken Institute, speaks

at a press conference in Osaka,

western Japan, following claims

that her stem cell study was

fabricated. - AFP fi les

A10

WORLDS AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 4

When giant waves 10 years ago this day, claimed 220,000 lives

KHAO LAK (THAILAND): Tearful memorials were held across tsunami-hit nations on Friday for the 220,000 people who died ten years ago when gi-ant waves decimated coastal areas along the Indian Ocean in one of the world’s worst natural disasters on record.

On December 26, 2004 a 9.3-magnitude earthquake off In-donesia’s western tip generated a series of massive waves that pum-melled the coastline of 14 coun-tries as far apart as Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Somalia.

Among the victims were thou-sands of foreign tourists enjoy-ing Christmas on the region’s sun-kissed beaches, carrying the tragedy of an unprecedent-ed natural disaster into homes around the globe.

In southern Thailand, where half of the 5,300 dead were holi-

daymakers, people recounted sto-ries of horror and miraculous sur-vival as the churning waters, laden with the debris of eviscerated bun-galows, cars and boats, swept in without warning, obliterating re-sorts and villages. As dusk loomed, hundreds gathered for a candlelit memorial on Khao Lak, much of which was washed away by the towering waves.

Among them was Swiss nation-al, Katia Paulo, who lost her boy-friend on a nearby beach.

“I had my back to the ocean. My boyfriend called me... the only

thing I remember is his face. I knew I had to run away, then the wave caught me,” the 45-year-old told AFP.

“I was pushed under water many times and thought it was the end,” she said, explaining she called for help only to realise the people nearby were in fact corpses.

“I managed to hold onto a tree branch,” she said, adding that as the waves retreated she was six metres (200 feet) off the ground.

Nearby, 40-year-old Thai Som-jai Somboon, said she still grieves for the loss of her two sons, who

were ripped from their house when the waves cut into their fi sh-ing village of Ban Nam Khem.

“I remember them every day,” she told AFP, also with tears in her eyes, adding “I will always miss my sons.” The offi cial ceremony, to be led by the Thai premier, was due to be held at police patrol boat 813, which was swept around two kilo-metres inland and has since stood as a memorial to the calamity.

Among the international com-memorations, in Sweden, which lost 543 to the waves, the royal family and relatives of those who

died will attend a memorial ser-vice in Uppsala Cathedral Friday afternoon.

Disaster-stricken nations ini-tially struggled to mobilise a relief eff ort, leaving bloated bodies to pile up under the tropical sun or in makeshift morgues.

The world poured money and expertise into the relief and recon-struction, with more than $13.5 billion collected in the months af-ter the disaster. Almost $7 billion in aid went into rebuilding more than 140,000 houses across Indo-nesia’s Aceh province, where most

of the nation’s 170,000 victims were claimed.

The main city, Banda Aceh, held the nation’s offi cial remembrance earlier on Friday at a 20-acre park.

It was near the epicentre of the massive undersea quake and bore the brunt of waves towering up to 35-metres (115 feet) high.

“Thousands of corpses were sprawled in this fi eld,” Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla told the crowd — many among them weep-ing. “Tears that fell at that time... there were feelings of confusion, shock, sorrow, fear and suff ering. We prayed.

“And then we rose and received help in an extraordinary way. Help came from Indonesia and every-one else, our spirits were revived,” he said, hailing the outpouring of aid from local and foreign donors.

The disaster also ended a dec-ades-long separatist confl ict in Aceh, with a peace deal between rebels and Jakarta struck less than a year later.

Mass gravesMosques also held prayers across the province while people visited mass graves.

But a Red Cross display of hun-dreds of salvaged ID documents and bank cards, also served as grim reminder that many victims sim-ply vanished.

n Sri Lanka, where 31,000 peo-ple perished, survivors and rela-tives of the around 1,000 who died when waves derailed a passenger train, boarded the restored Ocean Queen Express and headed to Per-aliya -- the exact spot where it was ripped from the tracks, around 90 kilometres south of Colombo.

The head train guard told AFP a lack of knowledge of tsunamis led to needless deaths. — AFP

On December

26, 2004 a

9.3-magnitude

earthquake off

Indonesia’s western

tip generated a series

of massive waves

that pummelled

the coastline of 14

countries as far

apart as Indonesia,

Thailand, Sri Lanka

and Somalia

TSUNAMI VICTIMS: Pictures of the 2004 tsunami victims are seen during a 10th anniversary ceremony in Ban Nam Khem, a southern

fi shing village in Thailand which was destroyed by the wave, on Friday. - Reuters



Turkey frees schoolboy arrested for ‘insulting’ Erdogan; still faces trialANKARA: A Turkish court on Friday freed a 16-year-old high school pupil arrested for “insult-ing” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, amid accusations his detention was the latest sign of a lurch to authoritarianism under the strongman leader.

The boy, Mehmet Emin Al-tunses, was released following a complaint by his lawyer, but he still faces trial in the future, the offi cial Anatolia news agency re-ported. Altunses was met by his parents as he left the main court-house building in the city and im-mediately fell into the arms of his mother, Turkish television pic-tures showed.

But the teen defi antly declared his political activism would con-tinue, saying he was not a ter-rorist but a “soldier” of modern Turkey’s secular founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. “There is no ques-tion of taking a step back from our path, we will continue along this road,” he said.

Altunses had delivered a speech on Wednesday in the central Turkish city of Konya, a bastion of the ruling conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP), where he accused Erdogan and the ruling party of corruption.

He was detained by police at school in Konya in the middle of lessons on Wednesday afternoon and immediately taken for inter-rogation by police. A court then ordered his arrest.

Reportedly a member of an online youth group, Altunses in questioning denied links with a political party but confi rmed he had made the statements in ques-tion. Despite his release, Altunses still remains accused of insulting Erdogan and faces trial at a date yet to be specifi ed. He risks up to four years in prison if convicted.

The boy’s lawyer, Baris Ispir, had submitted a petition for his release to the court, together with around 100 classmates who came from Istanbul in a show of support. His legal team had also pointed out that accusations against Erdogan and his inner

circle have been circulating for months on social media without any action being taken.

The boy’s mother, an unem-ployed cook, expressed shock over the arrest, saying he had been detained “as if he were an armed terrorist”.

“He is only a boy, his place is in school and not the prison,” Nazmiye Gok told the Hurriyet daily. “I am not ashamed of my child. I am very proud,” she added.

His arrest came amid grow-

ing concerns about freedom of speech in Turkey under Erdogan following raids earlier this month on opposition media linked to the president’s top foe, exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davu-toglu had supported the court’s original decision to arrest the boy, saying: “Everyone must respect the offi ce of president whoever he is.”

But Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said that minors should

not stay in prison pending trial, Turkish media reported.

Sezgin Tanrikulu, vice presi-dent of the main opposition Re-publican People’s Party (CHP), wrote on Twitter that the release would do nothing to change “the miserable situation in which our democracy fi nds itself”.

The authorities are hugely sen-sitive to allegations of corrup-tion following sensational claims against key government members and Erdogan’s inner circle that broke in December last year.

Four cabinet ministers re-signed but Erdogan accused the US-based Gulen of concocting the graft scandal and spreading leaks in social media to topple his government.

Erdogan has vowed no mercy in the fi ght against Gulen and the authorities have over the last year eff ectively purged the police force and judiciary to rid them of pro-Gulenist elements. — AFP

C O U R T O R D E R

DEFIANT: Turkish boy Mehmet Emin Altunses, centre, is seen at home with his parents and relatives

on Friday in the central city of Konya after being released from prison. — AFP/Ihlas News Agency

Despite his release, Mehmet Emin Altunses still

remains accused of insulting Erdogan and faces

trial at a date yet to be specified. He risks

up to four years in prison if convicted

Nato is now key risk for

Russia’s new doctrine

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new military doctrine, naming Nato ex-pansion among key external risks, the Kremlin said on Friday, days after Ukraine made fresh steps to join the Atlantic military alliance.Moscow’s previous military doc-trine, signed by Putin in 2010, also identifi ed Nato expansion as a top risk to Russia, but the stakes have risen sharply over the past year.

Russia said this week Nato was turning Ukraine into a “frontline of confrontation” and threat-ened to sever remaining ties if Ukraine’s hopes of joining Nato were realised.

The Kiev parliament’s renuncia-tion of Ukraine’s neutral status on Tuesday in pursuit of Nato mem-bership has outraged Moscow and deepened the worst confronta-tion between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War after Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula this year.

Nato has already boosted its military presence in Eastern Eu-

rope this year, saying it has evi-dence that Russia orchestrated and armed a pro-Russian rebel-lion in eastern Ukraine that fol-lowed the overthrow of a Kremlin-backed elected president in Kiev.

Moscow denies supporting the rebellion, and is currently trying, along with Kiev and the rebels, to renew eff orts to fi nd a political solution to the crisis in eastern Ukraine.

It is likely to take years for Ukraine to meet the technical cri-teria for accession to Nato and, even then, there is no certainty that the alliance is ready to take such a decision.

A Nato offi cial said on Friday the alliance respected the move by Ukraine’s parliament, and so should Russia.

“Should Kiev decide to apply for Nato membership, Nato will assess its readiness to join the Alliance in the same way as with any candi-date. This is an issue between Nato and individual countries aspiring to membership.” — Reuters

R E S P O N S E T O U K R A I N E C R I S I S

Gas leak kills three at S. Korea nuclear plantSEOUL: Three people were killed in a gas leak on Friday at an under-construction atomic reactor in South Korea, but the national nu-clear operator ruled out any con-nection to a cyber-attack that tar-geted the plant last week.

The workers appeared to have inhaled nitrogen gas while per-forming safety checks in an un-derground cable room at the Gori plant near the southeastern port city of Busan, Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) said, add-ing that no radioactive leaks had been reported.

“They were found unconscious and pronounced dead after being sent to hospitals for treatment,” a KHNP spokesman said.

“There was no radioactive con-tamination, although we have yet to fi nd the cause of the leak.”

Other reactors at Gori were op-erating normally, he said, adding that the leak “has nothing to do with the recent hacking attack”.

Designs and manuals for re-actors at Gori and the nearby Wolsong nuclear power plant have been published on Twitter over the past week, along with per-sonal information on some 10,000 KHNP workers.

The nuclear operator has said the leaked information was not classifi ed and that the hacking could not cause a malfunction at any of the country’s 23 atomic reactors. — AFP

U N D E R - C O N S T R U C T I O N R E A C T O R

There is no question of taking a step back from our path, we will continue along this road,

Mehmet Emin Altunses, Freed Turkish teen

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2014

SPOR S

Blues stroll to victory, United & City too win

LONDON: Chelsea overpowered West Ham United and Manches-ter City outclassed West Brom-wich Albion as the Premier League title rivals signalled their intent at the start of a hectic holiday pro-gramme on Friday.

Goals from John Terry and Diego Costa helped leaders Chel-sea to a dominant 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge before City overwhelmed West Brom 3-1 at a snowy Hawthorns — Fernando, Yaya Tour and David Silva on tar-

get for the champions.Wayne Rooney struck twice for

chasing Manchester United in a 3-1 home win over Newcastle Unit-ed while Southampton’s return to form was underlined by a 3-1 vic-tory at Crystal Palace which lifted the Saints back into the top four.

Terry tapped in Chelsea’s open-er after 31 minutes and Costa sealed the points for Jose Mour-inho’s side, although the scoreline disguised a gulf in quality between the two sides who were separated by only three places in the table at kickoff . West Ham ground out a 0-0 draw in the corresponding fi xture last year when Mourinho accused them of playing 19th Cen-tury football but once Terry had scored they off ered little.

Chelsea moved to 45 points from 18 games, three more than champions City and 10 ahead of manchester United.

Tottenham Hotspur beat bot-tom club Leicester City 2-1 for a third successive league win —

Harry Kane again on target for the London club who moved up to sixth, just ahead of Swansea City who beat Aston Villa 1-0.

Top spotWhile the race for top-four places looks like being a long, drawn out aff air, Chelsea along with Man City, who have won seven league games in succession, look like go-ing head to head for top spot in the New Year.

“Football is football, you never know and the only thing we can do to try to reduce the unpredictabil-ity of football is to do what we’re doing: playing very well,” Mour-inho said.

The fi rst half hour was one-way traffi c and the only surprise was that Chelsea did not score before Terry turned the ball over the line after Costa fl icked on a Cesc Fab-regas corner. It was Terry’s second goal in successive league games.

Costa, whose goal tally had slowed in recent weeks after an ex-

plosive start to his Chelsea career, showed his pedigree when he re-ceived a pass from Eden Hazard just past the hour mark and lashed a left-foot shot past goalkeeper Adrian.

Chelsea had numerous other chances to score with West Ham’s only fl urry coming near the end when substitute Morgan Amalfi ta-no dinked an eff ort against the post.

City responded emphatically and were out of sight before half-time at West Brom.

West Brom keeper Ben Fos-ter dropped the ball at the feet of Fernando after eight minutes to gift the visitors their opener and Toure’s spot-kick made it 2-0. Silva stroked in the third after 34 min-utes to end the game as a contest.

Raheem Sterling scored the only goal as Liverpool won at Burnley but Merseyside rivals Everton continue to struggle, losing 1-0 at home to Stoke City. Hull City end-ed a run of 10 league games with-out a win by beating Sunderland 3-1 away. - Reuters

Goals from John

Terry and Diego

Costa helped

leaders Chelsea

to a dominant 2-0

victory at Stamford

Bridge before City

overwhelmed

West Brom 3-1 at a

snowy Hawthorns

— Fernando, Yaya

Tour and David Silva

on target for the

champions

Oman begin quest for Asian Cup 2015Times News Service

MUSCAT: Oman national foot-ball team will begin its quest for the elusive AFC Asian Cup title with a well-balanced side an-nounced by national coach Paul Le Guen after a week-long do-mestic training camp. The 2015 Asian Cup will kick off on Janu-ary 9 in Australia, but Oman’s fi rst match is on January 10 at Canberra.

Oman will be based at the Aus-tralian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra after arriving on Sun-day (December 28) and will play friendly games against China and Qatar, who too will be based at the same city.

Sixteen nations divided into four groups of four will compete at the Asian Cup. Oman has been paired with Australia, South Ko-rea and Kuwait in Group A.

After reaching Canberra, Oman will play Qatar in a friend-ly on December 31 and China on January 3. Paul Le Guen had pruned his team to 23 players and hopes they perform more consistently, unlike the Gulf Cup performance recently.

Oman opens their campaign against South Korea at Canberra Stadium on January 10. Their second match against Australia in Sydney on January 13 and will conclude their group campaign

against Kuwait at Newcastle on January 17.

Ironically, Oman Football As-sociation’s technical director, Jim Selby, is also from Canberra.

Following is the 23-member Oman squad for Asian Cup 2015:

Goalkeepers: Ali Al Habsi, Mazin Al Kasbi and Mohannad Al Zabi.

Defenders: Saad Suhail, Jaber Owaisi, Abdul Salam Amir, Ali Al Busaidi, Ahmed Saleem, Nasr Al Shimli and Ali Saleem

Midfi elders: Mohammed Musallami, Ahmed ‘Kanu’ Mubarak, Hassan Mudhafar, Ali Al Jabri, Eid Al Farsi, Raed Ibra-him, Mohsin Johar

Forwards: Saeed Al Razaiqi, Mohammed Al Siyabi, Imad Al Hosni, Abdulaziz Muqbali, Ya-koob Abdulkarim, Qasim Saeed

F O O T B A : :

OMAN COACH: Paul Le Guen

Elgar, Du Plessis punish West IndiesPORT ELIZABETH: Dean Elgar and Faf du Plessis punished the West Indies for fi elding lapses as South Africa built a strong posi-tion on the fi rst day of the second Test in Port Elizabeth on Friday.

South Africa were 270 for two at the close after being sent in to bat in overcast conditions at St George’s Park. Elgar made a Test-best 121 and shared a second wicket part-nership of 179 with Du Plessis, who fi nished the day on 99 not out.

The West Indies missed four chances to break the Elgar-Du Plessis stand. The West Indian bowlers could feel aggrieved as they bowled with much better con-trol and discipline than they did in Centurion where they were heav-ily beaten by an innings and 220 runs in the fi rst Test.

Du Plessis was put down by Marlon Samuels at gully off Je-rome Taylor when he had eight and again by Devon Smith diving to his right off left-arm spinner Sulei-man Benn when he had 26.

One ball after Du Plessis’ second escape, the left-handed Elgar went down the wicket to Benn and was well out of his ground as the ball squeezed through to hit low on the pad of captain and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin. Elgar was on 48 and to add insult to the disap-pointed bowler he went down the wicket again and lofted Benn to the straight boundary to raise his fi fty.

Elgar could have been run out on 73. After a mix-up with Du Ples-sis, he was several metres short

of safety when Kenroy Peters’ throw from midwicket missed the stumps at the bowler?s end.

West Indian troubles did not end with the missed chances. Benn left the fi eld after falling heavily while trying to stop an Elgar drive.

Holder was prevented from bowl-ing in Benn’s place in the next over because he had not been on the fi eld long enough after being treated for a hand injury. Instead Taylor had to fi ll in at a time when he would have expected to be resting up ahead of taking the second new ball.

Benn returned in time to bowl four overs before the close as the West Indies delayed taking the new

ball until the last over of the day.The left-handed Elgar made his

third Test century - and his second at St George’s Park - where he has now scored 323 runs in three Tests at an average of 107.66 compared to 362 runs at 22.62 in 11 appear-ances at other venues.

It was slow going for much of the day, with South Africa seldom get-ting their run rate above three an over. Elgar took 127 balls to reach 50 and 208 balls for his century.

He batted with more fl uency later in his innings and had faced 239 deliveries, hitting 18 fours, when he edged a catch to Ramdin off debutant left-arm seamer Ken-

roy Peters. Du Plessis was even slower than Elgar in reaching a half-century off 137 balls. He faced 228 balls before the close and hit 12 fours and two sixes. Elgar and Alviro Petersen put on 47 for the fi rst wicket before Petersen played a rash stroke against Shannon Gabriel and was caught by Leon Johnson, running back from cover.

Peters and Gabriel were among three seam bowling changes in the West Indian bowling line-up, with the tall Holder also getting his fi rst game of the series. - AFP

T E S T S E R I E S

Bat on Everest planned as tribute to Hughes

MELBOURNE: Planning is under way to place a bat which once belonged to Austral-ian cricketer Phillip Hughes on Mount Everest in a tribute to the batsman who died last month, an offi cial said Friday.

The death of Hughes, 25, from a head blow sustained while playing a domestic match stunned the sports world and triggered an outpouring of grief.

Cricket Australia chairman Wally Edwards said Friday that the Cricket Association of Nepal had proposed the Ever-est idea. After Hughes’ death, bats were left outside the front doors of homes in Australia and around the world and a spontaneous #putyourbatsout campaign received a massive response with thousands post-ing pictures of bats on Twitter.

Edwards also told a Boxing Day Test lunch there were plans for a 63-over game to be played in Nepal as part of the tribute to Hughes who was 63 not out when he sustained the fatal injury, Australian Associated Press reported.

“So although we enter the festive season with heavy hearts, the community’s re-sponse has been comforting and in many ways uplifting,” Edwards said in Melbourne. In another development, a re-port said Friday that Cricket Australia has trademarked the phrase “63 not out” to prevent people from cashing in on the death of the batsman. - AFP

T R I B U T E

DAY’S STARS: South Africa’s Dean Elgar, right, acknowledges the

crowd after scoring a century as Faf du Plessis, who is unbeaten on

99, looks on.. – AFP

South Africa 1st innings:A. Petersen c Johnson b Gabriel 17D. Elgar c Ramdin b Peters 121F. du Plessis not out 99H. Amla not out 17Extras (lb-4, nb-7, w-5) 16Total (2 wkts, 88 overs) 270Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-226Bowling: Taylor 19-4-64-0 (2nb, 1w), Peters 15-6-44-1, Holder 13-5-25-0 (1nb), Gabriel 15-0-52-1 (1nb), Benn 25-3-81-0 (1nb), Samuels 1-1-0-0To bat: A. de Villiers, S. van Zyl, T. Bavuma, V. Philander, D. Steyn, M. Morkel, Imran TahirWest Indies: D. Ramdin, K. Brathwaite, D. Smith, L. Johnson, M. Samuels, S. Chanderpaul, J. Holder, J. Taylor, S. Benn, S. Gabriel, K. PetersUmpires: Billy Bowden (NZL), Paul Reiff el (AUS)TV umpire: Aleem Dar (PAK)Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)

S C O R E B O A R D

ON TARGET: Manchester City’s Yaya Toure shoots to score a goal from a penalty during their English

Premier League match against West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns in West Bromwich – Reuters

A12

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Smith torments Team India on Boxing Day

MELBOURNE: Australia’s Steve Smith played another captain’s knock and Chris Rogers and Shane Watson hit fi fties on the opening day of the third Test against India in Melbourne on Friday.

Before a Boxing Day crowd of almost 70,000, Smith joined team-mate David Warner in reaching 1,000 Test runs for the calendar year with his unbeaten 72.

At the close, Australia were 259 for fi ve after winning the toss with Brad Haddin seeking a confi dence-boosting innings on 23.

Smith passed 50 for the fourth time in fi ve innings in this series among them an unconquered 162 in Adelaide and 133 in Brisbane. So far he has amassed 447 runs at 223.5 for the series.

Smith, who won his fi rst Test as skipper in four days in Brisbane last weekend, was well positioned for his third ton of the series after Rogers and Watson missed out on cashing in on solid starts.

“It’s phenomenal to watch and great to be a part of. He is just growing day by day and it’s scary to think how good he can be,” Rogers said of Smith. “Someone threw a ball back at him today and he had the confi dence to say a few words back at him so it looks as if he

knows he belongs and he knows he’s one of the better players in the world at the moment.”

Rogers hit his third straight half-century of the series and Watson made 52 in a 115-run stand before they were dismissed fi ve minutes apart in the hour after lunch.

The pair had put on 59 runs off 131 balls for the fourth wicket.

Rogers, who scored 116 in last season’s corresponding Boxing Day Test against England, pushed at paceman Mohammed Shami and was snapped up behind by M.S. Dhoni for 57. “I think three scores in the 50s is good in some respects but it’s also very disap-pointing,” Rogers said.

“As an opener you do the hard work and put yourself in a position where you can get a big score so to get out like that was disappointing because I felt good today, I felt my feet were going and I had a real de-sire to get a big score.”

Debutant Burns scores 13Watson followed six balls later in off -spinner Ravichandran Ash-win’s seventh over with an ill-judged sweep shot and was out leg before wicket for 52 in 89 balls.

Watson had a let off on 37 near-ing lunch when Shikhar Dhawan fumbled him at second slip at the third attempt off Shami.

It was Watson’s 23rd half-cen-tury in Tests with just a below-par conversion rate of four centuries in his 55th Test for the senior top order batsman. It was the 27th time in 102 Test innings Watson had been dismissed leg before wicket. Shaun Marsh again failed to go on after a solid start and was caught behind by Dhoni off Shami with no addition to his tea score of 32 off 83 balls.

Debutant Joe Burns was given a rousing welcome as he came out to bat at four wickets down and got a roar with his fi rst scoring shot off Shami for three. Burns hoisted Ashwin over mid-wicket for four in a positive show of confi dence

at Test level. But he lasted 27 balls before he attempted a pull shot on 13 and bottom-edged through to Dhoni off Yadav.

Warner, who scored twin tons in the opening Adelaide Test, was out in the second over of the innings.

He only lasted six balls before he played across Umesh Yadav and edged to Dhawan at third slip for a duck. Shami and Yadav fi nished with two wickets each.

India made two changes from the team that lost the second Bris-bane Test, with debutant Lokesh Rahul and Mohammed Shami coming into the side. Rahul, who replaced Rohit Sharma, was se-lected to bat at number six, while speedster Varun Aaron made way for Shami, who was off the fi eld for injury treatment late in the day.

Team offi cials said Aaron was fl ying home for his grandfather’s funeral and would be returning to Australia by the end of the Mel-bourne Test. Dhoni’s tourists trail 2-0 in the four-match series after defeats in Adelaide and Brisbane, and have not won at the MCG for 33 years. - AFP

Before a Boxing Day

crowd of almost

70,000, Smith joined

teammate David

Warner in reaching

1,000 Test runs for

the calendar year

with his unbeaten 72

Australia 1st inningsC. Rogers c Dhoni b Shami 57D. Warner c Dhawan b Yadav 0S. Watson lbw b Ashwin 52S. Smith not out 72S. Marsh c Dhoni b Shami 32J. Burns c Dhoni b Yadav 13B. Haddin not out 23Extras (b1, lb6, w1, nb2) 10Total (5 wickets, 90 overs) 259Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Warner), 2-115 (Rogers), 3-115 (Watson), 4-184 (Marsh), 5-216 (Burns)Bowling: I. Sharma 21-6-54-0 (2nb), Yadav 20-2-69-2, Shami 17-4-55-2 (1w), Ashwin 27-7-60-1, Vijay 5-0-14-0Toss: AustraliaUmpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI) Richard Kettleborough (ENG)TV umpire: John Ward (AUS)Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI)

S C O R E B O A R D

72*runs from 158 balls

4 fours, 1 six

STEVESMITH

Record-breaker McCullum gifts ‘special day’WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s big-hitting skipper Brendon Mc-Cullum was hailed Friday for his rollicking 195 to dramatically turn the opening day of the fi rst Test against Sri Lanka.

His dominating 134-ball per-formance which led New Zealand to 429-7 at stumps also carried special signifi cance for the 8,000 people who packed Christchurch’s Hagley Oval.

They were looking for an out-standing performance to mark the return of Test cricket to the earth-quake-battered city and the signs were against them until McCul-lum strode to the crease with New Zealand at 88-3.

The wicket was green and Mc-Cullum, who lost the toss, was forced to bat on a pitch where he desperately wanted to bowl.

But within a session and a half he had Sri Lanka on the ropes at the oval, a venue purpose built af-ter the city’s former cricket ground at Lancaster Park was destroyed in the devastating 2011 earthquakes which claimed 185 lives.

Best opening dayMcCullum spreadeagled the fi eld, smashing 18 fours and 11 sixes, in a record-breaking performance that New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan rated the best opening day in New Zealand Test history.

“It was a very special day. It was the sort of day this venue and this city deserved with what they’ve gone through,” McMillan said.

As McCullum bludgeoned the bowling, he took just 74 balls to crack the fastest century in New Zealand Test history and became the fi rst New Zealander to score 1,000 runs in a calendar year.

He equalled Craig McMillan’s New Zealand record of 26 off one over when he smashed three sixes and two fours off six balls from Sri Lanka’s strike bowler Suranga Lakmal. He also equalled the New Zealand record of 11 sixes in an innings, one short of the world re-cord of 12 sixes held by Pakistan’s Wasim Akram.

In his career, McCullum has now hit 92 sixes, closing in on the world’s best of 100 by Austral-ian Adam Gilchrist. “Even in your wildest dreams you would never have picked a day of Test cricket like that, especially when the pitch is a little bit on the green side and you lose the toss,” McMillan said.

“I don’t think I have enough superlatives to describe (McCul-lum’s) innings.

“He has the ability to dominate, dismantle bowlers very quickly and change the tempo and the way an innings is heading very quickly.

“He’s so destructive. I think,

probably the most destructive and domineering player who has played for New Zealand.”

The innings capped a stellar year for McCullum who in Febru-ary became the fi rst New Zealand-er to join the elite club of cricket-ers to score 300 in a Test innings.

McCullum also brought up the fastest test century by a New Zea-lander, off 74 balls, before he went to the break on 102 while Jimmy Neesham was on nought.

McCullum had needed 31 runs to reach the 1,000 mark and brought it up with a six over long off in a typically aggressive innings.

McCullum thought he had reached his century when he blast-ed a six off debutant off -spinner Tharindu Kaushal, but he was ac-tually a run short.

A review of a leg before appeal showed he had hit the ball but the two runs were left as leg byes and not credited to his personal score.

Having acknowledged the crowd he then realised he was still on 99 and brought up the century

on the next ball. Against Sri Lanka he starred in two century partner-ships — with Kane Williamson (54) and Jimmy Neesham (85) — as he led his side out of trouble and put them in command of the Test.

When he was eventually un-done, caught by a diving Dimuth Karunaratne to give off -spinner Tharindu Kaushal his maiden Test wicket, McCullum left the ground to a standing ovation. - AFP

T E S T S E R I E S

195runs from 134 balls

18 fours, 11 sixes

BRENDONMCCULLUM

New Zealand 1st inningsT. Latham c Kaushal b Eranga 27H. Rutherford b Lakmal 18K. Williamson b Prasad 54R. Taylor run out (Silva) 7B. McCullum c Karunaratne b Kaushal 195J. Neesham c Sangakkara b Mathews 85BJ Watling lbw Mathews 26M. Craig not out 5Extras (lb4, w2, nb6) 12Total (7 wickets, 80.3 overs) 429Fall of wickets: 1-37 (Rutherford), 2-60 (Latham), 3-88 (Taylor), 4-214 (Williamson), 5-367 (McCullum), 6-420 (Neesham), 7-429 (Watling)Bowling: Lakmal 17-3-83-1 (1nb), Eranga 18-1-82-1, Mathews 9.3-1-34-2, Prasad 12-2-62-1 (2w), Kaushal 22-0-159-1 (5nb), Thirimanne 2-0-5-0

Toss: Sri LankaUmpires: Richard Illingworth (ENG), Bruce Oxenford (AUS)TV umpire: Steve Davis (AUS)Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)

S C O R E B O A R D

Brendon McCullum’s innings in 2014 after he became the fi rst New Zealand batsman to surpass 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year (tabulated as Month, Score, Opponent, Venue)February 224 India AucklandFebruary 1 India AucklandFebruary 8 India WellingtonFebruary 302 India WellingtonJune 7 West Indies KingstonJune 17 West Indies Kingston

June 4 West Indies Port-of-SpainJune 3 West Indies Port-of-SpainJune 31 West Indies BridgetownJune 25 West Indies BridgetownNovember 18 Pakistan Abu DhabiNovember 39 Pakistan Abu DhabiNovember 43 Pakistan DubaiNovember 45 Pakistan DubaiNovember 202 Pakistan SharjahNovember DNB Pakistan SharjahDecember 195 Sri Lanka Christchurch

F A C T B O X

Pakistan will do well at World Cup: Shehzad

KARACHI: Pakistan opener Ahmed Shehzad is of the fi rm belief that the national cricket team can do wonders at the 2015 ICC World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand February 14-March 29.

The last time the World Cup was held in Australia, Pakistan turned out to be the eventual winners in 1992 and the Paki-stani opener feels this feat can be matched, Dawn online reported Friday. “This is my fi rm belief that Pakistan team will do very well at the World Cup. All the players have been working hard and I’m sure this tough grind backed by teamwork and posi-tive attitude will enable the play-ers — who have all the potential — to do wonders in Australia and New Zealand,” Shehzad said.

“Like other players, I’m also trying my best and hopefully all this will pay off . After the recent series against Australia and New Zealand in the UAE, we’ve had several team talks, in which we bucked each other up and it certainly made us more organ-ised as a unit.”

Shehzad has performed rea-sonably well for Pakistan re-cently and as a result the right-hander has become a regular member in all three formats. “I retained the belief, the convic-tion that I can do it and improve. With Almighty’s grace this self-confi dence helped me return to international cricket with success during the last 12 to 15 months or so,” stressed Shehzad who returned to the ODI fold in July 2013 for West Indies series.

“First, I played T20s. Then I was given the opportunity in ODIs, which require a com-pletely diff erent approach, and I managed to perform. Finally, I came into Tests, which was my dream.” - IANS

C R I C K E T

BMARKE

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMS AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 14

PLAYSTATION AND XBOXHIT BY ‘HACKER ATTACK’The disruption started Christmas Day and went into on Friday, PlayStation and Xbox said on their Twitter feeds, adding that they were working to restore service. >B3

Regulator off ers standardised minimum capital measureGENEVA: The Basel global banking supervisory body has proposed introducing a standard-ised model to calculate a mini-mum level of capital banks would need to keep in reserve.

The so-called capital fl oor “will be based on revised standardised approaches for credit, market and operational risk, which are currently under consultation,” the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision said in a statement released this week.

The Basel Committee has been in the forefront of a global eff ort requiring banks to hold more cap-ital after the 2008 fi nancial crisis when many lenders needed gov-ernment bailouts as they didn’t have enough funds in reserve.

However the increased capital ratios that are coming into eff ect under the so-called Basel III regu-lations are still mostly based on a bank’s internal model of calculat-ing the risk of its activities.

“The fl oor is meant to mitigate model risk and measurement error stemming from internal-

ly-modelled approaches,” said the Basel Committee. “It would enhance the comparability of capital outcomes across banks, and also ensure that the level of capital across the banking sys-tem does not fall below a certain level,” it added. The Basel Com-

mittee also released proposals to reduce reliance on international credit ratings agencies in deter-mining credit risk, in favour of a handful of risk measures that can be applied globally but which also refl ect the local nature of some exposures. - AFP

B A S E L C O M M I T T E E

THE BIGGEST ROBOT RESTAURANT IN CHINAA man puts dishes on robots for delivery at a restaurant in Hefei, Anhui province, yesterday. The restaurant, with a space of 1,300 square metres and a total of

30 robots to cook meals, deliver dishes and welcome costumers, was reported to be the biggest robot restaurant in China. - Reuters

Saudi budget at $80 crude refl ects belief in rebound

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s 2015 budget is probably assuming an oil price of $80 a barrel, and will be seen as a sign of confi dence in the market, according to a former economic adviser to the country’s government.

The assumption is down from $103 a barrel for this year, John Sfakianakis, who used to be chief economic adviser to Saudi Ara-bia’s Ministry of Finance, said by phone after the budget was an-

nounced on Thursday. The world’s biggest crude exporter set 2015 spending at SR860 billion ($229 billion) with revenue falling to SR715 billion from SR1.046 tril-lion in 2014, the Finance Ministry said. Oil, which has slumped 47 per cent this year to $60.23 a bar-rel in London, accounted for 89 per cent of its 2014 revenue.

Brent crude tumbled into a bear market this year as the US pumped the most oil in more than

three decades, leading the United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei to urge pro-ducers from outside the Organi-sation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec)to trim output. Iraq, the second-biggest producer in Opec, said this week its 2015 budget is based on $60 oil.

“Everyone was expecting to see a budget built on a price around $60 but that would have sent a negative message to the oil mar-

ket,” Sfakianakis said from Ri-yadh. “With a fi scal break even price of $80 a barrel, the govern-ment is sending a message to the market that we are expecting to see a rebound in oil prices.”

Sfakianakis is Middle East di-rector at London- based Ashmore Group.

Saudi Arabia is confi dent that crude prices will rebound with global economic growth boost-ing demand as high-cost produc-

ers cut back, Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said on December 21. “I’m 100 per cent sure prices will go up, they have no other direction but to go up.”

Brent crude slid one cent to $60.23 a barrel on the London- based ICE Futures Europe ex-change at 4:33pm Singapore time. West Texas Intermediate added 19 cents to $56.03.

US stockpiles climbed 7.27 mil-lion barrels in the week ended on December 19 as imports surged, according to the Energy Informa-tion Administration.

Saudi Arabia has 265 billion barrels of oil reserves, with pro-duction of 9.65 million barrels a day in November, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Iraq, the second-biggest pro-ducer, was pumping 3.35 million barrels.

Opec’s decision to maintain output at its November 27 meet-ing in Vienna fanned speculation that Saudi Arabia and other mem-bers want North American shale drillers and other producers out-side the group to be the fi rst to cut production. Saudi Arabia and Iran this month cut the offi cial price levels of their main light crude grades for sale to Asia to the low-est in at least 14 years. - Bloomberg News

The world’s biggest

crude exporter set

2015 spending at

SR860 billion with

revenue falling to

SR715 billion from

SR1.046 trillion in

2014, the Finance

Ministry said

Crude oil trades above $60 a barrel

SINGAPORE: Oil traded above $60 a barrel in London amid the highest volatility in more than three years on speculation that Saudi Arabia, the largest crude exporter, is signalling confi dence that prices will rally.

Brent futures swung between gains and losses. Saudi Arabia’s assumption of oil at $80 a barrel next year is sending a message that the government expects a price rebound, according to John Sfaki-anakis, a former economic adviser to the kingdom’s fi nance ministry. Implied volatility for at-the-mon-ey options this week increased to the highest since October 2011, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Oil has slumped 46 per cent this year, poised for the biggest drop since 2008, as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) resisted supply cuts to de-fend market share while the high-est US production in three decades exacerbated a global glut. Crude prices are “fair” at about $70 to $80 a barrel, Iraq’s Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said.

“The market is fl uctuating today as there’s less liquidity,” Will Yun, an analyst at Hyundai Futures in Seoul, said by phone today. “Un-certainties still linger in the mar-ket as Opec and the US haven’t signaled any output cuts or a slow-down in their production.”

Brent for February settlement was at $60.33 a barrel on the Lon-don-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, up nine cents, at 4:54pm Singapore time. The contract fell $1.45 to $60.24 on December 24. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $4.23 to West Texas Intermediate (WTI). Prices are down 1.7 per cent this week, set for a fi fth weekly de-crease. WTI for February deliv-ery was 31 cents higher at $56.15 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It slid $1.28 to $55.84 on December 24. The volume of all futures traded was about 38 per cent below the 100-day average.

Opec, whose 12 members supply about 40 percent of the world’s oil, decided at a November 27 meet-ing to maintain its production target at 30 million barrels a day. The group pumped 30.56 million a day in November, exceeding its target for a sixth straight month, a Bloomberg survey of companies, producers and analysts shows.

In Libya, the Petroleum Facili-ties Guard called in air strikes on Islamist militias that it said had shelled the country’s largest oil port at Es Sider. Libya’s output has declined to 352,000 barrels a day, compared with as much as 900,000 a day in October, ac-cording to Mohamed Elharari, a spokesman at state-run National Oil Corp. - Bloomberg News

O I L S U P P L Y

FUELLING GROWTH: Saudi Arabia is confi dent that crude prices

will rebound with global economic growth boosting demand as

high-cost producers cut back. — Bloomberg fi le picture

Brent crude slid one

cent to $60.23 a barrel

on the London- based

ICE Futures Europe

exchange at 4:33pm

Singapore time. West

Texas Intermediate

(WTI) added 19 cents

to reach $56.03

REPORT: The Basel Committee has been in the forefront of a

global eff ort requiring banks to hold more capital after the 2008

fi nancial crisis when many lenders needed government bailouts

as they didn’t have enough funds in reserve. — Bloomberg fi le picture

B2 S AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 4

FEATURE

Weather can be a great equaliser. It can also be a way to make conversa-tion with just about eve-ryone. No wonder, then,

that the weather forecast is one of the pieces of information many of us crave when starting each day — and that weather apps are among the most frequently used programs on smartphones.

Weather apps aren’t all created equal, though. The built-in apps on iPhones and Android phones are perfectly serviceable, offering glanceable forecasts for as many cities as you want, and they’re tied into the phones’ virtual assistants. But weather technology — both the creation and presentation of forecasts — is evolving quickly. It’s worth checking out the options.

For prettier backdrops, Yahoo Weather is hands down the most gorgeous app out there. Weather Underground’s app is for budding meteorologists who want to dig deep into weather conditions, and Dark Sky’s mesmerising globe of animated weather patterns is a great party trick.

In the end, though, finding the right weather app is really a mat-ter of personal taste in the design, how much information you want and, crucially, how much you trust the forecast. And there is a bit of a philosophical difference brewing in terms of how those forecasts are created. Now, weather apps are often powered by one of a few sources of information, including the Weather Channel and Weather Underground (both of which are owned by the Weather Co.), and Weatherbug and AccuWeather.

The forecasts coming from those services combine data from the National Weather Service, weather balloons, satellites, NASA and local stations dotted all over

the country, as well as various other sensors. All of that raw in-formation forms a rough picture of what’s happening in the atmos-phere at any given time. Then, a meteorologist usually comes in to interpret and analyse the data and, based on a mix of experience and education, chooses the informa-tion on which to base a forecast.

The data and forecasts created in that way power many weather apps. The Weather Channel pro-vides Apple’s built-in forecasts, for example, while Weather Un-derground provides data for Goog-le’s weather and powers Yahoo Weather. Those data and forecast providers all have their own apps as well. The Weather Channel app, for example, offers useful informa-tion like airport conditions and flu outbreak updates by region, while Weather Underground has the richest (and geekiest) informa-tion. For my taste, Weatherbug is the best app offered by the main providers, because it offers nice-ties like the ability to sort your forecast by whether it’s a good day for golf or one that is likely to cause dry skin.

But the folks behind Dark Sky, a popular and visually stunning weather app, are doing things a bit differently. That company formed about three years ago to create a new kind of forecast that would use radar data to predict whether it was going to rain — or stop rain-ing — in an immediate location and within the next hour.

No one was really doing that, said Adam Grossman, a co-creator of the Dark Sky app. So the compa-ny had to build its own computer programs for figuring out radar data for that one example: Is it go-ing to be raining an hour from now in this one, specific spot?

That work evolved into longer-

term forecasting, and led to a sepa-rate product called Forecast. Gross-man says the weather predictions all come from computers; no mete-orologists are involved. Algorithms compare predictions from various stations or weather sources with historical accuracy and spit out purely statistical predictions.

“We get a lot of flak from me-teorologists who say computers can’t do it and you always need a human in there to call the shots,” Grossman said. “But humans are really bad at forecasting. When it comes to weather forecasting it’s best to leave it to the computers.”

It’s a bit like “Moneyball” hits weather prediction — the idea that statistical models can, in the long run, offer better forecasts than a mix of information and gut instinct. But the folks at the Weather Channel say there are plenty of computers involved in their forecasting — and humans who know how to make the most of the data, too.

“We’re an organisation that em-ploys hundreds of meteorologists, plus the computational science required to produce the forecast and then deploy it,” said Kevin Doerr, who manages consumer digital products at the Weather Channel. “That ends up being kind of our secret sauce. There’s a big difference between whether you’re just taking the data and pushing it out, and improving or augmenting the data.”

The forecast model for longer-term predictions is new, and still evolving. But so far, the secret sauce scores higher, at least ac-cording to ForecastWatch, an or-ganisation that tracks the accura-cy of weather forecast providers. (Yes, that exists.)

ForecastWatch runs Fore-castAdvisor, a site that lets you

plug in your ZIP code and track the accuracy of forecasts from major weather services. Based on ForecastAdvisor, the most accu-rate forecasts for midtown Man-hattan over the last month came from AccuWeather (whose app is straightforward but lacks extras and can be hard to read at times). It was right 85 percent of the time. Dark Sky was next, with 84 percent accuracy. Weather Underground was third for the month. Over the course of a year, top honors go to MeteoGroup, a weather forecaster based in Europe.

In San Francisco, though, Dark Sky has fared poorly against Ac-cuWeather, the Weather Channel and Weather Underground. None of them, though, has had higher than 82 percent accuracy there. Grossman pointed out that under “further accuracy analysis” on ForecastAdvisor, Dark Sky’s pre-cipitation accuracy ranks high, and that ForecastAdvisor tracks just daily highs and lows rather than the hourly temperature pre-dictions Dark Sky might excel at.

So, as always when it comes to the weather, there’s much to dis-cuss and few clear answers. But as forecasting grows more advanced and the data is more accessible to app makers, Grossman said, devel-opers would experiment with pre-senting it in more interesting and useful ways.

“For some people, wind is very important; for others, rain is very important,” he said. “But another branch is people who are supple-menting things, not necessarily weather. Apps with calendar infor-mation can tell people they might want to leave a little early because rain is coming.” And weather, al-ways a reliable topic of conversa-tion, is social in apps, too. — MOLLY

WOOD / The New York Times News Service

IN SEARCH OF THE IDEAL WEATHER APP

B3S AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 14

MARKET

PlayStation and Xbox hit by ‘hacker attack’

WASHINGTON: The online gaming networks for Sony’s Play-Station and Microsoft’s Xbox con-soles — hot gifts this Christmas — went dark in what hackers said was a coordinated attack.

The disruption started Christ-mas Day and went into Friday, PlayStation and Xbox said on their Twitter feeds, adding that they were working to restore service. A subsequent message posted to the Xbox status page early Friday upgraded service to “limited” — a sign that support teams were mak-ing inroads in fi xing the problem.

A new Twitter user going by the name “Lizard Squad” took credit for the disruption, claiming it had the “nation on strings.”

The name is the same used by a group of hackers that has targeted Sony in the past, though it was not possible to verify the Twitter account’s authenticity. The ac-

count did not return request for comment and only became active Wednesday. Sony this month was hit by a sophisticated hacking at-tack that stole massive amounts of data from its servers. The US has blamed North Korea for the attack, with the hermit state seen as furi-ous at the release of a Sony movie comedy, “The Interview”, which parodies leader Kim Jong-Un.

After initially cancelling the December 25 release of “The In-terview”, Sony backtracked and brought it out in a few US theatres and made it available online — in-cluding through the Xbox console and, soon, the PlayStation.

Sony’s @PlayStation Twitter account said on Friday: “We’re aware that some users are having issues logging into PSN — engi-neers are investigating.”

Its @AskPlayStation Twitter account wrote early on Friday, a

day after the diffi culties began: “Our engineers are continuing to work hard to resolve the network issues users have experienced to-day. Thanks for your continued patience!” Meanwhile, Microsoft on a site for its Xbox customers pleaded with its game fans to be patient. “We’re aware of this is-sue, and we’re working to fi nd a fi x ASAP! We appreciate your pa-tience in the meantime, and we encourage you to retry signing in when you get a chance. We’ll update you as soon as we know more,” the message said.

While a direct connection be-tween “The Interview” and the service disruptions could not be confi rmed, some gamers were convinced a link exists.

“I blame that darn movie ‘The Interview’,” wrote as2009man on a PlayStation community forum message board.

“It’s the gift that keeps on giv-ing,” he said.

Another poster to the same forum said he was getting fed up with the game world’s vulnerabil-ity to repeated denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

“A DDos attack is like a semi (truck) driver intentionally jack-knifi ng his rig on a busy interstate and shutting down traffi c for a few hours,” said one gamer, who wrote under the name “shadoefax.”

Game users also took to Twitter to vent their frustration.

“After this christmas, #lizard-squad is forever on the naughty list,” one frustrated gamer fumed.

A major cyber attack on Play-Station in 2011 saw personal details from 77 million custom-ers stolen, preventing customers from playing online and forcing Sony to disable the network for more than three weeks. — AFP

The disruption

started Christmas

Day and went into on

Friday, PlayStation

and Xbox said on

their Twitter feeds,

adding that they

were working to

restore service. A

subsequent message

posted to the Xbox

status page early

Friday upgraded

service to ‘limited’ —

a sign that support

teams were making

inroads in fi xing the

problem

Tokyo stocks end marginally higherTOKYO: Tokyo stocks ended slightly higher on Friday after a quiet week with many investors away for the Christmas holidays, but market watchers were upbeat as the Nikkei sits at multi-year highs.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange is open for business on Monday and Tuesday before shutting until Jan-uary 5, the fi rst trading day of 2015.

Analysts pointed to strong per-formances on Wall Street, falling oil prices, an expected Japanese government stimulus package, and the latest round of Bank of Japan monetary easing which sharply weakened the yen, boost-ing shares of Japanese exporters.

While Japan’s economic recov-ery stumbled after a sales tax rise in April, there are positive signs on the horizon, said Shigeo Suga-wara, senior investment offi cer at Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Asset Management, “The virtuous cycle of improving corporate earnings, wage rises, and stronger spending is starting,” he said.

“It’s just the pace and the strength (that) is underwhelming,” he told Dow Jones Newswires.

Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of the equity division at SMBC Nikko Securities, also predicted healthy gains in 2015, saying that “I’m anticipating stocks to re-bound after they struggled for some time”.

On Friday, the Nikkei 225 in-dex at the Tokyo Stock Exchange edged up 0.06 per cent, or 10.21 points, to fi nish at 17,818.96, log-ging a weekly gain of 1.12 per cent.

The Nikkei is up more than nine per cent this year.

The broader Topix index of all fi rst-section shares rose 0.44 per cent, or 6.24 points, on Friday to end at 1,427.50. It added 1.27 per cent over the week.

Fresh Japanese dataEarlier Friday, the market largely shrugged off a barrage of fresh Japanese data that provided fur-ther evidence of slowdown in the world’s number three economy. Japan’s industrial output suff ered a surprise drop in November, turn-ing down after two months of rises.

Meanwhile, Japanese core in-fl ation rate continued to slow in November, dealing another chal-lenged to Tokyo and the Japanese central bank’s battle to conquer years of defl ation.

European and US stocks mar-kets were closed Thursday for the Christmas holiday, while fi nancial markets in Hong Kong and Aus-tralia were among those in Asia-Pacifi c closed on Friday.

In Friday Tokyo stocks trade, Honda fell 1.12 per cent to 3,620 yen after media reports said the automaker would likely put off the January launch of a luxury sedan due to additional safety system checks. Honda is among the au-tomakers hardest hit by the recall of millions of vehicles over defec-tive airbags, made by auto parts giant Takata, which have been linked to at least fi ve deaths.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group was up 0.68 per cent at 4,435.5 yen after Citigroup said Thursday it was selling its cen-tury-old Japanese retail banking operations to the Japanese group’s trust banking unit. - AFP

S T O C K M A R K E T

India hikes palm oil import dutyNEW DELHI: India, the world’s biggest buyer of palm oil, raised import duties on crude and re-fi ned varieties in a move to pro-tect farmers from declining oil-seed prices.

The tax on crude palm oil was increased to 7.5 per cent from 2.5 per cent, while the duty on re-fi ned grades was also increased to 15 per cent from 10 per cent, the Central Board of Excise & Cus-

toms (CBEC) said in a statement on its website in a notice dated on December 24.

Export taxesThe increase may counter the benefi ts shippers were expecting to gain from the scrapping of ex-port taxes by Indonesia and Ma-laysia, which account for about 86 per cent of world supply.

Indonesia extended on Friday

its zero duty for a fourth month to January, while Malaysia has al-ready prolonged its duty exemp-tion through February.

Both countries are seeking to cut reserves in a year of unprec-edented oilseed supply.

“The duty diff erence will help value addition” in India, B.V. Me-hta, executive director of the Sol-vent Extractors’ Association, said by phone. - Bloomberg News

E C O N O M Y

UPBEAT PERFORMANCE: The Tokyo Stock Exchange is open for

business on Monday and Tuesday before shutting until January 5,

the fi rst trading day of 2015. — Bloomberg fi le picture

COORDINATED ATTACK: Online hackers have taken credit for an online service outage of Sony’s Play-

Station and Microsoft’s Xbox game consoles on December 25, 2014 as people unwrapped their new

toys on Christmas morning. — AFP

MARKETS AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 4

Stay ahead of

the curve with

WhatsNews

SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY INSTALL WHATSNEWS

B4

Indian stocks advance; rupee depreciates

MUMBAI: Indian stocks com-pleted their third weekly decline this month led by industrials and consumer companies.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.1 per cent to 27,241.78 at the close, after changing direction at least 18 times. The measure has dropped 5.1 per cent in December and is headed for its worst month since February 2013. Foreigners pulled $1.1 billion from domestic shares in 11 days through December 22, the longest run of outfl ows since June 2012, as falling oil prices and Russia’s currency crisis cooled demand for developing-nations equities.

Rupee declinesIndia’s rupee completed a third week of losses on speculation im-porters stepped up dollar purchas-es to meet month-end payments and as US economic data bolstered the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.

The rupee fell 0.4 per cent from December 19 and 0.1 per cent on Friday to 63.5675 a dollar in Mum-bai, prices compiled by Bloomb-erg from local banks show. The currency has dropped 2.9 per cent this quarter. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 peers, touched a fi ve-year high this week and has risen 11 per cent in 2014.

“We are playing in sync with other emerging markets as the dol-lar stays strong,” said Anindya Ba-nerjee, a currency analyst at Kotak Securities in Mumbai.

Three-month off shore non-de-liverable forwards fell 0.4 per cent from December 19 to 64.68 a dol-lar, data compiled by Bloomberg show. They declined 0.2 per cent on Friday. Forwards are agree-ments to buy or sell assets at a set price and date. Non- deliverable contracts are settled in dollars.

“There seems to be all-round dollar buying by importers with both the month-end and year-end approaching,” said Naveen Raghu-vanshi, a Mumbai-based trader at DCB Bank. — Bloomberg News

I N D I A N M A R K E T S Japan factory output down, inflation slows in November

TOKYO: Japan’s factory output and infl ation rate slowed in No-vember, offi cial data showed on Friday, dealing a fresh challenge for Tokyo’s bid re-boot the econ-omy, just days after pro-business prime minister Shinzo Abe was re-elected following a snap election.

The weak fi gures raised the prospect of further easing by the Bank of Japan (BoJ) as its ambi-tious 2.0 per cent infl ation target, aimed at ending years of tepid growth, appears increasingly out of reach. The bank’s move in late October to expand its massive asset-buying plan, which now stands at about 80 trillion yen ($670 billion) annually, sharply weakened the yen and stoked a stock market rally.

Japan slipped into recession during the third quarter as an April sales tax rise slammed the brakes on growth in the world’s number three economy, and the impact of the additional easing

has now “completely gone”, ac-cording to SMBC Nikko Securi-ties. Worse, Japan’s core infl ation rate could dip into negative ter-ritory soon as a drop in crude oil prices weighs on eff orts to boost prices and slay defl ation.

Additional easing“It depends on US employment data and crude oil prices, but the BoJ could go ahead with a stun-ning additional easing as early as January,” SMBC said in a note.

On Friday, offi cial data showed that industrial production con-tracted 0.6 per cent in November from the previous month, revers-

ing two months of rises and miss-ing a market forecast for a 0.8 per cent increase.

“Industrial production fl uctu-ates indecisively,” the industry ministry said in a monthly report, leaving unchanged its overall as-sessment despite the downturn.

Separate data from the internal aff airs ministry showed core in-fl ation, excluding volatile prices of fresh food, slowed to 2.7 per cent from 2.9 per cent in October.

Prices had been on the rise largely because due to the sales tax rise from 5.0 per cent to 8.0 per cent on April 1, which drove up re-tail prices.

Adjusted for the tax increase, Japan’s core consumer-price in-dex rose 0.7 per cent from a year earlier in November, the lowest since September 2013 and falling further behind the BoJ’s infl ation target. The internal aff airs minis-try on Friday also said household spending fell 2.5 per cent year-on-year in November while the jobless rate was unchanged at 3.5 per cent.

Millions of shoppers launched a last-minute buying binge on everything from cars and wash-ing machines to televisions and alcohol, before the levy hike ear-lier this year. But spending dived

after the increase, throwing Japan into economic contraction and prompting Abe to delay another sales tax rise next year.

Enormous national debtThe tax rises are aimed at paying down Japan’s enormous national debt, but they have put Abe in a tricky position as he tries to bal-ance them with his pro-spending growth plan, dubbed Abenomics.

This week, Japan’s parliament overwhelmingly voted to return the 60-year-old premier to power, after he called for a snap election had billed as a referendum on his economic policies. - AFP

The weak fi gures

raised the prospect

of further easing

by the Bank of

Japan (BoJ) as

its ambitious 2.0

per cent infl ation

target, aimed at

ending years of tepid

growth, appears

increasingly out

of reach

ROBERT SKIDELSKY*

There is a growing appre-hension among Britain’s fi nancial pundits that

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is not nearly as determined to cut public spend-ing as he pretends to be. He sets himself deadlines to balance the books, but when the date ar-rives, with the books still unbal-anced, he simply sets another.

Consider some fi scal arith-metic. When Osborne became Chancellor in 2010, the budget defi cit – spending minus rev-enue – was £153 billion ($239 billion), or 10.2 per cent of GDP. He promised that by 2015 the defi cit would stand at only £37 billion, or 2.1 per cent of GDP – equivalent to balancing current spending and revenue. Instead, the defi cit for 2014-2015 is expected to be £97 billion. The conclusion of Osborne’s balanc-ing act has been postponed until the 2019-2020 budget.

Osborne talks about the need to cut spending, but his actions say otherwise. Though he vowed to reduce spending by more than £100 billion by now, he has cut less than half of that, simply extending his fi ve-year rolling program of cuts for another few years. As a result, Osborne, the poster child for British austerity, is starting to look like a closet Keynesian.

There is a school of thought

that holds that commitment, not achievement, gives a policy credibility. For example, the Bank of England is committed to achieve 2.0 per cent infl ation “in the medium term.” Annual infl a-tion has not been 2.0 per cent at any time in the last six years, but it is possible that the BoE’s com-mitment has had some eff ect in lowering interest rates.

Osborne’s defenders might make the same argument for his fi scal policy. A credible policy of fi scal consolidation, they might say, will have the same exhila-rating eff ect on confi dence as fi scal consolidation itself.

Economists call this the “signaling eff ect.” If you an-nounce that you intend to bal-ance the books over fi ve years and pencil in a lot of spending cuts, consumers, relieved of their fears of future tax increas-es, will start spending more freely. This will cause national income to rise, and, with luck, the budget defi cit will start shrinking, more or less accord-ing to plan, without requiring any, or much, retrenchment.

In its emphasis on the impor-tance of the signal, economics enters postmodernist territory. The signal – in this case the promise to balance the books – creates the reality.

People start behaving as though the books were bal-anced, ignoring the fact that they are not. When one believes

the narrative, one acts in ways that make it come true.

In fact, I do not believe that Osborne himself ever attached importance to the signalling eff ects of his pronouncements. He really did want to balance the budget by making the spending cuts that he promised. If he turned out to be more Keynesian than he intended to be, it was for pragmatic reasons.

What free-market ideologues often fail to grasp is that politics eventually makes all policy-makers Keynesian to some degree. No matter how much a politician advocates short-term pain for long-term benefi ts, vot-ers will stomach only a certain amount of suff ering.

So sensible politicians slow down the cuts that markets demand, and take loans that they know they will be unable to pay, in order to keep public services going.

To be sure, Osborne must not be given too much credit for his closet Keynesianism. A true Keynesian would have said that what was needed in 2010 was fi scal expansion, not consolida-tion. Osborne believed, or ap-peared to believe, that austerity would speed up economic re-covery, by restoring confi dence in government fi nance.

But there is a strong case to be made that the cuts that Osborne did make impeded recovery, by removing spending

power from an economy al-ready suff ering from a defi cien-cy of aggregate demand. The result was economic stagnation from 2010 to 2013, undermin-ing Osborne’s ability to meet his defi cit-reduction targets.

Now that Osborne has once again promised new cuts and a new fi ve-year timetable for balancing the books, the ques-tion is whether he will keep his word this time. Yes, the British economy has fi nally started to grow; and, yes, growth is expected to continue. But is there any reason to believe that the recovery will not be under-mined by another fi ve years of austerity, leading Osborne (or his successor) to postpone the deadline once again?

We can all agree that what happens to the budget aff ects the economy. But I would argue, as Keynes did, that “the boom, not the slump, is the time for austerity at the Treasury.” To try to cut spending in a slump, as Osborne is doing, is to prolong the slump. And, as he is learning, to his displeasure, that means postponing the day when the books will be bal-anced.- Project Syndicate

* The author, Professor Emeritus of Political Economy at Warwick University and a fellow of the British Academy in history and economics, is a member of the British House of Lords.

Osborne starting to look like Britain’s closet KeynesianC O M M E N T A R Y

FACTORY OUTPUT CONTRACTS: Offi cial data on Friday showed that industrial production contracted 0.6 per cent in November from the

previous month, reversing two months of rises and missing a market forecast for a 0.8 per cent increase. — Bloomberg fi le picture

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMSECTIONB LIFE & STYLE S AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 14

We have become digital hoarders. We save everything, even stuff that we know, deep down, we’ll never need or be able to fi nd. We save every e-mail, every photo,

every fi le, every text message and every video clip. If we don’t have enough space on our mobile devices, we move it to a dif-ferent storage device, maybe even a hard drive or a fl ash drive. Or, better yet, we just put it in “the cloud.”

In developing these digital hoarding instincts, the big technology companies are more than a little complicit. Remem-ber when Apple’s iPad came in 16GB and 32GB sizes? The state-of-the-art iPad mini 3 now comes in 16GB, 64GB and 128GB sizes (the tech world’s equivalent of the Gulp, the Big Gulp and the Super Big Gulp). Everyone is willing to give you a little bit more room in the cloud for just a few bucks a month. And your data plan provider is always ready to nearly double (“supersize”?) the capacity of your data plan with every new purchase of a tablet or Internet device.

If this were simply a result of the ex-ponential growth of information — the “information overload” — that would be one thing. That’s what technology is sup-posed to do for us — provide new ways of

creating, storing and manipulating infor-mation. Innovation, from this perspec-tive, can be viewed as technology’s frantic quest to keep up with society’s informa-tion needs.

But digital hoarding is about some-thing diff erent — it’s about hoarding data for the sake of data. When Apple creates a new “Burst Mode” on the iPhone 5s, enabling you to rapidly save a series of 10 photos in succession — and you save all of them — is that not an example of hoard-ing? When you save every e-book, every movie and every TV season that you’ve “binge-watched” on your tablet or other digital device — isn’t that another sign? In the analogue era, you would have donated used books to charity, hosted a garage sale to get rid of old albums you never listen to or simply dumped these items in the trash.

You may not think you are a digital hoarder. You may think that the desire to save each and every photo, e-mail or fi le is something relatively harmless. Storage is cheap and abundant, right? You may watch a reality TV show such as Hoarders and think to yourself, “That’s not me.” But maybe it is you. (Especially if you still have those old episodes of Hoarders on your digital device.)

Unlike hoarding in the real world —

where massive stacks of papers, books, clothing and assorted junk might physi-cally obstruct your ability to move and sig-nal to others that you need help — there are no obvious outward signs of being a digital hoarder. And, in fact, owning the newest, super-slim 128GB tablet capable of hoard-ing more information than anyone else strikes many as being progressive. How-ever, if you are constantly increasing the size of your data plan or buying new digital devices with ever-more storage capacity — well, you know where this is headed.

Even worse, digital hoarding may be contributing to your “information obe-sity” — commonly called “infobesity.” You may be continually snacking on new in-formation, all of which may provide little value in your life — and then compounding the problem by hoarding all that nutrition-less information on a digital device. In turn, this makes it harder to fi nd the digi-tal content that you really need. (Just try to fi nd that really important e-mail your boss sent a year ago.) This corresponds to the traditional defi nition of hoarding — “accumulating things beyond the point of usefulness.” We essentially gorge our-selves on useless information and then commit to a new Information Diet to get healthy again. Instead of daily cleanses

for junk food diets, we have Inbox Zero for junk information diets.

We should rethink how innovation can turn us into digital hoarders. Innovation should not just be the madcap race to create more powerful devices with ever more storage capacity. It should not just be about creating ever more ways for gen-erating “digital exhaust” and not worrying about where it’s all going or its impact on productivity. It should not be about subtly cultivating a Fear of Missing Out to keep us consuming ever more information online. That’s what turns us into digital hoarders.

Innovation should help us transform data into information. “Search” was per-haps the fi rst major innovation that helped us do that. The “cloud” is currently the in-novation that has the potential to organise our data better and more effi ciently, keep-ing it from clogging up our digital devices. The next big innovation may be “big data,” which claims that it can make sense of all the new data we’re creating. This may be brilliant — helping us fi nd the proverbial needle in the digital haystack — or disas-trous — encouraging us to build bigger and bigger haystacks in the hope that there’s a needle in there somewhere. — Dominic Basulto/

The Washington Post

TO DIGITAL HOARDINGDigital hoarding is about something diff erent; it’s about hoarding data

for the sake of data, an information overload

ENTERTAINMENTB6 S AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 4

DR. Thomas Fuller, a British physician who died in 1734, said, “Health is not valued till sickness comes.”

At the bridge table, a short suit is not valued till a fi t comes. Look at today’s North hand. What would he respond if partner opens one diamond, one heart or one spade?

Over one diamond, the singleton is not good news; North should quietly bid one heart, four-card suits up the bidding ladder. But if South opens in a major, that diamond singleton is worth three points, making North’s hand re-evaluate to 11 support points — suffi cient for a game-invitational jump to three of the major.

South might dabble his toe in the slam water by rebidding four hearts, a control-bid (cue-bid) showing that ace and denying a minor-suit ace. (Imagine North’s having a singleton heart and two aces.) North, of course, would sign off in four spades.

After West leads the heart queen, how should South plan the play?

South has four losers, one in each suit. But he has 10 tricks: fi ve spades, two hearts, two diamonds and one club. He must just make sure that he does not lose those four tricks fi rst.

The careless declarer wins trick one and immediately plays a trump. However, East wins and returns a heart, after which South fi nishes down one.

The more thoughtful declarer realises that he must do something about that heart loser immediately. So, he either wins the fi rst trick on the board and plays a diamond, or takes the fi rst trick in his hand and plays a club. Either way, South does not lose a heart trick.

— By Phillip Alder

Fit and shortage add vital value

B I G N A T E

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WITH LOVE 6 5 3

8 2 1 5 5 9 7 1

6 2 3 9 4 2 8 4

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

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

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

Previous puzzle Solution

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

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]

29 Liniment target31 — plaisir,

Monsieur32 Nessie’s hideout33 Gung-ho39 Starship

Enterprise’s journey

41 Hen or mare43 Motionless

45 Evidence46 Uh-oh!47 Sotto —49 MD’s order51 Grow weary52 Kind of system54 Twice LII55 Familiar digit56 Add- — (extras)59 Brief query

ACROSS 1 Hang ten 5 Crusty cheese 9 Frat party staple12 October’s stone13 Not his and hers14 Eddie Cantor’s

wife15 Internet search

engine17 Mottled19 Had some bills21 Taverns22 ID for Capone25 Astroturf

component28 Sunfl ower state30 High-pH solution34 Is, to Wolfgang35 Symbol for copper36 Egyptian sun deity37 Of, in Austria38 Nearly boil40 Outcome42 Overhauled44 Mountain refrain45 Quiet inlet48 Benchmark50 Gander (hyph.)53 Craft knife (hyph.)

57 Checkout scan58 Realty unit60 Zodiac beast61 WNW opposite62 Roman Empire

invader63 Festive nights

DOWN 1 Protein source 2 Work — — sweat 3 Go team! 4 Elevator stops 5 A famous Derek 6 Not pale 7 One of the

Gershwins 8 Mind reader’s gift 9 Brick oven10 Churchill

successor11 Roams around16 Ouch!18 Flamingo colour20 Happened next22 Travels on powder23 Box24 Kitty starter26 Rio Grande town27 Canute’s foe

PRANITH AJAYDecember 26, 2006

ANITA ANN ABRAHAMDecember 26, 2004

ZAFEER BIN MUNAWARDecember 25

C I N E M A S C H E D U L E

BAHJA CINEMA

STARS CINEMA

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

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

Film information 24791641 / 24786776

At the Devil’s Door (Home) (Horror) Cast: Catalina Sandino Moreno, Naya Rivera, Ashley Rickards 11.55 pm, CP No: 2568 (15+ )Camp X-ray (Drama) Cast: Kristen Stewart, Peyman Moaadi, John Carroll Lynch2.00 6.00, 10.00 & 11.55 pmCP No: 2582 (18+)The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Adventure / Fantasy) Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage4.00, 6.30 & 9.00 pmCP No: 2574 (PG12)Paddington (Comedy)Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters2.00, 4.00 & 8.00 pm CP No: 2575 (PG12)

PK (Hindi- Drama) 3:45, 6:45pm at Cinema 3; 9:30 Cinema MainLingaa (Tamil) (Act |Dr| Thriller) (PG) 3:45pm at Cinema 4Ormayundo Ee Mukham (Drama) 3:30 & 6:30pm Cinema 2, 9:45pm Cinema 3Vellaikaara Durai (Tamil Romance) 3:00pm Cinema Main; 6:45 & 9:45pm Cinema 4Meagamann (Tamil) (Act)3:45pm Cinema 4; 6:30pm Cinema Main; 9:30pm Cinema 2NEXT CHANGE: Mukunda (Telugu)Cousins (Mal)

Annie (2D) (Com | Drama) (PG12) Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx2:00, 6:30 pmThe Water Diviner (2D) (Drama) (12+) Cast: Jai Courtney, Olga Kurylenko, Russell Crowe5:00, 11:45 pmPaddington (2D) (Com | Family) (PG) Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters7:00, 10:00 pmInto the Woods (2D) (Com | Fam) (PG) Cast: Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep, Chris Pine2:45, 4:15, 9:00 pmPK (2D) (Com | Drama) (PG) Cast: Aamir Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Anushka Sharma7:00, 8:45 pmThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (3D) (Adv | Fantasy) (PG12) Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage2:15, 11:30 pmNight at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2D) (Adv | Comedy) (PG) Cast: Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson5:00, 11:45 pm

Cast: Ben Stiller, Robin Williams1:00 & 11:45 pmAnnie (2D) (Family/Comedy) (PG12)Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx11:45 am, 3:00 & 7:00 pmGold Class: 1:00 pmInto The Woods (2D) (Comedy/Family) (PG)Cast: Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep10:30 am, 2:00 & 6:15 pmGold Class: 11:15 pmCamp X Ray (2D) (Drama) (18+)Cast: Kristen Stewart, Peyman Moaadi, Lane Garrison5:15 pmP K (2D) (Comedy/Fantasy) (PG)Cast: Aamir Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Anushka Sharma8:30 & 11:15 pmGold Class: 3:15 & 8:15 pm

Paddington (2D) (Family) (PG12)Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters10:00 am, 4:15 & 9:45 pmGold Class: 6:15 pmNight At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb (2D): (Adventure/Comedy) (PG)

SCREEN 1

P K (Comedy | Drama | Social) (PG)Cast: Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Sanjay Dutt 1.00, 4.00, 7.00, 10.00 pm

SCREEN 2

P. K (Comedy | Drama | Social) (PG )Cast: Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Sanjay Dutt 2.45, 5.30, 8.15, 11.00 pm

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies -3D (PG12) (Adv| Fantasy)Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman 11:30 pmNight at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – 2D (PG) (Adv | Comedy)Cast: Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Owen3:00, 11:45 pmP.K. – 2D (PG) (Com | Drama) Cast: Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma12:15, 3:00, 8:30, 11:15 pmInto the Woods – 2D (PG) (Family) Cast: Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep12:30, 3:00, 6:00, 9:30 pmAnnie – 2D (PG12) (Com | Family)Cast: Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx12:45, 3:15, 7:15, 9: 00 pmPaddington – 2D (PG12) (Family)Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins 5:30, 7:15pmThe Water Diviner – 2D (12+) (Drama | War)Cast: Jai Courtney, Russell Crowe4:45, 11:45 pmOrmayundo Ee Mukham – 2D (Mal) (PG) (Romance | Comedy)Cast: Vineeth Srinivasan, Namitha Pramod, Aju Varghese6:45 pmMeaghamann – 2D (TBC) (T) (Action | Drama | Thriller)Cast: Arya, Hansika, Sudhanshu,

Into the Woods (Com | Family) (PG)Cast: Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep 4:15, 6:30, 8:45 pmAnnie (Com | Drama | Family) (PG12)3:00, 5:15, 6:30 pmP.K. (Comedy | Fantasy) (PG)Cast: Aamir Khan, Sanjay Dutt8:45,11:00 pmPaddington (Com | Family) (PG12)Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters3:00, 4:45, 10:00 pmThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – 3D (Adv | Fantasy) (PG12)11:30 pmOrmayundo Ee Mukham (Rom ) (PG)Cast: Vineeth Srinivasan, Namitha Pramod, Aju Varghese7:30 pmTusk (Com | Drama | Horror) (15+)Cast: Justin Long, Michael Parks11:45 pm

Paddington (Com | Family) (PG12) 3:00, 7:00 pmAnnie (Com | Drama | Family) (PG12) Cast: Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx2:45, 6:45 pmInto the Woods (Com | Family) (PG)

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (3D/PG12) (Adv/Fantasy) 11:45pmAnnie (2D/PG12) (Co/Family) Cast: Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx10:00, 12:15, 2:30, 7:15pm Into the Woods (2D/PG) (Com) Cast: Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep10:00, 12:15, 4:45, 9:30pm The Water Divine (2D/12+) (Dr/War) 5:15, 11:50pmPaddington (2D/PG) (Com/Family)10:15am, 2:00, 7:15pmVellaikaara Durai (2D/PG12) (Drama/Romance)Cast: Vikram Prabhu, Sri Divya3:45pm Ormayundo Ee Mukham (2D/PG) (Romance/Comedy)6:15pmP.K. (2D/PG) (Hindi-Comedy)2:30, 9:00, 11:30pmMeaghamann (2D/PG) (Action/Drama/Thriller)Cast: Arya, Hansika, Sudhanshu, Ashutosh Rana, Ashish Vidyarthi8:45pm

Cast: Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep4:45, 11:30 pmOrmayundo Ee Mukham (Mal) (Romance / Comedy) (PG)12:15, 9:00 pmP.K (Hindi) (Com | Drama) (PG) Cast: Aamir Khan, Sanjay Dutt,12:15, 8:45, 11:30 pmNight at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (Adv | Comedy | Family) (PG)Cast: Ben Stiller, Robin Williams5:00 pm

SCREEN 3

Action Jackson (Act| Rom ) (12+ )

Cast: Ajay Devgan, Sonakshi Sinha

6.45, 9.45pm

Ashutosh Rana, Ashish Vidyarthi12:30, 9:15 pmOmar we Salwa – 2D (18+) ComCast : Yousef Eid, Karim Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, Maher Essam5:15 pm

FIND-IT-ALL

PHARMACIESRound the clockAl Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24783334; Appolo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24782666; Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24702542, Salalah: 23291635; Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra: 24503585; Ruwi 24811715Muscat RegionApollo, Al Hamriya. Tel: 24787766Muscat, A Seeb Market. Tel: 24421691Muscat, Al Khuwair. Tel: 24485740Muscat, Al Hail South. Tel: 4537080Dhofar 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: 24794501/2/3/4/5Kims Oman Hospital: 24760100

24 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: 22004000

ROYAL 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

Dhuhr 12.13pm

Asr 3.13pm

Maghrib 5.33pm

Isha 6.49pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 5.26am

Sunset 5:28pm

Sunrise (Tomorrow) 6.47am

High tide 1:07am --

Low tide 6.32pm 7.33am

PRAYER TIMINGS

B7S AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 14

W E A T H E R

OMAN

Max 27Min 14

Max 25Min 18

Max 26Min 17

Max 27Min 11

Max 27Min 17Max 27

Min 12

Max 27Min 13

Max 28 Min 18

Mainly clear skies over most of the Sultanate with chances of late night to early morning low level clouds or fog patches over governorates of al-Buraimi, al-

Dhahira, al-Wusta and Dhofar.EXPECTED WINDS: Winds will be northerly to northwesterly light to moderate over most of the Sultanate occasionally fresh along the Western coast of Musandam and South al-Sharqiyah coast and will be northeasterly light to moderate along Arabian Sea coast.

SEA STATE: Moderate to rough along the southeastern coast with maximum wave height of 2.5 metres and slight to moderate along rest of the coastal areas with maximum wave height of 1.5 metre.HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY: Good over most of the Sultanate becoming poor during fog patches.THE NEXT 48 HOURS OUTLOOK: Mainly clear skies with chances of late night to early morning low level clouds or fog patches over most of the Sultanate governorates.

Max Min

GULFAbu Dhabi 24 17Doha 23 18Dubai 26 18Kuwait 23 11Manama 21 17Riyadh 26 13

WORLDAthens 12 8Baghdad 16 10Beijing 7 4Berlin -1 -5Boston 9 4Cairo 20 5Colombo 24 24Frankfurt 1 2Hong Kong 18 14Istanbul 18 5Johannesburg 21 16Kuala Lumpur 28 23Lisbon 12 10Paris 7 1Perth 33 18Singapore 30 25Tokyo 8 2Toronto 6 2

WORLD

Max 8Min 3

Max 19Min 8

Max 4Min 1

Max 27Min 13

Max 17Min 8

Max 24Min 18

Max -8Min -18

Max 28Min 23

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)

LISTINGS

Source: www.met.gov.om

SATURDAY

FLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA WY406 CAIRO 0005WY676 JEDDAH 0005WY648 KUWAIT 0010WY816 BANGKOK 0015WY916 SALALAH 0150PK225 KARACHI 0210TK774 ISTANBUL 0215PK229 LAHORE 0215QR1132 DOHA 0345ET624 ADDIS ABABA 0350EK866 DUBAI 0355GF560 BAHRAIN 0405EY384 ABU DHABI 0405FZ041 DUBAI 0415MS930 CAIRO 0430WY902 SALALAH 0630WY668 DOHA 0635WY638 ABU DHABI 0650WY658 BAHRAIN 0700WY686 RIYADH 0700WY412 AMMAN 0705WY644 KUWAIT 0715WY114 FRANKFURT 0715WY122 MUNICH 0715WY154 ZURICH 0720WY692 DAMMAM 0725WY674 JEDDAH 0730WY142 MALPENSA 0745WY672 MEDINA 0745WY132 PARIS 0800WY602 DUBAI 0805WY202 BOMBAY 0815WY432 TEHRAN 0815WY102 LONDON HEATHROW 0820WY422 BEIRUT 0830FZ043 DUBAI 0850WY274 JAIPUR 0855G9114 SHARJAH 0915WY242 DELHI 0920WY236 HYDERABAD 0920PK191 TURBAT 0930WY346 ISLAM ABBAD 0940EK862 DUBAI 0940WY252 MADRAS 0940IX443 COCHIN 1010QR1128 DOHA 1010EY382 ABU DHABI 1015IX549 TRIVANDRUM 10209W530 TRIVANDRUM 1035WY342 LAHORE 1100WY604 DUBAI 1110FZ037 DUBAI 1200IX337 CALICUT 1210WY268 LUCKNOW 1210PA450 LAHORE 1215WY904 SALALAH 1215WY3302 MUKHAIZNA 1230BG023 DACCA 1245WY326 KARACHI 1255NL771 PESHAWAR 1300WY606 DUBAI 1330WY632 ABU DHABI 1330WY918 KHASAB 1400IX817 MANGALORE-ABU DHABI 1440WY906 SALALAH 1445WY656 BAHRAIN 1530WY328 LAHORE 1550SV532 JEDDAH 1550FZ045 DUBAI 1555MP95 AMSTERDAM 1645WY204 BOMBAY 1710WY292 CALICUT 1720WY246 DELHI 1730WY610 DUBAI 1730WY3304 MUKHAIZNA 1730WY284 BANGALORE 1740WY232 HYDERABAD 1740WY216 TRIVANDRUM 1740QR1126 DOHA 1745EK864 DUBAI 1800GF564 BAHRAIN 1810G9116 SHARJAH 1915FZ047 DUBAI 1945WY614 DUBAI 2030WY914 SALALAH 2035WY386 MALE 2110KL441 AMSTERDAM-DOHA 2120AI973 DELHI 2125WY624 DUBAI 2125WY312 CHITTAGONG 21256.00E+81 BOMBAY 21309W534 COCHIN 2140FZ049 DUBAI 2145WY374 COLOMBO 2150WY254 MADRAS 2155AI907 MADRAS 2200WY224 COCHIN 2205QR1134 DOHA 2210UL205 COLOMBO 2225WY338 KATHMANDU 2235GF566 BAHRAIN 2240EY388 ABU DHABI 2250WY814 BANGKOK 2250BA073 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI 2255WY908 SALALAH 2305AI985 AHMEDABAD-BOMBAY 2310WY662 DOHA 2315LX242 ZURICH-DUBAI 23209W540 BOMBAY 2325WY654 BAHRAIN 2330LH618 FRANKFURT-ABU DHABI 2330WY116 FRANKFURT 2335WY612 DUBAI 2335WY928 SALALAH 2345WY636 ABU DHABI 2350WY696 DAMMAM 2350WY696 DAMMAM 2350WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 2355

SUNDAY

FLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA

WY406 CAIRO 0005WY676 JEDDAH 0005WY682 RIYADH 0005WY648 KUWAIT 0010WY904 SALALAH 0015WY816 BANGKOK 0015WY824 KUALA LUMPUR 0055WY916 SALALAH 01504H583 DACCA 0200NL669 SIALKOT 0200TK776 ISTANBUL-BAHRAIN 0300QR1132 DOHA 0345ET624 ADDIS ABABA 0350EK866 DUBAI 0355GF560 BAHRAIN 0405EY384 ABU DHABI 0405FZ041 DUBAI 0415WY324 KARACHI 0540WY686 RIYADH 0600WY902 SALALAH 06304H584 DOHA 0640WY638 ABU DHABI 0650WY658 BAHRAIN 0700WY668 DOHA 0710WY674 JEDDAH 0730WY602 DUBAI 0805WY202 BOMBAY 0815WY102 LONDON HEATHROW 0820FZ043 DUBAI 0850WY274 JAIPUR 0855NL768 LAHORE 0900G9114 SHARJAH 0915WY236 HYDERABAD 0920WY242 DELHI 0920WY226 COCHIN 0930EK862 DUBAI 0940WY252 MADRAS 0940WY212 TRIVANDRUM 0940WY346 ISLAM ABBAD 0955QR1128 DOHA 1010EY382 ABU DHABI 1015IX549 TRIVANDRUM 1020WY3302 MUKHAIZNA 1045WY282 BANGALORE 1100WY3922 DUQUM OMAN 1105WY604 DUBAI 1110G9841 RAS AL KHAIMA 1120WY372 COLOMBO 1130FZ037 DUBAI 1200WY424 BEIRUT 1205IX337 CALICUT 1210PK223 PESHAWAR 1220WY606 DUBAI 1330WY918 KHASAB 1440WY906 SALALAH 1445WY812 BANGKOK 1525WY656 BAHRAIN 1530WY632 ABU DHABI 1535FZ045 DUBAI 1555WY204 BOMBAY 1710WY292 CALICUT 1720WY610 DUBAI 1730WY246 DELHI 1730WY264 LUCKNOW 1735WY232 HYDERABAD 1740WY664 DOHA 1745QR1126 DOHA 1745GF564 BAHRAIN 1810WY3306 MUKHAIZNA 1845G9116 SHARJAH 1915WY254 MADRAS 1920TG507 BANGKOK-KARACHI 1935FZ047 DUBAI 1945WY434 TEHRAN 2000WY614 DUBAI 2030WY914 SALALAH 2035WY386 MALE 2110WY152 ZURICH 2110WY312 CHITTAGONG 2115WY116 FRANKFURT 2115WY124 MUNICH 2115KL441 AMSTERDAM-DOHA 2120WY144 MALPENSA 2120AI973 DELHI 2125WY624 DUBAI 21256.00E+81 BOMBAY 2130WY134 PARIS 2130WY414 AMMAN 2135FZ049 DUBAI 2145AI907 MADRAS 2200QR1134 DOHA 2210UL205 COLOMBO 2225GF566 BAHRAIN 2240EY388 ABU DHABI 2250BA073 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI 2255WY908 SALALAH 2305AI985 AHMEDABAD-BOMBAY 2310WY648 KUWAIT 2315LX242 ZURICH-DUBAI 23209W540 BOMBAY 2325WY654 BAHRAIN 2330LH618 FRANKFURT-ABU DHABI 2330WY612 DUBAI 2335WY696 DAMMAM 2350WY910 SALALAH 2355WY928 SALALAH 2355WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 2355

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD AI986 BOMBAY 0005LX243 DUBAI-ZURICH 00209W539 BOMBAY 0025BA072 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW 0025SG062 AHMEDABAD 0030LH619 ABU DHABI-FRANKFURT 0050WY685 RIYADH 0105WY251 MADRAS 0110WY201 BOMBAY 0120WY235 HYDERABAD 0135WY273 JAIPUR 0140WY345 ISLAM ABBAD 0150WY601 DUBAI 0150WY241 DELHI 0155WY431 TEHRAN 0155WY643 KUWAIT 0200WY637 ABU DHABI 0205WY657 BAHRAIN 0205WY115 FRANKFURT 0215WY667 DOHA 0220WY691 DAMMAM 0235TK775 ISTANBUL 0310PK226 KARACHI 0310PK230 LAHORE 0315WY267 LUCKNOW 0355ET625 ADDIS ABABA 0450EK867 DUBAI 0455FZ042 DUBAI 0510QR1133 DOHA 0520EY385 ABU DHABI 0525MS931 CAIRO 0530GF561 BAHRAIN 0745WY603 DUBAI 0800WY903 SALALAH 0800WY3301 MUKHAIZNA 0800WY325 KARACHI 0820WY813 BANGKOK 0855WY215 TRIVANDRUM 0920WY291 CALICUT 0920WY327 LAHORE 0920WY823 KUALA LUMPUR 0930FZ044 DUBAI 0935WY385 MALE 0940WY283 BANGALORE 0940WY231 HYDERABAD 0955WY245 DELHI 0955G9115 SHARJAH 1005WY815 BANGKOK 1010PK192 TURBAT-GWADUR 1015WY373 COLOMBO 1020WY605 DUBAI 1030WY905 SALALAH 1030WY631 ABU DHABI 1030WY203 BOMBAY 1030WY311 CHITTAGONG 1040WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 1045WY917 KHASAB 1050EK863 DUBAI 1055EY383 ABU DHABI 1105WY655 BAHRAIN 1110IX554 TRIVANDRUM 1110QR1129 DOHA 1115IX442 COCHIN 11159W533 COCHIN 1135WY337 KATHMANDU 1310IX350 CALICUT 1310WY253 MADRAS 1315PA451 LAHORE 1315FZ038 DUBAI 1315WY3303 MUKHAIZNA 1330WY101 LONDON HEATHROW 1330WY223 COCHIN 1355WY927 SALALAH 1415BG024 CHITTAGONG-DACCA 1415WY609 DUBAI 1420NL668 SIALKOT 1430WY405 CAIRO 1430IX818 MANGALORE 1530WY675 JEDDAH 1630WY913 SALALAH 1630SV533 RIYADH-JEDDAH 1650WY613 DUBAI 1700FZ046 DUBAI 1700MP95 DUBAI WORLD CENTRE- SINGAPORE 1815WY623 DUBAI 1820QR1127 DOHA 1845WY681 RIYADH 1845WY907 SALALAH 1850GF565 BAHRAIN 1855WY661 DOHA 1900WY647 KUWAIT 1900WY653 BAHRAIN 1910WY695 DAMMAM 1910EK865 DUBAI 1915G9117 SHARJAH 2005WY611 DUBAI 2025WY635 ABU DHABI 2030FZ048 DUBAI 2040WY915 SALALAH 2135FZ050 DUBAI 2225KL442 DOHA-AMSTERDAM 22309W529 TRIVANDRUM 22406.00E+82 BOMBAY 2245AI908 MADRAS 2300AI974 DELHI 2310QR1135 DOHA 2320GF567 BAHRAIN 2325UL206 COLOMBO 2335EY381 ABU DHABI 2350WY901 SALALAH 2350WY673 JEDDAH 2350

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD AI986 BOMBAY 0005LX243 DUBAI-ZURICH 0020BA072 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW 00259W539 BOMBAY 0025LH619 ABU DHABI-FRANKFURT 0050WY685 RIYADH 0105WY811 BANGKOK 0105WY323 KARACHI 0105WY211 TRIVANDRUM 0110WY251 MADRAS 0110WY201 BOMBAY 0120WY225 COCHIN 0125WY235 HYDERABAD 0135WY273 JAIPUR 0140WY601 DUBAI 0150WY341 LAHORE 0150WY151 ZURICH 0155WY241 DELHI 0155WY281 BANGALORE 0200WY423 BEIRUT 0200WY657 BAHRAIN 0205WY637 ABU DHABI 0205WY371 COLOMBO 0210WY123 MUNICH 0210WY133 PARIS 0215WY115 FRANKFURT 0215WY667 DOHA 0220WY143 MALPENSA 0225WY345 ISLAM ABBAD 02504H584 DUBAI-DACCA 0300NL772 PESHAWAR 0330TK777 BAHRAIN-ISTANBUL 0350ET625 ADDIS ABABA 0450EK867 DUBAI 0455FZ042 DUBAI 0510QR1133 DOHA 0520EY385 ABU DHABI 0525WY3301 MUKHAIZNA 0715WY3921 DUQUM OMAN 07204H584 DACCA 0740GF561 BAHRAIN 0745WY903 SALALAH 0800WY603 DUBAI 0800WY291 CALICUT 0920WY263 LUCKNOW 0920FZ044 DUBAI 0935WY245 DELHI 0955WY231 HYDERABAD 0955G9115 SHARJAH 1005WY905 SALALAH 1030WY203 BOMBAY 1030NL769 LAHORE 1030WY605 DUBAI 1030WY253 MADRAS 1040WY311 CHITTAGONG 1040WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 1045EK863 DUBAI 1055EY383 ABU DHABI 1105IX554 TRIVANDRUM 1110WY655 BAHRAIN 1110QR1129 DOHA 1115WY3303 MUKHAIZNA 1115WY917 KHASAB 1140WY331 KATHMANDU 1205G9842 RAS AL KHAIMA 1210WY631 ABU DHABI 1225IX350 CALICUT 1310FZ038 DUBAI 1315PK224 PESHAWAR 1320WY663 DOHA 1330WY413 AMMAN 1330WY101 LONDON HEATHROW 1330WY433 TEHRAN 1340WY927 SALALAH 1415WY609 DUBAI 1420WY405 CAIRO 1430WY3305 MUKHAIZNA 1515WY675 JEDDAH 1630WY913 SALALAH 1630FZ046 DUBAI 1700WY613 DUBAI 1700WY623 DUBAI 1820WY681 RIYADH 1845QR1127 DOHA 1845WY907 SALALAH 1850GF565 BAHRAIN 1855WY647 KUWAIT 1900WY661 DOHA 1900WY695 DAMMAM 1910WY653 BAHRAIN 1910WY909 SALALAH 1940G9117 SHARJAH 2005WY611 DUBAI 2025WY635 ABU DHABI 2030FZ048 DUBAI 2040TG508 KARACHI-BANGKOK 2040WY825 KUALA LUMPUR 2110WY915 SALALAH 2135FZ050 DUBAI 2225KL442 DOHA-AMSTERDAM 2230WY817 BANGKOK 22356.00E+82 BOMBAY 2245AI908 MADRAS 2300AI974 DELHI 2310QR1135 DOHA 2320GF567 BAHRAIN 2325UL206 COLOMBO 2335EY381 ABU DHABI 2350WY673 JEDDAH 2350WY901 SALALAH 2350WY671 MEDINA 2350

A I R L I N E S

BORN today, you have so many interesting facets that one might know you for many years and never really know the “real” you — for, in some respects, there is no single real you to get to know! You are many people, with many guises, many interests, many tastes and many images that you project freely, at your whim. What is certain, of course, is that you are highly intelligent, highly capable and always interested in doing anything that can have a lasting eff ect on the world around you. You never like to work in a bubble, but prefer to be very much a part of the world in which you live.

You are fun-loving, but capable of buckling down to some serious work when the time comes. But even then, you are able to laugh at yourself and others. Perhaps, too, that is the key — your ability to laugh at yourself is an indication that you know yourself — indeed, all your “selves” — well, so you are comfortable in your own skin.

Also born on this date are: Savannah Guthrie, journalist and television personality; Louis Pasteur, microbiologist; John Amos, actor; Sydney Greenstreet, actor; Eva LaRue, actress; Johannes Kepler, astronomer; Marlene Dietrich, actress; Gerard Depardieu, actor; Cokie Roberts, journalist; Oscar Levant, musician and comedian.

Bringing another into the fold may prove to be the most important thing that you do — or that you are capable of doing at the moment.

VIRGO [AUG. 23-SEPT. 22]

LIBRA [SEPT. 23-OCT. 22] LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL[S[[[S[S[S[[S[SS[SSSS[S[[[[SSSSSSSSSS

SCORPIO [OCT. 23-NOV. 21] S[

SAGITTARIUS [NOV. 22-DEC. 21] S[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

AQUARIUS [JAN. 20-FEB. 18]

What you think would only startle you slightly may actually put a good old-fashioned scare into you — and it may last a while!

You can redo something in a way that makes it much more eff ective — and, ultimately, much more valuable to you and others.

Don’t let a simple distraction keep you from doing what is most important. You know what others are expecting of you.

You’ll receive a message in several parts, and it will be solely up to you to assemble them in just the right order.

You may feel you are in a lull, waiting for things to heat up just in time for you to claim something as your own.

You may be told many things, but most of them may prove utterly forgettable. One, however, piques your interest.

You may not have gotten as far on a recent project as you had hoped; you must make the time to catch up.

PISCES YY

There may not be room for everything, just the most important things — and you certainly know what they are!

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]

Practice makes perfect — usually. Today, however, you may fi nd that “perfect” is an unattainable goal, for a variety of very good reasons.

Someone else wants you to take the lead on something, but you feel as though you’re not fully prepared. Go ahead — take the chance!

Now is the time for you to make your objections known, though you may have a hard time getting a certain someone to take you seriously.

B8

EXTRAS AT U R DAY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 4

‘PK’ zooms past earnings of ‘Dhoom: 3’ in a week

CHRISTMAS has proved to be a lucky time for Aamir Khan. Last year, he struck gold at the box offi ce with Dhoom: 3, and this time the superstar’s latest off ering PK has zoomed past the action adventure’s fi rst week collections. While Dhoom: 3 earned Rs1.79b in one week in India, PK collected Rs1.82b in the fi rst week. The fi lm’s international gross box offi ce col-lection is $13.36 million (Rs850m), read a statement. Trade experts have conjectured the fi lm may even cross Rs3 billion ultimately. Rajesh Thadani from Multimedia Combines told IANS: “PK has done extremely well. In fact, it’s the highest grosser in one week. Yesterday (Thursday) due to Christmas, the collection was outstanding. The fi lm will certainly cross Rs3 billion easily.” On Christmas day itself, the Rajkumar Hi-rani directorial collected Rs2.75b in India. “The fi lm is going steady at the box offi ce and the fi lm has not dropped even on weekdays,” Thadani added. Also featuring Anushka Sharma, Sanjay Dutt and Sushant Singh Rajput, the movie is doing “outstanding business”.

Big B honoured with Yash Chopra Memorial Award

MEGASTAR Amitabh Bachchan was conferred with the Yash Chopra Me-morial Award, and said that he is still striving to deliver his best in the Indian fi lm industry. “I feel very grate-ful to have received the honour and I would like to thank (politician) T. Sub-barami Reddy and all the jury members to consider me for this honour,” the 72-year-old said after the ceremony. “I don’t think I deserve this much appre-ciation, but I am still trying

to give my best and will continue to do so in the coming years with all your love and support,” he added. Later, Big B, who has dedicated over four decades of his life to fi lmdom, took to his blog srbachchan.tumblr.com and posted: “I am eternally hum-bled and grateful...it was awkward to sit there and listen to all the accolades that come your way. I have not yet learnt the art of carrying the right expression when listening to praise. And I shall never learn, for I have never believed in the praise that comes my way. I am not deserving I know, but it would help if the moment of acknowledgement came within closed doors and drawn curtains.”

Tusshar fi nds Sunny Leone ‘Bollywood’s No. 1 actress’ACTOR Tusshar Kapoor has had a “lovely” experience work-ing with Sunny Leone in Mastizaade. In fact, he feels she’s the top actress in the Hindi fi lm industry today. “It was a lovely experience working with her (Sunny). She is a wonderful actress and such a nice human being. She is the number one actress in Bollywood, so I think it (Mastizaade) should be a blockbuster fi lm,” Tusshar said. In the fi lm, directed by Milap Zaveri, Sunny will play the role of Laila Lele. The fi lm also fea-tures Vir Das. Meanwhile, Tusshar also seems to be extremely excited about the third instalment of Kyaa Kool Hai Hum, and says that though Riteish Deshmukh is not part of this movie, he had a great time working with him in previous fi lms of the franchise. -IANS

B R I E F S

Nasa scientists are working on a city made out of huge balloons in the clouds above Ve-

nus, which will allow astronauts to explore the planet without venturing onto its hostile sur-face. The airship-like balloons would carry two astronauts each on a 30-day mission.

The project, named High Al-titude Venus Operational Con-cept, or Havoc, is just a proposal at the moment, designed by the Systems Analysis and Concepts

Directorate (SACD) at the cen-tre. But the centre hopes to keep working on it until it is ready to actually take astronauts to Venus, or just off it. Venus is in many ways a better bet for space exploration than Mars. It’s near-er to us, closer in size and it has a density and chemical compo-sition more like Earth — but it’s also completely inhospitable.

The planet is much hotter than Earth, at around 462 de-grees Celsius, and has an atmos-pheric pressure around 92 times greater. It’s also got huge volca-

noes and an acidic cloud layer. Even probes that have been sent to the planet have burnt up and died shortly after arriving. While the conditions on Venus keep humans from venturing down there, staying about 30 miles above the planet would keep as-tronauts in conditions mostly similar to Earth. The atmos-pheric pressure is comparable, and gravity is just slightly lower. The temperature is warm but the ship would be able to keep the astronauts cool enough. The challenges for the mission would

be getting the airship to Venus — and then, since it will be wrapped up, infl ating it there. Before it is used scientists will also have to be confi dent that the ship and the solar panels that will power it can withstand the sulphuric acid in the atmosphere and the other strain it will be put under while it fl oats above the planet.

But if they can work on the technology, “missions to the Ve-nusian atmosphere can expand humanity’s future in space”, the SACD says. — Andrew Griffi n/The Inde-

pendent

The planet’s surface is inhospitable to humans — but dangling about

30 miles above, it is almost perfect

Nasa planning to build cloud cities in airships above Venus

Earth’s deep crust could support widespread life

ANCIENT ROCKS deep in Earth’s crust are producing much more hydrogen gas than previ-ously thought - a situation on a par with conditions near hydro-thermal vents, which host thriv-ing ecosystems.

The fi nding, published in Na-ture, provides a road map with which to search for deep micro-bial life on Earth and possibly Mars.

Scientists once thought that subsurface microbial ecosys-tems consumed energy that fi l-tered down from Earth’s surface, implying that such ecosystems ultimately depended on sunlight and photosynthesis. But the dis-covery of deep microbial biomes that feed on chemicals such as hydrogen has raised questions about how widespread these communities are.

Searching for an answer, Bar-bara Sherwood Lollar, a geosci-entist at the University of Toron-

to, Canada, and her colleagues pulled together data on hydrogen production from more than 200 boreholes at 32 mining sites, mostly in Canada, South Africa and Scandinavia. The research-ers used this information to esti-mate how much hydrogen gas is produced deep in the oldest parts of the continental crust, which could help to identify areas that might host subsurface life.

The team calculates that the oldest rock on Earth - the 550-million- to 4.6-billion-year-old Precambrian continental lithosphere - produces roughly 100 times more gas annually than scientists previously thought. Two chemical reactions produce the gas, including one in which natural radioactivity within the rock splits water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.

The new estimate eff ectively doubles the energy available from hydrogen gas dissolved in

water in the rock and at deep-sea hydrothermal vents.

“This massively changes the concept of where life can be on this planet,” says Sherwood Lol-lar, because more than 70% of the rock that forms the continents dates to Precambrian times.

In 2006, scientists discovered hydrogen-eating, rock-dwelling microbes living 4 kilometres below the surface of the Wit-watersrand basin in South Af-rica. But Sherwood Lollar’s team shows that other sites, including those in Finland and Canada - where she and her colleagues recently identifi ed ancient water more than 1 billion years old - show higher hydrogen-gas levels, suggesting that they may be more hospitable to microbial life.

“That’s fascinating,” says Sean McMahon, a geomicrobiologist at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. “The microbiology hasn’t been done for most of the

other boreholes - and it probably should.”

The fi nding could help scien-tists to better understand early life on Earth. One debate centres on how life might have spread and diversifi ed after forming at marine hydrothermal vents, says Emily Catherine Pope, a geo-chemist at the Natural History Museum of Denmark in Copen-hagen.

“If you identify a source of en-ergy that’s everywhere, it’s no longer a limiting factor for the spread of life,” she adds.

The new fi nding could also lead scientists to study areas of Earth that resemble Martian geology by drilling boreholes in cratons, the thick, ancient central cores of the continents. “You can get a lot deeper before you reach the maxi-mum temperature for life - that’s where you’d expect to fi nd the deepest living things,” says Mc-Mahon. — The New York Times News Service

S C I E N C E

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

CONNECT H E D A I LY G U I D E

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C4 VACANCY CARGO C7

S AT U R D AY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 4

RENT C2

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● Worldwide ● Air Ticket ● Car Rental ● Holiday Packages ● Hotel Reservations ● Travel Insurance

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New deluxe building in Misfah Industrial Area, 11 shops with A/C, each 4cm x 9cm, an additi onal 12

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FOR RENT

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5 bedrooms villa with 2 halls, 4

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C2 S AT U R D AY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 4

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1 / 3 BHK Flat Ghobrah, close to ISG

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Flats and shops. Contact

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Apartments in Al Khuwair new area

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Brand new ware houses for rent :1)

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New Villa for Rent Two fl oors

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Contact 99376454

Furnished & unfurnished deluxe

2 BHK fl ats with split A/Cs, fi xed

wardrobes, kitchen appliances,

CCTV, security access system &

secured car park, opposite

Kims Hospital, Al Falaj.

Contact 99657906 or 24702141

Offi ce space with cassette type A/C’s

with free internet at al Khuwair near

KM Hypermarket. Contact 99460330

One / Two BR, directly from owner

at Bausher. Contact 92158031

2 Offi ces Space Available in Ruwi

for 800 OMR & 900 OMR.

Contact – 91120552

2 BHK fl at near Darsait Lulu,

rent RO 250/-. Contact 99578510

2 BHK available in Darsait, 1 B/R

and hall, 2 B/R and hall. Contact

99357586, 97500025, 97884787

DAILY GUIDES AT U R D AY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 4 C3

We are dealing with sale of all

beauty salon equipments, furnitures

& cosmetics. Contact 942 888 61 /

942 888 63

FOR RENT

56 SQM, 2 shutters Shop,

Offi ce Wadikabir, 450/=,

Contact 93004802, 99441193

1 room, bathroom, kitchen, Wadi

Kabir, RO 150/-. Contact 99358589,

95570288, 97079146

Flats/villas owned by ROP pension

fund available for rent in Muscat.

Contact 99349526

1BHK 7fl ats Mabela Industrial,

way7767, building11528, single

party, 99441193, 97148641.

2BHK, 2 Bath, Split A/C, Wadikabir,

Indian Elementary School, R.O 330/-

Contact- 93004802, 99441193

1 BHK with attached toilet & bath-

room behind Bank Muscat at

Wadi Kabir. Contact 99373290,

24815012

6 Nos. fl at for rent and sale in

Mawaleh Block-5, each fl at area –

123 SQM, have 3 bedrooms, 3 toilet,

Majlis and kitchen, rent RO 280 and

sale – RO 40,000. Contact Said –

91174310, Adnan – 97777911

2 BHK with A/C, commercial

Al Khuwair. Contact 92144045

1 BHK fl at Al Qurum, RO 270/-,

Contact 99358589

2 & 3 BHK near ISD School.

Contact 99024730

Villa, Amerat Souq as house/offi ces/

clinic/institute. Contact 99647903,

98026234

2 BHK at Al Azaiba, Building No.5145

Way 4470. Contact 99224748,

99425665

Building of 3 fl oors with 20 rooms

in Mawaleh near Pizza Hut.

Contact 99044164

1 BHK at Ghobrah - Near Indian

School. Contact: 99014885

FOR SALE

FOR SALE

Port cabins – New & refurnished

Porta cabin for sale and rent.

Contact 96723468

2 b fl at in paradise lakes B9 on

emirates road 994 sf ready for

handover asking 48,000 OR

tel 95339258

Café Shop for Sale at Ghobrah North.

Contact 99359755

3 fl oor Commercial building in

Muttrah behind Police. Generating

income of OMR 20 Thousand annu-

ally. Neat and well maintained. Built

on 197 sq mtrs land. 2 tailor shops

on ground fl oor and 6 fl ats. OMR 207

Thousand.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

Flats for Sale in Boushar: OMR

35 Thousand 1 bedroom. OMR 45

Thousand 2 bedroom. Monthly

income 1 bedroom OMR 270 and 2

bedroom OMR 350. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360

A big shop for sale near K.M Trad-

ing Ruwi. Contact 95901254

23,886 Sq Mtrs Agriculture land

with water well in Al Salwa, Barka.

OMR 260 Thousand. Tel: 99333479

or 95215360

Restaurant for leasing/sale in

Al Hail. Contact 94148970,

94148972, 97820877

2 B/ R Fully Furnished Executive

Apartment @ Al Khuwair 33 Near

Zaker Mall. 3 Bedroom Furnished ex-

ecutive apartment @ Al Khuwair 25

5 B/R Luxury Fully Furnished villas

at Azaiba with servants, 3 Bedroom

Unfurnished Villa @ Mawalah South

Area 6 with Servant Quarter,

5 Bedroom Unfurnished Villa @

Al Qurum heights Sea view.

Contact - 99249069 / 92888376/

93201688

Flat for rent, sitting room, 2 bed-

rooms, 2 bathrooms and a kitchen,

RO 250/- near SPO, Wadi Kabir.

Contact 95643086

2 BHK Flat near Kuwaiti Mosque,

Wadi Kabir. Tel: 24816774 /97608564

Sale!, all household items, like

fridge, freezer, cooking range, wash-

ing machine, window/split A/Cs,

LCD TV, Laptop, tab and many more

for attractive prices.

Location : near Toyota service

Center, Honda Road.

Contact - 97048983, 95293643

Pharmacy for sale in Al Amerat.

Contact 98994208

Robin Generator Diesel DY27 – 3

KYA Hydraulic Pipe Bender 1/2” – 2”,

Spain automatic voltage regulator

240 v, Japan torque multiplier 3/4

x 1/2 32 mm input England Kango

angle grinder 9’110 v, England.

Contact 98691109, 96334847

Tools, hardware, carpentry & furni-

ture items etc clearing sale.

Contact 96609864, 98691109

A new furnished restaurant for sale

at upcoming industrial zone in Mis-

fah. Expat leaving Oman. Genuine

buyers call 93833107

A newly opened Barber Shop for

sale at upcoming industrial zone in

Misfah. Expat leaving Oman.

enuine buyers call 93833107.

Big showroom (two fl oors) for sale

opposite Oman house & Muttrah

Hotel. Total 600 square meter.

Contact 92827734 / 93206400

Darsait Business Offi ce furniture,

Isuzu 4 ton brand new.

Contact 91391363

Cleaning and Maintenance Com-

pany for sale: A fantastic opportunity

to Purchase an established Business

with a good turnover cleaning and

maintenance company for sale.

Contact 95812423

Building material shop for sale at

Al Ghobrah near Mars Hypermarket.

Contact 99881647 / 93797343

Household items on sale.

Contact 93833107

Luxury villa for sale in Manila, Phil-

ippines, 2 fl oor, attached bathroom,

guest room with swimming pool for

RO 85,000 /- only.

Contact +96895036001,

email: [email protected]

ACC. WANTED

Wanted a studio fl at, for Keralite

family in MBD & Ruwi area only.

Contact 92283175

Wanted a family sharing ac-

commodation for Keralite family

in Ghala area. Please contact:

91677974

Wanted a two Bedroom Flat in and

around Ruwi Area. Gsm 99058344

ACC. AVAILABLE

LOST

CHANGE OF NAME

Room with attached bathroom

available for rent in Al Khuwair

33 opposite Al Maya supermarket.

Contact 97607198

Room + balcony + separate toilet for

non cooking single Indian Bachelor,

RO 140/-. Contact 98928452

Spacious semi furnished room with

separate entrance and attached

washroom near Indian School

Al Ghobrah for non cooking Indian

Executive Bachelor.

Contact 95146361 / 92657598

Accommodation available for single

executive lady only with lady near

Honda Road. Contact 92918592

Furnished single / sharing room for

executive bachelor at Rex Road (Kan-

nada, Telugu). Contact 92873832

Sharing fl at for Indian Family /

working lady in Ghobrah R/A.

Contact 98205758

Independent furnished room execu-

tive Wadi Kabir. Contact 99336206

Available bath attached fully

furnished single room for bachelors.

Contact 9904 2116

Room available in Al Khuwair for

Indian with sharing kitchen and

toilet for matured non alcoholic non

smoking. Contact 96930219

Furnished single room with

attached bathroom near Mars

Hypermarket, Al Ghubrah. Contact

97312111, RO 150/- per month

Sharing family room for rent in

Hamriyah. RO 90/- W+E.

Contact 99639211

Independent rooms in Qurum/Al

Hail. Contact 95529970

Furnished room in CBD Area for

non-cooking bachelor free Wi-Fi,

advance deposit call 99078540

2 Bedroom fl at for offi ces with fur-

niture near Al Manaf Hotel, Ghala.

Contact 99525743, 99439705

Room with separate entrance & A/C

in Al Khuwair near Rawasco for non-

cooking Indian Bachelor, rent RO

120/-, Contact 97201100,

95397442

1 BR accommodation available at

Rex Road, suitable for bachelors.

Contact 99889590

BUYING/SELLING

Looking for commercial lands for

sale in Al Ghobrah North (urgent

serious buyers, commercial lands in

al Ghobrah North (corners prime loca-

tion). Contact 91155779

Looking for purchase of Used Portable Compressor (350 CFM,

7 Bar Pressure) powered with Diesel

run Generator.

Kindly Contact 99014686 or

[email protected]

Used household & offi ce furni-

ture and electronic items. Contact

99834373, 97102699

AVAILABLE

Established Restaurant for rent

with sponsorship. #97628242

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirt-

ing, Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery,

Crockery, Glassware, Chafi ng Dishes,

Ice Sculptures, to Large Sound

Systems and spectacular lighting.

Call Andrea 9606 2222 for Catering

and Croyden 9623 5555 for Sound &

Light. www.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: [email protected]

NRI

2BHK, 2 Toilets, 1 Store, own desk,

room size 4x4.Location: back of

City Center Seeb, near Shell Sta-

tion. Contact: Ms. Lyn 97004746

M.V. FOR SALE

Lancer 2008, full auto, good condi-

tion. Contact 96788982

Toyota Yaris 1.5 2010 December,

Automatic, expat driven, single

owner, new tyres, new Insurance

82,000 kms in new condition.

OMR 3400/-. Contact 93876159

For sale Toyota Camry 2010,

Mazda 6 2006. Contact 97100370

Nissan Sunny auto 2009, 100 k,

RO 2,500. Contact 93289652

Tucson V6 2007, automatic,

RO 2800/-. Contact 99384640

Lexus IS 250, model 2007,

good condition. Contact 95530560

Lexus GS300, 2006 for sale.

Contact 93218349

Plot & Villa in Trissur, Kerala for

sale, plot (8 cent) for sale near

Amala Medical College Hospital,

Trissur, Kerala. Villa for sale 2200

SQ ft in 6 cent Pottor, Trissur,

Kerala. Contact 99203128

For Astrological consultation,

Jathakam. Contact: 99860435 /

97102599

Villa for sale 2200 sq ft in 8 cent.

Kottayam. Contact: 92652534

I, Raghavendra Mahadev Mu-kumbi (holder of Indian Passport

No. L9738296) s/o Mahadev D

Mukumbi having permanent

address in House No 88, Post-

Tinaight, Tal-Joida, Dist-Karwar,

state Karnataka (complete postal

address in India) and presently

residing in BIP, P.O.Box 169, P.C 100,

Muscat (complete postal address in

Oman) intend to marry Ms Waruni

Shalika Kulatunga Kahagala Hew-

age (holder of Srilankan Passport

No. N2517193) d/o Kahagala Hew-

age Kulatunga in Embassy of India,

Muscat. I swear that I am marrying

her at my own free will AND not

under any duress and intimida-

tion. Any objection towards change

of name of our minor child may

please be communicated to Em-

bassy of India, Muscat, Diplomatic

Quarters, Al Khuwair, P.B.No 1727,

Postal Code 112, Ruwi, Sultanate of

Oman.

Wiwi Wiharti BT Satra Wangsa

has lost Indonesian Passport No.

AR 108417. Finder please handover

to ROP

DAILY GUIDEC4 S AT U R D AY, D E C E M B E R 2 7, 2 0 1 4

DOMESTIC HELP

SKILLED LABOR

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

MEDICAL

ELECTRICIAN / TECHNI-

IT

SITUATION WANTEDSIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED

Urgently Required House boy/cleaner for an Indian Family /

Fulltime –Leave Vacancy 99471085

/ 99470969

Urgently Required Housemaid

for an Indian Business Family /

Fulltime –Leave Vacancy 99471085

/ 99470969

Required female housemaid salary

(RO 170/-). Contact 91403177

Required Housemaid urgently in

Rustaq for a Malayalee family,

preferably Indians.

Contact 99810765

Required full time Housemaid

for Indian family in Darsait. Visa

+ accommodation + Food will be

provided. Contact 99736979

Required House maid urgently in

Al Khuwair (Indian or Srilanka).

Contact. 96103792.

AUTOCAD

Email: [email protected] classifi [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

Chartered Accountant, 32, Male, 10+

yrs experience in Finance, Accounts,

Audit, exposure in Oracle, SAP,

Tally. Contact 94641805,

immediate availability.

Egyptian Female, 3 yrs experience

in Finance & Accounts, Administra-

tion skills, speaking English fl uently,

good skills in computer.

Contact 94067437

Indian male, 23 yrs, Bachelors

Degree with 2 yrs Indian experi-

ence, presently on visit visa looking

for suitable job. Contact 93489787,

email : [email protected]

Full/part time, Indian male, 10 yrs

experience, 6 yrs in Oman with

Oman Driving License seeking suit-

able placement. Contact 97123002

Accounts Executive, Indian male,

M.Com having 8 years GCC experi-

ence (4 yrs in Dubai & 4 yrs in

Muscat, Oman) with valid Omani

D/L & NOC available seeks suitable

placement. Contact 93218852

Finance Manager, CPA, with more

than 15 yrs. of experience in GCC.

Fully knowledgeable in Finance,

General & Management Accounting .

NOC available. Contact 96209331

Pakistani male, MBA Finance, 6 yrs

experience in Accounts, Purchase

and Store looking for position in

Accounts, Purchase or Store Dept.

NOC available. Contact 94046323.

Email : [email protected]

B.Com Graduate, 5 yrs experience,

Indian male 26 yrs, looking for

Accountant job.

Contact 93975526,


Chief Accountant, 14 yrs experience

in Oman looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact 97385562

Indian Male, Chief/Sr Accountant,

21 yrs experience up to fi nalization.

Contact 94481076

Male, MBA, 10 yrs exp in production

in Marble Industry Sales & Market-

ing, Admin & Accounts. Ready to join.

Contact 94670691

ADMIN/HR

ENGINEERS

SALES / MARKETING

SALES / MARKETING

DRAUGHTSMAN

Urgently required Omani/ non Omani looking for Electrical Engineer having 3 to 4 years Oman

experience with good communica-

tion skills. Send CV to -

[email protected]

An international Construction Company requires Proposal En-gineer, A Bachelor’s degree in Civil

Engineering, minimum of 3-5 years

experience in Proposal Department

in construction, Having knowledge

and experience in preparation of

proposals in Oman, Excellent com-

mand of both written and spoken

English and Arabic

Please send your CV

[email protected]

Procurement Engineer, Power Plant Field experience,

Electrical / Mechanical. Email :

[email protected] /

[email protected]

Wanted immediately shelf boys

for a foodstuff Trading Company in

Muscat with release / no objection

from sponsor. Send CV to

[email protected]

A Supply Company in Muscat requires: 1-Sales Executive (Male)

with minimum 1 yr experience,


Salesman wanted for prestigious

interior design and offi ce furniture

Supply Company. Experience and

driver’s license needed. Excellent

remuneration package.

Email: [email protected]

Salesman cum Merchandiser ur-gently required for a reputed FMCG

Company engaged in manufactur-

ing and trading in Oman. Candidate

must have minimum 4-5 yrs experi-

ence in the similar fi eld and valid

Omani Driving License. Interested

candidates may send their CV to

[email protected]

Freight forwarding professional for Sea Freight sales and operations. Minimum 5 years experience in GCC

sea freight operations.

Oman driving license required.


MISCELLANEOUS

Pakistani National, 24 yrs, 1 yr of

experience in Accounting & Multi-

national fi rm, currently on visit visa

looking for a suitable job.#93578561

Sr. Accountant, Indian male, 34 yrs,

MBA (F&M), CMA (pursuing), 8 yrs

exp in a multinational FMCG with

valid Oman D/L, NOC available ,

looking for a suitable position:

Contact 95645945

India Accountant: Male, M com,

7 Yrs experience in Accounts up to

fi nalization, having knowledge of

ERP, Tally seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 93950138

Email:[email protected]

Indian male, 24 yrs, B.Com, 3 yrs

experience in Accounting looking

for a job in Offi ces and Accounting.

Contact 94618319,


Indian male, M.Com qualifi cation

with 3 yrs Accounting experience in

India on visit visa seeking for suit-

able job. Contact 91083803

Indian Male, MBA 2 yrs experience

in Accounts, Admin & HR on visit

visa. Contact 92045306

Indian male, 32 years, M. Com.7 out

of 9 years experience in Oman in

Accounts/fi nance. Having NOC and

valid Oman D/L. Contact 98277143,


India Accountant: Male, M com,

7 Yrs experience in Accounts up to

fi nalization, having knowledge of

ERP, Tally, seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact:93950138


24yrs, Indian female, 7 months

audit experience, seeking suit-

able placement in audit/accounts.

Contact:[email protected],

Gsm: 99284429 / 94134253

Indian Male, 28 yrs old B.Com hav-

ing 7 yrs experience (3 yrs in MCT)

looking for a suitable placement in

Accounts / Sales currently on visit

visa. Contact 93128830, email:

[email protected]

Indian Male, MBA 2 years experi-

ence in Accounts and Admin looking

for suitable placement.

Contact 92045306.

Male 25 Pakistani MA Economics/

CAT.4 years experience in utility sec-

tor fl exible to do any role in fi nance/

HR & supply chain.

https://www.linkedin.com/profi le/

view?id=186570782 no 94626209

Electrician with driving license.

Call 92341826

Fire safety technician. Call 92341826

Indian Male, qualifi ed ICWA, M.com

with 2years experience in accounts,

costing, auditing & SAP in reputed

listed companies, seeks suitable

placements. Mob: 94619453

Email: [email protected].

Indian male MBA 32 yrs having

10 yrs of exp seeking suitable place-

ment in Admin/ HR/ Operations/

Coordination/ Logistics etc.

Holding valid Oman D/L .

Contact - 99054786

Civil Draughtsman, Indian Male,

23 yrs with 3yrs experience in Au-

toCAD 2D & 3D, MEP, HVAC, 3Ds Max

and Photoshop looking for suitable

position, presently in Muscat, Oman

on visit visa. Contact 91764358,

[email protected]

Indian male, 27 years, BCOM, certi-

fi cation in NSE & C, C++ & Data Struc-

tures with 7yrs + experience, looking

for Admin/Marketing/IT profi le, fast

learner, hardworking and proactive,

available to ASAP,

Contact 94642053/ 95865990.


Legal Advisor and consultant in

International Arbitration (Egyptian

Resident) legal and administrative

expertise and the Omani labor law

and drafting contracts.

Contact 99664890

Indian Male MBA 32 yrs having 8+

yrs of Exp (GCC, AFRICA), urgently

looking job in HR/Admin/ /Opera-

tion/Purchase/Academics / BD. Now

on visit visa, NOC available, join

immediately. Contact 94535618,

95930705

Indian female with excellent

communication skills, confi dent,

dedicated to work and enthusiastic.

Knowledge about ms offi ce. Has

6 years of experience in cus-

tomer service, telecommunication,

HR.Looking for immediate place-

ment. Contact # 97348819

Indian female with 10 yrs of experi-

ence in HR/Banking/Operations

seeks a suitable placement. Can be

contacted on 98919015 or

[email protected]

Pakistani Male, 27 yrs, MBA in HR,

BBA in Marketing and Finance hav-

ing 2 yrs experience in Sales and

Admin, on family visit till 15 Febru-

ary looking for suitable position.

Contact 94543222,


ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Filipino Accountant with 13 years

working experience in the fi eld of

accounting looking for a suitable

job in Muscat. Contact: 94547323

Tunisian women looking for

Secretarial/offi ce job khnows eng-

lish, frensh and arabic/Italian.

Contact: 91171838

Indian Female 23 years M.Com

Graduate on visit visa hav-

ing four month experience as

an Accountant in a company

at Muscat. Looking for a suit-

able job. Immediately available

for joining. Contact: 95846642,


B.Tech. (Civil), 2 years experi-

ence in designing, and training

corporate professionals in Dubai

in software, presently working in

India, seeks suitable job opening.

[email protected]

Manager Maintenance/Work-

shop/Purchase, 31 yrs. exp. in

mechanical, electrical, electronics,

parts fabrication, purchase dep’t,

oman exp. 5yrs, have NOC, looking

for job. Pls. contact -

[email protected], 99331289

Senior Accounts Professional,

Indian Male, 35 years, M.Com,

MBA (Fin) 8 years in Oman, with

valid Oman DL and NOC available.

Capable to handle accounts up to

fi nalization. Contact 9602 3965.

Indian female, 34 yrs, B.A, B.Ed

(S.S), DCA, Doing M.A by distance,

having 6 yrs experience in School

(5 yrs in Indian School, Oman).

Contact 98728700, 92458872

G.P. Doctor required with MOH

license for a leading clinic in capital.

Contact 99044345 / 99339396

Private Dental Clinic in Buraimi

city needed a dentist have practice

license in Oman. Contact 98379121

Wanted a Dentist to work in Capital

Area with MOH License. Interested

candidates can email at :

fi [email protected]

Dentist required to work urgently in

dreams clinic at Al Khoud and must

be resident in Sultanate of Oman.

Please send your CV to the following

email – [email protected] /

[email protected] /

[email protected]

Mobile – 99882340 / 24545914

General practitioner Doctor is

required to work urgently in Dreams

Clinic at Al Khoudh and must be

resident in the Sultanate of Oman.

Please send your CV to the follow-

ing email: [email protected],

[email protected] &

info@towersinternationalgroups.

com, Mobile 99882340,

Tel: 24545914

Urgently required temporary/per-manent General Physician & Gyne-cology Doctors. Contact 96064925,

[email protected]

Urgent placement (with MOH) Pharmacist - 2 nos & Asst. pharma-cist - 2 nos. Contact - 99338219

Urgently required dentist for a

polyclinic. Contact - 96721709

Urgently require the following

labors for a construction company

in Muscat on monthly basis- Tile fi xing mason - 2 nos, Helpers – 4 nos. Contact – 96473187

DESIGNER

AutoCAD 3D, 2D Photoshop, 3D

max Ph: 97103168

Interior Designer, UAE Experi-

ence, Knows Photoshop, Corel

draw etc.. Ph : 97103168

Interior Designer, UAE Experi-

ence, Knows Photoshop, Corel

draw etc.. Ph : 97103168

Syrian 3d designer ready to hand

over any project in few days time.

Contact 96767004

Man-Friday requires with excel-

lent driving and basic maintenance

skills, attractive package for right

candidates 99471085/99470969

Light duty driver with Marketing

knowledge. Send CV to

[email protected]

or call 92341826

DRIVER

Financial expert with full knowl-

edge of Tally. Email: kheradmand@

teccontracting.com /

[email protected]

Required experienced Account-ant Tally, excellent English &

driving license. Contact –

[email protected] /

24497762 / 92192510

Required 3 Nos of Accountants

for our reputed organization based

in Al Ghubrah.

Knowledge of Tally with Accounts

background up to fi nalization.

Contact 98016111,


ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ADMIN

Part time Java programmer required. Please contact Sreejit on

93520108 or write to

[email protected]

Required Omani PRO (AGE 18-23

yrs). Send resume to

[email protected]

Indian Male, 23 years MBA (Market-

ing) (6 months experience as a Sales

and Operation Offi cer looking for

suitable job.

Contact 99106181, Email:

[email protected]

IT software professional looking for

a suitable position in Desktop/Web

application development. Visit www.

muhammedswafuvan.weebly.com

for more details. Reach me on

(+968) 98395032.

Pakistani male 32 years IT network

+ Computer Hardware professional

A+ MCSE Termination Technician

work Experience in Salalah airport.

10+ years experience in IT fi eld and

2 years Oman working experience

looking for a suitable placement

contact no 96733205 Email

[email protected]

Indian female with nine years of

experience in 5 Star hotels as As-

sistant Food & Beverage Manager

looking for a suitable placement in

a reputed Star hotel.

Contact 91219787

Civil Engineer, Indian Female, having

one year experience in Quantity Sur-

vey, also knows AutoCAD, primavera

etc seeks placement.

Contact 91690345

Over 19 years of qualitative expe-

rience in automobile fi eld. Expert

in providing technical advice on

repairs and servicing. Seeking jobs

in sales/ servicing/managerial

fi eld. Contact 968-91176187,

0091-7736048460,

[email protected].

Indian female 24 yrs, MBA

(fi nance) (1 year experience as

administrator cum junior level

accountant looking for suitable job

& holding visiting visa. Contact

97481488, Email:

[email protected]

Hotel Manager, Indian male,

25 years exp. in Budget & 3 Star

Hotel, with Omani Driving License

, Seeks Placement. NOC/Release

Available. Contact: 99799774,


Indian Female, IATA, BSc looking

for suitable placement.

Contact-95514305.

[email protected]

M. Sc. Medical lab technician (Prometric passed) having 6 years

experience in India. Currently on

visit, looking for a suitable place-

ment. Please contact 97248144,

[email protected].

10 yr GCC Exp Light duty driver

(HOLDING OMANI DRIVING LI-

CENSE) seeking job.

Contact : 97485952 , 91660291

Project Manager civil, Indian,

seeking suitable placement, hav-

ing 18 yrs exp (13 yrs in Oman) in

tendering, contracting and manag-

ing projects, available with release.

Contact: 99244245, 95321251

Admin Executive, 31, Indian Male,

having 8+ years exp. in reputed

companies, seeking suitable place-

ment in any gulf region. Contact

+968 99276601 & 97693456.

Email: muralimahdav77@gmail.

com

Civil Engineer Diploma, 6 years

experience in Oman

Contact: 97415597.

Indian male -39, Graduate 15

years experience in FMCG sales

and marketing and logistics opera-

tions with valid driving license

looking suitable placement.

#92090949

Mechanical Engineering Post

Graduate with 10+ years work

experience looking for a suitable

immediate opening in construc-

tion, oil& gas, and other related

companies, currently on visit visa.

Contact: 92975815

Indian Male 26years BCOM

having 5years rich experience

in Accounts and Admin looking

for suitable placement. Contact

:96897914340,00919902200486

Email: sudhakaranchan06@gmail.

com

Indian male 2 years experience

in Light & Heavy motor vehicle

Mechanic. Diesel & Petrol.

Seek suitable placement

Contact 99421537.

Indian male QA/QC Engineer-Civil

(BE,ACQE)on visit visa, 10 years of

experience in building construc-

tion projects in Qatar & U.A.E.,

holding valid GCC driving license.

Mobile: 93958533,

E-mail: [email protected]

Indian female, 25 yrs, bachelors of

businesses management, having

experience of 5 years as a fund/

fi nancial administration, on visit

visa,looking for suitable placement.

Cell 94662416

[email protected]

26 hrs Indian Accountant with

2 years experience, B.Com,

seeking suitable position,

available immediately,

contact No:9821 3292,

e-mail: [email protected]

Building Materials experienced

Sales and Marketing guy need job,

having Omani Driving License.

Contact 95094141, 93676713

Highly reputed Perfume Company requires Omani Sales girl promoters. Contact 95663682,

92956876

Urgently required Sales & Market-ing Executive having experience in

Real Estate. Send your CV at

[email protected]

Required an experienced person who has ideas to start a new

business in electrical fi eld or supply

with minimum cost.

Contact 99426421

DRIVER

Driver available. Contact

93353997

Light driver seeking job.

Contact 95447293

Looking for driver job. Contact 98219182

Driver available with car.

Contact 95068976

Light driver looking for job.

Contact 92791678

Driver LD, Pakistani. #93873120

15 years experienced Indian Light

Driver. Contact 98993526


DAILY GUIDESITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

DRIVER

EDUCATION

Light Driver having own visa

looking for job as driver

Contact: 92303692

Light driver looking for job. Contact

96794309 / 98335778

Driver with car. 2 yrs exp. in Oman.

Contact 96424316 / 93614356

Pakistani light duty driver seeks

job with 8 yrs Dubai experience.

Contact 91376612

B.Sc Civil Engineer over 19 yrs

experience in construction fi eld with

project management skills, seeks

suitable placement. NOC available &

can join immediately. Kindly contact

92198264,


M. tech Electrical Eng. Female, now

in visit visa. Contact +968-94654481.

B. Tech Civil Eng. 3 yrs exp in Oman

with driving license.

Contact +968-93733627.

Mail id : [email protected],

[email protected]

Civil Engineer with 2 yrs experience

(structural design – construction

works-instructor of structural design

soft ware’s), computer literacy

(ETAB-SAFE-AutoCAD-Primavera).

Contact 94634906

Sr. Site Supervisor (Civil) since

March 2010 in Oman looking for

better opportunity having Omani D/L

(Release available).

Contact 93061107

27 yrs, Male, Diploma in Civil Engi-

neering, 7 yrs exp, 05 yrs in Oman as

Site Engineer. NOC available seeking

a suitable placement

immediately. Kindly contact

98925718 / 94619501.


Indian Male, 31 yrs, Xth and one

year Diploma in Electronics, and 7

yrs experience in OFC work seeking

suitable jobs, presently on visit visa.

Contact 97942303,


Sudanese Engineer, computer and

network engineering, 7 yrs experi-

ence work in Oman 3 yrs.

Contact 9916606 / 96272760

Sudanese Electrical Engineer work-

ing as a project manager in Oman for

2 yrs total experience, 5 yrs driving

and Muzoon CEP license.

Contact 91473717

Indian Male, 25 yrs M.Sc Tech ap-

plied Geology, presently on visit visa

seeking for Geologist job. Contact

94076379,


Pakistani Male, 32 yrs, MBA

Marketing, 6+1 experience in Sales/

Marketing/Business Development

having valid Omani Driving License

looking for suitable placement.

Contact 95492039,

[email protected]

18 yrs Oman experience in Building

Materials in Sales. NOC available.

Contact 93105775

BE Mechanical, 9 yrs experience in

Sales & Business Development, Oil

& Gas equipments like pumps etc.

Contact 91139771

Quantity Surveyor (Civil Building)

looking for Part time job Contact

no:-94391712 E-mail address-

[email protected]

Indian, B Tech Electrical & Electron-

ics, 5 yrs exp in India. On visit visa

in Oman. Looking for suitable open-

ing in Oman. Available for immedi-

ate placement. Contact 97879255.

[email protected]

Jordanian Engineer Electrical 7 yrs

exp. Consulting, site & shop drawing

works. Ready to join immediately.

Worked in UAE & Saudi Arabia.

Contact - 98676897

Indian B.Tech Civil Engineer hav-

ing 6 yrs experience in Oman with

D/L seeks placement. NOC available.

Contact 93604858,

[email protected]

Indian male, 27 yrs, B.E (Electronics

& Communications Engg) having

5 yrs experience in BPO & Security

Systems seeking suitable place-

ment. Currently on visit visa.

Contact 97784627, 93728674,


Indian male, 24 yrs, diploma in

Electronics, 2 yrs experience in

Sales, with Oman, D/L seeking suit-

able placement. Contact 93195828,

99312081

Indian lady (single), 35 yrs looking

for a job, more than 10 yrs exp in

Oman, presently working in Nursery

(Nanny) (exp in Child Care, bus

helper, teaching Assistant and Craft

Worker), known : English, Arabic,

Malayalam, Tamil (Hindi spoken).

Contact 98712415

Currently working as Lecturer of IT,

(M.Sc IT) (M Phil computer Science)

having experience for more than 5

years, looking for suitable place-


HOSPITALITY

MEDICAL

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

Indian male Graduate with 20+

years of Administration, Operations

& Management experience in IT,

Oil & Gas & Hospitality Industry. 12

years in Oman with vast contacts,

very strong management, operation-

al, communication and interper-

sonal skills, can handle any size of

business and projects whether it’s in

initial stage or established. Can join

immediately. Local release available

on request. Contact: 9906 4589

Sr. supervisor 27 years of experi-

ence in construction (building &

roads) with 9 yrs in Oman looking

for suitable opportunity. Visa trans-

fer & NOC are available.

CONTACT NO. 98177179

General Manager / working partner

20 years in Dubai adverting agency

experience. Contact 93031168

MECH./TECHNICAL

MISCELLANEOUS

Welder 6G, 3G, TIG, ARC,

Fabrication, Gulf Exp Ph: 97103168

21 yrs experienced in Hotels and

Hospitality business, 14 yrs worked

in leading hotels in Oman looking

for a suitable management posi-

tion Hospitality Industry. Contact

93191659 / 99149131

SALES / MARKETING

Indian Male, B.Tech E&I, 10 yrs

experience in Sales, Procurement,

BDM. 6 yrs Oman experience in

Oil & Gas Sector. Seeking suitable

placement. Oman D/L, NOC

available. Contact 97233074

Indian Male, MBA Marketing and

IT, 1 yr experience currently on visit

visa, age 24 yrs seeking suitable

placement. Email:

[email protected].

Contact 94541453

Male, 26 yrs, M.Com, last 1 yr & 9

months in sales with Oman Driving

License seeking for sales job.

Contact 95116991

Indian Male, MBA Marketing,

2 yrs currently on visit visa, 24 yrs

old, seeking suitable placement.

Contact 94653198,


Sales & Marketing Indian male

MBA (marketing & sales) business

development experience at all levels

of management. Currently on visit

visa. Contact – 91272819

Sales & Marketing Manager, well

experienced in Oman & UAE in

LHH, FMCG & foodstuff is seeking

a job in Oman. Contact 93886230 /

96556789

Indian Male MBA (USA) having

5 yrs of International experience

in Sales and Marketing. Visit visa.

Contact 98853309

Indian male 33 yrs, MBA Market-

ing 8+ years of (Gulf) experience in

Marketing Communication/Event

Management/Branding/Website

Management and Sponsorship, look-

ing for suitable vacancies.

Contact 95390193

24 yrs Indian Male, MBA in Market-

ing and Production currently on

visit visa seeks suitable placement.

Contact 91038969

Fresh MBA (Marketing) Graduate,

Indian Male, looking for opportuni-

ties in Oman, Contact: 94653375,


Indian Male, MBA in Marketing and

Finance, 10 years’ Sales & Business

Development Experience with valid

D/L of Oman & UAE looking for a

suitable placement. NOC Available.

Contact: 93969961

e-mail [email protected]

Filipino 30 years old, male- looking

for job vacancy in Muscat area for

document controller position with

6 years experience in gulf country.

Available for interview. Contact#-

92809514 Email-

[email protected]

SECRETARIAL/OFFICE

Indian Female experienced front

offi ce executive on visit visa seeks

suitable placement.

Contact - 94284565

Email - [email protected]

Indian female, well experienced

in secretarial, administration,

customer care & supervisory jobs.

5 years experience in Muscat.

Immediately available for joining.

Contact: 92139298

Civil Engineer B Tech , Site engineer

Experienced, Drafting on Visit Visa

Ph : 91642050

Electrical Engineer (B.Tech), 26,

Indian male, 1+ yr experience in

Transformers installation mainte-

nance and HT/LT distribution lines.

Presently on visit visa seeking suit-


[email protected]

QA/QC Engineer. 6 yrs experience

in UAE. CSWIP and NACE certifi ed;

Looking for a suitable opening.

Mob: +971 551606314

B.Tech Engineer QA/QC, 7 yrs GCC

Oil & Gas experience API.570 CSWIP

3.1 NDT Level 2 seeking placement

in Oman. NOC available.

Contact [email protected]

27, Male, Diploma in Civil Engineer,

7 yrs experience, 5.5 yrs in Oman,

valid Omani D/L seeking suit-


95826452, Email :

[email protected]

Civil Engineer (Diploma) looking for

an urgent placement.

Contact 95200650

Mechanical Engineer (B.Tech),

Indian female, 23 yrs with 1 yr ex-

perience certifi ed in PDMS, process

design management looking for a

suitable position. Contact 91788939,

Email : [email protected]

Indian male - 23 yrs - BE (Mech)-

Experience in Volkswagen - on

visit visa - contact 99669889 /

97930494;


Mechanical Engineer (HVAC)

1+ year experience.

Contact: 93707101

Civil Engineer B Tech, Site Engineer

Experienced, Drafting on Visit Visa

Ph : 91642050

Sudanese Mechanical Engineer,

3 yrs experience as Sit Engineer,

HVAC System, and driving license,

easy to transfer immediately.

Contact 91135140

Instrumentation Engineer, 1 yr experience in Apollo Tyres as

Trainee, experience in calibration

of diff erent types of gangel, control

valve, fl ow transmitter, temperature

& pressure transmitters, visiting

visa as 21 days in Muscat.

Contact 99589726

B.Tech civil, female, 8 yrs experi-

ence in Oman (QS) and teaching

experience in India (Chemistry)

2 yrs seeking suitable job.

Contact 98274607

Indian male, 30 D.C.P, B.Com having

7 yrs experience in construction

procurement seeking suitable place-

ment.NOC available. #95223816

Civil Structural Engineer, (fresher)

young Indian Male, Post Graduate,

seeking suitable placement.

Contact 93133530. Email id:

[email protected]

B.E Civil 5 yrs exp (2 yrs in India)

2 yrs Oman & 1 year in Qatar. Salary

expected RO.500/- above.

Contact - 94412557

Civil Engineer (B.Tech), Indian

Male, 24 yrs with 1+ yrs Indian

experience (Certifi ed in Quantity

Survey/Primavera/AutoCAD) look-

ing for a suitable position, available

in Sultanate of Oman (Muscat) on

visit visa. Contact 91303860,


Structural Engineer (M.Tech)

Indian male 24, 1 year Experience,

available in Oman till January 11.

email:[email protected],

GSM: 94619546,

Electrical Engineer {B.E. Electrical

and Electronics Engineering} Indian,

Male, 22 years old, with Advanced

Diploma in Industrial Automation (

IAO Certifi ed ) having good commu-

nication skills in English, looking for

suitable position in Sultanate of Oman

on Visit Visa.Contact 91714513


BSc Civil Engineer with 5 yrs exp

and Omani Driving License and

valid PDO Driving License and OSHA

Safety License and PDO Permit to

work courses and release visa.

Contact 92548097

B.Tech (EC) 5yrs exp. in building

automation and network adminis-

tration with CCNA MCSE, JAVA &

ORACLE PL/SQL certifi ed. Seeking

suitable placements.

GSM 94575080

Email- [email protected]

IT Professional, Indian male, B.Sc

Graduate with 4+ yrs Gulf (UAE)

good exp in System Administration,

IT Support, Server Desktop, laptop,

smartboard, datashow biometric,

CCTV, currently on visit visa.

Contact 98936548,

[email protected]

Female, B Tech (Software Profes-

sional), Oracle SQL .NET Database,

Experienced (Teaching & Engg)

Ph: 94550127

B.Tech Indian male IT & Network

Engineer, CCNA Certifi ed. 7 Years

experience working with reputed

organization, in product support,

maintenance & onsite implementa-

tion exposure, on visit visa. Contact

– 96731961 / 92890014 / Email –

[email protected]

Health care IT software Engineer

with 4+ yrs exp looking for a suit-

able position in software division

of reputed organization. Currently

on visit visa. Contact – 94654705 /

Email – [email protected]

INFORMATION TECH

Mechanical Engineer (B.Tech),

Indian Male, with Oil Engg & Qual-

ity Control Systems, NDT-Level 2

qualifi ed as per ASNT Level II, one

year experience as Site Engineer.

Presently on visit visa,

seeking suitable placement.

Contact # 91260427, 95147671,


Electrical Engineer, 9 yrs GCC exp

in Electrical Projects with valid

Omani D/L, NOC available can join

immediately. Contact 99148940

Email : [email protected].

B.Tech Chartered Electrical Engineer

from India with 4 years experience

in various electrical projects, core

strength in designing power scheme

layouts, estimations, BOQs, execution,

commissioning, testing etc. Contact

94638744, 96473165,


CAPTAIN-All Type Tankers Unlim-

ited (Ind/UK) + STCW Certifi cation

+ 19Yrs experience and 3.5Yrs as

Captain LPG/ OilChem with MNC

SEEKS JOB at OMAN in PORT DE-

VELOPMENT/ DRYDOCK/ MARINE

SUPDT./ MOORING MASTER. Visit-

ing MUSCAT 25 Dec ~ 5 Jan shall

be available for interview. Contact

[email protected] or

+968 99476560

B.Tech Indian Female, Electri-

cal Engineer, 2 yrs experience

in Kiriloskar Electric Co. & KSEB

looking for suitable position.

Contact 94564078,


Looking Part time Job in HVAC-

93198128

Experienced female Electrical

Engineer.Contact 93800906

Indian Male, IT Support Engineer,

2 yrs in Oman & 5 yrs Indian experi-

ence. Contact 97311847

Indian male, 23 yrs B.E Electronics &

Communication / Automation (PLC,

Scada, Umi, VFD), 1 yr experience

seeking job. Contact 94663035,


Sudanese Mechanical Engineer, 7 yrs experience in : 1-Thermal

Power Plants O & M of boilers

turbines utilities HVAC fi refi ghting,

2-Factories of FMCG maintenance

of moulders fi llers, carton packers,

compressors, generators, RO process

plants. Contact 94649850

Indian Civil Engineer M-Tech in

construction management, experi-

enced in Primavera P6, looking for

suitable placement, preferably in

planning. GSM: 92550987 or


Project Manager, Civil Engineer,

Total Experience 5 Years, 4 Years

in Oman. Construction Building

Experience .Fluent Arabic, English

and V. Good Hindi. Good in Excel and

AutoCAD. Contact – 97858589

B.Sc Engineer (Civil), having 14 years

of experience (5 years in Oman) is

seeking a suitable placement (NOC

available). GSM: 97746047,


Indian Male, 22 yrs, B.Tech, Marine

Engineer, presently on visit visa

seeks suitable placement.

Contact 93191777,


,

Female, 26 yrs, B.Tech in Mechani-

cal Engineer with 3 yrs experience

in Piping Stress Analysis in Oil &

Gas Sector, currently on family visa,

looking for a placement.

Contact 95890939,


Indian Male, 26, B.E Mechanical

Engineer, fresh graduate currently in

Oman looking for suitable place-


B.Sc Staff Nurse, promerty with

good score, 4 yrs experience on

visit seeking placement. Contact

96914497 / 93730302

Indian Female, Dentist fresher look-

ing for suitable placement.

Contact 98857686,


Pharmacist-Indian female having

MOH license looking for new oppor-

tunities. On family visa valid up to

Aug 2016. Contact: 92247993

General Physician with 6 years

experience passed OMSB prometric

exam for General Practice, looking

for suitable job, gwan2015@hotmail.

com, +971567830841

Lab Technician, Civil (8yrs Gulf ex-

perience) looking for a suitable job

(NOC available) Contact-93344378

Female Graduate 2 and half years

experience in Medical coding

(specialty radiology & urgent care)

on visit seeks suitable placement.

Contact 93188644

MISCELLANEOUS

Logistics Offi cer, Experience in

Store keeping. Contact : 99505934

Building Caretaker, Gulf exp, knows

Arabic, Hindi Ph : 91218278

Welder 6g 3g, Gulf Experienced

Ph : 97103168

Autocad 3Dmax , Photoshop

Ph : 97103168

Indian Male, 39 yrs having Degree

in B.Sc Maths and Diploma in

Supply Chain and Logistics with

computer knowledge having 14 yrs

experience in store keeping within

that 5 yrs in Dubai seeking

opportunities in store, logistics or

offi ce assistants.

Contact 96186573

Indian Female, 27, B.Sc, B.Ed, 4 yrs

experience in Money Exchange

seeking for suitable job. Contact

96007473, 92174724

Pakistani Male, 34, College 2 yrs,

2 yrs experience as Sales Repre-

sentative, 3 yrs experience as Clerk/

Offi ce Assistant, 3 yrs experience as

Salesman in Oman, Excel, Busy. ERP.

language known: English, Arabic,

Urdu and Hindi. Contact 96763346

Indian female MSc costume design

& fashion having 3 yrs exp in teach-

ing seeking suitable job.

Contact: 97614456

Indian Male 40 yrs, Legal advisor

and coroprate in house lawyer

currently working with a reputed

legal fi rm in Muscat having 7

years gulf eperience looking for

Legal Manager post in companies.

Experience in drafting agreements,

contracts, negiotation and dispute

settlement. Good knowledge in

Oman Labour Law and other laws.

NOC available . GSM: 99137569

Business Development Manager, Iraqi, Experience 14 Years Inside and

outside Oman following activities:

tenders& real estate& construction &

marketing projects& investments&

transportation & Marine services&

companies management& develop

business. Contact :- 93240027

Executive Post, MBA 14 years Ex-

perience in Multinational Groups in

Marketing & Management.

M.Z. 93190806

INFORMATION TECH

IT Prof, MCA having 6+ yrs exp,

seeks suitable position.

Contact 94543668

Management Professional, exper-

tise in team building operations,

project management, leadership,

writing on visit visa till 19th Janu-

ary 2015. Contact 93516436,


Indian female with nine years of

experience in 5 Star hotels as As-

sistant Food & Beverage Manager

looking for a suitable placement in a

reputed Star hotel.

Contact: 91219787

Qualifi ed Manager: (12+ yrs. Oman

Exp.) Vast knowledge in A/c &

Admin, Costing, Banking, Credit

Control, Insurance, International

Purchase/Logistics & Finance, With

D/L looking for suitable position.

Contact: [email protected] ,

Gsm: 93826090

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

SALES / MARKETING

Indian Male, 7 yrs experience in

building materials trading having

Oman D/L, immediate release avail-

able. Contact 98676713

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624





SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

SITUATION WANT-SERVICES

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing,

Contact 99314807/24792998

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of your

marble. # 24793614/ 99314807

Pest Control Treatments!!! Termites! Cockroaches! Bedbugs!

Ocean Centre LLC.

Contact 99344723

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. Contact ABU QA-

BAS- 99320217 /24788722

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. Contact ABU QA-

BAS- 99320217 /24788722

Door to Door Computers repair

specialist laptop software Website

cartridges. Contact 99199376

A.M Trading Pest control.Contact 99067923

Waterproofi ng, light weight Screed,

Antitermite and MS Fabrication.

Contact 92888337

For All Your Maintenance Solutions,

A/c Servicing & Fixing, Painting,

Cleaning, Electric. Contact. 99002390

Contact: 91262820 / 96458007

Cargo Truck body fabrication. Please contact 92326955. Bridge

Gulfa llc, Misfah industrial area.

Water proofi ng ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

GULF INTERNATIONAL LLC

all kind of pest control.

Contact 92326955

Window & split unit A/C servicing

& maintenance. Contact 96236476

Civil Maintenance, Painting Elec-

tric, Plumbing, Decor, Tile Fixing,

Lecithin Copra Board fl at stifl ing ,

Carpet Cleaning and A/C Servicing.

Contact 97897831 (Indian keralite)

Carpet & sofa cleaning, house clean-

ing. Contact 99542979 / 98855815

Split & window A/C servicing &

maintenance. Contact 93769089

For all your maintenance needs

including, Painting, Plumbing,

Electricity, Laying of Interlock Tiles,

Marbles etc. Tel: 99383574

Mr. Chandran

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile pol-

ishing, pest control & anti-termite

treatment, general cleaning paint-

ing, Plumbing, Electrical, shifting.

Contact Mundhir Al-Rizaiqi trading.

L.L.C. # 24810137, 99450130

CLASSES

WEBSITE

WEB, ERP and Business Intelli-

gence (BI) creation and man-

agement at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

COMPUTER

Al Manar Vocational pleased to an-

nounce at vocational short and long

term courses in tailoring, cooking

and internal design. Contact us now :

24698070 or 91144335

Split & window AC servicing and

repairing. Contact 99557080

Window & split unit AC servicing &


Civil maintenance, electrical &

plumbing work. Contact 99557080,

96236476

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT IS-LAM. If you would like to know more

about Islam, please call: 99425598,

96050000, 99353988, 99253818,

99341395, and 99379133.

For ladies: 99415818, 99321360,

99730723 Orvisit: www.islamfact.com

Ayurvedic treatment for backache,

paralysis, arthritis etc & massage,

All Season (Vaidyaratnam).

Contact 24475280 / 95371554 /

92504980 , www.siddhayur.com

Ayurvedic treatment for joint pain,

backache, paralysis, massage, steam

bath, obesity, spondylitis, ideal

care Ayurvedic Clinic, 18 November

Street, Azaiba. Contact 99639695 /

99117987

GOOD NEWS

For HT cable jointing and

termination works 33KV/11KV.

Contact 99056438 /


Electrical Plumbing Painting

Contract and Maintenance.

Contact 98456535

House shifting transport. Contact

99657644, 98518013

Catering services We do industrial

catering service, Canteen/ mess,

3 times packed meals, and all

types of catering events. Contact

92188777/ 99249899

For All Your Maintenance Solutions,

A/c Servicing & Fixing, Painting,

Cleaning, Electric. Contact 99002390

Painting Interlock plumbing


Carpet & Sofa Shampooing. Ocean

Centre LLC. Contact 99884591

BEAUTY

Varkey’s Gents Salon & Spa – Off er 25% on all spa facilities like hamam

spa, massages with steam bath, Jacuzzi, aroma therapy, pedicure & mani-

cure, facial treatments. Contact 92935679

Maintenance – 1) A/C Mainte-

nance, 2)fridge, washing machine

& dish washer repairing, 3)painting

& cleaning services, 4)electrical &

plumbing carpentry work. Contact

99447257 / 97014234 / 24504281

Transportation. Contact 91379976

Transportation with car & driver.

(VIP’s only). Contact 95040768


Pick & Drop any time. # 97014786



Transportation available 99159277

TRANSPORTATION

TRANSPORTATION

MANPOWER


Transportation Available #97180655


DAILY GUIDESITUATION WANTEDCARGO

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with

Buffet, & Land Tours

Al- Ainain Marine Tours Contact-

98029602, 92808636

TOURS

TOURS

RENT A CAR

DRIVING

BUSINESS

Licensed Engineering Consultancy

(Chemical) Company looking for In-

ternational or local partners to start

operations in Oman. For enquiries

call 99264162

Wanted dentist or investor to buy a

well-running dental clinic in Sohar

immediately. Contact 92625962,

95904234

Omani National looking for expat

investing partner in Restaurant in

Al Amerat. Infrastructure almost

ready. Jamal Adan Trading.

Contact 98711083, email :

[email protected]

We assist in new business set up

local sponsorship, real estate ser-

vices, assist in company formation

services. Contact - 93166088

M.V.WANTED

Required Nissan Tida / Toyota

yaris / Suzuki swift / hyundai/Kia

hatchback car in good condition.

Contact 95405033

MATRIMONIAL

Catholic (LC) Malayalee aged 40

unmarried 5’6”, 70 kg looking for

bride. Contact 99851123

Remarriage, 40 yrs

Ezhava Man from TVM.

Contact 93289652

Well respected Goan RC family

seeks alliance for daughter, fair,

attractive, 30/5.1”, working in Oman

as head of Marketing in top MNC.

Looking for decent well established

NRI settled abroad, caste no bar.

Contact 96284073

RC girl, 26 yrs, 164 cm, fair, Muscat,

MOH Nurse (BSC Nurse) looking

for suitable alliance from reputed

family with educated professional

working in Oman/Abroad.

Contact 91768933

Kerala Viswakarma BS girl,

24 year, M. Sc Microbiology,

seek suitable alliance.

Contact : 95466271

Parents of Christian Girl (Catholic

/ Cheramar) age 30 yrs, 5.4”, me-

dium complexion from Ernakulum

district, Kerala working in a reputed

hospital in Muscat as Pharmacist

seeking for suitable alliance.

Contact +91-9946510794

(Oman - +968 99066561)

Christian Boy, 32 yrs Muscat Busi-

ness looking for suitable alliance

from reputed family. # 98003111

Proposals are invited from parents

of professionally qualifi ed Nair Boys

for 24 year old Upper Middle Class

Nair girl hail from Trivandrum, (171

cm, Star-Bharani) employed in a

reputed Company in Oman. Contact:

0968-9950 2593 /99798041.

(KM ID.2844689)

Sunni Muslim parents of Mumbai-

Maharashtra origin, father working

in Muscat invite alliance for their 28

years old daughter, well educated

from well settled Gulf Residence,

professional / post Graduate of

Mumbai-Maharashtra origin. In-

terested candidates / parents may

contact 99333752

FOR HIRE

TRUCK FOR HIREIsuzu 10 ton cargo body truck

(2012 FVR) with UAE experienced driver

available for long term / short term rent.

Contact: 95346950

Running truck wash for rent in

Ouhi Sunia Sohar. Serious people

can. Contact on 97864747

50 seater bus with PDO specifi ca-

tion for rent or lease.

Contact 99839898






Party booking & sugges�ons 99320065, 99341643

Indian, Arabic, Chinese dishes, Buffet Lunch

(On Friday)Indoor & Outdoor, Catering, Party hall

availableTake Away & Home Delivery

Date post:	07-Apr-2016
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