Times of Oman - July 5, 2015

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SUNDAY, July 5, 2015 / 18 Ramadan 1436 AH timesofoman.com wtimesofoman.com facebook.com/timesofoman twitter.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company

RAMADAN PRAYER TIMINGSDhuhr 12.16pmAsr 3.35pmMaghrib 7.03pmIsha 8.25pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 3.58am

IFTAR7.03PM

FAJR3.58AM

Staff Reporter

MUSCAT: Expatriates going on vacation or leaving the country for good must settle all the fines accrued on account of traffic vio-lations, to avoid delay in travel, the Royal Oman Police said in its latest notice.

“The traffic fines (local and Gulf Cooperation Council) im-posed on them has to be cleared before ending their travel proce-dures,” the notice said.

The rule came into effect on June 1.

The Royal Oman Police had put in place traffic fines clear-ance operation at the airports and borders in January this year for

expats leaving the country on a permanent basis, which was later also used to collect traffic fines from all expats leaving the coun-try temporarily too.

“By publishing the notice on collection of traffic fines repeat-edly, police is giving expatriates a clear message that they won’t be lenient anymore,” Sunil Kumar KK, an Indian businessman who often travels out of Oman, told the Times of Oman.

“While purchasing tickets to fly out of Oman, expatriates driving vehicles should check whether they have any fines or not. It is better to clear these fines in ad-vance rather than facing hassles at the airport or at the borders,” Sunil Kumar added.

In April, reliable sources had revealed to Al Shabiba, the sister publication of the Times of Oman, that the number of traffic viola-tions recorded during 2014 stood at 6,015,323, an increase of more than 64 per cent compared to 2013. In 2013, the number of vio-lations was 3,889,301.

According to the traffic law amendments under discussion, violators could face heftier fines and jail terms.

Under proposals to be debated, offences like reckless driving, over-speeding, wrong overtak-ing, driving on the shoulders of roads, or using cellphones while driving may land drivers in jail for a period ranging from 10 days to three months.

To avoid hassles at

the airport, expats

should clear their

fines before leaving

Oman even for short

vacation or for good

REJIMON [email protected] MUSCAT: Dispelling miscon-ceptions on the hand baggage weight allowance, airline offi-cials and travel agents said that the weight of items purchased from duty-free shops come with-in the same limit and is not an additional entitlement.

“Many passengers believe that the weight of items purchased from the duty-free shops at the airport is excluded from the hand baggage weight. So, they exceed the hand baggage weight limit and finally land in trouble when they are stopped at the gates. To avoid this, we advise passengers that items purchased from duty-free shops are also included in the hand baggage weight,” BP Kulkarni,

country manager of Air India, told the Times of Oman.

“Even if it is the case of addition-al payment for extra baggage, our airline has the lowest charge when compared to others,” Kulkarni added. >A5

T R A V E L

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sul-tan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of greetings to Presi-dent Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria on his country’s In-dependence Day anniversary.

In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan has expressed his wishes of good health, hap-piness and a long life to the president, praying to the Al-mighty Allah to return this and similar occasion on him and the Algerian people fur-ther progress and prosperity.

His Majesty Sultan Qa-boos bin Said has sent a ca-ble of greetings to President Nicolas Maduro of the Re-public of Venezuela on his country’s Independence Day anniversary. >A2

C A B L E S

Staff Reporter

MUSCAT: An earthquake measuring 5.4 on Richter scale was recorded at the Sultan Qaboos University’s earthquake monitoring centre at around 4:45am.

“Our centre recorded the earthquake. So far we have not received any report of damage due to the earthquake,” an offi-cial from the centre said.

According to the US Geologi-cal Survey, the epicentre of the earthquake was 362km south-east of Salalah, in the Sea of Oman. The earthquake was 10.0 km deep.

5 . 4 O N R I C H T E R S C A L E

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Sultanate’s crystallized discomfort

OMANOman’s tourism potential unexploited

2Tourism is still unexploited in the Sultanate largely because

many local business people are not yet convinced that the huge natural resources available in the country are enough to attract quality tourists. Three decades on, Oman is still heavily relying on the Khareef in Salalah. >A6

MARKETDuqm-Jebel Ali feeder service to start soon

3A feeder container shipping service planned between Jebel Ali and

Duqm will start by the end of the year, said a senior official at the Port of Duqm Company. As many as 70 per cent of the oil and gas fields are located in the range of 300 km from the port of Duqm. >B1

OMANRain predicted in Dhofar areas

1Oman meteorological department has predicted rains in Dhofar and

adjoining areas in its latest forecast. “Skies will be cloudy along the coastal areas of Dhofar and adjoining mountains. There are chances of rain too. In the rest of Oman, skies will be clear. >A2

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

Pay traffic fines before leaving, ROP tells expats

Duty-free buys count

in luggage weight

This picture has been used for

illustrative purpose only.

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No loss of life, property in Sea of Oman earthquake

His Majesty sends greetings

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OMAN

Rain forecast for Dhofar areasStaff Reporter

MUSCAT: Oman meteorological department has predicted rain in Dhofar and adjoining areas in its latest forecast. “Skies will be cloudy along the coastal areas of Dhofar and adjoining mountains. There are chances of rain too. In the rest of the Sultanate, skies will be clear. However, there are chances of rain,” the forecast said.

“There are chances of dust ris-ing winds over the deserts and open areas,” the forecast added.

On Friday afternoon, Oman saw rains in Salalah, Samayil, Al Ham-ra and Rustaq. In Salalah tem-perature stayed around 30 degree Celsius. In Muscat, it was over 40 degree Celsius.

W E A T H E R R E P O R T

SQU signs major pactsTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) has recently signed several agreements with several international higher ed-ucational and research institu-tions for cooperation in different fields of education and research.

A C A D E M I C S

SUMMER RELIEF: Salalah, Samayil, Al Hamra and Rustaq received rain on Friday. In Salalah temperature stayed around 30 degree. In Muscat, it was over 40 degree Celsius.– Photo courtesy Oman Weather Updates

HM sends greetings

In his cable, His Majesty ex-pressed his wishes of good health and happiness to the president and his country’s peo-ple further prosperity.

His Majesty the Sultan has also sent a cable of greetings to Jorge Carlos Fonseca, President of the Republic of Cape Verde on his country’s National Day.

In his cable, His Majesty has expressed his wishes of good health and happiness to the president and his country’s peo-ple further prosperity. -ONA

R O Y A L C A B L E S

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TODAY’S DUAA‘O Allah, on this day, grant me wisdom and awareness,

keep me away from foolishness and pretention, grant

me a share in every blessing You send down, by Your

generosity, O the most Generous.’

THE MOTHER OF ALL DEFINING MOMENTSBattle of Badr

Islam was immeasurably strengthened by the triumph of Battle of Badr as the sev-enteenth of Ramadan is a reminder of the first major

battle fought against the enemies of Islam. Ramadan is not just a month for Ibadah, but also the month with a history showing the first generation of Muslims achieved great victories during this Blessed Month. On one side, was the last Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and just about 300 of his follow-ers. On the other, the idolaters of Quraish with their superior numbers, weapons and wealth. What followed was an epic battle that still resonates with Muslims across the world.

This decisive battle laid the foundation for the Islamic State and made Muslims a force to be reckoned with in the Arabian Peninsula. A very important fact for all people to under stand is that Islam is the religion of peace and that it is neither imposed nor forced on anyone as clearly stat-ed in the Holy Quran itself. It is a universal fact that his tory does not record one single episode in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) compelled any human being to convert to Islam. His character and conduct attracted people towards Islam.

This peaceful attitude of Islam is quite evident in that Muslims were ordered not to fight unless they were attacked, as Allah says:

‘Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress limits, for Allah loveth not trans-gressor”. (Al Baqarah 190).

It is clear from this verse that there is neither compulsion nor transgression in Islam except

against the oppressors who har-ass and fight the Muslims. In oth-er words Muslims are ordered to fight, to defend themselves but they should not be transgressors for trans gressors are hated by Allah. We have seen many so-called international writers take the verses from the Holy Quran which talk of fighting but inten-tionally avoid the preceding and the following verses, which give the context of the entire clause.

When talking about the great bat tles of Islam, we should look deep into them in the light of this fact; namely that Muslims were not transgressors but they only fought against oppressors.

The Battle of Badr took place on Ramadan 17, in the second year after the emigration of the Prophet (PBUH) from Holy Makkah to Madinah. The Mus-lims were able to vanquish their enemies in this battle in which

Allah separated truth from false-hood and it became known as the Battle of Separation. This estab-lished the power of the Muslims.

Badr is the name of the spot at which the battle took place. It is situated south-west of Madinah, and was a meeting point between Madinah Road and the road used by the caravans coming from Syria to Holy Makkah. It is a plain that is bordered by hills and mountains and is known for the abundance of date palms and wa-ter wells. The majority of its peo-ple now belong to the Harb tribe.

During the Prophet’s (PBUH) time Badr was a watering station at which the caravaneers used to get water for their camels, and once a year there was a mar-ket there. Historians say that the cause of the battle was that when the Quraish of Holy Mak-kah were re turning from Syria, the Prophet (PBUH) sent two of his companions to get news of them. They reached a place called Alhawra and waited there until Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, lead-er of the caravan, arrived, after which the two scouts hurried back to Madinah and in formed the Prophet (PBUH).

The Prophet (PBUH) is re-ported to have told his followers to go after the caravan, but no one was compelled to do so. He then departed with a contingent of just over 300 men (313-317), and they had between them only two horses and 70 camels.

The man who was left behind in Ma dinah to lead the prayers was Ibn Umm Maktum, and the army consisted of both im-migrants (Muhajirin) number-ing 86 and supporters (Ansar) of the Awas and Khaz raj tribes. The Prophet (PBUH) divided the army into two detachments: the Muhajirin led by Ali ibn Abi Tal-ib and the supporters under the leadership of Saad ibn Muadh.

The contingent set off from Madinah until they reached a place called Safra, from where the Prophet (PBUH) sent two of his compan ions out to scout around and bring him in telligence reports.

Abu Sufyan, the leader of the Quraish trading caravan, changed course and head ed for the coast and thence to Holy Makkah which the caravan reached safely. But be fore that he had already sent a messenger to

Holy Makkah to ask for help to rescue the car avan. The Quraish prepared a contingent of 1,300 warriors, with 100 horses and an unknown number of camels. Commanding their army was Aba Jahl.

At Juhfa, they received a new message from Abu Sufyan telling them that the car avan was safe and that they should return to base. But when the men were just about to start the return journey, Abu Jahl, in his ar rogance, told them not to turn around. He in-cited and exhorted them to war, and with the exception of 300 members of the Bani Zahrah tribe, the rest of the contingent obeyed his command.

The 1,000 men marched on, but when the Banu Hashim also wanted to return to Holy Mak-kah, Abu Jahl refused them per-mission. The men reached a hillock situated at Upper Adwa, bordering the Badr Val ley.

The Prophet (PBUH) learnt that the Quraish army was on its way, and he understood the grav-ity of the situation. He realised that a confrontation was inevita-ble. But the im portant thing was that it all depended on the atti-tude of the Ansar, because they

had promised him they would protect him as long as he was in Madinah and there was no refer-ence to any place outside it.

But the Ansar, under the com-mand of Saad ibn Muadh, were men of integrity and loyalty, for, when the Prophet (PBUH) asked them of their opinion, they made an apt reply and told him that he should fight the non believers and Allah would be with them. Whereupon the Prophet (PBUH) broke the news that Allah had promised victory for them.

Thus, the Muslim army moved and hur ried to the well of Badr, to be the first to arrive. When they reached there, Habab ibn Al Mundhir advised the Prophet (PBUH) that they should fill all the wells except one, near which a trough should be built, and used only by the Muslims for their drinking wa ter. The Prophet (PBUH) accepted the advice and approved the plan.

The numerically superior le-gion of the non-believers arrived, and when the Prophet (PBUH) saw the huge army he raised his hands in supplication to Allah and be seeched His support and salva-tion. There upon, Allah sent him

a revelation to the eff ect that He was with them, and that He would fill the non-believers’ hearts with fear and trepidation. Allah made it known to the Prophet (PBUH) that He was sending down His angels to help him.

A few men of the Quraish, among them Hakim ibn Huzam and Utbah ibn Rabiah, thought of returning home, but Abu Jahl, incited the non-believers to fight. Then the fighting started, and within a short time it began to intensify.

Three of the Quraish noble-men, Utbah ibn Rabiah, his brother Shaibah, and Al Walid ibn Utbah, asked for a sword contest, and suffered defeat at the swords of Hamza, Ali, and Ubaydah ibn Al-Harith. This was a bad omen for the non-believers. They at tacked the Muslims fe-rociously, but the Muslims were steadfast and resisted them.

In a narration by Ibn Ishaq, it is said that the Prophet (PBUH) told Abu Bakr that Archangel Jibreel had taken the reins of his horse and led him. Thereupon, the Prophet (PBUH) ordered a counter-at-tack against the non-believers. He advised his men that who-ever fought sincerely and died in the course of duty would be admitted to paradise.

The Muslims fought hard and the angels came to their aid, and that was when signs of failure and tension in the ranks of the enemy began to show. Abu Jahl and Umayyah ibn Khalaf were among the first casualties. Then followed Al-As ibn Al Mughira, Abu Albahtari ibn Hisham, and others among the Quraish stal-warts — sev enty in all. Another 70 were taken prisoner by the Muslims, among them Abbas, the Prophet’s (PBUH) uncle (who had gone to the bat tlefield half-heartedly), Utbah ibn Abi Muit, Nadhar ibn Al-Harith, their stan dard-bearer.

The Prophet (PBUH) ordered the dumping of the bodies of the non-believers in a deserted well, and the burial of the 14 (six Mu-hajirin and eight Ansar) Muslim martyrs. As for the captives, they were given two choices — either pay a ransom, or those who were literate could teach Muslims how to read and write and then be freed.

The battle of Badr is without a doubt the most important existential battle between good and evil in the history of mankind. The battle, that took place on the Seventeenth of Ramadan, was a definitive turning point in the history of Islam, writes AFTAB H. KOLA

Hadith of the dayABU HURAIRA Related that Rasulullah said: If anyone forgets that he is fast-ing and eats or drinks he should complete his Siyam, for it is Allah who has fed him and given him drink (Bukhari, Muslim).

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OMANS U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

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Expats swell Kerala bank coffersREJIMON K [email protected]

MUSCAT: Fall in the value of In-dian currency and increase in the number of Keralites migrating out of the state have made their deposits in the banks cross the Rs1,000 billion mark in the last fiscal year.

“Non-resident Indians’ deposits in Kerala banks have been growing over the years. From Rs661.90 bil-lion in March 2013, these climbed to Rs938.83 billion by March 31, 2014, and to Rs1,096.03 billion (OMR6.65billion) in the last fiscal, a report released by State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) said.

Kerala’s State Bank of Tra-vancore (SBT) was leading with

deposits of Rs266.13 billion by the state’s immigrants, followed closely by Federal Bank with Rs232.14 billion.

“The fall in the value of In-dian currency is a factor. But at the same time, more and more Keralites are migrating out of the state and the country. This has made the deposits cross Rs1,000 billion mark,” Tonny George Al-exander, country head of UAE Ex-change in Oman, said.

A recent survey by Centre for Development Studies (CDS) in the state has found that the flight of Keralites to foreign countries continues mainly because of the state’s inability to provide suit-able jobs for educated youth and the Gulf glamour still exerting a

strong pull on the state’s youth.The study was conducted by

Profs K C Zachariah and S Iru-daya Rajan of the Research Unit on International Migration at the CDS in Kerala.

“As in the past, Keralites are not spending much in their host countries. In Oman too, it’s the same. People try to send maxi-mum amount in the wake of ru-pee fall,” Jose Chacko, financial analyst in Oman, said.

The number of Kerala emi-grants is estimated to be 2.36 mil-lion according to a 2014 migra-tion survey.

The corresponding number was 2.281 million in 2011, 2.193 million in 2008, 1.838 million in 2003 and 1.362 million in 1998.

G U L F G L A M O U R E X I S T S

Many a time, passengers of Asian countries have com-plained of having been stopped at the gates because of carrying items purchased from duty free shops. “I have seen people be-ing stopped at that gates. Due to their own lack of knowledge, they end up fighting with the of-ficials at the gates. Either they have to drop the items or have to pay additional money for the extra baggage,” Saji Kumar, who recently witnessed the situation at the Muscat airport while fly-ing to his home country, told the Times of Oman.

“Mainly, it is the blue-collar workers who are ignorant about the baggage weight,” Saji added.

Meanwhile, travel agent of-ficials also confirmed that igno-rant passengers lose money and then complain to them upon re-turning. “We, too, receive com-plaints from passengers. They never read the weight limit mentioned clearly in the ticket. They have this misconception (about duty free goods) and fi-nally either lose their goods or have to pay extra money,” travel agents said.

B A G G A G E W E I G H T

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OMANS U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

Smokers can quit either in one go or gradually but it is suggested that they do it in one go and, for example, choose a special occasion such as their birthday Dr Ahmed Hamed Al Wahaibi,Senior consultant in Family Medicine at the Ministry of Health

Tourism is still unexploited in the Sultanate largely because many local business people are

not yet convinced that the huge natural resources available in the country are enough to at-tract quality tourists to visit its hidden treasures.

Three decades on, Oman is still heavily relying on the Kha-reef in Salalah and it is dominat-ing about 70 percent of all of its tourism campaigns. In the short three months of the summer, foreign tourists in Salalah make up more than 75 percent of the total number of visitors coming to the country on annual basis. Oman has many remote areas for those who were privileged to visit the hidden treasures. A re-cent four-minute video titled ‘12 days in Oman’ made by German filmmaker Marko Roth put to shame many Omanis who over the years failed to promote the country in a similar way.

Roth travelled 4,200 km from one end of the country to the

other in less than two weeks to highlight what he called the ‘Majesty of Oman.’ The short video has been widely acclaimed around the world with over 5 million online views while many tourism promoters in Oman are still in deep slumber. The white sandy beaches, the meandering mountain roads, picturesque villages, water sports, desert dunes and historical sites got their proper mention and raving international acclaim.

However, right here in Oman, the video went largely unnoticed. Millions who have watched it, promised to visit Oman but if the promoters of the tourism industry in the country did not think it was a big deal then these visitors may be disappointed with the reception they get once they reach here.

It is no exaggeration to say that the enthusiasm in setting up tourism ventures and facilities in Oman is weaning off. For ex-ample, in the last ten years, the number of tour guides in the Sultanate has been declining by more than 40 percent. This important industry is largely supported by the government’s initiatives but even that effort does not cover the width and breadth of the nation.

Most of the facilities and structures for tourists’ mobility and recreation are in the capital while the bulk of attractions are outside Muscat. There are hard-ly any good hotels or eating plac-es in the smaller towns. Tourists have to sleep in rudimentary camps or drive for many hours and come back to Muscat the same day. Oman tourism also

lacks local knowledge since most of the tour guides are not nationals and visitors have to settle for non-Omanis to take them around. In a major inter-national travel symposium held in Spain in 2012, European tour operators were surprised to find expatriates representing the Oman’s tourism exhibition and kiosks. That did not go very well with them.

What also slows down the tourism industry in the Sultan-ate is the underdevelopment of most of the towns. Community improvement is essential to woo tourists in these areas. Tourism

can spur employment and busi-ness prospects but for that to happen, towns like Ibra, Bahla, Sur and Musandam need atten-tion since they are the gates of attractions. To lure tourists in a big way, what is needed is to attract private investors first by making it conducive to their business requirements. Local people in the inner towns must also be encouraged to come up with projects as part of commu-nity improvement. They know their towns best, the geography of the areas and all the attrac-tions. They should be given the chance and the support to

launch major tourism cam-paigns to put their regions in the national map. Tourists come to see social integration, the pres-ervation of history, craftsman-ship, beauty spots and ancient traditions and the involvement of local people is crucial.

In conclusion, the private sector needs to do more with their investments in this sector. The government also needs to reach out to support towns and its people to expand the tourism industry instead of depending on filmmakers like Roth to make isolated video promotions for the country.

Oman’s tourism potential still remains unexploitedC O M M E N T A R Y

A recent four-minute video titled ‘12 days in Oman’ made by German filmmaker Marko Roth put to shame many Omanis who over the years failed to promote the country in a similar way. The short video has been widely acclaimed around the world with over 5 million online views

Expansion of Muscat Airport on fast track

Staff Reporter MUSCAT: Expansion work at the Muscat International Airport is on the right track and will be com-pleted on time, a senior official from one of the major construc-tion companies involved in the project, said.

“Workers’ arrest in the last week of May has not affected the project. The project completion will be on time,” the official said.

Last week, the Oman Airports Management Company (OAMC) extended invitations to retailers and food and beverage traders for ‘duty free services and luxury re-tail’ at the $1.8bn New Muscat In-

ternational Airport, which is due to open next year.

Muscat Duty Free (MDF) has been running its trade at the exist-ing Seeb Airport (from departures and arrivals shops) since 2003 as a 50/50 joint venture company between Oman Air and Aer Rianta International Middle East.

The existing Muscat Interna-tional Airport is directly connect-ed to 55 destinations in 27 coun-tries by 33 international airlines, having served 9.1m passengers in 2013. By contrast, the New Mus-cat Airport will initially have the capacity to handle 12m passengers

annually. The total gross floor area for the new Muscat International terminal building is 344,995sq m, with an overall airport land area of 21sq km. Three subsequent expansion phases are planned to increase the airport’s annual ca-pacity to 24 million, 36 million and 48 million passengers when projected demand requires it.

Around 16,195,637 passengers are expected by 2020, compared to the 9,142,019 handled in 2014.

The airport is due for opening by the end of 2016, and will boast of a total capacity of 36 million passengers.

The new airport – which is two years behind schedule – is being constructed by a consortium com-prising Bechtel, Enka and Bahwan Engineering.

Meanwhile, in Salalah, ATU Duty Free opened its 727sq m duty free departure and 117sq m arrivals stores, where it is con-tracted to run the food and bever-age areas within the New Salahah Airport terminal.

Passenger traffic at Muscat and Salalah airports recorded a growth of 9.1 per cent and 12.1 per cent, respectively.

3.51 million passengersFigures released by the National Centre for Statistics and Informa-tion (NCSI) show that passenger traffic at both airports reached 3.51 million passengers by the end of April this year.

The number of passengers, in-cluding both transfers and tran-sit through Muscat International Airport reached 3.22million.

The number of international flights at Muscat airport till April touched 26,241, an increase of 9.7 per cent compared to the same period in 2014. The number of ar-rivals reached 1.49 million while the number of departures touched 1.43 million.

Meanwhile, passenger traffic at Salalah Airport till the end of April touched 288,715, travelling on 2,981 flights.–ONA

Muscat International

Airport is directly

connected to 55

destinations in 27

countries by 33

international airlines,

having served 9.1m

passengers in 2013

AVIATION BOOM: Passenger traffic at both airports in Oman reached 3.51million passengers by the end of April this year.–ONA

Two-week challenge is all it takes to beat the smoking scourgeELHAM [email protected] MUSCAT: If you have been trying to quit smoking for a long time but the ‘right time’ has never arrived for you, Ramadan is the golden opportunity to seize. As an expert says if you can live without smok-ing for two weeks, you will be fine afterwards.

Experience has shown that it usually takes two weeks for the body to get rid of the addicting nicotine, said Dr Ahmed Hamed Al Wahaibi, senior consultant in Family Medicine at the Ministry of Health.

Speaking to the Times of Oman, Dr Al Wahaibi said the opportu-nity provided by Ramadan should be utilised by smokers to quit and their families should give them the necessary support.

Smokers should have a strong will to give up smoking, he said, adding that they should also throw away all the things that would re-mind them of smoking such as cigarette packets, and should avoid any situation that would tempt them to smoke.

For example, they should avoid other people who are smoking, said Dr Al Wahaibi.

It is also important that they change their routine, the expert said, adding, “For example, if a person likes to drink coffee and smoke, then it is better for him to go for tea instead just to disturb the unconscious.”

Many smokers are under the false impression that smoking re-duces their stress, but the reality is that smoking actually increases their anxiety and tension, he said.

AlternativesEven non-smokers are under pres-sure in their daily life, so it is better to opt for better alternatives such as exercising to reduce the stress, Dr Al Wahaibi noted.

He said that smokers can quit both in one go and gradually but suggested that they do it in one go and, for example, set a special oc-casion such as their birthday or any other important date in their life to stop smoking.

Dr Al Wahaibi also encouraged smokers to go to the tobacco cessa-tion clinics where they are offered consultation and nicotine replace-ment therapy.

According to him, one clinic is available in Nizwa which is part of the Nizwa healthy lifestyle project and another one is located in Wadi Kabir in Muscat.

Nicotine replacement therapy options include nicotine patches,

nicotine gum or nicotine lozenges, which are available over-the-coun-ter, said Dr Al Wahaibi, who has taken specialised courses in family medicine and nicotine addiction therapy in Oman and abroad.

However, they should consult with specialists to learn the right way to use them and choose the best option according to the level of their nicotine dependence, he stated. For instance, nicotine gum should not be chewed like a nor-mal gum and there are three types of patches namely 21mg, 14mg and 7mg, he said.

“If a person smokes one pack or 20 cigarettes (a day), he should use the 21mg nicotine patch. If he smokes half a pack, the 14mg patch is recommended. If he smokes 5 to 10 cigarettes and his first cigarette of the day is after waking up, the 7mg patch is suitable for him,” said Dr Al Wahaibi.

He added that the patch should be worn on the upper part of the body on a dry, hair-free area.

It should be changed from place to place on any upper part of the body as skin irritation may be caused if it is used on the same place repeatedly, the expert noted.

If they are fasting during Ramadan, they can use the patch from Iftar to Suhoor, Dr Al Wa-haibi explained.

He also warned against the health risks posed by smoke-less or chewing tobacco, saying that sometimes the treatment is challenging as there is no exact measurement of the level of de-pendence. Tobacco users should try again and again until they suc-ceed in their efforts to quit, Dr Al Wahaibi concluded.

R A M A D A N A D V I S O R Y

Ramadan traditions vary in wilayatsMUSCAT: Rituals of the Holy Month of Ramadan vary from one country to another, starting from moon-sighting, and fasting from the first day until the last.

There are certain rituals dur-ing the Holy Month of Ramadan in the Sultanate, starting with moon-sighting when everyone awaits the announcement by media of the beginning of the Holy Month.

The same applies to the end of the month as people await the an-nouncement of the first day of Eid Al Fitr. If the moon is seen, people gather in mosques for evening and Taraweeh prayers. After finishing the prayer, they greet and congrat-ulate each other on the occasion of the advent of the holy month. They also visit their relatives.

One of the Ramadan rituals in Oman is the collective breakfast in mosques and the gathering of family members in the house of the

oldest. Families prepare well in ad-vance for the Holy Month of Rama-dan, shoring up food supplies.

In some of the wilayats of the Sultanate, particularly in the Gov-ernorate of Muscat, children visit the alleys in their neighbourhood,

marking the mid of Ramadan and celebrating what is locally called ‘Qaranshaw,’ a practice prevalent in several GCC states, but known by different names.

Many traditional markets come up in various wilayats across the

Sultanate, and while some are well-known weekly markets, like Wednesday market, Thursday market or Monday markets, oth-ers are held throughout the year, such as Muttrah Market, Nizwa market, the Central Market in the Governorate of Dhofar and others.

Seasonal markets are also held on festivals and are locally called ‘Habta Market.’ These are held on fixed dates known to the people. ‘Habta Market’ is an old practice in the Sultanate.

‘Habtat’ (plural of Habta) vary in their timing in some of the wilayats of the Sultanate. Some are held on Ramadan 23rd and continue till the end of the month. A similar Habta is held during Eid Al Adha.

At the end of the Holy Month, when the moon is seen, people in some areas people start celebra-tiong three days before the advent of Eid Al Fitr.– ONA

T H E H O L Y M O N T H

Dr Ahmed Hamed Al Wahaibi says that it usually takes two weeks for the body to get rid of the addiction

FESTIVE SPIRIT: Children marking the mid of Ramadan and celebrating what is locally called ‘Qaranshaw,’ a practice prevalent in several GCC states, but known by different names. – ONA

SALEH AL SHAIBANY

SUNDAYBEAT

[email protected]

A7

REGIONS U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

State of emergency in Tunisia after attack

TUNIS: Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi declared a state of emergency on Saturday to give his government more powers follow-ing a militant attack on a beach hotel, where 38 foreign tourists, mostly Britons, were killed.

Tunisia’s emergency law tempo-rarily gives the government more executive flexibility, hands the army and police more authority, and restricts certain rights such as the right to public assembly.

The attack on the Sousse beach resort last Friday followed a gun attack on the Bardo museum in Tunis in March - two of the worst militant assaults in Tunisia’s mod-ern history, and a pressing threat to its vital tourist industry.

Tunisian officials say all three gunmen in those two attacks had been trained at the same time, over the border in militant camps in Libya, where a conflict between

two rival governments has allowed militant groups to gain ground.

Tunisia last had a state of emer-gency during the 2011 protests against former leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. In reaction to mil-itant recruiters, the government says it will close 80 mosques that are operating illegally or preaching extremist messages.

Tunisian authorities believe militant group Ansar Al Sharia is responsible for orchestrating the attack against the Sousse ho-tel, which prompted thousands of tourists to leave Tunisia and is expected to cause $500 million in losses to the sector.

IS militants, though, have

claimed the massacre on the Im-perial Marhaba hotel a week ago when the gunman shot tourists as they sat at the beach and pool in the worst such militant attack in the country’s modern history.

Libya linkAnsar Al Sharia, an Al Qaeda linked organisation, was blamed for the storming of the US em-bassy in Tunis in 2012 and the assassination of two Tunisian op-position leaders. But it has mostly disbanded and its hardline mili-tants left to fight overseas in Iraq, Syria and Libya.

“For the moment, this was An-sar Al Sharia who were behind

this,” said the Tunisian security source. IS also claimed the Bardo attack, but the government said it was linked to local Okba Ibn Nafaa brigade.

Tunisian officials say all three gunmen in those two attacks had been trained at the same time over the border in militant camps in Libya, where a conflict between two rival governments has allowed militant groups to gain ground.

While Ansar Al Sharia and Okba Ibn Nafaa are tied to the Al Qaeda franchise, just as in other regions, experts say younger fighters and recruits may be breaking away in-spired more by the recent victories and propaganda of IS. — Reuters

Tunisia’s emergency

law temporarily gives

the government more

executive flexibility,

hands the army and

police more authority,

and restricts

certain rights

Egypt’s president Sisi rallies troops after IS attacksCAIRO: Egypt’s president made an unannounced visit to the Si-nai Peninsula on Saturday to rally troops following a wave of deadly attacks on security forces by IS group militants, his office said.

“President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi is inspecting troops and police in the North Sinai,” his office said without specifying where in the restive province.

“I have come to salute the he-roes of the armed forces and to express to them my recognition,” he was quoted by the army’s spokesman as saying.

State television broadcast foot-age of Sisi, dressed in military fa-tigues, touring an army base and inspecting captured weapons.

The government called in air strikes on Wednesday after a spectacular attack claimed by the Egyptian affiliate of the IS in the North Sinai town of Sheikh Zu-weid left dozens dead.

The army said 17 soldiers and 100 militants had been killed. But medical and security officials said the death toll was at least 70 people -- mostly soldiers -- as well as dozens of militants.

“We are still recovering the bodies of terrorists from the lat-est attack,” Sisi said, according to the army spokesman.

The violence poses a major test for Sisi, a former military chief who has pledged to elimi-nate the militants.

On Saturday, three children and a woman were killed in northern Sinai, medical and se-curity sources said.

In one incident, the woman and two of the children died when a shell slammed into a house in Sheikh Zuweid. It was not immediately clear who fired the shell, which also seriously wounded another woman and a teenage girl. In a separate inci-dent, a roadside bomb targeting police and army vehicles killed a five-year-old child in the town of Rafah on the border with the Gaza Strip. Three other children and a woman were wounded.

Sisi said he saluted “every home, every mother whose child has died a martyr or been wounded for Egypt”.

The army, police and even of-ficials have regularly come under fire, not only in Sinai, but in the capital, since then army chief Sisi ousted president Mohamed Mor-si two years ago.

The militants say they are act-ing in response to the bloody repression launched by the au-thorities after Morsi’s overthrow, which has seen at least 1,400 killed and thousands more jailed.

Most of the attacks are claimed by a group calling itself the “Sinai Province.” Formerly known as Ansar Beit Al Maqdis, it changed its name when it pledged alle-giance to the IS militant group last November. — AFP

S I N A I P E N I N S U L A

Saudi fugitive killed in shootout

RIYADH: A Saudi fugitive was killed in a shootout with police after having escaped a raid on suspected militants, the interior ministry said on Saturday.

A policeman was shot dead during Friday’s raid in the eastern city of Taif in which three sus-pects were arrested and flags of the IS militant group seized.

The operation was launched to detain Yousif Abdulatif Shabab Al

Ghamdi but he managed to flee, only to be later tracked down by police and killed in a shootout, said the ministry.

It did not specify when Ghamdi died but said he opened fire with an automatic weapon and a pistol prompting police to shoot, it said, quoted by the Saudi Press Agency.

Friday’s raid came with Gulf countries on alert against attacks by IS, which has been blamed for

deadly attacks on Saudi police-men and mosque bombings in both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

An-IS affiliated group in Saudi Arabia, calling itself Najd Prov-ince, claimed the suicide bomb-ings in May and June at mosques.

Gulf interior ministers on Fri-day held an emergency meeting in Kuwait and called for coordi-nation to confront “this serious epidemic”. — AFP

E S C A P E D I N R A I D

I have come to salute the heroes of the armed

forces and to express to them my recognition

Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, Egypt’s President

TOUGH STAND: Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi speaking during a press conference in Tunis

on Saturday. – AFP/HO/Tunisian Presidency Press Service

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ARTICLE, PHOTOSW W W.T I M E S O F O M A N . C O M

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INDIAS U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

Modi hopes visit to Russia, Central Asia will push ties

NEW DELHI: Ahead of his eight-day visit to five Central Asian countries and Russia from July 6, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday expressed confidence that it will further enhance ties with these countries as well as other members of BRICS and SCO whose Summits he will attend.

He will travel to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyr-gyzstan and Tajikistan.

He will also go to Russia where he will attend the Summits of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Or-ganisation in Ufa, Russia.

“My first visit will be to Uzbeki-stan, which is the most populous country in Central Asia. India and Uzbekistan enjoy a close strategic partnership,” Modi said in a state-

ment here, adding “I am confident that this visit will be a major step towards further expanding India-Uzbekistan ties”.

In Uzbekistan, he said, he would be holding talks with President Karimov and the two countries will sign “key agreements” to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Enhance trade“We want to expand our economic ties with Uzbekistan and enhance trade and economic linkages,” he said. Noting that Indian mov-ies, Hindi language and music are very popular in Uzbekistan, Modi said he would be interact-ing with Indologists, students learning Hindi and members of the Indian community.

There are over 3000 Indians in Uzbekistan. During the visit, he will also be paying his tributes to the “proud son of India” Lal Baha-dur Shastri.”

It was in Tashkent that we lost one of our most popular and re-spected leaders, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri ji, who ignited our nation with the clarion call of ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’,” he said.

He will then travel to Kazakh-stan, the largest of the central Asian Nations, on July 7.

“Kazakhstan is India’s largest trading partner in Central Asia and has been a valued friend of India at various international fo-rums. India and Kazakhstan have a strategic partnership, indicating the importance we attach to rela-

tion with Kazakhstan,” the Prime Minister said.

In Kazakhstan, he will be meet-ing President Nursultan Naz-arbayev which will be followed by the signing of documents.

“India and Kazakhstan are co-operating in a wide range of sec-tors including energy and space. I see a huge opportunity for our economic ties to grow further. India and Kazakhstan can also in-crease ties in agriculture,” he said.

In Kazakhstan, the Prime Min-ister will also address students at Nazarbayev University and inau-gurate the India-Kazakhstan Cen-tre for Excellence in Information and Communication Technology.

“Our cultural ties with Kazakh-stan are deep-rooted. Our films,

TV serials and dance are very popular. Yoga is gaining popular-ity,” Modi said while appreciating the “enthusiasm” with which the country joined Yoga Day celebra-tions on June 21.

“May this visit script a historic chapter in our ties with a valued friend,” he said.

BRICS SummitFrom Kazakhstan, he will travel to Ufa in Russia to attend the 7th BRICS Summit and SCO Summit.

“The Summit last year was pro-ductive and I am sure we will build on the ground covered during the last Summit. I expect positive outcomes in economic coopera-tion and cultural ties among the BRICS nations,” he said.

He said he will be meeting the leaders individually and will be a part of the various interactions of BRICS leaders with captains of industry and leaders of other invited countries.

“India attaches high impor-tance to BRICS. It is a great forum that can contribute effectively to mitigate global challenges. BRICS also has a very crucial role to play in furthering world peace and se-curity and ensuring we leave be-hind a better planet for our future generations,” Modi said.

He will then go to Turkmeni-stan on July 11, marking the first Prime Ministerial visit from In-dia after P V Narasimha Rao’s trip visit in 1995.

“I view this visit as an excellent opportunity to strengthen India-Turkmenistan ties in several are-as,” he said, while noting that some agreements will be signed. -PTI

In Uzbekistan, Prime

Minister said, he

would be holding

talks with President

Karimov and the two

countries will sign

‘key agreements’ to

strengthen bilateral

cooperation

Our cultural ties with

Kazakhstan are deep-

rooted. Our films, TV

serials and dance are

very popular. Yoga is

gaining popularity

Narendra ModiPrime Minister

Hema Malini to provide financial assistance to Jaipur accident victims

MUMBAI: Bharatiya Janata Party MP Hema Malini, who was discharged from a Jaipur hospital on Saturday after her Mercedes collided with another car leaving a child dead and injuring five others, including the actress, has offered financial assistance to families of the victims.

The 66-year-old actor-politi-cian reached Mumbai on Saturday by a chartered plane, accompanied

by her daughter Esha Deol and De-ol’s husband Bharat Takhtani.

Talking to reporters outside He-ma’s residence in Juhu, Esha said, “My mother will help the families of victims. She is doing this not because she is a neta (leader) but because she is a good human being as well.”

On Thursday night, the car in which Hema Malini was travelling rammed into another car com-

ing from the opposite direction in Dausa district of Rajasthan, killing a four-year-old girl and leaving five others injured, including the vet-eran actress.

“Jab accident hua tab mummy ki jo condition thi wo kisi aur ke baare me kaise soch sakti thi...koi bhi nahi soch pa raha tha...par hame afsos hai us pariwar ne apna khoya hai (When the accident took place, my mother as well as the family was

not in a condition to comprehend anything but we are sad that a fam-ily has lost a dear one),” Esha said.

“When the accident happened she was asleep. She had told eve-ryone to wear their seat belts. But achanak picche se jor ka dhakka laga (suddenly we felt jolt from the rear side),” she said.

“The accident was very bad..It was traumatic so no one was in a state to talk...or think anything,”

she said. Esha informed that Hema has been advised rest for now.

“Doctors have asked her to take rest at home. She is a bit better now...she is fine. She wants to rest now. She is not meeting anyone. She will relax for a day or two and then she will meet (people),” she added. Mahesh Chand Thakur, who was driving Hema’s car at the time of the accident, has been arrested. - PTI

T R A G E D Y

DISCHARGED FROM HOSPITAL: Bollywood actor Hema Malini

(sitting in the car), injured in an

accident in Rajasthan, arrives in

Mumbai on Saturday. - PTI

Dulat’s claims a ‘bundle of lies’: HurriyatSRINAGAR: Terming as a “bun-dle of lies” the contention made by former Research and Analysis Wing chief A. S. Dulat, hardline Hurriyat Conference on Saturday said he wanted to create “confu-sion and chaos” in Indian-admin-istered-Kashmir and damage the image of “trustworthy and honest” state leadership.

“The claims of the former RAW chief about the Kashmiri leader-ship in his new book are a bundle of lies... To remain in news even after the retirement, Dulat has written a book based on absolute lies... and by doing this, he has ac-tually once again tried to utilize his professional skills to create confu-sion and chaos,” Hurriyat said in a statement here.

Describing Dulat as “a person having collusive mindset”, the statement said.

Dulat actually wants to “damage the image of trustworthy and hon-est” leadership of Kashmir, it said adding “but he will never succeed in achieving that aim”.

Hurriyat also dismissed as “ri-diculous and blatant lie” Dulat’s claim that PDP was created by Geelani along with Mufti Mo-hammad Sayeed, who is now the chief minister.

“PDP is not the creation of Geelani but it was setup by the Indian secret agencies. Hurriyat has information from reliable sources that the decision regard-ing creation of this party (PDP) was taken at the residence of a top IB officer,”it claimed.

It also claimed that Dulat, dur-ing his tenure as the RAW chief, “tried his best to meet Geelani” but could not succeed. - PTI

N E W B O O K

Security tightened at Hyderabad prison to foil Bhatkal’s escapeHYDERABAD: Telangana pris-on officials on Saturday denied reports that jailed IM operative Yasin Bhatkal had called his wife using a mobile phone from Cher-lapalli jail in the southern Indian state of Telangana.

“The allegation that Yasin Bhatkal called his wife with a mobile phone from inside the Cherlapalli Prison is baseless, factless and there is no truth...it is a false allegation,” Telangana Prisons DIG A. Narasimha told reporters here.

The question of bringing in a cell-phone inside the pris-on does not arise as thorough checks are conducted before an-yone enters the premises, Nar-asimha claimed.

Bhatkal, who is one of the ac-cused in the February 2013 Dilsukhnagar twin blasts case that rocked the city, is lodged in the Cherlapalli Central Prison here.

According to reports, Bhat-kal called up his wife using a cell phone from inside the jail and told her that he would get out

of the jail soon with help from “friends from Damascus”.

Following the court orders, Bhatkal was granted telephone facility from February this year, wherein prisoners are allowed to speak to their family members twice a week, the DIG Prisons said.

“Since Bhatkal availed the lan-dline telephone facility, he spoke on two numbers to his mother and wife on 27 occasions. The phone facility is only for five min-utes and it automatically gets dis-connected after completion of the specified time,” Narasimha said.

Conversations recordedThe entire conversations have been recorded and the same have been handed over to the investi-gating and security agencies.

“The 27 conversations, which are in Urdu and Arabic have been handed over to investigating agencies,” he said, adding, howev-er, Bhatkal may have spoken dur-ing transit (while attending Court proceedings in the case) and “that needs to be ascertained”.

Security around the Cherlapa-lli prison will be enhanced with deployment of additional forces, the DIG said adding they carried out surprise checks on the jail premises on Saturday, but no cell phone was found.

Meanwhile, an intelligence officer said the National Inves-tigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the case, is taking lot of precautions whenever Bhatkal and other accused are taken to court in connection with the case. “He has a plan to escape from the jail and we are watching it. The trial in the case is going on and lot of precau-tion is being taken by the NIA whenever Bhatkal and others are produced before the court,” the officer said.

Eighteen people were killed and 131 injured in the deadly twin explosions that were triggered by powerful IEDs planted near Ko-nark and Venkatadiri theatres in Dilsukhnagar, a crowded shop-ping area in the city on February 21, 2013. - PTI

P L A N T O E S C A P E

Communal tension in North East DelhiNEW DELHI: Security has been beefed up in North East Delhi’s Sri Ram Colony following tension between two communities in the area over an event organised by local unit of RSS at a park.

Police said that vigil has been enhanced in the area after a clash had taken place in the area follow-ing holding of a “shakha” by local unit of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh at the park on June 28.

“We are keeping a close watch on the situation even though

there is no chance of any com-munal clash. It is a dispute related to sharing of a public space in the congested area,” said Jt Commis-sioner of Police Eastern Range Sanjay Beniwal.

They said a group of young boys from the minority community were playing badminton at the park when some RSS volunteers had gone there to hold the shakha.

As per an FIR lodged at the Khajurikhas Police station, a clash had taken place when the

boys refused to vacate the park for RSS to hold the programme.

The local minority commu-nity members alleged a pro-gramme has been organised by a right-wing organisation at the park on July 17-19 which coincides with Eid.

Police said minority commu-nity traditionally offers namaz at the park and they were apprehen-sive over the programme, fearing it has been organised to disrupt Eid celebrations. -PTI

S R I R A M C O L O N Y

He has a plan to escape from the jail and we are watching it. The trial

in the case is going on and lot of precaution is being taken by the

NIA whenever Bhatkal and others are produced before the court

National Investigation Agency officer

A9

INDIAS U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

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DERAILMENT KILLS ONE IN BENGAL, DISRUPTS TRAIN SERVICESDerailed coaches of a goods train after collision with a truck in Purulia district in West Bengal on Saturday. One person was

killed and train traffic in South Eastern Railway’s Adra division affected on Saturday after a truck rammed into a goods train

causing it to derail in Purulia. Twelve trains, mostly short distance passengers, were cancelled for the day while long distance

mail and express trains have were rerouted or diverted. -PTI

ISRO to undertake

biggest commercial

launch on July 10

BENGALURU: In the heaviest ever commercial mission un-dertaken by ISRO and its com-mercial arm Antrix, the country’s workhorse the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will put in orbit five foreign satellites from the spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on July 10.

With the overall lift-off mass of the five satellites amounting to about 1,440kg, this mission becomes the heaviest commer-cial mission ever undertaken by Antrix/ISRO, the Indian space agency said.

In its 13th flight, PSLV-C28 will launch three identical DMC3 optical earth observation satel-lites built by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), United Kingdom (UK). The three DMC3 satellites, each weighing 447 kg, will be launched into a 647 km Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) using the high-end version of PSLV (PSLV-XL), ISRO said on its website.

Ninth flightPSLV-C28 will be the ninth flight of PSLV in ‘XL’ configuration. In addition, the rocket will also carry two auxiliary satellites from UK - CBNT-1, a technology demonstrator earth observation micro satellite built by SSTL, and De-OrbitSail, a technology dem-onstrator nano satellite built by Surrey Space Centre, it said.

Accommodating the three DMC3 satellites each with a height of about 3 metre within

the existing payload fairing of PSLV, was a challenge, ISRO said.

To mount these satellites onto the launcher, a circular Launcher adaptor called L-adaptor and a triangular deck called Multi-ple Satellite Adapter-Version 2 (MSA-V2), were newly designed and realised by ISRO for this spe-cific purpose.

Customer satellitesThese international customer satellites are being launched as part of the arrangement entered into between DMC Internation-al Imaging (DMCii), a wholly owned subsidiary of SSTL, UK; and Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix), it said.

The DMC3 constellation, com-prising three advanced mini-satellites DMC3-1, DMC3-2 and DMC3-3, is designed to address the need for simultaneous high spatial resolution and high tem-poral resolution optical Earth Observation.

Launched into a single Low-Earth Orbit plane and phased with a separation of 120 degrees between them, these satellites can image any target on the Earth’s surface every day. Major application areas include sur-veying the resources on earth and its environment, managing urban infrastructure and moni-toring of disasters.

CBNT-1, weighing 91kg, is an optical Earth Observation tech-nology demonstration micro sat-ellite built by SSTL. - PTI

S P A C E M I S S I O N Girls take top 4 spots in civil services exam

NEW DELHI: Ira Singhal, a physically handicapped IRS of-ficer from Delhi, topped the Civil services examination in which the top four positions went to women.

Twenty-nine-year-old Singhal topped the exam in the general cat-egory followed by Renu Raj, a doc-tor from Kerala, and Nidhi Gupta, also an Indian Revenue Service officer from Delhi, who secured second and third positions respec-tively, according to the results an-nounced by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Saturday.

Vandana Rao, who is also from Delhi, has got fourth rank while

Suharsha Bhagat, an IRS (Income Tax cadre) officer has got fifth po-sition in the examination.

A total number of 1,236 candi-dates, including 590 in General category, 354 belonging to Other Backward Class, 194 from Sched-uled Caste and 98 from Scheduled Tribe, have been recommended for appointment to various central gov-ernment services, the UPSC said.

“I am really very happy. I can’t believe this. I just prepared for the examination. I want to be an IAS officer. I want to do something for the benefit of physically-handi-capped people,” Ira said.

Renu got the second rank in her first attempt.

“I am extremely happy. I have been preparing for the exam for the last one year,” she said over

phone from Thiruvananthapuram.She works in a hospital in Kol-

lam in Kerala and hails from Kot-tayam. Third rank holder Nidhi said it is a proud moment for her to get selected in the examination.”It is really a proud moment.

I put in lot of hard work and fi-nally it paid,” she said.

Nidhi is presently Assistant Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise.

Vandana Rao, who got the fourth rank, is the topper in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category.

“I called up people twice to cross check whether or not I have made it in the exam. It is a pleasant sur-prise. It is really a result of hard work,” she said Vandana gradu-ated in 2012 and now aspires to be an IAS officer.”I want to be an IAS

officer as it gives you ample scope to do something worthwhile for the country,” she said.

It was her third attempt.Bhagat, who hails from Bihar, is

a Chemical Engineer from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

“Suharsha got selected in In-dian Audit and Accounts Service (IAAS) in 2011. In 2012, he took the exam again and got Indian In-formation Service. In 2013 exam, he got IRS (income Tax). He is posted in Nagpur,” his father Phu-lendra Bhagat, who is a doctor, said from Bihar’s Samastipur.

IAS and IPS officers are selected among others in the prestigious exam. A total of 1,364 posts are to be filled through the civil services examination. There are 254 candi-dates in the waiting list. - PTI

Twenty-nine-year-

old Ira Singhal

topped the exam in

the general category

followed by Renu

Raj, a doctor from

Kerala, and Nidhi

Gupta, from Delhi

who secured second

and third positions

respectively

PM Modi’s positives should not be swamped by negativesNEW DELHI: So, even as the economy is certified by the Re-serve Bank governor to be on the mend, and Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi has promised to take the country into a digital age with more e-governance, it is the daily stumbles of ministers and mandarins that are attracting greater attention.

While these missteps may be difficult to prevent, given the casu-al manner in which rules tend to be flouted by the rich and powerful, a prompt and decisive intervention from the highest levels will be an effective counter to the impression that the government is being over-whelmed by various problems.

Tightening normsModi’s decision to step into the rumpus caused by the deplaning of passengers in Leh, Ladakh, to ac-commodate VIPs is a sign that the norms are being tightened.

But there has to be more such steps at a time when the vari-ous controversies range from the Lalit Modi affair to the mysteri-ous deaths of the accused and witnesses associated with a scam in Madhya Pradesh to the hold-ing up of an international flight so

that a member of a chief minister’s staff can fetch his passport from home or the non-submission of e-tenders (even as e-governance is being hailed) by a Maharashtra minister for the purchase of fire extinguishers.

Collectively, the drip-drip of allegations can erode the govern-ment’s image. It will not be until the economy reaches a high plateau of an 8-9 per cent growth rate, or the prime minister’s fabled penchant for enforcing discipline begins to visibly bear fruit on more than one occasion, that the government will be able to breathe easily. The only success which the government has been able to achieve so far is to pre-vent a major communal flare-up.

This accomplishment cannot but disappoint Congressmen like Mani Shankar Aiyar who was hop-ing for a “Godhra moment” to tar-nish Narendra Modi’s name.

Related to this achievement is the government’s success in tam-ing the saffron hotheads. As a re-sult, the incidents of ‘ghar wapsi’ and ‘love jehad’ have tapered off, suggesting that a stern message is all that is needed to bring the doc-trinaire elements to book.

What is curious, however, is

why the government has been un-willing to take pre-emptive action against the fundamentalists so that they will not be able to queer the pitch to start with. Had that been done, much of its image prob-lems could have been avoided.

The anticipatory steps might have been expected since the um-bilical connections between those in the government and the extrem-ists outside would have warned the former what to expect.

Yet, we have the instances of madrasas being downgraded in Maharashtra or the National In-vestigative Agency’s lawyers being asked to go slow on Hindu mili-

tants, which cannot but reinforce the perception of the government being guided by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

State electionsArguably, by the time the econo-my picks up and the daily gaffes are curbed, the next general elec-tion will not be far away. In the meantime, the state elections in Bihar, Assam, West Bengal and elsewhere, apart from the various by-elections, may not always yield results in the BJP’s favour, thereby denting its confidence.

Since the run-up to a general election is not the time to take

what may be unpopular decisions, whatever the government has to do on the economic front has to be done now.

Time for bitter medicineIf any “bitter medicine” is to be ad-ministered, as the prime minister said right at the beginning of his tenure, this is the time for it to be given. But as long as the govern-ment continues to grapple with the various controversies, any move-ment even on ushering in govern-ance via mobile phones, as Modi promised, or ensuring Swachh Bharat, let alone on the economy, will be tentative.

What the fate of the Congress in the last general election has shown is that the government must al-ways be proactive about its plus points. Otherwise, an accumula-tion of negative impressions can be fatal. As is known, the poverty reduction under the Manmohan Singh government was the fastest in the country’s history. This was stated by none other than the pre-sent government’s chief economic adviser, Arvind Subramanian.

Notwithstanding this remark-able achievement, the Congress crashed to its worst defeat in its

history simply because the many scams, big and small, undermined the party’s and the government’s credibility. If the Modi govern-ment wants to avoid a similar out-come, it will have to match its per-formance with promise.

And the promise is not only the one on economic growth but also on transparency in official func-tioning based on trust and cred-ibility. However, trust cannot be gained by rejecting a Right to In-formation (RTI) application seek-ing details on the former cricket impresario, Lalit Modi’s passport.

Nor can it be enhanced if a min-ister of state in the external affairs ministry accuses those seeking such information as conducting a “supari” (contract) operation.

Hawala transactionThis was the point which L.K. Ad-vani made when he recalled how he resigned when a momentary shadow was cast on his reputation with the mention of his name in a hawala transaction.

Considering that the octogenar-ian leader is expected to indicate the ‘marg’ or path which the party should follow, his advice should not be ignored. - IANS

T A K I N G S T O C K

ELATED: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses during the

launch of Digital India Week in New Delhi on Wednesday. - PTI

Journalist covering Madhya Pradesh’s Vyapam scam diesJHABUA (MP): A journalist working for a leading Delhi-based news channel on Saturday suddenly took ill and died after having interviewed parents of a girl who had been found dead near railway tracks after her name figured in the infamous Vyapam scam of central Indian state Madhya Pradesh.

The incident took place in Meghnagar near Jhabua town. Akshay Singh, who worked for TV Today group, had on Saturday called on the parents of Namrata Damor, whose body had been found under mysterious circum-stances near railway tracks in Ujjain district.

Namrata’s father Mehtab Sin-gh Damor said Akshay and two others visited their house on Sat-urday afternoon. After the inter-view was over, someone was sent to get some papers photocopied.

As Akshay was waiting out-side Damor’s house, suddenly he started frothing at the mouth.

He was rushed to civil hospital and later to a private hospital, but doctors failed to revive him.

From there he was taken to an-other hospital in nearby Dahod in Gujarat, where he was declared brought dead.

Jhabua district’s Superinten-dent of Police Abid Khan con-firmed that a person named Akshay Singh had died in Meghnagar.

High profileMore than 40 people associated with the scam have died since 2013. The most high-profile death was of Shailesh Yadav, son of Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav.

Shailesh (50) was found dead at his father’s residence in the Mall Avenue area of Ut-tar Pradesh capital Lucknow on March 25, 2015.

The opposition Congress has been demanding a Central Bu-reau of Investigation probe into the matter. - PTI

T V T O D A Y G R O U P

PRESTIGIOUS EXAM : Vandana Rao who got the fourth rank in the Civil Services Exams 2014, cel-

ebrates her success with the family at the their residence in New Delhi on Saturday. - PTI

A10 S U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

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LESS RAINS EXPECTEDPeople rest on benches under the shadow of trees in a Karachi park on July 4, 2015. A met official said this year Karachi and other parts of Sindh and Balochistan were forecasted to receive below normal monsoon rains. — AFP

Government in bid to boost power output, says minister

LAHORE: Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali on Saturday said that the govern-ment is trying its best to increase its power output, adding that the issue of low voltage will be re-solved by next year.

“Efforts are being made to pro-duce more power in the country,” Abid said while addressing the media in Lahore.

The minister added that ef-forts are underway to produce up to 21,000MW of electricity. He stressed that “problems in the sys-tem” will be eliminated by 2016.

Regarding the provision of funding, Abid said that the gov-

ernment has ample funds but not much land.

“We have the funds. The only issue is the lack of land,” he told reporters.

Abid also said that he will meet with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak to dis-

cuss the power crisis in the prov-ince. During the press conference, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader also justified that WAPDA employees in Sukkur are well paid, adding that they are paid “Rs3,600,000”.

Further, he also said that un-

announced load-shedding in Ramazan has come to a halt in the entire country.

Earlier, Abid Sher Ali made similar claims when he said the government is striving to over-come energy crisis and to bring progress and prosperity to the

country on Wednesday.“1,100 kilometre transmission

lines and 93 grid stations are be-ing installed to resolve the crisis,” he said.

Further adding that ensuring peace in Karachi is a top priority of the government. — Express Tribune

Minister of State

for Water and

Power Abid Sher

Ali said efforts are

underway to produce

up to 21,000MW

of electricity. He

stressed that

‘problems in the

system’ will be

eliminated by 2016

WOES: File photo shows residents set tyres on fire in protest against electricity shortages on a street in Karachi on May 23, 2009.

Climate change, instability and threats imperil countryBY SYED MOHAMMAD ALI

As the death toll from the severe heatwave in Sindh kept mounting during the

past week, so did political tensions and blame-shifting, including the opposition seizing the opportunity to criticise the government for its ineptness, and the government in turn claiming that it is entities like K-Electric which are at fault for failing to supply electricity, in turn exacerbating the problem.

The minister for climate change has even pointed a finger at coal-powered plants in Rajasthan, for contributing to the deadly heat-wave, which is ironic since our government has ambitious plans to generate power from coal to

overcome the current electricity crisis. As this current heatwave is also being linked to global climate change, it may not be a standalone event, and instead become a more troubling recurrent phenomenon.

Security risksCountries like Pakistan could face increasing political insta-bility and security risks as a re-sult of mounting climate change pressures, which have thus been dubbed “the ultimate threat mul-tiplier” in a report commissioned by the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialised countries.

Besides urging G7 governments to consider climate change and its associated fragility risks as a pri-mary foreign policy agenda, this

report points out how failure to prevent and manage disasters has already begun to exacerbate con-flict and tensions across the devel-oping world.

The climate threat has been highlighted in the social upheav-al surrounding Egypt’s revolu-tion in 2011 to the rise of Boko Haram in Nigeria.

In Asia, Thailand’s severe 2011 floods, which affected two million

people, further instigated ongoing anti-government protests.

Looking ahead, states already afflicted by conflict and poverty, such as Somalia, Afghanistan and Niger, and the increasingly water-short Indus River basin in India and Pakistan, are identified as facing some of the biggest risks of instability.

In the last five years, Pakistan has become one of the top 10 coun-

tries most impacted by climate change. Global warming has also triggered a Himalayan glacial melt, which will have severe conse-quences for our nation, given that the Indus River depends on glacial waters for almost half its flow.

Threats to food securityThe ongoing glacial melt is feared to cause more frequent and in-tense flooding in the short-term, followed by decreasing water flows in the future, threatening agricultural production and na-tional food security.

The above report also warns that the changing environmental conditions could disrupt the via-bility of the existing Indus Waters Treaty between India and Paki-

stan. Indo-Pakistani water inter-dependence requires collaborative research concerning the predicted effects of climate change, or else growing water stress will increase the threat of unilateral action based on divisive politics, which continue to plague relations be-tween the two countries.

Weather related problems have also begun to cause socio-political tensions domestically. The major floods which have been wreak-ing havoc across rural Pakistan in recent years, for example, and the lacklustre government and donor response to these calamities, has increased political marginalisa-tion and disaffection among af-fected groups, especially small and landless farmers. — Express Tribune

C O M M E N T A R Y

Altaf ‘deeply hurt’ by PPP leaders not taking calls

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain claims to have been ‘deep-ly hurt’ by the apathetic attitude of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) leadership after he was unable to convey his grievances to them regarding the recent arrest of his workers by Rangers personnel.

Altaf had called Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari but was unable to speak to them.

According to a press release is-sued by the party, the MQM chief called Shah but the line was not clear and because of the chief min-ister’s ‘old-age’, the latter could not hear Altaf Hussain clearly.

The MQM chief then told the chief minister that he would call again from his direct phone.

When he called the second time, instead of Shah, it was his operator who picked up.

The operator made Altaf wait for several minutes, during which time he was forced to lis-ten to recorded speeches of the deceased Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto, said the press release.

The operator then said that the chief minister would call him back but the call never came. Altaf also called Zardari, several times on his two numbers in Dubai but he did not pick up. — Express Tribune

C O N V E Y G R I E V A N C E S

Hina confirms she is not quitting PPP

ISLAMABAD: Former Foreign Minister Hina Rabanni Khar on Saturday dispelled rumours about quitting the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and said that she will “swim and sink together” with it.

“These are unsubstantiated rumours, please ignore,” Hina Rabbani Khar said.

Last week, rumours were rife that Hina might be joining Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). However, the former for-eign minister confirmed that she will not be joining PTI.

On Friday night, Hina’s father also denied the reports of her exit from the party.

“My daughter is sticking with my party (PPP)—she is not going anywhere,” her father Ghulam Rabbani Khar added.

“We are sticking with PPP,” sen-ior Khar said. — Express Tribune

R U M O U R S T R A S H E D

Hina Rabbani Khar

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By Caroline Lucas

Behind last week’s headlines on Greece – of an economy in meltdown, of stock mar-

ket losses and British holidaymak-ers having to hoard Euros before jetting off to Corfu – lies a coun-try besieged by tragedy. People in Greece are suffering. Over 40 per cent of children are living in pov-erty, up from 23 per cent in 2008. A quarter of the workforce is unem-ployed and over half of young peo-ple don’t have a job.

This human tragedy, inflicted so deliberately on the Greek people, is compounded by the resounding failure of austerity in economic terms. The Troika’s plan – of en-forced cuts to the Greek state- has seen Greece’s government debt to GDP ratio go from 133 per cent in 2010 to 174 per cent today. Since 2010 the Troika has lent €252 billion to the Greek government. Of this, the vast majority of the money was used to bailout banks, pay off the private sector to accept restructuring, and repay old debts and interest from reckless lending. Less than 10 per cent of the money has actually reached the people who need it most.

The Troika’s intransigence on austerity amounts to nothing short of an attempted coup. A democrati-cally elected government is being backed in a corner by the servants of capital who are desperate to em-barrass the Greek electorate for daring to question austerity. For those of us who believe in the EU as a body which should uphold human rights and value solidarity, this bul-lying is particularly repulsive.

You might be forgiven for believ-ing that there is no alternative to further austerity in Greece. But, as history shows us, countries can escape crippling debt in a just way. In 1953, at a summit called The London Conference, Greece was

among the European nations sign-ing a deal which allowed for the cancellation of German debt, to en-able the country to rebuild after the destruction of the World War II. It’s now time for European coun-tries to come together again and allow Greece to cancel debts, and begin the process of stabilisation. Indeed, it’s just been revealed that even the IMF is now saying debt re-lief must be part of any package to rescue Greece.

Sunday’s referendum gives Greek people a choice – but it also places them at the barrel of a gun. Say ‘yes’ to the deal and the re-maining social security net will be ripped from them, but a ‘no’ risks bringing the forces of darkness to the door, further punishing Greek resistance by cutting off the coun-try from the support it so desper-ately needs. A clear no vote, as the Syriza government is urging, would at least mean that the Troika might have to reconsider its plans.

If this was a natural disaster we’d be doing all we could to assist Greeks in their time of need. But, because solutions to this economic disaster fly in the face of UK’s ob-session with stripping down the state, no help is at hand.

No self-respecting democratic can stand by and watch while the Troika dishes out further pain to the Greek people, who are paying the price for a crisis that wasn’t of their making. The Greeks have joined together in these harsh times – setting up health clinics and food banks to support their neighbours – but there’s only so much more that the already crum-bling safety net can take before it entirely collapses.

If the leaders of European coun-tries really do care about the human suffering in Greece then they’ll cast a failed ideology aside and work for a credible solution to the country’s crisis. - The Independent

Source: omantourism.gov.om

Oman is the only country to have a women-only souq. It takes place every Wednesday in the city of Ibra. It is the

most colourful souq of Arabia. Men are forbidden to even stick around. Women

traders sell everything from spices to jewellery and fabrics to women buyers

Wednesday souq of Ibra

Ibra mainmarket

Bank Dhofar

IbraMedicalCentre50m

Women's Souq

Bidbid

Muscat

FanjaRusayl

IBRA180 km

Fish market

Pakistan naive to trust ChinaThis refers to the news report on China offering $50 billion to Pakistan to help the South Asian country to build hydro power projects. (July 3). In my opinion it is naive of Islamabad to trust the Chinese. The much used slogan of all-weather friends — to describe the two countries’ ties — is such only on face value. When China finds Pakistan is not of use to its strategic interests any more it will abandon Islamabad. — Carla Jordan, Muscat

Authorities in Philippines need to curb overloading of ferriesThis refers to the news report Death toll from capsized Philippine ferry rises to 51. (July 3). I think the government in Manila is not able to implement the laws pertaining overloading ferries. It seems odd that the ferry owners are able to get away by openly flouting rules. It is high time the concerned authorities get their act straight and make sure such incidents do not occur in the future. — Caren Stuarts, Muscat

Not knowing a dog from a bear is truly hard to believe This refers to the news report Farmers raise bears as ‘pet dogs’ for two years (July 3). I find this report very hard to believe. However, as it has actually hap-

pened, I think the seller of the bear should be arrested while the buyer needs to be sent to school to learn the difference between the two animals. In my view, this story underlines the quality of education in the so called superpower. How is it possible that a person who has been educated does not know difference between a bear and dog?— Anisah Jatoi, Muscat

T I M E S O F O M A NS U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5A12

Troika’s pressure on Greece is like a coup

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Gas exploration programme mapped out A gas exploration programme has been mapped out to increase the Sultanate’s gas reserves to 40 trillion cubic feet (TCF) in the upcoming years, said Salim bin Mohammed bin Sha’aban, oil and gas undersecretary. In statements published by the Ar-abic daily, Al Watan, yesterday, Sha’aban said an existing com-mittee was tasked to prepare annual programmes for external marketing of the Sultanate’s gas after securing LNG reserves.

1776: The amended Declaration of Independence, prepared by Thomas Jefferson, is approved and signed by John Hancock–Presi-dent of the Continental Congress–and Charles Thomson, Congress secretary. The state of New York abstains from signing 1863: The Confederate town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant.

1946: The United States grants the Philippine Islands their inde-pendence

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WORLDS U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

ONE FOR CAMERA: Yemeni fighters loyal to exiled President

Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi pose for a photo in the Dar Saad

suburb of the southern city of Aden on Saturday. – AFP

Iran, world powers continue talks to clinch nuclear deal

VIENNA: Iran and world pow-ers continued marathon talks on Saturday in an attempt to clinch an historic nuclear accord but re-mained divided on issues such as lifting UN sanctions and develop-ment of advanced centrifuges.

Diplomats close to the nego-tiations said they had tentative agreement on a mechanism for suspending US and European Un-ion sanctions on Iran.

But the six powers had yet to agree on a United Nations Secu-rity Council resolution that would lift UN sanctions and establish a means of re-imposing them in case of Iranian non-compliance with a future agreement.

Resolution not sorted“We still haven’t sorted a Security Council resolution,” a diplomat close to the talks told Reuters. “We don’t have Iran on board yet.”

Senior Iranian and Western diplomats echoed the remarks.

Iran is in talks with the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia on an agree-ment to curtail its nuclear pro-gramme for at least a decade in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

The negotiators missed a June

30 deadline for a final agreement, but have given themselves until July 7, and foreign ministers not already in Vienna are due to re-turn on Sunday for a final push.

Iran issued a warning about consequences of a collapse in the talks. “The other side has tried all kinds of pressure against Iran and if it intends to test these pressures again, as (President Hassan) Rouhani has said, Iran’s response would be actions harder than what the other side imagines,” said Iran’s nuclear spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi, quoted by Iranian news agencies.

All sides say a deal is within reach. But there are other stick-

ing points in addition to sanc-tions and future monitoring mechanisms. One is a stalled UN investigation into the possible military dimensions of past Ira-nian nuclear research suspected of being linked to weapons de-velopment.

Another is Iran’s demand to continue research and develop-ment work on advanced centri-fuges, machines that purify urani-um for use as fuel in power plants or weapons.

UN International Atomic En-ergy Agency director-general Yukiya Amano on Saturday said he could issue a report on its in-vestigation into past Iranian re-search suspected of being linked

to nuclear weapons development by the end of the year if Tehran cooperated.

Possible dimensions“With cooperation from Iran, I think we can issue a report by the end of the year on the assessment of the clarification of the issues related to the possible military di-mensions,” he said ahead of meet-ings with some members of the six-power group.

Answering the IAEA’s so-far unresolved questions about the “possible military dimensions” (PMD) of past Iranian nuclear research will be a condition for easing some sanctions on Iran if Tehran and the six powers suc-

ceed in agreeing on a nuclear ac-cord in Vienna, diplomats close to the talks say.

Amano was in Tehran on Thursday for meetings with Rou-hani and other top Iranian offi-cials to discuss the stalled IAEA investigation into Tehran’s past nuclear work.

He said that during his trip progress had been made in mov-ing his investigation forward but more work would be needed, ech-oing a statement the IAEA issued on Friday.

US Secretary of State John Ker-ry, Iranian Foreign Minister Mo-hammad Javad Zarif and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi have remained in Vienna. Senior offi-cials from Iran and the six powers have continued meeting to try to finalise an agreement.

Kerry and Zarif met on Satur-day and were due to talk again in the evening, a US official said.

Western and Iranian officials said there were signs of a compro-mise emerging on one of the major sticking points: access to Iranian sites to monitor compliance with a future agreement.

Another potential emerging compromise relates to Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched ura-nium. Western and Iranian diplo-mats said Tehran was considering shipping most of the stockpile out of the country, something Tehran had previously ruled out.

Regarding the PMD issue, Western diplomats said they were not demanding a public confes-sion that Iran had conducted research into building a nuclear warhead, but that the IAEA had to be satisfied it knew the full scope of past Iranian activity to establish a credible basis for fu-ture monitoring.

A preliminary agreement reached on April 2 in Lausanne, Switzerland said the PMD would have to be addressed under any final accord between Iran and the six powers. — Reuters

All sides say a

deal is within

reach. But there

are other sticking

points in addition

to sanctions and

future monitoring

mechanisms

Saudi-led strike on Yemen rebel bastion kills 23SANAA: A Saudi-led air strike on a Houthi rebel stronghold in Yemen’s northern mountains killed 23 people early on Satur-day, tribal sources said.

The strike targeted a muni-tions factory in Saqayn, near Saada, the sources said. Coali-tion aircraft also bombed the rebel-held capital Sanaa, tar-geting an arms warehouse and the air defence headquarters, witnesses said. The coalition launched air strikes against the rebels in March, after the Hou-this seized control of much of the country prompting Presi-dent Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to take refuge in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Houthi move-ment said on Saturday a pause in fighting to last until the end of the holy month of Ramadan was under discussion with the United Nations to allow for de-liveries of humanitarian aid.

Houthi spokesman Moham-med Abdul Salam said in a post on his Facebook page he had met UN special envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed on Friday to discuss the matter.

The UN envoy is also holding discussions with the pro-Hadi government in Saudi Arabia to push for a pause, sources said.

The US State Department on Thursday called for a “humani-tarian pause” in the conflict during Ramadan to allow inter-national aid groups to deliver urgently needed food, medicine and fuel.

The European Union said on Friday it supported UN efforts to secure a lasting, predictable and sustainable humanitarian ceasefire and demanded that Saudi-led forces ease restric-tions on entry of ships to Yem-eni ports. “The details are still unclear in terms of a starting date and duration of a humani-tarian pause; however the spe-cial envoy believes that there is ground for optimism that the parties will agree in the coming days,” said UN spokesman Ah-mad Fawzi.

Saudi Arabia, determined to thwart any arms deliveries to the Houthis, has imposed a near total blockade on a country heavily reliant on imports.

Nationwide fuel shortages have spread disease and suffer-ing in arid Yemen, where access to water usually depends on fuel-powered pumps and more than 20 million people, 80 per cent of the population, needs some form of aid, according to the United Nations. — Agencies

N A T I O N A T W A R

Syrian rebels, allies battle regime forces in Aleppo

Parliament declines to okay defence minister

BEIRUT: Two coalitions of Syr-ian rebels battled to advance in government-held western Aleppo on Saturday, seizing an army bar-racks in one district, but being pushed back elsewhere.

The fighting in the country’s for-mer economic powerhouse is some of the fiercest since the Syrian con-flict arrived in the northern city in mid-2012. Elsewhere, government forces launched a major operation to recapture Zabadani, the last op-position-held town in the Qalamun region near Damascus.

The Syrian Observatory for Hu-man Rights reported heavy clashes in several parts of Aleppo’s west side. It said fighters from the Con-quest of Aleppo alliance of mostly moderate forces had captured on Friday a former research centre being used as a military barracks.

Significant strategic step“This is a significant strategic step in terms of the battle that has been going on in Aleppo in the past two years,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said, adding that it opened up lines of attack against several nearby regime-held districts.

A video online showed the cap-ture, with fighters from one of the groups firing in the air, the three-starred flag of the Syrian uprising behind them. The Observatory said government forces had tried un-successfully to recapture the facil-ity overnight and launched air raids against it on Saturday, prompting the rebels to partially evacuate.

Conquest of Aleppo and a sec-ond rebel grouping, Ansar Al Sha-ria, which is dominated by hard-liners and Al Qaeda’s local affiliate Al Nusra Front, began operations against government-held districts of Aleppo this week. The attacks have prompted fierce clashes and heavy bombardment, with rebels firing hundreds of rockets and the government launching dozens of air strikes. — AFP

KABUL: Afghanistan’s parliament rejected a second nominee for de-fence minister on Saturday, leaving a vacuum that has already lasted nine months, while government forces battled the Taliban just 30 miles west of the capital Kabul.

The president’s failure to nomi-nate a full cabinet since he took of-fice in September has sown great discontent among Afghans and Saturday’s vote was seen as a test of his government’s influence over parliament.

As the Afghan army remained without political leadership on Wednesday, Taliban militants were fighting the government for check points in Wardak province, some 30 miles (50km) west of the capital, the governor’s office said in a statement.

At least 24 members of the po-lice were killed in the two-day battle, it said, and fighting was ongoing. Security has deteriorat-ed across the country and many blame the government, for squab-bling over key security posts at a time when US military support is severely limited.

US Senator John McCain of Arizona, visiting Kabul on Satur-day, told reporters that Taliban at-tacks had increased and US troops should stay longer than planned to prevent the militants from making gains. There are around 9,800 US troops left in Afghanistan, down from a peak of around 100,000 in 2011. The majority are training Afghan forces, but a contingent of several thousand are still engaged in combat.

“I think the most serious mis-take the US could make... would be to have a calendar-based with-drawal,” McCain said.

“A calendar-based withdrawal - that would be a tragedy, and in my view, an opening for the Taliban to gain and create success here in Af-ghanistan,” McCain said.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani thanked the United States for its support after meeting with Mc-Cain, in a statement released by the presidency. — Agencies

W A R W I T H I N C O U N T R Y

A F G H A N I S T A N

CLOSETED: An Austrian police officer stands guard outside the Palais Coburg Hotel, venue of the Iran

nuclear talks meetings, in Vienna on Saturday. – AFP

A calendar-based withdrawal - that would be a

tragedy, and in my view, an opening for the Taliban

to gain and create success here in Afghanistan

John McCain, US Senator of Arizona

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Tonga’s 1,000-year-old monarchy gets new king in Tupou VINUKU’ALOFA (TONGA): Tupou VI was formally crowned King of Tonga on Saturday before thou-sands of people including heads of state and dignitaries from around the world, capping a week steeped in traditional rites.

Because it is taboo for Tongans to touch their king’s head, a retired Australian minister was flown in to perform the televised crowning.

The new king also becomes the 24th Tu’i Kanokupolu, an ancient Tongan title that pre-dates the monarchy by centuries.

Celebrations and ancient rituals leading up to the coronation be-gan last Saturday with a Taumafa Kava, a traditional ceremony in which Tupou VI drank the kava drink to confirm his title as king of Tonga.

Historic riteThe historic rite -- in which about 150 nobles, wearing traditional ta’ovala mats around their waists, sat in a circle to drink kava from coconut shells -- launched seven days of street parties, black-tie balls, fashion shows and feasting before the king was crowned by Australian D’Arcy Wood.

“No Tongan citizen can do it as it is forbidden for a Tongan to touch the king’s head,” the 78-year-old retired Methodist minister said last week before flying to Tonga

from his home near Melbourne.Wood was born in Tonga when

his father worked there in 1924 and met the new king when he was Tonga’s High Commissioner to

Australia in the 1990s.Tupou VI, 55, ascended to the

throne following the death of his bachelor brother Tupou V, who died in 2012 after a six-year reign

of major reforms that expanded democracy in the nation of about 110,000 people.

An estimated 15,000 people, mainly expatriate Tongans, flew in for the coronation, with the invited guests including Japan’s Crown Prince Naruhito, his wife Princess Masako, and European royals Prince Georg von Habs-burg from Hungary and Princess Marie-Therese von Hohenberg from Austria.

Hundreds of school children sit-ting on traditional mats, formed a guard of honour as the robed King Tupou VI and his wife, Queen Nanasipau’u arrived at the Free Wesleyan Centenary Church for the ceremony.

The celebrations were to contin-ue in the evening with a Tupakapa-kanava -- the lighting of torches along the coast line -- and will end on Tuesday with a military tattoo.

Although Tonga has economic problems including high youth un-employment, most of its citizens have deep respect for their monar-chy and the lavishness of the coro-nation was not a concern.

Auckland-based Ofa Taufo’ou, who returned home for the cel-

ebrations, told Radio New Zealand that Tongans valued their royalty and culture.

“I don’t have the words to ex-plain how much it means to me to have royalty, and to have this occa-sion,” he said.

Wood said Tonga’s affection for their monarch was deeply en-trenched in their history.

“The monarch represents for them continuity and security -- a symbolic role which unites and re-assures the people.”

Tonga’s monarchy can trace its history back 1,000 years and by the 13th century the nation wielded power and influence over surrounding islands, including Sa-moa, nearly 900 kilometres (560 miles) to the east.

Tupou I, who converted to Christianity after coming under the influence of missionaries, was proclaimed king in 1845 after win-ning control of the monarchy from two other royal lines.

By 1900 the country had be-come a British protectorate and acquired its independence in 1970.

It remains the only monar-chy among South Pacific island nations. — AFP

2 4 T H T U ’ I K A N O K U P O L U

CORONATION: Tongan King George Tupou VI, second right facing, accompanied by his wife Queen

Nanasipau’u, right, is crowned during the coronation ceremony in Nuku’alofa on Saturday. - AFP

Female bombers kill 200 in 3 daysin Nigeria villageKANO (NIGERIA): Several female suicide bombers blew themselves up in the midst of fleeing residents in a northeast Nigerian village, continuing a series of attacks that have killed some 200 people in just three days, witnesses said on Saturday.

The latest attack took place on Friday night in Zabarmari village, 10 kilometres (six miles) from the city of Maiduguri, birthplace of the militant group.

Local resident Haladu Musa, who fled the attack to Maiduguri, said that “large numbers” of fighters poured into the village, overpowering government forces deployed to prevent the insur-gents reaching Maiduguri.

“The soldiers were forced to re-treat,” he said.

Then, as people began to flee, female suicide bombers started blowing themselves up in their midst, killing large numbers of people, he said.

“Most of the casualties came from the suicide bombings,” he said, without being able to give a precise figure for the dead and injured.

Musa said the militants looted shops and torched “almost half the village” before eventually be-ing repulsed after the military sent in reinforcements.

Danlami Ajaokuta, a civilian vigilante helping the military battle Boko Haram and who also witnessed the attack, spoke of heavy casualties.

“The main concern now is to evacuate and attend to the in-jured and later recover the dead

bodies now lying in the village,” he said, adding that more than 100 people had been hospitalised with injuries.

Boko Haram, which is fighting to establish a hardline state in northeast Nigeria and has sworn allegiance to the IS militant group, has intensified its cam-paign of violence since President Mohammadu Buhari came to power on May 29.

The Zabarmari attack fol-lowed a series of attacks across restive Borno state since Wednesday that have been blamed on the militants.

Last week, militants gunned down worshippers at evening Ramadan prayers, shot women in their homes and dragged men from their beds in the dead of night. A young female suicide bomber also killed 12 worship-pers when she blew herself up in a mosque. — AFP

S U I C I D E A T T A C K S

Attorney general gets

Najib case documents

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s attorney-general said on Satur-day that a task force investigating state fund 1MDB had passed sev-eral documents to him, including ones connected to allegations that money was transferred into the account of Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The statement comes a day af-ter a Wall Street Journal report said that investigators had traced nearly $700 million to bank ac-counts that they believed be-longed to the prime minister.

In a statement issued on Friday night, Najib denied taking any money from the state fund or any other entity for personal gain.

Task forceAttorney-General Abdul Gani Patail said the documents were given to him by the task force made up of members of the coun-try’s anti-corruption commis-sion, police and central bank.

“This team have several docu-ments that were passed for me

to check. I have verified that I have received these documents on 1MDB including documents connected to allegations that money was transferred into the account of the prime minister,” Abdul Gani said in a statement. He did not give any further de-tails about the nature or con-tents of the documents.

The public prosecutor said he had given guidance to the task force to take further action, but did not specify what action would be initiated.

Serious allegationsMeanwhile, Deputy Prime Min-ister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Saturday that authorities must immediately investigate the alle-gations made against Najib in the newspaper report.

“These allegations are seri-ous because they can affect the credibility and integrity of Najib as PM and the leader of the gov-ernment,” Muhyiddin said in a statement. — Reuters

M A L A Y S I A

The latest attack took

place on Friday night

in Zabarmari village,

10 kilometres from

the city of Maiduguri,

birthplace of the Boko

Haram militant group

CELEBRATIONS: A woman waves an American flag as she rides in an antique pickup truck through Barnstable Village on Cape Cod,

during the annual Fourth of July Parade celebrating the country’s independence day, in Barnstable, United States, on Saturday. — Reuters

On independence day, US faces security woes

NEW YORK: Millions of Ameri-cans readied on Saturday for independence day parades and firework shows amid worries over possible security threats, a spike in shark attacks on East Coast beaches and the danger of wild-fires in the West.

The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have issued an alert asking local authorities and the public to remain vigilant for possible threats following recent

calls for violence by IS militant group leaders.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered increased moni-toring statewide for the holiday weekend under the direction of the New York Division of Home-land Security and Emergency Services.

In New York City, the nation’s biggest police force assigned about 7,000 officers and nearly all its counter-terrorism personnel to handle security around Inde-pendence Day events.

“We’re constantly seeking to be creative, to be proactive and not just be preparing to respond if something happens,” New York

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said this week. “The name of the game is to prevent it.”

Hundreds of thousands of peo-ple were expected to flood the Na-tional Mall in Washington, DC, for a parade, concerts, and a fireworks display that uses 6,500 shells.

The National Park Service is installing 3.4 miles (5.47km) of chain link fencing, 14,000 feet of bike racks and almost 350 porta-ble toilets to cope with the crowds.

Washington was shaken on Thursday by an unfounded re-port of gunshots at the Navy Yard military base, a report that sparked a massive law enforce-ment response. Police Chief Cathy Lanier told reporters po-lice were in a heightened posture ahead of the holiday.

“When we talk to our residents and visitors who want to celebrate independence day in the District of Columbia, it should be very

clear to everybody that we take clear and credible threats or calls from our citizens and employees very, very seriously,” Lanier said.

On the US West Coast, which is already battling wildfires, com-munities in Washington state and Oregon restricted or banned fireworks out of fear that the dazzling displays of pyrotech-nics would spark fresh blazes. Cupertino, California, and An-chorage, Alaska’s largest city, cancelled fireworks shows be-cause of such concerns.

Shark attacksRevellers celebrating the holiday on the beaches of North Carolina, meanwhile, were warned by the National Park Service to use extra caution after an unprecedented surge in shark attacks.

The seven attacks recorded in the state by midday Thursday have already surpassed the previ-ous high of four in 2014, accord-ing to the International Shark Attack File. While the news will keep some people from venturing into the water, others won’t give up the surf, said shark file curator George Burgess.

“There are those who have made their decision: ‘I don’t care. I’m going to go in the water no matter what,’” he said.

Celebrations in Texas feature country music legend Willie Nel-son, and in Oklahoma, a water-melon seed spitting contest.

Nelson’s all-day picnic, held this year at the Circuit of the Americas racetrack outside Aus-tin, typically draws tens of thou-sands of people for a day of drink-ing and music. — Reuters

The Department

of Homeland

Security and the

Federal Bureau

of Investigation

have issued an

alert asking local

authorities and the

public to remain

vigilant for possible

threats following

recent calls for

violence by leaders

of the IS group

DARK SHADOWS: Police officers patrol Times Square in New York,

United States, on Friday. — Reuters

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Philippine police charge owner, crew of capsized ferry with murderA C C I D E N T

MANILA: Philippine police have filed murder charges against the owner and crew of a passenger fer-ry that capsized killing 59 people, an official said on Saturday.

The charges were filed late on Friday in the central city of Ormoc over the sinking of the Kim Nirvana ship, according to regional police chief Asher Dolina.

An initial police investigation

and interviews with survivors indi-cated the vessel abruptly turned in waters off the central port of Ormoc on Thursday, causing it to capsize, Dolina told AFP.

“They were not careful, show-ing there was an intent to kill. They were reckless on purpose,” Do-lina said. A total of nineteen peo-ple were charged, including ship operator Joge Bong Zarco, captain

Warren Oliviero, and all 17 crew members, according to Dolina.

All members of crew survived and are now in police custody.

Under Philippine law, murder is punishable by up to 40 years imprisonment.

The police investigation is sepa-rate from a coast guard inquiry, which will primarily determine the cause of the mishap.

However, the coast guard may also recommend criminal and ad-ministrative charges.

“We filed the charges as soon as we could because we don’t want the suspects to leave the country,” Dolina said.

The death toll stood at 59, transportation secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya told ANC television on Saturday. - AFP

Another doctor

contracts MERS

in South Korea

SEOUL: Another doctor at a major hospital that has been the epicentre of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak in Seoul has contract-ed the deadly virus, the govern-ment said on Saturday.

The 25-year-old female doc-tor at Samsung Medical Centre has become the 185th person infected with the virus in South Korea. The country’s first case was diagnosed on May 20 in the largest outbreak of MERS outside Saudi Arabia, the health ministry said.

The gigantic hospital oper-ated by the powerful Samsung business group now accounts for 90 out of 185 confirmed cas-es. With the doctor included, the total number of infected medics at this hospital now stands at 13.

Following four days with no new cases, two nurses at the same hospital were confirmed to be the 183rd and 184th pa-tients on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Alarmed, health authorities immediately ordered 12 of 15 patients being treated at the hospital to be transferred to other facilities. The move was seen as another blow to Sam-sung Medical Centre whose facilities have been shut down, except for those reserved for the 15 MERS patients. -AFP

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Duqm-Jebel Ali feeder service to start by year-end

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADI [email protected]

MUSCAT: A feeder container shipping service planned be-tween Jebel Ali and Duqm will start by the end of the year, said a senior official at the Port of Duqm Company (PDC).

“There have been some delays due to identification of the ships, identification of the cargo. Now it is going back on track,” ReggyVer-meulen, chief executive officer of Port of Duqm Company, told Times of Oman in an interview.

“I am confident that before the end of this year, it will be op-erational. So we are still targeting 2015,” said the official.

Vermeulen said that the Port of Duqm decided to start operation before the entire infrastructure is completed as it wanted to con-tribute to the country’s economy as soon as possible and also due to the fact that the mega project takes a long time to complete.

He believes that the port has so

far managed well to strike the bal-ance and is confident that it will succeed over the next two years, which will be a hectic period for the port.

Asked about the cargos re-ceived by the Port of Duqm, Ver-meulen said that the port has received nearly 1 per 15 days, including oil rigs, minerals, steel and machinery.

While Sohar has become a ma-jor hub for heavy industry and Salalah is more known as a trans-shipment hub,the chief executive officer of PDC says that oil and gas will be a main focus of the Port of Duqm in the short term.

It is true that Sohar and Sala-lah ports have a clear designated activity but Duqm is different in terms of the size and will be the largest port in Oman when fully finished. “So in theory, we are ca-pable of doing anything because we have the space, capability and the expertise,” he said.

Oil and gas However, the port will definitely be extremely active in the field of oil and gas for the short term as 70 per cent of the oil and gas fields are in

the range of 300 kilometres from the Port of Duqm, said Vermeulen.

Logistics is another area where the PDC, which is a 50:50 joint venture between the government of Oman and the Consortium Antwerp Port, will be focusing on in the coming years.

“Belgium is known for being a logistics hub in Europe, and this is therefore an expertise that we have and are very proud to use here,” said Vermeulen.

Complementary roles The official added that the three ports are trying to define their role in Oman Vision 2040, which aspires to transform the coun-try into a major regional hub, but they actually complement each other. “We are all owned by the government of Oman,” he said, adding, “We do not want to canni-balise each other. We do not want to start a competition with each other. We want to compete with the rest of the world.”

Diversification Vermeulen explained that apart from the oil and gas sector, which is still a significant source of in-come for the country, the port is seeking to contribute to the ef-forts to diversify the economy. “We are targeting everything. Everything eventually has to hap-pen in Duqm, including health, education, housing, industry and manufacturing,” he noted.

Asked about contribution to job creation in Oman, the CEO said, “We are the only port today that has 94 per cent Omanisation rate.”

Duqm will be the

largest port in the

Sultanate when fully

completed. As many

as 70 per cent of the

oil and gas fields are

located in the range

of 300 kilometers

from the port

Greeks deeply divided ahead of bailout voteATHENS: Greece braced itself on Saturday ahead of a make-or-break bailout referendum as polls showed the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ camps neck-and-neck and uncertainty rose over the future of the coun-try’s battered economy.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras got a rock-star welcome at an Athens rally late on Friday as he sought to revive support for a ‘No’ vote in a referendum called to strengthen his hand in talks with international creditors.

But the most recent polls sug-gested Sunday’s plebiscite on Greece’s latest bailout offer from its international creditors was too close to call, with the nation of 11 million people evenly divided.

EU leaders have warned that a “No” victory could cause Greece to crash out of the eurozone. But Tsipras and his closest ally Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis have ac-cused them of fear-mongering.

In an interview published on Saturday, the outspoken Varoufa-kis accused Athens’s creditors of ‘terrorism’. “What they’re doing with Greece has a name — terror-ism,” he told the Spanish ‘El Mun-do’ daily. “What Brussels and the troika want today is for the ‘Yes’ (vote) to win so they could humili-ate the Greeks.”

As tensions rose he was forced to deny a Financial Times report that suggested Greek savers could lose 30 per cent of their bank deposits to shore up the banking system, slamming it a “malicious rumour”.The British business daily, quoting unidentified bankers and business-men close to negotiations, reported

that Greek depositors with over €8,000 ($8,900) in an account may be force to take a “haircut”.

Rumours that capital controls imposed by the government were

leading to food and medicine shortages were spooking Greeks, as was growing uncertainty over when the country’s banks would re-open. - AFP

R E F E R E N D U M


Reggy Vermeulen, CEO of Port of Duqm. – ISMAIL AL FARSI/Times of Oman

CRUCIAL DAY: Referendum campaign posters reading “No” in Greek are seen in Athens, Greece, yesterday. - Reuters

FRANKFURT: The Euro-pean Central Bank (ECB) claims it can calm any regional market turmoil that follows Greece’s referen-dum on Sunday. Saving the country’s banking system will be harder.

With two asset-buying pro-grammes, international swap lines, backstops for eastern Europe and cash tenders in place, the ECB has a wide range of tools at hand should bond yields surge or money

markets freeze after the July 5 vote. That’s a possible outcome if voters reject the terms of a European Union-led bailout.

Yet even if the Greek people back the EU offer, the nation’s lenders, which have been shut and under capital controls for the past week, won’t be able to reopen soon unless the ECB approves more liquidity. To do that, monetary-policy officials would have to take a leap of faith. - Bloomberg News

Athens faces banking chaos

B2

MARKETS U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

Videocon plans $2.5 billion Brazil investmentMUMBAI: Videocon Industries plans to invest $2.5 billion in oil and gas ventures in Brazil over the next two to three years, the consumer electronics-to-energy group’s chief said, as part of its strategy to boost the business.

“Brazil oil finding is four times higher thean the largest oil field in India ... It’s just (the) beginning,” billionaire Venugopal Dhoot told Reuters at the sidelines of an in-dustry event.

A consortium that includes Vid-eocon and Brazilian state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA earlier this year discovered new light crude oil in the Sergipe basin off Brazil’s northeast coast. - Reuters

O I L & G A S

Japan vows $6.1b aid to five countriesTOKYO: Japan on Saturday pledged $6.1 billion in financial aid to the ‘Mekong Five’ coun-tries as it pushes infrastructure exports and courts influence in a region where rival China has an increasing presence.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe un-veiled the pledge at a summit with his counterparts from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vi-etnam — fast-growing economies through which the lower section of the Mekong river flows.

“Japan will implement support worth around ¥750 billion ($6.1 billion) in official development as-sistance for the next three years,” Abe told a news conference fol-lowing the seventh annual Japan-

Mekong summit. “The Mekong region, which has vast demand for infrastructure, is one of our most important areas,” Abe said.

“Japan will contribute to infra-

structure development of the re-gion in both quality and quantity,” he added. “The Mekong region and Japan are partners that will develop together.”

Bolstering economyIt was not immediately clear if the pledge included previously-ear-marked Japanese financial as-sistance, or whether it was made up entirely of newly-allocated funds. Abe has upped efforts to sell highways, train systems and power plants around the world, a key element in his bid to bol-ster the economy and Japan’s standing abroad.

Beijing’s growing financial muscle, as well as its increasing willingness to throw its diplo-matic weight around, have added urgency to Japan’s efforts to step up engagement in the battle for regional sway.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang

said in November at a summit in Myanmar that Beijing’s strategic partnership with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Na-tions (Asean) grouping was enter-ing a “diamond decade leading to broader and deeper cooperation”.

Then in March, Foreign Minis-ter Wang Yi said China hoped to boost trade with Asean countries to $500 billion this year and $1 trillion in 2020.

Beijing’s new Asian Infrastruc-ture Investment Bank has also upped the stakes, rivalling the Tokyo-backed Asian Develop-ment Bank and offering the kind of financial firepower rapidly-developing countries are keen to tap. - AFP

S U M M I T

Tehran pushes to acceleratesanctions relief

VIENNA: Iran is pushing to ac-celerate US and European sanc-tions relief with just four days left to resolve nuclear talks in Vienna, as Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said a lasting accord has ‘never been closer’.

Negotiators haven’t yet agreed on the scale and speed of sanc-tions relief, nor have they settled all the steps Iran must take, ac-cording to four diplomats from countries participating in the negotiations. They asked not to be named in line with rules. One of the diplomats said Iran may get substantial sanctions relief by December, while others said sanctions are unlikely to be eased before 2016.

“At this eleventh hour, despite some differences that remain, we have never been closer to a last-ing outcome,” Zarif said in a video released on Friday and filmed on a terrace at the Palais Coburg in Vienna, where the talks are being held. The foreign minister earlier told ‘Al Monitor’ website that “the deal will be made or broken on whether the United States wants to lift the sanctions or keep them.”

The six world powers negoti-ating with Iran have postponed their deadline for an accord to July 7, and all sides are signaling that goal is within reach. The plan would ease sanctions on Iran’s economy, in return for curbs on its nuclear work.

Foreign ministers are due to re-convene in the Austrian capital on Sunday to start hammering out the final sticking points. A senior US official said it’s conceivable that process could extend past July 7.

Common challengesZarif, who made similar recorded appeals last year and in 2013, said an agreement will “open new horizons to address important, common challenges” such as the threat of Islamic State. He said Iran’s interlocutors must choose between “agreement or coercion.”

The Iranians’ attempt to get faster lifting of sanctions is fea-sible if they enact curbs on their nuclear program sooner than expected, the officials said. Iran needs to implement wider moni-toring protocols, dismantle two-thirds of its nuclear capacity and

eliminate 97 per cent of its en-riched uranium.

In order to comply with its nuclear requirements, Iran is preparing to sell or swap several thousand kilogrammes of en-riched uranium in return for cash or natural uranium ore, govern-ment spokesman Behrooz Kamal-vandi told the ISNA news agency.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Friday dispatched his chief of staff, Mohammed Nahavandian, to join the talks, though an American official said he hasn’t met anyone with the US delegation. Nahavandian, an economist, was the former head of Iran’s chamber of commerce and has been actively courting foreign investors to return to his country.

An Iranian diplomat said that his country recognised the right of IAEA monitors to request vis-its to sensitive sites. - Bloomberg News

One of the diplomats

said Iran may get

substantial sanctions

relief by December,

while others said

sanctions are

unlikely to be eased

before 2016CANDID: Mohammed Javad Zarif said that at this eleventh hour,

despite some differences that remain, they have never been

closer to a lasting outcome. – Bloomberg file picture


‘MEKONG FIVE’ COUNTRIES Japanese Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe unveiled the

pledge at a summit with his

counterparts from Cambodia,

Laos, Myanmar, Thailand

and Vietnam — fast-growing

economies through which the

Mekong river flows.

Shinzo Abe – AFP

B3S U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

MARKET

Money supply shows strong growth in first four months of 2015MUSCAT: Money supply in the financial system showed a robust growth in the first four months of 2015, compared to the same period last year.

For instance, narrow money (M1) when measured on year-on-year basis, grew by 13.1 per cent driven by an increase in currency with the public by 9.5 per cent and a growth in demand deposits by 14.2 percent.

Quasi-money (RO savings and time deposits, certificates of deposits issued by commercial banks, margin deposits and for-eign currency denominated de-posits) witnessed a growth of 9.8 per cent during the period.

Broad money supply M2 (M1 and quasi-money) stood at OMR14,215.4 million at the end of April 2015, up from OMR12,813.5 million a year ago, registering an increase of 10.9 per cent. As far as domestic inter-

est rate structure of commercial banks is concerned, both deposit and lending rates softened during this period.

The Central Bank of Oman’s (CBO) policy interest rate for absorption of surplus liquidity in the form of CBO certificates of deposits of 28 days maturity was 0.114 per cent in April 2015. CBO’s policy rate for injection of liquidity or repo rate remained unchanged at 1 per cent since March 2012.

The overnight RO domestic inter-bank lending rate increased from 0.124 per cent in April 2014 to 0.197 per cent in April 2015. The weighted average interest rate on RO deposits declined from 1.081 per cent in April 2014 to 0.908 per cent in April 2015 while the weighted average RO lending rate declined from 5.281 per cent to 4.945 per cent during the period. – ONA

E C O N O M Y

Electricity generation in Oman grows in the first four months

MUSCAT: Oman’s electricity genetaion and water production showed a robust growth in the first four months of this year, com-pared to the same period of 2014.

Total generation of electricity increased to more than 8,500 giga-watt per hour, a 17 per cent growth at the end of April as against pro-duction recorded for the same period last year.

Similarly, water sector, which recorded a significant increase at the end of April to reach more than 107 million cubic metres with an increase of 10.6 per cent compared to the production recorded during the same period in 2014.

The latest statistics issued by the National Center for Statis-tics and Information (NCSI) in-dicates that the total production of electricity till the end of April

2015 reached 8,474.1 gigawatt per hour compared to the production recorded during the same period of 2014, which reached 7,239.9 gigawatt per hour, showing an in-crease rate of 17 per cent.

The net electricity production till the end of April 2015 grew

17.8 per cent reached 8,097.2 GW per hour, compared to the same period of 2014, which was 6872.3 gigawatt per hour.

This production includes the procurements of Oman Power and Water Procurement Compa-ny (OPWP) and the procurements

of the Rural Areas Electricity Company (Raeco).

Oman Power and Water Pro-curement Company is the single buyer of power and water from all independent power and water projects within the country.

The Sultanate’s water produc-

tion for the first four months ending April 2015 reached 106,617,900 cubic metres with an increase of 10.6 per cent com-pared to the water production re-corded during the same period of 2014, which was 96,421,700 cubic metres. – ONA

Total generation of

electricity increased

by 17 per cent, while

water output grew

10.6 per cent in the

first four months

ending April 2015,

over the same period

last year

PRODUCTION RISES: National Centre for Statistics and Information said that total electricity generation till the end of April 2015

reached 8,474.1 gigawatt per hour compared to the same period in 2014, an increase of 17 per cent. The picture is used only for

illustrative purpose. – File photo

Renaissance appoints advisers for bond issue

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Renaissance Services, a multinational oil and gas ser-vices company listed on the Mus-cat Securities Market (MSM), has mandated Standard Chartered Bank as sole structuring advisor, and Bank Sohar, National Bank of Oman and Standard Chartered Bank as joint lead managers to ar-range investor discussions on its behalf starting on July 1.

A subordinated perpetual bond issuance, denominated in Ameri-cal dollars and or Omani rials, by a wholly-owned overseas subsidiary of Renaissance may follow, subject to market conditions, said a com-pany release. Renaissance is using the Perpetual Notes to finance its offer to buy back the Mandatory Convertible Bonds, issued in 2012.

Commenting on the appoint-ment of advisers, Vishal Goenka, chief financial officer of Renais-sance, said, “We are pleased to have leading Oman banks like Na-tional Bank of Oman and Bank So-har together with an international bank like Standard Chartered, working with us on this first cor-porate perpetual issuance by an Omani business group.”

Muscat bourse edges up 2.1% in first half; turnover declinesMUSCAT: Share prices on the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) showed a growth with the main index of MSM increas-ing by 81 points in the first half of 2015 despite regional and inter-national political crisis.

The index closed at 6,424 points at the end of June, an in-crease of 2.1 per cent. However, the turnover of the market fell by 85 per cent to OMR707.3 million compared to OMR1.3 billion in the same period last year.

The market was affected in the past six months by several local and global factors, such as the de-cline in oil prices that affected the revenues of the Sultanate, which relies heavily on oil to finance government expenditure.

The market was also affected by the weakness of investment-oriented liquidity with more and more investors fearing a fall in market after the sharp decline in crude oil prices in global markets. The political crisis, the Yemen war and the global economic cri-

sis, most recently the Greece’s debt crisis, affected various mar-kets in the region and outside.

Highest trading volumeLast February saw the highest trading volume at OMR176.6 million while last May recorded the minimum trading volume at OMR75 million. Muscat bourse recorded in the first half of this year OMR463 million gains in its market capitalisation. The total

market value of listed companies in the market by the end of June 2015 rose to OMR15.27 billion.

The market listed the shares of Phoenix Power which floated ini-tial public offering recently.

Many companies raised their capital by way of bonus shares, but the decline in stock prices affected the total market value, which was expected for further climb with rising of capitals listed in the market. - ONA

O M A N S T O C K S

ONIC Holding’s merger notice period reducedMUSCAT: The minister of commerce has approved ONIC Holding’s request to reduce the merger notice period from three months to one month pursuant to Article 13 of the Commer-cial Companies Law. ONIC Holding and Oman Invest-ment Development and Investment Company will be merging to make a single entity.

Al Hassan subsidiary bags new projectMUSCAT: Al Hassan En-gineering Abu Dhabi, which is controlled by Al Hassan Engineering owning 49 per cent of its share capital, received a Letter of Intent from Hyundai Engineer-ing & Construction for $10.65 million for electrical work for Satah al-Razboot (SARB) package 4 project. The project duration is 20 months from June 2015, the company said in a stock market filing.

Canada not heading for recession: MinisterMONTREAL: Canada’s finance minister denied that the country is heading for recession, a day after two major banks predicted economic doomsday. Cana-dahas been hard hit by oil prices. - Times News Service/Agencies

B R I E F S

D E B T I S S U E

B4

MARKETS U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

Airbus, Mahindra to make military choppers in India

NEW DELHI: European aero-space giant Airbus and India’s Mahindra group have inked a deal to jointly build helicopters as the Indian government moves to up-grade the country’s ageing military hardware, the companies said.

The joint venture will be set up in the coming months, “aiming to become the first private manufac-turer of helicopters in India”, the companies said in a statement late on Friday.

“The joint venture will be dedi-cated to supplying the Indian armed forces with Made-in-India, state-of-the-art helicopters of high reliability, quality and safety standard based on combat-prov-en platforms,” Guillaume Faury, president and chief executive of-ficer of Airbus Helicopters, said in the statement.

India is in the midst of a vast de-fence modernisation programme worth some $100 billion, partly to keep up with rival neighbours Pa-kistan and China.

String of contractsPrime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-wing government, which stormed to power last May, has approved a string of contracts for new military hardware that had stalled under the previous left-leaning Congress party.

Modi, a hardline nationalist, also wants to end India’s status as

the world’s number one defence importer and to have 70 per cent of hardware manufactured do-mestically by the turn of the dec-ade. Last August, his government lifted the cap on foreign invest-ment in defence to 49 per cent from 26 per cent.

The Airbus-Mahindra joint venture will place bids for recon-

naissance and surveillance chop-pers, naval utility and naval multi-role helicopters.

“Together, we will produce India’s next-generation helicop-ters that will not only answer our country’s defence needs but will also have the potential for exports in the future,” said S. P. Shukla, chairman of Mahindra

Defence Systems. The companies did not spell out how much they would invest under the deal. - AFP

The joint venture

will be set up in the

coming months,

aiming to become

the first private

manufacturer of

helicopters in India

Brazil targets 15 banks in forex fixing investigationBRASILIA: Brazil’s antitrust body announced an unprecedented probe for the country into alleged foreign exchange market rigging by 15 banks including Citigroup and HSBC, which are accused of col-luding to form a secret cartel.

“There are strong indications of anticompetitive practises of price fixing” and other manipulations between the banks, the watchdog known as Cade said. The alleged cheating lasted from 2007 until at least 2013, authorities said.

“The evidence shows that (the banks) formed a cartel” fixing pric-es, coordinating trades, and im-peding other operators involved in the Brazilian market, the watch-dog said. There is also evidence that the banks shared sensitive information on contracts, fu-tures prices, clients, negotiating strategies and other confidential material, Cade said.

Brazilian investigators say the banks under scrutiny communi-cated online via the Bloomberg chat platform to organise what they themselves referred to as “The cartel” and “The mafia.”

The other 13 banks named in-ckuded Banco Standard de Inves-timentos, Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Nomura, Royal Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered and UBS. The probe is target-ing 30 individuals who were not identified. Similar probes around the world, including in South Af-rica, South Korea, Europe and the United States have targeted much of the same group of banks. - AFP

S C A N D A L

JOINT VENTURE: The Airbus-Mahindra joint venture will place bids for reconnaissance and surveillance choppers, naval utility and

naval multirole helicopters. – Bloomberg file picture.


EU resolution authorities get more discretion in bank rulesVIENNA: European Union reso-lution authorities are getting more flexibility to determine the amount of loss-absorbing liabilities banks must have under rules intended to prevent taxpayer bailouts.

The European Banking Author-ity’s final rules for setting lenders’ minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities, or MREL, allows resolution authori-ties to deviate from a standard level based on an assessment of a bank’s business and funding models and risk profile, among other factors.

The standards allow authorities greater discretion than was fore-seen in the EBA’s MREL proposal last November.

“The standards have been ad-justed following consultation feed-back to ensure they provide a clear framework for linking the MREL to capital requirements, including where some parts of capital buffer or Pillar 2 requirements are not relevant to the aims of MREL, and to clarify the treatment of contri-butions from deposit guarantee

schemes to the cost of resolution,” the EBA said on its website.

EU banking law required the EBA to set out technical standards for the amount and composition of loss-absorbing securities banks must hold, both to ward off a col-lapse and to finance a resolution if the worst happens.

The EU’s bank-failure regu-lation, the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive, set a July 3 deadline for the EBA to submit the report to the European Commis-sion, the EU’s executive arm.

Resolution authorityThe MREL technical standards are part of the EU’s efforts to make it possible to resolve banks in cri-sis without resorting to taxpayer aid. It complements global efforts that will prescribe minimum lev-els of loss-absorbing capacity for the world’s biggest banks, as well as the EU’s capital rules.

The amount of MREL will be set for each bank individually by the relevant resolution authority,

which for the euro area’s biggest banks will be the Brussels-based Single Resolution Mechanism.

“To cater for the diversity of institutions and business models across the EU, the MREL is not a fixed figure,” the EBA said. “In-stead, it must be set by resolution authorities on a case-by-case ba-sis for each institution to ensure it is sufficient to implement their resolution plans.”

MREL consists of two elements. The first one is meant to absorb losses the failing bank has run up along the way.

The second must be available after the first is used up to recapi-talise the parts of the bank needed to ensure that functions critical to the working of the financial sys-tem can continue. Equity, junior debt and senior debt that’s not pro-tected from bail-in can all count towards MREL.

The EBA gives regulators the option of excluding capital buff-ers when calculating the MREL amount. - Bloomberg News

B A N K I N G

Chinese brokers set up $19b fund to stem market crashSHANGHAI: Chinese brokerage firms have come together to set up a stock-market fund, the latest effort to stem the biggest three-week drop in China’s key share index since 1992.

The 21 brokers led by Citic Se-curities will invest the equivalent of 15 per cent of their net assets as of the end of June, or no less than 120 billion yuan ($19.3 billion) in total, the Securities Association of China said in a statement on its website on Saturday. The fund will invest in blue-chip exchange-traded funds, it said.

The move comes after meas-ures to shore up equities failed to stop margin traders from un-winding positions at a record pace, with the market losing more than $2.8 trillion of value in three weeks. The People’s Bank of Chi-na cut interest rates last week,

while margin-trading rules were eased and trading fees were cut on Wednesday.

The new fund to bolster eq-uities may have only “a fleeting effect when daily turnover has reached 2 trillion yuan”, accord-ing to Hao Hong, China equity strategist at Bocom International Holdings in Hong Kong.

Small-cap stocks“This 120 billion yuan won’t last for an hour in this market,” Hong said by phone from Beijing on Saturday. “It might benefit blue-chip stocks, as investors may see them as value, but the bursting of the bubble in small-cap/tech stocks is likely to continue.”

The ChiNext index of smaller companies in Shenzhen traded at a record 131 times reported earn-ings last month — five times the

level of the Shanghai Composite Index — after tripling over the past year. The gauge had lost 33 per cent from its June 3 peak as of Friday, trimming this year’s gains to 77 per cent.“The market’s most acute concern is still these smaller cap stocks, as investors levered up to buy them and now margin lending curbs hit them the hardest,” Hong said. “With their valuation in the stratosphere, nobody is willing to step in and bolster these stocks.”

The brokers on Saturday pledged not to reduce any pro-prietary investments in the equity market as long as the Shanghai Composite Index stays below 4,500, the association said; it closed Friday at 3,686.92.

The group of 21 brokers said the fundamentals that had justified the stock market’s rally before the rout hadn’t changed. - Bloomberg News

S T O C K M A R K E T

NEW MEASURES: The move comes after measures to shore up equities failed to stop margin traders

from unwinding positions at a record pace, with the market losing more than $2.8 trillion of value in

three weeks. – Bloomberg News

B5S U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

ROUND-UPLove us on Facebook


New 2016 Infiniti Q70 now comes with attractive Ramadan benefits

MUSCAT: The recently unveiled Q70 sedan by Suhail Bahwan Au-tomobiles is packed with new ex-terior taking the performance of the sedan up another level.

The new 2016 Infiniti Q70 con-tinues to deliver evocative design, invigorating performance, inno-vative technology and superior craftsmanship.

Known to be a trusted name amongst niche clients, Infiniti Oman has always strived to be different and unique by offering unmatched services towards their clientele. Infiniti Oman introduc-es their most exclusive Ramadan scheme for their valued patrons,

offering top notch service and packages making it one of the most admired and desirable brand of ve-hicles, says a press release.

Scheme highlights: -

chasing the InfinitiQ70 during the Ramadan promotions are eligible for the following three gift items

1. Window film 2. Body paint protection 3. Assured high value gift

-ers purchasing Infiniti Q70 will get assured cash gift of OMR1,000. The cash gift amount can be used as part of down payment.

-chasing Infiniti Q70 during the scheme period will get free peri-odic vehicle maintenance of five years or 100,000km (whichever is earlier); this offer excludes battery and wear and tear components.

Further benefits include free 1st year vehicle registration, six years/ unlimited mileage warran-ty, free 1st year vehicle insurance (for Oman and UAE) and free AAA / Road Assistance card for the 1st year only and as supported by AAA Oman and UAE.

The Q70 is launched with the excellence and luxury grade that features the premium body design. As an added alternative, the sport grade is available with the sport body design. The sport body design features a specially designed front bumper that gives an even lower and wider stance.

The trapezoidal bumper intake and apron shape inspired from race car splitters give an athletic presence and bold impression. Black painted turn and fog finish-ers as well as the rear bumper fin-ished in high-gloss black paint re-inforce the sporty appearance.

Dramatic designThe refined elegance of the Q70 takes on a new dramatic design which gives the premium sedan an even more upscale image. Its flow-ing, emotional lines evoke premi-um sleekness. Infiniti’s signature LED headlights imply inner intel-ligence and human insight, leaving an unforgettable impression. The distinctive design accentuates the new double arch grille, which now takes on a more three-dimensional look due to the elaborate detail of the high-quality waved mesh fin-ish and chrome surround.

At the rear, the new design of the tail lights creates a horizontal flow in motion while the high-quality lighting signature evokes a fresh and classy image. The top line of the trunk lid has been flattened while the rear bumper has been slimmed down to create a longer and lower visual impression, fur-ther emphasising the luxury se-dan’s sporty and powerful styling.

Reflecting the sensuous lines of the exterior, the new Infiniti Q70 continues to serve up a well-appointed and inviting interior with high-quality materials such as handcrafted wood accents and custom leather appointments, meticulous craftsmanship and at-tention to detail, as well as user-centred technologies. Important controls and switches are so intui-tively located that the driver does

not have to change driving posture to access them.

The instrument panel consists of Fine Vision gauges and a 7-inch full colour vehicle information display, while the driver and front passenger’s seats are leather and feature 10-way power adjustment, including 2-way lumbar support.

in-car atmosphere, the Active

cabin noise levels and generates “cancelling” sound from four door speakers to reduce noise, so it’s easier to hold conversations in the car or to better enjoy the music. Premium audio systems include the Bose Studio Surround sound system with digital 5.1-channel decoding and 16 speakers, two of which are mounted in the shoul-ders of each front seat.

Promising performance, the new Q70 is equipped with the 3.7-litre V6 engine, rated at 329 hp @ 7,000 rpm and 363 Nm of torque. The refined aluminium-

equipped with Variable Valve Event & Lift (VVEL) that com-bines hydraulic-controlled vari-able valve timing and electroni-cally controlled variable valve lift on the intake side to help improve performance and response. Also available is the 5.6-litre V8 engine

and 550 Nm of torque.

The new Infiniti Q70, also comes equipped with the latest in safety advancements that help drivers avoid a collision and further help protect the vehicle occupants if one occurs.

The Q70 offers a segment first -

sion Warning, that anticipates the speed and distance of two vehicles in front to ensure that in the event of an emergency, the vehicle comes to a safe stop. Other safety features such as Intelligent

of driving so the driver can ar-rive at his destination relaxed. Yet another first for this seg-ment is the innovative Around View Monitor system shows a birds-eye view of the vehicle in relation to parking lines, creating a 360-degree surrounding view.

SBA commitment SBA is largely committed to sup-porting Infiniti Oman’s growth in the Sultanate through major emphasis on customer satisfac-tion and by providing world-class after-sales services in Oman.

With a national network of more -

tres and parts outlets, SBA has fur-ther built upon its legacy of trust, excellent customer service and providing value for money to each of its customers.

The new 2016 Infiniti

Q70 continues to

deliver evocative

design, invigorating

performance,

innovative technology

and superior

craftsmanship

NDC summer promo receives great responseMUSCAT: National Detergent

-whelming response for its summer promotion ‘Bahar - 60 Days! 60 Winners’ that offered customers a roster of prizes.

companies in Oman, gave away fabulous prizes like three iPhone

-

(20 nos) to 63 lucky winners over two months, says a press release.

Along with mega and grand raffle prizes, there were 20,000 scratch and win prizes too.

As an added attraction, 100 win-ners received a tablet each for col-lecting combination of alphabets ‘BA+HA+R’ in the coupons.

products worth OMR3, consum-ers received a scratch and win card along with a raffle coupon. For pur-chase of OMR5 worth products, consumers got scratch and win card and a raffle coupon.

The first raffle draw took place on April 29 while the second one happened on June 8. The ‘Bahar - 60 Days! 60 Winners’ promotion was made available in Lulu Hy-

K. M. Trading.A. K. Shaji, head of Business

Development and Regional Sales,

for us as the campaign generated an overwhelming response from our customers. We have received impressive feedback from our trade partners which gave an indi-cation of the increase of sales dur-ing the promotion period.”

“Our regular promotions have been most successful of their kind

strives to deliver new and exciting offers that help our customers gain more value from their purchases,” he added.

providing the residents of Oman

with unmatchable promotions and offers that emphasise com-pany’s appreciation for its cus-tomers’ loyalty.

Anwar Sadath, commercial

“Lulu has been at the forefront of supporting Omani products like Bahar. We are glad that local man-

-wards its loyal consumers through such attractive promotions.”

include Bahar Fresh Blossom de-tergent powder, Bahar Enzymatic low foam detergent, Bahar Ultra Dish washing liquid, Bahar Fab-ric Softener, Bahar Abaya, Bahar

-septic, No.1 detergent powder, No.1 action plus dish washing liq-uid, No.1 Abaya, No.1 disinfectant, Dzire Ultra premium soaps and Luv luxury soap.

-ported and approved by Public Es-tablishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE). Through its Origin Oman campaign, PEIE promotes prod-ucts manufactured in the Sultan-ate. The campaign creates aware-ness and increases the visibility of Omani products while encour-aging residents to buy Omani and avail of the quality services avail-able in the country.

‘ B A H A R - 6 0 D A Y S ! 6 0 W I N N E R S ’

McDonald’s ‘Spread

Kindness’ campaign

fosters love for reading

MUSCAT: McDonald’s Oman’s ‘Spread Kindness’ campaign during the holy month of Rama-dan is reaching out to children at Dar Al Hanan, fostering a life-long love of reading amongst children and promoting valuable lessons that reflect the virtues of the holy month.

Under the same campaign, McDonald’s Oman is giving away

books highlighting values such as family, friendship, honesty, gen-erosity and understanding which aim to inspire children to do sim-ple acts of kindness in everyday life, says a press release.

McDonald’s team demonstrat-ed simple act of kindness at Dar Al Hanan, reading McDonald’s Ramadan books and distribut-ing toys to children. McDonald’s Birdie character was present to provide kids with fun and memo-rable experience.

Dar Al Hanan is a place that serves as a temporary home for children undergoing outpatient treatment for cancer from out-

side Muscat governorate, and shelter for their families.

It is an initiative of the Oman

Ali K. Daud, Development Licensee and President of Mc-

-Donald’s ‘Spread Kindness’ cam-paign, we are encouraging the love of reading amongst children; engage their imaginations and spark an enduring love of reading and learning, thereby promoting the value and essence of story-telling and literature; at the same time instilling positive values.”

Ramadan charity books

carefully developed to reflect the values of the holy month, and re-inforce one common theme — do-ing the right thing.

Each of the stories focuses on a scenario that children will find familiar. Each book ends with a life lesson from the story, which parents and children can dis-cuss together.

I N S T I L S P O S I T I V E V A L U E

AHLIBANK RAMADAN CAMPAIGNMohammed Al Kindi, branch manager of ahlibank Ibra

branch, presents a cheque to an official (left) from Omani

Association for Elderly Friends, Ibra as part of the bank’s

annual Ramadan campaign. — Supplied photo

MEDC takes electricity conservation campaign to Seeb

MUSCAT: Muscat Electricity

its electricity conservation cam-paign with the cooperation of Al

-paign focuses on many different activities which aim to educate Seeb residents on the importance of electricity conservation, says a press release.

“This is the third campaign in the Seeb wilayat which falls under the sustainability project of the company. We held these

campaigns after seeing our previ-ous successes in the wilayats of Amerat and Quraiyat in previous years,” stated Eng. Said Abdullah Al Batashi, campaign supervisor

He also added that campaigns similar to this will continue in the rest of the Muscat regions in the coming years, with the organisa-tion of the wali’s offices and vol-unteering groups.

on families with limited income through providing a technical team to do service maintenance on their air conditioning units as well as educating them on the importance of electricity conser-

-

tioning units and the campaign aims to reach 600 more units, benefiting 200 families in the Seeb district. Our sincere thanks to the Wali of the Seeb wilayat and

support and efforts to make this campaign successful, we hope to complete this campaign before the end of Ramadan and the win-ner of the campaign electricity conservation competition will be decided through a comparison of electricity usage of this year with the same period of last year."

S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y P R O J E C T

B6 S U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

ROUND-UPAudi Oman reaches out to HCT students

MUSCAT: Audi Oman’s market-ing manager Faisal Nawaz re-cently briefed over 100 students of Business Studies Department at the Higher College of Technol-ogy (HCT) on marketing strategies and trends.

The dialogue is part of a series of guest lectures that has been organised by the college’s SAMA (Student Association of Marketing Activities) Hub. Audi Oman is rep-resented in the region by Wattayah Motors. The lecture provided the opportunity for direct interaction between a top automotive mar-keting executive and the nation’s future marketing experts who study at the popular college, says

a press release.Throughout the lecture Nawaz

provided details on how the mar-keting staff at Audi stays focused on upholding brand principles while innovating at the same time. Furthermore he spoke to the stu-dents at length about current mar-keting strategies and trends.

Finally, he shared the secrets to Audi’s success of remaining inspired while integrating itself into company development, pro-duction, sales and marketing, and quality control processes. Direct interaction with the students took place via an open Q&A session.

“The Business Studies Depart-ment offers a wide variety of social

and professional marketing oppor-tunities for students. It helps the students to educate themselves about a broad range of marketing issues, and apply their marketing skills in the corporate world.

“This fits perfectly with Audi Oman’s strategy of reaching out to youngsters in the Sultanate, who will not only be our future custom-ers, but also perhaps our future employees,” says Nawaz.

A seasoned marketing special-ist, Faisal has worked in the auto-motive business for over 10 years and is responsible for Audi Oman’s management of marketing, adver-tising and promotional activities at Wattayah Motors.

Audi Oman’s

staff delivered

a lecture to the

students at the

Higher College

of Technology’s

Business Studies

Department

United Airways appoints Travel Point as its GSAMUSCAT: United Airways (BD) Ltd, the private airline of Bangla-desh, recently appointed Travel Point, Oman’s largest travel and hospitality company, as its Gen-eral Sales Agent (GSA) in Oman, says a press release.

Two flights weeklyUnited Airways (BD) which op-erates from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport will have a frequency of two flights a week on Monday and Wednesday to Dhaka, effective July 8.

The airline will soon be launch-ing the operations of daily flights for the Muscat-Bangladesh sec-tor. The airline currently offers convenient connections to Kolk-ata, Kanthmandu, Jeddah, Bang-kok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Doha, with Dubai operations commencing shortly.

Convenient travel optionsCommenting on the occasion, Sunil Prabhakar, CEO, Travel Point said, “With the GSA rep-resentation of United Airways (BD) Ltd in Oman, we will be able to offer our customers very com-petitive and convenient travel options to its destinations, espe-cially between Muscat and Dha-ka, Chittagong and Sylhet.

“We will strive towards en-hancing the convenience and the travel experience of the large sec-tor of passengers for the Bangla-deshi community residing here in Muscat.”

Fruitful partnershipTalking about the partnership between Travel Point and United Airways (BD) Ltd, Capt. Tasbi-rul Ahmed Choudhury, founder chairman and managing director, said: “Travel Point has a huge net-work across Oman with strong distribution potential, and we look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with the company.

“United Airways (BD) Ltd con-tinues to set service standard benchmarks in terms of safety, quality and customer service with an aim to offer convenience to customers with regard to des-tinations, flight schedules, in-flight service at modest fares.”

With new aircraft joining the fleet, United Airways (BD) Ltd will be announcing the rapid ex-pansion of its network to various international destinations in the coming months.

“We anticipate a significant growth in the migrant traffic from Oman to our entire network this year,” added Capt. Choudhury.

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

Buy and win at Al Hashar ElectronicsMUSCAT: To coincide with the festive mood during the holy month of Ramadan, Al Hashar Electronics Group offers excit-ing deals to customers for various electronic items.

It is not only a season for height-ened reflection, worship and com-passion, but it evinces a higher demand for household electronics items as well. Al Hashar Electron-ics has announced Ramadan pro-motion till July 17 at all its show-rooms in the Sultanate.

Attractive pricesThe products offered at unbeliev-ably attractive prices are from world renowned brands like Rin-nai, Ariston, Mitsubishi, Voltas, Finlux, Desertcool, Ferre, Master-gas, Daytek, etc. Different ranges of home appliances viz. cookers, built-in kitchen, LED television, refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, microwaves are available, says a press release.

The main attraction of the pro-

motion sale is that customers will get a raffle coupon when they pur-chase products worth OMR50.

Soon after the close of promo-tion sale, a bumper draw will be held on July 27. Two lucky win-ners of the draw will get LED TVs of 65 and 50 inches.

“Our Ramadan promotional of-fers have proved to be extremely successful in the past and this year no different,” said Rajeev Sharma, general manager, Al Hashar Elec-tronics Group. He also said that the customers who aspire to own

indispensable household items of good quality will be excited while visiting the showrooms.

The prime objective of Al Hashar Electronics in conduct-ing the Ramadan promotion is to offer their long standing patrons as well as to the people of Oman very special discount during the holy month.

A very attractive package deal on built-in appliances is also be-ing offered as part of the promo-tion. Installation of all built-in kitchen appliances is completely

free during the promotional pe-riod. It helps the customers make saving of substantial amount once the purchase of those items is made.

One of the customers present at the showroom mentioned that he arrived with his family to pick up a few items and enjoy the promo-tion benefits. He said, “I will tell my friends and family to visit the showroom and acquire those prod-ucts which are good and its prices are unbelievable.”

Discerning the feelings and de-mand of the existing and poten-tial customers, Al Hashar Elec-tronics has undertaken the task of opening new showrooms es-pecially at vantage points across the length and breadth of the Sul-tanate. These showrooms serve as a platform to showcase all the household appliances needed for a family. According to its general manager, opening of new show-rooms across the country is on the anvil.

R A M A D A N P R O M O T I O N

The main attraction of the promotion sale is that

customers will get a raffle coupon when they purchase

products worth OMR50. Soon after the close of

promotion sale, a bumper draw will be held on July 27

Bank Sohar sponsors

collective graduation

ceremony of schools

MUSCAT: As part of its objec-tives to further encourage and promote the importance of educa-tion within the country, Bank So-har recently sponsored a special collective graduation ceremony for 189 students from 44 schools in the Al Dakhiliyah region.

The graduation ceremony was held recently at the College of Applied Sciences in Nizwa under the auspices of Sheikh Hamed bin Salim bin Said Al Aghbari, wali of Nizwa. The cer-emony witnessed the graduation of 189 students from 30 govern-ment schools and 14 private schools, says a press release.

Representing Bank Sohar at the event were Haider Mohd Ab-dullah, senior chief manager, Re-tail Sales & Distribution, Juma Masood Al Dawoudi, senior branch manager of Nizwa Branch, in addition to Bank Sohar’s Direct Sales Team Nizwa Branch staff.

Commenting on the bank’s sponsorship of the graduation ceremony, Munira Abdulnabi Macki, DGM of Human Re-sources and Corporate Support at Bank Sohar said, “Bank Sohar has always been a strong sup-porter of educational growth in the Sultanate.

Our participation in events such as these stems from our belief in the vital role educa-

tion plays in the development of the youth as well as the coun-try, together with our desire to support excellence in all fields within the Sultanate.”

The graduation ceremony was inaugurated by a welcoming speech, followed by the National Anthem and a recitation from the Holy Quran. Shortly after, school students played a special welcome song followed by a poetry recital. The chief guest then presented each of graduates with their di-plomas. The event concluded with Bank Sohar being honoured for its support of the event.

“We are proud to support this very special occasion and on be-half of Bank Sohar, I would like to congratulate each and every one of the graduates and wish them the best of luck in all their future endeavours,” added Munira.

Being sponsors of the event, Bank Sohar participated as well by setting up a stand to showcase its ‘Ahaln Mualimi’ 2015 cam-paign. The campaign offers re-duced interest rates of as low as 4 per cent on personal and housing loans for employees of the Min-istry of Education. In addition, customers of this scheme will also be presented with an instant guaranteed special ‘Golden Box’ full of valuable gifts as a token of appreciation from the bank.

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

City Centres embrace

spirit of Ramadan with

month-long activities

MUSCAT: Majid Al Futtaim’s shopping malls in Oman - City Centre Muscat and City Cen-tre Qurum will be opening their doors to shoppers continuously from 10am until 1am encourag-ing visitors to enjoy a wide range of Ramadan activities this year. Shoppers will be welcomed by coffee and dates every day from Iftar, as well as getting the chance to win fantastic prizes throughout the month, says a press release.

In the true essence of Rama-dan, mall visitors step into an at-mosphere of beautifully themed traditional décor throughout the mall. Highlighting the value of giving and cultivating fam-ily togetherness during the holy month, the malls will provide a range of family-friendly ac-tivities for people of all ages and backgrounds. With live radio shows, Anasheed, Qaranqashow and Eid activities on offer, visi-tors will feel immersed in the welcoming ambience.

Husam Al Mandhari, senior mall manager of City Centre Muscat, said, “We relish the holy month for focusing on spiritu-ality and family time. Embrac-ing the spirit of Ramadan, we continue our efforts to creating great moments for everyone, everyday by dedicating all our mall activities for families to re-connect and spend quality time with loved ones.”

Ladies can enjoy different Henna designs, complimentary for guests during the last week of Ramadan, while children can take part in the Qaranqashow festivities on the 14th day of Ramadan in both City Centre Muscat and City Centre Qurum. The event allows the kids to hunt for sweets and candies. ‘Areej’ Band will perform Anasheed (re-ligious songs) live in City Centre Muscat on Fridays.

Majid Al Futtaim’s shopping malls intend to keep the spirit of solidarity and compassion during this time with the annual char-ity initiative, ‘Make a Difference

this Ramadan.’ City Centre Mus-cat and City Centre Qurum are spearheading the largest group effort in the Sultanate by encour-aging the community to carry out a good deed, by donating non-perishable goods such as clothes, books and glasses. This initiative exemplifies the core spirit of the most important and reflective time in the Islamic calendar.

“The annual charity drive helps us understand the condi-tions of those who are less fortu-nate and strengthens our mission to mobilise public support to of-fer assistance to the community. Each donation is significant and we thank our mall shoppers and retailers for supporting such an important cause,” Watfa Humaid Al Harthy, Senior Mall Manager of City Centre Qurum, said of the initiative. “We are also hosting Ramadan and Eid festivities and we look forward to celebrating the holy month with you.”

In addition, City Centre malls will be hosting ‘Hala Ramadan’ show reporting live every day from 10pm-1am. During the shows, your favourite presenters along with guests, artists and ce-lebrities carry out interviews and listeners get to call in to answer questions about Ramadan for a chance to win valuable prizes.

Further embracing the spirit of giving for the holy month, lucky shoppers will have a chance to win three brand new Jeep Wran-glers during Eid. City Centre malls will be giving away three cars for the ‘Eidiyati’ campaign. To participate, visitors can sim-ply spend OMR30 or more, in shopping, dining or entertain-ment during Ramadan, at City Centre Muscat or City Centre Qurum and redeem their receipts from the same day at customer service desks to enter the lucky raffle draw.

The City Centre malls are open from 10am to 1am throughout Ramadan, and offer a wide range of Arabic and international din-ing options for Iftar or Sohour.

S P E C I A L T I M E O F T H E Y E A R

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Feature-packed Pathfinder now comes with irresistible benefits

MUSCAT: The Nissan Pathfind-er 3.5L from the house of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles offers a full complement of technology and features that offer auto enthusiasts a perfect combination of perfect off-road capability (i-Auto 4WD system), dynamic design, class-leading comfort, a rewarding driv-ing experience and unmatched in-terior comfort for a perfect family drive, says a press release.

Benefit highlights

gifts): Customers buying the Nis-san Pathfinder 3.5L will receive a ‘Scratch & Win’ card which will entitle them to two assured gifts comprising of Free service up to Lifetime of the car (minimum as-sured 1 year/ 10,000 km PMS) and Free fuel up to OMR1,000/- (mini-mum assured of OMR50/-

also walk away with assured cash gifts up to OMR1,000/- (minimum assured of OMR500/-)

assures customers free registra-tion, 6 years’ extended warranty, easy financing options, a loan term up to eight years and attrac-tive interest rates.

of 2015: This year Nissan has in-troduced another exciting line up of Ramadan benefit for their val-ued customers. Customers who already own a Nissan model and are making a second purchase will receive additional incentives from SBA where customers en-joy 10,000 kms additional service, they will receive special interest privilege card and also be eligible for any trade-in benefits.

from RO 190/- on the Nissan Path-finder 3.5L

draw prize

Nissan is being held in associa-tion with Al Wisal and Merge FM where participants can enter the draw to win a sleek Nissan Altima (2 vehicles to be won); just SMS <Nissan Altima> to 90448. The lucky winner can walk away with a brand new Nissan Altima.

Easy financing options SBA designed the Ramadan scheme to add to the pleasure and convenience of owning a Nis-san model and ensure hassle and worry-free driving at all times. Ni-ssan customers can also avail easy financing option of a loan term up to 8 years with attractive interest rates from Bank Muscat. Flexible

any individual requirement from in-house Auto Finance team.

Cross-over for the family The Nissan Pathfinder has trans-formed into a much more family-friendly vehicle, with a roomy, modern interior, and handling characteristics and impressive

power. The Pathfinder is no long-er the choice for those who need to venture off-road only. With the introduction of the all-new fourth generation, not only does Path-finder provide capability with spa-cious seating for seven, and an in-tuitive 4 Wheel Drive System, but it also resets the standard for the segment with an unprecedented level of premium style, comfort, fuel economy and offer a comfort-able experience for families.

Dynamic designAlong with reduced weight, Pathfinder’s new unibody plat-form provided the designers an opportunity to create the more

aerodynamic exterior without compromising headroom or cargo capacity. Moving upscale in ap-pearance, the new exterior styl-ing presents a smart fusion of signature Nissan styling cues and dynamic strength. The look is adventure-ready with wheel-oriented muscular fenders and a strong, stable stance. The upper body features an open cabin with large windows which can be com-plemented with an available Dual Panoramic Moonroof, to enhance the new Pathfinder’s open, airy interior environment.

Class-leading comfort The new Pathfinder offers the comfort of a larger SUV with its flat floor enhancing interior pack-aging flexibility. The Pathfinder’s unique versatility is exemplified in

System, giving 5.5 inches of sliding second row seating travel while additionally providing exceptional third row access even with a child safety seat remaining securely in

place (on the passenger curb side). Pathfinder’s quiet, comfortable in-terior benefits from a wide range of available features, rich leather-appointed seating surfaces; ven-tilated, heated and cooled front seats; sliding second row seats and an advanced Bose Audio System with 6 speakers.

Safety features Standard safety features on the Nissan Pathfinder 3.5L include antilock disc brakes, stability and traction control, front-seat side airbags and full-length side curtain airbags that cover all three rows of seats. Rear parking sensors and a rear view camera are standard on all. The vehicle also features a blind-spot warning system and rear cross-traffic alert, while up-per grades come with a more deluxe surround-view camera system.

Thoughtful technologyThoughtful technology is also found throughout the Pathfinder interior, starting with Nissan’s advanced, class-exclusive Around Vie Monitor, which provides the driver a virtual 360-degree im-age of the area around the vehicle. The instrument panel includes Advanced Drive-Assist Display (standard on every model), fea-tures a 7.0-inch LCD colour dis-play, and utilises 3D-effect graph-ics to relay key information right in front of the driver. The instru-ment panel includes a large mul-

-able Nissan Navigation System, Streaming Audio via Bluetooth and Rear View Monitor.

Other technology includes

Control,Hill Descent control, auto

head restraint-mounted DVD dis-play screens.

Rewarding experienceAddressing buyers’ desire for more efficiency in every aspect of their lives, the Pathfinder’s engine and CVT combination develops 13% better acceleration than the pre-vious generation while returning 30% better fuel efficiency. Featur-ing a 3.5-litre DOHC V6 engine mated to a next-generation Xtron-ic CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) the ideal rpm for the driving conditions are always maintained. All-New Pathfinder is the only vehicle in class with selectable 2WD, Auto or 4WD Lock modes for its available in-

The system lets the driver choose full-time 2WD for maximum fuel economy, Auto mode to automati-cally monitor conditions and ad-just the balance of power between front and rear wheels for best trac-tion, or 4WD Lock mode when the confidence of full-time 4WD

Hill Start Assist helps add control when starting and driving away on a steep incline (both 4WD and 2WD models).

SBA is largely committed to supporting Nissan’s growth in the Sultanate through major emphasis on customer satisfaction and by providing world-class after-sales services in Oman. With a national network of more than 19 show-rooms, 22 Service centres and 35 Spare Parts outlets, SBA has fur-ther built upon its legacy of trust, excellent customer service and providing value for money to each of its customers.

The Nissan

Pathfinder has

transformed into a

much more family-

friendly vehicle, with

a roomy, modern

interior, and handling

characteristics and

impressive power

JOYALUKKAS PROMOTION WINNERSJoyalukkas officials distributed gold gifts to the winners of its first set of the ongoing ‘Joyalukkas Drive Your Dream’ promotion.

— Supplied photos

ahlibank lists daily winners of OMR1,000MUSCAT: ahlibank has an-nounced the names of the My-Hassad daily prize draw winners.

Khalfan Mohammed Nasser Al Kindi from Nizwa branch, Said

branch, Abdullah Nasser Ali Al Araimi from Sur branch, Ahmed Abdulla Salim Al Balushi from

branch were the lucky winners of OMR1,000 each for the week,

says a press release.MyHassad savings account

continues to successfully satisfy the existing customers and at-tract new ones. MyHassad Saving Scheme was introduced in July 2008 as an extension of the bank’s tradition of product innovation. Opening MyHassad Saving ac-count is simple and easy. Custom-ers need only to open their My-Hassad account with OMR100 for their chance to win OMR1,000

in the next working day’s draw hence their chance to “open today and win tomorrow” continues. Further enhancements in March 2009 allows customers to partici-pate in the OMR10,000 monthly draw, by maintaining a minimum OMR250 during the month.

Customers can also transfer their salaries to MyHassad saving account and will be eligible to en-ter in the daily, monthly draw as per the balance maintained.

M Y H A S S A D S A V I N G S C H E M E

Ramadan exclusives at

Second Cup, Breadtalk

MUSCAT: -

a string of delectable exclusives at Second Cup and BreadTalk branches to share the joys of the blessed month of Ramadan

BreadTalk will be providing cus-tomers with a variety of elegantly designed goods, ranging from sweet to savoury treats, says a press release.

“Ramadan is a time when peo-ple come together, uniting fami-lies and local communities. At

determined to share the delights of this special season with our customers by catering to their wants through an exclusive as-

Fitr goods,” said Jannat Moosa, marketing director at Bin Mirza.

“Our baked treats are perfect for visiting family and friends and just enough to indulge. Share

savour our assortment of tradi-tional delicacies.”

Second Cup branches in Oman will provide customers 3 mini treats which include Financier, Date Madeleine and Madeleine with a choice between Turkish coffee or regular brewed coffee.

BreadTalk customers can en-joy a combination of Coffee ga-nache and brioche, Cream cheese and Date brioche, Chicken nug-get croissant, in addition to Olive quiche, Chicken sausage quiche,

-chini pizza bites, and Beef shuwa.

S H A R I N G T H E D E L I G H T

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Buying a Ford now offers a chance to win 4 EcoSports

MUSCAT: If you have been wait-ing for the right opportunity to own a Ford with exciting offers, then this is the right time to make the most of it.

Arabian Car Marketing Com-pany (ACM), the dealers of Ford in Oman, have announced their Ramadan offer set to attract a number of enthusiasts looking to drive away with more than just their favourite Ford. Ford’s Ram-adan offer is designed to make every new Ford buyer cherish this season for a long time to come, says a press release.

To begin with there will be a cash gift of up to OMR1000, up to five years/100,000km free ser-vice, free insurance, OMR25 gift voucher from Lulu and the best of all 4 grand raffles — A Ford EcoS-port Ambiente Plus.

“This Ramadan, Ford is looking forward to enhancing the owner-ship experience of customers. For long now Ford Motor Company has remained synonymous with attractive designs, advanced tech-

nology and world-class safety. We wish to take this to a whole new level with benefits that custom-ers can make the most of,” said a spokesperson from ACM.

Ford Motor Company has in its range some of the most sought-after and well-awarded vehicles in the world. These include cars like Focus, Fusion, Taurus and Mustang, while the EcoSport, Es-cape, Edge, Explorer, Expedition, Ranger and F-150 complete the SUV range.

Based on Ford’s global C-platform, the Focus features an international design pedigree and introduces numerous class-exclusive technologies, including a host of premium-level comfort, convenience and safety touches. This Ramadan, the Ford Focus will be available with 3 years /

60,000 kms free service, free in-surance (14MY), gift voucher and raffle coupon.

The Fusion’s sleek, European-inspired design and a wide choice of powertrain options make the Fusion an attractive choice in a fiercely competitive segment. The Ford Fusion will be avail-able with 3 years/60,000km free service (14&15my), free insur-ance (14&15my), gift voucher and raffle coupon.

The Ford Taurus delivers more of what large sedan customers really want with even better fuel econo-my, more technology, design refine-ment, improved craftsmanship and enhanced driving dynamics. The Taurus will be available with three years/60,000km free service, gift voucher and raffle coupon.

The Mustang has progressed to

become one of the most desired brands giving its fans enough rea-sons to be numbered among the admirers fond of everything that’s much more than the usual.

The Ford Mustang will be avail-able with a gift voucher and a raf-fle coupon.

The EcoSport is a contem-porary design aerodynamically honed for fuel economy.

It is packed with smart tech-nologies, features and crafts-manship that offer customers more than they would expect in this segment. The Ford EcoS-port will be available with three years/60,000km free service, free insurance (14my), gift voucher and raffle coupon.

The Escape features more cargo space clever technologies like the hands-free liftgate and

active park assist, as well as the SYNC with MyFord Touch con-nectivity system. The Ford Es-cape will be available with three years/60,000km free service, gift voucher and raffle coupon.

The Ford Edge is a midsize crossover SUV that features a modern-looking interior. It is equipped with standard 3.5-litre V6 that produces 285 horsepower and 253 pound-feet of torque. The Ford Edge will be available with five years/1,00,000km free service, gift voucher and raffle coupon.

Sharing its car-based platform with the Taurus sedan, the Ford Explorer is attuned to and exceeds what today’s large SUV shoppers desire. It drives well, returns good fuel economy and retains the versatility that it is known for. The Explorer will be available with three years/60,000km free service (15my), gift voucher and raffle coupon.

The Expedition is the most powerful and fuel-efficient Ex-pedition yet, offering customers a full-size utility vehicle with a stylish design and fresh interiors across a diverse line-up that in-cludes Platinum trim level. The Ford Expedition will be available with 3 years/60,000 kms free ser-vice, free insurance (14my), gift voucher, raffle coupon.

Ford vehicles are known the world over for their exceptional safety, luxury and unsurpassed technological superiority.

Ford ploughs in millions of dol-lars into R&D each year to ensure that every Ford offers maximum safety and motoring pleasure for its customers.

Ford’s Ramadan

offer is designed to

make every new Ford

buyer cherish this

season for a long

time to come

Filipino Social Club election postponed to July 17MUSCAT: The election of the new Board of Directors of the Fili-pino Community Social Club (Fil-cosoc), which was scheduled to take place on July 11, has been re-scheduled on July 17 due to some technical reasons.

Moreover, due to some work-related reasons, Flrention Rhen Cruz is no longer part of the Comelec and is replaced by in-cumbent BOD Harold Vibal, says a press release.

Deadline extendedThe deadline for the submission of the certificate of candidacy (CoC) is extended until July 10. All in-terested members of the Filcosoc who have the calling to serve the community are enjoined to submit their CoC not later than July 10.

Consequently, the Miting de Avance is moved to July 16 and the Election will now take place on July 17.

Guidelines“The guidelines for the election are posted in the Filcosoc Face-book page as well as the certificate of candidacy. All the date adjust-ments had been earlier posted in the Filcosoc FB page. The venues of the Miting De Avance and elec-tion will be announced later,” said a Club official.

Community service“Again, we invite all the interested Filcosoc members who would like to level-up their community service to come forward and be the next members of the Filcosoc Board,” he added.

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

MCBS offers Master in Islamic Banking and Finance

MUSCAT: In a pioneering move Modern College of Business and Science (MCBS) is all set to launch the Sultanate’s first ever Master programme in Is-lamic Banking and Finance in November this year.

The programme is designed to offer course participants a thor-ough understanding of rules and the teachings of Islam finance related to economics, apart from general banking and finance con-cepts, says a press release.

“The programme has been de-signed to cater for finance and banking sector which is now offering Islamic compliant ser-vices which necessitates a sound understanding of the finance Is-lamic based financial proceedings and modern financial transac-tions and instruments. Graduates will be adept at interacting with the global financial system and at proposing viable alternatives to existing models and approaches,” said one of senior faculty, at the

Department of Business and Eco-nomics at Modern College.

The Master Degree in Islamic Banking and Finance will be en-dorsed by a leading university from Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur —Man-agement and Science University (MSU), which also supported Mod-ern College in designing the course curriculum. Experts from MSU will remain as the main academic partners of the programme and to-gether with experts from this insti-tution will also provide support.

A C A D E M I C S

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DU PLESSIS WELCOMES NEW NO-BALL RULESouth Africa’s T20 captain Faf du Plessis welcomed the new cricket rule which allows free hits after all kinds of no-balls in limited-over games. The new rule will come in effect on Sunday when South Africa play Bangladesh in the first T20 internationals. >C2

Defending champion Kvitova crashes out of WimbledonLONDON: Petra Kvitova’s reign as Wimbledon champion came to a shock end on Saturday as Jelena Jankovic staged a superb fightback to claim a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 third round victory. Kvitova’s exit marks the first time since 2009 that the two-time Wimbledon winner has failed to make at least the quarterfinals at the All England Club.

Jankovic looked down and out when she trailed by a set and was 4-2 down in the second against the Czech world number two. But the Serbian 28th seed mounted a gutsy recovery and will play for-mer Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska for a place in the quar-terfinals. “I’m overwhelmed. I’m so excited. My heart is still pumping,” Jankovic said. I cannot believe this just happened but this is what this

sport is all about.“After I won that second set I

knew I had it, I just had to keep going. In the last couple of years I played so poorly. But beating her gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the tournament. Now any-thing can happen.”

With second seeded Kvitova out, only four of the top 10 seeds are left in the women’s draw, providing a major boost to Serena Williams’ bid for a sixth Wimbledon title.

The 25-year-old could have no complaints after allowing the match to slip from her grasp with 21 unforced errors, compared to just 11 from Jankovic, who hit 24 winners against only 13 from Kvi-tova. It was a welcome return to prominence for Jankovic, who was poised to become the sport’s next

female powerhouse after rising to world number one in 2008 follow-ing a US Open final appearance.

That run came hot on the heels of last four berths in the Australian

and French Opens earlier in 2008.But those heady days were a

distant memory for the 30-year-old, who has plummeted down to 30th in the rankings after failing

to make the semifinals of a Grand Slam since 2010, and losing in the first rounds of the Australian and French Opens this year.

Over the last five years, Kvitova had won the title twice, in 2014 and 2011, while also reaching the 2010 semi-finals and twice mak-ing the last eight. Kvitova had only dropped three games in her first two matches — quick-fire wins which took a total of just 93 min-utes to complete — and the Czech didn’t take long to reassert her su-periority on Centre Court.

She broke in the fourth game of the match and, unloading some booming serves, eased through the set in a businesslike 29 minutes.

When the Czech broke to love in the third game of the second set, she looked set up wrap up another

quick-fire win as she moved 4-2 ahead. But Kvitova’s focused ap-proach completely disappeared at that point and Jankovic recovered to level at 4-4. Spraying unforced errors wildly wide and long, Kvito-va started to gesticulate and grum-ble as her frustration grew.

Jankovic was taking full advan-tage of Kvitova’s collapse, cleverly moving her opponent around the court and tempting her into injudi-cious shots — such as the rushed forehand into the net that cost her the set at 5-6. Kvitova disappeared off court in a bid to regroup, leav-ing Jankovic waiting for nearly 10 minutes before returning.

But the break did her little good and Jankovic kept up the pressure before securing the decisive break for a famous win in the 10th game. - AFP

T E N N I S

DISAPPOINTED: Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova reacts after losing

to Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic. – AFP

Federer gets past Groth, Brown falls

LONDON: Seven-time cham-pion Roger Federer defeated big-serving Australian Sam Groth to reach the Wimbledon last 16 on Saturday while Dustin Brown, the conqueror of Rafael Nadal re-turned to earth with a bump.

Second seed Federer clinched a 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 victory over world number 69 Groth who fired a 147mph ace in the third game.

Federer will next face Spanish 20th seed Roberto Bautista Agut for a place in the quarterfinals.

“I am very happy. It has been a hot week the first week but thankfully I have had easy match-es going through without too many long four or five setters,” said Federer.

“Now we are looking ahead and there are only big matches.”

Dreadlocked German quali-fier Brown was unable to follow his triumph over Nadal when he slumped to a 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-3 defeat to Serbian 22nd seed Viktor Troicki.

Brown joins Lukas Rosol, Ste-ve Darcis and Nick Kyrgios who all lost their next match at Wim-bledon after knocking out Nadal over the last four years.

Troicki goes on to face either British wildcard James Ward or Canada’s Vasek Pospisil for a place in the quarter-finals.

It is the 29-year-old Serb’s first last-16 run at Wimbledon since 2012 and his best performance at a Grand Slam since returning from a 12-month drugs ban in July last year.

Brown came through qualify-ing at Wimbledon but defeat on Saturday meant a swift return to the daily grind.

“The schedule is to go to the air-port and take the earliest flight, because tomorrow morning, I have club matches in Cologne, Germany,” said the 30-year-old.

US Open champion Marin Cilic took just two games to see off John Isner on Saturday after returning to finish off their third

round match poised at 10-10 in the final set.

First timersCroatian Cilic, the ninth seed, beat the US 17th seed 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 12-10 on Court One in a match that lasted four hours and 31 minutes in total after it had been suspended late Friday due to bad light.

“I was playing yesterday really good and I was close to finishing it off. I think throughout all the match I was the one who was putting more pressure on the re-turns,” Cilic said after winning on a fifth match point having had a first match point in the 12th game of the decider on Friday.

Cilic sent down 35 aces to Is-ner’s 37 and next faces wildcard Denis Kudla, the last American man in the tournament, for a place in the quarter-finals.

Danish fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki reached the last 16 for the fourth time with a com-fortable 6-2, 6-2 win over Italy’s Camila Giorgi.

“I was very happy to win this one. I know that Camila is such a tricky opponent. She hits so hard. I was just trying to get every ball back. I was really pleased how I managed to keep my composure,” said Wozniacki.

The former world number one will face Spain’s Garbine Mugu-ruza after the 20th seed shocked 2012 semi-finalist Angelique Kerber 7-6 (14/12), 1-6, 6-2.

Muguruza, who made the French Open quarterfinals this year, saved nine set points in the opener on her way to a first ap-pearance in the second week at Wimbledon.

Romania’s Monica Niculescu also made the last 16 for the first time, beating Czech world num-ber 134 Kristyna Plískova 6-3, 7-5. She will face Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky who put out 2013 runner-up Sabine Lisicki 6-3, 6-2 to book a spot in the last 16 for the first time. - AFP

Dreadlocked German qualifier Brown was

unable to follow his triumph over Nadal

when he slumped to a 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 4-6,

6-3 defeat to Serbian 22nd seed Troicki

SMOOTH SAILING: Roger Federer was too good for the big-serv-

ing Sam Groth. – Reuters

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Woeful Pakistan hand Sri Lanka advantage

PALLEKELE: Pakistan’s brit-tle top-order undid the good work of leg-spinner Yasir Shah as Sri Lanka seized control of the series-deciding third and final Test in Pallekele on Saturday.

Having been bowled out for 278 in the first innings, Sri Lanka hit back to reduce Pakistan to 209-9 by stumps on the second day that saw 11 wickets fall on the evenly-paced pitch.

Nuwan Pradeep grabbed 3-26 in 14 steady overs and fellow seamer Dhammika Prasad chipped in an-other three wickets to cause a dra-matic Pakistani collapse.

Sarfraz Ahmed returned un-beaten on a gallant 72 and Azhar Ali made 52, but none of the other batsmen settled down to form a sizeable partnership.

Last man Imran Khan, who got to bat for the first time in five Test matches, kept Sarfraz company at

close on zero.Pakistan were struggling at 152-

7 when Yasir helped Sarfraz add 45 for the eighth wicket, himself con-tributing 18 with the bat to follow his impressive bowling.

Yasir claimed another five-wicket haul as Sri Lanka added six runs to their overnight score of 272-8 before they were dismissed within 20 minutes of the start.

Tharindu Kaushal was leg-before to left-arm seamer Rahat Ali for 18 and last man Pradeep fell in the same fashion to Yasir without scoring.

Yasir finished with 5-78, joining his idol Shane Warne as the only

overseas bowlers to claim five or more wickets in an innings three times during a Test series in Sri Lanka.

Yasir had taken 2-79 and 7-76 in the first Test in Galle to fashion Pakistan’s 10-wicket win. He then claimed 6-96 and 2-55 in the sec-ond match in Colombo which Sri Lanka won by seven wickets.

The 29-year-old, who hails from the Khyber region of northwest Pakistan, has already grabbed 59 wickets in a 10-Test career which began in October last year.

Pakistan lost both openers, Shan Masood and Ahmed Shehzad, by the score of 40 and star batsman

Younis Khan was run out off the last ball of the morning session to make it 45-3.

Younis (three) charged down for a sharp single after tapping a ball from Angelo Mathews to mid-wicket, but failed to make his ground at the non-striker’s end as Kaushal Silva threw down the stumps.

Azhar and Asad Shafiq repaired the early damage with a 46-run stand for the fourth wicket on either side of a 19-minute inter-ruption for rain early in the post-lunch session.

Shafiq fell in the second over after resumption for 15, playing back to a full-pitched delivery from Prasad and was given out leg-before.

Unremitting woe for PakistanA heavy downpour for the second time forced the umpires to call for an early tea, but Pakistan’s woes just refused to end as the next three wickets fell for 17 runs in five overs.

Azhar was on 49 and Pakistan still 158 runs behind when he was reprieved by TV umpire Sunda-ram Ravi after on-field official Paul Reiffel had declared him caught behind off Prasad.

But Azhar only managed to add another three runs when he edged a drive off Pradeep to be snapped up by Dimuth Karunaratne at second slip.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq, who came in to bat at number seven due to a mild groin strain, became Pradeep’s third scalp when he was given out leg-before after making six. - AFP

Having been bowled

out for 278 in the

first innings, Sri

Lanka hit back to

reduce Pakistan to

209-9 by stumps on

the second day that

saw 11 wickets fall

Sri Lanka 1st innings (overnight 272-8):D. Karunaratne st Sarfraz b Azhar 130K. Silva c Sarfraz b Rahat 9U. Tharanga c Younis b Yasir 46L. Thirimanne c sub (Azam) b Yasir 11A. Mathews c sub (Azam) b Yasir 3J. Mubarak st Sarfraz b Yasir 25D. Chandimal lbw b Rahat 24D. Prasad c Yasir b Azhar 0T. Kaushal lbw b Rahat 18S. Lakmal not out 6N. Pradeep lbw b Yasir 0Extras: (lb-3, w-3) 6Total (all out, 89.5 overs) 278Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Silva), 2-106 (Tharan-ga), 3-133 (Thirimanne), 4-137 (Mathews), 5-204 (Mubarak), 6-248 (Karunaratne), 7-248 (Prasad), 8-264 (Chandimal), 9-277 (Kaushal), 10-278 (Pradeep).Bowling: Rahat 21-4-74-3 (w1), Ehsan 14-3-37-0 (w1), Imran 16-3-51-0 (w1), Yasir 31.5-4-78-5, Azhar 7-0-35-2.Pakistan 1st innings:S. Masood lbw b Prasad 13

A. Shehzad c Chandimal b Pradeep 21A. Ali c Karunaratne b Pradeep 52Y. Khan run out 3A. Shafiq lbw b Prasad 15S. Ahmed not out 72Misbah lbw b Pradeep 6E. Adil lbw b Kaushal 0Y. Shah c Chandimal b Prasad 18R. Ali lbw b Kaushal 2I. Khan not out 0Extras: (lb-4, w-1, nb-2) 7Total (for nine wickets, 64 overs) 209Fall of wickets: 1-32 (Masood), 2-40 (She-hzad), 3-45 (Younis), 4-91 (Shafiq), 5-135 (Azhar), 6-151 (Misbah), 7-152 (Ehsan), 8-197 (Yasir), 9-202 (Rahat).Bowling: Prasad 19-1-78-3 (w1), Lakmal 14-1-64-0 (nb2), Pradeep 14-5-26-3, Mathews 4-1-3-0, Kaushal 13-1-34-2Toss: PakistanUmpires: Ian Gould (ENG) and Paul Reiffel (AUS)TV umpire: Sundaram Ravi (IND)Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)

S C O R E B O A R D

BAD RUNNING: Pakistan cricketer Younis Khan is run out during

the second day of the third and final Test match at the Pallekele

International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele. – AFP

Du Plessis welcomes new no-ball ruleDHAKA: South Africa’s Twen-ty20 captain Faf du Plessis on Sat-urday welcomed the new cricket rule which allows free hits after all kinds of no-balls in limited-over games. The new rule will come in effect on Sunday when South Africa play Bangladesh in the first of the two Twenty20 in-ternationals at Dhaka’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

Besides the no-ball rule, the In-ternational Cricket Council last month approved several changes in one-day and Twenty20 for-mats, including restrictions on batting powerplay and field placements. Only the free-hit rule will apply in the Twenty20 game. Previously a free-hit was given only after a no-ball that re-sulted from foot fault.

Du Plessis said the rule would discourage bowlers from throwing down beamers which he believed could change the games complete-ly in the crucial last overs.

“I think it’s a good rule,” Du Plessis said at a news conference in Dhaka on the eve of the game.

“Games (are) won and lost

when guys bowl beamers. Obvi-ously when that rules comes in, it will make a huge difference,” he said. Du Plessis said he was happy to kick off the Bangladesh tour with Twenty20 matches that mark the start of a long sea-

son for South Africa leading up to ICC World Twenty20 in India in March 2016.

Before the World Twenty20, the Proteas will host New Zealand and England followed by an away series in India. “It’s nice from a

captain’s point of view that the Twenty20 is more important this year,” said Du Plessis.

“Last year... the focus was on ODI cricket. It’s nice this year (that) all the big players are avail-able for the games.”

Du Plessis’s counterpart Mashrafe Mortaza said Bangla-desh was not thinking ahead too much but focusing on the chal-lenges at hand. “Frankly, we are not thinking about World Twen-ty20 yet, not at least before these two matches,” he said.

“There is plenty of time left for the (World T20) tournament. I don’t see any reason for us to think about World Twenty20 be-fore playing these matches.”

Mortaza said Bangladesh’s Twenty20 win over former world champions Pakistan in April had boosted the home side’s confi-dence. “We have got just one op-tion, which is to play them (South Africa) with confidence. If we fear them, better we stay at home,” he said. The second and final Twen-ty20 will be held on Tuesday at the same ground. - AFP

T W E N T Y 2 0 S E R I E S

STAGE SET: Bangladesh skipper Mustafizur Rahman and South

African captain Faf du Plessis hold the trophy during an unveiling

program at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. – AFP

C3


England bank on Bayliss to douse Aussie fire in fresh Ashes series

LONDON: A callow England team with a new coach take on a bullish and streetwise Australia in an in-triguing Ashes series which should provide plenty of drama and ag-gressive cricket.

Michael Clarke’s touring side will attempt to win the urn on English soil for the first time in 14 years and Alastair Cook’s hosts will try to win back the trophy fol-lowing their crushing 5-0 defeat in the last series Down Under.

Two years ago Australia went into the Ashes with a new coach in Darren Lehman and lost 3-0, but it was a victory margin which flat-tered England.

This time around the hosts will be led by Australian coach Tre-vor Bayliss who will aim to build on the feelgood factor generated by England’s impressive resur-gence in the recent one-day series against New Zealand.

Australia all-rounder Shane Watson believes having the 52-year-old Bayliss at the helm will give England an advantage.

“He knows a lot of us very well,” Watson said. “He’ll have these ide-as about how he can try to expose our team. The edge will be the in-side information he will have. But we know that if we are at our best we will be very hard to beat.”

England stagnated under former

coach Peter Moores, drawing a test series in West Indies this year be-fore being held by New Zealand on home soil under Paul Farbrace.

After two barren years Alastair Cook has rediscovered his bat-ting form but doubts remain about whether he has the captaincy acu-men to outwit the Australians.

“I’m not sure how much flair he has,” said former England captain Mike Brearley who masterminded three Ashes victories.

“It will be difficult for him if things don’t go well to start with — and if he doesn’t feel he’s got the same spirit that the team have had in the one-day matches re-cently, and if he doesn’t quite feel in charge. “Alastair Cook is not a big extrovert. He’s not somebody who is going to change things in dramatic ways.”

Significant advantageBrearley thinks Australia have

a significant advantage in their bowling attack spearheaded by Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Ryan Harris.

“Australia are a very tough team,” Brearley said. “On paper, they’re a better team than us. They’ve certainly got better bowl-ing than we have.

“But we’re playing at our home grounds, which makes a differ-ence. If we can get that spirit going, and people play to their best, then we’ve got a chance.”

England were lifted in the New Zealand series by positive and match-changing innings from their middle-order batsmen.

“One of the exciting things is the flair in the young players from number five to number eight -- Joe Root is a terrific player, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali,” Brear-ley said.

Cook will need major contribu-tions from his experienced open-

ing bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad and will be desperate for Gary Ballance and Ian Bell to rediscover their form at numbers three and four.

England could be tempted to play leg-spinner Adil Rashid in the first Test in Cardiff starting on Wednesday but it would be a gam-ble given the prolific form of the Australians.

Steve Smith is the top-ranked batsman in the world after a phe-nomenal run while David Warner, Chris Rogers, Clarke and Watson are proven run-scorers in English conditions.

The first Test usually proves to be pivotal. Two years ago England won a thrilling and fluctuating game in Nottingham by 14 runs and in 2009 the hosts’ last-wicket pair Anderson and Monty Panesar survived for 37 minutes in Cardiff to secure the draw which set up a 2-1 series win. - Reuters

Michael Clarke’s

touring side will

attempt to win the

urn on English soil

for the first time in

14 years and Alastair

Cook’s hosts will

try to win back the

trophy following their

crushing 5-0 defeat

in the last series

Down Under

BIG TASK: England coach Trevor Bayliss will have a big task to boost England’s confidence. – Reuters

LONDON: Alastair Cook faces his biggest ever chal-lenge as England captain when he leads his young team into this year’s home Ashes series against Australia.

His country’s highest Test run-scorer, back in the form which made him one of the world’s leading opening bats-men, Cook must try to feed on the positive vibes fuelled by a gripping contest against New Zealand in all forms of the game.

With a new-look team, short on experience but long on aggression and confidence, he takes on Michael Clarke’s ruthless Australia with the simple objective of winning back the famous urn.

Trevor Bayliss is the England coach charged with master-minding his native country’s downfall and Cook will need to gel quickly with the 52-year-old Australian to work out how to bring down Darren Lehmann’s ultra-efficient side.

At least Cook the batsman is back.

After nearly two years without an international century he made two in two tests against West Indies and New Zealand before moving past his friend and mentor Graham Gooch as England’s leading run-scorer in tests last month.

But Cook has personal baggage to deal with as well as leading an inexperienced team which includes only four other players with expe-rience of Ashes success.

He has struggled in the last two series against Australia, scoring only 523 runs in 10 matches. Not terrible statis-tics but without a century and averaging just over 26, a far cry from his overall test record which includes 27

hundreds at an average of nearly 47. For inspiration, he should think back to his finest hour on the 2010-11 Ashes tour when he scored an astonishing 766 runs in seven innings as England won a series in Australia for the first time in 24 years.

However, Cook’s captaincy will come under intense scrutiny.

A reputation as a conserva-tive leader will be hard to dispel but he must be brave and innovative to probe the weaknesses of an ageing Australian side.

Cook was outwitted by Brendon McCullum in the recent Test series against New Zealand which ended 1-1, though he can take inspi-ration from England one-day captain Eoin Morgan whose aggressive tactics brought about a thrilling 3-2 series win over the World Cup runners-up.

Morgan was captain cool -- cute and challenging.

If Cook can be skipper se-rene, sharp and streetwise, the Ashes could be reclaimed and his reputation as a fine leader as well as a master batsman will be assured. - Reuters

England’s captain Cook faces ultimate challenge

PICTURE FROM PAST: Captain Alastair Cook

kisses the urn when Eng-

land won the Ashes series

in 2013.

Clarke still fired by hunger for Ashes successSYDNEY: Michael Clarke could not have looked less like the “pup” of his nickname as he prepared to depart Australian shores for his seventh and final Ashes series.

It may have been the early hour of the May morning, the hangover from a summer battling with in-jury or the emotional scars from the death of Phillip Hughes but Clarke looked every day of his 34 years as he spoke to reporters at Sydney Airport.

He had taken a few weeks off after his team’s World Cup triumph and ahead of him was a two-Test tour of the Caribbean followed by the ul-timate challenge for an Australian cricketer, an Ashes series in England.

“Success, nothing’s changed there,” he said when asked what he was hoping for in the months ahead. In England, Clarke has the chance to become the first Aus-tralian captain to win an Ashes series on foreign soil since Steve Waugh in 2001.

Success, something his prede-cessor Ricky Ponting was unable to achieve in two attempts, would also offer him the perfect moment to bow out of Test cricket after 11

years wearing the baggy green.Already on the record as saying

he would not be playing on into his late 30s, Clarke knows the degen-erating disc in his back will not carry him to the next Ashes series in 2017-18.

Nothing if not decisive, he quit Twenty20s in 2011 to focus on the test captaincy and called time on his one-day career at the very top after the World Cup fi-nal in March. The blooming of Steve Smith, already anointed his successor, and resurgence of

Australia’s pace attack means the team are no longer as reliant on his batting as they were for much of his captaincy. He remains a for-midable batsman, however, with a test average of 50.66 in the 110 matches since he scored a century on debut against India in Banga-lore in 2004.

It says much about his views on leading by example that his record in the 41 tests since he assumed the captaincy in the wake of the Ashes debacle of 2010-2011 is even better, 3,769 runs at an aver-

age of 57.10 with 14 centuries.His captaincy has never been

just about batting, however, and he is as much the architect of the aggressive style of play that has brought Australia such success over the last two years as coach Darren Lehmann.

A great student of the game, Clarke may have lost the role as selector which he enjoyed in the first years of his captaincy but he directs his fielding resources with great energy and creativity from his position in the slips.

Clarke’s reign has not always been smooth -- he inherited a team in disarray from Ponting and was booed on to the pitch at his beloved Sydney Cricket Ground in his first innings as captain.

Reservations over the diamond earring, bleached blonde hair and celebrity girlfriend of Clarke in his 20s have eased, however, as he became a happily married thirty-something. And in the tragedy of last December’s death of his “little brother” Hughes, Clarke briefly became the leader not only of a cricket team but an entire nation in grief. - Reuters

A S H E S S E R I E S

EMOTIONAL: Michael Clarke wants to become the first Australia

captain to win Ashes on foreign soil. – Reuters

C4


Record-breaking Dennis takes opening stage of Tour de France

UTRECHT: Australian Rohan Dennis set a new record for the highest average speed in a Tour de France timetrial as he won the opening stage of the 2015 edition on Saturday.

The 25-year-old scorched around the 13.8km course in just 14min 56sec despite Utrecht being suffocated by a heatwave.

“I’ve broken a dry spell of wins and what a way to do it,” said Dennis.

He was the only rider to break the 15min mark and set a new Tour record of 55.446kph on average for a timetrial, beating the 21-year-old mark set by Britain’s Chris Board-man over a course that was just over half the length.

More important for Dennis, though, will be his opportunity to wear the yellow jersey on Sunday’s second stage over 166km from Utrecht to Zeeland.

“I left it all out there; I went off harder than what I thought I should have and I came back hard-er than what I thought I could,” said the BMC rider.

Dennis had said before the Tour began that his whole season had been built around training for this timetrial and that should he win, it would be “the happiest day” of his “life as a cyclist”.

And he did so in style, beating three-time world timetrial cham-pion Tony Martin into second by 5sec with four-time world champi-on Fabian Cancellara third at 6sec. Amongst the overall contenders, reigning champion Vincenzo Ni-bali surprised his rivals by putting time into Chris Froome, Alberto Contador and Nairo Quintana.

Early markerThe first marker was set by 2010 Dutch timetrial champion Jos van Emden, the ninth rider to start, who finished in 15min 11sec.

But less than half an hour later, that was bettered by Dennis, even though Van Emden’s time of 7min 27sec at the 7.1km time check would remain unbeaten all day.

Dennis was only one second be-hind but finished stronger to beat Van Emden’s time by 15sec.

He had to wait for almost two hours before the true challengers to his time started to roll over the line, but even then, no-one could

match the former Hour record holder. Home hope Tom Dumoulin was a second slower than Dennis at halfway but had lost eight sec-onds by the end.

German Tony Martin was three seconds down at halfway and had lost another two seconds before the finish. Dennis’s predecessor as World Hour record-holder Mat-thias Brandle of Austria could not trouble the Australian, finishing seventh at 23sec, while his suc-cessor, Britain’s Alex Dowsett, was well off the pace at 36sec in 13th.

By now there were very few rid-ers left expected to push for the stage victory and even Spartacus, Cancellara, a five-time winner of opening stage timetrials or pro-logues at the Tour, could not un-seat Dennis.

Like Dumoulin he was a second behind Dennis at halfway but like everyone else he couldn’t match Dennis’s pace over the second half of the race. Italian Nibali caused a stir by beating the man he deposed as Tour winner, a seemingly out-of-sorts Froome, by 7sec.

Nibali finished 22nd in 15min 39sec while the other two mem-bers of the ‘fantastic four’ lost even more time than Froome, who was 39th. Spanish Giro d’Italia winner Contador was 15sec behind the Italian while Quintana lost 18sec.

History making Eritrean pair Daniel Teklehaimanot and Mer-hawi Kudus gave a respectable account of themselves as the first ever black Africans to ride the Tour for their MTN Qhubeka team, the first African outfit to ride the Grand Boucle. Teklehaimanot finished 146th out of 198 riders in a time of 16min 30sec with Kudus 175th in 16min 47sec.

Nibali’s Astana teammate Lars Boom was at the start line after his participation had been in doubt on Friday night due to a low cortisol level in an unofficial test conduct-ed by the Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC). Although it does not constitute a doping violation, the MPCC advises it’s member teams — who are aligned to the movement on a voluntary basis — to stand down the rider for eight days on health grounds.

The 29-year-old Dutchman fin-ished 23rd at 44sec. - AFP

The 25-year-old Australian of BMC Racing

scorched around the 13.8km course in just

14min 56sec despite Utrecht being suffocated

by a heatwave

GOOD BEGINNING: BMC Racing rider Rohan Dennis of Australia wears the race leader’s yellow jersey on the podium after the 13.8 km (8.57

miles) individual time-trial first stage of the 102nd Tour de France cycling race in Utrecht, Netherlands. – Reuters

UTRECHT: The sweltering conditions would have been fa-miliar to Daniel Teklehaimanot as he rolled down the start ramp on Saturday but not the wall of noise that hit him seconds later.

The first black African to ride the Tour de France was given the honour of being the first of the 198 riders to set off in the medi-eval Dutch city of Utrecht where crowds estimated at 700,000 gathered to watch a 14-kilometre individual time trial.

The 26-year-old is part of debut-making team MTN Qhubeka, the first African pro-cycling outfit to line up in the world’s greatest race.

“(The organisers) phoned me last night and said ‘do you want to kick off the race?’,” team president and founder Doug Ryder told Reuters as Tekle-haimanot and his team mates, including American Tyler Far-rar, Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen and South African Louis Meintjes, sweated on the rollers

as the minutes ticked down to the start of the first stage.

“Most teams don’t want to start first, but when they said do you want to kick off the Tour I was like ‘OK, we’d be honoured’.

“When I told Daniel he was starting he said ‘fantastic’.”

Eritrea’s Teklehaimanot, one of 17 children, is not just mak-

ing up the numbers in a team backed by MTN, the South African telecommunications company, and electronics giant Samsung. He won the king of the mountains jersey at the recent Criterium du Dauphine and will expect to be mixing it with the world’s best climbers when the race reaches the Alps.

The MTN Qhubeka bus, emblazoned with #bicycle-schangelives, was thronged with people on Saturday, with Ryder’s pride clear as he ex-plained his dream to the media.

Cheered on by fans waving Eritrean flags, Teklehaimanot did not quite produce the ride he would have liked over the 13.8km course — clocking 16 minutes 30 seconds.

But along with Meintjes, fel-low Eritrean Merhawi Kudus, the youngest rider in the Tour at 21, and South African broth-ers Jacques and Reinardt Janse van Rensburg, the days ahead will provide many chances to showcase the African conti-nent. “It’s David v Goliath, why not?” Ryder said. “But we are here on merit and not because we are an African team.

“We want to be aggressive, show off the team’s colours, show the potential of African cy-clists and, of course, our Bicycles Change Lives campaign.” - Reuters

Historic moment for Africa as Teklehaimanot starts Tour

MAKING HISTORY: MTN-Qhubeka rider Daniel Teklehaimanot

of Eritrea cycles on the opening stage. – Reuters

England’s Mr Reliable, ready to make Ashes leapLONDON: Firmly established in the pivotal number five position in England’s batting order, Joe Root is primed for the job of taking on Australia’s vaunted pace attack toe to toe. The Yorkshireman’s consistency is reflected in his sta-tistics after 27 Tests — 2,273 runs and six centuries coming at a high-ly impressive average of 54.11.

Australia have, in Steve Smith, the number one batsman in the world but Root is not far behind having come of age as a test player since suffering the ignominy of be-ing dropped for the final Ashes Test on the dismal 2013-14 tour Down Under. Since being overlooked in Sydney in January 2014, the Eng-land man is averaging more than 90 in the five-day format.

Once touted as a natural open-er, a role he had mixed success

with, Root has now blossomed at number five. The blond, boyish-faced batsman enjoyed a fruitful first two years in Test cricket, a maiden century coming at his

home Headingley ground against New Zealand in his sixth Test.

It was an innings that under-lined a growing maturity as he followed the likes of Yorkshire-men Herbert Sutcliffe, Len Hut-ton, Geoff Boycott and Michael Vaughan, who all once batted with distinction for England.

His second Test century, a brilliant 180 against Australia at Lord’s, appeared to confirm that Root’s natural place was open-ing the batting alongside Alastair Cook. But he then endured a tor-rid time and was taken out of the firing line for the return series in Australia as England were handed a humiliating whitewash.

Root did score 87 in Adelaide but failed to get past 30 in seven other innings, struggling against Australia’s battery of pacemen

who exposed his weakness out-side off stump. Having been moved up and down the order, he was dropped for the final test in Sydney but was recalled to face Sri Lanka.

Root compiled an unbeaten 200 in the first innings at Lord’s, at the age of 23 years and 165 days, to become England’s young-est double centurion since David Gower in 1979.

A fine player of spin, Root has continued to thrive this season, hitting an unbeaten 182 against West Indies in Grenada in April before making 98 and 84 in the first test against New Zealand.

A dominant performance in a winning Ashes team would add further fuel to the argument that Root has the ability to be one of his country’s greatest batsmen. - Reuters

C R I C K E T

MR RELIABLE: Joe Root

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Hamilton rules at home to take pole

SILVERSTONE: Lewis Hamil-ton moved to third place on Satur-day in the list of all-time Formula One pole sitters when he secured his eighth pole spot in nine races for Sunday’s British Grand Prix.

Responding to a below-par run in practice on Friday, the series leader and defending two-time world champion made the most of overnight improvements to his car — and passionate support from his home fans — to beat his Mer-cedes team-mate Nico Rosberg by a tenth of a second in a tense quali-fying session at Silverstone.

The 30-year-old Briton clocked a best time of one minute and 32.248 seconds on his first run to beat the German by one-tenth of a second. Neither man improved on their final runs in the final seconds.

Hamilton’s success gave him his second successive pole for his home race.

It is also the 46th pole position of his career, a total that took him one ahead of four-time champion German Sebastian Vettel, who has taken 45, and leaves only seven-time champion German Michael Schumacher, with 68, and three-time champion Brazilian Ayrton Senna, on 65, ahead.

His success also gives him a good chance to increase his 10-points lead ahead of Rosberg in the cham-pionship, if he can win Sunday’s 52-laps race. “It’s a very special day, for me to take pole here,” said Ham-ilton. “The fans give me such moti-vation and I thank them all for their support. It’s an unbelievable feeling.

“Generally, it hasn’t been the

smoothest weekend. I made a change in the car before qualify-ing, which hopefully will be good for the race.”

Rosberg had looked likely to be quickest, but said he had problems with ‘the left front’ of his car.

“My first lap was really good, but Lewis was one-tenth quicker

-- which is annoying, but that’s the way it is. There was something wrong and we need to look at it.”

Like Hamilton, he praised the crowd. “It’s awesome to see how many people and here and great to see how enthusiastic everyone is about our sport.”

Massa was the only leading driv-

er to improve on his final run.He said: “It is a fantastic day for

us. It is amazing to see how many people are here, it is the home grand prix for the team (Williams) and it is great to see. I hope we can have a strong race and fight with Ferrari.”

The Mercedes team’s success gave them a seventh front row

lockout this season, a statistic that confirms the supremacy of the Sil-ver Arrows cars.

In a surprising last push, the two Williams cars of Brazilian Felipe Massa and Finn Valtteri Bottas took third and fourth ahead of an all-Ferrari row three to be filled by Finn Kimi Raikkonen and four-time champion German Se-bastian Vettel.

Russian Daniil Kvyat was sev-enth for Red Bull ahead of Span-iard Carlos Sainz of Toro Rosso, German Nico Hulkenberg of Force India and Australian Daniel Ric-ciardo in the second Red Bull.

Ricciardo was one of several drivers who suffered for having a lap deleted for running off circuit at Copse to gain an advantage.

Raikkonen also got penalised after posting a fast lap. This left the indignant Finn, who believed he was permitted two wheels on the kerb, facing an exit before the top-ten shootout. He squeezed through in ninth with another lap.

The travails of the hapless McLaren team continued apace with both their former world cham-pions Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button failing to qualify even for the second session and will start on the ninth row of the grid.

It was the first time since the Chinese Grand Prix in April that both McLarens were eliminated in Q1. - AFP

Responding to a below-par run in practice

on Friday, the series leader and defending

two-time world champion made the most

of overnight improvements to his car

— and passionate support from his home fans

— to beat his Mercedes team-mate

Nico Rosberg

TOP THREE: Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, centre, celebrates his pole position in qualifying with

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, right, and Williams’ Felipe Massa. – Reuters

ASIAN CHAMPIONS OMAN GEAR UP FOR WORLD CUPAsian Champions Oman, who are in Portugal to play in the Fifa Beach Soccer World

Cup 2015 which will be played on the sands of the Praia de Baia from July 9 to 19, were

practicing hard on the sands. Talib Hilal-coached team consists of Hani Al Dhabit, Jalal

Al Sinani, Abdullah Al Sauti, Khalid Al Orimi, Yahaya Al Orimi, Munther Al Orimi, Khalid

Al Rajhi, Haitham Harib, Ghaith Al Alawi, Abdullah Al Balushi, Mohamed Al Busaidi, and

Ishaq Al Kasbi. The Omani delegation is headed by Shaikh Mansoor bin Zahir Al Hajri,

including Coach Talib Hilal, Assistant Coach Yousef Obaid, Team manager Dawood Salim,

Fitness coach Ricardo Da Silva, Phsiotherapist Mazin Al Arfi, Media officer Hamdan Al

Ma’ani, Team Videographer Mohamed Al Kindi, and Kit manager Abduljaleel Al Balushi.

Oman will face Switzerland in the first Group B match on July 9 followed by match

against Italy on July 11 and final group match against Costa Rica on July 13. — OFA

C6


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VENUE OF THE WORLD CUP FINAL: A view of BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, where the final of 2015 Fifa Women’s World Cup will be staged on Sunday. – AFP

Classic clash of styles in WC final

VANCOUVER: The United States and Japan may be familiar foes but that doesn’t make Sun-day’s Women’s World Cup final any less of a tactical conundrum for both teams with the game a classic clash of styles.

The defending world and Asian champions play a clever, short-passing, possession game while the rival Americans rely more on their athleticism, individual flair and power in the final third.

Japan’s style has clearly been influenced by the successful ‘tiki-taka’ approach of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona team but has evolved in recent years with coach Norio Sasa-ki mixing in a more direct element.

Likewise, U.S. coach Jill Ellis has eased the team away from ex-tensive use of the long ball with a more fluid style evident, particu-larly since the decision to place record goal scorer, and classic tar-

get striker, Abby Wambach on the bench. For all Wambach’s goals over the years, and her outstand-ing ability in the air, her presence attracted as a magnet to long balls into the box and as her mobility de-clined, so did the effectiveness of hitting the ball at her.

Instead, against Germany in the semi-final, midfielder Carli Lloyd was given a more attacking role, supporting the lone striker

Alex Morgan.Since Morgan is at her most

dangerous with the ball at her feet and taking players on, the Ameri-cans had good reason for trying to play quality passes on the ground and the approach worked well.

With Morgan Brian and Lau-ren Holiday the holding pair in the centre of the midfield, the Americans had a solid core to their team but they will be forced

to cover a lot of ground to press the mobile Japanese.

Both Australia and England, in the quarters and semis respective-ly, showed Japan can be knocked off their rhythm by intense press-ing and harrying - but that carries a physical toll and both were caught out late in the game.

“It is about finding a balance, you can’t just chase with your head cut off, they are way too good

for that but they are also too good to just sit off and not go on them,” U.S midfielder Megan Rapinoe told Reuters.

Japan’s fluid approach revolves around their forward Shinobu Ohno, who floats around the front-line while the Americans will have to watch for the movement of wide players Aya Miyami and Nahomi Kawasumi, who both like to cut in to central positions. - Reuters

The defending world

and Asian champions

play a clever, short-

passing, possession

game while the rival

Americans rely more

on their athleticism,

individual flair and

power in the final

third

WARMING UP: Members of Japan’s national team take part in a training session in Vancouver. – AFP IN DISCUSSION: US team during training. – AFP

WINS FOR AL NAFEESA, OMAN ENGINEERING, SAUD TRAVEL & AL FAISALAl Nafeesa, Oman Engineering, Saud Travel and Al Faisal scores wins in the Pakistan Social Club organised Omantel Ramadan

Cricket Tournament 2015. First match saw Huawei Rapper losing to Al Nafeesa by 10 wickets. In the second match, Striker

Boys lost to Oman Engineering by 10 wickets and in the third match, Al Faisal trounced DHL by 45 runs. In the final match

of the night, Khurshid claimed the first hat-trick (3 for 13) of the tournament to helped Saud Travel beat Abu Dhabi Travel

by 17 runs. — Supplied photo

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

HealthSECTIONC L I F E S T Y L E S U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

Pain strikes the groin area and lower abdomen in short bouts, then the pain begins to linger for longer periods. There are the other symptoms too: Nau-sea, vomiting and restlessness. Many try to ignore the pain and explain away the other discomforts, but these symptoms could be pointing to the pres-ence of kidney stones (renal lithiasis, nephrolithi-

asis), small, hard mineral deposits that form inside the kidneys. According to Dr Hussein Al Saadi, a Public Health Special-ist at Al Hayat International Hospital, kidney stone disease is emerging as a prominent health issue among the Omani popula-tion. While kidney stones do not cause any permanent damage, passing them can be quite painful. There is no single cause for kidney stones, but there are several factors that increase one’s risk of developing them. Dr Hussein explains this increasingly common ailment and the best ways to reduce your risk.

O m a n ’ s C r y s t a l l i z e d D i s c o m f o r t

I f y o u a r e e x p e r i e n c i n g a s h a r p

p a i n o n o n e s i d e o f y o u r b a c k o r

l o w e r a b d o m e n t h a t c o m e s o n

a b r u p t l y a n d l i n g e r s , i n t e n s i f y i n g

o v e r t i m e , y o u c o u l d b e s u f f e r i n g

f r o m a n i n c r e a s i n g l y c o m m o n

a f f l i c t i o n i n O m a n : K i d n e y s t o n e s

By Hubert Vaz

PHOTOGRAPHY: SHUTTERSTOCK

LIFESTYLEC8 S U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

What causes kidney stones?Drinking too little water is the most common cause of kidney stones, though diet also plays an important role. Eating a lot of protein, sodium, and high-oxalate foods, such as chocolate or dark green vegetables, can boost the risk for kidney stones in some people. Certain medical condi-tions, including high blood pressure, gout, and urinary tract infections can up your risk as well, but treating or controlling these conditions gen-erally helps prevent stone formation. Other risk factors include putting on weight, taking certain medications, and family history of the affliction.

Kidney stones are emerging as a growing health issue for the Omani population

How can I decrease my risk?The best way to ward off new kidney stones is to drink enough water to keep urine clear—at least two litres a day, more during hotter months and for those who are very active. To avoid a calcium stone, you could also try cutting back on salt and sodium, which causes the body to dispense more calcium into the urine. If you are at especially high risk with a family history of stones, your doctor might suggest limiting high-oxalate foods, including chocolate, instant coffee, tea, beans, berries, dark leafy greens, oranges, tofu, and sweet potatoes. Additionally, use calcium supple-ments sparingly, choose a diet low in salt and animal protein, and drink fresh lemon juice with a sugar substitute once a week.

How common are kidney stones in Oman?Sultan Qaboos University Hospital itself conducts at least 200 kidney stone surgeries every year. And although nearly 80% of kidney stones are calcium-based, with only 20% comprised of uric acid, struvite, or cystine, in Oman at least 10% of the cases are cystine stones, indicative of a rare genetic disease, so it is especially important for those suffering from symp-toms to go see their medical provider. According to a study on prevalence of kidney stones among Omani in-patients at Sohar hospital, published in 2014, the results showed that renal stone disease was more common for those between the ages of 30 to 39 and the risk was generally higher in men than in women. There was a significant increase in treated kidney stones across both genders be-tween 1997 and 2003. When it comes to children, it is a different story as female children are more commonly affected. And the risk of kidney stones in children younger than six years old is significantly associated with hypertension and diabetes mellitus.

Treatment OptionsThe smaller the kidney stone, the more likely it will pass on its own. If it is smaller than 5 mm (1/5 inch), there is a 90% chance it will pass without need for medical intervention. If the stone is between 5 mm and 10 mm, the odds are 50%. If a stone is too large to pass on its own, the sufferer will need medical treatment. There are three main options available.

1. Medication Drugs known as alpha-blockers relax the walls of the ure-ter, which widens the passage so a stone can fit through more easily. Other medications can be taken to help prevent new stones from forming.

2. Shock Wave The most common medical procedure for treating kidney stones is known as extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL). This therapy uses high-energy shock waves to break a kidney stone into little pieces. The small pieces can then move through the urinary tract more eas-ily. Side effects can include bleeding, bruising, or pain after the procedure.

3. Ureteroscopy When a stone has made its way out of the kidney and is close to the bladder, the most common procedure is ureteroscopy, for which a thin tube is passed through the urinary tract to the location of the stone and a surgeon breaks up the stone and removes the fragments through the tube. No incisions are made in the body.

4. Surgery Though uncommon, for very large stones, a surgical procedure may be needed.

If you are experiencing symptoms, play it safe and seek medical advise as early as possible.

Dr Hussein Al Saadi Public Health Specialist at Al Hayat International Hospital

*In younger women, stones are more likely to develop during the late

stages of pregnancy

The risk of kidney stones peaks at the age of

for women50The risk of kidney stones

for men continues to in-crease between the ages of

40&

70Kidney stones are

times more common in

men than women

2

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LIFESTYLEC9S U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

VOLTAIRE CALLED THE EAR the “road to the heart.” It seems an apt description. Consider how a child’s cry, a romantic song, or the thump of a neighbour’s stereo at 3am can stir your emotions.

Ears not only allow us to hear, they also play a vital role in our ability to maintain-ing our balance, yet, we often take them for granted until something’s wrong. Dr Srinivas Bapu, an ENT Specialist, KIMS Oman Hospital, talks about hearing loss and preventative ear care.

Common Causes of Hearing LossHearing loss can be caused by viral infec-tions, induced by drugs, or come about due to simple hereditary bad luck. And though these factors are out of your control, two of the most common causes — impacted ear wax, an accumulation of glue like fluid in the

middle ear, and excess noise exposure — can be prevented.

Protecting Against Noise Damage We can protect ourselves from loud noise by using some common sense. Use ear plug or other ear protectors while working with power drills, saws, lawn mowers, and other loud equipment. And turn down your music. Listening to music at 100 db for 15 minutes puts the same amount of strain on the ear as listening to 95 db music for 45 minutes, so even a small reduction in the volume can be beneficial.

Preventing Wax ImpactionEars have a self-cleansing mechanism, and the presence of ear wax does not mean your ears are dirty. Wax is a normal com-ponent of the ear canal manufactured by

specialised (ceruminous) glands in the outer ear. Its function is to protect the del-icate skin of the ear canal. Massaging the ear canal by talking and chewing tends to naturally propel wax out of the ear ca-nal. If you feel that the wax is excessive or is starting to effect your hearing, try an over-the-counter ear wax softening solution. If that doesn’t take care of the problem, visit an ENT specialist who can do a deep cleaning for you. Never use cotton swabs, as inserting anything into the ear canal can cause the wax to com-pact and harden. Compacted wax requires medical excavation.

Recognising Hearing Loss In adults, hearing problem can be recog-nised if there are three or more of the fol-lowing symptoms:

1. Problem hearing over the telephone 2. Trouble following a conversation when two

or more people are talking at the same time 3. Keeping TV volume too high 4. Straining to understand conversation5. Having trouble hearing background noise6. Continually asking people to repeat themselves 7. Regularly misunderstanding others and responding inappropriately

Hearing loss in babies is suspected and should be checked by a medical provider if any of the following are observed: 1. They are not startled by loud noises 2. They do not respond to sound by 4-6

months old3. There is a delay in speech — if they do not utter a word by their first birthdays.

Sugary drinks may cause 184,000 deaths a yearSodas and other sugary drinks may cause up to 184,000 deaths a year worldwide, ac-cording to a study published Monday in the journal Cir-culation. Billed as a first, the report analysed the global risks of death due to diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancers linked to the con-sumption of sugary drinks. Researchers estimated that around 133,000 people died from diabetes due to the con-sumption of what the report called ‘sugar-sweetened beverages’. - AFP

Western Europe bakes in heatwave

Temperatures soared above 40 degrees in Spain and Por-tugal on Monday prompt-ing health concerns and the scorching heat was expected to move north to France and Britain later in the week. The soaring temperatures prompt-ed Spain’s national weather office to put the region of Cor-doba on red alert, the highest level on the scale, meaning the weather posed an ‘extreme risk’ to health. AFP

Longer schooling brakes AIDS spreadLonger schooling seems to be an effective and afford-able way to cut the risk of HIV infection in AIDS-endemic countries, according to the results of a study in Botswana. Data collected among 7,018 people in Botswana found that an extra year of second-ary schooling lowered the risk of HIV infection over the following decade by eight per-centage points — from about 25 to 17 percent. The effects were ‘particularly large among women’, for whom the risk was reduced by 12 percent. —AFP

Do You Hear Me Now?

Garlic as Preventative MedicineGarlic is known to have many health benefits, especially the cardiovascular protective properties of reducing arterial plaque formation and decreasing cholesterol and triglyceride levels. New studies show it also lowers blood pressure by relaxing vein and artery walls, which prevents the clumping of platelets and improves blood flow, thereby reducing the risk of stroke.

Better Posture on the RoadTo preserve your back and neck health, try improving your driving posture. Move the seat close to the steering wheel to support the curve of your back. The seat should be close enough to allow your knees to bend and your feet to reach the pedals with your knees at hip level. Add a lumbar roll for lower back support and greater comfort.

Cinnamon to Speed Recovery Time Cinnamon is a spice made from the inner bark of trees called Cinnamo-mum. It is high in a substance called cinnamaldehyde, which can help the body fight all kinds of infections, but is especially effective counteracting fungal infections. Cinnamon is also known to speed the repair of tissue damage and to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Here are a few simple, time-tested foods, techniques,

and home remedies to try — and a bit about why. Do you use any of

these tricks? Do you have a favourite remedy of your own?

Tell us about it to [email protected]

Try

Why

DECODINGDOCTOR

Mohammed Shafeeqe chats with Dr Srinivas Bapu, ENT

Specialist, KIMS Oman Hospital

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FIND-IT-ALL

ROYAL OMAN POLICE

Emergencies and inquiries: 9999

General Directorate of

Passport and Residence 24569603

Directorate General

of Customs 24521109

Traffic violations inquiries 24510228

Public Relations Admin 24560099

EMBASSIES IN OMAN

Afghanistan 24698 791/4

Algeria 24605 593

Bahrain 24 605 074/133

Bangladesh 24 698 660

Brazil 24640100

Brunei 24 603533

China 24 696782

Cyprus 24 699815

Egypt 24 600 982/411

France 24681 800

Germany 24835000

India 24684500

Indonesia 2469 1050

Iran 24 696 944/7

Iraq 24603642

Italy 24693727

Japan 24 601 028

Jordan 24692760/1/3

Kazakhstan 24 692418

Kenya 24 697664

South Korea 24 691490

Kuwait 24 699628

Lebanon 24 693208

Libya 24603466

Malaysia 24698329/643

Morocco 24696152/3

Nepal 24696177

Netherlands 24603706

Pakistan 24603439

Palestine 24601312

Philippines 24605335

Qatar 24 691 153/2/4

Russia 24602894

Saudi Arabia 24601705

Senegal 24694139

Somalia 24697977

South Africa 24647300

Spain 24691101

Sri Lanka 24697841/2

Sudan 24697875

Switzerland 24603267

Syria 24697904

Tanzania 24601 174

Thailand 24 602684/5

Tunisia 24603486

Turkey 24697050/1/2

UAE 24400000

United Kingdom 24609000

United States 24643400

Yemen 24600815

PHARMACIES

Round the clock

Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi 24783334

Appolo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24782666

Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi 24702542

Salalah 23291635;

Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra 24503585

Muscat Region

Apollo, Al Hamriya 24787766

Muscat, A Seeb Market 24421691

Muscat, Al Khuwair 24485740

Muscat, Al Hail South 24537080

Dhofar Region

Muscat, Al Nahdha Road,

Salalah 23291635

HOSPITALS

Al Amal Medical & Health Care

Centre 24485052

Atlas Hospital

Ruwi 24811743/

Ghubra 24504000

Al Musafir Specialised

Medical Clinic 24706453

Hatat Polyclinic LLC,

Ruwi 24563641

Azaiba 24499269

Sohar 2683006

Al Raffah Hospital 24618900/1/2

Al Massaraat Clinic &

Laboratory 24566435

Al Makook Medical

Coordinance Centre 24499434

Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24787766, 24787780

Capital Polyclinic 24707549

Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic,

Ruwi 24799760/1/2

Capital Clinic, Seeb 24420740

Ceregem National Raak 24485633

Dr Harub’s Clinic 24563217

Elixir Health Centre 24565802

Emirates Medical Centre 24604540

1st Chiropractic Centre 24472274

Hamdan Hospital 23212340

International Medical

Centre LLC 24794501/2/3/4/5

Kims Oman Hospital 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency 24760123

Lama Polyclinic, Sohar 26751128

MBD 24799077

Al Khuwair 24478818

Magrabi Eye and

Ear Hospital 24568870

Muscat Private Hospital 24583600

Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment

Centre, Al Khuwair 24477666

Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC 22004000

AIRLINE OFFICES

Muscat Airport Flight information

(24 hours) 24519456/24519223

Aeroflot 24704455

Air Arabia 24700828

Air France 24562153

Air India 24799801

Air New Zealand 24700732

Biman Bangladesh Airlines 24701128

British Airways 24568777

Cathay Pacific 24789818

Egypt Air 24794113

Emirates Air 24404400

Ethiopian Airlines 24660313

Gulf Air 80072424

Indian 24791914

Iran Air 24787423

Japan Airlines 24704455

Jazeera Airways 23294848

Jet Airways 24787248

Kenya Airways 24660300

KML Royal Dutch Airlines 24566737

Kuwait Airways 24701262

LOT Polish Airlines 24796387

Lufthansa 24796692

Malaysian Airlines 24560796

Middle East Airlines 24796680

Oman Air 24531111

Pakistan International

Airlines 24792471

Qatar Airways 24771900

Qantas 24559941

Royal Jordanian 24796693

Saudi Arabian Airlines 24789485

Singapore Airlines 24791233

Shaheen Air 24816565

SriLankan Airlines 24784545

Swiss International

Airlines 24796692

Thai Airways 24705934

LISTINGS

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

CINEMA SCHEDULE

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (ROUTE 36)

15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily

15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily

15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily

06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily

08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri


13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily

16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily

16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily

14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)


08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily

14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (ROUTE 62)

06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily

06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily

10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily



TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)


SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)



13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur

13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur



TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily

07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily

07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

CITY CINEMAContact (10 am to 6pm) 24567664 | 68 .

www.citycinemaoman.net

facebook.com/citycinemaoman

SHATTI

Jurassic World (Action, Adventure) (3D)

(PG12)

Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty

Simpkins,

9:15 pm

Cold in July (15+)

Cast: Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard, Don

Johnson

11:30 pm

Sword Of Vengeance (Action) (15+)

Cast: Stanley Weber, Edward Akrout, Misa

Beric

9:30 pm

Dark Summer (Horror, Thriller) (15+)

Cast: Peter Stormare, Grace Phipps, Keir

Gilchrist

11:15 pm

Papanasam (Drama, Family)(PG12)

Cast : Kamal Haasan, Gautami Tadimalla,

Kalabhavan Mani, 9:45 pm

MUSCAT GRAND MALL

Jurassic World (3D) (Action/Adventure)

(PG12)

Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard

11:15 pm

Gold Class: 9:00 pm

Just The Way You Are (2D) (Dance/Ro-

mance) (12+) (Language - Tagalog)

Cast: Enrique Gil, Liza Soberano, Yves Flores

9:15 pm

Papanasam (2D) ( Drama/Thriller) (PG12)

Cast: Kamal Haasan, Gautami Tadimalla,


Cold in July (2D) (Crime, Thriller) (15+)


Johnson

Gold Class 11:15 pm

RUWI

SCREEN 1ABCD-2 (Dance/Musical ) – PG

Cast: Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor and

Prabhudeva, 09.45 pm

SCREEN 2Second Hand Husband

(Comedy/Romance) – PG

Cast: Gippy Grewal, Tina Ahuja, Dharmendra,

Geeta Basra, 9.00 pm

Dil Dhadakne Do (Romance/Drama/

Comedy ) – PG12

Cast: Anil Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Shefali

Shetty, Anushka Sharma, Priyanka Chopra

11.00 pm

SCREEN 3Papanasam (Tamil) (Drama/Family/Thriller) – PG12


Kalabhavan Mani, 9.30

SOHAR

Jurassic World (3D) (PG12) (Action

|Adventure | Sci-Fi)


Simpkins, 11:30 pm

Cold in July (2D) (Crime, Thriller) (15+)


Johnson

9:15, 11:55 pm

Sword Of Vengeance (Action) (15+) (2D)


Beric, 9:45 pm

Dark Summer (Horror, Thriller) (15+) (2D)


Gilchrist, 11:30 pm

Papanasam(Tamil) (Drama/Family/Thriller)

– PG12 (2D)


Kalabhavan Mani

9.30 pm

Laila O Laila - 2D (M) (PG12) Action | Thriller

Cast : Mohanlal, Amala Paul, Sathyaraj, Joy

Mathew

9:00 pm

BURAIMI

Cold in July - 2D (Crime/ Thriller) (15+)

Cast: Michael C. Hall, Sam Sheppard, Don

Johnson

9:30 pm

Sword of Vengeance – 2D (Action) (15+)


Beric

11:30 pm

Papanasam– 2D (Drama/Family/Thriller)

(PG12)



Laila O Laila – 2D (Action/Thriller) (PG12)

Cast: Mohanlal, Amala Paul, Sathyaraj, Joy

Mathew, 9:00 pm

Dark Summer - 2D (Horror/Thriller) (15+)


Gilchrist

Timings: 11:55 pm

SUR

Cold in July (Crime / Thriller) (15+)


Johnson.

9:30 pm

Sword Of Vengeance ( Action ) (15+)

Cast: Stanley Weber, Wdward Akrout, Misa

Beric., 11:30 pm

Laila O Laila (Mal) (Action / Thriller) (PG12)


Mathew

10.30 pm

SALALAH

Jurassic World (3D) (PG12) (Action,

Adventure, Sci-Fi )


9:15 pm

Cold in July (2D) (15+) (Crime, Thriller)


Johnson, 11:30 pm

Second Hand Husband (2D) (PG) (Comedy,

Romance)

Cast: Gippy Grewal, Tina Ahuja, Dharmendra

9:00 pm

Papanasam (2D) (PG12) (Drama, Family,

Thriller)



Laila O Laila (2D) (PG12) (Action, Thriller)


Mathew, 9:00 pm

Sword of Vengeance (2D) (15+) (Action)


Beric, 1:55 pm

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

Jurassic World (Action / Adventure)Cast: Chris Pratt, Judy Greer, Ty Simkins9.30 pmCP No: 1495 (PG12)Guardian (Action, Thriller) (15+)Cast: Sarah Carter, Tio Pakusodewo, Nino Fernandez11:45 pmCP No: 1613

Cold in July (Crime / Thriller) (15+)


Johnson.

9:30 & 11:45 pmCP No: 659 (15+)

STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776Website: www.isurf.co.om

Premam (Mal) (Comedy) Cast: Nivin Pauly, Anupama Parameshwaran and Sai Pallavi

10:00 pm at Cinema Main

Papanasam(Tamil) (Drama/Family/

Thriller) – PG12


Kalabhavan Mani

9:30 pm at Cinema 2

Laila O Laila (Mal) (Romance / Thriller)


Mathew

9.45 pm at Cinema 3

Kakka Muttai (Tamil)

Cast: Ramesh & Silam Barasan

9.45 pm at Cinema 4

NEXT CHANGE: 2nd Class Yatra (Mal)

Bahubali (Telugu) (Programmes are subject to change)

TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (ROUTE 36)

05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily

05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily

05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)



13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri





TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)


TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)



TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)



TO SUR (ROUTE 55)



TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)

12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily


TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100)





TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)


DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)


TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)



13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri

13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri



FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH/SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily

16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily

16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

Gold Class: 11:15 pm 9:30 pm 9:00 pm 9:45 pm 9:30 pm

@MGM @SHATTI @RUWI @SUR @BURAIMI

COLD IN JULY (2D) (Crime, Thriller) (15+)Cast: Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard Don Johnson

SWORD OF VENGEANCE (Action) (15+)Cast: Stanley Weber, Edward Akrout Misa Beric, 9:30 pm

SECOND HAND HUSBAND (Comedy/Romance) – PGCast: Gippy Grewal, Tina Ahuja

LAILA O LAILA (Mal) (Action / Thriller) (PG12)Cast: Mohanlal, Amala Paul

PAPANASAM 2D (Drama/Family (PG12)Cast: Kamal Haasan, Gautami Tadimalla, Kalabhavan Mani, 9:30 pm

WEATHER

400

Maximum

350

Minimum

C10 S U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

TEMPERATURE

30-80%RELATIVE HUMIDITY

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]

NIRANJANA SAJEESH July 5, 2013

AADYA C July 5, 2007

KEITH MELROY LOBO July 5, 2007

WITH LOVE

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

LIFESTYLE

F A M I L Y A D V I C E

Dr Gerry D’Costa has an MD in psychiatry and a special interest in the areas of anxiety, depression, addiction, and children’s psychiatry. He has practiced as a specialised psychiatrist at Badr Al Samaa hospital in Ruwi for the last 9 years. Starting next week, Dr D’Costa will begin offering his advice and professional insights to the readers of Times of Oman. Send your mental health questions to [email protected].

Do you have a question related to family relationships,

depression, anxiety, social phobias, sleep disturbance, or

children’s mental health?

Doctor Gerald D’Costa, a family psychiatrist at Badr Al

Samaa, is here to help. He believes that attaining positive

mental health is essential for maintaining a healthy life

and happy relationships. He is passionate about helping

people on their mental health journeys.

Send your questions to [email protected]

T H E F A M I LY D O C T O R

Crunches are a great exercise for building strong abdominal muscles and back muscles. They can be performed anywhere and require no equipment. Do abdominal exercises daily and you'll see and feel the results in no time.

Do Crunches

work your way up to a full minute.

As a bonus, hold the pushup position (also known as a plank) for

30 seconds

which include the back and pelvis, so maintaining strong stomach helps keep your back healthy too

Your abs are part of the

29 ‘Core Muscles’

at the top of your crunch for an added challenge

Pulse 2 Times

Do three sets of

10 CrunchesLie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart. Place your hands behind your head so your thumbs are behind your ears. Tilt your chin slightly, and gently pull your abdominals inward. Curl up and forward so that your head, neck, and shoulder blades lift off the floor. Hold for a moment at the top of the movement and then lower slowly back down. Repeat.

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C11S U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

LIFESTYLEC12 S U N DAY, J U LY 5, 2 0 1 5

Eat to Treat Your Common Cold

VITAMIN C Vitamin C boosts your

immune system to help fight off the infection

ZINCGetting enough of this mineral

in your diet may help reduce your risk of infection caused

by bacteria and viruses.

Zn

CITRUSGRAPEFRUIT

ORANGELEMON

CANTALOUPE

WATERMELON

GUAVA

TROPICAL

TROPICAL

FRUIT

FRUIT

STRAWBERRIES

BERRIES

VEGETABLES

VEGETABLES

VEGETABLES

VEGETABLES

GREEN PEPPERS

SWEETRED PEPPERS

No matter how well you take care when you go out, or how hard you try to avoid sick co-workers, you are prone

to come down with cold at least once a year. Here’s what you can do to fight the flu

GRAINS

OYSTERS

SEAFOOD

MEAT

LAMB

LEGUMES

BEANS WHEAT BARLEY

POULTRY

CHICKEN

TURKEY

SPINACH

H2OTry to drink at least 8-10 glasses of water every day and consume

other hydrating liquids to flush out toxins and prevent

dehydration

LETTUCE

LEAFY

LEAFY

WATER

HERBALNON - CAFFFEINATED

TEA

BETA CAROTENEthe body converts it into vitamin

A, a great anti-oxidant that boosts the immune system to help

fight infections and promotes skin and eye health

APRICOT

DECIDUOUS

TROPICAL

FRUIT

CANTALOUPE

MANGO

BROCCOLI

FLOWERS

PUMPKIN

FRUITVEG

FRUITVEG

SWEET POTATO

CARROT

ROOTS

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

D

D4 VACANCY CARGO D7

S U N D AY, J U LY 5 , 2 0 1 5

RENT D2

92@34237_con_04-07-2015_p01-p08

Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

Furnished room for rent at

Al Khuwair R.O 225/- for family only.

Contact: 99251975

Villa AL Ghobrah, 6 bedroom 1200/-

R.O. Contact: 99340055/97557555

Good flat villa type at Mobeileah

Senaiya. Contact : 99879872

New building in Wadi Kabir, 2 bed-

room flats. Contact: 99313274

3 bed room flat near ONTC Ruwi.

Contact: 99653336

Residential /commercial 2 B/R

near Medical College Bausher from

Owner. Contact: 92158031

256 sq mtrs restaurant for rent in

Plaza Hotel, Walja Ruwi.

Contact 99326339

Six bed room twin villa Al Athaiba.

Contact: 99207840

4 bed room flat at Al Hail South.

Contact: 99207840

Three new three bedrooms flats

with servants rooms Al Khuwair 39.

Contact: 99207840

Store space available opp.

Fatima Shopping Ruwi.

Contact: Mr. Sharath 98168577

1 Villa & 3 big Flats of 2/3 BHK with

hall, Kitchen & ACs Al Khoudh 6,

Close to express way, from owner.

Tel 97600322 [email protected]

1BHK with A/C Mumtaz. R.O 250/-.

Contact 97799175

Fabulous AC flat at Al Khoud 3 bed-

rooms, hall and kitchen RO 270/- for

rent. Contact: 99334699

2BHK near Oman house behind

Khimji, H.O. Contact: 95865686

Flat for rent in Walja Ruwi, 2

bedrooms, 2 toilets and kitchen for

further enquiry. Contact: 95464607

Room for rent, street 18Nov. Azaiba.

Contact: 99785561

For rent in Qantab European style 4

bedrooms, 4 baths, Guest toilet, fully

equipped modern kitchen, covered

car park for two cars, approximately

150 meters from the beach. For

enquiries, please Contact: Yasser at

92606005

Spacious well maintained 2BHK at

Rex Road. Contact: 92227165

Deluxe 3 BHK Penthouse with

Seaview, ideal for office / residence

at Qurum near PDO.

Contact: 9772 1313 / 9507 0421

2BHK / I BHK newly renovated flats

at Wattaya R/O – Near the Mosque

for Families. Preferably for one

company. Contact : 96457757 -

9 am to 7 Pm.

Flats shops and store for rent in

Ruwi, MBD Honda road.

Contact 97293708 / 92433127

1 BHK flat in Al Khuwair, 2 months

only. Contact 99792181

3 BHK Flat in Azaiba. # 99792181

Labour Camp for Rent in Wadi

Kabir. Contact 99792181

Flats for rent near Indian School in

Wadi Kabir. Contact 99777122

2 BHK Flat in Al Khuwair.

Contact 99792181

4 BHK single villa in Al Khuwair.

Contact: 97616158

D2 S U N D AY, J U LY 5 , 2 0 1 5

4 & 5 BHK villa in Al Khuwair.

Contact 99792181

Villa for rent in Al Khuwair 33,

8 bedrooms & 5 bathrooms with

parking area near Taimur Mosque.

Contact: 99366624

506sqm space with mezzanine

available for rent in AL Wadi Al

Kabir, Suitable for carpentry / Auto

workshop and / or electrical shop

interested parties may.

Contact: 24703981

2 BHK Flats for rent Muttrah

near Oman house.

Contact: 97009734/92629232

Flat in South Al Hail, 2 bedrooms,

Majlis, 2 bathrooms, kitchen RO

250/-. Contact 93221474

Flat in Ruwi Mumtaz 2 BHK

RO 300 or 1 BHK 250 RO.

Contact 98588240

For rent in Darsait new flats.

Contact: 99777351

Luxury 3 BHK flat in Al Wattaya

with split A/C & private parking.

RO.500/- Contact – 93191111

Villa of 5 BHK in Al Ansab with split

A/C. RO.650/- Contact – 93191111

2 BHK flat in Al Ansab with

split A/C. RO.250/-

Contact – 93191111

Bath attached room for rent

Al Khuwair. Contact 99743569

Commercial 3 BHK flat in Al Ghobra

18 Nov Street. RO 700/-

Contact 93191111

2 BHK flat in Al Azaiba near sea,

with split A/C. RO.340/-

Contact 93191111

For rent 3 industrial land.

Contact 92702891/ 95490842

Flat for rent in Mabellah 8th.

Contact: 97147240

For rent in Darsait, new flats.

Contact: 99311525

Flats/villas owned by ROP

pension fund available for rent in

Muscat. Contact 99349526

Apartment in Al Khuwair 33/1,

4 bedroom 550/-R.O. Contact :

99340055 / 97557555

3000 sq mtrs Industrial landß,

in Barka Sanaiya, with electricity

400KW, shed, staff accommodation

and office. Ready to start any kind

of factory. Contact 99384255.

FOR SALE

BUYING/SELLING

ACC. AVAILABLE

1BHK, 2BHK, 3BHK new flat avail-

able at Mabela in front of Modern

English School Contact: 96239126

Deluxe 1, 2 BHK flats in Darsait,

AL Khuwair 1deal for office &

residence. Contact 99369081

/99142314

Equipped kitchen showroom com-

pany for sale at Ghubrah, Muscat.

6 visa available, Contact owner at

96303747

House hold items. Contact: 97094797

Wall papers, grass carpets sale

& fixing. Contact: 99834373 /

97102699

Shawarma Double burner for sale.

Contact: 95395378

1.5 Acre full or as plots available for

sale at Mulanthuruthy 18 Km from

Ernakulam Asphalt road frontage.

Contact : 99235701

Email: [email protected]

Turkish MDF door with frame for

sale, size 210 x 100 Price: RO 75/-.

Contact: 95899296 / 92141514

6 bedroom, 6 bath rooms, sitting &

dining villa at Qurum.

Contact: 99342733

Grade IT company with 5 clearanc-

es & oil Gas activity for sale serious

buyers. Contact: 99329216

Fully decorated & Equipped kitchen

cabinet and marble showroom for

sale at Mabela industrial area road

no – 10 only serious buyers can.

Contact: 99337670/97763560

Commercial land for sale 3000 m

in quriyat road main high way can

use as a petrol station license

available asking price 350,000

For more information please call on

99070701 with out name

2 BHK commercial /

residential flat at Honda Road.

Contact: 99342733/99795241

Small old house for rent Al Ghobrah.

Contact 95112461

Fully furnished room in Ruwi for

non cooking ex- bachelor.

Contact 94412557

Furnished bedroom with separate

bathroom and kitchen on sharing in

Darsait for Ex- bachelors.

Contact : 95376096

Furnished room attached bath room

& kitchen for Executive bachelor /

family, Honda road near NBO bank

Ruwi. Contact: 98582078

Fully furnished room for a decent

expatriate. independent kitchen,

bathroom in Wadi Adai.

Contact 96243086 at 5p.m.

DAILY GUIDE

For rent if require flats for rent in

Wadi Kabir please send me mes-

sages through Whatsapp.

Contact: 99376454

Double bedroom near

Lulu Wadi Kabeer. Contact:

92022816/99468133/99719471

FOR RENTBuilding In Rusail Industrial

comprising a store divisible area 266 sq. meters.

The building includes Studios

residence.Preferably to be leased to

one company.

Mob + 968 96177505

Flat at Darsait. Contact 99326879

Flat for rent Ruwi near Badr al

Sama, 2 bed rooms, attach toilet in

rooms big hall big kitchen.

Contact: 99345137

Flat for rent in AL Wadi AL Kabir

next to Kuwaiti Mosque 2 bedrooms,

2 bathrooms, kitchen, balcony & 1

living room 220/-R.O

Contact: 99425958

2BHK with split AC near PDO Gate

no -2 at Qurum. Contact: 94057023

2BHK with split AC at Al Khuwair

33. Contact: 94057023

Office / shop near Oman house

Muttrah. Contact: 99233116

All type of car scanner available

easy car diagnostic for professional

and self use Authorize LAUNCH

and Autel dealer. GSM:92393972

www.omancartools.com

Used furniture & Electronic items,

office & house. Contact: 99834373

Ware house 450 sqm behind Majan

hyper market near Bridgestone tyre

Ghala. Contact: 92088800

3 flats, 2 BHK near Ghala Church,

Majan hyper market Ghala.

Contact: 92088800

2 bed rooms, kitchen, toilet & car

park in Al Khuwair R.O 200/- .

Contact 95154331

Office space at Alasfoor Plaza

Qurum. Contact : 24566217

/24564686

Deluxe furnished / unfurnished

flats Qurum. Contact: 24566217 /

24564686

DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, J U LY 5 , 2 0 1 5 D3

MOTOR VEHICLE FOR SALE

Suzuki Desire 2015, silver colour,

17000 km, excellent condition, 4

months old for just R.O 3,500/-.

Contact: 96473187

Toyota Prado 2008, Toyota Corolla

2009, Honda CRV 2009, low mileage

available at Bombay Medical, behind

Ruwi Police Station. #99326339

Chevrolet Epica 2008 very good

condition. Contact 92802299

2014 Grand Cherokee 5.7 liter full

option, low mileage, under warranty,

agency maintained expat driven.

Call 92502684. Immediate sale.

Prado ,2012. Contact : 99336093

Sportage, 2013. Contact:

99336093

Peugeot 206-2007 Model, expat

driven. Contact 99209285

Land Cruiser 2012. Contact

99336093

Toyota Corolla 2012 exclusive

model, Expat driven done 27,000

kms excellent condition.

Contact: 97717152

2 Prime Movers Man 2008 with 40

ton petrol tank each working at the

moment in Al Maha. Price OMR 35

Thousand each. Contact 97000155

or 92688692

Rooms available with separate

bathroom for executive bachelors in

azaiba near al meera hyper market.

Gsm 99053844

ACC. AVAILABLE

NRI

ACC. WANTED CHANGE OF NAME

Required a room in Darsait / Wadi-

Kabir /Ruwi area. #95405033

Executive bachelor bed space avail-

able at Mumtaz area.

Contact: Mr. Sharath 98168577

For sharing accommodation room

with toilet attached, kitchen sharing

near clean building next to main

road near Indian school Wadi Kabir,

Indian couples family or bachelor.

Contact: 95345537 / 94672007

Furnished room attached bath for

lady in Wadikabir (Mars Hypermar-

ket) – 95941515

Excellent room, with A/C kitchen

available for bachelor / family near

ONTC bus station (Ruwi).

Contact: 95885736

Furnished room with attached bath-

room in W/K. Contact: 97167857

Sharing for non cooking executive

bachelor in CBD area WIFI free,

Advance deposit.

Contact: 95094504

Single room with sharing kitchen

available for executive bachelor near

Saud Bahwan Residency Complex,

Wadi Kabir. Contact: 99024362,

93166353.

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s

publication. * Subject to space availability

AVAILABLE

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirting,

Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery, Crock-

ery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes, Ice

Sculptures, to Large Sound Systems

and spectacular lighting. Call Andrea

9606 2222 for Catering and Croyden

9623 5555 for Sound & Light.

www.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: [email protected]

Spacious room with bathroom and

kitchen. Contact: 91214537

Single room rear Oman house

Muttrah. Contact: 97477670

Spacious bedroom, T& K in Wadi

Kabir. Contact: 96098443

SITUATION WANT-MATRIMONIAL

Ezhava Divorcee, 37, 5.3”,

Pharmacist in Muscat.

Email : [email protected],

+919961176066

Christian CSI Syrian boy, 31/178,

fair, working as Business Develop-

ment Officer in a reputed company

Muscat. Suitable proposals solic-

ited. Email: jamesmails2010@gmail.

com Contact: 98582078,

M4 - Marry - 4083713

Indian Kerala male 31 years Hindu

Ezhava working in Muscat

looking for life partner.

Contact: 99893119

Kerala Hindu Ezhava girl (28 yrs,

164 cm), Staff Nurse (MOH), seeks

suitable alliance from Graduates /

professionally qualified boys.

Contact: 91 9746343275 /

+91 9747801255

I Deepa Digambar Naik (holder of Indian passport No. K 8089420) daughter

of Varghese Pulimootil Varkey having permanent residence in B- 110, Satt

Adhar Arcade, Peddem, Mapusa, Bardez, Goa 403507 (complete postal ad-

dress in India) and presently residing in Badr Al Samaa P.O. Box 330, PC 321,

Sohar, Oman (complete postal address in Oman) intend to change my name

from Deepa Digambar Naik (old name) to Anitha Varghese (new name) for all

practical purposes. Any objection towards my name change may please be

communicated to Embassy of India, Muscat, Diplomatic Quarters, Al Khuwair,

P. Box No. 1727, Postal Code 112, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman.

A/C room with separate balcony

and big wardrobe available for

non-cooking bachelor in CBD area

(near Stars cinema).

Rent OMR125 inclusive of electricity

and water charges.

Contact 96568110

DAILY GUIDED4 S U N D AY, J U LY 5 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

CATERING

DOMESTIC HELPER

ADMIN

ADVOCATE

ENGINEER

ENGINEER

SALES / MARKETING

SALES / MARKETING

TOURS

AUTO CAD/DRAUGHTS-

Office boy , exp. in Dubai, present in

India. Contact 96693290

Housemaid wanted for an Indian

family in Al Hail. Must be able to

cook and take care of baby. Full-time

position. 96532872

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

Required Office Assistant

160+25+Acc, Contact 99454425

ACCOUNTANT

BEAUTY

Indian CA with 15 yrs exp working

as Finance Head of MNC looking for

Job. NOC Available. 94047434

Indian male , 16 years of experience

and knowledge of tally also having

driving license and release, looking

for suitable positio n.

Contact : 96425101

Male 26 yrs, MBA in Accounts

and Finance, 2 years Experience in

Management and Accounts Fields,

and 1 year experience in Operations

in Oman Looking for a suitable job.

Contact 94374745

Indian male 32 years MBA, 6 out

of 14 years experience in Oman in

accounts / finance having NOC and

Valid Oman driving license last date

in Oman 01/AUG/2015.

Contact: 94051463


Indian male, B.Com 1 year experi-

ence in Accounts, on visit visa.

Contact 98295101

Indian male, 30 years, CMA

(Inter),M.com.4 out of 7 years

experience in Oman in Auditing/

Accounts/ Finance. Having NOC and

valid Oman D/L. Contact: 96746420

, Email: [email protected]

Part Time Accounting, Accounts

Finalization, Audit Preparation,

Internal Audit, Onsite Tally

Training, Inventory Management

Contact : 96975454,

email : [email protected]

Dynamic, Young Accountant

Professional with CPA and ACCA (in

progress) 2/3 years experience up

to finalization of accounts. currently

in Oman on visit. Contact: 94704330

/ 99094531

Indian male 22 yrs B. Com Graduate

1 year exp in Accounts, currently on

visit visa. Looking for suitable job.

Contact 94341848 /

Email – [email protected]

Diploma in Computer 10 years expe-

rience as an Accountant, female now

in visit visa. Contact: 95453643

Accountant Indian male, 9 years

experience in Oman can do up to

finalization. NOC available can be

joined immediately.

Contact: 94134085


Chartered Accountant with ICWA

Inter having 5 years experience in

Finance, Accounts, Costing, Budget-

ing, Insurance, Treasury & Banking

operations - NOC Available + Oman

Driving License

Contact : 97881548

[email protected]

Indian female 25 MBA looking for

a suitable opening in Accounts,

Admin/Hr. Contact 97013375

Accountant 8 yrs experience

looking part time job.

Contact 99867456

Young, energetic 24, ACCA finalist,

Advanced diploma in Accounting

and business, seeking suitable

placement in accounts, finance or

audit. Contact: 92430152


Motivated and energetic male 25

having 4 years of experience in

finance with Master’s degree in Eco-

nomics and CAT Certified seeking

opportunity in Accounts/finance/

audit in a reputable organization.

Cell no: 00968-94626209 E-Mail:

[email protected]

Reduced experience Waiter / Su-pervisor/ Juice maker, Shawarma maker. Contact: 95395378

Traditional Omani restaurant requires: Waitress for restaurant. Delivery man with bike license

preferred. Interested candidates send

CV to: Email: [email protected]

Contact: 95892831

Requires experience Cook for an Om-

ani family 1Nos. Contact: 99228046


Family in Muscat seeking to hire an experienced butler. Hotel experi-

ence is preferred. Candidate must

hold a valid driver’s license.

Please send CV’s on

[email protected]

Finance Manager required : looking

for an experienced CA / Finance

Manager with knowledge of the

local market, able to take charge of

the companies finance department ,

must hold valid GCC driving license,

NOC required. E mail CV to

[email protected]

Urgently required female accountant with an experience

minimum 3years Email CV on

[email protected]

Urgently required Junior Account-ant. Please send CV:

[email protected]

MEDICAL

SKILLED

IT

Urgent! Omani healthcare com-

pany looking for a smart proactive marketing executive cum product

specialist with strong English com-

munication skills, healthcare back-

ground and marketing experience

in medical/pharmacy/microbiology/

biotechnology field. Omani driving

license is a must. Mail your CV to:

[email protected]

Specialist physiotherapy is

required from the Philippines prefer-

ably has a license to practice.

Contact :91257624


Required for a reputed Medical

Center in Al Khuwair. General Practi-tioner Doctor, X- Ray technician. Please send CV: absmc2013@gmail.

com Fax: 24488660

Driver required for a Company,

2 years experience. Visa available.

Contact 24479922

Driver available with car and with-

out car Education, B. A exp. 5 years,

language Hindi, Arabic, English.

Contact: 98522914

Driver needed, preferably female.

Must hold valid driving license.

Contact 95591068

Required Omani Driver light / heavy duty & Marketing Executive. Contact: 24816774 /99020458

DRIVER

Urgently required a silk Screen printer with good knowledge and

release letter or NOC. Contact:

93280288 or send CV to

[email protected]

Electrical draftsman AutoCAD

switch gear & MEP control panel

7 years experience Qatar. Contact:

92546203/96228100

ADMIN

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

Vacancy for Omani PRO Email:

[email protected] Mob 94192526

Urgently Required: Administra-tion with an experience minimum

in 3 years in building construc-

tion, required immediately join

and MUST have NOC.Apply, fax

00968–24605955,

emails [email protected],

[email protected].

MANAGER

Commercial Manager required, looking for experienced Commercial

Manager with in depth knowledge

/ contacts within the local market,

must be able to deal professionally

with clients. Must hold valid GCC

driving license, NOC required. Email

CV to [email protected]

Marketing Manager required, looking for experienced Marketing

Manager to work in the insurance

field, preferable to hold CMA license,

must hold valid GCC driving license,

NOC required. Contact : 99315069

Wanted part time female Sales Executive with D/L for a reputed

company. Contact 94688874

Required Sales Executive, Graphic and Interior Designer in 3D design

& PRO for Advertisement com-

pany in Oman having experience in

Events, media & press conferences.

Submit CV to

[email protected] Contact :

95306030 / 24478233 / 22021181

Looking for a Staff has experience

in Oman in real estate and real

estate valuation.

Contact : sms Whatsapp 99109094,

[email protected]

A leading marketing company is

looking for outdoor Sales Execu-tives on part time or full time basis

in Salalah. # 92760281 / 96436719

Required Sales Executive with

minimum 2 years experience in Rice

/ FMCG sales. Email:

[email protected]

Looking for Outdoor Salesman for

heavy equipment spare parts.

Contact - 93292015,


Required Sales man - 1 Person Quali-

fication. Gulf Experienced - Minimum

5 Years with Oman Driving Licence

Language - English Education:- Any

Degree Further Contact :

Mr. Abdul Hameed

Nashabat - Mobile No: 97414307 and

-92807399 [email protected]

Urgently required Sales and Marketing Executive for Graphic de-

signing company. Contact: 96727631

mail: [email protected]

Required Sales & Marketing execu-tive with valid D/L and NOC with 2

years Oman experience for Foodstuff

Trading Company. Interested may

send their CV to

[email protected]

Well established company in

selling chocolate, Arabian sweets

and fresh flowers, opening ITS first

branch in Muscat seeking:

1- sweets and chocolates Sales man 2- flower arranger (Asian/ Filipino Nationality)

Contact: 94490011


A company from UAE require 2 merchandisers in retail food

supply, store keeper with English

and invoicing experience. Email:

[email protected]

Urgently Required: Male – handles overall store operations of the Su-

permarket, Prior Experience a MUST,

knowledgeable in MSOffice. Send CV

to [email protected] or

fax to 244-92718.

Mason, C.C.T.V, Technician, Electrician cum Plumber. Contact - 99383044

Omani hard working have 6 years

experience as PRO and 4 years

as Admin officer and transport in

change with 6 years as safety office

on driving good English and PDO /

DL seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 92959251

A Lady with 5 years experience in

HR/Admin is looking for suitable job

and can join immediately.

Contact : 94465835

Indian male, MBA, HR seeking

immediate placement, on visit

visa. Contact 92624333. Email :

[email protected]

Indian Female MBA 3 Year Experi-

ence in Admin MIS, Family Visa.

Contact - 98234427,

[email protected]

System administrator with 3 years

experience hold a degree, MCITP,

CCNA , CCTV biometric ,

seeking job in a company.

Contact: 99630084/98129845

Indian female 29 MBA (HR) BSc,

4 yrs exp in HR& Admin looking

suitable placement.

Contact : 95619537

Indian female with 10 yrs of experi-

ence in HR/Banking/Operations

seeks a suitable placement.

Can be contacted on 98919015 or

[email protected]

Required 1 male 1 female experi-

ence minimum 2 years, preferable

experience in travel tourism, good

work ethic, driving license, and

knows English & Arabic. Forward

your resume or CV to:

[email protected]

A reputed media company required female Marketing Executives with

minimum 3 years experiences in

Public relations, publishing &

advertising (with driving license).

Contact: 93946622 or FW: CV

[email protected]

Required male or female candidate with 5 years experience in renting

of properties. Interested candidates

may please mail to

[email protected]

A reputed shipping and forwarding company urgently require Opera-tions Executive valid Omani D/L is

must. Experienced hands in ship-

ping field are preferred. Send your

CV to [email protected]

Minimum 2 years of experience

with valid gulf light driving license

interested candidates please

Contact: 99222086 /98585851

Required exp. employee for travel

agency in Saham.

Contact :93655939 / 92900021

Required 2 male 2 female experi-ence minimum 2 years, preferable

experience in Travel tourism, good

work ethic, fluent English, French,

German (Dutch), Italian. Forward

your resume or CV to:

[email protected]

Looking for a Sales Engineer (Me-

chanical) with 2 to 3 year relevant

experience in the Oman market

with driving license .

Please forward your CV to :

[email protected]

Required a part time steel Struc-tural Design Engineer for a reputed

steel fabrication company in

Muscat. Interested person may

Contact : 99451158

Leading Construction Company requires Quantity Surveyor (QS)

with 4-6 yrs Gulf experience. Send

your CV : qsmuscat2015@gmail.

com (NOC required).

Quantity Surveyor (Civil & MEP) -1 No., Project Engineer – 1No both

with 7 yrs. Gulf experience.

Contact /


Reputed consultancy office require a Mechanical Design Engineer with minimum 8 years experience

in design of HVAC systems and

plumbing services. Please send your

detailed resume to:

[email protected]

Required Civil Engineer (build-

ings) Oman experience 5+ years,

BOQ+ Tendering + site supervision.

Contact: 95218004


Construction Company in Oman

urgently requires following candi-

dates: BE Civil Engineer, minimum

3-5 years gulf experience & Civil site foreman, minimum 5 years gulf

experience, diploma not required.


Leading Construction Company requires Project Engineer, Degree

holder with minimum 5 to 6 years

experience in building construction

line. (NOC require) Send your CV to –

[email protected]

Required Civil Engineer (BE/ B.

Tech) with minimum 2 years GCC

experience and valid Oman driving

license. Email:

[email protected]

Construction Company in Oman

urgently requires the following:

B.Sc Civil Engineer, minimum 3-5

yrs Gulf experience. Civil Site Fore-man, minimum 5 yrs experience

with operating knowledge of Tally.

Please Email CV ;

[email protected]

IND male WEB developer 5 yrs exp

B.Tech (comp science) PHP, HTML

MYSQL Java script CSS.

Contact: 95990529


Wanted experienced Beautician for

beauty parlor in Al Amerat 3.

Contact: 91107337

Law firm office at Shatti al Qurum

looking for Indian legal advisor minimum 5 years experience in

Oman. Whatsapp 99772277

[email protected]

MISCELLANEOUS

Indian male, well experienced in

accounts and admin looking for a

suitable vacancy. NOC available.

Contact: 98717938

Indian male with total 5 year experi-

ence (2 years experience in Account-

ant cum sales co ordinator in a FMCG

Company in Oman) in accounts field

and NOC available. Looking for

suitable job Contact 92130188

Sudanese Accountant seeking

job in Nizwa state experience 10

years 3 years in Saudi Arabia, 7

yrs in Sudan. Contact : 97796394 /

94003247

MBA Graduate with 6 yrs exp in

finance/accounts/ auditing. Special-

ized in accounts payable dept, Ora-

cle app user, proficient in Sap (fico)

end user & tally 9.0. lean &six sigma

certified trainer on visit visa.

Contact – 91967213 / 99064780

Finance Manager, CPA, with more

than 15 yrs. of experience in GCC.

Fully knowledgeable in Finance,

General & Management Accounting .

NOC available. Contact 96209331

Indian Accountant: Male, M com,

7 Yrs experience in Accounts up to

finalization, having knowledge

of ERP, Tally, seeks suitable

placment.Contact 93950138


Indian male 2+yrs oman exp in HR.

joing immediatly. release available.

Contact :93671437

ADMIN

Required for Engineering consul-

tancy office a Supervision Staff for road project at Ibri region: Civil Engineer (B.Sc) RE with 12

years experience & Land Surveyor

(Diploma) with 8 years experience.

Please email CV & certificate copy to

[email protected]



DESIGNER

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

DEEE - Electrical Supervisor

10 years Oman experience. Ready for

NOC, visa transfer and valued Oman

red board light driving license.

Contact: 968 95298437

Mechanical Engineer, Indian 24

with 2 yrs experience in HVAC- MEP

Revit – MEP, AutoCAD – MEP Navis

solid works Catia PRO-E primavera.

Contact: 96975382


Indian female, BE, Civil engineer

with 1 year experience looking for

suitable vacancy, on visit.

Contact 95139583,

Email : [email protected]

B.E in ECE worked as Junior Scien-

tist Trainee in Chennai worked as

System Admin in Berik Honda Nag-

ger coil worked at Technical Support

in Samsung Service, presently in

Bangalore. Contact : 0091706267513

Indian female 23, B.Tech (Electrical

& Electronics) & Diploma in

Electrical CAD on Visit Visa seeks

suitable placement.

Contact: 99278410 / 94027398,


Indian Civil Engineer (buildings)

available immediately as supply

contract. Contact: 93263834

Civil Engineer, 8 years experience

BOQ establishing, 5 years experience

in Oman Building and S.T.P experi-

ence, good knowledge of computer,

MS Excel, AutoCAD .

Contact: 99471944

MEDICAL

MISCELLANEOUS

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

Indian male, B.E ( computer science

engineer), MBA (finance), OCA certi-

fied, having 5 years of experience in

oracle Dba/ oracle apps Dba, seeks

a suitable position in the field of IT.

Contact: 96212062

email: [email protected]

Well experienced MOH Licensed

Indian GP Doctor looking for locum /

permanent position in the

Capital area. Contact 98140024

email:[email protected]

Architect and Interior designer, 8

years exp capable of managing turn

key projects, design, BOQ, Execution.

NOC available. Contact : 95273166

Interior Designer: Indian male 31,

8 years exp. in GCC, NOC available.

95217586

Production Manager 13 years

experience in cast Aluminium fab.

field and good track record seeking

for a suitable job. NOC ready in Hand.

Contact: 96392319

Indian male, with 8 yrs exp. in

Oman (BA- Graduate) working as

a project Sales Coordinator, with

Oman D/L, looking for suitable job,

ready to join immediately with NOC.

Contact 95245057

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

EDUCATION

Bangladeshi male light driver seeking suitable placement 1 yr

experience. Contact: 94158238

Driver available with car driver &

without car. Contact 96771598 /

94039796

Pakistani male (27) light driver

seeking job, 4 years experience in

Oman. Contact 96346582

Driver, 42 yrs seeks for suitable

job KSA, 12 years Oman 4 years,.

Contact: 95796030

Light driver. Contact: 95779594

Light Driver experience 4 yrs.

Contact: 98779907

15 years experience driver in Oman

can speak Arabic, English & Hindi.

Contact: 96656270

Looking for driving job. Contact: 98219182

Driver looking for job. # 99507039

Pakistani driving available.

Contact : 96913836

DRIVER

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

Indian female MCA, Three years

experience in teaching field, seeks

placement currently on visit visa.

Contact: 93431567


Indian male present in Oman can

join immediately. Diploma civil with

CAD & 3d. #: 92875345 /92887561


Indian female Dentist MOH Oman

passed seeking a suitable place-

ment in capital region.

Contact– 91377681

[email protected]

Indian male Radiographer 3+ years

of experience Diploma in Radiologi-

cal technology, looking for suitable

post. Contact: 98843139

M.Sc Nursing in Obstetrics and

Gynecology 3 yrs exp in teaching &

2 yrs at bed side looking for suitable

position, Indian female on visit visa.

Contact: 96220839

Male BSC Nurse parametric passed

ACLS BLS holder now in visit visa

seeking for suitable post.

Contact: 96516406

Lab Technician, Civil (8yrs Gulf

experience) looking for a suitable

job (NOC available)

Contact-93344378

TOURS & TRAVELS

25 Indian female B.S.C. Fashion

Technology. 5 years experience in

textile industry as a merchandiser

and good in fashion marketing.

Currently available on visit visa,

seeking for a suitable job.

Contact 96990368.


MBA (F), B.COM. Indian female

having knowledge of accounts with

Tally looking for full or part time

job. presently on family visit visa.

Contact :- 96259171.

Email:- [email protected]

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, Indian

male,29 years.8 years experience

.Presently working in Oman as a

Senior Accountant with oman Driv-

ing license. NOC available, seek suit-

able opportunity. GSM: 97705854

Sudanese male (B.Sc Computer Sci-

ence) (Diploma Computer Engineer-

ing) 6 yrs. experience DBA Oracle

PL-SQL , MS SQL-server, MS visual

studio VBA, network.

Contact :91415886

BSc Graduate, INDIAN male ,

seeking suitable jobs.

GSM: +91-8589820233.

MAIL ID: [email protected]

Syrian male 3yrs. exp in IT support,

Networking, Security systems, Serv-

er support, IT sales and marketing.

Valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement. Contact 91033395

Indian Male, 38 years old, DME –

Mechanical Maintenance Technician

11 years Oman experience. Ready for

NOC , VISA transfer, ready to join im-

mediately, Mob +968 95612870,

[email protected]

Indian Male, 34 years old, DEE –

Electrical Supervisor 10 years Oman

experience. Ready for NOC , VISA

transfer and valid Oman driving

licence light, ready to join immedi-

ately, Mob +91 9740679094,

[email protected]

BE. Biomedical Engineer, 5 years

experience in the same field (Hos-

pital/company)looking for suitable

placement. Contact:92084807

Email:[email protected]

ELECTRICAL ENGINEER – Indian

male seeking Electrical Engineer job

with 2 years’ experience.

Contact: 94263445, E mail –

[email protected]

ACCOUNTANT: Indian male 25 hav-

ing 4years experience in accounting

& having well knowledge in tally.

Contact:968094535881,

0091 9037622048


ACCA Affiliate, 2.5years experience

in Audit/Finance in Global Big6

Firms and Oil company in Oman,

Looking for suitable permanent

placement. Release NOC Available.

Contact: #95140445,

[email protected]

Manager, Young Indian Male, MBA,

BBA. Having excellent manage-

rial experience (around 5 years) in

leading Multi-National-Company.

Looking for suitable positions.

Contact: 92700670,

[email protected]

Indian Female MA. B.Ed. with One

year three months Teaching

experience. Subject: EnglishSeeking

for a Better placement.

Now working in Oman.

Contact 93961142, 92184408,


Sudanese/ 26 years/ master of

clinical pharmacy(1st class)/ 1 year

experience/live in India/excellent

communication in English(IELTS

Certificate) and arabic/

pharmacist license/

[email protected]

00919600413966-96387227

Indian Male Web developer with

5 year experience. Indian, Male, 27

years, B Tech(Computer science),

professional in php, html, mysql,

javascript, css. Contact:95990529


An experienced person who can

handle complete office activities and

purchases looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact: 92360524

Indian male Civil (B.E) with 2 yrs

well known E tabs staad, safe look-

ing for structural position. Contact:

98768045 / 96698342 Email:

[email protected]

26 years Oman experienced person

in automobiles, showroom & work-

shop areas seeks suitable replace-

ment. currently working as General

Manager in a local company.

Contact no: +968-92009700

CARPENTER-15 years gulf exp. In-

dian male looking for suitable post.

Present working in Crown Plaza.

NOC available. Please contact Jacob

96940120. [email protected]

Chemical Engineer with 04 years

experience in petrochemical refinery

sector seeking for & suitable position

in petrochemical oil & gas, refinery

EPC Companies. #00968 91748400

Indian male B.Tech (ECE), MBA (HR)

2 years of experience in CCNA, CCNP

and hands on practice in Linux and

MCSE, looking for suitable job.

Contact: 93487225

B.Tech mechanical Engineer 16 yrs

experience 3 yrs exp in Oman now

production manager in Galvanizing

and steel fabrication area looking for

suitable placement NOC available.

Contact: 93714500/91395765

Electrical Eng. Degree (MEP) need

suitable job of construction 12 yrs exp.


Indian female, B.Tech biotechnology with strong computer

skills and 2 years experience as

associate research analyst (Media

Monitoring) in Nasdaq Oman seek-

ing growth oriented jobs. Contact

92044603 /918056169148 or

[email protected].

Indian Male, IT Support Engineer,

2 yrs in Oman & 5 yrs Indian experi-

ence. Contact 97311847

Btech computer science graduate

2015 passout.. Android application

marketing.. Having good communi-

cation skills and mindset to work in

a team. Contact 91024385

Engineer with 3 yrs experience in

Indian in MEP, HVAC& mechanical

maintained field on visit visa looking

for suitable job. Contact 99191535


Female Postgraduate searching

suitable job. Contact 97792820

Indian male Oman D/L 2 years

Saudi experience in electrical, fire

and safety one year Oman logistic

management experience.

Contact : 91233475

Bangladeshi Post Graduate seeks

a job good command in English and

computer ready to take the chal-

lenge. Contact 93982627 Email:

[email protected]

B.E computer science, female,

2 years experience in IT/ HR/Admin-

istration with GCC driving license,

looking job suitable vacancy in IT/

HR/ Administration filed.

Contact: 97738624

Filipino Male looking for a job &

have experience in sales, waiter,

barista, technical support / customer

service with good communication

skills. Contact 91789465

Indian material controller/ store

keeper seeking job in Oman NOC /

Release available.

Contact: 91946174

Indian Female with over 9 yrs ex-

perience with good communication

skills seeks jobs in customer service

or sales field. Contact : 96108289,

[email protected]

Part- Time Accountant, well experi-

ence senior accountant ,doing all

type of accounting works, Finaliza-

tion, Budgeting available.

Contact: :98803439

MCA, BCA with 2 yrs relevant expe-

rience seeking suitable opportunity.

Contact: 96377039

13 Years UAE experienced in MNC &

reputed firms logistics distribution

looking for a suitable placement, on

visit visa contact 99838743,

[email protected]

Male Indian BBM Graduate 8 years

experience in logistics and ware

housing in a reputed company valid

driving license NOC available look-

ing for suitable position. Contact :

96311786 Email: [email protected]

SALES / MARKETING

Indian female (MTECH) having Gulf

experience in family visa seeking

suitable placement in Oman.

Contact : 94306164 / 91001194

Indian male MBA 7 years experience

in Hospitality industry, operation,

sales & marketing looking for suitable

vacancy. Contact 92115860

Email [email protected]

Indian 6 years experience as Sales

Executive with 2 years visa, driving

license seek suitable job.

Contact 92233068

6 years experienced male holding

Masters Degree with experience in

customer relationship, real estate,

Sales and IT. Contact: 98823248


Indian male Graduate with 18 years

experience in Sales and Marketing

currently on visit visa seeks suitable

placement. Contact : 91996486 /

99732070

Indian male looking for Sales

Executive job 2 years experience

in Indian completed B.B.A (visiting

visa). Contact : 95462921

Pakistani male 34 yrs Intermedi-

ate 2 yrs exp in sales & marketing

in Oman. Looking for suitable job.

Contact - 92146864

Indian male. 27, Post Graduate, 5+

yrs exp in Oman in Sales & Credit

Control, with valid Oman driving

License, NOC available, looking for

suitable placements. Ph: 9199 3376

Indian Male, B.Com Graduate,

23, with experience in Sales looking

for suitable placements. .

Contact 98371144

Indian male 45+ yrs , 20 yrs exp as

sales supervisor in India looking for

indoor sales /stores /cashier or any

suitable placement can speak Hindi

, English, Malayalam, Tamil, kannada

can join immediately on visit visa.

Contact 93086105/33016546

Indian female B.com Graduate hav-

ing 8 years experience in Indian & 2

years experience in Oman as sales

coordinator, secretary, customer

service seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 95433987

Electrical Engineer, 29, Indian Male,

having 7+ years exp. in reputed

companies. Seeking suitable

placement in any Oman.

Contact - 97693456.

Mail ID : [email protected]

32 years, Filipina with experience

in Teleperformance, Manila call

centre, now working as Waitress in

Qatar seeking suitable post.

Contact 99022484

24 Years, indian male 2.5 Years ex-

perience in admin & accounts, dubai.

Currently on visit visa. Seeking suit-

able placement in admin & accounts.

M: 93016252 EMAIL:

[email protected]

Indian male, MBA with 20 years of

experience in back office operation,

risk and operational management,

financial management for Finance

and Trading companies. Presently

available on visit visa.

Contact: 91276221

CCNA MCITP network support /net-

work technician with 2 years experi-

ence indian male having bachelors

degree on visit visa.

Contact : 93080871

[email protected]

Video Editor 29 years Indian male

with 8 years experience on visit visa

looking for a suitable placement

contact: 91275969

[email protected]

Omani male , BBA ,with 6 year

experience in HR &Admin looking for

opportunity in HR & Admin in Mus-

cat. Joint date after one month notice

period . Mobile 92223279

24 years, Indian Chartered Account-

ant male with 3 yrs of experience

is seeking suitable placement in

Muscat, currently on visit visa &

ready to join immediately. Kindly

contact him on 98201476 or email at

[email protected]

Indian male 25 years B.tech com-

puters (Having 3 years of experience

in customer service/Admin/IT Sup-

port) looking for suitable position.

Visa Transfer/NOC Available im-

mediate to join. Contact: 98402389,

Mail: [email protected]

Having 9+ years exp. in Admin,

Purchase, Stores & Warehouse in re-

puted companies. Presently working

in Muscat and seeking for suitable

placement. Contact +968 97693456.

email : [email protected]

Innovative Indian Male 29, B.E &

M.Tech Web designer / developer

with over 5.5 years of work experi-

ence in HTML 5, CSS 3, SEO, Digital

marketing (DFP & DCM), Magento,

CMS, Photoshop and Dreamweaver.

Can join ASAP. # 00968 9630 3055

/ email: [email protected]

10 YEAR Experienced PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHER.

Currently working at Kerala, India.

Seeks placement.

Contact: 95872030 ,

email: - [email protected]

Indian male 48yrs with driving

license looking for a job to work as

driver / salesman. Residing at Al

Khoudh. Contact: 99551310

Young Indian Chartered Accountant,

female, Having 6 years experience

in Oman and India. Accounts and

Finance Manager, Auditor. Urgently

seeking suitable positions.

Contact-92530131,

[email protected]

M.Sc 3+ years exp from France &

India in IT Support Engineer / Hard-

ware & Networking / Server support

/ scientific system support looking

for suitable position. Indian, male

on visit visa, contact 98898781/

[email protected]

Indian female BCA, MCA SAP ABAP

certification, ASP. Net certification, 2

years of experience looking for a job.

Contact: 99109121

Business development manager IT & Non – IT, 7 years experience

Oman driving license seeks position

good prospects. Contact: 99329216

Indian male 25 yrs exp in Adminis-

tration, Telecom, Optical Fiber Com-

munication, Networking, MS Office.

Seeks any job. On visit visa.

Contact – 91385373 /

[email protected]

Computer Networking/Facility

Mgmt 5 Yrs of Exp Holds B.E(ECE),

CCNA Looking for Good Opportunity,

Indian - Visit Visa. Contact 91911792/

[email protected]

Network system Engineer B.E / ECE

+ CCNA & Ms certified with 4+ yrs exp

looking for a job. Currently in Oman

on visit visa. Contact: 92589502

Email: careersjegan

IT

Tanzanian male, 25 yrs Accountant

successful experience in Tanzania

looking for suitable placement in any

field. Contact : 96710154

Tunisian lady has Professorship in

social and economical sciences and

accounting, diploma in Experimen-

tal Sciences degree in English for

media. Contact 95391050,

[email protected]

Content Executive, freshers with

good communication skills and will-

ingness to learn may apply on

[email protected]

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624


D6 S U N D AY, J U LY 5 , 2 0 1 5

Filipino Male looking for a job &

have experience in sales, waiter,

barista, technical support / customer

service with good communication

skills. # 91789465

PART TIME ACCOUNTANT, Indian

male, M. Com, 35 years, 12 Years

exp. in Accounts, 8 years in Oman.

Knowledge upto finalization. Having

valid D/L, seeks suitable Placement.

GSM: 96249124

Egyptian Civil Engineer, total expe-

rience 7 years - 2 years experience

in Oman. I am looking for Project

Engineer, I have good experience in

site & office works.

Contact number:91148708

Indian Male 24 years, Looking for a

Suitable Job in Telecom / Network-

ing. 1 year sales experience. MSc.

Communications Engineering &

Valid Driving license. Ph: 91280121.

Email: [email protected].

ACCOUNTING – Indian male seeking

accounting job with 2 years

experience in accounting.

Contact: 94263445, E mail –

contactantonyxavieranand@gmail.

com

Sudanese male: 27 yrs, 2 years ex-

perience in accounting, other experi-

ence (purchasing – HR - Coordinat-

ing and Office Management), looking

for a job Omani Driving License,

NOC. Contact: 94174403

24 year Indian Chartered Account-

ant male with 3yrs of experience is

seeking suitable placement in Mus-

cat, currently on visit visa & ready

to join immediately. Contact him on

98201476 or email at

[email protected]

Sudanese male (B.Sc, computer sci-

ence) (diploma computer engineer-

ing), 6 yrs. experience DBA oracle

PL-SQL, MS SQL - Server, MS visual

studio vba, network. # 91415886

Syrian male 3yrs. exp in IT support,

Networking, Security systems, Serv-

er support, IT sales and marketing.

Valid Omani D/L seeking suitable

placement. Contact 91055584

Over 15 years experience in Gulf.

Interior Architect, Lebanese Nation-

ality, on visit visa seeking a suitable

Placement. 96268005.

PRODUCTION OPERATOR – Indian

male seeking production operator or

related jobs with 4 years of experi-

ence in oil & gas field. #94263445.


Indian Keralite Male 35 looking for

Scaffolding supervisor post having 5

years of Supervisor and HSE experi-

ence in GCC Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Fluent in English Arabic and Hindi .

Contact 96155921, or mail

[email protected]

Indian Male 28 yrs, having 7 years

Gulf + Indian experience in HR and

Admin field, looking for suitable place-

ment. Contact: 97914340,


Indian Male 28 years MSM, B. Com

having 6years experience in Gulf

and India as a HR and Admin looking

for suitable placement.# :97914340.


B.Sc. Mechanical Engineer Suda-

nese 3 yrs of exp. In industrial field

available in muscat on vist visa

seeking suitable job .

Contact: 95868922, Email:

[email protected]

IT system and Printer engineer ME,

5Years bank IT Management exp in

India looking for full time job visit

visa contact 94462150

Indian male with 8 yrs experience

in FMCG in Oman as Sales Supervi-

sor looking for suitable placement.

NOC available. Gsm: 96495206







[email protected]

MCA IT Professional Indian Female

seek placement in Teaching/ Non

Teaching field. Presently on visit

visa. 9588 7051,

[email protected]

ACCA Affiliate, Indian, 2.5Years

experience in Audit/ Finance in Big

6 Audit Firm and Oil Accounting in

PDO, For Permanent Placement for

Finance or Accounts or Audit. Re-

lease NOC Available on hand.

Contact #95140445,

[email protected]

Finance ACCA Affiliate, Worked as

an Auditor with 2.5 Years Experience

in reputed firm, Handled independ-

ent audit/finance assignments, Look-

ing for permanent placement, NOC

available. #95140445.

[email protected]

Piping Design Engineer, Indian

male 27, looking for suitable place-

ment in Piping Design & Engineer-

ing. Having 7 years of experience in

AutoCAD. Also familiar with PDMS

(11.6 Version),CAESAR ll. Contact :

97351786 / 96143708, E-mail :

[email protected]

Sudanese male (B.Sc Computer sci-

ence) (diploma computer engineer-

ing) 6 yrs. experience DBA Oracle pl-

sql, MS sql-server ,ms visual studio

vba, network. Contact :91415886

Indian Male, Graduate, 11 years

Sales experience in Lighting /

Industrial products, ready to join im-

mediately. GSM: 9710 5356

Indian heavy duty driver with 8

years experience in oman available

with NOC. GSM : 93601943

GSM : 94496457

Indian male, 28 yrs MBA (HR/M) 2

years experience in Indian Oman in

HR & admin seeks suitable place-

ments. NOC available.

Contact 97484159


M.Sc 3+ years exp from France &

India in IT Support Engineer / Hard-

ware & Networking / Server support

/ scientific system support looking

for suitable positions. Indian, male

on visit visa, contact 98898781/

[email protected]

Looking for managerial post (full

time ), More than Ten years of expe-

rience in Team Development ,Train-

ing, planning, Administration, Sales

& Marketing, Advertisement and

Credit Control and Logistics. Contact

91076608 / 99322748. Release &

noc available

Indian male, 34years having 10

years of experience in Sales, Sales

Coordination and Administration.

Experienced in SAP and

MS Office. NOC available.

Contact # 94686594

Indian Male MBA Marketing/HRM

3 year experience with Omani D/L,

seeking suitable jobs.

Contact: 97424188


Indian, Male, 23 years, BE Electri-

cal, having 2 years experience in

Electrical Works-H.T. cabling etc,

& Construction, looking for a suit-

able placement. # +968 96927880

(Oman), +91 9765376109 (India),


Indian Female M.Com with Com-

puter Skills and Four Month Experi-

ence as Accountant ,Currently On

Family Visa Looking for a Suitable

Placement, Available Immediately.

Contact : 95846642,


Omani Mechanical Engineer, has

3 years experience ,has HSE, H2S,

Riggers/Banks men Permit, Drawing

/ cad, SCBA, Safety Leadership and

Initial Fire Response Courses. good

with computer and English language

looking for suitable job.

Contact 99224319-98454500

Indian male 22 Mechanical Diploma

holder Engg with HVAC certified,

having 1 year exp. seeking suitable

position. Currently available on visit

visa. Contact - 92835952

Indian male Diploma, Civil engineer

4.3 year experience at building

construction and consulting

company with Oman driving licence

and N.O.C available seeking suitable

placement Contact 95989500

email [email protected]

Business development Manager/Executive. Preferably minimum of

2 years experience. Valid driving

licence can apply on

[email protected]

Tunisian women looking for a job,

khnows english,frensh, italian and

arabic. Contact: 91171838

Indian female Nurse with 5 yrs of

experience, presently working in

Oman, seeking for suitable place-

ment. NOC available can join imme-

diately. Contact: 98329941


Looking for part time jobs in Mus-

cat, Auto cad Draughtsman (Civil).

contact:-+968-99070584


Indian female MA. B.Ed. with one

year three months teaching experi-

ence. Subject: English Seeking for a

Better placement. Now working in

Oman Contact: 93961142, 92184408


B.Sc. Mechanical Engineer Suda-

nese 3 yrs of exp. In industrial field

available in Muscat on visit visa

seeking suitable job .

Contact: 95868922, Email:

[email protected]

Indian Male MBA with two year

experience in H.R as a H.R As-

sistant, Now in India, Seeking

for an urgent suitable position.

Contact:-98620260 / 93895992 ,


Indian male auto cad draughts-

man (civil) 8 years experience,

seeking for part time job mobile no:

0096899070584


8 years successful experience.

Senior Accountant, Indian male,

29 years, presently working in oman

as a senior accountant with oman

driving license. NOC available.

seek suitable opportunity.

gsm: 97705854



ACCA Affiliate, Experience in audit/

finance of 2.5 years in Big 6 Firm

and Oil industry, looking for suitable

permanent placement, Release NOC

available. Contact: #95140445

[email protected]

B.Tech Computer Engineer Wanted

job to work on(IT/Banking/Admin-

istrator/Technical/Office works)

having NOC with the limited time

from (04/06/2015 to 13/06/2015).

Mobile:98402389

email:[email protected]

British Beauty Therapist looking

for suitable position. please contact

:97175240

Highly Qualified & Experienced

Finance Manager Pakistani with

USA , UK & Canadian Degrees , CPA

,ACCA-UK . MBA-USA ,IFA- Finan-

cial Consultants Canada , Corporate

Analyst USA Professional of Bank-

ing , Audits ,ERPs & Profit Maximi-

zations ( NOC available ) call 94

504505 – 94403270

27 year Indian female who has 4

years of experience with logistics

function in distribution of spares

for both heavy machinery & wind

turbine parts. Kindly contact me on

+91 9790769104

E-mail: [email protected]

Indian male Executive Secretary

having vast experience in admin,

logistics & procurement well versed

with computer .seek suitable place-

ment. Contact : 99514286

Indian male MBA (U.K), 10 Years

of experience in Admin, Sales, HR,

stores and logistics seeks suitable

placement. Contact 99271903.

Indian Female MCA, 4 plus Years

of experience in Web designing, Ad-

min, P.A, seeks suitable placement.

Contact 99486374

8 Years successful experience,

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, Indian

male,29 years. Presently working in

Oman as a Senior Accountant

with oman Driving license seeks suit-

able opportunity. GSM: 97705854

7 and half years experience working

accounts / inventory manager look-

ing suitable job. Contact: 96991782


Indian female , MCA BCA, certifica-

tion PL SQL , 6months training PHP,

date warehouse looking for suitable

placement. #95694330 Email:

[email protected]

B.Com with more than 5 yrs exp.

looking for an accounts part tome

job work. know with tally.

[email protected]

Part- time accountant, well experi-

ence senior accountant , doing all

type of accounting works, finaliza-

tion, budgeting available.

Contact : 98803439

Indian male, looking for a part time

accounting job. Having additional

knowledge & experience in

HR admin & purchase.

Contact 99196621

Indian Female, 24yrs, M.COM (Ac-

counts) having 3yrs experience

in Accounts, HR, Administration,

Customer Service. Good Computer

Proficiency. Seeking Suitable Posi-

tion. Visa Transfer/NOC Available.

Contact: 99654913

HSE Advisor, NEBOSH IGC, Indian

male, 4 years experience in con-

struction and oil fields, seeking suit-

able jobs. Gsm: 97458900,

Mail: [email protected]

Highly Experienced Finance Man-

ager, CPA ,ACCA-UK . MBA-USA , Pro-

fessional of Banking, Audits , ERPs

Sap , Management as Team Leader

and Problem Solver call 94 504505

/ 94403270

Indian male MBA Finance presently

OMAN IN visit visa, 26 years, looking

for an accountant job. # 95240641,

email Id mohammadabdulazharud-

[email protected]

Admin Executive, 31, Indian Male,

having 9+ years exp. in reputed

companies. Seeking suitable place-

ment in any gulf region. Contact

+968 99276601 & 97693456. email :

[email protected]

MEP Quantity Surveyor-Estimation-

Project, 10 Years Experience

(3 years in Oman). Having NOC &

Oman D/L, looking for suitable job,

Contact - 98291626

Indian house maid looking full time

job. Contact : 98254909

B.E. Civil Engineer age 27, total 3

years of experience in Mumbai look-

ing for placement asap in oman now

on visit visa of 1 month ph 9571 3441

Email. [email protected]

Indian Male, 29 years, CCNP, MCITP

having Bachelor degree and 6 years

of experience in Networking looking

for job. 96760618 /

[email protected]

Sudanese male, 31 year old, have 3

year Diploma in electrical engineer,

5 years experience in different ac-

tivities . Mobile No ; +96894549609

ACCA affiliate, with 2.5 years

experience in Big6 audit firm and

Oil industry, looking for permanent

placement in Accounts/Audit.

Release available Contact :95140445

[email protected]

Indian Female, Commerce Graduate,

Total 9 yrs of experience in India.

worked as Accounts Assistant and

Business executive seeking for suit-

able placement.

Tel : 96173533/24222457


Indian Male, 29 years, CCNP, MCITP

having Bachelor degree and 6 years

of experience in Networking looking

for job. 96760618 /

[email protected]

Female Executive Assistant/Execu-

tive Secretary with 27+ experience,

worked with top management/Board

in financial services with shorthand

skills & Omani driving license,

seeks suitable placement.

call 95941515

B.E. Civil Engineer from India with

3 years of experience looking for

suitable vacancy in oman now on

visit visa. Contact 9571 3441,

Email . [email protected]

Indian male 21 IT Eng. networking &

computer hardware diploma, 1 year

experience, currently on visit visa

looking for a suitable job.# 96036273


8 yrs exp Site supervisor cum 2d,

3d Draughtsman (holding Omani

driving license) seeking job.

Contact : 93790601

Indian, 32 years, completed M.A.

English, M.Sc. Psychology and B.Ed

in English. Searching for suitable job

in the field of teaching. To

Contact: 00968 99869535


Indian Male 24 years, Looking for a

Suitable Job in Telecom / Network-

ing. 1 year sales experience. MSc.

Communications Engineering &

Valid Driving license. Ph: 91280121.


26 years Indian male with MBA &

PGDFM, Total 3.8 years experience

in Administration, seeking suit-

able placement in any gulf region.

Holding Oman valid driving license.

Contact :94501423







[email protected]

Finance ACCA Affiliate, 2.5 years

experience in audit/finance and oil

company in reputed firms. Look-

ing for suitable permanent place-

ment. Release available. Contact

95140445, [email protected]


SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise

with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain

Marine Tours Contact- 98029602,

92808636

RENT A CAR

RENT A CAR

TOURS

GOOD NEWS

Ayurvedic treatment for joint pain,

backache, paralysis massage, steam

bath, obesity, spondylitis IDEAL ,

CARE Ayurvedic Clinic 18 November

street, Azaiba. Contact 99639695 /

99117987

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

Butter cup rent a car presents fantastic offers all vehicles are model 2016.

Contact : 97249449

DRIVING

Learn driving with professional

only automatic. Contact 94022250

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text,

should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

RENT A CAR

SITUATION WANT-MANPOWER

Manpower supply we can

supply mason carpenters plumber’s

electrician and all kind of helpers for

supermarket & construction field on

yearly / monthly basis.

Contact: 98597124 / 24422208


TRANSPORTATION

Transportation. Contact: 98522914

Transportation. Contact 99508282

Pick & drop any time. Contact:

98522914 / 99512270



Pick & Drop any time. # 97014786

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624


D8 S U N D AY, J U LY 5 , 2 0 1 5

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00

noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to

space availability

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of

your marble. Contact 24793614/

99314807

House shifting. Contact 99708138

Carpet, curtain, sofa, floor,

cleaning, shampooing, marble &

mosaic tiles grinding, polishing

and painting. Contact : 93630133 /

95821193

House shifting packing.

99657644 / 98518013

Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile

polishing, pest control & anti-ter-

mite treatment, general cleaning

painting, Plumbing, Electrical,

shifting. Contact Mundhir

Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C.

# 24810137, 99450130

WEBSITE

WEB, ERP and Business Intelli-

gence (BI) creation and man-

agement at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

CLASSES

CLASSES

COMPUTER

ACCOUNTANTS AND CONSULTANTSWE ARE PROVIDING

ACCOUNTING/ AUDITINGTAX/ CONSULTING

CONTACT: 24 567 251 / 95 498 033

Admission Open: CAMBRIDGE /

BILINGUAL CURRICULUM

admission started in Al Burj Private

School, Azaiba for KG and Grade I to

IV. Please register soonest.

Contact: 93211417 / 92887809.

Split & window A.C servic-

ing & maintenance. Contact

93769089/95323517

Air condition maintenance split

and window services AC specialist

ducted and package type unites.

Contact: 98667326

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet

& sofa shampooing, Contact

99314807/24792998

Split & widow unit A.C servicing &

repairing. Contact: 99557080

Split & window unit A.C servicing &

maintenance.

Contact: 96236476

Window & split unit A.C servicing &

maintenance. Contact : 93769089 /

95323517

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance.Contact ABU QABAS-

99320217 /24788722

Carpet, Sofa Shampooing. Ocean

Center LLC. Contact: 99884591

AC servicing maintenance fixing.

Contact: 99540621

BUSINESS

Required investor for new

company. Contact: 96996938

General Investors. Gsm-99674870

Learn Cup cakes, exotic cakes, Ic-

ing decorations, handicrafts.

Contact 95941515

A/C Maintenance & servicing, fridge,

washing machine & dish washer

repairing, painting & cleaning ser-

vices, electrical & plumbing. Contact:

99447257 / 97014234 / 24504281

Pest control Treatments, termites,

cockroaches, bedbugs Ocean Center

LLC. Contact: 99344723

B.E Biomedical Engineer, having 5

years of experience in Diagnostics

division seeking suitable position.

94151658

CLASSES

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Times of Oman - July 5, 2015

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