Times Of Oman - June 24, 2015

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Salary law not helping 50% of expat workers

REJIMON [email protected]

MUSCAT: Nearly 18 months have passed since the Sultanate’s wage protection system came into effect, still only half of the expatriate workers are receiving their salary through banks, the Times of Oman has learnt.

In January 2014, a wage pro-tection system (WPS) was intro-duced by the Ministry of Man-power and the Central Bank of Oman (CBO), making wage pay-ment in the private sector man-datory through authorised banks and financial institutions.

However, referring to the of-ficial data, a Majlis Al Shura member said that only 600,000 of the 1.2 million expatriates working in Oman are getting their salaries credited into their banks accounts.

“Isn’t it surprising? We can un-derstand that a few expatriates may be running their own busi-ness with a silent Omani partner, but what about the rest? This reveals that many are bypassing the WPS norms set by the govern-ment,” said Tawfiq Al Lawati, a member from the Majlis Al Shura.

The system was implemented to create an accurate database

pertaining to the wages of work-ers in the private sector and to control the processes. The pro-gramme comes under Article 53 of the Labour law.

Under the article, salaries are to be deposited in bank accounts. It states, “The employer will be held responsible for the employ-ee’s salary until it is deposited in his account in one of the locally approved banks. A decision by the minister may determine the ex-ceptions to this rule.”

Verifying the Shura member’s statement, an official from the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) also said that they have confirmed that only a few companies have linked their wage distribution system to banks.

“The system was initiated to protect the rights of workers and

to avoid salary disputes. However, the number of companies joining the system is too low,” said the of-ficial who refused to be named.

“Similar systems are present in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Qatar. It was done in different phases to cover everyone. Oman could also have achieved it in phases and covered everyone,” added the official.

“Moving a step forward, other than creating a salary account for workers, the UAE government is-sued them with electronic cards. Moreover, the government also instructed that the companies failing to deposit the salary of their workers in banks would not be issued visas,” said the official, adding that it should be seen as a commitment rather than a profit-making business. >A6

Despite the ministry

order for payment

of private sector

staff salary through

banks, very few

companies have

followed the norms,

violating the rights

of expat workersOMANRamadan and Zakat

2In Ramadan, Muslims share their possessions with their less fortunate

fellow beings. >A4

OMANHuman trafficking

3Human trafficking in Oman is very low due to its deterrent laws and

procedures. >A6

OMANOman-India ties

1Oman and India ties have grown stronger politically, socially and economically,

said envoy JS Mukul. >A2

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

Pakistan heatwave death toll nears 700

BALANCE CHECK: A person withdrawing account statement from

the ATM of one of the banks. – Supplied photo

Oman telecom body announces roaming rate capStaff Reporter

MUSCAT: A limit on roaming rates will be imposed by Oman’s Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) for subscribers travelling in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

The new rates will start from April 1, 2016, a TRA announce-ment on Tuesday said.

In continuation of the coopera-tion between the GCC regulators under the auspices of the GCC General Secretariat, the TRA an-nounced that Omani citizens and residents roaming in the GCC countries will enjoy reduced roaming rates for voice calls, SMS, and mobile data services.

The new price caps for roam-ing charges were approved by the GCC Ministerial Committee for Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology during its 24th meeting held in Doha earlier this month.

However, there seems to be some confusion as one of the telecom operators in Oman, said that they were not aware of the statement and were surprised to

hear the announcement by the telecom regulator.

The reduction in roaming charges on both inter-operator wholesale level and end user re-tail level will take place gradually, over a three-year period, for voice calls and SMS services, and over a five-year period for mobile data services.

Telecom regulatorsThe approved price caps are based on the recommendations of the GCC Roaming Working Group (RWG) which consists of representatives from the telecom regulators of the GCC countries.

The RWG has conducted an extensive study on roaming charges, which was shared with the stakeholders and the general public through a public consulta-tion document published on the TRA website on September 2014.

Meanwhile, people travelling to other Gulf Cooperation Coun-cil countries welcomed Telecom-munications Regulatory Author-ity (TRA) move to slash roaming rates for voice calls, SMS, and mobile data services.

G C C C O O P E R A T I O N

Omani MERS sufferer’s condition improves

Government staff pay, perks to cost

OMR5.2b this year

Times News Service

MUSCAT: The 75-year-old Om-ani businessman diagnosed with the Middle East Respiratory Syn-drome (MERS) is recovering, and if he tests negative over the next few days, he will be out of danger, said Rajata Rajatanavin, Thai-land’s public health minister to the Bangkok Post on Tuesday.

The Omani citizen arrived in Bangkok from Muscat for treat-ment of a heart disease on June 15, but was found to be infected with the MERS-coronavirus. He had visited two health centres in Oman before travelling to Bangkok.

Currently, he is admitted to

the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Nonthaburi province and he has been kept in isolation. Three relatives, trav-elling with him, have also been quarantined.

The health minister said MERS situation in Thailand was under control and improving.

The number of people being monitored after coming into con-tact with the Omani man was dropping and some of them could return home.

Dr Rajata said Thailand had effective disease control meas-ures in place for visitors from the Middle East countries and South Korea, the two risk areas. Thai

authorities have not placed any restrictions on travel from these countries, therefore, tourism has not been hit.

The WHO said the national health authorities in Thailand are reviewing and strengthening infection prevention and control measures at the hospital where the patient was initially admitted.

“They are tracing the house-holds and healthcare contacts and activating the emergency opera-tion centre as well as the prepar-edness and response units,” it said.

The information on this event is also being shared between the two concerned countries, Thailand and Oman, it added. >A6

HAMDA AL BALUSHI

MUSCAT: In the country’s budg-et manual the Ministry of Fi-nance has revealed that the gov-ernment is estimated to spend about OMR5.2 billion on salaries, allowances and other benefits for its employees from various min-istries this year.

More than one-third of the country’s budget for the current year was allocated to the educa-tion and housing sectors. The manual shows that the education sector expenditure is estimated at OMR3 billion amounting to 21.3 per cent of the total public ex-penditure, followed by the hous-ing sector, at OMR2.3 billion.

The manual also shows that salaries and allowances repre-sent 66 per cent of the total gov-ernment spending in the budget estimates for 2015.

The total salary increase from the Eighth Five-Year Plan since the end of 2010 is estimated at about 133 per cent.

At the level of economic sec-tors, the education and health sectors accounted for most of the government expenditure amounting to 47.8 per cent of the budget, while the housing and social welfare sectors amounted

to 22 per cent. The government seeks to use the surplus funds to cover the shortfall and fund-ing from reserves with a base of OMR1.7 billion.

The manual shows also that the government owns 77 compa-nies, both local and foreign, ei-ther totally or partially.

Budget deficitThe manual shows that the esti-mated budget deficit for 2015 is about OMR2.5 billion.

The Sultanate internally bor-rows OMR500 million of which it will pay OMR100 million during the current year.

M E R S - C O R O N A V I R U S

B U D G E T M A N U A L D A T A

Mobile roaming ratesFor local calls

within the country visited

Existing

Cost per minute (OMR)

For outgoing calls to other

GCC countries

For calls received

For each SMS sent

For mobile data(per

Gigabyte)

0.106 0.255

April 2016

0.100 0.246 0.135 0.031 0.500

April 2017

0.096 0.238 0.108 0.027 0.327

April 2018

0.092 0.231 0.085 0.023 0.231

April 2019

0.192

April 2020

0.161

As of 1

Source: Telecommunications Regulatory Authority Graphics

The rates are ceilings and the operators are free to compete by setting prices below these regulatory caps.

A11

A monitor connected to a body

temperature scanner shows

flight passengers arriving at

Bangkok airport. -Reuters

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has received a cable of thanks from Presi-dent Giorgi Margvelashvili of Georgia in reply to His Maj-esty’s congratulatory cable on the Independence Anniversary of Georgia. In his cable, Presi-dent Margvelashvili expressed his utmost appreciation for His Majesty’s congratulations, stressing the importance of promoting relations between the two countries to achieve the joint interests of the people. -ONA

G E O R G I A

HM receives greetings

billion amounting

to 21.3 per cent

of the total public

expenditure is

estimated to be spent

on education, followed

by the housing sector,

at OMR2.3 billion

OMR3

A2 W E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

OMAN There were more than 50 training and

rehabilitation programmes launched in 2014

and 2015, benefitting about 600 craftsmen.

Crafts industries spur employment >A5

Outgoing Indian envoy upbeat over booming economic ties

SARAH [email protected]

MUSCAT: Since JS Mukul, am-bassador of India to Oman, arrived in Muscat in October 2011, the ties between the two countries have grown stronger politically, eco-nomically, and socially.

Mukul, who will be leaving Mus-cat on July 6 to take up a new post-ing as ambassador to the Nether-lands, described the diplomatic relationship, now in its 60th year, as special and exceptionally close.

In the 44 months since his man-date began there have been new joint military training exercises, growth of the Oman India Joint Investment Fund, doubling of the numbers of visas to visit India is-sued, and stronger cultural ties.

“We take collective satisfaction from the fact that the bilateral In-dia-Oman relations are the strong-est they’ve ever been. In my three and half years we have (had) the strongest bilateral relations ever,” Mukul told Times of Oman.

To begin with, there have been high-level political visits, most no-tably two visits by Oman’s foreign minister Yusuf bin Alawi to In-dia last year, including as the first foreign dignitary to greet the new government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Similarly, the Indian minister of external affairs Sushma Swaraj

made her first official visit to Oman this past February.

Strong political ties have led to increased military and economic relations, such as defence and mil-itary cooperation.

Mukul said he was very pleased that this year for the first time there were army to army joint ex-ercises held in Jebel Akhdhar, and that these would become a regular feature of the military ties.

“Oman is the only country in this region with which India does regular biennial exercises of the navy, the air force and the army,” he explained.

One of the backbones of the Indo-Oman relationships is trade, Mukul said, adding that bilateral trade reached $6 billion in 2014. The Oman-India Joint Investment Fund, which was launched in 2011, has seen $100 million invested by Oman in projects in India. Oman is also home to Omifco (Oman India Fertiliser Company), which is In-dia’s largest joint venture abroad.

Mukul said he strongly encour-

ages Indian companies and busi-nesspeople to consider investing in Oman because of its strategic location as a gateway to the GCC and because of its logistics hubs.

“What is interesting is now a number of new Indian companies are coming in to establish joint ventures in Sohar, Salalah and re-cently also in Duqm,” he said.

Another vital aspect of the strategic bilateral relationship is the people-to-people ties, Mukul said. During his mandate in Oman Mukul has also seen the number of the visas issued at the embassy more than double. The number of visas rose from 41,000 in 2011 to over 81,000 in 2014.

This is due in part to new visa regulations which make it eas-ier for Omanis to visit India for

tourism, business and education purposes, and also due to the in-creased number of flights now connect 13 cities in India with Muscat and Salalah.

“The interest, the interaction and the exchanges are very rigor-ous. That is something we are very proud of,” he commented.

While more Omanis are show-ing an interest in India, here in Oman Mukul said he is proud of the contributions the “large, diverse and well-regarded” In-dian community has made and is thankful that many have found “a home away from home” here.

“This hardworking, technically skilled, law-abiding community in the Sultanate has contributed with its knowledge and skills, with its sweat and toil, to the building of the excellent infrastructure in this country,” he said.

As ambassador Mukul has been closely involved in the day-to-day issues of the Indian expatriates. He attended every embassy open house, which is held on the third

Friday of each month, so he could meet Indian residents of Oman and listen to their concerns, re-solving many problems as a result.

Based on the success of these monthly open houses, the embassy is now open for two hours each working day for Indians to come and meet with high-level diplo-mats, including the ambassador himself. “I think the embassy has engaged very closely with the In-dian community. I think it is well-known that the welfare of the com-munity is our top-most priority. It’s important for an ambassador to be in touch with his communi-ty,” he said.

Mukul said he has also been proud of the rich Indian culture that is present in Oman, such as the Indian Social Club and its branches and wings, and the per-formances by the many talented local expats and visiting musi-cians and dancer, be they Bol-lywood stars or artists who have performed at the Royal Opera House Muscat.

Mukul said his time as ambas-sador to Oman has been highly fulfilling since he was able to con-tribute to the ever stronger Indo-Omani relationship, expanding the ties in all areas.

“It has also been a most profes-sionally and personally satisfying and enjoyable experience serving as India’s ambassador to the Sul-tanate of Oman,” he said.

On a personal lever Mukul said he has enjoyed travelling around Oman and has been lucky to have visited most of the country, from Musandam down to Dhofar and the interior as well.

He said he will remember Oman for its breathtaking natural beauty and its down to earth, modest and friendly people.

“I really treasure those sights, those visits, the meetings, the en-counters that I have had. But I think above all it is the charm of the people that I will always re-member,” he concluded.

JS Mukul, who will

be leaving Muscat

on July 6, described

the relationship

with Oman as

exceptionally close

Ban on poultry import from eight countries

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Import of poultry products and live birds from eight countries to the Sultanate has been banned, while it has been revoked from two others by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

The decision was taken ac-cording to the ministerial de-cision 158/2015 regarding the ban on the import of live birds, their products, derivatives and their offal.

Amendment one of the deci-sion says imports of live birds, along with their products, de-rivatives and offal, are banned from Vietnam, Canada, Turkey, and the United States, in addi-tion to Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria. The ban will remain in place until a decision is taken to rescind it.

The ministerial decision 158/2015 is based on the law for veterinary quarantine issued in the Royal Decree 45/2004, the executive regulations for the law of veterinary quarantine is-sued in the ministerial decision 107/2004 and recommenda-tions of veterinary specialists regarding the ban on the import of live birds, their products, de-rivatives and their offal.

Meanwhile, as per another ministerial decision, 157/2015 the ban on import of live birds from Germany and Holland has been lifted.

M I N I S T E R I A L D E C I S I O N

What is interesting is now a number of new Indian companies are coming in to establish joint ventures in Sohar, Salalah and recently also in Duqm

JS MukulAmbassador of India to Oman

SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY VISIT

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

HEALTH ALERT: In another

decision the ban on import

from Germany and Holland

has been lifted.– File photo

A3W E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

A4 W E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

TODAY’S DUAA“O Allah, I seek Your protection from acute hunger, for it is an evil companion and from

dishonesty as it indicates a bad nature.”

Ensuring full social security in a society

Payment of the obligatory charity or Zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam, is obligatory upon all Muslims whose wealth

is above certain limits. Muslims must pay this obligatory char-ity to the poor and needy among Muslims, so that the gap between the rich and those in need will be narrowed, and to make sure that the basic needs of everyone’s are met, thus, the society will live in peace and harmony, and the chances of social and economic disparity will be reduced.

Dr. Pranam Dhar, a professor in West Bengal University, writes, “Zakat is the Islamic contribution to social justice: those who have to give charity share the benefit of their prosperity with those who have fallen short. This is the Is-lamic approach to remove greed and envy and to purify one’s soul based on good intentions. This is the institution of Zakat in Islam.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran: “And whatsoever you spend of anything (in the cause of Allah), He will replace it. He is the best of those who grant sustenance”. He further exhorts: Establish wor-ship, pay the poor-due (Zakat), and bow your heads with those who bow (in worship).”

Its importance can be realised from the fact that in 82 verses of the Holy Quran, Zakat is associ-ated with prayer (Salah); such as, “Establish regular prayer and give Zakat; and obey Allah and His Messenger.” (Holy Quran, 33:33). The beloved Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is reported to have said about Zakat: Zakat is a (great and strong) bridge of Islam; If a man pays the Zakat due on his property, it causes its evil influ-ence to vanish; Gains the pleas-ure of Allah; Increases wealth and protects from losses; Causes Allah’s forgiveness and bless-ings; Protection from the wrath of Allah and from a bad death; A

shelter on the Day of Judgment; and Security from seventy mis-fortunes.

Zakat purifies the human per-sonality by removing selfi shness, greed and materialism. It creates compassion, care, love and kind-ness among Muslims and it makes a person more thankful to Allah. Zakat helps the needy and pro-vides funds for good causes and for community projects.

Zakat is the wealth given in the way of Allah to obtain puri ty of heart and to obtain the bless-ings of Allah. The root of the word ‘Zakat’ in Arabic has two mean-ings: purity and growth. It aims to ensure full social security in an Islamic society. Zakat is man-datory on every Muslim, whose finances (not just cash) are above a certain specified minimum, and has to pay 2.5 per cent of his cash bal ances annually to a deserving fellow being.

The principle of this obliga tion is based on the premise that eve-rything belongs to Allah; and we human beings are only trustees even of our own wealth.

Allah wants us to help the needy. In a bid to cleanse our wealth, the Muslims are taught to set aside a portion of it for those in need as this spirit of sharing with the less fortunate balances and en-courages new growth. Thus, pay-ing Zakat manifests an unbreak-able bond amongst members of the com munity.

While the ‘haves’ are puri fied from the twin evils of greed and selfishness Zakat also cleans-es the hearts of `have-nots’ from feelings of jealousy and animosity.

Although Zakat can be dis-tributed any time of the year, Muslims all over the world pre fer the Holy Month of Ramadan for its distribution.

Thus we see Ramadan is the time when Muslims look forward to shar ing their possessions with

their less fortunate fellow beings.The Holy Quran is replete with

verses instructing peo ple to pay Zakat equating it with purifying and cleansing oneself. A verse in chapter Taubah, verse No. 103 reads: “Take from their wealth charity (alms) to purify them and cleanse them thereby, and pray for them.” Another verse states: “Never shall you attain pi-ety unless you spend (in the way of Allah) out of what you love (Al Imran: 92).”

It is reported that Prophet Mo-hammed (peace be upon him) said: “Until four questions have been asked to, no one will be allowed to move on the Day of Resurrec-tion. Two of these questions are: How did you earn and how did you spend?” The Holy Quran guaran-

tees the Zakat giver prosperity as the Holy Book states, “those who establish regular prayers and pay regular poor-due (Zakah) are the ones who will prosper (31:4-5).”

Zakat can only be given to those who qualify to receive it. The Holy Quran has identified eight groups of people who are entitled to re-ceive Zakah. They include fuqara (the hardcore poor), masakin (the needy), mu’allafatu ‘l-qulub (converts), Pi’r-riquab (slaves), al gharimin (over-burdened debt-ors), fzsabilillah (those striving in the way of Allah), Ibnu’s-sabil (travellers) and amilina-alayha (those who administer Zakat).

Zakat is to be paid on cash as well as other wealth com prising several sub-categories, namely, on savings, business, crops, live-stock, buried treas ures, etc. Al-though it is permissible to take out Zakat and distribute it on an individual basis it is high ly rec-ommended to pay one’s share of Zakat to Baitulmaal, literally a House of Wealth, from where it will be distributed systemically and to the right beneficiaries.

Zakat is compulsory for every Muslim, male or female, who owns more than the thresh old (limit) of Zakah, which is equiva-lent to 85 grams of gold in excess of what he needs for his own and his dependent’s liv ing.

Writes Adil Salahi, a promi-nent Saudi-based scholar: “Zakat is imposed on every type of prop-erty that is liable to growth. Thus, it is not imposed on a person’s own accommoda tion, or the tools of his trade, even though these maybe cost ly”. He adds, “Zakat is payable on capital and profit, every year, at the rate of 2.5 per cent for most types of money and property, although the rates may be different in some situations.” Islamic scholars guide Muslims to calculate their Zakat proper-ly so that it is given out in cor rect proportion.

Thus Zakat ensures full social security in a society, giv ing is a demonstration of love and caring. It may be interesting to note that Zakat is the mini mum and volun-tary charity is wide open. Sadaqah is another form which refers to voluntary charitable donations. Simply put, it is a financial help offered to a needy or a poor per-son without any obligation on the part of the giver or any condi tion on the receiver. Sadaqah need not be confined to finan cial help and refers to any good work. Offering just a glass of water is considered charity in Islam.

A tradition says that a good word is a charity and removing a harmful thing from the road is also a charity.

Sadaqah is an act that reflects feelings of love and compassion on the part of the giver, who is considered “rich” in the sense that he has more than he needs. Thus, it has a dual effect of purifi-cation: It purges the bene ficiaries of any feelings of grudge and hatred towards rich people and purges the rich givers of feelings of greed, self -aggrandisement and miserli ness.

Charity has a tremendous posi-tive impact on society. A person under poverty tends to think that Allah has deserted him and that the society shows no concern for him or his needs and thus shows no compassion.

This enhances his sense of frus tration and weakens his alle-giance to his society resulting in a string of negative habits which will lead to destruction.

Zakat or Sadaqah thus come as a godsend to him and he expe-riences a genuine sense of hap-piness and contentment. Thus through Zakat a social security is established and maintained in a society, ensuring that a poor per-son who is unable to work, or does not have sufficient income, has enough to meet his ends.

Zakat leads to purification of one’s wealth from all sins. Ramadan is the time where Muslims look forward to

shar ing their possessions with their less fortunate fellow beings. AFTAB H. KOLA outlines the amazing benefits of Zakat

Hadith of the dayABU HURAYRAH reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said fasting is a shield; so when one of you is fasting he should neither indulge in obscene language nor should he raise his voice in anger. If someone attacks him or insults him, let him say: “I am fasting!” (Muslim)

A5

OMANW E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

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Arabian Sea depression moves away from Oman

Staff Reporter

MUSCAT: A depression in the Arabian Sea has intensified into a deep depression and has moved further eastwards towards In-dia, said Omani and global mete-orological departments quoting weather charts.

“The depression has moved eastwards,” said the Oman mete-orological department citing satel-lite images.

Skymet, India’s largest weather monitoring and agri-risk-solu-

tions company said in its latest statement that the system has moved further eastwards and is presently centred in the Northeast Arabian Sea, off the Gujarat coast.

The Oman Meteorology depart-ment has forecast a spell of hot weather over the next few days in Muscat and adjoining areas.

In the coastal areas of Dho-far governorate and adjoining

mountains the forecast is of partly cloudy to cloudy skies, while it is likely to be clear to partly cloudy skies over governorates of Mu-sandam, South Al Sharqiya and Al Wusta.

There are chances of clouds de-velopment over Al Hajar moun-tains and adjoining areas with isolated rain occasionally thunder shower during evening and chance

of blowing dust over deserts and open areas of the governorates of Al Buraimi, Al Dahirah.

Jason Nicholls, senior meteor-ologist and international forecast-ing manager at AccuWeather, said that the depression is pushing into India in the next few hours.

According to the Indian mete-orology department, it will bring squalls and heavy rains in Maha-rashtra and Gujarat.

“Yesterday’s depression over the Arabian sea has turned into deep depression and crossed the coastal town of Diu, and surrounding ar-eas of Saurashtra region of Gujarat today,” said Manorama Mohanty, deputy director of Ahmedabad Meteorological centre. Due to the crossing over of the deep de-pression over the land border, the coastal areas surrounding Diu are receiving rainfall, said Mohanty. “It will bring heavy to very heavy rainfall with strong winds across the state for the next 48 hours,” she said. — With inputs from agencies

The depression in

the Arabian Sea has

moved eastwards,

said Met department

HOT DAYS AHEAD: The Oman Meteorology department has forecast

a spell of hot weather over the next few days in Muscat.–File photo

More than 13,000 craftsmen working in wilayats MUSCAT: There were more than 13,000 craftsmen working in vari-ous wilayats of the Sultanate until the end of 2014, recording an in-crease of 17.76 per cent compared to the same period in 2013, accord-ing to an official study.

The Public Authority for Craft Industries (PACI) has plans to in-crease the number of craftsmen by implementing the integrated rehabilitation and training pro-grammes in a scientific manner.

More than 50 training and re-habilitation programmes were launched in 2014 and 2015, ben-efitting about 600 craftsmen.

The PACI recently completed a documentary project for the clas-sification and description of Om-ani craft industries. It is a unified

reference for the classification of Omani crafts.

The project lists, documents and organises various Omani craft activities, under one system. The project will contribute to creating a platform for the development of craft training curricula for various craft industries and provide a ref-erence for researchers and those interested in the sector.

From 2005 to 2014, the PACI launched around 30 marketing outlets in various governorates. There are 115 craft projects that market a variety of craft prod-ucts, including incense, perfumes, pottery, and porcelain, in addi-tion to textiles, silverware and copper products.

The PACI continues to launch

new outlets for the sale of craft products. These outlets are the result of the support provided to craftsmen. Here, developed craft products are purchased from craftsmen and then resold through craft outlets to help young crafts-men prosper.

The Omani Crafts House is one of the most prominent marketing outlets. These outlets strengthen craft investment by providing op-portunities to artisans to manage the promotion of their products.

In line with this approach, a number of Omani Craft Houses and craft markets were launched this year, in the Wilayat of Ibra, in North Al Sharqiya, Al Buraimi, and Al Rustaq, in South Al Batinah. New craft outlets will be opened

very soon. The Omani craft sector has witnessed a qualitative leap in different fields. In response to the Royal directives of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said to main-tain the craft industries, the PACI strives to promote the achieve-ments made and develop them keeping in mind the present day.

The PACI has provided the opti-mum levels of care, subsidy, reha-bilitation, training and production for craftsmen. It has established specialised centres for training and production and ensured quali-fied and trained Omani crafts-men. It has also helped craftsmen to enter the labour market and promote entrepreneurship by starting SMEs.

The PACI is also keen on imple-

menting craft projects that meet the needs of the sector to provide the maximum number of opportu-nities for Omani craftsmen to join the different training and rehabili-tation programmes.

It also provides craftsmen with financial subsidy and modern equipment and tools. It enhanced the subsidy programmes and inte-grated care provided to craftsmen.

The PACI launched a number of initiatives, such as providing de-sign and evaluation consultancy services and introduced a project to set up a number of craft villages in different wilayats to ensure con-tinuity of the industry and profes-sions. These villages were provided with modern tools and equipment that develop craft work.– ONA

P A C I R E P O R T

Oman Air scoops top global awardsTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Oman Air has been named the winner of the ‘Best Airline Staff Service in the Mid-dle East’ at the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2015.

The award was presented at a ceremony held at the Paris Air Show recently. It recognises the commitment of Oman Air’s staff to providing the airline’s custom-ers with quality, comfort and a seamless passenger experience.

Oman Air also achieved ac-claim in six further categories of the awards. The airline’s re-nowned Business Class service attained the top-ten places in the ‘World’s Best Business Class Airline’, ‘Best Business Class Air-line Seats’, ‘Best Business Class Airline Catering’ and ‘Best Busi-ness Class Comfort Amenities’ categories.

Oman Air also achieved top-ten places in the ‘Best First Class Airline Catering’ and ‘Best Econ-omy Class Airline Seats’ catego-ries of the awards.

Abdulrahaman Al Busaidy, chief operating officer of Oman Air, said, “To have won this award two years in a row, and to have achieved high rankings in a fur-ther six categories of the awards this year, is testament to the ex-traordinarily high standards of hospitality that our staff offer.”

S K Y T R A X W O R L D A I R L I N E

TRADITIONAL CRAFT: From

2005 to 2014, the PACI launched

around 30 marketing outlets in

various governorates.–File photo

HONOUR: The award was given

at the Paris Air Show

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OMANW E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

The findings revealed the need

for more aggressive treatment of

bad cholesterol to lower the risk

Dr Khalid Al Rasadi, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital

Rights of workers

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) implemented the wage protec-tion system in way back in 2010.

“The WPS helps to protect the rights of workers because it al-lows the Ministry of Labour to create a database that maintains records of wages in the private sector to guarantee timely, effi-cient and regular payment,” said Dr Ahmed Al Hashemi, director of Middle East Centre for Train-ing and Development (MECTD), who has played a key role in initi-ating the WPS in the UAE.

Narrating their plight to Times

of Oman, some expatriate work-ers alleged that their employers deposit their salaries into their accounts, but as they have taken away their debit cards, they with-draw the money and pay them less than what is mentioned in the contract.

“It happens every month, but what can we do? We cannot even complain, because even if we do, our bank statements reflect that our salary has been credited in full and withdrawn later through our own debit cards,” said the workers.

S A L A R Y I N B A N K

Awareness on human traffickingMUSCAT: Stressing the impor-tance of activating the role of civil society organisations in creating awareness in combating human trafficking and its dangers to the community, the National Com-mittee for Combating Human Trafficking (NCCHT) decided to organise programmes and events in co-operation with the authori-ties concerned .

The NCCHT held a meeting

under the chairmanship of Sayy-id Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, secretary-general of the Foreign Ministry, and chairman of the NCCHT. The meeting approved the NCCHT annual report for 2014, so that it could be submit-ted to the Council of Ministers.

Human trafficking in Oman is very low despite its geographical location due to deterrent laws and procedures. -ONA

M E E T I N G

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Breakthrough in treatment of cholesterol-related disorders

ELHAM [email protected]

MUSCAT: Treatment of choles-terol-related disorders in Oman has taken a step forward with a first-of-its-kind study covering patients in the Sultanate and other Gulf countries.

Dr Khalid Al Rasadi from Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) Hospital was part of a team of cholesterol and lipid-lowering drugs experts from across the region who con-ducted a one-year study on the

current cardiovascular treatment and risks in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.

“A total of 5,861 patients from Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, in ad-dition to Kuwait and Bahrain were recruited,” said Dr Al Rasadi, head of the Department of Biochemis-try at the College of Medicine and Health Science at SQU.

Speaking to the Times of Oman, the specialist said that the study

evaluated the achievements of therapeutic goals according to in-ternational guidelines in patients who are receiving lipid-lowering drugs and the factors contributing to treatment practices in the re-gion from both the physicians’ and the patients’ sides.

The study was supported by a grant from AstraZeneca and had two main objectives, said Dr Al Rasadi, head of the Lipid and LDL-Apheresis Unit at SQU Hospital

and president of Oman Society of Lipid and Atherosclerosis. The first objective was to see how many of the patients who are on choles-terol-lowering medication achieve the target level, he said.

“For example, if a patient has a heart disease, we recommend that the bad cholesterol should be de-creased to below 1.8 mmol/L (mil-limoles per litre). If a patient has diabetes, then the level should be below 2.6,” said Dr Al Rasadi.

He added that a lot of interna-tional studies have been done on this subject and this study sought to analyse how current treatment for lipid disorders was progress-ing according to international standards.

Regarding the first objective, the study found that around 48 per cent of the patients under treat-ment still had not achieved the target level, he said, adding, “The findings revealed the need for more aggressive treatment of bad cholesterol to lower the risk.”

The second objective of the study was to analyse patient-phy-sician perceptions and awareness about disease treatment.

“The study showed that most of the patients were compliant, but their compliance increased when the physician gave them further information about the treatment and target levels,” he said.

Dr Al Rasadi, who is a graduate of the College of Medicine at SQU with extensive training experience abroad, said that his unit has been involved in promoting awareness about the findings of the study through various scientific articles, workshops and training sessions.

“In February 2015, Oman Soci-ety of Lipid and Atherosclerosis with the help of the International

Atherosclerosis Society, conduct-ed a lipid training course with the support of national, regional and international faculty and the par-ticipation of 33 clinicians from the Middle East and North Africa region,” he said.

“The event aimed at increasing the knowledge of clinicians in the management of lipid disorders and helping them disseminate this knowledge in their countries, and we will continue to hold such pro-grammes annually,” he added.

The specialist also said that more treatment facilities and trained professionals are required in the field of lipid disorders in Oman and the region.

He noted that more public awareness campaigns are needed to improve the public awareness about the lipid disorders and its management.

Oman Society of Lipid and Ath-erosclerosis has been active in this regard and plans to continue the outreach campaigns and pro-grammes in the future, he said.

In addition, more studies should be done to complement and fol-low up on the results of this study, said Dr Al Rasadi, a board member of International Atherosclerosis Society and a member of National Lipid Association.

Dr Khalid was part of

a team of cholesterol

and lipid-lowering

drugs experts who

conducted a study on

the cardiovascular

treatment and

risks in the GCC

The findings revealed the need for more aggressive treatment of bad cholesterol to lower the risk

Dr Khalid Al RasadiSultan Qaboos University Hospital

Health regulations

Globally, since September 2012, the WHO has been notified of 1,334 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including at least 471 re-

lated deaths. Oman’s Ministry of Health is also in touch with the health authorities in Thailand in compliance of international health regulations.

M E R S

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French President Francois Hollande will host Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister Prince Mohamed bin Salman after the inaugural meeting of a Franco-Saudi committee that is to discuss proposed projects in the aeronautics, nuclear power, health and investment sectors.

Iran MPs pass bill to protect nuclear rights

TEHRAN: Iran’s parliament approved a bill on Tuesday that lawmakers said would pro-tect the country’s nuclear pro-gramme, an intervention that comes as the government tries to seal a deal with world powers.

The move quickly exposed ten-sion between President Hassan Rouhani’s government and law-makers in Tehran, where hardlin-ers routinely voice doubts about the merit of talking to the West. Rouhani’s spokesman said the bill, which still has to be signed into law by Iran’s Guardian Coun-cil, was unconstitutional.

The action in parliament, just one week before the nuclear deal deadline, is unlikely to imme-diately affect those talks but it could prove a complication after an accord is signed because the bill lays down terms for Mem-bers of Parliament (MPs) accept-ing its terms. Rouhani aims to end Iran’s diplomatic isolation, wants a deal to ensure the lifting of sanctions that have hobbled the economy. However critics

of his nuclear policy, including members of the conservative-dominated legislature, say too many concessions have been made. The bill says the govern-ment must “preserve the coun-try’s nuclear rights and achieve-ments”, a reference to retaining the ability to enrich uranium and continuing to keep all its nuclear facilities open.

Such demands have already been enshrined in an outline agreement struck on April 2 be-tween Iran and the P5+1 powers — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Ger-many. But the bill, whose back-ers said it would protect Iran’s negotiating team from further demands, goes further and says sanctions must be lifted “on the day Iran starts implementing its obligations”.

The timing of removal has become important as mem-bers of the P5+1 have said it can only happen upon international verification that Iran has met requirements laid down under a deal. Some 214 lawmakers out of 244 present supported the bill,

with 10 against, six abstentions and the remainder not voting.

The bill passed in Tehran al-lows inspections of nuclear sites but not military or sensitive non-nuclear establishments -- a refusal likely to alarm Western powers given their longstanding suspicion Iran is covertly devel-oping an atomic bomb.

Rouhani’s spokesman, Mo-hammad Bagher Nobakht, said the draft law infringed the coun-try’s defence and security poli-cies. “This bill contradicts article 176 of the constitution. The issue of negotiations is in the sphere of the Supreme National Security Council... not the government or the parliament,” he said.

His comments came despite the bill being watered down on Sunday, with the task of su-pervising a nuclear deal being given to the SNSC, a commit-tee ultimately controlled by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Although parliament will still have to approve a nuclear deal it had wanted the right to have for-mal oversight. — AFP

Iranian President

Hassan Rouhani’s

spokesman said the

bill, which still has

to be signed into law

by Iran’s Guardian

Council, was

unconstitutional

39 killed in southern YemenADEN: At least 39 people were killed and dozens wounded in 24 hours of clashes in the southern Yemeni cities of Aden and Dhaleh, officials said on Tuesday.

In Aden, Yemen’s second city, seven civilians died and 94 were wounded after Houthi rebels fired rockets on neighbourhoods controlled by troops loyal to ex-iled President Abedrabbo Man-sour Hadi, the city’s health chief

Al Khader Laswar said. The fire destroyed several houses, ac-cording to Aden vice-governor Nayef Al Bakri.

Further north in Dhaleh, fierce clashes between Houthi fighters and loyalist troops killed 24 rebels and eight in the pro-Hadi camp, including a local commander, a local official said.

Both camps used heavy weap-ons after the rebels attacked

pro-government positions in the northern and eastern areas of the city, the official said, adding that there were dozens of wounded on either side.

A Saudi-led coalition has been pounding rebel positions in Yemen since March 26, follow-ing a Houthi advance from their northern stronghold into the cap-ital Sanaa, and a subsequent push south towards Aden. — AFP

N A T I O N A T W A R

Saudi Arabia, France set to boost relationsPARIS: Top French and Saudi Arabia’s leaders will huddle on Wednesday in Paris to discuss projects worth billions of euros, as France tightens relations with the kingdom.

French President Francois Hol-lande will host Saudi Arabia’s De-fence Minister Prince Mohamed bin Salman after the inaugural meeting of a Franco-Saudi com-mittee that is to discuss proposed projects in the aeronautics, nucle-ar power, health and investment sectors. France and Saudi Arabia have been reinforcing their links as Riyadh seeks to broaden ties with top Western powers beyond traditional allies the United States.

The gathering in Paris comes hard on the heels of Hollande’s visit to Riyadh in May when he appeared at a summit of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), mak-ing him the first Western leader to attend. Saudi Arabia rolled out the red carpet for Hollande, who had a personal meeting with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia’s during his visit. The French president was also the first Western leader to meet with the king after a major reshuffle in the kingdom’s top leadership.

ContractsAfter the summit, Foreign Min-ister Laurent Fabius announced Saudi Arabia — the Arab world’s largest economy — and France were in talks regarding 20 projects potentially worth tens of billions of euros. It is unclear if the Saudi visit this week will yield concrete signed contracts, but Hollande said in May that announcements on deals between the two nations could come as soon as June.

After months of negotiations, Paris and Riyadh concluded a deal last year over the sale of French weapons to Lebanon, which were paid for with a $3-billion (2.6-bil-lion-euro) donation from Saudi Arabia. The first deliveries of the arms started in April. — AFP

2 0 P R O J E C T S

IS drowns, decapitates ‘spies’ in brutal videoBAGHDAD: An IS militant group video released on Tuesday showed the militants murder-ing 16 men by drowning them in a cage, decapitating them with explosives and firing a rocket-propelled grenade into a car.

The video, apparently shot in Iraq’s Nineveh province, was one of the most brutal yet in a series released by the militants of kill-ings of opponents in areas under IS control. IS has executed hun-dreds of people by gunfire, doz-ens by beheading, stoned some to death, thrown others from buildings and burned a captured Jordanian pilot alive. Videos of the killings are a key propagan-da tool of the militants, used to shock and terrify their enemies as well as to draw in new recruits seeking the most brutal and ac-tive militant group.

The men killed in the latest video are said to be “spies”, with some of them making recorded “confessions”.

First, the militants lead four men to a car and close the doors, after which one fires a rocket-propelled grenade under the vehicle, setting it alight. A mili-tant is later shown locking five men inside a metal cage, which is then lifted by a crane and sub-merged in what appears to be a dirty swimming pool. — AFP

P R O P A G A N D A T O O L

COMMON CAUSE: Iranian members of parliament attend a ses-sion of parliament in Tehran on Tuesday. – AFP

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INDIAW E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

Modi silent on Lalit issue to protect ministers: Congress

JAIPUR: Stepping up attack on BJP leadership over Lalit Modi controversy, Congress on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was losing political capital by trying to protect foreign minis-ter and Rajasthan chief minister through his continued silence on the “indefensible issue”.

The party alleged that union ministers were also giving clean chits to both the leaders with-out any investigation and probe, thus “exposing” the double stand-ards of BJP.

Demanding resignationRajasthan PCC President Sachin Pilot, while demanding resigna-tion of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and state Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje for helping former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi, said that the allega-tions against them were levelled by Lalit Modi himself and not the Congress party.

“The allegations against the BJP leaders were have not been

brought by Congress. We as the Congress party demand their res-ignations on legal, ethical and mor-al grounds,” Pilot said at a press conference here.

“Ministers in Government of India are neither heads of investi-gation agencies nor judges in the court of law and it is very surpris-ing that they, before investigation

is conducted or finished by En-forcement Directorate, are giving clean chits to people against whom there are serious allegations,” he said. Pilot said, “No one in the par-

ty and the government is denying existence of these documents. BJP said that till the documents were verified, they would not ask for her resignation but it will take the gov-ernment of India one hour to verify authenticity of those documents,” he said.

TargetingTargeting the prime minister, Pilot said that his silence on indefensible issue has exposed him and he was losing political capital day by day.

PM’s words, “Na Khaunga Na Khane Dunga (neither will I take bribe, nor will I allow anyone to take bribe)”, have come to haunt him. He is losing political capital and he and his party have been ful-ly exposed. BJP is obstinate on this issue but we will not let the issue die down,” he said.

“The party will raise it in par-liament and in the state assembly sessions,” he added. Lalit Modi, who is alleged to have created black money and is fugitive of law, was helped by BJP leaders and this is also breach of law and violation of sections of IPC and CrPC.

Demadning Raje’s resigantion to clear way for a thorough inves-tigation, the Congress leader said, “Maharashtra Government sought clarification from Mumbai Po-lice Commissioner regarding his meeting with Lalit Modi on the basis of a photograph but in case of Raje, there is a clear backing”.

When asked about BJP’s allega-tions on the son of former chief minister Ashok Gehlot about il-legal transaction linked to a Mau-ritius-based company, the PCC President said that Gehlot has al-ready clarified his stand.

He, however, also said that “eve-ryone is equal before law, irrespec-tive of political affiliation”.

“The former chief minister has already said that a probe from sit-ting judge of High Court can be conducted on allegations against his son, so nothing is left to say an-ything on this now,” he added. -PTI

Congress party

alleged that union

ministers were also

giving clean chits

to Sushma Swaraj

and Vasundhara

Raje without any

investigation

and probe, thus

‘exposing’ the double

standards of BJP

The allegations against the BJP leaders were have not been brought by Congress. We as the Congress party demand their resignations on legal, ethical and moral groundsSachin PilotPradesh Congress Committee president

NEW DELHI: BJP MP R. K. Singh on Tuesday struck a dis-cordant note over party leaders Sushma Swaraj and Vasund-hara Raje extending help to former IPL boss Lalit Modi, saying “any help to a fugitive is legally and morally wrong”. He urged the government to take all measures to bring him back to India to face the law.

Singh’s strong comments are the first public criticism by a ruling party MP against the

help extended to Lalit Modi by External Affairs Minister Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Raje, an issue which has snowballed into a major political storm for the Nar-endra Modi government even though BJP has defended both the leaders. “If anybody helps a ‘bhagoda’ (fugitive), it is wrong. This is wrong legally as well as morally. If anybody meets a fugitive, it is absolutely wrong. Whosoever has helped him, I

think it is completely wrong,” Singh, a former Home Secre-tary, told reporters here.

He said Lalit Modi had been evading judicial warrants and summons and he was clearly a fugitive and any help given to him or any meeting with him was wrong. He did not name either Swaraj or Raje.

Asked if Lalit Modi was being “saved”, Singh said the departments concerned should be doing their job. - PTI

Helping Lalit is legally, morally wrong: BJP lawmaker

63 kilos of gold seized at airportVISAKHAPATNAM: In one of the major gold hauls in recent times in the region, as many as 63 kilo gram of gold bars, valued about Rs200 million in the mar-ket, were seized at Vizag airport in south India the other day.

Customs officials seized the smuggled gold during their rou-tine baggage checking, airport sources said.

They also detained 55 pas-

sengers who had arrived on Silk Air, Air Asia and Malindo Air flights from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in connection with the incident, they said.

55 passengers detainedAll the detained persons hail from Tamil Nadu. Sources in DRI and Customs said the smugglers split in three groups and boarded flights in Kuala Lumpur and Sin-

gapore. Their handlers were sus-pected to be in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu.

To escape the scanners at the airport, the yellow metal was stuffed in battery transformers and other electronic gadgets, they said. The detained persons were merely carriers who handed over the contraband to their handlers outside the airport, sources said adding that further probe is on. - PTI

A N D H R A P R A D E S H

Sister Nirmala, successor to Mother Teresa, dies at 81

KOLKATA: Sister Nirmala Joshi, who succeeded Mother Teresa as head of her Mission-aries of Charity in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, died on Tuesday at the age of 81, church officials said.

Joshi had been suffering from a heart condition and her health had been deteriorating recently, confining her to a Missionaries of Charity home, Archbishop of Kolkata Thomas D’Souza and media reports said.

“She had been suffering from a heart disease for quite some time, but she never lost her smile and was always cheerful,” D’Souza said.

“She passed away peacefully, surrounded by sisters praying for her.”

Her body has been placed in St John’s church where some 60 nuns were singing and pray-ing on Tuesday to celebrate her life, an AFP photographer said.

“Sister Nirmala carried for-ward Mother Teresa’s legacy of compassion, gentleness, service to the poorest of the poor and holiness of life,” D’Souza said.

As head of the order for 12 years, Nirmala kept up Moth-er Teresa’s work of helping the poor and sick in Kolkata’s slums, before stepping down in 2009 because of ill health.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led tributes to Sister Nir-mala, who was born a Hindu but embraced Roman Catholicism later in life. - PTI

H E A R T D I S E A S E

Sister Nirmala Joshi

Three Indians win inaugural Queen’s Young Leaders award

LONDON: Three Indians in-cluding two women have won the inaugural Queen’s Young Leaders award in the UK for “taking the lead in transform-ing the lives of others and mak-ing a lasting difference in their communities”.

Ashwini Angadi, 26, Devika Malik, 24, and Akshay Jad-hao, 27, from India are among 60 others who received the Queen’s Young Leaders award from the British monarch at a gala ceremony in Buckingham Palace on Monday evening.

Queen’s Young Leaders award was set up by Queen Elizabeth II to recognise excep-tional young people from across the Commonwealth.

Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust present the award to recognise young people from across the 53 countries of the Commonwealth who are “tak-ing the lead in transforming the lives of others and mak-ing a lasting difference in their communities”.

Angadi was awarded for using her own experiences as a visual-ly impaired student to lobby for more braille and audio books.

Jadhao, won for his efforts in launching education and skills courses in the rural farming re-gion of Vidarbha. - PTI

U N I T E D K I N G D O M

If anybody helps a ‘bhagoda’ (fugitive), it is wrong. This is wrong

legally as well as morally. If anybody meets a fugitive, it is absolutely

wrong. Whosoever has helped him, I think it is completely wrong

R. K. Singh, Former Home Secretary

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INDIAW E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

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Karnataka challenges Jayalalithaa acquittal

NEW DELHI: Karnataka gov-ernment on Tuesday challenged in Supreme Court the state High Court’s verdict acquitting J. Jay-alalithaa in a disproportionate as-sets case that cleared the decks for the AIADMK supremo to return as the Chief Minister of south Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

The appeal against the May 11 verdict also sought setting aside of the acquittal of Jayalalithaa’s close aide Sasikala and two of her relatives, V. N. Sudhakaran and Elavarasi, on the grounds that Kar-nataka’s prosecuting agency was not made a party by them before the High court.

Computation of assetsThe petition, filed through advo-cate Joseph Aristotle, claimed that the High Court erred in com-puting the disproportionate assets of the AIADMK leader.

“The judge committed a grave mistake in totalling the ten items of loan by arriving at a figure of Rs241.7 million when, actually on

proper totalling, the same ought to be Rs106.7 million, resulting in erroneous decision that dispro-portionate assets is only to the ex-tent of 8.12 per cent of the income when actually it works out to 76.7 per cent, the disproportionate as-sets being Rs163.2 million and the income as found being Rs212.6 million,” the plea said.

‘Erred in law’The state government in the peti-tion asked as to whether the High Court had “erred in law” by ac-cording the benefit of doubt to Jayalalithaa in pursuance of a Su-preme Court judgement holding that an accused can be acquitted if his or her disproportionate assets was to the extent of ten per cent.

It also claimed that the High Court has erred in law in over-ruling the preliminary objections raised by the state government and added that the accused had filed their appeals against conviction without impleading Karnataka as a party.

The plea also referred to a recent

Supreme Court judgement hold-ing that Tamil Nadu government had no right to appoint advocate Bhawani Singh as special public prosecutor (SPP) to appear in Kar-nataka High Court.

Sought stayState government has sought a stay on the High Court verdict say-ing that Jayalalithaa “was holding position of Chief Minister of the state at the time of the commis-sion of the offences. The charges are grave. The order of acquittal has resulted in gross miscarriage of justice”.

The Karnataka High Court had on May 11 acquitted the AIADMK leader in the case, saying that her conviction by the special court suffered from infirmity and was not sustainable in law.

Special court verdictThe special court had last year held Jayalalithaa guilty of cor-ruption and sentenced her to four years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1 billion.

Jayalalithaa, her close aide Sasi-kala and two of her relatives, were on September 27 last year sen-tenced to four years in jail for ac-cumulating wealth disproportion-ate to known sources of income in an 18-year-old corruption case.

Guilty of corruptionThe Special Court, which had held Jayalalithaa and three oth-ers guilty of corruption, had also slapped a fine of Rs1 billion on the AIADMK chief and Rs100 million fine on each of the three other con-victs. On October 17, 2014 the apex court had granted conditional bail to Jayalalithaa.

The apex court on April 17 had extended the bail of Jayalalithaa, which was to expire on April 18, till the disposal of her appeal in the Karnataka High Court.

A bench of Chief Justice H. L. Dattu had also granted the high court time till May 12 to decide the AIADMK chief’s appeal, which will be subject to a deci-sion by a three-judge bench of the apex court. - PTI

The appeal in the

Supreme Court

against the May 11

Karnataka High Court

verdict acquitting

J. Jayalalithaa also

sought setting aside

of the acquittal of

Jaya’s close aide

Sasikala and two of

her relatives

Jayalalithaa, her close aide Sasikala and two of her relatives, were on September 27 last year sentenced to four years in jail for accumulating wealth disproportionate to known sources of income in an 18-year-old corruption case

NOT OUT OF WOODS: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa ad-

dressing during an election campaign in her R K Nagar constituency

for the by poll in Chennai on Monday. - PTI

Lalu, Nitish in show

of bonhomie; vow to

send BJP packing

in Bihar elections

PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD President Lalu Prasad on Tuesday came to-gether at a platform for the first time after announcement of sec-ular front for coming Bihar poll and promised to send BJP pack-ing in state elections.

The two leaders who buried their hatchet to come together for Bihar polls targeted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and showed bonhomie among them.

The occasion was Hindustan Samagam programme to discuss agenda for Bihar.

Earlier on two occasions, de-spite being scheduled, the two failed to share dais as Nitish Ku-mar skipped both functions ap-parently against Rashtriya Jana-ta Dal (RJD) creating roadblocks in process of merger and later tie-up for Bihar elections.

Speaking first, Nitish Kumar hit at BJP and called it “worst practitioner” of caste politics in the country.

“While BJP accuses us of be-ing ‘casteist’, the fact is that BJP’s politics is centred on caste and to gain votes its sparing no efforts to organise caste based meetings and convention,” Kumar said.

Kumar, who drove Janata Dal (United) to sever ties with BJP on June 16, 2013 over elevation of Narendra Modi as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, made a mockery of saffron party’s claim-ing “share” in the good govern-ance in the state since 2005 when National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came to power in Bihar.

“They are claiming share in good works even in ministries which were not with BJP min-isters,” Kumar said mocking the claim.

Kumar alleged that BJP was trying to whip “communal fren-zy” with an aim to derive votes of

majority section which was dan-gerous for the country.

RJD President Lalu Prasad de-fended joining hands with Nitish Kumar and said they hailed from same family.

He narrated past incidents since the days of Jayprakash Narayan’s 1974 movement to show their closeness.

The two are known in Bihar politics as “Bade bhai” (Lalu) and “Chote bhai” (Nitish).

“Nitish had helped me become Leader of Opposition in those days and also to become Chief Minister in 1990,” he said.

“Nitish was kidnapped by BJP whom I have set free now,” he said triggering laughter even by Kumar sitting by his side.

The RJD chief said they have come together to facilitate “ghar wapsi” of BJP in the elections.

Prasad after showing resist-ance initially accepted Nitish Kumar as CM face of secular al-liance reportedly after Congress made it stand clear in favour of Kumar.

Prasad hailed the good work of Nitish Kumar in the state and reminded that journalists used to come in horde to see develop-ment in the state under him. -PTI

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

ELATED: Bihar Chief Minister

Nitish Kumar and RJD chief

Lalu Prasad at Hindustan Bihar

Samagam 2015 in Patna on

Tuesday. - PTI

Flood situation in Assam grim, 30,500 affected

GUWAHATI: The flood situation in Assam deteriorated on Tuesday with more than 30,000 people suf-fering under the waters in more than 45 villages across the state.

Assam State Disaster Manage-ment Authority (ASDMA) said in its daily flood report that more than 30,500 people were affected as of now in 46 villages across

Barpeta, Dhemaji,Morigaon and Lakhimpur districts. Till Monday, over 27,000 people were affected in 72 villages under five districts across the state.- PTI

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MALALA ON VISIT TO US CAPITOL HILL 2014 Nobel Peace

Prize Laureate Malala

Yousafzai, left, chats with

Senator Richard Durbin

during her visit to Capitol

Hill in Washington, United

States, on Tuesday.

Malala met with members

of the House and Senate

to share about her work

globally, and speak out

about the importance of

education for girls inter-

nationally. — Reuters

Heatwave death toll nears 700

KARACHI: Nearly 700 people have so far died in a severe three-day heatwave in Pakistan, offi-cials said on Tuesday, with med-ics battling to treat patients as a state of emergency was declared in hospitals.

A majority of the people died in government-run hospitals in the port city of Karachi, Paki-stan’s economic hub of around 20 million people, as temperatures reached 45 degrees Celsius (111 Fahrenheit) at the weekend.

“The number of people who have died in the heatwave has now reached 692,” said Saeed Mangnejo, a senior provincial health official, adding that the toll may rise further.

The highest number of deaths have been recorded at Karachi’s largest hospital, Post Gradu-ate Medical College Hospital, where they have treated more than 3,000 patients, doctor Semi Jamila told AFP. Pakistan’s larg-est charity, Edhi Welfare Organi-sation, said their two morgues in the city had received more than 400 corpses in the last three days. “The mortuaries have reached capacity,” Edhi spokesman An-war Kazmi told AFP.

Meanwhile, seven people have died from the heat in Punjab province over the past 24 hours, officials said. The deaths came as the country observes Ramadan.

Some clerics have issued pub-lic warnings saying that physical-ly weak people can abstain from fasting in these tough conditions.

Electricity shortages have crippled the water supply system in Karachi, hampering the pump-ing of millions of gallons of water to consumers, the state-run wa-ter utility said.

Temperatures remained at

around 44.5 Celsius in Karachi on Tuesday but thunderstorms were forecast for the evening, Pakistan’s Meteorological Office said.

“Due to a low depression devel-oping in the Arabian Sea, thun-derstorms will likely begin this evening and might continue for the next three days,” a Meteoro-logical official told AFP.

The provincial government meanwhile announced a public holiday to encourage residents to stay inside, an official said. Many of the victims have been labour-ers who toil outdoors.

Some residents also took to hosing each other down with wa-ter on Tuesday to avoid collaps-ing from heat stroke.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has issued special instructions to the National Disaster Man-agement Authority (NDMA) and other relevant organisations to arrange urgent assistance for the heatwave victims.

An official from the National Disaster Management Authority told AFP heatstroke treatment centres would be established at all hospitals across Sindh prov-ince, of which Karachi is the capi-tal. The deaths come a month af-ter neighbouring India suffered a deadly heatwave, with more than 2,000 deaths.

Hundreds of mainly poor peo-ple die at the height of summer every year in India, but this year’s toll was the second highest in the country’s history. — AFP

The number of people who have died in the

scorching weather has now reached 692,

said a senior provincial health official


PHOTO GALLERYW W W.T I M E S O F O M A N . C O M UN official urges world not

to ‘forget’ Afghan refugeesPESHAWAR: The UN’s top of-ficial for refugees on Tuesday urged the world not to “forget” the millions of Afghans forced to live for decades in Pakistan because of war in their homeland.

Pakistan has the world’s second-largest refugee popula-tion, 1.5 million, most of them Afghans living for years in poor conditions in camps in the restive northwest.

Islamabad is keen for the refu-gees to return to Afghanistan, with more than 65,000 going back this year -- a big jump on last year’s 25,000.

FragileOn a visit to the camps in Paki-stan, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said Afghanistan, where secu-rity gains against the Taliban remain fragile and reversible, needed help to create an environ-ment in which people returning could thrive.

“The attention of the interna-tional community has been fo-

cused dramatically on the Mid-dle East crisis in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen,” Guterres said, noting that Afghans were still the second largest refugee group in the world, after Syrians.

“My appeal is for the interna-tional community to understand that this is not only the responsi-bility for Pakistan or Iran or other neighbouring countries, it is a col-lective responsibility.” — AFP

V I S I T T O C A M P S

EXPRESSING CONCERN: United Nations High Commissioner for

Refugees Antonio Guterres, right, looks on during a visit to the

UNHCR repatriation centre in Peshawar on Tuesday. — AFP

UK police to visit to quiz murder suspectsISLAMABAD: British police will arrive in Pakistan this week to in-terrogate two suspects in the Lon-don murder of a prominent Paki-stani politician, a minister said on Tuesday.

Imran Farooq, 50, a founding member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement party, was stabbed and beaten to death in Edgware in London as he returned home from work in September 2010.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Ni-sar Ali Khan said Pakistan would help the British police in a trans-parent investigation.

“We will ensure proper inves-tigation without any prejudice, without any favour,” he said.

The suspects were arrested last week in the southwestern prov-ince of Balochistan near the Af-ghan border.

“The suspects are in custody of the Frontier Corps in Quetta. We will bring them to Islamabad and assist the British police in the in-vestigations,” he said. — AFP

I M R A N F A R O O Q

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Growing up, I believed that very soon we would all have robots like Rosie, from “The Jetsons,” cleaning up after us. For those out there who are too young to remember “The Jetsons,” Ro-sie is the family’s domestically

adroit robot maid. After all, why should anyone waste time doing dishes or folding clothes? I longed for a droid friend like C-3PO, Luke Skywalker’s ro-bot buddy from “Star Wars.”

But Rosie never came. All I got was a Roomba — an automated vacuum cleaner that goes round and round. And the closest thing to C-3PO on the mass market is Siri, who is cute, but not terribly clever, and, beyond superficial capabilities, conversational-ly challenged. Even in this exponential era, we seem far away from robots that can talk to us, help us keep our home clean or perform unstructured tasks.

If you watched the videos of the robots from the DARPA Robotics Challenge, you might believe that we may never see Rosie in real life.

The robots were required to navigate an eight-task course simulating a disaster zone. Tasks in-cluded driving alone, walking through rubble, trip-ping circuit breakers, turning valves, and climbing stairs. Despite the best efforts of the world’s best roboticists, the robots were slow and clumsy. They kept falling over, and moved at the speed of molas-ses. In fact, no robots can quickly perform tasks we humans consider mundane. Picking up a towel from a laundry basket and neatly folding it is something robots still struggle to do. So it appears that these droids are not yet a threat to human jobs, let alone saviours for countries, such as Japan, that face sig-nificant demographic challenges due to their rapidly aging populations.

But after watching the DARPA Challenge and observing the rapid advances of computing, arti-ficial intelligence, and sensor technologies, I see Rosie being very close to reality. These technolo-gies are all advancing at exponential rates. And ex-ponential technologies can be deceptive. Things move very slowly at first, but then disappointment turns into amazement.

That is what I believe will happen with robotics over the next five to 10 years. Amazing progress is being made in the underlying hardware and soft-ware. In part, that’s because costs have plunged. The single-axis controller, a core part of most robots’

inner working, has plunged in price from $1,000 to $10. And according to Rob Nail, the chief executive of Singularity University, the price of critical sen-sors for navigation and obstacle avoidance has fallen from $5,000 to less than $100.

It is notable, too, that three teams — and inci-dentally, three different designs — completed the DARPA Challenge course. That’s better than in the DARPA Grand Challenge in 2004, in which no self-driving car came close to finishing. Now, only 11 years later, self-driving cars are legal in eight US states and a common sight on the streets of the Bay Area.

A clue about how fast this can happen can be found in the world of drones. Less than a decade ago, drones with real capabilities were expensive, rather large, and very hard to fly. Today, consumer drones are starting to match the capabilities of the fancy Predators and other custom-made, expensive unmanned aerial vehicles flown by the US military. Companies such as Shenzhen-based DJI Innova-tions are selling drones with the same capability as the original military ones, for less than $1,000.

These Chinese firms are, in turn, competing with even cheaper drones, created by amateurs around the world, who share their designs for free in com-munities online. It’s safe to say that drones are the first technology in history of which the toy industry and hobbyists are beating the military-industrial complex at its own game. These personal drones can do everything that military drones can, aside from blow up stuff.

That drones have achieved autonomy and low cost before robots is not surprising. It takes serious coding to have a semi-autonomous bipedal robot stay on its feet, not to mention detect its surround-ings. Moving around in a cluttered, ever shifting en-vironment is precisely the sort of task that humans learn to do from very young ages but robots struggle to replicate, because it is computationally expen-sive. (Folding clothes and doing dishes are two other examples of these types of tasks.)

For voice recognition, we are already pretty close to C-3PO-like capabilities. Both Apple and Google use artificial intelligence to do a reasonably good job of translating speech to text, even in noisy environ-ments. No bot has passed the Turing Test yet, but they are getting closer and closer. When it happens, your droid will be able to converse with you in com-plex, human-like interactions. — The Washington Post

Welcome to the dawn of the age of robots

After watching the DARPA Challenge and observing the rapid advances of computing, artificial intelligence, and sensor technologies, I see Rosie being very close to reality

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

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCE

The country is under the hammer of one of the hottest sum-mers on record. Karachi has been particularly hard-hit and on the day of the solstice — the longest day of the year —

the mercury topped out at 107°F (42°C). It is estimated that over two days, the heat killed at least 120 people and disabled dozens more to the point at which they needed hospital treatment. Doc-tors speaking to the media reported that many people were already dead when they arrived at the hospital, with 30 brought in dead at the Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre while another 55 died during treatment. The hot weather is going to affect the elderly and those already sick and hospitals expect a spike in admissions as a result, but the current heatwave must be regarded as exceptional.

Karachi is particularly poorly-equipped to cope with extremes of meteorological events, from extreme rainfall to extreme heat. It has a ramshackle infrastructure that means that there are fre-quent power outages, which means that there is often no electri-cally-powered cooling and in many areas there is little potable water, with the water-tanker mafias ensuring that the poorest pay the most to stay hydrated. Medical services are quickly inundated in mass-casualty events such as this. Many daily-wagers will be working through the heat of the day at the same time as they are fasting — with several fatalities as a direct result. Elsewhere and in rural parts of the country, the power is off for up to 18 hours a day and there is likely to be little immediate respite. The pre-monsoon rains may only be ‘moderate’ in Karachi, although parts of lower Punjab and upper Sindh are seeing predictive rainfall of up to 40mm on June 23-24. Pakistan is going to experience an increase in the number and severity of extreme weather events as global warming advances. — Express Tribune

A killing heat

When the euro system’s leaders meet Monday night, the fate of the single currency and the larger European project will be in their hands. Greece and its creditors can finally start

to undo the damage of recent months -- or else refuse to budge, and gamble on fatally undermining the whole European venture.

Putting things right will be hard because no trust remains between Greece’s government and the others. Yet the situation can still be re-trieved. The purblind rigidity and casting of insults -- there’s been plenty of each from both sides -- have to stop. The discussion must set aside narrow technicalities and rise to the larger political ambitions at stake.

Three principles need to be uppermost.First, the creditors should recognise that their disgust at a reckless

government given to terms such as “pillaging,” “criminal” and “terror” in speaking of its partners doesn’t justify punishing the Greek people or putting their own economies at risk.

Second, they should admit that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is correct on one vital point: The current bailout program rescued Greece’s creditors but condemned his country to long-term penury. It has failed. Even the International Monetary Fund acknowl-edges that it cannot work without further debt restructuring.

Third, every road out of this mess is going to be expensive for both sides. The challenge is to minimise the costs, broadly understood, then explain the reasoning to voters who may be skeptical or down-right hostile. To do this, Europe’s leaders need to think big, and weigh the possible consequences of an ugly European divorce both in terms of economic contagion and geopolitical damage. They should reflect on some history. The Cold War started when US President Harry S. Truman resisted the Soviet threat to Greece; last week, Tsipras went to Russia to sign a deal for a jointly- owned natural gas pipeline that the European Unions says would be breach its rules. Applying the three principles, Greece’s creditors should release the remainder of the current bailout funds to keep Greece afloat through the summer and offer further debt relief as a part of a new long term deal. In return, Greece must accept demanding euro area fiscal economic reform con-ditions applying to rest of this year and beyond. But since Syriza is not to be trusted, the creditors should also attach a new string.

For the deal to be done, Tsipras must agree to hold a referendum at the earliest possible date (with wording acceptable to the creditors) that puts a clear choice to Greek voters: Accept these terms in full, and stay in the euro system; or reject them, and quit.

Tsipras ought to have done this already at his own initiative. He has no mandate to take Greece out of the euro system, or even to default, though his scorched-earth negotiating tactics suggest he thinks oth-erwise. Most Greeks want neither of those things. — Bloomberg View

Europe should strike a

bargain with Greece

V I V E K WA D H WA

Instal cameras to catch unlawful lane changers As of late, while driving on the streets of Muscat, I have noticed a lot of drivers do not feel obligated to use indicators while changing lanes. This can be particularly unnerving if it is done close to cars in the other lanes, or, if the yellow line has been crossed in violation of traffic rules. I would like the concerned authorities to instal cameras to catch such offenders.Justine SummersMuscat

Muscat residents must act to stave off weather impact This refers to the news story, Plan to help Muscat weather the storms (June 23). A programme to contain the adverse impact of inclem-ent weather conditions is indeed

worth praise. I would like to point out certain areas that need atten-tion of the residents themselves. People should note that during rains the city’s low lying streets and residential areas get flooded. The least they can do is not to ven-ture to such places when it is about to rain. People who live in such localities need to think ahead and keep ready sand bags handy. The society needs to be proactive. Prasad KumarMuscat

Schools not promoting healthy lifestyle This refers to the news story, Healthy lifestyle curbs cholesterol (June 23). This advice is welcome indeed. However, in my view the present social climate does not prepare people to able to main-

tain such habits. A number of schools here either do not have a playground or do not have weekly games classes. In such conditions I don’t know how a nation can achieve a health culture. Another thing that I have noted is that al-though the capital has lots of parks most do not have proper jogging tracks. Moreover, the big ones do not open around sunrise when the air is clean and healthy.Sadaf NazMabella

Educate Pakistani masses to avoid heatwave deathsThis refers to the mounting death toll in Pakistan’s Sindh province due to an ongoing heatwave. Although everyone is blaming the weather; it is actually a man made crisis. The federal government

has been trumpeting its power generation efforts no end, however, what we are seeing at present are severe electricity outages. These cuts have led to water shortages. The provincial Pakistan Peoples’ Party government is likewise responsible. At the end of the day due to these delusional policies — where the present problems are ignored and new schemes hatched — it seems unlikely both Islamabad and Karachi will learn anything from all this. It is hoped that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz will forget about politics and act to save people in the short-term. In the long-term, educating the masses about what to do in such a weather is more important than merely installing power plants. Sameer Bunori Al Khuwair

READERS’ FORUM

Peace begins with a smileMOTHER TERESA

website: www.newindiaoman.com

NEW INDIA ASSURANCENew India offers a wide range of HEALTH INSURANCE COVERS to you/family/employee.

PERSPEC IVET I M E S O F O M A N W E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5T I M E S O F O M A N A13

In 2001, Vivian Nixon was released from the New York State prison system. After 3

1/2 years behind bars for a drug-related felony, she wanted to re-build her life. She wanted some-thing better for herself.

So Nixon applied for college. She started with an application for State University of New York College (SUNY) at Old Westbury, a state school on Long Island. She answered all the standard ques-tions: name, previous education, desired major. Then, she came to a question asking whether she had a criminal background. There were two boxes — yes and no. She checked yes.

The school didn’t reject Nixon immediately. First, they asked her for an array of supplementary materials — an official rap sheet, a letter explaining her crime and what she’d done since, and ad-ditional letters of recommenda-tion. Nixon provided them, but ultimately Old Westbury denied her admission.

Many former prisoners have felt this chilling effect of “the box,” which has spurred a national campaign to ban questions about criminal history on applications. But the “Ban the Box” campaign

has focused its effort on job ap-plications. The idea has gained support in 17 states and more than 100 municipalities that have passed laws making it more dif-ficult for employers to discrimi-nate against people with convic-tions. In February, Georgia made it unlawful for state agencies to ask about criminal backgrounds on job applications. Virginia adopted a similar law in April. And the New York City Council approved “ban the box” legisla-tion this month, prohibiting both public and private employers from asking job applicants about their criminal histories.

Because people with jobs are less likely to commit crimes, these laws reduce recidivism and keep communities safer. But even in areas that ban the box on job applications, education remains a barrier to gainful employment for many people with criminal backgrounds.

There are no prohibitions on asking about criminal history on college applications.

Research on the effect of “the box” on college admissions deci-sions, while limited, suggests that it’s a major hurdle for applicants with criminal histories. In 2010,

the Center for Community Alter-natives surveyed 3,248 colleges about how they use applicants’ criminal histories in admissions. Of the 273 responding colleges, 55 percent said they do ask about criminal history on their initial applications and use the informa-tion in the admissions process. The Common Application, ac-cepted at more than 500 schools nationwide, has a criminal- history question.

Alan Rosenthal, a criminal de-fence attorney and an author of the 2010 study, notes that “the box” presents a two-fold problem for college applicants with crimi-nal histories.

First, it typically triggers sec-ondary application requirements that result in a high application attrition rate. Former inmates are often asked to obtain official documents and to complete ad-ditional paperwork that can be onerous and sometimes outright impossible to get.

The additional requirements can include getting recommenda-tions from a corrections official and an employer, obtaining an official list of charges filed, and a conversation with the applicant’s parole officer. — The Washington Post

HOSNI TO ATTEND LABOUR MEETING IN GENEVA MUSCAT: Sheikh Amer bin Shuwain Al Hosni, Minister of Social Affairs, Labour and Vocational Training, is due to leave on Thursday for Geneva to attend the meetings of the 88th session of the international labour conference, to be held from tomorrow. The meetings will discuss several topics including a report by the head of the board and director general of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), developing human resources and vocational training, review of the agreements relevant to the topics of motherhood protection, safety and health in farming, working hours in mines and reducing working hours. The minister will be accompanied by a delegation that comprises representatives of the three productive parties, the government, business owners and labourers.

FROM OUR ARCHIVES

From a government-to-government perspective, there has not been so much communication between the United States and Cuba in 50 years. I never expected negotiations to get this far

I was born in Havana in November 1953, about six years before Fidel Castro led a revolution in Cuba. In July 1960, my family fled to the Unit-

ed States in search of freedom. Like many Cubans, they left behind close relatives, a business, prop-erty and memories. We lost everything.

My parents’ decision to seek exile in the United States has been the single most important event of my life. Thanks to their vision, and the safety and opportunity of this country, I have achieved personal and professional success beyond any-thing I could have imagined as a 7-year-old refu-gee in Miami. I became a citizen, embraced my life as a new American and fell in love with the New York Yankees. Like many fellow Republicans and Cuban-Americans, I was critical when Presi-dent Obama announced in December 2014 that his administration would begin to normalize ties between the United States and Cuba. After years of hostility and failed attempts at détente, I won-dered: Did the Cuban government really want bet-ter ties with America, or was this simply another chess move in a tired game? After all, Obama is not the first president to try to change the relationship with Cuba - Castro’s revolution has outlived 10 American administrations.

Today, I am cautiously optimistic for the first time in 56 years. I see a glimmer of hope that, with Cuba allowing even a small amount of entrepre-neurship and many American companies excited about entering a new market, we can actually help the Cuban people. My 30-year career at the Kel-logg Company taught me that, at its best, business can have a transformational and uplifting impact on communities and whole societies. It is because of that belief that I have always been proud to call myself a Republican.

As secretary of commerce in the administra-tion of George W. Bush, I was a voice for Ameri-can business abroad and saw firsthand that our private sector could be the best ambassador for American values, such as the power of free en-terprise to raise living standards and the impor-tance of being free to work where one chooses. I believe that it is now time for Republicans and the wider American business community to stop fixating on the past and embrace a new approach to Cuba.It has now been six months since Obama’s policy shift was announced. Both govern-ments have confirmed plans to open embassies, and

negotiations have covered a variety of issues, in-cluding the extradition of American fugitives who fled to Cuba. Almost every week a new congression-al delegation lands in Havana. From a government-to-government perspective, there has not been so much communication between the United States and Cuba in 50 years. I never expected negotiations to get this far.

On the business side, scores of Americans have begun to travel to Cuba under expanded licences. American credit card companies have been au-thorised to handle transactions in Cuba. Some of the most innovative companies in the world, like Airbnb and Netflix, have begun to offer their ser-vices in Cuba. The New York Cosmos soccer team has played exhibition matches on the island, and the National Basketball Association has spon-sored a workshop in Havana. Some presidential candidates, including the Cuban-American sena-tors Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, have argued that Obama has conceded too much. The truth is that the changes so far have been incremental and this will be a long and gradual process.

Contrary to popular belief, Obama’s executive actions do not allow for free and open commerce with Cuba, nor do they open the doors for Ameri-cans to visit the island as tourists; the Helms-Burton Act of 1996 codified the embargo that prohibits most American companies from under-taking transactions with Cuba, and travel remains restricted. Rather, the reforms have allowed some American companies and individuals to engage in limited additional activities in Cuba.

Perhaps most critical among these activities has been granting Americans the right to support a new generation of Cuban-born entrepreneurs and Cuban-run small businesses. This move is a logical response to a change allowed by the Cas-tro regime in recent years. These small-business owners and their employees will need tools, sup-plies, building materials and training in account-ing, logistics and other areas. The new reforms al-low American citizens and businesses to address such needs, and I am hopeful the Cuban govern-ment will allow its citizens to take full advantage of their assistance. Cubans yearn not only for these interactions but also for a time when they can enjoy opportunities to chart their own course in life without having to leave their home, as I did 55 years ago. — The New York Times

Republican’s case for Obama’s Cuba policy

TODAY IN HISTORY1700 Russia gives up its Black Sea fleet

as part of a truce with the Ottoman Empire.

1760 Austrian forces defeat the Prussians

at Landshut, Germany. 1902 Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy

renew the Triple Alliance for a 12-year duration.

1934 Italy gains the right to colonise Albania after defeating the country.

1966 Civil Rights marchers in Mississippi

are dispersed by tear gas.

HISTORYNET.COM

GraphicsGraphic News /

World’s highest-paid politicians

Source: Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Quartz Africa

Senators in Nigeria’s National Assembly – already among the highest paid in the world – are each setto receive more than $700,000 a year in perks, while seven in ten fellow Nigerians live on less than a dollar a day

United Kingdom (MP) $106,618Senators’ salaries (per annum)

United States $174,000

Nigeria$177,600

Total includingexpenses:$887,521

Australia$152,048

Canada$142,400

Other annual perksHardship allowanceUtilities allowancePersonal assistant

$74,921$49,947$37,460

Leave allowanceRecess allowanceSeverance gratuity(once in four years)

$14,984$14,984$37,460

$177,600Senator’s

annual salary(US dollars)

$24,974Housing allowance(once in four years)

$37,460Furniture allowance

(once in four years)

$49,947Car loan (never repaid)

$49,947Entertainment

(annual)

$74,921Newspapers (annual)

$112,380Vehicle maintenance(annual)

$112,380Domestic staff (annual)

$99,895Constituency allowance

(annual)

$2,546Wardrobe allowance

(annual)

President Muhammadu Buhari Campaigned againstwaste and corruption

Do economic booms cause economic busts? To a lot of people, this

seems like a silly question to even ask. Of course booms cause busts, they say. Exces-sive greed or optimism or easy credit leads to overinvest-ment, soaring asset prices and unsustainable borrowing binges. What goes up must come down, and the surest sign of a bust tomorrow is a boom today.

So many people instinc-tively believe this that it would astonish most people to learn that for the last half-centu-ry, this hasn’t been the way macroeconomists -- the type working as university profes-sors, anyway -- think about the business cycle.

For the past half-century, the academic macro story has gone something like this: There is a general trend of rising growth and prosperity in the US economy, caused by steady improvements in tech-nology. But this steady course is disturbed by unpredictable events -- “shocks” -- that tem-porarily slow growth or speed it up. The shocks might last for a while, but a positive shock today doesn’t mean a negative shock tomorrow. Recessions and booms are like rainy days and sunny days -- when you look back on them, it looks like they alternate, but really they’re just random.

Why did macroeconomists arrive at this conclusion? First of all, the most simple theory of booms and busts -- that the economy is like a wave, peak-ing and plunging at regular intervals -- doesn’t hold up. The occurrence of booms and busts is highly irregular. Some people tried to com-pensate by making the mod-els very complex and chaotic, but the math got too hard, and in the end, chaotic systems usually just end up looking random anyway.

At this point macroecono-mists turned to the “trend-plus- shocks” model that they still mostly use today. But since the grand debacle of 2008 and 2009, there has been a lot of pressure on macro-economic theorists, from both within academia and with-out (but mostly from with-out), to discard old ideas and try new ones.

So a small handful of macroeconomists are turn-ing back to the old idea that booms cause busts, and vice versa. “About time,” you might say. But academic research paradigms are very difficult ships to turn around, and re-searchers are often less like captains and more like pris-oners chained below decks. Publish some pathbreak-ing theoretical idea, and you might become a hero, but it’s even more likely that you will just get your paper rejected,

especially if there isn’t some extremely convincing empiri-cal support. For the most part, only the most famous and well-established researchers can get radical ideas taken seriously.

Paul Beaudry and Franck Portier are two such research-ers. They are famous for a 2006 theory saying that news about future changes in pro-ductivity could be what cause recessions and booms. That model never really caught on -- it always had some issues with the data, and it definitely didn’t seem to be able to ex-plain the Great Recession. But it inspired further research, and it was an interesting and novel idea.

Now, Beaudry and Portier, along with co-author Dana Galizia, are going after bigger fish. They want to resurrect the idea that booms cause recessions.

In a new paper called “Re-viving the Limit Cycle View of Macroeconomic Fluctua-tions,” Beaudry and Portier try to think of reasons why-booms might cause busts. The mechanism they come up with is pretty simple. You have a whole bunch of people -- basically, companies -- who invest in their businesses. The amount other people invest affects the amount I want to invest, but I can only adjust my investment slowly. When you have feedback effects like this, you’re going to get insta-bility in your model economy, and that’s exactly what the authors find -- the economy experiences booms and busts in a chaotic, unstable way. To reproduce the randomness found in the real economy, the authors simply add in some random “shocks” to productivity.

Now, this exercise will be infuriating to some “hetero-dox” macroeconomists, who have been conducting simi-lar exercises in obscurity for decades, largely ignored by the mainstream of the profes-sion. But it’s an interesting exercise nonetheless, for two main reasons.

The first thing it shows is that academic macroecono-mists are starting to question their most basic, fundamental assumptions about how the economy works. Maybe the old macroeconomics, which critics had long said needed to be tossed out, really was smashed by the crisis. If this paper is any indication, it means macroeconomists are casting around for big new ideas, which in turn means that they have realised that they don’t know what’s going on. The second thing it shows is that if you add even a little bit of the right kind of feed-back into an economic system, it becomes unstable. Hetero-dox macroeconomists have long been yelling that this is the case, but now some heavy hitters in the mainstream are finally starting to catch on to the idea as well. — Bloomberg News

From economic booms to busts

Why colleges should admit ex-felons

N O A H S M I T H

K E R I B L A K I N G E R

C A R L O S M . G U T I E R R E Z

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GLOBAL EYEW E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

UNITED STATES: A pickup truck drives through a flooded roadway at W Daisy Place after a tornado struck the previous day on Tuesday in Coal City, Illinois. — Jon Durr/Getty Images/AFP

CHINA: Belgium’s King Philippe, second left, and Queen Mathilde, centre, receive an umbrella as a gift while visiting a Wanda Group

theatre to watch a performance, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on Monday. — Reuters/Stringer

KENYA: A trader salvages a bundle of clothing after a fire burned through part of Gikomba market, East Africa’s largest second hand clothing market, in Nairobi, Kenya, on Tuesday. — AFP

JAPAN: Flame of Peace is seen at Peace Memorial Park where

commemorating those who died in the battle of Okinawa during

World War II, in Itoman on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa,

on Tuesday, to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the

battle. -Reuters/Kyodo

BRITAIN: Traffic passes an anti-fracking sign in the village of

Little Plumpton, Britain on Tuesday. Lancashire County Council

is debating an application by shale gas firm Cuadrilla Resources

to frack on the Fylde coast, local media reported. — Reuters

NETHERLANDS: Dutch Princess Laurentien, centre, attends the

presentation of the temperature sticker of the supermarket Lidl, in

the battle against food waste, in the presence of pupils in Huizen,

Netherlands. The sticker serves as a reminder to turn the refrigera-

tor on 4 degrees, the optimum temperature to preserve food. AFP/ANP

FRENCH GUYANA: A handout picture taken on Monday and

released on Tuesday by the European Space Agency shows a Eu-

ropean Vega rocket blasting off in Kourou, French Guyana carrying

the Sentinel-2A satellite for Europe’s Copernicus Earth observation

programme. — AFP/ESA/CNES/ARIANE ESPACE

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WORLDW E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

Samsung scion apologises for MERS

SEOUL: The heir-apparent of South Korea’s massive Samsung Group bowed in apology during a nationally televised address on Tuesday for failing to stop the spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) at a Seoul hos-pital run by a group foundation.

About half of the 175 MERS cases in South Korea have been traced to the Samsung Medical Center, tar-nishing the image of one of the coun-

try’s most prestigious hospitals.The South Korean outbreak is

the largest outside Saudi Arabia, and 27 patients have died.

Jay Y. Lee, the only son of Sam-sung Group patriarch Lee Kun-hee, said the conglomerate would do everything it could to stop the outbreak and revamp care at Sam-sung Medical Centre, located in Seoul’s wealthy Gangnam district.

Lee Kun-hee has been hospital-ised at the centre since a heart at-tack last year.

“Our Samsung Medical Centre was unable to stop the MERS in-fection and its spread, and caused too much suffering and concern to the public. I bow my head in apol-ogy,” the younger Lee said in rare public remarks by the man set to lead South Korea’s largest family-run conglomerate, or chaebol.

“We have failed to live up to the expectation and trust of the pub-lic,” he said.

Lee had previously visited the hospital during the outbreak but did not make a statement.

The hospital’s chief has also made public apologies.

South Korea’s MERS outbreak, traced to a businessman who re-turned last month from the Mid-dle East, has scared off tourists and dealt a blow to the economy as consumers stay home. Its health ministry said the outbreak appears

to have levelled off, with new infec-tions reported in recent days in the low single digits, including three on Tuesday.

Lee, who turned 47 on Tuesday, became vice chairman of group flagship Samsung Electronics Co

Ltd in 2012 and is expected to take the reins of that company and the overall group.

“My father has been lying at this hospital for more than a year,” he said. “I understand even to a small degree the worry and pain that pa-

tients and their families have ex-perienced,” he said.

CriticisedSamsung Medical Centre, which was founded in 1994, has been criticised after it was revealed that a MERS patient had been in its emergency ward for two-and-a-half days before being diagnosed, coming into contact with nearly 900 people, including staff.

Such waits are not unusual at the most sought-after hospitals in Seoul, where patients can wait days for a room to open, a local custom that has been blamed by experts for exacerbating the coun-try’s MERS outbreak.

The hospital later suspended most services when an emergency ward orderly tested positive for the virus after working for a num-ber of days despite having symp-toms and coming into contact with more than 200 people.

South Korea’s health ministry said on Tuesday 54 people who had tested positive for the virus have recovered and been discharged from hospital. - Reuters

About half of the

175 MERS cases in

South Korea have

been traced to the

Samsung Medical

Centre run by a

group foundation

TAKING NO CHANCES: A woman, right, walks past South Korean policemen wearing face masks in

Seoul on Tuesday. South Korea reported three new MERS cases but no additional deaths, bringing to

175 the total number of confirmed cases. - AFP

World Bank promises

loan of up to $500m

for quake-hit Nepal

WASHINGTON: The World Bank on Tuesday promised a loan of up to half a billion dollars to help Nepal rebuild after earth-quakes killed nearly 9,000 people there in April and May, levelling homes and pushing hundreds of thousands of people deeper into poverty.

The global development lender, based in Washington, said it would lend $300 million for housing reconstruction and budgetary support, and a further $100 million to $200 million could be redirected from existing loans and be replaced at a later date. The loan would be paid back over 38 years, and carries an in-terest rate of 1.56 per cent, bank officials said.

Nepal said reconstruction from its worst disaster on record would cost some $6.6 billion over five years, and asked internation-al donors to attend a conference this week to help.

Nepal’s Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat said only some of that figure was expected to be paid for by donors, with the rest

met through the government’s own resources, the private sector and individuals.

He warned that Nepal should not become heavily indebted to foreign agencies during reconstruction.

“We will ask for grants and concessional loans payable over a long period of time,” Mahat said.

Nepal owes about $3.8 billion, mainly to development banks, or 18 percent of GDP, and is due to pay back $200 million this year.

It has almost no commercial foreign debt.

The Jubilee Debt Campaign, an activist group, has called for Nepal’s debt to be cancelled after the earthquake.

Aid, including loans from the World Bank and Asian Devel-opment Bank, already supports two-thirds of Nepal’s economic development.

One in every four Nepalis lives on a daily income of less than $1.25, and the number of poor increased by 700,000 after the quake, according to government officials. - Reuters

N A T U R E ’ S F U R Y

DEVASTATION: Pedestrians walk past damaged temples at the

UNESCO world heritage site of Bhaktapur on the outskirts of the

Nepalese capital Kathmandu, following a 7.8 magnitude earth-

quake which struck the Himalayan nation on April 25 in this

photograph taken on April 30. - AFP

Japan, Philippine army

planes take flight

near disputed waters

PUERTO PRINCESA: Japa-nese and Philippine military planes flew together near dis-puted South China Sea waters on Tuesday, as the two countries deepened their alliance in the face of separate territorial dis-putes with China.

A Japanese P-3C Orion and a Philippine Islander plane flew to-

gether from the western island of Palawan with three Filipino mili-tary observers aboard the Japa-nese plane, according to Philip-pine spokesman Commander Lued Lincuna.

“They flew outside the territo-rial waters for a familiarisation flight. Outside, going west,” he said. - AFP

S O U T H C H I N A S E A W A T E R S

Our Samsung Medical Centre was unable to stop the MERS

infection and its spread, and caused too much suffering

and concern to the public. I bow my head in apology

Jay Y. Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

O

i

a

J

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WORLDW E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

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Putin saved my life: Yanukovych

LONDON: Former Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych has thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for “saving my life” during the bloody demonstrations that led to his ouster.

Yanukovych, currently exiled in Russia, told the BBC that he would like to return to Ukraine one day and blamed the country’s plight on the demonstrators who occu-pied Kiev’s Maidan Square -- the

focal point of the uprising against his rule. Months of protests led to a bloody crackdown that claimed more than 100 lives and ultimately toppled the president.

Yanukovych fled to Russia on February 23, 2014, with the help of Moscow’s troops.

“The fact that Vladimir Putin took that decision, on the recom-mendation of his own special forces, that was his right and his

business,” he said in the inter-view, aired on BBC’s Newsnight on Monday.

“I am of course grateful to him for giving the order and helping my security to get me out, and save my life,” he added.

AccusationThe former leader accused his op-ponents of mounting a “military coup”, adding: “they’ve broken up the country. They’ve drawn the whole world into this conflict.”

Separatists in the country’s east have been waging a war for inde-pendence from Kiev’s new pro-Western leadership since March 2014. The campaign has claimed

the lives of nearly 6,500 and driven more than a million people from their homes. Yanukovych insisted that he did not give any orders to use firearms against protesters, but admitted he could have done more to prevent bloodshed.

In one of the interview’s more

bizarre moments, he defended his opulent mansion, whose gates were thrown open after his depar-ture, saying that the ostriches in the residence’s petting zoo “just happened to be there”. Ukrainian officials accuse him of embezzling millions of dollars. — AFP

I am of course grateful to him for giving

the order and helping my security to get

me out, and save my life , said former

Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych

Berlusconi ex-wife to get $1.5m a month

Rwandan spy chief arrested in London

ROME: Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been ordered to pay his former wife $1.5 million (1.4 million euros) in alimony as part of a di-vorce settlement, Italian media reported on Tuesday.

Veronica Lario, 58, was mar-ried to the billionaire media magnate and politician for nearly 25 years before officially divorcing him in 2014.

She was initially awarded an allowance of 3 million euros per month but Berlusconi, 78, ap-pealed the amount.

On Tuesday, a court in Monza near Milan confirmed he would only have to pay her half, or 1.4 million euros. The two separated in 2009 after Berlusconi was embroiled in a scandal following his participation in the birthday party of 18-year-old Noemi Leti-zia. At the time of the separa-tion, Lario told the press that she “could not stay with a man who associates with minors”.

In 2011, the former prime minister was also accused of paying underage exotic dancer Karima El Mahroug — known as “Ruby the Heart Stealer” — for “bunga bunga” parties at his Milan villa. After being con-victed in 2013, Berlusconi was cleared of all charges earlier this year. — AFP

LONDON: British police have arrested the head of Rwanda’s intelligence service Karenzi Karake on a warrant issued by Spain, officials said Tuesday, sparking outrage from Kigali.

The British police said Karake was held on suspicion of war crimes, apparently in refer-ence to a 2008 arrest warrant from a Spanish court for geno-cide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and terrorism.

However, a Spanish judicial source said some of those alle-gations have since been dropped and Karake was now wanted for terrorism offences relating to the deaths of several Spaniards in Rwanda in the 1990s.

The Rwandan government condemned the detention of the 54-year-old general, who has been President Paul Kagame’s spy chief since 2011, branding it an “outrage.”

Unacceptable“Western solidarity in demean-ing Africans is unaccepta-ble!!” Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said on Twitter, calling the arrest “lunacy”.

Justice Minister Johnston Busingye has “sought explana-tion” from British authorities over the move, which came af-ter Karake had been on official business in London for a week, according to Rwanda’s New Times newspaper.

Karake was arrested on Sat-urday morning at London’s Heathrow Airport and after an initial court hearing, was re-manded in custody pending an-other hearing on Thursday, the Metropolitan Police said. — AFP

D I V O R C E S E T T L E M E N T

W A R R A N T


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

MARKEWWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMW E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5B

Muscat

6,450.98 - 0.77

- 0.01%

Dubai

4,144.81+ 9.44

+ 0.23%

Abu Dhabi

4,755.60+ 134.89

+ 2.92%

Saudi Arabia

9,270.95- 4.32

- 0.05%

Kuwait

6,234.40+ 26.42

+ 0.43%

Bahrain

1,363.68 - 5.03

- 0.37%

Qatar

12,113.97- 7.25

- 0.06%

CURRENCY RATES* DRAFT RATES (OMR1)* GOLD PRICES*Forex rates vs OMR1*

US Dollar .................................2.58

Euro ............................................2.28

Pound ........................................... 1.63

Indian Rs .............................164.80

Pak Rs ....................................260.01

Bangla Taka.......................199.52* Rates are as of June 23

Source: Bank Muscat

Indian Rs .................................. 165.00

Pakistan Rs ............................. 263.10

Sri Lanka Rs .......................... 344.90

Bangla Taka.............................201.70

Phil Peso .................................... 116.50

* Rates as of June 23 Source: Oman UAE Exchange

Muscat 24ct per gm (OMR) .......15.20

Muscat 22ct per gm (OMR) .......14.65

Dubai 24ct per gm (Dh) ............143.25

Dubai 22ct per gm (Dh) ............ 136.00

* Rates as of June 23

Source: Malabar Gold & Diamonds

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

Oman Crude ............. (Spot) .........$61.58

Dubai Crude ............. (Spot) ..........$61.18

Murban Crude ........ (Spot) .........$63.51

Arabian Light ......... (Spot) ........$60.78

N.Sea Brent ............... (Spot) ........$63.29

West Texas Int ....... (Spot) ........$60.28

CRUDE OIL PRICE

DIGEST VIDEO

S CA N T H I S Q R CO D E TO I N STA N T LY L AU N C H T H E V I D EO

Top stories in one minute with our new daily Digest

US-Gulf airlines’ subsidy spat reaches a ‘deadlock’HONG KONG: A dispute be-tween the largest US airlines and Gulf carriers over alleged subsi-dies has reached an impasse and should be taken up at the govern-ment level, the head of American Airlines Group said.

American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Continental Holdings contend that Emir-ates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways receive government subsidies that allow them to compete unfairly.

Talks with counterparts at Gulf airlines haven’t resolved the is-sue, American Airlines Chief Ex-ecutive Officer Doug Parker said

on Tuesday in Hong Kong.“We’ve agreed to disagree and I

think this now belongs with gov-ernments, not CEOs,” Parker said

at a media briefing.”We can com-pete with airlines; we can’t com-pete with countries.”

The major US airlines say Gulf carriers have received $42 billion in subsidies from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, allowing them to win market share by of-fering cheap international con-nections through their hubs.

The US airlines have asked the government to keep the Gulf car-riers from adding more US flights pending a review of Open Skies air treaties among the countries.

“We’re petitioning the govern-ment to enforce our trade laws,” Parker said. - Bloomberg News

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

Al Madina Insurance plans to acquire Vision Insurance

A. E. [email protected]

MUSCAT: Al Madina Insurance Company, the Sultanate’s first Is-lamic insurance firm, is planning to acquire Vision Insurance.

Al Madina’s board has expressed interest in fully acquiring Vision Insurance, but the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and satisfactory financial, busi-ness and legal due diligence.

Gautam Datta, chief executive officer of Al Madina Insurance,

said that the main objective for the acquisition was to achieve an inor-ganic growth. “Organic growth can at times impose constraints on re-turn on capital.”

Further, Datta said that in a small insurance market with many players like Oman, the proposed acquisition would enable the com-pany to achieve better returns on its capital, which is at OMR17.5 million now.

“We have to look at all opportu-nities to increase our stakehold-er’s value and this is one of them,”

he explained. This is one way in which the company can better ser-vice its capital.

Al Madina’s shares surged ahead by 2.25 per cent to 91 baisas amid 147,000 shares changing hand on the Muscat Securities Mar-ket (MSM) on Tuesday, after an-nouncing the merger plans.

In fact, insurance regulator Capital Market Authority (CMA) has been encouraging consolida-tion and strengthening of local insurance firms with higher capi-tal base to retain underwriting

income within the country. “This also falls in line with the CMA’s long-term objective for the mar-ket,” he added.

“This will add value to our shareholders and policyholders and have a positive impact on our income and strengthening of insurance sector in Sultan-ate of Oman,” Al Madina said in a disclosure statement posted on MSM website.

Oman government last year raised the minimum capital of in-surance firms to OMR10 million

from OMR5 million and asked national insurance companies to float shares on the Muscat Se-curities Market (MSM) within three years.

The existing companies have been given a grace period of three years to raise their minimum capital to OMR10 million. Vision Insurance has a capital base of OMR5 million and the company has to raise its capital to OMR10 million and list its shares within the stipulated period, if it does not proceed with the merger plan.

The transaction

is subject to

regulatory approvals

and satisfactory

financial, business,

legal due diligence

American Airlines CEO Doug

Parker. — Bloomberg file picture

B2

MARKETW E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

SoftBank plans $20b solar power project in India TOKYO: Japan’s SoftBank will tie up with Bharti Enterprises and Fox-conn Technology in a $20 billion solar power venture in India, as the nation seeks to expand clean energy output about fivefold by 2022.

The project will aim to add 20 gigawatts of solar generating ca-pacity, SoftBank founder Masay-oshi Son said at a briefing in New Delhi on Monday. He spoke along-side Bharti’s Sunil Mittal, who said SoftBank will control the venture, with Bharti and Foxconn having minority stakes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal is for India to have 100 gigawatts of solar capacity to curb blackouts and pollution, up from 4.1 gigawatts now. The challenge

is finding the $94 billion needed to pay for a clean-energy overhaul that reduces India’s reliance on dirty, coal-fired plants. Son’s ven-ture, if successful, would account for a fifth of Modi’s objective.

“The question is whether Japa-nese investors can get comfortable with the Indian market, where lo-cal companies have been bidding extremely aggressively in tenders, and there are risks around land ownership and transmission build that may not be what SoftBank is used to in Japan,” said Vandana Gombar of Bloomberg New En-ergy Finance in New Delhi. Still, “there is no shortage of opportu-nity in India.”

SoftBank rose 1.2 per cent to

¥7,410 in Tokyo trading on Tues-day. The shares have gained 2.7 per cent this year, compared to the 18 per cent gain for the Nik-kei 225 Stock Average. Son said he will aim to invest $20 billion over the next decade, with the pace depending on the cooperation he

receives from India’s central and state governments.

India has two times more sun-shine than Japan and construction costs for solar parks that are half those of Japan, Son said.

“Twice the sunshine, half the cost; that means four times more

efficient,” Son said. “So it makes a lot of sense to create large scale so-lar power generation.”

Rajasthan and AndhraThe new venture will look at po-tential sites in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh states, Mittal said. It also will aim to manufac-ture solar panels in India. The intention is to start the the first project in one to one-and-half-year, Mittal said.

“Finding good projects is a chal-lenge for every developer, and spending $20 billion on good pro-jects may not be easy,” Gombar said.

Son said SoftBank can bring its experience of the solar industry in Japan to India, adding the compa-

ny has invested $1 billion in Asia’s third-largest economy in the past nine months. Japan is the second-largest market for solar cells, after China. India ranks fifth.

Modi’s solar ambition encom-passes both rooftop projects and utility-scale plants. Adani Enter-prises, Reliance Power and Sun-Edison are among those pledging investment.

Trina Solar said last week that it plans a $500 million solar plant with India’s Welspun Energy. Telecommunications company SoftBank set up a unit in 2011, SB Energy, to develop clean energy projects following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan the same year. – Bloomberg News

C L E A N E N E R G Y

Pacific trade pact faces second test

WASHINGTON: United States President Barack Obama’s sig-nature Pacific trade pact faces another test in the Senate as leg-islation needed to close the deal returns for a second run through the chamber.

The legislation has already en-dured six weeks of congressional wrangling and two close brush-es with failure after revolts by Obama’s own Democrats, many of whom believe trade deals will threaten US jobs.

The bill, which would establish a fast track through Congress for trade deals, needs support from sixty senators to clear a proce-dural hurdle.

Although the measure passed

the Senate a month ago on a vote of 62-37, including backing from 14 Democrats, some may with-draw support.

Fast-track legislation gives lawmakers the right to set nego-tiating objectives for trade deals such as the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, but restricts them to a yes-or-no vote on the final agreement.

Fast-track legislationTrading partners say they want fast-track legislation enacted before finalising the TPP, which would be the biggest trade deal since the North American Free Trade Agreement liberalised commerce between the United

States, Canada and Mexico two decades ago. It took two attempts to pass this same procedural hur-dle on the legislation’s first run through the Senate last month, after Democrats successfully de-manded the measure be bundled with three other trade bills.

Opposition in the House of Representatives, where Demo-crats refused to renew a previ-ously uncontroversial program providing aid to workers hurt by trade, has forced the measures apart again.

Senators will vote in Tuesday to limit debate on fast-track and — if that vote succeeds — on the actual bill on Wednesday, before tackling a second bill extending trade benefits to African nations. That bill now also contains the worker aid programme.

Republicans want both meas-ures to pass this week before Con-gress goes on a week-long break so that Obama can promptly sign them into law.

“If we simply vote the same way we did a couple of weeks ago, we won’t miss this opportunity,” Sen-ate Majority Leader Mitch McCo-nnell said on Monday. - Reuters

The legislation has already endured six

weeks of US congressional wrangling and

two close brushes with failure after revolts

by Barack Obama’s own Democrats

China, Japan firms slow to respond to stimulus

SYDNEY: China’s mammoth manufacturing sector showed some tentative signs of stabilising in June, according to a non-offi-cial survey, without finding the momentum needed for a lasting recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.

Optimism appeared in short supply as firms surveyed by HSBC/Markit reported the sharpest reduction in hiring in-tentions for six years, regardless of Beijing’s efforts to kick-start activity through policy stimulus.

“After a decade of pell-mell growth in both capacity and lever-age, this situation is symptomatic of excess supply capability in

manufacturing amidst moribund demand,” analysts at Westpac said in a research note issued af-ter the survey’s release.

“This nexus of low confidence and weak demand for credit is an obvious impediment to growth.”

ShrinkingWith factory activity appar-ently shrinking for three straight months, it is becoming math-ematically harder and harder to avoid economic growth falling below 7.0 percent in the second quarter for the first time since the Global Financial Crisis.

The news from Japan wasn’t any better. The factory sector ac-

tually went backwards in June, as a recovery in the world’s third largest economy continued to struggle after a recession in the middle of last year. That left the onus on factory surveys in Europe and the United States to offer any evidence of a much-needed pick up in global growth.

Fortunately for financial mar-kets hopes of progress in the Greek debt saga provided a timely boost to risk appetites and lifted Japanese shares to their highest in 15 years.

The headline flash measure of Chinese manufacturing did edge up to a three-month high of 49.6 June, from 49.2 in May. - Reuters

E C O N O M Y

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Oman Arab Bank’s Islamic banking arm plans new productsTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Oman Arab Bank’s Is-lamic banking arm Al Yusr plans to launch new products and services, which was approved by the Sha-ria Supervisory Board of the bank. The decision was taken at the sev-enth Sharia Supervisory Board (SSB) meeting held recently.

One such key product deliberated at the Sharia board meeting was ‘Al Yusr Running Musharakah prod-uct,’ a Sharia-compliant solution to cater to business requirements of regular operating and overhead expenses and to fulfil the cash-flow demand of the customers.

As part of the commitment to contribute to the growth of the Islamic banking industry in the

Oman, Al Yusr always comes up with innovative and value-added products and services that are be-ing developed, keeping in mind the unique individual and business needs of the people in the Sultan-ate, said the bank.

In order to ensure full compli-ance with Sharia, the Sharia Su-pervisory Board reviewed the ‘Post product implementation’ of Al Yusr products and services to ensure that they are in line with the Sharia rules and principles.

The Sharia Board also reviewed and approved the Sharia audit plan for this year.

The meeting was held at the bank’s corporate office presided over by Dr Essam Al Enezi, head of the Al Yusr Sharia Supervisory

Board, and attended by Abdul Qad-er Shir Al Bulushi, general manag-er, Al Yusr and other senior officers.

Abdul Qader Shir Al Bulushi, while appreciating the Sharia Su-pervisory Board members, said that such regular meetings with the Sharia Board scholars who have vast knowledge of Islamic banking and finance, is pivotal in expanding the Islamic banking concepts and knowledge among the management, staff and clients.

Overall, it will create awareness among the public in the Sultanate, he added.

In the past, the Al Yusr Sharia Supervisory Board members have conducted several presentations and seminars on Islamic banking and finance in Muscat and Salalah.

S H A R I A - C O M P L I A N T

MEETING: The Sharia Supervisory Board reviewed the ‘Post product implementation’ of Al Yusr prod-

ucts and services to ensure that they are in line with the Sharia rules and principles. – Supplied picture

India plans to ease IPO norms for start-up firms

MUMBAI: India is considering easing rules for initial public offer-ings (IPO) by startups in a move that could allow local investors to profit from an e-commerce boom.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) at its board meeting may weigh a proposal by an group of investors to relax list-ing rules linked to profitability, use of funds and valuation meth-odology, says Praveen Chakravar-ty, an angel investor and member of Sebi’s panel on startups.

Current norms for initial public offerings include several ‘onerous conditions’ that make it unattrac-tive for startups to list in India, Chakravarty said in a phone inter-view. “We are proposing tao dilute some of these requirements.”

India is in the midst of an e-commerce boom, with UBS pre-dicting the market to grow 10 times to $50 billion by 2020.

Yet, the industry has been fueled almost entirely by capital from overseas, including money from New York hedge fund Tiger Global Management and billion-aire Masayoshi Son’s Softbank Corporation.

The new rules could potentially lure Indian investors, said Go-pal Srinivasan, chairman at TVS

Capital Funds.

Entry barriersIn its board meeting, Sebi may evaluate proposals to lower entry barriers for investors and dilute disclosure rules for companies planning to list as outlined in a paper released by the regulator in March 2013.

The proposed rules would allow institutional investors, including mutual funds such as HDFC Asset Management Company that man-age a combined Rs12 trillion ($187 billion) to invest in such ventures. “We are rethinking the whole framework to make it investor ori-ented,” Srinivasan, a member of Sebi panel, said in a phone inter-

view from his Chennai office.The panel has also made recom-

mendations for regulations to cov-er crowdfunding, along the lines of the United States Jumpstart our Business Startups Act or JOBS Act, which was passed in 2012.

The proposal, if accepted, could provide a platform for startups to raise initial seed funding prior to approaching angel investors or venture capital firms, said Abid Hassan, chief operating officer at MobME Wireless and a member of the Sebi startup panel. – Bloomberg News

In a move that could

allow local investors

to profit from an

e-commerce boom,

the regulator may

weigh a proposal by

a group of investors

to relax listing rules

INVESTOR-FRIENDLY: The market regulator may evaluate proposals to lower entry barriers for

investors and dilute disclosure rules for companies planning to list as outlined in a paper released

by the regulator in March 2013. – File picture

HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your comments at facebook.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com [email protected]

The proposed rules would allow institutional investors, including mutual funds such as HDFC Asset Management Company that manage a combined Rs12 trillion ($187 billion), to invest in such ventures

Greece working to seal bailout deal with a week to goBRUSSELS: Greece and its credi-tors were working to seal a bail-out deal with exactly one week to go before Athens is due to repay the International Monetary Fund (IMF) around €1.5 billion or face default and a possible exit from the European Union.

After an emergency summit in Brussels, they ordered their fi-nance ministers to hold fresh talks on Wednesday to thrash out the details ahead of a full meeting of all 28 EU leaders on Thursday.

Global stocks surged —includ-ing a nine per cent leap in Athens — on signs of a potential break-through, which came after Greece submitted an 11th-hour reform plan to free up crucial funds from its EU-IMF bailout.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said he was ‘convinced’ they could end the five-month stand-off with the left-ist Greek government led by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

“I’m convinced that we will come to a final agreement in the course of this week, for the sim-ple reason that we have to find an agreement this week,” Juncker told a press conference.

French President Francois Hol-lande also said a deal was within reach. “We are moving towards an accord,” Hollande told reporters. “There is still work to be done... eve-ry effort must be made so that when eurozone finance ministers meet Wednesday, a solution is in sight.”

Most Asian markets climbed Tuesday on the news, tracking US and European markets. Tokyo jumped 1.62 per cent to a fresh 15-year high Tuesday morning on hopes of a deal, while Hong Kong was 0.35 perc ent higher.

The euro inched down to $1.1264 and 139.33 yen in Tokyo from $1.1340 and 139.91 yen in New York late Monday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that while Greece’s plans were a “good starting point

for further talks”, it was also clear that “absolutely intensive work is necessary now”.

Merkel’s warningMerkel also ruled out any question of debt reduction, as Greece has demanded, and also said the lead-ers had not discussed any possible extension of the Athens bailout. Hardline International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said they were “long on work and short on time” to reach a deal.

The Greek proposals were a last-ditch bid to unlock the final €7.2-billion tranche of its aid plan, which creditors have refused to re-lease unless Greece agrees to more austerity measures.

Cash-strapped Greece is at risk of defaulting on a €1.5-billion ($1.7-billion) IMF payment on June 30 if it fails to get a deal to extend its international bailout by the same day.

Syriza party leader Tsipras said that the “ball is now in the court of the European authorities”, who have until now always insisted that it is up to Greece to make con-cessions. - AFP

D E B T C R I S I S

I am convinced that we will come to a final agreement in the course of this week, for the simple reason that we have to find an agreement this week

Jean-Claude JunckerChief, European Commission

B4

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MUSCATSECURITIES MARKET

SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR TUESDAY, JUNE 23

REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL ............................................. 147,000.............13,377......................13 ............0.091 ........... 0.091 ...........0.091 ............0.091 .............0.089 ........... 0.002 ............. 2.247 ................0.091 ..............0.090...................0.091 ...................15,925,000 .........0.100OM0000001681 ............OMAN AND EMIRATES INV. HOLDING ........... 624,767 ............73,165......................15 ............0.117 ........... 0.118............ 0.116 ............0.117 ............. 0.115 ............ 0.002 ............. 1.739................. 0.118 .............. 0.118................... 0.119 ................... 14,259,375 .........0.100OM0000001962 ............AL MADINA INVESTMENT .....................................46,895 ............... 3,737........................4 ........... 0.079 ...........0.080 ...........0.079 ........... 0.080 .............0.079 ............0.001 ............. 1.266 ................0.080..............0.079...................0.081 ....................16,572,111..........0.100OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 1,287,495 ......708,042..................... 30 ........... 0.546 ........... 0.550 ...........0.546........... 0.550 .............0.546 ........... 0.004 ............. 0.733 ................0.550 ..............0.546...................0.552................1,260,502,428 ......0.100OM0000002226 ...........AL JAZEERA SERVICES ..............................................6,000 ...............2,216........................4 ........... 0.368 ........... 0.370 ...........0.368........... 0.370 .............0.368 ........... 0.002 ............. 0.543 ................0.370 ..............0.374...................0.376 ...................22,645,581 .........0.100OM0000003661 ............VOLTAMP ENERGY ........................................................7,055 ...............3,005........................2 ........... 0.426 ........... 0.426 ...........0.426........... 0.426 .............0.424 ........... 0.002 ............. 0.472 ................0.426..............0.426...................0.440 ..................25,773,000 .........0.100OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE .............. 1,745,754 .......423,980..................... 60 ........... 0.242 ........... 0.245 ...........0.242 .......... 0.243 .............0.242 ............0.001 ............. 0.413 ................0.244 .............0.243...................0.244 ..................48,600,000 ........0.100OM0000001087 ............OMAN UNITED INSURANCE ................................... 3,400 .................. 966........................ 1 ........... 0.284 ...........0.284 ...........0.284 .......... 0.287 .............0.287 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.284..............0.284...................0.290 ..................28,700,000 .........0.100OM0000001517 ............HSBC BANK OMAN ..................................................... 50,000 ...............6,700........................ 1 ............0.134 ........... 0.134 ...........0.134 ........... 0.134 ............. 0.134............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.134 .............. 0.132...................0.134 ..................268,041,914 ........0.100OM0000001533 ............OMINVEST .................................................................... 526,000 .........252,480........................4 ........... 0.480 ...........0.480 ...........0.480........... 0.480 .............0.480 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.480..............0.450...................0.000 .................177,800,304 ........0.100OM0000001822 ............UNITED POWER .............................................................2,000 ...............3,120........................ 1 ............1.560 ........... 1.560 ...........1.560 ........... 1.560 ............. 1.560............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.560 .............. 1.550...................1.560 .................... 3,120,000 ..........1.000OM0000002028 ...........GULF INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS ............ 100,000 ........... 23,400........................2 ........... 0.234 ...........0.234 ...........0.234........... 0.234 .............0.234 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.234..............0.234...................0.238....................4,914,000 ..........0.100OM0000002168 ............AL ANWAR CERAMIC TILES .................................87,500 .............37,625........................ 1 ........... 0.430 ........... 0.430 ...........0.430........... 0.430 .............0.430 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.430..............0.420...................0.430 ................. 127,371,883 ........0.100OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES ..................................... 143,875 ............ 41,580......................21 ........... 0.289 ...........0.289 ...........0.289........... 0.289 .............0.289 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.289..............0.283...................0.289 ..................81,525,297 .........0.100OM0000003281 ............TAAGEER FINANCE ..................................................... 1,000 .................. 144........................ 1 ............0.144 ........... 0.144 ...........0.144 ........... 0.144 ............. 0.144 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.144 ..............0.144...................0.157 ...................36,516,960 .........0.100OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 105,400 ............19,499........................2 ............0.185 ........... 0.185 ...........0.185 ............0.185 ............. 0.185............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.185 ..............0.184...................0.185 ................. 266,666,400 .......0.100OM0000003711 ............SOHAR POWER ................................................................ 1,030 .................. 389........................2 ........... 0.378 ........... 0.378 ...........0.378 ........... 0.380 .............0.380 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.378 ............. 0.000...................0.388...................83,983,800 .........0.100OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO....................................................................... 263,609 .........206,589......................15 ............0.780 ........... 0.784 ...........0.780 ........... 0.784 ............. 0.784 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.780 ..............0.780...................0.784 ..................510,340,276 ........0.100OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS ..................................................43,559 ............ 23,962......................15 ........... 0.548 ........... 0.552 ...........0.548........... 0.550 .............0.550 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.552 ..............0.550...................0.554...................28,875,000 .........0.100OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ..........................68,960 ...........119,794......................17 ............1.740 ........... 1.740............ 1.735 ............1.735 ............. 1.745 ............-0.010 ........... -0.573 ...............1.740 .............. 1.740................... 1.745 ................1,301,250,000 ......0.100OM0000001160 ............NATIONAL GAS ........................................................... 102,413 ............ 40,456........................7 ........... 0.396 ........... 0.396 ...........0.390........... 0.396 .............0.400 ...........-0.004 ........... -1.000 ...............0.390..............0.360...................0.390 ..................19,800,000 .........0.100OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING ........... 198,940 ........... 25,464......................14 ............0.128 ........... 0.128 ...........0.128 ........... 0.128 ............. 0.130............-0.002 ............-1.538................0.128 .............. 0.127...................0.128 ...................11,520,000 .........0.100OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. ................... 36,200 ...............4,529..................... 10 ............0.127 ........... 0.127 ...........0.124 ............0.125 ............. 0.127............-0.002 ............-1.575 ................0.125 ..............0.124...................0.125 ...................36,247,580 .........0.100OM0000004933 ...........AL SUWADI POWER ....................................................35,000 ...............7,000........................7 ........... 0.200 ...........0.200 ...........0.200 .......... 0.200 .............0.204 ...........-0.004 ............-1.961 ................0.200 .............0.190...................0.200 .................142,881,268 ........0.100OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 1,348,485 ......297,043...................102 ........... 0.225 ........... 0.225 ...........0.219 ........... 0.220 .............0.225 ...........-0.005 ........... -2.222 ...............0.220 .............0.219...................0.220 ..................28,710,000 .........0.100OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES ......................... 306,248 ............41,323......................14 ............0.135 ........... 0.135 ...........0.134 ............0.135 .............0.140 ...........-0.005 ............-3.571 ................0.134 ..............0.134...................0.135 .................... 7,943,834 ..........0.100.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 7,288,585 .......2,379,587 ...............365 ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ TRADED SEC. ......26........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

PARALLEL MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000002564 ...........AL HASSAN ENGINEERING....................................10,000 ...............1,020........................2 ............0.102 ........... 0.102 ...........0.102 ........... 0.102 .............0.100 ........... 0.002 .............2.000 ................0.102 ..............0.099...................0.102 .....................7,671,216...........0.100OM0000001400 ...........OMAN FLOUR MILLS .................................................10,000 .............. 4,920........................ 1 ........... 0.492 ........... 0.492 ...........0.492........... 0.492 .............0.492 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.492..............0.492...................0.500 ..................77,490,000 .........0.100OM0000004511 ............ALIZZ ISLAMIC BANK.............................................. 150,000 ............11,992........................2 ........... 0.079 ...........0.080 ...........0.079 ........... 0.080 .............0.080 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.080..............0.078...................0.080 ..................80,000,000 ........0.100OM0000004776 ...........TAKAFUL OMAN INSURANCE ................................ 2,327 .................. 277........................ 1 ............0.119 ........... 0.119............ 0.119 ............0.119 ............. 0.119 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 0.119 .............. 0.110................... 0.119 ...................11,900,000 .........0.100OM0000005963 ...........PHOENIX POWER ...................................................... 60,775,958 .9,045,567............... 8,460 ............0.147 ........... 0.151 ............0.146 ........... 0.149 ............. 0.150............-0.001 ........... -0.667 ...............0.149 .............. 0.149...................0.150 .................. 217,927,618 ........0.100OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................ 388,732 ........... 28,142......................12 ........... 0.072 ........... 0.073 ...........0.072........... 0.072 .............0.073 ...........-0.001 ........... -1.370................0.073 ..............0.073...................0.074................. 108,000,000 .......0.100.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 61,337,017 . 9,091,918............... 8,478 ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ TRADED SEC. ........ 6........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

BONDS MARKET ........................................................................................................................................................................................ OM0000004867 ...........BANK MUSCAT C C B 4.5 ................................................. 561 .....................57........................ 1 ............0.101 ........... 0.101............0.101 ........... 0.102 .............0.102 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.101 .............. 0.101...................0.000 ..................32,603,553 .........0.100OM0000005971 ............B.MUSCAT COMPL. CONVR. B.B.3.5 ................... 2,038,362...... 201,798......................21 ........... 0.099 ........... 0.099 ...........0.099........... 0.099 .............0.099 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.099 ..............0.099...................0.100...................32,092,000 ........0.100.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 2,038,923......201,854..................... 22 ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ TRADED SEC. ........ 2........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

ISIN .................................................. SECURITY NAME ...............................................................................................VOLUME ..............TURNOVER ................... TRADES ...........OPEN PRICE ............. HIGH .................... LOW ............... CLOSE PR. ..........PREV. CLOSE.......... DIFF (RO) .................DIFF % ......................LAST PR............... LAST BID .....................LAST OFFER ................. MARKET CAP ........PAR VALUE

O M A N S T O C K S

INDICESIndex .................................................High .................Low ..................... Value ............... Prev . Value.......... Diff ...............Diff %MSM30 Index ........................................6,453.69 ...............6,449.73 ................... 6,450.98 ....................6,451.75 .................. -0.77 ................. -0.012Financial Index .................................... 7,800.00 ...............7,784.53 ....................7,792.21 ................... 7,800.15 .................. -7.94 .................. -0.10Industrial Index ................................... 8,383.30 ...............8,375.66 ................... 8,375.66 ................... 8,381.49 .................. -5.83 .................. -0.07Services Index .......................................3,489.66 ...............3,487.66 ....................3,487.72 ...................3,489.42 ...................-1.70 .................. -0.05MSM SHARIAH INDEX....................... 997.55 ..................996.98 ...................... 996.99 .......................997.55 .................. -0.56 .................. -0.06

Trading SummaryVolume ................ Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up ............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded70,664,525 ............... 11,673,360 ................. 8,865 ............... 15,048,169,910 .................. 8 ........................9 .................... 17 .........................34

Index ends unchanged

MUSCAT: Oman’s general index — MSM30 Index — ended without any big change at 6,450.98 points, down by 0.01 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index edged down 0.06 per cent to close at 996.99 points. Phoenix Power was the most ac-tive in terms of volume as well as turnover. Tuesday’s top gainer was Al Madina Takaful, up by 2.25 per cent, while Gulf Investment Ser-vices, down by 3.57 per cent, was the day’s top loser.

As many as 8,865 trades were executed during the day’s trad-ing session generating turnover of OMR11.67 million with over 70.66 million shares changing hands. Out of 34 traded securi-ties, eight advanced, nine declined and 17 remained unchanged. GCC and Arab investors were net buy-ers for OMR1.18 million while foreign investors were net sellers for OMR1.15 million followed by Omani Investors for OMR32,000 worth of shares.

Financial Index ended lower at 7,792.21 points, down by 0.10 per cent. Al Madina Takaful, Oman & Emirates Holding, Al Madina Investments and Bank Muscat increased 2.25 per cent, 1.74 per cent, 1.27 per cent and 0.73 per cent, respectively. Gulf Invest-

ment Services, Al Anwar Holding, Al Sharqia Investments and Bank Nizwa declined 3.57 per cent, 2.22 per cent, 1.54 per cent and 1.37 per cent, respectively.

Industrial Index closed the day at 8,375.66 points, down by 0.07 per cent. Al Hassan Engineering and Voltamp Energy gained 2 per cent and 0.47 per cent, respective-ly. Galfar Engineering, down by 1.57 per cent, was only sector loser.

Services Sector Index retreated by 0.05 per cent and closed at 3,487.72 points. Al Jazeera Ser-vices and OIFC gained 0.54 per cent and 0.41 per cent, respec-tively. Al Suwadi Power, National Gas, Phoenix Power and Omantel declined by 1.96 per cent, 1 per cent, 0.67 per cent and 0.57 per cent, respectively.

Etisalat shares jumpEmirates Telecommunications (Etisalat) shares rose the most in a decade after the United Arab Emirates said it would lift a ban on foreign ownership of shares in its biggest phone company. The stock jumped 15 per cent, the most permitted in a day, to Dh13.80 at 12:28pm in Abu Dhabi. The UAE government owns 60 per cent of Etisalat. – United Securitie/Bloomberg News

Top gainer was Al Madina Takaful, up by 2.25

per cent, while Gulf Investment Services,

down by 3.57 per cent, was the day’s top loser

Sensex climbs; rupee fallsMUMBAI: Indian stocks ad-vanced for an eighth day, send-ing the benchmark index above its 200-day average for the first time in three weeks, as a pickup in monsoon rains eased inflation rate concerns.

Coal India, the world’s biggest miner of the fuel, was the best per-former on the S&P BSE Sensex. Larsen & Toubro, the largest engi-neering company, rallied to a two-month high. Cigarette maker ITC advanced for an eighth day and Mahindra & Mahindra, a tractor maker, rose to its highest price in five months.

The Sensex added 0.3 per cent to 27,804.37 at the close in Mum-bai. The gauge capped its longest winning run since January as above-normal rains in an El Nino year improved the outlook for further easing in monetary policy, and optimism Greece will strike a deal with creditors sent global stocks higher. India’s central bank on June 2 said it will assess monsoon rains before cutting borrowing costs for a fourth time this year.

“There’s hope of a rate cut coming through before the next credit policy, given the progress and distribution of the monsoon,” Gaurang Shah, a vice-president at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV India on Tuesday. The better-than-fore-cast rainfall has allayed “the scare we had when the monsoon season started,” he said. The central bank is scheduled to review rates on August 4.

Larsen & Toubro, ITCMonsoon rainfall has been 23 per cent above normal since the start of the season on June 1, with about 80 per cent of the nation receiving excess to normal show-ers. The weather office on June

2 predicted that rains would be deficient for a second year, spark-ing concern that rising food costs will curb the Reserve Bank of In-dia (RBI) from easing monetary policy further.

A sell-off in equities through the three weeks ended June 14 had dragged the Sensex below its 200-day mean.

Coal India surged 3.9 per cent, the steepest advance since June 5. Larsen & Toubro climbed two per cent, taking this year’s gains to 18 per cent. ITC added 1.3 per cent to its highest level since June 2 this year.

Bharti Airtel, the nation’s largest cellular-phone operator, climbed, bringing its year-to-date advance to 22 per cent. Mahindra & Mahi-ndra added 1.8 per cent, extend-ing last week’s 9.4 per cent surge in value.

International investors sold a net $17 million of Indian stocks

on Friday, June 19, paring this year’s inflow to $6.3 billion.

The Sensex has risen 1.1 per cent this year and trades at 15.6 times projected 12-month prof-its, versus the five-year average of 14.4. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is valued at a multiple of 12.

Rupee declines India’s rupee fell the most in a week on speculation importers are stepping up dollar purchases to settle their month-end bills.

The rupee weakened 0.2 per cent to 63.6050 a dollar in Mum-bai, the most since June 15, ac-cording to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg. The currency snapped a four-day ad-vance. Sovereign bonds declined for a second day.

“Importers are buying dollars and that is getting reflected in the rupee,” said Ankur Jhaveri, co-head of currency and rates at Edelweiss Financial Services in Mumbai. Importers find the cur-rent dollar levels good to meet their immediate needs, he said.

The yield on the notes due in July 2024 rose two basis points to 7.92 per cent, according to prices from the Reserve Bank of India’s trading system. That on the new 10-year securities maturing in May 2025 increased one basis point to 7.75 per cent.

The rupee climbed 0.8 per cent in the five days ended June 19, its best week in three months, while the 2024 debt completed its big-gest weekly advance since it was first issued in July.

The gains came as a pickup in seasonal monsoon rains eased concern inflation will accelerate and the Federal Reserve signaled it will raise US interest rates gradually, reducing chances of a sudden outflow from emerging markets like India. — Bloomberg News

I N D I A N M A R K E T S

Turkish firms eye $10b projects in IranANKARA: Iran is seeking part-nerships with Turkish companies for highway, airport and railway projects worth $10 billion over the next three to five years, Iranian Ambassador to Turkey Ali Reza Bikdeli said in an interview in An-kara on Tuesday.

“We have many projects,” Bik-deli said late on Monday.

“We are ready to award these projects to internationally-proven

Turkish companies.”Turkey and Iran aim to dou-

ble annual commerce to $30 bil-lion this year as they push to lift international trade restrictions over Iran’s nuclear programme. In January, they sealed a trade agree-ment after 10 years of negotiations that gave Iran preferred tariffs on some agricultural products and similar breaks to some Turkish industrial goods. Iran also seeks

a bigger share in Turkey’s energy market. A sharp increase in com-merce between the neighbouring nations would depend on Iran and world powers reaching a deal that would trade sanctions relief for curbs on Iran’s nuclear work.

Nuclear talks have snagged ahead of a June 30 deadline for a deal, with Iranian and European officials accusing each other on Monday of backing away from an

agreement. Contracts to Turkish corporations would be awarded through work partnerships with Iranian companies and without bids, Bikdeli said. Ankara-based construction company Bergiz Insaat, in a joint venture with an Iranian state company, has already begun building a $1 billion high-way project and an $800 million subway in northwestern Iran, he said. - Bloomberg News

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

There’s hope of a rate cut coming through before the next credit policy, given the progress and distribution of the monsoon

Gaurang ShahVice-president Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services

Mobily network sale

attracts investors

DUBAI: Saudi Arabian mobile operator Etihad Etisalat is at-tracting interest from compa-nies, including American Tower and IHS Nigeria, for its cellular-tower network, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The sale could be worth about $2 billion, the people said,

asking not to be identified as the information is private.

Mobily, as the Saudi Arabia company is known, is being ad-vised by TAP Advisors, the people said. Talks are at an early stage and formal bids haven’t yet been submitted, the people said. — Bloomberg News

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Ooredoo team kicks off11th Goodwill Journey

MUSCAT: Ooredoo’s Goodwill Journey kicked off yesterday from Musannah with a route that takes them to the length and breadth of the country, visiting 11 cities in the two-week voyage.

Dedicated to enriching the lives of people in Oman, this year’s journey will foster women’s em-

powerment, education and self-sufficiency, as well as promoting sustainable development.

Marking the beginning of yet another year of giving, 22 Ooredoo volunteers began the journey by celebrating the graduation of 25 local community women from an incubator programme, designed to equip them with the skills they need to succeed in business, says a press release.

Working hand in hand with the Omani Women’s Association in Musannah, Ooredoo identified and designed this unique incuba-tor programme to spur growth within the community. Using both in-house and external experts, the trainees underwent a series of in-tensive ongoing workshops where

they were taught essential skills in the disciplines of beauty, IT, cook-ing, and sewing; skills that they can use either within their local com-munities or even to start up their own business enterprise.

“The Goodwill Journey is the cornerstone of our corporate so-cial responsibility platform and a key event in our annual calendar. Over the last 10 years, we have been able to spread joy and put smiles on the faces of thousands of people across the country,” said Kumail Al Moosawi, chief people and corporate affairs officer at Ooredoo.

“This year we have taken it one step further. Our aim is not only to provide charitable contributions from us and our customers, but

to invest in building the future of many men and women.

"Ooredoo’s support will ex-tend to help them on their way to becoming small and medium enterprises and use their new-found expertise to enjoy a better and more prosperous tomorrow,” added Moosawi

Over the next week, Goodwill volunteers from the Ooredoo fam-ily will head north, stopping in Liwa, Al Buraimi, Ibri, Nizwa and Samael visiting various associa-tions and hospitals and sharing the spirit of the holy month with com-munities. The first leg of the Jour-ney will end in Muscat on June 27, where preparations will com-mence for the second leg to head south all the way to Salalah.

Dedicated to

enriching the lives

of people in Oman,

this year’s journey

will foster women’s

empowerment,

education and

self-sufficiency, as

well as promoting

sustainable

development

alizz Islamic bank unveils 'Iftar Sa’yim' MUSCAT: In line with the spirit of giving during the holy month of Ramadan, alizz Islamic bank (AIB) has launched the alizz Iftar Sa’yim initiative. Implementing the Islamic principles and val-ues of charity and volunteer work during the blessed month, alizz Islamic bank distributed 300 food packages for low income families throughout the major cities in the Sultanate.

The primary goal of the Rama-dan initiative is to support the low income families to prepare for the month of Ramadan with essential foods including rice, wheat, lentils, sugar, milk, oil, etc. The secondary goal is to encour-age employee volunteerism, says a press release.

Companies, employees, and the community gain the benefits of employee volunteerism. Em-ployee volunteerism offers a tan-gible way for businesses to be-come more personally invested in undertaking social issues, to strengthen employee skills and morale, and to cultivate a more positive and productive busi-ness environment.

Mazin Al Habsi, head of Ser-vice Quality at alizz Islamic bank, said: “I was personally de-lighted to enrol in this initiative by giving back to the community. I am truly thankful and humbled

by the experience.”A large number of alizz staff

volunteered in distributing pack-ages for the low income families across the country. Throughout last week employees travelled from the head office in CBD area, Ruwi, to assist other employee volunteers in key locations in-cluding Muttrah, A’Seeb, Nizwa, Sohar, and Salalah.

Aisha Al Kharusi, chief mar-keting officer, alizz, said “Our Iftar Say’im initiative aims at promoting the spirit of solidarity and cooperation within the bank, employees and the larger com-munity by providing necessity to low income families during the holy month of Ramadan. This ini-tiative also plays a significant role to further encourage the concept of volunteerism within the bank’s work environment.”

C H A R I T Y

‘Karam’ jewellery combines novelty, simplicity in designsMUSCAT: Zubair Small Enter-prises Centre (Zubair SEC) re-cently organised a launch ceremo-ny of the new collection of silver and gold plated jewellery called ‘Karam’ introduced by Daar Al Washa Est, owner of the brand ‘Kidani’, specialised in design-ing and fashioning ornaments and jewellery.

Zubair SEC, driven by its strat-egy and commitment towards small enterprises, launched this initiative to stress the signifi-cance of the adoption of small businesses and providing it with various services and technical, administrative and legal advisory to enable such projects to contin-ue its growth and progress. The event was attended by Khalid Mu-hammad Al Zubair, managing di-rector of the Zubair Corporation, along with a number of represent-atives from the public and private sector, says a press release.

Kidani is one of the small pro-jects affiliated to Zubair SEC and winner of the 2015 Direct Support Programme. Its vision is based on reflecting the modernist symbol within the cultural identity in its designs and fashioning of jewel-leries and combines tradition with modernity in its fashions. The company owner, Muna Amir Al Khusaibi adopted quality and excellence as main elements to achieve progress, and the authen-tic traditional lines of heritage to exhibit the simplicity and col-ourfulness of its brands. Today ‘Kidani’ is well recognised in the jewellery market as a harmoni-ous combination of jewelleries that marries Omani silver with gold layers and precious stones. It simply reflects the essence of the national heritage with a creative touch of the spirit of originality and the elegance of modernity.

Khalid Al Zubair, Managing Di-rector of The Zubair Corporation, said: “The Zubair Corporation, through its strategy and vision towards small enterprises, is pur-suing to steer entrepreneurs and members of Zubair SEC to join the

private sector by creating a healthy and sustainable economic envi-ronment for growth. The centre is making all its services available for the entrepreneurs and own-ers of small businesses to enable them to find solid ground and well established foundation within the market for a better future.”

“In the case of ‘Kidani’ and other projects which won the Direct Support Programme, the sup-port provided was not limited to guidance and counselling in the administrative and legal aspects, but the centre, through its staff, maintained a close supervision on the projects, step by step, to insure the sound execution of fine details needed by the entrepreneurs for the continuity and sustainability of their projects which will lead in turn to exert further hard work,” he added

Zubair SEC team has worked closely with Muna on many levels, most importantly the strategy to move with Kidani from amateur attempts to a clear well studied business development approach based on development and mar-keting strategies that enables the brand to reach higher exposure in local and international markets. The launching event for the new collection Karam is considered a milestone in the marketing strategy put in place with and for Kidani to introduce to the market the many features of the prod-ucts and the good recognition the brand deserves.

Today, Zubair SEC has reached beyond the mere limited concept of extending support to SMEs, to adopt a wider approach of collabo-

ration, as the Centre extends to its members opportunities for busi-ness development and application of best practices towards business expansion and sustainability.

“I would like to thank The Zubair Corporation, particularly Zubair SEC, and all the staff of the centre for the genuine support and guidance they provided me with. I’m very happy for the success of my dream project ‘Kidani, praise be to Allah, which was only pos-sible by the efforts and support of the centre. Today I feel I’m on the right track and confident of my abilities to develop and insure the success of my project,” said Muna Al Khusaibi.

“The basis of the idea of the new ‘Karam’ collocation came from the beautiful scenery of the silver stars sparkling at night and the roman-tic colour of the moon making an elegant necklace.

"It is from this unique and beau-tiful combination that the new col-location ‘Karam’ is designed to re-flect its literal meaning of Arabian generosity as the night, the moon and the stars are the guests of the desert,” she added.

She further commented on her new collection: “Karam col-lection, although different but consistent, combines innovation with the originality in its design. It reflects life and inspires a splen-dour of an Arabian spirit which seeks through its elegant designs to combine simplicity and inno-vation with the depth of the idea. These silver varieties are designed for taste, originality and elegancy reflecting the past, the spirit of the present and future.”

Z U B A I R S E C I N I T I A T I V E

Holiday Inn Muscat appoints new GMMUSCAT: Laura Eggleton has been appointed general manager, Holiday Inn Muscat Al Seeb, re-cently.

Laura joins from Holiday Inn London Heathrow Ariel in the UK where she has been general man-ager for the last two years. She

graduated from the University of Brighton with BA (Hons) in Inter-national Tourism Management and has focused on building her career in Holiday Inn Express and Holiday Inn brands across both the franchise and managed opera-tions of IHG, says a press release

A P P O I N T M E N T

Ethiopian Airlines to commence flights to Cape Town, GaboroneMUSCAT: Ethiopian Airlines, the largest airline in Africa, an-nounced that it has finalised preparations to start flights to Cape Town, second destination in South Africa and Gaborone, Bot-swana from June 30. The flights to Cape Town and Gaborone will be operated three-times-a-week, says a press release.

Cape Town is the second big-gest city of South Africa and one of the top tourist destinations in the continent of Africa. Gaborone is the capital and an important economic centre of Botswana. The new services will offer pas-sengers more choice and flex-ibility, as well as facilitate trade, investment, and tourism ties with these two countries.

Summer special offerEthiopian Airlines Muscat has also launched special offer for pas-sengers travelling from Muscat to Dar Es Salaam, Zanzibar, Nai-robi, Johannesburg and Khartoum whereby on purchase of three adult tickets only taxes need to be paid for the fourth ticket. The fourth passenger can be adult or child and all must travel together.

Holiday packagesThe airline also offers exciting Safari packages for Kenya and Tanzania as well as short holiday breaks in Ethiopia. During recent times, many Omani residents – locals and expatriates have been visiting Addis, Ethiopia as a tour-

ist destination. Ethiopia, as a tourist destina-

tion, has a lot to offer. Addis Delight 3 nights/4 days package offered by the airline for short break at Addis Ababa starts at OMR195. Addis Ababa is as cosmopolitan as any of the world’s great metropolises, and the architecture is as varied as the city itself. This package is an ideal also for the airline passengers who

wish to take a short break in Addis Ababa while visiting other coun-tries.

Currently, over 35 nationalities including India, Germany, South Africa, UK, etc. enjoy the facil-ity of visa on arrival at Ethiopia. For the nationals who require securing visa approval prior to travel, visiting Ethiopia is easier than before. Omani nationals and residents can currently apply for Ethiopian visa through Ethiopian Airlines office in Muscat.

"The airline will facilitate in processing of visa within 10 working days of submission of required documents. The origi-nal visa will later be stamped on arrival. This facility will attract more passengers in the Sultanate to visit Ethiopia for tourism but will only be offered to passengers travelling from Muscat on Ethio-pian Airlines," said Sami Muctar, country manager of Ethiopian Airlines, Oman.

Ethiopian Airlines, a Star Al-liance Member, now operating 4 nonstop flights a week from Muscat to Addis Ababa and offers excellent connection over Addis to rest of the Africa. Ethiopian is proud to be the first African car-rier to have taken delivery of the B787 Dreamliner and be able to of-fer passengers the ultimate travel experience on-board this game changing aircraft before other car-riers. National Travel & Tourism is the General Sales Agency for Ethiopian Airlines in Oman.

E X P A N S I O N

Enjoy Ramadan with healthy, nutritious food options from A’SaffaMUSCAT: A’Saffa Foods, Oman’s largest producer of poultry and poultry products, has urged cus-tomers to invest in their health this Ramadan and buy A’Saffa food products, with the confi-dence that their food investment is not only truly Halal, but also an extremely healthy eating option during the holy month of fasting and fortitude.

Since families opt for healthy eating habits during Ramadan, A’Saffa products are a perfect op-tion, as they provide nutritious

and the most natural halal chicken products to customers in the Sul-tanate as well as neighbouring re-gions, says a press release.

The company believes that eat-ing natural and healthful foods like A’Saffa chicken is one of the keys to a healthier and more energetic lifestyle for everyone during the holy month; as chicken in particu-lar is considered a high-protein food option and can help families regain their lost energy and nutri-tion from an entire day’s fast.

“As a business we have always

put healthy eating at the top of our agenda ensuring we deliver to the Omani consumers the very best quality and real halal products. Our core principle is to provide products which are ‘real halal’ to our growing customers here and in the region; ensuring an authen-tic, trusted and credible product to families who buy our frozen and fresh range of A’Saffa Foods products,” said Sidhartha Lenka, head of Marketing and Sales for A’Saffa Foods.

“When consumers buy A’Saffa

fresh and frozen chicken or from our delicacies range they are as-sured of giving their families the very best products to help pro-mote and support a healthy life-style while enjoying chicken that is 100 per cent natural and tasty," he added.

With so much food available on the shelves from all over the world, Omani consumers are being urged by the Sultanate’s fastest growing food company to put the health of the family and themselves first this Ramadan.

P O U L T R Y P R O D U C T S

Ethiopian Airlines Muscat has also launched special offer for passengers travelling from Muscat to Dar Es Salaam, Zanzibar, Nairobi, Johannesburg and Khartoum whereby on purchase of three adult tickets only taxes need to be paid for the fourth ticket

B6 W E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

ROUND-UPNissan announces exciting offer on its crossover range

MUSCAT: In the spirit of the holy month of Ramadan, Nissan Oman from the house of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles (SBA) has announced a unique ‘Big Jackpot Offer’ on Nissan’s crossover range. The offer lasts till July 31.

Benefits

gifts): Customers buying any Nis-san Crossover vehicle will receive

entitle them to two assured gifts comprising free service up to life-time of the car (minimum assured 1 year/ 10,000km PMS) and free fuel up to OMR1,000 (minimum assured of OMR50)

also walk away with assured cash

gifts up to OMR500 on purchas-ing any vehicle from the Nissan crossover range.

-sures customers free registration, six years’ extended warranty on

-ing options, a loan term up to eight years and attractive interest rates.

of 2015: This year Nissan has in-troduced another exciting line up

-ued customers. Customers who already own a Nissan model and want to buy a second one will re-ceive additional incentives from SBA where customers enjoy 10,000km additional service, they will receive special interest privi-lege card and also be eligible for

crossover model

Grand raffle The grand raffle draw from Nis-san is being held in association 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 Nissan model and ensure hassle and wor-ry-free driving at all times. Nissan

-nancing option of a loan term up to eight years with attractive interest rates from Bank Muscat. Flexible EMI’s can also be tailor made for any individual requirement from in-house Auto Finance team.

Nissan Oman has always made pioneering efforts to offer world class facilities and services to its valued customers.

Customers can also get unlim-ited access to Nissan’s prestigious vehicle line up at the comfort of their homes or offices. Simply visit Nissan Oman’s facebook page i.e http://www.facebook.com/Sban-issanoman or send an SMS to get updated information on any of the vehicles from the house of Nissan.

The Nissan Crossover range provides customers with a com-prehensive product line-up and an opportunity to choose from Nissan

and the Juke.

Nissan Pathfinder 3.5L

Engine, 254hp along with20’’ Al-loy wheels, Remote EngineStarter,

-ment System. With an EMI start-ing from OMR190/- only, the Nis-

should offer: perfect off-road ca-pability (i-Auto 4WD system), dy-namic design, class-leading com-fort, thoughtful technology, and a rewarding driving experience.

Nissan X-Trail Now available with an EMI start-

adopts Nissan’s advanced elec-tronic four-wheel drive system, all mode 4x4i. Controlled via a rotary switch on the center console, it of-fers a choice between two-wheel

permanent four-wheel drive.

Nissan Murano Available with an EMI starting from OMR183 only, the second generation Nissan Murano made in Japan features a whole range

designed to keep Nissan’s popular,

the growing number of ordinary entries in the segment.

Nissan Juke Made in Japan and available with an EMI starting from OMR99 only, the Nissan Juke’s turbo-charged engine delivers serious boost when required, The Nissan Intelligent Key allows drivers to unlock the door with a tap of a but-ton on the door handle.

engine and the vehicle’s features

lights and comes with a Sports Bike Inspired Console. With 17” Alloy Wheels, Power Windows, ABS, EBD and BrakeAssist, Dual Airbags – the Juke’s safety fea-tures are unbeatable.

A decade of promise Suhail Bahwan Automobiles is largely committed to support-ing Nissan’s growth in the Sul-tanate 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.

Reliability For every customer purchasing a Nissan vehicle, it is the beginning

-san’s top class after sales service makes sure every customer is hap-

The Nissan Crossover

range provides

customers with

a comprehensive

product line-up and

an opportunity to

choose from Nissan

Pathfinder 3.5L,

X-Trail, Murano and

the Juke

Omani woman comes out with flying colours in data analysis exam

MUSCAT: An Omani woman employee at Public Authority for Social Insurance came out with

-

recently, says a press release.“Zakiya Talib Al Amri, sen-

ior internal auditor of Public Authority for Social Insurance (PASI), appeared for this exam-

attempt itself,” Jose Chacko, CEO of Osool Arabia, said.

-gramme sets the industry

-ciency and professional exper-

analysis software.“Earning the ACDA desig-

nation is a testament to your

-nancial analyses and business processes,” Jose, who himself

-sional, added.

A C H I E V E M E N T

Bank Muscat, Dar Al Atta’a support Omani families MUSCAT: As part of its commit-ment to supporting the commu-nity and sustainable development Bank Muscat employees organised an event in support of Dar Al Atta’a voluntary organisation.

The event held at the bank’s head office by the employees of the Corporate Banking division on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan evoked strong response from employees and visitors.

The proceeds raised through the event were presented to Dar Al Atta’a, which is actively engaged in community social development programmes, says a press release.

In line with the bank’s commit-ment to voluntary social activi-ties, events are held to contribute towards sustainable development by working closely with local com-munities with the aim of improv-ing living standards in a manner that serves the national develop-ment process.

In keeping with its leading posi-tion in the Sultanate, Bank Muscat strives to set an example in all its activities, especially social initia-tives in support of needy sections of society.

Enabling everyone to partici-pate, the basic premise of the event was that no matter how small the donation, it can transform some-one’s life.

The event succeeded in encour-

aging employees to generously do-nate to the noble cause.

The bank regularly conducts -

ing disadvantaged sections of soci-ety. Reflecting the corporate ethos, the bank employees seize every available opportunity to channel resources for creating sustainable, positive changes in communities by investing in their welfare to equip them for a better life.

N O B L E C A U S E

Honda announces Ramadan

scheme raffle draw winners

MUSCAT: Known to be a trusted name amongst auto enthusiasts, Honda Oman has always strived to be different and unique by of-fering unmatched services to their patrons.

Honda Oman is offering their customers a unique Ramadan experience with unmatched ser-vice and packages making it one of the most admired and desirable brands of vehicles.

This year’s Ramadan scheme gave customers a chance to win a wide array of fabulous prizes in-cluding cash prizes as part of their daily and weekly raffle draws, says a press release.

-dan scheme where Honda show-cased exclusive giveaways along

media enthusiasts. Four lucky winners were an-

nounced as part of their daily raf-fle draw at the Honda showroom. Customers who purchased a new

Honda vehicle were entitled to enter the raffle. The three win-ners were entitled to individual cash prizes worth OMR500.

The four winners were ecstatic with joy and expressed their grat-itude towards Honda not only as a brand but the impeccable service that it renders to valued custom-ers. They were very happy to be associated with the brand.

Besides the raffle draw, this

year’s Ramadan offer entitles customers with free insurance (Oman and UAE), free service package for three years / 50Kkm (up to 80K km on select models), free registration and a free gift (that includes a Black and Decker

model purchase. Adil Al Zadjali, National Sales

Manager, Honda said “At Honda, we always believe in providing unique and exciting offers to our valued customers. Honda as a brand is known for its superior

customers to be able to experi-ence all of that. This year’s Rama-dan scheme has been a success so far, and we would like to congrat-ulate all the winners.”

showrooms will continue to wel-come increased footfalls with auto enthusiasts over the com-ing weeks of Ramadan to avail of the promotion.

L U C K Y D R A W

It was a first of its kind Ramadan scheme where Honda showcased exclusive giveaways along with a selfie contest for social media enthusiasts

McDonald’s team cheers

children at Royal Hospital

MUSCAT: As part of its ‘Spread Kindness’ campaign during the holy month of Ramadan, McDon-ald’s Oman, owned by Al Daud Restaurants, demonstrates how small acts of kindness can bright-en up someone’s day and contrib-ute to better communities.

McDonald’s team together with Birdie character visited the Paediatric Oncology ward at the Royal Hospital and painted a smile on kids’ faces, spreading happiness and giving away gift items, says a press release.

The iconic brand’s visit at the

hospital demonstrated a way of inspiring people from all walks of life to spread kindness through simple but thoughtful deeds that could have positive impact on other people’s lives especially on children. Under the theme, ‘Spread Kindness’, McDonald’s expects to bring a little more happiness to everyone especially those who are sick and to chil-dren with special needs. Using the #SpreadKindess hashtag, McDonald’s is sharing aspira-tions of kindness and encourag-ing the public to do the same.

S P R E A D I N G K I N D N E S S

Takaful Oman wins AIWA AwardMUSCAT: Takaful Oman Insur-ance Company, a full-fledged Is-lamic insurance provider in the Sultanate, won the AIWA Award 2015 in a special category as the Most Promising Islamic Insur-ance Company.

The award, instituted by Alam Al-Iktisaad Wal A’Mal (AIWA) business magazine, recognises the top achievers in Oman’s corporate world. The award was received at the ceremony in the presence of dignitaries, senior government and private sector officials, says a press release.

The awards are based on a sur-vey of companies listed on Muscat Securities Market (MSM). The ranking of companies was based on their performance in the last

including growth, return ratios, -

tios measuring the growth and ef-

New benchmarksTakaful Oman, in a short span of one year has demonstrated a track-record of success and performance that has set new benchmarks. Af-ter surpassing projections made during the IPO, Takaful Oman is

probably the only company in the Middle East region to break-even within one year of commencing op-erations. Winner of two prestigious

regional awards, the company has increased its customer base and has been setting standards in terms of risk management, control and IT.

Speaking on the occasion Sayyi-da Rawan Ahmed Al Said, Manag-ing Director and CEO said, “This award reiterates the company’s commitment to become one of the most successful Takaful com-panies in Oman, contributing to the development of the economy and giving people a choice of Takaful products.”

O. G. Ravishankar, CFO and general manager of Takaful Oman Insurance, said: “It is a proud mo-ment for us. We have achieved this through hard work and commit-ment and by assiduously pursing our vision to ensure that we reach the best of Islamic insurance products and services.”

C O R P O R A T E A W A R D

The AIWA Awards recognise the top achievers in Oman’s corporate world. Takaful Oman received the Most Promising Islamic Insurance Company award at the ceremony in the presence of dignitaries, senior government and private sector officials

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RECRUIT

QUOTESIf you can hire people whose passion intersects with the job, they won’t require any supervision at all. They will manage themselves better than anyone could ever manage them. Their fire comes from within, not from without. Their motivation is internal, not external. — Stephen Covey

Art of Living celebrates International Yoga Day

MUSCAT: To mark the global cel-ebration of UN International Yoga Day on June 21, the Art of Liv-ing (AOL) Foundation organised the event ‘Yogathon 2015’ at Sul-tan Qaboos Sports Complex. The event was supported by the Min-istry of Sports Affairs, Ministry of Health and Embassy of India.

Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Saidi, minister of health, was the chief guest while His Highness Sayyid Mohammed bin Thuwaini Shihab Al Said was the guest of honour for the event.

Sayyida Basma Al Said, founder of Whispers of Serenity and men-tal health counsellor and psycho-therapist was the guest of hon-our at the ladies session. Indian ambassador J. S. Mukul and his spouse Mita Mukul were also pre-sent, says a press release.

The other dignitaries included several diplomats and heads of leading business houses including W. J. Towell, Al Ansari Trading En-terprise, Khimji Ramdas, Mosaic and many others.

The three-month long yoga campaign focusing on physical, mental and emotional wellness, kicked off with a yoga festival held in March this year. As part of the campaign , free sessions of yoga were conducted by volunteers all over Oman; in schools, institu-tions, corporates, colleges, hospi-

tals, social clubs, residential com-plexes and labour camps. More than 7,000 people in different cit-ies in Oman benefited from these sessions in the last three months.

The finale had a yoga demon-stration in separate sessions for la-dies and men. The session started at 9pm for the ladies with a small presentation followed by yoga demonstrations and interactive yoga, both led by dynamic energet-ic trained yoga teachers, Meenak-shi and Jaya. This was followed by a brief meditation session con-ducted by Kamal Khimji.

The men’s session was conduct-ed from 10.30pm onwards and was felicitated by Nabil, an Art of liv-ing yoga Faculty. The programme started with wishes and gratitude to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said followed by a small children’s

presentation and an art form show by Omani kids. They wished His Majesty good health and long life and welcomed his return to Oman.

Mukul also addressed the gath-ering and spoke on the importance of yoga for health and wellbeing of general population. A small pres-entation highlighting ‘Yogathon 2015 Project and AOL Activities in Oman’ was screened.

The Sports Yoga team consist-ing of Omani youth did wonderful stretches and exhibited unity and harmony in Oman. Mitra and Said Ali Al Thuli led performers into Yoga Asanas and 12 pose sequence yoga. The Interactive and desktop Yoga followed by meditation was led by Aruna. The programme ended with a vote of thanks by Ajay Khimji of the apex body of the Art of Living Foundation.

The programme

started with wishes

and gratitude to

His Majesty Sultan

Qaboos bin Said

followed by a

small children’s

presentation and

an art form show by

Omani kids

Hempel organises technical seminarsMUSCAT: Hempel Oman, a subsidiary of one of the world’s largest independent suppliers of protective, marine and deco-rative coatings, recently hosted a series of technical seminars to bring the story of their organ-isation to life.

Over 60 of Hempel Oman’s key customers associated with the Oil and Gas industry based in Muscat and Sohar participated in the seminar entitled ‘New De-velopments in corrosion protec-tion for hydrocarbon processing facilities — a story in two parts.’

The chief presenter at the seminar was Hempel Group’s Oil & Gas Market Segment Manager, Simon Daly, says a press release.

Daly, a veteran in the coating industry, presented on Avant-guard, a new patented innovative anti corrosion technology based on activated zinc.

Avantguard significantly re-

duces the effects of corrosion and offers superior protection. This increased durability has been proven in extensive tests and documented. Hempel’s Hempa-dur AvantGuard product range was named Materials Perfor-mance (MP) Corrosion Innova-tion of the Year for 2014 at the NACE Corrosion 2015 Confer-ence and Exhibition.

Talking at the event, Jacob Ku-ruvilla, country manager, Hempel Oman, said: “As we see oil prices moderately recover across the world, we (Hempel) continue to remain mindful and try to support the oil and gas operators to extend their asset life cycle, prevent un-planned shutdowns, loss of pro-duction and income on account of corrosion related matters. Avant-guard and VersiLine products reiterates Hempel’s proactive ap-proach towards addressing con-cerns related to corrosion.”

C O R R O S I O N P R O T E C T I O N

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ROUND-UPW E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

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Audi announces Ramadan offers

MUSCAT: Celebrating the holy month, Audi Oman, represented by Wattayah Motors, announced the start of its annual Ramadan promotion, which introduces su-perior offers to customers during the promotional period.

Under the slogan, ‘You deserve extra’, the campaign gives cus-tomers purchasing an Audi before July 24, extra features, luxury, and peace-of-mind with a 6-year ser-vice and maintenance plan, 6-year extended warranty and free regis-

tration, says a press release.Faisal Nawaz, marketing man-

ager of Audi Oman, explains: “The holy month is unequivocally the best time to invest in a new Ger-man engineered vehicle, as Wat-tayah Motors provides customers with value-added rewards that are synonymous with the sentiment of giving during the holy month.

“Our focus has, and continues to be on capacity and quality in sales and after-sales service; and promotional offers such as these allow us to continue to connect with customers even after their initial purchase.”

Audi has set its sales target at 20,000 units annually in the Mid-dle East by 2020.

This and similar peace-of-mind ownership initiatives aim to con-tinue to attract new and existing customers to the brand.

Under the slogan, ‘You deserve extra’, the

campaign gives customers purchasing an

Audi before July 24, extra features, luxury,

and peace-of-mind with a 6-year service and

maintenance plan, 6-year extended warranty

and free registration

Ahlan Ramadan promotion offers Maisarah customers big benefitsMUSCAT: Celebrating the holy month of Ramadan, Maisarah Islamic Banking Services con-tinues to offer special pricing scheme for property finance, auto finance and goods finance as part of its Ramadan promotional cam-paign, says a press release.

Jamsheed Hamza, Maisa-rah’s head of retail, stressed on the great opportunity awaiting Maisarah’s customers to enjoy the ‘Ahlan Ramadan’ promotions.

“As we celebrate the holy month of Ramadan, we at Maisa-rah reiterate our commitment to provide world-class Islamic banking services and finance so-lutions. This campaign aims to make it easier for our customers to own the property, vehicle and goods they need. All our products

and services are designed to meet the financial needs of Maisarah customers, and we are constantly introducing finance solutions to fulfil their requirements.”

The ‘Ahlan Ramadan’ promo-tions are valid till July 15, offering reduced profit rates to 4.20% p.a. on property finance, auto finance and goods finance. Maisarah customers can also enjoy a no-repayment grace period where repayments start only from Au-gust 2015. However, the profit accrues for the period starting from disbursement. Addition-ally, the property finance special offer is valid for one year from the date of disbursement, while other types of finance pricing is be valid for six months from the date of disbursement.

Maisarah is a full-service pro-vider of a broad range of Sharia-compliant financial products and solutions. It is one of the fastest growing Islamic banking windows in the Sultanate with a dedicated head office in Muscat and branch-es in Muscat, Salalah, Sohar and Barkat Al Mouz. Maisarah main-tains a complete segregation of business activities in order to pro-vide Sharia compliant financial services for its valued customers.

As part of its future growth plan, Maisarah plans to distin-guish itself by focusing on pro-viding outstanding customer service, developing and launch-ing new products, investing in technology to provide the best customer experience in timely and convenient manner.

S P E C I A L P R I C I N G S C H E M E

Special Ramadan car loan offer from OABMUSCAT: Oman Arab Bank (OAB) recently launched a spe-cial Ramadan offer for auto fi-nancing. The offer will be valid throughout the holy month of Ramadan and continues until August 31.

Under the promotion period, customers applying for auto fi-nance will be entitled to a special discounted reducing interest rate of 4.5% per annum which is equivalent to a fixed rate of 2.5%. The offer also guarantees instant approvals (during Ramadan) and a tenor of up to 10 years, says a press release.

In addition to the above, cus-tomers applying for the car loan, will also be entitled to a special personal loan interest rate and a free credit card with no annual fee. This offer is available for Omani nationals and expatri-ates working in the public and private sectors.

Speaking about the scheme, Fahd Amjad, GM Retail Bank-ing OAB, said: “We aim to be the finance partner for all prominent car brands in Oman by offering the most complete auto finance to our customers.

“Our staff are available on-site in many showrooms where cus-

tomers can apply digitally for an instant car loan approval. This is our gift to customers wishing to purchase a car in the holy month of Ramadan.”

Haseeb Iqbal, senior manager, Retail Assets OAB, added: “OAB is looking to provide an unmatched customer experience through our new auto loan offer. With your ID card and a car quotation, the ap-plication can be processed within one hour. So our rates are com-petitive and our services efficient. What’s more, the offer even caters to customers for used cars.”

F I N A N C I A L P A R T N E R

Under the promotion period, customers applying for auto finance will be entitled to a special discounted reducing interest rate of 4.5% per annum which is equivalent to a fixed rate of 2.5%

ISC Kerala Wing to host Iftar party on June 26MUSCAT: To celebrate the holy month of Ramadan, Indian So-cial Club Muscat’s Kerala Wing is organising a grand Iftar party on Friday, June 26 at 6.30pm on ISC Muscat premises.

Knitting the social fabric based on secular and human values, ISC Kerala Wing will once again join hands with the Indian, general expatriate and local communities to celebrate the messages of sacrifice, hum-bleness and humanity during the holy month. Kerala Wing aims to bring the people together beyond creed, community and linguistic boundaries with the aspiration of extensive social support to the under-privileged during the holy month, organisers stated in a press release.

This Iftar, said the organisers, would be a gesture of spreading the worldly principles of Indian heritage of diversity, reaching out to the local Omani commu-nity and strengthen the great cause of coexistence for all.

“We are expecting around 600 people to participate in the Iftar party,” the organisers said.

H O L Y M O N T H

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

SPOR SY O U R G A M E

SECTIONC W E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

ASHWIN DEFENDS UNDER-FIRE INDIA CAPTAIN DHONIIndian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Tuesday defended under-fire skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who says he is willing to step aside as captain following their first ever one-day series defeat to Bangladesh. >C3

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ER-ONI

Oman preparing well for World Twenty20 qualifiers in Ireland

MUSCAT: The Oman national cricket team arrived in Ireland and hence travelled to Cork on June 15 for training, practice sessions and acclimatisation prior to trav-elling to Belfast to play warm-up matches against Nepal on July 6 and Ireland on July 7 prior to the commencement of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers.

Cork County is one of the most beautiful places in Ireland with lush green cricket grounds and cool weather. After a day’s train-ing for 5 hours on June 17 the Oman team played its first practice match against a combined team of Munster Club which is second best team in the county.

Batting first Oman scored 130 playing for the first time in cool

and windy conditions. Skipper Sultan Ahmed and his deputy Syed Aamir Kaleem scored 25 and 18 runs respectively.

Oman did exceptionally well with the ball to restrict their op-ponents and win the match by 30 runs. Ajay Lalcheta claimed three wickets while Munis Ansari, Aamir Kaleem and Khawar Ali grabbed a wicket each.

In the second practice match played the following day against

local champions, the host for the tour Cork County Club which consists of some overseas players from South Africa.

Oman won the toss and elected to bat with Khawar Ali and Meh-ran Khan. Khawar Ali played a su-perb innings scoring 75 runs which included 7 fours and a towering six, other notable contribution came from Vaibhav Wategaonkar 23, while Aamir Kaleem and Zee-shan Siddiqui remained unbeaten

on 23 and 18 runs respectively. Oman scored 162 runs off the 20 stipulated overs.

Requiring 163 for a win Cork County Club scored 134 runs with their overseas South African player Stephen Grobler scoring 28 runs. Ajay Lalcheta yet again bowled su-perbly to end with figures of 4 wick-ets for11 runs. Aamir Kaleem and Khawar Ali claimed a wicket each . The Lord Mayor of Cork County was the chief guest and presented a

memento to the Oman team. The third match on the tour

played on June 21 was the most ex-citing match against a strong team from Munster Cricket Union.

Winning the toss the home team elected to bat and hammered all the Oman bowlers around the ground scoring 159 runs for the loss of 2 wickets with their over-seas player Stephen Grobler scor-ing a blistering 104 runs which in-cluded 7 sixes and 2 fours. Conor

Mulan scored a breezy 29.Oman opened thir innings with

Khawar Ali and Mehran Khan with Mehran Khan getting out cheaply. Khawar Ali scored 24 runs and after his dismissal Jatinder Singh and Vaibhav Wategaonkar fol-lowed cheaply.

The Oman team were reeling before skipper Sultan Ahmed 40 and Amir Ali 28 getting involved in a rescue bid to take Oman closer to their target with lusty shots. With their departure the match was slipping from Oman’s grip be-fore an unfinished partnership be-tween Rajesh Ranpura and Sufyan Mahmood got Oman home to an exciting victory with two deliver-ies to spare.

Rajesh remained unbeaten on 20 and Sufyan scored 8 not out. It was a combined team effort that earned an unexpected victory for Oman .

The Oman team since its land-ing in Ireland are training vigor-ously daily for approximately 5 hours under very cool conditions .

The Oman team were joined on June 20 by former England crick-eter Derek Pringle as the Techni-cal Advisor and is lending valuable support and advise to all the mem-bers of the team. He is very happy with the team and sees lot of po-tential in the players.

Oman’s national team coach Duleep Mendis is pleased with the team performance and says that the tour to Ireland before the start of the tournament, specially to Cork where the weather and wickets are similar to that of Scot-land is giving Oman team chance to gear up for the big tournament. He said its blessing in disguise that Oman team has this opportunity to be here in Cork .

Oman national cricket

team is based in Cork

County and have

so far played three

games against the

local teams winning

all the three. Oman’s

official warm-up

matches are against

Nepal on July 6 and

Ireland on July 7

WARMING UP: Oman national cricket team players warming-up as coach Duleep Mendis, right, looks on at the Cork County Club. Former England player Derek Pringle has also joined the team as technical advisor. – Supplied photo

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SPORTSW E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

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Pakistan eye series victory in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: A confident Pakistan will aim to clinch a first Test series win in Sri Lanka for nine years when the second match starts at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo on Thursday. Misbah-ul Haq’s tourists are riding high after a 10-wicket triumph in the opening Test in Galle on Sunday despite the first four sessions of the match being washed out.

Pakistan have lost their last three series in Sri Lanka following a 1-0 success in 2006 but Misbah’s men could not have asked for a better venue to seal the series than the historic Oval ground where Sri Lanka played their first Test match, against England, in 1982.

The sporting Oval pitch, regard-ed as the finest on the island, has produced a winner in eight succes-sive Tests since 2005, and another decisive result is on the cards.

Sri Lanka have lost their last three matches at the ground, going down to India in 2010 and being beaten by both England and New

Zealand in 2012. Pakistan, who lost by seven wickets when they played at the Oval in 2009, will bank on their impressive show-ing in the first Test to deal another blow to the hosts.

The tourists bowled out Sri Lan-ka for 300 after electing to field first, but were themselves reduced to 96-5 before Sarfraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq launched a gritty fightback.

The pair put on 139 runs for the sixth wicket in quicktime to turn the tables on Sri Lanka, with Shafiq making 131 and Sarfraz 96, as Pakistan gained a 117-run lead.

Yasir Shah then ripped through the second innings with figures of 7-76 — the best by a leg-spinner on Sri Lankan soil — to bowl out the rivals for 206 and set up the mem-orable win.

Taming HerathHowever, the key to Pakistan’s success lay in their batsmen domi-nating Sri Lanka’s spin spearhead

Rangana Herath, a constant thorn for the tourists in the past.

When the two sides last met in Sri Lanka in 2014, the seasoned left-arm spinner grabbed 23 Paki-stani wickets in two Tests to engi-neer a 2-0 win for the hosts.

Misbah had indicated before the current series that it was impor-tant to tackle Herath if Pakistan were to win matches. And the bats-men responded by conceding just one wicket to the spinner in Galle.

“Playing Herath confidently was the key for us,” Misbah said. “It’s a good sign for us because he is a very good bowler and could have done a lot more.

“We need to keep this going to win the series because he is a tough competitor capable of doing anything.”

Pakistan’s spinners claimed 13 wickets between them in Galle, compared to five for Sri Lanka’s, and the home captain Angelo Mathews conceded that cost his team dearly.

“I admit that our spinners were not as effective as their spinners, even though the pitch was turn-ing from day one,” said Mathews. “Hopefully, Rangana (Herath) will bounce back quickly.”

Pakistan may play all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez as a batsman after his bowling action was re-ported by umpires for a second time in seven months. — AFP

Pakistan team is riding high after a 10-wicket

triumph in the opening Test despite the first

four sessions of the match being washed out

STRATEGY TALK: Sri Lankan cricket coach Marvan Atapattu, right, and captain Angelo Mathews, left,

watch other players during a practice session at the P. Sara Oval Cricket Stadium in Colombo. – AFP

Ashes series all set for bumpy ‘sledging’ rideMANCHESTER: According to the Lord’s-based Marylebone Cricket Club, still the guardian of cricket’s rules, it is against the ‘spir-it of the game’ to “direct abusive language towards an opponent”.

Ask many a cricket fan for a definition of ‘sledging’ and the chances are they would settle for the MCC version.

But, in a sign of how tricky it is to agree on what is or isn’t accept-able, Australia’s Shaun Marsh, speaking ahead of the first Ashes Test against England in Cardiff on July 8, said Monday: “It is an Ashes series and I am sure there will be sledging from both teams, but I am also sure it will be in the spirit of the game.”

The opener also said: “I think it is really important to get out there and show your aggression and put your stamp on the game — that is the Australian way.”

But there was a recognition that things had got out of hand during the last Ashes campaign, which saw Australia whitewash Eng-land 5-0 on home soil in 2013/14.

During the first Test in Bris-bane, Australia captain Michael Clarke told England tailender James Anderson to “get ready for a broken...arm”.

Clarke later apologised for the tone of his comments and on Sunday promised the upcom-ing Ashes would be played in the “right spirit”.

Prior to this year’s World Cup, the International Cricket Council promised a crackdown on sledging.

Haddin blastBut that did not stop wicket-keep-er Brad Haddin from giving send-offs to several departing New Zea-land batsmen during Australia’s seven-wicket World Cup final win in Melbourne on March 29.

Haddin subsequently gave a ra-dio interview in which he defended his actions by saying: “They were that nice to us in New Zealand (when Australia lost a pool match) and we were that uncomfortable.

“I said: I’m not playing cricket like this. If we get another crack at these guys in the final I’m letting everything (out).

“And I’m not going to play an-other one-day game so they can suspend me for as long as they like,” added Haddin, still Austral-ia’s first-choice Test gloveman.

England and New Zealand have just finished thrilling Test and one-day series where both sides have been lauded for demonstrat-ing it is possible to play aggressive cricket without sledging.

New Zealand opener Martin Guptill, who played in the World Cup final and has been a main-stay of the side in England, said he expected the cordial atmosphere to remain when the Black Caps completed their tour with a lone Twenty20 international at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

“The respect between both sides has been right up there and that shouldn’t change tomorrow

(Tuesday),” Guptill told report-ers at the Manchester ground on Monday.

As for Australia’s sledging in the World Cup final, Guptill said: “It’s just the way they are. We can’t do a lot about them, can we?”

Part of the problem is that there is little humour in modern-day sledging, unlike the time when England great Ian Botham responded to Australia wicket-keeper Rodney Marsh’s barb of “how’s your wife and my kids?” by answering: “Wife’s fine, kids are retarded.”

What Marsh, now Australia’s national selector and no relation to Shaun, thinks of modern-day sledging is likely to be a topic for discussion when he gives this year’s MCC Spirit of Cricket Lec-ture at Lord’s on September 1.

By then the Ashes will be over, although Australia will still have five one-dayers to play against England before their tour ends. - AFP

C R I C K E T

MANCHESTER: England’s Sam Billings is eager to show he is more than just a one-day player by starring for Kent in the first official match of Australia’s tour of England later this week.

The 24-year-old ris-ing star featured in all five matches the thrilling recent 3-2 series one-day interna-tional series victory over New Zealand — his first taste of senior England cricket — and made a valuable 41 in Saturday’s decisive clash at Chester-le-Street.

He is also set to feature in Tuesday’s one-off T20 international at Old Traf-

ford, the final match of New Zealand’s tour. But the hard-hitting batsman, yet to don the gloves for England, although he keeps wicket for his county, is keen to prove his worth in a longer format when Kent welcome Australia to Canterbury for a four-day match.

“Hopefully that will be a really good test and a great opportunity for me person-ally and for the team,” Bill-ings told reporters. Prior to his Test debut, Alastair Cook made a name for himself by scoring a double ton against Australia for Essex in a tour match at Chelmsford. — AFP

Billings to press Test claims

Bayliss will have impact on Ashes

KARACHI: Legendary Pakistan paceman Wasim Akram said Tuesday England’s new coach Trevor Bayliss would help make the Ashes a closer contest despite Australia starting out as hot fa-vourites. The left-armer, who was bowling coach for the Kolkata Knight Riders in India’s domestic Twenty20 league while Bayliss was head coach, said the Austral-

ian’s cool and collected approach would serve England well.

“Bayliss keeps it simple and his coaching module is very im-pressive,” Wasim said. “At this level it should always be simple and Bayliss keeps it that way and I am sure his experience with Sri Lanka and New South Wales will help him in the Ashes. I am sure he will give a positive mindset to

England besides spicing it with the Australian touch of aggres-sion and that will make the Ashes more competitive. I am sure it will not be a one-sided affair.”

Bayliss guided Sri Lanka to the World Cup 2011 final before hav-ing a successful stint with the New South Wales state side. He will start his England stint with the first Ashes Test from July 8. - AFP

C O N F I D E N T W A S I M S A Y S

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Bangladesh aim for a whitewash

MIRPUR: Stung by their first-ever series defeat against Bangla-desh, under fire India will look to salvage some pride and prevent the hosts from registering a rare clean sweep when they go into the third and final cricket one-dayer here on Wednesday.

After being outplayed in the first two ODIs to give the hosts an unassailable 2-0 lead, the visitors have faced severe criticism from all quarters, but beleaguered skip-per Mahendra Singh Dhoni insists that the current team has the best available players.

The Men in Blue have been out-played in virtually every depart-ment of the game since their 79-run loss in the first match and the slide has been difficult to arrest.

The Indians will be keen to win the last match of the series and save face as a whitewash will be really embarrassing for the team which reached the final of the World Cup earlier this year.

But they have to plug all the loop-holes to get the better of a spirited Bangladesh. The top-order’s form has been patchy while the team has suffered from lack of partnerships

in the middle-order. The bowl-ing has been far from convincing with the likes of Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma leaking way too many runs on slow Bangladesh

pitches. Even spinners Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja have failed to make an impact. Bangladesh, on the other hand, have been bril-liant on all counts and the results

are a fair indication of their rise in world cricket. After demolishing Pakistan in the recent three-match series, the Mashrafe Mortaza-led side is looking to do the same to

big brothers India. If the batsmen have shown the will to win by put-ting up runs on board — the hosts posted 307 in the first ODI — then the bowling department has found

a new hero in Mustafizur Rahman.The young left-arm pacer has

not only created history by picking two five wicket hauls in as many matches but has also dented the confidence of the Indian batsman.

Going into the final match, the numbers may still favour the Men in Blue but on form the hosts re-main clear favourites to sweep the series. Mortaza though insisted that the team is not putting unnec-essary pressure on itself to go for a series sweep.

“There is no pressure, nobody told us ahead of the match that we will win this series 2-0. India also said that we have nothing to lose so now we will just come on the field and enjoy. If we do that the result will be there. But we are not wor-ried or thinking about a whitewash. We are just hoping to do our best,” he said. The all-rounder though does not want to stay complacent and has warned the team of any slackness going into final ODI.

“Look, consistency was our biggest problem. At the moment things are going well for us and I hope it will continue. In cricket, momentum is very important. Hopefully the boys will keep it up.

“There were a lot of challenges in the last 15 years but keeping this form is going to be a greater chal-lenge for us. I think it’s a good pres-sure. When you win everything comes out well. Hopefully the boys will now deliver regularly,” Mortaza said after the team’s his-toric series win against India on Sunday. Dhoni, on the other, hand insists that is the best lot of players available but they have not been able to adjust to the conditions.

“This is the best lot of players we have,” Dhoni said. “What we have to think about is, if we are playing in the subcontinent whether we want to go in with the extra spin-ner, whether we really want fast bowlers who bowl quick but are not good with line and length..

“If you see Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar), he is not exceptionally quick but even when the batsmen are scoring fast he gets away with it. Overall you have to see what is the best balance and accordingly you move forward,” he added. - PTI

Bangladesh

outplayed India in the

first two ODIs to take

claim their first series

win. The final contest

may be a dead rubber

but Dhoni and his

men would want to

play for pride and

salvage some of

the remains before

they head homeLET’S PLAY ONE MORE TIME: Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, second right, talks to Bangladesh’s Sabbir Rahman, right as

Mohammad Mahmudullah and Virat Kohli look on during a practice session at The Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka. – AFP

MIRPUR: Bangladesh bowl-ing coach Heath Streak made it clear that inspite of pacer Mustafizur Rahman claiming 11 wickets in his first two One-Day Internationals (ODI), expecting five-fors in every match would be unrealistic. Mustafizur broke Zimbabwean Brian Vitori’s record of ten wickets in his first two ODIs when he took 6 for 43 in the second ODI against India in Mirpur on Sunday. By taking 5 for 50 in his first ODI, he be-came only the second Bangla-desh bowler to take a five-for on

debut, after Taskin Ahmed.“He (Mustafizur) is still very

young. We have to be careful. He has taken 11 wickets but we can’t expect him to take five wickets every time. He has shown his potential,” Streak was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo on Monday. “If we look after him and support him, he will be a big match-winner for us. When Mashrafe started, he was looked after throughout his career.”

Streak said since some play-ers need more coaching than others, it will be important to

closely monitor Mustafizur but they would have to be careful not to overdo it.”

Streak noticed Mustafizur in May last year in Bangladesh A’s tour to the West Indies and was immediately impressed with him. “Mustafizur has been bowling well. We fought hard to get him into the T20 squad against Pakistan and he showed what he is capable of. Since then it has been good to have Mustafizur, Taskin Ahmed and Rubel Hussain who we know can perform,” he said. - IANS

Can’t expect Mustafizur to take five wickets every time: Streak

Mustafizur Rahman

Ashwin defends under-fire DhoniDHAKA: Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Tues-day defended under-fire skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who says he is willing to step aside as cap-tain following their first ever one-day series defeat to Bangladesh.

Ashwin’s said Dhoni was not to blame for India’s embarrassing losses in the first two matches of the series to minnows Bangla-desh, saying “we failed as a group”.

India suffered a thumping six-wicket loss to Bangladesh on Sunday in Dhaka, sealing the in-ternational series for the hosts.

“He (Dhoni) is a legend of Indi-an cricket. He has done so much for the nation,” Ashwin said at a press conference in Dhaka ahead of the third and final match on Wednesday. “You can’t blame him for the whole team’s perfor-mance. That’s not fair. We have failed as a group. We need to grow up as a group.”

Ashwin, Dhoni’s team-mate in the Indian Premier League franchise Chennai Super Kings, said the team was fully behind its captain. “As far as I am concerned it’s like an army, if you don’t go behind your leader then you are definitely going to get shot.”

Dhoni, who turns 34 next month and is regarded as India’s best limited-overs player, has won a string of trophies for India

since taking the helm in 2007.But the losses in Bangladesh

again raised questions about his recent form as captain after India’s semifinal exit from the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand earlier this year.

The wicket keeper-batsman quit Test captaincy midway through the Australia tour in De-cember and was replaced by bats-man Virat Kohli.

“If it is a justifiable thing that if you remove me and Indian crick-et will start doing really well, and if I am the reason for all the bad that is happening to Indian crick-et, definitely I would love to step away and play as a player,” Dhoni said after Sunday’s loss. - AFP

N O P R O B L E M S

NO HASSLES: Ravichandran

Ashwin speaks to media. – AFP

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Neymar-less Brazil will have to do it hard way to win fifth Copa

SANTIAGO: If Brazil are to win their fifth Copa America in seven editions, they are going to have to do it the hard way.

The South American super-power decided on Monday not to appeal a four-game ban handed to star striker and captain Neymar for violent conduct, meaning they will have to do without him for the knock-out stages. What’s more, they are in a loaded draw that con-spiracy theorists might be tempted to suggest had been fixed to help hosts Chile reach the final.

Argentina, Colombia and Brazil, the teams ranked third to fifth in the FIFA World rankings are all in the same side of the draw, while on

the other side you find the likes of 61st ranked Peru up against 89th placed Bolivia.

In fairness, Chile (19th) are ac-tually drawn in their quarter-final against the highest ranked team in their half, Uruguay, the defending champions ranked eighth by Fifa And it is Argentina and Colombia who have been hardest hit, as the two highest ranked sides face each

other in the last eight. Whichever negotiates that clash of the titans, they will expect to find Brazil in the semis as the Selecao are up against Paraguay.

Paraguay may have reached the final four years ago, just a year after making it to the World Cup quar-terfinals, but they have been in freefall since, failing to reach last year’s World Cup and dropping to

85th in the world. Ranked 15th af-ter their World Cup 2010 exploits, Paraguay won only four out of 19 international matches from the be-ginning of 2013 until this tourna-ment started.

Even without Neymar, Brazil will expect to progress and the team themselves are eager to exact revenge having lost to Paraguay on penalties at this very stage four

years ago. “It’s going to be a tough match,” said centre-back Thiago Silva after Sunday’s final group game. “Any team here is hard. Par-aguay got to the last Copa America final and got there on merit, beat-ing us along the way.

“Beating them on Saturday will have a special meaning.”

Paraguay are liable to provide stubborn resistance having already

held both Argentina and Uruguay to draws in the pool phase, while beating Jamaica, albeit thanks to a comedy error by the Caribbeans’ goalkeeper Duwayne Kerr.

The quarterfinals begin on Wednesday with hosts Chile tack-ling Uruguay, whose form has been a bit patchy here.

Chile face perhaps their best ever chance to win this tourna-ment — in which they have four times been beaten finalists, most recently in 1987 — not only play-ing at home but also blessed with a golden generation that beat Spain at the World Cup last year.

Boasting Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez and Juventus midfield lynchpin Arturo Vidal amongst a talented outfit, Chile play with pace and verve and thrashed Bo-livia 5-0 in their final group game.

They certainly won’t be over-awed by a side missing star striker Luis Sanchez, still serving a ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.

Edinson Cavani has yet to get off the mark for the shot-shy Uru-guayans who mustered just two goals in three pool games.

On Thursday, the two outsiders Bolivia and Peru, both former win-ners of the competition, meet in Temuco while on Friday, Vina del Mar will be the setting for the heav-yweight Argentina-Colombia clash.

Argentina have not exactly shone so far but with an attacking arsenal comprised of Lionel Mes-si, Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria, Javier Pastore, Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain, they will surely be expecting to end their 22-year wait to lift the Cop America. - AFP

The South American

super-power decided

on Monday not to

appeal a four-game

ban handed to star

striker and captain

Neymar for violent

conduct, meaning

they will have to do

without him for the

knock-out stages

FOR THE ALBUM: Brazil’s Neymar, centre, who is suspended for the rest of the Copa America 2015 tournament, poses with teammates at

the team’s hotel in Santiago. – Reuters

Peter Moores hits out at ‘number cruncher’ imageLONDON: Former England coach Peter Moores has said his second spell in charge of the na-tional side was blighted by a mis-guided perception that he was obsessed with statistics.

Moores was sacked in May, fol-lowing a drawn Test series away to the West Indies came hot on the heels of a wretched World Cup where England suffered a first round exit.

His second spell in charge last-ed just over a year, with the ECB having previously sacked Moores six years earlier.

After England’s World Cup exit was sealed with a defeat by Bang-ladesh, Moores gave an interview to former England captain Nasser Hussain on Sky Sports when he said: “We’ll have to analyse the game data a bit later.”

However, Moores also told Hussain that his England set-up was not numbers driven.

Meanwhile assistant coach Paul Farbrace — now in caretaker

charge of England before Aus-tralian Trevor Bayliss takes over — said he had used far more sta-tistics when coaching Sri Lanka to the 2014 World Twenty20 title.

Moores has maintained a digni-fied silence since his latest sack-ing by England but went public Tuesday to voice his “frustration” at the way he had been portrayed.

“I have to accept my time as England coach has gone,” Moores told the ESPNcricinfo website.

“But I am frustrated. The por-trayal of me as a coach in the me-

dia is just wrong.” He added: “We moved away from stats and ‘data.’ Coaching doesn’t work like that at all...It’s not a numbers game. We kept it simple. We tried to give the players responsibility to lead themselves.”

Moores, who led Sussex and Lancashire to the County Cham-pionship either side of his first spell as England coach, won plau-dits for giving the likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and Matt Prior a chance to shine at international level during his initial period in charge of the national side.

Meanwhile his second spell saw Joe Root, Gary Ballance, Moeen Ali and Jos Buttler intro-duced into the England set-up.

When Moores was sacked in May, a side featuring several in-experienced players had won four and lost one of their last six Tests, not a bad run given he had inherit-ed an England team thrashed 5-0 in the 2013/14 Ashes. - AFP

M I S Q U O T E

FRUSTRATED: Peter Moores.

Former Brazil skipper Lucio signs for GoaNEW DELHI: Former Brazil skipper and 2002 World Cup winner Lucio has signed up as FC Goa’s marquee player for the second season of the burgeon-ing Indian Super League (ISL), the club said on its Twitter feed.

The 37-year-old former Bay-ern Munich and Inter Milan defender had been playing at home with Palmeiras but will join up with Brazil great Zico, who is head coach of the club in the eight-team competition.

Goa, with a number of Bra-zilians in the squad, finished the inaugural season of the ISL second in the table before being knocked out in the semifinals on penalties by eventual win-ners Atletico de Kolkata, backed by a Spanish contingent.

“Lucio has been signed as the marquee player for FC Goa as he was strongly recommended by Zico,” co-owner Shrinivas Dempo has been quoted as say-ing in the local media. - Reuters

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‘Sultanate of Oman’ crew head to Isle of Wight for Cowes Cup

MUSCAT: Oman Sail’s ‘Sultanate of Oman’ GC32 will arrive in the Isle of Wight full of confidence af-ter victory in the inaugural round of the Bullitt GC32 Racing Tour in Austria, and looking to build on this success at the Cowes Cup and Round the Island Race. Crewmem-bers, Nasser Al Mashari, Leigh Mc-Millan, Pete Greenhalgh, and Ed Smyth, fresh from a win in Cardiff at Act 4 of the Extreme Sailing Se-ries on board The Wave, Muscat, will be joined by foiling specialist, Alister Richardson, looking to con-tinue the good form that sees them lead the pack early on.

“Racing in Cowes will be a very different scenario to the lake sail-ing we did in Austria,” said skip-per Leigh McMillan, a local to the Isle of Wight. “In some ways the light conditions that we had for the opening event played into our hands given our lack of foiling ex-perience. It was great to do so well right off the bat though – a real credit to the team.”

Before the inaugural event in Austria in May, the Sultanate of Oman GC32 team, supported by the Ministry of Tourism of Oman and EFG Bank Monaco, had spent just three days sailing on the foil-

ing boat. For the second event of the Bullitt GC32 Racing Tour, Ed Smyth is stepping in for Glenn Ashby who has Emirates Team New Zealand duties. Ed is a regu-lar on The Wave, Muscat and is no stranger to foiling having trained with the team before Austria.

“It is a big learning curve for all of us, we have got a big challenge ahead. We are very experienced on the Ex40s but we are very much still in the learning phase on the GC32s,” said Leigh. “We have to change gears and our mindset a bit, but it is a really good, fun, boat to sail so we are very excited about

that, we know it is a steep learn-ing curve and we have some big lessons ahead, but we will still be pushing hard.”

Conditions in Cowes can be mixed and the tides contribute to making it a tricky venue. “Gener-ally you get a bit of breeze so the boats should be up on the foils and absolutely ripping along – it will be great to be flying along at 30 knots. It should be quite a spectacle.”

After such a great win in Cardiff, Nasser Al Mashari, the bowman on both the Extreme 40 and the GC32, is itching to ‘fly’ again: “We are re-ally looking forward to foiling again

– we are still learning, but will try to do our very best and do well.”

The Bullitt GC32 Racing Tour Cowes Cup runs from Wednesday 24 June through to Friday and then the fleet joins the Round the Island Race for the historic sprint around the Isle of Wight on Saturday.

The GC32 class is a foiling cata-maran that is regarded as one of the most exciting newcomers on the scene. Oman Sail joined the circuit earlier this year, following the sailing accomplishments in different other classes. The win in Austria was a testament of further prospects coming this year.

For the second event

of the Bullitt GC32

Racing Tour, Ed

Smyth is stepping in

for Glenn Ashby who

has Emirates Team

New Zealand duties

EYEING COWES CUP: Oman Sail’s ‘Sultanate of Oman’ crew seen in action during the Austrian event, which saw them win for the first time. — Supplied photo

Bouchard finally finds rhythm to claim victory at EastbourneEASTBOURNE: Canda’s Eug-enie Bouchard won only her sec-ond match since mid-March after struggling to find form, earning a 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 defeat of Alison Riske on Tuesday at the East-bourne International.

The former top 10 player, now ranked 12th, at 2-10 over her last dozen matches as the form which took the 21-year-old to the Wimbledon title match, as well as Australian Open and Roland Garros semifinals in 2014, disap-peared in 2015.

Bouchard’s second-round victo-ry in one hour 40 minutes was her first on grass this season and could not have come at a better time, with Wimbledon starting in six days.

“It’s good to finally get a win,” said Bouchard, who was helped by two aces in the final game as she closed out the 42nd-ranked Riske, to take a 3-0 lead in that series at the WTA level.

“I had to try and stay with her, she was playing well. I tried to stay calm at the end, enjoy the mo-ment. I’ve really had some ups and downs this season. I’ve learned a lot about tennis, myself and life as a result.”

The seventh seed will wait for a third-round opponent from Swiss teen Belinda Bencic and 2014 titleholder Madison Keys, seeded 12th. Bouchard is making

her Eastbourne main draw debut after falling out of qualifying two years ago.

Two other seeds met upset fates in the second round, with Briton Johanna Konta extending her hometown win streak with a knockout of Russian fourth seed Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-4.

“It’s important for me not to

treat it differently, I do believe very much so that I do need to ap-proach every match exactly the same with my same intentions and personal goals,” said the num-ber 146 wild card.

“I’m just happy that I was able to do that today and I’m looking forward to my next opportunity to be able to do that again.”

American Sloane Stephens eliminated Spanish clay ace Carla Suarez Navarro, seeded fifth, 6-1, 7-5. Czech eighth seed Karolina Pliskova beat Austral-ian Casey Dellacqua 6-4, 7-5 and German tenth seed Andrea Pet-kovic beat Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-4 to level her summer grass record at 1-1. - AFP

T E N N I S

BACK TO WINNING WAYS: Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard returns the ball to Alison Riske of the US dur-

ing their women’s singles second round match at the WTA Eastbourne tennis tournament. – AFP

C6


Qatar group to push sports integrity in US even as World Cup award faces probes

NEW YORK/LONDON: Fifa’s granting of rights to Qatar to host the World Cup in 2022 is a focus of U.S. and Swiss probes into al-leged corruption at soccer’s gov-erning body, but that isn’t stopping a group financed by the tiny na-tion from coming to Washington this week to talk about cleaning up sports.

The Doha-based International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS), which is largely funded by the Qa-tari government, will talk about its efforts to boost transparency in bidding processes for major sport-ing events and combat financial malpractice in professional sport at an event it is holding at the Na-tional Press Club on Wednesday.

The group, which is headed by two former officials from Qatar’s military, includes Fifa’s former head of security as an executive director and Interpol’s former president as a member of its advisory board.

The event comes on the heels of the indictment by U.S. authorities

of nine current or former Fifa of-ficials and five executives in sports marketing or broadcasting on May 27. They face charges of bribery, money laundering and wire fraud involving more than $150 million.

That investigation is also ex-amining allegations that there was corruption in the awarding of World Cup hosting rights to Russia for 2018 and Qatar four years later, according to a U.S. law enforce-ment official. The Swiss authori-ties have their own criminal probe into those decisions.

“The ICSS encourages and sup-ports any proactive action that targets corruption in sport gov-erning bodies by law enforcement agencies,” the organization said in a statement on its website.

Its budget is 70 percent financed by the government of Qatar and the rest is income from projects, said ICSS spokesman Stuart Hodge. ICSS couldn’t immediately say how large that budget is.

Critics say the organization has a public perception problem be-cause of the investigations into the allegations about how it’s main

patron won enough support from Fifa’s 24-member executive com-mittee in 2010 to get the 2022 hosting rights. It had faced com-peting bids from the U.S., South Korea, Japan and Australia.

“There is no question that a Qa-tari entity faces some reputational challenges as it sets out to clean up sports,” said Alexandra Wrage, an anti-corruption expert and found-er of the Annapolis, Maryland-based TRACE International.

“Qatar is investing heavily in projects designed to enhance its public image. Whatever its other goals, I am sure the ICSS was established in part for this rea-son,” said Wrage, who resigned in frustration from Fifa’s Inde-pendent Governance Committee in 2013, saying calls for change went unheeded.

And Jens Sejer Andersen, the director of Danish government-funded sports integrity group Play the Game, said the ICSS clearly had a credibility problem “when serious suspicions are floating in the air surrounding Qatar’s 2022 bid due to the corrupt culture in

FIFA at the time.” ICSS, though, says it is independent.

“There is no external influence or input put on the ICSS from the government of Qatar in terms of how we are run and our activities,” said Hodge.

Both Russia and Qatar have ve-hemently denied there was any wrongdoing in the way they won the World Cup hosting rights. They were not the subject of the indictments announced by U.S. prosecutors last month.

Qatar, Fifa, Interpol linksICSS President Mohammed Han-zab, a former lieutenant colonel in the Qatar Armed Forces, an-nounced the formation of the or-ganization in March 2011, only about three months after the de-sert country won its bid to host the 2022 competition.

Soon after, Qatar’s 2022 World Cup Supreme Committee — in charge of delivering infrastruc-ture and planning for the con-test — announced an agreement with ICSS to assist with security for the games.

Hodge said the establishment of the ICSS was in no way connected with the vote to award Qatar the World Cup rights and plans to cre-ate the center were well underway beforehand.

ICSS’ advisory board includes Singapore’s Khoo Boon Hui, who was Interpol’s president from 2008 to 2012. Qatar’s 2022 Su-preme Committee was among the top ten sources of external funding for the international crime fight-ing group in 2014.

Interpol earlier this month sus-pended a 20-million-euro ($22 million) sports “integrity” agree-ment with Fifa in the wake of the investigations.

ICSS’s connections to Fifa in-clude Chris Eaton, the group’s executive director for sport integ-rity. A former Australian cop and Interpol official, Eaton became Fifa’s head of security in 2010 where he looked into allegations of vote swapping between Qatar and Spain-Portugal, who had put in a joint bid for the 2018 World Cup.

According to a book by journal-ists from the UK’s Sunday Times

called “The Ugly Game,” Eaton surprised his bosses at Fifa when he announced his move to ICSS in 2012 and brought along the bulk of his investigative team. Eaton, who is due to speak at Wednesday’s event, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Last year, the ICSS published a joint research project with the Sorbonne in Paris, one of France’s best-known universities, that found an estimated $140 billion is laundered every year through sports betting. ICSS also partnered with the United Nation’s Office on Drugs and Crime to help train law enforcement officers so that they could crack down on game-rigging.

One ICSS advisory board mem-ber Juliette Kayyem, who worked as an assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Secu-rity in President Barack Obama’s first term, said she didn’t see any reasons for concern, noting that the ICSS was doing good work in examining how to keep massive sporting events safe.

The faculty member at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government declined to comment on Qatar’s World Cup award, but said: “I think every person on that board is ask-ing all the right questions.” - Reuters

The Doha-based

International Centre

for Sport Security

(ICSS), which is

largely funded by the

Qatari government,

will talk about its

efforts to boost

transparency in

bidding processes for

major sporting events

and combat financial

malpractice in

professional sport at

an event it is holding

at the National Press

Club on Wednesday

There is no question that a Qatari entity faces some reputational challenges as it sets out to clean up sports. Qatar is investing heavily in projects designed to enhance its public image. Whatever its other goals, I am sure the ICSS was established in part for this reason

Alexandra WrageAnti-corruption expert

Paris in race for 2024 GamesPARIS: Paris entered the race for the 2024 Olympics on Tuesday, proclaiming the bid on Olym-pic Day in what promises to be a tightly fought contest.

Paris, which failed in bids for the Olympics in 2008 and 2012, joined the US city of Boston, Rome and Germany’s Hamburg as candidates for the Games in 2024, 100 years on from the last time the Olympics were staged in the French capital.

Bids must be officially submit-ted by September 15 this year and the International Olympic Com-mittee (IOC) will then make a decision at a congress in Lima on September 15, 2017.

Bernard Lapasset, current president of World Rugby and future head of the bidding com-mittee, announced: “Paris is de-lighted to officially confirm its bid for the 2024 Olympic and Para-lympic Games — an important first milestone as our Host City campaign journey commences.

“We believe that this bid and our goal to host the 2024 Games will excite, unite and enthuse the people of Paris, our entire nation

and lovers of Olympic and Para-lympic sport all over the world.

“As we move forward with our bid, it is very pleasing to see today that we already have the full sup-port of the city, regional and na-tional governments as well as the CNOSF (French Olympic Com-mittee) and the French sports movement — it is wonderful to also receive significant public support and real backing from our athletes.”

Bid-backing Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo invited all Parisians to show their support for the French capital’s initiative by gathering along the banks of the river Seine later Tuesday.

France’s defending Olympic heavyweight judo champion Teddy Riner added: “I think a lot of French people are already behind this project, but we want everyone hand-in-hand for this beautiful adventure because the Olympic Games are much more than just sport.

“They’re an adventure, a dream, something you can live at home.”

Paris will roll out an Olympic declaration with more political and state pomp on July 14 when

a national parade is held along the Champs Elysees. After the dis-appointment of being beaten by Beijing and London respectively for the last two Olympics, French officials are leaving nothing to chance this time.

The proposal includes holding one sport under the Eiffel Tower as well as at the Stade de France, which was used for the 1998 World Cup final. On the financial side, French organisers say the cost will be about six billion euros ($6.8 billion) and they will get a big chunk of that from the IOC.

France President Francois Hol-lande promised full state backing.

“#Paris2024 will be a great mo-bilisation of our country. To want the Games is to want to share in a big event, to realise that together,” Hollande tweeted.

Aside from Boston, Hamburg, Paris and Rome, Budapest’s city council earlier Tuesday approved the launching of a bid, the idea now passes to the Hungarian par-liament in July, where avid sports fan and Prime Minister Viktor Orban is likely to ensure it goes through. — AFP

OLYMP I CS

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMSECTIONC W E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5LIFE & STYLE

This month in the journal Cortex, the condition received a name: aphantasia, based on the Greek

word phantasia, which Aristotle used to describe the power that presents visual imagery to our minds.

I find research like this irresistible. It coaxes me to think about ways to ex-perience life that are radically different from my own, and it offers clues to how the mind works.

And in this instance, I played a small part in the discovery.

In 2005, a 65-year-old retired build-ing inspector paid a visit to the neurolo-gist Dr Adam Zeman at the University of Exeter Medical School. After a minor surgical procedure, the man - whom Ze-man and his colleagues refer to as MX - suddenly realised he could no longer conjure images in his mind.

Zeman couldn’t find any description of such a condition in medical litera-ture. But he found MX’s case intriguing. For decades, scientists had debated how the mind’s eye works, and how much we rely on it to store memories and to make plans for the future.

MX agreed to a series of examina-tions. He proved to have a good memory for a man of his age, and he performed well on problem-solving tests. His only unusual mental feature was an inability to see mental images.

Zeman and his colleagues then scanned MX’s brain as he performed

certain tasks. First, MX looked at faces of famous people and named them. The scientists found that certain regions of his brain became active, the same ones that become active in other people who look at faces.

Then the scientists showed names to MX and asked him to picture their faces. In normal brains, some of those face-recognition regions again become active. In MX’s brain, none of them did.

Paradoxically, though, MX could an-swer questions that would seem to re-quire a working mind’s eye. He could tell the scientists the colour of Tony Blair’s eyes, for example, and name the letters of the alphabet that have low-hanging tails, like g and j. These tests suggested his brain used some alternate strategy to solve visual problems.

After I came across the case study of MX in 2010, I wrote about it. And then something remarkable happened: I dis-covered that MX was not alone.

“I have spent my entire life explaining to people that I do not think visually,” one reader wrote to me. “I cannot con-jure a mental image of a person or of a place to save my life.”

As more e-mails arrived, I did the only thing I could think to do: I forwarded them to Zeman. It turned out that he and his colleagues were also hearing from people who thought they had the condition. The scientists decided to make a formal study of their e-mail cor-respondents. They replied to e-mails with a questionnaire designed to probe the mind’s eye. All told, the researchers have received 21 responses.

Among the questions, the scientists asked their subjects to picture things like a sunrise. Try as they might, most of the respondents couldn’t see anything. But some of them did report rare, invol-untary flashes of imagery. The mention of a friend’s name, for instance, might briefly summon a face.

When the scientists asked their sub-jects to mentally count the windows in their house or apartment, 14 succeeded. They seem to share MX’s ability to use alternate strategies to get around the lack of a mind’s eye.

All in all, Zeman and his colleagues were struck by how similar the results of the survey were. “These people seemed to be describing something consistent,” Zeman said. Rather than being a unique case, MX may belong to an unrecognised group of people.

In their new report, the scientists note that many of the survey respond-ents differed from MX in an important way. While he originally had a mind’s eye, they never did. If aphantasia is real, it is possible that injury causes some cases while others begin at birth.

Thomas Ebeyer, a 25-year-old Cana-dian student, discovered his condition four years ago while talking with a girl-friend. He was shocked that she could

remember what a friend had been wear-ing a year before.

She replied that she could see a pic-ture of it in her mind.

“I had no idea what she was talking about,” he said in an interview. Ebeyer was surprised to discover that everyone he knew could summon images to their minds. Last year, someone showed him my article about MX.

“I’d been searching forever on Google, but I didn’t know what to look for,” he said. “It was really empowering just to hear a story of someone else who had it.”

Ebeyer got in touch with Zeman, who sent him the questionnaire. Like many other subjects, he could count his win-dows without actually picturing his house. “It’s weird and hard to explain,” he said. “I know the facts. I know where the windows are.”

The new study has brought Ebeyer some relief. “There’s something I can call this now,” he said.

Zeman now wonders just how com-mon aphantasia is. “Moderately rare” is his guess, but to follow up, he has sent the questionnaire to thousands of peo-ple in Exeter.

He hopes to find enough people with the condition to begin a bigger scan-ning study, comparing their brains with those of people who see vivid mental images. Together, they may reveal more than MX could on his own. -Carl Zimmer/The

New York Times News Service

Picture this?

Certain people, researchers have discovered, can’t summon up mental images

— it’s as if their mind’s eye is blind

C8

EXTRAW E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

There are few sim-pler pleasures than strolling through a Turkish town at night, after a long,

hot day spent gazing out at the turquoise seas. As the mu-ezzin’s call to prayer wafts through the warm air, your only concern will be where to go for dinner. A rooftop res-taurant perhaps, looking out across the glinting lights of the surrounding bay. Or may-be something more intimate, in an atmospheric courtyard garden, garlanded with low-hanging lanterns.

With 7,199km of coastline, picking the perfect resort can be tricky, although most of Tur-key’s coastal activity is con-centrated around its western and southern shores, where the Aegean and the Mediterranean meet. The Black Sea coast is much less focused on tourism.

There are destinations to suit most travellers here, whether you hanker for the boutique ho-tels and beach clubs of Bodrum, or the quieter coves of the Boz-burun Peninsula. The tiny town of Alacati has long lured wind-surfers to the blustery Cesme peninsula. If scuba-diving is more your thing, consider the charming resort of Kas.

Further west, the lively resort of Oludeniz combines a much-photographed beach with an ideal destination for paragliders. Daniel Craig launched himself off

the town’s 1,969m Mount Baba in the 2012 Bond film Skyfall. Boat lovers are also well served by nu-merous “blue cruises” along the coast, which take place on tradi-tional wooden gulets.

Trips often depart from Fethi-ye for a three-night journey along the coast, stopping at Oludeniz, Butterfly Valley, Kas, Kalkan and/or the sunken city of Kekova, before docking in at Demre and travelling by road to the ruins of Olympos, an ancient city left by the Lycians.

Indeed, the entire Turkish coastline is littered with archae-ological intrigues, most notably at the Greek city of Ephesus. Europe’s most complete classi-cal metropolis is an unmissable detour for anyone visiting the central Aegean coast.

Despite having undergone 150 years of excavation, only one-fifth of the 10th-century city that once stood on the site has so far been revealed.

Those who prefer to take in their history on two feet will be awed by the Lycian Way, a 539km long-distance walking route that runs from Oludeniz to Geyikbay-iri (cultureroutesinturkey.com/the-lycian-way). It traces the settlements of the Lycian people eastwards via graves and ruins, with opportunities to swim and kayak along the way.

Bodrum and beyondThe town of Bodrum and its sur-rounding peninsula are known

for their luxury hotels and beach clubs, which come alive in sum-mer when the well-heeled, party crowd descends. Upmarket places to soak up the 24/7 atmos-phere include Ibiza-style club Halikarnas (halikarnas.com.tr), with its Secret Garden restau-rant designed by Jade Jagger.

Among the swathe of high-end hotels to have sprung up in the area in recent months are the Jumeirah Bodrum Pal-ace ( jumeirah.com), which opened on 1 May, and Manda-rin Oriental Bodrum.

Anyone with a desire to sam-ple the quieter side of the Turk-ish coast should head instead to the twin peninsulas of Datca and Bozburun, south of Bodrum. Sea breezes, beautiful beaches and olive groves define the landscape of Datca, whereas Bozburun’s pinebacked curving coastline is more rustic.

Kas and KalkanKas and Kalkan, which are a 25-minute drive apart along a stunning stretch of Mediterra-nean road, make for an ideal twin-centre escape. Kas is the quieter and arguably more charming of the two, the small streets off its main square lined with lantern-lit restaurants. Kas is also a centre for scuba-diving.

For more bustle, head to Kal-kan, which is known for its roof-top restaurants. New for this season is Botanik Garden Bar, which uses herbs grown on site

in its garden to produce drinks. Thomson (thomson.co.uk) offers a week at the Samira Resort Ho-tel and Apartments in Kalkan for £353pp in July including flights from Glasgow to Dalaman.

From both Kas and Kalkan, you can access Patara, home to a ruined Lycian city including an impressive amphitheatre. Near-by, you’ll find one of Turkey’s longest beaches – an impres-sive 18km long. Kaputas, a small stretch of sand, reached by walk-ing down 180 steps, is also acces-sible from both towns.

Cesme and AlacatiThe windswept Aegean penin-sula of Cesme is Turkey’s top destination for windsurfers, so popular that it draws profes-sionals annually for the PWA World Cup (17 to 22 August; pwaworldtour.com).

To sample the area’s water-sports, stay in the atmospheric town of Alacati, close to the bay. Alacati Surf Paradise Club has a handful of schools operating between May and October. Five windsurfing lessons with Bu Bi Surf School (bubisurf.com) costs from TL530 (£130) per person.

More recently, the town has lured the chic Istanbul set to its smart hotels, enticing boutiques, excellent restaurants and bou-gainvillea-draped houses. In Ala-cati, you’re a taxi ride away from the white sands of Ilica Beach or a two-hour journey away from the ruins of Ephesus. Numer-

ous operators offer tours to the former capital of Asia Minor; No Frills Ephesus Tours (nof-rillsephesustours.com) offers a halfday excursion for €40 per person. Departing from Selcuk, it includes transport, guiding and entrance fees.

Fethiye and OludenizFor the traditional gulet expe-rience sailing out of Fethiye, Ocean Yachting (bluecruise.com) is a well-established com-pany, charging €175 for three nights including meals and ac-commodation on board.

Walkers wishing to tackle the Lycian Way also embark from this area. Explore (explore.co.uk), has a week that starts in Kayakoy and ends in Dalaman from £419pp, including accom-modation, guiding and meals; flights extra.

The much-photographed la-goon beach of Oludeniz trails like a teardrop into a protected national park and is undoubtedly one of Turkey’s finest.

Its beauty has not gone un-noticed and the resort itself has been the subject of much development; beyond the beach, tacky tourist shops and restaurants abound.

Nevertheless, it’s a great spot for families in search of sand and amenities. Paraglid-ers are also spoilt in Oludeniz, with the chance to cruise down Mount Baba to spy the Blue Lagoon below.

Where to stayOn a serene cove east of Bodrum, Kempinski Barbaros Bay (kem-pinski.com) offers an excellent spa and six restaurants; doubles from €512, half-board. Handy bases for exploring the Datca and Bozburun peninsulas in-clude Jenny’s Place in Selimiye, where doubles start at £530 per week, B&B; and Eski Datca Ev-leri which has three traditional stone houses in Eski Datca from €80 a night, B&B. In Kalkan, the upmarket Villa Mahal (villama-hal.com) has a chic beach club; doubles from €220, B&B. Alavya is one of Alacati’s most charming hotels (alavya.com.tr), built on the site of the town’s first open-air cinema; doubles from €190, B&B. Before the start of a gulet cruise from Fethiye, chill out at Perdue (perduehotel.com), eight safari-style tents, facing out to-wards Butterfly Valley; doubles from £190, B&B. Avoid the bus-tle of Oludeniz while making the most of the beach at Beyas Yunus (beyazyunus.com), a luxurious property carved into the rock-face; doubles from €300, B&B.

Getting there and getting aroundThere are four main hubs: Bod-rum, which also serves the Datca and Bozburun peninsulas; Dala-man, for Oludeniz, Fethiye, Kas and Kalkan; Izmir for the Cesme peninsula; and Antalya for the eastern Mediterranean. -Laura Holt/The Independent

Sparkling bays, staggering ruins, thrilling watersports, and chic hotels — there’s plenty to enhance a beach break

SLOANE Crosley, an essayist, wrote, “I used to think that nails-down-a-chalkboard was the worst sound in the world. Then I moved on to people-eating-cereal-on-the-phone. But only this week did I stumble across the rightful winner: it’s the sound of a baggage carousel coming to a grinding halt, having reunited every passenger on your flight with their luggage, except for you.”

No doubt we can all relate to that. You stand there for ages, hoping against hope not to be disappointed.

At the bridge table, many play their cards as if their

suitcase were the first to appear on the carousel. They take no time to consider the possibilities.

In today’s deal, how can the defenders defeat four spades after West leads his diamond ace?

Note South’s advance of his partner’s takeout double. By an unpassed hand, a simple suit bid shows only 0-8 points. With 9-11 points, the advancer must jump in his suit.

Yes, South wishes he had a five-card suit, but one has to make the best of the situation. Here, North has an easy raise to four spades.

The first key play comes at trick one. East must drop his queen under West’s ace. This shows the queen and the jack (or a very unlikely singleton queen).

Now West must resist the temptation to play another diamond. Instead, he should shift to his singleton heart.

South will win the trick and play a trump, but West can take that trick and continue with a low diamond.

East wins with his jack, and it should be the work of a moment for him to return a heart, which West ruffs to defeat the contract.

- Phillip Alder

C9

ENTERTAINMENT

Sit on your hand to slow down

B I G N A T E

B O R N L O S E R

M A R M A D U K E

A C E S O N B R I D G E

K I D S P O T H E A L T H C A P S U L EC R O S S W O R D

Answer to previous puzzle

WITH LOVE

W E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

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]

ACROSS 1 “Cheers” bar owner 4 Beer container 7 Dentist’s photo (hyph.)11 Sinister13 Forty-niner’s quest14 Auel heroine15 Turner of “Typical Male”16 Bully18 Far-reaching views20 Founded21 Mouse alert22 British FBI23 Eavesdropped26 Rapid rise30 Drop the ball

31 Tax shelter32 Santa — winds33 Bring up36 Soothsayer38 Prez after Jimmy39 Crane arm40 Famous racetrack43 Homburg cousin46 Briny liquid48 Faint glow50 Chapeau’s place51 Genre52 Revealing mannerism53 Rock star, say54 Importune55 Token amount

DOWN 1 Clique 2 Tel —

3 Skirt style 4 Early camera 5 Psyche’s beloved 6 Garnet or ruby 7 “Kubla Khan” locale 8 Deli breads 9 Sheltered10 Fabric measure12 Hologram maker17 Long-legged wader19 Danson or Kennedy22 Books pro23 Do a sewing chore24 Prior to25 Son of Val and Aleta26 Large vase27 Dust collector

28 Veld grazer29 Flair for music31 Chem class particle34 Garden tool35 Modicum36 Facilitate37 Wolf-pack member (hyph.)39 Dried meat40 — spumante41 Nut, actually42 Roman historian43 At one — swoop44 Wishes undone45 Guthrie of folk music47 Friendly advice49 Mont Blanc

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

AHANA ROY CHOUDHURYJune 24, 2012

MURJANAH SHAHULJune 24, 2004

SANJAY S. NAIRJune 24, 2009

SAGAR SATHEESHJune 26

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Chandrettan Evideeya (Mal ) (Romance/Comedy)Cast: Dileep, Namitha and Annu Sree9-45 pm at Cinema -4

(Programmes are subject to change)

Dead 2 India (Horror) (18+)Cast: Joseph Millson, Meenu Mishra, Anand Krishna Goyal 11:30 pmJurassic World (Action, Adventure) (3D) (PG12)Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins 9:00 /11:15 pmSpy (Action, Comedy) (18+)Cast: Jude Law, Raad Rawi, Melissa McCarthy9:15 pmHe Who Dares Downing Street Siege (Action) (12+)Cast: Tom Benedict Knight, Simon Phillips, Russell Kilmister11:45 pmABCD 2 (Dance, Musical) (PG)Cast: Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, Prabhudheva, Raghav, Dharmesh9:00 pm

Spy (2D) (Action/Comedy) (18+)Cast: Jude Law, Raad Rawi, Melissa McCarthy11:15 pm He Who Dares Downing Street Siege (2D) (Action) (12+)Cast: Tom Benedict Knight, Simon Phillips, Russell Kilmister11:30 pm ABCD 2 (2D) (Dance/Romance) Cast: Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, Prabhudheva, Raghav, Dharmesh9:00 pm The Homesman (2D) (Drama) (12+)Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Hilary Swank, Grace Gummer11:45 pm

Jurassic World (3D) (Action/Adventure) (PG12)Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins9:15 pmGold Class: 9:00 pm

SCREEN 1

ABCD 2 (Dance/Musical ) – PGCast: Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, Prabhudeva, Raghav and Dharmesh9.45 pm

SCREEN 2

Hamari Adhori Kahani (Romance/Drama) – PGCast: Emraan Hashmi, Vidya Balan and Rajkummar Rao9.45 pm

Jurassic World - 3D (PG12) Action |Adventure | Sci-Fi Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins9:15, 11:45 pm Premam - 2D (M) (PG) Comedy | RomanceCast: Nivin Pauly, Anupama Parameshwaran, Jude Anthany Joseph9:00 pm He Who Dares: Downing Street Siege - 2D (12+) Action Cast : Tom Benedict Knight, Simon Phillips, Russell Kilmister11:45 pm ABCD 2 - 2D (TBC) Dance | MusicalCast: Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, Prabhudheva,Raghav, Dharmesh 9:00 pm Kaaka Muttai - 2D (T) (PG) Comedy, DramaCast: Ramesh, Vignesh, Iyshwarya, Babu Antony, Silambarasan, Dhanush9:15 pm Eli - 2D (T) (PG12) ComedyCast: Vadivelu, Sadha, Pradeep Rawat, Kitty 11:15 pm

Jurassic World - 3D (Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi) (PG12)Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins9:15 pmHe Who Dares: Downing Street Siege – 2D (Action) (12+)Cast: Tom Benedict Knight, Simon Phillips, Russell Kilmister11:30 pmPremam – 2D (Comedy, Romance) (PG)Cast: Nivin Pauly, Anupama Parameshwaran, Jude Anthany Joseph9:00 pmManglehorn – 2D (Comedy, Romance) (12+)Cast: Al Pacino, Holly Hunter, Harmony Korine11:55 pmKaaka Muttai- 2D (Comedy, Drama) (PG)Cast: Ramesh, Vignesh, Iyshwarya, Babu Antony, Silambarasan, Dhanush9:30 pmJurassic World - 2D (Action) (PG12)11:30 pm

Jurassic World (3D) (Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi) (PG12) Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins9:05, 11:15 pm

He Who Dares Downing Street Siege

Jurassic World (3D) (PG12) (Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi ) Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins9:15 pmKaaka Muttai (2D) (PG) (Comedy, Drama) Cast: Ramesh, Vignesh, Iyshwarya, Babu Antony, Silambarasan, Dhanush|11:30 pmABCD 2 (2D) (PG) (Dance, Musical) Cast: Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, Prabhudheva,Raghav, Dharmesh9:00 pmThe Dead 2: India (2D) (18+) (Horror) Cast: Joseph Millson, Meenu Mishra, Anand Krishna Goyal11:45 pmPremam (2D) (PG) (Romance, Comedy) Cast: Nivin Pauly, Anupama Parameshwaran, Jude Anthany Joseph9:00 pmHe Who Dares: Downing Street Siege (2D) (12+) (Action ) Cast: Tom Benedict Knight, Simon Phillips, Russell Kilmister11:55 pm

(Action ) (12+) Cast: Tom Benedict Knight, Simon Phillips, Russell Kilmister.9:15 pm

Premam (Mal) (Comedy | Romance) (TBC) Cast: Nivin Pauly, Anupama Parameshwaran, Jude Anthany Joseph11:00 pm

SCREEN 3

Dil Dhadakne Do (Romance/Drama/Comedy ) – PG12Cast: Anil Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Shefali Shetty, Anushka Sharma, Priyanka Chopra 9.45 pm

The Dead 2: India - 2D (18+) HorrorCast: Joseph Millson, Meenu Mishra, Anand Krishna Goyal11:55 pm

C10

FIND-IT-ALLW E D N E S DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

PHARMACIESRound the clockAl Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24783334; Appolo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24782666; Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24702542, Salalah: 23291635; Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra: 24503585; Ruwi 24811715Muscat RegionApollo, Al Hamriya. Tel: 24787766Muscat, A Seeb Market. Tel: 24421691Muscat, Al Khuwair. Tel: 24485740Muscat, Al Hail South. Tel: 4537080Dhofar RegionMuscat, Al Nahdha Road, Salalah. Tel: 23291635

HOSPITALSAl Amal Medical & Health Care Centre: 24485052Atlas Hospital: Ruwi: 24811743/ Ghubra: 24504000Al Musafir Specialised Medical Clinic: 24706453Hatat Polyclinic LLC,Ruwi: 24563641, Azaiba: 24499269, Sohar: 2683006Al Raffah Hospital: 24618900/1/2Al Massaraat Clinic & Laboratory: 24566435Al Makook Medical Coordinance Centre: 24499434Apollo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24787766, 24787780Capital Polyclinic: 24707549Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic, Ruwi: 24799760/1/2Capital Clinic, Seeb: 24420740Ceregem National Raak: 24485633Dr Harub’s Clinic: 24563217Elixir Health Centre: 24565802Emirates Medical Centre: 246045401st Chiropractic Centre: 24472274Hamdan Hospital: 23212340International Medical Centre LLC: 24794501/2/3/4/5Kims Oman Hospital: 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency: 24760123Lama Polyclinic, Sohar: 26751128, MBD: 24799077, Al Khuwair: 24478818Magrabi Eye and Ear Hospital: 24568870Muscat Private Hospital: 24583600Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, Al Khuwair: 24477666Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC: 22004000

ROYAL OMAN POLICEEmergencies and inquiries: 9999General Directorate of Passport and Residence: 24569603Directorate General of Customs: 24521109Traffic violations inquiries: 24510228Public Relations Admin: 24560099

ACCOMMODATIONAl Bahjah Hotel: 24424400Al Bustan Palace: 24764000 Al Khuwair Hotel Apartments: 24478171Al Madina Holiday Inn: 24596400Al Maha International Hotel: 24494949Al Fanar Hotel: 24712385Al Falaj Hotel: 24702311Al Qurum Resort: 24605945Azaiba Hotel Apartments: 24490979Beach Hotel: 24696601Bowshar Hotel: 24491105Coral Hotel Muscat: 24692121Crowne Plaza Muscat: 24660660Crystal Suites: 24826100Golden Tulip Seeb: 24510300Grand Hyatt Muscat: 24641234Haffa House Hotel: 24707207Hotel Muscat Holiday: 24487123InterContinental Muscat: 24680000Majan Continental Hotel: 24592900Marina Hotel: 24711711Midan Hotel Suites: 24499565Mina Hotel: 24711828Muttrah Hotel: 24798401

Nuzha Hotel Apartments: 24789199Oman Dive Centre: 24824240Park Inn: 24507888Qurum Beach House Hotel: 24564070Radisson Blu Hotel: 24487777Ramee Dream Resort Seeb: 24453399Ramee Guestline Hotel: 24564443Ruwi Hotel: 24704244Safeer Hotel Suites: 24691200Sheraton Oman Hotel: 24772772Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa: 24776666The Chedi Muscat: 24524400The Treasurebox Muscat Hotel: 24502570Sifawy Hotel +968 24749111Juweira Hotel +968 23239600

AIRLINE OFFICESMuscat Airport Flight information (24 hours): 24519456/24519223Aeroflot: 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, Turkish Airlines: 24703033

MUSEUMSBait Al Baranda: Corniche (seafront opp fish market), Open from Saturday to Thursday 9am to 1pm and 4 to 6pmNatural History Museum: Al Khuwair, Tel: 24604957, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm; Thursday: 9am to 1pmMuseum of Omani Heritage: (former Omani Museum), Madinat Al Alam, Sat-Wed 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday - 9am to 1pm, Tel: 24600946Armed Forces Museum: Bait Al Falaj, Tel: 24312651, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm; Thurs 9-12pm and 3-6pm; Fri 9-11am and 3-6pm. Al Hoota Caves 24498258; Turtle Beach 96550606/96550707Children’s Science Museum: Shatti Al Qurum, Tel: 24605368, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pmOman-French Museum: near Muscat Police Station, Tel: 24736613, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm, Thurs: 9am to 1pmBait Al Zubair, Muscat: Tel: 24736688, Al Saidiya St., [email protected] from Sat to Thurs: 9:30am to 6pm.National Museum Ruwi: Tel: 24701289, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm, Thurs: 9am to 1pmSohar Fort Museum: Tel: 26844758, Open from Saturday to Wed: 8 to 1:30pm Thurs: 9am to 1pmMuscat Gate Museum: at Al Bahri Road, Muscat open from Sat to Wed 8am to 2pm

W E A T H E R

OMAN

Max 42Min 34

Max 38Min 31

Max 42Min 32

Max 47Min 32

Max 43Min 34Max 44

Min 25

Max 46Min 31

Max 33 Min 28

Partly cloudy to cloudy skies along the coastal areas of Dhofar governorate and adjoining mountains with chance of intermittent drizzle and clear to partly cloudy skies over governorates of South Al

Sharqiyah and Al Wusta. Mainly clear skies over rest of the Sultanate with chance of clouds development over Al Hajar mountains and adjoining areas with isolated thunderstorm during evening may associated with downdraft wind, and chance of blowing dust over deserts and open areas of the governorates of Al Buraimi and Al Dahirah.EXPECTED WINDS: Northerly to northeasterly light to moderate along the coastal areas of Oman Sea during day becoming variable light at night, and along the coastal areas of Arabian Sea wind will be southwesterly moderate to fresh, while it will be northwesterly light to moderate occasionally fresh over

the rest of the Sultanate.SEA STATE: Rough along the Arabian Sea coast with maximum wave height of 5.0 metres and moderate along western coast of Musandam with maximum wave height of 2.0 metres and slight along rest of Oman’s coast with maximum wave height of 1.25 metres.HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY: Good over most of the Sultanate becoming poor during rain and blowing dust.THE NEXT 48 HOURS OUTLOOK: Partly cloudy to cloudy skies along the coastal areas of Dhofar governorate and adjoining mountains with chance of intermittent drizzle. Chance of blowing dust over deserts and open areas of the governorates of Al Buraimi, Al Dahirah, and Al Wusta due to fresh northwest wind.

Max Min

GULFAbu Dhabi 37 32Doha 42 32Dubai 37 31Kuwait 40 30Manama 38 33Riyadh 41 24

WORLDAthens 31 20Baghdad 39 25Beijing 28 21Berlin 16 12Boston 26 15Cairo 35 16Colombo 30 27Frankfurt 21 12Hong Kong 30 27Istanbul 26 17Johannesburg 18 1Kuala Lumpur 32 25Lisbon 24 17Paris 23 16Perth 18 9Singapore 30 28Tokyo 28 20Toronto 25 15

WORLD

Max 28Min 18

Max 36Min 23

Max 24Min 14

Max 37Min 31

Max 30Min 18

Max 18Min 14

Max 26Min 18

Max 34Min 28

LISTINGS

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

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (Route 36)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (Route 36)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41)06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri13:00 Sohar 15:45 Daily13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily 16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily 16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41)07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily 13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily 17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily

TO SINAW (Route 52)17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily

TO SINAW (Route 52)07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54)14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54)06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54)08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54)15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily

TO SUR (Route 55)07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily

TO SUR (Route 55)06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (Route 62)06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (Route 62)12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201)06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201)07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (Route 100)07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (Route 100)07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101)06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily

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

TO MARMUL (Route 101)06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily

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

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

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily 16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI) TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

WEDNESDAYFLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA WY672 MEDINA 0005WY676 JEDDAH 0005WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 0005WY682 RIYADH 0010WY648 KUWAIT 0015WY914 SALALAH 0020FZ131 DUBAI 0030WY3908 SALALAH 0035WY916 SALALAH 0120TK774 ISTANBUL 01354H583 DACCA 0200PK229 KARACHI 0215GF560 BAHRAIN 0325FZ035 DUBAI 0340EK866 DUBAI 0350QR1132 DOHA 0355EY384 ABU DHABI 0400WY114 FRANKFURT 0515WY638 ABU DHABI 0640WY902 SALALAH 0645WY644 KUWAIT 0650WY658 BAHRAIN 0650WY412 AMMAN 0650G9841 RAS AL KHAIMA 0655WY686 RIYADH 0655WY144 MALPENSA 0705WY668 DOHA 0715WY674 JEDDAH 0735WY132 PARIS 0735WY102 LONDON HEATHROW 0740FZ043 DUBAI 0800WY432 TEHRAN 0805WY602 DUBAI 0805QR8550 DOHA 0815WY342 LAHORE 0825NL768 LAHORE 0830WY202 BOMBAY 0835WY236 HYDERABAD 0900G9114 SHARJAH 0905WY282 BANGALORE 0910WY226 COCHIN 0920EK862 DUBAI 0930WY242 DELHI 0935WY252 MADRAS 0955IX549 TRIVANDRUM 0955QR1128 DOHA 1000EY382 ABU DHABI 1010WY918 KHASAB 1015IX443 COCHIN 1020WY3922 DUQUM OMAN 10359W530 TRIVANDRUM 1045WY652 BAHRAIN 1105WY604 DUBAI 1115WY3302 MUKHAIZNA 1120GF562 BAHRAIN 1130FZ037 DUBAI 1140IX337 CALICUT 1155WY332 KATHMANDU 1205PA450 LAHORE 1215WY824 SINGAPORE-KUALA LUMPUR 1220WY818 BANGKOK 1220WY904 SALALAH 1230WY634 ABU DHABI 1230WY670 DOHA 1250WY324 KARACHI 1300WY606 DUBAI 1340WY920 KHASAB 1400WY906 SALALAH 1440WY348 ISLAM ABBAD 1515G9119 SHARJAH 1525FZ045 DUBAI 1535WY3304 MUKHAIZNA 1550QR1126 DOHA 1645EY386 ABU DHABI 1650WY204 BOMBAY 1655WY632 ABU DHABI 1710WY292 CALICUT 1710WY264 LUCKNOW 1740WY664 DOHA 1745EK864 DUBAI 1745WY274 JAIPUR 1745WY232 HYDERABAD 1750WY254 MADRAS 1750WY246 DELHI 1750WY656 BAHRAIN 1750WY610 DUBAI 1800GF564 BAHRAIN 1810WY216 TRIVANDRUM 1820G9116 SHARJAH 1905WY646 KUWAIT 1930FZ047 DUBAI 1940WY908 SALALAH 2000RG125 ABU DHABI 2005WY614 DUBAI 2025WY848 CHITTAGONG 2035WY338 KATHMANDU 2040FZ049 DUBAI 2100KL441 AMSTERDAM-DOHA 2105AI977 BANGALORE-HYDERABAD 2105WY124 MUNICH 21059W534 COCHIN 2115AI973 DELHI 21256.00E+81 BOMBAY 2130BA073 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI 2140WY624 DUBAI 2150AI907 MADRAS 2200WY312 CHITTAGONG 2210QR1134 DOHA 2225LX242 ZURICH-DUBAI 2225GF566 BAHRAIN 2240LH616 FRANKFURT-DOHA 2245WY328 KARACHI 2250EY388 ABU DHABI 2300WY910 SALALAH 23109W540 BOMBAY 2315AI985 BOMBAY 2325WY662 DOHA 2335WY654 BAHRAIN 2340WY636 ABU DHABI 2340WY928 SALALAH 2345WY816 BANGKOK 2350WY612 DUBAI 2355WY696 DAMMAM 2355

THURSDAYFLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA

SG061 AHMEDABAD 0001WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 0005WY676 JEDDAH 0005WY424 BEIRUT 0005WY682 RIYADH 0010WY648 KUWAIT 0015WY914 SALALAH 0020FZ131 DUBAI 0030WY3908 SALALAH 0035BG021 DACCA 0100CV610 LUXORE 0115WY916 SALALAH 0120TK774 ISTANBUL 01354H585 DACCA 0200PK225 KARACHI 0215GF560 BAHRAIN 0325ET624 ADDIS ABABA 0335EK866 DUBAI 0350QR1132 DOHA 0355EY384 ABU DHABI 0400MS930 CAIRO 0410PK291 ISLAM ABBAD 0410FZ041 DUBAI 0415WY114 FRANKFURT 05154H586 DOHA 0600WY658 BAHRAIN 0635WY412 AMMAN 0635WY638 ABU DHABI 0640WY902 SALALAH 0645WY644 KUWAIT 0650WY686 RIYADH 0655WY144 MALPENSA 0705WY678 MEDINA 0710WY668 DOHA 0715WY674 JEDDAH 0735WY102 LONDON HEATHROW 0740FZ043 DUBAI 0800WY602 DUBAI 0805WY346 ISLAM ABBAD 0815NL768 LAHORE 0830WY272 JAIPUR 0830WY202 BOMBAY 0835IX817 MANGALORE 0840WY236 HYDERABAD 0900G9114 SHARJAH 0905WY226 COCHIN 0920EK862 DUBAI 0930WY242 DELHI 0935WY212 TRIVANDRUM 0950WY252 MADRAS 0955QR1128 DOHA 1000EY382 ABU DHABI 1010WY918 KHASAB 1015IX443 COCHIN 1020WY844 MANILA 1025WY652 BAHRAIN 10409W530 TRIVANDRUM 1045WY634 ABU DHABI 1110WY604 DUBAI 1115GF562 BAHRAIN 1130FZ037 DUBAI 1140IX337 CALICUT 1155WY824 SINGAPORE-KUALA LUMPUR 1220WY818 BANGKOK 1220BG023 DACCA-CHITTAGONG 1230WY904 SALALAH 1230WY670 DOHA 1250CV611 MADRAS 1315WY606 DUBAI 1340WY3302 MUKHAIZNA 1350WY920 KHASAB 1400WY906 SALALAH 1440WY3922 DUQUM OMAN 1510FZ045 DUBAI 1535KU677 KUWAIT-ABU DHABI 1540SV530 JEDDAH 1550WY344 LAHORE 1605QR1126 DOHA 1645EY386 ABU DHABI 1650WY204 BOMBAY 1655WY292 CALICUT 1710WY632 ABU DHABI 1710WY208 GOA 1740WY264 LUCKNOW 1740WY664 DOHA 1745EK864 DUBAI 1745WY254 MADRAS 1750WY232 HYDERABAD 1750WY284 BANGALORE 1750WY246 DELHI 1750WY656 BAHRAIN 1750WY3932 SOHAR 1805GF564 BAHRAIN 1810WY610 DUBAI 1830TG507 BANGKOK-KARACHI 1900G9116 SHARJAH 1905WY374 COLOMBO 1915WY646 KUWAIT 1920FZ047 DUBAI 1940WY908 SALALAH 2000RG125 ABU DHABI 2005WY614 DUBAI 2025WY848 CHITTAGONG 2035WY338 KATHMANDU 2040WY434 TEHRAN 2055FZ049 DUBAI 2100WY124 MUNICH 2105KL441 AMSTERDAM-DOHA 21059W534 COCHIN 21154H561 DACCA 2115AI973 DELHI 21256.00E+81 BOMBAY 2130BA073 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI 2140WY624 DUBAI 2150UL205 COLOMBO 2155AI907 MADRAS 2200WY312 CHITTAGONG 2210QR1134 DOHA 2225LX242 ZURICH-DUBAI 2225WY414 AMMAN 2225GF566 BAHRAIN 2240LH616 FRANKFURT-DOHA 2245SG061 AHMEDABAD 2300EY388 ABU DHABI 2300WY910 SALALAH 23109W540 BOMBAY 2315AI985 BOMBAY 2325WY406 CAIRO 2330WY662 DOHA 2335WY636 ABU DHABI 2340WY654 BAHRAIN 2340WY928 SALALAH 2345WY816 BANGKOK 2350WY612 DUBAI 2355WY696 DAMMAM 2355

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD 9W539 BOMBAY 0020AI986 BOMBAY 0020WY225 COCHIN 0105WY637 ABU DHABI 0105WY657 BAHRAIN 0110WY281 BANGALORE 0110WY235 HYDERABAD 0110WY201 BOMBAY 0115FZ132 DUBAI 0115WY685 RIYADH 0115WY251 MADRAS 0120WY643 KUWAIT 0120WY341 LAHORE 0145WY601 DUBAI 0145WY431 TEHRAN 0155WY123 MUNICH 0200WY901 SALALAH 0215WY847 JAKARTA 0215WY241 DELHI 0215WY667 DOHA 0225TK775 ISTANBUL 0230WY331 KATHMANDU 02454H584 DUBAI 0300PK230 LAHORE 0315EK867 DUBAI 0450QR1133 DOHA 0500EY385 ABU DHABI 0500FZ036 DUBAI 0510WY651 BAHRAIN 0645WY917 KHASAB 0715GF561 BAHRAIN 0715WY3921 DUQUM OMAN 0740G9842 RAS AL KHAIMA 0745WY903 SALALAH 0750WY603 DUBAI 0750WY3301 MUKHAIZNA 0800WY347 ISLAM ABBAD 0830WY323 KARACHI 0835WY669 DOHA 0835FZ044 DUBAI 0845WY823 KUALA LUMPUR-SINGAPORE 0900WY815 BANGKOK 0905WY633 ABU DHABI 0910WY215 TRIVANDRUM 0915WY253 MADRAS 0915WY291 CALICUT 0915NL769 LAHORE 0930WY263 LUCKNOW 0940QR8550 DUBAI WORLD CENTRE-DOHA 0945G9115 SHARJAH 0955WY843 MANILA 0955WY231 HYDERABAD 1000WY905 SALALAH 1020WY605 DUBAI 1020WY203 BOMBAY 1025WY245 DELHI 1040EK863 DUBAI 1045WY337 KATHMANDU 1050WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 1050WY273 JAIPUR 1055IX554 TRIVANDRUM 1055QR1129 DOHA 1100WY919 KHASAB 1100EY383 ABU DHABI 1105IX442 COCHIN 1120WY311 CHITTAGONG 11359W533 COCHIN 1145GF563 BAHRAIN 1215FZ038 DUBAI 1225WY3303 MUKHAIZNA 1230IX350 CALICUT 1255PA451 LAHORE 1315WY113 FRANKFURT 1320WY655 BAHRAIN 1325WY663 DOHA 1330WY631 ABU DHABI 1345WY143 MALPENSA 1350WY101 LONDON HEATHROW 1400WY645 KUWAIT 1400WY423 BEIRUT 1400WY927 SALALAH 1430WY609 DUBAI 1445WY907 SALALAH 1540WY675 JEDDAH 1615G9110 SHARJAH 1615FZ046 DUBAI 1620WY613 DUBAI 1710QR1127 DOHA 1745EY387 ABU DHABI 1755WY327 KARACHI 1810WY681 RIYADH 1840WY623 DUBAI 1840WY647 KUWAIT 1845WY909 SALALAH 1850GF565 BAHRAIN 1855EK865 DUBAI 1910WY695 DAMMAM 1915WY661 DOHA 1920WY653 BAHRAIN 1920G9117 SHARJAH 1955WY913 SALALAH 2000WY3907 SALALAH 2015WY635 ABU DHABI 2015FZ048 DUBAI 2025WY611 DUBAI 2035RG126 ABU DHABI 2045WY915 SALALAH 2100FZ050 DUBAI 2145AI978 HYDERABAD-BANGALORE 2200WY411 AMMAN 2205KL442 DOHA-AMSTERDAM 2220WY817 BANGKOK 22259W529 TRIVANDRUM 22306.00E+82 BOMBAY 2245AI908 MADRAS 2300WY677 MEDINA 2310AI974 DELHI 2310LX243 DUBAI-ZURICH 2325GF567 BAHRAIN 2325QR1135 DOHA 2330BA072 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW 2330WY673 JEDDAH 2350LH617 DOHA-FRANKFURT 2355EY381 ABU DHABI 2355

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD AI986 BOMBAY 00209W539 BOMBAY 0020WY637 ABU DHABI 0105WY225 COCHIN 0105WY235 HYDERABAD 0110SG062 AHMEDABAD 0110WY657 BAHRAIN 0110WY211 TRIVANDRUM 0110FZ132 DUBAI 0115WY201 BOMBAY 0115WY685 RIYADH 0115WY643 KUWAIT 0120WY251 MADRAS 0120WY345 ISLAM ABBAD 0125WY271 JAIPUR 0135WY601 DUBAI 0145WY123 MUNICH 0200WY847 JAKARTA 0215WY241 DELHI 0215WY901 SALALAH 0215WY667 DOHA 0225BG022 DACCA 0230TK775 ISTANBUL 0230WY331 KATHMANDU 02454H585 DOHA 0300PK226 KARACHI 0315CV610 MADRAS 0355ET625 ADDIS ABABA 0435EK867 DUBAI 0450QR1133 DOHA 0500EY385 ABU DHABI 0500FZ042 DUBAI 0510MS931 CAIRO 0510PK292 ISLAM ABBAD 0510WY651 BAHRAIN 06454H586 DACCA 0700WY917 KHASAB 0715GF561 BAHRAIN 0715WY903 SALALAH 0750WY603 DUBAI 0750WY633 ABU DHABI 0750WY669 DOHA 0835FZ044 DUBAI 0845WY823 KUALA LUMPUR-SINGAPORE 0900WY373 COLOMBO 0900WY815 BANGKOK 0905WY291 CALICUT 0915WY343 LAHORE 0915WY253 MADRAS 0915NL769 LAHORE 0930IX818 MANGALORE 0940WY263 LUCKNOW 0940G9115 SHARJAH 0955WY3301 MUKHAIZNA 1000WY283 BANGALORE 1000WY231 HYDERABAD 1000WY605 DUBAI 1020WY207 GOA 1020WY905 SALALAH 1020WY203 BOMBAY 1025WY245 DELHI 1040EK863 DUBAI 1045WY337 KATHMANDU 1050WY919 KHASAB 1100QR1129 DOHA 1100EY383 ABU DHABI 1105IX442 COCHIN 1120WY311 CHITTAGONG 11359W533 COCHIN 1145WY3921 DUQUM OMAN 1210GF563 BAHRAIN 1215FZ038 DUBAI 1225IX350 CALICUT 1255WY113 FRANKFURT 1320WY655 BAHRAIN 1325WY663 DOHA 1330WY609 DUBAI 1345WY405 CAIRO 1350WY645 KUWAIT 1350WY143 MALPENSA 1350WY101 LONDON HEATHROW 1400WY423 BEIRUT 1400BG024 CHITTAGONG-DACCA 1400WY413 AMMAN 1410WY927 SALALAH 1430CV611 LUXORE 1445WY433 TEHRAN 1445WY907 SALALAH 1540WY3931 SOHAR 1600WY675 JEDDAH 1615FZ046 DUBAI 1620KU678 KUWAIT 1640SV531 MEDINA-JEDDAH 1650WY613 DUBAI 1710QR1127 DOHA 1745EY387 ABU DHABI 1755WY681 RIYADH 1840WY623 DUBAI 1840WY647 KUWAIT 1845WY909 SALALAH 1850GF565 BAHRAIN 1855EK865 DUBAI 1910WY695 DAMMAM 1915WY661 DOHA 1920WY653 BAHRAIN 1920G9117 SHARJAH 1955WY913 SALALAH 2000TG508 KARACHI-BANGKOK 2005WY635 ABU DHABI 2015WY3907 SALALAH 2020FZ048 DUBAI 2025WY611 DUBAI 2035RG126 ABU DHABI 2045WY915 SALALAH 2100FZ050 DUBAI 2145WY411 AMMAN 22054H561 JEDDAH 2215KL442 DOHA-AMSTERDAM 2220WY817 BANGKOK 22259W529 TRIVANDRUM 22306.00E+82 BOMBAY 2245AI908 MADRAS 2300UL206 COLOMBO 2305AI974 DELHI 2310WY677 MEDINA 2310WY705 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM 2310GF567 BAHRAIN 2325LX243 DUBAI-ZURICH 2325QR1135 DOHA 2330BA072 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW 2330WY673 JEDDAH 2350LH617 DOHA-FRANKFURT 2355EY381 ABU DHABI 2355

A I R L I N E S

—www.met.gov.om

PRAYER TIMINGS

Dhuhr 12.14pm

Asr 3.32pm

Maghrib 7.02pm

Isha 8.24pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 3.54am

Sunset 6.57pm

Sunrise (Tomorrow) 5.22am

High tide 2:19pm 2:29am

Low tide 7:22am 9:12pm

BORN today, you are one of the most powerful individuals born under your sign, and you exert that power in a straightforward, overt sort of way that seems to belie your Cancer heritage! While others may be much more subtle, even retiring, in their approach, you are far more likely to jump out in front and pursue what you want in an aggressive fashion. It is this fearlessness that sets you apart, for you’re not the kind to back down when things get tough — and for Cancer natives, things can get tough quite often! While it is true that you harbour certain insecurities, you never let them control you to the point that you are unwilling or unable to move forward. You will progress even when you are afraid to do so!

You are a deeply caring individual, and your sensitivities are best applied not only to those around you, but to your work as well. Put your heart into your work and apply your keen understanding of human nature, and success is all but assured. Feeling, for you, is a strength, not a weakness.

Also born on this date are: Mick Fleetwood, musician; Jeff Beck, guitarist; Roy Disney, entrepreneur; Jack Dempsey, boxer; Peter Weller, actor; Sherry Stringfield, actress; Ambrose Bierce, writer; Nancy Allen, actress; Al Molinaro, actor.

You may be yearning for a taste of something long gone, but you’ll realise that you’re on the verge of something new and exciting.

VIRGO [AUG. 23-SEPT. 22]

LIBRA [SEPT. 23-OCT. 22] LLLLLLLLLLLLLLL[S[S[S[S[[[S[[S[S[S[[S[S[SSS[SS[SSSS

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

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

AQUARIUS [JAN. 20-FEB. 18]

You are likely to emerge from a period of uncertainty. Now is the time, then, to make certain plans and set them in motion.

You’re not really seeing things in the proper light. You must be certain to avoid fooling yourself in any significant way.

You must be willing to devote a little more practice to something that is not yet up to par, but you can surely exceed that level soon.

You may be doing things in ways that others see as unusual or even eccentric. No harm is done, of course.

You must take care that your treatment of others is always in line with your own view of how people should be treated!

You may be unusually adept at doing those things that others find difficult, especially when they require attention to detail.

You may be rather nervous or skittish, but any real fear is unnecessary, as genuine dangers are few and far between.

PISCES [Feb. 19-March 20]

You can prove to yourself that you have what it takes, and there’s no need to advertise it, as others already know!

GEMINI [MAY 21-JUNE 20]

CANCER [JUNE 21-JULY 22]

LEO [JULY 23-AUG. 22]

CAPRICORN [DEC. 22-JAN 19]

Y O U R B I R T H D A Y

ARIES [March 21-APRIL 19]

TAURUS [APRIL 20-MAY 20]

You will benefit greatly from collaborating with someone who complements your talents with his or her own. This is a productive union!

Not everyone will approve of what you have to say, but it is important that you give yourself free rein — at least for the moment.

You can’t afford to perform at a mediocre level; you must strive to be the best. In that way, you will compel yourself to improve.

C11


DRIVE SLOWER LIVE LONGER

‘Stop Googling your symp-toms.” It’s pretty futile ad-vice in age of the Internet, when the vast majority of people with a health con-

cern start by typing it into their computer. It’s also potentially fatal advice, as the case of teenager Bronte Doyne revealed this week. The teenager, who was suf-fering from a rare form of liver cancer, begged doctors to take her seriously after she found worrying details about her con-dition online. But they ignored her and in March 2013, the cancer did just what the Internet said it would – it killed her.

The case, concluded Keith Girling, dep-uty medical director at Nottingham Uni-versity Hospitals NHS Trust in the UK, has put the spotlight on how the availabil-ity of information online can challenge the way medics respond to patients, who are increasingly well informed.

“The days of doctors being patronis-ing and offering one-way communication should be long over,” believes GP Clare Gerada, who is all for patients turning to Google. “The Internet has given patients

the opportunity to be far better informed about their own health and I for one wel-come that because it makes them much more likely to look after themselves and to seek medical advice when they find something is wrong.” The rarer the condi-tion, the better the Internet is, she adds. “We tend to do all the tests for serious conditions, but not always the rarer ones.”

But all this comes with an important caveat, she says, and that is that you can never replace clinical judgement. “This morning, I had three patients, all with exactly the same symptoms and each had a different diagnosis. You need the medi-cal professional to translate the medical knowledge to the individual patient.”

GP Dr Pauline Brimblecombe agrees that GPs should embrace the Googling of symptoms. “I find these patients much eas-ier to work with. The relationship some-how feels more equal and I don’t have to spend so much time explaining everything. I often learn something new myself if they pass on interesting resources to me. Even when they come into the surgery misin-formed, at least I can reassure them.”

But while the best online information is helpful, accurate and evidence-based, some is inaccurate, misleading or just plain nonsense. “A patient once gave me a whole volume of articles printed off the Internet that he’d actually leather bound. The note said, ‘I know you don’t have much time to research my condition, so I’ve done it for you.’ But much of it was ut-ter rubbish,” reports GP Dr Rob Hicks.

Good newsThen there are those who become so terri-fied about what they find online that they put off a visit to the GP altogether. “On balance, I think people are more likely to go to the doctor if they find something on-line that worries them, which is particu-larly good news for groups like men, who we know can often put off visiting the GP,” says Dr Hicks. “But there still remains a group that goes the other way.”

This group often includes so-called cy-berchondriacs – those who Google symp-toms as simple as “headaches and nau-sea” or “twitching muscles”, only to find their concern turn to blind panic as they

spot links to websites on rare and untreat-able diseases. Research shows that these normally rational Internet users latch on to the worst diagnosis and even if they visit the GP, they often remain convinced.

“I do see some people who don’t be-lieve my reassurances and that can be quite a difficult consultation. Also, none of us is infallible,” says GP Dr Nicola Kemp. More often than not, though, she says the Googling of symptoms is posi-tive. “Even though it means GPs spend more time seeing the worried well, if we can reassure them, then that has to be a good thing.”

Web surfers should remember, though, that anyone can build a website, and that

a lot of online medical information is out of date. Stick to trusted websites, such as the NHS, Patient UK, Webmd.com and the search engine Medhunt. And remem-ber that search engines are programmed to generate results relevant to the query, not the person making it, adds Dr Kemp – meaning that if you search “headache”, and “brain tumour” appears near the top of the page, you shouldn’t think, “Oh my God, that’s it, I’m going to die.”

Don’t be frightened to tell your doc-tor when you’ve found something online that’s concerned you, adds GP Dr Shalini Chopra. “If you are upfront, then the doc-tor can deal directly with your concerns.”

Finally, says Dr Hicks, save the bulk of your research until after you have a diag-nosis. “Possible treatments, as well as tips and advice for living with the longer-term condition, are the most helpful aspects of the Internet when it comes to health. In fact, as a doctor, I find myself increasingly advising my patients to use them, particu-larly the support groups’ and charities’ websites. Google away, I say.” -Kate Hilpern/The Independent

SHOULD WE GOOGLE OUR SYMPTOMS?

Web surfers should remember, though, that anyone can build a website, and that a lot of online medical information is out of date

Smart insulin patch could replace injections

MANAGING diabetes could soon become a lot easier as researchers have developed the first "smart insulin patch" that can de-tect increases in blood sugar levels and se-crete doses of insulin into the bloodstream whenever required. The patch - a thin square no bigger than a penny - is covered

with more than 100 tiny needles, each about the size of an eyelash. These "microneedles" are packed with microscopic storage units for insulin and glucose-sensing enzymes that rapidly release their cargo when blood sugar levels get too high. The study was published in the journal proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers find potential way to beat MERS virusRESEARCHERS have found molecules that shut down the activity of an enzyme essential to the Middle East Respira-tory Syndrome (MERS) virus replication. The virus is in the international spotlight again as South Korea faces the largest MERS outbreak outside the Middle East. More than 2,800 people have been quarantined during the outbreak. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported 27 deaths and 172 con-firmed cases in its most recent update on June 22. The study was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Centenarian men are healthier than womenWHILE women are four times more likely than men to reach the age of 100 years, males tend to be healthier and have fewer diagnosed chronic illnesses compared to women, a research says. The number of females reaching the age of 100 years be-tween 1990 and 2013 went up by 50 per cent, the results said. -IANS

BR I E FS

After news that a young woman died when a GP rejected her cyber-diagnosis, find out how much Googling the doctors order

C12


HOLLYWOOD

OSCAR WINNING mu-sic composer James Horner died at the age of 61 in a plane crash near Santa Barbara. Horner, who won two Oscars for the music of Titanic and scored for other blockbust-ers like Avatar, Braveheart, and A Beautiful Mind, died on Monday, reports hollywoo-dreporter.com. His death was confirmed by Sylvia Patrycja, who is identified on Horner’s film music page as his assis-tant. “We have lost an amaz-ing person with a huge heart and unbelievable talent. He died doing what he loved. Thank you for all your support and love and see you down the road,” Patrycja wrote on social networking website Facebook on Monday.

Horner was piloting the small aircraft when it crashed into a remote area about 60 miles north of Santa Barbara, officials said. An earlier report noted that the plane, which was registered to the composer, had gone down, but the pilot had not been identified.

For his work on the 1997 Best Picture winner Titanic, directed by James Cameron, Horner captured the Oscar for Original Dramatic Score, and he nabbed another Acad-emy Award for Original Song (shared with lyricist Will Jennings) for My heart will go on, performed by Celine Dion.

His score for Titanic sold a whopping 27 million copies worldwide. His fruitful part-nership with Cameron also netted him Oscar nomina-tions for original score for the blockbusters in the 1986 film Aliens and 2009 film Avatar. The duo reportedly were also at work on Avatar sequels.

Horner earned 10 Oscar nom-inations in all, also being recog-nised for his work on two other Best Picture winners: Braveheart and A Beautiful Mind.

He also received nomina-tions for An American Tail, Field of Dreams, Apollo 13 and House of Sand and Fog.

Horner has three films com-ing out soon — Southpaw, the boxing drama that stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAd-ams and is due in theatres in July; Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Wolf Totem, out in September; and The 33, a drama based on the 2010 mining disaster in Chile that’s set for November.

His lengthy film résumé in-cludes The Lady in Red (1979), Wolfen (1981), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1983), Red Heat (1988), Glory (1989), The Rocketeer (1991), Patriot Games (1992), Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993), Jumanji (1995), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), Troy (2004) and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). -IANS

James Horner dies in plane crash

SCIENCE WEIGHS IN ON HIGH HEELS

Many commenta-tors have point-ed out that the new movie Ju-rassic World is

scientifically suspect, if not fan-tastical. But they have overlooked one of the more prominent ways in which the blockbuster diverges from established research. The movie’s heroine runs from ram-paging beasts in high heels with-out turning a hair or an ankle. But research on the biomechan-ics of wearing heels, including a new study of the effects on ankle strength and balance, says of her equipoise, “Ha.”

Obviously, what we wear on our feet affects how our bodies move. People who run barefoot, for in-stance, are more likely to land near the front of the foot with each stride than people wearing typical running shoes, who more commonly land on their heels.

But few shoes affect the shape and functioning of the foot as drastically as high heels do. Ac-cording to a recent review of re-search about the footwear, walk-ing in heels can “alter the natural position of the foot-ankle com-plex and thereby produce a chain reaction of effects that travel up the lower limb at least as far as the spine.”

But while it’s clear that the feet and ankles of women who wear heels over a long period of time are different from those of wom-en who usually wear flats, the progression of these changes has not been well understood.

So for a new study published this month in The International Journal of Clinical Practice, re-searchers at Hanseo University in South Korea turned to a handy recruit group: young women at the university studying to be-come airline attendants who were required to wear high heels to class because they would have to wear them if hired by a South Korean airline. With each pass-ing year, from freshmen to sen-iors, the women would have one additional year of heel wearing behind them, making it easy to track physiological changes.

So the researchers invited 10 young women from each class to the laboratory and tested their balance with a wobbly board and the strength of their ankle mus-cles using computerised exercise machines. Compared with the freshmen, who were generally new to wearing heels, the sopho-mores and juniors displayed greater strength in some of the muscles around their ankles, par-ticularly those on the inside and outside of the joint.

This difference between new and experienced heel wearers suggests that “wear-ing high-heeled shoes may at first lead to adaptation and in-creased strength,” as the ankle

responds to the stresses placed upon it by the unfamiliar shoes, says Jee Yong-Seok, a professor of exercise physiology at Hanseo University, who led the study.

But the senior women, who had been wearing heels the long-est, showed weakening of those same muscles, compared even with the freshmen, as well as much weaker muscles along the front and back of the ankle and vastly worse balance.

In fact, all of the upperclass-women had worse balance than the freshmen, even as some of their muscles were strengthening.

What seems to have been hap-pening, Yong-Seok says, is that the ratio of strength between the

muscles on the sides of the an-kles and those at the front and

back became increasingly unbal-anced over years of wearing heels, contributing to ankle instability and balance problems and even-tually to a decline in the strength even of those muscles that had been stronger for a while.

This finding is somewhat wor-risome, said Neil Cronin, a biology professor at the University of Jy-vaskyla in Finland who has studied heel wearing and wrote the recent review of related science.

Strength imbalances in the muscles around a joint, he said, particularly those around the ankle, “are known to increase injury risk in other muscle groups,” such as those in the hamstrings or upper leg.

Neither he nor Yong-Seok sug-gests that women eschew heels, however. Yong-Seok does recom-mend that people who often wear heels strengthen their ankles whenever possible with simple heel lifts, for which you stand barefoot and then rise onto your toes repeatedly, and heel drops, during which you stand on the edge of a stair and slowly lower your heel over the edge.

Cronin also suggests slipping off heels while sitting at your desk, because wearing the shoes even when not moving “can alter the resting length of the muscles and tendons around the ankle,” which could destabilise the joint and increase the risk of injury.

He also strongly advises against running in heels. The impact forces created “would be concentrated over a small region of the foot in high heels, creating regions of very high pressure,” he said, mean-ing foot pain. Also, balance and biomechanics are compromised, making running in heels “a very inefficient way to move.”

The lesson for fans of Jurassic World is: Don’t do what she did. “When attempting to run from a fast-moving, deadly animal,” Cronin said, “high heels are per-haps the worst choice of footwear possible. Running shoes would get my vote.”-Gretchen Reynolds/The New

York Times News Service

menta-point-t the

Ju-d is dfan-ked ays ges he m-h-e.

mkle

bacancconantuevbe

rp

Experts recommend that people who often

wear heels should strengthen their ankles

whenever possible with simple heel lifts

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Bousher & Ruwi different type of

available, open space, 2 BHK, 3 BHK.

Contact 93782735 / 99208033

We have 230 sq metre show room

in Ghubra main road very nice loca-

tion suitable for banks, showroom,

Retail shop or any business Golden

opportunity. Contact: 93782735 /

99208033

We have 1 BHK, 2 BHK flats in

Mabela + brand new building very

nice finishing on the main road,

1BHK 175/- OMR , 2BHK 200/- OMR.

Contact: 93782735 / 99208033

Shop /Comn /Resi building 1 & 2

bed flat available in Wadi Kabir (near

Lulu). Contact: 99451168

One bed rooms flat RO 200/-

Wadi Al Kabir. Contact: 99451168

Misfa land for rent 1000 SQM.

Contact: 99451168

1 BHK flat in Al Khuwair, 2 months

only. Contact 99792181

3 BHK Flat in Azaiba.

Contact 99792181

Labour Camp for Rent in Wadi Kabir.

Contact 99792181

2 BHK Flat in Al Khuwair. Contact

99792181

4 BHK single villa in Al Khuwair.

Contact: 97616158

4 & 5 BHK villa in Al Khuwair.

Contact 99792181

We have small building commercial

for staff accommodation in Bowsher.

There are 4 flats & 1 shop can be

used for store or staff accommoda-

tion. Contact 93782735 / 99208033

5BHK villa available for rent, near

Hamriya roundabout.

Contact-99366191

We have 1 BHK, 2BHK, 3BHK flats

in Ghala very nice building on main

road outside the building lot of park-

ing available. Contact: 93782735 /

99208033

For rent brand new villa 4BD.

Contact: 91963034

Flat for rent in Mabellah 8th.

Contact: 97147240

Two bed room flat with attached

bathroom near Omani Boys School

Ruwi . Contact: 91214537

Spacious room with bathroom

(separate) available for small family

or couples near Oman Boys School

Ruwi. Contact : 91214537

Ruwi near Police Station: Flats with

4 Rooms, 1 Kitchen & 2 Bathrooms.

Contact 93387962

Seeb Souq opposite HSBC: Flat with

3 Rooms, 1 Kitchen & 2 Bathrooms

and Studio at Terrace.

Contact 93387962

Shops at Muttrah opposite Port

Service Building on Main Road.

Contact 93387962

5 BHK Villa with parking & backyard

garden in Al Khuwair (House No.

1110 & Way No. 3914 ), near Radis-

son hotel, is available for rent @ RO.

1000/- p.m. Contact : 99024087 /

92620773

2BHK at Al Khodh commercial area

2 rooms, 1 hall, 2 bathrooms.

Contact: 99224748 / 99332297

Office / shop near Oman house

Muttrah. Contact: 99233116

D2 W E D N E S D AY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

We have 5 BHK villa in Al Khuwair

33, 5 rooms, 6 bathrooms, sitting

hall, Majlis & large kitchen suit-

able for office or families. Contact:

93782735 / 99208033

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

AL Khuwair 2 rooms, toilet & Kitch-

en sharing prefer Indian couples or

execute lades rent 200/- R.O include

Elect & water. Contact: 99546410

Villa for rent in Al Khuwair 33,

8 bedrooms & 5 bathrooms with

parking area near Taimur Mosque.

Contact: 99366624

Luxurious villa in Mumtaz area,

Ruwi with 3BR, 2 Lounges, Dining,

car park, kitchen. Contact: 99430943

Deluxe 3&4 bedroom, hall, kitchen

spacious living area with split AC,

at Ghobrah. Contact: 95282986

Flats for rent near Indian School in

Wadi Kabir. Contact 99777122

1BHK flat one room, kitchen,

bath room near Wadi Adai R/A.

Contact : 96464598

3 Bedroom flat with 3 attached

toilets, split A/C, brand new

available, behind Kims Hospital.

Contact 95225662

Apartments near Al Nahdha Tow-

ers/ Vachas Hypermarket Azaiba –

Ghala (1 & 2 BHK with split AC units).

Contact 94652485 / 99273774 /

99202278

1,000 sq mtrs industrial land in Mis-

fah Industrial area near to Khanco.

OMR 1,500 Monthly. It has Electricity

and boundary wall. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360

Tent for wedding Iftar party for rent.

Contact: 97380496/ 96242910/

94029752

3BHK special apartment at

Al Khuwair with wardrobe and A/C.

Contact : 94232344

Villa for rent (family residence) :

New 4 bedroom villa with majlis,

family hall and outside kitchen. With

split AC in Al Khoudh phase 7 close

to Seeb polyclinic. Call 99332525

(owner).

Apartments near Indian School

Ghubra (2 BHK with 5 split AC units).

Contact 94652485 / 99273774 /

99202278

3 rooms with attached bath room,

hall Brand new in Mabelah near

Sharahe Noor. Contact 99663905/

99415119

Three bedroom flats for rent near

NIT Institute Darsait.

Contact: 93494098

Room with bath AC

furnished AL Khuwair.

Contact: 97004265/99643569

2 BHK Flats for rent Muttrah

near Oman house.

Contact: 97009734/92629232

500 sq mtrs office space on mezza-

nine floor near Royal Hospital. OMR

6.500 per sq mtr. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360

Shop/Office 68 SQM, Wadi kabeer,

Opposite Al-Hassan. Contact

99441193, 93004802

3BHK flat for rent in Al Khuwair.

Villa type building with only 2 flats,

separate entrance, fully renovated.

Way No. 3922, building No 1839,

behind Al Aktham Restaurant.

Contact: 99462980

2BHK at Azaiba 2 room, 1hall, din-

ing, 3 bathrooms. Contact: 99224748

/ 99425665

Flat for rent in CBD Ruwi.

Contact : 92820734

New flats for rent in Wadi Kabir.

Contact : 92130703 / 96045478

Flat for rent in Al Khuwair.

Contact : 98151674

1BHK R.O 190/- & 2BHK R.O 250/- &

Store 140 sqm R.O 250/- near Medi-

cal Darsait. Contact: 98748925

Brand new 6 BHK villa in Al Azaiba

with split A/C & lift. RO.1200/-

Contact – 93191111

2 bedroom flat at Hamriya, main

road with A/C. Contact 99331448

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

Flats for rent behind Indian School.

Contact 99777122

2 BHK, 2 baths, Split A/C, Wadi ka-

beer, Near Indian Elementary School.

Contact 99441193, 93004802

Shop/Office, 56 SQM, Wadikabeer,

Opposite Al-Hassan.

Contact 99441193, 93004802

Apartment in Al Khuwair 33/1,

4 bedroom 550/-R.O. Contact :

99340055 / 97557555

Flats, shops and basement for rent

in Khuwair, behind RAWASCO.

Contact: 99441122 , 95893518

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.

Flat at Darsait. Contact 99326879

2BHK flat + store room in CBD,

Ruwi with Split A/c’s, secured

access, car parking. Rent 400/.

Contact 99603696

3BHK & 2BHK in Darsait.

Contact 94268564

2BHK 230/- south Hail near Cale-

donian collage. Contact: 97717962

PL 24538790

Deluxe 1, 2 BHK flats in Darsait,

AL Khuwair 1deal for office &

residence. Contact 99369081

/99142314

1BHK, 2BHK, 3BHK new flat avail-

able at Mabela in front of Modern

English School Contact: 96239126

Furnished flats for rent in

Al Buraimi, daily, weekly, monthly.

Contact 97819981 / 93593336

For rent in Darsait new flats.

Contact: 99777351

Flat in Amerat, Phase 5, 4 rooms,

3 bathrooms, kitchen with A/C.

Contact : 95522405

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

Villa for rent - Al Seeb/Al Mawelah

- Block 5 - 4 bedrooms with attached

bathrooms, Majlis, 2 halls, kitchen

and storeroom. split Ac and carpark.

Contact 99564616

Bath attached room for rent

Al Khuwair. Contact 99743569

Flats for rent Al Ansab (Ghala) 2

bedrooms, 2 toilets, 1sitting room &

kitchen. Contact: 94229023

Commercial 3 BHK flat in Al Ghobra

18 Nov Street. RO 700/- # 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

Flats shops and store for rent in

Ruwi, MBD Honda road.

Contact 97293708 / 92433127

Labor camp available with all facili-

ties at Sohar Falaij (Near Sohar Sea

port) - Contact – 92982172

For rent in Darsait, new flats.

Contact: 99311525

Villa for rent : 4 bedroom villa

with kitchen available in Azaiba.

Sharing / Family. Contact :

98048207/99261773

New two B/R flat diretly from

owner in bank Dhofar bldg Bausher.

Contact: 92158031

One & two bedroom apartment

available for rent, near Grand Mall,

close to Atlas hospital next to Diwan

building. Contact: 99833747

Small old house for rent Al Ghobrah.

Contact 95112461

2 BHK commercial /

residential flat at Honda Road.

Contact: 99348733/99795241

Room for rent in CBD (near Costa

coffee). Contact: 96568110

Showroom available 250sqm – near

bank Sohar, CBD area ideal for phar-

macy, clinic, Travel agency, money

exchange, fast foods, departmental

store etc. Contact: Tel: 24707088

fax: 24706099 GSM: 98283633

Email: [email protected]

DAILY GUIDEW E D N E S D AY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5 D3

AVAILABLE FOR SALE

FOR SALE

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]

Clinic for sale in al amerat.

Contact:93753655

Used & refurbished Porta

cabins, Toilets unit avail-

able for sales. Contact: 99215560

Email:omegaunitedoman@gmail.

com

Fully decorated & Equipped kitchen

cabinet and marble showroom for

sale at Mabela industrial area road

no – 10 only serious buyers can.

Contact: 99337670/97763560

Household furniture for sale.

Contact: 97094797

2,560 sq mtrs industrial land in

Wadi Kabir main road, First line on

way to Al Bustan hotel. Possible to

make petrol station or hotel. OMR

990 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360

Building material shop for sale at

al Ghubrah with two clearances.

Contact: 91295985

60,000 Sq Mtrs Agriculture Land in

Misfah, can be changed to Industrial

Land. OMR 29 Per Square Meter.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

MOTOR VEHICLE FOR SALE

Echo 2002 for sale 300.000 km only

last price R.O 1000/-.

Contact: 95119655

For Sale Toyota Echo 2004 Model,

Registration up to Dec. 2015 Please

Contact: 99038311

Doctor driven Yaris, manual 2006

model 125000 K.M expected price

R.O 2000/-. Contact : 99747481

Yaris 2008, 1.3, 229 kkm full option

2100 expected. Contact: 93289652

Tata bus - 66 seater model -2008

KM, 85, 673, dealer service. Contact:

99444341 & 99352790

Peugeot 206-2007 Model, expat

driven. Contact 99209285

Land Cruiser 2012. Contact

99336093

Expatriate driven Yaris 2008 model

100,000 kms & land rover 2005

model 93000 Kms, excellent condi-

tions. Contact : 97094797

Hyundai Accent 2004, fully auto-

matic. Contact: 99045803

TATA bus make model 2012 &

Peugeot boxer van make model

2013. Contact: 93895941

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

Ford Explorer 4WD, 2010 XLT, au-

tomatic km 72000, 4 yrs old, under

warranty. Agent serviced. Owned by

one owner (expat) white colour,

very good condition.

Contact 92824047

Rooms available with separate

bathroom for executive bachelors in

azaiba near al meera hyper market.

Gsm 99053844

ACC. AVAILABLE

ACC. AVAILABLE

TRANSPORTATION

Pick & drop any time. Contact:

98522914 / 99512270

Required 40 feet open trailers to

UAE, on trip basis for transporting

our goods. Contact: 99352790 /

98037854

Transportation. Contact: 98178135

Transportation. Contact: 98505294

Transportation. Contact:

98244078

Transportation. Contact:

95190627

Pick & Drop anytime Contact:

91653903

Pick & Drop any time. Contact:

97014786

Pick & drop with car & driver

available any time. Contact:

9615828/ 96502406/92218001

NRI

FOR RENT

Ready / under construction apart-

ments / villas. Near guruvayur.

Contact: 00919846877773

Available Duplex flat 1900 sqmt

with 3 bedroom and complete POP

made at Manipal (Indrali) also fit-

tings and accessories are branded

from Gulf. Contact 96440811 /

93804434

BUSINESS

General Investors. Contact

99674870

ACC. WANTED

Required a room or studio flat in

Darsait / WadiKabir /Ruwi area.

Contact : 95405033

Villa for sale in Al Khoudh close to

Dan super market, 3room , 3 bath-

room , 1 hall ,1 setting room, 1 store

, kitchen & maid room with garden

plot 600sq with car parking selling

price 135.000/-. Contact: 91010668

5 Flats of 1 bedroom for Sale in

Boushar: OMR 35 Thousand each.

Monthly income OMR 270

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

3 floor commercial building in

Muttrah behind Police. Generating

income of OMR 18 Thousand annu-

ally. Neat and well maintained. Built

on 197 sq mtrs land. 2 tailor shops

on ground floor and 6 flats. OMR

207 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360

23,886 Sq Mtrs Agriculture land

with water well in Al Salwa, Barka.

OMR 260 Thousand. Tel: 99333479

or 95215360

Well furnished meat shop in

Amerat. Contact: services custom-

ers. Contact 92454250/96374850

Training center with license.

Contact: 91121277

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

Super market in (Hairoon Hairithi)

Thamrith road. Contact: 98189810 /

99675190

Shop for sale in Ibra and Bid Bid.

Contact: 95304693

Ice cream & juices shop in Ruwi,

good location for sale, 1.5 mt fish

display machine for sale.

Contact: 92150455

A/C attached furnished single room

with separate bathroom available

for executive bachelor near Grand

Hypermarket Ruwi.

Contact: 95149047/96567139

Fully furnished 1BHK with all house-

hold items in Darsait near Lulu on

monthly Basis. Contact : 99378397

One room for rent (A/C +bed +bath)

at Al Khuwair. Contact: 99382008

Independent rooms in Qurum /

AL Hail. Contact 95529970

Large room Sep/ Entrance furnished

Wadi Kabir. Contact 99336206

Furnished single /sharing room for

ex bachelor at Rex Road with WIFI

available. Contact 92873832

Furnished room with attached bath-

room in W/K. Contact: 97167857

Single furnished room.

Contact: 24833609

Furnished bath, attached sharing

accommodation available behind AL

Nahdha hospital. Contact: 99030037

Sharing for non cooking executive

bachelor in CBD area WIFI free, Ad-

vance deposit. Contact: 95094504

Excellent room, with A/C kitchen

available near ONTC bus station for

family / bachelor (Ruwi).

Contact 95569740

Single room attached toilet & bath

for Executive bachelor rent including

electricity & water. Contact: 99327158

Independent rooms in Qurum /

Al Hail. Contact 95529970

Acc. opp. OK Center for non cook-

ing bachelor. Contact 95126452

between 2 pm & 4 pm only.

Contact 95126452

Sharing flat in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 99335057

One room separate bathroom for

Indian Executive bachelor near

Al Khuwair R/A. Contact: 99659513

Furnished attached bathroom at

Mumtaz area. Contact: 93103337 /

95212017

Furnished single rooms available

for Executive bachelors at Ruwi.

Contact: 98049288

Single room with sharing kitchen

available for executive bachelor near

Saud Bahwan Residency Complex,

Wadi Kabir. Contact: 99024362,

93166353.

Flats/villas owned by ROP pen-

sion fund available for rent in

Muscat. Contact 99349526

Furnished room attached bath for

lady in Wadikabir (Mars Hypermar-

ket) – 95941515

DAILY GUIDED4 W E D N E S D AY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

CATERING

BEAUTICION

DOMESTIC HELPER

HOSPITALITY

ADMIN

ENGINEER

EDUCATION

SALES / MARKETING

SALES / MARKETING

DESIGNER

AUTO CAD/DRAUGHTS-

Cook required for an Omani family

having experience in preparing

all kinds of Omani & Arabic food.

Minimum 5 years experience. Send

CV to [email protected] or fax to

24706990, Tel. 24786072

Housemaid wanted for an Indian

family in Al Hail. Must be able to

cook and take care of baby. Full-time

position. 96532872

Small Omani family wanted

educated female House maid visa is

available. Contact - 98500222

Keralite family in MBD area (near

pizza hut) want a Keralite housemaid

on fulltime basis. Contact 94736916.

Urgently needed full time, live-in house maid for cooking Indian non-

veg. food. Visa will be given. Maids

with release will be preferred.

Contact 99349924.

Required looking for full time Housemaid for Omani family at

Mabela, visa available.

Contact 92454170

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

Required Office Assistant

160+25+Acc, Contact 99454425

ACCOUNTANT

MISCELLANEOUS

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


JCB operator -2 JCB operator with

GCC valid license expect Saudi Ara-

bia & Egypt, min.3 yrs exp. Required

& L/D driver-1 min, 5 yrs exp with

valid GCC driving license & site

Engineer civil -1 diploma with

5 to 8 years experience & foreman

civil-1- 5 years experience of

multistory building.

Contact: Fax: 24501448

Email: [email protected] or

[email protected]

A company from UAE require 2 merchandisers in retail food

supply, store keeper with English

and invoicing experience. Email:

[email protected]

Indian Female: B.Com & MBA-HR.

looking for full or part time job im-

mediately. Prior recruitment experi-

ence in Muscat and India.98460262.

System administrator with 3 years

experience hold a degree, MCITP,

CCNA , CCTV biometric , seeking job

in a company.

Contact: 99630084/98129845

Indian male 2+yrs oman exp in HR.

joing immediatly. release available.

Contact :93671437

MBA (international business) from

London, 4 years of UK experience in

operations with D/L, looking for suit-

able position. Contact 91710075

Male admin/ HR office 6 years exp

with NOC. Contact: 93275467

Buyer / Purchases / Administration

/ Stores with 7+ years local experi-

ence seeking suitable placement.

NOC available. Contact – 94045405

Indian Male 27Yrs, Having 6+ yrs

(3 India + 3 Oman) experience in

HR/ Admin looking for suitable posi-

tion Contact 91507099.

Indian Female 25 MBA in HR look-

ing for a suitable opening in Admin/

Hr. Contact 97013375

Teachers required: Teachers for KG,

Grade I to IV class in English, Maths,

Science, Computer & Art. Qualifica-

tion: Degree in relevant subjects & B

Ed; IELTS or TOFEL plus two years

experience preferred. Please apply

to: [email protected]

Required professional Teachers

for teaching Science, Mathematics,

Accountancy, Business Studies &

English IELTS/ TOFEL in schools &

Universities. Contact 99674870

Male 24, B.Com /PGD having 2

years experience in accounts and

inventory field looking for suitable

job on visit visa. Contact: 94129550

Accounts part time, up to finaliza-

tion of monthly accounts. Handled

by a CA. contact 96293120

Looking for accounting and Admin-

istration job have two and half years

experience in United Arab Emirates

in a trading company and I have

bachelor degree in Administration

nationality Indian.

Contact: 93016252

Indian male, well experienced in

accounts and Admin looking for a

suitable vacancy Noc available.

Contact: 98717938

Senior accountant Indian male

35 years, MBA (finance) 8 years

experience in a multinational FMCG

company with valid Oman D/L NOC

available can join immediately,

looking for suitable position finance.

Contact: 95645945

Young, energetic 24, ACCA finalist,

Advanced diploma in Accounting and

business, seeking suitable placement

in accounts, finance or audit.

Contact: 92430152


13 years exp (7.5 years gulf exp)

B.Com Graduate, looking for Account-

ant job, GSM No:-92957064 with NOC.

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


Sudanese female MBA experience

5 years in Banking sectors, 1 years

exp. as Accountant in Oman seeking

for a suitable job.

Contact : 92962621


Indian male, with B.Com 1 year expe-

rience in Accounts or Sales, on visit

visa, Cont... 98295101

Senior Document Controller MCA

Indian male 9+ year’s total experience

5+ years experience in Gulf in oil &

gas sector and construction field on

visit visa in Oman.

Contact: 95388197


Indian male, B.Com, well experienced

in Accounts & Admin, knowledge

of Tally ERP 9 experience in Oman

with valid Oman driving license. NOC

available, looking for suitable job in

Oman, join immediately.

Contact 94245039

Sudanese Accountant seeking job

in Nizwa state experience 10 years 3

years in Saudi Arabia, 7 yrs in Sudan.

Contact : 97796394 / 94003247

Accounts & finance Indian male

B.com M.B.A (F) Tally ERP9, 35 years,

8 years experience 1.5 years Oman

family visa N.O.C available.

Contact: 93257426


Accounts part time works up to

finalization on monthly basis. Profit

& loss A/C and financial statements,

MS Reports Etc. Contact: 96247295

Indian male, 32 years, M. Com.

7 out of 9 years experience in Oman

in Accounts/finance. Having NOC and

valid Oman D/L. Contact 98277143,


Chinese/ Arab/ continental cook & helper wanted. Contact 95529970

Requires experience Cook for an

Omani family 1Nos.

Contact: 99228046


Chinese / Arab / Continental cook & helper wanted. Contact 95529970

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]

Reputed Construction Company required Accountant experience in

Construction Company with

accountancy degree. Email:

[email protected]

Required Accountant with 3 yrs. exp.

in construction company.

Email : [email protected]

Urgently required Junior Accountant. Please send CV: [email protected]

MEDICAL

SKILLED

Required Gynecology, General Phy-sician, Dentist, Staff Nurses, Lab technicians, Pharmacists, X Ray technicians. Contact : 95133572 / 96064925


Urgently required G.P doctor with or

without MOH license for one month

from 01/07/2015. Contact 93824902

Required Heavy Duty Truck Driver holding Omani driving license w/

5 years experience please

contact 92001111

Indian driver required for light ve-

hicle with construction experience.

Contact: 92888337

DRIVER

Required Sales man - 1 Person

Qualification. Gulf Experienced

- Minimum 5 Years with Oman

Driving Licence Language - English

Education:- Any Degree Further

Contact :Mr. Abdul Hameed Na-

shabat - Mobile No: 97414307 and

-92807399 [email protected]

Required Salesman, Tailor and Barber. Contact: 96964767

Looking for Outdoor Salesman for

heavy equipment spare parts.

Contact - 93292015,


Wanted Sales man with Oman driv-

ing license in advertising company

visa ready. Contact: 96440587 /

94055643

Urgently required Sales and Market-ing Executive for Graphic designing

company. Contact: 96727631

mail: [email protected]

Urgently required a silk Screen printer with good knowledge and

release letter or NOC. Contact:

93280288 or send CV to

[email protected]

Interior Designer: Indian male 31,

8 years exp. in GCC, NOC available.

95217586

Architect designer experience in

Architecture design in 2D, 3D visit-

ing to site : 2 years experience (in

Oman), fluent Hindi & English. Email:

[email protected]

Contact: 94253074

20 Years exp Auto Cad 3DS Max

available for teaching part time.

Contact - 94412557

Electrical draftsman AutoCAD

switch gear & MEP control panel

7 years experience Qatar. Contact:

92546203/96228100

Chef for Yacht. International cuisine.

Minimum 15 years chef experience.

[email protected]

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 Site Supervisor with 5

yrs. exp. in construction company,

electronic technician with 3 yrs

experience in gate motors systems.


Leading Construction company requires HSE Officer with minimum

4 to 5 years experience in building

construction line. Send your CV :

[email protected]

(NOC require).

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.


Construction Company in Oman

urgently requires the following:

B.Sc Civil Engineer, minimum 3-5 yrs Gulf experience.

Civil Site Foreman, minimum 5 yrs

experience with operating knowl-

edge of Tally. Please Email CV ;

[email protected]

ADMIN

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

SITUATION WANTEDSIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDSIT. WANTED

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]

Required Large format printer operator – for HP. Graphic Designer. Send CV to [email protected]

DESIGNER

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].

Vacancy for Omani PRO for Customs duties in Sohar. Email:

[email protected],

Mob: 97990844

MBA Indian male looking for suita-

ble position having 2 years working

experience as an accountant now in

Oman a visiting visa.

Contact 99424803

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]

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

ACCA affiliate , BSc Honors in ap-

plied Accountancy advance diploma

in Accounting and Business, CAT

Affiliate 1 year hand on working ex-

perience of Oman, with Oman driving

license looking for a suitable place-

ment in Audit firm. Having NOC can

join immediately. Contact : 98989970

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]

Indian male with total 5 year

experience (2 years experience in

Accountant cum sales co ordinator

in a FMCG Company in Oman) in

accounts field and NOC available.

Looking for suitable job

Contact 92130188

Indian Accountant: Male, M com,

7 Yrs experience in Accounts up to

finalization, having knowledge

of ERP, Tally, seeks suitable plac-

ment.Contact 93950138 Email:

[email protected]

Indian male, B.Com, 1 year Exp in

Accounts/ Sales, on Visit Visa,..

Contact – 98295101

Urgently required for a first grade construction company Graduate Civil Engineer (5 years experienced)

shuttering carpenter mason (Block,

Plaster, Tile Fixing) Civil Foreman

building work. Contact: 24700373/

99427674 Fax: 24701368


Marketing Executive for printing

press. Contact 93201718 Email:

[email protected]

Need crane operator having two

years experience & need salesman

for mobile shop having two years

experience. Contact: 92891888

A leading trading company is look-

ing for Sales Executives & outdoor sales coordinators with driving

license & release /NOC. Email CV:

[email protected] or

fax: 24701683

Urgently required outdoor Sales Ex-ecutive for furnishing company with

valid Oman D/L and minimum 3 years

experience. Contact 93231403 /

[email protected]

Marketing Executive for digi-

tal printing company. Contact:

94356769 / 96936564

Required male or female candidate with 5 years experience in renting

of properties. Interested candidates

may please mail to

[email protected]

Required sales man for spare parts

shop preferably with driving license.

Contact : 96378289

Light driver for job. Contact 95779594

Pakistani driving available.

Contact : 96913836

DRIVER

Required Beautician for Beauty

Saloon at Ghubra. Clearance / visa

available. Contact no. 95924910

Mason, C.C.T.V, Technician, Electrician cum Plumber. Contact - 99383044

Urgently required: (1) female dermatologist with minimum 3 years

experience (2) female Omani recep-tion coordinator for a medical center

in Qurum. Contact: 96062933

MISCELLANEOUS

Over 14 years of gulf experience

in Admin /HR /Logistics, fluent in

Arabic & English with D/L looking

for suitable position.

Contact 95824598

Indian female with 10 yrs of experi-

ence in HR/Banking/Operations

seeks a suitable placement.

Can be contacted on 98919015 or

[email protected]

Indian female 29 MBA (HR) BSc,

4 yrs exp in HR& Admin looking

suitable placement.

Contact : 95619537

Senior Accountant 13 years experi-

ence FMCG & retail Noc available.

Contact: 93473942


SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

MISCELLANEOUS

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

Quantity Surveyor with 5 Years ex-

perience (one year in Oman) looking

for job. Contact 91090036

Mechanical Engineer, Indian, 24

years with Piping Engineering,

Autocad, Ansys NX- Cad, pro-e,

Catia & PDMS now on visiting visa

seek suitable placement. Contact:

99168054 / 96684345

Email: : [email protected]

BE ,Electrical Engineer with 5 Years

Gulf Experience in Underground

cable & Overhead line in HT and LT,

Distribution Substation, MEP. Oman

D/L available. NOC available.

Contact: 95054644,

00918807888109,

[email protected]

Diploma in Electrical Engineer exp

5 years any type of industrial main-

tenance and installation, building

wiring system. Contact: 94544663

Email: motiurrahaman1989@gmail.

com

Indian male , diploma in electrical

Engineering with 10 years of suc-

cessful experience , presently avail-

able on visit visa seeking suitable

positions in projects and mainte-

nance electrical fields.

Contact: 91270686


Iraqi male B.ch civil Engineering, 17

yrs experience in Oman experience

in project management with valid

Oman D/L NOC available and can

join immediately looking suitable

position in Muscat area.

Contact: 93809093


Controls & automation Engineer with 7 years experience in ( RO BOT

/PLC/CNC programming , LV panel

building , Installation & commission-

ing service & support of machines)

mostly overseas experience for com-

plete execution of Machine projects

in China, USA, Thailand ETC. Contact

: +97430847848,


Indian male Mechanical Techni-cian with 22 year experience (6.5

year in Oman)-as mill Wright fitter &

maintenance fabrication work seeks

suitable placement NOC available.

Contact: 95922696

Chemical Engineer with 04 years

experience in petrochemical refinery

sector seeking for & suitable position

in petrochemical oil & gas, refinery

EPC Companies.

Contact : 00968-91748400

MEDICAL

Indian female Dentist MOH Oman

passed seeking a suitable placement

in capital region. Contact– 91377681

[email protected]

Indian male Nurse, 31 years

Oman prometric passed 6 yrs ICU

experience. Contact : 94195150 /

92758895

Lab Technician, Civil (8yrs Gulf ex-

perience) looking for a suitable job

(NOC available) Contact-93344378

Indian female looking for suitable

position 2nd rank in MSC microbiol-

ogy, fresher now on visiting visa.

Contact : 91633089


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

DRIVER

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

IT

IT

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]

Looking for driving job. Contact: 98219182

Male driver is available 7 years in

Oman 3 years experience as a driver

7 month is Muscat driving license

holder. Contact: 92046159

Pakistani male light vehicle driver,

looking for job. Contact - 94435912

Light driver looking for job.

Contact: 99704122/ 97762303


Contact: 96435795

Pakistani light duty driver

2 yrs experience seeks placement.

Contact: 96342684


Contact: 98219599

Light driver. Contact: 99035942

Light driver looking for job, 4 yrs

exp in Oman. Contact: 94241385

Driver looking for job. Contact

94195818

Driver looking for job.

Contact: 99507039

Paksitani Driver with 6 yrs experi-

ence looking for job.

Contact: 93985087

Driver with car 3 years experience

looking for job. Contact: 92041902

Light driver. Contact: 96313100

Driver available with car and with-

out car. Contact 96771598

Pakistani male light vehicle driver

with 2 yrs exp looking for job.

Contact : 96342684

Pakistani, male light vehicle driver

looking for job. Contact 97943750

Driver with car. Contact:

97705694/98988208

Looking for job driving Bangladeshi.

Contact: 97418036

Warehouse in charge with 14 years

gulf experience 1.5 years in Oman

NOC available looking for suitable

placement contact 97440902

MCA Indian male 6 month experi-

ence India seeking suitable place-

ment. Contact 00918547068891


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]

MCA, BCA with 2 yrs relevant expe-

rience seeking suitable opportunity.

Contact: 96377039

Part- Time Accountant, well experi-

ence senior accountant ,doing all type

of accounting works, Finalization,

Budgeting available.

Contact :98803439

13 Years UAE experienced in MNC &

reputed firms logistics distribution

looking for a suitable placement, on

visit visa contact 99838743,

[email protected]

TOURS & TRAVELS

B.com, diploma in material manage-

ment having 12 years experience in

overseas / local puritans, logistics

ware house seeks suitable place-

ment NOC available.

Contact: 96477638

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

SALES / MARKETING

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]

A Graduate degree holder 4 years

experience in Marketing (mobiles)

in Oman & U.A.E and as well has

driving license with car. Interested

person can. Contact: +968 94164657

MBA graduate having 6 years exp

in sales & marketing, presently

working in PepsiCo India seeks suit-

able placement in Oman.

Contact: + 91 9895388937


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

Indian male with 5 years experi-

ence in building material sales and

marketing education qualification

BA electronics. Contact: 92228538

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 Female having more than 8

years of experience in oil and gas

industry in sales and marketing & as

commercial manager, now in family

visa looking for a suitable placement

No. 94187012,

Email [email protected]

Sales /marketing experience 24

years old Indian male having valid

Omani license seeking suitable

position in FMCG company, pres-

ently working as a Supervisor of

the leading hypermarket in Oman.

NOC available. Contact: 91993785 /

93089757

Indian Lady 24 yrs with five years

experience as cabin crew in National

& International airlines seeking suit-

able job vacancy in good position.

Contact: 97623267

Procurement Manager with 17

years experience looking suitable

position. (Electrical Diploma Holder

with Oman D/L) Contact: 95979029.

[email protected]

Indian worked MNC 15 years Oman

experience as Marketing FMCG /

TRAD Purchasing with visa license.

Contact: 98796982

MBA Graduate with D/L looking for

sales or marketing jobs.

Contact 94143154


Male BA with D/L having 6 years

exp Oman wanted suitable job in

sales, inventory, procure.

Contact : 92191026

Indian female MSc, MPHIL (Chem-

istry) 3 years Teaching experience

currently on visit visa seeking suit-

able position. Contact : 96916534 /

91969756

Looking for good job 2 years

experience Oman sales marketing

valid driving license Indian Kerala.

Contact : 98626682

Pakistani male 34 yrs Intermedi-

ate 2 yrs exp in sales & marketing

in Oman. Looking for suitable job.

Contact - 92146864

Omani female exp in PRO with

Oman D/L. Contact: 91161736

Outdoor salesman with car looking

for job. Contact 91615715

Indian male, 39 yrs having 15 yrs

Gulf experience (UAE, Qatar, Oman)

in sales & marketing looking for a

suitable position with NOC.

Contact 94054730

8 years store experience Indian

male looking for placement. N.O.C

available. Contact: 98456535

8 years purchase experienced

Indian male looking for job. N.O.C.

available. Contact: 98161323

Indian male, B.Sc (Mathematics)

PGDBM (Marketing). 9 yrs of Oman

experience in sales in midlevel

management, NOC available.

Valid Oman D/L. Contact: 95278838


Indian Male, B.Com Graduate,

23, with experience in Sales looking

for suitable placements. .

Contact 98371144

SKILLED/UNSKILLED

Experience skilled candidate with driver license seeks position in

sales in Salalah.

Contact: 98579382

25 Indian female B.S.C. Fashion

Technology. 5 years experience in

textile industry as a merchandiser

and good in fashion marketing. Cur-

rently available on visit visa, seeking

for a suitable job. Contact 96990368.


Indian male Diploma, civil engineer

4.3 year experience at building

construction and consulting com-

pany with Oman driving licence

and N.O.C available seeking suitable

placement contact 95989500 email

[email protected]

B.E IT Eng, 6 yrs exp TCS with oil &

Gas Industry (Java /Oracle).

Contact : 97835922

Omani Citizen searching a job in

the field of computer especially in

data base professional in operating

Oracle SQL, PL/ SQL, form6i, Report

6i. Contact 96977368


CERTIFIED (CCNA) NETWORK AD-

MINISTRATOR 4 years experienced

looking for Suitable placement.

Contact: 99002390

Indian male 26 years B.Tech (IT)

M.Tech CCNA certified MCSE certi-

fied 3 yrs experience currently a

visit visa looking for suitable job.

Contact: 91006851

B.E Computer Science, Indian lady,

with 2 years experience in Oman

looking for suitable job in Muscat

having valid GCC driving license.

Contact: 97738624

Computer Networking/Facility

Mgmt 5 Yrs of Exp Holds B.E(ECE),

CCNA Looking for Good Opportunity,

Indian - Visit Visa. Contact 91911792/

[email protected]

IT Desktop Support Engineer 2 years Oman 3 years in Indian Exp.

Contact 91937060

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


Pakistani Female Bachelor of

Information Technology with 8

years’ experience in Banking, Sales,

business development, retail & cus-

tomer service seeking for a suitable

placement. Having valid D/L& NOC

available. Contact 94699970

[email protected]

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

MISCELLANEOUS

Content Executive, freshers with

good communication skills and will-

ingness to learn may apply on

[email protected]

MBA, B.Com Indian female having

two yrs exp as lecturer seeks place-

ment in teaching filed. Presently on

family visit visa.

Contact – 96259171/


English Teacher female (M. A. B.

Ed) Having 14 years experience with

11 years experience in Oman with

reputed institute and school.

Contact: 92289080 / 99318276


Indian female MCA, Three years

experience in teaching field, seeks

placement currently on visit visa.

Contact: 93431567


EDUCATION

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.

Contact 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

PRODUCTION OPERATOR – Indian

male seeking production operator or

related jobs with 4 years of

experience in oil & gas field.

Contact: 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 placement. Contact: 97914340,


Tunisian women looking for a job,

khnows english,frensh, italian and

arabic. Contact: 91171838

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]

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 Email: -

[email protected]

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]

A male Civil Engineer is avail-

able holding 10 years experience

2.5years in Oman in Building pro-

jects, quantity canton, project bill-

ing, extension of time, variation and

in execution of project interested

person can. Contact: 968 91320917

Indian male Electrical Engineer

seeking for a job good core technical

knowledge as well as fluent commu-

nication skill. Contact: 95980857

Electrical Engineer Indian male

having valid driving license and NOC,

BE 1 yrs experience sealing suitable

placement. Contact: 96347995


Indian seeking oilfield HSE fire &

safety rigs studied 10SH risk assess-

ment fire safety on visit.

Contact: 98723292

Civil Engineer, Female, 3 years ex-

perience on visit visa seeking suit-

able openings. Contact: 99195433

BSc Civil Engineer, 6 months

working experience in UAE as a Site

Engineer currently in Oman on visit

visa and looking for a job.

Contact : 98157833


Egyptian Civil Engineer, total experi-

ence 7 years - 2 years experience in

Oman. I am looking for Project Engi-

neer, I have good experience in site &

office works. Contact :91148708

Mech Eng 10 yrs Oman exp P&M /

logistics in oil & gas industry.

Contact : 95774585

Project Coordinator (B.E Civil)

6.5 yrs in Oman having 9+ years

relevant experience working in

MOD & ROP project need suitable

placement. Contact : +986 91129192


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

Quantity Surveyor or Site Engineer

in civil, 5 years experience in Oman

have valid Oman driving license

looking for suitable posts, NOC avail-

able. Contact: 96394948/ 98294919.


Electrical Eng. Degree (MEP) need

suitable job of construction 12 yrs exp.


Civil Engineer, Expatriate Female, 3

yrs experience, on visit visa seeking

suitable placement.

Contact: 99195433

Iraqi Engineer specialized in

telecommunication net working &

PC experience in nuking network

and security systems. Contact:

92898329 / 99249124

Electronics & communications

Indian male, 2 years experience

seeking suitable placement.

Contact: 99456725 / 94678625

Indian male, 28 yrs, Electronics &

Instrumentation Engineer with 4 yrs

experience in Industrial Automa-

tion (SCADA) seeking suitable job.

Contact 93154156 / 98416190

Electrical Engineer Pakistani male

4 years B. Tech & 3 years’ diploma

seeking a suitable placement.

Contact: 96752080


Indian Male, IT Support Engineer,

2 yrs in Oman & 5 yrs Indian experi-

ence. Contact 97311847 Indian male 24 yrs B. Tech (Mech.

Eng) on visit 1 yr experience in

production field looking for suitable

placement. Contact: 98925685

Indian male, B.Tech Mechanical

having 4 years experience with QA/

QC / CSWIP looking for a suitable

position. Contact: 99447106


Btech computer science graduate

2015 passout.. Android application

marketing.. Having good communi-

cation skills and mindset to work in

a team. Contact 91024385

D.A.E Civil 4 years exp in land sur-

veyor and building work worked on

AutoCAD, T.S and G.P.S 1 year exp in

Oman looking for placement.

Contact: 92140890 / 98780156


Engineer with 3 yrs experience in

Indian in MEP, HVAC& mechanical

maintained field on visit visa looking

for suitable job. Contact 99191535


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, completed diploma in

Computer technology fresher, seek-

ing suitable position, currently on

visit visa. Contact : 93596096

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624


D6 W E D N E S D AY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

Indian Male 28 years MSM, B. Com

having 6years experience in Gulf

and India as a HR and Admin looking

for suitable placement.

Contact :97914340.


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 with 8 yrs experience in

FMCG in Oman as Sales Supervisor

looking for suitable placement.

NOC available. Gsm: 96495206

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







[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,

Looking 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]

Indian Male, Graduate, 11 years

Sales experience in Lighting /

Industrial products, ready to join

immediately. GSM: 9710 5356

Indian heavy duty driver with 8

years experience in oman available

with NOC. GSM : 93601943

GSM : 94496457

Over 15 years experience in Gulf.

Interior Architect, Lebanese Nation-

ality, on visit visa seeking a suitable

Placement. 96268005.

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

experience in Team Development

,Training, planning, Administration,

Sales & Marketing, Advertisement

and Credit Control and Logistics.

#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

British Beauty Therapist looking

for suitable position. please contact

:97175240

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,


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]

Highly Qualified & Experienced

Finance Manager Pakistani with

USA , UK & Canadian Degrees ,

CPA ,ACCA-UK . MBA-USA ,IFA-

Financial Consultants Canada ,

Corporate Analyst USA Professional

of Banking , Audits ,ERPs & Profit

Maximizations ( 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

suitable opportunity.

GSM: 97705854

7 and half years experience work-

ing accounts / inventory manager

looking suitable job.

Contact: 96991782


Indian female , MCA BCA, certi-

fication PL SQL , 6months train-

ing PHP, date warehouse looking

for suitable placement. Contact :

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

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

Manager, CPA ,ACCA-UK . MBA-USA

, Professional 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, look-

ing for an accountant job.

Contact 95240641, email Id

mohammadabdulazharuddin@

gmail.com

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]

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

MEP Quantity Surveyor-Estima-

tion-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]

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]

Sudanese male, 31 year old, have 3

year Diploma in electrical engineer,

5 years experience in different activ-

ities . Mobile No ; +96894549609

Indian Female, Commerce Gradu-

ate, Total 9 yrs of experience in

India. worked as Accounts Assistant

and Business executive seeking for

suitable placement.

Tel : 96173533/24222457


8 yrs exp Site supervisor cum 2d,

3d Draughtsman (holding Omani

driving license) seeking job.

Contact : 93790601

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


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


Iraqi Pharmacist with 15 years

experience as regulatory affairs and

Marketing Manager seeking job in

pharmaceutical co. Mobile 96720441

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. Looking

for suitable permanent place-

ment. Release available. Contact

95140445, [email protected]

B.E Biomedical Engineer, having 5

years of experience in Diagnostics

division seeking suitable position.

94151658

Indian Male 34 years Mechanical

Engineer 3 years of Experience seek-

ing suitable placement immediately

Contact: 91991435, 93310821

Electronics and instrumentation

Engineer 28 year Indian male, elec-

trical, electronic, industrial, building

& automation exp of 4+ yrs in India.

Contact - 93154156

CCNP Network Professional with 6 years experience having

Bachelors degree on visit visa looking

for suitable job. #96760618 email:

[email protected]

Indian female with MBA (Finance)

on visit visa, seeks immediate place-

ment. Phone: 968-98430089

Civil Engineer, Diploma, Male 25, 3

years experience in site, CAD, 3d, MS

Project, Seeking job in Oman.

Contact 92875345,

[email protected]

Indian male, Engineer, BE Mechani-

cal, having with 21 years of experi-

ence in India and 13 years in Oman,

In production, project management,

quality control and assurance and

MR for ISO and API Standards look-

ing out for a suitable placement

in Oman. GSM: 00968 97311616.

E-MAIL: [email protected]

Indian female B.ED & BCA looking

for a suitable placement in school

or admin office, having 5 yrs exp in

same field. Contact – 97384206 /

[email protected]

CCNP Network Professional with 6

years experience having Bachelors

degree on visit visa looking for

suitable job. Contact: 96 76 06 18

Indian male, total experience is 5

years in Retail industry. Currently

supervisor in Sun and sand sports

Muscat City centre.

Contact : 96994345.


Male, 30 years Accountant, 1 year

Oman experience in accountants,

finance. Seeking suitable position in

Muscat .Can join immediately, NOC

available. Email: [email protected]

Call: 97903175

Indian male, 28 years, 7 years

experience in transporting & heavy

equipment renting company. Having

Omani driving license seeks suitable

positions. Contact 94410485

Indian male, post graduate, cur-

rently in Oman on visit visa.

Seeks suitable placement.

Contact 92388346

Sudanese male, 31 year old, have 3

year Diploma in electrical engineer,

5 year experience in different activi-

ties. Contact; +96894549609

More than Ten years of experience

in Sales & Marketing, Advertisement

and Credit Control and Logistics&

Administration.

Contact; 91076608 / 99322748

MCA IT Professional Indian Female

seek placement in Teaching/ Non

Teaching field. Presently on visit

visa. Contact 9588 7051,

Email: ashwininakod@gmail

Indian female BA graduate. My total

experience is 4 and half year in Call

Center looking for jobs in admin and

HR. Contact : 96089143,

Email: sharanjit_kaur2009@yahoo.

com

Key Account Executive, Indian

male, currently working with a

reputed FMCG company Oman is

looking for a placement asap, NOC

will be given. Valid Omani driving

license. Total experience in Oman is

12yrs and particularly in Sales is 8

1/2 years. Contact 95589765 Email :

[email protected]

25 Indian female, B.Sc fashion tech-

nologist, 5 years exp in merchandis-

ing, familiar with fashion marketing

& designing. Currently available on

visit visa, seeking for a visual mer-

chandising job. Contact : 96990368,

email [email protected]

Indian male, MBA marketing &

finance with B com & diploma in

IFRS seeks job. Contact 99469726 /

99469729

Sudanese male BSC Telecommuni-

cations Engineer , 4 years experi-

ence in telecom field

Contact 97783092,


Working as Senior Accountant, 4 yrs.exp.in oman, relevant com-

puter skills, Audit, Accounting upto

finalization, valid oman driving

license, languages known Arabic,

Hindi. NOC available can join im-

mediately. Tel: (+968) 96339599,

E-mail-(ahmedmohdkhan@gmail.

com)

Indian male 60 years old have 30

years Muscat experience in all office

works with Omani driving license.

Contact: 99024055

Mechanical Engineer, Indian, (B.E.)

on visit visa, seeking suitable post.

Contact :99534733



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

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

Genuine Ayurvedic treatments &

massage, Ayurvedic clinic at

Al Khuwair. Contact 24478618 /

97263637 /93309131

Butter cup rent a car presents fantastic offers all vehicles are model 2016.

Contact : 97249449

Available car with driver daily,

weekly and monthly basis.

Contact : 95518612

Ayurvedic massage backache, joint

pain & neck pain etc.

Contact: 98254909

DRIVING

Learn driving with professional

only automatic. Contact

94022250

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624


D8 W E D N E S D AY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

Specialist available for explosive

growth in term of restructuring

all modules of businesses with

over 30 years of experience across

continents with a decade in Oman.

Contact 96733578


Split & window A.C servicing &

maintenance. Contact 93769089 /

95323517

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

Carpet & sofa cleaning, house clean-

ing. Contact 99542979 / 98855815

Split & window A.C servicing &

maintenance. Contact: 96236476

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

Ramadhan Gifts with company

name printable advertisement

on t-shirt, clock.

Contact: 98796982

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance.

Contact ABU QABAS- 99320217

/24788722

WEBSITE

WEB, ERP and Business Intelli-

gence (BI) creation and man-

agement at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

CLASSES

COMPUTER

ACCOUNTANTS AND CONSULTANTSWE ARE PROVIDING

ACCOUNTING/ AUDITINGTAX/ CONSULTING

CONTACT: 24 567 251 / 95 498 033

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet

& sofa shampooing, Contact

99314807/24792998

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of

your marble. Contact 24793614/

99314807

House shifting. Contact

99708138

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.

Learn Cup cakes, exotic cakes, Icing

decorations, handicrafts.

Contact 95941515

SITUATION WANT-MANPOWER

Window & split unit A.C servicing

& repairing. Contact 99557080

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

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text,

should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

SITUATION WANT-ED

LOST

SITUATION WANT-ED

CHANGE OF NAMEPest control Treatments, termites,

cockroaches, bedbugs Ocean Center

LLC. Contact: 99344723

Carpet, Sofa Shampooing. Ocean

Center LLC. Contact: 99884591

AC servicing maintenance fixing.

Contact: 99540621

MATRIMONIAL

MATRIMONIAL

RC girl (28 yrs) hailing from

kanjirappally dioces working in

Royal Hospital looks for suitable alli-

ances.#92801093 / 97498373

Hindu Ezhava family, settled in

Muscat looking for suitable groom

working within Oman for their

daughter 25 yrs (MBA) working

with a reputed company in

Muscat. Contact 98689663

Alliance invited for a Nair girl 24 yrs, 5ft, 1”, fair, slim, B.Tech gradu-

ate reputed family of Ernakulam

dist. (Star Thiruvonam Sudha-

jathakam) financially sound, from

parents of B.Tech nair boys from

Trissur, Palakkad and Eranakulam

dist. . #: 00919495924302


Subhasini Madyan lost Indian Pass-

port No. H 3360588. Finder please

handover to ROP

Mukles Miha has lost Bangladeshi

Passport No. AE 4821434. Finder

please handover to ROP

Hussain Muzammil has lost Pa-

kistani Passport No. TB 6892841.

Finder please handover to ROP

I Jasmin Revi (holder of Indian

passport No. M 2106217) Daughter

of C. Selvaraj having permanent

residence in No: 15/88B, Ooralivilai

Veedo , Pacodo Post , K.K.Dist Pin:

929168, T. Nadu, India ,( complete

postal address in India ) and pres-

ently residing, P. Box No. 796 , P.C

ode : 121, Al Hail, Sultanate of Oman

(complete postal in Oman) intend to

change my name from Jasmin Revi

(old name) to Jasmin Sajitha Revi

(new name) for all practical purpose.

Any objection towards my name

change may please be communi-

cated to Embassy of India, Muscat,

diplomatic Quarters, AL Khuwair, P.

Box No, 1727 postal code 112, Ruwi,

Sultanate of Oman.

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Times Of Oman - June 24, 2015

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