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WEDNESDAY, August 19, 2015 / 4 Dhul Qa’ada 1436 AH timesofoman.com wtimesofoman.com facebook.com/timesofoman twitter.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com ISO 9001:2008 Certifi ed Company

HM sends greetings

MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of congratulations to President Dr. Mohammad Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan on the occasion of his country’s Independence Anniversary. In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan has ex-pressed his sincere congratula-tions along with his best wishes of good health and happiness to President Ghani and the friend-ly people of Afghanistan further progress and prosperity. -ONA

A F G H A N I S T A N On a family visa? Got a job? Then pack your bags

REJIMON KFAHAD AL GHADANIreji@timesofoman.comfahadnews@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Expatriates living on family visas in Oman will now have to leave the country and re-turn with an employment visa if they fi nd work, an offi cial from the Royal Oman Police has revealed.

“Till now, an internal transfer of a family visa to a job visa was

possible. Now, that will not be allowed. A job-seeker on a fam-ily visa has to leave Oman and re-turn on an employment visa if he wishes to be employed here,” the source told the Times of Oman.

The move, which is likely to af-fect mostly expatriate women, has been welcomed by a parliamen-tarian and a legal adviser.

“It is a good move by the police.

Quite a few people were misusing the local transfer convenience,” said a Majlis Al Shura member.

“Let job-seekers leave and re-turn in a proper way. If their pa-pers are clean, why will anyone stop them from returning?” asked the Shura member.

However, the legal advisor in Muscat said that job-seekers should be cautious with regard

to the procedures. “If expatriates, who are on family visas, plan to join a company they should make sure that the company which is ready to absorb them has the req-uisite work visa clearances from the Ministry of Manpower. With-out verifying this fact, if they give up the family visa and leave Oman, they may fi nd it diffi cult to return,” cautioned the legal advisor.

If a job-seeker on a family visa wishes to take up employment, a no-objection certifi cate (NOC) is required from the company or establishment which has issued the family joining visa and from the partner who is working in the company.

“According to the prevalent practice, the company is supposed to issue an NOC only after they get the papers confi rming the visa clearance from the new company where the family visa holder is looking to join. Now, when police say that an exit is a must, job-seekers should make sure that the company has a visa clearance ready to absorb them. Otherwise,

they might be stuck,” added the legal advisor.

Meanwhile, some expatriates have expressed their reservations about the new move.

“As majority of the expatriate job-seekers on a family joining visa are women, they should be more cautious. A hasty step will cause a big trouble for their fam-ily,” Shameer PTK, an Indian resi-dent in Oman, said.

“Moreover, when the so-called ‘temporary visa ban’ for expatriate women is still in place, the chanc-es for a return after an exit is likely to be less. So, unless a job-seeker gets an assurance for visa clear-ance, they should not leave Oman. Else, it will aff ect their family’s fu-ture,” Shameer added.

Another expatriate said that recently, quite a few friends who were on family visas got job off ers and gave up their family visa sta-tus anticipating a local transfer.

“Now, according to the new move, they may have to leave Oman and return. I don’t know will it hap-pen or not,” said an expatriate.

‘Internal’ transfers

from family visa to

employment visa are

not allowed in Oman

anymore, the Royal

Oman Police said

is the total number of expatriate workers in the Sultanate of Oman

is the total number of expatriates residing in Oman

1,623,672

1,845,795

Alawi lauds Germany role in Iran deal

BERLIN: Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Aff airs, met with Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Ger-man Minister of Foreign Aff airs, in Berlin on Tuesday.

The two leaders discussed the means of enhancing bilateral relations between the two coun-tries. They also discussed sev-eral regional and international issues of common interest, as well as the recent developments in the region.

In a joint press conference, bin Alawi lauded Germany’s role in solving regional issues especially the Iranian nuclear deal.

He said: “We hope Germany would be among the permanent members at the Security Coun-cil as this will enable it to play an important role in solving inter-national issues.” -ONA

Picture on >A2

B I L A T E R A L T I E S

C7

Mariott Courtyard, the value for money

Submit Omanisation plans or face freeze HAMOOD AL BRICKY

MUSCAT: Submit your Omani-sation plans for 2016 by the end of the year or the Ministry of Manpower will not consider your requests for bringing in expatri-ate labour force, businesses have been notifi ed.

In a notice released on Tues-day, the ministry announced that private sector establishments must submit their Omanisation plan for 2016 no later than De-cember 31, 2015.

The notice also said, “The ministry will not consider any requests for bringing in expa-

triate labour for private sector establishments unless they pro-vide the Omanisation plan on or before the due date.” It also urged private sector establishments to obtain the Omanisation plan forms from the ministry website.

Mohammed Al Khaldi, board member of General Federation of Oman Trade Union, said, “It is good that the ministry has come out with this plan.

“There is a need to improve the Omanisation rates in the private sector.” He also said this was par-ticularly important when a lot of Omani citizens are looking for employment. >A6

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

Staff Reporter

MUSCAT: An Omani national was lucky to escape serious in-jury when a bomb placed inside a Bangkok religious shrine fre-quented by tourists exploded on Monday evening, according to a senior offi cial of The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

Speaking to the Times of Oman, Chalermsak Suranant, director of the TAT, Middle East, said that the Omani, who fell to the ground during the bomb blast, is already back home after a primary check-up at the hospital.

In a statement to the Oman News Agency (ONA), Abdullah bin Saleh Al Maimani, the Sul-tanate’s ambassador to the King-dom of Thailand, said that no fatalities were recorded among Omanis in the explosion that rocked the Thai capital, Bangkok.

“One Omani fell to the ground due to the severity of the ex-plosion when he was on his way to the hotel, but he is fi ne,” he told ONA.

The injured Omani has been identifi ed as Fahd bin Massoud

bin Khalid Al Harthy. “The ex-plosion is currently under police investigation and the authorities are contacting the families of the blast victims and helping the in-jured to get medical treatment in local hospitals.

“The Thai tourism industry has mobilised the support of its members to assist and facilitate tourists aff ected by the incident, such as providing interpreters and helping with immediate trav-el arrangements,” he said. >A6

See also > A16

Omani has a lucky escape in Bangkok

T O U R I S M A U T H O R I T Y O F T H A I L A N D

EXPLOSION SITE: Experts

investigate the Erawan shrine

at the site of a deadly blast in

central Bangkok, Thailand, on

Tuesday. -Reuters

REGIONSaudi planes target aid port in Yemen

2Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition hit the Houthi-controlled Red

Sea port of Hodeida, destroying cranes and warehouses in the main entry point for aid supplies to Yemen’s north. >A7

MARKETSeven bidders for largest water project

3Seven multinational developers from Singapore, Japan,

France and Spain are competing for Oman’s largest independent water desalination project. >B1

OMANFog detectors to help drivers navigate

1To ensure that tourists are safe on roads, the Ministry of Tourism plans

to send text messages to tourists. The Ministry is working to develop fog detectors to aid drivers. >A3

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

In the framework of the keenness of Royal Oman Police to organise and facilitate its services and dealings in the fi eld of issuance and renewal of residence ID cards to expatriates, the Directorate General of Civil Status and its Directorates in the Governorates will follow the following procedures in renewing residency ID cards (for expatriates):1- The Directorate will receive applications for ID cards renewal (for expatriates)

without the need for the related party (the resident) to approach the service centre in person, but only the employer or the legally authorised person shall appear to fi nalise the procedures for renewing the residency card without specifying a certain number of transactions.

2- What is stated in item 1 above shall not apply to applications for change of employer or profession.

3- As for the fi rst issuance of the residency ID card, the previously applied procedures shall remain intact, i.e. the attendance of the concerned party (the resident) in person to the service centre is necessary.

4- Transactions shall be accepted during offi cial working hours and the implementation of these procedures shall start from 23/8/2015.

5- Applications for issuance and renewal of residence ID cards must be submitted within (30) days from the date of the resident’s entry to the Sultanate or the expiry of the residency ID card in order to avoid the legally prescribed fi ne.

With best wishes

NOTICE

A2 W E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

OMANWith increasing numbers of road accidents being reported at night, the Ministry of Tourism is working to develop fog detectors to assist drivers

Tourists to get SMS and fog detectors for road safety >A3

Miscarriage risk linked to lifestyle

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADI elham@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Although the causes of miscarriage are still not well understood, a combination of lifestyle changes can help reduce the risk, says a senior consultant at the Royal Hospital.

The cause of miscarriage can be determined in around 50 per cent of cases, but there are some avoidable risks, said Dr Rahma Al Ghabshi, a reproductive, en-docrine and recurrent miscar-riage specialist.

Speaking to the Times of Oman, Dr Al Ghabshi noted that lifestyle factors associated with miscarriage include smok-ing, exposure to second-hand smoke, alcohol consumption and stress. According to her, obesity is another important fac-tor which can increase the risk of miscarriage as it is linked to other health problems such as abnormal sugar levels and high blood pressure and may aff ect blood supply as well.

Obesity is also associated with thyroid issues, she said, add-ing that any imbalance in the body may result in higher risk of miscarriage.

Genetic factorsThe senior consultant added that genetic factors and chro-mosomal abnormalities can cause miscarriage and a woman who suff ers a miscarriage due to genetic factors may need to un-dergo in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

In some cases, a miscarriage is associated with uterine issues or cervical incompetence, she said, adding that bacteria may be linked with miscarriage as well.

Some medical conditions such as diabetes and kidney disorders are also associated with miscar-riage because of the medications which are sometimes not easy to stop due to the pregnancy, noted Dr Al Ghabshi.

An increase in maternal age also raises the risk of miscar-riage, she said and added that Vi-tamin D defi ciency can be a risk factor too.

According to her, some other immunologic (related to immu-nity system), endocrine (related to hormones) or thrombophilic (related to abnormality of blood coagulation) factors may be in-volved as well.

In addition, there are envi-ronmental factors which may

increase the risk of miscarriage. Chemicals used while growing

fruits and vegetables on some farms, pesticides, lead, mercury, anaesthetic gases (nitrous ox-ide) and pollution may increase the chances of miscarriage in women who are exposed to them, said Dr Al Ghabshi.

However, still more stud-ies need to be conducted to de-termine what amount of these chemicals may cause miscar-riage, she added. Environmental and lifestyle risk factors may be the reason behind the increase in miscarriage rate in the world, the expert noted.

Dr Al Ghabshi explained that, in some cases, miscarriage can be prevented by certain meas-ures, or issues related to it can be treated.

She added that, international-ly, 50 per cent of all conceptions fail, with most of them being un-recognised pregnancies, mean-ing that the woman did not know that she was pregnant.

Global statistics show that 13 to 15 per cent of recognised preg-nancies are lost, with 90 per cent of them happening before 12 to 14 weeks, said Dr Al Ghabshi.

The cause of

miscarriage can

be determined in

around 50 per cent

cases, but there

are avoidable risks

which could help

reduce the chances

of miscarriage

Lifestyle factors that

cause of miscarriage

include smoking,

alcohol consumption

and stress

Dr Rahma Al GhabshiRecurrent miscarriage specialist

ALAWI MEETS GERMAN MINISTERYousef bin Alawi bin

Abdullah, Minister Re-

sponsible for Foreign

Aff airs met in Berlin

on Tuesday with Dr.

Frank-Walter Steinmei-

er, German Minister of

Foreign Aff airs. — ONA

A3

OMANW E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

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SMS, fog detectors to ensure tourist safety

Times News Service

MUSCAT: To ensure that tourists are safe on the country’s roads, the Ministry of Tourism plans to send text messages to tourists with ad-vice and guidance.

The messages will provide in-formation, along with safety regu-

lations in areas where tourists travel. Further, with increasing number of road accidents being reported at night, the Ministry of Tourism is working to develop fog detectors to assist drivers.

Offi cials are coordinating with Hilal bin Salem Al Siyabi, who has developed a fog detector.

According to a Ministry of Tourism statement, a larger pro-portion of accidents occur at night than during the day, as reduced visibility may contribute to these accidents. Additionally, when there is fog along roadways, vis-ibility decreases further.

The fog detector being devel-oped will provide automatic con-trol over fog signals and will be available in hazardous areas. The device will be able to detect fog when vehicles are moving, even along roads where there is no street lighting.

The Ministry of Tourism says these innovative traffi c safety systems will also be available at tourist destinations. During the fog season, a team was sent from the Ministry of Tourism to test

whether the device was able to alert drivers during fog. Addi-tionally, team members installed a sensor in front of a vehicle to alert drivers of objects on the road within 18 meters of their car, in a bid to avoid collisions. It is hoped that this technology could sig-nifi cantly help reduce traffi c acci-dents during the rain season.

The plans were discussed when the Ministry of Tourism par-ticipated in a recent traffi c safety campaign. The slogan for that campaign was, ‘Drive safely and enjoy the beauty of Oman’.

These activities helped create awareness about traffi c safety and reducing traffi c accidents.

Offi cials are working to make these technologies available to all tourists.

According to a statement of the Ministry

of Tourism, a larger number of accidents

happen at night, and reduced visibility

contributes to these accidents

SAFETY FIRST: The fog detector will provide automatic control over fog signals and will be available in hazardous areas.–Supplied photos

Wusta plan to

attract tourists

Times News Service

MUSCAT: In a bid to attract more tourists to the Al Wusta Governorate, the Ministry of Tourism has signifi cantly re-vamped the amenities and ser-vices available to visitors.

According to Azad bin Amer Tamman Al Omari, director of tourism in the governorate, several projects have been launched under the supervision of the Ministry of Tourism in Al Wusta with a view to enhanc-ing the quality and range of services for tourists visiting the governorate.

One of the key projects is the establishment of a Tourism In-formation Centre in the State of Haima. The centre distributes brochures, guides and booklets with a wealth of information about prominent tourist sites in the Al Wusta region, including their history and culture. The staff members at the informa-tion centre are professionally trained to off er relevant infor-mation to the visitors about tourist sites and their rich her-itage value.

Also, several portable toi-lets that work round-the-clock have been installed across the region.

Furthermore, the ministry has ensured that major hotels and guest houses in the region provide high quality services. He noted that the number of hotel rooms and chalets in the governorate has increased to 551, and are distributed across the four states.

N A T I O N A L E C O N O M Y

Georgia, Serbia

visa-free entry

Staff Reporter

MUSCAT: Omanis have been exempted from entry visa to Georgia and Serbia, the Sultan-ate’s foreign aff airs ministry tweeted.“Omanis have been exempted from entry visa to Georgia and Serbia,” the minis-try tweet read.

According to Serbia’s foreign aff airs website, for holders of diplomatic and offi cial pass-ports and ordinary passports and other travel documents, no visas required for visits of up to 90 days.

E X E M P T I O N

Salalah tourism booms

Times News Service

MUSCAT: A massive number of tourists have visited Salalah, at the start of the Khareef season this year, according to the Ministry of Tourism.

The city is also currently cele-brating the famed Salalah Tourism Festival, a major tourist attraction that draws thousands of local, re-gional and international visitors.

Figures from the National Cen-tre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) show that 393,312 tourists fl ocked to the city from June 21 to August 11 compared to 272,306 visitors with the same period in 2014.

Kicking off simultaneously with the commemoration of the Oman Renaissance Day on July 23, the festival celebrates the monsoon season with various activities.

N C S I S U R V E Y

A4 W E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

OMAN

Children showcase creative talent

SARAH MACDONALDsarah@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: For two weeks the children in Bait Al Baranda’s sum-mer art workshop moulded clay, stitched recycled material togeth-er, drew and painted, even on the walls, and on Tuesday their mas-terpieces were revealed at an exhi-bition celebrating their work.

The annual summer workshop, open to children aged 6 to 16 years, is a way to promote art and creativ-ity among young people in Oman. This year the workshop, now in its ninth year, focused on three sub-jects - clay, hand-stitched dolls and drawing cartoon characters.

The students were eager to share their work with the guests at the opening. Twelve-year-old Rahaf Shktour explained how she had made a doll from old socks. The socks were cut and sewn to-gether and stuff ed with cotton.

Rahaf added yarn hair and button eyes, and even sewed a little dress for the doll.

“It was so much fun! If your mother and father are working you just stay in the house, watch TV and eat popcorn. You don’t make any activity. But this work-shop made us so happy!” Rahaf said, adding that her sisters and brothers also participated in the workshop.

Guest of honour for the exhibi-tion, Abdullah Al Saadi, Direc-tor General for Projects at Mus-

cat Municipality, said he was impressed by the children’s crea-tivity and said it’s important for the city to support initiatives like this one. He said he was thankful for the staff at Bait Al Baranda for organising the workshops year af-ter year.

Utilising summer holidays“I think it’s a great value to the students to utilise their sum-mer period for something which will benefi t them for their skills and their future education. They

will learn how to make things by their own hands. They will learn how to be independent,” Al Saadi commented.

Yasser Al Lawati’s son Amar, 8, also participated in the workshop and learned a lot about working with clay. Al Lawati said it was a great way for Amar to spend his time during the summer holidays.

“This is a great opportunity. It’s good encouragement for him to pursue these hobbies,” Al Lawati said.

Al Lawati said such programmes

were also important because the students are exposed to a variety of arts and learn to use diff erent materials which are not taught in school art classes. As this year’s workshop wrapped up, Malik Al Hinai, Director of Bait Al Baran-da, was already looking ahead to the future.

“I think for us it’s our duty to make sure this continues. What we fi nd very satisfying is that the par-ticipants are happy to come year after year and take diff erent me-diums of art. They take what they learned back to school and teach others so it’s a process that is really nice,” said Al Hinai.

The annual summer

workshop at the Bait

Al Baranda, open

to children aged

six to 16, is a way

to promote art and

creativity among

young people in

the Sultanate

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I think it’s a great value

to the students to

utilise their summer

period for something

which will benefit them

for their skills and their

future education. They

will learn how to make

things by their own

hands. They will learn

how to be independent

Abdullah Al Saadi Director General at Muscat Municipality

SUMMER WORKSHOP: This year the annual summer workshop, now in its ninth year, focused on three subjects — clay, hand-stitched dolls and drawing cartoon characters.

The students were eager to share their work with the guests at the opening.–Jun Estrada/TIMES OF OMAN

Pakistani students present special tableau to mark Independence Day

Times News Service

MUSCAT: A special tableau was presented by the students of jun-ior classes as the Pakistan School Muscat hosted an Independence Day function at Dr A Q Khan Hall on the August 14 to celebrate the 69th Independence Day of Paki-

stan. The occasion was celebrated with the traditional fervour.

Salaman Tahir and Muham-mad Waqas, in their oration, in-fused the sense of responsibility to value the hard-won freedom trailed by untiring struggles and heart rendering sacrifi ces of the Muslims.

Mirza Goher Baig put up a per-formance which conveyed the brimming spirits of Pakistan. He fi lled the hearts of the audi-ence with the relentless love for Pakistan with the song ‘Hai Juzba Junoon’.

The show represented Pakistan as a proud nation.

I N D E P E N D E N C E D A Y

CULTURAL FIESTA: A special tableau was presented by the students of junior classes.– Supplied photo

INDIANS CELEBRATE INDEPENDENCE DAY IN SOHARThe Indian Social Club, Sohar celebrated the 69th Independence Day with a colourful

programme. The occasion was marked by performance by children and their parents with

the theme of ‘Parade of Indian History’. — Supplied photo

It was so much fun! If your mother and father are working you just stay in the house, watch TV and eat popcorn. You don’t make any activity. But this workshop made us so happy!

Rahaf Shktour, Bait Al Baranda’s art workshop participant

A6

OMANW E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

Corporate social responsibility is of paramount importance to us as our daily activities have a great impact on our environment

Hossam Kamal, general manager of the Salalah Rotana Resort

Salalah Rotana Resort deputes its employees to clean beach

Times News Service

SALALAH: As part of its corpo-rate social responsibility initiative and to boost team building, Salalah Rotana Resort set a day aside for a “Beach Cleaning Drive” where col-leagues were invited for a day to clean its private beach by picking up any visible waste material.

Salalah Rotana Resort, the Sultanate’s largest free-standing fi ve-star hotel, utilised the servic-es of its employees for cleaning the Salalah Beach. The famous beach houses the waterfront re-sort with an 11,000-square metre private beach.

Industry stakeholders have continuously called upon organi-sations to be more environmen-tally conscious by engaging in ac-tivities that have minimal impact on the environment.

Compassion Hossam Kamal, general manager of the Salalah Rotana Resort, said: “Corporate social responsibil-ity is of paramount importance to us as our daily activities have a great impact on our environ-ment. It is, therefore, our respon-sibility to show compassion to our surroundings.”

“The beach cleaning drive de-

picts our commitment towards providing a safe and clean beach to our guests and also reinforcing the Rotana corporate sustainabil-ity initiative,Rotana Earth, which has been developed to address en-vironmental, economic and social issues,’’ he added.

The activity brought together 40 colleagues from diff erent de-partments including Human Resources, Marketing, Finance, and Housekeeping, apart from Learning and Development, IT, Recreation, and Revenue. It also included the Kitchen, Spa, Engi-neering, Food and Beverage, and Stewarding along with the general

manager and executive assistant manager,who together collected 112kg waste in 28 bags. Named ‘Oman’s Leading Beach Resort’ by the World Travel Awards 2015, Salalah Rotana Resort’s hospital-ity off ering is designed to accom-modate every type of traveller.

The 400-room resort features four food and beverage venues, a ‘Bodylines Fitness and Wellness Club’, ‘Zen the spa at Rotana’ and ‘Flipper’s Kids Club’. In addition, guests can enjoy the resort’s pri-vate beach, three outdoor swim-ming pools, a Jacuzzi, two tennis courts and a 250-seat outdoor amphitheatre.

G O O D I N I T I A T I V E

New official to oversee Batinah plan payment

Times News Service

MUSCAT: In a move to assist those seeking compensation, Sheikh Saif bin Mohammed bin Saif Al Shabibi, Minister of Hous-ing, recently issued Ministerial Decision No. (89/2015) appoint-ing Muhanna bin Saleh bin Said Al Manthari as manager of the Al Batinah Coastal Road Compensa-tion Project.

He will report to the minister’s offi ce and be subject to the direct supervision of the Minister.

Moreover, the ministerial deci-sion stated that Al Manthari is in charge of the Al Batinah coastal road compensation project and all staff — both government workers and employees from private sec-tor companies.

He will also be responsible for overseeing the budget and fi nan-cial procedures. Other respon-sibilities include reviewing out-standing cases of cash and in-kind compensation, in coordination with directorates and in keep-ing with principles and rules of compensation.

Welcoming the move, Abu An-war, a resident of Barka said, “I hope this helps. Many are not hap-py with the compensation. Within two years of local residents living in the houses, they have started to crack. The houses are beautiful, no doubt, but they are made from poor materials.

Fishing families“Most of the families are fi sher-men, and by moving over 200 families inland, they are no longer willing to make the long drive to the sea to go fi shing.

“The houses are also small com-pared to their old houses, and you need a considerable amount of space for an average family of fi ve.

“Those who accepted cash compensation were able to build their own houses on land they al-ready owned. Barka is facing less trouble than others up the road to Sohar. They are in much worse shape than in Barka.”

Meanwhile, the manager of Al Batinah Coastal Road Compen-sation Project will oversee inven-tory and compensation for the properties and set up a database for all citizens who received com-pensation in each of the aff ected Wilayats, in addition to coordi-nation with the Ministry of Re-gional Municipalities and Water Resources on removing the hous-ing aff ected by the project, which have been evacuated.

Further, the manager is in charge of meeting citizens whose properties were aff ected by the project, respond to their enquir-ies, propose appropriate solutions for their problems, and prepare compensation and set the appro-priate procedures to submit for the minister to approve them.

In accordance with the deci-sion, the manager shall follow up on providing alternative housing in the Wilayats eff ected by the project and fi nd solutions for any

obstacles that might impede car-rying out the solutions, in coordi-nation with the General Directo-rate of Projects in the ministry.

Also, the manager shall coordi-nate with the Committee of Prop-erty Valuation in the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources on the amount of compensation for those who qualify.

Direct coordinationThere should be direct coordina-tion with Walis and other gov-ernment bodies. Also, monthly reports are to be submitted de-tailing the progress of the work, as well as any problems being confronted, if any, and submit them to the minister.

Moreover, Al Manthari is to participate in the submission of proposals subject to the develop-ment and improvement in work, attend meetings, committees and workshops related to the project.

Many people are

not happy with the

compensation as

within two years

of shifting to the

houses, they have

started to crack,

claimed one of

the residents

‘Firms must have

both Omanis, expats’

Mohammad Kabir Ahmed, man-aging director of United Dreams LLC, said, “We will be able to plan out our expatriate and Omani re-cruitment much ahead. But my suggestion is that every company should have a good balance of Om-anis and expatriates so that it runs smoothly. Then it will be a win-win situation for everyone.”

The numbersThe total number of Omanis work-ing in the private sector until the end of last June reached 206,054 compared to the 204,591 last May. The maximum number of workers received salaries ranging between

OMR325 and OMR400, while workers receiving salaries ranging between OMR900 and OMR2,000 were the lowest.

SalariesOn the other hand, the category of citizens who received salaries exceeding OMR2,000 numbered 6,967, including 6,224 males and 743 females.

The latest statistics issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) indicated that the number of male Omani citizens working in the private sector reached 158,613, while fe-males numbers are 47,441.

P R I V A T E S E C T O R

< FROM

A1

Security beefed up in ThailandIn a situation update, the Tour-ism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said that Thai authorities have stepped up security at key loca-tions in Bangkok following the explosion at the city’s Ratchapra-song Intersection.

The Thai police have requested that locals and tourists to exer-cise caution when out and about in Bangkok.

“The Royal Thai Police have

increased their presence and put extra security in place at all of Bangkok’s key tourist areas after the incident. Citywide patrols are in place to ensure the safety of lo-cals and visitors to the Thai capi-tal,” it added.

Meanwhile, overall life in the city is continuing as normal. All public services and banks are open to the public.

“As for tourist businesses,

other tourist sites, hotels, restau-rants, tour operators, and shop-ping malls remain open, while transportation links, major roads and airports continue to oper-ate. This includes Bangkok’s BTS Skytrain and MRT services and both Don Muang and Suvarn-abhumi International Airports receive domestic and interna-tional fl ights. In addition, events that the Tourism Authority of

Thailand (TAT) is supporting remain as scheduled, such as the “Way of Silk, the Way of Thai: A Tribute to Her Majesty the Queen” silk exhibition in Bang-kok from August 17 to 30, TBEX Asia 2015 from October 15 to 17 and the nationwide Loi Kra-thong festivities in November, as well as all other domestic and overseas marketing activities,” it added. -With inputs from ONA

B A N G K O K B L A S T

< FROM

A1

Most of the families

are fishermen, and

by moving over 200

families inland, they

are no longer willing to

make the long drive to

the sea to go fishing

Abu Anwar,Barka resident

MINISTERIAL DECISION: The housing minister appointed Mu-

hanna bin Saleh bin Said Al Manthari as manager of Al Batinah

Coastal Road Compensation Project to oversee compensation.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: Salalah Rotana Resort, the Sultanate’s largest free-standing fi ve-star hotel, utilised the services of its em-

ployees for cleaning the Salalah Beach. – Supplied photo

A7

REGIONW E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

Civilians in southern Yemen have found themselves trapped in a deadly crossfi re between Houthi loyalists and anti-Houthi groups on the ground, while facing the persistent threat of coalition airstrikes

Saudi-led jets hit Yemen’s aid port

SANAA/DUBAI: Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition hit the Houthi-controlled Red Sea port of Hodeida on Tuesday, destroy-ing cranes and warehouses in the main entry point for aid supplies to Yemen’s north.

Rival factions also battled fur-ther south overnight in Yemen’s third city, Taez, Arab television sta-tions reported, as local militias op-posed to the Houthis attempted to consolidate recent advances on it.

Call for probeThe human rights group Am-nesty International meanwhile said the Saudi-led air campaign had left a “bloody trail of civilian death” which could amount to war crimes. An Amnesty report said it had investigated eight coalition air strikes in Yemen that killed 141 ci-vilians, including children.

Evidence revealed a pattern of strikes against populated areas, in

most of which no military target could be located nearby, it said. “All the parties to this confl ict have dis-played a ruthless and wanton dis-regard for the safety of civilians,” said Donatella Rovera, senior crisis response adviser at Amnesty.

“Civilians in southern Yemen have found themselves trapped in a deadly crossfi re between Houthi loyalists and anti-Houthi groups on the ground, while facing the

persistent threat of coalition air-strikes,” said Rovera.

The report speaks of a “grue-some and bloody trail of death and destruction in (third city) Taez and Aden from unlawful attacks, which may amount to war crimes, by all parties.”

Amnesty called on the UN Hu-man Rights Council to form an in-ternational commission of enquiry to investigate “alleged war crimes”

committed during the confl ict.“Perpetrators of the callous at-

tacks against civilians in Yemen need to know that they will pay the price and will be held responsible for war crimes,” Rovera said.

Last Tuesday, the World Health Organization said the confl ict had claimed 4,345 lives from the escala-tion of fi ghting in March to August 5. According to UN fi gures, half of those killed are civilians, and 80

percent of the country’s 21 million people need aid and protection.

Coalition offi cials could not im-mediately be reached for comment on the Amnesty report but has pre-viously denied targeting civilians. Amnesty also said it had investigat-ed 30 attacks in Aden and Taez by the Houthis that killed 68 civilians and also may amount to war crimes. The Houthis seized Yemen’s capital Sanaa last September in what they called a revolution against a cor-rupt government, then took over much of the country.

The Saudi-backed President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi fl ed to the southern port of Aden, then escaped to Riyadh in March. Gulf Arab countries led by Saudi Ara-bia intervened in the confl ict to push back.

Loyalist forces, backed by Gulf Arab planes, weapons and train-ing, have been on the off ensive since breaking out of Aden last month, claiming a string of gains against the Houthis.

The war has killed more than 4,300 people, many of them ci-vilians, and spread disease and hunger in one of the Arab world’s poorest states.

Hodeida, lying about 150km (95 miles) due west of Sanaa, has

become a focal point of Yemen’s humanitarian crisis, which the In-ternational Committee of the Red Cross said last week was critical.

Offi cials said the latest raids de-stroyed the port’s four cranes and also hit warehouses, bringing work to a halt. There was no information on what was in the warehouses.

Aid groups have previously complained that a coalition naval blockade has stopped relief sup-plies entering Yemen. The coali-tion, in which the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also plays a big military role, has accused the Hou-this of commandeering aid ship-ments for war use.

Anti-Houthi groups have pushed the northern militia out of some southern provinces since late July, but while that has al-lowed aid to reach Aden in the south, the humanitarian crisis elsewhere remains critical.

Besides advancing from the south, coalition-backed forces are also fi ghting the Houthis and Saleh’s troops on a second front around Marib, northeast of Sanaa.

As well as retaining a foothold in Taiz, the Houthis and allied army units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh control the north-ern highlands and Red Sea coastal plain as far south as Ibb, where coalition-backed forces advanced last week.

Ibb is about 50km (30 miles) north of Taiz and 200 km south-east of Hodeida. — Agencies

Coalition warplanes

destroyed

warehouses and

cranes in the Red Sea

port of Hodeida

Maliki rejects blame for fall of MosulBAGHDAD/BEIRUT: Iraq’s for-mer Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki on Tuesday denounced as worth-less a parliamentary report which blamed him and others for the fall of Mosul to IS militant group last year and which called for them to be referred to the judiciary.

“There is no value to the results that came out of the parliamenta-ry investigation committee”, Ma-liki said on Facebook in his fi rst public comments since the report was released on Sunday and re-ferred to the public prosecutor on Monday. Maliki, who has been in Iran since Friday according to his website, said political diff erences in the panel compromised its ob-jectivity. By seeking to provide accountability for the loss of Mo-sul, the report could help restore confi dence in the government, especially among minority com-munity marginalised by Maliki’s divisive politics.

It coincided with a campaign by Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi to reduce Iraq’s patronage system, another move which could help rebuild a security apparatus riven

with graft and mismanagement, but also risks further splits.

Abadi sacked a third of his cabi-net on Sunday. On Tuesday he ordered the positions of advisers hired as contractors in ministries to be eliminated and limited the number of advisers for himself, the president, and the parliamen-tary speaker to fi ve each.

The reforms follow weeks of street protests in Baghdad and southern cities demanding better government services and a call by leading cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani to “strike with an iron

fi st” against corruption. They are the biggest move yet by Abadi to strengthen his hand, even as near-ly a third of Iraq’s territory has fallen to IS and the central gov-ernment faces a fi nancial crisis from the collapsing price of its oil exports. The parliamentary report alleged that Maliki had an inaccu-rate picture of the threat to Mosul because he chose commanders who engaged in corruption and failed to hold them accountable. Maliki, who had previously ac-cused unnamed countries, com-manders and rival politicians of plotting the city’s fall, on Tues-day blamed Turkish and Iraqi Kurdish leaders.

“What happened in Mosul was a conspiracy planned in Ankara, then the conspiracy moved to Erbil,” he said in a second Face-book post, referring to the capi-tals of neighbouring Turkey and the Kurdistan Regional Govern-ment (KRG), a semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq whose forces have taken a leading role in battling IS.

The report criticised the Turk-

ish consul in Nineveh, of which Mosul is the capital, for alleged links to IS, and Kurdish peshmer-ga fi ghters accused of confi scating weapons and ammunition aban-doned by the military.

The consul was seized after Mosul’s fall but released three months later following nego-tiations. Turkish offi cials from Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu down have repeatedly and cate-gorically denied supporting radi-cal groups including IS.

KRG Spokesman Safeen Dizay-ee said Erbil respected the panel’s fi ndings and accused Maliki of trying to shift blame away from himself. The Kurds have said the president of Iraq’s Kurdistan re-gion, Massoud Barzani, warned Baghdad that Mosul was in dan-ger shortly before its fall but Ma-liki refused their assistance.

The army’s collapse in Mosul left the Baghdad government de-pendent on militias, many funded and assisted by neighbouring Iran, to defend the capital from the radical insurgents and recap-ture lost ground. — Reuters

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

UN supports push for Syrian peace plan after deadly raidsBEIRUT: The UN Security Council has backed a push for Syrian peace talks in a rare show of unity after widespread con-demnation of regime air strikes that killed nearly 100 people.

Analysts said the vote showed new resolve to address Syria’s confl ict, but cautioned it was only a fi rst step and that serious dif-ferences between the two sides remained. The Security Council statement, the fi rst of its kind in two years, urges a political tran-sition and backs a plan to create working groups to discuss ending the war. It was approved hours af-ter UN offi cials, including peace envoy for Syria Staff an de Mistu-ra, expressed horror at regime air strikes that killed nearly 100 people in a rebel-held town near Damascus.

On Tuesday, Syria’s govern-ment hit back at de Mistura’s crit-icism, accusing him of “making statements that lack objectivity”.

The 16-point council statement backed an approach outlined by de Mistura last month after talks with parties to the four-year confl ict. It proposes four work-ing groups with members from the government and opposition to discuss safety and protection, counterterrorism, political and legal issues and reconstruction.

The council urged “a Syrian-led political process leading to a political transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the

Syrian people”. It called for “an inclusive transitional governing body with full executive powers” to be formed with “mutual con-sent while ensuring continuity of governmental institutions”.

It made no mention of Presi-dent Bashar Al Assad, whose fu-ture has long been a sticking point in peace talks.

Assad and his backers say he was legitimately elected and can-not be forced aside, but the oppo-sition insists his departure must be part of any peace deal.

The vote follows a fl urry of diplomatic activity led by regime backer Moscow, which in recent weeks hosted Syrian opposition

fi gures and offi cials from Saudi Arabia, a key opposition backer.

The council’s vote refl ects “an unanimity that is unprecedented for several years,” said analyst Ka-rim Emile Bitar, a senior fellow at the IRIS think tank in Paris.

“I think it refl ects a common awareness of the general state of fatigue in both parties, the fa-tigue and even exhaustion of both sides,” he said.

But Bitar said the plan was only a “fi rst step”.

“At this stage, neither side is willing to make additional con-cessions that could allow this rapprochement to have concrete eff ects on the ground.” — AFP

N A T I O N A T W A R

HEAVY BOMBARDMENT: A worker walks on debris following an air strike on Yemen’s Hodeida port on

Tuesday. – Reuters

SCAN THIS QR CODE TO INSTANTLY VISIT

ARTICLE, PHOTOS

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

IN TROUBLED WATERS: Iraq’s

former Prime Minister Nuri Al

Maliki. – AFP

HELPING HAND: United Nations (UN) Humanitarian Chief and

Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien chats with a Syr-

ian refugee girl inside a tent at a makeshift settlement in Saad-

nayel in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley on Monday. – Reuters

Donatella Rovera, Senior crisis response adviser at Amnesty International

A8

INDIAW E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley does not want to say that India is not growing at a rapid pace. He has changed the way the GDP is measured. The whole world is saying what have you done?

Rahul Gandhi, Congress vice president

Kochi airport world’s fi rst to run on solar power

KOCHI: Scripting a new chapter, the Cochin International Airport here on Tuesday became the fi rst in the world to operate complete-ly on solar power.

Kerala Chief Minister Oom-men Chandy inaugurated the 12 MWp solar power plant, compris-ing 46,150 solar panels laid across 45 acres near the cargo complex, at a function at the airport on Tuesday. With this, the airport will have 50,000 to 60,000 units of electricity per day to be con-sumed for all its operational func-

tions, which technically makes the airport ‘absolutely power neutral,’ Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL)said in a release, adding, it is the fi rst air-port in the world to operate com-pletely on solar power.

CIAL had ventured into the So-lar PV sector during March 2013, by installing a 100 kWp solar PV Plant on the roof top of the Arrival Terminal Block.

This was a trendsetter in the fi eld of grid-connected solar PV in Kerala. The plant was installed by

the Kolkata-based Vikram Solar Pvt.Ltd. A total of 400 polycrys-talline modules of 250Wp with fi ve numbers of 20kW capacity ‘Refu-sol make string inverters’ were used in this plant.

It is a grid connected system without any battery storage. Af-ter the successful commissioning of this plant, CIAL installed a 1 MWp solar PV power plant partly on the roof top and partly on the ground in the Aircraft Mainte-nance Hangar facility within the airport premises. - PTI

T R E N D S E T T E R

PM targets Nitish, announces package for poll-bound Bihar

ARRAH (Bihar): In a major pre-poll sop for Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday an-nounced package of Rs1.25 lakh crore, promising that the state will touch new heights of development if the BJP is voted to power.

Modi also hit out at Chief Min-ister Nitish Kumar for putting the prestige of Bihar at stake for his political gains by pleading with the previous UPA government for packages and getting only Rs12,000 crore.

“I am here today to fulfi l my promise to you. I am announc-ing a package of Rs1.25 lakh crore for Bihar. Now you give me your blessings to change the fate of Bi-har... Only development will ben-efi t the state and eradicate its pov-erty. Bihar will touch new heights of development,” he said at a gov-ernment function where several projects were launched.

Modi also made it clear that the Rs1.25 lakh crore package will be in addition to the ongoing devel-opment projects worth Rs40,657 crore, announced previously.

Banking on developmentAmid high-stakes Assembly elec-tion, BJP is banking heavily on the Centre’s development pack-age to wrest power from Kumar, its one time ally-turned-rival, who has now joined hands with Lalu Prasad’s RJD to take on the saf-fron combine.

Attacking Kumar for his claim that Bihar was no longer a ‘Bi-maru’ state as claimed by Modi in his previous rally in Bihar, Modi wondered why the chief minis-

ter had been seeking packages all the time.

“Our chief minister turned very angry and said who is Modi to call Bihar a ‘bimaru’ state. He said with authority that Bihar is no longer a bimaru state. If it is true, then I will be the happiest person. I welcome this.

“Tell me, if somebody is healthy,

will he go to a doctor. If some-body’s stomach is full, will he go anywhere seeking food? I am surprised that on the one hand he says Bihar is not Bimaru and on the other he keeps asking for something or the other.

Let the people of Bihar decide,” Modi, accompanied by many un-ion ministers, said.

Later addressing a rally in Sa-harasa, the Prime Minister cited latest state government crime fi gures to argue that Bihar was already hearing the footsteps of ‘jungle raaj’, a jibe at Kumar’s al-liance with Lalu Prasad’s RJD, whose government in the 90s was criticised for the poor law and or-der situation.

Between January and June 2015, heinous crimes had risen by 34 per cent and murders by 46 per cent across the state, he said, adding these were signs of ‘jungle raaj’. Numbers of riots had increased by 72 per cent, he said.

“Tell me, these are signs of jun-gle raaj or not. Your life will be-come diffi cult or not... You give us power in Patna and we will sort out all your problems,” the prime minister said.

Lashing out at Kumar, Modi said he has “sat in the lap” of Congress which had jailed Jayaprakash Narayan and called it a “betrayal” with the socialist leader.

“I have announced a Rs1.25 lakh crore package to change the fate of Bihar, to make a ‘naya’ Bi-har. I assure you that I will change the face of Bihar,” he told a rally as he sought their votes for the BJP-led NDA.

Talking of Kumar’s decision to split with BJP in 2013, which Modi dubbed as a betrayal with the saff ron party and the people of Bihar, the Prime Minister said he ran to the then UPA government off ering his support to it if the state was given a package.

“He got Rs 12,000 crore and began dancing over it. This pack-age played with the self-respect of Bihar... The total package I have given is Rs1.65 lakh crore,” Modi said, underlining that the Rs1.25 crore package was in addition to several projects worth Rs40,000 crore announced earlier.

The Prime Minister also made a mention of 2008 Kosi fl oods, which had badly hit the region, and targeted Kumar for return-ing Rs5 crore cheque sent to Bi-har by him as the then Gujarat Chief Minister.

“Is this behaviour appropriate in public life? People in the Kosi region may die but I will not leave my arrogance.

“Those who cannot leave their arrogance should be left or not?,” he said, without naming the chief minister.

Kumar had returned the cheque after Modi put out advertise-ments in Bihar newspapers about it, which he saw as an attempt by the BJP leader to build his politi-cal capital.

This was Modi’s third rally in Bihar and fi rst in the Mithila re-gion, which the NDA had swept in the Lok Sabha polls. - PTI

Narendra Modi

announced a

whopping Rs1.25

lakh crore for Bihar,

promising the

state will touch

new heights of

development if the

BJP is voted to power

MAJOR PRE-POLL SOP: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Union Transport and Highways Minister

Nitin Gadkari during the laying of the foundation stone of four-lane Patna-Buxar road and a bridge

parallel to Abdul Bari Bridge over river Sone at Koilwar near Ara on Tuesday. - PTI

PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday rub-bished Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election-eve Rs 1.25 lakh crore special package as “repackaging of old projects” and took him on for branding the state as Bimaru.

Kumar also assailed Modi’s manner of announcing the economic package, contending it looked like it was “an auc-tion of Bihar”.

“How many times will you slaughter a chicken. He has re-packaged old projects,” Kumar told reporters, barely an hour after Modi had left the state after announcing the package for state’s economic revival.

The bonhomie on display in the morning when Kumar had gone to receive Modi at the airport had vanished as he tore into the prime minister’s claims about building a ‘naya Bihar’.

“He talks about cooperative federalism but does exactly the opposite. He will humili-ate the state government, call it incompetent... What kind of cooperative federalism is this?”he said. On PM’s remark that Kumar had pleaded with the erstwhile UPA government for a Rs 12,000 crore package and also Modi’s“arrogant” barb against him, the Bihar chief minister said, “He calls

me a ‘Yachak’ (supplicant) and an arrogant man at the same time. This is contradictory.” Kumar once again trashed Modi’s Bimaru(Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh) remark to describe Bihar.

“Bihar government has built 66,500 km roads, over 5000 bridges, brought down school dropout rate to 1.5 per cent from 12.5 per cent and footfall at primary health centres has gone up to 11,000 every month from mere 39 in 2005,” he said,rejecting the laggard tag and presenting the picture of a turnaround under his stew-ardship. - PTI

Nitish trashes Modi’s package, says it’s only ‘repackaging’

Modi government is working only for capitalists: RahulAMETHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday made a scath-ing attack on the Narendra Modi government, accusing it of work-ing only for the sake of capitalists.

The Congress, he said, could alone protect the interests of the country for which the party needs to be strengthened. “Narendra Modi government is working only for the sake of capitalists,” the Congress Vice President said while interacting with people in Pure Ladai village during a two-day visit to his Lok Sabha constitu-ency, which began on Tuesday.

Referring to the Centre’s Land Acquisition Bill, he alleged that the NDA government wanted to grab the land of the farmers through this legislation “but Con-gress went hammer and tongs against the measure and opposed it”. At the same time, he said his party could not meet the aspira-tions of the people to the desired extent as it was not in power at the Centre or Uttar Pradesh.

Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday also made light of Prime Minister

Narendra Modi’s announcement of a Rs1.25 lakh crore package for poll-bound eastern Indian state of Bihar, saying he is in the habit of giving such promises for votes and feared it would go the “One Rank One Pension” way.

The Congress Vice President also said that Modi has funds for Bihar package, but when it comes to ex-servicemen, he cites shortage of money. “He has money for for-eign trips, but not for our jawans.”

Hours after Modi announced the Bihar package at a rally in the state, Rahul on visit to his Lok Sabha constituency pilloried the prime minister and said he would not be surprised if he announces a similar package for north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh before it goes to polls which is due in 2017.

“Modi had promised OROP dur-ing Lok Sabha elections. Has the promise been fulfi lled?” Rahul re-torted when his comments were sought on Modi’s Bihar package.

Ex-servicemen are agitating in Delhi for implementation of Gov-ernment’s promise of One Rank,

One Pension(OROP). Rahul was talking to reporters in Raniganj village in Shukulbazar on the fi rst day of his visit.

On his fi rst visit to Amethi after the Monsoon session of Parlia-ment which saw Congress creating

a storm over issues like Vyapam scam, Lalit Modi row and Land Acquisition Bill, Rahul also made a scathing attack on the Modi gov-ernment, accusing it of working only for the sake of capitalists.

“Modi spoke about package in

Bihar. By making such promises, time is wasted.

“He speaks and people listen and then comes another promise. BJP and Modi ji think that the whole world lives in dreams.

“But the world works to earn

their money and this is a joke that is happening. And they are think-ing that the countrymen will not understand this. Give them 1.5 lakh crore rupees and they will be in agreement... That if they (peo-ple) are made promises of job, they will fall (for them),” he said at an interaction with locals.

The Congress leader reminded people of Modi’s promise of getting back black money from abroad and depositing Rs1.5 million in the bank account of every citizen on coming to power.

“What happened to the prom-ise,” he posed, adding Modi was only luring the people of Bihar by promising a bountiful package.

Rahul also charged the Modi government with changing the parameters of measuring the economic growth to claim that it was growing at a good rate. “Fi-nance Minister Arun Jaitley does not want to say that India is not growing at a rapid pace. “He has changed the way the GDP is meas-ured. The whole world is saying what have you done?” he said. - PTI

P O L I T I C S

Moody’s fl ags monsoon risks, cuts growth forecast to 7%

NEW DELHI: Cautioning that slow reforms pace could dent growth, Moody’s Investors Ser-vice on Tuesday cut India’s growth forecast for this fi scal to around 7 per cent from 7.5 per cent projected earlier, citing below-normal rainfall.

“We have revised our GDP growth forecast down to around 7 per cent in light of a drier-than-average monsoon although rainfall was not as low as feared at the start of the season,”

Moody’s Investors Service said in its ‘Global Macro Outlook for 2015-16’.Saying India’s growth outlook is resilient beyond short-term monsoon eff ects, Moody’s has retained growth forecast for 2016-17 at 7.5 per cent.

“One main risk to our forecast is the pace of reforms slows sig-nifi cantly as consensus behind the need for reforms weakens once the least controversial aspects of the government’s plan have been im-plemented,” Moody’s said.

Political logjamThe key reforms legislation with regard to GST and land acquisition could not be passed by Parliament in the monsoon session because of political logjam. Moody’s growth projection is lower than the esti-mates of International Monetary Fund, which projected India to grow at 7.5 per cent in 2015-16.

Both Moody’s and IMF’s growth projections, however, are lower than the estimates of the Finance Ministry and RBI.

The Ministry expects GDP growth to be 8-8.5 per cent while the RBI has pegged it at 7.6 per cent for 2015-16.

Moody’s Sovereign Rating Ana-lyst Atsi Sheth said: “We reiterate that at 7 per cent, we are forecast-ing India to be among the fastest-growing large emerging markets this year. And we expect growth to accelerate by next year.”

Sheth said the GDP forecast hinges on three parameters.

First, the recent macro-eco-nomic and bank credit growth data,which shows economic indi-cators are moving in a positive di-rection, albeit slowly.

Second, although this year’s monsoon is less weak than origi-nally anticipated, its performance was such that a signifi cant boost to rural incomes is unlikely in the near term, limiting an important driver of growth in India. - PTI

E C O N O M Y

INTERACTION: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi interacts

with people in Shukul Bazar during his Amethi visit on Tuesday. -PTI

The Congress Vice

President said that Modi

has funds for Bihar

package, but when it

comes to ex-servicemen,

he cites shortage of

money. ‘He has money

for foreign trips, but

not for our jawans’

A9

INDIAW E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

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Landslide kills seven in Himachal Pradesh

KULLU: Seven people were killed and nine injured on Tuesday when boulders and debris rolled down a hillside onto a famous Sikh shrine at Manikaran in Kul-lu district of Himachal Pradesh, offi cials said.

The sanctum sanctorum is safe.“Seven people were killed and

nine injured in the landslide. Part of the residential area in the shrine is badly damaged,” Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kanwar said over phone.

A mound of boulders and de-bris from the hill atop the eight-storeyed residential complex got dislodged due to the recent heavy rain and struck it around 2pm.

Rescue personnel from the Sa-shastra Seema Bal (SSB), police and the Indo-Tibetan Border Po-lice (ITBP) were involved in the

relief and rescue operation.SSB offi cial Sandeep Yadav told

reporters that a huge boulder hit the building, badly damaging 3-4 rooms in four fl oors.

A majority of the debris fell into the Parvati river, fl owing near the building. He said the entire area has been vacated as there were chances of more landslides.

Rescue worker Pankaj Goswa-mi said there was a stampede-like condition at the time of the inci-dent. He said there were no de-tails about the number of people staying in the residential complex at the time of the landslide.

“At present, a search is on to locate the people, if any, bur-ied under the mound of debris,” he added.

Sanctum sanctorum safeOffi cial sources said the sanctum sanctorum and the temple located in its vicinity were safe.

The Manikaran shrine, located in the Parvati Valley along the banks of the Parvati river, is some 50km from the Kullu district headquarters and 250 from state capital Shimla.

The river is also on spate these days due to heavy rain in its catch-ment. The area is also known for its hot springs of water with high sulphur concentration.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Min-ister Virbhadra Singh expressed grief over the incident.

This was a second major trag-edy in the vicinity of the Mani-karan shrine.

An overcrowded tourist bus from Punjab bound for the Sikh shrine with 69 passengers on-board skidded off the road and fell into the swollen Parvati river on July 23.

Eighteen bodies have been taken out so far, while 23 were rescued.The remaining 28 people and the bus are still missing. - IANS

A mound of boulders

and debris from

the hill atop the

eight-storeyed

residential complex

got dislodged due to

heavy rain

DAMAGED: The damaged building of the famous Sikh shrine

Gurdwara Manikaran Sahib is pictured at Manikaran, in the Kullu

district of Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday. - AFP

Jaitley launches SBI’s mobile wallet ‘Buddy’MUMBAI: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tues-day launched the State Bank Of India’s mobile wallet ‘Bud-dy’ and said technological ad-vances would change the habits of consumers.

“There are millions of people who will no longer have to rely on passbooks, and cheque books will become outdated due to mobile wallet.... Cash transactions will go down and expenditure will be-come easier,” he remarked.

Available in 13 Indian languag-

es, the ‘Buddy’ application can be used by all customers irrespective of the bank they bank with or the card they use.

With features like send money, ask money, send reminders to set-tle dues, transfer additional cash into an account of the customer’s choice free of cost, Buddy has been launched on Google Play-store. It will soon be available on Apple app stores.

It can be used for recharge, pay bills instantly, book movie tickets, fl ights, hotels and shop-

ping with secure and convenient digital payments.

Jaitley also unveiled the bank’s subsidiary SBI Foundation’s web-site, set up for implementing the SBI Group’s Corporate Social Re-sponsibility activities.

The SBI Foundation will pro-mote and help the causes re-lated to education, environment, health, women empowerment and child welfare and other such activities under the ambit of CSR and sustainability policy of the entire SBI Group.

Speaking on the occasion, Jay-ant Sinha, minister of state for fi nance, said it was not the money but management approach, sta-ble relationship and performance contracts that were far more im-portant in funding of Non-Gov-ernmental Organisations.

On the occasion, Jaitley felici-tated Dr. Huzaifa Khorakiwala, executive director and trustee of Wockhardt Foundation for its ex-emplary work in the area of sani-tation and construction of toilets in record time. - IANS

A P P L I C A T I O N

President’s wife passes awayNEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee’s wife Suvra Mukher-jee, who has been ailing for some time, passed away on Tuesday.

Suvra, an accomplished Ra-bindra Sangeet singer, was 74.

The First Lady, who remained hospitalised for 11 days, breathed her last at 10.51am at the Army Re-search and Referral Hospital here.

“It is informed with deep sor-row that First Lady Smt. Suvra Mukherjee passed away this morning (August 18, 2015). She left for her heavenly abode at 10.51am,” Rashtrapati Bhawan spokesman Venu Rajamony said in a statement.

Army Hospital Suvra was admitted to the Army Hospital on August 7 after she complained of breathlessness and discomfort. Since then she was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Besides her husband, Suvra is sur-

vived by two sons Abhijit Mukher-jee, a Congress MP, and Indrajit Mukherjee and one daughter Sharmistha, who unsuccessfully contested the Delhi Assembly elections on a Congress ticket.

Pranab got married to Suvra on July 13,1957. The First Lady hailed from Jessore, now in Bangladesh, and had migrated to Kolkata at the age of 10 years. - PTI

F I R S T L A D Y

Suvra Mukherjee

A10

PAKISTAN W E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

ENJOYING TAXI RIDEA child looks out of the window of a pickup being used as a taxi in Peshawar, Pakistan on Tuesday. — Reuters

MQM lawmaker Godil critically injured in Karachi gun attack

KARACHI: Four attackers on motorcycles opened fi re on the car of a Pakistani lawmaker on Tues-day, critically wounding him and killing his driver in an attack that raised tensions in the country’s largest city Karachi.

Rashid Godil, a legislator from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) opposition party, was in his parked car at a traffi c light in the eastern Bahadurabad neigh-bourhood when the unidentifi ed men began fi ring.

“The attackers came from be-hind the car and opened fi re, injur-ing Rashid Godil critically,” Abid Kaimkhani, a senior police offi cer, told AFP. Godil’s driver died in the attack, he added.

Senior police offi cer Javed Jis-

kani told media that bullet casings taken from the scene matched a 9mm pistol, adding that CCTV footage was being examined.

A spokesman at the Liaquat National Hospital, where Godil was taken, said the politician was

struck by fi ve bullets to his head, jaw and chest and a team of doc-tors was trying to stabilise him.

Senior MQM leader Haidar Ab-bas Rizvi said the next 48 hours would be crucial for Godil.

The shooting comes a week af-

ter members of the MQM, which dominates politics in Karachi, of-fered their resignations from their seats in parliament over what they described as a campaign of victim-isation against them.

The resignations have not yet been formally accepted by the gov-ernment of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which is trying to get the party to reverse its decision.

The party denies the charges

and says it has been unfairly tar-geted in a police and paramilitary crackdown on violence in the city that began in 2013.

Shops and offi ces closed for business in the east of the city after the news, while the University of Karachi postponed examinations that were to be held in the evening.

Tensions have also been ris-ing in recent months between MQM chief Altaf Hussain, who rules the party from London, and the country’s powerful military establishment.

Mutilated bodiesThe rift widened in June, when Hussain, in an address to his workers accused the paramilitary Rangers of torturing and killing party workers and dumping their mutilated bodies on roadsides.

The party has accused law en-forcement agencies of the extraju-dicial killing of 40 of its supporters and the forcible “disappearance” of 150 more.

The attack also comes two days after suicide bombers killed Shuja Khanzada, a senior Pakistani pro-vincial minister who had cam-paigned against militants, along with 15 others attending a meeting in the country’s north.

It was later claimed by the Pa-kistani Taliban who said it was re-venge for the killing of a sectarian militant commander. — AFP

A spokesman at the

Liaquat National

Hospital, where Godil

was taken, said the

politician was struck

by fi ve bullets to his

head, jaw and chest

and a team of

doctors was trying

to stabilise him

BULLET HOLES: Police look at the bullet holes in the car of Abdul Rashid Godil, a member of the Mut-

tahida Qaumi Movement after he was shot at, at a hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, on Tuesday. — Reuters

The shooting comes a

week after members

of the Muttahida

Qaumi Movement,

Karachi, offered their

resignations from their

seats in parliament over

what they described

as a campaign of

victimisation

against them

ARY media group to take over Bol TV

KARACHI: ARY Digital Network CEO Salman Iqbal on Tuesday an-nounced the company’s takeover of now defunct Bol TV’s manage-ment, Express News reported.

Vowing to get the channel on ca-ble, the founder of ARY group said the media group would launch the channel within three weeks.

Terming the move to take over Bol as second biggest revolution in the media industry in Paki-stan after the announcement of the launch of channel, Iqbal said the basic aim of the move was to provide job security to the thou-sands of workers who lost their jobs when Bol TV was not allowed to launch due to its link with the tainted Axact. “We cannot let thousands of people stay unem-ployed,” he added.

Addressing the gathering at Bol TV studio, he said, “We are not here to take down anyone.” Iqbal added that their fi rst priority will be to clear Bol TV’s dues.

He further said that there is no agenda behind take over of Bol.

In May, the information and broadcasting ministry had asked the country’s media regulatory body to block Bol TV transmis-sions until the investigation into the channel’s parent company Ax-act is complete. - Express Tribune

D E F U N C T C H A N N E L

Malala to appear on US talk show host Ellen’s programmeISLAMABAD: The youngest change activist in the world — Malala Yousafzai — is claiming a foothold in the west as she is all set to appear on The Ellen DeGe-neres Show with none other than Hillary Clinton.

Host Ellen DeGeneres took to Twitter to announce the partici-pation of the Noble Prize winner along with the United States’ presidential candidate and a for-mer US Olympic star during the show’s premiere week.

Malala previously appeared on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show — that aired it’s last episode earlier this month.

Nobel laureateNothing that Malala Yousafzai achieves seems startling anymore but she continues to make Paki-stan proud. The youngest-ever Nobel laureate has also been a part of George Washington Uni-versity’s Leadership Programme.

Malala has also made it to Time Magazine’s 100 Most Infl uential List twice.

Time presented its annual list in April, naming the most infl uen-tial people worldwide, including artists and leaders to pioneers, titans and icons.

The 17–year-old was listed in

the ‘Icons’ category of the list with other renowned person-alities, including Pope Franics, writer Haruki Murakami, design-er Diane von Furstenburg and others. — Express Tribune

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

Malala Yousafzai Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres took to Twitter to announce the

participation of the Noble Prize winner along with

the United States’ presidential candidate

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Debris of doomed Indonesia plane found; no survivors

JAKARTA: All 54 people on board a Trigana Air aircraft were killed in a crash two days ago in Indonesia’s Papua province, the latest in a string of aviation disas-ters in the Southeast Asian archi-pelago, offi cials said on Tuesday.

Major-General Heronimus Guru, operations director at In-donesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, told a news con-ference in the capital the passen-gers’ remains were being put into body bags but poor weather had hampered eff orts to recover them by air.

Cause of crashOffi cials have declined to com-ment on the cause of Sunday’s crash until the results of an inves-tigation by the national transport safety committee are known, but Guru said the terrain in Indone-sia’s easternmost province may have been a factor.

“There’s a possibility the air-craft hit a peak and then fell into a ravine because the place that it was found in is steep,” he said.

The treacherous terrain of forest-covered ridges hampered rescuers’ eff orts to reach the site where the Trigana Air Service ATR 42-300 plane came down.

The aircraft’s black box fl ight

recorder, which should provide investigators with some answers, was found in the early afternoon. The device will be taken to Oksibil town tomorrow, depending on the weather, Guru said.

Television broadcast footage of rescuers in camoufl age fa-tigues and surgical masks hack-ing through foliage and sifting through debris at the crash site as a helicopter hovered overhead.

There were 44 adult passen-gers, fi ve children and infants and fi ve crew on the short-haul fl ight from provincial capital Jayapura south to Oksibil.

The twin turboprop aircraft was also carrying about $470,000 as part of a village assistance pro-gramme.

Flown by airPoor infrastructure in the prov-ince means aid money is often fl own in by air, said Abu Sofj an, spokesman for the national postal service, four of whose workers were among the passengers.

There was no suggestion the

money was somehow linked to the crash.

Five members of the Bintang Highlands district parliament and government were also on board, online news service detik.com reported. Reuters was not able to verify the report.

All on board were Indonesian, offi cials have said.

Banned carriersOffi cials of Trigana, placed on a European Union list of banned carriers since 2007 over safety or regulatory concerns, were not im-mediately available for comment.

The aircraft made its fi rst fl ight 27 years ago, online database Avi-ation Safety Network says. Triga-na Air Service has a fl eet of 14 air-craft, which are 26.6 years old on average, according to the airfl eets.net database.

Trigana has had 14 serious in-cidents since it began operations in 1991, Aviation Safety Network says. Besides the latest crash, it has written off 10 aircraft.

Indonesia has a patchy avia-

tion record, with two other major crashes in the past year.

In December, an AirAsia fl ight went down in the Java Sea, killing all 162 on board.

More than 100 people died in June in the crash of a military transport plane.

Indonesia scored poorly on a 2014 safety audit by the UN avia-tion agency, largely because its Ministry of Transportation is un-derstaff ed, said two sources famil-iar with the matter, as the country struggles to cope with the rapid expansion of air travel. — Reuters

Major-General

Heronimus Guru,

operations director at

Indonesia’s National

Search and Rescue

Agency, said in the

capital Jakarta that

the passengers’

remains were being

put into body bags

but poor weather had

hampered eff orts to

recover them by air

BLACK BOX: An Indonesian soldier is seen holding the recovered

‘black box’ fl ight data recorder from the Trigana Air ATR 42-300

aircraft crash site in the mountainous area of Oksibil on Tuesday.

— AFP/INDONESIAN ARMY CENDRAWASIH MILITARY COMMAND

Iran set to buy four Russian surface-to-air missiles

DUBAI: Iran will sign a contract with Russia next week to buy four S-300 surface-to-air missile sys-tems, the Iranian defence minister said on Tuesday, bringing Tehran closer to acquiring an advanced air defence capability.

Russian state arms producer Almaz-Antey in June said it would supply Iran with a modernised version of the S-300, among the world’s most capable air defence systems, once a commercial agree-ment was reached.

“The text of the contract is ready and our friends will go to Russia next week to sign the contract,” Defence Minister Hossein Deh-ghan was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.

Russia says it cancelled a con-tract to deliver S-300s to Iran in 2010 under pressure from the West. But President Vladimir Putin lifted that self-imposed ban in April following an interim nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Tuesday’s announcement came a day after Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Moscow to discuss the civil war in Syria, in which Tehran and Mos-cow support President Bashar Al Assad. Western powers and most Arab countries have called for As-sad to resign as part of a peace deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benja-min Netanyahu has expressed Is-rael’s “dismay” at Russia’s decision to supply the S-300s to Tehran.

Dehghan said Iran had initially planned to acquire three “battal-ions” of S-300 launchers, but had since increased its order to four.

He did not specify how many missile launchers would be in each battalion, a standard military grouping whose size can vary de-pending on nationality, equipment and role.

Pieter Wezeman, an arms ex-pert at the Stockholm Interna-tional Peace Research Institute, said each battalion was likely to be an independent unit comprising a radar system, control system, and an unknown number of launchers.

“With four battalions, they should be able to deploy missile systems in four diff erent loca-tions,” he said. The S-300, fi rst deployed at the height of the Cold War in 1979, can engage multiple aircraft and ballistic missiles up to 300 km away. — Reuters

S - 3 0 0

US, Britain push for UN sanctions on South SudanUNITED NATIONS/KAM-PALA: The United States and Britain pushed for UN sanctions Tuesday to punish South Sudan’s government over its failure to sign a peace deal as the Security Council weighed its next move to help end the nearly two-year war.

South Sudan rebel chief Riek Machar signed the power-shar-ing agreement late Monday but President Salva Kiir only initialed part of it and said he would return to the table in early September to fi nalise the accord.

The US envoy for political af-fairs, David Pressman, called the latest failure to end the 20-month confl ict “outrageous” and said it was time to pile pressure on those who are blocking a peace deal.

The council must “take ac-tion to mobilise our collective resources and increase pressure accordingly on those frustrating peace,” he added.

The US diplomat also called for steps to ensure that those re-sponsible for atrocities in the war -- which has killed tens of thou-sands -- face justice.

The accord was brokered by the eight-nation East African IGAD bloc, bolstered by the UN, the Eu-ropean Union, the African Union, China and other players -- includ-ing Britain and the United States.

“If the government will not sign up to the IGAD-plus deal, then we must all be fi rm on our next steps,” British Deputy Ambassador Peter Wilson told the 15-member council.

“We cannot sit by while lead-ers fi ght and their people’s suff ering grows.”

The council last month im-posed sanctions on six command-ers -- three from the government

forces and three from the rebels -- the fi rst to be blacklisted by the United Nations over the confl ict.

A travel ban and an assets freeze were slapped on the six men and the council is con-sidering adding new names to the sanctions list, as well as an arms embargo.

But China, which has oil inter-ests in South Sudan, said the gov-ernment should be allowed more time to come onboard.

“The best solution would be to reach an agreement,” said Chi-nese Ambassador Liu Jieyi.

South Sudan has been torn by fi ghting between forces loyal to Kiir and rebels allied with his Machar, his former deputy, since December 2013 and the violence has imploded along ethnic lines.

Nearly 70 percent of the country’s population is fac-

ing food shortages while nearly 200,000 civilians are sheltering in UN bases.

Earlier, Uganda told South Su-dan’s warring factions to put their egos aside and make peace.

Kiir asked for another 15 days of discussions, shrugging off pres-sure from regional mediators to meet a Monday deadline for a deal. His spokesman told journal-ists in Juba on Tuesday the pact on the table had been a “sell-out”, without going into details.

“The Ugandan government knows how strenuous it is to achieve peace between belliger-ents, especially when the belliger-ents have big egos and when those belligerents put their personal egos above national interests,” Ugandan government spokes-man Shaban Bantariza said in Kampala. — Agencies

C I V I L W A R

REMAINS: Indonesian rescuers search through wreckage of the

Trigana Air ATR 42-300 twin-turboprop plane at the crash site in

the mountainous area of Oksibil on Tuesday.— AFP

Indonesia has a patchy aviation record, with two

other major crashes in the past year. In December,

an AirAsia flight went down in the Java Sea, killing

all 162 on board. More than 100 people died in

June in the crash of a military transport plane

NO SIGN OF PEACE: South Sudan’s rebel leader Riek Machar, cen-

tre, shakes hand with South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, second

right, during a peace signing attended by leaders from the region

in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, on Monday. - Reuters

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William Pesek

For the Chinese government, November 2016 can’t arrive soon enough. Last week’s currency devaluation ensured Beijing will

serve as a political punching bag during America’s presidential campaign.

Donald Trump set the stage with tweets like “Devalue means suck the blood out of the United States!” and “I’ve been warning about China since as early as the 80’s. No one wanted to listen. Now our country is in real trouble.” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham called the devaluation “just the latest in a long history of cheating,” while Democratic Sen. Bob Casey urged the Treasury Department to label China a currency manipulator.

There’s a time-warp quality to this sort of China bashing. The assumption among some offi cials in Washington still seems to be that China is trying to boost its export machine at the expense of American workers. But China’s economic priorities -- and the motives for its economic policy -- have shifted dramatically in recent years.

If China were really trying to close factories in Detroit and Seattle, its devaluation would have been on the order of 15 per cent or 20 per cent, not a mere 3 per cent.

China is far more concerned about its service sector than manufacturing. Since 2013, services have generated a larger share of China’s growth than exports. And that share continues to grow: In the fi rst half of 2015, services accounted for 50 percent of GDP, a rise of 2.1 percent from a year earlier. The Chinese government, moreover, has reason to think it can outcompete American manufacturing, even in the absence of currency shenanigans. In the fi ve years prior to the devaluation, the yuan surged an infl ation-adjusted 33 percent against major trading partners. Chinese businesses nonetheless held their own against the competition.

o far this year, China’s share of global exports surged to an unprecedented 15 per cent from 8.7 percent fi ve years ago.

The reality is China’s devaluation was a response to fi nancial markets that have been trying to drive the yuan lower. Beijing probably also wanted to buy itself some breathing room to redouble its economic reform eff orts. It’s much easier to take on state-owned enterprises and

encourage the creation of new small-and-midsize services when giant exporters (a group SOEs dominate) are happy. Neither of these goals should cause unease in Washington. The fi rst (a market-determined yuan) is exactly what the White House has long recommended, while the second (a services boom) is something that can only help American manufacturers.

To be sure, there’s plenty of reasons to criticize Chinese trade practices. Nomura political analyst Alastair Newton has said that when the history of the early 21st century is written decades from now, the impact of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 may pale in comparison to another epochal moment that year: China’s entry into the World Trade Organisation.

The prevailing opinion had been that would force Beijing to play by global rules. Instead, China has been bending the international trading system to its own preferences. Global economic norms proved no match for China’s subsidies for politically-connected enterprises, questionable respect for intellectual property rights, state-sponsored computer hacking, opaque crackdowns on foreign companies and poor labour and environmental standards.

American offi cials can also fairly criticize Beijing for exporting pollution, allowing runaway military spending, engaging in provocations in the South China Sea, and supporting rogue regimes like North Korea.

But currency policy doesn’t deserve a prominent place on any such list.

In fact, U.S. offi cials should welcome China’s devaluation, and respond by requesting a diplomatic quid pro quo: We will look the other way (as we do with Japan) so long as you accelerate eff orts to expand service industries. A services boom in mainland China would mean more than just an increase in the number of companies like Alibaba hoping to trade on New York’s stock exchange. It would also mean increased living standards for China’s 1.3 billion people, which could mean more imports of American goods.

In economics, as in politics, you have to choose your battles, and China’s currency policy is a fair subject for debate. But if America’s presidential candidates choose to crudely criticize the yuan’s devaluation, it’s their own motives that should be examined, not China’s. —Bloomberg News

Source:National Centre for Statistics & Information

SHARKFISHING

In Oman, 2015(in tonnes)

601

761668February

March

April

Women will feel safer in taxis driven by femalesThis refers to the online story, ‘Call to allow Omani women to obtain licences for taxis’ (August 18). It’s a good idea as it will help our sisters feel safer on the road. Women in the region do not like to be transported by men. The taxis should be owned by companies and controlled by meters so that there is a fi xed charge. — Ahmed Al Habsi, Muscat

What’s wrong with women driving the taxis?This refers to the online story, ‘Call to allow Omani women to obtain licences for taxis’ (August 18). We already have Oma-ni women school bus drivers and learning licence instructors so what’s wrong with women driving taxis? I would feel safer and more secure and comfortable in a taxi driven by a woman.— Nabila Braganza, Muscat

Who cares about a plant that lived 130 million years ago?This refers to the online story, Plant from 130 million years ago is among ‘fi rst fl owers’ (August 18). I keep on seeing such articles on news portals everyday. How-ever, I cannot understand why such news stories are used. Who cares about a plant that lived 130 million years ago? Wouldn’t it be better if scientists looked into how natural phenomena like earthquakes can

be prevented? Or for that matter, how to end inequalities across the globe. It seems to me that such research studies are a means to gather funds. — Aslam Wahidi, Wadi Adai

T I M E S O F O M A NW E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5A12

US candidates are too fixated on China

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No tax on profi ts gained through shares of fi rmsMUSCAT: An offi cial source at the Ministry of Finance said the amendments to Article 8 of the Income Tax Law on Com-panies, issued under Royal Decree No 68/2000, stipulates that tax would not be imposed on profi ts gained by a compa-ny through shares in the capital of the other companies. The source added that amendment to Article 51 exempts universi-ties, colleges and private higher institutions from the tax.

1759 The French fl eet is destroyed by the British under “Old Dreadnought” Boscawen at the battle of Lagos Bay. 1870: Prussian forces defeat the French at the Battle of Gravelotte during the Franco-Prussian War.

1939: The fi lm The Wizard of Oz opens in New York City.

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Thinking of the civil-military ties as a zero sum game, the current

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bit.ly/pakistancivilianarmyties

MUHAMMAD ALI EHSAN

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Amazon’s hiring approach feels a little like the traditional law or

consulting fi rm set-up -- bring in lots of really smart young

people and work them hard. That arrangement has been unraveling lately in the law, but who’s to say it can’t work for another decade

or two at Amazon?bit.ly/workcultureatamazon

JUSTIN FOX

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Young women between the ages of 18 and 25 suff er from mild to severe malnutrition as they try to lose weight and look attractive to emulate international celebrities, ac-cording to doctors

AUGUST 2000

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SPECIALW E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

It may be a well-trodden route, but the migrants rely on Facebook and word-of-mouth to navigate their journeys, and even at the border they are confused when police stop them from passing, uncertain when or if they will be allowed to cross.

Sailing between hope and despair

EDOMENI (GREECE): Beyond the fi elds of sunfl owers on the other side of the railway tracks outside a small village in northern Greece, hundreds of refugees gath-er on a patch of litter-strewn earth beneath the beating sun, uncertain of what happens next.

Two stone blocks and half a dozen Macedonian policemen are the only border markings at what has become a funnelling point for tens of thousands of men, women and children taking this route to northern Europe in search of a better life.

After landing on the Greek is-lands from Turkey, many of the refugees and migrants are hurry-ing to the border without waiting for the authorities to issue them with offi cial travel documents, desperate to cross Serbia before Hungary fences off its border.

“As Syrian refugees, all of us feel lost,” says 29-year-old English teacher Ruba Mustafa.

After fl eeing her hometown, the IS militant group stronghold of Raqa in Syria, she lost all her be-longings in the crossing from Tur-key when she was forced to throw her bag into the sea when her boat started taking on water.

Travelling with her brothers and their wives, she does not know where they will end up.

“We’re searching for peace and a happy life, because in our country we lost this,” she says.

“We’re looking for a safe place where people will receive us as hu-man beings.”

While most of the 1,000-2,000 people crossing each day are Syrians, there is also an Afghan family, the youngest daughter playing with a blonde doll in the dirt, groups of men from Paki-stan and Iraq, and a tattooed Iranian couple who say they are fleeing persecution.

Every half hour, police wave through a group of 50-100 to catch a cross-country train towards Serbia. An offi cer ushers away a refugee who is off ering him a peach. What he needs, he says, is more resources.

“This is a big problem. Too many people.”

“Wolf”, 27, a professional ballet dancer from the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, fl ips through his notebook where he has recorded his journey in page after page of dream-like drawings: people traf-fi ckers depicted as wild beasts, tired feet, a swirl of faces.

“These are the faces of the peo-ple,” he says. “Some of them de-spair, some of them optimistic, some of them happy. You can see hope sometimes, sometime no.

“We don’t have a lot to lose now. We just keep going to our goal whatever.”

More than 160,000 refugees and migrants have landed this year in Greece, with Prime Minister Alex-is Tsipras saying the debt-ridden country is unable to cope.

Fellow EU member Hungary, which has already registered over 100,000 asylum seekers this year, plans to fi nish its anti-migrant fence on the Serbian border by the end of August.

The European Union has pledged new funding for what it calls the worst refugee crisis since World War II, but what little help there is on off er in Edomeni is made up of a small network of lo-cals handing out donated water, food and clothes, and a team from Medecins Sans Frontieres.

“Why are you helping us?” says one man after being given a small bottle of water. “We’re running

from war but nobody helped us since we entered Greece.”

Vasilis Tsartsanis, 42, organises local volunteers and began help-ing 11 months ago “when the bor-der was controlled by the mafi a” and migrants were being beaten and robbed. He believes closing Europe’s borders will not stop the refugees but will only leave them prey to human traffi ckers, gangs, and corrupt police.

Courage“Let’s be honest, let’s have a little courage and face the reality — they don’t have anything to lose, they can’t return back to Syria or Iraq so they will pass into Europe, they will fi nd a way,” he says.

Nearby an MSF psychologist plays games with a group of chil-dren in the hope of providing a rare sense of normality.

A young Syrian boy smiles and laughs and it is only when he is put in a wheelbarrow to be rolled across the border that it becomes clear he cannot walk, after he was hit by a bullet.

Many of the arrivals are from middle-class backgrounds, well-dressed and carrying smart-phones. “Some of them look like tourists,” says a Greek bus driver, a reminder that war can wrench anybody from their home.

It may be a well-trodden route, but the migrants rely on Facebook and word-of-mouth to navigate their journeys, and even at the border they are confused when police stop them from passing, uncertain when or if they will be allowed to cross.

Unwilling to fi ght for Presi-dent Bashar Al Assad’s regime, 24-year-old Omar Abdi fl ed Syria

and was smuggled across the land border with Turkey, paying 2,500 euros, sleeping in forests and on the street.

Without travel papers from the

Greek authorities he was not al-lowed to board a bus in Greece’s second city Thessaloniki, and like many others walked the 80 kilo-metre (50 mile) road, arriving ex-

hausted but somehow still smiling.“I don’t want to kill people, I just

want to study, not to carry weap-ons and guns, not to shoot people,” says the English literature gradu-

ate. “They destroyed our dreams, they destroyed my future.

“Most of us have suff ered a lot already. We are just doing our best to live a better life.” — AFP

While most of the

refugees taking

the illegal route to

northern Europe in

search of a better life

are Syrians, there

is also an Afghan

family, the youngest

daughter playing

with a blonde doll

in the dirt, groups of

men from Pakistan

and Iraq, and an

Iranian couple

DESPERATE MOVE: A migrant jumps off a small dinghy after arriving to the shores of the Greek island of Kos from Turkey on Tuesday. – AFP

LOOKING FOR A SAFE PLACE: Migrant children stand at the port of Kos, after Greek coast guard

intercepted them at sea between Greece and Turkey near Kos island on Tuesday. – AFP

FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL: Young Afghani migrants argue after small scale fi ght broke out between Syrian and Afghani refugees trying to

register with local authorities in the port of Mytilini on the island of Lebos, on Sunday. – AFP

IN SEARCH OF HAPPY LIFE: A migrant mother weeps while hugging

her son, after safely arriving to Kos island on Tuesday. – AFP

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Three held over bloggers’ murders

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s elite se-curity force on Tuesday arrested three suspected militants, includ-ing a British citizen who police said was the “main planner” of the murder of two prominent atheist bloggers.

Rapid Action Battalion spokes-

men said they arrested Touhidur Rahman, 58, and two other “active members” of group Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), which was banned in May over a series of kill-ings of bloggers.

“We’ve arrested them in the capital today. We can confi rm that Rahman is a Bangladesh-origin British citizen. He is the main planner of the attacks on Avijit Roy and Ananta Bijoy Das,” Major Maksudul Alam of the RAB said.

“He told us that he is a British citizen,” said Mufti Mahmood, the head of the RAB’s legal and media division.

Four secular bloggers have been hacked to death in Bangla-desh since the start of the year, including Roy and Das, sparking an international outcry and pro-tests mainly by secular activists in the capital.

Roy, a US citizen who was born in Bangladesh, was murdered in February by a gang wielding ma-chetes in Dhaka.

Das, 33, was killed in similar fashion as he headed to work at a bank in the northeastern city of

Sylhet on May 13. The government has vowed to hunt down the kill-ers after facing accusations that too little was being done to stop such attacks.

After studying IT, Rahman

worked for about 22 years in Brit-ain before moving to Bangladesh where he became a top aide to ABT’s fi rebrand spiritual leader, according to Mahmood.

“He came to Bangladesh in 2012

and did not go back. He told us that in England he lived in East Lon-don,” Mahmood said.

‘Main fi nancier’Police described the unmarried Rahman as the main planner of the attacks as well as the “main fi -nancier” of ABT, whose members are mostly students from private universities.

Rahman shadowed Roy and Das in the days before their deaths, af-ter ABT’s spiritual leader ordered the group to carry out the killings, according to Mahmood.

“He used to monitor the targets and their movements. He con-fessed to us that he also helped An-sarullah Bangla Team fi nancially in diff erent ways,” he said.

ABT’s spiritual leader is cur-rently in jail in connection with the killing of another blogger in 2013.

A British Foreign Offi ce spokes-man in London said it was aware of reports of a British citizen’s arrest and was seeking more information from Bangladeshi authorities.

The other two suspects ar-

rested are Sadek Ali, 28, who po-lice accuse of taking part in both murders and Aminul Mollick, 35, accused of helping ABT members fl ee the country by making them fake passports.

Bangladesh police last week also arrested two suspected mem-bers of the group for the murder of Niloy Chakrabarti, who became the fourth blogger to be killed when he was hacked to death at his home on August 7.

Chakrabarti, who used the pen-name Niloy Neel, had posted on Facebook months before his death that he had been followed by two men, but police refused to register the complaint and instead told him to leave the country.

The other victim was 27-year-old secular blogger Washiqur Rah-man, who was killed in Dhaka four months ago. Most secular bloggers have gone into hiding, often using pseudonyms in their posts and some have fl ed abroad.

Police were also investigating claims made by a third party that Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subconti-nent was behind the killings. - AFP

Bangladesh’s elite

security force

arrested three

suspected militants,

including a British

citizen who police

said was the ‘main

planner’ of murder

of two bloggersSUSPECTS: Bangladeshi Rapid Action Battalion personnel accom-

pany suspects Touhidur Rahman, second left, Sadek Ali, centre,

and Aminul Mallick, second right, who have been arrested for the

murder of two prominent atheist bloggers, during a media photocall

in Dhaka on Tuesday. - AFP

Rain in China blast city raises pollution fears

TIANJIN(China): Heavy rain fell on Tuesday on the remains of a Chinese industrial site dev-astated by giant explosions, com-plicating clean-up eff orts and heightening fears about toxic contamination as ceremonies were held to mark the disaster’s 114 deaths.

Around 700 tonnes of highly toxic sodium cyanide were at the site in the northern port of Tian-jin, offi cials say, and water could spread it more widely.

Rainwater could also disperse chemical residues on the ground into the air when it evaporates, and some of the many substances on the scene could react with it.

Amid public anger over the disaster more details about the site operator were reported and a senior work safety offi cial was put under investigation.

Offi cials have insisted the city’s air and water are safe, but locals and victims’ relatives have voiced scepticism, while international environment group Greenpeace has also urged transparency.

“I’m worried because we don’t know what’s in the rain,” said a taxi driver as he made his way through the morning deluge.”It could be full of poison.”

Out of 40 water testing points, eight showed excess levels of cyanide on Monday, all within a cordoned-off area surrounding the site of the blasts.

The highest reading was 28.4 times offi cial standards, said Bao Jingling, chief engineer at the

Tianjin environmental protec-tion bureau.

The chemical had been detect-ed at another 21 points and cya-nide traces were detected at four other seawater testing points, he added.

Authorities have built a dam of sand and earth around the blasts’ central 100,000-square-metre (120,000-square-yard) “core area” to prevent pollutant leak-age, Bao said, and drained water from pits and pipelines to make space for the rain.

Sodium cyanide, which has a variety of industrial uses includ-ing gold mining, is a toxic white crystal or powder. It can release hydrogen cyanide gas, used in gas chamber executions in the US.

Acute exposure at lower con-centrations can cause weakness, nausea and eye and skin irrita-tion while chronic exposure can aff ect the cardiovascular and central nervous systems, accord-ing to the US Environmental Pro-tection Agency.

“We are paying high atten-tion to the rain forecast for the coming couple of days,” Bao told reporters.

“We are making plans for the treatment of tens of thousands of tonnes of polluted water in the pit in the core area.”

The air would be “closely monitored” at 18 testing points, and if excessive levels of cyanide or organic compounds were de-tected the public would be alerted promptly, he promised. - Reuters

T O X I C C O N T A M I N A T I O N

SAMPLES: Soil samples taken from an area near last week’s ex-

plosions at a monitoring station to check for environmental pol-

lution located within a 3-km exclusion zone from the explosion

site in Binhai new district in Tianjin, China, on Tuesday. - Reuters

Protester shot dead in Nepal

KATHMANDU: Nepal police Tuesday fi red into a crowd of demonstrators, killing one dur-ing protests against a proposed new constitution, as deepening discord spurred lawmakers from a regional party to resign from parliament.

National police spokesman Kamal Singh Bam said the clash-es broke out in the southeastern district of Saptari when protest-ers tried to block a major national highway. Hundreds threw petrol

bombs and stones at security forces, attacking their vehicles and vandalising a local police sta-tion, he said.

“One person was killed and fi ve were injured after police were forced to fi re to control the vio-lent mob,” Bam said.

Regional parties representing the Madhesi ethnic minority who live in the area called an indefi -nite strike on Tuesday to protest plans in the constitution to divide Nepal into six provinces. - AFP

P R O P O S E D N E W C O N S T I T U T I O N

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WORLDW E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

AN ‘INTERESTING’ DIVE Russian President Vladimir Putin submerges on board C-Explorer 3 bathyscaphe into the waters of the Black Sea outside Sevastopol on Tuesday, to explore

sunken shipwrecks. Putin plunged down to a depth of 83 metres seated alongside the pilot in the glass-bubble cabin of the Dutch-made vessel. ‘Eighty three

metres is a pretty substantial depth,’ Putin told journalists in televised comments after the dive. ‘It was interesting.’ —AFP/RIA NOVOSTI/ALEXEI NIKOLSKY

Los Angeles-Havana fl ights to be launched

WASHINGTON: American Air-lines said Tuesday that it would begin weekly charter fl ights be-tween Los Angeles and Cuban capital Havana in December, as the long freeze between the two coun-tries continues to melt.

American would become the second major US airline to take ad-vantage of loosened restriction on travel between the two longtime enemies, after JetBlue launched direct charter fl ights between New York and Havana last month.

American has operated charters from Florida to Cuba since 1991 principally serving the large expa-triate Cuban community, but the new Los Angeles route recognises the rapidly expanding market for non-Cuban travelers.

“American is the premier carrier in Los Angeles and throughout the Caribbean, and this new charter fl ight shows how we continue to expand our reach by off ering new routes and services our customers want,” said senior vice president Art Torno. As with JetBlue, restrictions will still apply to American Airlines’ Cuba service: Tickets have to be sold through a separate, specially-authorised travel company rather than directly by the carrier; and regularly scheduled service is still prohibited. American’s tickets will be sold through Cuba Travel Servic-es, which has long handled tickets for the carrier’s charter fl ights from Florida. — AFP

C H A R T E R F L I G H T S

Rajapakse admits his comeback dream over

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s former strongman Mahinda Rajapakse admitted his dream of a political comeback was over Tuesday, con-ceding defeat in parliamentary elections while his victorious ri-val appealed for unity.

Only eight months after his shock defeat in presidential polls, Rajapakse acknowledged there would be no swift return to power in the role of prime minister af-ter the party of incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe took an unas-sailable lead.

“My dream of becoming prime

minister has faded away,” Raja-pakse told AFP in an early morn-ing phone interview.

“I am conceding. We have lost a good fi ght.”

While he had been bullish about his chances on polling day, Raja-pakse’s tone had changed sharply on Tuesday as he accepted his United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) had lost, long before the fi nal results.

The outcome represents an-other bitter blow for Rajapakse, who led Sri Lanka for a decade before he was dramatically ousted by his one-time ally Maithripala Sirisena in a January 8 presiden-tial election.

Since then, he has seen a welter of corruption accusations levelled

against him and his close rela-tives, including his wife.

“There were some who criti-cised me then (January) for con-ceding so early in the count, but I did it because it was the right thing to do,” Rajapakse said of the January polls. “This time too we have lost.”

“We have won eight districts and the UNP (ruling United Na-tional Party) has 11 (out of a to-tal of 22),” Rajapakse said. “This means we have lost. It was a dif-fi cult fi ght.”

No party appears to have se-cured an absolute majority of 113 seats in the 225-member parliament, which will force the new government to seek out smaller allies.

While stopping short of pro-claiming victory for his party, Wickremesinghe said the out-come was an endorsement of the “January 8 revolution” which brought him to power.

“I thank all those who worked for the victory of the peo-ple,” Wickremesinghe said in a statement.

“It is not necessary to divide the people as winners and losers. I urge all to unite and help build our nation.”

A top aide to the prime minister said the statement amounted to a de facto declaration of victory but Wickremesinghe did not want to strike a triumphant tone.

“He wants to play it down be-cause the thrust of the new gov-ernment is inclusiveness, unity and reconciliation,” the aide said.

Rajapakse remains hugely pop-ular among large sections of the majority Sinhalese community for presiding over the crushing defeat of Tamil guerrillas in 2009 after their 37-year war for a sepa-rate homeland.

But the 69-year-old remains a polarising fi gure on an island still struggling to come to terms with the past.

He was shunned by Western governments over the brutal end to the island’s ethnic confl ict, and remains deeply unpopular among its minorities.

The perception that nepotism and corruption fl ourished during his administration also damaged his political reputation. — AFP

Sri Lanka’s

former president

acknowledged there

would be no swift

return to power in the

role of prime minister

after the party of

incumbent Ranil

Wickremesinghe

took an unassailable

lead in the poll

DISAPPOINTED: Sri Lanka’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa,

third right, at a polling station on Monday. - Reuters

Plant from 130 million years ago is among ‘fi rst fl owers’MIAMI: An ancient plant that grew underwater in what is mod-ern day Europe, had no petals and bore one single seed may have been the world’s fi rst known fl owering plant, a study said on Monday.

“A ‘fi rst fl ower’ is technically a myth, like the ‘fi rst human,’” said paleobotanist David Dilcher, lead author of the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-re-viewed US journal.

“But based on this new analysis, we know now that Montsechia is contemporaneous, if not more an-cient, than Archaefructus (sinen-sis),” a similar aquatic plant found in China.

Scientists have known about Montsechia vidalii for a long time.

Its fossils were fi rst discovered

more than a century ago in the limestone deposits of the Iberian Range in central Spain and in the Montsec Range of the Pyrenees.

But Dilcher said many of the fossils were misinterpreted, be-cause Montsechia “possesses no obvious ‘fl ower parts,’ such as pet-als or nectar-producing structures

for attracting insects, and lives out its entire life cycle under water.”

The plant, which may have looked like seaweed that grew in freshwater, contains a single seed, which is the defi ning character-istic of a fl owering plant, or an-giosperm. Dilcher said the seed “is borne upside down.”

The stems and leaf structures of the plants “were coaxed from stone by applying hydrochloric acid on a drop-by-drop basis,” said the study.

The specimens were then ex-amined under a stereomicroscope, light microscope and scanning electron microscope.

They date to 125-130 million years ago, around the same time as dinosaurs such as the iguano-don and brachiosaurus roamed the Earth, the study added.

“The reinterpretation of these fossils provides a fascinating new perspective on a major mystery in plant biology,” said Donald Les, a professor of ecology and evolu-tionary biology at the University of Connecticut, who authored a com-mentary in the same journal. — AFP

R E S E A R C H

MAJOR FIND: Indiana University paleobotanist David Dilcher

and colleagues in Europe have identifi ed as a 125 million- to 130

million-year-old freshwater plant as one of earliest fl owering plants

on Earth. — AFP/Indiana University/David Dilcher

More than 1,000 fossils of the plant, called Montsechia

vidalii, were pored over for the new study, which

seems to oust a Chinese plant that has also been

considered among the first

First women to graduate from elite US Ranger SchoolWASHINGTON: Two American women will on Friday become the fi rst female soldiers to gradu-ate from the elite Ranger School combat leadership course, the military said.

Graduates of the training pro-gramme are some of the toughest and most physically fi t soldiers in the US Army, trained in airborne and air assault operations.

The women who graduate this week will still not be allowed to serve with the 75th Ranger Regi-ment, which has yet to lift its bar on female soldiers.

But women are increasingly be-ing permitted into combat roles in other US Army units.

The notoriously challenging Ranger School welcomed women for the fi rst time this year, follow-ing President Barack Obama’s 2013 request that the Pentagon order all branches of the armed forces to open up ground combat roles to women by 2016.

Lead organisations“Congratulations to all of our new Rangers. Each Ranger School graduate has shown the physical and mental toughness to success-fully lead organisations at any level,” said Secretary of the Army John McHugh.

“This course has proven that every soldier, regardless of gender, can achieve his or her full potential.”

Nineteen women began the rig-orous 61-day training programme

in April but most were eliminated -- along with many men -- and one was sent back to attempt part of the course again.

“We owe soldiers the opportu-nity to serve successfully in any position where they are qualifi ed and capable, and we continue to look for ways to select, train, and retain the best soldiers to meet our nation’s needs,” McHugh added.

Various phasesThe intense programme is divided into various phases that test sol-diers’ physical and mental tough-ness, some phases of which have to be repeated to pass.

Many candidates are weeded out in the fi rst four days of punish-ing marches, navigation drills and physical fi tness tests.

In all, students train some 20 hours per day, most of which is fi eld instruction, with just over three hours set aside for sleep, the US Army association reports.

Students patrol some 200 miles (320 kilometers) and carry up to 40 kilos (90 pounds) of equipment.

The progress of the women has been closely monitored by the military community, where the idea of female forces in combat is still a divisive issue. The exclusion of women from combat roles has been cited as a ceiling on female offi cers as it can in practice pre-vent them from reaching the high-est military ranks where combat experience is considered an indis-pensable qualifi cation. — AFP

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US ‘Batman’ killed after ‘Batmobile’ breaks down

WASHINGTON: A man known for dressing up in a Batman su-perhero costume to cheer up sick children in hospital was struck and killed on a US highway af-ter his “Batmobile” broke down, reports said.

Lenny Robinson, 51, had got out of his Lamborghini, customised to resemble the Caped Crusader’s “Batmobile”, on an unlit stretch of highway in Maryland Sunday night to check the engine when it was struck by another vehicle, slamming the car into him.

He died at the scene, The Wash-ington Post said.

Robinson, who lived in Mary-land and was a father of three boys, worked in the cleaning busi-ness before buying an elaborate Batman costume and car, The Post reported.

He spent his free time strid-ing into hospitals across the state, northwest of Washington, visiting sick children, handing out gifts and signing autographs as “Batman”.

Robinson spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on his super-hero-themed car and it took him 45 minutes to put on the outfi t and makeup, The Post reported.

Internet sensationHe became an Internet sensation in 2012 after police footage of him being pulled over in full costume for his Batman license plates went viral.

Asked why children so loved his character, he said, “Batman is the only superhero that doesn’t have superpowers.

“He’s naturally a superhero. Kids can relate to me a lot better.”

His grieving brother Scott told The Post that he was utterly dedi-cated to his charity work, “He was my brother, my business partner, my best friend.”

“He touched a lot of lives and made a lot of kids smile. That’s all he wanted to do.” — AFP

T R A G I C E N DThai forces hunt suspect with bomb-laden backpack

BANGKOK: Thai authorities said on Tuesday they were hunt-ing a man shown on security foot-age strolling into a packed shrine wearing a bright yellow T-shirt and placing a bomb-laden back-pack, before an explosion that killed at least 20 people.

The attack occurred on Monday in one of the Thai capital’s most popular tourism hubs, ripping through a crowd of worshippers at the shrine close to fi ve-star hotels and upscale shopping malls.

At least 11 of the victims were foreigners, with Chinese, Hong Kong, Singaporean, Indonesian and Malaysian citizens among the 20 confi rmed killed, police said.

100 injuredBritish authorities confi rmed a Hong Kong resident with a British passport was killed. It was not im-mediately clear if she was a dual national already counted among two Hong Kong victims. But Thai police have not listed any Britons in their updates on dead or injured from the blast. More than 100 oth-er people were injured as the blast left body parts, shattered glass and incinerated motorcycles strewn across the crushed concrete of a busy intersection.

Junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha on Tuesday branded the bombing the “worst ever attack” on Thai-land, as he said the hunt was on for

the bomber fi lmed on closed cir-cuit television at the shrine. Police released images showing the man, who appeared young and slightly built, and wearing a yellow T-shirt and dark shorts, walking into the shrine with a backpack.

He sits down and places the backpack underneath a bench, then walks away from the shrine clutching a blue plastic bag while reading what appears to be a

smartphone. National police spokesman Prawut Thavorn said the man left the scene aboard a motorcycle taxi, which are com-mon in Bangkok, and the blast oc-curred three minutes later.

“It is quite clear that he is the perpetrator in this case,” Prawut told local television station Chan-nel 3, adding police were also try-ing to track down the motorcycle taxi driver. But Prawut and other

security chiefs did not reveal if they had any motives for the at-tack. Bangkok has endured a dec-ade of deadly political violence amid a power struggle between the military, backed by the mid-dle class and elite, and the poor led by populist politician Thaksin Shinawatra. He is living in self-imposed exile after being ousted as premier in 2006.

The junta has ruled the nation since May last year after toppling the elected government of Thak-sin’s sister, Yingluck.

Bangkok’s power struggle has seen repeated rounds of deadly street protests and bombings for nearly a decade. More than 90 people were killed in 2010 during clashes between security forces and Thaksin supporters -- many in the same area as Monday’s bomb. But the anti-junta groups have never conducted such a large attack, nor one that was apparent-ly aimed at a tourist zone.

No responsibilityAnd with no-one claiming re-sponsibility for Monday’s assault, political and security experts said there was no obvious culprit.

Zachary Abuza, an independent expert on Thai security, told AFP he doubted it was in the interests of the anti-junta groups to carry out such an attack.

“Even if they are hell-bent on bringing down the government I just can’t see them targeting any religious shrine,” Abuza told AFP.

“That would really alienate many of their supporters.”

Rebels from the country’s far south have also waged a separatist insurgency for more than a dec-ade that has claimed thousands of lives, mostly civilians.

But they have never been

known to carry out substantial attacks in Bangkok, and Abuza as well as other analysts said Mon-day’s bombing did not follow the insurgents’ typical modus oper-andi. Paul Chambers, director of research at the Institute of South East Asian Aff airs in Thailand, said groups with links to military factions also had to be considered as potential suspects.

Various militant groups have also carried out many attacks in other parts of Southeast Asia, in-cluding on Indonesia’s holiday is-land of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people. But they have not made Thailand a prime target.

Junta leaders said the bomb was clearly aimed at damaging the country’s tourist industry, which is a rare bright spot in an otherwise gloomy economy, and tarnishing the junta’s reputation.

“(The attackers) had the clear target of destroying our economy and tourism... and discrediting the government,” Defence Min-ister Prawit Wongsuwon told re-porters. Thailand’s baht currency slumped to a more than six-year low on Tuesday and shares fell on the Bangkok bourse over concerns the attack could damage the tour-ism sector.

Built in 1956, the Erawan is an enormously popular shrine and visited by thousands of devotees every day. The bomb was detonat-ed shortly before 7:00pm (1200 GMT) in the middle of the city’s rush hour, sending a fi reball into the sky as commuters and tour-ists fl ed in panic. Thais walking near the blast site on Tuesday ex-pressed fear about more potential violence in the coming days.

“I’m worried about Bangkok, I don’t know what will happen next,” one woman, who gave her name as Rivewan, told AFP.

Adding to the tensions, a small explosion struck near a busy Bangkok train station on Tuesday afternoon, but police said nobody was injured. — AFP

At least 11 foreigners,

from China, Hong

Kong, Singapore,

Indonesia and

Malaysia were

among 20 killed

THE SUSPECT: A footage of a suspect in the bomb blast, seen close

to the Erawan shrine in Bangkok on Monday. – AFP/Thai Police

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Muscat

6,191.44- 28.32

- 0.46%

Dubai

3,827.59- 99.27

- 2.53%

Abu Dhabi

4,539.85- 91.46

- 1.97%

Saudi Arabia

8,197.02- 240.24

- 2.85%

Kuwait

6,194.71- 1.39

- 0.02%

Bahrain

1,328.51- 3.05

- 0.23%

Qatar

11,670.50- 64.19

- 0.55%

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

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

Euro .............................................2.31

Pound ...........................................1.65

Indian Rs .............................169.20

Pak Rs ...................................260.48

Bangla Taka.......................199.48* Rates are as of August 18

Source: Bank Muscat

Indian Rs .................................. 169.50

Pakistan Rs ............................264.00

Sri Lanka Rs .......................... 346.60

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

Phil Peso .....................................119.75

* Rates as of August 18 Source: Oman UAE Exchange

Muscat 24ct per gm (OMR) .......14.35

Muscat 22ct per gm (OMR) .......13.85

Dubai 24ct per gm (Dh) ........... 135.00

Dubai 22ct per gm (Dh) .............128.50

* Rates as of August 18

Source: Malabar Gold & Diamonds

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

Oman Crude ............. (Spot) ........$48.60

Dubai Crude ............. (Spot) ........$48.55

Murban Crude ........ (Spot) ........$49.92

Arabian Light ......... (Spot) ........$48.48

N.Sea Brent ............... (Spot) ........$48.45

West Texas Int ....... (Spot) .........$41.53

CRUDE OIL PRICE

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Seven fi rms bid for largest water project in Sultanate

A E JAMESbusinesseditor@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Seven multinational developers from Singapore, Ja-pan, France and Spain are com-peting for the Sultanate’s largest independent water desalination project, with a combined capac-ity of 531,000 cubic metres per day (116.8 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD)). The project will include construction in two loca-tions on Oman’s Batinah coast - Barka and Sohar.

The consortiums that have sub-mitted bids for the venture are Abengoa Water, Itochu Corpora-

tion, JGC, GS Inima Environment SA, Veolia Middle East, Valoriza Agua SL and Hyfl ux Ltd, accord-ing to Oman Power and Water Procurement Company’s (OPWP) tender notifi cation.

Completion in April, 2018OPWP, the sole procurer of new power generation and water de-salination capacity, earlier fl oated the tender, inviting bids from ma-jor developers for the project. The water schemes in both project lo-cations are slated for commercial operation by April 2018.

New projects are expected to substantially enhance the availa-bility of potable water in the coun-try’s northern region, as the coun-try has recently seen a shortage in water supply due to phenomenal growth in consumption.

The Barka IWP, with a planned desalination capacity of 281,000 cubic metres per day (61.8 MIGD), will be the larger of the two schemes. The Sohar water desalination project, meanwhile, will have an estimated capacity of 250,000 cubic metres per day (55 MIGD) of water. As water-only schemes, the two projects will not have any new power genera-tion facilities co-located on the site, but electricity will be sup-plied from the grid.

Seven transnational fi rmsThe seven transnational compa-nies leading the consortiums have joined hands with 13 local compa-nies in submitting their bids.

For instance, Abengoa has tied up with National Power and Wa-ter Company and Muscat Over-

seas, while GS Inima has formed a consortium with GS Engineer-ing & Construction, Acciona Aqua and Oman Investment Corpora-tion. Likewise, Veolia has formed a consortium with Marubeni Cor-poration and Nippon Koei; Val-oriza formed its ownconsortium with Oman Brunei Investment Company and Sogex Oman; and JGC with JGC Corporation and Tochu Corporation formed a con-sortium with Degremont, Inter-national Power and W J Towell. However, Hyfl ux, which is devel-oping the Quriyyat desalination project, is bidding for the project on its own.

Further, GDF Suez, which was pre-qualifi ed for the project, did not submit a bid for the project.

The demand for potable wa-ter in Oman’s northern region is projected to grow by six per cent per annum in seven years, from 238 million cubic metres in 2013

to 349 million cubic metres in 2020. Previous seven-year fore-casts showed the average annual growth was in the range of three to fi ve per cent, according to a seven-year outlook for power and water demand released by Oman Power and Water Procurement Company last year.

A combination of population growth and industrial develop-ment, including tourism projects, is cited as a major reason for the growth in demand for potable wa-ter. Of late, the government has in-vited bids from developers to build temporary desalination plants to meet the demand until the major projects come on stream.

Consortiums that

have submitted bids

for Oman’s largest

independent water

desalination project

are Abengoa Water,

Itochu Corporation,

JGC, GS Inima

Environment, Veolia

Middle East, Valoriza

Agua and Hyfl ux

Barka IWP, with a planned desalination capacity of

281,000 cubic metres per day, will be the larger of

the two schemes. Sohar water desalination project,

meanwhile, will have capacity of 250,000 cubic

metres per day of water. As water-only schemes, the

two projects will not have any new power generation

facilities co-located on the site

VITAL PROJECTS: New projects are expected to substantially en-

hance the availability of potable water in the Sultanate’s northern

region, as the couontry has recently witnessed a shortage in water

supply due to phenomenal growth in consumption. - File picture

HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your comments at facebook.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com haveyoursay@timesofoman.com

China shares slump by 6%HONG KONG: Asian shares fell on Tuesday, with Shanghai lead-ing the falls as investors doubted Beijing’s commitment to prop up shares while Bangkok slumped after a bomb attack in the Thai capital. The dollar headed higher against the euro, meanwhile, helped by improving confi dence in the US housing sector ahead of the release of United States cen-tral bank minutes.

Shanghai closed down 6.15 per cent, or 245.51 points, at 3,748.16 — its biggest daily fall in three weeks — while Hong Kong lost 1.43 per cent, or 339.68 points, to end the day at 23,474.97.

Tokyo closed down 0.32 per cent, or 65.79 points, at 20,554.47. Sydney fell 1.20 per cent, or 64.55 points, to 5,303.10 and Seoul dipped 0.62 per cent, or 12.26 points, to close at 1,956.26.

Thai shares, meanwhile, notched their steepest decline this year and the baht slid to its lowest level since 2009 after a bomb attack killed at least 20 peo-ple and injured scores in Bang-kok. Asian shares gave up early

gains driven by a higher close on Wall Street as jitters about the health of China’s economy, the world’s second-largest, spread across the region.

Traders in China said they now doubt Shanghai will be able to break above the key 4,000 point level soon without evidence Bei-jing will unleash fresh stimulus.

“The market lacks the momen-tum to go up,” Shen Zhengyang, an analyst at Northeast Securi-ties, told AFP, adding: “In the short-term, the market will fl uc-tuate on the weak side.” Markets have long been on edge about slowing growth in China, but concerns reached fever pitch last week after a shock devaluation of the yuan sparked fears it is stall-ing more than previously though.

The steep fall in the yuan scared many investors into drop-ping Chinese assets and last week Shanghai and Hong Kong shares saw $531 million net outfl ows — the ninth week of sales out of 10.

Facing tight liquidity, China’s central bank on Tuesday said it pumped 120 billion yuan into

the money market, which state media said was the largest single-day cash injection since January 2014. Even a pledge on Friday by the securities regulator to keep supporting equities through the state-backed China Securities Fi-nance Corp. for years to come has not reassured some dealers.

“Investors ran for the exit when the government failed to step in to support the market,” Steve Wang, chief China economist at Reorient Financial Markets, told Bloomberg News.

“The CSF has become a main player in this market so everyone is watching it. People panic when it stops buying.” Markets are now awaiting the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, which could shed light on the US central bank’s tim-ing for an interest rate rise. Spec-ulation the Fed will soon raise its key rate for the fi rst time in almost a decade has strengthened the dollar, while concerns the fall in the yuan could spark a curren-cy war has dragged on many Asia-Pacifi c currencies. — AFP

M A R K E T S

Iraq plans to issue $6b in bond sale

LONDON: Iraq hired banks for its fi rst international bond issue in almost a decade, seeking $6 bil-lion to help plug a widening fi scal defi cit.

The government appointed Citi-group, Deutsche Bank and JPMor-gan Chase, said Muneer Moham-med Omran, director general of the central bank’s investor depart-ment in Baghdad.

The bond programme will be in tranches, with the fi rst sale com-ing this year, he said by phone on Tuesday. Spokesmen for the banks declined to comment.

Iraq, holder of the world’s fi fth-largest oil reserves, is also looking at ways to bolster its fi nances amid civil confl ict and the global slump in oil prices.

Fitch Ratings expects the fi scal defi cit to top 10 per cent for 2015 because of lower crude prices, higher military spending and costs associated with civil unrest.

It ranked Iraq fi ve levels below investment grade this month in its fi rst ratings for the country.

“Iraq is going through some dif-fi culties at the moment because of its confl ict with ISIS, but oil production is at a record high,” Anthony Simond, a London-based investment analyst who helps manage $13 billion of emerging-market debt at Aberdeen Asset Management, said by e-mail. “Things could look a lot diff erent if we see a rebound in oil prices.”

The country also plans to meet with international investors as soon as next month, said two peo-ple familiar with the program, ask-ing not to be identifi ed because the talks are private. — Bloomberg News

D E B T I S S U E

CLOSE WATCH: Investors monitor screens showing stock market movements at a brokerage house

in Shanghai on Tuesday. Shanghai stocks slump over 6.15 per cent in afternoon trade. - AFP

Algeria calls for non-Opec crude output cut to arrest falling pricesPARIS: Organisation of Petro-leum Exporting Countries (Opec) can do little to halt the oil price de-cline on its own and needs produc-ers from outside the group to help in reducing global supplies, Alge-ria’s Energy Minister said.

“A supply reduction by Opec alone cannot really guarantee a re-turn to oil market stability,” Salah Khebri said at an event in Algiers, according to Liberte newspaper.

As the 12-member group of crude producing nations accounts for 40 per cent of the world’s sup-ply, “there should be steps taken within Opec and with non-Opecs.”

Emergency meetingKhebri called earlier this month for an Opec emergency meeting because of the continued decline in oil prices, which dropped by half from a year ago amid rising pro-duction from the US.

Oil and gas sales account for about 60 per cent of Algeria’s budget revenue and 95 per cent of its export income, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Algeria’s initiative to coordi-nate an Opec response to tumbling crude prices had the backing of cash-strapped fellow members Libya and Venezuela.

It was met with no public re-sponse from Opec’s top producer Saudi Arabia, which engineered at the November 27 meeting of the group a shift in its policy away from the historic role of managing prices by adjusting supply.

Saudi Arabia instead lobbied Opec to preserve market share in the hope that prices would recover when higher cost producers such as US shale companies are forced out of the market.

The group stuck to the same pol-icy at its last meeting in June.

Financial muscleBrent oil, the global benchmark grade, was 14 cents lower at $48.60 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange at 12:44pm Singapore time on Tues-day. “Algeria doesn’t have the fi -nancial muscle of Gulf Arab oil exporters,” Robin Mills, a Dubai-based analyst at Manaar Energy Consulting, said by e-mail.”Unlike Iran or Iraq, it doesn’t have the capacity to raise crude output; it’s a relatively small, high-cost and declining oil producer among its Opec peers.”

Financial cushionAlgeria’s fi nancial cushion has been instrumental in shielding the country of 40 million away from strife that swept through the Middle East and North Africa since 2011, toppling the rulers of

Yemen, Egypt and neighbouring Libya. “The country can increase its oil and gas output, and has renewable energy development projects, but that’s more of a me-dium-term perspective,” Francis Perrin, director of Paris- based energy consultants Stratener, said in an e-mail.”In the short term, Algeria’s only solution is to dip into the currency reserves.”

Foreign reservesAlgeria’s foreign reserves fell 18 per cent to $158.4 billion in March, the last month when the fi gures are available on Bloomberg data, from a year earlier.

With a population smaller than Algeria and oil production at 10.5 million barrels a day, Saudi Ara-bia’s reserves dropped eight per cent over the same period to about $667 billion. — Bloomberg News

C R U D E S U P P L I E S

Algeria’s Energy Minister Salah Khebri. - Bloomberg fi le picture

B2

MARKETW E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

Greece awaits nod for third bailout from five countries

BRUSSELS: With a payment of about €3.2 billion ($3.6 billion) due to the European Central Bank (ECB) on August 20, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is waiting for approval from fi ve euro-area parliaments before he can receive the fi rst tranche from his coun-try’s third bailout package.

Here’s a rundown of the re-maining hurdles.

Spain: While it isn’t compulsory for the Spanish parliament to sign off , Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will call a ballot of lawmakers on

Tuesday. Vote expected from 5pmEstonia: The Estonian parlia-

ment also votes on Tuesday, with proceedings starting at 2pm

Austria: The Austrian parlia-ment’s subcommittee for the bail-out mechanism has to approve the aid and is scheduled to meet on Tuesday. The full parliament doesn’t have to vote but may opt to debate the plan all the same.

The Netherlands: The Dutch parliament has been recalled to debate the program at an extraor-dinary session in The Hague.

The session begins at 12pm on Wednesday.

Germany: The Bundestag meets in Berlin on Wednesday. While Chancellor Angela Merkel may face a revolt among lawmak-ers from her party, the plan is ex-pected to be passed in the vote.

Once parliaments have backed the package, the European Sta-bility Mechanism (ESM) board of governors — national fi nance ministers — will hold a confer-ence call to approve and set in mo-tion the disbursement to Greece

in time for the ECB payment.Latvia’s European Union af-

fairs committee approved the pro-gramme on Monday.

The Finnish parliament’s Grand Committee last week gave the government full powers to approve the programme. French lawmakers endorsed the outline agreement in July. Lithuania’s cabinet approved the deal on Monday. Lawmakers in Belgium, Cyprus, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Por-tugal, Slovakia and Slovenia won’t have to vote on the plan.

Rift widensGreece’s parliamentary vote on a third bailout last week underlined the split within Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s governing Syriza party, opening the door to new elections as early as next month.

Tsipras needed to rely on oppo-sition party votes to pass the legis-lation after securing the backing of just 118 lawmakers from his governing coalition in the 300-seat chamber. After the ballot, a Greek government offi cial indi-cated Tsipras could hold a vote of confi dence in his administration as soon as the bailout is signed.

Defeat would trigger national elections as early as September. While fresh elections may delay implementation of the bailout, they could also deliver Tsipras a strengthened mandate to enact a package that runs counter to the anti-austerity platform Syriza was elected on in January. The vote must be preceded by a three-day debate in parliament.

- Bloomberg News

With a payment of

€3.2b due to ECB on

August 20, Greece

is waiting for green

signal from fi ve euro-

area parliaments to

receive fi rst tranche

of the third bailout

Oman Chlorine plans to revise

capital base

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Oman Chlorine board will be seeking an approval to renew the authorised capital to OMR12 million at its ordinary and extraordinary general meetings scheduled to be conducted on Sep-tember 15.

Other important issues on the agenda to be discussed during the meetings include approval of the board relating to selling part of the company’s stake in its two subsidi-aries, Oman Chlorine said on Mon-day in a disclosure statement to the Muscat Securities Market (MSM).

Cancelling resolutionsThe company will also seek an ap-proval to cancel the annual general meeting’s (AGM) resolution on March 17, 2011 regarding selling part of Oman Chlorine sharehold-ing in Gulf Chlorine Company (Qatar) to Oman Industrial Devel-opment Company at par value plus actual project development cost.

It will also seek the approval to cancel another resolution of March 18, 2013 regarding sell-ing 24 per cent of Oman Chlorine shareholding in Union Chlorine Company (UAE) to Oman Indus-trial Development Company at par value plus actual project develop-ment cost, the company added in its disclosure statement.

C O R P O R A T E

UK infl ation rate edges up in JulyLONDON: Britain’s infl ation rate unexpectedly rose in July and a core measure of price growth jumped to the highest in fi ve months. The pound jumped.

The increase in the headline reading to 0.1 per cent from zero was due to clothing prices, with smaller discounts in the summer sales this year compared to a year earlier. Economists in a survey had forecast the rate would stay at zero. The core measure increased to 1.2 per cent from 0.8 per cent, higher than the 0.9 per cent read-ing predicted by economists.

While the fi gures published on Tuesday were stronger than anticipated, infl ation is still well below the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target. Policymakers have said it will remain low in the short term because of the strength of the pound and a renewed decline in oil prices. Over the longer term, Governor Mark Carney says price growth will accelerate and the time to begin raising the interest rates is approaching.

“Tightness in the labour mar-ket is now generating some wage

infl ation,” Kallum Pickering, an economist at Berenberg Bank in London, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Francine Lacqua and Manus Cranny.

“Throughout the rest of the year we’ll see further tightness prompting more increases in wages and that should bring on core infl ation a little bit further.”

The pound was up 0.5 per cent to $1.5668 in London time af-ter the report from the Offi ce

for National Statistics (ONS). Economists forecast that the fi rst increase in the benchmark rate from a record-low 0.5 per cent will happen in early 2016.

Consumer pricePolicy maker Kristin Forbes said this week there are risks associ-ated with delaying a rate increase and she’s watching for signs of domestic pressures. Services in-fl ation, a proxy for domestic price

growth, accelerated to 2.4 per cent in July, the fastest in four months.

“This is great news for working people and family budgets,” said Jim O’Neill, commercial secre-tary to the UK Treasury. “But the job is not done and we will contin-ue to remain vigilant to all risks, particularly when the global eco-nomic situation is so uncertain.”

The ONS report showed that UK consumer prices fell 0.2 per cent in July from June.

In addition to clothing, the main upward contribution to the annual rate was from transport costs such as air fares.

Food and non-alcoholic bever-ages fell on an annual basis for a thirteenth month, the longest stretch on record.

“This is the sixth month run-ning that headline infl ation has been at or close to zero,” said Rich-ard Campbell, a statistician at the ONS. “While households will have seen individual prices rise and fall, the overall shopping bas-ket bought by the country remains little changed in price compared with a year ago.” - Bloomberg News

E C O N O M Y

Bank Sohar appoints new head for Islamic banking divisionTimes News Service

MUSCAT: Bank Sohar has ap-pointed Salim Khamis Al Maska-ri, the former senior assistant general manager of branches, as the head of Sohar Islamic, Bank Sohar’s Islamic banking window.

Commenting on his promo-tion, Rashad Ali Al Musafi r, act-ing chief executive offi cer of Bank Sohar said, “Sohar Islamic has witnessed growth and popularity since its inception two years ago. On behalf of the bank, I would like to congratulate Salim Khamis Al Maskari on his appointment into the new role. In the eight years that he has worked with the bank, he has always demonstrated a high degree of business integrity and leadership talent and has been in-volved with the development and operations of Sohar Islamic and its branches right from the start.”

“With his outstanding track record with Bank Sohar and his contribution towards establish-ing and managing our branch net-work, together with his extensive experience with Sohar Islamic, I am confi dent his appointment will serve to further strengthen the reputation and capabilities of our Islamic banking window in the years to come,” he added.

Salim Khamis Al Maskari’s appointment as the new head of Sohar Islamic is also a tribute to the bank’s long standing commit-ment towards developing local

talent and ensuring their steady career growth.

Qualifi ed nationalsAt Bank Sohar, the learning and development initiatives are struc-tured to fulfi l its objective of off er-ing more employment and career development opportunities for talented Omanis, and to nurture a higher contribution from them towards the continued economic growth of the country. Within the bank itself, a large number of Omanis already hold key leader-ship roles, steering the bank on its path towards excellence.

“The employment of quali-fi ed nationals has always been a cornerstone of the bank’s opera-

tional strategies. Furthermore, we strive to off er our employees as many opportunities for growth within the organisation as possi-ble, facilitating this with compre-hensive training workshops and skill development programs,” said Rashad Al Musafi r.

Customer serviceCommenting on his promotion, Salim Khamis Al Maskari said, “I’m extremely pleased to take up my new role at the helm of Sohar Islamic. Together with the talented team at the bank, I look forward to building on its strong foundation, unique approach and high standards of excellence in order to create even greater value for our customers, our investors and shareholders.”

Prior to joining Bank Sohar in 2007, Salim Al Maskari had pre-viously worked as the district manager of the Sharquiyah region for Oman International Bank and later moved to Bank Muscat as the regional manager of the north capital region. He has more than 29 years of experience in the banking sector in Oman and holds a Master of Business Administra-tion from the University of Hull, UK. He also holds a diploma from the Institute of leadership and Management, also in the UK.

He also completed his Certi-fi cation in Islamic Banking and Takaful Products (CIMA) exami-nations in 2015.

N E W R O L E

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RIFT WIDENS: Greece’s parliamentary vote on a third bailout last week underlined the split within

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s governing Syriza party, opening the door to new elections as early

as next month. – Bloomberg News

UNDER CONTROL: While the fi gures published on Tuesday were

stronger than anticipated, infl ation is still well below the Bank of

England’s 2 per cent target. – Bloomberg News

PROMOTED: Salim Khamis Al

Maskari. – Supplied picture

B3W E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

MARKET

Reyooq event to host two entrepreneursTimes News Service

MUSCAT: National Business Centre (NBC), which pertains to the Public Establishment for In-dustrial Estates (PEIE), will host Humaid Al Maslamani, founder and managing director of Zawaya Design and Engineering Con-sultancy and Asma Al Feteisi, general manager of Mazoon Real Estate Investment, as part of the monthly Reyooq series of events.

Sohar eventThe event, which will be held at Majan Hall in Sohar on August 26, will share the valuable experienc-es of Al Maslamani and Al Feteisi in managing their companies, in the presence of a group of busi-ness leaders in various fi elds from

the public and private sectors. Sponsored exclusively by Oman

LNG, the series events of Reyooq aspire to present an ultimate plat-form for Omani entrepreneurs to

network with experts, and learn about entrepreneurship to get in-novative and creative ideas for their businesses. This initiative also comes to develop the abili-

ties and knowledge of entrepre-neurs and put their perspectives forward to the experts in the fi eld, besides enhancing communica-tion channels.

Business supportThe National Business Centre is an initiative that aims at off ering promising Omani entrepreneurs a platform to develop their busi-ness ideas and advance them into growing ventures.

The centre presents a premier platform for Omani entrepre-neurs by providing business de-velopment support and guidance, training and mentoring, access to markets and industry experts, and state-of-the-art and fully equipped offi ce space, meeting rooms and presentation facilities.

I N S O H A R

Saudi growth slows as oil slump deepens, says IMFRIYADH: Economic growth in Saudi Arabia is set to slow this year and next as the government is forced to reduce spending to compensate for lower oil prices, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.

Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product will grow by 2.8 per cent this year and 2.4 per cent in 2016, the IMF said in e-mailed state-ment on Monday at the conclusion of its regular country consulta-tion. That compares to 3.5 per cent growth last year. Annual growth may expand to 3 per cent in the ‘medium term’, it said.

The world’s largest oil producer turned to the bond market this year for the fi rst time since 2007 after crude prices fell by more than 50 per cent. The resulting budget defi cit, which the IMF projects at 19.5 per cent of GDP, may force

Saudi rulers to abandon the king-dom’s traditional largess.

Saudi Arabia needs “compre-hensive energy price reforms, fi rm control of the public sector wage bill, greater effi ciency in public sector investment,” the IMF said. “The sharp drop in oil revenues and continued expenditure growth would result in a very large fi scal defi cit this year and over the medi-um term, eroding the fi scal buff ers built up over the past decade.”

Oil dependencyThe government should also intro-duce value-added and land taxes, the IMF said.

Oil makes up about 90 per cent of the Kingdom’s revenues. Brent Crude fell to below $50 per barrel in August after a brief recovery in June. It traded 0.7 percent lower at $48.39 a barrel in London.

Saudi Arabia opened its stock market to international investors in June as part of broader plans to diversify the economy away from oil. The benchmark Tadawul All Share Index has dropped more than 20 percent this year.

Sold bondsThe kingdom sold 20 billion ri-yals ($5.3 billion) of bonds to local banks and public institutions in August to cover the defi cit.

Government debt was equiva-lent to 1.6 per cent of the country’s GDP at the end of 2014, IMF said.

The drop in oil revenues com-bined with an unrest in Yemen and a boost in domestic spending led the country’s net foreign assets to fall for a fi fth consecutive month in June. Reserves stood at $664.4 billion, which were down from $724.5 in January. - Bloomberg News

E C O N O M Y

Lenovo begins smartphoneproduction in South India

NEW DELHI: Lenovo Group has commenced making smartphones in India through contract manu-facturer Flex, becoming the larg-est Chinese company to have its mobile devices made there after the local government raised im-port tariff s.

Dedicated lines at Flex’s Sripe-rumbudur factory near the south-ern Indian city of Chennai will be the fi rst time Lenovo and Motorola brands are made at the same facil-ity, Amar Babu, chairman of Leno-vo India, said in a phone interview. The brands will have separate lines with a combined annual ca-pacity of 6 million units, Lenovo said in a statement.

Foxconn Technology this year began production in India of smartphones for Chinese brands including Xiaomi and OnePlus after the local government raised import tariff s to attract invest-ment in manufacturing. Lenovo’s announcement marks the largest Chinese name yet to be lured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India campaign, as the competitors vie to increase their share of the world’s third-largest smartphone market.

“Output from the plants is fo-cused mainly on serving the In-dian market,” Babu said.

Lenovo has no immediate plans to design and develop phones spe-cifi cally for India, he said. Lenovo had considered adding smartphone manufacturing to its own PC fac-tory in Puducherry. - Bloomberg News

M A K E I N I N D I AOman’s conventional bank credit grows 9% to OMR18b

A. E. JAMESbusinesseditor@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Oman’s conventional banks have achieved an 8.89 per cent growth in total credit at OMR17.82 billion in the fi rst half of the year ending June 2015, from OMR16.37 billion for the same period last year, according to the Central Bank of Oman’s statistics released here on Tuesday.

It is lower than last year’s loan growth and was mostly driven by the private sector demand to fund their projects and working capital requirements.

Because of continued low oil prices, the banks will be more con-servative in lending going forward and focus more on the credit qual-ity rather than quantity. Under

such a scenario, the overall credit growth could slip to mid-single digits in 2015.

Credit to private sector for the six-month period rose by 9.82 per cent to OMR15.61 billion from OMR14.21 billion.

However, Hamoud Sangour Al Zadjali, executive president of Central Bank of Oman (CBO) ear-lier said that the credit growth for the whole year would be in double digits and would probably hover

around 10 per cent. Total deposits of Omani banks

also rose by 6.83 per cent for the fi rst half of 2015 at OMR18.51 bil-lion, from OMR17.32 billion for the same period last year, noted the Central Bank of Oman said in its monthly statistics.

Oman has seven conventional banks — Bank Muscat, Nation-al Bank of Oman, BankDhofar, HSBC Bank Oman, Bank Sohar, Oman Arab Bank and ahlibank.

Islamic fi nance surgesOman’s Islamic banks and window operations have also shown a much higher growth of 84.89 per cent in fi nancing at OMR1,377.8 million for the fi rst six months of 2015, from merely OMR745.2million for the same period last year.

Such robust growth in Islamic fi -nance shows that Sharia-compliant banks are able to establish them-selves in the market and able to

overcome their teething problems.Further, two Islamic banks and

window operations of conven-tional banks have launched inno-vative products to attract Omani customers, besides opening sev-eral branches in diff erent parts of the country.

Customer depositsTotal customer deposits held by Islamic institutions also shot up by 238.64 per cent to OMR1,183.9 mil-lion by the end of June 2015, from OMR349.6 million for the same period last year, according to the latest monthly bulletin released by the Central Bank of Oman.

There have been consider-able increases in the number of branches and assets held by these entities. Islamic banks are opening up new segments and players and, thus, adding to the competitive environment, not only in terms of effi ciencies and innovations, but by also providing consumers the benefi t of choosing between both conventional and Islamic banking products.

In Oman, two Islamic banks – Bank Nizwa and Alizz Islamic Bank – along with the window operations of six conventional banks, have scores of branches across the country.

It is lower than last

year’s loan growth

and was mostly

driven by the private

sector demand to

fund their projects

and working capital

requirements

HAVE YOUR SAY Send us your comments at facebook.com/timesofoman blog.timesofoman.com haveyoursay@timesofoman.com

ON GROWTH PATH: Total deposits of Omani banks also rose by 6.83 per cent for the fi rst half of 2015

at OMR18.51 billion, from OMR17.32 billion for the same period last year, the CBO said. - Time fi le photo

SLUMP IN CRUDE PRICES: Saudi Arabia turned to the bond market this year for the fi rst time since

2007 after crude prices fell by more than 50 per cent. – Bloomberg News

Humaid Al Maslamani Asma Al Feteisi

B4

MARKETW E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

MUSCATSECURITIES MARKET

SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR TUESDAY, AUGUST 18

REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

OM0000001822 ............UNITED POWER ............................................................. 2,638 ...............6,885........................4 ............2.610 ........... 2.610 ...........2.610 ........... 2.610 .............2.375 ............0.235 ............. 9.895 ................2.610 ..............2.375...................0.000 ...................2,088,000 ..........1.000

OM0000002614 ............ONIC. HOLDING .......................................................... 360,102 ......... 172,849......................14 ........... 0.480 ...........0.480 ...........0.480........... 0.480 .............0.470 ............0.010 ............. 2.128 ................0.480..............0.450...................0.480 ..................83,243,160 .........0.100

OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE .............. 246,665 ........... 48,266......................17 ............0.193 ........... 0.199 ...........0.193 ............0.196 ............. 0.193............ 0.003 ............. 1.554 ................0.195 .............. 0.193...................0.195 ...................39,200,000.........0.100

OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. .................. 544,824 ............ 57,188.....................40 ............0.104 ........... 0.107 ...........0.104 ........... 0.105 .............0.104 ............0.001 ............. 0.962 ................0.104 ..............0.103...................0.104...................30,447,967 .........0.100

OM0000001681 ............OMAN AND EMIRATES INV. HOLDING ........... 555,000 ........... 62,010......................12 ............0.112 ........... 0.113 ............ 0.111 ............0.112 ............. 0.111 .............0.001 ............. 0.901 ................ 0.112 ...............0.111................... 0.112 ...................13,650,000 .........0.100

OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 2,550,241 ......523,505................... 159 ........... 0.205 ...........0.207 ...........0.200 .......... 0.205 .............0.204 ............0.001 ............. 0.490 ................0.202 ............ 0.200...................0.202 .................. 30,765,375 .........0.100

OM0000001483 ............NATIONAL BANK OF OMAN ................................. 659,722 .......... 217,551..................... 29 ........... 0.330 ........... 0.332 ...........0.328........... 0.330 .............0.330 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.328..............0.328...................0.330 ................ 442,434,383 .......0.100

OM0000001517 ............HSBC BANK OMAN .................................................... 278,746 ........... 35,962........................5 ............0.130 ........... 0.130 ...........0.129 ........... 0.129 ............. 0.129............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.129 .............. 0.127...................0.128 ................. 258,040,350 .......0.100

OM0000001533 ............OMINVEST .......................................................................55,011 ............ 26,405........................8 ........... 0.480 ...........0.480 ...........0.480........... 0.480 .............0.480 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.480..............0.480...................0.488..................177,800,304 ........0.100

OM0000001707 ............OMAN CABLES INDUSTRY ........................................ 1,200 ...............2,646........................2 ........... 2.205 ...........2.205 ...........2.205 .......... 2.205 .............2.205 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................2.205..............2.150...................2.205 .................197,788,500 ........0.100

OM0000001749 ............OMAN CEMENT .......................................................... 173,478 ............ 86,596........................9 ........... 0.500 ...........0.500 ...........0.498 ........... 0.500 .............0.500 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.500..............0.500...................0.502 .................165,436,355 ........0.100

OM0000001889 ............SALALAH MILLS ............................................................. 2,162 ...............3,232........................2 ............1.495 ........... 1.495 ...........1.495 ............1.495 ............. 1.495 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.495 .............. 1.450...................1.500 ................... 72,003,781 .........0.100

OM0000001962 ............AL MADINA INVESTMENT ........................................5,414 .................. 341........................ 1 ........... 0.063 ........... 0.063 ...........0.063........... 0.063 .............0.063 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.063 ..............0.062...................0.065................... 13,050,537 .........0.100

OM0000002028 ...........GULF INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS ..............60,542 .............15,680........................6 ........... 0.259 ........... 0.259 ...........0.259........... 0.259 .............0.259 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.259 ..............0.259...................0.260 ................... 5,439,000 ..........0.100

OM0000002168 ............AL ANWAR CERAMIC TILES ............................... 188,878............ 73,285......................11 ........... 0.388 ........... 0.388 ...........0.388........... 0.388 .............0.388 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.388 ..............0.384...................0.388..................114,930,909 ........0.100

OM0000002275 ...........SHELL OMAN MARKETING ..................................... 3,578 ...............7,228........................3 ........... 2.020 ...........2.020 ...........2.020 .......... 2.020 .............2.020 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................2.020 ............ 2.020...................2.080 .................191,900,000........0.100

OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 1,185,518 ...... 608,802..................... 80 ............0.514 ........... 0.514 ...........0.512 ............0.514 ............. 0.514............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.512 .............. 0.512...................0.520 ................1,177,996,815.......0.100

OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES ........................... 85,557 ............ 10,040........................9 ............0.117 ........... 0.118............ 0.117 ............0.117 ............. 0.117 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 0.117 ...............0.115................... 0.117 .................... 6,884,656 ..........0.100

OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ........................ 251,350 ......... 431,089..................... 58 ............ 1.715 ........... 1.720 ........... 1.710 ............1.715.............. 1.715 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 1.710 ...............1.710................... 1.715 ................1,286,250,000 ......0.100

OM0000003141 ............ACWA POWER BARKA ................................................. 5,000 .............. 4,080........................ 1 ............0.816 ........... 0.816 ...........0.816 ........... 0.832 .............0.832 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.816 ............. 0.800...................0.840 .................133,120,000 ........0.100

OM0000003711 ............SOHAR POWER .................................................................2,110 .................. 760........................ 1 ........... 0.360 ...........0.360 ...........0.360........... 0.380 .............0.380 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.360............. 0.000...................0.360 ..................83,983,800 .........0.100

OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO....................................................................... 574,113 ..........436,376..................... 58 ............0.764 ........... 0.764 ...........0.756 ........... 0.760 ............. 0.760 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.756 .............. 0.752...................0.756 .................. 494,717,615 ........0.100

OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS ................................................ 173,521 ............ 90,435..................... 24 ........... 0.522 ........... 0.522 ...........0.512 ........... 0.522 .............0.522 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.520..............0.520...................0.522 ..................27,405,000 .........0.100

OM0000001418 ............RAYSUT CEMENT ....................................................... 20,000 ............ 27,600........................2 ............1.380 ........... 1.380 ...........1.380 ........... 1.380 ............. 1.385 ............-0.005 ........... -0.361................1.380 ..............1.360...................1.380 ................. 276,000,000 .......0.100

OM0000004933 ...........AL SUWADI POWER .................................................. 164,558 ............36,145......................14 ............0.219 ........... 0.221 ...........0.219 ........... 0.220 ............. 0.221 ...........-0.001 ........... -0.452 ...............0.221 ..............0.221...................0.224 ................. 157,169,395 ........0.100

OM0000002200 ...........AHLI BANK .................................................................... 100,000 ...........20,500........................3 ........... 0.205 ...........0.205 ...........0.205........... 0.205 .............0.206 ...........-0.001 ........... -0.485 ...............0.205..............0.203...................0.205 .................292,132,410 ........0.100

OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 308,641 ............57,552......................18 ............0.187 ........... 0.189 ...........0.185 ........... 0.186 ............. 0.187............-0.001 ........... -0.535 ...............0.185 .............. 0.185...................0.187 ..................268,107,840 ........0.100

OM0000001160 ............NATIONAL GAS .............................................................30,490 .............10,388......................12 ........... 0.342 ...........0.342 ...........0.336 ........... 0.340 .............0.342 ...........-0.002 ........... -0.585 ...............0.336 ..............0.336...................0.344 ..................17,000,000 .........0.100

OM0000001087 ............OMAN UNITED INSURANCE ............................... 100,000 ........... 29,465........................9 ........... 0.298 ........... 0.298 ...........0.292........... 0.295 .............0.298 ...........-0.003 ........... -1.007 ...............0.292............. 0.280...................0.290 ..................29,500,000.........0.100

OM0000004925 ...........AL BATINAH POWER ................................................ 349,319.............76,515..................... 20 ........... 0.220 ...........0.220 ...........0.217 ........... 0.219 .............0.222 ...........-0.003 ............-1.351 ................0.220 ............ 0.220...................0.225 .................147,800,347 ........0.100

OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING ............. 71,143 ...............8,679......................12 ............0.122 ........... 0.122 ...........0.122 ........... 0.122 ............. 0.124 ...........-0.002 ............-1.613 ................0.122 ..............0.124...................0.127 ...................10,980,000 .........0.100

OM0000001145 ............PORT SERVICES CORPORATION .........................22,201 ...............3,927......................12 ............0.178 ........... 0.180 ...........0.176 ............0.177 ............. 0.180 ...........-0.003 ............-1.667................0.176 .............. 0.176...................0.179 ...................16,822,080 .........0.100

OM0000002366 ...........AL BATINAH DEV. INV. HOLDING ...................... 134,221.............14,426......................19 ............0.109 ........... 0.110............0.106 ........... 0.107 ............. 0.109 ...........-0.002 ............-1.835................0.106 .............. 0.105...................0.106 .................... 3,210,000 ..........0.100

OM0000002176 ............AL JAZEERA STEEL PRODUCTS ......................... 32,000 ...............7,040........................5 ........... 0.220 ...........0.220 ...........0.220 .......... 0.220 .............0.225 ...........-0.005 ........... -2.222 ...............0.220 ............ 0.220...................0.229 .................. 27,477,551 .........0.100

OM0000002549 ...........BANK DHOFAR ............................................................ 230,000 ........... 60,720........................4 ........... 0.264 ...........0.264 ...........0.264 .......... 0.264 .............0.270 ...........-0.006 ........... -2.222 ...............0.264..............0.264...................0.000 .................407,808,336........0.100

OM0000003661 ............VOLTAMP ENERGY ........................................................ 7,137 ............... 3,010........................5 ........... 0.440 ...........0.440 ...........0.396 ........... 0.422 .............0.440 ...........-0.018 ........... -4.091 ...............0.424..............0.424...................0.440 ..................25,531,000 .........0.100

OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES ..................................... 184,278 ............37,974..................... 34 ........... 0.220 ...........0.220 ...........0.205........... 0.206 .............0.220 ...........-0.014 ........... -6.364 ...............0.205..............0.205...................0.206 .................. 59,874,110 .........0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 9,719,358 .... 3,315,153...................722 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......37........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

PARALLEL MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000005963 ...........PHOENIX POWER ...................................................... 2,336,938 ...... 347,986...................108 ............0.148 ........... 0.150 ...........0.147 ........... 0.149 ............. 0.148.............0.001 ............. 0.676 ................0.149 .............. 0.149...................0.150 .................. 217,927,618 ........0.100

OM0000001228 ............OMAN HOTELS AND TOURISM .............................. 2,310 .................. 545........................ 1 ........... 0.236 ........... 0.236 ...........0.236........... 0.236 .............0.236 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.236 ..............0.236...................0.000 ..................12,980,000 .........0.100

OM0000001301 ............DHOFAR CATTLE FEED .......................................... 107,935 ............ 20,508........................7 ............0.190 ........... 0.190 ...........0.190 ........... 0.190 ............. 0.190 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.190 ..............0.190...................0.209 ..................14,630,000 .........0.100

OM0000001368 ............CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IND. ....................39,000 ...............1,404........................6 ........... 0.036 ........... 0.036 ...........0.036........... 0.036 .............0.036 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.036 ..............0.035...................0.036....................3,060,000 ..........0.100

OM0000001400 ...........OMAN FLOUR MILLS ...................................................2,000 ...............1,000........................ 1 ........... 0.500 ...........0.500 ...........0.500........... 0.500 .............0.500 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.500..............0.480...................0.500 ..................78,750,000 .........0.100

OM0000001566 ............OMAN FISHERIES ......................................................... 3,372 ...................170........................2 ............0.051 ........... 0.051 ...........0.050............0.051 ............. 0.051............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.050..............0.050...................0.052....................6,375,000 ..........0.100

OM0000002051 ............GULF PLASTIC INDUSTRIES .......................................... 4 ....................... 2........................ 1 ........... 0.390 ...........0.390 ...........0.390........... 0.390 .............0.390 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.390............. 0.000...................0.000 .....................390,000............1.000

OM0000002267 ...........GULF MUSHROOM PRODUCTS ................................... 39 ..................... 15........................ 1 ........... 0.386 ........... 0.386 ...........0.386........... 0.386 .............0.386 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.386 ............. 0.000...................0.386................... 11,541,239 .........0.100

OM0000004776 ...........TAKAFUL OMAN INSURANCE .............................. 12,149 ................1,361........................3 ............0.112 ........... 0.112............ 0.112 ............0.112 ............. 0.112 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 0.112 .............. 0.112................... 0.113 ...................11,200,000 .........0.100

OM0000002564 ...........AL HASSAN ENGINEERING....................................25,630 ...............2,326........................9 ........... 0.094 ...........0.094 ...........0.090............0.091 .............0.092 ...........-0.001 ........... -1.087................0.090..............0.090...................0.092 ...................6,843,928 ..........0.100

OM0000001285 ............NATIONAL MINERAL WATER ...............................10,000 .................. 610........................ 1 ............0.061 ........... 0.061 ...........0.061 ........... 0.061 .............0.062 ...........-0.001 ............-1.613 ................0.061 .............. 0.061...................0.068.....................1,647,185...........0.100

OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................ 603,587 ........... 40,682......................41 ........... 0.068 ........... 0.069 ...........0.067 ........... 0.067 .............0.069 ...........-0.002 ........... -2.899 ...............0.067 ..............0.067...................0.068................. 100,500,000 .......0.100

.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 3,142,964 ...... 416,608....................181 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......12........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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 ....................................... 6,224.75 ...............6,191.44 ....................6,191.44 ....................6,219.77 ................-28.33 .................. -0.46Financial Index .....................................7,559.48 ............... 7,512.09 ....................7,512.09 ....................7,554.17 ............... -42.08 .................. -0.56Industrial Index ....................................7,973.44 .............. 7,942.38 ................... 7,942.38 ....................7,973.91 ................ -31.53 .................. -0.40Services Index .......................................3,389.13 ...............3,367.63 ....................3,367.63 ...................3,388.02 ................-20.39 .................. -0.60MSM SHARIAH INDEX...................... 962.92 ..................961.24 .......................961.24 ...................... 962.53 .................. -1.29 .................. -0.13

Trading SummaryVolume ................ Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up ............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded12,935,028 ..................3,739,149 .................... 920 ...............14,964,256,598 .................. 8 ......................18 .................... 31 .........................57

MSM index edges down

MUSCAT: Oman shares con-tinued its fall, with no signs of a recovery in oil prices. Muscat Security Market’s general index - MSM30 Index - closed at 6,191.44 points, down by 0.46 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index closed at 961.24 points, down by 0.13 per cent. Al Anwar Holding was the most active in terms of vol-ume while Bank Muscat was the most active in terms of turnover. United Power remained the top gainer, up by 9.92 per cent, while the top loser was Renaissance Services, down by 6.46 per cent.

As many as 920 trades were ex-ecuted during Tuesday’s trading session generating turnover of OMR3.73 million with more than 12.93 million shares changing hands. Out of 57 traded securi-ties, eight advanced, 18 declined and 31 remained unchanged. Omani investors were net buy-ers for OMR767,000 while for-eign investors were net sellers for OMR656,0000 followed by GCC and Arab investors for OMR111,000 worth of shares.

Financial Index fallsFinancial Index declined by 0.56 per cent to close at 7,512.09 points. ONIC Holding, Oman & Emirates and Al Anwar Holding increased by 2.13 per cent, 0.90 per cent and 0.49 per cent respec-tively. Bank Dhofar, Al Sharqiya Investment and Ahli Bank de-clined by 2.22 per cent, 1.61 per cent and 1.01 per cent, respec-tively.

Industrial Index closed at 7942.38 points, down by 0.40 per cent. Galfar Engineering was the only gainer in the sector and was up by 0.96 per cent to close at OMR0.104. Voltamp Energy, Al Jazeera Steel Product, Al Hassan Engineering and National Min-eral Water declined by 4.09 per cent, 2.22 per cent, 1.61 per cent and 1.09 per cent respectively.

Services Index was down by 0.60 per cent to close at 3,367.63

points. United Power and OIFC gained 9.89 per cent and 1.55 per cent, respectively.

Renaissance Services, Port Services and Batinah Power de-clined by 6.36 per cent, 1.67 per cent and 1.35 per cent, respec-tively.

Saudi bourse slumpsSaudi Arabia’s stocks fell after the International Monetary Fund said the drop in oil prices will force spending cuts and curtail economic expansion.

The Tadawul All Share Index slid 0.5 per cent to 8,393.77 as of 11:07 a.m. in Riyadh, headed for a sixth day of declines, the long-est streak in almost two months. Saudi Basic Industries Corp., one of the world’s biggest chemicals manufacturers, was the biggest contributor to losses with a 1.2 per cent drop.

Growth in Saudi Arabia, which relies on crude to fund its spend-ing, will slow to 2.8 per cent this year and 2.4 per cent in 2016 af-ter oil prices slumped, the IMF said in an e-mailed statement on Monday.

While government spending is the nation’s biggest economic driver, its fi scal defi cit would be “very large” this year and over the medium term if the kingdom continues to boost its expendi-ture even as crude prices sink, the Washington-based fund said.

“Investors in Saudi Arabia are skittish these days and they may take a negative cue from any-thing,” Ibrahim Masood, a port-folio manager who helps oversee about $400 million at Aventicum Capital Management Qatar, said by phone from Doha on Tues-day before the market opened. Masood focuses his investments on consumer and health care in-surance companies due to con-tinued local spending. “The IMF report is as good a reason as any for them to sell down.”

- United Securities/Bloomberg News

As many as 920 trades were executed in

the trading session generating turnover of

OMR3.73 million.

Sensex drops on growth outlookMUMBAI: India’s benchmark stock index declined in volatile trading as material producers dropped to counter gains in tech-nology and industrial companies.

Coal India, the world’s larg-est producer of the fuel, fell to a three-month low. Hindalco, a copper and aluminium producer, plunged to a two-year low. Tata Consultancy Services and Info-sys, the biggest software export-

ers, climbed at least 1.9 per cent.The Sensex slid 0.2 per cent to

27,831.54 at the close in Mumbai, after changing directions at least 12 times. Moody’s Investors Ser-vice pared its growth forecast for India, saying below-average rain-fall will off set higher government spending. A third day of losses in emerging-market stocks, led by China, weighed on sentiment, ac-cording to SMC Investments &

Advisors. “Investors are cautious because the monsoon rainfall is below normal and concerns over the yuan persist,” D.K. Aggarwal, chairman of SMC Investments, said by phone from New Delhi. “The market will trade in a range in the absence of major news fl ow to take it higher.”

He recommends software ex-porters because they benefi t from a weaker currency. - Bloomberg News

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Bouquet of benefi ts with Omasco's exclusive summer deals on Honda

MUSCAT: Omasco, the author-ised distributors of Honda vehi-cles in the Sultanate, has launched exclusive summer deals and off ers on select Honda models.

Major highlights The off er extends till the end of September and includes free in-surance (Oman and UAE) on the 2015 YM Pilot, Odyssey, Civic, Accord EX-A and EX-B, free ser-vice package for 5 years / 100K km (only on 2015 YM Pilot, Odys-sey, Civic, Accord EX-A and EX-B), free registration on all models and extended warranty of fi ve years or unlimited mileage. Free service package available on all other models is for three years / 50Kkm except Accord LX-A, says a press release.

Hussain Al Lawati, managing

director, Omasco, said: “The auto industry in Oman is maturing and that means that there is a lot more knowledge and higher expecta-tion from potential and existing customers. At Omasco we believe that the customer is the heart and soul of all of our promotions and we have realised that off ers that add more than just discount on the price of the vehicles and include service packages and warranty packages are what the consumer is looking for.

"The Honda Summer Deal of-fers great prices and even better service packages that go up to 100K km or up to fi ve years, en-suring that when you buy a Honda you are not only getting some of the best technology and reliabil-ity in the current auto market but a spectacular after sales service package as well.”

Social media The aim of Honda’s Facebook page has always been to off er its cus-tomers an interactive experience and information on its models and services. Honda is also work-ing hard on reducing its response time to queries on the social media platforms as well as introducing personalised and easy solutions to all its customers’ needs.

The aim is to use the social me-dia platforms to showcase infor-mation on the wide range of mod-els from Honda which is updated on a monthly basis to provide the latest information at all times comprising interactive videos, behind-the-scenes access, inter-national news, pictorial galleries, aesthetic details, and unique mod-el features. The aim has been to be at par with customers’ require-ments and needs.

2016 Honda City The 2016 City, which has been de-veloped as a global sedan, encom-passes the best of Honda’s technol-

ogies to deliver advanced sporty design, best comfort and best fuel effi ciency in the category.

The Honda City has undergone a complete design change based on a grand concept of an ‘Advanced Cool Sporty Car’ that has a stunning presence with its dynamic stance, outstanding fuel effi ciency, com-fortable and spacious interiors. It aims to refl ect sophistication and vigour while in motion and a strik-ing charisma when stationary.

2016 Honda Accord The Accord refl ects its status as a dynamic, intelligent sedan with deeply sculpted sharp character

lines in the exterior. The vehicle is equipped with a bold chrome grille to enhance the expressive charac-ter of the car keeping the local taste in mind. All grades are equipped with daytime running lights and LED brake lights. LED headlights and LaneWatch camera for the V6 Sports grade adds to the sophistica-tion of the modern sedan.

Honda CR-VWith a sophisticated overall look and feel, the Honda CR-V boasts a 2.4 litre i-VTEC 4-cylinder engine and Continuously Variable Trans-mission (CVT). It has a fuel econo-my rating of 23/31 for front drives and 22/30 for 4 wheel drives. As standard equipment, every CR-V incorporates an electronic stabil-ity control system, antilock brakes with brake assist, driver and front-passenger airbags, side curtain airbags with roll over sensor and a front seat design that can help re-duce the severity of neck injury in the event of a rear collision.

One of the exciting enhance-ments to the CR-V 2015 EX and EX –L grades is Honda’s LaneWatch camera that displays a wide-angle view of the passenger side road-way on the Display Audio screen. All grades are equipped with, door mirror with side turn signal.

Honda Pilot The Pilot is Honda’s midsize 4x4 off ering, and their largest off er-ing at this time. The new look features a new standard grille, new front and rear bumpers, and optional new wheels, along with a few other cabin additions. The Pilot can seat eight people at a pinch. The standard 3.5-litre V6 engine features Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) which al-lows it to operate on half the cyl-inders when power is not needed, improving fuel economy.Pilot Touring has Navigation System and Rear Entertainment System as standard features.

Honda Odyssey The Honda Odyssey, the upmar-ket minivan is aimed at big fami-lies, and is longer, wider and lower than the previous version.

It comes in LX, EXL andTouring trim levels. Mechanical specs include a 3.5-litre V6 with cylinder-shutoff technology, a 6-speed automatic, MacPherson strut front and double-wishbone rear suspension, 17-inch or 18-inch alloy wheels and an 80-litre fuel tank.

Odyssey Touring has Navigation System and Rear Entertainment System as standard features.

The current off er on

select Honda models

extends till the end

of September

ISC Salalah celebrates Independence Day

SALALAH: As a socially active club, rising to the time as always, Indian Social Club Salalah cel-ebrated the 69th Independence Day of India at the Indian Social Club, Salalah.

In his welcome address, ISC chairman Manpreet Singh ac-claimed India’s progress in diff er-ent facets of life. He mentioned India’s achievements in the fi elds

of education and research.

Pays homageThe management committee members along with the chairman paid homage to the motherland, says a press release.

Singh presented bouquets and mementos to the chief guest Sheikh Abdullah Salim Mahad Al Rawas, chairman, Oman Chamber

of Commerce and Industry, Dhofar region and to the other guests of honour Sheikh Nisar Ahmed Salim Al Marhoon, deputy chairman, Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhofar region, and Omar Abdulaziz Al Rawas.

Nisar Ahmed Salim Al Marhoon addressed the gathering and ap-preciated the peaceful relation-ship between India and Oman.

Hridhya S. Menon, the lady-coordinator of Indian Social Club Salalah, hosted the ceremony as the compere. Mohandas M. K., Cultural Secretary, proposed the vote of thanks. The formal cer-emony was followed by a short cultural fi esta including a musical concert. The august gathering re-joiced in the celebration igniting patriotism.

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

ISWK celebrates 69th

Indian Independence

Day with great fervour

MUSCAT: It was a special day for all Indians assembled at the school grounds of Indian School Wadi Kabir (ISWK).

It was a proud moment for them as they paid heartfelt trib-utes to the memory of freedom fi ghters who sacrifi ced their lives for a free India so that every In-dian should breathe in an atmos-phere of freedom.

Narendra Kumar Surti from Chimanlal Chhotalal Surti & Co. was the chief guest. Be-ing the fourth generation of the Surti family which came ashore in Muscat more than a century ago he engenders the enterpris-ing spirit of Indian expats who have contributed signifi cantly to Oman’s march toward progress and prosperity. He was accom-panied by Rajendra Ved, vice-president of the SMC and its members, members of the Ban-yan Merchant Association, other dignitaries and special invitees, says a press release.

The programme began with the unfurling of the tricolour by the chief guest as the school band played the National Anthem. The marching contingents of the four houses named after the pre-eminent personalities of India: Ashoka, Akbar, Tagore and Vive-kananda, presented a salute. In addition, a display of ethnic cos-tumes of diff erent states of India by one of the contingents added colour to the cavalcade.

The school-choir presented a touching rendition of the song Vandanake inn swaronmein… Ekswarmeramilalo. The troupe of dancers lent colour to the cel-ebrations with their number Bharat Hum Ko Jaan Se Pyara

Hai and Jhuke Tere Aage Sar/ Teri God Mera Ghar Hai /Tujhe Salaam India.

Smayan Nath, Grade II student sang the famous patriotic song Ai Mere watanke logon, by noted Hindi poet Pradeep. It was a mov-ing tribute to the soldiers of the In-dian Army who made the supreme sacrifi ce to uphold the sanctity and integrity of their motherland.

Glowing tributes were also paid to Late Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kal-am who in his call to the nation during his presidential address had said: “We should all work together to achieve the mission for unity of minds to preserve what we so preciously earned and reach greater heights in the future."

The programme was enjoyed by everyone present as they left the venue with a renewed spirit of dedication to their mother-land as citizens of a great na-tion on the move, achieving ever greater heights.

C E L E B R A T I O N

KR Group sends Omani staff to India for training

MUSCAT: The Khimji Ramdas Group has selected 24 of its top performing Omani employees for a three-week leadership training programme in Kochi, India.

Titled ‘The Essence of Leader-ship’, the workshop that goes on till August 22, focuses on grooming KR’s national workforce for roles higher up on the corporate ladder, and in turn, reaffi rming the com-pany’s commitment to developing the potential skilled Omani staff , says a press release.

“KR has been consistently in-vesting in developing the poten-tial of national employees so that they can take up higher roles and responsibilities. Apart from lo-cal training and development ac-tivities, potential employees have been deputed abroad for specifi c skill and competence development programmes. For the last 12 years employees have been sent to India for personal development, skill enhancement and personal eff ec-tiveness programmes, which have resulted in enriching the profi le of employees; many such trainees have continuously grown and tak-en up higher level roles,” says Anil Khimji, director, Ramdas.

The current batch is a mix of

employees who function either in supervisory or fi rst line manage-rial capacities or employees that demonstrate initiative and a po-tential for taking up prospective leadership positions. This batch of employees was hand-picked based on the duration of their tenure at KR and because they have been known to possess remarkable po-tential for growth. Incidentally, most of them have already attend-ed fi rst level training in India.

The current training will be an intense residential three-week

programme, demanding extended working hours and serious study-ing. Employees, therefore, are ex-pected to fully prepare themselves to take up further higher level re-sponsibilities in the near future.

“This is a training programme that is tailored specifi cally to en-hance and grow leadership quali-ties among Omani employees. It aids the organisation’s eff orts to empower KR’s Omani talent and mould it for senior level manage-ment positions. The programme has a very stringent selection pro-

cess that picks the best of the best from the company’s national tal-ent pool and grooms them for roles with larger responsibilities,” says Sivam S., Human Capital Manage-ment, Khimji Ramdas.

The course curriculum for this year covers a wide range of topics pegged to a central theme on how to transform the trainees into more eff ective supervisors and managers. The academics of the programme will cover topic such as man management, supervisory skills, next level of communica-tion skills and personal eff ective-ness inputs.

The uniqueness of this course will be that apart from the theo-retical inputs and case studies being discussed by the institute’s resources personnel, senior man-agers from KR will also participate in imparting training and advice related to KR’s businesses.

Many of KR’s managers are ex-pected to visit Kochi and conduct classes. In addition, focus is also laid on ensuring that trainees get maximum exposure to a business environment that is diff erent from what they are used to while also getting a taste of India’s multi-cul-tural landscape.

S K I L L D E V E L O P M E N T

AHEC extends support to Dossier awardsMUSCAT: Al Hassan Engineering Company has announced its sup-port to the Dossier Construction Awards and Summit 2015 that will recognise some of the best per-formers from the construction and engineering sector of Oman.

Aiming to promote and felicitate

industry performers, individu-als, best practices and technology and project excellence through an awards ceremony; Dossier Con-struction Awards has, since 2013, made its mark in the industrial scenario driving the exchange of knowledge and best practices with-

in the industry through an intellec-tual forum in the form of a summit. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony, to be held on September 9 in Muscat.

Commenting on the partnership Steve Scott, chief executive offi cer, AHEC, said: “We are pleased to

renew our partnership with Dos-sier Construction for their annual award ceremony and summit in Oman. This event is much looked forward as a platform to showcase the credentials of our organisation as well as some of the best talents in the Industry.”

C O N S T R U C T I O N A W A R D S A N D S U M M I T

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The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well. — Henry W. Longfellow

QUOTES

Do not think of your

faults, still less of

other’s faults; look for

what is good and strong

and try to imitate it. Your

faults will drop off, like

dead leaves, when their

time comes.

— John Ruskin

A great person attracts

great people and knows

how to hold them

together.

— Johann Wolfgang Von

Goethe

Don’t let technology disrupt your career path

IT’S no secret that keeping up with advances in technology is critical to surviving and thriving in the business world.

There are numerous examples of top companies that suff ered by resisting change.

The lessons learned from these failures can be applied to individ-ual career potential: To move up the ladder, you must embrace new technology. If you don’t, there are plenty of other individuals who will be waiting to sweep past you.

You know many of the tools you should be using — LinkedIn, Twit-ter, Facebook, YouTube — and you need to keep abreast of new advances in technologies that are specifi c to your particular indus-try. What can you do if you’re not a born “techie”? Here are some

ways to increase your savvy:Get over your denial: Avoid

jumping to the conclusion that a new technology will not aff ect you. Don’t get hung up on the way you’ve always done things.

Think ahead: Don’t rely on a history of success to save you in the future. Your job history has led to your present position, but if the nature of your business changes because of a new technology, that history may have little bearing on your future success. Have a vivid imagination and think about all kinds of diff erent possibilities for the way technology could impact your position and your industry.

Embrace change: It is always frightening to change, especially if you have been successful in what you are doing. But with the waves

of technology sweeping across diff erent industries, change is be-coming the norm.

Seek a tech mentor: Ask the advice of a colleague who ac-tively engages with technology. This may not be the same type of person who you’d approach for a more traditional mentoring rela-tionship — here’s the opportunity for millennials to mentor the baby boomers.

Set goals: Outline clear, meas-urable goals to achieve mastery of a new technology, whether it’s creating a professional blog and posting three times per week, or resolving to update a LinkedIn profi le quarterly.

Practice: Like anything else, becoming a master of technology tools requires practice. Commit to

spending a set amount of time each day blogging, Tweeting, or scan-ning tech headlines and blog posts.

Stay current: Keep up on technology trend to familiarise yourself with new tools that might become integral to your position or industry. Invest in your tech-nology education, if necessary. You may have to learn a lot of new skills to keep up with the advanc-es in technology in your industry.

Become a technology advo-cate: The best thing you can do for your fi rm is to become an ad-vocate for disruptive technology. Encourage co-workers to think about how the technology could impact your business. Work with them to develop a strategy to re-spond to the challenge. — Henry Lucas/

The Washington Post

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Bank Muscat launches value-added current account for najahi customers

MUSCAT: As part of its commit-ment to encourage entrepreneurial initiatives, Bank Muscat, the fl ag-ship fi nancial services provider in the Sultanate, has widened the na-jahi suite of products and services for micro and small businesses.

The bank has launched a value added najahi current account of-fering diff erentiated services for customers. The najahi current ac-count provides access to business debit card, branded cheque book, priority queuing at branches, free access to Maktabi Business Cen-tres and online banking services, says a press release.

The najahi business debit card off ers a daily withdrawal limit of OMR1,000. It provides 24x7 ac-cess to ATM and cash deposit ma-chines, reducing the need to visit branches for routine transactions. The higher withdrawal limit helps customers to meet day-to-day cash

requirements. najahi customers can also avail multiple debit cards on the same account allowing au-thorised persons to make transac-tions on behalf of the company.

Specially branded cheque books are provided for najahi current account holders as also prior-ity queuing facility at branches for both teller and non-teller transac-tions. They also have free access

once a month to Maktabi Business Centres in Muscat. najahi cus-tomers are required to maintain a minimum balance of OMR500 in their accounts to avail the current account facility.

Sadiq Mohammed Baqer Al La-watiya, head of Retail Enterprises, said: “The new value-added najahi services are aimed at off ering a major boost for start-up and small

businesses in Oman. Bank Muscat has taken major initiatives to pro-vide the required support for en-trepreneurs, especially youth, who constitute the future of Oman. The bank’s commitment stems from the strong belief that entrepre-neurial ventures help boost the local economy, contribute to the GDP and create self-employment opportunities for youth.”

The specially designed najahi products include credit facilities without collaterals for the small business segment to establish and develop their business. With naja-hi, Bank Muscat fulfi ls the primary need of fi nance for the micro and small business segment.

The najahi suite of products com-prise fl exi loan to support working capital, business expansion and other business needs; contractors loan to help complete contracted jobs; contractors bill discounting against bills submitted for complet-ed contracted jobs; and the newly launched specially designed value added current account

Bank Muscat has launched a se-ries of initiatives to strengthen the SME sector in Oman. Serving as building blocks for entrepreneurs, these initiatives assume impor-tance in the backdrop of the prior-ity accorded by the government.

The najahi current

account provides

access to business

debit card, branded

cheque book, priority

queuing at branches,

free access to

Maktabi Business

Centres and online

banking services

Al Hashar cash back promo on Firestone tyres till Sept. 9MUSCAT: The ongoing Fire-stone Tyre Festival has become an instant hit in the Sultanate. Customers can avail cash back on cash purchase of any four se-lect Firestone — Passenger, 4WD, SUV or van tyres.

The cash back off er starts from OMR10 on 13-15” tyre size, OMR15 on 15-16” tyre size and goes upto OMR20 on 18” and above tyre sizes. A free wheel alignment check is also being of-fered to ensure maximum tyre life and optimum vehicle handling, says a press release.

Exclusive dealerA company spokesperson stated, “At Al Hashar, we are committed to delivering value to our custom-ers. Firestone tyres have over the years earned the trust and love of customers in Oman.

“As the exclusive dealer of Fire-stone tyres, we decided to cele-brate the amazing popularity and acceptance of brand Firestone through this special promotion. We hope this promotion will fur-ther enhance Firestone’s growing popularity in the Sultanate.”

The promotion will continue till September 9, on all tyre brands as available with Al Hashar, across their tyre centres at Wadi Kabir, Sur and Sohar.

In the fi eld of tyres world over, the name Firestone requires no introduction. Trusted worldwide, Firestone has won many laurels from customers and tyre pundits alike. The tyres are very popular in Oman and thousands of satis-fi ed customers are testimony to their reliability and performance.

Al Hashar is one of Oman’s pre-

mier automotive companies and distributor of some of the world’s most loved brands. Firestone and Al Hashar have become an un-beatable combination over their four decades long partnership. The Firestone tyre range in Oman includes light truck and van, pas-senger car, sports utility vehicle and truck and bus tyres.

E X C I T I N G O F F E R

World class football only on OSNABU DHABI: A new season of world-class football from across the globe is now showing on Abu Dhabi Sports channels only on OSN, the region’s leading pay-TV network.

Football fans can look forward to live and exclusive action from the EURO 2016 Qualifi ers, Ara-bian Gulf League, Coppa Italia and US Major Soccer League in stunning High Defi nition, says a press release.

The Euro 2016 Qualifi ers are reaching a thrilling climax as cur-rent FIFA World Cup champi-ons Germany square up against Group D table toppers Poland (September 4) and other crucial fi xtures on September 3 and 5.

Through to the fi nal play-off s in November (12 to 17), viewers will have the unparalleled opportuni-ty to follow the qualifying games on Abu Dhabi Sports channels, exclusively on OSN, as teams bat-tle it out for a place at the UEFA EURO 2016 championships, to be held from June 10 to July 16, 2016 in France.

Abu Dhabi Sports’ world class football coverage has already in-cluded the Spanish and Italian Super Cups and it continues with the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) as Al Ain look to add a 12th title to the trophy cabinet, with live matches and in-depth pre and post-match analysis.

Adding to the action is exclusive coverage of the US Major Soc-cer League, featuring superstars Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Andre Pirlo, Kaka and many more. And in Italy, follow the fortunes

of Juventus as they look to add to their 10 Coppa Italia victories, but face stiff competition from the likes of Roma, Lazio and the two Milan giants – AC and Inter.

Abdul Hadi Al Sheikh, execu-tive director of Television at Abu Dhabi Media, said: “Football is more than a game; it is a passion that unites us. We are delighted to off er world class football to our valued subscribers in HD through the OSN platform. Presented exclusively, our entire line-up is complemented by expert insights and studio analysis. We will con-tinue to build our football plat-form through other rights such as the FIFA World Cup 2018 Euro-pean Qualifi ers to bring the joy of

world class football action to our subscribers.”

Andy Warkman, vice president Sports and Production at OSN, said: “The strategic collabora-tion of ADM and OSN has now positioned us fi rmly as a leading provider of popular football and sports events from around the world. We have already carved our niche in bringing the best cricketing action live, as well as the world’s most popular rugby and golf championships.

We are now delighted to be of-fering world class football to our sports line-up.

This is a winning combination that positions OSN at the fore-front in sports entertainment.”

P A Y T V N E T W O R K

Kerala Wing’s Medi-Talk on August 21

MUSCAT: Scripting the history of medical awareness and knowledge addition of the Indian community in Oman, Muscat Science Fest launches a series of programmes with the inauguration of Medi-Talk (the doctor’s interactive ses-sion) on Friday, August 21, 6pm at Indian School Darsait Auditorium.

The programme panel includes about 10 prominent doctors with a wealth of experience in mixed specialities from various hospi-tals of Oman and will be address-ing the queries of the audience on the topic ‘medicine, treatment and physical ailments’. A special focus is given to children’s psy-chology, dealing with children having earning diffi culties etc, says a press release.

The programme is organised in close association with Indian

Medical Association Nedum-bassery branch that has about 200 plus members just in Oman and its spread is growing over time.

Muscat Science Fest has launched the programmes of sci-ence and technology to enhance the awareness of people on the distinction between science and myth, the domination of science over the lives of people and ration-al angle of universal phenomena’s than misguiding interpretations.

While Medi-Talk Muscat Sci-ence Fest is conducting the sec-ond programme this year, the fi rst one was a seminar on ‘Alternate technology and organisational forms’ done in early second quar-ter of this year in association with Costford of India.

Through the platform Medi-Talk, participants will have the

opportunity to take note of the various case studies on life style deceases, communicable deceas-es as well the terminal illnesses and the precautions and preven-tion measures one can take to lead a healthy and quality living.

As it is not a consultation ses-sion, rather interactive, on which the organisers have solicited questions on health issues well in advance through dedicated and round the clock telephone num-bers and e-mail addresses.

The questions from the prospective audience will be screened, analysed and prepared in the form of case studies by the panel as a solution provider.

Participants will also have the opportunity to ask supplemen-tary questions on the case studies presented during the event.

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

At Al Hashar, we are committed to delivering value

to our customers. Firestone tyres have over the years

earned the trust and love of customers in Oman. As

the exclusive dealer of Firestone tyres, we decided to

celebrate the amazing popularity and acceptance of

brand Firestone through this special promotion. We hope

this promotion will further enhance Firestone’s growing

popularity in the Sultanate

Al Hashar spokesperson

Football fans can look forward to live and exclusive

action from the EURO 2016 Qualifiers, Arabian Gulf

League, Coppa Italia and US Major Soccer League in

stunning High Definition. Through to the final play-

offs in November (12 to 17), viewers will have the

unparalleled opportunity to follow the qualifying

games on Abu Dhabi Sports channels, exclusively

on OSN, as teams battle it out for a place at the

UEFA EURO 2016 championships, to be held from

June 10 to July 16, 2016 in France

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

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SECTIONC W E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

FATMA SETTLES FORSECOND PLACE IN EGYPTThe Sultanate’s tennis star Fatma Al Nabhani settled for a second place in the doubles competition of the ITF Pro Circuit $10,000 Sharm El Sheikh tournament in Egypt recently. >C4

Oman U16s arrive in Doha

MUSCAT: The Sultanate’s un-der-16 national team reached Doha on Tuesday to take part in the GCC Under-16 Football Championship.

The regional championship is scheduled to take place from Au-gust 20 to 29. According to infor-mation received from the Oman

Football Association (OFA), the team began their preparations in right earnest, undergoing a train-ing session just hours after arriv-ing in the Qatari capital.

The training began with a brief pep talk given by team coach Youcb

Al Sabahi after which the players underwent a rigerous training.

The main focus of the training was the tactics to be used for their opening Group A match against Kuwait on Thursday.

The match is scheduled to kick

off at 5 pm Oman time. Group A also comprises Bahrain, whom the Sultanate junior squad will take on August 22.

The OFA, meanwhile, informed the technical and administrative body had a meeting with the parents

of the national team players prior to the team’s departure to Doha.

The team: Yousef Al Shiyadi, Moham-med Al Shekaili, Nawaf Jasim, Moham-med Al Khamisi (Al Suwaiq), Esam Al Makhzomi, Al Yaqdhan Khamis, Muta-sim Al Bakri, Yousef Al Maliki and Yahya Al Hedaifi (Seeb), Islam Al Hinai, Said Al Siyabi (Rustaq), Naji Al Ghailani, Omar Rabia (Sur), Muaz Al Jahdhami (Baush-er), Najib Mahfoudh, Sultan Basheer (Al Nasr), Mohammed Obaid, Thamir Al Za’abi (Al Salam), Sanad Al Araimi, Mo-hammed Al Alawi (Aurouba), Haider Al Ajmi (Saham), Abdullah Al Darmaki (Al Khaboura) and Mohammed Shihab ( Ibri).

Delegation: Yacoub Al Sabahi (coach),Hilal Al Aufi (assistant coach), Nabil Al Balushi (director), Shakir Al Balushi (goalkeepers coach), Moham-med Al Harthy (physiotherapist), Badr Al Battashi (adminstrator) and Hamdam Al Manni (media coordinator).

Oman play their

opening match

at the GCC U-16

Championship

against Kuwait

Oman team’s friendly with Tanzania ‘not confi rmed’

Ramela hits ton

as South Africa A

dominate India A

MUSCAT: Even as Oman sen-ior national team are prepar-ing for a friendly match against Yemen ahead of their Asia Cup and World Cup qualifi ers against Turkmenistan, there are reports of Tanzanian squad arriving in Muscat for another friendly against Paul Le Guen’s boys.

African sports portals, in-cluding 366football.com, posted reports saying Tanzanian team are planing to stopover in the Sultanate’s capital en route to a training camp in Turkey.

When contacted by Times Sport, all that Oman’s French coach Paul Le Guen said was ‘not confi rmed’.

According to 366football.com, Tanazania, ‘as part of the preparations for the game against Nigeria in the 2017 African Cup of Nations quali-fi er, will be taking on Oman in a friendly match on August 24.

“The team will leave Dar es Salaam August 22 for a week-long camp in Turkey to prepare for the clash against the Super Eagles but will have a stopover in Muscat for the friendly match before going on to Europe, as confi rmed on the offi cial Tanza-nian Football Federation (TFF) website,” it said.

“While in Istanbul, Turkey, Taifa Stars are listed to play two friendly matches against un-named opponents before end-ing the weeklong camp then fl y straight back home to take on the former African champions on September 5.”

Le Guen boys, meanwhile, will play Yemen at Seeb Sports Stadium on August 28.

After having began their cam-paign in the joint qualifi ers for the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asia Cup with an away 2-1 win over India, Oman will play their next Group D match at home against Turkmenistan on Sep-tember 3.

The Group D also comprises Guam and Iran.

The team are scheduled to resume training on August 24 ahead of Yemen friendly.

WAYANAD: Middle-order batsman Omphile Ramela struck an attractive century as South Africa A dominated India A by posting a comfortable 293 for four on the opening day of the fi rst unoffi cial cricket ‘Test’, here on Tuesday.

Riding on left-hander Rame-la’s 112 off 197 balls, South Af-rica A dictated terms after their skipper Dane Vilas decided to bat fi rst at the picturesque Sta-dium located in the hilly region of Krishnagiri.

The other two notable scorers were opener Reeza Hendricks, who hit 50, while Temba Bavu-ma was unbeaten on 55 off 117 deliveries with seven bounda-ries to his credit.

In fact, Ramela-Bavuma duo added 136 runs for the fourth wicket in nearly 40 overs (39.5 overs).

Ramela, who hit his fi fth fi rst-class century in his 75th game had 12 boundaries and three sixes to his credit. He was par-ticularly severe on off -spinner Jayant Yadav (one for 88 in 24 overs) hitting him for a few sixes. He batted for close to four hours for his ton.

Limited overs specialist Axar Patel was the most successful bowler with fi gures of two for 52 in 24 overs while seamer Ishwar Pandey got a wicket. Pa-tel did not show much variation to trouble the batsmen and both his wickets were primarily a re-sult of the mistakes committed by the batsmen.

The Indian bowling lacked the sting and the Wayanad pitch also helped the South African batsmen’s strokeplay. - PTI

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Wood ready to stand aside for Anderson in fifth Ashes Test

LONDON: Mark Wood has pre-pared himself for the prospect of being sidelined for the fi fth and fi nal Test against Australia despite taking the wicket that clinched the Ashes.

When Durham fast bowler Wood had Nathan Lyon playing on at Trent Bridge, it sealed an in-nings and 78-run win in the fourth Test that gave England an unbeat-able 3-1 lead in the fi ve-match Ashes series.

However, he may not be in the XI at The Oval if England spear-head James Anderson returns to the team. England’s all-time lead-ing wicket-taker missed the fourth Test with a side strain suff ered during his team’s eight-wicket win in the third Test at Edgbaston

Anderson bowled in practice on Monday and Wood, speaking to reporters at The Oval before England trained on Tuesday, said: “Jimmy’s got 400 Test wickets,

he’s England’s lead bowler...I’m sure everyone would want him in the side so if he’s fi t and ready to go then it looks like he would get the nod, but I’ll prepare like I have for every other game.”

Wood has long struggled with an ankle problem and missed the match at Edgbaston after the in-jury raised fresh doubts about his ability to bowl at his best in back-to-back matches.

“I don’t want to miss games for England. I’ve had that many inju-

ries so far in my short career that I never want that chance to be thrown out of the team,” said the 25-year-old, who made his Test debut against New Zealand in May.

“Long term, the ankle problem may need some work done to it - whether that’s time off or maybe an operation.

“My style of bowling off a short run and explosive at the crease probably doesn’t help my body at times. I heard Glenn McGrath mention that my short run puts

more pressure on, but I don’t know any diff erent to be honest.

“I’ve spoken to the physios about my ankle. If it’s just the case of pain then I could probably get through but if it’s hampering my performance or I’m not bowling with a straight leg and not up to late 80s/90mph then it’s not help-ing anyone, then I would look to get something done about it.”

‘No easy ride’ Meanwhile, Wood was still sa-

vouring the experience of sealing an Ashes series win.

“To get a the chance to watch it back was pretty special and I don’t want to forget that moment ever,” he said.

England have never won four Tests in a home Ashes series and Wood said skipper Alastair Cook, whose side suff ered a 5-0 thrash-ing in Australia in 2013/14, was determined there would be no let up at The Oval.

“Cooky rang me the next day (af-ter Trent Bridge). He didn’t let that winning feeling sink in too much because every other phone call was saying ‘brilliant, well done but let’s make this 4-1’.

“If it was the other way around I’m sure that Australia wouldn’t give us an easy ride so of course the celebrations will be after the game.

“Four-one would make it just that bit more sweet.”

The fi fth Test will be Australia captain Michael Clarke’s last be-fore international retirement and Wood said the star batsman would receive a respectful send off from England.

“He’s a fantastic player, some-one who has done a huge amount for Australian cricket,” said Wood.

“Before the series he was some-one I looked up to as a fan of the game, this series I’ve been up against and have had to try and get him out and that will be the same this game. There’ll be that respect there, because he’s had a fantastic career.” - AFP

Mark Wood may

not be in the XI at

The Oval if England

spearhead James

Anderson returns

to the team

Sri Lanka aim to give Sangakkara victorious send-off COLOMBO: Kumar Sangakkara gets a chance to bow out in style by leading Sri Lanka to a series-clinching victory in the second Test against India starting in Co-lombo on Thursday.

The prolifi c left-hander, the highest run-getter among those still playing at the highest level, will bid adieu to international cricket after the match, ending a glorious 15-year career.

With Sri Lanka leading the three-match series after conjuring a brilliant come-from-behind win in the fi rst Test in Galle by 63 runs, the stage is set at the P. Sara Oval for a Sangakkara special.

The 37-year-old will be desper-ate to end an unusually barren streak at the venue where he has fallen for zero in each of his last three Tests, including a fi rst-ball duck against Pakistan in June.

Sangakkara scored fi ve and 40 against the Indians in Galle, where Sri Lanka snatched a remarkable

victory after seemingly heading for a crushing loss.

The hosts had been reduced to 95 for fi ve in their second innings before lunch on the third day, still 98 runs away from avoiding an in-nings defeat, when Dinesh Chan-dimal led the recovery with a bril-liant 162 off 169 balls.

Chandimal shared valuable partnerships with Lahiru Thiri-manne (44) and Jehan Mubarak (49) to lift the hosts to 367 before veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath took over.

Herath grabbed seven wickets as Virat Kohli’s men, chasing a modest victory target of 176, were skittled for 112 soon after lunch on the fourth day.

‘Go for the kill’ Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said nothing less than a series win would be a fi tting tribute to Sangakkara.“We will defi nitely go for the kill,” he said. “Sangakkara

deserves the best possible farewell and only a win can do that. There is so much to play for in this Test.”

Indian team director Ravi Shas-tri said it hurt to lose at Galle after dominating the Test till the third af-

ternoon, but promised to set things right in the next two matches.

“Matches like Galle hurt you more than some others, because you have dominated the Test and still lost it,” the former all-rounder

said. “You learn from this kind of result quicker than any other kind of result. Hopefully you will see it in the next few days.”

The Indians, victims of several contentious umpiring decisions in Galle, paid dearly for the defi ant refusal by their powerful cricket board to adopt the Decision Review System (DRS) for bilateral matches.

Both Chandimal and Thiri-manne were fortunate to get into double fi gures, having survived three appeals for catches close to the wicket in a 10-minute period before lunch on the third day.

Replays showed all three catch-es — two against Chandimal and one against Thirimanne — were clean, but the absence of DRS meant India could not ask for re-views from the television umpire.

Indian captain Virat Kohli was reluctant to speak about those de-cisions, but said the need for DRS will be discussed after the series.

“It is not an issue I want to de-

bate on,” he said. “When the series is over, we will sit down and fi gure out how important is it or how much we want to use it.”

Major blowThe tourists were dealt a ma-jor blow when in-form opener Shikhar Dhawan, who hit a centu-ry at Galle, was ruled out of the two remaining Tests with a hairline fracture in his right hand.

The injury to Dhawan left India in a spot of bother as the other opening batsman, Lokesh Rahul, was dis-missed for seven and fi ve in Galle.

First-choice opener Murali Vijay missed the Galle Test with a ham-string injury but is expected to re-cover in time for the second match.

Top-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara is waiting in the wings, while India had already sum-moned all-rounder Stuart Binny to join the squad as the 16th member before Dhawan’s non-availability was confi rmed. - AFP

C R I C K E T

SET FOR FINAL BOW: Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara inspects the

pitch during a practice session at the P. Sara Oval Cricket Stadium

in Colombo on Tuesday. – AFP

LONDON: England foot-ball manager Roy Hodgson dropped in at The Oval on Tuesday ahead of the fi fth and fi nal Ashes Test.

Hodgson, accompanied by assistant Ray Lewington, chatted to players from both the England and Australia teams as they trained ahead of the Ashes fi nale at the south London ground, which starts on Thursday.

Hodgson had been invited to The Oval by Australia doctor Peter Brukner, who worked with the England boss when they were both at Premier

League giants Liverpool. The former Reds manager even had time to cast his eye over the England cricketers’ warm-up football kickabout before they got down to the serious busi-ness of cricket training.

Hodgson stayed on to give a short team talk to Alastair Cook’s men, who’ve already clinched the Ashes after their in-nings and 78-run win over Aus-tralia in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge gave them an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the fi ve-match series.

“I just wanted to congratu-late them really. I’ve watched the cricket with great interest

and great pride,” Hodgson told the England and Wales Cricket Board’s website.

Australia’s Chris Rogers spoke to Hodgson and after-wards he told reporters: “I’ve been over here a long time and I like watching the football — particularly how England go out in the big tournaments.

“I got a chance to have a good chat with him (Hodgson) and he was a lovely guy.

“He talked about watching county cricket in the 1950s (when Oval-based Surrey were the dominant side), so he’s got a fair bit of history there.” - AFP

Roy Hodgson joins Ashes build-up

South Africa eye revenge against Kiwis

CENTURION: When it was announced that South Africa and New Zealand would play a One-day International (ODI) series during the South African winter, the obvious marketing angle was that it would pro-vide a rematch of the dramatic World Cup semifi nal between the two teams.

New Zealand won the World Cup showdown with a six off the penultimate ball of the match in Auckland in March.

The series which starts at Su-perSport Park on Wednesday is, however, far from a replay. Both sides are missing key players.

New Zealand, in particular, have been hit hard by injuries as well as a player manage-ment policy which sees regular captain Brendon McCullum and fast bowler Tim Southee being rested.

Despite injuries ruling out Trent Boult, Corey Anderson, Ross Taylor and Mitchell Sant-ner, the Black Caps showed in sharing a Twenty20 series, which ended on Sunday, that they are capable of mounting a strong challenge.

After losing the fi rst Twen-ty20 international in Durban by six wickets, New Zealand bounced back by winning the second game by 32 runs in Cen-turion on Sunday.

Stand-in captain Kane Wil-liamson praised the way the side had turned around their fortunes but warned they would need to improve even further going into a 50-overs series.

On the evidence of the T20 games, New Zealand will need bigger contributions from their middle order batsmen after Williamson and Martin Guptill gave them good starts which were not fully capitalised on.

Williamson is likely to return to his regular number three spot after opening in the short-form games. South African captain AB de Villiers, meanwhile, be-moaned his side’s inability to adapt to an untypical Centurion pitch, which in winter condi-tions was dry and much more slower than usual.

South Africa’s bowling will be strengthened by the return of fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander and leg-spinner Imran Tahir, who both missed the T20 games.

But they will be without fast bowler Morne Morkel, who will join batsman JP Duminy on pa-ternity leave.

New Zealand are currently third on the International Cricket Council one-day rank-ings list, one point ahead of fourth-placed South Africa.

Cricket South Africa chief ex-ecutive Haroon Lorgat, mean-while, said the experiment of playing matches in August had been successful so far, with near-capacity crowds attending the T20 matches.

The groundsmen in Durban and Centurion were able to pre-pare good batting surfaces.

At high altitude Centurion, the normally bleached winter grass was sprayed with a green dye which could not disguise the dryness of the outfi eld, making sliding by fi elders diffi cult. - AFP

O D I S E R I E S

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Anwar Ali, from child labourer to Pakistan’s latest cricket star

KARACHI: Pakistan all-rounder Anwar Ali, who once ironed socks for a living as a teenage factory la-bourer, may have fi nally found his feet in international cricket after years of unfulfi lled promise.

Ali smashed a 17-ball 46 with four towering sixes and three fours to help Pakistan clinch a last-gasp over win in the second Twenty20 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in their recently concluded tour, prompting fans to hail him as the second coming of talismanic all-rounder Shahid Afridi.

“I am thankful to Almighty who helped me reach this point,” Ali, 27, said. “My life was once very tough as I used to work in a sock-making factory but I clung to the dream of playing for Pakistan.”

Ali migrated as a child from the small village of Zaka Khel in the militancy-wracked Swat Valley that is also home to Nobel peace prize-winning activist Malala Yousafzai.

His family was amongst those who left after extremists began a campaign to rule the valley.

The family made their base in a rundown industrial area of Kara-chi, where Ali, who lost his father when he was still young, began

working as a child labourer for a meagre 150 rupees ($1.50 in cur-rent terms) per day.

“Those were very tough days, we came to Karachi in search of peace and safety and as one of the boys of the family I was required to earn and not play,” said the broad-built Ali.

While on the way to the factory, Ali would watch boys play in the

street, spurring his dreams of one day making it to the national stage.

“I requested my boss to put me in the night shift so that I could play cricket in the day and he very kindly obliged,” recalled Ali.

Ali got his lucky break when he was spotted by local coach Azam Khan, who he now calls his men-tor and guide. “I found him enor-

mously talented and asked him to come for the trials,” recalled Khan. “Initially he excused himself be-cause he would have lost his daily wages in case the trials ran later than scheduled. So, I promised to pay him the 150 rupees if he comes.

“The next day he came and he conquered the trials and everyone was amazed at his bowling,” said

Khan. “But... I couldn’t keep paying him. Luckily Ali got a job in the Ka-rachi Electric team and from there he never looked back.”

Ali said: “My late father was against my playing cricket but his opinion changed once I made my mark and started earning from it.”

Promising start Ali was later picked for the Paki-stan Under-19 team which won the Junior World Cup in Sri Lanka in 2006. It was his banana-swing bowling which turned the tables on arch-rivals India in the fi nal at the Premadasa stadium in Colombo.

Defending a paltry target 109, Ali made the ball turn corners as he fi nished with fi gures fi ve for 35, shooting India out for 71.

His victims included Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindar Jadeja — all of whom have made their mark for India in international cricket.

Two years later Ali made an inauspicious international sen-ior debut, in a Twenty20 match against Zimbabwe in Canada. Fig-ures of 0-19 in two overs meant he was instantly discarded from the team which had Abdul Razzaq as its main all-rounder.

Cast into the wilderness for the next fi ve years, he made it his goal to lift his family from poverty and build them a modest house. He set about playing in England’s Lanca-shire league and all but gave up on his international goals. But fi nally, his hard work paid off .

“I worked on my bowling, on my batting and, above all, my fi elding and that brought me back in the Pakistan team in 2013,” he said.

Ali and Bilawal Bhatti, another promising all-rounder, made their one-day debuts memorable by helping Pakistan record a history-making series win in South Africa in November 2013.

But it was the recent tour of Sri Lanka that established Ali’s place in the Pakistan team after years of inconsistency saw his bowling av-erage balloon to 58.

“It would not be wrong to say that Ali has fi nally come of age on this Sri Lanka tour,” said coach Waqar Younis. “His fi elding is ex-traordinary and he has improved as batsman as well as bowler. If he keeps working hard he will be our main all-rounder.”

For his part, Ali hopes that he can continue to knock the socks off every opponent. - AFP

all-rounder Anwar

Ali, who once ironed

socks for a living as

a teenage factory

labourer, may have

fi nally found his

feet in international

cricket after years of

unfulfi lled promise

TOUGH LIFE TO STARDOM: Fans now fail him as the second coming of Shahid Afridi. – AFP

My life was once very tough as I used to work in

a sock-making factory but I clung to the dream of

playing for Pakistan. I requested my boss to put

me in the night shift so that I could play cricket

in the day and he very kindly obliged

Anwar Ali

Rogers confi rms retirement after AshesLONDON: Chris Rogers is retir-ing from international cricket after this week’s Ashes fi nale against England, the Australia opener announced on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old joins his cap-tain Michael Clarke in retiring from international career after the fi fth Test.

He said: “I have had an amazing couple of years playing for Aus-tralia and enjoyed it and been part of some pretty special things — but everything comes to an end.”

England wrapped up the Ashes with victory in the fourth Test that put them 3-1 up in the fi ve-match series.

Tuesday’s confi rmation comes after Rogers had suggested it was his plan to make the Oval his in-ternational swansong in what will be his 25th career Test.

Rogers, who has more than 24,000 fi rst-class runs to his name, made his Test debut in 2008 but did not win his second cap until the start of the 2013 Ashes - at the age of 35.

The determined left-hander has since scored fi ve Test centu-ries, most recently in Australia’s only victory of this Ashes series at Lord’s. Rogers suff ered a dizzy spell in the second Test at Lord’s and was forced off the fi eld on 49 in Australia’s second innings.

Medical tests revealed the in-jury was related to a balance prob-lem in the inner ear caused when Rogers was hit on the helmet by a James Anderson bouncer

during his Test-best 173 in the fi rst innings.

Despite injury doubts he was able to play at the next Test at Edgbaston.

Explaining his decision to ac-company Clarke into retirement, Rogers added: “You are never 100 percent sure, but I felt like this (Test at The Oval) was the last one. There’s been a few things, particularly the head issues late-ly, so I am quite happy to call it a day...I’ve been hit in the head a few too many times of late.

“It’s time for Australian cricket to make a few changes and bring in a few new guys, a few fresh

faces. “It’s going to be a challeng-ing time, particularly for the new guys — but that’s part of it.”

Rogers has been one of Austral-ia’s best batsmen in a disappoint-ing series, sparking speculation he could defer his retirement.

‘Feel old’ But Rogers, speaking to reporters at The Oval later Tuesday, said: “I am 38 this month and I feel old. There’s other things to do in life as well.”

However, Rogers — who has had several spells in English cricket, most recently with Middlesex — said he could prolong his county

career. “I spoke to Angus Fraser (Middlesex’s director of cricket and an England selector) the oth-er day just to see where they are at...But I’m going to take a break and if I decide that’s it, maybe I won’t play anymore.”

Rogers said experience of coun-ty cricket would benefi t young Australian players but warned it would be hard to come by.

“It’s just not that easy. Counties aren’t necessarily just going to pick up young Aussie cricketers,” he said.

“There’s good players all round the world and you are only al-lowed one overseas player. We’d like to send our young guys over here but I’m not sure England are going to be that accommodating.”

Asked what he would miss the most in no longer representing Australia, Rogers replied: “Play-ing international cricket is just such a privilege and the highs you get (are incredible).

“The 173 I scored at Lord’s is just going to be one of those mem-ories I’ll have forever.

“That (maiden Test) hundred I got at Durham (in 2013) when I was in tears. Winning in South Af-rica, missing the (2013/14 Ashes) celebrations with the prime min-ister (Rogers was hungover at the time), all those kind of magic mo-ments that you’ll never get again.

“That’s going to be the sad part — but I’ve had enough of them now... and I can be happy with that.” - AFP

A M A Z I N G Y E A R S

There’s been a few

things, particularly

the head issues

lately, so I am quite

happy to call it a day...

Chris RogersAustralian batsman

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Young Omani sailing talents excel at Sur Optimist Championships

MUSCAT: Oman Sail’s newest sailing school in Sur, which was opened last year and funded by Oman LNG, played host to the 2nd Oman Optimist Championships from August 11 to 16, bringing to-gether 37 of Oman’s best young sailors for a week of intense com-petition. With places on the Na-tional Optimist Sailing Squad up for grabs, the standard of sailing proved incredibly high and pro-vided insight into a bright future for sailing in Oman.

Zakariya Al Wahabi retained the title he won at least year’s inaugu-ral championship, emerging victo-

rious in the overall rankings, with Marwan Al Jabri in second and Al Motasem Al Farsi in third.

In the Under-12 category, Ghas-san Al Hosni took the title ahead of Mohammed Al Qasmi in sec-ond and Ali Al Siyabi in third. The Wave, Muscat won the Best School award, posting the best results of all four of Oman Sail’s sailing schools.

Sailors had to contend with var-ying weather conditions that had an impact on their performance. From light winds on the fi rst day

and almost no winds on the second day, competitors struggled to reach the speeds they are capable of but the last two days off ered good wind and near-perfect sailing conditions that let them show their talent.

Busy scheduleThe winners received their prizes at a ceremony held under the pa-tronage of Sheikh Hamad bin Sul-tan Al Busaidi, Deputy Wali of Sur, and members of the National Opti-mist Sailing Squad will now begin

preparations for a busy schedule which includes the World Opti-mist Championships in Poland lat-er this month, the IODA Optimist African championships in Algeria in September and the Asian and Oceania Championships in Doha in October.

“The standard of sailing shown during the championships is evi-dence that the young sailors are making rapid progress each year. We have more spots in the Na-tional squad available for the com-

ing year and all of the competitors showed they are going to be capa-ble of representing the Sultanate either this year or in the future,” said Marina Psichogiou, Manager of Oman Sail’s Omantel Youth Pro-gramme which is co-sponsored by Oman Shipping Company.

“This tournament also gave the youngest of the group an opportu-nity to experience sailing in a large fl eet and a competitive environ-ment, as well as off ering them a glimpse at the possibilities avail-

able to them through sailing.”She added: “We now begin prep-

arations for a busy calendar of ma-jor events that will give the squad further vital experience as we look to empower the youth of Oman and prepare sailors for Olympic competition.”

The top fi ve sailors will now be-gin preparations for the Optimist World Championships in Poland which takes place in the city of Dziwnow from August 25 to Sep-tember 5.

With places on the

National Optimist

Sailing Squad up for

grabs, the standard

of sailing proved

incredibly high and

provided insight into

a bright future for

sailing in Oman

OMAN’S BEST: Zakariya Al Wahabi receives his award. The three overall podium winners, right photo, celebrate with their trophies. – Supplied photos

Fatma settles for doubles second place in EgyptMUSCAT: The Sultanate’s ten-nis star Fatma Al Nabhani settled for a second place in the doubles competition of the ITF Pro Cir-cuit $10,000 Sharm El Sheikh tournament in Egypt recently.

According to information re-ceived from the Oman Tennis Association (OTA) on Tuesday, the Omani lass teamed up with Swedish girl Anette Munozova to march into the fi nal. The pair

lived up to their top seeding by marching into the fi nal.

In the summit clash, however, they came up against a strong team of Jenny Claff ey of Ireland and Sara Tomic of Australia, who went on to win the match at 6-4, 6-1 and with that the title.

In the singles too, Fatma found success with the top-seeded Om-ani marching past Amelie Intert (6-0, 7-6 (3), 6-3) and Eva Siskova

(6-2, 6-4), both from the U.S. as well as Egyptian girl Lamis Al Hussein Abdel Aziz (6-2, 5-7, 6-3).

However, Fatma’s run end-ed in the semifi nals where she was handed a 6-1, 7-5 defeat by Slovakian sixth seed Tereza Mihalikova.

Fatma now heads to Tunisia to take part in $10,000 El Kantadui tournament that is scheduled to take place from August 24 to 30.

T E N N I S

RUNNER-UP: Fatma Al Nabhani

CINCINNATI: Multiple Grand Slam winner Roger Federer said the sport of tennis cannot aff ord to tolerate Australian Nick Kyrgios’ behaviour adding that the Asso-ciation of Tennis Professionals (ATP) should “come down hard” on the controversial 20-year-old.

Kyrgios was fi ned $12,500 by the

ATP and further punishment may still be forthcoming after he jibed at his opponent, world No. 5 Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland during a match in Montreal last week, pass-ing nasty comment referring to the latter’s girlfriend and saying ‘Sorry to tell you that, mate”.

The comment did not go down

well in the international tennis circuit. “We all agree that he defi -nitely crossed the line by a long shot. We’re not used to that kind of talk in tennis. I know in other sports it’s quite common, maybe normal. Not in our sport, really. It’s normal that the tour comes down hard on him and explains to

him that it’s not the way forward,” Federer was quoted as saying by cincinnati.com on Monday.

A 17-time Major winner, Feder-er added: “Clearly the behaviour was very disappointing and not great for the sport. We want kids to be wanting to get into this sport because it’s a nice sport.” - IANS

Federer urges ATP to ‘come down hard’ on Kyrgios

T E N N I S

Johnson signs for Pune

PUNE: Indian Super League (ISL) franchise FC Pune City signed English defender Roger Johnson for the 2015 edition of the tourna-ment on Tuesday.

Johnson previously played for British clubs Cardiff City and West Ham United. The 32-year-

old played an instrumental role in Cardiff City’s runners up cam-paign in the 2008 Football Asso-ciation (FA) Cup.

Expressing his excitement at the new opportunity, Johnson said he is looking forward to his fi rst stint outside of England. - IANS

E N G L I S H D E F E N D E R

Robin hoping to learn from Roberto Carlos

NEW DELHI: Indian Super League (ISL) side Delhi Dy-namos striker Robin Singh on Tuesday said he is relishing the opportunity of interacting with his team’s marquee player-cum-manager Brazilian legend Roberto Carlos.

Robin was signed by the Dy-namos for the second edition of the tournament, which com-mences on October 3. Dynamos failed to qualify for the last four stage of the eight-team tourna-ment last year.

“My interactions with Rob-erto Carlos have been brief but every minute spent was worth it. He brings immense knowledge and experience from playing at the highest level, he’s surely go-ing to make a diff erence to us all at Delhi Dynamos,” Singh was quoted as saying by goal.com.

Robin said he is ready to give his all for his new team.

“To be honest, I am just grate-ful for the opportunity and was excited to be an integral holistic part of the ISL. Wherever I was meant to go I know my dedica-tion and commitment would have been 100 percent,” he said.

“It doesn’t get any better than playing for my home town. I am looking forward to a great sea-son of training and games.” - IANS

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Ahmad hopes to get back on podium at Snetterton

MUSCAT: With only two race meetings remaining on the 2015 Avon Tyres British GT Champion-ship calendar, Ahmad Al Harthy knows this weekend’s double-header at Snetterton will be pivotal toward his hopes of ending the cam-paign inside the coveted top three for the second year in succession.

Ahmad, who fi nished the 2014 season as Vice-Champion along-side then teammate Michael Caine, has endured more than his share of misfortune this year but still goes into rounds seven and eight on

Sunday, mathematically able to re-peat last year’s series placing.

Snetterton 300 Circuit is a track where the Oman Air, Oman Min-istry of Sports Aff airs, Ooredoo, National Bank of Oman and Al Hashar Group-supported racer has enjoyed impressive results in the past, in fact it was the venue for his fi rst British GT podium and also maiden series win in 2013.

This year, piloting the No.2 Oman Racing Team Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3, Ahmad will ar-rive at Snetterton sixth in the over-

all British GT title chase and after two back-to-back events with no points scored – as a result of a pit-stop mishap at Spa in Belgium and mechanical problems last time out at Brands Hatch — two strong re-sults are absolutely vital.

“We know what we have to do at Snetterton and we’re all unbeliev-ably determined to get back on the podium, that’s our focus”, said the 33-year-old Omani, “It’s been very unfortunate the way the last two races turned out, at Brands GP we had a great chance of fi nishing on the podium but it wasn’t to be un-fortunately through matters out of our control.

“The positives from Brands, and Spa before that, are how well the car has been working and the set-up we’ve been able to achieve which has meant we’ve been competitive. Snetterton is a track which has good memories, hopefully we can take away some big points and sil-verware at the weekend.”

As well as the main champion-ship challenge, Ahmad – who is an ambassador for Aston Martin Middle East and North Africa – is also battling it out for title victory

in the Silver Cup classifi cation where the Oman Racing Team en-try currently leads the way by 9.75 points from the McLaren pairing of Andrew Watson and Ross Wylie.

Reverting to the 60-minute for-mat for the two upcoming Snet-terton races, the double-header will be the fi rst since the champi-onship-opening event at Oulton Park in April and both races are expected to be screened live on Motors TV.

Following two free practice sessions on Saturday, qualifying for rounds seven and eight of the British GT season will get under-way at 15.25 (local time). On Sun-day, morning warm-up will begin at 9.25 (local time) with race one scheduled to start at 12.55 (local time) and race two set to follow at 16.30 (local time).

Provisional 2015 Avon Tyres Brit-ish GT Championship GT3 driver standings: 6. Ahmad Al Harthy 46 pts.

Provisional 2015 Avon Tyres Brit-ish GT Championship GT3 Silver Cup: 1. Ahmad Al Harthy, 81.5 pts.

Provisional 2015 Avon Tyres Brit-ish GT Championship GT3 team stand-ings: 2. Oman Racing Team 156.5 pts.

Ahmad Al Harthy knows this weekend’s

double-header at Snetterton will be pivotal

toward his hopes of ending the campaign

inside the coveted top three for the

second year in succession at

Avon Tyres British GT Championship

DETERMINED: Ahmad Al Harthy is focussed on winning a podium place at Snetterton. – Supplied photo

NATIONAL GAS WIN MUSTAFA MEMORIAL CRICKET TITLENational Gas defeated Al Faisal by fi ve wickets to win the title at the Mustafa Memorial

Cricket Tournament organised by ‘We Help Muscat’ here recently. In the fi nal, Al Faisal

fi rst scored 94 for six in seven overs. The National Gas achieved the target thanks a Iklaq

who smashed 71 off just 19 balls with 11 huge sixes. Earlier the semifi nals, Al Faisal beat

Power Tech while National Gas defeated HCC. The tournament was sponsored by Oman

UAE Exchange and co-sponsored by Al Meer International, Cricket Cottage Darsait, Oasis

Water, Barzman National LLC, Sadaf Al Arabiah Genuine Parts International, Asian Cold

Store, Food Day Restaurant, Teejan Jaleel LLC, Food Book Restaurant, IBN SINA Group,

Muscat Pharmacy (Pocari Div), Abu Ali Cold Store, Moment Shopping, Muscat Cricket

Sports and Bur Hakman Trading. Individual honours: Best batsman: Iklaq(National Gas),

Best bowler: AmeerKhan (Al Faisal), Best keeper: Nithin (Royal Challengers), Best fi elder:

Irfan (Al Faisal), Best catch: Nishad (Power Tech), Maximum sixes in the fi nal: Iklaq (Na-

tional Gas) and Fairplay award: Al Sahwa Tower Cricket Team. — Supplied photo

Bubka and Coe hit home straight in race for IAAF presidencyBEIJING: Athletics legends Ser-gey Bubka and Sebastian Coe will go head-to-head on Wednesday in their bid to become president of the sport’s world body, with the winner facing a major overhaul to salvage the doping-tainted sport.

After months of criss-crossing the globe wooing support from the 214 member federations that make up the International Asso-ciation of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Bubka and Coe face the fi -nal act in a vast Beijing convention centre. The 214 members will go to the ballot box to elect the succes-sor to Lamine Diack, the 82-year-old Senegalese who is stepping down after 16 years in charge.

Diack has hailed the sporting pedigree of the two candidates: Bubka won Olympic pole vault gold in 1988 for Ukraine and was also a 10-time world champion, while Coe was a two-time Olym-pic 1500m gold medallist for Brit-ain in 1980 and 1984.

The IAAF meeting, Diack said, “heralds the arrival of a new pres-ident who has the task to build the future of our sport”.

“I am all the more confi dent of what we have in store as neither of the candidates will fi nd themselves in an unfamiliar environment.

“I have laid the foundations for the future of the IAAF with our two great champions — whoever the IAAF athletics family elects, he will be a bona fi de son of our sport.”

But the victor will be taking on the monumental task of rescuing the credibility and integrity of track and fi eld, the biggest Olym-pic sport but still a minnow in global sporting fi nancial terms.

Close contestThe IAAF has in recent weeks been at the centre of allegations of widespread cheating, after the Sunday Times said a leaked da-tabase of 12,000 blood tests from 5,000 athletes revealed “extraor-dinary” levels of doping.

The IAAF hit back at those al-legations as “sensationalist and confusing”, and also rejected later claims it suppressed pub-lication of research that 29-34 percent of the 1,800 competitors

at the 2011 Daegu worlds had vio-lated anti-doping rules in the pre-vious 12 months.

In much the same way as foot-ball’s world body FIFA has been torn apart by allegations of corrup-tion, with Sepp Blatter agreeing to stand down as president, the IAAF fi nds itself in turbulent waters.

Coe or Bubka will be taking charge at a pivotal time, as athlet-ics also craves more public and media interest in a world domi-nated by football and other sports.

Insiders predict a very close contest, with hints that Coe may just have edged ahead of his rival.

Bubka, 51, who has been in-volved with the IAAF since 2001 and has served as vice-president since 2007, is standing for both the presidency and the vice-pres-idency. But 58-year-old Coe, who moved on from sports to become a Conservative politician in Britain before overseeing the highly suc-cessful London Olympics in 2012, is standing for just the presidency.

The manifestoes of the two for-mer stars are not strikingly diff er-ent, though one major divergence is Coe’s insistence on establish-ing an independent drug-testing body. Bubka would prefer to con-tinue working with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Coe reacted strongly after the Sunday Times and Germany’s ARD claimed more than 800 athletes recorded suspicious blood tests between 2001 and 2012. Bubka, however, avoided taking aim at the media, instead reiterating his calls for more transparency and the need for IAAF to be “more proactive”. - AFP

A T H L E T I C S

After months of

wooing 214 member

federations, Bubka

and Coe face the

final act in Beijing

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Hugged by the hands of God, infamous Tunisian referee Ali meets MaradonaTUNIS: Diego Maradona kissed and hugged the referee who al-lowed his handball goal in the 1986 World Cup and presented him with a signed Argentina jer-sey when the two met in Tunisia this week, local media reported.

Maradona’s quarterfi nal goal against England in Mexico City gained added notoriety when the tiny Argentine, who tapped the ball over the head of onrushing goalkeeper Peter Shilton with his fi st, claimed it had been scored by the ‘Hand of God’.

Tunisian referee Ali Bennaceur failed to spot the handball and al-lowed the goal to stand amid fu-rious protests from the England players, prompting a debate, that still rages on today, over the use of referees from smaller nations in major matches.

The pair exchange gifts for the cameras when they met in Tunis on Monday with Bennaceur hand-ing the former Argentina skipper a framed photo of himself, Mara-dona and Shilton, who captained

England, before the match at the Azteca Stadium.

In return, the 71-year-old for-mer referee received a Maradona shirt inscribed with the words “For Ali, my eternal friend”.

In interviews in later years, Ben-naceur blamed his Bulgarian as-sistant Bogdan Dotchev for failing to alert him to the moment when Maradona punched the ball past Shilton to give Argentina the lead in

the match they went on to win 2-1.“Before the game, FIFA gave us

clear guidelines: ‘If your colleague is better placed than you are, his decision should take precedence.’ That’s what I did: my assistant did not raise his fl ag,” he told a French football magazine So Foot recently.

He also claimed a role in Mara-dona’s second strike, a brilliant weaving run that started in his own half and continued through the entire English defence which is often described as the ‘goal of the century’.

“Maradona did not score that all by himself, that goal. I was his assistant: I played three advan-tages. I did not have to. For the fi rst foul, he stumbled. The second came just on the edge of the area. I shouted ‘advantage, advantage’.

“And when he entered the area, I was expecting (Terry) Butcher to slice him down. I put my whistle to my lips, I was ready to intervene but I didn’t blow.”

Argentina went on to beat West Germany 3-2 in the fi nal. - Reuters

F O O T B A L L

ETERNAL FRIEND: Football legend Diego Maradona seen with

Tunisian referee Ali Bennaceur. – facebook.com/DiegoMaradonaOfi cial

Chung comments disrespectful for all concerned, says Blatter

PARIS: FIFA President Sepp Blatter has slammed comments by Chung Mong-Joon, a candidate to take over football’s world body calling it a corrupt organisation.

Blatter said he was disturbed by the South Korean industrial-ist’s outspoken comments at a press conference in Paris on Mon-day where he offi cially launched his candidacy.

Chung went on the attack against Blatter and UEFA leader Michel Platini, his rival in the FIFA race.

“The real reason FIFA has be-come such a corrupt organisation is because the same person (Blat-ter) has been running it for 40 years. Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Chung said.

“It is disturbing, to say the least,

to hear Dr. Chung Mong-Joon de-scribe FIFA as ‘a corrupt organisa-tion’,” Blatter said in reply.

“Even more so when one recalls — and as Dr. Chung cannot have forgotten — that he was a FIFA Vice-President and a FIFA Emer-gency Committee member for 17 years from 1994 up until 2011.”

Blatter said in the statement that “personal attacks” made by Dr. Chung at the press conference were “particularly disrespectful to all concerned.”

“I would like to stress again that FIFA is dedicated to improving the organisation and will continue to strengthen its governance and ac-countability.

“Our work in this area continu-ously evolves, and we are focused on achieving the highest stand-ards for the international football community.”

Chung made several attacks on FIFA’s leadership at the campaign launch in a Paris hotel saying that it was in a “profound crisis” over police inquiries into two corrup-tion aff airs.

He said Platini should not be a candidate because he was too linked to FIFA’s past system.

Fourteen FIFA offi cials and sports business executives were charged by US authorities in May over more than $150 million in bribes allegedly paid for television and marketing deals. Swiss police are separately investigating the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively.

Chung said that as long as there is no “clear evidence” of wrongdo-ing in the Qatar bid then FIFA had to keep its promises to the Gulf state which is spending billions of dollars preparing for the event.

FIFA offi cial chargedMeanwhile, one of the seven FIFA offi cials arrested in Swit-zerland has been charged with money laundering and corruption charges in Nicaragua, a prosecutor said, expecting an extradition to be completed soon.

Nicaraguan Julio Rocha, the former head of the Nicaraguan Football Federation, has been de-tained in Switzerland since a raid on a Zurich hotel in May.

He agreed last week to be extra-dited to his home country, accord-ing to Swiss offi cials.

The charges against Rocha were fi led on August 4, prosecutor Julia Guido said.

Guido said investigations deter-mined Rocha signed a broadcast rights agreement with a company from which he allegedly received a $100,000 (900,000 euro) bribe,

adding that she expected the extra-dition to be completed soon.

The United States has also de-manded Rocha’s extradition as part of its probe into massive corrup-tion at football’s governing body.

A Swiss justice ministry spokes-man said last week they would not carry out the extradition until US offi cials agree to put aside their request. Rocha was part of Nica-ragua’s Olympic committee from 1997 to 2009 and from 2012 was a development offi cer at FIFA.

One of the other arrested offi -cials, Jeff rey Webb, a native of the Cayman Islands and an ex-FIFA vice president, was extradited to the US last month.

The fi ve remaining FIFA of-fi cials wanted by US authorities — all from South America or the CONCACAF zone of North and Central America and the Carib-bean — have not yet agreed to be extradited. They include Eugenio Figueredo from Uruguay — also an ex-FIFA vice president and Costa Rican Eduardo Li, who was sup-posed to join the FIFA Executive Committee in May.

There was also Brazilian foot-ball federation chief Jose Maria Marin and Costas Takkas, a Briton who worked for the Cayman Is-lands federation and Rafael Es-quivel, president of the Venezue-lan Football Federation.

The seven were arrested dur-ing a dawn raid in Zurich on May 27 ahead of a FIFA congress. The FIFA corruption case, that also targeted seven sports marketing executives, has shaken the football world and sparked worldwide calls for massive reform. - Agencies

Blatter said he

was disturbed by

the South Korean

industrialist’s

outspoken comments

at a press conference

in Paris on Monday

where he offi cially

launched his

candidacy

It is disturbing, to say

the least, to hear Dr.

Chung Mong-Joon

describe FIFA as ‘a

corrupt organisation’

Sepp BlatterFIFA President

Enrique wants Pedro issue resolved

BARCELONA: Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is impatient for the transfer window to close at the end of the month to end the uncertainty over the future of Spain forward Pedro.

Pedro revealed last month the Spanish and European champi-ons had received off ers for him after agreeing to trim the size of his buyout clause to 30 million euros ($33.3 million).

Media reports suggested the 28-year-old might seal a move to English champions Chelsea, although Manchester United are said to be the current fa-vourites to secure his services.

Although Pedro started Mon-day’s Spanish Super Cup second leg against Athletic Bilbao in the absence of the unavailable Ney-mar, Luis Enrique is expected to give him limited playing time again this term with a settled forward line of the Brazilian, Li-onel Messi and Luis Suarez.

“It’s a diffi cult situation and it’s hard (for Pedro) to stay fo-cused,” Luis Enrique told a news conference after Barca fell 5-1 on aggregate to Bilbao.

“I want the market to damn well close so that I know who I can count on,” the former Barca and Spain midfi elder added.

Barca’s defeat to Bilbao ended their hopes of a clean sweep of all six trophies they are contesting in 2015, something they became the fi rst and only side to achieve in 2009. They have won four ti-tles this year — the Champions League, La Liga, the King’s Cup and the European Super Cup — and play at the Club World Cup in December. - Reuters

B A R C A C O A C H

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM

LeisureSECTIONC L I F E STY L E W E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

A R

ising

Fou

r-Sta

r in Abu Dhabi

Story | Scott Armstrong

Scott Arm

strong foregoes his usual fi ve-star standards on his last trip to Dubai, and is pleasantly surprised.

LIFESTYLEC8 W E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

• Pool and poolside refreshments - Okay, so you won’t be training for any triathlons in the Courtyard’s cute rooftop pool, but as a place to soak up the sun and then cool off , it works well and is a sophisticated space. The daily happy hour draws a crowd for the late afternoon refreshments.

• Great service - We expect this at fi ve-star hotels and too often they fail to deliver, sometimes due to snooty staff , or lack of training, or any other number of issues. But, again, here Courtyard goes a step beyond what I ex-pected from a four-star with its smiling, courteous staff , all of whom re-membered my and name and were willing to help with all queries rather

There are other surprising treats at this property, including the Fifth Street Café, through which you access the mall. The great coff ee shop off ers an excellent lunch and is a favorite after-work watering-hole and refuge for grumpy husbands waiting for wives to fi nish shopping (the mall has a multi-level House of Fraser, so it could be a while).

One compromise might come if you demand the wood fi ttings in your room to be genuine deep walnut rather than veneer. However, the room designer has delivered a modern and clean look, with nothing jarring on the eye, and a good use of light and space to quell any claustrophobia. The only real concession a guest at the Courtyard has to make is that of the view. Being on the outskirts of a busy commercial district in the capital, don’t expect breathtaking scenery to gaze out of your windows at. But this is a small compromise when you consider a room at this hotel will set you back around 32 rial per night, less than half of what you would pay at the majority of the fi ve-stars, even on discount. With this much bang-for-the-buck, maybe we should all start considering “treating ourselves” to one of the new generations of four-star hotels. —scottarmstrong@timesofoman.com

W hile the UAE marches ever closer to the world’s first 100 star hotel, (come on, it will happen one day) a growing number of savvy consumers are compromising uber-luxury for value-for-money.

Once upon a time, this bargain hunting meant huge sacrifices in class, which typically translated into being charged through the nose for internet access, dealing with grumpy employees, staying in rooms rank with the scent of stale smoke, and breakfasts not fit for your pets.

Though these “value properties” still exist (I could name some in Abu Dhabi and Dubai with pleasure) times are a-changing. There is a quiet revolution happening, not only in budget hotels, where service is getting better and rooms cleaner, but also in the four-star sector that is working hard to narrow the gap between itself and those in the star-class above. There may be no better example of this trend than the new Marriott Courtyard World Trade Centre in Abu Dhabi. A hotel that is under-promising and over-delivering in almost every area.

Set in an ideal location for anyone looking for a spot of retail therapy with

the World Trade Centre mall and the Souq right at the hotel’s doorstep and Marina Mall in one direction and Abu Dhabi Mall and Galleria on Al Maryah Island in the other only a few minutes away by taxi. Its rooftop pool lounge off ers great views across the city at night, particularly in the winter months when the temperatures allow al fresco entertainment. You even get fl uff y dressing gowns and slippers at this well-located property. But how does this four-star stack-up when it comes to our typical checklist of fi ve-star expec-tations? Let’s run through it:

• Prime location - Well the Marriott is directly connected to the new World Trade Centre mall, packed with luxury shops, plus it is maybe a 10-minute walk, at most, to the seafront of Abu Dhabi’s beautiful Corniche.

• Spacious, well designed room - Here the basic rooms started from around 32 sq m and do not feel cramped at all, however, opt for the junior suite and you get a separate lounge and a total of 50 sq m.

• Spa-esque bathroom - Marble and monsoon showers are generally the order of the day at fi ve-stars, the Courtyard delivers this too. In fact it prob-ably features one of the best monsoon showers I’ve enjoyed in any hotel.

• Excellent restaurant, especially breakfast - Again, here Courtyard over-delivers; its restaurant is bright, featuring modern design and atten-tive staff , and the food on off er is good quality and fresh with buff et and al a carte choices, plus a live cooking station.

than simply off er a default ‘no’, especially when querying a cost. • Gadgets & tech - An iPod docking station, fl at screen television, and free

Wi-Fi all come standard at the Courtyard.

T R A V E L T I P S

ARE YOU A FREQUENT FLYER? MANAGE YOUR MILES

Stick to a couple of plansAlways take a particular preferred airline to travel and earn maximum miles with which you can buy free tickets or upgrade to higher classes. Or, you can concentrate on just a couple of frequent fl yer programmes and look for plans that include a number of airlines.

Always enter FF numberMake sure you enter your frequent fl yer number every time you travel. If you are booking through travel agents, ask them to enter your number. Or you can do it when you check-in for your fl ight, either at a kiosk or with the check-in agent.

Elite statusMost of the airlines award elite status for life to frequent travellers who reach one-million-miles-fl own mark. Airline elite status entitles you for free upgrade vouchers and makes your trips more comfortable.

Be a Gold memberIf you are a gold member, you can enjoy an extra baggage allowance, which will be helpful, especially when you are on a family holiday trip. You can also go for a business class check-in lounge even if you are fl ying in economy class.

Never let miles expireYou can accumulate miles aggressively through travel, credit card programmes and airline partners. But never let the miles expire. Look for the programme’s partners like hotels and rental car companies and use them. However, the best deal is free travel.

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Frequent fl yer programmes are only benefi cial if you fl y at least 3-4 times a year and are careful not to let your miles expire

Marriott Courtyard World Trade Centre, Abu DhabiHamdan Bin Mohammed Street (5th Street) +971 2698 2222, marriott.com

LIFESTYLEC9W E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

Interpreter of MaladiesY O U R F A V O U R I T E B O O K

Come thinking you are doing this to enjoy the beauty of Oman.

It’s really beautiful. Health benefi ts are just a bonus.

A Collection of Short Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri reviewed by Swati Dasgupta

THE HIKERTHE HOBBYIST

Roya Al LamkiHiker/trekker

ARE YOU A PROLIFIC READER? What is your favourite book? Tell us about it. Send your thoughts in the form of a reader review to:salim@timesofoman.com

“Interpreter of Maladies”, a book of short stories by Indian American author Jhumpa Lahiri wasn’t love at fi rst sight. Having my own inhi-bitions about short stories, always feeling that they were less impact-ful, less able to touch my heart than full length novels, when it fi rst came out, I chose to give it a miss.

Thankfully, I eventually picked up Jhumpa Lahiri’s gripping book, whose nine stories forever changed my perspective on short stories. And perhaps it had a sim-ilar effect on others as it went on to the win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award in 2000.

Her stories mostly centres around the lives of Indians settled

in the US and their cultural dilem-mas, especially the challenges of juggling two identities which leads to a kind of constant soul searching.

The fi rst story, “A Temporary Matter,” delves into the intricacies of marriage and emotional strife. The protagonists, Shukumar and Shoba, live a quiet married life, connected only by their shared mourning over the loss of their stillborn child. Though they do make eff orts to rekindle their lost love and togetherness, just like their child, their labour of love was doomed from its inception. Jhumpa Lahiri gives a humane touch to the characters, their disap-pointments, anger, and frustration in her simple way of story-telling.

While all nine of the stories are complex and unique, the last one, “The Third and Final Continent,” is a personal favourite, as I really connect with the story’s characters. The tale is about an Indian man who moves to America where he ends up living with an elderly woman who is 103 years old. As the story unfolds so too do the various aspects of his journey of self discovery.

These stories of the lives of ordi-nary people, and the many predica-ments of living, are told with a sim-ple honesty that make this collection relevant and touching, even 15 years after being published. It earned a permanent place on my bookshelf, and I heartily recommend you make a place for it on yours.

Why do you love it?Hiking always fascinated me as every terrain we hike is diff erent. No one mountain is like the other. I haven’t ven-tured out of Muscat yet, but here alone I have come across beautifully coloured rocks in some of the wadis, fossils, little fl owers up the mountain, colourful bee-tles and snakes. It’s a great hobby and a great way to meet new people.

How did you get into it?I have been into hiking for almost two years now. Before, sitting in the car, I used to look up at the mountains and think about what it would be like to look down from there. Does anybody go up there? I wondered. Then I saw this piece of information on the facebook page of Cleanup Oman about the Oman Moun-tain Club organising hikes. I got very excited and wanted to join, but it was summer, and hiking during summer was unimaginable, so I waited until the win-ter to join and stopped when it was sum-mer again. But this summer I decided to continue. Now, I even join the Wednes-day hikes being organised by another group ‘Wadi Walkers’.

How can I get into it?You can contact the hike leaders of OMC for more information, but to join the hikes organised by OMC, you just need to put a message on the facebook page. It’s doable in summer as well. But you need to wear the right gear, including a water backpack, which will keep you hydrated. As you continue with this hobby, you will fi nd yourself walking faster and indulg-ing in even more diffi cult sports.

What's your pro-tip?Make sure you have your water and a good pair of walking shoes. That’s it. Don’t come to strain yourself. Come thinking you are doing this to enjoy the beauty of Oman. It’s really beautiful. Health benefi ts are just a bonus. Again, it’s all muscle work. Climbing is less aerobic and more anaerobic. When it comes to walking up hill, it’s more about strengthening the muscles and toning up. And, don’t litter. We are nature lovers and we don’t litter. We are here to enjoy the beauty and not to spoil it.

Resources for Hiking in OmanOman Mountain Club organises short hikes once or twice every week in Mus-cat and longer hikes every month in the mountains of the interior. omanmc.orgHike leaders: Eva (+968 9288 5593) and Khalid (+968 9235 4114)

Wadi Walkers organises Wednesday hikes, mostly in shaded wadis. wadiwalks@gmail.com

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FIND-IT-ALLC10 W E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

ROYAL OMAN POLICE

Emergencies and inquiries: 9999

General Directorate of

Passport and Residence 24569603

Directorate General

of Customs 24521109

Traffic violations inquiries 24510228

Public Relations Admin 24560099

EMBASSIES IN OMAN

Afghanistan 24698 791/4

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Bangladesh 24 698 660

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Thailand 24 602684/5

Tunisia 24603486

Turkey 24697050/1/2

UAE 24400000

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Yemen 24600815

PHARMACIES

Round the clock

Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi 24783334

Appolo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24782666

Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi 24702542

Salalah 23291635;

Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra 24503585

Muscat Region

Apollo, Al Hamriya 24787766

Muscat, A Seeb Market 24421691

Muscat, Al Khuwair 24485740

Muscat, Al Hail South 24537080

Dhofar Region

Muscat, Al Nahdha Road,

Salalah 23291635

HOSPITALS

Al Amal Medical & Health Care

Centre 24485052

Atlas Hospital

Ruwi 24811743/

Ghubra 24504000

Al Musafir Specialised

Medical Clinic 24706453

Hatat Polyclinic LLC,

Ruwi 24563641

Azaiba 24499269

Sohar 2683006

Al Raffah Hospital 24618900/1/2

Al Massaraat Clinic &

Laboratory 24566435

Al Makook Medical

Coordinance Centre 24499434

Apollo Medical Centre,

Hamriya 24787766, 24787780

Capital Polyclinic 24707549

Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic,

Ruwi 24799760/1/2

Capital Clinic, Seeb 24420740

Ceregem National Raak 24485633

Dr Harub’s Clinic 24563217

Elixir Health Centre 24565802

Emirates Medical Centre 24604540

1st Chiropractic Centre 24472274

Hamdan Hospital 23212340

International Medical

Centre LLC 24794501/2/3/4/5

Kims Oman Hospital 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency 24760123

Lama Polyclinic, Sohar 26751128

MBD 24799077

Al Khuwair 24478818

Magrabi Eye and

Ear Hospital 24568870

Muscat Private Hospital 24583600

Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment

Centre, Al Khuwair 24477666

Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC 22004000

AIRLINE OFFICES

Muscat Airport Flight information

(24 hours) 24519456/24519223

Aeroflot 24704455

Air Arabia 24700828

Air France 24562153

Air India 24799801

Air New Zealand 24700732

Biman Bangladesh Airlines 24701128

British Airways 24568777

Cathay Pacific 24789818

Egypt Air 24794113

Emirates Air 24404400

Ethiopian Airlines 24660313

Gulf Air 80072424

Indian 24791914

Iran Air 24787423

Japan Airlines 24704455

Jazeera Airways 23294848

Jet Airways 24787248

Kenya Airways 24660300

KML Royal Dutch Airlines 24566737

Kuwait Airways 24701262

LOT Polish Airlines 24796387

Lufthansa 24796692

Malaysian Airlines 24560796

Middle East Airlines 24796680

Oman Air 24531111

Pakistan International

Airlines 24792471

Qatar Airways 24771900

Qantas 24559941

Royal Jordanian 24796693

Saudi Arabian Airlines 24789485

Singapore Airlines 24791233

Shaheen Air 24816565

SriLankan Airlines 24784545

Swiss International

Airlines 24796692

Thai Airways 24705934

LISTINGS

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

CINEMA SCHEDULE

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (ROUTE 36)

15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily

15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily

15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily

06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily

08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri

13:00 Sohar 15:45 Daily

13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily

16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily

16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily

14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily

08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily

14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (ROUTE 62)

06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily

06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily

10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily

10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily

19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily

SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)

06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily

06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily

13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur

13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur

15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily

15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily

07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily

07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (ROUTE 36)

05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily

05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily

05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)

07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily

07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily

13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri

13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily

13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily

13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily

17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily

TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)

07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily

TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)

06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily

06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)

15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily

15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily

TO SUR (ROUTE 55)

06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily

14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)

12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily

12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100)

07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily

10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily

10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily

19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily

TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)

06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)

15:00 Salalah 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)

07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily

07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily

13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri

13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri

15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily

15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH/SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)

16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily

16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily

16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

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

WEATHER

360

Maximum

280

Minimum

TEMPERATURE

60-67%RELATIVE HUMIDITY

CITY CINEMAContact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68. www.citycinemaoman.netfacebook.com/citycinemaoman

SHATTI

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Action)(12+)Cast : Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer9:30 pmFantastic Four (2D)(Action)(PG12)Cast: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, 1:00, 5:30, 7:00, 11:45 pmMission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2D)(Action, Adventure) (PG12)Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Jeremy 3:15, 9:00, 11:30 pm Mr. Holmes (Crime, Drama)(PG)Cast: Ian McKellen, Laura Linney, 3:00, 7:45 pmVacation (Adventure, Comedy)(18+)Cast: Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, 1:00, 5:00 pmThe Diabolical (Horror, Sci-fi)(15+)Cast: Wilmer Calderon, Kurt Carley, 5:00, 11:45 pmShad Agzaa (Drama, Action))(15+)Cast: Mohamed Ramadan, Donia Samir6:45 pmINSIDE OUT (Animation)(3D) PGVoice Overs: Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Lewis1:00, 3:00 pmBAJRANGI BHAIJAAN (Drama)(PG)Cast: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor 8:45 PM

MUSCAT GRAND MALLThe Man from U.N.C.L.E. 2D (Action ) (12+)Cast : Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer11:45 PMFantastic Four 2D (Action, Sci-Fi ) (PG12)Cast: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael Jordan12:15, 5:00 & 11:45PMGold Class: 2:45, 9:15 & 11:15PMMr. Holmes 2D (Crime, Drama) (PG)11:00PM & 02:15 PMGold Class : 12:45 PMBrothers2D (Action, Drama) (TBC )6:45 PMThe Diabolical 2D (Horror, Sci-Fi ) (15+)

Cast: Wilmer Calderon, Kurt Carley, Merrin 10:15PMVacation 2D (Adventure, Comedy) (18+)Cast: Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Skyler Gisondo 10:15 AM Gold Class: 4:45PMInside Out 3D (Animation) (PG)1:00 PM, 3:00 PMMission: Impossible - Rogue Nation 2D 4:15 & 11:55PM; Gold Class: 6:45PM (PG12)Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2D) ( Action ) (PG)7:15PM

AZAIBA

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. – 2D (12+) Action-Cast - Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer9:30 PM Vacation – 2D (18+) Adventure, Comedy 11:30AM, 7:15 PM Vasuvum Saravananum Onna Padicha-vanga – 2D (PG) Comedy; 1:30 PMCast - Aarya, Tamannaah Bhatia, Brinda DasDekh Magar Pyaar Say - 2D (PG) ComedyCast - Humaima Malik, Amna Ilyas, Sikander4:10 PMShad Agza – 2D (15+) Drama, Action

Cast - Mohamed Ramadan, Donia Samir5:15 PMInside Out – 3D (PG) Animation11:30 am, 1:20 pmThe Diabolical – 2D (15+) Horror, Sci-Fi, 11:55 PMLove 24x7 – 2D (PG) Romantic, Comedy Cast - Dileep and Nikhila Vimal6:20 PMMr. Holmes – 2D (PG) Crime, Drama, Mystery 3:15 PMMission: Impossible - Rogue Nation – 2D5:00, 9:30, 11:55 PM(PG12)Brothers – 2D (TBC) Action, Drama12:30, 3:30, 8:45, 11:40 PMFantastic Four – 2D (PG12) (Action)1:00, 3:00, 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 pmBajrangi Bhaijaan - 2D (PG) (Drama, Action)6:30 PM

RUWISCREEN 1Brothers (Drama/ Sports) – TBCCast: Akshay Kumar, Jackie Shroff, Sidharth Malhotra3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PMSCREEN 2Drishyam (Thriller/Drama ) – PG123.45, 9.45 PM

Bajrangi Bhaijaan (Action/Drama ) – PG6.45 PMSCREEN 3Baahubali: The Beginning (Act ) – 12+3.45, 6.45 PMDekh Magar Pyaar Se - Urdu (Comedy) – PG9.45 PM

SOHARBajrangi Bhaijaan - 2D (PG) Drama, Action4:00 PMMission: Impossible - Rogue Nation - 2D (PG12) Action; 3:55, 9:05, 11:55 PMInside Out - 3D (PG) Animation 2:10, 4:00 PMFantastic Four-2D (PG12) (Action )2:00, 7:45, 9:45, 11:45 PMVacation- 2D (18+)Adventure, Comedy 6:00, 8:15 PMMr. Holmes - 2D (PG) Crime, Drama, Mystery 2:00, 7:00 PMInto the Grizzly Maze- 2D (15+) Action, Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, James Marsden 10:00 PMThe Diabolical - 2D (15+) Horror, Sci-Fi, 2:10 PMShad Agza - 2D (Arb) (15+) Drama, ActionCast: Mohamed Ramadan, Donia Samir 6:15 PM

Brothers - 2D (TBC) Action, Drama 9:00, 11:30 PMLove 24x7 - 2D (M) (TBC) Romantic, Comedy3:45 PMVaalu - 2D (T) (PG) Action, Comedy, RomanceCast : Hansika Motwani, TR Silambarasan, 6:15 PMThe Man From U.N.C.L.E - 2D (12+) Action, Cast : Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, 11:45 PM

BURAIMIFantastic Four -2D (PG12) (Action) 5:30, 7:00, 9:30 PMMission Impossible: Rogue Nation - 2D3:00, 8:45, 11:45PM (Action) (PG12)The Man from U.N.C.L.E – 2D (Animation) 11:30PM (12+)Inside Out - 3D (Animation, Comedy) (PG)3:00PMVacation – 2D (Comedy, Adventure) (18+)5:15 PMMr Holmes– 2D (Crime, Drama) (PG), 7:30PMThe Diabolical – 2D (Horror, Thriller) (TBC)7:30PMBrothers – 2D (Drama, Sport) (PG)7:15, 11:15PMVaalu – 2D (Action, Comedy) (PG)Cast: Silambarasan, Hansika Motwani,

N.Santhanam4:30PM

SURThe Man From U.N.C.L.E (Action ) (12+) Cast: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, 11:45 PMFantastic Four (Action|Sci - Fi) (PG12) 04:00, 08:15, 10:00 PMMission Impossible - Rogue Nation 5:50, 9:00 PM (Action) (PG12)Brothers (Hindi) (Thriller) Cast: Akshay Kumar, Jackie Shroff, Sidharth11:20 PMVacation ( Adventure / Comedy) (18+)4:00 PMInside Out (3D) (Animation) (PG) 5:40 PMThe Daibolical (Horror / Sci-Fi) (15+) 7:30 PM

SALALAH

Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation (2D) 2:00, 7:15, 11:55 PM (PG12) The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2D)(12+) (Action) 9:45 PMAnt-Man (3D)(PG12) (Action/Sci-Fi ) 12:15 PMInside Out (3D)(PG) (Animation/Comedy) 10:15AMFantastic Four (2D)(PG12) (Action) 12:00, 7:30, 9:30, 11:45 PMBajrangi Bhaijaan (2D) (PG) (Drama/Action) 7:15PMVacation (2D) (18+) (Adventure/Comedy) 10:30 AMShad Agza (2D)(15+)(Arabic) (Drama/Action) Cast: Mohamed Ramadan, Donia Samir Ghanem, Yasser Galal and Sabry5:15PMMr. Holmes (2D)(PG) (Crime/Drama/Mystery) 10:00AM, 5:30 PMDekh Magar Pyaar Say (2D)(PG)(Urdu) (Comedy/Romance) 12:15 PMAWOL-72 (2D)(12+) (Thriller) 10:15 PMBrothers (2D)(TBC) (Action/Drama) 4:30, 11:30 PMSrimanthudu (2D)(PG) (Action) 2:30PMVaalu (2D)(PG) (Action/Comedy/Romance) 2:30 PM

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

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation 2D (Action, Adventure, Thriller) (PG12)Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Jeremy5.00, 9.30 pmCP No: 1953 (PG12)Vacation (Comedy / Adventure)Cast: Ed Helms, Christina Appligate, Skyler Gisondo1.30, 4.00 & 7.30 pmCP No: 2027 ( 18+)Awol - 72 (Action)Cast: Luke Goss, LouiseMandylor, RZA11.30 am 3.30 & 11.55 pmCP No: 2026 (12+)Brothers (Hindi )( Thriller )Cast: Akshay Kumar, Jackie Shrof1.00, 6.00 & 9.00 pmCP No: 2028 (PG)The Night Crew (Action/Thriller) Cast: Danny Trejo, Jason Mewes, Luke Goss11.30 a.m.; CP No: 1886 (15+)MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. : (Action /Adventure) Cast: Alicia Vikander, Henry Cavil11.55 PMCP NO: 2035 (12+)

STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776Website: www.isurf.co.omSrimanthudu (Telugu ) ( Act )Cast: Mahesh Babu & Shruthi Hassan3-00 pm Cinema MainBrothers ( Hindi ) (Act )Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sidahrth Malhotra 6:30, 9:30 pm Cinema -2Love 24x7 ( Mal ) ( Com )Cast: Dileep, Anjali & Suhasini3-45, 6-45 & 9-45 pm at Cinema- 3Vasuvum Saravananum ( Tamil ) ( Com )Cast: Arya, Tamanna & Santhanam3-30 pm at Cinema-2; 6-30 & 9-30pm Cinema MainVallu (Tamil) (Rom\Com ) From Friday Cast: Silambarasan & Hansika 3-45, 6:45 & 9-45 pm at Cinema-4NEXT CHANGE: Madura Naranga (Mal) Kick 2 (Telugu )

1:00, 5:30, 7:00, 11:45 pm 3:45 pm 3.30, 6.30, 9.30 PM

@MGM @SHATTI @SOHAR @RUWI

FANTASTIC FOUR (Action)(PG12)Cast: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan

11:00PM & 2:15PMGold Class : 12:45PM

Mr. Holmes 2D (Crime, Drama) (PG)Cast: Ian McKellen, Laura Linney, Hiroyuki

Love 24x7 - 2D (M) (TBC) Romantic, ComedyCast: Dileep, Anjali & Suhasini

Brothers (Drama/ Sports) – TBCCast: Akshay Kumar, Sidharth Malhotra, Jackie Shroff

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 extra@timesofoman.com

WITH LOVE

LIFESTYLEC11W E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

Where the Wadis MeethhhhhhhhhhhWhWWhWhhWhWhWhWhh

Location: Wadi Arbiyeen, 23°04’03.0”N 58°59’08.9”E

Have you been able to capture the beauty of an off -the-beaten-path destination in Oman? Send your pictures with a caption & geo-locator to:salim@timesofoman.com

M O D E R N T R A V E L L E R

Zone by The ParkWhere contemporary luxury blends with local fl avours

JAIPUR: The mere thought of Jaipur conjures up visions of shimmering sand, magnifi cent forts of Rajasthan, Rajput valour and of royal stays. Into this myriad world comes a new en-trant, Zone by The Park, that seamlessly blends luxury with the local fl avours.

Thus, while all the contemporary luxurious amenities are on hand there is a strong sense of tradition, be it the wall paintings that depict the rich culture and heritage of the state or the Bazaar restaurant that has on display an array of commodities used in daily life.

Located in the Bani Park area of central Jaipur, the hotel, which opened last month, is an initiative of the Apeejay Group and has been de-signed by the US-based Project Orange company.

Not surprisingly, orange is the dominant colour in almost every nook and corner of the hotel - but without distracting from the traditional flavour".

"Zone is not just a hotel but a social hub as well. Zone aims at connecting with the guests. It is a young and vibrant concept by Apeejay Group. We believe in providing quick service and taking full care of our visitors," Harish Kumar, the ho-tel's director of operations, told IANS.

As one enters, one is greeted with a welcome drink - cranberry juice - a much-needed refresher.

In terms of accommodation, on off er are four

types -Zone Room, Zone Trio, Zone Quad and the Zone suite - all of them quite cozy and with the usu-al accompaniments - a mini bar, writing desk,"a large 42" HD TV, a sofa, an ironing table and iron, a safe and, of course, a large double bed.

Here again, there was a profusion of orange - from the curtains, to the sofa to the pillow covers and blankets. The white sheets provided quite a contrast.

Bazaar - the hotel's theme restaurant - is a paradise for food lovers. Enhancing the ambi-ance is a real-life autorickshaw done up col-ourfully to refl ect the myriad aspects of Ra-jasthani life and traditions.

A highlight of the restaurant is the interac-tive open kitchen that enables guests conduct conversations with the chefs and request their choice of food - even though it may not be men-tioned on the menu.

The extensive menu will leave you drooling - be it over a traditional Rajasthani thali, an ar-ray of Oriental and continental or Italian pizzas - not to forget laal maas dish. This traditional Rajasthani mutton curry, loaded with a lot of spices and red chillies is a must try at Bazaar.

If you have a sweet tooth, the menu will leave you spoilt for choice. Dig into a chocolate yo-ghurt dessert or a pineapple and mango pasty or a rasmalai- to mention just a few.

The hotel also has a gym and a swimming pool on the rooftop, where one can enjoy a favourite cocktail. The hotel authorities are readying a completely diff erent concept - Playa by Zone - a food joint-cum-bar on the rooftop to be open by May-end.

And, while most hotels of this time provide you thumbnail sketches of prominent land-marks, Zone goes a step further and off ers you an eclectic "10 things to do in Jaipur" wish list for the footloose.

For instance, there's the Pink City Walk, a three-km walk which covers the essence of Jaipur by showcasing 17 must see places includ-ing local markets, historical monuments and local fl avours. The circuit takes two-to-three hours to complete.

Also worth taking in will be a trip to a centre making blue pottery -- an art the locals are des-perately trying to keep alive. Also, don't forget to try out your hand in pottery making.

A visit to Amer Fort at night will be an amazing experience. Apart from the Light and Sound show, the fort is now open during sum-mer for evening visits as well. The fort is truly magnifi cent, appearing to be a golden orna-ment against the night sky. The overwhelming hospitality of Zone will win your heart making you promise to soon come back again. - IANS

FAQs• Getting there: Jaipur is connected

to most Indian cities by air, rail and road.

• Airport to hotel: 30 mins• Railway station to hotel: 30 mins• Bus stand to hotel: 15 mins• Hotel tariff (breakfast, meals not

included)

• Zone Room: Rs.3,500 per night• Zone Trio: Rs.4,500• Zone Quad: Rs.5,300• Zone Suite: Rs.8,000• Breakfast for two: Rs.1,000• Meal for two: Rs.1,500

PHOT

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LIFESTYLEC12 W E D N E S DAY, AU G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

Tuncay CakmakTuncay Cakmak is a Turkish model, photographer,

interior designer, and restaurateur based in Muscat.

He has been the face for Omani ad campaigns for brands

such as Omantel, Bank Dhofar, Nissan, Oasis Water,

Majesty Yacht, The Wave, as well as for Denim fashion

shows in Istanbul. Here are his jet-set essentials.

FIVE THINGS I CAN’T TRAVEL WITHOUT

PHO

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Y: S

HU

TT

ERST

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04 HAIR STYLING ARTILLERY From waxes and sprays to styling gadgets, I can’t travel without the

proper haircare equipment to help me achieve diff erent looks, even when

I’m on the go.

02 CAMERAThough professional photography is

my trade, clicking photographs when I travel is still my passion.

05 SMARTPHONEFrom sharing picture to

keeping in touch with phone calls, I make it a point to not

let distance come in between me and my family.

01 TABLETI follow a number of channels to keep myself updated with all types of news and entertainment, so my tablet is my

viewing lifeline on the road.

03 FASHION ACCESSORIESWatch, bowtie, bracelets, sunglasses, hats—I don’t pack light. I like to dress

up for diff erent occasions.

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

CONNECT H E D A I LY G U I D E

D

D4 VACANCY CARGO D7

W E D N E S D AY, A U G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

RENT D2

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifi eds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

3BR villa, sitting, dining & hall,

Azaiba behind Al Meera H- Market.

Contact: 99259977 / 95033008

1BHK, Darsait, walking distance to

ISM , neat and clean building, ground

fl oor, OMR 260/- per month rent

Call IQRAR on 99076557

1bedroom attached toilet, kitchen,

family in Al Khuwair RO 140.

Contact: 95154331

Flats in Al Khuwair 33 &

Wadi Al Kabir. Contact: 92800007

Showroom for rent at prime

location, Ruwi. Contact 94151791

1 warehouse 400 sqm 3 fl ats 2 BHK

near Ghala Church, top of Majan Hy-

permarket, Ghala. Contact 95928800

/ 99823677

Full fl edge workshop/warehouse &

yard with tools for rent/sales. Also

5 nos. Volvo/ Mercedes/ Man/Put-

smiester concrete pump 2004/2005

model for sale. Contact 93681107 /

96051565

4 bedrooms villa with 2 halls, 4

bathrooms in Darsait, behind Khimji

Mart. Contact 92584715 / 24700120

Flat for rent in Amerat.

Contact 99209264

Flat in Al Khuwair 3 rooms + Majlis

ground fl oor. Contact: 99242119

Flat 2bedrooms+majlis in Ghubra.

Contact:99242119

4 bedrooms villa with 2 halls, 4

bathrooms in Darsait behind Khimjis

mart. Contact: 24700120 / 92584715

Flat for rent in Al-Hail near the

Al-Hail Hypermarket, consists of

room, sitting room, 1 bathroom,

kitchen, parking, balcony. Its new

& good fl at at very good location.

Contact 93214010 / 92602050

Flat for rent 3 bedroom & 1 setting

room at al Ghubrah North near In-

dian School (hot pargur restaurant)

with split a/c. Contact 99766103

Single & double bedroom with

toilets at Ghala Industrial area, Coco

cola road (for family/ Exec bach-

elors). Interested parties contact on

92854747

5 BHK villa for Rent in Azaiba near

Sultan Centre. Contact 99792181

40,000 Sqr mtrs Open Land for Rent

in Wadi Kabir. Contact 99792181

Big fl at for rent in Al Khuwair, nr.

Ibis Hotel. Contact 95724975

Flat for rent 2BR at Wadi Adai.

Contact 94643380

D2 W E D N E S D AY, A U G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

Brand new 2 BHK fl ats/offi ces for

rent behind Honda Road.

Contact 91165807

1BHK R.O 185 + 2BHK R.O 230 before

Medical Darsait, Muttrah House.

Contact: 98748925

840 sqr mtrs Store & Staff accom-

modation for Rent in Misfah.

Contact 99792181

Flat for rent near Al Nahdha Hospital

in Hamriya. Contact: 97380548 /

99680499

3 bedroom fl at with 3 attached toi-

lets, split A/C, brand Kims Hospital.

Contact: 95225662

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

Spacious 2 BR fl at in MBD.

Contact 99713489

DAILY GUIDE

Fully furnished 3 BHK accommo-

dation with all spacious rooms in a

villa at Darsait near ISD.

Contact: 9526 5289 / 9604 8422

A fl at for rent in Al Khuwair 33, 2

rooms and sitting room and all the

necessary things. Contact:92277419

2BHK with A/Cs Muttrah, near

Oman House. Contact: 95915154

3 BHK, 3 bathrooms, 2 balcony,

nr. Al Hassan W/Kabir RO 330/-.

Contact :99384640

Villa for rent in Al Khuwair 33, 8

bedrooms, 5 bathrooms with parking

area near Taimur Mosque.

Contact 99366624

3 Bedroom fl at with 3 attached

toilets, split A/C, brand new available,

behind Kims Hospital.

Contact 95225662

2 BHK villa for rent in Azaiba, near

Sultan Centre. Contact 99792181

Flats shops & stores for rent at

Al Amerat. Contact: 96278724

Villa 2 bedrooms + hall + sitting

room in Al Hail South R.O 300/-

Monthly. Contact: 93993354

I BHK Flat -4 Nos at Hamriya – R.O.

200/- . 2 BHK - 2 Nos / 1 BHK- 2 Nos,

at Wattayya R/A near the mosque- for

Families. Contact 96457757 -

9 am to 7 Pm.

Shop at Azaiba. Contact 99024730

1BHK, 2BHK, 3BHK new fl at available

at Mabela in front of Modern English

School Contact: 96239126

Fully furnished 2 bedroom luxury

fl at for rent at Ghala for short or

long term basis.

Contact 91786526 / 99881653

1 & two bedroom fl ats available for

rent in wadi-kabir (opp: pencil bldg),

ideal for company staff / families -

bulk corporate deal possible.

Contact 97677170

3bed room well maintained fl at

(villa type only 2 fl ats in one bldg)

in Al Khuwair behind Al Akhtam

Restaurant, Villa no 1839,

Way No 3922, block No 239.

Contact: 99253125

1 BHK, 2 BHK & shop at Wadi Kabir.

Contact 99024730

2 BHK, 3BHK at Qurum.

Contact 99024730

1 BHK Flat in Honda Road (Ruwi).

Contact 99792181

1 & 2 BHK Flat in Al Khuwair.

Contact 99792181

1 BHK, 2 BHK at Al Khuwair.

Contact 99024730

2BHK & 1BHK fl ats available

in Darsait. Contact : 99357586 /

97500025

3 BHK Flat in Azaiba.

Contact 99792181

Flats for rent at Darsait near to

Ministry of Sports.

Interested candidates please

Contact : 00968-92225523

4 & 5 BHK villa for rent in

Al Khuwair. Contact 99792181

3 BHK Flat in Al Khuwair 33.

Contact 99792181

House for rent in Sidab at

reasonable rent. Contact: 95555162

/ 95755953

Fabulous AC fl at at Al Khoud 3 bed-

rooms, hall and kitchen RO 270/-

for rent. Contact: 99334699

For rent if require fl ats for rent in

Wadi Kabir please send me mes-

sages through Whatsapp.

Contact: 99376454

3 Bedroom fl at in Wadi Kabeer and

2 bedroom villa in Sidab- Muscat.

Contact: 95755953

1bedroom in Al Hail South RO 150/-

monthly. Contact: 93993354

Flats for rent near Indian School in

Wadi Kabir. Contact 99777122

2 & 3 BHK big Flats with Big hall,

Kitchen & new split ACs at Al

Khoudh 6, Close to express way,

from owner. Tel 97600322

alnehang@gmail.com

3BHK Flats & 6BHK Villa in Azaibah.

Contact : 96775026

1 BR fl at at Darsait, near ISM.

Contact 99237971 / 99320633

250 sq mtrs restaurant for rent in

Plaza Hotel, Walja Ruwi.

Contact 99326339

2 B/R res./comm. Flat directly from

owner near Oman Medical College

Bausher. Contact 92158031

Readymade offi ce space for rent

(100sm) in Bank Melli Iran building,

MBA area Ruwi opposite Center

Point. Contact: 99011352

Furnished room for rent at

Al Khuwair R.O 225/- for family only.

Contact: 99251975

Flats for rent in Al Khuwair, Al hail,

Wadi Kabir, Al Falaj, MBD, and Mut-

trah. Contact: 99119699 / 95250300

/ 24813002

DAILY GUIDEW E D N E S D AY, A U G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5 D3

FOR SALE

FOR SALE

MOTOR VEHICLE FOR SALE

Company maintained cars & fur-

niture for sale. Toyota Yaris, 2009

model RO 1800/-, Mazda 6 model

2009 RO 2300/-. Contact 24636655

/ 24636666

Chevrolet Aveo Automatic 2009

model 73000KM Expat lady

OMR1475. Contact 92819362

Toyota Camry 2006, new tyre & new

engine, very good condition, location

Sohar. Contact 91110270

Jaguar 2004, X-type Expat driven

dealer maintained 1,66,000 km,

RO 1900, immediate sale.

Contact 99370565 / 97097545

PAJERO 2015 km1400.

Contact 99336093

Mazda 3,1.6, 2008 Automatic,

accident free, single owner.

Contact: 92030516

Hummer H3,2006, Expat driven

dealer maintained 1,70,000 km,

RO 3900, immediate sale.

Contact 99370565 / 97097545

Honda Accord, 2010, No. 1, 105000

kms, expat lady driven, dealer

maintained, silver, expected price

RO 4700/-. Contact 99330509

Land Cruiser 2012.Contact

99336093

Prado ,2012. Contact : 99336093

Sportage, 2013. Contact

99336093

ACC. AVAILABLE

ACC. AVAILABLE

LOST

AVAILABLE

FOR EXPATS

Furnished room in new building for

working Muslim lady/muslim couple

only. Location: AINT, Darsait

Contact 99008069

Furnished master room Ruwi.

Contact : 99794399

Room for bachelor couples, Ruwi,

Mumtaz on main road. Ruwi

tower 80/100. Contact :95084850/

92230581

One room in a fl at for Indian

Exe - bachelor near Al Khuwair.

Contact: 99659513

Family sharing accommodate at

Honda road 2 rooms, bathrooms,

sharing kitchen for Indians only

R.O 150. Contact: 99519161

Room attached bath & kitchen Exec-

utive bachelor or couple, opp. Khimji

Mart Muttrah. Contact 97477670

Single rooms with attached bath

available at Ruwi.

Contact 98049288 / 93431089

Furnished room available in Ruwi.

Contact 92435784

Large room with separate entrance,

furnished at Wadi Kabir.

Contact 99336206

Independent rooms in Qurum /

AL Hail. Contact 95529970

Single room with attached bathroom

for an Executive bachelor at Rex

road Ruwi. Contact: 99535300

Furnished room with attached bath

separate entrance in Mabela.

Contact :99634841

Sharing accommodation in CBD

area for non cooking Executive

bachelors, wifi free, advance deposit.

Contact 91852710

Sharing accommodation available

for working lady or couples near

Ruwi Church. Contact: 92837206

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirting,

Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery, Crock-

ery, Glassware, Chafi ng Dishes, Ice

Sculptures, to Large Sound Systems

and spectacular lighting. Call Andrea

9606 2222 for Catering and Croyden

9623 5555 for Sound & Light.

www.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

4 BHK single villa in Al Khuwair.

Contact: 97616158

1 &2 BHK fl ats for rent at Wadi Kabir,

Wadi Adai, Hamriya and Al Khoud

areas, shop for rent at Wadi Adai

Round about. Contact: 24834644,

GSM 93994401 /02/03 lines

600 sqr mtrs showroom in Wadi

Kabir. Contact: 99792181

Flat for rent with AC in Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 95555162 /95755953

Flat for rent in Mabellah 8th.

Contact: 97147240

Brand new villa Bosher 37, 4 BHK.

Contact: 91936034

BHK Flat in Azaiba. Contact 99385835 / 99428143

Bath attached room for rent

Al Khuwair. Contact 99743569

1 Villa & 3 big Flats of 2/3 BHK with

hall, Kitchen & ACs Al Khoudh 6,

Close to express way, from owner.

Tel 97600322

Email: alnehang@gmail.com

SELL/BUY

Used furniture & Electronic items, offi ce & house. Contact: 99834373 /

96642500

From owner plot of land near

Zanzibar, airport price RO 15000.

Contact 99348943

Marshal 1.5 ton A/C, Chest of draw-

ers, sofa set, Nikai AC 1.5 ton, Raha

Mattresses, fridge, cooking range,

cot 3 nos, dining table with chairs,

wardrobe, Samsung washing ma-

chine RO 950/-. Contact 24636655

/ 24636666

Running laundry CBD.

Contact 92841089 / 92868123

Newly built twin villa in Al Ansab

Phase 3 for rent or sale, each villa

consist of 5 bedrooms, 6 toilets,

drawing, dining, kitchen outside,

maid room with kitchen.

Contact 96917566

Used Fabrication machinery for

sale : Fabrication machinery and

tools in excellent condition for im-

mediate sale. Contact 94652485/

99273774/ 99202278

Shop for sale in Qurum.

Contact 96964767

Restaurant for-sale Very good

location, Al khuwayer, 300+sqm,

Equipped big kitchen (+bakery),

many parking, separate entrance.

OMR50,000 Call 99788291

Shrimps & prawns fi llet fi sh avail-

able wholesale & retail.

Contact 97990974

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

Shop for sale in Ruwi High street,

Contact 96078411

Room for rent with sharing bath-

room & kitchen at Al Khuwair, behind

Golden Spoon Restaurant.

Contact 92994415

Furnished room for rent at

Al Khuwair RO 225/- for family only.

Contact 99251975

Furnished room for Indian Bachelor

in Al Falaj area (Ruwi) & Lady in

Wadi Kabir (near Al Maya).

Contact 96761960

Fully furnished room for a decent

expatriate. independent kitchen,

bathroom in Wadi Adai.

Contact 96243086 at 5p.m.

Room attached toilet and kitchen

near Indian School Wadi Kabir.

Contact: 95345537

Fully furnished 1BHK with all

household items in Darsait near

Lulu on monthly Basis. Contact :

99378397/99493500

60,000 Sq Mtrs Agriculture Land in

Misfah, can be changed to Industrial

Land. OMR 29 Per Square Meter.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

5 Flats of 1 bedroom for Sale in

Boushar: OMR 35 Thousand each.

Monthly income OMR 270

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

23,886 Sq Mtrs Agriculture land

with water well in Al Salwa, Barka.

OMR 260 Thousand. Tel: 99333479

or 95215360

3 fl oor 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 fl oor and 6 fl ats. OMR

207 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360

400 sq mtrs Commercial/Residen-

tial land in Maabela Phase 5 Block 2.

OMR 140 Thousand. Tel: 99333479

or 95215360

Restaurant for sale, Kadra Suwaiq.

Contact 97433012

A well settled/ well equipped ladies

beauty parlor in running position

located in Ghubra for sale. Contact

immediately on 97498898

Land for sale at prime location in

Al Athaiba. Contact 91299531 /

91408005

Forklift sale. Contact: 99763831

Permoglaze paint mixer (tinting

machine) – 6 months old – in good

condition for sale in Rustaq. inter-

ested parties may pl call 93223382

/ 99874936.

Wall papers, grass carpets sale

& fi xing. Contact: 99834373 /

96642500

Plots for sale : 6 cents near UC

College Aluva, Kerala, 30 cents Pe-

runna West Changanacherry, Kerala.

Contact 99468907

NRI

FOR HIRE

Prime mover, 98, 4 wheel on hire.

Contact 95120774

Volvo 12 Ton Truck for monthly

rent. Contact: 98713900

Ramos Melca has lost Philipino

Passport No. EB 0346986. Finder

please handover to ROP

Kumar pankaj has lost Indian

Passport No. G608988.

Finder please handover to ROP.

Thiruvalla at Kattode 300 mtrs .from

T.K. Road, 10 cents square plot for

sale. Contact: 97229763

DRIVING

Driver for Automatic Transmis-

sion. Contact: 99040813

DAILY GUIDED4 W E D N E S D AY, A U G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifi eds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

DOMESTIC HELPER

ENGINEER

ENGINEER

EDUCATION

SKILLED / UNSKILLED

ACCOUNTANT

BEAUTY

Urgently looking for an Expatriate House Boy with Cooking knowledge

and experience.

Contact Immediately: 99460564

Require qualify caregiver for an

orderly mother. Contact 99425200

Urgently required Junior Accountant. Please send CV:

hr.azatllc@gmail.com

DRIVER

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Required experienced Hairdressers / full beauticians with

exp in Ghubrah. Contact:97964519 /

94241385

Required HAIR DRESSERS / FULL BEAUTICIANS with Gulf experience.

Contact 96180078.

DRIVER

ADMIN

ADMIN

BEAUTICIAN

H.V. Driver for trailer. Contact 92131483

Driver heavy duty required urgent-ly for trailer. Oman / GCC experience

must. Those ready for immediate

joining. Contact: 99310859

MEDICAL

MANAGER

MISCELLANEOUS

MISCELLANEOUS

A private school located at

Al Mawaleh Seeb looking for an Eng-lish Teacher. Contact 98982088

Required female Science & IT Teachers from Pakistan, 4 grade

near Ibra. Contact 95810797

A well known private school require English, Mathematics, Science, Physics & Computer Teacher. Email : staffi ng.oman@gmail.com,

ph: 96910649

Urgently required for leading com-

pany: Civil Engineer : 8 yrs experi-ence, Planning Engineer : 8 yrs experience, Surveyor : 8 yrs experience, Draftsman & AutoCAD : 5 yrs experience.

Fax: 24478522,

email : gh1.careers@gmail.com

Smartphone Technician Required

ftt@futuretarget.net

GSM: 99110080/9669066

Part time accountant services

available. Contact:93438100

Female (Filipina) Accountant, Audit,

Finance, Bookkeeper, 15 yrs experi-

ence, on tourist visa, looking for suit-

able placement, contact: 96944976,

email: precyr_tupasi@yahoo.com

Accounts fi nance Indian male 35

yrs B.Com, M.B.A tally exp 9.7 yrs

exp 1.5 yr Oman family visa N.O.C

available. Contact : 93257426.

Email: sibigeorgep@gmail.com

Chief Financial Offi cer 16 yrs of

Management exp with MNCs in Pa-

kistan, expert in fi nancial reporting

sap/oracle implementing & optimi-

zation, Treasury, taxation, team work

and change Management.

Contact: 91936637/

Email : rizwanfarooq.pk@gmail.com

Indian 16 yrs exp in admin, Offi ce

management and have knowledge in

accounting looking for job. Release

available and have D/L.

Contact: 99573353

Indian male, B.Com Diploma in

offi ce Automation, pursuing ICWA

having 6 yrs (India, Oman) exp in

Accounts, Audit Finance seeks suit-

able positions. Familiar with tally,

ERP & focus. NOC available

Contact : 94706954.

E mail:ajurn33@gmail.com

M.com, female, good knowledge

in computer & tally 1 yr experience

in Sales & Accounts seeks suitable

placement. Contact 99363721

Finance Manager, 21 yrs experience

in Oman, Dubai, KSA, CA/ MBA, CFC,

B.com worked in ERP Oracle, Tally

etc. MS offi ce internet etc Resident

Visa with release, NOC letter.

Email : mas1156@yahoo.com,

GSM: 91195480

Part Time Accounting, Accounts

Finalization, Audit Preparation,

Internal Audit, Monthly Profi tabil-

ity Reports, Onsite Tally Training,

Contact : 96975454,

email :ibfc.gcc@gmail.com

Accountant, Indian male, B.Com,

PGDSE with 12 yrs of experience cur-

rently on visiting visa seeks suitable

placement. Contact 92750853,

email : vinoykjospeh@gmail.com

Finance/ Audit professional with 18

yrs Gulf experience can work inde-

pendently or head the division look-

ing for opening. Contact 92787747 /

92168401.

Management fi nance professional,

36 yrs experience, 20 yrs in Oman

with oil & gas & mining companies

can work independently or head

the division, Sudanese Nationality.

Contact 98531303

An excellent grade company wishes to recruit for the post of

Marketing Executive for science

products. Male candidates only,

preferred candidates with bachelors

degree in life sciences. Interested

candidates may send their CV’s to

Email : medical@omanmed.com

A logistics company wishes to

recruit experienced Marketing Executives for its clearing &

forwarding division. Interested

candidates may send their CV’s at

Email : medical@omanmed.com

Salesman & Merchandisers urgently required for a reputed

FMCG Company engaged in manu-

facturing & trading in Oman. Candi-

date must have minimum

1-2 yrs experience in the similar

fi eld & valid Oman driving license.

Interested candidates may send

their CV to sunnex3@gmail.com

Looking for Outdoor Salesman for

heavy equipment spare parts.

Contact - 93292015,

Email: mail.om@gulfcenter.co

Required Marketing Executive. Contact 24816774 / 99020458

Accomplished Sales Executives/Telemarketing Executives for

leading Digital Media Enterprise.

jobs@interacoman.com

Urgently require Indian male/

female Medical sales representative for Cosmetic Company. Email CV to

dania@nitrogenmedical.com

Required outdoor sales man in

construction and oilfi eld sector

with valid GCC D/L.

GSM-92830110

Email : contact@absmct.com

Furniture fi eld experienced Salesman with license.

Contact - 99345159, 91398378 ,

E-Mail - agsan2005@gmail.com

Urgently required outdoor sales-man for building material, shop.

Contact 99867456 / 24501882

Chartered CIPD HR Professional

having 5 years of experience in

Oman seeking suitable job.

Call +971552071501.

Indian male having 17 yrs experi-

ence in Logistics, Purchase, payroll

processing & offi ce Admin, UAE D/L

seeks suitable position, valid visa till

24th August’15. . Contact 91219303

A private clinic in Oman requires a Staff Nurse & Lab Technician with

MOH license or prometric passed

(Indian female preferably) salary

negotiable. Interested candidates

kindly mail their resumes / CV with

contact details :

medicalclinic2014@gmail. Com

or call 00968 99049381

Wanted Dental Technician (5-8) yrs experience. Good knowledge in

computer applications, preferably

with CAD/CAM system. Mail your CV

to hhabadri@gmail.com

Wanted female Nurse for clinic in

South Sharkiya. Contact 94783831,

medicaljobsoman@yahoo.com

Immediately required lady Doctor (DGO) or GP with Gynecology expe-rience & lab technician. Contact 99310590.

Email : tjmaluke@gmail.com

A well known Polyclinic in Muscat

is urgently looking for a Bachelor Female Nurse. Forward your CV to

hrhospitalmuscat@gmail.com

Wanted GP Doctor for clinic.

Ph 98115439

Medical CARE Centre, Multi Speciality Clinic, Seeb, requires Gynecologist to work on Freelance

(Profi t Sharing) basis. Interested

candidates call- 97884856

Wanted Nurse (Salary-RO 400/-) &

Pharmacist (Salary RO 500/-)-MOH

Licensed -Al Suwaiq Clinic -

Contact- 97742491

Required Nurse for A Clinic in

Al-Buraimi, S. of Oman.

Contact : 00968 92737149. Send CV

to drpkabbas@yahoo.co.in

SITUATION WANTEDSIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDSIT. WANTED

K.Design LLC requires “2d & 3d Draftsman” with minimum 3 yrs

experience. Send CV to

k.designoman@gmail.com

Leading Civil construction com-pany requires “MEP DRAFTSMAN”

with 4-6 years gulf experience. Send

your CV to mep.oman2015@gmail.

com. (NOC required).

DRAFTSMAN

Chinese/ Arab/ continental cook & helper wanted. Contact 95529970

A fast growing chain of omani fu-

sion restaurants in Muscat is looking

to hire experienced waiters and chefs (2 yrs exp).Applicants should have

NOCs if applicable. Forward resume

to creativefoodsllc@gmail.com

Indian Cook required. Should know

Omani traditional foods.

Contact 99209264

CATERING

Wanted: Loading and unloading

people. Apply - Indians only:

Contact: 95451713

Business development Manager. company dealing in graphics,

signage industry, exhibition booth

fabrication looking for candidates

experienced in same fi eld for their

dubai branch. Please contact:

thomasphilip24@hotmail.com

SALES / MARKETING

SALES / MARKETING

Business intelligence / Global Mar-keting management specialist with

9 years of experience developing

brand value & managing overall pro-

jects to achieve business objectives

seeking suitable position on family

visit. Contact: 91902154

Required Smart, dynamic Sales & A reputed company in Muscat requires Sales Executive to promote

Oil engine products. Candidate must

have 2- 5 yrs experience in the re-

lated fi eld, with GCC driving license.

Send CV with expected salary at

employmentoil2015@gmail.com

Urgently required for an Insurance broker (preference will be given to

Nationals) General Manager, Accountant, Marketing Manager, Marketing Executives & underwriter. Send your CV’s to

enquiry@unitedinsuranceoman.com

Established real estate company looking for male or female property agents for leasing and sales of the

property. Applicant must be Gradu-

ate, possess Omani or GCC driving

license. Having oman market experi-

ence. Apply with NOC. Attractive sal-

ary +commission. Send your CV:

property@ labdmarkmuscat.com

Beautician from India looking for

job. Contact 93554741

A grade Civil construction com-pany in Muscat urgently requires

the following person with minimum

3 yrs experience : 1) Electrical Engineer 2) AutoCAD Draughtsman 3) Purchaser.Send CV to hr.azatllc@gmail.com

Civil construction company looking for fresh Civil Engineering degree holders. Send CV:

awahaibitrad@gmail.com

MEP Engineer on urgent basis

required for immediate placement.

Please contact tgi17@omantel.net.om

Sales Executive Industrial products

: 2-3 yrs of exp. with good communi-

cation & computer skills. D/L is must.

Send resume to

salescvv@hotmail.com

Fresh Graduate B.Com with CIMA .

U. K. (Partly Qualifi ed ) looking for a

suitable position in the Middle east.

Contact 9470 5767

Indian male, MBA, 27 yrs, 2 yrs exp.

in Oman in Accounts upto fi naliza-

tion of accounts, seeks suitable

placement. Contact 91208799,

jahafeer@yahoo.co.in

Accountant Indian male 31 yrs

Accounts up to fi nalization, 9 yrs

experience (7 yrs in Oman) with D/L

& NOC seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 99582979

Part time accountant services avail-

able to handle all accounts related

work up to fi nalization.

Contact 96247295

Indian male,, MBA, Finance, 10

yrs exp as Branch Supervisor in a

reputed logistics company in Oman

with an overall experience of 21 yrs

in fi nance & logistics, with valid

Oman D/L, on visit looks for suit-

able placement. Contact 96567151,

girishlalmahadev@yahoo.com

FMCG professional with 18 yrs Gulf

experience in commercial / opera-

tions looking for opening.

Contact 92787747 / 92168401

Senior Document Controller, male,

Indian, MCA 9+ yrs experience as

Document controller in oil & gas

sector seeks job as Senior Document

controller. Contact 95388197, Email :

rojanchristopher@gmail.com

Indian 24 years MBA fi nance 2

years experience seeking suitable

placement. Contact: 9822253

Indian female B.Tech (EEE) MBA

fi nance with 1and half years experi-

ence as Bank Offi cer in India seeking

suitable placement.

Contact: 91358676 / 98157895

Email: sujivu88@gmail.com

An Indian Lady Chartered Ac-countant with fi ve years experience

(including articleship), on family visa

in Oman looking for a suitable job.

Contact 9621 0347 / 9943 5346,

shincycrajan@gmail.com

Jordanian Accountant (ACPA) with

more than 15 yrs experience in Oman

(Accounts, Purchase & fi nance).

Contact: 92881223

Email: kamal_sarhan@yahoo.com

Motivated and energetic male 25

having 4 years of experience in

fi nance with Master’s degree in Eco-

nomics and CAT Certifi ed seeking

opportunity in Accounts/fi nance/

audit in a reputable organization.

Cell no: 00968-94626209

E-Mail: omerjawedshah@gmail.com

Indian male, 27 years, M. Com, hav-

ing 2years experience in Accounts

looking for suitable position. Presently

on visit visa. Contact 93455055|

gibingeorge88@gmail.com

Light Driver with 2 yrs experience

looking for job with visa.

Contact 96794309

Driver, Indian Keralite, 4 yrs expe-

rience. Contact 93798442

Driver available, 24 hrs, pick &

drop. Contact 95154610

Indian light driver having 1 yr

experience in Oman, knowing Eng-

lish, Hindi, Arabic looking for job.

Contact 95214332

Indian male, looking for Heavy

Driver job, holding Kuwait driving

license. Contact 98136170

H.T. V Driver, Pakistani experience,

6 yrs, seeks work in company only.

Contact 93985087

Indian male 2 yrs exp in (D/L in

sales seeker suitable placement.

Contact: 92055093

Light Driver, 9 yrs exp. (Keralite).

Contact 97313562

Looking for driving job. #98219182

LMV Driver, 8 yrs exp. (Keralite).

Contact 93412587

Looking for a job as Driver,

with 9 yrs experience in Oman,

language : Arabic/ English/ Hindi.

Contact 92517532

Light driver 5 years exp Education

B.A language English, Arabic & Hin-

di. Contact : 98522914 / 91615715

Heavy & light duty driver valid

GCC license looking job from India.

Contact 93554741

Light Driver, 5 yrs experience look-

ing for job. Contact 92617293

Sri Lankan driver. # 97387112

Light duty driver, 8 yrs exp.

Contact: 96736744

Required Salesman, Tailor & Barber. Contact 96964767

Wanted Diesel Mechanics, foreman for cement block factory, JCB & forklift operators. Salesman for

block factory, experienced sales-

man for logistics, labors for block

factory. Email : smylackal@gmail.

com, Contact 94007259

C.C.T.V camera technician, Electri-cian & plumber, Driver, Mason. Contact: 99383044

Looking for a foreign staff with

experience in Oman in real estate &

real estate valuation.

Contact 99109094,

email : aburashid94dd@gmail.com

Required Indian or Pakistani calligrapher & Painter (staff accommodation)

Contact# 24480487/24483493

8 yrs exp in Admin & Accounts

(3 yrs in Oman), MBA, Indian female,

seeks placement. Contact 97243806

Indian male 2+yrs oman exp in HR.

joing immediatly. release available.

Contact :93671437

Purchase, Admin, Indian male,

15 yrs Gulf experience. #95435370

HSE Admin experience for 10 years

in GCC with valid D/L seeking to

join a reputed fi rm. NOC available.

Contact: 99626821

Indian female, 29 yrs, MBA (HR)

4 yrs exp in HR & Admin seeking

suitable placement. # 95619537

14 years of Gulf experience in HR /

Admin & logistics fl uent in Arabic /

English with D/L looking for suitable

position. Contact: 95824598

Master degree HRM professional

having excellent experience in fi -

nance and management and having

8 yrs experience looking for suitable

placement. # 92955453 / 91213269

*Classifi ed Advertisement space

booking with text,

should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space

availability

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

DAILY GUIDEW E D N E S D AY, A U G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5 D5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

DOMESTIC HELPER

MEDICAL

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

PROJECTS

Veterinary Doctor with 10 yrs

experience, looking for job.

Contact 92533579

BA degree Nursing professional

having excellent looking for suitable

placement. Contact:: 92955453

/91213269

SALES / MARKETING

SALES / MARKETING

EDUCATION

IT

IT

Indian female MCA,24 years seek-

ing suitable job. Contact 93439467

Indian female, B.Tech, IT (now in

Muscat on visit visa) with total

2 yrs experience (1.3 yrs in TCS,

India) seeks suitable placement.

Contact 93949541 / 93738083,

email : joantoms91@gmail.com

B.E (Computer) degree Engineer, complete schooling in Muscat, male,

Indian with 1 yr experience needs

job in software / networking / Java/

Web design or Marketing.

Contact 97136248 / 99313821

Sudanese female IT Tech. Support,

Demographic, English fl uent exp.

11.6 yrs. Contact: 96659392

Indian (f) with 7 yrs exp in software

development (2.5 yrs Oman exp)

good knowledge in .net and MSSQL

Server seeks suitable placement.

Contact : 93276784

email: sanalkumar63@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS

DRAUGHTSMAN

HOSPITALITY

Dynamic professional in consumer

business/ sales with over 20 yrs

of experience in Oman fi eld, FMCG

consumer electronics consumer tel-

ecom looking for suitable placement.

NOC available. Contact 99360975 /

99049536.

Indian male 27 yrs, Diploma, 3 yrs

exp in Oman in Sales & Supervi-

sor, Oman driving license holder,

looking for suitable placements.noc

available. Contact 93725995

Marketing/Sales, having work

experience of 6 years in the hotel

sales and tour operations seeking

for immediate job placement.

Contact 98078305

Indian male, 30 yrs, 6 yrs Oman

exp. outdoor supplier & sales with

D/L. Contact 93100297 / 92547440

Indian male Graduate with 2 yrs

exp in sales advertising, presently

on visiting visa looking for suitable

opening. Contact: 95462921

Male, 29 yrs, MBA, Marketing

having 9 yrs experience in Sales,

Marketing, customer services seeks

job. Contact 98163254, Email :

shujaat_ali2014@hotmail.com

Indian BE (Mech) Engineer hav-

ing P.G diploma in oil &gas piping

and level two NDT seeks immedi-

ate placement in any industry at

present on visit visa.

Contact: 92013757/ 99774956

Indian job in procurement & con-

tract have “13” years purchase &

contract experience in infrastructure

& energy sector. NOC is available.

Contact-91237036

Indian male, 15 yrs experience in

GCC looking for HSE job, NOC, local

transfer available.

Contact 93099578, Email :

abdulsamad1966@yahoo.com

Indian male, 29 yrs, BE Electronics

& Communication Engg (5 yrs exp.

in Oman) with valid D/L.

Contact 96652145

Civil Engineer BSc -7 years experi-

ence with constructions companies

- 2 years in Oman - qualifi ed as a

project Engineer- Fluent in Arabic &

English - Contact 98078095

Civil Engineer Indian male 10 yrs

exp having Omani D/L looking

for suitable placement. Contact:

94194399 (shiblyrock@gmail.com)

Indian male, 30 yrs, Diploma in

Civil Engineer, 5 yrs exp. at building

construction & consulting com-

pany with Oman driving license.

NOC available seeks suitable

placement. Contact 95989500,

cv.shihabedappal@gmail.com

HSE Logistics Site Coordination

with 10 yrs exp. in Oman seeks

placement, with Oman D/L.

Contact 92825053 / 92565093

Mechanical Engineer, 2 yrs

experience in Automobile services.

Contact 98182081

Indian Mechanical Engineer (QA/

QC) Engineer with 5 yrs of experi-

ence in oil & gas, mining & manu-

facturing sector, keyskills – NDT,

Welding Inspection, Quality control,

inspection etc. Contact 91176122,

Email : khajanaseer07@yahoo.co.in

Electrical Engg, suitable for offi ce

works, NOC available, experience in

maintenance for CB & relays, fl uent

in English. Contact 97891226 /

95268664

B Tech Mechanical Engineer

HVAC Plumbing with 2 yrs exp. in

India. Contact : 97654489

nikhilchandpm@gmail.com

Indian Civil Engineer, B.Tech, 13

yrs experience in building pipes.

Contact 91342325

Indian male MBA 13 yrs exp in

Oman (8 yrs in Tech Documentation

5 yrs in Project coordination) Ad-

ministration, seeks suitable place-

ment. Visa transfer / NOC available.

Contact : 93069441

Civil Engg, B.Tech, Indian male,

having 3 yrs of experience in Con-

struction & EPB looking for suitable

placement. Contact 91430851.

Civil Engineer (B. Tech) Indian fe-

male, 2 yrs exp (1 yr in Oman) seeks

suitable position. Contact: 93911895

Civil foreman, Civil Engineer,

Indian exp overseas looking for job.

Contact 95175192

BE in ECE, female looking for

suitable placement.

Contact 94767662. Email:

chaithanyakotian10@gmail.com

Diploma holder in Aviation Hospital-

ity & travel management, Indian male

seeking for suitable position, pres-

ently in Oman. Contact 97309707

4 Years experienced (Money

exchange services & Hospitality

services in Oman & India) - Indian

male 27 years, graduate in Hospital-

ity science, fl uent in English, Hindi

& Arabic seeks suitable placement.

Contact 91383167

17 yrs Oman experienced MEP/ Civil

Senior Draftsman / Designer seeking

placement. Contact 93130104,

Email : designjob2014@gmail.com

Draftsman (2D/3D) 3 yrs exp in

Oman with light Oman driving

license. Contact:95962384

NETWORK/NETWORK SECURITY ENGG. Graduate in B.Tech CS. Have 5.3

years of experience in Network and

Security devices. Certifi ed on CCNA,

CCNP, MCITP and CCIE Sec. Written

passed. NOC available. Can join imme-

diately. Contact +974-55297089,

e-mail: rejad.hashim@gmail.com

Pakistani Civil Management En-

gineer, 12+ 2 yrs Oman experience,

Oman D/L seeks suitable placement.

Contact 94392616

Project Manager / Senior Engineer,

Indian Male BE Civil, 21yrs experi-

enced including Oman looking for

the Job Contact +918939295181

Email I’D : sanja_bala@yahoo.co.in

Engineer with 3 yrs experience in

Indian in MEP, HVAC& mechanical

maintained fi eld on visit visa

looking for suitable job.

Contact 99191535

Email: fareed029@gmail.com

Civil Engineer, more than 6 yrs

experience in Supervision, site man-

agement, QS, Engineering software

with valid Oman driving license.

NOC available. Contact 91761364,

Email : a-shaqfa@hotmail.com

Mechanical and Manufacturing Engi-

neer, 26 yrs, Masters from Singapore,

Bachelors from India. Having 2 yrs

work experience in Oman, with Valid

Oman driving license. available

immediately. Contact: 95498953

Mechanical Engineer with 5 yrs

exp in which 3 yrs in GCC with valid

D/L. looking for suitable placement.

Contact :94172136,

Email: allen.mathew@hotmail.com

Indian male 24 yrs B Tech Electron-

ics & communication looking for job,

having 6 months exp available in

Muscat on visit visa.

Contact: 94756280 / 95084905,

Email: vivek2573459@gmail.com

Civil Engineer : Pakistani male hav-

ing 4 yrs experience in Oman. Well

handle site & guide workers, seeks

suitable placement. All the docu-

ments available. Contact 96470310.

Electrical and Electronics Engineer with one year experience and GCC

licence holder seeking a job

mail – shyjalpk@gmail.com

Indian male 25MBA having 4years

Gulf experience in Coordination with

contracting company .NOC Available.

Looking for(Store,Coordination,Admin

,Backoffi ce) Jobs Ph:95405885

Indian male Electronic Technician, 7 yrs experience, CCTV Technician

seeks suitable job, now on visit visa.

Contact 98353542 / 99179853

Indian male, B.Tech, B.Tech (Elec-

tronics) MBA (Marketing) having

1 yr experience as Deputy Manager

Sales in Fortune 100 MNC currently

on visit visa seeks suitable job.

Contact 96967234,

Email: lijotitus111@gmail.com

SUPERVISOR: Indian male site

supervisor (AIR CONDITIONING)

25 years of experience with valid

Oman Driving license, seeking suit-

able placement. Contact: 97498809,

93391910

Email: hilariankj@gmail.com

Civil Engineer BSc-Total Experience

6 years-2 years in Oman, experience

in site work & Structural Design &

Technical offi ce. Contact 97983610

Indian male, Supervisor Electrician

Diploma 8 yrs in Oman. NOC avail-

able. Contact 95057068,

jratheesh@yahoo.com

Electrical Eng. Degree (MEP) need suit-

able job of construction 12 yrs exp.

Email: mohd.ateeq.khan@gmail.com

Civil Project Engineer exp 10 yrs.

Contact: 92673432

Email: arifjamalkhan8@gmail.com

Telecommunication Maintenance Engineer Sudanese male 2 years ex-

perience in HUAWEI hardware fi eld

cabins good communication English

& Arabic. Contact :+ 968 96433495 /

+968 94756295 Email:

muzamilawadalla@gmail.com

Electrical Engineer, Indian male,

29 yrs having 5 yrs of experience in

industrial automation & utility

maintenance in India (MRF tyres) seeks

suitable placement. #92789995,

Email : akhilabrahamlktr@gmail.com

DESIGNER

Indian male 26 yrs Graduate, 2 yrs

exp as logistics Coordinator looking

for suitable placement.

Contact: 96944298

36 yrs, Indian, male, X Ray, Welder

looking for job, 8 yrs experience

in TIG & ARC Welding, presently

on visit visa. Contact 91360190 /

91843992

Management Professional account-

able, responsible for profi table man-

agement can handle the entire op-

erations, HR/Recruitment, Business

development & Sales & marketing &

etc, Great organizational skills with

over 23+yrs exp. in Bombay, Saudi

Arabia, Dubai-UAE & Oman(11yrs)

as General Manager - Publications,

Printing,Media. open to any industry,

can Join immediately w/NOC.

Contact : +968 98864706/99574638

Mail : akdas_uae@yahoo.com

TOURS & TRAVELS

SKILLED/ UNSKILLED

Five years experience in Travel

fi eld ,BCom., IATA & pursuing MBA,

Presently working in the Travel

Desk of (ITC managed) Five Star

Hotel in India, looking for a suitable

position in the Middleeast.

pls contact 9470 5767

11 yrs experience in travel fi eld

B.Com, IATA, MCSE working for

Qatar Airways, Sales reservation

ticketing driving license & NOC

available. Contact 92954613

MISCELLANEOUS

Diploma in Mech.Engg. Indian

Female - with great experience in

Quality Control, (QA/QC) Auto CAD,

Primavera, CATIA, Pro E, seeking job.

Currently in family visa

Contact: 94526980/96510532

Building construction supervisor looking for small Omani company

to handle independently or suitable

placement in good company with

Oman D/L. Contact 93061107

TIG+ARC Welder Indian with 16 yrs

Middle East exp. in Copper Nickel,

Duplex, Inconel, S.S, CS Now on visit

visa seeks suitable placement..

Contact : 96502282.

Email: manuangola88@gmail.com

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,

open for Sales & Marketing also.

Contact 95245057

Experienced Graphics Designer with 6+ years of international expo-

sure in Middle East & Asia looking

for job. Valid Omani D/L. 97615584.

Sr Designer, Civil & Structural (oil &

gas) / Site Supervisor Indian male, 21

years experience in design fi eld with

driving license seeks suitable place-

ment N.O.C available. #92684051

Email: babyshibu@yahoo.co.in

Sales Representative or Purchase

offi cer. Indian male 30 years,

Looking for suitable placement in

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRIES and

OILFIELD INDUSTRIES. Having 5

years of gulf experience in FASTEN-

ERS and BUILDING MATERIAL. with

good communication skills.

Contact: 00968 97756269,

Email: razzakbmt@gmail.com

Male available for a part time

accounting & admin job,

Contact 99196621.

INDIAN MALE 23 YEARS,B. Tech

(Electrical & Electronic) having

4 years working experience as an

Electrical site Engineer, currently on

visit visa. Seeking suitable place-

ment. Contact no. 98045482

21 years, B. Com, graduate male

‘fresher’ well versed in English,

Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam with

Driving license looking for a suitable

job. Contact: 96799287

24 years, ACCA affi liate, 2.5 years

of experience in audit, fi nance in

Big6 and oil industry, looking for

suitable placement, NOC release

available. Contact 95140445,

Email: a.saran891@gmail.com

Mechanical Engineer : Indian , male

23 years, 2 years experience, on visit

visa . Seeking suitable placement.

Contact : +968 91409712 , email :

nibin.nani@gmail.com

Babar Ali Male, Pak, Exp 14 Years

in Accounts, IT & Administration,

looking for a better position in Oman,

No need of Visa, already working in

of the Omani Construction Company.

Contact:- 95983711.

Advertising/media executive with

15 years gulf experience with oman

driving license. Seeks good opening.

Contact 93031168

Masters in Information Systems

and IT with more than 12 years ex-

perience seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 98502793,

email:jobsrs6@gmail.com

AutoCad Civil Draftsman – Having

3 years- experience, looking for a

placement.(Full- time or Part time)

99627427 / 96154564.

Indian Female, 25 years, M.Sc Elec-

tronics + Multimedia, having one year

teaching experience in Government

college in India, seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact GSM 99367448

Indian Male, 37 Years , B Tech

Graduate Electrical. Having 12 Years

Experience of DCRP Works / Jobs in

Oman with Driving License, Looking

for an suitable opening, NOC Avail-

able. Contact – 92122338, Email -

saiviharvasanth@gmail.com

Part- Time Accountant, well experi-

ence senior accountant ,doing all

type of accounting works, Finaliza-

tion, Budgeting available.

Contact : 98803439

Indian Female Lawyer having 11

yrs experience presently working in

Oman seeks placement in Legal/HR/

Admin etc. NOC available

Contact-94436960

Email: famidakhan123@gmail.com

INDIAN MALE 24 YEARS, B. Tech

(Electrical & Electronic).Having 2

years experience as Electrical Site

Engineer in Constructions. Done

IOSH & NEBOSH- IGC certifi cations.

Seeking for suitable placement

in constructions or in any related

industries. Contact no: 98045482/

mastanshaik1008@gmail.com

Filipino (male), 37 yrs. old, hav-

ing 8yrs. experience in Operation

(Shipping&Logistics) currently on

visit visa looking for suitable job.

GSM: 97121525

Quantity Surveyor-MEP (Estima-

tion/Project) ,Total 10 Years Experi-

ence (3 years in Oman).

Having NOC & Oman D/L, Looking for

suitable job, Contact - 97906551

Well qualifi ed Indian Female Bsc,

Computers diploma 9 years of

experience as Executive Secretary

seeks placement.

Contact 95423692,91374217

Indian female with MBA in fi nance

on visit visa seeking

immediate placement.

Contact :968-93316493

Sales Representative or Purchase

offi cer. Indian male 30 years ,

looking for suitable placement in

construction industries and oilfi eld

industries. Having 5 years of Gulf ex-

perience in FASTENERS and build-

ing material. with good communica-

tion skills. Contact: 97756269,

Email: razzakbmt@gmail.comIndian

Housemaid (Madras tamil speak-

ing) from India looking job.

Contact 95175192

Indian lady M.Com, B.Ed looking for

openings in teaching.

Contact 97668603

Indian female, B.Sc, B.Ed, 3 yrs

experience currently on visit visa

looking for suitable placement.

Contact 91330415

Male, 32 yrs, M.A English, M.Sc

Psychology & B.Ed in English having

4 yrs of experience in teaching. The

present company is ready to give the

release letter. Contact 99869535,

sahadkeyi33@gmail.com

Indian female, M.Sc, M.Phil. Chem-

istry, 3 yrs Teaching experience cur-

rently on visit visa, seeks suitable

position. # 96916534 / 91969756

Supervisor fabrication. 30 years

experienced in oil and gas industry

with thorough knowledge of PDO

procedures. contact 99365694,

92362946, 99208102 email:

tapasroy21@yahoo . com

Supervisor / Forman interior / elec-

trical with Oman driving license.

Contact: 93438075

MIB Post Graduate /male – more

than 9 years of experience in

shipping & Logistics in middle

east (Liner Section) looking for a

suitable job in Oman. .Mob :( India)

91-9400043894, Oman 99899627

Email: jaise81@gmail.com

Indian Male 13 years experience in

Purchase/Store seeks urgent place-

ment Contact -99609696

SAP BW Analyst : Indian male, 26

yrs, B.Tech (CS & E) from ASET, New

Delhi, worked as a Business Ana-

lyst in Software Industry. Contact

98008127 / 92878708,

vaisakh.bhaskar@gmail.com

Experienced Electrical Technician, with Oman driving license looking

for suitable placement.

Contact 96103843

Indian Male, IT Support Engineer,

2 yrs in Oman & 5 yrs Indian experi-

ence. Contact 97311847

Civil Engineer B.E, 5.5 years experi-

ence with Omani D/L.

Contact: 96785311

Electrical Engineer 2 years experi-

ence (Indian) construction (build-

ing) looking suitable placement.

Contact 00968 92596672 Email:

kundara.renjith@gmail.com

Btech computer science graduate

2015 passout.. Android application

marketing.. Having good communi-

cation skills and mindset to work in

a team. Contact 91024385

Electrical Engineer bachelor degree

having 6+ years experience of Gulf

and professional license available to

join. Contact: 98063081

Email: imran.engr08@gmail.com

SAP – SCM.MM Consultant B.Tech.

(Chemical), from NIT, working with

oil industry, seeks employment.

Contact: 98049288

Indian visit visa, Network / System

Engineer switches, routers, servers,

load balancers 5 yrs of exp holds B.E

(ECE), CCNA looking for good op-

portunity. Contact: 91911792

Email: arafakdnl@gmail.com

Graduate, Indian male, 39 yrs, GCC

experienced 9 yrs in Sales logistics

with D/L. Contact 98826959

Indian male, Graduate with 18 yrs

experience in Sales & Marketing 3

yrs in UAE currently on visit visa,

seeks suitable placement.

Contact 91996486 / 99732070

Sudanese young man looking for

job with suitable fl uent in computers

& experience in Sales.

Contact 91318822

MBA Graduate with 1 yr experience

in Sales, having D/L seeks suitable

placement. Contact 97620084,

email : gautamacchu13@gmail.com

Bangladeshi male, looking job for

salesman. Contact 97756028

Indian male, B.Com Graduate with

2yrs sales experience in India,

seeking job with excellent com-

munication skills & computer skills,

Contact: 99637296

Indian male, 2 yrs exp. in Sales

with D/L seeks suitable placement.

Contact 92055093

MBA, HR & Marketing, Indian, male,

25 yrs, fresher, on visit visa seeks

placement. Contact 94736649 /

98207564,

Email : dvengels8191@gmail.com

Marketing/Sales, 1 year experi-

ence/ Degree holder(BBA) / valid

Driving license. Contact;94122944,

mail; raashidjabirm@gmail.com

Indian on visit visa, having 5 yrs

exp. in procurement / purchase

in KSA with valid Saudi driving

license. Contact 95438201

Looking for job as Salesman at any

shop. Contact 96930922

Male, BA with D/L, 6 yrs exp. in

Oman seeks suitable job in Sales &

Inventory & procure.

Contact 92191026

Expert in Sales Marketing & pro-

motions, having D/L of Oman, good

communication skills in Arabic &

English. Contact 92262680

Indian male 8yrs experience in

Purchase looking for a suitable

placement with N.O.C.

Contact : 95621614

Indian male 27 years, B.Tech Grad-

uate having good work experience

with valid Oman D/L looking for a

suitable opening as Sales Engineer.

Contact: 91472953 Email:

harees.rasheed.2014@gmail.com

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D6 W E D N E S D AY, A U G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

MISCELLANEOUS

Indian male 23 years Graduate,

working as a sales coordinator cum

purchase & offi ce coordination 2 yrs

in oman Having oman license & NOC

looking for suitable job in Muscat

Email:yadhukrishnan08@gmail.com,

GSM:97475860

Indian Male, 32 yrs, MBA-HR, Train-

er & Faculty worked on Omanisation

& nationals development activities

with 10 yrs of experience seeking

suitable job. Contact : 93891401

saiprasad_18@yahoo.com

Female MBA gold medalist, with

computer profi ciency, Oman driving

license looking for job opportunity

in event management companies in

Muscat. Ph : 99012949

Sudanese 29 male (Bsc computer

science,diploma computer engineer-

ing), 6 yrs. experience dba oracle pl-

sql , ms sql-server ,ms visual studio

vba,network Omani Driver licence

language English, Arabic

Tel: 91415886

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 / 96143708/97357143

Indian male 27 years B.E & MS Me-

chanical Engineer working in Delhi

for last 4 years in

Jcb India pvt. ltd., seeks placement

in Oman. Contact 93393768

Indian Male 22 Years , Graduation

In Electronics Seeking Jobs In Su-

pervisory , Sales & Sales Co-ordina-

tion Fields , Good Communication

Skill # 96141317,

E-mail: akhilek5@gmail.com

Indian female B. Com MBA fi nance

,5 years experience in oman as an

account seeking suitable placement.

Contact 99044292

DIPLOMA+B.E.(CIVIL ENGINEER),

Indian, 4 years of experience, cur-

rently on visit visa; Seeking Right

Position. GSM:91570703.

ME. Civil Engineer, Structural De-

signer, 3 Years Structural Design, 6

Years Str. Engineer Experience, Look-

ing For Structural Designer Position.

Iranian Male. Contact: 93696929,

Email: mhsaz1359@gmail.com

B-tech Electrical Engineer with

more than 2 years of experience in

erection and designing of HT and LT

electrical systems. Seeking for

suitable job in Muscat.

Contact: 98269366.

Email: sijincleetus@gmail.com

Male Graphic designer cum anima-

tion, non linear editing VFX, seeking

suitable position.

Contact: 97792661 / 96229406

Indian lady 30 years Graduate hav-

ing work experience in India and

Oman looking for Admin or any other

suitable job. Contact : 95676957

Indian Female Accountant, CA Final

(Group I cleared), 5+ year’s experi-

ence in the fi eld of Accounts, Audit

and Financial ERPs. Currently avail-

able in Muscat and seeking suitable

job opportunities.Ph:94704800

email id: vinithsavith@gmail.com

Civil site coordinator, Diploma, Male

25, now present in Oman, Seeking

job in Oman. # 92887561,

jubincivileng@gmail.com

Data Entry operator cum Buyer,

Indian male,26years.BA, Computer

profi ciency :Operating system (Win-

dows 2000xp & Windows7) E plus

and Tally ERP9, 4 yrs Experience in

Oman seeks suitable placements.

Mob: 95360255

B.Com graduate, 11 years experi-

ence in Accounts, 9 years Oman

experience , Oman valid driving

license, looking for suitable post.

Mob:92758404 NOC Available.

Indian male, B.com, MBA, having 5

years experience (3 years in U.A.E) is

currently seeking suitable oppor-

tunities within fi nance/accounts/

admin dept.Contact:93953613,

allen.mathew83@gmail.com

Two year experience in Oman,

experience in sales, purchase and

system admin, Having GCC license.

Contact number 97475860,

Yadhukrishnan08@gmail.com

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, Indian

male,29 years.8 years experience

.Presently working in Oman as a

Senior Accountant with oman Driv-

ing license. NOC available. Seek suit-

able opportunity. GSM: 97705854

Driver looking for job exp 2 yrs.

Contact: 98522914

Indian Female BSC nurse with 8+

years of experience including 3

years of GCC exp. Oman Promet-

ric passed with 57 %. Currently in

Oman. Contact : 98034384

Senior Accounts Professional, Indi-

an Male, 36 years, M.Com, MBA (Fin)

9 years in Oman, with valid Oman

DL and NOC available. Capable to

handle accounts up to fi nalization.

Contact 9602 3965.

Indian Male 24 years, Looking for a

Suitable Job in Telecom / Network-

ing, 1 year sales experience. M. Sc.

Communications Engineering &

Valid Driving license. Ph: 91280121.

Email: jackrprasad@yahoo.com

Indian female, 24yrs, M.COM (Ac-

counts) having 3 yrs experience

in Accounts, HR, Administration,

Customer Service. Good Computer

Profi ciency seeking Suitable Posi-

tion. Visa Transfer/NOC Available.

Contact: 99654913

Indian, presently on visit visa in

Salalah looking for job B.com failed

UAE experience in accounts, com-

mercial Admin & warehouse. Con-

tact: 92754071 /93346931 Email:

sathyanathanuk@gmail.com

Indian male, 39 yrs, MSC Computer

Science 10 years experience IT sup-

port, FMS Engineer, bank experience

looking for suitable job.

Contact: 94276449

MBA (Marketing /HR) with 45

years exp in business development

and marketing, having valid Oman

driving license seeks suitable place-

ment currently available on family

visa. Contact 97618033

Email: vjgeorge12@gmail.com

Indian male 63 years have 30 years

Muscat experience all offi ce work

sales business development insur-

ance administration accounts with

Oman driving license.

Contact : 99249412

Indian female LLB (Advocate) 2

years experience looking for suitable

post legal advisor company secre-

tary etc. # 93343190 / 94476387

Email: shafu1019@gmail.com

Indian female, B.Sc, PGDCA, cur-

rently on family joining visa, 2 years

working experience in oman as

customer care / sales co-ordinator,

immediate joining seeks suitable

placements. Contact no. (968)

95573205 / 95949230 / 95800792

B.E (IT) 1 year exp complete school-

ing in Muscat needs job in software

/ net working / java/ WEB design

or marketing. Contact: 97136248 /

99313821

Indian male 22 years ACCA affi liate ,

BSc, Graduate in applied accounting 2

months working experience seeking

suitable placement in Finance / Ac-

counts / audit immediately. Contact:

97378607 / 92558734

B-tech Electrical Engineer with more

than 2 years of experience in erection

and designing of HT and LT electrical

systems. Seeking for suitable job in

Muscat. Contact: 98269366.

Email: sijincleetus@gmail.com

Project Manager / Senior Engi-

neer, Indian Male BE Civil, 21yrs

experienced including Oman looking

for the Job Contact +918939295181

Email I’D sanja_bala@yahoo.co.in

Indian male 26 , graduate in me-

chanical engineering having 2 years

experience in fabrication production

fi led in India, looking for a suitable

job. mobile: +968-91384621

EMAIL : rmekhil@hotmail.com

SITUATION WANTEDSIT. WANTED

Sr. Sales Executive, Indian Male,

Holding Valid Oman DL. Total ex-

perience in Oman of 15 years with

4 years Rent a Car Co. experience.

Looking for Opportunities in any

Industry for similar sales role.

GSM - 95703233

email id “khetani_r@yahoo.com

INDIAN MALE 23 YEARS,B. Tech

(Electrical & Electronic). Done IOSH

& NEBOSH- IGC certifi cations. Look-

ing for HSE engineer job in Oil Gas

Sector, constructions or in any re-

lated industries. Contact 98045482

Indian male. M.com holder with two

year working experience as an ac-

countant in India. Now at Muscat on

visiting visa. Seeks suitable place-

ment. Gsm:96947500,99463120,

:mohamedshafi kk5@gmail.com

Driver 5 years exp know English,

Arabic,& Hindi Education B.A.

Contact : 91615715 / 99512270

ACCOUNTANT, Indian male,29

years.8 years experience .Presently

working in Oman as a Senior Ac-

countant with oman Driving license.

NOC available seek suitable opportu-

nity. GSM: 97705854

Female, Indian, 35 Yrs- house maid

available for Full/Part time work in

Muscat. contact- 96754303.

29 years Indian female (MBA-

Finance) with 4+yrs experience

(Oman) in Accounts, seeking suit-

able placement in Accounts/Admin.

Contact:96141283

Indian, male, 41 years, CA Inter,

Persuing CA fi nal. Now on express

visa. 7 years of Experience in OMAN

as Finance and Accounts Manager in

Trading , Construction and Firefi ght-

ing industry. 21 Years of exp. seeking

suitable Managerial positions. No

visa issues. Immediate joining.

Contact 98469311

Email:sebin30@yahoo.co.in

B-tech Electrical engineer with more

than 2 years of experience in erection

and designing of HT and LT electri-

cal systems. Seeking for suitable

job in Muscat. Contact:98269366.

Email:sijincleetus@gmail.com

Indian Female B.Sc., B.Ed.(Maths),

M.C.A residing in Al-Ghubra seek-

ing a teaching position as a Math

Teacher GSM.- 94231633

INDIAN MALE 23 YEARS, B. Tech

(Electrical & Electronic) having

4 years working experience as an

Electrical site Engineer. Looking for

suitable job in Oil Gas Sector or in

related industries.

Contact 98045482

Indian male, ERP Functional Con-

sultant (SCM, MM, HRMS), Seeks

employment.Contact: 98478928,

Email: anand.desai2408@gmail.com

Indian male , 14 yrs Experience in

maintenance & Supervisor in hotel

fi eld ( Electrical . Ac Mechanical &

Plumber ) N O C available

mob : 95 25 36 40 . email =

hareeshma24@yahoo.com

Indian male 28YRS, 7Years exp. in

Architectural & structural Draughts-

man & 3d visualization, looking for a

suitable Post GSM: +971551965944.

Email:aboosufi yan@gmail.com

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, Email :

mohammednazeer07@gmail.com

Indian Female, M.Com & MBA with

1.5 years of experience in Reinsur-

ance Treaty seeking a good job

opportunity in Insurance & Reinsur-

ance Accounts or General Accounts.

Contact: +968 91920189, Email:

neethumano.manohar@gmail.com

CCNA MCITP network support / net-

work technician with 2 years experi-

ence Indian male having bachelors

degree on visit visa.

Contact 93080871

sean.f.peters@outlook.com

8 yrs exp 2d, 3d draughtsman (HOLD-

ING OMANI DRIVING LICENSE) seek-

ing job. Contact : 93790601

ME. Civil Engineer, Structural

Designer, 3 Years Structural Design,

6 Years Str Supervising Experience,

Looking For Structural Designer

Position. Iranian Male.

Contact : 93696929

Email: mhsaz1359@gmail.com

BSC Female Nurse having 8 years of

experience ( 3 years in gulf). Promet-

ric passed - 57%. Currently in Oman.

Contact : 98034384

Indian male 23 years Graduate,

working as a sales coordinator cum

purchase & offi ce coordination 2

YEARS in oman Having oman li-

cense & NOC looking for suitable job

in Muscat. GSM:97475860

Email:yadhukrishnan08@gmail.com

Pakistani male 32 years IT network

+ Computer Hardware professional

A+ MCSE Termination Technician

work Experience in salalah airport.

10+ years experience in IT fi eld and

2 years Oman working experience

valid GCC driving license available

looking for a suitable placement

contact no 96733205

Email - faisalzaman24@gmail.com

B.E Mechanical engineer,2 years

job experience in Oman in pipe-

line fi eld, having ASNT level ll in

UT,RT,MT and PT, fl uent in English,

Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi, with

valid Omani driving license (light)

searching for job. # +968 92745691

ACCOUNTANT: Indian male senior

Accountant, Graduate & CA Article

ship completed. 18 Years of experi-

ence. Currently on visiting visa.

seeks suitable placement. Contact:

97498809, 99769743,

Email: hilariankj@gmail.com

Indian male executive secretary

having vast experience in admin,

logistics & procurement well versed

with computer seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact : 99514286

Indian male 35 yrs, 10 yrs UAE ex-

perience in FMCG, looking for a suit-

able position in sales and market-

ing, valid GCC license on visit visa.

Contact 93438747, 95723635.

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.

Email: rajkv30@gmail.com

Available for a part time accounting

job. Contact 99196621

Having exp in the following, MS

Windows Server 2003 & 2008, Red

Hat Enterprise Linux 5 & E-Mail Cli-

ent Administration,Linux Adminis-

tration, Service Desk Administration,

Network Management, Technical

Support. Presently the candidate in

India.Mob:97239854

Software Developer, Indian female,

B.Tech (AE & I), M.Tech (VLSI

Design), asp.net, C#,.net, C++, Core

Java, Android Java, looking for suit-

able placement. Contact 95906935,

Email : amalpkku@gmail.com

Electronics / Instrumentation En-

gineer, Indian female, M.Tech (VLSI

Design), B.Tech (applied Electronics

& Instrumentation), ASP.Net, C++.Net,

C++, Android Java, looking for suit-

able placement. Contact 95906935,

Email : amalpktu@gmail.com

ACCOUNTANT, Male, 8 years expe-

rience .Presently working in Oman

as a Senior Accountant with Oman

Driving license. NOC available seeks

suitable opportunity.

GSM: 98184170

Filipino (male), 37 yrs. old, having

8yrs. experience in Operation (Ship-

ping & Logistics) currently on visit

visa looking for suitable job.

GSM: 97121525

Looking for Investor to start steel

fabrication unit. Contact 98314531

Invite business proposals on profi t

sharing basis. Email :

contact@absmct.com/ 99221683

Canadian Consultancy Company

is looking for a Partner in Oman. For

more information please contact

+973 39990830

New company seek partnership.

Contact: 96996938

General Investors. Gsm-99674870

SITUATION WANT-

ED

BUSINESS

DAILY GUIDEW E D N E S D AY, A U G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5 D7

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise

with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain

Marine Tours Contact- 98029602,

92808636

RENT A CAR

TOURS

Car for rent. Contact: 92516090

Butter cup rent a car competitive

prices new car 2016. # 97249449

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

SITUATION WANT-CARGO

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation only in Muscat.

Contact 96736975

Transportation any time. Contact

99365092

Transportation. Contact 98178135

Transportation available.

Contact 95570429

Transport. Contact: 95190627

Transportation. Contact: 96538078

Transportation. Contact:98522914

Transportation. Contact

99508282

Transportation. Contact:

98244078

Pick & Drop any time. Contact

97014786

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D8 W E D N E S D AY, A U G U S T 1 9, 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

Split & widow unit A.C servicing &

repairing. Contact: 99557080

Split & window unit A.C servicing

& maintenance. Contact: 96236476

Window & split unit A.C servicing

& maintenance.

Contact 93769089 / 95323517

Maintenance working interlocks,

tiles, fi xing painting & others work-

ing. Contact: 92179395

All maintenance & repairs. Contact

Rizwan: 99429071, RMPM Trading.

General cleaning in buildings

villas all types interior, exterior,

polishing dry cleaning carpets,

rugs, marble etc. Contact 94134784

/ 98598280

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of

your marble. Contact 24793614/

99314807

Split window cassette AC

unit servicing, maintenance.

Contact: 99540621

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

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance. Contact ABU QABAS-

99320217 /24788722

Air condition maintenance split

and window A/C split a/c ducted

and package type units.

Contact: 98667326

Split & window A.C servic-

ing & maintenance. Contact

93769089/95323517

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet

& sofa shampooing, Contact

99314807/24792998

Water proofi ng ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

Civil maintenance - plumbing, elec-

trical, painting, and tiling, interior

decorations, shop furnishing and all

other maintenance works.

Contact: 97897831 / 92112094

(Indian, Keralite)

Pest control Treatments, Cockroaches, Ants ,Rodents &

Termites. Ocean Center LLC.

Contact: 99357908 / 99344723.

A/C Maintenance & servicing,

fridge, washing machine & dish

washer repairing, painting & clean-

ing services, electrical & plumbing.

Contact: 99447257 / 97014234 /

24504281

General cleaning & Shampooing.

Ocean Center LLC.

Contact: 99344723 / 99357908

WEBSITE

SIT.WANTED

WEB, ERP and Business Intel-

ligence (BI) creation and man-

agement at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

COMPUTER

CLASSES

Admission started in a private

school, Darsait (Mount Zion Group

of Institutions CBSE 1) for KG and

grade 1 to 4 please register soonest.

Contact: 92088325 / 24799938

GOOD NEWS

Fresh fl owers Jasmine Roses Mari-

gold & Garlands for Onam & other

festivals, advance booking accepted.

Haridas Nensey. Contact 24750784

Rakhees Raksha Bandhan available

thousands Designs. Also special of-

fer at Haridas Nensey Ruwi.

Contact 24750784

Ayurvedic treatment for backache,

paralysis, arthritis etc & massage,

All Season (Vaidyaratnam). Contact

24475280 / 95371664 / 92504980

www.siddhayur.com

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to know

more about Islam, please call:

99425598, 99250777, 99353988,

99253818, 99341395, and

99379133. For ladies: 99415818,

99321360, 99730723 Orvisit:

www.islamfact.com

One stop shop business services : Public Relation (PRO) formation new

companies, LLC companies, Investor

visa, business setup, prepare

businesses & companies accounts,

legal services, representing

you and your company.

Contact: Saleh : 96723485

For AutoCAD drawings and Civil

Engg. Q.S works,

please contact.92758095

MATRIMONIAL

Looking for alliance from profes-

sionally well qualifi ed nair boy for

a postgraduate nair girl working in

public sector, India. Contact :

Oman 99440356 and

India +91 9446129845

Kerala Syro Malabar Catholic girl,

28 yrs, working in Salalah, MOH

from Palakkad, seeks suitable alli-

ance from Keralite professionals in

Muscat. Contact 99357901

Malayalee Nair boy from good

family(only son) – 36 yrs- B.Com,

MBA (Mktg & Finance)- Associate

Regional Manager in an MNC in

Coimbatore- invites alliance –

Contact +91 7639622079

Keralite male, 34 yrs, Hindu Viswa-

karma (Sudha Jathakam) working

as Chef in reputed Hotel in Muscat

seeks suitable alliance. Contact

97097061/ 91 8547644153

23 yrs Keralite Christian girl settled

in Bangalore invites alliance from

well settled Christian boys.

Contact 99494371

Keralite Christian Orthodox boy,

28 yrs, MBA seeks suitable alliance.

Contact 91394731

Sunni Muslim girl, Indian origin,

20 yrs BA graduate from Oman,

good looking homely with good

religious values, seeking alliances

from Muslim professionals,

well settled in Oman or Middle East.

Contact: 99644760 or

Email: ghulamuzma23@gmail.com

NOTICE

CHANGE OF NAME

ACCOUNTANT, M.Com holder with

2 year working experience as an ac-

countant in Kerela-India, seeks suit-

able placement. GSM NO:96947500,

9 9463120, mail:

mohamedshafi kk5@gmail.com

Indian Male 22 Years, Graduation In

Electronics Seeking Jobs In Super-

visory , Sales & Sales Co-ordination

Fields , Good Communication Skill

Contact 96141317,

E-mail: akhilek5@gmail.com

Sudanese.male 32 years.B.SC

mechanical engineer.7years

experience.5 years experiance in

Gulf.working now in water pipeline

projects.fl uent Arabic and English.

have Omani driving license.

looking for good opportunity

TEl:91117089

I Mumtaz Mohammed Mehboob Ansari (holder of Indian passport No.

L0077819) daughter of Mohamed

Mushtaq having permanent

residence in A-6 Fernandes Apts,

Maroshi Road Marol, Andheri (E),

Mumbai and presently residing in

(Postal address in Oman) Muttrah,

Zuian, P.O. Box No. 1936, PC 112,

MUSCAT, Oman do hereby revoke/

cancel my former will Register

No. 4600 / 2009 dated 11.08.2009

and attested vide Indian Embassy,

Muscat No. C40211/ MUS/09

dated 01.12.2009 issued in favour

of Mr. Mahmood Sabeel Khamis Al

Zadjali, holder of Oman ID card no.

01944062 issued on 18.12.2009 as

sole executor of my last will &

testament who was at liberty to

utilize my said properties for the

Islamic religious & charitable

purposes. Any objection towards

revocation / cancellation my last will

may please be communicated to

Embassy of India, Muscat,

Diplomatic Quarters, Al Khuwair,

P. Box No. 1727, Postal Code 112, Ruwi,

Sultanate of Oman.

I Bindu Thomas (holder of Indian

passport No. F4555760) daughter

of Athirampuzha Kuriakose Jacob

having permanent residence in

Thoppil Karottu House, Malam, P.O,

Kottayam, Kerala (complete postal

address in India) and presently

residing in PO Box 2935, PC 211,

Salalah, Nursing Institute, Salalah,

Sultanate of Oman (complete postal

address in Oman) intend to change

my name from Bindu Thomas (old

name) to Bindu Jacob (New name)

for all practical purpose.

Any objection towards my name

change may please be

communicated to Embassy of India,

Muscat, Diplomatic Quarters,

Al Khuwair, P.BOX No 1727, Postal

Code 112, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman.