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Will Ashobaa prove ‘unlucky’ for Oman?

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

MUSCAT: In Sri Lanka it means ‘unlucky’ or ‘something may go wrong’. Now Oman faces a nervous wait to see if the Tropical Storm Ashobaa lives up to its name.

Hospitals in Muscat are already on alert with some staff having their weekend leave cancelled.

Muscat Municipality has al-ready briefed its staff to be pre-pared to help the public, while official channels underlined the often-ignored safety advice to stay away from wadis, check the weather forecasts and avoid the sea, which is unsurprisingly ex-pected to be rough. But last night the Oman meteorological office was playing down fears that Asho-baa could grow into another Gonu.

Dr Juma Said Al Maskari, Di-

rector General of the General Di-rectorate of Meteorology at the General Authority of Civil Avia-tion, told Al Shabiba, the sister publication of Times of Oman, that the expected rain in the worst-case scenario is 100mm, compared with more than 900mm in Gonu in 2007.

He added that the possibility of the tropical storm turning into a hurricane is a weak one, and in-sisted that there would be no di-rect impact on the aviation traffic in the Sultanate. However, the ap-proaching storm has gripped the public in Oman.

A live weather map by www.windyty.com carried on www.timesofoman.com, which tracks the progress and the path of Asho-baa, was viewed more than 15,000 times yesterday afternoon while stories related to the weather were

read more than 80,000 times. Of-ficials hope that the public will take as much notice of their lat-est warning, saying: “Be cautious, stay away from low lying areas, avoid crossing wadis and check out for latest weather updates. As the sea will be rough and the wave heights will range between three to six metres, fishermen and sea-goers should also avoid venturing into the sea.”

According to the Oman mete-orology office, heavy rain associ-ated with strong wind is expected in South and North Al Sharqiyah, Muscat, Al Dakhiliyah and South Batinah from this afternoon until Friday.

The Indian meteorological de-partment stated in its latest up-date that the storm system would intensify further into a severe cy-clonic storm. >A6 See also >A5

As names go, this tropical cyclone does

not have the most auspicious title as Oman

becomes a nation of storm-watchers

His Majesty sends greetings MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of congratulations to President Dr Ameena Gurib Fakim of the Republic of Mauritius on the oc-casion of being appointed as the president of the republic.

In his cable, His Majesty the

Sultan has expressed his sin-cere congratulations and best wishes of success to President Fakim to lead her country’s peo-ple towards further progress and prosperity, and further progress to the relations between the two countries. -ONA

C A B L E

‘Report rip-off by tanker operators’ TARIQ AL HAREMItariqh@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Consumers have been urged to report water tanker operators who charge them un-fair rates, to the Public Authority of Consumer Protection (PACP).

Speaking to the Times of Oman, Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Mahrouqi, chairman of the Pub-lic Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW), said that there is a system in place to monitor private water dealers who charge exorbitantly.

“Whenever we receive a complaint it will be processed through the Public Authority of Consumer Protection. The con-sumer protection agency will take action against the tanker owner,” he said.

Consumers can report the water tanker’s licence plate number to the authority, said Al Mahrouqi.

Explaining the PAEW’s water distribution system during the current crisis, he said, “We pro-vide water to the house or citi-zens who come to the distribu-

tion point chosen by the PAEW. They pay nothing.”

“Commercial water suppli-ers are available at all times and they are chosen by the resi-dents,” he said. “If the customers find the commercial water sup-pliers more convenient, they can negotiate the price, but, in gen-eral, the PAEW provides tankers free of charge during crisis,” he added. >A6

W A T E R C R I S I S

Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Mahrouqi, chairman of PAEW.

Duqm

Muscat

OMAN

UAE

YEMEN

SAUDI ARABIA

ARABIANSEA

IRAN

PAKISTAN

Abu Dhabi

Salalah

Masirah

Sur

Ashobaa headstowards Oman

65-83Wind speed

Km/h

Most of the meteorological predictions say that the tropical storm is moving to the west

No roof over their heads for 25 families affected by CBD fireREJIMON KFAHAD AL GHADANIreji@timesofoman.comfahadnews@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: At least 25 of the 45 families staying in the building that caught fire early morning on Monday in the Central Busi-ness District (CBD), are stranded without a roof over their heads.

While some have found tempo-rary shelter with friends, others are still looking for hotels.

“We do not know what to do. The loss is huge. The flats are not in a condition to stay. The build-ing owner is reluctant to provide even a temporary shelter,” said tenants from the affected floor of the building.

“The fire broke out in a flat op-posite ours, and it was gutted very quickly. They had visitors from Dubai including children, but all of them managed to escape with-

out major burns or injuries. If there had been smoke alarms and fire extinguishers, this incident could have been avoided,” tenants staying on the sixth floor said on Monday evening.

Speaking to the Times of Oman, the tenant of the flat which was gutted, said that he was using the flat as an office and his relatives had been staying there temporar-ily. “The reason behind the fire is

still unknown. There were guests from Dubai too. We have lost eve-rything including the travel docu-ments,” said the tenant.

Meanwhile, sources confirmed that four members of a fam-ily have been hospitalised as they suffered from suffocation due to the smoke.

“The smoke alarms did not go off, and since it was early morning most of the residents were just getting out of bed. By the time we were alerted, the corridors were filled with thick smoke. We all had to run out of the building in our night dress,” said some residents of the building.

“I was alerted by my neigh-bours, but by then, smoke had filled the corridors of the fifth floor. I ran to the fire exit and managed to reach the third floor, but could not go any further as I developed breathing problems,” said a tenant. >A6

H U G E L O S S

OMANMissing child at Seeb beach is rescued

1A child who went missing at Seeb beach was rescued by police. >A3

OMANVarsities raise funds for Dar Al Atta’a

2Universities and colleges raised OMR39,449 for Dar Al Atta’a. >A4

WORLDEgypt court upholds death in football riots

3An Egyptian court upheld death sentences of 11 football fans.>A14

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

B1Galfar to take arbitration route; share trading to resume today

A3

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

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TOP US GENERAL MEETS AL NU’AMANI, AL BUSAIDIGen. Sultan bin Moham-med Al Nu’amani, Minister of the Royal Office and Sayyid Badr bin Saud bin Harib Al Busaidi, Minister Responsible for Defence Affairs, on Tuesday re-ceived separately General Lloyd J. Austin, Command-er of the United States Central Command. —ONA

Unique date tree bacteria discoveredMUSCAT: A group of bacte-ria believed to be harmless and which live in the roots of palm trees, has been discovered by the Department of Biology, Col-lege of Science at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU).

These bacteria help the tree in the process of melting and ab-sorption of essential elements, as well as the secretion of hor-monal substances to help them bear excess soil salinity.–ONA

S Q U R E S E A R C H

Missing child is rescuedStaff Reporter

MUSCAT: A child who went missing at Seeb beach was res-cued by police and admitted to hospital late in the evening on Tuesday. “The child has been res-cued late in the evening and has been admitted to hospital with serious injuries,” Public Author-ity for Civil Defense and Ambu-lances (PACDA), posted in its of-ficial Twitter handle. Last month, three-year-old Marwa had gone missing from Shinas beach and four days later her body was found in Soor Al Balush area.

P A C D A E F F O R T S

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

OMAN 7 years that a fish bone remained in the lungs of an

Omani man, until it was removed after an operation

in the south Indian state of Kerala recently.

University, college students raise funds for Dar Al Atta’a

Times News Service

MUSCAT: A number of universi-ties and colleges came together to raise OMR39,449 for charity at Dar Al Atta’a Big Give Compe-tition. Dar Al Atta’a association honoured the winning teams of the third and fourth edition of the Big Give Competition at an event held at Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa.

The event was held under the auspices of Her Highness Dr Muna bint Fahad Al Said.

The idea of this competition is based on the formation of teams from the colleges and universi-ties which compete with each other and also implement a pro-ject to raise funds for programmes implemented by Dar Al Atta’a association.

The association has sought to achieve through this competition several objectives such as raising awareness of the importance of volunteerism, encouraging young people to become involved in phi-lanthropy and volunteerism, to contribute to the development of skills in teamwork, and project planning and implementation.

In the third and fourth round,

26 teams from nine local colleges and universities competed, out of which ten teams from five local universities and colleges qualified for the final. The teams together raised OMR39,449.

Before the launch of the compe-tition, the association organised lectures at universities and col-leges to introduce the association’s programmes and the conditions for the competition. They also or-ganised a training course for the participating teams to help them in the planning, marketing and im-plementation of their projects in collaboration with Injaz Oman.

After presenting all projects to the panel of judges the best teams were selected. The winning team for The Best Idea was Khatwat Atta’a from the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), while the win-ner for Maximum Public Aware-ness was OUN from the Germany

University of Technology in Oman GUtech. The winner for Best Pro-ject Implementation was Tatawi Janaty from Waljat College of Ap-plied Sciences and for Most Funds Raised the winner was Mubadroon from Nizwa College of Technology.

Maryam Al Zadjali, chairperson of Dar Al Atta’a said, “We were thrilled to see how the students interacted in the competition and their dedication to volunteerism, while competing in the innova-tion and implementation of their projects. We also saw the posi-tive impact of this action on their personalities and their ideas. Our goal from this competition is not so much to raise money as much as it is to provide an opportunity for those young people to gain new skills and show their unity in helping the needy from their own community, to enable them to live happily on the land of this gener-ous country.”

“We wish to thank the sponsors of the competition, Oman Arab Bank, Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa and Business Inter-national Group LLC,” she added.

Dar al Atta’a Big

Give Competition

collected OMR39,449

for charity. College

students competed

with each other and

also implemented a

project to raise funds

SOCIAL IMPACT: The participating students interacted with each other in the Big Give Competition. The organisers were impressed with

their dedication to the cause of charity.– OK Mohammed Ali/TIMES OF OMAN

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

Fish bone removed from lungs KOCHI: A fish bone which re-mained stuck in the lungs of a 37-year-old man for seven years, was removed by doctors at a private hospital here.

The patient, an Omani Mili-tary Service personnel, had flown to the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre here recently from Mus-cat after repeated hospitalization for pneumonia over the past sev-eral years. The fish bone measur-ing 1.5 cm x 1.4 cm, tucked away within the lower lobe of the right lung, was removed successfully and the pus formed around it drained out, said the hospital in a release on Tuesday.

“It was life-threatening. A foreign body made it difficult for the person to bring out secre-tion. Behind the foreign body, there was pus formation and it could not come out. The lung behind it had become necrotic,” said Dr Arun Nair

The fish bone was not de-tected by doctors during earlier hospitalization in Oman as CT scans did not pick it up. Normal-ly such foreign bodies get stuck in the lungs of children, but in the case of an adult, it was a rare incident.-PTI

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

Major project plans reviewedTimes News Service

MUSCAT: The feasibility of es-tablishing a flight academy in Sohar was discussed, as the Om-ani Authority for Partnership for Development (OAPD) reviewed several projects currently being developed, including the National Youth Academy and Oman Cen-tre for Marine Biotechnology.

The Board of Trustees of the Omani Authority for Partnership for Development held its second meeting recently at the headquar-ters of the Authority under the chairmanship of Dr Ali bin Ma-soud bin Ali Al Sunaidy, minister of commerce and industry and the chairman of the board.

The board approved the revised regulations for the Partnership for Development (PFD) Pro-gramme (Omani Offset Regula-tions) and these come into effect immediately.

The board also discussed the latest administrative develop-ments and future plans of the Authority while also reviewing a number of projects currently un-der development.

These projects include, the es-tablishment of a National Youth Academy in collaboration with the Ministry of Manpower to train and empower Omani youth in the logistics sector; and the creation of an Oman Centre for Marine Biotechnology in co-operation with Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), which aims to become the premier commer-cially operated research and de-velopment institution in marine sciences in the Region.

The Centre will be located at Al Hail on land belonging to SQU.

The Authority, along with Oman Air and the Oman Airports Management Company (OAMC), is looking into the feasibility of establishing a flight academy in Sohar. The aim of this project is to provide ab initio flight training leading to a commercial pilot’s license and a career in interna-tional aviation.

O A P D R E V I E W M E E T I N G

MARINE WEALTH: Among the

projects reviewed by OAPD was

the plan for Oman Centre for

Marine Biotechnology.

Majlis Al Shura holds talks on water shortage in governoratesMUSCAT: As part of the efforts being made by Majlis Al Shura to identify the reasons behind the water crisis in a number of governorates of the Sultanate, as well as the measures taken to address this problem, a meeting was held.

Majlis Al Shura reviewed the report on the joint meeting be-tween members of Majlis Al Shura and the Chairman of the Public Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW).

The report of the team high-lighted a number of recommen-dations, such as restructuring the water sector and benefiting from the capabilities of educa-tion and research centres in im-plementing water projects.

The report highlighted the need to qualify new companies in this sector and establish mo-bile stations that can serve as alternative source for water dur-

ing crisis and identify energy sources for the operation of wa-ter desalination plants.

The Majlis approved the re-port of the food and water secu-rity committee on the status of dams in the Sultanate.

Research plansIt also approved the report of the Education and scientific re-search committee on evaluating and developing the education curricula policies.

It approved the report of the culture and media committee on the status of visual and audio media in the Sultanate and how to develop it from the Omani public perspective.

It also approved a number of proposals by members related to appointing graduates of kin-dergarten and graphic design, promoting awareness programs on the Omani values and tradi-

tions by the Ministry of Tour-ism and revising the regula-tions for proclaiming the Sports Club in Oman.

Majlis Al Shura also listened to a number of replies includ-ing the reply of the Minister of Transport and Communications on the specifications and path-ways of some roads.

The Majlis will host on Wednesday, the Minister of Commerce and Industry who will deliver the Ministry’s state-ment on a number of themes including industry, mining and commerce sectors, in addition to, electricity and water sector development.

C I V I C A F F A I R S

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

HM sends greetings MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of greet-ings to Dr Anibal Cavaco Silva, President of the Re-public of Portugal, on his country’s National Day. His Majesty expressed his sincere greetings and wishes of good health and happiness to the president and his country’s people further progress and pros-perity. - ONA

C A B L E

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

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What is Ashobaa?

MUSCAT: Will Ashobaa, hit the Oman coast? While that question remains on top of everybody’s mind, another question that is exercising some is, what does the word mean?

This cyclone has been named by Sri Lanka, one of the eight countries on a World Meteorolog-ical panel that chooses the names

of cyclones over the Northern In-dian Ocean.

“In Sri Lanka, Ashobaa means unlucky,’’ said a Sri Lankan ex-patriate working in Oman. It re-mains to be seen what the cyclone brings with it, he added.

The next cyclone, whenever that happens, will be named Komen, and this has been given by Thailand. Komen is a very popular Thailand name for babies and means ‘precious stone’.

Practice Oman is among the Northern In-dian Ocean countries with Paki-stan, Bangladesh, India and Mal-dives, apart from Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand that provide names for cyclones in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal.

The Northern Indian Ocean re-

gion’s tropical cyclones are being given names since October 2004.Six lists are used in rotation and storms are named from an alpha-betically arranged list.

The last cyclone in the region, Nilofar, which weakened by the time it arrived in the western state of Gujarat in India in 2014, was named by Pakistan. Nilofar is a Persian word meaning Lotus or Water Lily.

Nilofar’s predecessor, Cyclone Hudhud, which made a landfall in Visakhapatnam in India was named by Oman.

“All tropical cyclones are given names only to provide easy com-munication between forecasters and the general public regarding forecasts, cyclone watches and warnings,” said an official of Mete-orology department.

In Sri Lanka, Ashobaa

means ‘unlucky’

said an Sri Lankan

expatriate in Oman

Oman-Italy panel meeting lays stress on cooperationROME: Trade, investment and cultural cooperation between the two countries were highlighted at the Omani-Italian Joint Commit-tee’s fifth meeting held in the Ital-ian capital Rome on Tuesday.

The meeting discussed areas of economic, investment and cultur-al cooperation between the two friendly countries. The Omani side was chaired by Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, secretary general of the Foreign Ministry while the Italian side was headed by Michele Valensise, secretary general of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Internation-al Cooperation.

Sayyid Badr stressed the pro-gress being witnessed by the political and economic rela-tions between the two sides. He explained that several rounds of talks have been held between the two sides in a bid to enhance these relations.

In his speech, Sayyid Badr highlighted the trade, investment and cultural cooperation between the two countries. He affirmed that the private sector is playing a great role in stimulating invest-ments as a key for cooperation in

various economic areas. Michele Valensise touched on

the growing relations between the two friendly countries, affirm-ing the keenness of his country on promoting and enhancing these relations. -ONA

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

BOOSTING TIES: The fifth meeting of the Omani-Italian Joint

Committee was held in Rome on Tuesday. - ONA

A6

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

Oman Air is delighted to be partnering with

Garuda Indonesia to offer customers of both

airlines even greater choice and convenience

Abdulrahaman Al Busaidy, chief operating officer

editor@timesofoman.comwebeditor@timesofoman.com

SEND US YOUR VIEWS AND COMMENTS

Oman Air signs codeshare pact with Garuda Indonesia

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Following a new code-share agreement signed by Oman Air and Garuda Indonesia, cus-tomers of both airlines will enjoy a greater choice and convenience.

The agreement will enable Oman Air’s customers to book flights, operated by Garuda Indo-nesia, between Jakarta and Bali, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.

In turn, Garuda Indonesia’s customers will be able to book flights, operated by Oman Air, be-tween Muscat and Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Jakarta or Salalah.

Announcing the new agree-ment, Abdulrahaman Al Busaidy, chief operating officer (COO) of Oman Air said, “Oman Air is delighted to be partnering with Garuda Indonesia to offer cus-tomers of both airlines even great-

er choice and convenience.”“Garuda Indonesia shares

Oman Air’s commitment to offer-ing the highest quality of service and hospitality, aboard outstand-ing aircraft. Since the launch at the end of last year of Oman Air’s new service from Muscat to Ja-karta, we have been delighted with the response from our customers and the new codeshare agreement will enable them to travel further

afield without booking with multi-ple airlines,” he said.

“Equally, Garuda Indonesia’s customers will now find that fly-ing to Oman and exploring the Sultanate’s awe-inspiring beauty could be easier,” said the COO.

“Oman Air looks forward to welcoming Garuda Indonesia’s customers aboard our services and offering them the very best of authentic Omani hospitality,” he added.

Garuda Indonesia Commercial Director Handayani, while wel-coming the new codeshare service with Oman Air said, “This part-nership will extend our network worldwide – especially to Oman and represents our commitment to “bring the world to Indone-sia” by providing a seamless yet convenient connections between Oman and Indonesia. At the same time, the agreement is expected to boost trade and tourism activi-ties by making Indonesia much more accessible for Oman visitor,” said Handayani.

“Moreover, through this part-nership, we also offer greater choices and wider access flex-ibility for Oman visitors to several

destinations served by Garuda Indonesia such as Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok which will be served with the award-winning service, ‘Garuda Indonesia Experience’,” she added.

Oman Air is currently engaged in an ambitious fleet and network expansion programme which will see the number of aircraft it oper-ates increase to 50 by 2018, and to 70 by 2020. In addition it is launching new services to a range of exciting destinations, increas-ing frequencies on many of its established routes and improving connections at Muscat Interna-tional Airport.

The carrier launched new ser-vices to Jakarta and Manila in De-cember 2014, and has just opened up new routes to Singapore and Goa.

Oman Air is the flagship car-rier of the Sultanate and an offi-cial 4 Star Airline (Skytrax 2011). Founded in 1993, the airline has since witnessed massive growth and has played a major role in making Muscat an important traf-fic hub in the Middle East, sup-porting the commercial, indus-trial and tourism sectors.

The agreement will

enable Oman Air’s

customers to book

flights operated by

Garuda Indonesia,

between Jakarta and

Bali, Kuala Lumpur

and Bangkok EXTENDING HORIZONS: Oman Air is currently engaged in an am-

bitious fleet and network expansion programme. – Supplied picture

‘Army helps us in crisis situations’

“There have been no cases where their tankers have charged a fee,” he added.

Al Mahrouqi also clarified that the Royal Army of Oman (RAO) has given PAEW a lot of support during this crisis.

Specific consumersThough the army is not involved in distributing water to residents, they are helping with “big tank-ers” for specific consumers such as hospitals, schools and other ‘critical’ facilities that provide es-sential services and cannot do without water.

“These consumers are listed in the emergency plan of the PAEW,” he said. “We do not use the army for residences because they do not have small tankers,” he said.

“The army is a big supporter of the PAEW. It is not only the tank-ers that the army can provide us with when we need, they help us in many different ways,” he said.

Al Mahrouqi said that the armed forces are assisting the PAEW with logistics of the affected areas, providing them with equipment and human resources whenever needed, and also helping them to dig more wells to look after the needs of those areas.

E X T E N D I N G H E L P

< FROM

A1

Campaign on fire safety soon

“However, some police officials saw me and brought me down to the ground floor in the elevator,” said a tenant.

An official from the Public Authority of Civil Defence and Ambulance (PACDA) services had said that building owners should not compromise on the safety aspects.

Smoke alarms“Smoke alarms and other fire safety measures should be in-stalled and checked periodically in all the buildings. With a pos-sibility of more such incidents in the future, we will launch a campaign in the next few days to ensure the safety of people,” said the official.

A fire had broken out on the

sixth floor of the nine-storeyed residential building in the CBD and fire-fighters used ladders to rescue occupants trapped inside.

The blaze started at 6 am and was doused by fire-fighters by 8:30 am. More than a dozen fire engines and dozens of fire-fight-ers were pressed into service to contain the flames and rescue the tenants.

Last week, a residential build-ing in Muttrah also caught fire, but there were no casualties. It took two hours for the fire-fight-ers to control that blaze.

A senior official from a na-tional insurance company had also said that out of the total number of personal properties in Oman less than 10 per cent have been insured.

C B D F I R E

< FROM

A1 < FROM

A1 Storm to weaken after landfall near coast

“The system would intensify fur-ther into a severe cyclonic storm, move nearly northwestward during next 24 hours and west-northwestward towards Oman coast thereafter. The cyclonic storm would cross Oman coast be-tween latitude 21.50N and latitude 23.00E near Ras Al Hadd (22.30 N /59.80E) during the night of June 11 (Thursday),” the Indian mete-orological department said in its latest update.

A meteorologist from Accu-weather.com also confirmed that Ashobaa is expected to push into Oman between Sur and Muscat tomorrow.

“The storm will weaken rap-idly as it nears the coast and starts pulling in dry desert air. The im-pacts will depend on the strength of Ashobaa if and when it makes landfall, but winds will likely be a minor concern. The main concern

would be for heavy rainfall and possible flooding along the coast of Oman between Sur and Muscat,” Jason Nicholls, Senior Meteor-ologist at Accuweather, wrote to Times of Oman.

“Dry desert air will tend to hold back rain amounts farther inland and limit the flooding threat in-land. Some models suggest Asho-baa will dissipate before making landfall, but it still looks like some rain could still impact coastal are-as south of Sur late on Wednesday and Thursday,” Jason added.

“It is already windy and cloudy. Even though the weather updates show that Oman will not be af-fected badly, people are prepared to face the situation. Many have already started to stock food and water. As it is expected in the end of the week, many have already avoided their travel plans and stay back at home,” residents in Mus-

cat, Sur and Laskhara, told Times of Oman. Even though, the air-lines have not made any changes to their schedules, many who had travel plans to on June 11 have postponed it.

“It is risky to fly when there is a cyclone. I had travel plans to India on June 11. But have postponed my ticket,” an Indian resident in Mus-cat said.

ExamsMinistry of Education affirmed that exams of the general educa-tion diploma will continue on (Wednesday), June 10 as per the approved schedule. In a statement, the Ministry said that the exams for Thursday will be confirmed on Wednesday in case of any changes.

As directed by Lt. Gen Hassan bin Mohsen Al Shraiqi, Inspector General of Police and Customs, Chairman of the National Com-

mittee for Civil Defense, in collab-oration with specialists at the Pub-lic Authority for Civil Aviation, is following closely the progress of the tropical storm and its possible effect on the Sultanate.

Meanwhile, private hospitals throughout Oman are getting pre-pared for the worst.

“We are fully prepared to tackle the emergencies cases that may come in,” said Rajagopal T. Naga-nathan, Medical Director at Atlas Hospital in Ruwi. He also said that plans for staff to stay over if neces-sary have been put in place.

“All the departments will be working over the weekend also,” he said, adding that the hospital had enough food and medical sup-plies for three days beyond the normal supplies. A few numbers of events have also been postponed in the wake of storm approaching Oman coast.

H O S P I T A L S G E A R U P

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

The party welcomes holding the Geneva conference for consultations

between Yemeni political components without any preconditions from

any group, with good will and under the patronage of the United Nations

almotamar.net, Website of General People’s Congress

Saleh’s party welcomes peace talks in Geneva

SANAA: The party of Yemen’s former leader Ali Abdullah Saleh, a key rebel ally, on Tuesday wel-comed UN-brokered peace talks due to open in Switzerland at the weekend.

The General People’s Congress said it had not yet received a for-mal invitation from the United Nations but the UN envoy met with party representatives in the rebel-held capital late last month as part of his efforts to convene the talks in Geneva.

Saleh himself is under UN sanctions for his support for the rebels and did not take part in the meetings, party sources said.

The party “welcomes holding the Geneva conference for con-sultations between Yemeni politi-cal components without any pre-conditions from any group, with good will and under the patronage of the United Nations”, its almot-amar.net website said.

Saleh, who ruled for 33 years before being forced from power in 2012 after a year-long protests, threw the support of his loyal-

ists in the army behind the rebels in the sweeping offensive that forced his successor into exile in March.

He himself proposed Geneva as the venue for the talks as a com-promise between rebel-held San-aa and the Saudi capital Riyadh, where exiled President Abedrab-bo Mansour Hadi is based.

TargetedHis loyalists have been repeat-edly targeted alongside the rebels in a Saudi-led bombing campaign launched in support of Hadi on March 26.

The peace talks are due to open in Geneva on Sunday. They had initially been scheduled for May 28 but were postponed after Hadi demanded the rebels first with-draw from seized territory.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged all sides to join the talks without preconditions in abid to end a conflict which has killed more than 2,000 people since March. But the exiled president set new conditions in an inter-

view broadcast on Monday, in-sisting the sole item for discus-sion would be implementation of a UN resolution demanding the rebels withdraw.

“There will be no negotiations,” Hadi told Al Arabiya television.

Yemeni sources said that Sau-di-led air strikes killed at least 19 people on Tuesday, a day af-ter Saudi Arabia said shells fired from Yemen had killed two of its soldiers. Yemeni sources said nine Houthi fighters were killed in air strikes on their positions in oil-producing Marib province, east of the capital Sanaa, while four others died in the central Ibb province.

Houthi officials were not im-mediately available to comment on those reports.

But the state news agency, con-trolled by the Houthis, said three women had been killed by shelling in Haidan, in the northern Saada province. The agency also said three Yemenis had been killed and four injured in the Hamdan district of Sanaa. — Agencies

UN envoy met

General People’s

Congress party

representatives

in Sanaa late last

month as part of his

efforts to convene

the talks in Geneva

REDUCED TO RUBBLE: A guard stands on the collapsed roof of the

house of General Ali Al Dhafif, a Yemeni army brigade command-

er, after it was hit by Saudi-led air strikes near Sanaa, Yemen, on

Tuesday. – Reuters

A8

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

Sea and wind currents are moving

from south to north direction... We are

confident of finding the missing aircraft

S. P. Sharma, Commander, Coast Guard (East)

12 Maoist rebels killed in gun battle with police in JharkhandNEW DELHI: Twelve Maoist re-bels have been killed in a gun battle with police in a forest in eastern Indian state of Jharkhand known as a rebel stronghold, officers said on Tuesday.

They said firing erupted when police tried to intercept a group of suspected guerrillas who they thought were heading to a village to extort money in Jharkhand state late on Monday.

“They started firing when we tried to stop them,” said Hemant Toppo, deputy inspector general of police in Palamu district where the incident occurred.

“We retaliated and 12 Naxals were killed in the exchange that lasted for almost an hour,” he said.

Toppo said police have recov-ered the rebels’ bodies along with

guns and ammunition from the forest, which is 193km northwest of the state capital Ranchi.

“Some rebels also managed to escape into the nearby forest areas and our teams are now looking for them,” he said.

India’s long-running Maoist in-surgency began in the 1960s, and has cost thousands of lives.

The rebels, described by former prime minister Manmohan Singh as India’s most serious internal se-curity threat, say they are fighting authorities for land, jobs and other rights for poor tribal groups.

They are believed to be present in at least 20 Indian states but are most active in forested, resource-rich areas in the states of Chhattis-garh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.

Police said that Monday’s attack was their biggest clash with the rebels in the state in more than a year, after Maoists ambushed a po-lice vehicle there in April 2014 and killed six officers.

“Our forces across the state have been put on high alert over the possibility of a retaliatory attack by the rebels,” A. Natarajan, police inspector general of Palamu, said.

Critics believe attempts to end the revolt through tough security offensives are doomed to fail, say-ing the real solution is better gov-ernance and development of the impoverished region.

Human rights lawyer Vrinda Grover called for an investiga-tion into the attack, saying India’s police had a history of killing sus-pected rebels in “cold blood”.

“It is important to investigate (such cases) in a transparent man-ner to ensure that there is confi-dence in the actions of the state,” Grover said in Delhi.

Indian police have long been criticised for so-called “encounter killings”, in which they shoot sus-pected criminals to sidestep court procedures and then claim the vic-tim fired first.

In April police in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh launched an investigation into officers who gunned down 20 sandalwood smugglers.

Officers claimed they were act-ing in self-defence after they came under attack.

But families of the victims launched protests, saying they were innocent. - AFP

R E T A L I A T O R Y A T T A C K

ARMS CACHE: Central Reserve Police Force personnel with arms

and ammunition recovered after an encounter with Maoist rebels

in Latehar district of Jharkhand state on Tuesday. - PTI

Delhi’s Law minister arrested in fake degree case; party cries foul

NEW DELHI: Delhi state Law Minister of Delhi Jitendra Singh Tomar was on Tuesday arrested on charges of cheating and fraud in obtaining his law degree, trigger-ing a no-holds barred attack by the party which accused the Centre of creating an “Emergency-like situ-ation” in the city.

Tomar, MLA from Trinagar and a first time minister, was arrested at around 11am following inves-tigation into a complaint by Bar Council of Delhi that he had ob-tained a fake law degree from the Institute of Legal Studies College in Munger in Bihar.

The arrest came in the midst of a raging battle between the AAP

government and Lt Governor Na-jeeb Jung over the powers of the city government, giving a new po-litical twist to the murky fight.

Stung by the arrest, AAP un-leashed an attack on the Modi Government accusing it of creat-ing an “Emergency-like” situation in the national capital to avert the Delhi government’s crackdown on corruption.

One of the AAP leaders alleged that the arrest “conspiracy” was hatched in the Union Home Min-

ister’s office at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party would not be cowed down but fight back.

Criminal conspiracyAn FIR was registered against Tomar on Monday night in Hauz Khas Police Station and he was slapped with various sections of IPC relating to cheating and crimi-nal conspiracy.

Police first brought Tomar to Hauz Khas police station and later

shifted him to the Vasant Vihar po-lice station.

Tomar was interacting with a group of people in his office in Tri-nagar when about 30-40 policemen took him away on the pretext of getting some documents and then drove him to the Hauz Khas police station, according to his staff.

Delhi Police Commissioner B. S. Bassi said the arrest has been car-ried within the purview of law and prescribed norms for arresting a minister were followed.

“There are certain procedures which need to be followed while arresting a minister and they have been followed in this case. The complaint had come to us long time back and we have seriously looked into the matter. Action has been taken within the legal framework,” Bassi said when his comments were sought on Tomar’s arrest.

Meanwhile, Union Home Min-ister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday rubbished Aam Aadmi Party charge that the arrest of Delhi Law

Minister was a conspiracy hatched in his ministry saying it had not or-dered the arrest.

“The Ministry of Home Affairs does not indulge in such activities. The law takes it own course. There is no interference by the MHA in any such matter,” Singh said.

He was responding to report-ers’ query on arrest of Delhi Law Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar on charges of cheating and fraud in obtaining law degree.

When it was pointed out that a minister in NDA government at the Centre was facing similar charges, Singh said an arrest is made on specific allegations.

Procedures not followedDelhi Assembly Speaker Ram Ni-was Goel said that the laid-down procedures were not followed and he was not informed about Tomar’s arrest.

“I was not informed about the arrest,” Goel said.

Terming the arrest “totally unconstitutional”, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Siso-dia said it was an attempt by the Modi government to “teach AAP a lesson” and asserted that no one involved in corruption will be spared.

“Attempts are being made to cre-ate an emergency-like situation in Delhi through dictatorship as we have come down hard on those in-volved in corruption,” said Sisodia.

Accusing police of treating Tomar as a “mafia”, Sisodia said they forcibly put him into a car without giving any specific reason and seized his vehicle before bring-ing him to the police station. - PTI

Jitendra Singh

Tomar, MLA from

Trinagar and a first

time minister, was

arrested following

investigation into

a complaint by Bar

Council of Delhi

that he had obtained

a fake law degree

from Bihar

IN A SOUP: Delhi Law Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar who was

arrested by the police in New Delhi on Tuesday in the alleged fake

degree case. - PTI file photo

NEW DELHI: The Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) Chairman on Tuesday claimed there was no “politi-cal vendetta” behind the com-plaint lodged by the organisa-tion against Law Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar for al-legedly obtaining fake degree and his subsequent arrest.

BCD Chairman K. K. Manan alleged Tomar’s law degrees were forged and they had given a complaint to Delhi Police on May 11 in this regard and the police after taking cognizance of it, lodged an FIR and arrested the minister on Tuesday.

He also raised questions as

to why Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was favouring Tomar, instead of getting verified the Law Minister’s claim that his degrees were genuine.

Affidavit wrong“Instead of shunting out this person, the chief minister and the party are creating ‘halla gulla’ (ruckus).Why the chief minister has not got Tomar’s claim verified, he has all the infrastructure to get it done,” Manan said.

The chairman also claimed that the affidavit given by Tomar at the time of his en-rolment as a lawyer was also “wrong”. - PTI

No political vendetta behind Tomar’s arrest: BCD chairman

Dornier plane with three crew goes

missing off the coast of Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: Fears mounted over the safety of a three-member crew of a Coast Guard Dornier surveillance aircraft that has gone missing off the coast of Tamil Nadu even as a massive search operation was launched to trace the plane.

Ships and aircraft were pressed into service for the search of the CG-791 plane which was in touch with airport authorities in Tiruchirappalli and was located on Monday night about 16 nauti-cal miles off the coast of Chidam-baram, somewhere between Cud-dalore and Karaikal, a top Coast Guard (CG) official said.

Eight ships — four each belong-ing to CG and Navy — are involved in the search operation upto 180 nautical miles in the northerly direction, Inspector General S. P. Sharma, Commander, Coast Guard (East), told reporters here.

A long-range maritime surveil-lance aircraft P81 and helicopters have also been involved in the ex-ercise, he said, as questions were raised about the fate of the three crew comprising Pilot, Deputy Commandant Vidyasagar, Co-pilot Deputy Commandant M. K.Soni and Navigator Deputy Comman-dant Subash Suresh of the plane which was inducted last year.

The Coast Guard is in touch with the family members of the crew who are showing “resil-ience”, the official said, express-ing confidence about locating the

aircraft soon. The plane was un-dertaking a night sortie as part of CG’s regular surveillance opera-tions which look “for suspicious activities” in the seas when it lost contact at 9.23pm yesterday, Sharma said.

It had taken off from Chennai at 5:30pm and was being flown by a “highly qualified” and “well-trained” crew. Moments before the plane went missing, it was try-ing to get in touch with air traffic control authorities, a senior CG official said.

“The aircraft CG-791 was de-ployed along the Tamil Nadu coast and Palk Bay from the Coast Guard Air Station Chennai last evening and it failed to return to

the base,” CG said, noting that the progress of search and rescue ef-forts is being closely monitored.

“There is tremendous coordi-nation among various agencies involved in the search and rescue operation and we are confident that we will be able to locate the aircraft soon”, the official said.

Low altitudeHe said these aircraft cannot fly above 10,000 feet and are mainly used for low altitude maritime surveillance. Officials maintained that while life-saving parachutes and other gadgets were available in the aircraft, the lower altitude of the plane could make an escape challenging.

Soon after receiving informa-tion, another Dornier aircraft was pressed into service to locate the missing aircraft, Sharma said.

“Sea and wind currents are moving from south to north direc-tion... We are confident of finding the missing aircraft,” he said.

The aircraft, inducted only last year, lost contact with the Coast Guard radar, the airports in Chen-nai and Tiruchirappalli and finally at around 11.45pm on Monday the Air Traffic Control raised an “over-due” alarm, after the flight had ex-hausted its endurance capabilities, he said. When asked whether an inquiry would be ordered, Sharma said this could take place after the search and rescue operation was completed. - PTI

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

BRIEFING: Inspector General

S.P. Sharma addresses media

in Chennai about the missing

Dornier aircraft on Tuesday. - PTI

A9

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

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Congress attacks Modi on communal situation

NEW DELHI: A conclave of Con-gress chief ministers on Tuesday attacked the “attempts” by sec-tions of the ruling establishment to disturb social peace and com-munal harmony after Sonia Gan-dhi accused the Modi government of engaging in a “dangerous duplic-itous game” of polarisation.

A resolution adopted at a day-long meeting attended by the party brass including former prime min-ister Manmohan Singh and Vice President Rahul Gandhi, resolved to “resist these attempts forcefully”.

The tone for the meeting in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi came under attack from Chief Ministers, especially those from the northeast over not get-ting appointment from him, was set by Sonia who said he was al-lowing his colleagues to create an atmosphere of “fear and forebod-ing” by fomenting “communal po-larisation”.

ChargedShe also charged the government with making “systematic attempts” to dismantle the edifice of the wel-fare state and asked partymen to “strongly oppose” its moves on the land bill and food security law.

“On the one hand, the prime minister wants to project himself as the great champion of good gov-ernance and Constitutional val-ues while on the other he allows many of his colleagues to make vile statements and foment communal polarisation,” Sonia said.

The resolution rejected “boast-

ful claims, exaggerations and downright falsehoods” of the cen-tral government on its achieve-ments of the past year and its sys-tematic efforts to deny the UPA Government credit for the pro-gress made during its 10-year rule.

ComplimentSpeaking at the meeting, Man-mohan Singh paid a left handed compliment to Modi saying he has been “a more adept salesman, event manager and communica-tor than me” and said the UPA’s accomplishments should not be forgotten.

On his part, Rahul Gandhi made a veiled attack on Modi saying “our opposition believes in centralising power and ensuring that one or two people run our country”.

The Conference expressed grave concern over the Centre “abdicat-ing” its primary responsibility in human and social development and the substantial cuts in the al-locations for health, education, women and child development, drinking water and agriculture.

It demanded restoration of al-location to these programmes while the chief ministers asserted they will not cut back on these programmes.

Addressing a press conference along with the chief ministers,

senior leader A. K. Antony said that everyone in the meeting felt that the last one year of the Modi government was a “disaster”.

This, he said, was because the economy was “in a shambles” and prices of essential commodities were “shooting up”.

The party chief ministers in the northeast spoke of “total neglect” of the region. The resolution reit-erated its opposition to the “hasty and ill-considered” abolition of the Planning Commission and to the manner in which the distinc-tion between Special Category and non-Special Category states was done away with.

The meeting said the move has adversely affected the eight north-eastern states, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarkhand and Jammu and Kash-mir as also the residual Andhra Pradesh.

While Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabom Tuki accused the prime minister of not talking to the chief ministers of the north-east, his Assam counterpart Tarun Gogoi said that Modi was “not for cooperative federalism, but for concentration of power”.

Gogoi dubbed the NITI Aayog as a “toothless body” and a “direc-tionless” organisation at a time when the issue of regional imbal-ance is getting acute.

This has been affecting the north-eastern states the most as they are “geographically disadvantaged chil-dren of Mother India”, he said.

Karnataka Chief Minister Sid-dharamaiah and his Uttarakhand counterpart Harish Rawat disput-ed centre’s claims that the states were getting much more funds than during the UPA dispensation.

The meeting resolved to pass state-level legislation to give statu-tory status to the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan and the Tribal Sub-Plan and demanded that the Centre do likewise.

“This would be the best trib-ute to the memory of Dr Babasa-heb Ambedkar on the occasion of his 125th birth anniversary”, the meeting said at a time when there has been a tussle between the party and the BJP to appropriate his legacy.

The resolution rejected the pro-posed amendments to the Land Acquisition bill of 2013 and the recommended dilutions to the Food Security Act 2013.

Rahul Gandhi told the party chief ministers that they should maintain a “minimum level of per-formance”.

“It should be felt that the nine Congress state governments are the best performing governments in the country”. - PTI

Congress President

Sonia Gandhi said

the prime minister

was allowing his

colleagues to create

an atmosphere of ‘fear

and foreboding’ by

fomenting ‘communal

polarisation’

MEETING: Congress President Sonia Gandhi addresses the media as party vice president Rahul Gan-

dhi and other leaders look on after the Congress chief ministers’ meeting at party headquarters in New

Delhi on Tuesday. - PTI

TDP-TRS slugfest

grows shriller in

cash-for-vote scam

HYDERABAD: Amid the cash-for-vote scam triggering bitter wranglings between the ruling parties in Andhra Pradesh and Tel-angana, Anti-Corruption Bureau sleuths on Tuesday searched the residences of TDP MLA Revanth Reddy and two others arrested in connection with the case.

As political bitterness soared, as many as 50 FIRs were reg-istered by the Andhra Pradesh Police against Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, based on complaints by TDP workers over alleged illegal tap-ping of the phones of his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandraba-bu Naidu.

Adding to the woes of Naidu, YSR Congress, the main opposi-tion in Andhra Pradesh, demand-ed his resignation and accused him of “whipping up regional passions” between the two states born out of bifurcation of the composite Andhra Pradesh state a year back.

Three teams of ACB sleuths conducted simultaneous search-es at the residences of Reddy, Se-bastian Harry and Uday Simha, all arrested earlier this month, and seized one computer CPU from the MLA’s home, ACB Deputy Superintendent Ashok Kumar said.

Reddy and the two others were arrested on May 31 while alleg-edly trying to hand over Rs5 mil-lion as bribe to nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson to vote for TDP nominee in the Telangana Legis-lative Council polls.

The bribe for vote allega-tion and audio tapes aired by local channels in connection with it have spawned a no-hold-

barred spat between leaders of TDP and TRS, in power in the Andra Pradesh and Telangana respectively.

Based on complaints by TDP workers accusing the Telangana government of illegally tapping Naidu’s phone, cases were regis-tered under different sections of IPC and relevant provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act, police said on Tuesday.

Joining the issue, YSR Con-gress asked Naidu to come clean on the authenticity of the tapes and prove his innocence.

“Ever since the scam broke out, Chandrababu Naidu did not condemn it nor did he categori-cally state that the voice recorded in the phone was not his, instead he has been giving inflamma-tory speeches and whipping regional passions. Instead he should quit and prove his inno-cence by facing an inquiry,” party leader Botsa Satyanarayana told reporters here. - PTI

B R I B E R Y A L L E G A T I O N

LAW AND LAWMAKER: TDP

lawmaker Revanth Reddy

comes out after appearing

before The Anti-Corruption

Bureau in Hyderabad

on Tuesday. - PTI

80,000 hit by Assam floods

GUWAHATI: Over 80,000 peo-ple in 10 districts of Assam were reeling under floods, while one person died in Lakhimpur dis-trict, where surging waters have flooded over 27 villages, the au-thorities said on Tuesday.

A flood bulletin issued by the state government on Tuesday

said 81,026 people were affected in Barpeta, Sonitpur, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Tinsukia, Darrang, Nalbari, Goalpara, Jorhat and Kamrup (Metro) districts.

A total of 192 villages have been submerged in the floods, and over 3,766 hectares of crop land have been damaged. - IANS

F L O O D B U L L E T I N

A10

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

Family feels relief as ‘teen’ killer’s hanging is put off

MUZAFFARABAD: Relatives of a Pakistani death row prisoner said on Tuesday they “felt a wave of life” when his execution was halted to examine claims he was a juvenile when the crime was committed.

The reprieve for Shafqat Hus-sain, sentenced to hang for killing a seven-year-old boy in Karachi in 2004, came just hours before he was due to go to the gallows around dawn at a prison in } the city.

It was his fourth stay of ex-ecution in five months in a case that has prompted grave concern among international rights cam-paigners and the United Nations.

Hussain’s lawyers and family say he was under 18 at the time of the killing, and therefore not eligible for execution under Paki-stani law.

They also claim he was tortured into confessing. His brother Man-zoor Hussain said relatives gath-ered in Muzaffarabad, the main town of Pakistan-administered Kashmir where the family hails from, to keep a vigil during the night of the expected hanging.

Felt a wave of life“When we were informed at 3:00 am that he has survived, we felt a wave of life inside us,” he told AFP. “We were not expecting this, we had even found a place for his grave in a local cemetery here in Muzaffarabad.”

Hussain’s elderly mother Makhni Begum said she had faith that God would spare her son. “My heart says that my son is innocent.

We spent the whole night awake, we received a call at the last mo-ment to say the execution has been postponed,” she told AFP in Muzaffarabad.

“I bowed to God after this phone call. Now my heart is satisfied that if he is surviving like this, God will save his life.”

Nusrat Mangan, prisons in-spector for the southern prov-ince of Sindh, confirmed early Tuesday that the hanging -- first scheduled for January -- had been postponed.

The Supreme Court will exam-ine the question around Hussain’s age, which his supporters have put at 14 or 15 at the time of the offence. The court met lawyers in the case briefly on Tuesday morn-ing and arranged a detailed hear-ing for Wednesday.

Rights groups including anti-death penalty campaigners Re-

prieve and Amnesty International had pleaded with the government to halt the execution. Hussain’s brother Gul Zaman, who had waited anxiously outside the pris-on for news, told AFP the reprieve was thanks to pressure from the media and rights groups.

Hussain’s true age has proved difficult to ascertain -- exact birth records are not always kept in Pakistan, particularly for people from poor families.

The UN estimates that only around a quarter of births in Paki-stan are officially registered, one of the lowest rates in Asia.

An official probe into his age earlier this year found he was an adult at the time of his conviction -- though the results have not been published officially and Hussain’s supporters say the investigation was flawed.

In an open letter on Sunday,

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Reprieve urged President Mamnoon Hussain to grant Hussain clemency.

The letter said he had been co-erced into confessing with beat-ings, electric shocks and ciga-rette burns.

Halt another executionThe campaigners also said Hus-sain’s lawyer did an inadequate job at his trial. Rights groups and church leaders on Tuesday also urged officials to halt another con-tentious execution, this time in the eastern city of Lahore.

They say Aftab Bahadur Masih was only 15 when he was con-victed of murder in 1992 and was condemned on the basis of faulty evidence. Pakistan has hanged more than 130 convicts since re-starting executions in December after Taliban militants murdered

more than 150 people at a school, most of them children.

A moratorium on the death penalty had been in force since 2008, and its end angered rights activists and alarmed some for-eign countries.

The Hussain case has drawn particular concern, with a panel of UN rights experts calling on Fri-day for his hanging to be halted.

Hussain, the youngest of seven children, was working as a watch-man in Karachi in 2004 when a seven-year-old boy went missing from the neighbourhood.

A few days later the boy’s family received calls from Hussain’s mo-bile phone demanding a ransom of half a million rupees ($8,500 at the time). Hussain was arrested and admitted kidnapping and kill-ing him but later withdrew his confession, saying he had made it under duress. — AFP

The reprieve for

Shafqat Hussain,

sentenced to hang for

killing a seven-year-

old boy in Karachi

in 2004, came just

hours before he

was due to go to the

gallows around dawn

REPRIEVE: Makhni Begum, left, and Shah Zula, centre, the parents of convicted killer Shafqat Hussain, pray as they sit with relatives in

Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, on Tuesday. — AFP

Air strikes kill 12 militants in Khyber regionPESHAWAR: In precise air strikes on Tuesday morning, 12 militants were killed in Khyber Agency, close to the Pakistan-Af-ghanistan border, an Inter-Servies Public Relations (ISPR) statement revealed.

The deeply forested areas near the border are a key smuggling route between Pakistan and Af-ghanistan, and are dotted with Tal-iban bases, used as launch pads for attacks on Pakistani forces.

In the air strikes 12 terrorists were killed while initial reports revealed that some militants hide-outs were also destroyed.

Shawal ValleyLast month, air strikes killed at least 15 suspected militants in Shawal Valley a week after security forces moved in on Taliban strong-holds there. Similar air strikes and operations have continued in the area in efforts to eliminate terror-ism from the country. — Express Tribune

I N S U R G E N C Y

Police official gunned down in KarachiKARACHI: District Superinten-dent Police (DSP) Majeed Abbasi was killed on Tuesday when as-sailants allegedly belonging to the Swati faction of Pakistani Taliban opened fire at his vehicle in Kara-chi’s Shah Latif Town.

According Police officials, the attackers belonged to the Swati group of Taliban and were previ-ously involved in targeting other senior police officials including Hyderabad jail official Ejaz Hyder who was gunned down last month.

Initial reports had revealed that Abbasi was shot several times by assailants on motorbikes and suc-cumbed to injuries as he was shift-ed to Jinnah Hospital.

Abbasi was on his way to the police station when armed men opened fire at the police vehicle, injuring him and his driver.

While two of the assailants stopped the car, two others fired at the front and back of the vehicle.

As police cordoned off the area, the paramilitary Rangers arrived at the crime scene and commenced investigations. — Express Tribune

T A L I B A N ’ S S W A T I G R O U P

Helmet-compulsory drive deferred for another dayKARACHI: The helmet-compul-sory drive that was due to kick off from Monday, could not unfortu-nately get the response officials were hoping for.

According to a traffic police of-ficial, Muhammad Idrees, who is reader to the Traffic Deputy Inspector General Amir Ahmed Shaikh said, “We have granted one more day so people can buy the safety device,” he said.

On Monday, traffic police offi-cials were seen warning the mo-torcyclists without helmets about the campaign.

Meanwhile, the section officer of the Defence Chowki, Fehmida Abbasi, said they already issued around 100 tickets to motorcy-clists without helmets.

The officer was of the opin-ion that the traffic police will not be able to make every motor-cyclist or pillion rider wear the helmet at once.

“It will take time,” she said, add-ing that the effect of the campaign, which has been run through the media, could already be seen on the roads.

“One can see at least the mo-torcyclist, if not the pillion rider, wearing the helmet,” she pointed out.

“Today, at least one in six mo-torcyclists is wearing the safety gear.” Abbasi said.

Cracking jokesAlbeit, for the last two days, Ab-basi has been warning female pil-lion motorcyclists to buy helmets, only to be laughed back. “They complain it won’t be possible for them to wear helmets and some think I am cracking jokes with them,” she said.

A few of the violators were, however, fined Rs150.

At Defence Morr, 15-year-old Mustafa was stopped by traf-fic police constable, Mushtaq Ahmed. Ahmed asked for Musta-fa’s licence, which he did not have. “Don’t you know helmets have been made compulsory for motor-cyclists as well as the co-riders?” asked Ahmed.

‘Mustafa and his mother, who was sitting behind him, stared at him blankly, or at least pre-tended to have no idea about the campaign.

Another young motorcyclist, 18-year-old Komail, was pass-ing Defence Morr, when Ahmed stopped him. Komail said that he knew about the drive, but couldn’t get time to buy it.

He promised, however, to buy

the helmet as soon as possible.Idrees was reluctant to force

women to wear the safety gear. “There is already a petition

against the drive in the Sindh High Court,” he said. “Though we have not received any notice, we are careful in this regard and won’t be very strict with females for the time being.”

Free helmets for womenAccording to Idrees, an awareness seminar will be held at Arts Coun-cil this week, to educate people about the importance of helmets.

“We will distribute around 500 free helmets to women at the session,” he revealed add-ing that such awareness camps would be established in all the districts of Karachi in the current week. — Express Tribune

F A I L U R E T O R E G U L A T E

One can see at least the motorcyclist, if not the pillion rider, wearing the helmet, said Fehmida Abbasa local section officer

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On a recent visit to Beirut, I met a girl and a boy who strug-gled through a year filled with dread. Both of them are 14-year-old Syrian refugees in Lebanon, eager for an edu-cation, but unable to go to

school. Their stories show what is at stake in the next few months, as Lebanon struggles to raise funds for an ambitious effort to provide educa-tion for its resident refugee population. This year should have been the Year of the Child — the deadline for the Millennium Development Goal of providing all children with primary education. Instead, for hundreds of thousands of young peo-ple, it has become what some are describing as the Year of Fear.

The girl — Dilan — fled Syria with her mother when she was ten. The two of them found work in Lebanon in a garlic factory. Dilan spent her 11th birthday peeling garlic cloves, earning only the right to the roof over her head. For the last 18 months, she has been out of school; the closest she has gotten to a real classroom is a day centre where she has studied Arabic.

Even though she is now fluent, her goal of at-tending school remains elusive; she has no mon-ey with which to pay the necessary fees. All she wants, she says, is to train to be a teacher — “to help remove the sadness from children’s hearts.”

Ahmad, the boy, has not attended school for a year. He wants to become a doctor, but first he must undergo a different kind of healing: dealing with the memory of his last day in school, when armed men entered his classroom and forced everyone to flee.

Ahmad’s deep anxiety is that he will not be able to complete his education. When I spoke to him in Beirut, he told me: “What are we out-of-school Syrians going to be in the future? We will be illiterate, and it will be like we turned back time to decades or centuries ago. We need edu-cation to become better people.”

It is said that “you can survive 40 days without food, eight days without water, and eight min-utes without air, but not for a second without hope.” Like many of the young refugees in Leba-non, Dilan and Ahmad are losing hope that they will ever be able to attend school again.

Providing the refugees with an education would cost around $500 a year — less than $10

a week — per pupil. That is a small price to pay for hope. Until now, however, the international community has failed to do enough to help.

Lebanon is one of the world’s weakest, least-stable countries, riven by factionalism and rid-dled with violent extremist groups. And yet it has found the resources to house 1.1 million Syrian exiles — equivalent to nearly a quarter of its pop-ulation — and lead an international endeavour to ensure that refugee children are provided access to education. Education Minister Elias Bou Saab has cut through red tape and sectarian disputes to introduce a double-shift system in the coun-try’s schools, beginning in September. In the morning, Lebanese children will be educated in French and English. In the late afternoon and early evenings, some 500,000 Syrian children will be taught in Arabic.

The programme — at a cost of $263 million — is set to be the largest education humanitarian effort ever mounted during an emergency. And yet, so far the urgency of the appeals has been matched only by the slowness of the response. With just three months until the beginning of the next academic year, only $100 million has been raised. Usually, in an emergency situation, there are no buildings in which to hold classes and no staff able to teach them. This gives do-nors an easy excuse: they would have helped, if only there was the capacity to do so. In Lebanon, however, with schools ready and teachers avail-able, there is only one stumbling block: the will of the international community. If each interna-tional aid agency gave no more than an extra $10 million, a half-million children in Lebanon could begin the new school term in September.

The uncertain fate of programmes such as Lebanon’s underscores why it is a tragedy that education receives only two per cent of hu-manitarian aid — and why it is so important to establish a permanent fund for education in emergencies. Why should refugee children have to wait for months while the begging bowl is passed around? Dilan and Ahmad illustrate the stark choice that all of us must confront: either we properly educate a future doctor and teacher, or we abandon them. If we choose the latter, we should be clear about what that means: a lost generation, at risk of abuse or trafficking — or, worse, a permanent source of fuel for radicalisa-tion and ongoing violence. - Project Syndicate

Educating the Syrian refugees in Lebanon

Lebanon is one of the world’s weakest, least-stable countries, riven by factionalism and riddled with violent extremist groups. And yet it has found the resources to house 1.1 million Syrian exiles — equivalent to nearly a quarter of its population

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

LOST GENERATION

As part of its remarkable journey toward democracy, Tunisia has embarked on a painful reckoning with its past. Since last year, its Truth and Dignity Commission, created by

constitutional mandate in 2013, has been collecting harrowing ac-counts of torture suffered by thousands of Tunisians over nearly six decades, primarily under the regimes of the dictators Habib Bourguiba and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The testimony by women has been particularly brave and disturbing. In a culture where women’s virtue is often seen as the embodiment of family honour, the accounts have made it clear that shaming through rape, sexual humiliation and brutal physical torture were routinely used.

This month, the commission will begin public hearings. The challenge will be ensuring that they lead to justice for victims and accountability for the guilty. Many members of Tunisia’s business and political elite during the years of dictatorship remain in po-sitions of influence and power. President Obama announced last month that he would designate Tunisia a major non-Nato ally, a vote of confidence in the progress the country has made since the overthrow of the Ben Ali regime in 2011.

It would be a setback if President Beji Caid Essebsi, who held senior positions in both dictatorships, proceeded with his proposal for amendments to weaken the law that created the commission. Instead, he should ensure that there are no more delays in govern-ment financing for the commission and that the police allow the commission access to government archives. As Essebsi himself has said: “If we want what we have achieved not to be threatened, we must keep going forward.” Making sure that the Truth and Dig-nity Commission’s work proceeds unimpeded and that account-ability and justice prevail is the best way for his government to secure Tunisia’s future. - The New York Times News Service

Confronting the past in Tunisia

If ever you wanted a definition of short-termism, we suspect that British Government is about to provide it. Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat former energy and climate change secretary, fears that

the Treasury will finally succeed in cutting the budget for energy-saving programmes. It was a budget he fought hard to defend, he tells The Independent on Sunday, and, although he praises Amber Rudd, his Conservative successor, he thinks George Osborne will now pre-vail. The problem is that energy efficiency is unglamorous, hard to get right, and no one suffers immediately if it does not happen. It is, there-fore, an obvious target for the Chancellor looking to make savings. Osborne’s announcement last week of cuts of £3bn in this year’s de-partmental budgets was a statement of intent. Although the Depart-ment of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) got off quite lightly, with just 2 per cent shaved off its spending, this was merely a hint of the deep cuts to come.

Part of the problem that Rudd will have in making the case for the energy efficiency budget is that existing programmes have been badly designed and poorly implemented. The Green Deal, the scheme to subsidise home insulation and more efficient boilers, which would be paid for in the long run by savings on energy bills, has had a dis-appointing take-up. After two and a half years, only 7,800 households had taken advantage of it. Greg Barker, the Conservative former min-ister who launched it, blames the Big Six energy companies for fail-ing to seize the opportunity provided by the scheme. In an interview today, he says: “They prefer to invest their capital in just selling elec-tricity down a wire, as they always have.” While he admits that mak-ing houses energy efficient is complex, it was not an unforeseeable problem and it must be asked whether the energy sector has the right structure of incentives in place to give the companies a sufficient in-terest in helping their customers to save energy.

The failure of the Coalition to drive this programme ahead with more vigour is a classic example of how short-termism gets in the way of doing the right thing in the long run. If the Green Deal were to be wound down, rather than redesigned and revitalised, that would com-pound the error. Other parts of the Decc budget also seem vulnerable. There is speculation that the decommissioning of some old nuclear stations could be delayed as a way of saving money. Again, this is an unglamorous and technical subject, which seems as if it might yield short-term savings, but incurring greater costs for the taxpayer in the long run. Osborne is like an inverted Jean-Baptiste Colbert. The 17th-century French minister of finances said: “The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the least possible amount of hissing.” Osborne’s aim is not to tax but to cut public spending with the minimum of squawking. Politically astute, sadly, but not in our collective interests in the long term. - The Independent

This ‘short-termism’ will harm Britain in long run

G O R D O N B R O W N

Where are private tankers sourcing the water from?This refers to the news story, Army call-up on water not needed: PAEW (June 9). Can someone explain how private companies have access to water they can sell at inflated prices while ordinary people are left without? If there is a water shortage, where do the private merchants source their water from?David WrightMuscat

This seems to be a unique way to solve water crisisThis refers to the news story, Army call-up on water not needed: PAEW (June 9). So they at PAEW are waiting for people to go on leave or holidays and let the escalating water crisis in Muscat to subside,

rather than resolving the prob-lem by adopting the appropriate measures. Mumtaz KhanMuscat

Does the PAEW have no solution to water crisis?This refers to the news story, Army call-up on water not needed: PAEW (June 9). The residents of Muscat are indeed stunned by the solution the PAEW chairman has offered. So, the PAEW has admitted that it is unable to solve the deepen-ing water crisis in Muscat and the authorities are only banking on people to go on holidays. This will reduce the intensity of the crisis as the demand for water in the city will reduce. This is indeed a strange solution. I don’t know how to react to the solution being of-

fered to the water crisis which isn’t expected to ease anytime soon and people will suffer more for water.Ravindra KumarAl Khud

Need to ban the eating of popcorns in movie theatresEvery time I go for a movie, I am distracted by the crunching noise of popcorns while the movie is on. Many a time, the dialogues cannot be heard. The funny part is there are people who start eating popcorns right from beginning of a movie and continue to chew the stuff until the end of the movie. Can we not ban eating popcorns in cinema theatres? A ban is also needed because popcorn eaters scatter more than what they eat. Krishnan RAl Khuwair

Why can’t women alsoride motorcycles?This refers to news story, Female motorcyclist pitches for hel-mets, safety awareness (June 9). Tayyaba, 26, who sets an example to other Pakistani girls, rightly said “If a girl can drive a car, why can-not she ride a two-wheeler?” We must support our women in their efforts and encourage them to gain confidence in all aspects of life. Tayyaba is not only courageous but also intelligent as she abides by the law and uses helmet for her safety. Standing against a particular mind-set needs a lot of courage, which Tayyaba has shown and has proved that girls too can do many things which they have been kept away from. Women today are equal to men if not better. Munawar Hameed Muscat

READERS’ FORUM

Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complainLILY TOMLIN

website: www.newindiaoman.com

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

TRAINING FOR SECURITY STAFF AT BUSTANMUSCAT: Al Bustan Palace Hotel hosted a four- day training programme for security staff and supervisors recently. The four-day course, which focused on the development of security staff and supervisors, was conducted by David Cresswell of Group Four Se-curitas, based in the United Kingdom. It has for the first time ever united security staff from leading hotels in the Sultanate. Hotels such as the Radisson SAS Hotel Muscat, Crowne Plaza Resort Al Sawadi, Crowne Plaza Hotel Muscat, Inter-Continental Hotel Muscat and Al Bustan itself have assigned key delegates to attend the security develop-ment programme. The programme addressed four key areas like understanding risks in the hotel industry, patrolling and vigilance, access control and emergency response, and supervising the security functions. “Security is a key service offered to hotel guests and hoteliers tend to tie up a high level of customer service with security,” the hotel said in a press note, adding that such programmes were ideal during the low season.

FROM OUR ARCHIVES

In December 2014, a decision was made to cancel the ‘South stream’ project that included four pipelines in the Black Sea from Russia to Bulgaria and the construction of more pipelines in the European countries territory to supply gas to Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia, and Italy with possibility to supply Austria. This forced decision is another illustration of the negative impact of the so called ‘Third Energy package’ on interests of both the European Union and Russia

Russia is a country of ancient cul-ture, unique history and rich traditions. On the global stage,

Russia is a well-known political and eco-nomic power that is renowned for its strong traditions of cooperation with the Arab world.

Russia’s partners in the Middle East acknowledge the advantages of the high-tech products made by the Russian com-panies, especially in the fields of energy and machinery — reliability, efficiency and competitive price.

Gas industry plays an important role in the economic development of Russia. For almost half a century, Russian gas has been an essential resource for the Euro-pean countries economy.

Today Russia is developing new cen-tres of gas production on the Yamal Pen-insula, Eastern Siberia, Yakutia, the Far East, and planning to increase the use of the huge gas potential of Russian shelf in the future.

With nearly a quarter of the world’s nat-ural gas reserves, Russia’s daily average production exceeded 60 bcf of gas in 2014. For many years, Russia has been the top gas exporter in the world. The annual gas exports account for more than 7000 bcf.

Russia has a favorable geographical po-sition between the largest to date market importer — the EU and the most prom-ising gas market — China, thus giving it wide opportunities to fully develop its ex-ports potential in the long term.

At the same time, fulfilling all contrac-tual obligations is a cornerstone for deal-ing with all our partners.

Diversification of gas exportsOne of the most important concepts is the diversification of gas exports. In May last year, Gazprom signed a contract to sup-ply gas to China. Contracted volumes of the long-term contract account for more than 35300 bcf.

Annual supply of 1340 bcf of natural gas has Yakutsk and Irkutsk gas produc-tion centres as the resource base. The new pipeline is “The Power of Siberia” (“Eastern route”). There are already dis-cussions of the prospects of Russian gas supplies to China through the “Western route”, which will be provided by the re-source base of Western Siberia.

In December 2014, a decision was made to cancel the “South stream” project that included four pipelines in the Black Sea from Russia to Bulgaria and the construc-tion of more pipelines in the European countries territory to supply gas to Bul-garia, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia, and Italy with possibility to supply Austria.

This forced decision is another illustra-tion of the negative impact of the so called “Third Energy package” on interests of both the European Union and Russia.

Permission deniedRussia was denied from receiving the construction’s permission until it would guarantee the compliance with the “Third Energy Package” to reserve the half of the pipeline capacity for an unknown gas of unknown gas suppliers.

As a matter of fact, the European Union completely ignored Russian reasonable interests as a gas supplier.

Now Gazprom started technical imple-mentation of a different project. It will also start on the Russian shore but its sea part will come to Turkey and then the gas will be transported to the border of the European Union.

It is planned to start gas supplies to Gazprom’s partners in Turkey in less than two years, and after 2019 to bring the new gas pipeline system to full capacity of 6.1 bcf per day.

Measures takenMeasures taken for the development of Russian LNG production also contribute to the diversification of gas exports using geo-graphical advantages of the Russian fields.

The expansionIn addition to the expansion of exist-ing LNG project Sakhalin-2 in the east of Russia and Vladivostok LNG which are focused on the main LNG market in the Asia-Pacific region, Gazprom has a new Baltic LNG project in the pipeline with an initial capacity of 10 million tons annually mainly for the supply of the Atlantic ba-sin and the Middle East countries and for purposes of bunkering.

Russian Company NOVATEK together with foreign partners is implementing the Yamal LNG project with the resource base of the South Tambeyskoye field. First phase will lead to the annual production of 16.5 million tons of LNG and is target-ing mainly the Asian market.

Increasing availabilityIn addition, another Russian com-pany Rosneft is preparing Far East LNG project with the resource base of Sakhalin-1 project.

Thus, the options of getting natural gas from Russia to our existing and poten-tial customers are expanding. Of course, the implementation of such complex projects could be another platform to strengthen international trade and eco-nomic relations and solidify positions of the leading international suppliers of the technology, equipment and materials in the Russian market.

For example, “The Power of Siberia” project that was mentioned above is huge with its length more than four thousand kilometers.

The first phase of the project will re-quire 1.7 million tons of pipes, a signifi-cant amount of gas pumping units, differ-ent valves and fittings.

However, part of the global manufac-turers of this equipment, our foreign part-ners, cannot participate in these projects now due to the sanctions. In these circum-stances, there is an ongoing search for ad-ditional resources to develop programmes for import replacement.

This is why we are interested in Oman’s experience in increasing the share of the added in-country value in the energy sector by engaging the local companies in the implementation of major oil and gas projects.

The cooperation between Russia and Oman is developing positively within the framework of Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), which is working with all concerned parties in the energy market

In the declarations of the two past GECF summits held in Doha in 2011 and in Moscow in 2013, the leaders of the GECF countries expressed their com-mon commitment to market principles of international gas trade, on terms of parity distribution of risks among all participants.

Crucial roleIt is necessary to stress the important role of the Sultanate of Oman in conducting an independent and unbiased approach towards dealing with matters related to both political and economic issues.

Oman is successfully acting as an inde-pendent mediator when dealing with re-gional problems concerning relations be-tween different countries. It is one of the reasons why Russia values so much the opportunity of cooperating with Oman, especially in the energy sector.

Considering the current complex situa-tion in the world, both Russia and Oman should concentrate their efforts to en-courage mutual openness and views ex-change on all important matters.

The author is the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for cooperation with the Gas Exporting Coun-tries Forum, Chairman of Gazprom Board of Directors. All the views and opinions expressed in the article are solely his and not of Times of Oman.

Russia values the opportunity to work with Oman in energy sector

TODAY IN HISTORY1801 Tripoli declares war on the U.S. for

refusing to pay tribute. 1864 At the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads

in Mississippi, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest defeats the numerically superior Union troops.

1905 Japan and Russia agree to peace

talks brokered by President Theodore Roosevelt.

1909 An SOS signal is transmitted for the first time in an emergency when the Cunard liner SS Slavonia is wrecked off the Azores.

1940 The Norwegian army capitulates to

the Germans. HISTORYNET.COM

GraphicsGraphic News /

Russia’s R-500 cruise missile threat

May 2007: R-500 test fired at Kapustin Yar2009: R-500 goes into production 2011: Missiles deployed to Luga2013: Deployed to KaliningradApr 2015: Ukraine claimsR-500s deployed to Crimea

Moscow

R U S S I A

500km range: INFbans cruise missileswith range between500km and 5,500km

Ukraine

Poland

Norway

Sweden

Finlan

d

UKGermany

France

Italy

St. Petersburg

Luga

Kapustin Yar

Turbofan engineuses jet fuel

Solid-fuel booster

Wing deployedin flight

500kgwarhead

Terminalguidancesystem

Suspected Iskander R-500 missile brigades 800km

Kaliningrad

Crimea(annexedby Russia)

1,000km range

Source: IISS, Stratfor, US National Institute for Public Policy, FAS, Pravda

Launch from highly-mobile truckscarrying two sub-sonic R-500s in canisters

Trying to save Greece has become an exercise in the absurd. Greece is

near-enough bankrupt. Most Greeks know that. It can never repay its debts, no matter how many deals with creditors are pulled out of a hat.

The country is now run by a radical left party whose minis-ters have close to zero execu-tive experience.

Their executive experience nonetheless exceeds their dip-lomatic experience.

This stands at less than zero — and it shows. The party, Syriza, includes people who want to re-fight the Greek Civ-il War (1946-49) in the belief the Communists will triumph this time.

For now, the party’s main enemies are international creditors and of course the Germans, who want the Greeks to present a plan of some sort to balance their books before doling out more cash — about $8 billion in fact — as part of an enormous bail-out programme.

The thing is, however, that Syriza was elected precisely to say foreign-imposed austerity had already done enough dam-age to Greece.

The country, which des-perately needs the $8 billion, is drowning under a welter of statistics that present a dev-astating picture of unemploy-ment, unpayable pensions, youthful pensioners, uncol-lected taxes, drastic fiscal ad-justments, and of course debt.

Given all this, Alexis Tsip-ras, the prime minister, de-clared the latest proposals from creditors “absurd” — you see what I mean about diplo-macy — a view that reportedly caused Jean-Claude Juncker, the chief executive of the Eu-ropean Union, not to pick up a call from Tsipras over the weekend.

There’s one thing about re-ality: It tends to come back and kick you in the teeth. Forcing Greece and Germany to coex-ist in a currency union will al-ways be an exercise in smoke and mirrors. Their economies are mismatched, their tem-peraments even more so.

Many Greeks are awaiting the worst. The rich, of course, already have their money elsewhere. Just about every-one has a few thousand eu-ros stashed away — 5,000 per person where possible. Stores are taking out anti-looting insurance.

Public hospitals are mak-ing contingency plans for operating when money dries up. More than $5 billion was pulled from bank accounts in April alone by companies and individuals.

Speculation is rampant — absent a debt deal — of a bank run, capital controls and the issue of i.o.u.’s (that will promptly lose 50 per cent of

their nominal value, especially if adorned with the face of Fi-nance Minister Yanis Varou-fakis). Shortly thereafter fol-low economic collapse, unrest and new elections.

That sounds terrible, but I’m not sure. It would repre-sent reality rather than the repetitive evasion of it. Things are very bad here.

But just how bad is not clear because it has not been fully tested. The surface has a way of glimmering.

The Greek bailouts have given time to other countries in the eurozone — includ-ing Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland — to either get their houses in order or embark se-riously on the task.

Euro-unravelling contagion is now far less likely. One thing is sure: If a deal is reached with Greece, it will only be the prelude to the next crisis in a few months or so.

Creditors could tell Syriza: You have a century to repay the debt, but now you’re on your own. Fix the country, whether inside the euro or out. Get foreign corporations to put their money in Greece.

You want to try the Putin route, with Gazprom stepping in for the IMF, go for it! We’re off your back now — so find a way to make Greeks believe in Greece again without the ready excuse that Berlin, or the International Monetary Fund or the European Com-mission is to blame.

The European Union has done its healing work here. There will not be another civil war, come what may.

The sun will still shine; a gazillion islands will still de-light; Greeks will still curse ev-ery form of authority; they will still smoke in every restaurant in defiance of the law; they will still have more money than they appear to have; tables in cheap “tavernas” will still offer views that have no price.

A Greek meltdown is not the same as a Slovakian melt-down. Life is not just.

So many mistakes have been made.

They began with the senti-mental illusion that the cradle of Western civilisation was also an economy competitive enough to join the euro.

It was not. Then came all the easy credit handed out in the era when the view was that risk had ceased to exist. The inevitable Greek implo-sion was followed by austerity measures whose symbol was Germany.

These failed to offer Greeks a positive vision of what all the sacrifice might produce. The consequent anger created Syriza and its election victory and incoherent promises of a new way forward. Everyone is now caught in the web of their own contradictions.

More of the same might gain a few months. It will resolve nothing, sapping Europe’s en-ergy, and Greece’s potential, for years to come. - The New York

Times News Service

The Greek implosion

R O G E R C O H E N

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Libya factions ‘positive’ on draft peace agreement: UN

SKHIRAT (MOROCCO): Lib-ya’s warring factions have reacted positively to a draft peace agree-ment, the UN envoy said on Tues-day, as they head for talks in Berlin with world powers anxious for an end to the conflict.

Libya descended into chaos af-ter a 2011 NATO-backed protest toppled and killed veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi, with heavily armed former rebels carving out fiefdoms across the country.

The quest for a deal seeks to prevent the oil-rich and strategic North African nation from crum-bling into a failed state.

Bernardino Leon, chief of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, presented the draft to delegations from the country’s ri-val sides at talks in Morocco late Monday.

Strong supportWith strong support from world leaders, he is pushing for a final accord before the start of the holy month of Ramadan on June 17.

“We have distributed, as you will have seen, a new proposed agreement. All I can tell you for now is that the reaction is posi-tive,” Leon told journalists.

“We are looking at the possibil-ity of a triple consensus -- within Libyan society, among the partici-pants in the dialogue and also the international community.”

He said there was “sense of op-timism” emerging from the talks, but warned that no agreement would work without the backing of armed groups in Libya.

“The security track is impor-tant. We need strong support from the armed formations... We will not succeed if we don’t have their support,” Leon said.

The Spanish diplomat had spent on Tuesday morning shut-tling between the negotiating teams to gauge their response.

“Then we will all head to Ber-lin to meet European leaders and member countries of the UN Security Council,” UN mis-sion spokesman Samir Ghattas said, without saying whom they would meet.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has in-vited them to Berlin to continue talks on Wednesday with Leon as well as meet diplomats from the UN Security Council’s permanent five members, plus Italy, Spain and the European Union, his ministry said.

G7 leaders have thrown their support behind Leon’s efforts to persuade the factions to forge a united administration to replace the rival governments in the capi-tal Tripoli and Tobruk.

In a closing statement after a summit in Germany, the G7 called on Libyan leaders to take “bold po-litical decisions” to end four years of devastating conflict.

It said it would “provide sig-

nificant support” to help a new government rebuild infrastruc-ture, including restoring pub-lic services and strengthening the economy.

Militant groups have exploited the lawlessness, which has also prompted a huge influx of mi-grants trying to make the danger-ous crossing to Europe, with ship-wrecks leaving hundreds dead and the European Union straining to respond.

The draft agreement put for-ward Monday is the fourth, with three previous rounds of negotia-tions failing to deliver a deal.

The 69-article plan provides for the formation of a transitional government of national unity for a period of one year, renewable for

one more year. It stipulates that the parliament elected last June, most of whose members back the internationally recognised gov-ernment in Tobruk, should be the legislative authority for the inter-im period.

But it also provides for the for-mation of a high council of state, drawn mostly from members of the rival parliament in Tripoli, which “shall express binding opinion with a qualified majority on draft laws”.

The two sides would commit to the integration of their opposing militias into a reformed military under direct government control with former rebel fighters offered the opportunity to join up or be re-integrated into civilian life.

Security arrangementsThe agreement sets out interim security arrangements for the withdrawal of armed formations from towns and cities and a time-table for disarming.

“The government of national accord, through its different rel-evant institutions, including the army and police, shall take the necessary steps to combat terror-ist threats in Libya,” the draft says.

Some members of the interna-tionally recognised parliament based in the eastern city of To-bruk, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there is still disa-greement on at least two points in the draft. They did not elaborate.

Both administrations have been fighting loyalists of the IS militant group, which has taken several coastal towns to the alarm of an international community fearful of a militant foothold on Europe’s doorstep.

IS, which controls swathes of Syria and Iraq, has won the loy-alty of several hardline groups in Libya and claimed responsibility for a series of attacks and atroci-ties, including the killings of doz-ens of Egyptian and Ethiopian Christians. — AFP

The quest for a deal

seeks to prevent

the strategic North

African country

from crumbling

into a failed state

Iran ‘to take legal action if US stops’ newly-acquired Mahan Air planesANKARA: Iran will take legal ac-tion if Washington tries to stop newly acquired Iranian passenger planes flying international routes, the head of the country’s aviation authority said on Tuesday.

Iran’s Mahan Air, blacklisted by Washington, bought eight second-hand Airbus A340s and one Air-bus A321 in May in defiance of US sanctions. Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported last week that the planes would be used on international routes.

The US Treasury department said last month that Mahan Air had a “blockable interest” in the planes, meaning they could be sub-ject to an asset freeze, raising the possibility that Washington may attempt to have them seized at air-ports outside Iran.

“As long as ... a disruption has not taken place, we cannot make a definite assertion. But if it hap-pens, Iran will take legal action,” said Alireza Jahangirian, head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization,

according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA).

“America does not have the right to stop our planes on international trips ... Under international laws, it is impossible to seize the new Ira-nian aircraft.”

The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on two firms based in Iraq and the United Arab Emirates on suspicion of helping the pur-chase. Jahangirian said the planes

would join Iran’s aviation fleet “in the coming weeks”, after receiving their documentation.

Fars reported on June 1 that the four-engined A340s would start flying from Tehran to Dubai and Istanbul, and would then be used on long-haul routes.

Aviation experts say Iran is in-terested in aircraft such as the A340 because it lacks the approv-als needed to fly two-engined air-

craft on long-haul routes following years of relative isolation in the global aviation market.

Iran has been hit by sanctions from the United States, the Euro-pean Union and the United Na-tions over its disputed nuclear pro-gramme. The US sanctions ban the sale of aircraft and parts to Iran. Under an interim deal reached between Iran and six major pow-ers in 2013, the ban on the sale of spare parts was eased, but the sale of aircraft remains restricted.

However, Iran and the powers are in talks to clinch a final deal by June 30 to end the decade-old standoff and usher in an end to sanctions. Iran’s airlines have been plagued by crashes, which Iranian politicians blame on the sanctions.

Iran’s 189 active passenger air-craft have an average age of 22 years, according to the British avi-ation consultancy Ascend. It also has 76 in storage with an average age of 24 years. They serve a coun-try of 76 million people. — Reuters

F L Y I N G O N I N T E R N A T I O N A L R O U T E S

Rebels overrun Syrian army baseBEIRUT: An alliance of Syrian rebel forces seized a key army base in the south of the country on Tuesday in a new setback for the regime’s embattled troops.

The Southern Front alliance took full control of the 52nd Bri-gade base in Daraa province af-ter 24 hours of fierce clashes, a spokesman for the group said.

“The 52nd Brigade base was fully liberated from the regime army,” Major Essam Al Rayes said, adding at least 2,000 rebel fighters had taken part in the “short and quick” assault.

The base lies near a major highway running from Damas-cus to Syria’s southern border with Jordan and is also near the frontier with neighbouring Sweida province, which is largely regime-controlled.

“This base was one of the main lines of defence for the regime forces. It was a nightmare, be-cause they used it to shell all the areas to the east of the province,” Rayes said.

The Southern Front was comb-ing through the site for mate-rial left by regime troops, he said, adding the alliance would likely launch additional attacks from there in the near future. Diaa Al Hariri, spokesman for Faylaq Al Awwal, one of the groups in the alliance, said the base was be-ing used as a launching pad for the army’s infantry. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group confirmed op-position groups had taken the base after clashes and intense shelling that left 15 rebel fighters and 20 government forces dead.

Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said rebel forces also seized two villages, including the Christian town of Al Rakham, as regime troops withdrew to the nearby village of Al Dara.

Rebels control a majority of Daraa province and its capital, Abdel Rahman said.

Syria’s official news agency SANA did not report the capture of the base. — AFP

S E T B A C K T O R E G I M E

Hong Kong issues ‘red alert’ against travel to MERS-hit South Korea

SEOUL/HONG KONG: Hong Kong issued a “red alert” advisory on Tuesday against non-essential travel to South Korea, where eight new cases of Middle East Res-piratory Syndrome (MERS) were reported, bringing the total to 95 with seven fatalities.

The number of new South Ko-rean cases was a sharp drop from 23 on Monday, but the number of schools closed grew to 2,208, in-cluding 20 universities.

“At this stage, to issue a clear message is something the Hong Kong government thinks is nec-essary,” Hong Kong’s number two official, Carrie Lam, told reporters just before the travel warning was posted. A red alert, the second-highest outbound travel advisory on a three-point scale, is defined as a “significant threat” accord-ing to the Hong Kong government,

and means people should “adjust travel plans” and “avoid non-es-sential travel”.

On Monday, Hong Kong upgrad-ed its response to the outbreak in South Korea to “serious”.

Nam Kyung-pil, governor of Gyeonggi province, which sur-rounds the South Korean capital, Seoul, said 32 of its large general hospitals have joined the cam-paign to fight the outbreak by of-fering to take in anyone who is showing MERS symptoms.

“We are fighting two wars; The war against the disease and the war against fear,” Nam said.

The head of the Korean Hospital Association, who accompanied the country’s deputy prime minister on a visit on Tuesday to a Daejeon hospital where MERS patients were being treated, criticised the government for poor communica-tion. “The hospitals that did not re-ceive information on patients have been wounded deeply,” Park Sang-geun said during an open meeting.

It was only on Sunday that South Korean officials released the names of all the health fa-cilities where MERS victims had been treated or visited, which now number 35.

The World Health Organiza-tion (WHO) began work on a joint mission with South Korean doc-tors and officials to review the country’s response and analyse the virus. The WHO has not rec-ommended any curb on travel, but

thousands of tourists have can-celled plans to visit South Korea.

The Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong has cancelled all tours to South Korea that were sched-uled to set off between now and June 30, excluding cruises, with 10,000 to 12,000 travellers to be affected, the city’s public broad-caster reported.

South Korea’s response has been aggressive and is getting bet-ter, a WHO specialist, Peter Ben Embarek, said in Geneva, adding it should still not be surprising if there were a few cases of infection coming outside of hospitals.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has called for an all-out national effort to eradicate the out-break, which has been spreading since a 68-year-old businessman brought it home from a Middle East trip last month. — Reuters

A D V I S O R Y

Egypt court upholds death sentences in football riotsCAIRO: An Egyptian court on Tuesday upheld death sentences against 11 football fans over a Feb-ruary 2012 riot in the eastern city of Port Said that cost the lives of 74 people.

The riot, the country’s deadliest sports-related unrest, broke out when fans of home team Al Masry and Cairo’s Al Ahly clashed after a premier league match between the two clubs. A Cairo criminal court confirmed the sentences handed down in April against 11 Al Masry fans, one of whom is a fugitive, after consulting the grand mufti, the government interpreter of law who plays an advisory role.

The court also sentenced two police officers, including then Port Said police chief Essam Samak, and two Al Masry club officials to five years in jail.

Twenty-one defendants, includ-ing seven police officers and one an Al Masry official, were acquitted. The remainder were handed jail terms of between one and 15 years.

Tuesday’s sentence can still be appealed before the cassation court. Families of the victims ex-pressed dismay after the verdict.

“They acquitted the police who planned everything. They were the ones who locked up our children in the stadium,” said a crying mother wearing a T-shirt with her sons picture on it.

“This is an unfair ruling... They are laughing at the peo-ple,” the father of another victim grievingly said.

An appeals court had ordered a retrial in February 2014, after re-jecting an initial verdict sentenc-ing 21 people to death.

The clashes sparked sev-eral days of violent protests in Cairo, in which another 16 peo-ple were killed in fighting with security forces.

Dozens of people also died in clashes in the Suez Canal city after the 21 death sentences were hand-ed down. — AFP

2 0 1 2 I N C I D E N T

PUSHING FOR A FINAL ACCORD: Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Support Mis-

sion in Libya, Bernardino Leon, answers journalists’ questions during a press conference as part of a

new round of peace talks on the Libyan conflict, in the Moroccan city of Skhirat, 20 kilometres south

of Rabat, on Tuesday. – AFP

UNDER SANCTION: Iran’s Mahan Air bought eight second-hand

Airbus A340s and one Airbus A321 in May in defiance of US sanc-

tions. Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported last week that

the planes would be used on international routes. – Files

STRICT VIGIL: In this photograph taken on June 5, 2015, pas-

sengers have their temperature checked as part of preventive

measures against the spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome

(MERS) at the Hong Kong international airport. – AFP

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PARIS: Scientists said Tuesday they have discovered what appear to be red blood cells and collagen fibres in dinosaur bones, a find that may boost prospects of prising or-ganic remains from a much wider range of fossils.

Using molecular microscopy, a British team analysed eight bone fragments from dinosaurs that

lived some 75 million years ago, in the Cretaceous period.

The fossils were so poorly con-served that it was impossible to tell precisely what type of animal

some of them came from, study co-author Sergio Bertazzo from Imperial College London told AFP.

The samples included the claw of a meat-eating dinosaur, a few

toe bones from a ceratopsid (a group that included the horned Triceratops) and a duck-billed hadrosaur, and rib fragments from an unknown species.

All the bones are from the Dino-saur Park Formation in Alberta, Canada, and have been in the Nat-ural History Museum in London since they were collected about 100 years ago.

“What we found are structures that could be original red blood cells from the dinosaur specimens and also other structures that could be the original collagen fi-bres,” Bertazzo said by email.

Other researchers have previ-ously found remnants of organic material in dinosaur bones, but

in exceptionally well-preserved fossils -- which are few and far between.

“Therefore we indicate that the likelihood of finding organic mate-rial in fossils is much higher than previously thought, at least at the microscopic scale,” said Bertazzo.

It had long been thought that protein molecules cannot survive for longer than four million years.

Bertazzo and a team used a spe-cial microscope which uses a beam of heavy atoms to make infinitely small cuts in a sample at the nano-metric scale (a nanometre is a bil-lionth of a metre).

“The same microscope also has a robotic arm with a micro needle that can be used to pick up and

move things inside the micro-scope,” explained Bertazzo.

“So, combining the beam and the needle, we could cut small bits of the fossils and perform an analy-sis to check for any fragment of amino acids.”

Totally blown awayThe team had set out to analyse gaps left in bone by decomposed organic material, instead finding structures that appear to be red blood cells, and fibres similar to collagen, a protein which makes up the bulk of connective tissues in animals.

“Totally blown away!” is how Bertazzo described the team’s breakthrough, while cautioning that further evidence is need-ed to confirm the nature of the structures.

“This was absolutely not what we were expecting to find at all. It actually took quite a while for us to be convinced of what we saw.”

The team compared their an-cient soft tissue to an Emu blood sample, and intriguingly found “similarities”. — AFP

A15

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

Scientists hunt for dinosaur bloodUsing molecular

microscopy, a British

team analysed eight

bone fragments from

dinosaurs that lived

some 75 million

years ago, in the

Cretaceous periodBREAKTHROUGH: This undated handout picture released by ‘Na-

ture’ on June 5, 2015 shows density-dependent colour scanning

electron micrographs of samples extracted from ribs of an indeter-

minate dinosaur displaying mineralised fibres. Scientists said on

Tuesday they have discovered what appear to be red blood cells

and collagen fibres in dinosaur bones. — AFP/NATURE/SERGIO BERTAZZO

100,000 migrants in one year add to Europe’s worriesGENEVA: More than 100,000 migrants made the perilous crossing over the Mediterra-nean to Europe this year, the United Nations said on Tuesday, reporting a huge spike in ar-rivals that will add to Europe’s migration worries.

The immigration crisis is a burning issue for EU govern-ments with member states trying to put in place ways of tackling human trafficking, while arguing over how to share the burden of the tide of people arriving on the continent’s shores.

UNHCR “is stepping up its presence in Greece and in south-ern Italy in response to the dra-matic increase in numbers of ref-ugees and migrants who we have been seeing arriving,” spokesman Adrian Edwards told journalists in Geneva.

Sub-Saharan AfricansA frantic weekend of rescues saw nearly 6,000 people, most of them sub-Saharan Africans, pulled to safety from packed fish-ing boats and rubber dinghies off Libya, and taken to Italy, bringing the year’s total of new arrivals in the country to 54,000.

Pregnant women and children

were among those picked up in the weekend’s major internation-al rescue operation, coordinated by the Italian Coast Guard, Ed-wards said.

While the numbers arriv-ing in Italy mark about a 10-per cent increase on the same period last year, the situation in neigh-bouring Greece has worsened dramatically.

A full 48,000 migrants and refugees have landed on Greek shores so far this year, compared to 34,000 arrivals during all of 2014, according to the Interna-tional Organisation for Migra-tion (IOM). — AFP

D A N G E R O U S C R O S S I N G

Since January, 103,000 refugees and migrants have risked their lives often on flimsy boats to reach Europe, the UN refugee agency said

All the bones are from the Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta,

Canada, and have been in the Natural History Museum in

London since they were collected about 100 years ago

A16

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

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Fuel depot blaze kills five in Ukraine city

VASYLKIV (UKRAINE): A massive fire at a Ukrainian fuel depot killed five people on Tues-day, officials said, including three firemen who went missing after the flames triggered a powerful explosion.

The fire burned overnight and by morning had spread to at least 16 tanks, most of them storing petrol. That sent a pall of black smoke over the area around the depot near Vasylkiv, 30 km (19 miles) from Kiev. The depot’s owners said they suspected arson.

“Firemen have the situation... under total control,” top security official Oleksander Turchynov said in a statement.

Remaining firesThere was no longer any threat of the blaze spreading and emergen-cy services were putting out re-maining fires in the depot, he said.

Entire oil tanks were consumed in the flames, which emergency services had feared would spread

to another fuel depot nearby. Weapons and equipment were re-moved from a neighbouring mili-tary base to a place of safety.

Within 12 hours“The crisis will be resolved en-tirely within the next 12 hours,” Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in televised comments.

The bodies of three firemen, unaccounted for after the explo-sion ripped through the area as they battled the fire, had been found, Avakov said. Two other people died and several others were injured, the emergency services said.

Sixty-two fire-fighting units and three trains delivering water

and supplies have been mobilised, emergency services said.

Rescuers had evacuated people from within a two-kilometre ra-dius of the fire, Turchynov said.

Violations or arsonInterior Ministry official Zoryan Shkiryak said police were investi-gating three possible causes of the fire -- “violations of fuel storage regulations, technical malfunc-tions or arson”.

The owners of the depot, BRSM-Nafta, said in a statement they believed the fire was the re-sult of an arson attack aimed at damaging its business.

Of the 16 fuel tanks affected, eight had a capacity of 900 cubic metres, while the rest were small-er in volume, the emergency min-istry said.

The overall capacity of the de-pot is 25,000 cubic metres. — Reuters

The fire burned

overnight and by

morning had spread

to at least 16 tanks,

most of them storing

petrol. That sent a

pall of black smoke

over the area around

the depot near

Vasylkiv, 30 km from

the capital Kiev

INFERNO: Firefighting trucks are parked near a fuel depot which is on fire near Vasylkiv, Kiev region,

Ukraine, on Tuesday. — Reuters

The bodies of three firemen, unaccounted for after the explosion ripped through the area as they battled the fire, had been found, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said. Two other people died and several others were injured, the emergency services said

Nepal charter deal paves the way for eight provincesKATHMANDU: Nepal’s rival political parties have struck a his-toric agreement to end years of deadlock on a new constitution that will divide the country into eight provinces, spurred by a dev-astating earthquake.

The deal reached late on Mon-day comes weeks after an earth-quake that killed thousands and piled pressure on politicians to end a stalemate that has paralysed the country.

Nepal’s lawmakers began work on a new national constitution in 2008 following a decade-long Maoist insurgency that left an es-timated 16,000 people dead and brought down the monarchy.

But the political parties were unable to reach agreement and the resulting uncertainty left Nepal in a state of political limbo.

Information Minister Minen-dra Rijal said the April 25 disaster, which killed more than 8,700 peo-ple and destroyed nearly half a mil-lion houses, had motivated rival parties to work together.

“There is a will to get this done,” said Rijal, calling the agreement a “major breakthrough”.

The opposition Maoist party had pressed for greater devolution of powers, and the agreement to divide Nepal into eight provinces paves the way for a new federal structure.

However, it leaves the crucial is-sue of the provincial borders unre-solved -- an omission which critics said would create future problems.

The Maoists had been pushing for new provinces to be created along lines that could favour his-torically marginalised commu-nities, but other parties said this would be divisive and a threat to national unity.

“This is an incomplete deal, it’s an agreement which postpones the crucial question entirely,” said Prashant Jha, a Nepali journalist and author.

“Political parties have abdi-cated their responsibility by not hammering out a deal on internal borders. “The constitution that emerges will be a deeply divisive and contested document from day one,” he said.

Under the deal, Nepal will con-tinue with its current system of national governance which in-cludes an executive prime minis-ter and ceremonial president.

A new federal commission will be tasked with drawing up internal borders and submit a proposal for approval in parliament.

The agreement includes a com-mitment to hold the country’s first local elections since 1997.

Many say the absence of village representatives has hampered the distribution of aid following the quake. But victims of the disaster were unimpressed by the political breakthrough. — AFP

I M P E T U S A F T E R D E A D L Y Q U A K E

Information Minister Minendra Rijal said the April 25 disaster, which killed more than 8,700 people and destroyed nearly half a million houses, had motivated rival parties to work together

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

Muscat

6,474.52 + 10.13

+ 0.16%

Dubai

4,113.93+ 97.89

+ 2.44%

Abu Dhabi

4,583.70+ 19.80

+ 0.43%

Saudi Arabia

9,444.56- 87.92

- 0.92%

Kuwait

6,291.08+ 18.28

+ 0.29%

Bahrain

1,368.39+ 3.32

+ 0.24%

Qatar

11,943.50+ 40.42

+ 0.34%

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

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

Euro ............................................ 2.27

Pound ...........................................1.68

Indian Rs .............................165.65

Pak Rs ...................................260.28

Bangla Taka.......................199.28* Rates are as of Jun 9Source: Bank Muscat

Indian Rs .................................. 165.80

Pakistan Rs ............................ 263.25

Sri Lanka Rs ...........................343.75

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

Phil Peso .................................... 116.45

* Rates as of Jun 9 Source: Oman UAE Exchange

Muscat 24ct per gm (OMR) .......15.05

Muscat 22ct per gm (OMR) .......14.50

Dubai 24ct per gm (Dh) ........... 142.00

Dubai 22ct per gm (Dh) ............ 135.00

* Rates as of Jun 9

Source: Malabar Gold & Diamonds

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

Oman Crude ............. (Spot) ......... $61.76

Dubai Crude ............. (Spot) .........$61.36

Murban Crude ........ (Spot) ........$63.69

Arabian Light ......... (Spot) ........$60.96

N.Sea Brent ............... (Spot) .........$64.13

West Texas Int ....... (Spot) .........$59.21

CRUDE OIL PRICE

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Galfar to take arbitration route; share trading to resume todayA E JAMESbusinesseditor@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Share trading of Gal-far Engineering and Contracting Company, Oman’s biggest con-tracting firm, will resume on the Muscat bourse on Wednesday even as the management is trying to take arbitration route to recover OMR45 million fund (which is recognised as revenues in books) from Muscat Municipality.

The Muscat Municipality has offered only OMR29.9 mil-lion as final settlement, against OMR47.4 million receivables in the company’s books.

This is against the company’s

original claim of OMR100 mil-lion for apparent additional cost incurred for building Muscat Ex-pressway and Central Corridor projects for Muscat Municipality few years ago.

Share trading of Galfar was suspended for the last seven days by the stock market regulator due to lack of full details on the com-pany’s compensation offer from Muscat Municipality for these two projects and the amount recog-nised in books.

Galfar said that the compa-ny’s receivables in the books are OMR47.4 million as of March 2015, which excludes retention withheld of OMR7.1 million. The

proposed final settlement of Mus-cat Municipality, which was re-jected by Galfar board last week, is less by OMR16 million than the income recognised. According to Galfar, the company’s board de-cided not to accept the offer made by Muscat Municipality in the in-terest of its shareholders. If Galfar accepts the offer, it has to be rec-ognised in the income statement as a loss. Hatim Shanfari, chair-man of Galfar’s Audit Committee, said that the market regulator has agreed for resuming share trad-ing on Wednesday, after the media briefing on Tuesday.

Galfar hurriedly conducted the media briefing, after market regu-

lator stipulated that the company has to disclose all information re-lated to their claims on these two major projects, which were built for Muscat Municipality.

Shanfari also noted that the ar-bitration has to be carried out with the consent of its client Muscat Municipality. A settlement by way of an arbitration may take time, probably almost a year.

Galfar chief executive officer Dr. Hans Erlings said the original contract value of Muscat Express-way project, which was awarded in June 2005, was OMR131.7 million, while Central Corridor project was awarded at a value of OMR10.99 million in February 2006. > B4

M A R K E T D I S C L O S U R E

Invest Easy to be fully ready by end of year

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADIelham@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: ‘Invest Easy’, a first-of-its-kind e-commercial regis-tration service, is expected to be fully operational by the end of this year, with the aim of elimi-nating paperwork and saving costs and time. The Invest Easy

portal (One Stop Shop) and mo-bile application, which are part of the comprehensive development project for a single window clear-ance, provide a wide range of fast and easy e-services for setting up a company in Oman.

Speaking to Times of Oman, Buthaina Mohammed Saif Al Kindi, head of Commercial Infor-

mation Section at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI), said that the project started in December 2013.

According to her, the project was initiated after an agreement was signed by the MOCI and the Information Technology Author-ity (ITA) with Estonian IT com-pany Nortal, which is supervising the technical implementation of the project and provides consul-tancy services.

She noted that six stages have been defined for the project, which are all expected to be com-pleted by December 2015.

The new CR service, the re-sult of the third milestone in the project, was recently launched officially after going through various test runs and receiving positive feedback from inves-tors and business owners, Al Kindi said.

She said that before the launch of the new CR service, over eight steps were involved in the reg-istration process and many ap-provals were required before reg-istration. > B2

Invest Easy portal

(One Stop Shop) and

mobile application

provide a wide range

of fast and easy

e-services for setting

up a company in the

Sultanate

MAKING A POINT: Galfar’s top-level officials addressing the media

on Tuesday. — Picture by Cio Datan/Times of Oman

Buthaina Mohammed Saif Al

Kindi. — Supplied picture

ELHAM POURMOHAMMADIelham@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Public key infra-structure (PKI) activation is required to use online reg-istration services offered under the Invest Easy initia-tive, according to an official at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Buthaina Mohammed Saif Al Kindi, head of Commercial Information Section at the

MOCI, said that while some services can be accessed without logging in, PKI ac-tivation is required and ad-vised for a secure transmis-sion of the information. She explained that the services can be used by holders of PKI activated e-ID card and ki-osks set up by the Information Technology Authority (ITA) in commercial centres offer the required service. Also, to use the mobile application, a PKI-

enabled SIM Card is needed to access the complete package of services, which can be eas-ily done by referring to mobile service operators.

Salma Al Hajri, founder and chief executive officer of Sal-ma’s Chocolates, welcomed the Invest Easy project, saying that it will help save costs and time.

The current procedure is long, not only at the MOCI but also at other government or-ganisations, she said.

Special e-ID card required to use Invest Easy services

B2

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

Indian central bank’s bid to help lenders recover loansMUMBAI: As India’s central bank rewrites rules to help lend-ers recover loans from defaulting companies, the local unit of Fitch Ratings said the move is fraught with challenges while bankers welcomed the measure.

Under new rules released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) late on Monday, lenders will be allowed to convert loans into equity and take a controlling stake in a stressed company under a so-called stra-tegic debt restructuring plan. The banks will also be allowed to bring in management of their choice to make the company profitable.

RBI governor Raghuram Rajan is seeking ways to clean up lend-ers’ balance sheets as stressed assets, set to surge to the highest level since 2002, threaten to derail an economic recovery. Four of In-dia’s five biggest banks reported an increase in bad loans for the year ended March as policy makers’

efforts to boost investment and growth have yet to bear fruit.

“In the current scenario, this may be too little and a bit late,” said Deep Narayan Mukherjee, a senior director at Fitch’s India Ratings and Research. “Even if the lenders take over the entire equity of the stressed companies, on average its value will be only about an eighth of the outstanding debt. So recov-ery through converting debt into equity may be limited.”

Credit growthPrime Minister Narendra Modi is counting on a revival in credit to accelerate growth in Asia’s third-largest economy after the RBI cut its benchmark interest rate three times this year. Lending increased 10.2 per cent in the 12 months through May 15, RBI data show, rebounding from February’s 8.88 percent, which was the slowest pace since 1994.

Bankers said the RBI’s new rules may provide them a better chance of recovering debt. “These rules will be a deterrent for errant companies considering default,”

said M.S. Raghavan, chairman and managing director of state-run IDBI Bank.

Profitability, measured by the return on assets in the banking

system, fell to 0.81 per cent in the year ended March 2014, the low-est since at least 2007, RBI data show. The increase in stressed as-sets and slowing loan growth may further erode lenders’ earnings power, according to Fitch.

“This is another avenue for ena-bling recovery of stressed assets,” said Pradeep Kumar, managing director at State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender by assets. “This strengthens our hands in ef-forts to recover bad loans.”

Stressed assetsThe lender is focused on improv-ing the asset quality in coming quarters, Kumar said. State Bank of India narrowed its gross bad-loans ratio to 4.25 per cent as of March 31 from 4.9 per cent report-ed in December, exchange filings showed. Stressed assets of Indian lenders will rise to 13 per cent of total advances by March 2016, ac-

cording to Fitch. The ratio was 10.73 per cent as of December, the latest central bank data show.

Crisil Ratings, Standard & Poor’s Indian arm, estimates the sum of total soured loans and re-structured advances that are likely to turn bad will reach an unprec-edented 5.3 trillion rupees ($83 billion) in the same period.

“It may not always be practical for the banks to replace manage-ment of a company and then to oversee the new set of consult-ants or turn around specialists who may try to run the company,” Mukherjee said. “There are many operational challenges in imple-menting this new debt conversion scheme.” - Bloomberg News

D E A L I N G W I T H D E F A U L T E R S

Invest Easy to be simple procedure

“Now the idea of Invest Easy is to separate commercial registration from licensing,” the official said, adding that the project is being implemented in cooperation with a number of government entities.

Participating entities MOCI, the Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry of Environment, the Muscat Municipality, the Ministry of Regional Municipalities, Royal Oman Police (ROP), the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Indus-try (OCCI) and ITA are among the authorities involved in the project, she said.

Al Kindi explained that the Min-istry of Regional Municipalities is part of the project but the initiative currently covers the Muscat Mu-nicipality as they have the same list of activities used by the MOCI.

Main features Asked about the main features of the project, she said that it elimi-nates the need for obtaining pre-approvals and visiting different government organisations.

The second highlight is that the investor no longer has to reserve the name before registration, a process which used to take one or two days, Al Kindi noted, adding that now the investor can read the

policy and check the availability of the name. Another major feature of the project is the fact that capi-tal checking is no longer required before registration. Previously, investors register-ing a company with over a certain amount of capital were being asked to open an account before registra-tion and show the evidence that they have the mentioned amount, Al Kindi said.

Now, they can specify the amount and register and open an account after the registration, she said, adding that through the new service, more control and auditing will be done after the registration.

Capital checking has been one of the main issues raised by the World Bank and the authorities in Oman are seeking to address it and simplify the procedure, she added.

Paying fees The official also said that the fees can now be directly paid through the online procedure without the need to refer to dif-ferent organisations. According to her, with the In-vest Easy project, all the proce-dures can be completed within a single day.

In the remaining stages, some features related to licensing, an-

nual report and updating the company’s information will be in-troduced. In the fourth milestone, which is expected in September, an initiative will be launched for updating the company’s informa-tion, she said.

Licensing, annual report Al Kindi also noted that in later stages, the licensing procedure will be simplified and a feature will become available for submitting annual reports electronically.

She said that a number of en-tities, including the MOCI, the Central Bank of Oman (CBO), Secretariat General for Taxation (SGT) and Capital Market Author-ity (CMA) will be involved in the annual report project and some other authorities will be partici-pating in the licensing initiative. The mobile application will also be upgraded with new features, the official said.

In addition, Faiza Suliman Al Mahrooqi, marketing researcher, at the MOCI, noted that in the One Stop Shop facility, a section has been designated to train and edu-cate people how to use the e-ser-vices. The Invest Easy portal can be accessed at www.investeasy.gov.om and the mobile application can be downloaded.

P O R T A L Gulf, US airlines in a war of words at IATA meeting

MIAMI: Aviation body IATA’s annual meeting got off to a stormy start here with carriers from the Gulf attacking their American counterparts over ‘protectionism’ and the latter attempting to check their rivals’ growth, saying they were doing so with unfair govern-ment backing.

The issue came up for discus-sion at the inaugural session of the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) annual general meeting and World Air Transport Summit here, with Qatar Airways chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker urging the IATA members to support liberal air travel, calling protectionism a ‘threat’ to aviation.

Gulf carriers accused their American counterparts of allow-ing them to fly freely to the United States. Baker read out a statement

calling upon IATA to safeguard the flying freedoms of airlines.

The issue was mentioned in a passing reference by IATA direc-tor general and chief executive officer Tony Tyler who said “it is no secret ...that there is an under-lying tension in our industry.”

“It is often described as a rift between state-owned airlines and those owned wholly or predomi-nantly by private shareholders.

“Others see it in terms of gov-ernment protectionism. Some interpret it as a clash between aviation business friendly coun-tries and those less focused on maximising the economic and social benefits of connectivity,” Tony Tyler said while presenting his annual report.

The matter is of special sig-nificance to India, which is the largest market for Qatar Airways,

Etihad and Emirates, whose joint share of traffic out of India to the US and Europe is estimated to have quadrupled between 2008 and 2014.

Annual profit Meanwhile, the airline industry will post record net income of $29.3 billion this year, up almost 80 per cent from 2014, spurred by a surging US economy and low fuel prices, the IATA estimates.

Middle Eastern airlines, led by Emirates, Qatar Airways and Eti-had Airways, should accrue $1.8 billion, with passenger growth of almost 13 per cent, marking the region out as the only one with double-digit expansion. While all regions will be profitable, the pro-jection, which is $4 billion higher than one issued in December, masks ‘stark’ variations. - Agencies

Gulf airlines attacked

their American

counterparts over

‘protectionism’ and

the latter attempting

to check their rivals’

growth, saying they

were doing so with

government backing

NEW RULES Under new rules,

lenders will be

allowed to convert

loans into equity and

take a controlling

stake in a stressed

company under a so-

called strategic debt

restructuring plan.

The banks will also

be allowed to bring in

management of their

choice to make the

company profitable

Raghuram Rajan. – File photo

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

STORMY SESSION: Gulf carriers accused their American counter-

parts of allowing them to fly freely to the United States. – File photo

< FROM

B1

B3W E D N E S DAY, J U N E 1 0, 2 0 1 5

MARKETHSBC to cut 50,000 global jobs; relocation planned

HONG KONG: HSBC bank said on Tuesday it would cut its global headcount by up to 50,000 as part of a restructuring that entails its withdrawal from Brazil and Tur-key, while it also mulls abandon-ing London as its headquarters.

In a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, it also said it intends to save $5 billion in an-nual costs within two years. The announcement comes ahead of an investor update on Tuesday in which chief executive Stuart Gulliver is expected to announce thousands of job losses.

“HSBC is now undertaking a significant reshaping of its busi-ness portfolio,” the bank, which this year marks its 150th anniver-sary, said.

“It is redeploying resources to capture expected future growth opportunities and adapting to structural changes in the operat-

ing climate,” it added. The state-ment did not mention extensive job cuts, the details of which were buried in an investor up-date report.

That report said there would be a 10 per cent reduction in jobs, with between 22,000 and 25,000 classified under ‘transformation savings’, including streamlining IT projects.

A further 25,000 jobs would be lost with the selling of operations in Turkey and Brazil.

The move is the latest in a series of swinging cuts under Gulliver, who joined at the beginning of 2011. Staff numbers have dropped from 295,000 in 2010 and by 2017 there will be 208,000 remaining.

The statement also said it will aim to save $4.5-$5 billion in an-nual costs by 2017 but would continue to serve large corporate clients in Brazil “with respect to

their international needs”.The bank added that it would

focus more on Asia, particularly the in the Pearl River Delta, and set up a ring-fenced British bank.

It also expects to complete a review of where to locate its head-quarters by the end of this year. Gulliver has said the lender may relocate due to increased Brit-ish regulation and taxation of the banking sector.

Decisive moveFinancial analyst Jackson Wong described Tuesday’s announce-ment as a ‘decisive move’. “It’s a big cut...(but) they haven’t been able to save costs over the past few years,” Wong, associate director for Simsen Financial Group, said.

He added that the bank was likely to relocate its headquarters to Hong Kong, owing to its low tax regime. “The chance is pretty high

for Hong Kong,” he said. But ana-lyst Francis Lun said the cuts may be too severe. “They may have overdone it — if you cut the jobs any further... you cannot get the job done.” Lun also believed Asia would be a friendlier environment for the bank.

“The problem is really with the regulators in Europe and America because they lost big during the financial tsunami so they want to get even with the banks,” said Lun.

“There’s no future for major in-ternational banks in Europe and America, no matter how much money you make or save.” Lun said that the Hong Kong Mone-tary Authority (HKMA), the city’s de facto bank, was more relaxed. “They are not out to get the pound of flesh,” he said.

Swiss prosecutors on Thursday closed an investigation into al-legations HSBC’s Geneva branch

helped clients evade millions of dollars in taxes, after it agreed to pay tens of millions in compensa-tion. The bank agreed to pay out 40 million Swiss francs ($43 million).

Geneva authorities opened the probe in February following the publication of secret documents claiming the bank assisted many wealthy clients in thwarting the taxman. Last year, it was separate-ly fined by US and British regula-tors for attempting to rig foreign exchange markets.

Shares in HSBC were 0.68 per cent higher at HK$74.05 in Hong Hong, compared to a 1 per cent loss for the wider index. - AFP

HSBC bank said there

would be a 10 per

cent reduction in jobs

in its restructuring

programme that

entails withdrawal

from Brazil and

Turkey

Hyundai to reduce costs as sales and profit declineSEOUL: Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors are reducing costs after sales and profit fell at the two Korean carmakers.

Hyundai and Kia are “making ef-forts to cut costs” after first-quar-ter operating profit declined, the carmakers said in a joint e-mail on Tuesday. They didn’t provide spe-cifics on the cuts, or any estimate.

Operating profit at both Hyun-dai and Kia declined for a fourth consecutive quarter in the three months ended on March 31. The Seoul-based automakers have posted declining vehicle sales as unfavorable currency-exchange rates undermine their ability to compete against the likes of Ja-pan’s Toyota Motor.

“The first thing they can cut would probably be costs related to sales, marketing and advertise-ment,” said Shin Chung Kwan, an analyst at KB Investment . “The current situation, and their efforts to cut costs, will also give them the power to have a say when nego-tiating terms for other costs that can be incurred, such as auto-part prices and workers’ wages.”

The JoongAng Ilbo newspa-per reported earlier that Hyundai Motor is seeking to cut costs by 30 percent, citing an unidentified senior executive.

Hyundai rose as much as 2.2 per cent to 137,500 won and traded at 135,500 won in Seoul. Kia gained 0.7 per cent, while South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index advanced 0.1 per cent. Hyundai’s shares have dropped 20 per cent this year, in contrast to the 7.9 per cent gain in the Kospi. - Bloomberg News

AUTOMOT IVE

Qatar Airways chief aims to buy stakes in more airlinesATLANTA: Qatar Airways, al-ready one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines, is looking to build its global presence by buy-ing up stakes in other airlines.

Akbar Al Baker, chief executive of the Doha-based carrier, said he’s interested in taking more eq-uity in airlines. While he wouldn’t disclose any targets or say how big a stake Qatar would take, any such position would be bigger than 5 per cent or other minimal stake, he said.

Qatar already owns 10 per cent of International Consolidated Airlines, and he has said he would like to purchase more of the Brit-ish Airways parent.

Making additional investments in other carriers would match Gulf competitor Etihad Airways, which has purchased major stakes in Italy’s Alitalia, Air Ber-lin and India’s Jet Airways.

“We are open to equity invest-ments if it is in the best interests of Qatar Airways for our growth plans,” Al Baker said on the side-

lines of the annual meeting of the International Air Transport As-sociation in Miami. “We don’t go and just do 5 percent. We would always take a bigger share.”

Al Baker made news on Mon-day by calling on Internation-al Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents airlines globally, to take a position on the face-off between major U.S. air-lines and his airline, Etihad and Emirates. The United States car-

riers have accused those three Gulf carriers of receiving more than $42 billion in government subsidies and other benefits in vi-olation of fair-competition rules in air agreements with the US.

Acquisition plansDespite concerns that Qatar is unfairly growing too rapidly in the US, Al Baker said Qatar has no plans to grow beyond its seven current US cities, three new mar-kets in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Boston, and eventually Detroit.

Regarding acquisition plans, Al Baker said in March 2014 that he was reviving Qatar Airways’ investment strategy after being offered stakes in carriers includ-ing Alitalia.

He disclosed his goal in an in-terview without saying where he was focused. In November, he dismissed speculation that Qatar Airways was interested in acquir-ing a holding in Vietnam Airlines.

In January, IAG disclosed the Qatar Airways stake. - Bloomberg News

AV IAT I ON

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

AT A GLANCE HSBC said it intends to save $5 billion in annual costs

within two years

Nearly 25,000 jobs will be cut with the selling of

operations in Turkey and Brazil

Staff numbers have dropped from 295,000 in 2010

and by 2017, there will be 208,000 remaining

Bank will aim to save $4.5-$5b in annual costs by 2017

but would continue to serve large corporates in Brazil

The bank mulls abandoning London as its headquarters

due to increased British regulation and taxation of the

banking sector

Akbar Al Baker. – Reuters

B4

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

Stay ahead of the curve with

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MUSCATSECURITIES MARKET

SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR TUESDAY, JUNE 9

REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................OM0000002374............UNITED FINANCE ..................................................... 246,019 ........... 36,083..................... 27 ............0.147 ........... 0.149 ...........0.146 ............0.147 ............. 0.142 ........... 0.005 ............. 3.521 ................0.146 .............. 0.146...................0.147 ...................45,682,446 .........0.100OM0000004248 ...........SMN POWER HOLDING ............................................74,525 ............ 50,975......................16 ........... 0.684 ........... 0.684 ...........0.684........... 0.684 .............0.664 ........... 0.020 ............. 3.012 ................0.684 ..............0.684...................0.000 .................136,550,750 ........0.100OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES ......................... 777,505..........106,943......................51 ............0.136 ........... 0.139 ...........0.136 ............0.138 ............. 0.135 ............ 0.003 .............2.222 ................0.137 .............. 0.137...................0.139 .................... 8,120,364 ..........0.100OM0000004735 ...........SEMBCORP SALALAH ................................................20,676 .............54,732......................12 ........... 2.625 ........... 2.655 ...........2.625 ........... 2.645 .............2.590 ............0.055 ............. 2.124 ................2.650 ..............2.650...................2.655 ..................252,484,281 .......1.000OM0000004669 ...........SHARQIYAH DESALINATION .................................. 3,700 ............. 13,610........................7 ............3.650 ........... 3.750 ...........3.650 ........... 3.680 ............. 3.610 .............0.070 ............. 1.939 ................3.750 .............. 3.750...................3.800 .................. 35,991,195 .........1.000OM0000001681 ............OMAN AND EMIRATES INV. HOLDING ........... 499,410 ........... 55,828.....................40 ............0.111 ........... 0.112............ 0.111 ............0.112 ............. 0.110 ............ 0.002 ..............1.818................. 0.111 ...............0.111................... 0.112 ...................13,650,000 .........0.100OM0000003125 ............GLOBAL FINANCIAL INVESTMENT ................ 369,000 ........... 44,137..................... 20 ............0.119 ........... 0.120 ........... 0.119 ........... 0.120 ............. 0.118 ............ 0.002 ............. 1.695 ................ 0.119 .............. 0.119...................0.120 .................. 24,000,000 ........0.100OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE .............. 302,500 ............73,013..................... 24 ........... 0.237 ...........0.242 ...........0.237 ........... 0.241 .............0.238 ........... 0.003 ............. 1.261.................0.241 ..............0.239...................0.242 ................. 48,200,000 ........0.100OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL ...............................................25,367 ...............2,237........................8 ........... 0.088 ........... 0.089 ...........0.087 ........... 0.088 .............0.087 ............0.001 ............. 1.149.................0.087 ..............0.087...................0.088...................15,400,000 .........0.100OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING ........... 454,489 ............62,511..................... 32 ............0.137 ........... 0.138 ...........0.136 ............0.138 ............. 0.137 .............0.001 ............. 0.730 ................0.137 .............. 0.136...................0.137 ...................12,420,000 .........0.100OM0000003281 ............TAAGEER FINANCE .................................................. 20,000 ...............2,860........................ 1 ............0.143 ........... 0.143 ...........0.143 ........... 0.143 ............. 0.142 ............0.001 ............. 0.704 ................0.143 .............. 0.143...................0.156 ...................36,263,370 .........0.100OM0000001707 ............OMAN CABLES INDUSTRY ...................................... 14,739 ............ 32,352........................4 ............2.195 ........... 2.195 ...........2.195 ............2.195 .............2.180 ............0.015 ............. 0.688 ................2.195 ............. 0.000...................2.195 ..................196,891,500 ........0.100OM0000001160 ............NATIONAL GAS ................................................................7,435 .............. 2,920........................2 ........... 0.394 ...........0.394 ...........0.390........... 0.392 .............0.390 ........... 0.002 ............. 0.513 ................0.390..............0.390...................0.400 ..................19,600,000 .........0.100OM0000003661 ............VOLTAMP ENERGY ..................................................... 18,834 ............... 7,647......................11 ........... 0.406 ...........0.406 ...........0.406........... 0.406 .............0.404 ........... 0.002 ............. 0.495 ................0.406..............0.406...................0.420 ..................24,563,000.........0.100OM0000004925 ...........AL BATINAH POWER ................................................ 1,396,185 ...... 289,010........................9 ........... 0.207 ...........0.207 ...........0.207........... 0.207 .............0.206 ............0.001 ............. 0.485 ................0.207..............0.207...................0.209 ................. 139,701,698 ........0.100OM0000001533 ............OMINVEST ...................................................................... 51,784 ............ 24,856......................18 ........... 0.480 ...........0.480 ...........0.480........... 0.480 .............0.478 ........... 0.002 ............. 0.418 ................0.480..............0.480...................0.484 .................177,800,304 ........0.100OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ........................ 144,140 ......... 247,675......................19 ............1.675 ........... 1.720 ...........1.675 ............1.720 ............. 1.715 ............ 0.005 ............. 0.292 ................1.720 .............. 1.720................... 1.730 ................1,290,000,000 ......0.100OM0000001145 ............PORT SERVICES CORPORATION ...........................3,000 ..................600........................ 1 ........... 0.200 ...........0.200 ...........0.200 ...........0.215 ............. 0.215............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.200 ............ 0.206...................0.215 ...................20,433,600 .........0.100OM0000001319 ............NATIONAL ALUMINIUM PRODUCTS ................. 1,600 ..................448........................ 1 ........... 0.280 ...........0.280 ...........0.280 .......... 0.280 .............0.280 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.280..............0.270...................0.280 ...................9,400,006 ..........0.100OM0000001418 ............RAYSUT CEMENT ........................................................18,000 ............ 27,990........................6 ............1.555 ........... 1.555............1.555 ............1.555 ............. 1.555 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.555 ............. 0.000................... 1.555 ..................311,000,000 ........0.100OM0000001483 ............NATIONAL BANK OF OMAN ................................. 172,000 ........... 56,028........................2 ........... 0.326 ........... 0.326 ...........0.324........... 0.326 .............0.326 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.324..............0.324...................0.326 .................437,071,542 ........0.100OM0000001517 ............HSBC BANK OMAN ...................................................... 51,107 ............... 6,747........................9 ............0.132 ........... 0.133 ...........0.132 ........... 0.132 ............. 0.132............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.133 .............. 0.133...................0.136 ................. 264,041,288 .......0.100OM0000001962 ............AL MADINA INVESTMENT ................................... 723,313 ............ 56,648..................... 26 ........... 0.078 ........... 0.079 ...........0.078 ........... 0.078 .............0.078 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.078 ..............0.078...................0.079................... 16,157,808 .........0.100OM0000002200 ...........AHLI BANK .................................................................... 121,876 ............ 25,594........................5 ............0.210 ........... 0.210 ...........0.210 ........... 0.210 .............0.210 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.210 ..............0.190...................0.210 ..................299,257,590 ........0.100OM0000002226 ...........AL JAZEERA SERVICES ............................................10,000 ...............3,644........................2 ........... 0.364 ........... 0.368 ...........0.364........... 0.364 .............0.364 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.368 ..............0.366...................0.370...................22,278,355 .........0.100OM0000002549 ...........BANK DHOFAR ............................................................ 328,508 ............91,982........................6 ........... 0.280 ...........0.280 ...........0.280 .......... 0.280 .............0.280 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.280..............0.275...................0.284 .................432,523,993 .......0.100OM0000002614 ............ONIC. HOLDING .............................................................. 5,000 ...............2,370........................2 ............0.474 ........... 0.474 ...........0.474 ........... 0.472 .............0.472 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.474 ..............0.470...................0.486................... 81,855,774 .........0.100OM0000003141 ............ACWA POWER BARKA ................................................. 1,000 .................. 836........................ 1 ........... 0.836 ........... 0.836 ...........0.836 ........... 0.836 .............0.836 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.836 ..............0.836...................0.840 .................133,760,000 ........0.100OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES ......................................... 3,600 ............... 1,148........................2 ........... 0.320 ...........0.320 ...........0.318 ........... 0.324 .............0.324 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.318 .............. 0.318...................0.320 ..................91,398,603 .........0.100OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 1,108,700 ...... 210,653..................... 22 ............0.190 ........... 0.190 ...........0.190 ........... 0.190 ............. 0.190 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.190 .............. 0.187...................0.192 ..................273,873,600........0.100OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO....................................................................... 201,846 ..........159,153......................13 ............0.788 ........... 0.792 ...........0.784 ........... 0.788 ............. 0.788............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.788 ..............0.784...................0.788 ..................512,944,053........0.100OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS .................................................. 35,774 .............18,684........................5 ........... 0.522 ........... 0.524 ...........0.522........... 0.522 .............0.522 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.522..............0.524...................0.528...................27,405,000 .........0.100OM0000003000 ...........ALMAHA PETROLEUM PRODUCTS MAR. ..... 291,744 ..........638,963..................... 23 ............2.190 ........... 2.195 ...........2.190 ........... 2.190 ............. 2.195............-0.005 ........... -0.228 ...............2.195 ............. 0.000...................2.195 .................. 151,110,000 ........0.100OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 589,100 .........323,907..................... 48 ........... 0.550 ........... 0.550 ...........0.548........... 0.550 .............0.552 ...........-0.002 ........... -0.362 ...............0.550 ..............0.548...................0.550................1,260,502,428 ......0.100OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 301,700 ........... 75,254..................... 30 ........... 0.250 ...........0.250 ...........0.248........... 0.249 .............0.250 ...........-0.001 ........... -0.400 ...............0.248..............0.248...................0.250 ..................32,494,500.........0.100OM0000003711 ............SOHAR POWER .............................................................. 13,100 ...............4,952........................ 1 ........... 0.378 ........... 0.378 ...........0.378 ........... 0.378 .............0.380 ...........-0.002 ........... -0.526 ...............0.378 ..............0.374...................0.380 .................. 83,541,780 .........0.100OM0000004933 ...........AL SUWADI POWER .................................................. 1,416,024 ...... 291,749........................8 ........... 0.207 ...........0.207 ...........0.206 .......... 0.206 .............0.208 ...........-0.002 ........... -0.962 ...............0.206............. 0.206...................0.208 ................. 147,167,706 ........0.100OM0000002366 ...........AL BATINAH DEV. INV. HOLDING ........................68,500 ...............8,644........................6 ............0.130 ........... 0.130 ...........0.126 ........... 0.126 ............. 0.128............-0.002 ............-1.563................0.126 ..............0.126...................0.128 .................... 3,780,000 ..........0.100OM0000002028 ...........GULF INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS ............. 25,000 ...............5,800........................2 ........... 0.232 ........... 0.232 ...........0.232........... 0.232 .............0.237 ...........-0.005 ............-2.110 ................0.232..............0.233...................0.238....................4,872,000 ..........0.100.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 9,916,800 ........3,119,183 ...............522 ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ TRADED SEC. ......39........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

PARALLEL MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000001590 ............MUSCAT FINANCE ......................................................96,400 ............ 14,242........................3 ............0.144 ........... 0.148 ...........0.144 ........... 0.148 ............. 0.142 ........... 0.006 ............. 4.225 ................0.148 .............. 0.148...................0.150 ................... 37,239,534 .........0.100OM0000001566 ............OMAN FISHERIES .......................................................33,566 ............... 1,886........................8 ........... 0.057 ........... 0.057 ...........0.055 ........... 0.056 .............0.055 ............0.001 ..............1.818.................0.057 ..............0.057...................0.058....................7,000,000 ..........0.100OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ..................................................................78,945 ............... 5,951......................13 ........... 0.076 ........... 0.076 ...........0.074 ........... 0.075 .............0.074 ............0.001 ..............1.351 .................0.075 ..............0.074...................0.075 ..................112,500,000 ........0.100OM0000001368 ............CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IND. ....................92,876 ............... 3,810........................7 ............0.041 ...........0.042 ...........0.041 ........... 0.041 ............. 0.041 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.042..............0.041...................0.042 ...................3,485,000 ..........0.100OM0000002564 ...........AL HASSAN ENGINEERING....................................47,000 ...............4,653........................6 ........... 0.099 ........... 0.099 ...........0.099........... 0.099 .............0.099 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.099 ..............0.099................... 0.101 .................... 7,445,592 ..........0.100.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 348,787 ........... 30,542..................... 37 ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ TRADED SEC. ........ 5........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

BONDS MARKET ........................................................................................................................................................................................ OM0000003810 ............BANK MUSCAT SUBORDINATED BONDS ..........2,200 ...............2,310........................ 1 ............1.050 ........... 1.050 ...........1.050 ........... 1.050 ............. 1.050............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................1.050 .............. 1.050...................1.060 ...................78,750,000 .........1.000.............................................SUM: ......................................................................................2,200 ...............2,310........................ 1 ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ TRADED SEC. .........1........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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 ....................................... 6,475.26 ...............6,467.27 ................... 6,474.52 ...................6,464.39 .................. 10.13 ................... 0.16Financial Index ..................................... 7,865.73 ............... 7,841.70 ................... 7,860.99 ................... 7,841.53 ..................19.46 ................... 0.25Industrial Index ....................................8,336.76 .............. 8,326.67 ................... 8,336.76 ...................8,326.67 ..................10.09 ................... 0.12Services Index ........................................3,517.12 .............. 3,502.92 ....................3,517.09 ....................3,497.19 ..................19.90 ................... 0.57MSM SHARIAH INDEX....................... 998.15 ..................996.55 ...................... 998.08 ...................... 996.56 .................... 1.52 ................... 0.15

Trading SummaryVolume ................ Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up ............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded10,267,787 ...................3,152,035 .....................560 ............... 14,972,745,142 ................20 ........................7 .................... 18 .........................45

MSM index ends higher

MUSCAT: Oman’s main index, MSM30 Index, gained 0.16 per cent to end the day at 6,474.52 points. The MSM Shariah Index closed at 998.08 points, up by 0.15 per cent. Al Suwadi Power was the most active stock in terms of volume, while Al Maha Petrole-um was the most active in terms of turnover. Muscat Finance was the top gainer for the day and closed up by 4.23 per cent while Gulf International Chemicals, down by 2.11 per cent, was the top loser for the day.

As many as 560 trades were executed generating turnover of OMR3.15 million with over 10.26 million shares changing hands. Out of 45 traded securities, 20 advanced, seven fell and 18 were unchanged. GCC and Arab Investors were net buyers for OMR185,000 followed by Omani investors for OMR163,000 while foreign investors were net sellers for OMR348,000 worth of shares.

Financial Index closed at 7,860.99 points, up by 0.25 per cent. Muscat Finance, United Fi-nance, Gulf Investment Services, Oman & Emirates Holding and Global Finance & Investment increased 4.23 per cent, 3.52 per cent, 2.22 per cent, 1.82 per cent and 1.69 per cent, respectively. Al Batinah Development, Al Anwar Holding and Bank Muscat de-clined 1.56 per cent, 0.40 per cent and 0.36 per cent, respectively.

Industrial Index posted gains of 0.12 per cent to close at 8,336.76 points. Oman Fisheries,

Oman Cables and Voltamp En-ergy gained 1.82 per cent, 0.69 per cent and 0.50 per cent, respec-tively. Gulf International Chemi-cals, down by 2.11 per cent, was the only sector loser.

Services Sector Index con-tinued its run of gains to close at 3,517.09 points, up by 0.57 per cent. SMN Power, Sembcorp Salalah, Sharqiyah Desalina-tion, OIFC and National Gas in-creased by 3.01 per cent, 2.12 per cent, 1.94 per cent, 1.26 per cent and 0.51 per cent, respectively. Al Suwadi Power, Sohar Power and Al Maha Petroleum declined 0.96 per cent, 0.53 per cent and 0.23 per cent, respectively.

Emerging stocks fallEmerging-market stocks fell for a 12th day in the longest slump since 1990 as concerns deepened that higher US interest rates will curb demand for riskier assets.

MSCI Emerging Markets In-dex slid 0.5 per cent to 972.66 at 2:38pm in London, taking its loss since May 22 to 6.3 per cent. Stocks have slumped as a string of data signalled that the US econo-my may be able to withstand its first interest-rate increase since 2006. MSCI developing-nation measure has risen 1.7 per cent this year and trades at 11.8 times 12-month projected earnings, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The MSCI World Index has climbed 2.5 per cent in 2015 and is valued at a multiple of 16.4. — United Securities/Bloomberg News

Muscat Finance was the top gainer for the

day and closed up by 4.23 per cent, while Gulf

International Chemicals, down by 2.11 per

cent, was the top loser of the day

JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ*

EUROPEAN Union leaders continue to play a game of brinkmanship with

the Greek government. Greece has met its creditors’ demands far more than halfway. Yet Ger-many and Greece’s other credi-tors continue to demand that the country sign on to a programme that has proven to be a failure, and that few economists ever thought could, would, or should be implemented.

The swing in Greece’s fiscal position from a large primary deficit to a surplus was almost unprecedented, but the demand that the country achieve a primary surplus of 4.5 per cent of GDP was unconscionable. Unfortunately, at the time that the “troika” — the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the Interna-tional Monetary Fund — first included this irresponsible demand in the international financial programme for Greece, the country’s authorities had no choice but to accede to it.

The folly of continuing to pur-sue this programme is particu-larly acute now, given the 25 per cent decline in GDP that Greece has endured since the beginning of the crisis. The troika badly misjudged the macroeconomic effects of the programme that they imposed. According to their published forecasts, they

believed that, by cutting wages and accepting other austerity measures, Greek exports would increase and the economy would quickly return to growth. They also believed that the first debt restructuring would lead to debt sustainability.

The troika’s forecasts have been wrong, and repeatedly so. And not by a little, but by an enormous amount. Greece’s voters were right to demand a change in course, and their gov-ernment is right to refuse to sign on to a deeply flawed program.

Having said that, there is room for a deal: Greece has made clear its willingness to engage in continued reforms, and has welcomed Europe’s help in implementing some of them. A dose of reality on the part of Greece’s creditors — about what is achievable, and about the macroeconomic consequences of different fiscal and structural reforms — could provide the basis of an agreement that would be good not only for Greece, but for all of Europe.

Some in Europe, especially in Germany, seem nonchalant about a Greek exit from the eurozone. The market has, they claim, already “priced in” such a rupture. Some even suggest that it would be good for the mon-etary union.

I believe that such views significantly underestimate both the current and future risks

involved. A similar degree of complacency was evident in the United States before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in Septem-ber 2008. The fragility of Amer-ica’s banks had been known for a long time — at least since the bankruptcy of Bear Stearns the previous March. Yet, given the lack of transparency (owing in part to weak regulation), both markets and policymakers did not fully appreciate the linkages among financial institutions.

Indeed, the world’s finan-cial system is still feeling the aftershocks of the Lehman collapse. And banks remain non-transparent, and thus at risk. We still don’t know the full extent of linkages among financial institu-tions, including those arising from non-transparent deriva-tives and credit default swaps.

In Europe, we can already see some of the consequences of inadequate regulation and the flawed design of the EU itself. We know that the structure of the EU encourages divergence, not convergence: as capital and talented people leave crisis-hit economies, these countries become less able to repay their debts. As markets grasp that a vi-cious downward spiral is struc-turally embedded in the euro, the consequences for the next crisis become profound. And another crisis in inevitable: it is in the very nature of capitalism.

ECB President Mario Draghi’s

confidence trick, in the form of his declaration in 2012 that the monetary authorities would do “whatever it takes” to preserve the euro, has worked so far. But the knowledge that the euro is not a binding commitment among its members will make it far less likely to work the next time. Bond yields could spike, and no amount of reassurance by the ECB and Europe’s lead-ers would suffice to bring them down from stratospheric levels, because the world now knows that they will not do “whatever it takes.” As the example of Greece has shown, they will do only what short-sighted electoral politics demands. The most important consequence, I fear, is the weakening of European soli-darity. The euro was supposed to strengthen it. Instead, it has had the opposite effect.

It is not in the interest of Europe — or the world — to have a country on Europe’s periphery alienated from its neighbors, es-pecially now, when geopolitical instability is already so evident. The neighboring Middle East is in turmoil; the West is attempt-ing to contain a newly aggressive Russia; and China, already the world’s largest source of savings, the largest trading country, and the largest overall economy (in terms of purchasing power parity), is confronting the West with new economic and strategic realities. This is no time for

European disunion.Europe’s leaders viewed them-

selves as visionaries when they created the euro. They thought they were looking beyond the short-term demands that usually preoccupy political leaders.

Unfortunately, their un-derstanding of economics fell short of their ambition; and the politics of the moment did not permit the creation of the insti-tutional framework that might have enabled the euro to work as intended. Although the single currency was supposed to bring unprecedented prosperity, it is difficult to detect a significant positive effect for the eurozone as a whole in the period before the crisis. In the period since, the adverse effects have been enormous. The future of Europe and the euro now depends on whether the eurozone’s political leaders can combine a modicum of economic understanding with a visionary sense of, and concern for, European solidarity. We are likely to begin finding out the an-swer to that existential question in the next few weeks.

— Project Syndicate

* The author, a Nobel laureate in economics and University Pro-fessor at Columbia University, was chairman of President Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers and served as senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank.

A dose of reality by Greece’s creditors will help clinch the vital dealC O M M E N T A R Y

Indian stocks retreat; rupee appreciatesMUMBAI: Most Indian stocks fell, with the benchmark index capping its longest losing streak in two months, as Sun Pharma-ceutical Industries paced de-clines among its peers.

Sun, Cipla and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories., three of India’s four biggest health-care com-panies by value, were the worst performers on the S&P BSE Sensex. Wipro, a software ex-porter, slid 2.1 per cent and Bharti Airtel, the largest cell-phone carrier, fell for a fourth day. Hindalco Industries, an aluminium maker, climbed for the first time in 13 days.

About three shares dropped for every two that rose on the Sensex, which fell 0.2 per cent to 26,481.25 at the close after changing direction at least 20 times. The gauge has declined on all days since June 2 after India’s central bank linked further cuts in interest rates to the monsoon. The losses have brought the market “very close to the bottom,” said Brah-maprakash Singh, chief in-vestment officer of equities at Pramerica Asset Managers.

Rupee ends higher The rupee ended higher by 16 paise to 63.92 against the Amer-ican currency on fresh selling of dollars by banks and exporters due to weakness of dollar in the overseas market.

The rupee resumed higher at 63.97 per dollar as against the last closing level of 64.08 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market and hovered in a range of 63.8625 per dollar and 64.01 per dollar before concluding at 63.92 per dollar, disclosing a gain of 16 paise or 0.25 per cent.

The rupee had dropped by 33 paise or 0.52 per cent on Monday.

Fresh selling of dollars by banks and exporters in view of lower dollar in the overseas market mainly boosted the ru-pee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said. — Agencies

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

Muscat Expressway

completed in phases

The Muscat Expressway pro-ject was completed in different phases between January, 2009 and April, 2012, while Central Corridor was ready in January, 2008. The expressway project was subject to a number of sub-stantial variations, redesigning and additional works, according to the company.

The Central Corridor project

saw significant changes between the design concept in the con-tract and the final design, which caused additional time and cost.

Accoring to the management, its current projects are on track and it is not facing similar kind of issues in the Batinah Express-way project or in any other pro-jects. Galfar’s order book position stands at OMR650 million now.

G A L F A R C L A R I F I C A T I O N

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Mars set to open its 14th outlet in Ibra on June 12

MUSCAT: Mars International, one of the leading retail giants of the Sultanate, is going to unveil its 14th outlet in Ibra on Friday, June 12 at 5.30pm.

Sheikh Saqar bin Sultan bin Mo-hammed Al Shukaili, wali of Ibra, will officially inaugurate and dedi-

cate the hypermarket to the popu-lace of Ibra, says a press release.

The outlet is offering a big and rich shopping experience to the public as the hypermarket will showcase the best quality products available in the Sultanate with a wide variety of sections compris-ing FMCG products, electronics, IT products, stationery, etc. The products arranged in three floors ensure the customers get a delight-ful shopping experience.

Mars have always been revamp-ing the structure of retail service

process to create a unique and cus-tomer friendly facility. With the opening of its new branch at Ibra the group extends its length and breadth to the rural areas of Oman contributing to the overall devel-opment of Oman.

Hassle free shoppingThe quality of service is designed in such a way as to provide a has-sle free shopping environment to its customers.

“We believe our stakeholders and they have been a great impulse

to the overall success of Mars Group as one among the largest retail giant in the Sultanate. We have always been keen in creating new job opportunities to the na-tionals as well. With the opening of a full-fledged hypermarket, we aim to provide a unique shopping experience to the populace of Ibra region,” said V. T. Vinod, managing director, Mars International.

“Mars Hypermarket Ibra up-holds the highest levels of quality, value and diversity to provide one of the unique shopping experi-ences to its customers. We have adapted to the needs of the local market with international service quality. The customers at Mars en-joy a unique shopping experience which is hard-to-be found in any other place. The group has initi-ated many CSR activities which are beneficial for all the sectors of the society. We assure the people of Ibra with quality retail service,” remarked Naveej Vinod, execu-tive director, Mars International Group while talking to the media.

With the opening of

its new branch at Ibra

the group extends its

length and breadth

to the rural areas of

Oman contributing

to the overall

development of Oman

Hyundai's new app connects Africa, ME customersMUSCAT: Hyundai Motor Com-pany has announced that Africa and Middle East will be the first regions to launch Hyundai Service Guide, a new application which enables customers to gain fast and easy access to one of the world’s biggest automotive manufactur-er’s services on the go.

Once downloaded via the Play Store or App Store, the Service Guide App allows users to take ad-vantage of a whole host of helpful services at the touch of a button, says a press release.

Always one step ahead of the competitors, Hyundai’s app is one of the only automotive brands to offer a test drive booking facility

and alert users of required vehicle checks whilst providing up to date model information.

Additional offersAdditional offerings include dealer location services, road side assistance, direct service centre contact and an owner’s manual in addition to enabling optimised management of vehicles through a maintenance function.

Customer serviceAvailable now on Android and iOS in 14 Africa and Middle East mar-kets, the new application highlights Hyundai’s ongoing commitment to enhancing its customer-oriented

services and to launching state-of-the-art technologies for stability and the ultimate driving experience.

Accessible“The Hyundai Service Guide ap-plication makes our brand more accessible by connecting our customers to the services which Hyundai offers. It also brings us one step closer to our goal of be-coming one of the world’s most beloved brands as we continue to offer technologically advanced services and systems which appeal to a discerning customer base,” said Jin (James) Kim, vice-pres-ident and head of Hyundai Africa and Middle East.

S E R V I C E G U I D E A P P L I C A T I O N

SOUTH INDIAN ACTRESS ROSE INAUGURATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS OF SKY JEWELLERY The 10th anniversary celebration of Sky Jewellery was inaugurated by Honey Rose,

Malayalam film actress and Babu John, chairman, Sky Jewellery. Also present on the

occasion were Maraya Neel Akash, Akash John, Daisy Babu John, Sangeetha Arun, Arun

John, Cyriac Varghese, Naleef Faharuddin, Lyns Amith and Amith John. — O. K. Mohammed Ali/

TIMES OF OMAN

Bank Muscat launches attractive Sayyarati Ramadan campaignMUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the flagship financial services pro-vider in the Sultanate, has launched an attractive Sayyarati auto finance campaign coincid-ing with the approaching Rama-dan sales season.

The feature-rich Sayyarati auto finance is available at low in-terest rates starting from 3.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent on a reducing basis which is equivalent to 1.91 per cent to 2.41 per cent on a flat basis. The Sayyarati Ramadan package includes financing up to 8 years for new and used vehicles, the lowest monthly payment op-tion, on-the-spot approvals and motor insurance funding with the lowest monthly payment in the market, says a press release.

Customers are also not re-quired to furnish post-dated cheques, making Sayyarati the easy, convenient and completely hassle-free way to own a new car. Notably, Sayyarati finance can be obtained from any of the 140 Bank Muscat branches spread across Oman.

This offer comes as a boon for newly recruited employees in government and quasi-govern-ment sector who can avail the auto finance if they have been employed for one month and three months in the case of em-ployees of approved private sec-tor companies.

Sayyarati is the preferred auto finance facility in Oman for both citizens and expatriates, unique in all aspects with unparalleled benefits. The Ramadan offer in-cludes various unique benefits, making it quicker, easier and more affordable to own one’s dream vehicle. The Sayyarati Centre at Wattayah will be open for customers from 8pm to 11:30pm during the Holy Month of Ramadan, giving customers an opportunity to apply for financ-ing their vehicles in the shortest possible time.

Due to strong partnership with leading auto dealers, Sayyarati significantly enhances the value proposition offered to custom-ers, including motor insurance at low premium through the bancassurance channel of Bank Muscat. Post-dated cheques are not required and payment instalments are automatically debited from customer account on a monthly basis. Customers can visit any auto dealership or Bank Muscat branches to avail Sayyarati auto finance offered to citizens and residents.

Oman is home to the world’s best known auto brands. By en-couraging people to buy top qual-ity vehicles, Bank Muscat reit-erates its commitment to road safety, thereby spreading safety and happiness in Oman.

A U T O F I N A N C E

Due to strong partnership with leading auto dealers, Sayyarati auto finance significantly enhances the value proposition offered to customers, including motor insurance at low premium through the bancassurance channel of Bank Muscat

Best performing companies of 2014 to be rewarded todayMUSCAT: The names of the best performing companies in Oman are going to be unveiled today in the highly anticipated AIWA Awards for Best Per-forming Companies.

The winners have been selected and this year’s AIWA Awards are going to throw up a number of surprises with many new names walking away with the coveted tro-phy in a glittering ceremony. The companies that performed best on a defined set of growth and ef-ficiency parameters have emerged on top, says a press release.

High profile eventAIWA Awards for Best Perform-ing Companies, the most high profile event of its kind, is target-ed primarily at the top echelons of the business community in the Sultanate. The AIWA Awards are instituted by Alam al-Iktisaad Wal A’mal (AIWA), Oman’s lead-ing Arabic business magazine. The event will be held under the head of Nasser bin Khamis Al Jashmi, undersecretary at the

Ministry of Finance. United Me-dia Services (UMS) is organis-ing the AIWA Awards for Best Performing Companies, from 7pm onwards today. In a red car-pet awards evening at Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa, AIWA will felicitate the top performing listed companies in Oman during 2014.

Maserati is the presenting sponsor whereas Shell Oman Marketing, Voltamp and ACWA Power Barka are the supporting partners. National Aluminium Products is the official alumini-um extruder for the event. Gulf Baader Capital Markets (GBCM) is the knowledge partner whereas KPMG is the validation partner for the ranking process used for the awards. Times of Oman and Al Shabiba are the media partners and Ruwi Modern Printers is the print partner.

Fifth editionThe premium event, with a sit-in dinner, will attract more than 250 top business leaders, CEOs and

senior government officials from a cross-section of industries, ministries and government bod-ies. This year marks the fifth edi-tion of the AIWA Awards.

Setting up new benchmarks in the industry, corporates in Oman will be felicitated based on a highly qualitative performance survey done in a transparent manner as per the best inter-national standards. Forty-four companies have been shortlisted for the awards. Finally, 15 top ranking companies will receive the coveted trophy.

Furthermore, achievements that go beyond the balance sheet will be recognised through spe-cial awards including Lifetime Achievement, CEO of the Year, Most Outstanding Corporate Leader, Manufacturer of the Year, Most Promising Islamic Insurance Company of the Year, Best Transformation Leader, Excellence in Exports Perfor-mance, Most Outstanding Entre-preneur and Maserati Pinnacle of Performance.

A I W A A W A R D S

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

ROUND-UPToyota offers exciting ‘extra large benefits’

MUSCAT: Toyota, one of the most trusted and well-known brands in Oman, is now offering ‘Extra large benefits’! Extra large happiness!

“The biggest excitement has re-turned. This is the best time ever to go for the Toyota one has been thinking of. The time is right,” said a spokesperson.

“Now, I am going to make the most of the offer from Toyota. I am glad that I waited for it. It is worth it,” added a Toyota enthusiast.

Indeed, the Toyota offer is extra large in its scope and ambit, as the spokesperson explains, “The extra large offer is about Toyota vehicles now being available with a host of exciting model-specific benefits. These include a service package for up to three years/30,000km service (whichever is earlier) cov-ering three services at 10,000km service interval for petrol models based on normal operating condi-tions and six services at 5000km service interval for diesel mod-els, insurance for one year (Oman only), 1st year of registration and 1,000 litres of fuel.

In lieu of the above, customers can choose to avail of the cash gift up to OMR1,000. These benefits are model specific and may vary accordingly, says a press release.

To top it all, every Toyota cus-tomer gets a gift voucher and a chance to take part in an amazing raffle which has 9 units of 16YM Camry GL Executive to be won.

“With so many cars, imagine how high the chances of winning would be! In fact, the earlier one buys and enters the raffle, the more are the chances of winning,” the spokesperson adds. This excit-ing campaign is valid till August 5. Benefits are applicable for all pur-chases except government organi-sations and ministries.

Weekly raffle draw starts from June 14 to August 9, on all Sundays except July 19. Customers will be eligible for raffle only upon taking delivery of the vehicle during the campaign period after complet-ing necessary formalities and not against booking. Adding to the all-round excitement are the thrilling Toyota models having already won

over many hearts with their style, quality and value.

Turning heads with its stylish looks, the 1.5 Litre engine pow-ered 2016 Yaris sedan sets a new standard for compact sedans. Its impressive design elements open up into a spacious and superbly de-signed interior that delivers sooth-ing comfort and convenience. On the move, the Yaris offers excellent handling stability, coupled with a dynamic drive performance.

The Corolla in its 11th genera-tion, makes a strong design state-ment with its unique visual sig-nature which is highlighted by a more elegant and sportier image. No wonder then, that the Toyota Corolla is a global favourite. In Oman, customers can choose be-tween Corolla models equipped with either 2.0 litre or 1.6 litre ca-pacity engines.

The recently launched 2016 Toyota Camry has raised the bar yet again in the mid-size sedan segment with a bold, bumper-to-bumper redesign to open a new chapter in the illustrious history of

the world’s most popular mid-size sedan. With a striking new design, and more dynamic handling, the new Toyota Camry is truly in a league of its own.

The Toyota Avalon is a sedan par excellence. It utilises a 3.5-li-tre, six-cylinder engine that fea-tures Dual VVT-i. The V6 Engine produces 273 horsepower and pro-vides the Avalon with remarkable acceleration. This flagship model from the Toyota stable redefines luxury and sophistication.

A genuine 4-Wheel Drive, the Fortuner TRD Sportivo is equipped with an advanced large displace-ment engine and tough chassis for an uncompromising performance, whether on-road or off-road.

Prado, born with the Toyota Land Cruiser DNA in its bloodline, takes Toyota’s enviable 4WD lega-cy way further. A top-seller in re-gions around the world, the Prado is a pride to own and a joy to drive.

The Land Cruiser is the stand-ard by which other off-road vehi-cles are measured. The Pride of the Land, Toyota Land Cruiser is regarded as a symbol of strength, durability and reliability. The Land Cruiser has luxurious interiors that seamlessly blend high quality and user-friendly functionality. Rugged yet luxurious, the Land Cruiser delivers high-end perfor-mance and advanced off-roading capabilities.

Terms and conditions apply on various benefits that are being of-fered as a part of the Toyota cam-paign. “Don’t wait! Enjoy extra large benefits of the extra large offer; visit the nearest Toyota showroom for full model-specific details,” added the spokesperson.

The extra large offer

is about Toyota

vehicles now being

available with a host

of exciting model-

specific benefits NBO picks Al Kanz prize draw winner MUSCAT: National Bank of Oman (NBO) announced the OMR100,000 winner of the Al Kanz prize draw for the month of May during the prize draw cer-emony held at the bank’s Qurum branch yesterday. The winner’s name was picked at random by the chief guest Sulaiman Masoud Al Harthy, CEO of Tameer, says a press release.

In the first six months of 2015, NBO will have awarded over OMR1 million in prizes through its Al Kanz draw. Later this month, the bank will launch a special competition for children and young people where com-mitted savers will have the op-portunity to win OMR500 and OMR1,000 in their respective categories.

“The Al Kanz draw was created to reward customers for adopt-ing good savings habits, and it continues to be among our most popular retail banking products,” said John Chang, general man-

ager and chief retail banking of-ficer at NBO. “The Al Kanz draw brings joy to lucky customers across the Sultanate each and every month. We congratulate May’s winner, and wish all of our customers the best of luck in next month’s draw.”

Under NBO’s Al Kanz cam-paign, customers who have maintained a minimum monthly average balance of OMR100 or above are eligible to participate in the monthly prize draws. The earlier a customer deposits and the longer they retain their de-posits, the higher the chances of winning the monthly and grand prize draws.

Next month, 60 children will each win a OMR500 cash prize, 35 youth will win OMR1,000 each and six winners, one from each region, will receive a OMR50,000 cash prize each. The Al Kanz savings account is currently one of the most rewarding schemes available in the market.

S A V I N G S W I N N E R

OHI Leo Burnett wins gold at 2015 Transform AwardsMUSCAT: OHI Leo Burnett’s work with GCC-Stat on the brand identity development and ex-ecution was awarded gold at the Transform Awards Mena ceremo-ny held recently at The Address Hotel, Dubai.

The Transform Awards has been running for the past six years in Europe, establishing itself last year in the Middle East North Africa and Asia-Pacific regions. This year the awards have reached more countries than ever before in the Mena region, and have be-come a prestigious benchmark of those leading the way in both crea-tive and strategic branding, says a press release.

OHI Leo Burnett is Oman’s lead-ing brand communications agency.

For the second year running, OHI Leo Burnett was the only agency from Oman to make the shortlist at the prestigious awards platform. Other winning names from the region included Landor, Bellwether, Unisono to name a few for work on brands such as Batel-co, Etisalat, du etc.

The award recognises the qual-ity of the brand development work through the process of develop-ment — approach, strategy, crea-tive conceptualisation, right up to execution and application of the brand identity across multiple touch points.

“The Transform Awards are a prestigious brand in itself, and winning a gold that was admin-istered by the high-profile jury and sharing the stage with some of the most reputed branding companies in the world is a great honour. Kudos to our team, and more importantly to GCC Stat for

their trust and in their belief in us right through the project,” said, Narayan Iyer, general manager, OHI Leo Burnett.

“It is indeed an honour and privilege for us to be recoginsed at this stage for the work we do. It gets increasingly difficult each year, and we are glad that we were able to push the bar again this year. Oman is at the threshold of rein-venting itself as a brand, and many Omani brands are either looking at rebranding or revitalising their brand. This win will only boost the confidence for the industry as a whole, and hopefully inspire clients and us to go further and do better with the brands we man-age,” receiving the award with the team, Srikanth Viswanathan, di-rector – Planning & Strategy + as-sociate general manager, OHI Leo Burnett, said.

GCC Stat is a brand that be-longs to the entire GCC region. The centre is mandated to be the only official source of economic and social statistics for the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and has a special place in Oman being its headquarters.

“We are proud of this award. We

worked very closely with the client over many months, and the jour-ney has been worth it. The process was extremely detailed, involved, and the agency was patient and focused right through each stage, from the crowdsourcing, work-shops, board meetings, presenta-tions right down to the induction programme for the team on the new brand,” Narayan added.

“We congratulate all of this year’s winners, those who truly understand the need for a sustain-able, personable and conscien-tious brand and brand strategy. The awards verify that there has been a shift in brand development and we are proud to benchmark the excellence that has come from the Mena region. The entrants this year came from further afield than ever before, with not only more com-panies entering but entering from more countries. All the winners of the Transform Awards Mena should be proud of their fantastic achievements in rebranding, brand development and brand strategy. They are the heroes of the branding world, and we applaud them,” says, Jessica Crumbleholme, publishing executive of Transform magazine.

A C C O L A D E

GMC offers impressive dealMUSCAT: This Ramadan, Moo-sa Abdul Rahman is unleashing a bonanza of special offers that adds to the appeal of the GMC au-tomotive franchise. A brand that epitomises strength, comfort and dependability, GMC vehicles now offer a lot more additional value that makes purchase of any model all the more attractive.

Customers can now avail of an array of freebies and privileges against every purchase of a GMC vehicle that includes complimen-tary installation of 3M sun con-trol film on select models and 500 litres of petrol with each purchase of car. In addition, every buyer will be entitled to 30,000km ser-vice, five years extended km warranty, three years roadside assistance and complimentary one year free registration on all models. An added benefit is that all GMC vehicles only need to be serviced at intervals of 10,000km, says a press release.

To top it, purchase of selected models will be accompanied with a 40-inch Samsung LED TV. The generous offers are coupled with exciting prices, especially on the Terrain SLE that is now avail-able at OMR12,995, Acadia SLE at OMR13,995, Yukon SLE at OMR18,795 and Oman’s favour-ite pick-up Sierra Regular Cab at OMR13,895. The Acadia range comes with an extended service package of 60,000km for the first time for a limited period only. A Samsung Galaxy Tab will be the complimentary gift with the GMC Terrain and cash gifts up to OMR5,000 can be availed on the purchase of specific models.

Value for money“The purchase of any GMC vehi-cle is value for money in itself as it is a powerful and dependable vehicle that stands out among others as well as sets very high standards in safety and motor-ing comfort. Tempting gift ham-pers just adds to the appeal,” said Virendra Agarwal CEO, Moosa Abdul Rahman Hassan & Co LLC.

The GMC portfolio includes the spacious 8-seater Acadia with generous cargo space and inno-vative features that adds to the overall appeal of the vehicle. The interior functionality includes the Smart Slide seating system for easy access to the third row or the second and third rows can be folded flat to create class lead-ing maximum cargo space. Exte-rior features that set the Acadia apart include a three dimensional polished grille; lower front and

rear fascias; perforated leather-trimmed first and second-row seats; cooled front seats; remote keyless entry and remote vehicle start; dual SkyScape two-panel sunroof and accent lighting in footwells and lighted sill plates to name a few.

In addition to the distinct look and style, it is the safety and tech-nology that gives the Acadia an edge. A GMC safety exclusive is the industry-first Front Cen-tre Air Bag, part of a 360-degree safety system, that helps protect the driver and front passenger in a side impact collision. It is also equipped with a Side Blind zone alert and rear cross traffic alert systems that uses radar to watch blind spots and provides visible and audible warnings to avoid possible collisions. Standard head curtain side airbags with rollover protection; StabiliTrak electronic stability control system with roll-over mitigation technology are additional safety features incor-porated in the Acadia.

Exceptional featuresAnother exceptional feature is the Colour Touch Radio with In-telliLink, an intuitive high defi-nition colour touch screen for all infotainment and navigation options. This allows customers to seamlessly integrate online services such as touch-screen controls via bluetooth-enabled phones and allows customers to plug in their own media to play through the radio.

The interior of the popular five-passenger seater, boasts of a ‘floating’ centre stack offering ergonomic comfort and conveni-ence controls. The standard and segment-exclusive MultiFlex sliding rear seat provides in-creased passenger comfort or greater rear cargo capacity, while the 60/40-split rear seatback of-fers additional configurations for passengers and cargo.

The colour touch navigation radio with touch-screen control incorporates all of IntelliLink to

deliver segment-exclusive info-tainment technology, seamlessly integrating the capability of a smartphone into the vehicle. It also features upgraded USB con-nectivity that adds to the abil-ity play music files directly from flash memory and provides the option to update IntelliLink with future feature enhancements.

Among the most recognisable SUVs on the road to date are the iconic Yukon and Yukon XL that has always incorporated some-thing new and better with each new generation – a trend that has been maintained with the 2015 Yukon line-up that delivers greater capability and refinement through new and enhanced chassis and suspension systems. Thanks to a new family of advanced EcoTec3 engines, the line-up delivers the segment’s best V-8 performance and fuel economy. Bold styling and advanced technologies including new safety and security support Yukon’s greater capability, while a more comprehensive list of stand-ard features and enhanced info-tainment options broaden the ap-peal of the full-size SUV line-ups.

The Sierra light duty full size pickup has been lauded as the most powerful and advanced pickup. Available in Regular Cab and Crew Cab models, it offers the longest list of standard features ever seen in a full-size pickup. The updated engine offers increased power and torque with the best fuel economy of any V-8 pickup. A ‘cruise grade braking’ feature down-shifts the transmission on downgrades, reducing break wear. It features four-wheel disc brakes with Duralife brake rotors, a GMC-exclusive technology, that feature a hardened and strength-ened surface to reduce corrosion and provide quieter braking with less vibration.

Moosa Abdul Rahman Hassan & Co is the exclusive distributor of GMC vehicles in the Sultanate of Oman with branches and a ser-vice network that covers all major locations across Oman.

S P E C I A L O F F E R S

Kalabhavan summer camp from June 21

MUSCAT: Kalabhavan School of Music & Arts, one of the licensed music and art training institutions and a franchisee of Kochin Kalab-havan, will be holding its summer camp from June 21 to July 16 at its Ruwi, Al Ghubra and Al Hail branches.

Being a music and art training institution, the camp will focus more towards art and music ori-ented coaching. The camp will be an avenue to spot the hidden talent of a child and enables the institute to give proper advice to the parents

to guide their children to the right field of fine arts learning. This is what Kalabhavan has been doing in the past, says a press release.

Children who are not going for vacation would find it extremely boring to spend their long sum-mer holidays especially when the parents are at work. They would be sitting at home and watching television or playing electronic gadgets all the time. Participation in a recreational camp like Kalab-havan’s would be a rejuvenating experience for them. They would

be able to make friendship with students of different schools and improve their social interaction and skills. In an institution like Kalabhavan, students of the camp get an opportunity to learn the ba-sic lessons of vocal music, classi-cal dance, cinematic dance, art and craft and musical instruments like keyboard, guitar, etc. Kalabhavan’s camp always attracts a large num-ber of students.

As part of the camp, Kalabhavan also takes the students for an out-door trip.

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Don’t let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning. — Robert Kiyosaki

QUOTES

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into smaller manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. — Mark Twain

The best rules to form a young man are: to talk little, to hear much, to reflect alone upon what has passed in company, to distrust one’s own opinions, and value others that deserve it.— Sir William Temple

We are either progressing or retrograding all the while; there is no such thing as remaining stationary in this life. — James Freeman Clarke

To conquer oneself is the best and noblest victory; to be vanquished by one’s own nature is the worst and most ignoble defeat.— Plato

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How to say ‘look at me!’ to an online recruiterIF you are thinking of looking for a job this year, or are already searching for one, be warned: For some job seekers, the rules have changed. Technology and social media have altered the way some employers consider candidates. Simply sifting through job post-ings and sending out applications en masse was never a good route to success, and is even less so now.

One of the most important ques-tions that many job seekers can ask these days is this: How searchable am I? Some employers aren’t even bothering to post jobs, but are in-stead searching online for the right candidate, said Barbara Safani, owner of Career Solvers, a career management firm in New York.

Not having an Internet pres-ence can be damaging, Safani said. She is among those who recom-mend that job seekers spend seri-ous time detailing their skills and experience on commercial sites like LinkedIn and Twitter, with an eye toward making their names a magnet for search engines.

“Having a blog can be a good way to show that you are a thought leader” while improving your pro-

fessional visibility, she said.And consider YouTube as a way

to enhance your searchability, she advised. If an employer comes across a video of you giving a speech or a training presentation, she said, you may gain an advan-tage. More companies are turning to Twitter as a way to broadcast job openings, so you should use it to follow recruiters, industry leaders and individual companies, said Alison Doyle, a job search specialist for About.com. She said that by linking to articles and sharing your expertise on Twit-ter, you can enhance your profes-sional reputation — although you should beware of the site’s poten-tial as a time drain.

On Facebook, “liking” a com-pany can mean receiving early notice of job openings and other news. But privacy concerns make Facebook tricky, Doyle said: Make sure you understand who is re-ceiving which of your posts, or resolve to be thoroughly profes-sional on Facebook at all times, she said. Be aware that hiring managers may see what you post on any of the major social media

outlets, she added.Old-fashioned, personal net-

working can still be an effective way to land a job, but online net-working now supplements it in many fields. Both Safani and Doyle say LinkedIn is a very important Web tool for making those con-nections. The site offers premium services for a fee, but almost all of the main features for job seekers are free, Doyle said. Spend a few minutes on the site each day mak-ing new connections, she advised, and keep your profile up to date.

To improve the chances that a connection request will be ac-cepted, especially from someone you don’t know, send a personal message along with it, noting, say, your similar backgrounds or interests, said Nicole Williams, a consultant who works as a career expert for LinkedIn.

Baldly asking someone at a company for help in landing a job is never a good idea, on LinkedIn or anywhere else. Share links and advice with people in your LinkedIn network before asking for a favour like an introduction to a hiring manager or a written rec-

ommendation that would appear on the site.

If you are seeking a particular position, Doyle said, you might say something like: “I’m interested in this job. Do you have any informa-tion that you can share with me?”

Joining industry groups on LinkedIn can build your visibility. You can also join college alumni organisations or other focused groups. Make full use of the skills section of LinkedIn, Williams ad-vised, and the more specific you are, the better. Instead of saying that you have marketing skills, note the exact areas – direct mail campaigns, for example. LinkedIn can direct you to companies that are seeking these skills so you can follow them. Listing your skills could also bring you to the notice of a recruiter.

Be aware, too, that an employer may be viewing your application via a mobile phone. Mobile traffic involving job search more than doubled in 2012 over 2011 at the employment site Indeed.com, said Rony Kahan, a co-founder and CEO. — Phyllis Korkki/New York Times

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LE GUEN EXHORTS OMAN TO GIVE THEIR BESTCoach Paul Le Guen has exhorted the Omani players to give their best against hosts India as they geared up to launch their campaign in the joint qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup and 2016 Asian Cup in the south Indian city of Bangalore. >C5

World Cup row spices up India vs Bangladesh one-off Fatullah Test

FATULLAH: Lingering memo-ries of a World Cup controver-sy which erupted nearly three months ago will return to centre stage when Bangladesh host In-dia for a one-off Test, which starts Wednesday, and three one-day in-ternationals.

The Test match in Fatullah on the outskirts of Dhaka will be the first meeting between the two teams since their contentious World Cup quarterfinal in Mel-bourne in March which India won by 109 runs.

Bangladesh were left fuming at what they saw as unfair umpir-ing decisions, prompting govern-ment minister Mustafa Kamal to resign as president of the Inter-national Cricket Council alleging Indian bias.

The players publicly stated they have moved on from the World Cup, but fans in cricket-mad Bang-ladesh can be expected to remind the tourists of how their team were “robbed” of a semi-final spot.

“Playing at home is our best chance to beat India and take re-venge for what happened at the World Cup,” said Dhaka student Amir Hossain.

Keen to avoid a backlash from home supporters, authorities have ordered that an Islamic seminary near the stadium be closed for the duration of the Test and provoca-tive banners will be prohibited in the stands.

India’s Test captain Virat Kohli

hoped the World Cup controversy would not affect relations between the two teams.

“We had issues in the past but we have moved ahead,” Kohli said in Kolkata on Sunday before the team departed for Dhaka.

“We are going to play and try and win a Test match, that’s our primary focus. There won’t be any grudges or ill feelings about the op-position. It’s pure and simple pro-fessionalism.”

Bangladesh batsman Mominul Haque also played down sugges-tions of bad blood between the teams. “What happened is in the past. It will not affect the Test in any way,” he said.

India will look to continue their dominant record against Bangla-desh, having won six and drawn one of the seven Tests played so far.

India have recalled Harbhajan Singh, the world’s most successful current spinner with 413 wickets, who could team up with fellow off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for the match.

Playing to winBangladesh left-hander Haque, who requires one more 50 to equal South African AB de Villiers’ re-cord of scoring a half-century in 12 consecutive Tests, hoped the home team will put up a tough fight.

“Of course, we will play to win, but we will be happy even if we can achieve a draw,” the 23-year-old said ahead of the Test at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali stadium.

“But please don’t compare me with AB (de Villiers). He is the king of all formats.”

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim is likely to leave wicket-keeping duties to uncapped Litton Das due to a finger injury. The Test will be followed by three one-day internationals to be played in Dha-ka on June 18, 21 and 24.

Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Ra-him (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Litton Das, Nasir Hossain, Shuvagata Hom, Abul Hasan, Jubair Hos-sain, Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Mohammad Shahid.

India: Virat Kohli (capt), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Ra-hane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harb-hajan Singh, Karn Sharma, Bhu-vneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma. - AFP

The Test match

in Fatullah on the

outskirts of Dhaka

will be the first

meeting between the

two teams since their

contentious World

Cup quarterfinal in

Melbourne in

March which India

won by 109 runsHAPPY CAPTAIN: India’s Test match captain Virat Kohli, centre, holds a soccer ball during a practice session. – AP/PTI

FATULLAH: Bangladesh will look to showcase their grow-ing strength and confidence when they clash with India in a one-off Test in Fatullah from Wednesday, captain Mushfiqur Rahim said.

The Tigers are still looking for their first win against India, having lost six and drawn one of their seven Tests so far, but Ra-him said he expected his team to give the tourists a close fight.

“India are a good side, but I still think it is a 50-50 game,” Rahim told reporters on Tuesday ahead of the match at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali stadium on the outskirts of Dhaka.

“They have got quality spin-ners. If our batsman can handle them, I think this will be an exciting Test.”

Rahim’s men take on India after trouncing Pakistan 3-0 in one-day cricket at home in April-May before losing the two-Test series 1-0.

Bangladesh, who were quar-terfinalists at the recent World Cup, have lost 71 of their 90 Tests since attaining full status in 2000, winning just seven.

In their previous Test series

against Bangladesh in 2010, India won the first match by 113 runs in Chittagong and the second and final game in Dhaka by 10 wickets.

But Rahim insists Bangla-desh had come a long way since then.

“We may have lost both Tests five years ago, but there were some strong individual performances by us,” he said. “We have improved, both individually and as a team. We

are confident that we can give a tough fight.

“But we have to be more consistent. We play well for two days, but let ourselves down over the next three days. We must now play session by session and ensure we win maximum sessions.”

Rahim, who is recovering from a finger injury, said he will wait till the toss before deciding if he play as a specialist bats-man alone and leave wicket-

keeping duties to uncapped Litton Das.

Meanwhile, India’s Virat Kohli, who took over as Test captain when Mahendra Singh Dhoni retired from the longer format during the Australian series in December, said he was excited to take over the role full time.

“It is pretty special,” said Kohli. “I never thought that at 26 I will be captain of India’s Test side. My only dream as a child was to play Test cricket for India.

“It will be a special moment for me tomorrow when I go out to toss. It is something I will probably cherish when I finish my career.”

Kohli indicated India may field five bowlers on what is expected to be a hard pitch full of runs at least on the first three days. “I certainly believe in giv-ing the team a chance to pick up 20 wickets,” he said. “I am a big fan of playing five bowlers in a 6-5 combination.”

Kohli insisted five bowlers would not weaken the batting. “You only need two to three batsmen to click to get a score of 500,” he said. - AFP

Bangladesh skipper Rahim says India Test ‘50-50’

WE HAVE IMPROVED: Bangladesh cricket captain Mushfiqur

Rahim speaks ahead of the Test match against India. – AFP

Shastri-led staff should be given a one-year run: AyubNEW DELHI: Having seen the Indian cricket team set-up from close quarters as manager in Australia, former spinner Ar-shad Ayub says the players are responding well to Team Director Ravi Shastri and the current sup-port staff should be given a one-year run to make a difference.

Ayub, who was with the In-dian team on its four-month long Australian journey including the World Cup, feels Shastri has had a positive influence on the current crop of players.

“I think Shastri is doing a very good job. He is working well with the team and the result is for eve-rybody to see. He has brought in his vast experience and the boys are responding to his mentorship. So I think at the moment the pre-sent set-up is working really well for the unit,” Ayub said in an in-terview from Hyderabad.

“The way the team performed in Australia was a testament to that. I mean they really came well from the tri-series disappoint-ment to play exceptionally well in the World Cup after that. The cur-rent coaching set-up has done a fantastic job and if they are given a one-year run then they could re-ally make a difference.

“Sanjay Bangar (assistant coach), Bharat Arun (bowling coach)and R. Sridhar (fielding coach) are all very able in their re-spective departments,” he added.

Ayub, 56, though stayed non-

committal when asked about the administration’s delay to find a new coach since Duncan Fletch-er’s departure.

“I don’t know about that, but what I know is that Shastri has fitted into the role of the Team Di-rector very smoothly. It’s all about the team responding to a person,” he said. Ayub, who toured Bang-ladesh with the Kirsten-coached team in 2010, also said that an In-dian can fit into the role of a coach in a better way than a foreigner.

“With a foreign coach there is always that problem of com-munication. That is what I feel. But having said that, the team did so well under (Gary) Kirsten. He really brought the best out of the guys. I was the team manger when India toured Bangladesh under Kirsten’s mentorship. So it depends on person to person,”

he said. On the team having two captains for different formats, Ayub said that he sees no reason why the set-up won’t work in Indian cricket.

“On the captaincy front, I be-lieve the transition from (Mahen-dra Singh) Dhoni to (Virat) Kohli in the Test team has also been re-ally smooth. Kohli has connected with the players so well. He is a good leader and will only improve with time, whilst Dhoni has al-ready proved his worth,” he said.

“I don’t think there should be any problem with two sets of cap-tains in different formats. Dhoni took India to where it is right now and it’s the turn of Kohli to take it forward,” he added.

An off-spinner, who played 13 Tests and 32 ODIs during a four-year international career, Ayub backed the spin duo of Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin to come good in the one-off Test if they are picked in the playing XI.

“Harbhajan is a quality off-spinner and has been rewarded for his hard-work. I think his ex-perience will certainly count in Bangladesh.

Ravichandran Ashwin is also a very good spinner and I believe the two will really be an asset in the playing XI,” he said.

On Kohli’s recent statement that “time for learning being over” and “time to show results”, Ayub said that he sees sense in the Test skipper’s vision. — PTI

C R I C K E T

IN CONTROL: Team India direc-

tor Ravi Shastri.

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A tour of Bangladesh is not the sort of chal-lenge someone like

Indian Test team captain Vi-rat Kohli could lose his sleep over, but that may not be true for team director Ravi Shastri under the current, murky cir-cumstances. The challenges for the director for the time being are not exactly linked to the performance of the team for the simple reason that there’s no guarantee that superlative shows by the boys under his command are going to offer him anything much when he ultimately sits down with new BCCI bosses and tries to argue his case, which is, there’s no need for head coach for the Indian team.

If we go by what Kapil Dev recently said about the kind of guy ideal for the job, Shastri may not be the right person the BCCI should be investing its money on. In Kapil’s view, those who stopped playing first class cricket 20 years or so ago may find it difficult to get in sync with the new generation of players, so it’s better to get guys who quit the field five-to-seven years ago for the job.

Shastri may belong to a bit old generation if we go by the 20-year yardstick, but at 53, and thanks to his tall and shouty presence in most af-fairs of cricket nationally and internationally, he is the man who could relate to players as young as Sanju Samson who are the future of Indian cricket in the post Kohli-Rohit Sharma- Ajinkya Rahane era.

This time around eight years ago it’s the same Shastri who took a team of Indian superstars to Bangladesh. He had then the unenviable task of coaching or managing the likes of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly and Mahindra Singh Dhoni. Com-pared to the star-studded team of those days, the cur-rent Indian team is a group of youngsters who, except for Kohli, are mere starlets. Shas-tri was overlooked after the tour in favour of Gary Kirsten, and the improvements brought in by the South Afri-can and the achievements the team made under him kept Shastri away for longer than he might have liked.

When Kirsten left, Duncan Fletcher stepped in, and Shastri had to wait until last year to see himself with a chance. The Indian team’s disastrous performance in Test matches in England saw Shastri being named director. There was little clarity about his role, but fortunately for him things worked in favour of the Indians in the limited-overs series. Still, what could have been a smooth transition got derailed by developments that were beyond the control of the man from Mumbai.

New guys were elected to the BCCI, and some of whom are obviously not pleased with a man long viewed as a loyalist of N. Srinivasan — its disgraced ex-president.

The best bet for Shastri for the moment is Virat Kohli. The chemistry that exists between the two has a mystic touch, and it has its roots spread beyond the good times they had during a yoga retreat just after the wretched Aus-tralian tour. Kohli has openly talked about how Shatri’s ‘just trust me and do it’ advice, after which he stood in front of the crease and on off stump, helped him score nearly 700 runs, including four centuries, during the Australian tour.

If mutual respect and admiration is key to appoint-ing captain and coach of the Indian team, no one else fits the bill than Kohli and Shastri. When Kohli says Shastri “is the most amazing person to have around this team”, Shastri’s response is: Kohli’s “heart beats for India. It’s a pedigree you don’t see often.” You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours? Maybe, but what’s the harm if they are happily up to scratch?

At 53 years of age, Ravis-hankar Jayadritha Shastri is not too old for the post of di-rector or coach. He may not be a long-term prospect for team India, but for the moment he is the best guy with the right attitude and skills to manage the one and only superstar (Kohli) and mould the stars in the making before guys like Saurav Ganguly could step in and do their bit.

The writer is a freelance contribu-tor based in India. All the views and opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not reflect those of Times of Oman

Why this tall and shouty man deserves a chance

C O M M E N T A R Y

This time around eight years ago it’s the same Shastri who took a team of Indian superstars to Bangladesh. He had then the unenviable task of coaching or managing the likes of Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly and Mahindra Singh Dhoni

Mominul Haque looks to emulate De Villiers

FATULLAH: With the India se-ries knocking on the door, Bang-ladesh batsman Mominul Haque has set his sights on South African skipper AB de Villiers’ record of 12 consecutive scores of 50 runs or above in Test matches.

The hosts trained at Fatullah’s Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Sta-dium for the third straight day on Tuesday.

Mominul spoke to the journal-ists after the practice, reports bd-news24.com.

The Tigers’ top-order batsman went past Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 10 half-centuries during the last Test against Pakistan last month.

He is sitting beside West In-dies legend Viv Richards, Gautum Gambhir and Virender Sehwag.

The 23-year old, however, is re-luctant to compare himself with de Villiers.

“I’m not even near him. You know of his mastery in all formats. I don’t think I am his competitor,” he said.

De Villiers built his record from November 2012 to February 2014.

Bangladesh will take on India in a one-off Test starting from Wednesday in Fatullah.

Mominul, who averages 60 in 14 matches with four centuries and nine half-centuries, said he want-

ed to reach the milestone to please the fans. “I am not really thinking about beside whom I’ll sit. I will just try to meet the expectations of the people and my target.”

The left-hander has a string of scores of at least 50 since October 2013 in 11 Tests.

He has established himself as a “Test specialist” with the fantastic run in the most prestigious form of the game after failing to shine in other formats.

Mominul, however, is willing to make amends and show his talent in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and T20Is as well.

“I will get better chances if I do well. If I think too much about it, I risk losing everything.”

So far the classy batsman failed to score a fifty only in his third Test, against Zimbabwe in Harare, when he scored 23 and 29.

After that his run-scoring spree began. But Mominul is aware of India’s bowling line-up that includes the world-class at-tack of spinners Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin.

“They are both quality spin-ners. One (Harbhajan) has played for a long time.(Ashwin) has been doing well.”

The spin attack is backed by a formidable pace unit that con-sists of Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Varun Aaron.

Mominul is eager to further his experience by going up against the Indian spinners.

“My performance may take a hit if I worry about them. I think I will learn much playing against their (India) spinners.” - IANS

The Tigers’ top-order

batsman went past

Indian batting great

Sachin Tendulkar’s

record of 10 half-

centuries during

the last Test against

Pakistan last month

EYEING AB’S RECORD: Bangladesh cricketer Mominul Haque walks

across the field during a practice session at Khan Shaheb Osman

Ali Stadium in Narayanganj. – AFP

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McGrath backs Team India to be lethal in Test against Bangladesh

CHENNAI: Australian pace great Glenn McGrath said that Indian team would need to execute their plans properly during their one-off Test match against Bangladesh starting in Fatullah on Wednesday.

“There is only one Test and they need to play like any other Test. When you play in a Test series you think about the next Test. You do not think about the second or third Test here,” McGrath said.

“They (Indians) must have prepared themselves for the sin-gle Test and they need to execute their plans. It is just another Test match,” said McGrath who is cur-rently the coaching director of the MRF Pace Foundation here.

The Bangladesh tour, which also features three ODIs, will see Ravi Shastri once again donning the role of Team Director. The for-mer India captain has said India doesn’t need a head coach now and he might fill up the role if needed.

Asked to define the role of a chief coach and a team direc-tor, McGrath said: “I do not know what Ravi is doing is different to what a team coach will do. I do not know what the job description is for Ravi. If he is not, then I do not know again.”

Talking about the ongoing series

of Australia and England against the West Indies and New Zealand respectively, he said: “I think the way the Australians are playing they can win 10-0. If England want to be competitive, they have to re-ally lift themselves.”

On his objectives for MRF Academy, McGrath said: “For me personally, we are only giving the facility for the spinners to use and they have their own spin coach here and he is working with them.

“Troy Cooley (Australia’s Na-tional Cricket Centre head coach) has brought in fast bowlers for training at the Academy. In order to have few games here he has brought couple of batsmen and bowlers including spinners here.

“I will work with the boys of the Academy and the junior fast bowl-ers from Australia and BCCI is sending couple of boys for training

here till June 20. We still focus on the fast bowlers. I cannot teach on how to play against spin.”

Asked about Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who was awarded Man of the Tournament in the 2015 World Cup, McGrath said: “He always had the potential and bowl at 150kmph, left armer and swings the ball. He is a one day player and knows the one day well very well.

“He can bowl with new ball and take couple of wickets and come back with the older ball and bowl good yorkers that not many bowl-ers in world cricket can do, per-haps excepting Malinga and no one else. He bowls such good york-ers in one day games.

“Still, he can bowl well in Test too. I think the confidence that he has got in one-dayers he has car-ried it to the Tests too. World cups,

one day games and T-20 games suit his type of bowlers.”

Emphasizing on yorkers, McGrath said: “I do not think that the bowlers practice enough at the nets. If you are practicing to bowl yorkers at the nets, you need to bowl behind the line. If you are bowling no balls, you are practic-ing the wrong way.

“Even if you are bowling good yorkers in the nets, you going over the front line and if you do not practice at the nets you cannot straightaway bowl your length in a competitive game,” he added.

Heaping praise on the budding young bowlers at the MRF Acad-emy, McGrath said: “I can bet that every one of the boys from MRF Academy is good. I had already mentioned Varon and Ishwar and hopefully they get more opportu-nities. “Ashwin Christ is coming

up well. He always had the poten-tial and now he has started think-ing about himself as to what he could do in a game. That is what you want the bowlers to do. They have to think for themselves and set plans and execute them.”

On ICC rule of having one more fielder during powerplay and al-lowing one more bouncer, the 45-year-old said: “Probably if you got one more fielder when the pow-er play is up, obviously then you can protect one portion of the field. “Some batsmen look at the short ball as a scoring option. Again it depends on the bowler. He should know what fields that he requires. It is something that a bowler needs to show more perfection that can work in his favour,” he added.

Cooley said Shastri may “walk into” the job of chief coach of the Indian cricket team.

“I think the relationship be-tween the captain and coach is necessary as he cannot talk to 10 people. The captain leads the players and works with the coach. When it comes to decision making, final call is taken by the captain and the coach.

“I am led to believe that Ravi would walk into that spot (chief coach) and it is my take. I do not know, he would be still the head coach. In a team, a coach, head coach and captain is the common thing in a team. Otherwise, there will be confusion,” said Cooley, who earlier worked as bowling coach of England team.

“I had always supported some-body in charge. Ravi is still incharge and he is bringing his counsel around him until you find another coach. If you need leadership, you should have somebody in charge. In Australia, we love great champi-ons coming back,” he added.

Asked if India should play its full strength team against Bangladesh, Cooley said, “I am always for giv-ing young players the opportunity. Of course, Bangladesh would be a great opportunity for young play-ers in Indian team.

On the objective of his visit to Chennai, he said, “We have a great relationship between the two countries and we have Bor-der-Gavaskar trophy. We have exchange programmes of players coming through from these two academies (NCC and MRF). We wanted to make sure that young players get exposed to all the con-ditions all around the world.

“Our boys and girls grow up on fast bouncy tracks. Austral-ian players grow up in pitches not conducive to spin. When we want to develop players for every con-dition we have to do things like this. We have invited curators from India wanting to learn from experts. If you want to play good international cricket, exposing cricketers to all conditions is very important.” - PTI

Glenn McGrath feels

Team India will

execute plans well

as the touring party

does not have a full

Test series against

Bangladesh to get

distracted with

If you are practicing to bowl yorkers at the nets, you need to bowl behind the line. If you are bowling no balls, you are practicing the wrong way

Glenn McGrathCoaching DirectorMRF Pace Foundation, Chennai

MCL ‘not to compete’ with Legends LeagueNEW DELHI: The Masters Champions League (MCL) has no intention to compete with a similar proposed event floated by cricketing greats Sachin Ten-dulkar and Shane Warne, said its promoter and former Australia batsman Dean Jones.

Jones, whose company Major Events Group will be running the Masters Champions League (MCL), a Twenty20 tournament that will feature retired inter-national players in Dubai, said both the leagues have “their own space” and can co-exist.

Tendulkar and Warne had ear-lier this year made public their ambitious Legends T20 cricket League, proposed to be held in the USA in August-September.

“We want them to do well and we will not compete against them,” Jones was quoted as saying by ‘ESPNcricinfo’.

“We have got our own space in February and they have got theirs. They might want to join with us and play with us, we have spoken to them about their availability but I fully understand that they are trying to get their event up and running. We want to have the best league and I have no doubt that if we are successful, they will be as well,” he said.

Initiated by the Emirates Crick-et Board (ECB) and organised by GM Sports, MCL has been initial-ly approved for a 10-year period. The MCL was launched in Dubai recently, with Wasim Akram,

Adam Gilchrist and Brian Lara in attendance as icon players.

Jacques Kallis has also been named as an icon player.

The MCL is planned as a two-week tournament in the UAE in February every year and will con-sist of six franchises in the first year, with each squad consisting of 15 members.

The players must all be for-mer international cricketers who are now retired completely and are not playing in any domestic

league around the world.Jones claimed that the idea had

received a “fantastic response”.“Each franchise will have icon

players and Associate Nation players,” he said.

“They will also have A-class players like Scott Styris who can still play first-class cricket. There are players out there who have to be approved by the ICC, our gov-erning council and the Emirates Cricket Board. If I put my name in, I will be told I’m too fat and

will not be allowed to play. “We’ll have a rotation policy where an older bowler can bowl his four overs and not field as much. We want to see great players from the past but our major goal without doubt is protecting the standards.”

Maintaining a clean image of the league, Jones said they will follow ICC’s strict anti-corrup-tion guidelines.

“The biggest cancer in our sport is match fixing and batting. The rules and regulations and the compliances which ICC issue for the World Cup, IPL and the Big Bash League will be followed.

“We are looking at a lot of secu-rity companies that have aligned themselves with the ICC which we will be using in the tourna-ment,” he said.

“The ICC must look at all the franchise buyers and all the com-pliances which will come into place with phones, etc. We are aware of all that and that was my number one consideration be-fore being a part of this. If this is not followed, then we are in trou-ble with betting and those kinds of scandals.

“I think the players are pretty well versed and they will be ad-vised. They will meet the anti-corruption unit along with the coaches and the owners. We will not allow owners on the ground. They will be in the corporate box-es but the players will do their jobs on the field,” Jones added. - PTI

N O C L A S H

Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne had earlier this year made public their ambitious Legends T20 Cricket League, proposed to be held in the United States of America in August-September. Former Australian batsman Dean Jones has also announced the Masters Champions League (MCL) to be held in United Arab Emirates Dean Jones.

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

INTERNATIONAL TENT PEGGING FEDERATION HOLDS MEETINGThe Executive Office of the International Tent Pegging Federation (ITPF) held their first meeting at the ITPF headquarters on

Monday. The meeting was chaired ITPF chief Mohammed bin Issa Al Fairuz. The meeting discussed a number of issues incldu-

ing the preparations for the Tent Pegging World Cup to be hosted in April next year and the three qualifying championships.

The meeting will submit its recommendations to the meeting of the ITPF board for approval. — Supplied photo

India set for Hockey World League semis

NEW DELHI: The Indian hockey team will left for Belgium on Mon-day night to take part in the Hock-ey World League semifinal.

The 10-team tournament will be played in Antwerp from June 20 to July 5. A top-four position at the tourney will help teams qualify for the Hockey World League final to be played in India in November-December.

Also, a top-three finish will help sides qualify for the 2016 Olym-pics for which India have already secured their berth by winning the 2014 Asian Games gold.

India have been placed in Pool A with Australia, France, Pakistan and Poland and will start their cam-paign against France on June 20.

Meanwhile, as there is no pres-sure of Olympic qualification on the players, the Indian hockey team will focus on the mental as-pect of the game to prepare for the

bigger challenges in the future.The team looked in a relaxed

mood on the eve of the depar-ture for Belgium and despite the absence of key players — V. Raghunath, S.V. Sunil, Kothajit Singh — head coach Paul van Ass and captain Sardar Singh are not overtly worried. While Sunil, Gur-baz and Kothajit were ruled out recently, the coach informed that Raghunath has also been ruled out after injuring his hamstring during parctice.

Rupinderpal Singh will take place of Raghunath while Dev-ender Walmiki and Satbeer are the other replacements in the team. Rupinder though will not play in his usual position from the centre

but will be tried from the lines on both the sides. The good news is that Gurbaz has started practising and will not miss the tournament.

Van Ass is applying the Leary Rose’s model, which focuses on in-terpersonal relationship between people, to help the players under-stand each other better.

“Finishing is like defence. We have to make sure that we have a fair chance and that’s a team ef-fort. You can train for that but biggest part is execution. That’s a mental aspect. Of course we are working on that. you have to grab tiny chances that can make a big difference,” Van Ass said ahead of a practice session at Major Dhyan Chand National stadium.

The coach said that the “real test” for the side would be the final round to be held in India.

Van Ass said injuries are part and parcel of the game.

“It will always happen. It hap-pens when you push the level and intensity up while training. When you raise level it is severe on the body. But I take it as it is, key play-ers are missing but it’s also an op-portunity for others. If one is miss-ing, the other can step up,” he said.

The coach said the players have “realised” their mistakes in the de-fence. “We need to close the space. We have changed (tactics) and we have to work on that. We are doing parctice but we have to see how it works under pressure.” — PTI

The 10-team event

will be played in

Antwerp where a

top-four position will

help teams qualify

for the Hockey World

League final to be

organised in India

CAPTION KICKER: Indian men’s and women’s hockey team members cut a cake during a ceremony

organised in New Delhi before their depature for Belgium. – PTI

Buttler, Root lead England fireworks against KiwisBIRMINGHAM: Jos Buttler and Joe Root thrashed brilliant cen-turies as England smashed their highest One-day International (ODI) score in amassing 408 for nine against World Cup runners-up New Zealand in the first ODI at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

Buttler hit 129, his hundred coming off 66 balls — the second fastest ever for England and five balls more than the 61 he took to blast a ton against Sri Lanka last year. England’s previous best ODI total was 391 for four against Bang-ladesh in Nottingham in 2005.

Buttler also shared in a world record seventh wicket ODI stand of 177 with Adil Rashid (69) as a new-look England put memories of their dismal World Cup group stage exit earlier this year firmly behind them. The omens had not looked good for England as open-er Jason Roy fell to the first ball of the day. But Root, firstly with Alex Hales (20) and then Eoin Morgan (50) set about a recovery, taking the attack to New Zealand.

Root’s hundred came off 71

balls before he fell for 104, one of four wickets for Trent Boult.

Buttler and Rashid then took over, their partnership surpass-ing the previous best seventh-wicket ODI stand of 130 by Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower and Heath Streak against England in 2001. — Agencies

C R I C K E T

ENGLANDJ. Roy c Guptill b Boult 0A. Hales c Henry b Boult 20J. Root c Ronchi b Boult 104E. Morgan lbw McClenaghan 50B. Stokes b Boult 10J. Buttler c Henry b McClenaghan 129S. Billings lbw Santner 3A. Rashid c Guptill b Elliott 69C. Jordan c Boult b Elliott 2

L. Plunkett not out 13S. Finn not out 0Extras (w-8) 8Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 408 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-50, 3-171, 4-180, 5-195, 6-202, 7-379, 8-394, 9-394.Bowling: Boult 10-0-55-4; Henry 10-0-73-0 (w-3); N McCullum 7-0-66-0 (w-1); McClenaghan 10-0-93-2 (w-3); Elliott 5-0-57-2 (w-1); Santner 8-0-64-1.

S C O R E B O A R D

Jos Buttler

Enrique agrees Barca contract extension

BARCELONA: Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has ended uncer-tainty over his future by agreeing a one-year contract extension with the Spanish and European champions until the end of the 2016-17 season.

Barca President Josep Maria Bartomeu announced the agree-ment at a news conference on Tuesday assessing a season in which the Catalan giants won a treble of Champions League and domestic league and Cup titles in Luis Enrique’s first term in charge.

The former Barca and Spain midfielder, who was upset with the sacking of sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta in Janu-ary, had refused to say whether he would stay on when quizzed about his future after Saturday’s 3-1 win over Juventus in the Champions League final.

Barca became the first team to win the treble in the same season on two occasions, repeating their feat from 2009.

“After a year like the one we have had, with difficulties but with a

great end result, we are more than excited hoping to secure more ti-tles,” Luis Enrique said on Barca’s website (www.fcbarcelona.es) af-ter signing his new deal.

Bartomeu, flanked by the three trophies, also formally stepped down to allow him to stand in the forthcoming presidential elec-tion, which he called in January with the club in the midst of an institutional crisis.

Barca were due to hold the election in 2016 but Bartomeu decided to bring it forward by a year following the dismissal of Zubizarreta. The former Barca and Spain goalkeeper, who was responsible for hiring Luis En-rique, paid the price for a Fifa ban on signings for two windows over a breach of rules on the transfer of foreign Under-18 players.

Bartomeu will be hoping some of Barca’s success this term rubs off, although he looks likely to face a challenge from former president Joan Laporta, who was in charge when Barca won their maiden treble in 2008-09. - Reuters

F O O T B A L L

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Fatma bags doubles title in Thailand

MUSCAT: Fatma Al Nabhani clinched the doubles title at the $10,000 Bangkok ITF Pro Circuit tournament organised in Thai capital of Bangkok this week.

According to information pro-vided by the Oman Tennis As-

sociation (OTA) on Tuesday, the Omani star teamed up with local girl Nungnadda Wannasuk to win the title.

In the final match, the second-seeded pair defeated Kamonwan Buayam of Thailand and Dabin

Kim of Korea 6-3, 7-5 to take the top honours.

Fatma also took part in the sin-gles competition but the second seed’s challenge ended in the sec-ond round when she went down fighting 2-6, 6-2, 3-6 to Thailand’s

Patcharin Cheapchadej. Ac-cording to OTA, Fatma will now travel to Mauritius to take part in the $10,000 Mary Pierce In-dian Ocean Series - Grand Baie La Croisette tournament that will be organised between June 15 to 21.

T E N N I S

CHAMPIONS: Oman’s Fatma Al Nabhani, second left, and Thailand’s Nungnadda Wannasuk, left, pose with their trophies. – Supplied photo

Coach Le Guen exhorts Oman to give their best against India

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Coach Paul Le Guen has exhorted the Omani players to give their best against hosts India as they geared up to launch their campaign in the joint qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup and 2016

Asian Cup in the south Indian city of Bangalore.

Their Group D opener is sched-uled to be played at Sri Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore from 7.30 pm (5 pm Oman time).

According to information re-ceived here, the Sultanate squad,

who reached Bangalore on Mon-day, were given a pep talk by their French coach during their training session on Tuesday.

Le Guen told the Omani players that the qualifying campaign is go-ing to be a big challenge.

“It is going to be a big challenge.

The beginning is going to be tough (against India),” he said.

He also urged his wards to ‘give their best’ to make a solid start and to achieve the desired results.

OFA chief to arriveMeanwhile, the Indian media re-

ported that Oman team faced a minor problem when they reached the stadium for their first practice session on Monday.

Their training session was de-layed by more than four hours due to issues with the floodlights at the stadium. However, the hosts man-

aged to solve the problem and Oman started their training sessions.

Oman Football Association (OFA) vice-president Naif Al Mar-hoon, meanwhile, assured that the problems were solved and every-thing will be taken care of the tech-nical and administrative team .

Meanwhile, the Oman team sources revealed that OFA chief Sayyid Khalid Al Busaidi is expect-ed to reach Bangalore on Wednes-day and give his moral support to the players.

Besides Oman and India, Group D also comprises Iran, Turkmenistan and Guam. Twenty-nine teams, di-vided into eight groups, will compete in a double round robin format from June 11, 2015 to March 29, 2016.

The group winners and four best runners-up will advance to the 2019 Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.

The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a sepa-rate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup finals.

Paul Le Guen’s Oman

team launch their

campaign in the 2018

World Cup and 2016

Asian Cup qualifiers

with a Group D

match against

India in Bangalore

on Thursday

BANGALORE: Indian foot-baller Sandesh Jhingan on Tuesday revealed how iconic cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s motivational words worked like a balm when he was left dejected after losing the Indian Super League (ISL) final.

“There will be lows in every-one’s life. And for me, the loss in the ISL final came as a big disappointment. We were de-pressed and that’s when some-

one put an arm on my shoulder. It was Tendulkar. ‘Get over it. It took me six attempts to win the World Cup’. This came from the best ever,” Jhingan said.

Tendulkar is co-owner of the Kerala Blasters Football Club, which lost the inaugural ISL final to Atletico de Kolkata, last December.

Jhingan said these inspi-rational words changed his philosophy and taught him not

to stop dreaming. “These words made me understand that you can never quit from dream-ing. That separates the best from the rest. The rest may quit but the best will always carry on,” he said.

Jhingan is a part of the Indian squad that has been preparing for the 2018 World Cup qualification match against Oman scheduled for Thursday at Sree Kanteerava Stadium.

Lavishing praise on Stephen Constantine, Jhingan said the Team India head coach has been a great motivator besides being a shrewd tactician, and his talks gives him goosebumps.

“Stephen Constantine is such an inspirational man. He always demands discipline — on and off the pitch. He is a great mo-tivator besides being a shrewd tactician. His talks gives me goosebumps,” he added. - PTI

Cricket legend Sachin motivates Indian player Sandesh

PEP TALKS: Oman team’s French coach Paul Le Guen gives a pep talk to his players during their training session at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore on Tuesday. Coach Stephen Constantine talks to In-

dian players during their training session at the same venue. – PTI

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UTSC gearing up to organise Tellicherry Football FiestaMUSCAT: The United Thalas-erry Sports Club (UTSC) will or-ganise Tellicherry Football Fiesta at Ahli-Sidab Club on Friday.

According to the organisers the event is scheduled to take place from 7.30 pm to 11 pm.

“A similar event was organ-ised by Tellicherry Cricketers in Dubai and following its roar-ing success, the organisers have decided to spread their wings in an attempt to develop the skills and also to trace out the talent of the young football players from Thalasserry and Mahe,” a press release from the organisers said.

Over hundred young kids along with their parents are expected to arrive from Dubai to take part in this football fiesta. And the mem-bers of UTSC are working over-time to conduct a very entertain-ing tournament. The event, to be inaugurated by noted sports per-sonality SAS Naqvi, will comprise four categories - under-15 boys,

under-13 boys, under-10 boys and the veterans tournaments.

Meanwhile, Jinos Basheer of Tellicherry Cricketers in Dubai, said: “After the grand success of Dubai football fiesta, we are now coming to Muscat to take in the Oman edition. This will give more exposure for our kids. We are also planning to take our children to Portugal in the near future.”

During the day, the organisers will also be conducted cultural programmes, sports quiz and some fun games.

The event is sponsored by Sea Pearls, Al Noor Hypermarket Seeb, Zam Zam Hypermarket, Sama Hypermarket, McDon-alds, FAP, Lynx, Al Nahla Solu-tions, Madeena Hypermarket and Thalassery Community.

O M A N E D I T I O N

READY FOR THE ACTION: Young players from Thalassery residing

in Oman after their practice session. – Supplied photo

OBA chief inaugurates ISM basketball coaching camp

MUSCAT: Oman Basketball As-sociation (OBA) chief Fareed bin Khamis Al Zadjali inaugurated the Indian School Muscat (ISM) basketball coaching camp at the schools New Multipupose Hall.

According to a press release issued by the ISM on Tuesday, coach Ramkumar Gahlawat, a former India player, and ISM

Principal Srinivas K Naidu also graced the occasion.

The camp will run till June 15.In his remarks, chief guest Fa-

reed Al Zadjali said: “Sports play an intrinsic role in the holistic de-velopment of the child and youth.”

He also congratulated ISM for their efforts in taking sports and physical education to greater

heights and providing a wonder-ful platform for the students.

“The basketball coaching camp is a huge opportunity for the bud-ding sports enthusiasts of ISM who aspire to derive motivation from coach Ramkumar’s exper-tise,” the statement said. “This will help ISM teams to perform better at national level competitions.”

S C H O O L S P O R T S

Alves extends Barca contract

BARCELONA: Dani Alves put an end to speculation about his future when he signed a two-year extension to his deal with recent-ly-crowned European champions Barcelona on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old Brazilian de-fender’s contract was due to ex-pire on June 30, but he came to an agreement with Barca officials for the extension through to 2017, with the option of a third addition-al season.

Alves, who joined the Catalan club from Sevilla back in 2008, has gone on to appear in 343 matches for Barcelona, more than any other foreigner in the history of the club.

During that time he has won 19 titles, including five La Ligas, three Champions Leagues, three Span-ish Cups, two European Super Cups, four Spanish Super Cups and two Club World Cups.

He forms part of the group of seven players that were in both of Barca’s treble winning squads. - AFP

F O O T B A L L

Team rebuilding an urgent need for 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar

DOHA: As Qatar continues its vast construction projects to pre-pare the tiny Gulf nation to host the 2022 World Cup, the slow rebuilding work of the country’s soccer team puts them in danger of missing the showpiece deadline.

Despite heavy investment on new coaches and the Aspire Acad-

emy to nurture young players, suc-cess has been limited and the natu-ralising of foreign talents has also failed to bridge the gap.

With seven years until the World Cup comes to the Middle East for the first time, last week’s draw with Northern Ireland and loss to Scotland show Qatar are a long way short of competing with heavyweights like Argentina and Germany.

Uruguayan Jose Daniel Carreno is the latest coach to be charged with putting together a team able to compete with the world’s elite.

He is the seventh manager Qa-tar have employed since hosting and exiting the 2011 Asian Cup at the quarterfinals — their joint best performance.

On Thursday, Carreno and the 97th ranked side will kick-off their bid to qualify for a first World Cup when they open their Group C campaign in the holiday islands of the Maldives. The fixture comes against a growing clamour ques-

tioning the legitimacy of Qatar’s right to stage the 2022 World Cup as U.S. investigators continue with corruption cases at Fifa following a series of arrests of high ranking

officials. Qatar have long denied any wrongdoing in their bid which surprisingly beat South Korea, Japan, Australia and the United States in a 2010 vote.

As the Fifa fallout continues, Carreno only has eyes on negotiat-ing through a group also contain-ing Hong Kong, Bhutan and China to move through to the next stage of Asian qualifying.

Next generation“Right now we are just worried about Russia,” Carreno told Scot-land’s STV when asked about the 2022 tournament.

“Qatar has no history of playing in World Cups and we’re only con-cerned with trying to qualify the national team to go to Russia.

“It’s all about the World Cup qualifier in Maldives and making the tournament after that.”

Carreno had been working with local club Al Arabi before step-ping up to replace Algerian Djamel Belmadi, who did lift the Gulf Cup title in November but oversaw a dismal Asian Cup campaign in January and left.

The Maroons limped out of the tournament in Australia at

the group stage following defeats by Iran, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

The next generation are faring little better.

Last week, the under-20 team also lost all three games at the World Cup in New Zealand to exit at the group stage.

The Olympic under-23 side were bottom of their group at the Toulon tournament last week fol-lowing losses to United States, Netherlands and host and even-tual winners France.

Felix Sanchez, head coach of Qa-tar’s under-20 side most of whom lifted the under-19 Asian title last year, said he hoped the interna-tional experience would benefit the players.

“I think we need to understand that it was a big success for the country and the players to play at the FIFA U-20 World Cup,” the Spaniard said.

“Hopefully we will use this expe-rience and move forward.” - Reuters

Despite heavy

investment on new

coaches and the

Aspire Academy

to nurture young

players, success

has been limited

With seven years until the World Cup comes to the Middle East for the first time, last week’s draw with Northern Ireland and loss to Scotland show Qatar are a long way short of competing with heavyweights like Argentina and Germany. Uruguayan Jose Daniel Carreno is the latest coach to be charged with putting together a team able to compete with the world’s elite. He is the seventh manager Qatar have employed since hosting the 2011 Asian Cup

England lack passion, character: GascoigneLONDON: Former England hero Paul Gascoigne has said the cur-rent team under Roy Hodgson lack the passion he was famous for, and that he cannot bear to watch much football these days because he misses playing so much.

Gascoigne, 48, appeared 57 times for England and more than 400 times for clubs such as New-castle United, Tottenham Hot-spur, Lazio and Rangers.

He retired in 2004, struggling with alcoholism and personal problems, and is promoting this week a new documentary film Gascoigne about his life and ca-reer. “I hardly try and watch games because I still wish I was playing,” he said in a BBC radio interview.

“I cannot handle watching players getting lots of money and not putting 100 per cent in. The fans paid for my house, my car, my holidays — but I’ve seen play-ers score a goal, even for England, and just walk back.”

“There are young kids there seeing that and thinking it means nothing to score goals. I don’t like that,” he said.

He took up that theme in an in-terview with the Daily Mail, say-ing of England’s widely criticised goalless draw with Ireland on Sunday, “Where was the inten-sity? Where were the characters in this England team? Nowhere.

“I would be in the England dressing-room with Bryan Rob-son and Terry Butcher and they would be screaming ‘nobody comes into my house and takes anything’.”

Another England player of that era, Kenny Sansom, was report-ed on Sunday to be a homeless alcoholic.

Gascoigne said he tried to as-sist his former team-mate but added: “I can’t help him, no-one in the world can help unless he puts his hand up and says he needs help.” - Reuters

F O O T B A L L

WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMSECTIONC W E D N E S DAY, J U N E 1 0, 2 0 1 5LIFE & STYLE

What once use

to be prisons are now hotels.

Experience them and

you won’t be held

captive for sure

THE PRISON HOTELS

Malmaison, EnglandA medieval castle-turned-prison-turned-hotel, the Malmaison in Oxford is packed with history. There are 38 rooms that have been converted from cells, with three making up each bedroom. Interi-ors are all exposed brick walls, low ceilings, high steel-barred win-dows, and iron doors, while high-er-end rooms come with roll-top baths and balconies. Guests can eat in the restaurant, set beneath original steel staircases, or outside in the jail’s old exercise yard.-The Independent

Fremantle Prison, AustraliaSpend the night in jail, guilt-free at the Fremantle Hostel, which opened last month. The World Heritage-listed prison in Western Australia was built in the 1850s and functioned as a prison from 1855 to 1991. It has since been transformed and visitors can choose to sleep in either the pris-on cells, or in the guards’ cottages. There’s also a purpose-built annexe with private en-suite rooms. Guests can relax on the lawn, once the pris-oners’ yard, and make dinner in the former cookhouse. The cells are ba-sic, with bunk beds, colourful bed-clothes and handy lockers.

Liberty Hotel, USBoston’s Liberty Hotel no long-er holds its guests captive. The building, constructed in 1851, has been converted into a luxury ho-tel. Rooms are significantly larger than the original prison cells, with floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over Boston, and are signifi-cantly more luxurious, decorated with soft furnishings, and dark wood. Suites come with separate living and dining areas and open-air terraces. One even includes its own library and dressing room.

Langholmen, SwedenInitially serving as a women’s penal institution, Stockholm’s Langhol-men prison was in operation for 250 years. It closed in 1975 and its cells have been converted into a quirky hotel and hostel. The decor is styl-ishly spartan and single rooms are small — the size of the original cells — but some come with an extra bunk, so you can share with a cellmate. For a bit of extra space check into a dou-ble or family room.

Hostel Celica, SloveniaTwenty of this building’s former cells in the capital Ljubljana have been converted into unique bed-rooms, decorated by Slovenian artists. No two rooms are the same and visitors are assigned one when they book — you can’t choose. One bedroom is deco-rated with dark wood recovered from a burnt-out local building, another has an entirely glass floor, and one is decorated using only flea-market furniture.

Ottawa Jail, CanadaLocated in the 150-year-old for-mer Carleton County Gaol, this hostel in the Canadian capital makes the most of its history. The bedrooms — previously cells — feature bare brick walls and heavy steel-bar doors, and the dorms come with basic bunks. The walls are adorned with photographs of the building’s former life as a jail. The bar, aptly named Mugshots, is contained by a 30 feet stone wall and wooden gates.

C8

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

The brain is truly a marvel. A seemingly endless library, whose shelves house our most pre-

cious memories as well as our lifetime’s knowledge. But is there a point where it reaches capacity? In other words, can the brain be “full”?

The answer is a resounding no, be-cause, well, brains are more sophisticat-ed than that. A study published in Nature Neuroscience earlier this year shows that instead of just crowding in, old informa-tion is sometimes pushed out of the brain for new memories to form.

Previous behavioural studies have shown that learning new information can lead to forgetting. But in this study, researchers used new neuroimaging techniques to demonstrate for the first time how this effect occurs in the brain.

The experimentThe paper’s authors set out to investi-gate what happens in the brain when we try to remember information that’s very similar to what we already know. This is important because similar information is more likely to interfere with existing knowledge, and it’s the stuff that crowds without being useful.

To do this, they examined how brain activity changes when we try to remem-ber a “target” memory, that is, when we try to recall something very specific, at the same time as trying to remember something similar (a “competing” mem-

ory). Participants were taught to associ-ate a single word (say, the word sand) with two different images — such as one of Marilyn Monroe and the other of a hat.

They found that as the target memory was recalled more often, brain activity for it increased. Meanwhile, brain activi-ty for the competing memory simultane-ously weakened. This change was most prominent in regions near the front of the brain, such as the prefrontal cortex, rather than key memory structures in the middle of the brain, such as the hip-pocampus, which is traditionally associ-ated with memory loss.

The prefrontal cortex is involved in a range of complex cognitive processes, such as planning, decision making, and selective retrieval of memory. Extensive research shows this part of the brain works in combination with the hip-pocampus to retrieve specific memories.

If the hippocampus is the search en-gine, the prefrontal cortex is the filter determining which memory is the most relevant. This suggests that storing in-formation alone is not enough for a good memory. The brain also needs to be able to access the relevant information with-out being distracted by similar compet-ing pieces of information.

Better to forgetIn daily life, forgetting actually has clear advantages. Imagine, for instance, that you lost your bank card. The new card

you receive will come with a new per-sonal identification number (PIN). Re-search in this field suggests that each time you remember the new PIN, you gradually forget the old one. This process improves access to relevant information, without old memories interfering.

And most of us will be able to identify with the frustration of having old memo-ries interfere with new, relevant memo-ries. Consider trying to remember where you parked your car in the same car park you were at a week earlier. This type of memory (where you are trying to re-member new, but similar information) is particularly susceptible to interference.

When we acquire new information, the brain automatically tries to incor-porate it within existing information by forming associations. And when we re-trieve information, both the desired and associated but irrelevant information is recalled.

The majority of previous research has focused on how we learn and remember new information. But current stud-ies are beginning to place greater em-phasis on the conditions under which we forget, as its importance begins to be more appreciated.

The curse of memoryA very small number of people are able to remember almost every detail of their life in great detail; they have hyperthymestic syndrome. If provided with a date, they

are able to tell you where and what they were doing on that particular day. While it may sound like a boon to many, people with this rare condition often find their unusual ability burdensome.

Some report an inability to think about the present or the future, because of the feeling of constantly living in the past, caught in their memories. And this is what we all might experience if our brains didn’t have a mechanism for su-perseding information that’s no longer relevant and did indeed fill up.

At the other end of the spectrum is a phenomenon called “accelerated long-term forgetting”, which has been ob-served in epilepsy and stroke patients. As the name suggests, these people forget newly learnt information at a much faster rate, sometimes within a few hours, com-pared to what’s considered normal.

It’s believed this represents a failure to “consolidate” or transfer new memories into long-term memory. But the process-es and impact of this form of forgetting are still largely unexplored.

What studies in this area are demon-strating is that remembering and for-getting are two sides of the same coin. In a sense, forgetting is our brain’s way of sorting memories, so the most rel-evant memories are ready for retrieval. Normal forgetting may even be a safety mechanism to ensure our brain doesn’t become too full. -Fiona Kumfor, Sicong Tu/The Independent

Previous research

has focused on

how we learn and

remember new

information, but

current studies are

beginning to place

greater emphasis on

the conditions under

which we forget

information

to make room for

new memories

Remember to forget

LISA KUDROW, who made her name as Phoebe on “Friends,” said, “I think it’s always a good move to listen to that inner voice, if it doesn’t lead to a crime.”

Some bridge players follow their inner voices. But most should analyse each deal, considering the alternatives. Here, South is in four spades. West leads a trump. (What do you think of that choice?) How should South plan the play?

After South opened with a weak two-bid, North responded two no-trump, which asked South to define his hand.

With a maximum, South rebid three diamonds, showing his “feature,” which is typically the ace or king of that suit.

Many players would draw trumps and run the heart jack, but should fail. East wins with his king and shifts to the diamond queen. The defenders take two tricks in that suit, then sit back and wait for a club winner. Instead, declarer should draw trumps ending on the board and lead a low heart toward his jack.

If West could take that trick with the heart king, he would do best to shift to clubs. However, South

would win with dummy’s ace and cash the heart ace-queen, discarding the diamond four from his hand. Declarer would lose only one trick in each side suit.

Here, if East wins with his heart king, South gets six spades, three hearts and one club. If East ducks, South loses only two diamonds and one club.

Finally, West made a poor choice of opening lead. He should have selected the club three. Don’t be afraid to lead from a king, especially around to a weak hand.

- Phillip Alder

C9

ENTERTAINMENT

Do you lead up here or there?

B I G N A T E

B O R N L O S E R

M A R M A D U K E

A C E S O N B R I D G E

K I D S P O T H E A L T H C A P S U L EC R O S S W O R D

Answer to previous puzzle

WITH LOVE

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

Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 16 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to extra@timesofoman.com

ACROSS 1 Watering hole 4 Armor-crushing weapon 8 Dirty air12 Banjo cousin13 Two fives for — —14 River duck15 Spices from crocus17 Hideous monster18 Cheery tone19 World-weary20 Charm23 Go for the gold24 Unfriendly25 Crowed over29 Forest mom30 Closes the drapes32 It may be fragile

33 Led the meeting35 Fanatic’s feeling36 Hairstyles37 Like Marilyn Monroe39 Plantation drink42 Cel character43 Riding the waves44 Without any warning48 Obscure49 Squirrel abode50 Response on deck51 Kennel sounds52 Runs its course53 Pull down

DOWN 1 Urban transport

2 Wanted-poster abbr. 3 NBA official 4 Soprano — Callas 5 Ring-shaped island 6 Small change 7 USN rank 8 Shoulder wraps 9 Between kilo and giga10 Boathouse items11 Delight16 Went on the lam19 Prejudice20 “Back in Black” group21 Animal’s friend22 Courtroom bargain23 Promise solemnly

25 Harmful26 Mall frequenter27 Word of mock horror28 Allot30 Lemon candy31 Home tel.34 Principles35 Area37 Portended38 Mineral deposits39 Diner coffee40 Opportunist41 Explorer — Ericson42 Pivot44 Sault — Marie45 Old horse46 Strong alkali47 To date

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

K. ACHYUTHANJune 10, 2011

NITHIN KRISHNANJune 10, 2006

HANSHAMATHI BREMANANTHJune 10, 2005

ANISHA AJAYJune 11, 2009

MINA SHAHUL HAMEEDJune 11, 2011

MONA SHAHUL HAMEEDJune 11, 2011

SHRIJA HANDAJune 11, 2001

ALAN MADHU KURIAKOSEJune 11

BAHJA CINEMA

STARS CINEMA

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

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

Film information 24791641 / 24786776

Jurassic World (Act, Adv) (3D) (PG12)Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins, 11:55 pm Entourage (Comedy) Cast: Andrian Grenier, Jeremy Priven, Kevin Connolly2.00, 4.00, 8.00 pmCP No: 1474 (15+)Cut Bank (Thriller ) Cast: Liam Hemsworth, Teressa Palmer, John Malckovitch4.00 & 8.00 pm CP No: 1476 (12+)San Andreas (Action / Thriller) Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Alexandra Deddario, Carla Gugino6.00, 10.00 & 11.55 pmCP No: 1381 ( PG )Survivor (Action / Thriller ) Cast: Milla Jovovitch, Pierce Brosnan, Dylan Mc Dermott2.00, 6.00, 10.00 pmCP No: 1475 (PG 12)

Chandrettan Evideya (Mal) ( com ) Cast: Dileep, Namitha & Anu Sree 3:30, 6:30 & 9:30pm at Cinema MainPandaga Chesko (Telugu) (Act/Rom) Cast: Ram, Rakul Preet Singh & Sonal Chauhan 3:30, 6:30pm at Cinema -2Oru Vadakka Selfie (Mal) (Com\Drama) Cast: Navin Pauly, Manjima & Vineeth Sreenivasam 9:30pm Cinema -2Masss (Tamil) (Act/ Hor)Cast: Surya & Nayanthara 3:45, 6:45 & 9:45 pm at Cinema 3 Bhaskar The Raskal (Mal) (Rom/Com) Cast: Mammootty, Nayanthara & Isha Talwar 3:45, 6:45 & 9:45pm at Cinema-4Next Change: Premam (Mal)Romeo & Juliet (Tamil) Humari Adhuri Kahani (Hindi)

Jurassic World (Act, Adv) (3D) (PG12)Cast : Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins, 9:15 pmSPY (Action, Comedy) (18+)Cast : Jude Law, Raad Rawi, Melissa McCarthy, 05:00 /09:30 pm /11:45 pmDil Dhadakne Do (Dr , Romance) (TBC)Cast : Farhan Akhtar, Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shetty, Priyanka Chopra 02:00 pm /08:20 pmEntourage (Comedy) (15+)Cast : Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven02:00 pm /06:10 pmInsidious Chapter 3 (Horror) (15+)Cast : Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, Angus Sampson04:15 pm /11:30 pmWoman in Gold (Drama) (PG)Cast : Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Brühl, 05:15 pm /07:25 pmSurvivor (Action, Thriller) (PG12)Cast : Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan, Dylan McDermott03:00 pm /07:30 pmSan Andereas (Act, Adv) (3D) PGCast : Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, 11:45 pmJungle Master (Animation, Adventure) (2D) PGCast : Victoria Justice, David Spade, Josh Peck1:15 pm

Gold Class: 03:45pmJungle Master (2D) PGCast: Victoria Justice, David Spade12:15 pmEntourage (2D) (Comedy) Cast: Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven10:30 am & 05:05 pmSurvivor (2D)(Action/Thriller) (PG12)Cast: Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan12:45 & 11:45 pmGold Class: 02:00 pmSpy (2D): (Action/Comedy) (18+)Cast: Jude Law, Melissa McCarthy02:45 & 09:30 pmGold Class: 11:15 pmWoman in Gold (2D) (Horror) (PG)Cast: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds04:30 pmGold Class: 06:00 pmInsidiuos Chapter 3 (2D) (15+)Cast: Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott11:45 pmGold Class: 06:00 pmDil Dhadakne Do (2D) (Drama)Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shetty, Priyanka Chopra06:30 pm; Gold Class: 08:00 pm

Tanu Weds Manu Returns(Comedy/Romance) (PG)Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Madhavan02:00 pmSan Andreas (3D) (Action/Thriller) (PG)Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario10:00 am, 07:15 & 09:35 pm

SCREEN 1

Dil Dhadakne Do (Romance/Drama/Comedy ) – TBCCast: Anil Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, , Shefali Shetty, Anushka Sharma Priyanka Chopra3:30, 6:45 & 10:00 pm

SCREEN 2

Tanu Weds Manu Returns (Romance/Drama/Comedy) – TBCCast: Kangana Ranaut, R. Madhavan3:45, 6:45 & 9:45 pm

San Andreas - 2D (PG) Act | Dr Cast : Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, 3:15pmSan Andreas - 3D (PG) Act | Drama Cast : Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, 9:15 ,11:30pmJungle Master - 2D (PG) Animation |Adventure | ComedyCast : Victoria Justice, David Spade4:00pmSurvivor - 2D (PG12) Action | ThrillerCast : Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan, Dylan McDermott 05:20pmCut Bank - 2D (12+) ThrillerCast : Liam Hemsworth, Teresa Palmer, Billy Bob Thornton2:30pmEntourage - 2D (15+) ComedyCast : Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven05:20 , 07:15pmWoman in Gold - 2D (PG) DramaCast : Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds04:15 , 06:15pmInsidious: Chapter 3 - 2D (15+) HorCast : Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, Angus Sampson02:10 , 05:30 , 11:50pmSpy - 2D (18+) Action | ComedyCast : Jude Law, Raad Rawi, Melissa McCarthy, 07:10 , 09:40, 11:30pmDil Dhadakne Do - 2D (PG12) Dr | RomCast : Farhan Akhtar, Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shetty, Priyanka Chopra 02:15 , 08:15 pm

Jurassic World– 3D (PG) Act, AdventureCast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, 9:40 pm San Andreas (3D) (12+) (Action, Drama)                                                              Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino09:30, 11:50pmSpy - 2D (18+) Action, ComedyCast: Jude Law, 3:15, 07:15, 11:30 pmSurvivor – 2D (PG12) Action, ThrillerCast: Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan02:45, 05:30, 08:00pmBurying the Ex – 2D (12+) Com, HorCast: Anton Yelchin, Ashley Greene4:30 pmWoman in Gold – 2D (PG) DramaCast: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, 2:45, 06:15 pmInsidious: Chapter 3 - 2D (15+) HorrorCast: Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott4:45, 11:45 pmChandrettan Evideya – 2D (PG)ComCast: Anusree, Dilip, Namitha Pramod6:30 pmDil Dhadakne Do – 2D (TBC)DrCast: Farhan Akhtar, Anil Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, 8:45 pm

San Andreas (3D) (Action | Thriller) (PG) Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino07:30 pm Survivor (Action | Thriller) (PG12) Cast: Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan4:45 & 9:45 pm

San Andreas (2D) (12+) (Action, Drama)                                                              Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino2:45pmSan Andreas (3D) (12+) (Action, Drama)                                                              9:15 & 11:30PMSpy (2D) (18+) (Action, Comedy) Cast: Jude Law, Raad Rawi5:00 & 9:30PMCut Bank (3D) (12+) (Thriller) Cast: Liam Hemsworth, Teresa Palmer11:00AM & 3:15PMSurvivor (2D) (PG12) (Action, Thriller) Cast: Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan12:45 & 7:15PMWoman in Gold (2D) (PG) (Drama) 12:30 & 06:30PMInsidious: Chapter 3 (2D) (15+) (Horror) 2:30 & 11:45PMJungle Master (2D) (PG) (Animation) Cast: Victoria Justice, David Spade11:00AMEntourage (2D) (15+) (Comedy) 4:20 & 7:20PMBurying the Ex (2D) (12+) (Comedy) 1:30PMChandrettan Evideya (2D) (PG) Cast: Anusree, Dilip, Namitha Pramod5:00PMDil Dhadakne Do (2D) (PG12) (Drama) Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Anil Kapoor8:30PM 

Insidious: Chapter 3 (Horror) (15+) Cast: Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott06:30 pm Spy (Action | Comedy) (18+) Cast: Jason Statham, Jude Law05:15, 11:30 pm Dil Dhadakne Do (Hindi) (Drama) (TBC) Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shetty, Priyanka Chopra 08:15 pm Chandrettan Evideya (Mal) (Comedy) (PG) Cast: Anusree, Dilip, Namitha Pramod 11:15 pm

SCREEN 3

Gabbar - Hindi (Action/Drama ) – PGCast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti K. Haasan, Kareena Kapoor3:45, 6:45 & 9:45 pm

Chandrettan Evideya - 2D (M) (PG) CCast : Anusree, Dilip, Namitha Pramod7:20pmJurassic World - 3D (PG12) Act, AdvCast : Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins9:25 , 11:45pm

C10

FIND-IT-ALLW E D N E S DAY, J U N E 1 0, 2 0 1 5

PHARMACIESRound the clockAl Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24783334; Appolo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24782666; Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi: 24702542, Salalah: 23291635; Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra: 24503585; Ruwi 24811715Muscat RegionApollo, Al Hamriya. Tel: 24787766Muscat, A Seeb Market. Tel: 24421691Muscat, Al Khuwair. Tel: 24485740Muscat, Al Hail South. Tel: 4537080Dhofar RegionMuscat, Al Nahdha Road, Salalah. Tel: 23291635

HOSPITALSAl Amal Medical & Health Care Centre: 24485052Atlas Hospital: Ruwi: 24811743/ Ghubra: 24504000Al Musafir Specialised Medical Clinic: 24706453Hatat Polyclinic LLC,Ruwi: 24563641, Azaiba: 24499269, Sohar: 2683006Al Raffah Hospital: 24618900/1/2Al Massaraat Clinic & Laboratory: 24566435Al Makook Medical Coordinance Centre: 24499434Apollo Medical Centre, Hamriya: 24787766, 24787780Capital Polyclinic: 24707549Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic, Ruwi: 24799760/1/2Capital Clinic, Seeb: 24420740Ceregem National Raak: 24485633Dr Harub’s Clinic: 24563217Elixir Health Centre: 24565802Emirates Medical Centre: 246045401st Chiropractic Centre: 24472274Hamdan Hospital: 23212340International Medical Centre LLC: 24794501/2/3/4/5Kims Oman Hospital: 24760100

24 Hrs Emergency: 24760123Lama Polyclinic, Sohar: 26751128, MBD: 24799077, Al Khuwair: 24478818Magrabi Eye and Ear Hospital: 24568870Muscat Private Hospital: 24583600Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, Al Khuwair: 24477666Al-Hayat Polyclinc LLC: 22004000

ROYAL OMAN POLICEEmergencies and inquiries: 9999General Directorate of Passport and Residence: 24569603Directorate General of Customs: 24521109Traffic violations inquiries: 24510228Public Relations Admin: 24560099

ACCOMMODATIONAl Bahjah Hotel: 24424400Al Bustan Palace: 24764000 Al Khuwair Hotel Apartments: 24478171Al Madina Holiday Inn: 24596400Al Maha International Hotel: 24494949Al Fanar Hotel: 24712385Al Falaj Hotel: 24702311Al Qurum Resort: 24605945Azaiba Hotel Apartments: 24490979Beach Hotel: 24696601Bowshar Hotel: 24491105Coral Hotel Muscat: 24692121Crowne Plaza Muscat: 24660660Crystal Suites: 24826100Golden Tulip Seeb: 24510300Grand Hyatt Muscat: 24641234Haffa House Hotel: 24707207Hotel Muscat Holiday: 24487123InterContinental Muscat: 24680000Majan Continental Hotel: 24592900Marina Hotel: 24711711Midan Hotel Suites: 24499565Mina Hotel: 24711828Muttrah Hotel: 24798401

Nuzha Hotel Apartments: 24789199Oman Dive Centre: 24824240Park Inn: 24507888Qurum Beach House Hotel: 24564070Radisson Blu Hotel: 24487777Ramee Dream Resort Seeb: 24453399Ramee Guestline Hotel: 24564443Ruwi Hotel: 24704244Safeer Hotel Suites: 24691200Sheraton Oman Hotel: 24772772Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa: 24776666The Chedi Muscat: 24524400The Treasurebox Muscat Hotel: 24502570Sifawy Hotel +968 24749111Juweira Hotel +968 23239600

AIRLINE OFFICESMuscat Airport Flight information (24 hours): 24519456/24519223Aeroflot: 24704455, Air Arabia: 24700828, Air France: 24562153, Air India: 24799801, Air New Zealand: 24700732, Biman Bangladesh Airlines: 24701128, British Airways: 24568777, Cathay Pacific: 24789818, Egypt Air: 24794113, Emirates Air: 24404400, Ethiopian Airlines: 24660313, Gulf Air: 80072424, Indian: 24791914, Iran Air: 24787423, Japan Airlines: 24704455, Jazeera Airways: 23294848, Jet Airways: 24787248, Kenya Airways: 24660300, KML Royal Dutch Airlines: 24566737, Kuwait Airways: 24701262, LOT Polish Airlines: 24796387, Lufthansa: 24796692, Malaysian Airlines: 24560796, Middle East Airlines: 24796680, Oman Air: 24531111, Pakistan International Airlines: 24792471, Qatar Airways: 24771900, Qantas: 24559941, Royal Jordanian: 24796693, Saudi Arabian Airlines: 24789485, Singapore

Airlines: 24791233, Shaheen Air: 24816565, SriLankan Airlines: 24784545, Swiss International Airlines: 24796692, Thai Airways: 24705934, Turkish Airlines: 24703033

MUSEUMSBait Al Baranda: Corniche (seafront opp fish market), Open from Saturday to Thursday 9am to 1pm and 4 to 6pmNatural History Museum: Al Khuwair, Tel: 24604957, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm; Thursday: 9am to 1pmMuseum of Omani Heritage: (former Omani Museum), Madinat Al Alam, Sat-Wed 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday - 9am to 1pm, Tel: 24600946Armed Forces Museum: Bait Al Falaj, Tel: 24312651, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm; Thurs 9-12pm and 3-6pm; Fri 9-11am and 3-6pm. Al Hoota Caves 24498258; Turtle Beach 96550606/96550707Children’s Science Museum: Shatti Al Qurum, Tel: 24605368, Open from Saturday to Wednesday: 8am to 1:30pm, Thursday: 9am to 1pmOman-French Museum: near Muscat Police Station, Tel: 24736613, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm, Thurs: 9am to 1pmBait Al Zubair, Muscat: Tel: 24736688, Al Saidiya St., Muscatmuseum@baitalzubairmuseum.comOpen from Sat to Thurs: 9:30am to 6pm.National Museum Ruwi: Tel: 24701289, Open from Sat to Wed: 8am to 1:30pm, Thurs: 9am to 1pmSohar Fort Museum: Tel: 26844758, Open from Saturday to Wed: 8 to 1:30pm Thurs: 9am to 1pmMuscat Gate Museum: at Al Bahri Road, Muscat open from Sat to Wed 8am to 2pm

W E A T H E R

OMAN

Max 44Min 33

Max 38Min 33

Max 38Min 30

Max 45Min 31

Max 41Min 32Max 43

Min 31

Max 44Min 26

Max 33 Min 28

Partly cloudy skies along the coastal areas of Arabian Sea and clear to partly cloudy skies over rest of the Sultanate with chances of convective clouds development and thundershowers over Al-

Hajar mountains and adjoining areas towards afternoon and evening that may be associated with fresh downdraft wind and hail that may extend to the desert areas causing blowing dust.EXPECTED WIND: Along the coastal areas of Oman Sea wind will be northeasterly light to moderate during day becoming variable light at night and southwesterly moderate to fresh along the coastal areasof Arabian Sea while over rest of the Sultanate it will be northwesterly light to moderate during day becoming southeasterly light to moderate

at night.SEA STATE: Rough along the southeastern coast with a maximum wave height of 3.0 metres and slight to moderate along the rest of Oman’s coast with a maximum wave height 1.5 metres.HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY: Good over most of the Sultanate becoming poor during thundershowers and dust fog.THE NEXT 48 HOURS OUTLOOK: Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with chances of rain along the Arabian Sea coast. Chance of convective clouds development and thundershowers associated with hail and fresh downdraft wind over Al-Hajar mountains and adjoining areas toward afternoon.

Max Min

GULFAbu Dhabi 41 29Doha 38 26Dubai 44 27Kuwait 49 33Manama 38 26Riyadh 43 26

WORLDAthens 27 20Baghdad 44 27Beijing 27 18Berlin 20 13Boston 27 15Cairo 34 16Colombo 30 26Frankfurt 22 13Hong Kong 30 27Istanbul 25 17Johannesburg 15 4Kuala Lumpur 30 25Lisbon 24 15Paris 20 14Perth 24 13Singapore 29 27Tokyo 27 19Toronto 25 17

WORLD

Max 28Min 19

Max 43Min 24

Max 27Min 15

Max 35Min 29

Max 26Min 16

Max 15Min 12

Max 18Min 11

Max 34Min 28

LISTINGS

LONG DISTANCE BUS TIMINGS (OMAN NATIONAL TRANSPORT COMPANY SAOC) *SUBJECT TO CHANGE

QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (Route 36)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily

FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (Route 36)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41)06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri13:00 Sohar 15:45 Daily13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily 16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily 16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily

TO AL BURAIMI (Route 41)07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily 13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily 17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily

TO SINAW (Route 52)17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily

TO SINAW (Route 52)07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54)14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily

To Yanqul (Route 54)06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54)08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily

TO IBRI (ARAQI) (Route 54)15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily

TO SUR (Route 55)07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily

TO SUR (Route 55)06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily

TO FAHUD - YIBAL (Route 62)06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily

TO YIBAL - FAHUD (Route 62)12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201)06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily

TO DUBAI (Route 201)07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily

TO MARMUL-SALALAH (Route 100)07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily

TO SALALAH -MARMUL (Route 100)07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101)06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily

SALALAH TO DUBAI (Route 102)15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily

TO MARMUL (Route 101)06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily

DUBAI TO SALALAH (Route 102)15:00 Salalah 07:00 Daily

TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily 07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily 07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily

FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (Route 204)Dept Destination Arrival Operating Time Time Days 16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily 16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily

FROM MUSCAT (RUWI) TO MUSCAT (RUWI)

WEDNESDAYFLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA WY648 KUWAIT  0005WY406 CAIRO  0005WY676 JEDDAH  0005WY672 MEDINA  0005WY682 RIYADH  0010WY914 SALALAH  0020WY916 SALALAH  0120TK774 ISTANBUL  01354H583 DACCA  0200PK229 LAHORE  0215GF560 BAHRAIN  0325FZ035 DUBAI  0340QR1132 DOHA  0345EK866 DUBAI  0350ET624 ADDIS ABABA  0350EY384 ABU DHABI  0400WY114 FRANKFURT  0515WY412 AMMAN  0635WY658 BAHRAIN  0635WY638 ABU DHABI  0640WY902 SALALAH  0645WY644 KUWAIT  0650WY686 RIYADH  0655G9841 RAS AL KHAIMA  0655WY144 MALPENSA  0705WY668 DOHA  0715WY674 JEDDAH  0735WY132 PARIS  0735WY102 LONDON HEATHROW  0740FZ043 DUBAI  0800WY432 TEHRAN  0805WY422 BEIRUT  0805WY602 DUBAI  0805WY342 LAHORE  0825NL768 LAHORE  0830WY202 BOMBAY  0835WY236 HYDERABAD  0900G9114 SHARJAH  0905WY282 BANGALORE  0910WY226 COCHIN  0920EK862 DUBAI  0930WY242 DELHI  0935IX549 TRIVANDRUM  0955WY252 MADRAS  0955QR1128 DOHA  1000EY382 ABU DHABI  1010IX443 COCHIN  1020QR8550 DOHA  1035WY3922 DUQUM OMAN  1035WY652 BAHRAIN  10409W530 TRIVANDRUM  1045WY918 KHASAB  1115WY604 DUBAI  1115WY3302 MUKHAIZNA  1120GF562 BAHRAIN  1130FZ037 DUBAI  1140WY372 COLOMBO  1140IX337 CALICUT  1155PA450 LAHORE  1215WY822 KUALA LUMPUR-SINGAPORE  1215WY818 BANGKOK  1220WY634 ABU DHABI  1220WY904 SALALAH  1230WY670 DOHA  1250WY324 KARACHI  1300WY332 KATHMANDU  1305WY606 DUBAI  1340WY906 SALALAH  1440WY920 KHASAB  1445WY348 ISLAM ABBAD  1515G9119 SHARJAH  1525FZ045 DUBAI  1535WY3304 MUKHAIZNA  1550WY656 BAHRAIN  1610QR1126 DOHA  1650WY204 BOMBAY  1655WY292 CALICUT  1710WY264 LUCKNOW  1740WY664 DOHA  1745EK864 DUBAI  1745WY232 HYDERABAD  1750WY246 DELHI  1750WY254 MADRAS  1750WY610 DUBAI  1800GF564 BAHRAIN  1810WY216 TRIVANDRUM  1820G9116 SHARJAH  1905WY274 JAIPUR  1910WY646 KUWAIT  1920FZ047 DUBAI  1940WY908 SALALAH  2000RG125 ABU DHABI  2005WY632 ABU DHABI  2005WY386 MALE  2020WY614 DUBAI  2025WY848 JAKARTA  2035WY338 KATHMANDU  2040FZ049 DUBAI  2100AI977 BANGALORE-HYDERABAD  2105KL441 AMSTERDAM-DOHA  2105WY124 MUNICH  21059W534 COCHIN  2115AI973 DELHI  21256.00E+81 BOMBAY  2130BA073 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI  2140WY624 DUBAI  2150AI907 MADRAS  2200WY312 CHITTAGONG  2210LX242 ZURICH-DUBAI  2225QR1134 DOHA  2225GF566 BAHRAIN  2240LH616 FRANKFURT-DOHA  2245WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM  2250WY328 KARACHI  2250EY388 ABU DHABI  2300WY414 AMMAN  2300WY910 SALALAH  23109W540 BOMBAY  2315AI985 BOMBAY  2325WY662 DOHA  2335WY636 ABU DHABI  2340WY654 BAHRAIN  2340WY928 SALALAH  2345WY816 BANGKOK  2350WY612 DUBAI  2355WY696 DAMMAM  2355

THURSDAYFLT NO ARRIVALS FROM ETA

WY424 BEIRUT  0005WY676 JEDDAH  0005WY648 KUWAIT  0005WY682 RIYADH  0010WY914 SALALAH  0020BG021 DACCA  0100CV610 LUXORE  0115WY916 SALALAH  0120TK774 ISTANBUL  01354H585 DACCA  0200PK225 KARACHI  0215GF560 BAHRAIN  0325QR1132 DOHA  0345EK866 DUBAI  0350ET624 ADDIS ABABA  0350EY384 ABU DHABI  0400PK291 ISLAM ABBAD  0410MS930 CAIRO  0410FZ041 DUBAI  0415WY114 FRANKFURT  05154H586 DOHA  0600WY658 BAHRAIN  0635WY638 ABU DHABI  0640WY902 SALALAH  0645WY644 KUWAIT  0650WY686 RIYADH  0655WY154 ZURICH  0700WY144 MALPENSA  0705WY678 MEDINA  0710WY668 DOHA  0715WY674 JEDDAH  0735WY102 LONDON HEATHROW  0740FZ043 DUBAI  0800WY602 DUBAI  0805WY346 ISLAM ABBAD  0815NL768 LAHORE  0830WY272 JAIPUR  0830WY202 BOMBAY  0835WY236 HYDERABAD  0900G9114 SHARJAH  0905WY226 COCHIN  0920EK862 DUBAI  0930WY210 GOA  0935WY242 DELHI  0935WY212 TRIVANDRUM  0950WY252 MADRAS  0955QR1128 DOHA  1000EY382 ABU DHABI  1010IX817 MANGALORE  1010IX443 COCHIN  1020WY652 BAHRAIN  10409W530 TRIVANDRUM  1045WY604 DUBAI  1115WY918 KHASAB  1115GF562 BAHRAIN  1130WY372 COLOMBO  1140FZ037 DUBAI  1140IX337 CALICUT  1155WY822 KUALA LUMPUR-SINGAPORE  1215WY818 BANGKOK  1220WY634 ABU DHABI  1220WY904 SALALAH  1230BG023 DACCA-CHITTAGONG  1230WY670 DOHA  1250WY332 KATHMANDU  1305PA950 SIALKOT  1310CV611 MADRAS  1315WY606 DUBAI  1340WY3302 MUKHAIZNA  1350WY632 ABU DHABI  1355WY906 SALALAH  1440WY920 KHASAB  1445WY3922 DUQUM OMAN  1510FZ045 DUBAI  1535KU677 KUWAIT-ABU DHABI  1540SV530 JEDDAH  1550WY344 LAHORE  1605QR1126 DOHA  1650WY204 BOMBAY  1655WY292 CALICUT  1710WY264 LUCKNOW  1740WY664 DOHA  1745EK864 DUBAI  1745WY254 MADRAS  1750WY232 HYDERABAD  1750WY246 DELHI  1750WY284 BANGALORE  1750WY3932 SOHAR  1805GF564 BAHRAIN  1810TG507 BANGKOK-KARACHI  1900G9116 SHARJAH  1905WY374 COLOMBO  1915WY646 KUWAIT  1920FZ047 DUBAI  1940WY908 SALALAH  2000RG125 ABU DHABI  2005WY614 DUBAI  2025WY848 JAKARTA  2035WY338 KATHMANDU  2040WY434 TEHRAN  2055FZ049 DUBAI  2100KL441 AMSTERDAM-DOHA  2105WY124 MUNICH  21054H561 DACCA  21159W534 COCHIN  2115AI973 DELHI  21256.00E+81 BOMBAY  2130BA073 LONDON HEATHROW-ABU DHABI  2140WY624 DUBAI  2150UL205 COLOMBO  2155AI907 MADRAS  2200WY312 CHITTAGONG  2210LX242 ZURICH-DUBAI  2225QR1134 DOHA  2225GF566 BAHRAIN  2240LH616 FRANKFURT-DOHA  2245WY414 AMMAN  2300SG061 AHMEDABAD  2300EY388 ABU DHABI  2300WY910 SALALAH  2310WY910 SALALAH  23109W540 BOMBAY  2315AI985 BOMBAY  2325WY662 DOHA  2335WY662 DOHA  2335WY636 ABU DHABI  2340WY654 BAHRAIN  2340WY816 BANGKOK  2350WY612 DUBAI  2355WY696 DAMMAM  2355WY612 DUBAI  2355

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD 9W539 BOMBAY  0020AI986 BOMBAY  0020WY657 BAHRAIN  0055WY637 ABU DHABI  0105WY235 HYDERABAD  0110WY281 BANGALORE  0110WY201 BOMBAY  0115WY685 RIYADH  0115WY643 KUWAIT  0120WY251 MADRAS  0120WY341 LAHORE  0145WY601 DUBAI  0145WY431 TEHRAN  0155WY371 COLOMBO  0155WY123 MUNICH  0200WY847 JAKARTA  0215WY241 DELHI  0215WY901 SALALAH  0215WY667 DOHA  0225TK775 ISTANBUL  02304H584 DACCA  0300PK230 LAHORE  0315WY331 KATHMANDU  0350EK867 DUBAI  0450ET625 ADDIS ABABA  0450EY385 ABU DHABI  0500FZ036 DUBAI  0510QR1133 DOHA  0515WY651 BAHRAIN  0645GF561 BAHRAIN  0715WY3921 DUQUM OMAN  0740G9842 RAS AL KHAIMA  0745WY603 DUBAI  0750WY903 SALALAH  0750WY3301 MUKHAIZNA  0800WY917 KHASAB  0815WY347 ISLAM ABBAD  0830WY669 DOHA  0835WY323 KARACHI  0835FZ044 DUBAI  0845WY633 ABU DHABI  0900WY815 BANGKOK  0905WY291 CALICUT  0915WY215 TRIVANDRUM  0915WY253 MADRAS  0915NL769 LAHORE  0930WY717 ZANZIBAR-DARESSLAM  0940WY263 LUCKNOW  0940WY385 MALE  0945WY821 SINGAPORE-KUALA LUMPUR  0945WY843 MANILA  0955G9115 SHARJAH  0955WY231 HYDERABAD  1000WY905 SALALAH  1020WY605 DUBAI  1020WY203 BOMBAY  1025WY245 DELHI  1040EK863 DUBAI  1045IX554 TRIVANDRUM  1045WY337 KATHMANDU  1050QR1129 DOHA  1100EY383 ABU DHABI  1105IX442 COCHIN  1120WY311 CHITTAGONG  11409W533 COCHIN  1145WY919 KHASAB  1145QR8550 DUBAI WORLD CENTRE-DOHA  1205WY655 BAHRAIN  1215GF563 BAHRAIN  1215WY273 JAIPUR  1220FZ038 DUBAI  1225WY3303 MUKHAIZNA  1230IX350 CALICUT  1255PA451 LAHORE  1315WY113 FRANKFURT  1320WY663 DOHA  1330WY143 MALPENSA  1350WY645 KUWAIT  1350WY101 LONDON HEATHROW  1400WY423 BEIRUT  1415WY153 ZURICH  1420WY927 SALALAH  1430WY413 AMMAN  1440WY405 CAIRO  1440WY609 DUBAI  1445WY907 SALALAH  1540WY675 JEDDAH  1615G9110 SHARJAH  1615FZ046 DUBAI  1620WY631 ABU DHABI  1640WY613 DUBAI  1710QR1127 DOHA  1750WY327 KARACHI  1810WY623 DUBAI  1840WY681 RIYADH  1840WY647 KUWAIT  1845WY909 SALALAH  1850GF565 BAHRAIN  1855EK865 DUBAI  1910WY695 DAMMAM  1915WY661 DOHA  1920WY653 BAHRAIN  1920G9117 SHARJAH  1955WY913 SALALAH  2000WY635 ABU DHABI  2015FZ048 DUBAI  2025WY611 DUBAI  2035RG126 ABU DHABI  2045WY915 SALALAH  2100FZ050 DUBAI  2145AI978 HYDERABAD-BANGALORE  2200KL442 DOHA-AMSTERDAM  2220WY817 BANGKOK  22259W529 TRIVANDRUM  22306.00E+82 BOMBAY  2245AI908 MADRAS  2300AI974 DELHI  2310WY677 MEDINA  2310GF567 BAHRAIN  2325LX243 DUBAI-ZURICH  2325BA072 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW  2330QR1135 DOHA  2330WY673 JEDDAH  2350EY381 ABU DHABI  2355LH617 DOHA-FRANKFURT  2355

FLT NO DEPARTURES TO ETD 9W539 BOMBAY  0020AI986 BOMBAY  0020WY657 BAHRAIN  0055WY637 ABU DHABI  0105WY225 COCHIN  0105WY235 HYDERABAD  0110WY211 TRIVANDRUM  0110WY685 RIYADH  0115WY201 BOMBAY  0115WY643 KUWAIT  0120WY251 MADRAS  0120WY345 ISLAM ABBAD  0125WY601 DUBAI  0145WY371 COLOMBO  0155WY123 MUNICH  0200WY901 SALALAH  0215WY241 DELHI  0215WY847 JAKARTA  0215WY667 DOHA  0225BG022 CHITTAGONG-DACCA  0230TK775 ISTANBUL  0230WY209 GOA  02554H585 DOHA  0300PK226 KARACHI  0315WY331 KATHMANDU  0350CV610 MADRAS  0355EK867 DUBAI  0450ET625 ADDIS ABABA  0450EY385 ABU DHABI  0500FZ042 DUBAI  0510MS931 CAIRO  0510PK292 ISLAM ABBAD  0510QR1133 DOHA  0515WY651 BAHRAIN  06454H586 DACCA  0700GF561 BAHRAIN  0715WY903 SALALAH  0750WY603 DUBAI  0750WY917 KHASAB  0815WY669 DOHA  0835FZ044 DUBAI  0845WY633 ABU DHABI  0900WY373 COLOMBO  0900WY815 BANGKOK  0905WY343 LAHORE  0915WY253 MADRAS  0915WY291 CALICUT  0915NL769 LAHORE  0930WY263 LUCKNOW  0940WY821 SINGAPORE-KUALA LUMPUR  0945G9115 SHARJAH  0955WY231 HYDERABAD  1000WY283 BANGALORE  1000WY3301 MUKHAIZNA  1000WY905 SALALAH  1020WY605 DUBAI  1020WY203 BOMBAY  1025WY631 ABU DHABI  1030WY245 DELHI  1040EK863 DUBAI  1045WY337 KATHMANDU  1050QR1129 DOHA  1100IX818 MANGALORE  1100EY383 ABU DHABI  1105IX442 COCHIN  1120WY311 CHITTAGONG  11409W533 COCHIN  1145WY919 KHASAB  1145WY3921 DUQUM OMAN  1210WY655 BAHRAIN  1215GF563 BAHRAIN  1215FZ038 DUBAI  1225IX350 CALICUT  1255WY113 FRANKFURT  1320WY663 DOHA  1330WY645 KUWAIT  1350WY143 MALPENSA  1350WY101 LONDON HEATHROW  1400BG024 CHITTAGONG-DACCA  1400PA951 SIALKOT  1430WY927 SALALAH  1430WY405 CAIRO  1440WY413 AMMAN  1440CV611 LUXORE  1445WY433 TEHRAN  1445WY907 SALALAH  1540WY3931 SOHAR  1600WY675 JEDDAH  1615FZ046 DUBAI  1620KU678 KUWAIT  1640SV531 MEDINA-JEDDAH  1650WY613 DUBAI  1710QR1127 DOHA  1750WY623 DUBAI  1840WY681 RIYADH  1840WY647 KUWAIT  1845WY909 SALALAH  1850GF565 BAHRAIN  1855EK865 DUBAI  1910WY695 DAMMAM  1915WY661 DOHA  1920WY653 BAHRAIN  1920G9117 SHARJAH  1955WY913 SALALAH  2000TG508 KARACHI-BANGKOK  2005WY635 ABU DHABI  2015FZ048 DUBAI  2025WY611 DUBAI  2035RG126 ABU DHABI  2045WY915 SALALAH  2100FZ050 DUBAI  2145WY411 AMMAN  22054H561 JEDDAH  2215KL442 DOHA-AMSTERDAM  2220WY817 BANGKOK  22259W529 TRIVANDRUM  22306.00E+82 BOMBAY  2245AI908 MADRAS  2300UL206 COLOMBO  2305WY705 DARESSLAM-ZANZIBAR  2310WY677 MEDINA  2310AI974 DELHI  2310GF567 BAHRAIN  2325LX243 DUBAI-ZURICH  2325QR1135 DOHA  2330BA072 ABU DHABI-LONDON HEATHROW  2330WY673 JEDDAH  2350EY381 ABU DHABI  2355LH617 DOHA-FRANKFURT  2355

A I R L I N E S

—www.met.gov.om

PRAYER TIMINGS

Dhuhr 12.11pmAsr 3.29pmMaghrib 6.58pmIsha 8.20pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 3.52am

Sunset 6.53pmSunrise (Tomorrow) 5.19am

High tide 2:42pm 3:16amLow tide 8:04am 9:31pm

BORN today, you are a strong and sometimes willful individual, but not so strong and willful that you are able to counter the influences of those who would control you in various ways throughout your lifetime. What this means, of course, is that you must always be aware of what others want from you, what they are asking and what they are willing to do for you in return — because the trade may not always be fair to you! How your confidence and strength can work for you — in spades — is by making you into what could be called a “marketable commodity,” someone who is valuable to others and is therefore treated as such. In this way, you can have what you want while giving others what they demand.

Despite being torn between a desire to satisfy others and a need to take care of yourself, you should be able to find a balance that gives you a very contented life, indeed. Control, of course, is the issue; you must always know what you cannot control, what you can and how you can maintain that balance at all times.

Also born on this date are: Kate Upton, model; Judy Garland, actress, singer and entertainer; Hattie McDaniel, actress; Elizabeth Hurley, actress; Tara Lipinski, figure skater; Maurice Sendak, author; Jeanne Tripplehorn, actress; Leelee Sobieski, actress; John Edwards, politician; Gina Gershon, actress; Dan Fouts, football player and sportscaster.

You may find yourself in a difficult position that can be blamed on no one but yourself. You know what you did, but do you know why?

VIRGO [AUG. 23-SEPT. 22]

LIBRA [SEPT. 23-OCT. 22] LLLLLLLLLLLLLLL[S[S[S[S[[[S[[S[S[S[[S[S[SSS[SS[SSSS

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

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

AQUARIUS [JAN. 20-FEB. 18]

A message you receive may not be clear; how you interpret it will make all the difference, as it could mean two very different things!

You’ve been following certain rules for quite some time, and today you’ll conclude that they might not have been meant for you!

You may be concerned about a younger family member whom you have recently taken under your wing. Trust that all will go as planned.

You’re feeling rather dependent on others in a way that you perhaps haven’t before. You’ll want to examine apparent needs further.

Are you willing to do what needs to be done, even if it means sacrificing one success for another? There are many choices to be made.

You must choose what information to share and what to keep to yourself. This decision may have far-reaching effects.

You are ready to try something new, but you must realise that your chances of success, this first time at least, are slim.

PISCES [Feb. 19-March 20]

You may awaken eager to help someone when he or she asks for it, but you’ll have to wait a while before learning how you can help.

GEMINI [MAY 21-JUNE 20]

CANCER [JUNE 21-JULY 22]

LEO [JULY 23-AUG. 22]

CAPRICORN [DEC. 22-JAN 19]

Y O U R B I R T H D A Y

ARIES [March 21-APRIL 19]

TAURUS [APRIL 20-MAY 20]

You’re waiting for someone to tell you that everything is going to be OK, but in truth, only you can give yourself that reassurance.

You may feel as though someone is keeping some key information from you, but this shouldn’t have an adverse effect.

You must be willing to compromise. Someone who is after you could be willing to let you go after making a personal discovery.

C11

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

BALANCING IS TRICKIER THAN YOU THINK

In 2010, 13 million Americans reported being injured in a fall, often caused by simple

trips on the sidewalk or on the stairs at home. For the over 65s, the figures are worse — One in three in this age group falls every year, resulting in some 250,000 hip fractures and more than 25,000 deaths, usually from trau-matic brain injuries. The health care cost of treating these falls is estimated to be $34 billion a year.

But if falling is such a common hazard, especially for older peo-ple, does that mean falls are in-evitable? Is there nothing we can do about it — like improving our sense of balance?

Part of the challenge is that bal-ancing is trickier than you think. Most of us are lucky enough that we rarely have to think con-sciously about it. But try standing on one leg for 30 seconds, the way you might have to if a police offic-er suspected you’d been drinking and driving. Then close your eyes, and see how much harder it gets. That’s part of a sideline balance test if you’re a football or hockey player and a trainer or doctor wants to assess whether you’ve suffered a concussion.

I discovered my own wobbli-ness a few years ago, while work-ing on a magazine article about high-altitude hiking. Researchers had shown that the number of bal-ance errors you make while hold-ing a few simple 20-second poses — standing on one foot with your

eyes closed, for example — can signal the onset of altitude illness. I tried the tests and found that, in the rarefied air of my Toronto of-fice (elevation — 249 feet), I was as unsteady as a Himalayan hiker with mountain sickness.

As someone who exercises most days, I found this unsettling: —What was missing from my reg-imen? We’ve come to view fitness as a collection of discrete traits - muscular strength, aerobic en-durance, flexibility and so on - that can be isolated, measured and tinkered with independently. The pitfall of that approach is ob-vious: What is strength or endur-ance worth without the balance and stability to use them in the real world?

Simply staying upright is, in some ways, a full-body exercise. You have fluid-filled “organs of balance” in your inner ear that monitor the position and rota-tion of your head; and there are sensors known as proprioceptors in muscles and tendons through-out your body that detect sub-tle stretches and deformations. Your feet alone contain 11 small stretch-sensing muscles: No mat-ter how many calf raises you do in the gym, your balance won’t be stable unless your brain is at-tuned to the signals from these sensors. Even wearing socks in-terferes with this subtle feedback and worsens your balance.

Walking is trickier still, since each step is essentially a con-

trolled fall. Last year, research-ers from Ohio State University showed that they could predict with accuracy where a walker’s foot would land by looking only at the trajectory of the upper body during the previous stride. What seems like a simple act, in other words, is actually a complex and near-instantaneous calculation that enables you to place your foot in exactly the right spot to prevent a faceplant.

The current approach to this

challenge is to add an additional box to check off: balance train-ing US health guidelines already suggest balance training for older adults at risk of falls, and Europe-an countries like Austria, Ireland and Denmark recommend it for all older adults.

A step in the right direction, you might say, but it still pre-sents balance as an isolated practice. The evidence is that a more integrated approach has greater benefits.

For an older adult who wants to continue living independently, it’s clear that the ability to rise from a chair and walk across the room, which requires the coor-dination of muscle strength, bal-ance and aerobic activity, is more important than any individual element of fitness. And it’s not just a physical challenge. One key warning that you’re at higher risk of falling is if you tend to stop walking when you talk — a sign that the cognitive demands of staying on your feet are overload-ing your brain.

An emerging body of research suggests that exercising in a way that taxes your coordination, agil-ity and balance known as “gross motor skills” — rewires your brain in ways that are fundamentally different from straightforward aerobic activity or strength train-ing. By improving these physical attributes, you also enhance cog-nitive performance. -Alex Hutchinson/

The New York Times News Service

Walking is trickier still, since each step is essentially a controlled fall. Last year, researchers from Ohio State University showed that they could predict with accuracy where a walker’s foot would land by looking only at the trajectory of the upper body during the previous stride

While a tumble for a toddler is a learning experience and a stumble for an adult

is usually just embarrassing, for older people it can be serious and even fatal

Why divorce could lead to early death

PEOPLE WHO find it difficult to adapt to distressing life situations such as di-vorce or unemployment may experience fluctuations in life satisfaction which can be detrimental to their longevity, suggests a research. Greater life satis-faction in adults older than 50 years of age is related to a reduced risk of mor-tality, the results showed. “Although life satisfaction is typically considered relatively consistent across time, it may

change in response to life circumstances such as divorce or un-employment,” said Julia Boehm, assistant professor of psychol-ogy at Chapman University in the US. Some people may adapt more readily to new situations and thus appear to have relatively stable life satisfaction, and others may not adapt as quickly.

Vision system that can recognise objects developed

RESEARCHERS at Disney Re-search Pittsburgh have developed a computer vision system that, much like humans, can continuously im-prove its ability to recognise objects by picking up hints while watching videos. Recognising objects in imag-es, though often easy for humans, re-mains a challenge for automated sys-tems. Systems that learn to recognise objects using one set of images may have difficulty recognising those

same objects in the real world, or under different sets of condi-tions, or domains.

We are blind to our own bias, says a study

ALMOST EVERYONE has a “bias blind spot,” meaning that people are less likely to detect bias in themselves than others, however, how blind they are to their actual degree of bias may vary, new research says. Believing that you are less biased than your peers has detrimental consequences on judgements and be-haviours, the findings show. “Our re-search found that the extent to which one is blind to her own bias has impor-

tant consequences for the quality of decision-making,” said study lead author Irene Scopelliti, a lecturer in marketing at City University London. “People more prone to think they are less bi-ased than others are less accurate at evaluating their abilities relative to the abilities of others, they listen less to others’ advice, and are less likely to learn,” Scopelliti said. -IANS

BR I E FS

Wi-Fi signals can help count people in a crowd A WI-FI signal can be used to count the number of people in a given space, leading to diverse applications such as energy efficiency to search-and-rescue opera-tions. Researchers from University of California-Santa Barbara have shown that wireless signals can do more than just provid-ing Internet access. “Our approach can estimate the number of people walking in an area, based on only the received power meas-urements of a Wi-Fi link,” said Yasamin Mostofi, professor of electrical and computer engineering.

-IANS

RESEARCH

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, J U N E 1 0 , 2 0 1 5

RENT D2

DAILY GUIDE Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

FOR RENT

New super deluxe 4 BHK villas, flats

Madinat Qaboos, Qurum, Al Khuwair.

Contact: 99369081 / 99142314

Basement Store, 146 SQM,

Wadikhabeer, Opposit Al-Hassan.

99441193, 93004802

Deluxe 3 Room Penthouse with

Seaview, ideal for office / residence

at Qurum near PDO. Contact:

9772 1313 / 9507 0421

1BHK, Darsait, walking distance to

ISM, neat and clean building, ground

floor, OMR 260/- per month rent.

Contact Iqrar on 99076557

Deluxe 1,2,3,4 bedroom flats, villas

at different places.

Contact: 99142314 / 99369081

2BHK flat for rent near Muscat

Municipality, Darsait, big terrace,

nice location, rent OMR 325/-.

Contact: 96241707

Two air-condition flats in excel-

lent condition behind City Center

Carrefour Al Seeb no 1: 4 bedrooms &

family hall No 2, 2 bedroom & family

hall. Contact: 93366421

Deluxe 4 bedrooms, living, dining 4

bathrooms with split AC in Ghubra.

Contact: 95282986 / 24707340

Well running Bricks Factory for

Lease in Seeb. Contact. 99711003

2 BHK, 2 baths, Split A/C, Wadi ka-

beer, Near Indian Elementary School.

Contact 99441193, 93004802

Villa for rent villa at Al Fay Housing

Complex near Al Khodh main police

station 4 bedrooms, servant quarter.

Contact: 96419690

Shop/Office, 56 SQM, Wadikabeer,

Opposite Al-Hassan.

Contact 99441193, 93004802

Shop/Office 68 SQM, Wadi kabeer,

Opposite Al-Hassan. Contact

99441193, 93004802

1BHK flats at Muttrah near Oman

House. Contact: 93231403

Flats and shops for rent in rent,

Honda road and Rex Read. Contact:

97293708/ 94579531 /94141943

Flat in Amerat, Phase 5, 4 rooms, 3

bathrooms, kitchen with A/C.

Contact : 95522405

D2 W E D N E S D AY, J U N E 1 0 , 2 0 1 5

MBD area, fully equipped AC Execu-

tive office @ RO 200 pm with confer-

ence room. Unlimited local calls &

internet services. Contact 99451845

/ 99232271.

Well maintained spacious 2 BHK at

Rex Road. Contact 92227165

Flats in Wadi Al Kabir Lulu

Height Street. Contact: 92022816/

99468133/ 99719471

3 bedroom well maintained flat

(villa type – only 2 flats in one Bldg)

in Al Khuwair, Behind Al Akhtam res-

taurant villa No 1839, Way No 3922,

block No 239. Contact: 99462980

Villa of 5 BHK in Al Ansab with split

A/C. RO.650/- Contact – 93191111

Deluxe 1, 2 BHK flats in Darsait,

AL Khuwair 1deal for office &

residence. Contact 99369081

/99142314

2 BHK flat in Al Ansab with split

A/C. RO.250/- Contact – 93191111

Flats for rent Al Ansab (Ghala) 2

bedrooms, 2 toilets, 1sitting room &

kitchen. Contact: 94229023

3 BHK Flat in Azaiba. Contact

99792181

2 BHK Flat in Al Khuwair. Contact

99792181

Labour Camp or store in Wadi Kabir.

Contact 99792181

Luxury 3 BHK flat in Al Wattaya

with split A/C & private parking.

RO.500/- Contact – 93191111

3 bedroom at Al Khuwair 33. House

No. 866, Way No. 4712. Contact

Mohamed : 99580484, Ahmed :

99486805, Awadh 95525509

1BHK, 2BHK, 3BHK new flat avail-

able at Mabela in front of Modern

English School Contact: 96239126

Commercial 3 BHK flat in Al Ghobra

18 Nov Street. RO 700/-

Contact – 93191111

2 BHK flat in Al Azaiba near sea,

with split A/C. RO.340/-

Contact – 93191111

Brand new 6 BHK villa in Al Azaiba

with split A/C & lift. RO.1200/-

Contact – 93191111

2 BHK near Oman House Khimji H.O.

Contact: 95865686

Villa for rent in Al Khuwair 33, 8

bedrooms, 5 bathrooms with parking

area near Taimur Mosque.

Contact: 99366624

4 Ware house at Barka Falaij.

Contact: 99337857

Flats for rent in Muttrah near Oman

house 2 BHK. Contact: 97009734 /

92629232

500 sq mtrs office space on mezza-

nine floor near Royal Hospital. OMR

6.500 per sq mtr. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360

For rent in Darsait new flats.

Contact: 99777351

2BHK at Al Azaiba, 2bedrooms,

1 hall & dinning , 3 bathrooms.

Contact : 99224748 / 99425665

5000 sqm prime indusial land in Mis-

fah, Bausher, with 550 sqm of covered

warehouse and office space, for rent

only. Contact: + 968 – 99264162

For rent in Darsait, new flats.

Contact: 99311525

Villa for rent at Al Ansab 3rd 4 bed-

rooms total 230 sqm, air conditioned

1 living room, 3 toilets, kitchen, store

only RO 700/-. Contact 99299689

1,000 sq mtrs industrial land in

Misfah Industrial area near to

Khanco. OMR 1,500 Monthly. It has

Electricity and boundary wall.

Tel: 99333479 or 95215360

3 rooms with attached bath room,

hall Brand new in Mabelah near

Sharahe Noor. Contact 99663905/

99415119

For rent 3 industrial land.

Contact 92702891/ 95490842

1BHK Mumtaz R.O 250/-.

Contact: 97799175

506 sqm space with mezzanine

available for rent in Al Wadi Al

Kabir. Suitable for carpentry / auto

workshop and /or electrical shop.

Interested parties may

Contact 24703981

Flat with 2 rooms, toilet & kitchen

in second floor in Souk Al Khoud

behind bank Al Ahli 200/- R.O .

Contact : 99738881

3 flats for rent 3 bedrooms include

A/C, near the highway (Bowshar

Amerat). Contact 97777911 /

95533777

2BHK in Ghoubra South behind Ex-

tra (350/- R.O). Contact: 99342661

1BHK in Darsait near ISM (220/-

R.O). Contact: 99342661

1BHK in Ghoubra South behind Ex-

tra (280/- R.O). Contact : 99342661

3000 sq mtrs Industrial landß,

in Barka Sanaiya, with electricity

400KW, shed, staff accommodation

and office. Ready to start any kind

of factory. Contact 99384255.

Flat at Darsait. Contact 99326879

DAILY GUIDEW E D N E S D AY, J U N E 1 0 , 2 0 1 5 D3

FOR SALE

ACC. WANTED

FOR RENT

Running computer shop for sale

Souq Sohar. Contact 99420543

Beauty parlor for sale near Muscat

Palace monthly rent 350/- OMR

serious buyers. Contact: 91902154

Training center with license.

Contact: 91121277

Indian restaurant fully furnished

and equipped with banquet hall and

spacious parking opposite Na-

seem Garden for sale. Contact Eng:

99771466 Arabic: 99454415

4000 sqm building ware house

area for sale or rent next to Express

highway also used 40 ft seaworthy

container for sale in very good con-

dition. Contact 99771466

Running business material shop for

sale good location & profitable busi-

ness. Contact : 92249983

Super market in (Hairoon Hairithi)

Thamrith road. Contact 98189810 /

99675190.

Shop for sale in Ibra and Bid Bid.

Contact: 95304693

23,886 Sq Mtrs Agriculture land

with water well in Al Salwa, Barka.

OMR 260 Thousand. Tel: 99333479

or 95215360

Ice Cream & Juices shop in Ruwi

good location for sale 1.5 mt fish

display machine unused for sale.

Contact: 92150455

5 Flats of 1 bedroom for Sale in

Boushar: OMR 35 Thousand each.

Monthly income OMR 270 Tel:

99333479 or 95215360

Coffee shop for sale in North

Al Ghubra. Contact 95256009

3 floor commercial building in

Muttrah behind Police. Generating

income of OMR 18 Thousand annu-

ally. Neat and well maintained. Built

on 197 sq mtrs land. 2 tailor shops

on ground floor and 6 flats. OMR

207 Thousand. Tel: 99333479 or

95215360

We have planned industrial lands

in a prime location (Bowshar / Al

Misfah) the space 8575 SQ. M for

each plot, meter price 120/- OMR

only. Contact: 99883338

Furnished flats for rent in

Al Buraimi, daily, weekly, monthly.

Contact 97819981 / 93593336

2BHK Darsait R.O 325/-, 300/-.

Contact: 92144045

1BHK Ghubra R.O 275/-.

Contact 92144045

3 BHK villa and 2 BHK flat with A/

Cs at Muttrah, near Oman house.

Contact : 95915154

Flat 1BHK for rent, Opp Omani

School near Al Tajaweed Furniture,

bldg No 1057, Way 5917, Hamriya.

Rent 150/- P.M.

Contact: 99350946

Villa for rent - Al Seeb/Al Mawelah

- Block 5 - 4 bedrooms with attached

bathrooms, Majlis, 2 halls, kitchen

and storeroom. split Ac and carpark.

Contact 99564616

1 BHK Flat in Wadi Kabir.

Contact 92275454

Flat for rent in Al Khuwair 33.

Contact: 92277419

ACC. AVAILABLE

ACC. AVAILABLE

Furnished single / sharing room for

Exe. Bachelor at Rex Road with WIFI

available. Contact : 98646514

Family sharing villa room available

at Al Khuwair. Contact: 99382008

Furnished single rooms available

for Executive bachelors at Ruwi.

Contact: 98049288

Fully furnished 1 BHK Flat available

in Ruwi 2 months only (July/August)

Contact: 99369081

Single bedroom available for veg.

family/bachelor at Wadi Kabir,

behind Mars. Contact 99877845.

Furnished room attached bath for

lady in Wadikabir

(Mars Hypermarket) – 95941515

3bedrooms Al Hail. Contact 92817777

Semi furnished single room for

Executive bachelors behind Kamat

Restaurant Al Khuwair. #94271085

Single room at Walja, opposite

MBD area available for Executive

bachelors inclusive of electricity

and water for OMR100/-. Contact:

93079877

Family room available at Muttrah.

Contact: 24712088 / 99022790

Fully furnished room attached

bath for Executive bachelor behind

Al Meera hypermarket Azaiba R.O

150/-Contact : 99455735

AVAILABLE

Party & Wedding equipment rentals.

Full line, from Tables, Linen & Skirting,

Chairs & Chair covers, Cutlery, Crock-

ery, Glassware, Chafing Dishes, Ice

Sculptures, to Large Sound Systems

and spectacular lighting. Call Andrea

9606 2222 for Catering and Croyden

9623 5555 for Sound & Light.

www.tunesoman.com,

E-mail: info@tunesoman.com

Technical Trading Co. LLC is

looking for a bachelor accommoda-

tion for their 150 staff in Al Hail,

Seeb, Maabela, Mawaleh area on

immediate basis. Interested parties

please contact Mr. Qais Al Rashdi on

99421323

2,560 sq mtrs industrial land

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

Commercial land for sale 3000 m

in quriyat road main high way can

use as a petrol station license avail-

able asking price 350,000

For more information please call on

99070701 with out name

Semi furnished room with at-

tached bathroom for Executive

bachelors at CBD area behind

chamber of commerce. Contact:

96389375/93554942

Independent house with 1 room,

kitchen and toilet in Wadi Kabir.

Rent: RO 170. Contact: 96639246

2 Rooms with separate bathroom &

kitchen for executive bachelors.

Gsm 942-888-63

SITUATION WANT-MANPOWER

Available for longer period : Mig

Welder 5 nos, General worker with

PDO pass 10 nos, Helper 10 nos,

Mason 8 nos. Contact 99610703

Flats shops and store for rent in

Ruwi, MBD Honda road.

Contact 97293708 /

92433127

Flats for rent in Wadi Kabeer.

Contact : 92800007

Bath attached room for rent

Al Khuwair. Contact 99743569

Labor camp available with all facili-

ties at Sohar Falaij (Near Sohar Sea

port) - Contact – 92982172

Flats/villas owned by ROP pen-

sion fund available for rent in

Muscat. Contact 99349526

MOTOR VEHICLE FOR SALE

Suzuki Celerio 2012 fully auto

75000 km. Contact: 92588458

Swift Desire 2013 manual.

Contact: 97385534

Toyota Yaris 2006, 1.3 cc Automatic,

Gray, 101000 k.m, accident free, well

maintained & sparingly used by diplo-

mat. All services done through Toyota.

R.O. 2000. Contact 96530053

2014 model Toyota Yaris 1.5 fully

automatic with power window expat

driven Mulkya valid till Nov. 2015 for

sale. Contact: 93581825

13- seater Hiace Toyota bus model

-83 for sale OR 500 only.

Contact : 99325827

BMW X1 2012 model 20750 km

excellent condition, sun roof. Indian

lady driven RO 9750 new price

17000. Contact 95865457

Peugeot 206-2007 Model, expat

driven. Contact 99209285

2 Prime Movers Man 2008 with 40

ton petrol tank each working at the

moment in Al Maha. Price OMR 35

Thousand each. Contact 97000155

or 92688692

Land Cruiser 2012.

Contact GSM- 99336093

Hyundai Accent 2004, fully automatic.

Contact: 99045803

TRANSPORTATION

Pick & drop available. Contact

96913836.

Transportation. Contact: 95190627

Pick & Drop anytime Contact:

91653903

Room for rent 130/-RO, A/C, E/W

kitchen Including bachelor only.

Contact: 95423391

Transportation. Contact: 91310107

Driver with vehicle. Contact:

99159277

Pick & Drop any time. Contact:

97014786

*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to space availability

DAILY GUIDED4 W E D N E S D AY, J U N E 1 0 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com classifieds@timesofoman.comTel.: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461

CATERING

DOMESTIC HELPER

BEAUTICIAN

ENGINEER

EDUCATION

SALES / MARKETING

SALES / MARKETING

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

Required looking for full time Housemaid for Omani family

at Mabela, visa available. Contact:

92454170

Urgent required House maid in

Mabela. Visa available.

Contact 95200180.

MBA Indian male looking for suit-

able position having 2 years working

experience as an accountant now

in Oman a visiting visa. Contact:

99424803

M.Com, CA (Article ship), 15 years

Gulf experience looking for suitable

position in finance & accounts on

visit visa valid up to 10/7/2015.

Contact: 97767828, knowledge of

quickbooks, Tally 9, Focus V.5 Email:

altabhossain2008@hotmail.com

Indian female 25 years married,

MBA Finance, Diploma in foreign

accounting 3 months experience in

a CA firm on family visa.

Contact: 95916769

Email: sikhapadoor@gmail.com

Indian male 25 yrs B.com having

experience in accounts for 3 yrs

currently on visit looking to job.

Contact: 97937868 Email:

rehman.naseer999@gmail.com

An Indian lady Chartered Accountant

with five years experience (including

article ship) on family visa in Oman

looking for a suitable job. Please

Contact 9621 0347 / 9943 5346,

shincycrajan@gmail.com

SECRETARIAL & OFFICE

Required Office Assistant

160+25+Acc, Contact 99454425

ACCOUNTANT

Omani male Sales Executive with

Degree/Diploma in Mechanical or

Electrical Engineering Age : 25-35

years. Minimum 2-5 years experi-

ence in Sales of Industrial machin-

ery. Apply to careers@teejanequip-

ment.com Fax : 24560806

Required male or female candidate with 5 years experience in renting

of properties. Interested candidates

may please mail to

alqurumprop@gmail.com

Urgently required Sales & Mar-keting Executive for Electrical &

lighting products with Oman driving

license. Send CV at Email :

albasilinternational@gmail.com

A leading tissue paper and food stuffs company requires Sales and Marketing person with minimum

5 years exp in Oman with good

communication skills & valid Oman

D/L. Candidate with Interior market

knowledge & experience preferable.

Send CV: allub@alhosnigroup.com

Fax: 24451430

Urgently required outdoor Sales Executive for furnishing company

with valid Oman D/L and minimum

3 years experience.

Contact 93231403 /

rainbowfurnishing156@gmail.com

Required male candidates to

work full / part time in an interna-

tional Café “franchise”. They will be

trained for the job.

Contact 97673395

Sales Coordinator : Mechanical

Diploma holder with 3-4 yrs exp.

in sales department preferably in

Metal fabrication Company. Omani

D/L is must. Contact: 99102383

hr@khancogroup.com

MISCELLANEOUS

A company from UAE require 2 merchandisers in retail food

supply, store keeper with English

and invoicing experience. Email:

yesterdaysun@hotmail.com

Mason, C.C.T.V, Technician, Electrician cum Plumber. Contact: 99383044

ADMIN/HR Indian male 2+yrs oman exp in HR.

joing immediatly. release available.

Contact :93671437

Over 14 years of gulf experience

in Admin /HR /Logistics, fluent in

Arabic & English with D/L looking

for suitable position.

Contact 95824598

Filipino Female, 30 yrs, with 8yrs

experience in Payroll/Admin/HR and

2yrs experience as Technical Sup-

port/Cashier/Secretary. Currently in

Muscat on Family Visit Visa, Seeking

for suitable placement.

Contact: 96708114

Email: lucy08_tm@yahoo.com

Indian, male, 26, Commerce gradu-

ate, three years experience as Ad-

ministrative Assistant in UAE, seeks

a suitable job in Oman.

Contact: tkjasbeer@gmail.com;

+971-558291437.

Indian female, Postgraduate in HR,

with 8 years working experience in

Oman(HR and administration), look-

ing for suitable placement.

Contact 97411008

Indian female 29 MBA (HR) BSc,

4 yrs exp in HR& Admin looking suit-

able placement. Contact : 95619537

Indian female post Graduate with 5

years experience in HR and Admin

looking for good opportunity.

Contact: 94692244

Indian female with 10 yrs of experi-

ence in HR/Banking/Operations

seeks a suitable placement.

Can be contacted on 98919015 or

sherianne.coelho@gmail.com

A well reputed company is looking

for experienced digital Signage Technicians & Managers. Send CV

to hr.oman@yahoo.com

Mechanical / Civil Site Supervi-sor; diploma / ITI fitter; 3-4 year’s

exp in supervision of Erection work

of sheds, customer coordination,

and project execution. Omani D/L is

must. Contact: hr@khancogroup.com

/ 99102383

Urgently Required: Civil Engineer with an experience minimum in 5

years in building construction and

MUST have NOC. Apply,

fax 00968–24605955,

emails sbc@steelbuildingsllc.com,

sbeoman@yahoo.com

Construction Company in Oman

urgently requires following candi-

dates: BE Civil Engineer, minimum

3-5 years gulf experience & Civil site foreman, minimum 5 years gulf

experience, diploma not required.

Email: applyforoman@gmail.com

Construction Company in Oman

urgently requires the following:

B.Sc Civil Engineer, minimum 3-5

yrs Gulf experience. Civil Site Fore-man, minimum 5 yrs experience with

operating knowledge of Tally. Please

Email CV ; applyforoman@gmail.com

Required full time Social Network-er for sites like twitter, LinkedIn,

face book.

Email: mhca@mhabibgroup.com

A well known private school is in

need of English, Math, Science, Computer and Physics Teachers. Contact: 96910649

Qualified female Teacher required

for Maths & Science with 3 years

minimum experience and IELTS

school in Al Khuwair.

Contact: 99353961

Teachers required (B.A, BEd, BSc, and

B.ed) for Omani Pvt. School

Al Hail (North).Contact: 95141554/

96653118

Male 24, B.Com /PGD having 2

years experience in accounts and

inventory field looking for suitable

job on visit visa. Contact: 94129550

Experienced up-to finalization accountant looking for part time job.

Contact : 99002390

Indian male B.Com Accountant 10

years in Oman experience in ac-

counts (upto finalization) & Admin

knowledge of tally ERP9, focus RT.

Having NOC & D/L looking for suit-

able job in Muscat.

Contact: 93086105

Young, energetic 24 yrs, ACCA

finalist, Advanced diploma in Ac-

counting and business, seeking suit-

able placement in accounts, finance

or audit. Contact : 92430152,

Email: rau_dey@yahoo.com

Indian female 23 yrs BBM Graduate,

diploma in computer application and

qualified e-finance in computer, hav-

ing well knowledge in tally, peach

tree, busy software etc. 2 yrs exp in

account, looking for suitable place-

ment in any field. Contact: 95601158

Indian Female 25 MBA looking for a

suitable opening in Accounts, Admin/

Hr. Contact 97013375

Indian male, B.Com, 1 year Exp in

Accounts/ Sales, on Visit Visa,..

Contact – 98295101

Indian / Keralite – CMA (US) , CA-

Inter , M.Com, total 20 years experi-

ence with 11 years M/ East experience

as Finance / A/ Cs Manager, seeks

suitable offers from reputed compa-

nies in Oman. Sunil V.S.

Contact : +91-9526756488

Email: sunil_ramanin@yahoo.co.in

Sudanese Accountant seeking job

in Nizwa state experience 10 years 3

years in Saudi Arabia, 7 yrs in Sudan.

Contact : 97796394 / 94003247

Senior Accountant 10 years experi-

ence 4 years experience in GCC now

working with trading & project based

concern holding Oman driving li-

cense. Well experience all accounting

software’s. Contact: 94079432

Indian male B.Com MBA (HR), 2

yrs experience in HR & Accounts

department, on visiting visa seek-

ing for job in any field.

Contact: 96491347

Email: aswinsajeev@hotmail.com

Indian male Graduate 26 yrs 5 yrs

experience in Accounts and Adminis-

tration looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 91301983

Indian male 22 yrs B. Com Graduate

1 year exp in Accounts, currently on

visit visa. Looking for suitable job.

Contact 94341848 /

Email – mohdhaji7272@gmail.com

Accounts part time works up to

finalization on monthly basis. Profit

& loss A/C and financial statements,

MS Reports Etc. Contact: 96247295

ACCA affiliate , BSc Honors in ap-

plied Accountancy advance diploma

in Accounting and Business, CAT

Affiliate 1 year hand on working

experience of Oman, with Oman

driving license looking for a suitable

placement in Audit firm. Having

NOC can join immediately.

Contact : 98989970

ACCA & B.Com with Noc more than

5 years of experience in accounts

& finance looking for a suitable

job can join immediately. Contact:

97012146

MBA Graduate with 6 yrs exp in

finance/accounts/ auditing. Special-

ized in accounts payable dept, Oracle

app user, proficient in Sap (fico) end

user & tally 9.0. lean &six sigma

certified trainer on visit visa.

Contact – 91967213 / 99064780

Finance Manager, CPA, with more

than 15 yrs. of experience in GCC.

Fully knowledgeable in Finance,

General & Management Accounting .

NOC available. Contact 96209331

Indian male with total 5 year experi-

ence (2 years experience in Account-

ant cum sales co ordinator in a FMCG

Company in Oman) in accounts field

and NOC available. Looking for suit-

able job Contact 92130188

Indian male, 32 years, M. Com.

7 out of 9 years experience in Oman

in Accounts/finance. Having NOC and

valid Oman D/L. Contact 98277143,

Email: anzarks@gmail.com

Indian Accountant: Male, M com,

7 Yrs experience in Accounts up to

finalization, having knowledge of

ERP, Tally, seeks suitable placment.

contact 93950138 Email:

lijinrajan123@gmail.com

Family in Muscat seeking to hire an experienced butler. Hotel experi-

ence is preferred. Candidate must

hold a valid driver’s license. Please

send CV’s on

vacancyinmuscat@gmail.com

Construction Company in Oman

urgently requires following candi-

dates: Accountant with minimum

5 years experience with operating

knowledge of tally.

Email: applyforoman@gmail.com

A reputed shipping and forwarding

company urgently require following

personals 1) Accountant 2) Opera-tions Executive valid Omani D/L is

must. Experienced hands in ship-

ping field are preferred. Send your

CV to applymd2015@gmail.com

Urgently required Indian experi-ence Beautician (good package) in

Al Hail, visa available.

Contact : 92139922 / 92284899

Required Beautician visa available,

salary accommodation.

Contact: 91902154

MEDICAL

Required Gynecology, General Phy-sician, Dentist, Staff Nurses, Lab technicians, Pharmacists, X Ray technicians. Contact : 95133572 / 96064925

Email: kunoozghala@gmail.com

Wanted Staff Nurse for a polyclinic

in Sohar. Contact :3457270

Required a MOH licensed female Nurse for a private clinic near

Al-Suwaiq. Call 93746086

Urgent required staff Nurse

in Mabela. Contact- 95200180.

Email: amanammc@gmail.com

Wanted urgently female for Travel agency knowing Sabre Reservation

and ticketing system.

Contact : 95878812

TOURISM

Driver & Business co coordinator speaking English urgently required.

Contact : 95327813

Required light driver, Excavator Operators & heavy drivers. Contact: 99454425

Required Light duty driver from

Kerala with construction experience.

Contact : 98294695

DRIVER

Urgently required Advertising & Media Sales Executives with Oman

D/L. Trainee positions available

for Freshers.

Email: jobs@interacoman.com

Required Sales man - 1 Person

Qualification. Gulf Experienced

- Minimum 5 Years with Oman

Driving Licence Language - English

Education:- Any Degree Further

Contact :Mr. Abdul Hameed Na-

shabat - Mobile No: 97414307 and

-92807399 amn@yaqeeneng.com

Required urgently energetic Mar-keting Executive for acquiring new

customers. Should possess a Valid

Omani D/L. Contact 96545020.

Urgently required Sales and Mar-keting Executive for Graphic design-

ing company. Contact: 96727631

mail: smartgraphic518@gmail.com

SITUATION WANT-ED

SIT. WANTED

MBA (international business) from

London, 4 years of UK experience in

operations with D/L, looking for suit-

able position. Contact 91710075

Indian female MBA – HR 1 and half

years experience seeking suitable

job. Contact : 99257214

Salesman experienced 5 yrs in

Oman, in the field of industrial &

oilfield service, garage equipment

tools & spares, safety wears &

rescue equipments. Please forward

your CV to almaadhi.trd@gmail.com

Sales man required for printing

press preferable with car.

Contact : 97842797

DAILY GUIDEW E D N E S D AY, J U N E 1 0 , 2 0 1 5 D5

SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED

ACCOUNT. & FINANCE

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

ENGG. / TECHNICAL

Quantity Surveyor with 5 Years ex-

perience (one year in Oman) looking

for job. Contact 91090036

Mechanical Engineer, Indian, 24

years with Piping Engineering,

Autocad, Ansys NX- Cad, pro-e,

Catia & PDMS now on visiting visa

seek suitable placement. Contact:

99168054 / 96684345

Email: : mbkishore@hotmail.com

BE Mechanical Engineer 2 years

experience in fabrication and erec-

tion of heavy structures as project

Engineer in India, now on visiting

visa seeks suitable placement.

Contact: 92151818

B.Tech Civil Engineer Indian male

13 year’s exp seeking suitable job.

Contact 0091 9640973798 Email:

firozbakhtiar2@gmail.com

BE (Electrical), MBA, certified

PMP and Chartered Engineer with

10 years experience in EPC Project

management for substation con-

struction (onshore/offshore) GCC

employed Indian, seeking oppor-

tunity to lead challenging projects,

position in managerial role.

Email ID: jacobmval@gmail.com

Site Engineer(Civil) Diploma in

Civil Engineering / Supervisor 6

years experience (with N.O.C).

Contact : 99512416.

Electronics and Instrumentation

Engineer, Indian female, B. Tech (AE

& I), M.Tech (VLSI design), asp.net,

c#, c++, core java, android java, pres-

ently on visit visa, looking for a suit-

able placement. contact : 95906935,

amalpktu@gmail.com

Interior Architecture Engineer, 7 years experience (5 years in

Oman) expert in exterior & interior

architecture designs presented by

3D MAX- V ray AutoCAD Photoshop,

fluent in Arabic & English.

Contact: 96519172 Email:

eng.interiorarchitect@gmail.com

Indian M 25 yrs B.E Mechanical,

3 yrs exp in Oil & Gas project Engi-

neer now on visit visa. # 96487013

Email: riarun.007@gmail.com

B.Tech Mechanical Engineer Indian

1 year experience HVAC (MEP) avail-

able in Muscat on visit visa seeking

suitable job. Contact : 93670280

Email: jinv.avm@gmail.com

Iraqi female Communication

Engineer having 5 yrs of exp in

teaching computer program.

Contact : 99132159

Email: marwan.saad39@yahoo.com

Iraqi male Medical Equipment

Engineer one year of exp in Iraq

looking for suitable job in Oman.

Contact: 99132159

Email: marwan.saad39@yahoo.com

Electrical Engineer Pakistani male

4 years B. Tech & 3 years’ diploma

seeking a suitable placement.

Contact: 96752080

Email: ilyasoader97@gmail.com

Civil Engineer 7 years experience

valid Omani D/L looking for job

immediately, ready to join.

Contact : 96936406

B.E (Civil Engineer) with 5 yrs expe-

rience, valid Omani driving license.

Noc available. Contact: 91693008

Iraqi Civil Engineer 12 years experi-

ence, resident having Omani driving

license. Contact : 94695595

Land Surveyor, one and half year

experience in India, well handle total

station, auto level and AutoCAD.

Looking for suitable placement.

Contact: 95140761 / 99208290

Email: binu.brijiv@gmail.com

Indian, male, Civil Engineering

graduate with 8 years Dubai experi-

ence in Estimation, Project/Design

Co-ordination seeks suitable job in

Oman. Hold UAE driving license.

Contact: shibupnbr@ gmail.com;

+971-501426982

Indian male Electronics & Instru-

mentation Engineer having 5 yrs

exp with valid Omani D/L & NOC.

Contact: 96082604

Civil Engineer, Indian Female, 3 yrs

experience, on visit visa seeking

suitable placement.

Contact: 99195433

MEDICAL

MISCELLANEOUS

Staff Nurse male Nurse 6 years

above experience prometry

exam 71%, express visa last date

21/06/2015. Contact: 95118841

BSc Staff Nurse with license.

Contact 92765457

Indian female Dentist MOH Oman

passed seeking a suitable placement

in capital region. Contact– 91377681

hashimsarawat@gmail.com

Dentist with MOH license looking

for locum post. Contact 93571021. Indian male Nurse, 31 years

Oman prometric passed 6 yrs ICU

experience. Contact : 94195150 /

92758895

Lab Technician, Civil (8yrs Gulf ex-

perience) looking for a suitable job

(NOC available) Contact-93344378

Omani Mechanical Engineer, has

3 years experience ,has HSE, H2S,

Riggers/Banks men Permit, Drawing

/ cad, SCBA, Safety Leadership and

Initial Fire Response Courses. good

with computer and English language

looking for suitable job. Contact

99224319-98454500

SECRETARIAL/OFFICE

MISCELLANEOUS

DRIVER

DOMESTIC HELPER

Indian male fresher BCA young and

energetic, seeking good opportu-

nites.email: jlaxmimenon@gmail.

com, Contact 00919567722270

Highly Qualified & Experienced

Finance Manager Pakistani with

USA , UK & Canadian Degrees, CPA ,

ACCA-UK . MBA-USA ,IFA- Financial

Consultants Canada , Corporate An-

alyst USA Professional of Banking ,

Audits ,ERPs & Profit Maximizations

(NOC available) call 94 504505 –

94403270

MSc qualified female on female

joining visa good experience in Ad-

ministration, Advertising media and

branding at managerial level with 13

years experience. Good knowledge

in the field of marketing looking for a

suitable position.

Contact : 91980400

Sr Manager, B.Tech, MBA, Prince -2

from UK. 24 yrs exp in EPC project

management of oil & gas pipelines,

refineries & power plants. Seeking

job immediately / on visit/

Contact: + 00968912639

Email: josececy25@gmail.com

MANAGER/ SUPERVISOR

Indian male MBA having 10 years

experience in Oman as Document

controller and 2+ Years experience

as Project Assistant / Executive

Secretary seeks suitable placement.

NOC available Contact: 95373198,

email: sydnvrng@yahoo.com

Indian male more than 10 years

Gulf experience in Office / Sales

Coordinator, Admin (employees visa

processes), Secretarial and purchase

coordination with good computer

skills. Having Driving license and

NOC available. Looking for suitable

placement. Contact 99709336

SALES / MARKETING

Indian male MBA 7 years experience

in Hospitality industry, operation,

sales & marketing looking for suitable

vacancy. Contact 92115860

Email vibin.py@gmail.com

Graduate having 6 yrs experience

Lubricant sales looking for sales job

with D/L. Contact : 93410723

Asst. Manager Purchase / Logistics

/ Warehouse, B.Com, Diploma in

Material Management with 12 yrs

experience. NOC available.

Contact 96477638

M.B.S (Management) looking for

suitable Marketing job.

Contact: 96487152

Indian male over 5 years experience

in media marketing sales collection

looking for suitable job.

Contact : 95064202

Indian male, 27 yrs, Post Graduate,

5+ yrs exp in Oman in Sales & Credit

Control, with valid Oman driving

License, NOC available, looking for

suitable placements. Ph: 91993376

Indian male MBA Marketing cur-

rently on visit visa seeking for Sales

& marketing job 2 years experience.

Contact: 94460405 Email:

arshidmohammed222@gmail.com

Sales man looking for a opening in

Oman with 18 years Gulf experience.

Contact: 91957861

An Indian male having rich

experience in procurement, Sales

marketing and office administration

seeking suitable position.

Contact: 93689602

8 years purchase experienced

Indian male looking for job. N.O.C.

available. Contact: 98161323

8 years store experience Indian

male looking for placement. N.O.C

available. Contact: 98456535

Indian 23 years B.Com Graduate,

2 years experience in Sales knowl-

edge of TALLY, ERP & MS Office.

Contact: 93134643

Email : syedismailnoor@gmail.com

Indian Male, B.Com Graduate, 23,

with experience in Sales looking for

suitable placements.

Contact 98371144

Tanzanian male, 25 yrs Accountant

successful experience in Tanzania

looking for suitable placement in any

field. Contact : 96710154

Tunisian lady has Professorship in

social and economical sciences and

accounting, diploma in Experimen-

tal Sciences degree in English for

media. Contact 95391050,

aysser2013@gmail.com

BE Mechanical Engineer 4/5 years

experience in Planning Engineer.

Interested companies kindly contact

95403146 / 99426840 candidate

available till 12.06.2015

B.Tech Civil Engineer, Indian female

2 yrs experience in Oman,

looking for suitable position.

Contact 91690345

Sr Manager, B.Tech, MBA, PRINCE-2,

British National. 24 yrs exp in EPC

Project Management of Oil & Gas,

Pipelines, Refineries & Power Plants.

Seeking job immediately/on visit/

Contact- 00968-91263952/

josececy25@gmail.com

B. Tech Instrumentation Engineer more than 4 year experience SCADA,

PLC, DCS, ESD (Honeywell, Yoka-

gawa). Contact: 93670890

Email: mojin.a.kabeer@gmail.com

Structural Engineer 4 years experi-

ence Indian, will handle projects

independently, able to get

Municipality approvals easily.

Contact: 91668044

Quantity Surveyor (Civil Diploma)

2 yrs experience in Oman, looking for

full/ part-time job.

Contact 96936793

Indian male diploma in Computer

Engineering seeking suitable

placement immediately now on

visiting visa .Contact 97317844 /

92580948

BSC. Mechanical Engineering, 17 yrs exp in Oman, 30 yrs exp in

production management, erection

and maintenance of refineries, stock

piling equipments, belt convoying

systems structures, power transmis-

sion equipments gear boxes -

Contact 98214442;

Email: mohusak@gmail.com

Indian male 29 years Civil Engineer

diploma 4 years Oman experience,

2 years road construction looking

placement. Contact: 93298395

N.O.C available

Adarsh.B , B. Tech Mechanical N.D.T

ASNT level 2, 2 years 10 months

experience in New Delhi. Contact

adarsh320480@gmail.com

Indian male 30 years Mechanical

Engineering Diploma with 4+ years

of Experience in Fabrication draw-

ings using CAD Software’s in India,

now on a visit visa seeking for a

suitable placement in OMAN. Will be

available till 12/6/15 for interview.

Contact 99013952,

vineetf56@gmail.com

Instrumentation Engineer, Indian

male having 2 years experience in

process instruments and sales seeks

suitable placement on visit visa.

Contact: 95954385

Email: irfancisinn@gmail.com

Sudanese Industrial Engineering &

Management, experience 12 years

in QA/QC and production. Contact:

94041960 / 94044784,

Email: mekkimedani@hotmail.com /

mekkimedani78@gmail.com

Indian Male, IT Support Engineer,

2 yrs in Oman & 5 yrs Indian experi-

ence. Contact 9731 Indian male, B.Tech Mechanical

having 4 years experience with QA/

QC / CSWIP looking for a suitable

position. Contact: 99447106

Email: dhanubhasi87@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 Eng. Degree (MEP) need

suitable job of construction 12 yrs exp.

Email: mohd.ateeq.khan@gmail.com

Looking for job for House maid.

Contact : 93599302

Laundry Housekeeping profession-

al looking for a opening in Oman

with 18 years experience.

Contact : 91957861

Engineer with 3 yrs experience in

Indian in MEP, HVAC& mechanical

maintained field on visit visa looking

for suitable job. Contact 99191535

Email: fareed029@gmail.com

Indian female, B.Tech biotechnology with strong computer

skills and 2 years experience as

associate research analyst (Media

Monitoring) in Nasdaq Oman seek-

ing growth oriented jobs. Contact

92044603 /918056169148 or

angeline.babithac@gmail.com.

Indian male/30 years with hotel

management degree, 02 years expe-

rience in F&B service at 5 star hotel

in Dubai and 05 years in American 6

star cruseliner as butler.

Contact 91135371

4 yrs exp (Money Exch. Services &

hospitality services in Oman& India)

Indian male 27, Graduate in Hos-

pitality Science, fluent in English,

Hindi & Arabic seeks job.

Contact 91383167

HOSPITALITY

IT

EDUCATION

Omani Citizen searching a job in

the field of computer especially in

data base professional in operating

Oracle SQL, PL/ SQL, form6i, Report

6i. Contact 96977368

Email: talaloml@yahoo.com

Indian female MCA, experience in

C#.Net, SQL Server, ORACLE with

4.5 years experience seeking

suitable positions.

Contact: 96485923, 99886271.

prathibhakp07@gmail.com

IT Desktop Support Engineer 2 years Oman 3 years in Indian Exp.

Contact 91937060

M.C.A Indian male 36 yrs experi-

ence in IT Support/ customer serv-

ing support with 5 yrs experience

seeking suitable position.

Contact: 92041909

Male 26 completed acter MBA and

have 1.5 years experience, good

knowledge of computer, software’s,

looking for job in procurement /

warehousing. On visit visa till 5th

Sep /2015.

Contact: 00968 91795092

Email: jameel6345@gmail.com

Computer Networking/Facility

Mgmt 5 Yrs of Exp Holds B.E(ECE),

CCNA Looking for Good Opportunity,

Indian - Visit Visa. Contact 91911792/

arafakdnl@gmail.com

IT & Media Sales specialist looking

for job opportunities also decent

exposure to H.R & customer rela-

tions currently in Muscat on visit

visa kindly. Contact : 96238199 or

99874205

Email Id: m_cadri@rediffmail.com

Net work Technician CCTV, UTP,

OFC, Flooring work 6 yrs experience

(GCC). Contact: +91 9526888134

Network system Engineer B.E / ECE

+ CCNA & Ms certified with 4+ yrs exp

looking for a job. Currently in Oman

on visit visa. Contact: 92589502

Email: careersjegan@gmail.com

MCA Indian male 24 yrs seeking

suitable placement in software /

Database support currently on visit

visa. Contact 96785261 Email:

sudheesh.edakkadan@gmail.com

Indian Beautician looking for job in

Oman, with 5 yrs Oman experience.

Contact: 98869716

BEAUTICIAN

Indian male, B.E ( computer science

engineer), MBA (finance), OCA certi-

fied, having 5 years of experience in

oracle Dba/ oracle apps Dba, seeks

a suitable position in the field of IT.

Contact: 96212062

email: zubairkhan11@gmail.com

Well experienced MOH Licensed

Indian GP Doctor looking for

locum / permanent position in the

Capital area. Contact 98140024

email:drgpoman@yahoo.com

Looking for job driving Bangladeshi.

Contact : 94077119

Bangladeshi Driver seeks suitable

job K. S.A 12 years Oman 3 years 42

yrs. Contact 95796030

Looking for job driving Bangladeshi.

Contact: 97418036

Pick up and drop anytime.

Contact: 96748967

Light driver for job. Contact:

95779594

Light vehicle driver looking for job.

Contact: 91452930

Driver looking for job, light vehicle.

Contact: 95446207

Driver light. Contact: 91020999

Pakistani driving available.

Contact : 96913836

Light Driver having own visa

looking for job as driver.

Contact: 97073429

Driver available with or without car.

Contact 96771598

L.T.V driver language, Hindi, Arabic

& English. Contact: 98802079

Heavy duty driver valid license

Omani need job & visa.

Contact: 91139936

Driver looking for job with visa,

release available, 5 yrs driving

experience. Contact: 96261895

Faruqu.

Light Driver needs Job.

Contact: 93284327

MCA, BCA with 2 yrs relevant expe-

rience seeking suitable opportunity.

Contact: 96377039

Looking for job building mainte-

nance electric and plumbing.

Contact: 99365092

Ware house In charge or store

keeper 27 yrs Gulf experience 4 yrs

in Oman NOC available.

Contact: 97657823 Email:

rusaikmzm_2009@yahoo.com

In search of job. Qualification b.com,

key skills- MS office, Tally, Inter-

net with valid Oman light driving

license. *NOC available.

Contact:92239065

Indian Female with over 9 yrs ex-

perience with good communication

skills seeks jobs in customer service

or sales field. Contact : 96108289,

shijipaul84@gmail.com

Part- Time Accountant, well experi-

ence senior accountant ,doing all

type of accounting works, Finaliza-

tion, Budgeting available.

Contact 98803439

13 Years UAE experienced in MNC &

reputed firms logistics distribution

looking for a suitable placement, on

visit visa contact 99838743,

gani.dawood@gmail.com

Indian female B.Com Graduate hav-

ing 8 yrs experience in India & 2 yrs

experience in Oman as Customer

Service, Office Asst, Sales Coordina-

tor, Secretary seeks suitable place-

ment. Contact: 95433987

Indian male, B.Sc (Mathematics)

PGDBM (Marketing). 9 yrs of Oman

experience in sales in midlevel

management, NOC available.

Valid Oman D/L.

Contact: 95278838

Email: anup2p4p@yahoo.com

Indian male 45+ yrs , 20 yrs exp as

sales supervisor in India looking for

indoor sales /stores /cashier or any

suitable placement can speak Hindi

, English, Malayalam, Tamil, kannada

can join immediately on visit visa.

Contact 93086105/33016546

Pakistani male 34 yrs Intermedi-

ate 2 yrs exp in sales & marketing

in Oman. Looking for suitable job.

Contact - 92146864

SALES / MARKETING

Indian male, IATA qualified &

English graduate on family visit

looking for a suitable job. Contact no.

93449151, 99475217.

25 Indian female B.S.C. Fashion

Technology. 5 years experience in

textile industry as a merchandiser

and good in fashion marketing.

Currently available on visit visa,

seeking for a suitable job.

Contact 96990368.

Email: simmy.missy@gmail.com

TOURS & TRAVELS

Indian Male 34 years Mechanical

Engineer 3 years of Experience seek-

ing suitable placement immediately

Contact: 91991435, 93310821

Electronics and instrumentation

Engineer 28 year Indian male, elec-

trical, electronic, industrial, building

& automation exp of 4+ yrs in India.

Contact - 93154156

CCNP Network Professional with 6 years experience having

Bachelors degree on visit visa looking

for suitable job. #96760618 email:

varghese.manthara@gmail.com

Indian female with MBA (Finance)

on visit visa, seeks immediate place-

ment. Phone: 968-98430089

English Teacher female (M. A. B. Ed)

Having 14 years experience with

11 years experience in Oman with

reputed institute and school.

Contact: 92289080 / 99318276

Email: babujosev@yahoo.com

Indian CA with 15 yrs exp working

as Finance Head for MNC looking for

suitable job. NOC available. 94047434

Indian, Male, 23 years, BE Electri-

cal, having 2 years experience in

Electrical Works-H.T. cabling etc,

& Construction, looking for a suit-

able placement. # +968 96927880

(Oman), +91 9765376109 (India),

Email: rahulrevi6@gmail.com

Indian Female M.Com with Com-

puter Skills and Four Month Experi-

ence as Accountant ,Currently On

Family Visa Looking for a Suitable

Placement, Available Immediately.

Contact : 95846642,

Email : dhanyashree91@yahoo.com

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D6 W E D N E S D AY, J U N E 1 0 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANT-ED

SIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANTEDSIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED

SITUATION WANT-ED

SIT. WANTED

Piping Design Engineer, Indian

male 27, looking for suitable place-

ment in Piping Design & Engineer-

ing. Having 7 years of experience in

AutoCAD. Also familiar with PDMS

(11.6 Version),CAESAR ll. Contact :

97351786 / 96143708, E-mail :

mohammednazeer07@gmail.com

ACCA Affiliate, Experience in audit/

finance of 2.5 years in Big 6 Firm

and Oil industry, looking for suitable

permanent placement, Release NOC

available. Contact: #95140445

a.saran891@gmail.com

B.Tech Computer Engineer Wanted

job to work on(IT/Banking/Admin-

istrator/Technical/Office works)

having NOC with the limited time

from (04/06/2015 to 13/06/2015).

Mobile:98402389

email:naresh6672@gmail.com

MCA IT Professional Indian Female

seek placement in Teaching/ Non

Teaching field. Presently on visit

visa. 9588 7051,

ashwininakod@gmail.com

Highly Qualified & Experienced

Finance Manager Pakistani with

USA , UK & Canadian Degrees , CPA

,ACCA-UK . MBA-USA ,IFA- Financial

Consultants Canada , Corporate

Analyst USA Professional of Banking

, Audits ,ERPs & Profit Maximizations

( NOC available ) call 94 504505 –

94403270

27 year Indian female who has 4

years of experience with logistics

function in distribution of spares

for both heavy machinery & wind

turbine parts. Kindly contact me on

+91 9790769104

E-mail: joemohana@yahoo.co.in

Looking for managerial post (full

time ), More than Ten years of expe-

rience in Team Development ,Train-

ing, planning, Administration, Sales

& Marketing, Advertisement and

Credit Control and Logistics. Contact

91076608 / 99322748. RELEASE &

NOC AVAILABLE

Female 26 M.Tech bio medical

Engineer, 1plus years experience

in research and teaching seeking

opening. Contact : 91960160 Email:

amluprasannan@gmail.com

7 and half years experience working

accounts / inventory manager look-

ing suitable job. Contact: 96991782

Email: srinivasu.sp@gmail.com

Indian male, 28 yrs MBA (HR/M) 2

years experience in Indian Oman in HR

& admin seeks suitable placements.

NOC available. Contact 97484159

Email: rameshkapa86@gmail.com

Indian female , MCA BCA, certifica-

tion PL SQL , 6months training PHP,

date warehouse looking for suitable

placement. Contact : 95694330

Email: mondkashyapodl@gmail.com

Part- time accountant, well experi-

ence senior accountant , doing all

type of accounting works, finaliza-

tion, budgeting available.

Contact : 98803439

HSE Advisor, NEBOSH IGC, Indian

male, 4 years experience in con-

struction and oil fields, seeking suit-

able jobs. Gsm: 97458900,

Mail: miroshbabu@gmail.com

Highly Experienced Finance Man-

ager, CPA ,ACCA-UK . MBA-USA , Pro-

fessional of Banking, Audits , ERPs

Sap , Management as Team Leader

and Problem Solver call 94 504505

/ 94403270

Indian male MBA Finance presently

OMAN IN visit visa, 26 years, look-

ing for an accountant job.

Contact 95240641, email Id

mohammadabdulazharuddin@

gmail.com

Indian male, looking for a part time

accounting job. Having additional

knowledge & experience in

HR admin & purchase.

Contact 99196621

Indian male MBA (U.K), 10 Years

of experience in Admin, Sales, HR,

stores and logistics seeks suitable

placement. Contact 99271903.

Indian Female MCA, 4 plus Years

of experience in Web designing, Ad-

min, P.A, seeks suitable placement.

Contact 99486374

Admin Executive, 31, Indian Male,

having 9+ years exp. in reputed

companies. Seeking suitable place-

ment in any gulf region. Contact

+968 99276601 & 97693456. email :

muralimahdav77@gmail.com

B.Com with more than 5 yrs exp.

looking for an accounts part tome

job work. know with tally.

Email-shilpa_62@yahoo.com

Indian male Executive Secretary

having vast experience in admin,

logistics & procurement well versed

with computer .seek suitable place-

ment. Contact : 99514286

MEP Quantity Surveyor-Estima-

tion-Project, 10 Years Experience

(3 years in Oman). Having NOC &

Oman D/L, looking for suitable job,

Contact - 98291626

B.E. Civil Engineer age 27, total 3

years of experience in Mumbai look-

ing for placement asap in oman now

on visit visa of 1 month ph 9571 3441

Email. Khatrialeem@gmail.com

Indian house maid looking full time

job. Contact : 98254909

Indian Female, 24yrs, M.COM (Ac-

counts) having 3yrs experience

in Accounts, HR, Administration,

Customer Service. Good Computer

Proficiency. Seeking Suitable Posi-

tion. Visa Transfer/NOC Available.

Contact: 99654913

Indian Male, 29 years, CCNP, MCITP

having Bachelor degree and 6 years

of experience in Networking looking

for job. 96760618 /

varghese.manthara@gmail.com

ACCA affiliate, with 2.5 years experi-

ence in Big6 audit firm and Oil indus-

try, looking for permanent placement

in Accounts/Audit. Release available

#95140445 a.saran891@gmail.com

Sudanese male, 31 year old, have 3

year Diploma in electrical engineer, 5

years experience in different activi-

ties . Mobile No ; +96894549609

8 yrs exp Site supervisor cum 2d,

3d Draughtsman (holding Omani

driving license) seeking job.

Contact : 93790601

Iraqi Pharmacist with 15 years

experience as regulatory affairs and

Marketing Manager seeking job in

pharmaceutical co. Mobile 96720441

B.E Biomedical Engineer, having 5

years of experience in Diagnostics

division seeking suitable position.

94151658

Indian male seeking suitable vacan-

cy in office works 30 years Muscat

experience. Contact: 99024055

Indain Male MBA Marketing/HRM

3 year experience with Omani D/L,

seeking suitable jobs. #97424188

email: dharwesh@gmail.com

MISCELLANEOUS

Indian Male, 29 years, CCNP, MCITP

having Bachelor degree and 6 years

of experience in Networking looking

for job. 96760618 /

varghese.manthara@gmail.com

B.E. Civil Engineer from India with

3 years of experience looking for

suitable vacancy in oman now on

visit visa. Contact 9571 3441,

Email . Khatrialeem@gmail.com

Indian male 21 IT Eng. networking &

computer hardware diploma, 1 year

experience, currently on visit visa

looking for a suitable job.# 96036273

email: faizanfarooqui23@gmail.com

Indian, 32 years, completed M.A.

English, M.Sc. Psychology and B.Ed

in English. Searching for suitable job

in the field of teaching. To

Contact: 00968 99869535

Email: sahadkeyi33@gmail.com

8 Years successful experience,

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT, Indian

male,29 years. Presently working in

Oman as a Senior Accountant with

oman Driving license seeks suitable

opportunity. GSM: 97705854

Indian Female, Commerce Gradu-

ate, Total 9 yrs of experience in India.

worked as Accounts Assistant and

Business executive seeking for suitable

placement. Tel : 96173533/24222457

Email : topranidivya@gmail.com

Indian Male 24 years, Looking for a

Suitable Job in Telecom / Network-

ing. 1 year sales experience. MSc.

Communications Engineering &

Valid Driving license. Ph: 91280121.

Email: jackrprasad@yahoo.com

Female Executive Assistant/Execu-

tive Secretary with 27+ experience,

worked with top management/Board

in financial services with shorthand

skills & Omani driving license, seeks

suitable placement. call 95941515

26 years Indian male with MBA &

PGDFM, Total 3.8 years experience

in Administration, seeking suit-

able placement in any gulf region.

Holding Oman valid driving license.

Contact :94501423

Finance ACCA Affiliate, 2.5 years

experience in audit/finance and oil

company in reputed firms. Looking

for suitable permanent placement.

Release available. Contact 95140445,

a.saran891@gmail.com

24 year Indian Chartered Account-

ant male with 3yrs of experience is

seeking suitable placement in Mus-

cat, currently on visit visa & ready

to join immediately. Contact him on

98201476 or email at

lokeshkaluri@gmail.com

Civil Engineer, Diploma, Male 25, 3

years experience in site, CAD, 3d, MS

Project, Seeking job in Oman.

Contact 92875345,

jubincivileng@gmail.com

Indian female B.ED & BCA looking

for a suitable placement in school

or admin office, having 5 yrs exp in

same field. Contact – 97384206 /

rani_sweet786@live.com

Indian female, B.Com. knowledge of

MS Office & Tally, 4yrs experience in

Accounts &admin dept. looking for

good placement in any field.

Contact.98928220

Indian male, Engineer, BE Mechani-

cal, having with 21 years of experi-

ence in India and 13 years in Oman,

In production, project management,

quality control and assurance and

MR for ISO and API Standards look-

ing out for a suitable placement

in Oman. GSM: 00968 97311616.

E-MAIL: fahazasa@yahoo.com

MATRIMONIAL

Alliance invited for a nair boy 28

yrs 165cm working with a leading

business group in Muscat.

Contact : 91717912

Muslim family seeking

alliance for our son interested

families. Contact 97664009

Kerala Nair girl, B.Com, 22 yrs, 5.2”

very fair, slim, (Star Uthrattathi)

Presently working in infosis, Chen-

nai. Financially sound, from parents

of nair boys from Trissur, Palakkad

and Eranakulam & Calicut dist. .

Contact :0091 8301865688

email: raveendrandr@yahoo.com

Alliance invited for a Nair girl 24 yrs, 5ft, 1”, fair, slim, B.Tech

graduate reputed family of

Ernakulam dist. (Star Thiruvonam

Sudhajathakam) financially sound,

from parents of B.Tech nair boys

from Trissur, Palakkad and Er-

anakulam dist. .

Contact :00919495924302

email: raveendrandr@yahoo.com

Hindu Ezhava family, settled in

Muscat looking for suitable groom

working within Oman for their

daughter 25 yrs (MBA) working

with a reputed company in Muscat.

Contact : 98689663

DAILY GUIDEW E D N E S D AY, J U N E 1 0 , 2 0 1 5 D7

SITUATION WANTEDCARGO

Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise

with Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain

Marine Tours Contact- 98029602,

92808636

RENT A CAR

RENT A CAR

TOURS

GOOD NEWS

Ayurvedic massage backache, joint

pain & neck pain etc.

Contact: 98254909

Ayurvedic treatment for joint pain,

backache, paralysis massage, steam

bath, obesity, spondylitis IDEAL ,

CARE Ayurvedic Clinic 18 November

street, Azaiba. Contact 99639695 /

99117987

Taimour Ayurvedic Clinic, Ruwi

offers genuine & effective treatment

for back pain, paralysis, cervical and

lumbar spondylitis, osteoarthritis,

joint pains, sinusitis, migraine, al-

lergic problems, varicose vein and

all other health related problems.

Kerala massage and rejuvenation

package available. For details please

Contact 92197920/ 24799689

FREE INFORMATION ABOUT IS-LAM. If you would like to know more

about Islam, please call: 99425598,

96050000, 99353988, 99253818,

99341395, and 99379133.

For ladies: 99415818, 99321360,

99730723

Orvisit: www.islamfact.com

Ayurvedic treatment for backache,

paralysis, arthritis etc & massage,

All Season (Vaidyaratnam).

Contact 24475280 / 95371554 /

92504980 www.siddhayur.com

Genuine Ayurvedic treatments &

massage, Ayurvedic clinic at Al Khu-

wair. Contact 24478618 / 97263637

/93309131

Butter cup rent a car presents fantastic offers all vehicles are model 2016.

Contact : 97249449

DAILY GUIDE Tel. 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 431 / 456 / 461 Fax: 24812624

Email: dailyguide@timesofoman.com

D8 W E D N E S D AY, J U N E 1 0 , 2 0 1 5

SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES

Specialist available for explosive

growth in term of restructuring

all modules of businesses with

over 30 years of experience across

continents with a decade in Oman.

Contact 96733578

Email : profitoman@gmail.com

Split & window A.C servicing &

maintenance. Contact 93769089 /

95323517

A/C maintenance split A/C servic-

ing. RO. 10 only. Contact 94217681/

99210141

Tailoring churidar, anarkali,

salwar kameez dance costumes

shop 32 Dhofar bldg, Ruwi.

Contact: 99740196

Churidar, Anarkali, Salwar Ka-

meez, Dance costumes, shop 32,

Dhofar building, Ruwi.

Contact 99740196

Carpet & sofa cleaning, house clean-

ing. Contact 99542979 / 98855815

Split & window A.C servicing &

maintenance. Contact: 96236476

House shifting packing.

99657644 / 98518013

Water proofing ABUQABAS-

Contact 99320217/24788722

Window & split unit A.C servicing

& repairing. Contact 99557080

Split & window A.C servic-

ing & maintenance. Contact

93769089/95323517

Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles

polishing, carpet shampooing,

maintenance.Contact ABU QABAS-

99320217 /24788722

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

A/C maintenance & servic-

ing. Fridge, washing machine

& dish washer repairing. Paint-

ing & cleaning services &

electrical & plumbing. Contact

99447257/97014234/ 24504281

WEBSITE

WEB, ERP and Business Intelli-

gence (BI) creation and man-

agement at rock bottom price.

Contact: http//webviewoman

CLASSES

COMPUTER

ACCOUNTANTS AND CONSULTANTSWE ARE PROVIDING

ACCOUNTING/ AUDITINGTAX/ CONSULTING

CONTACT: 24 567 251 / 95 498 033

GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet

& sofa shampooing, Contact

99314807/24792998

MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of

your marble. Contact 24793614/

99314807

House shifting. Contact 99708138

House shifting & transporting.

Contact 92490422

Learn Cup cakes, exotic cakes, Icing

decorations, handicrafts.

Contact 95941515

DRIVING

LOST

CHANGE OF NAME

NOTICE

Learn driving with professional

only automatic. Contact 94022250

NRI

Ready / under construction apart-

ments / villas. Near guruvayur.

Contact: 00919846877773

BUSINESS

Wanted Sub Contractors : Shut-

tering work, steel, concrete block

work, plastering, tile fixing for

Buraimi, School project.

Contact : 99427674/ 24700373/

Fax: 24701368

Scrap business running scrap busi-

ness sale with 60 Ton Weighing

Bridge in Mabellah.

Contact: 92295780

New Construction Company re-

quired investors for financial project.

Contact: 92959251

Zee Shan Khan has lost Pakistani Passport No. XG 4114531. Finder please

handover to ROP

Ashley D. Souza has lost Indian Passport No. F 6583693. Finder please

handover to ROP

I Dhanalakshmi (holder of Indian passport No. J 8295137) Daughter of

Konchady Mohan having permanent residence in B – 3, No. 6, BSNL Staff

Quarters, Hathill, Ladyhill, Mangalore, Karnataka (complete postal address

in India) and presently residing in Wattaya, Way No. 121, Building 1603, P.

Box 84, PC.101 (complete postal in Oman) intend to change my name from

Dhanalakshmi (old name) to Catherine D’Souza (new name) for all practical

purpose. I have changed my religion from Hindu to Christian. Any objec-

tion 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.

I, Vivek Sridhar, (holder of Indian Passport No Z 2207026), S/o Balasundar-

am Sridhar, having permanent residence in Mohanami 15, Alagiri Sami Salai,

K K Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and presently residing at PO Box 761, PC

116, Mina Al Fahal, Sultanate of Oman, intend to marry Ms. Sangeeta Narayan

Sundaresan (holder of Indian Passport bearing No. H 6348643) D/o Narayan

Sundaresan in Embassy of India, Muscat. I swear that I am marrying her at

my own free will and not under any duress and intimidation. Any objection

towards this marriage may please be communicated to Embassy of India,

Muscat, Diplomatic Quarters, Al Khuwair, P.O. Box No 1727, Postal Code No.

112, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman within 30 (thirty) days of publications of this

news paper advertisement. *Classified Advertisement space

booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication. * Subject to

space availability