times of oman - june 12, 2016
DESCRIPTION
Times of Oman - June 12, 2016TRANSCRIPT
Founded 1975 . Volume 41 No. | Pages . Baisas 200 . Subscription OMR63 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company | Chairman/Editor-in-Chief: Mohamed Issa Al Zadjali | Printed & Published by Muscat Media Group
June 12, 2016 6 Ramadan 1437 AH
SUNDAY
4495
RAMADAN PRAYER TIMINGS
Dhuhr 12.12pm
Asr 3.30pm
Maghrib 6.59pm
Isha 8.21pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 3.52am
IFTAR
6.59PM
FAJR
3.52AM
FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTYTHE SULTAN
To Senior State Officials, 1978
From time to time Royal Decrees have been issued promulgating laws for this state so that its people’s interests can be protected.
‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’
MORNING MINUTE
A3307kg of fish confiscated
OMANPeople reminded of Dubai e-visa rule
2People willing to travel to Dubai have been reminded of an e-visa to
enter the UAE. >A3
OMANNumber of expat managers declines
1The number of expatriate managers in the private sector in the Sultanate has
fallen. >A5
T O P T H R E E I N S I D E S T O R I E S
His Majesty sends greetings
HM greets president of Philippines
MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of greetings to Dr. Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federa-tion on the anniversary of the Dec-laration on the State Sovereignty.
In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan has expressed his sincere greetings and wishes of good health and happiness to the presi-dent and his country’s people fur-ther progress and prosperity. -ONA
MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has also sent a ca-ble of greetings to Benigno Aquino III, President of the Republic of the Philippines on his country’s Independence Day anniversary.
In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan has expressed his sincere greetings and wishes of good health and happiness to the presi-dent and his country’s people fur-ther progress and prosperity. —ONA
R U S S I A
C A B L E
‘No plan to tax expats’ income’
Staff Reporters
MUSCAT: Expats in Oman can heave a sigh of relief, at least for now, after the Sultanate con-firmed there are no plans to make foreign workers pay income tax.
Saudi Arabia had last week announced that it was consid-ering introducing the tax for its expat population.
The news sent a ripple through the GCC expat population, but Oman’s Ministry of Manpower, in a statement to the Times of Oman, confirmed it has no plans to go down that route.
Said Salem Al Saadi, advisor at the Ministry of Manpower, said the country does not encourage income tax, particularly when it is only tar-geting the expat community.
“We are not encouraging this. Every country has its own proce-dures, and in this country, we do not encourage such a tax. If there is any kind of tax, it will be for every-one, expats and Omanis. Expats are not strangers for us, and they work according to the Labour Law. The Labour Law controls all the expats and it does not involve income tax.”
Saudi Arabia’s finance ministry recently confirmed it was plan-ning to introduce income tax on its expatriate population to fund a $72b plan to diversify economy.
“We don’t have a system of im-posing income tax on people here, whether Omanis or otherwise, and levy it only on companies. Personally, I would avoid it, espe-cially with the current oil prices. It is not possible for people to pay tax when they don’t know what it
will be spent on,” said Tawfiq Al Lawati, Head of Economic Com-mittee at Majlis Al Shura.
“If I, as a Shura member, imple-ment the income tax, I wouldn’t be able to face people on the streets and I am not convinced about personal taxes,” he added.
Ahmed Al Esry, Managing Part-ner, Ernst and Young, Oman said that he don’t see income tax being introduced in Oman in the near future; there are no signs or indi-cations about such a move.
“I don’t think it is the right time as so many things are happening. With the removal of fuel subsi-dies, a factor that has added to inflation, and the VAT coming in, I don’t think the government will try clubbing it all together, because at the end of the day, this will affect ordinary people,” said Ahmed. >A8
A Ministry of
Manpower official
says that Oman does
not encourage income
tax but if there is any
such proposal in the
future it will be the
same for both Omanis
and expatriates
REJIMON [email protected]
MUSCAT: On the first Friday of the Holy Month of Ramadan, when the Times of Oman (TOO) visited Wekan village, located 2,000m above sea level in the Nakhal Wilayat, 72-year-old Saif Abdul Al Riyami was observing his fifth hour of fasting.
Sitting on a cement bench in his backyard, adjacent to the mosque, and enjoying the breeze, Al Riy-ami just smiled when we said the global media had been reporting about the ‘fastest fast’ village.
“Fasting here is like every-where. We heard about the news. Other than brushing aside such false reports, what else can be
done,” Al Riyami said.Global media had reported that
the residents of Wekan fast only for three hours. The report add-ed that the people of Wekan fast from 11am until 2:30pm.
Immature observation“From November until February, as the sun falls behind the moun-tains, we have shade. It does not mean that the sun is not there. Somebody has made an immature observation. Even if the sun is not there, we have to fast,” Al Riyami, who is one of the elders in the vil-lage, which has only around 400 residents, added.
According to Al Riyami, his forefathers came to Oman from Yemen through the Jebel Akdhar
mountains. “Five generations back, we settled here. We culti-vate fruits and vegetables, enjoy the calmness of this mountain, taste fresh natural water and have healthy food plucked from the farms,” Al Riyami said.
According to him, there are only 20 houses in the village and the power supply was started only in 1995.
“The Municipality started to supply water some five years ago. There is a small school down the mountain and those who wish to pursue higher studies go to Mus-cat. A majority of the houses are built on mud as bringing cement and other materials is too costly and risky. However, everyone here is happy,” Al Riyami said.>A6
S C E N I C V I L L A G E
Al Harthi closer to Olympics dream
‘Fastest fast’ villagers bemused by untrue reports
DEEBA [email protected]
BULGARIA: Omani sprinter Barakat Al Harthi broke his 100 metres record by clocking 10.05 seconds during the Samara Flag competition in Bulgaria on Thursday.
Al Harthi outshone the Bul-garian 100m national champion to secure the first place in the open tournament. His previous timing was 10.14secs, which he recorded in the Bulgarian city of Silven at an open competition.
The time taken by Oman’s Olympics hopeful brings him one step closer to his dream of reaching the finals at this year’s global event.
“I am very happy and excited for this new record, it gives me so much confidence. I feel great and hope to do the same or even better in the Olympics. I am hoping to target 9.99 and I will train hard for it.”
The award was presented to him by the Bulgarian Sports Minister Krassen Kralev.
Al Harthi said he won’t com-pete again until the torch ar-rives in Rio de Janeiro on Au-gust 5, but will be practising very hard. >A3
MARKET‘Challenges to meet for VAT 2018 deadline’
3Several challenges remain before the Gulf states to meet the deadline set for introducing the value added tax (VAT). >B1
B E T T E R S R E C O R D
CLEARING THE AIR: Saif Abdul Al Riyami just smiled when we said the global media had been reporting about the ‘fastest fast’ village. - Pictures: Shabin E
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Airlines, travel agents remind people of Dubai e-visa rule
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Airline and travel agents have once again reiter-ated that passengers wishing to travel to Dubai will require an e-visa to cross the border into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) whether by land or air.
“The e-visa process is work-ing well and we are asking pas-sengers to not board the flight if do not hold an e-visa for Dubai,” Pooja Tyagi, commercial man-ager, Oman and Bahrain, fly-dubai said.
Effective April 29, all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) residents/permit holders will require an online visa prior to their travel to the UAE, which is applicable at all airports in the Emirates and at border entry points from Oman.
The only exception to the rule is the nationalities of around 46 countries, which have a treaty with the UAE, such as the Unit-ed Kingdom or European Un-ion countries. Citizens of these countries have a choice between getting a visa-on-arrival or ap-plying for a visa online.
Travel agents also confirmed that passengers have adapted to the new system. “Now, nobody is taking a risk. They are get-ting their visa before travelling,” Mohammed Shafiqul Islam Bhuiyan, the general manager of New Star International Travel and Tours LLC, said.
The cost of a Dubai e-visa is around OMR25, but if the air-lines or travel agents apply, they charge a little more to process the visa.
“Travel agents also confirmed that armed with an e-visa, pas-sengers are cutting down on time spent at the border and at airports,” Bhuiyan said.
Passengers said the queue is getting cleared fast at the immi-gration counters of the airport. “I went out from the Terminal 2 at the Airport of Dubai within 15 minutes as everybody was carrying an e-visa with them,” said M Ghosh, who recently travelled to Dubai.
Earlier, only expatriates hold-ing a certain professional status were eligible to get a visa-on-arrival in the UAE.
T O U R I S M
307kg of fish unfit to eat confiscatedStaff Reporter
MUSCAT: A large quantity of fish unfit for consumption was seized by officials from the Seeb Central Market; the Muscat Mu-nicipality tweeted on its official Twitter handle.
“307 kilogrammes of unfit fish was seized by the authorities last
week,” the tweet read.In May, around 380 kilo-
grammes of fish was seized by the authorities in Muscat during dif-ferent routine inspections, while 430 kilogrammes of fish was seized in March during different routine inspections.
Meanwhile, the National Cen-tre for Statistics & Information
(NCSI) reported that traditional fish landings in the Sultanate dur-ing the January and February pe-riod rose to 50,094 tonnes, com-pared with 36,661 tonnes during the same period last year. This was a rise of by 36.6 per cent over the last year’s figures.
This represents a 39.6 per cent growth in value, which touched
OMR43.58 million as against landings worth OMR31.23 mil-lion were reported by the end of February last year.
Fish landingsIn February alone, fish landings by traditional fisheries stood at 25,862 tonnes and were valued at OMR19.1 million.
M U S C A T M U N I C I P A L I T Y
Al Harthi“My coach Yankov says that I will not be taking part in any competition from now on, but that I should practice twice a day. He also said we need to fo-cus on my power and save it for the Olympics.”
In a month’s time, Barakat will be in Cuba to acclimatise himself. “We keep moving to different places because sometimes the weather in a specific place is not suitable for training, it gets very cold and starts to rain all the time. We will be heading to Cuba soon and there I will get a taste of Rio’s weather.”
The Olympic Games will be-gin on August 5 in Rio de Ja-neiro, Brazil.
R I O O L Y M P I C S
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TODAY’S VERSE
Verily, the good deeds remove the evil deeds. That is a reminder for the mindful.
(Surah Hud, Verse 114)
GREAT MOMENTSIN MUSLIM HISTORY
WORD
The spirit of fasting during the Holy Month is one of self-discipline and restraint, which are principles that shouldn’t
go out of the window every night when the fast is broken. Instead of feasting, try to maintain a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins along with am-
ple amounts of water. If possible, kick your caffeine habit as well. The stimulant acts as a diuretic and will cause faster
water loss throughout the day.
FASTING HEALTH TIP
The literal meaning of Zakat is ‘to cleanse’. In the Islamic faith, Zakat means purifying your wealth for the will of Allah by acknowledging that everything we own belongs to Him and as a
means of working towards the betterment of the Muslim Ummah (community). Though Zakat is not always financial, and can include everything from volunteering your time to giving an encouraging word to your fellow man, according to Islamic regulations, Zakat is 2.5% of one
year’s total cumulative wealth (there are various ways of calculating what should be counted), and when it comes to these financial donations to the less fortunate, it can be difficult to decide which causes speak most to your heart. We hope these charitable spotlights will help you decide.
WHERE TO SPEND YOUR ZAKAT
PLACE OF WORSHIP
Ramadan presents a great opportunity to go pray in beautiful houses of worship that you might not otherwise see. Whether for Taraweeh
prayers or Dhuhr, pay a visit to one of Muscat’s architectural monuments of faith.
{ Jama’a Al Sarooj }
Al Sarooj Mosque has a particularly stunning interior, and it has the claim to fame of being the closest mosque to the beach. Located in Shatti Al Qurum, near Al Masa
Mall, it was re-opened after renovations in 2005 and now features a large events hall. It has a dark, North African-inspired interior, decorated with flowery patterned tiles in orange, green, and white hues. The ceiling is decked-out in green pastel with cream-coloured carvings, along
with a large chandelier that is encircled by the Holy Quran versus etched in white on a black background.
Patience is a beautiful word, as it represents one of the most important attributes
followers of Islam should exhibit.
To be patient means trusting in Allah’s will; a concept that is a great comfort for the sad,
weary, and afraid. Allah is with the patient ones, and for Muslims,
practising patience, enables us to fully enjoy and savour the blessing that comes at
the end of our waiting.
{ Al-Saber }P a t i e n c e
{ Hijra }622CE After persecution in Mecca, Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) migrated to Medina. This migration (called Hijra in Arabic) marks the beginning of the Islamic era,
and is considered to be the most significant event in the early history of Islam. It was this change of location that allowed the new Muslim community to survive and
develop into an influential religion. The pivotal event also marks the start of the Muslim calendar.
IFTAR
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{ Spotlight: Dar Al Atta’as Empowerment Project }W H AT T H E Y D O
Aimed at breaking the cycle of poverty by providing opportunities to change a recipient’s life and way of thinking, empowerment projects
include job placements, building libraries, offering vocational training, and other enabling activities that are provided
through the building and staffing of training centres.
W H E R EThe organisation was formed in 2002 in Oman and was formally
registered with the Ministry of Social Development as a charity in 2006.
F I N D O U T M O R EA N D D O N AT E
Dar Al Atta’a+968 2469 2996,+968 2460 2882
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Plastic takes 1,000 years or more to break downWHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW. DON’T WASTE A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY LIKE OMAN.
Number of expatriate managers on the decline
MUSCAT: The number of expat managers in the private sector in the Sultanate has fallen.
Against 39,130 last December the number of such managers fell to 37, 966 at the end of April, a decline of roughly 3 per cent. The gap has been filled by na-tional workforce.
According to the data released by the National Centre for Sta-tistics and Information (NCSI), the number of male managers declined from about 37,000 to 35,835 while the numbers of fe-male managers remained at the level of 2,130.
Expat managers constitute 2.2 per cent of the total number of expatriate labour force in the private sector, which rose by the end of April to 1.7 million, an in-crease by 66,000 workers from their level at the end of 2015.
Private sectorThe number of expat manag-ers in the private sector in 2015 recorded a decline of 807 work-ers by the end of December to 39,130 workers, a decline of 2 per cent.
Expatriate labour force is concentrated in construction related professions and ser-vices, basic and assisting en-gineering professions while the number of expat special-ists in the scientific, techni-cal and humanitarian fields stands at 78,000.
The latest statistics released by NCSI stated that the num-ber of Omanis working in oc-cupations associated with managers of public adminis-tration and business stood at 10,000 workers at the end of last April, forming 4.8 per cent of the total number of Omanis in the private sector, totalling 210,000 workers.
The number of Omanis in the private sector recorded a slight increase of 454 workers in the first four months of 2016. -ONA
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These days there isn’t enough blood in blood
banks. During the holiday season and the Holy
Month of Ramadan, it gets worse
Ahmed bin Hamad bin Salim Al Kharusi, blood donor
His passion for donating blood has helped save many lives in Oman
BABA [email protected]
MUSCAT: Thirty years, 116 nee-dle-punctures, 5,800 millilitres of donated blood, countless lives saved, and still going strong.
For 53-year-old Ahmed bin Hamad bin Salim Al Kharusi of
Muscat, blood donation is a “pas-sion” he will continue to live with.
“These days there isn’t enough blood in blood banks. During the holiday season and the Holy Month of Ramadan, it gets worse,”
he said. Unlike other countries, blood
donation isn’t common in Oman. That’s why from time to time; health authorities hold major drives across the country urg-
ing residents to come forward to donate blood.
During Ramadan, donations “fall drastically” according to the Health Ministry as Muslim Oma-nis fast and many non-Omanis travel abroad for holidaying.
Toiling hard But Al Kharusi, who lives in the Al Amerat neighbourhood, has been working hard for the past three decades to fill the banks with his blood without attracting any at-tention to himself.
It all started after a car accident in 1983 that took his brother’s life and badly injured Al Kharusi.
In the hospital, Al Kharusi was administered with blood that saved his life, wherein he real-ised first-hand the impact of do-nating blood.
Only 20 at the time, he was regu-larly treated at various hospitals in the United Kingdom and India
until he was fit again, though he became squint-eyed. The loss was heavy. But Al Kharusi was saved.
“And I wanted to pay back,” he said. On April 16, 1986, Al Kharusi donated a pint of blood. Since then he has been donating relentlessly. The last time he donated his B-positive blood group was on May 16, to mark the completion of a record 30 years of charity, which remains unparalleled in Oman.
For the past six years, he has been campaigning in mosques to pro-mote the habit during the Ramadan.
Al Kharusi said he has passed on this passion of giving to his friends and relatives, encouraging more than 5,000 people to donate blood.
Sponsors needed Al Kharusi is a retired government official. He spends a good amount on travelling and volunteering.
“The travel prices have gone up. And it’s not a good news for a per-
son like me,” he stated. Al Kharusi is a recipient of
over 100 awards and citations from several Gulf Cooperation Council nations and donor as-sociations, including Oman’s Health Ministry.
He remembers a strong remark made by a Bahraini embassy of-ficial once stating, “I’m the pride of Oman.”
VolunteeringAl Kharusi added that he now needs a sponsor to back his ac-tivities. “Volunteering is getting harder. I don’t need money for the donations I make. But I need a sponsor, who can at least help pay travel money,” he said.
Urging people to come forward a donate blood during Ramadan, Al Kharusi said shortages are seen during Ramadan and that “we must reverse this trend this year and in the future as well.”
For Ahmed bin
Hamad bin Salim Al
Kharusi of Muscat,
blood donation is a
“passion” he wants to
continue to live with
Villagers brush aside ‘reports’His five children are working in the army and different ministries. Yaqoob Al Riyami, a neighbour of Riyami and an official at the Min-istry of Health, also brushed aside the ‘fastest fast’ rumours.
“Fasting is not done based on seeing the sun. It is done according to sunrise and sunset. It is weird to hear such kind of rumours,” Yaqoob added.
Grapes, apricots and pomegran-ates are mainly cultivated in the village on the terraced gardens. A descending Falaj passes from the top of the village towards the agricultural terrace, where natu-ral materials are used to build the trail. “Farm produce is sold in the nearby markets in Nakhal and sometimes in Muscat. We get a de-cent amount, which is okay for us,”
both the Al Riaymis said.Meanwhile, the news about the
alleged ‘fasting fast’ has propelled the tiny village to fame.
“Many tourists are coming to see whether we are fasting only for three hours or not. One way it is good. Now, everyone knows our village,” Al Riyami said.
Jayasankar Krishnamrutham and his friends, who travelled to Wakan, to see for themselves if the rumours are true, said the natu-ral beauty atop the mountain is breathtaking. “The temperature during summer is only 30 degree Celsius. Good people and beauti-ful place. Love to visit again. I am here in Muscat for many years, but thanks to the wrong news, I was prompted to visit. Will come with family again,” Krishnamrutham
said. The village is situated some 150 kilometres from Muscat. The road leading to the village passes through a number of valleys where the villages can only be reached by a four-wheel-drive.
While packing up our camera and saying bye to Wakan village, it was around 12pm.
“Have to pray. Fast continues,” Riyamis said and walked to the mosque..At the village, a trail, with seating areas and a rest shel-ter overlooking its terraces, has also been built, which stretches for about 1,100 metres, compris-es of 700 steps rising to the top of the mountain, surrounded by a protective fence and containing service areas, as well as observa-tion towers that look like castles and umbrellas.
F A S T I N G
SAVING LIVES: For the past six years, he has been campaigning in
mosques to promote the habit during Ramadan.
Month-long drive for blood donation starts
Staff Reporter
MUSCAT: Health authori-ties on Wednesday launched a month-long blood donation campaign after it emerged that donations decrease in the Holy Month of Ramadan posing seri-ous challenges for blood banks in the Sultanate.
About 35 donation drives are scheduled to be organised dur-ing Ramadan, starting with a mobile camp at the Hilal al Khalili mosque in Bausher on Wednesday between 7pm and 11:30pm.
There are dozens of other campaigns scheduled to be held after Ramadan.
Major souqs, hypermarkets and mosques will witness dona-tion drives aimed at collecting blood at a larger level.
Earlier on Monday, Dr Sabria Al Hashami, director of the De-partment of Blood Banks Ser-vices, told the Times of Oman in an exclusive interview that the department will try to encour-age donors to contribute after the fasting is over every day.
“It’s prudent to try and mo-bilise our mobile donation cars in the evenings to locations where donors are likely to do-nate, including mosques and markets,” she said. Authori-ties usually struggle to keep the blood supply intact during Ramadan because of the usual shortage of Omani donors (who are fasting) and absence of non-Omanis, who prefer to travel or take holidays during this month. The complete list of donation venues and tim-ings is available at - https://www.moh.gov.om/en/-13
M O N T H - L O N G D R I V E
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Billion dollar waste management planBABA [email protected]
MUSCAT: If all goes well, Oman’s waste management investments could total around OMR423.47 million, officials from the Sultan-ate’s waste management body said.
“Oman’s total investment for ba-sic MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) infrastructure is expected to be
around $150 million (OMR57.74 million), and the waste-energy-water project will have an approxi-mate total investment of $750 mil-lion (OMR288.73 million) and the industrial waste infrastructure will be around $150+ million (over OMR57.74 million),” Essam Al-Sharji, section head, community outreach, Be’ah told Times of Oman.
Be’ah, which manages solid
waste in Oman, has invited bids for many tenders on collection, trans-fer, treatment and recycling areas.
Traditional methods“The traditional methods of han-dling municipal solid waste in Oman need to be addressed as they contribute to the increasing amount of greenhouse gases being produced, affecting the Omani en-
vironment and human health,” Al Sharji said.
“As a priority to control the damage, Be’ah has embarked on an aggressive plan to close all dump-sites and replace them with mod-ern engineered landfills and trans-fer stations across the Sultanate,” he added.
Outsourcing contracts are being floated as tenders, whereby expe-
rienced global firms will provide municipal waste management services, including pre-collection, collection, transportation, treat-ment, and disposal, officials said.
10 contracts“Oman is comprised of 11 governo-rates and based on the quantity of waste and distances, 10 such con-tracts have been developed to cater
to the needs of the whole country,” Al-Sharji added.
Rising trendBe’ah said it plans to manage 80 per cent of the waste by 2030. Oman has nearly 317 dumpsites and four landfills. The Sultanate produced about 1.85 million tonnes of mu-nicipal waste in 2015, which is pro-jected to reach 2.04 tonnes by 2040.
Indian schools in Oman review board exam results
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Ways to achieve bet-ter results in the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) X and XII exams in the com-ing years, were considered at a meeting of principals, vice principals and assistant vice-principals of Indian Schools in the Sultanate.
The meeting, held at the In-dian School Muscat and organ-ised by the Board of Directors, Indian Schools, also recognised the contributions of the teach-ers of Indian schools in achiev-ing excellent results at CBSE X and XII exams this year.
Wilson V. George, chairman, Board of Directors appreci-ated the hard work put in by the teachers in the overall develop-ment of the students.
He also acknowledged the efforts and enthusiasm of the students and the parents, which has helped Indian Schools in Oman improve their academic results every year.
He stated that the perfor-mance of the Indian schools in Oman in Central Board of School Education examina-tions stands among the top in comparison to other regions.
He also reminded everyone that the right measures for as-sessing the contribution of the school system in the overall development of the students, which needs to be identified and the schools shall target them to achieve higher results without external support in the near future.
Dr. C.K. Anchan, chairman of the Academic Committee of the Board, congratulated the principals on their significant achievement in raising the standards of education and said the Board would leave no stone unturned in giving the best education to the children of Indian schools.
BRA INSTORM ING
As a priority to control the damage, Be’ah has embarked on an aggressive plan to close all dumpsites and replace them with modern engineered landfills and transfer stations across the SultanateEssam Al-Sharji, section head, community outreach, Be’ah
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‘No intention to tax incomes’
“So I don’t think there is any in-tention of introducing income tax in Oman,” Ahmed said.
Expatriates, however, said tax-ing them at a time when the gov-ernment is going through an eco-nomic downturn will not be the right thing to do.
“It will hit us very hard,” said Mohammed Ragheb, an expat who has been working in Oman for the last 10 years.
The president of the Bangla-deshi Social club, Mohammed Shafiqul Islam Bhuiyan, said, “People have been already bur-dened with hike in petrol prices and have not received salary in-crements. Income tax will force many poor Bangladeshis to leave the country.”
On the other hand, there are people who don’t mind pay-ing taxes. “As long as the money comes back in the form of growth of the country, and added facili-ties to people, they should not mind it,” said Shiv Gupta, CEO of a private limited company.
Marlene, a German national, said taxes should only be applied if benefits can be ensured.
“I come from a country where we pay high taxes, but in return also receive free health service, better infrastructure and child care. Therefore, I welcome the idea if it benefits the country.”
“As oil prices have declined, many budgetary controls are al-ready affecting the benefits and perks of nationals and expats.
“‘Personal tax free environ-ment’ is an added attraction to many professionals working here,” said Jose Chacko, a Finan-cial Advisor based in Oman.
“If any tax on personal income is introduced, it will adversely affect the labour market and productivity. Before implement-ing any such measures, a seri-ous study should be undertaken about the socio- economic im-pact in the long and short term. The proposed VAT system will contribute better to improve the troubled economy without much negative impact,” he added.
“Most countries have person-al income tax, so even if I were to move, it would mean trying to find a specific place that has no income tax. That fact alone would not make me move,” said Marianne Held, a German na-tional in Oman.
While some do not mind paying income tax, there are other expats
who might even leave the country if such a tax is introduced.
Irina, a Croatian national who works for a private company, said she will leave the country if the taxes are too high and there is nothing in return. “I might as well leave the country for good, or might perhaps only stay if I can get free healthcare like any other citizen, then I can happily pay it.”
Hassan, a Bahraini national who works in Oman, supports the idea, but only if tax rates are low. “If an income tax is introduced, the rate should be very low. Only then can I support it.”
“We will certainly not leave the country just because of in-come tax as other neighbouring countries and home countries are already taxing people through various fines/payments etc. However, I would expect a hike in salary. Else, the company should provide me with alternate ways to save taxes and remunerate me in other ways, based on the num-ber of years spent in the organiza-tion and the country,” said Vinod Verma, an Indian expat in Oman.
According to Dr Anchan C K, Managing Director, World Wide Business House, an international business advisory firm, it’s not wise to introduce such a measure at a time when the Sultanate is trying hard to attract direct for-eign investments and not having income tax was one of the most at-tractive prospects here.
“Deepening the taxation base will be an important step to in-crease non-oil revenue, which will likely start with VAT first, but in-troduction of income tax will be a notable step and will be extremely challenging.”
“I do agree that most countries, such as the USA, Canada and Australia have income tax. How-ever, it is applicable to all those who are employed, irrespective of whether are nationals or expats. The only difference could be in the income slab.”
He also highlighted that other countries provide social security and a variety of facilities to the ex-patriates, right from opportunity to own property, own business and so on, in return for the taxes.
“People immigrate to gain fi-nancial stability and better future prospects. If another country of-fers a potentially better future, higher wages and a polished life-style, people will think of immi-grating to it,” he added.
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MUSCAT: An introductory sem-inar on hydrocarbon gas technol-ogy will be held next Monday on the premises of Oman Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI). The seminar is organ-ised by the Manar Al Noor Com-pany, in cooperation with OCCI.
Mohsen bin Khamis Al Balushi, Advisor at Ministry of Commerce and Industry will patronise over the opening ceremony in the pres-
ence of Said bin Saleh Al Kiyoumi, OCCI Chairman.
Nidhal bin Mansour Al Mashrafi, General Manager of Manar Al Noor Company said that chlorofluorocarbons, which are used in most air conditioning, refrigeration, and heating systems that operate under pressurised gas are chemically poisonous and harmful to health and could cause skin cancer. -ONA
E V E N T
Low-paid workers are bearing the brunt of the current economi-cal hardship, given the sharp increase
in consumer prices, such as that of petrol, while the income gap between the poor and rich is widening out of proportion.
Official data shows that more than half of the Omani work-ers in the private sector earn a minimum wage of between OMR325 and OMR600. Just 13 per cent of Omanis working in the private sector earn more than OMR1,000.
Pay inequality is undoubtedly creating instability in the market as high petrol prices, domestic gas, education, food and rentals are either shooting up or on the verge of rising.
Meanwhile, salaries are not going up to compensate for the steady inflation. In a country where everything depends on the cash flow from the govern-
ment, the private sector is caught in a whirlpool of capital shortage.
ConcentratedThe effort at job creation in the private sector is only concen-trated in the lower rungs of the employment ladder and that is the better part of the economy. But the bad news is that the pay new recruits get is just enough to get their noses above the water.
It is not about the poor losing ground for employment, but the upper class pulling away from what they take home at the end of the month. Most employers would not want to tweak the pay structure in favour of the low-income staff. Paying more simply means taking away a sizeable profit margin from their revenue.
The private sector’s direc-tors also argue that they need to keep half of their recruitment at a monthly pay of OMR600 or below to afford to employ more people. However, whether the realise it or not, productivity at any company largely depends on how much you pay your staff. You pay less; you get much less from your workers. The hardship of low-earners is now compounded by the increasing prices.
Pay packetsTheir pay packets have been
degraded and their purchasing power is diminishing. The pay gap appears to reflect the grad-uates who are in the queue for the job market. Young people in their early twenties want to do the normal thing after landing their first job, such as getting married or owning a home. Like we all did during their age.
Unrelenting income differ-ence is now very visible in the housing market. OMR600 can-not get them to an OMR100,000 mortgage, which is a minimum for buying a house these days. If they do, they would need to spend 80 of their income to make the repayments. Obvi-ously owning a property is a distant accomplishment for them. A quick look at the rental market does not provide any comfort for a newly wedded graduate either. But how do you address the large income gap? Obviously employers would not revise their pay packages in the current austerity situation. The lower oil price is one excuse they would use to not make any improvements in salaries. The government is unlikely to offer any incentives, now that it has cut down on subsidies.
Economists would tell you that Oman is not the only country which has the problem of low earners who struggle to make ends meet. They would
also tell you that the govern-ment should not interfere with the pay structure of the private sector by tampering with labour regulations.
The general message is that if you are young then you have a family that would back you up during hard times. It has been happening for years when a newly married couple move in with parents because they are not paid enough to afford the rent to live separately.
UnnoticedIncome inequality certainly is not a conspiracy between the private sector and the govern-ment. The two sides work separately and independently. This is probably the reason why it has gone unnoticed that the pay gap has widened. Economi-cally, we are stuck in an income bubble since we associate with individuals who are like us. In a way, it is a segregation of income groups that may have certain consequences in a long run between the have-little and have-a-lot.
Low income groups bear brunt of pay inequalityC O M M E N T A R Y
SALEH AL SHAIBANY
SUNDAYBEAT
H AV E YOU R SAY AT T W I T T E R.CO M /T I M ES O F O M A N O R S CA N T H E CO D E TO I N STA N T LY P O ST YOU R T H O U G H TS .
I do agree that most countries, such as the USA, Canada and Australia have income tax. However, it is applicable to all those who are employed, irrespective of whether are nationals or expats.Dr Anchan C K, Managing Director, World Wide Business House
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20 killed in Damascus blast claimed by IS extremistsAMMAN: IS claimed responsibil-ity for suicide and car bomb blasts that struck a Damascus suburb on Saturday near a Syrian shrine, and a monitoring group said at least 20 people were killed.
State television showed de-bris, mangled cars and wrecked shops in a main commercial thor-oughfare near the Sayeda Zeinab shrine, in an area where at least
three bomb attacks claimed by IS have killed and wounded scores of people this year.
State media said at least eight people were killed.
But the UK-based Syrian Obser-vatory for Human Rights said the death toll had risen to at least 20, including at least 13 civilians, with the other victims coming from pro-government militias.
It said the number was expected to rise because many of the scores of wounded people were in criti-cal condition. IS said two of its suicide bombers had blown them-selves up and fellow rebels had detonated an explosives-laden car, according to the IS-affiliated Amaq news agency.
The heavily garrisoned area near the shrine is also a well
known stronghold of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, a movement that is one of Assad’s chief allies.
Territorial gainsSeparately, US-backed Syrian forces made new territorial gains against IS on Saturday, mov-ing closer to another of its major strongholds in northern Syria, ac-cording to the monitoring group.
The Observatory said the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), bringing together Kurdish and Arab fighters, were now almost 17 km (10 miles) from the city of Al Bab, an IS stronghold north east of Aleppo.
The SDF on Friday cut off the last route into the encircled town of Manbij from Al Bab after over a week of advances around that
area, allowing it to lay siege to the large town from all directions, the monitor said..
Aerial bombingIn other frontlines in northern Syria, two rebel sources said Rus-sian and Syrian jets stepped up their relentless aerial bombing of their positions in the northern city of Aleppo. — Reuters
C O N F L I C T
7 civilians killed by Benghazi shellingBENGHAZI: At least seven civilians have been killed and eight wounded by shelling in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, a hospital official said on Saturday.
He said the shelling had taken place on Thursday and Friday in residential areas close the frontlines in Benghazi, which has seen heavy fighting in some neighbourhoods over the past two years.
Forces loyal to military commander Khalifa Haftar launched a campaign against extremists and other oppo-nents in Benghazi in 2014. Haftar’s forces made substan-tial gains earlier this year, but fighting on the edges of the city has continued.
Holding outSecial forces spokesman, Fadel Al Hassi, said shelling over the past two days had come from Sabri and Souq Al Hut districts in northern Benghazi, where Haftar’s opponents have been holding out. The claim could not immediately be verified. Earlier jets pounded Sabri and Souq Al Hut and at least six men from Haftar’s forces were killed in fighting on the ground. — Reuters
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Abducted Indian woman’s whereabouts still unknown
KABUL/KOLKATA: Afghani-stan and India on Saturday con-tinued their efforts to secure the release of an abducted Indian woman aid worker but her where-abouts remain unknown.
Judith D’Souza, 40, working with Aga Khan Foundation, an NGO, was kidnapped on Thurs-day night while she was returning home after a dinner at a friend’s place in the Qala-e-Fatullah area
of Kabul. No group has claimed re-sponsibility for the abduction but it is feared that she may have been kidnapped by a criminal gang in Kabul motivated by ransom, according to Afghan officials.
Abductions for ransom in Afghanistan are common and
criminal gangs have made mil-lions of dollars from kidnapping foreign nationals.
RansomSuch crimes by criminal cartels raise fears that hostages may be sold to extremists who complicate
their freedom by raising demands for ransom as well as for securing the release of jailed terrorists.
But the Indian authorities are not ruling out the kidnapping of the Indian aid worker by the Tali-ban or its allied fighters.
They said there was no fresh update about D’Souza but efforts were on to secure her release.
Her worried family in Kolkata said they have been in touch with the authorities in India and Afghanistan.
“As of now efforts are being made at various levels within the governments of India and Af-ghanistan,” her brother Jerome D’Souza tweeted.
Afghan media reports said the government had left all channels of communication open to hear from suspected kidnappers but did not provide details.
“Afghan officials have said they are doing everything possible to secure the early release of the woman,” Tolo News reported.
Sympathisers and well-wishers have appealed to the governments of both countries on social me-dia networking pages for Judith’s swift and safe release with #bring-backjudith. An online petition was also launched at change.org for the release of the “Indian develop-ment worker... who went (to Af-
ghanistan) to serve humanity.“Abducting such people is not
only inhumane but also anti-Is-lamic. We, on behalf of develop-ment workers, appeal to the ab-ductors to realise the agony and trauma of her parents and family and set Judith free unharmed at the earliest,” said the petition, gar-nering hundreds of signatures till late Saturday.
“We also request the local com-munity and authority in Afghani-stan and government of India to make all-out efforts to rescue Ju-dith unharmed from the clutches of the abductors.”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she was keeping in touch with Swaraj for Judith’s safe return.
“We have taken an all-out ef-fort for Judith’s safe return. I am in touch with the Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj,” Mamata said at the state secretar-iat Nabanna on Saturday.
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien had already spoken to the family members of the abducted woman and also contacted the ex-ternal affairs minister.
Judith D’Souza, an expert on gender issues, has been working for the Aga Khan Foundation since last year and was due to return home in Kolkata soon. - Agencies
Judith D’Souza, 40,
working with Aga
Khan Foundation
was kidnapped on
Thursday night while
she was returning
home after a dinner
at a friend’s place in
the Qala-e-Fatullah
area of Kabul
CBI makes first arrest in Dabholkar murder caseMUMBAI: Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) has arrested Hindu Janajagruti Samiti mem-ber Virendrasing Tawde in con-nection with the murder of noted rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in Pune in 2013, the first in the case by the agency.
He was arrested late on Friday night from Panvel near here and will be produced before a spe-cial court in Pune. The Samiti is linked to Goa-based group Sana-tan Sanstha, which had come un-der the scanner for the murder of another rationalist Govind Pan-sare in February 2015.
“CBI has arrested Virendra Sin-gh Tawde in an ongoing investiga-tion of a case related to murder of Dr Narendra Dabholkar. He will be produced today around 3pm in designated court, Pune. Investiga-tion is continuing,” CBI Spokes-person Devpreet Singh said on Saturday. It is the first arrest in the case after the Mumbai High court in May 2014 handed over the probe to the CBI in the fatal shooting of Dabholkar, an anti-superstition ac-tivist, in broad daylight on August 20, 2013. The killings had sparked outrage in the country with several eminent writers and other person-alities returning their awards over “rising intolerance”. - PTI
F A T A L S H O O T I N G
CONCERNED: Father of Judith D’Souza, who is kidnapped in
Afghanistan’s capital Kabul talking to media at their residence
in Kolkata on Friday. Judith was working as a senior technical
advisor with the Aga Khan Foundation. - PTI
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The enigma of Pakistani cricketGavinda Jayasinghe
A lanky youngster runs in, with little puffs of dust highlighting each distinct plod of his leather sandal-clad feet on the parched
earth below. His plain cloth and solid beige col-oured shalwar kameez tugs at his side, buoyed by the wind like a parachute. His run-up is lengthy and fluid, culminating in a slingshot-like pre-de-livery stride, which allows him to hurtle the ball in the manner of a projectile. The off-stump is uprooted, resulting in a series of cheers and hol-lers from the youthful brigade of fielders, who adhere to no particular field setting. A wry smile adorns his face, but he knows there are more wickets for the taking.
The next batsman walks in as the bowler ambles back to his mark. A little kick to gather momentum marks the beginning of his run-up, as he glides in effortlessly. This is a Pathan boy; he is strong, ag-ile and built for the kill. The setting: a remote vil-lage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly the North West Frontier Province), one of four provinces of Pakistan. There is no proper infrastructure here, not for another 300 kilometres at least. The fron-tier city of Peshawar, the capital of the province, a place where the skill and ambition harboured by these youngsters may be honed, is beyond their reach. A proper system is not in place to filter tal-ent of this nature to where it belongs. Just as the benevolence of the Indus River foregoes the inner areas of this region on its way to the port city of Ka-rachi, before it empties itself into the Arabian Sea, many of these youngsters are surprisingly kept from the regional strongholds of Pakistani cricket.
In most other countries, the importance of such a resource rich area would have been discerned decades ago. Proper infrastructure and training would have been entrenched in its very founda-tion by now. But not in Pakistan; for, it is the land of poor planning and indecision. What is sad is that it is also the land of raw talent, unadulterated skill and primal aggression. These are traits that make for great viewing. To watch them when everything gels is a thing of wonder. It is a spectacle unlike any other in the world of sport. But, the problems that plague them are numerous.
The domestic first-class cricket championship, the Quaid-I-Azam Trophy, proudly named after the honorary title bestowed upon the founding
father of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, has its format changed on an annual basis. Its administra-tor, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), is forever at odds over the number of teams and the regions represented in the tournament that would reflect the most accurate cross-section of Pakistani crick-et. The school cricket system is poor and almost nonexistent, unlike that of its sub-continent coun-terpart, Sri Lanka, which continues to benefit from the reliable and solid base it provides.
Just as the people of a country are not all respon-sible for the actions of their government, I truly be-lieve that the Pakistani cricketers cannot be whol-ly blamed for the poor and inconsistent showing they have put up over the past few years.
Aside from the administrative muddles involv-ing cricket, they have to contend with the ascend-ancy of militancy, sectarian violence, political infighting and corruption, in their backyard. Add to that, the shame of not being able to host inter-national teams in one’s own country. It is a feeling most other cricketing nations would know nothing about, except for maybe South Africa during the apartheid era. Most other teams would have folded years ago, but not the Pakistanis. Their main con-cern is cricket, and their passion and love for it is what sustains their team to this day.
When they come out to play, there is often a sense of teenage exuberance that adorns their fac-es. It is genuine. They keep playing. I played a lot of cricket alongside and against many cricketers of Pakistani origin, while schooling in Oman. A few characteristics that defined them are also plainly evident in those representing their national team. Firstly, they are not easily overawed or intimated, regardless of the strength and reputation of the opponent. A talented Pakistani cricketer, for the most part, would be equally at ease playing for Pa-kistan International Airlines (PIA) in the domes-tic circuit, or facing up to the likes of Dale Steyn and Co. at the Wanderers. They possess immense confidence in their ability, but in a non-arrogant way. The character of this confidence is simple and instinctive. You can see it in the way they play their cricket. — Exclusive to Times of Oman
Scan this QR code for full story onlineNationals should give priority to work in local places
This refers to the report, Jobs in Muscat draw people from interiors in Times of Oman on 11.06.2016. It is not surprising that people are mi-grating to the capital cities looking for job opportunities. It is a reality
in countries all over the world. The same is happening in Oman also. It is a natural tendency that job seekers are looking to capital cities which are more developed than other cities in the country. Naturally, as a developed city, Muscat has lot of opportuni-ties for job seekers and deserved candidates find proper placement in the city. But can Muscat alone accommodate thousands of nationals who float to the capital searching for jobs? Nationals should give priority to work in their local places as many major projects are coming up in other cities of the Sultanate. Apart from the opportunities at these industrial and investment projects in the interiors, Muscat based corporate com-panies and establishments have got their branches and satellite offices there. Natio-nals can look and find jobs in these places. Working in own locality gives more comfort
and less stress at work. More than the easy access to the workplace, the interior places are comparatively less expensive than Muscat city. — P. A. Jacob, Muscat
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Baloushi to visit Japan to promote tourismMUSCAT: Mohsin bin Khamis Al Baloushi, undersecretary for tourism at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, will leave for Tokyo today on a several-day visit to Japan. The visit is at the invitation from the Japanese government. Salem bin Adai Al Ma’amari, director of the office of the undersecretary, said the visit aims at familiarising with the Japanese experience in the field of tourism development. Baloushi will introduce the investment opportunities available in the Sultanate, particularly in the tourism sector to the potential Japanese investors, he said.
1812: Napoleon Bonaparte and his army invade Russia.
1849: The gas mask is patented by Lewis P. Haslett.
1963: Black civil rights leader Medgar Evers is assassinated by a gunman outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi.
1991: Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines begins erupting for the first time in 600 years.
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When British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed with the
European Union in February on revised terms for the United
Kingdom’s membership, he insisted that the EU be recognised officially
as a “multi-currency union.” With clear limits on European
integration in place, on currency and other issues, Cameron believed
KEMAL DERVIŞ
It is difficult to overstate the importance of the oil industry to the Russian economy. Globally, Russia is competitive in defence products,
space launches, nuclear power, mineral resources, and information
technology. But none of these industries compares to oil and
gas exports
VITALY KAZAKOV
At the end of 2015, Greece’s public debt was 176 per cent of GDP, while
Japan’s debt ratio was 248 per cent. Neither government will ever repay all they owe. Write-offs and
monetisation are inevitable, putting both countries in a sort of global vanguard. With total public and
private debt worldwide at 215 per cent of world GDP and rising
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1 Oman’s Ministry of Manpower carries out 1000s of inspections
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2 Last goodbye to Muhammad Ali culminates with emotional memorial service
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1 Slow driving on fast lane to invite fine and jail term in Oman
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4 Oman tourism: Colourful gardens of Muscat
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Aviation ministry steps in to regulate fare refunds
NEW DELHI: Air passengers will soon have a reason to smile with the government on Saturday proposing a cap on ticket cancel-lation charges, increased com-pensation for denied boarding and steep reduction in excess baggage fee levied by airlines.
Suggesting a slew of passenger-centric measures, the Civil Avia-tion Ministry said airlines will have to refund all statutory taxes in case of flight cancellations.
Aviation regulator Directo-rate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has proposed that “un-der no circumstances the cancel-lation charges be more than the basic fare” and carriers cannot levy additional charge to process the refund. In case of checked-in baggage, the airlines would be charging Rs100 per kilogram for baggage weight in excess of 15kg till 20kg.
At present, Rs300 is levied on every kilogram of baggage beyond the 15-kg limit. Only Air India al-lows free baggage up to 23kg.
With regard to denied boarding, mainly due to overbooking, the government has proposed com-pensation up to Rs20,000 subject to certain conditions.
Besides, the Ministry has pro-posed measures to help passen-gers with reduced mobility.
Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the measures are being proposed as there have been complaints from passen-gers that issues are not getting resolved within a reasonable time.
To bring in the new measures, the DGCA has suggested changes to three civil aviation require-ments and to an air transport cir-cular. They would be put up for public consultations before taking a final decision.
In January-March period, 10 Indian carriers accounted for a total of 18,512 delayed flights, ac-cording to the data presented in Parliament during the Budget ses-sion. Of this, budget carrier Indigo alone had 5,426 delayed flights, followed by full service carrier Jet
Airways with 5,040 flights.National carrier Air India
also had 3,111 delayed flights, while low-cost domestic car-rier Spicejet had 2,205 delayed flights, according to the data.
ProposalsDGCA chief M. Sathiyavathy said the proposals have been dis-cussed with the airlines and “they are on board”.
“We don’t expect any resistance from the airlines,” she said.
For denied boarding and flight cancellations, DGCA proposed revised compensation structures depending on the arrangement of an alternative flight for the traveller. An amount equal to 200 per cent of booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge subject to the maximum limit of Rs10,000 would be given in case the carrier arranges the alterna-tive flight within 24 hours of the scheduled departure.
The quantum would go up to 400 per cent of booked one-way
basic fare plus airline fuel charge and the maximum would be Rs20,000 where the alternative flight is provided after 24 hours.
“In case the passenger does not opt for an alternative flight, refund of full value of ticket and compensation equal to 400 per cent of booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, subject to maximum of Rs20,000 will be given,” the regulator said.
According to the watchdog, no compensation would be paid if a passenger is informed about the cancellation at least two weeks before the scheduled departure and if the airline has arranged an-other flight depending on the pas-senger’s convenience.
This would be applicable, sub-ject to conditions, even on in-stances where the cancellation has been informed less than two weeks and up to 24 hours before the scheduled departure.
In such a case, there would be no compensation if the carrier has arranged alternative flight sched-
uled to depart within two hours of their booked scheduled departure.
In cancellations, the financial compensation would be Rs5,000 or booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, whichever is less, for flights having a block time of up to one hour.
This quantum would be Rs7,500 in case of flights having a block time of one to two hours. For flights having a block time of more than two hours, the finan-cial compensation would go up to Rs10,000.
Block hours refer to the mo-ment a commercial aircraft leaves the departure gate until it lands and reaches the arrival gate, or till its engines are working.
Airlines would be required to refund “all statutory taxes and User Development Fee (UDF)/Airport Development Fee (ADF)/ Passenger Development Fee (PSF) to the passengers in case of cancellation/non-utilisation of tickets/no show”.
As per existing CAR, carriers have to return PSF collected by them in case of cancellation of a flight. Besides, return of taxes and fee would be applicable for all types of fares including “promos/special fares and where the basic fare is non-refundable”.
DGCA has suggested that the option of holding refund amount in credit shell by the airline would be the preroga-tive of the passenger. It has been proposed that the onus of the re-fund of tickets, which are booked through travel agent or portal, would be on the carriers.
“The refund process shall be completed within 15 working days in case of domestic travel and 30 working days in case of interna-tional travel,” DGCA said.
For foreign airlines, the re-fund would be in accordance with the regulations of their respec-tive countries while the mode of refund would be governed by Indian norms. - PTI
Civil Aviation
Minister Ashok
Gajapathi Raju said
the measures are
being proposed as
there have been
complaints from
passengers that
issues are not getting
resolved within a
reasonable timeDATA: An Air India flight taking off from runway in Chennai. In January-March period, 10 Indian carriers accounted for a total of 18,512 delayed flights, according to the data presented in Parliament during the Budget session. - PTI file photo
Indian government is going to be America’s ‘great ally’: RyanWASHINGTON: The Indian government is going to be Amer-ica’s “great ally” and there is a need to nurture this relationship, Speaker of the US House of Rep-resentatives Paul Ryan has said.
In a major foreign policy speech here in which he was highly criti-cal of President Barack Obama’s policies, the US-India relation-ship was the only aspect of it which was appreciated by Ryan.
“I think you need, and in par-ticular, specifically under Modi’s leadership, and he and I have discussed this at great length on Friday, (US-India) have a great potential for the future particu-larly with the seas, in the Pacific and in the Indian Ocean, making sure that we help police the global commons and international or-der, namely China building, you know, runways on islands in con-tested areas,” Ryan said.
He said this in the speech at the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday, a day after Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi addressed a joint meeting of the US Congress at his invitation.
Modi was the first foreign lead-er to be invited to address a joint sitting of the Congress under Ry-an’s speakership.
On Wednesday, Modi and Ryan had a one-on-one interaction be-fore the Prime Minister’s address.
Ryan also hosted a lunch for the
visiting leader. A day later, Ryan was all in praise for Modi.
Cooperation“I think the Indian (government), the new Indian government, is go-ing to be a great ally of ours and we have better security cooperation with them.
That’s one thing that we need to nurture and grow,” Ryan told the audience at the Council on For-eign Relations, a top American think tank.
“And those of us who are fans of Modi, you know, he’s a conserva-tive who wants, who embraces
free enterprise. He’s bringing needed reform to the country,” Ryan said, according to the re-marks released by his office.
“That’s the kind of an alliance that we need to forge and build upon. That stands in stark con-trast, I would argue, to the Obama foreign policy of the last eight years where we have neglected our allies and we have basically rewarded our enemies, our adver-saries,” said the Speaker of the US House of Representatives.
Except for his comments on India, Ryan slammed Obama’s foreign policy. - PTI
B I L A T E R A L T I E S
ADDRESSING JOINT SITTING OF CONGRESS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday. Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan are also seen. - PTI
Gujarat island gets power after 70 yearsVADODARA: Residents of Shi-yal Bet, a nondescript island in Gujarat’s Amreli district, on Sat-urday woke up to cherish a mo-ment they had been waiting for nearly seven decades after the country’s Independence — elec-tricity supply in their homes.
With power supply reaching to this small island with a popula-tion of around 6,000, surrounded by Arabian Sea from all corners, Gujarat now has its every nook and corner connected to elec-
tricity. Located around 1.5 km away from Pipavav port in Am-reli, state-run Pashchim Gujarat Vij Company Limited (PGVCL) is supplying power to the island through a 6-km undersea cable through Chanch island in neigh-bouring Bhavnagar district.
Chief Minister Anandiben Pa-tel at a ceremony in Shiyal Bet on Saturday dedicated the project to the people of the island and laud-ed the efforts of PGVCL.
State Energy and Finance min-
ister Saurabh Patel said,“Villagers are very happy to
receive electricity supply 24X7. It was something they had never dreamt of. Due to geographical hindrances, power supply could not reach there.”
“But it was in 2013 when Nar-endra Modi, then Chief minister of Gujarat, envisaged to supply power to the island. The project has been completed at a cost of Rs18.5 crore within two years,” Patel said. -PTI
E L E C T R I C I T Y S U P P L Y
Eminent journalist Inder Malhotra passes away
NEW DELHI: Eminent journal-ist Inder Malhotra, who helmed a string of top publications and was an accomplished political com-mentator, passed away on Satur-day at the age of 86.
He was admitted to a city hospi-tal on May 18 and breathed his last at 2:55pm on Saturday following a cardiac arrest, his son Anil Revri said. Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Ha-mid Ansari condoled the demise of Malhotra, one of the finest journal-ists of contemporary times.
“In his death, the nation has lost a veteran journalist who served as a role model for others in the pro-fession,” said Mukherjee.
Malhotra began his career at the United Press of India news agency and went on to hold editorial posi-tions at leading dailies. Malhotra was Editor of The Times of India, New Delhi from 1978-86.
Before that he worked for The Statesman for 15 years, first as the Political Correspondent and Chief of the Bureau and then as Deputy Editor.
He has given lectures widely, both in India and abroad, in-cluding at all major universi-ties in the United States and the United Kingdom.
In his later years, Malhotra turned a columnist for various publications and offered deep in-sights into India’s political history through his writings, most notably through his column ‘Rear View’.
Malhotra, a recipient of the pres-tigious Ramnath Goenka Award (Lifetime Achievement), also au-thored few books including former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s biography, Indira Gandhi: A Per-sonal & Political Biography (1989). Malhotra’s cremation will be held around 11am at Lodhi Road electric crematorium on Sunday.
He leaves behind his son Anil while his wife, Rekha Malhotra, a former classical dancer, died in 2007. - PTI
O B I T U A R Y
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Government of Sindh unveils Rs869b budget
ISLAMABAD: Sindh government on Saturday presented a deficit budget with a total outlay of Rs869 billion for the fiscal 2016-17 re-flecting a rise of 15 per cent as com-pared to the previous fiscal year.
Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah presented the budget dur-ing a Sindh assembly session fol-lowing its approval by members of the provincial cabinet.
Economic upliftShah emphasised that their focus in the budget was improving lives of people of the province, facilities being provided to them and eco-nomic uplift and stability. In the budget, the largest allocation was made for education amounting to Rs150 billion while Rs55 billion was reserved for the health sector.
Further, Rs70 billion were allo-cated for the home department and police, whereas Rs10 billion, termed a special package, was set aside for the provincial capital Karachi.
Meanwhile, Sindh government failed to utilise its development funds as it could spend only Rs86 billion out of Rs162 billion on the sector, with several development projects awaiting to see the light of day.
Sales taxThe provincial government ex-pects to receive Rs561 billion from the Centre as ‘federal transfers’ and Rs78 billion from sales tax on services which is supposed to be recovered by provincial govern-ment itself.
The announcement comes a week after federal Finance Min-ister Ishaq Dar unveiled Rs4.42 trillion “pro-agriculture budget,” which also appeared to strike a balance between fiscal consolida-tion, imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and some incentives for the industrial sec-tor. – Express Tribune
D E F I C I T B U D G E T 2 European envoys caution minister against new taxes
ISLAMABAD: In an unprec-edented move, two European am-bassadors have jointly cautioned Finance Minister Ishaq Dar that the proposed 17 per cent sales tax on inputs of the dairy sector could threaten both the existing as well as planned $500 million foreign investment in the sector.
Ambassador of Switzer-land, Marc George and Charge d’Affaires and Embassy of Nether-lands Renate Pors jointly met Dar to convey their concerns about the proposed changes in dairy sector’s tax structure, according to officials of the Federal Board of Revenue.
The diplomats met Dar just hours before finance minister’s planned departure to the United Kingdom where he would discuss the final budget with Prime Min-ister Nawaz Sharif in light of the recommendations received from various quarters.
The companies of these coun-tries have direct stakes in Pa-kistan’s top two dairy firms. A Switzerland company has 61 per cent stake in Nestle Pakistan – the largest market player, and a Dutch company is in the due diligence process to acquire 51 per cent stake in Engro Foods – also a big market player.
In the budget for 2016-17, the government has announced tax-ing the inputs of the dairy sector at 17 per cent standard rate by with-
drawing the zero-rating regime with effect from July 1. It has also proposed to slap additional 25 per cent regulatory duty on imported powdered milk, which will in-crease overall duty on the product to 45 per cent.
Fourth largest producerDespite being world’s fourth larg-est milk producer, Pakistan is still milk deficient country.
The decision to charge 17 per cent sales tax on inputs of milk,
butter and other dairy products is being taken to hide the inefficien-cy of the FBR that has been show-ing the sector’s about Rs8 billion annual sales tax refunds as part of its revenues.
The change in tax structure will have two striking implica-tions. The Pakistan Dairy Asso-ciation – the representative body of milk producers – has indicated increasing the packaged milk prices by Rs8 per litre that will af-fect every household, as the milk-man will also increase the price of loose milk.
This will force the consumers to pay extra Rs250 billion in the next fiscal year alone.
Sources said the Dutch charge d’affaires cautioned the finance minister that his country’s com-pany may reverse the decision of investing in Pakistan. Friesland Campina, one of the leading global
companies, is in the process of due diligence to acquire a major-ity stake in Engro Foods. The es-timated cost of this transaction is about $500 million.
Under pressureThe sources said Switzerland am-bassador also stressed that the Swiss company may also review its decision to work in Pakistan. Nestle has 61 per cent stake in Nestle Pakistan, followed by 26 per cent stake of Syed Baber Ali family and 10 per cent stake of Sultan Chawla family.
The sources said the finance minister apprised the European diplomats that he was under pres-sure from various stakeholders to change the tax regime of the dairy sector. Dar promised to review the possibility of giving a relief but did not make a firm commitment.
Over three-dozen parliamen-tarians have joined hands and were pushing the government to change the tax regime, as the proposed changes would directly benefit them.
The European ambassadors discussed with the finance min-ister the current investment port-folio as well as future investment plans of Swiss and Netherlands companies in Pakistan, according to an official hand-out issued by the finance ministry.
“The minister assured Marc George and Mrs Renate Pors all possible support to the companies from the Netherlands and Swit-zerland in setting up their busi-ness ventures and investment in Pakistan,” it said. — Express Tribune
Ambassador
of Switzerland,
Marc George and
Charge d’Affaires
and Embassy of
Netherlands Renate
Pors jointly met
Dar to convey their
concerns about the
proposed changes in
dairy sector’s taxDAIRY PRODUCTION: A Switzerland company has 61 per cent stake in Nestle Pakistan – the largest
market player, and a Dutch company is in the due diligence process to acquire 51 per cent stake in
Engro Foods – also a big market player. – Bloomberg News
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Is Shahbaz running the show in Nawaz Sharif’s absence?ISLAMABAD: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is ‘unof-ficially’ at the helm of affairs at the Centre in a bid to iron out serious differences between federal min-isters over running the federal gov-ernment in the absence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Sometime back, a group of PML-N lawmakers requested Shahbaz to unofficially take charge of gov-ernment affairs until his elder brother was back in office in view of differences among powerful members of the federal cabinet.
The premier is currently recu-
perating in London after an open heart surgery. On account of his speedy recovery, he has been dis-charged from the hospital and shifted home. Last month, the ruling PML-N deliberated on dif-ferent options to run government affairs in his absence.
However, the scenario hardly left space for any minister to func-tion as the premier’s temporary replacement.
Subsequently, Shahbaz was requested to intervene and take charge till his elder brother was back in business. Before he left
for London, the prime minister delegated his authority to Fi-nance Minister Ishaq Dar but the decision did not go down well with some powerful members of the cabinet, who reportedly hold grudges against one another.
Speaking on condition of ano-nymity, one of these legislators from Rawalpindi said that Shah-baz was found to be the only agree-able name in the scenario.
“Nobody except him was accept-able as a replacement of the PM, not even on a temporary basis,” he said. According to him, the matter
was taken up with Shahbaz prior to the premier’s surgery.
When asked Punjab Law Minis-ter Rana Sanaullah, a trusted con-fidante of Shahbaz, if the younger Sharif was playing any informal role at the Centre, he dismissed these reports, saying the chief minister was too busy in Punjab to get occupied elsewhere.
“Speculations have no limit. Reality is otherwise. The Sharif brothers are our leaders and we give them utmost respect. They work in well-defined spheres of authority within the ambit of the
Constitution of Pakistan. Nobody thinks of crossing the limits.” Re-garding internal differences be-tween federal ministers, Sanaul-lah said: “Every political party has issues. They are sorted out inter-nally. If there are some issues in our party, they will be well sorted out. There is no need to make a mountain out of a molehill.”
Constitutionally, a chief minis-ter cannot look after the issues of federation, which is why Shahbaz was advised to manage things at the Centre while working back-stage. — Express Tribune
C O N T R O V E R S Y
Shahbaz Sharif
ADB okays $100m loan for M-4 motorwayISLAMABAD: Asian Develop-ment Bank (ADB) will loan $100 million to Pakistan for the con-struction of the Gojra-Shorkot section of the M4 motorway.
The board of directors of the Manila-based lending agency ap-proved the loan on Friday, mark-ing its first co-financing venture with the newly established Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which will provide an-other $100 million for the project. The AIIB board will decide on the loan later this month.
Britain’s Department for In-ternational Development (DFID) has also committed a $34 million grant for the project. The ADB will act as the lead financier and administer both the AIIB loan and the DFID grant.
“This is a historic milestone for ADB and AIIB as we jointly aim to meet the pressing infrastructure needs in Asia and Pacific region,” said ADB President Takehiko Na-kao after the approval of the loan by the board of directors of the Manila-based lending agency.
He said that the project has strategic value to Pakistan as it supports north-south connectivi-ty, new trade, and business oppor-tunities, which will boost jobs and cut poverty. The project is also an integral part of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) corridors.
The ADB and the AIIB have been preparing projects for co-fi-nancing since last year. Nakao and AIIB President Liqun Jin signed
a memorandum of understand-ing for collaboration at the time of ADB’s annual meeting in Frank-furt, Germany, in early May.
The project constitutes a key part of the 1,800-kilometre CAREC transport corridor linking Karachi in the south, to major pri-mary production and population centres, including Lahore, Fais-alabad, Islamabad and Peshawar, and on to Torkham on the north-
ern border with Afghanistan.The M-4 Motorway will have
four sections. The 58-kilometre Faisalabad-Gojra section has been opened for traffic.
The project was completed by borrowing $170 million from the ADB. The Gojra-Shorkot section will be completed by November next year, the NHA chairman told diplomats on Thursday while briefing them on Pakistan’s infra-
structure plans.Once the M-4 is completed, it
will link southern parts of Punjab with the north through already es-tablished networks of motorways. The M-4 Motorway will extend the already completed M-1, M-2 and M-3 motorways southward and shorten the distance between Multan and the twin cities of Is-lamabad-Rawalpindi.
Upon completion, the M-4 Mo-
torway will provide a four-lane access controlled alternative to the existing narrow and congested routes notably in the heavily traf-ficked Faisalabad and Khanewal-Multan-Muzaffargrah areas.
M-4 is also a step towards po-sitioning Pakistan as a transit artery for goods moving between Karachi and Torkham through the country’s major business and population centres. —Express Tribune
P R O J E C T F U N D I N G
Telenor Pakistan given 4G licence for $395 million
KARACHI: Pakistan has awarded a $395 million 4G licence to Nor-wegian telecom giant Telenor, as it seeks to capitalise on a booming domestic mobile market some two years since broadband Internet ar-rived in the country.
In 2014, Pakistan auctioned its first 4G broadband licence to China’s Zong for $210 million, along with 3G licences to Zong, the UAE’s Warid, and Pakistan’s do-mestic Mobilink. The total raised in the auction was $1.2 billion.
In the first quarter of 2015 smartphone shipments to the country soared by 123 per cent, ac-cording to the Pakistan Telecom-munication Authority’s annual report, one of the fastest growth rates in the developing world.
Since then broadband use has exploded, with the number of us-ers growing to around 29 million from a mere 1.9 million – a higher percentage than India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) had auctioned the license to local and international telecom companies, with Telenor winning the bid. “The licence for 850MHz band will be awarded on base price of $395 Million in accordance with the schedule,” an internal state-ment from PTA said.
“The licence will be awarded to Telenor within 30 days of pay-ment,” it added. Telenor Pakistan is 100 per cent owned by Norway’s Telenor Group. - Express Tribune
T E L E C O M
CO-FINANCING VENTURE: The board of directors of Asian Development Bank approved the loan on Friday, marking its first co-financ-
ing venture with the newly established Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. – Bloomberg News
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Anti-drone protest at US Air Force baseBERLIN: Several thousand demonstrators formed a human chain along the perimeter of a US Air Force Base in southwest Germany on Saturday in protest against drone operations by the United States.
The demonstration was organ-ised by the alliance “Stop Ram-stein - No Drone War”, which says the Ramstein base trans-mits information between opera-tors in the United States and un-manned drone aircraft in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Paki-stan, Yemen and Syria.
Police estimated 3-4,000 peo-ple had formed the chain close to the base, which serves as the headquarters for the US Air Forces in Europe.
Organisers spoke of 5-7,000 people. No comment was avail-able on Saturday from officials at Ramstein.
The use of drones is highly con-
troversial in Germany, where an aversion to military conflict has prevailed since World War II.
Organisers say allowing data for drone deployments to be rout-ed through Ramstein goes against the German constitution and
want the base’s satellite relay sta-tion to be closed.
Nearly 15 years after a drone first fired missiles in combat, the US military programme has expanded to become an every-day part of the war machine for
carrying out surveillance and launching strikes.
Killing of Taliban leaderPresident Barack Obama last month approved a drone strike in a remote area of Pakistan that killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour.
US officials said he had been overseeing plans for new attacks on US targets in Kabul.
Critics say drones often miss their intended targets, can only partly relay what is happening on the ground and encourage war-fare with impunity, waged by peo-ple at computer screens far from danger. — Reuters
G E R M A N Y ’ S R A M S T E I N
MILAN: The European Union will start disintegrating after Ital-ians pick the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement candidate as mayor of Rome on June 19 and Britons vote to leave the EU four
days later, the leader of the UK Independence Party was quoted as saying.
UKIP’s Nigel Farage told Italy’s Corriere della Sera in an interview
published on Saturday that Brit-ish Prime Minister David Cam-eron should resign even if the ‘Remain’ camp won by a narrow margin in a June 23 referendum
on EU membership.Bookmakers still predict Brit-
ons will vote to stay in the EU, while opinion polls have see-sawed - though one on Friday gave
a 10 percentage point lead to the ‘Leave’ side, for which Farage is a prominent campaigner.
“We can’t lose this referendum ... there will be a Big Bang of Brit-ish politics: nothing will remain the same,” Farage said.
Rome mayorHe said he would “destroy the old EU”, together with 5-Star leader Beppe Grillo.
“On June 19 the 5-Star move-ment elects the mayor of the capi-tal and changes Italy. On June 23 Britain leaves the EU and changes Europe. We will trigger a domino effect. After us, other northern European countries will leave, starting with Denmark,” he said.
“The EU is about to collapse, disintegrating in several pieces.”
Municipal elections in Italy last Sunday put 5-Star candidate Vir-ginia Raggi, 37, in the lead to be-come mayor of Rome ahead of the candidate from Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s centre-left Demo-cratic Party (PD).
The race will be decided by a run-off vote on June 19. — Reuters
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Farage says UK, Italy to launch EU’s disintegrationUKIP’s Nigel Farage
told Italy’s ‘Corriere
della Sera’ on
Saturday that David
Cameron should
resign even if the
‘Remain’ camp won
by a narrow margin
in the June 23
referendumFUTURE AT STAKE: A ‘Vote Leave’ campaigner wearing a placard around his neck hands a leaflet to a member of the public in Manchester, UK, on Saturday. — Bloomberg
IS rebels kill police chief in Afghanistan
KABUL: IS militants attacked a police compound in eastern Af-ghanistan early on Saturday, kill-ing a police chief, government of-ficials and insurgents said.
At around 2 am militants at-tacked the police headquarters in Dih Bala district of Nangarhar province, said Attahullah Kho-gyani, a spokesman for the pro-vincial governor. Five police officers, including the district police chief, were killed and six wounded, he said. At least 13 mil-itants were killed and 7 wounded, Khogyani said.
IS’ Khorasan Province branch claimed responsibility for the at-tack in a statement online and said it killed the police chief and 13 officers. Nangarhar, a volatile province that borders Pakistan, is where militants claiming alle-giance to IS have made their great-est inroads in Afghanistan.
Earlier this year American forces were given the green light to conduct more air strikes against IS in Afghanistan, wading into a fight being waged by Afghan troops and Taliban insurgents competing for influence in the area. — Reuters
C I V I L W A R
Unknown bidder pays $3.46m for Buffett lunchNEW YORK: An anonymous bidder agreed at auction to pay $3,456,789 to eat lunch with War-ren Buffett, tying the record for the right to dine with one of the world’s most admired investors.
The money will go to Glide, a San Francisco charity that pro-vides food, health care and other services to people who are home-less, poor or struggling with sub-stance abuse.
The five-day auction on eBay
ended on Friday night. The win-ning bid matched the sum paid by an anonymous bidder in 2012, the most expensive single charity item sold on eBay. Buffett has held 17 annual auctions for Glide, raising about $23.6 million.
The successful bidder and up to seven friends can dine with Buffett at the Smith & Wollensky steak house in Manhattan. All topics are fair game apart from where Buffett will invest next. — Reuters
F O R C H A R I T Y
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‘Challenges before GCC states to meet 2018 deadline for VAT’
MUSCAT: Several challenges remain before the Gulf states to meet the deadline set for introduc-ing the much-talked about value added tax (VAT) at the beginning of 2018, according to an update on VAT proposals in Oman and other
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries prepared by KPMG.
Elaborating on the challenges, the international audit firm said that a unified GCC VAT agree-ment should ideally be finalised by the end of June 2016. “GCC fi-nance ministries have been having intense discussions over the last few months to thrash out existing differences on areas like intra-GCC supplies. The member states cannot finalise their national VAT laws until the GCC VAT agree-ment is finalised and adopted by all the GCC countries,” said the KPMG statement.
“If a GCC agreement cannot be reached, GCC countries could de-cide to implement VAT individu-ally. It remains to be seen whether any GCC country would be pre-pared to take such a step.”
The six member GCC bloc has been debating a common value added tax, which is a tax levied on the import and supply of goods and services at each production and distribution stage, over a decade now. VAT is a consumption tax to be ultimately paid by the end con-sumer with suppliers (businesses) acting as collecting agents for the tax authorities.
As the unified GCC tax agree-ment will only be a framework agreement, which sets out the
main principles to be followed, each country will need its own na-tional VAT law. “Businesses have been promised 12 to 18 months to prepare for VAT implementation putting in place proper systems to collect VAT and pay it to the tax au-thorities on a monthly or quarterly basis. Each GCC member (state) will also need to issue relevant ex-
ecutive regulations,” added KPMG in its update on VAT.
Referring to general practice in Oman, KMPG said that decree-ing new laws in the Sultanate is a consultative process involving the Majlis Al Shura, the State Con-sultative Council and other stake-holders. “How long will it take for Oman to decree the VAT law? Can
this be achieved by the end of 2016 to give businesses sufficient prep-aration time so that VAT could be effective from January 1, 2018?”
Yet another challenge is the in-formation technology prepared-ness. Unlike corporate income tax, where returns are filed only once in a year, VAT requires monthly or quarterly filing of returns and pay-
ments of taxes. The tax authorities will also need to process refunds regularly. “The tax authorities across the GCC will need robust IT systems in place to facilitate e-filing and e-communication with taxpayers. A GCC electronic portal will be needed to facilitate track-ing of intra-GCC supplies.”
Oman’s tax authorities have recently implemented a new IT system which will enable e-filing of corporate tax returns. Adapt-ing the new IT system to integrate VAT requirements and test the system may take more time. Since VAT is new, the tax authorities in each GCC country will have to re-cruit and train sufficient staff.
Besides, governance frame-works may also need to be re-viewed and updated to incorporate policies, processes and controls that comply with VAT legislation.
Pan-GCC excise dutyThe GCC states are believed to be working on a unified GCC excise tax, which will be levied on harm-ful products including tobacco and alcohol, according to KPMG. “As implementing an excise tax is com-paratively straightforward, GCC countries could introduce this tax from January 1, 2017,” KPMG said in an update on VAT proposals in Oman and across the GCC.
The member states
cannot finalise
their national VAT
laws until the GCC
VAT agreement
is finalised and
adopted by all
countries. A unified
GCC VAT deal should
ideally be finalised
by the end of June
DUBAI: Gulf oil exporters must cut spending and narrow their budget shortfalls to keep their currencies pegged to the dollar, the International Mon-etary Fund (IMF) said.
While substantial foreign assets have allowed the six members of the GCC to fix the value of their currencies to the greenback, keeping the status quo comes at a price as lower crude prices strain public finances, the lender said in a report titled “Learning to Live with Cheaper Oil.”
“When a country faces
prolonged fiscal and external deficits, policy adjustment must come from fiscal con-solidation measures,” the IMF said in the report authored by Martin Sommer, deputy chief of its regional studies division. Maintaining the currency pegs “will require sustained fiscal consolidation through direct expenditure cutbacks and non-oil revenue increases,” it said.
As investors increased bets that currency fixes may become too expensive to main-tain, the UAE and Saudi Arabia renewed their commitment to
their pegs — with the latter also said to ban betting against its currency. Gulf oil producers’ budgets swung from surplus to deficit as Brent crude fell by as much as 75 per cent from June 2014 to January this year, be-fore a partial recovery in recent months. Even after cutting spending, the combined budget gap in the GCC region as well as Algeria is expected to reach $900 billion for the 2016-2021 period, and represent 7 per cent of their gross domestic product in the final year, the IMF said. — Bloomberg News
Gulf must cut deficits to keep currency pegs: IMF
MERCEDES TO LAUNCH SUVMercedes-Benz will start selling a fuel-cell electric version of its sport utility vehicle next year, an effort to broaden the appeal of the technology with the first publicly available battery. -Bloomberg News
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Registrations at ‘Invest Easy’ portal rises 30%
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Oman’s Invest Easy portal reported a 30 per cent jump in the number of new commercial registrations made in April this year, up from the same period in 2015, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Com-merce and Industry.
The ministry said the number of new commercial registrations
for investors’ services declined by 70 per cent in April from last, as investors were able to use the elec-tronic service and have accepted the change. The ‘Invest Easy’ por-tal provides 65 electronic services and most of the investors use the services through the portal.
The ministry had continued the connection with many govern-mental parties who are interested in investing in an easy portal as the ministry seeks to simplify the proceedings and facilitate them. Therefore, about 80 per cent of the services provided in the front
offices are now provided on the internet through the ‘invest easy’ portal. Invest Easy website aims to facilitate and provide services and advantages for the investor and business sector.
The portal also aims to provide clarity in procedures and the abil-ity to update all data electronically, which saves time and effort, also increasing the investors’ trust.
The project works towards im-proving the environment for busi-nesses, boosting the diversity of the business environment, and making it easy to start a business.
The ‘Invest Easy’
portal provides 65
electronic services
and most of the
investors use these
services through
the portal
– Times file picture
VITAL RESOURCE: Bloomberg New Energy Finance has forecast that a surplus will persist to 2025,
with supplies exceeding demand by 29 per cent in 2020. — Bloomberg file picture
World is not oversupplied with LNG yet: Shell officialSAN FRANCISCO: For months, banks including Citigroup have talked about a massive oversup-ply in the global market for lique-fied natural gas (LNG). The head of natural gas at Royal Dutch Shell, one of the world’s biggest producers of the fuel, would beg to differ.
“There isn’t really yet the kind of oversupply that people talk about,” Maarten Wetselaar, Shell’s integrated gas and new energies director, said on Friday in an interview in Palo Alto, Cali-fornia. For proof, he said, look at Europe, where natural gas de-mand gained last year and LNG imports from overseas were little changed. Europe is where an LNG cargo lands “if you really can’t find a customer to pay you more than the European gas price,” he said. “It is possible, in the com-ing years, that supply will move
ahead of demand and we’ll see more LNG ending up in Europe, but it hasn’t happened.”
The absence of more Europe-bound shipments is a testament to the “genuine LNG buyers” mopping up new LNG supplies from exporters including the US and Australia, Wetselaar said. Emerging markets and increasing demand from countries includ-ing India, Egypt and Pakistan are helping keep a glut at bay.
Bloomberg New Energy Fi-nance has meanwhile forecast that a surplus will persist to 2025, with supplies exceeding demand by 29 per cent in 2020. Citi ana-lyst Anthony Yuen said in a report last month that not even recent signs of potentially stronger de-mand may “trump the massive LNG oversupply.”
While the world may not be dealing with a glut, Wetselaar
said the US gas market will con-tinue to be plagued by “really low” prices for decades. “You have a very large inventory of gas that can be produced at sort of below $4 to $4.50” per million British thermal units, he said.
“Who knows what happens when you start to export a lot of LNG, you start doing a lot more gas to chemicals, you start export-ing gas to Mexico — the market dynamics can start to push it up,” he said. “But I think compared to global gas prices, the U.S. is going to be at the low end of the range for a very, very long time to come.”
— Bloomberg News
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Bank Sohar appoints new acting chief
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Bank Sohar said that the bank’s board has decided to appoint Sasi Kumar, who is pres-ently working as general manager, in the position of acting chief ex-ecutive officer with effect from June 29, 2016.
This follows the resignation of former acting chief executive of-ficer and general manager Rashad Ali Al Musafir.
M A N A G E M E N T C H A N G E Saudi Arabia’s new reform plans are not ‘bold enough’
DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s new plan to lessen the Kingdom’s depend-ence on oil, is making headlines because the country’s name is synonymous with crude exports. If even the Saudis, with the big-gest and most easily extractable oil reserves in the world, are get-ting serious about diversification, something is changing.
A closer look at the National Transformation Programme (NTP), however, suggests that the Saudi diversification attempt probably won’t achieve much. It’s not bold enough in the area that matters most — developing hu-man capital.
Nobody likes oil export de-pendence. Countries with diver-sified exports grow faster, and no government has ever proudly declared, “We are going to export crude oil while we can, and that’s it.” And yet despite all the talk of diversification, few countries
have ever achieved it. According to an analysis by the World Bank’s Farrukh Iqbal, of all the countries “awash in oil” in the 1970s — that is, dependent on crude for at least 50 per cent of exports — only Indo-nesia, and, to a much lesser extent, the United Arab Emirates have at-tained notable diversification.
Malaysia and Mexico have also been named diversification suc-cesses. One thing these two coun-tries have with Indonesia, though, is that their non-oil development strategies have centered on build-ing up labour-intensive indus-tries, bolstered by an abundance of cheap workers and, in Mexico’s case, free trade with the US.
This model may yet work for Nigeria, which has its own “zero oil” plan, much less publicised than the Saudi one but rather ambitious: The country hopes to increase its non-oil exports to $30 billion by 2025 from $5 billion a year today. The program stresses labor-intensive agriculture. Yet for the wealthy Gulf states — and for Russia, Saudi Arabia’s rival for the title of the world’s biggest oil
producer — this won’t work: Their populations aren’t interested in lots of manufacturing or agri-cultural jobs. They are either too pampered, too tradition-bound or have too many years of education to enjoy that kind of work.
These countries need to de-velop more sophisticated, higher value-added exports, but some-how they can never quite figure out what to do.
Saudi Arabia is a good example. Of it’s adult population, 22 per cent are college-educated — com-pared to 19 per cent in Mexico and 8 per cent in Indonesia. Most locals work in the government sector, and many of these jobs are useless sinecures. About 10 mil-lion foreign workers do the actual work. According to the National Transformation Programme, it’s four times more expensive to hire a Saudi national than a foreigner. Besides, women are artificially kept out of the workforce, making up just 23 per cent of it:
They’re not allowed to drive, and tradition frowns upon impor-tant roles for them.
The Saudi government has ac-knowledged all these problems in its Vision 2030, a broad outline of planned reforms. Yet when it came to setting specific targets in the new Saudi programme, the re-formers have mostly proved timid.
The government plans to cut the public payroll by 20 per cent, pushing Saudis toward private-sector employment. Wherever the redundant employees go — pre-sumably, mainly to the tourism sector that the kingdom plans to expand — few are likely to end up in the tech industry, which would have been a logical diversification play for a relatively wealthy coun-try like Saudi Arabia. The 2020 target for “rehabilitating” Saudi cadres for information and com-munications technology (ICT) roles is just an extra 20,000 peo-ple. Only about 1.7 per cent of the total workforce work in ICT in the kingdom, far smaller than the 3.6 per cent average for Europe (where employment in the sector has been growing at a rate of about 4 per cent a year). Given that the Saudi plan is based on a lower
growth rate, it seems sure that the country fall even further behind.
There won’t be much improve-ment for Saudi women either. The plan is to raise their share in the public sector workforce to 42 per cent from the current 39.8 per cent, and in top positions to 5 per cent from 1.27 per cent. But even the plans to increase women’s share of the general labour force to 28 per cent doesn’t amount to a big step toward gender equal-ity. There is still no plan to allow women to drive; in other words, unlocking women’s potential for making the economy smarter and more diversified is not really on the cards in the next few years.
The Saudi government under-stands the importance of improv-ing education quality for “smart” diversification, and has ordered a drastic improvement in students’ math and science test scores. But this process can’t be fast, and even the end results the education min-istry is supposed to achieve would put Saudi Arabia well below the average for developed countries.
All Gulf states have a long way to go before the quality of education is up to developed world standards, and that undermines their ability to reduce oil dependence.
The Saudi “transformation” will nevertheless be exciting for investors: It relies on an increase in the public debt level to 30 per cent of economic output from the current 7.7 per cent, prom-ises large-scale privatisation (of the port authority, for example) and some potentially exciting government-funded projects, like a switch to e-government or the women’s transportation plan.
The government would like to see the budget’s non-oil revenues grow more than threefold by 2020, and that would require lots of new investment. Yet though money will be borrowed and spent, the unambitious human capital plans are likely to hold up the shift away from oil. — Bloomberg News
A close look at
the National
Transformation
Programme suggests
that the Saudi
diversification
attempt probably
won’t achieve much.
It’s not bold enough
in the area that
matters most —
developing
human capital
– Times file picture
RIYADH SKYLINE: Of Saudi Arabia’s adult population, 22 per cent are college-educated, compared to
19 per cent in Mexico and 8 per cent in Indonesia. — Bloomberg file picture
Omantel launches enhanced technician trainingTimes News Service
MUSCAT: Oman Telecommuni-cations Company (Omantel) has launched an innovative customer experience training programme for its contracted network technicians.
This programme is the exten-sion of the ETQAN (etiquette, transparency, quality, appear-ance, and network) programme for network technicians across all regions of the Sultanate.
The enhanced customer expe-rience training programme was introduced by Omantel to focus on three key areas; customer ser-vice, business ethics, and techni-cal skills, in order to provide an enhanced customer experience in-line with the company’s new
strategy ‘Omantel 3.0’ and its new values ‘ownership, collaboration, simplicity, and passion’.
This ETQAN extension was overseen by Training and De-velopment in collaboration with service delivery. Manal Amur Musallam Al Harthy, senior man-
ager of Training and Development commented: “The objectives of the training are to build a custom-er-centric mindset through role-playing activities, recognise local culture, ethics and values and how to adapt with them. We are also aiming to enable the participants
to identify the difference between providing a service and serving customers, as well as to recognise the skills required for business etiquette, identify key tricks of business communication in every situation and how to establish trust and credibility in every in-teraction with our customers.”
Commenting on the enhanced training programme, senior man-ager of Fixed Service Delivery Muthla Harith Nasser Al Mah-rooqi noted: “To provide the best customer experience it is vital that all Omantel team members and contractors consistently de-liver impeccable service, so we are delighted to implement this new training programme for our con-tract technicians.
Training of this nature is vital as technicians represent the face of Omantel when they deliver servicespersonally to customers. Enriching lives of people of Oman is at the very core of our strategy and to achieve this we place cus-tomer satisfaction at the centre of our operational strategy. Im-mersive training programmes en-sure our team and contractors are equipped with all the necessary tools to exceed customer expecta-tions.”
Investing in the future of the na-tion, Omantel connects the most remote communities of Oman to each other and rest of the world. Omantel is the Sultanate’s first and leading integrated telecom-munications services provider.
T R A I N I N G P R O G R A M M E
– Supplied picture
Dr Reddy’s Lab. signs $350m deal with Teva
NEW DELHI: Dr Reddy’s Labo-ratories has inked a pact with Teva Pharmaceutical and an affiliate of Allergan to buy a portfolio of eight abbreviated new drug applica-tions (ANDAs) in the US for $350 million in cash.
The portfolio consists of prod-ucts that are being divested by Teva as a precondition to its clos-ing of the acquisition of Allergan’s generics business, the Hyderabad-based firm said.
The portfolio being acquired is a mix of filed ANDAs pending approval and an approved ANDA and comprised of complex generic products across diverse dosage forms, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories said in a statement.
The combined sales of the branded versions of the products in the US is around $3.5 billion, it added.
“This transaction will add strength to our product portfolio, help us be more relevant in the US market and also create new oppor-tunities for growth,” G V Prasad, Co-Chairman and CEO of Dr Red-dy’s Laboratories said.
The acquisition of these ANDAs is also contingent on the closing of the Teva/Allergan generics trans-action and approval by the US Federal Trade Commission of Dr Reddy’s as a buyer. “The acquisi-tion of these attractive ANDAs from Teva will enhance our short-to-midterm aspirations and is con-sistent with our growth initiatives to identify inorganic opportunities to expand our base business,” Dr Reddy’s, Executive Vice president and Head of North America Alok Sonig said. — PTI
G E N E R I C P R O D U C T S
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MARKETS U N DAY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 6
JUSTIN FOX
NEW YORK: Without imports from China, there would be no Christmas. At least, no Christ-mas lights or decorations or rib-bon or video game consoles to wrap up and put under the tree.
That’s one conclusion you could draw from this table assembled by Caroline Freund of the Peterson Institute for International Economics:
So if we shut down trade with China, as the tariffs proposed by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump might do, there’d be no other country standing ready to supply us with our Christmas-decorating needs, rubber boots or wigs — not to mention our laptop computers. As for mobile phones, the biggest US import from China, they don’t make the Peterson Institute list because there are a few other countries that make significant numbers of them (including the US, which exported $10.5 billion worth of cell phones in 2015, according to the UN Comtrade database). But China is still pretty dominant.
So there are a few crucial, expensive products in which China dominates US imports. There are also some much cheaper ones that are crucial if, say, you need lights for your Christmas tree, but that don’t
seem all that economically sig-nificant. I was a little surprised, actually, at how heavy the Pe-terson Institute list is on things you might buy at Michael’s. This kind of low-value, low-margin manufacturing does not create many good jobs, and I thought
China was moving beyond it.When you look at a more
conventional list of the biggest US imports from China by dol-lar value, things are somewhat less surprising. This is from the US Census Bureau, which uses different categories from those
in the UN Comtrade database:Some of the most valuable
parts of those cell phones, computers and other tech products imported from China don’t actually come from China. The raw materials are sourced from around the world, while
key components are made in the US, Japan and Taiwan. Trade is complicated, and it’s also not a zero-sum endeavour in which exports are always good and im-ports are always bad. Still, it is useful to know what trade flows look like. — Bloomberg News
Americans depend on China for Christmas productsC O M M E N T A R Y
– Bloomberg file picture
Germany's chancellor to visit ChinaBERLIN: After a golden decade for economic ties between Germany and China, concerns are growing in Berlin over barriers to foreign firms in China, Beijing’s more muscular foreign policy and its increased au-thoritarianism at home.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel headed to Beijing on Satur-day for the ninth time since taking office amid growing pressure from industry and rights groups to con-front the Chinese more forcefully.
The trip comes as she faces crit-icism at home for failing to speak out more strongly about rights vio-lations in Turkey.
It also comes in the midst of a furious debate over Chinese takeo-vers in Europe, with some politi-cians calling for tougher restric-tions following a recent offer by home appliance maker Midea for German robotics firm Kuka.
“We have a proliferation and in-tensification of hidden and open conflicts in the German-Chinese relationship,” said Sebastian Heil-mann, head of the MERICS think tank in Berlin.
“We won’t be able to avoid tough conflicts with China in the next months and years. This will be a difficult trip.”
Merkel will be travelling to Chi-na with six of her ministers and a large industry delegation that is expected to include the CEOs of blue-chips like Volkswagen, BMW, Siemens, ThyssenKrupp, Lufthan-sa and Airbus.
She will dine with Chinese Pre-mier Li Keqiang on Sunday and President Xi Jinping on Monday. In between, she and Li will attend a meeting with business leaders at which German firms are ex-pected to openly voice their frus-trations with conditions in the Chinese market.
On Tuesday, Merkel is due to travel to the northern “rust belt” city of Shenyang to visit a BMW plant.
More than any other European country, Germany has benefitted from the rapid expansion of the Chinese economy over the past decade.
Between 2005 and 2014, Ger-man exports to China more than tripled to 74 billion euros. And German companies, notably the big carmakers, benefitted from a surge in Chinese demand that off-set weakness in their home Euro-pean market. - Bloomberg News
B I L A T E R A L T I E S
China urged to tackle ‘high’ corporate debt immediately
BEIJING: The International Monetary Fund’s second lead-ing official urged China to take immediate steps to tackle rising corporate debt or risk “dangerous detours” during the country’s tran-sition to a consumption-oriented economy.
“Corporate debt remains a seri-ous — and growing — problem that must be addressed immediately and with a commitment to serious reforms,” David Lipton, the IMF’s first deputy managing director, said in the text of a speech to an economics conference on Satur-day in Shenzhen, China.
The comments build on other recent warnings from the global crisis lender about China’s debt, including an estimate of a possi-ble $1.3 trillion in loans extended to borrowers that don’t have suf-ficient income to cover interest
payments. China has accumu-lated debt faster than any Group of 20 nation over the past decade, climbing to 247 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), accord-ing to Tom Orlik, an economist for Bloomberg Intelligence.
Leverage ratiosPremier Li Keqiang said in March that the country may use debt-to-equity swaps to cut the leverage ratios of Chinese companies. An IMF staff report in April said Chi-na’s plan to rid banks of bad loans could backfire, allowing debt-laden “zombie” companies to stay afloat and creating conflicts of in-terest for bankers.
China has made “limited pro-gress” in addressing corporate debt and restructuring, Lipton said. He gave an estimate of total debt at 225 per cent of GDP and corporate
debt at 145 per cent of GDP, “which is very high by any measure.”
“With the rapid increase in credit growth in 2015 and early 2016, and the continued high rates of investment, the problem is growing,” said Lipton, a former US Treasury and White House official. “This is a key fault line in the Chinese economy.
It is surely within China’s pow-ers to address this problem. And
it is important that China tackles it soon.”
In addition to addressing the problem quickly, China must fix balance sheets at companies as well as banks, and improve gov-ernance to prevent a new debt bubble, he said. Lipton and other IMF staff members are meeting with officials in China as part of an annual assessment of the na-tion’s economy.
'Debt is a concern'Macquarie Capital said in a June 8 report that China’s debt is a concern but unlikely to result in a crisis. The borrowing is backed largely by bank deposits instead of other, more volatile funding, and the central bank could inter-vene quickly if needed, according to the report by Hong Kong-based analysts Larry Hu and Jerry Peng.
— Bloomberg News
Corporate debt remains a serious and
growing problem that must be addressed
immediately and with a commitment to
serious reforms, IMF official said
RISING DEBT: China has accumulated debt faster than any Group of 20 nation over the past decade, climbing to 247 per cent of gross domestic product. — Bloomberg file picture
Angela Merkel. — Bloomberg file picture
Elusive S&P record looms as investors in US weigh data, FedNEW YORK: With the S&P 500 again coming close to a record this week before falling back, investors will turn next week to a full slate of economic data and a Federal Reserve meeting in hope of fresh reasons whether to drive stocks to new highs.
The benchmark large-cap in-dex flirted with the current re-cord when a rally to start the week
brought it to its highest in about 11 months. But the run fizzled on Thursday and Friday, making it the latest time the index has climbed above 2,100 before falling back from the May 21, 2015 closing re-cord of 2,130.82.
“Equities are having a difficult time finding a rationale to punch through to a new high,” said Peter Kenny, senior market strategist at
Global Markets Advisory Group in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.
Next week brings the release of important US economic data, in-cluding retail sales and inflation.
With the S&P 500 closing south of 2,100 this week after touching 2,120 earlier, Katie Stockton, chief technical strategist at BTIG in New York, sees the move as a failed attempt of a breakout that is set-
ting the index for further declines.“Tested twice, three times,
makes it more obvious to be a strong resistance level,” Stockton said. “There’s pent-up selling pres-sure there.” After a poor start to the year, the S&P 500 has rallied more than 15 per cent since mid February, helped by a rebound in oil prices to over $50 a barrel.
On Friday, the S&P ended with-
in about 35 points of the record. But even if the index eclipses the record next week, not everyone is viewing it as an indication that stocks are poised to then shoot higher. “It’s a reassuring sign, but not a bullish green flag that means we’re going on to major gains in the short term,” said Bruce Mc-Cain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland.
According to the CME Fedwatch website, traders see only a 2 per cent likelihood the Fed will raise rates on Wednesday, and 21 per cent chance it will do so at its July meeting.
Expectations fell significantly after a dismal employment report earlier this month set off fresh concerns about the economy’s strength. — Reuters
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Ramadan benefits on selected BMW models
MUSCAT: Al Jenaibi Internation-al Automobiles, the BMW Group importer in Oman, has announced its annual Ramadan offers.
Running throughout the holy month of giving and designed for
hassle-free ownership, customers can avail from a variety of exclu-sive offers and benefits on a range of BMW models purchased, says a press release.
In preparation for an exciting summer, all BMW models, in-cluding the popular X range and BMW 4 Series and 5 Series, will be available with the BMW Service Inclusive Plus (BSI) package cov-ering all major servicing costs for the first five years or 100,000km (whichever comes first) and a war-
ranty for five years or 200,000km (whichever comes first).
For the first time, the Omani BMW importer will also be offer-ing further benefits for customers looking to buy a BMW M model, with two years of unlimited mile-age warranty is provided, en-couraging sheer driving pleasure across the Sultanate.
All insurance and registration costs will be covered by the im-porter on all BMW vehicles, in-cluding M Models, ensuring a con-
venient and hassle-free start to the customers’ BMW ownership. Ad-ditional benefits include a 64GB iPhone 6 as a complimentary gift.
Commenting on the seasonal of-fers, Divyendu Kumar, managing director of Al Jenaibi, said: “This year we have some very exciting offers for our customers, always looking to give our loyal clientele exceptional benefits and the low-est cost of ownership, this has been taken a step further to also include the BMW M range.”
Al Jenaibi
International
Automobiles has
announced special
prices, financing
offers, free insurance
and servicing
packages on a range
of BMW models
AHLIBANK’S ANNUAL RAMADAN CAMPAIGNMohammed Al Kindi, branch manager of ahlibank - Nizwa branch presents a cheque to an official from Al Noor Association for Blind as part of the bank’s annual Ramadan campaign. — Supplied picture
Orpic kicks off recycling initiativeMUSCAT: On World Environ-ment Day, Orpic launched a recy-cling initiative across its offices in Mina Al Fahal Refinery.
This initiative has been under-taken as part of its core value of putting safety and the environ-ment first. Through this initiative, which is being held in conjunction with Ibn Sarhan United Projects, Orpic aims to nurture a culture of waste segregation and also cre-ate awareness on the importance of recycling among employees. Within the larger national con-text, Orpic hopes to inspire Omani youth on waste recycling innova-tions, says a press release.
Over 30 Plasbins (waste segre-gation bins into five categories of paper, plastics, glass, metal and other waste) will be placed across
various locations in Mina Al Fa-hal, Muscat. The Plasbin system includes provision and services of Plasbins (Internal Units), Collec-tion Centre (large central outdoor unit), and plastic waste collec-tion services. In order to create greater awareness and garner sup-port, Orpic has nominated Plasbin ambassadors within its offices. These ambassadors will support the effective implementation of the Plasbin requirements and campaign throughout Orpic. This endeavour is further to Orpic’s commitment to other environ-mental initiatives like Waste Free Environment (WFE) campaign by Gulf Petrochemicals & Chemicals Association (GPCA).
Manoel Fernandes, general man-ager, Health, Safety and Environ-
ment (HSE), said, “At Orpic, we ensure that we place top priority to-wards safety and the environment. Through this initiative, we hope to promote awareness on the impor-tance of preserving our biodiversi-ty, the need to identify problems re-lated to the environment and ways to take corrective action.”
Faisal Al Hajri, senior expert, Polymer Marketing, Orpic, added, “We are happy to launch this initia-tive on World Environment Day. At Orpic, we place top priority on car-ing for our people, our plants, our environment and our local commu-nities. We recognise our responsi-bility towards the environment. We measure, manage and minimise the environmental impact of our oper-ations and this initiative is a step in that direction.”
W O R L D E N V I R O N M E N T D A Y
Glamz by Danube properties sold out within days of announcementDUBAI: Danube Properties, a part of Danube Group has an-nounced that all units at Glamz by Danube have been sold in a few days of the project announce-ment. The investors lauded the innovation and unique payment plan for the popularity associated with Glamz.
Glamz by Danube, an AED300 million development in Al Fur-jan area of Dubai near Discovery Gardens offered a selection of 418 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, each fitted with built-in modular kitchen; complete bathroom fittings by Milano (Danube’s Italian bath solutions); a bed which can be tucked into the wall during the day, thus creating a larger living room space; furniture and latest in European technology, says a press release.
Rizwan Sajan, founder and chairman, Danube Group as-serted, “We thank all who have invested in our success, now and over the years. Almost everyone wants a home of their own and it feels good that we are here to help them in realising their dreams through our affordable offerings. Today the ‘Stop Renting and Start Owning’ push has grown in status, entirely because of the innovation we deploy, both in terms of fea-tures and location without com-promising on quality. The launch of Glamz was quite interesting, as we had made an assumption
based on home-buyers’ feedback and backed our innovative ‘con-vert part of the living room into a bedroom’ concept’ and launched a second project with similar speci-fications after astounding success of Starz.”
Glamz is located in Al Furjan- Dubai next to Discovery Gardens; two minutes away from the pro-posed metro line; ten minutes away from Al Maktoum Interna-tional Airport and Dubai Expo
2020 site. Set in 560 acres around Ibn Batuta Mall and adjacent to Discovery Gardens and the Gar-dens, when complete Al Furjan will feature over 4000- homes.
Danube’s first project Dreamz is well on schedule for delivery whereas other projects- Glitz 1, Glitz 2, Glitz 3, Starz and now the Glamz are all 4-5 months ahead of schedule, and not to mention, every project to date stands 100 per cent sold out.
A P A R T M E N T S
Almost everyone wants a home of their own and it feels good that we are here to help them in realising their dreams through our affordable offerings
Rizwan SajanFounder and chairman, Danube Group
SIS KG students graduateSALALAH: Salalah International School (SIS) celebrated the 6th graduation day of kindergarten section recently with exuberance and ardour. The presence of emi-nent guests added to the grandeur of the occasion.
Dr Ahmed Ali Al Shahri, assis-tant dean of students affairs, Sala-lah College of Technology attended the day as the chief guest. Al Shah-ri was received and welcomed by Muraleedharan, the chairman, Abdul Aziz Omar Al Shanfari, CEO and S. Radhakrishnan, the princi-pal of SIS. Leen Abu Bakar Omer of KG presented bouquet to the chief guest, says a press release.
The event commenced with the National Anthem of Oman followed by a recitation from the Holy Quran.
The welcome address was deliv-ered by Mohammed Salim Awadh Abdullah Ba Qaweer and Sarah Abdullah Khalfan Said Almaamari in Arabic and English respectively.
Cultural fiesta added gusto to the aura with more than 70 students, dressed in colourful attires staged the celebration with their vibrant performances under the insightful guidance of the dedicated and tal-ented teachers of the school.
The cultural programme started with a spectacular welcome dance by the tiny tots of the kindergarten followed by an Arabic skit ‘Dhual
Al Khaleej’ representing the rich tradition of the GCC countries. The little ones in their splendid costumes, with their elegant, en-ergetic and enthusiastic perfor-mance stole the hearts of the audi-ence and took them on the wings of imagination and fantasy.
The English skit ‘Honesty is the Best Policy’ which conveyed the message ‘Truth always wins’ was the highlight of the day. The tiny tots beautifully decked up in rich traditional costumes took the au-dience on a world tour displaying the rich cultural heritage of the different countries.
Arabic light dance ‘Hathwa’ was a thrilling visual treat to all. They steered the mega event through the evening as they compered the show with unabated confidence displaying their oratory skills.
Radhakrishnan presented the progressive annual report of the school, highlighting the gamut of the school’s achievements in vari-ous fields during the academic year
2015-2016. The first batch of stu-dents stepping towards the IGCSE examination in the coming year is the testimony of the achievement of the school within the short span.
Adding yet another golden feather augmenting the glory of the school was the launch of ‘SIS Academia’, the most advanced, one touch academic and administra-tive online school management system by the chief guest.
As a token of love and affec-tion Radhakrishnan along with Muraleedharan and Al Shanfari presented a memento to the chief guest. The cultural extravaganza concluded with the most impor-tant event of the evening, the graduation of UKG students to the primary classes.
The chief along with the chair-man and CEO awarded the con-vocation certificates to 50 up-per kindergarten graduates. The tiny graduates walked the ramp adorned in the traditional convo-cation gowns and caps.
S A L A L A H I N T E R N A T I O N A L S C H O O L
ISG inducts new student leadersMUSCAT: Malak Ahmed Al Shaibani, director general, Na-tional Business Centre, Sultanate of Oman, presided over the inves-titure ceremony of Indian School Al Ghubra (ISG) recently.
Ahmed Rayees, president, school management committee, members of the school manage-ment committee, parents, guests and other dignitaries were also present to witness the solemn occasion. Papri Ghosh, principal, extended a warm welcome to the chief guest in an eco friendly way by presenting a potted plant. The student leaders officially took charge as Papri administered the oath of office, says a press release.
Malak in her address stated that she was happy in being a part of such a glorious occasion that brought new leaders into the foray after a well-deserved vic-tory in the student elections. She reiterated some of the major ar-eas each of them need to ponder upon to set an example to others. Malak urged the new leaders to learn to take up responsibilities and work with a strong sense of commitment to make a difference to others.
The head boys Amartya Jag-dish Naik (CBSE) and Amey Arun Desai ( CBSEi) and the head girls Nechal Maggon (CBSE) and Na-dha Zainab Aryan Thope (CBSEi) were the first to be initiated into
the new team. Aditya Manjusha Shylesh, vice head boy and Vidya Suresh, vice head girl Rhea Nar-esh Chandwani, president of the student council, Durva J. Mahale, the vice president and Priyanka Dasgupta, speaker were also in-vested along with Kavya Kasira-man, president, Round Square International Services. Thejas Sasikumar and Thara Fathima took charge as the games captains for boys and girls respectively.
The prefects from CBSEi com-prising Sanif Daniyal-Communi-ty Service, Anaiz Nausher -Cul-tural Activities, Vidhika Paresh Shah - Discipline, Aditya Sachin Kamath- Funds and Contribu-tions, Nafisa Zuhra- Sports and Games, Jiya Rajeev Singh and Anusree Shirish Gupte – Student Council were also administered the oath.
The prefects of CBSE who were officially inducted were Anupama Sureshkumar Pillai, Palandira
Ponnanna Bopaiah, Arvindak-shan Rajesh, Sneha Suresh, Adi-tya Deepak, Aparna Mehta, Abha Abhay Wadjikar, Sarah Hussain, Jumana Habil Bhagat, Ashwin Sankar, Amrita Atul Deshmukh, Yashica Nagendra Jain, Achintya Jayakumar, Febin P. Varghese, Vivek Nair, Adarsh Varghese Mathew, Dipesh Halder, Shivang K. Vyas, Sreshta Chandrasekar, Martin Varkey Aajan, Rujuta J Kelkar, Saad Ur Rahman and Sau-rabh Pujari.
The house captains for the fol-lowing houses were also sworn in; Muscat House –Dominica Nettoand Shiraaz Shamsu; Nizwa House - Gail Saldanha and Arsal Usman; Sohar House – Naveena Anna Shybu and Jose Johnylal; Sur House – Anisha Mathew and Antony Babu; Adveteeya Ganti - Jupiter House, Wijdaan Masud Rizawi- Neptune House, Sneha K.C. - Saturn House and Mahash-wetha Sarkar - Uranus House.
I N V E S T I T U R E C E R E M O N Y
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MUSCAT: Towell Auto Centre (TAC) recently launched the flag-ship model of Geely Auto, the all-new Emgrand GT 3.5L V6, in Oman.
A front wheel drive car, the GT is powered by either a 2.4L or a 3.5L V6 engine with 6 speed automatic transmission. TAC had launched the 2.4L model early this year and it has received an overwhelming response so far. The Emgrand GT 3.5L V6 is available in 2 variants - Elegance and Luxury. The 3.5L en-gine produces a 285 BHP and 326 Nm, says a press release.
As for the feature list, the 2016
Geely Emgrand GT does boast quite a lot. In the Emgrand GT Luxury variant, some high-end features such as knee air bags, 12 parking sensors, head up display, blind spot detection, parallel semi-automatic parking, panoramic moon roof, rear AC controls, VIP seat adjuster, rear windshield sunshade electric adjustment are available. Some of the other fea-tures are 4 ways electric steering wheel, dual, side and curtain air bags, reverse camera, electronic parking brake & auto hold, ABS and EBD, alloy wheel 18” inch, electric power steering for bet-ter handling, electric folding side mirrors, dual climate control AC,
touch screen radio, USB+AUX, bluetooth and navigation.
A senior spokesperson of TAC commented: “The Geely Emgrand GT 3.5L V6 engine is truly a #su-persedan, a perfect example of affordable luxury. It offers an ex-cellent package of quality, com-fort, design, safety, performance at an unbelievable price. Much of the technology and safety of the Emgrand GT has been under-signed by Volvo cars, which is the wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese automaker.
The Emgrand GT meets Geely Total Safety Management System (GTSM) requirements and puts safety at the forefront with regards
to both passive and active safety systems. This guarantees safety and peace of mind to the drivers at all times.”
Acquirer of the Swedish Volvo brand of Cars and Manganese Bronze Holdings - the manufac-turers of the London Black Taxis, the Geely range is known for its global classy appeal, outstand-ing technology, performance and high-end active and passive safety elements. From the design concept to the manufacturing, all Geely models have been developed in accordance with European stand-ards and by using global techno-logical resources.
By bringing the Geely range to the Sultanate, TAC has reinforced its commitment to provide high-quality products and services to its customers in Oman. Moreo-ver, TAC is offering first three years 24hour AAA roadside as-sistance for added assurance and 3 years/100,000km warranty on purchase of Geely cars.
With a network of 11 show-rooms, 13 service outlets and 10 parts outlets spread across Oman, TAC is one of the leading automo-bile distributors in the region.
It offers an excellent
package of quality,
comfort, design,
safety, performance
at an unbelievable
price
Raymond Weil extends support to RealteamMUSCAT: Swiss watchmaker Raymond Weil is supporting the Realteam sailing team as its of-ficial timing partner for the 2016 season of the D35 Trophy on Lake Geneva and the GC32 Racing Tour internationally.
To mark the occasion, the brand presents a new freelancer watch to accompany the crew throughout all of its adventures. By partner-ing with this young, professional Swiss team, Raymond Weil is pay-ing tribute to its founder who was a member of the Geneva Yacht Club.
“Watchmaking and sail-ing share the same values and requirements, such as perfor-mance, precision and innovation. Raymond Weil is delighted to be supporting this dynamic Swiss team boasting an impressive track record. Realteam perfectly embodies the team spirit, know-
how and Swiss excellence that are key principles underpinning our Brand,” stated Elie Bernheim, CEO of Raymond Weil.
Created for this occasion, the powerful yet elegant freelancer has a 42.5mm diameter case, and is available in polished stainless steel or with a black PVD coat-ing, echoing the aesthetics and dynamics of diving watches. This new freelancer will also be able to support the Realteam crew in the most extreme sailing conditions.
S A I L I N G T E A M
Summer camp at Al Falaj Hotel
MUSCAT: Al Falaj Hotel will once again organise the summer camp from today to July 19.
The summer camp will offer many exciting activities such as oriental and western dancing, karate, swimming, art and craft, yoga and train on public speak-ing. A dedicated team of teachers and volunteers will ensure the experience is full of fun and fond memories.
The summer camp will host numerous in-house competitions and field trips, says a press release.
Al Falaj Hotel’s recreation facili-ties are unmatched as the students are provided with grand hall and the health clubs to conduct many activities in-doors in air-condition comfort. The hotel also provides a choice of two swimming pools for water based activities.
A grand finale is organised at the end of the camp wherein the fami-lies and friends can witness the ac-tivities learnt by each child.
All registered participants will be entitled to a 20% discount on food and beverages at selected out-lets until August 31.
F U N A C T I V I T I E S
Indian film stars attending IIFA in Spain to experience Qatar Airways’ hospitalityDOHA: Qatar Airways is the of-ficial airline sponsor of the Inter-national Indian Film Academy (IIFA) celebrations, which rec-ognise the most talented actors within the popular Indian film fraternity. The 17th edition of the awards, which honour excellence in Indian cinema across a global stage, will take place in Madrid between June 23 – 27.
To celebrate this sponsorship, Qatar Airways is offering an ex-clusive promotion for those travel-ling to Madrid to attend IIFA 2016. Special promotional discounts will be offered on flights booked before June 26 for a travel period until July 6. Passengers can ben-efit from this special discount by making their booking through qatarairways.com/iifa2016-es and by entering the promotional code ‘MADIIFA16’, says a press release.
Qatar Airways’ global network of more than 150 destinations, spanning six continents, puts Ma-drid and IIFA within easy reach for film fans and travellers from around the globe. The award cer-
emony will be attended by Indian and international movie legends, notable guests and dignitaries from across India as well as the world’s media.
Jonathan Harding, senior vice president Europe, Qatar Airways said: “We are delighted to be part-nering with IIFA to promote this event around the world, to every destination we serve. This part-nership truly reflects our core brand value of Going Places To-gether. The popularity of Indian cinema has grown exponentially
over the years, reflected in the scale and extravaganza of the IIFA awards. As one of the fast-est growing global airlines, oper-ating two flights a day to Madrid and connecting to more than 150 destinations, Qatar Airways is well-positioned to offer its award-winning services to those attend-ing the IIFA awards this year.”
Together Madrid and IIFA 2016 are getting ready to present guests with an incredible combination of India and Spain – two of the world’s most richly diverse coun-
tries and cultures. Popular Bollywood stars
Farhan Akhtar and Shahid Ka-poor will be hosting the IIFA awards this year, and the event will also feature spectacular per-formances from leading stars Sal-man Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Pri-yanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Sonakshi Sinha and Tiger Shroff.
Qatar Airways connects 13 destinations in India to Madrid via Doha and also offers seamless connecting flights from countries with large Indian communities such as the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Singapore, Malaysia, USA, UK, Canada, South Africa and Australia.
Passengers travelling to Madrid will enjoy a quick and convenient transfer at Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha, one of the world’s top 10 best airports. With-in HIA, Qatar Duty Free offers travellers one of the most diverse travel retail and dining options available globally, combined with unique services such as an airport hotel, swimming pool and spa.
O F F I C I A L A I R L I N E S P O N S O R
Jet Airways has new GMMUSCAT: Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, announced the appointment of Mannu Anand as its new gen-eral manager in Oman.
Mannu, who has been with Jet Airways since 2007, served most recently as general man-ager – North India based in Delhi. Prior to this he worked at British Airways. In his new role, he looks forward to grow and strengthen the network both to India and beyond, says a press release.
In awe of the beauty of Oman, its rich culture and warm hos-pitality of its people, one of his key agendas is to promote the country as a tourist destination in India.
A P P O I N T M E N T
Shifa Al Jazeera pledges significant amount for philanthropic activitiesMUSCAT: Shifa Al Jazeera, the premier medical group in the Mid-dle East, distributed financial aid worth more than 2.15 million Indi-an rupees to different families and individuals as part of the elaborate philanthropic activities of Dr K. T. Rabeeulla, the group chairman.
A recent recipient of the pres-tigious Pravasi Ratna award in-stituted by Anand TV, Rabeeulla has pledged INR100 million over the next three years for social and philanthropic activities, says a press release.
The Middle East based busi-nessman hails from East Kodur in Kerala and has adopted his vil-lage and making significant con-tributions to the development of the region.
Rameeza Jahan, the fourth rank holder for the medical entrance exam, received the Al Jazeera edu-cation scholarship at a function held at the press club in Malappu-ram - Kerala.
The group has also extended to
support the future education of Rameeza. Shafeera Begum from Pookotu also received education grant on the occasion. An aid of
100,000 Indian rupees was given to K. P. Jishad who is paralysed and is struggling to make ends meet. An-other family who received aid from the Chairman’s Fund was Aneesa who has three children to support and a husband fighting cardiac dis-ease. Rs500,000 was given to the family as a relief.
Vaypur Yathimkhana received 420,000 Indian Rupees for the ac-tivities related to the holy month of Ramadan. Dr Anil Pillai the recipi-ent of ‘The Shifa Al Jazeera Excel-lence’ Award for INR 1 million donated the amount as his contri-bution towards the philanthropic activities of Shifa Al Jazeera. The amount was given to eligible mem-bers towards housing support.
Shifa Al Jazeera group was represented by K. P. Mohammed Kutty, advisory committee chair-man (Saudi Arabia), Ashraf Ven-gat - CEO, Shifa Al Jazeera Riyadh, Mohammed Shakkir (CEO, UAE), Satheesh Eriyalath (corporate communication vice president).
F I N A N C I A L A I D
The Middle East based
businessman Dr K.
T. Rabeeulla, group
chairman of Shifa Al
Jazeera, has pledged
INR100 million over the
next three years for
social and philanthropic
activities
Al Jenaibi launches MINI Ramadan offers in Oman
MUSCAT: On the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, Al Jenaibi International Automo-biles, the BMW Group importer in Oman, has launched its annual offers valid until July 31; with new and exciting offers creating a has-sle-free and a host of additional benefits across the entire MINI model line-up.
Customers who purchase se-lected MINI models during the promotion period will receive a complimentary five years or 200,000km (whichever comes first) warranty. In addition, a complimentary MINI Service In-
clusive XL Service Package cov-ering major servicing for the first three years or 50,000km (which-ever comes first). The offer also includes registration and insur-ance for the first year, ensuring a convenient and hassle-free start to the MINI ownership, says a press release.
Those looking to purchase any of the MINI John Cooper Works models benefit from a two year unlimited mileage manufacturer’s warranty, and a one year compli-mentary insurance and registra-tion. All MINI customers will also receive a 64GB Wi-Fi Apple iP-
hone 6S as a complimentary gift.Commenting on the promotion,
Divyendu Kumar, managing di-rector of Al Jenaibi International Automobiles said: “We continue our promise to our customers to ensure they receive a premium ownership experience with un-matched value for money this Ramadan on our complete MINI model line-up.
In addition to offering our customers exceptional vehicles we have gone the extra mile with a free mobile device as a further thank you for our customers’ loyalty.”
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Bank Sohar launches 2 credit card promotions
MUSCAT: Bank Sohar announced the launch of two special credit card promotions for its customers.
Entitled for all Excel Credit Card Holders, the first promotion titled ‘Visa Jumeirah Stay Offer’ provides customers attractive discount rates when booking at selected Jumeirah chain of hotels and resorts in UAE, Kuwait and Maldives. The second promotion titled ‘Visa Wild Wadi Offer’ is be-ing offered to the Bank’s Platinum and Infinite Credit Card Hold-ers and provides special discount rates when purchasing tickets for Wild Wadi Waterpark in Dubai, says a press release.
Highlighting on the new pro-motions, Sasi Kumar, group gen-eral manager of Business at Bank
Sohar commented, “Special offers such as these always provide great value to our Excel Card Holders. Such offers, together with the wide range of features embedded in our cards make our Excel card products attractive.”
The first of the two offers, the ‘Visa Jumeirah Stay Offer’, comes as part of a partnership with Jumeriah wherein Bank Sohar cardholders will now be able to enjoy a 25% discount on hotel stays in selected Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts across UAE, Kuwait and the Maldives. This offer is valid on all Bank Sohar cards with a minimum of three nights book-ing on any day up to September 30 and all bookings have to be made before June 30. As an additional benefit, cardholders availing this offer will also be provided with exclusive beach access, compli-mentary buffet breakfast, com-plimentary Kids Club access, and complimentary high-speed wireless internet for the duration
of their stay. In addition, anyone booking rooms at Jumeirah hotels in Dubai will also be provided with complimentary unlimited access to the Wild Wadi Waterpark.
The second of the two offers, the ‘Visa Wild Wadi Offer’, pro-vides Bank Sohar holders of Plati-num and Infinite cards with a 25% discount on admission fees to the Wild Wadi Waterpark in Dubai. Valid until September 30, the offer can be availed for both; online and main entrance ticket purchases. The offer will be calculated on the total General Admission Ticket bill for a maximum of six guests per card.
“The luxurious Jumeirah hotels and the popular Wild Wadi Wa-terpark are great locations to visit with the family during the sum-mer holidays. These offers make the idea all the more compelling by providing sizeable discounts; which when combined with the benefits and facilities of our Excel Credit Cards, makes for an even
more attractive value added prop-osition,” added Sasi Kumar.
Bank Sohar Cards Loyalty Programme - ‘Mukaaf’aat Al Mumayaz’ can also be availed through these offers with two of the Bank’s premier credit cards; the Excel Platinum Credit Card and Excel Diamond Infinite Cred-it Card. This programme allows card holders to accumulate one point for every OMR1 spent using their credit cards. These points can then be redeemed as cash at the rate of OMR1 for every 100 points accumulated.
Furthermore, both these new Visa Card promotions will go hand-in-hand with the bank’s on-going ‘Credit Card Usage Cam-paign 2016’. This campaign allows any of the Bank’s Excel Classic, Gold, Platinum, Internet, or Infi-nite Credit Card users to be auto-matically entered into a monthly draw on every minimum purchase of OMR20 on their cards. Each draw will see 30 customers win cash back on their winning pur-chase amounting to a maximum of up to OMR300 each.
With three draws in total, the promotion will see 90 winners once the promotion comes to a close on August 15. Furthermore, customers who spend more than OMR1,000 on a single transaction at any time during the offer period will also have their annual credit card renewal fee waived.
Entitled for all Excel
Credit Card Holders,
the first promotion is
titled ‘Visa Jumeirah
Stay Offer’ and the
second is titled ‘Visa
Wild Wadi Offer’Geepas awarded Superbrand statusDUBAI: Superbrands, the inde-pendent authority and arbiter of branding, awarded Geepas the Superbrand status once again for the year 2016 at the annual Super-brands tribute event, which was held at the InterContinental Hotel in Dubai Festival City.
This year, the award was hand-ed over by Mike English, chair-man, Superbrands Council to Nizar T. N., director of Operations, Western International Group, parent company of Geepas. Lead-ing brands from the UAE were honoured and awarded the Super-brand status. Geepas claimed the Superbrand award for 2015, and has achieved the prestigious rec-ognition for the year 2016 as well, says a press release.
Speaking on the well-deserved win by Geepas, Nizar said, “It is an absolute privilege to have won the award once again. We are consist-ently dedicated in offering our cus-tomers the best products at the best prices. We are where we are today because of the immense support we have received from our loyal cus-tomers, and this time also we are honoured to have had the opportu-nity to shine again because of our customers. Geepas promises to con-tinue being a Superbrand for years to come and to honour the award by
being the best in the region.”With a history of over three dec-
ades of business behind it, Geepas has become a household name in the field of electronics. Geepas is a constantly evolving brand experi-ence in the field of consumer elec-tronics & home appliances and is a leading provider of a range of high performance quality products at affordable prices. Thriving on its exceptional customer service and offering the widest range of prod-ucts, Geepas has deserved the dis-tinction of being a ‘Superbrand’ once again in the UAE.
This honour demonstrates Geepas consistent reliability and its being the best choice for cus-tomers year after year.
This year, Superbrands were voted not only by the Brand Council but also by online vot-ing. Brands are selected under scrutiny by senior management officials which also includes key government officials from the re-gion. Only brands that achieve the level of recognition set by the in-dependent Superbrands Council are eligible for inclusion in the Su-perbrands book, which traces the history and achievements of each of the brands. Geepas is proud and honoured once again to be featured in this year’s Superbrands book.
R E C O G N I T I O N
Al Hashar offers more benefits on Tata Xenon pickupMUSCAT: Al Hashar, the exclu-sive distributor of Tata Motors in Oman, has now added free first year insurance and registration over and above the starting price of OMR4,300 on Xenon Pickup.
The Tata Xenon Pickup is un-matched in its advantages, un-beatable in its performance and unstoppable in its rugged reli-ability. It is the perfect combina-tion of comfort, performance and looks. The scheme is valid till July 31 and is the perfect time to give your business the Xenon advan-tage, says a press release.
What makes it such a gainful in-vestment is apparent from the fact that it is highly affordable, yet it of-fers tremendous advantages that usually come at a much higher price tag! Take a look at its muscular
wheel arches, smart alloy wheels, dominating stance and head-turn-ing looks. The feature packed Xe-non comes with keyless entry, pow-er windows, alloy wheels & ABS among many others. It is available
in Single cabin and Double cabin versions. All Xenon pick-ups come with a 3 years/100,000km. War-ranty, which is a confident reflec-tion of the reliability and durability of the Xenon.
A perfect blend of performance and economics, the Xenon features a 2.1 litre MPFI offering high fuel economy and strong flat load-body delivering a high payload capacity. It is also available in Diesel version with a 2.2L CRDI engine.
Tata Motors has a unique posi-tion of value, safety and strength. Its products are built to cater to the toughest of environments and are tested in some of the harshest conditions on the planet.
The pioneering Al Hashar Group sole distributor of Tata Motors in Oman for over four
decades offers a wide spectrum of vehicles that can be customised for local conditions and meet all the standards for quality, environ-ment norms and user comfort.
Tata Motors is the world’s sec-ond largest bus manufacturer and fifth biggest Truck maker, having significant worldwide presence in 30 countries and 5 continents.
Every Tata vehicle comes with Al Hashar’s total support of peri-odic maintenance, high-quality service, availability of genuine parts and the ability as a business partner to propose solutions for any transport need. Al Hashar is one of Oman’s premier trading companies having experience of over four decades in the auto in-dustry and a full fledged presence in major locations across Oman.
M O R E A D V A N T A G E S
alizz conducts personality development trainingMUSCAT: alizz Islamic bank recently conducted a one-day personality development train-ing workshop focused on staff members across key divisions of its bank. The workshop, held at Majan Hotel at Al Azaiba, was in line with the bank’s plans focus-ing on developing and investing in human resources.
Participants were trained on the mechanisms of personality development, the assessment of a personality’s strengths and weak-nesses as well as the prioritisation of goals a person has and how to plan them well and accomplish them in the future. Simultaneous-ly, they were also engaged through a questionnaire which sought to find ways for them to play a pivot-al in also achieving the bank goals, says a press release.
“At alizz, we spare no effort to support to empower and qualify all employees across the bank’s various divisions,” said Moham-med Al Balushi, chief human re-
sources officer, alizz Islamic bank.“Our division is always keen to
invest in bank staff members who come at the top of our priority list. Such training sessions reflect the bank’s commitment to develop and improve employee skills and capabilities and equip employ-ees with robust Islamic banking knowledge. We guarantee con-venient and high-quality services and transparent transactions to all customers; which is further ev-ident in the successful delivery of these services through our staff,” he explained.
“alizz is committed to hon-ing the skills of all employees and help them be more aware of the products it delivers. Train-ing polishes the skills employees need for dealing with customers more effectively, rendering more effective services and efficient processing of customer transac-tions,” concluded Balushi, noting that one of the bank’s goals is to attract and qualify staff members who prove to be highly competent and stand out from the rest.
Additionally, alizz currently conducts more training and de-
velopment programmes targeting newly-appointed staff who will be working at the branches which the bank is planning as part of its ex-pansion plans across the Sultanate.
The long term goal of alizz is to build strong teams that deliver results and create value to our stakeholders – a two-fold goal. The bank has also earmarked certain amounts of money of its investment to develop human resources and introduce cutting-edge technology in order to pro-vide customers with exceptional and fast services.
S T A F F D E V E L O P M E N T
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Bank Muscat f lags off ‘Tadhamun’
MUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the flag-ship financial services provider in the Sultanate, flagged off its Tad-hamun corporate social responsi-bility (CSR) initiative coinciding with the holy month of Ramadan to support beneficiary homes across
the Sultanate.Reiterating the bank’s dynamic
‘Let’s Do More’ vision and values of accountability and partnership, AbdulRazak Ali Issa, chief ex-ecutive, flagged off the Tadhamun convoy of vehicles carrying the bank’s employees and volunteers to distribute basic electronic home appliances to beneficiary families identified by the Ministry of Social Development, says a press release.
The distributions will be carried out through the holy month along with Eidiyah provided to the ben-eficiary families as a gift from the bank’s employees.
Bank Muscat has lined up a se-ries of programmes under the ban-ner of ‘Ramadan Al Kheir’ to ben-efit different segments of society during the holy month of Rama-dan. In the first leg of Tadhamun programme, basic electronic home
appliances and Eid gift were dis-tributed to beneficiary homes in the wilayats of Barka, Musannah, Suwaiq and Rustaq of South Bati-nah governorate, providing them with an opportunity for a better quality of life.
The objective of the CSR initia-tive is to address the requirements of beneficiary homes which do not have basic home appliances.
AbdulRazak said: “The Tadha-
mun initiative is a fine example of the public-private partnership launched by the bank in associa-tion with the Ministry of Social Development to strengthen the hands of beneficiaries. Through Tadhamun programme, the bank seeks to reiterate its dynamic vi-sion, striving to reach out to differ-ent segments and ‘doing more’ for society as a whole.
“Committed to sustainable de-
velopment, the bank utilises every opportunity to reiterate partner-ship in building the nation by cre-ating opportunities for individu-als and communities to grow and prosper. The bank works closely with local communities with the aim of improving living standards in a manner that complements the national economy.”
Bank Muscat is a pioneer of CSR activities in the banking sector in Oman. Over the years the bank has implemented several initiatives benefiting various segments of so-ciety. The Tadhamun programme underscores the bank’s commit-ment to complement the govern-ment’s efforts in social responsi-bility and thereby strengthen the hands of low-income segments across Oman. Reflecting the cor-porate ethos, the bank seizes every available opportunity to channel resources for creating sustainable, positive changes in communities by investing in their welfare to equip them for a better life.
The distributions
will be carried out
through the holy
month along with
Eidiyah provided
to the beneficiary
families as a gift from
the bank’s employees
Khimji’s Watches partners with Bank MuscatMUSCAT: Khimji’s Watches, the home of luxury in Oman, has joined hands with Bank Muscat, to launch an easy payment plan with zero per cent interest for the bank’s credit cardholders.
This initiative highlights the commitment of Khimji’s Watches to increase its customers’ happi-ness and satisfaction.
With effect from May 15, Bank Muscat credit cardholders, on pur-chasing a product from Khimji’s Watches, can pay in 12 equal in-stalments every month at zero per cent interest rate, instead of a one-time bulk payment. This plan does not apply to the Corporates and Bank Muscat Meethaq Islamic
banking credit cardholders, says a press release.
Sachin Malhotra, COO - Life-style Group at Khimji Ramdas, explained: “We are pleased to an-nounce our joining hands with
Bank Muscat at bringing luxury on your wrists using the easy pay-ment plan with zero per cent in-terest. Our customers can now be stylish yet economical by simply purchasing a product from Kh-
imji’s Watches with their Bank Muscat credit card and paying a small amount every month for the next 12 months with zero per cent interest. This will ensure our customers greater convenience, ease and flexibility in their pay-ment strategy and will make high-value purchases more attainable and manageable for them. Today, everyone is looking for a smarter way to shop; consumers want flex-ible payment solutions that will help them fulfil their desires while maintaining a better control over their budget. We are sure with this easy payment plan, our customers will be able to enjoy luxury at their own budgeted pace.”
E A S Y P A Y M E N T P L A N
Ramniklal B. Kothary
bags ‘Best Distributor
of Year 2015’ award
MUSCAT: Ramniklal B. Kothary & Co. was awarded the ‘Best Glob-al Distributor Of The Year 2015’ award by KRBL India, owners of India Gate brand of basmati rice. KRBL is the world’s largest rice ex-porter representing premium rice under brand names of India Gate and Nurjahan.
The award ceremony was held recently at Mirage Hotel in Dubai. The award was handed out by Anil Mital, chairman of KRBL India to Vishal M. Kothary and Shreyans P. Kothary, directors of Ramniklal B. Kothary along with Ramniklal’s senior management team, says a press release.
A C C O L A D E
Al Basma opens new outlet
MUSCAT: Al Basma Electronics opened its 13th outlet in Bu Ali. Mohammed Musthafa, general manager of Al Basma, said that the new branch is the part of ex-pansion plans to serve the people of Oman in each and every part of the country. He stressed the com-pany’s policy of best price and better service. Basma care, the service centre, has also opened along with new showroom.
1 3 T H O U T L E T
Malabar Gold set to distribute 53,000 Iftar meals
MUSCAT: Malabar Gold & Dia-monds, the leading jewellery re-tailer, strengthens its CSR activi-ties in the GCC and Far East region this Ramadan, embracing the spir-it of giving.
Month-long activities are planned in association with like-minded organisations from the respective countries to benefit the needy. Over 53,000 special Iftar meals will be distributed during this period, says a press release.
In UAE, 24,000 Iftar meals will be provided at Sajaa Industrial area throughout the holy month of Ramadan in an air conditioned tent which is set up with the sup-
port of Sharjah Charity Interna-tional. Apart from this, Iftar kits will be distributed across the Emirates to the needy.
In Bahrain, the group is planning to provide over 4,500 Iftar meals to the workers at different labour camps located all over Bahrain. Like in previous years, they will be associating with Discovery Islam, Al Hedaya Centre and Friendship Society for Blinds to carry out such activities in Bahrain.
In Kuwait, the group will pro-vide Iftar meals to over 3,600 la-bourers in different parts of vari-ous governorates in Kuwait.
In Qatar, the group will be pro-
viding Iftar meals to over 1,500 labourers during the time of Ram-adan through their tents located in Al Khor & Industrial Area near Asian Town.
In Oman, the group is distrib-uting special Ramadan kit to the under privileged, 300 such kits includes of grocery which will be enough for a person to break the fast for 15 days during Ramadan.
In Singapore, 370 special Iftar kit will be distributed to the under priv-ileged people, one such kit will in-cludes of grocery will be enough for a family to break the fast for a week.
In Malaysia, the group will be distributing 2,500 food kit to the
less fortunate and blind people in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur in association with the like-minded organisations. One such kit includes grocery which will be enough for a family to break the fast for a week.
Since its inception in 1993, Ma-labar Group has been actively in-volved in CSR activities with the aim of creating a difference to the community in and around their area of operations. The impor-tance of CSR activities for Ma-labar Group has grown over the decades and the group sets aside a fixed percentage of its net profit for the benefit of the needy.
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France ready to roar after easing off pressurePARIS: A draw against Romania in their Euro 2016 opening game on Friday would not have been a dis-aster for France but the hosts’ last-gasp 2-1 win against their Group A rivals will allow them to play more freely in their upcoming matches.
For at least one half, Didier De-schamps’s team looked crushed under pressure, needing Hugo Lloris’s point-blank save in the fourth minute to avoid a Romania opener that would have made their life much more complicated at the Stade de France.
Olivier Giroud headed home from Dimitri Payet’s cross be-fore the hour for France, only for Bogdan Stancu to equalise from the penalty spot.
Man of the match Payet, how-ever, drove a venomous strike into the top corner one minute from time to give France all three points.
“France had not played a com-petitive game in two years, there was a lot of apprehension,” full-back Patrice Evra, whose silly foul led to Romania’s penalty, said.
“There was pressure because it was the opening game, because everyone wanted to do well. I liked our mindset. We can’t win like this every time but that was beautiful.”
According to Evra, still a very influential player in the dressing room although he is not captain anymore, Les Bleus are now ready to rumble when they take on Alba-nia on Wednesday in Marseille.
“Now we will be able to come loose against Albania,” he said.
While they seemed to be playing in first gear during the first half, the hosts also showed glimpses of what they are capable of.
They created numerous chanc-es after Anthony Martial replaced the disappointing Paul Pogba.
With Giroud, Payet and Antoine Griezmann at the start and King-sley Coman, Martial or Andre-Pierre Gignac on the bench, France have enough firepower and can be devastating up front, especially when playing without pressure.
Friday’s opening game served that purpose. “The players can feel that the crowd are behind them, which is extraordinary, but it gives them obligations, it was not easy to deal with it from a psychologi-cal point of view,” said Deschamps. “The joy of the crowd was nice to see. It will give us more confidence and more serenity.” - Reuters
T O P L A Y M O R E F R E E L YSchaer header seals Swiss win over 10-man Albania
LENS: An early goal by defender Fabian Schaer earned Switzer-land a 1-0 victory over debutants Albania whose captain was sent off before halftime in the Euro 2016 Group A match on Saturday.
Switzerland, bidding to reach the knockout stages for the first time, scored in the fifth minute and were given a further boost by a second yellow card for Albania skipper Lorik Cana.
The Swiss took the lead when goalkeeper Etrit Berisha rushed out to clear a corner, but could only lunge at centre back Schaer who rose unchallenged to head in.
Cana’s dismissal for a second yel-low card after a handball in the 36th minute seemed to have more or less sealed it for the Swiss, whose keep-er Yann Sommer had brilliantly prodded out a shot from striker Ar-mando Sadiku five minutes earlier. After Cana’s exit, Switzerland be-sieged the Albania goal, also hitting the post, and could have been two or three up at the break.
The Swiss had several chances in the second half kept out by Ber-isha, notably in the 66th minute when striker Haris Seferovic was put through with only the keeper to beat. With 15 minutes to go, Al-bania’s Italian coach Giovanni De Biasi threw on Sokol Cikalleshi as a second striker and within a minute Sadiku hit the side netting from a narrow angle.
Albania’s golden chance to equalise came three minutes from time when substitute Shkelzen Gashi sprang the Swiss defence and had time and space to think,
only for Sommer to expertly parry his over the bar.
It was only the second Euro fi-nals victory for Switzerland and the first one with any meaning as they joined hosts France at the top of Group A.
Brothers as rivalsSwiss Granit and Albania’s Taul-ant Xhaka became the first broth-ers to play against each other in a European Championship.
The game also featured a host of other players with Albanian roots
who could have opted to play for either side.
Albanian fans were initially the most vocal inside the stadium in Lens, periodically booing mid-fielders Xherdan Shaqiri, Valon Behrami and others they felt
should have been playing for them.Albania, who have now failed
to beat Switzerland in seven at-tempts, will travel to Marseille on Wednesday to face hosts France. Switzerland face Romania the same day. - Reuters
Switzerland, bidding
to reach the knockout
stages for the first
time, scored in the
fifth minute and were
given a further boost
by a second yellow
card for Albania
skipper Lorik Cana
STUNNER: Switzerland’s defender Fabian Schaer, second right, heads the ball to score a goal during their Euro 2016 Group A match against Albania at the Bollaert-Delelis Stadium in Lens on Saturday. – AFP
LENS: Switzerland opened their campaign on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Albania but coach Vladimir Petkovic bemoaned his side’s inability to kill off their opponents after they were reduced to 10 men.
“It’s very positive we cre-ated a lot of opportunities. We
simply needed to kill off the match,” the Swiss coach told a news conference.
Petkovic said his team started well but did not keep up their early momentum. “We almost took two steps back and slowed down, we weren’t the side we had been in the first 20 minutes.
It was our fault that they (Alba-nia) grew into the match.”
Petkovic said it was an emo-tional match for many of his squad who have Albanian or Kosovo-Albanian roots.
Swiss player Granit Xhaka, whose brother Taurat featured for Albania, said it felt more
like an away match given the visible and vocal support for the opposition.
Valon Behrami was the subject of booing but he said it had almost been expected. “I was calm. I knew this game was going to be difficult, I prepared for that for two months.” - Reuters
Coach Petkovic demands killer instinct from Switzerland
Bale and Robson-Kanu help Wales to make dream start
BORDEAUX: Wales forward Gareth Bale got their Euro 2016 campaign off to a dream start with an early goal and substitute Hal Robson-Kanu struck a late win-ner as they beat Slovakia 2-1 in the Group B opener on Saturday.
Robson-Kanu fired home from inside the area in the 81st minute following a neat pass by Aaron
Ramsey to secure the three points after Bale had put the Welsh in front in the 10th with a free kick that deceived Slovakia keeper Matus Kozacik. Slovakia, who should have scored after five min-utes when Marek Hamsik drib-bled past three players only to see his goalbound shot cleared off the line by Ben Davies, equalised
through substitute Ondrej Duda with his first touch on the hour.
But Robson-Kanu popped up to give Wales a deserved victory in their first major international tournament for 58 years after an inspired substitution by manager Chris Coleman who was as de-lighted as the hordes of Welsh fans at the Stade de Bordeaux. - Reuters
D E S E R V E D V I C T O R Y
DELIGHTED: Wales’ Gareth Bale, second left, celebrates with teammates after their victory over Slovakia in a Euro 2016 Group B match at the Stade de Bordeaux in Bordeaux on Saturday. – AFP
C2 S U N DAY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 6
IORDANESCU WARNS OF TOUGH TASK TO ROUSE THE ROMANIANS
‘Horrible’ Northern Ireland to test patience of Poland
NICE: Poland face a test of pa-tience and their nerves when they open their Euro 2016 campaign against a Northern Ireland side who want to make themselves “horrible” to play against.
Sunday’s Group C match will pit one of the most attack-mind-ed of the 24 teams at Euro 2016 against a team who have made no bones about their intentions.
Spearheaded by the attacking duo of Robert Lewandowski and Arkadiusz Milik, Poland were the highest-scoring team in the quali-fying competition with 33 goals, 13 of them coming from Bayern Munich’s Lewandowski.
Coach Adam Nawalka has turned them from a counter-at-tacking side into one that keeps possession and build attacks carefully. He has also bucked the trend of teams playing with a
single, or no, striker, expressly to give Lewandowski more sup-port, a tactic which has worked wonders so far.
The huge expectations back home, however, will put Poland under considerable pressure as they attempt to pass the group stage at the Euros for the first time, and Northern Ireland are just the team to play on their anxiety.
Northern Ireland have limited resources but manager Michael O’Neill clearly knows their place and makes no apologies for a play-ing style which is likely to prove a
test of endurance for spectators as well as the opposition.
“We are going to have to be hor-rible to play against,” he said re-cently. “We are going to be really good without the ball, run further than any other team, drill all the statistics back in their face. Sixty-five per cent possession? We don’t expect to have that.”
The Euro debutants’ squad includes 13 players based with lower-tier sides in England, five from the English Premier League, four from the Scottish Premier League and one from Australia’s
A-League. None of them play in continental Europe.
Despite this, they conceded only eight goals in qualifying and are unbeaten in their last 12 matches, a run stretching back to March last year and the longest in the team’s history.
“It’s a fantastic achievement to be out here but having achieved that we want to leave our mark on the tournament,” said O’Neill.
“There is a sense of excitement for all of us. This is a new experi-ence for myself (and) for all of the players.” - Reuters
The Group C match
will pit one of the
most attack-minded
of the 24 teams at
Euro 2016 against a
team who have made
no bones about their
intentions
TEST OF NERVES: Poland’s forward Robert Lewandowski, centre, warms up with teammates during a training session in La Baule. – AFP
DEBUTANTS: Northern Ireland’s warm up during a training session at the team’s training ground in
Saint George de Reneins. – AFP
Payet gets paybackPARIS: Walking off the pitch in tears after scoring a stunning late winner for France against Roma-nia in the Euro 2016 opener on Friday, it was hard to believe man-of-the-match Dimitri Payet almost did not make the squad.
The mercurial midfielder, who created the first goal before firing the clincher in the 89th minute in the hosts’ 2-1 Group A win over a stub-born Romania, was until recently a peripheral player in the mind of France coach Didier Deschamps.
“To be here tonight and score is the result of a lot of hard work and a lot of sacrifices,” the 29-year-old Payet said of his long road back from the international wilderness.
“To be honest, compared to some players, I honestly didn’t think I
would be here today at the start of the season,” added the West Ham United player. “There was some pressure arriving at the stadium, but I came to enjoy myself.”
That pressure was the result of a prolonged period in the interna-tional doldrums when Payet was ignored by Deschamps and often told he had slipped too far down the pecking order to be worthy of a spot in the squad. Payet made little ef-fort to hide his frustration at being overlooked by Deschamps: “Hon-estly, I am struggling to understand what he is really asking of me.”
But his persistence paid off and he was finally welcomed back in to the French fold in March, just in time to force his way into the reck-oning for the Euros. - Reuters
F R A N C E M A E S T R O
C3S U N DAY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 6
FRANCE COACH DESCHAMPS WANTS A LOT MORE FROM POGBAGBA
Croatia out to banish
bitter memories of
Euro 2008 failure
PARIS: Croatia will seek to erase the bitter memories of their Euro 2008 failure against Turkey, de-scribed by key players as their most painful defeat ever, when they meet in this year’s Group D opener in Paris on Sunday.
The Croatians had one foot in the last four eight years ago, af-ter taking a 1-0 lead in the final minute of extra-time in an epic quarterfinal clash in Vienna, only to concede with the last kick of the game before they lost in a penalty shootout.
Croatia have not reached the knockout stages of a major tour-nament since and defender Ve-dran Corluka, a survivor from the 2008 side, said navigating a tough group was more important than getting revenge.
“The bitter feeling of that loss can only be compensated by winning the European Champi-onship,” the 30-year-old centre back told a news conference in the team’s Deauville base camp in northern France on Friday.
“It’s the distant past and not re-ally in the focus of our prepara-tions but we can push it further back in our minds and, more importantly, make the right start if we beat them at the Parc des Princes.”
Influential playmaker Luka Modric, who missed the opening penalty for Croatia in the 2008
shootout, added: “I cried like a baby that night, it was the biggest setback of my career.”
Turkey have failed to qualify for a major tournament since their impressive Euro 2008 cam-paign, having been knocked out in the 2012 European Champion-ship playoffs after a 3-0 aggregate defeat by Croatia.
Their coach Fatih Terim, who steered his battling team to the semifinals eight years ago, ac-knowledged that beating the Cro-atians was imperative ahead of matches with holders Spain and Czech Republic.
“Winning this game would pave the way for a last-16 berth,” Terim was quoted as saying by Turkish media.
“I believe that if we work hard, we can advance.”
Terim is likely to field the side which beat Slovenia 1-0 in a friendly on Sunday, with scorer Burak Yilmaz set to the lead the line in front of the versatile Arda Turan and gifted 22-year-old playmaker Hakan Calhanoglu.
Croatia’s attacking midfielder Ivan Rakitic singled out his Bar-celona team mate Arda as the biggest threat.
“He is a truly outstanding player and pulls all the strings for Turkey, therefore we have to close him down in order to keep a clean sheet.” - Reuters
P R E V I E W
RIGHT START: Croatia’s players attend a training session in
Deauville, ahead of their Euro 2016 match against Turkey. – AFP
WE CAN ADVANCE: Turkey’s national team coach Fatih Terim,
cetnre, speaks to his wards during a training session in Bandol. – AFP
Ukraine speed to test Germany’s defence
EVIAN: Germany’s defence will be put to the test in their opening Euro 2016 group match against Ukraine in Lille on Sunday with major questions still to be an-swered about the world champi-ons’ new-look rearguard.
Coach Joachim Loew’s team will be without key central defend-er Mats Hummels, still recovering from a muscle injury, as they kick off their Group C campaign.
Hummels’ replacement Antonio Ruediger was ruled out with torn cruciate knee ligaments this week.
Holding midfielder and captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, still work-ing on his comeback from injury, is also absent, further complicating Loew’s defensive conundrum.
Benedikt Hoewedes and Jerome Boateng are the two likely central defenders but both had a long inju-ry break late in the season and are in desperate need of match prac-tice. Jonathan Tah, the 20-year-old who was only called up this week following Ruediger’s injury, is expected to be on the bench.
Toni Kroos, who will shoulder the biggest responsibility of con-
necting Germany’s defensive and attacking game, is brimming with confidence following his Champi-ons League win with Real Madrid.
Assistant coach Thomas Sch-neider sounded confident on Fri-day that the team would quickly find their cohesion at the back.
“In the last few matches we thought a lot about our defensive operation and we came up with a few things, including for defen-sive set pieces,” he said. “We have worked on that in training and eve-ryone knows their job.”
Ukraine, while outsiders, are certain to test the Germans’ new-look defence with quick wingers Andriy Yarmolenko and Yevhen Konoplyanka capable of inflicting severe damage.
It will be up to Loew’s full backs to neutralise that threat but they must also break down a steely Ukraine defence.
The Germans, eyeing their fourth Euro triumph but first since 1996, have never lost an opening match at the European Champi-onship and are aware a slip-up
could prove costly. “The first game is extremely important and it will determine our run in this tourna-ment,” attacking midfielder Julian Draxler said.
Ukraine managed to keep six clean sheets in 10 qualifiers with coach Mykhailo Fomenko having taken over after the co-hosts’ dis-appointing Euro 2012 campaign.
They then came out on top against Slovenia in a playoff last year, with the 67-year-old hav-ing moulded them into an effi-cient unit. - Reuters
Coach Loew’s
Germany team will
be without key
central defender
Mats Hummels, still
recovering from a
muscle injury, as
they kick off their
Group C campaign
against Ukraine
KEY PLAYERS: A combination of two file pictures shows Germany’s midfielder and captain Bastian
Schweinsteiger, left, and his Ukraine counterpart Anatoliy Tymoshchuk. – AFP
SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016
SPOR S
Ex-Nigeria coach Amodu is dead
LAGOS: Shaibu Amodu, who had nine different spells as coach of Nigeria, has died sud-denly, the country’s football fed-eration said on Saturday.
Amodu, 58, was the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) technical director and his death came days after that of former national team captain and coach Stephen Keshi on Tuesday from a suspected heart attack. The NFF said Amodu complained of chest pains on Friday night and passed away in his sleep. - Reuters
F O O T B A L L
Rahul hits ton on debut, India thrash Zimbabwe
HARARE: It was a dream debut for opener Lokesh Rahul as his attractive 100 not out enabled a new-look Indian team record a re-sounding nine-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the first One-day International (ODI) of the three match series here on Saturday.
Chasing a paltry target of 169, the Indian batsmen hardly broke sweat as they comfortably cruised home in 42.3 overs.
Playing his first ODI, Rahul com-pleted his coveted three-figure landmark with a huge six over deep mid-wicket off seamer Hamilton Masakadza, when there was only two runs required to win the match.
He found an able ally in Ambati Rayudu (62 not out) as they added 162 runs in 38 overs for the unbro-ken second wicket partnership even though the Hyderabadi bats-man was not at his fluent best.
When he reached 87, Rahul also became the highest individual scor-er on debut eclipsing Robin Uthap-pa’s 86 against England on his ODI debut in Indore, back in 2006. Ma-hendra Singh Dhoni’s team were in
complete control of the proceed-ings right from the start as the hosts never looked like putting up a fight during the course of the match, once they were put into bat.
After Jasprit Bumrah (four for 28), Dhawan Kulkarni (two for 42) and Barinder Sran (2/42) made full use of the conditions where there was help for seamers, Rahul-Rayudu pair kept calm as they chased with minimum fuss.
They were effective without
being scintillating as they did not play too many adventurous shots during their partnership.
While Rahul hit seven bounda-ries and a six in his 115-ball in-nings, a relatively subdued Rayudu picked up during the second half, hitting five boundaries in 120 balls.
Rayudu, who hit his sixth ODI half-century, also completed 1000 ODI runs during his innings, be-coming the fifth fastest to do so in 29 innings. While Rahul was im-
pressive on debut, another debu-tant Karun Nair (7) could not cash in on the opportunity as he was dismissed cheaply.
With the pitch being a tricky one, the duo needed time before they started playing their shots. The Karnataka lad, who already has two Test hundreds against Australia and Sri Lanka respec-tively, hit some attractive cover drives as well as square cuts off both seamers and spinners.
Whenever pacer like Tendai Chatara provided width outside the off-stump, Rahul was equal to his task while skipper Graeme Cremer’s leg-breaks were also treated with disdain. With the tar-get being a small one, building the innings was never a problem as the mediocre bowling attack of the home team hardly proved to be a threat to Rahul and Rayudu.
Earlier, Indian pacers made good use of the conditions to bowl out hosts Zimbabwe for a mea-gre 168 after Dhoni called it right at the toss. The pace trio of Sran, Kulkarni and Bumrah responded well to their captain’s call by shar-ing the bulk of the wickets amongst themselves. Even Axar Patel (one for 26) and debutant leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (one for 28) also were impressive.
Zimbabwe, all out in 49.5 overs, would have found it tough to cross the 150-run mark if it was not for the efforts of Elton Chigumbura, who made a gritty 41 off 65 balls in his 200th ODI for his country.
The Zimbabwe innings never got going with their batsmen strug-gling against the Indian pace bat-tery. It was an early morning start and the ball moved around. Sran, who did well in the IPL, was on the money from ball one. He could have had Chamu Chibhabha lbw on his very first ball the umpire thought the in-swinger did a bit too much. The left-arm pacer, however, did not have to wait long for a wicket as he caught Chibhabha’s opening parter Peter Moor in front of the stumps with another inswinger.
The batsmen found scoring ex-tremely difficult before Kulkarni had the experienced Hamilton Masakadza caught behind to make it 30 for two in ninth over. - PTI
Chasing a paltry
target of 169, the
Indian batsmen
hardly broke sweat
as they comfortably
cruised home in
42.3 overs
Paes gets Olympic ticket, to team up with BopannaNEW DELHI: Veteran Leander Paes on Saturday got the nod for his seventh Olympic appearance after the All India Tennis Asso-ciation (AITA) paired him with Rohan Bopanna for the men’s doubles competition despite the latter’s desire to team up with Saketh Myneni.
Announcing the squad for the Olympics, beginning August 5, AITA chief Anil Khanna said Bo-panna will be pairing up with
Sania Mirza in the mixed dou-bles event as had been demanded by the world No. 1 in women’s
doubles. Sania will be teaming up with Prarthana Thombare in the women’s doubles event.
As was expected, the AITA reject-ed Bopanna’s request for Myneni as his partner, saying that India’s best chance for a medal at Rio lay in him teaming up with Paes, who won the French Open mixed doubles title earlier this month.
“He (Bopanna) has given rea-sons to selection committee on why he feels Saketh could be a better doubles partner. But he has also made it clear that he wants to represent the nation. It was a well-
meaning letter (which Bopanna wrote yesterday to AITA). Leander and Rohan have played four times in Davis Cup, they have a 2-2 re-cord,” Khanna said. “Committee decided that the best bet for Indian tennis to win a medal at the Olym-pics would be Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna.”
Khanna then named Bopanna and Sania as the best medal hopes in the mixed doubles category.
“The committee has decided to nominate Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles competition,” he said. - PTI
R I O G A M E S
BEST BET: Leander Paes, left, and Rohan Bopanna. – PTI
ZIMBABWE Peter Moor lbw Sran 3C. Chibhabha b Bumrah 13H. Masakadza c Dhoni b Kulkarni 14Craig Ervine c sub b Patel 21Vusi Sibanda c Dhoni b Bumrah 5Sikandar Raza b Sran 23E. Chigumbura b Bumrah 41R. Mutumbami c Rahul b Chahal 15Graeme Cremer b Kulkarni 8T. Chatara c Rayudu b Bumrah 4Taurai Muzarabani not out 1Extras (lb-3, w-14, nb-3) 20Total (all out, 49.5 overs) 168Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-30, 3-47, 4-69, 5-77, 6-115, 7-140, 8-156, 9-167.Bowling: Dhawal Kulkarni 10-1-42-2; Barinder Sran 10-0-42-2; Jasprit Bumrah 9.5-2-28-4; Axar Patel 10-1-26-1; Yuzven-dra Chahal 10-1-27-1.INDIALokesh Rahul not out 100Karun Nair c S. Raza b Chatara 7Ambati Rayudu not out 62Extras (lb-1, w-3) 4Total (1 wkt; 42.3 overs) 173Fall of wickets: 1-11.Bowling: Tandai Chatara 7-1-20-1; Taurai Muzarabani 6-0-18-0; Chamu Chibhabha 8-1-14-0; Graeme Cremer 10-0-47-0; Elton Chigumbura 4-0-34-0; Sikandar Raza 5-0-20-0; Hamilton Masakadza 2.3-0-19-0.
S C O R E B O A R D
100runs from 115 balls
17 fours, 1 six
LOKESHRAHUL
C5
SPORTSS U N DAY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 6
Coach Al Darmaki calls up 27 players for Oman national hockey team camp
MUSCAT: Oman national hockey team coach Ahmed bin Nasser Al Darmaki has called up 27 players for a training-cum-conditioning camp which is scheduled to start at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex on Sunday.
At the camp, which runs till June 20, focus will be on physical fitness while the coach will also look at the possibility of helping the individual players to develop their skills.
During the camp, the players
will also play practice matches. The Oman Hockey Association has arranged the camp as part of the team’s preparations for the forth-coming international tournaments, including FIH Hockey World League and Asia Cup qualifiers.
Oman will be competing in the first round of the World League, which will be played in Turky in September.
The qualifiers for the Asian Cup hockey tournament are scheduled for November. - ONA
H O C K E Y
NEW BEGINNING: A file photo of Oman national hockey players during a training session.
India hold ground to clinch 2-1 win over Great BritainLONDON: India’s defence held its ground against desperate Great Britain as they clinched a 2-1 victory in the 36th Champi-ons Trophy here on Saturday, put-ting them at the top of the league standings with four points.
Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh stood his ground against a number of shots at the goal, four of them on penalty corners, as India made use of a breakaway opportunity created by right winger SV Sunil and their defenders covered the angles well to emerge victorious.
Playing deep inside their own territory in the first quarter against early British raids, India scored through Mandeep Singh on their first raid by Sunil in the 17th minute. Harmanpreet Singh then converted a penalty stoke in the 33rd minute, while Britain pulled one back through a pen-alty corner conversion by Ashley Jackson in the 35th minute.
Allowing Olympic champions Germany to come back to draw 3-3 on Friday, India now have four points from two matches.
Britain have just one point from a draw in their opening match. Earlier, Olympic champions Ger-many rallied from a two-goal defi-cit to secure a 4-4 draw with Bel-gium in the earlier game, which was disrupted by heavy showers that left the field water-logged.
Play was stopped for half an hour midway through the Ger-many-Belgium match, until the water on the turf was swept away.
Forcing two penalty corners in the initial three minutes, Great
Britain were denied by goalkeeper Sreejesh as the Indian custodian blocked shots from Sam Ward and Jackson. Indians continued to stay in their own half crowd as Britain strikers repeatedly broke into the scoring zone, but were not able to take a good crack at the goal.
Ward did not succeed in his diving attempt to reach a Jack-son cross from left in the 12th minute and David Condon’s shot from top of the circle in the 15th minute went wide to the right.
India took the lead in the 17th minute on their first good move when right winger Sunil’s fine run on the flank saw him break into the circle. Sunil’s cross into the goalmouth scraped past a defender’s stick and went to Mandeep in the goalmouth. Mandeep capitalised on the chance by pushing it into the goal.
A few minutes later, Mandeep could have again featured in a goal-bearing move when he picked up a through ball deep in the British half. He was in a one-on-one situation with the only defender in front and could have burst forward, but instead misdi-rected a back-pass. - PTI
C H A M P I O N S T R O P H Y
India now have four points from two matches
Wickets tumble to leave Lord’s Test in balance
LONDON: Wickets fell quickly on the third day of the third and final Test on Saturday as England reached the close on 109 for four, 237 runs ahead of Sri Lanka in a fluctuating match at Lord’s.
England picked up five wick-ets in the morning to bowl out the touring side for 288 and close in on a series whitewash but Sri Lanka hit back, claiming three quick wickets to give themselves a chance of a consolation victory.
Sri Lanka, resuming on 162 for one, lost Kusal Mendis, Kaushal Silva and Angelo Mathews inside the first 40 minutes to an inspired England pace attack led by Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad.
Woakes struck first, trapping Mendis lbw for 25 and Broad forced Silva to edge a catch to wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow without adding to his overnight score of 79.
Mathews, on three, nicked a ris-ing Woakes delivery to Joe Root at fourth slip to leave Sri Lanka reel-ing at 169 for four.
Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal set about repairing the damage in a gritty fifth-wicket part-nership of 33 but Steven Finn re-moved both batsmen before lunch.
The tall fast bowler dismissed Chandimal lbw for 19 and Thiri-manne, on 17, drove loosely at a wide delivery and gave Root an-other catch at third slip.
Kusal Perera and Rangana Her-ath shared a stubborn seventh-wicket partnership of 71 to frus-trate England before Broad bowled Herath for 31 and after Perera edged James Anderson to Bairstow for 42 Sri Lanka folded quickly.
England captain Alastair Cook was unable to open the innings after he was struck on the knee by the ball when fielding close to the wicket.
Nick Compton and Alex Hales added 45 for the first wicket with-out undue alarm before Compton, on 19, edged Shaminda Eranga to
wicketkeeper Chandimal, another failure in a poor series that will al-most certainly cost him his place in the team. Root was bowled by Nuwan Pradeep for four, the ball keeping very low, and James Vince shouldered arms to his first delivery and was also bowled.
Alex Hales and Bairstow steadied the ship with a partnership of 51. Bairstow continued his rich vein of form to make 32 runs but he played a tired shot at Pradeep and was bowled middle stump. Hales sur-vived to reach the close on 41 with nightwatchman Finn on six. - Reuters
England picked up
five wickets in the
morning to bowl out
the touring side for
288 but Sri Lanka hit
back, claiming three
quick wickets to give
themselves a chance
of a consolation win
THREE WICKETS: Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Pradeep celebrates after dismissing England’s Jonny Bairstow
during the third day of their third Test match at Lord’s in London on Saturday. – Reuters
England 1st innings: 416Sri Lanka 1st inningsD. Karunaratne c Bairstow b Finn 50K. Silva c Bairstow b Broad 79K. Mendis lbw Woakes 25L. Thirimanne c Root b Finn 17A. Mathews c Root b Woakes 3D. Chandimal lbw Finn 19K. Perera c Bairstow b Anderson 42R. Herath b Broad 31S. Eranga c Vince b Woakes 1S. Lakmal c Root b Anderson 0N. Pradeep not out 0Extras (b-4, lb-16, w-1) 21Total (all out, 95.1 overs) 288Fall of wickets: 1-108, 2-162, 3-166, 4-169, 5-202, 6-205, 7-276, 8-288, 9-288.
Bowling: J. Anderson 23-6-61-2; S. Broad 23-7-79-2; S. Finn 18-1-59-3 (w-1); C. Woakes 17.1-5-31-3; M. Ali 14-2-38-0.
England 2nd innings N. Compton c Chandimal b Eranga 19A. Hales not out 41 J. Root b Pradeep 4J. Vince b Pradeep 0J. Bairstow b Pradeep 32S. Finn not out 6Extras (b-2, lb-1, nb-4) 7Total (4 wkts, 38 overs) 109Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-50, 3-50, 4-101.Bowling: S. Lakmal 8-1-32-0; S. Eranga 8-1-25-1 (nb-3); N. Pradeep 9-2-25-3 (nb-1); R. Herath 9-2-16-0; A. Mathews 4-1-8-0.
S C O R E B O A R D
WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM
HealthSECTIONC L I F E S T Y L E S U N DAY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 6
MIXED FRUIT SMOOTHIE Ingredients Half cup pineapple Half cup mixed berries(blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, etc.) Four tablespoon plain yoghurt
One banana Two scoops strawberry protein (substitute vanilla, banana, fruit flavors) Two tablespoon milled flaxseed One to one and a half cups almond milk
PREPARATIONReally the easiest thing to create ever, just chuck 3 frozen fruits inside the blender first, then yogurt, then banana, then the protein and flaxseed, and pour the almond milk ontop of that. If you want a truly thick shake ensure that it stays as is, if you want a finer shake add chilled water and or ice.
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Fruits are very beneficial for the body and if had with milk as smoothie they become a complete meal. The recommend-
ed amount of drinking water is 8-10 glasses per day. In Ramadan it will be a digestive challenge to drink vast amounts in short periods, par-ticularly after breaking the fast. This water shortage can be avoided by having 2-4 juicy fruits per meal or by drinking fruit smoothies. Summer fruits which are in season now are the best choices for this fasting month.
Fruits like watermelon are 92 per cent water and it is packed with rehydration salts like magnesium, calcium, sodium, and potassium. So it can hydrate more effectively
than water. Cantaloupes are also exceptionally good fruit for sup-porting energy production and for the ability to keep the blood sugar stable.
Oranges are sweet and packed with 100 per cent daily recom-mended value for vitamin C with 87 per cent water. Grape fruits con-tain only 30 calories and the detox-ifying limonoids (phytochemicals found in citrus fruit) in them are found to inhibit cancer tumours.
Strawberries are 92 per cent wa-ter and are ranked as 4th strongest antioxidant fruit. Berries like rasp-berries and blueberries are peak during summer and they clear the arteries and regulate blood sugar.
Figs are the summer beauties which are widely consumed during
Ramadan. They are known to lower blood pressure, improve digestion; help with weight loss and reduce blood sugar. As one of the world’s healthiest foods they provide the fi-bre and energy to keep moving.
Grapes are filled with water and are known for extremely high content of Resveratol, a substance that acts as an antioxidant and is heart friendly.
Coconut water is an excellent drink during Ramadan. It has relatively low sodium and carbohydrates content and tastes dry but refreshing.
Eating pineapple after the meal will improve digestion because of bromelin and it has lots of anti in-flammatory compounds.
Mangoes are the king of fruits, they provide 135 calories, and are
rich sources of vitamins A, B6 and C, plus fibre.
These fruits can be taken raw or as fruit smoothies. Fruit smoothies can be used as a full food without any side effects.
During Ramadan fruit smoothies fulfil the nutrition requirement of our body and save from dehydra-tion as well as from several types of diseases.
Fruit smoothies help in the growth of body muscles and bone development. They improve our body’s protection system against different types of bacteria and most importantly help the fasting body to regain strength and energy during Ramadan.
— The writer is diet consultant at KIMS Oman Hospital
During Ramadan minerals and vitamins decrease in the body. This causes dehydration
and to avoid it one should have more fruits in their diet during the non-fasting hours.
Story Jishy Seby
Fruits for the Fasting Month
MIXED FRUIT SMOOTHIE INGREDIENTS
fruit flavours)
PREPARATION
Then add banana, the protein and flaxseed, and pour the almond milk on top of that and blend till smooth. If you want a thick smoothie ensure that it stays as it is. For a finer consistency add chilled water
or ice.—Courtesy of Artipot
Strawberries are 92 per cent water and are ranked as fourth
strongest antioxidant fruit. Berries like raspberries and blueberries are peak during summer and they clear the
arteries and regulate blood sugar
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Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi 24783334
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Salalah 23291635;
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FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (ROUTE 36)
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TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)
07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily
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17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily
TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)
07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily
TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)
06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily
06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily
TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)
15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily
15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily
TO SUR (ROUTE 55)
06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily
14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily
TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)
12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily
12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily
TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100)
07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily
10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily
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19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily
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Send us a colour photograph of the child (below 17 years) whose birthday you are celebrating, along with his/her full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and parents’/your name to Times of Oman, With Love, PO Box 770, PC 112, Ruwi or through e-mail to [email protected]
WITH LOVE
SHRIJA HANDAJune 11, 2001
LIFESTYLEC8 S U N DAY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 6
SURVIVE THE SANDSTORM SEASON IF YOU ARE ASTHMATIC
Stay Indoors Stay indoors as much as
possible during sandstorms and keep windows and doors
closed. Reduce exposure to common allergens during the sandstorms that may
provoke asthmatic attacks.
1Check Weather andPollution Forecasts It is recommended that
asthmatics regularly check daily weather and air quality reports, especially during the sandstorm season. Tuning in to your local weather station can help you plan ahead and
manage daily activities.
2Clean Air-
Conditioner Vents Dust collection in air
conditioning vents can be a harmful trigger if not cleaned
and checked regularly. Air conditioning units need to
be regularly maintained and cleaned every six months to
avoid accumulation of dust in ducts and vents.
3Use an Air Purifier
An air purifier can help re-duce indoor pollution and help
you breathe better. Although air purifiers are by no means a cure for asthma, they help to remove the allergens and particles which can trigger symptoms by directing air
through a filter.
4Consider Wearing
a Face Mask Consider wearing a medical face mask or use a wet towel
during sandstorms to prevent inhaling the dust particles. Do not forget to regularly change
face masks.
5Stay Hydrated
Fluids are important during sandstorms. Remember to keep
hydrated or even spray water on face and eyes if you come in
direct contact with dust.— Courtesy of Mohamed Samir,
Regional Medical Director, Mundipharma, Middle East &
Africa Region
6
Asthma awareness is crucial when living in the GCC, especially when we live in a climate which has significant environmental triggers such as sandstorms. Several studies conducted in this region with a high
rate of sandstorms, confirmed the increased prevalence of asthma. It was also reported that sandstorms frequently cause adverse health effects on the respiratory function and just 15 minutes exposure to smaller-size dust particles have a greater potential of asthma. Asthma requires long term treatment; however can be managed if precaution is taken to reduce the severity of the symptoms. Knowing how to control your asthma
during sandstorms, can provide asthmatics with a better quality of life. Here are six health and safety tips to survive the sandstorm season.
W W W.T I M E S O F O M A N . C O MSECTION
CONNECT H E D A I LY G U I D E
D
D4 VACANCY CARGO D7
S U N D AY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 6
RENT D2
Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461
FOR RENT
D2 S U N D AY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 6
DAILY GUIDE
*Tourist visa arranged
Spacious 4BHK with split A/C’S, 4
bathrooms & storeroom, near Church
roundabout, Mumtaz area.
Rent:R.O 575, Contact:99349672
Office for rent in Al Ansab near
bank Muscat. Contact: 99466173
3 Rooms, 2 Toilets Flat for Rent.
18 November Street. Near Mars
Hypermarket and The Chedi.
Ghobrah -Good for Commercial or
Residential use. OMR 295/- month.
Call 94477222
Villa flat for rent in Al Khu-
wair area. Contact: 97298967 /
97871056
Ground flat in Azaiba, 2 rooms, 2
bathrooms, kitchen with air condi-
tioner. Contact: 97788666
3BR villa Al Khoud with A/C 350
R.O. Contact: 99024730
2 & 3 BR Al Khuwair.
Contact: 99024730
1& 2 BR in C.B.D. Contact: 99024730
Athaiba 2 bed, 1 bath room,
sitting, kitchen with split AC
behind Zubair Showroom
rent 310 R.O. Contact: 99879939
Athaiba 2bed, 2 bathroom, sit-
ting, kitchen with Split a/c behind
Zubair show room rent 350/-R.O.
Contact: 99879939
Wadi Kabeer Industrial 80 sm
show rooms for rent 400/- R.O.
Contact: 99879939
Flat for rent in Al Qurum, 3 rooms &
hall. Contact: 91763660
Ghubra & Al Khuwair, 1 bed room,
hall. Contact: 90991079
Flats for rent in Mumtaz, 2 bed-
rooms , hall Way no 3352 building
no. 3447 & 3668. Contact: 90991079
Two bedrooms flat behind Ger-
man Embassy near to Al Nahda
Hospital. Contact: 99209354
Villa for rent four spacious bath
attached bed rooms, private swim-
ming pool. gymnasium (common)
with electrical equipment and free
maintenance secured compound at
Madinat AL Ilam. Contact: 98027975
4 BHK villa Qurum R.O 550/-.
Contact: 92144045
1BHK Al Khuwair R.O 220/-.
Contact: 99138696
1 BHK Ghubra R.O 275/-.
Contact: 92144045
1,2 BHK Mumtaz. Contact: 92144045
1,2 BHK Darsait. Contact: 92144045
3 BHK at Al Khuwair. Contact: 92144045
Flats in Darsait. Contact 94051789 / 97201688
Flats in Wadi Kabir. Contact
94051789 / 97201688
Flats in Muttrah. Contact
94051789 / 97201688
Fully Furnished apartments in
Boucher (35). Contact 94051789 /
97201688
Offices and flats in Ghala.
Contact 94051789 / 97201688
Offices & Showrooms in Al Khood.
Contact 94051789 / 97201688
Flats in Qurum. Contact
94051789 / 97201688
Flats in Ghobrah. Contact
94051789 / 97201688
Brand new villas in Al Ansab.
Contact 94051789-97201688
Flats in Al khuwair. Contact
94051789-97201688
Apartment 2 bed room + sitting
room with split A/C at Al Ansab
heights R.O 300 monthly.
Contact: 93993354
5 BHK villa in Al Khuwair.
Contact 99792181
2 BHK flat in Ghubra.
Contact 99792181
One bedroom flat for rent near
Indian School Darsait. Contact:
99322363 / 95453813
Villa in Al Khuwair, 6 rooms,
living room & hall.
Contact: 91153933
Flats and shops for rent in Ruwi,
MBD area & Mumtaz area.
Contact: 97293708 / 92433127
One bedroom detached unit Al
Hail South includes room, modern
kitchen, sitting & laundry R.O
175/- Monthly including water,
negotiable. Contact: 99207840
Villa for rent at Azaiba, near Al
Meera hypermarket, 4 bedrooms,
3 toilets, kitchen, sitting room
and dining room, this will include
curtains and air conditioners.
RO 520/-. Contact 99469203
2000 sqft land with p/cabin,
toilets at YETI. Contact 99221683
/ 92830110
Flat for rent in Ruwi Al Mumtaz
area 300/- R.O 2BHK, sitting room,
hall, 2 bathrooms, kitchen with
A/C. Contact: 99268676
2BHK Wadi Kabir behind
Pioneer Hotel Apartment.
Contact: 99261522
Flat for rent 2 BHK in Darsait
North near Indian School about
200 mtrs, rent RO 300/-.
Contact: 94101134
2 & 3 BHK new flat in Wadi Kabir.
Contact 99792181
1 BHK furnish flat for rent in Ham-
riya roundabout. Contact 99792181
1 & 2 BHK flat in AL Khuwair.
Contact 99792181
3000 sq mtrs land in Rusayl.
Contact 99792181
Flat for rent in Darsait 1BHK.
Contact: 99357586 / 97500025 /
97500021
Flat for rent 2 bedrooms in Ruwi
Mumtaz area. Contact: 91409667 /
24291500
2 BHK available Mumtaz area
Ruwi & Ghubra near Al Maha Hotel.
Contact: 99269751
Deluxe two bedroom flat at
Mumtaz area, two bathrooms, good
size living/dining room, modern
kitchen and a guest bathroom.
Contact 99310375
Villa for rent in South Mabellah,
3 bedrooms, sitting room, family
Lounge, kitchen, three Toilets Contact
92212212 between 10 AM to 5 PM.
Office 55SQ.Mtrs & 2B/R at Bausher
directly from owner.# 92158031
Ruwi office space for rent,
Saravana Bhava Building.
Contact: 95729549
Just 2 OMR / Sqm, Showroom /
store for rent Ground floor & base-
ment, area - 1100 Sqm, location
Seh Al Ahmer, 20 km to Rusayl.
Contact: 97714433 / 93437982
Flats for rent at Just RO 160/- 2
Bed room, hall, kitchen , 2 toilets,
location Seh Al Ahmer, 20 KM to
Rusayl, including AC & roof Garden.
Contact: 97714433 / 93437982
For rent 1BHK flat in Wadi Kabeer
160/-R.O. Contact: 99376454
DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 6 D3
FOR RENT
3 BHK flat at Azaiba, Opp. Sultan
Centre. Contact 99261522
Flat for rent in Al Mawaleh South
3, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, hall,
kitchen & store with air condition.
Contact 98575157
1 B/R Fully Furnished Luxury
Apartment @ Al Khuwair 33, 2
B/R Fully Furnished Luxury
Apartment @ Al Khuwair 33, 4
B/R Unfurnished Apartment with
attached Split A/C @ Azaiba. For
Short Term or Long Term lease.
Contact: Atlas Real Estate & Rent A
Car LLC : 99249069 / 94617563/
99436312/ 92888376,
Email: [email protected]
3000 Sqr mtrs compound land in
Misfah. Contact 99792181
Flat for rent 2 BHK 2 split A/C,
2 toilets, Wadi Kabir near Kuwaiti
Masjid. Contact: 97007934 /
92629232
House in North Al Hail with 3
rooms, living room, hall, 4 toilets
300 RO. Contact 99738881 /
99439568
Plot at Barka next to Germany Col-
lege & next to Aramex Company,
next to Bahwan Warehouse, next to
Omasco warehouse 37,074 SQM2
required 0.250 Baiza per SQM.
Contact: 99888390
Flats in Al Khuwair, Al Ghubra,
Azaiba, Wadi Kabeer, Darsait,
Hamriya, Al Hail & Seeb.
Contact: 24182000 / 95250300 /
99110600
Shop for rent at Wadi Kabir Indus-
trial area. Contact: 99888390
Shop in Seeb market. Contact:
24182000 / 95250300/ 99110600
Flat for rent in Al Khuwair 33.
Contact: 92277419
1BHK at Hamriya near Muscat
Pharmacy & 2 BHK at Mawaleh
near Mosque Sadiq Al Amin.
Contact: 99224748 / 99332297
Flats, shops & store for rent in
MBD area Ruwi, Mumtaz area.
Contact: 97293708 / 92433127
ACC. AVAILABLE
LOSTRunning saloon for sale in Seeb
with two clearance. Contact
97199936
LLC Company for sale with one
investor visa approval.
Contact : 98532470
Email: [email protected]
Show room for sale in Al Ghubra
prime location. Contact : 91317523
Luxury Apartments in Boucher
(35) / Ghala / Qurum. Contact
95056808 / 97201688
Shop for sale opp Towell Service
Center, Wadi Kabir.
Contact 99221683
Sharing room at Ruwi for RO 50/-.
Contact: 99385287
FOR SALE
FOR SALE
Dental chairs for sale sparingly
used dental units for sale.
Contact Mr. Ansari 92616343.
Kumar 99570284
Shop for sale, Honda road build-
ing materials beside NBO, Ruwi.
Contact: 99018075
Atlas Copco Explorac R50 Drill
Rig suitable to drill 100 mm to
600 mm dia hole mounted on Sca-
nia P124, 4x4 HZ 2007 model with
12” class DTH Hammer & 500 mm
bit. Atlas Copco Air compressor
XAHS 536 (25Bar, 1136 CFM) in
good condition, prices negotiable.
Contact: 95244907 / 95229292
Company for sale service& main-
tenance LLC installation & main-
tenance of fire fighting systems
include ROP license.
Contact: 99433540
BUYING
3 Bedroom well maintained flat
(villa Type only 2 flats in villa) in
Al Khuwair, behind Al Akhtam Res-
taurant villa No 1841,
Way No 3922--- block no 239.
Contact: 99462980
Villa for rent in Al Ghubrah,
5 rooms, hall. Contact: 91763665
Flat for rent in Al Khoud, 2 rooms
& hall. Contact: 917633665
2BHK split A/C 200/- Monthly
& 1BHK spilt A/C 150/- monthly
new building good location Barka
Market. contact 99342661
1 BHK and 2BHK Flats available
near Lulu Darsait
(Main road, Opp. to Min. of Defense).
Contact : 93202733
For rent New flats at Darsait
Al Sahail. Contact: 99777351
Villa for rent in Al Khoud, 6 rooms,
hall. Contact: 91763665
2 bed rooms flat with hall,
2 bathrooms in Darsait near
Muscat Municipality.
Contact: 92584715/ 24700120
02 BHK residential flat opposite
to Al Nahdha hospital.
Contact: 99342733 /99795241
5 BHK Villa in Al Khuwair, for Staff
Accommodation. Contact 99792181
2 & 3 BHK Flat in Al Khuwair &
Ghubra. Contact 99792181
1700 sqr mtrs open Land + small
store + garage for Rent in Ruwi.
Contact 99792181
4 BHK Villa in Bowsher Heights.
Contact 99792181
Flat for Rent 2 bed room Near ISM
muscat Indian Scoole Dar sate
Tel : 00 968 95158570
Furnished office (61M2) for sale
/ rent Al Khuwair near Zawawi
Mosque. Contact: 95611569
1 Bed room, sharing K& T, R.O 100,
2 bedrooms , sharing K& T R.O
200/- in AL Khuwair.
Contact: 95154331
CONTD ON PG 6
Shop for sale near Oman House,
Muttrah. Contact 99024362.
603 sq mtrs residential land in
Al Hail North Block 45 NE near
Radio station. OMR 95 Thousand.
Tel: 99333479 or 95215360 or
97509955
Running clinic for sale at Samail.
Contact [email protected] /
95498105
Shop for sale at Ruwi high street.
Contact: 98787853
Furnished office at Ruwi near
Sheraton Hotel. Contact: 93993897
Working beauty parlor for sale
Al Ghubra. Contact: 98178135
Running pharmacy for sale on
main road in Barka with Pharma-
cist. Contact: 99452755
Double Shutter 80 sq mtrs corner
textile shop in Seeb Souq for sale.
Contact 99326339
1No brand new containerized
package type STP 100 m3/ day
with blower equipments (suitable
for camps). Serious Buyers may.
Contact: 99445367
Single colorful Bed and Sofa for Sale
at Al Khuwair. Contact 92881849 /
What`s up No 97290565
Steel Scrap materials for im-
mediate sale. Contact 99273774/
99202278
Space for printing press available
at wadikabir with or without
machinery. Contact 99328430
Almost new beach/ garden
lounge chairs /bar stools/ counter.
Photos can be sent 95865457
Clinic license for Sale and Phar-macy for lease : specialized Clinic
license with Pharmacy license for
sale. Send your enquiry:
Contact: 97092099 / 97253669
Book Shop in a busy shopping
mall for sale, interested parties
please contact 99851255
Executive lady room & bathroom
in Wadi Kabir & room, bathroom
for executives in Wadi Kabir.
Contact: 99336206
Used office house furniture
& electronic items.
Contact: 99834373 / 96642500
Bobcat available for rent.
Contact 97623299
Buying cars for cash.
Contact 90202090
FORRENTContact
96177505
In MSQ. Near ABA school one villa for rent 6 rooms
+ 4 bathrooms+ house maid room +AC split unit + swimming pool
One fl at in CBD 2 bedrooms + sitting room + 2 bathrooms + Kitchen
One fl at in Qurum 29 – two rooms + AC split unit + 2 bathrooms + Kitchen
In Al Hail one offi ce space – (Near Main Road) one room attach with bathroom and kitchen.
Warehouse at Wadikabir - total
area 3500 sqm - covered ware-
house (500sqm), office, ac-
commodation (1000sqm), open
area (2000sqm) please contact:
99273774 - 99202278
Flat in Al Khuwair opp
grand mall 4 room 3 toilet + hall
kitchen in 3 floor 400.
Contact 99420346
Flat for rent in South AlGhubrah
3 rooms, hall and 3 toilets, kitchen
rent 450/-. Contact: 99335580
2BHK Big Size Flat Behind Bank
Muscat, Wadi Kabir. Near ISWK.
97826454, 24815012.
2BHK split A/C for rent Muttrah
near Oman House.
Contact: 97007934 / 92629232
Villa for sale in Mabela 6 rooms,
living room & hall. #91763665
Urgent sale of steel scrap only
serious buyers kindly contact
+968 96725423 for viewing the
items.
HD Scaffoldings, Shuttering
Jacks, Wooden Planks, Shuttering
wood assorted, Tower hoist (lift),
Concrete Mixer, Bending Machine,
Steel Fabrication Machinery
(Searing/Cutting, lathe & Welding)
including tools for immediate sale:
Contact 99273774/ 99202278
Abdul Wahab Charud Ali has
lost Bangladeshi Passport No. AG
3457898. Finder please handover
to ROP
DAILY GUIDED4 S U N D AY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 6
SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION VACANT SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED
Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624
DRIVER
TOURS & TRAVEL
MISCELLANEOUS
MISCELLANEOUS
ENGINEER/MECHANIC.
ENGINEER/MECHANIC.
ACCOUNTS
CATERING
BEAUTICIAN
ARTIST
EDUCATION/TRAINING
SKILLED / UNSKILLED
ACCOUNT. & FINANCE
ACCOUNT. & FINANCE
DOMESTIC HELPER
ARCHITECT
MEDICAL
IT
Required Indian Mason – 5 nos., eligibility (minimum 5 yrs experi-
ence in road construction field).
Contact: 99882127
Email: [email protected]
Required Shop Sales man + Hard-ware Technician for IT Company
with minimum 2 years experience.
Contact: 98825806 / 98825806,
Email: [email protected]
ADMIN
House maid cooking cleaning
experienced with babies required
immediately. Contact: 95584060 /
98920399
Wanted experienced Philipino Housemaid with visa release.
Contact: 99466062
House maid for Omani family.
Contact: 99773100
Indian 50 years, B.Com MBA
Finance Manager 26 years Gulf
experienced English, Arabic speak-
ing driving license with NOC.
Contact: 95588565
Indian male Chartered Account-
ant 2 years experience in Oman
having Oman driving license
looking for suitable placement in
finance or audit field NOC avail-
able. Contact : 96357827
Email: [email protected]
Accountant Having 5 Years expe-
rience in reputed companies.
Currently working in Muscat
(NOC AVAILABLE) GSM.91367217
Email [email protected]
Required candidates for following
posts: Accountant, Storekeeper, Foreman Building Maintenance, Van-salesman (water), Helpers. Candidates with Omani driving
license preferred.
Contact 99273774/99202278
Urgently required heavy duty Drivers with licence. Contact 99344112
Wanted a experience Driver for Capital and Interior work.
Gsm : 942-888-63
Required Omani Driver for a restau-
rant. Contact 95929911
Urgently required Driver & A/C technician. Contact: 94147874 /
24504281/ 97014234 Email:
Petrochemical professional with minimum 5 years Oman
experience particularly in oil
field, chemical supplies required
immediately with NOC to lead the
activity in front with Oman driving
license. Mail C.V to
Testing / Protection Engineer with minimum 05 years of experi-
ence and should have
Oman DCRP license, Interested
candidates send resume to
Wanted Marine Engineer for yacht in Muscat. Contact
Whatsapp 95887572
Email: [email protected]
Indian male 25 yrs Bachelor de-
gree computer science with 1 year
experience accountant & System
Administrator presenting visiting
looking for suitable placement
Software project management of-
fice and field.
Contact: 93356490 / 93672954
Email: [email protected]
Indian male 25, brought up in
Oman, MBA from UK & 2yrs W/E
in Oman valid Oman & readily
available to join, looking for
placement on visit visa.
Contact: 99513132
Accountant Indian male, 6 years
experience up to finalization in
tally with reporting knowledge &
good knowledge of payroll, having
Oman D/L, NOC.
Contact: 92540313
Care Medical Centre Al Seeb
requires Gynecologist and General Practitioner. Mail CV to:
Wanted Staff Nurse for
a dermatology clinic in Muscat .
Must have MOH license and NOC.
Attractive salary offered. Email:
Require a qualified Nurse to take
care of an elderly female.
Contact: 99425200
Urgently required for a Medical Centre (male / female) GP Doctor, Pediatrician, Gynecologist with
MOH license, for job or
running the clinic. Send your CV
Contact: 97092099 / 97253669
Orthodontist for Dental Center in Muscat, Specialist Endodontist & General Dentist with MOH license
from Oman. Nurses & Marketing
female Executive. Contact:
GP doctor needed for reputed clin-
ic. Preferably with MOH license or
with Dataflow & Paramatics pass
Contact: 95388934
Urgently required experienced female Lab Technician, with knowl-
edge of histopathology & cytology,
with MOH release, for a well-known
laboratory in Al Khuwair. Contact:
95271561/98893034
Urgently required Pharmacist for a Pharmacy in Barka.
Contact: 99452755
Dental Surgeon with M.O.H
license required for leave vacancy
in Ruwi. Contact: 99747481
Wanted a Nurse with MOH or
without MOH for work in private
clinic in Al Khuwair. Send the CV
Required gynecologist GEN: practitioner lady lab Technician and pharmacologist immediately
for a clinic in Suwaiq. # 95081010
Email: [email protected]
SALES / MARKETING
SALES / MARKETING
Air Conditioning company required experienced Sales Ex-ecutive with driving license. Send
CV to nationalhvac.mep@gmail.
com , Fax: 24799442
Require Salesman with D/L for
construction, Ind materials,
hydraulic hoses & fittings.
Contact 99221683 / 92830110
Branch Manger required to
manage entire Business.
[email protected] 99110080
A Building material company is
looking for GCC experienced wood / false ceiling products sales person. Contact:
A Building material company
is looking for GCC experienced
hardware products sales person. Contact: [email protected]
Wanted Salesman for an elevator
company 3 yrs exp English lan-
guage must. NOC required.
Send resume to
pioneersoverall.operation@gmail.
com Contact: 968 94496661
Required female person to work
at the retail shop/Marketing.
Please send your CV on e mail:
Required marketing / PR manager
for a modern restaurant group in
Oman , proficient in illustrator &
Photoshop charismatic , proactive ,
creative & flexible excellent writing
/ Editing skills degree in relevant
area fluent in English. Send CV to
A company needs an experienced Staff (female or male) for food
products marketing. Applicants
must be fluent in English & Arabic,
Omani driving license is required.
Send your CV to:
A new Sanitary ware Company looking for a Salesman who has
experience in Oman markets not
than 5 years. Send C.V :
Indian Female, MBA-HR having
8+ experience in Administration/
HR, Customer Support, Office Coor-
dinator with good Computer skill,
Now on Visit Visa,looking for suit-
able position. Contact: 90196235
Indian female with nearly 10
years of Oman experience in
Administration & HR, seeking suit-
able placement. NOC available.
Contact: 99242841
Indian female 27 yrs MBA / HR
3.6 yrs exp HR/ Marketing / Cus-
tomer Relation on visit visa.
Contact: 97205038
Email: [email protected]
Filipino HRD especialist / material
controller supervisor with 18 yrs
experience looking for suitable job
in Oman. Contact: (+968) 98037142
/ (+968) 92659817
Young Omani male have experi-
ence 12 years as P.R.O, CLERK
Helper Supervisor Admin Supervi-
sor, H.R Manager have diploma in
H.S.E, IT and P.D.O license, looking
for H.R position or P.R.O part time
or full time. Contact: 95933288
A Muslim house cook required, not more than 40 years old. Please
fax your CV to 24953530 or email
at [email protected] or
Contact 92851558.
Shawarma / grill / Salad / Asian Cook. Contact: 95529970
Wanted Cooks urgently
for a Coffee shop, visa ready.
Email : [email protected],
GSM : 97158376
WANTED Female Gynaecologist,
Female GP- Two Female Staff Nurse (From India or Pilipino)and One
Female Dental Assist and
Female Lab Technician. With MOH Licence and Data Flow for
Al Saadi Specilised Medical Centre, Musanna.Contact # 92025033,
Email : [email protected]
An Omani Audit firm is seeking audit partner to join the firm, the
candidate should be completed
any certificate course CIA,CPA,
CA, ACC, and 4 years’ experience,
interested candidates to submit
their CVs to :
An Omani Audit firm is seeking audit partner to join the firm, the
candidate should be completed
any certificate course CIA,CPA,
CA, ACC, and 4 years’ experience,
interested candidates to submit
their CVs to :
Urgently required operator for a
new stationary block factory. Send
CV to [email protected]
Contact: 97092070
A well known bilingual Private School requires English, Mathe-
matics, Science, Kindergarten, ICT,
Physics, Chemistry and Biology
Teachers. Contact: 96910649
Email: [email protected]
Urgently required Travel agent (1 position) with 5yrs experience
& command on Sabre and IATA.
Applicant must be professional
and have expertise in Hajj, Umra &
Tourism packages. Sound commu-
nication skills in English & Arabic
will be given preference. Send CVs :
Please forward your resume [email protected]
REQUIRED Real Estate Executive
With 5 years minimum experience in
buying ,selling, renting and maintenance.
Accountant , female , 1 &half
years experience up to finalization
in tally, good knowledge in report-
ing, pursuing ACCA, valid D/L.
Contact: 95373751
Chief Accountant/Finance Man-
ager – Indian male, CA Finalist,
having 20 years’ experience in
Finance, Accounts, Audit, Finaliza-
tion of Accounts, preparation of
Project Reports etc., looking for
immediate placement. 12 yrs. in
Oman in Construction and Consul-
tancy co., have Omani D/L,
knows Tally. Contact 94041048,
Email : [email protected]
Accountant MBA finance with 8
years experience on a visit visa.
Contact: 968 91736849
28/male/MBA - finance/B.Com -
Accountant with 4 years of Dubai/
India experience looking for a suit-
able placement. Contact 90187483
Accountant 8Years Experience
with D/L and NOC.
Contact 97712084
Accountant available with NOC,
7 years experience in Oman.
Ready to join immediately.
Contact 98263394
Chief Accountant well experi-
enced with reputed group.
Contact : 98803439 / 97413784.
Indian male 36 yrs B.Com having
10 yrs experience (5 yrs in K.S.A)
with valid GCC License accounting
(Tally) & Marketing looking for suit-
able placement available in Oman
visit visa. Contact: 95352176
Email: [email protected]
Indian male, 34 years, B.Com,
experience in Accounts, Market-
ing & Administration over all more
than 9 years of experience in GCC
(Bahrain & Oman) is currently
looking for suitable job having D/L
& NOC. Contact: 99548543
Part time accounting workers up
to finalization, on monthly basis &
yearly finalization works.
Contact : 96247295
B.Com Graduate 10 years experi-
ence in Accounts & Auditing up
to finalization, Tally ERP with
valid driving license. NOC avail-
able. Contact: 95716128 Email:
Indian male with good experience
in Admin, Accounts, Tally ERP 9,
looking for a suitable position. NOC
available. Contact: 94834687
Indian male 42 yrs M.Com PGDCA
Senior Finance Executive 15 years
experience in IT & telecom, BPO
companies, good experience up to
finalization, MIS reports budget-
ing, costing seeks suitable place-
ment from reputed organization.
Contact: 95392251
Indian female, M.Com, DCA having
10+ years experience as Senior
Accountant in leading Construction
& Trading L.L.C in Muscat seeking
suitable job, Oman driving license
NOC available. Contact : 91609799
Fresher 24, ACCA Affiliate, Ad-
vanced diploma in Accounting and
Business seeking suitable place-
ment in Accounts, Finance or Audit
with Oman driving license.
Contact - 92430152
Email - [email protected]
Construction Company looking for Architect with experience in
Oman. Contact 97192707
Urgently required a Gulf experi-enced professional hair dresser cum beautician (lady) for a
reputed beauty salon. Immediate
appointment. Contact: 99816262
/ 98557585 Fax: 24796211 Email:
Beauty salon needs lady for
henna. Contact: 93336061
Indian/MBA/male Chief Account-ant 18Yrs Experience, MIS, C.Flow,
Budgeting, ERP, Cost accounting
&Liasing with auditors.
NOC available. Contact:
92254691/97826674 email:
Indian male 27 yrs, MBA finance
with 4 years experience currently
in Muscat on visit visa seeking
suitable placement in finance /
admin. Contact: 90921724
Having 26 years Gulf experienced
Indian Finance Manager B.Com,
MBA English, Arabic speaking
driving license, NOC available.
Contact: 99811679
5 Years experienced front office &
Banking, Indian male 28 yrs, hotel
management Graduate. Search-
ing for suitable position, English,
Hindi, Malayalam & Arabic fluent.
NOC available. Contact - 91383167
Indian (Male) having 17+years
Experience in Trading & Health-
care seeking senior Position in
Accounts (11 years GCC Experi-
ence)currently on Resident Visa
(NOC Available) and has a valid
Omani Driving Licence. Contact:
91335026; [email protected]
SITUATION SIT. WANTED
URGENT REQUIREMENT
Sales & Marketing Executive Male
For a reputed Real Estate company
experience in Real Estate business.
must.
Send CV with current picture
Email: [email protected]
Artist M.FA having 20 years expe-
rience of oil painting, water color,
wall picture making & portrait in
Oman seeking job with related Arts
field. Contact: 92635029
Architect looking for a freelance
work in designing am modeling
in 3D program and architecture.
Contact: 96041201
Architect Engineer seeking for
suitable job, 8 years experience.
GSM : 96075000, Email :
Indian female diploma architect
6 years exp in Oman Engineering
consultancy, valid Oman driving
license. Contact: 96683293 /
97750870
Architect female 5 years experi-
ence seeking job. #96146645
Email: [email protected]
ARCHITECT
URGENT HIRING
SALES EXECUTIVE
For Home Electronics Appliances Distributer Company.
LIGHT DRIVER
Submit your detailed CV via Email – [email protected]/ [email protected]
Civil Engineer, Masons, Helpers, Shuttering, Carpenters, Steel fix-ers with 5 yrs experience in Oman.
Contact: 97491117
Qualified banking & Accounts
management profesional seeking
suitable job opportunities. Current-
ly working in India with ICIC Bank.
Email: [email protected]
Contact# 919755550181
WANTED SALES ENGINEER A REPUTED TRADING COMPANY DEALING
WITH AGENCY PRODUCTS IN OIL & GAS, PETROCHEMICALS AND POWER
SECTORS, IS LOOKING FOR A SALES ENGINEER
HAVING AN EXPERIENCE OF 2-3 YEARS IN DEALING WITH PIPING MATERIALS,
VALVES, INSTRUMENTATION ITEMS, CABLES, FLARE PACKAGES ETC.
HAVING VALID OMAN DRIVING LICENCE AND CANDIDATES WHO CAN GET A NOC
FROM THE CURRENT EMPLOYER MAY APPLY TO :
Required following experienced
personnel for a well-established company in Sohar.
1. Marketing Executive/ Sales Manager – Carpentry Joinery work -12. Workshop supervisor-013. Interior Designer -14. Firefi ghting Engineer -02
Contact: offi ceinma [email protected]
URGENT
REQUIREMENT
Sales & Marketing Executive
For a reputed company in Oman.
license is must.Contact- 99471278
Sales Representative needed for a
printing press. Contact Whatsapp
only: 94756618
Required smart, young, dynamic Sales & Marketing Executive hav-
ing 2-3 years sales experience for
a reputed manufacturing company
in Oman, having its Head Office in
Ruwi. Experience in building mate-
rials is an added advantage. Omani
Driving License and NOC is a must.
Attractive remuneration package.
Apply with photograph to
E-mail: [email protected]
Wanted Steward / Deckhand for
Yacht in Muscat, Housekeeping
& Guest service duties. Contact:
Whatsapp 95887572
Email: [email protected]
Indian male age 26, Accountant
one year experience in accounts
looking for suitable job. Contact -
Email: Anishkhan991867@gmail.
Com Mobile: +968 9565 9415
Qualified and experienced MBA
post graduate with proven work
exposure in Middle East & India,
having more than 5.5 years of rich
experience in accounts , project
coordination and administration in
(3.5 years UAE experience) oil and
gas projects is currently looking for
suitable job. Contact 93953613,
Indian male 25 yrs, Graduate in com-
merce, overall 5 yrs exp in accounts/
finance field. On visit visa. Immedi-
ately available. Contact 92836216 /
Well experienced Account M.Com
available with NOC, Tally & ERP.
Contact : 99035707
Indian female 28 yrs B.Com 4 yrs
experience in MNC’s currently in
Muscat seeking suitable place-
ment in Finance / Admin.
Contact: 94743790
Indian male 34 yrs, M.Com –
Finance with 5 yrs experience in
Accounts in India, presently in
visiting visa looking for a suitable
placement. Contact: 93671785
Email: [email protected]
ACCA member with 6 yrs of experi-
ence in Oman looking for a suitable
job in finance. Contact: 99284193
Indian male 34 Yrs, Dual MBA
Finance and marketing with IT
skills, 7+ yrs of experience,
Looking for suitable placement.
contact 94879615,Email-
Sudanese Accountant, Alexandria
University Graduate bachelor of
commerce Diploma of Marketing
professional photographer worked
in PR and social media for 2 years
looking for a job in public relations
media, social media or marketing.
Contact: 96976240
Indian, Kerala Male B.COM & B.PE,
Currently on Visit Visa. Looking for a
suitable job in Accounts, Store Keep-
er, Sales etc. Ready to join as early
as possible. Contact: 96988923
email:- [email protected]
DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 6 D5
SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED
EDUCATION/TRAINING
HOSPITALITY
DESIGNER/DRAUGHTSMAN
ENGG. / TECH./MECH.
ENGG. / TECH./MECH.
Indian male 24 years dynamic &
professional B.Tech (Mech. Engg)
with 1 year experience working
on BPCL project in India seeks
opening for suitable post, currently
in Oman. Contac: 93672286 /
97772272
B.E Mechanical Engineer, age 24
with almost 1 year experience as
Production Shift Engineer, has
achieved training on HVAC
Engineering design and has good
hands on software like AutoCAD
and HAP.Currently in Oman on a
visit visa, looking for a suitable
placement.Contact: 95065955
email: [email protected]
Quantity Surveyor / Site Engineer
6 years experience in Omani have
valid driving license release avail-
able looking for immediate place-
ment. Contact: 96394948
Chemical Engineer with MBA &
experience looking for job.
Contact: 94908977
A Sudanese Mechanical Engineer Graduate from Malaysia, 6 years of
work experience in projects, fluent
in English & Arabic. NOC is available
valid Omani driving license.
Contact: 95569340
Civil Diploma Engineer cum
Quantity Survey male 7 years ex-
perience in Oman valid Oman D/L.
Contact: 93356736
Email: [email protected]
Indian, B.Tech Civil Engineer, fresh, seeking suitable job.
Contact 99105402 / 91426175,
Email : [email protected]
Mechanical Engineer 2 years
experience as HVAC design &
drafting, CAD, MEP Engg.
Contact: 90150913
IT
IT
MEDICAL
HVAC / MEP Engineer 10 yrs exp
in tendering estimation, instal-
lation also have Omani driving
license. Contact: 98532470
Email: [email protected]
Civil Engineer, B.Tech,
6 yrs experience with Omani driv-
ing license, local release available.
Contact 91693008
Indian female 25years M.E (power
electronics) 3years experience in
teaching profession looking for
suitable job contact no 97003267
& 94214909
HSE Engineer / Advisor safety Fire
Engineering Nebosh, OSHA & PDO
HSE courses 15 years exp. NOC
available seeking suitable place-
ment. Contact: 94568700 Email:
Electrical Engineer 1 year experi-
ence driving license, NOC avail-
able. Contact: 94879092
Mechanical Engineer 7 years
experience HVAC, plumbing, fire-
fighting, metal formation, fluency
in Arabic & English, driving license
available. Contact: 90933863
Indian male Civil Engg. 11 years
experience having Omani driving
license, NOC available.
Contact: 95797286
Email: [email protected]
Sr. Quantity surveyor B.Tech (Civil
Tech) above 8 years (7 years in
Oman) having driving license NOC
available. Contact: 92324791
QS Civil diploma Indian having
14 years, (4 years in Oman) experi-
ence with driving license seeking
suitable placement. N.O.C available.
Contact: 93088600
B. Tech Electronics and Com-
munication ENGINEER With 6
months experience in Dell, India,
CCNP, CCNA Certified, on visit visa,
looking for a suitable opening in
networking domain.
Contact: 99243214 / 99135638,
Email: [email protected]
MS Industrial, BSc Mechatronic Engineer 3 years experience of
maintenance & management with
NOC. Contact: 94887665
Email: [email protected]
Civil Engineer, young Indian
having almost 2 years experience
looking for a challenging position
seeks suitable position in Oman/
GCC. Please contact 92718490,
Email ID: [email protected]
Instrumentation Engineer, Indian
male 25 years having over 2 years
experience in calibration, testing
and maintenance of field instru-
ments, looking for a suitable posi-
tion, available in Oman for visit.
Contact: 91228010
Civil Engineer with 6+ years in
Supervision designing & Q.C expert
in much civil softwares,
NOC available. Contact: 90719263
Civil Engineer diploma, 4 yrsexp
seeks suitable position ina reputed
company. NOC available.
Contact 96789711
Civil Engineer 8 years experience
Structural buildings marine.
Available NOC release.
Contact: 92451323.
Email: [email protected]
Indian male Electrical Engineer, having 6 years gulf experience in
designing, assembling, commission-
ing execution etc having valid GCC
license too looking for a suitable.
Contact: 00968-98052942 Email:
HSE Engineer (B.E Mech+Diploma
Safety+NEBOSH+OSHA) over
10yrs. Exp, (Visa Release Letter
(NOC) available), seeking suit-
able placement, Mob:97061817,
Email:[email protected]
Civil Engineer (B.Tech), Indian
male 24 years with 1+years Indian
experience,(Certified in Staad
Pro/ Quantity Survey/ Auto Cad).
Looking for a Suitable position.
Available In Sultanate of Oman
(Muscat) on Visit Visa.
Contact 92835952. E-mail:
An Iraqi civil with more than
30 years experience in (Iraq and
G.C.C) looking for a job, (N.O.C)
available. Contact: 96561306
Email: [email protected]
Indian male, Mechanical
Engineer having 1year experi-
ence, on visit visa looking for
suitable job. Contact:97416564,
Email:[email protected]
Civil Engineer 8 years experience
in Oman as a project engineer for
governmental & private projects.
Contact – 90164912
Young Indian, Engineering in
Bio-technology, Bio-chemical and
Chemical, looking for a challenging
placement in Oman.
Contact 97607000. Email:
Filipino Cabin steward / Linen
vallet is looking for suitable job in
Oman. Contact: +968 91065438 or
email: [email protected]
CATERING
Indian male Electrical and
Electronic Engineer (EEE) (1 year
exp) currently on visit visa looking
a suitable job skills - Electrical
& Construction works. Contact :
98180547 / 99287293
Indian male 24 ,B.E ( E.C.E ) grad-
uate with 3 years of experience in
the fields of BMS and Low current
systems and has good knowledge
about Electronic Security Systems,
currently working in Oman, NOC
Available. Contact:-94737033/
Mechanical Engineer (Sudanese)
3 years experience : Fire fighting,
HSE, Design, Production.
Contact: 93642704
Email: [email protected]
Automobile Mechanic ITI 3 years
experience marine mechanical
fitter 2 yrs experience.
Contact 93674847
Aeronautical Engineer fluent in
English Nationality Indian, 24
yrs looking for job in Engineer-
ing, marketing Sales operations.
Contact : 98071407
Email: [email protected]
Mechanical Engineer experience
maintenance of pumping stations
production line machinery turbine
for power plant good communica-
tions skills, planning follow up
Engineer projects HSE awareness
trained multiple design software
looking for job. Contact 949064473 / 96654019
Pakistan Civil Engineer Diploma
having 5 years experience, Auto-
CAD, Quantity Surveying Diploma
looking for job on visit visa.
Contact: 97814095
Civil Engineer fresh Graduate with
Omani driving license looking
for job in any company. Contact:
91745797 / 99190898
Email: [email protected]
HSE Officer more than 10 yrs
experience in Construction, oil &
gas looking for suitable job, NOC
available. Contact: 99626821
Electrical & Electronics Engr,
knows autocad & revit.
PH: 93837973
Civil Engineer (Indian male)
5 years experience in Oman with
valid Omani driving license & NOC
looking for suitable opportunity.
Contact: 93101283
Senior Land Surveyor 23 yrs
Oman, UAE & Egypt GPS, T.S
Construction roads infrastructure
oil feed electric works OHL,
UGC grid , primary substation
processing data. Contact:
95326927 / 92928981
Email: [email protected]
Filipino Male: 35 yrs, with 3yrs
Technical & Customer Service,
2yrs Online Ad Serving, 1yr dmin-
istrative work experiences looking
for suitable job. Contact 97852816
Indian male 3 years experience in
IT as Linux Administrator & 1 year
experience in Amazon EC2 Cloud at
Wipro Technologies Bangalore seek-
ing for a suitable placement.
Contact: 92889678
Email: [email protected]
Indian female 30 yrs B.Tech (IT) &
MBA 6 yrs work experience in In-
dia & Oman experience in conduct-
ing video conferencing, configur-
ing automated solution systems,
seeking a suitable placement in
Oman. Contact: 92689823
Email: [email protected]
MANAGER
Workshop Manager having 30
years gulf and abroad experience
in plants & machineries, heavy
duty trucks, readymix batching
plants & crushers, water well drill
rigs, rock blasting machineries etc.
kindly contact @ 97145088.
M.O.H license Dentist, good expe-
rience looking for suitable position
preferably in Muscat.
Contact: 92522562
Veterinary Doctor 7 years experi-
ence Indian male wife in MOH
with family visa need job.
Contact: 98107162
Email: [email protected]
Indian female Dentist (BDS) hav-
ing MOH license & completed data
flow looking suitable job.
Contact: 98437191
MEDICAL
MISCELLANEOUS
SALES / MARKETING
Indian male MBA Finance & Marketing 25 yrs
Contact: 95206140/ 96992013 Email:
ENGINEER With 2 years exp in Telecom sector, currently on visit visa, looking for suitable placement.
Contact : 93919943 [email protected]
Sudanese Male 35 yrs B.Sc Electronic System Engineering
with 11 yrs. Experience in Gov/Private. CISCO (CCNP-R&S) and Ethical hacking
services management.
Email: [email protected]:+97450475034
Female B. Ed English teacher, 7 yrs exp seeking suitable
placement. Contact : 99739415 /
92091528
Indian male, M.Tech Graduate in
Chemical Process Control Engineer-
ing looking for lecturing jobs, cur-
rently in Oman. Contact : 98352288
Indian male in English, M.Phill,
B.Ed with 5 years experience in
College teaching & good admin-
istrative skill is looking for a
suitable placement in Education
Institutions or offices.
Contact: 98260529 / 97297939
Email: [email protected]
B.E Mechanical Engineer, age
33 with 6+ years experience in
GCC in MEP building construc-
tion field (execution and design of
HVAC,firefighting,plumbing),
with D/L, NOC available
Contact 96978380,
Email: [email protected]
Diploma Engineering Instrumenta-
tion Technician, 2 years experience
skills calibration & installation etc.
Contact: 98963344 / 96946408
Email: [email protected]
Construction Machinery repairs
Engineer, 5 years, driving license,
Contact - 94001961
Indian Female, 25 Years - MSc
Biotechnology, 1yr exp. in Micro-
biology, Looking for suitable job.
Mobile: 92619048,
Email: [email protected]
SKILLED LABOR
Plumber / Electrician 10 years
experienced, NOC available.
Contact: 91636185
MBA - HR. 10+ years of experience
(Age:29). Training, Team Manage-
ment, Client Relationship Manage-
ment and Customer Service. on
visit visa - Sunil Balu 95434193
Indian male 24 yrs Sales cum
Driver, 3 years experience in Saudi
with valid Saudi D/L, on visit visa.
Contact: 98154352
Experienced Salesman looking for
job with Omani D/L. #97900338
Seeking suitable placement in pur-
chase stone with 8 years experience
in Oman, now in visit visa.
Contact: 97332401
Indian Male MBA, 5 years Build-
ing Materials Project Sales experi-
ence in Oman, NOC available,
seeking for placement.
Contact - 90655903,99325544
35 years male, Lebanese holding
British passport, 10 years of experi-
ence in procurement, Omani Gov-
ernment tenders, setup marketing
plans & strategies, importing, Organ-
izing events, management, have car,
NOC available. Contact 94123939
Email: [email protected]
B. Com 2 years experience in Sales
Marketing Logistics Accounts and
Front office Contact 95506048
TOURS & TRAVELS
Indian male 31yrs old with hotel
management degree, 3 yrs experi-
ence in F&B services at 5 star hotel
Dubai, 05 yrs in American 06 star
cruiseliner has butler.
Has Oman driving license.
Contact 99859150
Architectural Draftsmen diploma
in construction technology with 6
years experience in drafting and
detailing as per British standard
in Oman with valid Omani license
looking for suitable opportunity
Noc available. Call 94375897.
Revit, Autocad D/man, expected
salary 200 OMR PH :92279784
Autocad works freelance, MEP, Civil
works, Interior, 2d/3d, BOQ etc.
Contact 97103168
Filipino Senior Revit/AutoCAD
Draftsman with 20 years profes-
sional experience is looking for
suitable job in Oman.
Please Contact: 96489798,
(+974) 66653780.
3yrs exp. in warehouse operations
(including pharmaceutical). Well
knowledge in WMS & ERP, looking
for suitable job. Ph. 95576686,
E: [email protected] (UAE visa
holder, currently in Oman)
SECRETARIAL & OFFICE
Indian, 20 years experience in
Oman as personal assistant / office
manager / executive secretary /
administrator / business develop-
ment asst. seeks job change. Release
available. Contact 99168054.
Indian Female, 25 Years - MSc
Looking for suitable job.
Mobile: 92619048,
Email: [email protected]
Lady Secretary / Sales Co-co-
ordinator 12 years experience in
Oman in reputed companies, seek
immediate Employment.
Call: 95244761
Looking for part time job Secre-tarial / Data Entry / Documenta-
tion available every day after 5:00
pm Friday / Saturday full day area
preferred Ruwi/ CBD/ MBD /
Al Khuwair. Contact: 90414827
Filipino Male, 28 years Old. Looking
for job, Have experience in Rent a Car/
Cargo & Logistics / Real Estate/ Cus-
tomer Care Executive / Sale Executive
& Marketing/ Shop In- Charge. Hard
working w/ good computer and com-
munication skill. GSM: 97761075
Indian male GYM instructor fitness
trainer on visit visa looking for a
suitable job. Contact : 92802307
Indian male, 28, post graduate,
6+ yrs exp in Oman in sales (back
office) & credit control with valid
Oman D/L looking for suitable
lacements. NOC available.
Contact: 92066 523
Mechanical Engineer (B.Tech)
Indian male with 2 year experi-
ence, AREA OF INTEREST
Work on Oil Rigs, Work as an QA/
QC inspector, Ultrasonic testing,
Radiographic testing.
Contact: +91 9567526566
Email: [email protected]
Indian female B.Com (Tourism
and Travel Management) & also
with IATA / UFTAA Foundation Di-
ploma, fresher, 21 year old, looking
for suitable placement.
Contact: 92300931
DRIVER
Looking for driving job. Contact: 93650209
Looking job L/Driving. Contact:
98726383
Driver with car Subaru 2008 model.
Contact: 99640986
Light Duty Driver Temporary.
Contact: 94022005
Light Vehicle Driver exp 8 years
Omani driving license speak English,
Arabic, Hindi, Education B.A. Contact:
98522914
Light driver with car. Contact: 99141481
Driver light license looking for job.
Contact: 94035746
Looking for driving job.
Contact: 99518533
Driver Pakistani exp 4 years,
looking for job. Contact: 94356465
Bangladeshi driver looking for job.
Contact: 97418036
Looking for driving job light
2 years exp. Contact: 91625977
Procurement Coordinator Indian
male 30 yrs B.Com (Computers)
4 years experience in Saudi Arabia
Construction Company looking for
any suitable position on visit visa
till 18 June 2016.
Contact: 0968 98590811 Email:
Indian male, Structural Engineer
looking for job in structural design
field. Having 6 years of experience
in design field. Residing in Muscat.
Contact: 91176187
Indian female on family visa
having M. Ttech degree in Biotech
seeking suitable placement in any
field. Contact: 91287047
Electrical Engineer Indian male
30 years having 5 years of experi-
ence in industrial automation &
utility maintenance in India,
holding valid Oman D/L.
Contact: 92789995 mail:
Electrical Engineer with 16 years
experience in switchgear / trans-
former / over head lines & trading,
looking for sales / procurement &
project planning & Execution with
NOC & D/L. Contact: 95994727
Email: [email protected]
Sr. Electrical Engineer with17+
yrs of exceptional exp in spear
heading strategic planning and
project management initiatives &
executing various high rise resi-
dential & commercial building as
well as roads and highway project
with proficiency in installation,
seeking a challenging position in a
dynamic organization.
Contact 96570891
Indian male B-tech 8 years experi-
ence as senior electrical project
engineer / QC engineer on visit
visa seeks suitable placement.
Contact 94094543
Email: [email protected]
Site Supervisor, Diploma in
Civil Engg (cert attested) knows
autocad revit, salary exp: 250
Ph : 92279784
Pakistani male Diploma Civil
Engineer 4yrs exp in Oman bull-
ing & mega projects, valid license
Oman.Contact:98921022
BS in Electrical Engineering, Experience: 5 years(Power Plants).
Contact: 92475206 Email:
Indian Male, MCA Graduate, 15
yrs exp in ERP, CSM Certified,
seeking suitable role.NOC Avail-
able. Contact : GSM : 90189284
Email: [email protected]
Indian male Networking Techni-
cian having 8 years experience
(6 years in Gulf) seeking suitable
jobs. Currently on visit visa.
Contact: 98269614
Email: [email protected]
Indian male 4 years experience in
IT as Programmer / Web Support/
CCNA/ Network on visit visa seek-
ing placement. Contact: 93069694
Email: [email protected]
3 years experience in IT Software
field, seeking suitable jobs.
Contact: 96350234, Email :
Indian 25 years BCA Graduate
with 3 years IT experience
(Desktop Support) seeking suitable
job. Contact: 94170892
4 years as Network Engineer (CCNA- MCTIP) very good in Ara-
bic & English, having valid license.
Contact: 99813988
Indian male 40 years BSc & diplo-
ma in logistics, 16 yrs experience
(6 yrs in GCC) in logistics, store-
keeping & spare parts, seeking
suitable placement. NOC available.
Contact: 98966849
IT Support Engineer, Exp 3 years
in Oman 2 years in India.
Contact: 94672759
Indian female M.Sc Computer
Science seeking suitable place-
ment in Muscat area.
Contact: 98660672
Staff Nurse seeking job for nurse
with 2 years experience in India with
visit visa, passed with 51% Oman
prometric. Contact: 91451935
Senior female staff Nurse with
MOH license, over 25 years experi-
ence in Operation Theatre, Gy-
naecology, Anaesthesia, General ,
Plastic and reconstructive surgery
looking for suitable opportunities
in Oman. NOC available.
Call: 92098423
D- Pharm Pharmacist 17 years
experience Ayurvedic Panchakar-
ma Masseur’s 3 years experience.
Contact: 93672452
Indian female Dentist specialized
Endodontist looking for suitable
placement, prometric completed.
Contact: 96410448
DAILY GUIDED6 S U N D AY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 6
Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624
SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED
MISCELLANEOUS
Regin Accountant male Indian, 2
years experience doing accounts
in tally and excel searching for
suitable job.
EMAIL – [email protected],
Mobile No : +91 7373387282
Indian Female Electronics System
Eng. UK Graduate. Programmer
Micro Controller Robot, Eng. Anal-
ysis, Instrumentation & Control,
Eng. Projects, Integrated Circuit
Eng., Electrical and Fluid Drives, Ana-
logue Electronics, Wireless Systems,
seeking suitable post,
on Visiting Visa. Contact: 97848075,
Indian male (B.E) Quality Control-
ler and Supervising. 3 year good
working experience. Better knowl-
edge in quality control technique.
Searching for suitable job. Mail:
Contact: GSM : +91 9786418033 /
968 91894487
Indian male electrician (EEE),
2 years good working experi-
ence searching for suitable job.
Gmail id ; antonyajin15@gmail.
com, Contact; 918148336160 /
918300136160
Indian Male, 44 Years, Plumbing
Supervisor, holding Omani Driving
license, having 14 Years of experi-
ence in Oman and 8 years in India.
Looking for suitable placement.
Contact - 95154414
Email- [email protected]
Indian Male, Post graduate with
10yrs experience in Gulf & 4.6yrs
in Oil & Gas experience with SAP
and ERP exposure. Finalization,
MIS, Auditing, Budgeting, AP &AR,
Tax, etc., with Oman D/L seeking
suitable placement. NOC available.
Contact: 91743376
Indian male electrician(EEE ).
Two years good working experi-
ence searching for suitable job.
Gmail ; antonyajin15@gmail.
com. Antony Ajin.G, Contact: 91
8148336160 / 91 8300136160
Indian Male, 23, BBA graduate,
fresher, looking for a job in sales
(indoor). No driving license.
Contact: 94032041 Mail:
Indian male 33 years, B.Com, hav-
ing 6 years experience in Oman.
Tally & ERP looking for suitable
placement. Mobile no :98492921
Skilled multilingual individual
with 33years of excellent experi-
ence in management and banking
at a nationalized bank; seeking
better job opportunities with
challenging responsibilities.
E-mail: [email protected],
call : 97848075
Sri Lankan female, 27 years, quali-
fied English Language professional
with 6 years of lecturing, manage-
rial, marketing experience, seeking
suitable position in education
industry. Contact (+968) 93017330,
(+968) 98445287 Email:
Indian Male, 24, B.Com Graduate
with 1 year experience in Oman
looking for a job in accounting.
Contact – 96619348
Indian male 24 ,B.E ( E.C.E ) gradu-
ate with 3 years of experience in the
fields of BMS ,Low current systems
and has good knowledge of HV and
LV, currently working in Oman,
NOC Available. Contact : 94737033,
mail : [email protected]
Pakistani Male, Land Surveyor with
work experience in Dubai Seeks
suitable job in Oman.
Contact: 94347288
Indian male, 25 yrs, more than
5 years experience in Dubai, Looking
for a suitable placement for jobs
related to sales, marketing, coordina-
tion and support. Contact: 95140445,
Indian Male, Post graduate with
10yrs experience in gulf & 4.6yrs in
Oil & Gas experience with SAP and
ERP exposure. Finalisation, MIS,
Auditing, Budgeting, AP &AR, Tax,
etc., with Oman D/L seeking suit-
able placement. NOC available.
Contact: 91743376
Indian Male, 23, BBA graduate,
fresher on visit visa, looking for
a job in sales. Contact: 94032041
Mail: [email protected]
IT professional, B.E. in IT, CCNA,
MCSA, MCSE, 3yrs exp. in IT, valid
Omani D/L seeking suitable place-
ment in IT/Network/Server support/
Retail sales. Contact 91496939
Indian female, B.Tech Computer
Science, 5 years experience in
teaching in India currently on visit
visa seeking for a suitable position
in teaching, IT or administration.
E mail: [email protected]
Accountant male Indian, 2 years
experience, doing accounts in tally
& excel seeks suitable job.
EMAIL – [email protected],
Contact +91 7373387282
B.E (Mechanical) 12 years indus-
trial sales, 1 year Muscat experi-
ence, presently in India , immedi-
ately ready to join.
Contact :917338899372 , email id :
Indian female B.Com, 1 year
experience in Oman, experience in
wings account package and knowl-
edge of tally. Looking for Account-
ing job. Presently in Family visa.
Contact: 93491124 & 92054531
Indian male, M.Com, 7 years
Oman experience in the field of
accounts and valid oman driving
license & NOC. Good knowledge in
SAP, Tally, Oracle, MS office and
Excel seeks suitable placement.
Contact 92859733
Indian Male, 23, BBA graduate
with approx. 2 years experience in
India and UAE is looking for job in
sales / marketing.
Contact: 94032041; Mail:
Filipino I.T. with 5 years experience
looking for suitable job in Oman.
Contact: +968 91183514 or email
Male Indian, 8 years of experience
doing desktop engineer, software
implementation, system admin,
searching for suitable job. Email:
thiruvazhimarban.ciet@gmail.
com, mobile: +919171447997 /
+919894357260
B.E. (Mechanical) 12years indus-
trial sales one year Muscat experi-
ence, Presently in India,
Immediately ready to join.
Contact :917338899372 , email id :
Looking for a part time accounting
job, additional experience in admin
& store - purchase. #99196621
ACCA affiliate, B.Sc Degree holder,
3 years experience in audit and
finance at Big 6, Male, Looking for
suitable placement. NOC release
available. Contact:95140445,
Indian Male 47 years MBA-Oper-
ations Management with total 25
Yrs exp inclusive of 9 yrs in Oil &
Gas sector in Oman, having valid
Omani D/L & NOC available , seeks
challenging position in SCM/
Logistics/ Procurement in any
Sector. GSM-94236414.
Mail id – [email protected]
Indian male with 5 year Oman
Sales Experience with valid Oman
D/L, looking for suitable position.
Mobile:97221624,
Email:[email protected]
Male, Indian, 25, 5 years experi-
ence in Dubai; looking for perma-
nent placement in Oman for jobs
related to sales, coordination and
marketing. Contact: +971563664701
Male, 23, with experience in UAE
& India, looking for job in sales /
marketing. Contact: 94032041
Sr. Accountant, WITH Oman D/L
& 8.5 yrs exp, 7.5 yrs Oman & 1 yr
India in manufacturing, trading
& contracting Cos, independently
handling all accounting, finance,
banking, L/C, import, export & fina-
lization seeks placement,
Procurement/Tender & Contract
Procurement /logistics & freight
Specialist /Oil Field / petrochemi-
cal/Engineer /MBA /SAP certify
/ 15yrs Rich Experience/ Import
&export Specialist / Oil Field expe-
rience/ coordinator / World Wide
supplier network /Noc available
Looking for challenging Position
Contact: 97813849,
Email Id:[email protected]
Male, 23, with experience in UAE
& India, looking for job in sales /
marketing. Contact: 94032041
Indian Male Accountant. Com-
pleted MBA with 1 year experience,
good working knowledge in Tally
& Excel. Searching for suitable
job. Email : jovin8910@gmail.
com, Contact : 919715874548 ,
918015907437
BS in Electrical engineering, expe-
rience : 6 years in electrical installa-
tion and maintenance #99817032,
Email : [email protected]
Indian male electrician(EEE ).
Two years good working experi-
ence searching for suitable job.
Gmail antonyajin15@gmail.
com, : Contact; 918148336160 /
918300136160
Electrical & Electronics diploma
Engineer Indian male 23 years,
2 years experience in Electrical
field/good experience in Electron-
ics MCU projects currently in
visit visa please do not hesitate to
Contact; 93047707
Email: [email protected]
Indian male 30 yrs, holding valid
driving license, having 5 years of
experience in sales, looking for
suitable position.
Contact # 90552942/94355626
Indian male Diploma in Electron-
ics, having 3 years of experience
in the hardware and networking
field, also worked in construction
company Mabela for 6 months
as supervisor, trying to get driving
license. Contact: - +96897017866.
Business Management Gradu-
ate with 12 years of experience
in Oman, Worked with catering,
medical, IT groups seeks suitable
placement in Finance/purchase/
insurance sector, NOC Available.
Email, saima.gangawali@gmail.
com, Mob 94258301
Indian male Network Cabling Tech-
nician (19-years gulf experience)
seeking for suitable placement. mo-
bile no: 0091-8089909265 (India),
email: [email protected]
Indian female (27 yrs) MBA(IT),
BCA,CCNA.2year experience in IT
operations in Oman. Graduated from
Oman with good analytical, com-
municating & programming skills,
presented in international confer-
ence, seeking suitable positions.
contact:93672143.e-mail id:fathima.
Mechanical Engineer, Indian,
Male,5 years experience in GCC &
India, looking for permanent place-
ment in Oman. NOC Release Avail-
able. Contact: 00968-95140445;
SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED
ACC. AVAILABLE
Room available for family / bachelor
opposite to o.K. Center, Ruwi. Gsm
942-888-63
Furnished apartment for rent,
two rooms, majlis, hall, kitchen.
Near Carrefour al-mawalah.
Contact 99336776
One room available in 2BHK in Al
Falaj area for Executive bachelor
only. Contact 99131742.
Room for rent in Qurum attached
bathroom and kitchen.
Contact: 99664703
Sharing accommodation
near ISD. Contact: 99657340
Furnished sharing accommoda-
tion available at Walja family / Ex
bachelor. Contact: 93223278
Room with attached bathroom for
a family in Wadi Kabir.
Contact: 97167857
Room available for Executive bach-
elor at Al Hail. Contact 96234708
Independent room in Qurum /
Hail. Contact: 95529970
Furnish bedroom with attach
bathroom for executive bachelor.
Contact: 97704794
1 BHK appartment for rent in
Al Khoud Shabiya near mazoon
mosque for rent (next to alkhoud
medical center and squ)
MOB: 93913224
Room with attached bathroom
and sharing kitchen available for
Executive bachelor or
small family at wadikabir.
Contact 93049849
Furnished room attached bath for
Indian bachelor, Al-Falaj Ruwi &
lady Wadi Kabir near
Mars hypermarket.
CONTACT 96202458/96761960
Sharing Accommodation avail-
able for working ladies opposite
Al Nadhah Hospital. Preferably
Indians. Room with seperate toilet
and sharing kitchen.RO.90.
Contact 96524717
Room available in Mumtaz area
1 room, 1 Bathroom, Kitchen & 1
room, common bathroom. Inter-
ested pleasecontact 92680041
Mr. Altaf
Part- Time Accountant, well experi-
enced senior accountant ,capable of
doing all type of accounting works
up to finalization, Budgeting, Bank fi-
nancing requirements, taxation work
etc available. Contact : : 98803439
Indian Female seeking a job in
Back Office and Accountancy,
8+ years proven experience as a
dynamic candidate with excellent
Excel & Communication skills.
Quick learner and Team player.
Currently on Family Visa.
Contact 94093154, 91746890,
Email: [email protected]
Sri Lankan Male, 31 years. 6 years
experience as an Accounts Execu-
tive, (Languages can speak Urdu/
Arabic, English written & spoken) .
Contacts: 99782930/
HSE Engineer, Indian male, 5.5
Plus years experience in Oil & Gas.
Working in Shclumberger.NEBOSH,
IOSH, & NDT Certified, M Tech in
HSE. CONTACT-krish.569@gmail.
com Mobile- +91 9867016808
Sri Lankan Male, 31 years. 6 years
experience as an Accounts Execu-
tive, (Languages can speak Urdu/
Arabic, English written & spoken).
#99782930/ [email protected]
Indian male, M. Com with 3 yr
Oman Exp in Accounts with valid
NOC & D/L on Visit Visa, available to
join immediately . GSM :94744575
B.S.C in Electrical Engineering,
Experience: 5 Years (Power Plant).
Contact: 92475206
Email: [email protected]
Senior accountant ,NOC avail-
able, more than 5 years exp., born
& bought up in Oman, Account-
ing upto finalization, computer
skills tally9, Sage ERP accpac
500(6.0A), Vcams , Audit ,valid
Oman D/L, languages known
English ,Arabic, Hindi. can join im-
mediately. Tel: 96339599, mail-
Indian male with 10+ years of
working experience (security solu-
tions, event management) on visit
visa seeks suitable placement.
#97945269, [email protected]
Petrochemicals Specialist, Chemi-
cal, MBA 18 YEARS EXPERIENC IN
OIL FIELDS COM, RAW MATERIAL ,
polymer, SPACIALISED IN Procure-
ment /COMMECIAL/ PURCHASE
/ LOGISTICS / SCM/Planning &
sound knowledge of technical
requirement for any manufacture
plant Forecasting, Distribution,
Vendors Development, LC opening/
establishment coordination with
NOC available. Contact:97813849
SCM / LOGISTICS/ PROCURE-
MENT - 25 Yrs exp - Indian Male
- Oil & Gas, Manufacturing Sector
- Having valid Oman D/L & NOC
available. Seeks Challenging sen-
ior position. GSM-94236414,
Email ID - [email protected]
33 year old Filipina with experi-
ence in Tele performance, Manila
call centre, now working as Wait-
ress in Qatar seeking suitable post.
Local contact 99022484
Indian Male 28 years, Mechani-
cal Engineer (Diploma) with 2
years’ exp., Automobile ITI NCVT,
CSWIP-BGAS Painting QC Grade-2,
NDT Level-2, ISO Lead Auditor
QA (IRCA), Piping QC & Isometric
Drawings, WPS & WPQR, available
on Visit Visa, seeks suitable job.
Contact: 90653733,
Light Duty Driver, Fluent in
English, Arabic. Well knowledge of
Oman Areas looking for suitable
placement. Contact 97950869
IT Administrator with 6 yrs of GCC
experience, now in Dubai (visit
visa).seeking suitable placement in
UAE. Contact :00971-565598176,
email:[email protected]
Indian Male, 24 yrs, looking for
any type of job, qualification is
Diploma in Electronics with 3 years
of experience in the hardware an
networking field an also worked
in construction company Mabelah
for 6 months as supervisor, having
valid D/L. Contact : - +96897017866.
Indian Male: 23yrs, MBA in Market-
ing from UK (United Kingdom), look-
ing for a job, currently in Muscat in
visit. No: 97210361 / 95357513,
Email: [email protected]
Highly experienced mechanical/
steel structural fabrication engineer
looking for suitable placement. NOC
available.Contact 99860714,
SALES / MARKETING
Sales 2 years B.Com male 24 yrs,
Indian. Contact: 00968 94212636
B.Com, Sales Executive 30 yrs,
5 years experience with D/L.
Contact: 94501264
Email: [email protected] /
Looking for job Executive purchase
logistics 10 years experience with
NOC & d/license. Contact: 91432512
Indian male 5 yrs exp in sales /
marketing seeking for job.
Contact: 98427473
27, Indian female B.Com Graduate
with 4 years experience in procure-
ment and purchases on family visa
looking for immediate and suitable
placement. Contact: 95828986
Indian female 29 years Post
Graduate with computer Knowl-
edge 2 years of Oman experience in
coordinator & 5 years of experience
in customer service, client relation
officer with excellent communica-
tion skill seeks suitable placement.
Contact: 95337665
Indian male 33 yrs Graduate 8 years
Sales & Marketing experience in
Oman looking for suitable place-
ment, D/L & NOC available,
Contact 99164461
Email: [email protected]
Indian female BSc, B. Ed, MBA
(Marketing) seeks suitable place-
ment in marketing section.
Contact: 95041134
Email: [email protected]
Indian male 37 years MBA
graduate in marketing with 9yrs of
experience in UAE in field of brand
promotions & marketing with UAE
D/L on a visit seeking suitable
position. Conatct 95792820
Indian Male, 26 M.Com with
4 yrs of Experience in Accounting
& Administration in a Financial
Company in India, seeks suitable
job, Currently in India.
Contact: India:-+918907212253
Akhil:-93626288, Email:
Indian Male, MBA marketing 5 yrs
exp. in sales & 4 yrs in FMCG
sector, looking for best
opportunity. NOC available.
Contact: 96001877
Indian male Graduate with 18
years of Marketing experience
presently in Oman on family visit
visa, looking for best opportunity.
Contact: 96168687
Email: [email protected]
ACC. WANTED
AVAILABLE
Party & Wedding equipment rent-
als. Full line, from Tables, Linen
& Skirting, Chairs & Chair covers,
Cutlery, Crockery, Glassware,
Chafing Dishes, Ice Sculptures, to
Large Sound Systems and spec-
tacular lighting. Call Andrea 9606
2222 for Catering and Croyden
9623 5555 for Sound & Light.
ww.tunesoman.com,
E-mail: [email protected]
NRI
910 sq ft furnished flat at Qupem -
Goa. Contact: 97094797
For immediate sale an attractive
3 BHK villa with servant room plus
adjoining plot at Lonavala, India.
Contact 91 8308009040
WANTED
Urgently required looking to
immediately buy used Grit blasting
& airless spray equipment 1 No each.
Contact: 968 24810930 / 93203772
/ 93203773 / 93203778
IELTS Coaching (academic)
required nearby wadi Kabir area.
Please call on mobile or msg on
Whats up. Mobile no: 92927880/
99012165
Urgently required Villa with 8
rooms near Bausher/Ghala/Al
Ansab area for accommodation of
Staff from a reputed company in
Oman. Interested party may con-
tact - Mr. Pramith 99694150
MISCELLANEOUS
Indian male, 26 years 3 Years’
experience in Projects of Tanks,
Boilers and Steel structures
Aware of int. Standards, B tech in
Mech Engg. Contact-
Mob-00917350860889
Indian male 25, Graduate in com-
merce (B.com) having 4 years of
experience in same field looking
for a suitable placement pres-
ently on a visit visa. Contact :
93979084 / 97351786, E-mail :
Indian male 25, Graduate in com-
merce (B.com) having 2 years of
experience in same field looking
for a suitable placement presently
on a visit visa. Contact : 93979084
/ 97351786, E-mail :
Indian female, B.Tech Computer
Science with 3 years experience
seeking full time job in IT support,
Teaching, HR. Contact: 95933507
/ 97485997
Indian male 26 yrs (MBA) Spe-
cialized in Marketing have 2 yrs
heavy equipment sales experi-
ence, have GCC driving license
looking suitable job in Oman.
Contact: 99180369
Email: [email protected]
Indian female, 31 years (B.A.,
D.Ed) having 6 yrs of teaching
experience in CBSE schools in
India well versed with electronics
devices teaching, good computer
knowledge presently on visit visa
looking for suitable job.
Contact: 97135319
Email: [email protected] Indian male diploma in automobiles
& MBA in insurance motor claim
surveyor and processor, looking for
a suitable placement in Insurance
company 15 years of experience
working in Middle East, Dubai &
Saudi Arabia. Contact : 95467981
Indian male Electrician(EEE)
2 years good working experi-
ence searching for suitable
job. mail ; antonyajin15@gmail.
com, Contact;918148336160 /
918300136160
Female, 31 yrs Accounts Assistant
(MBA Finance), 5 yrs experience in
Accounts field. Contact 94068969
5 years experienced (Front office &
Banking), Indian Male (28 years. Ho-
tel Management graduate), searching
for suitable position. English, Hindi,
Malayalam, Arabic fluent. Noc avail-
able. Contact:91383167
Indian male Electrician(EEE ).
Two years good working experi-
ence searching for suitable job.
Gmail id ; antonyajin15@gmail.
com, Name; Antony Ajin.
G : 918148336160 /918300136160
Economics Specialist: Female ,
MA & M.Phil/PhD_ in ECONOMICS .
10 years experience Banking/Lec-
turer/Customer Service/Trainer
currently Looking for job
Contact cell:97457248
Female Architect on visiting visa,
two years’ experience, graduated
from School of Planning and Archi-
tecture (under MHRD). Proficient
in AutoCAD, Google Sketchup
and creative visualization. Email
Contact 00968-94057427.
Sudanese male, 5 years experi-
ence in supply chain (warehouse
management, logistics and pro-
curement) Contact : 90644186
Indian female , M.B.A, 8 Yrs of
Experience in Oil and Gas industry,
Trading & contracting companies.
working as an Unit Manager for
MNC, HR Coordinator and Office
admin for local companies. seeking
suitable placement immediately.
Contact 99179709.
Indian male, 44 Years, Plumbing
Supervisor, holding Omani Driving
license, having 14 Years of experi-
ence in Oman and 8 years in India.
Looking for suitable placement.
Contact - 95154414
Email- [email protected]
Indian male, 24 yrs, B. Com Gradu-
ate more than 1 year experienced
in accounts planning to come for a
family visit in oman seeking for a
suitable placement.
Contact : 99334770/ 997 43 709
B.E(Mechanical) 12years in-
dustrial sales one year Muscat
experience ,Presently in India
,Immediately ready to join ,Mobile
no :917338899372 , email id :
Planning Engineer, BE Mech
Engg. Indian Female having total
11 yrs exp in oil & gas projects (8+
yrs in Gulf) with valid Oman D/L,
Seeks a Suitable job.
Contact: 92456003
DAILY GUIDES U N D AY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 6 D7
TOURS
TOURS
RENT A CAR
25 - 50 seater bus with PDO &
BP specification for monthly rent
& small car with driver. Contact
99839898
Al Ibtisama rent & leasing. Contact: 91374879 / 96627562/
99382001/ 24751177/
24751188
SITUATION WANTEDCARGO
Dolphin Watch, Dhow Cruise with
Buffet, & Land Tours Al- Ainain
Marine Tours contact 98029602,
92808636
We arrange tours & accommoda-
tion at all the beautiful places in
Oman. Contact 99839898
DRIVING
TRANSPORTATION
Transportation available Ruwi to
Al Khuwair, Ghubra & Azaiba.
Contact: 91103909
Transportation available Al Khu-
wair, Ghobrah, Azaiba, Al Hail & Al
Khoud. Drop & pick.
Contact - 95250161
Transportation. Contact:96538078
Transportation. Contact
94510847
Transportation. Contact
99508282
Transportation. Contact
92015894
Transportation required from
Qurum to WadiKabir at afternoon
only 1 PM. Contact - 99012165
SITUATION WANTEDBUSINESS
Omani investor has a real estate com-
pany in Shatti Al Qurum, looking for a
financial investor to participate in the
real estate company. For more details
contact me by 00968 96225852
Email: [email protected]
INVESTOR PARTNER REQUIRED
Email: muscatcoff [email protected]
For a successfully Catering Restaurant
Investor cum Partner is required.
also welcome.
ONE STOP SHOP BUSINESS
SERVICES
Public Relation Service (PRO)
Document Clearance,
Business setup,
Formation new Companies,
LLC Companies,
Investor Visa, Legal Services.
Contact Saleh:
96723485
MATRIMONIAL
Parents of 28 yrs, Indian Boy
from Mumbai, ACCA working as
a senior accountant in Muscat,
seeks alliance from an Indian
Sunni Muslim family. Contact
no.(parent): 96408642 email id:
Ambulance available for rent
(2015 model), MOH & PDO
approved. Contact 96721709
*Classified Advertisement space booking with text,
should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication.
* Subject to space availability
FOR LADIES
Home service available, (Thread-
ing, facial, waxing, Head mas-
sage) R0. 20. Contact 99619409
(watsup)
SITUATION WANT-MATRIMONIAL
MV SALE
Nissan Qashqai 2013 Kms 30,000 VGC comprehensive
Insurance UAE / Oman.
Contact: 96995430
Prado 2011. Contact: 99336093
Mazda 2 Sedan, 2014 model,
metallic silver, automatic, expat
lady driven, 44,000 km RO 3,000,
negotiable, for sale.
Contact: 94619163
WEB, ERP and Business Intel-
ligence (BI) creation and manage-
ment at rock bottom price.
Contact: http//webviewoman
Ezhava male, 31yrs, height 5.6,
Star Magham, B-Tech Aeronauti-
cal, administrative professional,
parents in Oman, native Aluva
(Ekm). Contact 99550870
Kerala Christian male 28, work-
ing as Admin & Support in MNC
Muscat. Contact: 95826707
Indian male Roman Catholic 40yrs divorcee working in Muscat.
Seeks suitable alliance from widow/
divorcee/ single.Contact 96059801.
Parent of Thrissur based Hindu
Ezhava girl aged 20, Slim,Atham
star, Studying for B. Pharm seek-
ing alliance from well employed
Graduates, preferably in Engineer-
ing Contact :96425102
Malankara Catholic Male Nurse (28) from Thiruvalla working in
Nizwa Private Co. Alliance invites
parents/nurses working in Oman.
Contact 968 98267338,
0091 9287215726
D8 S U N D AY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 6
DAILY GUIDE Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624
MANPOWER
SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES
SITUATION WANTEDSERVICES
SERVICESWe Provide Cleaners,
General cleaning etc.
Contact : 94277020
A/C Maintenance & Servicing,
Fridge, Washing machine & Dish
washer repairing, Painting & Clean-
ing services, Electrical & plumbing.
Contact 99447257 / 97014234 /
24504281
MARBLE CRYSTALLIZATION restore the original shine of
your marble. Contact 24793614/
99314807
Marble crystallization & grinding, Ocean center LLC
Contact: 99344723
Pest control & Building cleaning all kinds of pest control
MYearly contracts available.
0 Al Husn Cleaning L.L.C
Pest control treatments, Ocean center LLC
Contact 99344723
House shifting. Contact 99708138
Marble Restoration, Mosaic tiles
polishing, carpet shampooing,
maintenance. Contact ABU QABAS-
99320217 /24788722
Marble crystallization & grinding, cleaning & carpet shampooing.
Ocean center LLC.
Contact 99344723
GUARANTEED CLEANING: Carpet & sofa shampooing,
Contact 99314807/24792998
House shifting & transporting.
Contact 92490422
Split & window A/C servicing, re-
pairing, installation ducted, package
etc. Contact Abbas : 98667326
All Maintenance and services
electric, CCTV Camera, Plumbing
A/C service and gas installation,
painting tiles. Contact: 96524904 /
94285064
A/C servicing maintenance.
Contact: 92279370
Water proofing ABUQABAS-
Contact 99320217/24788722
Window & split unit A.C servicing
& repairing. Contact: 99557080
Split unit A/C & window unit A.C
servicing & maintenance.
Contact: 96236476
Split unit & window unit A.C ser-
vicing & maintenance.
Contact: 93769089 / 95323517
CAD drawings Archi/ MEP
CAD – comply BIM.
Contact: 91233975
Carpet Shampoo, marble & tile
polishing, pest control &
anti-termite treatment, general
cleaning painting,Plumbing,
Electrical, shifting. Contact Mun-
dhir Al-Rizaiqi trading. L.L.C.
Contact: 24810137, 99450130
Al farzdaq Al Fedi Trad and Cont
Maintenance services electric,
plumbing and A/C. Contact:
96524904 /94285064
House Shifting Packing. Contact: 99657644 / 98518013
SITUATION WANTEDCOMPUTER/WEB./ EDUCATION/CLASSES
Spoken Arabic class for Non Arabic Speakers & English
class for Malayalam Speakers in Azaiba and Ruwi
earn in two monthstion guaranteed
Tel: 95244310
Karate and self defense classes at Azaiba 18 Nov Street. RO 10 per month
twice a week Monday and Tuesday 6. 30 TO 7. 30. PM. Contact: 98294551
WE SERVE OMAN
GOOD NEWS
GOOD NEWS
Amazing news for those who are
looking for a brighter future and a
wider zone for innovation and cre-
ation in teaching. English teachers
of all nationalities are needed
for a private School (from KG-1
Till Grade 6), School is located in
Mabela South for further details
please contact us : 92329970 /
92100926
FREE INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM. If you would like to
know more about Islam, please
call: 99425598, 99250777,
99353988, 99253818, 99341395,
and 99379133. For ladies:
99415818, 99321360, 99730723
Orvisit:www.islamfact.com
Ayurvedic treatment for back-
ache, paralysis, arthritis etc
& massage, All Season (Vaid-
yaratnam). Contact:24475280 /
95371664 / 92504980
www.siddhayur.com
Ayurvedic treatment for joint
pain, backache, paralysis, mas-
sage, steambath, obesity, Spondy-
litis, Ideal Care Ayurvedic Clinic,
18 November Street, Azaiba.
Contact: 99639695 / 97397320
T I M E S O F O M A N S P E C I A L S U P P L E M E N T
PHILIPPINESINDEPENDENCE DAY 2016
S U N DAY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 6
PAGE 2 > PAGE 3 > PAGE 4 > PAGE 4 >
Philippines ranks 8th in world as top medical tourism destination
Embassy hosts reception to celebrateIndependence Day
A prime tourism investment destination in Southeast Asia
‘Filipinnovations’ showcase unique Filipino technologies
I N S I D E P A G E S
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEEN years ago, bound by the desire for liberty, equality and justice, our forefathers valiantly took a collec-tive stand to break free and fight for self-rule, and triumphed with the birth of the Filipino nation and our people’s independence.
To this day, we continue to walk the path of our heroes. Against eve-ry difficulty, we have always come together as a people, united by our selfless love for the country and the strong sense of duty to our fellow Filipinos.
In the past six years, the admin-istration of President Benigno S. Aquino III has worked tirelessly to deepen the meaning of our freedom to each and every Filipino. Bold structural reforms were taken to successfully deliver on our renewed hopes for better lives.
With the conviction that trans-parent, open and streamlined pro-cesses allow for greater growth, programs were directed to broaden civic engagement and participation in governance, and to fortify the highest standards of integrity, ac-countability and trustworthiness in the country’s public leadership.
As a result, the Philippines is now widely acknowledged for its steady
rise as a dynamic economic growth hub with sustainable inclusive de-velopment, a vital and responsible member of the global community committed to uphold and abide by the rule of law and as a stronghold for democracy with its constituent val-ues that places primacy on the dig-nity and worth of the human being.
In celebrating 118 years of Philip-pine Independence, the Department of Foreign Affairs remains resolute and determined to serve, defend, and advance our fundamental in-terests in the diplomatic frontlines: the peace and security of the nation, the growth of the economy, and the rights and welfare of our people overseas and even those at home.
It has been often said that for us to build the future, we must honor the past. In keeping with this year’s theme of “Kalayaan 2016: Pagkakai-sa, Pag-aambagan at Pagsulong,” our celebration of our freedom is a pow-erful reminder of the true measure of our strength as a country; that is how we can bravely seize the chal-lenges, and together — as one people passionately driven by a shared vi-sion of greatness — we can prevail.
Mabuhay ang Kalayaan at ang Sambayanang Pilipino!
— Jose Rene D. Almendras
THE YEAR 2016 marks the 118th Anniversary of the Proclama-tion of Philippine Independence. We celebrate the occasion, which reminds us of the day, 118 years ago, when the Philippines became the first independent republic in Asia, with the first unfurling of our national flag and the first singing of our national anthem, Lupang Hin-irang (“Beloved Land”).
Since then, our people have moved forward in establishing and protecting their democratic values. Thus, the recent national elections are seen as an affirmation of the Philippines’ stability as a democ-racy. The new leaders of our nation were voted into office in an exercise which local and foreign observers have described as transparent and orderly on the whole.
As the Philippines transitions into its new leadership, the theme for this year’s celebration takes on a deeper meaning: “Pagkakaisa, Pag-aambagan at Pagsulong” (Unity,
Participation and Progress). Stay-ing united on key issues will be cru-cial for our people, and we need to support the incoming government in its move to consolidate the gains of the past administration and in-crease the share in wealth and pow-er of a greater number of the Fili-pino people. With the Philippines having become one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, with a sustained average growth of 6.2% in the last six years — 6.9 percent in the first quarter of 2016 — there is much potential for the country to become one of the top-performing economies in the next decade.
In its foreign relations, the Phil-ippines will continue to pursue an independent and principled for-eign policy, focusing on attaining national and economic security, and the promotion and protection of the welfare of Filipino nationals in foreign lands. It will continue to engage the international com-munity to attain the common goals
of upholding international law and promoting peace and humanitarian values.
For the relations between the Philippines and Oman, it may be recalled that in 2015, we celebrated the 35th Anniversary of the Es-tablishment of Bilateral Relations between our two countries. With the able and wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said, Oman has long been a wel-coming host to Filipinos who have come to work in the Sultanate and helped build its economy. We con-tinue to strive for closer relations, not only in the field of labor but in other untapped sectors such as trade, education and culture. Early this year, we held the 2nd Joint Bilateral Consultation Meeting to discuss matters of mutual concern. We likewise signed a Memoran-dum of Understanding on Cultural Cooperation and are considering a number of agreements in the areas of trade, investments and services.
With daily direct flights between the Philippines and Oman since 2014, these areas are very promis-ing indeed.
I therefore invite the Omani peo-ple to visit the Philippines to see for themselves the abundant possibili-ties for investment and trade, in the areas of tourism, real estate, agri-culture and fisheries, manufactur-ing — including ship-building and pharmaceuticals — IT and business process outsourcing (BPO). I’m sure they will find much to discover and exceed their expectations in my country.
The Philippines clearly has the momentum to sustain its economic growth into the future. With the new administration taking office on June 30, it has already been actively working towards a smooth transi-tion in harnessing the participation of the Filipino people in building a 21st century nation whose promise has come to fruition. — Narciso T. Castañeda
Oman and Philippines continue to strive for closer bilateral relations
‘Philippines now widely hailed asa dynamic economic hub’
A M B A S S A D O R ’ S M E S S A G EM E S S A G E O F S E C R E T A R Y O F F O R E I G N A F F A I R S
I greet with great pride and joy the entire Filipino nation, in-cluding our kababayans over-seas, as we commemorate the 118th Anniversary of the Proc-
lamation of Philippine Independence.More than a hundred years ago,
Filipinos laid down their lives for the sovereign Philippines of the present. It was a long bloody struggle as our forebears, through their words and deeds, fought against those who sup-
pressed our freedom and violated our rights. Our heroes emerged tri-umphant because of their solidarity, courage, and passion. They broke the shackles of abuse, inequality, and vio-lence that once terrorized our people so that we may all enjoy the liberty, dignity and hope we possess today.
This occasion coincides with our nation’s celebration of another victory: Our journey on the Daang Matuwid has allowed us to reap
the gains of reform. Six years have passed and we are well on our way towards resurgence. I call on all of you to engage deeper in nation-building, remain steadfast on the path of morality and justice, and al-ways protect the weak and margin-alised, as we transition to the next chapter of our country’s narrative.
Again, may we all have a happy and meaningful Philippine Independence Day. — Benigno S. Aquino III
‘Let us engage deeper in nation building’
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
For the relations
between the
Philippines and Oman,
it may be recalled that
in 2015, we celebrated
the 35th Anniversary
of the Establishment
of Bilateral Relations
between our two
countries
2 S U N DAY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 6
The Philippines was ranked 8th among the top medical tourism destina-tions in the world in
2015, ahead of countries such as Japan and France, according to a list compiled by the International Healthcare Research Center and the Medical Tourism Association (MTA), a global non-profit asso-ciation for medical tourism and in-ternational patient industry which represents healthcare providers, governments, insurance compa-nies, employers and other buyers of healthcare.
According to the MTA index, Canada emerged as the top medi-cal tourism destination world-wide, providing the most suitable economical, secure and cultural environment, and an acceptable healthcare cost. The UK and Israel came second and third, respective-ly. Singapore ranked 4th, ahead of Costa Rica (5th), Italy (6th), and Germany (7th).
Clients of the Philippines for medical tourism come from East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Tai-wan), Sri Lanka, the Pacific Is-lands (Guam, Palau, Marshall Is-lands, and Micronesia), Australia, North and South America, Europe and the United Kingdom, and the Gulf states. Filipino expats and overseas Filipino workers likewise prefer to have their medical proce-dures done in the country.
The Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Health
(DOH) and Department of Trade and Industry-Board of Investments (DTI-BOI) have a joint programme to promote Philippine medical tourism. This informal partnership resulted in a roadmap that identi-fied five major segments in the in-ternational medical travel sector: tourists, who come for spa and oth-er wellness services; medical tour-ists, who avail of low-acuity medi-cal procedures; medical travelers, who purposely come to specifically avail of more complex procedures; international patients, including overseas Filipino workers, expats, and retireers; and accompanying guests, either friends or immediate kin of travelers.
To date, medical tourism in the Philippines caters to approxi-mately 80,000 to 250,000 patients or clients annually. As of the DOT, DOH, DTI-BOI’s latest count, 62 hospitals around the country are now internationally accredited. To date, five Philippine medical institutions, namely Asian Hospi-tal and Medical Center (Muntin-lupa City), Makati Medical Center (Makati City), St. Luke’s Medical Center (Global City and Quezon City), and The Medical City (Pasig City) have been certified as insti-tutions for excellent medical care by the Joint Commission Inter-national (JCI), the only patient safety and quality healthcare ac-creditation and certification body with membership in more than 100 countries worldwide. JCI ac-creditation is both intensive and
extensive in its standards, and as-sessment is comprehensive, thus ensuring that a hospital with the JCI seal can provide the care that medical tourists require.
In a 2014 study by renowned medical tourism author Ian Youngman, global health and wellness tourism market is worth $438.6 billion. And Philippine medical tourism was able to gen-erate $66 million and $145 million for 2013 and 2014, respectively. Among the factors cited in the sur-vey include competitive price of health and wellness services, the warm hospitality and compassion that Filipinos are known for, high standards of healthcare provided in internationally-accredited hos-pitals by well-educated and Eng-lish-speaking healthcare profes-
sionals. The country’s proximity to major international hubs and its tropical climate are also a boon to medical travelers, encouraging healing and relaxation after medi-cal procedures.
DOT Director for Medical Trav-el and Wellness Tourism, Cynthia Lazo, said it is crucial to have a ‘One Country Package.’
“It has to be a country effort, a collective effort of every medical and wellness facility in the coun-try, for the Philippines to be ac-cepted in the medical and wellness market,” she said, citing it as the game changer in Philippine medi-cal tourism.
“Our value proposition is, time and again, our 7,107 islands which a medical traveler can choose from, while availing of a clinical or wellness procedure in the coun-try,” Director Lazo expounded, citing Cebu-Bohol package which identifies the former for medical and the latter for holiday.
According to Director Lazo, the Philippine medical and well-ness tourism market opportuni-ties come from the United States of America/Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Middle East, Eu-rope, Papua New Guinea, Micro-nesia, Fiji, and other short-haul markets. The DOT has also been gathering market intelligence that would enable Philippine medical and wellness facilities tap poten-tial markets such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Qatar, Ethiopia, and Argentina.
Philippines ranks 8th in world as top medical tourism destination
Medical tourism in the Philippines caters to approximately 80,000 to 250,000 patients or clients annually. 62 hospitals are internationally accredited
SMARTEN UPDRIVE SAFE
A TIMES OF OMAN HANDS-FREE DRIVING INITIATIVE
T I M E S O F O M A N S P E C I A L S U P P L E M E N T 3
PHILIPPINES INDEPENDENCE DAY 2016
ON OCTOBER 6, 2015, the Philippine Embassy in Muscat hosted a diplomatic reception in commemoration of the 117th Anniversary of the Declaration of Philippine Independence and the 35th Anniversary of the Es-tablishment of Diplomatic Re-lations between the Republic of the Philippines and the Sultan-ate of Oman.
Around 200 guests from the diplomatic community, Omani government, private sector and Filipino community attended the event at Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa in Qant-ab, Muscat.
Ahmed bin Yusuf Al Harthy,
Undersecretary for Diplomatic Affairs of the Ministry of For-eign Affairs, was the guest of honour. Also present was Mo-hammed bin Issa Al Zadjali, Chairman of the Muscat Media Group and Editor-in-Chief of the Times of Oman, son of the late Essa bin Mohammad Al Zadjali, former Honorary Con-sul General of the Philippines.
In his remarks, Narciso T. Castañeda, Philippine Ambas-sador to Oman, touched on the milestones in the bilateral rela-tions between the Philippines and Oman, particularly the achievements over the past 35 years and the forthcoming 2nd
Philippines-Oman Joint Bilat-eral Consultation Meeting. He emphasized the cordial labor relations between the two coun-tries, as Oman has more than 33,000 Filipino workers. He also acknowledged the efforts of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) as well as the embassy’s consular section and Assistance-to-Nationals unit in providing assistance to the OFWs, and further recognised the contribu-tion of the Honorary Consulate that attended to the needs of the OFWs prior to the opening of the Embassy in 1992.
The event was highlighted by the outstanding rendition of the
national anthems of the Philip-pines and Oman by the chorale group of the Philippine School in Oman. Selected students also danced the ‘maglalatik’ and ‘ti-nikling’ to the enthusiastic ap-plause and cheers of the guests.
Philippine cuisine and des-serts were also showcased in the event, with items from Palayok and Chowking, Filipino food outlets operating in Muscat. A variety of Philippine beverages from Destileria Limtuaco and Tanduay Distillers, Inc. were also served. Brochures on Philip-pine culture, tourism and trade were on hand for the information of the guests.
Philippine Embassy hosts reception to celebrateIndependence Day, 35th anniversary of diplomatic ties
JBCM reviews bilateral tiesMUSCAT: The Philippines and Oman held their second Joint Bilateral Consultation Meeting (JBCM) in Muscat on February 2-3, 2016, to review the bilateral relations between the two coun-tries and the areas of cooperation to be strengthened. Evan P. Garcia, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Policy, led the Philippine delegation to the JBCM while Ambassador Dr. Ali bin Ahmed Harib Al-Essa’e, Act-ing Undersecretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led the Omani delegation. The JBCM reviewed the current status and potential for increased cooperation in bilateral relations. Investment and trade, particularly in the agricultural sector, and peo-ple-to-people exchange in various
fields are expected to increase. At the conclusion of the JBCM, Undersecretary Garcia thanked Ambassador Ali bin Ahmed Harib Al-Essa’e for Oman’s excellent hosting of the Philippine delega-tion during their stay in Oman. Narciso T. Castañeda, Philippine Ambassador to Oman, welcomed the discussions, which he said should lead to a closer engagement between the two countries. He added that the Philippine Embassy will take up with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the possible coop-eration between FSI and Oman’s Diplomatic Institute. The JBCM discussed regional de-velopments in the Middle East and East Asia, ASEAN, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the West Philippine Sea.
C O N S U L T A T I O N M E E T I N G
Ensure proper disposal of garbage.
Don’t litter a beautiful country like OMAN.
4 S U N DAY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 6 T I M E S O F O M A N S P E C I A L S U P P L E M E N T
PHILIPPINESINDEPENDENCE DAY 2016
Tourism is one of the prime drivers of economic growth in the country through exponential increase
in tourist arrivals thus generating a remarkable increase in tourist receipts. In the year 2015, the Philippines saw 5.36 million tourists visiting the country. Tourist receipts, on the other hand, recorded an estimated visitor receipt of $4.95 billion, registering an increase of 5.92 percent from the previous year.
In terms of tourism investments, a total of 19 projects were endorsed to the Board of Investments (BOI) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) for the grants of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives
in 2015. This generated a total in-vestment of $380.3 million. Hotel development has the largest share amounting to $180.50 million, fol-lowed by tourism economic zone locators with a total investment cost of $178 million. This opens 1,373 employment opportunities and additional room capacity of 1,895 to cater to the increasing influx of tourists in the country.
Registered enterprises are en-titled to the following incentives granted by the national government:
Income Tax Holiday (ITH) for primary enterprises such as ho-tel, resorts, amusement or theme parks, Meetings, Incentives, Con-ference and Exhibition (MICE)
facilities, adventure and ecotour-ism facilities, among others;Exemption from national and lo-cal taxes (in lieu thereof, 5% Gross Income Tax Rate) for PEZA-reg-istered enterprises
Tax and duty free importation of capital equipment
Employment of foreign nationalsGrant of Special Investor’s Resi-
dent Visa (SIRV)
To further promote tourism invest-ments, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), also offers more attractive incentives to tourism enterprise zones (TEZ). In addition to ITH, so-cial responsibility programs, among others are some of the advantages of
designated TEZs. As a newly formed investment
promotion agency (IPA), TIEZA launches its first Flagship TEZ pro-ject in San Vicente, Palawan. The area boasts of 14 kilometers stretch of unspoiled beach which may be the longest shoreline in the Phil-ippines to date. The 883-hectare San Vicente Flagship TEZ will be transformed into a mixed use de-velopment from beach to mountain resorts to sports and recreation lei-sure areas.
The San Vicente airport is already on its last phase of completion to provide better and easier access to the destination. Several infrastruc-ture projects have already been ap-proved and funded by TIEZA for the
initial development of the San Vi-cente Flagship TEZ. One of these is the construction of the San Vicente Tourism Information Center and TIEZA Field Office. The ground-breaking of which was scheduled in May 2016. Another project is the tracing access of roads to enhance the movement, ingress and egress of tourists to the beach.
A modular docking facility is al-ready approved to provide an alter-native access for boats and yachts to the beach in order to minimize dis-turbance of tourists who are enjoy-ing the sand and the beach.
Meanwhile, technical studies will be commissioned for the design and construction of a water supply and distribution and sewage treatment
systems in the area.The Philippine Government is
continuously supporting foreign in-vestments in the country by explor-ing more innovative development projects, opening opportunities outside the metro and providing at-tractive investments to prospective investors. With the Philippines fast growing tourism industry, interna-tional brands such as Accor, Marri-ott, Conrad, Shangri-La, Raffles and Fairmont have already established their presence in the country. The strong support of both the govern-ment and private sectors in promot-ing foreign investments proves that the Philippines is one of the prime tourism investment destinations in Southeast Asia.
A prime tourism investment destination in Southeast Asia
‘Filipinnovations’ showcase unique Filipino technologiesWITH its widely lauded economic upswing in recent years, the Phil-ippines, through its Department of Science and Technology (DOST), aims to sustain this stellar growth by maximizing homegrown sci-ence, technology and innovation to boost competitiveness in a highly globalising and fiercely competitive marketplace. DOST’s strategy to achieve this is to follow the govern-ment’s thrust of partnering with the private sector, particularly though technology transfer, where re-searchers, inventors and innovators can effectively transfer knowledge, processes and outputs of technolo-gies to its desired end-users.
On April 27, 2016, DOST brought together various businesses, enter-prises and industry players at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila for the Department’s first Technology Trans-fer Day. More than a showcase of ‘Fil-ipinnovations’, the DOST Technology Transfer Day became an interactive venue for companies and investors to seize opportunities to capitalise on proudly Filipino technologies that are ready for adoption in the market.
Banking on the theme “PROM-ISE: Promoting Research and Out-standing Milestones in Innovation and Science for Entrepreneurship”, the gathering served to bridge busi-ness and science communities through technology transfer and build partnerships for innovation-driven industries and ‘technopre-neurship’. The event aimed to dem-onstrate the “immense promise and potential of these technologies in giving local industries the boost they need to compete in a highly globalised market, and delivering breakthroughs relevant to the na-tion’s quest for inclusive and sus-tainable development,” according to DOST Secretary Mario G. Montejo.
“Through technology transfer, DOST has delivered innovative solutions for businesses and insti-tutions to address technical chal-lenges in improving product or service quality, developing human resources, minimizing costs and enhancing outputs in production, acquiring equipment and facilities, and other operations and manage-
ment-related activities,” Secretary Montejo said during the event’s opening rites.
Aside from the dozens of inquir-ies on Filipino technologies in the areas of agriculture, industry, coun-tryside development, healthcare, environment and disaster risk man-agement, participating companies also expressed interest to partner with technology developers to try and test their innovations and prod-ucts in the market.
Among the 70-plus innovations featured at the DOST Technology Transfer Day include nanotechnol-ogies in developing biofertilizers and nano-coating for high-value fruits to extend shelf life after har-vest; diagnostic devices for viruses affecting shrimp; product and pro-cess development for various Fili-pino food specialties, including rice, mango, cocoa, cassava, goat meat and highly nutritious snacks; local eco-friendly transport technologies such as the DOST-developed mass transit system and hybrid electric road train, as well as Charging in Minutes (CharM) — a rapid charg-ing system for electric vehicles; machineries and processes for im-proving products made from local textiles, wood, bamboo and abaca to help spur enterprises in the coun-tryside; locally developed weather
data sensors to help in weather forecasts, climate-smart farming and flood warnings; Eco-Sep or Eco-Friendly Septic System that uses organominerals in wastewa-ter treatment; Axis Knee System, an affordable high-quality knee re-placement system; and Biotek-M, a highly accurate diagnostic tool for early detection of dengue.
To esure a government-led tech-nology transfer pathway that is both responsive and proactive, DOST has already set in place policies and pro-grams for protecting and managing Filipino intellectual property and developing commercial potential of local technologies. At the event, DOST, through its Technology Ap-plication and Promotion Institute (TAPI), introduced its fast-tracked process for issuing a fairness opin-ion report — a key requirement for licensing and negotiating financial terms for government-funded tech-nologies. Fourteen licensing trans-actions at the Technology Transfer Day were evaluated by Fairness Opinion Boards convened by TAPI. Ten of these applications were rec-ommended as “fair” on the same day, while the remaining applications will be further evaluated. More than 20 companies also expressed inter-est to pursue licensing of technolo-gies in future talks and meetings.
C O N S U L T A T I O N M E E T I N G
Congratulations to the Government and the People of Phillipines on the occasion of