times of oman - june 9, 2016
DESCRIPTION
Times of Oman - June 9, 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 9, 2016 3 Ramadan 1437 AH
THURSDAY
4493
RAMADAN PRAYER TIMINGS
Dhuhr 12.11pm
Asr 3.29pm
Maghrib 6.58pm
Isha 8.20pm Fajr (Tomorrow) 3.52am
IFTAR
6.58PM
FAJR
3.52AM
MORNING MINUTE
FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTYTHE SULTAN
To Senior State Officials, 1978
All senior officials in our government must always remember that they are first and foremost the servants of the people of this dear country.
‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’
HASAN ALI SHABAN AL [email protected]
MUSCAT: Expatriates may fi-nally be able to own property in a wider number of locations across Oman if a plan under discussion gets official backing.
The Oman Real Estate Asso-ciation is urging the Ministry for Housing (MoH) to make more ar-eas available for sale to people of all nationalities, an official at the
ministry revealed.Currently, non-nationals can
only buy property in an Integrated Tourist Complex (ITC) which can be beyond the financial reach of some people living and working in the Sultanate.
A senior official from the minis-try said they are “currently study-ing” the idea. “However, it needs approval from many authorities to see the light of day,” Siham Al Harthi, director manager of the
Planning and Studies Depart-ment at the MoH, told the Times of Oman (TOO), adding that no time frame has been set yet to imple-ment the new rule.
Hassan Juma, vice-chairman of the Oman Real Estate Association, suggested that the government should allocate “special zones,” which can house expatriates at more reasonable prices, compared with ITC properties.
“This has to be done on real de-
mand, and not as a speculative market, where buyers purchase a house with the hope that it will become more valuable at a future date,” he stated.
Boost to economyHe added that if expatriates own houses or apartments in Oman, they will visit the country often. “In this way, they will be contrib-uting to the country’s economy by using more local transportation,
restaurants, services, etc.,” he said.“This will give real-estate sec-
tor in the Sultanate a boost,” Juma pointed out, adding that it will also prevent Oman from losing remittance money, which is being sent abroad.
The 2016 World Bank Migration and Remittances Fact Book, which looks at remittance outflows for 2014, revealed that remittance outflow from Oman has increased over the years. >A8
A plan to allow
expatriates to buy
outside of Integrated
Tourist Complexes is
under discussion
His Majesty sends condolencesMUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of condolences to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia on the death of Prin-cess Lulua bint Saud bin Abdulaziz
Al Saud. In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan has expressed his sin-cere condolences and sympathy to King Salman, praying to Allah the Almighty to rest the deceased’s soul in peace and grant her family patience. -ONA
Ministry carries out 1000s of inspections
FAHAD AL [email protected]
MUSCAT: Enforcement teams from the Ministry of Manpower inspected more than 3,500 busi-nesses up to March this year and found irregularities in their functioning.
In course of the inspection, nine companies were referred to public prosecution for delays in paying the salaries of their employees.
“The Ministry of Manpower has referred nine out of 25 companies, which had been warned earlier to adjust their legal situation for
delaying the issuance of salaries,” said Salim Al Badi, director gener-al of labour welfare at the Ministry of Manpower.
Field monitoring“This comes as a result of the in-spection visits and field monitor-ing done by the ministry under the framework of efforts to protect private sector employees’ sala-ries,” said Al Badi.
He added that the ministry also depends on reports received through its call centre.
The Manpower Ministry car-ried out 3,580 inspections last year
and during the first three years months of this year. Al Badi also called on companies to take care of its workers and respect their rights, especially when it comes to their salaries.
“Companies must issue the sala-ries at the right time and also fol-low any decision made by the Min-istry of Manpower to pay salaries in advance on special occasions,” said Al Badi.
He further explained that the payment of salaries at the right time pushes employees to per-form better in their jobs and in the future. >A8
M O N I T O R I N G
MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of congratulations to King Abdullah II of Jordan on the occasion of his accession to the throne.
In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan has expressed his sincere congratulations along with his
best wishes of good health, hap-piness and a long life to King Ab-dullah II, praying to Allah the Al-mighty for the return of this and similar occasions on him and the Jordanian people to achieve fur-ther aspirations of progress and prosperity. -ONA
C A B L E S
Taxis loaded with
apps to woo touristsFAHAD AL GHADANIRAHUL [email protected]@timesofoman.com
MUSCAT: Taxi passengers in Oman will soon be able to access free wireless internet, pay fares by credit card or smart phone and read books as they travel, say officials.
These are some of the plans an-nounced by Ingenuity Technolo-gies LLC, after it was awarded a taxi licence by the Ministry of Transport —a first for the city.
“People will be able to connect their smart phones, tablets or lap-tops and surf the internet as soon as they enter a luxurious taxi as a part of our plan,” said Amira Al Sheidi, acting project manager of the company.
LicenceIngenuity Technologies LLC has obtained a licence to regulate taxis at the Sultan Qaboos Port and at three, four and five-star hotels, as well as provide on-call taxi services in the governorate of Muscat.>A8
T R A V E L I N C O M F O R T
Injured doctor to be
airlifted to India
REJIMON [email protected]
MUSCAT: “He is unaware that he has lost his mother in the ac-cident. He is still unconscious. How can we tell him? He has suf-fered a brain injury, a fractured rib and injured his facial bone.
“I am running from pillar to post to make arrangements for him to be airlifted to India. He needs advanced treatment and care. He loved his mother a lot. Her funeral took place in India
today. This is a tough time,” said Angel Binoy, the wife of Binoy Mathai, an assistant cardiolo-gist at the Badr Al Samaa Hospi-tal in Ruwi, who was left fighting for life after met with an acci-dent last Friday near Wattayah in Muscat.
Binoy’s mother, who was also in the car, was killed on the spot when their car was in collision with a lorry last Friday evening.
“As he needs advanced treat-ment and extra care, I will be air-lifting him to India,” she said. >A8
W A T T A Y A H A C C I D E N T
C1
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
REGIONHoax bomb threat grounds EgyptAir jet
2An EgyptAir passenger plane en route from Cairo to Beijing was forced to
make an emergency landing in Uzbekistan on Wednesday after receiving a security threat call the airline said turned out to be a hoax. All passengers and crew members were evacuated. >A10
MARKETOmantel confirms landing of cable
3Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel)
celebrated the milestone landing of the Asia Africa Europe-1 (AAE-1) submarine cable system in Oman at a ceremony on Monday in the Al Bustan area of Muscat. >B3
OMANFewer emergency rescue calls last year
1Land and water rescue teams responded to 976 emergency calls in 2015, an
average of at least two call-outs every day. Fewer people required the rescue services last year, thanks to intensive awareness campaigns in schools across the country, officials say. >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
Timely payment of salaries
to employees pushes them to
perform better in their job.
OPEN HOUSE FOR EXPATRIATES?
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OMANTWO ARRESTED FOR BURNING THREE CARSTwo citizens were
arrested by Shinas police
officials for setting
three cars on fire, the
police said. “Police got a
call from one of the car
owners saying that some
are damaging their car.
We rushed to the spot
and arrested the culprits,”
the police said. -Supplied
Municipal poll registration
MUSCAT: The Ministry of Interior has announced that registration for the municipal councils’ 2nd term elections will begin from Sunday, June 12.
The ministry called on citi-zens, who did not register at the electoral record, to apply at the wali offices in the wilayat that the citizen would like to vote in, by bringing valid ID card. -ONA
M I N I S T R Y O F I N T E R I O R
Infiltration down: ROP MUSCAT: There has been a re-markable decline in the number of infiltrators over the last two years, said Lt. Colonel Salah bin Mansour Al Wahibi, Director of Anti-Infiltration Department at the Directorate General of Oper-ation of the Royal Oman Police.
In first quarter of 2016, 858 infiltrators were arrested against 1,039 in first quarter of 2015 and 4,884 in the same period of 2014. Al Buraimi saw 260 infiltrators, South Al Batinah 101, Muscat 83, North Al Batinah 79, Musandam 54, Dhofar 28, Al Dakhiliyah 14, Al Dhahirah 7, North Al Shar-qiyah 5 and South Al Sharqiyah and Al Wusta 1 each. -ONA
R O P D A T A
Registration for the municipal councils’ 2nd
term elections will begin from Sunday, June 12
Ministry of Interior, announcement
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RAMADAN TIP
The main objective of fasting is to achieve piety and righteousness. This implies becoming conscious of our
Creator, exalting and glorifying His names and attributes, appreciating His greatness, recalling His blessings upon us,
and being grateful and thankful for His guidance. “O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to
those before you, so you may remain conscious of God” (Holy Quran, 2 : 183).
— www.muslim.org
WHERE TO SPEND YOUR ZAKAT 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.
{ Spotlight: Dar Al Atta’a Education}W H AT T H E Y D O :
Dar Al Atta’a provides uniforms, school supplies, books and daily meals to needy children through school social
workers, as well as offering full and partial scholarships for higher education. The education programmes also include ‘Let’s read’ discount bookshops, run by volunteers in hopes
of encouraging reading in Oman.
W H E R E : The organisation was formed in 2002 in Oman and was
formally registered as a Charity with the Ministry of Social Development in 2006.
F I N D O U T M O R E A N D D O N AT E : +968 2469 2996, +968 2460 2882
[email protected] Directly: Students Care
Bank Muscat Account No: 0315003966850016
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, this month, take time to pay a visit to one of Muscat’s architectural monuments of faith.
{ Jama’ a Al Sayyid Tareq Bin Mas’ood }
Jama’a Al Sayyid Tareq is one of the oldest mosques in Al Khoudh, opened in 1992 by HH Tareq bin Mas’ood. The mosque’s nearby landmarks include Al Khoudh Park, Domino’s Pizza, and Sultan’s Wholesale Centre. Renovated in 2003, the exterior still has an old feel but with modern touches; at the entrance there is a large white-coloured tent that is designed in a contemporary
manner and the mosque has one of the most unique chandeliers in town, made of little green light boxes hanging underneath a
large leaf that hangs from the centre of a pale green dome.
*This mosque has a Ladies’ Prayer Hall
FASTING MINDFULNESS TIP
Fasting is not only a physical but also a spiritual exercise that
has many lasting benefits. It enables a person to develop
sustained consciousness of God, helps one to choose a healthier lifestyle by small but meaning-ful changes in the dietary hab-its, and helps to make a person more humble and purposeful
in daily life.
THE GOLDEN AGE OF ISLAMIC
PUBLISHING
751-800 By the mid-700s, a global book trade had evolved, and with it, Islamic writing flourished and spread. Ibn Ishaq published the
first biography of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH); Islamic
Jurisprudence (Fiqh) was codified; Abu Hanifa Al-Dinawari published The Book of Plants; and the famous Arabian Nights stories made their
first appearance.
6:58 pmIFTAR
TODAY’S VERSE
O you who believe! Do not invalidate your charities by reminders of your generosity or by injury.
(Holy Quran, 2:264)
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With at least 2 rescue operations every day, PACDA has a handful
TARIQ ZIAD AL [email protected]
MUSCAT: Land and water rescue teams responded to 976 emer-gency calls in 2015 - an average of more than two call-outs every day.
Fewer people required the res-cue services last year, thanks to intensive awareness campaigns in schools across the country, officials say.
The land rescue teams, national team for search and rescue and response teams from the Public Authority of Civil Defence and
Ambulance (PACDA) responded to 863 land rescue operation calls in 2015, which was down from 984 in 2014, while marine rescue operations made up for 113 of the total last year, which also reflects a decrease from 150 in 2014.
PACDA said the drop in calls was a result of its officers’ exten-sive efforts in raising awareness at schools, companies and farms and assured that increased awareness would bring positive results.
PACDA also hopes that acci-dents and tragedies will decline further in 2016.
According to PACDA statistics, 529 land rescue operations were conducted following land trans-port accidents in 2015; specifically because of collisions taking place between vehicles, which were pegged at 287 and cases of over-turned vehicles, which involved 188 rescue operations.
At least 171 people were trapped in closed areas, where elevators made up for half of those, with 80 rescue operations recorded. 81 rescues were registered as others, whereas more specifically, rescue operations for people in collapsed buildings made up for 26 cases.
On land, 195 people died, while
532 were injured in land accidents. 80 expats died, 115 of them Omani and 164 expats were registered in-jured, leaving 368 Omanis in the same condition.
Muscat on topMuscat recorded the highest number of land rescues at 294, while North Al
Batinah recorded 163. Buraimi also recorded 108 land rescue operations, while North Al Sharqiyah recorded 87. Al Wusta was the lowest with 10, followed by Musandam with 17.
In terms of marine rescue, PAC-DA officers responded to 292 cases in 2015, compared with 150 in 2014.
55 rescue operations were con-ducted in wadis, while 26 were at sea. Wells accounted for 11 res-cues, which is the third highest lo-cation of rescue operations.
FatalitiesAmong fatalities, 22 persons died, while 13 were injured. Nine expats died, of which all were female and 12 Omanis, all male, also succumbed to their injuries. Six male expats and seven Omanis were injured.
Muscat also registered the high-est number of rescues at 34, fol-lowed by North Al Sharqiyah with 19 and South Al Batinah with 16. Ad-Dakhiliya registered the lowest with only one rescue operation fol-lowed by Musandam at three.
Fewer people required the rescue services
last year, thanks to intensive awareness
raising campaigns in schools across the
country, officials say
CALL OF DUTY: Public Authority of Civil Defence and Ambulance said the drop in calls was a result of
its officers’ extensive efforts in raising awareness. – Supplied photo
Oman school teacher wins Oxford awardTimes News Service
MUSCAT: A teacher from one of the Omani schools has won an award for an online training course in a global competition called, “Teaching Changes Lives,” which is run by the Oxford Univer-sity Press (OUP).
Mohammed Tarabih, an Eng-lish-language teacher from the Na-sir Bin Murshid Secondary School in Rustaq has brought honour to the country by winning for this im-portant training course from the prestigious OUP, which is part of the University of Oxford.
The top prize, won by four teachers, is a two-week profes-
sional development scholarship stated by Oxford. Eight runners-up, including Tarabih won the Oxford Teachers’ Academy Online teacher training course.
The competition asked English-language teachers from around the world to demonstrate how their teaching has made a difference to the lives of their students, their class or their school.
Over 600 teachers had entered the competition, creating either a short film or presentation.
“It’s really a great experience for me to be selected as a winner in an Oxford global competition called ‘Teaching Changes Lives’. I feel so proud and so do my students, who inspired me to create a spe-cial presentation,” the delighted teacher said.
OUP is the world’s largest uni-versity press with the widest glob-al presence. It currently publishes thousands of new publications a year, has offices in around 50 coun-tries, and employs more than 7,000 people worldwide.
David Grint, marketing direc-
tor from OUP’s English Language Teaching, said, “We wanted to recognise the valuable contribu-tion that English language teach-ers make in the classroom. By re-warding those teachers through a professional development schol-arship, we are helping fulfil our shared goal of making a difference to the lives of students through education and learning English.”
“Our panel of judges chose Mo-hammed’s entry because of his in-novative teaching style that helped turn an unmotivated group of students into a highly motivated group, showing that the teacher in the classroom can really make all the difference.”
T E A C H I N G C H A N G E S L I V E S
The Holy Quran copied by hand in Sultanate
QURIYAT: Coinciding with be-ginning of the Holy Month of Ram-adan this year, calligrapher Salim bin Khalfan Al Balushi, re-wrote the hand written version of the Holy Quran, the first Omani hand-written version which was issued in Ramadan 1425 AH.
The writing of the Holy Quran, which took a total of 12 years, and is an important achievement that showcases the Sultanate of Oman’s care for religious and Is-lamic values based on the Holy Quran and the Prophet’s (PBUH) traditions. -ONA
1 2 - Y E A R E F F O R T
Mohammed Tarabih, who
won an award in a global
competition run by the Ox-
ford University Press.
Resolution of expat workers’ labour dispute stalled againREJIMON [email protected]
MUSCAT: After an Al Sawadi Beach Resort official failed to turn up at the Labour Dispute De-partment on June 6 for the hear-ing, the stranded workers’ case has been postponed to June 27.
“The resort official did not come on June 6. Again our case has been postponed. If he doesn’t come on June 27, then the case will forwarded to court. We don’t know what to do. We are doubt-ful on whether we will be able to hold on till this ends,” Sulei-man Khalid Kazi, the manager of the resort, who is among the 28 stranded workers, told the Times of Oman (TOO).
The workers were left without food, water and power after the resort closed on March 11.
“It’s the Holy Month of Rama-dan. We are stuck here without
money and food. Our families back in our home country are hav-ing a tough time too. As we are not been able to remit money, they are struggling during this holy month,” Kazi told TOO.
After the plight of stranded workers was reported in the me-dia, the Oman trade union mem-bers came forward to support the workers by providing food and legal support.
A popular Facebook page in Oman, “What’s Happening Muscat Oman (WHMO),” also launched a campaign to col-lect food and other items for the stranded workers.
WHMO members raised mon-ey and collected needed personal items for the stranded workers. Further, members of the group have paid some of the work-ers’ debts, including school fees and loans. Sarah Greenwood, a WHMO member, has been on
her phone talking to the stranded workers and updating WHMO members.
“It is very worrying for every-one concerned. No one should have to live in such conditions,” she said.
At present, Oman does not have a dedicated court to deal with la-bour disputes, which are current-ly handled in the general courts.
However, recently, a senior Ministry of Manpower (MoM) official confirmed that the pro-cess is already underway as a spe-cial court dedicated to settling labour disputes in Oman will be created soon.
Salem Al Saadi, advisor to the MoM, told TOO that the minis-try is working to set up a special court to deal with labour disputes.
According to government data, as of the end of April this year, there were 1,763,710 expatriate workers in Oman.
A L S A W A D I B E A C H R E S O R T
10,237 visits made to check food hygiene in SultanateStaff Reporter
MUSCAT: Thousands of visits were made by Muscat Municipal-ity officials to check food hygiene during the first quarter of this year, the authority tweeted on its official twitter handle.
“10,237 visits were made during the first quarter of the year to check food hygiene,” the tweet read.
On Sunday, a team from the Di-rectorate General of Muscat Mu-nicipality in Muttrah’s inspec-tion and food control department seized 600kg of meat found unfit for human consumption from an unlicensed mishakik outlet in Gedan, Muttrah.
The team also arrested expa-triate workers who were running
the business.The raids were conducted in
coordination with the Ministry of Manpower, ROP and Public Prosecution as part of efforts to prevent sale of unhygienic food items during Ramadan.
The confiscated items, in-cluding 500kg of uncooked meat, 100kg of mishakik meat, 50kg of squid and 15kg of spices, were stored in unhygienic con-ditions and were to be distrib-uted to vendors in the wilayat. The team also seized 500,000 skewers, two refrigerators and ordered the confiscated uten-sils used for cooking to be de-stroyed. The civic body has urged the public to bring to its notice any malpractice through social media channels.
F I R S T Q U A R T E R
Directorate General of Mus-
cat Municipality in Muttrah’s
inspection and food control
department on Sunday seized
600kg of meat found unfit for
human consumption
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Doctors advise light eating during Iftar
TARIQ ZIAD AL [email protected]
MUSCAT: Doctors in Muscat are already treating people for over-indulging during Iftar, and have warned Omanis not to gorge after fasting.
Ramadan usually means people eat more than they would nor-mally, but the consequences can be grave.
Eating heavily and uncontrolla-bly during Iftar, as well as the type of food eaten, could cause major complications, such as severe gas-trointestinal problems, abdomi-nal upsets, abdominal discomfort, bloating and acidity, among many
other ailments.“Nowadays, Iftar is something
like a party and, especially in the first two to three days, some peo-ple cannot control their hunger,” said Dr Basheer, a specialist in Internal Medicine at the Badr Al Sama Hospital.
He added that he had to treat three patients on the second day of Ramadan as a result of over-eating on the first day.
Doctors advise fasting peo-ple to eat less and eat light as the body experiences irregular changes in the diet.
“The human body needs to ad-just because you are changing
your (meal) timing suddenly,” said Dr. Basheer.
Echoing his statement, Dr Mohammad, Internal Medicine specialist at Atlas Hospital said, “The body’s system changes dur-ing Ramadan, so we need to eat lighter food because our digestive system will be affected; so it needs lighter food.”
Dr. Mohammad said last year he had treated between 20 and 30 patients during Ramadan who had ate too much.
“When you start Iftar, eat two or three dates and drink a glass of wa-ter, along with soup. These are the ideal foods,” said Dr Mohammad.
Both doctors advised people ob-serving Ramadan to eat light food when they break their fast, as well as to avoid oily and fatty foods, such as samboosa, biryani rice and large clumps of meat.
They also advised them to drink plenty of water during the night during summer.
Dr Mohammad said that peo-ple are also advised to eat light food during suhoor, 45 minutes to an hour before dawn, during which time the next day’s fast commences. He urged them to eat vegetables, chicken and fish in small quantities, as well as to drink a lot of water.
Eating heavily and
uncontrollably
during Iftar, as well
as the type of food
eaten, could cause
major complicationsHEAVY STUFF: Doctors advise people observing Ramadan to eat light food when they break their
fast, as well as to avoid oily and fatty foods. – OK Mohammed Ali
The body’s system changes during Ramadan, so
we need to eat lighter food because our digestive
system will be affected; so it needs lighter food
Dr Mohammad, Internal Medicine specialist at Atlas Hospital
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Article number 51 of Chapter One, Part Four of the Labour Law, states that workers who are ap-pointed for payment of monthly wages shall be paid their wages at least once every month. It also mentions that the salary must be paid within seven days from the end of the period in which it be-comes due.
The Labour Law also states
that whoever violates the provi-sions of Chapter One of Part Four shall be punished with a fine not exceeding OMR100 and the fine shall be multiplied by the number of workers, who are the subject of the violation, and the penalty shall be doubled in case of repeti-tion of such violations.
When contacted, company of-ficials also insisted that salaries
should be paid on time. “Our la-bour law clearly states the sala-ries should be paid on time as it is their right of the employees,” said Hussain Al Rahbi, an HR manager of a company.
Rashid Khalfan, a construction company owner also said that salaries should be transferred on time as people have also commit-ments to keep.
Badr Al Samaa doctor may recover in four months
‘Consider green cards for people who have lived in Oman for long’
“I have got a ticket for Sunday. I will be taking him to the best hospital in Kochi. As there is a brain injury, it may take at least four months for recovery. Later on too, there will be difficulty in managing the motor ability, how-ever, we hope for the best,” Angel, who is a dentist and is currently completing her higher studies in India, said.
Angel had flown to Muscat fol-lowing the accident.
“I am pursuing higher studies and we have a small girl child to be taken care of. Alone, it will be a
tough time for me,” she said.Shibu Mohammed, a medic and
colleague of Binoy, said his friend is currently out of the intensive care unit.
“However, he is still uncon-scious. He has shown some progress in responding to com-mands. We are praying for his speedy recovery,” Shibu said, af-ter visiting the injured doctor in Khoula Hospital.
K.O. Devassy, a senior official at the Badr Al Samaa Hospitals Group, said a medic had accom-panied Binoy’s mother’s mortal
remains to India on Tuesday.His mother had been with
Binoy for the last six years in Muscat. According a report by the National Centre for Statistics and Information released in May, traffic accidents in Oman have de-creased by 32.5 per cent.
“The number of such accidents stood at 1,413 by the end of April this year. They resulted in 210 deaths and 903 injuries. While the number of injuries also dropped by 22.8 per cent, data showed the death rate rose by 1.4 per cent,” the report added.
In 2006, expatriates in Oman remitted $2.788 billion, which surged to $5.704 billion in 2010, $7.215 billion in 2011 and $8.087 billion in 2012 and $9.104 billion in 2013.
In 2014, it stood at $10.3 billion.In contrast, Juma said the
special zones, also described as middle market ITCs, should be carefully allocated after “com-prehensive studies” so it would not result in a radical hike in real-estate prices.
The expatriates are, however, very happy. “I was planning to buy a home, but the ITC prop-erties are very highly priced. It would be great if we can get something within a reasonable price,” Mohammed Shafiqul Is-lam Bhuiyan, who has been liv-ing in the Sultanate for 35 years, told TOO.
He added that the government should also consider providing green cards to people who have lived in Oman for a long time,
similar to the system in place in Saudi Arabia.
The plan will abolish the exist-ing sponsorship system and ex-pats can own property and under-take commercial, industrial and related activities.
“I am just like many other ex-patriates, who have spent more than half of their lives in this country, so it is really a great honour if the government moots something like Saudi Arabia (did),” Bhuiyan said.
H O P I N G F O R T H E B E S T
I T C S
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‘Wages must be paid on time’ V I O L A T I O N
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Speaking to the Times of Oman, Ahmed Ali Al Bulushi, chief exec-utive officer of Mwasalat, said his company will take first class care of people using airport taxis.
“We will run around 120 to 150 taxis at the airport,” he said, add-ing that the fares have not been decided yet.
Al Sheidi also said that in a bid to drive up efficiency and custom-er satisfaction, their company will also be rolling out credit and debit card payments for its fleet of 600 taxis when they are launched.
“Customers will not have go to ATM centres to withdraw their money to pay for taxi journeys,”
she said, adding that the taxis will install meters to calculate the fare and that all taxis will get operat-ing cards issued by the ministry, which must be kept in the car at all times.
Though the fares have not been finalised, she said the initial pro-posal is that they will begin from OMR4 for a 10km journey. “After that they will slowly increase,” she noted.
She added that her company is currently planning the exter-nal look of the taxis. “We are still working on the design, which will be different from the orange and white taxis. Then we will train the
drivers,” Al Sheidi said. The new taxis are targeted at
the tourism sector and to cater to the demands of the tourists visit-ing the country. “The concept of the service is to provide easy, se-cure and premium taxi services to tourists visiting Oman and help promote tourism development in the country,” she explained.
Al Sheidi also said taxi driv-ers, who are registered with air-ports, ports and hotels, have been roped in for the project. “We will now train them for this purpose,” she added
Taxi operators who have been hired for the project are, how-
ever, divided. While some are happy, some
said it is too early to comment. “This will help us to regulate the business,” said Khalil Al Siyabi, who has been driving taxis in the port area for the last 17 years, add-ing that almost 70 per cent of the taxi owners in the Sultan Qaboos port are ready.
Tourists visiting Oman are, however happy. “Right now, we have to pay whatever they demand so taxi meters are welcomed, but the fares have to be competitive with other parts of the world,” said Shazia, who is in Oman on a visitor visa.
L I C E N C E S T O T A X I S
< FROM
A1 New taxis to target tourism sector
MUSCAT: A number of issues such as the specifications for the imported and local products, foodstuffs and con-sumable, were discussed by the Social Committee of the State Council.
It also reviewed the control stages over the imported and manufactured items and the human and physical resources used in this areas.
The meeting was held un-der the chair of Dr. Hamad bin Sulaiman Al Salmi, Head of the Committee.
The Committee discussed measures for developing a health enhancement policy and hosted Hamad bin Sulaiman Al Ghraibi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Regional Munici-palities and Water Resources for Regional Municipalities Af-fairs and Eng. Fadhila Al Baha-riya, Assistant Director General of Health Control, Mu’ath Al Hinai, and others. The meeting highlighted the areas that may enrich the study and review the efforts made by the Ministry for consumer protection. -ONA
S T A T E C O U N C I L
SQU team invents biopsy deviceMUSCAT: A team comprising a doctor from Oman Medical Spe-ciality Board and nine engineer-ing students from Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) has invented a device to help the interventional radiologists perform the Com-puted Tomography (CT) guided biopsy safely on patients.
“We called our device the ‘Pain-less CT-guided Biopsy Device’”, the team members said. The CT-guided biopsy procedure is a frequently performed procedure in the radiology department by the interventional radiologists to obtain a tissue sample from the deep parts of the patients’ bodies
to analyse it in the histopathol-ogy laboratory for final diagnosis. This procedure is currently done manually and it carries risks to patients and doctors in many as-pects and it is time-consuming.
This device has been presented at various local and international conferences. -ONA
C O M P U T E D T O M O G R A P H Y
Oman population tops 4.4m in May
MUSCAT: The Sultanate’s total population exceeded 4.44 million in May, posting a 0.3 per cent in-crease over figures for April 2016, according to the data published by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
Expatriates numbered over 2.02 million, forming 45.5 per cent of the total population.
The Governorate of Muscat recorded the highest number of expatriates at 891,942, against 503,470 nationals, followed by the Governorate of North Al Batinah
with 241,142 expatriates. The Governorate of Dhofar came third with and expatriate population of 217,874.
The Governorate of Muscat registered the largest population at over 1.39 million people, mark-ing a growth of 0.3 per cent over prior month’s population.
The Governorate of North Al Batinah came second with a population of 719,309 while the Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah took the third spot with 436,458 people. -ONA
The Governorate of
Muscat recorded
the highest number
of expatriates at
891,942, against
503,470 nationals
Discussion on standards of imported, local products
A10
REGION T H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
CAIRO MARKET BLAZE Smoke rises as a resident works to extinguish a fire at the Friday local market in southern
Cairo, Egypt on Wednesday. — Reuters
Sudan extradites human trafficker from ItalyPALERMO (ITALY): An Eri-trean man suspected of running a huge human trafficking net-work that sent thousands of mi-grants to Europe, leaving many to die on the way, was extradited from Sudan to Italy overnight, officials said.
Medhane Yehdego Mered, nicknamed “the General”, had been heard on intercepted tele-phone calls boasting about cram-ming more people onto rickety boats than other traffickers, prosecutors said.
“This shows an absolute indif-ference about the lives of immi-grants,” Italian magistrate Maur-izio Scalia told reporters.
The 35-year-old was arrested in Sudan on May 24, Italian and British officials said, on charges
of human trafficking and abetting illegal immigration and faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
Magistrates may eventually also accuse him of homicide as their investigation continues, judicial sources said.
There was no immediate com-ment from any lawyer repre-senting him.
It is the first time a suspected trafficking kingpin has been tracked down in Africa, where many of the smuggling networks are based, and brought to face jus-tice in Italy since Europe’s immi-gration crisis started almost three years ago. Mered is suspected of working with an Ethiopian, Gher-may Ermias, who is still at large, prosecutors said.
Between them, they are ac-
cused of raking in huge sums by bringing migrants from Libya to Italy across the Mediterranean.
Italy has jurisdiction over the case because it was the first point of arrival of most of the migrants.
Sinking of vesselIt is also leading the investiga-tion into the sinking of a vessel off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa in 2013 that killed 359.
Britain’s National Crime Agen-cy (NCA) said it had helped track Mered to Sudan and held him responsible for the Lampedusa tragedy. An NCA statement said he was known as “The General” be-cause he had styled himself on the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. — Reuters
K I N G P I N
EgyptAir plane makes emergency landing in Uzbekistan due to hoax
MOSCOW/CAIRO: An EgyptAir passenger plane en route from Cai-ro to Beijing was forced to make an emergency landing in Uzbekistan on Wednesday after receiving a security threat that the airline said turned out to be a hoax.
All 118 passengers and 17 crew members on board the Airbus plane were evacuated in Urgench, west-ern Uzbekistan, after the threat was made three hours into the flight, EgyptAir said in a statement.
The plane and passengers were searched by Uzbek authorities who confirmed that the threat was a hoax, it said.
“The necessary actions are un-derway to resume the journey to Beijing Airport,” it said.
The emergency landing comes
weeks after an EgyptAir flight crashed into the Mediterranean on May 19, killing all 66 people on board. An investigation is under-
way into the causes of the disaster.EgyptAir has received a number
of bomb threats since the crash, all of which have turned out to be hoaxes.
An EgyptAir official, who asked not to be named because he is not au-thorised to speak to the media, said the hoaxes had caused nu-merous delays and cost the com-pany a lot of money.
Conspiracy“It is a conspiracy against EgyptAir,” he said.”It is very costly.”
Last month’s crash was the third major aviation incident for Egypt since a Russian plane was brought down by a bomb in late October.
In March, a man wearing a fake suicide belt hijacked an EgyptAir plane and diverted it to Cyprus.
Wednesday’s false security threat, which was unusual in that it was made after the plane had taken off, could add to a climate of uncer-
tainty that has already put off visi-tors. The number of tourists visit-ing Egypt fell 54 percent in April 2016 compared to a year earlier as Egypt has struggled to restore con-fidence and lure visitors back to its sandy beaches and pharaonic relics.
Egypt’s tourism industry, a cor-nerstone of the economy and a critical source of hard currency, has been struggling since the 2011 uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule and ush-ered in a period of political and economic upheaval.
Egyptian forces are also battling to end an extremist insurgency that is raging in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, where the Russian plane crashed.
IS claimed responsibility for that attack. — Reuters
All 118 passengers
and 17 crew
members on board
the Airbus plane
were evacuated
after the threat was
made three hours
into the flight from
Cairo to Beijing
SCARE: Information board shows flight MS955 of EgyptAir flying
from Cairo to Beijing as delayed, at Terminal 3 Beijing Capital Inter-
national Airport in Beijing, China, on Wednesday. — Reuters
A11
INDIAT H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
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Censor chief faces calls for sack, sparks row over money dealMUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Cen-sor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani on Wednesday faced heat on multiple fronts in the escalating row over Udta Punjab with demands for his sacking including over his allega-tion that its maker Anurag Kashy-ap may have taken money from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to make the drug-themed Bollywood film.
As the film fraternity rallied behind Kashyap in the censor-ship row with superstar Amitabh Bachchan saying creativity should not be killed, the producers moved the Bombay High Court seeking a copy of the order passed by Censor Board’s Review Committee sug-gesting “13 changes” and removing reference to Punjab in the film.
The producers later said they got a copy of the order.
Nihalani said that the producers themselves did not collect the or-der until Wednesday and instead, went to mediapersons making the matter public.
“We met with the producers on Monday and told them about the cuts. They said, ‘If we get cuts, will you give us the certificate?’ I said, ‘Of course, yes’. But, they did not turn up to collect the letter. They directly went to media. On Wednesday, they came to collect the letter.”
Mahesh Bhatt, Mukesh Bhatt and Anurag Kashyap alleged that the Censor Board was intention-ally delaying the film’s clearance.
The Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh starrer movie that delves into how the youth in Punjab have succumbed to drugs is slated for release on June 17.
The makers had also alleged that Nihalani purposely refused to
hand them the letter, which men-tioned the cuts.
Mukesh Bhatt while target-ing Nahalani said a person who is a roadblock and not a facilitator should be removed.
“That is something intolerable, unacceptable to film fraternity and we want him out. His move is ma-licious and vicious. He lies, delays the process and will bully the per-son,” Mukesh, President, the Film
and Producers Guild of India, told reporters at a joint news confer-ence in Mumbai that included the cast of the film.
Nihalani’s allegation against Kashyap and AAP set off another war of words.
Taking a potshot at Kashyap, who is the face of the fight against the Censor Board, Nihalani claimed he has heard that the film-maker had taken money from AAP
to show Punjab in bad light. “I’ve heard Anurag Kashyap has
taken money from AAP to show Punjab in bad light,” Nihalani claimed.
Punjab goes to polls next year and AAP is a key contender.
Rejecting the charge, AAP lead-er Ashish Khetan told reporters in Delhi that Nihalani must apologise to Kashyap for levelling the allega-tion or else he should be sacked.
The Indian Films and Televi-sion Directors Association also condemned the allegation and de-manded an apology as soon as pos-sible. “This is not just an insult to Kashyap but to the film industry as a whole,” said the Association, led by president Ashoke Pandit, who is also a member of the CBFC.
AAP chief and Delhi Chief Min-ister Arvind Kejriwal alleged that Nihalani’s statement makes it amply clear that he has stopped the film on “BJP’s instructions”. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) re-jected the allegation.
“I completely reject it (charge) that the government has any role or intervened to stop its release. AAP survives on controversies. It creates controversies for political purpose,” Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
Nihalani also rejected allega-
tions that he is under any political pressure.
Information and Broadcasting Ministry officials asserted that the certification process is independ-ent and even court verdicts have made it clear that the government does not have much role in it.
The revising committee had recently viewed film Udta Punjab and suggested 13 changes to be made by the filmmakers besides removing the reference to Punjab state in the film.
According to the committee, the changes were suggested as the film was not in conformity with the Cinematograph Act.
Outside the court, the lawyers of the film production company said, “We had asked for an ‘A’ certificate and said the film does not portray anyone in bad light.”
Though 73-year-old Bachchan has not taken any side in the de-bate, he said, “I am not aware of the issue, but would like to say that don’t try to kill creativity.”
“Filmmakers can approach tri-bunal and courts, only problem is censoring comes near the release of a film,” he further said.
Another superstar Aamir Khan also came out in support of Udta Punjab, saying the voice of a film-maker should not be throttled. - PTI
‘ U D T A P U N J A B ’
CENSORSHIP ROW : Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt with ‘Udta Punjab’ film actors Shahid Kapoor and Alia
Bhatt speaks at a press conference organised by Indian Film and Television Directors Association
(IFTDA) in Mumbai on Wednesday. - PTI
‘Do not shut windows, allow free flow of academic ideas’
NEW DELHI: Putting his weight behind “academic freedom”, President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said windows for free flow of thoughts should not be shut and an atmosphere should be created where “cross-fertilisa-tion” of ideas can take place.
Highlighting the need for im-proving the status of higher edu-cation in the country, the Presi-dent said more emphasis should be laid on “innovation and re-search” and teachers and acad-emicians should be given their due recognition.
While receiving the first copy of a book titled The Education Presi-dent from Vice President Hamid Ansari, Mukherjee said continu-ous flow of funds and recognition by various authorities and favour-able interventions by them are re-
quired to achieve better results in this regard.
“We should be providing aca-demic freedom...creating an at-mosphere for cross-fertilisation of ideas from different parts...come and flow uninterruptedly. “You can hold on your ground, no harm, but don’t shut the win-dows as Gandhiji said ‘I refuse to be blown off but I will not think of shutting the windows, let the free flow of window blow across my room so that I can enrich myself ’,” he said after receiving the book.
The book has been brought out by OP Jindal Global University, by largely basing its contents on Mukherjee’s activities on the sub-ject after he took over the office of the first citizen of the country in 2012. Mukherjee said he would be “frank” to admit that he learnt a
number of things after taking over the President’s office and being a ‘visitor’ to a number of higher learning institutions of the coun-try by virtue of the post he held.
The president added Indian talent was getting “wasted” as brilliant minds from premier in-stitutions like Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs) were working for global concerns and not here.
Lack of quality education“This talent must be better uti-lised than promoting products of big MNCs (Multi-National Companies),” he said, adding that massive investments have to be made in research and develop-ment activities in order to make a “knowledge society”.
The president said India was “losing” every year about 2,000
students who go abroad. Mukher-jee said he had been “repeating like a parrot” about his deep con-cerns over the lack of quality edu-cation in our institutes of higher learning since he began interact-ing after becoming the president.
The president candidly admit-ted that he had immensely ben-efited from inputs he got from these institutions and that has “enriched my life and expanded the horizon of my knowledge.” “I am deeply grateful to them (institutions of higher learning) that at least at the fag end also, I got the right type of lessons from my gurus,” he said.
Mukherjee said he wonders how “no Indian university got a Nobel prize for research in origi-nal”. Giving examples, he said Sir CV Raman was the first and last in
this domain and others like Am-artya Sen, Subrahmanyan Chan-drasekhar and Har Gobind Kho-rana got the award while working in foreign universities.
Talking about the steps he had taken in this regard, Mukherjee mentioned he made it a point to take along with him Vice Chancel-lors of various varsities in his for-eign tours in order to give respect and due recognition to the faculty of higher learning.
“If we cannot improve our edu-cational qualities, educational standards in the basic areas like research and innovation, then how will we occupy our rightful place in the high table of the com-ity of nations?,” he asked, adding that there was surely “no lack of talent” amongst the students and teachers in the country. - PTI
Highlighting the
need for improving
the status of
higher education
in the country, the
President said more
emphasis should be
laid on “innovation
and research”
and teachers and
academicians should
be given their due
recognitionBOOK LAUNCH: President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari at the release of first copy of the book ‘The Education
President’ published by the International Institute for Higher Education Research of the OP Jindal Global University at Rashtrapati
Bhavan in New Delhi on Wednesday. Congress leader Naveen Jindal is also seen. - PTI
Four armypersonnel killed, eight injured in accidentJAMMU: Four army personnel were on Wednesday killed and eight others injured when the vehicle they were travelling in overturned in Samba district in Indian-administerd-Kashmir, police said.
The vehicle was on its way to Jammu from Kathua when it turned turtle near Jatwal chowk on the Jammu-Pathankot Nation-al Highway, killing the four per-sonnel on the spot, a police officer said. He said eight army personnel injured in the accident have been admitted to the district hospital in Samba. - PTI
J A M M U A N D K A S H M I R
Need private investment for faster economic growth: RajanNEW DELHI: Stressing on the need for private investment to pick up for faster economic growth, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan on Wednesday said there is “work to do” before celebrating though the economy is moving in right direction.
He said India is capable of grow-ing at a faster pace, while adding that the “true numbers” of GDP could be one per cent up or down.
The latest official data puts the country’s GDP growth at 7.6 per cent — highest among the world’s major economies — while policy-makers and some international organisations like International Monetary Fund have described India as a ‘bright spot’ in an other-wise gloomier global economy.
“I would hope that with good monsoon, strong rural demand, with more animal spirit and pub-lic investment picking up pace...I think, with all that coming togeth-er, there will be need for private investment.
“We have some way to go. I am not saying that economy is where it should be. We do have work to do. We can celebrate when we see private investment strongly back on track and I think, we are capable of much stronger growth than what we have right now,” Rajan said in separate inter-views to TV channels.
Courted controversyHe recently courted a controversy after he used “one-eyed king in the land of blind” phrase to describe
India being termed as a ‘bright spot’ in the world economy.
On the controversy surrounding the GDP numbers based on new calculations, Rajan on Wednes-day said statisticians have done
as good a job as they can and eco-nomic growth is significantly high as costs have come down.
“And really, what matters to us is change. And the change has been broadly in the positive direction...I
think, we are starting to change in the right direction,” Rajan said.
He said there may be difference of 1 per cent on either side in the GDP numbers.
“I will say, there may be some ups and downs about the GDP...probably 1 per cent where the true numbers is,” he said.
The GDP numbers, announced last week, pegged India’s growth for 2015-16 at 7.6 per cent, but Chief Statistician TCA Anant ad-mitted to “discrepancies” in the GDP data, which soared toRs2.14 lakh crore or up to 1.9 per cent.
Anant said government is mak-ing efforts to minimise the dis-crepancies in computation of the national income or GDP data by relying more on data available un-der e-governance programmes and
corporate accounts.Rajan further said that some
people will quibble that the high GDP numbers do not reflect the ground reality.
“I think, we will have to be little careful there. The top line has only started growing recently, that is sales. But, costs have come down tremendously and GDP or GVA calculates difference between your sales revenue and costs, that is the value addition.
“It does not feel good because (you are not) increasing sales growth but because your costs have come down...so much your value added is increasing,” the Governor added. Rajan said across industry, profits are “good not great”, but certainly better than what top lines suggest. - PTI
I N T E R V I E W
The latest official data puts the country’s GDP
growth at 7.6 per cent — highest among the world’s
major economies — while policymakers and some
international organisations like International Monetary
Fund have described India as a ‘bright spot’ in an
otherwise gloomier global economy
Security forces bust militant hideout
JAMMU: Security forces on Wednesday busted a militant hide-out in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ra-jouri district and recovered some arms and ammunition.
Defence sources said in Jammu city that the “timely recovery” of the cache has helped prevent a likely militant attack in the area.
A defence source said: “Based on specific information, the army alongwith troops of state police in Kalakote recovered a cache of arms and ammunition in the area of Lal forest, a natural hide out.”
“In the ensuing search operation, they recovered two pistols, three ra-dio sets, two anti-personnel mines, 20 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, three rounds of pistol ammunition, two hand-grenades, one magazine of AK-47 and other war like stores,” the source said. - IANS
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India’s deadly entrance examsShashi Tharoor
In late April, a 17-year-old girl named Kriti Tri-pathi leaped to her death in Kota, India, shortly after passing the country’s examination for
admission to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). A week later, another Kota stu-dent, Preeti Singh, hanged herself, succumbing to her injuries after a few days. Singh’s was the ninth suicide by a student in Kota this year alone, and the 56th in the last five. All attended Kota’s “coaching institutes,” whose sole purpose is to prepare high-school students for the IIT Joint Entrance Examination (JEE).
In a five-page suicide note, Tripathi expressed her frustration at having been compelled to study engineering, when her real ambition was to be-come a NASA scientist. She also described the pressure she had faced at the coaching institu-tion. Tripathi implored the Human Resource De-velopment Ministry to shut down such institutes, which force their students to endure unbearable stress and depression. The story is all too com-mon, but should the blame really be laid on the coaching institutes?
In fact, Kota’s coaching institutes are a symp-tom of a larger problem, hinted at by the city’s sen-ior administrator, District Collector Ravi Kumar Surpur, in an emotional letter he wrote in response to the latest deaths. Addressing parents directly, Surpur pleaded with them not to subject their chil-dren to excessive stress in an attempt to live vicari-ously through them.
Indian parents are known for demanding aca-demic excellence from their children. They know that a professional degree in the right field is a passport to social and economic advancement, so they push hard to ensure that their children get one – something that India’s higher-education system does not make easy. Given this deeply entrenched culture of academic ambition, the planned administrative inquiry into conditions at the Kota coaching institutes is unlikely to result in remedial action.
The toll this culture takes on young people is ob-vious. Students are forced to pass brutally difficult examinations – only about 10,000 of the 500,000 who take the IIT-JEE each year score high enough to be admitted – in subjects they often detest. And
Indian students are far more likely to push them-selves until they crack than to drop out.
Engineering and medicine remain the subjects of choice for middle-class Indian parents. The country graduates a half-million engineers every year, some 80 per cent of whom end up in jobs that do not require an engineering degree. But, in a throwback to the mid-twentieth century, Indian parents view engineering as the gateway to mo-dernity, and continue pressing their children to study it. Students who do not make it to an IIT end up in institutions of varying quality, many of which do not equip their graduates for today’s labour market.But at least there are enough engi-neering colleges in India to meet demand. Medi-cine, by contrast, is a frustratingly crowded field – and for no good reason.
India’s medical profession is controlled by the Medical Council of India, an opaque and self-serv-ing cabal that has intentionally limited the supply of available medical college seats. Medical colleges must be recognized by the MCI, which has seen fit to permit only 381 to exist. That leaves only 63,800 slots each year in a country of 1.2 billion people – enough space for fewer than 1 per cent of Indian students aspiring to attend medical school.
As if that were not bad enough, some of the seats are awarded against “donations,” with the wealthy essentially purchasing positions that their marks do not merit. Meanwhile, high-achieving students who just barely missed the cutoff have to find alter-natives – or pursue another field altogether.
Those whose families can afford it often end up studying medicine abroad. Many do not return to India, depriving the country of their much-needed expertise. Some return after having attended ob-scure colleges in countries like Georgia or China, only to have the MCI refuse to recognize their de-grees and block them from practicing. For those who cannot afford to go abroad – even bright stu-dents who barely missed the cutoff for a spot at an Indian university – studying medicine is no longer an option. - Project Syndicate
Scan this QR for full storyFirms violating mid-day break rule should be penalised
This refers to the report, Give them a break (Times of Oman) on 08.06.2016. It is really surprising that there are companies which violate the mid-day rest rules. Forcing the employees to work in the
extreme temperature is inhuman. This atti-tude should be discouraged as the summer heat is at its peak and the temperature is going high every day. Strict action taken by the authorities against violating firms is a must as the companies are obliged to adhere to the rules.A majority of expatriate employees work in the road and building construction sites and most of them are exposed to open work place. It would be ideal if the company managements take initiatives to enlighten their employees about extreme tempe-rature and its health issues. Awareness campaigns by social workers at the labour camps will help the employees understand the impacts of the dangerous summer heat. First-aid training by paramedics will also be helpful to meet immediate medical requirements. Pamphlets in different lan-
guages containing information about extreme temperature and its negative impacts will be much helpful to a large number of expatriate employees in construction companies. — P. A. Jacob, Muscat
T I M E S O F O M A NT H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6A12
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Seminar on seaport supporting servicesMUSCAT: Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Harthy, undersecretary for transport affairs at the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications, will open a seminar on seaport supporting services on the ministry premises today. The event is organized by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications and the Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consultancy (GOIC). The symposium will focus on a study prepared by the (GOIC) on industries and services supporting export ports in the Sultanate.
1923: Bulgaria’s government is overthrown by the military.
1931: Robert H. Goddard patents a rocket-fueled aircraft design.
1959: The first ballistic missile-carrying submarine, the USS George Washington, is launched.
1986: NASA publishes a report on the Challenger accident.
M O S T R E A DTIMESOFOMAN.COM
M O S T P O P U L A R V I D E O
M O S T S H A R E DFACEBOOK.COM/TIMESOFOMAN
From changes in government in Argentina and Brazil to mid-course
policy corrections in Chile, Latin American politics appears to be
undergoing a rightward shift. But rather than being “pulled” by the attractiveness of the economic
policies that the right is advocating, this complex phenomenon
MOHAMED A. EL ERIAN
Seventy years after the first atomic bomb was dropped over the
Japanese city of Hiroshima, during a recent visit, US President Barack Obama’s recalled the atrocities his
country had committed on humanity as a whole. The White House
had earlier mentioned that there wouldn’t be an apology on the part of
the President on the grave error
RAMACHANDRAN NAIR
Presently, Pakistan’s Constitution has no provisions for an acting
prime minister to step in if the prime minister suffers from a medical condition. Until very recently, I had not been aware of this flaw
in the Pakistani system. Reports suggest that even within the Prime
Minister’s own party, the question of succession is fuelling anxieties.
MARIA KARI
F R O M O U R A R C H I V E S
T O D A Y I N H I S T O R Y
Beware of organised begging gangs during Ramadan.
JUNE 2001Scan this QR code to send letters to the Readers’ Forum, containing not more than 200 words with full name, address and telephone number, may be sent by e-mail ([email protected]).
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1 Ministry grants licence to two companies for operating taxis in Oman
timesofoman.com/Oman
2 Give the workers in Oman a break in sizzling summer
timesofoman.com/Oman
3 Oman retail: Muscat ranked 25th in global shopping centre development report
timesofoman.com/Oman
4 Tourists in Oman advised to dress modestly during Ramadan
timesofoman.com/Oman
5 Don’t fall prey to fraudsters, Indians in Oman told timesofoman.com/Oman
1 600kg mishkak meat kept in unhygienic conditions seized in Oman
timesofoman.com/Oman
2 Why Vimto for iftar? timesofoman.com/TimesTV
3 Two arrested for setting cars on fire in Omantimesofoman.com/Oman
4 Ramadan: Omani calligrapher unveils his first handwritten Holy Quran
timesofoman.com/Oman
5 Holding company to be formed for civil aviation in Oman
timesofoman.com/Oman
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SourceNational Centre for Statistics & Information
OMAN MOBILE PHONESUBSCRIBERS (TELECOM)
(2016)
January February
Post paidtotal
Pre paidtotal
Operators
Resellers
589,652590,319
1,048,7231,045,237
OverallTotal
5,001,0024,976,339
6,049,7256,021,576
6,639,3776,611,895
0.1%
-0.5%
-0.5%
-0.4%
-0.3%
Photo: Alex Roy
A13
INDIAT H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
Big boost as US names India as ‘major defence partner’
WASHINGTON: The US has recognised India as a “major de-fence partner”, a significant de-velopment which paves the way for the country to be treated at par with America’s closest al-lies for defence related trade and technology transfer.
“Noting that the US-India de-fence relationship can be an an-chor of stability and given the increasingly strengthened co-operation in defence, the United States hereby recognises India as a Major Defence Partner,” said a joint statement issued after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with US President Barack Obama on Tuesday.
According to the statement, un-der the ‘Major Defence Partner’ recognition, the US will continue to work toward facilitating tech-nology sharing with India to a level commensurate with that of its closest allies and partners.
ProgressMeanwhile, the White House also said that the meeting between President Obama and Prime Min-ister Modi resulted in progress on finalising some key defence agree-ments between India and the US.
“I can tell you that there was important progress on finalising agreements relating to defence lo-
gistics, sharing of maritime infor-mation, and even the movement of US aircraft carriers in the region,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters at his daily news conference.
The joint statement said, “the leaders reached an understand-ing under which India would re-ceive license-free access to a wide range of dual-use technologies in conjunction with steps that India has committed to take to advance its export control objectives.”
In support of India’s ‘Make In India’ initiative and to support the development of robust defence in-dustries and their integration into the global supply chain, the state-ment said the US will continue to facilitate the export of goods and technologies, consistent with US law, for projects, programmes and joint ventures in support of official US-India defence cooperation.
Applauding the enhanced mili-tary to military cooperation be-tween the two countries especially in joint exercises, training and Hu-manitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, Obama and Modi expressed
their desire to explore agreements which would facilitate further ex-pansion of bilateral defence coop-eration in practical ways.
Officials from two sides said India and the US have finalised of the text of the Logistics Ex-change Memorandum of Agree-ment (LEMOA). It is likely to be signed soon, a senior administra-tion official told reporters during a conference call. The decision was welcomed by Obama and Modi.
India and the US also finalised text of an Information Exchange Annex under the Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Tech-nology Cooperation.
Foreign Secretary S. Jais-hankar said India and the US have reached an understanding to fi-nalise the Framework for the US-India Cyber Relationship.
The two leaders also “resolved that the United States and India should look to each other as pri-ority partners in the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean region,” the joint statement.
During the meeting, Obama and Modi applauded the completion
of a roadmap for cooperation un-der the 2015 US-India Joint Stra-tegic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region, which they said will serve as a guide for collaboration in the years to come.
The US welcomes India’s inter-est in joining the Asia Pacific Eco-nomic Cooperation forum, as In-dia is a dynamic part of the Asian economy, the statement said.
Intellectual property rightsThey welcomed the enhanced en-gagement on intellectual property rights under the High Level Work-ing Group on Intellectual Prop-erty. They also reaffirmed their commitment to use this dialogue to continue to make concrete pro-gress on IPR issues by working to enhance bilateral cooperation among the drivers of innovation and creativity in both countries.
In another important develop-ment, Obama and Modi recog-nised the fruitful exchanges in August 2015 and June 2016 on the elements required in both coun-tries to pursue a US-India Totali-zation Agreement and resolved
to continue discussions later this year, with several nations for the purpose of avoiding double taxa-tion of income with respect to so-cial security taxes.
India would host 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Summit.
Security challengesModi and Obama reaffirmed their resolve to continue working to-gether as well as with the wider international community to aug-ment the capacity of the United Nations to more effectively ad-dress the global development and security challenges.
With the historic adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015, and recognising its universal-ity, they reaffirmed their commit-ment to implement this ambitious agenda domestically and interna-tionally and work in a collabo-rative partnership for the effec-tive achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.
Reaffirming their support for a reformed UN Security Council with India as a permanent mem-ber, the two leaders committed to ensuring that the Council con-tinues to play an effective role in maintaining international peace and security as envisioned in the UN Charter.
“The leaders are committed to continued engagement on Securi-ty Council reform in the UN Inter-governmental Negotiations (IGN) on Security Council Reform,” the joint statement said.
Obama and Modi welcomed the successful convening of the Lead-ers’ Summit on UN Peacekeep-ing and committed to deepening engagement on UN peacekeeping capacity-building efforts in third countries, through co-organising the first UN Peacekeeping Course for African Partners in New Delhi later this year for participants from ten countries in Africa.
Observing that US and India share a common interest in work-ing with partners in Africa to promote prosperity and security across the continent, Obama and Modi welcomed trilateral coop-eration with African partners.
They looked forward to oppor-tunities to deepen the U S- India global development cooperation in Africa, as well as in Asia and beyond. - PTI
According to
the statement,
under the ‘Major
Defence Partner’
recognition, the US
will continue to work
toward facilitating
technology sharing
with India to a level
commensurate with
that of its closest
allies and partners
WARM GREETINGS: President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands
in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on Tuesday. - PTI/AP
Sena resents PM speaking abroad on corruption in India
MUMBAI: Shiv Sena on Wednes-day said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks in Doha about In-dia being plagued by corruption “maligned the nation’s image”, and questioned if scams in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat can be attributed to the Gandhi family.
Since Modi is the face of the na-tion, other countries may believe what he says about India which in turn might affect the financial con-dition of the country, an editorial in Sena’s mouthpiece Saamna said.
Vowing to root out corruption in India, the prime minister had on Sunday said in Doha that he “faced problems” by depriving the “sweets of many” and saved over Rs36 billion annually by stopping leakage and theft in government schemes.
“The prime minister garnered applause for speaking on how cor-rupt India is. This is like maligning the reputation of the country on foreign soil.
“If people are talking about cor-ruption two years after the new government coming to power, whom do we blame for it? Can we attribute what is happening in Ma-harashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to the Gandhi family,” the editorial said.
“Since Modi is the face of the na-tion, other countries might believe what he speaks and take decisions based on that which might affect the financial condition of India. Jibes at opposition should be tak-en within the country itself.
“One does not need to go to America or Europe to take pot-shots at Modi or the Gandhi family,” it added.
Time to take actionSena, an ally of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), said that it was enough of levelling cor-ruption charges against Robert Vadra and Gandhi family. It is now time to take action against them if they have indulged in wrongdo-ings, the party said.
“(Former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister) Ajit Pawar had re-cently said he lost power because he lost control on his tongue. This should become a political mantra,” the Sena said. - PTI
M A L I G N I N G I M A G E
Monsoon hits Kerala, one dead due to heavy rainsTHIRUVANATHAPURAM: After a delay of almost seven days, Southwest Monsoon on Wednes-day finally hit Kerala, marking the official commencement of rainy season in the country, as heavy showers in the southern state left one person dead.
“Southwest monsoon has set in over Kerala and Lakshadweep,” said K. Santosh, head of India Me-teorological Department’s (IMD) Thiruvananthapuram regional centre. It has also advanced into most parts of Tamil Nadu, some parts of south interior Karnataka and remaining parts of south Bay of Bengal, according to IMD.
Several parts of Kerala have been receiving heavy rains since last night which left a 36-year-old man dead due to landslip in Iduk-ki district of Kerala. Jobi John, former SFI Idukki district presi-dent, died and his mother was seriously injured when mounds of earth and rocks fell on their home following heavy rains at Vazhavara early on Wednesday, police said.
To declare the onset of mon-soon over Kerala, the IMD has three important parameters. The 14 stations at which the rainfall is being monitored for declaring the Monsoon onset over Kerala have reported widespread rainfall for the last 48 hours with more than 60 per cent of stations recording rainfall on June 7 and 8.
The Westerly/ West-south-westerly winds of the order of 30-40 kmph were observed approxi-mately upto 4.5 km over the south Arabian Sea.
The satellite (INSAT-3D) de-rived Outgoing Longwave Radia-tion value was less than 200 W/m2 on June 8. “All these three conditions got fulfilled for the
first time today i.e. June 8 since the monitoring was started by IMD from May 10. As a result, the Southwest Monsoon has set in over Kerala, on Wednesday, the 8 th June 2016.
“The Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into remaining parts of south Arabian Sea, Mal-dives Comorin area, most parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, some parts of south interior Karnataka, re-maining parts of south Bay of Ben-gal and some more parts of central Bay of Bengal,” the IMD said.
The IMD in its initial forecast had said that monsoon will hit Kerala on June 7. It had on Tues-day said that onset of monsoon will be by June 9. The usual date for onset of monsoon is June 1. The season is also expected to witness “above normal” rainfall
after two consecutive seasons of weak monsoon.
In 2015, the monsoon deficien-cy was 14 per cent with North-west India recording a deficiency of 17 per cent, followed by 16 per cent in Central India, 15 per cent in Southern Peninsula and 8 per cent in East and North-east India. In 2014, the monsoon deficiency was 12.3 per cent of the LPA.
AgricultureAgriculture, which contributes 15 per cent to India’s GDP and employs about 60 per cent of the country’s population, is heavily dependent on monsoon as only 40 per cent of the cultivable area is under irrigation. Due to poor monsoon in 2015-16 crop year (July-June), 10 states have de-clared drought. - PTI
C O M M E N C E M E N T O F R A I N Y S E A S O N
OVERJOYED: A woman, holding umbrella, walks with her kids at a
road during the first monsoon rains in Kochi on Wednesday. - PTI
Agriculture, which contributes 15 per cent to India’s
GDP and employs about 60 per cent of the country’s
population, is heavily dependent on monsoon as only
40 per cent of the cultivable area is under irrigation.
A14
PAKISTANT H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
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Paramilitary troops question Sattar’s guards
KARACHI: Paramilitary troops on Tuesday night surrounded streets leading towards the resi-dence of Muttahida Qaumi Move-ment’s (MQM) senior leader Fa-rooq Sattar in PIB Colony, Karachi.
Witnesses said a heavy contin-gent of Rangers closed off at least three streets leading towards Sat-tar’s residence before closing in on the house.
They knocked on Sattar’s door and asked his wife for some per-son who was inside the house. The MQM lawmaker was in Islamabad to attend the National Assembly session earlier in the day.
Sattar’s wife reportedly asked the paramilitary troops to produce a warrant if they wanted to search the home. But the Rangers did not enter the house. They questioned security guards posted outside Sat-tar’s house and other neighbours for around an hour and left without detaining anyone.
While the Rangers did not issue any statement about the raid, there were reports that the troops were there to pick up MQM lawmaker Kamran Farooqui. Following the Rangers’ raid, the MQM leader said that it was up to Prime Minis-ter Nawaz Sharif to decide wheth-er they are Pakistanis or not.
“I have been living there (PIB Colony) for the last 30 years. A (former) deputy convener cannot even think of keeping a criminal inside their home.”
“This is not Pakistani law which is being enforced on us. If they had come to arrest me, would have to seek permission from the speaker.”
— Express Tribune
N O O N E D E T A I N E DAmendment to income tax law likely to be withdrawn
ISLAMABAD: The government has hinted at withdrawing an amendment in the income tax law after the opposition criticised it as a ‘move to give a backdoor escape to the prime minister’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz, in the Panama-gate scandal.
Contrary to the opposition’s point of view which has called pro-posed Clause 23 of the Finance Bill 2016 ‘Maryam law’, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and inde-pendent tax and legal experts say the clause would ‘rope in’ all who have undeclared offshore assets.
“The government has intro-duced this clause to allow people to own foreign trusts without declaring them,” said Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, who had served as finance minister in the previous PPP government.
‘Maryam law’He alleged that it was ‘Maryam law’ that would exonerate her in the Panamagate scandal. In April, the Panama Papers revealed that three scions of the Sharif fam-ily were among hundreds of world politicians who have secreted their money in a tax haven.
The issue of Clause 23 also ech-oed during a meeting of the par-liamentary committee set up to draft Terms of References (TORs) for an investigation into the Pan-amagate scandal. The amend-ment has been proposed to meet a requirement of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for getting global body’s membership, said FBR chairman Mohammad Nisar. The amendment, if passed by the National Assembly, would bring foreign trusts under the scope of the Income Tax Ordinance of 2001, he added.
The purpose of the amendment is to facilitate Pakistan’s request
for an OECD membership, and if the government could not con-vince the opposition it may with-draw the amendment, said Law Minister Zahid Hamid after the meeting of the ToRs committee.
“We are concerned that the government is trying to give a backdoor escape to some offshore company holders through Clause 23,” said PTI’s senior leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
He added that Finance Minis-ter Ishaq Dar has assured to with-draw this amendment.
Legal experts say Clause 23 ropes in all foreign trust hold-ers and this is not limited to only the ruling party. They say senior
leaders of the PTI and PPP may also face the music. However, legal experts say the FBR might exploit Clause 23 when the gov-ernment will announce offshore amnesty package in the next cou-ple of months. They say that after including foreign trusts in the am-bit of income tax, the amnesty can also be offered to them.
In an official handout, the FBR explained that the proposed amendment is aimed at only de-fining various entities as indi-viduals, association of persons or companies. Trusts have also been included in the definition of com-panies in the same section, which states that company also means a trust, an entity or a body of per-sons established or constituted by or under any law for the time being in force.
Threat to federationWhile addressing a news confer-ence, Mandviwalla and former finance minister Naveed Qamar al-leged that the PML-N’s fourth budg-et would weaken the federation.
They said the federal govern-ment has tried to encroach on the
provinces’ constitutional right of levying taxes on immovable property. “The PPP condemns the imposition of taxes on immov-able property, likely builders and withholding tax on minerals,” said Mandviwalla.
He said the government’s deci-sion to disallow input tax adjust-ment on provincial services tax was yet another step towards un-dermining the Constitution and the federalism.
Qamar said the government has also tried to encroach on the Senate’s constitutional right by proposing an amendment in the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Act of 2005 through the Finance Bill 2016. The Su-preme Court has already clearly defined a money bill (Finance Bill).
Federal budgetMandviwalla said the federal budget 2016-17 was ‘direction-less’ and bereft of an economic vision. Qamar said the federal government did not take the prov-inces into confidence before an-nouncing that the federating units would bear 50 per cent subsidy cost of fertiliser. The Sindh gov-ernment would not participate in this scheme, he said.
Mandviwalla said the govern-ment has been manipulating fig-ures each year since the PML-N came to power in 2013. The fi-nance minister is telling a lie to the nation by manipulating GDP growth, fiscal deficit, tax to GDP ratio, investment to GDP, infla-tion rate, unemployment rates, he added. “The Finance Ministry is dictating and pressurising the Pa-kistan Bureau of Statistics to get its desired economic results.”
— Express Tribune
Opposition criticised
the proposed
amendment as a
‘move to give a
backdoor escape to
the prime minister’s
daughter, Maryam
Nawaz, in the
Panamagate scandal
IN FOCUS: Maryam Nawaz, daughter of Prime Minister’ Nawaz Sharif. – File photo
The government has
introduced this clause
to allow people to own
foreign trusts without
declaring them
Saleem MandviwallaSenator
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Farooq Sattar
Japan expresses interest in Lakhra coal projectsISLAMABAD: Japan has offered investment in Lakhra coal pro-jects while expressing satisfac-tion over the current cooperation between the two countries.
“Japanese companies are inter-ested in Lakhra coal projects and they will participate in the pro-cess,” said Japanese Ambassador Takashi Kurai while talking to Water and Power Minister Kha-waja Muhammad Asif.
Asif told the ambassador that the Japan International Coop-eration Agency (Jica) had been the main development partner of the Ministry of Water and Power in many power projects. Jica has worked on important projects like digitalisation of data and fea-sibility studies of coal projects.
“Pakistan and Japan enjoy cor-dial relations and the multi-di-mensional cooperation has been the strength of deep relations be-tween the two countries. A lot of
Pakistanis in Japan are associated with the old car business,” he said.
Secretary Water and Power Mohammad Younus Dagha ap-prised the Japanese envoy of the Jamshoro coal project which could be of benefit to the Japa-nese companies.
Energy sectorIn a separate meeting with Ital-ian Ambassador Stefano Ponte-corvo, the water and power min-ister spoke about the efforts being made in the energy sector.
Despite a severe heat wave, he said, the Ministry of Water and Power was working hard to pro-vide uninterrupted electricity supply for more than 90 per cent urban and 85 per cent rural do-mestic consumers during Sehr, Iftaar and Taraweeh timings. Praising Italian investors for their role in renewable energy projects, Asif underlined the importance
of off-grid energy solutions in the form of solar and wind energy.
Many far-off areas had the po-tential to generate energy from solar panels, he said, adding Pa-kistan was aware of the Italian expertise in utilising renewable energy resources and wanted to take full advantage of it.
The Italian envoy, while wel-coming the support received from the Ministry of Water and Power, said many Italian companies had expressed interest in the energy sector of Pakistan.
In another meeting with Ger-man Ambassador Ina Lepel, Asif cited the recent agreement be-tween the Atlas group and Sie-mens for setting up a 1,000-mega-watt gas-based power project as a great leap in cooperation between the two countries. He also asked the ambassador to invest in the off-grid energy solutions in Paki-stan. — Express Tribune
I N V E S T M E N T
Engro sells stake in fertiliser unitKARACHI: Engro Corporation has sold over 28 per cent of its shareholding in Engro Fertilisers, Pakistan’s second largest ferti-liser-manufacturing company, to institutional and high net worth individuals in a private placement worth approximately $185 million.
In a securities filing on Wednesday, Engro Corporation said it sold 295 million shares, which constitute 22.1 per cent of the total outstanding shares of Engro Fertilisers, at a price of Rs65.47 per share.
Engro Corporation owned as many as 78.8 per cent of over 1.3 billion outstanding shares in En-gro Corporation at the beginning of 2016.
Its shareholding in its fertilis-er-manufacturing subsidiary has been reduced to 56.6 per cent fol-lowing the transaction.
Engro Corporation did not
state the reason for the share sell-off. However, analysts say the deal is part of the holding company’s strategy under which it is gradu-ally steering away from non-ener-gy businesses to focus on power-related projects.
“The proceeds… are expected to finance the equity need of the ongoing Thar mining and power projects,” said BMA Capital Man-agement analyst Sajjad Hussain.
Engro Corporation is one of
the largest conglomerates oper-ating in the country with inter-ests in energy, fertilisers, pet-rochemical, food, trading and chemical storage.
As much as 47.8 per cent of En-gro Corporation’s total revenues in 2015 originated from its ferti-liser unit while the contribution of power businesses in the com-pany’s top line was 7 per cent, ac-cording to Bloomberg data.
Engro Corporation has recently been selling its stakes in non-en-ergy businesses to raise cash for onward investments in energy-related businesses.
For example, it recently began negotiations with a Dutch com-pany, Royal FrieslandCampina, for the sale of up to 51 per cent shares in Engro Foods, a subsidiary that contributed more than a quar-ter in the corporation’s revenues last year. — Express Tribune
P R I V A T E P L A C E M E N T
Engro Corporation owned
as many as 78.8 per cent of
over 1.3 billion outstanding
shares in Engro Corporation
at the beginning of 2016
A15
WORLDT H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
Chinese jet made ‘unsafe’ intercept of spy plane: USWASHINGTON/BEIJING: A Chinese fighter jet has carried out an ‘unsafe’ intercept of a United States spy plane on routine patrol in international airspace over the East China Sea, the US Pacific Command said, as China again demanded an end to US surveillance flights.
“One of the intercepting Chi-nese jets had an unsafe excessive rate of closure on the RC-135 air-craft. Initial assessment is that this seems to be a case of improper airmanship, as no other provoca-tive or unsafe maneouvres oc-curred,” Pacific Command said. It did not say how close the Chinese fighter came to the US plane.
“The Department of Defence is addressing the issue with China in appropriate diplomatic and military channels,” the state-ment said. China’s Defence Min-istry said it had noted the report and was looking into it.
“Judging by the report, the US side is again deliberately hyping up the issue of the close surveillance of China by US military aircraft,” it said in a statement.
“Chinese military pilots con-sistently carry out operations in accordance with the law and the rules, and are professional and responsible,” it added, without elaborating.
Defensive measuresChinese Foreign Ministry spokes-man Hong Lei said such patrols seriously harmed China’s secu-rity, and repeated a demand they stop. “China has the right to take defensive measures,” he told a daily news briefing, without iden-tifying the site of the intercept. In May, the Pentagon said two Chinese fighter jets flew within 15 metres (50 feet) of a US EP-3 aircraft over the South China Sea. — Reuters
TENS I ONS ‘North Korea restarts plutonium production’
WASHINGTON: North Korea has restarted production of pluto-nium fuel, a senior US State De-partment official has said, showing that it plans to pursue its nuclear weapons programme in defiance of
international sanctions.The US assessment came a
day after the UN nuclear watch-dog said it had ‘indications’ that Pyongyang has reactivated a plant to recover plutonium from spent reactor fuel at Yongbyon, its main nuclear complex.
The latest developments sug-gest North Korea’s reclusive re-gime is working to ensure a steady supply of materials for its drive to build warheads, despite tightened international sanctions after its fourth nuclear test in January.
The US official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, said that Washington is worried by the new plutonium reprocessing effort, but he offered no explicit word on any US response. “Everything in North Korea is a cause for con-cern,” the official said.
“They take the spent fuel from the 5 megawatt reactor at Yong-byon and let it cool and then take it to the reprocessing facility, and that’s where they’ve obtained the plutonium for their previous nuclear tests. So they are repeat-ing that process,” the official said. “That’s what they’re doing.”
North Korea, which conducted its fourth nuclear test in January, vowed in 2013 to restart all nu-clear facilities, including the main reactor and the smaller plant at Yongbyon, which was shut down in 2007 as part of an international disarmament-for-aid deal that later collapsed.
Monitoring by satelliteThe International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has no ac-cess to North Korea and mainly monitors its activities by satellite, said last year it had seen signs of a resumption of activity at Yongbyon.
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano told a news conference in Vienna on Monday that there have been in-dications of renewed plutonium reprocessing activities at Yong-byon. Reprocessing involves ex-tracting plutonium from spent reactor fuel, one route to obtain-ing bomb fuel other than uranium enrichment. - Reuters
US assessment
came a day after
the UN nuclear
watchdog said it
had ‘indications’
that Pyongyang has
reactivated a plant to
recover plutonium
WASHINGTON: Hillary Clinton and Republican rival Donald Trump kicked off what is shaping up to be a bitter five-month general election battle after the Democrat became the first woman to lead a major political party in its quest to capture the US presidency.
Big wins for Clinton on Tuesday in California and elsewhere cata-pulted her to victory in the Demo-cratic primary race over opponent Bernie Sanders.
If elected on November 8, the 68-year-old Clinton would return the Clinton family to the White
House 16 years after her husband, Bill Clinton, completed two terms as president.
All signs point toward a nega-tive campaign as Clinton accuses Trump of being temperamentally unfit to serve and the New York billionaire charges Clinton has a
dark past with shades of corrup-tion and a weak record as Presi-dent Barack Obama’s first-term secretary of state.
The Clinton campaign drew on comments from Trump’s fel-low Republicans to portray the 69-year-old Trump as not fit for
the Oval Office after the real estate developer repeatedly accused a Mexican-American judge of show-ing bias against him because of his ethnic heritage.
“The most effective thing to do with Donald Trump is just to get his words out there and let him speak for himself,” Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook told CNN on Wednesday. Mook charged Trump with a history of “erratic behaviour,” the same lan-guage leveled by the Obama cam-paign in its defeat of Republican nominee John McCain in 2008.
Trump, smarting from days of criticism from fellow Republicans fed up with his attacks on US Dis-trict Judge Gonzalo Curiel, gave a carefully crafted victory speech
on Tuesday night laying out his plan of attack. To keep him from straying off message, he used a Tel-ePrompter and avoided his typical stream-of-consciousness delivery.
Trump said the money flowing into the Clinton Foundation char-ity from foreign donors has earned the Clintons millions of dollars and had a corrupting influence when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state and used a private email serv-er to conduct official business.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday showed Clinton lead-ing Trump by 10 percentage points nationally as they launch their general election battle, little changed from a week earlier.
Both Clinton and Trump have work to do to unite their parties
behind them but the Democrat ap-peared to face the easier path with Sanders, a leftist US senator from Vermont, nearly out of options to challenge her. Trump has an up-hill battle, with many party leaders still opposed to him.
Racist commentsUS House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday de-scribed Trump’s comments about the judge as “racism” but said he would still support him.
Republicans complain that Trump still engages in petty bat-tles with former rivals and is way behind in building a fund-raising organisation.
“We like parts of Donald Trump’s message but he does need to act more presidential and he does need to transition to a general election approach,” US Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republi-can, told CNN.
“He is the one who keeps bring-ing up grievances against those who ran against him.
He needs to unite the party and he needs to unite the country,” she said.
Clinton edged Sanders out in a rough-and-tumble battle that stretched over four months and 50 states.
She won support, especially among older voters, with a more pragmatic campaign focused on building on the policies of her fel-low Democrat, Obama. — Reuters
A16
WORLDT H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
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Trump, Clinton set for bitter battleAll signs point toward
a negative campaign
as Clinton accuses
Trump of being
temperamentally
unfit to serve and the
New York billionaire
charges Clinton has a
dark past with shades
of corruption
US-backed force poised to enter IS-held ManbijBEIRUT: A US-backed alliance of fighters in Syria is ready to en-ter the IS-held city of Manbij at will but is being cautious due to the presence of civilians there, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
The Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, backed by U.S.-led air strikes, has advanced to the outskirts of Manbij one week into a campaign aimed ultimately at dislodging IS from its last foot-hold on the Turkish border.
“Any moment that we want to enter it, we can, but because of the presence of civilians...we are being cautious about entering the city,” Sharfan Darwish of the Manbij Military Council told Reuters.
“I can say that the matter of liberating Manbij is settled,” he said.”When the time comes we will enter it of course.”
The offensive includes the pow-erful Kurdish YPG militia, which controls wide areas of northeast-ern Syria, and its Arab allies.
Dislodging IS from the last stretch of the Syrian-Turkish frontier where it has a foothold
has been a top priority of the US-led coalition fighting the group in Iraq and Syria.
“There is news about many Daesh (IS) members escap-ing and evacuating some areas of Manbij and booby-trapping them,” Darwish said.
”Our forces are now on the out-skirts of the city. The campaign continues.” — Reuters
S Y R I A
CONFLICT: A man walks on
the rubble of a destroyed
building following reported
air strikes by government
forces in the rebel-held Shaar
neighbourhood of the northern
city Aleppo on Wednesday. — AFP
Far-right party challenges Austria election resultVIENNA: Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPO) on Wednesday formally contested the result of last month’s presi-dential election, calling into question the count of postal bal-lots that swung the vote against its candidate.
Postal ballots pushed former Greens leader Alexander Van der Bellen past the FPO’s Norbert Hofer in a tight run-off vote in which the margin of victory was less than 1 percentage point, or roughly 31,000 votes.
While the post of president is largely ceremonial in Austria, Hofer would have been the first far-right head of state in the European Union.
Governments across the con-tinent breathed a sigh of relief at his defeat.
Re-run of electionFPO leader Heinz-Christian Stra-che called for a re-run of the elec-tion, saying his party had evidence of numerous irregularities, in-cluding the early counting of post-al ballots - an issue many see as a technicality, not a serious breach.
“We are not bad losers. Rather it is about the foundations of de-mocracy, which must be secured,” Strache told a news conference announcing the challenge.
Various irregularities have already come to light, mostly in-volving the early counting and processing of postal ballots, but the interior ministry has said the number of votes affected was smaller than the margin of victory.
Strache said that figure was much higher.
“The scale of this observation is more than frightening and more than relevant.
For this reason I feel obliged to challenge this result.”
Law broken or notAustria’s Constitutional Court must now determine whether the law has been broken and whether the breach might have affected the outcome of the election.
It said it aimed to reach a ver-dict before Van der Bellen is due to take office on July 8. The FPO challenge focuses on 573,275 of the more than 700,000 postal bal-lots cast in the election. — Reuters
P R E S I D E N T I A L P O L L
READY FOR BATTLE: (Left to right) Husband and former president
Bill Clinton, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and
daughter Chelsea Clinton acknowledge the crowd during a primary
night rally on Tuesday in New York. — Drew Angerer/Getty Images/AFP
MARKEWWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COMT H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6B
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SMARTEN UPDRIVE SAFE
A TIMES OF OMAN HANDS-FREE DRIVING INITIATIVE
OMAN CRUDE RISESOman Crude price (August delivery) rose by $1.12 to $48.28 per barrel, said Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME). The average price of Oman Crude (June delivery) stabilised at $39.40 a barrel, $3.06 higher than May delivery. - ONA
BankDhofar and Bank Sohar swap ratio agreed
MUSCAT: Bank Dhofar and Bank Sohar have reached a swap ratio of one share of BankDhofar in exchange of 1.29 shares of Bank Sohar for merging both financial institutions.
The boards of both banks have agreed for the swap ratio for the proposed merger, which has been
going on for the last three years. If everything goes well, the
merger will create one of the big-gest banks in Oman.
“All other terms and conditions of the proposed merger will be agreed upon and documented in a merger agreement to be entered into by both banks, subject to reg-ulatory and shareholders approv-als,” statedboth banks in separate disclosure statements posted on MSM website.
“The share swap ratio is almost in line with our expectations,” said Joice Mathew, head of research at United Securities.
“It (the merged entity) will be the second leading bank in Oman in terms of asset, profitability, loan book and branch network,” added Mathew. Bank Dhofar has 63 conventional banking offices/branches, while Bank Sohar has another 26 operating branches for conventional banking by end-De-cember 2015, according to the lat-est quarterly report published by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO). In addition, Bank Dhofar has five Islamic windows in operation, while Bank Sohar has four Islamic windows in operation.
Bank Sohar shares surged
ahead by 3.41 per cent to 182 bai-sas, amid 11.99 million shares changing hands on the Muscat bourse. Similarly, Bank Sohar bond also rose by 10 per cent to 110 baisas.
Mathew also said that the merger is a positive development in the financial sector. “We are getting a highly capitalised bank, which will create strong syndica-tion initiatives and single party lending limit will go up in the case of merged entity.”
S Suresh Kumar, head of re-search at Al Maha Financial Ser-vices, said that there are too many players in the market, which is causing tough competition. “So, consolidation will help banks to improve their operating efficien-cies and value-added offerings to customers,” added Suresh Kumar.
“Finally, after three years of ne-gotiations, the merger of both the banks is expected to be finalised during the coming months subject to regulatory and shareholders’ approval,” noted Gulf Baader Cap-ital Markets in a research note.
Bank Sohar’s acting chief exec-utive officer and general manager, Rashad Ali Al Musafir, resigned earlier this month on personal reasons, according to a statement posted on the stock exchange website on June 1.
Boards of both
banks have agreed
on the swap ratio
for the proposed
merger, which has
been going on for
almost three years.
The merger deal is
set to create Oman’s
second biggest bank
Oman sets up holding firm to invest in logistics sectorTimes News Service
MUSCAT: Oman’s government on Wednesday said that it is es-tablishing a holding company, Oman Global Logistics Group SAOC, to invest in ports, free zones, railway, maritime and land transport companies.
The decision was announced by Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communications here on Wednesday. The holding firm will be the government’s development arm, which will play a key role in creating major growth opportu-nities to significantly raise the contribution of logistics sector to the gross domestic product.
“The aim is to synchronize in-vestment and development objec-tives and therefore exploit the as-sets capabilities and potential in order to maximize the return on in-vestment,” said a ministry release.
A key mandate for the holding firm will be the implementation of the National Logistics Strat-egy, under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Transport and Communication.
A key drive in the implementa-tion will be to activate the role of the private sector in accelerat-ing the growth of logistics sector through joint investments, in-novation and bydeveloping na-tional capability in order to cre-ate employment opportunities.
The firm will also take necessary steps to implement the policies drawn by the government, includ-ing the coordination and integra-tion between the state agencies to achieve the company’s invest-ment and development objectives. Further, it will have the responsi-bility to monitor the performance of the group companies.
The Sultanate has translated its efforts to develop the logistics sector through massive infra-structure investments several specialised industrial zones and
world-class ports that provide a competitive edge to attract major shipping lines. The ports and in-dustrial zones are also well linked by a sophisticated roads network to ensure smooth cargo move-ments between the ports, indus-trial zones and the end customers.
Moreover, Oman has just com-pleted the preliminary design of its entire planned rail network, which aims to link the ports, economic, industrial and com-mercial areas and also areas with potential urban growth.
The Sultanate’s has equally constructed a developedroad transport sector, both public and private, through the sophisti-cated infrastructure and the is-suance of laws, regulations and legislations governing the sector development in line with interna-tional best practices.
Aviation holding firmIn a similar direction, the Minis-try of Transport and Communi-cations is currently working on setting-up a holding company for the civil aviation sector, which will include Oman Air, Oman Air-ports Management Company and Air Navigation Company (under incorporation). The holding com-pany will help the enhancement of the sector services and ensure the operation and management are in accordance with the policies de-termined by the government.
O M A N G L O B A L L O G I S T I C S G R O U P
CONSOLIDATION: The merged entity will be the second leading
bank in Oman in terms of asset, profitability, loan book and branch
network. — Times file picture
Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al
Futaisi. — Times file picture
B2
MARKETT H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
MUSCATSECURITIES MARKET
SHARE PRICE BULLETIN FOR WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8
REGULAR MARKET .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................OM0000002366 ...........AL BATINAH DEV. INV. HOLDING .......................... 6,700 ...................615........................5 ........... 0.090 ........... 0.092 ...........0.090........... 0.092 .............0.085 ........... 0.007 ............. 8.235 ................0.092.............. 0.091...................0.093....................2,760,000 ..........0.100
OM0000003521 ............GALFAR ENGINEERING AND CON. .................. 4,771,130 ...... 534,165................... 167 ............0.110 ........... 0.114............0.109 ............0.112 .............0.104 ........... 0.008 ............. 7.692 ................ 0.114 .............. 0.114...................0.000 .................. 32,477,831 .........0.100
OM0000001681 ............OMAN AND EMIRATES INV. HOLDING ........... 136,123 .............19,509......................12 ............0.136 ........... 0.145 ...........0.136 ........... 0.143 ............. 0.135 ............ 0.008 ............. 5.926 ................0.143 .............. 0.143...................0.148 ................... 17,428,125 .........0.100
OM0000002440 ...........AL SHARQIA INVESTMENT HOLDING ........... 712,561 ............ 98,392..................... 57 ............0.135 ........... 0.141............0.135 ............0.138 ............. 0.133............ 0.005 ............. 3.759 ................ 0.141 ..............0.140................... 0.141 ...................12,420,000 .........0.100
OM0000003398 ...........BANK SOHAR................................................................ 11,989,880 .2,186,910................... 185 ............0.180 ........... 0.184 ...........0.180 ........... 0.182 ............. 0.176 ............ 0.006 ............. 3.409 ................0.182 ..............0.182...................0.183 ..................292,018,880 .......0.100
OM0000002176 ............AL JAZEERA STEEL PRODUCTS ........................ 921,358 ..........193,341......................61 ........... 0.208 ........... 0.214 ...........0.205........... 0.210 .............0.204 ........... 0.006 ............. 2.941 ................0.214 ..............0.212...................0.214 ...................26,228,572 .........0.100
OM0000002820 ...........GULF INVESTMENT SERVICES ......................... 108,750 .............12,783......................13 ............0.120 ........... 0.120 ........... 0.116 ............0.118 ............. 0.115 ............ 0.003 ............. 2.609 ................ 0.118 ...............0.117...................0.122 ....................6,943,500 ..........0.100
OM0000001525 ............OMAN INVESTMENT AND FINANCE .............. 622,414 ..........125,103..................... 45 ........... 0.200 ...........0.204 ...........0.200 .......... 0.201 ............. 0.196............ 0.005 ............. 2.551 ................0.204 ............ 0.204...................0.206 ................. 40,200,000 ........0.100
OM0000001145 ............PORT SERVICES CORPORATION ........................... 6,500 ............... 1,599........................ 1 ........... 0.246 ...........0.246 ...........0.246........... 0.246 .............0.240 ........... 0.006 .............2.500 ................0.246..............0.235...................0.248 ..................23,379,840 .........0.100
OM0000003224 ...........RENAISSANCE SERVICES ..................................... 180,005 ........... 54,607..................... 28 ........... 0.300 ...........0.306 ...........0.300 .......... 0.304 .............0.297 ........... 0.007 ............. 2.357 ................0.306............. 0.304...................0.306 .................. 88,357,910 .........0.100
OM0000001517 ............HSBC BANK OMAN .................................................... 1,443,540 .......151,142......................31 ............0.104 ........... 0.105 ...........0.104 ........... 0.105 ............. 0.103............ 0.002 ............. 1.942 ................0.104 ..............0.104...................0.105 ..................210,032,843........0.100
OM0000005005 ...........ALMAHA CERAMICS ................................................ 345,837 ......... 155,824..................... 74 ........... 0.450 ........... 0.456 ...........0.450........... 0.450 .............0.442 ........... 0.008 ............. 1.810.................0.450 ..............0.450...................0.452...................23,625,000 .........0.100
OM0000003968 ...........OOREDOO.........................................................................10,000 ...............7,600........................ 1 ............0.760 ........... 0.760 ...........0.760 ........... 0.760 ............. 0.748.............0.012 ............. 1.604 ................0.760 .............. 0.748...................0.760 .................. 494,717,615 ........0.100
OM0000002226 ...........AL JAZEERA SERVICES ............................................31,000 ...............7,084........................4 ........... 0.228 ........... 0.232 ...........0.228........... 0.229 .............0.226 ........... 0.003 ............. 1.327 ................0.232..............0.232...................0.234 .................. 14,015,779 .........0.100
OM0000002028 ...........GULF INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS ............. 29,900 ............... 7,568......................13 ........... 0.252 ........... 0.255 ...........0.252........... 0.253 .............0.250 ........... 0.003 ............. 1.200 ................0.253 ..............0.252...................0.253.................... 5,313,000 ..........0.100
OM0000001160 ............NATIONAL GAS ........................................................... 236,135.......... 122,599..................... 30 ........... 0.520 ........... 0.530 ...........0.516 ........... 0.520 ............. 0.514............ 0.006 ..............1.167.................0.524..............0.524...................0.530...................28,600,000 ........0.100
OM0000002168 ............AL ANWAR CERAMIC TILES ................................. 18,050 ............... 4,765........................3 ........... 0.265 ........... 0.266 ...........0.261 ........... 0.264 ............. 0.261............ 0.003 ............. 1.149.................0.266..............0.265...................0.270 ..................78,200,412 .........0.100
OM0000001707 ............OMAN CABLES INDUSTRY ......................................30,500 ............ 54,893........................2 ............1.785 ........... 1.800 ........... 1.785 ........... 1.800 ............. 1.780 ............ 0.020 ............. 1.124 ................1.800 ..............1.800...................1.840 ..................161,460,000 ........0.100
OM0000003026 ...........OMAN TELECOMMUNICATION ......................... 43,300 .............70,574........................5 ............1.625 ........... 1.630 ...........1.625 ............1.630 ............. 1.620.............0.010 ............. 0.617 ................1.630 ..............1.620...................1.630 ................1,222,500,000 ......0.100
OM0000001772 ............AL ANWAR HOLDING............................................... 460,232 ..........108,561..................... 29 ........... 0.236 ........... 0.237 ...........0.235 ........... 0.236 .............0.235 ............0.001 ............. 0.426 ................0.236 ..............0.235...................0.236................... 35,417,700 .........0.100
OM0000002549 ...........BANK DHOFAR ............................................................ 120,200 ........... 29,589........................8 ........... 0.250 ...........0.250 ...........0.243........... 0.246 .............0.245 ............0.001 ............. 0.408 ................0.243............. 0.000...................0.245 .................418,003,544 .......0.100
OM0000001418 ............RAYSUT CEMENT ........................................................ 10,140 .............13,283......................12 ............1.310 ........... 1.310............ 1.310 ............1.310 ............. 1.305............ 0.005 ............. 0.383 ................1.310 .............. 1.310...................1.320 ................. 262,000,000 .......0.100
OM0000001087 ............OMAN UNITED INSURANCE ................................. 43,759 ............ 10,940........................5 ........... 0.250 ...........0.250 ...........0.250........... 0.250 .............0.250 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.250..............0.250...................0.254 ..................25,000,000 ........0.100
OM0000001319 ............NATIONAL ALUMINIUM PRODUCTS .................... 500 .................. 124........................ 1 ........... 0.248 ...........0.248 ...........0.248........... 0.250 .............0.250 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.248..............0.235...................0.248 ...................8,392,863 ..........0.100
OM0000001483 ............NATIONAL BANK OF OMAN .........................................789 ...................197........................ 1 ........... 0.250 ...........0.250 ...........0.250........... 0.248 .............0.248 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.250..............0.246...................0.250 ................. 365,745,756 ........0.100
OM0000001962 ............AL MADINA INVESTMENT ................................... 223,263 ............ 14,118......................12 ........... 0.064 ...........0.064 ...........0.063........... 0.063 .............0.063 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.064..............0.063...................0.064 .................. 13,050,537 .........0.100
OM0000002648 ...........NATIONAL FINANCE ................................................... 1,000 ...................132........................2 ............0.133 ........... 0.133 ...........0.130 ............0.138 ............. 0.138............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.130 ............. 0.000...................0.130 ................... 37,415,301 .........0.100
OM0000002796 ...........BANK MUSCAT ............................................................ 1,835,802 ...... 715,963................... 310 ........... 0.390 ...........0.390 ...........0.390........... 0.390 .............0.390 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.390..............0.388...................0.390 ................. 973,537,601 ........0.100
OM0000003141 ............ACWA POWER BARKA ...............................................33,000 ............ 23,100........................2 ........... 0.700 ........... 0.700 ...........0.700 ........... 0.700 .............0.700 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.700 ............. 0.000...................0.760 ..................112,000,000........0.100
OM0000003281 ............TAAGEER FINANCE ................................................... 19,999 ...............2,560........................2 ............0.128 ........... 0.128 ...........0.128 ........... 0.128 ............. 0.128............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.128 .............. 0.127...................0.128 ...................32,459,520 .........0.100
OM0000003661 ............VOLTAMP ENERGY ................................................... 397,250 ......... 166,845......................18 ........... 0.420 ...........0.420 ...........0.420........... 0.420 .............0.420 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.420..............0.422...................0.430 ..................25,410,000 .........0.100
OM0000003711 ............SOHAR POWER ....................................................................120 .....................36........................ 1 ........... 0.302 ...........0.302 ...........0.302............0.318 ............. 0.318............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.302..............0.302...................0.312 ................... 70,281,180 .........0.100
OM0000004735 ...........SEMBCORP SALALAH .............................................. 270,120 ............66,179........................7 ........... 0.245 ........... 0.245 ...........0.245........... 0.245 .............0.245 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.245..............0.245...................0.250 .................233,870,128 ........0.100
OM0000004768 ...........AL MADINA TAKAFUL .............................................. 22,600 ............... 1,728........................3 ........... 0.077 ........... 0.077 ...........0.076 ........... 0.076 .............0.076 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.076 ..............0.074...................0.076...................13,300,000 .........0.100
OM0000004933 ...........AL SUWADI POWER .................................................... 31,660 ...............6,807........................3 ............0.215 ........... 0.215 ...........0.215 ............0.215 ............. 0.218............-0.003 ............-1.376 ................0.215 .............. 0.215...................0.218 .................. 153,597,363 ........0.100
.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 25,114,117 .........4,969,232 ........ 1,153 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ......35........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
PARALLEL MARKET ................................................................................................................................................................................. OM0000002564 ...........AL HASSAN ENGINEERING.................................. 752,700 ........... 66,574..................... 54 ........... 0.087 ...........0.090 ...........0.086........... 0.088 .............0.083 ........... 0.005 ............. 6.024 ................0.088 ..............0.088...................0.090 ................... 6,618,304 ..........0.100
OM0000004511 ............ALIZZ ISLAMIC BANK.............................................. 888,211 ............ 52,973......................21 ........... 0.059 ...........0.060 ...........0.059 ........... 0.060 .............0.058 ........... 0.002 ............. 3.448 ................0.060..............0.060...................0.061 ...................60,000,000 ........0.100
OM0000001566 ............OMAN FISHERIES ..................................................... 904,448 ............55,474.....................40 ........... 0.062 ........... 0.062 ...........0.060........... 0.061 .............0.060 ............0.001 ............. 1.667 ................0.060..............0.060...................0.061 .................... 7,625,000 ..........0.100
OM0000001590 ............MUSCAT FINANCE .........................................................9,661 ............... 1,169........................ 1 ............0.121 ........... 0.121............ 0.121 ............0.121 .............0.120 ............0.001 ............. 0.833 ................0.121 .............. 0.119...................0.120 ...................32,272,585 .........0.100
OM0000001368 ............CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IND. .................. 609,539 ............19,525......................18 ........... 0.032 ........... 0.033 ...........0.032........... 0.032 .............0.032 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.032.............. 0.031...................0.032 ...................2,720,000 ..........0.100
OM0000001400 ...........OMAN FLOUR MILLS ................................................ 50,000 ............ 27,500........................2 ........... 0.550 ........... 0.550 ...........0.550 ........... 0.550 .............0.550 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.550 ..............0.546...................0.550...................86,625,000 .........0.100
OM0000001723 ............OMAN ORIX LEASING ................................................. 6,104 .................. 702........................2 ............0.115 ........... 0.115 ............ 0.115 ............0.115 ............. 0.115 ............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................ 0.115 .............. 0.114................... 0.115 ................... 28,869,531 .........0.100
OM0000002077 ...........AL OMANIYA FINANCIAL SER. ...................................452 .................. 126........................2 ........... 0.279 ........... 0.279 ...........0.270........... 0.300 .............0.300 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.270..............0.270...................0.280 ..................80,359,063 .........0.100
OM0000003265 ...........NATIONAL DETERGENT .........................................33,650 ............ 21,940........................3 ........... 0.652 ........... 0.652 ...........0.652 ........... 0.652 .............0.652 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.652 ............. 0.000...................0.652................... 11,092,150 .........0.100
OM0000004420 ...........BANK NIZWA ................................................................ 10,720,085 ....804,106..................... 20 ............0.075 ........... 0.076 ...........0.075 ........... 0.075 .............0.075 ........... 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.076 ..............0.075...................0.076..................112,500,000 ........0.100
OM0000005963 ...........PHOENIX POWER ...................................................... 337,663 ............. 53,191..................... 23 ............0.160 ........... 0.160 ...........0.156 ............0.158 ............. 0.158............ 0.000 .............0.000 ................0.156 .............. 0.156...................0.157 .................. 231,091,031 ........0.100
.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 14,312,513 ......1,103,279 ............... 186 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ...... 11........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
BONDS AND SUKUK MARKET ......................................................................................................................................................................OM0000004628 ...........BANK SOHAR BONDS 4.5 ........................................ 236,000 ...........26,040........................3 ............0.110 ........... 0.112............0.110 ............0.110 .............0.100 ............0.010 ............10.000 ...............0.110 ..............0.108................... 0.112 ....................5,243,334 ..........0.100
OM0000005971 ............B.MUSCAT COMPL. CONVR. B.B.3.5 .....................56,895 ...............5,689........................3 ........... 0.099 ........... 0.100 ...........0.099........... 0.100 .............0.097 ........... 0.003 ............. 3.093 ................0.100 ..............0.096...................0.100................... 32,416,161 .........0.100
.............................................SUM: .................................................................................. 292,895 ............31,729........................6 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................... TRADED SEC. ........ 2........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
ISIN ......................................SECURITY NAME .................................................................. VOLUME ..... TURNOVER ............TRADES ......OPEN PRICE ......HIGH ............. LOW ........ CLOSE PR. ...PREV. CLOSE...DIFF (RO).........DIFF % ............. LAST PR .....LAST BID .............LAST OFFER ........MARKET CAP .PAR VALUE
O M A N S T O C K S
INDICESIndex .................................................High .................Low ..................... Value ............... Prev . Value.......... Diff ...............Diff %MSM30 Index ....................................... 5,889.27 ............... 5,857.61 ....................5,887.74 ................... 5,843.31 ................. 44.43 ................... 0.76Financial Index .....................................7,507.96 ...............7,458.40 ....................7,507.96 ....................7,433.72 ................. 74.24 ................... 1.00Industrial Index ....................................7,325.49 ............... 7,269.01 ................... 7,324.89 ................... 7,241.34 ..................83.55 ................... 1.15Services Index .......................................3,277.47 ...............3,261.06 ....................3,277.47 ................... 3,261.06 .................. 16.41 ................... 0.50MSM SHARIAH INDEX.......................886.38 ..................882.14 ...................... 886.38 ...................... 882.10 ....................4.28 ................... 0.49
Trading SummaryVolume ................ Turnover ..........Trades .............. Market Cap............. Up ............Down ............. Equal .........Sec. Traded39,719,525 ..................6,104,240 ................. 1,345 ................17,103,301,558 ................28 ........................ 1 .................... 19 .........................48
MSM index ends higher
MUSCAT: Merger disclosures regarding Bank Sohar and Bank Dhofar propelled the MSM30 In-dex to 5,887.74 points, up by 0.76 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index closed at 886.38 points, up by 0.49 per cent.
Bank Sohar was the most ac-tive in terms of volume and turno-ver. The top gainer was Al Batinah Development and Investment, up by 8.24 per cent, while Al Suwadi Power was the only market loser, down by 1.38 per cent.
As many as 1,345 trades were executed on Wednesday, generating turnover of OMR6.1 million with 39.7 million shares changing hands. Out of 48 traded securities, 28 advanced, one declined and 19 remained unchanged.
GCC and Arab investors were net buyers for OMR340,000 followed by Omani investors for OMR260,000 while foreign investors were net sellers for OMR600,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index moved sharply by 1 per cent to end at 7,507.96 points. Al Batinah Development, Oman & Emirates Holding, Al Shariqa Investments, Al Izz Bank and Bank Sohar gained 8.24 per cent, 5.93 per cent, 3.76 per cent, 3.45 per cent and 3.41 per cent, respectively.
Industrial Index ended at 7,324.89 points, up by 1.15 per cent. Galfar Engineering, Al Hassan Engineering, Al Jazeera Steel, Al Maha Ceramics and Oman Fisheries gained 7.69 per cent, 6.02 per cent, 2.94 per cent, 1.81 per cent and 1.67 per cent, re-spectively.
Services Index advanced by 0.50 per cent to close at 3,277.47 points. OIFC, Port Services, Re-naissance Services, Ooredoo Oman and Al Jazeera Services gained by 2.55 per cent, 2.50 per cent, 2.36 per cent, 1.60 per cent
and 1.33 per cent respectively. Al Suwadi Power, down by 1.38 per cent, was the only loser for the day.
Shuaa CapitalDubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital PSC said its big-gest shareholder agreed to sell its stake to Abu Dhabi Finan-cial Group LLC in a deal poten-tially worth $93 million. Shuaa shares jumped.
Dubai Banking Group, a unit of investment company Dubai Group LLC, has “reached an agreement” with Abu Dhabi Financial Group for the 48.36 per cent stake, Shuaa said in a statement to the local bourse on Wednesday.
The completion of the sale is subject to regulatory approvals, it said. Shuaa’s stock jumped 5.1 per cent as of 12:49 p.m. in Dubai, as 33 million shares changed hands, or more than seven-times the intraday average of the past 20 days.
The stake is worth 341 million dirhams ($93 million) at yester-day’s closing price, according to Bloomberg calculations. Dubai Group hired Emirates NBD PJSC, the United Arab Emirates’ biggest bank, to help find a buyer, people familiar with the plan said in April, as it strives to meet pay-ment obligations under a debt re-structuring plan.
Dubai Group was one of several companies forced to restructure loans and delay payments when Dubai property prices slumped and credit markets froze after the 2008 global financial crisis. The company reached a final agree-ment with lenders to restructure $6 billion in debt in 2014. Shuaa posted a 190 million-dirham loss last year, its worst performance since 2011.
-United Securities/Bloomberg News
The top gainer was Al Batinah Development
and Investment, up by 8.24 per cent, while Al
Suwadi Power was the only market loser.
SBI, ICICI Bank chiefs among 4 Indians in Forbes’ new listNEW YORK: Four Indian wom-en, including SBI Managing direc-tor Arundhati Bhattacharya and ICICI Bank Managing director Chanda Kochhar, are in the new list of Forbes’ world’s 100 most powerful women who are building billion-dollar brands and calling the shots in the financial markets.
The Forbes ‘100 Most Power-ful Women’ in the world list 2016, topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, includes PepsiCo Chief Indra Nooyi, Biocon Found-er Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and HT Media head Shobhana Bhartia.
Forbes said this year’s most powerful women are the “smart-est and toughest female business leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, scientists, philanthropists and CEOs making their mark in the world on Wednesday.
“They’re women who are build-ing billion-dollar brands, calling the shots in the financial markets, and crisscrossing the globe to bro-ker international agreements and provide aid,” the magazine said.
Bhattacharya, 60, ranked 25th on the list, is facing her “most challenging test” yet with State Bank of India facing mounting bad loans, which stood at USD 11 billion in December, Forbes said.
Kochhar comes in on the 40th spot and Forbes said as boss of the country’s largest private-sector
lender, Kochhar, 54 has to con-tend with the “current bane of In-dia’s banking system: bad loans.”
In a bid to retain female staff, Kochhar launched ‘iWork@home’, which allows employees to work from home for a year.
Mazumdar-Shaw is ranked 77th on the list. The 63-year old “self-made” business leader po-sitioned Biocon as a large player in insulin and her company is the only Asian firm ranked among the top 20 biotech employers world-wide by Science magazine.
Bhartia is ranked 93rd on the list and the 59-year-old media baroness serves as chairperson and editorial director for India’s largest listed media company, HT Media.
Nooyi is ranked 14th on the list and Forbes said in May 2016, she successfully sidestepped a proxy war with activist investor Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund, which had pressured the company to split, by adding another board member. — PTI
M O S T P O W E R F U L W O M E N
Amazon to hike India investment
WASHINGTON: Amazon will invest an additional $3 billion in its India operations to take its in-vestment in the country to over $5 billion, the American e-commerce giant’s founder and CEO Jeff Be-zos said on Wednesday.
Bezos said this at an event here attended by Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi.
“Amazon will invest $3 billion more in India. This is in addition to
the $2 billion announced in 2014,” Bezos said at the annual gala of US India Business Council (USIBC).
“We have already created some 45,000 jobs in India and continue to see huge potential in the Indian economy,” Bezos said.
“Our Amazon.in team is sur-passing even our most ambitious planned milestones...,” Bezos said after receiving USIBC’s Global Leadership Awards.
Star IndiaStar India, a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox, also said it will invest an additional $5 billion over the next three years.
“We see huge potential in the Indian market and have been one of the largest foreign investors in India and the largest in the media and entertainment sector,” said Uday Shankar, Chairman and chief executive officer of Star India. — PTI
$ 3 B I N V E S T M E N T
Arundhati Bhattacharya.
— Bloomberg file picture
B3T H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
MARKETOmantel confirms landing of submarine cable system
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Oman Telecommuni-cations Company (Omantel) cel-ebrated the milestone landing of the Asia Africa Europe-1 (AAE-1) submarine cable system in Oman at a ceremony on Monday in the Al Bustan area of Muscat.
This is the third longest subma-rine cable in the world spanning approximately 25,000 kilome-tres, the AAE-1 is one of the first unique cable systems to connect 18 countries across Asia, Africa and Europe, all via Oman.
The cable will provide an alter-native and low latency short route between the east and the west while covering 50 per cent of the
world’s population.Commenting on the historic
achievement for the AAE-1 cable landing, Omantel CEO Talal Al Mamari said, “Today we are actu-alising yet another embodiment of our new strategy Omantel 3.0 wit-nessing the milestone landing of the AAE-1 cable in Oman. As one of the longest submarine cables in the world, this achievement for Omantel and the Sultanate is un-doubtedly making us feel proud.”
“The AAE-1 cable represents another step in enhancing our position as a truly international telecommunications player. Al-ready over half of the internation-al submarine cables that connect to the Arabian Gulf are connected through Omantel here in Oman. In the coming years, further ex-tending our reach internationally is a key focus for Omantel, and a
central goal of our 3.0 transforma-tion strategy,” he added.
Omantel’s extensive interna-tional network will provide addi-tional protection and diversity to the AAE-1 cable system through other systems like EPEG, which is another major high-capacity sys-tem consisting of redundant un-dersea cables to Iran and onwards terrestrial cable all the way via Azerbaijan and Russia to Frank-furt avoiding existing heavily con-gested cable systems and crowded bottlenecks on the route between Asia and Europe. The cable will provide additional capacity and diversity for telecommunications capabilities in Oman.
“Throughout history Oman has always been a gateway to the re-gion, facilitating trade and com-merce from East to West and West to East. At Omantel, we aim
to continue our nation’s proud tradition, this time facilitating the transfer of information, in this new digital age,” said Al Mamari.
Recently, Omantel landed the AAE-1 cable in the southern French city of Marseille, becom-ing the first GCC operator to land a submarine cable in Europe. Ear-lier this year the company also joined in a consortium with sev-eral East African telecommunica-tions providers to lay the Gulf to Africa (G2A) undersea fibre-optic cable. The move represented the first phase of Omantel’s planned expansion into East Africa.
In the international wholesale arena, Omantel is considered
one of the most prominent and competitive wholesale telecom-munication providers in the Mid-dle East. It is one of the leading companies in the field of undersea cable networks and a key partici-pant in several submarine cables, complemented by direct terres-trial links, which link Asia, Eu-rope and America passing through Oman to meet the growing global capacity requirements of custom-ers, thereby sustaining the com-pany’s leading position among its competitors. Omantel’s wholesale strategy is to be a carrier of carri-ers and to be the link between the East and the West for the region and beyond.
The third longest
submarine cable in
the world spanning
approximately
25,000 kilometres,
the AAE-1 is one of
the first unique cable
systems to connect
18 countries across
Asia, Africa and
Europe, all via Oman.
– Supplied picture
At Omantel, we aim to continue our nation’s proud tradition, this time facilitating the transfer of information, in this new digital age
Talal Al MamariOmantel CEO
Muscat bourse reconstitutes general index; will be effective from July 3A E [email protected]
MUSCAT: Oman’s Muscat Secu-rities Market has reconstituted the basket of stocks in the main general index – MSM30 Index – by replacing two less active shares with active stocks. The newly re-constituted index will be effective from July 3.
The stocks that are now in-cluded in the index, due to better liquidity, are Al Maha Ceramics and Phoenix Power, while the shares that are taken out of the in-dex are Al Batinah Development and Investment Holding and Global Financial Investment, ac-cording to the local bourse.
Apart from a change in the gen-eral index, few changes have been made in the sub-sectors. Two companies – Global Financial Investment and Al Batinah De-velopment and Investment - have been taken out of the financial sector sub-index. Two other firms
– Al Madina Investment and Al Madina Takaful – have been in-cluded in the index to replace Global Financial Investment and Al Batinah Development.
Market sources said that the reshuffle in sub-sectors is in line with the practice followed by in-ternational bourses.
MSM 30 Index, the barometer of the market movement, is cal-culated after taking into account
fluctuations in share values of thirty companies selected from three different sectors –financial, industry and services.
The reconstitution of the gen-eral index was part of an annual exercise to give prominence to the most actively traded stocks, while calculating the index. The selec-tion is based on three criteria – li-quidity, market capitalisation and earnings per share.
MSM-30 Index gives impor-tance to company fundamen-tals while selecting the group of shares in the index. The company has to make profit for the last three consecutive years and the equity should not be eroded.
Among the 30 companies that constitute the MSM 30 index, 13 are from financial sector, 7 from industry and the remaining 10 from service sector.
M U S C A T S E C U R I T I E S M A R K E T
RECONSTITUTION OF STOCKS: The MSM-30 Index gives importance to company fundamentals
while selecting the group of shares in the index. — Times file picture
Iran to seek investors for $3b refinery to serve AsiaTEHRAN: Iran will seek inter-national investors for a $3 billion refinery project in the country’s south as the nation looks to boost sales of its oil and natural gas prod-ucts in Asia.
The refining complex on Iran’s Gulf coast will seek to raise as much as 80 per cent of the capital needed from international part-ners or financiers, Alireza Sade-ghabadi, managing director of Siraf Refineries Infrastructure Co., said in an interview in Tehran. Siraf will issue a tender in two to three months to invite potential inves-tors and partners, with companies and lenders in Japan and South Korea showing interest, he said.
Iran is ramping up its energy industry after international sanc-tions restricting its access to fi-nancing and global oil markets were lifted in January. Since then, the country has boosted oil output to near pre-sanctions levels and raised natural gas production at the South Pars gas field on the Gulf coast. Siraf will produce naphtha, mainly used in chemical plants, from condensate, a liquid oil found in the vast offshore gas deposits.
“The project is based on a deci-sion to turn condensate within the country to products with higher added value and avoid its sale as raw material,” he said.
“Despite anticipated high sup-ply of naphtha, there will be a proportionate high demand for naphtha with its extensive appli-cation in plastic-based products.” The Siraf project will consist of eight plants, each with a capacity of 60,000 barrels a day of conden-sate. — Bloomberg News
B O O S T T O E X P O R T S
Saudi’s post-oil plan
weighs income tax
on expat workers
DUBAI: Saudi Arabia is consid-ering taxing millions of foreign residents as the Kingdom seeks to reduce its reliance on oil revenue after the fall in crude prices.
The proposal was included in the country’s National Transfor-mation Plan (NTP), an ambitious multi-year programme released this week. But the tax element is only “an initiative that will be dis-cussed,” Finance Minister Ibrahim Al Assaf said on Tuesday at a news conference in Jeddah.
Economists said the proposal is unlikely to see the light soon because it could hamper the king-dom’s ability to attract the for-eign investment it needs to revive growth hit by the oil slump. Still, raising the possibility of income tax in the blueprint — even if only on foreigners — shows the readi-ness of its architect, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to consider steps that past Saudi rul-ers have shunned.
Prince Mohammed has already cut fuel and utility subsidies and proposed reducing the public-sec-tor wage bill. The kingdom is also joining other members of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in imposing value-added taxation starting from 2018.
Less competitive“Deepening the taxation base will be an important step in increasing non-oil revenue, which will likely start with VAT first, but the dis-cussion of income tax is notable,” said Monica Malik, chief econo-mist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.
Introducing the tax could support efforts to create more jobs for na-tionals, but if it’s not done in coor-dination with other GCC countries then it will also “reduce the com-petitiveness of Saudi Arabia to at-tract labor,” she said.
The status of Gulf Arab countries as tax-free havens has helped attract millions of foreign workers. The revenue wasn’t missed when oil prices were high, but some economists say introducing income tax may be inevitable now.
There are nine million foreign-ers living and working in Saudi Arabia, Mufrej Al Haqbani, the country’s labour minister, said. Assaf said the government has no plans to tax Saudi nationals.
Mohammed Alsuwayed, the Riyadh-based head of capital and money markets at Adeem Capital, said he doesn’t expect expats to be taxed any time soon, either.
‘Attractive prospects’“I don’t believe it’s wise to intro-duce such a thing at a time when the kingdom is trying hard to at-tract direct foreign investments and not having income taxes was one of the most attractive pros-pects here,” he said.
“A 10 per cent tax take would be very low by global standards, and wouldn’t in itself drive expatriates away given the much greater tax burden they face elsewhere,” said Simon Williams, HSBC Holdings Plc’s London-based chief econo-mist for central and eastern Eu-rope, the Middle East and North Africa. — Bloomberg News
N A T I O N A L T R A N S F O R M A T I O N P L A N
World Bank cuts global growth forecastANCHORAGE, (Alaska): The World Bank slashed its 2016 glob-al growth forecast on Wednesday to 2.4 per cent from the 2.9 per cent estimated in January due to stubbornly low commodity pric-es, sluggish demand in advanced economies, weak trade and di-minishing capital flows.
Commodity-exporting emerg-ing market countries have strug-
gled to adapt to lower prices for oil, metals, and other commodi-ties, accounting for half of the downward revision, the multilat-eral lender said in its latest Global Economic Prospects report.
It expects these economies to grow at a meager 0.4 per cent pace this year, a downward revision of 1.2 percentage points from the January outlook.
Commodity-importing emerg-ing market countries are faring better, but the benefits of lower energy and other goods have been slow to materialise, the World Bank said. It now expects growth in these countries will reach 5.8 per cent, down a tenth of a per-centage point from the January forecasts. In the United States, a steep decline in energy sector
investment and weaker exports will also shave eight tenths of a percentage point from the World Bank’s 2016 forecast, bringing growth to 1.9 per cent.
The euro area saw a slight downgrade of its 2016 forecast to 1.6 per cent, despite extraordinary monetary policy support and a boost from lower energy and com-modity prices. — Reuters
G L O B A L G R O W T H
B4
FEATURET H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
Graca Machel
Technological innova-tion offers Africa huge possibilities. That is why I joined Africa’s movers and shakers last week at a meeting of the World Econom-ic Forum in Kigali, the
capital of Rwanda. We were there to discuss how the digital econo-my can propel the kind of radical change the continent needs.
At the same time, though, we had to think about some old tools that our ancestors passed down to us — namely, how to think for the long term and how to work together. These tools are a form of technology that we need to use now, so that future generations have a chance.
Climate change is the ultimate test of whether we can use the old and new technologies to safe-guard our children’s future.
Africans must take decisive action to combat the threat of global warming, by reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and by helping one another to adapt to climate change. If we fail to make progress in these areas now, future generations will judge our inaction as expensive, unjust, and immoral.
Africa is one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change. Yet it accounts for only 2.3 per cent of global CO2 emissions. That is partly because two-thirds of Af-ricans — 621 million people — do not have access to electricity.
To meet the double challenge of climate change and this energy deficit, African countries need to help themselves and one another. Developed countries — the major contributors to global warming — must live up to the promises they made at the COP21 climate talks in Paris last December.
Alongside reacquainting our-selves with old-tech methods of thinking about the long run and working together, new technol-ogy is essential if Africa is to cope with climate change. Innovations in biotechnology and farming methods are needed to deal with disease, pests, and drought.
New technology can also help Africa to leapfrog over depend-ence on fossil fuels and into a low-carbon future. The conti-nent has a great opportunity to develop new low-carbon energy strategies that build resilience and support growth that benefits everyone, reducing poverty faster. We show how this can be done in the 2015 Africa Progress Report, “Power People Planet: Seizing Africa’s Energy and Climate Opportunities.”
Renewable sources will replace fossil fuels gradually. It cannot happen overnight. Africa needs a judicious and dynamic energy mix. Most of all, it needs much more energy, now: Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, excluding South Africa, currently generates less electricity than Spain.
The state of education in Africa is one telling consequence of the continent’s energy crisis. I have worked in education most of my life, as a teacher and minister of education in Mozambique. Experience has taught me that a country’s schools are the key to its success and prosperity. Yet in many African countries, 80 per cent of primary schools do not have electricity, severely compro-mising the quality of instruction.
Shortages of electricity also cost lives. Almost four in five Africans rely for cooking on solid biomass, mainly wood and charcoal. As a result, more than 600,000 people die each year from household air pollution. Efficient cooking stoves would save them, liberate millions of girls and women from the chore of gathering firewood, and generate wide-ranging environ-mental benefits.
The steps that Africa’s leaders need to take are clear. Long-term national interest must take prec-edence over short-term political goals, vested interests, and po-litical patronage. African leaders need to root out graft, make the governance of energy utilities — some of which have been centers of corruption and inefficiency — more transparent, strengthen regulations, and increase public spending on energy infrastruc-ture. They also need to redirect the $21 billion spent in Africa on subsidies for loss-making utilities and electricity consumption — which mainly benefit the rich — toward connection subsidies and renewable-energy investments that deliver energy to the poor.
There is also a clear course of action for the leaders of major CO2-emitting countries. They need to put a proper price on their emissions by taxing them, instead of continuing to subsi-dize them by spending billions on fossil-fuel exploration. G-20 countries must set a timetable for phasing out such subsidies.
And rich countries need to mo-bilize international development finance, which can play a key role in helping African countries meet their energy needs. The fragmented, under-resourced and ineffective system for financing climate policy has failed Af-rica. It needs wholesale reform. Unfortunately, the world’s largest emitters have shown little com-mitment to the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund.
Corporate leaders have a responsibility to act as well. They should demand a price on carbon, drive innovation, and seek opportunities to fund low-carbon development across Africa. Natural gas and renew-able energy sources, such as sun, water and wind, are an opportu-nity, not a risk, in Africa. Millions of energy-poor, disconnected Africans earning less than $2.50 a day constitute an energy market worth $10 billion a year.
Some hope for rapid change may be glimpsed in the fact that Africa now leads the world in adopting many new technologies. It is bypassing earlier ones and jumping straight into the digital age. East Africa’s M-Pesa system for transferring money via mobile phones is spurring new microfinance services, such as peer-to-peer lending. Commodity exchanges are enabling farmers to access real-time prices.
Let us put those timeless, old-tech skills of far-sightedness and collaboration together with new technology. If we do, the current generation of African leaders has a unique opportunity to protect future generations from a climate disaster, deliver on the promise of energy for all, and build shared prosperity. — Project Syndicate
The writer is Founder of the Graça Machel Trust, and a member of The Elders, a group of independent global leaders working together for peace and human rights.
$2.50
Millionsof energy-poor,disconnected
Africans earningless than
a day
B5T H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
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Ooredoo launches new value packed promotion
MUSCAT: Ooredoo has released a new value-packed Shahry Nights promotion that gives Shahry sub-scribers an incredible extra 20GB of data during the holy month of Ramadan.
During this month of sharing, the new promotion gives custom-ers the chance to connect more
with family and friends at night, when activity is at its peak.
The innovative add-on to the Shahry plan allows customers to enhance their online experience between 11pm and 8am, at a cost of just OMR7 per month.
This first-of-its-kind offer in Oman will be available for three
months starting from June 7, says a press release.
“During the holy month of Ram-adan there is so much to do and a lot to share; keeping in touch with family and connecting with friends is more important than ever. Rec-
ognising this, we have created the exciting Shahry Nights promotion to make sure our customers don’t miss out on one moment of this important month,” said Feras Al Shaikh, Ooredoo director of Con-sumer Sales.
“Our customers want data, data and more data, and this is expected given today’s digital lifestyle. This latest promotion reaffirms that we have been listening to what our customers have been asking for,” he added.
The Shahry Nights data add-on promotion is available for Shahry 500MB, Shahry 2GB, Shahry 5GB, and Shahry 10GB subscribers, and can be activated simply by dialling *141*10#.
The Shahry Nights data add-on promotion
is available for Shahry 500MB, Shahry 2GB,
Shahry 5GB, and Shahry 10GB subscribers
AOL TO CONDUCT ART EXCEL WORKSHOP FROM JUNE 17-20Art of Living (AOL) is organising a holiday special
Art Excel Workshop (all round training in excellence)
for children between 8 to 13 years from June 17 to
20 from 10am to 5pm at the Art of Living centre in
Muttrah. The session will be held by Kamal Khimji
and Meenakshi Arunachalam, senior teachers at Art of
Living. — Supplied picture
Al Hashar Electronics launches exciting ‘Buy & Fly’ promotion MUSCAT: Al Hashar Electronics, the foremost name in the Sultan-ate’s consumer electronics/appli-ances/HVAC/modular kitchens/storage solutions, has launched the exciting ‘Buy & Fly’ offer till July 18 across its showrooms in the Sultanate.
The ‘Buy & Fly’ offer is a thrill-ing mix of never-before prices and fabulous prizes for winners of the weekly draws and the final mega draw, says a press release.
Customers need to make pur-chases worth at least OMR100 from any Al Hashar Electronics showroom to be eligible for the weekly draws, which will be held at all showrooms. The winners can take home free 32” LED televi-sions. Further, customers spend-ing OMR1,000 or above will be considered for the final mega draw,
and two lucky couples will win an exciting holiday package to Geor-gia. In addition free installation of window and split air-conditioners is also being offered.
“Al Hashar Electronics prides itself in having the best lineup of international electronics brands in the Sultanate. The tremendous success our household appliances and electronics brands have been enjoying among discerning cus-tomers over the years is a testi-mony to the unflinching trust the people of the Sultanate have in Al Hashar Electronics, and in its quality products.
Season of giving"This is the season of giving and with this ‘Buy & Fly’ offer we bring exciting never before prices, a 32” LED television from each of
our showrooms every week, and the mega draw of package trip to Georgia for two couples,” said Ra-jeev Sharma, general manager, Al Hashar Electronics Group.
Al Hashar Electronics has also arranged attractive finance op-tions in association with Taageer Finance, through Bank Muscat and NBO credit cards.
The promotion is applicable for a range of products including cook-ers, refrigerators, televisions, air-conditioners, washing machines, built-in appliances and tabletop cookers, from leading brands such as Ariston, Rinnai, Mitsubishi, Daytek, Finlux, Voltas, Mastergas, Ferre, Chunlun, Onida and more. The offer is available across all Al Hashar Electronics showrooms at Ruwi, Ruwi High Street, Oman Avenues Mall, Sohar and Salalah.
F A B U L O U S P R I Z E S
Kims welcomes new general
and bariatric surgeon onboard
MUSCAT: Kims Oman Hospital welcomed Dr Sibasis Bisoi, MS, MMAS, specialist – general and bariatric surgeon, as a profession-al addition to Kims Oman’s highly skilled medical team.
Dr Sibasis completed his MBBS from Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Mangalore, India, and gained his Master’s de-gree specialising in surgery from Kasturba Medical College, Mani-pal, India. Later, Dr Bisoi earned another Master’s degree in Sci-ence Minimal Access Surgery, from World Laparoscopy Hospi-tal Gurgaon, TGO University, In-dia, says a press release.
Dr Sibasis comes with wide experience in the area of general and bariatric Surgery through his previous practice at various high
esteemed hospitals. His expertise lies in the field of advanced lapa-roscopic surgery especially for gastro-intestinal ailments. Lapa-
roscopic Inguinal Hernioplasty (TEP/TAPP), Lap Umbilical / Incisional Hernia Repair, and Lap Ventral Hernia Repair. Lap slen-ectomy, lap hydrated cystectomy, Lap Hemi colectomy, in addition to lap Rectopexy, Lap. Procto-colectomy/Anterior Resection and fundoplication, Bariatric Surgery, Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS) Lap Pediatric Surgery and SILS cholecystec-tomy and appendectomy.
“We are very delighted to wel-come Dr Sibasis Bisoi in KOH’s expert medical team and wish him all the best in serving the Omani community by his distinc-tive experience along with his high levels of education using the hospital’s cutting-edge facilities,” said Dr Hussam Akoum, chief op-erating officer of KOH.
S P E C I A L I S T
‘Black Badge’ from Rolls-Royce Motor now available to order in Oman
MUSCAT: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has announced a new facet of the ultra-luxury marque’s per-sonality, a dark and edgy lifestyle statement: ‘Black Badge’.
A permanent new sub-brand, Black Badge was unveiled ear-lier this year at the Geneva Motor Show and transforms the charac-ter of both Ghost and Wraith. The new sub-brand is expected to ap-peal to those people who are elu-sive and defiant, the risk takers and disrupters who break the rules and laugh in the face of convention. It is in this spirit that Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has announced that Black Badge ‘Inspired by dark edgy lifestyle’, is now available to or-der from Al Jenaibi International Automobiles, the sole authorised dealership for Rolls-Royce Mo-tor Cars in the Sultanate of Oman, says a press release.
Brett Soso, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Regional director for Middle East, Africa, Central Asia & South
America commented on the re-veal of Black Badge by saying, “Following the launch of Wraith in 2013, many of our new custom-ers have gravitated towards the revitalised Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, as the brand most capable of encapsulating their truly in-dividual lifestyles. Through the introduction of Black Badge, we are able to further satisfy the de-mands of these new customers for a more dark and assertive Ghost
and Wraith, to suit their person-alities and lifestyles and offer the most commanding presence on the super-luxury landscape.”
New material accents and tonal-ities are combined to accommo-date the tastes of those fast-mov-ing customers who adopt a strident approach to life’s finer challenges. With this manifesto as their de-parture point, Rolls-Royce design-ers, engineers and craftspeople set to work transforming Ghost and
Wraith in subtly different ways. Their intent was to deliver darker, more assertive and more focused Black Badge alter egos that differ from each other as much as they do from their siblings. The result is Ghost Black Badge and Wraith Black Badge. Black Badge is known as the ultimate in pure luxury style and engineering substance.
Giles Taylor, director of Design, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars com-mented, “In creating Black Badge,
we were conscious of satisfying the different demands of these new customers.
“Not only did they demand an alternative image for themselves, they demanded authentic Rolls-Royce engineering substance to underpin it. As a result, the Black Badge Spirit manifests itself through a series of carefully con-sidered design elements which together express a darker luxury sophistication. New material ac-
cents and tonalities are combined to accommodate the tastes of those fast-moving customers who adopt a strident approach to life’s finer challenges.
“It was vital to us that the aes-thetic appeal and promise of Black Badge Ghost and Black Badge Wraith be underpinned by super-lative engineering. The cars could not be the same as each other while at the same time, they had to offer their owners something sub-tly yet substantively different from the host cars, delivering a more spirited and exhilarating drive but in a truly Rolls-Royce manner.”
The launch of Black Badge fur-ther demonstrates Rolls-Royce Motor Car’s true luxury creden-tials as the world’s leading super-luxury brand. Now available to order from Al Jenaibi, this new sub-brand will meet the demands of its discerning clientele and at-tract a younger and yet confident customer to the marque.
L I F E S T Y L E S T A T E M E N T
Audi scoops 6 awards in Middle EastDUBAI: Audi celebrates six tro-phies received at award ceremo-nies during the first half of 2016.
At the first ceremony of the year, held in Muscat by Automan Maga-zine, “Premium Car of the Year 2015” was awarded to the Audi A6 together with “Performance Car of the Year” for the Audi RS 7.
In an imaginative and fun ap-proach to their assessment of the best models in the car industry, Motoring Middle East awarded the Audi S6 and S7 with their ‘Stealth Fighter’ award of the year. The criteria for the Motoring Mid-dle East Car of the Year Awards are based on one simple question – what were the very best, most stand-out and full-of-want cars that the judges drove in 2015?.
Shahzad Sheikh of Motoring Middle East commented “Su-preme build, comfort, quality and luxury, plus a V8 with 450bhp giv-ing you sportscar-shaming perfor-mance – that’s what you get with the Audi S6 and S7 models. And this isn’t just a straightline spe-cialist, show it a twisty road and the quattro grip reassures and de-
lights in equal measure. But more than that, there’s a welcoming solid familiarity to this car, a right-ness that somehow resettles an upheaved world of confusion and turmoil, with an inherent integ-rity that soothes and revives. Plus
it’s a relatively unassuming saloon that’ll pick off boy racers at will.”
At the Middle East Car of the Year awards, held in April at the relaunched 2016 Abu Dhabi Motor Show and Custom Show Emirates, the jury from 12 different publi-
cations in the Middle East gave the accolade of ‘Premium Perfor-mance Hatchback’ to the Audi RS 3. At the same ceremony, the all-important consumer award, which is judged by online votes from the public, gave the overall Car of the Year to the Audi Q7.
Speaking at the Mecoty cere-mony, Enrico Atanasio – director of Audi Middle East said, “Audi Middle East is honoured to be recognised with not one but two awards for our models here in the Middle East. The Audi RS 3 is the sporty top model of the A3 model series and the most powerful pro-duction five-cylinder in RS his-tory, so we are very happy it has won the Premium Performance Hatchback category.
"The Audi Q7 is a car that has already been internationally rec-ognised by a number of awards in design and safety, as well as per-formance worldwide, so it is fan-tastic to see the enthusiasm that customers here have for our best-selling Audi SUV and I would like to thank everyone for voting online to make it the Car of the Year.”
A C C O L A D E S
Starcare Hospital conducts health talk on cerebral palsyMUSCAT: In an effort to im-prove on the outlook and de-velopment of differently abled children, Starcare hospital in as-sociation with Ministry of Social Development conducted a health talk on cerebral palsy.
Dr Samir Mahmood Abudraz, consultant paediatrician of Star-care Hospital talked on the topic. Dr Yahya bin Badr Al Mawali, un-dersecretary at the Ministry of Social Development was the chief guest of the session organised at the Rehabilitation centre in Al Khoud, says a press release.
The session was well attended by doctors, paramedics and public. The whole day programme was continued with a medical camp by doctors from Armed Forces Hospital, Royal Hospital, Khoula Hospital and Al Massara Hospital.
Cerebral palsy is a debilitating condition that permanently af-fects the development of posture, sensation, perception, cognition, communication and behaviour in young children. Dr Samir,
MBBS, MRCP(UK), ABCP has several years of experience in the field and has earned the respect and trust of the patients and the medical community. The ses-sion highlighted on the fact that parents raising children with cerebral palsy need to support each other, which includes shar-ing their stories and practical ad-vices. These kinds of get together help in reaching out to others, said Dr Samir. Cerebral palsy is considered the most common childhood physical disability.
M E D I C A L C A M P
B6 T H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
ROUND-UPBest Cars promotion rewards customers
MUSCAT: When it comes to get-ting delightful deals on quality pre-owned cars, there is no better place than Best Cars. With its pleasant, welcoming and professional setup in Muscat and 13 locations across Oman, Best Cars makes available a wide selection of quality pre-owned vehicle.
Staffed by thorough profession-
als, Best Cars is a part of the Saud Bahwan Group.
“Every year, Best Cars hosts a much awaited event, ‘Winning Moments,’ which is regarded as one of Oman’s most rewarding annual promotions, especially for those who are looking high and low for quality pre-owned vehi-cles,” opined a loyal patron who is known to recommend Best Cars to his close friends and family.
The Best Cars spokesperson elaborated on the ‘Winning Mo-ments’ scheme, “From June 2 and until July 31, any customer pur-chasing a car from Best Cars will be eligible to participate in a raffle comprising 10 Samsung Galaxy A3 smartphones. The raffle will
be conducted on August 15 at Best Cars Wattayah showroom in Mus-cat. Customers will be eligible for the raffle only upon taking deliv-ery of the vehicle from Best Cars during the campaign period after completing all necessary formali-ties and not against booking.”
Besides increasing the levels of excitement through attractive prizes, Best Cars has built a strong reputation for offering some of the most affordable, great quality used vehicles.
“At Best Cars we constantly seek to introduce our customers to a hassle-free used vehicle owner-ship cycle,” said a spokesperson for Best Cars. “Hence we only include the finest, most well-used vehicles
in our assets, thereby providing potential customers with a huge range of vehicles to choose from and immediately make a lasting buying decision,” he continued, “It’s a wonderful choice because of many reasons. As we know, Best Cars (main showroom) is located at the most convenient place in the heart of the automobile mar-ket in Wattayah, Muscat and it is a professional set-up with a proven system for evaluating vehicles. Many customers have expressed their delight with not just finding their dream car, but also with the prices they have obtained for their trade-in vehicle, the hassle-free documentation, personalised care and overall professionalism of the staff. No surprise then that many customers heartily recommend Best Cars to their friends and fam-ily calling it the ‘Best Bet’ to pro-cure a vehicle of their choosing.”
Best Cars has set new standards in buying and selling quality pre-owned vehicles.
Value-conscious custom-ers appreciate the hypermarket as a trusted source for quality pre-owned vehicles from the re-nowned Saud Bahwan Group.
‘Winning Moments,’
is regarded as
one of Oman’s
most rewarding
annual promotions,
especially for those
who are looking high
and low for quality
pre-owned vehicles
ORTA inks pact with OmanAd
MUSCAT: Oman Road Trans-port Association (ORTA) signed a contract with Oman Advertis-ing Agency (OmanAd) to publish a directory, which will primarily be a reference book for the asso-ciation to network with the local and international market.
The contract was signed by Khalid Salim Al Darai, chairman of ORTA and Abdullah Amour Al Kasbi, managing partner of OmanAd at a ceremony was held at ORTA office in Ghala, Muscat. The directory will create aware-ness about the association, and highlight its value, importance, functions and responsibilities, says a press release.
ORTA is an Omani NGO that acts as a link between the owners of public and private transport companies and the relevant au-thorities. It seeks to be an effec-tive channel for the creation of employment opportunities for
the owners of transportation and heavy equipment in the Sultanate.
A major goal of ORTA is to raise the quality of work in this sector by making them aware of the various safety systems and ensuring that they are followed. The association strives to work out successful solutions to the challenges that many members face in road transport services.
The directory, bilingual with English and Arabic, will be a high quality product in line with the profile of its advertisers and end-users. It will be an exhaustive di-rectory with numerous relevant articles about Oman’s road trans-port scenario, and about road safety among others.
The directory will contain the contact information of all ORTA members, advertorials and ad-vertisements acting as a link between the association and the community.
T R A N S P O R T D I R E C T O R Y
Lulu picks 2nd Dream Drive winnersMUSCAT: Lulu Oman held the second lucky draw to pick the second set of winners of its mega Land Rover-Dream Drive Cam-paign 2016.
The results were announced by the officials of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in the presence of the management of Lulu Darsait on June 5. This is the second of the six draws of the pro-motion which will run till July 13. The next draw will be held on June 15, says a press release.
This draw saw Jayashree Ramesh take home the second of the Land Rover Discovery Sports SUVs. Thirty other winners also
took home amazing gifts products from Ikon. Asikh won the cooking range, Sanoop V. won the auto-matic washing machine, Umhosni Said Ismail took home the Ikon Air Cooler, Haritha S. Dev won the
Ikon smartphone and Muthuselvi T. bagged the air fryer.
Commenting on the draw, Shabeer K. A., regional director, Lulu Hypermarkets Oman said, “We at Lulu want to make shopping
a memorable experience for our customers by giving them an op-portunity to get more out of every purchase. The campaign has been a great hit among our shoppers and we would like to give our heartiest congratulations to all the winners.”
Customers can purchase from any Lulu outlet for just OMR10 to get a raffle coupon for the lucky draw and be a part of this campaign. This year, Lulu has six Land Rover Discovery Sports SUVs cars to give away. Customers can also grab ex-citing prizes from Ikon like the 5 Burner Cooking Range, Automatic Washing Machines, Air coolers, Smart Phones, and 3 D Air Fryers.
L U C K Y D R A W
AHEC achieves 10m
LTI-free man hours
MUSCAT: Al Hassan Engineer-ing Co. (AHEC) has achieved 10 million Lost Time Incident (LTI) - free man hours at Sohar Refin-ery Improvement Project (SRIP).
In August 2014, AHEC was awarded the project to carry out civils and underground piping work at the Sohar Refinery Im-provement Project in Oman.
The company has been em-ployed by the Daelim-Petrofac joint venture. The refinery, which is based in Sohar around 230km north west of Muscat, was origi-nally opened in 2006. The im-
provement work includes the addition of new refinery units. Once complete, it will increase the capacity of the refinery by over 70%.
AHEC gives the highest prior-ity to health, safety and environ-ment (HSE) so as to protect and keep safe its employees and the work place as well as to strive to achieve world class standards in HSE. Keeping this in mind, AHEC has executed a number of projects in oil & gas, petrochemi-cals, power and water sectors without any LTIs.
A L H A S S A N E N G I N E E R I N G
ISG student Kartik Pandit emerges as Class XII topperMUSCAT: Kartik Pandit of Class XII (2016 batch) Indian School Al Ghubra (ISG) has now emerged as the topper in school with 97.4%.
He was credited with 89 marks in Computer Science. Being con-fident that he had probably got a better score he applied for revalu-ation of his Computer Science paper. His intuition turned out to be correct as he was awarded 10 additional marks in the subject
taking his score in Computer Sci-ence to 99 marks and his aggregate to 97.4%.
Kartik Pandit is also one of the subject toppers in Physics with 98%, Mathematics 98% and now Computer Science with 99%.
The school management com-mittee, the principal and the en-tire ISG family congratulated Kartik Pandit for his exceptional performance.
A C A D E M I C E X C E L L E N C E
Indian School Ibra students excel at CBSE exam
MUSCAT: The 13th batch of Class X students of Indian School Ibra has fared exceedingly well in the CBSE Board Examination – 2016.
The school has been consist-
ently producing 100% result in Class X Board Examination since 2004. Out of 36 students who had appeared, 3 students scored CGPA 10, 5 students scored CGPA
between 9.0 – 9.8 and 11 students scored CGPA between 8.0 – 8.8.
The names of students with CGPA 10 are Amal Mathew, Jelin Raphael Akkara and Joseph Benny.
1 3 T H B A T C H
OETC awarded ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certificationsMUSCAT: The Oman Electric-ity Transmission Company (OETC) has been awarded certification of ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001, vali-dating the commitment by the or-ganisation to maintain the high levels of standards recognised by the certifying body.
Both certifications require a company to meet specific industry standards. Recognised worldwide, ISO 14001 confirms an organisa-tion is effectively managing and mitigating its impact on the envi-
ronment. OETC’s environmental management system is a continu-ous cycle of planning, implemen-tation, review, and improvement of actions carried out to achieve stated business and environmen-tal goals. OHSAS 18001 Certifi-cation verifies a company effec-tively provides a safe and healthy workplace. OHSAS certification aligns with OETC’s internal safety for life initiative to safeguard the well-being of its employees and contractors.
Eng. Ali Al Hadabi, chief execu-tive officer OETC stated, “This commitment helps to ensure that we consistently manage our health, safety and environmental risks through comprehensive sys-tems in compliance with ISO and OHSAS standards of excellence.”
Asif Ali, OETC HSE manager congratulated all company and contractors consultants in their valuable contribution for this mile stone achievement of company. He stated that “continual improve-
ment is the silent criteria of these two standards. Zero accident is one of our key strategic goal which can be achieved together as team work with all our contractors and consultants”. OETC is working hard to improve its HSE manage-ment by taking various initiatives and making determined efforts to develop a stronger safety culture and thus improve HSE perfor-mance. This has been proven with their very recently 18 million safe man hours achievement.
R E C O G N I T I O N
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Grand Carnival offers on road adventures
MUSCAT: The prize-winning Kia Grand Carnival is the perfect choice for on-the-road adventures.
The term MPV – multi-pur-pose vehicle – best describes Kia Grand Carnival’s wide ranging features. As an eight-seat people carrier, the Grand Carnival offers supreme comfort and practical functionality, with generous stor-age capacity and legroom. Each
seat, outfitted with anti-micro-bial, stain-proof material, deliv-ers added comfort with recline, headrest and retractable footrest options, says a press release.
More importantly, the Grand Carnival has earned the prestig-ious designation of Top Safety Pick from the US Insurance In-stitute for Highway Safety (IIHS), maintaining its reputation as one of the safest MPVs on the market. Extensively engineered, the vehi-cle’s structural integrity and light-weight body provides stability and precise handling on rough roads.
The Grand Carnival is also the winner of the 2015 Ward’s 10 Best Interiors award, the vehicle pro-vides flexible seating configura-tions to suit the needs and prefer-
ences of all occupants. In addition, the Grand Carni-
val boasts a spacious rear storage area as well as organising bins throughout that allow clutter to be stashed away.
The Grand Carnival also eases long hours of travelling by provid-ing features that accommodate modern day technological com-forts. The model provides up to eight outlets, including AC power outlets and fast charging USB ports for plugging and charging on-the-go. With just a few additions and adjustments, the Grand Carnival can even double as a mobile office or entertainment unit enabling the enjoyment of high-tech devices during long hours on the road.
Stylish and safe, the Grand
Carnival offers ideal features for cruising on the road. Large side windows and dual sunroof al-low for full enjoyment of desired views while automatic power sliding doors permit quick and convenient passenger drop off and pickup.
Featuring bold design and un-precedented comfort, the Kia Grand Carnival breaks all the ‘un-cool’ stereotypes of a full-sized vehicle. As a well-rounded com-petitor in the MPV segment, the Grand Carnival is luxurious but streamlined, roomy but sophis-ticated. Recently recognised as a ‘Must Test Drive’ car by Autotrad-er and one of ‘16 Best Family Cars’ by Kelley Blue Book, the contem-porary design and powerful per-formance of this full size MPV is sure to inspire and stimulate the desire for a perfect getaway.
Reliable International Auto-motive, the distributor for Kia in Oman provides a rewarding own-ership experience for customers. Excellent product attributes and unmatched facilities easily en-sure their absolute satisfaction, every mile of the way.
As an eight-seat
people carrier, the
Kia Grand Carnival
offers supreme
comfort and practical
functionality with
generous storage
capacity and legroom
Yellow Chilli offers Dar Al Atyam children opportunity to relish Iftar
MUSCAT: The holy month of Ramadan is known to offer cor-porates and businesses through-out the Gulf region a chance to build team cohesion in support of their fasting colleagues, and this year some of them had other plans to make a difference to the underprivileged.
Staying in tune with the sense of generosity and gratitude that col-ours the rituals during Ramadan and reaching out to the wider com-munity through its initiatives, this year The Yellow Chilli restaurant, a Mazaya Oman venture, played an important role in the lives of disad-vantaged children by offering these underprivileged children an oppor-tunity to relish Iftar from the celeb-rity chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s kitchen,
says a press release. Dar Al Aytam, a children’s home,
set up in accordance with interna-tional standards at Al Khoudh un-der the Ministry of Social Develop-ment, funded by the Saud Bahwan Establishment for Charitable Work received their first Iftar of-fering from The Yellow Chilli res-taurant owner. The initiative was presided by the late Saud Bahwan’s daughter and Sheikh Fawziya Saud Salim Bahwan, chairman of Mazaya Oman.
The officials at the orphanage hailed the effort by Mazaya Oman owner and welcomed volunteers to contribute at orphanages, care homes, centres for street chil-dren, and special needs centres for children with disabilities as a
contribution towards the society. Ramadan gives the best start to such efforts an initiatives. This also gives the opportunity to get involved with the children to make them feel special and loved.
The orphanage offers care and protection to orphans and home-less children, who will ultimately contribute to building the nation in the future. There are altogether 47 buildings, which includes 20 vil-las. Five to eight children can stay in each villa along with their foster mother. The centre has 66 employ-ees, including 24 foster mothers to take care of the children. It is home for more than 180 children.
During Ramadan most restau-rants are closed during the day-light hours. Families get up early
for suhoor, a meal eaten before the sun rises. After the sun sets, the fast is broken with a meal known as Iftar. Iftar usually begins with dates and sweet drinks that pro-vide a quick energy boost.
Fasting serves many purposes. While they are hungry and thirsty, Muslims are reminded of the suf-fering of the poor. Fasting is also an opportunity to practice self-control and to cleanse the body and mind and in this most sacred month, fasting helps Muslims feel the peace that comes from spiritu-al devotion as well as kinship with fellow believers.
Although charity and good deeds are always important in Is-lam, they have special significance during and at the end of Ramadan.
R E A C H I N G O U T
Qatar Airways takes Iftar tradition to new heights
DOHA: Qatar Airways will con-tinue its Ramadan tradition of offering travellers a delicious and healthy Iftar meal box featuring nutritious snacks, inspired by Middle Eastern cuisine, to break their fast.
Available on selected flights throughout the holy month of Ramadan, the Qatar Airways If-tar boxes have been designed to engage all passengers. Each box features inspiring messages about the meaning of Ramadan, provid-ing all passengers with an inter-esting insight in to this special time of celebration for Muslims.
Rossen Dimitrov, senior vice president - Customer Experience, Qatar Airways said: “Qatar Air-
ways has established a tradition during Ramadan, of offering our passengers a nutritious and deli-cious way to break their fast while flying. Our passengers are at the heart of everything that we do, and we make a promise to be generous and to always put our customers first, by taking into account their
needs – especially during signifi-cant times such as the holy month of Ramadan.
“We look forward to welcoming all of our passengers on board our flights during Ramadan, and in-vite them to embrace this special time of year by enjoying the inspi-rational messages featured on our Iftar boxes.”
Iftar meal boxes will be avail-able on flights to Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Basra, Dammam, Dubai, Gassim, Kuwait Muscat, Riyadh, Sharjah, Abha, Alexandria, Am-man, Bagdad, Khartoum, Medina, Najaf, Salalah, Sulaymaniyah, Taif, Hofuf, Shiraz, Luxor and Mashad.
Passengers travelling with Qatar Airways in Business and
First Class will enjoy vegetable crudités, hummus, chicken with tarator sauce sandwich and moz-zarella cheese with spicy tomato chutney sandwich, banana, as-sorted nut, dates, baklava, laban, Alpen bar, refreshing towel and a bottle of water.
Iftar meal boxes served in Economy Class will include moz-zarella cheese with spicy tomato chutney sandwich, mamoul, as-sorted nutsl, dates, laban, biscuits, refreshing towel, a bottle of water.
Qatar Airways cabin crew will make an on-board announcement and will serve Iftar boxes at the appropriate time during the flight, alleviating customers from hav-ing to calculating the time.
H O L Y M O N T H
Muscat Expo claims
bronze at Tech Awards
MUSCAT: Muscat Expo won a bronze award for its event Me-Translog - Middle East Transport & Logistics Exhibition www.metrans-log.com at the Oman Tech Awards under the Events Category recently.
Oman Tech Awards held un-der the aegis of ITA-Information Technology Authority (e-Oman) at Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah, is one of a kind event in the Sultanate of Oman.
Me-Translog was the only exhi-bition to have won an award at the event. The website was developed
in-house which is visually appeal-ing, easy to navigate, interactive and adapts seamlessly to different screens and devices. TheWebsite provides up-to-date information about the event, industry news and latest tenders in the sector.
Ulrika Varela, marketing direc-tor, said, “We are honoured by this recognition and hope this is one of many more awards to come.”
M. Ali, project manager, added, “I would like to dedicate this award to our exhibitors, sponsors and as-sociate partners of Me-Translog.”
A C C O L A D E
MACtac, Al Shabak
celebrate partnership
MUSCAT: MACtac Europe, Belgium, the emerging leaders in self-adhesive digital printing media and Al Shabak General Trading Co, Dubai along with their local team celebrated 18 years of successful partnership in Muscat recently. Leading digital printers, sign makers and end-users from Oman attended the event in large numbers, says a press release.
Melis Michael, export sales manager, MACtac Europe and Govind Unni, regional sales
manager - Al Shabak Dubai, shared their views on the signage market in Oman and reaffirmed MACtac’s commitment in pro-viding innovative products and benchmark solutions for the sign and digital printing industry.
Jithesh Kottayi, product specification manager thanked Melis Michael for his constant effort in developing Oman mar-ket. Many of the opinion lead-ers in the industry shared their views and experiences with MACtac products.
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Bank Muscat Meethaq launches attractive Ramadan auto finance
MUSCAT: Meethaq, the pioneer of Islamic banking in Oman from Bank Muscat, has launched an at-tractive vehicle finance coinciding with the holy month of Ramadan.
The special Meethaq Ramadan auto finance is available at 5 per cent annual profit rate on reduc-ing balance method, including life Takaful during the entire finance period. The limited period offer is valid till July 31, says a press release.
The Sharia compliant Meethaq auto finance is based on the con-
cept of Murabaha wherein the cost of vehicle and profit is dis-closed to the buyer. Meethaq pur-chases the vehicle on customer request and sells it to them at a cost plus agreed profit.
The exclusive benefits of Meethaq auto finance include fi-nancing up to 80 per cent of the value of vehicles, repayment tenure up to 8 years and free life Takaful coverage during the finance period. Notably, financing is also available for purchasing used vehicles.
The bank does not charge any processing fee and offers competi-tive pricing. With minimal docu-mentation and fast processing, the Meethaq car finance is available for citizens and residents at all Meethaq branches. Adding con-venience, 11 Meethaq branches will be open with extended work-ing hours from 8.30 pm to 11.30 pm during the holy month of Ramadan. The branches offering extended working hours are Wat-
tayah, Al Khoud, Barka, Saham, Sohar, Sur, Salalah, Buraimi, Ibri, Ibra and Nizwa.
Meethaq hosted automobile dealers to familiarise them with the Ramadan finance offer. Oman is home to the world’s best known auto brands and Meethaq remains committed to helping people to own their dream vehicles. By en-couraging people to buy top qual-ity vehicles, Meethaq reiterates its commitment to road safety, there-
by spreading safety and happiness in Oman.
Meethaq strives to fulfil the needs of customers with innova-tive Sharia based products and is well positioned to provide Islamic financial expertise to diverse seg-ments and thereby promote the good of society as a whole.
Meethaq, under the umbrella of Bank Muscat, is the centre for Is-lamic financial service in Oman, operating on the principles of Transparency, Trust and Part-nership, ensuring the comfort of remaining true to one’s religious tenets and values.
Within just three years of op-erations, Meethaq has attained the leading position in the Is-lamic banking industry in Oman in terms of financing receivables, branch network, products and services, IT infrastructure and hu-man resources development.
Meethaq offers a full suite of Islamic banking products and ser-
vices, including savings account, current account, home finance, auto finance, credit card, mobile banking and internet banking. Presently, Meethaq has 18 branch-es across the Sultanate and plans to expand the network as well as launch new products and services to complement the unique Islamic banking experience.
The bank has invested in staff, systems and controls to ensure the service is delivered in a profes-sional, segregated and fully Sharia compliant manner.
Meethaq has adopted the best practices in Islamic banking and finance worldwide to combine a robust model which protects customers and complements the Islamic banking industry. Every Meethaq product goes through the process of Sharia compliance certification by the Sharia Super-visory Board and is created in line with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Oman.
The special Meethaq Ramadan auto finance
is available at 5 per cent annual profit rate
on reducing balance method, including life
Takaful during the entire finance period
Zubair SEC holds session on business collaborationMUSCAT: Zubair Small Enter-prises Centre (Zubair SEC)’s recent ‘Tajribati’ session brought together industry experts, practitioners, con-sultants, start-up owners and entre-preneurs to discuss the pertinent topic of business collaboration.
The session focussed on the im-portance of business collaboration between small and medium enter-prises (SMEs) and how collabo-rative relationships can unlock growth opportunities, improve performance and help secure new business. Speakers also discussed how business collaboration can generate a wider economic im-pact and provide a higher potential to secure larger contracts, says a press release.
The ‘Tajribati’ monthly sessions serve as a unique platform to con-nect business experts with start-up owners and new entrepreneurs to exchange views, discuss common challenges and share best practices. The recent session was held to em-phasis the fact that business col-
laboration can give a competitive edge and open up wider markets to young Omani entrepreneurs. The discussion attracted the partici-pation of more than 55 attendees of Zubair SEC members and non-members from different sectors.
While stressing that building a successful long-term collaborative relationship is vital, speakers also discussed reasons as to why some SMEs might be reluctant to work together on joint projects, and what could encourage such cooperation.
Hussein Al Lawati, managing di-rector, Omasco (Oman Marketing & Services Co.) and Zubair SEC members Hamida Al Khusaibi, founder of Beautiful Pearl, Zainab Al Nadabi, founder of Princess Pearl for Flowers, and Muna Al Ri-yami, founder of Excellence Lens for Photography were the guest speakers at this session.
Speakers and the attendees agreed that collaboration between SMEs can lead to pooling of infor-mation and resources for the sake
of pursuing a shared objective, and contribute to increased competi-tive advantages.
Ali Shaker, business adviser at Zubair SEC said, “We are happy to witness the increasing popularity of our sessions among both mem-ber and non-members of SME owners. We believe that the main reason these sessions are resonat-ing well is the format that we fol-low. Transparency and respect of each other’s opinions have been the main values of these sessions
and we make sure to maintain it and this has been appreciated by the attendees.”
Referring to the theme of dis-cussion, Ali Shaker said, “This month’s topic about the impor-tance of business collaboration comes at a crucial time. Enforcing such cooperation between SMEs as means of attaining contracts and projects is a must. SMEs must remember that at times they may require services beyond their own scope of work. We constantly en-courage our members to identify potential small or medium busi-nesses that they can collaborate with to deliver market require-ments of certain contracts.”
The main guest speaker for the session, Hussein Al Lawati provid-ed valuable insight on how large companies collaborate in business. He also gave a brief on what big or-ganisations expect from SMEs and mutual benefits they could enjoy by adopting a proactive approach on collaboration.
‘ T A J R I B A T I ’ S E S S I O N
Kerala Wing Iftar party tomorrowMUSCAT: Knitting the social fabric based on secular and hu-manly values, yet again it is a holy month of Ramadan; and Kerala Wing of Indian Social Club Oman as always joins hands with the Indian, general expatriate and local community to celebrate the messages of sacrifice, humbleness and hu-manity in the holy month.
On account of Ramadan, Ker-ala Wing is organising a grand Iftar party tomorrow at 6.30pm at Indian Social Club Muscat.
“Let alone the dinner, it is the intention of Kerala Wing to bring the community together beyond creed, community and linguistic boundaries with the aspiration of extensive social support to the under privileged during the holy month,” organ-isers stated in a press release.
S O C I A L G A T H E R I N G
BankDhofar supports SME sector
MUSCAT: Reiterating its com-mitment to support the SME sec-tor in the Sultanate, BankDhofar participated in the ‘Duqm for Op-portunities and Investment Forum’ that was organised recently by the Duqm Special Economic Zone Au-thority (SEZAD) in collaboration with the Public Authority for SMEs Development (Riyada).
The one-day forum was held recently at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Duqm under the patronage of Sheikh Mohsen Al Maskari, Wali of Duqm, with the participation of a large number of small and me-dium-sized enterprises, as well as different public and private sector organisations, says a press release.
It aimed to attract SMEs to in-vest in SEZAD and to contribute to the development of Duqm and the Al Wusta Governorate. The forum also aimed to support and enhance the capabilities and skills
of entrepreneurs to develop their businesses and grow, taking ad-vantage of the business opportuni-ties available in Duqm.
Hussain Ali Al Lawati, assis-tant general manager and head of Business Banking at BankDhofar said,“The SME sector is a vital con-tributor to the growth and diversifi-cation of the Sultanate’s GDP and it plays a key role in the development of the national economy. Hence, we
at BankDhofar have always been committed to support Omani en-trepreneurs, encouraging creativ-ity and innovation, and participat-ing in initiatives that contribute to the development of the sector. Our participation in this convention comes in line with our compre-hensive vision to contribute to the overall development of the Sultan-ate through supporting small and medium-sized businesses.”
‘ D U Q M F O R O P P O R T U N I T I E S A N D I N V E S T M E N T F O R U M ’
Hyundai demonstrates luxury, advanced technology at Busan International Show
MUSCAT: Hyundai Africa and Middle East has been demon-strating the company’s high-per-formance and hi-tech credentials at the 2016 Busan International Motor Show in South Korea.
At the show, held just a short distance from Hyundai’s main manufacturing base, a delegation of media from the region has seen first-hand some of the carmaker’s ambitious plans for the future.
Generating great excitement was the new Genesis G80, which was revealed for the first time at the show. A development of the highly successful Hyundai Gen-esis sedan, the Genesis G80 luxury sedan made its debut alongside a more driver-focused Genesis G80 Sport, and is the second model in the new stand-alone Genesis brand’s line up to be revealed after the flagship G90. The new prestige brand, which represents a signifi-cant investment for Hyundai, is expected to build quickly on the success of Hyundai-branded flag-ship models when it arrives in Af-rica and Middle East markets later this year, says a press release.
Other Hyundai cars on dis-play included the RM16 concept Hyundai N 2025 Vision Gran Tu-rismo concepts, pre-production versions of the INONIQ alterna-tive-fuel car, due to be launched on the market globally this sum-mer, and a diverse range of suc-cessful Hyundai models already sold around the world, including Elantra, Veloster, i40, Sonata, Azera, Aslan, Tucson, Santa Fe, and Santa Fe Sport.
Mike Song, head of Hyundai for the Africa and Middle East Re-gion, said, “Busan International Motor Show is special to Hyundai, being so close to where our story began, so we always ensure our presence at the show offers some-thing special. We have so many exciting projects in development, including for luxury, performance and alternative-fuel cars, all bring-
ing together such advanced tech-nology, that at most motor shows we can only show part of what we are achieving. At Busan, we bring everything together, and the result is truly amazing.”
With Hyundai’s record of bringing concept cars to life as production models, the Busan display offered a tantalising taste of what the company has in store for showrooms.
The RM16 concept proved par-ticularly exciting for driving en-thusiasts. This is no hollow styl-ing exercise, but rather a highly advanced performance car, and a working development vehicle for technology to be included in the planned ‘N’ sub-brand of high-performance cars.
The concept is the latest in Hyundai’s Project RM (Racing Midship) series, following the previous RM14 and RM15 con-cepts, further developing their high-performance engineering in the form of a mid-engine, light-weight, high-performance two-seat concept.
The latest in the RM line in-herits characteristics from the earlier RM14 and RM15 models – in particular the RM14’s six-speed manual transmission and mid-mounted 2.0 theta T-GDI engine – tuned to develop 300PS. Additionally, the RM16 boasts the same sports-focused weight dis-
tribution (43% front, 57% rear), as its predecessors, benefitting from a centre of gravity less than 500mm from the ground.
Styling is optimised for aero-dynamics, featuring an aggres-sive front with low-extended hood, slim headlamps and wide air intakes that sets the tone of its low-and-wide stance, created to accommodate high-performance technologies. Weight-saving in-novations, first seen on the RM15, help boost the new concept’s han-dling and acceleration. A specially designed aluminium spaceframe is covered by light, rigid carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) body panels, which save consider-able weight versus a traditionally-constructed steel-based car.
Albert Biermann, head of Hyun-dai Motor’s Vehicle Test & High-Performance Development said, “RM models will continue to play an important role as the ‘rolling lab’ in the development of our fu-ture high-performance ‘N’ cars.”
Extending its focus on high performance, Hyundai Motor displayed its i20 WRC joined by a WRC simulator exhibition.
OTE Group represents the brand Hyundai in the Sultanate of Oman. With a nationwide net-work of showrooms and service centres, OTE Group ensures that Hyundai customers are never far from getting high quality service.
M O T O R S H O W
MALABAR GOLD HONOURS BANGLADESH ENVOYOn behalf of Malabar Gold & Diamonds, Sheikh Sekander Ali, Ambassador of Bangladesh
to Oman, received a token of thanks from Najeeb K., regional head, Oman in the presence of
Muhsin P., branch head, during his recent visit to the newly opened outlet in Ruwi, Muscat.
— Supplied picture
T H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6SECTIONC SPORTS LIFESTYLEWWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM
AL HABSI FOOTBALL SCHOOL GETS NEW PARTNER >C8
AVIAN INFLUENCE >C9
>C4
All eyes will be on hosts France when they get the ball rolling against Romania in the Stade de France on June 10 — 210 days after suicide bombers
at the same venue triggered a night of horror across the capital which killed 130 people.
It should have been a proud mo-ment for former UEFA president Michel Platini.
The France great, who inspired his country’s 1984 title on home soil, achieved his wish of expanding the tournament to a record 24 na-tions. But a four-year ban, handed down after becoming engulfed by the FIFA corruption scandal that has rocked the sport, means he will be a notable absentee.
Against such a backdrop it can only be hoped that the tournament, the first since the sleaze hit the fan last summer and the last with a single host before it goes continent-wide in 2020, can deliver some memorable moments on the pitch.
It certainly has the potential to do so with 51 matches in 31 days spread across France from the coal-mining country of Lens in
the north to the Mediterranean port of Marseille.
Unfamiliar qualifiers will be hoping to show they belong and vindicate Platini’s brainchild, criticised by some as substituting quality for quantity.
The establishment should prove again, however, that the cream in-evitably rises to the top and that Greece’s surprise triumph in 2004 was an anomaly.
FavouritesSpain retained the title four years ago in Poland and Ukraine, a tour-nament comprising only 16 na-tions, and will be among the favour-ites to make it a hat-trick, although three-times champions Germany, 2012 runners-up Italy, France and a resurgent England will all fancy their chances.
Northern Ireland, Albania, Ice-land, Slovakia and Wales are all ap-pearing for the first time in the tour-nament which is second only to the World Cup in terms of prestige and not too far behind in quality.
For Spain’s old guard, players such as Andres Iniesta, Sergio Bus-
quets, Gerard Pique and Sergio Ra-mos, Euro 2016 could be their last hurrah after the disappointment of the Brazil World Cup two years ago, and with old sage Vicente del Bosque at the helm, they will take some stopping.
France, winners in 1984 and 2000, will carry the hopes of a na-tion still coming to terms with last year’s militant attacks.
Manager Didier Deschamps has some enviable quality at his dispos-al in Juventus midfielder Paul Pog-ba and forwards Kingsley Coman and Antoine Griezmann.
AmbitiousWorld champions Germany will be targeting a first Euro title in 20 years while England seek their first international success since the World Cup of 1966.
Roy Hodgson’s youthful side went through qualifying with a 100 percent record and have real goal threat in the form of Jamie Vardy, one of the stars for unlikely champi-ons Leicester City, and Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane.
One consequence of the fatter
format means only eight teams will be eliminated from the six initial groups of four, with even third place likely to seal a last-16 spot.
Spain’s group looks the toughest on paper, with the Czech Republic, Turkey and Croatia, while France should comfortably top a section including Albania, Romania and Switzerland.
Italy will also have to be on their guard against a dangerous-looking Belgium squad, Ireland and Sweden who in Zlatan Ibrahimovic have one of the tournament’s A-listers.
Others vying for the limelight in-clude Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo who endured a disappointing World Cup and is running out of time to claim a first title for his country.
Of the debutants, Iceland’s ap-pearance will add novelty value although having finished above the Netherlands in qualifying they will need to be taken seriously by group rivals Portugal, Austria and Hunga-ry. Wales, too, will not just be mak-ing up the numbers if talisman Ga-reth Bale, who has led them to their first finals since the 1958 World Cup, is fit and firing. - Reuters
Bigger than ever,
the European
Championship kicks
off in Paris on Friday
with a four-week
feast of football that
promises to elevate
the game above the
corruption scandals
and security
fears that have
overshadowed its
build-up
C2 T H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
RONALDO FULLY FIT FOR EURO GLORY, SAYS PORTUGAL COACH
DESCHAMPS’ GREAT OPPORTUNITY AS MANAGER
Didier Deschamps, who won every-thing as a player in-cluding the World Cup and the Euro,
now hopes to win his first ma-jor title as a manager as he leads hosts France at Euro 2016, but he knows it will not be easy.
“No, no, you will only ever ask me about Karim,” Deschamps said on March 3, 2016, as he walked nervously through a fancy Paris hotel.
Escorted by the French federa-tion’s press officials and by secu-rity staff, Deschamps wanted to avoid talking to Spanish report-ers about Karim Benzema, the Real Madrid striker involved in a scandal with France team-mate Mathieu Valbuena.
He was indeed tired of the whole affair, but his refusal to talk to reporters also describes Des-champs’ broader style. He is not interested in names, he regards groups as the priority. France have an incredibly competitive team that many consider the great favourite to win the Euro, and Deschamps wants to finally win a major title as manager.
On that March 3 at the Pull-man hotel, right next to the Eif-fel Tower, Deschamps, 47, got lost in the crowd. His height of 1.73 metres hardly helped make him out in a hall that was packed full with the managers of the 24 Euro participants, scores of reporters, press officials, TV
cameras and the like.And yet his height was never
an obstacle in Deschamps’ career as a player. The midfielder won everything a footballer can ever win: World Cup, Euro, Cham-pions League, European Super Cup, Intercontinental Cup, along with league and cup titles in France, Italy and England.
His adventure as a manager has been much more modest so far, and he is still short of a ma-jor title. Opportunities to make amends do not come much bet-ter than managing the hosts during Euro 2016.
Deschamps leads one of the most experienced teams around, with hugely talented players who have almost perfect physical qualities. And yet they will also need to deal with the pressure of being the hosts and the favourites.
After leading Monaco to the Champions League final in 2004, taking Juventus back to Serie A in 2007 and winning several French titles with Olympique Marseille, the French federa-tion chose Deschamps to replace Laurent Blanc on the national team bench in July 2012.
“Finally Deschamps,” wrote the French sports daily L’Equipe.
“Fantastic, what we need is someone like that,” said Fred-eric Thiriez, league president at the time. In 2012, France were still in shock about their play-ers’ mutiny during the 2010
World Cup, and many saw De-schamps as a saviour, a “small giant” able to “restore order” in the national team, in the words of former France keeper Jean-Luc Ettori, who worked as his assistant at Monaco.
Deschamps launched a silent revolution in “Les Bleus,” and the results were apparent at the 2014 World Cup. In Brazil, France lost 1-0 in the quarter-finals to later champions Ger-many in a very tight game.
“There is good material for the future,” Deschamps said after that defeat. “Although elimination is hard, we need to focus on the positive aspects. I am very proud of the players on and off the pitch.”
Deschamps, who captained the France team that made his-tory by winning the 1998 World
Cup and the Euro two years lat-er, also impressed his country-men with his skills as a manager. In February 2015, he extended his contract and is set to remain on the job until the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
“Stability and continuity are important in football, even though it’s hard to achieve them,” Deschamps, who played for Olympique Marseille, Ju-ventus, Chelsea and Valencia, among others, said a year ago.
Deschamps captained France on 52 of the 103 games he played with the national team, in which he scored four goals. Now he will again need leadership skills to return France to the top spots in global football, although he will no longer be the first person to lift the trophy. - dpa
Didier Deschamps leads one of the most
experienced teams around, with hugely
talented players who have almost perfect
physical qualities
PARIS: Midfielder Joe Allen is the most likely member of a trio of Wales players nursing inju-ries to be handed a start in their opening European Champion-ship group game against Slova-kia on Saturday, manager Chris Coleman has said.
Allen, who injured a knee dur-ing Wales’ pre-tournament train-ing camp in Portugal, missed his country’s final warm-up game against Sweden at the weekend, along with Crystal Palace mid-fielder Joe Ledley and Reading forward Hal Robson-Kanu.
Ledley was included in Cole-man’s squad despite fracturing his leg on May 7 and Robson-Kanu has an Achilles problem.
Coleman said it would be “reckless” to start with three players who were not fully fit, but indicated that he was open to bringing them on from the bench.
“I’m not giving anything away to say we can’t start with all three. It would be reckless re-ally,” he told reporters. “Joe Led-ley did the injury at the end of the season and we were all thinking the same thing — a broken leg is a broken leg. But he has done so well to get back to where he is. “I think it is fair to say you can’t really see Joe playing 90 minutes. But can he play a part? Yes. “He could play a part, both Joes and Hal, unless there is a real bad reaction between now and the weekend.” — Reuters
F I T N E S S W O R R I E S
Allen set to start for Wales against Slovakia: Coleman
C3T H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
GERMANY’S BOATENG BARS FAMILY FROM EURO DUE TO SECURITY RISK
Source: UEFA Graphic News / Graphics
GROU
P AGR
OUP B
GROU
P CGR
OUP D
GROU
P E
FRANCERank 21*
Coach: DidierDeschampsCaptain:Hugo Lloris
Record: W15-D8-L9
Winner1984, 2000
9 2
Home /away
kits
ENGLANDRank 10
Coach:Roy HodgsonCaptain:Wayne Rooney
Record: W9-D9-L9
Best finish:Semifinal1968, 1996
9
GERMANYRank 5
Coach: Joachim LowCaptain: BastianSchweinsteiger
Record: W23-D10-L10
Winner1972, 1980,1996
12 3
SPAINRank 6
Coach: Vicentedel BosqueCaptain:Iker Casillas
Record: W17-D11-L8
Winner1964, 2008,2012
10 3
PORTUGALRank 8
Coach:Fernando SantosCaptain:Cristiano Ronaldo
Record: W15-D5-L8
Best finish:Final2004
7
BELGIUMRank 2
Coach: Marc WilmotsCaptain:Eden Hazard
Record: W4-D2-L6
Best finish:Final1980
5
ROMANIARank 19
Coach: AnghelIordanescuCaptain:Razvan Rat
Record: W1-D4-L8
Best finish:Quarterfinal2000
5
RUSSIARank 27
Coach:Leonid SlutskiCaptain:Roman Shirokov
Record: W12-D6-L12
Winner1960
11 1
UKRAINERank 22
Coach:Mykhailo FomenkoCaptain:Anatoliy Tymoshchuk
Record: W1-D0-L2
Best finish:Group stage2012
2
CZECH REP.Rank 29
Coach: Pavel VrbaCaptain:Petr Cech
Record: W13-D5-L11
Winner1976
6 1
ITALYRank 15
Coach: Antonio ConteCaptain:Gianluigi Buffon
Record: W13-D15-L5
Winner1968
9 1
ICELANDRank 35
Coach:Lars Lagerback SWE,
Heimir Hallgrimsson Captain: Aron Gunnarsson
Record: W0-D0-L0
First appearance2016
1
ALBANIARank 45
Coach: GianniDe Biasi ITA
Captain:Lorik Cana
Record: W0-D0-L0
First appearance2016
1
WALESRank 24
Coach:Chris ColemanCaptain:Ashley Williams
Record: W0-D0-L0
First appearance2016
1
POLANDRank 27
Coach: Adam NawalkaCaptain:Robert Lewandowski
Record: W0-D3-L3
Best finish:Group stage2008, 2012
3
TURKEYRank 13
Coach: Fatih TerimCaptain:Arda Turan
Record: W3-D2-L7
Best finish:Semifinal2008
4
IRELANDRank 31
Coach: Martin O’NeillCaptain:Robbie Keane
Record: W1-D1-L4
Best finish:Group stage1988, 2012
3
AUSTRIARank 11
Coach: Marcel Koller SUI
Captain:Christian Fuchs
Record: W0-D1-L2
Best finish:Group stage2008
2
SWITZERLANDRank 14
Coach:Vladimir PetkovicCaptain:Stephan Lichtsteiner
Record: W1-D2-L6
Best finish:Group stage1996, 2004, 2008
4
SLOVAKIARank 32
Coach: Jan KozakCaptain:Martin Skrtel
Record: W0-D0-L0
First appearance2016
1
N. IRELANDRank 26
Coach: Michael O’NeillCaptain:Steven Davis
Record: W0-D0-L0
First appearance2016
1
CROATIARank 23
Coach:Ante CacicCaptain:Darijo Srna
Record: W6-D4-L4
Best finish:Quarterfinal1996, 2008
5
SWEDENRank 36
Coach:Erik HamrenCaptain:Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Record: W5-D5-L7
Best finish:Semifinal1992
6
HUNGARYRank 18
Coach:Bernd Storck GER
Captain:Balazs Dzsudzsak
Record: W1-D0-L3
Best finish:Third place1964
3
GROU
P F
*FIFA ranking May 2016 Team captains subject to change prior to tournament
Tournamenttitles
European Championshipappearances, including 2016
UEFA Euro 2016: Team Guide (June 10 to July 10, 2016 )
10 JUNE
23:00
11 JUNE
17:00
20:00
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12 JUNE
17:00
20:00
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13 JUNE
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16 JUNE
17:00
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FRA ROU ALB SUIWAL SVKENG RUS
TUR CROPOL NIRGER UKR
ESP CZEIRL SWE
BEL ITA
AUS HUNPOR ISL
RUS SVKROU SUIFRA ALB
ENG WALUKR NIRGER POLMATCH # OMAN HOUR
Match Schedule
17 JUNE
17:00
20:00
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18 JUNE
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19 JUNE
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ITA SWECZE CROESP TUR
BEL IRLISL HUN
POR AUS
ROU ALBSUI FRA
RUS WALSLOV ENG
NIR GERUKR POLCRO ESPFRA ROU
HUN PORISL AUSITA IRL
SWE BEL
C4 T H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
YOUNG ENGLISH TEAM ‘MOST SERIOUS’ IN YEARS, SAYS SAGNA YS
Dear reader, I am going to accompany you dur-ing the 2016 European
Football Championships. I greatly enjoy serving an inter-national audience, especially in those countries where I played one or several of my 150 international matches for Germany, and where, starting on Friday when hosts France open the tournament against Romania in Paris, millions of people will start to spend a month of watching the excit-ing football action on their TV sets.
Fans of Cristiano Ronaldo just might break out into tears when I predict that of the 24 teams in the European Championships, Portugal is in danger of being eliminated in the preliminary round. By appearances, Portugal has an easy group with such oppo-nents as Iceland, Austria and Hungary. But all three teams have improved immensely. And if Ronaldo were to bow out by the quarterfinals, then his reputation would be intact — the reputation that he can only win titles with Real Ma-drid, such as most recently in the Champions League.
Portugal, by contrast, looks to me to be too weak, despite their 18-year-old super-talent Renato Sanchez, whom Bayern Munich has just purchased from Benfica Lis-bon for 35 million euros. My advice to Cristiano Ronaldo: Remain brave. Don’t cry.
Far and wide, I don’t see any country that could pull off the kind of surprise that Greece did in winning the 2004 championships in Portugal.
In my view, such strong footballing nations like Croa-tia with its often outstand-ing Luca Modric, or like the slightly improved England and maybe Italy will at most make it to the quarterfinals. The Italians have embarked on a total revamping, with trainer Antonio Conte deciding to do without the 37-year-old genius Andrea Pirlo, who is playing far away in New York. And striker Mario Balotelli also has been dispensed with. At the mo-ment the Italian team doesn’t have a face, except of course for their 38-year-old keeper Gianluigi Buffon.
Top favouritesThis brings us to the top favorites, and naturally at the very top are World Cup cham-pions Germany and defending European champions Spain.
German trainer Joachim Loew is again counting on an axis Bayern Munich players. Besides Manuel Neuer in goal, in the center-back posi-tions are Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels, who has just transferred from Dortmund to Munich. Up front the coach is betting on Mario Goetze, the man who scored the 2014 World Cup match-winner
against Argentina, as well as on Thomas Mueller, the best World Cup scorer. The res-ignations of Captain Philipp Lahm and of striker Miroslav Klose however will be hard to compensate. And the fact that the new team captain, Bastian Schweinsteiger, who was almost always injured at Manchester United, is to be slowly brought back into the German team is a good plan, but a risky one.
Spanish trainer Vicente Del Bosque has now definitively dispensed with the services of striker Fernando Torres, who eight years ago scored the 1-0 goal to beat Germany in the final. Del Bosque is also going without the experienced Diego Costa as well as the younger dangerous goal-getters Isco Alarcon Suarez and Saúl Ñíguez and instead is banking completely on the youngster Alvaro Morato, whom Real has loaned out to Juventus Turin, and on Real substitute Lucas Vazques. Then there is 35-year-old Aritz Aduriz of Bilbao.
So Del Bosque has put to-gether an interesting mixture. With the exception of Xavi, he can count almost completely on the solid bloc of Barcelona stars - Andres Iniesta, Jordi Alba, Gerard Piqué and Sergio Busquets. Virtually a guaran-tee of success.
ContenderFrance, naturally, counts as a top title contender as the host country. Just such names as Paul Pogba of Juventus, Ol-ivier Giroud of Arsenal Lon-don and Antoine Griezman of Atletico Madrid promise not only fun football-watching, but also a lot of goals.
It is really interesting to see how Griezman has evolved. No more of a new hair color every three days, no more of the night-time escapades. Griezman could be the top star of this tournament — something that I also think possible for Germany’s Toni Kroos with his outstanding passing game.
Now, don’t be surprised that I see yet another country well at the top of the field — the Belgians. They have this highly explosive mixture of robustness and technical finesse. All I need to do is look at Kevin de Bruyne of Man-City, Eden Hazard of Chelsea, or Yannick Carrasco, who scored the 1-1 equalizer for Atletico Madrid against Real in the Champions League final: These are just three players out of a really super-strong team.
If Belgium were to win this tournament, it would not come as a surprise. - dpa
My advice to Ronaldo — remain brave ... don’t cry
C O M M E N T A R Y
If you ask for a ball in Wales, you will probably get the elon-gated rugby variant, but Ga-reth Bale opted for the round version from an early age. In
Wales, with barely 3 million people, rugby rules and the national rugby team, the Dragons, are a global super-power. However, football is growing, and Bale’s emergence as a world-class player prompts both pride and optimism among his compatriots.
The Real Madrid winger, 26, has led Wales to their first major tour-nament since the 1958 World Cup, and he is well on course to becom-ing the most important footballer in the small nation’s history, even ahead of the legendary Ryan Giggs.
Giggs won eleven Premier League titles and two editions of the Cham-pions League with Manchester United, but he retired without play-ing a major tournament with the national team. “Perhaps you would have to say for Wales, Gareth has
been the more important player be-cause he would have helped them qualify. I did not manage that, but I know how hard we tried,” Giggs said.
Bale is not the national team cap-tain, but he holds great influence.
“Gareth is showing he is a leader on and off the pitch. He is far more vocal and that really helps both in the dressing room during games and around the camp in the build-up,” said Wales captain Ashley Williams. Wales attained their his-toric qualification for France 2016 with a great run, just one defeat in 10 games. Curiously enough, they sealed their berth at the Euro after a 2-0 defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
“The best loss of my life,” Bale joked as he celebrated. “Growing up as a young boy everyone dreams of playing in a major tournament, to achieve it here now is a dream come true. It doesn’t stop here. We’ve got to go and try to do some business in France.”
The “Dragons” are pinning all their hopes on Bale. During the qualifying round, the most expen-sive signing in history - Real Ma-drid paid Tottenham Hotspur 100 million euros (114 million dollars) for him in 2013 - was involved in 82 per cent of Wales’ 11 goals: he scored seven of them and provided two assists to help his team secure second place in Group B, behind Belgium. Bale managed to over-come the predictions of many who pointed fingers at him, too early, as yet another British star who would never play a major tournament, like Giggs or Northern Ireland’s George Best. With the historic berth at the Euro, Bale prompted enthusiasm even among some rugby fans.
Wales midfielder David Edwards said Bale drew inspiration from the national team’s performance at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, where the “Dragons” beat arch-rivals England at the mythical Twickenham Stadi-
um in London. “Gareth likes rugby more than most and he keeps a real track on it in Madrid,” said Edwards. “We’ve been watching and we take a massive inspiration from the World Cup, when you see how well they have done and the character they have shown.”
The classic Wales vs. England derby will now have a new chapter. There is great expectation in Brit-ain ahead of both teams’ second game in Group B, on June 16.
“Everyone knows the rivalry. It’s going to be amazing and I’m confi-dent we’ll come on top,” Bale said.
According to Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill, the “Dragons” pose a serious threat.
“I do think Wales have a genu-ine chance (against England). Teams will be scared of Bale and to have a player of that stature in your side puts fear into people. Wales could do well in the tourna-ment,” O’Neill said. - dpa
If you ask for a ball in Wales, you will
probably get the elongated rugby
variant, but Gareth Bale opted for the
round version from an early age
GARETH BALE, WALES’ ROUND-BALL ICON
Struggles in front of goal concern coach Del Bosque
MADRID: Spain are among the favourites to win the European Championship this summer but the team’s 1-0 home defeat to Georgia on Tuesday has set alarm bells ringing. In their last warm-up game before the tournament and nearly two years on from their first-round exit at the World Cup in Brazil, Spain lost to a team ranked number 137 by FIFA.
“Gatillazo” (Damp squib) was the headline in Wednesday’s AS newspaper after the team’s loss in Getafe. “We were looking to gain more confidence and generate a good atmosphere all around with this game but it has been the con-trary, a disappointment,” Spain coach Vicente del Bosque told Marca of Spain’s first defeat since March 2015. So what went wrong?
“We didn’t play badly,” he said. “We simply couldn’t overcome an
organised defence. “We lacked solutions and that
is the most worrying aspect.”Spain had 76 per cent of pos-
session and took 17 shots on goal but had only three on target.
Lack of goals was not a prob-lem for Spain in their previous two friendlies — a 3-1 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina and a 6-1 rout of South Korea. The team just had a bad night in front of goal, according to the coach. “This (defeat) doesn’t change anything,” Del Bosque said. “It doesn’t take away the good work we have done so far. I don’t want to be a pessimist.”
Marca expressed its concern, writing in Wednesday’s headline: “With six days to go before the Euro 2016 debut, Spain fall 1-0 to Georgia, ranked 137th in the world.” — Reuters
C O N C E R N S F O R S P A I N
CAUGHT IN BETWEEN: Spain’s Pedro Rodriguez in action with
Georgia’s Aleksandre Amisulashvili and Zurab Tsiskaridze. – Reuters
C5T H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
GERMANY’S TAH EARNS CALL TO REPLACE INJURED RUEDIGER
Gianluigi Buffon, Sergio Ramos, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo and company are joined by the likes of Wayne Rooney, Iker Casillas,
Petr Cech, Mario Mandzukic, Michael Carrick, Patrice Evra and Giorgio Chiellini. All of them will be 30 or older by the time the Euro starts on
June 10 at the Stade de France
Gianluigi Buffon takes a goal kick and pass-es the ball to Sergio Ramos. The Span-iard gives it to Bas-
tian Schweinsteiger, who passes it on to Thiago Motta. Andres Iniesta drops to the wing, gets the ball and sends it through to Cristiano Ron-aldo, who crosses for Zlatan Ibrahi-movic to header the ball to the net.
No one will see such a goal at the Euro in France because all those stars play in different teams, but they do have one thing in common beyond their quality as football players: they are all above the age of 30. They have run thousands of kilometres and played major tournaments including Euros and World Cups but, despite their age,
they are still pillars in their na-tional teams.
It has been a while since Euro-pean football gave rise to a young superstar. There are no recent equivalents to Michael Owen, who won the Ballon d’Or at 21, or Cristiano Ronaldo, who was a global star by the age of 22, and many of the continent’s best play-ers are older than 30.
Buffon, Ramos, Cristiano Ron-aldo and company are joined by the likes of Wayne Rooney, Iker Casillas, Petr Cech, Mario Man-dzukic, Michael Carrick, Patrice Evra and Giorgio Chiellini. All of them will be 30 or older by the time the Euro starts on June 10 at the Stade de France.
“Age is just a number,” Ibrahi-
movic, 34, recently told the UEFA website in an interview.
“The way I feel today is the best I have ever been. I was born old and I will die young.”
The careers of all sportsmen, not just footballers, are getting longer. New technologies, better nutrition and progress made by sports medicine are the reason why high performances are pos-sible at an older age, and the old order currently prevails in sport.
The drivers fighting for the Formula 1 title, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vet-tel, have been in motorsport’s top category for almost a decade. In football, no youngster is challeng-ing the undisputed dominance of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ron-
aldo, and even Neymar, who is 24 by now, has grown more slowly as a player this season. Basketball’s new star, Stephen Curry, is al-ready 28, and LeBron James and Kevin Durant are still at the top, while tennis has been awaiting generational change for five years as Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer grow older.
Sprinter Usain Bolt and distance runner Mo Farah, the greatest stars of the Beijing 2015 athletics world championships, have dominated their disciplines for years.
At Euro 2016, a large group of veterans will attract the attention of millions of fans. Many of them are even stars in some of the teams that are considered candidates to lift the trophy on July 10. Some
may stand before their last chance to deliver for their national teams while others will get further oppor-tunities, but they all refuse to give in to the passage of time for now.
“I still don’t think I am 29,” Cristiano Ronaldo said two years ago. “I know I am, but in my head I think I am 23 or 24 because I en-joy what I do.”
His body, however, no longer performs quite like it did when he really was that age. Muscle elas-ticity and explosive power is now up to players like Kingsley Coman, Anthony Martial and Dele Alli, who are regarded as the stars of the future.
In France 2016, young players have the chance to launch a new trend, show veteran stars the exit
and make room for themselves among the best players in Europe. After all, no one can avoid ageing, not even the best football players.
Italy’s legendary keeper Dino Zoff stopped all kinds of shots be-fore he retired from the national team at the age of 41. The day he ended his career, he admitted that there was something harder to stop than a penalty kick.
“The ageing process is some-thing I cannot stop,” Zoff said on the day he last wore the Italy shirt.
That was on May 29, 1983, against Sweden.
The keeper played that game at the age of 41 years and 90 days, which is still a record for a Euro game considering both qualifiers and finals. - dpa
AGE DOES NOT MATTER
C6 T H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
Host
Austria& Switzerland
2008 Host
Poland&Ukraine
2012
Host
Sweden1992
CZE 0
3 URS FRA 4
5 YUGURS 2 1 YUG
Fastest goal 11’Milan Galić
11’Ferenc Bene
URS
SEMI STAGE
WINNER
FINAL MATCH
W-GE
RCZE
NEDGRE BEL
ITA
ENGESP5
33
1 44
31
W-GER
W-GER 2 1 BEL
GROUP 1 GROUP 2
WINNER
FINAL MATCH
ESP 2
1 HUN DEN 0
3 URSESP 2 1 URS
ESP
SEMI STAGE
WINNER
FINAL MATCH
CZE 3
1 NED YUG 2
4 W-GER
CZE 2 2 W-GER
CZE
SEMI STAGE
WINNER
FINAL MATCH
SWE
DEN
FRAENG NED
GER
SCOCIS5
3
2
2 53
2
2
DEN
GER 0 2 DEN
GROUP 1 GROUP 2
WINNER
FINAL MATCH
SWE 2
3 GER NED 2
2 DEN
GER
CZE 1 2 GER
GROU
P A
GROUP B GROUP C
GROUP D
WINNER
FINAL MATCH
ENG 7
NED
4SC
O4
SUI1
FRA7
ESP5
BUL4
ROU0
GER7
CZE4 ITA
4 RUS1 POR7
CRO6
DEN4
TUR0
FRA
0
0 CZE GER 1
1 ENG
SEMI STAGE
QUARTER
FRA
00
NED
CZE 10 POR GER 2 1 CRO
ESP 00 ENG
ESP
GER 0 1 ESP
GROU
P A
GROUP B GROUP C
GROUP D
WINNER
FINAL MATCH
POR
6TU
R6
CZE
3SUI
3
CRO9
GER6
AUS1
POL1
NED9
ITA4 ROU
2 FRA1 ESP9
RUS6
SWE3
GRE0TUR
2
3 GER RUS 0
3 ESP
SEMI STAGE
QUARTER
TUR 1
1 CRO
GER 32 POR NED 1 3 RUS
ESP 00 ITA
ESP
ITA 0 4 ESP
GROU
P A
GROUP B GROUP C
GROUP D
WINNER
FINAL MATCH
CZE
6GR
E4
RUS
4POL
2
GER9
POR6
DEN3
NED0
ESP7
ITA5 CRO
4 IRL0 ENG7
FRA4
UKR3
SWE3
GER 1
2 ITAESP 0
0 POR
SEMI STAGE
QUARTER
GRE 2
4 GER
ENG 00 ITA ESP 2 0 FRA
CZE 01 POR
Ball
Top scorers (2 goals)Milan Galić
Dražan Jerković
François Heutte
Valentin Ivanov
Viktor Ponedelnik
Ponedelnik scored the
winning goal in final.
Also this year
8 November. John F
Kennedy beats Richard Nixon to
become the youngest man voted in
as United States president.
Public attendance
CZE-URSFRA-YUG 3rd Final
26,370 25,184 9,438 17,966
Top scorers (4 goals)Dieter Müller
Antonín Panenka
sensationally chipped the
ball past Sepp Maier to
seal a 5-3 shoot-out win.
Also this year
21 January First
commercial
Concorde flight
Public attendance
CZE-NEDYUG-W.GER
NED-YUGFinal
17,96950,562
6,76630,790
Top scorers (3 goals)Klaus Allofs
Horst Hrubesch scored
twice in the final in
Rome. Six years before,
he was in lower league
football.
Also this year21 March. United States
president Jimmy Carter
announces his country will
boycott the forthcoming
Olympics in Moscow.
Public attendance
CZE-ITAFinal
24,65247,864
Top scorers (2 goals)Ferenc Bene
Dezső Novák
Jesús María Pereda
Chief among the Spanish
team was talismanic
midfielder Luis Suárez
Also this year
1 February. I Want to
Hold Your Hand becomes
the Beatles' first US No. 1.
Public attendance
ESP-HUN DEN-URSHUN-DEN
Final
34,713 38,5563,869
79,115
Top scorers (3 goals)Henrik Larsen
Karl-Heinz Riedle
Dennis Bergkamp
Tomas Brolin
Goalkeper Peter
Schmeichel was one
of the Danish heroes
of summer '92
Also this year
7 February. Ministers
from the 12 countries
making up the
European Community
sign the Maastricht
treaty to become
European Union
Public attendance
SWE-GER NED-DEN Final
28,827 37,450 37,800
Top scorers (5 goals)Alan Shearer
Matthias Sammer
scored the winning
goal for Germany in
the quarterfinals
against Croatia.
Also this year
5 July. Dolly the sheep is the
first mammal to be successfully
cloned from an adult cell, at the
Roslin Institute in Midlothian,
Scotland.
Public attendance
FRAN-CZEGER-ENG Final
43,87775,862 73,611
Top scorers (4 goals)David Villa
According to UEFA analysis,
Xavi Hernández embodied
the rise of the little guy. His
metronomic passing and
superb reading of the
game made him a
critical part of
Spain's triumph.
Also this year4 November. Barack Obama is
elected the 44th
President of the
United States, the
first African American
to hold the post
Public attendance
TUR-GER RUS-ESP Final
39,374 51,428 51,428
Top scorers (3 goals)Mario Mandžukić
Mario Gómez
Mario Balotelli
Cristiano Ronaldo
Alan Dzagoev
Fernando Torres
Andrés Iniesta
symbolises
UEFA EURO
2012.
Also this year6 February. Queen Elizabeth
II celebrates her Diamond
Jubilee, marking 60 years
since her accession to the
throne in the United
Kingdom
Public attendance
ESP-POR GER-ITA Final
48,000 55,540 63,170
Host
England1996
06’Antonin Panenka
03’Petr Jiráček
08’Ján Švehlík
03’Frank Rijkaard
02’14”Alan Shearer
04’Luka Modrić
Host
Spain1964Host
France1960
Host
Yugoslavia1976
Host
Italy1980
For the first time at a European
Championship three points were awarded
for a win. First major football competition
with “golden goal” system.
CIS national football team was present this
year (Commonwealth of Independent
States), representing the recently
dissolved Soviet Union.
Two groups of four teams each were created;
each team would play all others within their
group. The winners of the groups would go
straight to the final (there were no semifinals)
UEFA EURO COLOURSAlbania
Australia
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech
Denmark
England
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Latvia
Netherlands
Northern
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Republic
Romania
Scotland
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
USSR
Wales
Yugoslavia
Russia
West
ALB
AUS
BEL
BUL
CRO
CZE
DEN
ENG
FRA
GER
GRE
HUN
ISL
ITA
LVA
NED
NIR
NOR
POL
POR
IRL
ROU
SCO
SVK
SVN
ESP
SWE
SUI
TUR
UKR
URS
WAL
YUG
RUS
W-GER
of Ireland
Germany
Ireland
Republic
Ball
Ball Ball
BallBall
Ball
Ball
VENUES EURO2016
StadeMunicipal
MatmutAtlantique
Toulouse Bordeaux
StadeBollaert-Delelis
Lens
StadeGeoffroy-Guichard Stade de France
Saint Etienne Saint Denis
Parcdes Princes
Paris
AllianzRiviera
Nice
StadeVelodrome
Marseille
Stadede Lumières
Lyon
StadePierre-Mauroy
Capacity: 33,000 Capacity: 42.000 Capacity: 38,000 Capacity: 42,000 Capacity: 80,000 Capacity: 48,000 Capacity: 36,000 Capacity: 67,000 Capacity: 59,000 Capacity: 50,000
Lille
Using the colours of each team’s official shirt, this historical and visual recount presents
the progress of each tournament since its beginning in 1960.Penalty shoot-out
(1 bullet=1 goal)
Sudden deathOver time
Source: uefa.com, Graphic News
SEMI STAGE
C7
Host
WestGermany1988
FRA
DEN
BELYUG ESP
POR
W-GER
ROU64
2
0 44
31
FRA
FRA 2 0 ESP
GROUP 1 GROUP 2
WINNER
FINAL MATCH
ITA 0
0 URS YUG 1
0 ENGITA 2 0 YUG
ITA
SEMI STAGE
WINNER
FINAL MATCH
BEL 1
2 W-GER HUN 0
1 URSW-GER 3 0 URS
W-GER
SEMI STAGE
WINNER
FINAL MATCH
FRA
3
2 POR ESP 1
1 DEN
SEMI STAGE
W-GE
RITA
ESPDEN URS
NED
IRLENG5
5
2
0 54
3
0
NED
URS 0 2 NED
GROUP 1 GROUP 2
WINNER
FINAL MATCH
ITA 0
2 URS NED 2
1 W-GER
SEMI STAGE
FRA
ITA 1 2 FRA
GROU
P A
GROUP B GROUP C
GROUP D
WINNER
FINAL MATCH
POR
9RO
U4
ENG
3GER 1
ITA9
TUR4
BEL3
SWE1
ESP6
YUG4 NOR
4 SVN2 NED9
FRA6
CZE3
DEN0
NED
0
0 ITA POR 1
2 FRA
SEMI STAGE
QUARTER
POR 2
0 TU
R
ITA 20 ROU YUG 1 6 NED
FRA 21 ESP
GRE
GRE 1 0 POR
GROU
P A
GROUP B GROUP C
GROUP D
WINNER
FINAL MATCH
POR 6
GRE
4ES
P4
RUS3
FRA7
ENG6
CRO2
SUI1
SWE5
DEN5 ITA
5 BUL0
CZE9
NED4
GER2LVA1
GRE 1
0 CZE POR 2
1 NED
SEMI STAGE
QUARTER
GRE 1
0 FRA
SWE 0 0 NED ENG 2 2 POR
CZE 30
DEN
Top scorers (5 goals)Marco van Basten
Three of those
goals was against
England. Basten
was a key player
in the final match.
Also this year
29 September. Discovery space
shuttle lifts off from
Cape Canaveral, two
and a half years
after the Challenger
disaster.
Public attendance
W.GER-NED ITA-URS Final
56,115 61,606 62,770
Top scorers (2 goals)Dragan Džajić
Dino Zoff made his Italian
debut quarterfinals versus
Bulgaria. The Azzurri won
the 1968 UEFA European
Championship.
Also this year
4 April. Martin Luther
King assassinated in
Memphis
Public attendanceITA-URS
YUG-ITA
ENG-URS Final-1Final-2
68,58221,834
68,81732,866
68,817
Top scorers (4 goals)Gerd Müller
The hero of 1972 was Gerd
Müller, who scored both
goals in the 2-1 semifinal
win against the hosts
Also this year
1 September. Bobby
Fischer defeats Boris Spassky
to end 24-year Soviet
domination of world chess title.
Public attendance
BEL-W.GERHUN-URS HUN-BEL
Final
55,66916,590 6,184
43,437
Top scorers (5 goals)Patrick Kluivert
Savo Milošević
France achieved
the victory with
Trezeguet's
´golden goal´.
Also this year
6 October. The last
Mini is produced at
the Longbridge car
plant in England
Public attendance
POR-FRA NED-ITA Final
47,000 51,300 48,200
Top scorers (5 goals)Milan Baroš
Theodoros Zagorakis,
captain of the Greek
team, was named
Player of the
Tournament.
Also this year
15 May. Arsenal
FC complete the
38-match English
Premier League
season unbeaten
Public attendance
POR-NED GRE-CZEFinal
46,679 42,44962,865
Host
Belgium& Netherlands
2000 Host
Portugal2004
03’SergeiAleinikov
03’Paul Scholes
12’Luigi Riva
24’Raoul Lambert Gerd Müller
03’MichelPlatini
Also this year14 February. Jayne Torvill
and Christopher Dean are
crowned Olympic ice
skating champions at
the winter games in
Sarajevo after
recording a perfect
score.
Public attendance
FRA-POR ESP-DEN Final
54,848 47,843 47,368
Top scorers (9 goals)Michel Platini
Platini’s nine-goal
tally, including two
hat-tricks, remains
a record.
01’08”DmitriKirichenko
GROUP B
GROUP C GROUP D
GROUP E
GRO
UP F
GROU
P A
ALB
FRA
ROU
SUI
ENG
RUS
SVK
WAL
GERGER
NIRPOL UKR CRO CZE
ESPTUR
BEL
ITA
IRL
SWE
AUSHUN
ISLPORA
RUNN
ER UP
CRU
NNER
UP
BWINNER
A/C/D3rd
DWINNER B/E/F3rd AWINNER
C/D/E3rd
CWINNER
A/B/F3rd
FWINNER
E
RUNNER UP
EWINNER
DRUNNER UP
BRUNNER UP
FRUNNER UP
JUN
E 25
- 17
:00
JUN
E 30
- 23
:00
JULY 01 - 23:00 JULY 02 - 23:00
JULY 03 - 23:00
JUN
E 25
- 20:0
0
JUNE 25 - 23:00
JUNE 26 - 17:00 JUNE 26 - 20:00
JUNE 26 - 23:00
JUNE 27 - 20:00
JUN
E 27 - 23:00
37
38
39
40 41
42
43
44
45
46 47
48
WINN
ERMA
TCH 3
7WINNER
MATCH 39
WINNER
MATCH 38
WINNER
MATCH 42WINNER
MATCH 41 WINNERMATCH 43
WINNER
MATCH 40
WINNER
MATCH 44
JULY
06 - 2
3:00 JULY 07 - 23:00Host
Italy1968 Host
Belgium1972
Host
France1984
MATC
H 49
WINNER MATCH 50
WINNER
4 teamsKnockout competition
8 teamsTwo groups of four teams each
(Color are ordered to follow champion path)
16 teams24 teams
Match
Winner Winner Winner
Numbers=Points Numbers=Goals
Vs.
Numbers=Points Numbers=GoalsFastest goal
A
A
B C
D
B
Ball Ball
Ball Ball
Ball
?
49 50
51
MATCH #
WINN
ERMA
TCH 4
5
WINNER
MATCH 46WINNERMATCH 47
WINNER
MATCH 48WINNER
FINAL MATCH
SEMI STAGE
QUARTER
ROUND OF 16
JULY 10 - 23:00
Antoine GriezmannBirth: 21 March 1991 (age 25)
Place of birth: Mâcon, France
Height: 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position: Forward
Host
France2016At the age of nine, Antoine Griezmann saw
Trezeguet fire the golden goal in UEFA Euro
2000. This image is one of its treasured
moments European Championship.
Griezmann, who currently plays with
Atlético de Madrid, was part of the
team that won the 2010 UEFA
European Under-19 Football
Championship on home soil, as
French youth international.
GROU
GROU
PA
FRA
ROU
SUI
ENG
RUN
77
Antoine Birth: 21 M
Place of bi
Height: 1.7
Playing po
For the first time, 24 sides will
contest the UEFA European
Championship. The inaugural final
tournament in France in 1960 was
a four-team affair, expanding to
eight in 1980 and doubling in size
again in 1996 to 16.
Two finals. First match
ended in a draw 1-1, a
replay was played to
determine the winner.
VS.
VS.VS.
VS. VS.
VS. VS.
VS.
VS.
VS.
VS.VS.
VS.
VS.
VS.
Graphics
24 teams
Group
stage
A
B
C D
E
F
16 te
am
s
Qu
arte
r
Se
mi
Fin
al
(The group stage have 36 matches)
What colour you want to place here?
Coin toss
THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016
SPOR S
Al Habsi Football School gets new partner in OIS
A. SESHAGIRI [email protected]
MUSCAT: Al Habsi Football School (HFS), an ambitious soc-cer project initiated by Sultanate’s legend Ali Al Habsi, is not only at-tracting a lot of attention but also big sponsors thanks mainly to the hard work and commitment shown by the team under the celebrated Oman national team captain.
Within a span of six months, the HFS created quite a buzz and now, with major companies showing in-terest to become partners, is well on its way to become a successful academy. The latest and first ma-jor company to join hands with Al Habsi Football School is Oilfield Inspection Services (OIS), a part-nership which Ali Al Habsi himself described as the one between 100 percent Omani company and an all-Omani run football school.
Speaking at a signing ceremony
organised on company premises on Wednesday, Ali Al Habsi said: “It has been my dream to start a football school... I see it as a way to give back the community and the country, to use my experience as a professional footballer to help cre-ate the football stars of tomorrow.
“We are glad to have Oilfield Inspection Services as our part-ner. As an all-Omani run football school, it’s great to have a hundred percent Omani company as our new partner,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Oil-field Inspection Services CEO Saif Al Tobi, echoed the same views and said ‘we are delighted to be-come partners of Al Habsi Football School as a hundred percent Oma-ni company’.
“When we met Ali Al Habsi’s team we realised that most of their ideas matched with ours. So we readily agreed to become their partners,” he said.
“We know it’s a big responsibili-ty. We are not going to focus on im-mediate the results but we will be looking at long-time goals. So our
association with Al Habsi Foot-ball School will also be a long-time commitment,” he added.
Future expansionThe school mainly focuses on chil-dren in the age groups of eight to 14 years while giving special training sessions for those up to 17 years.
The main objectives of the school, besides teaching the ba-sics to the children, are to prepare physically and mentally strong young footballer for the future with modern and scientific train-ing methods.
The school also aims to instil a sense of commitment and profes-sionalism among the children and to help them respect and learn from their opponents while also creating playing opportunities by way of planning mutually benefi-cial activities with the local clubs and schools.
Later revealing the details of fu-ture expansion plans, Ali Al Habsi also spoke about the possibility of getting government support some-time in the future.
“To expect any kind of support from the government, first we have to prove we are doing good work. But that will come in the future. We have started in a small way and we would like to develop gradually.”
“Our aim is to have a full-fledged academy in the future,” he added.
Speaking about the immediate expansion plans, he said: “We have signed a two-year agreement with The Sultan’s School Muscat. So we will be operating and running our activities from Sultan’s School. Our next session of classes begin in July.”
The Omani custodian also re-vealed his plans to have an exclu-sive goalkeeping classes in future.
“Definitely that (goalkeeping training) is one of my dream ideas. If we start such a training programme, I want to be there and give my 100 percent. Right now being busy with my playing commitments with my club and country, I won’t be able to do justice to that role.”
“But surely I will be doing it in future,” he said while adding, ‘And it will definitely be part of this school’.
“Meanwhile, I will be fully com-mitted to the overall development of the school. Whenever I come to Oman, I will be with my team at the school and the students. I hope to make four to five visits to the school during the season,” he said
Open to allAli, the first Omani to play in Eu-rope and English Premier League who currently plays for English Championship side Reading FC, said: “As I said the school is fully run by Omanis. We have Omani coaches, technical and adminis-trative staff. And we are soon going to rope in more Omani coaches, who are very experienced and have been involved with the national teams set up.”
“But the school is open to all. Parents of different nationalities can enrol their children for the training courses,” he said.
Ali, who previously played for English Premier League sides Bol-ton Wanderers and Wigan Athlet-ics, also admitted it’s ‘not going to be an easy responsibility and dream’ to fulfil.
“We have very ambitious ideas. With my own playing commit-ments, it’s definitely not going to be easy responsibility or a dream to achieve. But we are all commit-ted to our objectives.
“So far we have done well. Some of the parents, in fact, have come-back with positive feedback, like how their children have benefited and doing well at the respective schools.
“But the same time, we have to convince them as well as other parents who look for immediate results that it’s a long process. It takes time for a child to develop into a good footballer.
“The players develop in stages — from four to five years and then up to eight years, they will still be try-ing to understand and learn.
“Then it is the duty of the coaches to teach them the basics before taking them forward. So at our school, we would like to focus on small details in all aspects of football and the children, and help them develop into good football-ers,” the Omani captain added.
Al Habsi Football
School, an ambitious
project initiated by
celebrated Omani
goalkeeper Ali Al
Habsi, has roped in
Oilfield Inspection
Services as a major
partner. Ali is hoping
to turn the school
into a full-fledged
academy with the
primary objective
of developing future
football stars
NEW PARTNERSHIP: Ali Al Habsi, left, and Oilfields Inspection Services CEO Saif Al Tobi exchange
the documents after the partnership signing ceremony on Wednesday. – JUN ESTRADA/Times of Oman
Aswani headed back to OmanMUSCAT: AFC Leopards striker Kepha Aswani could leave the club this June for an unnamed Omani club. According to news posted on sports websites, the Kenyan international, who joined Leopards at the start of the 2016 season, has been approached by an Omani club and club co-chairman Dan Mule has revealed that the player has re-quested to leave this June. The former Thika United and Bandari FC striker has previously played for Omani club, Al Nasr.
Al Hail CC to host Ramadan tourneyMUSCAT: Al Hail Cricket Club will organise Ramadan floodlight tape ball cricket tournament during the holy month of Ramadan. The tourna-ment is open for the all the teams and the registration forms are available at Al Hail Cricket Ground and the leading cricket shop Cricket Cottage Oman in Darsait. Pocari Sweat, Cricket Cottage Oman and Foodies Restaurant Muscat are the main spon-sors. For further details contact the organisers (Ph: 95998056, 99623536) or email at [email protected].
Thalassery Premier League MUSCAT: The third edition of Thalassery Premier League sevens football tournament, organised by the Stadium Brothers, will kick off at Bausher Club at 10.00 p.m. on Thursday. The tourna-ment, which will be played on Fridays and Saturdays, will conclude on June 24. The participating teams are Stadium Brothers, Al Nahla, QFT, Cosmos, Pro 11, Smashers, Azaiba FC, Teleboys, UTSC 1, UTSC 2, Tele FC and PSC.
Slovenian Ceferin in UEFA race ZURICH: Slovenian football boss Aleksandar Ceferin launched what appeared to be a strong bid for the presidency of UEFA on Wednesday, claiming to have support from almost one-third of the member associations. The Slovenian FA listed 18 European FAs out of a total of 55 that it said were prepared to support him.
B R I E F S
Oman Airports by Oman Sail upbeat ahead of Tour de France a la VoileMUSCAT: Oman Airports by Oman Sail is upbeat about prepara-tions for the 2016 Tour de France a la Voile (TDFV) starting in just one month after some valuable training and Diam 24 racing at the Norman-dy Cup in France last week.
In the final races of a carefully planned season of events, which has included Spi Ouest France in la Trinite sur Mer at the end of March, Grand Prix Atlantique and GP Guyader in April and finally GP Ecole Navale in May, Oman Sail’s Diam 24 crew finished seventh in a field of 17 teams, many of whom will be heading to Dunkirk for the start of the Tour de France a la Voile on July 8.
They were missing their co-skipper Thierry Douillard so a top 10 result was a bonus, said Ali Al Balushi, one of two Omanis who will be bidding for honours on Oman Airports by Oman Sail in the three week-long event.
“We put in some good perfor-mances across the four days de-spite light winds and the tricky con-ditions in Le Havre so we feel we are heading in the right direction in the run up to the TDFV,” he said.
“I think we could finish in the top 5 but this project is more about evolving a team and making pro-gress and we have made a lot of progress since we started in the Diam 24s in March. We know who we will be up against for the Tour de France a Voile because we have
been racing against them for a cou-ple of months now and although there is still a long way to go, we are enjoying the boat and coming together well as a team.”
For Normandy, the Oman Air-ports by Oman Sail team com-prised Ali Al Balushi and fellow Omani Abdulhaman Al Mashari as well as Pierre Leboucher and Stevie Morrison who will continue training and racing, with Douillard back in action next week in Les Sa-bles d’Olonnes and Quiberon.
Also in action at the Normandy Cup was the all-female crew on Oman Sail’s J80, skippered by Dee Caffari and the all-Omani male crew, led by Fahad Al Hasni, who were closely competing for hon-ours in the 25 strong J80 field. It proved a close run but after nine
races over four days, it was Al Hasni’s crew who came out on top, finishing in 10th place compared to 13th for the girls.
Normandy Week marks the end of the 2016 European season for Oman Sail’s J80 women’s crew of Caffari, Marwa Al Khaifi, Tama-dher Al Balushi, Annemieke Bes from the Netherlands and Ibtisam Al Salmi, one of the Middle East’s first professional female sailors.
But Fahad Al Hasni, together with his J80 teammates Sami Al Shukaili, Yasser al Rahabi and Raad al Hadi will head to the UK shortly to begin their prepara-tions for the Round Ireland Race and other events in the European summer as members of Sidney Gavignet’s MOD70 crew on Mu-sandam-Oman Sail.
S A I L I N G
ITF punishes Sharapova with two-year ban
LONDON: The career of Russian former world number one Ma-ria Sharapova was in tatters on Wednesday after she was given a two-year ban by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) follow-ing her positive test for the banned drug meldonium at this year’s Australian Open.
In a statement the ITF said the 29-year-old five-times Grand Slam champion’s ban would be back-dated to Jan. 26 this year, meaning her results and prize money from the Australian Open, where she reached the quarterfinals, would be cancelled out. Sharapova said she would appeal to the Court of Arbi-
tration for Sport (CAS), describing the punishment as “unfairly harsh”.
She said an independent tribu-nal in London on May 18 and 19 had found that she had not inten-tionally violated anti-doping rules.
In a statement on its website the ITF said the ban had been back-dated due to Sharapova’s ‘prompt admission’ of her violation.
“An Independent Tribunal ap-pointed under Article 8.1 of the 2016 Tennis Anti-Doping Pro-gramme has found that Maria Sharapova committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation under Ar-ticle 2.1 of the Programme and as a consequence has disqualified
the affected results and imposed a period of ineligibility of two years, commencing on 26 January 2016,” the statement said.
“Ms. Sharapova, a 29-year-old player from Russia, provided a urine sample on 26 January 2016, after her quarter-final match at the 2016 Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia.
“That sample was sent to the WADA-accredited laboratory in Montreal, Canada, for analysis, and was found to contain meldo-nium, which is a metabolic modu-lator that is included under section S4 (Hormone and Metabolic Mod-ulators) of the 2016 WADA Pro-
hibited List, and therefore is also prohibited under the Programme.”
Meldonium was added to WA-DA’s list of banned substances at the start of the year after evidence that it boosted blood flow and en-hanced athletic performance.
Sharapova stunned the sport-ing world in March when she an-nounced that she had tested posi-tive for meldonium, a drug she said she had been taking for a decade to treat diabetes and low magnesium.
At the time Sharapova said she had made “a huge mistake” blaming her failure to read an email sent by the ITF that meldonium had been added to the banned list. - Reuters
T E N N I S
‘UNFAIRLY HARSH’: Maria
Sharapova. – AFP
Hassan, Prithvi, Praneeth, Kapil and Kavya win titlesMUSCAT: The first in-house jun-ior tennis tournament held by the training center of the Indian Social Club provided the trainees with a platform to test their talents.
Hassan Haider hogged the limelight with a brilliant 8-6 vic-tory to defeat fancied Yash Tanna to win the under-17 title.
Prithvi Rajwon the boys under-14
after convincingly defeating Rishabh Kant Jha 6-1 in the fi-nal. Kapil Mansinghani put in a fine all-round display to defeat Arya 6-1 to win the boys under-12 title and Praneeth Raj claimed the boys under-10 title defeating Rohi 6-1 in the final. J. Kaavya won the girls final after overcom-ing Ann Joseph 6-3 in the final.
I S C J U N I O R T E N N I S
‘KAO KAT MHF’, ‘SUHAIM’ WIN SECOND PLACES IN SWEDENKao Kat MHF, owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Nasser
Al Hashar, won the second place at the 8th edition of
HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Ara-
bian Horse Flat Racing Festival in the Sweden’s capital
city of Stockholm. Suhaim, owned by Sheikh Nasser
bin Mohammed Al Hashar, won the second place at the
HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies IFAHR Cup.
N asser Al Kindi got hooked to photogra-phy while working in an advertising and
photography company in Muscat many years ago. After learning the basics, he began to capture images of old houses, doors and locks, be-fore training his eyes on birds.
Nasser spent years waiting and observing, with watchful eyes to catch the slightest movement in the wild or with sharpened ears to pick up even a faint chirping sound from behind the trees or bushes. And he caught them, with his cam-era and telephoto lenses, Eurasian hoopoes, bee-eaters, barn owls, pipits, plovers, flycatchers, sun-birds… almost 300 species of birds out of the 527 listed so far in Oman.
The experienced photogra-pher has published his first book on birds, Birds in Oman, which features many photographs with information in Arabic and in Eng-lish. “It is the result of a journey through time and space, spanning long distances across the Sultan-ate of Oman,” he said during a freewheeling chat.
Did you enjoy bird watching trips in Oman?I have been to almost every single place in Oman, not just passing by, but observing very carefully. It is a great experience. One of the many good things about bird watch-ing or bird photography (they are separate things though) is that they take you to places perhaps you had never thought of visiting. There are also birding sites across the country where we frequent more often and we get informa-tion from other birdwatchers as well. Besides, there are books which tell you about such places. In Muscat we have the Qurum Natural Park, Al Ansab Wetlands, golf clubs, and parks in major ho-tels. I have photographed 60-65 per cent of the bird types in Oman.
Do you prefer to work alone or as a team?I do have a lot of friends in the same field from Oman and out-side the country. But, I prefer to work alone, because this is some-thing that requires a lot of time. You can work with people having similar interests and my elder brother Salam joins me in many of these trips. He doesn’t take photographs but likes to observe birds. You could be spending a full day for just one bird. Sometimes, we might see many birds, but we are after one particular bird. They say bird photography requires pa-tience and there is a lot of sense in that, but I prefer to think that it requires passion. Many would find this very boring. When I do these things alone, I do them bet-ter. I don’t have to worry about the companion and I devote my entire energy to what I am doing.
How can one identify birds?Actually birds are all around you. You may not notice them if it’s not an interest of yours. You look out-side and would say there are a lot of pigeons out there. But among the pigeons there could be other birds. People who become gradually sen-sitive or attuned to this will start spotting birds. It’s a totally but beautiful interdependent world. They are very smart creatures, who learn their own languages and callings very quickly or learn to fly very quickly.
They are different from each other in behaviour, looks, intake of food and in everything you can imagine. The more you get to know about them, the more interest-ing they would become. So bird photography is something which you cannot do just with a camera. You should have a great passion and a vast knowledge about birds. You have to read a lot, watch them and have to learn from other bird-watchers or ornithologists.
What is your advice for aspiring bird photogra-phers?The camera and lenses you own are the best equipment to start with. Don’t go on a shopping spree. You can progress later to better lenses. Start with large shorebirds and learn from the ex-periences of others. Youtube is a good starting point.
Procuring expensive telephoto lenses are one of the main chal-lenges for bird photographers. The birds are shy, which means you need a telephoto lens to capture them. Many people use zoom lenses, which are good, but not professional lenses.
You need prime lenses with fixed focal length (800mm, 600mm, 500mm, 400mm, 300mm, and so on), though a backup of zoom lens-es are advisable for use in certain circumstances.
You use intermediate prime lenses (400mm and 300mm) mainly for birds in flight, for action shots and also when feeders are used to photograph them, which are usually at closer distance.
But a bird feeder is not popu-lar in this part of the world and is mainly practised in countries or regions where there are a lot of birds.
Here, in this arid area, the birds are very shy and are scared of hunters. The moment they hear a human, they fly away. So, you need these prime lenses for which the price starts from OMR4,000 for one lens.
I started with a zoom lens, and reached a level where I could no longer continue with it. I had to get a prime lens. It’s an invest-ment that you have to build up for, it doesn’t happen overnight. You can also buy a secondhand lens but technology is ever changing and other options are made more affordable. —[email protected]
Oman’s popular bird photographer, Nasser Al Kindi, continues his
journeys even after publishing an authentic book that contains
rare images of almost 100 types of birds.
WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM
CultureSECTIONC L I F E S T Y L E T H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
WWW.TIMESOFOMAN.COM
SECTION
AVIAN INFLUENCEStory T.A. Ameerudheen Photos: Courtesy of Nasser Al Kindi
BIRDS IN OMAN
Oman is situated at the
crossroads of migration from
three main regions — Asia
(the Indian-Malawi region),
Africa and Europe.
The Oman Bird List records
sightings of 518 types of birds
Pelagic birds inhabit and
visit coastal areas like
Al Hallaniyat Islands and
Barr Al Hikman.
Some pelagic birds stop
over Omani coast en route
migration from South Pole
and southern seas.
With 17% of the world
population of Crab Plovers,
Barr Al Hikman is world’s
most important spot for
this species.
Al Fahal Island and
Dimaniyat Islands in Muscat
are two important spots for
the Sooty Falcon, where 10%
of its world’s population breed
in summer.
Dhofar is by far the best
place for bird watching
in the region. The monsoon
season attracts birds from
tropical Africa to summer
in Dhofar.
Source: Birds in Oman by Nasser Al Kindi
Find more of
Nasser’s images on Instagram
@nasserkindiphotography
FIND-IT-ALLC10 T H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
ROYAL OMAN POLICE
Emergencies and inquiries: 9999
General Directorate of
Passport and Residence 24569603
Directorate General
of Customs 24521109
Traffic violations inquiries 24510228
Public Relations Admin 24560099
EMBASSIES IN OMAN
Afghanistan 24698 791/4
Algeria 24605 593
Bahrain 24 605 074/133
Bangladesh 24 698 660
Brazil 24640100
Brunei 24 603533
China 24 696782
Cyprus 24 699815
Egypt 24 600 982/411
France 24681 800
Germany 24835000
India 24684500
Indonesia 2469 1050
Iran 24 696 944/7
Iraq 24603642
Italy 24693727
Japan 24 601 028
Jordan 24692760/1/3
Kazakhstan 24 692418
Kenya 24 697664
South Korea 24 691490
Kuwait 24 699628
Lebanon 24 693208
Libya 24603466
Malaysia 24698329/643
Morocco 24696152/3
Nepal 24696177
Netherlands 24603706
Pakistan 24603439
Palestine 24601312
Philippines 24605335
Qatar 24 691 153/2/4
Russia 24602894
Saudi Arabia 24601705
Senegal 24694139
Somalia 24697977
South Africa 24647300
Spain 24691101
Sri Lanka 24697841/2
Sudan 24697875
Switzerland 24603267
Syria 24697904
Tanzania 24601 174
Thailand 24 602684/5
Tunisia 24603486
Turkey 24697050/1/2
UAE 24400000
United Kingdom 24609000
United States 24643400
Yemen 24600815
PHARMACIES (ROUND THE CLOCK)
Al Hashar Pharmacy, Ruwi 24783334
Apollo Medical Centre,
Hamriya 24782666
Muscat Pharmacy, Ruwi 24702542
Salalah 23291635;
Atlas Pharmacy, Ghubra 24503585
Muscat Region
Apollo, Al Hamriya 24787766
Muscat, A Seeb Market 24421691
Muscat, Al Khuwair 24485740
Muscat, Al Hail South 24537080
Dhofar Region
Muscat, Al Nahdha Road,
Salalah 23291635
HOSPITALS
Al Amal Medical & Health Care Centre
24485052
Atlas Hospital
Ruwi 24811743/
Ghubra 24504000
Al Musafir Specialised
Medical Clinic 24706453
Hatat Polyclinic LLC,
Ruwi 24563641
Azaiba 24499269
Sohar 2683006
Al Raffah Hospital 24618900/1/2
Al Massaraat Clinic &
Laboratory 24566435
Al Makook Medical
Coordinance Centre 24499434
Apollo Medical Centre,
Hamriya 24787766, 24787780
Capital Polyclinic 24707549
Badr Al Samaa Polyclinic,
Ruwi 24799760/1/2
Capital Clinic, Seeb 24420740
Ceregem National Raak 24485633
Dr Harub’s Clinic 24563217
Elixir Health Centre 24565802
Emirates Medical Centre 24604540
1st Chiropractic Centre 24472274
Lifeline Hospital Salalah 23212340
International Medical
Centre LLC 24794501/2/3/4/5
Kims Oman Hospital 24760100
24 Hrs Emergency 24760123
Lama Polyclinic, Sohar 26751128
MBD 24799077
Al Khuwair 24478818
Magrabi Eye and
Ear Hospital 24568870
Muscat Private Hospital 24583600
Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment
Centre, Al Khuwair 24477666
Al Hayat International Hospital, Al Ghubra
22004000, 94267068/97049520
Al Hayat Clinic, Al Hail 22009455
AIRLINE OFFICES
Muscat Airport Flight information
(24 hours) 24519456/24519223
Aeroflot 24704455
Air Arabia 24700828
Air France 24562153
Air India 24799801
Air New Zealand 24700732
Biman Bangladesh Airlines 24701128
British Airways 24568777
Cathay Pacific 24789818
Egypt Air 24794113
Emirates Air 24404400
Ethiopian Airlines 24660313
Gulf Air 80072424
Indian 24791914
Iran Air 24787423
Japan Airlines 24704455
Jazeera Airways 23294848
Jet Airways 24787248
Kenya Airways 24660300
KML Royal Dutch Airlines 24566737
Kuwait Airways 24701262
LOT Polish Airlines 24796387
Lufthansa 24796692
Malaysian Airlines 24560796
Middle East Airlines 24796680
Oman Air 24531111
Pakistan International
Airlines 24792471
Qatar Airways 24771900
Qantas 24559941
Royal Jordanian 24796693
Saudi Arabian Airlines 24789485
Singapore Airlines 24791233
Shaheen Air 24816565
SriLankan Airlines 24784545
Swiss International
Airlines 24796692
Thai Airways 24705934
LISTINGS
LONG DISTANCE BUS TIMINGS (OMAN NATIONAL TRANSPORT COMPANY SAOC) *SUBJECT TO CHANGE
FROM MUSCAT (RUWI)
Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days
QURIYAT - SUR - JAALAN (ROUTE 36)
15:00 Quriyat 16:30 Daily
15:00 Sur 18:00 Daily
15:00 Jaalan 19:30 Daily
TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)
06:30 Sohar 08:50 Daily
06:30 Buraimi 11:00 Daily
08:00 Buraimi 14:30 Daily via Ibri
13:00 Sohar 15:45 Daily
13:00 Buraimi 17:40 Daily
16.00 Sohar 18.35 Daily
16.00 Buraimi 20:20 Daily
TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)
17:30 Sinaw 20:50 Daily
TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)
14:30 Nizwa 16:50 Daily
14:30 Yanqul 19:30 Daily
TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)
08:00 Nizwa 10:20 Daily
08:00 Al Araqi 12:30 Daily
TO SUR (ROUTE 55)
07:30 Sur 12:00 Daily
14:30 Sur 18:45 Daily
TO FAHUD - YIBAL (ROUTE 62)
06:30 Fahud 10:30 Daily
06:30 Yibal 11:15 Daily
TO MARMUL-SALALAH (ROUTE 100)
07:00 Salalah 20:00 Daily
10:00 Marmul 20:30 Daily
10:00 Salalah 23:30 Daily
19:00 Salalah 07:40 Daily
TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)
06:00 Marmul 16:50 Daily
SALALAH TO DUBAI (ROUTE 102)
15:00 Dubai 07:00 Daily
TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)
06:00 Sohar 08:30 Daily
06:00 Dubai 11:30 Daily
13:00 Sohar 15:30 Wed,Thur
13:00 Dubai 18:30 Wed,Thur
15:00 Sohar 17:35 Daily
15:00 Dubai 20:55 Daily
TO DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH & SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)
07:00 Fujairah 11.45 Daily
07:00 Sharjah 13.30 Daily
07:00 Dubai 14.00 Daily
TO MUSCAT (RUWI)
Dept Destination Arrival Operatingtime time days
FROM JAALAN-SUR-QURIYAT (ROUTE 36)
05:30 Sur 06:45 Daily
05:30 Quriyat 08:30 Daily
05:30 Ruwi 10:00 Daily
TO AL BURAIMI (ROUTE 41)
07:00 Sohar 08:55 Daily
07:00 Ruwi 11:40 Daily
13:30 Ruwi 20:20 Daily via Ibri
13:00 Sohar 14:55 Daily
13:00 Ruwi 17:40 Daily
13:00 Sohar 19:20 Daily
17:00 Ruwi 22:15 Daily
TO SINAW (ROUTE 52)
07:00 Ruwi 10:25 Daily
TO YANQUL (ROUTE 54)
06:00 Nizwa 08:40 Daily
06:00 Ruwi 11:00 Daily
TO IBRI (ARAQI) (ROUTE 54)
15:40 Nizwa 17:55 Daily
15:40 Ruwi 20:20 Daily
TO SUR (ROUTE 55)
06:00 Ruwi 10:45 Daily
14:30 Ruwi 19:00 Daily
TO YIBAL - FAHUD (ROUTE 62)
12:30 Fahud 13:15 Daily
12:30 Ruwi 17:30 Daily
TO SALALAH -MARMUL (ROUTE 100)
07:00 Ruwi 19:50 Daily
10:00 Marmul 13:15 Daily
10:00 Ruwi 22:30 Daily
19:00 Ruwi 07:30 Daily
TO MARMUL (ROUTE 101)
06:00 Marmul 16:30 Daily
DUBAI TO SALALAH (ROUTE 102)
15:00 Salalah 07:00 Daily
TO DUBAI (ROUTE 201)
07:30 Sohar 10:50 Daily
07:30 Ruwi 13:40 Daily
13:00 Sohar 16:15 Thur-Fri
13:00 Ruwi 19:10 Thur-Fri
15:30 Sohar 18:45 Daily
15:30 Ruwi 21:35 Daily
FROM DUBAI VIA FUJIRAH/SHARJAH (ROUTE 204)
16:00 Sharjah 16:30 Daily
16.00 Fujairah 18.15 Daily
16.00 Ruwi 23.00 Daily
CITY CINEMAContact (10 am to 6PM) 24567664 | 68 www.citycinemaoman.netfacebook.com/citycinemaoman
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SOHARX-Men: Apocalypse PG12 (2D) (Action | Adventure |Fantasy)Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence
11:45PMWarcraft PG12 (Action| Adventure | Fantasy)Cast: Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster9:15, 11:45PMHousefull-3 PG12 (Hindi | Romantic |Comedy)Cast: Nargis Fakhri, Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline Fernandez11:15PMMe Before You 15+ (Drama)Cast: Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Janet McTeer9:15PMTe3n Hindi | Thriller (TBC)Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Nawaz Uddin Siddiqui, Vidya Balan9:00, 11:30PMA. Aa (Telugu | Comedy | Romance)Cast: Nithin K Reddy, Samantha Ruth Prabhu9:00PM
BURAIMITe3n TBA (Hindi) (Thriller)Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vidya Balan9:00 & 11:30 PMHousefull 3 PG12 (Hindi) (Romantic |Comedy)Cast: Nargis Fakhri, Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline Fernandez10:15 PM Warcraft PG 12 (3D) (Action| Adventure | Fantasy)Cast: Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster11:00 PM
SALALAHTe3n (TBC) (Hindi | Thriller) Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vidya Balan9:15, 11:30 PMWarcraft (3D)(PG12) (Action| Adventure | Fantasy) Cast: Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster9:00, 11:45 PM, Housefull 3 (2D) (PG12)( Hindi ) (Romantic |Comedy) Cast: Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nargis Fakhri10:00 PM
CINEMA SCHEDULE CHILDREN BELOW THE AGE OF 3 YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE CINEMA | BOX-OFFICE COUNTER OPENS 30-MINUTES PRIOR TO THE SCREENING OF THE FIRST SHOW
BAHJA CINEMAFilm information 24540856 / Advance Booking
24540855
Website: www.albahjacinemaoman.com
Go With Me (Thriller)Cast: Julia Stiles, Alexander Ludwig, Anthony Hopkins11.45 p.m.CP No :1136 (12+)
Warcraft (Action / Adventure / Fantasy)Cast: Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster 9.30 & 11.45 p.m.CP No : 1129 (PG12)
Frog Kingdom (Animation) Voice Overs; Bella Thome, Greg sulkin, Dallas Lavotta9.30 p.m.CP No : 1230 ( PG)
STAR CINEMAFilm information 24791641 / 24786776
Website: www.isurf.co.om
Jacobinte Swargarajyam (Mal) (Comedy\Drama) Cast: Nivin Pauly Renji Panicker & LakshmiRamakrishna 10-00 pm Cinema Main Iraivi (Tamil) (Comedy\ Drama) Cast: Vijay Sethopathi & Anjali 9-30 Cinema- 2 From Friday: 9-45 PM Cinema-3Aa.AA (Telugu) (Comedy\Drama) Cast: Nithin & Samantha 9-45 pm Cinema-4Housefull-3 (Hindi) (Drama\Comedy) (Only Thursday) Cast: Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan & Ritesh Deshmukh 9-45 pm Cinema -3Babruvahana (Kannada) (Drama) (From Friday) Cast : Dr Rajkumar & B.Saroja Devi 9-30pm Cinema-2
Next Change: Kammati Paadam ( Mal); Udta Punjab (Hindi); Gentleman (Telugu)
Programmes are subject to change
@ AZAIBA
Frog Kingdom (2D) (Adventure | Comedy) (PG) Cast: Belle Thorne, Gregg Sulkin, Dallas Lovato9:30 PM
@PANORAMA MALL
Love Me Tomorrow (2D)( Comedy| Romance ) (15+)Cast: Amita Piolo Pascual, Coleen Garcia,Dawn Zulueta9:10PM
@ RUWI
Te3n (2D) (Suspense / Thriller) –TBCCast : Amitabh Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Nawazuddin Siddiqi9.00, 11.45 PM
@ SHATTI
Welcome to Me - (2D) (Comedy | Romance) (15+)Cast: Kristen Wilg, James Marsden, Linda Cardellini11:45PM
WEATHER
410
Maximum
330
Minimum
TEMPERATURE
85-55%RELATIVE HUMIDITY
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]
MEDHANSH MANJUNATHJune 9, 2008
CHRIS TIJO THOMAS June 9, 2010
B. HANSHAMATHIJune 10, 2005
WITH LOVE
WEEKEN
D U
PDATE
LIFESTYLEC11T H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
I N T H E N E W S
DO WATCH
BUY
I had difficulty convincing a nine-year-old schoolboy that there was a string at-
tached between the brain and the heart. His eyes widened. One hand touched his heart and the other his head. He then drew a line between the two organs and gasped.
Really? He asked. I hesitated. I was on the crossword of telling a lie and the truth. It was easy to make a lasting impression on youngsters. I patted his head and
walked away. I was mentally re-treating my position. Before I left the room, l looked back at him. He was still thinking about it. I smiled and continued walking.
I was actually thinking aloud when I was talking to him. Rather than debating against myself, I needed an audience who would lis-ten to me without challenging me. Nine-year olds are good candidates when it comes to accept everything an adult says. The truth was that I was going through a rollercoaster of emotion that week. The brain was forging its own path while the heart was firmly anchored on a sen-timental cushion, too comfortable to make any move.
It was all inspired by a visit to a school. I was watching children skipping around, making noises and push each other around. Teachers had hard time control-ling them. My thoughts went back years ago when my own children were that age. How I miss those chaotic days when my house was turned into a war zone. Every
weekend, they would sit in a corner and talk quietly, the way rebels would plan a revolution. Then all hell would break loose a few minutes later. No two days were the same those days.
There was only a lull when they were sick but my brain would then pull the string and the heart would work out all the emotions to drop everything to be at their side. Years later now, my wife and I would hear a feather dropping. The house of lit-tle revolutionists has been turned into a peace zone. I don’t think the peace that has descended upon us is what we have bargained for. These days we turn on the televi-sion quite loud. We do that for obvi-ous reason because the quietness can be unbearable at times.
It was like yesterday when they were knee high. These days they look down at us as they tower above us. They are not anymore soldiers but generals of their own fate. Last week, just to remind my son of his old unruly days, I picked a pair of old mittens and
placed them on top of his palms. He thought I was going senile and there was a puzzled look on his face. I told him that they were his when he was a baby. Only two of his fingers could fit in them. He could not believe that he was once that tiny. It was my way of tell-ing him the long road his mother and I journeyed with him to reach where he is now.
He just smiled but his expres-sion was saying, “but that is the role of being a parent.” Yes it was like it was with my parents. I guess the last word has to be that once the children have grown up is to assess the string between the brain and the heart. Moth-ers share the umbilical cord with their children. Fathers share the string with them. I cannot make any more sense than that. I was going to tell him what I had told the school boy but I thought against it. Hopefully he knows about the existence of the string now that he has reached the age of independence.
The String Between The Heart and The Mind
XBox One ConsoleLimited Edition
Frog KingdomIn theatres now
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PHO
TO
WIR
ES
Tommy Hilfiger launches Ramadan collection
TOMMY HILFIGER recently an-nounced its limited-edition capsule collection for Ramadan, available ex-clusively in the Middle East. Featuring styles for women and girls, the designs combine luxe fabrics with rich colours, intricate details and sophisticated sil-houettes. The collection will be avail-able at Tommy Hilfiger stores in Bah-rain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt. The 15-piece women’s collection includes five maxi dresses, four blouses, two skirts, a bolero, and a belt, in addition to one footwear style, and a matching
bag. A sophisticated palette of burgundy, caviar navy is accented by pops of snow white and luxurious metallic gold. Details range from modern tuxedo pleating to high-shine metallic collars, while rich fabrics add a subtle dimension to the designs. From lightweight and crinkle-cut Italian chiffons to intricate lace and black satin crepe, the fabrics play with a mix of matte and glossy textures. The women’s offering further includes a black leather heeled sandal with a gold turn-lock, and a shoulder bag with the same closure and a gold chain strap. The girls’ collection of five dresses features a white pleated A-line dress with a metallic gold sequin collar; a deep cranberry floral jacquard dress with an oversized bow on the waist; a black lace party dress with a silk bow on the waist; a nauti-cal navy and white striped dress with a red bow on the waist; and a black party dress with capped lace sleeves. Select girls’ dresses are replicas of styles in the women’s collection. This marks the third consecutive season Tommy Hilfiger has designed a capsule collection for the occasion of Ramadan. The 2016 collection will be complemented by a dedicated campaign that will appear in Tommy Hilfiger stores across the Middle East, along with bespoke décor and window displays. Inspired by the prominent use of light during Ramadan, the campaign concept plays with geometric pat-terns that mimic intricate shadows created by Arabic lamps. The aesthetic conveys a golden glow and warm atmosphere with shades of bronze, yellow and [email protected]
PHO
TO
WIR
ES
LIFESTYLEC12 T H U R S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
His struggle to overcome stammering during grown up years, broken mar-riage with childhood sweetheart Sussanne Khan and his ongoing legal battle with actress Kangana
Ranaut has not changed Hrithik Roshan’s positive outlook towards life. As he looks back, actor Hrithik Roshan sees himself as an evolved person, who in spite of experi-encing highs and lows in his life, has still “soldiered on”.
“I constantly believe in evolving as a human being, an actor and a performer. As I look back, I see myself as an evolved person who has seen great highs and lows and still soldiered on,” Hrithik said in an interview.
The actor is currently in news for his le-gal spat with Kangana. The two, who were apparently dating in the past, slapped a legal notice against each other for tarnish-ing their respective images in the public.
Issues began when Kangana hinted at Hrithik being her ex when she said in
an interview that she fails to understand “why exes do silly things to get your atten-tion”. The topic in discussion was Hrithik’s hand in getting Kangana replaced in the project by Sonam Kapoor in Aashiqui 3.
In an indirect dig to that, Hrithik had later tweeted: “There are more chances of me having had an affair with any of the women the media has been naming. Thanks but no thanks.”
This set the stage for their legal war.On being asked how his good or bad
times have influenced him as an actor or as a human being, he chose to let it go un-answered, but said that while everybody wants to change something about their lives, they compromise with situation and time. “I believe if you are not rediscovering yourself and pushing boundaries, then you are not alive. Everybody wants to change something about their life, but they are ei-ther too afraid, too lazy, or too comfortable with the way things are,” he said.
The actor is currently the brand ambas-
sador of the watch brand Rado and recent-ly launched the Swiss watchmaker’s choc-olate brown high-tech ceramic collection.
Hrithik says that his ability to reinvent himself “in new roles resonates with the brand’s image to constantly innovate, making it a perfect fit”.
But at a time when some senior actors are facing criticism for choosing wrong brand endorsements, Hrithik says that he only works with those brands that inspire him. “There is a high focus placed upon the importance of choosing a reliable, trust-worthy celebrity to endorse or sponsor a company’s product, while still balancing the celebrity’s power to influence their consumers. And for me, I work with peo-ple and brands that inspire me. Our values and message need to be the same,” he said.
With time being such an important part in everybody’s life, the father of two feels that he always tries to be committed to deadlines.
“Quite often we hear of our busy sched-
ules and insane shoot hours. Despite this, it’s important to manage to be punctual and stay true to one’s profession. I try to be very sincere and committed to my films and deadlines,” he said.
Last seen on screen in 2014 released ac-tion film Bang Bang, the actor is currently shooting for Ashutosh Gowariker’s Mohenjo Daro.
Also starring debutante Pooja Hegde and veteran actor Kabir Bedi, the movie is set in the ancient city of Mohenjo Daro in the era of the Indus Valley civilisation.
The movie marks Gowariker’s second collaboration with Hrithik after 2008 film Jodhaa Akbar.
For Hrithik, doing a period drama is always a challenge. “I am travelling back into time and it’s been a great journey and a great experience. The other movie (Kaabil directed by Sanjay Gupta and pro-duced by Rakesh Roshan) is a love story-cum-revenge drama and it's shaping well,” said Hrithik. — IANS
Hrithik Roshan Soldiers OnI believe if you are not
rediscovering yourself and
pushing boundaries, then
you are not alive. Everybody
wants to change something
about their life, but they are
either too afraid, too lazy,
or too comfortable with the
way things are
Hrithik Roshan
B O L L Y W O O D S T A R S A Y S H E H A S E V O L V E D A F T E R E X P E R I E N C I N G G R E A T H I G H S A N D L O W S
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
T H U R S D AY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
RENT D2
*Classified Advertisement space booking with text, should be done till 12.00 noon for next day’s publication.
* Subject to space availability
Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461
FOR RENT
D2 T H U R S D AY, J U N E 9, 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 GUIDET H U R S D AY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6 D3
FOR RENT
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
3 Bedroom well maintained flat
(villa Type only 2 flats in villa)
in Al Khuwair, behind Al Akhtam
Restaurant 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
ACC. WANTED
ACC. AVAILABLE
LOST
Running saloon for sale in Seeb
with two clearance. Contact
97199936
LLC Company for sale with one
investor visa approval.
Contact : 98532470
Email: [email protected]
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
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
Shop for sale, Honda road build-
ing materials beside NBO, Ruwi.
Contact: 99018075
Company for sale service& main-
tenance LLC installation & main-
tenance of fire fighting systems
include ROP license.
Contact: 99433540
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 Sher-
aton Hotel. Contact: 93993897
Furnished apartment for rent,
two rooms, majlis, hall, kitchen.
Near Carrefour al-mawalah.
Contact 99336776
Sharing room at Ruwi for RO 50/-.
Contact: 99385287
One room available in 2BHK in Al
Falaj area for Executive bachelor
only. Contact 99131742.
FOR SALE
FOR SALE
FOR SALE
Dental chairs for sale sparingly
used dental units for sale.
Contact Mr. Ansari 92616343.
Kumar 99570284
Working beauty parlor for sale
Al Ghubra. Contact: 98178135
Running pharmacy for sale on
main road in Barka with Pharma-
cist. Contact: 99452755
Villa for sale in Mabela 6 rooms,
living room & hall. #91763665
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
BUYING
Bobcat available for rent.
Contact 97623299
Used office house furniture
& electronic items.
Contact: 99834373 / 96642500
Buying cars for cash.
Contact 90202090
AVAILABLE
Party & Wedding equipment rent-
als. Full line, from Tables, Linen
& Skirting, Chairs & Chair covers,
Cutlery, Crockery, Glassware, Chaf-
ing Dishes, Ice Sculptures, to Large
Sound Systems and spectacular
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
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
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
Flats, shops & store for rent in
MBD area Ruwi, Mumtaz area.
Contact: 97293708 / 92433127
Warehouse at Wadikabir - total
area 3500 sqm - covered ware-
house (500sqm), office, ac-
commodation (1000sqm), open
area (2000sqm) please contact:
99273774 - 99202278
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
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
CONTD ON PG 6
Nobin Shakh Shakh Rahman has
lost Bangladeshi Passport No.
B 0890829 . Finder please
handover to ROP
Fayal Ahamed Robiul has lost
Bangladeshi Passport No. BA
0315662. Finder please handover
to ROP
Mohammad Captan has lost Bang-
ladeshi Passport No. BA 0413836.
Finder please handover to ROP
Clinic license for Sale and Phar-macy for lease : specialized Clinic
license with Pharmacy license for
sale. Send your enquiry:
[email protected] Contact:
97092099 / 97253669
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
Newly constructed house in 2016 (un occupied) with 1 BHK
CONTACT - 99312475
FOR SALE (NRI)
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
DAILY GUIDED4 T H U R S D AY, J U N E 9, 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
ENGINEER/MECHANIC.
ARCHITECT
ACCOUNTS
CATERING
BEAUTICIAN
ARTIST
EDUCATION/TRAINING
SKILLED / UNSKILLED
ACCOUNT. & FINANCE
ACCOUNT. & FINANCE
DESIGNER/DRAUGHTSMAN
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]
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
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]
DOMESTIC HELPER
ARCHITECT
MEDICAL
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]
ADMINHouse 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
Accountant Having 5 Years expe-
rience in reputed companies.
Currently working in Muscat
(NOC AVAILABLE) GSM.91367217
Email [email protected]
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 Ac-
counts (11 years GCC Experience )
currently on Resident Visa
(NOC Available ) and has a valid
Omani Driving Licence. Contact:
91335026; [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
Wanted Steward / Deckhand for
Yacht in Muscat, Housekeeping
& Guest service duties. Contact:
Whatsapp 95887572
Email: [email protected]
Filipino Cabin steward / Linen
vallet is looking for suitable job in
Oman. Contact: +968 91065438 or
email: [email protected]
CATERING
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]
Civil Engineer, Masons, Helpers, Shuttering, Carpenters, Steel fixers with 5 yrs experience in Oman.
Contact: 97491117
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 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
Well experienced Account M.Com
available with NOC, Tally & ERP.
Contact : 99035707
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]
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
Care Medical Centre Al Seeb requires
Gynecologist and General Practition-er. Mail CV to:[email protected]
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
SKILLED LABOR
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.
Contact: 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
Sales Representative needed for a
printing press. Contact Whatsapp
only: 94756618
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 Coordina-
tor with good Computer skill, Now
on Visit Visa,looking for suitable
position. Contact: 90196235
Indian female 27 yrs MBA / HR 3.6
yrs exp HR/ Marketing / Customer
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 :
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 :
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.
Please forward your resume [email protected]
REQUIRED Real Estate Executive
With 5 years minimum experience in
buying ,selling, renting and maintenance.
Urgently required for a Medical Centre (male / female) GP Doctor, Pediatrician, Gynecologist with
MOH license, for job or running
the clinic. Send your CV moc.
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
clinic. Preferably with MOH license
or with Dataflow & Paramatics
pass Contact: 95388934
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
Accountant 8Years Experience
with D/L and NOC.
Contact 97712084
Indian male 34 Yrs, Dual MBA
Finance and marketing with IT
skills, 7+ yrs of experience,
Looking for suitable placement.
contact 94879615,Email-
Construction Company looking for Architect with experience in
Oman. Contact 97192707
Beauty salon needs lady for
henna. Contact: 93336061
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
commerce, overall 5 yrs exp in ac-
counts/ finance field. On visit visa.
Immediately available.
Contact 92836216 /
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
SITUATION WANT-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]
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]
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. Look-
ing for a suitable job in Accounts,
Store Keeper, Sales etc.
Ready to join as early as possible.
Contact: 96988923
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 female 5 years experi-
ence seeking job.
Contact: 96146645
Email: [email protected]
ARCHITECT
DAILY GUIDET H U R S D AY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6 D5
SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED
EDUCATION/TRAINING
HOSPITALITY
ENGG. / TECH./MECH.
IT
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]
Civil Diploma Engineer cum
Quantity Survey male 7 years ex-
perience in Oman valid Oman D/L.
Contact: 93356736
Email: [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
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
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
Civil Engineer with 6+ years in
Supervision designing & Q.C expert
in much civil softwares,
NOC available. Contact: 90719263
Indian male 24 ,B.E ( E.C.E ) gradu-
ate 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]
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]
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:
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]
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]
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 expe-
rience as senior electrical project
engineer / QC engineer on visit
visa seeks suitable placement.
Contact 94094543
Email: [email protected]
Indian male Networking Technician
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 female 30 yrs B.Tech (IT) &
MBA 6 yrs work experience in India
& Oman experience in conducting
video conferencing, configuring
automated solution systems, seek-
ing a suitable placement in Oman.
Contact: 92689823
Email: [email protected]
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 Arabic
& English, having valid license.
Contact: 99813988
Indian Male, MCA Graduate, 15 yrs
exp in ERP, CSM Certified, seeking
suitable role.NOC Available.
Contact : GSM : 90189284
Email: [email protected]
Indian male 40 years BSc & diploma
in logistics, 16 yrs experience (6 yrs in
GCC) in logistics, storekeeping & 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 placement
in Muscat area. Contact: 98660672
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.
Staff Nurse seeking job for nurse
with 2 years experience in India
with visit visa, passed with 51%
Oman prometric. Contact: 91451935
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
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
MEDICAL
MISCELLANEOUS
MISCELLANEOUS
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]
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]
SALES / MARKETING
SKILLED LABOR
Plumber / Electrician 10 years
experienced, NOC available.
Contact: 91636185
B. Com 2 years experience in
Sales Marketing Logistics
Accounts and Front office
Contact 95506048
Looking for job Executive purchase
logistics 10 years experience with
NOC & d/license. Contact: 92120512
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] /
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
MISCELLANEOUS
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
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 Female, 25 Years - MSc
Looking for suitable job.
Mobile: 92619048,
Email: [email protected]
Lady Secretary / Sales Co-coordi-
nator 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: 97761075Indian 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
35 years male, Lebanese holding
British passport, 10 years of expe-
rience in procurement, Omani Gov-
ernment tenders, setup marketing
plans & strategies, importing,
Organizing events, management,
have car, NOC available.
Contact 94123939
Email: [email protected]
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]
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,
Analogue 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
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
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 male Electrician(EEE)
2 years good working experi-
ence searching for suitable
job. mail ; antonyajin15@gmail.
com, Contact;918148336160 /
918300136160
Female, 31 yrs Accounts Assis-
tant (MBA Finance), 5 yrs experi-
ence in Accounts field.
Contact 94068969
5 years experienced (Front office
& Banking), Indian Male (28 years.
Hotel Management graduate),
searching for suitable position.
English, Hindi, Malayalam, Arabic
fluent. Noc available.
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. seek-
ing suitable placement immedi-
ately. 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
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
Indian female 27 yrs, Diploma in
Aviation & Hospitality manage-
ment, seeking suitable placement.
Curnetly in Oman, NOC Available.
Contact 94880684
Female Dentist with MOH license
and NOC, 7 years experience 2 yrs
out of them in Oman looking for a
job. Contact 97401243
Indian Female on a visit visa hav-
ing master degree seeking suitable
placement in any field, 1 ,5 year ex-
perience in HR .Contact 91467576.
Indian male network cabling tech-
nician (19-years Gulf experience)
seeking for suitable placement.
Contact 0091-8089909265 (India),
Email: [email protected]
Indian male, M. Com, 11 years
experience in the field of account-
ancy and Stores. Good knowledge
in SAP, Tally, oracle, MS office and
Excel seeks suitable placement.
Contact 92859733
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
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
Automobile Mechanic ITI 3 years
experience marine mechanical
fitter 2 yrs experience.
Contact 93674847
BS in Electrical Engineering, Experience: 5 years(Power Plants).
Contact: 92475206 Email:
DAILY GUIDED6 T H U R S D AY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624
SITUATION WANTEDSITUATION WANTED
MISCELLANEOUS
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,
E-mail : mohdmuhafez45@gmail.
com
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
suitable placement. NOC available.
Contact: 91743376
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, 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 sup-
port/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
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, 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
Indian Male, 23, BBA graduate,
fresher, looking for a job in sales
(indoor). No driving license.
Contact: 94032041 Mail:
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
SITUATION WANT-SIT. WANTED
ACC. AVAILABLE
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
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
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
Room available for family / bachelor
opposite to o.K. Center, Ruwi. Gsm
942-888-63
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
Indian male 33 years, B.Com, hav-
ing 6 years experience in Oman.
Tally & ERP looking for suitable
placement. Mobile no :98492921
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
DAILY GUIDET H U R S D AY, J U N E 9, 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
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
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-SIT. WANTED
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
B.E. (Mechanical) 12years indus-
trial sales one year Muscat experi-
ence, Presently in India,
Immediately ready to join.
Contact :917338899372 , email id :
D8 T H U R S D AY, J U N E 9, 2 0 1 6
DAILY GUIDE Email: [email protected] [email protected].: 24726666 Ext: 413 / 430 /431 / 456 / 461Fax: 24812624